《The Path of Ascension》


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Matt looked at the result. It was unbelievable, uneptable.


    Unchangeable.


    When his group of orphans turned nine, and the physical conditioning and rift training tests began, he had practiced more than everyone else.


    The 187 children of Warringtons Upper East Side Orphanage #3 had trained for their awakening. Every profession was covered, and everybat role was touched upon. Even more obscure variations were at least covered if not directly trained for.


    Matt could answer any question about any role or their sub-variations. He had studied every extra book that his instructors thought might be the slightest bit useful. He practiced with every weapon the training armory had.


    He preferred a longsword, but was familiar with one-handed and shieldbinations, dual-wielding daggers, weighted gloves, staffs, and even wands. He was ready no matter what his Tier 1 Talent revealed.


    However, Matt hadn''t prepared for his Tier 1 Talent to be useless.


    Matt sat in the testing chair, wires still connected to his arm. Staring at the disy that had doomed him.


    Tier 1 Talent determined.


    Primary effect: Diminishing returns on Mana Regeneration.


    Secondary effect: Essence Cultivation cannot be applied to mana.


    Anomaly detected


    Anomaly processed.


    Maximum Mana has been determined to be below detectable levels.


    Please wait until a higher Authority can be contacted.


    Matt felt the blood drain from him. He was lightheaded, he couldnt breathe. The screen blurred, words merging, sealing his fate with their little white promations.


    The primary effect of his Talent wasnt ideal, but it wasn''t enough to stop him from delving into the rifts.


    His focus on the primary effect, Matt peered at theplicated math form and graph that popped up showing his projected Mana Regeneration. It wouldn''t be great at the lower Tiers, but at the higher Tiers, he could be an absolute mana generating machine.


    Unlike most, his Mana Regeneration wasnt a t rate determined by his allocation of Essence ratio when cultivating. Regenerating based on a percentage would be amazing. Mages usually had to allocate quite arge percentage of their cultivation to Maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration, just so they could cast at a reasonable rate during a delve.


    This made them physically weaker and more vulnerable to close-in attacks. Percentage based Mana Regeneration would give Matt the incredible advantage of not having to allocate Essence to Mana Regeneration. He could dump what most would need to have allocated to that stat into Maximum Mana and double the effectiveness.


    Secondary effect: Essence Cultivation cannot be applied to mana.


    Matt stared at that one line of text with contempt. He was ruined.


    Tier 1 cultivators usually started with around 100 mana, unless their Tier 1 Talent applied some boost to it. Even if Matt only started with 10 mana, by focusing a slightly heavier ratio into Maximum Mana he could just stay at rtively low mana permanently, but still cast endless spells.


    Matt looked at the projected regeneration graph. If the AIs calctions were correct, he''d be regenerating his Maximum Mana per second when it was below 1.0%. That was absurd, but that rate didn''tst. After the 1% mark the regeneration rate dropped down drastically. It would take an estimated ten minutes to reach 10% mana, and two weeks to reach 25%. He scoffed at the projections of a year to reach 50%, and 50 years to reach 75%.


    While these rates were ludicrous they were also irrelevant. With normal mages, getting to full capacity was important because it meant more spell casts. In Matts case, if he could get to 1000 Maximum Mana, he would regenerate 10 mana a second. That was enough to endlessly cast a basic [Fireball] spell. No mage could endlessly cast any spell. Even if they had 100,000 mana, it would eventually be exhausted since normal Mana Regeneration was calcted in Mana per hour.


    Secondary effect: Essence Cultivation cannot be applied to mana.


    Those damning words destroyed any shred of hope Matt had still carried. Even Melee fighters dedicated at least 30% of their Essence to their mana, just so they could use skills in battle. The most aggressive ratio he had heard of, from an actually sessful rift delver, was 80% Essence cultivation to physical and 20% to mana. And that was only possible because this particr delver had a Tier 3 Talent that let him negate the cost of used skills based on his physical abilities.


    Tier 3 Talent. That was his ticket out. Matt never heard of an Talent being purely detrimental. The ones that seemed useless at Tier 1 usually had synergy with Tier 3 or Tier 25 Talents.


    Matt could do thi


    Higher Authority reached.


    Mana Levels determined to be 1.


    Matt felt as if he''d been punched in the gut yet again. A starting Max Mana amount of less than it took to cast a fireball. His stomach roiled with renewed vigor once the reality of the secondary effect of his Tier 1 Talent set in.


    He stood up out of the chair once the wires disconnected from his arm and the screen shed and said, please have a nice day as if it was mocking him.


    Matt looked around at the seemingly unfamiliar world. Everyone in here was an acquaintance. He had been with them since the rift breakout that destroyed half the city and orphaned so many kids like himself five years ago. As his gaze wandered, the people he had spent so much time with appeared alien to him.


    They all looked so... happy.


    He saw Roxanne at a recruiters desk over at Victors Elementals, a mage focused guild that was the husband guild to Estors Esctors, a physically oriented guild that acted to round out delvepositions so that the parties were bnced.


    Roxanne was smiling at every word that came out of the recruiters mouth and was quick to sign the paperwork ced in front of her. She had wanted to be a mage since their introduction to Magic ss.


    He wanted to feel happy for her, but all he felt was nausea wing at his stomach. He looked over to Gavles Good Guilders, a respectable Tier 10 guild based on the neighboring Ilstor, a Tier 12. The head recruiter, Miles, looked at him with rm as Matt approached.


    Matt what in the hells is going on? I got the notification that your Talent isnt up to recruitment standards. Miles looked around and finished with a, get in here, as he pulled Matt into a conference room behind the recruiting stand.


    What the hell happened Matt? I can''t see exactly what you got but the application came back with... Miles held up the pad that was currently showing Matt''s conditional contract into GGG. He scrolled down to show a box highlighted red and shing does not meet minimum requirements.


    Is it <em>really </em>that bad?


    Matt debated what to tell Miles. He was a good guy who tried to get as many of the orphans as he could into the fairly prestigious guild. With Matt''s knowledge and skill with a de, Miles was able to get him a conditional contract with extremely good terms that onlysted ten years.


    Completely unable to cultivate mana, Matt whispered, ncing over at Miles, who had stopped pacing on the other side of the table.


    Fuck


    <em>Fuck</em>


    <strong><em>Fuck</em></strong>


    Miles pressed his hands together in front of his face and started pacing. Clearly deep in thought as he said, There''s not much I can do without getting both of us into trouble. If I show too much favoritism, other guilds might think I''m trying to create a spy to infiltrate another guild for us.


    Matt sat and silently hoped Miles could think of any way for this not to be the end of his career as a delver. Was he finished before he even started? The nausea came back even stronger than before, gnawing at him as the contents of his stomach tried to escape by any means necessary.


    Its happened before. I would get you cklisted from any guild on this. Even some of the city-states wouldn''t want you anywhere near them.


    The next pause seemed like an eternity. All right. You have two options. Really only one viable option, the other is a long shot at best.


    Best-case scenario, you go and apply for the yPen. It''s an Empire run training facility that only the best of the best get into. Most city adjuncts get a couple of slots per year to send promising youths. Getting one of those slots is even harder than usual in this city, because the adjunct has been using them as political favors for thest ten years or so.


    Thats the ideal case, but ny-nine percent of people never even sniff a yPen, so you need to buy a slot in a public Tier 1 rift. Its what frence delvers do if theres a lot ofpetition for rifts of their Tier.


    He pulled his pad out and started tapping at it. Ah. Here, in Glesie, two cities up the coast. They have a kobold Tier 1 rift, going price is Miles eyes flicked around, scanning as he sucked in a breath 10K credits. Thats more than they usually cost, but the price seems to have increased even more so in thest few years.


    <em>Welp, Im fucked. It will take years to get that many credits. Id be so far behind everyone else, it would be terrible. </em>


    Matt forced himself to lose the self-pity and think.


    <em>No, I dont care if Im older than everyone at my Tier. Ill still be a delver and stop the rifts from overflowing.</em>


    Earning 10,000 credits wouldn''t be easy. It would be at least three years of work at any job that would hire a thirteen-year-old. Let alone one with no useful Tier 1 ability and no skills besides those of a beginner delver.


    Is there anything I can do to join a lesser guild? Not that I dont want to join Gavles, but it has to be easier to join a guild and get ess to their rift than to get 10k credits right? Matt pleaded with Miles for it to be true.


    Miles'' face hardened with a serious look when he heard Matts question. He looked Matt right in the eyes and forcefully said, Matt with a rating as bad as the one you got it doesnt matter if your Tier 3 fixes your problem. No one here is going to willingly risk the resources to train you without a lifelong contract youll never get out of, one where they take all your earnings, or some other nefarious deal to suck you dry.


    Matt opened his mouth, but Miles held up his hand and continued. This is just too poor, and teleportation to the neighborings is too expensive for wasteful transits. Every inch of space is worth its weight in mana stones. Eighty percent of the recruits we pick up today are never going to leave this. If they don''t have the potential the Guild isn''t going to shoulder the cost.


    Go try, but dont sign anything without reading the contract. All recruitment contracts have to be in in text that is easy to understand.


    Miles reached into a cab along the wall and grabbed some cards. He held his hand out for Matt to shake and handed the cards over as well. These areNet voucher cards. Each is good for an hour of uptime, and these five should get you through the next few years. The CityNet will have most info, but theNet will let you check Glesies rift status from time to time.


    Miles looked tired all the sudden Good luck kid. And when you solo delve, y it safe and dont get injured. That will put you in debt faster than anything else.


    With that Miles turned and walked out of the room. Matt took that as the dismissal it was.


    <em>He tried to help me, and his advice about the contracts is good to know. I might have taken the first offer without looking into it without that warning. </em>


    Matt spent the next hour going from stall to stall seeing if any guilds, corporations, or crafters were willing to take a chance. But Miles had been right, few were willing to even talk to him after seeing his Tier 1 Talent rating of detrimental. Those that were presented contracts with uses where 50% of all earnings for the rest of his life would go to the guild, even if he left at someter point.


    One particrly heinous contract had a line in it that stated he would no longer own his own body. Matt shuttered at what people who epted that contract ended up doing. Prostitution would be the best oue, if the look the recruiter had given him was any indication.


    Matt picked up his bag with what little belongings he had and headed for the door before he lost his breakfast all over the polished floor. The moment he got outside he emptied his guts into the shrubs next to the front entrance.


    After rinsing his mouth out Matt stood up and started walking away from the Awakening Center. He didn''t know where he was going, but there was no point in standing around.


    This being only a Tier 4 meant the resources needed to advance to Tier 3 weren''t readily avable for therger poption. The only reliable way to umte essence was to delve into the rifts and y whatever monsters you found.


    Some of the books Matt had read referenced the air on the Empire''s Tier 47 capital. The atmosphere had so much ambient essence that one could cultivate without delving into rifts. Here on this backwater, the ambient essence was near zero.


    <em>Transportation off the is too expensive, no guild will ept me unless my Tier 3 Talent is synergistic with my Tier 1 and lets me umte more mana so Im not crippled. Or I sign my life away.</em>


    Matt pondered his next steps.


    <em>I need a job. </em>


    Thirteen years old wasnt technically considered an adult,at least not by the Empires standard. There was just no more room in the orphanage for older children when most were able to find employment or an apprenticeship after receiving their Tier 1 Talents.


    To relieve some of the stress on the orphanage, emancipation and Awakening were done early, at the ages of 13, instead of the usual 14 or 15.


    Matt headed south, the further he walked the more damage he saw from the rift break five years ago.


    The debris was mostly cleaned up and repaired on the northern side of the city. The asional burned-out building yet to be demolished and rebuilt served as battle scars for the southern section.


    As Matt walked he passed a crater showing where some great spell had ripped into the horde of monsters. Rain now filled in the bottom of the crater turning it into a stagnant pool thick with algae growing on top.


    Just another sign of what happened when rifts werent regrly delved. Another reminder of the loss of his parents and the destruction of this city.


    ***


    When searching the CityNet he had found an inn called Bennys advertising a position of General staff. No skills needed, Room and Board provided. 400 credits a month.


    The description was worryinglycking in detail, but with that kind of pay Matt at least had to try.


    Matt followed the road for several more miles until he came upon Bennys Inn. It was right near the edge of the 5-mile coastline that served as a safe zone.


    Benny''s Inn was situated near three known Tier 3 rifts and on the trail to the nearest Tier 4 rift, the highest rift this offered. It made Bennys the best ce for parties and groups to rx and recuperate between delves.


    <em>Delvers are said to spend more credits than normal cultivators, so I need to be near delving if I want to reach Tier 3 anytime soon</em>. <em>If I want to get to a city with a public Tier 1 rift I need to make money. </em>


    What Matt found at the end of the road was a six-story building with arge sign proiming the owner''s name.


    When Matt opened the front door, he found argemon area filled with tables, and a bar in the center of therge room. Behind the counter, there was arge man in a greasy apron who only bothered to nce Matts way once when the door opened, immediately returning to whatever he was doing behind the bar.


    As Matt approached the man barked out a gruff Unless you are a paying customer fuck off kid, no charity, no donations. without even looking back up.


    Matt braced himself and gathered all the cheer he could muster despite the mans tone. No, sir. Im here to talk to Benny about the position that was posted. And I assume thats you, sir?


    That got the fat man to look back up. He scanned Matt with squinted eyes before asking Shitty Tier 1 kid?.


    Matt swallowed hard before answering with as much dignity as he could, Yes sir.


    Got any idea what this job entails?


    No sir, but I''m willing to work hard.


    Before Matt could continue Benny cut him off. Yeah, I already expect that an I won''t tolerate anything less. What I need is a floater. Someone who can do any job, an jump between em as necessary.


    Benny nced around and then back at Matt That might mean you scrub toilets. Might mean you help the girls carry out food when it''s busy at night. Hours are from 5 in the morning to Midnight with a two-hour break around noon. 400 hundred credits a month, no tips.


    Matt ground his teeth as much as he could without letting it show. This old bastard had him good. That kind of pay was excellent, even if it sounded like hed be hard pressed to earn every credit.


    The delve slot in Glesie was 10000 credits and that was his only lifeline. There were simply too many people that needed the low-tier rifts and not enough of them to go around. Slots had to be bought then resold when the delvers team outgrew that Tier, so credits wouldn''t be wasted, but the barrier to entry would be high.


    Matt made his decision.


    Where do you want me to start sir?

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    Matt I need you to check the staff bathroom. The water is really slow, Beatrice called out as she walked by.


    Is it the hot, cold, or both, Bee? Matt called out from the maintenance room, where he was assembling a table. He got no response, as apparently, Beatrice had already walked off to return to the slow lunch crowd.


    Matt decided to finish the table first as a bar fightst week had destroyed nearly half of the tables in themon room before it was brought under control. And they only had enough spare tables in reserve to make themon room not have too many gaps. So Matt had been making tables in all of his spare time to fix themon room and then get their surplus back.


    <em>If Benny wasnt such a tight ass with money and bought better tables instead of treating them as disposable, I wouldnt be ying amateur carpenter every other week. Or hire a bouncer.</em>


    Matt finished the table and grabbed his plumbing bag. As he walked through themon room, he looked for Beatrice, but she wasnt anywhere to be seen, and two customers were at the bar, clearly waiting to be helped. Matt didnt recognize them, so probably new customers.


    <em>Where is Beatrice? Must be nice to be able to slip out for a dozen smoke breaks just because you sleep with the boss.</em>


    That made him pause. Maybe she did earn the extra breaks. After all, no one else wanted to be near the man.


    If Matt didnt help new customers, Benny would have his ass despite the fact Beatrice was supposed to be the one manning themon area.


    Matt hurried over to the front desk part of the bar and greeted the guest. Hello, how can I help you this afternoon, sir and maam? Benny expected unfailing politeness to his guest and would side with any paying customer before taking the side of his staff.


    Wed like a room, please, but we dont know how long were gonna be in the area, so what can you do around umm, say a two-week stay with the possibility of it going longer. The man answered, and Matt got a better look at him as he was lit by the bars brighter lighting.


    He was tall based on Matts 510 at least 62, possibly 63, dark hair and gray eyes with a face that, while hard looked, used toughing. The woman next to him was probably 59. The ponytail of copper-colored hair made her green eyes pop even more in the dim lights.


    What took Matt by surprise wasnt their good looks. It was that these two felt far stronger to his spiritual sense than the normal Tier 2 and 3s that usually frequented Bennys. Even stronger than the Tier 4s, though that was beyond his ability to get a good sense of.


    It made Matt nervous if these two wanted to start trouble. No one here could stop them or even would want to stop them.


    <em>If they felt slighted no one was there to greet them, I dont want to think about what Benny would do to me to keep in their good graces</em>.


    Yes, sir, we have a few packages that seem to be what you need. If youd like we have a room for a week and after that, its just pay by the day for the same rate. It doese with unlimited training room ess and three meals a day. All for just 400 credits a week and then 60 credits a day going forward. Is that something youd be interested in?


    It was the woman who answered him, Well take it. Can you show us to our room, please? Then to the training room. She swiped at the payment reader, and Matt saw the epted immediately appear.


    Yes maam Matt did as requested, and they only stayed in their room long enough to drop off their bags. Then Matt led them to the training room, where the woman looked around at the training dummies in obvious disappointment.


    <em>Why is she disappointed? The training aids are only 10 years old and updated with the newest software attack and defense patterns of tier 4 speed. Its one of the few nice things this ce has.</em>


    Is there something wrong maam? These training aids go up to Tier 4, and the software was just upd...


    Before Matt could finish, she cut him off with a No, its fine. I just forgot where we were for a moment


    Matt decided to leave before she could take her obvious disappointment out on him. He had a sink to fix.


    <em>Only a year left. Keep your chin up. You got this.</em>


    ***


    The rm went off at 3:55, and Matt was down at the training room by 4. He had two hours of practice time before Benny was up and would assign some tasks.


    Matt started with a few warmups then used the variable bar to do strength training. Today was legs which meant he would be walking like a newborn for the rest of the day.


    Using part of theNet vouchers Miles had given him, he had found a training routine that would be good for a young man looking to be a melee delver. It wasnt amazing, but it had been free and did not require proprietary supplements or a subscription to a sketchy website like so many others did.


    As hepleted each set, he recorded his weights and sets, trying to keep the fatigue at bay. Hed been working twelve-hour days with as much physical training as he could manage for thest year, and while he had clear results, he was bone tired. Even when he slept, he was tired.


    Each rep was paired with the mantra of <em>one more year</em>.


    After his weight training, Matt took his usual practice longsword down and started a Tier 2bat sequence on the training dummy. It was faster and stronger than him at this setting, and with his wobbly legs, Matt would be adding to his ever-rotating collection of bruises.


    Matt practiced in rounds of five minutes, trying to inflict damage while avoiding being hit as much as possible. Everything he read on the CityNet said that injuries were what stopped most low Tiered delvers.


    With few Healers on the and fewer still that were public with their skill meant an injury could only be healed with mundane methods, and that meant months of recovery if it was bad. That meant months of not delving and not progressing. It meant months of wasted ie and added debt.


    <em>I cant afford to get injured.</em>


    <em>Its so shit that living on a low Tiered meant that anyone with a Talent in healing or a Talent healing skill was immediately snatched up by one of the guilds and brought off, which left only the lucky few that got a healing skill as a rift reward and didnt take that opportunity to join a guild and do the same. Or the few insane enough to sell such a valuable skill shard.</em>


    <em>Can I me them, though? I was going to do the same. Am I just bitter that I couldnt leave this backwater? </em>


    Matt thought to himself that was truer than he liked to admit.


    The training aidnded a blow that brought Matt out of contemtion and back into the fight. With a pivot and an upward sh, Matt deflected the next blow and brought his sword down on the training aids corbone. The blow was hard and clean enough that the lights shed red, signifying a kill.


    The aid had a programming oversight that didnt handle overhead attacks on its right side well. It was hard not to abuse it, Matt didnt want to develop habits that might get him killed, but an obvious w in an opponent was possible.


    Matt heard the beep that signified his three minutes of rest started.


    He picked up his water bottle and wiped the sweat off his face, and stretched. Stopping when he saw someone was in the other corner of the room.


    <em>Is it thatte already? Am Ite for work? </em>


    Matt quickly checked his pad and saw it was only 4:23. Looking closer, he noticed it was two someones in the corner, the man and woman that had checked in yesterday. The strong ones.


    He didnt want any trouble, so he turned down the volume on his pad so the beeps wouldnt disturb the training duo. Thest thing he wanted to do was piss off a customer, let alone a strong one.


    Matt continued to practice in intervals. As a Tier 1, he didnt have enough essence or cultivation in his physical side to be able to keep up with nonstop high-intensitybat. At Tier 1, he was only marginally stronger than an unawakened.


    Matt had gotten to see a recording of apetition where there were two Tier 15 participants during a lesson of high Tier cultivators in the orphanage. Thebatants were so evenly matched the fightsted over an hour of nonstopbat. Matts heart would have exploded if hed had to fight at that intensity for that long.


    Cultivation was the journey of power and strength, after all.


    Matt cleaned up his area and stored the training aid along the wall, preparing to go shower. As he walked through themon room to the staff housing hall. He saw Zephyr, an old man who had shown up two or so months ago. The entire time hed been here, he drank until he passed out on a table, woke up, and kept drinking.


    Matt had taken it upon himself to make sure the grumpy old bastard got into his bed most nights and ate at least one meal a day. He recognized the look of loss and despair in the mans eyes. He saw it every time he looked in a mirror, saw it in the other orphans in his year.


    He couldnt fix Zephyr, but he could at least stop him from killing himself before he got past whatever had broken him.


    Come on, Zephyr, you need to sleep. And drink this. Matt shoved his water bottle in the mans hand and red till he finished it off.


    Alright give me your arm. He hooked an arm under Zephyrs arm and helped the man shuffle to his room. He grumbled nonsense at Matt the whole time.


    <em>A Tier 4 reduced to this is just sad. Who did he lose to end up like this? Spouse? Kid? Mother? Father? Brother? Sister? Some shittybination of those?</em>


    Matt fished the key card out of Zephyrs pocket and dumped the old man on his bed. Before he left, he filled a ss with water and put it on the nightstand.


    <em>Why is there so much pain? Where is happiness?</em>


    ***


    The next morning Matt was once again down in the training room. At 5, the redhead and the dark-haired man came in. Unlike yesterday though, the redhead came over to his side of the gym, and once she noticed she had his attention held out a hand to shake.


    The names Dena, sorry I either didnt get your name when we checked in, or I forgot, she said with a smile that would have removed any sting had she forgotten his name.


    No, maam, thats my bad. I never introduced myself. The name is Matt Matt took her hand and gave it a firm shake, and asked, Is there something I can help with maam?


    There actually is. Im in need of a sparring partner who specializes in longswords. My husband Eric over there She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb at the man with her, who just nodded at the mention of his name, concentration fully on the floating ball doing circles around his hand. Hes too busy working on his Mana Control. Would you be interested? Id pay the standard fee.


    Matt <em>was </em>interested, but there was no way he could take Denas money. If Benny found out, he would be out on his ass so quick his head would spin, then hed be truly screwed.


    Id be happy to help maam, though I cant take any payment. Part of my duties is to assist guests in any way I can.


    Dena gave him a look that said she sensed something was wrong but wasnt going to press it.


    How would you like to spar, maam? Im only a Tier 1, so I wont be able to challenge you, but if you need to practice a certain move or technique, Im happy to fill whatever role you need me to.


    Im more looking to practice my staff technique against the longer weapon, so Ill reduce my speed and strength to match yours.


    Matt shrugged and said, whenever youre ready, maam, and pulled his longsword up into a neutral stance.


    As soon as Dena moved, Matt sidestepped the butt of her staff and retaliated with a cut towards her leg when she stepped out of range of his sh.


    As the fight progressed, Matt found that Dena wasnt very used to the staff, which was probably the only thing that stopped her from kicking his ass. Even with her speed and strength reduced to near his levels, Matt found it hard to take the initiative in the fight. Whatever her normal weapons were, she was quite used to melee fighting, and it showed.


    She called the end of the training at 6 after several rounds ofbat. The breaks were purely for Matts benefit as even after an hour of training, she hadnt even started sweating yet.


    Being a higher Tier truly was stepping above themon man.


    Do you train here every day, or do you have a set schedule? This was a far better practice than I thought it would be. You have good instincts with that longsword there.


    Matt made sure he had his breathing under control before he answered, Im here every morning, maam, and Id be happy to spar with you as much as youd like. It was far better than the training dummies even turned up to Tier 2.


    Good Ill see you tomorrow then.


    ***


    Every day for the next month and a half, Matt sparred with Dena and even had the asional longsword vs. longsword sparring match with Eric when the taller man got fed up with his mana control exercises.


    Apparently, he was the dedicated melee fighter of the duo, but he found his Mana Controlcking recently and was working to shore that up.


    The few suggestions Eric had given to Matt about longswordbat had greatly increased Matts confidence with the de. There was nothing revolutionary, but he had tips to attack from unexpected angles and a few feints that Matt found enlightening.


    Eric was an ax user but said no melee fighter could rely on just one weapon and had to be at least proficient with most of them. Because of the infinite variations of monsters, some would eventually be resistant or were less ideal to fight with one single weapon type.


    It was probably the best month and a half of Matts life. They were nice to him, didnt treat him like spare luggage that they were trying to get rid of, or as a charity case because his parents were dead.


    The couple treated him with respect even though they were so much stronger than him. They could have treated him like something youd scrape off a shoe, and no one would have looked askance at them for it.


    Matt swore to himself that when he was that strong, he would remember their kindness and strive to show the same to others, so many of the delvers that came through Bennys treated anyone weaker than them as sub-human and fawned over anyone stronger. It was all so fake. Matt wanted nothing to do with it.


    Hey, Matt, you dont have to answer if you dont want to, but Ive got to ask. Why are you here? Dena looked awkward as she asked, and even Eric looked up from his Mana Control trainer.


    Youre strong, good with a de, and very hard-working. Im just confused why you havent been snatched up by a guild or party already?


    Matt sighed and said, No real secret to it. My Tier 1 Talent doesnt allow mana cultivation, and that invalidated my contract with the guild I was going to join. Any of the other guilds that were willing to take me had terms so absurd I might as well have sold myself into very.


    Dena winced, and Eric mirrored her expression. She opened her mouth to speak, clearly going to apologize for something that wasnt her fault. So Matt cut her off. He didnt want their pity.


    Thats why Im working here, Miles the head guild representative, did what he could to help me. He wasnt able to do much, but he showed me the direction I needed to take. Thats why Im here saving up money to purchase a slot in a Tier 1 dungeon. Everyone has said that there are no purely detrimental Talents, just paired talents that you need to advance to fix. So Ill be a solo delver and advance on my own. Its not even a purely bad thing delving solo. I wont have to share the essence, so Ill advance faster, which will let me catch up with my age group.


    Hopefully the problem is solved at Tier 3 and not Tier 25. Matt tried to lighten the atmosphere by making a joke.


    Well thats a shit hand to get dealt, but you didnt give up, which is the most important thing. If this were a higher Tier, youd be picked up by a guild for that alone. So many delvers lose the will to continue, and thats not something a Talent canpensate for. Eric said with a shake of his head.


    On that sour note, Matt went about his day.


    ***


    That night there was another fight, this one worse than the usual.


    The party of delvers that started it came inter than most, so themon area was full of parties eating and drinking. They sauntered in as if theyd just found the crown jewels of the emperor himself.


    Their attitude attracted everyone as they walked to the item identifier. Shoving the man who was about to use it out of the way.


    The anticipation built as they ced the skill shard in the reader, they were so cocky and sure they got a good skill they didnt even bother to set the readout to be sent to their pads and had it disy on therge screen for all to see.


    Their reason for their arrogance was readily apparent when the first line of text appeared.


    Skill shard analyzing


    Cracked skill shard detected. Requesting higher authority to analyze.


    A cracked skill shard was a rare variation of skill shard that was modified off the baseline. The change could be anything, and finding two that were identical was said to be impossible.


    The most famous cracked skill Matt had heard of was a cracked version of the skill [Shadow Sword]. The original skill let the user project a copy of the weapon to the side during a strike. Nothing crazy as it was only a quarter as strong as the original strike, useful but not amazing.


    The cracked version let the user summon fully autonomous shadow swords. Unlike the skill [Sword Minion], which needed real des and the users concentration to control them, or [Sword Doppelganger], which was just a single sword that while autonomous and had the same strength as the original but could be broken with a strong enough hit.


    That [Cracked Shadow Sword] let the user summon <em>endless </em>copies at only a quarter strength. Having a few hundred des that worked together in perfect harmony was a skill everyone feared.


    Matt couldnt remember the name of the individual who had gotten the skill but did remember that they had carved themself out an Earldom over several news with that skill alone.


    <em>Are we going to see the birth of a legend here?</em>


    Matt hoped not.


    If the skill turned out to be a useful variation and not neutral or detrimental, it would turn into a bloodbath. These idiots should have never let it be a public reveal. They could get themselves and, more importantly, Matt, killed in the rush to acquire the skill.


    Just as Matt was about to escape and the crowd was on the cusp of exploding, the man who had been holding the skill and was probably the leader of the party, with his back still towards the crowd, said, Id love to meet the people who would attack the son of Brackus from Brackus holdings.


    <em>Thats what hes relying on to keep him safe?</em>


    Matt was bbergasted. Brackus holding was a local courier service. While they had power, they werent nearly enough of a deterrent to stop people from killing this arrogant ass. The only difference was now they would make sure to kill the witnesses as well.


    Matt turned to slip out but saw Zephyr passed out on a table near the item identifier. For a moment, Matt debated leaving the old man. It was his fault he chose a spot where the action would be fiercest.


    <em>Just leave him. Getting yourself killed to save a drunk isnt worth it</em>. <em>Just go</em>.


    Matt cursed at himself even as he started towards the old man. In the end, Matt couldnt just stand by. The trick would be getting close without attracting attention or starting a mad rush towards the party at the item identifier.


    Matt got to Zephyrs table right as the item identifier beeped.


    It grabbed everyones attention.


    Analysisplete


    Skill shard identified as [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Original skill description: Charge 200 mana into the skill, which, when activated, will block one blow that is detected to be lethal or can be activated at user discretion.


    Cracked skill description: Channel mana into the skill to activate phantom armor, which will then block physical and elemental damage depending on the rate of mana channeled into the skill.


    Rating: Detrimental - extremely niche / useless due to mana cost being continuous. Turning a life-saving skill into a costly defensive skill. Rmend Mage focus cultivation with an emphasis on mana regeneration.


    Matt swallowed. No one would be killing for that skill shard but judging by the look on the party leaders face and the growingughter of the crowd, a brawl was about to break out.


    Matt grabbed Zephyr and whispered, Start moving. We need to move.


    Before he could get Zephyr moving on wobbly legs, the man who had been pushed out of line spit at the party. Thats what you arrogant fucks get for cuttin...


    That was all he got before the son of Brackus took the skill shard out of the reader and threw it at the man. While he dodged the projectile, the party leader took that opportunity to punch him in the face, and like that, both parties were brawling, and it immediately started to spread to the rest of the room.


    People taking the opportunity to get aggression out or settle grudges.


    Matt pulled Zephyr along, no longer trying to be subtle and just trying to find the edge of the fighting. He didnt want to get crippled by an errant blow.


    They had almost made it when something hit him from behind. As he and Zephyr tumbled to the ground, Matt saw a gleam under a broken chair leg.


    It was the skill shard.


    Matts world slowed.


    Matt looked at Zephyr and saw the man waspletely out of it, eyes closed, mouth ck.


    <em>I have to take the chance. It may be useless for most, but I could use it. I hope this doesnt get me killed.</em>


    Matt quickly grabbed the chair leg and skill shard with it. As he pulled Zephyr to his feet, he raised the chair leg threateningly while letting the skill shard slip into his sleeve.


    Matt carefully swung the chair leg at someones back and let that knock the wooded weapon out of his hands, then switched arms he was holding Zephyr with, trapping the skill shard in his elbow.


    The feeling of the small crystal shard pressing into his flesh haunted Matts every step and made adrenaline pump through his veins like never before.


    Matt got Zephyr out of the brawl and into his room, quickly dumping him on the bed before heading to the maintenance room. When Matt was closing the door and couldnt possibly be seen by Zephyr, and before he fully stepped into the hall and visibly to the cameras, he shoved his right hand into his pocket and let the skill shard fall in.


    When Matt got to the maintenance room, he prepared to start making tables and chairs as a cover. Benny popped in not five minutester once the noise died down.


    Oh good, you already started. And I saw you getting the old man out of there. I cant charge him for rent if hes dead. Good work.


    Matt resisted the urge to scowl when Benny made callous statements like that. He had practice. Thements weremonce.


    No problem, boss. Whats the damage? Do we need more tables or chairs?


    Tables. People can eat standing up, but no one wants to eat on theirp. If they wanted to sit, they wouldnt use my chairs as fucking weapons. With that, Benny stomped out.


    Matt let out the breath hed been holding.


    He almost shit himself when Benny said, I saw you. Matt expected Benny to check on him, but if he had seen him steal the skill shard, Benny would have killed him. Useful or not,zy as he was, Benny did treat his customers like they were his only source of ie, which they were.


    Matt knew that he shouldnt be checked on for the rest of the night. The spare tables and chairs were kept in a separate storage room, so there should be no interruptions while he hid the skill shard.


    If the arrogant partyined that the skill shard was missing, which Matt bet they would, Benny would try and appease them by searching the staff. It was Bennys standard practice, so he could say he did his best.


    Matt grabbed a finished table, wedged it under the door handle, went to the desk, and pulled out his pad.


    It was an older model and had seen repair by Matt and the previous owners. Matt pulled out a shim and carefully pried off the back. He immediately ripped out the speaker. The sound was tinny and intermittently went out, so no real loss.


    Matt carefully ced the skill gem into the newly open space. It was a close fit. The shard was longer than wide, thankfully, a little less than an inch long, and a quarter-inch wide at the middle.


    Most of the cramped internals were taken up by the screen, the processor was small, and the mana battery was even smaller.


    The skill shard nestled in just fine next to the battery. Matt grabbed a hot glue gun and, after it heated up, put a drop under the skill shard, stopping it from rattling and giving its hiding ce away.


    Matt closed the pad back up and checked to make sure it still worked. Nothing seemed amiss, and Matt shook it to see if he could hear anything move.


    Not a sound. Perfect.


    After cleaning up and putting everything away, Matt smiled and was about to get back to making tables when he saw the small speaker. He couldnt leave it out. It wasnt like anyone else came in here but leaving any clue to his theft was stupid.


    He proceeded to smash the small speaker till only indiscernible powder remained, which was tossed to intermingle with the dust and debris already in the shop.


    The evidence of his theft taken care of, Matt started making tables. He had been at it for about an hour when the shouting started, and Matt smiled. Shortly after that, Benny came in with the irate party leader.


    As soon as he saw Matt, he started shouting, Did you steal it, boy? Ill fucking kill you if you took it.


    Inside, Matt smiled. That was all he needed to hear. It was a question, not a statement.


    Outwardly Matt put on a surprised face and stood up, asking, steal what, sir? I didnt steal anything. Benny would kill me if I did, and Ive been working here for over a year. Never stole a thing.


    The man didnt seem to care. He had a wand in his hand that he was pointing at Matt.


    Matt knew what it was; it was a mana detector. It only worked at close ranges but would find mana concentrations. Which meant a skill shard would be detected if it wasnt right next to a mana battery which would overpower any reading with unstructured mana.


    Matt hadnt expected the man to have a detector like this on hand, but it was a standard tool used at the orphanage to check for any kind of mana contraband. Matt wasnt concerned.


    Come here, Matt, let the man scan you. I dont think you took it, but if you did, say so now. Even if you swallowed it, the wand will detect it. Dont do something stupid. Benny looked bored and was clearly only humoring the man.


    Matt, with nothing to fear, walked over and let the man run the wand over him, focusing on his stomach, shoes, and pockets. After a murmured curse, he started waving the wand over all the drawers. He found nothing and stomped out momentster.


    Matt wanted to set up more of an alibi, so he asked Benny before he left. Wouldnt it be more likely that someone else took it and absorbed it already?


    Benny looked tired and answered, Na, not that anyone would want to take that shit skill, but it takes days to absorb a skill. He looked at the tables Matt had stacked in a corner and said as he was leaving, thats enough for tonight, just go to sleep and finish tomorrow. All this over, a great life-saving skill turned into a shitty defensive one. Whoever heard of a channeled defensive skill?


    As Benny turned the corner, Matt heard the murmuring turn to arrogant whelps who throw skill shards then want them back.


    Matt was surprised Benny didnt try and get him to stay up all night to finish, he had before. Thanks, boss. Ill be sure to finish it up first thing tomorrow.


    Not caring if Benny heard him, Matt took the excuse he was handed and fled to his room.

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3


    Laying in the dark, Matt cradled the pad in his hands, he had tried to sleep, but the anticipation and thrill of getting away with the theft kept sleep away.


    He looked at his pad again. This was his lifeline. Some part of him expected to have Benny or the man burst into the room and snatch the pad and skill shard out of his hands, but all was quiet.


    Delving without a skill wasn''t unheard of at lower levels, but the casualty rate was much higher for those unlucky delvers.


    Matt wouldn''t let this pad out of his sight for the remainder of the year. This skill was near perfect for him. A channeled skill would allow him to use his full one mana per second.


    Matt used hisNet time to check on the status of the Glesie public rift. The purchase price for a spot was still 10k. He then quickly searched for average mana stats for lower Tier Mages and found a guide put out by the Juniper family that had the barony over the.


    The guide was only rmended up to Tier 3, then more advanced versions had to be bought. It talked about directed mana cultivation and its three aspects, Maximum Mana, Mana Regeneration, and Mana Concentration.


    Matt read on fascinated. He hadn''t been taught the nuances of directed cultivation at the orphanage. They were taught that as you gathered essence from killing monsters in rifts, the person who got the final hit would absorb most of the essence.


    Most wore devices that would automatically share the essence amongst the rest of the party. Ratios could even be changed so one person could get all the essence. Which was how crafters got the necessary essence to advance without having the skills to fight.


    Once out of the rift, you would process the essence allocating it to either your body or mana.


    Cultivators could direct how they allocated the essence, physical or mana were the two sides of cultivation. After that choice, you could target sub aspects which was called ''directed cultivation''.


    The other option was to let the essence go where it was needed, called undirected cultivation. It was an easy way to shore up weak areas.


    The guide described it as making mountains have specialization and letting the valleys get filled in, raising the baseline to build your peaks even higher.


    All power needed a strong foundation, after all.


    None of these details were discussed at the orphanage because it was expected that the group they joined would have their own guidelines and rmendations specific to their position.


    The guide said the goal at Tier 3 was to have 1000 mana and mana regeneration of about one mana every two and a half minutes. The guide said that this was the ideal ratio for directed mana cultivation at lower levels, with seventy percent directed mana cultivation and thirty percent undirected physical.


    The guide strongly warned against trying directed physical cultivation until Tier 3, and only with the appropriate sses were taken, and guides were not avable until after the sses were taken.


    <em>What''s the difference? Why are you allowed directed mana cultivation but not physical?</em>


    Matt wondered but got back to reading. The information was interesting but useless until he would collect essence in a rift. It was still something to do while he couldn''t sleep.


    The idea was that you would regenerate 576 mana a day, and since it wasn''t rmended to delve more than once every three days, that let you fully regenerate in less than two days and then put extra mana into a mana stone or use it for practice.


    Which because it was mana from your own mana pool, there wouldn''t be any time needed to limate the mana.


    The guide also rmended emptying and refilling any mana stones after a week because the mana would un-aspect, turn into ambient mana, which, while great to power devices, was hell on a cultivator''s mana channels.


    Thest and most interesting part of the guide was that on Mana Concentration. It said it wasn''t rmended to allocate any essence into Mana Concentration before Tier 5.


    Mana Concentration shrunk your other aspects to make your mana denser and more concentrated. It would give your spells more power for the same amount of mana, but the returns were terrible.


    To double the power of a spell with Mana Concentration, it would reset a Tier 8 mage to their base values of Maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration they had at Tier 1. That was at a seventy percent allocation through all the preceding Tiers.


    That brought Matt up short. That was insane. The amount of essence that a Tier 8 had would be massive. To advance to the next Tier, you needed to have ten times thest Tier amount. If it took ten essence to reach the peak of Tier 1, then it took a hundred to reach the peak of Tier 2.


    It was why people didn''t farm low Tier and, therefore, safer rifts. The monsters didn''t have enough essence to make it worthwhile. Killing one monster in a Tier 2 rift was worth killing a dozen in a Tier 1 rift.


    The amount of mana and Mana Regeneration a Tier 8 mage would have would be insane,pletely iparable to a Tier 3, and to give all of that up to reset back to the base of around 100 mana and one mana every twenty minutes.


    That was clearly not worth it.


    It was a good warning though, Matt was sure many a young mage would have crippled their mana cultivation early on without that warning. They would be in the same boat as Matt, unable to cast a single spell but without his advantages.


    Matt stroked his pad, his Tier 1 Talent wasn''t perfect, but this skill shard synergized amazingly.


    Matt plugged the pad in so the mana battery would charge overnight and tried to drift off.


    ***


    The vibration of his pad woke Matt up. It was 3:55.


    Panicked, Matt clumsy, tapped around the pad, finally opening a video to hear nothing, and sighed.


    All was well. The skill shard hadn''t managed to run off in the night somehow. He was still tired but forced himself to get moving. It had been near midnight when he had finally fallen asleep.


    He got down to the training room only a littlete and checked his schedule to see today was only flexibility training. Matt didn''t know how he would have done anything if it was a strength day. Stretching was perfect to wake him up before Dena and Eric came down to spar.


    When they arrived, both came to his corner. Matt was surprised because Eric said his control training was almost done, and then he could stop the dull exercises.


    Eric started talking as soon as they got close. "Matt, Dena, and I talked it overst night. You have talent, and it''s wasted here. We want to help."


    Matt opened his mouth to say it wasn''t necessary. He didn''t want to take from them. They were too kind.


    He thought back to the skill shard he swipedst night. Did he still deserve help after that? If they had been the ones to lose it, he knew he couldn''t have stolen it.


    Eric continued before he could get anything out. "It''s not charity, at Tier 1 with no Talent helping your physical cultivation, hitting a Tier 3 is more than enough to get you into a guild anywhere but here. It''s actually a standard test, though they usually do peak Tier 2 with a seventy percent split."


    Dena pulled a pair of blunted daggers off the weapon rack.


    Matt wanted to reject her offer, but on the other hand, this was his shot at escape from this shit hole city. He wouldn''t need to spend another nine months ving away. He could escape with his stolen skill shard all the sooner.


    Dena could clearly see what he was thinking because she said, "Remember, this isn''t charity. You''re either going to earn the hit or not. And I''m going to be at Tier 3."


    Eric could still see the hesitation on Matt''s face, so he said. "We won''t force you, but sponsoring a young talent isn''t unheard of. It''s not even umon in the Empire proper. You aren''t the first person with a less than ideal Tier 1 Talent from your Awakening. The Emperor doesn''t want strong people tonguish in the gutters because they were born on low Tiers."


    "That''s where the Path of Ascensiones in. It lets the sponsors get rewarded if their sponsee does well. If you make it to Tier 5, we get small rewards. If you make it to Tier 10, we get more all the way up to Tier 25."


    Eric looked wistful as he continued, "The Empire <em>wants </em>powerhouses, <em>needs </em>them. But it also won''t waste resources on those who won''t put them to good use. This system helps all involved, but we won''t rmend anyone if they don''t have the drive to advance."


    Matt swallowed. It did seem like he wouldn''t be taking advantage of them, but what if he didn''t do well?


    As he was about to ask the question, Dena said, "If you stop advancing or die, you simply get marked as a failure, if we as Sponsors have too many failed rmendations, we lose the ability to rmend people, it stops people from rmending everyone they see and just ying the odds."


    Still seeing Matt''s hesitation, Eric added, "This is how we got started, two street rats from a Tier 5. There are thousands of low Tiers in the Empire, Matt. More people than you probably thinke from ces like this." He and Dena smiled at each other, reminiscing on their own beginnings.


    That decided it for Matt, "Alright. I''ll do it. I''ll rise all the way to Tier 25 eventually and get you those rewards." Matt tightened his grip on the training longsword.


    Denaughed and said, "That''s the spirit," and with that, she lunged at him and started the hardest fight of Matt''s life. She was so fast Matt had trouble seeing some of her movements. They were less than blurs that just left pain in their wake.


    As the fight passed the five-minute mark, Matt realized that there wouldn''t be rounds to catch his breath in or rethink his strategy. This would only end when he gave up ornded a hit.


    That steeled Matt''s resolve. He hadn''t taken the chance at stealing the skill shard because he was afraid of a risk or a challenge. He concentrated on keeping his movement defensive, disregarding Dena''s strength and speed advantage; her endurance would be of a Tier 6, so she could just attack at full speed until he copsed.


    Matt started sending out more attacks. He had the longer de, so attacking was his best defense. Whenever she got it close, her daggers had the advantage of being able to tie down his de with one and get painful stabs in with the other.


    Once his attacking pattern bought him some breathing room, Matt noticed that whateverck of skill she had with the staff was absent with the daggers. Dena used the two weapons as her backup in rifts. She was familiar with her range and light on her feet.


    Matt was patient; he wasn''t trying to kill her, justnd a single blow. Not an easy feat on someone with four times the physical abilities of a Tier 1. Each Tier doubled the power if two people had the same allocation ratios. Higher Tier meant more essence, and more essence meant more power.


    After another few exchanges, the fight stalled, with Dena sending probing attacks or blocking with her daggers or forearm guards.


    Matt was getting tired and desperate. He would run out of energy soon, and that would spell the end of this chance, so he attacked with all he had.


    Going fully offensive, the flurry of blows kept Dena on the defensive until Matt used the rebound of her blocking a side sh to step left and forward, closing in on her and bringing the longsword around with every ounce of power and speed he could muster.


    Matt was 5''10, and Dena was only 5''8, maybe 5''9, which meant Matt had the slightest reach advantage before their weapon choice came into y. Dena was more experienced and faster than him, though, and she danced back from the blow.


    Matt wanted to curse but couldn''t waste the air on useless chatter. As he went to follow up, Dena kept retreating, holding up her hands.


    Matt paused, fear gripping him. <em>I didn''t hit her, so is she just calling it because I wasn''t good enough?</em>


    The words that came out of her mouth shocked him, "well done, Matt. I knew you had it in you." Eric even pped a few times.


    Matt was confused. They had said it wasn''t charity, but what was this obvious faking of a hit? At least they could have made it more convincing "I didn''t hit you, though?" Matt tried to protest.


    Dena smiled at him and raised her right arm showing her side. "Nope, you grazed me right here." Matt couldn''t see anything, but Eric was nodding along.


    "You don''t have to sponsor me. I couldn''t make my part of the deal, so you don''t have to feel..."


    "You did hit me. Look." With that, Dena reached down and pulled the workout shirt over her head. Matt couldn''t help but stare, she was only wearing a sports bra now and she had a light sheen of perspiration reflecting the light. The freckles ran down her upper chest down to her...


    Matt jerked his eyes up to meet theirbined smirk and felt his face flush. Pale skin and a trail freckles taunted him to look down again, but with an effort of willpower he didn''t know he had, Matt kept his eyes on her''s.


    Dena had righted the shirt and showed him a small mark under the right armpit. Matt had to squint, but he could see it, if barely. A small diagonal line was only distinguishable from the weave of the fabric because it wasn''t parallel.


    He had done it! It wasn''t more than the smallest of strikes, but that was all he had needed. Relief washed through him. His body that was hopped up on the adrenaline of the fight wanted to copse after the stress left him.


    Matt looked at Eric and Dena''s smiling faces. Eric tossed a small bag Matt hadn''t seen him holding and said: "well, congrattions Matt. You did what most are unable to even dream of. Hitting a person two Tiers higher is one hell of an aplishment."


    "I don''t know how I can repay you both."


    Before Matt could continue, Dena answered, "Advancing is more than thanks enough let alone the resources we get the more you advance. But if you really want to pay us back. Pay it forward when you can. As a Sponsee, when you get to Tier 5, you can rmend someone for the same program. Don''t waste it but don''t forget about it either."


    "In the bag is more instructions and a train ticket" as Eric said that Matt looked at him. It was still hard not to have his eyes drawn to the woman standing not two feet away. "You might want to get moving, the train leaves at 8, and the train station isn''t exactly next door. Unless you want to spend any more time here?"


    That cut through the myriad of thoughts in Matt''s head.


    <em>Not next door. That''s an understatement. If I leave, now I''ll still have to run part of the way to make it.</em>


    Matt looked at them, not knowing how to express his gratitude. Dena took pity on him and said, "best get a move on. I know I look good, but I didn''t know I looked so good you would miss this opportunity."


    That once again made Matt blush deeply but also spurred him into action. Calling his thanks over his shoulder, Matt picked up the pad next to the wall and started running to his room and Bennys to tell him he was done.


    Freedom awaited.


    ***


    Matt ran down the road. He didn''t see a train in the station and was afraid it hade early. He checked the pad clenched in his hands, and the time only said 7:32, but he was still worried the train hade and left early, stranding him here.


    He finished his run, pack bouncing on his back with what clothes and what few other personal possessions he had umted.


    Matt got in the small line at the teller''s booth and opened the small bag Eric had tossed to him. Inside was an envelope and a few other odds and ends. At the bottom, hidden by the envelope, he saw the train ticket.


    Matt carefully closed the pouch and waited for his turn. He''d explore the other contents of the bag when he could sit down and dedicate his full attention to it.


    When the person in front of Matt walked to the waiting area, Matt handed the ticket over to the man behind the ss, who scanned it and looked at a screen. "One cabin to Durham. No transfers. Do you have any luggage you want to check into storage?" he never even looked away from his screen while he asked the question.


    "No, thank you."


    "Well, in that case, you have a four-day trip ahead of you. Two meals will be provided per day. You can choose what meals you take. You''ll have to go to the food car near the front of the train. Do you have any questions?" he pushed a new slip of paper out of the small window, still not looking away from his screen.


    Matt took the slip, said he didn''t, and thanked the man before walking to the seating area.


    With no train in sight, Matt put the boarding pass in the pocket with his pad, found a restroom to freshen up from his earlier sparring session and ran to the station.


    Keeping an ear out for the announcement of his train, Matt hurried through his ablutions, still afraid that he''d miss the train.


    After only ten minutes of nervous waiting, the train pulled into the station. Only a few people departed, and then the boarding call started.


    Handing his pass to the man at the door, he was directed to car twelve, room two. As Matt made his way to his cabin. Matching the room number to the one on his boarding pass Matt was prompted to scan his pass then pair the door key with his pad.


    It was a small room but more than enough for his uses. Matt dropped his bag of clothes to the side and carefully dumped the contents of the pouch Eric gave him onto the bed.


    Matt opened the envelope first and began to read the letter.


    Matt


    We are happy you earned this opportunity. You are hard-working and dedicated to improving yourself, traits rarer than you probably think. We will be leaving as soon as you are on your way, so don''t bother trying to find us. It''s harsh, but if you have too much contact with your sponsor, it spoils a lot of sponsees. You are meant to find your own path. It''s called the <em>path </em>of ascension because it''s only wide enough for one, don''t be afraid to make unconventional choices. Learn from others but don''t treat anyone''s advice like it''s the only truth, even this advice.


    You are on a good start. Believe it or not, you may think you are behind because you spent a year working at Benny''s, but most ces don''t perform the Awakening ceremony until fourteen anyway and don''t let people delve until fifteen. Emotional maturity will keep you alive in a rift as much as strength once you arrive at the yPen.


    Matt was stunned. Arrive at the yPen? He thought they''d be covering the 10k to get a delve slot, not getting him into the yPen. Matt still remembered how Miles talked about it with a desire that couldn''t be fulfilled.


    He continued reading.


    Once you arrive at the yPen, take the intro course and what they rmend there. It''s been quite a while since we were under Tier 3, so it''s a little fuzzy, but only the best are chosen to staff a yPen. It''s a prestigious position even on a low Tier world like this. You can trust their advice though you should think critically about everything you hear.


    I do remember that you will get a slot in the rift once every three days. Be careful. They will have true healers on staff, but it''s expensive. Though you shouldn''t have a problem with getting injured with your skills if you are careful and patient.


    Well, and that skill you swiped should help a lot.


    The letter slipped from his hands. The earlier shock at going to the yPen was reced with dread.


    <em>They saw that and still gave me this?</em>


    Matt gulped and, with far more nerves than before, continued.


    Well, and that skill you swiped should help a lot. It''s a good skill to pair with your Talent, Yes Sponsors can see a Sponsee''s Tier 1 Talent. Eric and I both feel that even if you don''t get a paired Tier 3 Talent, you can strive to get the Tier 25 Talent even with this handicap, though we find it unlikely. Remember that you''ll be able to dedicate your entire essence allocation to physical, which no one else can. That advantage will only grow as your advantage. <strong><em>AND DON''T DIRECT CULTIVATE PHYSICAL UNTIL TIER 3!!!!!</em></strong>


    Back to the skill, don''t feel bad you took an opportunity ced in front of you and made it out sessfully. Being willing to take a risk is important and knowing your limits is crucial. You took both into ount and won. Besides, if those idiots didn''t make a scene, throw a fucking expensive skill shard to start a brawl, he wouldn''t have lost it.


    That''s on him, and if you hadn''t tried to get the old man out of harm''s way at the cost of your own safety, you wouldn''t have been in the position to profit. Karma was working fast yesterday.


    The handwriting style changed and was sloppier.


    Eric here. That was a slick palming, the only reason I noticed (Denapletely missed it!!!) was because we were watching to make sure no one killed you by ident, but it was a good n well executed!! Just had to say that, good luck and visit the.


    Whatever thest word Eric had tried to write had been scratch out to the point it was illegible. And the handwriting went back to the loopy style of Dena.


    Don''t go to ces like that. He''s just trying to live vicariously through you because he knows if he went to one, I''d go to one in revenge, and neither one of us wants that.


    <em>What are they talking about?</em>


    Anyway, good luck. You got this.


    Best Wishes


    Dena and Eric Thorne.


    Ps: I forgot because of Eric stealing the pen. Look up ''The curve.'' It will be informative. While you are on the train, just focus on absorbing the skill shard. When you get to the yPen, buy a newer pad, the ones they sell there are Empire standard, and that means they are twenty-plus years ahead of the best this otherwise has.


    PPs: Also, the card has a 20k limit, so buy a good weapon and don''t be afraid to go into a bit of debt in the beginning. The yPen should have a budgeting ss. Take it.


    PPPs: Ps''s are fun.


    Matt was surprised they had been watching out for him in the brawl, he hadn''t been looking for them, but he hadn''t seen them either. It made him feel good, a warmth in his chest he hadn''t felt since the rift break.


    Matt looked at the credit card. He''d never seen one before. No bank would risk loaning to someone under Tier 3 or without a backer.


    Which he guessed he had now. Now he had a limit twice what it would have cost to buy a slot in Gelese. It felt unreal.


    Matt looked at thest few things in the bag. One was the mana control ball Eric had been practicing with for so long. It was a nice gesture and a good reminder that even if he couldn''t allocate into his mana cultivation, he could still work on control.


    Once he got more mana, that was.


    For the first time, he didn''t feel like that was an oundish dream. Two Tier 6''s thought it would fix itself with his Tier 3 Talent, and he trusted their expertise more than his own.


    Thest thing was a pair of gloves like the ones he saw Dena use but in his size. Were they special?


    Matt tried them on and couldn''t see anything different about them but trusted that they were useful. Even if just as normal gloves, he''d cherish everything they gave him. They gave him a chance at true freedom and treated him better than most people in his life, even without the Sponsorship.


    Matt repacked the items and went to retrieve his skill shard from his pad but came to the realization that he didn''t have anything t and hard enough to pry the back off. After searching the room and finding nothing, Matt briefly debated smashing the pad to get the back off to get his skill shard out.


    Matt found the dining hall and, seeing no one was there, grabbed a pre-packaged meal and utensils. After eating, he dumped his tray into the disposable rack while pocketing the knife.


    Once back in his cabin, he used the pilfered knife to get the pad open.


    Skill shard in hand, Matt reassembled the pad and realized that he didn''t know exactly how to absorb the skill. No one had ever talked about the details. People treated it like it was self-exnatory, but Matt was clueless about where to start and hesitant to somehow ruin the skill experimenting.


    Matt opened theNet and found a guide. It wasn''t free but only cost <em>100 </em>credits. He had 6000 credits saved from Benny''s and a credit limit of 20k.


    <em>Why am I worried about such a small price?</em>


    With warring instincts, Matt inputted his ount information and waited as the purchase was verified.


    Matt read the guide and was d he purchased it. The actual process of absorbing a skill was easy, just send a strand of essence to the skill, and it would flow into your spirit.


    ording to the guide, there were three ways to absorb a skill, or rather how far you pulled the skill into your spirit, which was the determining factor on how long it took to absorb the skill.


    The first was what the guide called core skills. The amount your spirit could hold was dependent on Tier, but on average, at Tier 1, people could hold two in the core spirit.


    The limited number was made up with increased efficiency or power and lower cast time, usually around 30 percent more. Being in the core of the spirit also let the user modify the skills far easier. It was rmended that build defining skills or lifesaving skills went to the core spirit.


    It was a trade-off though even at Tier 5, most only had three slots and Tier 10 four. Every tenth Tier after that gave one as the spirit grew with cultivation.


    Next was the inner spirit which was the average that skills were presumed to be added to. At six slots at Tier 1 and adding two every Tier, it was the ce generalbat skills were rmended to be added. Plentiful enough that most wouldn''t have enough skills to fill as they advanced, it was the average.


    The outer spirit wasst and while thergest area allowing 20 skills at Tier 1 and five more per Tier. The skills here were slower and weaker by half, with the mana cost going up 50 percent on average. Non Combat spells like [Purify] or [Create Water] that were useful skills but not time-critical to cast.


    ording to the guide, while skills could be shifted in the spirit after initial absorption, it took months of meditation.


    Finally and most importantly was how long it took to get the skill into the spirit''s right area, about a day per area. As long as the skill shard constantly had essence circting, the skill was considered to be in the integration phase and slowly moving closer to the core region. Matt should be able to feel the difference as the skill moved along.


    Matt was relieved he bought the guide. He''d never heard of anything about this and was sure he''d have ended up with his single and very synergistic skill in the outer spirit and losing out on a ton of power.


    The guide rmended that skills should be secured to the body with specially made holders. Matt taped it on his chest.


    Once the shard was secured, Matt directed a strand of essence to the shard and felt the process take over. The skill shard seemed to gently pull his essence while feeding back the essence after circting through the shard,pletely automated. He just had to be mindful of his chest until the skill moved to the core of his spirit.


    ***


    The next day Matt felt a jolt in his spirit and instantly knew if he directed mana through the skill structure in his spirit, he''d activate the skill [Cracked Phantom Armor]. With a grin thatsted the rest of the day, Matt anticipated arriving at Durham and the yPen.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    Durham and the yPen were still a day out when Matt felt the final jolt in his spirit that let him know the [Cracked Phantom Armor] skill was in the core spirit.


    The skills structure was clear in his spirit, like an infinitelyplex 3D blueprint it sat waiting to be used, begging Matt to try out the skill.


    It was eating him alive that he couldnt test the skill. Using a skill outside of designated areas was considered automatically hostile. No one wanted a [Fireball] to burn down a building or injure a person, so a nket ban on all skill usage was enforced.


    Matt would have to wait until he reached the yPen and their training grounds to see what his skill could do. He was confident it would be better than most. One mana a second into a channeling skill was more than most mages could easily manage. They would have to eat heavily into their mana reserves to pull something like that off.


    It just grated he now had everything he dreamed of but was stuck waiting.


    To spend his time, Matt searched theNet for anything he could learn about the yPen. There wasnt much information readily avable. The only guide cost 2000 credits, and when reading the reviews, one stated that the author deleted any negative ones.


    Considering Matt couldnt find any negative reviews, he deemed it fishy enough that he wouldnt risk that many credits.


    What public information Matt found was sparse and only general to all yPens, not the particr one in Durham. yPens were man-made inds that used the five-mile safe zone between the essence convergence ofnd and water to create an ind that was usually teardrop-shaped so they could have one of each Tier 1, 2, and 3 rifts.


    They would then dump essence crystals to force rifts to form. If the rift had an eptable monster type and didnt have any peculiarities, they kept it. Otherwise, teams would delve the rift until it lost enough essence and mana that it dissipated.


    It was incredibly expensive to make and then just as costly to maintain on a low Tiered world. The rifts had to be supplied with mana stones because the ambient essence wasnt enough to keep up with the rate of delves that yPens needed. Some spection Matt saw said it cost a Tier 6 mana stone to run a yPen per day.


    That exined why others didnt copy the method. With 100 credits to a Tier 1 mana stone and an exchange rate of ten Tier 1 mana stones for a single Tier 2 mana stone until Tier 5, where it was fifty to one. It was estimated it cost a quarter of a billion credits a day to just run the rifts in a yPen.


    That numberpletely disregarded the cost of the facilities the Empire staffed, said to be state of the art and the test the newest technology it might cost double that to run.


    The sheer amount of credits was nearly unbelievable. It made Matt even more grateful Dena and Eric got him in.


    ***


    When Durham came into view, Matt was already at the door, bag over his shoulder. Stepping off the train, Matt was confronted with a rush of people trying to board the train, fighting the people trying to leave.


    Once Matt got through the crush of people, he saw a tall man with two signs. One read Darius ckwell, and the other had his name Matthew Alexander.


    Matt walked over to the man, nced at him, and then down to a pad. After looking back and forth, he said: youre here good, try and find the other guy. Then turned his pad around and showed two pictures to Matt, one of himself and another of a youth with ck hair and silver eyes.


    Almost the exact opposite of Matts sandy hair and hazel eyes. It turned out Darius had waited until the rush to end and walked out as the doors were closing. Bag rolling behind him, he quickly spotted Matt and the man with the signs.


    Ok good, you two are the only new entries to the yPen this week. The names Griff, and Im the second inmand here. Tier 15 Ive been an active delver for thest 90 years. A bit slower than The Path, but better slow than dead. Im here as a break and to raise my kid. He just turned two.


    Griff then showed the two neers far more pictures of a small child than Matt felt necessary. He wished the man would get back to talking about the yPen. Any nerves about being near the strongest person Matt ever met quickly vanished as Griff swiped through pictures of his kid.


    After variouspliments from the boys, Griff returned to the subject of the yPen. Sorry about that, me and the wife have been waiting forever to hit Tier 15 and have a kid. Having a kid before Tier 15 is a great way to kill your momentum as a delver. After Tier 15, you have all the time in the world. Immortality, its a beautiful feeling not having to worry about old age.


    Matt was envious. Immortality and Tier 15 seemed so far away it hurt. And Griff had done it in around 100 years. That answered why he only looked to be in his mid-20s. Matt wasnt sure how that was a<em> little slow</em>. It seemed fast to him. Matt craved that, and a nce at Darius showed the same look on his face.


    So, we have a few things to do before we board the boat to the ind. It shouldnt take long.


    The few things Griff needed to do was shop for baby things. Massive amounts of clothes and toys were purchased; Matt assumed the Tier 15 must be loaded because if his running calctions were close, he spent a hundred thousand credits in the two hours.


    It made Matt look up the mana stone to credit the chart up to Tier 15.


    Tier of Mana Stone Credits to Mana Stones Mana Stones to next Tier Tier 1 100 10 Tier 2 1,000 10 Tier 3 10,000 10 Tier 4 100,000 10 Tier 5 5,000,000 50 Tier 6 250,000,000 50 Tier 7 12,500,000,000 50 Tier 8 625,000,000,000 50 Tier 9 31,250,000,000,000 50 Tier 10 3,125,000,000,000,000 100 Tier 11 312,500,000,000,000,000 100 Tier 12 31,250,000,000,000,000,000 100 Tier 13 3,125,000,000,000,000,000,000 100 Tier 14 312,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 100 Tier 15 31,250,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 100


    It boggled his mind that a single mana stone could be worth so much. The little information he found about it simply said after Tier 5, most people didnt use credits as a currency but the mana stones themselves.


    He could only assume that all spending was like throwing away spare change to the Tier 15.


    All of the purchases were absorbed into the ring on his finger. When Darius asked, Griff said, Its a spatial ring, cant use one till your Tier 15 because of the strain it puts on your spirit. But damn, they are useful.


    Matt felt that by the end of the shopping trip, he and Darius were far closer from the constantly shared looks over envy and awe at Griffs spending.


    Finally, after what felt like hours, they boarded a small, sleek looking boat.


    Once the boat was underway, Griff talked more about the yPen. So you are both sponsored and on The Path, which has some benefits and limitations.


    At their questioning looks, Griff continued, That means you get better discounts and top priority at all facilities on the ind and preferential treatment in mostrger establishments throughout the Empire. The limitations are all about The Curve Matt could hear the capital letters in thest words.


    Darius asked the question Matt was thinking, My Sponsor mentioned that, but I wasnt able to find anything on theNet about it. Neither had Matt, so he wanted this answered as well.


    Yeah, youll need ess to the EmpireNet to have ess to information like that. Only sponsees are on the path here, so no need to make everyone else feel inferior. The Curve is how The Path of Ascension is graded. Its an Empire-wide race to the top, 90 percent of people will fall behind by Tier 5, and the rest are true powerhouses, future pirs of the Empire.


    Griff looked around and said, Its hard. You have to keep ascending Tiers fast, really fast. Tier 3 by seventeen is easy, but Tier 5 by twenty one is harder, Tier 10 by thirty nine is absurd for most people. Matt swallowed. That <em>was </em>absurd by what he knew of this, at least.


    Its easier to show you. With that, Griff tapped at his pad, sending Matt a message.


    Tier Age Tier 1 15 Tier 2 16 Tier 3 17 Tier 4 19 Tier 5 21 Tier 6 24 Tier 7 27 Tier 8 31 Tier 9 35 Tier 10 39 Tier 11 44 Tier 12 49 Tier 13 55 Tier 14 62 Tier 15 69 Tier 16 78 Tier 17 88 Tier 18 98 Tier 19 110 Tier 20 123 Tier 21 138 Tier 22 153 Tier 23 168 Tier 24 183 Tier 25 200


    Matt had no frame of reference for the numbers. It seemed impossible to reach Tier 25 before turning 200. He hadnt even heard of people reaching Tier 3 before their mid-twenties.


    And no, you cant just have a guild or noble family power level you or give you resources. Thats a part of the other restrictions. While you can join a guild, you cant take anything from them, not even use guild-owned rifts without paying the public price yourself. Its meant to be a solo climb, and most just cant keep up, but those who do are stronger than anyone else at their Tier


    Griff looked off into the sea for a long moment before he cleared his throat and continued.


    If you stay on The Path, the rewards are immense, there are tournaments for only those stillpeting, and the prizes are beyond your imagination. Speaking of prizes, if you are still on The Path, your sponsors rewards are equally absurd.


    The finish line is Tier 25 by age 200. By the end, you have to ascend a Tier every 15 years. Griff shook his head. I and my party fell off at Tier 10


    Its easier for solo delvers as you dont have to split the essence, but even then, my party was delving every two days. Everyone who makes it past Tier 10 are delving rifts at least one Tier higher than themselves. Its dangerous and gets many a Griff made finger quotes genius killed because its hard.


    I wont tell you not to push to stay ahead of the curve. I even encourage it till at least Tier 5, but after that, take a good hard look at yourself and ask yourself if its worth it.


    Matt had to ask. Griff mentioned rewards better than he could imagine. His imagination was pretty big. Whats the reward for getting to Tier 25 while on The Path?


    Griff sighed as he answered, Thest person to hit Tier 25 was Duke Waters. He wasnt a duke at that point but given the title and a Tier 35 world as a personal fiefdom and management over nearly 60 other worlds, all under hismand. His Sponsors were rumored to have gotten a Tier 30 world as well, but thats not confirmed as they never went public.


    Matt took it back. His imagination wasnt nearly big enough. He had seen movies about Duke Waters at the orphanage. He was a legend. He had been thest person toplete The Path of Ascension?


    Darius asked, Isnt a Tier 25 far too weak to rule a Tier 35 world? Wouldnt those under his rule be discontent to be ruled by someone so much weaker?


    That made Griffugh, Yeah, a few thought the same thing and sent their sons to try and duel him. They thought they could get him killed by sending Tier 27 to Tier 30s to <em>identally </em>kill him. Those that went are called the lost generation now. He killed every single one that stepped up. When their parents went to get revenge, the old Emperor himself stepped in and told them to fuck off.


    Remember hes the first person to ride The Path to the end in thest 1000 years or so. Duke Waters was soloing Tier 28 rifts to make it to Tier 25 before 200. Its not easy, and any man or woman crazy enough to do it <em>and </em>survive isnt someone to mess with.


    Alright, enough of that. We are almost at the yPen. When you get there, Ill take you to the administration building to get you both your Empire IDs and then medical, gotta get your shots and birth control set up.


    After that, you both will be assigned delve slots. You shouldnt get night slots because you are both off-season neers. We usually get waves of neers right after the school year ends. So it shouldnt be crowded for you.


    Any questions?


    Matt and Darius had none, and soon they arrived at the ind.


    As Griff dropped them off at the administration building, he left them with onest piece of advice Dont delve more than once every three days. You can request more but dont. Take one day for the delve, one for training, and one for leisure and sses. Thats the schedule the best go with at these Tiers to avoid burnout.


    As he left, he gave them a hard look and finished with, Dont die, kids.


    The admin process was easy enough. At one point, the clerk had them fill out identification cards, and when giving the forms to Matt and Darius. He stressed that if anything was wrong, it would be years of work to change, and this information took precedence over any other.


    Matt noticed Darius inputting a differentst name. He didnt feel it was necessary but assumed there was a story behind Darius actions but wouldnt press.


    Arriving off-cycle, he was able to get a delve slot for the next morning and, after being shown to his room, quickly found a general store. The ce was massive and seemed to sell anything Matt could think of.


    Matt found the pads and found they only sold a single model, and looking at the specs, it truly was better than anything on the open market. The pad was better in every way than his current one.


    It not only had a battery that held twenty mana which was ten times more than his current pad, that much mana wouldst for weeks. But it also could slowly absorb ambient mana or be directly charged from the user. That took time for it to un-aspect the mana to ambient mana but was still amazing in longer delves.


    The pad also came with permanent ess to the EmpireNet as long as he was on The Path. The screen was even made from artificial mana stones, so it was scratch resistant to anything weaker than diamonds. It also had storage enough that Matt didnt think he could ever fill it.


    All of these features came with a corresponding cost. 15000 credits, as Matt was about to walk away, an employee approached him. Are you a sponsee and on The Path? If you are, you get fifty percent off all indicated prices throughout the store, and the first pad you purchase is eighty percent off.


    That put Matt in a fantastic mood. He felt Griff had undersold the benefits of staying under the curve and on The Path.


    With that good news, Matts shopping spree began in earnest.


    New pad, into the cart. New boots, cart. New well-fitting clothes both for delving and leisure, cart. A new close fit backpack that he could fit an emergency kit and water dder in, cart. Matt filled his cart with anything he thought would be useful.


    As he was shopping, he found out what the gloves Dena had given him were. They were mage gloves. They let mana seamlessly pass through but blocked the physical manifestations from harming a mage, no burns from casting to many [Fireball] s. ording to the packaging, they were a good unarmored alternative for melee fighters because of the same resistances.


    He couldnt even find the same gloves she had given him, so he wasnt sure how much they cost but was by looking at the quality of the gloves, he thought they were higher quality than what they sold here.


    The employee only suggested wearing them to Tier 3 because, after that, custom orders would be a better option because of enchantments being avable.


    His final purchase was an essence umtor. It was a thin bracelet that let parties share essence. It allowed mages and other backline fighters to collect essence without having to get in close and finish off monsters.


    Matt was skeptical that he needed it as a solo delver, but the clerk pointed out that it improved essence umtion even if by only a few percent. It would still add up.


    Pushing his overflowing cart to the checkout, Matt happily paid the 5000 credit cost and stopped by his room to drop off his goods and set up his new pad.


    Once that was taken care of, Matt inputted his schedule. Before he could get too engrossed in the new features, he forced himself to change into his newbat clothes and head to the weapon shop.


    When Matt entered, he first noticed it wasnt a store like he expected but a workshop with at least a dozen active forges and twice that number that sat cold and empty.


    A resting cksmith near the entrance saw his obvious confusion and waved him down.


    You new here? at Matts nod, he continued, that means you are a new sponsee and on The Path. Makes it easy then. He waved at the surroundings


    The Path isnt only forbatants. There is a separate path for crafters. Its just as hard, just about what you can make, not how fast you climb the Tiers, though thats a part of it. Thats irrelevant to you though, what you need to know is how this works. There are around 40 cksmiths on the ind right now, no clue on alchemists or other professions. Its the same basics that apply to all crafters in all professions.


    He pointed at a screen in front of his area. Any crafter has to have a sign with five pieces of information, their profession, their specialty, their Tier and the Tier of equipment they sell and if they are on The Path of Crafting.


    cksmiths usually use a shield with the weapon or type of armor they specialize in, thats two of the requirements right there. The border of the emblem will be gold if they are on The Path, silver if they were on The Path and fell off, and bronze if they never were on The Path. then somewhere, they will usually spell out what Tiers they work with.


    The sign was a gold shield with crossed daggers inside with a stylized 3 next to the arrangement. Underneath it was Smiths Ironworks and Enchantment.


    <em>The smith is named smith? What are the odds he changed his name?</em>


    Smith the <em>smith </em>smiled and asked, Ive still got unenchanted works if you are in the market for a shortsword or daggers. Until you are Tier 3 cant sell you any enchanted pieces and pointed to a rack of beautifully made daggers.


    I will want a shield and some kind of single-handed weapon eventually, but Im a longsword user first and foremost.


    Welp I dont have those. If you want that, you should be fine in the rifts here with a longsword, no cramped spaces really though a dagger is always good to keep as a backup, even have a back sheath, here only 3k for both.


    Matt was tempted but didnt want to skimp on a longsword because he bought a backup weapon first. Matt only had 15000 credits left on his credit card, and if the price of daggers indicated the price of a longsword, he would need all of it.


    He was leery of dipping into what he had saved from Bennys, if he needed healing, hed be screwed if he had neither credit avable or liquid funds.


    When Matt said as much, Smith pointed him in the directions of the smiths that specialized in longswords. Thanking the man, Matt promised toe back for a dagger if he had the credits.


    Matt came to Tuns area. Next, the sign was a shield with gold trim and a longsword inside and an ornate three next to it.


    When Matt approached the smithy, Tun was hammering away, so Matt browsed the disyed longswords. Finding the section with the length Matt preferred, he proceeded to test each one for weight and bnce, carefully performing a few swings.


    After a few minutes and debating on two simr swords, Matt was still undecided, switching between the two. They were both good swords that fit him, but one was a tad shorter than he wanted but had superb bnce and the other was slightly de heavy but his preferred length.


    As he was still pondering, the smith paused his work and approached with a hand out, Tun. I see youve got good taste. They are both good weapons, but that one was amission where the other party never picked it up.


    Matt shook his hand and replied in kind, Matt and I was wondering why its de heavy when clearly its not an ident. buttering up the person he was about to make a massive purchase from felt like a smart move to Matt.


    Yeah, the guy wanted to have a heavier de, not a huge difference, but enough that it has been sitting there a while. Not many styles need a heavy de thats not a bastard sword.


    If you like it, Ill cut 1k off the price if you want it, even throw in a back sheath for it.


    Taking 1000 credits off the price only put it at the same price as the other weapon, but Matt liked this de more than the shorter one. He used des bnced worse at Bennys, so it wouldnt be a huge change to his style.


    Seeing Matt hesitating, Tun said, Why dont you take it and give it a few tests, theres a small sparring room over here.


    Matt saw small was an understatement, a six-foot square room. There was only one training aid that pivoted to focus on Matt as soon as he entered the room.


    Exchanging a few blows, Matt decided hed take the sword, it was a de made for attack, and it sacrificed defensive speed to do so, but Matts singr skill was defensive. While hed need to test exactly how much damage it could block and how [Cracked Phantom Armor] performed inbat, he was confident enough in his skills to take the risk.


    Afterpleting his purchase for 10000 credits, he stopped by Smiths and bought a cheaper dagger for 1000. It was a simple curved dagger if his primary got stuck.


    Matt quickly scanned his map and found the training yard. It was a little after 4:30 pm, and he wanted to get a few hours of sparring and testing his [Cracked Phantom Armor] before tomorrow.


    As he arrived, he was almost run over by a group of six who came out the door right as Matt was opening it.


    Sorry, dude, bad timing on our part. The man in front was Matts height and a year or so older, if he had to guess. Hey, are you new? Dont recognize the face. Names Mat and stuck his hand out.


    Mat? Well, always nice to meet a fellow Matt. The Matts shook hands, and eachughed.


    Well now that I know you have good taste in names. We have to be best friends! So new best friend, Im assuming this is your first time at the training center?


    At Matts nod, he continued, Well lets give you the tour before we leave. By the Emperors balls, we could have used a guide when we started.


    A tall blonde behind Mat poked his side and said, Youre supposed to introduce the rest of your party, dumbass. Im Melinda, thats Kyle, Sam, Vinnie, and Tara. Since Mat is rude, Ill do the introductions. We are a sponsored team, peak Tier 2.


    After her introduction and handshake, Mat looked sheepish and murmured, I got excited at the name thing. before wilting further under Melindas re.


    Melinda turned back to Matt and said, You have new gear, and thats good, so youll want to break it in. she then pointed towards a hall lined with rooms. That hall is the melee training rooms. As long as you are on The Paths, they are free to use and those, She then pointed to another adjacent hall. Are the skill-testing halls, you can sync up your pad with the room to get training metrics and analysis of your fighting skills. Its useful, but if you want real improvement, go to that counter and hire a personal trainer.


    Before Matt could say anything, she preceded on, If you need a skill analysis, you need to talk to the front desk. They have tasting rooms where you can get hard numbers on any skills you have.


    <em>Well, thats good to know.</em> And that info is confidential, right? Matt said before she could pass thatment by.


    Mat answered this time, Yup, only your sponsor can see that info, and only if you give them special permissions that they have to request.


    Thank you. You guys have been super helpful, I would have had to bumble my way around until I figured it out myself, so thanks for the time save.


    That put sheepish looks on the entire party, Yeah, we were in your shoes, and well, we try and help where we can.


    Mat asked, When is your first delve?


    Tomorrow at 11 am.


    Melinda jealousy said, ugh, lucky. Our Tier 1 was at 4 am, and I hated waking up that early. You got luckying offseason.


    If you eat around 6 pm, find us at the dining hall, thats when we eat, and wed be happy to talk to you about the Tier 1 rift, share our experiences.


    Matt was touched. It was far more than strangers had to do after bumping into him and happening to share a name with one of them.


    Ill take you up on that offer, though I dont know if Ill make it tonight. I need to practice my skill and break in the new gear.


    Mat looked like someone had kicked his puppy until the other girl of the party, Matt thought she was introduced as Sam, said, Then take our notes about the Tier 1 rift, its nothing the official information doesnt have but also has what we figured out worked for us.


    Theres an official guide?


    Melinda asked, Didnt you get one when you checked in? With the check-in sses? Who was your guide?


    When Matt said Griff, they all winced. He assumed they had also been subjected to his baby craze.


    Well, that exins it. If you see him run the other way, we got stuck looking at baby pictures for three hours once. The entire group shuddered. Yeah, well, now that you are on the yPen, there is a localwork that has a bunch of good information. Guides on all the rifts, a ton of general information about Tiers, its a mini EmpireNet in a sense.


    Well, Im d I ran into you guys, thanks. Who knows when I would have found that on my own. So whats your party name?


    That was the wrong thing to say because all but Melinda started arguing. With a strained smile, she said, We are still deciding. she pulled out her pad and said, let me send you our notes, and then I have to settle this.


    He quickly got the file and escaped the conversation that was turning into an argument with every word.


    Matt went to the desk Melinda had pointed out and was helped into a testing room by the receptionist. Once the door was closed, he pulled the rooms testing options upon his pad and selected defensive all types. The information said the room would stop before he was hurt, and it would let him know exactly how powerful his skill would be.


    Settings prepared Matt, with great anticipation, directed mana into the skill structure resting in his spirit.


    As soon as he did, his reflection along the wall was covered in a mist like covering. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was a slightly see-through gray and had the vague shape of full te armor.


    Searching, the couldnt find any gaps where normal joints would be. The skill covered everything, including his face, although he could see and breathe as though there wasnt anything covering his face.


    As Matt moved and stretched [Cracked Phantom Armor] didnt restrict him in any way or seem to weigh anything. So far, it was a perfect armor, all the advantages of tes coverage and none of the weight or restricted movements.


    With building nerves, Matt initiated the testing.


    A t voice called out, Please hold still, defensive skill test engaging. a ded arm extended from the ceiling and proceeded to swipe at Matts chest. The strikes started feather-light and slowly increased in force until Matt was afraid it would pierce [Cracked Phantom Armor] and carve him up.


    When Matt was about to stop the test, finally, the de pierced the misty armor and was retracted before it could touch him.


    Physical testingplete. Analyzing results. Results determined. Skill will protect up to low Tier 2 shing attacks. Any attacks that breakthrough will have damage reduced by that t rate. Please increase mastery with skill or increase mana expenditure to increase the effect.


    Matt was ted with the results. One mana a second was a lot of mana for his Tier, and it showed he would be near-invincible in the Tier 1 rift. Even better, the Tier 2 rift would only be half as dangerous.


    It was an amazing advantage.


    His happiness froze as he heard the t voice ask, proceeding with piercing test.


    Matt spent the next twenty minutes being poked, smashed, set on fire, frozen, electrocuted, and even attacked with void.


    Thest terrified him as it was the most destructive affinity at its Tier, cutting through defenses like they didnt exist. Matt was quite happy when the [Cracked Phantom Armor] was slightly resistant to the element, not immune even at Tier 1 but better than most defenses that werent specialized in defending against the type.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] was everything Matt hoped it would be and more. The original [Phantom Armor] was a stored skill that was meant as a life-saving measure, and its conversion into a channeling skill was just as resistant but permanently active.


    Matt was happy even if he didnt get more mana at Tier 3, he would still be able to improve his mastery with the skill and, therefore, its effectiveness.


    Feeling like he was floating on air, Matt went to the training room and sparred with the training aids until almost 9 pm. With [Cracked Phantom Armor] active, it allowed him to trade blow for blow with the Tier 2 training aid, and what would have been deep cuts were turned into light scratches and bruises instead of broken bones.


    While eating, Matt reviewed the information Melinda had sent him and, with the official guide, felt ready for tomorrow.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5


    Matt was standing in front of the rift, a jagged tear in the fabric of reality, at least to his spiritual sense and a slight shimmer to his physical senses. It was like a multi-colored heat haze.


    It screamed of wrongness and hate. He wasn''t sure if that was his hatred of the things that destroyed his city and killed his parents or what most people felt.


    The rift was in a building with three guards. Two melee and one ranged ready for a breakout, mostly redundant as this rift needed resources, so it wasn''t over delved and dissipated.


    Matt drew his sword off his back, braced himself, and walked through the rift.


    The world bent and blurred for an instant, then snapped back to normal. Except now he was in the rift, standing near the wall of an underground cavern, exactly where the guide said he would be.


    This was essentially a safe room in the rift. No monster would appear here unless led by someone. Matt took stock of his surroundings, the ceiling was fifteen feet tall at his best guess, and lit torches lined the wall providing light.


    All was as it should be.


    Looking behind him, Matt saw the rift portal shimmering. His escape if the monsters proved too difficult for him to handle. Perfect.


    Activating [Cracked Phantom Armor] Matt stepped into the adjacent room. The feeling of mana coursing through the skill''s structure in his spirit was an odd sensation. It felt like water rushing through a pipe, except it was inside of his spirit.


    One lone goblin waited for him, as the guide said it would be. Matt had decided to take his time on this fight, test his limits and that of the goblins in this rift.


    When he crossed the threshold, the goblin charged with a shriek and wildly swung the shank in its hand. Sidestepping the blow, Matt had to stop from shing down at the passing goblin and ending the fight instantly.


    Letting the goblin swing, Matt got a feeling for its speed and agility. Both would be good baselines for the entire rift. Matt analyzed the monster at about four feet tall if it wasn''t hunched so badly. The green creature had only a ragged loincloth on and a pointy rock with a bit of cloth wrapping the handle.


    Matt let the next blownd on his left forearm, testing his skill, the monster''s power, and weapon. The rock fractured on [Cracked Phantom Armor], which left the goblin stumped until it tried to lunge, hands outstretched.


    Dodging to the side again, he swung at the goblin''s waist. He expected to severely injure the monster in the first swing then finish it on a second backswing, but the goblin was bisected by the attack.


    Matt stepped back, dodging the blood and entrails sttering the floor. Using his sword to push through the viscera, he saw the goblin''s bones were thin, far weaker than a human at that size would have.


    After the kill, Matt felt a small amount of essence trickle into the band on his wrist and then into his spirit, waiting to be assimted and distributed. It wasn''t much, but he finally felt progress. After thest year of only being able to train physically a few hours a day and working brutal hours, he was advancing.


    Matt proceeded to the next room, where three goblins stood mindlessly until he crossed the threshold. From what he read, this was a characteristic of Tier 2 and below rifts only. As a rift''s Tier increased, the realms becamerger and the monster more natural. A Tier 5 goblin rift would have had the entire n attacking and retreating with strategy and cunning.


    These goblins just charged mindlessly. Matt still took the time to dodge and with a sh to the closest monster. He cut deeply into its chest. The two remaining jumped at him, and with a heavy cross-cut, Matt made two more corpses.


    The next room had five of the goblins, but they proved no challenge. Unable to break his skill and so weak, they were crippled with even ncing blows.


    Passing into the fifth room of the rift, Matt saw this goblin stood straighter and had an actual iron dagger. Though for its size, it was closer to a shortsword. Repeating his test of the first goblin, Matt determined the monster was no faster or stronger, just better armed.


    The soft iron dagger was noticeably misshapen where it hit [Cracked Phantom Armor], but the iron was useful to the outside, so Matt ced it in a separate bag for collecting loot. These small pieces of iron weaponry and the armor on thest monster were the only things of value this low Tiered rift had to offer.


    With the same repeating pattern of one, three, then five goblins. The first three sets of rooms offered no challenge to Matt. The only improvement the third set had was they were wearing clothes not quite thick enough to call armor.


    On the fourth set, Matt got his first challenge. This single goblin was a bit faster, less hunched, and of a slightly heavier build. It was not so mindlessly aggressive as Matt tested it. He discovered it wasn''t trained, just better with its decision making.


    The room with five goblins got bloody. Matt was nked by the little green monsters, and while his reach and reflexes were still better, it was the first time Matt felt his skills pushed.


    Two of the three that came straight on were taken out easily, but Matt had to deflect thest''s dagger, stepping in and kneeing the goblin in the chest and sending it stumbling back. Matt was fighting as if the [Cracked Phantom Armor] wasn''t active, treating every swing as a possible threat.


    The final two that had attempted to nk him were easy to take out, the left with a thrust and the right goblin with a sh that took off its outstretched arm.


    Matt finished the goblins off before collecting the essence and loot.


    Taking a drink of water, Matt pondered on his skill. It waspletely permeable to air, his clothes, and backpack. While it also stopped, the goblins blowspletely. It didn''t even have eye slits. Matt was just able to see through the skill perfectly.


    It was amazing how a single skill turned this rift into a joke. Matt wasn''t arrogant enough to imagine that he could be this aggressive if he didn''t have the skill to rely on, but when they couldn''t even harm him, it was hard to treat the fights seriously.


    Melinda''s parties'' notes talked about how they got injuries the first few runs they did, and the increased intelligence of the goblins made the backline take injuries despite the front line''s best efforts.


    Even still, Matt hadn''t taken a single blow he didn''t allow tond. They were smaller, weaker, and slower than him, which let Matt dictate the pace ofbat. And without others to worry about, Matt didn''t have the usually limited movement of melee fighters who couldn''t dodge every blow because then the mages, archers, and supports would be open to attack.


    Matt proceeded through the rift. He fought five more sets of goblins, collecting essence and iron weapons along the way. His sack was getting heavy to the point he ced it before the entrance of each room.


    An hourter, Matt arrived before the final room and peered in. Five goblins in scale armor, just thumb-sized pieces of metal attached to a long shirt, stood in front of a sixthrger foe.


    The final upant of the room was a hobgoblin, 55 and bulkier than his lesser counterparts. It had actual te armor even though it was only iron and hadrge gaps between the pieces.


    This was one of three variations the final fight could take. It was also the mostmon appearing around fifty percent of the time. The other two variations had a goblin mage and archer, respectively. Much harder fights because of the suppression the ranged fighters could put on a group.


    Matt smiled, happy he didn''t have to fight a variation his first delve.


    Stepping through the doorway, the five goblins charged but in a loose formation with the hobgoblin trailing behind them with an axe in hand.


    As the group approached, Matt circled left, so their formation was unable to nk him as easily. Mattshed out at the first goblin to reach him and disarmed the goblin, who fell to the ground clutching at his stump.


    One more obstacle in their way staggered the goblins out farther, so Matt had all of them dead or incapacitated by the time the hobgoblin approached. This was a fight Matt was anticipating.


    The hobgoblin had a near-human size and with low Tier 2 strength and peak Tier 1 speed and resistances. Matt was not willing to underestimate this opponent; he had no one to help him if he messed up. With Tier 2 strength and a solid weapon, this hob could probably injure him, unlike his lesser cousins.


    Backing up while circling, Matt brought them back to the center of the room where there were no bodies to foul up his footing and stopped retreating. The hobgoblin continued his approach at the steady walk he had maintained the whole time and swung his two-handed axe.


    Matt stepped back, not trying to match the opponent''s strength. Matt went to lunge at the armored foe, using his straight weapons ability to pierce armor. He had to jerk back as the hobgoblin reversed his swing and tried to impale Matt with the spike on the rear of his axe.


    Matt used his aborted thrust to strike the handle of the axe, sending the weapon over his head while stepping under and past the hob''s arms. But was unable to get a blow in as the hobgoblin retreated and reset his stance.


    For a moment, Matt and the hobgoblin locked eyes, then Matt surged forward with an overhead chop. The hob, thinking he had an easy victory, back stepped. Letting Matt blow hit the ground, stepping back in with a heavy horizontal swing.


    Matt raised the pommel of his longsword and stepped to the opposite side of the swing, using the nted tip to block the heavy blow. Dropping the longsword after the block, Matt closed in with an elbow strike to its unarmored face that made the hob stumble.


    With the head of the axe still near the floor, Matt kicked at the handle, ripping the weapon out of the hob''s hands. Before the monster could recover, Matt drew the dagger from its sheath and drove it up under the hob''s chin into its brain.


    Shoving the hob back, Matt retreated until he stepped over his fallen longsword, and without taking his eyes off the still body of the hob, he picked his weapon up.


    Watching the corpse, Matt waited until he felt the rush of essence to approach and ensure the goblins were dead. The essence he got from the hob was worth half of all the essence of the preceding rift.


    Matt tried to steady his breath. It had been an exhrating fight. The hobgoblin had been smart and more experienced than any of the goblins preceding it. It also didn''t have the mindless aggression that made the goblins easy to predict.


    Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Matt pushed the energy down. The adrenalin was still pumping through his veins, and the umted essence created a rush Matt had never experienced before.


    He wanted more. He wanted to exit, then enter the rift again.


    After a few deep breaths, Matt settled his emotions, though his racing heart wasn''t slowing. Matt grabbed his sack of loot from the entrance and stripped the goblins and the hob.


    Matt then turned his attention to the real prize of the rift. The reward for killing the strongest monster was always random. It could be anything from the mostmon of mana stones to the incredibly rare skill shards.


    This being a low Tiered rift, it didn''t often drop skill shards. ording to the official guide, Tier 1 mana stones could appear in quantities ranging from 1 to 100, with the average being around 7.


    Matt could hardly imagine making 700 credits for an hour and a half''s work.


    <em>It makes all the hours at Benny''s feel like wasted effort. I can make more in two hours delving the weakest of rifts and make more than I made in a month.</em>


    This rift also could reward delivers with a few ingots of perfectly pure metals. Usually, only copper and iron there was the chance for steel or aluminum. The smiths prized these drops because they were easier to enchant when forging Tier 3 and above des.


    The iron weapons Matt had collected along the way were just melted then sold as mundane building materials. The Empire paid for the scraps, no reason to have expensive mines ruiningnd for mundane metals when most low Tier rifts created them endlessly for free.


    Matt approached the area of distortion next to the exit rift. It was a purple color to his spiritual sense. Matt wasn''t sure if that was because of the item contained within or it was just random.


    Everyone''s spiritual sense was unique to the individual. Matt could ''see'' with his if he was close enough, and he saw purple on the distortion of the prize.


    Matt sent a pulse of essence at the small field, and it shimmered before a small pile of stones appeared.


    <em>Mana stones. Jackpot.</em>


    Matt collected the small shards. They were only slightly bigger than thest knuckle on his pinky, in the shape of a hexagonal bipyramid. Each Tier 1 mana stone held 10 mana. Unlike artificial mana stones, once these were drained, they would turn to dust then even the dust would disappear after a moment.


    At each higher Tier, they held more mana at the same size, that being the reason a ten to one ratio was standard at the lower Tiers.


    Matt collected the small crystals and counted them from one hand to the other. Eight mana stones, one better than the average.


    He couldn''t stop smiling, 800 credits. 80 mana in his hands, the very power modern society needed to run was so small.


    His instincts felt they should be fragile, even though Matt knew that was just an illusion from their resemnce to ss and size. The mana stones were nearly indestructible as long as they had mana remaining.


    The only sad thing was if a mage wanted to convert the rifts mana stones to personal mana, there was a loss ratio of near forty percent, and it took time in special equipment to slowly match the mage''s unique mana signature.


    That was why mana stones were mostly used for powering daily life and only asionally used to refill mages at great cost.


    Matt pocketed the mana stones, stopped channeling mana to [Cracked Phantom Armor], then stepped through the portal, returning to the real world.


    One of the guards waved Matt through to a check-out area where he could leave the iron scrap he collected.


    The attendant looked like she was bored but trying to hide it, she almost seeded. "Iron scraps can go on the scale, and if you are willing to report what you received, please do so."


    Matt didn''t mind. The Empire spent far more running this ce than he had just earned. "Eight mana stones was the only reward. Well, besides the scrap." Matt waved at the sack full of metal.


    "We are willing to purchase the mana stones here if you wish, or you can take it to any of the banks." the youngdy sounded like she said these same words hundreds of times a day.


    <em>Come to think of it, she probably does.</em>


    Matt thanked her and walked away, checking his new ount bnce, 6872 credits. Matt wasn''t in a hurry to pay the credit card off as he didn''t rue interest being on The Path.


    When he arrived back at the popted part of the ind, he saw it was just after 12:30 and decided to go shower then eat lunch.


    After eating, Matt didn''t know what he should do with himself. He couldn''t remember a time where he didn''t have <em>something </em>on his to-do list. At Benny''s, he was working or training. Even at the orphanage, he was in lessons or doing extra training.


    Matt was at a loss.


    He decided to wander the ind. It was an ind 10 miles across. It must have something to do.


    What Matt found during his walk was people at the beach, it seemed to be the way to rx as parties lounged andrger groups formed around various sports and games. Matt thought about joining but decided he was still too keyed up from the fight.


    That led Matt to the interior of the ind. He checked, and there were no predators on the ind, so he found a small clearing off one of the paths.


    He found watching the slight breeze change the patterns of the shade cast by the trees was rxing. For the first time since the rms went off when he was eight, Matt allowed himself to fully rx.


    An unknown timeter, Matt drifted off.


    ***


    Matt woke slowly, stretching as he did. He felt good, he felt light, so many worries were removed after getting a skill and a source of ie.


    Checking his pad, Matt hurried to the dining hall. Melinda''s group said they''d meet him there, and he was eager to talk to someone about his delve.


    Arriving only a little past six, Matt saw the group in line and waved at them as he joined the back of the line.


    As he took his tray to their table, Matt could see the anticipation on their faces. Before he could fully sit down, Mat asked, "So how was it? You''re still in one piece at least."


    Melinda elbowed the other Mat and said, "Wait for him to sit down." As soon as Matt had situated himself, she blurted, "So how did it go? Don''t keep us waiting. I didn''t think to exchange numbers so we couldn''t call you when we got out of our rift."


    "Yeah, I wanted to ask how your rift went?"


    He was cut off with a series of ''nooo''s'' and ''you first''s''.


    Matt acquiesced and told them, "It wasn''t bad. Your notes and the official information made sure there were no surprises. My Tier 1 Talent and skill synergize <em>really </em>well, and that made it, so none of the regr goblins were able to hurt me."


    As he spoke, he realized how weird that sounded. He was so used to thinking about his Talent in a negative light that he couldn''t quite believe what he was saying.


    "I took the fights seriously, but in the end, the goblins are so weak it was easy to not get hit at all."


    Sam asked as soon as she could, barely getting her words out before the others, "What boss did you get? Did you pull a variant?"


    "Not just the standard, a solo hobgo.."


    "How did you solo him? We all did but not until we were peak Tier 1''s and everyone else was ready to help." Kyle cut in this time.


    Thement about peak Tier 1 jolted Matt. He hadn''t cultivated his umted essence. He''d taken a friggin <em>nap </em>instead.


    "Oh, gods, I forgot to cultivate." Matt made to stand, but Vinnie, who he was sitting next to, dragged him back down.


    "Chill, man, it''s fine. You won''t start to lose the umted essence for a few days. Rx really, man."


    Matt sat back down reluctantly. "I feel so dumb. How did I forget the entire purpose of delving?"


    "Yeah, how did you?" Vinnie had a smirk on his face as he asked, but it didn''te across as unkind.


    "I got excited about the mana stones and how much they sell for. And ugh took a nap in the woods." Matt blushed slightly as he said it.


    When he didn''t hearughter from the others, he nced around. They were blushing harder than him.


    Melinda, with red cheeks, raised her cup and said, "here''s to growing up poor and fixating on the money."


    Everyone, including Matt, drank to that.


    Matt broke the silence after that he wanted to follow up on that statement. "I grew up in an orphanage after a rift break. What about y''all?"


    That seemed to ruin the mood even more. It was Mat who answered this time, "Same with us and a lot of the Sponsees here. The Junipers haven''t been doing their damn job and rift breaks are at an all-time high. They should be..."


    Before Mat could continue, Melinda covered his mouth. "Yes, we were orphaned as well, but talking bad about the nobility isn''t smart without the power to defend yourself. <em>DO NOT</em> get us all in trouble, Mat."


    That finally stopped Mat''s struggles. Sam said, "My evasion instructor said he heard rumors that the issue was being passed up."


    Mat scoffed around Melinda, covering hand, "That means we''ll see results in twenty years if we are lucky. All the nobility are above Tier 15, and immortality makes bureaucracy take forever."


    "Enough, we can''t do anything. Matt, you were talking about the hobgoblin. How did it go?" Melinda forcefully changed the subject, and Matt took the topic shift willingly.


    "It wasn''t a long fight, honestly. While he was a better fighter than the goblins, he wasn''t that good." Matt described his fight in detail, and everyone oohed and ahhed at all the appropriate parts.


    "What about you guys? How was your delve? And what do you do on your off days? I haven''t had free time in forever."


    Melinda said with a bright smile, "Our rift was easy. We''ve reached the peak of Tier 2 and, in the next month or so, will advance, but we are bncing out our essence so we can advance together. And our days off, we usually spend the remaining time after the rift cultivating. That usually takes up most of that day, but we have a strict no work policy on delve days."


    "Humm, the day after for us is training both group and solo. We all have hiredbat instructors for personal lessons. It''s good, and when you can afford it, you should look into it. They are all Tier 7 or higher, most are here on extended R&R, either someone in their party got so injured they can''t delve safely and are waiting for the cooldown on healings, or they are taking a break. They are all vetted and know their chosen fields."


    That piqued Matt''s interest, "Cooldown on healing? What is that? I thought it was just you are healed and back to normal. Just do it and done. All better."


    The entire group looked to Melinda this time, "Na, well, for small injuries, that''s exactly how it works. But if you get ripped in half, regrowing and limating to the new parts takes time. I don''t want this to be a lecture, but I''m assuming you don''t know how healing <em>actually </em>works, do you?"


    At Matt''s confirmation that he didn''t know, she continued, "Don''t feel bad none of us knew either till I got a healing Talent. There are two types of healing spells. One is undirected. Cast the spell, and it does its thing. Each spell will be different, but it just heals, the problem is, get a limb chopped off and only have a basic healing spell, and it will just seal the wound. It''s technically healed."


    "You need other spells like [Regrowth] or [Regeneration] to heal missing limbs, though [Regeneration] is a self-cast spell. The point is, they will save your life but are kinda limited in their execution."


    "The other type is a directed heal, it''s like.." Melinda paused and pursed her lips before continuing slowly. "The best way to describe it is if someone gets their head chopped off, an undirected heal won''t do anything, the spell will just consider them ''dead''. Despite the fact you don''t instantly die with decapitation, even mundane medical technology can reattach a head."


    "A directed healing skill is able to reattach ahead, it just takes dozens of times more mana and absurd amounts of control and knowledge of anatomy. The spell doesn''t guide you if you mess up. You just killed somebody while trying to save them."


    Mat continued for her, "I like to think it''s like patching a nket, a hole can just be stitched together, and a directed healing spell can easily do that, but a nket that was ripped in half is harder to get back together."


    Melinda smiled at him and said, "We got distracted. The point is after a lot of healing, the body needs time to recover, or the next healing will be even harder and might not take, so parties wait, and that gives yPensbat trainers."


    "The day before a rift, we attend sses, math, science, and pursue a crafting hobby. Do some group training at some point. It''s the rmended schedule, but you can flip the days if you want."


    Tara spoke up, "The night after a delve is for partying. There are clubs and parties every night, but most only go after a delve to blow off steam, which is where we are going next. You wille, right? Let us show you the scene."


    Kyle chimed in and said, "Yeah, you don''t have to stay long, just have a drink or two, y some pool with us, and then you can head home. It''s toote to cultivate anyway. Better to wait till morning when you can do it properly."


    Matt wanted to decline. He felt the urge to rush back to his room and cultivate. The pleading looks they gave him finally decided Matt.


    "Sure, I''ll go, but just for a little while."


    ***


    Matt and Kyle were ying doubles pool and getting their collective asses handed to them by Sam and Tara. Mostly Tara.


    "It''s still unfair that your archery sense works for all projectiles. It''s cheating, Tara," Kyle whined, and Matt agreed.


    The archer girl was even using her non-dominant hand, and they had limited her to two shots, and she was still clearing the table.


    Her skill felt superhuman, which it was. Talent''s were unique and wondrous. From what Matt understood, Tara had a projectile sense of some type.


    If it made her this good at pool, Matt wondered what she could do with a bow.


    Melinda and Mat were snuggled together in a dark corner, and Vinnie had met with a woman then disappeared.


    Matt nodded at Mat and Melinda, "So they are together then?"


    Sam answered with a shake of the head. Kyle used words, "Nope, our sponsor heavily suggested that we don''t get in any rtionships in the team until after Tier 5. It wasn''t quite an order, but Melinda and Mat would just jump off a cliff if Harper said to."


    Tara scoffed at him, "Like you wouldn''t?"


    "True."


    Matt understood that. If Dena or Eric had ''heavily suggested'' something, he would have taken it as an order as well.


    "Did he give any reasons?"


    "Yeah, he saw how Melinda and Mat looked at each other. He said the risk of young love not working was pretty high, and young mistakes could break up a young couple, and that would destroy our team. So they are waiting." Kyle took his shot and missed while answering.


    "I was meaning to ask. How does being sponsored as a teamwork?"


    "Pretty much the same, but we can''t add more people to the team without our sponsors'' approval. Other than that, nothing really different." Tara had flopped backward onto the table, beer forgotten to the side. "How did you get picked by a sponsor Matt? Were you top of the ss or something fancy like that?"


    Matt wasn''t sure he wanted to share his failure, but he got the feeling they were honest and kind, so he decided to share a little. "No, I was orphaned like you all, but our orphanage was so overcrowded we got awakened at thirteen and pushed out."


    All three of them winced, "It wouldn''t have been that bad. They tried to ensure we had some face time with guilds and corporations at the Awakening Center. I almost got recruited to a guild, but my Tier 1 Talent is..."


    Sam chimed in, "You don''t have to say more."


    "Na, it''s ok. It''s limiting. Yeah, limiting is the best word for it, I can''t cultivate mana at all, and that broke my provisional contract. I got lucky, and the recruiter was a good dude and helped me at least find a path forward. I just needed to make money then buy a delve slot. So I got a job at a shitty inn. Worked there for over a year when Dena and Eric came in."


    Matt had all of their attention now. "They were stronger than anyone I had ever met at the time, Tier 6''s, and they were kind." he gave them a look. "I''m sure you know how high Tiered people can be."


    Tara and Sam nodded while Kyle had a dark look sh across his face.


    Matt got murmurs of agreement, then continued, "I was working twelve-hour days as a general handyman with only some time before everyone else woke up to practice, so that''s when I did it. When they checked in, they came down to spar roughly the same time I did".


    "Dena asked for a sparring partner while she worked on her staff technique, and that''s pretty much how the next month went. They sparred with me in the mornings and said I had good talent and could feel my Tier 3 would be a pair with my Tier 1 and fix my problems."


    "So they had me spar with Dena at low Tier 3 strength" three intakes of air made Matt paused as he remembered the fight. "It wasn''t even close. She was so much faster and stronger, I was barely able to eke out a tiny hit, but it was enough."


    "They said hitting a Tier 3 at Tier 1 was special enough with my determination that they''d sponsor me. Though I didn''t know what that really entailed. A few hourster, I was on a train here. Shit, that was onlyst week."


    "Wow. If we didn''t have a rule against sleeping with friends, I''d take you to my room right now." Tara''s words made Matt blush a bit before everyoneughed. She paired it with bouncing eyebrows, cutting the tension of the story.


    "What about you guys?"


    Sam answered, "We were all friends in school when the rift break happened. It was bad..." She took a long pull from her bottle, "We were close to the initial hit area. Our teacher died, killing the monster that pushed through the door. That turned out to be a blessing because it blocked the door mostly, and only small monsters were able to just barely squeeze through."


    They all looked to Mat and Melinda at that point. "Mat took charge and got everyone to pile stuff in front of the door and block the entrance off. He took a blow that nearly shredded his back. I still remember Melinda holding bloody rags to his back, crying. I know there isn''t any way to predict Talents, but at that moment, I knew she would be a healer, Talent or no talent."


    "Out of the twenty-three kids in our ss, we were the only ones who lost everyone. The others had someone to go to. But not us. That made us close. We''ve been inseparable since, when our Awakening''s happened at fourteen, we all got pretty lucky, nothing detrimental."


    Tara winced and said, "Sorry Matt, I didn''t mean..."


    "It''s fine. Really. It happens to some and that some included me."


    Clearing her throat, Sam finished the story, "We had already decided to team up from day one, so we had spent the entire time training together. The problem was Melinda."


    Matt looked at the blonde, giggling into Mat''s shoulder. <em>How was she a problem?</em>


    Seeing where he looked, Sam said, "Yeah, Melinda''s Tier 1 Talent was rated as exceptional in the healing category. It made a massive stir."


    "Fucking shit show is more like it," Kyle grumbled.


    "Yeah, well, everyone came. There were hundreds of guilds and groups offering to pay massive bonuses to attract her. Our sponsor heard about it, and seeing how they were acting put a stop to it."


    "Harper''s a Tier 7, and he was like a walking storm. His very presence made them all scurry back to the holes they crawled out of." Her disgust at their actions was paired with a scowl.


    "Harper tried to take Melinda aside, but she refused to let go of Matt and Tara. Literally hanging on to their clothes. So Harper brought us all to a room and exined what was going on. Apparently, there is something of a finders fee for low Tier guilds to get rare Talents for higher Tier guild''s or noble families." Sam said.


    "They recruit them then basically sell them to the highest bidder. The guilds were trying to turn Melinda into a cash cow."


    "Harper gave us EmpireNet ess, and everything he said was true. The Empire doesn''t technically allow it but, it''s really hard to police on low Tiered worlds so they can get away with it."


    Kyle saw Matt''s expression and added, "Not that the people are treated badly it''s just they don''t get a say on where they go. But sometimes it''s the only way off of theses."


    Tara finished, "So Harper offered to sponsor us if we could meet his standards."


    They all shuddered at that. "It was a very tough few months, but we are better for it."


    Matt had a thought pop into his head and asked, "Why has everyone been so friendly here? Not that I mind, but it seems odd."


    "Easy answer is ny percent of the people on the yPen this time of year are all Sponsees, and most of use from poor backgrounds, and we are hot shit. In. Oh. I don''t know. In four or five months, we''ll have another wave of newbiese in, and most will be the kids of the rich here to spend money and die. It''s usually a ten to twenty-five percent death rate amongst the non-sponcees. That''s why the Empire gives spots to people running the cities. They pass them off as favors, and the rich help pay for the rest of us."


    Matt looked at Sam aghast. <em>How did people die in that rift?</em>


    Reading the question on Matt''s face, Kyle answered, "The non-sponcees don''t get the discounts or anything, but they don''t have restrictions either, so they throw themselves to the Tier 2 and 3 rifts way too early then get killed."


    Tara chimed in, "Also, you never know who''s going to be a powerhouse in the future. It could be anyone here. Besides, we aren''tpeting for spots on The Path or anything. The higher everyone climbs, the better, no reason to cut each other down."

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6


    The next morning Matt got up and reviewed the cultivation guide he readst night. There wasnt anythingplicated at Tier 1, and he just had to rx and focus on his essence.


    As excited as Matt was, he couldnt rx enough to reach the required state to cultivate. He tried sitting legs crossed, tried sitting in a chair, even tried slow movements. None of the top-rmended positions worked for him. Eventually, he flopped on his bed and was slowly able to get a good grip on his essence.


    The essence he had umted delving was sitting in his spirit, concentrated in the center but also present dispersed through the rest of the sphere.


    Once Matt had a good mental grasp on the essence, he could feel two paths. One led to his body, and that path was open and seemingly thirsty for essence. The other led to what he knew was his mana but feltpletely sealed off. No matter how he tried, the essence couldnt go down that side.


    Matt hadnt <em>actually </em>believed it would work, but it had been worth an attempt. Giving up, Matt sent the essence to the physical side.


    That was all Matt had to do; there was no real effort to cultivation, just concentration and time. He had to constantly coax the essence along, or it would try and settle stagnant in his spirit.


    He found it incredibly boring.


    What felt like minutester, Matt was finished, his spirit empty of essence. He looked at his pad and saw it was almost 3:00 pm. He had started at just after 7:00 am. Where had eight hours gone?


    Matt felt robbed. And hungry. Sighing, he got changed into sparring clothes and quickly ate a light lunch.


    He went to the training room and did what Melindas group suggestedst night. For one thousand credits, he could purchase a simtion of the final room of the Tier 1 rift. It even came with the variations.


    Matt made the purchase and wandered looking for an open training room but didnt find one until the fourth floor. Linking his pad and simtion to the room, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Six training aids came out, and Matt began.


    After his training, Matt went and had dinner with Melinda andpany, but they had a tactics training ss after dinner, so they didnt linger long.


    Matt went back to his room and browsed the avable sses, everything seemed useful, but he had to prioritize at least a little. It was only rmended to take one or two sses at a time, and with them meeting once every three days, they were built around the three-day delve schedule.


    First, Matt looked up the finances ss Dena had rmended. Most ssessted two months, and he was in the middle of a cycle, so hed be waiting no matter which sses he chose. The other one he decided on was Manners and Etiquette, a rmendation passed on by Melindas groups sponsor.


    Then he looked up the personal trainers.


    ***


    Matt stood in front of the rift again. It shimmered with colors he couldnt put names to. With a bracing breath, he stepped through.


    The beginning of the rift was the same as it had been three days ago. The entire rift was a repeat of thest delve. That was until the final room, where he only saw four goblins in the scale armor. To the side, he found the fifth.


    It was an archer. Matt didnt have anything to fear from this goblin, it was only mid-Tier 1 in strength, and its bow wasnt particrly powerful.


    Still, Matt went over the scenarios that had worked for thisbination yesterday.


    Stepping through, Matt ran at the four charging goblins veering off to the right-most goblin and stabbing his longsword through the small monster while charging at the goblin with the bow.


    Using itsrade as a meat shield, Matt closed the distance before the others could rescue the goblin who stood shooting arrows into the corpse on Matts de for a breath too long.


    That mistake let Matt add one more to his goblin shish kebab. Turning while using his foot to push the goblins off his de Mattshed out at the hobgoblin, who had nearly reached his back as it was closer to the rear when Matt ran past the group of them.


    Matts attack caused the hobgoblin to step back, aborting its swing. That change in location caused the goblin charging past to catch the axe in the side.


    The final two goblins nked Matt to either side, trying to box him in and restrict his movement. He stepped to the right, blocking the goblins swing before stepping on its feet and hip-checking the smaller creature.


    The force sent the goblin falling back, but Matt standing on his feet caused his weak ankle bones to snap.


    Matt stomped down to finish it off while keeping an eye on the hob and remaining goblin.


    The goblin stuck to the left of the hob and refused to move. It was probably the best move the weak creature could make at this point by covering the hobgoblins weak side.


    Matt tried baiting out the goblin, but it refused to wet his de-like its brothers did. And with its assistance, Matt was forced to retreat from the heavy blows of the axe.


    Biding his time, Matt waited for his opportunity, and when the hobgoblin struck out, Matt didnt dodge or deflect the strike but blocked the haft of the weapon with the t of his longsword.


    Matt took advantage of the stalled axe and ran his de down the haft to catch the hobgoblins unprotected fingers.


    Flesh met steel and lost.


    Screeching in pain, the hob retreated, unable to hold his weapon. Matt finished the goblin next to the hob off with a clean cut.


    Seeing the hob was just clutching its mangled hand, Matt thrust through the unprotected arm opening in the te, bisecting thest remaining monster.


    Looking around, Matt felt like this could have been done cleaner. He might not have been hit, but that didnt feel like a particrly high bar to set with opponents this weak.


    <em>There is a reason this rift was kept when they made the yPen.</em>


    Sighing, he collected the bloody armor and weapons before moving to the reward distortion.


    Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, he felt this time it was an orange color. But not quite. It had a multicolored thread weaving through the field.


    Matt wasnt sure if it meant anything but waited until the thread was at its most visible pulse before dispelling the field.


    There were two bars of metal. He thought they were steel but wasnt sure. He wasnt a smith, after all.


    Something to look into, a ss on cksmithing would be useful. At least then, he would be able to identify better and worse weapons.


    The more Matt thought about it, the more he liked the idea. If he was going to be a mostly melee fighter, it would do him well to understand his weapons of choice better.


    Matt exited the rift and sold the steel bars to the receptionist for 500 credits apiece.


    Overall he felt it was a sessful delve.


    ***


    The next month and a half were some of the best in Matts life. He delved, he cultivated and advanced, he learned.


    All while bing closer to Melindas group. Most days off were spent with them. After delve days, they all rxed together, movies, games, drinking, or just exploring the ind.


    They became true friends, and Matt was grateful. He hadnt let anyone get close at the orphanage or Bennys. Matt didnt think he had kept people away, just that he hadnt met people he wanted close. Most of the people at Bennys were older and jaded from life, content to eke out enough to live but little more.


    Matt wanted greatness. Melindas group wanted the same. They pushed themselves and refused tonguish at the lower Tiers.


    The sses were interesting. The financing ss was an eye-opener. Matt didnt realize that he had misunderstood Denas letter. When she had said 20k, he had assumed she meant credits and based his purchases around that misconception.


    He had been given a credit limit of twenty thousand Tier 1 Mana stones, not twenty thousand credits. Matt couldnt even imagine that amount of money. It was an ungodly number of credits. That extra cash let Matt hire a Tier 7 melee trainer to give him lessons.


    It was subsidized by the Empire, but Matt still had to pay fifty thousand credits. Matt had been hesitant to go into that much debt, but after the first lesson, Matt had no regrets.


    Dominic was a 64 monster who mainly used a sword and shield but waspetent in most weapons. After seeing Matts skill, Dominic had Matt rotating weapons, with a focus on a shield and one-handed weapons. His reasoning was if Matt ever joined a team, a shield was usually better for the group than a single longsword user.


    It was challenging. Matt thought he was good with the longsword, and Dominic even confirmed that he was, but when using a shield and sword, he felt clumsy and had a hard time getting into a groove that felt natural.


    After Dominic felt he was ready, he had Matt tackle the Tier 1 rift with the sword and shield. It was a different experience from his runs with a longsword. With a longsword in hand, he barely took half an hour to clear out the rift. With the shield and sword, it took almost two hours. There was an incremental improvement in each run, but not something Matt was satisfied with.


    Dominic had even started Matt with spear training, with and without a shield. So Matt was sure that would be his next weapon to take into the rift.


    During his delves, Matt hadnt had exceptional luck, either good or bad, with the prizes. Mostly around the average of seven mana stone value.


    Matts cultivation was almost a quarter of the way through Tier 1. It was only that fast because he didnt have to split the essence but was warned by everyone that the Tier 2 rift was arge step up in difficulty.


    Once Matt broke through to Tier 2, he would see arger improvement. While cultivating and distributing essence, a cultivator only got half the results and got the other half when he broke through the Tier barrier. It was the reason a new Tier 2 was so much stronger than a peak Tier 1.


    Even so, Matt was seeing improvements in his strength, speed, and endurance. The changes werent massive, but after every delve, Matt could fight a little longer, strike a little harder, and move just a bit faster.


    Matt was cultivating after a delve when his pad chirped. He ignored it until the pad vibrated. He had it set to do not disturb, and only an emergency contact would override that setting.


    Matt sat up and looked at the message.


    Melinda: Have you seen the news? Come to our suite. Quick.


    A worried Matt hurried to their collection of rooms and found them in themon area watching the tv.


    An official-looking man was speaking to the screen. Behind him was an expensive-looking manor with people crawling over it like ants.


    ..rise. The Empire expects its nobility to guide and protect themon people. After a thorough investigation, the Empire has found the Juniper family negligent to the extreme. With this verdict, the Empire will be sending relief efforts to repair all cities that have been affected by rift breaks.


    Matt gasped. <em>Thats </em>what this was about? Negligence from the nobility letting cities get shredded because they hadnt wanted to take measures to prevent it?


    Holy s... Matt was hushed by everyone.


    He squeezed in between Vinnie and Sam on the couch as the broadcast continued.


    Because of the devastation, there will bepensation to all affected parties. Please be patient. Millions have lost loved ones and family members, the Emperor, can not bring them back. But reparations will be given to those remaining and punishment to those responsible.


    A crowd behind the camera started cheering at that. The official held up and hand, and it was instantly quiet. By the Emperors will, all will be made as whole as possible. Healers, both mundane and magical, will be arriving on Lily in the next few months. This includes psychiatrists. Their services will be on a need basis. All will get their time and help. Please be patient.


    He looked down at his pad for a moment, then back at the crowd and camera. Standby for a Royal Decree from his Majesty Emperor Emmanuel the Third, hear and obey.


    With a flick of his fingers from his pad to the camera, a new image reced the official and manor.


    The man on the throne was tall and in seemingly simple clothes, but Matt was sure they probably cost more than twentys would generate in a decade.


    The Emperor was dark-haired with gold eyes that gave off a golden light. The odd part was it didnt interrupt the view of the mans eyes. Matt wasnt sure if it was how the Emperor looked in person or if it was a camera trick.


    His voice was deep. Even through the recording, Matt felt the pressure on his chest. It hase to our attention of the neglect of the Barony of Juniper of Lilly. We, after reviewing the events, have decided that an outsider will care for the no more than any other noble family raised to the position.


    Our solution to this predicament is as follows. The Path of Ascension is meant to raise the strong, and from The Path, your next noble will be chosen.


    The first person or group to reach Tier 15 will be given the opportunity to take the noble title. It is our hope that someone who has experienced the tragedy of rift breaks will not take the lives of their subjects as lightly as the Junipers did. Any who have been affected and are on The Path are eligible. Strength through perseverance.


    With that, the image returned to the official. The Emperor has spoken. The will be ced under an advisory council until one of your own ascends to the position. More information will be passed in theing days.


    The man stepped away, and a reporter stepped in and started chattering.


    Matt and the rest looked at each other in shock.


    Holy shit, Tara said. That broke the shocked silence, and everyone mored to talk. Eventually, it settled, but the excitement was still palpable.


    Mat, who had a now weeping Melinda in his arms, said, I saw it myself, but I cant believe it. I thought it would take an official challenge to the noble family and killing them at Tier 15 to get revenge. Shit, I don...


    Melinda pped his chest. Its a good thing, dummy. Now we dont have to risk ourselves, and people are getting the support they deserve, not... she hupped, interrupting herself, not just revenge, but actual help.


    Vinnie voiced Matts growing fear. Is this concern or something else? The Emperor himself heard of this incident on a Tier 4? There are how many thousands ofs below Tier 5 in the Empire. Why does he care? It seems too good to be true. And how did he even hear of this? To ascend, the Emperor must break the Tier 50 barrier. He could break this in half. It doesnt sit right with me.


    Sam chimed in. I cant say how or why he stepped in, but he pissed a lot of people off with his decree, thats for sure. Normally new baronies are given to the second and third children of higher nobles. Only the first child of a noble to hit the Tier for their rank can take the title. Everyone else gets nothing.


    In my In-depth Nobility ss, they talked about it. New lower Tiers are always being added to the Empire, and doing this sets a precedent that probably pissed a lot of higher nobles off. What plot can there be in that?


    The seven of them talked around the topic until dinner. They couldnt believe that there was a chance that any one of them could be the next baron of this. Even if there were stronger people who had suffered the attacks and were on The Path, it was still The Path of Ascension, and anyone could fall off at any time.


    After they finished eating, Melinda dropped even more shocking news. Are you all ready to go to see our Tier 3 Talents? Matt was shocked, they had said they were at peak Tier 2, but this was a huge step and thest Talent they would have unless they got to Tier 25 then Tier 50.


    Wait, you guys broke through? What are we waiting for? Lets go. This is huge. Matt was excited. This was their first step into therger Empire. After reaching Tier 3, people could only spend six months at the yPen before they had to make their own way on The Path of Ascension.


    They all looked at him with expressions he couldnt ce. It wasnt the happiness he expected. The looks put his hackles up.


    Matt we talked about it over thest few days and well. Here, its easier to see. Please dont share this with anyone, obviously, but we trust you, and this will let you know we are ok when we leave.


    Matt felt his pad ping and pulled it out to see


    The party Unbroken has sent an alliance offer.


    Details: full view of the individual profile.


    Matt was stunned. This was massive. It would let him see their skills and Talents. It was more than most friends shared and a tremendous show of trust.


    With only a moments thought, Matt epted and gave the same permissions. He could trust them. Even if this bit him in the ass in the future, Matt was willing to risk it. They were friends.


    Matt saw the group check their pads with relieved smiles until Mat saw Matts Tier 1 Talent and gasped, What is this bullshit?


    The other had incredulous looks as well as they saw his Talent. Sam was the first to react to his skill. What is this skill? Its broken. What are these resistance numbers? This is absurd.


    Matt sheepishly said, Just two useless things that synergize really well.


    Really well is an understatement, Matt. I wish our Mat had tank skill that good. Mat, who was next to Melinda, looked at her as she said that and gave an exaggerated shocked look.


    Matt took the time to look at their information.


    Mat:


    Talent Tier 1: Everyone in the party has lowered threat generation. Threat generation is redirected to an individual of choice.


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: None.


    Melinda:


    Talent Tier 1: All healing skills are 50% more effective and cost 50% less mana to cast.


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: [Ranged Heal]


    Kyle:


    Talent Tier 1: All Strength allocation has double the effect.


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: None.


    Samantha:


    Talent Tier 1: Poisons and Venoms only affect designated targets.


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: [Venom Strike]


    Vinnie:


    Talent Tier 1: Innate [Earth Maniption]


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: [Earth Maniption]


    Tara:


    Talent Tier 1: Innate understanding of ranged weapons.


    Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.


    Skills: None.


    Matt was shocked. None of their Talents were weak. Melinda had joked about Mat not being a good tank but redirecting threat generation meant enemies wouldnt prioritize the backline damage dealers and healers. That was a defensive frontlines entire job, and he could do it without an expensive skill shard.


    Kyle could focus on other parts of physical cultivation with his Talent, and that would either let him get a bit more mana cultivation and be a true hybrid or be an even better physical cultivator. He could be twice as strong as anyone on his Tier or even match someone one Tier up.


    Sams Talent was what every Poison Mage dreamt of and begged for any skill shard that would be able to help. Most had to be solo delvers because while they would be immune to their own skills, they would kill their allies as quickly as their enemies.


    Vinnie had [Earth Maniption] as an innate skill which meant it was a free core skill. Matt knew of that particr skill. A Tier 15 on The Path had used it not five months ago in a tournament to beat every one of her opponents without moving a muscle.


    She had stood there with arms crossed, and as soon as her opponents had touched the ground, it simply swallowed them. She had even faced an opponent that had a flight skill and had simplyunched spears of stone at them until she impaled them.


    Taras innate understanding of ranged weapons was less shy, but if it worked like other innate understandings Matt had heard of, she would need next to zero training to get decent with a ranged weapon and far less to master the weapon. Matt had only read of single weapon understandings, never such a broad category covered by a Talent.


    Then there was Melinda. Matt didnt know what to think. It was no wonder she had been given a rating of exceptional. Fifty percent was the acknowledged limit of what a Talent could do to a skill or type of skill. And she had <strong><em>TWO </em></strong>in one Talent.


    Just having a talent that did two things like hers was already incredibly rare. But having two with the maxed benefits? She might be the only one in the entire Empire.


    They were watching Matt as he took in the information. He just red at them before turning up his nose and saying, I hate all of you.


    ***


    Matt paced outside of the row of testing rooms. It had taken half an hour of bickering about how broken the Talents of the others were before the stalling became obvious and the party faced their destiny.


    He was more nervous than any of the group had seemed to be. He wasnt sure if it was just that they were hiding it better or truly not nervous. They may have hesitated ining, but once they arrived, they didnt falter.


    As he paced, he felt a breeze, then suddenly, there was Griff and a woman next to him.


    Matt knew Griff was the second inmand of the yPen and Tier 15. Judging by the way, he was standing at the womans side but slightly behind her told Matt she could only be the person running the yPen.


    <em>Im pretty sure I remember reading that it was always a Tier 20 in charge of a yPen. Why would a Tier 15 and a Tier 20 both show up?</em>


    Matt gulped, had something gone wrong? Why were the two most powerful people on the ind here? Then another breeze alerted Matt to another presence.


    Matt turned and saw the official from the earlier promation. The news reporters after his announcement said he was a Tier 30 and a high-ranking minister of the Empire who had the Emperors trust.


    <em>WHY WERE ALL THESE PEOPLE HERE? </em>


    Matt felt the fear building and looked between the group of three and the doors. He wasnt dumb and could tell exactly which door they were viewing.


    He wished he had brought his sword, it wouldnt have done any good against the three, but he couldnt let something happen and just stand by watching. Matt had promised himself long ago that he wouldnt let the people he cared about to be snatched away from him.


    Just as Griff noticed him and opened his mouth, the right-most door opened, the door they had been watching. Melinda came out pale, tired-looking, and covered in sweat.


    That grabbed all their attention, and the official spoke up, Miss...


    Melinda cut him off and said, I know. Can we wait until my party is done? I dont want to have to do this twice.


    A Tier 3 had just interrupted a Tier 30. Matt looked at the official, and while he looked like he wanted to argue, he said nothing.


    Matt truly felt out of his depths.


    Melinda looked to Matt, and that drew the attention of the three powerhouses. Griff spoke up, Hey Matt, maybe you should clear out. Ok?


    Matt was surprised that the Tier 15 remembered him at all. As he was about to agree and leave, Melinda once again spoke up. Hes an ally of our party, so Id like him to remain.


    Once again, the others just agreed.


    Matt was <em>really </em>concerned now. He felt jittery. His flight or fight response was going haywire. His body screamed at him to do something, even though his mind knew either would be useless in the face of the powerhouses in front of Melinda.


    The only thing letting him keep a hold of himself was they werent hostile. Clearly, they were here for Melinda and considering what she had just been doing, there were only a few possibilities of what could have drawn these people of position and power here.


    <em>Just what did her Talent reveal?</em>


    Matt could check but didnt feelfortable reaching for his pad with the stillness in the hall. If he broke it, those three might just decide to act.


    It only took another few minutes for the other five toe out, and as soon as Tara walked out of her room, they were ushered into a conference room down the hall.


    The official started as they entered the room Miss Combs, we were all alerted to your Talent. We couldnt see what it is, but the rating came back as Exceptional: Unique, top priority. We would like to offe...


    A quick two beeps interrupted the man, and his face drained of blood. With shaking hands, he pulled his pad out and flicked a finger at the wall. For the second time that day, Matt saw the Emperor, a Tier 50.


    Matt gulped as everyone went to one knee, heads bowed.


    Your Majesty, what can your humble servants do for your excellency?


    Out of the corner of Matts lowered head, he saw the official shaking slightly.


    Good, you got to them already. You three get out. There was a power in those words. Even with his face towards the ground, Matt felt it. He could see it. The world grew sharper, and colors gained contrast for an instant before returning to normal.


    Matt didnt know what the Tier 50 did, but Griff and the other two looked pale and haggard after the words.


    Like that the official, Griff and the woman were just gone. Matt didnt even hear the door.


    Still kneeling, they waited for what came next.


    Get up kids. Will you? Ugh, this is a shit show.


    As they stood and faced the Emperor, they saw him at a desk with pads scattered about with papers covering the free spaces. Screens were obstructing part of the desk until a waive from the Emperor made them vanish.


    Thats better. Hey kids. Who would have thought that Id be hearing about Lily twice in one day? The Emperor smiled and waved at them. Matt felt his stomach tighten.


    Ill get right to it. These inter connections are expensive, so Ill try to be brief. My AI just pinged me about your Talent Melinda. Can I call you Melinda?


    Melinda just nodded, still struck dumb. The Emperor seemed surprisingly personable. During the royal decree, he was stern, and even in a recording, he had an air around him that screamed power and authority.


    Now he was like a kind uncle. Even his luminescent eyes were warm. It unsettled Matt, in his experience, people with strength did not take notice of the weak unless they had something they wanted.


    Thanks. I deal with enough formalities every day. Would you mind sharing why my AI lost its shit with notifications? You dont have to, but it might make things easier.


    Melinda had to clear her throat twice before she could get out. You cant just Umm... see it, your majesty?


    The Emperor chuckled at that. Nope, if there is one loophole, it risks security breaches, so not even I can see without permission.


    That surprised Matt. Everyone said no one could see your Talent, but this was the Emperor. The very man who controlled the system. Matt wouldnt have believed it if he hadnt heard it out of the mans mouth. But why else would he be talking to them now and not just viewing her Talent himself?


    Melinda nodded and said, I dont mind. It would answer some questions I have as well.


    Good, the six of you are... Wait, why are there seven? Who are you? Looking at Matt, the Emperor clearly didnt expect him.


    Hes an ally and a friend. I trust him. And weve all already shared our info. Melinda spoke up for him.


    Ah ok. Still... the Emperors golden eyes flicked as if he was reading something Matthew Alexander. Age: almost 15, Tier 1 Talent rating of Detrimental? Humm... Sponsored by Humm... Ok, Matt, I gotta ask for your story. Thats just too weird.


    Matt felt put under a microscope the glowing eyes of the ruler of thousands ofs seemed to strip away everything that made him unique. Quickly he thought about how to exin as fast as possible.


    I was given a detrimental Talent at Tier 1, your majesty. Matt brought his pad out and flicked his information to the screen. Talent and skill now showing to the seven in the room and the Emperors away.


    The Emperor read the information over, and Matt continued, I wasnt able to join the guild with the rating and worked at an inn called Bennys where I met my sponsors and got my skill shard.


    The Emperor, reading the skill information, asked, Did your sponsors... he looked away Dena and Eric give it to you?


    Matt really wanted to lie and say they did, but he didnt want them to get in trouble. He also figured that lying to a Tier 50 would be a recipe for disaster.


    Reluctantly he told the story. Instead of being angry at the theft, the Emperor justughed during the story.


    Hold on, you said it was called Bennys? Let me get the security footage.


    A momentter, footage showed that night, the group swaggered in at twice the normal speed and reyed the event as Matt described. The Emperorughed so hard when the man threw the skill shard. Matt thought he might hurt himself.


    As the footage showed Matt pulling Zephyr out of the brawl. The Emperor asked, Wait, where did you get the skill shard?


    Matt told him, and the Emperor went back and reyed the moment before saying, Good hands, kid. I cant even see it with you pointing it out.


    The video continued to the man waiving the mana wand at patrons and demanding that Benny let him search others. When they walked out of the frame, it showed Matt pulling the pad apart and hiding the skill shard, being scanned, and then the man leaving in a huff.


    So your majesty, thats why Dena and Eric sponsored me.


    While this was very impressive of you. No, it wasnt. They put the paperwork in for your sponsorship two weeks before this happened.


    The Emperor flicked a finger and on the screen showed a sponsorship form to the yPen, and it was dated just as the Emperor said. Two full weeks before the duel and theft.


    Matt didnt know what to make of that. Dena and Eric had nned on sponsoring him before the spar? He had thought it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.


    Thanks for theughs, kid. That was good. With your Talent and their rmendation, I expect great things from you in the next few hundred years. Youve got balls.


    He then looked back at Melinda. Now to you, Melinda. If you would?


    Melinda took her pad and flicked information to the screen. On it appeared.


    Melinda:


    Talent Tier 1: All healing skills are 50% more effective and cost 50% less mana to cast.


    Talent Tier 3: All Healing has the Overhealth effect.


    Skills: [Ranged Heal]


    The Emperor looked as shocked as Matt felt. He let out a whistle with widened eyes. The sound created the same effect as before, the world sharpening for an instant.


    Do you mind if I call my chief healer over? Honestly, Im not sure what this means. I have some ideas, but. Well, Id rather get an experts opinion.


    At Melindas yes, he flicked his glowing eyes, and not a full secondter, an older man appeared.


    After being quickly filled in by the Emperor, he nced at the screen and spoke, Ah well, this is rare. Overhealth has only been seen on some cracked or upgraded skills before. Well, to start, Overhealth functions like an automatic directed healing skill, so limbs regenerate with no effort, and the skill wont stop when a normal undirected skill would.


    It works kind of like the [Regeneration] controversy. It will take some testing to see if a Talent works the same way. I dont think anyones ever gotten a Talent with Overhealth before.


    That seemed to clue the Emperor in, but Matt was still in the dark. Judging by the looks around him, Melindas party felt the same way.


    Looking through the screen, the older man asked, Im assuming none of you have heard of it? It usually doesnt matter till after Tier 15.


    At Melindas no, he continued, Well there is a rare orb from Tier 15 and above rifts that can upgrade any skill. When used, it makes massive changes to the skill, and its always more powerful.


    Well mostly always, which is where [Regeneration]es in. Normally the skill works like any normal healing skill, you put in mana, and you heal. With the upgrade orb, it changes.


    Then its more like a channeled skill where you can dump as much mana in at a time to increase the effect. Not only that, but it also changes <em>how </em>it heals. If you are a physical type cultivator, [Regeneration] is always useful, but it can take months to grow back an arm. With [Upgraded Regeneration] its like healing a percentage of health. At the same mana, it heals better the more physical cultivation you have.


    Its easy to think of with numbers. If you have a hundred health healing, ten per minute is a lot, but if you have ten thousand, it doesnt help much. [Upgraded Regeneration] is like healing one percent of your max health a minute. The upgrade is good for physical cultivators who have more health, the non-upgraded is better for mana cultivators. There are some people who think this means we all have hidden health bars and are in a video game, but <em>they are idiots</em>.


    The statement looked to irritate the older man, and he scoffed, Physical cultivation makes you stronger and tougher. Of course, its harder to heal whats harder to damage.


    Overhealth is mostmonly seen when someone takes what should have been a lethal hit with [Upgraded Regeneration] active. They cane back from what should have stopped a normal healing spell because they were dead. The Overhealing wont stop when they are considered dead by a normal skill. It only stops when the mana put into the skill has run its course.


    A good example is of a healer with a cracked [Healing Touch] with an Overhealth effect. Someones head got smashed t. The man pped, The brain waspletely destroyed, and even with the best medical technology and healing, he should have stayed dead. Even if he had been saved, his memories should have been wiped. New grey matter had to grow.


    With the Overhealth, though, it was like a balloon inting. Poof, he was up and perfectly fine, memories intact. Closest thing to a miracle youll ever see.


    Melinda asked with eyes wide, What does that mean for my Talent?


    The healer looked to the Emperor before saying, It means you just became the most valuable healer in the Empire. Every spell you cast will guarantee your party doesnt stay dead. Further testing will need to be done, but I dont think youll ever need to learn directed healing skills. You can have a very lucrative career in either the civilian or delving side of medicine. Id be happy to...


    The Emperor lifted a hand, and the man stopped immediately. She and her party are on The Path, and we wont interfere


    Of course, your majesty. I got ahead of myself.


    The Emperor waved him down and looked through the screen. If you wish to leave The Path, I wont stop you, and Im sure Tullies would snatch you up in a heartbeat. But instead, Ill just leave the offer on the table if you guys decide to stop climbing or fall off.


    My time on The Path was some of the best of my life. Its where I made the truest of friends and had the moments Im proudest of. I only made it to Tier 20 before falling off, but those Tiers are truly mine. No one can say that I didnt earn those.


    Ascend as much as you can. I can guarantee that no one will talk about your Talent, but I want a promise from all of you.


    The seven of them nodded. For the first time, the Emperor looked stern. Even the soft light radiating from his eyes grew hard. For a moment, the colors contrasted, and the world sharpened. Itsted only a breath. Dont die. Dont push yourselves till you take stupid risks. I dont just say this because of your Talent but because its a trap. So many try to be the next Duke Waters and end up corpses. Ive lost too many friends to rifts, and Ill never know how they died. Dont add to their numbers


    The Emperor looked to the side and said, Ive taken up enough of your time. Can you send in the other three? I need to make things clear to them. Go and enjoy your evening and have the rager you deserve for reaching Tier 3. With a smile, he dismissed them.


    Hurrying out the door, they saw Griff and the other two pacing the hall. When Melinda informed them that the Emperor wanted to see them, the trio looked like they were walking to their own executions.


    Matt noticed that none of them hesitated to enter the room despite their trepidation.


    They all looked at each other before Vinnie said, I need a fucking drink. And a change of underwear.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7


    Matt woke up fuzzy and light-headed. Opening his eyes he found himself pressed against a door.


    As the memories came back he couldnt help but groan.


    After talking to the Emperor the seven of them had done as suggested and partied. Hard.


    One too many drinks in, Melinda had tried to drag the older Mat off to consummate their rtionship.


    It took the other five to keep them away from each other and drag them to their own rooms.


    Not five minutes after Melinda had been put into her room she had tried to sneak into Mats. That had left the boys sleeping in Mats room to stop him from doing the same.


    Matt looked around and saw that everyone else was still unconscious. Checking the time he decided to get breakfast for everyone.


    Returning from the dining hall Matt found Sam with eyes covered sitting on the couch. She peeked at him and made give me hands to the bags of food.


    Matt instead set the bags on the table and said, Wake the girls please but only got a hiss in reply.


    After waking the boys up Matt set the table and started eating himself, slowly. As he was picking at the food the others trickled out of the rooms and to the table.


    Mat was the first to speak. The older boy had the beginnings of a bruise on his cheek. Who punched mest night? I dont remember.


    Matt answered, No one. You fell, and your face met a wall. So if you fought anyone it was a loss against a wall.


    Melinda pointed a finger at Mat and a green light danced to him before sinking in, quickly healing the bruise.


    The healer repeated the move at all of them and as Matt felt the spell hit him it washed away his hangover. He could have used that spell before he went and got breakfast for everyone. The dining hall had been noisy and painful.


    After eating they sat around the tv not having to do anything for a few hours more.


    Trying to find something that wasnt news coverage about the Junipers, they found a channel that was reviewing tournament videos.


    Light and Shadow are still crushing it in the Tier 23 to 24 groups despite being only Tier 21. Truly its remarkable to watch the people with the best chance toplete The Path of Ascension. It would be a first since Duke Waters himself four hundred years ago.


    That got Matts attention. Someone was close topleting The Path? That was huge news. Sadly they had joined the program at the end and it closed out and new anchors reced thest and a new segment started.


    Matt turned and asked, Do you know who they were talking about? Light and Shadow?


    Mat and Sam covered their faces as Melinda, Kyle, Vinnie, and Tara all spoke over each other.


    Yeah, how do you not?


    They are only the best couple ever


    Shadow is amazing, shes the best.


    Melinda gave useful information, Light and Shadow are a couple on The Path of Ascension. Just the two of them. They are Tier 21 and only 107 years old. At that Tier, they have until 138 before they fall off.


    Kyle interjected, They wont fall off. Duke Waters himself met with them and said hed bet his Duchy that they are the next toplete The Path. Hes never spoken up for a person on The Path before. He cant be wrong.


    Tara flicked a picture to the screen adding, They are super strong, Shadow has some kind of shadow teleporting Talent. Most specte its her Tier 3 but no one knows for sure obviously. But she is nearly untouchable because she also got a hold of [Shadow Control] at some point.


    She looked dreamy as she questioned, How can you hit someone who disappears at will? Here is their Tier 15 Path of Ascension tournament. Its thest sponsored tournament on The Path, after that, theypete in normal tournaments usually against a few Tiers higher. Watch this.


    On the screen, two parties line-ups were shown. On the left was a team of 5 listed with their names and positions. They had a normalposition of Tank, Melee damage, Ranged damage, Mage, and Healer.


    The other side showed just two masked faces, one in the lightest of gray and the other the darkest gray without being ck. The names Light and Shadow were under their portraits.


    The fight started quickly as Tara jumped ahead of thementary. The party of five was across a huge ring that must have spanned a mile across. They quickly turtled up but it did them no good.


    Shadow simply melted into the ground before Light shot forward, therge man covered the mile in a breath. Light''s weapon of choice was a hammer with a head that was at least 5 inches across. The way the Tier 15 handled it showed the massive weight of the hammer.


    The Tank intercepted the blow with his physical shield and arger copy made by some skill. At the moment of impact, a blinding light whited the screen out before the camera adjusted for the brightness. When the picture came back the fight was already over.


    There was a rey that showed the events during the bright sh. The moment Light had struck the Tanks shield Shadow used the mans own shadow and tore through the rest of the team. Every throat was slit with such speed that even slowed down Matt couldnt actually see the de appear from the darkness, only follow the clutching of throats.


    The Tank who took the blow from Light didnt fare any better. His shield was mangled and even his heavy te armor was dented to such a degree that Matt was sure his chest was crushed.


    Matt couldnt believe it and had to ask, That wasnt an exhibition match? That other party was on The Path? No way they were defeated in one single attack.


    Vinnie answered with a huge grin. Yup and a good party as well, they were Tier 15s who delved rifts at Tier 16. There just isnt anything to do against massive power differences.


    Why didnt they just counter the light that Light used then Shadow couldnt have gotten into their entire team? Seems like an easy way to counter the duo. Light seems more like a support that enables Shadow than someone that powerful on their own. Matt still couldnt believe what he had just watched.


    Tara scoffed at that, Yeah people had the same thoughts as you before. Not hard to think of after all. It doesnt matter though, Light could have handled that entire team himself. Look this was a 1 v 1 when Light was Tier 10.


    With a flick of her finger a new video started, this time two announcers talked before the pre-match introductions.


    Peper do you think Light has a chance here? His opponent is a peak Tier 10 and Light only broke through the Tier 10 wall two days ago.


    I dont think he has a chance. Weve seen how he makes Shadow stronger and gives her mobility but he hasnt done much himself this entire tournament in the party vs party. Now that its down to the 1 vs 1s I think its the end for this half of the winning party.


    I think hes out of this match. His opponent is a hybrid tank with [Projected Bulwark] as his main skill. Its going to be hard to break through that, in the team fights it was Shadow who took him out. Even damage heavy ascenders will have a hard time getting through that. I just dont think he has the power to do it.


    The countdown ended and the man in full te looked at Light and as the counter hit zero he pushed out his shield and from it, a ten-foot-tall replica made from mana appeared and he taunted lets see you get through this without your little whore in the shadows.


    Light pulled a longsword out from nowhere, Matt assumed it was a spatial device somewhere, and shed in azy X pattern. From the de, two crescents of energy shot out, racing towards the armored man. Then Light thrust out and a third beam appeared.


    The first two [Mana sh]s cracked therge projection before the third energy attack pierced the [Projected Bulwark] and the man behind it.


    The announcers went wild Was that a thrust with [Mana sh]? Thats impossible, the skill needs a shing movement to discharge the stored energy. This ispletely unheard of...


    Effin...


    Tara paused the recording. See? They. Are. Monsters. That was them at Tier 15 and Light at Tier 10. Now they dont even have to try to win against Tier 23s. And they are so young they arent even rushing thest few Tiers like Duke Waters had to.


    Melinda chimed in, They are so strong, I wish I could have half of their power someday.


    Matt was aghast. That was how top Tier cultivators fought? Matt thought over the [Mana sh] that had been used as a thrust. He wanted a small part of that power. That was where the peak was.


    He did wonder about the masks so asked the group. Vinnie was the fastest to respond, Its not supermon, but it isnt rare either. Not everyone wants the notoriety of climbing The Path. So the masks.


    So no one knows what they look like?


    Tara answered him, Nope not even a little. Duke Waters killed like twenty people when they revealed his face during his climb. He was anonymous but someone snuck a camera into a private changing room. Then he couldnt go anywhere without crowds blocking his way or assassins from the other powers. Hes made it very clear anyone who breaks the rule will regret it.


    Melinda added, It only happened once and he kept his word about it. A team at Tier 7 got outed and he went in and ughtered the entirepany.


    Thats not true he only killed those who ordered it and did it. He only killed like three people. That bullshit about him ughtering everyone is propaganda against him. Vinnie countered Melindas statement, Matt tuned out the bickering.


    He wanted that power. How would it feel to smash everyone, even Tiers above your own? His resolve to delve and climb The Path of Ascension just grew every time he pictured that sword thrust.


    ***


    Matt had just entered the rift and could tell something was wrong.


    He had proof in the first room where one unclothed and shoddily armed goblin should be; he found three goblins armored in the scale armor only found in thest room with the champion.


    Matt had been nning on using a shield and mace for this delve but quickly put them in the sack and drew his longsword.


    <em>No reason to risk something new without my best weapon.</em>


    Matt debated leaving to report the anomaly but then he would lose out on his chance to delve. And it wasnt like these goblins could hurt him with his [Cracked Phantom Armor] active.


    <em>What do I have to fear?</em>


    At worst there would be three hobgoblins and then he could retreat to the entrance.


    Matt advanced. It took more time but through every room, he found three times the amount of goblins he usually did.


    Halfway through he thought he had an idea of what was going on. Hed heard about something rifts could rarely do, a rift challenge. If Matt was remembering correctly it could happen to any Tier of rift but was incredibly rare.


    It had been covered in his introduction information but Matt couldnt remember exactly what had been exined but the statistic one in a million stood out to him.


    Matt did know one thing, the greater the rtive risk the better the reward. It was always mentioned when delvers made daring risks and became legends overnight.


    The catch was that greater rewards came with greater challenges.


    If his memories were right a Tier 1 rift going through a rift challenge put its power at Tier 2 strength but the rewards would dwarf any Tier 2 rifts normal rewards.


    That thought pushed Matt on. He could take a Tier 2 rift if he was careful and slow.


    <em>Would Light and Shadow have run from this? No. They are so strong they would have done this without breaking a sweat. This is my chance, I could get Tier 2 mana stones. If Im lucky I could get a Tier 2 essence stone. Or maybe something better?</em>


    Matt knew greed was driving him forward but couldnt stop. Risk was paired with reward. That was the one constant of the rifts.


    When he was one set of rooms away from the final encounter the enemies changed from fully armored goblins to the normal hobgoblins.


    That almost made him turn around but hesitated.


    <em>If the boss was just a training monster now? Whats waiting for me in the final room?</em>


    Matt decided he should at least see what was waiting for him.


    <em>Even if I turn around now Ive still got more essence than in three normal delves, and way more gear to sell. This is profitable either way. But lets at least check the final room.</em>


    Matt finished off the three hobgoblins with little difficulty. He had been fighting them for almost four months now. He could predict every one of their moves.


    Peering into the final room Matt froze up. Instead of the normal five goblins and one hobgoblin, it was five hobgoblins and what Matt was pretty sure was an orc.


    Therge tusked monster stood at least 65 and was so wide even at that height it looked stocky.


    Matt looked from the pile of armor and weapons he had dragged here and back to the orc, then he looked to the reward distortion.


    It shone with whitish-blue light to his spiritual sense. It spoke to Matt, it whispered of power and fame.


    In his mind, he could see Light and Shadow fighting, could see a single blow of Lights crush a tank at his own Tier who was also on The Path at Tier 15. Crushing someone most thought of as the best of the best, in a single blow.


    The Emperors words from weeks prior rang in his mind, In a few hundred years I expect great things from you.


    Looking back felt cowardly, Matt wanted greatness, wanted the power, the fame.


    He looked at the reward distortion, he wanted that item. He craved it.


    Matt stepped into the room.


    ***


    Things didnt go well when Matt stepped through the entrance. The hobs who Matt now saw were in much better armor than usually charged at him. The orc pulled a throwing axe off his belt and threw it at Matt.


    Matt sidestepped it but the wind of its passage and the spray of chipped stones from the wall stressed [Cracked Phantom Armor] in a way that even the boss hobgoblins never did.


    <em>This might have been a terrible idea.</em>


    There was no more time for regret as the hobs were on him. He was able to bait out and punish an attack by the closest hob and drew his sword under its helmet slitting its throat.


    He sidestepped to keep the orc from throwing another axe at him while he was open but as the hobgoblin blocked his view Matt saw a smirk on the orcs tusked face.


    Matt threw himself to the side.


    As he came up from the roll he saw a hob take the projectile to the back. It was buried to the shaft, through the armor. The power of the axe sent the hob into his two remaining brothers and Matt took the chance to finish the downed opponents before they could stand.


    The hit monster was a grim prediction of what Matt would look like if the throwing axended.


    As he stabbed down Matt heard the woosh and rolled again. The throwing axe bounced off the wall and Matt looked to the orc as it lifted a shield and spear and came at him.


    Quickly retrieving his longsword Matt deflected a probing thrust of the spear to almost catch a shield bash when he stepped to the orcs left.


    He looked to the entrance to escape, this wasnt a fight he could win, but the orc had curled around and was blocking his retreat.


    The pull of the reward and promise of glory were gone. All Matt felt was terror at his fate if he made a single mistake in the fight.


    Matt flicked a strike at the orcs legs as it was pulling the spear back after a light jab. The orc just stepped back and thrust again with the spear, shield raised and at the ready.


    <em>This orc is keeping me back with his height and weapon length advantage. What do I do? What can I do?</em>


    Matt deflected the spear again, but instead of using the t of his de, he used the edge. Hed be spending money to have the de fixed from striking the hardwood but it was better than dying.


    As Matt repeatedly attacked the haft of the spear he waited until he felt enough damage was done and dodged to the left and chopped the head off the spear.


    He went to press the advantage but the orc reacted quickly, discarding the shaft and covered himself with the shield while retreating.


    Matt drew his dagger with his left hand and threw it at the orcs face. The dagger was going to miss but the orc instinctively raised his shield to block the thrown weapon and Matt thrust with his sword.


    He caught the orc in the guts and when the weapon was inside pulled with all his might to try and eviscerate the monster.


    The orc was faster than Matt predicted and mmed its shield down and ripped the weapon out of Matts hands and its guts.


    Thats when Matt noticed a red haze appearing around the orc. He knew what the skill was and immediately retreated leaving his sword on the ground.


    It was [Berserker''s Rage] a skill rarely used by humanity because it relied on taking injuries to fuel stronger attacks and speed increases.


    The skill had the nasty side effect that any wounds were much harder to heal when active so only the crazy used it. Or monsters, Matt had heard it was fairlymon to see used by melee monsters. He just hadnt expected a Tier 1 rift even one under the influence of a rift challenge to produce a Tier 3 monster.


    Matt turned and ran to where a thrown axe had bounced off the wall.


    He heard a whooshing sound from behind and tried to dodge but was hit by the thrown shield in the left side and arm. Matt felt the arm and several ribs break under the hit. [Cracked Phantom Armor] flickered as it consumed the channeled mana to rebuild the skill after the massive blow.


    Matt was sent sprawling, his skill off long enough to scrape his face and good hand along the stone floor. Quickly he forced himself to stand through the pain. The only good thing was he hadnded on the axe and as he stood he swung it where he expected the orc.


    The orc was faster.


    Under the suicidal influence of [Berserker''s Rage] it had charged with arms spread intent to take Matt down to use its weight and strength advantages by grappling.


    Matt''s wild swing had cut into the outstretched hand but the pain meant nothing to the monster with [Berserker''s Rage] active. Unable to getpletely out of the way Matt was bowled over and only [Cracked Phantom Armor] kept the impact onnding on his left side from overwhelming his senses.


    Scrambling to his feet he turned and ran before the orc could orientate towards him for another charge.


    <em>If that brute gets a good grip on me Im done for. Ill never break free before he crushes me [Cracked Phantom Armor] or no [Cracked Phantom Armor].</em>


    The orc had already proven even a ncing attack was strong enough to overwhelm the skill.


    As Matt reached the center of the room and turned, axe raised to see the charging orc just feet away. The monsters stance was low with arms over its head, protecting itself from the raised axe.


    <em>I dont want to die here. </em>


    <em>I cant lose in a Tier 1 rift.</em>


    Matt firmed his will. Panicking wouldn''t do him any good, he needed to take advantage of his one advantage. The orc was using [Berserker''s Rage] and that made it less rational.


    The monster approached with bounding strides, it was so fast Matt only had a moment to make a decision.


    <em>I will be endless. </em>


    Matt had an instant of rity, the world sharpened and the pain of his broken arm faded.


    He could see his overhead blow wouldnt work so he dropped the axe and with his right hand picked up the broken haft of the spear, wedging its iron-d butt into the stony ground.


    The enraged orc ran onto the weapon, impaling itself on the broken remains of its own weapon.


    Dying hands tried to get a grip on Matt as they went tumbling, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] gave enough defense to oust the orcs final, desperate struggles.


    Matt felt a massive amount of essence enter his spirit. It felt like he had eaten far too much but instead of his stomach being bloated it was his spirit.


    On his back, Matt gazed past the ceiling before starting tough.


    That had been exhrating. He felt truly alive. He had fought a monster that was probably at Tier 3 and he had won.


    Stillying on the cool stone of the floor, Matt looked to the orc a few feet away. He was pretty sure that only monsters at the very peak of Tier 2 or Tier 3 had skills.


    Mattughed again but the pain in his left side stopped him from doing so.


    Looking down Matt saw red staining the insides of his [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    <em>Huh? [Cracked Phantom Armor] keeps my blood inside? Why</em>?


    Matt carefully stood up and fetched the axe he had baited the orc with. He was taking a trophy. With careful maneuvering, Matt decapitated the orc and proceeded to gather the armor from outside and all the metal from the final room.


    His sack was nearly too heavy to lift, only with great care and finagling did Matt get everything into the sack without aggravating his injuries too much. He still felt foggy and the pain cut through the little relief it gave him.


    Matt was damned if he was going to leave a single thing behind. Even if he got Melinda to heal him, healing was expensive and he refused to take advantage of his friends. He had seen best friends turn to enemies at the orphanage over items worth far less than a healers skill.


    Gingerly he moved the pile of loot to the exit rift and looked to the final reward. Now after the fight was over it once again called to him with blueish light.


    He paused, some instinct told him this was a pivotal moment. Matt waited, the pain in his side growing as the adrenaline faded.


    He knew there was no proof that a reward wasnt already set when the rift was created but Matt felt the moment wasnt quite right.


    Matt sent out a pulse of essence. Nothing had changed but he felt that was the moment.


    In the ce of the small distortion was a... Matt wasnt sure what it was. It looked like a fist sized egg made of ice.


    He knew about bondable creatures but he had only heard of them as pets to be bought from breeders after Tier 5 because of the spirit contract the creature made with a human needed the human to have a minimum strength.


    Matt hated that so much information was kept from the low Tiered ascenders. He sighed, there was nothing he could do about it now except get it scanned and evaluated.


    Looking at the orcs head at the top of the sack made Matt smile again.


    <em>The risk was sky high, my reward should match that.</em>


    Matt pulled out his pad and typed a message to Melinda to ask for her help. The message would be sent once he left the rift and he could deal with broken bones for the time it took to get to the living quarters on the edge of the ind.


    He was not looking forward to the ride back from the center of the ind but if he was going to pay a healers outrageous fees he wanted the money to go to a friend and not a stranger. Broken bones werent life-threatening.


    Matt ced therge egg next to the orc head and lifted the sack, hissing as the weight put pressure on his broken ribs.


    Stepping through the portal Matt was quickly seen and helped by the waiting guards. As he was led out of the room Matt declined the offer of healers saying that he had one on the way.


    Before Matt could make his way to the check-out desk he heard Melinda.


    <em>How is she here so fast?</em>


    Matt couldnt understand, he had taken much longer than usual to finish the rift, it should be well after they usually finished their rift. Even after bing Tier 3s they never took more than three hours to finish a delve.


    Matt was grabbed by Melinda and as her hand touched him he felt her skill [Ranged Heal] soothing the pain.


    When Melindas face moved in front of his, he didnt understand. Her mouth was moving but no sound wasing out.


    Deactivate your skill, it is interfering with my healing. Matt felt the fog lift in his mind and stopped feeding mana to [Cracked Phantom Armor]. As he did he felt wetness moving down his side.


    Matt felt hands guiding him to the ground. He tried to protest but was overruled and manhandled down.


    As he felt more gentle soothing energy washing the aches and pains away Matt became more clear-headed.


    You back with us Matt? What happened?


    Melinda was kneeling over him and an olderdy in healers robes stood behind her.


    Yeah Im good, think I had a concussion.


    No shit, and your left side was all fucked up. You realize you had a two-inch chunk cut out of your side?


    I think it was a rift challenge. It was way harder than it should have been.


    The older healer interjected, Thats a bold im young man, do you have any proof or are you trying to save face because you fucked up?


    That irritated Matt, who was she to judge him? She was implying he couldnt handle a Tier 1 rift.


    Look in the sack and tell me what you think. It should be all the proof I need.


    Matt got the shock he expected but not for the reason he thought, instead of pulling the orc head out the healer removed therge egg made of ice.


    Ill give you a million credits for this, she said and started to tuck the egg away.


    Matt shouted, Fuck no.


    The healer hesitated but looked at the guards before saying, ten million.


    Matt struggled to get up, Give it back.


    <em>Who did this woman think she was?</em>


    Matt''smotion had drawn the guard captain to see what was wrong and he said, Iris you know that pressuring a sponsored individual is against policy and trying to lowball a prize is even more of a crime.


    Its not like he would make good use of it, the idiot almost got killed in a Tier 1 rift. He should take some money and go live a normal life. The healer holding his reward tried to step away after saying that.


    The guard captain walked over to the sack and pulled the orc head out. Sure looks like to me and my spiritual sense that this idiot who almost got himself killed in a Tier 1 rift killed a Tier 3 orc who was using [Berserker''s Rage] before it died.


    Matt was startled, how could he tell all of that? Was his spiritual sense that good or was it something else?


    It represented the power he wanted, if he had power this arrogant healer would never dare to try and steal what was his.


    The guard captain continued, You know as well as I do that a Tier 3 can only appear in a Tier 1 with a rift challenge. And you want to try and steal from someone on The Path? Someone on The Path that can kill a Tier 3 at Tier 1? If the Empire didnt hunt you down, how long do you think before he did?


    As he finished Griff suddenly appeared And I already reported this incident.


    The healer looked pale but still tried to defend herself. Matts egg clutched to her chest. This is wasted on him. Ten million is more than fair. I...


    Griff interrupted her, Iris you know stealing from someone who is on The Path while working at a yPen is a capital offense?


    Iris tried to speak but Griff cut her off, and ten million for that egg is stealing. Iris, you know it and so does everyone here. Now, how about you put...


    It should be mine. I''ve been healing these brats for so long I deserve this. If I cant have it he sure ca...


    Matts heart stopped as Iris moved to smash the egg but before she could do more than raise her hand Griff had already moved. He was holding her raised hand, his entire arm through her chest.


    With a shake, he took hold of Matts egg and dislodged the dead healer. Captain Im sure you and your men will act as witnesses for the investigation, the cameras should have gotten everything but we''ll still need to go through the motions.


    Griff with one arm covered in blood looked at the seven on the floor. Why do you all insist on making my life difficult?


    He handed the egg to Matt and peeked at the orc head with a nod.


    Well, the events shouldnt be that hard to exin. Matt, Im assuming that you found yourself in a rift challenge and decided not to leave?


    Matt now having beenpletely healed and only sore, nodded.


    I remembered they were rare an...


    Griff sighed and cut him off, They arent actually that rare, solo delvers find them more often, one in say ten to twenty thousand delves. Its the rifts way to get a free kill. They get stronger with every death inside them.


    That wasmon knowledge, rifts could grow slowly over time but deaths elerated the process.


    Rifts aren''t alive, but they do run like magical code with a lot of IF statements. If the group that enters is stronger than it, the rift uses as little essence as it can to not waste resources. If the group is weaker than it, it will send the normal monster. Because why waste the essence?


    But there is a grey spot between the two. If the rifts calctions think it can get a kill if it boosts the power a bit <em>and </em>it thinks that it won''t spend more on a rift challenge than it would get for killing the delvers it can do one.


    Most solo delvers are smart enough to back out and just re-enter. Its essence expensive and the rift can''t recycle the monsters. Rift challenges have a survival rate of about one in a million for solo delvers. Its better for those on The Path because most are stronger than average but its still near one in five hundred thousand. The rifts only do it when the math adds up in their favor. So <strong><em>please</em></strong> exin why you were stupid enough to <em>actually </em>attempt it.


    Matt suddenly felt very foolish. The information Griff stated cleared up the confusion he had. He had thought that there was a one in a million chance to get a rift challenge, not one in a million chance to <em>survive </em>one.


    I... Ugh... Misremembered it as being one in a million to find one and... Ugh... didnt want to pass the chance up.


    Griff ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, not noticing or caring about the blood covering his hand. Then he wordlessly screamed into his hands.


    Matt suddenly felt <em>really </em>scared. Would Griff hurt him if he snapped?


    After he stopped screaming Griff took his hands off his face and said I cant even urately prove to you how dangerous that was. I just hope you remember that in the future the difference between Tiers isrger. Tier 1 to 3 is manageable.


    The bloody handprint covering half his face made each word menacing.


    Not by everyone, or even most people. But its notpletely unheard of. As you ascend to higher Tiers it takes more essence to advance and that makes the gaps wider. There is a reason those thatplete The Path are so rare. Its a race where you have to fight two or more Tiers above yourself and at Tier 20 and higher, its nearly impossible to cross Tiers. Thats why those that can are so highly valued.


    Griff was working himself up and even the guard captain had retreated. Matt felt frozen and vulnerable on the ground with just Melinda and party directly behind him.


    There has been one person, ONE FUCKING PERSON to do it in thest one thousand years. One thousand fucking years. Can you imagine how many people have been born in the empire in thest millennium?


    Matt didnt think he was supposed to answer that but when Griff paused he began to open his mouth before Griffs eyes refocused and said. I just looked it up. About one hundred and fourteen billion per year. Give or take some. One hundred and fourteen billion people per year over thest millennium not a single one has managed to replicate Duke Waters feat. YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL. You are not better than the ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN TRILLION people before you.


    Griff took a deep breath and sighed he looked aged ten years.


    And the worst thing is you got rewarded for your reckless behavior, tens of millions will die trying to get the same reward as you did. If you care at all youll keep that''s he waved at the egg in Matts hand, source a secret.


    Just say you got lucky in the normal rift, or better yet dont answer. Because if it gets out that it was from a rift challenge every new person on any yPen for the next decade will try instead of escaping like is rmended. They will attempt to repeat your feat and so few will make it out alive, and even fewer will make it through alive and victorious as you did.


    Matt felt terrible, he hadnt thought his actions out that far. What was this egg? Was it so valuable to send people to their deaths to risk getting something simr?


    The icy egg suddenly felt heavier than the orc corpse had when it tried to end his life with its own.


    Melinda, is he ok to move?


    Melinda just nodded at Griffs question, not daring to speak.


    You can all go home. I beg you not to talk about this. I really do. I just had to kill a Tier 8 Healer because of it. Please dont get more people killed, Im so, so very tired of watching children die.


    With that Griff was gone.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8


    Usually, Matt rode a bus that made trips between the rift and developed area of the ind but not tonight. None of them wanted to wait near the rifts.


    Matt looked down at the trophy he had been so proud of and felt sick. With an effort that strained his recently healed body, he threw the orcs head into the woods.


    It had transformed from a symbol of his bravery and victory, to a token of his stupidity.


    He nearly died and had wanted to take the head of his fallen foe and proudly proim he had killed it.


    That Matthew Alexander was the next Duke Waters. The next Light and Shadow.


    The encounter now tasted like ashes.


    Healer Iriss greed towards the cold egg in his hand had angered him. It still had him simmering. If not for the Empire and its rules, the strong would be able to take anything they wanted. Matt wasnt strong, he was protected by a Tier 50 who wass away and wanted people to grow and not be oppressed.


    That wasnt his strength. The healer should have followed the rules, but instead tried to oppress Matt with her money and power. Griff was a better person than Iris, but what if he hadnt been?


    Everything he risked his life for could have been snatched in an instant.


    He did not want to no he could never be weak again. Iris reminded him of how he felt at eight, when the rift break had torn everyone he had ever loved away from him. He knew he had only been a child, but if people had been stronger, the rift break would have been easily pushed back. If the Junipers had done their duty, he wouldnt have lost everything he held dear.


    <em>Power is the only way to protect what I care about.</em>


    Matt wanted that power. He looked at Melinda, Mat, Kyle, Sam, Vinnie, and Tara. He wanted to be able to protect his friends that had run to help, even if he didnt know how they got there so fast. Now wasnt the time to ask, but he wanted to be able to return the favor however he could.


    Griff had been right, he could admit that. Matt may have misremembered the information about rift challenges, but Matt had yed it smart and cautious until he had seen the reward distortion. If he hadnt been blinded by his avarice, he would have retreated, and still could have made good gains in both essence and credits.


    The fight with the orc could have gone worse in a thousand different ways. Any misstep or dodge in the wrong direction, and Matt could have been killed.


    He had only been hit with a single thrown shield and it destroyed the left side of his body.


    Matt knew he was lucky that it was only a ncing blow, and that [Cracked Phantom Armor] had stopped him from bleeding out. His left side was covered in blood from only a few moments between the skill turning off and Melinda healing him.


    The area felt odd to his senses. The wounds were healed, but now the area felt off, like it wasnt quite his own body anymore.


    Matt looked to the healer, he owed her. He couldnt imagine how to even begin to repay the debt. He promised himself that he would one day.


    He would be strong enough that he wouldnt need to rely on the protection of the Empire and the Emperor. He wouldn''t need to lean on his friends.


    Matt wanted to be able to support them as they had supported him. To do that he needed to get strong.


    ***


    As the long walk was ending and the residential area was in sight, Melinda broke the long silence. Healer Iris wasn''t a good person. Rumor had it she was here because she tried to extort someone while acting as an official Healer. It''s just a rumor but she''s always been an asshole.


    Mat chimed in after his girlfriend, Well I think her actions tonight kinda prove those rumors right.


    Yeah, I guess they do.


    Tara quietly asked, Did Griff have to kill her? That seems a little excessive with his power.


    Kyle quietly answered her, Yeah he did. Theft of rift rewards is considered banditry, and the punishment for that is always death. Mybat tutor talked about it. He said its considered kinder to just kill them and avoid the publicity.


    Thats stupid, we shouldnt kill anyone that easily. She could have been given a second chance.


    She was on her second chance. No way she deserves a third, she tried to steal from Matt. Are you saying she should?


    No I...


    Matt felt the need to interject before they got farther off track, Thanks for the quick reaction I swear Ill...


    He was stopped as a red-eyed Melinda jumped in front of him, finger in his face. If you say pay me back by every ring of hell there is. I. Will. Hurt. You. We help each other. That''s what friends do. If you had the chance I''m sure you''d do the same. All thats needed is a thank you.


    As he opened his mouth to protest Melinda red harder, The next words that leave your mouth better not be anything other than Thank you. Do. Not. Fucking. Test. Me.


    Matt acquiesced. Thank you Melinda. he looked to the rest of her party, Thanks to all of you. I just don''t want you guys to feel like I''m only friends with you for free heals. I''ve seen friendships end over far less. And I value our friendship too much.


    Mat looped an arm around his shoulder. It''s not like we havent had to fend off people who just wanted to cozy up to us for Melindas abilities. Its easy to tell whos who.


    Also, as the healer who treated you I''m banning you from delving for the next two shifts.


    You can do that?


    Yeah and Ill make it three if you give me any more lip.


    Looking at her still red eyes and slight sniffle she was trying to hide, Matt didnt feel it would be smart to call her bluff.


    Ok but you need to exin what happened. Sam pushed the conversation to safer waters.


    After you all exin how you got to the rift so fast.


    Easy. Youre usually out of the rift way before us, and when you didn''t answer our message we got worried. We saw your pad hadnt gone online since your rift time, so we waited outside in case you needed Melindas help. We know your skill makes it so you cant really get hurt in a Tier 1 rift so we got worried.


    Kyle added, Unless he''s crazy enough to fight a Tier 3. I''m surprised you can walk Matt


    Matt didn''t know what he was talking about. Walk? His legs hadn''t been injured.


    With the size of those balls on you, Im surprised you aren''t just bouncing down the road on them.


    <em>Ohhhhhh. </em>


    The attempt at humor didn''t quitend, but he appreciated the effort. Tara added, Yeah give us the story, how did you do it?


    So Matt told them, their reactions made him feel a little better after Griff''s dressing down. But he still felt Griff had been mostly right, even if a little harsh. He definitely would make a different decision if presented with the same situation a second time.


    The incident felt as if it happened to someone else once the adrenaline had run its course.


    As they got to the housingplex Matt was urged to scan the egg, and after he had, they rushed to the groups suite to view the results privately.


    Bound Pet: Arctic Fox.


    Elemental Affinity: Ice.


    The group then looked up how to bond the pet, which was like bonding a skill shard. Send essence in, and then a few dayster the creature would hatch.


    That sparked a debate on why a fox was in an egg, until Melinda, who was looking up the procedures with Matt, saw an author''s note.She read it out loud.


    Guys holy shit, this exins why Iris tried so hard to steal the egg! Listen to this, <em>While Arctic Foxs arent particrly stronger than other bound pets, they are prized for their beauty. Most eggs that are ced on the market go for 50 Tier 11 mana stones.</em> Wow, that''s a lot of credits.


    Then Melinda straightened, That bitch Iris only offered you ten million credits.


    Wait why is it worth 50 Tier 11 mana stones and not 5 Tier 12 mana stones? Kyle asked.


    That led to more searching for the group to learn that after Tier 5, mana stones increased the total mana they held, leading to a ratio jump of 50 to 1. Then another jump every ten Tiers until it was 1000 to 1 at Tier 50.


    Strategic resources like shielding and rift disrupters used millions of mana a second at the higher Tiers. There the mana capacity of rift made mana stones was valued much more, so the price increased faster than the total mana. Man made mana stones that were rechargeable were only able to hold 200 mana at the same size of the rift made ones. After that they ballooned in size.


    Matt and the others spent the rest of the evening trying to decide on what to name the unhatched arctic fox, looking at the avable pictures with a chorus of oohs and aahs.


    They even watched somebat footage withpanion arctic foxes. There wasn''t much, but what they found impressed Matt. The lowest Tier of video they found was Tier 7, but the fox had created a small blizzard then shot icicles at the targets.


    Matt looked at the egg in hisp, the yPenNet said it could take anywhere from one to three days to hatch, but Matt wanted it to hatch now. Or rather, in the morning. He was tired and needed to get pet supplies.


    <em>Shit, what do foxes need? Are they like cats? Dogs? I''ve never had a pet.</em>


    ***


    The next morning Matt stood outside Griff''s door. It was early enough that Matt hadn''t expected the man to be in, but the light was on so he knocked.


    Come in.


    Matt did so and Griff looked surprised to see him.


    He gave Matt a tired smile and said, Sorry about yesterday, I shouldn''t have yelled at you. I had juste back from a partys funeral, but that doesn''t excuse how I acted. I shouldn''t have lost my temper like that and I apologize.


    Matt was surprised, this wasn''t how he expected this to go; he had nned to apologize and thank the older man.


    No sir, you were right. It was stupid to push on. I got greedy and it almost got me killed. I thought over the fight a lotst night and it went about as well as it could have. I''m pretty good, but I know I''m not good enough to attempt to kill a Tier 3. I got lucky.


    This next part felt embarrassing but Matt pushed on. I thought I could be the next Light and Shadow. I told myself to take it easy and not risk it. And I did until thest room. Before that, only thest three rooms could even get through my skill, and they were just the normal hobgoblins. Even three of them aren''t so strong that I was concerned at all.


    Swallowing Matt finished, And I looked in and saw the hobs and the orc. I knew I should have turned around but when I saw the reward distortion. It felt... Matt looked down and pulled therge ice egg out of the backpack.


    It felt like this was my chance to be great. I considered myself too good and skilled to waste the opportunity. I swore that I''d be the next person toplete The Path. It was just bullshit justification to be greedy. I looked up what little info I could find and Light and Shadow were clearing Tier 1 rifts at Tier 1. They weren''t great and strong until they got skills and experience. I don''t have either. But I thought I did especially after winning.


    So. I just wanted to thank you for the reality check. And stopping that healer from stealing my prize.


    Griff had leaned back in his chair and had a slight smile after Matt finished.


    Well, I didn''t expect that. A lot of people don''t appreciate the fact that they are not the hero of the story, that they won''t get to save the Empire and get the girl. I thought I was hot shit, I thought I was the next Duke Waters. I believed it, my whole team thought we were going to be the next greats.


    So we started delving into Tier 11s at Tier 10. It''s how we fell off The Path. My wife was chopped in half, two of my teammates were moments from death, but thankfully we were able to retreat with our lives. And the worst part is I didn''t even get a bruise.


    That was the day I learned that I wasn''t special. My wife and two of my best friends were almost the price I had to pay to learn that lesson.


    Griff turned a picture on his desk around of him holding a woman smiling up at him with another couple doing the same.


    I treasure them more than advancing fast. The prizes are an illusion Matt. after Tier 5s free skill shard The Path is <em>not </em>worth risking everything. You know how age works with cultivation?


    Matt shook his head, I know the higher you get until Tier 15 you live longer but I don''t know the details.


    At Tier 10 youll have a life expectancy of almost 700 years, Matt. 700 years is a long time. Those that go slow and steady are far more likely to hit Tier 15 and those that do hit Tier 15 slowly are more likely to reach Tier 25. People like to fixate on The Path but it''s a charnel house.


    Then why is The Path a thing? It seems wasteful.


    It is and it isnt. I wish it weren''t so but The Path is a positive. The Empire isn''t the only Tier 50 power out there. There are seven others of rtive strength. And all have some variation of The Path. It shows everyone else that our younger generation is strong. It''s an internalpetition to show external power.


    Thest war the Empire fought was six or seven hundred years ago. It was a tame war as far as those things go, and still we lost 800 million people.


    What was the war about? Matt was curious now.


    Griffughed but there was no humor in it. A Tier 30 world was found with natural portals to both Empire territory and the Republic. Both sides imed it, and so blood was shed. Do you know why we haven''t had another?


    Matt shook his head, Duke Waters. He''s one of three people in all eight great powers who havepleted The Path. He alone stops any attempts. And his presence will continue to do so until he ascends to the higher nes.


    How can one man do that? It seems like they could just send a squad of Tier 40s or stronger.


    That isn''t allowed.


    Seeing Matt surprise Griffughed for real this time. Yeah, I thought the same thing. Wars are only fought with people Tier 15 to Tier 35. But attacking someone in a lower Tier is strictly forbidden. If a Tier 16 kills a Tier 15 it can domino all the way up to the Tier 50s.


    If a Tier 40 or higher wants to wipe out all life on a, its <em>easy</em>. They could snap their fingers and we wouldnt know how we died. Griff leaned back and rubbed his temples.


    Twenty or so thousand years ago a conflict happened where the rules of war were ignored. It was a three-way war between the eight great powers, and someone somewhere killed a battalion of Tier 15s. Then the other side retaliated, getting revenge by sending a team of Tier 17s to kill the Tier 16s. After the war was over forty worlds were uninhabitable. Trillions of lives lost. It cost too much to be worth it.


    So Duke Water''s very presence stops anyone from attacking us and our allies because he''s a true monster. He just reached Tier 31 and he solos Tier 35 rifts. The other two Ascenders are strong but not Duke Waters strong. That''s why we have The Path. Thats why the Empire allows its best to get killed trying to grow as strong as possible. Because one man can stop billions of deaths.


    And that leads me to Healer Iris. She was a valuable asset to the empire, healing skills are rare and those who wish to dedicate themselves to the profession are even harder to nurture. She lost that value to the Empire after her stunt; if we let people abuse their positions it breeds enmity. If there isn''t a swift punishment people will do anything they can to take revenge. Just a few years ago a young man''s sister was raped and murdered. He tried to get the culprits punished.


    He reported it to the authorities and even the nobility of his. They ignored him, he was a lower Tiered crafter, the rapist was a mayor''s son. They valued him and his sister as less because they weren''t strong. Do you know what he did to get revenge?


    Matt didnt have words so just shook his head.


    He waited until the city''s defensive shielding was up and broke a family treasure. He torched a city of millions. Not a single survivor. It was the only way he could see to right the wrong done to his sister. The Empire hasws for a reason and when they aren''t fairly enforced millions can pay the cost of a few.


    Matt didn''t know what to say. It was a grim tale, but one he could understand. He had fantasies about getting revenge on the mayors and Junipers who let the rift breaks ur. Killing millions seemed excessive in his eyes. That just created more pain.


    The room was silent until Griff shook himself, sitting up and pping his desk. On to better topics. Matt, you have skill, I''ve looked at your training stats and clearance rates. Youre good. I think you can get to the 10th or 15th Tier safely on The Path. And just that will show our enemies we have one more powerhouse in our rosters who they have to be leery of.


    You mentioned Light and Shadow, do you know why they cover their faces? Its so they don''t get assassinated by the other powers. No one wants The Empire to have three Ascenders at once.


    It would be unprecedented. It would make us the strongest power by miles. Duke Waters still has another seven or eight hundred years before he hits Tier 45 and can travel to the higher nes.That amount of time is <em>nothing</em> to the other seven powers. The mere<em> thought</em> of a single power having that kind of power terrifies them. Light and Shadow have probably had an attempt on their lives every few years since they hit Tier 17.


    Matt, standing out too much will draw attention. And yes, you were right. They were weak at Tier 1. Itsmon knowledge that they came from an under Tier 5 world, and so did Duke Waters. As far as whichs they came from? That information ispletely hidden. When you roll the dice trillions of times, <em>thats</em> how you beat the odds, and<em> thats</em> how The Empire gets lucky enough to have two sets of Ascenders.


    War is close Matt. Remember this; If you kill a genius before they can fully grow up, they arent a genius.


    Griff stood and walked to the window, peering out at the sun as it peaked over the ocean, bathing the ind in the light of the new day.


    To happier topics, what pet did you get? It''s obviously ice based, but did you get something crazy like an Ice Dragon?


    No, an Arctic Fox.


    Ahh that''s still a good one. It starts a bit weaker than a dragon or a phoenix, but all pets can get to absurd power levels. Hmmm I don''t think we even have pet cors here.


    Pet cors? I didnt see anything about needing a cor.


    Griff nced at him and said, Yup it''s how pets show they are owned and not just wild monsters. Also, they function like the bracelets and will allow you to share essence. I''ll get one special ordered for you.


    Griff turned and stuck out his hand. Matt, really, thanks foring by. I still am sorry I snapped at you, but I appreciate you for understanding whats at stake.


    Then Griffughed. Lets hope you get a female fox.


    What? Why''s that Griff?


    Griff justughed harder, All nonhuman monsters can take a human shape at some Tier between 15 and 45. The stronger the bloodline the higher they have to reach. Pets from rifts gain the ability as soon as they reach Tier 15, unlike their naturally born counterparts. And considering you''re going to be binding your spirit to your fox, sexual attraction is basically a guarantee. So bisexuality is in your future if you get a male fox.


    And besides if it''s a she, she would be <em>foxy</em>.


    ***


    Matt walked into the general store and looked at his pad. He had a list of things to get, but every time he thought of his fox pet Matt couldn''t help but remember Griffs bad joke.


    Griffs wife had overheard the end of his conversation and a whispered argument ensued. She told Griff that if he got an animalpanion she''d have to get a malepanion of her own.


    Matt felt the argument was strange because she had their child in a carrier the whole time. He was just d that the kid was asleep when he made his escape and heard the contents of Griff''s desk tter to the floor.


    If what Griff said was true, he hoped he got a femalepanion, but he couldn''t find anything on the yPenNet orNet about rift pets turning into humans at Tier 15.


    <em>Is Griff messing with me?</em>


    Matt wasn''t sure, but it wasn''t like he could change the gender of the animal in the egg. It just seemed weird to want to have sex with something that was once an animal. He pushed the thoughts off, that was a problem for decades in the future at the earliest.


    Griff had ordered a cor for Matt as an apology, and while Matt felt guilty epting, when he saw the price tag of a Tier 5 mana stone his protest died.


    That was more than twenty-five times his credit limit. Griff warned him that pets were usually only bought at Tier 5 because they were so expensive. The spiritual strain the bond ced on the cultivator was only a problem if the pet wasn''t willing to bond.


    The true barrier of pet ownership on The Path was the restriction on outside financial assistance for their upkeep. Griff even said he was skirting the rules pretty heavily with his apology.


    Matt found an employee who helped him ess the off world catalog Griff had directed him to.


    The prices were absurd. A month''s supply of food for an arctic fox kit cost a little more than a thousand credits.


    Matt looked down at the egg and wanted to cry. He didn''t know how he was going to feed the little monster.


    Then there was the toys and bedding.


    <em>Why do toys cost hundreds of credits each? Why does the bedding cost four thousand?</em>


    As Matt looked into the tant extortion he found that the pets were considered monsters for a good reason. At Tier 1 most could chew through iron. All of their toy materials needed to be Tier 3 monster parts or higher.


    The bedding was specially made for cold creatures, and would deflect their cold back at them, which was apparently important. Despite his best efforts, Matt couldnt find any specifics as to why. Just that every bed rated for the foxes came with it, and that feature increased the price considerably.


    To make matters worse, the fox would also need special alchemist concoctions to strengthen its innate cold powers.


    Matt could see his future of living with no savings and his debt constantly climbing. The only reassurance he had was his peak Tier 1 status after the rift challenge. Now he just had to wait for his spirit to limate to its newfound power before attempting the breakthrough into Tier 2.


    Confirming the purchase for six months of food, two supplement packages, a bed, and a massive amount of toys and grooming supplies was painful. Seeing his credit limit instantly halved, Matt almost wished Griff would yell at him again so he could get some more free stuff. If it wasn''t for Griffs generosity, he wouldn''t have two credits to rub together.


    The arrival time for his order was scheduled for two days from now, the quick turnaround being another perk of getting on Griffs bad side. He was grateful he wasn''t charged with the usual fee of a Tier 8 mana stone to activate the portal off schedule.


    Matt decided to go to the gym to work out. He needed an outlet for his frustration at his newly acquired pauper status, and the only way to w his way out again was to delve higher Tier rifts.


    <em>Tier 2 here Ie.</em>


    ***


    The night before the pet items arrived, Matt was in the shower, pondering the impending arrival of this creature that would have a heavy influence on the rest of his life. The frozen egg left an unfogged section in the mirror next to it as it rested in the sink next to his shower Suddenly he felt a powerful jolt in his spiritual energy, warming and chilling him all at once. There was only one thing that this bizarre sensation could possibly mean.


    His fox was about to hatch.


    Matt hastily ended his shower, threw on his pants, and sent a rushed message to Melindas team.


    He was staring at the egg ced carefully on the center of his bed, when all six of them barged into the room. Seeing that they hadn''t missed the culminating moment of their days spent in anticipation, the team sighed in relief.


    Less than fifteen apprehensive minutester, a crack appeared with a crisp, satisfying, ringing sound. The egg shook slightly as the crack expanded along its surface, until finally the egg shell fragmented into frost covered pieces.


    Out popped a fuzzy mass of white. She, as the hatchling had clearly asserted through their newly formed spiritual connection, was looking up at Matt as she wobbled to him on unsteady legs.


    The little fox advanced but three steps before falling over, and Matt quickly scooped her up and cradled her to his chest.


    She was so soft. And as frigid as a block of ice. Matt could feel a chill permeating the air around her, emanating constantly from her fur.


    He could barely make out sounds of appreciation and wondering from the others. Words like adorable, fluffy, and cuddly, barely registered. He waspletely lost to his surroundings, except for this new facet of his very identity.


    Matt only had eyes for the small creature in his arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she seemed perfectly content to stay pressed against his chest, but Matt could feel her exploring the link between their spirits.


    It didnt feel as if it was an invasion into his consciousness but instead like a hopefully inquiry from an innocent child. Matt got the sense that this bond was deeply familiar to her, and the very reason that she had woken from her deep sleep. It wasnt through spoken word that he could understand her, but instead he almost immediately could interpret the emotions, colors, and impressions she projected to him mentally.


    The tiny kit opened intelligent, blue eyes the color of towering ciers. After a few minutes, Matt realized he had forgotten something important.


    She was hungry, and she wanted food <em>now</em>. He had no idea what he should feed the hatchling, the food he had purchased wouldn''t arrive until the next morning.


    The dilemma was solved for him, and through the spiritual connection Matt got an impression of the fractured pieces of egg. Setting her down next to the remains of her vessel, the Arctic Fox ate half of the remains before falling over, stuffed and exhausted.


    Matt looked to the others and saw Melinda was biting her knuckles to keep quiet and the rest weren''t faring any better.


    He could tell that his new bond would be asleep for a while and whispered. If you want to pet her, go-ahead. She''s going to be dead to the world for a while.


    That started a very fierce but careful rush to gently stroke her soft fur.


    Only now did Matt understand why Arctic Foxes were prized for their aesthetic more so than theirbat ability. Their coats were divine to the touch, the fluffy tail felt how clouds looked.


    After they had their fill of admiring and appreciating the new life before them, each member of the party reluctantly left, one after the other, allowing the newly bonded pair to sleep.


    ***


    Matt woke up the next morning and quickly realized why the fox beds cost so much. The little bundle of fluff had crawled onto his chest in the night to curl up, nose tucked into its tail. But the damn thing had chilled him to the bone as she slept, causing Matt to wake up shivering.


    Gently setting the kit on his pillow, Matt scurried into the shower, letting the heat wash away the deep chills that permeated his body. Before Matt could fully warm himself, he felt a jolt of pure panic through their spiritual link as the kit woke, frantically searching for her lost bond.


    Following their connection as it led her to the bathroom door, Matt could sense her irritation as she scratched at the door, worry flowing into his spirit. Stepping out of the water he bent down tofort the fox, getting pawed at and scolded with small yips for leaving her side.


    The kit left to explore the bathroom so Matt finished his shower. She seemed interested in, but wary of the falling water. Curiosity overcame her caution as she stuck a paw into the running stream of water. Matt finished up and checked his pad for the status of the delivery. It was at the ind''s post office waiting for pickup.


    Quickly he scooped up his fox, receiving loud protests to the interruption of her exploration. Matt noted that she had finished the egg remains. He reached out through their link and felt that while she wasn''t hungry, she wasn''t full either.


    Hurrying down to the post office was a challenge. His fox was squirming in his arms as she tried to take in anything and everything they passed as they went. He quickly grabbed a single bag of kit chow, as well as the box containing the toys and care products. Seeing his predicament, the postal workers didnt make a fuss at Matt leaving fiverge bags of food.


    When he got back to his room, he found Melinda, Sam, and Tara waiting. Seeing the fox awake they quickly showered the kit with affection,pletely ignoring Matt and his load.


    The little traitor basked in the pats and coos from the girls. Matt unboxed the bowls he had bought and filled one with water, the other with food.


    The fox leaped off the girlsps, darting to the food and scarfing down the kit chow. It was some blend of fish and beef ording to the packaging, and was supposedly formted for her breed in particr.


    Mat, Vinnie, and Kyle arrived with breakfast as the fox was still eating, relieving Matt''s gnawing hunger.


    Have you decided on a name yet? Tara asked through a mouth full of food.


    Not yet. I ha...


    How could you? Are you neglecting her?


    She''s adorable, how could you leave her without a name?


    Look at her! Call her Snowball.


    Vinnies suggestion started a chorus of cliche snowy names being suggested, as the fox in question just nosed the box of toys. She started pulling them out, giving them a shake and a scratch, before going back to pull out the next.


    I am not naming her Little White. Why would I put little in her name anyway? She would grow up. And naming her based on her color seemszy. I''m sure there are a hundred arctic foxes named Snowke or something simr.


    Matt started putting the supplies for the fox in a bag, and when he got to the cor, he was afraid the fox would resist the small band. In fact, she didn''t seem to mind it at all. She was far more interested in the brush that Melinda had found and was using to her growing satisfaction.


    The trip down to get the remaining bags of food was even slower; the fox demanded to be let down so she could inspect every new object or stimulus she came across. Matt found it adorable that she would find something, then push her curiosity to him through their bond as if to ask ohh what''s this? He would try to exin with vague impressions, but the little ball of fluff didn''t have the attention span to allow Matt to get the idea across.


    <em>How do you exin what a rock is to a baby?</em>


    The fact that everyone who saw the little white fox had to stop and pet her dyed the group even further. The fox loved the attention and Matt swore she was prancing after a while. That is, until she was distracted by something else.


    The slitted eyes of the kit were drawn to a spider which had built an borate web in a nearby bush. The staring match only ended when the kit sneezed, blowing the spider away and startling everyone including the fox. She shot Matt an inquisitive stare, as if to question who did that to her through their link.


    Matt found himself with endless patience. If a week ago someone had told him he would watch a baby fox take an hour and a half to make the typically much shorter trip to the post office, he would haveughed at them.


    Now he just felt the curiosity flowing across their bond, and trust in the fact that he would keep her safe as she stuck her nose into everything she could reach.


    The disy led Matt to picture a hazy memory of staring at the stars one night with his parents. The details were lost to him but the sensation of their care and love was still clear. He remembered asking them the names of each constetion, and their patient answers to his repetitive questions.


    An idea for a name popped into Matts head. He looked up and saw bright blue skies, but could still imagine the stars hidden behind the veil of blue. He smiled and sent a query to his fox.


    She liked it.


    <em>Aster </em>liked her name.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9


    Matt was still trying to get used to Aster. She felt the need to be a part of every single thing he did. It was adorable and cute, but frustrating at times.


    Currently, he was on his bed attempting to break through to Tier 2. Every time he sunk into the meditative state required, Aster would shift on his chest, or flick her tail, or do something else to break his concentration.


    He did not want to fail the breakthrough. It wouldnt harm him, just waste his hard earned essence. His physical side of cultivation was full, and he had a decent amount of essence in his spirit. He just needed to use that essence topress the loose essence acquired from delving into something more solid.


    The guide suggested a mental image of sand to sandstone, but he felt Aster shift again. Her chill permeated his shirt, his mental imagery shifted to snow beingpacted into ice sheets.


    From shifting and unstable to firm and unmoving.


    With this new ce to build upon, the Tier advancements after this wouldpress his essence even more, slowly adding more weight. This new arrangement of essence would be the foundation the rest of his life would be built upon.


    Matt thought of his helplessness after the rift break, and his anger at Iris trying to steal Aster. He took all of that emotion, and with every ounce of power his spirit had, he squeezed.


    The essencepressed down easily at first, as the loose snow became hard. Matt didnt let up, he kept pushing, and just when it felt there was no more progress to be made, the essencepressed again. The once hard bundle of essence he had created shrunk, but it had also loosened. It was only slightly harder than it had started before the firstpression.


    He repeated the process four more times, fivepressions was good for Tier 1. Coming out of his trance with Aster''s wet and cold nose against his chin was a bit of a shock.


    Matt checked his physical cultivation. Right in the center of his chest was a small, rock hard sphere of essence, with a smallyer on top that wasnt as denselypacted as its core. Diving into his being with his spiritual sense, he inspected his metaphysical half. The mana cultivation was tiny, and seemed atrophied inparison to his physical half.


    Where one was a bright ball of essence the other was dark and hollow.


    He sat up and cradled the kit. Fivepressions. He had five more to go to fully stabilize his cultivation, but hed do it with the first essence he umted at the Tier 2 rift. That way no problems could ur. It was said to be rare, but he didnt want to take chances.


    Thepression of the essence foundation was repeated numerous times in the guide the yPen provided. It was possible to advance to the next Tier with only a singlepression, but the cultivator would be able to express less power than their peers who hadpleted the full ten.


    Tier 2. He had done it.


    Aster, feeling his excitement, wiggled out of his hold and picked up a toy. So Matt yed with his bond until she was panting, ready for a nap.


    With Aster curled into a chilly ball next to him, Matt looked up the information of the Tier 2 rift.


    It was a jungle path withrge insects as the monster of choice. The regr monsters were a mix of giant centipedes with a monstrous bite strength, and giant praying mantises who had steel-like, grasping arms used as des and crushers all in one.


    The boss was a peak Tier 2 ant queen. Like normal ant queens, this one was a fighter, and would ferociously defend her territory. The final fight was against her and a horde of soldier ants.


    It was reportedly a hard fight for solo fighters. The only benefit was that the soldier ants were barely Tier 2, and should have trouble getting through his [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    The skill was only strong enough to fully block the weakest of Tier 2 attacks, so his advantage was gone. He would slowly be able to get more defensive power out of the skill as it imprinted into his spirit; but for now he would have to be careful of injuries in the Tier 2 rift.


    If his Tier 3 Talent didnt change his mana shortage, he would have to face the fact that the skill would be increasingly less effective.


    Matt looked at the snoring fox next to him and was more concerned with her safety. Hed need to bring her with him so she could gather essence as well, but he wasnt sure how to keep her safe from a bunch of ground-level insects.


    <em>Maybe I should keep running the Tier 1 rift until she gets stronger?</em>


    He decided to ask Melindas party tonight at dinner. They had actual experience running the Tier 2 rift, and he didn''t want to have to run the Tier 1 unless he had to. The Tier 2 monsters would have more condensed essence, andrger amounts of it at that. Aster would progress and catch up to him much faster if Matt stuck with Tier 2 essence as her fuel.


    ***


    Their advice was so simple Matt should have thought of it himself. He bought arger backpack and stuck Aster inside with a nket to pad it out for her.


    He was sure he lookedical. A man covered in ghostly armor with a shield, axe, and a white fox poking her head out over his shoulder.


    Even the Ant Queen was only slightly over waist height, so Aster was out of reach.


    Matt was working his way down the main path of the rift, smashing the tough chitin exoskeletons of the monsters. He crushed them one by one as they swarmed him, careful to avoid their mandibles and arms. As he progressed, he began to barely make out the end of the long trail cut out of the dense jungle foliage surrounding him.


    The Tier 2 rift wasnt really any more challenging if Matt was careful. There were no distinct rooms like the Tier 1 rift. Here the insects were more ambush predators, focusing more on surprise attacks from the underbrush beside the jungle path than on frontal assaults.


    Matt had tested his limits, and had found that his [Cracked Phantom Armor] was nearly imprable by singr attacks from the basic monsters. It took them a few seconds of sustained bites or grabs to ovee the mana running through the skill.


    As he chopped his way through the waist-high monsters he eagerly collected the essence. It was thicker than that of the Tier 1 rift. Splitting half with Aster didnt affect his gains, as he was gathering more essence from each kill here than he would from four Tier 1 monsters.


    After making his way through the long hot jungle path, leaving a trail of dismembered heads and limbs, Matt came to arge clearing at the end. Here the thick underbrush gave way to tall tropical trees and bright flowered nts, all coated with ayer of vines.


    In the center of the clearing, a giant mound of dirt signaled the entrance to the queens undergroundwork of tunnels. As he approached, the ground itself shook and split apart as the queen and her drones breached the surface, sensing the imminent threat.


    Sizing up the Queen Ant, Matt quickly realized he had a problem. She was big, the top of her head reaching slightly above his waist. While he knew her pincer attacks were strong enough to tear him in half, Matt doubted that she was fast enough tond an attack.


    After quickly dispatching her guard unit, Matts suspicions proved correct. He could easily maneuver around the queen''s slow and predictable lunges. The real problem was his inability to damage the queen. His axe didnt have enough weight to drive through the chitin of the stronger insect. Where he could hack and crush the shells of the weaker insects, the queens exoskeleton was like steel te armor.


    Matt eventually was able to chop through a weaker leg joint, but all that did was slow her down even more. Seeing no other viable options, Matt endured the tedious process of de-legging the queen one limb at a time. The queens lunging attacks became increasingly pathetic with each missing limb, but Matt was still wary of her mandibles crushing power.


    It took him a while but he was able to separate the queen from her legs, and finished the fight by bisecting her at the joints of her head and abdomen.


    He wasing with a bigger axe for this fight next time.


    Matt approached the reward distortion. It shimmered with a pale grey light. When he collected his prize, he spat at the reward of only four Tier 2 mana stones. A below average haul. Matt felt it summed up the delve perfectly.


    The bright side was the bag of mushrooms and herbs he gathered along the forest path. Apparently, they were worth a decent amount of credits to the alchemists, so the trip wouldnt be an entire waste.


    Arriving at the alchemist workshop, Matt perused the disyed items. Potions of strength, speed, proprioception, even odder things like night vision.


    They didn''t have actual healing potions, just blood clotting potions. Matt would consider them alchemical triage, it was just enough to get you out of a rift and to a healer.


    The problem was the prices. Every item was sold with the price in mana stones. Tier 3 mana stones.


    Giving up on the idea of getting any of the expensive items, Matt left the store area and found a desk. He told the receptionist he''d like to sell items from the Tier 2 rift.


    The room he was led to had a man in opulent robes sitting reading a book. Matt sat down but was ignored. He coughed slightly to get the man''s attention, but the alchemist waved his hand at Matt with a shushing sound.


    After five minutes of waiting, the man put down his book and barked, Where are the goods?


    The man had pulled each item out of the bag and found fault with every one.


    This one wasnt harvested properly, the entire stem isnt here.


    This one has too much surrounding dirt, we can''t use this.


    <em>How can too much dirt make moss worthless?</em>


    Frustration building, Matt fought the urge to punch the alchemist in his smug face. Therge bag that he had trekked through the humid forest was only valued at 100 credits.


    Matt <em>knew </em>he was getting ripped off. The guide said the items should have carried a value of fifty credits per item. Raging internally, he thought over what he should do. What irritated him was that he had been careful when harvesting the items. He followed the guide to the letter.


    Looking at the smirking man across the desk Matt decided he didnt want this mans money. He wasnt sure if this was a scam the alchemist was running himself or if the entire department was just a bunch of assholes.


    Decision made, he snatched the pouch up and stuffed his goods inside. Walking out before the man could say anything, he found a trash can and proceeded to shred every item in his bag.


    He got a few odd looks, but couldnt tell if they were because of the crazy man angrily tearing up mushrooms and moss, or the fox yipping in excitement every time he did. Matt just wanted to go home and cultivate, that was the only positive he could still hold on to. Finishing solidifying his foundation would be worth the absolute slog this delve had turned out to be.


    ***


    The next few months of Matts time on the yPen was uneventful, he delved, trained, and took sses. Aster had reached Tier 2, and could now push her cold aura out further, but that ability was useless in actualbat.


    She usually just sat behind him taunting the uncaring insects. But the rifts while productive were no real challenge to the duo.


    After some time, the day Matt was dreading had arrived. It was Melindas groupsst day on the ind. They were holding a private dinner, and then tomorrow morning they would be gone.


    It wasnt a surprise that they would be leaving the ind before him, but now that the time was here, he didnt want them to go. They were the best friends he had since well he couldnt think of better friends.


    He knew it wasnt like they wouldnt be able tomunicate, it would just be slow once they were on differents. The data dumps only happened when the portal was opened, and that was normally once a month.


    This was the reason they were leaving two weeks early. Paying for a slot on the monthly portal was only a Tier 3 mana stone apiece, while getting a personal portal was a Tier 8 mana stone.


    Sitting on his bed, he cuddled Aster to him. She would be all he had once the others left. He didnt even mind anymore that she refused to use the incredibly expensive bed hed bought her, and instead preferred to freeze him nightly.


    Checking the time, Matt made his way down to the reserved room with Aster on his heels.


    When the duo entered the room, he stered on a smile he didnt feel. Acting happy to see them move on.


    As they ate he asked, So have you decided where you are going to go?


    Yup, weve got three jumps to get to the, its called... Sam looked at her pad, Relstor. Weird name, but its a Tier 7 world and has enough Tier 3 and 4 rifts that there isnt any realpetition for spots. So no fee to purchase a delve slot.


    Mat continued with a full mouth, Theres even a rift with goblins. Its only Tier 3, so just a single tribe. Its where we''ll probably go, because it lets us use our numbers pretty well. And were familiar with the monster type. We should be able to reach Tier 4 in a few months, give or take.


    Thats only if we delve every two days, and we talked about that. Its too risky. Were <em>only</em> 16. Were still well under the curve if our goal is to hit Tier 5 before we reach 22. We dont have to rush for it. The free skill will seriously increase our strength. And by the way, dont speak with your mouth full you delinquent. Melinda ended herment with a poke to Mats bulging cheek.


    Matt agreed, Yeah a free skill would be amazing. Do you guys have any idea what you want?


    Nope, weve only got the two skills that arent talents. And they were gifts from our sponsor. Have you seen the price for skills?


    No, I havent even looked into them at all honestly.


    Tara waved a chicken leg and said, Tier 8 rifts are the first point where they bemon drops, at around a one in four chance. Even then, its still only a set number of weaker skills that drop at Tier 8. So most weaker skill shards sell for about a Tier 8 mana stone.


    Vinnie chimed in Yeah, but you <em>can </em>get lucky and have higher Tiered skills drop. What if we got something like [Regeneration] or a healing skill? That would sell for a lot more.


    Kyle cut him off, Dummy. Well be the ones <em>buying </em>healing skills. Even with the free Tier 5 skill, Melindas gonna need more healing skills. [Ranged Heal] is great and all, but she needs a group healing skill, and some kind of heal over time would be good as well.


    Matt could understand the bitterness in his voice, so he raised his cup and said, To being poor!


    That got augh out of everyone, and they started talking about their ideas for archetypes to build into.


    Matt let the others run with the conversation, he didnt know what he wanted. It really depended on how his Tier 3 Talent fixed his mana problem. He trusted it would, but he had realized there were multiple ways to fix it.


    The best, and most unlikely fix, was his Tier 3 Talent just unblocking his Mana Cultivation. Matt didnt think that would happen, as that would require a direct contradiction of part of his Tier 1 Talent.


    It left him at an impasse. He couldnt n if he didnt know what direction his Talent would take him.


    He mentaly rejoined the conversation to hear Sam say, I want an area poison skill, it would be so nice. Then I wouldnt have to stab things to actually use my Talent.


    That jolted Matt, he had forgotten to check their Talents. The night they met the Emperor was so chaotic with Melindas Talent, he hadnt remembered to check the others.


    Mat:


    Talent Tier 1: Everyone in the party has lowered threat generation, threat generation can be redirected to an individual of choice.


    Talent Tier 3: You are much harder to knock off your feet. Knockdowns give a temporary durability bonus. Grows With Tier.


    Skills: None.


    Melinda:


    Talent Tier 1: All healing skills are 50% more effective and cost 50% less mana to cast.


    Talent Tier 3: All Healing has the Overhealth effect.


    Skills: [Ranged Heal]


    Kyle:


    Talent Tier 1: All Strength allocation has double the effect.


    Talent Tier 3: Blood carries extra oxygen. Giving strength boost dependent on regeneration. Grows With Tier.


    Skills: None.


    Sam:


    Talent Tier 1: Poisons and Venoms only affect designated targets.


    Talent Tier 3: Can control Poisons and Venoms in the surroundings if not directly controlled by a skill. Grows With Tier.


    Skills: [Venom Strike]


    Vinnie:


    Talent Tier 1: [Earth Maniption]


    Talent Tier 3: Can see through earth. Distance and rity grows with Tier.


    Skills: [Earth Maniption]


    Tara:


    Talent Tier 1: Innate understanding of ranged weapons.


    Talent Tier 3: Ranged attacks have more prating power. Grows with Tier.


    Skills: None.


    After reviewing the groups Talents he wasnt surprised, but was slightly jealous. They had gotten good Talents, even if they werent as absurd as Melindas. The grows with Tier modifier was apparently amon trait of most Tier 3 Talents.


    From what Matt read, Tier 1 was unique, Tier 3 was growth, Tier 25 was power, and Tier 50 was sovereign.


    Matt couldn''t find much on what thest two actually meant, but they must be powerful to be awakened at such high Tiers. He had read more than one ount of people bing powerhouses after being unknowns before their Tier 25 Talent.


    He put the pad away forcing himself into the conversation and to be happy for his friends.


    ***


    It was five months after Melindas group left when Matt found himself in trouble. He was slightly surprised it had taken so long.


    The new groups of non-sponsees hade with the graduation of thetest year of sses. Most of them were arrogant, but kept it contained to their peers. Some pecking order had been established based on their backers. Most werent stupid enough to mess with Tier 2 or 3s, so Matt was mostly left alone.


    With a few hundred people, one or two were bound to be stupid. And sadly, Aster attracted stupid.


    Matt was eating at a table by himself. Jasmine, his girlfriend, was delving tonight and that left him and Aster to eat alone.


    As they were eating, he felt someone tap his shoulder. When he turned, he was confronted by six people. They were crowding him and his table, ufortably close, they clearly didnt have good intentions.


    Do you need something? He didn''t bother being polite, their demeanor raised Matts hackles. Even Aster felt the rising tension, and looked up from her bowl of food.


    He scanned them as he waited for their response. It was a group of middling Tier 1s with smirks on their faces. From that observation, it was no surprise when the boy in the front said, Give me that fox. It will make a good gift to my mother.


    Matt clenched his jaw so hard he was afraid his teeth would break. No. He turned around and picked up his utensils ready to eat.


    You dare to defy me the son of... Once Matt heard that he tuned the idiot out. They could use that kind of pressure on others, but there was no bigger backer than the Emperor. He ignored them. He didnt think they were dumb enough to try and steal from an upper Tier 2.


    Matt decided to let them bluster all they wanted. It wasn''t worth the trouble a confrontation would cause.


    Sadly, theycked the sense to quit while they could.


    A p on his shoulder made Matt turn around again.


    Did you not hear me? I...


    Matt faced his dinner again, growling, Fuck off kid, no one cares. Im trying to eat so go bother someone else.


    Thats when a hand reached for the still eating Aster.


    Matt pinned that hand to the table with the knife he had been eating with. He stood, shoving his chair back while activating [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The two hits on his back were ignored as he smashed his armored fist into a face.


    Quickly, he grabbed the hand holding the dagger that had just skittered down his chest, and mmed his palm into the elbow. His assant crumpled to the floor screaming.


    Before the fight could escte further, the guards were on the scene. They had their batons drawn and shouted for everyone to stop.


    Mattplied, raising his hands.


    One of them barked at him, End the skill.


    Calmly he replied, Once the idiot next to me doesnt have a dagger in his hand. Id rather not get stabbed.


    The guard grabbed the kid and his dagger. Matt deactivated his skill and was pulled off to the side.


    Aster hadnt even stopped eating, confident Matt would protect her.


    Matt wasnt even mad at her, she didnt do anything wrong by existing. The jackasses shouldn''t have tried to steal what was his.


    <em>Shame the guards had arrived so fast or I might have been able to break a few more bones.</em>


    His anger at the arrogance they showed still burned like embers in his gut. Matt calmed himself, maybe he wasnt as over Iris attempted theft of Aster as he thought.


    Maybe this would teach the fools a lesson, but looking over at the detained group, he could hear their obnoxious leader. With a now bandaged hand, he was spinning a tale of how Matt had stolen their fox and then fought them.


    <em>Idiots</em>.


    Aster was well known and very unique. Matt just smirked as the guard continued to ask, And<em> thats</em> your official statement?, before typing in his pad.


    Matt honestly couldnt believe the kid didnt realize that the guard was letting him dig his own grave.


    See? My fox loves me!


    The idiot reached for Aster with his good hand. If he had been looking, he would have seen her tilt her head at the approaching hand. As it neared the fox, sheshed out, sinking teeth that could tear apart iron, deep into his hand.


    The boy let out a guttural scream, and wrenched his hand out of her mouth, further shredding his hand.


    He then turned to Matt shouting, How dare your beast attack me? Ill be wearing it as a coat! And I''ll see you hanged for attacking me. My father is the casten of the Junipers you worm.


    Matt had to rey the words to make sure he heard the kid correctly. Then, he decided to rub salt in the wounds, Wait? You are the son of a guy who <em>worked </em>for the nobles that just. Got. Arrested. And youre unting that? Really?


    Matt turned to the table that was watching the developing drama next to him. Hey, you! My dad just got canned. Respect my authority!


    As theyughed at his mockery, the kid lunged at Matt, but was held back by the guard. He was actually snarling. It made Matt wonder if thest of his brain cells had short-circuited.


    Matt sent a thought to Aster, and she snarled at her attempted foxnapper. The blood on her muzzle made it a far more menacing sight than the kids attempt had been. The fool flinched back from the fox who was wearing his blood.


    That got even more sniggers from the watchers.


    The guard bandaged the kids other hand then put him in handcuffs.


    What are you doing? You should be arresting him!


    Sir, you admitted to a crime not moments ago. And we''ve already reviewed the security footage. You came to his table and started the confrontation. If nothing else, you lied on an official statement.


    The guard read him his rights,but the boy continued to refute the guards words as he was frogmarched away.


    After giving his own statement and being asked to wait, a separate guard came over to Matt half an hourter. Youre clear, but in the future, please dont use so much force.


    He just thanked the man, and assured him he would be more careful if something like this happened again. He hoped it didnt, those assholes had ruined his dinner.


    Grabbing a meal to go, Matt went back to his room to find Jasmine sprawled across his bed. Aster tried to go and greet the girl, but Matt forced her to sit still while he brushed her teeth, he didnt know where the foxnappers blood had been.


    Set free, Aster jumped on the bed and shoved a cold nose into Jasmines cheek, waking the girl up.


    Aster nooooo. Its so cold.


    Aster cuddled in deeper. Then licked the brtes face.


    Why does your breath smell minty? Did you eat poop again?


    Aster looked heartbroken, utterly betrayed at the mention of her past folly.


    Jasmine opened her eyes and saw the food Matt bought as he left the dining hall.


    Oh, you brought me food! You''re the best. With a sweet smile and a quick kiss, Jasmine stole his dinner and started digging in.


    In between bites she asked, So why did you brush Asters teeth? Did she eat poop again?


    Aster yipped her protest. She had only done it once after all, and really it wasnt her fault. She hadnt known what it was.


    Matt told the story, and Jasmine was in disbelief that he had been osted. When she heard the part that he was the castens son she just ahhd.


    Yeah, I met him a few times. Always acted like his father was the biggest backer one could have. The funny thing is, most kids from the Junipers that were his age <em>hated </em>him. Never understood how he was so arrogant.


    She swallowed another bite and said, Whatever. <em>Maybe</em> before he could have gotten his father to put some pressure on you, but now hes got nothing. From what I heard, the workers of the Junipers were all given one free pass to the yPen so they wouldnt fight the transition of power.


    Im not worried, just amazed how someone could be that stupid. He lied to the guard, who repeatedly asked him is this your official statement? Like he was given so many chances.


    Jasmine finished the sandwich and said, Well enough of idiots, I just had an amazing run and we got seventy Tier 2 mana stones.


    She bit her lip then turned around and walked into his shower Want to help me celebrate?


    ***


    Matt looked up from his bed. Today was the day, his delve was in four hours, and his physical cultivation was nearly full.


    It had taken eight months of delving the Tier 2 rift, and finally, only a month shy of his 16th birthday, he was about to hit Tier 3. This kind of rapid cultivation was the greatest advantage of a solo delver. Aster, even with her fifty percent take of the essence, wasnt slowing him down at all. Petpanions could gather essence humans normally couldn''t, so she was gathering what he was unable to.


    She was at middle Tier 2, and nearly her full size at almost 10 pounds and three feet long. She could easily defeat the Tier 2 insects in a one-on-one fight. Her ice powers were still weak but they got stronger every day.


    Aster could also eat the monsters and gain essence that way. She relished eating her kills, even if the insects tasted horrible to her.


    That ability made Matt jealous. To eat monster meat, humans needed specialized chefs to process the food, otherwise it was extremely toxic. The problem was, no chef would work with monsters under Tier 5. The sheer amount of the essence lost during the cooking process made it not worth their time and resources.


    Matt stood, and was about to leave to catch the bus to the rift portal, when Jasmine opened the door. Guess what? My parents got me and my team a slot in a Tier 3 rift.


    She hugged and kissed him before doing the same with Aster.


    That''s good news, I know your team was bummed out that yall didnt get sponsored.


    She frowned at the mention of her team''s plight. They were a party of non-sponsees, who had hoped to catch someone''s eye and get sponsored before their advancement to Tier 3.


    It just never happened, and Matt agreed with their assessment that it had a lot to do with the Emperor''s recent promation. Anyone who had lost family in the unaddressed rift breaks and reached Tier 15 would be the rulers of their home.


    Sponsors were finding and scouting the orphanages around the world. They werent looking to sponsor a team with wealthy connections who had not suffered during the rift breaks, and thus were not eligible to get the big reward.


    Jasmine frown deepened That''s the problem. The rift is on my dad''s homeworld, and he had to pull strings to get the slot. Which means we have to leave today. The portal is this evening and we can''t leave the slot open for long or we''ll lose it.


    Matt felt like he had been punched in the gut. Today was his big day. He was going to reach Tier 3, and she had to leave now?


    <em>Is there a Tier 50 ying pranks on me?</em>


    Matt didnt let his mncholy show.


    Jasmine and her team were good people. While they came from rich families, they tried their hardest and never acted arrogantly. When they had heard of Matt''s fight, they had all reached out to their parents to make sure that none of the others in the casten sons party tried to make trouble with him.


    It had been unlikely with Matt being on The Path, but they had done it simply because Jasmine cared about him.


    Well then good luck and congrattions. It''s a big step, I know you guys only had another two months on the ind, but it''s good to see you have a path forward.


    It''s just terrible timing, but I can''t make everyone wait on me. I know today is a big day for you. I just wish I could be here with you to celebrate. Jasmine got a look on her face and asked, You have what? Four hours til your rift?


    At Matt''s nod, she pushed him into the room.


    Good, we have time for onest goodbye.


    ***


    Matt watched Jasmine run out of his room and down the hall, hair still mussed. They had cut it far closer to her boat''s departure time than they had nned, but neither could let go.


    With a promise that if they ended up on the same again theyd at least say hello, she had left.


    There wasn''t much either could do at this point. Her path was forward, and Matts was still on the yPen.


    Matt went down to the waiting area and sat impatiently. He couldn''t stop looking at his pad, Aster had gotten tired of his impatience. She started roaming out of boredom, and was sniffing a bush off to the side of the road.


    When the bus arrived, Matt held down the urge to push through the exiting people and tell the driver to hurry. He did none of that and waited his turn; fantasies of finding a teleport skill in his shoe and just teleporting to the rift running through his head.


    The ten-minute ride to the rift was the longest of Matts life.


    Entering the rift, Matt hurried Aster into his backpack and he sprinted through the jungle path.


    He would get as much essence from killing the queen ant and her soldier ants as he would get from killing the fodder insects, so ignored the lesser monsters. He only needed half of the queen''s essence to make the attempt at his breakthrough, and couldn''t bear to wait any longer than he had to.


    He rushed through the rift, and when he reached the queens area he hastily sped past her drones and drove his heavy axe into her skull. Only after feeling the rush of essence from the queen did he massacre the remaining ants.


    Matt checked his pad, twenty minutes. If he hurried he could catch the next bus back to the residential area, where he could perform his breakthrough and test his Tier 3 Talent.


    Quickly grabbing the mana stones the reward distortion hid, Matt exited the rift and bypassed the checkout counter, sprinting to the bus stop.


    He climbed on and mentally begged the bus driver to leave early.


    Aster, pouting in the seat next to him forced him to calm down.


    He didn''t prefer to cultivate when sitting, so he picked Aster up and went to the back of the bus. There were seats running the entire back wall where he couldy down. Once he was horizontal he forced his spiritual sight inward.


    Calming his breathing, Matt gathered the newly acquired essence in his spirit, wrapped it around his little sphere of physical essence and squeezed.


    What was loose turned hard. What was hard turned solid.


    His Tier 1 essence waspressed even further when Matt squeezed his Tier 2 essence down.


    Onepression, twopressions, three, four, five. It was after the sixth that Matt lost his momentum and couldn''t continue.


    He felt his physical cultivation with his spiritual sense a second time.


    Tier 3.


    He had done it.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10


    Matt felt for his mana cultivation and felt it stillpletely blocked.


    It made him panic.


    Eric and Dena had told him that they believed his Tier 3 Talent would fix his problem. The scanner didn''t unlock the Talent, it just analyzed the spirit and deduced what the unique change in the spirit did for the cultivator.


    Matt felt at his mana levels and only observed it nearing the ten percent mark it usually sat at.


    Nothing unusual.


    He was tempted to get off the bus and run the way back. The knowledge that it would be slower was the only thing that stopped him, but he <em>had </em>to get to the scanner.


    The next fifteen minutes felt like decades. He watched each tree passing and urged the driver to just go a little faster. The driver ignored his internal pleading.


    Matt did the only thing he could do and moved to a seat right by the middle doors. They would be slightly closer to the training facilities, and he was going to run for it as soon as the bus opened its doors.


    Aster didnt care for his impatience, she pushed thoughts that he interpreted as whats done is done. You can''t change your Talent so calm down. Matt knew she was right, but he had been looking forward to this moment since Miles had given him hope the day of his Tier 1 Awakening.


    The bus stopped and Matt ran.


    Once inside the testing room, he quickly sat down and ced his arm into the tube and tapped on the pad to start the Tier 3 Talent scan.


    Time seemed to slow as the machine whirled and hummed. As the moments passed, he was hyper aware of a bead of sweat that wandered its way down his back. Any movement was impossible. He had to remain still for the machine to get a good scan of his spirit, and if...


    Tier 3 Talent determined.


    Primary effect: Any mana over the maximum will increase Maximum Mana.


    Secondary effect: Maximum Mana doubles from the previous max per Tier.


    Matt stared andughed. It was useless, he couldnt regen any mana over ten percent without decades of time...


    He shot out of his chair and started running to the general store. Aster sent confused thoughts and yips as she followed him.


    A small kernel of hope bloomed in his chest. He wanted to smack himself, he might not be able to regen to full, but he could store mana. Then he just had to draw it back into himself to fill his mana over his usual max.


    He had done so for Melinda. Their group had bought their healer twenty rechargeable mana stones. They had gotten the expensive ones that allowed the user to inject a core of their own mana, and the stone would slowly convert any mana into mana with the users aspect.


    They had done it so Melinda wouldnt run out of mana in a rift. As long as she had mana, she could make them effectively immortal, so keeping her topped off was their priority.


    The problem was, even with all of their Mana Regeneration stats it would take days of putting all of their mana into the stones to fill them. Each stone could hold 200 mana, with twenty stones they would need 4,000 mana. So, they had decided to wait before delving new rifts without the mana stones full.


    If Melinda didnt fill the rechargeable mana stones herself, she would need to wait for the mana to un-aspect into ambient mana, then aspect to match her mana. It would take a week per cycle and using the mana from low Tier mana stones was just too expensive to justify.


    There were better stones that let you spend more mana to speed the process up, but their price started at Tier 15 mana stones. For thergest capacity of two hundred mana, it was a Tier 25 mana stone. The group had no way to borrow that amount of money.


    Matt had offered to fill them for the group, and what would have taken them days had taken him a little over an hour.


    As he arrived at the general store, he ran to the wall that held the rechargeable mana stones and the chargers. The middling grade ones like Melindas group had bought were nearly a million credits. That was mostly because of their aspecting<strong></strong>ability, and because the efficiency ratio was over ny percent.


    Matt didnt need either of those features. He found the cheapest model for just ten thousand credits and checked the back of the packaging information.


    It was a pretty crappy model, with an efficiency ratio of barely twenty percent, but Matt had mana to spare. He didnt mind if he lost mana while charging the stone.


    He scoured the back of the box for information about the mana stone sold with the charger. He found it. It was a cheap mana stone that only had a max capacity of 50 mana and couldnt aspect the mana inside.


    It was perfect.


    On his way to the counter, he grabbed a cheap handheld scanner that would allow him to check his maximum mana and current mana. He had never bothered before because all cultivators could feel how full their mana pool was at any time.


    He couldnt increase his mana so why get something to show him a number less than one?


    After checking out, Matt found a tree outside, sat down, and tore into his purchases.


    The scanner went on his wrist and he checked the disy.


    Mana: 0.1/1.


    Matt picked up the charging system for the rechargeable mana stone and slotted it. He directed mana into the device and could feel the waste of mana caused by the twenty percent efficiency. Most of the mana dissipated into the air, lost to the.


    He waited. Watching the number climb.


    Current Mana: 1.


    Current Mana: 2.


    Shaky hands pulled the stone out and absorbed the mana.


    Mana: 2/2.


    Mattughed. Heughed till tears streamed down his face.


    He had done it. He had made it to Tier 3, and his Talent did what Dena and Eric had predicted it would.


    Finally, he could increase his mana. It wasn''t perfect like cultivation of mana would have been, but it was a start. He could make this work.


    Matt pulled the worried Aster into a hug and sent happy thoughts through their bond. She responded by cleaning the salt off his face.


    After he collected himself, he filled the mana stone to five mana. It was amazing to feel the stone fill even faster. With his under 1% Mana Regeneration being equal to his Maximum Mana, he could now output double the mana he had a moment ago.


    Mana: 5/5.


    Matt repeated the process again, giddy with anticipation.


    Mana: 10/10.


    Repeating the process for a fourth time, he charged the stone to twenty mana, but this time nothing happened. The mana over ten just refused to expand his Maximum Mana.


    He sent his awareness into his mana cultivation side and looked at the once dark core. It was now vibrant, not asrge or bright as his physical core, but alive. A quick test showed he still couldn''t add essence, but he hadn''t expected it to work.


    Neither thing bothered him, he felt like he''d float off if he got any happier. He pulled out his pad and did some math. The Talent reader said it would double each Tier. He wanted to visualize what his projected Maximum Mana would be, and what he could expect to regen in between fights.


    His Mana Regeneration under 1% of his total mana was equal to his Maximum Mana, that was important, so he made a column for that. His regeneration rate fell off quickly after passing the 1% mark, but he could umte 10% of his maximum mana in ten minutes, if he ounted for the decrease in his regeneration.


    That was a reasonable timeframe in between fights, and with that small reserve, he''d be able to get a spell of at the start of a fight. He made a column for that as well.


    His current mana at 1% would be important in the higher Tiers. He would always have that much mana, so it was good to at least figure out what his numbers would be.


    Setting up the forms he made a chart to Tier 25.


    Double at 10 10% 1% Tier 1 1 0 0.0 Tier 2 1 0 0.0 Tier 3 10 1 0.1 Tier 4 20 2 0.2 Tier 5 40 4 0.4 Tier 6 80 8 1 Tier 7 160 16 2 Tier 8 320 32 3 Tier 9 640 64 6 Tier 10 1,280 128 13 Tier 11 2,560 256 26 Tier 12 5,120 512 51 Tier 13 10,240 1,024 102 Tier 14 20,480 2,048 205 Tier 15 40,960 4,096 410 Tier 16 81,920 8,192 819 Tier 17 163,840 16,384 1,638 Tier 18 327,680 32,768 3,277 Tier 19 655,360 65,536 6,554 Tier 20 1,310,720 131,072 13,107 Tier 21 2,621,440 262,144 26,214 Tier 22 5,242,880 524,288 52,429 Tier 23 10,485,760 1,048,576 104,858 Tier 24 20,971,520 2,097,152 209,715 Tier 25 41,943,040 4,194,304 419,430


    Matt looked at the numbers in disbelief, then checked his math for a second, then a third time.


    His stomach churned. He wanted to vomit. These numbers were absurd. At Tier 25 he would have a reserve of 400,000 mana to cast spells from.


    There wasnt public information for high Tier mages, but Matt didnt think that most of them would have a Maximum Mana of 40 million at Tier 25.


    With trepidation, he continued the graph for the next twenty-five Tiers. Looking at the Tier 50 numbers Matt could taste the bile in his throat.


    He was suddenly d that he had gotten confirmation from the Emperor himself that no one could see Talents.


    Tier 50 1,407,374,883,553,280 140,737,488,355,328 14,073,748,835,533


    He would be generating 14 quadrillion mana a second. Matt looked up the mana numbers for higher tier mana stones. That was a Tier 40 mana stone per <em>second</em>.


    <em>At least at Tier 25, Ill <strong>only</strong></em><strong></strong><em>have a reserve of a</em><em>Tier 18 mana stone a second.</em>


    The panic peaked, quickly he erased the chart and then deleted the application he had used to make it. He didnt need anyone to know how stupid his mana generation would be. It would be a good way to end up a ve to some Tier 40 plus superpower.


    Matt decided right then and there that if his secret ever got out, and he wasnt strong enough to protect himself, hed throw himself to the Emperors mercy before submitting to an unknown. He wasnt naive enough to believe the Emperor was a benevolent person, you couldnt rule thousands of worlds, reach Tier 50, and be soft.


    But he <em>had </em>met the man, even if briefly.


    If he could treat a lowly Tier 1 with a detrimental Talent with kindness, he probably wouldnt throw Matt into a hole in the ground to charge mana batteries by the millions.


    What shocked Matt was how innocently it all started. He understood how doubling worked, but he wouldnt even reach what a normal Tier 1 had in Maximum Mana until Tier 6. By Tier 15, he was pretty sure hed be caught up with most mages of the Tier, and after that, hed blow them out of the water.


    It gave Matt a lot to think about, he was a melee fighter out of necessity. The minuscule amount of mana he had, and his only skill shard forced his style. Should he consider changing his fighting style to a magic-based one?


    As he thought it over, he decided no. At least not until Tier 8, when skill shards startedmonly dropping in rifts. Then he could collect more skills and diversify hisbat methods.


    Matt thought of the graph. Even then, he would not have enough mana to cast any skill that didnt allow charging.


    It wouldnt be until Tier 10 that he could constantly throw out low-cost spells. That meant he would be a melee fighter for the foreseeable future, but over time, he could slowly transition into a true de mage in the higher Tiers.


    Sitting there under the tree he imagined it. He would be stronger than most at any given tier, at least physically. Even the craziest melee fighter put at least fifteen percent of their essence into mana cultivation so they could use skills. The fact that he could dump all of his essence at each tier into physical cultivation gave him an advantage that would only keep growing as time went on.


    A future blossomed in front of Matt. He would be an unkible tank with [Cracked Phantom Armor], and could throw out siege level skills without rest.


    The fantasy was cut short by Aster''s cold nose poking him. She sent over her feelings of hunger, and a desire to be brushed aspensation for him ruining her delve today.


    He just smiled and picked therge fox up. She struggled, but Matt could feel through the bond how much she loved to be carried.


    As they ate, Matt browsed the sses hed need to take. One was directed physical cultivation, and the other was called Tier 3 and Beyond nning for The Path and After. He looked for the next avable slots and found that they were held once a week and back to back.


    Looking deeper, Matt saw they were taught by Griff and Helen on alternating weeks. Helen, he learned, was the director of this yPen. He assumed she was the woman Griff had been standing behind when Melindas group found themselves the center of attention.


    Quickly, he signed up for this weeks uing ss. When he went to request a Tier 3 rift slot as well, he was unable to. He received an error message stating slots would be provided only after the Tier 3 sses were taken.


    Matt went back to his room. It felt lonely. The cheer from his Talent and advancement lessened a little.


    It still smelled like Jasmine.


    Another person who left him. It was hard not to be resentful at the world. It would have been so much better if he was able to celebrate with her. He knew it wasn''t either of their faults, but the empty room almost seemed to mock him.


    Their rtionship had started as a physical fling when they encountered each other at the nightly parties various groups held. That repeated a few times until they had decided they were a good enough match to make it exclusive while they were at the yPen. Neither of them wanted to get tied down withmitment, but the timing of her leaving stung.


    Curling up with Aster, they watched a movie. Matt pretended he didnt notice her stealing popcorn, while she pretended to care about the movie. He was at least entertained; it was the newest movie about Duke Waters time on The Path.


    This movie covered his time as a Tier 15, when he was just bing famous, and how a guild tried to trap him into a binding contract.


    Duke Waters had been chased down, and when he escaped pursuit, he circled around and started killing everyone from the guild responsible for the attack. It took him almost a year, but after that time the guild was disbanded. Even with a Tier 25 leading the guild, people had been afraid Waters woulde for them next.


    Matt wasnt sure how much of the movie was real, but it was interesting to see higher Tierbat. The Duke got his name for the very element he had dominion over, and it was justly earned.


    His ability to summon absurd quantities of water meant that he could simply drown his enemies. He, at least in the movie, could breathe underwater, and had achieved several kills by hiding in the swampy area the guild was based out of.


    Matt almost felt bad for the guild members Waters killed, their deaths were brutal and slow. More than one person had been pulled underwater and drowned. Waters locked the water around them, so they could only look back at him while they struggled theirst. Drowning with the surface inches above you felt like a special torture to him.


    In the movie, he had only killed those who had directly wronged him, but Matt well knew that history was only written by the survivors. If the movie was only half urate, Matt could understand how the Duke alone could hold off the other Tier 50 powers.


    The man was as cold as his namesake, and as unforgiving. Matt could easily imagine the Duke biding his time until drowning entires of any enemy dumb enough to attack the Empire.


    Matt wasnt sure how much was propaganda, but in the movie, Waters had repeatedly expressed loyalty to the Empire.


    Could the Emperor even stop the Duke if he wasnt loyal?


    Matt wasnt sure, the Emperor was a Tier 50 powerhouse, but Duke Waters was a known monster. How long until the Duke was Tier 50, or even Tier 45? It wouldnt be the first time the Duke had killed someone five Tiers above himself.


    <em>Could they even make this movie if the Duke didnt approve of it? </em>


    From what he could find on the EmpireNet about him, the Duke was cold, but he upheld thews of the Empire above all else. The man didnt tolerate people of higher Tiers taking advantage of lower Tiers. Matt wasn''t sure if it was a vendetta or a crusade against a past wrong, but the man was brutal to anyone he found.


    As he found more information, he began to see the Duke as more of a protective figure than a monster.


    He had recently killed a fellow Duke, Duke Cumulus, when it came to light that Cumulus had captured several young women and had kept them in what was described as a sex and torture chamber.


    Waters had killed Duke Cumulus and proceeded to block all attempts of the media from finding the identity of the women involved.


    The only information the media had obtained was that they were all under Tier 5. The Duke had killed a fellow noble, a Tier 35 noble, over a couple of Tier 5s.


    <em>How many people would value a few Tier 5s over a Tier 35?</em>


    He wasnt sure many would, a Tier 35 was a strategic weapon. How many were there in The Empire? It couldnt be that many, maybe a few thousand. Matt thought about that again and changed his mind, there could be a ton. The only way to die after Tier 15 was getting killed after all.


    The only thing slowing down growth after Tier 25 was theck of rifts avable. There were only a hundred or so worlds in The Empire that were over Tier 30. With the capital being the only Tier 47 world in The Empire, the top powerhouses had to share the few Tier 47 rifts.


    That made it even more impressive that the Emperor was Tier 50. How long must it take to advance when the essence requirements were that high, and there wasn''t even a rift of your Tier to delve?


    Matt stopped thinking of things far beyond his own level and cuddled the block of ice also known as Aster.


    ***


    The next morning Matt went and trained with his newly increased production of avable mana. He went to the skill-testing room and performed the same series of tests he had done when he was a Tier 1.


    The results were slightly worrying. He could only put about 3 mana a second into [Cracked Phantom Armor] before the pure amount of mana overwhelmed the structure in his spirit. He had hoped to be able to shove all ten mana a second into the skill and be an unkible wall, but the skill couldn''t handle that kind of mana input yet.


    Tripling the mana did give increased results, and Matt was positive he could slowly train the skill to ept more mana. That flexibility and malleability were the benefits of having the skill in his core spirit.


    He just needed time.


    The results were promising for the mana he put into the skill. At three mana a second, he waspletely impervious to Tier 2 attacks, and Tier 3 attacks needed a few seconds to break through. Only multiple direct attacks to the same location in a short amount of time were an actual threat.


    He could advance either by increasing his mastery with the skill or getting it to ept more mana per second.


    The mastery would happen naturally as the skill burned into his spirit. The longer it was nourished by his spirit, the more it would strengthen, and the more power he would get out of the skill for the same cost.


    Either way Matt was happy. He could delve Tier 3 rifts with a level of safety most other delvers without expensive armor couldnt hope to match.


    The duo went to the gym. He had nothing to do until Friday, when he could take the ss with Helen and get his Tier 3 rift slot. He wanted to see what he could buy now. He was Tier 3, but the sign up details of the sses had rmended holding off on any big purchase until after the sses.


    Matt really wanted to check out the enchanted swords he now had ess to, but he knew the Empire had to have its reasons for its rmendations. It had nurtured billions of Tier 3s in yPens, so he trusted their regtions, he just wanted to see the new toys he could y with.


    ***


    The ss was in a small room, with only enough seats for ten. When Matt arrived, there was no one else in the room. Checking his pad to make sure that he had the time and location right, he sat down after confirming he was in the right spot.


    Five minutes before the ss was supposed to start, another party of four came in and nodded to Matt before sitting down.


    At 9:00 am on the dot Griff walked in.


    Hello, Im going to be the instructor today. Director Helen had other matters that demanded her attention and could not be pushed off.


    He ced his bag next to the desk he sat at and continued, If you would like to wait and take the ss with Director Helen next week, feel free to leave. No one moved. Well, let''s get started.


    Well start with directed physical cultivation, it''s hidden before Tier 3. If a cultivator allocates their essence wrong, they can cripple themselves, so its better to gain some experience with cultivation first. You can allocate into the seven main categories. They are strength, durability, proprioception, which is sometimes called dexterity, flexibility, senses, mind, and regeneration.


    Behind Griff therge screen showed the categories he listed.


    Thats the most basic level of directed cultivation, at Tier 5 you can go one level deeper. For example, in strength you can focus on particr muscle groups or types of muscles. In senses, you can increase smell over vision, or vice versa.


    It''s not rmended to try and reach for thatyer yet. It''s dangerous because without the foundation, you can get your abilities out of whack and not be able to function.


    One of the girls in the party had a hand raised.


    Just hold the questions for now. I''ll probably cover it. If I dont, Ill take all the time we need after to exin. Write it down if you think you''ll forget.


    He cleared his throat.


    You should never direct cultivate more than fifty percent of the essence you are going to allocate into physical. If you have too much strength, you can hit hard, sure, but without the proprioception, you wont hit what youre aiming at. Or without the flexibility, you''ll pull a muscle every time you reach for something. Without durability, youll break a bone punching something, and so on.


    Fifty percent is a nice, safe margin. Also, if you are going to direct cultivate, it''s better to do that <em>after </em>undirected cultivation. Undirected cultivation will try to fill in the areas with the least amount of essence allocated before anything else, so it''s better to direct cultivate afterwards. A good way to picture it is snow filling valleys more than building up the peaks of mountains even higher.


    Questions before I move on?


    The girl from earlier raised her hand. What about mind and regeneration?


    What about them? Griff didn''t seem to hear a question in the girls question.


    Well, how do they work? Does mind make you smarter than? Does regeneration work like the skill?


    Ah, good question. No and no. Mind will make you think faster, but you won''t be smarter. It will just let you process information a little faster. Any ideas are on you. If you want to get smarter, take sses and learn new stuff.


    Regeneration is just boosting the body''s natural recovery. You won''t be growing back limbs or anything, but it will let your body adapt to heavy healing better. Also, if you get rich enough to buy [Regeneration], it will multiply the effect of the skill a bit.


    Regeneration is also good for increasing endurance. It will help the muscles recover faster. It''s not a recement for working out and increasing endurance that way, but it does help prevent getting tired in a fight.


    Did that answer your question? the girl nodded.


    Good. Directed cultivation is really useful when you need more of a particr ability for your fighting style. An archer will still want strength to pull a bow, but proprioception and flexibility will be higher priorities. Even senses are useful. Mind and regeneration as well. But that''s why I''m telling you not to direct cultivate more than fifty percent of your allocation. You should only be multiplying your strongest aspects, not neglecting the other.


    A thought came over Griff and he added, Mind is needed as you get into higher Tieredbat. Monsters will be faster because of their strength, and mind will let you actually process the attacks. I knew a guy who didn''t want to waste essence in mind. His logic was that it doesnt help you be smarter so why invest in it? He got his throat slit from an attack he couldn''t even react to. He could have defended against it, but he couldnt process the information and react in time.


    One of the guys asked, What about strength? Why work out at all if a cultivator could just focus on strength some.


    That''s a good question actually. Strength and all physical cultivation multiply what''s there. One multiplied by five is just five, but two multiplied by five is ten. Your physical body will allow you to get more power for your essence expenditure.


    If you train proprioception with hand-eye coordination games, you''ll see more improvement with the essence you put in. But if you don''t train at all, you''ll see only minimal benefits.


    That''s another benefit of regeneration. It will, around Tier 8, be high enough that you won''t lose muscle mass by not working out. A nice side benefit.


    Thest guy in the party spoke up But how do you have the time to train all of that?


    You don''t, not really. It''s part of the reason The Path is so hard. Most people hit Tier 15 and spend a few years just training and shoring up their weakest points. If you are still on The Path, you don''t really have time for that.


    Griff looked off into the distance and said, That''s about it for physical cultivation. Questions before we move on? Information packets will be made avable to you on the yPenNet after this. They go into more detail if you want to check specific ratios or interactions between aspects.


    No one had any so Griff continued.


    Ok, next is what to do now that youre Tier 3, and only have six months left in the yPen.


    First thing is nning for when you leave the yPen. There is a priority for people on The Path concerning rift slots, and we have a list of all the Tier 3 and 4 rifts on the nearest couples.


    Speaking of rifts on others, the Tier of the shows the highest Tier rift that will form stably on the. Usually, a will have stable rifts at the Tier of the minus five. So, a Tier 10 will have five through ten.


    Any lower means someone is preventing it from growing stronger, or its brand new and still growing. It''s expensive to prevent the growth of a rift but, you''ll find it on stronger worlds with developed noble families or strong guilds. Theyre used for training their own people and aren''t usually avable for public use.


    But you all have three big purchases in front of you. And theyre expensive enough that you''ll want to choose at least one while in the yPen for the discounts.


    First is an enchanted weapon. Getting something with a sharpness and durability enchantment is pretty much all your spirits can handle at this Tier. Well, you can get any one major enchantment and one minor, unless you have an exceptionally strong spirit. Those are the rmended runes to put on ded weapons anyway.


    Second is a personal AI. It takes a core skill slot, but the sooner you get one the better because it grows with you. They are great for everyday general use, but inbat they are invaluable. They can provide a HUD, and if you have a party, they can get information from the other AIs about your teammates physical condition. So, you can know if they are low on mana or get injured. They will save your asses more often than you can possibly imagine.


    Theye with preset builds for the basic types ofbat. For the melee versions, they can run predictive algorithms on your opponent. For rangedbat, it can do the same thing, just not as well. Showing wind speed for an archer or tracking opponents is their main job. For mages, it can help spell cost by assisting casting.


    The AIs start as a base temte and will improve in its specialized aspects over time. You can also get the software for the other versions, so you wont lock yourself out of any capabilities in the future. But the ones you get first will improve more.


    The downsides are, theyre expensive, they reserve more mana with each software running and...


    That sent Matt''s hopes crashing down. The AI seemed perfect to him, the predictive capabilities seemed amazing, and that also meant he could use the information gathered for the training rooms instead of paying for the premade versions.


    He just didn''t have mana to reserve.


    They can eat into your regr mana pool if you make thempute too much. It''s mana expensive, and at low Tiers it can hurt you if you buy too many modules.


    Finally, is a spatial bag. Griff pulled a backpack from his ring with a flick of his wrist.


    Theyre lesser versions of spatial rings. They can hold stuff, but dont reduce the weight much. And they don''t have the effect of slowing time on the items ced inside. Theyre still useful though, don''t think otherwise.


    Your spirit won''t be able to support a spatial ring until Tier 15, and these are the next best thing. Most of the time it''s not the weight of what you are carrying that makes it awkward, it''s the size of the items. At this point, each of you can carry a few hundred pounds, but good luck trying to hold that much crap.


    The price is an issue for all of them, the enchanted weapons are expensive too. Go check with the cksmiths and enhancers for prices. The AIs are usually near 3 million credits and the extra software is half that.


    That was thirty Tier 4 mana stones or three hundred Tier 3 mana stones.


    The Spatial bags are also around the same price. Also, those prices are with the fifty percent off you get for being in the yPen.


    Matt nched, getting three hundred Tier 3 mana stones wasn''t impossible in six months, but double that would require some good luck.


    So that''s all from me. The general store has thest two items, and no I won''t give you suggestions on what you should get. It''s dependent on what you think you need.


    The others quickly thanked Griff and left. Matt waited until they out the door and asked, You said the AIs reserve mana, but can eat into non-reserved mana if it wasputing too much. Is there an AI that doesn''t reserve mana?


    Griff looked at him with pursed lips before saying, Yeah there is, but it''s the researchers version. The normal AIs are all the same base but specialized. They reserve mana because they are hyper-efficient at their one task. The other software lets the AI do other things, but the core of the machine is built to do one of the tasks incredibly well. Theyll never be as <em>efficient </em>at the others.


    It doesn''t mean it won''t be as good, just that it cost more mana.


    Griff started packing his stuff back up.


    I know what you are thinking, and yes the researcher AI would be perfect for you. They eat dozens of mana per minute. Most researchers are pure mana cultivators, nearly ny percent allocation, just so they can run the simtions andputations needed for their jobs.


    Matt was shocked, how had Griff guessed why he couldn''t use the normal AIs?


    Don''t look so shocked; take an acting ss kid. Or y some poker. You show every thought on your face.


    I figured it out when I saw you with your skill active. One, you didnt and still don''t have a veil up to hide your cultivations. And two, I could feel the absurd amount of mana you were generating while it was active. Then, after the skill stopped your mana generation stopped. I can make some guesses.


    Matt didn''t know what to say. He was fearful that Griff might do something but realized it was stupid when he thought of how much the man had done for him.


    I ugh...


    Cut it, I don''t care to look into it. You keep your own secrets. Id suggest you take the veil course as soon as possible though.


    Griff gave him a hard look. It worried Matt.


    This is NOT a rmendation. I am not legally allowed to give rmendations during this ss. But, if I had your mana problems, I would contact the manufacturer of the AIs. They have a location on most every world.


    They pay handsomely for high Tier cultivators AI scans. That''s how the new generations are made. They see how the older AIs process information, and they build better base models around that. The AIs grow with use and everyone uses them differently after all.


    My AI is old. Old enough that it''s two generations behind the current models. I have a DK model when the newest ones are DM models. They start out a bit better. It''s no substitute for time in the field and learning on its own, but it''s a better starting point.


    Now I know they love unique Talents that produce mana, and they pay handsomely for the privilege to test odd configurations of skills or Talents. That''s where the best breakthroughse from. The normal folks are good for testing baselines, but the odd Talents interacting with the AIs are how interesting advancements are made.


    If I had a talent that produced a lot of mana, Id contact them and see if I could work out a deal.


    Won''t they be able to know everything about someone if they get a scan of the AI in the future? Matt couldn''t let that happen at any cost.


    No, they scan the structure the AI bes in your spirit, then run the AI through testing and benchmark the results. They don''t get any personal information. They''d piss off far too many high Tiered people if it came to light. And well, that''s a good way to end up dead.


    But I. Did. Not. Rmend. <em>Anything</em> to you. With a hard look, Griff hurried out of the room.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11


    Matt thought about Griff''s words for the next few hours. He didn''t know what to do. The risk was fairly high, but the reward was also great.


    If he reached out to get the specialized researcher AI, he would have an AI to use, but in the process he risked letting important information slip. It was as if he was shouting that he had a unique mana producing Talent from the rooftops, and that was dangerous.


    Mana was precious on higher Tiered worlds, where the general poption didnt just live by the safe areas along the coast. The runic formations that stopped rifts from forming in cities cost a lot of mana to run. The cost was only partially offset by the higher Tiered cultivators and rifts producing more mana and mana stones.


    As Matt contemted the risks and benefits of the AI, he leaned more towards doing what Griff suggested. It was dangerous, sure, but he didnt think even massivepanies would dare risk the Empires wrath. His status garnered from being on The Path would protect him.


    Research first. Matt looked up what he could about thepany TrueMind Corp. What he found lined up with what he expected. Would apany thatrge let negative publicity ruin their image? He didnt think so.


    What he did discover was that their main source of revenue was producing Tier 30 and above smart runic formations. The selling of personal AIs was a side project subsidized by The Empire. They stood to benefit from the advantages the AI would give their younger generation. Shadi, the founder of thepany, was reportedly altruistic in her old age. That was after she had crushed thepetition, twenty thousand years ago.


    Now that TrueMind was alone on top of their target market, the founder reportedly had given up on advancement of her cultivation. Instead she had been focused on a personal project and rarely seen. Matt didn''t trust that at all, but he doubted she was up to anything too heinous. Besides, producing a few mana a second couldn''t be that rare at higher Tiers, it was just umon at low Tiers. Any benefit the founder would gain from taking advantage of him wouldnt outweigh the consequences.


    It was still a risk, but the reward of a personal AI was worth it. The AI would always be useful, unlike the other expensive items Matt needed to progress. An enchanted sword would grow obsolete after Matt reached Tier 4 or 5, and a spatial bag had the same problem. The bag wouldst longer than the sword, but still be reced at some point. Most Cultivators used them even after Tier 15, because the lower-ranked spatial rings had a limited storage area. However, it was said that eventually the bags werepletely reced with rings after a point.


    He couldn''t always n for Tiers ahead of his own, but it felt like a wasted opportunity to not get the only item that would grow with him.


    Making his decision, Matt called the local offices of TrueMind. When the receptionist answered, he simply asked to speak with a manager, and was transferred.


    When the person picked up Matt asked, Are you someone who can make decisions about unique Talents and AIs?


    Nope, this is theints office. Let me transfer you. Matt facepalmed. He had immediately asked for a manager, so it made sense that the receptionist had sent him to theints department.


    It was a much longer wait this time.


    Hello, this is J with the development team. The voice on the other side sounded only half attentive.


    Development team? What were they developing on this low Tiered world? Matt wasn''t sure, but gave her his best pitch.


    I was informed TrueMind was interested in unique Talents. I happen to have one that produces a lot of mana under the right circumstances. But that also makes me unable to use the standard AIs.


    J sounded more interested when Matt said that. Really now. How much is a lot? If it''s enough we would be willing to hire you.


    He had already decided to not reveal his true powers, but he also realized he had to show a little of his abilities if he wanted their attention.


    I am not able to work for yourpany as I''m on The Path of Ascension.'''' He wanted to get that out as soon as possible, so they wouldn''t get thoughts of crossing The Empire to get his Talent after what he said next.


    And I can produce around humm... Lets say five mana a second. No reserves.


    All he heard was a chair creak, it was a long moment before J spoke up.


    Ok. ok, that''s interesting. So, some kind of high mana regeneration butcking in capacity. That is unique. I assume that the trend will continue, or you would have just waited. I''m assuming you want the researcher AI, right?


    Matt swallowed hard; those assumptions were too urate for his liking.


    Yes, that''s exactly what I want.


    For the next few minutes all he could hear was rapid tapping at a screen.


    If you want to purchase a researcher''s AI, I can do that. It will cost fourteen Tier 6 mana stones.


    That crushed his happiness, that was three and a half billion credits. He didn''t have a hope of getting the AI unless he could work out a deal.


    I was informed that a deal could be worked out? Matt asked hopefully.


    It could be, but ites with some restrictions and conditions. Are you interested? Most would rather wait.


    Matt didn''t like the sound of that, but this could help him grow faster, and that was priceless.


    What are they? He was happy his voice didnt waver.


    So, I can get you the standard researcher AI and one software, but you have toe in to do scans and testing at every Tier until Tier 10. If you miss any because of any reason, you would owe us the missing Tiers after Tier 10.


    The other option is something weve been working on for a while. It''s the beta version of the next generation researcher AI. Its more versatile and built to be more malleable. The problem is its mana inefficient. Our job and another dozen worlds, is keeping the malleability while reducing the mana cost.


    This sounded better to Matt, something new would be an advantage. Griff had said the newer models had a higher starting point. It was tempting.


    The adaptability and increasedputing power are expensive. Very expensive. If you hadnt said you generated five mana a second, I wouldnt have even offered it. The idling mana cost is a permanent one mana a second, and the activeputing can multiply that easily.


    So, if you exaggerated your mana abilities now''s the time to say so.


    Matt hesitated for a moment, thinking over all the scenarios he could imagine. Then with determination he said, No I didnt, that sounds like a useful AI for my situation. Whats the catch?


    J chuckled. The normal catch is the absurd mana cost. We would give it all the software forbat and predictive modeling. Wed want you to push the AI, and heavy testing underbat conditions always brings out good data.


    If you take this option, we would have youe in to scan until Tier 15, and wed send you a special pad with testing software. We would expect the AI to be tested on downtime. Also, Im obligated to inform you that we usually pay for scans and testing of cultivators AIs. The usual rate is one mana stone of their Tier plus one. So, youd be losing out on a load of ie.


    None of that bothered Matt, the AI could do the testing when he was asleep, which would also allow him to benchmark its growth. The ie loss wasnt relevant, it was a lot of money now, but to the future him, who was a Tier 10, earning a Tier 11 mana stone wouldnt be impossible.


    Matt made his decision. As long as the testing wont run into my own time I dont mind.


    Really? That''s good. I can send you the contract then. I gotta say I didn''t think this woulde across my desk today. It''s good for our branch though.


    As Matt read over the contract he idly asked Why is that? Do you get a bonus or something for finding a tester?


    Eh kind of. If you prove even mildly useful well get a bonus sure, but this is an important project. It usually takes decades to get an AI good at something without incredibly specialized programming. And the programming limits the AI. The ones that learn naturally are far better than ones that get massive software programs.


    J continued, with the passion she had for the job showing clearly. Its why it takes so long for a new generation of personal AIs toe out. We learn from the older AIs and can make the starting parameters even smaller and less detrimental to the AIs future growth. The older an AI gets, the more it can break the shackles of early programming. But its hard and can take centuries and an absurd amount of mana to do.


    This design has been on our back burner for at least a hundred years. Really it''s an interesting design philosophy...


    Matt only listened with half an ear as J continued with how his data could help them in the smallest ways. As he reviewed the contract, he found it was as she had said. He would owe them a scan and test every Tier until 15, and if he missed one, he would have to make it up on the back end.


    The other part about the AI having to run specialized testing was vague. It was written as a pre-established set of testing software that would take up no more than an hour a day under normal conditions. And he had a month to adjust to the AI before testing began.


    After scanning the contract again for anything he might have missed, he digitally signed the document.


    Got it on my end. We''ll have a package sent over with a special courier immediately. I look forward to seeing your data.


    Matt hung up after thanking her and felt relieved that it was over. He hadnt even needed to spend any money. He had just needed to sell himself for the next few decades.


    Sighing, he went to the cksmith area. He had some ideas for des, so he wanted to see if they were possible. His mana regeneration meant he could use an enchanted de with ease. He could fill the mana stones to charge the runes himself, and not have to worry about using his rift acquired mana stones.


    As he arrived, he looked for Smith the smith but couldn''t find him. Eventually, he did find the smith Tun that he had bought his longsword from. He waited for the man to finish the mace he was working on, and drew his attention with a wave.


    Hey Tun. I hit Tier 3 recently, and wanted to look at enchanted des. Considering I bought myst sword from you, well, I wanted to see if you had anything. Matt didn''t know why but he finished hesitantly.


    Depends on what you are looking for, but yeah probably. I''m going to assume you want a longsword. The real question is are you looking for something cheap, or something tost you a few Tiers?


    What are the differences between the two?


    Well, it''s only a Tier 3 weapon. By necessity it''s not going to use amazing materials. One, because they are way too expensive and two, most people outgrow the weapons fast because the Tier is low.


    It made sense, so he asked So why get a good weapon? I''ll have it for a year or so at most.


    The idea is, you get a better weapon and don''t get a new one till Tier 5. You pay more now but can skip the Tier 4 upgrade.


    I can see the logic. What are the differences in the weapons though?


    Tun walked over to a book and opened it to a page. He pointed to a picture of two runes and said, Well the cheaper ones have less runes on them. At Tier 3 you can <em>barely </em>get a major rune and a minor one on a weapon. Tier 4 can hold stronger versions of the samebo.


    Matt wanted to rify that before Tun moved on so he interjected. Wait. What is the difference between a major and minor rune if there are stronger versions in Tier 4?


    A Major rune is just a more prominent version of a minor one. Think of it like a deeper engraving, or an allocation of mana. At each Tier, the runes be increasinglyplex and harder to iy into weapons and armor. And metals are inherently bad at enchanting. A mage''s staff or wand can hold two or three major runes at Tier 3, a sword can barely do half that. Well, until you get to high Tier metals. And even then, they stillg behind high Tier woods and monster parts.


    Ok. What can you do for each type and what''s the price run?


    Tun tapped the book, The normalbination for a Tier 3 longsword is a major durability and a minor sharpness. At Tier 3 and 4, most monsters can''t take a hit from normal steel, and the durability ensures that the weapon can survive your increasing power. The sharpness is just because it''s nice to cut shit easier.


    Pointing at the other page of the book he continued, The other cheaper option is to just get one or the other. If you get the sharpness you might bend or break the de though.


    That left Matt with a conundrum. While he wanted the better de, he didn''t know if he could afford it.


    And the price?


    2.5 to 3 mil. Seeing Matt open his mouth to protest the absurd price, Tun hurried to finish Putting both runes on is a shitload harder than putting one rune on a weapon.


    Matt winced, even with his credit card, he would need to nearly max it out again. He had paid down most of the debt, but he didn''t want to lean on it again so quickly.


    What is the difference between a Tier 4 and 5 weapon? Seems like I need to get one of them.


    Tun spun a hammer in his hands as he said, Well I haven''t worked on those Tiers yet obviously. But starting at Tier 4, the spirit is stronger. So a fighter can handle the stress of activating the runes, and the materials get less mundane. A smith will add trace amounts of more magically inclined materials at higher Tiers. It''s usually only a few grams of a Tier 6 or 7 monster, but it''s enough to make the de stronger, hold more runes, and easier to enchant.


    Tier 5 is where you can add active enchantments onto a weapon, essentially a skill that the weapon or armor can activate. Thats a huge increase in price, though at the same time, it''s the only way to add damage for most people. At least until skills start dropping at Tier 8.


    Tun shrugged and pursed his lips. At higher Tiers, it''s less about mana efficiency and more about mana throughput. Dumping more mana through the runes wears them down faster, so you need better materials. In turn, that means you need moreplex runes, which are harder to enchant. Tun was still staring at his hammer, continuing to twirl it in his hands as he spoke. Matt couldn''t tell if it was longing or something moreplex going through the smith.


    There is also the problem that skills in a weapon are unable to grow to handle more mana, unlike skills in the spirit. Runes in a weapon aren''t able to keep up at the higher Tiers, where a skill can take thousands of mana of throughput.


    But what you want to know is how much better each would be. Well it depends on the smith or enchanter doing the work. But the usual improvement is Tier 4 is about thirty to forty percent better than Tier 3. And Tier 5 is usually forty percent better than Tier 4.


    That didn''t really help Matt at all. If he got a new weapon at each Tier, it would be incredibly expensive, and he still needed to get a spatial bag. That gave Matt his next question.


    Would this make the spatial bag impossible to use?


    Only at the same time. The real problem is how expensive the bags are. The spirit is only strained when actively using the enchantments, so it shouldnt interfere unless you can''t deactivate one or the other.


    Really, it''s up to you. After Tier 5, most get a new weapon every rank. I can''t really tell you to do either, but from what Ive seen people buy the dual rune Tier 3, and then 5. Or they get the single rune Tier 3, and buy both a Tier 4 and 5. I can make you a custom longsword with the size and runes you want.


    The turnaround is usually a week though so...


    You don''t happen to have a buy one get one free, so I can get a Tier 3 hammer or axe as well do you?


    Tun just looked at him, then turned around and started hammering on a red hot bar of metal.


    Matt thanked him and walked back to his room. He couldn''t decide if it was better to get the higher Tiered weapon. It was so expensive that it would eat into his spatial bag budget if he did, but he might be able to use it for two Tiers if he did get the better one.


    The next day, he decided to get the better sword. He was putting all of his essence into his physical cultivation, so he was growing stronger than most people in his Tier. The chance he broke a weapon was higher than most.


    He also had to consider that he didn''t have any other way to attack, other than his weapon. So, he needed the ability to deal damage, and the dual rune option offered him a way to increase his damage per hit.


    They spent a few hours designing a sword for Matt. It was far more fun than he thought it would be. He designed a bnced de that was slightly longer than his current one. He had grown quite a bit in thest year and a half, and expected to grow more before his next upgrade at Tier 5.


    He had just finished with Tun and was ying with Aster in a field, when his pad beeped that he had a package waiting for him.


    With excitement, he retrieved the package and found another pad and a box. A note came with the smaller package. It just stated the device was to be installed by medical professionals only.


    Matt checked over the pad that came in the package. It was smaller than his current one, and heavy. At least three times heavier than his.


    When he arrived at the medical facility, he was told it would be at least an hour before a healer could oversee the instation of the device.


    It made Matt slightly nervous when he considered the fact the small, rice sized hardware would be connecting to his spinal column at the base of his skull. It wasn''t strictly necessary to have the hardware left in after the construct took residence in his spirit, but it allowed for moreputing power before the AI grew and evolved.


    When the healer came out, he was an older man with a touch of grey at his temples. He escorted Matt to a room, and exined that he would feel groggy for the next three days. That is, until the AI was fully online and settled both in his spirit and in his skull.


    Mattid down and felt the doctor wiping at his neck when the area went numb. Then, he felt the surrounding flesh moving. A healing spell washed over him and the numbness and small aches from training washed away.


    Alright, when you cycle essence into the construct, it will begin to assimte like any skill. If you have important things to do, I rmend doing them before. You''ll feel drunk or very tired. At least, most people describe it as one of the two. I felt drunk when I got mine. Also, you are barred from delving for a week after the three-day period. Good luck. With thest words tossed over his shoulder, the doctor swept out of the room.


    Matt ate lunch with Aster, and then headed back to his room and put a show on before cycling essence to the back of his skull. It was gradual, but he started feeling mentally exhausted. He wasn''t physically tired, but his thinking turned slow and sluggish.


    The next three days passed in a haze. He couldn''t even work out safely. Combat training was out of the question, so he and his fox mostly rxed.


    The third morning, he woke up and felt clear headed. The world seemed sharper, crisper. He wasn''t sure if it was the AI doing something to improve his senses, or if it was just the contrast ofing out of the fog he had been in for thest few days.


    He sent a mental probe to the AI, and felt his mana drain to near zero in an effort to feed the construct.


    In his vision, he saw, Startup procedures initializing. Please stand by. Estimated time to finish, 14 minutes.


    Matt took Aster to eat at the dining hall, and after setting out her food, ate his own. The new food was even more expensive than her kit food, as it was made of Tier 4 and 5 monsters. The expense drained his already tight budget, but he wasn''t going to skimp on hispanion.


    The startup process finished, and a heads-up disy oveid his vision. New host detected. Start scanning? Yes. No.


    Matt selected yes and felt the pull on his mana grow stronger.


    <em>This AI is absurd.</em>


    It was pulling almost three mana a second, any normal mage at this Tier would be empty of mana in just a few minutes. It did exin why they had been working on this model for so long. It was nearly unusable at lower Tiers, and at the higher Tiers no one would want to get rid of their older, more established AI for this glutton.


    After a moment, the mana draw slowed down to a trickle, and Matt now had an outline of his body covering his view of the dining hall. When he looked closer his body was tinted green. Focusing on any part gave a breakdown of the limb and its current status.


    Under that was a disy for his mana.


    Mana: 0.9/10


    While the mana disy wasn''t very useful for Matt, the body scan was. It would be nice to be able to see any damage done to him.


    Matt looked to Aster, who was cleaning herself, and the AI responded to his intention. Bond detected. Start scanning? Yes. No.


    He went through the process, and a small outline of Aster appeared next to his own outline with the same breakdown. It hurt to realize that his fox had 900 mana at Tier 2, while he had a whopping 10.


    After they finished their breakfast, Matt headed to the training room and set the room to the goblin and hobgoblin configuration of the Tier 1 rift. He made sure to bump up the difficulty, but only to peak Tier 2 strength. This was more about testing the AI than his own skills.


    Once he activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], the AI prompted skill use detected. Start analyzing and optimization? Yes. No.


    Matt smiled, this was exactly what he was hoping for. All AIs could optimize mana usage, but it was usually only seen at Tier 5 and higher. Hitting yes, he waited eagerly.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] detected, analyzing properties and mana usage. Processing. Processing. Processing. Analyzingplete. Optimizing. Failure. Please provide more usage data and information on optimizing skills.


    Decidedly less thrilled, Matt realized he shouldn''t have gotten his hopes up. It was a long shot to expect a brand-new AI with the mostly barebones software to do what took most AI years to aplish.


    He started thebat predictive mode, then had the AI start the training room scenario.


    Immediately he stopped the training room.


    The AI had shown every possible move the training aid could do. The predictions ranged from the general attacks to more obscurebinations the goblins would never do. It was blinding and cluttered to the point of being useless.


    One prediction had even shown a .000000001% chance of the training aid just shutting down. That prediction was useless even in practice.


    Starting to tweak the settings was tedious but easy enough. He lowered the tolerance for shown actions to forty percent or higher only, while taking into ount past actions for the monster type and the general body structure.


    He repeated the process again. It was better with less clutter, but after a few exchanges he paused the training aids again. Matt then re-enabled the predictions that ounted for the weapon type.


    The next fight was better, but he stopped the training after a few exchanges to raise the threshold of shown prediction to sixty percent, and increase the transparency for all predictions greatly.


    After that, Matt just fought the training goblins and hobgoblin. He wasn''t sure if the learning speed was normal, but the AI was soon predicting the attacks with far fewer possible predictions. Even better, the most likely path was nearly always correct after only a half hour.


    He didn''t quite trust the predictions, because in the end this was a simtion of the goblins, not the real thing. While it was nearly perfect, the real goblins could, and did make unexpected attacks at times.


    The training continued for the next hour, with Matt tweaking settings as he went. He ended up changing the transparency to indicate the probability instead of showing numbers as it had before.


    Having the AI rereview all the data it processed, he went and purchased three new 200 mana rechargeable mana stones. Tun had suggested it so he could swap the power source for his new de, and Matt agreed. He didn''t want to get screwed because of the wait time for his mana to unaspect.


    When he had asked about letting it use his own aspected mana, Tun had said that would double the price because of the added runes, so he just dropped the idea.


    Tun said the weapon would be done in four more days, but that left Matt with not much to do for the next week, so he trained and exercised. Any down time was mostly spent stress testing the AI.


    The pad TrueMind had sent had far more testing scenarios then what was mandatory. There was monster vs monsterbat, monster vs cultivatorbat, and even cultivator vs cultivatorbat.


    Most scenarios were just small snippets that the AI was supposed to reconstruct the fights off of. Some contained a small area left over from a fight, and some a vast, destroyedndscape with hundreds of corpses. A more interesting scenario he found was when the AI was put into a POV of a fighter, and had to predict the opponent''s movements. The AI was awful at it, but Matt was interested in watching the fights y out and making his own predictions.


    At first the AI had the same predictive problems as before, but as he let it watch the early fights, it slowly got better at predicting the flow ofbat. It was still useless when it came to skills or Talents, but it got better after he found an information repository onmon Tier 8 skill shards on the EmpireNet.


    The AI could predict low Tier skill usage somewhat, but only after seeing the skill used at least once. So, surprise attacks and a clever first usage still tripped it up.


    It was only at a five percent predictive ability with any fight that involved skills, and only two percent forbat over Tier 5. Still, Matt felt progress of his own watching the fights. Seeing the flow ofbat in higher Tiers gave him ideas and possibilities for his own fighting style.


    He also found an AI downloadable ss on veils, and purchased it for 10k credits. It was incredible. The ss had information packets that allowed his AI to simte the feeling and pattern of what a veil should be.


    With the AIs help, Matt was able to get a rudimentary veil that would dampen any spiritual sense trying to probe him in only a few hours. It wasn''t perfect, as he couldn''t hold the essence at the edge of his spirit as well as the AI projected, but he was happy with the progress.


    It was a strain on his concentration, but would help hide his mana regeneration, so he set the AI to ping him any time he let the veil slip. The improvement was slow but steady. He and the AI predicted that within a few weeks, he would be able to hold a weak veil constantly. Then, it would just be a matter of strengthening it over time as his spirit grew stronger.


    His new weapon was finished two days before the ban on his delving was lifted. Matt was d he had gone with the more expensive version of the weapon once he got it. He and Tun had done a cutting test, and even without the enchantments activated, it was stronger and cut better than his first sword.


    When the enchantment was active, it cut through a log like a dream. It was odd to use the enchantments on the de, it felt like his spirit was trying to lift heavy weights while being covered with a wet nket. It was a distracting sensation to get ustomed to.


    It was mana efficient, being a low Tier weapon, but the more stress the weapon was under meant a faster mana drain. Still, Matt went and bought another three rechargeable mana stones. He just had to will<em></em>the runes active with his spirit, and they would pull from the mana stone in the pommel. Having extra was a nice backup.


    With constant use, he could expect the two hundred mana tost an entire rift, but if he did run out of mana, he had extra mana stones to swap out. Using a rift mana stone was a waste of credits.


    There was even a source of ie with his mana if he was careful. Out of the yPen, people could sell mana to fuel the cities. The price was pretty low at fifty credits for two hundred mana, but it would keep him from starving.


    For a moment, he wished he had had a rechargeable mana stone and device to transfer the mana when he was at Bennys. He could have made the ten thousand credits in no time.


    Theck of information had greatly hampered his nning, though Matt figured he wouldnt have been at Bennys to meet Dena and Eric and join The Path if he had sold his mana. So maybe it was better he didnt know of the ability.


    <em>It''s weird to think ten thousand credits was a far goal. Now, I can make it in a single rift if I get a little lucky. And with the Tier 3 rifts I''ll make that with every mana stone. Yet I still feel poor. Things are more expensive, but Ivee a long way.</em>


    <em>I can''t believe I once thought that Benny charging 400 credits a week was a lot. Most of them were Tier 3. The ce truly was a dump that was just in a good location.</em>


    His gear was starting to get a little small, so he took his time off to buy new clothes forbat and casual wear. Thebat clothes he bought were simple, just sturdy cloth, but they fit better and wouldnt tear apart if he moved too fast.


    ***


    Four dayster Matt stood in front of the tear to the Tier 3 rift, and with Aster on his heels, he stepped through.

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12


    The forest around Matt was covered in the thinnestyer of snow. It was almost see-through, giving a muted look to the area.


    The rift was cold enough that he activated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Not because of the ever-present danger, but to stop the biting wind.


    It was a strange feeling. Matt couldnt feel the wind, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] gave him slight sensory feedback. It was almost like wearing a thick jacket in the winter but not quite.


    Aster was loving the cold, and the wind didnt bother her in the slightest. She pranced around sniffing the air.


    Matt had his new longsword in hand as he surveyed the area. The trees were a mix of tall pines and shorter evergreens. He saw the first monster of the rift as he walked to the left of the entrance.


    It was a bipedal wolf about 55. Matt estimated it would be taller if it wasnt so hunched, closer to 59. It snapped its head towards him as he approached, and with a howl it rushed him.


    Therge wolfman had its disproportionatelyrge ws held out to either side, and its teeth bared as it charged.


    Sidestepping, he struck out with his des enchantments active, and the blow sliced the monster in half. It hadnded one hit with its w, but was unable to pierce [Cracked Phantom Armor]. One stab through its head put the whimpering monster out of its misery.


    Smiling, he cut the hands and head off the monster. The ws and teeth were useful to both alchemists and cksmiths, so into the sack they went.


    The rush of essence from the Tier 3 monster flowed into Matts spirit, and he couldn''t keep the grin off his face. It was so much more than the Tier 2 rift had given him. Even the Ant Queen hadnt provided so much essence. It was also a denser, better material to build upon.


    Quickly, he pulled Aster along, who was busy eating a mouthful of the wolfman''s heart. This was a Tier 3 rift, and the entire area was a valley two miles long and half a mile across. There were no distinct rooms or zones like the Tier 1 rifts.


    The wolfmen had a camp in the center of the valley where the exit was, and Matt knew from the guide that the howl would have attracted attention.


    That would lead the wolfmen leader to send hunting teams out, so he wanted to move before they inevitably picked up his scent.


    A few minutester, Aster, with her keener senses, heard the trio of wolfmen gaining on them. Matt turned, and sent the fox behind him. Her role was to watch out for any who had been ahead of them and who would try to attack their rear, now that he had turned to fight.


    The monsters tried to surround him. Two circled around to nk him, trying to get Matt to ce his back to one of the three. He wasnt willing to call their bluff quite yet, he wanted to learn how the monsters fought.


    Normal wolves were pack animals, and these bipedal rift wolves were no different. Matt kept retreating slowly, keeping the trio to his front. As he watched, he tried to assess the enemy in front of him. They hadrge hind legs with powerful thighs, their hunched stature belying their tendency towards lunging attacks.


    One went for a swipe at his left side, while the rightmost wolfman did the same on the right. The pincer attack forced Matt to make a quick decision. Matt sidestepped to the right to disrupt the timing of the charging wolfmen, and shed at the one now closest to him. His attack took off the wolfmans swiping hand as the other skidded to a halt in the snow.


    Seeing an opportunity, the third monster rushed at Matts exposed back while the other monster charged from the front. He kept them at bay with swipes they werent willing to take after seeing theirpatriot disarmed so easily.


    After an aborted lunge and swipe of its ws, Matt thrust out with his longsword catching the wolfman in the chest. It wasnt deep enough to kill, but the attack gave the remaining monster the courage to attack while he took down its packmate.


    Matt had nned for that and stood his ground, swinging his sword around towards the attacking wolf.


    The wolf must have thought it could sacrifice an upraised arm to get a killing blow. However,its rudimentary intelligence couldntprehend the enchanted des total disregard for things as frail as flesh and bone.


    The sh sheared the monster clean in half, its lower body frozen still in the harsh cold as blood sputtered up from its dismembered entrails. Steam drifted away from the gushing blood, as if mirroring the life leaving the wolfman''s remains. Matt felt more of the powerful Tier 3 essence flow into him.


    <em>I love this sword.</em>


    Matt took advantage of the hesitation in the wolfmen caused by the death of their packmate, and rushed at his next kill. He ran the beast through without breaking stride, [Cracked Phantom Armor] allowing him to absorb a ncing blow. Thest wolfman roared in protest, and Matt took the opportunity to finish it off by hurling his sword at it. It sliced through the monsters skull with ease, impaling it to a thick pine tree. Whistling his satisfaction, he collected his sword, as well as the monsters heads and hands.


    The new sword was so amazing, he couldn''t help but test its limits a little with the killing throw.


    Aster took a couple of bites out of their corpses before following Matt.


    As they ran, he checked his HUD for the charge of his mana stone in the hilt of his longsword.


    Sword: 178/200.


    The mana consumption seemed reasonable, and was easily produced with his talent. It would take longer for the mana he produced to unaspect than it would to make. He could have shut off the enchantment, but was happy to burn the mana to get a true test of the de.


    He also checked his AI, it was working correctly and recording the fight data, but he had it off for now. He would review the data after the rift. He didn''t want to rely on the predictive capabilities of the AI until he had confidence in his own ability to fight.


    Matt repeated the same maneuver until the wolves stopped attacking, slinking silently through the trees with Aster until they came upon another hunting party. Thirty-seven dead pack memberster, the leader was calling everyone into the central camp.


    Now that the retreat was sounded, he would have to fight almost seventy wolves in therge clearing the pack called home. It was weird, they had the facsimile of an intelligent society, but they didn''t have young, or even pregnant female wolves in the camp. It was all wolves of fighting age.


    That was how most rifts operated, but Matt still found it odd. In nearly eight hundred million years of recorded history, rifts had been repeatedly proven to not be intelligent, so why the farce of having the wolves in a clearing with structures?


    He had Aster stay a few feet behind him while he stepped out of the woods into the clearing. As he stepped out of the trees, he surveyed his surroundings, only to have half a dozen wolves rush him.


    This was a far less elegant fight, but Matt only took three hits to his [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Which, for the intensity and lopsidedness of the fight, he considered eptable. He didn''t back up this time, and they didn''t try to slowly whittle him down. It was a brawl that his enchanted de and skill turned into a bloodbath.


    His n was to step back into the forest and repeat the same actions until the pack leader appeared, continuing his pattern of guerri warfare. The leader had no intentions of ying along, he obviously noticed Mattsst fight, and led the remaining wolves in a charge.


    This wolfman was a foot taller than his brothers and sisters. And of course he came with five others that were alsorger specimens than the previous he had fought. As the leader charged, his underlings used the same tactics Matt had already seen and nked him, as he backed up to the forest line. He wasn''t hoping to stop the monsters charge, but simply break up the attacks.


    He took an attack from the leader, while killing two of the lesser wolves. That single blow nearly cut through [Cracked Phantom Armor]. This monster was stronger than the orc he fought in the Tier 1 rift challenge. It was only because he could supply more mana to his skill that it held. If he took another attack on the same arm before the skill repaired itself, he would need a healer.


    He tried to push more mana into [Cracked Phantom Armor] but when he did, he felt the skills structure in his spirit start to destabilize.


    Ducking the next attack, Matt struck out at the wolf leader. The enchanted de, which had sliced through everything so far in this rift, just bounced off itsrge ws. He had assumed that would happen, but had hoped for a better oue. The pack leaders teeth and ws were worth ten times what the lesser wolves were worth for a reason.


    Dodging the leader''s attacks and taking out the remaining lesser wolves took all his patience and skill. It was a battle of mental endurance as well as physical. Each lunging attack was followed by another from the opposite direction, so Matt had to dodge and parry at once in order to avoid damage. Any misstep or error in timing would leave him vulnerable to the leaders powerful swipes. He took ncing hits from the smaller wolves as he dispatched them, but was able to choose where theynded. His focus and agility were able to keep anything from getting through [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    The fight was hectic and seemed to drag on for hours. Matt had approximately forty wolves left, and they surrounded him, trying to use their numbers tond hits on his back and whittle him down. When that didn''t work, they eventually charged as one and tried to tackle him to the ground.


    That was far more dangerous, as his mobility was the only thing keeping the leader from being able tond lethal hits. Matt had no choice but to hack his way through the pack, ducking and weaving through the mass of ws and fur. After a good five minutes of carnage, it was only him, the leader, and two of therger wolfmen left.


    During a biting lunge from one of thest wolfmen, Matt was finally able to turn the battle into an equal fight with two shes of his own. Even if the lesser wolves hadnt been able to hurt him easily, they could disrupt his footing with their momentum and weight.


    Now that he could fully concentrate his attacks and attention on the leader, he quickly struck out andnded a blow to the leg. He knew his first hit already marked the end of the fight. With less mobility, the leader was circled and whittled down. Nick by nick, cut by cut, Matt bled the leader of the wolfmen down, until it copsed dead from blood loss. An anticlimactic end to therge wolf.


    Once Matt felt the rush of essence, he started collecting the remaining spoils of the delve. He was exhausted. Thatst fight was long, and it had taken everything he had to not be pulled under with their sheer numbers. He was slow in his collection of the monster parts while he settled his racing heart.


    As Aster ate the bits she wanted, he dragged the leader''s corpse over to the exit rift and looked at the reward distortion. It was a swirling yellow, and as he sent a burst of essence to dispel it, he found a pile of mana stones. After counting Mattughed, fourteen, double the average. That was 140,000 credits, he was making a dent in his money problems after just one delve.


    The advantages of a solo delver were showing themselves more and more as the Tier increased.


    As he prepared to leave, Aster sent that she wanted to remain in the rift a while longer. She got the feeling being in the cold would help her ice powers.


    So, Matt sat down and let her manipte the cold around them. As he waited for her, he enabled the AI ovey and had it process the data. He had kept it throttled to a max of two mana a second for the duration of the rift, because he didn''t want it to distract him during the delve.


    As he let it analyze the data, with all the remaining mana he wasn''t feeding into [Cracked Phantom Armor], he saw a rey of his vision appear in his lower right field of view. The AI ran through the entire time in the rift three times, before signaling that it hadpleted its analysis.


    The data was good, and the analysis had a decent amount of predictions. Matt was looking forward to using the predictive methods during his next delve.


    The final battle had been hectic, and Matt was excited for any advantage he could find. If his skill wasn''t so strong, he would have taken a lot of hits, and could have died. He also didn''t need the AIs reminder that this was a weak Tier 3 rift, and that the leader didn''t have a skill to use. This was still the yPen, and they wouldn''t allow a rift with a boss who had a skill to linger.


    Matt tapped the sword resting between his legs, it had carried the day. Its ability to slice through the wolfmen with ease was crucial in thest melee.


    Watching Aster, he saw she had blue-tinged white energy swirling into her. He assumed it was cold maniption of some type, but was unsure, as she didnt know and was actingpletely on instinct.


    Upon further inspection, he noticed she was actually cycling the cold. He could only guess it was a control training method of some sort, and left her to it.


    He sat and continued to review the battle, using the AI and his own expertise to formte a better attempt for the next delve.


    When they left an hourter, Matt had a n simmering in his thoughts.


    ***


    The next day he stood in front of Griff''s desk and exined his n.


    I would like to do a two day delve cycle. It will let me maximize my time remaining on the ind, and it takes advantage of me being a solo delver. The Tier 3 rift doesn''t have any significant risk to me with my skill and Talentbination. If I can do a two-day cycle, I can go from sixty delves to ny. Also, it lets Aster get more time in the cold environment which helps her cold powers.


    Matt held up a pitiful looking Aster to the man on the other side of the desk. He didn''t feel bad in the slightest in having the fox put on a pitiful face in front of the Tier 15, they had practiced until she was heartbreaking.


    Fine, I''ll allow it. Only because you were smart. The contract with TrueMind is good, even if it will cost you a bit down the road. Just remember a good sword and an AIs predictive algorithms will only take you so far.


    He was surprised Griff had heard about it and said so.


    You think a massive corporation can make a contract with someone on The Path without The Empire making sure it''s not predatory? Naa, I got a copy, and so did the bossdy. It''s a bit hefty on the back end, but nothing crazy.


    Griff nced at the screen in front of him then said, I wasn''t going to bring this up yet, but I guess now''s as good a time as ever.


    As the Tier 15 reclined back in his chair, Aster took the opportunity and scampered into hisp. Brush carried in her muzzle.


    As Griff took the offering and put it to use. He asked, What do you know about life outside of the yPen? In the Empire atrge, or more specifically, for people on The Path?


    Not much. I n to review the open rifts so that I can use my advantages well. As a solo delver, I don''t have to worry about the rest of my team''s weaknesses when choosing a rift. I''m more flexible, and I can make more per rift because I don''t have to split the rewards.


    Yeah, that''s true and all, but not what I meant. What do you know about training worlds? There is one opening a fews away in seven months. Are you interested?


    Matt had no idea what a training world was, and at his inquisitive facial expression, Griff continued.


    Mostly they''re worlds that aren''t worth colonizing, and mostly left to sit. The essence builds up, and the rifts overflow. It turns the world into perfect training grounds forrger guilds and families.


    Why isn''t the world colonized? That seems odd to leave an entire to waste away.


    Griff flicked his finger and Matt''s AI received a packet of information.


    What I just sent you is a data packet about it, but the short of it is, this world has nearly no water at all. So, no safe areas, and it''s only a Tier 5 world. It''s not worth the effort to send a strong water mage over to fill an entire world.


    That leaves the world empty and barren, so it''s given to a guild to use as a training ground every few years. This one has been sitting for ten years. That means the rifts will be bursting, and the final rewards will be <em>much </em>higher than usual.


    Matt had his AI analyze the data packet as soon as he received it. As he skimmed the report, one thing popped out, so he asked, The Republic has an entrance to this world as well? Wouldn''t that turn into a bloodbath?


    Griff just smiled at him, Yeah they have ess to the world as well. And no, it wont turn into a bloodbath. We aren''t at war right now and each side will send a Tier 25 to monitor the situation. Fights will happen and even some deaths, though everyone discourages killing. Rob someone, beat them up, but killing and crippling are frowned upon.


    Therge man was still brushing Aster while Matt pondered the opportunity. Then, Griff broke the silence and said, I figured it might be a good opportunity for you. Especially if you delve at a two-day schedule. You should be near Tier 3s peak at that time, and it could be a great opportunity for you to advance. The rifts have been sitting so long, they are far more likely to drop skill shards.


    That means the price of skill shards will be a lot cheaper while the is closed. Trading is far easier when people can''t just sell their skills to the highest bidder, with massive guilds and families buying up skill shards.


    That got Matt excited. So there will be a lot of rifts. How many people will there be? And will Tier 5 be the highest Tierpeting?


    Griff nodded. Yup the highest Tier will be 5, so you''d be on the weaker end, but that just means there will be a lot of Tier 3 and 4 rifts for you to delve. The world will only be open for six months, and the portals will only be activated for a week at the start and end of thepetition. The Republic will be doing the same.


    Matt reviewed his mental ns and started shifting things around.


    Thank you, Griff. I think this is a good opportunity for me as well. I need to go and prepare for the next six months.


    The big man waved him out and called out right before Matt exited. Get a self-filling water source. They will be absurdly expensive on dehold.


    Matt thanked him and hurried to the general store.


    Reviewing the data sent, he saw it was a cold, dry. Like Griff said, it only had a tiny amount of water, so there was only one safe zone. That meant The Empire and The Republic had to share.


    Matt grabbed his pad, thinking about what he would need. He couldn''t really think of much, he had always lived in a city with modern amenities.


    He found a camping guide rmended for overnight delves. Food, a portable cooker, tent, sleeping bag rated for the cold, a portable chair,ntern, rope and a multi tool all seemed appropriate. As he looked at the list, he knew he would need to get a spatial bag before this trip. The bright side was, if he gotpletely average luck during his delves, he could afford a smaller bag.


    This was a challenge he could n for, and mitigate most of the dangers. He could do this.


    ***


    Nearly six monthster, he was in the Tier 3 rift again. It was mostly a repeat of the first day, except it was a cleaner and more refined delve. His AI predicting enemy attacks allowed him to dance around the wolves. It still wasn''t <em>perfect, </em>but he had gotten better with every delve.


    Thergest change was that Aster had reached Tier 3. Her control of the cold was now at a level that she could kill a wolfman with conjured ice projectiles. She wasn''t perfect, and her aim was only slightly better than terrible, but she was improving.


    They now just charged at the center of the wolfmen camp, and Matt just cut his way through, with Aster taking out the stragglers. His skill with [Cracked Phantom Armor] had reached the point that he could now feed it with nearly four mana a second. He was now essentially immune to anything but multiple hits from the bossnding on the same spot in rapid session.


    It had taken a lot of training out of the rift, but Matt had gradually gotten the skill ustomed to handling more mana. It was mostly meditation, and exercises focused on slowly increasing the amount of mana he put into the skill, that allowed it to grow ustomed to the increased throughput..


    His problem was his mana control. Matts saving grace was the orb Eric had given him when they offered the sponsorship to the yPen. Only after months of long hours of practice with it was his mana control able to improve.


    Most of their time in the rift was spent letting Aster feast and practice in the cold environment. Her ability to ingest essence from the monster parts was a source of envy for Matt. It cut down on her portion of essence shared, but he wanted that ability for his own. He could get thirty percent more essence if he could eat the monster meat.


    He sat in a chair he had pulled out of his spatial bag. It wasn''t arge one, but it had wiped out all of his profit from the rift in thest few months. He was broke again, but as a positive, he had no debt either.


    The spatial bag was amazing, a marvel of enchanting. It was the size of a small backpack, and was thin enough that [Cracked Phantom Armor] covered itpletely. The outer appearance was deceptive, as inside it held a six cubic foot space, about the size of a bathtub. That limited space was enough to cost over a million credits, even with the fifty percent discount he got for being on The Path.


    The space wasrge enough for all of his camping supplies and a six months supply of food for him and Aster. They had even tested it out by sleeping in the woods during one of their off days.


    The test run proved useful, he had forgotten important things like hygiene products and a perimeter rm. They also discovered the portable heater was greedy, instead of buying a better, more efficient one, Matt bought more rechargeable mana stones.


    That gave him more leeway with his water supply as well, because the enchantment for the spell took around 50 mana to fill a single water bottle. It was a mixture of created water and water pulled from the atmosphere. It was even rated to work on a dry. It would be mana expensive, but he had mana to spare.


    He and Aster would be leaving directly after this rift, and heading to TrueMind for a scan. He was nearly Tier 4. If he had another month of delving at this rate, he could advance, but his time on the yPen was up today. It was time for him to truly step onto The Path of Ascension.


    He checked the reward, and was pleasantly surprised that he got twenty-two Tier 3 mana stones. It felt like a promising end to his time in the yPen. It would also help pay for his travel expenses while he made his way to Axel.


    It was threes away, and the trip was expected to take three weeks. A week of that was waiting for a public portal to Axel from Otto, the second on his trip.


    The boat ride back to the maind turned him introspective. He was only 16 and a half years old, and peak Tier 3. He thought over the kids around his age in the orphanage. What were they doing? Were they as strong as he was? Stronger?


    Thest year and a half spent in the yPen had been amazing for his growth, both as a cultivator and as a person. He found it hard to imagine any of them advancing faster, unless they had an amazing Talent and were picked up by arger, off world guild.


    He felt like such a different person than the one who arrived with just a dream, hope and empty pockets. Matt chuckled to himself, he may have empty pockets, but he had also had a stolen skill. That skill had allowed him to take risks most wouldn''t consider.


    <em>It''s all paid off though.</em> Matt thought with a smile, and caught Aster who jumped into his arms. <em>This is her first time off the ind isn''t it?</em>


    Matt pushed happy thoughts of adventure to his white fox, and they stepped off the boat that was picking up the newest members of the yPen.


    The first thing they did was go to TrueMind to get the Tier 3 scan out of the way. He had called ahead, and they were immediately ready to conduct the scan and AI testing.


    The room they brought him to was like the scanning rooms on the yPen, clean and clinical. A scanner circled him while he had his AI run the simtions they sent him. It was quick and easy.


    Getting the staff to stopvishing attention onto Aster was much harder than the testing had been.


    As they had the rest of the evening off, the duo went window shopping. Matt felt it was an odd contrast to when Griff had dragged him through all of these shops the day he arrived at the yPen. Now he could afford most of what he saw. When he had walked these streetsst, he would have agonized over any purchase.


    Now, he enjoyed watching Aster preen over all the attention she received from the workers at the various shops they stopped at. That is, until a vendor offered her a bit of ice cream. The cold treat instantly became her new favorite snack, and the only way to get her to leave was to pick her up and carry the squirming fox away from her new best friend.


    Ignoring the mental pleas to return, Matt continued his trek through the city. They rented a room, and had avish dinner, with Aster devouring more than her fair share of the banana split.


    As they checked out the next morning, he thought over the bill. The nice room and feast they enjoyed cost a little over a thousand credits.


    It felt unreal. He would have vomited blood at the thought of spending that much on a single night at a nice hotel before The Path.


    <em>How things change. I can make more in a single delve than years working at Bennys. I wonder why they don''t charge more for a room? Maybe they do on higher Tier worlds? I can''t wait to find out.</em>


    He arrived at the teleporting tform an hour early, and checked in with the front desk. Looking at the prices, he was d he was on The Path, because the prices were absurd like Griff had mentioned. Twenty-Five Tier 4 mana stones a teleport for a single person. He got subsidized prices as long as he was on The Path, and did not waste resources.


    The tform was nearly thirty feet across, and Matt could see runes engraved along the perimeter. Large metal beams enclosed the top to make a half sphere.


    After checking in, he was directed to a lounge that had seven others waiting. The first he noticed was a group of five who all were in a guilds uniform that he didn''t recognize. He didn''t care enough to look them up. The other two were in business suits and didn''t look up from the pads they were typing on.


    Finding a chair out of the way, he sat down with Aster, idly brushing her silky white coat.


    He felt eyes on him after a few minutes, and a nce showed one of the guilders was looking at him. His first thought was that she was looking at Aster, but following her eyes revealed that it was the longsword propped on the wall next to him she was eyeing.


    He gave her a nod, and went back to his perusal of the information about the training world.


    The world was officially named B-7112923, but had the nickname of The Vacant. The was slightlyrger than the average, and despite theck of water, the was on the colder side.


    The equator was temperate enough, but it was brutally cold at the poles, reaching a regr daytime temperature of -50F. Matt made a mental note to avoid getting too close to either pole.


    The only other information he could find was that each nation had a base near the equator. There, they had jointly created argeke, and had built a city on opposite sides of the water source.


    Thest piece of information he managed to discover was that there was a local teleportation system set up. It served to help delvers traverse the quickly in the limited time the event was active.


    They would teleport participants from the hub cities, and each participant was given a recall beacon. It could be activated to be pulled back to the users original teleporter. The catch was that only the first teleport out was free.


    Any other teleportation was costly, at the going price of a 1000 mana each way per person. It would be far cheaper for groups to pay the mana directly than trying to pay with mana stones. The problem was, that much mana was enough to leave one or two of the party memberspletely spent for days.


    That fact alone encouraged down time in the city, so those drained of mana could recover safely. The cynical part of him wondered if the guild charged rent as well.


    Matt wouldnt have that problem, but it was good information to have. It gave him an inkling of how he could take advantage of his Mana Regeneration to hop between areas withrge amounts of rifts.


    ording to the information fromst time the world opened, there were tens of thousands of rifts on the. It was a gold mine of rewards. New rifts and rifts that were left alone for long periods of time built up essence, which led to greater rewards.


    Skill shards were twinkling in his eyes. Thest time the had opened, there had been over four hundred skill shard rewards sold. That didn''t even ount for the shards people directly absorbed.


    This was the best time for Matt to get a second skill. Even if the skill he got was useless to him, he could still sell or trade it for something useful.


    He had been perusing the Tier 8 skills that lower Tiered rifts usually dropped, and one stuck out to him. It was perfect for his mana situation.


    [Mana Strength] Reserve an amount of mana to infuse into the user''s body. The more mana reserved, therger the increase.


    It was the first choice for melee fighters, except it was a reserve skill. He could technically use it, but the effect he would get from reserving less than 1 mana would be negligible. It took a hundred or more to make the skill valuable.


    No, [Mana Strength] was good but his choice was:


    [Mages Retreat] Infuse mana into the body to increase physical ability. Channeling skill.


    They were simr, but [Mages Retreat] was better for Matt. The skill was usually used by mages to keep distance between themselves and opponents. Even then, most higher Tiered mages preferred short range teleports or a pure speed increase. [Mages Retreat] was good, but other skills were considered better at the same job.


    Its advantage was that it was a Tier 8 skill, and amon one at that. Its only real downside was the constant mana cost needed to use the skill. Around 2 mana a second. That cost ensured it was at best the third or fourth choice for most delvers. [Mana Strength] was undoubtedly a better skill when looking at a mana costparison.


    However, [Mages Retreat] was the perfect skill for Matt. He might not have mana reserves, but he had the mana production to beat anyone. He had even paid for a more detailed analysis of the skill, and there didn''t seem to be an upper limit of mana the skill could use, just the minimum of two mana a second.


    Hed need to train with the skill so it could ept his absurd amounts of mana, but he theorized he could boost his bodily power to unheard of levels at high Tiers.


    The skill had been sold four times during thestary opening, and Matt was fairly confident that he could trade for [Mages Retreat] if he found a half decent skill during a delve .


    It made him oddly happy to take a skill most saw as useless, and turn it into something extraordinary.


    The door opened, and a worker guided them to the teleporting tform and started speaking.


    If you haven''t traveled with teleportation before please take a barf bag from the stand over there. It can upset the senses and lead to nausea for new travelers. Other than that, please don''t move much as we are very tight today.


    Matt looked at the tform, and saw the half sphere was stuffed with smaller tforms and containers. Only a small portion near the edge had an open hatch, and conformed to the edge of the sphere.


    The man continued as they walked to the open door. Once the door is shut, please don''t try and leave. The vessel is for your own safety. Anything that is out of the teleporter field is left behind. That includes any bits or pieces of you.


    As they climbed into the small pod, Matt realized just how cramped the room was with eight of them upying it. With his six-foot two frame, he was awkwardly pressed along the curve of the outer hull.


    Aster was better off with the extra room between the legs of the passengers.


    After the hatch shut, things got worse. The businesswoman was pressed ufortably into him. With his height, and the way the wall curved, he was almost resting his cheek on her head in an attempt to not look down her blouse.


    A speaker in the corner announced, Two minutes until teleportation.


    The next two minutes felt like hours, but soon Matt heard, Scansplete. No protrusions. Transit in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.


    When the countdown reached one, Matt felt like his body and spirit were being torn apart. The sensation onlysted a second, but he felt the nausea he had been warned about. With a pure effort of will, he was able to keep it down. But from the retching he heard, someone on the other side of the container hadnt done so well.


    The door quickly opened, and a woman''s voice asked them to exit. He was happy toply, but had to wait for the others in front of him. The smell of vomit permeated the small space, and through the bond he felt Aster''s sensitivity to the smell as she bolted for the now open door.


    As Matt stepped out of the hatch, he realized this was the first time he was on another.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13


    The first thing Matt noticed as he exited the small transport hatch was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Dark brte hair in a thick braid rested over her left shoulder, and eyes like melted chocte looked up at him as he cleared the entrance.


    As he stood to the side of the hatch, he ever so briefly considered staying as long as it took to try and win this beautys heart.


    With a shake, he freed himself of that notion. He didnt want to stay here. Even if she turned out to be interested, he wouldnt remain. Joining The Path might have been an escape to get out of poverty, but now, he truly enjoyed the feeling of growing stronger and oveing his limits.


    His path was to be the ascender to get to Tier 25 by two hundred years old.


    Matt wanted his name to be known as Duke Waters was.


    He wanted to grow strong.


    Staying on this Tier 6 world wasnt his destiny.


    After he checked in with the beauty, he walked towards the exit. He found it more challenging than he expected. It didnt make sense; he didnt even consider giving up his path for Jasmine. This woman seemed maic. With effort, he removed himself from her pull.


    With Aster following at his heels, he walked out of the building and onto the city streets. As he reached the sidewalk, Matt realized he had no idea where he was going. He knew where he needed to go, the train station that would trace half the continent to the next teleporter location.


    He used his AI to connect to the CityNet, downloaded a map, and followed the trail it projected for him. His train didn''t leave for another five hours, but he needed to leave the teleportation area.


    The walk was short, but Matt was able to distract himself with the city around him. He expected it to look more urban since it was one of only three cities on the with teleporters. Instead, he saw green everywhere. Trees, parks, flower beds, and creeping vines covered this city.


    It was refreshing. The city even had a pleasant smell from the flowers, despite being in the middle of the night.


    Aster was ying stop, sniff, then run to catch up. They only passed a few people as it was after 10 pm local time, and most stopped tovish attention on the white fox.


    As they reached the train station, he was amazed. The space surrounding it was a massive park. This all felt foreign and out of ce for a city.


    Matt quickly checked in, and registered his AI with the station. He nned to go and do some shopping in the nearby mall that was still open. It was still morning for his internal clock after all.


    When the train finally came, he was lying in the park as Aster demolished a stick she had found. He was more interested in the entirely new night sky to observe. The Empire made sure alls had a twenty-four-hour day for uniformity, but years were based on the capital.


    It amazed him that a higher Tier could slow or speed up the rotation of something asrge as a.


    <em>Is it a specialized skill or just their raw power? </em>


    The moon on this was a vibrant peach, and it had several smaller subsatellites that tracedplex patterns across its surface.


    It was an entrancing sight. Matt wanted to travel and see every the empire had to offer.


    He sent a picture of the sky to Melinda''s group. They were busy with their new rift, but they had gotten to Tier 4 a few months ago, and were pushing quickly to Tier 5. With him traveling, it was much easier to get messages through to them. They didnt have to to snake their way through a dozen portals trying to find them anymore.


    They had only exchanged a handful of long letters to each other. Matts were mostly filled with the mundane, while theirs were full of tales of their delves in various rifts. They decided to bounce around between a few rifts, instead of staying and repeatedly delving the same rift. It gave them a more variedbat experience, but it also kept them busy and left little time to message him.


    He hoped to send them interesting tidbits about his time on the training The Vacant.


    He had tried to message Dena and Eric when he left the yPen, but had simply gotten a message stating they were unavable to receive notifications.


    That struck him as odd since the message hadnt even tried to send. If it had bounced back after a few attempts to locate the couple, it would be understandable, but immediately being kicked back to him? It felt off. The only thing he could find on the EmpireNet regarding the topic was that it meant Dena and Eric blocked him, they were on do not disturb mode, or they were dead.


    He couldnt do anything at the moment but hoped it wasn''t thetter. He didn''t know what he would do if they had died.


    ***


    Matt stepped out of the teleporter onto dehold. The Tier 14 was rich with high Tier ores, and most smiths in this earldom flocked here. With the worlds higher-than-average metal concentration, it made for a perfect smithing. Armors and weapons were far cheaper on this than they would be on a neighboring world.


    The city he was currently in was only a short train ride to the guild capital of Dual Stars. They were the guild that had rights over the training world.


    Dual Stars was the strongest guild on the. Technically this wasn''t their guilds main branch, but it was their starting location and original world. So, they still kept arge guild hall established.


    From what he had found in his research, Dual Stars was a major local power and did most of their recruiting locally. Their deep ties to the and its people gave them tremendous support from the citizens.


    What Matt had been looking for, and hadn''t been able to find, were scandals about the guild and the training world. Only a few small stories about their guild leaders supposedly cheating on one another came up. He didn''t care about that. He was just worried about them trying to strong-arm anyone on the to give up or sell rewards for values below their worth.


    He thought it was unlikely that something would happen since the world was a gift from The Empire. That same Empire had the habit of executing anyone and everyone who interfered with ascenders, so the guild would be unwise to cause Matt any unnecessary trouble.


    If they did mess with those on The Path, it was more of a question of if Duke Waters would get to them before The Empire did. He was far less gentle with his methods of retribution than the Empire was.


    That didnt mean they couldn''t cut his throat on the other and just say he never returned, but that was always a risk every delver faced, so he found it unlikely.


    The train was packed, and Matt and Aster had to fight to get a spot to stand in. Many of the passengers were young, and he felt they were around Tier 3 to Tier 5.


    Some even had masks to hide their identities. It wasn''t a bad idea, and Matt even had a mask, but it was useless. An Arctic Fox was a dead giveaway that no mask could hide.


    After the ufortable train ride, they arrived at the guild headquarters. It was more of a typical city than the teleporter city was. This city was nestled into a valley that took up the entire window Matt was pressed against.


    The valley and city were split into thirds of roughly eight miles. The east-most third was the guilds territory and had wide-open spaces. The border was a wall that looked more decorative than practical. Though Matt wasnt sure, as runes and formations could be hidden inside, turning the small wall into a barrier that would take years to break.


    The center third of the city was one of skyscrapers and massive estates; an oddbo Matt wouldnt have thought went together. Thest third was smaller. He would almost call it slums, but there was no trash or debris, just a poorer part of the city. Even if it was clearly crowded, he didnt see graffiti or gang signs as they approached the station.


    Once they arrived, Matts AI received a ping from the CityNet. The message was short, but stated that as a participant in the training worlds opening, the Dual Stars provided him a room until the portals opening. There would be a trolley to take participants to the guilds staging area.


    Seeing the massive line, he decided that they would just walk the few miles. It would do him good after the nearly two weeks of traveling. He and Aster could use the time and stretch their legs.


    They werent the only people with the same thought, as half a dozen groups saw the mass of people waiting and started walking as well.


    The path was easy to follow, as the train station was between the citys wealthy and more impoverished areas. ording to his AI, it was only 5 miles to the front gate.


    It was a leisurely walk. The guild maintained the area well, and every third building was a smithy of one type or another.


    The odd part of walking by so many smithies was that there was no noise. At all.


    The city mustve had aw about noise barriers, because every workshop had them. It made the walk almost otherworldly.


    As they walked, he saw so many signs proiming the smiths skills inside, or derations of enchanters that could imbue any rune onto items.


    Matt felt truly poor when he looked up some of the prices at an enchanters shop. The prices werent even in credits, they were in mana stones, and the starting prices were usually Tier 10 mana stones. The prices only went up from there.


    It would be good to remember that even though the guilders participating would be Tier 5 and below, they might have backings that allowed them to have incredibly strong items. The only thing saving him from being crushed under the guilders wallets was that their spirits strength would limit them.


    A Tier 5 might be able to use a Tier 6 weapon, but it would be a dangerous strain, and limit the time they could use such a weapon.


    The more he thought on it, the worse it seemed. Even if they couldn''t use the higher Tier weapons enchantments, they could use the metals raw power to cut through lesser materials.


    Matt decided to be extra cautious with anyone from the guilds. He didn''t want to fight over a rift and get killed because some brat could crush him with equipment out of his Tier, thanks to daddy''s wallet .


    <em>Though if I could steal someones higher Tiered equipment, it could be worth a fortune. </em>


    He shook that thought out of his head. That was a dangerous path to take. Everything he had read suggested taking equipment after a victory was considered eptable, if in bad taste. It would still be stupid to try and extort his host.


    The other item he saw advertised was a Tier 5 booster. If the advertising was to be believed, they were necessary to break through into Tier 5. The expensive elixirs gave people a bonus to one of the aspects of physical or mana cultivation. The price was understandably high, at two hundred and fifty Tier 4 mana stones or twenty-five Tier 5.


    It wasnt immediately necessary, but he made ns to start looking up guides and saving money for the purchase.


    As the pack of people rounded thest corner, the entrance came into view, and the fifteen feet wide gate was packed with people trying to enter.


    He and Aster approached the crowd, and he picked her up. He was afraid that with how close everyone was, she would get crushed or stepped on.


    As they waited for the line to progress, Matt scanned the people around him with his essence sense and eyes.


    Most were only lower Tier 3, but at least a quarter of the people he could sense were Tier 4. It would mean stiffpetition after he did at least one more delve. He was near the peak of Tier 3, and with the essence of a Tier 4 rift, he could make his breakthrough.


    If he had a few days on dehold, he could absorb the ambient essence and make the breakthrough here, but he didn''t think he''d get the time. The portal was scheduled to open in just three days.


    He eventually reached the front and found several booths with guild members behind them. Quickly finding the booth for people on The Path, he was checked in and given a temporary badge that would allow him free ess to the guilds facilities, and a room for his stay.


    Once he was through the gate, the noise and mor instantly dimmed to a quiet murmur instead of the roar it had been.


    Matt immediately went to his room and decided to stay put for the next two days. He didn''t want to get involved with the zoo that was the guild''s territory.


    He had already checked, and the guild did have rifts held at Tiers 1 through 9, but they werepletely closed to anyone who wasn''t a guild member. And even then, there was a six-month waiting period.


    Resigning himself to making his breakthrough on the training, he waited the two days in boredom. The one party he went to had ended in a stabbing, and the guards had arrested half a dozen people. After that he avoided other people and concentrated on his breakthrough. Even the gyms had had fights breakout because of the smallest perceived slight.


    His research said it wasn''t a good idea to cultivate ambient essence for delvers. The essence was like sand to the bricks of the essence from rift monsters. It would need to be processed, and even then, it was a lot of slow work. Most delvers just relied on the essence from rifts to progress.


    It was annoying, but he wasn''t willing to ruin his foundation to break through a few days sooner.


    ***


    Matt, along with a hundred thousand others, stood in an arena. They were the first group to transit to the training. The final number of participants from The Empire was a little over a million.


    The transfers would be going for days. Then, the portal would lockdown for the six-month duration of the event.


    Next to the portal were multiplerge scaffoldings in the half-sphere of the teleportation pad.


    As he stood with his teleportation group, he saw the Dual Stars leaders and namesakes take the stage. The Dual Stars were a couple that leaked light. Literally.


    They were two individuals that, rumor had it, possessed nearly identical Talents. It was how they met. What the exact details of their Talents were was a constant topic of spection, but ultimately unknown. They obviously were walking light sources, but some of the rumors attributed far deadlier aspects to their Talents.


    The male star spoke with a resounding voice that seemed to weigh down on Matt. It was impressive, but Matt couldn''t help finding itckingpared to the Emperor''s. The sheer weight of the Emperors voice had more of an effect through a <em>video call</em>s away. This pressure was like activating his enchanted weapon, but affected his body, spirit, and mana at the same time.


    Ladies and gentlemen. Wee, wee. We are so happy to wee you to the opening of the training world. Before I continue, let me introduce myself and my wife. I am Richmond Page, and this is my lovely wife, Faye Page. I am Tier 29, and this genius beside me, Faye, just broke through to Tier 30.


    At that, everyone with the white and yellow colors of the guild cheered. It was so loud that Aster flinched and used her paws to cover her ears.


    Richmond let the cheering continue for a solid minute, with his wife next to him smiling and waving to the crowds. When she turned her blinding smile to an area, the fervor of their cheers increased.


    When the apuse died down, Richmond continued. We are happy to return to our roots again. This is where the guild was founded, and where we toiled. At that, he was interrupted again by more roars of approval.


    This is home. The rhetoric and grandstanding continued for several more minutes, and Matt just tuned it out, reviewing information his AI was producing.


    When he heard the man get to the relevant information, he tuned back in. We are happy to introduce your Tier 25 guide for this training expedition. He is the son of our guilds treasurer, and was on The Path of Ascension until Tier 15. Driver.


    With that introduction, a tall man with dark hair bounded on the stage. He waved, and his reception was astoundingly loud.


    He recently reached Tier 25, and we are proud to have him overseeing this exercise. He will be your protection from The Republic.


    This time there were scattered boos, but Faye spoke for the first time. Do not disrespect your enemies, it will quickly get you killed. We are sending our best, and so will they. This brings up the point of thepetition. You will be fighting for the same rifts as The Republic, but do not go too far. Indiscriminately killing will not be tolerated. Death will happen, but it had better be idental. Rob and push away those weaker all you want, but every death in the overworld will be noted and investigated.


    That is the point of sending a Tier 25 to a Tier 5 world. The Republic and we ourselves each send one to guarantee good behavior. If you have AIs, make sure they are recording, it''s the best way to prove your innocence if someone gets killed.


    That was good advice, and Matt took it to heart.


    Remember, don''t bring shame to The Empire or to yourself.


    With that, the first scaffolding moved into the teleportation circle, and Driver jumped on with the set-up team.


    They would be the guild''s staff and defense force. If there was a problem, they would remain on the tform and be swapped back with the second teleportation of equipment.


    With a sh, the teleportation tform was empty.


    The next tform, which was packed with boxes, was moved into ce. Five minutester, it was swapped with an empty one as the teleporter activated for a second time.


    A data packet was transferred through with the returning structure, and Matt''s AI picked up the data. Most of the message was encrypted and unreadable to Matts AI, but the overall message was everything was as it should be. They were deploying the defenses and had detected the republic doing the same. In essence, all was as it was all as expected.


    Matt and everyone else who had intercepted the data let out a cheer, and the anticipatory atmosphere evaporated. Vendors who had been at the sides started hawking their goods at the waiting people.


    He was d that being on The Path earned him a spot in the first wave of people sent over. It wasn''t a massive advantage, as the first teleport out of the city wouldn''t be until mana had been built up for the defenses. It did however, mean that he could get in line and be one of the first out.


    The thought of going out of the city on foot and grabbing a rift near the city had crossed his mind, but that was a risky venture as he was sure that others would have the same idea.


    Several vendors had to be waived off by Matt and the others around him. The vendors were charging exorbitant prices for essentials. Things like cold-weather gear and self-filling water bottles were being sold for ten times their normal price.


    He was d that Griff had warned him about the price gouging. He did end up relenting slightly, and bought some sketchy meat on a stick for Aster and himself as they waited. She was as bored as he was, but had the option ofying down and sleeping.


    Seeing the fox lounging, he contemted following her example, and bringing out the small foldable chair he had. But, the press of people was just tight enough that he decided against it.


    The next two teleports happened at five-minute intervals, and after the third, it was time for the next group of people to go. This group had more staff, but most were support types. They would be the ones running things for the next six months, and their departure marked the start of the actual transfers.


    Matt was in group thirty-two, and as the first group of a thousand loaded onto the waiting tform, his anticipation was growing. Now every two and a half minutes, a tform was transported over.


    It was somewhat of a race to load and unload nearly a thousand people, and that was why each side had five of the giant tforms. With transfers that quick, it would lead to deaths if everyone had to vacate it in that short of a time.


    As the line moved in two and a half minute bursts, he quickly got onto the tform. Matt hadn''t realized it at the time, but this was muchrger than the inteary teleporters he had used before.


    He had his AI pull the data and found that this teleportation sphere had a radius nearly fifty percentrger, which was essentially triple the amount of area of the transit worlds teleporters. From what he could find, this size increase decreased the efficiency of the teleporter by eighty percent. The only reason they didnt use the smaller, more efficient teleporter was time constraint.


    That exined the massive price for anyone outside the Dual Stars or The Path who wanted a spot on the training. This was an opportunity to get rare rewards and skill shards. And for people Tier 5 and under, that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


    A single extra skill could change everything for a delver. It was so expensive to get a skill shard under Tier 8, that it was the main draw guilds used for recruiting.


    Skills were the lifeblood of anyone trying to delve. Every skill added to your ability to survive and thrive in a rift.


    He thought of the profiles of the Tier 5 guilders. Several of the best from Dual Stars and other guilds had public profiles. Each prodigy he checked had five or six skills given to them by the guild, or parents who could afford it. It made them much stronger than those without.


    That changed around Tier 8 when skills became moremon. Anyone who was able to climb that high with minimal skills and support was on average stronger at the same Tier. The real difference came in delve speed. With more skills, they ran rifts daily. Or at least as often as their mana let them.


    Matt didn''t want to be cynical, but it was hard. Those with rich backing didn''t have to struggle. Low on mana? Buy mana stones. Need a skill to round out your abilities? Buy it.


    He thought it was the reason that so many on The Path came from poorer backgrounds. They didn''t have the opportunities and advantages, so the restrictions of The Path meant nothing.


    The rich were giving up safety and easy advancement for what? Matt wasn''t sure, maybe it was pride.


    He couldn''t be sure of others motives, but was self-aware enough to admit that if he had been offered an easier way out before meeting Eric and Dena, he would have taken it.


    Now, he didn''t think he''d voluntarily leave The Path. His luck and odd Talent gave him an advantage over most, even if it was limited for now. In the future, he wanted to be able to take pride in the fact that he had stood on his own, and that he had risen from the bottom of society to the top.


    Matt was pulled out of his musings when he felt the tform he was on start to move. It was his turn.


    Aster jumped into his arms. She never took teleports on the floor after she got vomited on during their second jump. He didn''t mind, as he had no interest in cleaning vomit out of her fur again. She had moped for days.


    The speakers built into the tform quickly counted down the time to leave.


    When the countdown hit zero, he felt the lurch. It was far worse than the usual jolt of teleportation. It also felt like itsted years. Time warped and twisted before snapping back to normal.


    Matt''s spirit felt wrung out when the sensation ended and the teleport was over. He even heard familiar sounds of retching as he felt the tform move.


    Being near the center of a middle level, he couldn''t see anything, but heard exmations from those that could. After the tform jerked to a halt, the speakers instructed everyone to disembark quickly.


    When Matt got his first view of the new, he was incredibly disappointed. Everything was gray. The ground, the walls, the buildings, all made from the same gray stone.


    Looking past the monotony, Aster noticed it first and drew his attention to the sight that had made themotion.


    There was a multicolored dome covering the sky. Matt knew from his research it was a defensive shield that also helped regte the citys temperature, but that didn''t take away from the sights beauty. It would be invisible when it was fully powered, but for now it was a mesmerizing, multicolored specter in the night sky.


    Matt felt the bump of someone behind him, and stepped off the edge of the tform. When he reached the ground, he moved away from the crowd and checked the messages his AI was receiving.


    There wasn''t anything unexpected. Designated buildings were for teams to use as lodging while on the. It was free, but furnishing wasn''t provided. Crafters were in thest groups of peopleing over, so the participants were warned not to expect them unless they were waiting the full week.


    Costs for things like food and water were posted and were unsurprisingly absurd.


    Finally, near the bottom of the list, he found what he wanted to know. Teleports were unavable until the city''s mana reserves reached an eptable level. Priority teleports were going to those that provided more mana to the collection.


    That was exactly as he had read about, and he nned on exploiting this privilege, so he could be one of the first people out.


    Following the directions to the mana depository, he found a central building that was the only one he had seen guarded so far. From the feel of their spirits, they were Tier 10s and one Tier 15, though thest was a guess, as it was already at his limit to sense the Tier 10s.


    The building was the center of the temporary city, and even had an aqueduct feeding water to theke. He could see the vast body of water fade off in the distance through the distortion of the shield.


    He could also make out the Republics citys outline on the other side.


    It was a good reminder that this was a neutral, and enemies were at the proverbial gate.


    Matt followed several others in the building, and stepped to the side to see how this worked.


    Even if he was willing to show off some of his abilities, he didn''t want to broadcast them far and wide.


    As he watched, the group that had entered before him walked to a pad and signed in, then touched arge crystal. With a sh of mana, they walked out after depositing what mana they had to spare.


    It seemed simple enough if you were just depositing your mana pool, but Matt would need space to sit and channel his mana regeneration.


    He saw someone with a scanner and a pad that he thought was a technician and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of the mana reserve.


    After talking to the tech, he was directed to a small office, where he knocked and waited for the man behind the desk to acknowledge him.


    The man sitting there was typing at a pad and watching readouts. He didn''t look up, and just murmured a distracted what?


    Matt took it as the best he was going to get until he proved his worth. The man was setting up a city, and Matt was surprised it was as easy to find him as it had been. So, he made his pitch as enticing as possible I can give half a million mana in half a day if you get me a private area to do it.


    The man''s fingers froze. It was disturbing as he wentpletely still, even his spirit stopped, it rose Asters hackles, and Matt felt the same.


    The mans head turned from the pad in front of him with unnerving stillness. Prove it, send me your profile. The words were said politely, but there was a threat hidden just under the surface. There was also disbelief in the tone.


    A part of Matt was starting to regret this decision, but it was toote to back out now. He swallowed and sent a modified profile. A cultivators profile was a personal record of skills, abilities, and Talents everyone had. It was impossible to lie on one, as it was calcted and verified with the same AIs that did skill and Talent testing.


    It was possible to lower your abilities or confirm a statement of capabilities. If chosen, the sent profile would show the question and an answer that was verified, but with no detailed information.


    Matt sent a verification that his im of half a million mana in half a day was urate. Or at least close, as it would take a little over thirteen hours.


    The im still stood, and Matt watched the man''s eyes go side to side. He was clearly reading, then rereading the message Matt had sent.


    The man stood, and reached out his hand. Any previous hostility was gone. Simeon, I''m the director of the day-to-day operations here. Driver is in charge of defense, but I''m the one in control of everything else. Thats one hell of an ability you have.


    After shaking Matts hand, Simeon looked him up and down, clearly getting information from his AI.


    Hemented, Youre on The Path. Ugh, well I can give you a great recruitment deal if you want to join the guild, but it has to wait until you leave The Path.


    Matt didn''t want to let this continue, so he cut in, No, sorry. Im happy ascending on my own. Maybe when I fall out naturally, but until then, I''ll stay the course.


    Simeon didn''t look surprised, but did look disappointed. Shame, Shame. But I understand. Welp, to your mana. I can get you a room, and I can have you on... he paused, and after getting the information continued, the third teleport out. The first two are guild VIP teams. I''m even willing to put you in any spot you want, not a random one.


    That was far better than Matt had been expecting. He said as much, and Simeonughed and started walking out of his office. The halls they traversed were made of the same gray stone, with just mana lights brightening the corridors.


    We brought a ton of mana with us in mana stones. We could start teleports now if we didn''t have the republic on our doorstep. While it''s unlikely they''d attack if we didn''t have defenses up, it''s a possibility. So we don''t run the teleporter until weve built up a reserve of mana. The higher Tieredbatants will donate as well, but they only go down to three-quarters of their max.


    He looked at Matt and had a feral grin. With you giving half a million mana, we can get our people out nearly a full day before The Republic. That means they will either have to cut spending to vital systems, or wait and let us get a massive head start.


    That made sense, but Matt felt something was off. So he asked, I know half a million mana is a Tier 18 mana stone, but it seems like a guild of Dual Stars Tier would be able to cover the cost.


    Simeon chuckled at that, On paper, sure. A Tier 18 mana stone isn''t hard for a Tier 25 guild to produce, but the guild spends nearly everything it makes on building up crafters and honing thebatants strength. Most guilds dont make money, and sure as hell don''t have money to burn on something like saving a few hours. So, your contribution is farrger than you think.


    They arrived at a small room with just a chair and a copy of the crystal he had seen in the lobby.


    Here you go, I''ll send you my contact information and run your special status. After today, you can get front-of-the-line privileges. If you spend time in the city in the future, I''ve set you up for guild ess to the tradings. So, no fees if you use the auction house. Also, well take any more mana you want to give. The crafters burn through mana like you wouldn''t believe, and after we settle your mana into ambient mana, it will help a lot.


    After that, Simeon hurried out with a massive grin stered to his face. Matt sat down and started the tedious process of pushing his mana into the stone. As his current mana reached .1 mana, his regeneration ramped up to 10 mana a second. He channeled everything his AI didnt need into the crystal.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14


    Thirteen hourster, Matt lounged in the chair. Aster curled in hisp as he watched a movie on his pad. Sitting around and transferring mana was incredibly boring and didn''t take much concentration at all.


    The only problem was, he couldn''t sleep. He could doze, but if he fell asleeppletely, the mana left his control.


    He was interrupted by a message from Simeon letting him know they had enough mana, and that the teleports would start soon.


    He woke Aster and they left to go to the local teleporter. As they walked to it, they passed the inteary teleporter that was still running.


    The teleporter was much smaller, and from what Matt had been able to find out, it operated under an entirely different set of principles than the to teleporters. The exact details were hidden, but it was an interesting concept he wanted to look into in the future.


    As he arrived, he found a sign posted that stated the rules of the teleporter.<ol><li>All times are subject to change only once.</li><li>All times within two hours of teleportation are unchangeable.</li><li>If return teleportation is used, no teleportation is allowed for one full standard day.</li><li>Payment must be paid in full before the second teleport.</li><li>If non-random teleportation is desired, price is doubled.</li></ol>


    Matt was d he didn''t have to worry about nearly any of the rules. Being useful had its perks.


    He and Aster cut the already forming line. Inside he found more guards, and with a brief scan they let him bypass the line, to the grumbling of those waiting.


    Matt found Simeon bidding a group goodbye. The fleeting feeling he got before they disappeared was that of Tier 5s and strong ones at that. They would be the guild''s young elite or best connected to get that treatment from someone as high as Simeon.


    When Simeon saw him approaching, he handed him the transponder that would allow for emergency transportation back to the city. It was a lifesaving measure and a practical one. The was 1.5 timesrger than standard, and with no oceans, the expanses ofnd were massive. Walking, or even traveling with a vehicle was impractical with the terrain being so jagged.


    Do you know where you want to go? Simeon was all business, though Matt saw happiness hiding in his stern expression. Instead of saying it out loud, Matt transmitted it through his AI.


    He had a particr spot picked out. He had scoured the historical records he had gotten ess to with the special privileges Simeon had given him.


    Simeon saw the chosen location and just grinned. He didn''t say anything but clearly understood what Matt was attempting to do.


    Matt was hurried onto the tform and found himself and Aster in the blistering cold after a crackle of light. Activating [Cracked Phantom Armor] as protection from the elements, he looked around.


    He seemed to be where he wanted, and with Aster yipping at his heels he took off along the rim of the canyon.


    ording to the guilds, this was the fourth or fifth most popted area of rifts in the Fourth Tier.


    He had chosen it over the top three for two reasons. The first was that it was an area cut in half by a canyon over three hundred miles long, and at the most shallow three miles deep. The second was the areastitude near the arctic circle of the, and the year-round bitter cold. Those that were ok withpeting over the better locations usually chose to avoid this area altogether.


    Matt was happy to use his [Cracked Phantom Armor]s defense against the elements to sweep this area before others became more desperate, and headed this far north.


    The masses would swarm the more tropictitude, with their rtively mild temperatures, as the random teleports werent calibrated to arrive near the poles for safety reasons.


    Essentially, he should have free pickings here for the nearest rifts. Even if another team or two came this far north, there were more than enough rifts to go around.


    With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he felt two rifts within a mile of his location, and headed for the weaker one. It felt like a weak Tier 4 rift, so either a newly advanced Tier 4 rift, or one that had a rift break recently. Either option made it perfect for his final delve to breakthrough to Tier 4.


    As they ran, Aster yipped in pleasure at the -50 degree weather. To his spiritual sense, the cold seemingly condensed and swirled around her in blue-white streams with each step.


    Matt was slightly unnerved as they ran because he could feel his skill drawing slightly more mana to rebuff the cold. That had never happened at any point in the Tier 3 rift on the yPen. It wasn''t quite a concern. The cold was well within tolerable limits, and his camping gear could handle this weather, but he hadn''t expected the cold to be so overbearing.


    The view was amazing. He had to admit that. The cold gave thendscape a sharp edge that added to the gray, making what would be a drab scene into something enticing.


    The sky was an odd mixture of night and day. The stars shone bright in the sky, even while the sun was still visible. Nebe and other celestial formations added a beautiful backdrop full of color to his run.


    When they neared the distortion in space, they saw hundreds of frozen corpses. Humanoid corpses. They stopped, and Matt took out a small g that would designate that this rift was delved. It wasmon courtesy to ce a marker like this by a rift and fill in information about its contents.


    The practice allowed follow-up teams to either bypass the rift for unplundered treasure, or farm a rift that they countered.


    While he didnt expect anyone to follow his trail so soon, Matt wanted to be courteous to those that would follow.


    He and Aster stepped through the distortion and found themselves in a forest at night.


    With his longsword already drawn, he turned and struck out at the moan behind him.


    The enchanted sword sliced the grasping arm of the zombie reaching for him. Two blowster, the walking corpse was a corpse again.


    Matt was not enthused to find zombies. The Empire often destroyed undead rifts as a matter of practice, as they usually had diseases and terrible rewards to pair with it.


    After a moment of consideration, he decided toplete the delve. This was still an opportunity to umte essence and advance. At Tier 4 he would be far more confident, and a rift of humanoid corpses was easy enough if he didn''t get cocky.


    As they progressed through the forest, encountering and dispatching more and more shambling corpses, Matt felt the moment his spirit was filled with essence.


    He debated on whether he should retreat and breakthrough, or push through to the boss and finish the clear. After deciding, he and Aster retreated to a clearing they had passed.


    With Aster on lookout duty, Matt firmly gripped the essence in his spirit and directed it to his physical cultivation core. He squeezed with every bit of willpower he had.


    With a crunch, he felt the breakthrough. After seven more crunches he ran out of steam, opened his eyes, and saw Aster eyeing a twitching corpse prated with several hand-sized shards of ice.


    Thanks, girl. He pushed thanks and love through their bond as well. He would have never risked breaking through in a rift without her to watch his back.


    He still needed essence to finish thest two crunches to solidify his foundation, but he could feel the difference the breakthrough made.


    He had done as Griff rmended, and only directed about a third of his essence to directed cultivation. He had focused on regeneration, proprioception, and senses.


    As he felt the changes sweep his body, Matt flexed his muscles and did some stretches, finding improvements no matter which way he bent. The slight soreness in his muscles was vanishing with each heartbeat.


    It felt amazing. The difference between directed cultivation and undirected was night and day. Matt always felt like a better version of himself after a breakthrough, but this was apletely different level. Because of the inherent imbnce created when not raising everything together, it made this breakthrough feel more impactful.


    The sensory enhancements were more subtle. He saw colors more clearly. The smells in the air felt more vibrant, despite being of only pine and rotted flesh. Even the feel of his clothes had changed. Despite being in a snowy forrest with his range of vision limited, he was pretty sure he saw more details further away.


    Those weren''t the only changes, just the most obvious ones. Breaking through to Tier 4 had actualized the rest of his gains. The sword in his hand felt lighter, and the skill in his spirit felt more robust. He pushed more mana into his armor with a small effort of will, and the skill epted it all without strain.


    Matt smiled at the watching Aster as he pulled his rechargeable mana stone out and filled it with 20 mana. After absorbing the stored mana, he felt his mana capacity double.


    That expansion was reflected in the increased generation he could feel as [Cracked Phantom Armor] sucked his mana pool down to under one percent.


    We did it, girl! Tier 4 has been achieved! And now, to hunt.


    Aster yipped back. She was ready.


    ***


    The boss was a zombie. That much Matt was sure of. It was just a variant he hadnt downloaded information about. His AI came back with question marks.


    Its skin was the dark gray of a thunderstorm, and it had ws that didn''t belong on any humanoid. It had the characteristics of a wight, but the color was off. Long, matted hair the same color of the snow covering the forest outside obscured the gory details of the zombies face. While the size of the boss wasnt necessarily unnerving, its aura and aesthetic most certainly were.


    He looked at Aster and checked her confidence level. She wanted to proceed. Her confidence in him was endearing, but he wasn''t sure it was well ced. This was the first time he had to fight apletely unknown enemy.


    <em>Its a weak Tier 4 rift that just broke, and my armor should be able to tank a few hits with its increased mana throughput.</em>


    Matt stood from behind the small hill they were crouched behind and proceeded forward. As soon as he stood, the monster''s head snapped unnaturally towards him, but the rest of its body didn''t move an inch. It was still as the corpse it should be.


    When he crossed the clearing, the monster shrieked. The sound was so high-pitched that he felt Aster wince in pain through their bond. His armor defended his much less sensitive hearing, but the screech was more than it seemed, as more zombies rose from the ground at the call.


    Instead of staying back as a summoner should, the leader charged, with ws leading the way.


    Now that he was close, his AI started giving more useful information. The monster was a lightning-attributed monster. The slight distortion on its ws was lightning mana of some type, and the probability gave it high chances of being a paralytic.


    The analysis also predicted his armor should neutralize the effects, but Matt didn''t want to test it.


    This zombie was everything the preceding ones weren''t. Fast and agile for starters, smarter if Matt had to guess. While it charged at him it was circling him, making sure he wouldnt be able tond any ranged attacks. As the leader circled, more and more hordes of zombies wed their way out of the earth, answering their masters call.


    Once some of the horde was close enough to follow up on a direct assault, the boss took off towards Matt at a full sprint. The zombies hair flowed behind it from the speed of the assault, and began to stand on end as the boss began to gather lighting mana in its ws. The charge revealed an eyeless, ghoulish faceposed of rotting flesh and bone filled with maggots. Matt eyed the ws now glowing with a bright blue tinge. He knew he had to avoid those at all costs.


    When the boss finally closed, Matts AI had a half-decent profile built on it. That allowed him to take a risk. He was betting the monster would fight like other higher-level melee undead, hyper aggressive with all out attacks. He could take advantage of thatck of bnce. Matt jerked to the left at thest moment, and the feint was enough to have the monster veer left to counter the aborted movement.


    That opened the zombie''s side to a heavy blow that took its leg off. The now unstable monster tumbled to the ground. Matt took the opportunity to jump onto its upper back, mming his de through its head.


    The rush of essence confirmed it was no longer undead, just dead.


    <em>The AI is so amazing. It was worth every credit I''ll lose in the future.</em>


    He and Aster had no trouble finishing off the few remaining zombies. Compared to being swarmed by the wolfmen, weaving and shing through the horde of zombies was childs y. After the carnage, Matt received a disappointing reward of two Tier 4 mana stones. He knew this was a freshly depleted Tier 4 rift, but this was a bleak start.


    The other rifts that hadn''t used their umted essence to rank up or rift break should give greater rewards. At least he hoped they would.


    The cold wind mmed into Matt as he stepped through the rifts exit. Meanwhile, Aster reveled in it. With his fully consolidated Tier 4 spiritual sense, he reached out and found two other rifts.


    The farther one felt like it was about to burst. Either it was right about to rank up, or have a rift break. If thetter happened, it wouldn''tst long in this cold, but Matt wanted to delve it and get the greater reward.


    After updating the beacon with the rifts information andcking rewards, he hurried to the new rift. These first few hours were the most crucial for maximizing his benefits.


    Others would have the same ideas to avoid the more contested regions, and while this was a massive area with many rifts, only the first few delves had greater rewards.


    Matt took off in a jog towards the nearest of the two new rifts. It was a little over three miles away, and he covered the distance in just over twelve minutes. The new power of his Tier 4 body was exhrating.


    As he was nearing the rift, a sh of light marked the arrival of a newbatant. Matt readied his de and shouted, only to find the wind stole his words before the new person could hear them.


    He directed his AI to send a message and waited, de at the ready and skill humming with mana. The message startled the armored neer, who whirled around and drew a wand.


    Are you willing to fight for the rift? Matt''s message was short, and he punctuated it with a step towards the rift.


    The mage fired off a bolt of lightning that sizzled up his de in answer. Through the protectiveyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor], it only stung a bit. Matt charged while Asterunched shards of ice to the unresponsive man in front of him.


    The man tried to retreat, but Matt was already too close and pped the t of his de across the man''s exposed head. Or at least he tried to. There were two tracks of electrified ground where the man''s feet had dragged backwards from the skill he used.


    Matt queried his AI, but it was dealing with issues that came with two AIs trying to predict each other. Each would counter the other''s moves, invalidating every new prediction as soon as the other could react to the changes.


    Pushing the AIs oveys to the side, he charged again. The mage would either run out of mana or retreat when he saw he couldn''t beat Matt in a straight-up fight. A solo mage wasting mana before a delve would be foolish.


    The manunched another lightning bolt, and Matt decided to run right through it. His de leading the charge, Matt quickly closed the gap between himself and his opponent. Seeing the rapidly approaching armored figure, Matts adversary raised his hands, retreating.


    You win. Let me leave. The message Matt got was what he expected. What he didnt expect was it being in The Republic''snguage.


    Watching the man turn and run, Matt and Aster entered the rift.


    They were in a building. It could have been any office building in The Empire, sterile cubicles and motivational pictures lined the wall.


    Looking around, Matt found nothing out of the ordinary with his eyes or his spirit.


    Aster sniffed, and smelled nothing that caused any concern. The air was stale.


    As she approached a potted nt, itshed out with a tendril of false wood. Aster got whipped across the muzzle and recoiled backward from the blow. Matt felt the pain through their bond, and with the shared pain driving his de, cut the mimic apart.


    Once he felt the essence rush into him, he knelt to check on Aster. The skin under her white fur was sore and starting to swell, but her beast body was made of sturdy stuff.


    The fox was not happy. Her cold aura blossomed out from the little ball of fury and covered everything in a five-foot diameter in ice.


    A wall and a poster started to screech in pain as the bitter cold hit their mimic bodies.


    Matt skewered the poster as itunched itself off the wall toward the fox responsible for its pain. Tackled by the nearby cubicle wall as it came to life, Matt was forced to the ground. The wall tried to envelop him, but the cold made it brittle, and Matt''s struggles caused the monster to crack and break apart.


    Standing up, Matt and Aster made their way through the floor, killing various pieces of office furniture and other parts of the building as they went.


    As they reached a small kitchte, they were attacked by a fridge thatunched tes far sharper than they had any right to be. [Cracked Phantom Armor] stopped them from prating, but that wasn''t Matts chief concern. He had absolutely no interest in getting swallowed by the fridge, as each of the teeth in its giant maw were the same size as the tes.


    The next kitchen oddities to beunched were rotted foods that stressed [Cracked Phantom Armor]. His AI registered that the foods the mimic wasunching were acidic, and trying to eat through his skill.


    His AI was having trouble predicting the fluid movements that the mimics were capable of, but hended a heavy blow into the door that acted as the fridges mouth. Therge mimic was enraged, and waddled back towards him. It was just slow enough for him to slice arge gash on its side that leaked a clear fluid, which bubbled the floor on contact.


    He checked his swords mana, and saw that the blood of the creature was rapidly draining the slotted mana stone.


    Sword: 148/200.


    With aunching thrust, he punched the enchanted longsword through the other side of the fridge. He quickly withdrew the sword, and shed hard to remove most of the acidic blood. He swapped the one in the pommel with a new mana stone. It was nearly drained from the single thrust.


    The monster waddled forward to Aster, who was pelting its maw with shards of ice. One clearly hit something vital, as the imitation fridge locked up and fell forward, beforepletely melting into a pool.


    Aster darted forward and ate the mimic''s heart. Matt panicked for a moment, as he was afraid of the blood hurting his bond.


    The fox didn''t have any problems and swallowed the small lump of muscle. Aster, NO! Dont do that. He picked the fox up so he could look at her in the face. I was worried for you. At least let me know it won''t hurt you. The unrepentant fox just licked her chops and tilted her head at him before dropping her ears.


    He ced her on the ground before pointing an armored finger at her. You can''t use the pouting skill I taught you. You were only supposed to use that on Griff, not ME.


    Realizing that the fox didn''t care about his protest, Matt put his indignation aside. They walked through the kitchte and found a set of stairs. They led both up and down. Using his spiritual sense, Matt could feel the exit rift on the upper floor. Still, his gaze was drawn to the downwards stairs.


    <em>Why have a lower floor? I can''t feel anything down there.</em>


    With hesitation, Matt stepped downward. He didn''t know why there was a lower floor, but theck of any response to his spiritual sense intrigued him. He was too interested in finding out.


    The dark stairwell was being frozen over as Matt and Aster made their way down. The worst-case was the stairs turning into a mimic, but Aster was using her AOE powers to find any hidden monsters.


    As they continued down what must have been fifty feet without finding anything but more stairs, Matt debated turning back up to just head to the exit. He stowed that line of thinking since they had already gone so far.


    Right as he was about to turn around, a brightness came into view as he rounded the next corner, and the duo found themselves descending into a small room with a giant furnace. Wary of the giant metal contraption being a mimic, he had Aster st it with her cold power. When nothing happened, he proceeded forward slowly, de ready to strike anything down that moved.


    When nothing came to life, and Asters cold had thoroughly sted everything, he lowered his de and examined the furnace. It looked old and had an open door that he carefully peered into. Seeing nothing, he retrieved hisntern and peered deeper into the darkness.


    All he found was a normal area to ce mmable materials. It was clean with no ash or debris. He was wary of sticking his head inside, so instead he used his longsword to check the reflection of the entirety of the inside of the furnace.


    When he was done his inspection of the innards, he checked the outside, and found just a normal-looking furnace. The only thing that stood out was an emblem missing from the door. A quick search of the rest of the room yielded nothing out of the ordinary.


    Shrugging, they retraced their steps up to the floor they started on, and proceeded to the floor above. There was an empty floor with just a single wooden treasure chest in the center.


    Matt looked down at Aster and back at the obvious mimic.


    Do we spring the trap?


    Aster just pushed out her cold aura andunched a handful of shards of ice at the sitting chest.


    It burst open with a massive maw and long spindly hands, while loping at the duo standing at the bottom of the stairs. Matt ran at the sticky legs and swung his longsword, enchantment active. To his astonishment, it bounced off with only a small knick cut out of the leg.


    The mimic decided that Aster was the bigger threat, as its full focus was on her and her alone. The little fox was faster and more nimble than the lumbering chest on legs, and easily kept out of its reach.


    Matt gripped his de and kept hacking away at the same spot, while being ignored by the mimicpletely. When the wound on the hard leg was enough to curl it, he reached back and swung full strength, chopping clean through. Silver blood sprayed out of the stump. Now he had its attention.


    The boss monster tried to fall on Matt while he was still standing under it, but it was too slow in its pain-filled fall.


    As it mmed down, Aster sent a wave of cold that hardened the mimic''s false wood exterior, causing it to be brittle. Matt mmed down his sword, and the exterior shattered. Asters shards of ice pierced the pulsing mass of interior flesh.


    As they felt the rush of essence, Aster dove in to get her snack of monster heart, while Matt made his way to the center of the room. He dispelled the distortion that contained the reward of the rift. Out of the green distortion dropped a jar with a mercury-like metal that was in constant motion, even while the jar was still.


    Aster pulled his attention with a tug on their mental bond. He walked over to see the fox with silvery blood dripping down her muzzle, and a bloody piece of metal in her mouth.


    Wiping it clean, he asked, Was this inside it, girl?


    Her yips were an answer in the affirmative. Looking at it, a suspicion crept up his spine. Checking his AI, he found the little piece of metal was an exact fit to the missing emblem on the furnace.


    Wanna go investigate or head out, girl?


    The white fox looked at him then pranced over to the stairs.


    Together, they made their way down to the furnace, carefully slotted the emblem into the door, and jumped back, de at the ready.


    The furnace rumbled to life, with a fire appearing in therge potbelly. The door mmed shut while it heated up. Matt prepared for a fight, with Aster sending shards of ice, but the furnace was just active, not a mimic.


    Looking around, they found nothing different. Matt and Aster both nosed around looking for anything that had changed, but they found nothing.


    As they re-traced their steps, they searched the boss room, and found nothing different from when they left it the first time.


    Going to the trashed office floor, they finally found something different in the bathroom. Where there once was a nk wall, there now was a shower room. As Matt and his fox wandered into the room, the world erged.


    Once they reached the shower, they were only inches tall.


    <em>Or everything grew. How can I tell the difference?</em>


    Out of the drain, a gurgling sound appeared with a spray of water.


    With the geyser of water, a massive tangle of hair came out and rolled towards Matt and Aster. She sent a wave of cold out to slow the mass wing towards them with slimy tendrils of multicolored hair, and Mattshed out with his sword. He was only able to slice away a few strands of the animate clog.


    As it bored down on Matt, who tried to repeat his movement, the ball began to hop around off ofrge columns of grimy mess. The giant clog could clearly manipte every strand of hair at will, and its irregr jumps made it hard for Matt to predict its movement. With the ball approaching, he stood his ground and lowered his shoulder.


    The disgusting hair tangled him and pulled him in, wrapping around his limbs, trying to pull the sword out of his hand. Matt tried to stab into the center of the mass, but the random jostling made him miss each strike.


    Aster sent a panicked wave of ice over, and it slowed the tangle of hair long enough for Matt to cut his way down deeper into the core of the monster. His de bounced off something hard. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was draining more and more mana as the strands tightened, but his newly strengthened spirit was able to handle the increased mana flows.


    The mass of hair and gunk released Matt, andunched him into the giant tiled walls of the massive shower. After bouncing off and picking his weapon up Matt charged the stinking heap of hair and sludge.


    Aster had it slowed down by freezing its wet tendrils to the floor, but it was breaking free slowly. Her cold aura was strong, but it wasnt strong enough to freeze the monsterpletely.


    As Matt arrived, he was swatted at by twisted ropes of wet hair that tried tounch him again.


    Aster freeze my feet to the ground! Matt also sent a mental picture to the fox behind him.


    He felt the chill as the wet tiles froze over and ice started creeping up his legs. The clog monster approached again and tried to knock him back, but was unable to with the stability Aster gave him.


    The fight turned into a slugfest, with Matt relying on [Cracked Phantom Armor] to tank the whip like hits, and cutting anything that came close to him.


    Step right foot! Matt shouted to the fox behind him and felt the ice around his right foot release him.


    After taking the step and being frozen into ce again he shouted, Step left foot!


    They repeated the process until Matt was able to hack his way into the center of the mass. It was dank and disgusting, but getting deeper into the monster let Aster concentrate on freezing more of the monster to the ground. With its attention on Matt, it couldn''t get the leverage necessary to break free.


    With several more chops into the center, Matt felt the core again. When he hit it, the monster shuddered and tried to wrench itself free, but its entire lower half waspletely frozen to the tile floor. Matt reached as far back as he could, with the pommel of his sword touching the square of his back, and shattered the core with an overhead sh. The entire mass of alive hair fell down and was motionless.


    Standing up with a pounding heart, Matt found Aster tearing at some of the frozen strands on the outer edge. He ran the enchanted longsword down his armored body to clear the grime and entangling strands.


    Well, that was a shit show. Lets see what we got.


    Stepping back into the tangle of hair, he cut away to the center of the monster and found two rings that were intertwined. Locked together.


    They were massive, easilyrge enough for him to step into. As he lifted the rings, the duo started walking back towards the door. They grew bigger and bigger while the rings stood the same size. As he cleared the door, he and Aster were their normal selves again, but they had a pair of normal-sized, intertwined rings. He tried to separate them, but when he couldn''t, he ced them into a pouch in his spatial bag and left them .


    Sending essence into an item whose function he didn''t know could be incredibly dangerous.


    With a slow march, they climbed the stairs to the boss room exit for thest time.

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15


    Aster and Matt left the odd double rift and headed out into the cold. There was another rift not too far away. It wasn''t overly strong, but it gave him an odd sensation that caught his attention.


    This rift was hazier than any he had seen before. It seemed almost immaterial, or like it was about to dissolve into the background of the world. It felt stable, so he decided to enter the rift.


    The other side of this rift was a clear blue sky with a chunk of the sky simply gone. Looking around the area, it was full of holes that led to missing sections of the world. Where the ground was supposed to be, there was only emptiness.


    Carefully, he picked up Aster, and they retreated through the entrance. This rift was not stable enough for his liking. His AI had nearly stalled when trying to analyze the missing sections of the rifts. The one thing it did see was the sections of emptiness were moving.


    The risks were not worth the potential rewards.


    The duo took off in the direction Matt felt another rift in. He had a vague impression of direction, but it was too far to get much more than that.


    When they approached, he found a small, fully armored figure approaching the rift. He was about to send a challenge, when the figure pointed a finger, and a massive st of mana shot out in the shape of a spear.


    The [Mana Spear] punched into [Cracked Phantom Armor], and its power sent Matt stumbling back and scrambling to hold the skill structure stable in his spirit.


    Retreating, he waited for a second follow-up attack. When one didn''te, he turned and ran with Aster.


    <em>They were either a peak Tier 4 or Tier 5. I didnt even get a chance to feel them out.</em>


    Matt felt his chest after checking with his AI. It said that [Cracked Phantom Armor] had failed for the briefest of moments, but he wasn''t injured.


    Feeling through the skill, he only felt his shirt was charred and a small hole where he could feel unbroken flesh. That was far too close of a call.


    On his run to the next rift, he encountered no one else. He and Aster quickly slipped inside when they arrived.


    The damp air hit him first. It was like trying to inhale water. They were underground, surrounded by crystalline walls that shimmered with a teal light.


    The first monster that attacked was the puddle of water that was sitting quietly at the side of the entrance to a tunnel. It wasn''t arge or very formidable creature, as a single sh broke through its outeryer. It sshed to the ground, giving Matt a minuscule amount of essence.


    Checking his AI, it found the monster to be a variant of slime. It was called a Shallow Water Crystal Slime. The breed was exceptionally weak to physical attacks, but had massive resistance to magical types. The AI determined that Asters ice shards would injure the monster, as they were physical shards of ice, not mana constructs. The only trouble the slimes presented was that they could grow to absurd sizes, if the location permitted the expansion.


    The duo trekked down the tunnel, with Matt killing most of the monsters, while Aster trailed behind, letting her mana regenerate.


    When they came to the cavern in the tunnel system, they found a blob of water sitting chest high, and dozens of slimes sitting around therger one. Aster just backed up while Matt charged in shing. Each cut popped the slimes, and they fell to the ground, essence draining into him.


    Less than a minuteter, he was standing in a puddle of slime water while Aster nosed around looking for a morsel to eat.


    The pattern repeated itself for two more caverns, until the fourth, which presented a much less monotonous challenge. A crystalline golem, standing nearly 10 feet tall, was walking through the slimes. They were careful not to get in the pacing monsters way, and Matt paused to assess the situation.


    He pushed his spiritual sense to the max, and got a slight feel for the monster. It seemed like a standard golem variation. The problem was, he only had his Tier 3 longsword and no Tier 3 blunt weapon. Trying to break the monster apart with his only Tier 3 weapon would be risky at best.


    If the weapon broke, he was done. Looking at the sword, he debated on what he could do. After a moment, he decided to turn and leave.


    <em>This is why delvers don''t just carry one weapon type. If I wasn''t so poor, I could have done this rift.</em>


    Cursing the nature of unknown rifts and hisck of blunt weapons, Matt hurried to a different rift he felt in the distance.


    This rift didn''t feel odd like the second one, nor did it have a powerful mage at the entrance. Matt hoped this one didn''t have rock monsters or the like.


    As they stepped through this portal, Matt first noticed the starry night. He wasn''t sure where he was. The gravity felt normal, but the ground was a dark craggy structure that his enchanted de couldn''t even scratch.


    Before he could ponder further, Aster alerted him to their first encounter with the monsters of the rift.


    They looked like giant maggots and felt strong. Mid Tier 4 at the weakest, but they were slow. Matt had trouble believing this could be the true encounter monster. When he dispatched them and got a massive amount of essence, he began to understand why they were so weak.


    Maggots werervae, so the question was whether they were the normal monsters, or was it whatever they hatched into?


    Matt held out hope he wouldn''t have to fight a giant flying bug.


    That hope was quickly dashed when he heard buzzing around the corner of arger crag.


    It was a giant fly. This one was pulling itself out of a pool of gunk, and Matt quickly closed in before it could get its bearings or take flight.


    The kill was easy, too easy. He stopped and looked around again. Something was wrong here.


    He was in a rift, and they could take nearly any form, but this felt wrong.


    This was deep space, as the sun was a distant dot in the distance, but there was breathable air, and gravity felt normal. An asteroid was the most logical answer, but that didn''t make sense. Rifts usually were small ecosystems.


    How do giantrvae and flies make sense in space?


    Matt pushed the odd situation to the back of his mind and AI. He needed toplete as many rifts in the next few days as possible, and standing around to question the scenery didn''t help any.


    The rift was annoying, as the flies couldnt hurt Matt when flying, but he couldn''t do anything to them while out of melee range. The flies realized that andnded to fight him, but the wait took time that he felt was wasted. He had Aster save her mana, the flies werent too much of a challenge, and he had the feeling they would need her ice shardster..


    The rift was easy. He killed giant flies and navigated through the floor of the canyon, trying to make his way towards the faint resonance of the exit. The uneven ground made the trek much more irritating, as thendscapes hills and valleys turned the rift into a maze.


    When he got to the final monster, Matt was surprised to find a half translucent tree with purple branches. Even stranger, this tree was a peak Tier 4, and had corpses of flies andrvae dposing in its branches.


    His AI brought up a window. It determined that the boss was actually draining the prey it had impaled in its branches.


    That brought him up short. After a few moments of analysis, his AI predicted that he could fight the tree monster, but there was an eighty-two percent chance that it was a void monster. That was extremely dangerous, as any void element attack would be able to ignore nearly half of [Cracked Phantom Armor]s resistances.


    It would be the closest thing to a fair fight he had ever encountered since acquiring the skill.


    The reward distortion next to the exit felt ready to burst. It was tempting him. Matt looked at Aster, and she looked back. Was he being as reckless as when he had found her?


    After thinking it over, he decided to risk it. This wasn''t a rift challenge. If it was, the boss wouldnt only be peak Tier 4. It would be higher. And fighting the unknown was part of delving rifts.


    <em>Worstes to worst, I just retreat.</em>


    Matt and Aster took the step needed to enter the arena.


    Nothing happened.


    He had expected the tree thing to do something, but it sat there, waiting for him to approach.


    As he got within what he calcted to be its range, the entire tree mmed down at him.


    Jumping back out of range, he swiped his sword and cut a branch off.


    When the branch hit the ground, it started to vaporize. At the same time, the ground rumbled slightly. The tree clearly didn''t like losing its limbs.


    Matt''s n of standing back and whittling the tree away was quickly negated by the tree standing up. Its very roots broke the incredibly hard ground as the tree lumbered towards him.


    Sending as much mana as his AI could handle, he demanded abat prediction for this encounter. The threat of a moving tree was on apletely different scale than a stationary one.


    The treeshed out with a single branch, more of a whipping attack than the full-bodied m it had tried earlier. Aster tried to pelt it with shards of ice and waves of slowing cold, but it seemed to ignore her spells. Its void elements resistance to magic was already showing its strengths.


    Matt sliced through the appendage, and the tree bled purple sludge that ate at his armor.


    That gave his AI confirmation that this was a void affinity monster, but the blood, while thick and sticky, was diluted. It would eat through his skin, but his armor was able to hold its own, without destabilizing the skill.


    Mentally, he sent Aster away from her position behind him. This wasn''t a fight he wanted her near. If he had to hack his way through the entire tree, blood would end up everywhere, and she didn''t have any resistance at all to void.


    He checked his sword next. The durability enchantment was draining mana at an rming rate in order tobat the bloods corrosive effect. Even so, Matts mana output kept him ahead of the problem. This would indeed be a mana expensive fight, but he could easily fill the drained mana stones after his delve.


    Matt dodged the next blow and ran towards the trees trunk. He was hoping to take out therger roots and limit its movement.


    Before he could advance more than a few feet, he was attacked from multiple directions byshing branches. He cut through the first two and dodged the rest, until he was sent flying by a limb he didn''t see.


    The massive blow didn''t get through [Cracked Phantom Armor], but it did strain the spell structure keeping the skill active. The direct hit was right on the edge of what he could handle.


    He increased the skills mana throughput to nearly 8 mana a second. It was right at the edge of the mana [Cracked Phantom Armor] could handle without destabilizing. If he messed up and overloaded the skill, it would dispel the skill in the middle of a life-or-death fight, but he needed the extra protection.


    He was still disoriented from the tumble. He''d have to do this the slow way, one branch at a time.


    He kept the tree monster at a distance, and baited out the m attacks that would expose more of the monsters limbs. He lopped off as many branches as he could before the boss would pull back and try to shuffle after him.


    Twenty minutes and two rechargeable mana stonester, the tree had no branches longer than a foot. Matt approached the trunk, trimming the remaining roots thatshed out at him.


    Step by step he advanced. The tree tried to retreat to its previous hole, but Matt ran to cut it off. He didnt know what the monster wanted with the hole it crawled out of, but he knew stopping it was definitely a safe bet.


    Once it was little more than a trunk, he reached back for a deep stab, just to have his de prate only an inch, before being halted on the thick bark.


    Hacking with the enchanted longsword, he methodically ate through the protective bark, and eventually hit something vital. This tree monsters bark was softer than the crystal golem had been, so he was safe to rely on his des durability enchantment to protect the de from chips or warping.


    The slow trickle of void blood soon turned into a geyser. Matt jumped back to avoid being soaked, he wasnt confident that he would survive being doused in this blood. It wasn''t long before the tree monster bled out, and he felt the essence rush into him.


    Aster pushed her intentions at him, and he looked at her skeptically. She wanted to eat the heart of that monster.


    After some mental back and forth, she assured him that the heart wouldn''t be dangerous to her. So, he stepped forward and cut its heart out.


    The core was something he would have expected out of a normal monster, but not a tree. Instead of a knot inside of the void wood tree, there was an actual heart.


    Aster distracted with her meal, Matt went to the reward distortion and dispelled it.


    A block of metal fell out. A metal bar that radiated power. He picked it up and scanned it with his spiritual sense. It didn''t feel like an inert metal, but instead one with an enchantment in the bar already.


    His AI had no luck scanning for more information. He had purchased a Tier 8 skill shards database, but this was many times moreplex than anything in that repository.


    Matt was still happy. He was sure it would sell for a good price. Rift enchanted items always sold for more than their Tier.


    This was the kind of reward that made delving worth the risks. He was sure if he could get a few more rewards like this, he could afford [Mages Retreat].


    Before Matt could celebrate any longer, the ground began to shake. A silent roar that seemed to fracture the very air around him mmed into him. The edges of the rift trembled. Clearly, it was blocking whatever made the noise. The ground continued to tremble like it wanted to shake him off.


    Then Matt saw it. It was a darkness that blotted out the distant stars, but the glimpse was enough for his AI to recognize the outline and shape.


    It was the head of a dragon. The maw that blotted out half of the visible vista of stars opened again, and this time the fabric of reality shattered like a pane of ss.


    Matt never even heard the noise as he appeared back on the training world, the cold biting into his unprotected skin.


    The final roar had shattered his [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Reactivating it, he found Aster with her paws over her ears. His AI didnt pick up any actual damage to her, nor did he sense any immediate danger through their bond, but his partner was nearly unconscious.


    Picking her up as gently as he could, he looked and saw the rift was simply gone. That was a relief, as he didn''t want to be anywhere near that monster. As he turned to set off, he saw that half of the heart was on the ground near her. He picked it up for Aster to enjoyter.


    As he walked towards the nearest rift with a groggy Aster in his arms, the shakes started. His AI unhelpfully calcted the dragons size from the heads outline and distance from the sun.


    The beast''s head was somewhere between the size of a standard on the low end, and a dozen timesrger than that on the upper end.


    It was all he could do to keep his feet moving. If that monster came for vengeance, he wouldn''t know how he died. Or how an entire was eaten along with him.


    That brought his attention back to the fact that a Tier 4 rift had materialized on its back. It wasn''t unheard of for a rift to localize a piece of real space and use it as the location, but it was incredibly rare.


    The logical conclusion was that killing the boss of the rift was somehow responsible for the dragons awakening, and its reaction at the end.


    As Matt went over the possible repercussions of his actions, his AI gave him more bad news. That dragon shouldn''t be possible.


    Dragons got bigger with age and Tier, that wasmon knowledge. There was even a form to calcte their approximate Tier and age, based on their size.


    It was hundreds of timesrger than even thergest Tier 50 dragon ever recorded. There was a Tier 50 dragon who ascended to the higher realms a few centuries ago, and it would be a mere snack to that monster.


    Had that rift been in the higher realms?


    He didn''t think so. That wouldn''t make sense. The essence density of a higher realm world would have instantly killed him. That was the main reason for people waiting to reach Tier 50 before ascending. Even, the crazy ones waited until Tier 45 at the earliest.


    It was a well-known, established fact that even children knew. Matt fed his AI all the mana it could handle and reran the calctions. The answers only changed by a few decimals.


    A thought query to his AI gave Matt a hopeful answer at best. It was an unknown variation of dragon, so its growth could be different from all the species members.


    The .00000000000000000001% probability didn''t exactly dissuade Matt from questioning his sanity.


    Even that absurd probability was more likely than being transferred to a higher realm. That was a number so small, his AI just gave up calcting it after a few pages of zeros.


    By the time they neared the next rift, Aster was groggy but now awake. When he offered her the remaining heart, she refused, so he ced it back into his spatial bag.


    When the rift came into view, a figure crested the far hill.


    Another person.


    Matt drew his sword. Bringing it out in this temperature wasn''t ideal. The steel was magically tempered, so it would fare better than normal steel, but the cold ate at its mana reserves. While he had recharged the crystals on the walk over, he still had to wait for the mana to settle in order to use one on the sword.


    The far figure raised a hand and gave a shooing motion. They were clearly signaling that they wanted the rift.


    He didn''t want to give it up either. While it wasn''t as bursting as the dragon''s rift, it was practically singing that it had an abundance of essence and a juicy reward.


    <em>And I''ve already had to retreat from three rifts today. They don''t feel much stronger than me.</em>


    Matt repeated the gesture at the figure, then pointed at the ground and tried to point out he was at least a few feet closer to the rift than they were.


    The far figure shook their head and pulled out a spear, but they didn''t advance. Matt then received a ping from his AI. He viewed the message.


    Singlebat until surrender? No intentional killing blows. No maiming. AIs calcte the winner? Winner gets the rift. Ascenders guarantee


    It was pretty standard, and Matt could use a good fight against a normal person. It beat worrying about a monster that could eats by a mile, so he agreed to their terms.


    Their AIs paired, and started tracking the fight byparing damage dealt versus damage received. They would be able to calcte a winner without one side having to cripple the other.


    After setting down Aster, who was still feeling queasy, he watched the lone figure as he bent down tofort her.


    They didn''t try to take advantage, and when he stood up, they walked towards the center of the distance between them, after dropping what he assumed was a spatial bag. He was grateful [Cracked Phantom Armor] covered his own slim-fitting bag.


    When his opponent was within fifteen feet of him, they took an aggressive stance with their spear and waited. Matt stopped as well, taking a more rxed, neutral stance.


    If his opponent was going to treat this duel with respect and honor, he would return both in kind. There were more than enough rifts to go around, but anyone who shied away frombat on The Path wouldnt remain for long.


    The wind was too fierce tomunicate, so he had his AI send a countdown.


    3.


    2.


    1.


    When the countdown reached zero, they both sprung at each other. Matt didn''t activate the sharpness enchantment, just the durability one to keep things slightly less lethal.


    When he shed with his longsword, his opponent met the blow with the bottom half of the spear, instead of what he expected, and kept their weapons range advantage. What actually shocked him was their strength.


    He could tell this person was his equal at early Tier 4, but they felt slightly stronger in that exchange. Matt didn''t feel any active skills, but they could have a strong veil, and his AI was predicting some blessing of physical strength.


    It made him smile. Usually, focusing all of his essence into physical cultivation was an advantage that left him without equal at his Tier. This made things interesting.


    With a thrusting lunge, his opponent''s spear scraped against [Cracked Phantom Armor] but was not able to pierce.


    He used the exchange tosh out andnd a blow on their more traditional armor, cloth with thin tes attached over vital areas.


    Considering his AI didnt count that as a deciding blow, it must be strongly enchanted. The AIs would ount for the unused sharpening enchantment, so that meant it was amazing armor.


    They both stepped back, and even through their full helmet, Matt could see them analyze his [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It truly was a broken skill.


    He could aim for the pure cloth parts of their armor, but unless they had something that let them hit a lot harder, they wouldn''t get through his skill.


    Their AIs were constantly trying to counter each other, and essentially rendered each other useless. That left Matt with only his skill and training. Hended another blow, but it was blocked by the butt of the spear nted in the ground, stopping his momentum. He took a fist to the kidney in retaliation. It was far weaker than he and his AI were predicting.


    His AI drew more mana as it tried to figure out the discrepancy.


    Stepping back, they seemed to realize something as they visibly sighed with their shoulders. Matts opponent drew their spears de along their wrist, between their gloves and armor.


    Matt was wary of the move. Losing a match-up wasn''t a reason tomit suicide, but it didn''t feel like giving up. He sensed that the fight was about to turn much more serious.


    The blood did not freeze as it should, and instead flowed like the water it was mostlyposed of. When it gathered into a glob about head high, it started to crystallize in the cold. When it was solid, the blood mageunched their shard at Matt.


    He didn''t need the AIs warning to get out of the way of the skill. His spirit screamed danger at him. This was a powerful skill. So powerful he was wondering if it was a Talent.


    After his dodge, he faced the spear wielder, who had transitioned to a staff grip. The change in style made sense when he saw the blood hovering like a snake around them. As the cold froze the blood, it was pushed up andunched at him.


    Matt prepared to rush in, closing the distance was the only way to end this fight. His only other option was hoping that they would run out of blood, but that was a vain hope. No one would use a skill that required bleeding out this early, especially if they couldn''t manage the side effects.


    When he reached the mage, heshed out with his de, aiming for one of the cloth gaps between pates on their hip.


    A strand of blood intercepted him. He expected to cut through it like water, but instead, his de bounced back. This allowed the mage to m the butt of their spear into his knee. [Cracked Phantom Armor] took the hit without a problem, but between the defensive tactics of a staff user, and the ropes of blood keeping him at bay, thebatants were at a stalemate.


    After several more exchanges, his bleeding opponent tried to trip him with a whip-like tendril of blood,, but that gave Matt an opening. It seemed that they could make their blood strong or flexible, and for it to be flexible enough to wrap around his leg, it also was easy to cut through.


    Matt heard them say something, but it was lost in the howling wind near the edge of the canyon.


    Blows continuouslyshed out from one to the other. As Matt was debating conceding to end the waste of time, he felt an energy convergence. In a sh, there was a group of four approaching, draped in the Dual Stars colors.


    The newly teleported group drew their weapons and shouted something, but it was also swallowed up by the wind.


    Matt and his opponent shared a nce, and pivoted to face the new threat. Better to band together and fight off the intruders, than to both be pushed off the rift.

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16


    The group from the guild shouted again. After realizing their efforts were in vain, they sent Matt a message...


    Leave now, or we will force you to use your emergency teleport.


    Matt sent back, we were here first, go find another rift.


    All he received back was a simple no.


    With a slight shift of his head, he looked at his former opponent. While they couldn''t see the others face through their respective armor, they had a general sense of one another after their brief duel. At a slight nod, Matt charged.


    The other group was shocked to encounter people that actually stood their ground., They were so shocked in fact, that they didn''t react until Matt had closed half the distance.


    The four newbats were an even split of melee and ranged. One had a massive hammer, and the other melee fighter had a rapier. The remaining two looked like a ranger and a mage of some variety.


    Matt was intercepted by the hammer user before he could get to the back line. As he sized up the enemy in front of him, the rapier user nked him, andnded a pitifully ineffective stab to the ribs.


    Not one to let an opportunity like that go, Matt uncorked a vicious elbow to the rapier users face as he sent Aster a thought to help their temporary ally.


    Even with his helmet blocking some of the hit, Matt felt something break under his elbow. Before he could follow up and incapacitate his first victim, the hammer user was swinging at him.


    Dodging the heavy attack, Matt quickly advanced on the hammer user, using a flurry of shes to hold therger but slower opponent at bay. With their attentionpletely focused on Matt, his ally was able to slip a tendril of blood around the hammer user''s foot. With a strong pull, the blood mage yanked the heavily armored limb out from under the hammer user, leaving them sprawled on the ground.


    Matt used that opportunity to rush the back line. The archer had an arrow nocked and loosed it the second a clear shot on Matt presented itself. The arrow itself didn''t feel enchanted, though the bow seemed to hum with the resonance indicating an enchantment.


    He moved his de to intercept and the arrow hit squarely in the center of his chest. [Cracked Phantom Armor] took the blow without a whisper of interruption.


    <em>Note to self don''t try and block arrows with a sword.</em>


    These guilders were no match for Matt and his armor, let alone with the assistance of a skilled blood mage.


    The blood mage hit much harder than this group of amateurs did. He had nothing to fear. Once in melee range, Matt began to work. He feinted a strike at the archers side, trying to draw them off bnce. When they pivoted to react, Matt drew his de towards himself, and carried the strikes momentum into a pommel to the face. He struck at a limb being used to shield what remained of their face with the t of his de, snapping the arm for good measure.


    The screams were audible over the wind, and at that moment Matt was engulfed in a torrent of me. The fire quickly dissipated in the bitter cold and wind. Matt barely felt a change in temperature as the mes licked the translucent tes of [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Engulfed in the negligible mes, he turned to the terrified mage, who realized their massive disadvantage in the cold. Acknowledging that their already weakened skill was useless against Matts armor, the mage put their hands up in surrender. Matt closed the distance with two bounding strides and used the momentum from the third to power a knee to the gut. He left his final quarry doubled over, coughing up blood.


    Matt sent them both a message, pop your recalls. Just like you wanted to do with us. Or I''ll keep breaking things. He wasn''t going to show any kindness to anyone as openly hostile as this group, especially with their pathetic attempts at backing it up. A part of him enjoyed cutting them down to size, especially after the struggles he had endured during this expedition.


    Using the emergency teleport would truly screw them. They would be at the end of the teleporter line after the mandatory 24 houryover. And with more and more delversingside, they would be days behind the first arrivals.


    Come on don''t...


    Matt didn''t read any further. He poked what remained of the archers pulverized nose with the tip of his sword, drawing more cries of pain. The archer and mage got the point. The bands around their wrists both lit up, signifying they had started the non emergency recall procedure.


    Matt quickly turned to see the rapier user disappear from a pool of blood in a sh. The hammer user backed off from Aster and the blood mage as he watched the rest of his team retreat.


    Aster and the mage had frozen chunks of blood orbiting them, with even more blood coating the mages spear tip. If the ripped armor was any indication, the new blood was hammer guys. Matt was d he didn''t start bleeding during their fight, he had assumed that this mage could only use their own blood.


    The implications of being able to use your opponent''s own blood against them meant a single scratch was a loss condition.


    Matt nked the hammer user and he activated his armband, seeing it was now a two versus one fight.


    As the beacon charged, a message came through. Fuck you. And as a sh of light swallowed up the retreating figure, an object fell in his ce.


    Matt tried to dive towards Aster, but he was too far away. He felt her panic as the explosion went off. It wasn''t asrge as he had feared. There was nearly no fireball or visible damage. That was until the ground slid out from under his feet.


    The retreating asshole had blown the entire side of the canyon off.


    As the earth slipped away, he saw Aster and his opponent turned ally being wrapped in blood that was quickly icing over.


    With as much assurance of her safety as he could have, Matt focused all of his mana into [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It was his only chance of surviving the ensuingndslide.


    Quickly chucking his sword into the spatial bag on his back, he felt the ground pick up speed in its grim descent.


    ***


    When the world stopped shaking and the earth settled down Matt found himself at an elevation three miles lower, and on the outer edge of the newly created slope.


    With a quick check of his bond, he found Aster was still alive, but somewhere to his left under the rubble.


    He quickly pulled out the small shovel he had packed. When he neared the point where he felt her presence, he started digging for all he was worth. When he encountered rocks, he dug around them until his Tier 4 bodily strength could shift them.


    She didn''t feel that deep, and when he was through five feet of dirt and debris, his shovel struck the frozen ball of blood.


    He shouted, and fresh blood pushed up, expanding the hole he had dug, and a thoroughly red Aster came out in the arms of the blood mage.


    As soon as she saw Matt, Aster jumped from her savior''s arms and into his. The wind was far less noisy down at the bottom of the canyon, so they didn''t have tomunicate by AI anymore.


    Thanks, I owe you a huge debt for saving Aster. Matt was infinitely relieved that this stranger had chosen to save Aster. They could have been selfish, and that thought horrified him.


    Seeing as them dropping the bomb might have something to do with me going a little overboard on the backline.


    His savior just looked to the top of the canyon, and he heard an audible groan. The wind was nearly nonexistent down in the canyon.


    You didn''t happen to see my spatial bag when we were falling did you? The voice was higher than he expected, clearly feminine. Noting the detail forter, Matt quickly reviewed his AIs information, and sent a snippet of his view as they fell. The panel in their vision clearly showed when he saw the bag tumbling down with them.


    When she received the information, she put her head in her hands and groaned again.


    Matt understood. Losing a spatial bag was not only expensive, but it made surviving out here without the gear almost impossible. He still felt in her debt, so he offered, I''m happy to share what I have, if you don''t want to teleport back to the city.


    He knew she wouldn''t want to, it would be just as much of a death sentence for her as it was for the team they just beat.


    She pulled her helmet off, and copper waves of hair poured out of her helmet in a thick ponytail. She looked at him and asked, You don''t happen to have tampons do you?


    Matt had no idea how to respond to that. He had everything a guy or even a <em>fox </em>would need for months in the wilderness. Tampons were probably the one thing he didn''t have.


    Umm, no. But I do have toiletries, and you''re wee to use them. I really do owe you. It''s the least I could do. He raised the fox, who was unsessfully trying to clean herself in his arms, and continued. Aster is worth far more to me than any material possession.


    Matt thought over her actions in their fight and the team up against the guild party. He had a good feeling about the blood mage, so he proposed, getting a new spatial bag will be costly. Why dont we team up? Everything, until you have enough to cover the cost of a new bag, will be yours. From the rewards I''ve gotten so far, it shouldn''t take more than one or two rifts. Then we can go our separate ways, or go to an even split.


    The woman across from him looked at his armored face and down to Aster in his arms.


    She sighed again, and nodded. Sure, Id appreciate it. Lost my weapon in the fall as well. I can fight without it, but it will be easier with a tank.


    She red to the top of the cliff before kicking a loose stone. That petty asshole. I lost two rift rewards with that bag. When I get back I''m going to challenge him to a duel, and break even more bones than you did.


    The armored blood mage looked back at the cliff and said, I don''t think you went that far. They came and immediately tried to force us into not just leaving, but popping our recalls because we didn''t immediately roll over. Fuck that, and fuck them. If I had known hed do that, Id have snapped his stupid neck. Let him heal a broken neck and be out of the rifts for a month.


    With a heavy sigh she finished let''s go.


    With silent agreement, they headed to the nearest rift in the canyon. After a few minutes of walking, she turned to him and stuck out a hand. Elizabeth. Liz works, but if you call me Beth or <em>BethBeth</em>, I''m stabbing you. What about you? It sounded like a joke but he took the warning seriously.


    Matt stuck out his hand and replied Matt, and this is Aster.


    The fox red at both of them, still trying to clean her fur.


    Liz saw and winced, Sorry girl, when we get to the rift I can pull most of it off, but with it frozen I can barely control it.


    That seemed to mollify the fox enough to go back to her ineffectual licking.


    When they arrived at the closest rift, Matt drew his longsword from his bag, with a wince at the re Liz gave thendslide behind them.


    Setting down Aster and a beacon, he stepped through and out of the rift''s entrance. A momentter Aster and Liz followed.


    It was a warm and bright day in the rift. They were in a vast grasnd, and in a small clearing of waist high grass.


    Liz came out of the portal with a ball of blood hovering over each hand, and three more orbiting behind her head.


    When they weren''t attacked immediately, she turned her blood into a whip, and knocked the grass down in a ten foot circle around them.


    Still, nothing attacked, and with that, she sat down right in the center of the circle by the rift entrance.


    Ugh. This sucks, do you have some water? All the blood loss dehydrates the hell out of me.


    Matt just took off his spatial bag and tossed it to her, and told her where the canteen was, and which pocket the extra mana crystals were in.


    After draining the bottle, Liz activated the rune, but was shoved out of the bag by the angry fox. Once she grabbed her brush, Aster took residence in Lizsp, and dropped the brush. Clearly, she was unhappy with the manner of her salvation.


    Matt was slightly worried Liz would take offense, but she just chuckled and fished out the bottle of shampoo as well.


    While she scrubbed the wrong colored fox into a sudsy blob, they talked.


    So where did you get a beauty like Aster here? You''re on The Path right?


    Yeah, I''m on The Path. You are too right? Matt could team up with someone not on The Path, but it was heavily frowned upon, as power leveling was a possibility. That would ruin the integrity of The Path.


    Yup. That''s good. I''d hate to have to leave you because you weren''t on The Path. Thest thing I need is someone saying I was cheating


    As to how I got Aster... Matt wasn''t sure what to say. He had told Griff that he wouldn''t spread the information so he kept his answer simple Well I took a stupid risk, and got lucky in both surviving and getting her.


    Liz didn''t push, and reached into the bag to grab a towel and dry the now clean fox.


    When sheid the towel out to dry, Liz sniffed around. Then like a dog after a bone, she leaned down into his bag and pulled out the heart from the tree.


    Whats this? she looked perplexed, and sniffed it again.


    The heart of a boss from the second rift we delved here.


    Her face lit up, and she turned with hunger in her eyes. Really? Which one? We need to go back! she stood up and moved to the entrance.


    His next words stopped her, The rift copsed when we left. He didn''t mention that they hadn''t left voluntarily, or that he had not copsed the rift willingly. An <em>omission </em>wasn''t a <em>lie</em>.


    She looked into his armored face and sighed. What do you intend to do with this then?


    Matt knew that her asking meant it was valuable, but he still felt indebted to her for saving Aster''s life.


    He shrugged and told the truth Aster ate what she wanted from it, so I was really only saving it if she wanted more. If you want it take it. He deliberately did not ask what it was worth, it was easier to be generous with Asters scraps than some super valuable treasure.


    Liz looked from the heart to him then to Aster. With visible effort, she stuck it out to Aster. Do you want to finish it girl? That raised his opinion of her, she clearly wanted it, but treated the foxs opinion as valid.


    When Aster looked at it then went back to drying herself, Lizs face went from relieved to guilty. She looked back at Matt and asked again She already ate some right?


    Once he confirmed it, her eyes went back to the heart, and a conflicted look came over her face.


    Ugh. You don''t know what this is do you?


    No, is it that valuable? He knew he''d regret asking, but she was acting far to skittish.


    Yes and no. For anyone with a bloodline, it''s worth a king''s ransom. Without that, it''s still valuable, but without a storage device made to preserve it, not really. She looked back to him, and her eyes were drawn back to the heart in her hand.


    It''s got a dragon''s blood essence inside. It''s not a lot, but it is incredibly pure and strong. The problem is, it''s already starting to fade. And honestly, I don''t know if the city would have any proper containers. If that rift was still there this would go from a training ground to a capital world in an instant. Blood essence of any kind is rare, and blood essence from a dragon is nearly unheard of from a rift. I''m assuming this is part of the reward?


    Matt shook his head No, it''s from a tree looking monster that was on the back of a big ass dragon.


    That got her attention away from the heart. What? Exin. Please. There was earnestness in her voice that made him answer truthfully.


    The rift was normal at first, but we found a void affinity tree. After killing it, I realized we weren''t on a or asteroid, but a giant dragon''s back. Then it roared, and we were returned to the overworld.


    He sent her the final moments of the rift, and watched as her eyes turned massive.


    Her voice was hoarse when she said, This is impossible, that dragon is far toorge. her eyes went back to the heart, and she pushed it back out to him. You could and probably should, immediately take the next portal off this, and go put this in a container. Youd fetch an earldom on the open market. You''d even have the Emperor''s attention with that video and blood essence. This is rare. Like retire off The Path and get enough resources to advance to Tier 25 rare. At a minimum.


    That brought him up short. If she was even half right, this was an amazing opportunity. He could give up a life of struggle and be immortal.


    As he looked at her face filled with longing for the heart she had extended back to him, he steeled his will.


    He didn''t want to leave The Path. He enjoyed the fights and the growth.


    He did however, still have questions about the heart. You said it''s more useful with people with bloodlines. What does that mean? Can I use it? And Aster ate some, will she be ok?


    Liz shook her head Bloodlines are what you get from having a parent that is an evolved beast. Or a beast yourself. she nodded at the fox, who was ignoring them still.


    This blood essence will purify her bloodline, and make it easier to evolve in the future. It will basically help her get stronger, faster. Probably double the gains for every Tier in both physical and mana cultivation. That''s with a normal dragon''s bloodline. With howrge that one was, I don''t even know. It''s only a positive though. Higher Tier always means a better purity, to a degree.


    Seeing the hope on Matt''s face, she continued. Normal humans don''t have a bloodline for it to work on. It would do literally nothing. I can swear on that with an Empire Oath to be checked when we get to a good signal. There is no such thing as a dormant bloodline either. It''s an all or nothing thing. They can be weaker or stronger, sure., But the bloodline is either present or it isn''t...


    That dashed some of his hopes, but he asked And you can use it?


    Liz nodded, then shook her head Yeah I could. My mom is an evolvedpanion. I''m a first generation, so I have a bloodline. But But I can''t pay you for this. Like never. I could probably get my parents to help pay for it, but that would outside help, and we''d both have to leave The Path.


    That wasn''t what he wanted to hear, but he thought back to her grabbing Aster when she could have dove for her bag, or held her weapon instead.


    The decision became easy.


    Take it. Aster got her fill and I can''t use it. Liz looked like she was going to protest but he cut her off. I''m not leaving The Path until I fall off. Easy rewards are nice, but not what I want. And you saved Aster''s life. I wasn''t kidding when I said she was worth more than any material goods. Consider it a reward for kind choices.


    With that Elizabeth looked from the heart to Matt then Aster. Then with a massive bite, she took a chunk out of it like it was an apple.


    She made a sound that was somewhere between a moan of pleasure and one of pain.


    As Matt watched her eat in fascinated horror, he saw the rivulets of blood that ran down her chin retreat to her mouth.


    The mix of her pale skin and red hair when eating a bloody heart like an apple gave him an idea.


    Hey does being a redhead...


    He didn''t get out any more than that, because she stopped chewing and around her mouthful of flesh said, Finish that redhead joke. Please. Be like everyone else who makes the same joke. I. Will. Stab. You.


    Matt decided the joke wasn''t worth it.


    She closed her eyes and finished the heart with slow bites. When she finished, she looked back at him and grinned. You have <em>got </em>to realize that a redhead joke about using fire or blood is older than time. If youre going to make a redhead joke, at least make it semi-original. Because, I <em>promise</em>, I''ve heard them all.


    With a swig from the refilled cantine, Elizabeth stood and brushed her armor off. I''ll need somebat to burn off the energy from that snack. I think I got more out of it because of my blood Talent.


    That gave him a bit more information than he thought she realized. His AI added it to her projections.


    She wiggled to set her armor and looked to him.


    You good? Don''t need to rest at all? She had just eaten the heart, and Matt didn''t know if she''d need to process the energy like cultivation.


    Nope. Ready when you are. And let''s just go to the even split now.


    With a shrug, all the blood in the area from the washing and from outside the rift flowed onto her like a secondyer of armor. When she reced her helmet, it encased her head as well.


    His AI alerted him that it was far more blood than should be avable. It theorized that either the blood was much thinner than it looked, or that she generatedrge quantities of blood quickly.


    It was good to know your enemies capabilities <em>and </em>those of your<em></em>allies. One might be the other at a moments notice.


    As they advanced with Matt in the lead, they came upon their first monster. It looked like a scarecrow made of the surrounding grass, braided into a vaguely humanoid shape.


    When he cut through it with a single blow, he was expecting the familiar rush of essence. Instead, the monster fell back into the grass, and was reformed into aplete whole. When Lizs whips of blood leveled the surrounding grass, Matt cut the small figure down again.


    This time it did not regenerate.


    Fire would make this a breeze. He heard Elizabeth''s grunt of agreement from behind him.


    They slowly made their way deeper into the ins, cutting downrger andrger groups of grassmen. Liz made a greatwnmower, and that let Matt finish the monsters off quickly. Any that got close to escaping into the uncut fields were frozen by Aster.


    The trio made quick work of the rift, and quickly progressed deeper into the grasnds.


    When they reached a hilltop, all they could see in every direction was an endless sea of waving grass. It was only disrupted by the path they cut to get there.


    The loud thumping of hooves snapped them to full alertness, and they began scanning for the source of the sound.


    The grass surrounding them was waving. But unlike before, Matt''s AI pointed out the patches of grass that were moving were doing so against the wind.


    Liz sent out a blood whip in the direction of a massive wave of grass. Then, rising out of the grass like a submarine from water, was a fifteen foot tall grass centaur.


    It was massive, and armed with a giant halberd. Thick tes of woven grass armor covered the beast from head to hoof.


    Matt rolled out of the introductory charges way, even if his armor could handle the weapon, thebined force of the attack and charge would send him flying.


    As the centaur charged past the hill and back into the grass, it sunk down and disappeared.


    He started feeding his AI everything it could handle, trying to predict where the monster would reappear.


    After a few seconds, rustling grass began circling them and picking up speed. The centaur charged out from his and Lizs nk.


    Get it to bleed!


    Matt understood, and was shocked at the implication that Liz could track an open wound, but began formting how to do as she asked.


    This time it was charging directly at Liz, so he took the opportunity to sh at the centaurs horse nk.


    The blow was mostly stopped by the armor, but a thin line of a wound was opened up, and trickled a sap like blood as the centaur rushed past.


    Gotcha, fucker.


    Matt immediately received a message from her AI with tracking details. There was now a highlighted, moving line through the grass.


    The odd movements from before began to make sense, as the line teleported short distances in the grass.


    While they chased down the centaur, Matt saw it surface several yards away, then with a burst of speed, it charged directly at them.


    Matt stepped aside, while Liz and Aster did the same in the opposite direction. The centaur would now have to choose a target.


    It focused on Matt, and he prepared to dodge and counter. As he waited for the opportune moment, he noticed the blood on his sword fall to the ground in a single wave.


    When the horse man was upon him, Matt rolled, and heard crashing and screaming. Quickly standing, he set his feet, and with every ounce of power he could muster, he drove his enchanted longsword into the iling rear leg. The tip of the de cut clean through to the other side.


    His AI knew the bone was hard. It had directed him to focus on cutting through muscles and tendons, rather than the stronger bone. He did so to great effect.


    The centaur tried to pull itself free from the pool of blood it had been entangled in. As it tried to stand, its crippled rear legpletely failed, and the monster copsed to its knees.


    With giant sweeps of its halberd, it kept him and Liz back. It was only prolonging the inevitable. Without its mobility, it was little more than target practice, but a cornered animal always struggled until the end.


    And indeed, target practice it was. Matt would step forward and fend off swipes from the halberd, while Liz mmed down on the centaur with whips of blood.


    The blood whips Matt noted, were sucking up the blood pooling from every additional strike, and were constantly growing in size and density.


    His AI also noted that the whips were hitting harder than water would at that density and volume.


    He had no idea what her Talent was, but it was eitherpletely absurd, or she had an array of really versatile skills.


    When the blood loss sapped the remaining strength out of the monster, Matt deflected a half hearted blow into the ground, used the shaft of the halberd as a springboard, and attempted to finish the boss with a flying thrust into its humanoid chest.


    Unexpectedly, the rush of essence didn''t flow into him as the upper body went limp. A spike of blood pierced the nk where a horse''s heart would be, and truly brought an end to the fight.


    The shared essence was a nice rush, and Matt was surprised that the amount of essence was about what he expected from a solo boss kill. It felt almost normal, maybe a percent or two different. It was a much easier fight with Liz, and losing a small fraction of essence was a small price to pay for an easier kill.


    He was closer to the reward distortion, so he dispelled it. Twenty nine Tier 4 mana stones dropped out. Not a bad haul. Double the normal rewards for each of them.


    Liz came over, and peering around him said, Not bad, over average. Honestly I''m really hoping we can get a skill shard or two to trade.


    Yeah, agreed. You up for another rift today? Matt was hoping to get onest delve in, before the night set in and it got colder.


    Liz rubbed her helmet where her chin would be and then said, Yeah I should be able to do one more, but Im only at a third of my mana. I''d like to be at half at least.


    Matt paused at his oversight. He had forgotten about mana costs. It wasn''t something he''d ever had to consider. He had his AI run the skills she had been using. From what he could tell, she was using a skill like [Blood Maniption], but she was using the skill nearly constantly.


    Using the moremon [Water Maniption], he was able to get rough estimates of her ability. ording to his AI, that constant expenditure and theplexity of the maniptions she was performing put her mana usage at an absurd rate. Her Talent had to be an exceptional one, or he just hadn''t seen its weakness yet. It was the only way she should be able to use a skill this often.


    They waited in the rift until Liz said she was ready, and they once more returned to the cold wastnd. Before they left, she asked Matt to cut a staff from the half of the halberd.


    Aster relished in the cold, and sniffed rocks and anything that caught her interest, as they trekked to the nearest rift. She was in a good mood, as she didn''t have to do much in thest rift, and was now clean again.


    Matt noticed that Liz left most of the blood back in the rift, only taking a small amount with her. His AI noted it was nearly the same volume that she had entered the rift with. It was either a limitation of her skill, or its interaction of teleporting through the rift.


    When they reached the next rift, they set out a beacon and entered.


    The first thing Matt noticed was the darkness, it was dim and rocky. This rift was an underground cave system of some variety.


    When Liz and Aster came through, they took a look around and Liz asked what he was already wondering. Which way is the exit? I can''t feel anything.


    Matt had been examining the surroundings, trying to answer the same question. Rift exits were spiritually loud. It was normally very easy to sense the mass of power, just as the rift entrances were easy to locate.


    He couldn''t find anything, and apparently neither could Liz. Considering they were in a circr chamber with six exits, Matt had the sinking realization that this was a maze rift.


    Notmon, maze orbyrinth rifts were puzzles that delvers had to navigate. They usually came with conditions that had to bepleted to exit. They could be anything from killing the boss, to flipping levers hidden throughout the rift.


    This was going to be a long delve if it was a puzzle.


    He turned to Liz and asked, Do you want to pull out and try another rift, or test our luck?


    She turned a circle, checking out the passageways before saying, Labyrinth rifts usually have above average rewards, and this rift is <em>bursting </em>with essence...


    She trailed off, letting the statement speak for itself. And it did. They could strike it big if they got a little lucky.


    Matt weighed the risks of time lost versus the possible rewards, and ended up agreeing with her unsaid sentiments.


    I think we should do it. At worst we don''t get anywhere, and in a few hours we simply retreat with little loss.


    Liz took that as approval and started checking out each exit.


    I don''t see or sense any traps, so it''s a question of one out of six chances to get the right path.


    Matt ran the odds with his AI and offered Start from the top and work clockwise?


    Liz didn''t have any better ideas, so they marked their path, and started down the tunnel. There were no splits or other tunnels to take, so they just walked down the path. That was, until they found the first enemies.


    There was a giant lizard that was on fire, seemingly a standard smander. What had Matt wary was the smander''spanion. The trio looked up to see a flying dragonfly that dripped sparks. Thatbination could prove annoying if not difficult.


    The ceiling was high enough that Matt didn''t have any good options for killing the dragonfly if it refused tond. It would be up to Liz or Aster.


    I can tank both. Let me draw their attention.


    Matt rushed in, and both monsters turned and let loose their respective elements on [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He felt a slight weakening where the attacks ovepped, but it was nothing his standard feed of mana couldn''t handle.


    The smander whipped its tail around, and the blow was absorbedpletely by his legs translucent armor, stopping the beast for a moment.


    He activated the enchantment on his de, and plunged into the back of the lizard. The de pierced the back of the thigh high beast. But when he pulled out his de, it was glowing hot, and the strengthening enchantment drained arge chunk of mana to keep the structure intact.


    As he turned his attention to the head sized flying insect, he caught onest lightning bolt to the chest, before the dragonfly was sted out of the air by a thumb sized orb of blood.


    He nodded to Liz in appreciation. He really didn''t relish iling around trying to cut down the creature. Waiting for Aster to hit it wasnt a great alternative. Her aim on moving targets was still questionable.


    Waving his sword to help cool it, they proceed down the hall, repeating the encounter four more times.


    When they finished off the fifth group, they rounded a corner, and found a smander and dragonfly withrge red crystals embedded in their foreheads. The duo were at least four times the size of the normal pairs they had previously encountered, and had four of their lesser counterparts circling them.


    Matt scoped out the room, and turned to Liz asking, If I get their attention, how long do you think you need to kill the flyers?


    Liz sized up the gem embedded versions of the monsters before saying, I should be able to take out the smaller ones easily enough. But therger ones'' armor is going to give my shots trouble. I''ll probably need to use a whip to pull it down for you to finish off.


    She looked at Aster and asked, Think you can hit it with a shard of ice?


    The fox in question just tilted her head, and quietly yipped a negative.


    With or without Asters questionable aim, the n was good enough for Matt, so he stepped into the room with a loud cry.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17


    The loud noise brought a barrage of fire and lightning strikes. Matt was able to roll under most of them. Thebination of all those attacks hitting at once could pierce his [Cracked Phantom Armor], so he pushed as much mana into the skill as he safely could.


    Rolling with a sword was awkward, but he had practiced for this moment, and with the enchantments off during the roll, he wouldn''t identally cut himself through his armor.


    Therge smander clearly was irritated at the unsessful attacks as it whipped its tail around. What was an easily absorbed attack on the lesser, waist-high smanders was now a brutal blow Matt needed to avoid. He had no confidence in being able to block the gem smanders strikes without being sent flying.


    The tail was a mass of muscle, and at the size of a horse, it was a danger he wouldnt willingly tank.


    He came out of the next roll in a lunging attack that took a smaller smander out with a thrust to the head.


    His AI warned him that a swipe from the gem smander was iing. Having a partner watching his back and sharing AI information made his life so much easier.


    Matt dove over the corpse he had just created, and shed down at the giant, fiery tailing straight at him.


    The tail was two feet shorter after passing over Matt, but the tails momentum had mmed his weapon back into his shoulder. Knocked back, Matt was forced into a defensive stance as two of the smaller smanders approached.


    At the same time, he took a massive lighting strike from above. It was so strong it nearly broke through his armor. He was able to feed just enough mana into the skill to block it, but he was hoping Liz would take out the dragonflies faster.


    With a sh and body check, one smander was seriously wounded, and the second was knocked off its feet.


    He followed his AIs warning ping to look up and see therger smander bearing down on Liz. Matt disengaged with the remaining smaller monster, and ran up to the gem smander,nding a massive blow on its leg.


    That returned its attention to Matt, and his AI informed him why it had targeted Liz. She had taken out all the smaller flyers, and dragged the other boss to the ground with her blood whip. She was in the process of bashing through its armor when the gem smander attacked.


    He needed to buy her time to finish the gem dragonfly, and the wounded smander was keen on getting revenge for Matts sessful sh. Stepping back, Matt avoided the ensuing onught of bites and swipes, but took a face full of mes. Like the lighting attack, it was right on the limit of his defensive capabilities, but he was able to withstand it.


    Relying on his AI to protect his blind spots, Matt heeded its warning to step left. He heard the charge of the lesser smander as it tried to tackle him from behind.


    Taking advantage of the clear shot presented to him, Matt stabbed with his glowing sword, and caught the eye of the ming gem smander.


    Then, a spike of blood passed by him, finishing off the remaining lesser smander. With wounds dripping bright orange blood, the giant smander was finally alone.


    The fight was over quickly, as Liz didnt hesitate to drive a spike of blood into the smanders brain.


    She lost blood engaging the hot monsters, but she had drained the dragonflies until they were only shriveled corpses. She had blood to spare.


    With heaving breaths, they surveyed the bodies and looked at each other.


    Liz was the first to speak up, That was too easy for a final boss. And no reward distortion.


    Matt agreed with a nod. He looked around and, following his gut, walked over to the dead smander boss to cut out the crystal in its head. Liz, understanding his idea, did the same with the gem dragonfly.


    They brought the gems together, and when they touched, they snapped together into one. As thebined gem began vibrating, a portal appeared on the back wall of the boss cavern.


    Exchanging a skeptical nce, they inspected the portal.


    Its not leading outside. Matt stated the obvious, and probed with his senses again.


    Liz offered, I cant reach that far, but I think its to the starting area. Ive heard of rifts like this before. One of my older brothers told me a story of one he found like this.


    Matt looked at her waiting for more of the story.


    In his rift, they had to fight mini-bosses, then got teleported to a random location in a giant dimensional maze. Rinse and repeat until they found an exit.


    Matt considered her words and shrugged. It didnt feel dangerous, so he raised his sword and stepped through.


    He found himself back in the starting cavern, with the portal covering the entrance they had taken.


    Liz followed through a momentter. Oh. Well shit. Were gonna have to fight six mini-bosses, arent we?


    Matt figured she was right. They went down the next path, and this time, they took it at a jog.


    They encountered another smander and dragonfly duo, but this time, the smander was dripping green liquid. Matt had to assume it was acid, and he had a theory about the dragonfly that was shining with white light.


    Matt found both of his guesses to be correct. The smander spat out a jet of the green liquid that bubbled away at [Cracked Phantom Armor] in futility. When he damaged the poison smander in response, a ray of light from the dragonfly covered the wound, as it quickly stitched itself together.


    Matt quickly put an end to that by tanking a tail sweep and piercing the back of the smanders head. Poison again sshed his armor ineffectually, but Matt knew this would be dangerous when facing the smander mini-boss of this variant.


    With a resigned sigh, they began the process of clearing another four pairs of monsters, beforeing up to the boss cavern. It was a repeat of thest, with four each of the lesser variants to help the tworger monsters.


    The only difference apart from the mini bosses affinities were the orange gems lodged in the monsters, instead of red ones.


    Matt took the lead and distracted the smanders, while Liz waited for her chance to cleanly kill the healer bugs.


    He didnt even try to damage the smanders. Instead, he just retreated while circling, luring the dragonflies hovering above him closer to the hiding Elizabeth.


    When she had a clear shot, she sent forth four bullets of blood, and killed the lesser dragonflies, while simultaneouslyshing out with whips at the retreating gem dragonfly.


    Meanwhile, Matt had to throw himself at the lesser smanders to keep their attention away from the mage killing their healers.


    The poison of the mini-boss was more effective, but it was only strong enough to render [Cracked Phantom Armor] ineffective against other threats. He didnt dare tank a hit from the enraged monsters. It took everything he had physically, as well as his AI predicting the monsters movements and attack patterns, to keep him from getting hit.


    When Liz attacked from the rear, Matt went on the offensive, and they quickly ended the fight. The poison smanders were more of a problem for her, as her armor would quickly degrade. So, Matt was forced to keep their attention with opportunistic stabs and shes. Some well ced blood shards quickly dispatched the lesser smanders, and the gem smander quickly followed with theirbined efforts.


    When they finished the fight, they connected the orange gems, and walked through the portal they created.


    When they went down the third path, they encountered a smander with porcupine-like spines made of sword aura. They were wispy, but incredibly sharp. His full-strength armor was pierced slightly by a spray of spines from a smander. He very quickly had a shirt full of little holes.


    This variant of dragonfly was also something Matt had only ever heard about in stories of higher Tiered rifts. It was actually living ss.


    They quickly dispatched the monsters, and Liz bent to inspect the fallen pair.


    This blows. I lost my bag, and sharpness aura is expensive. Something this weak would sell well to someone trying to cultivate a sword Concept. Id love to harvest this. At least the living ss is semi-valuable, and easy to collect. with that, she swept it up and ced the shards of ss into his bag.


    That grabbed Matts attention, so he asked, You know about Concepts? I haven''t been able to find any solid information about them. What do you know?


    Liz was happy to exin on their walks between fights.


    A Concept is a baby Intent. And a Concept is required to break into Tier 15. You need an Intent to break into Tier 25 and an Aspect to break into Tier 50.


    A Concept is essentially just understanding something. It can be anything. My sister cultivated a growth Concept. It allows her to grow herbs a little faster, and makes them a little more potent. Sharpness aura is made with sharpness Intent. It empowers any attacks with a sharp weapon. For example, take a Concept of Sword. Its defined by the person who cultivates the Concept.


    If the person can gain a deep connection to what Sword means to them in their spirit, they can manifest their Sword Concept. With a Sword concept one can generate sword aura. Technically its all sharpness aura, but it gets broken into subcategories if it only affects a single weapon type. Like battleaxe aura, or in our case, Sword aura. These smanders sharpness aura can help with cultivating any concept involving a sharp weapon.


    She looked at him and asked, You following?


    He was impressed she knew this much. She had mentioned that her mother was an evolvedpanion, so that meant Tier 15 at minimum. It must be nice to have high Tiered parents. She might not have material advantages while on The Path, but her knowledge was enviable to say the least.


    At his nod, she asked another question, You know the potions you have to buy to breakthrough into Tier 5?


    Yeah, Ive heard of them. They make it possible to break into Tier 5, from my understanding. They are pricey though.


    Liz nodded at that. They are expensive, thats true. But what they are is more important. Theyre basically prosthetic Concepts for people who cant cultivate one on their own.


    A persons Concept should always involve a core idea that they can identify with, down to their very spirit. As they broaden into Intents and Aspects, it bes more difficult to find an understanding deep enough to manifest the next level. The potions help the individual create an understanding of the Concept theyre created from.


    The potions themselves are essentially distilled Concepts, and the ones on the open market usually are simple physical or magical boosts. Theyre much broader in terms of the idea behind the Concept. Thats done intentionally, so theyre easier to make, which is why theyre cheaper and more plentiful. Theyre also easier to identify with strongly enough to manifest the actual Concept.


    The potions are an aid to break through into Tier 5. But because they arent self-discovered concepts, they dont mesh right. So, you have to buy new, stronger ones at Tier 10. And at Tier 15, you have to purge the old ones and create your own.


    Thats why the smanders are so valuable. If you have the proper tools, you can harvest the aura. And if youre a sword user who wants to understand some variation of a sharpness Concept, you can absorb a bit of that aura, and try to create your own Concept. Its more valuable because its only Tier 4 aura, so they could make their own Concept before breaking through to Tier 5, instead of using an artificial one. And it wont pop their spirit because its too strong.


    That gave Matt a lot to think about. It wasplicated, and from what he had found, all information about Concepts was gated until after Tier 10.


    He did have one question: You said its better to use your own Concept. Why is that?


    Easy. Imagine fighting someone with the sword Concept we talked about. It would empower every strike and every skill. And its a power sourcepletely separate from mana. As long as the fighter could keep his will focused, he could be twice as deadly for free.


    That sounded amazing. Matt looked down at his sword and imagined the advantage he could get with the ability to cut as easily as the smanders did.


    Liz continued after they dispatched thest duo of smander and dragonfly. The earlier you can create a Concept, the more it grows with you. So, created ones are always better than buying a Concept potion to break into Tier 5. Developing your own Concept as you advance to Tier 5 lets it grow stronger within you. Its easiest to grow a Concept while you yourself are advancing as well. So, if you can begin developing your own Concept before Tier 5, you have extra Tiers of growth and practice with it.


    They reached the boss cavern, and the conversation was put on hold as they fought the monsters. This time Elizabeth fought with him, ignoring the attackless dragonflies. Their attack n against the sharpness smanders consisted of careful and coordinated attacks. Aster and Liz provided covering fire for Matt as he ducked and rolled out of the way of the sharpness aura.


    They created opening after opening, allowing Matt to dispatch each of the smanders inhabiting the boss cavern with ease. The living ss dragonflies all posed no threat, but their defensive prowess certainly made up for it. Ending the boss encounter proved tedious if not challenging.


    When they started down the fourth tunnel, Matt asked, How do you create a Concept yourself? And whats the difference between Concepts, Intents, and Aspects? Ive never even heard of thest two.


    Matt saw her shrug. From my understanding, thest two arerger, more epassing versions of the Concept. Something like a longsword Concept, a sword Intent, and then a de Aspect. Like a reverse pyramid. The scope of the Concept you have power over can grow wider and stronger. From a single type of weapon, to a group of them. And finally, anything with a de.


    She paused with a, Hmmm., You can get too broad, though. I heard my parents talk about one guy who is... Was, a genius. He started with a de Concept at Tier 5, then created that into a melee Intent. Apparently, hes spent thest like, thousand years trying to create a weapons Aspect. If he seeds, it would be absurd. Can you imagine it? Every weapon is able to be empowered. But hespletely failed at trying to advance it. He reached too far and got himself stuck.


    So how did he make the Concept? Did your parents ever mention that?


    Liz shrugged. Sure. Its simple in theory, but hard in practice. That''s why The Empire doesnt let too much information out about it. A lot of people would refuse to take the easier path, and never break through to Tier 5 because of their delusions of grandeur. You just need to find a truth about you and your magic. Or... She hesitated and waved her hands around. Not your magic, but I dont know the best word. Its your style. If youre a fire mage, you try to embody fire and heat.


    Its personal, and its easiest to sense when fighting at the edge of death. When youre reduced to your smallest part. Whats the essence of that part? What defines your spirit down to the core? Thats the easiest way to find the best Concept for yourself.


    Matt pondered her words, as they killed smanders with ws of ice, and dragonflies with gales of wind surrounding them. He was fixating on the requirement of creating your own Concept at Tier 15, regardless of Concept potions.


    What about at Tier 14 when creating your own. How does that work?


    Its easier and harder. At Tier 14, you have a life expectancy of over a thousand years, so people who reach that point have a lot of time. They either figure out their own Concept or change themselves to fit another Concept. Most of the time, people can fortify the potion Concepts into a true one by Tier 15. But most scrap those all together, and are able to break through with apletely new Concept of their own.


    That surprised Matt. From what she said, he thought they were final once manifested.


    Arent they set and permanent for the individual?


    He knew it was a stupid question based on herst statement, but he had to ask anyway.


    Nope. Its funny, I asked the same thing. Well, they usually are pretty set, depending on the circumstances. If a fire mage gets a fire concept, theyre not going to fight that. But if they get a water concept, they have two options. Change their style to match the Concept, or change the Conceptpletely. That could potentially mean having to change even your own attitude and disposition. Once you start walking down a path, its easier to just continue.


    Thats why you hear about high Tiered people with weird personalities or quirks. They themselves are manifestations of their Concepts and Intents trying to be Aspects. To create an Aspect of water, you have to be water. Its not just understanding water. Its going into a pool and bing one with it.


    Matt asked the question as it appeared in his mind Doesnt that mean that people with less physical concepts have it harder?


    Once again, Liz waved her hand Eh. Im not sure, as this is all second-hand, but I think so. I can only think of a few of my parents friends who dont have a physical thing as their Concepts. The ones that do are hmmm, its hard to describe. They are more...


    She huffed, its more a feeling you get when youre near them. One has a water intent, and you can feel the idea of water if his control slips. When I was younger, hed let me swim in the air. It felt like swimming in normal water to me, but I could breathe. That was his Intent changing the world around him. Its concrete and physical.


    Onedys Intent was happiness. She was just a joy to be around. Everything was just better. Even something as simple as a nicement was ecstasy. It wasnt impossible, but it was hard to be sad near her. She couldnt spend too much time near people who didnt have a Concept or Intent of their own. The feelings could be addictive if she slipped.


    They also have to do with fighting styles and professions. Intents are usually what cultivators do the most, so those styles and professions hold a heavy influence on their being. And both of those things are usually physical.


    Matt was honestly getting in over his head at this point, so he changed the subject. You could swim in the air? That must have been fun.


    They continued to talk about more casual topics, mostly about her childhood. He answered the reciprocated questions as best he could, but kept away from the time after his parents deaths.


    The final two side tunnels were easily dealt with, and when they had atst collected the yellow, green, blue, and finally, indigo crystals of the rift, they paused at the portal before them. This boss cavern had two portals. One was clearly an exit portal, with a reward rift next to it. The indigo portal was like the previous colored ones that lead to the center cavern, but it was bursting with essence.


    What are the odds it stops one short of the rainbow? Liz asked, with arms crossed and foot tapping. Even with her full helm, he could tell she was ring.


    Im going to guess, zero. Matt paused and thought it over. Either take the indigo one into a fight, or take this portal out.


    The foot-tapping sped up. Does it matter? Even if we walk back, the portal was covering the other exits. I expect we have to spring the trap if we want whatever these things unlock. She jiggled the bag of gems they had collected.


    Matt agreed with her assessment.


    Screw it. Ill head in and either clear it, or hold my ground, so you can get a foothold.


    Matt stepped through, and immediately took a st of arcane energy to the face.


    He was grateful it was arge area attack, and not a focused beam. That would have cut him half. He pushed forward through the neutral magic, and the attack eventually ended. Instead of a smander and a dragonfly, before him was some abomination of the two.


    It looked like the smander had chitin instead of scales, and it was standing up on its hind legs. It had the giant, paneled eyes of a dragonfly, and two massive mandibles protruded from the sides of its maw of serrated teeth. It had translucent, stunted wings that seemed useless for flying, but Matt was sure they had some other purpose.


    The figure was at least twenty feet tall, and its head nearly brushed the ceiling. It let out a roar as Matt ran to the side, trying to get its attention away from the portal Liz and Aster would being through.


    The monsters wings began to glow with a blinding light that intensified as it reared back, and it let out another breath of powerful, colorless magic. Arcane magic was the opposite of void. They were the only elements that countered each other.


    Arcane embodied creation, whereas void was pure destruction. That didnt mean an arcane attack was any less dangerous for its creation properties. It was a less focused version of all other aspects of mana, while being none. It was great for crafting skills, with all the advantages of having aspected mana, but none of the disadvantages.


    A massive whip of blood wrapped around the standing hybrids mouth, and cut off the st of magic. Matt looked back at Liz, with Aster at her feet. She was growling as she created ice shards and froze Lizs blood globs. Thebination attack allowed them to prate the hard outer shell of the boss.


    When the spears of ice and blood punched through the chitin of the abomination, it whipped its tail in a spinning attack, covering the entire cavernroom. Matt was near the end of the tail, and was mmed into the far wall, only to again get caught and flung by the tail.


    His sword was lost during the tumbling, and when he finally gathered himself, he noticed he was right under Liz and Aster. They were standing on a tform of blood Liz had created to dodge the blow.


    Matt scanned for his sword, and raced to retrieve it before the next attack came. He found the sword and scrambled to pick it up, as he was nearly crushed by a stomping foot.


    He took the opportunity to sh up at the monsters ascending foot after sidestepping the stomp. His attack sliced through the armor and flesh of the hybrid. He was slightly surprised to feel the resistance of bone as he cut deep into the foot.


    The underside of the monsters foot was unarmored, and the strength and sharpness of the de left the foot mangled as the hybrid roared.


    Elizabeth pulled over the massive amount of blood gushing to the floor in a wave. As the blood continued to leak, the flow of her blood wave increased, growing in size and epassing her. Soon, the giant sphere of blood enveloping her broke, and she emerged as a ten-foot-tall blood golem.


    Matt tried to keep the monsters attention, but it was bing increasingly hard. As the blood creation grew, it attracted more of the hybrids attention than the diminutive human.


    Aster pattered up behind him, and they watched together as the blood golem and monster grappled one another. As Liz punched out at the standing abomination, Aster used her powers to tip the arm with a frozen spike. It skittered off the armor ting that was thicker around the monsters chest.


    When it shed into the chest of the blood golem in retaliation, the blow simply sshed though ineffectually. The blood was scattered across the cavern, but it quickly returned to the golems feet and was absorbed.


    Matt saw his chance to take advantage of its fixation on itsrger opponent.


    He ran to its rear, and with all the power he could muster, chopped into its tail, as its wings began to glow again.


    The sword couldnt cutpletely through the chitin and bone, but it opened a vital artery, if the fountain of blood was any indication.


    The blood flowed into Lizs golem, and she grew to match the monster in size.


    With her improved leverage, she mmed her ice-spiked right hand into the monster, finally possessing the weight and power to drive it through. Her left hand acted as a muzzle, keeping the monster from using its arcane breath.


    After a few moments of pounding, the golem simply fell on top of the monster. Liz fell out the back of her golem while clutching her head, ring up at the monster.


    Despite losing its golem form, the blood was still surrounding the monsters head. As it struggled and failed to release itself, the Abomination drowned in its own blood.


    A few heart beatster, Matt felt the rush of essence, and looked at the kneeling and panting Liz.


    That was fucking incredible.


    His AI had topletely rewrite its portfolio on Liz. She was more of a monster than any of the creatures they had found in the rifts.


    If her Talent worked like normal [Blood Maniption], it should have the mana cost and mental control demands of [Water Maniption]. The information on the former was more spective, because of its rarity. But thetter wasmon enough to have public information.


    It took not only a lot of control to manipte that volume blood, but also a massive amount of mana to animate it. His AI calcted the amount of blood to be equivalent to around nine cubic feet of water.


    That was over five hundred pounds of blood she was manipting. It even pointed out that the golem must have been mostly hollow, orposed of a structuralttice to be that size, with the amount of blood avable.


    At Lizs slight whimper, Matt pulled off his spatial bag, and had her pop a painkiller for the massive headache brought on by her efforts. She had clearly overextended her mental capacity with thatst engagement.


    She took the pill and water with her eyes closed, and drained the canister after swallowing the pill.


    Aster, who came to investigate, got pulled over her face as an impromptu ice pack.


    Matt quieted the fox who began to protest the rough treatment.


    He finally was able to deactivate his armor for the first time today, as he drank from the refilled canteen.


    There were no enemies present, and his sword was in reach if one appeared. However, Matt found another encounter unlikely, as the rift was cleared out. They had traveled the entire length of the rift to do so.


    Half an hourter, Liz pulled her face from Asters fur. She nced at him, then looked him up and down.


    With squinted eyes, she said, Huh. I was starting to think you were the armor.


    Matt quietly chuckled at her attempt at humor.


    No, just my best way to stay warm between rifts.


    That made her face droop even more.


    Youre telling me you dont feel the cold out there? Go die in a hole, please. My fingers nearly freeze off, even with the heated gloves.


    With a grunt, she stood and said, Lets get thatst crystal and open the reward distortion.


    At her words, Matt looked and saw there was arge violet gem in the center of the monsters head.


    When he got close, he had to use the tip of his sword to pry the gem from the monsters chitin.


    Once it was out, the cavern began to rumble. Out of a nk spot of wall, a chest with a huge indent in the middle appeared. Upon closer inspection, they found six indents in a circle around therger one in the middle.


    It was obviously a recreation of the pathways where they had killed each mini-boss and the final boss.


    When thest crystal clicked into ce, they found a pillow, and a single small gem ced directly on top of it.


    A skill shard.


    Matt and Liz just look from the skill to each other. If they had any ns to betray one another, now was the time. And she was spent from thest fight.


    He backed up a half a step and asked, Do you want to do the honors of testing it since you got the final kill?


    Liz looked relieved at his non-aggression, and plucked the shard up, staring at it.


    Huh. its [Puddle Jumper]


    Matt looked it up in the low Tiered skill database he had purchased, and found it.


    [Puddle Jumper]: a near-flight skill. Cost per cast: 50 mana. Allows the user to jump mid-air. While skill is active, the user will not lose altitude.


    Matt whistled. Thats a pretty valuable skill. I cant use it. Can you?


    He was offering to allow her to take and bind the skill, at the cost of having to reimburse him for his half. It was fair, and he really couldnt use it with the mana cost.


    Liz shook her head and said, I could, but its not very useful to me, and... she paused and looked hard into his face and continued, My Talent affects the skills I bind. So I couldpletely ruin the skill. Id rather sell it, and get a skill I know I can make useful. Besides, we should make a killing with a near-flight skill, especially with the Tier 5 guild members.


    Matt was surprised and touched that she had revealed that much about her Talent. Talents were incredibly personal, and usually the cornerstone a fighters style was built around. It wasn''t something to share lightly.


    He turned to the rifts reward distortion. He had felt it move from the previous mini boss cavern, but hadn''t wanted to rush his spent bloodmage. He and Liz walked over, and this time he dispersed the reward. A bar of dark metal fell out with a thud, denting the ground where itnded.


    He had his AI analyze it. A Tier 6 iron bar. It was a valuable reward. Very valuable. But it still feltckingpared to the skill.


    With a shrug, he put it in his bag, and the two left the rift.


    They chose to set up camp in a nook of the canyon where the wind was unable to assault them.


    After setting up the tent, Matt went inside and quickly cleaned himself up, before trading locations with Liz.


    He slipped on his boots and activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] while in shorts and a t-shirt.


    Now it was Lizs turn, and Matt waited outside for her to finish her longer ablutions. He had taken the first shift because he didnt have to clean sweaty armor after cleaning himself.


    He yed with Aster until he got a ping from Lizs AI saying she was done.


    Once in the tent, he reveled in the warmth of the heater, and saw Liz in some of his underclothes. They wereically big.


    She saw the smirk on his face and asked, What?


    There was a challenge in the statement that he didnt want to touch with a ten-foot pole. He cautiously answered, You remind me of when we would get the clothes the older kids outgrew, but didnt fit us yet either. Everyone looked like blobs until we grew into them. A good memory actually, we enjoyed getting the hand-me-downs. It was like an extra New Years celebration.


    That got her to smile, and she pointed to the heater changing the subject. Did you have to skimp on the heater? Its gotta be the most ineffective model Ive ever seen.


    Mattughed, and decided to return some of the trust he had been shown earlier. No, its one of the few heaters that can run on personal mana. Im sure youve done the same calctions Ive done on you.


    Thatment got her to avert her eyes, and added a bit of color to her pale cheeks.


    Part of my Talent allows me to produce a lot of mana, but I have almost no capacity. Its why I can run my skill all day but cant use [Puddle Jumper]. I cant afford the mana cost.


    He didnt get into specifics, but he touched the heaters inset mana stone, and quickly filled the 200 mana capacity.


    Liz looked at him and down to the heater and said, thats an interesting limitation and an even more interesting advantage.


    Part of him scoffed at the word advantage, but that was the year and half spent at Bennys trying to rear its ugly head. He did have an advantage.


    Yeah, its got its uses. It will even let me take advantage of less expensive skills. Matt didnt mind talking about his intentions to purchase [Mages Retreat]. The purchase was going to be public record, so it was harmless to talk about.


    Liz was intrigued at the idea. While they talked, he pulled his pot out of the spatial bag, and started making dinner for the three of them.


    [Mages Retreat]? Huh, an odd choice for most, but with what Ive been able to calcte, it should be potent. At the upper ends of mana cost, [Mages Retreat] is actually better than [Mana Strength].


    That turned into a conversation about skills andbat styles thatsted through dinner.


    They had just finished eating, as Aster went back outside into the cold, and Matt asked, You said your mom was an evolvedpanion, right? Do you know why Aster does that when we get to cold ces? She doesnt know why, just that she should. I cant find anything about it.


    Yeah, thats easy. Shes refining her bloodline and mana with cold stronger than her own. Those with bloodlines, normal humans with specific Talents, or those possessing super rare rift rewards, can aspect their mana based on the type. It gives a massive boost to skills and spells of the same type, but at the disadvantage of absurd mana cost for everything else. When Aster begins to absorb other skills, shes really only gonna be able to use ice skills.


    After a slight pause and bob of her head, she added, Maybe wind or water as well. All blizzard stuff. But fire? She wont be able to activate a fire skill if her life depended on it.


    Matt was once again thankful to Liz and her knowledge, and irritated that he couldnt find any information about this.


    Liz clearly saw the irritation on his face, and asked, You were in a yPen, right? Didnt someone exin this to you? They should have, even if it was some else with apanion.


    Matt looked back at her and answered, No one hadpanions. It was a Tier 4 world. Companions werepletely unheard of. I even had a healer try to buy Asters egg from me.


    He told her the whole story, and at the end, Liz said, Shes lucky she got such a clean death. If there was an evolvedpanion or beast in human form present, they would have done far, far worse. Its one of the ts ofpanions; you dont pressure the one who finds an egg into selling. Theres a bond of fate thats sacrosanct. And wow, I cant believe you didnt know what a rift challenge was. You are a lucky little shit aren''t you.

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18


    He and Liz talked long into the night about topics far and wide. He told tales of Aster''s misadventures in the yPen. Liz seemed to particrly enjoy one about Aster trying to jump over a serving line, to get at some smoked rabbit they had been serving.


    She came back with a story of her own, about her mother when she was still a me Sparrow. Her mother burned down her dad''s tent while they were stuck in a blizzard, simply because he had bumped the stand the small bird was resting on.


    Eventually, they broached the topic of Matts Tier 1 Talent and its detrimental rating. What Liz had to say about it threw him for a loop.


    "Detrimental ratings are notmon, but they all have one thing inmon. They all carry a condition where the cultivator can''t do something. It doesn''t matter if your Tier 1 Talentes with free fire skills. If you can''t use other skills, it''s deemed detrimental. Even if fire spells arepletely free. Still detrimental."


    Matt was shocked. "That''s so stupid. The AI has to be smarter than that. It... It doesn''t make sense."


    Liz simply shook her head. "Nope. It''s not perfect, but that kind of scenario only turns up about a quarter of the time a detrimental Talent is determined. The rest are truly..." she shrugged, "Detrimental."


    "But what about the others? I was lucky. I got into the yPen, which gave me the chance to grow, and got a perfectly synergized skill, all by chance. If it weren''t for Zephyr, and Eric and Dena, I would be..." He trailed off. He didn''t want to ept it. The AI just saw an arbitrary negative in a Talent, and pped on a detrimental rating with no other considerations. That seemed incredibly wasteful. And stupid.


    Liz rolled over to face him. "Matt, you didn''t get lucky with your sponsorsing to the bar you worked at."


    "It was an inn."


    "Who cares. Same difference. My point is, when people get a detrimental rating, theary AIs start watching. If the individual is driven, and doesn''t give up, a team of past ascenders is dispatched. Theyre a team who made it to at least Tier 5 while on The Path, and are now <em>higher</em> than Tier 15. Your sponsors were sent there to scout you. See if you were an asshole that would abuse people if you got strong. As long as they liked you, even if your Talent was ''Ill literally never progress'', you would have gotten the invite."


    Matt was shocked. It hadn''t been an ident? He reviewed all of his past interactions with Dena and Eric. They had questioned him about his desires quite a bit, now that he thought about it. What had been casual conversation now seemed like an interrogation.


    "They said they were Tier 6." Matt paused. They had never actually said that. He had assumed that. "Well, I assumed they were Tier 6. They didn''t feel that strong."


    Liz looked at him like he was crazy. "Matt, youre using a veil right now. If you loosen it up a bit, you can give the impression of any power level under your own. They must have figured Tier 6 on a Tier 4 world was high enough to not have to take any crap from the locals."


    His veil reminded him of his skill. "Did they somehow manufacture getting my skill?"


    Liz raised an eyebrow, and he gave her the details. "There was a party that came in and scanned the skill. They knew it was cracked, and made the fact very public. When the skill was given a detrimental rating because of the high mana cost, a brawl started. They threw it at someone to get a punch in. I was able to swipe it, and hide the skill up my sleeve during the chaos."


    The blood mage next to him just smirked at his story. "Na. I doubt they did. Maybe, but it seems like you actually did get lucky there. The only times where people on The Path are allowed skills are for healer Talents, or if you need a skill for your Talent to function. Even then, The Empire only allows for Tier 14 or below skills to be given. Not cracked ones. They would have just handed it to you."


    He stayed silent as he processed what Liz told him. The couple may have been evaluating him, but they still treated him well. It was a revtion that he hadn''t just caught their attention.


    <em>Why doesn''t The Empire just rework the AI system?</em>


    When he asked Liz, he didnt get much of an answer. "I don''t know. I think people are afraid that someone will steal information about Talents if theyre allowed ess to the underlying code. So no one dares to propose touching it, for fear of drawing suspicion to themselves. The Empire does what it can to mitigate the detrimental rating mishaps. The AI handling Talents is so old, it can''t even learn or grow on its own. The things a relic."


    "What about people whose Tier 3 Talents fix their Tier 1''s?"


    "They get a rating of corrected if the AI sees the build as viable. You probably got one. I don''t know what your Talent is, but you put out a ton of mana. No way that doesn''t count."


    That made him wonder why he didn''t get another call from the Emperor. If his mana projection had ever been calcted out for more than a few Tiers, the Emperor had to have been notified of the results.


    Thinking back about the Emperor''s words encouraging Melinda''s party to stay on The Path, he figured it might be the same for him as well.


    <em>Who am I to guess at a Tier 50''s thoughts. Let alone the Emperors. Maybe he doesn''t need mana at the higher Tiers? There''s no way my Talent didnt set the system off. Or am I being arrogant?</em>


    Matt didn''t know, and didnt care to guess. So he asked his new repository of hidden knowledge. "What about the ping for good Talents? Do you think I got tagged? How does the AI work with that?"


    Liz just shrugged and curled into the extra sleeping bag, looking at him with just her yellow eyes visible. "How am I supposed to know? Most of that is just second-hand info from my parents and their friends, or my older siblings. It''s not like I can call up the Emperor and demand answers."


    Liz wiggled into afy spot on the plush pillow they found [Puddle Jumper] on, while Matt, stuck with his crappy camping pillow, turned over. That ended the conversation.


    Matt thought over his Talent. Why did he get a max of 10 mana at Tier 3? If it was backtracking from Tier 1, it should have been 8 mana. And if it didn''t, why didn''t he just get 2 max mana?


    He had so many questions running through his head.


    He still didn''t have any answers when Aster came back for the night. Matt was d for the heater''s warmth, because her presence was like an ice cube had curled into his sleeping bag.


    The next morning, as they were eating breakfast, Liz hesitantly asked if he was willing to fill the pair of mana stones she had.


    They were the fast converting type. They used more mana to speed the process up, but they would allow her to fight longer, if she didn''t need to expend an abnormal amount of mana.


    It took nearly 2000 mana to fill each of the stones up near its limit of 200 in Liz''s aspected mana. But, the extra mana would potentially allow them to hit an extra rift today.


    He tried to remember what Melinda''s party had told him this type of mana stone could cost. It was supposed to be expensive, but he thought he''d never use a mana stone back then, so hadn''tmitted the information to memory.


    When they got to the first rift, they found it already had a beacon outside without any entries, so they assumed the delvers were still inside and moved on.


    The next rift they came upon was clear and felt full, so they entered. It was a standard rift that they easily cleared. The rewards were equally standard, with only ten mana stones given.


    On the way to the next rift, they passed a group of four that had just exited as they were approaching. There were a few tense moments, until Matt and Liz backed off, trying not to show intentions of robbing the group of their prizes.


    After that, they spent an uneventful day delving. Three more riftsted them 27 more mana stones, and a bottle of reagent that was good for Tier 5 alchemists.


    That night, they repeated their dinner of a stew cube, and watched another movie on Matts pad, before they went to sleep.


    When he woke the next morning, he found Aster curled in Liz''s arms. The traitor was seduced by the brush the evil woman had used to great effect.


    As they walked to the rift, Matt enjoyed Liz''s mutterings on the unfairness of his skill blocking the cold, and letting him eat without dispelling the mask.


    So he made sure to exaggerate his slow, deliberate bites of the snack bar.


    He delighted in the murmurs of pure hatred she growled in his direction. Threats abounded of boots in swapped ces so they were backwards, and shirts turned inside out. His favorite threat was that of a spitefully rotated bowl, so it felt weird when he ate.


    They were soical, he just <em>had </em>to press his advantage. He started scratching his nose and running his hands through his hair without dispelling the armor. Her pathetic attempts at muffling curses were music to his ears.


    That was payback for seducing his traitorous fox.


    Their yful banter ended when they exited a rift, and encountered an ambush.


    They had gotten a small enchanted dagger that they hoped would be valuable. The group that shouted at them wasn''t from the Dual Stars guild, or they at least werent wearing the guilds colors.


    "Give us everything in your spatial bags, or well kill you all." One shouted. The voice shook.


    Matt didn''t think they''d risk killing, but he was sad that the robbing had started so early. He didn''t expect it to start for at least another few days, when more loot was umted.


    He sent Liz Any behind us?''


    ''Seems like one archer behind a rock. They feel weak, though. We should be fine.''


    Matt took that as the go-ahead, and charged the speaker. It only took two hits with the t of his de for the lightly armored bandit wanna-be to fall. The mage behind the speaker was dispatched when Matt brought the t of his de down on his arm, breaking it.


    He didn''t want to incite any more explosive rage, so he kept the injuries to a minimum.


    He saw Liz dragging a smaller figure along the ground, with bands of blood restraining them.


    Matt grinned at her, even though she couldn''t see it through [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    "Mighty fine catch you got there!"


    He could hear the grin in her voice as well. "Ah, but you got two, and that''s even better than one!"


    Matt kept his de pressed down on the speaker as they talked. The threat was clear, even if unspoken. If anyone tried to activate their emergency beacons, the leader would be finished.


    Liz said in a singsong voice, "We should see what our little bandits have on them."


    They had absolutely nothing on them, as it turned out.


    Matt looked to Liz "what are the odds that these little rats don''t have a single spatial bag among them? I think theyre hiding them."


    "I agree..." Liz was cut off by the archer trying to speak, but the bands of blood tightened, silencing them. "I say we force them to go back without their goods. Have fun trying to get another portal without any loot to sell."


    They stripped the trio of their armor and weapons, forcing them to activate their beacons essentially naked.


    Once they were gone, Matt and Liz spent an hour looking around for the group''s stash of rift loot, but found nothing. They were sure it was somewhere nearby, but moved on before they wasted too much time.


    It was disappointing, as finding the stash could haveted them another spatial bag and more camping gear. But even with asters nose, they couldn''t find anything in the surrounding area.


    Liz did end up taking the leaders short sword. It was only Tier 3 with a single sharpness rune, but it was better than the staff of wood she had been using.


    The rest of the group''s items, they tossed into a corner of the next rift they entered.


    When they stepped in, they were in ankle deep water, and found themselves in the middle of a foggy jungle.


    "I can''t sense the exit. Can you?"


    Matt pushed his spiritual sense out, but the thick mist blocked his sense after only a few feet.


    "I got nothing. Think this is a maze?" he asked. He already was leaning that way but wasn''t sure.


    Liz hmmmed, then sent a glob of blood into the distance. It fell as soon as it was more than arm''s length away from her.


    "Probably. That''s the only reason I can think of for a disruptor fog like this. I don''t see a path. So we either wander or back out?"


    As he thought it over, he wanted to push. But if they couldn''t sense the exit, they probably wouldn''t be able to sense the entrance either, and that could leave them wandering for hours.


    "I think we should try it," Liz said.


    "It''s not worth it. Let''s leave," Matt said at the same time.


    He looked at Liz. This was their first disagreement, and he wanted to know what she would do.


    She beckoned to him so he would follow her. One foot raised to start heading deeper into the fog.


    "This rift can''t be that big. It''s only a Tier 4. Even if we get lost, it can''t be that bad. Come on."


    He gave her his thoughts. "I don''t know about that. I think we can end up walking in circles and not know it for hours. Better to just leave, and go to a rift that we know we canplete."


    That stopped her, and the armored head in front of him bobbed back and forth as she pondered his logic. When she answered, she seemed like she was leaning his way. "Well, there are only so many first delves to go around. Eventually, well have to delve the same rifts or these less ideal ones."


    That was a point Matt hadn''t considered. As he thought it over, it only solidified his decision.


    "That means we shouldn''t waste time here. Especially while others delve the easier rifts." He stepped closer to the portal.


    Liz called out. "Wait. Let''s refill the canteen here with all the moisture. It will be cheaper on the mana cost here, than out on the dry ass."


    Pausing, they filled the canteen, and drank as much as they could while the runes pulled water from the humid rift.


    When all three had their fill, they stepped into the bitter cold.


    As they walked to the nearest rift, Liz sent to him, ''I feel someone following us. Don''t look around or react.''


    Matt did as she said, and kept his gait steady, but pushed out with his spiritual sense. He felt nothing. No living unveiled creatures were near them. He trusted the blood mage, so he kept his senses strained, and felt a blip.


    Someone had let their veil slip for the briefest of moments, and they were trailing a few hundred feet behind them.


    No one with a veil that good would be following this close with good intentions.


    ''What should we do?'' He didn''t know if Liz wanted to turn and confront the person behind them.


    ''I think there might be more than one, so let''s just enter a rift, and see if they try to follow while it''s still our instance.''


    Having no issue with the n, Matt followed as she walked directly into the next rift. They found themselves in a cave. It was dimly lit, and they quickly hid behind a bend in the tunnel. Aster was keeping a lookout, and when they counted fourteen minutes, they felt the ripple in the entrance rift.


    The other group had snuck in after them. Coming in right at the end of the period that would allow them to join with Matt and Liz.


    The two of them looked at each other''s armored faces and nodded. When the light sounds of footsteps neared their bend in the tunnel, they stepped out.


    Liz brandished her salvaged shortsword, and Matt swung his enchanted longsword in a sweeping arc that took up most of the narrow hall.


    Matts de bounced off the frontman, who was encased in full te armor. As the thick armor deflected his blow, Matt took a mace to the chest. The weapon wasn''t enchanted, but the force behind it pushed him back a step. From behind the tank, a spearshed out at Matt''s face.


    He gripped the de of his longsword in a half-sword style, and used the length to deflect the blow. This was too small of a tunnel to swing his de, and it was useless against the armored foe in front of him.


    Using the crossguard of his longsword, he mmed its edge into the neck of the tank.


    The blow didn''t break through the armor, but Matt used the opening it created to his advantage, and stabbed towards the man''s less armored armpit.


    His attack was able to prate, and blood flowed from the wound. It was quickly whisked away, and a shard of frozen blood shot towards the spear wielder. A cry rang out, and the duo of bandits pulled back.


    As Liz and Matt pressed forward after them, they were blinded by a sh of light. While blinded, Mattshed out, while stepping in front of where Liz and Aster were moments ago.


    No blownded, nor did he get a damage report from his AI. They were both still healthy. When his eyes closed and his ears stopped ringing, they found the entrance room empty. The pair had cut their losses, and made their escape.


    "Well fuck them." Liz summed up his feelings about the encounter perfectly.


    "At least they didn''t stay and fight. They were pretty coordinated as well."


    Aster yipped and pawed the ground. The shbang had hurt her more sensitive ears.


    "Think theyll be waiting for us to leave?"


    Liz rocked on her feet before saying, "Probably not. They clearly don''t want to work hard, just take easy pickings."


    "Wouldn''t easy pickings be when were exiting a rift?"


    "Sure, if we didn''t know about them and came out unprepared. Now? I don''t think theyll make a move"


    The two started down the tunnel. They had been walking for a few minutes, before Matt felt something give under his foot, and arrows mmed into his protected head, chest, and legs.


    Liz and Aster, following behind him, froze.


    "The fuck was that!?" Matt''s racing heart was trying to leave his chest.


    "It was a trap."


    "Thanks, Captain Obvious. I figured that out from the arrows mming into me," Matt snapped back. That hade from nowhere, and he had only realized his mistake when the arrows mmed into him.


    They got thentern out, and put it to its highest setting. What they found were small holes all over the walls, and the loose ground was covered with rocks and dips. It was nearly impossible to know where it was safe to step.


    "Well shit. How do we press forward? I don''t know anything about traps."


    "Neither do I. This is usually a Tier 5 thing."


    Matt thought that over, then realized what had been bothering him since they started their delve. "Where are the monsters?"


    Liz looked around, and said, "The theme would imply either no monsters, or ambush predators of some type."


    Matt looked to the much easier targets behind him. "Can your blood block these arrows?"


    Liz formed a wall of blood around him, and said, "step on it again."


    He knew it was probably fine, but intentionally triggering a trap a second time felt foolish. Then again, he had just tanked the attack without any problems.


    It was fine.


    After two deep breaths, he raised his foot and ced it down again.


    Three arrows mmed into him. They were slowed by the blood, but not enough to make the attack survivable by the mage or fox.


    Forcing himself to calm down, he thought the situation over.


    "I think we should continue."


    Liz looked at him in shock. "Really? Why?"


    "Well, this trap didn''t really stress [Cracked Phantom Armor]. If that''s the case, I just need to poke the ground with my sword, and find the traps. If I mess up, I should be fine. Then, you can hold Aster and take the path that we know is safe." He swallowed and finished, "Watch out for ambush predators. Please."


    When Aster was safely in Liz''s arms, Matt began poking the ground, and rooted out more arrow traps. They came from the walls, ceiling, and floor. This was turning out to be a tunnel of pain and torment, and Matt''s stress levels were going through the roof, but he kept it together. The thought of the rewards at the end of the delve kept him going.


    The hall of arrows finally ended as they came to a room with perfectly t floors and walls. In the center of the room, there was nothing but a solitary podium. As they cautiously approached, they found a series of blinking lights.


    Matt was the first to speak up. "I have no idea what this is. Is it a pattern or something?"


    Liz looked at the podium and the walls. She even knelt down to inspect the underside of the podium.


    On a hunch, Matt fed his AI with as much mana as he could, and found no pattern.


    "I got nothing." Liz brushed off her knees as she stood, and they continued to search for answers.


    Matt pressed the button when the color shed purple, and suddenly a group of monsters dropped down from the ceiling.


    Quickly he struck out with his sword, and took out the tall rhinoceros eye. The other was already charging at Liz, whounched herself and Aster over the charging monster. The lumbering giant charged into the hall the trio came from, and became a veryrge pin cushion, as it stepped into a multitude of traps.


    Contemting what to do about the podium, he and Liz exchanged a nce.


    She looked at the rhino corpse and said, "Before you press anything else without warning me, let me gather some blood."


    Once she drained therge monsters, she created a ball around herself,the fox still in her arms. From inside, she called out. "Ok, press another color."


    When he activated the podium as it shed orange, a pair of birds harmlessly flew out and down the hall.


    He received a message from Liz. ''Did this rift get dropped on its head as a kid or what?''


    With no way to answer, he touched the podium when it was silver, and a door on the far side of the room opened.


    Liz exited her ball of blood, and had it orbit around her as they approached the door.


    Looking at the blood, Matt suggested, "umm, can you send some to trap detect for us, now that you have a lot? I''d rather not get shot any more than necessary."


    With a woosh, the blood went down the hall, and set off a pitfall trap consisting of a fifteen-foot drop onto sharpened stone spikes.


    "I really don''t like this rift," he murmured in protest. At least he wouldn''t have to be the guinea pig for this hall.


    They followed the wave of blood, with Liz creating tforms for them to walk over, as they came across sections of missing floor.


    When they came to another room, it had a clear ss wall with pegs interspersed. There was an obvious entrance, and clear goal at the bottom.


    "Plinko? Really? Where are our balls?" Liz shouted at the wall.


    Another podium gave them the answer they were looking for, as it slid out from the ground. There was only a single shing, cream colored light, and when Matt touched it, a goblin ran out of the far wall. It had aicallyrge head, one that was appropriately sized for the hole at the top of the Plinko board.


    Killing the goblin with a de of blood, Liz used her [Blood Maniption] to try and guide the head into the hole, but her skill was blocked by the ss.


    It took them over twenty heads to get one to enter the proper hole with the correct path. Once they hit the goal, a section of wall shifted away, which let them progress deeper into the rift.


    The only positive the two muttering humans could find was their advancement towards the exit rift. They should only need to progress past two more hallways and one more room, until they could leave.


    The next hall was full of sticky tar that refused to release the blood Liz tested it with. Aster came to their rescue by freezing the tar to the point of losing its adhesive quality.


    The trio made their way down the hall, and found a room with a pattern set into the tiled floor.


    There were six symbols on this podium that matched the ones painted on the tiles. Fire, a lightning bolt, a de, a vine, a tornado, and a snowke.


    The foot-long tiles on the floor matched the ones on the podium next to the entrance.


    "So is it a pattern game to cross, or is it a what can you dodge or tank?" Matt asked Liz.


    "I don''t know, but I''m tired of this stupid fucking rift." With that, she sent the blood hovering behind her onto the tiles. It was torn apart from thebination of attacks from all the stepped-on tiles.


    Matt''s AI pinged him, and from her sigh, Liz saw the message as well. This was a pattern game where they had to guess the solution correctly. The first tornado tile the blood had hit hadn''t gone off.


    It took them forty minutes to scout out the correct path with Liz''s blood, and Matt was still nervous as he traversed the solved puzzle. Their testing, along with their AIs, had found the safe path to the exit, and all three were able to cross without mishap. Still,Matt''s nerves were frayed, and he wanted out.


    This rift had started with an attempted robbery at best, and an assassination attempt at worst, and they hadn''t even been able to settle the score. Now he was getting toyed with by a rift that wanted to give their AI''s a workout.


    When they reached the far hall, it was a perfectly circr tunnel. Not a crevice or blemish on the wall, and when Liz checked with her blood, there was nothing.


    With gritted teeth, Liz growled, "Traps on all the other halls and nothing on this one? This rift is truly fucking with us."


    She turned out to be right, as they had nothing to contend with while walking down the long tunnel. Every uneventful footfall only served to raise their anticipation, and when they finally reached the end, Matt really wanted a nap.


    The final room was just a rift reward and exit distortion. There was nothing to fight, no monster or trap waiting, only sweet, sweet victory. When Matt dispelled the reward distortion, it did not provide a single bit of loot. Instead, it turned out to be a giant mirror, enchanted to trigger a de hidden in the ceiling.


    It mmed down from a holepletely hidden by stctites, shattering the trick distortion. A smack from Liz''s blood just barely knocked him out of the way in time.


    As he stood, Matt kicked at the remaining shards of ss. "An entire rift of games and puzzles, and then that bullshit right at the end? This rift was so unbelievably fucked. The reward had better be worth it. And no essence from thatst kick in the nuts?"


    As he walked to the real reward distortion and dispelled it, he found a pair of earrings. They didn''t seem to have any enchantments, and felt pretty ordinary.


    He showed them to Liz. "can you feel anything from these? Or did this rift just give us ordinary jewelry?"


    Bringing her face close, she said, "They seem normal to me, but we''ll still need to get them appraised. Maybe it''s a hidden enchantment or something."


    They walked out of the rift, weapons ready but found no ambush. They cautiously went to another rift, and waited the fifteen minutes, ensuring there was no way for someone to follow them in again. This rift was a standard kobold rift, with a n who roamed the tunnels, waiting to overwhelm the trio at every turn. They battled their way into the center of the mountain, and found the chief and hisrgest warriors.


    The fight was bloody, and exactly what the three of them needed to blow off the steam from the earlier rift. It was simple, fight the monster in front of you and don''t die.


    No worrying about hidden traps, or puzzles, or fake rift rewards.


    Still, they ended the day with heavier pockets, and enjoyed a rest in the tent while they waited for their dinner to finish cooking. They were yet again watching the food cubes dissolve into the water, as they formed the stew that would fulfill their dietary needs, if not the desires of their ptes.


    "You really cheaped out on the food." Liz''s tone suggested she was trying to joke, but he wasn''t in the mood. He flopped back, and had his AI turn on the pad they hung from the ceiling. It was aedy that he hadn''t seen, but it didnt hold his attention.


    He and Liz had a quiet night as they fell asleep.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19


    It was five days after the initial teleports to the training started, when they encountered the first group of Republic delvers.


    It was a group of four. They were walking the opposite way in the canyon, and as they crossed paths with Matt, Liz, and Aster, they stopped. The group waved them down, and Matt received a message.


    ''A match for an equivalent prize? We are willing to wager a Tier 5 tailoring thread that increases lightning resistance.''


    Matt and Liz looked at each other, and Liz sent ''Team or single fights?''


    The response came back quickly, ''Teams, of course.''


    That was as Matt expected, as they had a two-person advantage, but he felt confident. They were peak Tier 4''s, but their cores felt airy. They either hadn''t bothered topact their essence, or had relied on essence stones for their advancement.


    He and Liz had cores like steel. Monster essence was by nature morepact, and as they both had only advanced with rift essence, they never had to worry about secondarypression. On top of that, their teamwork had only gotten better over thest few days of delving untouched rifts.


    Matt thought over the loot they had, and offered the Tier 5 cksmith catalyst they had found. With the prizes settled and everyones AIs linked, they squared off.


    The leftmost enemy shot out a crescent of wind, which Matt simply barreled straight through as he closed the distance. It was less of a de and more of a small cyclone. The blunt wind damage had no chance of breaking through [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    He was intercepted by the opposing teams two melee fighters. One hadrge gauntlets that glowed a yellow. Matt got the impression of an earth affinity from them through his spirit sense.


    The second meleebatant had a thin saber of some mysterious make that Matts AI couldn''t immediately identify. The thin de twisted like a snake as its wielder lunged for a stab at his shoulder.


    Matt was surprised. Two enchanted weapons of the fifth Tier? That confirmed his suspicions about this grouping from money. And they certainly did spend it. Tier 5 weapons came with arge price increase, because they usually had an embedded skill. Making a weapon of that caliber usable by a lower Tier only added to the exorbitant price.


    It also gave up the game they were ying at. This group used their weak spirits to lure in teams they felt they could handle, using their superior equipment.


    When Matt brought his sword down to parry the slithering saber, the gauntlet fighternded a clean blow to his ribs.


    He felt the skill activate. It tried to bypass his armor and deal earthquake-like concussive force to his weaker insides. A good anti-armor skill. Unfortunately for the gauntlet fighter, [Cracked Phantom Armor] didnt behave like physical armor. Matts skill stopped the damage in its tracks, letting virtually nothing leak through.


    If they were a true Tier 5 weapon, the gauntlets tremors would have easily disrupted [Cracked Phantom Armor]s structure in his spirit. But weakened as they were for the weilders sake, theycked the power required.


    Matt was knocked back but otherwise unfazed from the firstbination attack. He created an opening against the opposing swordsman by disarming him with a flourish of his longsword, and took advantage with a powerful downward sh.


    The swordsman''s armor was as good as his weapon, so Matt used his full strength. It was a clean strike, but it had only staggered his opponent. The saber user was wearing light armor to maintain freedom of movement and speed, but there were still heavily reinforced sections. Matt was unlucky to hit a particrly well padded section of pauldron.


    He had more essence in his physical core than anyone of his Tier, and while this man''s core was filled to its peak, his physical cultivation paled inparison to Matts at low Tier 4. If it wasn''t for the expensive armor, the opposing swordsmans arm would be dangling off his shoulder by frayed tendons.


    Suddenly, an arrow mmed into his neck from his blind spot. It wasn''t a killing blow, but if [Cracked Phantom Armor] hadn''t stopped it, he wouldve had to leave immediately for emergency treatment. His AI hadn''t even had time to warn him. The information he received after the fact showed that the arrow was shot at Liz, but twisted in the air, making the path unpredictable.


    Matt took his anger out on the saber user, who continued to dance around him. Predicting their next move, he tucked his arm into the side of his body, and threw it out sideways, towards the direction of the swordsmans sh. He easily tanked the blow to his arm, knocking the saber user off bnce in the process, and brought the enchanted de of his longsword down on his opponents exposed hip.


    He felt bone break and saw blood fly, sending the man to the ground, screaming and clutching at his waist.


    Matt didn''t understand the words the man spat at him through his agony, but he definitely understood the venom behind them. He could venture a few guesses at what kind of emphatic curses were sent his way. His AI however, did not consider the words important enough to trante mid-fight.


    The gauntlet user retaliated by tackling Matt to the ground and trying to grapple him. It was a good way to counter heavily armored foes. Armor doesn''t defend against limbs bending in ways they aren''t supposed to.


    The issue with that strategy was that it didn''t ount for Matts superior strength. He was easily able to gain the upper hand with a reversal, and the gauntlet user quickly found themselves in a nasty arm bar. With some leverage generated from a hip thrust, Matt snapped the Republic brawlers arm at the elbow.


    Looking up, Matt saw that Elizabeth had shredded the archer''s armor, and incapacitated them. She was using their blood to batter the wind mage, who was hiding in a bubble of circting air currents.


    Pushing the mage back with blow after blow from bludgeons of blood, it was only a few more moments until Liz got him to step near a puddle of blood. With the trap sprung, Aster froze the puddle over. With one final blow, Liz pushed the mage back onto the frozen blood, and they lost their footing on the slick ice. The wind shield dissipated with their concentration broken, and Liz was quickly able to finish the mage off.


    Matt turned the trantion feature of his AI on and asked, "So where''s our prize?"


    They didn''t receive an answer, and a small spool of thread was thrown to his feet as the lights signaling teleportation enveloped their opponents.


    The vanishing figures made sure to fit in a few yelled curses regarding their lineage as they left. One even referenced some supposed sexual deviancies with various wild beasts.


    Such a beautifulnguage.


    With a chuckle, Liz walked over, with her stolen de slung across her shoulders.


    "Some people just don''t like losing. I didn''t know I was the daughter of a pig fucker."


    Mattughed. "Huh? I''m apparently an otter fucker. I wonder, why an otter though? Seems random."


    Liz had no answer, and they shared a few more wise cracks about the oundish insults.


    The armored blood mage looked around and asked, "Want to head back as well? The auction will be starting in two days. And I''d like to get there a little early."


    Matt weighed the options and agreed, "Sure, most of the rifts have had their first delve done already. Better to sell our loot, and head back out with better gear and an extra skill."


    He had a thought as they were reaching for the beacons. "Wait, do you want to go try and dig up your bag? Now that we arent in any rush to delve, it might be worth a shot."


    Liz perked up "Good idea, I was just gonna hire an earth maniptor to dig it out. Worth a shot to see if we can do it ourselves."


    As they jogged to thendslide, they encountered a standoff.


    "Hold up." As Matt sized up the fighters, he recognized one. It was the mage who had blocked him from entering a rift a while back.


    The mage was battling against a group of Republic delvers.


    From a safe distance, they watched as the battle started. The group of republican delvers was a party of 4. There was a massive man in full te, carrying a mace and shield. The group also had an archer, a mage of some type, and a whip user.


    The lone mage didn''t seem perturbed. As they shed out with a hand, and the same [Mana Spear] that sted Matt shoved the shield-wielding tank back several steps.


    As the archer took aim and loosed an arrow, the mystery mage sidestepped and returned fire with his [Mana Spear]. This one was bigger and faster than the oneunched at the tank. It ripped through the cold air with a scream.


    The weaker [Mana Spear] had staggered the likes of Matt and the tank. This one punched right through the archer. He had dodged, but the st of mana curved slightly to catch him in the side. The now wounded archer fell, and tried to staunch the bleeding from the new hole in his side. After a moment, his band lit up, and he was teleported away.


    While the archer was taken out, The Republic groups mage and tank tried to mount a counter attack together. Using the tank as a shield, the Republic mageunched a steady diet of [Fireball]s at the mystery mage. The whip user tried to use his range advantage to nk their opponent, but being so lightly armored, he was much more worried about dodging the perilous sts than attacking.


    When the armored tank closed within melee distance, Matt expected the mage to retreat. Instead, he shoved a glowing hand at the tank''s shield, and a [Mana Spear] punchedpletely through, denting the tanks heavy armor. The man''s chest te had an indent at least three inches deep. Matt highly doubted that the tanks ribcage was still intact. He was quickly removed by a sh of light, just as his partner before him.


    The remaining two of the Republic group held up their hands, and were gone in a sh, retreating with their injured teammates.


    The victorious mage turned their head to Matt, Liz, and Aster. The trio took a step back. They didn''t need to talk to know this was a fight they couldn''t win.


    Matts AI was giving him feedback, and had calcted an eighty percent chance of the mages [Mana Spear] punching right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] at full power. They wanted no parts of this fight, and Matt began nning a way to cover Liz and Asters retreat. If the mage showed the slightest inkling of hostile intent, he would do whatever it took to protect them. Battle ns were running through his AI and transferring to Liz''s as fast as his mana throughput would allow.


    Their sense of dread was for naught, as the mage turned, and entered the nearby Tier 5 rift.


    Letting out a sigh of relief, Liz said, "Well, shit. He sure hit like a truck. Peak Tier 5 if my spiritual sense was right."


    Matt hadn''t been able to get that clear of a scan, but he didn''t need one to know the mystery mage was stronger than him. He had already been beaten once. He didnt need a second example of their power.


    They finished their jog to thendslide in silence. Matt was busy contemting what he could possibly do to fight an opponent so much stronger, but wasing up nk. If he was so outssed, only relying on [Cracked Phantom Armor] to stop the blow was suicide.


    With their spirits a little dampened from being humbled, they arrived at thendslide, and started to dig where their AIs approximated the bag to be. After an hour of digging, they came up with nothing and called it quits. Even with Liz burning through mana to dig with a blood scoop, the radius provided by the AIs was too wide topletely cover.


    Deciding to cut their losses, they activated their non-emergency teleport beacons and waited. Matt had a thought and mentioned, "Oh, I have guild-level ess to the auction, so we won''t have to pay the full fees. That''ll be nice."


    Intrigued, Liz asked Matt to exin, leading to a quick synopsis of how his mana donations had helped to start the teleports early.


    Liz whistled at that information. "When I was in line, I heard the higher ups in the guild were super happy about that. A full day''s head start on the Republic means more first delves, which means better loot. Damn, we need to take advantage of that. Gotta see if we can get out ahead of the second wave."


    That made Matt smile. Liz clearly intended to keep their coboration up. He was going to suggest it after they split the profits of their loot, but it was good to already know her mind was on the same track.


    They worked well together. He was able to keep enemies off of her, allowing her to build up blood reserves, until she was like a tidal wave, crushing all that stood against them.


    They weren''t a perfect team, but they were a good one. If it meant delving more rifts faster, what was the point of disrupting something that was clearly working?


    They had already encountered rifts thatpletely countered one or the other. Matt with flying creatures, and Elizabeth with creaturescking the blood she needed to supplement her powers. The only thing really hampering them was the mana cost to Liz''s skills. Even with her quickly converting mana stones, they were only able to delve two or three rifts before the mental strain wore her down.


    When they were teleported back to the city, they arrived on a tform covered in blood.


    The team of medics looked up, and seeing they were standing on their own power, went back to their screaming patient with severed legs. The healers were trying to reattach them, but there was a corrosive green liquid eating into the severed ends.


    Matt, Aster, and Liz quickly stepped off the tform. Secondster, a mechanical voice said, "Emergency transfer iing. Party of five"


    As they were exiting, Matt received a message from Simeon. ''d to see youre back. If you have time, the higher-ups are willing to give full guild level ess to the rift information weve umted, in exchange for another ''donation''.''


    Matt ryed the offer to Liz, and she deemed it was fair. They would be spending a few days in the city for the auction and skill exchange anyway. He agreed with her reasoning, and replied to Simeon. He wrote that he would be avable tonight, after they settled their rewards.


    When they arrived at the processing building, the line was so long that it wrapped around the building twice.


    Liz took one look at the debacle and said, "Ok, Mr. Mana. See if your guy can get us through this line. Well be waiting for half the day at this rate."


    Matt sent a view of the line, and Simeon quickly granted them ess to the guild VIP appraisers. It was on the second floor, and they felt the res digging holes into their backs as they bypassed the line.


    Once upstairs, they found an open booth. After a few minutes, they pulled out their rewards for the appraiser for when they sat down.


    Matt hadn''t realized that they had found so much loot until it was allid out on the table. The bathtub sized pocket space in his bag was stuffed with rift rewards. The weight wasn''t heavy enough for him to notice the difference. An extra sixty pounds was no strain at all on his Tier 4 physique.


    The clerk was pleasant enough, and sorted out the goods into piles for the appraiser to verify. When he was done, they waited for the appraiser to finish with the table next to theirs.


    When she was finally finished, and sat down in front of them, she said, "My name is Emily, Tier 8. Appraiser with 40 years of experience in rift items. If you have questions about my assessment, please feel free to have a second or third party verify anything you wish."


    Matt also received a packet of information through his AI, verifying what she had told them.


    She quickly went through the crafting supplies they had umted, and offered a price of forty Tier 6 mana stones. They were only ten mana stones away from a Tier 7. A fantastic reward, even when split in half.


    When Emily came to the items, things got a little more detailed. She took her time, reviewing every item carefully with a variety of tools.


    The dagger they had found turned out to amplify wind attacks channeled through it. Useful, but not amazing. The biggest selling point was that it was a Tier 4 weapon with a skill amplification. Neither of them wanted the dagger, so they gave it to Emily to add to the auction.


    Next up, the ne Matt had found in the zombie rift. Emily said it was a weak spell of underwater breathing. Essentially, it wouldst around twenty minutes, independent of mana expenditure, before the wearer had to surface..


    It was useless on this, but could be worth a decent sum on a water world. The only issue with this particr reward was that it was a bound item. Once it was activated, it was permanently tied to the user, and would only work for that person. That greatly lowered its value. To the auction it went.


    The earrings they found at the trap rift were determined to bepletely mundane. The promation made Matt grit his teeth, but he tried to keep a smile on his face. He barely seeded.


    He sent Liz a message through his AI as they exchanged a nce, Onest fuck you from that damn rift, huh?


    The boots they found had a feather fall enchantment, which slowed downward momentum. They would be useful, but the boots were a smaller size than either of their feet. Erging the item had the chance to break the enchantment, so they decided to put it on the auction.


    The second tost item was one Matt and Liz were confident was worth a hefty price. It was a wand that felt exceptionally powerful. Emily''s assessment agreed with their prior notion. The wand would lower the cost of any ranged magic spells, regardless of affinity. It was a proper Tier 5 weapon, and they were confident it would rope a few interested parties into a bidding war.


    The final item was the reward Matt had received from the office rift, when he fought the second boss. The intertwined pair of rings. This item took much longer to analyze than the previous ones. Emily went through every tool she had, and finally just gave the rings a nk stare, before shifting her gaze towards them.


    "I need to get my manager to confirm what these are. One moment please." With that, she hurried to the back through a door behind the booth, and left Matt and Liz to ponder what her actions meant. Matt hoped this was a good sign. Maybe he could sell these items for another skill.


    He felt at them with his AI and spiritual sense, but the rings only felt wispy to his senses. If Emily couldn''t get anything through her expertise and array of tools, how could he possibly find anything meaningful through his own senses?


    When she returned, Emily came with a woman who had slight wrinkles around her eyes. "Tina Tier 15." That was all the woman said, before taking Emily''s seat and going through the same routine.


    When Tina had finally finished her appraisal, she addressed them with a stern look and said, "This is a mighty fine reward. These are a bound pair of rings. They let the wearers swap ces and teleport short distances."


    Matt wanted to jump and cheer; there was no way he was going to sell these. Teleporting was rare until the skill shard [Side Slide] appeared in Tier 20 rifts. Let alone proper [Teleport]. Being a Tier 44 skill, Matt could go a thousand years without even a whiff of it.


    Tina pressed her lips and leaned in. "That''s not all. As far as I can tell, they are mana expensive to use. Somewhere near a thousand mana to swap ces on base, and double that for a teleport of a few feet. The mana cost after that would increase exponentially every foot."


    That crushed Matt''s dreams. That was a lot of mana. Enough that most cultivators wouldnt be able to use the rings effectively.


    He hopefully asked, "That can be stored, yes? It doesn''t have to be the full cost... Right?" it was his only hope of being able to use them.


    That earned a surprised look from Tina''s, but she remained professional when she answered. "Of course, it can be pre-charged. That''s one of the aspects of rift items that makes them so valuable. It also can be charged with mana stones or personal mana. That''s because this is... she cleared her throat softly, and whispered, This is a growth item."


    That didn''t mean anything to Matt, but Liz rocked back like she had been pped.


    She quickly leaned in to ask, "How sure are you?"


    Tina seemed offended at the suggestion and said, "I''m confident."


    Liz leaned in as well, quickly scooping up the rings. She whispered, "We''ll be logging a formal notification of a growth item with the Empire systems. And well be attaching your names as the verifiers."


    Neither appraiser seemed thrilled at the deration, but they showed no signs of protest either.


    Liz continued, "Also, we need this skill shard verified as a [Puddle Jumper]."


    They did so, and Liz brusquely dragged Matt out of the room.


    When they were outside, Matt tried to get some answers out of Liz, but was quickly hushed. She looked around then asked, "We have to go fill the mana. Where is that? Let''s go. No questions till we can get inside."


    Matt trusted her enough to stay quiet and lead her to the room he went to before, in the town center.


    When the three of them were safely inside, Liz scoured the room for listening devices, even checking under the chair.


    "Wha-"


    "Shhhh!"


    Matt stood quiet, until Liz slumped against the door, and an AI message popped up in his field of vision.


    ''No talking about this out loud. This is important.''


    He nodded, and sat down to start filling the crystal with mana. He kept it at 10 mana a second, just likest time. No reason to advertise his abilitys growth per Tier.


    ''Ok. So this is a fairly big deal. Growth items aren''t super rare, but they are special. Theyre all bound items, and expensive as hell to grow. It''s also the reason that trainings are left for so long to umte essence. That ups the odds for one of them to appear massively. Dual Stars probably <em>only </em>pull ten or so growth items a decade. Who knows how many others people get and keep to themselves.''


    ''Most growth items only shine after a few upgrades. Thats why it''s so expensive to upgrade them. Rare resources, and a shit load of essence. Still, its worth it. Theyre like a skill that grows <em>with </em>you. You''ll never get a fire sword to aspect to water, but they can cover a weakness. The only other catch is, once theyre bound, they break with the death of the person.''


    ''Weapons and armor are the most desirable, but support items have their advantages as well. Growth weapons and armor reign supreme at the higher Tiers, but the support items are generally useful at all Tiers, minus the spike at the top.''


    ''Following?''


    Matt agreed with a nod, and she continued, ''Theyre usually bought up by the rich to give to their kids. It''s a safety measure. While theyre expensive to upgrade and expensive to buy, they can be a cornerstone of a fighting style, or a life-saving treasure. But from what I understand, a lot of base growth items are weaker than something the average person can buy, because the upgrade requirements are so rare and expensive.''


    Matt followed that to the logical conclusion, ''But support items don''t have that problem. It''s not a sword or armor thats being used to fight.''


    ''Exactly, and that''s what makes them so valuable. It''s a lot easier to get Tier 14 materials when you are Tier 15 or 16, but by then, a sword would have lost most of its value. At least until you could rank it up, then it would out ss everything at its Tier. The rub is how difficult it is to get upgrade materials at your tier from equivalent rifts''


    Support growth items are amazing regardless of Tier, because you don''t <em>have </em>to upgrade them. It''s a good thing the mana cost is storable on the rings. Its so high, it would have cancelled out a lot of the advantages of a teleport skill.


    Matt paused at that and sent, ''Yeah, but I don''t have that problem. I can fill 1000 mana pretty quickly.''


    Liz just nodded at that.


    Matt became lost in thought, and Liz left him to it, preupying herself by petting Aster while he considered the possibilities.


    ''What would this sell for? Here and the open Empire market?''


    ''Hard to say. Itd be a lot though. Maybe a few Tier 20 mana stones. While it is a Tier 4 item, it''s useful for everyone up until the 30''s. Even then, it''s still useful for the swap ability, as it could get someone out of danger.''


    Matt stared hard at the small and silvery interlocking bands thaty in his hand. They would be amazing to use, but he couldn''t use them alone. That meant the best option was to sell them, and buy a skill or two to round out his repertoire.


    The more he marinated on the thought, the more he hated that option. Skills were nice, and the right ones wouldst him a lifetime, but this was a chance at something different. Something unique.


    All the best delvers had special advantages that they leveraged into greatness. Whether it be their Talents, or a lucky skill, they made it big with whatever opportunities they were presented with. They didn''t sell their advantages. They took what they found, and pressed it for every bit of advancement they could.


    Another part of him whispered that at the same time, he also had no idea of the number of delvers that took the same risk and paid for it. More often than not, leaps of faith lead to early deaths, instead of long, prosperous lives.


    Maybe he was misguided by arrogance from his prowess with [Cracked Phantom Armor], but he felt like this was a risk he was able to take.


    He looked to the blood mage leaning against the wall. She had helped him, even when she had no stake in these rings. She could have let him sell them for far less than they were worth.


    He thought through theirst week of interactions, and all about how they were able to fight andugh together. They made a good team.


    Matt knew the logical choice wasn''t the right one. The safe bet was to sell the skill, and get a high Tiered, channeling attack spell but...


    Matt made his decision.


    He held the bound rings out to Elizabeth.


    She looked honestly shocked when the second ring was dangled in front of her.


    ''This is too much. I really can''t take it.''


    Matt had already thought of that, so he sent the message his AI had prepared.


    A momentter, she grasped the growth item offered to her, and when they each pushed essence into their interlocking rings, they separated.


    The pair both put on their newly bonded rings. Pushing his sense into the ring, Matt had a faint impression of where its twin was located on Liz''s finger. Before he could get lost in exploring the connection, he received the message confirming that Elizabeth Moore had epted his invitation to form a permanent party.


    "Welp." Liz seemed stunned, "I guess that means were in it for the long hall. Hitched together like a horse and a wagon going off a cliff."


    Matt wasn''t sure he liked that expression. It was very morbid.


    Then she smiled. "Oh! Now I get to see what your Talent actually is."


    There was a pause, and she cocked her head as she looked at him.


    "That''s absurd. At that rate, you''ll make..." Her eyes flicked back and forth. "Way too much mana. You realize you''ll have more mana at the one percent mark than most mages have after Tier 25, right?. And once you get to Tier 12 or 13, you''ll be able to transition to a full mage build..."


    She trailed off, contemted him with an exaggerated re and said, "I''d like to file aint with the heavens."


    "And your skill. How do you have that? Did your sponsors suck off the Emperor? That is not a low Tiered skill. What?"


    Matt had to re-exin the situation at Benny''s, and Liz just shook her head at his story. "Yeah, they were dumb to think it was a useless skill. Even a normal mage could use it for a few minutes. Even if it wasn''t a core skill, and a little less efficient. But damn, it synergizes well with your Talent."


    Matt examined her profile, while smiling at her continued threats to lock him in a box and sell him as an unlimited mana source.


    Name: Elizabeth Moore.


    Age: 17.


    Bloodline: Phoenix. Grade: High. Purity: High.


    Tier 1 Talent: All skills brought into the Core Spirit or Inner Spirit gain blood aspect.


    Tier 3 Talent: One with blood. Grows with Tier.


    Skills: [Blood Maniption].


    The world was truly unfair. She had said her mother was a me Sparrow. Bloodline of the Phoenix, what bullshit was that? And it was both high grade and high purity, which meant it gave even more advantages. Though he didn''t know what the phoenix bloodline gave on base, as a peak fire creature, it was guaranteed to be strong.


    He sent Liz his best re. She didn''t even have the decency to look sheepish.


    "You say I''m broken?" he hissed. That only served to erge her grin. "And what about your mother being a me Sparrow? I remember that being explicitly stated. My AI noted it down."


    "I said she <em>was </em>a me Sparrow, if you assumed I meant she evolved to only have a human form, that''s on you."


    Matt wanted to pull out his hair.


    "Just how strong are your parents? I had assumed around Tier 20. But now I don''t know."


    "Does it matter? I''d rather not say. It has nothing to do with me. I''m on The Path to escape that exact situation. People just assume Im nothing more than my parents'' Tier."


    There was heat in her voice, and it brought Matt up short. After thinking it over, he understood. He wouldn''t want to have every aplishment credited to someone else, just because they gave birth to you.


    That didn''t mean he wouldn''t give her shit about it.


    "Ok, miss double high."


    That got a blush out of her. "Well, ok. That has its advantages, and is from them. But I didn''t ask for it!"


    "What does the second one actually mean?" Matt wanted to be vague out loud, but Liz understood what he was asking, and sent him a message exining.


    ''My Tier 3 lowers the mana cost of all blood skills and makes them easier to cast and control. It''s not much right now, only a few percent, but it helps. And its also like a crappy version of [Regeneration]. I heal slowly from pretty much anything that doesn''t kill me. It''s just really slow. So slow it''s useless at this Tier.''


    ''It''s also the reason I can absorb other people''s blood. It changes to my blood type, which is easier to manipte.''


    Matt ran his hand over his face. He thought Melinda had the most absurdbination of Talents, but maybe Liz might beat her out.


    ''What about the skill?''


    ''Oh, that was a gift from my sponsor. It was originally [Water Maniption]''


    Matt peeked through his hand at the smug blood user sitting against the wall. His head hurt.


    He decided to change the topic. "So what do you want to trade the [Puddle Jumper] for?"


    Liz sat up, and spilled the napping Aster out of herp, inciting some yips of annoyance.


    "I want [Create Water]. It''s a fairly cheap skill that should show up here. Not too many people take it, as a canteen can nearly do the same. Only water mages, or me."


    Matt understood what her idea was, and was impressed. It was simr to what he was doing. Take a skill most overlooked or couldn''t use, but change the paradigm, and make it strong.


    [Create Water] would be [Create Blood] with her Talent, and would cover her weakness of needing to slowly siphon blood from her enemies.


    "Think we can get both for one [Puddle Jumper]?"


    Liz wasying on her back, half-heartedly trying to grab Aster, who kept just out of reach. "Probably. The skill exchange takes ce after the auction, so we''ll have some mana stones to cover the difference, if needed. It''s a near-flight skill so..."


    Theyzily watched movies while Matt fed the crystal half a million mana.


    Liz could have left and done the shopping she needed to do but stayed.


    There was a closeness growing between them that forming a party had only solidified. This wasn''t a temporary team-up, but a near-permanent one. A leap of faith into a buddingradery.


    Matt could feel it in the air, and it felt nice.


    Warm.


    Comfortable.

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20


    They sat there for half a day, napping and dosing as they could. When Matt wasn''t resting, he was tenaciously researching, displeased with the clear gap in knowledge between Liz and himself. Thecking LocalNet of this barren training was a hindrance, however. It only had a pittance of informationpared to a normal CityNet.


    Once Matt had finished filling the city''s mana reserves with the promised amount, they proceeded to the guilds general store. Prices were absurd. Double or triple the cost, due to theck of a supply chain other than rift loot. The portal that brought everyone here was deactivated for the next six months.


    On the bright side, that scarcity hadnt affected any items Liz needed. Her standards, however, were another story entirely. They were sky high, and nothing avable seemed to satisfy her.


    The best options they had were picked at until they all seemed substandard. All of the gear disyed was smallpared to her previous, state of the art equipment. They obviously had nothing of the sort on this training, and Matt was losing patience with Lizs indecision.


    Hefinally had to say something ,Ok. You clearly don''t think this stuff is good enough. Why not get a small spatial bag and the bare necessities, and we can get ess to more stuff when we leave. Then you don''t have to give yourself an aneurysm from nitpicking so hard. And if we get lucky, well find someone with an earth sense or mover skill while we''re still here. We might still be able to get your old items back.


    Liz was slightly taken aback at Matts mild tone of annoyance. I''m not that bad. Am I?


    Matt ignored her, and grabbed the smallest spatial bag avable. He understood her frustration, but what could they do? The small bag was only a quarter of the size of his, and cost ten times as much. This was basically highway robbery, but they needed the gear.


    Liz finally settled on the small bag and begrudgingly gathered the other necessities that Matt didn''t have already. The only thing he was surprised she purchased was a harvesting set and containers.


    She insisted that her original set was superior in every way. The way she was hyping them up, Matt wondered if they made soup as well.


    He figured they might. He hadnt pressed her on her parents Tier, but he figured around Tier 30. At that level, who knew what kind of connections her family had? The harvesting set might grill steaks and clean the dishes at that Tier. With that kind of power, the possibilities were endless.


    Tier 30 was mind boggling high, so high he couldn''t really fathom the kind of power Lizs parents were operating with. He had seen a few video duels of high Tiered individuals, and they were world shaking.


    He had even looked up what he could have Phoenix''s, to try and get a better sense of Lizs potential future. There was only one well known Phoenix, and she was The Queen of Beasts. An absolute monster at Tier 48, she had subjugated all other monsters, including the dragons who had fought her for the throne.


    The fight had been recorded, albeit from a distance. Mara was the undisputed winner of the free for all.


    She cut her way through beasts Tiers higher than her. In fact, she was the lowest Tiered royalty to ever ascend to the throne. Her ascension at Tier 39 had shocked the Empire, nearly a thousand years ago. Mara had taken her throne a few weeks earlier than when the current Emperor had ascended to power, allowing his father to ascend to the higher realms.


    Mara was now at Tier 48, and was considered the second or third strongest royalty. First was the Emperor at Tier 50, then Mara the Phoenix, Queen of Monsters and Evolved Humans. Tied with her for second ce was Leon The Storm. He was a Tier 48 storm mage. An incredibly challenging affinity to master, it was abination of lightning, water, and wind magic with devastating power.


    Fourth ce was Rusty, a melee fist-fighter at a solid Tier 47. Matt had found a video of him at Tier 6, using his signature [Fist st] to break throughyers of armor in a tournament championship bout. At his current Tier, he was said to be able to shatters with a blow from that same skill.


    The fifth royalty was Tur''stal, from a tribe in what was once a backwater desert. She was named ''burden'' in her native tongue, because she was the smaller, weaker twin. Unwanted and discarded, she was picked up by a wandering group of exiles, and given a second chance. Her Tier 1 Talent was legendarily vague; nts loved her. Useless to a desert world. Her Tier 3 was absolutely mind-blowing. Wherever she spent an extended period of time, the world around her warped into her ideal image.


    She brought life to the desert, and slowly terraformed the entire. Matt couldn''t find anybat footage about her, but she reportedly was deadly. The limited LocalNet had extremely limited literature regarding her fighting style. The only bit Matt could scrounge up was a small blurb of her having nature fight for her.


    The sixth royalty, Harper, was a Tier 47 Mage who specialized in [Telekinesis]. It was their Tier 1 Talent, and they never bothered to get anything else. The one skill wrecking ball was aplete unknown. Gender, age, marital status, of origin, allplete mysteries. It all could only be spected on, as they only talked through their AI and a speaker. On top of that, no one had ever seen Harper without the full coverings they always wore. From what Matt read on them, they were to be considered a contender for the second spot on the royalty list, once they broke through into Tier 48.


    Matt was locked out of any more specific details, as his Tier was too low, and the LocalNets public information was much too limited.


    He did make it a point to watch Mara in action, assuming Liz''s mother would just be a watered down version. The same breed of monster should fight in simr ways, just with a difference in Tier and power. Besides, she was the sole royalty that had live battle footage, and a Tier 39 fighting against stronger monsters was nothing, if not good entertainment.


    The footage was <em>terrifying</em>.


    If Liz''s mother had even the smallest fraction of Mara''s power, Matt wanted to be absolutely sure that he was on her good side.


    Mara had been cut in half, crushed, andpletely obliterated several times during the video. Every time she reformed, it was at peak condition, and she was ruthless to those who had the gall to attack her.


    She had won her throne by ousting everyone else. By burning her opponents to the very ash she reformed from.


    Matt, like everyone else in The Empire, spected on who was stronger, Mara or Leon. Leon was almost a perfect counter to a fire user, but Matt couldn''t find a video of the man fighting no matter what he searched up. He assumed that to be a King himself, Leon must be at least equally strong, but Matt had seen the Phoenix burn<em></em>a <em>water </em>monster half to death.


    Matt looked at the redheadparing two types of alchemy containers, and wondered if she would be like that someday.


    He corrected himself. She''d be a blood Phenix. It was hard to imagine.


    As the first generation daughter of a Phoenix, with a pure bloodline, Liz said she would be able to take a monster form once she reached Tier 15.


    Apparently, her mother had beseeched Mara herself to check on Elizabeth when her Talent was discovered. They were told it would be fine, but Liz had confided in Matt that she was still nervous about it.


    He couldn''t believe that she had met a Queen in the flesh. When he asked her what it was like, Liz had shrugged, and said she seemed normal enough. Almost as if you could pass her on the street without knowing. Mara had a well-known soft spot for the young, and especially other Phoenix''s, so she had answered Liz''s mother''s request.


    At first he had refused to believe her, until he thought over his encounter with the Emperor. He had seemed more like a kind uncle than a walking disaster in human form.


    Matt looked to Aster, who was mentally pushing him to open the ice cream container in the cart he was pushing. Would she be like Mara someday, ruling over all other monsters? He could easily picture Aster with the haughty airs of a queen, but that power seemed so far away.


    Smiling down at the white fluff, he promised himself he would find out.


    ***


    Matt was sitting on the couch, feet on the coffee table. Liz was sitting across from him with crossed legs, tapping at her newly purchased pad.


    "I think we should try and be sellers on the skill exchange. It will force any who want our skill to figure out the logistics of getting both [Create Water] and [Mages Retreat]. We have the rarer skill, so we can get away with putting the burden on the buyer."


    Matt had his eyes closed, slouched deep into the cushions. "Wouldn''t that drive up the price, though?"


    "Maybe. Ehhh. Probably, but it''s an exchange, so it''s hard to say, ''hey, I''d like credits as well. If you want that, you just submit it into the auction. We lose a little, but we avoid the potential of a bidding war. We don''t have the cash reserves to fight it out with the Tier 5''s of the rich and famous."


    That made Matt grin, eyes still closed. "Does that make you regret joining The Path?"


    "Nope! This is part of what makes it fun. We scrape and pinch every credit, but it forces adaption and creativity."


    She stretched her hands in the air and flopped to the floor with a thud.


    "Are you ready for the auction tonight?"


    Matt groaned at her question. She had insisted they go to the auction in person. There was a feed they''d be able to watch from their AI''s or pads, and Matt wouldve been content to just lounge around and watch from their room.


    He simply didn''t see a reason to leave theirfy suite. Liz burst his bubble, and insisted they go in person, saying, ''that was how it was done.'' And higher Tiered auctions didn''t allow remote viewing, so he should get used to it.


    A part of him thought it was just an excuse to show off the clothes she had bought.


    It wasn''t all bad; Matt was excited to see the other items people put up for auction. And seeing Liz in her tight new body suit wouldnt hurt either. She had a fuller figure than Jasmine. He was still a man and could acknowledge the reality, but he didn''t have any intention to act on it. He pushed that thought out of his mind. Team romance was a terrible idea, casual or otherwise.


    He shifted focus back to the auction. If their own items were the average, he might luck into a Longsword with a ranged skill.


    The first delves happened when the trainings umted essence was at its peak, and thus the first weeks auction had the best possible gear.


    Still, all of that essence wasn''t immediately used during the first delve. No, for the next few months, all kinds of exotic rewards would be plentiful. It was the reason the was only active for six months. Just enough time to squeeze the best rewards out of the rifts. But still, the rifts at the peak of their essence build up seemed to yield rewards that were ever so slightly better.


    That small difference in quality was enough that nearly everyone came back after the initial rush. It was standard practice on a training to sell and barter with the first weeks items.


    Matt and Liz had already walked through the cksmith and alchemist areas to check their wares. They were possibly even more excited for tonight''s auction than the delvers.


    Those crafters who came to trainings did so to obtain as many high quality materials of their Tier as they could. They would spend fortunes to push their boundaries, and hopefully have a breakthrough.


    The trade professions didn''t just need essence to advance, but to also hone their skills. If they created a work greater than their Tier, they could advance on the spot. It was a rare urrence, but it could be done when given the resources of a training world. Normally it was hard to obtain the materials needed to even have a chance, but not here.


    On this there were thousands of people at various Tiers, eager to fight for and bring back those same materials. With the trainings Tier cap, this was the perfect chance for crafters to buy up the rare goods, and use them to craft a Tier advancing item.


    The air of advancement was palpable throughout the city.


    Even with groups losing members, or people walking around waiting for limbs to be regrown, Matt had mostly seen smiles.


    What was an arm or a leg when you got a new skill?


    Matt would take that trade.


    As they arrived at the auction hall, Matt used his VIP status to bypass the lines and get a room on the third floor. They didn''t immediately go to the room, but instead mingled and chatted with the others who were selling valuable items.


    Matt was impressed with the ambience... Only the best items were auctioned here, and the clientele lived up to the prestige as well. The moremon or mundane items just went to the digital auctions or in instant buyout stores, as did the more mundane delvers.


    The Dual Stars were taking a five percent transaction fee for all purchases in their stores. It was interesting to hear the peopleining about such a small fee. Liz had said some ces charged double that as a starting fee.


    They avoided that problem with Matt''s ''donation'' of mana. This auction wasn''t run by the guild, so they still had to eat the five percent handling fee, but it was the best way to get exposure for their items.


    What shouldn''t have surprised Matt, but did, was how at ease Elizabeth was in the crowds of affluent people. She mingled as if it was her Talent, and had small talk ready for everyone who visited their cocktail table.


    She was in a simple back ensemble that looked more like a garment to wear under full armor than something formal, but she assured him that it was the style now. He was wearing a simrly stylized body suit, which he found somehow lessfortable than his usual under armor wear.


    Most of the people who visited their table were young men of a certain mind. They had various methods of inviting her to their table, room, team, or as one particrly arrogant Tier 5 tried, a closet.


    Matt had been astonished at the tant arrogance and disrespect he had shown them. He was about to escort the man away, when he noticed a change in Lizs demeanor.


    The weing aura she once had vanished, now reced with vitriol and power that radiated off her like heat waves from a fire.


    The man had tried to sputter something about his father, but the aura from Liz wilted him and, after a moment, he slunk away.


    "What was that? He looked like you kicked his puppy."


    Liz''s smile was back on, and in between pleasantries exined.


    "That little puppy was trying to use his bloodline to pressure me."


    That almost brought Matt''s eyebrows into his hair.


    Liz continued, "Well, pressure me is the wrong idea. Kinda. Stronger bloodlines are attractive to people who think that matters. So he felt part of my bloodline, and thought he could wow me into his bed."


    Sheughed slightly at that. "I''m not sure what his lineage is, but it''s weak in him at best. So weak he could barely sense my own bloodline, and probably thought that meant it was beneath his. Little did he know, he could barely sense it because mine is so far above his."


    Matt took note of what she said as he fended off the people who couldn''t talk to Liz. He tried to imitate her candor and disposition, but from the disgruntled looks and terse conversations, he wasn''t nearly as good.


    He had never dealt with this much attention. He was ignored at Benny''s, and while on the yPen, people never tried to weasel agreements out of him during casual conversations. This was new territory, and he felt like he was dancing to a tunen that kept changing the moment he began to grasp it.


    When he voiced his displeasure to Liz, she justughed and said, "You''ll get better the more we do this."


    The wicked smile on her face told Matt that his suggestion of her handling the parties from now on wouldn''t work.


    Aster, on the other hand, had more than her fair share of admirers. And to Matt, she felt much more in control of her situation than he was. Being outdone by his fox felt like being kicked when he was down.


    Finally, the auction started, and everyone headed to their rooms, or the general floor.


    When they were seated, they found a pad, and waited for the start of the event.


    It started with a woman in an elegant dressing out and taking the stage.


    "Wee to the first auction of this decade''s training cycle."


    A round of cheers followed her deration.


    The auctioneer smiled, and let the crowd work themselves up for a few moments.


    Her voice cut through the noise as she said, "I am your auctioneer tonight. Susan, Tier 12, with the Yellow Feathers Auction Houses."


    Liz quietly said, "Theyre a pretty big auctionpany. Not the best, but one of the moremon on Tier 25s and under."


    He nodded to show he heard, and continued to intently listen to Susan.


    "Tonight, we have many fine items. Both rift rewards, and the fine works of our resident crafters."


    Another smaller cheer broke out.


    Susan smiled. "With that, let the auction begin."


    A podium rose from the ground in front of her, and a burly man in only a loincloth and oil came out with a sword and shield. He went through several forms, and then turned to face the crowd with the items out for disy.


    Matt heard a ''mmm'' from Liz, and just rolled his eyes.


    "This first item is a Tier 5 sword and shield paired item, with the skill [Increase] on both. It allows the user to double the size of the items for a few moments."


    At that, the man activated the items and proved her point. The de thickened and lengthened with extensions made of mana.. The shield did the same, gray projections erging the protective area greatly.


    "Bidding starts at five Tier 5 mana stones."


    The biddingsted for several minutes, and culminated into a bidding war between a man on the top floor shouting his bid, and someone using the pads to remain anonymous.


    The man on the top floor won the item, to cheers from the others in his suite.


    "Up next, we have a rift pendant that has the innate ability to reduce fire damage to the user. It also increases the duration of nt-based skills by a few seconds."


    This time, an oiled woman came out, with the pendant draped between her barely covered breasts.


    Matt let out a soft whistle. It was in part to mock Liz, and also out of pure appreciation. She just chuckled at his antics. Still, Matt made a mental note to see if he could find the pretty auction helper, when the event was finished.


    He had to chuckle at the thought, because anyone who was attracted to women would be trying their luck as well. If the cocktail hour they had to survive was any indication, he felt like that would be a good portion of the people at the auction.


    Susan continued on, with all kinds of interesting items being disyed. Matt got the sense that the crafted items were well thought out and strong, but the rift items were all kinds of random odds and ends.


    There were even a few weirdbinations of effects and skills that made some items nearly useless.


    One that caught his eye was a pair of heavy gauntlets that increase the uracy of bow shots.


    A crafter bought it, apparently with the intention of trying his hand at transferring the enchantment. Liz had just scoffed at the woman for trying to grab at the stars''.


    At her skepticism, looked up the odds of a sessful skill transfer. He found that at Tier 15, there was a five percent chance of sess for items under Tier 10.


    He had to agree with her. It seemed incredibly unlikely.


    Maybe she has a skill or Talent that will help.


    The next item also caught Matt''s attention, albeit for a different reason. It was one of theirs. The ne of underwater breathing.


    A different but equally scantily d woman was wheeled out, with the ne sitting on an equally robust bosom. She waspletely submerged in a ss container filled with water.


    She surfaced so that the ne and her chest were above water, and waved at the cheering crowd.


    The sheer cloth clinging to her curves did about as much to grab their attention as the thin metal band she was wearing around her neck.


    Matt panicked. "That''s a bound item! Why is she wearing it?"


    He was about to jump out of his chair in protest, when Liz grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.


    "Rx, she isn''t using the ne to breathe underwater. It''s probably the clip in her hair. It''s a tactic to show off an item, even when it''s bound."


    Matt felt his heart slow as the auctioneer said,"This is a Tier 4 rift ne of underwater breathing. You have fifteen to twenty minutes of time underwater, and it is a bound item. Starting price of six Tier 4 mana stones."


    It was quiet for a moment, and Matt leaned forward, begging someone to start bidding.


    From a higher floor, he heard "Ten."


    That opened the floodgates. At the end of the frenzy, another bidding war between two women broke out. They spat pure vitriol at each other between bids. They clearly had history, and through whatever ill will each beared towards the other, the final selling price soared to two Tier 5 mana stones.


    Matt was so ecstatic, he almost acted on the urge to sing and dance. He settled for picking Aster up, and coercing her into a little jig in his seat.


    He wanted to go down and thank the auctioneer and the woman in the tank personally. Hell, he wanted to thank everyone at the auction.


    That was their worst item, and its final sale price was a full Tier higher than its ranking.


    Liz seemed happy, but was more so trying not tough at his antics than surprised at the sale.


    "I thought that might happen."


    He looked at her. "Really? You know them?"


    "Nope, but I talked to people, remember? One of the rumors was of a Tier 5 rift that has massive underwater sections, and no one''s been able toplete it. That''s why small talk is valuable. Next time, don''t just grunt at people, and you might learn some juicy gossip as well."


    Matt tried to defend himself. "I didn''t <em>just </em>grunt at people."


    His protest fell on deaf ears, as Liz turned her head back to the auction.


    The next item left a sour taste in his mouth.


    "Here, we have a mirror that can change the location of your spirit presence, or remove it altogether." The auction helper came out in strategically ced, camouge body paint. When he was standing in the center of the stage, he wiggled the palm sized mirror. To Matts spirit sense, he was seemingly teleported around the stage, but to his eyes, the helper hadnt moved at all.


    The bidding was fast and rabid. Matt looked to Liz, who clearly had the same thought. That item sounded suspiciously like the mirror from the worthless trap rift.


    It hurt him to watch as the mirror that could have been theirs sold for forty seven Tier 5 mana stones.


    A few itemster, their dagger came out. The burly auction helper who brought it out used it in several wind and shing attacks.


    "This is a Tier 4 rift dagger with a thirty percent amplification of wind spells. Both mages and dagger users will find this a desirable item. Starting bid of one Tier 5 mana stone."


    Matt couldn''t contain himself, and pumped his fist in the air.


    The final price of nine Tier 5 mana stones nearly killed him.


    A few itemster, a spear was brought out. Yet another attractive and barely dressed auction helperpleted his customary flips and attacks, as Susan introduced the item. "This is a Tier 5 rift spear that will cause wounds from the de to bleed longer than usual. Starting bid of one Tier 5 mana stone."


    Matt knew what the effect meant, and saw Liz already out of her seat and at the window, loudly calling out, "Five Tier 5."


    That started another bidding war, which Liz won with a final bid of two Tier 6 mana stones.


    When the gavel struck twice, a voice called out "Five Tier 6."


    That brought Matt''s attention to a far box one level higher. It was the man with the weak bloodline who had propositioned Liz earlier.


    Matt knew things were going to get out of hand when Liz mmed her hand on the railing and shouted, "Twenty five Tier 6."


    With an arrogant grin, the man leaned forward and said, "Twenty five Tier 6 and one Tier 1."


    He was so smug, that even Matt wanted to punch him in the face.


    Liz took it far worse. "You arrogant little fuck. I''m goin..." She shook her fist at him and growled, "One Tier 7."


    The man''s grin seemed to almost split his face in half. "One Tier 7 and one Tier 1."


    At that, there was some grumbling from the other boxes. This was him tantly trying to drive the price up. While it wasn''t against the rules, it was frowned upon. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of that kind of maniption.


    At that, Liz''s demeanor changed, and she snapped from rage, to coy and smiling. "Enjoy the spear," she said with a wink, as she twiddled her fingers at him.


    The man went red in the face. "I take back myst bid."


    The auctioneer quickly cut in. "All bids are final. That''s the risk you take when you bid on something, Mr. Woods."


    There were audible sniggers in the crowd, and he turned to Liz and growled, "I''ll make you pay for that."


    Liz justughed and said, "Oh, threatening a guest."


    The auctioneer followed up with, "Mr. Woods, please refrain from threatening guests in our establishment. If you have another slip-up, you will be removed."


    Her smile was sickly sweet, and held no fear. Susans repeated use of his name showed that the auction house knew of his family. The fact they were threatening to kick him out spoke of the familysck of status.


    Matt whispered to Liz, "Next time, let''s use the anonymous function, ok?"


    She turned to him and scoffed. "Why? That''s for cowards. And besides, I''ll bet I can get the spear for free now. The little puppy is spitting mad and going to challenge me."


    "Wait, you nned this?"


    "Naa. Nothing so sinister. Once he tried to y games, I nned it out. Something like this usually happens in auctions, so Ive had a game n for a while. Just in case. It''s just the first time it''s happened to me."


    That brought Matt up short. Then he asked the next relevant question. "He''s part of a guild, based on the colors he was wearing. And they said his family''s name is Woods. Do you know them? Are they going to try and get retribution for him?"


    Liz''s smile turned feral, and she nearly shouted, "Nope. I don''t know every dog''s family. What''s the point? They''re all interchangeable."


    She bent over and snickered. In a voice that wouldn''t carry, she said, "Ohh, he''s gonna be pissed."


    The Woods kid was indeed pissed. He was hanging off his balcony, and looked like he wanted to jump into theirs. "Bitch! I''ll fucking kill you for that! I challenge you to a duel!"


    Matt wasn''t watching him, but instead the auctioneer, who was intently eyeing the now standing Liz.


    "Oh, I wee it, Puppy. What are the terms and prizes."


    The puppyment made him glow an even brighter shade of scarlet. "The spear is the prize if you win. If I win, you''ll be spending the night in my bed, where a bitch like you belongs."


    Matt thought Liz would get angry at the suggestion, but she pursed her lips and said, "I guess having to pretend to enjoy it is enough of a punishment if I lose."


    Seeing the exchange was over, Susan said, "Well, now that that situation has been settled, please escort Mr. Woods out. You <em>were </em>warned."


    She then turned to the crowd and said with a bright voice, "Now that the after party entertainment is taken care of, To the next item." She was able to carry the buzz to the next few items, earning final selling prices of multiple mana stones of higher Tiers, for each item.


    Matt turned to the lounging Liz. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"


    She waved her hand. "I''m not worried. I got a good scan of him earlier. He''s a new Tier 5 who hasn''t settled his cores. And he''s definitely taken ambient essence. His foundation has ws he either hasn''t bothered to get rid of, or can''t."


    She turned to him and smiled. It reminded him more of a cat who had caught a bird than a Phoenix. "Besides, he should remember the little lesson I gave him earlier. His bloodline will crumple like wet paper when I put pressure on it. He won''t be able to stand, let alone fight."


    Matt was reassured at her confidence, at least enough to turn back to the auction.


    Their feather fall boots were up a few itemster. The disy started with a woman in near nudity standing on a high tform, wearing only the boots, and a few tiny pieces of sheer fabric.


    She twisted her feet each way, showing off the look of the boots. Then, she jumped down from the tform, and slowly floated to the floor with a flourish.


    Susan beamed at the disy. "As you can see, this is a feather fall enchantment. It''s also a rift item, at a women''s size 8."


    The bidding was fierce for the boots. Matt wasn''t sure if everyone bidding had the right shoe size, or if they just were willing to take the chance with changing the item''s size.


    He didn''t care, as long as they bought the item. Once they did, It was theirs to risk as they would.


    The final price was a massive twenty two Tier 6 mana stones. He nearly fell to the floor in pleasure.


    Their final item, the wand, was one of thest few items, a slot reserved for the truly rare or exotic items.


    Matt was ecstatic to see an oiled mane out with just a loincloth, and a floppy gray hat.


    He had a target as well, and cast several spells while flexing and posing.


    Matt hoped every woman in the building was taken with the man enough to bid, and that every man wanted to buy the wand to <em>be </em>him.


    "This is a wand of extraordinary rarity. This is a Tier 5 rift wand that will lower the mana cost of all skills that are ranged."


    There were murmurs at her words, "Yes, any skill that doesn''t require touch can be channeled through this wand for a twenty percent cost reduction. The starting bid is five Tier 6 mana stones."


    Matt saw the man who was holding the wand smile before his face went neutral. He looked at Liz and asked, "Why is the assistant guy happy? Do you know?"


    She didn''t look away from the hall as it became a mess of people trying to shout over one another. "Yeah, the auctioneer gets fifteen percent of the hall''s fee, and the assistants are getting another five percent. It gives them an incentive to get the best price. And when you look like that... Well, sex sells."


    That certainly exined the clothing choices. At this point, he was hoping the man''s loincloth would fall off, if it would increase the price.


    When the bidding stopped at two Tier 7 and fourteen Tier 6 mana stones, Matt picked up the napping Aster and kissed her, before cackling with glee.


    He hardly paid attention to the rest of the auction. He was counting his credits and all the things they would buy.


    The second tost item was a rift Tier 6 Longsword that had both durability and sharpness enchantments, on top of the skill [Extend de]. Matt wanted the de, but when he heard the starting price of two Tier 7 mana stones, he decided to sit the ensuing chaos out. He simply watched as the price climbed to a mind boggling forty nine Tier 7 mana stones. It was a rift item with excellent enchantments, sure, but that was absurd.


    The final item was enough to even surprise Liz. This item wasn''t used like the others. It was a rapier, brought out on a long, pristine, white pillow. The rapier had odd bits of purple energy where the de was seeminling missing in parts of the sword.


    "Here we have something truly rare. This is a Tier 4 void rapier, rift made of course." The auctioneer''s voice turned sultry. "The de of this weapon will change any elemental skill that uses a rapier or a de into a void element skill, or enhance natural void spells." The crowds murmuring increased, and Susan let it build, until she dropped her final bomb.


    "The starting price for this item is one Tier 15 mana stone."


    There was a pause as the crowd was in disbelief, and an instantter, he saw Susan open her mouth, as Liz started mouthing expletives.


    "Oh, and this is a growth item."


    The crowd went mad. Bids were shouted so fast, that the screen that kept track turned into a blur. The bidding finally settled when the price hit an absurd three Tier 20 mana stones.


    Matt looked to his finger, and wondered if he''d regret not selling the linked rings. That was enough for a few Tier 14 skills, or possibly even a Tier 20 skill. Though, most of those would have too high of a mana cost to be practical at Tier 4 or 5.


    <em>What''s done is done. I''ll just make sure that I. No, WE, make enough with these rings for them to be a better investment.</em>


    He looked to Liz, "why would they sell it?"


    Liz hopped up, and pulled him and Aster out of the room. "Come on, let''s go. I want to go get my new spear. And if I had to guess, they couldn''t use the item, and could use a higher Tiered skill more. But who knows, maybe they already have one and don''t feel the need to keep this one."


    When they exited the building, the Woods kid was waiting, and shouted at them.


    "Get over here! crawl if you want forgiveness."


    Liz just walked up and looked around. A crowd was already gathered, but the man had brought a healer and a Dual Stars referee. They could tell because of the armband the man wore, denoting the position.


    "Start the fight, ref."


    The referee looked bored, and frankly, as sick of the kids shit as Matt was.


    "This is a fight of honor between Damian Woods and..." he looked at Liz and repeated her name when she gave it. "Elizabeth Moore. The fight is to the opponents surrender, or if the healer or myself calls it. No intentional killing or crippling of the spirit. The prize is this spear or Miss Moore spending the evening with Mr. Woods."


    At that, he looked at Liz and asked, "Do you agree with the stated terms?"


    At the bubbly agreement from the challenged, he asked again, As sexual favors were one of the terms, I must confirm that you have not been pressured into the duel. If you have, the Dual Stars guild will deal with it. You just have to say the word, and I''ll stop this.


    That got Liz to look at the referee, and she gave him a genuine smile.


    No force, and even if I lose, it won''t be the first time I''ve been disappointed in bed.


    The referee just shook his head and said, I''m activating the protective shield. On the count of zero, the fight starts.


    When the count hit zero, Daimian reached out his hand for a shake and said, No hard feelings.


    It was so obviously a trap, Matt couldn''t believe it when Liz just stuck her hand out to shake. She was falling into it. No, <em>jumping</em> into it.


    When she gripped his hand, heughed and pped a band around her wrist.


    Hahaha! You arrogant bitch! You thought I would forget that your bloodline is stronger than mine? Ha! Now with that suppressor on, you won''t be able to use even a tenth of your power! Now let''s get you on your knees. That ass of yours will look excellent in my bed tonight.


    There was a russling from his clothes, like he was in the center of a breeze.


    Liz just turned her hand, looking at the band like it was a pretty bracelet.


    Matt looked for worry or fear, but her face was cold.


    So this was your n. Huh, I guess I don''t have to y nice then.


    Daimian dropped to his knees, and then to his face, as his hands couldn''t catch him in time.


    Liz squatted down and looked at the prone figure as if he was a new rift creature she was dissecting. It was slightly unnerving observing her expressionless face. He never wanted to find out what it was like to receive that look.


    Liz watched the struggling boy, and Matt looked on with a hint of fear, as blood started leaking from his eyes and nose.


    She ran her hands through his hair, in an almost gentle and kind movement. It seemed so, at least until she gripped the back of his head and ripped it upwards to face her.


    What was that about kneeling, doggie?


    Daimian gurgled at her. Only blood came out where words would normally.


    Liz waved the bracelet in front of his face as she said, Were you really counting on this? Traps only work when the trapped doesn''t have overwhelming power. Ten percent of my bloodline is more than enough to break a weak little doggy like you. Even one percent is.


    She ran her manacled hand over his face. Most probably saw it as a tactic to humiliate Woods further, but Matt saw the blood sticking to her hand.


    What do good doggies do?


    When Daimian didn''t respond, she violently shook his head, bending his neck at a painful angle.


    I asked a question. What do good little doggies do?


    Blood started seeping from the kids pores. What was she doing to him? Was it her Talent, or bloodline?


    Matt looked from her cold face to the crowd around them. The healer looked shocked, but the referee looked like he had been run through and gutted.


    The rest of the crowd was silent. They had been expecting a fight. Not this one sided humiliation.


    Doggie. Answer me.


    Daimian finally sumbed to the humiliation and loss, and did what she wanted.


    He barked.


    Like a dog.


    Liz smiled and said Good doggie.


    Then she ran her thumb across his neck.


    She dropped his head, with his throat cleanly sliced through. Matt saw the white of his spine as Liz walked away.


    The healer was quickly on Daimian and tending to his wounds, hands glowing with a skill.


    Liz walked to the shocked referee, and put out the arm with the shackle. With a bright smile said, Can you take this off? Oh, and where''s my new spear?

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21


    Matt stood there with Aster in his arms. He looked at Liz like she was apletely different person.


    He shook himself free, and walked over the smiling redhead. She had gotten the manacle off, and was examining her new spear with an air of affection.


    That was the Liz he was used to. Happy and seemingly carefree.


    He came up and congratted her, That was one hell of a fight. He didnt know what else to say.


    She just waved him away, Nahh. That wasnt much. I just had to show someone that ying dirty has its consequences. That little trick with the bloodline shackle is incredibly underhanded. Hell be spending the next few weeks unable to delve with the damage a slit throat does. Or I guess he can risk the chance of the healing not taking, if he doesn''t give his body time to limate.


    That shocked Matt. If that was dirty, then why didnt the ref call the match? And why would he use it? There were so many witnesses.


    His methods didnt make sense to Matt. If you had to do underhanded things, you didnt advertise them, let alone carry them out in front of dozens of people.


    I dont know. I cant read his mind, can I? Really stupid of him. It really pissed me off in the moment, though.


    It didnt affect you, did it A statement, not a question.


    Liz shook her head and started walking to their hotel. Nah, it did. But that shackle was a very limited one. Meant for impure, weaker bloodlines. I was ying it up for the crowd, but that thing only reduced my power by maybe two or three percent.


    And the whole bringing him to his knees? How did you manage that?


    That was his bloodline reacting to arger, stronger predator. It instinctively protected him by submitting. He was sort of reaching out with his power at the same time, trying to tten me. When he did that, I was sort of able to grab hold of it. Once I sunk my teeth in, he couldn''t pull back or stop it. If he wasn''t waving it around like a jackass, I would have never been able to do that much damage. I got a better sense of his bloodline during the duel. Its some wolf type. Thats why I kept calling him doggie. Wolves hate that more than anything.


    Liz chewed on her lower lip before finishing, Wouldn''t have worked on a dragon bloodline, or even a pure and high Tiered wolf bloodline.


    And that treatment wonte back to bite us? Matt was concerned that Damien or his father would try to get revenge. Matt didnt think theyd be stupid enough to try while they were on The Path, but the Empire could only punish their killers, not reverse their murders.


    That bloodline skill wont work on his father, will it?


    Liz was still smiling and walking, inspecting her spear.


    Nope! it only works around my Tier. Dont worry. We are all under the Monster Kingdom. This is how things are done. If a weaker bloodline tries to throw its weight around without power, they get humiliated. If it wasnt a duel, I would''ve had full rights to kill him, <em>and </em>demand resources from his father. When we get back, well get a very sincerely worded apology for his actions, with gratitude for being lenient.


    She looked at him and punched his arm. Rx. I know how far to push things. If his father doese and kill us, theres nothing we can do. Besides, like my dad always said, if youre gonna teach someone a lesson, make it one theyll learn the first time. Lizughed, and it actually made Matt feel a little better.


    It was true. There wasnt anything a pair of Tier 4s could do if someone above Tier 7 tried to kill them. It was a surprisinglyforting realization.


    Liz immediately ruined his mood with her next words.


    Someone called my mom a broodmare once, and my dad ripped her in half in front of the entire Imperial Court.


    Thats murder! Then morbid curiosity got the better of him as he asked, Umm. how did he rip her in half? Like a burger or a sub?


    Liz tittered, More like a grilled cheese. Diagonal, shoulder to hip style. And he had to pay for her healing. Got pped with an aggravated assault and battery charge.


    After a moment she continued We got off topic. Its far more likely that some of his guildmates will try and ambush us out of a rift. That, or well get endless challenges while were in the city.


    Sheughed while twirling her spear.


    This isnt a joke, Liz. This could be trouble.


    She was taking this far too lightly for his taste.


    Liz turned, and she was more serious when she addressed him. We cant do anything about whats done. Im not going to let people walk over us. And besides, this is more my area of expertise than yours. Its all a game, to a degree. The higher Tiered people are watching after the show I put on. They might not have a bloodline to <em>feel </em>how strong I am, but the Tier 25 guarding this ce should know what a bloodline like mine means. Hell stop anything from going too far.


    Matt chewed on her words, and acquiesced that her logic checked out.


    With a sigh, he let the worry go and asked, What will they think your bloodline means? Seems almost... he mulled over the word he wanted, threatening.


    A little, yeah. The Dual Stars are a Tier 25 guild who want to be a Tier 30 guild. That means that theyre ying politics. They have to be scheming for a position in the fight when another Tier 30 world is found. Either that, or trying to get permission for a guild war with one of the existing guilds.


    She shrugged.


    They dont know who my parents are, but with how I crushed the idiot back there they know to be wary. Even if my parents were Tier 5 weaklings, my bloodline strength guarantees that Ive gotten attention from higher Tiered people. Everyones always looking for marriages to improve their bloodlines, or they simply attach themselves to anyone they see as a rising star.


    That boggled Matts mind. She was only a few months older than him, and had been given marriage offers? All for her bloodline.


    He wasnt sure if it was a blessing or a curse. It seemed reductive to her as a person. She was more than what her bloodline could do to benefit others. He thought it might exin her stance on her independence. As long as she stayed on The Path, the Empire would protect her. If she fell off before making a point of her power, her parents might not be able to protect her.


    A Tier 25 did not have any more of a chance against a Tier 30 plus than Matt or Liz had against Damiens father.


    Once again, he tried to lighten the mood. So what, you had the other kids all following you around?


    That got the smile back, A bit, yeah. That was more because I was always getting us into trouble.


    Matt could easily imagine a young Liz leading other kids on all sorts of fools errands. He had seen those types at the orphanage, and had avoided them like the gue. Now he was stuck with one.


    Practice and doing what he was supposed to do hadnt gotten him into a guild or on The Path, taking risks and stealing the skill shard had.


    Taking risks had also almost gotten him killed with the rift challenge.


    <em>Ok, maybe I wont turn into a wildcard after all.</em>


    Optimistically, Matt said to Liz,The auction was a sess Id say. We made a lot of money. Enough that we might even be able to buy a third skill, if its weird enough. Two Tier 7, and 26 Tier 6 mana stones isnt anything to scoff at.


    Yeah, if were lucky, we can look at the exchange tomorrow. But we arent the only ones who made it big today. And other people brought outside funds. Skill for skill is the best way to trade right now. Liz had all but crushed his dreams of buying a third skill.


    They reached their suite, and decided toy low for the evening. The recording of Lizs fight had spread all over the LocalNet, and she already had half a dozen people challenging her.


    She ignored the provocations, and the next morning, they went to a cksmith. Liz wanted to make a modification to the spear she bought.


    The cksmith didnt even bat an eye at the odd request to put a metal cap on the butt of the spear, with a small chamber that screwed shut.


    It had barely taken him five minutes to finish, and afterwards, Matt and Liz rented out a training room for the morning.


    They practiced with the bonded rings swapping and teleporting features. The ring took 1000 mana to swap ces, with a range limitation of nearly ten feet. The base teleport was expensive, with the price scaling with the distance the rings were away from each other. Every few inches after that, the price doubled.


    They wouldnt be using the rings to do anything more than dodge to the side.


    It took Matt fifty seconds to dump a thousand mana into the ring at his full output. With [Cracked Phantom Armor], [Mages Retreat], and His AI, it would take twice as long, at best.


    Matt became lost in thought while considering the adjustments he would have to make after adding [Mages Retreat] to his arsenal. He realized that he wasnt sure how much mana the skill could handle. From what he read, it should be able to take anything and everything he could throw at it. There were lingering doubts deep in Matts gut that no one had the skill, and even more about anyone wanting to trade it for [Puddle Jumper].


    Breaking free of the trappings of his mind, he refocused on their training. The next limitation of the rings was their mana capacity. They could hold 2000 mana, after that, any mana over the limit was slowly bled off. Liz said that was normal for rift items.


    They theoretically had unlimited storage capacity, but there was still a soft cap. Matt, with his regeneration, could get the storage to a little over 3000 before the loss was greater than 10 mana a second. That number was half of his Tier 4 Mana Regeneration under his 1% total. In other words, this was the first time hed need to budget his mana.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] was able to handle 8 mana a second, and his AI took about two mana per second in abat situation. If [Mages Retreat] worked like he had read, it could handle the rest of his mana throughput with no problems.


    Liz assured him that both aspects would improve as they advanced the ring. When they looked up some of themon items growth items needed, the price for even Tier 5 materials made Matt sick.


    Tier 5 materials should never be sold for Tier 8 mana stones.


    Liz, seeing his face, justughed. She pointed out that they wouldnt even know which materials the ring needed until they advanced with the rings. So really, it might need exotic materials that cost far more.


    She suggested they visit a proper auction hall, which would have a collection of materials the growth items usually wanted. They''d have to bring the rings close, and wait for them to react to a material. It was amon testing method to figure out what a growth item wanted at each Tier.


    Even with all of the limitations, the rings were still useful items that would let them surprise their enemies.


    The teleport was unlike any of theary ones Matt had experienced. It was smooth, and as far as they could tell, nearly instant, with no disorientation from the magic itself.


    Despite hisints, he could see how even higher Tiered teams would want a growth item. Especially if they were as powerful as the rings, or the sword they saw at the auction.


    As they continued training with their weapons, Liz began absolutely wreaking havoc with her new spear. Matt found her idea of creating a ce on the weapon to store some blood to be genius.


    It allowed her to recall the weapon if she threw it, and that along with the bleed effect was a deadlybination. He refused to let her y target practice with him, despite her insistence that it wouldnt hurt.


    Herst spear had a reinforced, hollow core along its length. That let her fill it with blood after each blow, at the expense of a bit of mana and mental concentration.


    She couldnt risk losing the enchantment on her new spear by hollowing out the inside. The simple recall was still a potent ability, especially considering it only took five minutes of work and few Tier 4 mana stones.


    Matt also bought a small crossbow, so he could add to his ranged options, at least until he got a ranged skill of his own. Liz and Aster were good, but a mundane backup was a safety that he didnt want to leave the city without.


    He had to dedicate a lot of time in the future for practice. He could hit a stationary target at ten feet, but if the distance increased, or the target was moving, a sessful hit would be through luck more than skill.


    That was even with his AI helping as much as it could, with predictive tracking and wind calctions. He still had to pull the trigger, and he jerked the weapon enough that even the best AI could only get him in the general vicinity.


    The skill exchange waster that evening, and Matt and Liz were in theirbat clothes. Armor for Liz and his usual form fitting clothes for Matt.


    The skill exchange was both a ce to get new skills, and a ce to show off the ones you had.


    Seven arenas would be avable, with both referees and healers on stand by.


    The event was more dangerous than Matt had originally thought, as it took ce on a massive floating tform in the neutralke. Delvers from both the Empire and Republic would be attending.


    There were variouspetitions of both martial arts and crafting skills. Matt figured it was essentially a dick measuring contest between Dual Stars and the faction that the Republic sent.


    They arrived at arge ship docked at the wharf. The ship consisted of multiple levels of furnished tforms, withrge staircases connecting each level. After their identities were verified, they climbed on board and walked to the roped-off edge. The edge was serrated, and had mps ready to bind the tform to another.


    Matt and Liz and imed a couch, and waited for their tform ship to fill and get moving. They watched and whispered to each other about the various teams and individuals that boarded.


    The guild seemed to only be admitting the strongest examples of each Tier, from the factions they had power over. As part of The Empires Path of Ascension, Matt and Liz were exempt from their scrutiny. They watched with muted interest as a few groups were turned away.


    When the bottom level of their ship was getting crowded, the Tier 25 stepped into the air so all could see him.


    Im not one for speeches. Tonight is a night of trade andbat. Draw from that whatever conclusions you may. Dont deliberately kill. Any deaths will be judged by the other faction. So expect any hostile actions to be returned.


    With that, he dropped, and the ship started moving.


    Matt looked to Liz, who was ying with Asters paws.


    That was ugh. Brief?


    Elizabeth didnt look away from the game with Aster, Eh, pretty standard from what I understand. Usually, wed get a speech thatsted far too long about everyone and their mothers importance. I liked hisment about conclusions, though. What do you take from this?


    Matt thought it over. There was something to be said about two massive political entities interacting like this, with rules so vague.


    I think its ament about how power gets you more. He paused, and continued after settling his thoughts. If you have power, you can take from others, but the inverse is true as well. Also, there is only justice when two people have a strong backing, or are equally powerful.


    Matt looked out at the match to their ship.


    Maybe thats the more important point.


    Liz nodded and hummed before saying, Not a bad answer. Better than my first Exchange. Remember this though... Her voice changed, like she was quoting someone else. Perceived power and actual power are nearly indistinguishable at higher Tiers. Thats why the children fight. Powers and talents are clearer, and show the <em>future </em>of a country


    In her normal voice, she said, The other empires are all nearly the same size as each other. Each is so big that they dont really need to trade resources or technology. So to keep things from bing insr, we have the Exchanges. At these Tiers, theyre practice, and no one takes them seriously. From Tier 15 to Tier 25, the stakes get higher. News can be won or lost in a single fight.


    Also, watch your own faction as much as the enemies. Liz pursed her lips and looked up. Yeah I think thats all even my parents said about these things.


    How many have you been to? What can we expect?


    Liz shrugged. No clue, really. Ive only been to one as an observer. It was my brothers first Exchange at Tier 15, so the family went to cheer him on. I was, ohh seven, I think.


    Matt gave her a t look.


    You just enjoy sounding knowledgeable and wise.


    She beamed at him, Youre figuring it out!


    With that, Matt essed the LocalNet, and found more concise information. It was fairly simple in concept.


    Both sides could put their Skill Shards into a shared database, and list themselves as selling or exchanging. The sellers would take cash, or another Skill they thought was more valuable. The exchange was generally reserved for more valuable skills. People woulde to you with the listed price.


    Seeing that, Matt listed their skill [Puddle Jumper] as an exchange for both [Create Water] and [Mages Retreat]. That settled, he was directed to deposit the skill at the Exchange desk.


    While it could be done in person, Matt decided to take the anonymous route. He didnt agree with Lizs notion that his chosen route was cowardice. If she had ced her bids anonymously, she wouldnt have had to deal with that idiot Damien ying games with the price. Or the subsequent fight, for that matter.


    If someone decided to target them and their skill, they could purchase all the skills they wanted to screw them over. Matt refused to take the chance. He needed the power the skill would grant him, and so did Liz.


    As he sat back down, he observed the two approaching tforms. The three levels of the individual boats were rectangles that woulde together and make a square. Inside was a sixyer box with a cylinder from top to bottom.


    The cylinder was where the arenas were. It gave everyone who watched an excellent view of the fights. Seven arenas were arranged in a heptagon, with the top arena bisected. It truly did look grand.


    As the sides neared, Matt saw the faces of The Republican cultivators watching and observing The Empire.


    He saw some with hands on weapons, seemingly ready to jump into action at a moment''s notice. Others seemed more calcting, and Matt saw the sh of a few unknown spells.


    When the ships touched, and the snapping of mps locking into ce quieted, Driver, the Tier 25, stepped onto a see-through tform over the center of the fighting circle. A woman in a robe mirrored his actions, and their sitting down singled both sides to break out in a mor.


    Liz looked to him and asked, who do you think will get challenged first? Im thinking some dumbass will challenge you because they saw my smackdown yesterday.


    Matt thought over the odds and chances and said, Thats likely sure, but you made arge enough impression that someone might want to beat you to earn their fame.


    They got up, and moved to a newly ced standing table, each snagging a drink from a passing waiter.


    They had a decent view of the arenas as they sipped. The show started quickly.


    Someone in Dual Stars colors jumped into one of the circles and shouted, I am Yan of the Dual Stars, Tier 5. I wee any challengers brave enough to step up. He kept his eyes locked firmly on the Republic side, his intentions clear.


    His provocation worked, as five people jumped down.


    Matt looked up to the tform with the Tier 25s. They werent even looking down, just sipping their drinks quietly. Were they not worried about this escting into an incident?


    The fight was already starting when Matt looked back down. Before he could get a good look, Liz just huffed and pulled him away from the table.


    Where are we going? I thought we wanted to fight.


    Pshhh, its just going to be weak fools who think theyre the best fighting now. The Dual Stars yed their hand well. Now the fights will be useless for at least an hour. After that, it''ll get interesting. Especially with the rewards they posted.


    Matt hadnt seen any rewards, so he checked the LocalNet. The Dual Stars were co-hosting the event with the Republic faction called The Deserving. They had a point system for both the crafting and fighting cultivators.


    The LocalNet spelled out a point system for fights and how they were won. The stronger the opinion, the more points you could get if you won. The prizes were vague, only that the top five scorers would get ess to what they needed.


    He wasnt sure if that meant weapons or skills, but it was an enticing reward. He needed a lot.


    His hopes were dashed when he saw there was no ascenders board, just a mixed board. Matt was confident in his strength with people of his Tier, but the elite who had wealth or backing would have skills and good gear. That realization shook his confidence in being able to counter everything they did.


    Putting aside his daydreams of wealth, he looked at the tailors booth Liz was perusing.


    Seeing nothing he thought was interesting, he wandered to the next store, where he found colorful bands that would act as covers for beast cors. Calling Aster, they tried on bands until Liz found them, and the two of them watched as Aster tried each and every color she liked.


    They settled on a dark purple that Aster simply wouldnt let them take off.


    She preened with the new garment, and kept showing it off to the shops they visited.


    They came upon an alchemists tournament, where they watched Tier 5 alchemists battle it out, concocting mixtures Matt knew nothing about. Liz understood some, and narrated what a few of the contestants were doing.


    When the winner of the round was decided, Liz vehemently disagreed with the decision, along with a sizable portion of the crowd. He ended up having to pull her along, before they got caught up watching the unfolding drama.


    They found a cksmith who had a longsword Matt was interested in buying, but the smith was trying to sell at an outrageous price, so he and Liz walked out on the deal.


    While a new sword would be nice, he wasnt going to pay the price of an expensive Tier 5 weapon for a standard Tier 4 sword.


    They were back down at the arena when Matt decided to ce his name in the longsword melee category. Watching the fights was getting his blood humming, and he wanted to see how he matched up against others.


    He was called up a few minutester when an arena was free. A mage cast a spell to blunt the fighters des as this was a test of ability, not a true fight with skills.


    His opponent was arge woman, almost his own height. Her longsword was a heavier variant than his own, which was more neutral.


    With a nod to each other after the referee had exined the rules, the fight started.


    First to three clean hits wins, or theoretical death blow. No head blows. Fight.


    He flicked his de towards the woman. She stepped back and attacked his hands. Matt sidestepped, and returned the move with a thrust of his own.


    He had always enjoyed this kind of spar in the orphanage. It was more tactical. More about the ability with the sword than a matchup of skills or Talents.


    The mock battles at the orphanage were always interesting, as the randomly assigned skills and Talents could change the oue. But when it came to sword skills, Matt excelled far beyond the others.


    After a few more exchanges, Matt pushed hard. With a quick flurry of blows, he slipped an attack around her defenses, and thrust at her center of mass.


    Feeling the de pressed on her chest, she nodded and bowed slightly, then said in Republican. Well fought. Your de skills have shown me a weakness in my own. Thank you.


    Matt simply nodded and returned the thanks, It was a good fight. If I had been even a millisecond slower, I would have been hard-pressed to end it. He was exaggerating slightly, as he could have still ended the fight without much trouble, but there was no need to embarrass someone after a victory.


    Her problem was that she was trying to string together sword forms, instead of letting the fight dictate her moves.


    Matt looked to the referee and asked, Anyone else on the docket?


    The man looked at a pad next to him and asked, Are you willing to take other types? If so, yeah. We can throw a few more people at you.


    If theyre willing to fight against a longsword, sure. While he could use most weapons with at least some ability, he wanted to use his weapon of choice. Hed rather step out of the ring if he couldnt at this point.


    He fought a bout against an axe user that he ended after two blows. He assumed they were used to a skill or Talent to enhance theirbat style, because the man had no feel for the weapon.


    The next was a quarterstaff user. He held the weapon in the more traditional form, like a longsword.


    Matt was interested in this fight. Hed only read about quarterstaff techniques that used them like abination of spear and longsword.


    The fight began with them testing each other with light blows. Matt noted that the quarterstaff was made from hardwood, or at least had a metal core, because the thingnded with momentum.


    He was ready when the man transitioned into spear forms, and pressed his own attack, pushing the man to the moremon center based staff forms. While he had never encountered thisbat style, he had read up on it.


    Matt was hard-pressed tond a blow, because the man was able to block with one side of the quarterstaff, and flick out quick blows with the other end.


    He was pushed to the defensive when the man unleashed a flurry of blows. That forced Matt to grip his swords de in a half-sword technique, and copy the mans defensive staff techniques.


    When Matt tried to catch his enemy off guard with a heavy downward strike with his des pummel, his blow was parried, and they disengaged. Each fighter stepped back until they were out of easy striking range.


    They nodded in appreciation to each other. Matt was impressed with the mans range of styles, both offensive and defensive. He was using the quarterstaff to its full potential, and it left Matt with few ideas of how to end the fight.


    Matt was tiring quickly. The three fights before this, while not full out brawls, were taking their toll, and his breathing became heavy.


    When they reengaged, Matt purposely over extended slightly on a downward strike, and the man took the opportunity to sweep Matts leg.


    Matt epted the strike, and went with the fall. As he hit the ground, he was able to slip his de behind the mans quarterstaff, and thrust up under his ribs.


    His opponent looked shocked, thenughed, rubbing the spot, and said, Well shit. I wasnt expecting that to be how Id lose.


    He took it in good spirits, and helped Matt up before leaving the arena.


    Matt looked to the referee and held up one finger, singling that he would take one more opponent. Thest fight had winded him, but Matt felt he had a bit more left in him.


    The next opponent, who came in a minuteter, was a member of the Dual Stars. He was physically a stockier man. He was wide, with bulging muscles that,bined with hisrge hammer, made Matt wary.


    Fighting a heavy weapon user was like asking to get things broken, and Matt debated stepping out. He decided that hed use his skill if he thought the man was going for a head blow. Anything else could be healed, but if his skull was caved in, he might live, but his personality would be toast.


    Matt decided to y it safe. He was assuming he was faster than the guilder, and the first exchange proved that to be mostly true. The guilder had a veil up that made it hard to get a sense of his strength, but Matt thought he was a high Tier 4. Not quite at the peak, but close.


    The man was clearly a front line fighter. He never took a step back, and tried to punish Matt for every strike. That would have been a winning tactic with armor, and if the rules didnt count three hits as a loss.


    The rules made it so Matt scored three blows within the first few exchanges, bringing the fight to a swift end.


    The gilder got redder after each blow, and when thest onended, the referee called the fight, and his frustration broke. This is bullshit. I wouldnt have lost with real rules. I want a rematch.


    Matt just looked at him, Are you cracked in the head? You signed up for the rules.


    That just made the man glower more, If I had known youd fight like some flitting fairy, I wouldnt have agreed. Fight me like a real man.


    Matt just gave him a t look. He wasnt going to get into a dick measuring contest with a random person over petty insults.


    As Matt turned to the referee, the guilder called out, Ill wager a Tier 5 mana stone, normal dueling rules.


    I dont need your petty cash. Matt was taking a page from Lizs book. He might just be able to rile the guilder up and offer up more mana stones.


    Keeping up the act, Matt started walking to the edge of the arena. As he was about to step off, the guilder growled, Ten Tier 5s.


    That was enough to make Matt pause and consider. The guilder was confident. The only question was, is he <em>overly </em>confident or <em>justifiably </em>confident?


    Matt sized him up and asked, What do you want if you win?


    That put a sneer on the guilders face. <em>When</em> I win. And beating your face into the ground will be enough.


    Matt agreed. He had nothing to lose except a broken bone or two. And he didnt think the man could get through [Cracked Phantom Armor] anyway.


    The guilder quickly left, and came back in a set of full heavy te armor. His hammer and weapon were all nearly ck, and Matt had to conclude that they were high quality. Low Tier 5, or peak Tier 4 for the whole gear setup.


    The fight started, and the man lowered his shield and weapon, saying, Come and try to get your punny blows to be effective now.


    Matt still hasnt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Hed see what game the man was ying at. His bet was on a heavy, crippling retaliation strike when Matt approached.


    Assuming his skill was stronger than the mans hammer, he rushed forward to thrust his de at the weaker neck armor.


    As he was about tond the blow, his de was dragged down by an unseen force, and Matt tried to pull back the sword. When the weapon touched the breastte, it was ripped from his hands like a matching onto metal.


    Matt stepped back. This wasnt how he expected this fight to proceed, and he was prepared to surrender.


    The guilder justughed, pulling Matts de from his chest. He inspected it, turned it, and ran his hands along the de.


    See, this is why I hate you flitty types. Once you take their weapon, you take everything from them. What can you do without a weapon? Nothing, because you <em>are</em> nothing. If you beg, Ill only break a few bones. He was looking at Matts face, and when he didnt see what he wanted, he smiled and continued, Perfect. Ill make this lesson hurt.


    At that Matts weapon warped and bent into a ball.


    Matts anger simmered. He looked to the referee.


    Deliberate destruction of a weapon seems a little far, dont you agree?


    The referee just looked down.


    The armored man across from himughed and said, The weak have no right toin. Now stand still and let me break you.


    <em>Good. So thats how were going to y this.</em>


    Matt grinned. This cocky little shit had truly pissed him off. The guilder, seeing that, smiled and charged.


    The anger burned hot from having his weapon destroyed with no repercussions.


    Matt quickly reviewed everything he had on him. As far as he could remember, he only had metal on his boots, belt, and the button of his jeans.


    Rolling away from the hammer and taunts, he uced his boots, before throwing them off the stage.


    The guilder stopped and cocked his head beforeughing, Go ahead, strip. Its a good idea, and will make this all the more humiliating.


    Matt quickly dropped his pants and kicked them off as well. If he was going to do this, he would take a page from Lizs book and make this a show.

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22


    Matt removed his shirt as well. The man had a point. It would be humiliating to be beaten while naked. But he forgot that the inverse was equally true. Being beaten by a naked man was arguably even more humiliating.


    Left with just his tight-fitting boxers, Matt stretched. If this was a show, hed y his part. The crowd around the arena found his disy amusing enough that he heard some whoops and cheers. He was even sure he heard a catcall or two.


    Matt just smiled and waved. The guilder, tired of waiting, charged. Matt just waited, acting cool and nonchnt.


    When the man swung, Matt slipped the attack, weaving between each of the heavy blows.


    What, cant you hit a flitting fairy?


    The man growled, You cant dodge forever. When I hit you, Ill break you, and wipe that arrogance off your face.


    That was exactly what Matt was waiting for, the perfect opportunity. Then Ill stand still. He did just that, and waited for another wide swinging blow to approach his left side.


    He activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and stepped into the blow. Surprisingly, the attack had enough force that Matt felt the blow under [Cracked Phantom Armor] s protection.


    It was only a mild force that got through, a heavy punch at best. Matt could take a punch.


    This time, Matt didnt follow up with a wittyment or snarky remark. Now was the time for violence.


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    His punchnded on the mans armored face, and rocked his head back. The guilder was frozen in disbelief. Not only was his attack ineffective, but the little fairy had the means to actually fight back without a weapon. Matt took advantage of his opponents hesitation, and grabbed the hammers head, while chopping down at the hand holding it.


    It was enough to disarm the guilder, and Matt threw his hammer out of the arena. If his opponent tried to retrieve it, Matt would have a clear vition of dueling rules.


    Breaking a weapon wasnt technically against the rules, but it certainly wasnt condoned. It set a bad precedent. A precedent Matt was going to enforce in front of everyone here.


    Matt had proved he could take the mans best attacks, and now he would oust him. It didnt matter how strong or defensively capable the man was. He''d simply keep punching until the guilder ran out of mana.


    Matt was an endless spring, whose reserves would not falter.


    He felt the world sharpen slightly, as he focused all of his attention on the adversary in front of him. Matt turned on his AI, and sent every drop of mana [Cracked Phantom Armor] wasnt using through the construct. The guilder wanted a real fight, and Matt was determined to make sure that he wasnt going to like what he asked for.


    Matts fists rained down blow after blow. His skill protected him from the usual problems of fighting with ones fists. That allowed him to keep up his relentless assault without any fear of pain or recoil. While his barrage of blows was not dealing visible damage, they were clearly disorientating.


    The armored man eventually had the wherewithal to start blocking. Without his hammers strength multiplier, his attacks no longer had enough power to get through a fully powered [Cracked Phantom Armor] s defenses.The fight turned into two armored men trying to bash each other into unconsciousness.


    Matt suspected that the other man was counting on his physical armor tost longer than Matts mana. The guilder was tanking hits he easily could have blocked, deflected, or dodged, as if he was trying to burn through Matts mana reserves.


    It was a good tactic against defensive types who relied solely on a skill for armor. It was a vain hope against Matt, however, as his Talent made his mana endless.


    It made <em>him </em>endless.


    The world went blurry for a moment, but when everything came back, Matt wasnt disorientated or waiting for his opponent to strike. He was moving on autopilot, mming ghostly gauntlets on the mans helmet over and over again. Each blow was smooth, with clean contact that rocked the guilder. The man was now simply defending, just trying to stop the rain of fistsnding on his head.


    The guilder used an ability that enveloped him in a barrier of light. Two heavy blows from Matt''s anger fueled fists shattered the barrier, and sent the guilder stumbling. Before Matt could take advantage, the guilder charged forward and tackled him, deciding to take the fight to the ground. There at least, his armor would give him a weight advantage, if nothing else.


    As soon as they hit the ground, Matt started using the advantage in maneuverability that his ghostly armor gave him. The best armors allowed for near perfect movement, but they were still bulky. While his opponent had more mass to throw around in a ground fight, Matts quickness allowed him to counter any technique the guilder threw at him. As they battled for dominance, hetched onto the mans arm, and quickly transitioned into an armbar.


    Matt had his opponents hand near his face, and both legs wrapped around the mans chest. He had to remind himself of the grappling teachers words of wisdom from his orphanage days. <em>Dont cross your feet. Theyll break your ankle given the chance.</em>


    There was no hesitation. Hesitation meant the guilder could wiggle out of the hold. So, he leaned back, and extended with every muscle in his body, while the man tried to resist with just his bicep.


    The struggle ended quickly.


    The snapping sound from the mans elbow was louder than Matt expected, and he felt the shattering bone and tearing tendons reverberate in his groin.


    The guilder let out a piercing scream. Usually, Matt wouldnt have pressed the advantage, and would have instead given the man a chance to surrender. But his earlier actions of scrapping Matts sword had eliminated what civility Matt had left in him. The only thing he could find in himself for the guilder was contempt.


    Actions had consequences, and Matt was happy to deliver them.


    He rolled up off his back, and started kneeing the mans armored head. The coupling that kept the helmet mobile but sturdy broke on the second blow. The third blow snapped the guilders neck.


    Matt stood up and looked around the arena. The referee had wide eyes, and the healer was already on the field, rushing to the still mans aid.


    Seeing the fight was truly over, Matt deactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and gave a smile and wave to the crowd. Still only dressed in his form-fitting undergarments.


    The other members of Dual Stars were all ring at him, but the rest of the crowd, including the Republicans, were all cheering with thunderous apuse.


    As he was walking to retrieve his pants, Matt was interrupted by a man in Dual Stars colors. He was stronger than what Matts ability could urately judge, but he felt weaker than Simeon, Tier 9 or 10.


    You didnt have to be so cruel in breaking his neck. Hell be out ofmission for weeks.


    Matt opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off with the man focusing his spirit sense on him. Matts spirit and cores slowed down. They were being suppressed, like he was covered in a thick wet nket.


    Matt pushed. He shoved with everything he had. He forced his cores to circte as they usually did, along with his mana making its usual loops through his body. For a moment, the world brightened, and the mans suppression was thrown off.


    The world was clear, but Mattsst thoughts were hazy and indistinct. The mans next words brought him back to the moment.


    Children dont need to speak in front of their betters. Take it as the mercy of the strong that I dont break your neck here and now.


    Matt could feel his hackles rise. He had done nothing wrong. The idiot he had beaten would be fine with the healer already working on him.


    His blood heated up. This wasnt fair.


    He stopped himself. The man had been right about one thing. He was too weak.


    Matt just scoffed and walked away. The man was trying to save face for his guild when they had been in the wrong. Nothing Matt could say would change the mans opinion.


    It was only empty bluster. If a Tier 10 got revenge for a non-fatal duel No, for a non-fatal duel with an Ascender, let alone an Ascender who was the <em>challenged, </em>The Empire woulde down on the Dual Stars like the fist of an angry god.


    Slipping on his pants, he saw Liz with her head cocked at the man, who was busy observing the healer. The look on her face said she wanted to press the issue, so Matt grabbed her sleeve and said, Dont bother. Hes trying to save face.


    Hes doing it in the dumbest way possible. Hes just shaming them more. I can...


    Matt wanted this to end here, so he interrupted her.


    Lets not bother with him. I need a new sword, and Im not going to get robbed.


    But if we press we...


    Boots on, Matt stood and just started walking. They couldnt do anything to a Tier 25 guild alone. Elizabeths parents could probably put pressure on the guild, but they weres away, and not stranded on a with the Dual Stars as the strongest power.


    That didnt mean Matt was going to forget this incident. He internalized it. One day hed find that man and challenge him to a duel.


    Still, there was no point in focusing on revenge fantasies when he couldnt back it up. As he was now, they were truly just fantasies. If he wanted to p the guild back for their tant rule-bending, he needed to be strong enough to enforce his will upon them.


    He went around to all the stalls that had longswords, and couldnt find what he wanted. All the swords were either the wrong size, had enchantments he didnt want, or were absurdly overpriced.


    Liz finally broke him out of his single minded pursual.


    Hey. I wanted to say that was a good fight.


    Matt breathed out slowly, Yeah it was pretty fun, honestly. I wasnt even that mad about the sword after breaking the idiots neck. He broke my weapon, and I broke him. Then that Tier I didnt get a good feel for him. 9 maybe 10?


    I think he was peak Tier 9, that or hes a really weak Tier 10.


    Then he swung his dick around. That pissed me off. He must know Im a part of The Path of Ascension, and he cant touch me. But because hes a little stronger, and has a Tier 25 guild behind him, he can say whatever he wants. Its fucking infuriating


    Matt forced himself to calm down and finished, Its a reminder that the only reason people arent literal ves to the higher Tiers is that the strongest people want social mobility.


    Liz just patted his shoulder and said, Remember this feeling.


    He looked at her in confusion. Why remember feeling weak? Then he understood, and the question answered itself.


    If the people who be strong dont enforce the rules, the people who be strong after them will just make it worse.


    She looked at him and wiggled her hand.


    Not quite where I was going, but sure. Its not wrong. But I was going to say, when you''re a Tier 45 and have the power to enforce your will on others, remember this feeling of being powerless. And chose to be better.


    That wasnt what he expected to hear from the woman who slit someones throat yesterday for disrespecting her.


    You want me to drop this? Not get revenge in the future?


    She looked at him like he was the odd one.


    Fuck no. Get revenge. Its your right as the wronged, but also, dont turn a broken sword into a reason to butcher the entire guild. Get strong enough to break that idiots face, then get stronger than the leaders, and break their faces for not enforcing better discipline. Just dont go too far.


    That actually made a lot of sense, even if he wasnt nning on doing more than breaking the face of the idiot who stepped in. He felt that beating up the guild leaders was both impractical and unneeded.


    Liz might have a point about them needing to enforce better discipline in their guild, though. He mulled it over, then tossed it to the back of his mind. He was a long way away from beating up Tier 30s.


    You should just get a Tier 5 sword. Get a weak one. While you wont be able to use the skill more than once or twice a day, itll be better than getting a Tier 4 sword.


    Matt weighed her words and asked, Is that really worth it? I thought of that, but a weak Tier 5 sword that I can use now would be pretty shitty when I get to Tier 5.


    Liz thought for a moment and said, Kinda yeah. I guess you could get a decent Tier 5 sword now, and just not use the spell.


    Matt hadnt thought of that. The reason a Tier 5 weapon was difficult to use was the strain it put on the spirit, but that only applied to the embedded skill itself, not the weapon.


    Why doesnt everyone just use high Tiered weapons then? Seems like everyone should.


    Liz chuckled at that.


    Its not that simple. Think about it further; you can only do that when your opponents dont have skills on their weapons either. If they do and you dont, youre already at a one skill disadvantage. And that could be deadly. Theres also the fact that stronger materials get heavier both physically and spiritually. While wielding a Tier 10 weapon wont kill you, it <em>will</em> stop your spirit from cycling. So no mana, no skills.


    That made sense to Matt, so he decided to stick to looking for a weapon closer to his Tier. There were a lot of Tier 5 smiths here, so the price of a Tier 5 longsword would be less overpriced than the rift made one he had been looking at earlier.


    They spent the next half hour looking for a smith who was willing to do a rush job, or had a longsword Matt found perfect. They decided that if they were going to spend the money on a Tier 5 sword, they might as well do it right the first time.


    Most who had good Tier 5 weapons used them until Tier 7, when skills could drop, and allowed for delvers to start filling out their weaknesses.


    It was another weird period, as Tier 8 rifts were where skills became trulymon at a twenty five percent drop rate. At Tier 7, it was more like a two percent chance, but even so, any skill drop at all allowed for bartering for the one you needed.


    The awkward period between Tiers 4 and 8 created a lull in weapon and armor power between the Tiers. The general power of gear at those Tiers changed with the needs of the delver. On top of that, themon skills cksmiths and enchanters could add to a weapon became less useful than specialized skill shards. The shards could only be added during the forging process, so that left most delvers with a dilemma as far as what Tiered gear to buy.


    Bringing his wandering thoughts back to Tier 5 weapons, Matt thought on what he wanted from his new longsword.


    Ideally, hed get a ranged attack like mana sh, but the mana cost in weapons was much more expensive than a spirit bonded skill. [Mana sh] cost 100 mana for a self cast, but when embedded in a weapon, the cost ballooned to three or four times that. That was if he could even find a Tier 5 or 6 cksmith who could imbue such aplicated skill into a weapon.


    Rechargeable mana stones only went up to 200 mana in the standard mana stone size. It was the reason the rift mana stones got more valuable as the mana increased, they never increased in size.


    The man made versions were hard-capped by current technology. It was impossible to squeeze that much energy into a small space and not create a bomb. The rifts did it, but no one had replicated the feat.


    So Matt couldnt just use a Tier 7 mana stone every time he used the skill in the future. Not knowing his other options, he and Liz found a smith that specialized inrger weapons, and had no other urgent orders.


    When he specified the type of de he wanted, the man said hed have no problem creating it in the next three days.


    The enchantment and skill was a tricker matter. Eventually, he just sent Matt and Liz a list of what he could do and the expected cost.


    They retreated to a diner, and had a light lunch while they threw out ideas.


    The list wasprehensive. There were the standard runes for buffing the weapons attributes or the wielders. But Matt was contemting getting the durability and sharpness runes again. It was a potentbination. It was critical to fighting armored targets that would be difficult to damage otherwise.


    What do you think about a Void affinity enchantment? Matt thought of the de he had seen at the auction.


    Liz pondered the question and said, I dont know. The Void would eat into the de quickly. Youd be repairing it every week.


    Matt crossed that off his idea list. As they snacked on potato skins, he reread the list once more, waiting for something to stand out.


    Liz mumbled around a chewing mouth, What about a size spell? Thats pretty standard.


    Matt mulled over the idea; it <em>was </em>a fairly standard tactic. A size spell allowed a melee fighter to extend their de with solidified mana. It wasnt a bad choice. It just didnt take advantage of his unique mana situation.


    As he looked over the list again, he stopped at [Mana Charge]. It was a mana variant of the skill [Momentum Charge]. Both skills siphon off excess energy, and store their respective types of energy, before allowing the user to release them on a blow.


    As he looked into [Mana Charge], the more he liked the idea. He could trickle a bit of mana into the spell and build up a few hundred manas worth of damage, finally releasing it in a swift blow.


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    From his searching, mages used it as a defensive measure, in case someone got into melee range. The umted mana from casting spells would give them one heavy hittingst resort.


    He tossed the idea to Liz, who said, Not a bad idea, but at that point, you have to drop one of the enchantments to a lesser Tier. Otherwise, it would be tough to have the enchantment allow for the use of personal mana.


    Eh, thats not a terrible trade off. Id have to start that eventually. Im still thinking about using a sharpness and durability enchantment.


    You might want to think of using a repair enchantment as well. Three lesser enchantments arent great, but durability can only help stop damage. If it gets twisted out of shape, a repair rune can fix that for some mana and metal. And its a pretty standardbo until you can fit three greater enchantments on a weapon.


    Does the loss of efficiency of a weaker durability rune get offset by the repair one? It seems like if the weapon was stronger, you wont have to fix it.


    Only until you take or give a hit that snaps the weapon in half. Then the weapon is fucked. Durability enchantments are great, but they end up creating a hard cutoff where the weapon simply goes from handling the damage to shattering.


    Matt looked up the information and had his AI run the numbers. It was as she said, not that he doubted her, but he wanted to see why it worked that way. It wasnt a problem until higher Tiers, when the damage done was higher. Ordinary steel had its fracture point, and a durability enchantment raised that, but then the weapon would just explode if that was bypassed.


    The repair enchantment allowed the weapon to fracture and crack before exploding. If mana and a simr Tier of metal were avable, the sword would fix itself to its peak condition.


    Matt wished he had known this. Liz seemed so knowledgeable at times. He understood that having Tier 25 plus parents had its advantages, but that was what he envied the most. Well, that and having parents.


    Matt crushed that line of thought.


    He ate another potato skin while leaning back. Well I guess thats the best option, Ill send th...


    The ping of his AI stopped the words in his mouth, and as he read the message he looked at Liz with a grin stered on his face.


    Their trade had been sessfullypleted.


    They got their skills.


    ***


    Liz watched Matt out of the corner of her eye as she typed in her AI. He was looking at the skill shard in his hand with wonder. He was alternating between the shard and the fights down in the arenas. The fights were boring, she had seen bigger and better duels. More skills, higher Tiers. This was almost mundane, no need for her to pay attention.


    She analyzed her own emotions. She was happy she had earned the skill, and proud that she had done it without her parents help, but that was the problem.


    This was a Tier 8 skill. Her parents could get her millions of them just by checking their old spatial rings.


    Liz looked to Matt, and tried to channel a little of his enthusiasm.


    It worked, barely.


    They had earned this skill with an amazing fight, and it was all hers. That helped. There was a small glow in her chest now. No one could say she was relying on her parents now.


    The worst part was that they understood and loved her, even though she wanted to escape from their shadows. They were so supportive of her and her decision, that it almost made it worse.


    She looked back to Matt. He was the first friend she was sure was her friend because of her, and not a desire to cozy up to royalty.


    All her life, lower Tiered people sent their kids to try and worm favors out of her parents. Or they told them not to challenge her in any way. We dont want to upset the daughter of two of the six royalty.


    It didnt help that she had been a surprise pregnancy. Tier 48s had a hard enough time getting pregnant with fertility treatments and decades of trying. Her six siblings had been nned, and had others of simr backgrounds to grow up with.


    Matt knew none of that. He was with her because they made a great team and got along.


    Shed have to tell him eventually, but she was determined to push that day far into the future. If he looked at her differently, it would hurt far worse than any of the others growing up.


    Liz had nearly had a heart attack when he had asked about Mara. She had nearly panicked, and asked how he figured it out. But no, he had just been trying to learn about Phoenixes in general, and stumbled upon her stupid mothers fight for the throne.


    She was going to strangle her mother for letting that bit of video stay public. It had taken some <em>inventive </em>truth-telling to keep the illusion up that her mother wasnt the very person he was studying.


    She was just happy her mother hadn''t taken her concerns very seriously when she was awakened. Liz being petnt had formally asked her mother to go into monarch mode to address the issue. Her mother was flippant but Mara the Queen was anything but.


    The conversation had only gotten more awkward when he had asked if Mara was stronger than Leon. Lizs parents would have gotten a kick out of beingpared. They always said the other was stronger.


    That was the longest, tensest conversation of her life.


    Liz had gotten through it, though. The topic hadnte up in thest few hours, and she hoped it wouldnt reappear at all.


    That was a problem for future Liz.


    It didnt help at all that her parents would absolutely <em>love</em> Matt.


    She already knew what they would say. Oh theyre just like us when we were young. Then they would stare into each others eyes, and one of them would drag the other into their bedroom.


    Liz knew it wasnt fair to criticize them for being in love, but they still acted like newlyweds. It was so embarrassing.


    Her mother had also broken every record of high Tiered births, it was unheard of to have seven children at her Tier. It had led to rumors. She had only been called a broodmare once. Her father had ripped the woman in half in front of the entire court. His being fined for the cost of the womens recovery bills had not stopped his point from getting across.


    None of that changed the fact they were still overly romantic aboutpanion pairs. Each and every one was a reflection of them as a young man and a me sparrow, struggling on The Path.


    Liz vowed to keep Matt and Aster away from them. At least until Tier 10. That was the deal, shed have her privacy until then. She had tried for Tier 15, but her parents had tly refused to go without seeing their daughter that long.


    Their love was like a heavy nket. After a bump in the dark, it was the greatestfort, but it was hot and smothering the rest of the time.


    Liz absently ran her brush through Asters tail. Aster was a problem. The dragons blood she absorbed was a great help for her future, but if the little fox wanted to use the bloodline, it would burn itself out. The bloodline not being a natural part of her makeup made it a consumable resource instead of a permanent part of her.


    The bloodline was still amazing. Liz still felt somewhat guilty about eating it. Logically, she knew that it was going to start fading, and eventually be useless. It was still a kingly gift that she struggled to ept. Her mother would love to get her grubby talons onto a source of that dragons blood essence.


    Liz made a note on her AI to have Matt send a report of the rift to her mother, to be passed on to Mara, so he could get credit for the find. She knew as soon as her mother saw the video and ran the numbers, shed be on the in minutes.


    Liz looked around. It was pointless. Either of her parents could be inches away, and shed only know if they allowed it.


    It was a perfect n to distract her parents for a year or two, as they tried to restabilize the rift. Matt had said the rift had been dissipated, but a Tier 4s spiritual senses and a Tier 48s were twopletely different things.


    Freedom. Blessed freedom.


    She might even be able to get favors from her siblings for distracting the pair.


    Liz thought over the high Tiered Phoenixes she knew. Who would be willing to give up some essence to the little fox on herp?


    <em>Aunt Helen is probably the easiest. She even has a restaurant on defall, so it could be an ident if we run into her.</em>


    Liz liked the n. It shouldnt be too suspicious to Matt. It would allow Aster to bind the phoenix bloodline power of rebirth to the dragons massive power, creating a strong, regenerating source of power.


    She had already shown Aster how to spread the bloodline out so it would nourish and empower her. At this Tier, Aster couldnt use even a fraction of a percent of the power of the bloodline, but binding the phoenix bloodline earlier was always better.


    It would also help the fox advance her own bloodline. Phoenix bloodlines and essence were highly sought after, because they made the best support bloodlines. Rebirth was an absurd ability, and while binding a small portion of the power did not let others cheat death, it did let bloodlines regenerate what was otherwise permanently gone.


    Liz turned her attention to the Dual Stars dueling arenas. She was not happy with them. The Tier 25 should have intervened when the weak idiot of a Tier 10 stepped in.


    People in power thinking they could do anything was how the tragedy of etTithil happened. It had only happened two years ago, and already, people were throwing their weight around. Did someone need to burn a city of millions down again for the lesson to sink in?


    Liz had seen the look in Matts eyes as he left the area. They were dead and resigned. Empty.


    They looked far too simr to Lizar, the young man who had felt the only way to get revenge was to kill the entire city.


    The worst part was, it was true. As a Tier 7, it was his only way to strike out at those who had raped and tortured his little sister.


    Liz remembered his eyes. They still haunted her.


    His story was one of tragedy. He was a gifted cksmith who had won a city widepetition. What should have been a day of celebration turned dark, when the mayors son took an interest in his younger sister.


    The sister declined the sons advances, and was kidnapped and raped as a result. Lizar tried to get justice for her, and was shot down at every turn.


    With his sisters mutted corpse dumped on his doorstep, Lizar did what only those with nothing left could do. He doomed everyone.


    He waited until the shields were raised because a rift spawned near the city. With the shield raised, he broke the Tier 20 family heirloom. It was a forge with a massive fire core inside. Normally the resulting explosion would have done little more than kill him and a city block. Most of the energy would be vented up.


    The shield that was supposed to protect the city had in fact, doomed it. It had registered the fire inside as an attack, and strengthened the defenses, trapping the raging inferno until it burnt itself out.


    In a twist of irony, Lizar survived. His Talent was a massive resistance to fire, and he had lived long enough to tell his story, and verify that his sisters killer had perished. After that, he cracked his own core. Death followed quickly.


    Uncle Manny had quickly issued justice to those who had caused the tragedy. Lizar had tried to get the crime punished, and while he didnt have the power to force change, the Emperor made sure heads rolled.


    The Baron on the world and the Viscount he reported to were executed. They had both seen the report of a rape and murder, and hadpletely ignored it. They felt one Tier 2 girl was worth far less than a mayors son.


    The whole debacle was preventable. Lizar had only wanted justice, and when he was denied that right, he took matters into his own hands. Rape and murder were illegal from Tier 50 to Tier 1. If anyone had done their job properly, 32,756,621 people would still be alive.


    Liz wouldnt let Matt follow down that path. What had brought on Matts frustration had been much less severe, but his eyes had been the same.


    She wouldnt let a small issue get escted. She already had messages for her parents and uncle Manny, with the recording of the entire incident, waiting to be sent.


    It was overkill for such an incident to make it to royalty, but she still remembered Lizars words, Why did no one help?


    Liz had pushed Matt to see his reaction, but she wasnt sure if his resigned words were because of his current weakness, or because he wouldnt go overboard.


    She made another note to get him into a therapist when they left this dust ball. He had waved off the question of why he hadnt seen one, saying that there were others who needed the time slots more. It was infuriating.


    He still needed to process the death of his parents. As far as she could tell, he just shoved it down, and focused on the present. It seemed like he had been doing that since the rift break.


    The fact that the he had grown up on had more than <em>ten</em> rift breaks waspletely uneptable.


    Uncle Manny had apparently already dealt with it, but she still had written a strongly worded message, ready to send when the information portal opened. Shed make sure more got done for the. A decree and the help Matt had detailed just wasnt enough.


    If the powerful didnt set an example, who would act kindly? Who would ever refrain from abusing their power?


    Liz was determined to make sure Matt got the help he needed.


    What else were friends for?


    A small part of her whispered that she was only doing this because he had potential. She squashed that voice. She would help any friend she could. The fact that he could keep up with her was the reason she had formed a party with him. Not the reason they were friends.


    In the maze fight, she had gotten the smallest whiff of a concept from Matt. It would be difficult to tease it out, but Liz was sure she could do it. That whiff had only been confirmed in the duel with the guilder. He had touched upon it, but getting him to actualize it would be the hard part. Concepts had the habit of disrupting memories involving them, until the individual could fully realize them.


    That advantage would ensure that he could keep up with her when she used her own concept of blood to form the core of her Tier 5 advancement.


    Concepts at Tier 5 would be arger advantage as they advanced, like a stone rolled down a mountain. The earlier it was started, the more momentum it could gather.


    Matt was impressive, even by her standards. He used a crippled Talent to advance, and when that handicap turned into a boon, he didnt get arrogant, and he kept his head down. That didnt even ount for his synergy with his skill or talent with a de. [Phantom Armor] was a good, life saving skill on its own. [Cracked Phantom Armor] synergized with him well, and was used to amazing effect.


    Skills that could offer that much protection with almostplete coverage were rare. Liz made another note on her AI to teach him some tips and tricks to direct the growth of his skills.


    Matt was as determined to advance on his own as she was. Together, they might just do it.


    She still intended to shove him into a box and market him as an unlimited mana source. The look on his face had simply been far too amusing.


    Her smile was back.


    Liz reaffirmed her reason for joining Matt and Aster. They were strong, and she wouldnt have to leave them behind as she advanced. They were friends. That and the rings.


    The rings.


    Another thing her parents were going to gush about. They had tried to give her a growth item, but she had refused. She joined The Path to stop that. She wanted to escape their influence, and now she had a good growth item anyway.


    It wasnt perfect, but it could take advantage of Matt''s mana regeneration, so it was better than nothing. At least they wouldnt have to swap it out for a better fitting one.


    If she had asked any of her aunts or uncles, she never would have heard the end of it from her parents. Better to use a somewhat useful item than listen to her parents gloating.


    If the world truly was on her side, they would have gotten the rings her brother and his husband had. It allowed them to share mana with nopatibility issues. That would be perfect to have with Matt''s Talent, but this was still good.


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    Liz shook herself free. This was a happy moment.


    As Liz looked down at [Create Water] she felt pride. She had earned this.


    She felt a smile on her face that matched Matts.


    With Aster in herp, and Matt next to her...


    She was happy.

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23


    Matt fiddled with the skill shard in his hand. It was pretty.


    It glimmered along with the high powered lights overhead. This was the fruit of his hard work and risk taking. He''d be using the skill for essentially forever.


    The skill went into a band that locked and secured it to his wrist. The timer was set for two days, as he didn''t have a core slot to dedicate the skill to.


    That brought his thoughts to the future. He''d be close to the peak of Tier 4 when this training world closed, and he needed to start deciding what Tier 5 reward skill he wanted for his core slot.


    The arena grabbed his attention. There was a duel going on that caught his eye.


    A short woman in Dual Stars colors was sting at a Republican mage. The mage was using a silver colored dome for defense.


    The skill gave his spiritual sense an impression simr to a spatial distortion. It felt just like the sensation that inteary teleports gave.


    The Dual Stars woman was panting, as she threw [Fireball] after [Fireball]. It seemed ineffective, but she kept on firing with persistence. Either it was her only skill, or she had already tried everything else in her arsenal.


    The fight ended when the fire mage realized she wasn''t going to break down the barrier, and decided to stop wasting her mana.


    That unusual skill made him turn to Liz, who was idly brushing Aster as she was curled in herp.


    "What skill are you thinking of for your Tier 5 reward."


    The blood mage barely reacted to his question, her eyes flicking around. She was doing something with her AI. When he was about to turn back to the fights, she answered.


    "I''m going to get [Endurance], and so are you."


    Matt opened his mouth. Why would he get [Endurance]?


    Quickly looking up the skill, he found it in his Tier 8 skill shard database.


    [Endurance]: A channel skill that removes fatigue.


    That was it. The only other thing was that it was a rare Tier 8 skill.


    It didn''t seem all that valuable to him.


    "I just looked it up. Why would I get it?"


    It once again took her a moment to answer him. "Its because of how the skill actually works. [Endurance] functions by enhancing the secondyer of directed physical cultivation for regeneration, the one focusing on muscle recovery. With [Endurance] in the core of your spirit, you can expand its capabilities to all of the secondyer regeneration directed cultivation. Essentially it makes it the best option for a low Tier self heal. It''s never gonna be as good as [Regeneration], but it is the next best thing."


    That shocked Matt. Then it irritated him.


    "Why is that notmon knowledge? I could have made a terrible choice without that info." A channeled self healing skill was perfect for him. If not for Liz, he would have passed over the skill, without a single thought of how it could be improved upon with his Talent.


    Thisck of knowledge was infuriating. The Empire might be doing what they thought was best, but to him, this was a step too far.


    It was another long moment before Liz answered. "It''s from Madam Del''vir''s guide on Tier 8 skills. It''s amon repository of knowledge. It''s also given to all Tier 5''s on The Path before they can choose a skill from the Empire''s stock. [Endurance] usually sells for a Tier 14 skill shard, and the Empire buys a lot of them up. They always keep a stock of valuable skills, to be used as rewards for those on The Path. Acquiring [Endurance] through other means has always been incredibly challenging. Most have to wait until Tier 14, when they can trade amon skill of that Tier for it."


    "Whats that name again? Madam Del''vir, that''s just a pretentious pronunciation for Madam Delver. And besides, how do you even know this?"


    "My brother had a physical copy at his house, and I read it. The name is a pseudonym, or at least, that''s how it started out. The original author has either ascended, or faded into obscurity at this point. Theyre on like version two hundred of the book. The digital copy is free and updated with crowdsourced information now. The name is just kept as a nod to the original author, who tried to get the information out to the masses. You can still buy it but most wait until they get it for free."


    That mollified Matt. At least he wouldve had ess to the book before making an uninformed decision. But still, the fact that he had started to make ns without it was irritating.


    He left Liz to whatever it was she was doing, and pondered how he could use the [Endurance] skill. It was an amazing match for him if what Liz said was true. Not that he doubted her, but he had never heard of skills being able to expand like that in your spirit.


    He looked down at the band that [Mages Retreat] was locked in. He had already started cycling essence through the skill, bringing it closer and closer to his inner spirit. Would he be able to expand its abilities in the same way that [Endurance] could be expanded?


    A quick check with his AI brought back no results. He''d have to wait until he got off this training world to get a true information packet about expanding [Mages Retreat].


    Idily rubbing his fingers over the band, he ignored Aster''s <em>subtle </em>pushes to go get her some ice cream. The foxs nose caught a whiff of the frozen treat, and she was <em>carefully </em>sending suggestions of a quick snack. However, her idea of subtlety was actually a tidal wave of sensory information that interrupted his musings on skills.


    Matt scratched her head, and went back to watching the fights. The Republican with the strange space shield was still on the stage, and a melee opponent was futilely trying to m through theyer of silver with a mace.


    The woman stood there, not even deigning to look at the ineffectual battering her shield was taking.


    It was only a few minutester when the man gave up and walked off the stage as well.


    Looking above the arena floor, he found the screen with her information and ranking in the tournament.


    Name: Tu


    Tier: 5


    Rank: 4th.


    This girl was simply outsting her opponents, and had climbed to fourth in the rankings.


    How many people had she ousted on this stage?


    Matt didn''t know, but watched as another contender stepped on the field. This guilder was a painfully thin man, with cheekbones so prominent, he looked like he was being starved.


    The man seemed to say something, and at the Republican''s nod, he produced and threw out three beakers that shattered once they hit the ground.


    The three beakers were each filled with different colored liquids, and with a wave of the guilder''s hands, a summoned golem rose out of each puddle.


    The red puddle was giving off heat waves, and produced a ming golem that shot out balls of fire. They were potent, but seemed too small to be [Fireball]. Matt''s AI determined it to be an application of [Fire Maniption].


    The green liquid summoned a golem that seemed to give off a poisonous or possibly acidic impression. Matts Tier 4 spiritual sense was only able to narrow it down to one of the two.


    The third vial contained a thick purple liquid that reeked of void affinity, and a twig-like golem rose from the puddle it had created.


    The battering from the three golems seemed to get the Republican''s attention. She began to retreat from the bombardment, but was cut off. The golems boxed her in and continued pounding at her shield. In response, the girl shed out a hand, and an arc of silvery light flew forward and cut each of the golems in half.


    The fight seemed to be over, until the guilder mage waved his hands again. Out from the puddles of goo left by the dissolving corpses came three new,pletely intact golems.


    The golems charged, and herded the Republican mage until she was over the original fire puddle. His trap sprung, the guilder mage quickly dismissed and re-summoned the fire golem, directly under the Republicans shield. The fight ended quickly after that.


    The republican mage surrendered, and the gaunt guilder didn''t press his advantage.


    At the conclusion of the fight, Matt''s attention wandered to an arena on the far side of the central za.


    There was a gun mage, an odd variant of mage and archer. They used enhanced variations of mortal weapons that threw bits of metal at opponents. After a quick search, his AI provided some data about two variants of the archetype. One used magic to propel the metal ''rounds'', and the second used various alchemical substances.


    The drawback of the former was that the mages relied on hyper specialized wands. The guns were enchanted wands, fashioned into the shape of their mundane counterparts. The wands still threw bursts of mana like normal spells, but ording to his AI, most of these mages just transitioned into true spell casting at Tier 8. In the end, they weren''t used for the same reason staves were better than wands,rger items meant more runes and enchantments could be imbued in the weapon.


    The second variant used alchemical propents tounch the metal rounds. They usually allocated essence, essentially like a standard archer, but with less strength. They were simr to crossbow users in that regard. There were two main drawbacks to this variant. The first was the ever increasing difficulty of manufacturing the propents with Tier advancement.


    On top of the cost, if the weapons had any problems at all, they were prone to exploding in the users hand. Even with his AIs negative assessment of the fighting style, he was interested in watching the duel. The gun wielder used two different types of guns. One was a dark blue and the other a burnished rose gold.


    His opponent was a standard sword and shield user with chainmail armor. The shield glowed with either a skill or enchantment. It did a good job of blocking the golden guns st of energy. Gaining confidence, the melee fighter charged, but when the gun mage fired his blue gun, it spat out a projectile that cracked the shield with ease.


    Giving up on cautious movements, the melee fighter simply ran at the gun mage, trying to close into sword range. The gun mage was able to keep his distance, and slowly whittled the man down with rounds. The finishing shot again came from the blue gun and ripped out a chunk of the melee fighter''s leg.


    The gun mages next opponent was a standard mage. They had a very familiar dagger in hand as they approached the arena.


    Matt looked to Liz to see if she was done with her AI. He wanted to get her attention so she could see their dagger get put to use. He saw her eyes still fluttering as she stared into space, so he left her to it.


    This fight was far more interesting. The mage with the dagger instantly conjured a sphere of wind that stopped energy st and physical projectile alike. Next, they channeled [Wind de] through the dagger, and shot out empowered shes ofpressed wind that screamed towards the gun mage.


    The gun mage was able to dance away from the des, but struggled to get through their opponents [Wind Barrier]. The Tier 14 skill was a wall that blocked and redirected all attacks weaker than the skill.


    After watching three more simr exchanges, Matt became bored of the stalemate. Suddenly, the gun mage was able tond a grazing blow on their opponent, timing up the air currents of [Wind Barrier], and firing at the perfect moment.


    The woman looked down in shock at the bleeding hole in her side. With one hand pressed to the wound, she shed out again, but instead of [Wind de], it was [Cyclone]. The mini-tornado chased after the gun mage, forcing him to focus on avoiding the deadly swirl of wind, rather than shooting at the wind mage.


    As the gun mage rolled out of the way from another [Wind de], the wind mage dropped her [Wind Barrier] for a moment, andunched a [Fireball] at the still active [Cyclone].


    The now ming tornado raged towards the gun mage,shing out with tongues of me. They ignited the newly erected [Wind Barrier], as well as the [Wind des] that the mage sent out from the safety of her ming barrier.


    Dagger empowered wind attacksbined with wind strengthened fire spells lead to a quick conclusion to the fight. The gun mage was unable to dodge the final sh of ming wind, and with his clothes on fire, rolled out of the arena.


    Matt was amused at the wind mage stillshing out with [Wind de]s until the referee called out and stopped her. He gave it fifty-fifty odds as to whether the red in her cheeks was from her now ming wind barrier or pure embarrassment.


    Seeing no other fight that caught his interest, Matt wandered to the smith he had contacted earlier. When he arrived, he talked the options over with the smith one final time. In the end, he decided to go with Lizs suggestion of three minor runes that allowed the de a bit more safety.


    The smith didnt have any problem with making the weapon to his specifications. After some deliberation, he decided to make the weapon a bit longer, and a lot heavier than his past weapon. It was closer to a typical greatsword in length and heft. Only Matts height would let him use longsword techniques with his new weapon.


    He was about to have [Mages Retreat], which at a 2 mana a second throughput, would give him a twenty five percent strength increase. With all of his essence allocated to his physical cultivation, that would be a sizable boost. It would mostly be boosting his strength allocation, but there was a bit of enhancement of his durability as well.


    The graph he found regarding [Mages Retreat] read:


    Mana Per Second Percent Increase 2 25% 10 50% 50 75% 250 100% 1250 125% 6250 150% 31250 175% 156250 200%


    That was a lot of mana, at least before mastery of the skill kicked in, and made it more efficient. Still, if the graph was urate, Tier 8 Matt could double his strength. <em>Permanently</em>. That was an increase even the most gifted of mages couldnt sustain.


    It meant he could get a slightlyrger weapon, and use that advantage to deal more damage per hit.


    The problem was the price.


    Look man, I cant make a sword that heavy with only Tier 5 materials, it needs a core of Tier 6 tungsten. Thats expensive. Best price for just the materials is two Tier 6 mana stones. With three lesser runes of durability, repair, and sharpness, that adds another twenty five Tier 5 mana stones a piece. With the personal mana converter formation, thats another Tier 6 mana stone.


    The man waved his hand around, and Matt leaned back from the wildly swinging hammer. He didnt want to get battered because he tried to haggle the price down.


    When he went to open his mouth, the smith overrode him.


    And you want a rush job. If I mess any of the runes up, I''ll need to re-smelt the entire de, and burn that mana all over again on a second, or even third attempt. City mana is still expensive. So if you want a weapon that won''t fall apart, and want it in three days, it''s gonna cost more. If you want to wait a week, I''ll cut half a mana stone off. But otherwise seven Tier 6. Upfront.


    Matt debated, but he liked the guys style of des, and he <em>was</em> asking for a rush job after all. It just was so much money. He''d need fifty Tier 4 mana stones to equal one Tier 5, and another fifty to equal a Tier 6. That was seventeen thousand five hundred Tier 4 mana stones, or two thousand five hundred Tier 4 rift delves with normal rewards.


    It hurt even worse when he converted it to credits. Seven Tier 6 mana stones was one billion seven hundred fifty million credits. He could buy his old city with the price of his new sword.


    With great pain, he handed over the mana stones, and they finished the transaction. It physically hurt to see so much wealth gone.


    As he was walking away, he stopped and paused.


    <em>I have two Tier 7 mana stones. Wow, I... I could buy nearly anything I could possibly want on my home world.</em>


    The realization of just how far he hade shocked him slightly. It didn''t seem so long ago when he was a Tier 1, working his fingers to the nub to get ten thousand credits for a delve slot in Glesie.


    All the thoughts of money made him remember the hammer guilder''s bet. He was owed ten Tier 5 mana stones. It wasn''t going to pay for his sword, but he would get some satisfaction out of relieving the asshole of his mana stones.


    Wandering about until he found the guild''s reception desk, he waited in line with a smile on his face. When he was directed to the tellers desk, he shed a smile of someone ready to dish out some just desserts.


    Hi, I had a wager on a duel with one of your guild members, and he wasn''t able to pay up after the duel. Can I get my payment here? Or should I head to the medical wing and pester him for it?


    Matt knew he would get his money here, but he hoped his words would somehow make their way over to the idiot while his spine was recovering. If he couldn''t even move when he heard Matts challenge, all the better.


    <em>Let the idiot stew while he waits for months for his body to adjust to the healing.</em>


    The teller looked slightly shocked before he said. Yes sir, this is the ce here. If you would send the desk a verification of the bet, we''ll verify it with the ship''s AI, and get you paid out.


    Wonderful. Thank you so much. Matt had no reason to be discourteous with this man and sent the verification.


    The man paused, looked at his screen, then back at Matt before pursing his lips. Sorry sir, there has been a slight problem, the cost of the healing has put Mr. Kline under the amount that he wagered with you.


    At Matts raised eyebrows he hurriedly continued, Don''t worry sir, you''ll get your payment. It will just take my manager to charge the ount into the negatives.


    Matt saw the man''s cheek pinch in slightly. It took him a moment, but he realized the man was trying to remain professional and notugh. Either the idiot he fought had a bad reputation, or this guy got a kick out of having to call his manager down.


    Wanting to test which one it was, Matt asked, So how''s your day been? Anything interesting?


    The man''s facade slipped, and arge grin appeared. I just got fantastic news, and even after work entertainment. So, it''s been wonderful. How about you?


    That just made Matt chuckle. The man clearly had a grudge with the armored bastard.


    Wanting to know how bad this would screw the guy over, he asked, What are the consequences for overdrawing like this?


    The smile that the receptionist had gotten control over, slipped back out. It''s a double fine of the overdrawn amount, and a ck mark on the ount, which will prevent him from leading anything for two years.


    The man''s professional demeanor returned, as a man in a nicer suit consisting of the guild''s colors rounded the desk.


    What''s this about?


    The manager didn''t even look at Matt, and just elbowed past the man in front of the pad.


    The man looked at the screen, and tapped at it a few times, before looking up to Matts still smiling face.


    Listen here son...


    Matt cut him off, smile still stered on through sheer force of will.


    I''m not your son. My parents are dead.


    That seemed to shock the man. He spluttered, Umm, well still. Do you know who Edens parents are?


    Nope! And I don''t really care.


    Now listen here. Youre on <em>our</em> training world. You should be more respectful to your hosts. I think you should let this matter drop.


    Matt smiled, And you are?


    That seemed to take the man back. I''m the manager here.


    No, I want your name.


    The man looked around before Matt just said, You know what it doesn''t matter. I''ll take a picture of you. See, I don''t know how you are, but I know who I am.


    With his arms spread Matt said, Im Matt, ascender on The Path. The challenged in the duel.


    For maximum effect, he crossed his arms and tapped on his lip. Also a guild VIP for services rendered. Now you know who I am too, and I want what Im owed. <em>Now</em>.


    As the man''s eyes shifted, he looked around, searching for any means of escape. Please hurry, or Ill have to send this interaction to Simeon.


    Matt had no intention of using Simeon as an actual threat. The man had helped him, and he didn''t want to drag him into this mess. Who knew what the kids influence was. And while Matt was untouchable by the guild, he didn''t know if they had power over the Tier 15 engineer.


    With his ten mana stones jingling in his pocket, he sauntered around until he found an ice cream stand. Deciding to get Aster and himself a treat, he messaged Liz and asked what she wanted.


    The blood mage wanted a strawberry daiquiri vored mix. She also said that Aster wanted peanut butter and banana.


    It still slightly bothered him that Liz could actually understand Asters yips and bodynguage as actual words. He still couldn''t, even with the link between their spirits. Lizs exnation of being able to understand the instinctivenguage of beasts was hardly enough to pacify him.


    He got their sweets and headed back to where he left the duo. Aster scampered off Liz''sp as soon as she saw him, and tried jumping into his arms.


    Ohh no. Aster this is thest ice cream Im getting you until the day we teleport back out. Savor it.


    The foxs ears dropped and she tried to garner some pity, but he just calmly ced the bowl down for her. Asters facade quickly disappeared in her haste to eat the treat.


    Plopping down and passing her order over to the now attentive Liz, he asked, So did the book you read have anything about [Mages Retreat]?


    Liz finished her mouthful of ice cream and said, Eh I think so. I didn''t really remember that one. I saw that everyone took [Endurance] and just skimmed the rest. If I had to guess, Id say you have two options. You can use [Mages Retreat] to either boost your durability in conjunction with [Endurance], or you can use it to boost your flexibility. I''m not sure honestly.


    Matt thought about that. The point was mostly moot, as he didn''t have a free core skill slot, and getting [Endurance] to function like [Regeneration] was more important. But he could still work on expanding [Mages Retreat]. It would just take conscious effort instead of the nearly automatic process of improving a core skill.


    While snacking on his cookie dough ice cream, he turned his attention to the dueling arenas. Now there was a sprinkling of cheering. He saw a man getting his face tended to by healers. Judging from the blood, the man had a broken nose and a split lip. Nothing that he couldn''t fight with, but to limit contamination, he was being healed before he could fight again.


    When the fighter stood up, Matt realized how truly big the man was. Easily seven feet tall, and so wide it looked abnormal. The odd patterning of his hair suggested that he was the child of an evolved beast.


    Is that guy a bear?


    His question to Liz was answered with a nod, Some hignd variation. First generation, and a high concentration too. Or both of his parents are evolvedpanions.


    That brought him up short. Then wouldn''t he just be an actual bear?


    Lizughed at that. No. If both of his parents were the same species of bear, they could shift back to their monster forms and have a bear cub that way. Most chose to have the kid in human form, either because their animal sides aren''tpatible biologically, or because they want to live in human society.


    She waved her spoon at the arena. Say his parents had him as bears, and he was born as one. He''d be of nearly human intelligence, but trapped in a beast form. Not a lot of species chose to do that. Some do, but it''s mostly when they don''t procreate outside of their lineage.


    Liz pointed down at the fox, who was still licking at her already spotless bowl. Aster will grow in intelligence until she''s at a human level of sapience. That will happen by Tier 10ish. At Tier 15, when she gets her human form, she''ll be taken away by the monster kingdom.


    Wait what? They can''t do that. This was the first Matt had heard of this, and it immediately got his blood thrumming through his veins. If anyone wanted to take her, theyd have to do it over his dead body.


    When Liz looked at him this time, she gave him a hard look. It will happen. And itll be for a few years at a minimum. Ten percent of the time it took her to reach Tier 15, minimum of ten years. Matt, you have to realize that she''s only known you. Codependence is a real possibility. Well you can leave as early as five years with a psych eval, but there are less rewards if you don''t finish the ten.


    Before he could protest she said, It also lets the monster kingdom stop any grooming that might have urred. You''d be surprised by how many sickos think they can just <em>make </em>their perfect spouse with apanion. Or worse, a sex toy that only knows their bond. The kingdom does <em>not</em> take kindly to that, and <em>will</em> crack down on it.


    That made Matt look intently at the fox. He couldn''t even imagine wanting to raise her as anything less than a full person. He wasn''t sure what he thought of her as, but it was more than a pet.


    She was Aster.


    She may have a foxs body now, but he knew she''d grow smarter, and he never treated her like she was less than him. She was a partner to grow alongside him.


    The thought of someone raising something to disregard its feelings and treat it like an object sickened him. He pushed his half finished ice cream away from his seat. This talk had ruined his appetite and good mood from screwing the idiot guilder out of his money.


    Liz, seeing his expression, finished with a softer voice. Your reaction is the right one. It''s disgusting and cruel to do that, and more than one bonded pair has been broken because of it. Either party can break the bond if they so desire, and as they gain intelligence they''ll remember how you treated them. The separation is good. Even my parents did it. They were apart for nearly fifteen years. It took another half a century for their rtionship to turn romantic.


    That was with them both having rtionships in the meantime. Eventually, they got together and never looked back. But they didn''t rush into it, and made sure it was what both of them wanted. Only about thirty percent of bonds end up in a rtionship. Most are like siblings or best friends. Theres a strong influence thates with a bond, and that needs to be approached incredibly carefully if sex is involved.


    Think about it, Matt. When Aster chooses a human form, she''s going to take a lot of influence from you. Look at me. She waved to her bust and rear. I''m very much my mothers daughter, all chest and hips. She wanted a form that was attractive, and she plucked it right out of my dad''s head. I''m just lucky I didn''t get the feathers.


    That gave Matt pause. Feathers?


    Liz rolled her eyes. Being the preening bird my mom is, she went with feathers instead of hair when she made her human body. They look so stupid. She has shoulder de length feathers that act just like hair.


    I didn''t realize evolved beasts had that much control over the form they chose. I thought it would be fully human. I''ve uhh... Never met an evolved beast.


    The blood mage shrugged and said. It''s amon enough thing to see ears or a tail on evolved humans. They don''t have to keep them, and can go full human if they want. But most identify with those traits and choose to keep them. My mom, being a stupid bird, did what every one of them does, and kept her feathers. Do you know how vain she is about them? It''s insufferable.


    Liz reached out like she was wringing her mothers neck.


    That led Matt to ask So the hair color? He pointed at her hair.


    Lizs response was apanied with an eye roll that he thought her mother might be able to <em>feel. </em>Yeah, the little me sparrow just had to have red feathers like she always had. And that means red hair genes. That, and yellow eyes. Aster will probably have white hair and blue eyes. Those are themon two that most keep.


    Liz shook herself. Back to mister bear over there. His parents could have been both bears, or just evolved beasts who took huge human forms. Hard to tell really.


    Matt let the conversation die after that. He was too upied with his thoughts of abusive or predatory bonded pairs. He couldn''t even imagine selling Aster''s egg. At the time, he had simply not even considered it. It was his, he had earned it. With hard work and a unknowingly stupid risk, he jumped into a bond. He was now learning that it consisted of far more than just raising her until she could take care of herself.


    Life was gettingplicated. He had a responsibility to Aster. He had power, he thought, as he looked to his wrist, where [Mages Retreat] was cycling into his spirit. He had wealth, his thoughts went to his pocket, with more wealth than he could ever imagine a few years ago. And it had just been from a small bet.


    He had so many possibilities now. His future paths were infinite and varied.


    <em>Maybe I can donate some money to the orphanage?</em>


    The thought cheered Matt up a bit. He still remembered the infants and toddlers who had survived the rift breaks. The staff of the orphanage had to work long hours while still supervising the older kids.


    Matt decided that when he got off this, he''d see what he could do. Money might not solve every problem, but it sure didn''t make them worse.


    His eyes drifted to Liz, who was watching the fights and idly scratching Asters back. He had a friend. He may have only known her for a week, and she was clearly keeping secrets, but he trusted her.


    She was strong and ruthless, but she thought of others and didn''t throw her background around. Liz was someone he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. She wasn''t perfect and liked to stir the pot a little too much for his taste, but he felt they''d even each other out a bit.


    Sinking back into the chair and forcing his attention to the fights, Matt only had one thought.


    <em>Life is good.</em>

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24


    The finals of the mini gauntlet were wrapping up, with Matt as an enthralled onlooker. The top ten in the rankings were mostly made up of Republican delvers and Empire guilders. The lesser guilds and people on The Path were unable to keep up with the gear and skills of those delvers with wealthy backings.


    Liz told him that this would change when people on The Path hit Tier 8, and could round out their skill set a bit. Until then, the wealth disparity put them at a pretty substantial disadvantage.


    Once the ground was made up, starting around Tier 8, those that remained on The Path were usually able to beat out themon delvers at their own Tier. Matt was looking forward to watching the higher tiered delvers disy those rounded out abilities and synergies.


    The current fight was a duel between two melee fighters. One had an axe, with a de that was erged with some skill. Maybe [Mana de] or some other ergement variant. The second was a heavy tank, with a massive set of armor on. The tank also had summoned a golden barrier that hugged their form.


    Matt didnt know if it was an enchantment to the armor or a skill, but the barrier was rendering the axe mans blows ineffective. The axe wielder was using a [Momentum Charge] skill. His weapon was glowing brighter and brighter, absorbing the momentum from each blow.


    The axeman also had a movement skill that allowed him massive bursts of speed. With it, he was able to circle the tank with ease, but he was still unable to break the tanks light barrier.


    When the erged axe mmed down on the tanks leg once more, the light in the de shed, and golden sparks from the barrier exploded from the impact. The light show was apanied by the screeching of metal against metal, mixed with screams of agony from the tank. His leg was chopped clean through.


    As the tank copsed from hisck of lower extremity, he brought his mace down with a vicious strike towards the head of the axe wielder. As the heavy weapon approached, it glowed with a skill that radiated intense power. It appeared to be increasing the weight of the mace with the momentum of the wielder''s swing. The weapon became a meteor that would annihte the axe man.


    Matt was nearly out of his seat when the referee sprung into action, and was suddenly holding the mace with a glowing, gauntleted fist.


    Matt let out a breath once he realized the attempted murder was thwarted. This particr referee was in charge of overseeing each of the top ten matches, and had introduced himself as a Tier 15.


    As he held the mace aloft, he called out, Winner. The Republics Mavuli. As he''s going to be healing that leg for a while. He''s, unfortunately, unable to continue, and will finish the tournament in third ce. Give him a round of apuse.


    The republic sides cheering was loud enough that the floor began to vibrate under Matts feet.


    In fourth ce, we have Oposio. Give him a cheer for breaking through Mavulis defenses.


    Matt, along with everyone on The Empire''s side, pped for their own, but with much less enthusiasm. He had lost after all. A top five finish meant that he would receive a satisfactory reward. Still, it was a cruel twist of fate to lose at thest second, after finally getting through your opponents armor.


    The next two fighters were what Matt and the rest of the crowd were truly looking forward to. It was a match between the best of the Republics bracket and the best of the Empires.


    On the Republic''s side, a man dressed in only the sheerest cloth bodysuit stood, wielding a thin saber variant. He didn''t seem to care all that much about the de, as he twisted its point into the floor of the hard arena. It made Matt wince. Even with enchantments, it was still a terrible habit for a swordsman to have.


    The Empirespetitor was a tall, thin girl. She had an absolutely massive longbow strapped to her back.


    The announcer introduced thebatants as the entire arena, including all seven tforms hosting the previous bouts, slowly merged into one grand stage.


    On The Republics side, we have Jay, Tier 4. A genius who only uses a saber with the applicable skills.


    With a point to the tall girl, he directed everyones attention to her. Lilly, Tier 5. A prodigy with the bow. This will be a fight to remember.


    Jay nodded to hispetitor, and Lilly returned his goodwill with a wave.


    Once the countdown hit zero, Lilly jumped high into the air. At the top of her impressive jump, she jumped again, without descending. Ripples flowed outwards from her footfalls in the air, mimicking a pebble dropped into water.


    Matt looked to Liz, Hey, is that our [Puddle Jumper]?


    Liz never took her eyes off the fight, and Matt returned his attention to the arena as well. It could be her own. But if it is our skill, shes doing one of two things. Either she just cycled it right to her outer spirit, and is taking a heavy penalty to the skill, or she used a Tier 20 rift reward that lets skills get absorbed incredibly fast. Problem with that is, you can only use one per Tier, and you cant absorb any new skills while at that Tier. Not a big deal at lower Tiers where you can advance quickly, but at the higher Tiers it can really hurt.


    The archer was now fifteen feet in the air and gliding horizontally, not losing an inch of altitude. Looking closer, Matt saw that her boots were glowing. They weren''t the boots he had sold, but the enchantment seemed simr.


    She nocked an arrow with no head, and with a glowing hand, pulled the bowstring back.


    Jay hadnt moved an inch from his starting position. He wasn''t even looking up at the archer taking aim at him. His gaze seemed to be focused far beyond the arena.


    When the arrow mmed down, he took a casual step to the side, and the arrow impaled the ground where he previously stood.


    <em>How did her arrow pierce the ground?</em>


    Matt looked away from the catatonic Jay and to the floating Lilly. When sheunched the next arrow, he saw a tiny arrowhead appear on the empty shaft. It was the purple-ck of void.


    <em>Ah. Well, that exins it.</em>


    Mystery solved, he watched Jay casually sidestep the next arrow as well.


    The third arrow Jay shed out at with his saber. Instead of blowing a hole through the de as Matt expected, the arrow was knocked out of the air with the t of his saber.


    Liz let out an audible gasp of approval.


    Eyes glued to the stage, he asked, Exin please?


    He''s feeling out a saber Concept. He''s touching upon it. That exins why he''s doing so well as a peak Tier 4, even against all these Tier 5s. He''s definitely halted his advancement if he''s this close.


    At those words, he looked to the floating tform with the two Tier 25s. Driver from Dual Stars had a nk face, but the woman from the Republic had a smile so wide, it looked like it hurt.


    Matt thought out loud, So even if he loses this duel, hes still a better prospect for future growth than Lilly, whos relying on skills and equipment to advance.


    Yup. The Republic couldn''t care less if he loses this fight. Even against a void archer, the Tier 15 can protect him. The worst case here is that he just doesnt form the Concept. He needs to break through the moment and crystalize the Concept. She looked to him for a moment before finishing, When youre touching on a Concept, it blurs the mind, until you get a good idea of the Concept that resonates with you.


    Common practice is to go with a phrase and an image. Once you get one or the other firmly set, the memory problems stop.


    Did your parents tell you this? Matt saw it as the only way she should know this.


    Kinda. I knew my Concept from the age of nine. Mine is Rebirth Through Blood. It was Rebirth Through Fire before my Talent, but that was a pretty easy shift.


    That got Matts attention away from the current stalemate, and he shifted in his seat to look at the blood mage next to him.


    I thought you could only get one at peak Tier 4.


    Na you can get one at any time. I''ve always identified with that part of my bloodline. My parents picked up on what was happening because of my reactions to any phoenix using fire around me. My Talent changed the image and phrase I use, but it was a small change honestly.


    Matt was surprised, he never wouldve guessed that she was that far ahead of him. So having a bloodline helps with Concepts... A small part of him felt bitter about that.


    They can, Liz shrugged, For most people, its so simple. Even I will have a slight problem with manifesting my Intent. I''m starting really specific, but I have to decide how Ill grow the concept. Do I go with the rebirth or the blood sides? Or maybe I''ll figure out a way to keep them paired.


    Still better than me. I''ll need to use the fake one and purgeter.


    Before he could feel sore about that, Liz rolled her eyes. Matt you''re already touching on one. My Concept reacted with yours.


    Wait what? He didn''t believe it. He didn''t feel anything Then he remembered the talk about memory issues. Did he find something? He went over the fight and didnt know what his revtion was. Nothing came to mind.


    Don''t worry, I''ll teach you some meditation techniques that can help. Worstes to worst, we do what he''s doing, and shove you intobat and wait for it to click.


    That only slightly eased his misgivings about his possible Concept. Matt felt for an idea that described his fights. Was it his longsword? He had always felt the sword was a natural extension of himself. The dance it required was so easy to slip into.


    But that didn''t make sense if it was resonating in thest fight. He was only using his fists.


    Armor, maybe? That didn''t feel right either. His armor was the core of his fighting style, but he didnt feel like it defined him.


    The fight at the arena heated up, and he threw the Concept thoughts to the back of his mind. Maybe watching this fight would help.


    Lilly was still at her twenty-foot floating altitude. There was a st of pressure from her bow, as a massive arrowhead coalesced, and ripped towards her nonplussed opponent.


    As Matt took in the scene, he noticed the referee preparing to intervene, but suddenly, Driver was in front of him with an arm raised.


    The Tier 25 Republic woman was next to Jay, who still had his eyes closed. As the arrow approached, a st of energy exploded outward from the still stoic Jay. The woman deftly hopped back out of the stage with augh, as Jays breakthrough into Tier 5 started. With a single sword stroke, he sliced the iing arrow into splinters.


    Jay looked up at his adversary and said, Thank you. I don''t think I could''ve done this without the pressure of an opponent I couldn''t hit.


    With that, he shed out with his sword, and a [Mana de] arced out.


    The skill screamed with a ferocity it shouldn''t be capable of at that Tier. There was even a tinge of silver where the de would be in the light blue arc of unaspected mana.


    Lilly jumped again to dodge the attack. Her face was pinched, lips pursed to show her displeasure.


    Matt wasn''t sure if she was trying to save face when she said Well now that youre ready, I can actually bring out my full skill.


    Lilly then drew a familiar rapier from out of nowhere.


    Matt looked over at Liz. Howd she do that?


    She''s using a specialized storage ring. They are custom made to a single weapon, and thats all they can hold. But they are usable by people below Tier 15. She really is someone''s kid to have that kind of equipment.


    With the bow ced over her shoulder, Lilly stabbed out with the void sword.


    Nothing happened.


    A momentter, she dropped the weapon, and it floated down to the arena floor. Suddenly, it shot towards Jay and started attacking, almost as if by its own ord.


    [Animate Weapon] was a Tier 26 skill.


    <em>How did she use that skill? It has a multi-thousand mana cost.</em>


    Matt checked his AI, and it confirmed what he believed to be true. She must have absorbed a ton of rift mana stones to keep all the skills active.


    <em>She is literally burning money.</em>


    Matt almost felt bad for Jay. The talented swordsman was having a hard time striking out at the floating girl and fending off her bonded weapon at once. The void was eating at his de when he didn''t reinforce it with his Concept.


    When the de was covered with the silvery light he was able to parry every attack thrown at him. But when the light flickered, his weapon took the brunt of the damage.


    Lilly was sweating heavily, and with great heaving breaths, she drew back another arrow andunched it at the dodging Jay.


    This time, the Tier 15 was allowed to intervene. He snatched the arrow out of the air and swatted the floating sword down to the floor in one swift motion.


    With a boomingugh, he said, Well done to bothpetitors. He turned to the swordsman next to him. Jay may have lost, but he performed splendidly, and I''m sure he''ll have a bright future. Give him a cheer for breaking through in the middle of a fight.


    The referee started giving congrattions to Lilly, who had floated down at this point.


    Matt, not caring to see the grandstanding, turned to Liz and asked, Why didn''t they mention his Concept? And why stop the fight so early? He seemed like he had more to give.


    Liz stood and he followed suit. Nah, his control was shoddy at best, and he finished the hard part. The Republic considers this a win. Lilly will get a slightly better prize, but she has so many skills and items, it wont mean much to her. The prize will be capped at Tier 14. Im sure she could buy anything at that Tier.


    Matt''s thoughts turned contemtive. The Republic had just acquired a strongpetitor. Though they may have lost the tournament, in the end they came out ahead.


    Matt and Liz found a tform boat and left therge, joined tforms that made up the arena. They slipped into the boat and were quickly taken to the dock.


    Aster did her best impression of a figurehead, trying to catch the breeze.


    When they arrived back in the city, they found a sit down diner and ate a hearty meal before they called it a night.


    The next day mostly consisted of waiting around for their respective skills to cycle. Matt went to the gym that the guild had set up. He wanted to get a benchmark for all of his lifts and punching power. Liz joined him, but had a smile when he asked why.


    He wasn''t sure what [Create Blood] could do for her lifting power, but it was nice to have someone to work out with.


    As they were exercising, Matt''s mind drifted to his time at the orphanage. When they were young they were forced to work out and exercise. When they were 10, minimal lifting was added. The programs were mostly just games that encouraged movement and coordination.


    When thebat training started, they were given far stricter training, and he remembered hating every minute spent in the gym. Now, it was a different, better form of progress. Lift heavier things, stretch a little farther.


    It was another form of cultivation. A bit slower than allocating essence, but the results were just as tangible.


    When they had concluded their workouts, and were finished reviewing their AIs recordings of their lifts, they spent the next three hours scouring for crafters and nonbatants. They were looking for someone who could find Lizs bag in thendslide.


    It was a slow process, and it wasnt going well. Even with guild ess, they couldnt find a roster with a list of skills and Talents. The posting they put on the LocalNet was purposely vague, as they didn''t want to put out the info that there was a missing spatial bag ready to be stolen.


    Liz was talking to an Alchemist, while Matt looked over his potions and pills.


    Well, can you pare down a few dozen meters in the dirt?


    Well, maybe.


    Thats a yes or no question. What does maybe mean?


    Well, I would need to know where, and what I''m looking for.


    Matt tuned everything else the man said out. That was amon enough response. Some might actually need the information, but most wanted to see if there was something worth jumping out to steal for themselves.


    The alchemist had an interesting variety of wares to look at. Matt was even thinking of buying a potion that increased proprioception and flexibility. It seemed useful. The other potion he wanted was a durability potion that would increase a person''s durability by ten percent for an hour. The price of five Tier 5 mana stones was just too high to be worth it, especially for only a temporary boost.


    <em>Maybe I''lle back when we decide what rift we''ll be delving.</em>


    They still hadn''t picked a rift, and Liz wanted to focus on getting her bag back this afternoon. It was a slow grind, until they found a carpenter that said he was able to locate an object in andslide.


    After getting confirmation, they were quickly dragged to the teleporter, and traveled to the area they came from. Once there, the man simply sat down and started meditation.


    After five minutes of waiting, Matt asked, You think he''s a scam? Or waiting for an ambush?


    Fully armored, and with her new spear at the ready, she said, Hed better not be, or I''ll skewer him.


    It was another twenty minutester when the man stood up, and sent them an information packet through his AI.


    Found two objects. Here and here. It''s up to you to get them out. Payment please.


    He held out his hand, and once the Tier 5 mana stones were given over, he disappeared.


    Confirming the mans abrupt exit through a quick AI scan, the trio started digging. The first item was only fifteen feet down, but it still took them almost five hours of digging to get to it. The rocks were slowing the process down to an unbearable crawl.


    In the end, Liz used blood to move most of the earth in their way. The first thing they found was the broken remains of her spear. Tossing the useless bits to the side, they continued to make their way deeper into the slope created from the bomb.


    When the sun was nearly down, they found the bag. It was covered in dirt, and the strap was ripped, but Liz hugged it.


    Alright let''s get out of here.


    Matt agreed, and after picking up Aster, they activated their teleports.


    They made their way back to their rented suite, and Liz started going through her bag. It was slightly bigger than his, and chock full of supplies.


    She pulled out a gaudy crown that was made out of a ck shiny material, and a bar of whitish gold.


    Ha! let''s go sell these babies.


    When they reached the guild''s inspectors, they found that neither item was particrly valuable.


    The crown only protected against mental attacks up to Tier 6, and a guild was only going to buy it for fifteen Tier 5 mana stones. The golden bar was only slightly better, at twenty five Tier 5 mana stones.


    They still had Lizs newly purchased bag as storage now, and they settled in for the night, deciding on what rift they wanted to delve. They were searching for a decent rift with good rewards. The more small monsters they could get per run, the better.


    The only advantage of thesest few months was that there was no limit on the amount of delves per day. They could umte essence at a greater rate this way,pared to a normal rift schedule of once a week to once every three days.


    The only way to bypass that roadblock normally was to provide the mana for your run yourself, and that usually took more mana than a typical delver could provide.


    It gave Matt an idea for the future. If he could provide the mana without having to drop mana crystals into the rift, he could keep recharging a rift as much as he wanted.


    As the mana cost scaled with rift Tier, he might be able to make a good bit of money recharging rifts to bursting.


    <em>Or get better rewards for myself.</em>


    The selfish thought crossed his mind, but he didn''t feel bad for it. At least not for too long. Taking advantage of his Talent was nothing to be ashamed of.


    If he could leverage better rewards with his mana, it seemed a worthwhile ability to look into.


    ***


    The next morning, he felt inwards with his spirit sense and discovered [Mages Retreat] firmly entrenched in his inner spirit.


    With a quick roll, he was out of bed and knocking on Lizs door until she woke up.


    A bleary eyed blood mage was ring at him through a crack in the door.


    Come on, skills are ready! Let''s go testing.


    The sleepy look faded, as she searched inwards and came to the same conclusion that he did.


    Five minutes. Be ready. With that, she mmed the door.


    Matt hopped in the shower quickly, and got dressed in his under armor bodysuit.


    Not immediately activating the skill took self control he didn''t know he had. He wanted so badly to test out the skill, but he also wanted to see his AIs analysis. Getting hard numbers on how the skill improved his performance would be worth the wait.


    His childish side couldn''t help but to picture all of the things he would smash and bash with his newfound strength.


    After a minute of pacing in the living room, he could no longer hold in his impatience, and approached Lizs door to knock. As he reached out, the door swung open, and out barged the mage. She was dressed in her own under armor, with her red hair tied up.


    Traveling at nearly a sprint, they made their way to the guilds gym and testing hall.


    They entered the room and quickly rented out a full training room. Aster, bing bored of their antics, curled into a ball in the corner, showing her back in displeasure.


    Matt fed mana into his new skill with anticipation.


    There was a thrumming in his body. The skill was doing something to enhance the effect of his cultivation. Mana was running through his body and seeping into his muscles and bones.


    With a deliberate movement, he closed his hand. It felt different. Stronger.


    With [Mages Retreat] at its current 2 mana a second, it was giving him a twenty five percent boost to his stats. After setting his stance, he punched the heavy bag with everything he had.


    The blow was night and day from the testing he had done yesterday.


    Punching the bag <em>hurt</em>. [Mages Retreat] provided mostly a bonus to strength, but also a small boost to durability. It helped to stop the user from tearing themselves apart, but he was far stronger than the average user.


    He was putting all of his essence into his physical cultivation thus far, which meant there was much more physical strength increase than the average mage had. This was a percentage boost. The stronger Matt was the more of a boost the skill gave.


    Wanting a full test, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] at 8 mana. With his AI taking up 2 mana a second, he maxed his generation out by dumping his final ten mana a second into [Mages Retreat].


    With careful, conscious movements, he set his stance, and with a fifty percent boost to his physicals, he took aim behind the bag and punched through it.


    Matt didn''t feel any pain thanks to [Cracked Phantom Armor], but his arm was embedded up to his shoulder in the hanging bag. This was a bag rated for Tier 4s. And with a single blow, he had punched right through it.


    Heughed. Laughed until tears streamed down his face.


    That caught Lizs attention. When she saw the bag with a gaping hole, she just shook her head saying, We''re going to have to pay for that now.


    I can honestly say it will be money well spent.


    Matt looked around, and the world seemed different. Smaller somehow. Like he was the only real thing, and everything else was made of ss.


    Is this how higher Tiered people feel?


    Matt''s thoughts went to his lifting numbers. Some quick lifts showed he was stronger than he had been yesterday.


    Running the numbers through his AI, Matt found that with the fifty percent increase, he was twice as strong as a normal Tier 4 melee fighter. That was assuming they had a seventy thirty physical to mana split.


    They may only cultivate thirty percent less into physical, but that disparity was magnified with the extra boost [Mages Retreat] gave him.


    In the case of a melee fighter putting seventy five percent of their essence into physical, he was exactly twice as strong as they were when using [Mages Retreat]. This was a magical feeling. Most mages could only keep this up for a little more than a minute. He could go endlessly.


    With gusto, he started lifting all kinds of heavy things and putting them down. It was exhrating. At least it was, until a ring weakness of fifty percent increased strength reared its head. It was exhausting. After only a few moments of strain, he was breathing hard. When he truly pushed himself, he was out of breath and sweating profusely after only a few minutes.


    Pulling back his mana down to the twenty five percent boost at 2 mana a second made the strain on his body bearable for an extended period of time.


    The standard allocation also allowed him to feel the difference between the spirit structures of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat]. [Mages Retreat] had no issue taking all the mana he could give it. Whereas [Cracked Phantom Armor] would overload if he dumped in too much mana.


    [Mages Retreat] let the mana flow without a hitch. It highlighted the difference in mana throughput capabilities between even a cracked version of a non channeling skill like [Phantom Armor], and a true channeling skill like [Mages Retreat].


    Looking over at Liz, he was surprised at what he saw. Where he expected her to be moving and shaping blood with [Create Blood], she was instead doing deadlifts.


    Something was wrong, but it took a moment for him to realize what was off. The normally pale skinned redhead was pink and poofy.


    You ok there? You uhhh... Look a little off. Matt didn''t want to offend her, but if she was about to pass out, he wanted to know.


    All good. Once she dropped the weights he looked over at her barbell. She was lifting a good ten percent more than she was yesterday.


    How?


    Not receiving an answer, he probed again. Sooo. How are you increasing your strength like that? Did you get the wrong skill?


    That got augh out of her. No, not at all. Im blood doping.


    Seeing his look of bewilderment she borated, Im using [Create Blood] to give myself a blood transfusion. Increasing my red blood cell count, in turn, increases my oxygen capacity. Which lets me push my muscles a little harder.


    You aren''t gonna pop, are you? I don''t want to clean up a burst blood balloon.


    Pshhh. No. If it gets to be too much I can either drain it with a cut, or burn my bloodline to get rid of some of the created blood. It''s one hell of a rush though.


    Matt grinned at her. Wanna fight?


    Sure, but only if you don''t use [Mages Retreat]. Shit, with how you were boosting yourself, theyll be changing the name to [Matts Got Too Much Fucking Mana].


    At that, the grin he was sporting since they entered the training room got even wider.


    Well, never mind then. This sure forces me to get [Endurance] as the Tier 5 reward. This much of a boost exhausts me. Even if the skill doesnt work so well when used out of its normal context, Im gonna need it to get the most out of [Mages Retreat].


    Think I could punch a hole in that stupid lizard fly chimera monster?


    That brought his thoughts to his sword. Maybe he should have gotten it to be even heavier.


    Matt had to have his sword. It was Tier 5, and unless some other idiot twisted this one out of shape too, he''d have it for a long while. He wanted to get a feel for the flow ofbat with his new weapon. It would take practice to fight with the grace he was ustomed to.


    Thinking of the guilder who broke his sword, he smiled. If they fought again, it would lookpletely different. He could probably punch through the idiot like he had the punching bag.


    It was aforting thought to Matt, as he sucked in breaths in a corner, utterly spent. His heart was still trying to beat itself out of his chest.


    So with all of these new abilities, think we can try for a Tier 5 rift? Matt wanted to push their limits. They were stronger and more versatile. He was no longer mostly defensive, and Liz wouldn''t need to cut herself, or wait for him to kill the first monsters, in order to get rolling.


    She scoffed at the idea. Yeah, no. Tier 4 to Tier 5 is arge jump in difficulty. Most of the rift monsters will have skills, and theyll have Concepts too. Just because most of The Empire needs prosthetic Concepts, doesn''t mean rifts have such limitations. Everything in there will have Concepts that match the type of monster they are.


    Liz flopped down and seemed to dete a bit. Matt figured she had removed the extra blood running through her veins.


    What we need to do is work on finding out what your Concept is, and then delve ourselves to bursting. Itd be great if we can do so without having to pay for multiple rifts.


    We still haven''t picked out a rift yet. What type are you thinking?


    Liz thought for a moment before saying, Something with mammals, so I can use their blood.


    Obviously.


    Liz, from her prone position, flipped him off and continued.


    Second, we needrger, non swarm monsters. More essence per delve that way.


    Ok. That all makes sense. Matt mollified her.


    Finally, we need to find one away from the normal clusters of rifts. Finding one in the middle of nowhere would be ideal.


    Hmm... Why''s that? Lizs statement took Matt by surprise. He would have thought she''d want to be in the center of things.


    The rift concentrations like the canyon will be hot spots for fights and theft. Theyre not what we need to find your revtion. I know some meditations that will help, but time and solitude is really what we need. And besides, were in no rush. Were only 17 and 16.


    We do have until 21 to hit Tier 5. Oh, That reminds me, Matt sat up slightly and asked, How does the essence distribution really work? I thought I''d lose essence delving with you. But it doesn''t seem like I do. At least, it doesn''t feel like it to me.


    Think of it like a shovel and bucket. The bucket is your spirit where you store unallocated essence. The shovel is what you can take from any monsters in a rift. You only get one chance to get a shovel full. Each monster has only so much essence. When they die, everyone goes for their own shovel full.


    Theres too many people, everyone takes the hit. Some monsters have more essence. For example, insects and other swarm monsters have lesspared to giant smanders, but the riftpensates for thatck of essence with numbers. At Tier 4, theres enough essence for twoish people. Aster is taking a lot from the bits that she eats, so we really don''t feel it.


    Liz finished, Oh, and bosses always have more essence, and for whatever reason, your shovel is able to extract a higher percentage from them.


    Interesting as her little spiel was, it didnt give Matt the answer he was looking for. Well that doesn''t help us pick a rift.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25


    Get over here when you see this.


    Matt decided that he didnt appreciate the tone of the message he woke up to. His cksmith could have been a little more cordial, considering the amount of cash Matt was about to hand over to him.


    Only stopping to throw Aster in Lizs room, so the mewling fox could go back to sleep, Matt was out the door and in the brightness of morning.


    By standard time it should be predawn, but with this having never been adjusted, it was midday going by the sun''s movement. It was so early, Matt only saw a group of three stumbling to a different apartment block, and a group of guards smirking at them. Despite his rude awakening, Matt was also amused at the trio struggling to get the door to open, and hide from the light of day.


    Matt looked at the ovey his AI was projecting, and headed over to the smiths workshop. When he arrived, he was slightly surprised to find what looked like an open sided apartment building.


    There were only a few active smithies, but when he climbed to the seventh floor of the structure, he found the smith. His back was to the interior wall as he stood next to the lightly glowing forge.


    Matt paused, he didn''t remember the man''s name.


    <em>Maybe I can get him to say it?</em>


    With only a single eye cracked open for a moment, the smith said, Go check it out.


    Looking around, he only found one de sitting on the bench, and it was a beauty. Instead of the shiny silver of polished steel, it had a darker gray color with hints of green.


    As Matt marveled, he heard from behind him, I had to use a Tier 5 nt monster to get the conductivity for mana up. If you don''t like the color, I can''t help you.


    Matt picked the sword up, and nearly lost his bnce. He knew it would be heavy, even for a Tier 5 sword. But this was heavy enough to make wielding the de almost ufortable, at least without [Mages Retreat] active.


    Stepping to a clear area, he tested the heft and bnce of the sword. It was clearly well made if not a little unwieldy. But once he activated [Mages Retreat], using 2 mana per second, the sword was light enough to be usable. It was a Tier 5 sword with a bit of Tier 6 tungsten, which really weighed it down.


    At 10 mana a second, the weight wasn''t an issue at all, but that cost would go down. Advancing through Tier 4 and allocating more essence would give more for the skill to enhance making it more efficient. With an effort of his spirit, he pushed mana into the de, and sprung into a shing form.


    This de was a bit longer than hisst one. It straddled the line between longsword and greatsword. If Matt was any shorter, he would be unable to use longsword techniques with this hefty weapon, and would have to transition to pure greatsword patterns instead.


    But at sixteen and a half, he was expecting a few more inches on his 62 frame. As he finished his growth, the de would allow him an extensive reach advantage on most opponents. But now, the sheer size of the weapon pushed the limits of his control of the de.


    With his spiritual sense, he found the durability, sharpness, and repair runes. Even though they were lesser runes, he found them to be a little heavy, and they ate quite a bit of his mana when active. Each required about a quarter of 1 mana per second for normal operations. That was a problem, as it would cut into what he could give to [Mages Retreat].


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] took priority, as it kept him alive. But for the first time in his time on The Path, he had less mana than he needed.


    He tried to push some mana into thest structure in the sword. This one was not the same shape as the runes, but was a moreplex, three dimensional structure. To his spirit sense, it felt simr to the structure of his skill.


    This was clearly [Mana Charge], and when there was a small amount of mana deposited, he tried to trigger the skill. It was like trying to lift a boulder with his spirit, while underwater and already out of breath.


    Despite the somewhat startling strain it took, he was able to release a small gust of mana from the de. His spirit was sore afterwards, so sore that even having [Mages Retreat] active was irritating.


    Satisfied after a few more appraising movements, he slipped the sword into his spatial bag.


    It seems good. After a pause, Matt found the smith still had their eyes closed and asked, You ok?


    He barely got out an mhmm, and thought that would be all, but the smith responded, Ive been up all night. Getting the Tier 6 tungsten to merge properly was a pain in the ass. And having to use city mana to get the runes embedded into the sword is an even bigger pain in the ass. Using unaspected mana is far more taxing on the spirit when dealing with the fine control necessary for enchantment work.


    The smith spat at the ground, in what Matt didnt quite interpret as disgust, but was definitely more than displeasure. Besides I burnt nearly twenty thousand mana making the alloys merge properly. I''ll be paying back the city for weeks.


    Matt felt a little awkward that the smith was in this state because of him. Umm, well thanks.


    He turned, and was halfway out the door when he heard, Yeah, and theres the leftover metal, over on the other counter. Use that if you need to repair the weapon with the rune. Its the same stock, so itll make sure there are nopatibility issues. I''ll send you the exact form.


    After thanking the man again, Matt left. As he was exiting the building, he passed a smith with a giant hammer symbol. Quickly stepping over, he asked,


    Hey, do you have any hammers or maces in the Tier 4 range already made?


    The tall woman turned and answered, Yeah, anything on the bottom shelf there. One Tier 5 mana stone if you don''t want anything custom.


    Matt walked to the indicated area, and found a shelf full of blunt weapons. After perusing for a moment, he found arge war hammer. It even had a spike on the back end, making it an excellent option for heavily armored opponents.


    The weapon only had a durability rune, to help prevent it from crumbling if it hit something too hard.


    Dropping the requested mana stone off, he left with his new crystal golem crusher.


    When he arrived at their shared suite, he found Liz and Aster eating breakfast on the couch. The foxs bowl of food had the kibble that he had brought with him. Mostly, it acted as a supplement to the monsters she ate. Matt wanted to make sure that she had everything her body needed. To that effect, Liz had mixed it with some mystery meat they had gotten at the general store.


    Flopping down and stealing one of the blood mages hashbrowns, he asked, You decide on a rift you like?


    Matt had one area in mind, but he wanted to see where her head was at.


    Yeah, I think we should go to this rift. It''s away from the clusters, so we should be able to remain undisturbed. That''ll let me teach you the meditation techniques for when we get [Endurance], and help with finding your Concept.


    Matt was surprised that she stuck with that n, instead of being lured by the potential spoils of the central rifts and the delvers they drew in.


    I thought wed go for a slightly more aggressive area. Here, look. He sent her a rift location. This is a mixed area of Tier 4 and a few Tier 5. Theres even a rift thats perfect for us. Its a swarm type, so you can rampage, and the boss shouldnt put up much of a fight. I can''t kill very well in a swarm, but I cant really be hurt by them either. If we backpack Aster shell be fine.


    Liz bobbed her head back and forth. I wouldn''t have thought you''d want to fight for rewards. And with even one Tier 5 rift, we won''t be the strongest people there. We can probably take a standard Tier 5, but anyone who has their Concept will kick our ass.


    Whats the difference?


    Well the big one is when you make your own Concept you get just that. Self made Concepts are always stronger. With them, you can also manipte the area around yourself a bit. You can firm the ground around you and anchor yourself for better heavy weapons footing for example. You can even move faster by moving the air around you as you go. That''s a lot harder, but it''s how the Tier 15s can move without shockwaves all the time. They use their Concept like a zipper.


    The point is, a Tier 5 rift boss will have these abilities for sure, and some rifts will have lesser monsters with them as well. Thats really the main reason why Tier 5 rifts carry such a jump in difficulty. Almost as an afterthought, she added, And all themon monsters will have skills as well.


    Matt knew most of that. At least about themon monsters having skills. The ways a rift grew in power were well established and circted, even to the lower tiers like him.


    He had even done his research with his guild VIP ess. There was more to it than he had previously thought. He had even discovered how skill shards appeared in rifts.


    At Tier 8, there was a twenty five percent chance that a skill dropped. Each rift had an eighty five percent chance to drop one of any threemon skills. It was only a ten percent chance to drop a rare skill shard of that Tier. Those four skills were set for each rift at creation, or at each Tier increase in the rift itself.


    The remaining five percent was a chance to drop any skill, but themon skills usually were the safe bet.


    The lower tier rifts on this training world would work under the same rules, but with closer to a three percent chance to get a skill on initial delves. Now that the most abundant essence was used up, it was less than a one percent chance.


    It''s a solid idea, but well be at a disadvantage against even a team with standard battle Concepts. Most get strength or regeneration, so theyll be five percent stronger for their essence at most. So while you might be able to match up with [Mages Retreat], it''s going to be a while before you can take anyone stronger than a fledgling Tier 5.


    Matt paused. Honestly, his idea was initially just a small attempt to please her by not going into a heavy cluster of rifts. When he found this cluster, he was ready and willing to fight for the potential spoils. But now the usual roles were reversed, and Liz was the one urging caution.


    Liz, can we go to a riskier area and still have me learn everything we need? Im fine with not pushing our luck, but I feel like it won''t be that hard to learn the meditations.


    I don''t know. I didnt struggle when I was taught them, but this stuff can be hard to learn. And umm, Ive never taught anyone about it. Maybe I''ll suck at teaching it.


    Matt mulled that over. How bad could it be if he put off learning the meditation skills? It would definitely set him back, but he was already Tier 4 at only sixteen and a half. He had until twenty one to get to Tier 5.


    More loot seems better now. Were both ahead of the curve, so the meditation can wait until were off the training. The more we can delve now, the more essence we can umte. The more essence we umte now, the faster we approach Tier 5. And you said we cant even manifest the Concept until the peak of Tier 4 anyway.


    Liz just looked at him before her eyes unfocused. She was doing something with her AI.


    We can do that, but I think youre underestimating how hard these meditations are.


    Matt believed her, but he felt the essence was more valuable than the time they would waste with only one nearby rift.


    Delving schedules on the outside were once a week for most slots not on a yPen, and that really slowed down the essence umtion. Here and now, it was time to push his advancement.


    After hashing out the details, they prepared for a party hosted by the guild, as most of the stronger people were just now starting to head out. Most had gotten skill they wanted to practice, or hadmissioned new weapons like Matt had.


    This was onest time to blow off some steam before everyone would be focused on delving for the final five months.


    ***


    Matt, Liz, and Aster stood in line by the teleporter. There had only been half a dozen parties heading out, and they didnt feel the need to skip so few people.


    When their turn came, they appeared in the cold, barrenndscapes. They found a few tents in the distance, near various rifts or clusters. The wind was cutting here, without the canyon to shield them from the harshest of the conditions.


    It was just as bitterly cold here as it was in the canyon. They were deep in the southern hemisphere, even though it was technically summer on the, it was still bitterly cold.


    The trio set up their tent after finding the rift they wanted. Lizs tent was arger model, and they would be using it as their home base for the next few months. All of her gear was top of the line, so a lot of Matts gear was rendered obsolete. He hardly minded, considering the improvement in amodations across the board.


    Even her perimeter security was better than his. The little bot was not only able to link to their AIs for status reports, but even could be controlled by their AIs if necessary. His perimeter guard was reliant on only its limited programming.


    He had never seen the model she had, or even one with remotely simr capabilities for that matter. It was mind blowing that his didnt even rate the model.


    With their tent set up and marker iming the rift, they entered, with the rest of their belongings in their spatial bags. At worst, someone would break into empty tents and steal nothing of value.


    The rift they entered was one that the guilds records had information on, a peak Tier 4. As a VIP, Matt was able to ess their data on it. He had even sold most of the information on the rifts they had delved so far to the guild. Everything except the information about therger dragon. He intended to send the information to Lizs mother, so she could forward it to Mara.


    He mentally rubbed his hand together, thinking of what prizes a Tier 48 royal could provide.


    The other side of the rift was warm, almost pleasant. The area was a sparse woond, with rolling hills.


    Aster sniffed around, and they traveled to the top of a hill, looking around with their eyes and spiritual sense. The exit was far to the north, beyond several miles of lightly wooded hills and valleys.


    The vastndscape was why they had chosen this rift. It contained lots ofrger monsters. The second rift in the area was a swarm type. The two rifts together would let them practice their fighting skill against a variety of opponents.


    They were walking for only a few minutes when they encountered their first monster of the rift.


    The bear was an intimidating size, at around five feet tall at the shoulder, when standing on all fours. It moved stealthily for such arge monster. Aster didnt even smell it until it was within fifteen feet of the trio. As soon as they were alerted to its presence, the bear charged at them through the trees with a savage roar.


    The beast felled the trees obstructing its path by simply barreling through with brute strength. Falling debris and charging beasts were Matts cue to get serious. With [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] at 8 and 2 mana respectively, he swung his new Tier 5 sword at the bear.


    He and Liz had discussed this. They were each going to solo a bear while watching the others back. Testing oneself was one thing, but they werent going to be stupid about it.


    The new green tinged sword feltfortable with the twenty five percent strength boost he was getting from [Mages Retreat]. With his first swing, he mmed its edge into the shoulder of the charging bear. He wanted to test the des cutting power and its material properties, so he kept the embedded Tier 5 runes inactive. He didnt want to solely rely on the enchantments. He would test the des full potential soon enough.


    The de sunk deep into the beasts shoulder, and with a roar, it lunged in retaliation with glowing jaws. The skill the bears used was [Crushing Bite]. It was a standard monster skill that enhanced the power of their bite. There was a second variant that enhanced the sharpness of their teeth, but that was moremon on ambush predators.


    The two ton bear towered over Matt when rearing back on its hind legs, reaching a height of nearly eleven feet. It swiped at him with paws the size of dinner tes. For all its size, it was still quick, and Matt barely was able to dodge with his enhanced strength.


    [Mages Retreat] allowed Matt to keep the bear at a distance. With each missed swipe, he was able to get a better feel for the power and attributes of the beast in front of him.


    As the next blow came, Matt intercepted it with his sword instead of dodging. He smiled under the ghostly armor as ws and de became deadlocked. He was stronger than the bear, and was able to knock it back with a disengaging shove.


    It was good enough for him. The monster had five feet on him, and was twenty times his weight. It was amazing that he could even outmuscle the bear at all. This was a beast built for strength, and with his new skill, Matt was up to the challenge.


    He stepped in, sword humming with enchantments, and swung with all his power. The sh cleaved clean through the monster''s arm, and the de caught in the bears hip as the blow came down.


    Quickly pulling the de free, he ducked a heavy blow from the wounded bear, before being caught by a backhanded swipe from the other paw.


    It sent him spinning. While he had the strength to match the bear, he didn''t exactly have the mass to hold his ground against direct hits. mming into a tree stopped his momentum, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] prevented any meaningful damage from the ws or subsequent impact.


    Still, the hit was enough to cause the structure in Matts spirit to waver. It was only for a moment, but he took it as a sign to be more careful. After all, he wouldnt be satisfied with bumbling through his kill, just to have Liz finish hers off quickly and cleanly.


    With the one-armed bear limping towards him, Matt readied his sword and charged forward. With the durability and sharpness runes zing, he mmed into the bears belly, de leading the charge. His empowered movement was enough topletely impale the standing giant.


    With a roar of effort to match the bears howls of agony, Matt ripped his longsword free from the monsters guts. Stepping and spinning, he sliced through its uninjured leg. Nothing but a gory mess was left as the bear tumbled down. Most of the bears insides had be outsides by the time the fight was finished.


    With itsst struggles, it looked at Matt with madness in its eyes. Even after he had all but killed it, the bear was still filled with the rage that rift denizens were known for.


    With a final slice of his de, he decapitated the monster, putting it out of its misery. As he felt the essence rush into him, he turned and smiled to Liz and Aster, who were standing back on lookout.


    That went well. He rested his sword over his shoulder with all enchantments deactivated, striking a cool pose for hisdypanions.


    Liz just shook her armored head. Aster yipped for him, which he took as encouragement, and returned with a big grin. It quickly turned into a scowl as Aster batted at the monster corpse, continuing to voice her impatience.


    With a sigh, he chopped into the monster''s chest, so the little fox had a clear path to its heart.


    With a methodical approach, she got therge lump of organ into her mouth, delicately liberated it from its previous owner. She came out as clean as she entered, careful not to soil her immacte fur.


    You next? Matt asked the blood mage, who was draining the monster like a juice box now that Aster had finished her snack.


    With a wave of blood she said, Let me show you how it''s done.


    Liz took the lead, and when they stumbled into the next bear, she dodged the initial charge while dragging her rift de along the nk of the monster. It was a Tier 4 rift made weapon, so it was better than what most smiths of that Tier could make. It sliced through the fur and a veritable fountain of blood gushed out.


    The bear quickly turned and tried to lunge at the mage. She slipped the attack by wrapping her legs in blood, using it to quickly slide to the beasts right.


    Using the blood she had taken from Matts kill, Lizshed out with a blood whip, and mirrored the attack with a swipe of her spear. The pincer attack was extremely effective, cutting deeply into the bears open mouth and face and rendering its jaws useless.


    While the monster''s skill and fangs out of the equation, it resorted to a flurry of swipes at the mage, who was testing her strength by blocking the blows with blood. She used less and less with each parry, until she discovered the smallest amount required to block therge monster''s attacks.


    When presented with an opening between swipes, she threw her spear at the monsters exposed nk. It flew far faster than her sixty-forty essence allocation should have allowed. The capsule of blood in the butt of the spear acted like a rocket booster thanks to Lizs [Blood Maniption].


    A quick scan with his AI showed that his partner was also using her new blood doping method to push her physical prowess even higher.


    With an agitated roar, the bear turned and bit at the spear now protruding from its side. Before the bear could twist enough to get at the spear, it removed itself from its newest resting ce, with gushes of blood following its retreat.


    Now armed with two bears worth of blood, Liz gathered it into a sphere, and used it to crush the weakened bears head.


    The pop of the monsters skull was lost in the din from the rushing waves of blood released from Lizs control. Aster saw the iing wave of evil, fur staining blood, and jumped into Matts arms with mental pleas for protection.


    With the fox in one arm, Matt walked over to the newest corpse, and dug out the bears heart, handing it to the squirming fox.


    As the third bear approached, Aster hopped down, defiance and anticipation radiating across their bond. Matt wasn''t thrilled with the idea of the ten pound fox taking on the massive bear, but she and Liz assured him that it would be fine.


    Aster didnt charge in like Matt, but instead fought like the mage she was. Her first attack was a spray of small shards of ice. They got directly into the lunging bears eyes, effectively ending the fight.


    It wasnt that the single blow had killed the beast, but the fox was three feet long and ten pounds. While the size of a male of her mundane counterparts, she was still much smaller than the bear who was two tons and blind. It had no chance of winning as the fox flitted through the trees while yipping. The clever fox was luring the bear directly into the trees, peppering the monster with ice shards as it crashed into each trunk.


    It took a few minutes for the bear to go down, and Matt had the full 10 mana coursing through [Mages Retreat] for each agonizing minute. He was ready to get in between the bear and his bond at a seconds notice.


    He wasn''t blind to Liz, who had a mass of blood behind the fox as well. But he was damn sure to take every precaution for the sake of his bond. He didn''t even want to think of what would happen if the bear fell on top of the little fox.


    When the fight finally ended, he felt as if his heart was going to pop out of his chest.


    He checked his AI, and found that the fox had used a little more than an eighth of her mana. She didn''t have the prating power to punch through the bears mass, and had to whittle it down instead, which burnt mana.


    Still, the fox was happy with her performance, and prancing around the corpse of the monster she had in.


    With a cute flip of her tail, she sat and looked at the duo of humans. She yipped at them, which Matt interpreted as, Are you gonna get my heart or what? Liz actually understood the words, and said, It''s not a can of meat, it doesnt work like that.


    Aster yipped in response and pawed at the monster. Laughing at her antics, Matt cut the monsters chest open and yanked the heart out, letting the fox savor the spoils of her solo kill.


    They repeated this routine, with Aster sitting out every other rotation to conserve mana. She was also getting full quickly from the size of the hearts. They ended up backpacking the fox, so she could sit with the non fighter and not take up an arm.


    The rift was massive, and instead of going straight to the exit, they zig zagged through the forest, trying to find as many bears to kill as possible. They found almost forty bears on their roundabout path to the exit. They provided a lot of essence. So much, in fact, Matt decided to allocate it before they left to delve the second rift.


    As they approached the exit, they found a clearing with a house. Lounging around the house were three massive variants of the bears they had been ughtering all day. Each was nearly as tall as the normal ones while lying down t on their bellies.


    They sat and watched the house, until a lizard humanoid came out, wearing a feathered crown. It tossed massive chunks of meat at the dozing monsters. It was too far away to be sure, but the lizardman seemed to be wearing a ring of sorts on one of its fingers.


    <em>Please be a spatial ring I can use. Please be a spatial ring I can use. Please be a spatial ring I can use.</em>


    Matts pleas continued in his head, as Lizunched her spear at the lizardman while its back was turned.


    The throw needed to cover the sixty feet, which was a breeze for Tier 4s like Liz. If they could take out the leader first, this fight would be worlds easier. The lizardman was a debuffer, and would slow and blind them, making them easy targets for the bears to maul.


    As the spear flew, Matt started sprinting, with 7 mana a second pouring into [Mages Retreat]. That resulted in a forty four percent increase in his strength. Hed be able to keep it up for a while, but he wanted to conserve enough mana for his weapons enchantments.


    As his feet dug into the ground, his AI calcted the path of the spear. The stupid bloodmage was going to miss.


    This fight was about to get a lot harder. With his enhanced speed, he was nearly half way across the clearing, and two of the three bears looked up at him. They charged him, determined to keep him away from their master.


    With an empowered jump, Matt tried to leap over the bears. He made it halfway, and was still flying through the air when a paw nearly the size of his chest smacked him across the clearing. The blow threw him towards a tree and stressed [Cracked Phantom Armor]. If he had been brazen enough to try to tank the blow, it might havepletely broken through, instead of just sending him on a slight detour.


    With 9 mana a second flowing through the armor to cushion himself, he mmed into the tree and wrapped around it, before falling down.


    Standing up with a crack of his back and a grunt of displeasure, he ran back into the fray. Liz was moving massive amounts of blood and holding off two of the bears. The third was staying close by the lizardman, who was waving its arms to cast something.


    Red lights surrounded all three bears, and they each became faster. Matt left Liz to fend off the [Enraged] bears, and rushed the backline. It wasn''t ideal, but he needed to stop the shaman before it could get a slowing skill on either of them.


    Thest bear was smaller than the other two but, what itcked in size it made up for in pure speed. Its ws and teethshed out like the daggers of an experienced assassin. It took everything Matt had to keep away from its jaws. His AI was eating every drop of mana he could spare to generate countermeasures. Its predictive capabilities were helping him avoid the bear''s quick strikes, but he disengaged after seeing the shaman point at him.


    Matt vaulted over the bear, putting it between himself and the shaman. The stun struck the bear just as he slid down its other side. The bear became cloaked in ck, swirling wisps of smoke from the binding spell. Matt took the chance to vault back over the locked down bear and charged the lizardman.


    The shaman quickly dispelled the stun, but Matt was already past the bear, which spelled the end of the debuffer. Matt closed in, and cleaved him two with a single blow. This boss had a load of mana, but no physical stats.


    Turning away from the defeated shaman, Matt shed out, and caught the attacking bear''s skill empowered bite with his de. As strong as the bear was, the sword was stillposed of Tier 5 and 6 materials. Powering through the empowered bite, he sliced right through its head with spray of blood, bone, and fur.


    The momentum of the lunging bear sent him tumbling through the wall of the hut. Pausing to catch his breath, he got back up and checked the information his AI was sending him.


    Liz''s fight had moved up the hill, in range for a maximum distance swap of twenty feet but it would burn all 2000 mana stored in the ring. Matt was just grateful the swapping function of the ring did not scale in cost like the teleportation function. Focusing his spirit, he took his stance, and swung his sword while activating his ring around his finger.


    Suddenly, he was teleported between two bloody bears. His swing was already in motion, and cut deep into the rightmost bear as soon as he materialized. He left the de lodged in its chest, as the second was on him fast.


    Matt turned, and put everything into [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat]. He wasn''t in danger of being bitten, as Liz had shattered this one''s jaw. It was why he had taken the rightmost one out first.


    With a hand gripping therge monster''s arms, he grappled with the bear, holding it from pressing down on him.


    At his highest boost, he was nearly its equal in strength. But if the bear was smart enough to yank back, he''d be taking another flying lesson. He barely weighed in at two hundred pounds, so he was vulnerable to the bear using leverage.


    This bear wasn''t that smart. It was just trying to grind him down with brute force, and all Matt needed to do was resist. [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] gave him the strength to shove back. After knocking the bear off bnce, he stepped back and pulled the beast forward and down to the ground. Reaching back for the finishing blow, he found an arm length shard of frozen blood already sticking out from between the bears ribs.


    WIth deep breaths, he lowered [Mages Retreat]s draw, and called out, At least you can hit a throw with Aster''s help!


    Liz just scuffed the ground before giving him the middle finger. She murmured something he couldnt hear, and as she removed her helmet, he found her face flushed with embarrassment.


    Or maybe she was just still blood doping.


    Whats that you said? He wanted to needle her a bit


    I said fuck you. I''ll practice the throw. She kicked the ground as Aster yipped in the backpack on her back.


    Yeah, yeah Ill get the heart you little scamp.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26


    Liz set down the backpack with Aster in it, and let the fox free. Finally liberated, Aster sauntered over to the remains on the floor, and waited for her hearts to be extracted.


    After the spoiled fox had her fill, they dispelled the reward distortion. It was a small reward of only four mana stones. Not great, but they were here for the essence, not the mary rewards.


    They started poking around the empty hut Matt had smashed through. Matt went over to the dead lizardman and inspected its hand. On one of its fingers was a ring that fashioned as a worm biting its own tail, creating a circle. He tried to slip it off, but it wouldnt budge.


    Liz peered over his shoulder and said, Dont bother. That wonte off. Its a rift storage ring. In theory, its a rift reward as well. Its a special unbound growth item. And its usable at low Tiers if the rift makes it.


    So if we delve this enough, we might get one? Matt wanted a spatial ring. It would be so much more convenient to be able to summon and dismiss his sword at will.


    Liz scoffed, Psh no. Not a chance. They are incredibly rare.


    Matt stared at the ring and asked, And this isnt worth anything?


    The armored mage was already walking to her backpack. She called back over her shoulder, Not really. It used to be useful to enchanters who were trying to make spatial rings, but now they all use the same few temtes.


    Sighing, Matt stood and got ready. This rift wasnt fully cleared as they walked to the exit. Since they were trying to gather essence, it was worth their time to attract the rest of the bears and maximize the returns of the delve.


    On that thought, he turned to Liz and said, Give me a few minutes. I''d like to allocate the essence we picked up.


    He sat against the wall of the hut and focused inward. Once he was in touch with his physical core, he fed the essence to cover all of the attributes evenly. It was tempting to direct cultivate, but he wasnt even at the quarter mark for Tier 4.


    After the essence in his spirit was distributed, he came out of his trance. He checked his AI, and found that only five minutes had passed. It was a far cry from the first time he had cultivated at the yPen, then he had wasted half the day away.


    Looking at Liz, he motioned to the ce where he had been sitting, and she took his ce. He found she had started gathering wood, and he finished the task, while keeping a lookout for any prowling bears. They were huge, but the forest was their natural home. Getting attacked out of nowhere was very possible, and would be incredibly dangerous.


    It was easy enough to pile up broken tree branches near their resting ce. He also used the lumber from the broken shack. Soon, he had more than enough for a good fire.


    Job finished, he stood on the small hill the boss encounter had been on, and surveyed the surroundings. This rift wasrge, at least the size of a small city. The hill they were on provided a decent vantage point for scouting the area, and from the distortion in the air, he figured there remained at least a third of the rift monsters.


    A momentter, Liz popped up, and backpacked Aster. The foxs head poked out from behind the armored shoulders of the blood mage.


    Holding a small bottle, Liz asked, You ready?


    At his nod, she grabbed a stick and put the smallest drop on it. The concoction would attract and enrage the already hostile rift monsters. Theyd be rushing here en masse, in a tidal wave of muscle and fur. The only problem was spreading the scent, which is where the bonfire came in.


    After dropping the imbued stick on top of the pile, she clicked the fire starter at the base of the wood. After a moment, the magical mes caught and climbed up the pile. The smoke was dark from the greenwood mixed in, but the mes billowed and came to life when the imbued stick caught fire. The mes were now a brilliant golden hue, and a strong musk wafted from the rising smoke. Matt noticed Aster restlessly stirring in Lizs backpack. He wasnt sure if it was from the scent itself, or from anticipation of the carnage toe.


    Well, here we go. With that, Liz gathered the surrounding blood into a sphere, and took her ce on the other side of the hill.


    As he waited, Matt checked the ring on his finger. It was sitting at 2000 mana again. He had filled it as he cultivated, but double checking helped to ease some of the tension of the moment. His HUD even disyed its current charge, but it was like a sore wound. He felt the need to keep poking at it.


    His distracted musing was interrupted with a roar from the distance. The scent had reached a bear, and boy did it sound angry.


    The next half hour consisted of the swordsman and blood mage ughtering the bears that remained. It was gory work, as the potion enhanced the rift given rage of the monsters. It pushed the bears to almost suicidal fury, rampaging along with no regard for their own mortality. They would not stop their assault under any circumstances, and the only way to subdue them was decapitation.


    The fights themselves werent hard, as Matt was able to rely on [Mages Retreat] to outmatch the bears with his speed.


    Only when the trio went five minutes without any more volunteers for their new head removal service, were they convinced that the onught had concluded. Liz went back down the hill and practiced with her spear, so they could avoid the mad dash to get to the lizard mage in the future. That, and she absolutely refused to hear any more lip from Matt about missed throws.


    Matt took her lead, and pulled out his small crossbow. After drawing several dots on the wall, he practiced hitting his makeshift targets.


    He was having a hard time hitting the small dots, even at ten feet. Using his off-hand wasnt helping, but he wasnt going to drop his sword to use the small, ranged weapon.


    His AI was indicating wind patterns and giving prompts for when he should pull the trigger, but he was hitting inches away. That wasnt necessarily the end of the world, but it could be the difference between missing and hitting a moving target.


    He felt that he should be hitting dead center at this close of a distance. ording to his AIs analysis, he was jerking the trigger, which was causing his shots to go wild.


    Half an hourter, Liz decided she was done. She walked over and said, This was a lot less of a pain in the ass when my spears shaft was full of blood. It was so much easier to control. Now its just a spot at the back, and I can only shove it or pull it back.


    It''ll get better. Besides, this rift is amazing. A full clear gives me a solid chunk of essence.


    Yeah, a high volume ofrge monsters is great for progress. Liz hefted her bag, with Aster now out and having her fill of hearts, and asked, Ready for the next one?


    He wasnt. The second rift they had picked out was also a peak Tier 4, and was a swarm rift containing tons of small monsters. It was perfect for Liz, but the exercise would consist of Matt getting constantly pelted, while she did the heavy lifting.


    When they exited the bear rift, they found themselves back in the gray, coldndscape of the training.


    Aster enjoyed it, but Liz rubbed her armored gloves. Seeing her distress, Matt made a disy of stretching and running his hands through his hair. He earned a swift kick to his armored shin as a reward.


    The second rift was not far away, it was in the same cluster. After a five minute walk, they found the rift they had decided on. It had a beacon outside. After a quick scan with their AIs, they found that a Republic team had imed it for one delve a day.


    Standard procedure was ten delves per rift a day, so the rifts could getpletely plundered for their rewards. The training didnt have the luxury of rift maintenance or scheduling, like an inhabited world, but no one wanted the potential rewards to drop too fast. To prevent that, a slight ration was set up for delves per day, so the rifts wouldnt degrade from unsupervised over-delving.


    After putting their names on the slot, they checked the timing of the other teams entry. Seeing it was more than half an hour ago, they entered.


    They found a rift with a tall waving grass as far as the eye could see. Matt, with Aster in his backpack, walked forward, and Liz began using [Create Blood]. As gobs of blood began sshing around her, Matt brought his sword down on a blur that shed directly in front of him.


    His sword missed the intruder, and stuck into the ground. The unidentified speeding object hit his armored leg, but bounced off without putting any strain on [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It had speed, but the monster had no mass or strength to put behind its attack.


    Before he could get more than a glimpse of it, the rift ferret darted off into the grass.


    He looked at Liz and asked, You ready for this?


    Instead of answering him, she lifted off the ground, and was quickly encased in a ball of blood. The sphere rolled forward through the grasnd like a blender of death.


    The scent of blood attracted all of the surrounding ferrets attention, as they rushed to defend their home. Matt and the fox in his backpack had to fend off the asional speedy monster, but most of their attention was drawn to Liz and her one woman wrecking show.


    The field was ttened, and the more the little speedsters attacked, the more their blood erged the spinning mass of Lizs blood sphere.


    Whips of blood startedshing out, as she hit a volume of blood that she felt was sufficient.


    As she continued her bloody work, the screeching became somewhat disturbing, as waves and waves of ferrets swarmed to Liz and died. Matt would have never been able to do this rift on his own. Even with theircking attack power, the thousands of little buggers could easily overwhelm his defenses. He shuddered at the thought of what they would do to Aster.


    Liz and her aggro drawing roley poley of death turned this rift into a walk in the park for Matt. Well, maybe a walk in the park at night... In a park that had a high crime rate. He was still taking the asional sneak attack from his blind spot.


    When they reached the exit, a massive pair of ferrets came out of the ground. They were blindingly fast, and like their smaller brethren, charged right into Lizs spinning ball of blood. The only difference between the boss ferrets and their smaller counterparts were the speed and volume at which they were eviscerated.


    With Liz and Matts AIs linked, she was able to keep track of the situation outside her blood sphere. When the AIs pinged her that little monsters were no longer kamikazeing into her death ball, she released the skill and rxed.


    Matt looked around. It felt so weird to havepleted a rift while doing essentially nothing. His spirit was full to near overflow, but all he had done was walk and observe the carnage with Aster.


    Liz plopped down in a small clearing, and started allocating her essence. Once she finished, Matt pulled out his camping chair and did the same. Once he finished, he looked down and saw Liz sitting next to him, surveying her path of destruction.


    I do good work. She had removed her helmet and gloves.


    Matt looked back to the trail carved through the tall grass. There was a rough, wide path cut through, with dried blood dying thendscape a reddish-brown.


    It was quite the show, but you kinda counter them. Feels a little unfair.


    Liz just stuck her tongue out at him, before getting serious.


    Ok. Lets do the first lessons here, where we cant be interrupted or spied on.


    She cleared her throat and said in a voice deeper than her own, Theses are the secrets of skill expansion and Concepts.


    Matt interrupted her. Wait, if theyre secrets, is it ok for you to tell me?


    The solemn air vanished, and she waved her hand around. Meh. Uncle Manny wouldnt care if I told you. Just dont tell anyone else except Aster when she gets to that part... But I guess Ill be doing that anyway. The important bit is, this is normally reserved for Tier 15s and higher. Expanding a skill can be done in two ways. The first is the same way youre getting [Cracked Phantom Armor] to handle mana. You use the skill and push its limits. Its slow but safe. Nothing bad can really happen with that tactic.


    She looked at his chest, and Matt took the hint and dropped his veil. She continued, The other is focusing inward, and finding what each part of the skill structure is responsible for, then forcibly changing what the particr aspect youre focusing on does. Best case, it works, and everyones happy. But the other oue, and best case scenario if you fail, is the skill breaking and dissipating in your spirit. The worst case is the failed process crippling your spirit altogether. Youd need a Tier 40 plus to save you at that point, and youd never fully recover.


    That gave Matt pause as he looked inward. He was much more nervous about fiddling with [Endurance] now. It seemed far riskier than he had thought.


    What about [Endurance]? I thought most expanded its range of regeneration from just a sub-aspect to covering everything under it.


    Yeah everyone else uses a slower method thats close to the natural one. There are AI training methods that show you where to nudge the skill structure to slowly expand it. What well be doing is different. What Ive learned is the basics of creating your <em>own </em>skill. Well be carving the specific changes into the skill as it enters our core spirit.


    That sounded incredibly dangerous, he had heard in books and movies about people creating their own skill. Still, Matt was having trouble getting past the rumors of the process killing a million delvers for every one that seeded. Matt said as much, and Liz agreed.


    What were doing is basically the baby steps for that. Skills are the most malleable when theyre first entering the spirit. And the specific change is well documented. Here, She pulled a ck box out of her bag. This is a skill maniption cube, itll hook up with your AI, and let you send your spiritual sense inside to practice with the changes to [Endurance]. Itll show you what youre trying to change, and let you practice without any of the risk.


    He reached for it, but she dropped it back into her bag. Nope, first you need to practice sensing facets of skill structures for the skills you already have. No point in practicing if you cant even sense the different parts of skill structures.


    What followed was a long two hours of Liz coaching him on identifying the facets of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat]. It was humbling that she was able to point out the skill structure facets of his own skills, while Matt couldnt really feel them himself.


    A part of him wanted to me it on her upbringing, but his logical side put those thoughts to rest. She might know about the technique because of her family, but she had clearly practiced the skill quite a bit. That wasnt something she could just inherit.


    It was a matter of practice and patience.


    Matt had both.


    He wanted the advantage of the enhanced version of [Endurance]. It would be a crucial skill, allowing him to endure the strain [Mages Retreat] put on him. It was critical to his advancement, even while disregarding the skills potential to function as a self cast healing spell. A channeled one at that. It was a perfect skill for him.


    He focused harder, trying to get his spiritual sense to go from a clumsy, mittened hand to a deft and delicate finger.


    There was no real progress in the first few minutes, but it was a goal he could progress towards.


    Stretching, Liz stood up and said, Ok, on to part two. Meditation to find your Concept.


    She plopped down into the chair and began, A Concept is made of two parts. The first is a Phrase. The Phrase narrows down the Concept. Something like strength, or hammer are good examples. Using strength as the phrase can lookpletely different when in use by two different people, if their Images are different. The Image is how the Concept finds its usage. Cultivator one has strength as his Phrase, but his Image is a bar of steel. His Concept functions will be different from cultivator two, who uses a person with the world on their shoulders for their Image. The first guy might get a much stronger defensive Concept, one that even touches on a durability one. The second will get a more traditional strength boost Concept.


    Matt thought that over, while Liz took a swig of water and handed him the canteen. He finished it off, and refilled the mana stone while she finished.


    The same thing goes for a Concept of hammer. A cksmith might go for that, as well as a fighter. The Phrase might be the same hammer, but the crafters Image would be a hammer at a forge, whereas the fighters would be a warhammer on a battlefield. If their Images were that different, they would seepletely different results from their Concepts.


    Matt took it to the logical conclusion, And if someone did both, they could have the Image of both, and could be a crafter and a fighter.


    Liz nodded, Yeah, but also, just because a smiths Concept isnt meant forbat, doesnt mean they cant brain you with a will empowered blow. It would just be less efficient, and take more force of will.


    Ok, good to know at least. Is the reverse true withbat Concepts that can be used outside ofbat? Like in crafting, or cooking, or building, or uhh something else along those lines.


    For the most part, yes. But some simply have no equals. My sisters growth Concept is useful in both. So would a fire Concept, but something like a wrestling Concept wont have much carryover in crafting or nonbat activities.


    Ok, and youre sure you felt me touch on one? Matt hadnt felt any different, and while he wanted to awaken this as early as possible, he wasnt sure he could do it. He didnt feel anything besides totally lost.


    Matt, rx. I felt it. Ive been able to sense Concepts since I was a kid. Concepts are easier to manifest when you get to a higher Tier. Its part of the reason the bottled Concepts were such a good invention. More years with the prosthetic Concepts at lower Tiers helps people touch on their true ones faster. The mind protects itself from the power until you have either the strength to brute force it, or you find the <em>perfect </em>phrase or image. Then it will click into ce, no force necessary. But thats pretty rare, most high Tiers take the brawn approach, instead of the brain one


    He went to open his mouth, but she cut him off. Matt I felt you touching on it. Trust me on this. Look, see if you can feel this.


    Something in the air trembled, and the blood around them seemed to turn more... <em>real</em>. It reminded him of when the Emperors words made the colors of reality get all weird.


    After a moment, Lizs nose started bleeding, and she fished into her bag while wiping it away.


    Ugh, that sucks. I have the Phrase and Image already, so Im just waiting to hit the peak of Tier 4, where the core of your spirit opens up. Then Ill be able to fit the Concept in. But as Im not a peak Tier 4 yet, that shit really hurts to do. But anyway, the point is, Concepts can feel Concepts. I have one. I felt you brushing on it. Your mind is just protecting yourself because you arent hitting on it perfectly. You either have the Phrase or Image already, but not both. Otherwise, you wouldnt have any problems remembering.


    Matt trusted and believed her. It just seemed so odd. He didnt know what his Concept could possibly be.


    I dont know where to even start. If I had to guess, Id have thought it was a longsword Concept, but you said I was touching it when I wasnt using the sword. Maybe its my armor?


    Go into your spirit and feel at your cores. The physical and mana are at the same spot. One channels your body, and channels your spirit. If you look past all the umted essence, youll find a small hole growing as you approach the peak of Tier 4. Thats where the Concept will fit in. It will exist in both of your cores, and give them a foundation to expand on. It... She paused and continued Links them together.


    Matt looked inward, and tried to peer past all the umted essence in his physical core. The mana core was easier, as there was no essence. He thought he saw a small speck of empty space at the center, but he wasnt sure if it was simply his mind showing what he wanted to see or not.


    Lizs voice permeated down, Once youve found it, youve done the first step. Thats where your Concept will go. Even the bottled ones. Once you find it, try and push your mind into the empty space. Getting inside of that will help your mind ept the Concept. Well to start, work on finding out your phrase. Thats easier for most people.


    Matt kept trying to feel around, but didnt get much of anywhere. He didnt expect this to be quick. They had at least the next five months here on the training, where they could delve without limits. He wanted to at least get near the peak of Tier 4 while they were here. Thesest few months were less about money, and much more about advancing while essence was abundant.


    Standing, he said, Alright, you ready? I''d like to set up for the night and get a workout done before bed.


    Liz nodded, but stopped after a step. Wait, I forgot to mention this. We need to start being careful about assassins. Weve both pissed people off with money. And there might be some people from various assassination syndicates mingled in with the masses. Were known to be on The Path, so that limits the number of people able that cane after us. Anyone who wants to touch us has to also be on The Path, but that doesn''t make us untouchable.


    Matt felt like the bears hadunched him through a tree again. Wait. Assassins? And they can only attack us if they are on The Path? It sounds like theyre sanctioned.


    Liz shrugged and slipped back into her armor. Yeah, the Empire limits it and protects us from people outside of The Path. It will also charge anyone <em>caught </em>doing assassinations.


    Why dont they crack down on them?


    Matt, think about it. Really y it out.


    At her prodding, he did so.


    What would happen if they stopped all assassination? Matts first answer was people wouldnt get assassinated, but his mind went to the Republic, and Light and Shadow. Griff had said they faced assassination attempts from the other powers.


    Slowly, as he thought it out, he said, Stopping internal assassination wouldnt stop the other powers from doing it. And that might mean people arent on their guard. But what stops higher Tier people from just killing people under them?


    It follows the rules of war. A high Tier assassin like Blink might kill anyone weaker than him, but he doesnt because of the rules of war. And the assassin syndicates get their true government sanctioned targets in times of war. But if they get caught sending assassins of higher Tiers after their targets, its the same as if any normal high Tier attacked a low Tier. It makes the syndicate responsible vulnerable to reprisals.


    Look at Blink. Hes got some intangibility skill that makes him nearly impossible to kill. He can even attack while most cant touch him. But hes only killed those at his Tier or higher. Hes pretty much the boogie man at his Tier and higher. People breathed a sigh of relief when he was confirmed to have advanced a Tier.


    Theres nothing stopping a lower Tier from attacking up. A higher Tier just cant hunt those weaker. He was on The Path for a while, before he disappeared for a few decades or so. Blink gets med for pretty much any deaths that are unexined. Dudes a literal ghost. Officially, hes not performed any known hits in thest dozen or so years, so people argue if hes dead or not.


    She waved her hands around. Thats not the point. The point is that he, like all assassins, has toply with current rules. If some Tier 5es after us, hell get his entire assassination guild wiped out. Along with whoever hired them.


    Matt finished for her. So we should be safe for the most part, but still need to be careful.


    Yeah, pretty much.


    ***


    They moved their tent to a central area, where others had a small tent town set up. Someone had scraped runes into the ground in a smallish circle. It was a central gathering area protected by the runes, so people without cold resistance skills could be outside without freezing.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster were eating with a small group of others. It was nice to be able to socialize while in-between delves.


    Arge woman with the rough hands of a melee fighter asked, Find anything interesting in your rifts? We found a stupid purple cat that we couldnt get to, and it would just smile at us from hidden ces. Really gave me the creeps, that one. Matt had forgotten her name and was hoping someone else would say it.


    He had messaged Liz to ask, and she just responded with aughing face, to his dismay.


    Brandon was the shorter, dark skinned man next to her. He rubbed his palms into his face at the womans words. Ugh. I tried to hit it with every spell I knew. Completely impossible. It was like it was made of mist.


    Whatever he was going to say stopped, along with the rest of the bustle of the camp, with everyone looking over Matts shoulder. He dropped his empty bowl and spun, trusting Liz to have his back if this was a trick.


    It wasnt. He found a group in the colors of the Republics version of a guild. He checked his AI and found that their name was The Worthy. A bit pompous if you asked him, but he didnt get a say in that.


    The group slowed at the edge, and Matt received a message his AI tranted to, We just want to set up a cooking station. No fighting in themon area.


    That caught Matt''s attention. A monster chef? That was rare at this Tier from his understanding.


    But even if the chef just purified the meat and made it safe to eat, Matt would kill for something besides the stew they had. Liz may haveined about the food cubes he bought being in, but the ones she had were only a little better. It was still stew, and he was already tired of eating it.


    With rapt attention, he watched the group of Republicans pull from their spatial bags a long thin sheet of metal. They quickly set up a spit with what looked like a gutted deer draped over it.


    Aster had less self control than he did, and pattered over to them, before sitting and begging for scraps. It made Matt nervous, but his spiritual sense said they were only Tier 4, and Aster could handle herself at her own Tier.


    They justughed, and gave her a quick scratch on the head. They werent using their AI to message everyone, but he had downloaded the trantion software for speech, and they were telling her to wait.


    After the hunk of meat rapidly cooked, everyone received a message that they would sell a meals worth of the meat for a single Tier 3 mana stone. It wasnt expensive, but it was a bit more than food without essence should cost.


    Matt went over, and gave them a Tier 4 mana stone, so he and his gluttonous fox could eat for a few days.


    They refused to make the little fox pay, and just gave her a te with arger chunk of roasted meat, along with a head pat.


    Matt saw love in the little traitors eyes. He brought over his te of food after thanking the chef, and promptly had it stolen by Liz. Sighing, he got up and got another one. When he finally got to eat it, he was surprised at how good it was. The meat was tender, and the spices were subtle, but they enhanced the vor of the meat.


    It was worth every credit the mana stones added up to.


    At a Tier 3 mana stone, he had no problem with giving the group a profit. Especially if it meant he could eat real meat instead of nd stew.


    The food brought the attention of other groups in the area, and soon the littlemon area was bustling withradery and conversation. Most groups were segregated between Empire and Republic, but some were intermingling.


    Matt just sat back and watched. Aster was drawing a crowd, which proceeded tovish attention on the fluffy fox.


    It wasnt long after when a man with a portable chair made his way over and asked, Mind if I sit over here? Its a little crowded away from the edge. His AI tranted the republican speech for him.


    Matt just waved him down. Most of his attention was focused inward, trying to sense his skills structure better.


    He didnt mind the man chowing down on his steak next to him. He kept [Cracked Phantom Armor] ready to use in a split second, especially with this many people near him.


    Seeing the man finish up eating, he turned and asked the burning question he had since he had seen his first Republican. So, weird question, but how do your elections work?


    The man looked at him and said, Every so often, people of the area can vote for positions. But they are limited by Tier for the position. The president has to be Tier 50. So only Daty runs for the presidency right now, but the secretary of defense is growing fast. So there might be another election in the next few hundred years.


    They talked for the next few hours while themon area turned into more of a party. Someone had the [Brew] skill, and used it to make some quick beer.


    Their conversation turned to the disasters each political entity had dealt with recently. In the end, they were arguing against their own countries. Matt brought up his own, and Chun brought up how the lower Tiered candidates of the Republic never stood in office long enough, or came in with the right mindset to aplish anything. Their time was mostly spent canceling anything their predecessor did, while pushing their own agenda. None of them really were around long enough for anything positive to be finalized.


    Thest thing Matt had expected out of the training was bing friendly with a Republican, but Chun was a cool guy who just wanted to better himself.


    It was a fun night.

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27


    Matt sat in the central gathering area. In thest week of delving, someone had created stone tables and chairs. Their creation was a source of entertainment, or problems, depending on how you looked at it.


    The raised tform had turned into a debate stage. Currently, there was an incredibly pale man standing across from a magic archer. Matt hadn''t caught the archer''s name, but the pale man was Brent Corosi.


    In theory, the debates were a friendly way to share knowledge and different perspectives. In practice, the tform had been taken over by people debating mana cultivation for thest three hours.


    The only thing keeping physical fights from breaking out was that the stage was hardly ever shared by a Republican and an Empire citizen at the same time.


    Currently, the archer was trying to say that the standard 1000 mana by Tier 3 was better. He had been repeating the same few points at least half a dozen times now.


    "The slight loss to the mana soft cap isn''t that bad in the first three Tiers. It''s worth the gains in maximum mana to take the mana concentration hit. The loss can be made up for atter Tiers."


    Brent refuted the assertion before the archer could meander through the same few talking points again. "No, only getting 800 mana at Tier 3 is far better. Your mana will be a little more concentrated, and then you won''t have any loss. Even a few percent of waste per Tier can add up quickly."


    "If you used a real weapon and not magic, it wouldn''t matter." The archer snapped at the mage, picking on hisck of visible weapons.


    "Yeah, well Im not going to take the word of an idiot archer. Who would <em>choose </em>a bow?"


    Matt looked to the only other person on his team that could actually cultivate mana.


    "What''s your opinion?"


    Liz jerked when he asked the question a second time.


    "Uhh... What? Sorry I waspletely zoned out."


    Matt repeated himself, "You know me. What''s your take on mana cultivation. Which is right? The guide I read on my home went with the archer''s strategy."


    Liz scoffed at that, "Pshhhhhhh. No. Just no. That strategy gives you a slight advantage in the first five Tiers, sure. But then it corrects itself around Tier 5 or 6, and says to invest heavily in mana concentration to correct the issue. The spirit can only expand so much per Tier. The mage is closer to being right in my opinion. Youre a little weaker in the early stages, but there arent any peaks or valleys in strength to work around."


    As soon as she finished speaking, she sent a message to him through his AI. ''You probably won''t have that issue. You aren''t increasing your maximum mana or mana regen the conventional way. Talents are always able to break the conventional rules.''


    "Really?" Matt asked out loud. He didn''t mind if people knew that they were conversing with AI messages.


    ''You wouldn''t be the first to have a Talent that does something to your cultivation. Look up Taki I don''t remember hisst name. But he ascended a few millennia ago, and he left a full AI verified record of his Talents and skills. His Tier 3 Talent made it so his maximum mana didn''t have a cap. He could regen to a bajillion mana if he waited long enough. Completely impossible for most to have that kinda max mana. But Talents are unique, and don''t follow the rules.


    That gave Matt more to think on.


    ''Whats a normal mages mana at around Let''s say Tier 5?'' He asked, hoping Liz would know.


    ''That''s really an impossible question to answer. It depends on how much they push the diminishing returns before they go into mana concentration, and if they cultivate to have more mana regen or max mana.''


    Matt went to open his mouth, but another message came through.


    ''I know what you want. Heres the standard maximum mana chart for Tier 25 if the cultivator in question doesn''t hit the diminishing returns of growth. But remember that this is deceptive, as it doesn''t ount for mana concentration. At Tier 8 or 9, most will have nearly fifty percent denser mana. At Tier 10 or 11, theyll have seventy five percent. That makes a huge difference.''


    As the graph arrived, he looked it over and was still surprised, despite Lizs qualifiers.


    Tier


    Maximum Mana


    Tier 1


    100


    Tier 2


    400


    Tier 3


    800


    Tier 4


    1000


    Tier 5


    1500


    Tier 6


    2000


    Tier 7


    2500


    Tier 8


    3000


    Tier 9


    3500


    Tier 10


    4000


    Tier 11


    4500


    Tier 12


    5000


    Tier 13


    5500


    Tier 14


    6000


    Tier 15


    7000


    Tier 16


    8000


    Tier 17


    9500


    Tier 18


    12000


    Tier 19


    15000


    Tier 20


    17000


    Tier 21


    20000


    Tier 22


    25000


    Tier 23


    30000


    Tier 24


    40000


    Tier 25


    50000


    At Tier 12, he could have more maximum mana than a standard mage, at 5120 total mana. It would trante to 5120 mana regeneration a second if he was under one percent of his max. That one percent would also mean that he would always have 51 mana to use for non channeled spells.


    He could cast a [Fireball], or another lower-cost standard spell at that Tier. It made him giddy.


    ''Still, even if they have more mana concentration, it won''t mean much when I can beat them in output.''


    ''If you can find something with enough mana storage to hold your mana, sure. 5000 mana is doable, but you''ll need a lot more very quickly. And if you miss a doubling, I don''t see your talent letting you make it up. Itll just be lost.''


    Matt waved off her concern. ''I intend to use rift mana stones. They always have more mana than I have.''


    "No. no no no no no no. No. No!"


    Her message came through with the words spoken out loud as well. ''That would be incredibly stupid. Rift mana stones have an even less dense mana concentration than your starting level. It would dilute your mana concentration even more. By like, a lot. You should <em><strong>NEVER</strong></em> do that. Even I wouldn''t do it. Its short term power at the expanse of crippling yourself. Power weapons or armor with rift mana stones, that''s fine. But never bring that mana into yourself.''


    Liz was giving him puppy eyes, and even lifted Aster to cover her face with an even more effective version of the look.


    He would have researched it before doing anything with outside mana, but it was good to know.


    Out loud, she said, "Promise me, or better yet, promise Aster. That''s stupid and shortsighted."


    She peeked around Aster and pouted. Asterid her ears back and widened her eyes.


    "I knew I''d regret teaching that to you, Aster." After a mock re of his own, he agreed. "Sure, I''m not one to intentionally cripple myself. But damn, that really puts a kink in my ns."


    The blood mage shrugged and said, "We''ll figure it out. Who knows. The problem is years away, so no need to worry too much right now. And we''ll <em>deal</em>." She left it at that, and he understood.


    A deal could be worked out. He might end up owing a favor or two of about a citys worth of mana, but he was pretty sure that this training world had a storage bunker for several million mana. That might be an expensive construct for a single person, but most cities would have somethingparable.


    <em>I wouldn''t mind refilling a city''s reserves to double my own mana.</em>


    It seemed doable. Eventually, even that would be insufficient. When he needed billions of mana storage capacity, he could probably afford to build his own storage facility.


    <em>Maybe I can hollow out a moon to use. Would That make me a bad guy?</em>


    He got the idea from thest movie he had seen. Besides, a moon base sounded really cool.


    Matt ignored the new Republican delvers on the stage, also arguing about mana concentration. Their debate was more so centered around what the Empire delvers had said, instead of each others takes on the matter.


    He ignored them; let them just be background noise. He was using the small ball Eric had given him, engrossed in the task. It was whirling in between his fingers in the simplest of patterns. It was his out of rift homework from Liz to get to a moreplex pattern. The control would allow him to feel at the facets of his skill structures more efficiently.


    Liz had helped him to iste what she thought was the area of [Cracked Phantom Armor] that decided on its shape. If he could make spikes appear, the armor could turn into a backup weapon.


    She was clueless with [Mages Retreat], as it wasn''t in his core spirit and harder to see and manipte. Her peering into his spirit and monitoring his inward reflections was a boon to him, but her view from the outside was limited.


    He was ok with that for the moment. [Mages Retreat] was performing perfectly. [Cracked Phantom Armor] on the other hand, was not.


    Most of the increase in his mana throughput capability was only through breakthroughs into higher Tiers, strengthening the skills structure. He now spent an hour in the rifts after delves, pulsing his mana to help the skill widen its metaphorical ''channels''. His control wasn''t good enough yet to perfectly ride the line between stressing the skill and destabilizing it.


    But there was slow and steady improvement. Matt had no problems with grinding away at a problem.


    The other part of [Cracked Phantom Armor] they were training was its ability to stay active when a single portion of the armor was broken through. That training was far less fun.


    It mostly consisted of Liz crushing the skill at various body parts. Her control was good enough that she never hurt him, but he was always covered in blood after. It had ruined one of his body suits. The once ck material was now stained reddish-brown.


    A loud noise brought him out of his thoughts. There was a duel in full swing at the side of themon area. The mage from the earlier debate was chasing around the archer he had been across from. The archer was busy trying to avoid being swallowed up by arge sphere of darkness thatpletely obscured him from view.


    The archer also had some interesting scratch marks on his face and neck. Matts AI reported that there was arge bird hiding in the darkness.


    Trying to catch a glimpse of the bird was futile. The darknesspletely shielded the bird and the mage from view. It was only visible when the darkness was dispelled, in order to be recast in another location. And even then, the bird was still hard to focus on. It seemed to dissipate into the air whenever Matt was able toy eyes on it. He could only conclude that it was a phantom of some sort summoned by the darkness.


    The spell Brent was using was an interesting force projecting skill. Matt noted that it could have some interesting synergies with his own melee style. He couldnt figure out a polite way of asking the man what skill he used, but he noted it down. He was definitely going to look it up with Madam Delvers Guide to Skills.


    He walked around to the small barter and service area that had sprung up around the cooking station. The mage who created the stone furniture had made a stand for the cooks to better prepare the meals on. In return, they had started taking and cooking other animals from the surrounding rifts.


    Matt had paid for a cooked bear nk out of curiosity, and for some petty revenge for sending him flying so many times. It was slightly sweeter than he had expected. The cook thought so too, and had asked him to bring a bear out once every few days, to give some variety to themunal food.


    There was even a smith who did small repair jobs for people''s items. It was hard to trust anyone but a pure crafter for anything important, but it was a good alternative to paying the mana cost of teleporting back and forth. Especially for simple repairs.


    An alchemist was busy mixing up some of the rage potions that they were using to attract the rift bears during their delves. At least, Matt assumed thats what it was, as the rage potions were the only thing disyed on their small table. He was d Liz had purchased hers off-world, since these were nearly twice as expensive as the ones Liz bought.


    Still, the effect was truly worth it. The three of them were progressing quickly, and Aster was now only a small percentage behind Matt. That difference would shrink even more as they approached the peak of Tier 4. Liz was slightly ahead of him, but not so much that it would cause issues. She was funneling a little more of her essence into him and Aster to even everyone out.


    He thought there was still some residual guilt there. She had made a few remarks that he interpreted as her trying to make up for getting the heart, rings, and a skill. His partner hadn''te out and said it, but she clearly felt bad.


    Matt understood, but really didn''t care. If they were going to be a team, they had to share. But on a deeper level, the rings were useless without someone else to put them on. And after giving her the heart, it felt like a good idea to not let the value leave his team. Even if he couldn''t keep it himself.


    Shaking himself, Matt stood and walked over the edge of the formation and into the bitter cold. He didn''t activate any skills, and let the cold rip the warmth away until his limbs were tingling. Stepping back into the warmth of themon area, he felt refreshed from the cold.


    He didn''t like that thought process. He didn''t want to calcte everything and everyone''s value. Even retroactively. Besides, he had grown to truly trust and respect Liz. He would always have her back. When he thought about it, he really had given her the heart as thanks for saving Aster, and she had earned the skill by killing the monster from thebyrinth rift.


    The rings were trickier, but he was unable to give the other to a fox, especially with the whole no fingers thing. The binding process had fitted the rings to their fingers, but wouldn''t have worked for a fox''s leg.


    Selling them had been an option, but that felt temporary. The rings had proved their use on many of their delves. The short range teleport, expensive as it was, madebat a far safer endeavor. The swapping was great for surprising opponents, and he had used his AIs downtime to craftbat ns against other humans.


    The ring''s abilities were invaluable in formting surprise attacks against any opponent, and it often meant the difference between a hard fought battle and a clean sweep. If Liz could get to an enemy partys backline, it meant an easy cascade to victory.


    While Matt could tie up a backline for a while, he was vulnerable to fast and mobile opponents that had some movement skill or the like. His defense was amazing at his Tier, but his attack power was limited to whatever his sword could produce. Even [Mana Charge] was a closer ranged skill, and he could at best use the skill as a finisher in a fight. He was in no condition to do anything but stand after using the skill, as he was barely left with enough mana to make an attack practical.


    While Liz had to rely on her physical armor, she could deal much greater damage at longer ranges than he could. So with the swapping feature, she could be a terror to the non melee fighters of any group they fought.


    It was still mostly academics, as the AI was only familiar with Tier 8 skills, and most of them weren''tbat orientated.


    As he debated if he could justify another te of food, Matt saw a group of Tier 5 delverse into themunal area. There were only a few Tier 5 rifts in this cluster, but they had attracted a few Tier 5 groups.


    This one was weak, but acted so arrogant that he and Liz had bet going on how long it would take for them to piss off the far more numerous Tier 4''s. They were already speeding to the point of getting their asses beat. It was only a matter of time, and numbers could easily ovee a Tier or two at the lower ranks.


    The group sauntered into the mass of Tier 4''s. Any who didnt move out of their path in time got violently shoved out of the way. Their apparent frontliner was a short woman bursting with strength allocation. She wasn''t bothering with even a rudimentary veil, and everyone could feel her essence.


    They felt like mid Tier 5''s, and Liz had pointed out the center of their cores to Matt. It was subtle, to the point that he might have missed it without her pointing it out. At the center of each cloud of essence was a hard rock of <em>something</em>. He didn''t need Liz to tell him that it was a bottled Concept they used to break into Tier 5. It felt like an out of ce boulder in a grasnd, it just didnt feel like it belonged in their cores.


    Liz said a true one would be alive, and seamless with the individuals cores. Not dead. Matt didn''t know what word he would use to describe the sensation, but inert was the best thing that came to mind. It did boost their respective styles, though. The girl shoving people had a strength boosting effect with her Concept.


    It was like [Mages Retreat], in that it amplified the allocated essence to its respective physical category. Unlike his own skill, it didn''t do any more, or have the ability to grow.


    <em>At least [Mages Retreat] increases my durability as well.</em>


    Matt didn''t want to look down on the bottled Concepts. He would happily use one if he couldn''t create his own within a reasonable time. It was the way this group acted that created the contempt.


    He was fairly confident in beating the Tier 5 frontliner. With [Mages Retreat] at 10 mana, he would be close to a new Tier 5 in strength, closing the gap significantly.


    The problem that brought him back to reality was the rest of her four person team. She was the dedicated front line. Whether she was purely defensive or a more bnced hybrid didn''t matter much, especially when she was backed up by a mage of some type and an archer with some magic bow strapped to their back. She even had a massive tiger with green and gold stripes.


    The angry beast was the friendliest of the group, and hadn''t minded the attention it got one bit. The archer was either its bond or handler, Matt couldn''t quite tell from their interactions. Liz had even talked to the beast, and it said it was fine as it was. No rescue needed.


    Despite its kind disposition, the beast had just snapped a boy''s arm with a swipe for trying to yank its tail.


    Matt had watched with disbelief. Even if the rest of the Tier 5 team hadn''t proceeded to beat the kid until he teleported out, it was a monumentally stupid decision. The tiger had to weigh at least eight hundred pounds. How dumb did you have to be to try and mess with it?


    Matt kept an eye out as the stronger group got food, and cleared a table of the previous inhabitants.


    It was a good reminder not to be an asshole if he was surrounded by people weaker than him.


    ***


    The trio was at the final clearing of the bear rift. Matt stood with his sword at the ready, waiting for Liz''s throw. She had only missed once more in the week they had been delving this rift.


    Today, they were going to start soloing the final fight. The other two would be at the ready, but they wanted to push their capabilities.


    Watching the trajectory of the spear, he started running. It would hit. He made a note to suggest that Liz get a ring attached to it, near the head of the spear. It would help to negate her disadvantage of only being able to move the spear where blood was connected.


    As he reached the clearing and the three massive bears noticed him, the lizardman was already being skewered by the spear. It quickly ripped its way back to the woman behind him.


    He sprinted ahead and was on the first bear in two [Mages Retreat] empowered steps. Matt''s longsword bit deep into the bear''s neck and shoulders.


    Stepping back to avoid the skill enhanced bite of the giant bear, he lunged, with his de tip leading the charge. As the de was bitten, it sliced into the bear''s brain. The durability and sharpness runes made it a suicidal action, thus ending one of the trio.


    The second bear was on him before he could withdraw his de, and it mmed into him. His AI had given him enough warning. He made sure his grip on his weapon was firm, and while he was sent sliding, the momentum of the attack actually pulled the de out for him.


    As he rolled, the bear continued to rush him. It was not willing to use its maw as a weapon, wary of befalling the same fate as its fellow beast.


    Matt used thest of the momentum to spring to his feet, and chopped at the bear. It was an awkward blow that the bear decided it could tank. Since he was still disorientated, the de wasn''t enhanced with the sharpness or durability rune when he brought it down.


    Still, the weapon was made with Tier 5 materials, and it sliced through the fur and muscle of the beast. Before Matt could take advantage and finish off the recoiling beast, he was swiped at by the third bear.


    The fight was slightly hectic for the lone fighter. He was able to take at least one more blow with his armor, before the massive bears were able to reach his weaker flesh. The two didn''t give Matt a moment to catch his breath before trying to run him down, and crush him with their weight advantage.


    Ducking a swipe, Matt advanced with a [Mages Retreat] empowered bound, slipped under the blow, and cut deeply into the bear''s back leg.


    The crippling sh allowed Matt to force the bears into a stalemate. They were unwilling to fight him without the others'' support, but he had forced one to a much slower limp. With the unhobbled bear unsure of what to do, Matt got within striking range and tried to bait it out. The tactic eventually worked, as Matt took an overreaching swipe as an invitation to thrust at the wounded bear.


    Either enraged or seeing its position was unsustainable, the unhobbled bear charged him. He dodged or deflected each wide swipe while pushing mana into his finishing skill embedded in the de.


    The strain on his spirit built quickly. As he carefully watched his AI readout, he counted the mana he was sending the de.


    The green tinged de started glowing blue as the mana built up. As he deflected blows, Matt started to tire at an rming rate from the charging skill. At the moment he felt the strain building to dangerous levels, he met the paw with a parry and unleashed his finisher.


    After the massive release of mana, Matt''s spirit felt like a deted balloon. He wanted to drop to his knees and sleep for a few hours.


    Unable to give in to that impulse, he checked to see where the bear was, as the resistance had vanished.


    The top half of the beast waspletely stripped of skin, and bone was missing in ces. The only thing remaining was a mangled clump of exposed, bleeding flesh.


    Quickly, he turned to the final, crippled bear, wanting the fight over. He steeled himself, and charged at the bear with every ounce of energy he had left, sword trailing behind him. [Mages Retreat] gave him the dexterity to sidestep the beasts attack, and cleanly impale the bear through its exposed nk.


    As hey crumpled against the third and final corpse, he let his sword go and rolled onto the soft grass covering the hill.


    Releasing all of his skills felt like cold water on a burn. It hurt, but as the strain of keeping the skills active disappeared, he gasped and went numb.


    He heard Aster and Liz approaching, but was unable to muster the effort to care. When the fox sniffed him, he snagged her with an effort of will, and pulled her into a cuddle.


    It wasn''t like a headache so the cold didn''t help relieve him, but holding his bond wasforting.


    Testing to see if speaking would hurt, he said, "Well, that was worse than I hoped, but better than I feared. I feel like a wrung out dishrag."


    Lizughed and sat next to him.


    "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" Her question wasn''t wee, and he told her so with a raised finger.


    "Ok, bad news first. That won''t get any better the more you do it. The only thing that will help will be advancing beyond Tier 4. The good news is, this is a great time to work on your sensitivity training with the skills in your spirit."


    With his face in the blue-white coat of Aster, he murmured, "Yay for me."


    Sitting up, he delved into his spirit. Everything looked fine, but each brush of his spiritual sense felt like brain freeze. If his spirit could vomit, it would. Trying to identify each part of their structure was already difficult, doing it in this state was almost impossible. Still, Liz knew what she was doing, and the training would only serve to help him, no matter his condition.


    Matt''s mind wandered to his Concept as he ran mental fingers over his skills.


    <em>What do I want? A de Concept seems fitting, and it would be useful. But I know it''s not, since I was touching on it without my de in hand. And well, they are just weapons after all. I''d transition to a mage style in a moment and not shed a tear. What good would a de concept do me then?</em>


    He pondered thatst thought. No, even if he went full mage tomorrow, he''d use the longsword as a backup. He liked the weapon and the dance he fell into when inbat. He was also self aware enough to know it wasn''t a perfect fit with who he was at his core either.


    The image of him sting spells was just as prevalent in his imagination as slicing giant monsters.


    He next thought went to his armor and its defensive capabilities. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was his lifeline, and it was what had gotten him to this point. It was a core skill in every possible future he could think of. Even as a pure mage, being able to stay that safe was of vital interest. He would never need to copy Liz and wear bulky armor.


    <em>Though, physical armor might be a nice addition to enhance mybat abilities. Even some thin armor could be a good second chance in case something broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor].</em>


    Making a note with his AI, he forced his thoughts back to his Concept. The final idea he had about his Concept was his mana pool. It was unlimited and never ending.


    He popped open an eye, and looked to the mage, who was drawing in the dirt with a bear''s w.


    "How will I know if I''m close to a Concept or not?"


    Without looking up, she responded, "Easy. You won''t. You might get really close, and that will resonate with you, and it''s possible you might feel that. That''s why I told you to list everything youve thought of so far. If you can''t remember thinking of one, theres a good chance of that being your Concept. "


    Matt gave his thanks, and pushed his thoughts back to his mana.


    He pushed a bit into his hands, and watched it dissipate. It looked like blue smoke, only less substantial. Like the reflection of smoke.


    He revised his thoughts regarding his mana being unlimited. That wasn''t true. Right now, he was at 2 mana, indicating he had been pondering for a good while. At least, more than the ten minutes it would take for him to reach ten percent of his maximum mana capacity.


    If it wasn''t his mana, was it his physical cultivation? He chewed on the new idea. Could he resonate with the physical growth his Tier 1 Talent enforced on him?


    Pushing the thought was fruitful. He wasrge for his age, at sixteen and a half and six foot three. His memories of his parents were hazy, but he remembered them both being on the taller side, though his father was only around six-two.


    Deciding to forgo the Concept search, he kept his mental fingers exploring both of the skills in his spirit, and let his mind wander.


    His parents were just foggy memories at this point. He had a file of pictures and recordings of them in his AI. The orphanage had provided them, and all these yearster, he had still been unable to open the file.


    There had been more than a few sleepless nights of him crying for them toe back, but somehow opening the file felt definitive. It would be truly epting that they only lived in those files, and his every blurring memories.


    He tried to picture his mother''s face. He knew he had inherited his sandy blond hair from her.


    While her features were blurry, he could clearly remember sitting on herp at the salon. She had gone from shoulder de length hair to a shorter, chin-length cut.


    They had draped the cut locks over his head and pretended he was wearing a wig.


    He could distinctly remember looking into the mirror and meeting her eyes.


    But what color were her eyes? Matt couldn''t remember. It was a blurry, wet paint memory.


    He turned to his father. The man had worked as a construction foreman, overseeing a group of specialty finishers for nicer, upscale housing. It was the work the rare AI ran machines didn''t do, nor the moremon generalborers.


    Matt''s memories of him were even dimmer. He worked long hours,but still tried to make time for the young Matt. He and his father had spent a day together when an out of season hurricane hit the coast, and he didn''t have to work.


    He couldn''t remember why his father wasn''t working on the more finished and protected buildings. But as he had the day off, his parents had let him stay home from school and spend the time with his father.


    After having worked at Benny''s and done hardbor day in and day out, he was surprised his father hadn''t just passed out on an unexpected free day. He instead took Matt to an aquarium and museum.


    The aquatic creatures had scared him at the time, and it took coaxing from his father to touch the ss.


    The museum, on the other hand, had been far more interesting to the younger Matt. He was able to touch the stuffed remains of higher Tiered monsters. The ones shown were mostly the animal types, either for their fierceness or their cuteness.


    Matt could see his father''s eyes, a hazel leaning heavily to green. They were darker than his own, a shaded forestpared to his brighter shade of grass in the sun.


    But what did his nose look like?


    Unable to dredge the memory up, he looked at the blinking folder at the corner of his eye.


    Focusing, he asked Liz. "You ready? I need to fight things."


    He stood up quickly, shoving the thoughts of the past where they belonged. The past.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28


    The next day, it was Liz''s turn to solo the final fight. It was far less of a challenge for her than Matt had expected. The blood that she had collected throughout the rift allowed her to breeze through the boss encounter. Liz used the umted blood to create another blood golem, and smashed the bears and lizard shaman into paste.


    The next day, she tried again, but this time she refrained from using her golem strategy. It was gratifying seeing her struggle, at least a little, against the three bears.


    He wanted his partner to be strong, but it was nice to see that she wasn''t <em>too</em> far ahead of him. Liz had to strain herself without the golem, constantly dodging and weaving away from therger bears, and whittling them down. Instead of overpowering her opponents with brute force, she instead used her rift spear and its bleed effect.


    With her increased uracy from her training, and with a little help from [Blood Maniption], she was able tond shallow blows on the massive monsters. With her increased flexibility and mobility from her new blood doping technique, she was able to fight without taking a single hit.


    Even if she ran into any danger, a tendril of blood would always snap into position to take the blow for her. [Blood Maniption] was unable topletely stop the heavy paw swipes or skill enhanced bites from the bears, but it was enough to buy her time to evade the attacks.


    The fightsted almost ten minutes. It was risky business to be in close quarters with monsters that could break her body in a single blow for that long, armor or no armor.


    When she drove a blood spike into the final bear, Matt let her rest while he walked to the lizardman''s hut, and knocked it down with a few strokes from his de. They had figured there was little reason to collect wood, when the hut would just disappear with this instance of the rift either way.


    With the fire to attract the remaining bears zing, he let Liz recover and meditated on his Concept.


    ***


    It was almost two months into their time on the training world, when an interesting message came through.


    Simeon had heard about Matts run-ins with the guild, both the bomb incident, and the idiot who broke his sword.


    As a way of apology for the actions of the guilds underlings, Simeon had gotten them into a guild only rift. It was apparently an off-record rift, which was unique in some way.


    This particr rift was apparently a wave based one. The longer they fought, the stronger the monsters would get, and the stronger the final boss would be.


    The first delvepleted in the rift per team always led to the best rewards, and if they got past wave eight, a skill shard was almost guaranteed.


    The guild usually only allowed high ranking teams inside, or at least the politically connected. It was a great opportunity, and Matt had no issue epting the generosity.


    The only reason the delve slot was open was because a team had either died, or got so badly injured that they couldn''t safely delve anymore. It wasn''t a concern to Matt or Liz.


    That was what they signed up for when they decided to step onto the Path of Ascension.


    They slotted themselves into delving the rift once a week for the remaining time. To that effect, they skipped the normal rift runs for the day, and teleported back into the city early. Neither wanted to be in any condition but their best for a risky rift like this.


    After teleporting into the guild city, they took a day to rest and recuperate. It was needed, as they had been wholly focused on delving and honing their skills, on top of Matts attempts at finding his Concept.


    The next morning, they found themselves being hustled back into the teleporter. Momentster, they had arrived at the entrance of a cave.


    At the back of the perfectly straight, unnatural tunnel, they found a rift. It was just like the rest, a tear in the fabric of reality. The only thing out of the ordinary was the guard unit posted at the entrance. Two heavily armed and armored guild members stood at each side of the rift, each with an intimidating presence.


    As they approached, Matt, trying to be friendly, said, "Howre you guys doing?"


    The duo of guards didn''t even blink, theypletely ignored him. He felt at their cores with his spirit sense, and found them to be at the peak of Tier 10. Strong guards for a hidden rift. But if the rewards were that good, their presence was to be expected.


    Giving up on his attempts at niceties with the two men, the trio entered the rift, and immediately felt a st of heat. Looking out from the entrance, they found a massive step pyramid in the distance.


    Matts AI got a good view, and calcted the dimensions, factoring in the distance involved. The thing was massive, five hundred and twenty eight feet across at the bottomyer, and two hundred and forty feet tall. Theyers were made of six foot blocks of stone that were perfectly smooth. The fortyyers to the t top each had engravings, casting shadows he couldn''t make out from his current distance.


    With his AIs help, Matt could just barely see a staircase iid into the center of each side of the massive structure. It was an impressive sight.


    Something about the edifice in the humid jungle set off every warning bell ingrained into Matt''s rift-honed instincts.


    At the top of the pyramid, there was arge, clear area, with the rift exit resting at the center. The distance was calcted at thirty six feet across at the edge, putting the area of the clearing at 1,296 square feet.


    It was a perfectlyrge arena, suitable for the bloodshed they were about to unleash.


    Liz whistled after she looked around. "Well, the descriptions didn''t do that thing justice. Damnnnn."


    "Yeah, it''s impressive."


    As they walked through the dense jungle, Matt looked behind them, and only found a wall of swirling mist that blocked his spiritual perception.


    When they reached the bottom of the massive pyramid, Matt looked up, and saw that the images he couldnt make out earlier were depictions of sacrifice. People, animals, and much stranger things were carved upon alters, and at the top of each terrace were carved skulls. No two he saw were the same.


    "Well fuck, this is ominous."


    Liz agreed with a nod. Nothing more.


    The steps were smaller than wasfortable at only six inches wide, and the climb to the top was long. While their bodies were in better shape than all but the strongest mortals, climbing four hundred and eighty steps still left the trio winded.


    At the top, they found a t, open area that overlooked the surrounding terrain. It was a thick jungle, but they had a slight breeze cutting the heat at the top of the pyramid.


    At the center of the fighting area was a stone carving with a cone shaped crown, and a heart raised to the sky. What threw them off was the statues open mouth. Its teeth were bared, like it was about to take a bite out of the heart.


    Around the statue were three basins sitting on pedestals. The guilds provided information had covered the basins, and the required steps to start the encounter. So, they walked to each pedestal, and squeezed a drop of blood into the stone bowls.


    Aster chose to have her nk cut instead of her paws. The location didn''t matter, and only a single drop was required for the bowl to link to them. The bowl absorbed the small jade pins they used as they set them back down inside.


    With the starting ritual taken care of, they waited near the edge of the arena together.


    Watching the forest, they soon saw the first enemies. At this distance, all he could glean was that they were waist high, bipedal reptiles, with odd, feathered headdresses. The guild provided information did not cover the types of enemies the rift would have. The stated reason was that the rewards were better when parties had less information.


    "Wow, that''s a lot of monsters for a first wave." Matt muttered.


    "Yeah. Well, fuck, Liz responded. At least were at mid Tier 4 now. The rift may be peak Tier 4, but the first wave can''t be that strong... Right?"


    With a slight jog, Matt went to another side, and saw just as many enemies rushing up to them. He didn''t bother to check the remaining two sides.


    He noticed small channels dug out of the floor, leading to the center of the top of the pyramid. They all coalesced at the feet of the center statue and stone bowls.


    Matt''s bad feeling that hed had since they first stepped foot onto the top of the pyramid was only getting worse. He didn''t like this one bit.


    Steeling his resolve, Matt took the far side and waited, watching the approaching monsters.


    They came in all at once, and as they reached the bottom steps of the pyramid, he was able to get a better look at them.


    They seemed to be some weird mix of velociraptor and bird, with the feathered headdresses and short wings. They also had massive legs that propelled them distances farrger than he wouldve thought possible. They were digging into the dirt with their overlyrge talons with each bound towards them, and had mouths filled with far too many teeth.


    Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mage''s Retreat], pushing the former to the brink of what it could handle. Thetter was throttled at two mana a second. He wanted the extra mana for his AI, to gather as much info as possible.


    Any advantage they could gain against the hybrid raptors would be a benefit, and he didnt mind his AI burning far more mana than usual to figure something out.


    Watching the monster''s approach, the inane thought that he should have activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] earlier for the heat protection crossed his mind.


    It was a long moment before the first creature reached the top. Leading the pack of monsters, it leaped forward, with Matt meeting its talons with his de. The raptor used its stubby wings to redirect its fall slightly, but it wasn''t enough, as his de sliced through its extended feet and surprisingly light body.


    There wasn''t much time to inspect the rift monster, but it had spikes at the end of its wings and tail.


    After that, there was no time for thought. Only killing. Matt''s enchanted longsword took out the next two raptors that crested the ridge of the pyramid. The next group arrived as five, and quickly managed to nk him. While he was cutting through the ones in front, the two that curled around him attacked.


    Matt felt the two simultaneous attacksnd. At the back of his leg, there was a bite attempting to hamstring him, and a second shing attack, usingrge talons to great effect.


    They were unable to pierce [Cracked Phantom Armor] with either attack, and his mana regeneration handled the cost of blocking the blows, keeping the skill active through the blows.


    With his AI predicting the path of the scratching enemy, he reached up with his off-hand, and snatched the monster by a wing. With all the strength he could muster, he mmed it into the ground.


    He ignored the sounds of snapping and shattering bone, and with a turn, decapitated the monster gnawing on his armored leg. With his group of assants dispatched, he shook off the raptor head still mped onto his calf, and checked behind him.


    Liz and Aster were fending off the waves from two sides of the pyramid. Thebination of Liz''s [Blood Maniption] and Aster''s ice attacks was shredding through the lightweight raptors.


    The fourth side was undefended, and the wave that came up was quickly upon Matt. He was just d the waves didn''t seem to be synced up.


    With the groups of monsters increasing in number, Matt settled into the corner between the two sets of steps he was responsible for. With de and brawn, he slew all that dared toe before him. Time disappeared in the melee. The only things on his mind were the mass of feathered bodies, and the medical reports from his HUD, updating him on Aster and Liz.


    They didn''t have magical armor with almost unlimited mana to feed it. But as he slew thest raptor, and found no other to rece it, he saw that they were fine.


    With heaving breaths, he peered over the edge and into the distance. There was no movement. As he watched for any signs of the next wave, his attention was drawn to the corpses at his feet. They were dissolving into blood, and running through the channels and into the three bowls.


    As he watched, Liz''s amassed blood was being sucked up into the channels. Not all of it, but if he had to guess, it was all the blood that she had taken from her in raptors.


    "Fuck. That''s my blood! Don''t take it! I earned it, damnit." Her joke didnt really hit home with her tired voice.


    As they watched, all the blood ran to the center of the arena, and separated into their respective bowls. Despite their being on separate sides, they each seemed to have a roughly equal amount of blood. Once it was all collected, the blood condensed into small spheres, floating through the air and into the stone heart the statue was holding.


    Once the blood was absorbed, the heart became slightly redder, instead of the dull gray of stone, and a rift reward appeared next to the exit behind the statue.


    "Well, any interest in cutting and running?" Liz asked, but she didn''t seem keen on the idea. Even the first wave had a good bit of essence, and it would only get better as the carnage continued.


    "Nah, I think we can handle all ten and fight the boss." Matt wasn''t sure of that at all, but he wanted to keep things positive.


    "Let''s take the five minute break and cycle the essence," he said, and followed his own advice. He plopped down on the now clean stone and focused inward.


    He was finished before his rm went off. The timing of the rift''s waves never changed ording to the guild, but he wasn''t about to take that chance.


    Standing, he found Liz still sitting, and was about to shake her awake as the timer in his vision counted down. Before he could, she stood up, and tossed him a mana crystal.


    "Can you recharge it real quick before the wave? I don''t want to take any chances, so I topped myself off." Matt did so, dropping his skills and turning his AI down to charge the crystals faster.


    When he caught the first signs of movement, he spotted a flock of birds. He tossed the half filled mana stone back at Liz, quicky activating his skills again.


    His now fueled AI noted them as some type of parrot. The colorful birds quickly approached, and started circling above them. Aster and Liz saved mana and waited. Matt reached over his back and pulled out his crossbow. It wasn''t ideal with the sheer amount of birds, but if they didn''te down to them, Aster and Liz would have to waste mana taking them down.


    Before he decided to take aim and fire, a part of the flock broke the circle, and dove at them. As they approached, their wings glowed bright with white energy that extended their alreadyrge wingspans.


    With a quick motion, Matt returned the crossbow back to his backpack, and started swinging with his de. Each sweep took out some leading birds, but the ones that followed struck at his armored form with skill empowered wings. If he had normal mana regeneration, he would have been quickly drained by sustaining the armor through the never ending stream of blows. His Talent let him tank the ded wings, and cut down bird after bird.


    Each hit, while damaging and mana costly,was too weak to break through [Cracked Phantom Armor]. With [Mage''s Retreat] active at 2 mana per second, he was able to maintain a deadly assault against the descending birds.


    In between the falling corpses, he was able to get a glimpse of Liz. She was standing at the corner of the arena opposite to him.


    The cheating blood mage was encased in a ball of blood, with her spear protruding out, surrounded by shards of ice and blood rotating around it. She had effectively turned her shielding technique into a blender, rendering the birds coordinated assault into the least effective kamikaze imaginable.


    <em>That''s so unfair.</em>


    Matt mentallyined, but was happy the duo would be safe for this wave.


    Forcing his concentration back to the fight, he followed his AIs suggestions for hitting more of the circling birds. The ones that made it past the reach of his de curled back around, and joined the circle in the sky, beforeing back down for a second or third attempt.


    After a few more minutes of carnage, the wave ended. Once again, the blood was absorbed into the central bowls, before feeding into the heart.


    This time, when he allocated his essence, hepletely filled the mana stones. He even burned the extra mana to convert the mana in the stones to Liz''s type.


    The third wave was a mass of centipedes. Each was no shorter than seven feet in length. When they approached, Matt mmed his enchanted de down, and found that the Tier 5 metals and enchantments of his de cut through their chitin like it was nothing more than normal flesh.


    With brutal efficiency, he mowed down group after group of the monsters, as they tried totch on to him with oversized mandibles. Their bites stressed his armor, but they neversted long enough to generate enough force to break through. They were fast with their many legs, but their size made them easy to target and dispatch. Especially when they weretched on to his limbs.


    With heavy shes and careful footwork, the armored swordsman fell into a rhythm, almost as if falling into a trance. This was happening more and more as he was able to sink into the flow ofbat during thest few months. Liz said it was him touching his Concept in some way. But to him, it was the song that yed in his head, and the rhythm that beat in his heart, guiding him to victory during every battle.


    Each bad was as unique as thebatants, the steps and strokes of his dance deciding life and death.


    A glorious entiretyter, he came out of his hypnosis, with corpse piles dissolving around him.


    After repeating his filling of mana stones and allocation of essence, he said to Liz, "This rift is a gold mine of essence. If this is how the guilds train, I can see how they advance so quickly."


    "Nah, this is rare. Even for a guild. Honestly, I''m surprised they haven''t boosted this rift to Tier 5. There''s no way they let this one get dispelled, so itd make sense for them to... To boost it." Her panting interrupted the end of her sentence.


    "No clue why they havent then." Maybe the rewards were better for lower Tiers? Or they might have better rifts for the Tier 5''s. That thought made more sense to Matt, but he couldn''t imagine what something better could even look like. Especially if they didn''t feel the need to boost this rift.


    Matt stowed his ruminations forter, as the fourth wave of enemies was quickly approaching. They wererge lizards that looked vaguely rted to dragons. His AI recognized them as komodo dragons. If they followed the standard version of the monster at Tier 4, their venom would quickly incapacitate and kill a simrly Tiered human. He looked to Aster, who had already noped out of the fight, and jumped into her backpack on Liz''s back.


    The blood mage used her remaining blood to create a tform to stand on, and raise her above the monsters bites.


    As they approached, Matt firmed his control of [Cracked Phantom Armor], trusting in the skill to stop any of the bites from getting through.


    These wanna-be dragons were fast, and just one bite could nearly get through his skill, from the sheer sharpness of their teeth alone. It was only thanks to his training with Liz, and learning about the different facets of the skills structure, that allowed him to have pushed the skill. It was now able to ept a little over 9 mana a second.


    It was a blessing in situations like this, where he was surrounded by enemies that could potentially harm him with the skill operating at 8 mana a second. The small increase was a lifesaver, and he was hoping to make the increased capacity permanent, so the skill could handle stronger enemies.


    With the added danger of the poison, he was forced to sink deeper into the bad of this conflict. His movements became almost mindless. Only sheer instinct propelled his de forward. It shifted his feet away from jaws. It closed his grip around reptilian necks. With the flow of battlepletely consuming him, he sunk into the deepest recesses of his inner spirit. It was only then that he felt it. He felt like he would be able to name his Concept. It was close.


    Even only realising the phrase would take a weight off his shoulders, as it would allow him to start looking for his image. A harder task, ording to Liz. The phrase would also allow him to channel a small fraction of his Concept, at the cost of some minor damage to his body.


    The fight continued, with Matt instinctually letting snapping jaws get closer and nearer as each reptile attacked. His inner consciousness pushed the phrase closer and closer into his mind with the added danger.


    Once again, the dance with the komodo dragons ended before he could reach a realization.


    The next wave was a mix of the centipedes and parrots. It was a far more dangerousbo for the trio, as the crawling insects had the mass to break through her ball of blood. It was a hard fought battle.


    The final five waves of monsters had more numbers, and were eachposed of all four variants of rift monsters. The final, tenth wave had an endless stream of monsters, pushing the group to their very limits.


    They were exhausted, and Matt was about to ask Liz if she wanted to fight the boss, or take their reward and go.


    Before he could, the blood from thebined monsters was drawn into the basins. Once it was absorbed into the heart, they felt a pulse of power. Liz and Aster flinched back, while Matt only felt a weight on his cultivation.


    The phenomenon onlysted for a moment, then the statue came to life, and took a massive bite out of the blood filled heart. In a scene reminiscent of when he gave Liz the dragon empowered heart of the parasite monster, the statue, with blood dripping down its chin, started to change.


    In the sh of an eye, the statue turned flesh, and morphed into a great snake. At least,thats what Matt thought it was, from the fangs that jutted out from its massive maw. As it roared a high pitched, blood curdling scream, therge headdress of feathers adorning the statue expanded into a pair of wings on either side of the monster''s head.


    The scene was normal enough for a rift, until the fifty-foot long snake monster took flight, despite the stunted wings.


    Liz screamed at him, "It''s a Feathered Serpent! It''s a variant of dragon. Watch out for its scream!"


    The warning was just in time, but ultimately useless. As the flying snake took to the air, it let out a screech that utterly paralyzed Matt. Nothing was exempt. His mind, his essence cores, even his mana, stopped in pure fear from the monster''s skill. The skill took an ethereal form of red misty chains binding him to the floor.


    As the chains pulled every facet of his being down towards the floor of the arena, Matt followed the direction of the force, and sunk deep into his spirit. Driven to the brink, his mind became almost fluid, ethereal even, just like the chains that bound him. He was forced down to the very core of his cultivation, where the empty space of his Concepty dormant.


    With his consciousnesspressed into the very center of the nk space, something awoke within him. Strength flooded into his limbs, as thepressed ether of his mind exploded outward from his Concept space. As his mindfulness came back to the arena and the giant serpent before him, a single phrase echoed, loud enough in his head that it seemed to reverberate throughout the entire rift.


    <em>I will not be held down.</em>


    <em>I will not be stopped.</em>


    <em>I.</em>


    <em>AM.</em>


    <em>ENDLESS.</em>


    With that, the hold of the skill broke, his realization had freed Matt from the chains that bound him.


    The revtion was clear now. Matt was not one to be stopped. He was never-ending. He would put one foot in front of the other, and continue to advance. The tides of his enemies would break against his unyielding will.


    In the center of his cores, he felt something taking hold. It wasn''t a perfect Concept, but it filled that space in his spirit. However, it was iplete without an image to go with the phrase. For now, he was satisfied with countering the beast''s skill. That would allow for a much better matchup.


    Then, he pushed his spiritual sense out at the boss of the rift. It was Tier 5.


    It had its own Concept.


    Matt rushed it. Liz and Aster were just shaking free of the chains while he charged. The serpent didn''t seem to have any ranged attacks, as it dove with wings that glowed with the same light the parrots did. He ran and shed at the diving monster. For the first time, his de didn''t cut smoothly through a monster''s flesh.


    This was a Tier 5 rift boss scaly armor against a Tier 5 weapon. And dragon scales were famous for their toughness for a reason. The de only left a white mark as it skittered down the nk of the beast.


    The blow diverted its attention to the prey that should have still been locked away, but wasn''t.


    With a flick of its head, the serpent flew higher in the sky, and Matt saw the headdress tremble as the same scream ripped out.


    Matt pushed out with his own Concept, with a new instinct to counter the skill. But instantly his vision went white, and he felt warmth running down his face. The only thing keeping him standing were the chains of the monsters skill. He quickly reactivated both of his own skills, which had failed when he had faced the bacsh from the shing Concepts.


    Spitting out the blood that filled his mouth, Matt noted that the iplete Concept phrase of a Tier 4 was no match for the monster''s Tier 5 fully formed Concept.


    Waiting out the duration of the skill, he watched as the dragon turned around and aimed directly at him. Its wings glowed with the ded wing skill, as he watched therge serpent''s head open, with fangsrger than his arm bared at him.


    The skill released with just enough time for the armored swordsman to sidestep the snapping jaws, and drive his de into the serpents cheek. The softer flesh yielded to the longsword enhanced with the sharpness and durability runes. Matt felt a tug on the repair rune that made him nervous for his new weapon.


    His attention was quickly brought back to his enemy, when the light encased wing mmed into him. What was an easy to deal with blow from the parrots sent Matt flying, with [Cracked Phantom Armor] shattered. He was fortunate that the armorsted long enough for the momentum of the blow to send him flying, instead of the sharp wings bisecting him at the waist.


    With a frantic effort, he got the skill reactivated as he hit the ground and slid off the edge of the pyramid. Landing two terraces down, he used [Mage''s Retreat] to enhance him enough to jump the six foot height of each terrace. As he made the first leap, the movement caused pain tonce up his body. It radiated from his side. Two ribs were cracked, ording to his AI.


    Ignoring the pain, he made it back to the arena, to find a huge, bloody gash along the serpent''s face. He had managed to make a more even trade than he thought.


    Liz was free, and had used her blood to break the wing opposite of the one that hit him. Or at least thats what the crooked shape of the wing implied. The broken wing didn''t seem to hamper the creature''s ability to fly, not that it needed the wing, with its absurd proportions. If the creature wasn''t a dragon, and magical by nature, there was no way two wings of that size would allow it to fly.


    A massive shard of ice formed, and smashed into the charging monster''s face. As Matt ran, he saw Aster out of her backpack and parallel to Liz, forcing the serpent to choose one or the other.


    Through their bond, he felt pure rage directed towards the boss. He had never felt such feelings from his bond. The feeling was so cold, his first instinct was to distance himself from the bond, but instead he pushedfort to her. If it helped, he didn''t have time to notice, as the serpent corrected its flight path and went for Liz.


    With its attention on the other member of the party, Aster shot shards of ice at its eyes, blinding one.


    That caused the monster to retreat upwards and circle again. Seeing Matt back and on his feet, the serpent let out another screech, binding them all in ce. When it made another pass at Matt, he dodged to its blind side just as the skill duration ended, while a pool of blood grabbed its already broken wing and held.


    There was a moment where the blood and the monster stood still, inplete bnce, when the momentum of the monster carried it past. Watching the trail of blood, Matt saw that the blood mage had won the exchange. Half of the wing was ripped off, and the remaining stub was being drained of blood. This time, the serpents screech was one of pain. There were no chains binding the trio to their positions.


    The next pass, Liz carved a chunk of flesh out of the side of the serpent with Asters help, using a shard of frozen blood. The monster seemed to be fixated on Matt, with him being the most injured target.


    He was charging his des [Mana Charge] skill as the boss took passes at him. He had only used the skill sparingly in thest few months, as it was still incredibly draining. But if it let him finish the serpent off, huddling in a ball for an hour would be an eptable oue. It was his strongest attack, after all.


    After two more dives, with Aster and Liz both damaging the serpent, the monster went for Matt one more. Itr wasn''t stupid enough to try the same attack a third time. At thest moment, it bent its serpentine body unnaturally on itself, and turned directly towards Liz. The mage had all of her blood ready to carve another chunk of flesh out of the serpents nk.


    The beast had chosen it moment to turn well and was just feet from the mage. Feet that were covered in seconds.


    At the exact instant that the serpent turned to his partner, Matt acted. With an effort of will, he activated the rings, and swapped ces with the mage.


    <em>Let''s hope I don''t get eaten.</em>


    He tried to roll, but his cracked rib slowed him down. Even twisting to avoid the serpents bite with [Mages Retreat] wasn''t enough. His left arm was caught in the beasts maw.


    <em>I should have teleported, with the ring.</em>


    The thought waste as being locked on the enemies jaws would prevent the ring from working.


    The bite didn''t instantly shatter [Cracked Phantom Armor], but it was a close call. The force it bit down with was clearly weakened by its wounds, as it flew into the air with Matt in tow. It flicked its head, tossing Matt up to swallow the man.


    Matt was able to adjust his path down into the serpents jaw slightly by using the rings short range teleport, with pain shooting up his side from his damaged ribs. Although he was able to avoid falling directly into the serpents mouth, his off arm was caught by the snapping bite, and razor-sharp teeth sank through.


    The pain was excruciating, but he was happy to avoid being swallowed whole. His arm had just narrowly missed being impaled by therger fangs, which he was sure had venom ready to inject into prey.


    With his Concepts phrase running through his head, he chanted:


    <em>I will not end here. I Am Endless.</em>


    He didnt activate the pseudo Concept, as he didn''t want the bacsh to interrupt the charging skill from the de in his free hand.


    As the serpent prepared to go for another toss, he brought his weapon around to smash into the monster''s skull, tip of the de first. With the leverage of his trapped arm, he was able to sink the glowing weapon into the side of the skull of the monster.


    In the time since he had started charging the skill, he had been able to feed it nearly 1000 mana. A massive amount for a standard [Mana Charge]. He just hoped it would be enough.


    Like rxing a fist, he let the skill go.


    There was a blinding sh of blue-white light as the skill detonated.


    The injuries and shock from using the Tier 5 weapon skill caused darkness to encroach on Matt''s vision. Before it fully set in, he felt himself falling, and had one final thought.


    <em>My Concept didn''t even make a difference in this fight.</em>


    The darkness onlysted a moment. Then the ground pushed it away. Hitting the ground with an arm still in the serpents jaws was good. On one hand, it saved him injuries from being crushed under the heavy rift boss.


    On the other hand... Well, Matt no longer had another hand topare it to. The arm, still stuck on the monster''s teeth, was bitten clean through, as the impact with the ground caused the jaws to mp further shut.


    The pain brought him fully back to the world of the living. With a scream of agony, the likes of which he had never felt, he tried to reach with his left arm. He twisted to free himself from the pain. It didn''t work. The movement caused even more pain tonce up his left side, directly to his brain.


    He stared at the stump where his left hand had been moments ago. It was simply gone, and his brain couldn''t process it.


    As his breath left him, and Liznded on the ground next to him, he saw her horrified face screaming at him.


    He looked at her, seeing her lips move, but hearing no sounde out. Notprehending, his eyes focused on the bottle of red liquid in her hands. A blood staunching potion they had gotten months back.


    Understanding dawned, and he deactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The pain increased, somehow. Liz dumped the vial of liquid on his stump, and it was like fire and ice decided to fight over who could cause the most pain. The battle between the opposing feelings ended, with his awareness numbing to the point that his missing arm mattered little.


    With the all epassing pain subsiding somewhat, he thanked the girl next to him, "Good thinking. Thanks. It uh, kinda hurt a little."


    The mage yanked her helmet off, and he saw tears streaming down her face, mixing with blood and sweat.


    Instead of words, she hugged him. Aster joined a momentter, squirming in between the two while whimpering. He put his good arm... His only arm, he corrected himself, around the duo.


    With the pain lessened, andfort of the two people he cared for most, he looked at the motionless remains of the Feathered Serpent.

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29


    His de was no longer lodged in its skull, as there was practically no skull left. A massive crater had been removed from the entire left side. The flesh and scales were peeled away at the edges, exposing fragments of bone that were still intact.


    Everything in a one foot radius of where Matt embedded his de in the serpent and unleashed [Mana Charge] waspletely vaporized. Even the monsters brain had been mostly destroyed. He could see bits and pieces leaking into the monsters mouth.


    At the thought, he sat up and tried to get away from the monster. Liz was still lightly holding onto his shoulder, with Aster snuggling in deeper.


    With the duo not letting him up, he said, Dont let the monster brains get on my arm. Im already going to have to reattach it. I dont need it coated in brains too.


    Liz pulled back and wiped her eyes before the blood from the beast started moving at hermand. Once enough had gathered, it pried the beasts maw open and grabbed his severed arm.


    Seeing it floating towards them, he looked down at his stump and back at the severed arm. Ignoringmon sense, he tried to close his left fist. It felt like it should work, but nothing happened.


    Liz grabbed the limb and doused it in the remaining portion. After the odd experience of cing his own arm in a spatial bag, Matt stood and looked for his sword. The discharge of the spell and the subsequent fall had blown the de elsewhere.


    With a wince, he reactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The skill covered his body and put aforting pressure on his stump. He made a mental note to look into thatter. The skill acted like a tourniquet, just as it did with the wound in his side from the Tier 1 rift back on the yPen.


    With the dull throbbing in his arm increasing, he turned to Liz and said, Ive got about a day before they cant reattach the arm and will have to grow a new one. But uhh... Do you mind if we get out of here a bit faster? I dont know where my sword went.


    I didnt notice where it fell either. I was more worried about you.


    After shooting Matt another look of concern, Liz rose on a column of blood. Once she was fifteen in the air, she shot off over the edge of the step pyramid. A minuteter, she came back, with his sword following behind on a tide of red.


    Aster was still glued to his leg, and he bent to scratch her while Liz returned his sword to him.


    Then, he immediately rose and cut out the heart of the beast that nearly ate him. Watching Aster chow down on the massive heart was surprisingly cathartic.


    After stowing the weapon, the trio rose to see the exit tear in space. It was behind where the final bosss statue had been. Over the bowls, where the blood was gathered in between waves, were three rift rewards. Walking up to their respective bowls, they dispelled the distortions in space. Out of Matts distortion dropped a small crystal.


    A skill shard.


    Jackpot. With the pain in his arm temporarily forgotten, he scooped the shard and had his AI scan it.


    [Filter]: Choose an element of a selected material and pull it to your hand. 15 mana a second, ten fluid ounces per minute. Only one element can be selected at a time. Selected materials are limited by the users knowledge.


    It seemed to be a good skill, as far as he could tell. Pocketing it, he looked at Aster and found her pawing at a second skill shard. It looked to be made of blood, instead of the usual clear blue.


    Hey girl, whatd ya get? As he bent down, his missing arm disrupted his bnce, and he had to steady himself before checking the shard. His AI came back with a nk. It didnt know what type of skill it was.


    He looked to Liz to see if she had a higher repository of skills. He had only bought the Tier 8 one. But he was distracted by seeing her with a pair of chakrams. As she brandished them, a bolt of lightning ran between the two, linking them.


    Well, shit. We sure got rewarded this rift. Three rewards and two of them skill shards.


    That got her attention, and she came to check the skill he held out to her.


    Know what this is?


    Spinning the red shard, she answered, Not a clue. I only have the Tier 8 skill repository, and its not in it. Damn. Two skills and a Tier 5 weapon. We made out like bandits. Even with the cost of reattaching your arm and the healing, we came out on top.


    Before they left the rift, they cut the fangs out of the monster, figuring they might be worth something. Afterward, they quickly activated their beacons.


    Momentster, they were standing back in the city. The teleporter room was far more sedate than it had been previously at the end of the first week.


    The healers, quickly seeing Matt with a missing arm, hustled them off and onto a waiting bed. One of them immediately started calling out information.


    Missing arm, two inches off the elbow. Doused in blood clotting. Prep regrowing mana stones.


    Hey, I still have the arm.


    Matt was ignored as the healer wasmanding his nurses.


    Looking at Liz, he saw her reach into the spatial bag and removed his arm before waving it in front of the healers face.


    Hello? We have the arm. No need to regrow. We just need it reattached.


    Matt winced at her, using his arm to wave at someone. It just felt wrong. That was <em>his </em>arm.


    Once the healer saw the arm, the air of urgency died down a bit, and the healer took it while examining the cut.


    Ah. Ok good. Seems like a fairly clean patch job. What kind of healing do you want? You want...


    Liz cut him off before he could continue, Full reattachment, with a check-up tomorrow and a guarantee if anything goes wrong with the healing in the next six months.


    The healer looked offended. Im a Tier 6 healer. Ive never had aint.


    Good. So you wont mind when we get the healing checked out tomorrow. And off.


    The healer just grumbled, and after cutting Matts shirt off at the sleeve, he fit the severed limbs together. After sizing the arm up, he uncapped a needle that the nurse handed to him. When it was jabbed into Matts thigh, he felt the sensation of everything around him feeling far away.


    He wasnt about to pass out, but it felt as if his body was separated from him. He could feel Liz holding his good hand, but it was like he was watching a movie.


    With a green glow, the arm was reattached. Matt understood why he had been numbed. He could <em>feel </em>the bone stitching together, despite the local anesthesia.


    It hurt. He had never known bones could feel pain of this variety. He wanted to tear at the itching and tearing sensation. The drugs did their work, and with his good hand being held, he had no energy to reach over.


    An eternityter, the healer held up a massive rack of lined up mana crystals. Once he removed his hand, he went back to healing. Matt idly watched the rack get reced with a second, identical one. The spent rack was taken to a shelf on the wall and reced yet again.


    <em>Some charging stations for the healers, I guess, so they can heal more than bits and pieces.</em>


    When the bone was reconnected, the healer moved a clear screen over and rotated it around his arm, looking at the readout. After looking it over, he made a minor adjustment to Matts arm and checked the readout once more before moving it back to the side.


    Shit, kid, you have way more physical essence than a normal mid Tier 4. Closer to a peak one. He wiped at his sweating forehead with a towel, before tossing on his gloves and getting a second pair.


    Next, he started reattaching the muscle around his arm. It felt like he was a piece of cloth being stitched together. Definitely not a pleasant experience.


    Another two racks of mana crystalster, the arm was reattached, and Matt was able to move it around.


    Go ahead and see if everything feels right.


    Still doped up, Matt moved the recently detached arm and tried to describe it. I dont know. Everything still feels far away. But I dont feel anything pulling or not working. He clenched his fist and watched the muscles bunch and pull just like they should.


    The healer stood and cast a green light that covered Matts entire body. Once the light faded, the hazy feeling of the injection disappeared, and his cracked ribs twinged as they healed.


    Feeling surprisingly good, he stood up.


    Ten Tier 5 mana stones for the healing. Do you have it in cash? Or would you like to borrow the amount from the guild? Oh, and one week minimum before you can take another healing. Its only that short because we didnt have to regrow the whole arm. That, and you got here pretty quickly.


    That stumped Matt for a moment. Healing was free for mundane injuries and nonbat-rted injuries, but ten Tier 5 mana stones... He understood the idiot whose neck he brokes pain.


    Paying the man upfront, he checked his AI and found a message from Simeon asking how the delve went.


    Before he left, he turned and asked the healer, How much mana did it take to reattach the arm?


    The man looked up from scrubbing his hands and said, 30,000 mana, give or take. A good bit of that is lost with the fast converting mana stones. So call it 50,000 total. Directed healing is more expensive than healing with a single spell.


    He thanked the man once again and turned towards Simeons ce. Being so close to the mans office, they decided to swing by.


    The man was lounging around and ying a game on therge screen next to his desk. Seeing Matt, he stood and asked, Hey man, howd it go? Good rift, eh?


    I mean, the boss took off my arm. But yeah, lots of essences, Matt motioned to the cut off sleeve. Wish you wouldve said it would be a Tier 5 boss, though.


    Simeon, in the process of shaking his hand, paused. What? Tier 5? The boss should only be at peak Tier 4 with all ten wavespleted.


    Looking at Liz, he red at her abdomen and said, Wait. You have some blood skill. Any way to create new blood?


    Matt froze, and so did Liz. She burst out. What the hell? Yeah, I do. Youre trying to tell me that my [Create Blood] was used by the rift? It should be inert. I cant do anything with the blood but control it.


    The Tier 15 winced and said, Id imagine so. But youd have needed a lot of blood to push it over the edge into Tier 5. Honestly, Im surprised you manage to get it that far. When we push it over, we send in around two hundred gallons of blood.


    Fuck. I thought I was losing blood the whole time, but I figured it was just the frenzy of the fight. It must have been taking my created blood while I was mostly using the monster blood.


    She turned to Matt and said, Im so sorry. I didnt even think of that being a possibility.


    Matt waved her off. He didnt care, and it led to exciting possibilities for their future delves.


    He turned back to Simeon, Just wanted to say thanks for the help getting into the rift. It was definitely worth it. Arm and all.


    An air of cheer returned as Simeon justughed and said, Yeah, the rewards will never be that good again. Dont even expect half that. Mostly, the rift is good for essence. It allows us to get a lot of promising Tier 4s to Tier 5 by the end of the six months.


    After some more small talk, they went to the inspectors to get the chakrams evaluated. On the way, they passed a skill-testing station and dropped Asters reward in.


    Evaluating.


    Evaluating.


    Skill determined.


    Upgraded [Heart Of Power]: Eating the heart of a fallen foe will temporarily empower the user. Upgrade, small chance for the improvement to be permanent.


    Huh. Well, thats oddly appropriate for you and thematic for the ce we got the skill. He looked to Liz, then Aster. Uhh, How does she absorb it? Do they sell bands for animals?


    Lizughed, and plucking the skill from his hand, tossed it to Aster, who ate it like a treat.


    No need. And yeah, feels like the rift got a peg on the little glutton. Odd, as she didnt even eat a single heart beside the boss. With a shrug, she wrote it off. Eh. Rifts are weird. Still crazy to get it like that. And not the base version.


    Is that the normal color of that type of skill? He had thought the red color had meant something, but it felt weird that blood rift had a red skill shard.


    No clue, never seen one.


    They left it at that and went to the single evaluator table. With it currently in use, they waited for the group in front of them to finish. Once they got up and left, Matt and Liz set the chakrams and [Filter] skill down on the table.


    Tetra, Tier 8. Is this all youd like to get evaluated?


    At their nod, she picked up the skill and confirmed it as [Filter].


    The guild would be willing to buy it if you wish.


    They had talked about that and decided not to sell it outright.


    Liz said, Wed rather trade for upgrade materials to upgrade our growth items. Crafting skill for crafting materials.


    Thedy paused before answering, We can currently do that, but materials used in growth items are nevermon. The best the guild can do is the materials up to Tier 6.


    That was the price they discussed before, and so, they agreed to Tetras terms.


    Ok, after this, well take you to the growth table and see what reacts to the rings. Now for the chakrams.


    After testing the weapons, she burst Matts hope. Peak Tier 5 weapons with a lightning affinity and a slight boost to lighting skills. The guild will buy it outright for seven Tier 6 mana stones.


    He had been hoping that they would be another growth item that they could sell, but this was still good.


    Before they left, they asked about the Tier five boss fangs, and the guild bought them for a Tier 5 mana stone.


    For only a Tier 4 rift, they really had made out like bandits.


    After turning over the three items to the guild, they were escorted to a back room full of tables. Each had bits of materials under the ss surface. Every material wasbeled, and Tetra had them run their rings over the ss until they felt a reaction.


    With dozens of tables for the Tier 4 materials alone, they began the dull process of testing the rings against the lines of materials. After two tables worth of materials, Liz finally felt a reaction. Matt came and waved his ring over the material as well, and he too felt a resonance.


    It felt like a ma, but wasnt physical. It was all in the rings magical nature. Looking down, he saw the item was Tier 5 titans tongue.


    It was small, and didnt look anything like a tongue. It was grey. Tetra retrieved a chunk of the strange substance the size of a finger for them. Once Matt and Lizs rings touched it, the material vanished. They could feel the change in the rings through their spirit sense. The rings were already linked, but it felt as if the bond between them grew stronger.


    Going back to the room with the tables, they found the section dedicated to Tier 5 materials.


    Matt spoke as they repeated the process of running their ring hands down the ss. Its kind of amazing how the rift growth items can out Tier us without hurting us. Why cant we make items like that?


    Liz scoffed thenughed, Whoever figures that out will either be the richest person ever or be assassinated.


    Yeah, I guess that would piss all the crafters off.


    It was still amazing to him. Growth items seemed like the perfect items. The only real downside for them was finding the materials needed for their evolution. But with a hall like this, that wasnt even an issue.


    As he ran his hand down the rows of materials, Matt was still experimenting with his freshly reattached left arm. It felt normal, but foreign at the same time. It was like an itch that wouldnt go away. His AI confirmed there was nothing wrong, but it still felt off.


    So, with no other alternative, he continued with the task at hand and tried to ignore it. Hed mention it during the check up tomorrow, but he hoped that there was nothing wrong. He couldnt see anything off with the arm from looking at it. There wasnt even a scar where the flesh had been regrown.


    It had even been cleaned when he wasnt looking. The only indication of the injury was a small area where the hair of his arm was missing. The bare skin left a trail across the top of his arm.


    He panicked for a moment, as he tried to move his fingers, but didnt receive a motor response. He looked at his hand, and felt his heart rate spike as he saw the digits remain still. A split secondter, they moved.


    <em>Ok. Back to work.</em>


    This time he found the material needed. Tier 5 heart of a willow tree. When he was handed the small piece of wood, his ring again absorbed it as soon as contact was made.


    The rift items, now at Tier 6, felt heavier spirituality.


    As they left the guild area, they returned to their rooms. As they walked, Matt pushed 18 mps into the ring. Once the ring was at 6000 mana, he started to feel the ring leak out a small amount of mana per second.


    Wanting to test their new capabilities, he turned to Liz and asked, Want to go test the rings?


    She looked at him quizzically. Are you sure youre up for it? You may have been healed, but you did just suffer a pretty traumatic injury.


    He brushed it off. Naa. Im all good. He wiggled the fingers on his left hand to prove his point. He even shed her a smile for added effect.


    She wasnt impressed, and responded with a t look, Matt, you know what I mean. Dont downy this.


    He dropped the smile and shrugged. Its really not that bad. Alls well that ends well. And this will take my mind off it. It was a lie, and he was pretty sure she saw through it, but she humored him.


    To seal the deal, he added, Nobat, lets just test the rings.


    She sighed and acquiesced.


    When they arrived at an avable training hall, they experimented with the rings expanded capabilities.


    Each swap still only cost 1000 mana, but they were able to swap from the far sides of the room, which was about thirty feet from side to side. They were even able to go from one corner of the room to the other, covering about forty feet.


    The teleporting function was still absurdly expensive, but with the increased capacity of the rings, they were able to move almost two feet in any direction.


    The [Filter] skill shard ended up being worth the trouble. He tried to weasel a light workout out of Liz since they were in the training room, but she just scrunched up her face and walked out without a word.


    Knowing he pushed too far, he looked at his friend and said, Sorry.


    She didnt respond, and he didnt push any further.


    When they arrived at their room, she did something he didnt expect. She ordered a massive feast and got it delivered. In the past, she had ranted about how dumb it was to pay someone to walk with their food when they could just get it themselves, and he agreed.


    She didnt respond to him when he said what he wanted, only speaking to ask Aster what she wanted.


    When their food arrived, she paid and set the multiple bags down on the table, before checking the containers and shoving two at him, saying, Eat.


    He opened his mouth to respond, when a disposable fork was shoved into his mouth.


    Taking the hint that she didnt want to talk, he sat down and ate. She got Asters container open before moving another four containers in front of Matts ce on the coffee table.


    She put on a stupidedy, and they watched in silence. Matt was hungry, and the tters she had ordered for him were meat-heavy, with cups of lemonade that didnt have nearly enough sugar to be good. But he was thirsty too, so he drank it anyway.


    After finishing the second tter, he peeked at the remaining ones in front of him and said, Liz, I cant eat all of this.


    Her face screwed up, and her hand gripped the fork in her hand so tight that it was shaking.


    In a voice that sounded like it was taking everything she had to remain calm, she said, You need to eat. Healing takes from the body.


    Really it wasnt that bad.


    It was the wrong thing to say, as her face went bright red, and she grabbed her ter and Asters. Quickly standing, she went to her room, with Aster following on her heels.


    What? That was all he got out before she mmed the door.


    It really wasnt a big deal. He finished.


    The door flew back open, and Liz screamed at him. It was so loud he flinched back.


    You stupid fucking moron. You almost died. I watched that stupid dragon nearly EAT you. If you hadnt teleported, it WOULD HAVE SWALLOWED YOU.


    He opened his mouth to rebut her. It hadnt eaten him after all, but she ran roughshod over him.


    Shut the fuck up. Not a word. By every ascender. You almost died. Healing takes a lot out of the body. So eat everything and drink everything. Dont...


    She paused and swallowed before the door mmed shut again.


    Matt sat frozen for a solid minute. He felt terrible.


    He knew it was a big deal, but a strong face was usually the way to get people to stop worrying. It had always worked before.


    Standing and going to knock and apologize, he heard sobbing from the other side of the door. Standing with his hand raised, he checked his bond with Aster.


    She tested the bond, and seeing that he was fine, she mmed the connection shut. Just like Liz had done with the door.


    Taking the hint, he sat down and let the movie drown out the muted sobs. He was sure the sobs were too quiet to be heard through the door and over the show, but they rang in his ears.


    With deliberate bites, he finished each te of food and both drinks. His stomach was ufortably full, and each bite tasted like ash, but he finished everything. He was about to throw out the tters, but left them on the central table open. He didnt want Liz to think he hadnt finished everything.


    As hey in the darkness of his room, he mulled over the girls actions.


    <em>No ones ever cried for me before.</em>


    The thought hit him like a truck. He had always kept a strong facade at the orphanage. The other kids had enough baggage and issues. No one had time tofort another.


    Going to sleep to the sound of weeping in the dark halls had been a nightly urrence for years after the rift break.


    Matt cried himself to sleep for weeks before he realized that it had done nothing. The only thing that would change his fate would be getting strong. Strong enough that he could stop rift breaks and crush the monsters that came from them.


    <em>No ones ever cried for me before.</em>


    The repeated thought broke something in him. He had people who cared if he died.


    He instinctively knew Aster did, but Liz was a stranger a few months ago. Someone he could have passed on the street without notice.


    But she wept for him. She ordered him food to help mitigate the healings side effects.


    She wept at the possibility of losing him.


    It was a sobering realization.


    Matt extended his hands in the dark. He couldnt see them, but his minds eye showed the image of a child doing the same.


    Now his hands wererge and calloused. Strong. The hands of a Tier 4.


    <em>Im stronger than my world was. Or at least equally as strong. I killed a Tier 5 boss.</em>


    The thought was surprising. He realized a part of himself still thought of himself as the small kid who had lost everything.


    He had people who cared. Or at least two of them.


    He put himself in Lizs shoes and thought of her or Aster getting grabbed and tossed in the air, ready to be swallowed.


    The thought made him shudder and clench his fist. He wanted to shy away from the thought, but forced himself to think it over.


    It wasnt a pleasant thought, and he pondered who he would let die if he had to make the choice.


    It wasnt an easy one. He cared about both so much. He battled with the decision until the band around his hand shifted.


    That made the choice easy.


    Hed choose Liz then swap with her.


    Just as he <em>had </em>done, Matts subconscious had made the connection earlier today. He was strong, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] made him hard to kill. Hed take his chances of survival over either of his partners.


    <em>And if I dont... Well, Liz would take good care of Aster.</em>


    The thought was surprisinglyforting. He had no doubt the girl would care for the fox in his absence, at least until she could reach Tier 15 and get her human form. The thought of death didnt bother him. It had loomed over him for so long. A specter that had only stayed its hand at the cost of the rest of the city.


    It was still there. He knew it.


    It lurked in the shadows, and the attacks of every opponent. They were old friends, Death and him. She woulde for him eventually, and he had to be strong enough to resist her pull.


    The only way to keep the reaper away was to be strong enough. And today, he had looked down her throat. Today, death had beckoned to him with massive fangs and a pink throat.


    <em>Will I be as lucky next time?</em>


    The only thing that had saved him was the ring on his finger. It was the reason he was alive. He felt vindicated when he thought about the decision to team up with Liz on a whim.


    It was the reason he hadnt had a problem trading [Filter] for the enhancements. A teleport of a single foot had meant the difference between being swallowed and losing an arm. Whatever they lost in the value of the trade was made up for with the fact that Liz might be able to dodge the reapers bite next.


    Even in the dark, Matts eyes hurt. With the trauma of the rift and heavy use of [Mages Retreat], his body was exhausted. His mind refused to calm, and instead ran through everything he could have done differently.


    His AI tried to assist him with battle ns, but he set it to do next weeks homework for TrueMind. This was for him and him alone to ponder. It was cathartic in a way, like poking a sore tooth until the pain faded to nothing.


    With images dancing through his mind of Liz and Asters deaths at the hands of every rift monster he had ever encountered, he drifted off into sleep.

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30


    The following day, Matt woke up to a dark, empty room. Climbing out of bed, he padded into the living room, and saw that his boxes of food were removed from the table. He looked around, seeing that the trash was empty, and that Aster wasn''t in Liz''s room. With a quick check of his ring, he noticed that its counterpart wasn''t in range.


    Deciding to take a shower, he came back out to find Liz had returned by the time he was finished. More importantly she came in with a bag full of breakfast.


    Testing the waters, he smiled and said, "Hey."


    He got a bright smile from the mage, and she responded, "Breakfast is ready. We can start going over how to form your image after we visit the healers."


    Seeing that she wasn''t going to bring upst night, Matt jumped at the opportunity to put it behind them and ignore the whole situation.


    Digging into the food with Aster sitting on the chair next to him was an excellent way to start the morning. He rushed through his meal. Matt was eager to start forming his image. It would dictate the future growth of his concept.


    After breakfast, they made their way to his healing checkup. The healer station only had a single staff member working at the station. Most were probably at the teleporter building, Matt surmised.


    After his arm was slipped into a farrger machine than the small screen usedst time, Matt waited for the beeping to stop. Once it did, the healers poked and prodded him for a few minutes, before casting a general healing spell that refreshed him even more than his morning shower did.


    The ribs were already healed yesterday, but the touch-up made him feel like he had enjoyed a great night''s sleep. A far cry from the night full of tossing and turning he had suffered through.


    Back in their suite, Matt and Liz sat facing each other on the couch with their knees touching. Aster was preupied with watching the world pass from her perch on the windowsill.


    "Ok. You''ve done the hard part and gotten a phrase. What is it?"


    "I am endless."


    Liz nodded, and thought for a moment before suggesting, "Go into the Concepts area in your cores, and check if it''s ''endless'' or ''I am endless''. Thatll make a difference in how you proceed."


    Doing so, Matt tested each phrase. "It''s ''I am endless''."


    "Ok. Now while in that space, go in and start picturing something endless. It doesn''t have to be something real. It can be an idea, like a perpetual motion machine, or one of those twisty river drawings that connect the bottom to the top. But those are just some ideas off the top of my head for endless. For now, think of a spring in the earth pushing out water."


    Not quite agreeing with the idea that a spring was endless, he did as she asked. Liz was the expert of the two after all.


    Mentally delving into his Concept space, he pictured a spring in the ground.


    Liz''s voice almost brought him out, but he remained in the trance, "Ok. Start simple, and focus on only the trickle of water, with small bubbles of watering out. Picture it moving in a small loop."


    Matt followed the instructions, but it was wrong somehow. It was like a puzzle piece that was the wrong shape, color, texture, and taste. Somehow it also felt <em>t</em>. He could shove it into ce and hammer it down, but it wasn''t <em>right</em>.


    Her next words brought him back to the exercise, "Now add the trees and the foliage around it."


    Matt did so. Everything still felt wrong.


    "Ok. the image should feel like a puddle. Wide but shallow, now we add depth. Add the life cycle of the nts and trees. Add the insects and bacteria and algae living in the water."


    Trying to do as she said, the image shattered in his mind.


    It didn''t hurt, but he was ejected out of the space. Opening his eyes, he met Liz''s yellow ones.


    "Image broke and kicked you out?" The question felt more like a statement, so he nodded.


    "Yeah, it also felt wrong. Like, like..." Matt struggled to get the words right. "Like the image was a puzzle piece that didnt fit."


    That, oddly enough, made her look happy. "Perfect! We found a good starting point. The fact it doesn''t ''fit'' right now isn''t a big deal. Right now, we need to work on you building the image. That''s harder than you think. When you can create the spring with rity and it ''feels right, you can start working on finding your ''right'' image."


    He was quickly envisioning all of his free time being consumed by these exercises, so Matt asked, "Is there any way to speed this up?"


    Liz scoffed. "Yeah, sure. You just need to have a friendly Tier 45 plus with their Aspect ascend to the higher realms near you."


    Giving her a t look, he said, " Ha ha. What else is there?"


    This time she just shrugged. "Nothing really, just hard work and time. I''d love to find someone ascending once we get off this rock. It''d help me progress from my current image. It works, but it isn''t quite ''right'',pared to one thats perfect. Technically, anyone about to ascend is supposed to give three months advance warning. That way, people in our situation have time to get to the and acquire stronger, more fitting images."


    "Wait, you werent messing with me? How does it help?"


    "From what I understand, the act of ascending is great for the you do it on." Raising a finger, she said, "First, when they ascend, theres a weakening in thews that govern reality. That weakening lets people form images for Concepts, Intents, and Aspects much easier. That building process you were struggling with would''ve been as easy as breathing."


    Liz raised a second finger. "Second, it lets the Tier up without the possibility of rift breaks, or any of the other problems that stem from dumping too much mana or essence into the cycle at once."


    With a third and final finger raised, she finished, "Finally, theres an increase in children''s talents that are awakened within a day or two of the event."


    The first two seemed reasonable to Matt, but thest seemed unreal.


    "How''s that even possible? That seems to disregard everything about Talents and our spirits that I''ve ever heard. Talents are a unique part of the spirit. They aren''t able to be changed or predicted. They aren''t even gic."


    Liz nodded. "All true. But in the end, it''s proven to have an impact. On average, people awakened right after the ascension are shown to be fifteen to twenty percent stronger. I can''t argue with the numbers. My parents tried to get me one, but no one was ascending."


    She shrugged at thest bit.


    "Doesnt three months seem kinda short notice?"


    "Yeah, the Empire prefers that people give a few year''s notice. That way, neighborings can ship kids in, and infrastructure can be prepared. A few hundred years ago, someone gave a decade warning, and they emptied the neighborings outpletely. Anyone even remotely near the proper age was awakened. I think kids as young as ten years old made the trip. Of course the rich brought their kids over. It was a huge event."


    Matt thought it over. "Why not make people wait longer and do that every time?"


    "I don''t know. I''d imagine that most people just want to help the world that they care about. I can''t think of many people who have given more than six months'' warning. The only disincentive to respecting The Empires three month mandate is their ability to go against an ascenders will. At least regarding the goods they leave behind."


    "Will? Like a death will?"


    "Yeah. You can''t bring anything with you as you ascend. Even if it''s in your body, it gets left behind. So it''s basically death. People make a will, and their belongings are left to whoever or whatever they choose. If they wait the three month period, I think it''s all tax free. But I''m not sure. The recordings I''ve seen of it usually show people giving their wealth to the they own or came from. They use it to push the a bit further ahead, or they have skills bought and distributed to the next few generations."


    Matt thought all that over. He couldn''t imagine something like that. It seemed crazy. The thought of raising Lilly to a higher Tier and helping the kids there was bittersweet. He wasn''t sure if he''d pick his homeworld when he ascended. There were so many mixed feelings there.


    Getting back on topic, he asked, "So that''s out of the question. Anything else? Or even anything to speed it up?"


    "Nope. Not that I know of, at least. Maybe some super rare rift reward or something."


    Done with the distracting thoughts, Matt pushed back into his cores and tried to build on the image. It was tedious, and his AI was of no help, as this process was all in his spirit, not his mind.


    Opening one eye, he looked over to Liz. She was now lying with Aster, both looking out the window. He asked, "Is there no way for my AI to help?"


    He just got a "Nope." in response.


    Matt practiced for two hours. At that point, he was backsliding on his progress, and convinced Liz to go work out with him instead.


    They weren''t gathering essence, and he wanted to do something physical. Working out with a real weight set was better than the bodyweight exercises he did in between delves.


    That night, they went to an actual restaurant. After they had finished eating, Matt brought up the topic he had been mulling over for thest few hours.


    "I think we should return to our regr delving schedule tomorrow."


    He expected an outburst from Liz, but nothing was forting. She just finished wiping her te clean with her bread.


    "I agree. Your skills mean that you never really get injured in the normal rifts, and even with the one week healing, that would put us right back on the extra rift schedule. Do you want to head back right after breakfast tomorrow?"


    He had been hoping to leave tonight but took the offering she presented.


    "Perfect."


    ***


    Standing in the bear rift, Matt felt surprisingly nervous. There was a thrum of fear he hadn''t felt beforeing into a rift, even after the rift challenge.


    With as subtle a movement as he could manage, he wiggled his left arm. It felt ok. He found it strange how nervous he was. There was no reason to be. Instinctually he knew that, but there was something about losing an arm that made the dangers of delving <em>real</em>.


    As he approached the first bear, he activated [Mage''s Retreat] at a twenty five percent boost, and cut through the bear in a single blow. Immediately, all was right in the world.


    Aster walked up to the corpse. A red glow activated around her mouth, and the bear''s chest cracked open. The heart was ripped out with the help of her new skill, [Heart Of Power].


    With two bites, the mass of flesh was down her gullet. Once the heart was consumed, there was a small red aura surrounding the fox. It was only visible to Matt''s spiritual sight.


    With the newfound power from her skill, Aster took off and found another bear.


    She had gotten better at taking down the muchrger bears on her own with experience. By now, she was an expert at crippling their legs and driving spikes of ice through their eyes and into their brains.


    She had developed a much easier strategy than trying to punch through the tough hide of the beasts with her ice. But with [Heart Of Power] active, the small arctic fox easily drove a spike of ice through the bear''s chest.


    It quickly died, and Aster began learning of the limits to her new skill. With hertest victims heart destroyed by a fist sized icicle, there was little to eat, and even less for her to use the skill on. Five minutes after the skill was activated, the aura around the fox disappeared, and the buff was gone.


    "Well that''s a nice skill. Maybe we''ll get another one that I can use."


    Matt looked at Liz, who clearly wanted to copy the fox and get buffed by the hearts of her foes. It did fit well with her blood magebat style. He had to give her that.


    Thinking of the buff stacking on [Mage''s Retreat], he asked, "Any chance that skill removes the need for cooking and cleaning the meat?"


    The armored woman shook her head. "Probably not. She is still eating the monster''s meat after all."


    Cursing the fact he was a normal human and unable to process monster meat, the trio proceeded to kill their way through the rift.


    When they reached the end and finished off the remaining bears in the rift, Matt sat and observed his spirit, with Liz and Aster doing the same. It was nearly full, but the pyramid rift had given him this much essence per wave.


    Liz, clearly thinking the same thing, spoke out loud. "Kinda sucks that the pyramid rift gave us so much more essence total. Damn, some rifts just are better."


    "Yeah."


    There was a silence that stretched out for a moment, before Liz grabbed his nearest hand and squeezed it.


    "Sorry about yesterday. I was worried and took it out on you. I shouldn''t have. Also, sorry I took Aster and went and broke down. Sorry." Thest was a whisper he barely heard.


    Matt had hoped they would just put this behind them, but he wouldn''t let her overture go unanswered.


    "I... I''m sorry too. I was wrong. I shouldn''t have tried to downy the whole thing. I..." He didn''t want this to sound like an excuse, but he felt the need to exin. "In the orphanage, you couldn''t show any weakness at all. You always had to hide anything that bothered you. It would cascade through to anyone who couldnt internalize the shit that life threw at us. Whole waves of kids setting each other off. There wasn''t enough help, and the caretakers were burning out."


    He looked up and squeezed her hand a bit tighter.


    "It was rough, and most of us learned that the best way to move forward was to push our feelings down, and mentally beat down our trauma. It was easier that way."


    After gathering his thoughts for a few heavy heartbeats, he slowly continued.


    "After the tragedy, everyone barely had enough to take care of themselves. Even if you couldn''t, no one else would. No one had your back. But now that''s not true. Now I have you and Aster. I Im not used to that. I guess I need to learn to be more open."


    They were silent for a long while, the three of them sitting down and watching the smoldering ashes of the hut in front of them.


    "Matt?"


    "Yeah?"


    "Would you consider therapy?"


    His initial reaction was to say he didn''t need it. That therapy was for the kids who couldn''t cope on their own. After the initial reaction, he thought it over. The kids who actually got to talk to the therapists were usually better adjusted in the long run.


    More than one kid who bottled everything up had snapped. He didnt want to be another.


    "Yeah. That would probably be for the best."


    Liz dropped her head on his shoulder, and they sat together. The three of them.


    ***


    They had just finished their second ferret rift, when they went back to themon area to talk. They were looking forward to hearing about what had happened over thest few days.


    The attitude was somber. And people weren''t talking and chatting the way they usually did.


    Seeing a group of non-guild delvers they were familiar with, they asked what had happened.


    Suu nearly whispered to them, "Oh, you guys are alive. We thought they might have killed you three."


    <em>The fuck? Killed us?</em>


    Matt was surprised, and was about to ask for more information when Liz leaned in and whispered, "What happened?"


    "The Tier 5''s have taken over quite a few rifts. And now there are more of them. Eleven full teams. Theyve just been delving the best rifts on repeat."


    Suu looked around and whispered, "Two high Tier 4 teams tried to stop them and got their limbs shattered for standing up to them. Be careful."


    Matt leaned back and shot a surprised nce at Liz.


    It was almost as if their conversation had drawn the very people they were talking about, as the delver group they were talking to scattered.


    The man in front stormed up to their table and kicked the stone b over. Matt, who had been resting his elbows on the table, kept his position, and just returned the re from the angry table kicker.


    The apparent leader of this group, a girl in light melee armor, ced a hand on the man''s shoulder, and he calmed down. He was seemingly restrained by her.


    ''Their acting is shit.'' Matt had seen enough bluster recognize this game, and sent the message to Liz.


    She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and sent, ''you know what theyre nning? I figured they were stupid and willing to go against people on The Path. Theyre flirting with banditry.''


    ''Naaaa, let me handle this one.''


    Matt knew this game. He had seen it before at Benny''s and the orphanage. Even the gangs around the area had tried simr tricks.


    Matt grabbed the toppled table and righted it with a hand, noticing a piece had broken off. "Try this shit on other people. We aren''t dumb enough to fall into this trap. And..."


    He was cut off as the woman took her hand off the table kicker, and he exploded, punching and shattering the table.


    Matt wiped the stone fragments off hisp while the man raged.


    "You went into our rift. You owe us the essences. So give it up."


    Matt nodded. "As we all know, that''s impossible. What do you really want?"


    The man smiled. "If you hand over everything you own, well only have you each break one of your own arms."


    Matt continued to nod and looked at Liz, saying out loud, "See, they want to rob us, but won''te out and say it. Especially if side-threats get us to give them our things. That''s not them robbing us. Technically."


    He looked from the awkward man, who continued to rampage about, to the woman behind him.


    Matt smiled and said. "So unless youre willing to throw the first punch on a team on The Path, please fix the table and fuck off. Well, be delving our chosen rifts."


    The duo both got red in the face this time. Matt figured that it was real this time. Not the act they had been ying up.


    The woman spoke up this time. "Listen here, smartass. You either give us your shit or well attack. If you..."


    Matt cut her off. "Please, feel free." He spread his arms and continued, "I won''t activate a single skill. Attack, please. Even if you kill me, you think you''re faster than my AI sending a message?"


    "This is a training world. Were allowed to attack each other, stupid."


    Matt nodded at that. "Yup, Tier 5''s sure are allowed to attack Tier 4''s for a Tier 4 rift."


    He put on a shocked expression. "Oh, wait. No. They arent. That''s why you tried to provoke us into attacking first. We aren''t stupid. I''ve seen this game before. Please fuck off."


    When they didn''t move, he shooed them with his hands. "Shoo, shoo. Be gone. The stupid you two put off is upsetting my stomach."


    His antagonistic words were working, as the woman was now shaking with rage. In aplete turnaround, the man was now trying to pull her away.


    Matt messaged Liz, ''Be ready. Best case is they leave us alone. But if theyre dumb enough to attack, we both send messages and turtle up.''


    ''I wonder whatpensation the guild will give us if they attack?'' She followed up the message with a silly smiling face.


    The man started dragging the woman away while she growled. "Oh, you''ll regret this, you stupid fucks. You took from me, and I''ll get mine back. Just you fucking wait. I''ll..."


    The trio moved to the neighboring table. Matt looked to Liz and said loud enough for the retreating duo to hear, "Why do dumbasses always have to act so entitled and stick their noses in other people''s business?"


    She grinned and prodded them on. "Ahh. Most people aren''t that stupid. But its always the stupid ones making trouble. It''s like a bad trope. But think about it. Most of the people are really nice. Or at least they don''t put their noses in others business. I know I don''t remember every person who leaves me alone, but I sure remember the assholes who are stupid enough to butt into my life."


    The duo was out of range, and Liz said. "Wow. I hadn''t seen that tactic before. It''s so stupid that it works. Its so dumb that it wraps around and almost bes brilliant."


    Mattughed at that, "Nah. Once Suu''s group said they were beating people up after they attacked, I figured it out. Plenty of people try that. Goad someone weaker into attacking, and you have free reign to ''defend yourself."


    Matt thought for a moment and mused, "Theyre probably going to try and follow us into a rift now. Felt weak, though. Neither had strong foundations, and they both had bottled Concepts. I didn''t get a good feeling for what type they had though."


    "Yeah, you''re right about that. No way they''d be dumb enough to attack out in the open, but Ill bet they try ande in at thest minute and just say we never made it out."


    "Pshh. I''m not taking that bet. That''s their best way to avoid me. Just say they didn''t get our instance." He scoffed at her trying to swindle him.


    They sat looking around, and Matt asked, "Well. Honestly, I thought they''d just instantly attack. It would have been better."


    The blood mage just nodded and then asked, "How much loot do you think they have?"


    Bobbing his head, he thought about it. "It depends on whether they went back or not. Even if the goods aren''t technically stolen, I don''t think theyd want to spend time in the city with recently healed people that theyve stolen from. What are the odds they have a hidey-hole?"


    Liz thought it over, but shook her head. "Nah, no way they would hide it. I bet everyone and their mother is watching them, and searching anywhere they go that isn''t a rift. I bet they have all the loot with them."


    Matt grinned. "And besides, after the boss we faced, how can two new Tier 5''s who cant even delve Tier 5 rifts possiblypare? As a matter of fact, theres no way they have much backing in the guild. They wouldve gotten enough skills and weapons to delve the Tier 5 rifts without an issue. All their gear was Tier 4 still."


    He didn''t think he was being cocky. Them attacking in the open would have been ideal, since they could have gotten the guild guards to teleport in and handle everything. They would have been able to get all of the stolen loot without having to lift a finger.


    Now, they were sure to have a fight on their hands in the next couple of days. But Matt was never one to back away from a challenge.


    ***


    The following two days passed by without incident. The trio was especially cautious when going into rifts, waiting twenty minutes from thest team, and watching their entrance portal for another twenty minutes.


    On the third day, when they were in the bear rift, they finally got visitors. As the fifteen minute window was about to close, a trio walked in. The two from before, and a second man. This one was shorter, and had a pair of daggers drawn.


    The woman from before had a rapier, and the table kicking man had a staff.


    With nods, they looked around, and skulled in the direction of the exit.


    Matt and Liz looked at each other. Even with their faces covered, they knew each other well enough not to need words. Aster, in her backpack, already was baring her teeth, but did not make any sound.


    Liz turned to the bear next to her and knelt, so Aster could use [Heart Of Power] on the corpse. Once the fox had eaten the heart, Liz drained the monster of blood.


    They had prepared for this fight, and it would be a bloody one. No one came into a rift like this and had any intentions other than murder.


    Matt took point and approached the group, sword leading the charge. Noticing him, they spun around, and the staff wielding mage in the rear let a bolt of lightning loose. His AI analyzed the skill to be [Spark]. From thecking damage, and the fact that it was drawn to his longsword, he agreed with his AIs conclusion.


    The mage retreated from the new frontline, as Matt was intercepted by the duo of melee fighters.


    The dagger wielder struck out while trying to slip behind Matt. The de skittered off [Cracked Phantom Armor] as he ran past. Matt wasn''t afraid for Liz. If things got bad, she could swap with the rings. There was no reason to hide the rings here, as one party would be killed off.


    The rapier wielder stabbed out with a glowing tip, and Matt deflected the blow with his much heavier weapon. He went on the offensive,shing out with abination of shing and stabbing attacks. [Mages Retreat] gave him the strength to move the heavy longsword nearly as fast as the Tier 5 woman moved her skinny de.


    She retreated, forcing the mage behind her to do the same. After they reset their formation, the mage started sending out [Spark]s every time he had a clear shot. Most of the bolts were pulled to Matt''s de, but the few that hit him directly did little to destabilize [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    <em>They really are weak. Barely stronger than a Tier 4 monster. I don''t even think a Tier 4 boss is this weak.</em>


    Matt felt their weapons. The girl''s was a Tier 4. He was close enough to get an urate sense, and the mages'' staff felt the same.


    The rapier user was too lightly armored to take a hit from his Tier 5 weapon, and her own Tier 4 weapon was unable to pierce Matt''s armor. He tested it by letting the unenhanced edge of the de run along his armor.


    With the girl unwilling to get close enough for a solid attack, Matt patiently waited for her next flitting strike. To bait it out, he feinted at the mage.


    The woman took the bait and lunged at Matt, trying to keep his attention off her teammate. In response, Matt grabbed her de. Whatever skill was causing the tip to glow didn''t affect the edge of the de, and his armored fist mped down around the weak weapon.


    The de slid slightly, but his hands were protected from the cutting edge. The move interrupted the girls fighting pattern long enough for him to sh down with his superior sword.


    She let go of the de and tried to retreat, but she was too slow. The de cut through the woman''s abdomen and dropped her.


    Turning to the lighting mage, he found him already down, with a chest full of icicles.


    ncing back, he found Liz approaching him, with Aster poking over her shoulder. The rush of essence Matt felt from the dagger wielder behind him was shunted into the ground, and he felt Liz and Aster doing the same.


    Using someone else''s essence was less than ideal, as it was no longer as pure as rift monster essence. It was closer to ambient essence, and not of much use to them.


    <em>No point in ruining my foundation for such little gains.</em>


    Matt looked at the mage, as his female teammate died in the dirt as well, the essence once again pushed away.


    Matt looked at him. He was trying to say something. The ice in his chest had punctured his lung, making him unable to get the words out.


    The mage''s mouth moved, and Matt made a guess at what he wanted.


    "Want me to end it?"


    At the man''s nod, he drove his sword into the man''s chest. The third and final rush of essence was shunted into the ground.


    Under his breath, he repeated what he had been taught in one of the yPens lessons. I am not responsible for your actions.


    With a sigh, Matt spoke up louder. "Well, the rift is happy about this one."


    Liz nodded, and silently went to grab the group''s bags. They dumped them out to find nothing remarkable.


    "Ok, I get that they were robbing Tier 4''s, but this is pitiful."


    Liz agreed with his assessment, "Yeah. Only forty three Tier 4 mana stones. No way this is everything. Either they have a stash, or they went back to the city in thest few days."


    Matt didn''t know what to say, so he spoke as the thoughts came to him. "Three dead because they were greedy. I almost feel guilty. They were so weak. But they used what little power they had to steal and lord over others. Huh. I don''t know."


    This was the first time he had taken a human life. It had been so easy.


    Liz agreed, and Matt realized that hisst thoughts had been spoken out loud. "Yeah, they were pretty weak. I wonder why they thought this was a good idea. With their level of power, they had to struggle against even the weakest Tier 5 rift. How did they think attacking two people on The Path would turn out better?"


    Matt had even less of an idea than she did. "I don''t know. Maybe they thought they could get ahead like this? I really don''t know, honestly. Do we report them? Or just let them stay missing?"


    If they reported what the group had done, the guild would have no recourse, as their members had clearly been the aggressors, attacking a group weaker than them. The only reason for telling the guild what had happened was to at least let them know that the group hadn''t gone missing.


    Liz shook her armored head. "I don''t know either. I don''t think we should tell the guild. The only thing it will bring them is shame. And, well... I don''t feel too good about this. We may have provoked them, but that was only after they threatened us. But did they have to push it? We would have left them alone. And they could still be alive now."


    Matt understood, and added his own thoughts. "The part that''s eating at me is that the people out there are probably happy to see them gone. Shit, the groups they beat up and stole from would be ecstatic. Now that i think about it, how did this group even beat anyone? Tier advantage or not."


    Liz came over, and they stood over their attackers, looking at the bodies.


    "What a fucking waste."

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31


    The Trio exited the rift after killing the group of attackers. Matt still felt the sensation of being watched, but he knew that the threat had been eliminated. No one was around the exit. The group went to inspect the area where their attackers had a tent set up, but found nothing of value.


    Even after widening their search over more of the surrounding area, they still could not find any hidden stashes of loot or valuables.


    Well shit. Matt looked at Liz and asked, What are the chances some young master type was using them? They might want to get vengeance for their people.


    Liz shook her head. Probably not. Our luck cant be that bad.


    Matt and Liz were back to their own tent. It waste.


    Matt sat down and sunk deep into himself, searching through his Concept space. He wanted to push his boundaries. Practicing with his Concepts image was slow going, but he was now able to maintain the image of the spring. It seemed to give him a boost in strength and energy.


    It was only a slight boost, as the image was wrong for him. He felt as if he would be able to manifest his Concept now. But with this image, it would be a sloppily made thing. Like y that wasnt the correctposition, or that wasnt fired right. It might hold water, but it would shatter under duress.


    Matt refused to settle on something this half-assed. He and Liz still had time before they needed to hit Tier 5. They were only 17 and 16 respectively. She had even mentioned that she was willing to fall off The Path if he needed the extra time. It was more important to her that he created the best foundation possible.


    That was touching but not how he wanted it to y out, but he was having trouble thinking of anything that was truly endless. The best example he coulde up with was a star, and even they werent truly endless. They just operated on a much longer timescale.


    A star would expand until it swallowed the system it was a part of, and then it would turn into either a ck hole or a white dwarf.


    Then, the white dwarf would burn itself out until it was a heatless ck dwarf. The ck hole wouldst longer, but it would still eventually expend its energy and disappear.


    The ck hole felt like an antithesis to his Concept. Even trying to create that image had knocked him out for an hour.


    An image of the sun felt better, but not perfect. With that particr idea, it was proving to be nearly impossible to create an image of something thatplex.


    Liz told him that he was reaching too far with Sun as a starting point for a Concept. A sun was typically the ending phase for most fire Concept trees. The sun itself was never a Concept. It was mostly an Aspect. The end of a path, not the beginning.


    Matt knew it would be easier to expand on his Concept if he started with something like the spring. He just felt like it was wrong. Hed rather try and reach further, and get stuck at Tier 24. That would always beat not striving for the best version of himself.


    Still, trying to encapste the sun as an image proved to be a brick wall that he could not ovee.


    Endless was a misnomer, and it was creating a contradiction that was tearing him apart. On a long enough scale, nothing was endless. Trying to get an image that represented endless while actually not having an end was difficult.


    The problem was that Matt felt like there was something there. Something that would fit the hole in his cores. It was out there, and no matter what, he would find it.


    His current line of thought was that Tier 15 was endless, but he resonated even less with that image than the spring.


    The other line of thinking for his Concept that he was toying with was one involving fractions and infinitely repeating math equations. But there was just no resonance there at all. Liz said those were valid images, but with theck of results, Matt concluded that he needed something more concrete, something real.


    The deaths of the other ascenders still bothered him. It wasn''t the act of killing them, it was the futility of it all.


    It went against the core of what his Concept was. It was proof positive that he was trying to find something borderline impossible. After all, even his mana would be ended if he died.


    That contradiction nagged at him as he tossed and turned that night. In the end, he fell asleep while doing his mental scans of his skills structure. No reason to waste time.


    Waking up the following day, Matt was sure someone from the guild would be knocking on their tent and arresting them. It didnt happen, but the nagging feeling of being watched was still there.


    Liz asked him after they ate their breakfast of stew, Want to go check out the rifts the group was monopolizing? Could be something interesting.


    Sure, delving the same few rifts over and over gets boring quickly. Though, I think we should wait until after our next pyramid delve.


    The mage pondered it while she shimmied into her armor. Her tent wasrge enough that Matt didnt have to stand outside. He still tried to avoid the unintentional show she was putting on by brushing Aster. The foxnguished in the attention, seeing nothing wrong with being a distraction.


    When they were ready, they left their tent and did their regr two rifts. They were hardly a challenge at this point.


    Matt didnt even need to concentrate while killing the bears. He had done it so many times at this point, he was essentially running on autopilot. His advancement through Tier 4 made [Mages Retreat] more effective with each distribution of the rifts worth of essences.


    shing down on the bear in front of him, the thought of rifts being endless made him take another stab at creating his image.


    He spun up the idea of a rift. They endlessly created monsters, and all they needed was ambient mana or essence to form. Just like that, the image copsed. Matt didnt need anything to make mana. That dissidence shattered any hope of that particr image working. It was a shame; he had liked the idea. The image of an endless rift probably had quite a few unique uses.


    Having killed their way through the rift, they sat and meditated. Matt was pondering his Concept, when he realized that he never asked Liz what her image was.


    Hey.


    The woman didnt react, but he saw a slight twitch of her lip.


    <em>Oh, so thats how you want to y it?</em>


    Matt poked her cheek. Hey.


    Hey.


    Hey.


    Hey.


    Hey.


    Each hey was apanied with a poke. Thest one finally broke her facade. Laughing, she slumped and gave Matt a shove.


    What do you want?


    Whats your image? You said youve had it for years. It must be perfect by now, right?


    Liz stretched out, nearly toppling off her chair.


    My image is a secret! You wont get it with your vile torture! Demon! Evil creature of the chaotic space between worlds! Ill never tell!


    Matt gave her a t look. What trashy romances are you reading now?


    The redheads blush made the hue of her face almost match that of her hair.


    Hey! How do you know about that?


    Liz was looking anywhere but at him.


    You talked about it in your sleep.


    No! Dont lie, theres no way.


    Matt smiled. It was time to turn up the heat. He had her on the edge, now he just had to push her off.


    He started wiggling, and said in his highest pitch. Oh, demon lord. Dont touch me there. Gasp! Ohhh touch me morreeeeee.


    The earlier color that came to her cheeks was nothingpared to the shade of scarlet that her face burned with now.


    Continuing, Matt pressed his advantage. Ohdy demoness Charlotte, dont! Please! The bindings are too tight... Before he could finish, he was shoved off his chair.


    Ha! That fact you know who that is means youve read them as well. You cant make fun of me you hypocrite.


    No, I know them because theyve made like five movies about the Two faces of the Demons. How could I not at least know their names?


    Liz had regained most of herposure, and sat primly. Well, theyre amazing books.


    Theyre trashy books, and theyre only popr because they genderbend the love interest so everyones happy.


    You take that back!


    They bickered back and forth for a few minutes, with Liz protesting the im that the novels were trash. She also disputed that their softcore porn aspects were the only reason that the movies sold well. Matt continued to poke as many holes in her arguments as he could.


    He had, in fact, read the books, but wasnt going to admit that to his partner. At least, not until he could do so without destroying his side of the argument.


    Deciding to call a truce, Liz shifted in her seat to get morefortable, and answered his first question.


    Ive had my Concept from an early age. Its super rare, but not unheard of with people who have family with Concepts. Maybe one in a million will get that lucky, but most dont get any great advantage out of it. My parents and their friends all have and use Concepts. My bloodline yed a huge part in it as well. Phoenixes are well known for rebirth. Its a central part of the bloodline.


    My image was a great fire and a phoenix burning down like an ember. Then, once it winks out, it bursts back to life in a ze. Fire and life rekindled from the ashes of the old. Now, its not as good. The phrase was easy to convert. But the image was harder, and its not as good. The fit is like eighty percent of what the old one was.


    Ok. But what is it?


    Now, its the same thing, but with blood.


    Shouldnt that be just as good?


    No, not even close. The reason the fire worked so well was that it was central to the identity of a phoenix. Blood isnt.


    What are you working on then? Matt was curious now. He thought the rebirth through blood would be pretty good for her image.


    I want kind of the same thing. But more blood-rted. My ideal image, at least what I think would be better, would be regrowing from a single drop of blood. Everythinges from blood. Its how we live, and through that, how we can achieve rebirth.


    Matt thought that over. And you were giving me shit about going for a sun.


    This time the woman didnt blush. Well yeah. Both are pushing the envelope of what a Concept should be. If we both get what we want, well have a hard time at Tier 24. But wed get quite a lot of power from it.


    Fair. What about the opposite of broadening your Concept? Can you keep the idea the same, or narrow it down further?


    Sure you can, but it can be tough to do that. And you miss out on the broadening of powers. It really depends on the person and type of Concept. A longsword Concept just wont work with another weapon type. But something like water is already pretty versatile.


    Look at Duke Waters. Hes told everyone what his Concept, Intent, and Aspects are. The Duke did what you asked. His total phrase is, Drowning in the Shallow Depths. His Concept is water. His Intent is drowning in the depths. And his Aspect is the shallows are enough to drown you.


    Matt thought that over. It seemed ambitious. That only seems possible because he started with something as broad as water.


    At that, Liz nodded, Yup. An advantage of having a physical Concept. Its the same with fire and the other magical elements.


    That gave Matt an idea, So you start with mes or embers, and work up to fire as the Aspect. Or you start at fire and narrow it down. One gets you more power, but what does working up in that example get you?


    Liz shrugged. Not entirely sure, to be honest. If I had to guess, its a whole lot harder to start with fire as a base. You might get more control with fire as an Aspect. But thats just spection.


    After thinking it over, he asked, Isnt Duke Waters worried about sharing his Concept?


    Not from what I can tell. The man gave a lesson himself on Concepts and beyond. Put it out there for free to all Tier 14s and up. Maybe he lied, but I doubt it.


    That got Matt thinking. How strong could one be if they were confident enough to reveal their Concept to everyone? Matt wanted that power. He couldnt imagine a level of strength that could create that kind of fearlessness.


    It felt like a stretch, but Matt tried for endless power, and only heard the burning wood of the bonfire lure popping from the mes.


    Liz must have felt something, because she squeezed his shoulder and said, Well figure things out. Worstes to worst. I beg my parents or an aunt or uncle for help with your image.


    She shifted around a bit, he could tell that something was making her ufortable. I will say that I already contacted one of my aunts. She owes me a favor, and I want to get Aster a bit of phoenix bloodline. Shell be able to bind the dragon bloodline to it, so the benefits of the dragon will be permanent.


    I thought you didnt want to get your familys help? Also, how strong are they?


    The squirming increased, Aunt Helen isnt super strong, but shes really old. Like saw the unification of the Empire old. I was going to y it as if it was an ident we met up with her, but... But, that didnt feel right.


    Matt was surprisingly touched. He knew how much the girl avoided leaning on her family.


    What did you do to earn a favor from someone that old? And what does isn''t super strong mean exactly? Is that Tier 15 or... He let the end taper off, and gave her a raised eyebrow.


    Shes only Tier 24. Shes been stuck there pretty much forever. She has a family Concept, and her son died in a rift eons ago. That broke her husband, who dissipated his own spirit. Shes been unable to form an Intent ever since.


    That hit Matt like a fist in the gut. How bad must it be for someone older than The Empire to be stuck at a Tier and unable to advance? He shuddered at the thought of it.


    <em>Maybe I was a little too cavalier about reaching far as possible earlier.</em>


    Ok, so how did you earn a favor from someone that old? Even if they never delve or advance, they must have everything they could ever need. Was it an, Ill owe you a favor, so you get some protection while on The Path kind of thing?


    Liz justughed, Nope! Shes really bad at poker. Her feathers are a dead tell, and she was out of chips. So when she wanted to keep ying, that was all she had to offer. I was six, I think. Well before I thought about The Path. I dont mind using it to get Aster a little phoenix blood essence. Honestly, you could probably get that with the dragon info alone. Once you send it to my mom, shell get it to Mara, and you could get a lot in return. But that will take a while. Tier 40+s dont view time the same frame as us. A few decades of sleeping isnt crazy.


    That unsettled Matts understanding of the world. Sure, he had seen movies with a high Tier dragon who napped for a few centuries, but Liz was talking about real people.


    What will the phoenix bloodline do for her? He still wasnt entirely sure about that.


    Blood essence. Ites from bloodlines. An older term for it is hearts blood. Its the source of a bloodlines power. Id need to hit Tier 15 to be able to give any away without crippling myself. Phoenix blood essence will let Aster create a regenerating source of the dragon blood essence once theyre bound together. Phoenix bloodlines are all about rebirth and renewal. With it, she can get more out of that dragons blood. It wont peter out by Tier 20.


    That gave Matt ideas. So can we like, collect bloodlines for you two?


    Nope, the body can really only handle one extra. The phoenix bloodline doesnt really count if its bound to either the main blood essence or a secondary one. Most will get a second bloodline and have it shore up a weakness, so if someonees to kill them with a power that counters them, they can stop it. Think of a fire creature getting a water bloodline to control a bit of water in ast-ditch effort to survive.


    That logic seemed sound to him, and he followed it out. You said before that only the main blood essence regenerates. Does that mean that a phoenixs blood essence is super valuable?


    Yeah, but moms a phoenix, and so are a lot of her friends. Dads mostly friends with the water and air monsters. The phoenix poption would get wrung dry if everyone could get some blood essence, but for friends, theres more than enough.


    The gift seemed far more generous as he learned more. He opened his mouth to thank her on the foxs behalf, but Liz punched his shoulder, saying, We are friends, and friends help each other. Besides, She wiggled the hand the ring was on. Its not like were going to be separated from each other.


    Matt looked at the snoozing fox, who had eaten all the hearts from the bears and was currently plopped over with an extended belly.


    They were a team.


    ***


    The pyramid rift seemed more ominous the second time they entered. The empty forest was a different ce when he knew that waves of monsters would appear shortly.


    Reaching the steps of the great structure, Matt viewed each carving of sacrifice with new eyes. This rift had a sick and twisted sense of humor.


    After binding their blood to the bowls once again, they started the rift.


    The feathered raptors were again the first monsters, and with the downtime in between rifts, Matt had his AI analyze the information from the entirety of thest delve of the rift.


    Now, the ghostly images of the AIs predictions allowed him to dance through the onught of monsters. Each movement of his sword resulted in a clean blow. Not every strike was a killing one, but the damage allowed Liz to take blood from the monsters, and set up her own killing station in the far corner.


    They each worked their areas, and Aster waited to use Upgraded [Heart Of Power] to supercharge her attacks. The ice mage was better served by conserving mana until her ice spells packed more punch, so she bided her time. She kept involved in the action by protecting Lizs blind spots from her perch in the backpack.


    Matt settled down. This rift should be much easier without Liz empowering the boss with created blood.


    The rhythm of his falling sword calmed him. Each attack had its purpose and consequence.


    The raptors chaos in numbers was childs y with the help of his AI. They used pretty standard group hunter tactics; a lot of feints and attention-grabbing, so the ones behind could deal a critical blow. Even the extra aggression instilled by the rift did not change the monsters true nature.


    Matt was pretty amazed, his AIs predictive measures were nearly perfect, but Lizsgged behind slightly. He had, of course, shared his AIs findings with his partner, but it didnt seem to help her make any headway with improving her AIsbat analytics.


    Some of it had to do with the absurd amount of mana he could devote to the task, but overall, his AI just seemed to be better at modeling attack patterns. He was grateful to Griff for suggesting that he get a researcher model. He made a note to ask for aparison against a standard model when he went for a check up at the end of this training world.


    Matt finished off a twitching raptor and paused.


    Fuck. Im so dumb.


    That caught Lizs attention, and she shrugged a shoulder at him in question of his statement.


    Im so stupid. I could have my AI show peoples names and such.


    Matt berated himself. He might not have a module for the AI, but how hard would it be to train the AI to note down and disy an ovey when someone said their name? He could probably even ess the public database for people, at least to get their names.


    Sitting down, he started to allocate his essence. As he did so, he held Lizs wristband that held one of her rechargeable mana stones, and dumped 9 MPS into it. He did the same with the one in Asters cor. Liz had two rechargeable stones, so she had given one to the fox, that way both mages could take advantage of Matts mana in between rifts.


    The two humans were embarrassed that it had taken them this long to think of it. With mana no longer being the limiter for how many delves they could do, they intended to try and delve a third or fourth rift each day.


    This ability to delve all the rifts you wanted was a rare opportunity, and not one they wanted to pass up. With the five minutes in between waves, Matt was able to give each girl the 2000 mana necessary for their stones to convert 200 mana to their respective aspects.


    ording to Matts HUD, the girls were nearly back to full mana, and the stones were once again filled to capacity. With the extra 200 mana, they could cast without hesitation, and push their respective maniption skills to the max.


    Unlike standard skills, the maniption family was a mana control burden. The skill itself needed little in the way of expanded capabilities or training, unlike his [Cracked Phantom Armor]. No, they needed to use the skill constantly to get better control of it.


    Liz could use the skill for blood whips and the blender ball, but they were easier for her. The floating and circling streams of blood were much harder on her control, but they had versatility. The golem form she used both burned mana at a prodigious rate and demanded a crushing level of control.


    Asters problem was that her innate skill was [Ice Maniption], not [Create Ice]. Her bloodline let her do thetter, but it was expensive. It was why she favored smaller shards of ice. They could usually be regathered and reforged if they broke. She also could push ice aura out to slow and freeze enemies, but as an area attack, it was much harder to differentiate friends from foe when using it. It also was somewhat wasteful to use so much mana on single monsters.


    Matt wanted to get a cold aura or ice aura skill for himself, to give the fox something to work with. But he wondered if it would be better to get her an [Ice Spear] spell, or something along those lines. It would automate the creation of ice, and theunching of the projectile. No maniption needed. It would greatly increase herbat prowess.


    Liz wanted a [Water Whip] or [Water Bullet] for the same reasons.


    They were just too poor.


    Matt also pondered what skill he wanted after [Endurance], and his current choice was [Demon Zone].


    [Demon Zone]: 5 MPS base cost. A portion of all damage dealt while in the area of effect is reflected back to the damage dealer as physical damage. Percent chance for any damage dealt in the area to affect all upants in the area. No designation of friend or foe. User takes fifty percent damage from all reflected damage. Cannot be recast for two hours. Channeling time does not count towards cooldown.


    It was a rarer Tier 8 skill with some serious drawbacks, but Matt had weighed the pros and cons. Most melee fighters avoided it altogether. Even with a mages mana cultivation, it was only usable for five minutes at Tier 5 and 1500 mana.


    Melee fighters wouldnt have that much mana, and they wouldnt be able to use the skill for half as long. If they could flick the skill on and off, it could be halfway decent, even with the damage reflection. But with the long cooldown, it was a skill that most found unusable at this low a Tier.


    That also didn''t ount for other melee fighters taking full reflect damage. It would kill your teammates as fast as the enemies. The skill was mostly used by melee defensive fighters who rarely attacked and had a lot of mana for whatever reason.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] should be able topletely negate the reduced reflect damage, and it would allow Matt to strike back at his foes with both his attacks and their own. With each swing of his sword, he had a chance to damage everything around him. And with each of their attacks on him, they would slowly be bled down.


    It wasnt a lot of damage, as it was only a Tier 8 skill, but it would help Matt punish anyone that came in too close.


    He really wanted a ranged skill, but anything at Tier 8 had a mana cost higher than one percent of his max. He thought about just using a rechargeable mana stone, filling it, then pulling the mana over to cast a normal [Fireball] or something. But that was slow, and pretty redundant with Liz and Aster already having plenty of ranged attacks.


    <em>Speaking of [Fireball], Id love to get [methrower]. It may be a Tier 14 skill, but it only has a 30 mana initial cost, then its just a mana per second upkeep. I could cast it at the beginning of a rift and keep it active the whole time.</em>


    Matt stood and reactivated his sword. His thoughts and daydreams took up all the time he had to charge the girls mana stones. Hed need to get the first kill so Liz could get her blood going.


    They murdered the inhabitants of the rift until they were at thest wave. Matt was ready. He had been channeling [Mana Charge], and was storing 1000 mana in the des skill. As soon as the statue turned into the boss dragon, he brought the de down on its expanding head. Instantly killing the peak Tier 4 boss.


    He looked to Liz. Well, that worked better than I hoped. Almost anti-climatic, really.


    I wontin. I love this rift. A shit load of essence and a reward per person if we finish all ten waves.


    They opened the rift rewards, Matt and Liz each received a half dozen Tier 4 mana stones, while Aster had a bottle drop on her. The fox scampered away from the object that tried to brain her, yipping her displeasure.


    Liz scooped it up before whistling. Damn, girl. Did you seduce the rift or something? Thats two for two. Maybe this rift likes fluffy things?


    Matt pushed out with his spiritual sense, but didnt find the reward to be very strong.


    What is it?


    Aster sniffed at it, before losing interest and going over to the dead boss, using [Heart Of Power] on therge corpse.


    Its a really nice base for a Tier 4 potion. If you use this to make something, all the ingredients will be used to their fullest extent. So its a perfect potion. Or at least one potions worth. Not enough for an entire batch.


    Matt knew the mage liked to dabble in alchemy, so he asked, If you want it to keep it. Its...


    No. No. As much as Id love to, its better if we sell it. The value is better in a more skilled alchemists hands. I like the science, but Im no expert, and we might be able to get something good in a trade. At the very least, we would get a good price for it. Everyone wants one of these to make a superb potion and have a breakthrough.


    One of the breakthroughs that give essence? How do they even work?


    Yeah, one of those. The theory I heard is that theres a resonance with the world, the item, and the crafter. The three of them being in harmony creates essence, and its perfectly matched to the person. That essence gets bestowed to the person, and Ive heard rumors that it can even fix foundations if they werent perfect.


    Your parents didnt tell you? That surprised Matt. She knew nearly everything else after all.


    Its very rare, and honestly, I never really asked. I only got into alchemy when I was at the yPen.


    Ahh. That makes more sense. I was wondering if my walking encyclopedia needed an update.


    Liz rapped his shin with the butt of her spear in retaliation.


    Come on smartass, lets go sell this.

 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32


    Their remaining time on the training passed without any hups. They delved five rifts a day, made possible by Matt refilling the girls mana pools. The increased rate of delving allowed them to rush through Tier 4. In just five short month''s their spirits were nearly at the peak of what they could handle.


    This being their second tost week on the training, they searched the list of weak Tier 5 rifts, looking for a rift they could counter. After some browsing through reports, they found only one option they were confident in delving. In a poetic turn of events, in Matts opinion, the Tier 5 rift they decided on was a rift full of goblins.


    The rift monsters that he had battled to begin his journey were the same he would be finishing the final steps of Tier 4 against. It was fitting. As they entered the rift, Matt saw the same cave system he was so used to seeing at the yPen. He had pushed through tunnels like these so many times.


    Then he was alone, but here, he had Aster and Liz by his side.


    Pushing the nostalgia away, Matt analyzed his surroundings. This cave system was much more dank than the one he was thinking of. The rock was also much darker, a deep brown that bordered on ck.


    "You sure we''re ready for this?" Matt asked but was only trying to give his partner a way out. He was ready for this, he wanted this.


    Liz''s armored head nodded, "Now''s the time. If we don''t do it now we wont get the chance. We''ve grown a lot from the pyramid rift and its Tier 5 boss."


    He agreed, "If we never push forward we''ll never advance along The Path."


    With a shrug he tacked on, "Nothing is reported to have a Concept. This is one of the weakest Tier 5 rifts on the."


    Liz red, "If you jinxed it I''m going to beat you."


    Matt led the way. Each step was cautious, this was the strongest rift they had delved, and he didnt have much confidence in [Cracked Phantom Armor] s ability to protect him fully. He had it active, but he wasnt relying on it. Thest months of training had gotten the skill to ept 10 MPS. But while that was enough to be invulnerable to Tier 4 rift monsters, Tier 5 monsters would be much stronger than even Tier 4 bosses. The skill would prevent death, but he could easily lose a limb again if he wasnt careful.


    The rift wasnt set up as a straight tunnel like it had been in the Tier 1 version. No, this entrance was in the center of a long tunnel that branched off to each side.


    The exit rift was parallel to the tunnel they appeared in. Matt looked to Liz, and they both shrugged, then looked to Aster. The fox sniffed and turned around, heading behind them.


    Matt quickly stepped back into the lead position, with his sword at the ready. They followed the tunnel for a minute, before they found a small glow around a gentle bend of the tunnel.


    They snuck up and found a group of three goblins huddled around a mushroom fire. The glow of the mes overpowered the luminous lichen growing along the walls.


    Matt analyzed the goblins, and found they wore only simple loincloths. They carried metal shards with cloth wrapped around one end, forming crude daggers. With a nod from Aster and Liz, he rounded the corner at a run, with [Mages Retreat] active at 2 MPS for the twenty five percent boost. That put his near peak Tier 4 strength at lower Tier 5 strength.


    His long strides ate up the ground between the curve that hid them and the alcove the goblins sat in. The first two steps produced no reaction, but as he was halfway there, they jumped up and brandished their daggers. Matt let loose a sweeping arc with his longsword that would kill two of the three, if they didnt dodge.


    They did. The front two jumped over his de. The third dove just out of reach of the tip of his de. Unlike his brethren, who focused on dodging, this goblin struck back with its dagger. The crude weapon was on a trajectory to slice into Matts face and neck.


    Matt met the monster with his off hand, grabbing the monsters fist, and twisting to hip throw it into the near wall. There was a crunching sound from the impact that implied a few broken bones. Matt couldnt finish it off, as the remaining two had gathered themselves, and both sliced out at his lower half.


    They chose their timing well. He would be forced to take a hit from at least one dagger, regardless of any countermeasures he took. Matt stepped right, and let the shard of metal scrape along [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The makeshift dagger sent stress through the skill, but he was able to stabilize its structure quickly.


    The results of thest few months worth of training were starting to show.


    Matt focused on the closest goblin and kicked out. The little monster wascking inparison to otherrger monsters, but it was still Tier 5. While Matt was stronger, the goblin was slippery, and managed to worm its way away from his kick.


    From the corner of his eye, Matt saw a shard of ice sticking out of a goblin staggering along the wall to his side. It was the first goblin that he had thrown into the wall. Aster had finished it off as the goblin tried to attack him from behind.


    The third goblins dagger mmed into his hamstring. It was unable to break his armor, but its second stab struck the back of his knee.


    Knowing the blow to a pressure point would buckle his knee, Matt dropped his longsword and twisted into his fall. He would have strength and weight advantages in a grapple.


    He trusted Liz to keep thest monster engaged, and put his full attention on the goblin beneath him. Its dagger was being driven into his armor over and over. The constant pressure was starting to destabilize the skill faster than he was able to fix its structure.


    With his right hand, he gripped the goblins fist holding the dagger, and yanked its arm up over its head. With his left hand, he drove two heavy punches into the monsters face. The second shattered its skull, and the monster went limp.


    Rolling off the monster, Matt twisted into a crouch and readied his fist. He only saw an empty tunnel.


    Standing, he went and retrieved his sword, and inspected the corpses of the goblins. Their bodies were simr to the ones in the Tier 1 rift, short with thin bones and sinewy muscles. But now, their small stature granted them some formidable agility to go along with the increased essence. Their slim builds used to break easily, like the neck of a bird. But now, they were equal to a normal human in strength.


    It meant little to the Tier 4 humans, but these were still a different breed of goblins than the ones he knew. Even their attack patterns were more refined than those of their weaker brothers.


    He looked to Liz, while Aster used her skill to consume their hearts. Well, this is definitely an improvement from the Tier 1 rift.


    I told you it would be. Now lets push forward and see what else this rift can throw at us.


    Matt patted at his armor, "Their weapons are shit but the metal is strong enough that even with their rtively weak strength they can nearly get through. If they wererger, I''d be in serious trouble."


    The trio advanced and passed a few more nooks without finding any more goblins. It was a long enough lull that Asters buff had faded away, but they continued to follow the tunnel. They ran into another two goblin groups. With the previous experience, their AIs refined their predictions of the monsters attack patterns. Liz and Aster were able to kill the goblins after boxing them in with their ranged attacks.


    Matts role was just to keep the monsters off them, and punish any reckless charges.


    They had just killed the second group of goblins, when a patrol came around the nearest bend. These goblins wererger, at least an inch taller and more muscr. They also were armed with proper swords and spears. The group of five didnt rush them, but instead advanced in a formation. The spear welders were in the back, using the length of their weapons to cover the sword users in the front.


    If Matt was alone, it would have been a pain to cut through the formation, and get to a spot where he could hack and sh to his hearts content.


    Liz sent a whip of blood that knocked up the spears, and Matt used the opening to dash forward and drive his sword into green flesh.


    With Matt in close, Liz used her blood whips to disrupt the goblins footing, and Asterunched glistening shards of ice into the group monsters.


    After a few moments, only silence and blood remained. Matts Tier 5 weapon cut through the unarmored monsters with ease. Once he had broken into the heart of the formation, he had been undodgeable. Each swing of his de ended the life of a monster around him.


    Aster only elected to eat two of the hearts before they moved forward. After a few more bends of the tunnel, another group of shoddily equipped goblins were killed. After the small tussle, Liz spoke up.


    Hey lets pause and cultivate.


    Matt agreed and stood watch.


    When Liz had finished distributing her essence, he sat and did the same. This essence was like honeypared to the water of Tier 4 essence he had cultivated before. When he cultivated, it settled down and slightlypressed his core of essence. It wasnt the same as a truepression, but the extra weight had a simr effect.


    This pseudopression would allow the group to make the most out of their Tier 4 strength. The advantage wouldnt be huge, but it would add up if they were able to do this every Tier.


    Standing up, Matt checked down each tunnel and said to the mages, Lets take this time to top off your mana pools.


    The girls agreed, and he dropped his skills and quickly filled their mana stones. It took him almost seven minutes of charging the stones to fill thempletely.


    They repeated the process four more times to get the mages back to full mana capacity. Then, he filled the stones once more, to ensure they had a reserve of mana ready to be drawn upon.


    Aster sat in hisp during the process, as her mana stone was socketed into her cor. She took the opportunity to distribute her own essence as well. It was more of an automatic process for the beast, but she still needed to spend the time to cultivate.


    The white fox was going for a seventy thirty split, with her mana cultivation getting the lions share of her essence. The ratio would let her take advantage of her main advantage, her ice affinity. The fox was still smallpared to the monsters they faced, and she would never have the mass to fight in melee range. So focusing on her mana capacity and ranged attacks made the most sense.


    With the mages at full mana and their mana stones full, the group advanced down the tunnel again.


    Another squad of goblins on patrol turned a hard corner at the same time they did, and the fight started brutally.


    Mattshed out and knocked two of the spears up, and with a step in, he tried to get to the middle of the formation once again. This time he was rebuffed, as the sword-wielding goblins started hacking at him.


    He was able to retreat, but he had a cut in his side where a blow hadnded before he was able to restabilize [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The goblins sh didnt have much momentum behind it, and the skill hadntpletely failed. It quickly sprang back up, so Matt took minimal damage, but he was forced back. But a wave of ice shards was there to quickly rece him.


    To the surprise of the trio, arge wolf-like monster with an oversized head and torso leapt around the goblins, and snapped glowing teeth at Matt. Unwilling to let the blownd, or allow the monster to get close to his teammates, he pushed his longsword forward with the de in his grip.


    He shoved his sword in between the monsters skill empowered jaws, and they struggled back and forth for a while. The warg was a true Tier 5 monster, with the strength to match, but Matt had the mechanical advantage. He was able to twist his de, using leverage to either force the monster to roll over and expose its belly, or let go.


    It chose to release its mped jaws, and Matt wasted no time in driving his de into the wargs chest. Its thick fur cushioned the blow, and a goblin ran up to try and assist the beast. Matt decided to finish off the stronger opponent, and lunged after the warg with his de. His full weight was behind the tip of his weapon.


    The attack punched through the warg, killing it. But it allowed the goblin to repeatedly shank Matt in the side. This dagger was better made than the hunk of metal that the other goblins used, but the patrol goblin was too weak to punch through his skill.


    If the monster was smarter, it wouldve realized applying constant pressure would allow it to break through Matts armor. He didnt give it the chance, as he was already turning to the goblin, andshing out with his fists.


    The smaller monster tried to retreat, but Liz and Aster had already cleaned up the rest of the squad of goblins. Matt took arge step forward, crushing the monsters foot under his own. The stomp was enough to break the goblins ankle and crumple it, and Matt kept it pinned to the ground with his foot.


    A whip of bloodshed out at the creatures neck and ended its life. Matt retrieved his sword, and turned to see Aster already padding over to where he knew she was headed.


    The arctic fox went over to the warg and used [Heart of Power] on the wolf-like creature. When the heart ripped itself out of the monsters chest, the fox ate it without anything out of the ordinary urring. But unlike the normal buff she got, there was a muchrger reaction with the skill. The fox plopped down on her haunches, then started twisting to look at her nk where her core was.


    Matt used his bond to reach out to her, and felt that there was an extra bit of essence on her physical cultivation side. There was an extra piece of essence attaching to her core. It felt like essence directed to strength, but it integrated seamlessly with her own power.


    It was enough that it should have pushed the fox over the edge into Tier 5, but it seemed to do no such thing.


    It was an additional boost that didnt count as part of her cultivation allotment to reach the next Tier.


    Liz and Matt spoke over each other.


    Im the blood user, that rift should have given me a copy of that skill.


    Thats such bullshit.


    The fox in question seemedpletely unimpressed, while the two humans fumed at the cheating fox.


    <em>She could advance without ever needing to cultivate. Or she could at least be way stronger than normal. Sure, the second effect is rare; its only happened once in the almost four months shes had the skill. But still... Fuck Im jealous.</em>


    Matt smacked his palm with his sword, debating how hard it would be to get a skill like that.


    The fact that the skill was upgraded and not cracked meant that it was possible for anyone to get it, so the higher Tiers might all use something simr. But still, Aster would get a muchrger benefit from having the skill this early. The upgrade orbs only dropped rarely after Tier 25.


    With the cheating fox finished eating her hearts for the buff, they went down the passageway and came to a fork in the tunnel. They didnt need to speak to head in the direction of the rift exit.


    Three patrol groupster, they encountered a group with a shaman. The goblin mage got a skill off that entangled Matt. The skill made it so that he was unable to move faster than a crawl. Matt pushed out with his Concept phrase, and was able to lessen the effect of the skill. It had much less to do with his particr Concept phrase, than Concepts in general making it harder for outside skills to affect your body.


    If the shaman had a Concept of its own, the skill could be empowered, but it didnt push back with one. Thatck of an opposing Concept allowed Matt to hold his own, while Liz and Aster shredded the monsters.


    Whatever skill the enemy mage used was a channeled skill, because as it died, the restrictions on Matts movement stopped. Once released, he was able to help finish off the remaining goblins.


    So thats thest of the standard goblins. Matt puffed out. He was grateful that [Cracked Phantom Armor] didnt restrict his breathing at all like a normal helmet would. Thatst skill was exhausting to move in.


    They had read up about this rift, and they were familiar with the varieties the patrols consisted of. Now, they just needed to make their way through the twisting tunnels. They were never the same, and it made trekking through the rift a pain.


    The worst fight they had was an encounter with two groups of guards. The first group wouldnt have been much trouble on their own, but the second group came down an adjoining tunnel and attacked their rear. Liz and Aster turned to wipe out the new threats, leaving Matt to fend for himself. The only positive was that they had just stopped for the third time to spread their essence and recharge mana.


    Busy with his own melee, Matt caught only glimpses of Liz using her spear and streams of blood. It was all he could do to dodge and kill the goblins near him. He sidestepped a sword sh to catch a spear in the side. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was still destabilized from a preceding blow, and he felt the spear prate. It wasnt deep, as his skill still was able to stop its momentum, and when Matt flinched away, it slipped back out.


    The bleeding was staunched by the skill, but he used the pain racing through his side as fuel to chop down the goblins around him. The pain tranted into adrenaline, and that into speed and power. With wide sweeps of his de, he killed the remaining two goblins, and turned to help his friends. As he arrived at their side, he found them finishing off a warg.


    He checked his HUD, and saw that they each had small wounds. He slung his backpack off his shoulder, and fished out a clotting potion. His side wound wasnt deep enough to interfere with his movements, as long as he got the bleeding to stop.


    Dousing the wound in a few sshes of the potion, he felt a soothing numbing sensation. The bleeding stopped, and the pain lessened.


    <em>Its so weird that I can let a potion through [Cracked Phantom Armor], but it can also stop blood from leaving.</em>


    The fight over, he sshed the left over potion on Lizs wounds and the scratch Aster had on her nk. The de had cut through the weaker joints of Lizs armor.


    Do we pull out now, or keep going to the end? He was torn. They were close to the end, and the rewards would be great if they could kill the boss.


    Liz was looking around and finally said, Lets at least push forward til we can see what the deal is with the boss. Were near the exit.


    They reached the final stretch of the rift and found a central cavern. There were dozens of huts lining the cavern, with heavily armored hobgoblins goblins popting the makeshift vige. One monster was sitting on a massive warg. It felt stronger than the rest, and Matt concluded that it was the boss. The feathered headdress gave his theory some legitimacy.


    Matt sent to Liz, Test it or no?


    She shook her head, Seems risky. We should pull back.


    He agreed, and they started to leave. Matt kept his front to the cavern, but he was stopped in his tracks by a soft fuck from Liz.


    Turning, he saw a patrol had rounded the corner. Matt rushed the group, charging his sword. He wasnt fast enough. The patrol of goblins called out, and Matt knew the group in the camp would be rushing here quickly.


    The patrol was dispatched quickly, but he heard the ttering of feet behind them.


    Turn and burn them!


    Matt took his own advice and turned, running at the approaching group. The heavily armored goblins and hobgoblins were in an unorganized mass, and he saw the warg rider bobbing and weaving between the monsters. When the warg rider jumped over the line of his subordinates, Matt was ready.


    He caught the boss with [Mana Charge], and killed the warg midair. He felt the essence from the kill. The goblin was sent tumbling, but he was sure that Liz and Aster could kill it, if he could hold off the backup.


    Matt had to use every bit of his skill as a swordsman to hold his ground. He used wide sweeping blows that forced the monsters to either take the same hit that killed the warg, or dodge to save their limbs and lives. They didnt know Matt was unable to use the skill again for a while after casting it. That fear kept them from advancing.


    A momentter, A wave of ice and blood washed around him, and gave him the opportunity to push forward and put his sword to work. Large, heavy strikes cut deeply into the goblins armor, and with the runes empowering the skill, he could wreak havoc without worry for his de. The crowned hobgoblin wasnt much of a challenge without its mount, and quickly fell victim to Matts deadly rhythm, along with the rest of the camps denizens.


    When the carnage came to an end a few momentster, he looked to Liz. She was rubbing her armored head. [Blood Maniption] was more taxing the moreplex the maniption and the more sustained thebat. She had been throwing a lot of blood around, and that burnt mana as well as mental energy.


    Well, that was unfortunate. But we did it. Lets get the loot.


    Liz shook her head. That wasnt the boss. It was a mini-boss.


    Matt kicked the corpse next to him. That meant this was either the variation two, with just two mini-bosses, or variation three, with a boss <em>and</em> mini-bosses. Fuck. Lets at least check it out. Hopefully, its three.


    Liz started walking, and she murmured, Cause that worked out <em>soo</em> wellst time?


    They carefully crept up the tunnel and found the small vige empty.


    When they reached the other edge, they found another vige a short tunnel away. Without approaching too closely, it seemed like a mirror to this one.


    He was about to suggest they leave when Liz said, Lets hide in the vige and recharge. If I can rest for an hour or so, Ill be good to go on. And since there are mini-bosses, there might not be a full boss. Lets at least push through a few more. We proved that we can handle the mini boss encounter.


    From their research and what he could tell, Matt figured shed be right. So, they found a nicer shack, and waited for Liz to recover to the point that she could cast without worry. When they had recharged the girls mana and Liz had recovered from her headache, they moved on.


    The next vige was a repeat of the first. This time, they prepared a trap by using the shacks to narrow the hall even further. Making some noise, they attracted the attention of the vige, and fought off the heavily armored foes. The fight was a mirror of the first, the camp attacked en masse, and was funneled to their ughter by the trap set up for them. The warg rider had nowhere to go, and was again finished off without much of a challenge


    After the vige, they found more tunnels, but none left in the direction of the rift exit.


    Do we turn around, or keep wandering the halls? Liz sounded unsure, and Matt didnt know either. Their AIs had mapped the route they had taken thus far, so they didnt have to worry about getting lost, but they had been in the rift for nearly three hours.


    Matt thought it over, but the mini-boss fights werent that hard. The allure of greater rewards was hard to resist.


    Making up his mind, Matt said, Lets at least push on for now.


    Entering the smaller tunnels, they walked without encountering anyone for nearly half an hour, constantly wandering in what felt like circles. Matt had the lead position, and he felt the ground shift slightly, before a spike of woodshed out of the wall and mmed into his side. It didnt have much weight behind the blow, so it simply skittered off his armor and only destabilized his skill. Itcked the power to destroy or even prate it.


    Fuck. Traps?


    Matt brushed his side while Liz took the lead, using a small portion of blood to sweep the floor for more traps. They only found two more in the remainder of the tunnel. Each was a crude and ineffective contraption, but Matt was still d not to be tanking the traps personally.


    At the end of the tunnel, they found another vige, but this one didnt have the heavily armored mix of hobs and standard goblins. This vige only had goblins, and they all had minimal clothing, and daggers that gleamed with the light of active skills.


    Not wanting to make noise, Matt used his AI to send a message to Liz. Want to push this? Looks to be enhanced des, possibly a passive buff or some longsting skill.


    She nodded twice as she read his message, and he received, Yeah, I think we can handle this one. I just need you to keep them off Aster and me. My blood will make quick work of them.


    She led the way, and her blender form started up. The blood started whirling around her, and as it picked up speed, it seemed to grow sharper. A dagger-wielding goblin tried to get close, but while it jumped over one blood whip and ducked another, it was caught by a third and fourth in quick session. The blood shredded through its victim, and the goblins blood added to the whips and des of the sphere that shredded its brethren.


    Matt watched the woman and kept his sword at the ready. Not every goblin was dumb enough to attack her, but most did. The ones that did attack him were a hassle to kill. Aster would have helped, but she was in the ball of blood with Liz, protecting her back if someone got in.


    If Matt entered, it would make the ball muchrger, and the added difficulty would increase the strain that the technique put on Liz.


    As he followed her path of destruction, he was attacked by a goblin. The first blow he parried, and to his horror, he found that the de had scratched his weapon. Quickly he fed the repair rune, and while the rune was doing its work, he finished the goblin off. He followed his AIs prediction of the goblins jump, and cut it in half while it tried to flip away out of his reach.


    By the time he dispatched his assant, Liz had reached the center of the vige, and the majority of the goblins were trying to kill the woman destroying their homes.


    <em>Do they even consider these things homes? Or are they just rage enhanced by the rift?</em>


    Matt had time to ponder the idea, as the goblins didnt bother with the human who wasnt wrecking everything.


    When he saw no more goblins remaining, he messaged Liz, who let the technique drop.


    She turned and looked at him. Did you see the mini-boss?


    Nope. Did you feel it die?


    No. Watch out. Its still around then.


    Matt scanned around, and his AI noticed the anomaly before he did.


    Under the rubble. Matt rushed towards it and tried to intercept, but was toote. Therger goblin was in clothes that seemed to blend in with the surroundings. It sprang out from its hiding ce and somersaulted over Lizs blood. As the dagger swooped down to the mages barely armored neck, Aster sted out a wave of ice shards from her perch in Lizs backpack. The ice was so thick that Mattpletely lost sight of the mini boss. When he arrived, the monster was a perforated, half-frozen mess.


    Liz reached back and scratched the foxs head. Thanks for the save, hun.


    Aster wasnt impressed and just hopped out, using her skill to eat the hearts.


    Liz just picked up the dagger and tested it. Nothing happened, and the now inert dagger lost the glow created by the skill. After looking at it for a few minutes, Liz dropped it.


    Nope, not made for anyone. What a shit show.


    Matt was more interested in his core. Matt could sense that this fight gave him enough essence to fill his physical core. He suspected that Liz was already there, or at least close to it.


    If we hit one more vige, Ill be at the peak of Tier 4. Then its just filling my spirit from there, so I have enough to crunch down when I break through.


    I wouldnt even bother, unless you are about to break through right now. Itll dissipate within a day or two.


    Matt scoffed at her. I know that, but Im hopeful.


    After Aster finished eating the hearts she wanted, they rested once more. The exit of this cavern led directly to where they felt the power of the rift exit.


    Once they were fully recovered, they pushed carefully to the exit. Matt just needed a tiny amount of essence to reach the peak of Tier 4, and Aster only needed slightly more. One more vige would do it.


    Carefully checking for traps, they only found three. They were all close to the vige they had just massacred. Seeing a flickering light, they carefully crept around the shallow corner, and saw arger cavern that held another vige. This one wasnt like the others they had seen. This one had a massive warg the size of a horse, and a hobgoblin in heavy te armor. The duo could be seen over the roofs of the vige.


    Matt actually felt fairly confident. Can you blood golem and fight that thing?


    Lizs armored head tilted one way then the other, before nodding. Probably.


    With that, they headed back to thest vige. Liz controlled a mass of blood and pushed it in front of her as she walked.


    Reaching the new vige, she didnt waste any time as she simply walked into the blood and had the golem form around her. It was a very impressive showing of what a maniption skill could do with practice and familiarity.


    This golem wasnt asrge as the one used to fight standing smander monster they fought the first time. This one was smaller, and just about the same size of the mounted hob.


    They entered at a run, with Liz leading. Matt immediately noticed a group of armored goblins, and split off to stop them from interfering in Lizs fight.


    He knew when their fight started, as he heard a yowl from the warg. He assumed it was from the mages spear being driven into its side. With the weight of all that blood, she would hit like a train.


    Matt and Aster focused on the subordinate goblins, also in heavy armor, and started ughtering them. There seemed to be an unending number of them, as each one they killed was quickly reced. They were finally settling into a groove, when Matt was struck with the same slowing skill from before. All of his movements were reduced to the speed of a crawl.


    Aster immediately understood what happened, and scampered ahead through the legs of the monsters. She snuck up on the goblin mage while Matt was struggling to deflect as many blows as he could. Several got through and left deep slices in his flesh.


    Each line of fire drove him harder, and slowly, he began overpowering the skill. With a sh of white, the debuffing skill suddenly ended, and Matt was free to return the abuse in kind.


    With a roar, he cut his way to Aster, and found a circle of frozen corpses surrounding a panting fox. She was trying to summon for more ice to defend herself, but was clearly exhausted. His HUD shed that the mage was out of mana, and that her reserve mana shard was empty as well. She had used everything she had to kill the mage and its guards.


    She saw Matt, and hopped into the backpack he had taken from Liz before the fight.


    With hate driving every blow, he cut into the monsters. He became lost in the killing, and when he found that there were no goblins left, he hurried over to where Liz was fighting the boss and his mount.


    The massive warg was gushing blood from a deep cut that ran down its nk, from its front legs to its rear ones. With the special effect on the weapon, the flow of blood showed no signs of stopping. Each beat of the monsters heart drained its life a little faster. It seemed to understand its plight, as each bite and swipe of its ws were recklessly offensive.


    With quick steps, he upped [Mages Retreat] to a nearly fifty percent boost. His thrusting sword struck the boss hobgoblin in the side and skittered off its heavy armor.


    He tumbled to the ground with the boss, and felt Aster jumping out of the backpack as they reached the ground.


    The monsters spear shaft was in between them, and the boss was trying to push him off itself with the shaft of wood. Matt shifted around and, when the hob overextended a bit, gripped the spear and twisted.


    The motion sent them rolling, and Matts maneuver knocked the weapon away, putting him on top of the boss.


    He transitioned to a full mount, and started raining fist on the monsters head. With an effort of will, he used the improvement to [Cracked Phantom Armor] he had made with Lizs tutge of skill structure maniption.


    Spikes grew out from his knuckles, each two inches long and made from the skill. They werent as sharp as a de, but they were hard and made good weapons. It had the downside of weakening the protection capabilities of the skill, but with the spikes, he was able to punch through the monsters armored helmet.


    With each blow, more and more blood came from the newly made holes until the helmetpletely dented. The monster became a corpse with a final spasm.


    Heavy breaths hurt him. ording to his AI, three ribs were cracked in the final struggle. The monster hadnded crushing blows to his ribs, the same way he had done to its head. As Matt stood, he saw the head of the wargnd next to him. It had an icicle protruding from its eye, and he noticed that the head was no longer attached to the rest of the wargs body.


    Fuckkk.


    Matt agreed with Lizs statement. That had been a bit of a shit show.


    I dont think we were in danger, really, but it had some scary moments. He tried to lighten the mood. They had just killed a group of Tier 5s while only being Tier 4s. Peak Tier 4s, but the breakthrough to Tier 5 was a huge power boost.


    With Liz trying to retrieve her spear, he walked to grab his own weapon. The de had gone farther than it should have.


    <em>What is this thing, a pencil?</em>


    Grumbling Matt walked over and dispelled the rift reward.


    A veritable waterfall of mana stones appeared. Scooping them up, he counted. It took three handfuls to get the final number. Forty two Tier 5 mana stones.


    Ha! Almost a Tier 6 mana stone from this one rift!


    Liz limped over, with Aster next to her. Together they exited the rift.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33


    After they left the rift, they teleported back to the city and purchased standard heals from the healers. The light from the healing spells washed over them, and all of Matts nicks and bruises disappeared, along with the deeper stab wound in his side. The cracked ribs were slower to heal, but each breath he took during the process was easier than thest.


    They were back to full health, at the cost of a Tier 5 mana stone.


    As they left, Matt turned to the disheveled Liz and asked, Howe you struggled so much with the boss?


    Stupid thing had a mounted Concept. Or maybe it was cavalry. Either way, it was really hard to dismount it. While its ass was nted on that wanna be wolf each attack was stronger, faster, and more precise.


    The records never said he had a Concept though.


    Ugh. I know. New topic please.


    Matt moved the conversation along. You ready to stop delving for the week? The rewards will be mediocre, and were already peak Tier 4. Essence wont do us any good.


    Matt felt at his now full spirit, and once again tried to push the essence into the physical side of his cultivation. It didn''t budge. He was at the absolute peak for his current Tier. There was just no room left.


    Liz simply shrugged in response, not saying anything else. They had already talked about it, but he wanted to make sure that she was alright with it. They walked to a hotel in rtive quiet, and booked a room for the final remaining week on the training world.


    They got a suite that mirrored their old one. It was another fully furnished room, as neither wanted to spend more time in their sleeping bags than necessary. It wasn''t that much more for the extra amenities, and thefort of a real bed couldnt be overstated.


    After a shower, they ambled down to a nearby restaurant and had a veritable feast. They were busy tearing into their food, when Liz finally spoke up.


    Ugh. She leaned back and stretched, twitching at the apex. Im so ready to take a break from delving for a bit. Five delves a day really wears a girl down.


    Matt sipped at his drink. Yeah, it was tough on me too. And I don''t even run out of mana. I wanna pass out for the next week.


    Aster seemed content to sit in her booster chair and scarf down the half dozen roasted rabbits she had wanted. Matt decided to try the dish when they came back. It smelled delicious.


    <em>Though maybe I wont get six of them.</em>


    Any real ns for what we should do or where we should go when we leave? Were pretty much stuck until Iplete my image.


    Liz was lost in thought, just running her finger around the rim of her mug, and eventually shook her head. It was a long momentter that she yawned and said, No idea. Right now, I need to sleep before I can think.


    The trio made their way to their suite. Matt was surprised to see Liz grab a nket and turn therge screen on, instead of going to sleep like she had said during dinner. He decided to join her. The show she put on would help to clear his mind before they went to sleep.


    Moments after Aster sprawled over their legs, Matt fell asleep.


    ***


    Waking up, Matt found Liz slumped into him, and felt a crick in his back from bending the wrong way. He checked the time. He had been asleep for five hours.


    Using his AI, he turned the screen off, and carried the mage to her bed. Going to his own room, he asked a sleepy Aster where she wanted to sleep. She looked from him to Lizs room, before pattering after him.


    They went back to sleep, and it was noon before they finally returned to the world of the living.


    Peering out into the dark city, Matt was happy they would be going back to a with Empire standard time. He was tired of the sun not being where it should be during the day. It was afternoon ording to his body, but the sun had just set a few hours ago. The longer than twenty-four-hour days were something he didnt care for.


    Matt found Liz sitting at the small table in themon room, with a mug of something steaming.


    Morning.


    All he got in response to his greeting was a grunt. They went and got breakfast, and this time, Matt was aware enough to notice that the city was packed. More teams were returning, having either reached the end of their Tier, or simply not wanting to push during the final stretch.


    At this point, the rift rewards were abysmal with the essence having been rapidly drained over thest few months. It made Matt wonder about the rewards they could have gotten if they hadnt delved the Tier 5 rift while it was running on fumes. He pushed the what ifs out of his mind. They only could do it when they were able, not when they wanted.


    Staring out the window of the restaurant, Matt watched as group after group passed by. They were like schools of fish, weaving and merging before they reached their destination, or took a turn to leave the pod they were moving with.


    The odd patrol of guards were like monsters in the water. Each patrol was clearly visible, as they had a ring of clear space. No one wanted to be near the arbiters of justice if they could avoid it.


    His idle musings were interrupted by the servering over to ask if they needed anything else. It was the third time. Matt took the hint, and broke Liz from her own daydreams. There was a line waiting.


    Checking his AI, he said, Sorry Diana, well get out of your hair.


    Finally able to use his new AI feature, Matt walked out with a peep in his step, pleased at himself. It had taken a few days to work the bugs out, but he had finally gotten it to work at the little encampment. Now, he was able to get peoples names in nearly real-time.


    It was worse than the prebuilt module that Liz had purchased with her AI, but it was good enough in the interim.


    They returned to their suite, and Mattzed with Liz on the couch. You know, its a good thing I didnt break into Tier 5.


    Huh?


    If I broke into Tier 5, Id owe TrueMind a scan of my AI on the back end. So its kinda nice not to have that worry. Ill just get to them when we leave this rock... Where should we go? We have time to burn before we need to hit Tier 5, and were only waiting on me.


    Liz yawned, saying, Eh, we can just find a cheap ce and take a vacation for a bit. We deserve the break. Aster and I are ready to break through at any time, but its better to do it all at the same time, I think.


    She stretched and then curled up, murmuring, Wouldnt feel right if we didnt do it together.


    That works for me. Anywhere you want to see? We could take the time to do a bit of sightseeing.


    Matt was intrigued at the idea of a vacation. He had never left his city before joining The Path, and could only imagine the views that the thousands of worlds in The Empire had to offer.


    He didnt get a response, and saw that Liz was nodding off. Her head was sinking down lower and lower before jerking back up. He got up and pulled one of her feet, getting her toy down, and draped the nket over her. He decided to let the girl take the nap she clearly needed.


    He decided to head to the gym. It had been months of just breaking a sweat when exercising. Not actually pushing himself.


    Each movement of the weights was smooth, the burn of muscles familiar andforting. It was quite nice to see that he could get off his usual number of reps with more weight than before. He was still growing, and the umted essence in his physical cultivation had increased his strength even more. Each rep, he watched the weights defy gravity, and he slowly slipped into the mindlessness of his exercises.


    He was watching his triceps flex in the wall-length mirror to check his form, when an explosion rocked the building.


    Matt and everyone else started running. Most of the people around him were able to stay calm in the face of the unexpected incident. Some he saw were cowering in fear, with looks of panic across their faces.


    <em>Civilians.</em>


    Matt didnt know what to think about them. He spent most of his time with people who delved rifts and fought monsters for a living. Pushing the nobatants out of his mind, he ran to Liz and Aster. They were still in the suite.


    When he reached the street the hotel was on, he was stopped by a mass of people staring into the sky. The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to move through them. Frustrated, he gave up his attempts at pushing through, and tried to follow their gaze. Then, he saw what was drawing their attention.


    The Tier 25s were fighting. Each blow was sendingpressed waves of air smashing into the barrier. It was shaking and going opaque with each blow it absorbed.


    Matt saw a figure in ck, with circles of light glowing around each foot, dodging the woman suspended in the air on a leaf. They chased each other around through the skies, unleashing devastating blows at one another. The man, Driver, as Matts AI helpfully supplied, was shooting off dozens of sts of what looked like pure mana.


    The woman was wielding a greatsword that was as long as Matt was tall. Each swing sent crescents of ming energy that burned so hot, Matt could hear the air sizzle during their passage.


    They moved out of view, and Matt started shoving his way through the crowd again. Their room was higher up, and the girls were facing the action.


    Several concussive stster, Matt finally reached the hotel and sprinted up the steps. Using [Mages Retreat], he quickly advanced through the stairwell and reached the suite.


    As he ascended the stairs, he had his AI pull up as much information as he could on the Republican Tier 25. He found nothing, not even her name. Cursing the information ckout, he finished his climb.


    Bursting in, he saw Liz with her face pressed against the window. His entrance got her attention. She looked at him and immediately threw him his backpack.


    To the roof, before everyone else thinks of the same.


    They reached the stairway to the roof, only to find the emergency door already open, and half a dozen groups already watching from the vantage point. Aster hopped onto his shoulder to get a better view and avoid getting trampled.


    As they settled into a good spot, Matt found the fighting Tier 25s. They had flown higher, and were moving faster than before, unleashing evenrger sts of magic. Each blow from the woman covered the sky with fire so bright, Matt had to get his sunsses out. On the other hand, Driver was unleashing an even more impressive array of mana bolts at the woman. Each bolt made craters in the surroundings, sending up showers of rock when theynded.


    The woman seemed to be faster with her flying leaf, but Driver seemed to be more nimble with the two flying items on his ankles. With her speed, it was only a matter of time before she caught up to Driver. While he continuously dodged the physical swing of her greatsword, he was unable to dodge the sts of fire that followed her strikes.


    Matt half expected to see a crispy guilder fall from the sky. The gasps from the groups around him lent credence to that belief. Instead, they watched as the guilder appeared out of a pir of me, covered in a sphere of mana.


    The protective shield expanded rapidly, and caught the now charging woman in the face, knocking her back. The sphere of energy expanded and pushed her further back, growing thinner and weaker as it increased in size.


    Thetest exchange only seemed to piss the fighting pair off even more, and they reengaged with renewed vigor, They flew higher, and unleashed even more power. They were quickly bing specks in the sky. The only reliable indications of their positions were the now-massive attacks they let loose at one another.


    Someone came up, shoving everyone out of their way. They had a massive screen, and propped it up on the far wall, before they hopped on top of the maintenance shed. With a few more shoves, they cleared the roof off and produced a telescope. With a flicker, they brought the fight back into view with the contraption.


    It took a moment for the image to stabilize, and a few more for it to lock onto the Tier 25s. But thanks to the mans rude but generous methods, the crowd on the roof could once again see the fight.


    The womans body was now either entirely made of me orpletely epassed by it. Either way, she glowed with intense orange light, and sent out waves of burning mana at her opponent. She was like a new star in the night sky.


    Matt felt each pump of his heart and, like everyone else, was recording each moment with his AI.


    Driver had a staff in hand now, and it was starting to glow with a light tinged purple. The womans mes started to get darker in response. At first, Matt thought she was weakening, but he saw that the mes were actually turning ck.


    The woman exploded in a sphere of me, like Driver had done earlier. He summoned his protective ball, andunched forward into the mes at breakneck speed. There was a shockwave that they all saw before they could hear it.


    As it hit the citys shielding, the shockwave shattered windows and forced the wards to glow brilliantly with the strain. The aftermath of the sh cut off the reception of the fight stream for a few brief moments.


    When they could see again, they saw Driver summoning a wall of silver light that flew outwards and battered his charging opponent with a wave of his staff. She shattered the wall of light with a swing of her sword, but the distraction allowed Driver to nk her, and he unleashed a barrage of [Mana Bolts]. The sheer number of projectiles that the Tier 25 produced didnt seem possible.


    Matt was only able to see them because they were so numerous, they moved at blinding speeds. The woman didnt seem phased by the bolts, and let them m into her. She simply charged through them to reach her opponent, refusing to deviate from her aggressive fighting style. The bolts of mana didnt detonate like Matt expected, but instead stuck to the woman while increasing in brightness.


    Matt saw the woman hunch over, seemingly screaming in either pain or effort, while the dark mes surged to life. They consumed the woman, along with the bolts attached to her. The ball of ck me expanded in a puff, almost as if containing an explosion from the inside. But when the woman reappeared, she seemedpletely unharmed. The disappointment on Drivers face was obvious.


    He tried to retreat, but the womans flying leaf was faster, and she quickly caught up to him. The tip of her massive sword glowed with a brightness that made even the screen hard to look at. The picture tried to adjust to the brightness, but the device just couldnt keep up with the intensity of the light. It was so bright, the sky was as if it was high noon.


    The guilders staff was glowing with a simr power. This time, with a blue so bright that it began to fade into white. The opposing blowsnded in a sh of light, sound, and vibrations that seemed to shake the very. When the sessive shockwaves ended, Matt saw the duo blown what seemed like miles away from each other. They were both still in one piece, but were enveloped in familiar looking armor.


    He didnt need his AI to tell him, they each had [Phantom Armor] active They both had used the skill to tank the others blows, while trying to end the fight with a massive finisher.


    It was interesting to see their versions of the armor. Drivers [Phantom Armor] was sleeker than Matts, more like an armored robe than Matts full te. The Republicans [Phantom Armor] was even bulkier than Matts. Her armor looked to be made from thick tes of ovepping opaque metal.


    Both skills faded before Matt could get a better look.


    <em>I need to look up why [Phantom Armor] looks different for them. Is there something about the skill I dont know? Can I get the skill to be better at different things if I change the appearance?</em>


    Now, both Tier 25s summoned physical armor. The Republican was draped in sleek armor that had lines of me running up and down the seams.


    Driver had a glowing robe that looked quite simr to his [Phantom Armor]. There were obvious runes etched across the back and sleeves, giving off light of various colors. Matt was sure they would have multiple effects, mostly defensive.


    They reengaged, with Driver trying to keep his distance while peppering the woman with the sticky bomb [Mana Bolts]. Every once in a while, he shot out a muchrger [Mana Spear]. Each st missed, but they mmed into the ground hard enough to shake the building that the trio was observing from.


    <em>This is real power. And people get even stronger than this.</em>


    Matts mind wandered as the telescope lost the fighting titans, and adjusted to find the fight again.


    <em>Ive never seen anything like this. Its nothing like the battles that movies show. This is real.</em>


    The fight was primal in a way. Each of the Tier 25s were only throwing out a few skills, but they were eons stronger than what a Tier 4 could do with the same skill.


    If a Tier 4 used [Mana Bolt] and hit the ground, it would create a crater a foot wide at maximum. Drivers [Mana Bolts] were leaving craters dozens of feet wide. His [Mana Spear] was leaving veritable tunnels in the ground, with its stronger prative power.


    Matt also realized that the Tier 25s mostly relied on the same few skills, but used them in various ways. His AI wasnt able to name most of the spells that the woman was using, but there seemed to be only three mainbat skills. He suspected that one was [me sh], another was her me armor, and the third was the attack that charged the tip of her de with power.


    Driver used his [Mana Bolts] and [Mana Spear] mostly, along with that spherical shield that doubled as a knockback.


    <em>Is the secret to higher Tierbat just mastering a few skills?</em>


    Matt was sure that they didnt only use those few skills, as each had shown that they could do more. Still, they seemed to really rely on those select few.


    <em>Maybe theyve made those skills hyper-efficient?</em>


    The idea had merit, but he made a note to look up the informationter. The fight was still raging on, and he didnt want to miss it.


    The two titans pushed each other away in an exchange of blows that sent a ripple of air out around them. The citys shielding stopped most of the shockwave this time.


    Thebatants kept their distance from one another, and seemed to shout at each other with the way their armored forms gestured back and forth.


    Then, the woman moved her massive greatsword behind her, parallel to the ground. The tip started glowing like a miniature sun.


    Drivers staff started to mirror the action, glowing with the blue of unaspected mana.


    The screen whited out, and Matt looked up like the others around him. This was something to see with ones own eyes.


    There were now two new suns burning the sky, one a pale blue, the other intense orange. Waves of heat and energy surged outwards from eachbatant. Matt was unable to see the humans wielding massive amounts of destructive power, but he watched as the twin suns rapidly closed the gap between each other.


    When the blue and orange orbs collided, the world went silent for a moment. The entire seemed enveloped in intense white light. Then, the shock wave hit. The citys shielding went opaque as it tried to stay active through the unfathomable amounts of damage it was absorbing. As the newborn sun faded away, the ground shook.


    The quakessted so long, Matt was afraid that the titans had triggered an actual earthquake.


    The shielding started leaking more and more light, until Matt was sure the Tier 25s final strike would kill all of the weaker cultivators in the cities.


    <em>They were miles away from us, and theyre nearly destroying the city. What would it be like to take the hits that they are? How do they even survive that kind of power?</em>


    Liz stumbled into Matt, and the two of them tried to keep their feet against the wild shaking of the building.


    Liz cursed. These fucking idiots. What could have made them fight so hard?


    Matt didnt have an answer, but the shaking soon stopped. He looked around, and saw that most of the surrounding buildings had their windows blown out. A few were even leaning precariously, ready to copse at any second.


    The battle between forces of nature ended with the duo seemingly unharmed. They separated, and returned to their respective cities.


    Driver flew down, and now that he was closer, it was apparent that the man was singed from head to toe. At least his clothes were. His skin looked fine for the most part, despite the numerous times he had been bathed in the Republicans fire. At some point, he had removed his armor, and was only wearing the robes he had started the fight with.


    The Tier 25 hovered in the air, and said in a voice so loud, Matt was sure the people inside buildings could hear him,The Republic has gone too far.


    The promation rumbled in Matts chest.


    There were murmurs of chatter from the packed crowd on the roof, but the Tier 25 spoke over everyone.


    Tomorrow, we fight.


    More murmuring. The crowds may have been wowed by the fight, but most werent enthusiastic about the prospect of a war being started.


    All guild members will be expected to fight.


    The murmuring turned to cries of exasperation from those in guild colors.


    Driver spoke up and silenced everyone. It was like they were being pressed down by the very mountains themselves. The fight will be open to anyone. Those who participate and do well shall receive a Tier 8 skill from my personal collection. The guild will protect everyones life, and performance will be judged by the AIs. We must show our strength.


    The guilder floating in the air clenched his fist, and growled out, We cannot let them trample The Empire like this!


    That was suspiciously vague. So much so, that Matt didnt quite feelfortable with the idea. He could sense bullshit when he was presented with it.


    <em>Skill shards...</em>


    <em>Skill shards...</em>


    His mind repeatedly whispered about the potentially significant boost in power if he participated. He was positive that he could put on a good showing with his peak Tier 4 power and half a Concept. It would be hard <em>not</em> to do well enough to get a skill.


    Matt looked through his AI, and found that the LocalNet now had an information dossier, as well as a signup roster for the battle.


    He checked the rewards registry, and saw hundreds of Tier 8 skills. There were a number of useful skills for all three of them.


    Matt looked at Liz, and they silentlymunicated. They had enough shared experiences, they didn''t need to speak out loud.


    He signed them up for the battle.


    Opportunity came with danger after all. That was the most fundamental rule of delvers.


    The masses turned, and started heading down the stairs. Matts team followed, returning to their suite, only to find the windows shattered. They shut their door, and sat together on the couch.


    What do you think set them off? Matt asked, but didnt think Liz would know either.


    No clue, but they each went all out at the end there. This is trouble.


    Matt chewed on her words, and asked about the worst-case scenario. This wont start a true war will it?


    Liz looked up, as if she was still watching the sh between Tier 25s. No, I dont think so. True wars are hard to start, and even harder to end. At worst, this is a battle to decide on a treasure or something. I cant think of anything that would set the two Tier 25s off like this. Drivers spending a fortune to pay for the skills he promised.


    Matt interjected, A Tier 25 should have a ton of Tier 8 skills. Itd be like pocket change to him.


    Sure, but he could sell that to his guild and strengthen them, or sell them on the open market. Most dont keep that many skill shards on them. This smells fishy as hell. Liz pursed her lips, and started fiddling with her braided hair.


    Aster felt left out, and yipped at the two.


    Matt idly reached down and scratched the little fox. There were risks involved, but the skill shards... If they could get three new skills, it would be a huge step up in their power.


    He caught Lizs eyes and asked, Fishy enough that we shouldnt do it?


    Liz pressed her hands together tightly and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she replied, No. Not that bad. It should be safe enough for us. Whatever game Drivers ying, it shouldnt affect us.


    They went their separate ways after that. Matt wanted to sit and think about what he had seen.


    The fight between the Tier 25s gave him insights into his own style ofbat. They might not be endless, but they had <em>power</em>.


    That was something he wanted. No, something he <em>needed</em>.


    Matt pushed into the area in his spirit that his Concept would reside. With a thought, he created the image of the bubbling spring, water rising to the ground with burbles.


    With a thought, he erased that image. It was too small. It was the correct shape, and fit the hole in his core, but it would be like building on top of a single brick, not a foundation.


    With effort, Matt built the image of a sun, hot and burning. He started with a dull red, the coldest of stars. The image was like an egg, thin and weakpared to the brick that was the image of the spring.


    He changed the image to one of an orange star, hotter. The image felt better, but was even thinner, and harder to create.


    Matt worked his way up to a white star, second hottest. This image was like cloth, stretched so thin that it was see through.


    Finally, with a mental effort, Matt changed the stars color to blue, the hottest star. This image burned with energy. In nature, they burned themselves out quickly, and had short life spanspared to the other celestial bodies. But Matt felt that he could change the image enough to make it work.


    This image, even while so poorly formed, had more power than the rest of the imagesbined. It burned bright with power. This was truly a base that he could use to build a power that would shock the world.


    Matt could see it now. Each of his blows would burn away all the opposition. The Republican Tier 25 was a convincing picture of what that power could look like.


    <em>Itd be a shame to be fire, with Aster being ice. But this has been the strongest image thats resonated with me so far. I get the feeling that most of the effect would be internal anyway. Some type of inner fire. More metaphoric than literal.</em>


    Matt spent the next few hours building the image of the Concept in his mind. He started by firming the red sun, and would build each new star from the experience gained from building thest.


    He was drained from the mental exercises, and got up to walk around. He noticed that Liz had sat next to him at some point while he was lost in his training. She seemed to be working on her own image. He decided to leave her to it, and left to walk around the city.


    As he wandered, he used the mana control ball that Eric had given him so long ago at Bennys. It twirled around his hand and swirled between his fingers in aplicated pattern.


    Continuing his aimless wandering, he started to overhear conversations about the fight. He lingered around to hear a few of the interesting ones, but none of them pertained to anything he and Liz hadnt already thought of.


    One conversation caught his attention. I heard that Driver and the Republic leader both found something at the same time. Thats why they started the fight.


    The man who said it had a weasley look about him, and the woman he was talking to voiced exactly what Matt was thinking.


    What do you know? Where did you hear that? It sounds more like spection rather than any kind of fact.


    The man responded, No, really. My brother is in the guilds guard force. He knows things.


    Matt listened a bit more, but the man seemed to be trying to impress the girl, rather than provide useful information. After a few more moments, he moved on.


    The best, and what he figured was the most urate reasoning, was that they simply had pissed each other off. When they couldnt beat each other, they decided to use their juniors to do battle in their stead.


    It wasnt a great answer, but why else would Tier 25s fight on a Tier 5?


    Returning to their room, he found that Liz had already returned. They both tried to get a good nights sleep, but the anticipation for tomorrows fight was building.


    From their room, they could see that the area next to the artificialke was being fitted withrge towers, forming arge perimeter. There were tents filling in the spaces in the sides, with guild standards being set up.


    Both sides were not sparing anything to get a battlefield set up.


    <em>How many people are going to fight? Thats a two-by-one-mile rectangle. If thats full, thats a lot of people fighting.</em>


    Watching the structures go up, Matt tried to n a strategy for the uing fight.


    Risk may be paired with danger but he could mitigate that substantially with proper nning.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34


    The next morning, there was a sense of anticipation that boiled in the air. Everyone felt it. People constantly snapped at each other for the slightest affront, and every shoving match that broke out threatened to turn violent.


    The waiting area for those chosen to fight was directly behind the battle area. It was dead silent. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was tense. It put Matt''s hackles up, and Aster felt the same. He wasn''t sure if they were influencing each other, or if they were both just reacting to their surroundings.


    Matt stood alongside Liz, with Aster at their feet. Being peak Tier 4''s, they were near the dividing lines of the Tier 4s and Tier 5s. The Tier 4''s would be able to attack up to the Tier 5''s, but the reverse was not true. These battles still needed to respect the rules of war.


    He and Liz had discussed the possibility of attacking up a Tier, but decided to make the decision in the moment. As peak Tier 4''s, fighting up a Tier would earn them far more participation points than just fighting in their own Tier.


    As the time ticked down to the official start of the battle, Matt looked around again. The towers set up had dozens of sentinels. Each was using a piece of flying equipment. None had even a quarter of the speed that the Tier 25''s had shown, but the variety of the equipment was fairly shocking. Matt had mostly only seen flying swords and ankle variants in the movies and shows.


    Here, he saw everything from brooms to clouds. He even saw one person flying on what looked like miniature birds. As the time to the start of the melee approached, the gatheredbatants started fanning out over the battlefield.


    There were about three thousand people on each side. Eight hundred of which were Tier 4''s.


    Matt hade up with a few ideas. He stayed upter than he probably should havest night, but he and Liz had crunched every number and variable that they could. She even pushed her AI to the point that her mana regeneration couldn''t keep up, and he had to refill her mana stone.


    It was frankly embarrassing that they hadnt thought of some of the ideas they came up with earlier. Still, they took sce in saving their best battle strategies for the highest stakes situation. They weren''t perfect, but they would help them when it mattered.


    Matt''s heart beat smoothly as he watched the Republicans on the far side. They were an armored mass that would charge in and try to decimate their opposition. Decimate him.


    He used the remaining minutes to try and have his AI scan anything and everything that would give someone''sbat style away. Only the melee fighters and rangers were obvious. Lots of information could be gleaned from a nce at their weapons and gear. Mages were harder. They weren''t hard to pick out of the crowd, but there was no way to see what magical affinity or mana element they specialized in.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] kept the cold at bay, but Matt felt the wind gently sway him on his feet. They were near theke the twin cities had created, but they were outside the reach of the Empire citys heating wards. They were used to keep their side of theke melted. Here, it was bitterly cold, and the damp air only added to the chill.


    Or so Liz was muttering about. He felt nothing with his armor.


    Watching the counter tick down, he rechecked that they were wearing their Empire armbands. The purple and silver colors announced their affiliation in this fight. It wouldn''t be pretty if they got mistaken for enemies during the first engagement. That was when things would be the most hectic.


    There was no grand speech or deration, just a countdown. Matt watched it tick its final moments in the corner of his HUD.


    10.


    9.


    8.


    Each tick of the disy felt like an eternity. The time distortion felt longer here than when he did nks during his workouts. He hated those.


    All of a sudden, time seemed to speed up, and his heart rate matched its increasing speed.


    3,2,1.


    Matt and three thousand others started moving in a wave.


    His heart was hammering. Each pump echoed through his head.


    The sides seemed so far apart, but the first attacksunched early. Mages and archers were arching their projectiles over Matt''s head.


    What looked like a ball of magma soared over him from one of the mages in the backline. It hardened in the chilling cold, but he had no more time to watch it, as projectiles began entering his area. He needed to block for Liz and Aster.


    With his AI draining mana at a rate only possible due to [Mage''s Retreat] not being active, Matt calcted the trajectories of the iing projectiles. He saw that only one wouldnd within ten feet of the trio.


    He marked it in his HUD so that Liz would see it, and pushed to Aster they needed to avoid that particr area.


    They were still at a jog, and the missed projectiles were reced by volley after volley. When they had covered a quarter of the mile length of the arena, the melee fighters sprinted forward.


    Matt wasn''t sure who started it, but it was the standard tactic for battlefields where the range was so short. It was nearly impossible to react to the ranged attacks, so it was better to close the distance.


    This way, ranged attackers would think twice aboutunching indiscriminate attacks, for fear of hitting their allies.


    Liz took up the rear, with Aster in between them. This was the formation they had nned, and it immediately paid dividends. An arrow glowing with silver light mmed into [Cracked Phantom Armor], and ricocheted into the air harmlessly.


    The other fighters were only fifty feet away when he enacted their second n. The one he was most embarrassed about not thinking of before.


    He withdrew their refible canteen, and tossed the water in an arc out in front of him.


    The water, now exposed to the below freezing air, was instantly frozen. It wasn''t the frigid temperature that was responsible. It was Aster.


    She used her bloodline''s power to create ice from the water. It was a much easier prospect than condensing it herself. The arc of ice stabilized in the air, then formed razor-sharp shards that rocketed forward.


    Most of the enemies in the very front were heavily armored, but the little fox''s attack earned more than one cry of pain from the enemy lines.


    Right after his throw, Matt repeated the action a second time with a regr canteen of water. Liz had their other refible canteen, and she''d be saving it for when Aster needed the refill. Each canteen took about ten minutes to fill up in an area so dry, so they needed to be conservative.


    The time for thinking was over. The melee lines finally collided.


    In front of Matt was a hulking figure that raised a massive tower shield. They held it forward and braced for impact.


    Matt took that as the challenge it was. Behind the shield was a group of four ranged types that he wanted to remove from the battlefield.


    In the final approach, everyone who had them used burst skills, or increased their speed to max the natural way. He did both. [Mage''s Retreat] pushed him into Tier 5 strength, and with that power, he dug into the ground and bent low into a full sprint.


    He covered thest few feet in a split second and turned his head. Matt saw the battle lines to his left close in like a wave cresting into levees during a flood.


    The moment of beauty ended, and he mmed into the now glowing shield with his shoulder. If he didn''t have magical armor, Matt would have never attempted something so reckless. Reflective properties on shields weren''t umon, but they were to be respected.


    With [Cracked Phantom Armor] not transmitting any of the force of his impact, he was able to ignore the enchantment''s attempt to use his own momentum against him. He continued to press his shoulder into the shield, while the warrior braced behind it.


    Matt''s physical size wasn''t enough topletely overpower a braced warrior in full metal armor, especially one with a reflective shield. So he removed their footing with a leg sweep and disrupted the warriors base, creating an opening.


    It onlysted for a moment, but provided just enough of an advantage for his [Mage''s Retreat] empowered steps to send the warrior back into his unsuspecting friends.


    With the gap in the line, Matt, Liz, and Aster slipped through, and started to butcher the Tier 4''s around them.


    Matt was focused on keeping the enemy teams on either side away from Liz and Aster. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw a small stream of blood snake out, as well as a half dozen shards of ice that glinted in the sun. They reached the mages and archers of the Republic, and wreaked havoc.


    With his attention gripped by the staff user in front of him, Matt threw all finesse to the wayside. He hacked down, and splintered the reinforced Tier 4 weapon with two blows. Thrusting hard, he pierced the Republicans guard and stomach with his de. Before he hadpletely withdrawn the tip of his sword, a sentinel on a flying item swooped in, and removed the wounded from the fight.


    He didn''t have time to revel in his victory, as two more melee fighters were quickly on him.


    His group was fighting ''up'' to the right of the battlefield, where the Tier 5''s were engaged inbat. If they wanted to <em>win </em>the battle, they would focus on fighting left and ''down'', securing the Tier 4 battlefield before assaulting the Tier 5''s with numbers. But no, they were much more concerned with earning points, and that meant getting to the Tier 5''s before the weaker ones were defeated.


    With wide and heavy swings of his longsword, he kept the new enemies back. Matt smiled under his armor, as shards of frozen blood perforated the lightly armored man on his right. They had avoided his head, but with how quickly a sentinel swooped in, he assumed something semi-vital was hit.


    The man on his left used a shortsword and shield, and was blocking Matt''s strikes with deflecting angles. He had learned from the first exchange of blows that this opponent could match Matt''s raw strength head-on.


    Feinting a blow to this worthy opponents body, Matt lowered the trajectory of the blow, and brought it down to the man''s unshielded leg. He expected the blow to break the leg, but when he sliced <em>through</em> the leg and into the hard ground, he felt a twinge of guilt. That would cost the man quite a bit of money to fix.


    He knew that first hand.


    He knew that <em>left</em> hand.


    With thetest party dealt with, they pushed right, reaching another group. This one had just finished off an Empire group off. As they approached, Matt was taken aback at the sight of arge lion with a mane of me.


    It saw Aster and roared.


    ***


    Aster saw the enemy and snarled out a challenge in return. How dare ite into her domain? This beast of <em>me</em> was beneath her.


    It was a creature so desperate for heat, it surrounded its head with fire?


    She''d show it the true meaning of cold. This ne of frigid cold was her domain, and this <em>beast</em> was intruding. The biting wind ruffled her fur in the most pleasant of ways as she locked eyes with her enemy. The two beasts let the humans fight.


    They weren''t <em>needed</em> here.


    Just looking at thisrger predator raised Asters hackles, more than she had ever experienced before.


    This <em>thing</em> must be removed.


    The rational side of her knew that therger predator must feel the same way, but she didn''t care.


    This <em>creature</em> was the intruder here.


    This was the <em>cold</em>.


    <em>She</em> was the apex predator here.


    Aster used the ice that her humans had brought, and sent a few shards at the ming monstrosity. They melted before they could do more than cut the beasts fur. With a mental effort, she shoved more mana into the ice under her control.


    It responded with glee, her will was itsmand. The ice shrunk slightly, growing harder, denser, <em>sharper</em>.


    The enemy sent a burst of me at her, but with a hop to the right, Aster dodged it. The <em>abomination</em> followed the insult up by charging directly at her.


    It wasrge. It was fast.


    But she was small. She was <em>faster</em>.


    When the lion tried to close on her with a leap, sheunched a barrage of ice with her will. The stupid beast tried to block with a wall of mes, but it was futile. This was hernd. Her world.


    Blood dripped from its coat.


    She was pleased.


    She hoped it stained. It wouldnt have long to worry, as she was going to end the ugly creature anyway. But the humiliation of dying with a tattered and stained pelt should engulf itsst breaths in shame.


    Aster scampered out of the way of the next st of heat. She wouldn''t let thistest slight go unanswered. With the power that pumped through her heart, she sent more shards of ice at the creatures maw.


    She hoped they would remove its sight. It didnt deserve toy eyes on a coat as beautiful as hers. s, its fire was strongest around its head.


    Irritated with her ineffective attack, sheunched another volley of ice with a wave of her tail. This time, the shards of ice sliced deep cuts into the me <em>vermins</em> nk.


    She hoped the wounds stung with the creeping cold of the end.


    Matt was stupid. She loved him, really she did.


    He gave the best scratches! His brushing technique could use some work, but that''s why she got Liz; the blood mage handled that! Really, what was so hard about it?


    He was so obsessed with endless. She showed him <em>so</em> many times. Endless was the cold. It was what all came from, and what all would return to.


    The stars he tried to imagine so much were pretenders. Even she knew they would die. They would expend their heat, just like the beast in front of her. And once they did, the cold would creep in, like it has for all eternity.


    She knew it. Her blood <em>sang</em> it to her. Why he couldn''t understand that simple fact was beyond her.


    Once again, she would show him that the cold <em>always</em> won. Given time, it would indeed always prevail. But she was patient. She would show him until he understood. It was so clear to her, surely he would see it as well.


    Her next example would be this beast.


    They exchanged another burst of elements.


    Her cold won, of course, but this stupid <em>feline</em> almost singed her fur.


    It was time to end this. How <em>dare</em> it try to mar her pristine coat.


    With all the will she could muster, she borrowed from the cold around her. It heeded her call. Seven spikes of sharp, dense ice formed in the air around the enemy.


    Pushing with everything she had, she drove the spikes through the beast. With her connection to the ice, she felt them collide inside its body and shatter.


    The shrapnel of the crystalline ice added to its agony. The beast should have expected this oue when it challenged her.


    Aster was the Queen of this world, and its consequence for challenging her would be as sustenance.


    She scampered forward. The floating ones had stolen her yummy hearts by swooping in, but this time she would not allow it.


    Aster had been so careful to keep the heart intact. The victory over the mes would make this one taste <em>so</em> much better. She salivated in anticipation of the taste of <em>victory</em> that she was about to revel in.


    Her new skill made retrieving the hearts much easier. The lowly feline looked into her eyes, and she met them. It should know the cold that extinguished its fires.


    As she pushed mana into her skill and felt the connection to the weakening heart, one of the flyers dove down.


    It was going to try and steal her snack <em>again</em>.


    That was unbearable. Uneptable. She tried to hurry the skill, but her ice spikes were broken, and the beast was removed from her influence.


    She snarled at the sky, then saw that her humans were battling another group.


    Ah. A Queen''s duties were never over.


    ***


    Matt kept a worried eye on Asters fight, but she seemed to have therger beast handled well. She was in a suitable environment, but he still worried for his little bond.


    He parried a blow from the spear wielder in front of him. The woman was <em>good</em>. So good that he was pegging her as having a Talent rted to the weapon. Her skill was for naught, as Liz used whips of blood to decimate the rest of her team.


    Right now, Matts only job was to keep her contained. She had nearly escaped, but while he couldnt beat her outright, he could out-muscle her to keep her at bay.


    She was pinned down, and with a whip of blood around her ankle, the woman was pulled into the air. Matt brought his de down as she was rising quickly by the second. At thest moment, he turned the de, so that the t would strike her. He was confident that he could have bisected the woman if he wanted to.


    But, as he saw the sentinel already sweeping in, he decided to show some mercy. She was another worthy opponent, and if he didnt have to severely injure her, he would avoid it out of respect.


    The womannded, and was scooped up. She didnt resist, and even gave a slight nod to Matt as she ascended away from the fighting.


    Trying to regain control of his breathing, Matt looked around, and saw that the Tier 5 area was right next to them. The only remaining Tier 4 nearby was a man nearly Matts own size, bobbing and weaving around the attacks of a dagger-wielding Republican. He fought alone, but was clearly a master of hand to handbat.


    Seeing Aster pattering up to them, Matt called out to the Empire fighter, Need a hand?


    With a clear voice, he called back, No, though I guess the fun is over.


    In two fluid motions, the man slipped around another swipe of the dagger. Grabbing wrist and elbow, he drove the Republicans own weapon into their chest. The now injured fighter was pulled out by a sentinel on ming boots.


    Matt was shocked. This man moved like a fluttering leaf. His motions were fluid, and his technique was unmatched. Matt had nevere across nimble and flowing movements like this madman had disyed.


    The fighter waved, and called out, Humptys the name, fighting the game. There was a slight pause, and then he finished, Ok. Im out of rhymes. Want to punch through the Tier 5 side together? The rest of my team got taken out by that dagger dude. Had some short-range blink skill.


    Raising his eyebrows at that, Matt agreed, Sure. Anything we need to know about your style?


    It was a standard question, just to see if he had anything that would affect the entire battlefield, and thus their team.


    Not really. I guess that I dont use weapons or spells. Just dont crowd me too much. Need room to move.


    As they ran to the next fight, Matt analyzed the fighter. He was a tall,rger man, which usually implied melee fighter. And that he was, but he fought with the agility of a rogue, more so than any man of his size Matt had ever seen.


    Before Matt could analyze further, the four of them crossed an invisible line. From over his shoulder, an arm length shard of ice rocketed out, and took an upied mage in the side.


    They retaliated with a cutting arc of wind that Matt was able to barrel through. It stressed his armor a bit, but his practice at keeping the skill stable prevented the structure from breaking.


    The mage turned to face them fully, and released a st of fire.


    Matt again ran straight through the spell. He felt not even a wisp of the heat. Fire and wind both had the same problem. They had little to no mass. Neither could stop his bulk.


    He gripped the arm that spewed fire and raised it, redirecting the stream, and brought the pommel of his sword down on the mages corbone. The mage was pulled out by a sentinel before Matt needed to inflict more damage on him.


    Spinning, he turned back to his group, and saw Humpty fighting a man with a rapier.


    The martial artist flowed around each of his opponents strikes, with his legs doing as much damage as his fist and palms.


    Aster was taking potshots at anyone who came too close. She seemed to be doing fine, so he turned his attention to Liz.


    She was... Magnificent.


    The blood mage was fighting two opponents in close range. She used her spear offensively and defensively, cutting tender flesh with the spearhead and blocking strikes with the shaft. Her blood tendrilsshed out, and acted as an extra pair of limbs to fight with.


    It was art in motion.


    Matt was taken out of his momentary musing when an arrow mmed into his head. With long strides, he closed the distance to the pestering archer.


    Two more shots mmed into his chest as he closed the gap. They were ineffective, but the next arrow started glowing a pale golden light. The archer drew the arrow back as Matt approached.


    They were waiting until he was too close to dodge.


    Matt ruined the archers n by reaching down and pulling the small crossbow from his belt. He took aim and fired in one swift motion. The archer flinched, and loosed their arrow at the same time.


    His bolt caught the Republican in the leg, while their arrow punched through [Cracked Phantom Armor], and lodged in his side. It wasnt a deep wound, as punching through the skill spent most of its energy. But it still hurt.


    Before the archer could reload, Matt was upon them. They tried to run, but with the bolt sticking out of their leg, they could barely do more than limp.


    Matt was about to run them through with his de, when the archer raised their hands and surrendered. They were quickly picked up by a sentinel, so he turned and rejoined the fighting.


    ***


    Liz weaved in between the two fighters she was keeping upied. With a thrust of her spear, she caught the man to her right along the neck. He was quickly pulled away. She used a bit of mental effort to pull the extra blood into her power as the sentinel left with his quarry.


    She stepped right, dodging a thrust from her second opponent. Her blood helped propel her to the side, and let her glide along the ground. Unable to stop his momentum, her remaining opponent stepped into the path of a tendril of blood.


    Liz caught his leg and pulled him towards her, then ran her helpless opponent through with her spear.


    The Tier 4 weapon was struggling a bit against the Tier 5 equipment, but it was rift-made, which helped it bridge the gap well enough. When they got off this, shed need to get the rune copied so she could use it on future weapons. It was effective.


    She pulled as much blood as she could from the second man, before he too was removed from the battlefield. Most of her blood supply was from earlier fights. It hampered her, but her only other option was to tantly murder people. That wouldnt reflect well on the Empire, or her family, so it wasnt an option.


    Liz looked to find her next fight, and saw Matt, in his fully armored form, taking on two Tier 5 melee fighters. Despite his being outnumbered, he was winning. His de indiscriminately hacked through flesh and metal, Tier difference be damned.


    It was always nice to watch him at work.


    He was physically stronger than most of these new Tier 5s, and with his armor, he was cutting a swath through the Republicans. Every hit just slid off his armor, and he punished anyone who thought they could stand against him.


    He was persistence incarnate.


    Liz came to a party in a fight, used a thin tendril of blood, and whipped their tank from behind. Their scream brought the attention of their archer. Liz bent back, and slipped down t on the ground, dodging the arrow that was shot her way.


    There was a slight course correction that her AI had anticipated. The way the archer loosed her arrow had given her away. Liz used a bit of blood to interrupt the skill enhanced arrow, and knock it off its directed course. Whatever skill the archer was using lost is tracking abilities when disrupted by the blow from her blood.


    AI warning siren ring, she scrambled to her feet, and vaulted over a geyser of pressurized water created from the ground near her feet.


    Using the blood, Liz guided hernding. The mage was clever to attack her anticipatednding spot, but she wouldnt be outsmarted by a mere Republican. She returned the water mages attack with a fully powered heave of her spear. Her blood doping,bined with using [Blood Maniption] on the blood filled capsule in the butt of the spear,unched the weapon at inhuman speed.


    Realizing the danger, the Republican mage produced a wall of water with an upward wave of their arms, slowing the momentum of the spear. It wasnt enough to stop the impact, but the quick counter kept the blow from knocking its target out of the battle. Liz recalled her spear, as well as a substantial amount of blood from the gash she created in the mages side.


    The blood and water mages circled each other,bat raging all around them as they took measured steps in a small circle a few feet in diameter. The Republican shouted some insult at her; she didnt bother to read the trantion from her AI. Instead she responded by striking out with a blood whip, and her opponent mage responded with a water whip of their own.


    Back and forth theyshed out at one another, matching each other strike for strike. This would be a true contest of maniption skills, blood against water. Liz knew she had an advantage by using the more dense liquid, but who knew what other skills this Tier 5 had at their disposal. She decided to end the fight quickly, before the water mage could unleash another skill.


    Toote.


    The air around them seemed to shimmer, and the water mage unleashed a twelve foot tall tidal wave, seemingly out of nowhere. The torrent rushed towards Liz, ready to swallow her whole and wash her entirely away from the battlefield.


    Despite the danger, she steeled herself. She grew up spending time with the best water mage in the Empire, Duke Waters. Her father was no slouch with water either, even though his specialty was storm spells. This was nothing she hadnt seen before.


    She fed every ounce of mana she could, internally and from her mana stones, into both [Blood Maniption] and [Create Blood] at once.


    She quickly immersed herself into a spinning blood sphere, just as the torrent of water struck. She spun with the momentum of the tidal wave, using the force to spin faster and faster, drawing the water into herself. As the water and blood mixed, she channeled her skills to infect the water making it blood, and released the sphere form. She created a blood spout from her own blood and the massive flood unleashed at her. It towered more than twenty feet high, drawing the attention of most of the surroundingbatants.


    The Republican water mage could only watch on in horror, as Liz unleashed the full force of the blood storm, and sent it directly towards her enemy. The mage was swallowed up by the torrent of blood, rising higher in the air with each rotation of the blood spout.


    With sheer force of will, Liz sent the water mage sky bound with the rotational force of her blood storm, and released [Blood Maniption]. The Republican was mmed to the ground like a stone, renderedpletely unconscious fromck of oxygen in the vacuum created by the tornado. From the way their body was contorted on the ground, she didnt need her AI to tell her how many bones were broken.


    It was most of them.


    A sentinel quickly came to scoop up the Republican, Liz was sure that her opponents bones and internal organs were in bad shape from its rough descent. Exhausted, but satisfied with her victory, she scanned the area for herrades.


    The three of them ended their fights and rejoined their new friend with the stupid alias. There was no way that could be his real name after all. Humpty ended histest fight with a kick that shattered the rapier users knee, and then a palm strike uppercut to the jaw. They dropped unconscious.


    They found another Tier 5 team waiting. Nice of them to wait, but the rules of war stated that their little group was fair game for the duration of the battle, once they started attacking any Tier 5 teams.


    Still, they waited to engage until Liz and Aster sent out volleys of ice and blood.


    This cold was slowing down the blood and weakening Lizs control over the liquid. She still could use frozen blood with her maniption, but it was harder, and drained her mana faster.


    Liz checked her spirit. About a quarter of her mana left. Enough for this fight.


    Matt charged into their melee fighters, and Liz tried to circle to get to the backline.


    Her n didnt quite work, as a fighter on the backline jumped into the air, and remained suspended. He unleashed bolt after bolt of lightning at Liz, using his levitation to maintain a clean line of sight.


    She used her blood to block as much as she could, but a tendril got through. Her body locked up, but her mana was still under her control. From the sheer power of the attack, she put the lightning mage at peak Tier 5. Even one strike was enough to overwhelm her physically.


    Humpty used his skill as an acrobat to jump off of Matts armored shoulder, and Liz made ast ditch effort to to help, before she was removed from the fight.


    She pushed her blood to harden, and made a tform for the jumping man to get an extra step. It worked, and he leapt onto andtched onto the lightning mage, driving blow after blow into his body.


    Liz hit the ground, and saw that Aster was singed. She scooped the little fox up as they were pulled from the battle.


    Herst view was of a smoking Humpty falling alongside the mage, and Matt standing there alone, fighting thest of the team.


    ***


    Matt tried not to get angry at the mage who had fried his teammates, but the heat of rage bled through. It brought a smile to his face when he saw that Humpty brought the mage down. He made a mental note that he owed the man a beer when this fight was over.


    With a heavy swing, he deliberately opened a gap in his defenses. The sword and shield user took the chance to shield bash, so Matt dropped his sword.


    He gripped the top of the mans shield, and let the sword skitter off [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Matt wound up and delivered a punch to the kidney that dropped the man. His teammate tackled Matt, but in their falling scuffle, he saw that the man he had punched was being removed from the field.


    The woman on top of him was actually equal to him in strength, and had the weight advantage with her metal armor.


    They exchanged ces rolling around in the dirt, and Matt was on top for long enough to drive two spiked gauntlets into her armpit. She gripped his arm, using one of the strikes to get him in an arm lock.


    Matt could tell that he was slowly losing the battle, so he resorted to a tactic he would only use in desperation. He dropped [Cracked Phantom Armor], and turned his AI into sleep mode. Then, he dumped everything into [Mages Retreat]. It was a sixty-one percent boost, and that little bit extra allowed him to slowly overpower the womans hold, and reverse the situation.


    With a jerk, he heard a pop, and reactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. With the skill active, he mmed fist after fist into her armored helmet. He stopped when ornately armored bootsnded in front of him. The sentinel took her away.


    Standing, Matt stumbled slightly. The woman had kneed him, and cracked something in his hip.


    Reached down for his sword, Matt readied himself, and charged into the next team. They were still fighting an Empire group, and he hoped that this final engagement would shift the bnce, even a little bit.


    Giving up wasnt an option.

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35


    Liz, Aster, and Matt sat at a table with Humptys group. They had all done well enough to earn a skill, and the club they were celebrating in was wild. The party after the fight was epic. Most of the participants were eagerly waiting for the skills to be assigned tomorrow. Everyone had put in requests for their desired skills, and depending on their individual and team performance, they would earn a slot to pick from the skill pool.


    As peak Tier 4s who fought in the Tier 5 area, they had earned a slot in the top twenty selections. They simply had to wait for the AIs to finish their calction.


    Matt sat and waited for his drink to arrive. His hip had been shattered during his final fight. The Republicans had noticed the limp, and capitalized on his weakness with ruthless efficiency. The hammer that dealt the blow had some armor-piercing effect, and almostpletely bypassed [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    A good lesson to learn now, in a rtively low stakes environment.


    They all chatted and celebrated. The entire bar was lively. Those that didnt fight directly had still watched and enjoyed the battle. Everyone was buzzing with the excitement from the close win, which was exacerbated with the abundant alcohol.


    Matt was skeptical of the close win, as a quick look across theke showed the Republican city partying just as hard. He pushed his doubts out of his mind. If the Empire and the Republic wanted to y games, he didn''t care. He was getting a skill out of it.


    The two teams stayed chatting, until their focus shifted to looking forpany for the evening. Matt saw a brte with short hair that he had caught giving him looks a few times now, so he made his excuses and sauntered over.


    ***


    The next morning, he woke up in a strange bed with a strange woman. Seeing the time, he found most of his clothes, and slipped out before any awkwardness ensued.


    He had just returned to his hotel, when he noticed elevator doors opening behind him. He turned, and saw a blot of red exit the elevator. He held the door to their suite open, and grinned at Liz as she slipped in.


    You look as disheveled as hell.


    She looked at him and grinned in return. You seem to be favoring that hip, there big guy. Need a healer? She knew that she had correctly identified the weak spot, and she wasted no time in striking.


    Matt coughed, Well, she was, uhh... Enthusiastic.


    It was surprisingly awkward to talk to Liz about his sex life.


    They stepped into themon area of their suite, to find a chair had been moved to face the door. It contained a very angry Aster ring at them.


    Matt vaguely remembered dropping her off before he went to Kathys. He checked the time again.


    It was a little before noon.


    <em>Ahh.</em>


    Matt tried to exin, but as he opened his mouth, the fox turned her back to them. He circled, but the fox kept spinning in defiance. The duo had to go to each side and trap her, so the fox would be forced to look at one of them. Seeing that she had lost, Aster just hid in her fluffy tail.


    Doing the only thing he knew would work, he said, Ok, Ill get you some ice cream if you forgive us.


    The fox peeked at him, and buried her face once again.


    Liz tried her hand at getting forgiveness, Well get you <em>nice</em> ice cream?


    That got the fox to get out of her ball, and she walked to the door.


    Can we shower first?


    The fox just red at them. He and Liz shared a look. Theyd be getting breakfast dirty.


    ***


    Matt watched people packing items into square boxes. A quick search showed that they were massive spatial items. They were made for moving bulk goods. Even the smallest and cheapest held massive amounts of space inside.


    Currently, they were loaded on the first tform to be sent out. Guild VIP privileges wereing in handy onest time. They would be moved into position as soon as the test teleport happened.


    They had gotten and bound their skills directly from Driver. Liz had gotten [Water Bullet], which her Talent turned into [Blood Bullet]. It would let her automate ranged attacks.


    Aster went with [Ice Spear] for the same reason. It created ice for her and automated the aiming, so she wouldnt have to solely rely on her maniption skill.


    Matt wanted [Demon Zone], but Driver didnt have the skill. In the end, he went with a more supportive skill.


    [Hail Storm]: Cost. Minimum, 25 mana. Maximum, X mana. Mana upkeep depending on channel duration and size. Minimum MPS 5.


    Creates an area of ice that slows and damages anyone in its radius. Duration and intensity dependent on channel cost. Size of affected area dependent on initial cost.


    The skill was a rare Tier 8 that Matt had never even hoped to get, but their performance in the battle was good enough to them the fourteenth pick. The skill would give Aster ice to work with, and could help ward off an area.


    The problem was the mana cost. Hed have to wait to use it until Tier 5, when his maximum mana was 40. Then, he could just have a mana stone precharged, and absorb that mana to full so he could start the fight with the skill.


    He''d be limited by only being able to use the skill at the start of a fight, but it was a good investment.


    Two minutester, after a gut wrenching teleport, they were back in the Empire proper. Aster squirmed in his arms and tried to get a look over everyones head. It was surprisingly nice to see the <em>real</em> world<em></em>again.


    Exiting the tform immediately was only possible since he was beyond human. Matt simply activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] for a moment to absorb thending, andughed at Liz, who was waiting for the steps to clear.


    He waved Asters paw at her while Liz red at him.


    Technically, he shouldnt have used his skill in public like that, but no one was going toin about the tform emptying faster.


    They reunited and walked around. Liz had her head on a swivel, and Matt knew she was looking for her Aunt Helen. He had no idea what the woman looked like, so he spent the time reading the mail he had received from Melindas group while he was away. His return messages were already sent as soon as he got back to theNet proper.


    Before he got more than a few paragraphs into the several messages he had, Liz grabbed him and dragged him forward.


    He looked up to see a woman with long ming feathers for hair, talking to two people. Aunt Helen, the obvious Phoenix in human form, wasnt what caught his attention. It was the duo she was chatting with.


    The guild leaders.


    They didnt have their glow on, and were mostly innocuous, but he recognized them immediately. His AI also had quickly linked their faces to their databases.


    He was about to pull Liz back, when she called out in a childish voice, Aunt Helen!. The call got the groups attention, and the mostly serious delver he knew threw herself into the womans arms like a small child.


    Aunt Helen just smiled. The smile had endless patience and love.


    Matt felt like an outsider with Aster in his arms, watching the intimate moment.


    Feather! Liz reached out to the womans head and, with a gentle smile, was given a feather, freshly plucked.


    Matt would have thought nothing of it, but the two guild leaders looked like someone hit them with lightning. The ck jaw of the male guild leader clued Matt into the fact that giving a feather wasnt something that was normally done.


    Liz giggled, and ran the few steps to Matt, hooking his arm and pulling him close.


    Aunt Helen. This is Matt and Aster.


    With that, she shook the feather hard, and it expanded to nearly five feet long and two feet wide. She moved it behind them and pulled them onto the now floating feather.


    She turned to Matt and said, Riding on Phoenix feathers is the best. They also make great hammocks to nap on.


    Matt had to agree. It was just like what he imagined sitting on a cloud would be like. Springy, but with enough structure to hold you.


    The guild leaders faces had shifted from. She just got something rare to Why are you wasting that so frivolously. He knew both looks well. Even scraps could be treasured at the orphanage. If people thought you had wasted something, they would be sure to make their displeasure known.


    <em>And Im pretty sure a phoenix feather is worth more than special candy or toys.</em>


    Matt sat and felt slightly awkward.


    Helen turned to the guild leaders and said, Sorry, I cant help. Whats started is started. If I were you, Ide clean and do what you can to make amends and move on. The setback wont be that bad if you dont fight it. Now, if youll excuse me, I havent seen my Niece in far too long.


    She didnt wait for their response, and turned to Matt and Liz.


    Come on BethBeth. And introduce me to your friend. Dont be rude.


    The feather they were sitting on gilded next to the woman as she made her way through the crowd.


    Liz hunched down and gave an exaggerated pout.


    Aunt Helennnnnn. I told you not to call me that.


    She apanied the words with her best impression of puppy dog eyes.


    A now taloned hand came and gently scratched Lizs scalp. The woman went limp and all protest faded away. She lost all bodily control and slumped into the feather slowly, turning boneless like a satisfied kitten. Soft unintelligible sounds escaped her ck jaw.


    Ok, youve had your fun and rubbed the guild leaders faces in it. Please introduce us now.


    Liz straightened and sighed. Fine. Matt, this is Aunt Helen. Aunt Helen, this is Matt.


    Aster yipped at her displeasure of being left out.


    Aster, this is Aunt Helen. Aunt Helen, this is Aster.


    The fox was mollified, but Matt still felt awkward sitting on the womans feather while she walked next to them.


    This was someone close enough to Liz that he didnt want to mess up the first impression. So he said, Hello maam. in his best polite tone.


    He was cut off with a wave of the now human hand. Call me Helen. I insist. Seeing his face, she added, Aunt Helen, if you <em>have</em> to.


    That was more ptable. He couldnt think of being so casual with someone at her Tier.


    It just felt wrong.


    Liz piped up. Are we going to walk the whole way?


    Helen looked offended at the suggestion. Oh, I never get to stroll around. Fine.


    With a wave of her hand, there was a circr portal to a city in front of them. It was far enough away that the sun was appreciably different, and they walked through. There wasnt even a ripple.


    Matt couldnt help it. He twisted and looked at the closing hole behind them.


    <em>Was that a skill? What the fuck?</em>


    He was sure that his face looked exactly like the guild leaders had not long ago, but he had never even heard of this before.


    His AI said that they had moved nearly halfway across the.


    They came to a building that seemed to be made of silver speckled marble. Gold lined ck letters proimed it to be Helens Hearth.


    Considering the womans name, he assumed that she was the Helen in question. He searched the restaurant name.


    What he found was interesting. She had a restaurant on every Tier 10 world and higher. She was known as a recluse who avoided the media and bounced between her various restaurants.


    No other chef, even the other celebrity chefs, dared to im that they were a better cook than she. Even the chef known for yelling and cursing who just reached Tier 40s was adamant that Helen was the best cook in the Empire.


    As they closed in, a security guard opened the door for the trio. Entering the opulent restaurant, Matt felt increasingly awkward floating along on the feather.


    They entered the building with Liz muttering on how Helen could have opened the portal straight to the restaurant, but had to show off.


    Matt decided to try and get in her good books, Its a very pretty exterior, only outdone by the interior.


    Aunt Helen had a look that said butter wouldnt melt in her mouth. And Matt was pretty sure that she started to preen her feathered hair with her fingers.


    Liz rolled her eyes, and started to poke the womans butt with hurry up s repeatedly. They entered the seating area, and Matt began to salivate at the scents wafting around the room. It smelled delicious.


    Aster almost hopped out of the feather and onto a passing table. She actually jumped out, but was caught and pulled into Aunt Helens arms.


    Matt was afraid that the woman would be upset, but she justughed and said, Patience, little one. Ill cook you everything you could ever want in a little bit.


    Matt had to resist the urge to do the same. It really smelled <em>that</em> good.


    As they walked through the seating area and to the back end of the restaurant, the patrons all looked shocked. One even started to rise, but out of nowhere, what seemed like a clone to the security guard out front appeared, and ced a meaty palm on their shoulder, keeping them seated.


    He only knew that they were separate people by their different tie colors. It was almost uncanny.


    They passed through the kitchen receiving different looks. Where those outside looked shocked, these people appeared as if they had seen their idol. Some even looked like people who had found out about a surprise test when they had skipped ss the day before.


    They left the kitchen to find an elevator hidden in the farthest corner.


    The feather they rode on shrunk down, and Aunt Helen caught it and with deft fingers, then wove it into Lizs braided hair.


    It looked surprisingly good.


    He was about to say as much to his preening teammate, when the elevator opened, and they came to a kitchen much smaller than the one they had just passed through. It was closer to something he remembered from his house growing up.


    Sit. Ill make some food. You must tell me everything that happened!


    They sat at the half wall and watched the woman start cooking. Liz talked, but Matt simply watched the woman at work. He felt like she was bending reality in some way. Aunt Helen seemed to be everywhere at once in the kitchen, while not moving more than a foot or two from the area next to the stove.


    Liz kept talking about their time in the training world. They both tried to include him in the conversation, but he was entranced with the chefs'' moments. There was something about her actions in the kitchen that reminded him of his mother doing the same.


    It was... Enthralling.


    Before he knew it, a small sd and soup were ced in front of the three of them. He looked to Aster, Umm, Aunt Helen? Aster will probably make a mess with soup.


    Sheughed, Honey. I started out as a bird. I wont get offended at a youngdy using what she has. Now eat.


    Aunt Helen was back behind the dividing wall, and her humming put him in afortable head space.


    Matt didnt know if he could go back to eating normal food again.


    <em>This is the best thing. I have ever eaten. I need more.</em>


    His bowls were empty before he knew what happened, and he was debating copying Aster and licking the bowls clean. In the end, he decided to just mop up what he could with the warm, dark bread.


    As he concentrated on the lingering taste on his tongue, he looked up the prices of the restaurant. If her chefs were half as good, he never wanted to eat elsewhere.


    He wanted to vomit after seeing the prices.


    The menus cheapest dishes were priced at Tier 20 mana stones.


    Apparently, getting the womans own cooking while she was at the restaurant meant fees starting at Tier 30 mana stones.


    He looked down at the empty bowls and wished he could sell them.


    Matt paused and thought that over. No, he would take the food over the mana stones. It was a priceless experience.


    The next dishes came out right at the perfect time. They had a few minutes to savor thest dish before the next woulde out.


    He didnt know how the woman knew exactly what he liked, but they all got different tes after the starter sd and soup. They shamelessly stole from each other, none willing to miss out on at least trying each dish.


    Getting Aster to part with a bit of her zed rabbit had nearly cost him a finger, but regrowing it would have been a small price to pay.


    Just when he was getting stuffed, Matt found a decorative ice cream bowl set in front of him. He looked to Aster. The fox had love in her eyes.


    <em>Traitor.</em>


    Matt dipped a spoon in and tasted the fresh ice cream. He started wondering if Aunt Helen needed someone to carry her bags.


    He shifted his weight and debated changing into looser pants.


    Aunt Helen leaned on the dividing wall and said, How was it.


    Matt and Aster talked over each other, and Aunt Helens smile grew. It was a real one. She clearly loved to have people eat and enjoy her food.


    She even started wiggling when they went on.


    Oh, Thank you. I love when new people try my food! Its the best feeling.


    Liz opened her mouth and was instantly cut off by Helen. Yes, little chick. I already got the message.


    The woman turned to Matt and looked deep into his eyes.


    Child of the Empire. I, as a representative of the Beast Kingdom under Queen Mara. Royalty under his majesty Emperor Emmanuel, third of his line. Have been given clearance to bestow gifts for meritorious service.


    Matt sat with his mouth open.


    <em>Meritorious service? What did I do?</em>


    Then he remembered the message Liz told him to send to her mother, to send to Mara when he left the training world. He hadnt even thought of it after that, andpletely forgotten about it until now. It had been months ago.


    I uhh... he didnt know what to say.


    The solemn air disappeared, and Helen turned back into Aunt Helen.


    She waved a hand around. Its not a big deal, but theyve already scouted the rift you informed her about, and Mara is happy. After their quick check, they think they can recreate the rift and bring it away. So even though it wont be as good as a true rift, in a few decades, well have a source of that dragons blood. This is a coup of the highest order.


    Theyre just waiting for the to clear out to make their move. If the Republic finds out, theyll fight for it.


    This was so far out of his depth Matt felt lost. So uh, what does that mean?


    Liz butt in. It means you get nice shit.


    Aunt Helen shrugged and agreed with her. Well, yes. Thats the gist of it. If you want something, go ahead and name it. Most of the rewards will have to wait until youre off The Path, to keep things mostly fair. But you can ask for a lot.


    He turned to Liz. Matt didnt even know what to ask for. She saw the look in his eyes, and answered for him.


    He wants Phoenix blood essence for Aster, to bind the dragons blood.


    Aunt Helen waved her hand over Liz. Wed give her that anyway. We cant let that hearts blood go to waste. What do you want for yourself.


    Matt had an idea, and shot his shot. Id like whatever you rmend that would help me the most now, considering what rewards I can get before I fall off The Path and get the rest.


    She smiled with the approval of a mother whose child did something clever, and she reached out and stroked his cheek. It was strangelyforting, and full of approval.


    You trust me that much?


    Matt swallowed, deciding it would be best to bepletely honest.


    No. But I trust Liz, and she trusts you.


    The smile came back with even more intensity. It was so bright, he was pretty sure that some of her fire powers were slipping.


    Almost too quiet for him to hear, he heard, Oh, they are going to love you.


    Before he could ask for rification, she whirled into her kitchen. Pans and other utensils flying.


    Just momentster, three thumb-sized vials were corked and ced in front of him. Alongside them was a cup with the same liquid inside.


    Three unknown and untested vials of strange liquid. Dare you drink?


    Matt wasnt that stupid. What are they, and what do they do?


    Aunt Helens smile was now evil, I thought you trusted Liz?


    I do. And Ill drink if you say you wont tell me. But Id like to know.


    The chef pouted, and tried to give him puppy dog eyes.


    <em>Or are they chick eyes? Are baby birds cute?</em>


    Matt made a note to look it upter.


    Fine. I can sense your spirit, and have a good guess at what your Talents are.


    Matt scooted back. How?


    Honey. Im older than the unification of the Empire. Ive been around for a long time. Peeking around a Tier 4s veil isnt any harder for me than opening my eyes.


    She poked at his core. Ahh, now I see. A very interesting Talent. A very powerful one. But there is one aspect of mana cultivation it doesnt affect.


    The words slipped out, My mana concentration.


    Exactly. There are ways to increase all types of cultivation per Tier. Those, She pointed down at the vials and cup. Are a concoction that will increase your Mana Concentration naturally.


    But thats useless, I already dont have enough mana as it is. I cant afford to lose any of it.


    Sheughed. Sheughed so hard that she had to wipe a tear from her eye.


    Oh. No child. I can <em>feel</em> what your Talent is. I dont know the words the stupidputer used. But I guarantee that wont happen. I can <em>feel</em> that your mana pool size is dependent on your Talent, not cultivation. Talents break the rules.


    Matt looked down. The cup was almost scary. He reached out a hand, and was stopped by Aunt Helen.


    Ah, wait. Empty out a mana stone first. If you put less concentrated mana in, youd undo everything.


    Quickly, he did as suggested and looked to Liz. He got a nod, and, like a shot, downed the liquid.


    It was tasteless, and he was about to say something stupid, like he didnt feel anything, when the fire and ice started rampaging through his mana veins.


    He crumpled to the ground, only to see Aunt Helen scoop up Aster, and feed her a drop of blood. The fox gave him a look, before sitting on the womansp and closing her eyes.


    The burning consumed Matt, and all he could do was writhe on the floor. He felt his head being cradled, but his attention was solely on his mana channels. There were like tubes being ced under heavy suction.


    His mana decreased, and turned from water to syrup as the moments passed. Each beat of his heart mirrored his mana cirction, and he felt the mana pool in his spirit shrinking. His AI slowed, and stopped altogether, as it didnt have enough mana to sustain itself.


    <em>This was a terrible idea.</em>


    He could only wait as the fire and ice chased each other through his body, and his mana pool decreased to under what he had at Tier 1. He was horrified. If this didnt work, he was finished as a cultivator.


    Every time he thought his mana pool couldnt get any smaller, it shrunk down even further.


    Finally, an eternityter, the heat and ice caught each other, and their effects lessened.


    With shaking hands, he filled the mana stone.


    Nothing happened. His mana pool was so small, there was no appreciable difference in the charge of the mana stone.


    Five nervous minutester, with Liz still holding his prone form, he pulled back what had gathered.


    It was minute, but he felt his mana pools maximum size increase.


    He startedughing.


    It had worked.


    He looked to thank Aunt Helen, but found that she and Aster were gone. Only Liz remained with him.


    The girl had held his head, and he smiled at her.


    It works. But fuck, that was scary.


    Yeah. It was scary to watch. And, well... Honestly, I wasnt sure if she had fucked up or not.


    Do you know what this stuff is? Matt wanted more. He wanted to down the other three vials, now.


    As he talked, he kept filling the mana stone. Once he guessed it was about double, he drained it.


    Aunt Helen entered and answered the question. Im d its working, but I wasnt worried. I could tell it would work out.


    And to answer your question, that little dish is made from the marrow of a Tier 32 beast found only in a single rift. It was the only thing I had on me that would work for concentration increases. And only one of these can be taken per Tier. However, you could use another treasure if you find one. Sadly, no treasure or food would work for your regen or capacity. Talents are jealous mistresses.


    A Tier 32 monster? How was he supposed to afford this going forward? Even if he sold all of his mana, it would still be nearly impossible to afford more marrow from that beast.


    He asked the question he feared. There isnt a chance that this is a really cheap part others dont want, is there?


    Ha! No, sorry dear. Everyone wants it. And you need a higher Tier chef or alchemist to prepare it. Though if you can get more, Ill happily concoct it for free. Youre family now.


    While the offer was nice, it felt moot, as he had no way to afford it.


    <em>I should be happy that there are three more vials. That gives me until Tier 8 to figure something out. One step at a time.</em>


    He looked to the sleeping Aster cradled in the womans arms.


    Is Aster ok?


    Shes fine. Just tired. Binding a bloodline is hard work, and not binding it to your primary is harder still. But she did a fine job, and shell be better shortly.


    They sat around as Matt finished filling his mana back to its peak. He had 20 mana again, but it felt much thicker than it had before. With his AI, he saw that his Mana Concentration was now at 1.08, slightly above the standard 1.00. Not much, but every bit helped.


    Aunt Helen said that the next potions would help more, as they would have more mana to work on. But that would onlyst for a time. Once his Maximum Mana reachedrge enough numbers, the amount he could take would be less than the potion would be effective for.


    He was still getting more than most would out of it, as he didnt permanently lose the Maximum Mana or Mana Regeneration like most would.


    They spent time just talking. Aunt Helen gushed over their rings and how perfect they were. They were served another scrumptious dinner, and as they settled down, Aunt Helen asked, What are your next steps?


    Liz answered with closed eyes, Work on our Concepts a bit. We both need to work on them, so well find a Tier 5 rift we can hole up by and wait a bit, delving as we need to.


    Aunt Helen had a stern look on her face when she said, You should go visit your brother Travis. Hes on Tintel right now. He and his husband are on some R&R. It would do you well to visit them.


    Liz groaned and tried to whine, but she was cut off by the older womans tone.


    Elizabeth Moore! Dont make me drag you there myself. You three will go visit your brother. And youll go straight there. <em>Promise me</em>.


    Liz opened her eyes and looked at Matt. He didnt mind. Practicing his Concept could be done anywhere.


    Fine, well make our way there.


    No. BethBeth. Look at me. The older Phoenix waited until she had both of their attention. Youll purchase the tickets for the itinerary I sent you. And you wont deviate from it. <em>Promise me.</em> Both of you.


    Matt did so. After she had been right about his mana, he would trust her on something small like this.


    With that, Aunt Helen ushered them into a suite attached to the kitchen, and bid them a good night. She made sure to let them know that shed cook them breakfast tomorrow morning.


    They stood up for a bit and watched a movie before going to bed. Matt was worn out from the days activities. So many emotions packed into a single day had drained him.


    After reviewing all that transpired, he decided he liked the old bird.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36


    The following day they were treated to a massive breakfast, and then Aunt Helen sent them on their way, through a portal to the teleportation station. Matt wanted to savor the breakfast, but they had only been able to get out this quickly because of the portal the Tier 24 had created for them.


    There was a wave of people exiting the training world, and once they reached the teleporters, there would be no room to exit for months. Aunt Helen''s help got them out before the rush.


    Sitting in the lobby of the station, they found out what the guild leaders had been seeking Aunt Helen''s help with. The news station feed being broadcast on therge wall screen that had been covering the returning delvers was suddenly interrupted.


    "Breaking news. We just had a leak that the guild Dual Stars is being investigated for tax evasion. The Empire Tax Service just levied a freeze on all guild ounts. This is a shocking turn of events. The ETS is known for going afterrger guilds andpanies after all, but..."


    Matt stopped paying attention and looked at Liz. The woman had an ohh look on her face.


    "What did you do?"


    She looked at him and poked her pointer fingers together.


    "Wellllll... When the guild invited us to the secret rift, I assumed they had more secrets, so I messaged Dad."


    Matt couldn''t believe it. "How did he get them to move in hours? I''ve never heard of any bureaucratic thing moving that quickly. Even Mara moving instantly is hard to believe, but she''s just one person."


    Liz sat up straighter, "Ohhh. No, I told him when they first invited us to the special rift, in case it was a trap."


    "How did you get a message out? The was locked down!"


    Liz looked offended at the suggestion, "Pshhh no. They say that, but messages to higher Tier people don''t use the same services as normal messages. Every month the guild operated a small teleporter for a data swap. I never heard back from them, so I assumed he didn''t do anything."


    "But why did they respond to them? Does your dad work for them or something?"


    Now Liz looked embarrassed. "No... No, my parents are stupid. My dad''s heads always in the clouds, and Moms a bird brain. The dummies forgot to pay taxes a few decades ago on a few dozens that they own. Now the ETS justes and visits them to tell them what they owe."


    Matt didn''t believe it for a second. "They have AIs! How could an AI forget that?"


    "My parents are stupid, that''s how!"


    Then the second thing hit him, "Wait, did you say they forgot about a few dozens they own? A few <em>dozen</em>? As in they own more than that?"


    Liz looked around, and Matt pressed, "Liz, how rich are your parents? You''ve said they are strong, but you always imply they aren''t <em>that</em> strong."


    The woman next to him wiggled in difort. Her answer was to sputter, "I ugh. I..." Closing her eyes, Liz took a deep breath and settled down. Opening her eyes, she said, "I''ll tell you if you ever ask again. I just want to be out of their shadows. It''s so nice to be with a friend who isn''t afraid of them or trying to suck up to them. But I trust you and respect you. If you want to know, I''ll spill."


    Matt thought it over. He did trust the woman, and with the hints she had dropped, he would assume her parents were Mara and Leon. That is, if the two weren''t so antagonistic to each other.


    He sent his AI to look for married couples consisting of a phoenix and a storm user. Public records were scarce, but there might be a mention on a report somewhere.


    Focusing on the woman next to him, he lightly elbowed her and said, "Eh. Well, it''s nice to see the guild squirm. Thank your dad for me, I guess."


    The look Liz gave him for not pressing was worth being in the dark a little while longer. They were going to visit her brother after all.


    ***


    As Matt quickly learned, Aunt Helen had a good reason to make Liz promise to keep on track. The woman, while a focused and driven delver and cultivator, liked to wander.


    Liz didn''t spend much of her time traveling by practicing her mana control or any of her shaping skills. Sure, she did practice here and there. However, most of her time was spent nning things to do at each teleport stop that wouldst more than a few hours..


    At first, Matt didn''t know what to make of her attitude. When he traveled to the Dual Stars world, he buckled down and worked on his skills, or he just rxed.


    Liz wanted to do <em>things</em>. She wasn''t picky about what they should do. They just had to do <em>something</em>.


    The second they arrived on came with an eight-hour dy. Liz insisted that they should do something, and she ended up finding a y with open seats and no dress code.


    At first, Matt had to pretend to be interested. The story started slow, and he sated his boredom by pulling out his mana control orb. To his dismay, Liz caught his hand and held it, effectively forcing him to stop. He decided to give the show an honest shot, and if he didn''t like it, he would bow out from further distractions.


    As the second act started, Matt was enthralled. It was a retelling of an older story. It had been retconned so many times, and had been made into so many movies, that Matt didn''t see a way for it to be interesting. He was wrong.


    The acting was amazing. There was something about watching people go through the story live that created a new and exciting experience. The actors blended practical effects with skill to weave the story in a way that made ite to life. No movie had evere close to being this entertaining.


    Even limited to only a stage and no post-production, the way they embodied the story was new and special for him.


    Leaving the showing, all Matt could talk about was the y.


    Liz didn''t gloat in her victory. Instead, she <em>glowed</em>.


    It was worse.


    After that, Matt was willing to participate in whatever excursions the woman wanted to drag him on. His only requirement was that they never beter to the teleport or train station. He wanted to be there noter than two hours before their next departure time. Liz had no problem with that, her own standard was an hour and a half, but she was happy to make the concession.


    Most of their time traveling was spent in practice, but the moments in between were spent on adventures.


    They had to pass through a dozens to reach Tintel, and the variety was a bit of a culture shock to Matt.


    Once they reached the third, they had a fifteen-houryover waiting for the teleporter to cycle. They used the time to visit TrueMind for his Tier 4 AI check-up.


    They had messaged ahead, and weren''t made to wait, but the testing wasn''t as simple as his Tier 3 test had been.


    He sat in a chair for nearly twenty minutes, where technicians poked at their pads with noises he didn''t know how to interpret. Matt had a readout of what they were looking at projected on his HUD.


    One of the techs asked, "So you made the AI create this identification program. Why?"


    Matt''s sarcastic answer of, "Because I was tired of forgetting names," was just nodded to, and the woman kept on tapping vigorously at her pad.


    They continued to ask him questions about how he wanted to direct his AIs growth. They also asked if he felt that his AI was performing equally to the normal AIs of its Tier.


    Matt answered what he could, but he just wanted to say that the AI worked fine, and not give much detail. That apparently displeased the technicians. They wanted concrete ns for his AIs growth. They also wouldn''t give him any hard data on his AI stacked up against the other AIs of his Tier.


    They put his AI through tests for the next two hours, and all Matt heard were tuts of seeming disapproval and sighs. The experience irritated Matt more and more, until he was finally able to leave.


    They never even said that he could go, but he asked and was ignored for fifteen minutes. He, Liz, and Aster just walked out after that.


    All in all, the stop was mostly useless, as Matt somehow felt that his AI wasn''t living up to expectations. Their condescension was annoying. He felt like his AI was doing its best. His mood waspletely ruined after the meeting, but Liz understood and was a good listener as he ranted about it.


    While they waited for the teleporter, Matt looked up what news he could find on the Dual Stars. It was nice to see the guild get smacked down. So far, they were facing fines in excess of Tier 35 mana stones. The investigation concluded that they had underreported the number of growth items obtained from the training by half.


    The local stations all tried to y the guild as the hurt party, but any news station not from their painted the guild in a much worse light. It gave Matt a perverse amount of pleasure to see the prospective fines racking up for Dual Stars.


    At this point, he didn''t even feel the need to get revenge for himself. Whatever he could do would be temporary to the few idiots that directly tried to hurt him. This tax evasion debacle, on the other hand, was hurting the guild from top to bottom.


    Matt watched an analysis report while he pecked at his food. While the food couldn''tpare to Aunt Helens cooking, it was a satisfactory dinner. Especially after the way the TrueMind meeting went.


    Hearing people talk about how dumb the guild was never ceased to put a smile on his face. Liz evenmented that he was bing an evil mastermind at this point.


    Leaving the was a relief to Matt. On their fourth, they had a three-day wait for the teleporter, giving them enough time for some traveling. Matt saw they had an amusement park, and made a quietment that he had never been to one. When Liz found out, she <em>demanded</em> that they check it out.


    The tickets they bought had been pricey enough to make him a little ufortable, but Liz insisted that the three Tier 5 mana stones were worth it. They were only able to go on the Tier 6 or lower rides with their current cultivation. That allowed them to hit seventy percent of the park. But it was sorge, even the two days they decided to dedicate to this stop wouldnt be enough to cover it all.


    The park was asrge as three of his old cities. There were endless things to do. From what he had read about the ce, it was an attraction that drew crowds from all over the nearest worlds. It generated half of the''s overall revenue.


    The trio spent the next forty-eight hours exploring the park. The first ride they went on was a spinning cup ride, where the individuals in the cup could pull on a lever to spin them faster and faster. Liz tried to make Matt sick by spinning it, but he enjoyed the sensation so much, he started spinning it until <em>she</em> begged him to stop.


    "Go find something else!" The look on Liz''s face made Matt sure that she thought bringing him to the amusement park was a bad idea.


    After that, the trio hit ride after ride. Even Aster enjoyed the roller coasters.


    They found wearable animal ears at one of the convenience shops, and their foxpanion demanded to get a second set of fox ears. Matt and Liz bought rabbit ears for themselves. That gave Aster the bright idea to chase them around, <em>hunting</em> them. If they got caught, she would jump up and try to snatch the floppy ears off their heads.


    They walked around eating overpriced food for the full two days. It was fun. So fun that Matt didn''t even bother to practice any of his skills at night.


    On the second day, they spent more time going through the exhibits. They found many a simted habitat, consisting of some truly exotic rift creatures.


    Back on the train, Matt found that the breaks helped him concentrate fully when they left the fun areas. His Concept work wasn''t progressing that much, but the improvements were steady. What really took off was his spiritual sense, and his ability to manipte skills. He was now able to sessfully reproduce the changes he would need to make to [Endurance] after acquiring it once every four attempts.


    It wasn''t an earth shattering improvement, but it was quite a decent improvement from where he was before. Liz was able to do it every time, and he felt that within the next month, he would be able to get close to that same sess ratio.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster visited manys in the next month. The path that Aunt Helen had set for them wasn''t the most direct to get to Tintel. No, she nned for a more circuitous route.


    The fifth they arrived on was a resort world. It was a Low Tier world that someone sculpted to be a world of shallow seas and small inds. The sandy beaches were interspersed with inds of marble and stone.


    The route that the train took was picturesque, and the three of them agreed toe visit in the future. Sadly, they had no time to linger, and had to hustle to reach their next teleporter in time for the jump.


    Halfway through their journey, Matt found an interesting attraction. There was a rift being pacified. It reminded him of the attraction that they had seen at the amusement park.


    When they traveled to the location, they found a giant Dome covering nearly two square miles of grasnd. They signed up for the tour, and a guide led them around the outer perimeter and through some top hatches. Once through the hatches, they were able to see into the cut-off area.


    "Here we have the desired creature. It''s a Tier 8 flower bull. The distinctive flowers on its back are what give it such value to be worth subjugating. These beasties can eat nearly anything, and their excrement is incredibly fertile. Entire fields can be rejuvenated with a few pounds."


    Matt and Liz leaned over the railing with most of the others to peer at the monsters. It looked like a normal cow, simply with a variety of flowers growing from its back.


    Aster poked her head over as well. The fox was sticking close to Matt and Liz. He could feel from their bond that the little fox was terrified, but didn''t want to show it. All her thoughts seemed to be variations of, ''Don''t fall''.


    Two of the beasts saw each other, and passed by without trouble.


    The guide spoke up after people stopped looking over, "These are on their third generation, and the violent tendencies are almost entirely bred out from the species. When they are fully mature, they will be sold off. These are only the third batch to be disyed. Thest was sold for an astonishing Tier 20 mana stone each."


    That caught Matt''s attention. He was debating the logistics of buying a ce like this as passive ie in the future. But he realized that the profit margins were not probably that great. The man said that it took years to breed the aggression out of the rift beast.


    He pointed out around them and asked the guide, "Why don''t they do the generational thing away from the rift and scale up their operations?"


    "Ah, good question. That''s because, when the rift creatures are removed from the rift, they lose their vitality and die in a few years. Breeding them near the rift allows the connection to lessen over time, along with the aggression."


    Matt didn''t know enough to argue, so he took what the man said at face value. The tour continued, but he thought about which of the monsters he had fought could have special characteristics like these cows.


    <em>Are there people who just watch rift monsters to see if they have good poop? It seems wasteful. I guess if youre immortal, time isn''t an issue, but who checks monster poop?</em>


    Matt was sitting at a coffee table in the teleport station twoster, when he took note of the young man serving them. He was smaller in stature, but what surprised Matt the most was that this young man looked twenty, but was still only Tier 1.


    This was a Tier 5, the perfect ce to evolve past Tier 1. The question of why he would remain so weak stumped him, until he saw the family resemnce to the woman behind the counter.


    They were family, and this was their business.


    They had no reason to go out and risk their lives.


    They had no need to get stronger. It wasn''t like they needed the physical strength that Tiering up would grant them. This city was along the coast, so mana wasn''t required to power the shield to keep rifts from spawning.


    <em>Is this what my city was like before the rift break?</em>


    Matt couldn''t remember. It certainly wasn''t like that after the rift breaks. Even a shopkeeper like this would be at least armed when he left, even if they were still Tier 1. No one wanted to be unprepared if a disaster ever struck again.


    He spent more time watching the family of two than he probably should have, and when he returned to Liz with her drink, she red that it was turning cold.


    Matt had to ask after a minute, "On the higher Tier worlds, how domon shop keepers work?"


    "What do you mean? Work how? They still sell stuff, and unless it''s higher Tier goods, the prices are usually capped."


    That was interesting but not the answer he wanted, "No, I mean, do they stay weak without ess to low Tier rifts?"


    Liz nodded, then shook her head. "Sorry, no. There are public rifts held at lower Tiers, but it can take a while to get into them. There are also programs that allow people to travel to the frontiers, where rifts are plentiful. They can stay in the ''core'' Empire, like the beast kingdom or storm kingdom. Those are all ruled by one of the royals. Or they can go to a vassal state where a local king or queen rules."


    She wobbled her head a bit. "That''s not rmended, but it has its advantages. They still have to follow the Rights of Sapience, and can''t break those eightws. But they have more freedom in their day to dayws and customs."


    Matt knew about the vassal kingdoms well enough, but had never looked into them more deeply. They were mostly weaker, on par with a duchy in the empire proper, but four were quiterge. These were nearly the size and strength of a true kingdom. They were technically under the authority of whichever royal they fell under in the Empire proper. But custom andw gave them freedoms.


    When they reached a certain size, they would be absorbed into the core Empire, and their people would be granted full citizenship. Matt read that it wasn''t hard to be a full citizen from vassal status, but when the vassal was first integrated, there was a time of transition.


    Matt nodded, but refocused his question.


    "Ok. But do they just stay weak on higher Tier worlds?"


    "No. If the world is strong enough, people can cultivate with the ambient essence. It''s not perfect, but it''s enough for day to day life. And even a Tier 1 could live on the capital. They would just feel a little stuffy."


    That brought Matt''s thoughts to Lilly and his orphanage there. He wanted to give them funds, but doing so in a safe and controlled manner was harder than he realized. He''d need to sit down with a bank and set up what was essentially a trust fund for them.


    The irony of the poor kid setting up a trust fund for his orphanage wasn''t lost on him.


    While they were waiting around, a woman in a multicolored blue vest approached them.


    "Are you Matt and Liz?"


    Liz seemed giddy and nodded, and one AI identity checkter, she spun on her heel and was gone.


    Liz flipped the package and sighed. "It''s for you."


    She looked sad to miss out on the opportunity to tear into the box.


    Matt inspected the package. It was from Melinda''s group.


    Further inspection showed that it was sent with a courier service, called <em>Aqueducts</em>.


    One AI searchter, Matt found that Duke Waters had set up his own courier service, and apparently had a sense of humor. From the blurb on their website, they moved high-value goods between people and businesses.


    They only employed people who had been on The Path, and services while on The Path were subsidized by the Duke himself.


    Matt popped the package open, and found a handwritten note.


    Hey Matt! It''s Melinda and crew, we knew that you were on the training world, so this should catch you when you exit. Don''t say no or try to give it back.


    Friends help friends!


    That was it. He found a second, smaller package that he needed to link his AI to in order to open.


    When he did, a sliver of ice radiated so cold, he had to turn [Cracked Phantom Armor] on, localized to his hands. Aster, who had been napping next to him, shot up, all of her hair raised.


    Liz read the note and saw the shard of ice, and whistled softly.


    "That''s a nice gift there."


    Matt checked the packet of information that he had received with the package.


    Shard of Primordial Ice Tier 4: A Tier 4 ice shard that can increase the potency of one ice skill or increase ice mana inside the body.


    It was a perfect gift for the poofy fox next to him.


    Matt murmured back to Liz, "Yeah, it is."


    He made a note to be on the lookout for anything that the group could use.


    Liz pulled him up and said, "We''ll give it to Aster, and we need to send them a very nice letter back. This will save her months of time on a cold."


    He asked, "What would this be worth do you think?"


    His quick search didn''t find any Tier 4 variants of Primordial Ice. Primordial Ember at Tier 4 sold for a Tier 6 mana stone.


    "I don''t know everything, you know." Liz red at him. "If I had to guess, about the same as most Primordial elements at that Tier. It depends on where they got it. If it was amon drop in a rift they were in, it could be less. If you get one on a world that never drops them, it could be more..."


    Matt nodded and finished for her. "Either way, it''s an amazing gift."


    "Yeah, stupid! Give it to Aster and send them the video with our thanks."


    Matt did so, with the reaction of the fox captured for all time. She was still staring at the shard of ice, tongue lolling to the side.


    Giving her the shard, she reverted back into a kit. She scampered around for a solid five minutes until she crashed, and copsed onto the floor.


    Liz even introduced herself and thanked the group. She had quizzed Matt for nearly ten minutes about each of them. And even more so about what skills and items they should be on the lookout for.


    The video was sent, but Melindas group was on the other side of the Empire. Even data would take at least a few months to make its way to them. Traveling there in person would be a matter of a year''s worth of travel or more.


    For the next few stops, they tried to find something the group could use, but anything in their price range wasn''t umon enough to ship that far. Melinda''s group would be able to find whatever they had found so far locally.


    What Liz did insist on was to send them some of the pretty views they saw and interesting things they did. At least one thing per. It turned the activities they did into fun messages.


    Matt was rocking with the train, and looking at the cube in hisp, when Liz jerked slightly. She was in the seat next to him and spun to face him.


    "My brother said that theyre going to be waiting for us at their house. They arent picking us up."


    Matt shrugged. It really didn''t bother him either way.


    They stepped into the teleporter and entered a new. It was winter on this, but it was mild. Where they were going, it would be deep winter. ording to his AI and the map of the he downloaded, they were near the equator. They needed to travel south, near the southern pole of the to reach Liz''s brother Travis.


    A train trip got them closer to their destination, but Liz''s brother was over a small mountain range. Thankfully, there was arge city only fifty miles away or so. They just needed to trek the Tier 6 wilderness, and climb a mountain or six to get to them.


    Liz grumbled the entire time, and when they left the city proper and stepped off the trail they were following, Liz screamed out, "I hate you, Travis."


    Matt heard nothing, and didnt see anything either after looking around.


    As they started up the incline, Matt asked, "Ok, so why do we have to walk to them. This feels..." He searched for the right word. "Pedantic."


    Liz kicked a rock, saying, "It is. And I bet theyre following the letter of thew, rather than the spirit of it. If theyre so deliberately not helping us, it''s for a good reason."


    Having only one option, the trio hiked on. This mountain range was new, and full of sharp edges. Weather and time hadn''t had their chance to smooth the rough crags down.


    After hours of hiking, they crested a ridge, and not more than fifty feet on the other side, Matt found a house.


    A three story house.


    A mile above the ground.


    A male version of Liz stood on the balcony and waved.


    "Hey BethBeth."

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37


    Liz waved and called back, "Travis! I hate you! Whyd you make us hike all the way out here?"


    The redheaded man sipped at his cup, and paused long enough for Liz to open her mouth to shout again.


    "Really? Im sorry, I just really wanted to fuck with you."


    Liz''s ensuing tirade seemed to be exactly the reaction he was looking for, as he sipped at his drink with a wide grin.


    They all watched Liz rage at her brother for a minute, then Travis turned slightly to Matt and said, "Hey Matt. I''m Travis. I''ll let you and Aster in. Let me get to the front entrance."


    With that, the man walked back into the room behind him. Matt took the time to examine the house closer. It looked like a fairly standard three-story house, one that could be plopped down in any neighborhood and be inconspicuous.


    Any <em>nice</em> neighborhood, Matt corrected himself. The white exterior was some textured finish. Each visible window had a flower pot hanging off the edge. The oddest part of the house was its bottom floor and foundation. The foundation was about three feet thick, and Matt had to assume that whatever runes or enchantments kept the building aloft were embedded into the b of concrete.


    The area surrounding the house was small, but there were patches of grass that had small pavers building a walkway. All of that was surrounded by a brick wall with a single gate.


    Overall it was a nice house. But something was wrong. Matt wasn''t sure what it was, but something seemed <em>off</em>.


    Travis came down and exited the house, and Matt saw that he was in swooshy pajamas and wearing slippers. He had clearly been rxing all day.


    The house crept closer to the ledge where Aster, Liz, and Matt stood. When it was five feet away from the ledge, there was a sh of light, and mana condensed into a tform that bridged the gap.


    Liz hopped on immediately, but Matt had to test the structure first. It was the most mundane waste of mana he had ever seen. It was at least two inches thick, and three feet across. At five feet long, that was a lot of mana.


    They reached the now open gate, and Liz threw herself into her brother''s arms and reached up, calling out, "Feather!"


    Her brother, unlike her Aunt, scoffed at her. Travis flicked the feather still braided in her hair and said, "Yeah, I see you still have Aunt Helens. You''re not getting one of mine. And it was only a month or so of travel. How many times did you sleep in it for the magic to be gone already?"


    Liz kicked at a paver at her feet with a bad whistle.


    Travis looked smug and then acknowledged Matt. "Hey, sorry about that. Like I said, my names Travis, the youngest son. Elder brother to this one."


    He put his hand out to shake, and Matt returned the grip.


    Travis then squatted and introduced himself to Aster, which immediately put him in Matt''s good graces.


    Matt looked around and realized what was so wrong earlier. The inside of the area was at least twice asrge as it looked from the outside. He was shocked once the reason became clear. The area was spatiallypressed.


    A second man came out from around the back, with a tter of shish kebabs on his arm. He was clean shaven and deeply tanned. He called out as he saw Liz, "Hey, BethBeth!"


    The reaction wasn''t the explosion Matt expected. Liz just hugged him and stole a stick of meat and veggies.


    The man passed off the tray to Travis and introduced himself. "I''m Keith. Matt, right?"


    Their shake was harder. Matt assumed that this man was a melee fighter, from the callouses and his overall build.


    Liz hopped on Keith''s shoulders while he introduced himself to Aster.


    "Favorite brother inw GO GO GO!"


    Keith didn''t seem phased, and simply stood and continued the conversation, "So I hear you are a longsword user! And a pretty good one at that. Well have to spar a bit."


    His grin was casual, but friendly. He wasn''t trying to establish dominance or anything. He just wanted to spar. That was something Matt could get behind.


    "For sure, I''d love to spar."


    Liz called out from atop Keith''s shoulders, "So why did Aunt Helen tell us toe? Are you renewing your vows or something?"


    Travis answered, "No." He turned to his husband. "That''s a good idea, though. It''s been almost fifteen years. Could be fun."


    Keith tapped his chin, "Do we consider it based on years married? Or Tiers weve passed together? We''d be doing a lot of ceremonies if it''s by year. But would it be too few if we did it by Tier? We just hit Tier 17."


    Travis shrugged. "Something to think on. But no BethBeth."


    He swayed out of the kick that Liz sent his way, and spoke as if the interruption didn''t even happen. "Were here because Dominic is ascending here. He just hit Tier 46 and finally solidified his Aspect. Since we are a part of the explorers guild, we got the first warning. It''s still mostly a secret, as he wants the date he leaves to coincide with the first day of spring, and he''s giving minimal warning. This is where his childhood home was. They expanded thendmass a bit, so the city moved, but this is where he''ll ascend."


    Matt was shocked. This was incredibly convenient, almost too convenient. Liz voiced his burning question. "Wait. Then how did Aunt Helen know? And why did he wait until now? "


    Keith patted the leg over his shoulder, and handed up another kebab to Liz. Travis answered her question, "Not everything revolves around you, Liz. And no, he just hit it a few months ago. Again, it was mostly kept quiet, and only the guild heard about it. We all promised to keep it under wraps. That''s why I didn''t tell you. If you found this out on your own, well... I can''t help that. And who knows with Aunt Helen? She has fingers in more pots than anyone else. She probably knew he got his Aspect before I did."


    Keith finished when Travis paused to bite the kebab in his hand. Matt stole one for himself and one for Aster.


    "Honestly, if Dominic didn''t have to wait the three months, he probably wouldnt have told anyone. He''s big on ''destiny'' and ''fate.'' He even said that if people couldn''t get here in time, it wasn''t meant to be. Honestly, I''ll be d when he''s no longer the guild leader."


    Travis nodded vigorously at thatst bit.


    Matt felt the need to thank the men. This was exactly what he needed to finish the creation of his image. "Thank you for letting us stay. We won''t be in your hair for the..." He used his AI to check the time until the first of spring, a little over five months. "Next five months, he gulped. If that''s too long, I und..."


    Travis and Keith both waved him off. Travis spoke first, though.


    "Stop it. Youre family now. And it''s not like we don''t have room."


    "You won''t be in the way. Rx a bit. It will be good to spend some time with BethBeths friends. Five months really isn''t enough time, if you ask me."


    Travis waved them towards the house as he turned. "Let''s get you settled in. I know you traveled somewhatfortably for thest month, but trains still suck. I''m sure you want to get off your feet."


    They were given the grand tour for Matt''s sake. Liz, having already gotten off of Keith''s shoulders, already knew her way around.


    The ground floor was a living room and kitchen, with arge weight room and sparing area set up. The spatial magic was clearly hard at work, for everything to fit into the house. The gym and sparring room took up the same area as the living room and kitchen. The second floor consisted of guest bedrooms, where Matt and Liz dropped off their bags. The top floor consisted of a garden and master bedroom.


    They were all sitting around in the living room, after Liz and Matt had taken a shower to wash off the sweat from their hike.


    The five of them were mostly ignoring the wall screen ying a show in the background.


    "We''ll have to spend the night settled on the ground so we can recharge the mana stone."


    Matt saw his chance to be useful and spoke up, "I can help."


    Travis waved him off. "A Tier 4 won''t really have enough mana to make a difference. But the thought is appreciated."


    Matt looked to Liz. The expression on her face said it was up to him. She hadnt said anything.


    <em>It''s not like her brother will take advantage of my mana. It also isn''t the worst idea to get on Liz''s family''s good side.</em>


    Dropping his veil, Matt activated [Mage''s Retreat] with all the mana his AI wasn''t using.


    Travis cocked his head, and Keith looked up from the tter of cheese and crackers. As the mana cost umted, the look of incredulity on their faces tickled a part of Matt''s pride he didn''t know he had.


    "Wait. You''re not running out. Hold..."


    "You''ve gotta run out at some point..."


    Liz shouted over them and ran off. "Wait. Wait, One moment!"


    She came back with an expanding box that unfurled, and shoved it over Matt''s head. From the inside, he read out loud, "Unlimited mana. Shake to activate."


    "Hey!" Matt lunged and tackled Liz to the ground, to everyone''s amusement.


    Shaking off the box, he sat on Liz and ignored her protests, turning to herughing brother and brother-inw.


    "Yeah, I don''t really run out of mana. So I''m happy to help."


    Keith turned to his husband and said, "Ha! He''s a better mage than you."


    Liz croaked out from under Matt, "It was half of thatst Tier."


    Matt just nodded.


    That set off a round of exmation that only ended with Keith changing the screen and putting up the projections of Matt''s mana. They didn''t ask, but Matt went ahead and shared the finer details of his Talents.


    Matt was handed a spare power source, and while they talked, he sent 18 MPS into it. The stone was set to convert to Tier 15 mana, so it took about 500 mana from Matt to condense and unaspect to one mana at that strength. It didn''t cost Matt anything, so he was happy to keep therge head-sized crystal in hisp.


    They spent the rest of the evening plotting possible builds for him. The two older men had a lot of suggestions and experience. They liked his idea regarding [Hail] and using a mana stone to circumvent his mana regeneration. It would hamper him at the early levels, but would be formidableter on.


    It was a fun evening, mostly spent chatting. They made him feel weed and as if he belonged right off the bat. They really felt like family.


    ***


    The next morning they lounged around after a light breakfast. Keith went to work out, and Matt joined him.


    The weight room was even better than the one on the yPen. Each weight had mana powered gravity resistors, so there was no need to change the weights for the Tier 17 and Tier 4.


    After they worked out, Matt asked Keith if he wanted to spar, but the man declined, saying he had a better idea.


    Matt followed him to a closet, where he pulled two swords out. He tossed one to Matt, saying, "Swap the mana stone in the center with one of yours. Let''s go flying."


    They went out to the courtyard, where Keith dropped the swords on the ground. "Flying objects can look like anything, but I''m a purist, and think they should be swords. One, its tradition. And two, it looks cool as hell."


    He pointed at the sword in front of Matt and said, "That''s my old sword. It''s a Tier 7 sword and purely for flying. My new sword isbat orientated."


    With a tap of his foot, the sword broke into a dozen smaller daggers and floated around him.


    "I lose some speed and maneuverability for practicality. You won''t get that out of any item less than Tier 15, though. Flying items are great for when rifts start to get big. Or for when you explore news, like Travis and I.s are big, and being able to fly lets you move a lot faster. No ground terrain and stuff."


    His sword reassembled itself back into its single sword form, and Keth stepped on.


    "So, stand on your sword."


    Matt did so, and a prompt pinged his AI, asking if he wanted to link to this item.


    "You should see a prompt. Agree, and stand on the sword. Oh also, activate your armor. There shouldn''t be any interference."


    Matt did as instructed, and almost lost his bnce when the sword lifted a few inches off the ground.


    Keith floated around him and said, "The swords can be controlled by your AI, and there''s nothing <em>wrong</em> with that, but the true way to fly is only controlling the rear thrust. Then you use your bnce to control the direction. Well, theres also your vertical thrust, but once you get going, you can turn that off and purely rely on the rear thrust. Thats when you really start <em>moving</em>."


    Matt kept still and asked, "What keeps my feet attached?"


    "Friction runes at the top. They''ll lock down your feet pretty well. Some models you can strap in, but that''s no fun. Alright, try to move a little."


    Shifting his center of bnce, Matt started hovering along the ground, and after a few moments, he was pretty confident in controlling his direction. Even so, stopping was a little awkward, and he almost lost his bnce.


    Keith nodded, and when he suggested they take off, he was interrupted by a cough from behind them.


    Travis stood there with two harnesses dangling from his fingers. "Youre missing something if you want to take a newbie up in the air."


    Keith opened his mouth but closed it, gliding over to his husband.


    He handed Matt one of the harnesses, and while he put on his said, "These are safe fall vests. At the cost of a few hundred mana, theyll slow your fall to nothing. Hitting the ground will be at most like falling five feet."


    "Why didn''t I get one before?"


    Keith scoffed at that. "One, I''m here. You''ll be fine. Two, you have an armor skill that would have ensured you survived the hit. And three, they remove the risk and therefore half the fun."


    Matt didn''t agree with thatst bit, and was d that Travis had brought out the harness. It also linked to his AI, and he saw that it was fully charged.


    "Alright, follow me."


    With that, Keith rose up out of the courtyard and disappeared over the wall.


    Carefully, Matt gave the mentalmand to have the AI increase the lift.


    He was lifted over the wall, and once he was sure he was clear of the top, he turned the rear thrust on. With a small jerk, he was over the wall and flying out into the valley.


    Looking down, he saw the green of the trees and a line where a stream cut a line in the canopy.


    Keith flew by him and called out, "Let''s get some height."


    The Tier 17 shot up, and Matt did the same. But the pure vertical lift was too weak, so he angled the tip of the sword, and slowly turned up the rear thrust. It let him climb a lot faster, and he soon caught up to Keith.


    They were so high, they were closer to the lowest clouds than they were to the ground.


    Keith shouted over the wind that Matt couldn''t feel with [Cracked Phantom Armor] active. "The first lesson is falling."


    With that, the man leaned back until he tumbled off his sword. He straightened out, and once he was facing the ground, he rotated until he was standing, as if on the ground.


    Then, his sword sped around in a wide arc and dove under his feet, where the man took control and quickly returned to where Matt was flying.


    "Staying high is safer. Any flying item will attempt to save you. And theyre good at it. These," he plucked at the harness, "Are a backup to the backup. Let''s get you some height, and I''ll follow you down. But you need to learn how to fall, so if you take a tumble at speed, you don''t panic."


    With that, they doubled their height.


    Matt stood and looked at the cloud that was approaching them. It went against every instinct he had to deliberately fall off of the item responsible for keeping him in the air.


    With a deep breath, he leaned back and suppressed his screaming desire to crouch and shift his center of bnce.


    The sword, even with its friction runes, slipped from his feet, and Matt was falling. The wind from his fall battered his armor. In that moment, he truly felt free.


    Enjoying the sensation for a moment longer, Matt righted himself as his borrowed sword flew under him. When he was standing, the sword stuck to his feet, slowing his descent at a controlled pace.


    Keith swooped by and gave Matt a thumbs up. Matt whooped back, and used the rear throttle to shoot himself up into the sky.


    They weaved and bobbed through the air for nearly an hour, until Keith said that he needed to swap mana stones. Matt had been keeping his topped off, so he watched as Keith rose up and theny on the sword. He quickly swapped the stones and, in a pushup motion, hopped back up to his standing position.


    "That''s how you do it when you can''t afford to recharge it out of your mana pool. Always good to have an extra mana crystal."


    Matt had noticed that Keith''s flying swords tip was pointing forward, and the sword that he was using was the opposite.


    "It''s because this is abat sword. It''s an easy way to know the difference."


    That was a surprisingly simple answer.


    They flew for another fifteen minutes, then Keith slowed down, so Matt mirrored him. They were two valleys away from their house.


    Keith flew next to a cliff and hopped off, with Matt following him. They sat next to each other and enjoyed the scenery.


    Keith broke the silence after a few minutes. "So as I understand it, Liz hasn''t told you who her parents are. If you want to know, I feel you have the right, so I''ll tell you."


    Matt considered the offer, and once he had his thoughts in order, he said, "She''s made the offer, but seems reluctant to share. And if I''m being honest, I don''t care. Liz is Liz. Her parents are mostly irrelevant to what I think of her."


    He was getting frustrated. This wasn''ting out right, so he tried again. "Parents don''t define you. I can''t say I get it, as I don''t have parents anymore, but it doesn''t feel relevant. I have some guesses and spection, but in the end, I trust her. It feels weird, but who am I to judge."


    Keith just looked at him for a moment, and when it was clear that Matt was finished, he said, "Growing up with parents with a personality thatrge is hard. I''m a son-inw, but I still get it, and I didn''t even grow up with them. They are great people, and would do anything for friends of the family. But all of their children have weird hangups. Mostly with power or authority."


    He took a deep breath and finished. "Travis has a problem with people stronger than him giving him things. Weve been to therapy, and he knows it''s a hangup, but it still haunts him. So, I stay a fraction of a percent of essence behind him. It lets him feel like he''s protecting me, which is funny, as I''m the front line, but it''s his hangup. He''s cute about it. He even insists that we advance together, but I always let him take a bit of the lead. Dian, Travis'' older sister, takes it out by having a harem with more people than days in the year."


    Keith grimaced, "Liz had it worse. She didn''t grow up with friends her own age that had simr powers. She isn''t wrong when she says that anyone her age that got close to her had ulterior motives. She still had a family, with the rest of her siblings and us. And she has more Aunts and Uncles than you can count. But people her own age are a different matter, and that''s her hangup. But in the end, that''s Liz''s problem. If you want to know, you deserve to know."


    Matt thought it over and said, "Thanks. I never really thought of it like that. I think, for now, Liz can keep her secret. She said before that she was free from interference until Tier 10. And well... I think she''ll tell me before that."


    Keith pped his leg and stood. "Well, enough of that somber shit. Let''s throw a ball back and forth a bit."


    They spent another hour tossing a ball back and forth. Matt started to activate [Mage''s Retreat], so he could keep up ever so slightly with the Tier 17. It was fun, but eventually, they went down andnded back at the couple''s house.


    "That was amazing. Thank Keith. That was a new experience. I need to get me one of these."


    Keith grimaced and said, "I''d just give you that, but with you being on The Path, gifts from higher Tiers get iffy really quickly."


    Matt shrugged, "Maybe I can sell some mana or something. We have a bit saved up already, and I could use the mobility."


    "They get pricey, but selling your mana could be a good avenue. With the ascension happening here, they are going to be building temporary structures all around these mountains, and the amount of mana thats going to be expended will be impressive. We can look into just using the house''s extra crystals, so it keeps you from having to reveal your mana regen. Worstes to worst. We can just say Travis is making the mana. He''s a Tier 17 mage."


    Matt was touched. Keith was genuinely looking out for his best interest. He nodded and agreed with the older man''s words.


    They sat around the table and ate afortable dinner together. It was an almost painful reminder of Matt eating with his parents growing up.


    Travis asked Matt and Liz, "So you have nearly half a year. What do you both intend to do besides practice? That reminds me," He looked at Matt and asked, "Youre working on your Concepts image, right?"


    At Matt''s nod, he continued, "I''m sure Liz has gone over it with you, but tomorrow, Keith and I will sit down with you and go over what we know. You don''t have to tell me anything private, but I think I can help."


    "You really don''t have to. It''s too much."


    Travis smirked, and waited for Matt to finish his excuses. "Matt. Youre stuck with my sister for a long time. No matter what type of rtionship you two end up in, you''ll still be family. Don''t stop us from helping where we can. Having an ascension gives you opportunities, and if you aren''t prepared, you might miss them. A thank you is all I want or expect."


    Matt swallowed. Hisment about his and Liz''s rtionship brought awkward thoughts to the front of his mind. He focused on the end of hisment, and simply did as he was asked, and thanked the man.


    "Thanks. I''ll take you up on that. And I was mostly nning to take some sses and..." It was hard to say, but he pushed through, "Talk to a therapist."


    Travis nodded and said, "Don''t be afraid to shop around for a therapist that fits you. If they don''t feel right, don''t feel bad about swapping. I went through nearly twenty until Inded on Dr. Michel."


    Matt didn''t know why he feared ridicule from these people, but theck of even a snide joke left him oddly relieved.


    Keith interjected, "You should look into a hobby. Look at smithing or enchanting. Anything, really. I like to make furniture in my free time. Travis likes to garden. Make a list of the professions you would be interested in, and work from the least likely to the most. The nearest city has sses where you can check nearly anything out."


    Seeing the question Matt was going to ask, he spoke over him. "Just take the flying sword you used earlier. As long as youre here, youre wee to use it. Like I said, I''d give it to you if I could. You can even use it to take Aster and Liz to the city as well. It saves one of us from having to do it. We won''t make you hike out here every time."


    Matt was touched. During the remainder of dinner, he made a mental list of things he could see himself doing. He already knew what he would probably end up doing, but gave an honest effort to looking up other professions.


    Later that night, he, Liz, and Aster were watching the stars in the grass out front of the house. Matt made it a point to look at the night sky on every he traveled. Each was a unique painting of light, and they always settled him down.


    Liz had moved over, and was lying on his outstretched arm.


    Matt felt that it was time to bring up the topic he had been avoiding.


    "Liz?"


    "Hmm?"


    "We have an ugh... attraction between us." Getting the words out had been more awkward than Matt expected.


    Liz stiffened at the words. A momentter, she rxed, "I... yeah."


    Before she could say more, Matt spoke on, "Does it have to do with the fact that you''ve never had a friend before? A real friend?"


    The tension returned to Liz''s body, but she didn''t say anything for a long moment.


    The stars had moved appreciably when she whispered, "I don''t know. Maybe. You''re attractive, and honestly, it''s been hard to not want to rip our clothes off after some of our close encounters with death. But I do realize that I have hangups. It''s one of the reasons I haven''t made any kind of move. I don''t want to ruin it, but a part of me feels that if we got together, it would stop you from leaving. And that''s not a good thought either. I''ve had a few emails with my own therapist about it, but..."


    She sighed and slumped, "Theres a reason that nobility and higher Tier families rmend that no serious rtionships start until Tier 15. The time period gives everyone experiences, and allows kids to mature."


    Matt whispered back, "I don''t care who your parents are. I may have rushed into giving you the growth item by most standards, but I don''t regret it. We work as a team really well. And I think we make good friends. I can''t even imagine spending my time without you."


    Pausing, Matt gathered his thoughts. Liz didn''t rush him. "I''m not going anywhere. There''s nothing wrong with not rushing into anything. Tier 15 seems far away, but if I had to choose, I''d rather go slow with anything between us. We can''t take back rash decisions. So lets keep doing what we are doing. Nothing official untilter. I dont think either of us relish not having sex for a hundred years."


    "Matt?"


    "Yeah?"


    "Thanks for understanding and being a good friend."


    "Anytime."


    They sat in silence while they watched the stars, and eventually, Matt got up, and they made their way to their respective rooms. He was in bed after a quick shower, and a light tap at his door got his heart racing.


    Liz walked into his room with wet hair and an overlyrge shirt clinging to her form.


    "I was taking a shower, and I realized that this is stupid. I can''t ask you to face your fears and do therapy without confronting my own problems."


    She took arge breath and said, "My parents are Leon and Mara, two of the royals."


    With that finally out in the open, she disappeared out of the door. He heard her door click with a snick that said she locked the door.


    Matt was slightly in shock. He had searched everything, and they were the most obvious answer, but they were both officially single.


    Then he checked the EmpireNet and found that Mara and Leon, the extremely powerful royals, were single. There was a marriage record of one Leon Moore and one Mara Moore set nearly two thousand years ago. Why the distinction, he didn''t know, but it was obvious when you knew what to look for.


    He crawled under his covers, when he saw Aster''s ears flicking towards Liz''s room. He cocked his head, and heard what had startled the fox. Through the walls, they could hear hups and cries.


    Matt took a deep breath and picked up Aster. He knocked on Liz''s door. A momentter, he heard through the door, "Everythings fine."


    "It''s not Liz. Open up, please. Were here for you."


    The door opened, and Liz threw herself into his arms, weeping into Aster''s fur.


    "It''s scary. Anytime I''ve told people, they look at me differently. I hate it."


    Matt caught her chin and made her look at him. He gave her his best smile while looking deep into her eyes. "I don''t care about your parents."


    She met his eyes, and after a moment, they watered up, and her weeping started again.


    "I''m sorry for not telling you for so long."


    She kept trying to apologize, but he kept whispering reassurances. Aster did her best tofort the girl with head rubs and quiet yips.


    They made their way into Liz''s room, and she wept into his shoulder and clutched Aster to her until she fell asleep.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38


    That morning Liz shuffled around after getting up, waking Matt up from his doze. He had spent most of the night thinking about the implications of having two Tier 48 royals as parents. Mostly, his thoughts ran in circles.


    Mid yawn, Matt noticed Liz looking at him. She gave him a shy smile and mouthed, thanks. She then covered her mouth and scooped up Aster, calling out as she entered the attached bathroom, Thanks forst night. But I need a shower and some girl time.


    Matt took that as the dismissal it was, and returned to his room.


    After showering, he went downstairs and found their hosts sitting down and drinking from steaming mugs.


    Travis enthusiastically greeted him. Morning, Matt.


    Keith shushed him, his eyes still closed. Travis rolled his eyes, but lowered his voice to a normal one.


    We already made breakfast. What do you want?


    Looking around, Matt saw some dirty dishes but no actual food.


    His confusion was clearly evident, as Travis raised a hand and said, Stasis ring. It sacrifices size for stopping time in the ring. Great for making arge breakfast and not having it get cold.


    Matt just stared for a moment. I am incredibly jealous. I want the rings so bad. They seem better in every way. I smell eggs and bacon. Ill take that if its not too much trouble.


    Travis nodded and extended a hand over Matts te. Out came some fluffy scrambled eggs and strips of thick bacon.


    Matt had just tucked in when Liz and Aster came in. They were both wet and smelled of soap. He nodded at her while she just grabbed Travis hand and started shaking.


    Food appeared on her and Asters tes. Her fork was entering her mouth when Matt struck.


    So if two of your parents are royals, are you a double princess? Or do the two cancel out?


    Liz choked, while Travis looked surprised. Keith startedughing so hard he started going red.


    A scarlet Liz was unable to answer, but Travis looked at her and said, You told him? Im proud of you, BethBeth.


    She flipped everyone the finger while hiding behind a curtain of still damp hair.


    Keith got himself under control and looked back and forth between Liz and Matt. He asked, We were going to head into town for the next few days. If you want a few more days of R&R, we can dy it.


    Matt looked at Liz, who just shook her head, not looking up. He answered for both of them. I think well be fine going in today. I know I want to send money to my orphanage. Set up a fund or something.


    Travis had a pitying look and seemed to be resisting the urge to hug him, but Keith just nodded.


    We can stop by a bank. Any of them can set that up. You might not be the first to do so. If so, you can just add money to the existing fund. Or you can set up your own trust for them. Creating the ount will be pretty painless. Oh also, you mentioned that you want to take some sses. Honestly, you should register sooner rather thanter. When word goes public about the ascension, this ce will turn into a madhouse. Anything you want to do should be taken care of now.


    Travis cut in, pointing at Keith. Speaking of which, get a ticket booked for a week after the ascension date. Its going to take months for travel to go back to normal. Even with them doing jumps every few hours.


    Matt did so. He was sure the price would skyrocket as well.


    After eating, they got ready to make the trip into the city. Matt was using the flying sword to carry himself, Liz, and Aster. Travis apparently used the ankle variant, to disapproving tsks from Keith. The mage used a skill that projected a bubble of mana, keeping the wind off him.


    Keith shook his head, and Matt agreed with him privately. He had even started deactivating [Cracked Phantom Armor] to feel the wind. It gave flying a more visceral feel.


    They quickly flew over the mountains and forest that the trio had hiked through. In minutes, they were at the city border. The two Tier 17snded, with Matt following suit.


    Keith shrugged at Matts questioning look. Cant use my flying sword in a city, as its abat variant. And its bad form to use flying skills in low Tier cities like this. Its not <em>illegal</em>, though.


    With a wave, he collected both flying swords into his spatial ring. Instead of walking or waiting for a bus, a taxi pulled up.


    <em>I guess at Tier 17, your time is worth more than the cost of a Taxi. Thest time I checked, the rates were daylight robberies.</em>


    Slipping into the seat, he watched the city whiz by. The AI controlled vehicle went faster than any bus would go. In what felt like moments, they were in front of a ss and mana construct building that screamed wealth and elitism.


    Inside the bank, everything was white stone with gold iy. The extravagance made Matt ufortable. This wasnt his kind of environment.


    Liz, Aster, and Keith waited outside, walking down to a nearby ice cream shop.


    Travis bumped Matt with an elbow. Rx a bit. He raised his voice and, with a grin, nearly shouted, Theyll think youre nning to rob the ce.


    Matt flushed, looking around. They now had everyones attention. Through gritted teeth, Matt pushed out, Thats not funny. Everyones looking at us now.


    The Tier 17 justughed, and when a spot opened up at a desk, walked over.


    The woman behind the desk was immactely put together. Not a single hair escaped her tight bun. Her makeupplemented her polite smile, and as they sat down, she asked, Are either of you a member at Krystals?


    Travis looked at Matt, clearly indicating that he should take the lead. With a hard swallow, Matt did so.


    Id like to give money to my orphanage on Lilly. But Id like them to have a fund or something that could ensure that the money goes through proper channels, and isnt funneled off.


    He didnt think it would happen, but it was better to be safe than sorry.


    The woman, Reba, ording to his AI, didnt flinch at the mention of an orphanage. She simply asked, Which city?


    Matt told her, Warrington.


    The screen she was using shed with a list, and Rebas eyebrows almost reached her hairline.


    She scrunched her face and asked, Sorry sir, there are quite a few. Which one, in particr, are you looking to give to?


    Warringtons Upper East Side Orphanage #3.


    At that, the woman flinched slightly. Clearly, she wasnt used to more than two dozen orphanages in a single city.


    She spoke up with the same professional voice and smile. How much would you like to donate, and what would you like to set the money aside for?


    They went over the details, and it took nearly twenty minutes. But in the end, he gave ten Tier 5 mana stones in credits. The value of fifty million credits was shocking when he thought about his equipment. But then, credits were only really used on low Tier worlds for mundane things. So, Matt had to quell the cognitive dissonance brewing in his head.


    Reba suggested what restrictions were normal. They seemed reasonable to Matt. Mostly, they restricted the usage of the funds. Wages could be increased, and new people hired, but there were limits set by the banks AIs.


    Matt read it over, but he had no financial background, so he looked to Travis. After giving the paperwork a good once over, he just gave Matt a nod of approval.


    When they were leaving, Travis leaned over and added another two Tier 5 mana stones. Matt tried to protest, but Travis pped a hand on his shoulder and insisted.


    At that moment, Matt realized that he was actually an inch or so taller than the man. He had never noticed before, as the man had a presence befitting his higher Tier.


    Come on Matt, thats not much to me, really. And its not all just goodwill on my part. The bank will see that Im a Tier 17, and theyll put a lot more effort into making sure the money is used well. If I didnt associate myself with the ount, they would assign a lower Tier AI. It could possibly be tricked with things like paying a family for construction, or something along those lines. This way youre covered


    Lizs brother shrugged nonchntly with a warm smile. Dont even worry about it.


    Matt watched the man as he held open the door for the entering couple. He may have thought it was no big deal, but it was. At least, it was to him.


    Matt opened his mouth to tell him so as they headed to rejoin the others, and was elbowed again. Matt, rx. Really. Its pocket change to me. I could have given more, but after a certain point, the money wont really help. Personally, I would have suggested you not give any more than that. It wouldnt have painted a target on them, but it wouldnt aplish what I think youre looking for either. Theres a reason that the Empire restricts donation amounts. It also stops higher Tiers from crashing local economies.


    Matt spoke up, Still, you may consider it nothing, but you putting your name on it will help. Its a Tier 4 world. People there think Tier 5s are strong. Theyd shit themselves and die if they saw a Tier 17.


    Travis chuckled, but said nothing more.


    They spent the rest of the day signing up for sses for Liz and himself at the local university.


    Liz was going to work on her Alchemy skills while they had the free time. Matt took a remedial education ss that wouldst a month; three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he would be taking a ss that would cycle him through the major crafting professions.


    The sses only took an hour of time each afternoon, so it wasnt much of a workload. Matt was tired of having to rely on Liz for things he would know if his home wasnt so mismanaged.


    He was even able to schedule a therapist meeting twice a week. Travis again counseled him not to settle, and reminded him that they had nearly a year for him to find someone he liked. All three of them said that they messaged their therapists at least once a month, even when they werent on the same world.


    Later that night, Matt idly mentioned to Keith that he missed delving. Keith was sitting in the lounge chair next to him, watching the valley beneath the floating house.


    Yeah, I wish I could refill rifts with my mana. It would be nice to always get the best rewards, like they were at the beginning of the training world. I tried to push mana out into the air, but it just went into the surroundings instead of the rift.


    He didnt hear anything in response from Keith, and when he turned to check on him, the man was staring at him with wide eyes.


    What?


    Matt waved his hand in front of the mans face and still got no reaction.


    Almost a full minuteter, he snapped out of it.


    Travis! His shout startled Matt.


    His husband appeared out of nowhere, with sudsy hair and only in a towel.


    What?


    Keith looked at Matt with an evil grin.


    Rift refills with Matt''s mana.


    Travis opened his mouth, and mouthed a few words before saying, Find a rift. I''ll grab the ring with the bs.


    With that, they were both gone.


    Liz came walking in from the kitchen a momentter. They stood there confused, until Travis flew by them, saying, Get ready, were going to be flying. Harness up.


    They did so, but Liz asked, What did you say to them?


    I just mentioned that it would be nice to refill rifts, and Keith went silent. Then they lost their minds.


    Liz looked as confused as he was, so they simply waited after the three of them got their harnesses on. Aster was as confused as they were, but far more unwilling to be in the air, even with a safe fall harness made for her. She retreated into her backpack, and refused to even stick her head out.


    The married couple blew past Matt and Liz, both taking off into the air. He and Liz had to scramble to catch up.


    Liz tried to shout at them, but the wind ensured that she was unheard by everyone but Matt, who was holding her. Five minutester, theynded near a rift, and Keith started pulling bs of metal out of a new spatial ring.


    Travis pointed at the rift, and the metal bs formed a circle around it. Matt said that he wished he could refill rifts. He can. He just needs a concentration formation. These metal bs naturally pull in mana, slowly. They help keep rifts functioning with enough mana to operate, but at a slightly higher rate than they would be at naturally. Its also how the rifts in yPens are kept up and running constantly. The other option is just dumping mana stones into the rift, but thats disgustingly wasteful at the higher Tiers.


    Keith finished cing the bs of metal, which, when the circle wasplete, started drawing the ambient mana forward at a slow but perceptible rate.


    Travis finished, The form for refilling a rift to full is 10*(Tier+1 + (Tier+1)/2) mana stones of their Tier, plus one. That means Matt can refill a rift of his Tier, on his own, to <em>full</em>. In about ten minutes until Tier 20 where it will double.


    Matt had his AI do the math, and was shocked at how broken that was.


    He asked while looking at the table, What would it take to fill them to sustainability?


    Keith grinned, About a tenth of that.


    Liz was clearly doing the math as well and said, I hate you more and more. There has to be a catch somewhere.


    Travis wiggled his hand, Ehhh. Kinda, Mana Concentration isnt considered, and the efficiency of a mobile formation is about seventy five percent at best. But still, those dont matter when you never run out of mana.


    Matt thought through the implications of this new discovery, and just let out a soft, Fuck me. This cant get out.


    Travis simply shrugged, and Liz said, Mom and dad would never let anyone kidnap you. Mana battery or no. Youre my friend, and my partner. On top of that, Uncle Manny wouldnt let anyone touch you while youre on The Path, or off it, for exactly the same reason.


    That made Matt pause and think back to when Liz had shown him how to manipte his skills.


    Her words came back to him with the rity of a movie, thanks to his AI.


    <em>Meh. Uncle Manny wouldnt care if I told you. Just dont tell anyone else except Aster when she gets to that part...</em>


    <em>Uncle Manny...</em>


    There was only one name that was shortened to Manny that he knew of. And also only one person with that name that would interact with people in the Tier 40s.


    He cleared his throat and asked, Umm, by Uncle Manny... You dont happen to be talking about The Emperor, Emmanuel, right?


    Liz just nodded like it was no big deal.


    Matt snapped, Why did you teach me things the <em>EMPEROR</em> told you not to teach people. I could get in a lot of trouble.


    Liz shrugged, and Travisughed, saying, Matt, Liz has Uncle Manny wrapped around her finger. Shes the youngest niece he has. He <em>really</em> wouldnt care.


    Matt dropped to his ass.


    Keith cocked his head and asked, Can you move to the right a bit and charge the rift? While you have an existential crisis.


    Matt shuffled and put his hand to the cold metal, dumping 18MPS into the gathering formation.


    At least the Emperor seemed like a nice guy when I met him.


    Travis asked, You met him?


    Yeah, one of my friends at the yPen got a super rare Talent, and it alerted the Emperor.


    He didnt want to say too much about Melindas Talent, as it wasnt his secret to share. But that seemed to be enough.


    A bubble of force came around them, and the nighttime sounds of the forest disappeared.


    Travis nodded and said, It must have been an amazing one. Uncle Mannys Talents basically allow him to copy anyones Talent, and swap them out at will. So hell always be alerted if the Talents hit thresholds. It must have been really good if he called in person.


    Matt was bbergasted. He can <em>steal Talents</em>?


    Travis waved his hand in dismissal, No, no. Nothing like that. His Tier 1 Talent is something like: can copy anyone else''s Tier 1 Talent. Repeat for Tier 3, 25 and 50. He can just yoink anyones Talent if theyre at least five Tiers below him, without them noticing. But they can feel and resist it if theyre close to his own Tier. However, it doesnt have any downsides to the person he takes them from.


    Matt still didnt know what to think of that. That seems extremely broken. He can mix and match with an Empires worth of Talents.


    Matt was sure that with how happy the Tier 50 had seemed with Melindas Talent, he had taken a copy of it.


    That raised another question, Can he just take it from anywhere?


    Travis shook his head, Nah. His target needs to be within his spiritual sense. So a or two away.


    That was even more surprising. Matts spiritual sense extended a few dozen feet. He didnt even want to think of how powerful one had to be to extend worlds apart. That wasnt even usually measured in real space distances, as the chaotic space that allowed them to travel betweens wasnt the same as normal space.


    Most worlds were found in different universes. The chaotic space let them jump between the universes, and even between gxies in the same universe. Chaotic space linked nes of existence with essence, which meant all worlds that had life at one point would be connected.


    Matts focus drifted back to the ability to have any Talent.


    Does he have a limited number of Talents that he can remember at any one time?


    Travis shook his head, Nope, but they dont grow with him. <em>Most </em>Talents, even the non Tier 3 Talents, grow a bit. Usually the Tier 3 is the dedicated Talent that grows the most. But he takes a copy as it is, and it cant grow at all. Im sure with how your Talents are working, hes waiting until you hit a higher Tier to copy your Tier 3. If he took it now, Im pretty sure hed have 20 max mana. Which isnt an improvement.


    I dont know how to feel. It almost feels invasive.


    Travis shrugged at that. I dont see it that way, but I understand what you mean.


    Liz interjected, Its not like he hurts anyone, and he always pays people for the Talents that are really useful to him. Once they reach a high enough Tier, that is.


    Matt thought it over. Paying people helped, but it still felt weird that someone could have his Talents.


    He had to admit that he would scout the entire Empire if he had that ability. It was only potent if he could mix and match the various Talents intobinations.


    Thats so broken. So thats why he called Melinda and seemed to be happy? I guess it makes a lot more sense that he would have his AI watching Talents then. It feels like he would really like to be able to view everyones Talents.


    Liz and Travisughed at that.


    Keith spoke up, after a while. He would. And in private dinners, hes even said as much. But any breach in security would put a vulnerability in the system, so he does it the hard way. Hes doing the best he can to make himself strong, while protecting the privacy of themon man as well. If he wanted, Im sure he could get into the system. He doesnt because it could possibly hurt people if the info got out.


    That was a fair point, Matt had to admit. As a Tier 50, the man could take whatever he wanted.


    The rift behind him changed suddenly. They all turned their attention to it.


    Liz murmured, Well, thats fucking stupid as hell. She poked her brother in the ribs, making him jump slightly. How much does one of these cost? I want one.


    Keithughed, BethBeth, even the cheapest of these is in the Tier 10 price range.


    That crushed Matts hopes.


    Travis tossed out, Dont look so down. With how much mana theyre gonna be burning through when they start building temporary structures, the value of mana is going to skyrocket. Im sure youll be able to buy a set of these. Shit, youll probably be able topletely regear as well. Or at least buy a skill or two. Youre gonna make a ton of money either way.


    That perked Matt up. He could never have enough money. There was always something to spend it on. After seeing the couples house, he definitely wanted a bigger bag, so he could travel with something better than a tent.


    Their house had all the protections and luxuries one could ask for.


    They all looked at the rift for another long moment. Finally, Keith began to speak.


    Well, lets clean this up, and Ill quickly delve this back to where it was. We dont want to leave any evidence about your ability to feed rifts. That would be dangerous.


    Matt shuddered slightly at that thought. He still hadnt even processed how valuable it would be for every group to enter a rift and get the maximum rewards. All it would cost him was time.


    He was d he had Lizs family as a shield that he could throw around. He didnt want to get locked away in someones dungeon. Anyone could get greedy with the prospect of rift rewards that strong.


    <em>I could probably even make a rift, given enough time.</em>


    That was an even crazier thought. One he also kept to himself.


    That night, his dreams were filled with the horrors of being captured and forcibly Tiered up, until he was able to power some dukes personal rift. His dreams were so bad, Aster left his bed and scampered to Lizs room.


    After the third night terror, Matt just went down to the grassy area and watched the stars. He loved the view. They reminded him that even while he would eventually have the strength to crush them, they still didnt care about him. His problems were insignificant on any universes scale.


    Keith plopped down next to him.


    Matt sat up, Did I wake you? Im sorry...


    Nah, not at all Matt. You really dont need to sleep when you hit Tier 15. Its mostly just a habit, and its nice to sleep with loved ones. Well, its still good to sleep to let your mind settle. But you need that a lot more than I do.


    Keith just sat with him for a while. Eventually, he said, I get what youre going through. When Travis got serious, I went through the same thing. He chuckled at the memory, and a wide smile seemed stered to his face, He didnt tell me shit. I walked into a family get-together and found myself with five of the Empires royals, and more dukes than I could count. I nearly shit myself when my AI noted all the names and ranks. Ascenders, I was so mad at him.


    The Tier 17 waved out to the surroundings. My parents were the first generation to settle a new Tier 3. They were only Tier 7, but by helping subjugate the world and settle it, they got a massivend grant along the coast. I still grew up on a weaker world, and even with them helping, my prospects were limited. I got a crafting Talent, but I always wanted to delve. I grew up on the movies and shows. My point is, I get how shocking it can be to get thrust into the world of <em>power</em>.


    Keith let Matt think, and finally, Matt said, I worry that Ill lose my agency with someone like Liz. It wasnt so bad when I just thought her parents were strong. Now, I know that theyre the <em>strongest</em> people. Period. They can take or do anything they want. I know Liz doesnt want that, but now a small part of me whispers, how can I say no? I understand that acting that way would be exactly what shes afraid of, but...


    Matt trailed off. He knew Liz didnt want that, but the discrepancy in backgrounds left him feeling inadequate.


    He looked to Keith. Do you ever feel like you can match up to Travis? You delve together and explore news together. Do you have arger team, or is it just you two? I worry that Ill hold Liz back. She knows more than I do, and shes a <em>princess</em>, for Ascenders sake. I dont even know what her life growing up was like, let alone where shell end up.


    Matt continued rambling, and Keith let him get it all out. Finally, when Matt ran out of steam, the Tier 17 said, I felt the same as you do in the beginning. We were never on The Path, so it was slightly different, even though Travis never relied on his parents. But yes. I felt like I was dead weight. We talked about it, and he was shocked that I would think that.


    He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and finished, Mara and Leon do great work raising their kids in most ways. They get raised on tales of how no one is lesser. I myself, and Im sure you as well, got raised on stories about how those with power are inherently better. A lot of the middle nobles are pushing that narrative after all. Especially the ones who did nothing but inherit their positions.


    I dont have the answers, Matt. All I can say is, I get it. And honestly, with your Talent, you could go anywhere. Even now. Youll rise on your own merit. Shit, it might be hard for Liz and Aster to keep up with<em> you</em>. Ill bet thats what Liz is thinking right now. How do you keep up with the man who can refill a rift of his Tier in ten minutes?


    Matt spoke without thinking, Id never leave them behind. They arent... He trailed off, seeing the corrtion, Useless. And Im sure Liz sees it the same way with me and her background.


    The Tier 17 hoped to his feet. Im d you made the leap yourself. Now lets go get a spar in. The sparring room is soundproof, so we wont bother anyone else. I even have an armor breaking skill that Im sure you can practice with. It will pop your skill, and its good to learn how that feels and learn how to defend against it.


    Keith was an infuriating opponent. He was a hammer and shield user. Even when the man fought at Matts own physical abilities, he was able to avoid any attack. He had decades of experience, and it showed. Even Matts best attacks were blocked or deflected with little effort.


    The only strike Mattnded with the practice sword was when he red [Mages Retreat] to change his speed. The trick didnt work a second time, but Keith constantly gave feedback. It was incredibly helpful for Matts ownbat ideas. Even if they didnt work against Keith, he told Matt whatbinations gave him the most difficulty.


    The fact was, Matt was at a disadvantage, using his longsword against a shield that he couldnt batter through. It forced Matt to rely on Longsword techniques that he hadnt needed since he bought the Tier 5 sword. He was so used to it cutting through everything in Tier 4.


    The Armor breaking skill shattered [Cracked Phantom Armor] at the slightest touch. The skill Keith used was directly attacking and destabilizing the armors skill structure. It was somehow shaking the skill, and punching holes into where the mana traveled. Thatbo made it take nearly a minute for Matt to get the skill back up. He knew what he''d be asking Keith to do for the next few months.


    They fought for so long, even Keith worked up a slight sweat. Matt took that as a win. It was the only one he got that night. Still, the sparring helped him calm down. And if nothing else, improving his skill was always a step in the right direction.

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39


    Being back in school was weird for Matt. Things were simr in some ways, and strangely different in others. Unlike his time in the orphanage, he now had ess to his AI and the EmpireNet. The sses were structured around both.


    It made for an odd parody of his early schooling.


    The thing was, he was enjoying it. There were two main lecturers teaching the general sses he was taking. The older man Matt found interesting enough, but the younger woman made the sses a joy to be a part of. Even if he mostly sat quietly and took everything in.


    He learned about so many things that the orphanage either didn''t think were important, or just didn''t have the resources to teach. Taxw was the current topic that he found a perverse pleasure in learning. The Empire usually only demanded a five percent tax from earners, depending on the lowest Tier they were that year.


    It led to a lot of people trying to break through on the first of the year, since the Empire didn''t care about the lowest Tiers when it came to taxes. Only Tier 5''s and higher had to pay the tax. And with the increasing value of mana stones, the higher Tiers covered most of the Empire''s needs. Taxes were public record, and the Emperor himself provided nearly a quarter of the needed public funds for the entire Empire.


    He even learned that there was an option to sell items in government-sanctioned auctions that sold items one Tier lower. They counted as one and a half times more valuable for tax purposes. It was an incentive that the past Emperor had set up. It allowed people to get resources above their Tier, and strengthened the Empire as a whole.


    His favorite lesson covered the punishment for deliberately hiding wealth. The instructor used the oh-so-recent Dual Stars scandal as an example. They went through the public information, and went over the revealing case documents.


    The guild had shot themselves in the foot well and good with their actions. The training was funded by a government loan, and the expected influx of growth items was the main coteral. Dual Stars had decided that skimming off the top, while pumping every avable mana stone into the best-hidden rifts was a good idea. All while reporting a paltry few growth items for thest few centuries, for every new training loan.


    The newest court document was putting them at nearly a thousand Tier 3 through Tier 5 growth items, while the guild reported a fraction of that. The damages owed started at five times the penalty, and they continued to rise day by day, as more items were found.


    Currently, there were rumors that the guild leaders would be sent to an asteroid mining prison station. There they would spend a few centuries breaking big space rocks into little rocks, then rebuilding the big rocks.


    The instructor said that there was a near-zero chance of that happening, but the thought still put a smile on Matt''s face. Regardless, they were still looking at heavy fines, and anyone who could was jumping ship to other guilds.


    The only one from the guild that Matt worried for was Simeon. But at Tier 15, he should have no problem joining another guild. Though from what Matt saw, it wasn''t all bad, and the teacher even said that they weren''t the first guild to get caught doing this. They were just the most recent. Even the worst offending guild rarely broke apart from simple tax evasion.


    What they had done was standard practice when cultivating a. You noted rifts with great growth potential, and culled the worst of each Tier. Things like monster type and density of monsters were the primary concerns for rifts Tier 7 and under. After Tier 8, they focused on skill shard drops, for more value per delve.


    Eventually, the rifts would be mostly farmed as value producing machines, essentially money printers. On training worlds, where the rifts were left to sit, they focused on rifts that gave growth items. That wasn''t the case on worlds that were delved regrly, as the chance for growth items dropped off sharply if the rift wasn''t at full capacity.


    Matt made a note of that. If he could find a rift that others didn''t know about, which had a growth item as an even semi-regr reward, he could get a few of them. Even if they weren''t great for him or Liz, they could always sell them for a nice payday.


    The other bit of information that surprised him was how fragile the economy was. The Empire had strict limits of what higher Tiers could do with their money. A lower Tier world''s economy could be irrevocably damaged if a higher Tier came through and bought everything up.


    The issue was mostly solved by Tiers. Generally,rge expenses were loosely regted, as long as the items were at their own Tier or higher. But things like housing and food were strictly controlled. The empire wouldnt stand for any slum lords or food hoarders.


    The information was good, and he was better for learning it.


    After sses, he spent most of his time trying to find a hobby. Matt had made a list, and worked his way from the bottom. He tried painting, gardening, wood crafting, sculpting, dancing, acting, and even alchemy.


    None of them gave him any pleasure. cksmithing and enchanting were saved for his third and second choice. He was vaguely familiar with the former, from a few lessons he took on the yPen. It was a useful skill, and he nned to at least learn enough to be able to maintain their weapons. But it was still just a job to him.


    That left enchanting. After a brief overview, Matt found that he hated it. He also recognized that he had an advantage that every enchanter would kill for. Mana was the limiting factor in most professions, but it was even more so for enchanters. They required tens of thousands of mana for the simplest of runes to take form and burn into the structure of the item they were trying to enchant.


    That cost only multiplied when trying to enchant with the ambient mana that most cities stored.


    Matt had none of those problems. The mana cost wasn''t a single big price, but one that needed a slow and steady input of mana.


    He was the perfect enchanter.


    And he hated it.


    He was taking lessons, and had purchased everything he could download to his AI. He wasn''t going to waste an opportunity for a productive life skill that was perfect for him, just because doing so was a chore he didn''t enjoy.


    Matt finished the lecture and packed his notebook and pad away. He preferred to hand write the important bits of the lecture down. It helped tomit them to memory. They weren''t tested in any way during the ss, as it was simply meant to cover gaps in education, or give people a starting point for further research on the massive EmpireNet.


    The teacher called out during the mass exodus from the lecture hall, "One special announcement. The vassal kingdom nearest to us is expanding in the next year. Theyre putting out very nice terms for anyone who''s willing to join as a subject of the new. Anyone who moves to the new to settle will be given special treatment depending on Tier, contribution, and skill set. It''s a vassal kingdom, not the Empire proper, so do with that information what you will."


    Matt received an information packet with the relevant information. As he walked to his next ss, the one he enjoyed the most, he scanned the provided data. Travis and Keith scouted news for a living, and had talked about how amazing things could appear ons that remained untouched for long enough.


    The final destination, and main reason why the vassal kingdom was expanding, was a newly discovered Tier 20 world four jumps away from their border. They couldn''t pass up the opportunity to add a high Tier world to their territory. Thes in between were nothing special, and would eventually be subjugated and colonized as well. The vassal kingdom needed them to remain safe, for passage to the valuable world.


    Matt had no interest in settling thes, but he <em>was</em> intrigued by a Tier 6 world that was part of the intermediarys. It too had to be subjected, and that meant opportunity.


    The thoughts were pushed to the side when he arrived at his next ss. He quickly found his usual table, and removed his knife set from his spatial bag. He hadn''t been surprised when he had loved cooking after trying it for the first time. It reminded him of simpler times and he could share the closeness with Liz and Aster.


    There was something about not using his mana or Talents, these things that made him a valuablemodity instead of a person, to create something special that he truly enjoyed.


    The ss was still focusing on mundane food for the next two weeks, but soon they would cover how to purify monster meat. He would be learning how to make the meat consumable by normal humans.


    <em>I cant wait to see Aster''s face when I steal one of her hearts.</em>


    The thought made him smile in anticipation. He''d pay for the prank, but it would be worth it.


    The teacher walked in, and Matt focused intently on her as she sat at her desk. The woman, Miss Ruth, tolerated no nonsense, and he was pretty sure she had a skill for noticing wandering attention.


    "ss, today we will be going over the types of beef and its analogs. We will be butchering a standard cow today, and going over the various cuts and how to prepare them. Finally, we will wrap up the lesson with storage. Beyond throwing it in a spatial item with time effects, that is. Tomorrow we will be using said meat and cooking. There will be arge quantity of meat, so decide if you want the food for yourself, or to have it sent to the dining hall. Either option , as usual, is fine. But either bring a spatial item, or have your dinerse here after our usual ss time." Miss Ruth''s voice was clipped, and each syble was perfectly enunciated.


    With that, she turned on her heels, and was quickly out the door she had just entered. Matt and the other seventeen students headed out to the pasture after her, where nine cows were meandering around.


    They were expensive, but all the meat would be either used by the students, or it would be sold to the school dining hall at cost. Travis had paid for one of the cows so that they could have the meat to eat together. Matt didn''t mind, the price was only two Tier 2 mana stones. It was just that he had no way to safely store the meat.


    The ss proceeded with humanely killing the animals. The teacher used [Process], a skill that quickly drained the freshly ughtered carcasses of blood, and replicating the effect of hanging and drying the meat. It was a skill that had no real purpose inbat, but Matt was intent on purchasing it before they left the.


    They were split into teams of two, and each team took half of a carcass to butcher. The meat was ced in the special storage items that the school had set aside for storage of perishables. They weren''t rings, so you only had to be Tier 5 to use them. Their only problem was how expensive they were, with the time stopping effect they carried.


    After the ss, Matt went and hurried off campus to a custom shirt shop. He had seen the shop on his way to his first ss of the day, and wanted to get a gag gift for Liz. The stop took longer than he expected, as there was a pretty long line. Despite the dy, he only had to run half the way to this therapist session.


    This was his third therapist, and one he thought he liked. It was their fourth session, and the older man with gray at the temples was the right mix of sophisticated and understanding. Matt feltfortable in his presence.


    He was surprised that the therapists had all started his sessions unlike anything he had seen in shows and movies. None of them tried to dig into his past at all. They were far more focused on his present, and only addressed his past when he brought it up himself.


    Dr. Hastings was sitting in his leather chair, and handed Matt a ss of water with a slice of lemon at the bottom.


    Matt plopped down in the chair. "Thanks, doc. Look what I got, Liz."


    Matt pulled out his joke shirt and showed the doctor.


    "I take it that''s an inside joke of some sort?"


    He hadn''t shared much about Liz''s background, but the older man wasn''t stupid.


    "Yeah. She already got me, so I need to return the favor."


    He had bided his time, waiting for the perfect revenge for the mana battery box joke. It had taken nearly a month, but she had let down her guard, and now was the time to strike.


    ***


    Later that night, Matt was sitting around, finishing up charging the 250,000 mana storage b they had from the city. This was how Matt and Liz were affording everything. The city sent someone over with an empty b every third night. It only took Matt a little more than three and a half hours to charge each b of mana stone. So, he used the time he had to work on his Concept, or practice his skill shaping abilities.


    They had requested every three days as it would draw less suspicion than Matt filling one up every day, which would draw unwanted attention to his regeneration.


    This time, there was a second man with their usual delivery man.


    He had an official look about him, and when he saw Matt, he briskly asked, "Can you get the owner of the residence? Thanks."


    With that, he just looked past Matt like he was already gone.


    Matt cocked an eyebrow, and felt at the man with his spiritual sense. He felt like a Tier 7. Only slightly stronger than the average for the world. It wasn''t that impressive, given the gray peppering his hair. His AI came back with nothing from the public database.


    Shrugging, Matt went inside, and found Travis peeking his head into the living room from the kitchen.


    Quietly he asked, "Who''s that?"


    Matt shrugged and followed the Tier 17 outside.


    The man, on seeing Travis said, "Ah, good. We need you to move your house at least thirty miles from this area."


    Travis smirked and shook his head.


    Matt looked at their normal delivery person, Jessie, and asked her, "Who is this guy?"


    The woman was friendly enough with Matt, and said, "I don''t know, but my bosses told me not to piss him off. "Just do your job and stay out of his way," were their exact words."


    That was slightly ominous, but Travis seemed to have things in hand well enough.


    "We are not leaving. If youre asking me to leave, then you know whats going on here, and on whose orders its being done. I''m a part of that same guild, and I have every right to be here."


    The Tier 7, who still hadn''t given a name, didn''t seem bothered in the least. "Well you may legally be allowed here, but the Baroness is clearing this entire area. We expect you to be gone in the next fifteen minutes."


    Travis looked behind him, then checked under his arm as if looking for something. When he finished his theatrics, he had an exaggeratedly surprised look on his face. "Who are you talking to? I don''t see anyone else, and I know you aren''t talking to me like that. Not in my own home. In a ce that I''m perfectly within my rights to be at. A ce where my guild leader suggested I go."


    "Baroness Varsies had ordered this area cleared. This is her world. She has every right to remove an interloper. If you wish to refute the im, you can put in an officialint. We are quite busy right now, so that will take at least half a year, minimum."


    The man''s smile showed that he knew exactly what he was doing, and trusted the Baroness to protect him from any retribution.


    The official''s grin turned wicked, "If you want to make a directint, you can go voice it in person. The Baroness will be happy to show you the correct path."


    Travis jumped in the air, and in a sh of light, transformed into a thirty-foot-long bird. With two ps of his ming wings, he was out of sight.


    The man''s mouth was hanging open, and Matt was sure an egg could fit inside.


    Keith came up and said, "I hope your boss can cash the check your mouth just wrote. Also, get off our property. If you aren''t gone in the next thirty seconds, I''ll consider you trespassing."


    The bureaucrat clearly didn''t think therger man was bluffing, and quickly got behind Jessie. The two of them flew off on the transportation flyer.


    Keith grabbed Liz and Aster, who were now standing by Matt, and flew them north.


    They were going much faster than the usual speed they flew at. It was so fast, Keith turned on the wind barrier so he could slice through the air better.


    They arrived to see a floating and ming Travis, standing with arms crossed in front of a woman with an apologetic expression. She was clearly not putting up a fight.


    Before they could get close enough to overhear, Travis turned and headed their way. He was using his ankle flying devices, and his shirt was burned away. His shoulders and hair were still ame, and when he caught up with them, Keith asked, "What, no show?"


    Travis rolled his yellow eyes. "No. She saw how I came in ready for a fight and didn''t even try to contest me. At least we won''t be bothered again. I made it clear that I would be roasting her if we were bothered again."


    Keith bit the corner of his lip and smirked. Liz caught the look, and poked her brother-inw in the ribs. "Is he getting you hot and bothered?"


    She giggled at her bad joke, and all Matt could do was gape at her.


    "What the fuck? You can make corny jokes about mes, but I can''t make one single redhead joke? This is bullshit. Bullshit of the highest Tier."


    Keith rolled his eyes and tossed all of them off his flying sword, while withdrawing the one Matt used from his spatial ring.


    "Get yourself back. Also, get dinner on your own. Byeeee."


    With that, he was gone, and Matt tried to stabilize the sword while catching the falling woman and fox.


    Liz cursed after her brother-inw, but he was already a dot on the distant horizon.


    "This is all your fault. If you didn''t make the bad joke, he would have taken us back."


    Liz shot back immediately, "No! If you didn''t startining, he would have forgotten about us."


    Their squabblingsted for the entire hour-long trip back. It was fun, and the only thing they could do for entertainment during the long trip.


    They decided to eat dinner in the town and splurge a little bit. They went to a movie after, to give the couple as much time as they could. It was dark when they arrived back at the house, but the duo was nowhere to be seen.


    While they walked around the city, he brought up the expanding vassal kingdom.


    "I think it would be nice to fight monsters and explore ces that aren''t a barren wastnd for a change. Especially when we dont have to delve the same few rifts over and over again."


    Matt didn''t mind their method of delving into the same rift over and over. It was safe, and helped them get to where they were at, after all. But he wanted to get out and see the wider Empire.


    Liz nodded next to him. "I wouldn''t mind. It seems fun. We can even ask Travis and Keith for advice, since theyre usually the first people to explore news. Though, I doubt they have any info on a vassal kingdom''s expansion. Their guild only does exploring in the Empire proper."


    "What do we need?"


    They each thought over Matt''s question for a few minutes, before Liz finally said, "We should regear and get new equipment. New,rger spatial bags. I don''t think that two of the bags will be out of our price range. The rift charging rings though Her voice trailed off, But with your skills as an enchanter improving, maybe you can make a crappy copy? We don''t really care about bad efficiency."


    Matt nodded at that. His mana was selling well, and they only expected the price to increase as the news broke.


    Refitting their gear was going to be easy enough. The only problem was finding the skilledbor for the job. He wasn''t sure whether it would get better or worse, with all the peopleing to watch the ascension.


    As they were going back to their rooms, Matt remembered his shirt for Liz and stopped her.


    "Oh, I got you something."


    He couldn''t keep the smirk off his face as he dug around his spatial bag for the shirt. The thought of her angry face was making it hard not to cackle in anticipation.


    He shoved the bright pink shirt with half a dozen rainbows and ''Double Princess printed in bold along the chest.


    Liz didn''t get mad or embarrassed like he expected. Instead, she smiled and said, "Thanks, I love it."


    With that, she hugged the shirt and disappeared into her room, leaving Matt standing there with his mouth agape.


    Weakly to the closed door, he said, "No. You''re supposed to hate it."


    With that, he sulked back to his room.


    ***


    Matt weaved left, and the bolt of mana sshed harmlessly against a tree in front of him.


    He stuck his right arm back, and from the device in his hand, returned with a volley of mana bolts of his own.


    His AI didn''t register any hits, and he heard Travis justugh behind him. Instinct honed through taking repeated stunning bolts in the back screamed at Matt to increase his altitude and leave the trees. They weren''t working as cover, and Matt wanted to use his new flying swords greater top speed to his advantage.


    The flying sword was one that he and Keith had finally settled on, after they spent weeks reviewing various models. Their final decision was a performance Tier 7 model that had a maximum mana consumption of 30 MPS. They wanted to future-proof the sword to a degree.


    Money wasn''t a concern. After Travis forced the Baroness to submit, she came over and asked for more mana in exchange for skills and items. She didn''t have physical mana stones to spare, but she opened her vaults and personal collections.


    News was going to be spread tomorrow, but her workers were already building massive temporary structures out of mana constructs. Most of the structures were simple bleachers, meant to seat as many people as they could.


    Even with Dominic ascending with minimum warning, millions were expected to show. And, while being unable to see him ascend had no technical bearing on the potency of the benefits, everyone wanted to be close enough to actually <em>see</em> an ascension.


    The mana structures were incredibly wasteful, but they didn''t have time to build anything else. Besides, more permanent structures would simply go to waste.


    The demand for mana really allowed them to splurge on upgrades. Liz got [Water Shield], and the skill shifted to its blood variant with Liz''s Talent. It turned the woman into a monster when she got going. The skill, along with the reward from the mini-war on the training world, made it so she didnt have to brute force everything with [Blood Maniption], which was mana expensive. Now, she could rely on the skills she had umted to automate most of her techniques, letting her use maniption to tweak the skills.


    Aster got an ice variant spell as well, [Frost]. It would allow her to send out a wave of cold that boosted any ice skills in the area. It was something she wouldn''t normally do, and couldbo well with Matt''s [Hail], making it a potent pick for the ice mage.


    Matt decided to forgo a skill for himself, and got the entire team refitted with new armor. He just didn''t have many usable skill options until Tier 5, unless he wanted something simple like a [Fireball]. But that was too unwieldy for a single shot at the start of a battle. By the time Matt could adequately use most Tier 8 skill, he''d be able to get them through delving.


    Liz had a new armor made in a more neutral brown and green pattern, without the hardcore winterizing herst set had. It was all made by the Baroness own armorsmiths, and it was a solid upgrade to her existing armor.


    They even got Aster an armored vest that would protect her back and nk. More importantly, it was made from snow yeti fur, so it attracted ice. Aster used it to grow spikes on her back and nk. But instead of looking fierce, as she intended, she looked like a cute hedgehog. Matt and Liz found it absolutely adorable when Aster created the spikes for the first time, while Aster yipped her displeasure.


    Matt decided to take Travis'' and Keiths advice and get actual armor, even if it was thin and mostly a backup. Everything but his vambraces were made from standard Tier 5 monster hides. His vambraces, however, were plundered straight from the Baroness vault. The rift made Tier 5 forearm armor gave a small strength boost when fighting unarmed, and had a slight chance to break bones when barehanded strikes connected. They would be useful not only for fights that involved grappling, but would also synergize well with the manipted fist spikes from [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Still, none of those upgrades helped him escape the sadistic Tier 17 chasing him. The mana bolts from the ster had a stunning function, and would lock the body up for twenty minutes.


    Travis liked to talk while Matt drooled on the forest floor.


    He would let the topics take him on adventures of conversations so wild, Matt had been sure he was reading from a script or quoting a movie of some sort. After the first talk Matt wanted to strangle the man. After the third, he wanted to strangle himself. He had a million tortures ready for when he finally beat the man.


    Matt broke from the canopies and leaned back hard, trusting the force of his forward movement and his flying swords friction enchantment to keep him on. With a twist of his hips, he swung the de around, just in time to block a stunning mana bolt. He aimed around the de, and emptied the sters mana crystal in the direction where the bolt hade from.


    His AI registered nothing, and as he tried to sink back down to use the trees as cover, he was hit in the side by yet another bolt that locked his body up. [Cracked Phantom Armor] protected him from the branches and impact with the ground, but it did nothing to stop the grinning redhead whonded next to him.


    "So, where were we?"


    Travis tapped his lower lip and sat down next to Matt. "Oh yeah, the type of leaf structure on the we explored three jobs ago. Oh! First, I need to start with Kathy, the receptionist at the guild. That''s how we got the mission. Shes trying to date Maverick, who doesn''t even know she exists. But Maverick, he got started..."


    Matt watched a bug crawl along the stick he had almostnded on. He wished he hadnded a little further forward, and without [Cracked Phantom Armor] active.


    <em>Maybe next time.</em>

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40


    The area surrounding ground zero was a madhouse. Over thest three months, people had flooded the city in waves. Now, with just three days to go, Matt couldnt believe the crowds.


    Travis and Keiths flying house was on the leading edge of the clear area. From Matts vantage on their balcony, he was looking at a wall of people so thick, the sky was only visible by craning his neck vertically.


    People had filled in the surrounding areas in numbers he had never imagined. Tier 15 immortals took up most of the space. They either hovered around the floating houses like swarms of flies, or took residence in the vast bleachers that had been constructed from mana. Flying devices of every shape and size were on disy, each a reflection of their wielders personality.


    There was only a small portion of the surroundings dedicated to those under Tier 15, and those amodations were much less cramped. But from Matts understanding, they also had amenities that the restcked like bathrooms and showers.


    It surprised Matt how many people were willing to wait around for a week or longer, just for the chance at a reality shard. The benefits for advancement from watching the ascension were always going to be the same for everyone there. Whether you were able to physically see the event or not had no real bearing on the oue.


    The only real difference was the reality shards.


    Each shard was a crystalized moment in time. It would allow those near the shard to experience the same effect as one would if they were present for the moment of ascension. They were incredibly rare, and even more valuable. The volume produced during an ascension was equal to only about half the mass of the ascender.


    On top of the general scarcity, they didntst for any more than five years before they dissipated on their own.


    It led to everyone in the Empire constantly vying to get their hands on the elusive shards. By custom andw, no one was permitted to fight over the shards. That still didnt stop people from restricting the area near the ascension, and then selling ess for enormous sums of mana stones.


    Matt didnt need to see over the crest of the nearest mountain to know that the bleachers, floating homes, and flying swords were just as thick for miles out. Being surrounded by this many people, he felt like he was caught in a locust swarm.


    He looked to Liz, who was lounging next to him, reading a book on her pad. I dont get why people pack themselves in so tight. Wanting to get a reality shard is understandable, but look at the price for a spot even a quarter-mile out. Its going for Tier 13 mana stones. And the price is still rising.


    Liz slowly used a finger to turn her digital page and said, Despite the historical evidence showing no benefit from a closer distance to the ascension, people still think it helps. That, or they just <em>really </em>want to <em>see</em> it.


    Matt shook his head. I dont get it. Its a waste of money. If we werent with Travis, I wouldnt be bothered toe from the other side of the.


    Liz shrugged a shoulder distractedly. Easy to say when you have a front-row seat to the event.


    That stung more than Matt liked.


    There was amotion that brought him out of his meandering thoughts. A wave of murmurs and disgruntledments passed, as someone moved through the wall of cultivators next to them.


    Aunt Helen popped out wearing a sundress and floppy hat. For all the world, she looked like a young woman out on a stroll. Unlike everyone else, she wasnt using a flying device or a beast form. She was clearly using [Flight]. That was a Tier 38 skill.


    She quickly caught sight of the waving Liz, and came to the front gate. The defensive shielding was put up after someone hadnded on their roof. Keithsment that Phoenixes were jealous birds did not go over well with either of the siblings, but Matt had found it funny.


    Aunt Helen was quickly let in, to the irritation of those flying near them.


    The older Phoenix opened her arms, and pulled both Liz and Matt into a hug. Oh, its so good to see you two. She pushed them back to arms length, carefully inspecting them both, Good. You both look chipper. You two were a little on edge after the training. Im d to see you rxed. Time off is just as important as pushing hard.


    Travis came out of the front door, and it was his turn to be mulled over. He took it with good graces. Even when the much shorter woman started fussing with his hair, he epted her criticisms with a smile.


    Keith just picked the woman up and swung her around, to the delighted giggle of the Tier 24. After the appropriate pleasantries were handled, they made their way into the living room. There, Aunt Helen demanded to hear about Travis and Keithstest adventures.


    It waste into the night when they were finally preparing to eat. Aunt Helen came into the kitchen.


    Matt sputtered, I uhh, can leave if you want to do the cooking. I know Im not very good.


    Oh, hush. Dont put yourself down. Aunt Helen reached out and rubbed his back. We all started at the bottom. Dont feel bad for not having a few million years to practice your craft.


    Her smile was sweet and held only understanding.


    She waved a hand, and a book appeared. This is my cookbook. Physical books are best for cooking, as you can make little notes and things.


    Liz had been watching him cook and poked her head over the shorter Phoenixs shoulder, and looked at the book with Matt.


    Aunt Helen, thats not even Empire standard. They arent even letters or characters. They look like hieroglyphs.


    The older Phoenix flushed red as her feathered hair and swatted at Liz, who was leaning over the womans shoulder.


    I pulled out the wrong one.


    Liz wrapped the woman up in a hug from behind and cooed, Aunt Helen. You are sooooo old!


    Elizabeth, get out of my kitchen.


    Matt tried not tough and bring attention to himself. He couldnt really believe that the woman was so old, she predated the current writtennguage system. Or even the character-basednguages that some of the other powers used.


    Liz kept her arms wrapped around the shorter woman andughed. This is Travis kitchen. Hahaha. You have no power here!


    Every kitchen Im in is my kitchen.


    That just made the younger Phoenixugh harder.


    Then Aunt Helen brought out the big guns. I wont give you even scraps...


    Before she finished, Liz set her down and kissed the womans cheek, running out of the room. Love youuuu.


    Aunt Helen removed a newer cookbook and handed it to Matt. You can have this one.


    He knew it was a bad idea, but had to ask, Is this also written in a forgottennguage?


    The wooden spoon left a stinging spot on his rear end.


    Its not forgotten. There was a pause, I still know it.


    Aunt Helens re dared him to test her further.


    Even Matt wasnt that brave.


    Seeing him drop the subject, her smile returned, and she asked, What were you thinking we should make for dinner? What have you all eaten recently?


    Matt told her, and she just nodded in response. She suggested they cook a pasta heavy fare. Truth be told, he was terrified that the more experienced cook would find him wanting and kick him out of the kitchen. But the Phoenix had nothing bad to say.


    She had a suggestion or eight, but they were kind, and never came across as her lording her experience and knowledge over him. Aunt Helen was happy to help him improve, and gave him tips along with every step of the process.


    <em>If my cooking instructor could see me, shed kill to get in my ce.</em>


    Matt didnt think he was exaggerating. His instructor had gushed over the woman next to him time and time again, after he casually mentioned Helen. She had specifically said that she would do anything to meet Helen, let alone cook with her.


    <em>I guess it really isnt what you know. Sometimes its who you know.</em>


    In the end, the dinner was better than it had any right to be. They used the materials on hand, but somehow, the Tier 24 made this dish better than any pasta Matt had ever tasted, let alone cooked himself.


    Dinner was mostly spent with Aunt Helen getting revenge on Liz by sharing embarrassing childhood stories. Travis and Keith took pleasure in adding details or telling their own stories.


    Liz ended up eating half the meal herself, in an effort to keep her face down and mouth upied.


    ***


    It was time. Matt watched the man step onto the tform that was gouged out from the mountainside, three feet below the surface. ording to Traviss eye-roll filled exnation, it was the <em>exact</em> ce where the Tier 46 had been born. Why he couldnt have done the ascension a few feet higher was lost on Matt, but in the end, he didnt care. It was just the frivolity of the strong.


    Matt was too busy rehashing everything that Travis had gone over with him months ago, when they had first arrived.


    ***


    Travis sat in front of Matt, and he didnt know what to think of the Tier 17. He was Lizs brother, but he was still the strongest person Matt had ever spent an appreciable amount of time with.


    Travis was sitting with legs crossed, and when he spoke, his voice was melodic enough that Matt assumed he was repeating someone else. He said, Concepts are personal. Theyre as unique as the individual. He cracked an eye open and, in his normal voice, asked, What was your Concept Phrase again?


    I Am Endless. Matts spirit quivered at the spoken words. They were <em>right</em>.


    Travis nodded. Im going to assume that my sister covered most of this, but you have options. Your Concept is vague enough that you can go with anything from abstract geometry to fractals. You can also ground it more in reality, or go with something like the time of death. You can go with the heat death of the universe, like Aster is suggesting. Or finally, you can do something most others cant do. Incorporate yourself into the image.


    I havent seen anything about that. That seems pretty perfect for me. My phrase has I in it.


    Travis just smiled, saying, Go ahead and try to picture something with you in it. Take your best, firmest, Concept, and add yourself.


    Matt did as he said, and pictured the bubbling spring, and added himself sitting on the beach. The image shattered as soon as he ced the thought of his own presence.


    Travis grinned at Matts slight jerk. Yeah. Putting yourself in the image makes it a million times harder to form. It alsoes with some drawbacks. You need to make the image of yourself not only reflect you <em>now, </em>but also link it to yourself in the <em>future</em>. You have to allow the image to grow with you. If you dont, your Concept itself will impede your growth, as itll lock yourself into the you of when you created it.


    If its that hard, there have to be some advantages to doing it, then right?


    Travis grin turned feral. Ohh yeah. Its a massive power boost, and it focuses your power <em>inward</em>. Most Concepts affect the outside world. If you put yourself there, they can boost both outward <em>and</em> inward power. My Concept is I will hold up the sky. I have myself as my image, with the sky on my shoulders. When the pressure mounts and the going gets tough, I get stronger and faster. My spells hit that much harder. My Concept doesnt do much, except when I feel truly threatened.


    That sounded really nice to Matt. He wanted that kind of power. To be faster and stronger.


    Its not all sunshine and rainbows. I cant do what someone who has a fire Concept can do. I cant control other mes or anything. All of my power is internal, and can only be realized when I cast spells. But if I had a spell Concept, it would be stronger. Still, it fits me pretty well.


    Travis shifted around, twisting and cracking his back with a loud pop before he continued, Ok. So endless can mean a lot of things, and you should work on figuring out what it means to you in particr. There are no wrong answers here, but your image will heavily influence how your Concept expresses itself. A sun, like youre currently working on, might give you fire powers, or just give you an internal fire that wont run out. Giving stamina and possibly more mana. Once your image is firm, you can feel what kind of effect itll have. Then you can then work on your mental image of it, and tweak the effect a bit.


    They worked on his image for only an hour. Travis insisted that they needed a break, and overworking could lead the mind into ruts that could be hard to escape.


    What can I expect from the ascension? I can only find that it will help online, nothing about how it helps exactly.


    Travis hadid down in the interval, and had his feet crossed as if he had not a worry in the world.


    <em>He probably doesnt.</em>


    The ascension will weaken the walls of reality, and your mind will travel down its various paths much easier. Youll find inspiration, and the image or phrases you think of will be better. It will also let you solidify the image more efficiently. But, any progress you make during the ascension wont be lost if you dontplete your Concept during it.


    Matt looked at the older man and decided to ask, What are you working for? Your Intent?


    Travis nodded. Ive had my Concept since Tier 8, and Ive been working on my Intent from then till now. I dont think this will be what gets me there, but itll definitely help. Intents and Aspects are much harder to make than a Concept. You need a lot of time with the lower level to make the jump. Ive only had it for a hundred years, give or take. Thats a pretty short time frame for making an Intent.


    Matt thought about that. Onerge problem stuck out to him. So thats why its the final hurdle for The Path of Ascension.


    Travis grinned, Yup. Even in the best case scenario, you on The Path, only have two hundred years. Most take four hundred, bare minimum. Its what sets the prodigies apart from themon man. Uncle Waters had his <em>Aspect</em> at Tier 23. The man is called a monster for a reason.


    ***


    Matt hade a long way from his first lessons, and had an idea of the image he wanted to create when the moment came.


    He watched the man, Dominic, just waiting. The ascension was set for thirteen minutes past noon, the exact moment he had been born.


    Matt watched the man, he was only wearing a thin white robe. At 12:03, he stood from his seat on the tform. The only other things apanying him were the Baroness, who waspletely ignored, and a basin of water.


    Dominics voice wasnt deep ormanding. He sounded almost <em>normal</em> to Matt. The only giveaway for the mans status was that his voice carried to everyone present.


    Today, I ascend.


    The man paused, but there was no cheer or apuse. If he was expecting it, or bothered by theck thereof, he didnt show it in the slightest.


    Here in this exact spot, thirty-four thousand, seven hundred, and five years ago, I was born. Through my own power and ingenuity, I ascended through the Tiers, until now. When I ascend for the final time on these lower realms, it is up to you to seize your own destiny and power. Nothing will be given to you. You must do as I did, and take advantage of every opportunity, or you will amount to nothing.


    I was born to a Tier 2 mother and Tier 3 father. They were weak, and had no ambition or drive. I am their greatest achievement. Two otherwise unremarkable souls, that would be otherwise forgotten, are immortalized with the good fortune to be my parents.


    Matt wanted to sneer. Travis and Keith had already talked about the arrogance of their guild leader, but this was too much. From his official history, Dominic had been born here to, as he said, two otherwise unremarkable parents. But they had worked themself to early graves to provide their son with a better start in life. The had only been Tier 1 at the time of their settling, and the birth of their only child.


    It put a sour taste in Matts mouth to hear someone talk about their parents like that.


    He also wasnt self-made in the least. He had bounced around from guild to guild, taking what he could. He spent more time scheming his way into getting recruited by higher guilds, than working to benefit his current guild.


    This whole thing felt so disingenuous. Matt wished the man would just ascend, and leave this lower realm with one less narcissistic asshole.


    Dominics voice cut through the surroundings again. I have power most will only ever dream of. If you were fated to be here, I wee you. If you were unable to be here, you can only me your fortune.


    With this, he removed the single ring on his finger.


    These are all of my worldly possessions. I bequeath them to the Baroness on this. May she give it to those fated to have it.


    That was it? He was able to stipte nearly any use of the resources, and he was just going to give it to the noble? Matt had no doubt that the rings contents, and probably the ring itself, would never leave the womans possession.


    Stepping up to the basin, Dominic dipped three of his fingers into the water, and raised his dripping hand above his head.


    I came into this world from the water of the womb, and I leave it through the water of the world.


    With a shrug of his shoulders, the thin robe fell to the ground, and he started to rise into the air.


    There was a subtle difference that told Matt he wasnt using [Flight]. He seemed to be like a piece of wood, trying to reach the surface and find equilibrium.


    As Dominic rose, he became more and more insubstantial, and somehow more <em>real </em>at the same time. Reality seemed to warp around him, and crystallize as his speed increased. There was a final instant where Dominic seemed to be the most substantial thing in the world, as he was the very center of the universe, and then, he was gone.


    Matt didnt have time to watch space and reality fracture, while it rained down in shards of what appeared to be ss.


    He was too focused on the center of his core, where his Concept would go. There was energy in the air that seemed to permeate from his mind through to his spirit. As the energy made its way into him, he pictured his Concept.


    I Am Endless.


    The phrase rang out in his mind.


    The images he had worked on shed through his mind. Each version of the sun was obvious, clear. Where they had been thin and hollow, they now firmed up and filled in. Where they would crumble at the slightest pressure, they were now made from granite.


    Where the image of the burbling brook was the wrong color and shaped for the hole in his spirit, the suns were the wrong texture.


    Despite them not being what he wanted, Matt knew they were created well enough to slot into his core, andplete the Concept.


    With the abundance of the energy from the ascension flowing through Matt, he knew he had time.


    It was the same as an ascension would be for the unawakened. They had about thirty hours before the effects faded, and they would receive no bonus to their Talent if it was awakened after the energy faded. Matt had time, but he knew that if he lost the trance, he would be hard-pressed to reenter the state of mind that the initial wave of energy brought on.


    He knew that they were also in special seats that Aunt Helen had brought. They would help relieve the effects of long meditation, but he still hurried to take advantage of the energy surging through him.


    Matt tried the second path of images he was working on. Fractals and abstract math forms formed kaleidoscopic, repeating images. He even tried to work the more abstract ideas of endless. He felt no connection to any of them. Even with the energy boost helping him create the images, he didnt feel like they were good choices.


    Mobius strips, optical illusions, the numerical representation of pi. None of them fit his image of endless. He even tried gold on a whim. It was non-reactive, and did not rust at all, but he didnt feel any real connection while the idea of gold formed. The next metal he thought to try was iron. When a universe experienced heat death, that element would be all that remained.


    He built the image of the cold and end. Just Iron left, no heat or energy left in the image. Matt knew Aster would love the image, as he could feel that it woulde with some freezing cold or slowing effect. It wasnt him.


    Lizs lesson came to him, and he decided to go out on a limb and try the first thing she told him.


    <em>Ok. Now while in that space, go in and start picturing something endless. It doesnt have to be something real. It can be an idea, like a perpetual motion machine, or one of those twisty river drawings that connect the bottom to the top. But those are just some ideas off the top of my head for endless. For now, think of a spring in the earth pushing out water.</em>


    It doesnt have to be something real.


    Something real.


    ***


    Aster watched the strange man float into the air but snapped at the gnat thatnded on her tail.


    She felt the odd feeling of the energy flow into her.


    Liz, Helen, and Travis had warned her about this, so she formed the Concept of Cold in her cores. It only took a moment for the image of frozen stillness to crystallize. It had always been there, so it was childs y for her. She didnt know why her humans made such a big deal out of this.


    Once the moment ended, she stood up, but found all the others still sitting down.


    Then, the moment struck where her corespacted on their own.


    With the structure of the Concept, nature took over, and her cores shrunk as she broke into Tier 5.


    Aster realized something.


    She was... her.


    There were new thoughts.


    The realization that she was thinking about her thoughts sent a wave through the white fox.


    Her head hurt. With a pounding headache, Aster curled into a ball to sleep it off. She knew so many new things.


    ***


    Liz watched the arrogant ass ascend, and hoped that he found himself in the boonies of the greater realms.


    Dominic was an asshole she wouldnt wish on anyone.


    Pushing the distracting thoughts away, she firmed her will.


    She had one image, but she wanted a better one.


    Liz was blood. She used the flood of energy seeping into the to form a new image. She wasnt just an abstract Phoenixing back through blood.


    No.


    She was Elizabeth Moore. BethBeth to some, Liz to others.


    But in the end, she was Blood.


    Liz forced her image to change. She was <em>reborn</em> through blood. All blood was her, and from any single drop, she coulde <em>back</em>.


    Something clicked, and the image slotted into her cores on its own. She was unable to stop or halt the process. And why would she? She could feel that this image was perfect for her.


    The image of her form being cut down, flowing into a ssh of blood, and reforming as a Phoenix looped over and over.


    She had done it.


    The Liz in her image even felt linked to her. It would grow with her.


    Concepts with an image containing yourself as the subject focused the power inward, but Liz didnt have that problem. Her blood was indeed an internal power, but she used it outwardly.


    She got the best of both worlds.


    Smiling, Liz opened her eyes. For an instant, they shed red and she saw.


    Her blood sang to her.


    ***


    Matt spun up the image of a ck hole.


    It was easy to manage it, pulling in the power of everything. It was exactly the opposite of what he was. Matt gave mana out in a never-ending stream. He didnt pull it in.


    When the image was as good as he could make it, he inverted it.


    Matt wasnt a <em>ck </em>hole.


    Matt was a <em>white </em>hole.


    He didnt absorb energy. He gave it.


    Endlessly.


    The image started out cracked and thin. His connection to the image was shaky at best, and mostly driven by his fascination with stars and space.


    Space spoke to him. It wasrger than life, and somehow that wasforting.


    The image of light, heat, and matter spewing out from a cosmic theory. That didnt bother him at all. If it didnt exist, he would create it from nothing.


    Matt was nothing, if not stubborn.


    Slowly the image crystallized. A blinding, endless spout of energy. Matter and light spread to the far reaches of space, and all around the image.


    Even with the energy from the ascension assisting Matt, the image started weak. It was turning from a paper-thin image to one with the strength of an eggshell.


    He began strengthening the image, like a house built from the ground up.


    He was strengthening the foundation brick by brick,yer byyer. The image was filled in and given more depth and substance with each passing moment. Eternities whirled by, but Matt took no notice of them. Time meant nothing to him. He <em>was</em> endless after all.


    Still, something wasnt right.


    With instinct more than knowledge guiding him, Matt changed the output of the image from mundane matter and energy to mana.


    Instantly, the image of a white hole filled in the empty slot in his core. It rushed in like water from a released dam, and turned to the hardest of steel in his spirit.


    Everything locked into ce. Like the perfect puzzle piece, the image that he never knew was missing slipped right into ce.


    Color, shape, size, and texture all matched perfectly.


    Matt opened his eyes.


    With a sh of blueish-white, he <em>saw</em>.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41


    Bob was tired. At Tier 41, he didnt <em>need</em> sleep. He just <em>wanted</em> it. The children of the various clutches were out of the cute child phase, and in the pestering teenager phase. It was the perfect time for a nap.


    With a wiggle of his tail, he sunk deeper into his magma flow, and pushed his spiritual sense to find his wife. After a moment, he found her on the other side of the, wrapped up in a fluffy white cloud.


    His wife, Safrar, noticed his presence and said, See you in a decade. Dont let the magma lizards bite, Baroub.


    Bob didnt flinch at the use of his full name, but his spirit still sunk into the ring around his third w. The ever-repeating image of a young human, waving and smiling while sitting in his human formsp, kept shing through his mind.


    Raster hadnt deserved to be murdered by his older brother. Not over being a perceived threat to his brothers rise to the vassal kingdoms throne.


    When Baroub had been introduced to him, young Raster had been unable to pronounce his name, and just cut it down to Bob. At the time, he had hated it. But the name, and the child, had grown on him.


    It was a reminder of the cost of arrogance.


    Thats what made the assassination even more galling. The older brother had been Tier 15 when the deed was done. Bobs chosen punishment for the disgraced prince entailed reducing big asteroids into little asteroids, then reversing the process. The task would be doable, if not somewhat arduous for a Tier 15, and he would be doomed to waste away as an aimlessborer. He was still caught in the endless loop, two thousand yearster.


    There wasnt usually any leniency for the crime of killing a child, but Bob had petitioned that death was an easy way out for the wretch. It had taken a lot of favors called in, and even more favors given, but he had gotten his wish. Now the one time prince didnt even have a name.


    He had taken Rasters future, so Bob took his in retribution.


    The misguided fool didnt even think that Bob would investigate Raster not returning from a rift. It was a level of arrogance he still hadnte across since. Bob wasnt the ambassador for the vassal kingdom at the time, but when the news reached him


    He shook himself out of his contemtion of the past. The magma was evaporating where it was touching his scales. With a p of his wings, he churned the liquid rock, as the core of the responded to his will and power.


    Closing his eyes, he checked his wifes projected path.


    <em>Ahhh.</em>


    Safrar would bring her storm cloud right over his exposed volcano in seven years, just when he would be getting the best sleep. With a flex of his will, he started the process that would belch a plume of smoke and soot out from the volcano, just as she passed over.


    <em>Lets see her face when she wakes up ashen and gray.</em>


    Bobs rumbling chuckle resonated with the magma near him. It bubbled and popped in glee.


    Wiggling, he found afortable spot, and let his satisfaction with the uing prank lead him into a nice, decade-long nap.


    Just as the first dream was nibbling at his tail, he was ripped out of his sleep when <em>she</em> came.


    Bobs first instinct was to flee, and he tried to rip into chaotic space and escape, but the entire was locked down. Knowing it was useless, Bob threw his will against the fabric of reality, but a greater power held dominion.


    Then, she was upon him.


    The feathered menacended on his horn, and started jerking his head around.


    Look at your messages.


    Look.


    Look.


    Look.


    Look.


    Look.


    Stop! Bob managed to get a word out, thanks to the stirring of the volcano their antics had caused. The roiling magma had diverted the vile creatures attention, for a brief moment.


    The shaking stopped. He took a moment to look at his AI, and check his messages.


    There was nothing new.


    You <em>stupid</em>... His head was mmed into the wall. Bird brain! I dont have any messages!.


    The fire above him dulled, before ring hot enough to singe his scales.


    Then he got it.


    The message from Mara was a forward from some Tier 4, and Bob almost refused to open the message out of principle. In the end, he knew that if The queen of monsters wanted him to view a message, there was little he could do but acquiesce.


    ncing at the package of information, he froze. The information was from merely a Tier 4, so the AI was rudimentary at best. But his AI confirmed the information through the data provided.


    There was a rift with a dragon big enough to swallow sr systems as a snack. Even if the child who found it had been shrunk, the size was based on the stars surrounding the beast he had been on.


    As he saw the heart from the rift boss, Bob shivered from nose to tail.


    Dragon Essence.


    Essence of a beast that strong was a prize he could <em>not</em> let slip into the republics hands. Even with the drawbacks of recreating the rift, they could still form a rudimentary copy of it. Once it was moved to the monster kingdom capital, they could slowly grow it.


    Still the hearts blood they pulled out of the beast would be thin, but that was only a question of quantity. But an ocean of blood condensed down would return it to its original quality.


    Bob finished his perusal of the information packet, and wanted to cry at thest bit of data he had read. The arctic fox had eaten half of that parasitic heart containing the precious material. It was such a waste. The little fox would have no inkling whatsoever of how to properly use the power that the heart contained.


    Then, he watched as little BethBeth ate the remaining half.


    He wanted to scream at the act of betrayal. He was at least her third favorite uncle. Without a doubt, her favorite dragon uncle. How could she not give it to him?


    Any of the high Tier dragons would empty their hordes for such a prize. Well, at least with BethBeth getting it, he was assured that she wouldnt waste the precious material.


    Quickly, he did some calctions. At Tier 15, the little chick would get her powers of regeneration, and she could create more of the dragon essence. It would just be slow, and the stupid bird still shaking him would get first dibs.


    He needed that rift copied and moved immediately.


    Roaring, he tried to remove the bird on his head.


    Ok! I get it. Lets go. There is no time to waste.


    Mara screeched out, Well, what are you waiting for? Where is Samuel?


    Bob checked his AI. Hes on the way.


    With a quick scan, he found his wife getting chased this way by Leon. The man was stealing all of his wifes obscuring mist, and making obscene shapes out of it.


    Safrar hated when the stronger storm mage did that. And if she didnt have the same gleam in her eyes, Bob knew that she would be fighting back harder. She wouldnt win, but she wouldnt be flying in a cloud shaped like a pair of mating ostriches.


    Bob was honestly impressed that Leon was able to make their movements look so realistic while keeping up with his wife.


    He had his AI take a recording. He would be saving this moment for the next time she tried to bring up one of his more embarrassing moments.


    With an effort of will, Bob escaped to the chaotic space around the. A momentter, his wife and the two Tier 48s appeared next to him.


    His world was like a firefly in the swirling area between universes. The power of his Tier 41 cultivation smoothed out the fluctuating energies around him, but the two royals turned the surroundings to a calm summer day inparison.


    It was humiliating to be scooped up and carried off, as if their power was that of a hatchling learning to fly. But if he and his wife had to fly on their own, it would increase the length of the journey dozens of times over.


    Quickly, they left thenes of essence that the teleporters used to let the weaker cultivators travel in between the worlds with essence, and flew directly through chaotic space.


    Bob used the travel time to find out what he could of the Tier 4 messenger. The one who found the dragon rift was from a new that he had never heard of, but that wasnt unusual. Bob was old, after all. What surprised him was the Emperors seal on the boys information. His details were wrapped up tight, like a new years present.


    Bob used his Duke status to try and get in, but was directed to his Monarch to get ess. With a thought, he asked Mara, and she gave it to him.


    Now he could see, and he also saw why Mara and Leon could give ess to the profile. BethBeth had formed a party with the boy, and that gave them certain rights to his information. He was getting the royal treatment on information ckouts.


    The only things still locked was everything about the boys Talents. Usually the rating and an associated score was visible, but not now. They were hidden behind the Emperors own seal, and Bob knew that could mean only one thing.


    The boy had value to the Tier 50.


    Ignoring what he couldnt see, Bob read the boys history. A mismanaged, subsequently being gged with a detrimental Talent, consequently getting gged by theary AI, and a chosen pair sent to evaluate him.


    The pairs identity was locked by the Emperors seal as well. Bob had hoped to get to their profiles, and see what they had to say about the boy. They would be Tier 15s, and able to feel the boys spirit. They could have at least guessed at what his Talents would be.


    With that line of research cut off, he found the rest of Matts history. The rest of the story was mundane enough.


    The four of them only stopped long enough to grab Samuel, a Tier 37 dire wolf that specialized in spatial magic. He was their ticket to recreating the destroyed rift and moving it to the beast kingdoms capital.


    Though, as Bob thought it over, he pondered if the Emperor might want it on The Empires capital instead. This <em>would</em> be a strategic asset, after all. It was just that the capital was carefully curated at max rift capacity already, an extra rift might stress the mana ecosystem.


    They reached the training world, and the first thing Bob did was dive into the core of the. He started to heat the core and take control of it. The was old and cooling, but with an effort of mana and his Intent, its core spun to life.


    His Concept was powered by his will, and took over once he had gathered enough magma mana to reignite the core of the. Then, it forced reality to conform, and Bob managed a working and functional core. One that owed him its life.


    The responded to his will and Concept by drawing out half of his will reserves, and maintaining a small draw that he could sustain for a few decades.


    <em>This is why I loathe terraforming. Too much effort.</em>


    Samuel sat in front of the rift location and spoke out. This wont take long. A year at most. Though Ill need help if you want it faster.


    Leon responded, A year is fast enough.


    With that, he and Safrar rose up and created a veil of water vapor, and cemented themselves into the area, creating defenses. Mara just flew circles around the rift area.


    Bob hardened the ground around the area and prevented anyone from sneaking up on Samuel. They had made enough noise in a chaotic space that someone was sure toe and check on what they were doing. That was on Mara and Leon, though. They were strong enough that no one would be able to force them out, unless the President of the Republic came personally.


    They couldnt be that unlucky, could they?


    ***


    It took six months for the first person toe and investigate. Bob was pretty sure that it was the leader of the faction that shared the training world.


    Using a training world to keep the borders from being directly in contact had its advantages, but Bob cursed whoever thought up the practice. It had really screwed them over this time. The man broke the bubble of real space, and had initially fled before the hole was sealed with Mara and Leons power.


    Two Tier 48s and two Tier 41s should be enough of a deterrent, but Bob felt a sinking feeling in his tail that said it wouldnt be the end of this.


    Four monthster, he was proven right when reality shivered.


    ***


    Emmanuel felt the disturbance of a Tier 50 entering his domain, and started running. Mara and Leon had briefed him about their excursion. The two of them had been eating dinner with him and his wife, after all.


    With an effort of will, he used his only Tier 50 Talent, and his eyes glowed gold.


    His fathers Talent was the only Tier 50 he had. It was nobat, which limited his power against the other Tier 50s. His versatility allowed him to hold his own, even win given enough time. He was just unable to crush them in a head-on fight, at least fast enough to stop them from running. An annoying predicament.


    He pulled back ayer of reality with his golden eyes, and checked the threads of probability where they met threads of the past. The future was fluid and ever-changing, but the past was done and fair. Easier to see.


    The damn Republican President Daty happened to be passing by, and his scouts had seen the group of five enter the Dual Stars training world.


    Chaotic space tore around him as Emmanuels Tier 50 power was barely contained by his Aspect. If his power slipped even for a moment, he would ascend to the higher realms automatically. That same power let him move faster than anyone else could. In just moments, he was outside of the Tier 5.


    With the other Tier 50 already on the world, it was dangerously stressed, but Emmanuel gripped it with his power and stabilized the world. Once he was on the world, he stood perfectly still. Any disturbances with two Tier 50s would tear holes in real space, and allow the chaotic space to enter.


    That would destroy this world permanently. It was also the reason why the rules of war stipted that cultivators past Tier 36 could no longer fight. At that Tier, they could tear holes in reality, given enough time.


    It wasnt a matter ofbat power, but one of cultivation base.


    Daty spoke out as he felt Emmanuel enter the world. I dont like that two of your royals came into shared space...


    Emmanuel cut the man off. He would rant for hours if given a chance. He was hoping that he would ascend sooner, rather thanter. Just not having to listen to the man talk anymore would be enough of a prize. Daty was due to ascend soon, as he was a part of Emmanuels fathers generation of rulers, if not a young one. Now, he was the old man of the Tier 50s.


    You know Mara. Shes extravagant. Her daughter met a friend, and she wants to take a copy of the rift.


    Emmanuel felt no shame in thrusting this onto Maras shoulders. The woman was a pain in his ass, and did only what she wanted. Leon was hardly any better. The duo were well known in the strongest circles of power for a reason.


    Daty nodded at that. Whatever. You need to rece the, though. Im not doing it.


    As he turned he murmured, "Stupid bird and destroying thes."


    He wasn''t wrong either Mara had done stunts like this before and she never left the intact. That was why it was such a good cover story.


    With that, the man flexed his power and scooped up the city that the republicans had built. He let a fraction of his power slip, and the world trembled for a moment. Only Emmanuels power kept the world from tearing itself apart.


    With that, the Republican Tier 50 was gone.


    If they had fought, Emmanuel was fairly confident that he could win. He had three builds in reserve, dedicated to countering the Tier 50. But in the end, he would just ascend, and strike out with one final blow before he went. It would contain world-shattering power, and it was the final trump card that all Tier 50s had.


    With a flick of his fathers Tier 50 Talent, he found that the man was unlikely to try anything. Using it on people over Tier 30 gave hazy results at best, but it was enough to assure him that their little project was safe, for now. Daty just seemed to be chalking this up to Mara and Leon being Mara and Leon.


    How long til youre done, Sammie?


    Samuels ears twitched, hard. Emmanuel had to suppress a smile. He just liked to poke at people.


    Another two days.


    Emmanuel nodded. He could wait around that long.


    He floated over to Mara and Leon. The couple got close, and he sealed off the area around them.


    Alright, go through the past. Hurry! I want to see my new son-inw in action.


    Emmanuel just rolled his eyes. They arent married yet. They arent even dating.


    Leon answered for his wife. Liz has my intuition. Maybe well get grandkids with these two.


    The two of them sped hands and started bouncing in the air.


    <em>This is why I cloak them. I cant be seen with these idiots.</em>


    While his friends plotted their youngests marriage prospects, Emmanuel used his Tier 50 Talent to project the past, and showed them the images they couldnt see from the satellites.


    Go slower. At least a thousandth real speed.


    Emmanuel sped the projection to ten times real speed. Slow it down on your AIster. I have shit to do.


    That got eye rolls, but he ignored them.


    Emmanuel was impressed as he watched the trio fight the pyramid rifts super-powered boss. They fought well together. They would go far. Further than any since...


    Pulling a piece of gum out of his storage ring, he said, You know, I never really expected them to meet up.


    He genuinely hadnt. His AI had registered Matts Talent as being fixed, but when Emmanuel had gone and copied it, he was mildly disappointed. That is, until his AI calcted just how absurd the boys mana would get.


    He was already nning to build around the unique talent set. The problem was, it took two slots, so it would be a long time before it was truly useful. Still, the boys Talent was enough for him to send word that he wanted Matt to go to the training world. Emmanuel hadnt expected his youngest niece to meet him, let alone team up with Matt.


    As he watched the three of them kill the bandits in the rift, he decided that they truly did make for a good team.


    Emmanuel used his time powers to check on the trio, and found the bandits hidden stash under a false wall. He pulled it to himself, but had it snatched by Leon. They could all see inside. Leon listed, Two growth items. They are gonna be so mad they didnt find this.


    You cant give this to them until they fall off.


    Emmanuel didnt get any further before he was waved off. It made himugh that the Dual Stars thought they could hide this many growth items from him. So many seemed to forget that he had also been a part of a guild at one time, and that they had done all of these tricks before.


    They just went too far this time to be allowed to skate by. The Empire needed its taxes, after all. And Tier 5 and under rifts were where growth items had the best chance of appearing.


    Using his AI, he made notes of all the hidden rifts, and sent it to the investigators Leon had directed at the guild.


    With that taken care of, he went back to watching Liz, Matt, and Aster. Leon and Mara oohed and ahhed at the right times. They really did love their children.


    Liz was the youngest, and they worried for her. She was also the only one who fled to The Path to escape the couples shadow. Emmanuel felt for his niece. He had done the same thing after all.


    Truth be told, Emmanuel cared for the youngdy as well. It was why the girl had a Tier 35 protector following her from chaotic space at all times. Hed interfere and have her pulled from The Path before he let her die.


    BethBeth had to be <em>alive</em> to be angry at him.


    They reached the end of their time on the training world, and Emmanuel decided to let the projection run. They had little else to do while they waited for the rift to be copied.


    With his powers fully active, he flexed the projection, and they watched as the three of them met Aunt Helen, and were given rewards.


    Emmanuel red at the two of them. Those rewards are pushing the boundaries of whats eptable while on The Path.


    Leon looked up and whistled. Mara did the same but looked down.


    Emmanuel let it drop. No one in The Empire would look into it too deeply, as Aunt Helen was the one who gave the reward out.


    The woman was older than The Empires unification by millions of years, and had met most of the powerhouses when they were young and weak. There wasnt a single Tier 40 that hadnt spent time at her table while under Tier 15. If the woman wasnt so benevolent, she would have been killed by the dynasty before his grandmother took over.


    Aunt Helen had a nose for sniffing out young talents, and took great pride in giving them what they needed, when they needed it. Whether that was an item or just a shoulder to cry on, she had done it all.


    Anyone who attacked her, <em>always</em> met a brutal end. Thest guild who tried to extort the woman hadsted two hours before their leadership waspletely exterminated.


    His grandmother attributed her crusade to reform the Empire to a more meritocratic system to the first meeting she had with the Phoenix. Even he had been found at Tier 7, and invited to her personal room to be fed a meal. Not as the son of the current Emperor, but simply as a young man trying to find his way on The Path.


    Even Leon and Mara had been scouted by the woman. She was never wrong about those she interacted with. The intelligence branch wanted to watch the woman, but he refused to betray her trust. Aunt Helen consistently showed nothing but benevolence to The Empire, and he wouldnt allow her privacy to be invaded.


    It was a shame that she was so stubborn about her Intent. Her iron will was the only thing that kept her going when her Concept was shattered. The death of her only child and subsequent suicide from her husband turned her entire existence on its head. It was that same iron will that kept her from restarting, and she chose to rebuild her Concept, one fragment at a time.


    It was an unwritten rule that anyone nning to ascend told her, so she could use the power to speed up her progress. The few that didnt were made examples of. The Empire officially honored their wills, but the other high Tier individuals of The Empire heavily discriminated against those they chose to help in their wills.


    A warning to those that remained. It had only happened twice in thest three generations of rulers. Emmanuel didnt expect a third time.


    That brought his attention back to Matt. The boy needed to Tier up, and the faster, the better. That Tier 3 Talent of his would be useful on its own once he passed Emmanuels current mana pool. But more importantly, he could recharge rifts.


    At Tier 30, it took a month for the rifts to recharge and maintain cohesion on just the ambient mana. If they were delved faster, they would fall apart. Matt would soon be able to do so much to reduce that time-frame, as long as he was within 5 Tiers of the rifts Tier.


    It would be insane. Emmanuel imagined the possibilities of full Tier 47 rifts. The rewards would be staggering. The higher Tier rifts were never left to sit long enough to recharge to maximum rewards, as it was far too wasteful.


    But with Matt...


    With Matt charging rifts, Emmanuel would be able to delve the Tier 47 rifts much faster. Currently, one-third of all the rewards he pulled out of the rifts were put aside. They were meant to feed the rifts when his thirty thousand-year rule neared its end. They needed at least that many resources to get a single cultivator to Tier 50 with just a Tier 47 rift.


    But with Matt...


    The Emperor even hoped that with the two of them, they might be able to increase the Tier of the Capital to 48. That would be a coup of the highest order.


    With Tier 48 rifts, they would be able to make even stronger cultivators. If that happened, they would be the only power with a Tier 48 rift. It would probably lead to war, but that was inevitable.


    The changes his grandmother had made to The Empire had taken them from sixth ce amongst the Great Powers, to second ce. It had taken slightly less than two thirty thousand year cycles of rulership. That was where another third of his delving rewards went.


    Emmanuel himself almost exclusively funded all of the social services that The Empire provided. In thest sixty thousand years, The Empire had nearly doubled in size, not including the vassal kingdoms. With that territory and poption boom, they were producing stronger people at a faster rate than the other powers.


    Now, they were left scrambling to try and recreate The Empire''s sess.


    The other powers had taken note when Duke Waters had risen, and were incredibly frightened of Light and Shadows impendingpletion of The Path.


    <em>At least they arent on track forpleting The Path in a hundred years</em>.


    Emmanuel sighed. He had needed to capture the man who would be Duke Waters and sit on him. If anyone knew he had been on track toplete The Path in half the time, the war would have been instantly dered. Tier 25 on one''s own effort, especially within one hundred years old, waspletely unheard of.


    Even as a Tier 50, Emmanuel was shocked at how strong the man was. It was absurd. He didnt even have any Talents rted to water orbat.


    If he couldnt copy the mans Talents, he would have never believed that the mans Talents were about animal husbandry. They weren''t even strong Talents! They just gave a small health bonus to any mundane creatures that he raised himself.


    Duke Waters had refused to go the nonbat route, and <em>oh</em> how it had paid off.


    War was inevitable, though. As usual. The Tier 50 from the number one power, the Unification of ns, was ascending, and that would firmly put The Empire on top.


    Sword Saint Hastor was a true monster, and didnt cultivate like most. No, the crazy bastard had relied on inspirations, like a crafter, to cultivate to the top of the Great Powers. He never used rifts or ambient essence. Fifty Tiers of inspiration had truly created the most unique existence on this ne.


    Emmanuel wanted the man to ascend. They had a deal. Hastor would let Emmanuel copy his Tier 50. In return as payment, he would dere that the ns couldnt be touched for the remainder of his time as a ruler.


    It would cause trouble, but it would force them to remain neutral in the uing war. With The Conglomerate Guilds as a staunch ally, Emmanuel was confident in at least not losing the war. Winning would be harder, but it wasnt impossible.


    He looked over the other political entities, in order of their power, and analyzed their threat levels to The Empire.<ol><li>The Unification of ns</li><li>The Empire</li><li>The Republic</li><li>The Sects</li><li>The Conglomerate Guilds</li><li>The Monster Collective</li><li>The Corporations</li><li>The Federation</li></ol>


    The Federation was weak, especially after the civil war had separated them from what became the Monster Collective. The Federation had started implementing speciesistws against the Beasts, Monsters, and Evolved Humans. His father had backed the now Monster Collective in their bid for freedom.


    Maras predecessor had not allowed anything else. The Monster Kingdom in The Empire was given such leeway and autonomy, only because their smart ruler realized that while they were intelligent, they were not human at heart.


    The Federation took that a step further, and tried to enve the non-human poption. That had alle to a head when the then number two power found a second Tier 46. None of the others could allow them to haves at Tier 47 and 46. They would be too strong, and none of the Great Powers wanted that.


    Seeing their chance, the Beasts had rebelled, and pushed a policy of equality with humans. With the other powers backing them, the faction was allowed to keep the older, stronger Tier 47 capital.


    The other powers had stopped them frompletely absorbing the Federation, creating two weaker powers, and preventing the newly formed Monster Collective from gaining too much strength.


    Emmanuel was able to cross the Monster Collective off the list of possible attackers. They had good rtions, even if they werent officially allied.


    The Federation would take any opportunity to attack, but they had no truly powerful people. Though they <em>did</em> have a few hopefuls.


    The Corporations were in the same situation. Too weak to be a real threat, but they would join for scraps.


    The Guilds were officially allied with The Empire, so they were a non-threat. Their treaties stated that they would mostly help defend their shared border, but that was enough in Emmanuels mind. They had the longest connected borders of any two political entities. That fact alone let him not worry about nearly a fourth of his borders.


    The Sects and the Republic would be the true opponents. They had already officially allied against The Empire threat. A two against one war would be doable, just difficult.


    Which brought his thoughts back to the young man with too much mana. Their projection reached a point where he and Liz decided to go to one of the vassal kingdoms, the Seven Suns kingdom. They had just recently discovered a nice Tier 20.


    Emmanuel checked his AI. Yes, he had a message from the neighboring vassal queendom, the Alliance of Allied Queens. They wanted permission to fight over the same. It was only five jumps away from their border, just one more jump further than it was from the Seven Suns border.


    With a thought, he epted their proposal. A vassal war would be good training for those on The Path. He was also very unhappy with The Seven Suns recent actions and this was a good way to remind them that they existed at his whim.


    It would also help his niece, and if the two swooning idiots next to him got their way, his next nephew.


    He announced the vassal war, put up rewards for participation, and sent healing squads to manage casualties.


    The Empire needed to be ready for conflict, and a bit of a safe environment would allow for more growth. And hopefully fewer casualties.


    He checked his AI for what Melinda was doing. Emmanuel got hourly reports on the girl, so he was always able to see what her team was up to. He wanted her to participate in this. He had three Tier 40s watching the girl at all times. She was his greatest asset, and he wouldn''t risk those.


    Her Tier 3 was already amazing, but at each Tier, it just got better and better. He had tweaked things, and gotten her an [Area Healing] skill shard as her Tier five reward for being on The Path. He had done his own testing, and found that the girls Talent for Overhealth also affected any subsequent healing spells cast by other healers.


    Emmanuel had used [Crack Skill Shard] on every healing skill he had, and purchased as many as he could without affecting the market. He needed the healer to have an incredibly slow Heal Over Time skill. It would be game-changing in a war. But he''d had no luck so far.


    The only thing he was worried about was the youngdys mental state. She innately created a death Concept with no prompting. A healer who tried to heal death away was not a standard path. And one he worried wasnt sustainable.


    Emmanuel pushed the thoughts away as Samuel finished copying the rift. It was a small rift in space, and was utterly fragile.


    He looked to his two royals and friends. Alright you all, head out. Ill destroy the evidence, and this world. No second copies of this baby.


    When they left, Emmanuel stood still. Not even his hair moved. With the five off the world and in chaotic space, he released his will that was holding the fabric of this world together.


    At the seams, the bonds of reality started to fray. At Tier 5, the world was unraveling slowly, simply from his mere presence.


    Switching to his fire preset Talents, he ignited the sun. As the ball of fire exploded at the speed of light from his overwhelming strength, he switched to an earth preset, and shattered the by pulling down its moon. Molten fragments hit his still form. When they touched him, they disintegrated against his sheer power.


    He was the immovable object, and they broke against him


    Most of his Concept, like his Intent and Aspect, was being used to resist the pull of the higher realms. But what little he had made him a shield that would protect The Empire.


    Emmanuel had known from a young age that he would rule The Empire. His adaptability demanded it, so he epted it without protest. He didnt want it, but <em>someone</em> had to protect the average citizen, and he was best suited to being whatever The Empire needed.


    Emmanuel was the Bulwark for The Empire. Her enemies would have no choice but to break him, but what chance did they have when he resisted? Emmanuels Concept, Intent, and Aspect all revolved around protecting those under his aegis.


    As the expanding sun washed around him, The Emperor raised his hand, and reality tore, like a worn-out fabric.


    Chaotic space rushed in and eroded everything. Not a speck of the and its essence remained. That cut off the reality, and Emmanuel was ejected into the chaotic space. The ember of lights that represented worlds were only visible because of their essence. With no essence, they returned to nothingness.


    Emmanuel pulled out a mile-long needle with a grin, moved to Mara, and stuck her in the thigh. It only removed a drop of her Phoenix essence, but the Tier 48 screamed like she was dying.


    You wanted dragon essence. I want Phoenix essence. Now were even.


    Emmanuel was going to gloat more, when Mara clutched her butt and fell into her husbands arms, who was now wearing healers robes.


    The prognosis doesnt look good. Youre dying.


    Mara fluttered a hand over her forehead. I only have one final wish. <em>Ravish me</em>.


    Emmanuels calls for them to stop were ignored.


    Leon looked aghast. Butdy, Im <em>married</em>!


    With that, the two disappeared. Emmanuel took a deep breath, and picked up the three lower Tiers they had left behind.


    Mara had promised to give him Phoenix essence once Emmanuel had mentioned wanting to make a fertility potion for his wife. They were nning to try for a child in the next few thousand years. The needle was a bit of fun, but the two lovers took any opportunity to gallivant off.


    It was probably why they also had seven children without ever needing outside help.


    Emmanuel just wished they didnt leave him with ferry duties.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42


    Matt opened his eyes and <em>saw</em>.


    It was like the world had been hidden by sunsses that were finally taken off. The world was sharper. Colors had distinct edges where they changed hue. Removing his mental finger from his Concept, the world returned to normal. Matt took a moment to y with this new ability.


    It was a stronger effect of what the Emperor did when he spoke with Melinda.


    That thought made Matt shiver. Intellectually he knew the man was a monster at Tier 50, but he had created the same effect through a call.


    <em>And Liz grew up with these monsters.</em>


    Matt looked around and saw that Travis was the only one still sitting in the chairs they had ced in the open area around the house. Quietly, he walked inside, jumping when he kicked a finger long shard of what he thought was ss.


    After looking at the Tier 17 and ensuring he wasnt bothered, Matt scooped it up. He could feel the same energy that had permeated the air during the ascension. Some still lingered, but in a much smaller quantity. Here in this shard, the energy was condensed. He could even see a part of the ascenders calf captured in the shard.


    He walked inside, and noticed that Aunt Helen was holding Aster. The fox was shivering. Now that he wasnt so absorbed in his own thoughts about the sess of his Concept, he could feel his bond in distress.


    He crossed the intervening distance with hurried steps. As he reached out to scoop up the white fox, Aunt Helen shifted slightly to deny him.


    He looked to the Tier 24 Phoenix with concern. Her feathered hair swooshed in an arc as she moved.


    Quietly he asked, Whats wrong with her?


    He trusted that the older woman had her reasons for preventing him from taking his bond.


    She smiled, but it was one filled with what he interpreted as remembered pain. Or maybe a shared experience.


    Beasts who advance usually do so withoutplications from Tier 1 through 4. Tier 5 is a monumental change. Little Aster is having her mind forcefully enhanced. She is going from Sentience to Sapience. And it hurts like nothing else.


    She looked down, and kept stroking the little fox, whose nk was now violently quivering.


    Matt wanted to rify. So shes bing more human? And that hurts?


    Aunt Helen smiled. I remember mine, though it was so very long ago. Its excruciating Matt. And there isnt much that can be done without hurting her more. Her mind is growing and creating new connections. Im using my powers to soothe her, but I cant interfere any more.


    Is this going to happen every time she Tiers up?


    His stomach rolled at the idea, and he tried to send warm,forting thoughts to his bond. But she was curled up tight, even mentally. She let nothing in, and Matt was getting desperate to help.


    No, Matt. This will be the worst. Tiers 5 through 10 are all about the mind evolving, and Tiers 11 through 14 are about feeling your body feeling... <em>wrong</em>. Easier advancement has its drawbacks. Beasts minds will grow, which makes it so that we start feeling trapped in our own bodies. Its why we create a more fitting form once we reach Tier 15.


    She gently rocked the ball of white fur in her arms. This is the worst of it. Shell get better in a few more hours. Its almost over.


    Matt opened his mouth to ask a question, and Aunt Helen spoke over him. When she finishes this, shell need a good cuddle and sleep with the people she cares about. The next few days will be hard for her. The world will be apletely new ce to her. It will be up to you and Liz to guide her through this. But, Ill give Aster some advice before I leave. Shelle out of this stronger. Its painful, but natural.


    He still wanted to grab his bond and hold her, but he respected the phoenix, and would wait for Aunt Helen to finish. Matt wasnt so arrogant to think that he could do something that a million-year-old cultivator couldnt do.


    Trying to change the subject, he asked, Aunt Helen, was the ascension enough to form your Intent? Liz said you had some problems, but the ascension seemed very helpful.


    He petered off as he realized that he was bringing up memories of her long-dead family, but the woman justughed slightly, and reached up to stroke his sandy blond hair.


    No dear, not yet. But it helps. Im trying to piece a shattered vase back together. My Concept shattered when my son died, and then was ground to powder when my husband couldnt handle it either.


    The Tier 24 looked off into the distance, before murmuring, I already discarded my Concept once. I, like most fire beasts, had a fire Concept. But that wasnt me. I <em>am</em> family. So I destroyed that one, and created my family Concept. I could have cleaned out the fragments of my shattered Concept and easily created a new one, but that would be removing thest bit of my husband and son that I have left. So I''ve been rebuilding this one for thest few million years.


    The woman shrugged like it wasnt a big deal, but Matt could rte to her, at least a little bit. He had lost his parents at such a young age, he had trouble even remembering their faces.


    Matt pulled the smaller woman into a soft hug. It doesnt get easier, does it?


    She only shook her head, and they stood there for a long moment, before Asters renewed shivering brought them both back to the present.


    Aunt Helen started petting and rocking the little fox again. Two happy things; Im almost done rebuilding, and you have a Concept. What did you settle on?


    Matt grinned and touched his Concept. It was like a toy he yearned to y with.


    My phrase is I am Endless. And its paired with a white hole image.


    Matt scratched the back of his head. Though I dont know what it will do.


    Admitting that felt far more awkward than he expected.


    <em>Shouldnt I just know? Its my Concept, after all.</em>


    Aunt Helen just chuckled. Oh, Matt. You are hardly the first to have that issue. Go explore your new power with BethBeth. Shes insufferable. Just bouncing around, waiting for you to finish.


    As he turned to go find his partner, Aunt Helen stopped him again.


    What do you n on doing with that shard in your hand?


    Matt looked down at the reality shard that he was still holding. He had actually forgotten about it in their discussion.


    I figured Id give to Keith and Travis as thanks for letting us stay.


    Aunt Helen rolled her eyes so hard Matt <em>felt</em> it.


    Matt. You are the second tost person out of the trance. If we wanted it, any of us would have taken it.


    He paused at that.


    <em>So they are leaving it for a reason. But what reason?</em>


    Matt looked at the shard. It was good for helping people recreate the environment of an ascension on a small scale. It was valuable, but he didnt <em>need</em> the money. Liz, Aster, and he could <em>use</em> the money, but he doubted the higher Tiers would leave it for something so simple.


    Matt knew what he wanted to do with it, so he half asked, Can I send this to a group of my friends?


    Aunt Helens smile was radiant. Clearly, he had said the right thing.


    I knew I liked you. Sharing what we have with those close to us allows everyone to evolve. If you write a letter, Ill deliver both to The Unbroken.


    That made Matt pause. How did you know their team name?


    The older woman winked at him. Having rebuilt most of my Concept gives some advantages. I can tell when influential people are growing, and I have a sense of what they need and when theyll need it.


    Matt opened his mouth, but the womans arm stretched the nearly five-foot distance, and she pressed a finger to his mouth, before scratching his scalp. The sharp talons were perfect at hitting all the right spots, and he had a hard time formting his question.


    Aunt Helen chuckled at his ck face. Matt, I would have pulled you to the side whether you met my niece or not. Dont be afraid that youre not holding your own.


    That somehow put him at ease. Matt didnt think it was from arrogance, but to think he hadnt gotten special attention of his own merit stung his pride a bit.


    <em>I need to watch that. Who am I to think Im special?</em>


    She continued, You run along now. Im waiting for Travis toe out of his trance. Ill leave tomorrow sometime, so write up a nice letter to your friends. Ill deliver it sooner than it would otherwise get to them.


    Matt nodded and thanked her, then went to find Liz. The ring on his finger pulled him towards her room, so he went and knocked.


    Come in. Lizs voice came through the door, and he found his redheaded teammate sitting on her balcony, looking over the valley.


    She turned to him, and her grin was infectious.


    I beat you by six hours!


    Her yellow eyes reflected her grin, and Matt shot back, I didnt rush.


    That wasnt exactly true, and the look he received in return told him that she didnt buy it for a second.


    Ok, I tried to form my Intent.


    Matt flopped down next to his teammate and chuckled at himself. Even with the extra power granted by his Concept, he had felt nothing.


    Ha. Yeah, we need years with our Concepts to even be able to feel that.


    Matt knew that the way Liz was kicking her feet meant that she was nervous.


    You tried as well, didnt you?


    Liz just nodded and coughed, changing the subject. So what did you settle on for your image?


    Before he could answer, the woman blurted out, I was able to insert myself into the image!


    Thats great! Congrats. I know you wanted that. What did it give you?


    Liz shrugged. I dont know. Ive been waiting for you to finish, and for Aster to recover from her own ordeal.


    That touched Matt, but Liz quickly asked, What did you settle on? Was it the sun? Or were you able to make something more abstract work?


    Matt smiled. He was proud of what he had done after all. No, I was able to create a white hole image.


    Lizs eyebrow reached for her hairline, so he exined. They arent real as far as anyone has found, but its a theory about whats basically the exact opposite of ck holes. Where ck holes pull everything in and absorb energy and matter, white holes are the opposite. They put out energy and repel matter at their event horizons. I just tweaked it to push out mana instead of matter and energy.


    Matt shrugged at the confused look on her face. It felt amazing to understand something that the woman raised by two Tier 48s didnt.


    Her next question hurt slightly. You already make mana. Why not make matter? That could be really cool.


    I, uhh... It felt right. And mana can make matter and energy, so its better.


    Liz narrowed her eyes. You just thought of that, didnt you?


    Their bickeringsted for a few minutes, before Matt gave up and turned his attention to the valley around them.


    The crowds were gone, and where tens of thousands were just two days ago, now there were only a few scattered people. Almost all of them were still in trances, like Travis.


    It was a massive contrast to the view just days ago. Thinking of the time, Matts stomach rumbled in protest of the nearly two days without food. He had been sitting down forming his image the entire time.


    Liz hooked his arm and said, Aunt Helen has a spatial ring full of food. Lets go raid it.


    Watching Liz raid the womans spatial ring was a sight Matt wouldnt soon forget. She snuck up on the older Phoenix withrge, exaggerated steps while crouching. After grabbing her hand, just shook her hand over a te.


    The Tier 24 pretended that she didnt notice, and food fell out on the waiting te.


    When Liz returned with her spoils, he had to question her methods. That seems wholly unnecessary. Im sure we could have just asked her for the food.


    Liz gave him a pitying look. Wheres the fun in that?


    Matt ignored the woman next to him and dug into his te. Aunt Helen had loaded his te with turkey and stuffing with asparagus and warm gravy.


    It was divine. The turkey moist with a crispy skin and the gravy added that slight bit of additional vor to the meat while the asparagus were full of what he guessed were steak vors, like they were from an entirely separate meal.


    The woman had reached a level in cooking he only hoped toe close to someday.


    When they were done, he washed and dried the tes while Liz talked. We have a ticket out of here in four days. Its good that we got one when we did. The backlog is months long. And thats even with most of the Tier 15s and higher just flying out through chaotic space. Otherwise, it would be years. Speaking of leaving are we still on for hitting a club tomorrow night?


    Matt finished his meal and asked, Whats taking so long then? It was mostly Tier 15s here, right? And yes I''m up for it.


    Liz shook her head, Not really. Remember, the ascension is good for people awakening too, and all thes near here brought over every kid they could. Im sure they were cranking out teleports as fast as they could manage.


    Matt responded, I did forget about that. It makes sense, though. Not as much of a rush to bring them back. Lots of mana wastage to save time.


    The usual month-long teleport time was a long enough dy that ambient mana could be gathered and used to fuel the teleport. Matt was sure that a lot of the mana he had sold to the Baroness was being used to get the interlopers off her world.


    Matt sat with Liz and asked, Aster already broke through into Tier 5. Are you ready to do the same?


    They didnt have any essence in their spirits, but they could still perform a single crunch, and break through now. They would just need to finish the remaining crunches when they had enough essence to power the consolidation of their power bases. It annoyed Matt that any unused essence onlysted for a few days. If he could have kept the essence from the Tier 5 rift they had delved, he could have finished all ten crunches of his core right at this moment.


    With an effort of his spirit, hepressed his core, and all of the gains from his Tier 4 essence allocation surged through his body. The newfound power of his advancement rushed through him, and the sensation made Matt want to move. He needed to move.


    Lets go spar.


    Liz ran back up to her room, and Matt did the same. He changed into work out clothes and grabbed one of his mana crystals, filling it to hold 40 mana.


    It only took a thought for him to reabsorb the mana, and thus, his Maximum Mana increased. It doubled the 20 mana limit he was restricted to before. With 40 mana per second regeneration at under 1% of his maximum mana, he now had mana to spare.


    With a test, he found that [Cracked Phantom Armor] was able to handle 20 MPS. [Mages Retreat] was able to take as much as he could give it, but with 10 MPS, he was getting a fifty percent boost to his strength allocation. He was content with keeping it near that level.


    That still left 10 MPS for his AI, his swords runes, and his swords skill, [Mana Charge]. Now, he could channel the skill without any strain, and would be able to use it inbat without exhausting himself.


    Matt paused. He also needed mana for [Hail], the skill he had never even used. Then, he would also be getting [Endurance] as a reward for being on The Path of Ascension at Tier 5.


    Suddenly, Matt felt like he could already use another doubling of mana.


    If he lowered [Mages Retreat] to 2 MPS, he got an extra 8 MPS, which he hoped would be enough to cover the two new skills.


    It would mean that he would only be able to count on [Mages Retreat] for a twenty-five percent boost at Tier 5. But that was still considerable.


    Matt then remembered potions that Aunt Helen had given him. They would increase his Mana Concentration, which in turn would increase the efficiency of all of his skills. He made a note to check in with the older Phoenix about whether he could use another now, or if he should wait until he finished his other nine crunches.


    Using his AI, Matt saw a message blinking in his inbox.


    It was a message from Dena and Eric, his Sponsors.


    The message was a surprise. He had tried to message them on more than one asion, but it had always failed. The only thing that changed was that he hit Tier 5.


    Matt opened the message and found a video.


    He opened it, and it yed instantly, oveying his vision. He saw a heavily armored Eric, and lighter armored Dena. They had taken their helmets off and were sttered with blood, but their faces were clean and clear.


    They were sitting on a mountain top. At first, it seemed normal, but as it was the first frame of the video, he had time to notice some discrepancies. Behind them was and of death. They had ughtered enough of something to dye the entire valley red. The recording didnt have enough detail for his AI to identify what kind of creatures they were.


    As he was about to start the video, Liz knocked. Are you ready?


    No. I got a message from my sponsors.


    With that, his partner pushed her way in and plopped next to him.


    Oooh. Lets watch.


    Matt flicked the video to the screen on the wall, and he took special notice of Liz. He wanted to know if she recognized them. He had told her about them, but never had a picture to show.


    She didnt react, so he yed the video.


    Dena spoke first. Heyyyyy, Matt! Nice to see you. If youre watching this video, you hit Tier 5 while on The Path. And fast enough that we havent recorded a second video.


    His Sponsors bothughed at that.


    Eric picked up the thread. Sorry about that. Wed have liked to be there for your advancement, since its a big deal. Tier 5 is where you can start learning deeper secrets of cultivation. But first...


    He trailed off.


    Dena said, Youll learn this eventually, but we didnt find you by chance. A detrimental Talent gets gged byary AIs, and the person is watched. If they dont seem like bad people, they get a team sent to meet and scout the detrimental Talent out. Thats how we found you. Wed rather tell you ourselves now that youre Tier 5, and are more likely to learn it.


    Eric cut in, That doesnt mean we dont like you. Youre a great kid, and we meant what we said about you having skill. Thats also why we blocked you until you hit Tier 5. Youre on The Path. You should have no doubts that you earned your ce. You had no guidance other than what you found on your own.


    Matt was touched. They couldnt have known that he met Liz, who was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. He didnt know how he would have reacted if Liz hadnt been there to answer his questions. But still, the idea that he would question whether or not he had earned his ce on The Path wasnt far-fetched.


    He had been emotionally fragile back then. He wasnt perfect now, but he had grown a lot with Liz and Aster.


    Matt looked at Liz, while the two on the screen looked awkwardly at each other.


    Do you count as guidance that I found on my own?


    Liz just shushed him as Dena spoke up. We wish we could have been there for your Tier 5, but were running back-to-back rifts right now. We have neither time nor privacy. She gestured around them. Thats why were recording this in a rift. If you watch the entrance, its one of the few ces that you can be assured of privacy in.


    Eric changed the topic. We were able to scout you because we were on a break, but now youre Tier 5. Were sending you an information packet with this. It will introduce you to some things. The potion you took to break into Tier 5 isnt the true way to advance. Its like a prosthetic, and its good. Dont misunderstand, but now that youre Tier 5, you can start thinking on something called a Concept. The packet exins more. Read it over.


    Dena jumped over Eric. Also, check out the free guide for Tier 8 skill shards. Its a good source of information, but the best skill you want to get is [Endurance]. If you bring it into your core spirit, you can expand the skills abilities to make it a channeling self-healing skill. It wont heal any more than the body can naturally do, but thats enough to save your life. It could get you out of a dangerous situation.


    Matt was touched. If he hadnt met Liz, this would be exactly what information he would need at this point. They may have been chosen, but while they didnt say it in the message, Liz had told him that no one could be forced to scout a detrimental Talent. They had chosen to ept him, and spent more than the minimum time. They also didnt say that they were Tier 15.


    <em>Or higher</em>, Matt corrected himself.


    Eric finished off, We really dont have more time. Sorry, Matt. Once we can catch a break, welle find you. But now that you have your feet under you, feel free to send us messages. Well try to answer what we can. Just know, it might take time for us to get out of the rifts and be able to update our AIs. Rifts get a lotrger at higher Tiers.


    They both said their goodbyes, and Matt looked at Liz.


    She spoke before he did. They are so nice. We need to send a nice return message. Thats all really good advice for someone... without my, uhmm advantages.


    Her stammering was amusing, but Matt didnt press it. You dont recognize them?


    Liz rolled her eyes. I dont know everyone, Matt. Really, I dont. We can check with Aunt Helen, though. Possibly Travis and Keith, but Aunt Helen is the best bet.


    Matt shrugged. Really, he didnt care. They were messaging him, and he couldnt fault them. They had been right. He needed to advance on his own, or he would have felt that any of his achievements were not his own. They had a better read on his mental state than he did back then.


    He had been just one setback away from shattering back at Bennys. He had never even looked into alternative ways to make money. He had simply found the first way out and worked for it. Things had worked out in the end, but they might not have.


    Standing, Matt felt reinvigorated. Come on, lets spar a bit. I want to test my Concept.


    The two of them hurried to the training room and found Travis and Keith. They were lightly sparring at incredibly slow speeds. Which meant that Matt could only see blurs.


    The couple stopped when they entered, and Travis called out, The newly Concepted pair! How does it feel?


    Keith spoke over Travis and asked, What images did you settle on?


    Matt and Liz looked to each other, and when they both gestured for the other to go, Liz rolled her eyes and went.


    I did what I wanted and got myself into my rebirth through blood image. It should let me get all of the increased power of an internal Concept, with none of the drawbacks. Since I use blood externally, I should get the best of both worlds.


    Matt picked up where Liz left off. I made a white hole image.


    Keith cocked an eyebrow, but Travis nodded.


    I have no idea what it will do, though.


    Well, lets test it then. Travis rubbed his hands together at the suggestion.


    Matt focused inward to his new sense, and with something that wasnt his mana, activated his Concept. He knew it was his will, but it wasnt like mana or essence that he could feel. This was more ethereal.


    He felt the energy surge forward, and quickly felt his will draining. Worried that something was wrong, he stopped.


    Travis and Keith both looked surprised, and Liz looked confused. So Matt asked, What? What happened?


    Keith said, Huh, I got a boost to my Mana Regeneration. Im not sure if it was t or percentage based, though.


    He looked to his husband, and they clearly began sharing information with their AIs.


    Travis spoke next. We both got different amounts of mana regen. We arent sure if its because of our differing cultivation, or different amounts of our missing mana.


    Keith added, Or distance from you.


    Matt thought that over and didnt get any answers from his Concept. He did get the feeling that there was more that he could do.


    I think theres something else. Let me try something.


    Matt activated his Concept a second time, but focused on the other feeling it gave him. His vision sharpened like usual, but he also saw white light seeping out of himself. The light was tinged blue at the base, and following his instincts from the Concept, he pushed it out with a surge of will. A sphere of bluish white light surrounded him.


    Keith flicked something at him, but it slowed constantly, until it eventually reversed its direction, as if Matt had thrown it back at the Tier 17.


    Matt coughed and felt something wet.


    Wiping his mouth, he found his hand covered in blood. Keith and Travis both touched him, and healing energy rushed through him. Matt felt better, but the world seemed to have the colors drained out of it. He also found that his thoughts were hard to congeal. They floated just out of his mental hand.


    Keith snapped in front of his face, and after a moment, his words came through. You used too much will. Meditate. Think inward. Itll help.


    It took what seemed like years, but he focused into his cores and entered the area where his Concept resided. The mental space that once felt full of energy was drained, and his image was dim in his mind. It wasnt fragile, but it seemed to have no energy left.


    Clearly, thatst bit with the repulsion had overdone it.


    Matt did find that his presence inside his Concept area was greatly speeding up the production of that energy. Once he didnt feel light-headed, Matt exited, and found that his peripheralscked the proper colors.


    Liz was hovering over him, so he smiled at her. The movement cracked the dried blood on his face.


    The look on her face showed that while she appreciated the attempt, it wasnt very reassuring.


    You better, Matt?


    The concern put him at ease.


    Yeah, Im fine.


    Thatst one had taken far more energy than he expected.


    Keith looked sorry, and when he opened his mouth, Matt spoke faster. Really, its fine. Better to push my limits here.


    Travisid a hand on Keiths shoulder and said, When you said white hole, I was afraid of this. Your image is whats considered...rger. Huge, really, but thats not an official designation.


    Matt knew about the designations, but hadnt put two and two together. His Concepts image was <em>huge</em>. His mental image of it was on a cosmic scale. Powering it was draining to his will.


    With the size of the image in his spirit, he figured that he had made the image small. That would have given him a greater efficiency, at the cost of some oomph.


    Having arger image meant that he could eventually get more will than most, as he grew with usage and strain. Butsting only seconds was something Matt hadnt even read about.


    He shrugged. Nothing I can do about it. In the end, this is an advantage. Well, it will be the long run.


    Keith added what Matt didnt. Getting there will be quite hard.


    He looked at Liz. Well, lets see your Concept.


    She looked at him weirdly, but nodded.


    The blood mage summoned a small sphere of blood that hovered over her hand. She looked at it, but Matt didn''t see anything change but the woman''s smile.


    Travis poked it. I can''t tell. Did you do anything?


    Liz kicked at his shin. Yes! Its stronger. I also feel like I can use my Concept to improve the healing thates with my Tier 3 Talent.


    Sheshed out at her brother''s wall. The blood didnt even scratch the Tier 15 materials that the house was made from, but there was a noticeable thump that she hadnt produced before.


    It also seems to make my blood denser, harder, and less prone to stter.


    Matt remembered that he had a skill he wanted to test. The fogginess still present in his head shouldn''t affect his skills, so he filled a mana crystal. When it was topped off at two hundred mana, he quickly drained it. Before his AI could eat into his reserve mana, he cast [Hail].


    It was a new feeling for him. All of his skills up until now were only channels. This one grabbed a chunk of his mana, and instantly twisted it into the shape of the skill structure that resided in his spirit. He was instinctively aware that the skill would be cast where he intended, but also found that its range could only be extended about ten feet from his current position.


    When he let the skill go, a rain of small chunks of ice patterned down in the center of the training room. With a bit of effort, he sent more mana into the skill, and the size and volume of the ice increased.


    Keith walked in andmented, Seems to be working like normal. The skill is trying to slow me down. Also, congrats on having your first non channeled skill.


    He walked out of the mini storm, and Matt tried to move the skill to follow the Tier 17, but found it immobile.


    All in all, he was happy with it. It would help in a fight, sure, but more importantly, it was a source of free ice for his bond. She could save a lot of mana with him covering the cost of creating ice. Maniption of the ice was cheap inparison.


    While they were ying with their Concepts and Matt was exploring his new skill and its abilities, Aunt Helen came in with a weary Aster.


    With that, Matt and Liz returned to his room, and they gave the worn out fox the attention she needed.


    Liz looked at the exhausted ball of fluff in between them and rubbed her back. Mom always said that Tier 5 was the worst. The others won''t be great, but nothing inparison. Sorry, I would have said something, but the worrying just makes it worse. Its almost as if you try and resist the changes.


    Matt nodded. Aunt Helen said it would get better, so now we just wait.


    They quietly turned on a movie and soon joined Aster in dreand.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43


    <em><strong>CHAPTER 1/2</strong></em>


    Cami watched the pair walk into the club. She was perched on a stool at the bar while she scanned the duo.


    The woman was Elizabeth, preferred name Liz. She was tall for her reported age, but Cami supposed that was normal enough. Especially with Tier 15 parents having perfect gics to pass down. Her me-red hair suggested a fire beast in her ancestry. Considering who called her niece, that wasn''t surprising. The eyes were a bright yellow that had a sharpness to them. It reminded her of a bird.


    She was stunning. Cami tore her eyes away and focused on the person next to her.


    The boy.


    Cami shuddered, but controlled the reaction. Instead she threw out a smile.


    The boy was Matthew, preferred name Matt. He was tall, and surveyed the room with lustful eyes. He had sandy blond hair, and green eyes that she wanted to dig out with a rusty spoon.


    She knew his type. Oh, she definitely knew his type.


    When he looked in her direction, Cami smiled at him. He returned it, and she wanted to vomit.


    She braced herself. If she wanted out, she needed to put up with this for a single night.


    Cami would much rather choose Liz, as she was much more her type. She even caught her eyeing her up while she was observing the pair. It would be easy, and might even be fun. But the boy was an easier target.


    Matt weaved through the crowd towards her position at the bar.


    Cami considered him, and resisted the urge to w out his eyes.


    They were <em>so</em> green.


    Just like


    ***


    Cami was the daughter of a pleasure house. Seven generations had worked in the establishment, and two of them were fortunate enough to catch the attention of someone strong. Strong enough that they were escorted to Tier 14.


    One had even made it to Tier 15.


    Cami had mostly helped around the house, doing what the AI-controlled golems couldn''t do. Mostly, she dealt with escorting people to and from rooms, or provided pleasantpany to those that waited.


    She was a cute youngdy, with long, dark hair that contrasted well with her pale skin and silver eyes.


    When she came of age, she was awakened, and allowed to start taking on work. She was excited. She could start making her own money.


    Cami was a simple woman. Her Tier 1 Talent even gave her special options that she found fitting for her line of work.


    Tier 1 Talent: Any Pain is converted to pleasure.


    It was a detrimental Talent, but with her new AI, Cami didn''t mind it. She just needed to be careful that she didn''t let wounds linger.


    She was able to amodate a whole new branch of clients. Clients that paid much better than average. The Talent came with some problems, and odd sensations. Pain had vors, and so did her new pleasure sense.


    It took time to adjust to, but soon she was proficient enough to differentiate between pain pleasure and normal pleasure.


    Her next year was entirely spent working. She even entertained a Tier 4 who was willing to protect her while delving, and give her all of the essence in a Tier 2 rift. Cami was able to advance quite a bit in those few months of delving a Tier above her own.


    She was happy then, and learned a lot about herself and her own preferences. One was her very strong preference for female clients over male ones. Soft over hard.


    Everything came to a head when Duke Cumulus found her.


    She was invited back to the Duke''s manor by a retainer, and after spending an evening with him, she had caught the Duke''s eye.


    Cami wasn''t even aware of what happened until she returned home for the evening. When she arrived, she had barely had time to freshen up before the madam called her down.


    She had a VIP waiting for her. She was shocked. VIPs were all Tier 15''s or higher. Cami had never entertained anyone higher than a Tier 4. She was young and weak. The madam kept their partners within a Tier or two to prevent any harm to the workers under her care.


    But VIPs got more leeway.


    When she arrived, she found the man waiting for her, and she instantly recognized him. This was his capital world for the duchy, after all. This was also one of only four cities with teleport pads. The city was prosperous enough for the man to visit with his flying ind once a year or so.


    He was polite, at least when she first met him. He didn''t even invite her to a room, but simply talked to her. The Duke exuded charm. His golden blond hair and emerald green eyes seemed like they were trying to draw her into their depths.


    Cami wasn''t naive enough to believe anything good woulde of it, but when he left without incident, she put it to the back of her mind.


    The next few days, she was tense, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Within a week, she went back to her normal life. After three weeks, since the Duke had been gone for a while, she forgot about the entire incident.


    Cami was walking through a lower Tier, open-air market, when her body suddenly locked up, and her limbs started moving independently. It was like hands were controlling her, as if she was a puppet. She panicked for a while, but when she couldn''t call out, and she started walking to a more secluded corner, she tried to use her AI to call for help.


    To her horror, she found it unable to reach out. Something was blocking her outgoing connection.


    That''s when her panic escted. She was trapped in her own body, and nothing she did had any reaction.


    Cami watched as she nodded, and even waved to her usual chatting partners. They seemed unable to notice anything off about her, even though Cami was screaming internally that she needed their help.


    She passed behind and in between an awning and a leaning temporary seller''s stall. With mounting dread, she found her vision going dark while a rough cloth was shoved over her head.


    Her ears stung as the opening of the sack had to stretch around her hair. The opening of the bag snapped snug around her throat, and Cami found she had control over her body again. She tried to take a deep breath to scream and il, but the bag cinched tight, and choked her until she saw dots in the dark bag.


    Whatever had controlled her body had dissipated, but her muscles ckened and became unresponsive to anything but the slowest movements.


    Cami forced herself to remain calm, and tried to listen to her surroundings. But all she could hear was her own breaths swirling around the bag, and her heartbeat thumping heavy pumps of blood.


    She was only able to count the passage of time with her mostly useless AI. She was forced into a smaller container, where she couldnt stretch out at all, and was forced into half-crouch. Even then, she was unable to properly control her body, and was slumped into an ufortable position.


    The minutes ticked by, and Cami watched as seven hours passed. They were the longest hours of her life. She was unable to hear, but could feel sounds and vibrations on her skin.


    It was her only sce andpany while she watched each second tick by. Tears and snot had long since dried on Cami''s face, and the pleasure of her legs cramping was adding more stress to her situation.


    Cami wanted to scream, but the mask forced her voice down.


    When the bag was ripped off, the first thing she saw was a sh of a bright light, and shining green eyes.


    Duke Cumulus.


    "What..."


    She was cut off with a backhand that shattered her jaw. It sent a wave of pleasure like she had never experienced before. The Duke''s hand glowed, and the relief joined the diminishing pleasure from her jaw as she spat out blood.


    "Ahh, my newest little whore." The Duke''s cultured voice cut through her pleasure fogged mind.


    This time, he gently caressed her face with the same hand that had broken it, and healed her.


    Cami tried to back away from the box she was in to keep her from retreating.


    She didn''t speak. She wasn''t stupid, and wasn''t going to give him the excuse of her speaking out of line.


    Her AI may have been out ofmission, but that didn''t mean her brain was.


    The Duke stood up, and tipped her out of the box with a foot. The relief of her legs finally being able to stretch was an added pleasure to her other converted aches and pains.


    She found herself in a stone room that appeared to be what she could only describe as a torture room. It was almost familiar to her. They had a simr setup in the house. They had AI control so no one could get stuck, but she doubted that these would have such a feature.


    The Tier 35 gave her time to survey her surroundings.


    There was a translucent wall that let her see into a second room, separated by what she could only guess was a runic barrier.


    "Do you like your new home?"


    Cami did not respond, and was kicked into the heavy wooden table. Her hip was shattered, and she couldn''t feel her left leg.


    With her broken body bent over the table, she saw a girl with golden hair look at her from the neighboring cell. Her eyes were so dull, that if the girl wasn''t rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her chest, Cami would have thought she was dead.


    She had given up.


    <em>Is that what my future is?</em>


    When the healing energy washed through her and stopped the pleasure, Cami''s head was jerked back by the hair.


    She was bent in an angle that would have broken something if she hadn''t trained her body for flexibility.


    "When I speak to you... You. Will. Answer. Do you understand?"


    Cami croaked out, "Yes."


    He smashed his lips to hers, and Cami learned what true horrors awaited her.


    ***


    The next two weeks were awful. She was sure the Duke was enjoying his new y toy, because he spent every moment he had free in her cell. He told her that he wanted to learn about her odd Talent. He took utter delight in breaking her body, and watching her Talent turn what should have been debilitating pain into pleasure that sent her body into shudders.


    She tried to talk to the woman next to her, but she ignored any attempt atmunication. The girl even went as far as hiding behind her own torture table if Cami persisted.


    She refused to give up. There was a window with narrow bars, but it overlooked the forested part of the floating ind she was captive on. If she stood on the rack of cutting implements, she could peek out of it.


    There wasn''t even any ss, but she could see the runes that blocked out sound. She could see freedom, and could even smell it, but her shouts and calls for help never escaped.


    The other thing she had learned was that the bag that was ced over her head had a cor. It was fitted around her neck, and wasn''t removed when Cumulus removed the bag itself.


    She was pretty sure that the cor was what was stopping her AI from reaching out. But the metal was so strong, she was unable to even scratch it with the tools left behind.


    Her second idea was to reach out the window and g someone down, but the runes sent waves of electricity into anything that passed its threshold.


    Still, Cami hadn''t given up. She spent her limited free time that wasnt dedicated to sleep watching out the window. Eventually, she was able to catch a woman''s eye. The woman had signaled that she saw her, and was trying to find and free her.


    <em>I can hold out just a little longerjust one more day.</em>


    That was the mantra that kept her going. The only sce she found in these awful walls.


    The woman had indicated that this was the day. Shed be freed, out of this torment.


    Her mind spun with thoughts of how the woman would get help. Would she alert the Empire workers not under the Duke''s purview? Would she stage a rescue on her own? Maybe she was a Tier 35 as well.


    Cami was full of hope, and that was all that kept her going.


    The door at the end of the hall clicked, and joy bloomed in her chest.


    Freedom was moments away.


    The woman with teal hair poked her head in the door, and gasped in horror.


    <em>Finally, someone who will help me.</em>


    The weights lifted off of Cami''s heart.


    "Hold on. I''ll get you out of here." The woman had the voice of someone who sang, if Camis guess was right. It was the voice of her savior. It was the sweetest thing she had ever heard.


    Her savior tapped at the pad, and the runes blocking her off from the hall dissipated. Before she could stumble out, her savior scooped her into a hug.


    Cami let out a sob.


    She was free.


    Her chest was filled with glee as she imagined what would happen to the Duke when he was reported to the Empire.


    The click of shoes in the outside hall brought her attention to the door, and she saw Duke Cumulus at the door.


    She tried to call out in horror that she had doomed this woman as well, and tried to tell her to escape, but all that came out was coughs of blood.


    Cami was pushed out to an arm''s length by the woman, and the Duke came up to them and kissed the woman passionately.


    Cami looked down, and found a dagger buried deep into her chest.


    The woman fondled herself, saying in a husky tone, "I love the look of betrayal."


    That''s when Cami knew she had been yed.


    This was the Duke''s wife.


    ***


    Cami had been locked up for nearly a year and a half when she enacted her second escape n.


    The horror of being betrayed had caused her to spiral for months, but she finally had an idea. She was only Tier 2. Her Tier 3 Talent was her only chance at escape.


    Any time the Duke or Duchess weren''t in her cell, she cultivated ambient essence. She had learned a technique to use it, but it was far less effective than getting a patron to bring her through one of the city''s low Tier rifts.


    She knew it would take years to fix her cultivation base, but that was of a distant concern.


    A full yearter, and she had enough essence toplete a crunch. With it, she felt the energy rush through her.


    The pleasure in her foot was forgotten, as she felt power rush into her limbs. She expected it to disappear in a few moments, like it had when she reached Tier 2, but it didn''t.


    On a hunch, she poked her finger on a sharp instrument that had been used on her not an hour ago. Strength rushed through her. She didn''t know what the Tier 3 Talent did, but it would work.


    It was perfect.


    The Duke and his sick wife had spent hours with her, and taunted her that they were sad they would be otherwise upied for the rest of the day. It was such a shame that their session would be cut short. Some sort of meeting of nobles, or something that she was hoping would keep them busy.


    They always repeated that, because she enjoyed what they did to her, she was a willing participant.


    Cami pushed the thoughts away. It was easy after nearly two years of this.


    She walked to the window and measured for onest time. Even with the minimal food causing her to deteriorate to almost skin and bones, she wasn''t going to be able to fit through the bars.


    Not without losing something.


    She walked to the brazier with glowing coals still cherry red. She poked them until they sputtered to life for a moment.


    Cami shuddered. If she started this, she either escaped or died.


    A small part of her whispered that she didn''t have to run, but could just ept the torture.


    With determined steps, she walked to the heavy cleaver that the Duchess liked to use.


    She raised it with her dominant hand, and brought it around into her off arm. It took three chops to get into the socket and through the bone. Cami fell into the glowing braiser, and felt a new pleasure added to the symphony in her side.


    The handle of the cleaver shattered in her hand. Strength rushed through her limbs.


    With singed hair and a missing arm, she awkwardly climbed to the window. She had practiced this, but she still slipped.


    Her Talent may turn pain into pleasure, but that didn''t mean losing a limb was easy on the body. Cami twisted sideways, and the burned side scraped along the rough stone wall. With an effort of will, she pulled herself through the gap in the bar.


    The pleasure of reopening her wound was only multiplied by the shocks that the runes lining the window sent out. They only added to her strength, and with quivering muscles, she pulled her way out the window.


    She panicked when her hips got stuck. She had lost most of her curves in thest two years, but she still had an hourss figure.


    <em>If my ass gets me stuck here, I''ll just end it.</em>


    With ever-increasing panic, Cami was able to wiggle out of the window by pressing on the outer wall. The shocks of the runes added to her enhanced power. Finally, she popped free, and fell thirty feet to the ground.


    Something in her back broke, but she was <em>free</em>.


    With stumbling steps, she found her rhythm and started running. From her view, it was a mile or more to the edge of the floating ind. It was all woodednd, and she was banking on the trees hiding her from other''s view. It was her only chance of preventing the two twisted Tier 35''s from being able to rush over in a sh.


    Her feet were unable to find a pattern, and she tripped more than once. Her long captivity and breakthrough to a new Tier made it hard to manipte her own body. Still, with the pleasure from her injuries pumping power into her limbs, she quickly found the light at the end of the trees.


    Without proper motor control, she was unable to stop, and tumbled out over the edge of the floating ind. For what felt like an eternity, she fell.


    The wind rushed around her and caressed her remaining limbs.


    As Cami fell, sheughed at herself for thinking there was any chance for her to survive her escape attempt.


    <em>Theyll probably just find a st on the ground, and not pin anything on the Duke.</em>


    She twisted in the air.


    She''d watch the end approach. At least this was on her own terms.


    As she crossed the halfway mark, she screamed out, "Fuck you. You fucking sick, twisted bastard."


    Anger and hate coursed through Cami''s blood.


    <em>At least I got out</em>.


    That was aforting thought, and the one she expected to be herst, when she was caught up in what felt like a cloud that turned into a swimming pool. She was floating in the air, but it felt like she was in a pool.


    Next to her, a man formed out of the water that she hadn''t seen coalesce. He wasrge, almost seven feet tall if her guess was correct. He had piercing blue eyes that seemed to get darker the closer they got to his pupils. His hair was so blue, it was only possible after Tier 15, where the mind had control of the body. There was a long scar under his lip that reached down to his chin.


    She knew this man.


    Duke Waters.


    Horror that he was a part of this churned her stomach.


    "I''d ask if youre ok, but the answer is pretty apparent. Who did this to you?"


    With that, healing energy rushed into her, and she felt the pleasure retreat and the power fade. Her arm was still missing, but it no longer hurt.


    She wasn''tforted. Healing always proceeded more torture.


    Therge man''s eyes went to the cor around her neck, and wetness covered her throat. Suddenly, her AI was working after two years of being blocked.


    Cami did the only thing she could think of at the time, and sent the hero of the Empire every recording she had. She had kept every moment saved, just in case of a situation like this.


    <em>Now it''s up to him. Is he as good as they say?</em>


    Cami didn''t dare to hope, but she had been raised on tales of this man''s exploits and heroism. He protected the Empire. Would he protect her?


    His face went as cold as his namesake, and they rocketed up.


    Cami wanted to weep. She had bet, and once again been wrong. He was going to return her. Maybe he''d even join in.


    The thought made her shudder.


    That was, until the Tier 31 next to her waved a hand, and a tidal wave that covered the sky crashed into Duke Cumulus''s floating ind. Cami didn''t expect anything toe of it. Duke Cumulus had boasted about how strong the defenses of his ind were when he was pressing upon her the hopelessness of her situation, after his wife''s sick gambit.


    Contrary to her expectations, the wave popped the shield, and never even slowed down. In less time than a heartbeat, the ind was gone.


    Horror racked through her. How many did he kill in that attack? She didn''t care about anyone, but the other four women that she knew were in the dungeon.


    Once again, proving her wrong, people began surfacing, floating in a sea that was now hovering in the air. People were all that remained. All the stone and any other material that wasn''t alive was simply gone.


    Cami saw four other women being pulled near them, and noticed the familiar cors on their necks. She only recognized one of them, but could guess who the others were.


    Duke Waters made all the water vanish with a wave, and with its disappearance, all the people were gone.


    She expected movement, but the man was still for a moment. Then, he looked up at a smaller floating ind. With a roar that distorted reality, he called out, "CUMULUS!"


    As the scream vibrated through the air, she would have sworn that she was miles below the water. It onlysted a moment, and suddenly they were moving so fast that the world burned. But their target was steady as they approached.


    As they approached the smallest ind, she expected the enraged Duke to fly equal with it and enter. Instead, he simply pointed a finger, and a jet of water cut a hole in the ind.


    They flew through it, and when they entered, she looked up and saw arge hall. They were surrounded by dozens of men and women that put pressure on her spirit just from being in their presence. The Tier 3 thought that she was going to suffocate, before the air shimmered around her.


    She saw Duke Cumulus and his wife standing there, watching her and the man next to her.


    She wanted tough. The horror on their faces didn''t make up for even a thousandth of the torment they inflicted on her, but it felt good to see.


    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw arge wall mirror, and found that her face was covered with a water mask that was ink ck.


    Duke Waters red at the two, and before he could say anything, one of the other men called out, "What are you doing? This is an official meeting! You can break in here. And did you break Duke Cumulus'' ind?"


    The man next to her didn''t look at the speaker, and just said, "Duke Cumulus and his wife are guilty of kidnapping and torture. Allpounded on doing this on a person weaker than themselves."


    The two guilty parties turned in different directions and tried to run, but Duke Waters caught them in shimmering distortions in the air. They clutched at their throats, as if they were drowning, but they were over Tier 15. They didn''t need to breathe.


    Cami nced at the Duke next to her and shuffled closer, everyone was looking at her, and he was her only protector.


    The same man from before called for Duke Waters to stop. After the man stepped forward, Duke Waters finally took his eyes off the pair who hurt her. His head was the only thing that moved, and whatever look he gave the speaker made them step back twice.


    With a flick, the ruined table had an image flicker over it. There were images of the torture that Duke Cumulus had performed on her and her neighbor. Their faces were blurred out when they were visible.


    Cami didn''t want or need to watch. She had lived through this once, after all.


    The same man didn''t want to back down and said, "This could all be a fabrication..."


    He did not get any more out, as the Duke shed out in the middle of his sentence. A crescent of water flew out and cut the man in half.


    Duke Waters gestured, and brought the man forward and clutched his head. "Worry not Duke Osction, I''ll be checking your ind next."


    The half of a man disappeared, and Duke Waters looked around with eyes that screamed to Cami of a tidal wave that could wash away the cities along the rift-free coast.


    She saw the fear in all of the remaining faces. She wanted this power. If she could do this, she would never have to worry about someone snatching her off the street again.


    His voice crashed out, and imprinted images of a tide breaking down cliffs. "I''ll be inspecting everyone''s inds before we leave. And I''ll ensure that the Emperor does a thorough check of yournds."


    With the gesture of a single finger, her two tormentors, who were still gasping in the air, were brought over to stand in front of her.


    A secondter, the other four were there as well, with matching masks of dark water.


    Duke Waters turned to the five of them. "I leave it up to you. Their crimes constitute death a million times over, but we can cripple their cultivation instead. Well force them to break down and recreate asteroids for the next few million years, if that''s what any of you wish."


    The other girls just cowered, and all the eyes came to rest on Cami, who was the only one not trying to hide.


    Before she could do more than open her mouth Duke Cumulus said, "You enj..."


    Before he could finish the statement she was sure would haunt her dreams, Duke Water''srge handshed out and hit the man so hard, his jaw flew off and hit the wall. Clearly, he had watched the first part of her recording.


    Cami smiled for the first time in years.


    "I''d love to have them suffer, but I don''t trust them to not escape or something. Kill them." She looked to her savior, "Can you make it hurt?"


    Where she expected a cruel smile to match her own, she saw just calm eyes, like a pond waiting for someone to jump in and enjoy a nice spring day.


    Would he deny her request?


    Then, the choking started to increase in sound, and Cami watched the two drown in the air. For all the power they tormented her with they floundered like fish and not the Tier 35s they were.


    It was everything she had ever dreamed of.


    She looked to her savior. She wanted to be like him.


    Cami needed <em>power</em>.


    ***


    Snapping herself out of it, she smiled at the boy approaching her. She almost wished she had taken the selective memory wipe that the other four had taken. At least then, she wouldnt see that monster in this boys face.


    Duke Waters had asked her to join his niece and her partner.


    She had begged not to, but after all her therapy and healing, the Duke still thought that she needed to be with people.


    He had taken the time to train her, along with his wife, Medea. She was the scariest Leviathan she had ever seen, but she also was a kind woman who gave great hugs.


    They had rebuilt her.


    The strength Cami had cultivated had fractured when she learned that the house of pleasure she was born, raised, and worked in had been destroyed. There were no survivors.


    All to cover Duke Cumulus tracks.


    But, Duke Waters had not ordered her toe with him. They both knew she would do anything he asked of her. But joining a team... She didn''t know. The fact that it was with someone who looked far too much like her abuser was more than she could ept.


    So she struck a deal.


    Duke Waters could vouch for his niece, and Cami would never question him. But he didn''t know the boy. If she proved that he was a monster like Cumulus, Duke Waters had agreed that she wouldn''t have to join them. He would relent, and agree to let her set out on her own.


    Cami already had it all nned out. The pair''s itineraries said that they would be leaving in two days. But after tonight, she would be off the.


    She just needed to nudge things along.


    The boy, Matt, she corrected herself, approached with lust and evil intentions in his eyes. He tried to hide it with a rxed smile, but she could see it.


    She yed her part well, pretending to be interested, and when he invited Cami back to his room, she knew she had her ticket out.


    They were in a temporary hotel that rented out by the night.


    <em>How ssy.</em>


    Cami sneered at how cheap this idiot was.


    She pushed into him, and after they fell to the bed and their kissing became more passionate, she waited for his hand to start creeping down to her ass.


    When he had a good handle, she sprung her trap. She could <em>feel </em>that this was the time.


    With her best simpering voice that she had practiced for clients in a previous life, she said, "I don''t think I want to do anything."


    She knew what woulde next, the begging, the excuses, the pressure. She would give in and let him take what he wanted. Then she would be free to leave.


    The hand on her ass removed itself. She expected it to move, and for more force to be applied. He, like Cumulus, would take what he wanted. A part of her wondered if he was a bastard of the monsters in human form.


    Instead, Matt rolled onto his back, saying, "That''s fine. Do you want me to walk you back to your room? I''m not sure where youre staying, though. I can leave you here and leave the room if you want. It''s already paid for too, if youre worried about that."


    Cami froze, not knowing what to do. This wasn''t how he was supposed to act.


    He was supposed to act like a client that didn''t get his way, or a beast who took what they wanted.


    <em>Maybe he''s faking?</em>


    The thought bolstered her, and she tried to give him a second chance to take her by snuggling into him.


    He didn''t do anything, and while he had an arm wrapped around her as she wasying on it, his hands didn''t wander.


    A few momentster she heard a light snore. She poked him, and after scrutinizing his face determined that he really <em>was</em> asleep.


    <em>Well, Fuck. What do I do now?</em>

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44


    <strong><em>CHAPTER 2/2</em></strong>


    Matt waited with Liz and Aster at the teleport pad. Their turn was in fifteen minutes, and the station was packed.


    Aster was still groggy. Her Tiering up and subsequent increase in intelligence left her exhausted. She had been napping quite a lot to regain her strength. Aunt Helen said it was perfectly normal, and was exactly why they had imnted her with her own AI while she was recovering. It wouldnt make her symptoms any worse, and she could recover from both at the same time.


    Animal AIs were different from the standard human ones. They were mostly locked on instation, but they gave new functions as they registered the users increases in intelligence. So far, the AI was more useful to Matt and Liz than to Aster herself.


    Matts AI had been able to ry information through their bond, but it was faster for her AI to send over the information itself. It was more urate as well. Matts AI was off by nearly 200 mana for the foxs maximum when hepared its findings to those of Asters AI.


    Aster hadnt even been able to enjoy theirst few days with Lizs family. But still, Matt was happy with how things went in thest few days. Aunt Helen took a picture and signed it and a cookbook for his cooking instructor. When he delivered it, the usually stoic woman was sent into a squealing fit that nearly popped his eardrums. He had quickly escaped using the excuse of his impending teleporter departure time. It was true enough, so he didnt feel he was lying, even if he still had an hour to make the ten-minute walk.


    While they were loaded into therge tforms with everyone else waiting to leave, they were ushered into the circles of runes. Momentster, they were off the madhouse where the ascension took ce.


    The trio made their way directly to the train station, their next teleporter was on the other side of this connecting. They had three jumps to reach the vassal kingdom, The Seven Suns. They were founded around twenty thousand years ago, by a faction that had lost a power struggle for a dukedom in the Empire proper. Faced with exile, or a slow death through exodus from any positions of power, their decision was to escape slightly past the border and start a vassal kingdom.


    Now, they were firmly bordering the Empire proper, and were nearing the size where integration into the Empire proper would begin. Vassal kingdoms, like kingdoms actually in the Empire proper, were strictly controlled. The expansion of the Seven Suns would put them at half the size of an internal kingdom. That was asrge as they could expand before the integration process started. The Seven Suns would be absorbed into a newly formed half kingdom, and a new royal would be raised to power.


    What interested Matt was the criteria for royals. At a minimum, they had to be Tier 45, and have an Aspect. There was an exception for those with enough power at a lower Tier to beat all other challengers, like Lizs mother did. The logic was that anyone who didnt want the responsibility to rule, or was turned off by the prospect of worldly power at that point, would instead ascend to the higher realms.


    Rift cycling times increased with Tier, and the rifts on the capital took five years minimum to be at a state where delving was actually productive. Thats why most who made it to Tier 45 and had an aspect left as soon as possible. There wasnt much information about the higher realms, but it was well known fact that there were rifts from Tier 1 to Tier 100. That meant that Tier 50 rifts were rtively abundant.


    The rift cycling data made Matt fear people finding out about his ability, and at the same time relish the prospective amount of mana stones he could make by recharging rifts on the capital. By the time he was strong enough to refill the rifts at a reasonable rate, he would be strong enough that no one would be able to kidnap him and shove him into a hole.


    With a shake, he refocused his thoughts on the Seven Suns kingdom.


    The way the royalty process worked, the king that currently ruled would be turned into a Duke. A Grand Duke to be precise. A Grand Duke was simply a Duke that ruled over more than one duchy. The Empire proper didnt usually allow that, as it concentrated power in the hands of a few strong people.


    Recently integrated vassals were the single exception, as their retainednds made up several duchies by the time they were ready for integration. In theory, the old ruler could keep all of hisnds, but the Empire gave them protection for each duchy they relinquished. That meant that most kingdoms would raise loyal servants or retainers to Dukes responsible for the poorernds, while keeping two or three of the richest duchies for themselves.


    The other incentive that integrated vassals were offered was that any property the Empire wanted had to be bought at one and half times the market value.


    It all seemed like a cluster of unnecessarilyplicated rules to Matt, but the Empire had been doing this for much longer than he couldprehend.


    It just surprised him that each of Lizs parents ruled over hundreds ofs, and soon a new royal would be raised that could eventually reach simr heights. When he asked why their parents were still ruling instead of ascending, he found out that their oldest sibling had joined the Empires standing army when he had hit Tier 15. Mara and Leon were unwilling to let their child be at the whims of others, and inserted themselves into the political structure to watch over their firstborn.


    Matt was pulled out of his musings when they arrived at the train station, and the ticket counter had said that there had been a problem with their tickets.


    Using his AI, Matt saw that the mans name was Yousef. He loved the new feature. It was so nice to be able to look up peoples names. That was, as long as they were in the public directory, and hadnt paid to hide the information.


    Im sorry, but the suite you had reserved was double booked. Weve upgraded and refunded your ticket cost. The problem is, the only one we had avable was a three-person suite.


    The look on Yousefs face screamed, but.


    And...? Whos the extra person? Im assuming that covering the cost didnt mean you would leave the third room open. He could tell that Liz was trying to keep calm, but she wasnt looking forward to sharing their private space with a random stranger.


    Yousef winced. No, maam, that was already booked. If youd like, I can get a manager...


    Matt waved him down. Liz was turning as red as her hair, so he plopped the still groggy Aster into her arms and said, Its fine. We understand, its not your fault. He waved his hand around towards the bustling crowd. Its busy. We get that. It just wasnt a part of our ns. Can we just get tickets, please?


    He just wanted to get settled in for the four-day train ride to their connection teleport. He had the [Endurance] skill shard in his new, muchrger spatial backpack. He had gone from his old Tier 3 that was the size of a tub, to his new Tier 5 bag that was roughly the size of a walk-in closet. He had so much room now, his belongings now seemed lonely in the corner.


    The jump from three cubic feet to two hundred cubic feet felt good. It was tangible proof of his progress.


    Aunt Helen had ensured that they were ready for expanding [Endurance] personally. She made him and Liz practice with the training device five times before she was satisfied. Only after that did she give them a package that she had apparently swiped from the courier. It contained their preselected Tier 5 rewards. It was nice to see that the older Phoenix cared about him enough to ensure that he was being safe and careful with his precious skill.


    Matt couldnt think of anything he could get the older woman that she didnt already have, but he wanted to give her something nice as a thank you for all that shed done for him. What surprised him was that he didn''t feel that way out of obligation. He just wanted to return her kindness. She was like a mother figure, the likes of which he couldnt remember having.


    Once he started working with [Endurance], he only needed to orientate the skill structure. Then, two dayster, when it first entered his core spirit, he had to use his spirit to expand the skill structure in specific ways.


    While training with Aunt Helen he also learned that Tier increases acted as a multiplier for proficiency in manipting the skill structures in his spirit. At Tier 5, it was 3.6 hours faster than it had been at Tier 1. It was useful information, as they both wanted to time the skill reaching their core spirits for noon two days from now.


    When they reached their suite on the train, they found one of the doors shut, so they set themselves up in the remaining room.


    Matt took more time, since he had to set Aster up in a new cold reflecting bed he had bought. What had once hurt for him to buy then resell at a loss was now a casual purchase for him. Aunt Helen said that it would help Aster bolster her body while she wasnt feeling well, and would limit the effects to the mind from her breakthrough to Tier 5. It would also help mitigate the physical after effects of her mind-expanding.


    After tucking the fox into a chilling nket, he exited his room to thergermon room, and froze.


    Cami was sitting with Liz at the table against the window.


    His pause caught the two girls attention, and Liz smiled and said, Matt, this is Cami, our travel buddy. I was afraid wed get someone unpleasant, but she seems nice.


    Matt scrutinized the woman he had picked up at the bar two nights ago. She was attractive, stunning even. It was what drew his eye when they went out. She had ink dark hair in a jaw-length cut that was longer at the front than the back. Her eyes had a way of drawing you in.


    Still, it was too much of a coincidence for Matt not to be wary of her presence.


    He decided to probe her. Long time no see Cami.


    That got Lizs attention, and she whipped her head between the two.


    How do you...


    Cami spoke up with a wince, I have toe clean. Aiden sent me here to team up with your group. She rushed to add, Only for six months, during the exploration world.


    Liz looked like she had been pped, but Matt had no idea who Aiden was. The fact Liz did know didnt really put him at ease.


    How do you know Uncle Waters?


    Now it was Matts turn to reel back. She was sent by <em>Duke Waters</em>. The man was a legend.


    Then, his mind went to the way Cami had conveniently appeared two nights ago, in the same exact club they had chosen. He didnt like what his gut was telling him.


    Liz started to put things together just as he was. Hey, wait... she spoke as she puzzled it out. You were at the club with us... and you went to sleep with Matt. What the fuck? You dont sleep with teammates, and you knew who we were already.


    That was what Matt was wondering, so he cut in. How did you even know that we would be there?


    The woman looked ready to bolt, but Liz was working herself into a fury. What the fuck? If you know Uncle Waters, you should <em>definitely</em> know thats not how things are done.


    Cami winced, and her eyes shot back and forth, looking for a way out. Her fingers dug into her forearms in a way that seemed as if she was on the verge of drawing blood.


    In a near whisper, she asked, Can I exin myself? Please?


    Liz didnt seem to want to give her that chance, but Matt put a hand on her shoulder, stopping the uing tirade.


    I owe Aiden. I owe him everything. But when I asked to leave and go do my own thing, I heard about the exploration of the new worlds. There are opportunities and treasures that can only be found on news. I <em>need</em> to get stronger. I wont be weak again. I cant be.


    The woman was looking down at her nails as they pressed into her arms.


    I... She swallowed, Aiden said I wasnt ready, and wanted me to stay. But he also wouldnt stop me. Still, I needed to grow strong, just like he did. I couldnt stay in his flying castle and be coddled. Being coddled had already cost me everything once.


    Camis voice was quiet, and her eyes were hard. Either she was the best actor he had ever seen, or really felt everything she was saying. Matt just didnt know which to believe yet.


    When I said I wanted to go solo, he insisted that I wasnt ready. He asked me to join you, but...


    She looked at Matt with eyes that seemed full of hate and questions. He had no clue what he could have done to deserve that look.


    You look just like <em>him</em>. Thest word was spat out. Aiden said that if I was right, and you were a monster like I knew... She paused again. As I thought. I wouldnt have to join up with you, and could do my own thing.


    Liz seemed to put something together.


    How does that equal sleeping with my partner?


    Matt was putting other clues together. The anger that had been building drained like the plug had been pulled. A young woman, the way she emphasized <em>him</em> repeatedly. Matt was drawing a picture he didnt like the look of.


    Cami red at Liz, I can admit my n wasnt the best. I assumed that <em>he</em>, she looked at Matt with hate, Would be like <em>him</em>, and take what he wanted if I didnt give in.


    That was enough for Matt to do a quick search. He felt things click into ce once he found what he was looking for, and wanted to vomit.


    So you thought I looked like thete Duke Cumulus? And that I would press when you said that you didnt want sex?


    When Cami heard the name, she flinched. It was like Matt had pped her.


    Dont act like you did something worthy of praise, just because you didnt rape me when I said that I didnt want to have sex with you. There was a lot of hate and spite in those words, and spittle clung to her lips while she snapped at Matt.


    Liz spoke over him, and looked like she was about to lunge over the table at the girl. You tried to get Matt to <em>rape</em> you? Listen here, you mother fucker!


    Matt tightened his grip on her shoulder until she stopped. His anger was suppressed, not gone but both of them couldn''t be raging.


    He nodded and said, with a bit of anger leaking though. I agree. I didnt do anything but show you the baseline of decency that people <em>should</em> show each other. I wont pretend I understand, but I feel like I get a bit of it.


    Cami shouted, and tears welled up at the corner of her eyes. Shut the fuck up! You dont know what its like! Everything about my life was <em>shit</em>! I grew up in an illegal brothel that pushed girls to start working before they were legally able at 20. I got a detrimental Talent. I was kidnapped and tortured for nearly two years... WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW!?


    Thest bit was screamed out so loud, even Liz seemed to lose her anger. But only for a moment.


    I dont want to join up with you. But I can''t say no to Aiden. I cant. I wanted to. I wanted to so very badly. But in the end, I cant. So I tried to set you up.


    She looked defiantly at Matt, as if he had no right to call her out.


    Before she could continue her rant, he spoke up. I dont know what you do, or what you think you know about me.


    She cut in, Nothing. I only know that Aiden said you must be a nice person, if his niece decided to partner up with you.


    He nodded and said, Well. I cant say I went through even a thousandth of what you have. But my life wasnt sunshine and roses either. By that same token, I never tried to fuck over people I was supposed to team up with.


    Matt didnt want to add to the girls pain, but he didnt appreciate her methods. He had only seen one rape victim before, and that was at Bennys. The woman was a mess, and hadshed out at everyone. It had taken a healering and giving the victim a sedative to finally stop her.


    Benny the ass had onlyined about the destroyed room.


    Camis teeth were gritted, and she said, I never expect to see either of you again.


    Liz finally spoke up, And you expect us to take you in? You are fucking high on something. I might have considered it for Uncle Waters sake, but bitch, you are crazy if you think we want you anywhere near us.


    Matt opened his mouth, but Liz didnt stop. I dont fucking care what shes been through. She expected you to <em>rape</em> her, Matt. No, I dont want her near us. Ill message Uncle Waters and tell him toe to pick the bitch up.


    That made Matt feel incredibly ufortable. Tell a Duke no? Tell the strongest man the Empire had, <em>no</em>?


    Matt didnt think he could do that.


    Suddenly, all of Aunt Helens help had a different vor. She had never forced them to do anything. Even her asking them to visit Travis was a strong request, but not amand.


    Now, a higher Tier was forcing their wishes upon them, and he realized how powerless he was against it.


    It wasnt a good feeling. Lizs family connections suddenly felt like they came with strings. Strings that Liz was trying to sever by striking out on her own.


    Still, he sympathized, but he didnt like what Cami did. She assumed he was a monster, and it felt horrible to be associated with evil of that ilk. He had never done anything like that, let alone considered it.


    A part of him understood her plight. He did look vaguely simr to the executed Duke, and that kind of trauma isnt easily forgotten.


    Where his hair was sandy blond, the Dukes was golden. Where his eyes were grass green, the Dukes glimmered like polished emeralds.


    It was apparent that the woman was projecting, and seeing what she wanted, or feared to see.


    What struck Matt the most was the thought that it could have been him in her shoes instead.


    He was interrupted by Liz saying, I got a message from Uncle Waters.


    Her teeth were grinding so hard, he checked his AI to see if she had broken them.


    He set it to deliver if I went to send him one.


    With a flick of her finger, therge screen on the far wall yed a video.


    Duke Waters face appeared, and it shocked Matt. He knew Liz grew up with powerhouses, but this was somehow more <em>real</em>. The mans blue hair moved like it was underwater, and he gave what Matt could only call a cheeky grin.


    Hey, BethBeth. If youre watching this, you met Cami and went to send me a message. He sighed, and the woman in question flinched as if he had struck her. Shes a lovely young woman who has had a hard time. She needs a friend that shes never had the opportunity to have before. Im asking that you give her a chance.


    We all dont start out well. And some, like me, get the opportunities they need to turn it around and make it right. The Empire tries to make it work out. At least sometimes. Some fall through the cracks and need an extra hand up. Her story is her own, but I ask that you dont judge her too harshly.


    Some people need a helping hand to show them that not everything is darkness. Please, Ill owe you a personal favor. And one for your partner, Matt. Do this for me. Please.


    What shocked Matt wasnt the favor that he wanted, but how tired he seemed in the message. The man looked like someone who had realized that he couldnt solve this issue, for all the power he had. And Matt understood. You cant fix <em>people</em> with cultivation power.


    The Dukes words rang like a bell that resonated with him. He was lucky, he knew that. His Talent, while rated as detrimental, was still amazing. But he had been in a deep depression when he saw the rating, and it had taken Miles to get him out of it.


    Without the warnings the man had given him, he would probably have taken the first offer he received from any organization. He would have been locked into a contract that cost him everything. Even if they were illegal, what could a Tier 1 do?


    No, Matt could see exactly how his life could have turned out differently without those that had helped him. Anyone out of those friends and mentors turning their backs on him could havepletely derailed his future.


    It was that thought, more so than the Dukes plea, that gave him the desire to take her on. Matt could see a reflection of himself in the woman who was scratching lines into her arms.


    Liz spoke up, I dont care...


    Matt overruled her. We dont trust you. You fucked up your first impressions. Badly.


    Liz opened her mouth to agree with him, but he didnt let her get anything out. But Im provisionally ok with you joining us. Like I said, I dont trust you, and I dont want you defending my back. But...


    He raised a hand at both women, who looked to want to tear into him. We have almost three months of travel. At worst, we simply ask you not to join us. But for now, Ill vote yes.


    Liz stormed to her room and mmed her door before saying, I vote no!


    Cami spat at him, I dont want your fucking pity.


    She went to repeat Lizs action, but he spoke before she could shut the door, Im not doing it for you. Im doing it for myself.


    A favor from a Duke? You might not be a rapist, but you <em>are</em> a greedy piece of shit, just like everyone else.


    No. Im doing it for myself. I was in a pretty shitty position, and I only got out of it because others helped me when I needed it most. Im doing this more for them than for you. Please dont judge me based on the actions of others.


    Cami didnt have anything to say, and while her mouth worked, nothing came out. She didnt m the door as she turned to leave, which he took as a good sign.


    Rubbing his eyes at the building headache, he went and knocked on Lizs door. He didnt get an answer, so after a minute he called out, Can you open up, please? I dont want to talk through a door.


    He thought he was going to be ignored, but the snick of the lock answered him. Stepping through the door, he found a red-faced and red-eyed Liz holding a pillow on her bed.


    He joined her, and they sat together in silence, for long enough that the train started moving. The slight rocking lulled them from a tense silence into afortable one.


    Finally, Liz said, I dont trust her. She tried to get you to rape her. Thats not ok. She needs more therapy, not a team with two people she doesnt know. Its not our job to put strays back together.


    Matt nodded at everything she said and let her voice her frustrations. Finally, he gave his answer, Its not just about her. I dont like how she <em>introduced</em> herself either, but I get it. Or at least as much as I can, not having been through what she has. She didnt try and frame me or anything. She just gave me the chance to meet her worst expectations. She... shes what I could have seen myself bing. If I didnt get the help that I did.


    He shrugged. I could be where she was if everything went bad. I had two bad things. For her, it seems like everything came up bad. I... I just dont want to repay everyones kindness by pushing away someone else who could use the same. At the same time I don''t like how she made assumptions and wish we weren''t being given direction from a higher Tier.


    Matt looked at his calloused hands, and receded into his own mind. In his minds eye, they were a childs hands. Then a momentter, they wererger, and rough from all the work at Bennys.


    Liz finally hugged him with a single arm. He leaned his head onto hers.


    I dont trust her with our backs.


    Matt just nodded, saying nothing.


    The blood mage slumped. I guess trying to get to know her while we travel wont be the end of the world.


    Sheced their hands together. I dont want you to feel like we didnt at least try.


    The woman next to him fidgeted, then stood and started pacing the small room.


    Finally, she looked at him and said, Im also pretty pissed that she slept with you.


    Matt went to counter the statement, but she kept speaking. I know you didnt have sex, but watching you two leave pissed me off. Finding out that shes going to be near us... I dont know. I dont like it. I know we decided to wait until Tier 15 and do our own thing. But...


    She gave him a pleading look, and he said, I cant say the thought of you sleeping with other people is the best feeling for me either. But you want to wait for Tier 15, and I can see the reasoning behind it.


    Matt shrugged, I wouldnt mind waiting. At least for now. I...


    He didnt get any more out as Liz hugged him. Ugh, good. The time with my brothers just reinforced what I thought. I enjoy spending time with you. Even the non-delving time. Just sitting and watching you cook or just sitting and working on our Concepts. Its just nice to be with you.


    Matt spoke into her stomach, I wasnt going to say anything, but I agree. I just dont know how to have a rtionship. Ive never really had anything but one casual girlfriend before. And that was closer to friends with benefits than anything real.


    Liz plopped down next to him and gave him a small smile. I guess we can just take it slow and learn together. We have time.


    Thats right. We both have Concepts, so our next bottleneck is Tier 24. Nothing wrong with waiting until Tier 15.


    Liz giggled and huped. Its kinda funny.


    Hmm?


    Neither of us gotid.


    Matt couldnt deny the wash of relief that she hadnt gottenid either. She didnt owe him anything, and they had decided to let each other do their own thing while waiting until Tier 15. But somehow, it was relieving to hear it.


    Trying not to show how happy that made him, he hmmed at her again in response.


    Yeah. We went back to his room, and he had a girlfriend. Seeing that I was just meant to be a third pissed me off. If they had been upfront about it, I wouldnt have minded. But it worked out well in the end, I guess.


    Not knowing what to say, Mattughed a little.


    So what? We have a ten Tier dating period? Matt had no idea how this was supposed to work. He was excited about the prospect, though.


    Lizughed and said, We can still do everything a normal couple can do. We just dont have sex, really. If it''s worth doing it''s worth doing right.


    That seems incredibly arbitrary.


    Liz shrugged. Think of it as a courtship instead of dating.


    Matt looked at her and cracked a joke, What, do you think youre some kind of princess?


    With that, the tension broke, and theyughed until they cried. The awkwardness between them was banished.

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45


    The following day, Matt hand-fed Aster a select package of rabbit that Aunt Helen had prepared. He could tell that she would being out of her stupor by the end of the day, and wanted to see what changes she would experience.


    Once his bond was fed, he knocked on Liz''s door, and they made their way up to the train car with a breakfast bar. They sat down and watched the ins turn into deserts. The hills slowly transitioned to more sand than dirt.


    It made a nice addition to their breakfast view. His rxed state of mind was short lived, as Matt felt a hovering presence a few momentster. When he looked, he found Cami standing there with a te of her own food.


    To give an overture of peace, he kneed the swivel chair next to him, causing it to spin towards her. She sat down, but perched at the edge, ready to bolt at any moment.


    Matt yed with his omelet. The cook wasn''t very skilled, and had charred the egg on one side, while the other side was barely cooked. He plopped a forkful into his mouth. At least it was hard to mess up pre-cooked ham and mushrooms.


    "I''m sorry."


    The apology was whispered out, and he and Liz turned to face their breakfastpanion.


    The dark-haired woman was gripping her fork with white knuckles that shook slightly.


    "I was told that I wasn''t ready toe out, and needed more time. By my therapist and..." She looked around. "Others."


    Matt filled in the nk. Duke Waters had wanted her to stay and heal more. The mind was harder to heal than the body.


    "I couldn''t sit around anymore, though. So we made a deal where I could feel you two out. I..." Cami swallowed hard and squeaked out, "Assumed the worst. I know intellectually that not everyone is like that, but it''s hard."


    She finished with a half-hearted shrug. "I''m sorry for my actions and assumptions."


    Liz spoke up. "Thank you for apologizing. If you want to..." The blood mage twirled her spoon around. "Join us... even if its just for a while, you have a lot of ground to make up. You gave us one hell of an interesting introduction, but it wasn''t a good one."


    Cami opened her mouth to say something, but Matt jumped in. "Look. We get you''ve not had it easy or have ever really seen the good in people, but we don''t want to fight or delve with an unknown."


    Liz finished up, "So we figure we should try and spend time together. At least while we travel. We can all make a better decision when we reach the vassal kingdom. What my uncle wants is irrelevant."


    That ended the conversation, and they finished up their food in a morepanionable silence. Cami walked to the front of the train, while Matt and Liz returned to their rooms. They needed to start the process of learning their new skills. They had a short window to do it, if they wanted to expand the skill before the end of this train ride.


    Matt sat with Aster as the veil of grogginess started to lift away from their bond. He threw Liz a message saying that Aster was waking up. A momentter, she entered the room, only to find the fox scratching at her neck where the AI was imnted.


    From their bond, Matt got much more feedback. More emotion, and even the start of what felt almost like words. It was like a pipe that had been reced with a muchrger one, letting more of who Aster was in. Her small form repeated what she did when she had first hatched, and explored everything around her.


    Matt got the sense that new ideas were forming from the old scents and objects. Liz talked to her in the yips and clicks that made the beastnguage. Aster flicked her ears, and her tail poofed as if she was startled.


    Matt patted her and ran her tail through a hand until she defluffed.


    <em>It''s not like she hasn''t heard this before. She uses Liz to ask for ice cream all the time.</em>


    The idle thought was the wrong thing to say, as the fox perked back up when he thought the word ice cream. The fox was at the door in a sh after a moment of stillness. Matt felt her push ''Ice cream!'' through their bond.


    Liz simplyughed while he sat there and contemted pounding his head against the wall.


    "The first thought you have is of ice cream? I feel betrayed."


    Aster cocked her head and yipped at him. Lizs giggled continued while a picture of a heart and a questioning color was pushed through to him from his bond.


    "I don''t have a heart for you to eat either. Youre a glutton. But ok, let''s go see what they have."


    They made their way back to the food car. Walking through the halls made Matt feel exposed, as though someone would try to steal the skill shard in its bracelet. He knew it was locked down tight, but the lingering fear still remained.


    When they arrived at the food car, they found Cami sitting at a table on her own. She didn''t have a te, so Matt wasn''t sure what she was doing, but she nced at the opening door and smiled at the bounding white fox. Camis gaze rose from the small fox, up to the apanying humans, and she saw Matt and Liz. Her face froze, and the smile became brittle and she didn''t meet either of their eyes.


    At Aster''s instance, they all got bars of various kinds of ice cream. On a whim, Matt snagged a bar for Cami. She took it, but was more entertained at Aster''s antics. She devoured her own bar, then tried to steal pieces of Matt and Lizs ice cream too.


    They let her have a bite or two, but Cami''s slow pace was her undoing. Aster saw the bar with only one nibble, and gave the dark-haired woman a pleading look. It won the woman over. She ran her hand over the fox''s fluff, and only had to give her entire bar of ice cream to win her over.


    The smile Cami gave Aster made Matt feel like there was still someone in there that could be helped. It was a pure and innocent smile.


    Aster was no help, as she just discovered a new best friend, and didn''t seem at all biased when pushing Matt to keep the woman around. He probed their bond, and found that she had no idea that the woman was trying toe with them, so he tried to hide that particr fact from the fox.


    Having Aster seemed to break the tension, and Matt felt Cami open up during the interaction. She even chimed in with a few interjections of her own while he and Liz bickered.


    ***


    Two dayster, as the train was approaching the station, Matt and Liz sat next to each other in their room. Their [Endurance] skills were about to breach their core spirits, and fill the third and final skill slot. They would be immediately removing the skill, and putting it back to their inner spirits to free up the slot. The skill would be expanded upon as much as it could be, so it was more efficient to free the slot up and use it to work on expanding another skill.


    Matt wanted to improve [Mage''s Retreat]. ording to Madam Delvers guide, he could improve the Durability boost to half as strong as the Strength boost. It was a nice adaptation that could make him very hard to kill.


    He wasn''t that happy with being forced into a pure tank and support role, but he didn''t have a viable ranged attack skill that he could use.


    <em>At Tier 10, I''ll potentially be a better mage than Liz and Aster. Let''s see how they like it when I kill everything in the rifts myself, and theyre the ones left trying to scramble and catch up.</em>


    Matt brought his attention back into his spirit. The skill was about to cross the dividing line, and when it did, he moved.


    He had practiced this so many times that it was second nature, but he was still nervous.


    The skill structure was an incrediblyplex 3Dttice formation that interwove itself in hundreds of ces. Matt started grabbing and expanding spots of the skill with strands that channeled mana. In his mind''s eye, they were pipes that handled water. The junctions where more than one pipe met up each had incrediblyplex functions. Without knowing exactly what the final result was meant to be, and without hours of repetition, he would have ruined the skill. He would have either crippled its functionality, or shattered the skillpletely.


    Matt tweaked the pipes, and while his muscle memory took over, he examined the skill as a whole.


    Skills came in four main categories.


    Cost up front was the first, where the skill was instantly formed in the mana pool and immediately cast. That instant forming was why he couldn''t trickle feed a normal skill, like [Fireball], the 10 mana it needed to cast. It was the same reason he needed to fill his mana pool to cast [Hail]. It needed the initial cost to be paid in one shot.


    Channel skills were the second type of skill. They came in two different versions, one was like [Mage''s Retreat] and functioned like an expanding balloon. That was why they scaled exponentially instead of linearly. It took more and more mana to double the size of the balloon, and double the benefits.


    The other type of channel skills were like [Hail]. Most had an initial cost, but needed a continuous mana input to maintain the effect. They had malleable pipes that could expand to handle more mana. They couldn''t expand infinitely, like the ballooning effects of the other type of channel spells, but they could increase their throughput. Unlike a standard [Fireball].


    The third type of skills were reserve skills. They took a chunk of mana, and locked it away. They created fake essence to buff an aspect of cultivation, or some other effect. The normal [Mana Strength] that melee fighters used worked like that.


    There was a rarer version of reserve skills that precharged the skill, and the missing mana could be regenerated. They held the mana directly inside the spirit of the skill structure. That had its advantages, but it also meant that the caster needed to recast the skill every so often. The main drawback was that the mana was prone to leaking out. It was slow enough, but differed for every skill.


    [Phantom Amor] also worked like the third type. Mana was reserved to protect the caster against one strike. His [Cracked Phantom armor] was a cracked skill, and had more of the properties of the second type of reserve skill. The pipes could expand, but they weren''t like [Hail]s where they expanded freely. The pipes of [Cracked Phantom Armor] were like steel. He had to slowly expand them through long meditation, or advancing his cultivation.


    The final type of skills were the entirety of maniption skills. They were simr to the second type of channel skills, but were considered a separate category. The main factor that set them apart was that normal buffing or debuffing skills and Talents did not work on them. A skill or item enchantment that would buff a ranged skill did nothing to enhance maniption skills, even though they were able to be used at range.


    The final moment came, and Matt brought his attention back to the task at hand. With a mental effort, he mentally blew into the skill, expanding all the pipes. That final bit was at Aunt Helen''s suggestion, and would help the skill handle more mana from the onset. She figured that he''d be spending a lot of time getting his type two channel skills to handle his absurd mana input. Especially at the higher Tiers.


    This way, the skill would start out a step ahead.


    [Endurance] settled down after the agitation caused by the maniption, and he opened his eyes. When he pushed mana through the newly adjusted skill, he felt rejuvenated. All of his aches and pains disappeared with a cool, refreshing wave.


    The original skill, [Endurance], was only good for muscle fatigue, as that was a subset of the cultivation aspect, Regeneration. The <em>skill</em> [Regeneration] could regrow limbs with enough mana, and when upgraded, wouldn''t cause strain on the body like normal healing spells. Overhealth was amazing like that.


    Still, when expanded upon like he and Liz had, [Endurance] bolstered the body''s natural healing. It was the best self heal that was avable at Tier 8. Traditional healing spells didn''t start dropping until Tier 14, after all, and were incredibly rare at that. This was still amazing, and with Matt keeping them full of mana, they could in theory, go for days without sleep. It wasn''t rmended, but it could be done.


    Liz finally opened her eyes, and from her sitting position, lunged into a hug, knocking the napping fox off herp.


    "Ha! [Endurance] changed with my Talent into [Blood Endurance]. HA!"


    From over her shoulder, he asked, "How can you figure out what that does?"


    She let go, and scooped up the fox and fell back on the bed, wrapping her up in another hug. "Uncle Manny had a message queued for me. I got a report of what it does from him. I get all the normal benefits from the expanded [Endurance], but it also boosts my blood regeneration through the roof."


    Matt was going to ask how she knew that, but realized that the Emperor must have taken her Talent and tested many skills forpatibility issues.


    "Did he test other skills?"


    "Yup! He said that he tested anything that could change. Apparently some skills just won''t change at all. And theres others that could actively harm me. He said that he updated my AI with preloaded messages for skills that will hurt me."


    Matt was shocked. He understood that she grew up with the man, but that meant that he had absorbed each skill with Liz''s Talent active. He had to have had better things to do with his time.


    With [Endurance] running at a small trickle, Matt felt ready to move. Their train was about to reach their stop, and the three of them met up with Cami. They found her shuffling around theirmon room.


    "I''m not sure how you want to handle rooms."


    Matt thought about it, but Liz just charged ahead. "We might as well just get a three room suite. That way we can spend time together and work past this rough start."


    "We usually watch a movie or something most nights. It would be good if you join us. I also cook for us when we have time." Matt added thatst bit to try and get the clearly conflicted woman to agree.


    "Ok. That..." She swallowed hard. "Sounds nice I guess."


    As they exited the train, Matt looked to her and asked, "Wait are you on The Path?"


    Cami shook her head, "No."


    Matt shot a concerned nce to Liz, while looking up the information. "It''s fine. We just need to have her verify her rtive strength. As long as she stays within a Tier of us, and isn''t much stronger, it''s fine. We actually might be stronger than her with full Concepts."


    With Liz saying that, he probed Cami for the first time with his spiritual sense. He found that she had a different type of fake Concept. It was one he hadn''t felt before. As much as he wanted to ask, he didn''t. It was far too soon to ask, and he assumed that she had gotten something good from Duke Waters. It just felt like it was more <em>real</em> than the others he had felt.


    Matt turned and said, "Well, I need to go see TrueMind. I''ll grab some fresh ingredients on the way back. Cami, are you allergic to anything?"


    With her no, Matt and Liz went to TrueMind, while Aster went with Cami. Matt was slightly hesitant at letting his bond go with her, but Aster clearly wanted to, so he didn''t push. Aster said that she smelled nice, and therefore was a good person. Matt wasn''t sure that was how it worked, but he trusted herbat prowess.


    He was suspicious that the greedy fox was trying to get the new addition to the party to buy her ice cream.


    Arriving at TrueMind, Matt was quickly escorted into theb, and had his AI linked into their testing. They started with the usual mundane checks, but the techs were much nicer this time. The man, Oliver, was chatting with Matt while the results came in.


    Feeling much better about the environment, Matt asked, "So why were the other Technicians at thest test tutting all over their pads?"


    Oliver spun his pad, and showed a screen with more data and charts than Matt could quickly read. "So, your AI is a rewrite of the older, original AI''s."


    He peered at Matt and asked, "You know how AI''s were made, right?"


    "Not a clue. Someone smart?"


    Oliver smirked. "No... Well yes. But also no. AI''s are actually a Tier 25 rift reward. They were originally a skill like any other. They were special in being a channeled skill that had no initial cost. It was a huge advantage for rich people to give their kids. Still is, to be honest."


    Matt cocked an eyebrow at Liz, who was looking bored. She shook her head, so he made a note to ask herter.


    "But, they took the skill structure and made it simple. Simple enough that they could recreate it, but that came with losses. You know the saying: good, fast, or cheap. You can only have two. Our AI''s go for fast and cheap. Yours is throwing cheap out the window and doing fast and good. But it''s not doing it well. Or... it is for its Tier, but it''s doing it in an extremely inefficient way. Sometimes its trying to get to step three by going from step one to step seven, and doing calculus to get back down."


    Oliver shrugged. "It''s great for its Tier. Your search function is indexing in a very interesting way. Also, the way it''s locating special identifiable features is great. I can''t tell you why they were acting like that, but your AI is a great low Tier data point."


    That raised a question Matt hadn''t thought of. "Am I not the only one with it? At my Tier, at least?"


    Oliver waved him off, "Of course not. But you <em>are</em> the only one I know of that isn''t being supported by TrueMind. Most need mana to keep the AI running, so theyre focused on making them more effective. Your AI hasn''t decreased usage in the slightest. That''s why it''s such a great data point. Your testing of our simtions is going at more than twice the speed we thought it would."


    "So how is my AI different? I never got an answer for that when I got it."


    "Easy, your AI is just a rewrite of the original skill. A reset to zero, if you will. The new AI''s are so many generations old that we started using two letters. Your AI is closer to the skill itself. But it''s still based on a Tier 25 skill. That one can run on nearly 0 mana, but we can''t replicate that."


    Matt questioned the helpful tech, "Is there anything else I could work towards? I never got any of the extra modules like the ID function, and I felt kinda dumb that I didn''t even think to buy that."


    Oliver waved his hands around wildly. "No! No. Don''t do that. If you use the premade modules, your AI will change them for sure, but it won''t be as interesting for us as your AI recreating them from scratch. If you want some suggestions on what to make, have it start learning about whatever profession you like."


    "Yeah, I was looking into an enchanting module, but they are way too expensive."


    Oliver looked aghast. "Noooo! I can''t stop you from doing that, but just buy and download the books, then have your AI simte the results from the lessons. I''m sure youll learn a lot, and so will your AI. This is a really unique data point here. Please don''t ruin it with the store-bought stuff. And if it doesn''t work well, you can always buy the moduleter."


    Oliver thenunched into a tirade about how a different approach could revolutionize theputing fields.


    Matt thought it over while tuning the man out. The idea had merit. The AI modules would help someone enchant with oveys, and show where to carve or embed mana. But they were restricted and ruinously expensive.. None were on the open market, and they were all made by variouspanies, organizations, noble families, or guilds. They each were said to work differently, and have their own advantages.


    Some were better at weapons enchantments, and others were better atrger defensive formations. Each was made for the guilds that used them, which led to them being jealousy guarded. Rivals could glean a lot from knowing what their AI guides did.


    Smithing techniques and other professions were mostly open at Tier 5 and below, as it was mostly mundane materials being used. But the higher the Tier, the more exotic the materials were, and the more ways there were to use them.


    Not a single power wanted to give all of their hard-earned secrets away. Matt could understand that, but he really didn''t care about the intricacies of enchanting. He would love to automate it with his AI, and only provide the mana.


    He would never get a cooking one. He had talked to Aunt Helen about it. She wasn''t as dismissive as he thought she would be, but she pointed out that a lot of cooking was doing things to taste. You could measure and be perfect all day, but then everything woulde out the same.


    Each piece of meat, vegetable, or other ingredient was different, and should be treated as such. He knew the same applied to enchanting, but he really didn''t enjoy it. Everything in his life was about producing mana. It was nice to have something not dependent on it for once.


    "Oliver, is there anything else?"


    While the man was rambling and Matt ruminating, the chair was beeping at him to get up and leave.


    The technician coughed slightly. "Ah. Go ahead. Sorry. Your AI is so fascinating, I could talk about it all day."


    Saying their goodbyes, they left TrueMind and meandered back to their suite for the night.


    "So what was that about not getting the AI skill?"


    Liz shrugged. "One. I was on the path. Two, I and most other kids born from higher Tiers get special AI''s made from our parents'' AI''s. The AIs be very unique, and better at the higher Tiers, when theres been time for them to grow and evolve. Over Tier 25, maybe up to Tier 30ish, no one sells that info like you did. Too much can be gleaned by the shape of the AIs structure. My parents had an AI made for me when I was conceived. I had it imnted from birth. It was just inactive."


    Matt thought it over. "This isn''t a mark on you, but that feels like such bullshit. Isn''t the whole point of The Path to stop that?"


    Liz looked awkward, and Matt had to tamp down on his anger. She didn''t choose who her parents were, and he couldn''t say that he wouldn''t try to do the best for any future children. Ascenders knew that his parents tried their best.


    It still grated the wrong way to find out that there was yet another advantage from having higher Tier parents.


    "Is there anything else thates from having higher Tier parents?"


    Liz looked wronged, so he rubbed his face. "Sorry that was using. I just don''t like finding out that I''m starting even lower."


    He gave her a smile, and the tension disappeared.


    "Not really. The only other thing is really just the basis of knowledge that I have. Also, having parents over Tier 15 means that the child will be perfect. No gic imperfections at all. The same will happen when you reach Tier 15, and the mind takes control over the body. So it is a temporary advantage at best."


    Matt wanted to snark back that it was an advantage at the lowest Tiers, where it would make thergest difference.


    He stopped himself. That really wouldn''t be fair to Liz.


    "Sorry. I guess now that we talked about dating, I really feel our different social statuses."


    Liz hooked his arm and they turned into a produce store.


    "Well, please don''t take it out on me. I didn''t choose it. And don''t put yourself down. I might have started higher, but we both know that with your skillset, you''ll be there eventually. And on your own merit."


    As he pulled items for a pasta dish, he thought over his response. "I don''t want to be like that. It''s something I''ll need to work on. And I would never leave you and Aster behind."


    They chatted, and when they made it back to their rooms, Matt cooked, while Liz and Cami half watched him and half-watched an action movie.


    Matt served them, and they watched the movie in a pleasant silence. He noticed Cami looking at her cleared te and said, "Don''t hold back, theres enough for more than two tefuls per person."


    She murmured quietly, "Thanks, you are a really good cook."


    He wouldn''t say that she was a friend by the end of dinner, but the hard, jaded image he had of her was reced with a woman who had issues. She seemed like a skittish animal who was expecting the next blow toe from anywhere.


    Matt supposed that was close enough to the truth, at least with what he understood of her background. He just wasn''t sure if this was the true her, or an act to get back into their good graces. He wasn''t set on her joining them to explore the new world. An unknown at their back, especially in a rift, could spell disaster.


    The only upshot was that they weren''t just there for the rifts, but more so the natural treasures that existed on a that didn''t have humans curating it. Best case, Matt found a Tier 5 treasure that would boost his Mana Concentration, so he could save the potions that Aunt Helen had given him.


    He wasying in bed after Aster left him to join one of the others, when Liz slipped into his room. His confusion turned to shock when Liz flopped onto his bed.


    "Uncle Waters sent me a message."


    "How did it get to him and back so fast?"


    "Oh, I paid for the message to be instantly transmitted instead of waiting. Well, I charged him for it. He answered back, and I thought we could watch together."


    The Dukes face appeared on the pad she held. He looked tired, with slight bags under his eyes.


    "Hey, BethBeth. Sorry Cammie approached you like that. Matt, if you are watching, I''m sorry. I <em>knew</em> she wasn''t ready to go out, but she demanded it. I couldn''t stop her without being exactly like who broke her. I''m sorry she took that course of action, and said what she did. I couldn''t do much without taking away her freedom again, and shattering what little of herself she''s put back together."


    The Duke was rambling and seemed to notice, "So I sent her to you guys. It was the best I could do in a shitty situation, she was determined to progress on her own no matter what her therapists and I suggested. I''m sorry you got sttered. Cammie asked me not to warn you as she wanted your true reaction. I''m sorry she did that. I didn''t think." He sighed, "I didn''t think she would try and bait Matt into something..."


    The man rubbed at his eyes for a moment. "Liz, youre right. A favor from me really doesn''t mean much, as I would do anything for you anyway. I just don''t have anything else I can give. Can you just try for my sake? I hate what happened to her, and the others with her. I visited that piece of shit Cumulus estate more than once, and never noticed anything wrong. If I had, I could have stopped this long before dozens were killed, and Cammie was caught up in it."


    "Just do this for me please? I don''t want to see her turn all that anger on everyone else. She thinks the world is out to get her. And she''s mostly right. After I killed that monster, the Empire looked into his duchy. She grew up in a half legal brothel that he was keeping under wraps. The man had dozens that he would pull young girls from, so they could be dispatched if they made too much of a fuss, which is exactly what her mother did. He burned the whole ce down with everyone inside."


    Thest bit hit Matt hard. Duke Cumulus was a beast. But none of that excused her actions. Still, they did give him a framework to understand her.


    The message ended with, "I''m sending her a message as well, and paying for her to talk with her therapist with video, not just slow messages. Just do what you can, please. But don''t break yourselves doing it."


    Matt looked at Liz. "Well, I guess we have to help."


    She sighed and said, "I want to say Uncle Waters is only good at fighting or something, but he''s good with people, and Cami is stressing him out."


    A few minutester, she left to go back to her room. They had talked, but didn''t know what to do. They weren''t the girl''s therapist, after all. The thing was, Matt didn''t know what else the Duke could have done either. You had to want to be helped, and Cami clearly wanted to go out and increase her power. Whether or not that involved wanting help for her clearly fragile mental state, remained to be seen.


    Still, he could understand wanting to be stronger. It was close to his own goals, after all.

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46


    Matt brought his fist down on Camis left arm and used [Cracked Phantom Armor] to ignore the ded whip that was embedded in her flesh. The whip was made of linked, concentric, rotating des that formed S shapes. Their hooks were incredibly sharp, and could even stress his armor if the whip got wrapped around him.


    His fist struck her just hard enough for their AIs to count the blow as a broken arm. He was able to dodge her retaliatory strike with her gleaming mace with a back step. He used the distance gained to deliver a low sweeping strike to the womans overextended leg.


    The blow sent her to the ground, and Matt dove in, using his size and weight to restrain her in a grappling lock. The first time he had done that, Cami had freaked, and she ended the training session for the evening. Now, she was determined to learn how to escape.


    She struggled, but after a few moments of being unable to break out from his grip, she called out, I yield!


    He dropped his hold and wiggled away. Cami didnt like any more personal touching than was required, and he respected that as much as he could while they weren''t sparring.


    Seeing the look of disappointment on her face, he said, You really shouldnt be that hard on yourself. You said youve been learning to fight for only about a year. Sure, youve had good, even great, teachers, but you still need time to really learn the finer points of fighting.


    Before Cami could say anything, he held up a hand. You are doing better than I was with this much training time. You need to stop thinking so much. You n your next move and whichbat form youre going to use ahead of time. That makes you easy to predict. The best way to move past that is to experience more fights. There isnt much else you can do.


    She lightly punched the floor. You say all that, but you arent using your boosting skill or even a weapon. And I cant use [Berserkers Rage] as a boost in a practice fight.


    A part of Matt was envious. Duke Waters had kitted the girl out with great items and skills. She had [Berserkers Rage], and either it was cracked, or she had a Talent that boosted her strength when she took damage. The one rift they had delved as a test had shown at least that much.


    Cami had rushed the monsters and willingly took flesh wounds, while delivering crippling blows with her two items. The fact that she only wore armor covering her vital organs and head gave Matt his boost when damaged hunch. She also had a skill that he couldnt identify. It was able to heal skin and muscles, but waspletely unable to heal the broken arm she had gotten.


    Once again, he wasnt sure if it was a Talent, a rare skill, or cracked skill. But her whole kit fed into herbat style of taking smaller hits, then hitting back with twice the power.


    On top of it all, her whip and mace were growth items. The whip bit deeply into her own flesh, but she never seemed to mind. The damn thing also tried to do the same with anything it hit, and could ensnare a limb and shred flesh with ease. Matt was incredibly wary of the weapon when his armor skill was inactive.


    The mace was slightly less menacing, but it had the ability to project force deep into whatever it hit. [Cracked Phantom Armor] thankfully blocked that effect, but the mace head could levitate three and a half feet off the shaft of the weapon. It only could move as if still attached to the shaft, but the ability gave her an extra bit of range. It was invaluable against enemies that werent quite brave enough to get into melee range, and hovered just out of her perceived reach.


    As if she needed any more advantages, her kit was rounded out with a [Bolt] skill for mid-range opponents. Matt was sure that she had a long-range skill or weapon hidden somewhere, but she hadn''t shown it yet. Neither he nor Liz feltfortable pushing Cami about anything she wasnt willingly offering up, so they didnt pester her. She didnt question why Matt was able to keep so many skills active, or how he could do so for much longer than a typical melee fighter at his level. So they let her keep her secrets in return.


    They had kept busy during their downtime between train rides and waiting for the teleport times betweens. To that effect, they bought out a single Tier 5 rift for a single delve during a long break between departure times. They wanted to see Cami fight real opponents, and the delve allowed them to finish consolidating their Tier 5 cores with the remaining crunches.


    With their time traveling together Matt learned a few things about Cami. She never met anyones eyes, man or woman, and while she could fake public interaction for a few minutes she always cut it short quickly, never letting a conversation stretch on past its shortest point.


    Matt had decided to hold off on taking the potion Aunt Helen had made for him until he was at the peak of Tier 5. If he found a Tier 5 mana concentration treasure while exploring the new, he would regret using his potion. The potion would work at any Tier, unlike a treasure.


    With their fight over, Matt joined Aster at the edge of the room, and used her to practice limiting his Concepts mana regeneration effect on specific people. They knew it was possible, as the Concept ignored anyone with full mana. It was just a matter of him learning how to do it consciously.


    They also had figured out the math of his Concept with the help of Travis and Keith. He could impart his mana regeneration to anyone in the area of effect. However, there were three limitations. First, his mana transfer lost efficiency with distance from his core. Second, his mana was pretty inefficient at condensing itself to match those with a higher concentration than himself. Finally, he couldnt control the rate of mana restoration between individuals in the area of effect. At least, he couldn''t currently. His Concept always tried to give to everyone in its area of effect evenly, regardless of who had more or less.


    It was still faster to refill Aster and Liz with his Concept mid-fight than to recharge their fast converting mana stones. It was only a matter of time until he could limit the effect to them, and keep them going for as long as he could fight...


    <em>Endlessly.</em>


    Matt idly watched Liz take her turn against Cami. Liz was kitted out in a forest patterned armor set that, while vaguely simr in shape to her old armor, was made from Tier 5 materials. It was a step up in every way from her old set.


    The most notable change was that she had retired the spear that she had won at the auction on the training world.


    Instead, she had used the baroness smith to remove the old enchantment, and ce it on a new spear more reminiscent of the one she had lost in thendslide on the training world. This particr spear had a hollow core that she could fill with blood, and her proficiency with the new weaponpared to the old one was night and day.


    With her [Blood Maniption] skill, she could make the spear hover, and if he didnt know better, he would have sworn she had a weapon skill that made it automatically fight by her side. The woman was able to use the spear to fend off Cami, who had to devote a lot of attention to preventing it from poking her. Liz never pushed any more than that, but Matt knew exactly how infuriating it was to get poked at constantly, only for the weapon to dart away at thest second like a hummingbird.


    This portion of the training was more for Cami to get used to fighting people at range. She had quickly learned that [Bolt] cost too much mana to sustain against Liz, who had her [Blood Shield] ready to absorb the electricity.


    After a few more rushes that only caused Liz to keep her distance, they changed the pace, and Liz started shooting out [Blood Bullets]. Cami had to use her admitted flexibility to dodge the thumb-sized balls of blood. Liz was working to put extra spin on the pellets of blood, giving them a bit more pration power. But the skill still automated the creation and maniption processes for her, removing the need for her to manually guide the blood or maintain their form.


    When the blood mage used her Concept, the blood was as dense as steel and hit as if a Tier 7 threw them.


    All of that raised the problem. Cami was having a hard time keeping up. She did much better in a rift, where she could take damage and get a boost, but she didnt have the experience to keep up with the trio in this type ofbat.


    If Duke Waters hadnt asked for them to help the woman, Matt wouldnt have even considered taking her to explore a new world... No, he might have been swayed by the womans tragic backstory. He wasnt that heartless. She needed help, and he could understand wanting to get strong, so that no one could direct your life.


    But he was worried that this babysitting assignment would slow down their progress. While this excursion wasnt meant to increase their Tier as much as delving would, they would still be dealing with a full of rift breaks. Monsters would be everywhere, and with it being a Tier 6 world, Matt was afraid that her inexperience would get her killed.


    Matt and Liz were trying to book as many rifts during thest leg of their journey as possible, to get Cami some much neededbat experience. The problem was that they were buying the slot from a team that already held the position. No one wanted to give up the essence and rewards, so prices were sky-high.


    It had been so frustrating getting obviously fleeced, Matt was tempted to take out his homemade rift charging tes. They were shoddy work, with a terrible efficiency of forty-five percent, but they aplished the end goal. Besides, it had only cost him a few hours of time and mana generation.


    Giving out his secret would be monumentally stupid, but showing the arrogant teams that their precious rift slot was worth about five minutes of his time was a beautiful daydream.


    Still, Cami wasnt some genius of fighting, and her odd choice of weapons didnt help her. But the woman was <em>determined</em>. And that was much more important in his mind.


    Matt still worried that the temporary addition to their team was going to get in over her head with them. He didnt want her death on his hands.


    After watching Cami dodge Lizs attacks for a while longer, they swapped out again. He stood up with his longsword in hand. The weapon had gone from dangerous to deadly, with his spirit able to handle repeated uses of the embedded skill, [Mana Charge]. It gave every few swings a massive increase in power, and had so far ended every fight on its own.


    This particr spar with Cami, he pressed aggressively, and forced her to take painful ps with the t of his de. The message that he could have bisected her at any time was clearly getting through to her, if the scowl that grew on her face was any indication.


    Still, she used her evil whip to great effect, trying to tie down his de with its clinging effect. She never kept a hold of the de for more than a moment, after the first time he had simply braced himself and pulled her off her feet.


    She had a more moderate essence allocation, and that,bined with hisrger build, meant that she only out muscled him when [Berserkers Rage] and whatever secondary buff she was using were active.


    Matt wasnt sure, but seeing her dete when he had turned on [Mages Retreat] and easily broke out of her grapple, actually made him feel like he had taken something important from her.


    Still, they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to get Cami ready to keep up with them.


    Later that night, Matt worked on his second project. He bought every beginners enchanting guide he could get his hands on. The price wasnt so bad, but when he expanded the purchases to every other crafting profession, the total hurt his bank ount.


    It was worth it though, as he was able to run simtions on his AI with nearly his full mana pool. At least when they werent sparring. The mana was wasted if he didnt use it after all.


    The results were slow at first. Even his basic understanding of the professions from his sses at the university was enough to tell him that the AI was off the mark with most of the simtions it came up with.


    He tested most of the approved results and found them disastrous. One test had exploded so violently, he needed to channel [Endurance] for the next four days to remove the second-degree burns.


    Matt was just happy it didnt scar, and that he didnt have to pay a healer for testing something he had been sure wouldnt work. That was one embarrassment that he didnt want to have to exin. Liz, and even Cami, had mocked him for the bandage.


    The AI needed practical experiments for its ideas, or it would never get better. At least, that was his excuse.


    He had also bought the Tier 6 worlds explorers guide to natural treasures. It was just chucked into their AIs, just in case they ran into any of themon types. In the end, they would just be looking for things with a high essence concentration, and would rely on appraisers to sort out the trash from the treasures.


    ***


    The capital of the vassal kingdom, Seven Suns, literally had seven suns in the sr system. He was disappointed to learn that six of them simply looked like brighter stars from the distance they orbited the capital.


    It was still the first time he was on a Tier 32 world, and this is where they were meeting for the expansion. The city was bursting at the seams with people.


    Even the air was rich in essence. It took a lot of self-control to resist sucking it down and advancing his cultivation. He knew it would be slower, considering he would have to process the essence with an extra few steps that werent required with rift essence, but it was <em>right there</em>.


    Still, the higher ambient essence made everything feel like it was more <em>real</em>. From the rocks to the air, everything felt heavy. Liz and Cami had experience living on a higher Tier world, so they told him that hed get used to it pretty quickly.


    What Matt found interesting was that the most mundane things were harder here than anywhere else. Everything that was made from local materials was impossible to break with his strength. He had tried to pick up a spoon, but the Tier 32 metal might as well have been the entire itself.


    He found it reasonable that they imported lesser materials tobat the issue, but it led to ces of business that only catered to a certain Tier of people. That meant that there were ces that were simply inessible to lower Tier people, as they would be unable to even open a door.


    The area they stayed at was a moderately upscale hotel chain that catered to Tier 5 through Tier 10s. It overlooked the higher Tier section of the city. The entire division of the Tiers drove Matt to get stronger, so he wouldnt be blocked out of a building simply because he couldnt open the door. Those portions of the city also had an interestingck of rules regarding people using skills or their higher Tier physical cultivation.


    He watched as people blurred past in little more than streaks of colors. The more he watched, the more he was bothered. The entire city was built out of local materials, but they purposely made things like doors and utensils out of higher Tier materials, seemingly to keep the lower Tiers in their ce.


    That in and of itself wasnt a problem. No, it was the fact that the Empire proper hadws against this very thing. But as a vassal kingdom, they had the ability to allow these kinds of... policies. It wasnt Tier discrimination, as they imed that everything <em>was</em> open to all, but if you didnt have the ability to open a door, that wasnt <em>their</em> fault.


    While walking around the city, Matt continued to find more and more aspects of the vassal kingdom that he didnt like. For one, the lower Tier districts were treated like slums. Even if they werent dirty, they had noticeably worse infrastructure. It seemed so petty for these districts to be in the condition they were, especially when enchantments could do nearly everything to fix potholes and crumbling sidewalks. Even his city had automated vehicles that would repair things like that overnight.


    Overall, Matt didnt have a good first impression of the vassal kingdom, and pitied anyone who was taking the option of subjecting themselves to the kingdom fornd. He couldnt think of anyone who would want to move out of the Empire proper to a ce that allowed tant discrimination and Tierism.


    Either way, they only had to remain in the city for two and a half weeks. They tried to get ess to the public rifts for a delve or two, but they had absurd prices for the Tier 5 rift. In the end, they just decided to just train in the sparring rooms they could reserve. The problem with that was, there were an extra few million people waiting in the city. It made for a cramped atmosphere that stretched resources.


    From what they saw, the higher Tiers actually had it worse, as the news of a Tier 20 twenty world was far more unique than a Tier 6 world. The other two were even less impressive at Tier 3 and a weak Tier 4. They too had cultivators ready to brave the depths of their continents, seeking to find new rifts or the natural treasures that would surely be there.


    So, they mostly hung out for thest bit of time before their next teleporter would be ready. With Liz and Matt being on The Path, they would be one of the first groups out. It was a nice benefit, along with their exemption from the taxes that he heard more than one personin about.


    Currently, they were sitting at an open-air cafe, snacking on pastries and day drinking with some local beers. It was mostly Matt and Liz chattering back and forth, with Cami chiming in every now and then. She had opened up quite a bit, but she was still a little quiet and reserved. Matt wasnt sure if that was her natural disposition, or something rted to her time under Duke Cumulus control.


    For all she had divulged to them, she never talked about that part of her life after the first day. Matt wasnt one to pick open a scab, so he let it lie. He had little room to throw stones, as he still hadnt opened the package of his parents memories. Some things were better left in the past.


    While they were finishing up their pastries and debating if they wanted another round, Cami leaped forward towards Matt, with her whip appearing in her left arm. She had a special spatial ring that was specially created to hold her weapons, as they were growth weapons, and expected to be using them long enough to justify the cost or a spatial ring for lower Tiers.


    Matt hadnt expected to be betrayed, but his instincts were faster than his mind, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] spring to life at her sudden movement. The skill appeared just in time to catch the de that dug into his head. His jerk back from Camis movement made the de skitter along the front of his skull, instead of piercing his temple.


    Turning around, heshed out, with [Mages Retreat] active at 10 MPS, and used his control of [Cracked Phantom Armor] to create spikes on the knuckles of his gauntlets. He punched out, but hit only air, as the masked assassin was already trying to escape into the panicking crowd.


    Cami, having seen and reacted the fastest, was already moving towards the assassin, and wrapped her ded whip around the fleeing enemys arm. Instead of the assassin being stopped, their light armor exploded in a small puff at the shoulder, and they continued to run off, with their arm left in the ensnaring links of Camis whip.


    Liz, who had had Aster on herp and was much slower to react, was ready to charge after the man. Meanwhile, Cami looked at the arm in her whip-like it was something she had never seen before.


    Before Matt could do anything else, two people flew in from the sky with shing lights, and sloppy, badly fitting uniforms. As theynded one called out, Get on the ground now!


    Matt couldnt believe they were apprehending them, the victims, and shouted, The assassin went that way!


    Before he could fully point in the direction, a greater cultivation mmed down on him, and his spirit was slowed to a near stop. The unbelievable pressure forced all of his skills to falter. Even his ever-spinning cores slowed, and he sank to his knees, unable to resist the power. They were at least Tier 18 or higher, as they felt stronger than Travis or Keith, but not as strong as Aunt Helen.


    Matt tried to protest, but was roughly shoved to the ground, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. His AI fussed for moment before its normal functions returned.


    From his vantage point, he was able to see Camis whip yanked from her arm, and her now bloodied arms were being wrenched back as well.


    You are under arrest for unauthorized use of skills in a public setting. What do you say in your defense?


    Matt tried to gurgle something out, but the pressure from these two guards cultivation bases rendered him unable to say anything. With [Cracked Phantom Armor] no longer keeping his wound sealed, blood was pooling around his face.


    Adding to the insult, he heard the same guard say, Suspects have nothing to say in their defense. Guilty plea noted.


    His spatial bag was ripped from his back, and momentster, they were being flown away from the open-air cafe, and soon found themselves thrown in a holding cell.


    They barely had time to get used to no longer being suppressed when their door opened up, and Liz called out, Dont say a word without awyer!


    Matt was the first pulled out, and he was shoved and shackled into a metal chair. Soon, a man came in and started questioning him.


    The questions started, stupid and only devolved from there.


    Why were you using your skills in public?


    Matt knew they had to have surveince footage, and even a cursory nce would show them that there had been an attempt on his life.


    Why did youe to our?


    He wanted to say everyone was on this shithole because of the newly discovered worlds. There were millions of people doing it. It was in no way a secret.


    The questions came one after another, and one almost got Matt to break his repeated line of, I wont be answering any questions without mywyer present. It was, Why didnt you pay the bill at the cafe you were eating at.


    Matt wasnt sure what these idiots problem was, but they continued their integration for over an hour, before there was a knock at the door.


    Soon a man in casual clothes came in and slid a pad in front of Matt, saying, Were a guild dedicated to assisting the city with staying safe and secure. We cant let people tantly stir up trouble. We have you on one count of unauthorized use of a skill and attacking a man. Also, making up fabrications about assassins. Our guards reported nothing of the sort.


    The man let out arge long exaggerated sigh.


    Ill make it easy, you sign the guilty plea, and you only have to serve twenty-five years delving for the state in rpense. If you dont, well do this the hard way. And believe me, if a judge sees this case, youll be looking at fifty-plus years.


    He gave a false smile and finished with, Im trying to help you. Really.


    With that, he grabbed Matts hand and forced him to thumb his eptance.


    Look, see. That was easy. Now you just need to make up for your crimes. Rehabilitation is a long road. And youll be put to work on the news. For endangering the public, youll now be protecting them. How noble.


    Matt just stared at the man. He hadmitted everyones face to memory, and he swore he would be back, and heads would roll.


    As he thought about it, he started to find it amusing.


    <em>These idiots have no idea that we are on The Path. And once they find out who Liz is, they are going to shit themselves.</em>


    Either of those backers were farrger than this little group could deal with.


    The prediction came true not fifteen minutester, when he heard panicked screams and the sounds of fast movement from outside his integration room.


    A momentter, the door opened, and a guard in a more official-looking uniform came in and asked, Are you, Matt?


    At his reply of, Yes. The man entered, and removed his shackles, then escorted him to a guard with a healers armband.


    Fuck kid, what happened to you?


    The healers reaction reminded him of the now dried blood from his forehead, and while he had been able to channel [Endurance] in the integration room, it wasnt going to remove the already caked-on blood.


    A quick healter, and he was done. Matt found Cami and Aster on a bench facing away from him. As he walked over, Aster spun and leaped into his arms. She sniffed around his face, and worry flooded to him through the bond. Her anger matched his own that he was keeping tamped down.


    Whats going on?


    He asked Cami, who was watching what he assumed were actual guards streaming in and out of the building.


    She nodded through a window he hadnt seen. Liz was animatedly waving her hands around in a silent pantomime that clearly expressed her anger at the situation. Liz has been tearing them a new asshole for thest few minutes. She''s said the words "The Path" so many times, but they keep flinching each time.. Shes fearless while talking to them. I dont know if I could do that, even with my backer.


    Cami shrugged and finished, You just dont talk to higher Tier people like that.


    Matt understood what she meant, and silently agreed with her. On the other hand, Liz grew up with people stronger than this entire kingdom and all their corruption. It was honestly shocking that something like this was going on in the capital city.


    He looked over at the dark-haired woman who was still seated. Did they force you to agree to something as well?


    She nodded. Yeah. Whatever happens, I want to make sure that the contract is nullified. Even with my AI recording, I dont feel good about it.


    Matts frustration boiled out at that, and he hissed, I dont know what they were thinking. Its not like we couldnt prove everything they did. Thats so incredibly illegal.


    Cami shrugged. We arent in the Empire proper anymore. This could all be legal here. Forcing a contract doesnt sound legal, but maybe they dont ept AI recordings as proof or something. I dont know, but this group seemed a little too used to doing this.


    Matt didnt know what to think. This was so outside of his expectations and world view, it was shocking. It also showed how lucky he was. He may have been on a poorly run world, but even the worst guild recruiters didnt try and force contracts on people.


    The incident blew up when two people in much nicer clothes appeared in the window, and then tried to talk to Liz. Matt saw the moment she name-dropped her parents. The peoples faces drained of any color, and their bodynguage changed. He almost felt bad for them, with the threat of two royals looming over them.


    Matt had the feeling that this woulde with worse consequences than sending the taxmen after the vassal kingdom. A part of him relished the idea, but arger part of him hated the fact that if he wasnt on The Path, he would have been forced into whatever joke of a sentencing that they had arranged.


    Being an Empire proper citizen, especially one on The Path, meant that he was always judged by imperialw, and not local ones. But this was a wake-up call that the Empire, while not perfect, was miles better than the alternatives.


    With a sigh, he hugged his bond forfort. It helped.


    He looked at Cami. I hate having to rely on others for protection like this.


    Her fist tightened until her knuckles popped, and she nodded. I shudder to imagine if the people on top werent held in check by other, stronger people who care. She actually did shudder a bit, then finished, Ive been at the mercy of others once before. Thats why I need to be strong. I wont let it happen again.


    Matt patted her shoulder and said, Thanks for the save back there.


    She turned to look at his hand, then followed it to his now healed head.


    That would have killed me outright. Just... thanks.


    She didnt say anything, and they watched as Liz browbeat the two officials.


    Did we ever get our things back? The thought crossed his mind, and he asked the question idly.


    Ah. Yeah. Well, kinda. Theyre still trying to collect our things, apparently.


    That didnt sound good, but he had a record of everything he had. They wouldnt be able to y any funny games with his belongings.


    Finally, Liz came in and said, These fucking worthless idiots are useless. First, all they can say is that the assassin was a standard first hitter, and wasnt in any databases. Then they tried to give me shit about not pressing charges.


    She fumed. Lets go. This isnt over, but we did all we can for now.


    We still dont have our stuff back, Liz.


    That caused the redhead to shudder with repressed rage. She stormed out, and before the door closed, he could hear her shouts.


    Cami looked at him. And youre dating her?


    That got Matt to smile, and it took his mind off who was trying to kill him. It was a short list of people he had pissed off after all. It seemed that the idiot from Dual Stars wasnt happy with letting a broken neck be the only price to pay.


    Well what can I say? I find strong-willed women attractive.

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47


    Matt struck out at the heavy bag in a flurry of blows that sent it swinging. He sidestepped the bags return swing. Using the workout as an outlet for his pent-up emotions, he kicked out hard, and the bag flew back to a nearly horizontal position.


    The emotions burned hot and deep.


    He was mad at the attempt on his life, but what really infuriated him was the fact that the whole thing was treated like it was no big deal.


    After Liz stormed back out and started another screaming match, all of their belongings were miraculously found and returned. Matt was terrified that someone had drunk his Mana Concentration potions, but they were still sealed seemingly untouched.


    She hadn''t used her family to get them out of this mess, no she used the fact they were on The Path and repeatedly beat the locals over the head with that fact.


    He had been so weak. A higher Tier had used their cultivation base and simply squashed him like a bug. There was nothing he could have done at that moment. He had attempted to sleep, but only ended up tossing and turning for a few hours. He had annoyed Aster into scratching at Lizs door for some peace and quiet, so he retreated to the training room in their hotel to try and tire himself out.


    Lifting hadnt helped his restlessness very much. He needed more action, so he moved to the heavy bag.


    It still wasnt enough. Beating the heavy bag wasnt cutting it, so he moved to the training aids and just beat on them instead. They tried to fight, but his armored form was faster than the base Tier 5 model. He had to crank them up to peak Tier 5 to be able to actually gain anything out of the training. The AIs controlling them were good, but he was simply better. When they went into an attack pattern, it was easy for him to read their movements. They offered him no real challenge.


    After a few hours of fruitless bouts of fighting, he gave up and went back upstairs. With the steamy water running down his back in the shower, he channeled [Endurance], and felt his fatigue and the detriments from his sleepless night pushed away. It wasnt ideal to rece sleep with [Endurance], but a single night wouldnt be the end of the world.


    Seeing that the girls were still asleep, he started cooking. He needed something to clear his mind, so he threw on the heaviest ylist he had, and let the beat of the songs guide his cooking. When he was done, only Cami was up, so he slipped her a te of her favorite crepes with all the fixings. Liz was getting cinnamon toast, and Aster got lightly roasted meat mixed with scrambled eggs.


    He simply picked at the food as he cooked, and toasted a bagel for himself.


    Liz shuffled out, with a sleepy Aster swaying back and forth behind her. With their bellies full after their meal, they turned to the news and watched the coverage of the vassal kingdom guild getting busted. Matt expected the news to be rerunning the same clips of the local royal representative decrying the guilds actions, and promising to look into it.


    What they found instead was a view of a massive, flying ind hovering directly over the pce. The monstrosity was being used to make a statement, that was for sure. The local ruler of this shit hole had to be quite upset with someone so obviously proiming their superiority by parking theirnd over his own.


    The thought of the king having a literal shadow cast over his head was amusing enough to bring a cruel smile to Matts face.


    The talking head was just starting another rehash of the segment. Early this morning, Duke Ignite brought his flying ind into our kingdoms air space, and started his own investigations. We havent heard anything from the kingdom officials, except that they are cooperating with the Duke.


    A second, much angrier talking head-butted in. This is a disgrace to the kingdom. How dare a mere Duke act so arrogantly to our king? King Albert should demand that they ground themselves immediately and demandpensation.


    Liz snorted and spoke over the ensuingments. Theyre lucky that its only Duke Ignite parking over them.


    Matt understood what she meant. A vassal king was only equivalent to a duke, and from everything he read, they were generally weaker in terms of Tier <em>and</em>bat prowess. It was absurd for the newsman to think that they would get anypensation, but he figured it was mostly an act put on by the station to ensure they catered to their audience.


    The man suddenly stoppedining when both anchors paused and touched their earpieces, receiving an update from their producer.


    We have a statement by the Duke.


    With that, the screen changed to a please hold card. Momentster, a man appeared on the screen. He had brown hair with streaks of red scattered throughout. The best word Matt could describe him with was apathetic. He looked utterly bored with the whole affair.


    I was sent here, as Im the closest noble to this vassal kingdom. Im sure most of you have heard of me. Or at least your news anchors will inform you on the back end. The question on most of your minds is probably, why did Ie and park my ind over the capital?


    His eyes turned from dark brown to bright orange for a brief moment, before settling down.


    We got a report of Empire citizens being captured under false pretenses, and forced to sign illegal contracts with a specific guild. The organization no longer exists, and will remain nameless.


    The bored look returned, and he idly scratched his cheek as he finished talking. His hand was dark, like freshly cooledva. It was even roughly textured.


    We only found out because they apprehended someone on The Path of Ascension. Most restrictions that can block AImunication dont work on their AI for a reason. This guild was staging assassinations on Tier 4 and Tier 5 people who were here to join in on the exploration of the new worlds. Their modus operandi was to target the less wealthy. They had a mole in the bureau of rift affairs located in the capital city, and targeted those that attempted to buy out rifts, but couldnt afford it.


    Then they filtered those targets down to the people who werent spending too much through the city, usingplicit businesses financial records. After that, they apparently enlisted the aid of a corrupt judge or eight, who would back up any charges that were levied on the victims. So far, weve identified nearly twenty thousand victims of this scam through our investigation.


    Matt was shocked. He had only assumed that they were unlucky. Being targeted because they didnt want to pay the absurd prices for a rift, was a horribly corrupt tactic. He almost felt bad for thinking it was the Dual Stars guild.


    This hadnt been about him at all. Twenty thousand people sounded like a lot, but millions of people were flooding in to participate in the exploration. It was like a training world, but not limited or presided over as much.


    A part of him cursed the fact they were acting frugally. Saving money shouldn''t get you targeted. The fury built up in his chest at the injustice at it all.


    That flicker of fire in the Dukes eyes started cracking through again, and the general apathy slowly vanished with the change in color.


    My question was, why were they in need of so many people in the Tier 4 and 5 range? Well, to answer that, we need to look at the guild leader. That leads me to the most egregious offense. The leader of said guild was actually a member of the local royal family. A distant cousin, to be fair, but a member nheless. The guild had recently bought a continent in the Tier 6 world, and intended to use freebor to subjugate thend and im it. Thats two offenses right there. Firstly, the Empire doesnt allow guilds to purchasend of that quantity. And secondly, a member of a noble house leveraged his connections to do it.


    Duke Ignites pupils were now so bright, the camera had to dim the picture topensate. It onlysted for a moment, before the Duke gestured to the side, and the screen paned to the courtyard next to him. There, dozens of people were bound and kneeling. At their front was a man who was starting to grey at the temples. The resemnce to the statues and paintings they had seen in the capital was apparent. This was obviously the guild leader and royal cousin.


    With the pan of the camera, they zoomed out, and Matt saw the king, who was off to the side dressed in fancy clothes that contrasted to the Dukes in, baggy attire.


    The Duke raised a hand, and his moniker became obvious when his hand came into view. It looked like his arm from mid-forearm down was reced with glowingva that was breaching the surface of his skin. His fist radiated light and energy through the cracks of his earth-like dermis. It looked just like molten rock escaping the confines of as crust. Near his fingertips, the color was bright orange, and Matt could only imagine what kind of power it took to restrain that heat.


    Before anyone questions the thoroughness of our investigation, weve received permission for an AI scan, and have confirmed that these seventy-two people were the ringleaders. Most of the remaining guild members will be receiving fines and some jail time. These... Duke Ignite gestured once again, We found to be much tooplicit in such heinous crimes. Their punishment is death.


    At thepletion of his statement, there was a blinding heatwave thatpletely whited out the picture, and the kneeling people disappeared. There wasnt even a speck of ash or any soot stains left. They were utterly vaporized. Just before the wave of heat killed the offenders, Matt saw a figure with one arm, and hoped it was the man who attacked them.


    The Duke didnt seem at all bothered at the deaths he had caused, but he looked to the camera for a moment. His eyes were so bright, the entire screen was nearly ck, and his pupils were all that could be seen.


    There were visible shimmers of heat that matched the intensity of his eyes when he looked to the king off to the side. I suggest you look into the corruption we found today. Imperialw forbids me from investigating further myself. But corruption is like lice. If you leave it unchecked, it spreads everywhere. You might want to go through your kingdom with a very fineb. Because if the Empirees back, welle back with a razor, and a fresh start.


    The statement was an ominous end to the video. It was a very poignant threat to level at a king during a live presentation, especially after vaporizing nearly a hundred people.


    When the image went back to the newsroom, the man was pale and sweating, while the womans mouth was just hanging open.


    Matt turned to Liz and Cami. Are you fucking kidding me?


    Liz didnt look that shocked, but Cami looked like she had just swallowed an egg.


    With less heat, Matt finished, I cant believe it wasnt even a real assassination attempt. I thought I was going to die for sure.


    They ended up chatting for a while with the backdrop of the news anchors. Their tone had shifted after the Dukes promation, and they decried anything resembling corruption. They were clearly shaken, and were sure to state and re-state how they had never dealt with corruption themselves.


    Matt put them out of his mind.


    Cami asked Liz, Do you know Duke Ignite?


    Not personally. I think I was introduced once or twice, but hes a part of a different faction than my parents.


    Matt had to rify that statement. Wait, factions? I kind of assumed that everyone marched to the Emperors drum. What factions are there?


    Liz scoffed at that, and fell backward into the couch. Pshh. There are a very limited number of resources at the highest Tiers. Thats why everyone leaves as soon as they can. Its better to get out to the higher realms, where Tier 50s are moremon. But youre not wrong. No one is advocating for a new Emperor or something. Its all about who should get ess to this rift or that rift. It leads to groups advocating for their own benefits, and Uncle Manny has to bnce it all. But Duke Ignite is from a separate faction, so I dont know much about him.


    Cami looked at Liz like she had grown two heads. Wait, who are your parents? I know you call Aiden Uncle, but now youre calling the Emperor Uncle?


    Matt had to chuckle at the look on her face. They hadnt deliberately kept her in the dark, but it wasnt something either of them mentioned to her.


    Liz flipped her hair and looked imperious. You have the honor to be in the presence of the daughter of Leon and Mara. The two royals. You may now pay obeisance.


    Her demeanor dissolved into a giggle, and she lightly punched the gobsmacked woman. Rx. Im just fucking with you. Im just me.


    Cami rolled her eyes. So who are your actual parents then?


    Liz cocked her head. Oh. No. I was joking about the obeisance. Not who my parents were. Im on The Path to get out of their clutches.


    The wide-eyed look from the dark-haired woman was enough to lighten the mood.


    Matt was still shocked that they, or rather he, wasnt the reason they got attacked. It was that they were frugal, and didnt want to waste their mana stones that made them a target.


    <em>I guess Im not the center of the universe after all.</em>


    It was slightly humbling in a way, but he had tough. Matt wasnt someone special, just someone they thought was an easy mark.


    Any more conversation was interrupted with Liz jerking slightly. Oh, Im getting a call from the Duke.


    With a flick of her finger, the screen lit up, and Duke Ignite was sitting down in a room that looked more like an office.


    Good day Miss Moore.


    Hello, Duke. Lizs demeanor and tone changed, she even had an expression he had never seen before.


    I just wanted to inform you as the person involved in this scandal that its been taken care of. Mostly.


    I dont like the sound of <em>mostly</em>. Please borate.


    The idiot leading that little operation was a royal, and like all of his family members, was involved in a family meeting about five months before he started this idea. Like all of those that attended, they wore items that could suppress their AIs. The king was obviously there as well, and I cant be sure that he wasnt involved. I wanted to warn you. I doubt that he will try anything, but I wanted to be sure that you were aware.


    Thank you. I will inform my parents of your excellent service.


    The Duke waved that off. I wont say no to a favor from them, but dont think I wouldnt do it for anyone I found in this situation. I dropped a hint that there were VIPs involved in this little debacle, and that the king might want to be incredibly careful with his actions. But Ill be gone in a few hours. Im only staying around to finish the checks of the other victims.


    His eyes and arms red with orange light, but they quickly cooled, and the apathetic look returned.


    I pushed for the maximum reimbursement from the king, so you will each be getting a Tier 7 mana stone. I wish it was more, but the restrictions of The Path are limiting me here.


    What about the others? Will they be made whole? Lizs question made Matt think to all the others as well. Twenty thousand was a huge amount of people to reimburse.


    Duke Ignite nodded at the question. Im offering transport back to The Empire proper, and citizenship to any who want it. Its all that I can personally do, but with thepensation from the king for their rough treatment, it should be enough to set most up nicely for the future. If they so wish.


    I thank you for taking the time out of your day to inform me.


    The Duke said nothing else, and the transmission ended.


    Before anyone else could say something, Cami blurted out, Fuck! I wasnt sure you were serious.


    Liz just shrugged. Hes only a Duke. Its not a big deal.


    Matt and Cami both gave the blood mage a look, before shaking their heads at each other. Liz had a different outlook on some things.


    ***


    Two dayster, they were preparing to leave the, and were waiting their turn to board the teleporter tform. It would send them to the Tier 4 that was the first stop on their journey.


    When they finally reached the new world, they found themselves on a in of grass. The world was fairly weak at Tier 4, but the surroundings had been leveled with magic of some type, as the ground was scorched for nearly a mile out. The rudimentary buildings of a temporary settlement were already going up. A teleportation city was always a busy ce, especially one that linked directly to the capital of a kingdom.


    Anyone who hadnded here was nning for the long haul, and some had already gotten the first few jumps in. Some people were already heading to the surroundings, and scouting out fresh areas to subjugate on the new world. Matt and the other three headed to the edge of the city perimeter, and found other groups who were boarding arge flying ship.


    For the price of a Tier 4 mana stone, they would take people to the next teleporter. Matt pulled out his flying sword, and while three people and a fox would be a little cramped, it was faster and cheaper for them to fly themselves. Still, it wasnt the price of the ride that was the issue, it was the speed.


    Thepany running the ships was relying on people wantingfort out of their ride on the ship, so it would take a slow and steady pace. That meant it would take the flying ship nearly three times as long as the flying sword to cover the roughly three thousand miles they needed to traverse.


    Liz and Cami had bundled up. Despite the general heat of this, it would be cold at the height and speeds they would be traveling. Matt simply activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Aster wouldnt be affected by the cold in the least. She was already hiding in her backpack. The idea of flying wasnt exactly her definition of a good time.


    With Matt taking the first spot, they all held on. With a mental effort, the sword rose. Matt had to spend a bit more mana to counteract the added weight, but this was a Tier 7 model. It was fast. While the top speed would cost 30 MPS, his mana regeneration was 40 MPS. And even with his AI draining 2 MPS, he still had enough to keep his armor activated, and protect himself from the wind and cold.


    If they got there fast enough, they could catch up with the flying ship two departures ahead, and get the jump to get through the next. To that end, Matt was determined to maintain the swords top speed for their entire trip. At 150 mph, it would be cold and bitter for the girls, but reaching their destination as quickly as possible was worth the twenty-hour long journey.


    With everyone on the sword, Matt made sure they were ready, and they took off.


    Hourster, Matt and his human passengers were watching a movie in a conference call with their AIs. They were relying on Matts AI to guide them. He had manually flown for hours, but after the novelty of going full speed had worn off, his attention wavered, and he knew that his AI could handle the navigation easily.


    They were all jolted out of the movie while flying through a medium-sized mountain range, when a massive bird rose from a cavern, and started closing in on them from directly ahead. The beast had silvery wings and was at the peak of Tier 4. Its power caused the [Wind de]s it fired out at them to be quite a shock.


    Matt assumed that it was a rift creature that had escaped and reproduced outside of the rift. Its massive size gave it an advantage through its physical abilities. The attacks were easy enough to dodge, but with the mountain range, he had to slow down to avoid mming into the sides of the peaks. Their speed was reduced to the point that the creature was able to keep up and intercept them.


    Taking manual control, Matt flew higher to avoid the hazardous terrain, and cranked up the speed. It was dangerous, as they were reaching heights where breathable air was scarce. But after a few frantic moments, they were past the creature. It didnt bother to chase them.


    Fuck!


    Matt wholeheartedly agreed with Camis statement. That wasnt a monster that he wanted to tangle with three passengers on his de.


    The rest of their travel was uneventful, and they reached the teleporter city to find they were just in time to catch the next port out. At this point, they were caught up with the first groups of lower Tiers. The higher Tiers had been much faster to get to the fourth, and thus to their goal, the Tier 20. That was a prize most just traveled through chaotic space to reach. The first to arrive would be the first to reap the rewards.


    After reaching the second, they had to travel a much shorter distance, and soon reached their own goal of the Tier 6.


    They all had [Endurance], and were using it to push off sleep. They were caught up to the most connected groups, who had had top priority in leaving the, so their harsh travel methods had been worth it.


    The Tier 6 was still getting satellite coverage. It was spotty at best, so they relied on purchasing the initial survey from an information broker who was working out of a copsible table near the teleporter tform.


    The information cost them five Tier 6 mana stones, but it was an eptable expense to try and get to valuable spots early. Sadly, the details were as spotty as the coverage, and they didnt show any obvious locations of hotspots.


    Just when they were exiting the tent, a young man came up to them. Hey. Are you looking for rifts or... He looked around and said, Better locations?


    Matt checked their backs, while Liz asked her own questions. And whats it to you? And who are you?


    Seeing no one behind them preparing an ambush, Matt turned back to the man.


    Ah. Sorry. My name is Malcolm. Wannabe explorer and adventurer. I, uhh... spent all my money on getting to be one of the first people here, and I never thought ahead about the monsters.


    Malcolmughed good-naturedly, and looked over their group again. They didnt join in his good humor.


    So I have a Talent that leads me to what I want, and I wanted a team that might be able to help me. My Talent gave me good feelings about you all.


    Matt wasnt buying what this guy was selling. This was a trap of some sort. He was sure of it.


    Liz opened her mouth to deliver what he was sure would be a rejection, and Malcolm clearly also saw the same thing, so he hurried to add, Look. My Talent works on more than just people.


    He leaned in closer and whispered, Its telling me there are at least five hidden ruins on this world. Ill give you directions to a second one after you escort me through the one I want.


    That shocked Matt enough to consider it. Ruins were incredibly rare versions on rift breaks. Normally, a rift break just dumped out monsters, and once its energy was neutralized, went back to normal. But a ruin was where the entire rift inverted, and came out to reality. It also caused any items within to be unbound and usable.


    They were incredibly rare, but over a long enough time frame, they would appear on somes. Most were obvious, with structures where there should be none, but those were always the worst versions. The best ones were usually in hard-to-reach locations, or underground. When the rifts inverted, it could put an entire city in the mantle of the with zero issues. They were also known to berger on the inside than the outside, and the rift never died when the inversion happened.


    No, it kept producing monsters and items. The only difference was that they werent instanced, so they always built up and turned into treasure troves of materials and items.


    All of this was just too good to be true. Why would a random stranger tell them that, and not seek to profit from the valuable information?


    Matt asked just that. Why tell us, and not sell the information? The finders fee would be amazing.


    Malcolm shook his head. I dont want the finders fee. I want the treasures inside. If were the first ones there, we can take what we want. I just have two conditions.


    That was more like what he was expecting. They would probably be incredibly restrictive, with promises involving their AIs or something.


    I just want a fair split of the treasures, and there is one growth item that my Talents screaming is perfect for me. I just need help getting in and killing all the beasties.


    Cami asked, Why not get a team of Tier 6s. Theres some around.


    She was right. The ce wasnt crowded yet, but they were one of the few Tier 5 teams. It would have been safer for the man to get one of the stronger Tier 6 groups.


    Malcolm shook his head once again. My Talent is saying that would backfire on me. Either they would rob me, or just give me nothing. Youre the third Tier 5 team toe through since Ive been waiting, and the first one I got a good feeling for. I dont need much, just a quarter of the loot and that one growth item.


    Let us talk it over.


    With Lizs promation, they huddled up and quickly chatted.


    Cami was the first to speak. I dont trust this.


    Matt nodded, and Liz added, Its fishy by every ascender''s sweaty balls. But a ruin...


    She let that trail off, and it spoke on its own.


    Even Cami agreed. It was a good point.


    Matt wasnt going to say it out loud, but he wasnt keen on bringing another person into their party. He was friendly with Cami, but he didnt think the explorer would be anything other than dead weight on this trip.


    He corrected himself. If he was being honest, he just didnt have a good feeling about this. A fifth party member was out of hisfort zone.


    <em>But the rewards.</em>


    Matt could hardly imagine the rewards in a Tier 6 ruin. Rifts gotrger the higher the Tier, and a Tier 6 that had spent however many years producing items and monsters would be amazing for advancement.


    While Cami was able to hold her own now, he and Liz were hitting well above their Tier, and a Tier 6 rift would be easy pickings for them.


    Finally, with the others looking at him, he spoke against his better judgment. I didnt see any obvious ruins on the satellite imagery. If hes not full of it, this is too good to pass up. I just dont like it. This is way too sketchy for my blood.


    Both women nodded at him.


    Liz looked to Cami and said, Were in this together. Are you up for it? This is the point of exploring new worlds, after all. Finding treasures in the open is luck-based more than anything.


    Cami chewed her lip and nodded. I dont think he can kill us or anything, so if were careful, we can mitigate a lot of the risk. I agree. We just cant pass this up. Finding it on our own will negate the advantage we got bying early. If we end up chasing the first wave, the best of the loot will be taken away. I dont want other peoples scraps.


    Matt added his final thought. I dont think hes telling us everything, but his logic is reasonable enough. I wouldnt trust people a Tier above mine to not overpower me either.


    With nods, they turned back to Malcolm, who was pacing back and forth impatiently.


    Whats the answer? Good news, I hope?


    Cami asked the first question, How far away is it?


    I dont know. I just know the direction, and itll get stronger the closer I get.


    Matt asked the second one, How do you know there are five ruins?


    My Talent works on the question I ask, and five ruins on an untouched isnt a crazy number. This is a Tier 6 world, and the higher the Tier, the more likely there are ruins.


    Liz finally asked, Well, what direction? We dont have time to waste after all.


    Matt held up his hand, he wanted an AI promise before they walked into a trap.

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48


    Before they left, Matt still couldnt shake the feeling that this whole thing was a trap. So he called out, Hold up, Malcolm. We want an AI-backed promise that you can do what you said. Im sure you can understand how sketchy this is from our perspective.


    Malcolm looked aghast at the suggestion. I would never, but if it would set you at ease, I can do that for you.


    Liz gave a slight nod from behind Malcolms view. A momentter, they all received a message, Malcolm can find and guarantee that five ruins are present on this new and unexplored.


    With the message from Malcolm giving him an AI identification number, he sent it to the other three. If they ended up disappearing, the message would at least provide a paper trail on who to investigate.


    For all the mans apparent goodwill, Matt still expected that he had some kind of ulterior motive.


    They walked to the edge of the protected area, and as he crossed the border, Matt received a message.


    As you are under the Tier of this world, please note that this isnt an established world. The Empire has little recourse to punish those that break thew. Please take the appropriate measures to keep yourself safe.


    Matt waved the message away from his field of vision. It was a good warning, but he was confident in their power. As long as they didnt stumble into an ambush, that was.


    The five of them walked into the clear area around the city, which was located in a woond area. It was a young forest from what Matts AI was picking up. A forest fire had caused telltale signs of damage. It was just a question of whether it was natural, or if some rift had spat out a legion of fire-type monsters.


    Cami looked to Matt, and then Malcolm. Is there a reason why we arent flying?


    Matt looked at Malcolm, who then rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. I dont have one. I suppose that means you do? Can it fit four?


    The fact that he was ignoring Aster in his question irked Matt, but he didnt say anything, as she was totally ignoring the mans presence. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth.


    He looked to Cami and shrugged. His flying sword was already cramped with the three of them.


    Our flying device is already full with us four.


    Malcolm either didnt catch Matts slight rebuke, or he ignored it.


    They walked along the untouched forest for nearly half an hour, before Liz stopped them by calling out, Oh! Hold on. I need to harvest this.


    She squatted down by an oddly colored bush that was bursting with essence ording to his spiritual sense. While Liz carefully cut off two of the blooming flowers, Matt ran the image through his AI, and checked to see if it had any matches ofmon nts in the Tier 6 range.


    He found that it was strikingly simr to a hopping aspen bush, usually seen on Tier 5 worlds. They were useful in various attack potions. The flowers had an incredibly sticky property that could be distilled and transferred to other potions.


    His AI had the brilliant idea that extracting the juices of the stem could be useful in regeneration potions. He even looked into it for a moment, but the AIs idea was to grind it up, mix it with water, and carbonate it.


    He wasnt going to try that, even if he had the ability to carbonate a liquid in the middle of a forest. The burns from the AIs enchantment debacle were still fresh in his mind, even if a few days of [Endurance] had taken care of them without a problem.


    The first monster they encountered almost ended their expedition early, when arge cat dropped down on Malcolm, who was located at the center of the party. [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] sprung to life immediately, and Matt quickly turned around, shoving his hand down the monsters throat.


    Therge cat had tried to bite down, but with Matts fist down its throat, it started to panic as it struggled to breathe.


    With its attention on Matt, Malcolm scrambled away to safety. His armor was covered in scratches, but he looked otherwise unharmed.


    The beast was only Tier 5, and unable to damage Matt at all, so he just punched it a few times with a spiked fist. With the beast dispatched, the group gave the panicked Malcolm nonplussed looks.


    Liz was the one to ask, You ok?


    The wannabe explorer was looking at the corpse of the beast that tried to snack on him, and it took several attempts of the question to get through to the man.


    Finally, he shook himself out of his trance and patted himself off.


    Im fine. Malcolm swallowed, and finished, Though I need to use the bathroom now.


    They got back to their hike. Matt, taking the point position, kept checking the treetops thanks to a few pointed reminders from his AI.


    Malcolms Talent seemed to be more like radar, as they had only needed to change directions slightly as the day progressed. The forest had hidden it for a while, but the once t ground that they were trekking through transitioned into small hills, he was able to get a better mark on the location of the first ruin.


    Various beasts tested their group, but even the Tier 6 lizard that had attacked wasnt much of a challenge for them. They simply surrounded it while Matt kept its attention. After that, it didnt take long for Camis whip to shred the beasts side, or for Liz to take its blood and use it to cut through its own body.


    Aster, who had simply watched, took the heart that was her due.


    Malcolm looked like he was going to vomit when Aster used [Heart Of Power]. A part of Matt was hoping she would get a second permanent boost with the heart of a higher Tier beast, but they had no such luck.


    As the day turned into night, they found an exposed cliff, and set up camp with their backs protected by the craggy wall.


    They took the night in shifts, with Liz and Cami taking the first watch. Through their AIs, they had decided to have Matt stay with Malcolm, as he was much harder to kill. If the man did ambush his watch partner, Matt had the best chance to survive the encounter.


    When he was shaken awake by Liz, he quickly slipped back into his under armor. It was a new experience for him. He understood why Liz always bitched about it.


    His skill was weightless and didnt chafe. In contrast, his under armor was well fitted, but it trapped a lot of heat with its skin-tight nature. It still wasnt as bad as Lizs much heavier te armor, but it was ufortable nheless, so he had removed it while he slept. Their new surroundings were ufortably hot; it seemed like they were near the tropics of the.


    Matt channeled [Endurance] for a moment to banish the lingering tiredness from his bones, and was ready to stand watch while his friends were sleeping.


    Malcolm only stumbled around when woken to take his watch, and Matt was tempted to send the man back to sleep. Still, he wanted to see if the man could do something more than just getting chewed on.


    As they watched out for monsters, Malcolm asked, Hey, Matt. Uhh... how do you do it?


    Matt just cocked an eyebrow at the man.


    Malcolm rified his question. The fighting and the killing. You just stand there and take hits. Sure, you have an armor skill, but arent you afraid of getting hurt?


    While checking the surroundings, Matt said, Not really. Its the only way to get strong. I dont know your history, but Ive made my way through life by fighting, and you get used to the idea of putting your life on the line. My ability with a de and my skills help with that as well. Ill pull out of a situation if it is too risky, but otherwise, I power through.


    Matt shrugged, and when he didnt get a reply, assumed that Malcolm was finished,and that he was free to go back to running simtions with his AI.


    I just dont want to get hurt, you know.


    Matt wanted to roll his eyes. As long as you didnt die, healers could fix anything. He didnt know what he did to get to Tier 5, but the man seemed to have almost no backbone.


    At first, Matt had assumed that theck ofbat experience was a ruse to lure them into a trap, but now he was pretty sure that Malcolm really was what he seemed. He was just an inexperienced young man with a Talent that let him find things. Matt figured that people had shepherded him through rifts for his services, or that he was from somewhere with abundant ambient essence.


    Those were the only ways that Matt saw the man having any chance to reach Tier 5 at his age. He didnt look much older than them... twenty-one at the oldest.


    The slowdown on aging didnt really kick in until Tier 5, where a human would live about double the years an unawakened would. Even with one hundred and eighty years to live, the man acted so pitifully young. At most, he was in histe twenties to have the appearance that he did. Matt had to just assume that he had lived an extremely sheltered life.


    The rest of their watch turned out to be mundane enough. Matt was getting breakfast made for everyone with the small camp stove, when he heard someone call out.


    Hey, theres the camp.


    Matt spun, and found a man around his age appear along the cliff face. He was standing in the open with his hands visible, and a massive brown wolf was sitting at his side. Aster, who was sitting in Lizsp, cocked her head at the wolf and yipped at him.


    She got a curious bark in return, and Matt called out, What can we help you with?


    The pair stood their ground, but called out, We smelled breakfast cooking, so we thought wede share what we knew of the surroundings. Wed be happy to trade the info for a hot meal.


    Matt queried Aster through their bond, and found she wasnt suspicious of them or anything. After looking at Liz and Cami for approval, he decided to call the man over.


    A second, smaller wolf came out of the forest, and the now trio approached. Matt checked their rear out of instinct, but nothing else came out. The wolves seemed to be a matched pair, and from Asters reaction, they both seemed to be bonded to the man.


    They sniffed at Aster, who remained in Lizsp, but cocked her head at them.


    The man sat in the clear area, while Matt pulled out an extra few chunks of lizard flesh he had put away. It wasnt like they could keep it forever, considering the low Tier storage items they had.


    Im Fen. These are Bow and Arrow.


    Fen smiled at the names. Matt assumed it was an inside joke of some sort, but he didnt press for an exnation. The wolves were cute during their quiet conversation with Aster.


    Matt used hisrge spoon to point to himself, then everyone else. Names Matt. That''s my bond, Aster. Liz and Cami make up our party. Malcolm here is an escort task of sorts.


    Fen nodded at everyone, but gave Aster arger smile. Nice to meet you all.


    After stretching out a bit, he said, So theres a Tier 5 rift a few miles away, tucked into the corner of a valley. Its kind of hidden, but we have good noses. Anyway, in the rift, youll find a perfect set up for a party. Its a long winding mountain climb; downhill, thankfully. But each monster is some sort of massive goat-hybrid thing. They were usually alone, but they had a lot of essence for their Tier.


    With that, a location was sent to their AIs, along with a message verifying the information it contained.


    Matt was tempted. Large rifts with lots ofrger beasts were ideal for essence. Not all rifts were equal, after all.


    With the extra food taking his attention, Matt listened to the conversation. It was mostly Liz talking to Fen and hispanions. It surprised their new breakfast additions quite a bit that she was able to speak the beastnguage. That seemed to really open him up, and he shared some embarrassing stories of his journeys with his bonds.


    For his effort, he got arge paw in the face, and was also sat on by therger male wolf. It was all in good fun, and after a few minutes, they sat down to eat.


    Bow and Arrow ate their bs of lightly cooked meat with gusto, and the humans soon joined them in eating.


    As they were cleaning up, Malcolm asked Fen a question that ruined the mood. So, how do you have two bonds? Were they twins, or do you have a Talent?


    Matt looked at the man, shock written all over his face. Liz and Cami both had the same expression. That was an incredibly impolite question that Matt wouldnt have even dreamed of asking a stranger. He hadnt even asked Cami about her Talents, and they had been traveling for nearly two months now.


    Fen just looked coldly at the explorer, and down to his wolves, before turning to the other four. Well, stay safe, you all. Maybe our paths will crosster.


    With a slight wave, he walked into the forest, and was quickly gone, lost in the foliage and hills.


    Matt looked at Malcolm, and was about to question his reason for asking such a personal question, but Cami spoke first.


    What was that? Where were you raised? No one tells people their Talents. Or at least the finer details of one.


    Malcolm just looked between them, confused. What? Its not that big of a deal. I just wondered why. How will you ever get questions answered if you dont ask? There are only so many exnations for him having two bonds. Why not answer the question?


    Matt just shook his head. He was regretting taking this idiot up on his offer, but he really wanted to get into the ruins.


    <em>The things I do for profit.</em>


    With the mood soured, they headed deeper into the forest. They heardbat not more than an hourter, and when they investigated, they found two parties fighting. The rift nearby was the obvious prize.


    They stopped to watch from their vantage of a hill, about a half mile or so away.


    The one side had three people, and the tank was using his shield to give cover to his dagger wielder. That particr man was slipping in and out of the melee, quickly striking when their two melee opponents were otherwise upied.


    The party of three also had a ranger thatunched ming arrows which exploded on contact. The bowman was trading attacks with the mage of the other party, who wasunching [Earth Spears] that were all easily dodged. The opposing party seemed to be losing, as their mage had to raise an [Earth Wall] to block most of the retaliatory arrows.


    The fighting came to a stalemate, until the dagger wielder was able to slip under an attack using a skill. Matt wasnt sure exactly what it was, but the dagger wielder seemed to move quicker than everyone else around him, and his form became almost ethereal for a brief moment. He was able to get behind a member of the opposing party, and he plunged his dagger into their chest from the rear.


    With that, the group of three quickly finished their fight, and killed the rest of their opponents. The mage ran off, but was already being chased down by the archer. Matt didnt think they had a chance of escaping.


    They turned and took a longer path around the rift. None of them wanted to get in a fight over a rift that they didnt even want. Once they were a good few miles away from the rift, Malcolm pulled off to the side and started to vomit.


    Once he finished, he washed out his mouth and looked behind them. Why would they ughter people like that? Its just a rift.


    Liz just rolled her eyes, but Cami snapped, Killing for a first delve of a rift is nothing new. Even I know that. Look at the situation. They had their backs to the rift, so the other team probably came second and tried to push them off. While I dont know if I would have killed them, I cant say they were wrong. And if youre going to kill one person in a team, you might as well finish them all off. Thest thing you need is to get ambushed in retaliation. Are you sure youre cut out for being an explorer? You seem pretty pitiful to me.


    Liz nodded and said, We can fly you back to the city in a few hours. Camis right, youre not cut out for this. After a pause, she said, Im not trying to be mean, but it seems like youvee out herepletely unprepared for the reality of how things are done in ces like this. And while we wont throw you at a monster, you need to be careful once we split up.


    Malcolm took another swig of his cantine, and spit the water off to the side.


    No. I can do this. I want to explore new worlds. So... I need to get used to this.


    Though they were skeptical of his conviction, the group decided to carry on. They continued on for the rest of the afternoon, until they eventually came upon a clearing, as they had done many times during their trek to the ruins.


    When they were halfway through, there was a roar that rumbled the very grass and trees around them. Out from the side of the thick foliage, a nine-foot tall monster trundled in, armed with a rib bone from some massive creature.


    Matts AI noted it as a troll. One of the few low Tier creatures with innate [Regeneration], or a variant of the skill. All of his sources gave conflicting reports, but they all agreed that they were hard to kill without fire, poison, or acid.


    Matt called out, Pull back into the forest! That will limit it a bit.


    The five of them retreated as fast as they could. Matt kept to the rear of the retreat, covering their backs, and had his sword at the ready. It was a Tier 6 monster, but they were fourbat proficient delvers, disregarding their one nonbatant.


    As they passed into the trees, Matt realized their mistake. The troll was fast. Too fast. Its massive form crossed the small clearing in three steps, and it wasnt slowed at all by the trees. It simply barreled through them.


    They scattered to dodge the toppling trees, and Matt stepped forward to face the beast. He had been charging his longswords [Mana Charge] skill, and wanted to use it to end the fight quickly.


    Hopping over a freshly felled tree, Matt mmed the glowing de into the creatures thigh. With the release of his mana came the familiar bright sh, and the surrounding flesh was burned away. As he retreated, Matt assumed that the monster couldnt regenerate that much missing tissue, but the troll proved him wrong.


    In just seconds, the flesh wriggled together, and the creatures leg waspletely healed.


    Dropping [Mages Retreat] for a moment, and lowering [Cracked Phantom Armor]s draw, he cast [Hail]. He had to fill his mana pool with the mana stone he kept in a bracelet to activate the skill, but the situation called for it. The storm of ice rained down, and Aster began collecting the ice to unleash an attack on the threatening beast. She gathered the ice and formedrge shards, then drove them into the creatures side.


    Matt kept [Hail] active with a few MPS, but struggled to keep the trolls attention. It had decided that Aster was the origin of the ice attack, since she was alsounching [Ice Spears]. With a defiant roar, the lumbering monster charged towards the fox, but she was much too nimble tond a blow. She bounded through the frozen trees and foliage, with her speed seemingly enhanced by the icy forest environment.


    When Matt approached again, the monster spun away from its hunt for the fox, and tried to m him with its bone club. The creature was bothrger and a Tier higher than him, so he didnt dare risk taking a hit head-on. Even if he survived it, he would be sent flying, and would be stunned and vulnerable.


    As he too used his superior agility to dodge the creature, heshed out with his de at its arms and chest. The wounds instantly healed, but at least he was doing his job and keeping its attention, while also charging his de again. This time, he wanted to see what [Mana Charge] would do to the creatures head.


    Lizs [Blood Bullets] peppered the beasts side with wounds that also quickly healed, and Matt even saw a generic [Mana Bolt] sh across his vision and towards the troll. His AI indicated that it came from Malcolm. It waspletely ineffective, but it was more helpful than cowering in fear, or vomiting in the corner.


    <em>At least hes trying</em>.


    Matt was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had half expected the man to turn tail and run. Actually, he was shocked that he hadnt.


    Cami came from the beasts nk, and mmed her mace into a still closing wound. It sttered chunks of meat across the forest floor with its impact. The extending function of her weapon was ridiculous. It added so much range at no cost. The weapon allowed her to effectively put out poleaxe levels of damage with the extra leverage created by the extension.


    Matt and Cami rotated back and forth between quick bursts of attacks and retreating, keeping the troll upied. Meanwhile, Aster and Liz were using abination of attacks, causing more and more damage. Shards of ice and frozen blood peppered the troll, while blood whipsshed at limbs frozen in ce by the snow fox.


    Aster was so much more effective when she didnt have to create her own ice, and could simply manipte what Matt generated using [Hail]. On top of herbos with Liz, she was sending [Ice Spears] directly into the monsters face, <em>and</em> slicing up the trolls entire upper half with bursts of razor-sharp fragments of ice from [Hail].


    Despite her impressive onught, the wounds shrunk and closed quickly. The trolls regeneration prowess even pushed out the ice and frozen blood still embedded in its skin.


    This wasnt a battle to kill the beast. It was one of endurance. Their only recourse was tost until the beast ran out of mana, and could no longer keep up with the inflicted damage.


    That was the n, until the beast let out a deafening cry, and shook the very air. Everything went bright, and Matt was forced to use his own Concept to counter that of the beast.


    It was using an ability that any Concept was capable of. Any person or beast equipped with one could slightly influence reality with their phrase and image. All Concepts were capable of simple alterations, like restraining others by pitting ones will against their own.


    Matt and Liz had trained for this with Travis and Keith. It was amon monster tactic, and one that was fairly easily countered. That is, as long as one had their own Concept to counter with.


    Camis moves started to slow, as if she was dropped underwater. The troll tried to take advantage, but Matt had his own Concept activated slightly to stop it. He wasnt engaging either of its abilities, but was instead immersing himself in it. That partial activation was enough to negate the monsters effect on Cami, once Matt projected his own will into reality.


    The spirit had sovereignty in the body, and ones will would always be able to influence reality if fine tuned enough. Even a small amount of power could counteract an attack like this, if one was properly trained in the use of will. In a rift, the monsters had the advantage of numbers when it came to fighting with concepts. The ability to counter Concept based attacks, like that of the troll, was fairly simple, but it was hardly efficient.


    The use of will was taxing, especially to those inexperienced with their Concepts. The monsters sheer numbers generally gave most Concepted but low Tier delvers problems. Not to mention the fact that monsters usually hadrger, stronger wills at those lower Tiers.


    Both of those issues were somewhat alleviated with this being a single monster in the open, rather than a string of monsters that they had to kill while being ambushed.


    Back up! Let the three of us handle it. Use your ranged attacks.


    Cami frowned, but did as Matt asked and started to pull back.


    Without Cami to take the pressure off, Matt was struggling to both deal damage and dodge everything. Without him dealing damage, the monster took more notice of the four people slinging spells at it.


    A kick aimed at Liz was quickly countered with a blow from [Mana Charge]. Itpletely blew off the monsters foot. The troll went to stomp down, but when it fell down farther than expected, it ended up stumbling to the ground. Matt narrowly dodged the falling troll, solely because he had been counting on his explosive blow to do exactly what it had, thanks to the prediction of his AI.


    Wanting to take advantage of the trolls vulnerable position, Matt lowered both of his active skills, and re-cast [Hail] on the monsters prone form. Aster also cast her final spell, [Frost], which increased the damage dealt from all ice affinity damage spells in the area. Keeping his distance, Matt put as much mana into [Hail] as he could spare. The skill produced more ice as more mana was channeled into it and a virtual blizzard ensued. He was hoping to essentially bury the monster in a cascade of ice.


    No one needed the n spelled out, and they all attacked its arms and legs as it tried to get to its knees. Cut muscles couldn''t do anything despite it''s insane healing factor.


    Aster let out a yell that caused the surroundings to sh freeze, and most of the surrounding trees split and cracked under the sudden temperature change. The troll suffered the worst of the attack, as it was struggling to stand under the storm of ice raining down. The foxs use of her Concept turned the loose ice into a solid form,pletely encasing the troll.


    He felt her pass out from the overuse of her will, but his AI also noted Cami scoping the spent fox up, and depositing her into Lizs backpack. To his horror, Matt saw the flesh wriggle back together whilepletely frozen in the solid ice.


    Fuck... He didnt get it out all the way before needing to take a deep breath.


    He pointed at the missing foot. Its not dead.


    Cami looked at it and asked, Fight or flee? I say flee.


    Malcolm instantly shouted, <em>Flee!</em> But Matt noted that he waited for one of them to answer.


    Liz shook her head. No, if we do, itll just regenerate its mana, and be a problem for someone else. Or worse yet, follow us.


    They all looked to Matt. He was the deciding vote, with Aster asleep.


    I think we need to try. If it attacks us while were camped out and sleeping, we are <em>royally</em> fucked.


    He thought of a n, while using his AI at full draw.


    Lets just make a bonfire around it. The ice should take a while to escape from either way. The fire will speed that up, sure. But the troll cant regenerate any wounds caused by fire. Thats why people debate if it uses actual [Regeneration], and not some variant. The true skill has no problem with any wound type.


    Malcolm still looked like he wanted to flee, but when Cami nodded, they each pulled out axes and started chopping. Matt started toyer the already knocked down trees on and around the beasts icy prison.


    Malcolm was still staring at them when Liz asked, Are you going to help?


    That seemed to snap him out of it, and he said, I dont have an axe.


    Well, get a fire started. And collect more dry wood. We only have so much time before the beast breaks out, so we need a hot fire as soon as we finish stacking this wood.


    They all worked frantically for the next few minutes, and soon had a smaller fire going off to the side.


    They had piled the wood high, but with so much greenwood, none of them werepletely confident. Just in case, they had made smaller fires in a few ces they could retreat to. If it came to that, they could return to one of the fires, and try to shove burning sticks into the beasts wounds and cauterize them.


    Here goes nothing. With that, Liz dropped her burning stick into the dry leaves they had gathered. They only had so much deadwood, and were hoping to use it to get the rest of the wood to ignite.


    They watched the mes start growing, and soon they could tell that even the greenwood was starting to ignite. The smoke turning ck was the telltale sign that they were hoping for, and they could see the ice melting and hear the wood popping.


    Then, the trolls screams added to the cacophony. Matt readied his de, while Cami and Liz did the same with their own weapons. Malcolm seemed as if he was one more scare away from bolting away altogether.


    Soon, they felt the rush of essence that indicated the fight was truly over.


    They all breathed a sigh of relief at that, and Matt used [Hail] to extinguish the mes.


    They kept on their path, and night was approaching when Malcolm told them they were getting close to the entrance. They were all exhausted, and decided to make camp and rest before pushing on to find the entrance to the ruins.


    They were now inside of the mountain range they had been journeying towards. They hade to a small valley, and quickly found a spot to set up camp for the night. Malcolm set up his tent and passed out immediately, but no one minded. Even with [Endurance], Matt was feeling it after thatst fight with the troll. They had all earned a good nights sleep. Well most of them had.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49


    The next morning, Matt woke to find that breakfast was ready, and that there were two odd corpses of what seemed like badger-lizard hybrids off to the side. That he had slept through the noise that such a fight must have caused was slightly worrying. Using ones Concept would wear anyone out, and battling others'' wills was distinctly different from using your Concept for its intended purpose. It was no wonder that he was exhausted.


    He made a note that he, Liz, and Aster needed to practice that, and work on more than just using their actual Concepts.


    With a mental query, he found that Aster was off somewhere in the forest. She had found a scent simr to rabbit, and was searching for its burrow. He wasn''t too concerned. Aster could take care of herself against even a Tier 6 rabbit. At worst, she would run back to them.


    Liz was sitting on a chair she had pulled out of her spatial bag. She was watching Cami spin a chunk of meat on a stick. One side was noticeably burnt, and the other looked raw.


    Looking to the other tent, Matt found Malcolm, who was still out cold in his tent. He didn''t seem to have moved from where he had copsedst night, when Matt turned over the watch to Liz and Cami. With a burst of [Endurance], Matt stretched, and was handed a steaming mug by Liz.


    After taking a long sip, he asked, "How did that piece of meat offend you, Cami?"


    The dark-haired woman shifted her re between the attempt at cooking and Matt, before saying, "It''s not as easy as you make it look." She threw up her free hand. "I only walked away for a minute, and it burned."


    <em>It had to be longer than a minute. It''s charcoal.</em>


    "Do you want me to make something?"


    Dumping her attempt at breakfast into the fire, Matt snagged his bag, and pulled out all of his items rted to cooking. With a quick appraisal, he carved up a bit of the lizard, and used some of their personals to make breakfast. It smelled so good, the wafting fumes carried over to Malcolm''s tent, and woke the slumbering man out of his stupor.


    After they ate Matt''s breakfast, they all looked at their tagalong expectantly.


    "I''m close to finding the entrance. It''s nearby, and I can feel it."


    With that as encouragement, they walked around the mountains for hours. Their wandering led them in circles, and crossed the path of more than one beast, but none that put up any real resistance.


    That was, until Malcolm''s meandering took them into an area that had active rift breaks, and was swarming with boars. They tried to circle around the dangerous terrain, but Malcolms Talent kept leading them into the fray.


    The area they were circling contained a rift that was prone to rift breaks. It had turned the surroundings into the domain of these boars, and there wasnt much the group could do to avoid them. The boars were not normal animals of course, but were the descendants of the rift creatures that had been produced by this rifts many breaks. The farthest out sections of the area were teeming with rtively normal monsters, while the third or fourth generations of the boars ruled over the central portion of their new domain.


    It made sense, as the center of the swath ofnd contained the rift itself.


    Judging from the directions given by Malcolms Talent, they essentially needed to get into the center of the area, near the rift. The destination wasnt the rift itself, as they werent being led to the dead center of the area but it was so close, it wouldnt make much of a difference for the monsters. They would be seen as intruders upon the boars territory, and would have to wipe out all of the boars in the area for safe passage.


    This was the true essence of exploring new worlds.


    They would indiscriminately ughter everything in their path to achieve their goals.


    Malcolm, already daunted at the prospect of pushing through the boars, voiced his opinion on the idea of clearing the rift as well. "We may need to clear out the surroundings, but that doesn''t mean we need to clear the rift as well. That''s too much time wasted."


    Matt kept watch with Aster, while Cami and Liz tried to talk sense into man. "If were going to kill all the boars around the rift, we might as well clear the rift too. That''s a rift bursting with rewards." Cami shook her hands around in frustration. "It''s like leaving money on the ground! It''s a peak Tier 5 rift..."


    Malcolm cut her off, "Exactly! and were just low Tier 5 cultivators. The rift is simply too strong for us!"


    Liz rolled her eyes, or at least her tone indicated so to Matt. "Look... that''s an easy jump for just Matt, Aster, and myself. With Cami there to help, this won''t be much harder than any other rift. Besides, you wanted to go into a ruin. They <em>are</em> rifts."


    "It''s different. I just want an item somewhere in the ruins. You want to clear the entire rift. Itll take too much time. What if someone else finds another entrance? Then what would we do?"


    Matt understood, but disagreed. "Rifts will guarantee both essence <em>and</em> a reward. With the rift about to break again, itll be sure to have amazing rewards. Besides, delving it will push us further into Tier 5. And we know the enemy type already. I vote we go."


    "Agreed."


    "Agreed."


    "I disagree."


    Aster yipped.


    Liz shrugged. "Four to one. Sorry, but we want to get guaranteed rewards. The ruin won''t go anywhere. If it''s this hard for us to get in, then it''ll be that much harder for others to find an entrance. Youre bringing us right to the entrance, but it''s still not visible. That means that it''s pretty much guaranteed to be underground."


    Malcolm muttered a retort, "Or it''s a shrunken space."


    Cami stood and turned, shaking her head. Matt noticed Malcolm''s eyes following her.


    He just hoped that Cami didn''t notice. The man wasn''t subtle in his gaze, and if it continued, Matt felt as if he would need to pull the man to the side, and tell him to cool it. He wasn''t sure how Cami would react, and wanted to avoid the whole situation if at all possible.


    The area dominated by the boars was essentially an entire valley. It was situated in between the mountains, and was sheltered on all sides by the tall peaks. They seemed to be pretty old, as they had smoother edges and slopespared to the hard edges of a more recently raised mountain range.


    Oddly enough, the foliage wasn''tpletely eaten away, considering the denizens of the valley. With the number of hogs they could see, a group that size normally would have stripped the area clean by now, and would have already moved on if they weren''t rift creatures. Even these far-removed descendants had a connection to the rift that sustained them. At least partially.


    With Matt in the lead, they pressed forward into the valley. Cami was covering Matt''s left side, with Liz and Aster covering the rear and right nk respectively.


    Malcolm was with the two mages, but he was more escort than mage. His [Mana Bolt]s had not been well-practiced, but at least he had the ability to deal some damage, small as it was.


    The first pack of beasts they encountered quickly demonstrated how strong the monsters were. There were four of them, and they charged in what resembled a wedge formation. The biggest beast led the charge, with tusks ready to gore the intruding humans flesh.


    Cami took the left most boar''s attention by wrapping her ded whip around its head, and using a tree to brace her weapon. Matt stepped to the side and mmed his sword into thergest monster''s skull while the beast was restrained.


    Even without using [Mana charge], his heavy longsword dealt serious damage. The beast''s skull was incredibly hard, but its head was cleaved in two with the force of his blow.


    Liz had used her floating spear to take out the rightmost boar by letting the boar charge straight through the spear, impaling itself. That caused enough damage to render it unable to fight. Aster used a [Ice Spear] to prate the heart of thest boar, just as it tried to turn and flee into the forest covering the valley.


    After Aster ate the heart out of thergest boar, they pushed slightly deeper into the forest.


    Their methodical advance continued for hours, ying beast after beast. The outer portion of the centralndscape wasprised of low Tier 5 boars, with the asional mid-Tier 5 popping up. Still, the difference in cultivation didn''t cause them any real problems.


    They took breaks once in a while, so that everyone could recharge their mana to a degree. It would take a full day to go from empty to full for most mages, but Matt was subtly using his Concept to increase the rate. It mostly affected Cami, as Malcolm was hardly using any mana, but most of her fighting style was physical, so she didn''t use a lot of mana.


    With careful swaps and feigning, Matt charged Liz and Asters mana stones. They put up the illusion that they had stockpiles of the stones ready for the excursion. Cami had stocked up, and most any other delver would as well. Liz and Aster didn''t need to do that with Matt there, but the illusion was useful to stay any questions from Malcolm.


    Thankfully, the man seemed more worried about getting ambushed and gored than the finer points of their mana regeneration. They had protected him well, but he was still skittish, and jumped at the slightest sound.


    The boars weren''t that smart, and relied more on their size and the momentum they could build up while charging to devastate whatever came close. Their true threat came from their tusks. They were powerful enough to tear chunks out of the ground and trees alike, let alone their intended targets.


    The group attracted more and more attention as they advanced, and had to retreat more than once to avoid being overwhelmed. The closer to the center they traveled, the more concentrated the amount of boars got. No one wanted to risk getting knocked to the ground and trampled, or get gored by the tusks, so they proceeded methodically to stay safe.


    With the weakest of the beasts being culled, therger monsters in the center of the area took note, and charged out to meet the threat.


    Two mid Tier 5 boars came at them. These particr beasts were the first they had encountered that were capable of using skills. Their hooves glowed with translucent red energy that also surrounded their heads. The skill created arge cap of energy that bristled with spikes.


    Matt met one with a blow from [Mana Charge], but for the first time during their trek through the valley, it didn''t instantly kill the beast. The skill seemed to do more than just add spikes. It clearly had a defensiveponent as well. Matt used the rebound of his de to bring his longsword up and around in a spinning sh, using the momentum to cleave the boars spine from above.


    The blow sent the beast tumbling into a tree, and Matt quickly nced over to see Cami holding the attention of the other monster. With a lunge and thrust, he pierced the heart of his boar while it was struggling to stand on its remaining two front legs.


    Turning, he watched as Cami''s whip twirled around her boar''s throat and tightened down. Each turn and struggle opened more and more wounds on its delicate throat. She was careful to not get pulled off her feet, but the damage from her whip enraged the boar, which Liz was also attacking with the blood of itsrades and cousins.


    Finally, the boar was dispatched when Cami used her mace to crack its skull. With the finishing blow delivered, the beast dropped.


    Aster red at Matt. She went over to his defeated adversary, only to find that the heart had been pierced. She still ate the heart, but she pushed discontent through their bond, as she swore that she could taste the difference.


    Matt just leaned down and scratched the fox, who begrudgingly epted the pampering.


    Malcolm looked to the dimming sky and asked a good question, "Do you think it''s time to call it quits for the night?"


    Liz agreed. "We all need to distribute the essence we got today too. This was better than a rift, really. The five way split meant that Matt, Aster, and I were all getting less essence than normal, but we had so many boars to kill, it didnt make much of a difference. We all made out well here today."


    Before the sun dipped below the mountain tops, they retreated out of the valley and set up camp. Matt had thrown a few choice cuts of thest boar they killed on the fire for their dinner. Even with all the fighting, they were still in good spirits as they sat around and watched Matt cook.


    Matt took the first watch, with Malcolm actually joining him and not stealing extra sleep this time. They were posted near the top of a mountain ridge, where they had an amazing view of the stars. Matt felt his mind wander, until their sentry bot pinged his AI that something was approaching.


    A rush of something flew across the stars, and the pping of wings suddenly became so loud, even his AI couldn''t guess at the numbers of bats that flew through the night sky.


    Matt threw Malcolm into the corner of the wall, and put his armored form over the man''s fleshy body.


    With a thought, he activated [Hail] right in front of the girl''s tent to discourage any beast from trying to investigate. The tent was reinforced to protect from attacks, but with so many bats, he wasn''t confident that the material would hold up to such an onught.


    Blows and ws scratched at Matt''s armored back, and the Tier 6 beasts broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor] more than once. They cut deep wounds into his back. He regretted taking off his secondary armor, and resolved to wear it even while guarding the camp at night.


    He took the time to cast another [Hail] right in front of himself and Malcolm. It drained his mana stone, but Matt found that the bats started to avoid him and the blows lessened once he cast the skill.


    What felt like an eternityter, the wave of monsters passed, and Matt got up off the pale and shaking Malcolm.


    "What the fuck was that!?" The panicked man was patting himself down, and when he found a scratch on his leg, started gasping for air. His voice got thick with tears and snot as he choked out, "Oh, Ascenders! How bad is it?"


    The girls came out of their tent in full battle gear, and Matt stopped channeling the two instances of [Hail]. Liz and Aster rushed over to him while keeping their heads on a swivel.


    "Let me see your back. Your AI is reporting quite a bit of damage."


    Matt had very deliberately not looked at his HUD to avoid that reality. Even so, he was aware of the shing red that covered the depiction of his back.


    With Liz''s help, heid back down, and she pulled his shirt back. Matt had to grit his teeth at the ripping sensation of his undershirt sticking to torn flesh and muscles as it came off. His back was carved up in rows of lines from their ws, and covered in circle shaped puncture wounds from the bats teeth.


    Peak Tier 6 monsters were still outside of his ability to block reliability.


    From his other side, Aster nudged his cheek with her snout, and he reached around to kiss the fox on the head. "It''s ok, Aster. Just a few scratches."


    The fox whined and whimpered. He was careful not to let the burning pain leak through their bond, while Liz washed his wounds with a potion from their medical kit. The expanded [Endurance] did an amazing job at boosting the body''s natural healing, but it was still better to use the potions to prevent any potential infection.


    Cami came over and watched Liz, and smirked at the prone Matt. "Bet that feels great."


    Mattughed at her attempt at humor. "Actually, yes. Little did you know, this is exactly my definition of a good time. You should see me on the weekends."


    Camiughed and continued to banter with him while the cooling potion was spread over his back.


    Malcolm came over, and Matt watched as he saw the state of Matt''s back. The shining example of a perfect adventurer immediately turned and vomited at the sight of his wounds.


    Cami didn''t bother to turn, and rolled her eyes.


    While the man was retching, she whispered, "Look at the bandage he wrapped his leg in."


    Matt did as she suggested, and saw that the man''s entire leg from ankle to knee was wrapped in what looked to be an entire roll of bandages. The wound wasn''t nearlyrge enough to require that kind of wrapping. Matt had seen it. It was two inches long if you were generous.


    Cami stifled augh, but now it was Matts turn to roll his eyes. The man was so pathetically inexperienced, it was almost unbelievable.


    "Hey, Liz? Is this how other kids thate from higher Tier backgrounds are?" There was little reason to embarrass the man, so he whispered the question.


    Liz scoffed and pushed a little too hard on Matts back, causing him to wince. "No, not at all. This is the type of drivel youd expect from more upper-middle, Tier 20 parents or so. The truly strong make sure their children are ready to go out into the real world, or simply won''t let theme to ces like this. If I had to guess, he was born on a higher Tier world, and cultivated ambient essence. If he had been carried through a rift, he would have at least seen blood and killing before. My best guess is that he struck out on his own after using his Talent to find whatever item was best for his advancement."


    Matt thought that over. It seemed like a reasonable exnation. Before he could put his two cents in, Malcolm came over and held a hand over his eyes, so he wouldnt have to look at Matt''s back.


    Using his ess to Liz''s AI, he checked his back from her view, and didn''t even think the wounds were that bad. None of them were very deep, just numerous.


    "Are you two..." Malcolm swallowed hard. "Ready to take over the watch?"


    Cami nodded, and the man fled to his tent.


    "His Talent is weird, though. Strong as hell. I''m surprised he wasn''t snatched up by a guild. He can find the entrance to a ruin by Talent alone. That''s gotta be rare as hell."


    The two of his friends nodded at that. The man''s Talent was absurd.


    Liz mused, "It could be incredibly strong with the right questions. I''m assuming that it doesn''t work on anything higher than his Tier, though. And those seeking Talents all have limitations. I know of one that cant find anything with a certain shade of blue. They arent perfect in their finding, or they arent perfect in their directions. Something is always given up for their ability."


    Cami cocked her head. "Oh? What gives you that impression?"


    While Matt couldn''t see it, he knew that Liz had gone into lecture mode, and already had a finger raised. "Well first off, any finding Talent usually has that restriction. At most, they can jump up a Tier. Second, he picked us, one of the first Tier 5 teams. He said he got bad feelings from the others, and mentioned Tier 6 teams. He probably can''t get a read on <em>anything</em> above his Tier, since he didnt mention anyone higher than that. It could be more restrictive, and he might only be able to see at his own Tier as distance increases."


    Matt had a thought, and messaged his interim nurse, ''Did you happen to message you know who?''


    ''Of course, he''d love a Talent like that. Sadly he won''t tell us anything, even if he already came over and snagged it. I don''t know. He might already have something better, but Talents all work differently, even if the AI says they work the same. There can always be little differences.''


    It was weird that the Emperor could have been inches away, and they would have never even noticed his presence.


    Matt wasn''t sure how Liz dealt with theck of privacy.


    <em>Are her parents watching us right now?</em>


    From all the stories he heard of her and Travis, it was a distinct possibility.


    <em>No, wait. Theyre probably still dealing with the dragon blood rift.</em>


    Travis had been ecstatic that his parents would be upied, and Matt finally understood why.


    Heid there in contemtion as Liz put a few bandages on his back.


    <em>She''s probably using less than Malcolm used.</em>


    The thought made him chuckle slightly, which caused pain to radiate down his spine.


    Liz ran her hands through his hair and said, "Ok, you''re good to start channeling [Endurance] now."


    She then flicked his forehead. "Next time, put the [Hail] in front of yourself first."


    With a gentle effort, he pushed himself up and slipped into his tent. Even with [Endurance] banishing his fatigue, he quickly fell asleep.


    The next morning, Matt slowly stretched, and felt the scabs on his back crack slightly. The pain was a reminder that he needed to actually wear his under armor.


    Murmuring to himself, he said, The best lessons are the ones learned with blood.


    It was odd, as it had been so long since he had been injured. He always had information about rifts, and chose his targets carefully. He only suffered injuries if something went wrong.


    That essentially was exactly what happenedst night. He hadnt expected a flock of bats.


    <em>Wait, whats a bunch of bats called? Ravens are conspiracies and crows murders... but bats?</em>


    Putting a note in his AI, Matt left the tent and started stretching. The gentle movements opened up some of the scabs, but [Endurance] was doing its job now that he was awake and could channel his mana into it.


    It was odd. Matt could feel the skills effect speeding up the healing process. He was putting all of his avable mana into the skill, which meant almost 35 MPS. It was an amount of mana that most couldnt sustain for long.


    After breakfast, they returned to the arduous task of killing boars. By mid-day, they had cleared the soundings of boars, and were prepared to push into the clearing where the rift resided. As they came to it, a massive boar that was nearly the size of a small vehicle osted them. It was clearly the boss of the rift.


    Matt tightened his grip around his de, and checked his AI for everyone elses signals. When he got them, he charged into the clearing around the flickering tear in reality responsible for the boars that dominated the valley. The boss immediately saw him, and activated a skill they hadnt yet seen or ounted for.


    The beast charged, and nearly teleported with its sudden burst of speed. It was so unexpected that Matt was unable to block or defend himself, and was instantly sent flying. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was able to hold out, and protected him from taking more damage.


    Matt curled up while tumbling to a halt, and scrambled to regain his feet as the boar continued its charge. It was either trying to trample or gore him, and he wasnt keen on either option.


    Pulling mana from his mana stone, he filled his mana pool, and before his channeling skills drained his current mana, cast [Hail]. He used the skill to buy himself enough time to roll out of the way.


    [Mages Retreat] empowered his body to the point that he was able to circle around the beast, and he sprinted over to the spot he had dropped his sword.


    With his longsword back in hand, he cut a deep furrow in therge monsters nk. That was when Liz, Aster, Cami, and Malcolm unleashed their attacks from the monsters rear.


    The boar tried to turn away from the sudden pain, but Matt lunged forward and dug his de into the beasts face. A small burst from [Mana Charge] went off as the de scraped along the beasts face. It blew away a chunk of flesh from the monsters jaw.


    Then, the beast activated the same charging skill from before, and blew right past Matt mid blow. When he rolled back to his feet after the shock from the charge, he quickly discovered that his de was wrenched from his hands. He scanned the area for it, but was unable to find it anywhere on the ground nearby.


    When he looked back to the giant boar, he found it. The charge skill had driven the de all the way through its cheek, and out of the back of its head.


    It squealed in pain and shook its head as hard as it could to remove the pain, but that moment of confusion allowed Liz to guide her spear into the beasts eye. Contrary to Matts expectation, and their n, the beast didnt go down with the second impaling blow.


    Instead, its cries of pain increased, and it started to glow with the telltale signs of [Berserkers Rage]. With heavy, clomping steps, it rushed the mages at the edge of the treeline.


    Cami ran forward towards the threat with her weapons at the ready. Aster quickly hopped to the side, and sent a wave of redirected ice from Matts [Hail] at the boars hooves, trying to disrupt its footing.


    Liz followed up their attacks, and sent shing whips of blood forward, cutting at the beasts face.


    Malcolm shot onest [Mana Bolt], and turned and fled deeper in the woods.


    Cami took the charge from the boar by distracting the beast with her extendable mace, while using her whip to wrap around its neck. With a firm anchor, sheunched herself onto the back of the charging monster.


    While the maneuver looked cool, Matt cursed the impulsive move. She was preventing Aster and Liz from attacking, for fear of hurting their teammate.


    Cami stored her mace, and used her control over her whip to bring the tip to her right arm. She used the ded whip like a saw, and cut through the monsters massive throat.


    When it crashed to the ground, she somehow managed to keep her bnce, and stepped off the corpse with a flourish.


    Matt cried out, No essence!


    That caused the triumphant look on her face to quickly fade, while the beast tried to stand and get onest charge in. Cami kicked the hilt of Matts de while it was still embedded in the boars head, causing the de to twist. The bite of the sword finally ended the monsters life as it drove further into its head.


    Then, the essence poured into him, and he slowed his sprint towards Cami and the boss monster into a jog.


    Camis torn-up arms quickly knitted themselves together, and she called out, Hey Malcolm, you cane back now.


    Matt ignored him. He hadnt expected the man to do as much as he had.


    You good? While his teammate was healing from the self-inflicted wounds, he was worried that she had taken another hit that he didnt see.


    Im good. Aidan gave me good armor.


    She apanied the statement with a tap at the ce where her armor had a streak in it. A tusk had scraped along her well-protected torso, but was unable to break through. That brought his attention to the armor that he hadnt really examined until now. It only covered the womans vitals, and left her extremities otherwise exposed. She had a dangerous fighting style that he didnt exactly envy.


    He withdrew his de with a heavy pull, and looked to the rift after checking the de for damage. A slight draw on the repair rune fixed some problems that he couldnt see with his eyes.


    Liz and Aster caught up with them shortly afterwards, and they waited for another few minutes before Malcolm finally came back into the clearing.


    Hey, good news! I found the entrance to the ruin.


    Under his breath, Matt muttered, At least you did something useful while running away.


    The women next to him chuckled at his barb.


    They followed the excited explorer to find a tiny cave that was only wide enough for one person. With Matts size, it would be extremely cramped in height and width. He wasnt looking forward to this ruin if the whole thing was a tunnel system this small.


    Malcolm brought out a light and said, Alright, lets get in there.


    Liz and Matt met each others eyes.


    She said, Nope. Were gonna rest up, then delve the boar rift. After, well call it a night ande back to the ruin in the morning with full mana.


    When Malcolm opened his mouth, Cami interjected. Look. We want to delve the rift. Theres good essence and better rewards in there. Im not passing them up. Whos going to find this tiny ass hole in the ground hidden behind a boulder anyway?


    Malcolm acquiesced after a moment. It wasnt like he was about to go in by himself.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50


    Matt carefully watched the surroundings while on watch from his ce near the camp. The world was so active. This was a living that had a functional ecosystem well before the Empire arrived. The world was teeming with bugs, trees, and native animals.


    It shouldnt have been a shock to him, as his own Lilly was just the same in the not so distant past. It was his time on the deste training world that had tainted his perspective of what uninhabited worlds were.


    Just as the old mnemonic said... Life makes mana. Mana makes essence. Essence creates rifts. Rifts convert all three.


    It didnt ount for the fact that essence multiplied on its own, given enough time. Or that essence could break down into mana given the right environment. Or even that rifts created life itself.


    But the self-propagating feature of essence was the reason that Tier 15 was the watershed Tier for immortality. The amount of essence one possessed at Tier 15 was enough to rece the bodys needs, allowing the cultivator to bepletely self-sustaining.


    That was why Tier 15s hadplete control of their bodys shapes and features. They could manipte their spirits and essence, which let them transfigure their bodies. The further they advanced past Tier 15, the further they deviated from the restrictions of humanity.


    In theory, it was possible to advance solely from the essence production of your cores, but that was so slow only the crazy would pursue that path. You needed so much more essence to advance, that it would take eons to go from one Tier to to the next. A single delve would be trillions of times more effective than relying on ones natural production of essence.


    Still, it was interesting to ponder while he was on watch.


    The small stone in his hand was the reason why Matts mind kept going back to essence. Their reward from the delve of the boar rift had been an essence stone. Much like mana stones were pure ambient mana condensed into a small form, an essence stone was rift essence condensed into a small oblong. It was about the same size as thest knuckle of his thumb, with perfectly smooth edges.


    They contained essence equal to the amount that the rift would contain in aplete clear. The small stones were incredibly valuable, as they would allow someone to advance with all the advantages of rift delving, but with none of the risks.


    Matt twirled the stone in his hand. It wasnt hard to understand why they held so much value. The rich would pay out their noses for a resource like this. It was also useful for them, but there was no way to split the essence between the four of them who actively cleared the rift. So, they intended to sell the stone, and split the rewards equally.


    Malcolm hadnt contested a share of the reward. The man had cowered behind them, and rushed from massive mushroom to mushroom for cover, while the other four killed everything that moved.


    He had gotten a small share of the essence, just from being near them. If he hadined about the free ride, Matt wasnt sure who would have hit him first. No one wanted the freeloader iming a share of the prize.


    Malcolm, for having done nearly nothing all day, was currently nodding off on the log he was sitting on. Matt shook his head and walked the perimeter once more. He had done some searching through his survival guides to upy himself. ording to one, night watch used to be called fire watch, which made him chuckle for a minute. How primitive would you have to be to be worried about a fire going out? Even a [Fireball] skill could be used in a pinch.


    Matt flicked the stone in his hand, sending it spinning in the air. This essence stone was worth something like twenty-five Tier 7 mana stones in the Empire proper. It was crazy that people would pay that much for a little bit of essence, but he wasntining about the small windfall.


    A part of Matt couldnt believe it. If someone could afford that price, they should be able to afford an escort through a Tier 5 rift. At the same time, it took time to be guided through a rift, whereas the essence stone was nearly instant. Besides, if you were a Tier 15, it would be chump change to buy essence stones for your children.


    Considering how mana stones increased in value, buying down was of little concern. The reward was good for their team, though. Even with a quarter going to Cami, they would be able to get a nice item or two.


    Watching the night sky slowly start brightening as dawn approached, Matts daydreams drifted to how different his life could have been if he had been epted to a guild.


    Would they have taken advantage of him after he hit Tier 3?


    Would he have even hit Tier 3?


    Matt tried to think of the possibilities. He couldnt see the future, but it was fun toe up with scenarios while keeping his friends safe. He had already run through all the possibilities of random cmities he could think of, and how he would react to them.


    A blip interrupted him, and his AIs draw on his mana decreased. Trying to not get his hopes raised too high, he checked the results of the enchanting test that his AI was running. The results were conclusive.


    Ha!


    His outburst jolted Malcolm out of his stupor. After being abruptly woken up, he wiped his face and started walking around.


    Matt called out, Hey, keep watch for a few minutes. I want to test something.


    At the nod, he pulled out a nk of wood, and used his carving tool to begin removing wood in strips. While he worked, he injected his mana into the woods cell structure. When hepleted the runes and connecting formations, he started pouring mana into the roughly carved nk.


    With anticipation, he watched as the center of the rune started to glow. Ever so slowly, the light it was producing increased. At first, he thought it was just the sun rising, but soon, the rune was outproducing the sun in brightness. It became a veritable beacon in the predawn glow.


    Ha! Fuck yeah!


    Liz poked her head out of her tent and called out, Why didnt you wake us up if its sote?


    As she squinted her eyes to adjust to the increasing brightness, she asked, Why are you making so much light this early?


    Matt didnt let her tone get him down.


    My AI figured out this light rune all on its own!


    She tilted her head. ...So?


    This is a new light runebination! Thats so cool! And my AI did it, all on its own!


    Liz shrugged, Is it better or something?


    Matt shook his head with a smile. Nope! Its five percent worse than the standard model.


    Liz crawled out of the tent and came to sit next to him.


    Im proud of you. I really am. But do you realize that you cut my sleep off by half an hour?


    Matt looked at his clock in his HUD and gave her a weak smile.


    Sorry.


    Liz rolled her eyes and poked his ribs, causing Matt to flinch. Its just enough time that its not worth going back to sleep. I want a good breakfast. A pout apanied thement that he could only assume was meant to melt his heart.


    He didnt have it in him to tell her it was ineffective, especially after the look had been used on him so many times by Aster. The fox had the fluffy factor working in her favor too.


    Sure. Ill get on it.


    It was close enough to sunrise that it was reasonable to start cooking anyway.


    With the nk of wood spreading enough light for him to work with, he started cooking. Without more mana being added, or a rune to draw ambient mana in, the light slowly started to dim. His AI was recording the output the whole time, and he kept a part of his view covered with its readings.


    For the first time, he was enjoying enchanting something. While he knew the rune probably wasnt entirely new, it wasnt in themon rune collection for Tier 5 and below. It was just so cool that his AI had created something from just the beginner books.


    Still in a good mood, Matt cooked for everyone, and even used a few of their perishables to apologize for disrupting Lizs sleeping time. Cami and Aster crawled out of their tents not long after the smells started wafting through the clearing. Neither said a word, but Aster didnt hide her irritation at the nk of wood through their bond. Her sitting on the rune carved nk told Matt everything that her emotions didnt.


    After they sat and ate, everyones eyes started drifting to the hole in the side of the mountain that they had camped out next to. None of them could resist the allure of a ruin.


    Once breakfast ended, there was palpable anticipation that caused everyone to hurry to pack up and move to the tunnel entrance.


    The tunnel brought with it its own series of problems. It was so small, Matt had trouble advancing, even while turning sideways. He was still pressed on his back and chest by the walls of the crevice. Dirt scraped off from his passage joined the rough, stone-littered floor.


    It was getting so tight, Matt was going to call a halt, so that they could start digging the tunnel a bit wider. But then the dirt and rock changed to cut stone, and he found a fissure in the wall.


    Hold up, theres a wall ahead. Were bisecting it. This is less of an entrance and more a hole in the wall.


    Matt twisted his head and asked their guide, Any reason your Talent would have brought us through here, and not to an actual entrance?


    Malcolm shrugged over Camis head. No clue. I wasnt asking for the ruin itself, but the item that will help me the most.


    Matt nodded as much as he could, and thanked all the past ascenders for [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He was grateful for whatever property that allowed it to block the dirt from entering his personal space. When he looked behind, he had seen that everyone else was absolutely <em>covered</em> in dirt, despite being less cramped.


    He could feel Asters discontent with the dirt that was marring her pristine fur. She was already pushing demands of a bath when they got out of there.


    Turning back around to press on, he edged closer to the hallway that they would exit out of, and moved his light around. It seemed to be a standard hall, just with a hole in the side of the wall. While staying hidden, he spun the loose stone around the exit with a kick, and when nothing happened, he used the wall as leverage, and released all of his breath.


    With an effort and wiggle, he pulled himself out of the crevice tunnel, and he half fell into a ready stance. When nothing attacked, he reached back and pulled out two new makeshift shlights, and set them up to shine down the halls. Then, with his hands free, he withdrew his longsword. This was a fairly wide hallway, and he could half-sword if necessary.


    He preferred to do that than use his cheaper Tier 5 mace and shieldbination. They only had the durability and strengthening enchantments, so while they would be useful, he only intended on using them if they encountered an enemy that swords couldnt cut.


    The others came out of the crevice after he gave them all clear, and they all looked to Malcolm for directions. He closed his eyes and, after a minute, opened them and shrugged.


    Im not getting anything from my Talent. Each side seems to be as good as the others for reaching the item I want.


    Liz nodded, and confirmed what they had talked aboutst night after the rift. And you still want to be escorted out of here after you find the growth item? Dont want to stick around for the rest of the rewards?


    Malcolm shook his head. No. No. I think Im good on the actual adventures for a while. I like the idea of chaotic space more than this... He waved around at their surroundings. Constant danger.


    Matt and the others didnt try to persuade him. The man wasnt cut out for the constant vignce and expectation of danger that delving required. Matt wasnt sure what exploring chaotic space for news entailed, but for the mans sake, he hoped it wasnt fraught with danger. Otherwise, Malcolm would never leave his home again.


    Their goal was to carefully explore the ruin, proceeding in the direction of the item Malcolm wanted, then escorting him out. Once they were rid of the coward, they could return, and fully clear the ruin. If they were the first to find the items, who knew what they would find. They just wanted to get rid of their baggage first.


    Left or right?


    Matt looked around at everyone to see their reactions, and found that only Cami had an opinion.


    Left.


    With that, they started walking down the corridor. Matt was wary of traps, and that proved to be for good reason when he stepped on a pressure te. A log lined with spikes dropped from the ceiling a split second after his foot sunk into the ground. It was connected to an arm, so that the log would spin at chest height.


    Matt caught the swinging log, with his longsword acting as a bar. It only took a moment for the energy to be spent, and he carefully lowered the log, its momentum gone.


    With the trap disarmed, they inspected it for clues of what this rift would have been like before it came to the real world.


    Liz pondered the spikes and connecting arms. Its not amazing craftsmanship, but its all uniform, and the spikes all appear to be well crafted. I dont think its goblins. It would be cruder. She tapped her helmet where her chin would be. Maybe an entire trap rift?


    Cami brought out a piece of paper, and checked the sharpness of the spikes.The paper was easily punctured when shey the paper on the tip of the spike.


    With a sigh, Matt inspected a spike, before wiping it off in case this didnt work. It didnt look poisoned, but he could never be too sure.


    They werent sure of the Tier of rift this ruin had been before it inverted and became real, but the easiest way to check was with [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Pressing a forearm to the spike, Matt increased the pressure. Higher Tier metals were harder, stronger, and held edges better. With the feedback of his armor skill, Matt could get a pretty urate guesstimation of its Tier.


    As the pressure he applied increased, the strain on his skill structure rose. Finally, just as he was about to break through, he stopped and shrugged at the rest of the group.


    Tier 6.


    Malcolm swallowed audibly and asked, Any chance you are wrong? I... I dont have that good of a defensive skill.


    Cami shrugged next to him, and said with a little too much ice in her voice, Then dont get hit.


    The man wasn''t wrong, this was getting dangerous but Matt ignored them, and met Lizs eyes through her helmet. She didnt need to hear the request, as she immediately scooped Aster up and deposited her into the backpack. Aster grumbled slightly. She liked being held just as much as she did before her increased intelligence, but there was something about being held through a rift that irritated the fox.


    Matt reached over and gave her a good scratching, while pushing thoughts offort at the fox. They didnt know what traps would appear, and anything that was aimed at their ankles would be deadly to her, since she was so much closer to the ground.


    Ducking under the log trap, Matt inspected the floor for a second, follow-up trap. When he found nothing, he walked a few steps down the hall, then returned to his team and lifted the log so they could step under.


    They continued down the hall at a much slower pace. Every step Matt took was carefully considered, and only taken after he poked the space in front of him with arge stick. He had stored one in his spatial bag for just such an asion.


    Their pace slowed down to a near crawl, but no one suggested that Matt hurry. He would have offered to let them try and find the Tier 6 traps with their bodies if they had.


    Without a second incident, they came to another intersection, and Matt looked to Malcolm for which of the four directions they should head in. After what felt like an eternity, their guide told them to go straight.


    Matt made sure that his AI was tracking their progress through the ruin, and building a map of their route. As they continued through the hall, they found a stairwell that gave Matt the shivers. He wasnt sure what it was, but after the trap in the hall, he was sure that they would find something troubling on the stairs.


    Wait here. Let me check it out. While Matt put on a brave face, he was cursing thisck of an actual tank and front line. He was, at best, a hybrid with a good defensive skill.


    He ignored his AI. It had responded to his griping by showing him how [Cracked Phantom Armor] was better for its Tier than most skills used by defensive frontline melee fighters.


    Matt didnt care about the facts. Walking face-first into a spinning log of death wasnt on his list of things to do for the day. If it wasnt to protect his friends, he would dly let someone else take the lead position.


    Climbing up the stairs was a slow procedure, as he used his stick to tap at each stair before he dared to step on it. The simple switchback staircase was fully checked over before he called up his team to follow in his wake.


    At the top, Malcolm pointed them back in the direction from where they came. It wasnt even twenty steps into the dark hallway when they encountered their first opponent.


    The golem was surprisingly quiet for its bulky form and lumbering steps.


    Matt was the first to strike out, using [Mana Charge]. The attack didnt shred the humanoid figure of metal, but instead washed over it and was absorbed. The golem started to glow with a blue-tinged light, and its sluggish movements sped up.


    Shit, Its a mana absorber!


    Having called out to his teammates, he tossed his longsword to the side and rear. Mattshed out, and rotated to the side. His vambraces increased his melee damage, and with [Mages Retreat] active, he mmed a fist into the creature.


    Instead of absorbing the blow and bing stronger, the golems chest dented in, and sparks of mana flew out from some part of the creature that was cracked.


    Camis distinctive extending mace whoosed forward from behind him, and smashed the monsters head. The blow caused some severe damage, and rocked the creature back. As it tried to turn, Matt drove a spike-covered gauntlet into its head, regaining its attention.


    A [Mana Bolt] flew over from the backline and missedpletely. The skill sshed along the wall and lit up a series of lights.


    Liz shouted something at Malcolm, but Matt was far too upied to hear it. The golems head and chest were heavily dented, but it kept trying tosh out with its long arms.


    Two long minutester, with him and Cami battering at the metal golem, they eventually broke something critical, and the monsters glow dispersed as it slumped to the ground.


    Matt gave it a heavy stomp to make sure that it was really dead. When it didnt move, he turned to Liz and Aster, who were ring at Malcolm. He wasnt even mad. The man was so clearly an amateur that he didnt even know what a mana absorber was.


    Shaking his head, he knelt down next to Cami, and they inspected the golem. It was a creature made of steel and some other alloy. The mystery metal was flexible enough to give the creature a bit more mobility than a typical golem should have.


    Cami looked at the creature and the still glowing wall. Matt followed her gaze and made the same connection. This entire ruin was a mages worst nightmare.


    Trying to be optimistic, he said, Maybe its only pure mana that it can absorb.


    That wouldnt be an unheard-of restriction. Just a rare one.


    Liz and Aster had stopped yelling at Malcolm, and joined Matt and Cami. Malcolm stood off to the side while looking scared and apologetic.


    Before the man could speak, Matt pped him on the shoulder and said, Lesson learned. Right?


    At his nod, Matt didnt press. The man had fucked up pretty badly byunching a mana skill, after knowing that the enemy was a mana absorber. Most of them used mana to empower their fighting style, and if he hadnt missed, it would have made the fight that much harder. But he was an amateur and clearly didn''t have anybat experience, so Matt tired to not hold a grudge.


    Liz pointed at the wall and asked, Any reason we dont test all of our skills on the walls? Maybe well get lucky, and itll turn out to be unable to take the mana out of me and Asters spells.


    Matt wasnt hopeful, but they tested it anyway. While the mages cast their skills at the wall, Matt retrieved his longsword and swapped it out for his mace and shield.


    Turning his attention back to the mages, they received some pretty terrible news. Aster and Liz couldnt use their maniption skills at all. When they touched the walls, and presumably the golems, their mana was ripped out of the skills, and they lost control of their elements.


    Skills like [Ice Spear] and [Blood Bullet] performed slightly better, since they relied on the momentum of the moving elements to do damage. But they still increased the glow from the wall as it absorbed the damage from the skills, so using those particr skills was determined to be ast resort.


    Camis [Bolt] was entirely useless, as it was mana created energy, and performed no better than Malcolms [Mana Bolt] or Matts swords [Mana Charge].


    Matt raised the question that he knew everyone was thinking. This is a shitshow of a counter. Do we pull out and leave?


    Malcolm, who Matt expected to be the one who wanted to stay, was looking at the hall and stairwell behind them with longing.


    Liz shook her armored head, and in the blue, mana-powered lights of the now bright hall said, No. I think we push on. This is still a ruin. I have my spears butt and a backup mace that I can use. Aster can still use ice to block areas off or disrupt footing. This is bad, but not that bad. We can still do damage with our skills as well, its just ast resort.


    Cami nodded. She was mainly a melee blunt damage fighter, so she was less affected by the ruin than Matt was. She couldnt use her whip, but that was only half of her usual arsenal. Matt would be unable to use his primary weapon.


    As they were about to continue, Matts AI shed, and he called a halt.


    Going through the readout, he returned to the wall and watched its brightness, then inspected the runes that were used to light the halls. They were a better version of light runes, and should be dimming faster than they were.


    After sharing the findings with the others, they all looked at the walls and at the golem they could make out in the distance.


    Malcolm asked, Why isnt this ce just draining the ambient mana to power itself?


    Matt opened his mouth and paused. That was a good question. In his spiritual sense, he could feel the ambient mana. Most mana absorbing rifts were mana dead zones. At least, that was ording to the information aboutmon rifts in the Tier 5 through Tier 10 zone.


    I dont know. But lets not give this ce any more mana.


    No one wanted to find out what the walls were powering the hard way.


    With their intention to continue confirmed, they pushed deeper, and Matt continued to check his steps with his stick. It paid off again when a giant cleaver suddenly sliced out of the wall at waist high, and cut the stick in half. It mmed into the wall so hard, Matt was surprised that the de didnt end up cracking the wall, or shattering against it.


    Matt didnt think he could survive that kind of blow, and somberly inspected the two halves of the stick. They were less cut, and more crushed in half. Pulling a second stick out, he called to Liz and the others, who gawked at the now sprung cleaver trap.


    Did any of you bring any sticks? I only have this one and one more.


    At the shaking of heads, Matt cursed under his breath.


    If this stick gets broken, were going back out for more sticks. Im not checking without them.


    No one dared to argue, and they continued down the hall. The next golem they found wasnt far behind a second trap that Matt saw and triggered early.


    As they fought with this particr golem, they had Malcolm start shooting [Mana Bolts] at it slowly. They wanted to observe the abilities of the golems. They were strong but slow when running on only ambient mana, so they wanted to test how much of a threat they would be as they charged up.


    It was better to learn while they had control of the situation, rather than when shit hit the fan.


    The results were... not good. When the golem was running on ambient mana, they operated at about mid Tier 5 strength. Not that strong for a Tier 6 ruin. But as they absorbed more mana for fuel, their attacks started to increase in speed andplexity.


    Once it reached early Tier 6 in power, the golem created a mana shield around its arm. At the middle of Tier 6, it produced a mana de, and at the peak of Tier 6, it produced ayer of mana armor that was hard to break through.


    The increased arsenal was apanied by an increase inbat ability that rendered the golem truly terrifying.


    The fight was long, and only possible because [Cracked Phantom Armor] was so effective against magical attacks. Matt was able to handle blows that he would never have dared to take against physical weapons.


    It also helped that the golem wasnt using [Mana de], but instead runes to mimic the effect, ording to his AI. The hitscked the weight that perfectly distributed mana from a skill would have. Matt had to rely on Cami to deal most of the damage, while he distracted the golem and kept its attention.


    He still hit hard with his mace, but Cami was able to strike at the vulnerable parts, while Matt just concentrated on hitting the shield and sword. His responsibility was to drain as much mana from the monster as he could.


    Nearly twenty minutester, they finally killed the golem, and the rush of essence caused them all to breathe a sigh of relief. Cami was off to the side, struggling to catch her breath.


    The only reason Matt wasnt in the same boat as her was that he had been channeling [Endurance]. For once, he actually was using it for its intended purpose, and with it, was simply able to ignore the effects of a long, drawn out fight.


    Aster sent him worried feelings through their bond, and he walked over and nuzzled her. She was very unhappy with the fact that her ice was hurting them more than helping. She took pride in being a valuable member of the team. He took the time to reassure her that it was ok, and Liz helped by assuring her that she was in the same boat, but Aster still wanted to help.


    Cami, from her ce leaning against the wall, said, While the testing was necessary, lets not give any of those things mana ever again.


    Malcolm added, Yes. Ill not be using any of my skills unless I need to. I dont want to deal with one of those again. Ever. He almost sobbed, I regret not taking [Earth Maniption].


    He continued to quietly say something about this not being what he expected but Matt mostly tuned him out. The muttering man had a point. With [Earth Maniption], or better yet, the higher Tier [Stone Maniption], they would have been able to simply lock the creature down by shaping the earth around its feet. Even if it was empowered by the mana, it would still be encased in stone, and unable to move.


    Matt shook himself and readied his stick. Wishing for skills they didnt have was pointless, and he needed to y find the traps again.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51


    Matt took a step and poked the ground in front of him in nine separate ces. When nothing tried to spring from the walls or ceiling, he took a small step forward and tapped the next row of bricks.


    That was the methodical pace he set while leading the group through the halls. It was slow but steady progress.


    They reached an intersection, and after checking it, Matt turned to look at Malcolm. They had tried to be clever and use his Talent to find the traps, but as this was a Tier 6 rift, he finally admitted that he could only find things at his Tier or below.


    It was an interesting bit of information, as it confirmed Lizs guess, but also meant that the Tier 6 rift had produced a Tier 5 growth item. That didnt seem quite right to Matt, but he did know that rifts could drop lower Tier items. He just had never encountered that before.


    Their guide closed his eyes and searched out with his Talent while everyone watched him. Shortly after Malcolm began, Aster started yipping, and Matt felt unease flowing into him from his bond. Spinning, he checked all of the halls, and found nothing out of the ordinary. Still, he trusted his bonds intuition about something being wrong.


    Everyone was on guard, and just in case, Malcolm had moved into the middle of the group for extra protection. He was more vulnerable than usual when in the meditative state that the use of his talent required.


    Asters yips turned to a growl, and Matt could smell what was grabbing her attention. Metal and mana. He spun and pulled tossable chemical lights out from his pocket. With quick flicks of his wrist, heunched them down the halls in each direction, but he still was unable to see the looming threat.


    The smell grew stronger with each second that passed, and everyone huddled with their backs pressed together. The halls began to fill with noise, and eventually Liz shouted over the din, We need to move! Lets pick a hall!


    Before they could act on the order, the ceiling dropped.


    Or rather, the mass of spider constructs dove down onto their prey.


    Matt heard a scream from behind him as he raised his shield and swung his mace, knocking a de-legged spider out of the air as it fell from the ceiling towards Cami next to him.


    One of the spidersnded on Matts shoulders and tried to drive its legs into his body, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] was able to block the sluggish constructs attacks. The mechanical spiders didnt have the requisite mass to rely solely on their high Tier materialposition to punch through his armor.


    A wave of blue light washed over Matt while he stomped a jittery spider that tried to attack his shins.


    He whipped his head to see Malcolm in the remnants of a [Mana Bubble]. The shielding spell had two spiders sliding down its sides, but that wasnt what worried Matt. No, the problem was the pale blue glow that the surroundings began to take on because of the mana expenditure.


    The spider golems were no exception.


    They went from dark bodies with sluggish movements to formidable metal beasts with glowing thoraxes, capable of movements as smooth as silk.


    Liz had two on her, and one more spider hadnded in Asters backpack.


    Matt reached deep inside his spirit to where his Concept resided, andmanded all of the spiders to <em>halt</em>.


    They froze for a moment. Even the ones still falling paused in mid air.


    The effect from his Concept onlysted a moment, but it was enough for Aster to freeze the spiders with her own, which allowed Liz and Cami to kill the ones attacking them.


    The burst of will was all Matt had, and the world around him faded as the color from the lights of the spiders, the glow sticks on the ground, and runes on the walls dimmed to nothing. He tried to raise his mace to swing down, but his arm just twitched at his side. Struggling to stay conscious, he ended up falling onto the spider in front of him instead of attacking it.


    Cami shoved him off of the insectoid golem underneath him with a foot, and smashed thest remaining spider. She quickly started smashing the metal remains, ensuring that they wouldnt be ambushed from behind. Matt struggled to his feet and moved to the side, and began channeling [Endurance]. While the skill restored his strength, he dove deep into his Concept and began meditating to regenerate his willpower.


    The problem was that was a general ability of all Concepts and was inefficient for anyone. It was like what the troll had done, it just took a lot of willpower.


    When he opened his eyes a few minutester, most of the colors of the world had reappeared, and he was able to stand without any sluggishness.


    What happened while I was out?


    Liz bumped his hip and answered, It was a good save from the ambush, but were partially trapped now. With that, she pointed to the side, and Matt saw that there were now mana barriers covering the entrances of two of the three halls of the intersection.


    Looking at Malcolm, Matt asked, And I assume that the way we need to go is now blocked off?


    Malcolm nodded, and he turned to Cami. She had streaks of blood running through her hair from her head, and she was surrounded by a pile of broken spider limbs.


    He asked her, You ok?


    I dont like spiders, and being down here in the dark is getting to me. But Im good.


    Matt didnt believe thatst bit, but he didnt press either.


    Asking the room, he questioned, Have you guys tried battering down the mana barriers at all?


    Liz walked over to stand next to him. Yeah, but it didnt work. Not even a little. We think theyre linked to whatever central power source runs the entire ruin. Cami took out some frustration on them for a good few minutes, and they never even flickered.


    Matt rubbed his face through [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    This was distinctly bad news. It meant that using skills had the potential to trap them if both sides of a tunnel were activated.


    Ok, so we all know to be super careful using skills and mana now right? Dont want to get trapped in a hallway.


    Malcolm audibly swallowed, but with theck of reaction from Liz and Cami, he assumed that they already had put that together.


    Malcolm rubbed his face and said, Sorry. I didnt mean for that to happen. I just reacted when they dropped on me.


    Matt bumped the man with his elbow. Not a big deal. I would have used a skill in the same situation. No ones going to me you for saving your own life. And now we know to watch out for spiders on the ceiling.


    Finding his stick still on his side of the barrier, Matt resumed his duties of trap finding. This time, they also kept a shlight aimed upwards, to catch any more attacks from above.


    Their new path took them on a meandering route. It led to fights with another three humanoid golems, but they were careful not to use any skills that would power them up. The precaution made the fights easy enough, but their winding path led them through long stretches of halls. They were journeying through the veritablebyrinth for so long, they eventually needed to stop and sleep.


    Things only got more hectic when they continued. While they were finishing up a fight with a golem, a second one appeared from behind them. Matt had to quickly shift his attention to protect his teammates, and pushed past the retreating Malcolm to assist Liz with her defense of their rear.


    It was incredibly frustrating work with the stiption of being unable to use mana. Most of their heavy damaging abilities were removed from the fights, which dramatically slowed down the process of killing the golems that opposed them. If the mages were able to use their skills effectively, Aster and Liz would be shredding these golems with ease.


    As Matt smashed at the newest golems swinging arm, he wondered about what the mages could be doing to assist in these fights. Asters ice could hit hard, and could get into the gears of the golems. At the very least, it would slow them down and hamper their movements.


    At the same time, the golems would absorb some of the mana from the attacks. If the golems were already fully powered, that would be less of a concern, and the decreased mobility will be more of a gain. If they were willing to empower the golems, the strategy could be somewhat viable, but going from a mid Tier 5 enemy to a peak Tier 6 one was less than desirable.


    Hearing rapid light footsteps approach, Matt dodged right, and Cami came in to cover him with her mace extended to full length. The extra leverage gave her attacks some real power, and the blow absolutely rocked the golem. With it knocked almostpletely off its feet, Matt pressed the attack and drove it into the wall.


    Trading the golems attention and battering its exposed nks, they beat the Tier 6 metal into scrap.


    Looking at Cami, Matt noticed arge cut in her exposed leg.


    You ok?


    Yeah, Im just starting to run low on mana.


    His fellow melee fighter dropped to the floor, and slowly, therge cut in her leg closed. Matt watched the sweat bead on her forehead and grimace on her face grow deeper as she sat.


    <em>A wound like that has to hurt pretty badly.</em>


    Matt winced internally at the injury. She had a healing skill, sure, but that didnt mean that her wounds wouldnt hurt, and that much damage could take its toll on a fighters psyche. It was hardly the first injury the woman had taken thus far. She was low on mana for a reason.


    After a moment, the woman shuddered hard and opened her eyes.


    Im good now. Thanks.


    He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet.


    Why dont we find an area to rest for a bit? Were all low on mana. We could use a break and some time to regenerate.


    Malcolm cracked a joke, Oh, you need mana? With how long you keep the armor skill active, I assumed you were a mana absorber like the golems. Either that, or you just never ran out of mana.


    Malcolmughed at the absurdity of the notion, and Matt justughed along with him. The man probably assumed that the armor skill was a Talent, or at least modified by one. But he would probably never guess that he was actually right on the money with hisst quip.


    They pressed on, and kept walking until they found a corner without an intersection. It provided enough cover for them to decide to rest there for a while.


    The constant dangers of the darkness and ambushes were wearing on them, but with Matt having checked the surroundings, they were able to dpress for a bit.


    While they sat in the corner, Liz asked, after taking a swig of her canteen, Where are the rooms or anything else? Why haverge hallways built with nothing in them? As far as I can tell, they dont serve a purpose at all.


    Cami threw out a guess, Maybe theyre for trapping intruders in a maze or something?


    Matt didnt think that was likely, but he didnt have any other answer. His mind and AI had both been working overtime to try and answer that exact question, but he hadnt made any progress.


    They used the corner to stand watch, and spent a fitful night trying to get some sleep. When his watch was over, Matt was only able to get a few hours of broken sleep himself. He couldnt truly fall asleep, as every noise that echoed through the halls caused him to jolt up and ready his weapons.


    When they all had finally given up on sleep, they ate some ration packs that didnt need reheating, and started to move again. Their break was at least useful for Cami to regenerate some mana. Matt had used his Concept while the woman slept, and was hoping that she didn''t question why her mana regeneration while she was asleep was so much faster than her normal rate.


    The long halls started to blur over time, and without their AIs tracking the path they took, they would have wandered in circles for days on end. It also helped that Malcolms Talent was able to lead them towards the growth item. It was a frame of reference that allowed them to be sure that their senses and AIs were not being tricked by some spatial shenanigans.


    When they found a flight of stairs, they looked to Malcolm for guidance. But after closing his eyes and using his Talent, he simply shrugged.


    I dont know. Going forward and taking the stairs both feel the same. Im not sure if that means we could go either way and reach the item, or if that means we wont reach it no matter which direction we go. Everything feels foggy.


    Out of the corner of his eye, Matt watched Camis grip tighten around her mace. She was slowly losing her temper the longer they remained in the dark tunnels.


    Matt looked to the stairs and put out an idea. We came from one floor down, so lets take these up. Maybe we can find something different up there.


    Cami quickly agreed, as he knew she would, but Liz took a long moment of consideration before she finally shrugged in response.


    Malcolm closed his eyes for just a moment and said, It still all feels the same.


    Using his stick, Matt continued to check the stairs as they ascended to the floor above.


    The decision turned out to be somewhat fruitful. At first the new level of the maze looked to be the same, but they quickly found actual doors in the halls after proceeding for a bit.


    There was a collective sigh of relief at the normality of seeing rooms connected to the hallways.


    Does anyone not want to check out the doors?


    Matts question was rhetorical, but he wanted to at least ask.


    After checking the floor, they inspected the first door. None of them dared to assume that it wasnt trapped, so they let Matt poke at it with his stick. When nothing happened, they all looked at each other, as if to ask who would go first.


    Sighing, Matt twisted the knob, and when nothing tried to kill him, he shoved the door open and quickly jumped to the side.


    With no loud sounds indicating the appearance of a new death machine, he returned to the doorway, and used his stick to check the entrance for tripwires. It was exhausting work, but one mistake meant certain death for him and his teammates. Once the door was clear, he entered, only to find what seemed to be a normal workbench and standard carving tools.


    Malcolm picked up a small ingot of something and inspected it.


    Cami looked around and asked, What is it?


    I dont know. But my Talent says its the most valuable item here. Or at least the most valuable one it can find. That means its only Tier 5, but I dont know what it is. It looks like metal, but feels squishy.


    After Matt finished poking all the furniture, checking if they were mimics, he walked over to the ingot and had his AI inspect the small chunk of metal.


    Its not a metal. At least, not really. My AI has most of themon metals listed in a database for Tier 5 crafting materials. Its some kind of organic alloy, found in certain heavy metal content rifts. Animals are... He made air quotes with his fingers. <em>Adapted</em> to the metal and processed with it. This kind has an organicponent that allows it to remain malleable, and able to return to its proper shape. Im assuming this is where they would shape the metal for the golems.


    Liz asked the important question, But who? Rifts usually mimic life, but these tools look used. Or at least they were when they werent covered in dust. Was there a creator race here?


    With no answers, they explored the rest of the room, taking the materials as they went. Most were Tier 6, so Malcolm''s Talent was essentially useless, and they simply took what they thought would be worth more.


    Each room was a repeat of the first, with the only variance being the different crafting specialties in each hall. They all had different parts spread out across the desks, and no two of the projects were in the same state of manufacture.


    As they moved through the rooms, they didnte across a single trap. They assumed that there were no wandering guard golems, until they found a pair of them walking through a hall nearby thetest crafting room. They glowed with dim mana light, indicating that they had absorbed it from somewhere.


    The duo of golems saw them, and the first rushed at them with bounding strides. Matt centered himself in response to take the charge.


    With [Mages Retreat] and [Cracked Phantom Armor] both eating most of his mana, he took the golems shield charge. When they collided, Matts boots struggled to keep a grip on the stone floor. After they came to a halt, and the golem was stopped in its tracks, their shields were pressed together in a shoving match. Suddenly, a crossbow bolt bounced off the wall and punched into his side.


    His AI registered that the puncture hadnt pierced his secondary armoryer, but that was only <em>after</em> it had bounced off a wall.


    Armor-piercing crossbow! Watch it! Its got good aim.


    A whooshing sound flying over his head indicated that Liz was using her spear to harry the archer. Matt trusted her to keep it busy while he dealt with the golem in front of him.


    This one had enough mana absorbed that it was equally matched in strength with him, even with the boost from [Mages Retreat]. But as they had discovered before, the quality of the movement controlling runes was thest thing to improve in the golem''s.


    Matt shoved hard, then sidestepped the golems attempt to return to the shoving match. Heshed out with his mace at the back of the stumbling golems head.


    Cami had read the flow ofbat well enough to swing her mace in a low sweep, and she was able to trip the golem down to the ground. As soon as the monsternded, they both began hammering it with blows from hammer and mace, pulverizing the golem.


    Matt turned to the crossbow wielder that was readying its weapon, and with his AIs help, was able to get his shield into the path of the next bolt.


    The monster was trying to use its ability to skip the bolts to attack the backline again. The glow around both the bolt and the crossbow indicated that there was either a skill at y, or more likely, a rune that was making the shots possible.


    Before the golem could get a third shot off, Matt ran forward and closed the distance.


    With a slight duck, he tackled the metal monster. Taking a mounted position, he rained down spiked blows on the creatures face. He was careful not to hit the crossbow.


    This was a ruin, not a rift after all. Ruins didnt have the normal oddity that made it impossible to use the enchanted gear from the rifts.


    If he got this crossbow intact, he could use it.


    Several crunching blowster, the golem twitched, and he felt the essence rush into him.


    Turning, he found the others dispatching what remained of the shield golem.


    Before he needed to intervene, Caminded a blow that broke through the thicker armor of the defensive golem, and more essence rushed into him.


    The group moved to Matt, as he was still sitting on the golem and inspecting the crossbow.


    This didnt belong to a human who needed to hold the weapon, and the golem had the crossbow actually grafted onto its wrist. It meant that there was no real way to take it away. That didnt deter Matt at all. It just meant that he had to be careful where he cut.


    Not knowing the structure of the golems limbs, he decided to just take the arm off at the shoulder, and err on the side of caution. His spatial bag had room for it.


    So thats four enemy types so far, Matt mused out loud.


    Are the shield users a variant? Or are they the same as the shield and sword users? The frames are the same. Its just which weapon is turned on first. Lizsment forced Matt to reevaluate his conjecture.


    Malcolm spoke up, distracting them all. Do you all smell that?


    Matt sniffed, and so did everyone else.


    Aster yipped at them, and he felt her enthusiasm through their bond. She smelled it as well. It was fresh air. She hadnt taken note of it, as it was a normal smell, just not down here.


    They rushed through the halls, following Asters keener sense of smell. Two turnster, they turned into what Matt could only call a hangar.


    There was a beam of light illuminating therge room from high up in a corner, and fresh air came through the crack in the wall.


    The far wall had evenly spaced doors that seemed to roll all the way up to the ceiling. With quick steps, the entire group advanced as far as Matt would allow, and waited as he gripped the bottom of therge door closest to them, then lifted up. It took quite a bit of effort, but the door eventually rose, revealing a dark rock.


    Cami, in a near panic, eximed, What the fuck!? Wheres my outside?


    They looked up to the crack in the wall, but Cami moved before any of them could. With a flick of her arm, her whip which was embedded into her flesh was digging into the crack in the wall, and she pulled herself up to the crack. A wiggleter, she popped out and shouted back down.


    Its just a hole to the outside. Ugh. Feels good to be in the sun again.


    Matt helped the others reach the hole, and used Camis whip to pull himself up. The problem was, he was toorge to fit through the hole. It was tight for the women, and Malcolm was only able to get through with arge effort and pulling from the outside.


    Matt was simply too wide. At almost eighteen years old, he was a big guy for his age. At six foot five and some change, he had the bulk of a man who spent his free time working out and lifting weights as much as he could. His chest was too thick to fit through the small crevice, and he began to give up on seeing the light.


    Dropping back down, he shouted back, Its ok. Ill just wait in here and explore a bit.


    He didnt want to ruin their good mood from finally being able to see outside, especially after all the ambushes and traps.


    No reason to depress everyone else.


    Matt was inspecting therge room they were in, when a few falling rocks brought his attention back to the hole in the wall.


    Liz slid back down and dropped the distance to the ground. Aster threw herself from the crack into Lizs arms.


    You dont have toe back into this dark ass maze just for me.


    Matt said it, but he was still touched. She wasnt out there enjoying the fresh air. He knew that even <em>he</em> wanted to be out there, and he wouldnt have med her for staying out.


    Oh, shut up. Liz locked arms with him. Im not going to leave you behind.


    Matt knew she meant this situation, but he felt the deeper meaning in herment. No matter the temporary people they added to their team, it was the three of them day in and day out.


    It was afortable feeling, knowing that he had someone who had his back as much as he had theirs.


    The three of them were a family.


    Aster made it known that she wanted to be picked up, and Matt didnt miss her hints that she deserved ice cream either. Not because she came back into the dark, but because she always deserved ice cream.


    After making promises that he had no way or intention of keeping, they inspected the rooms. It seemed to be filled with drones of some sort. Four rotating fans were attached to spider constructs. Most of them were in massive racks that took up arge portion of the center of the room.


    I think theyre harvester golems.


    Matts statement brought Lizs attention back to him.


    Oh? Any chance we could get one to work for us?


    No clue. Its worth a shot. These types of drones sell for quite a bit. I looked into getting one for this trip, but theyre mostly used after Tier 8, when the rifts get really big. At that point, picking up everything valuable would just take too much time. Even then, the good models, like the ones Travis and Keith have, sell for mana stones a Tier or two above their actual Tier.


    Liz poked the rack. Are these the good models?


    I think so. They have the sharp legs of the spider golems, and who knows what they could do when fully powered. Small spatial items are whate with the higher Tier versions, but this is a rift. Well, a ruin. But its the same thing. Why would a ruin even need harvesting equipment? The entire rift and everything in it is under its control. Why have the ability to harvest materials?


    They looked from each other, back to the crowded hangar.


    A few minutester, they found Malcolm crawling back in. His feet dangled down, and Matt helped steady him as he dropped the distance.


    Looking around, Matt shoved a few carts on their side, and stacked them so that the others could use the impromptu stairs to see the sun without scrambling or being helped.


    A few minutester, Cami slipped back in and smiled at Matt slightly.


    Sorry, being in cramped quarters brings back memories.


    Before Matt could answer, Malcolm asked, Oh? I wouldnt think someone as pretty as you would have many hardships.


    Camis face froze for a moment, but the explosion Matt expected never came.


    Being pretty can sometimes be a curse. But I appreciate the sentiment.


    Malcolm looked awkward and mumbled out a quiet apology, but the mood was ruined, so they prepared to head back into the halls.

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52


    As they turned to leave, Matt returned to the racks and shoved two of the collector drones in his bag. They could, in theory, be reprogrammed to work with his AI. It was at least something for his AI to work on while they continued to explore the rest of the ruin.


    Returning to the dark was less than ideal, but at least they had found an exit on this floor. If they needed to, Matt could send Liz out of the hole, and then climb up himself. With the swapping function of their rings, it would be an easy way to escape, but neither wanted to reveal that trump card.


    They stopped checking for traps on this floor, as it seemed that it was only guarded by the wandering golems. The discovery lent credibility to the theory that the previous floors were some sort ofbyrinth, intended to keep intruders away from these crafting rooms.


    While the five of them continued to explore, they encountered more and more of the guard golem pairs. After yet another pair was dispatched, Malcolm asked if they could try and move towards his item. It was a fair question, and not a terrible suggestion. Matt wasnt sure if they were the cause of the increased patrols, but staying on the floor felt like a bad idea.


    Relying on Malcolms Talent, they found a staircase that led them up to yet another floor. It was essentially a repeat of thest, so they hurried through it. The only discrepancy was that the monsters in the ruin seemed to be ever so slowly getting stronger.


    With every new encounter they had, the attacking monsters had a bit more mana in their cores ording to Matts spiritual sense. Where exactly the mana wasing from was a mystery that they were unable to solve.


    After disposing of another three guard pairs, they reached the next floor, and found what seemed like a small city. Instead of the crafting rooms that they had seen thus far, this floor had a fifteen-foot ceiling. It was held up byrge pirs dispersed every few yards throughout therge open area, and buildings were peppered in between them.


    Whats going on here?


    Liz poked a door open, and found what looked like an alchemy shop, based on the signage out front. Thenguage was a garbled mess, but the picture of a bottle and herbs was clear enough.


    Carefully, they entered the shop, and just like thest two floors found that it was devoid of traps. The shelves were mostly empty, but when they went to check the back room, Matt caught a spear with his face. A guardian golem was posted at the rear of the shop, and immediatelyshed out at the intruder.


    Pull back!


    Matts call was in anticipation of the monster charging out at them, but it stayed in the room. He could see it standing motionless at its post through the still-open door.


    Despite it being stationary, the glowing eyes of the golem still tracked his movements. Peering over his shield, Matt scanned the monster from head to toe. He saw that it was standing on a slightly glowing rune.


    Before he could speak, Liz articted his thoughts, Its a charging rune. We need to kill it.


    Hearing and agreeing with the call out, Matt rushed forward. The golem tried to feint an attack low, but when Matt shifted his shield slightly, it jerked its weapon up, and tried to stab him in the face for a second time.


    Not falling for the trick, Matt caught its mana empowered de with his shield. The de punched through nearly three inches, but was otherwise held at bay. With a flex of his arm and shoulder, Matt forced the shield to rotate and dragged the golem to the side. It refused to let go of its weapon, and Matt was able to hurl the golem against the wall, thanks to his [Mages Retreat] empowered strength.


    The monster was just like the other melee fighters. They were all made with human-like hands, as the added joint gave them more flexibility to attack and use their weapons. Incorporating that joint could also simplify whatever manufacturing process the golems were subject to.


    With the spear still firmly wedged in his shield, Matt kept the pressure up on the golem, keeping it pinned against the wall. Meanwhile, Cami came around to the golems exposed side, and smashed the golem with her mace.


    The re of blue light emanating from the golem indicated that it had enough mana to actually form barriers, which was worrying. Liz approached the monsters nk and started to thrust at it with her own spear.


    It was all going well, until Malcolm threw a bottle at the monster. He had started to throw stones and other loose debris during their fights. Usually, it did little to help or hinder them, but sometimes it caused a golem to think he was a backline fighter. That led to the monsters trying to reach him at all costs, which allowed the rest of the group to pile in on the distracted monsters.


    This time, the creature dropped its spear and lunged for the man.


    Matt dropped his shield, still impaled with the spear, and tried to intercept the golem with a flying tackle.


    He missed.


    Aster was faster than him, and tackled <em>Malcolm</em>.


    A loud yelp came from the would-be explorer as the golem flew through the door he had just been standing in front of. It froze and crashed to a halt as it crossed the threshold of the alchemy shops store room.


    Everyone paused at the frozen creature.


    Malcolms head popped up, and he peered around the door frame.


    Who puts a spear wielder on guard duty in a supply closet? He looked around, Or I guess a crafting and storage room.


    Matt stuck out a hand and pulled the man, who was thanking Aster, to his feet.


    He and Cami turned to each other and exited the room, ensuring that the monster was truly dead before they returned back inside.


    Find anything?


    Liz shook her head at the question, but pointed to the rune circle on the floor.


    I dont know runes as well as you, but check that out. It looks like someone changed the structure of this one.


    Matt bent down and inspected the circle on the floor, and after studying it for a few minutes, disagreed.


    No. They didnt change it. Or at least not really. They added the golem to the charging function.


    He could <em>hear</em> her eyes roll when Liz said, Thats a change, though.


    Not wanting to argue the semantics of what constituted a change regarding a profession he already loathed, he continued with his analysis. This formation looks like its more for adding mana into the potions that someone was making. A way to boost efficiency or whatnot.


    Liz dropped down next to him and bumped him with her leg. Then write this down for me! I want it. These kinds of things are usually hidden, and are proprietary knowledge... Wait a minute, how do you know that thats what this does?


    Pointing at the runes, Matt exined as he pointed. Thats a gathering rune for ambient mana, and those are conduits that lead to a storage rune. They can only hold a small amount of mana, but theyre good for making sure that it doesnte in intermittent pulses. That one there is what injects the mana into the bottom of whatever the rune is paired to.


    Liz cocked her head and said, Its that simple? I thought it would do more.


    Matt shrugged and stood up. No clue. Thats what this one does. Maybe Im wrong with the particrs, but Ive been studying runes along with my AI for a while now. Maybe the ones in the Empire do more, and this is just some rudimentary formation only a poor person would use. I dont know too much about alchemy runes, so dont take my word here asw. Maybe theyre adding a bit of something else that I haven''t thought of. That would make it a lot harder to figure out, and an even better reason to keep it secret. I just cant be sure.


    Cami and Malcolm were both searching the rest of the room during their conjecture, while Aster was preupied with sniffing at the bottles on a table.


    Scanning the rest of the back room, the only thing that caught Matts attention was what looked like a conveyor belt in the corner of the room. Using his light, he found that the belt had friction runes spaced apart every few feet, but they climbed all the way from the floor.


    <em>Maybe they get fed halfplete items from the floors below?</em>


    Unable to find anything else out, the group exited the alchemy shop, and returned to following Malcolms Talent, while making a quick detour at a weapons shop.


    Matt needed a new shield, and Cami could use one as well.


    The weapons shop was muchrger than the alchemy shop, and they found that a variety of weaponry had been crafted, hung on the walls, andid out on tables.


    Malcolm wandered around, and asked in wonder, What <em>is</em> this ce?


    Cami slipped past him and hefted a small shield, while summoning her mace.


    I dont know. But its good that we found this ce. Matt... she turned to him. Can you show me how to use this thing at least somewhat decently in the next few hours? We could use some time to rest and regen mana anyway.


    Matt shrugged, and posed his response as a sarcastic question. Maybe put the shield in between you and the iing weapon?


    At Camis slight grin, he picked up arger kite shield. The shield was clearly made for someone shorter than himself, but it was better than nothing.


    We can take a rest here. The door shuts, and I can throw some enchantments on anything we n to use here.


    Cami put her shield down and said, Well lets go clear this ce out. I dont want to injure the shield early.


    Injure? Its not alive.


    Cami ignored him, and moved to the weapons shops store room, hidden behind a long counter.


    Matt considered the shield he had just picked up, and decided to put it back down.


    <em>I might as well use the old one for one final fight.</em>


    The two of them opened the back room, but found nothing to attack.


    Feeling slightly silly, they returned after checking the rest of the building and the smithy area.


    They found Malcolm trying on a light armor set, while Liz was getting in a few practice swings with a hammer she had grabbed. It had a point on the reverse side that woulde in handy for the golems that patrolled the pseudo city and its buildings.


    Pulling out their tents, they set up camp for the night. While Liz tried her hand at cooking, Matt fiddled with a spare shield. He was only enchanting it with simple runes, but he hadnt had much practice. Other than the training sses while staying with Travis and Keith, he could only rely on the few ideas that his AI hade up with while researching.


    It wasnt a thing that he enjoyed, but now theck of experience was making him hesitate, on top of his displeasure with the craft as a whole. The best enchantments were built into the items structure while it was being created. Experienced crafters took up enchanting as a side job, just to ensure that they made the best weapons possible.


    But it wasnt the only way. Runes could be carved into the items spiritual structure after the crafting was done, but it meant that the runes would be weaker than the ones carved in the surface during the crafting process.


    With that in mind, Matt had two choices. He could lightly trace out the runes and carve them into the gear that they chose, or he could instead use his mana to carve them directly into the items spirit.


    The problem was, if he made small carvings into the items and they were damaged inbat, it would ruin the rune, and therefore the enchantment. But if he just went with the mana and spirit method, the runes would be weaker, and he would only be able to fit one rune reliably.


    A proper crafter would incorporate the runic lines into the entire item <em>and</em> its spirit, and a good enchanter would be able to do nearly the same thing.


    But he was neither of those, so he needed to make a choice. He could carve deeper to ensure that the runes didnt get destroyed in a sh, but if he went too deep or messed up, he would ruin the items.


    These werent meant to rece their own weapons forever, so Matt decided to do a single rune in only the items spirit.


    An items spirit was different from a living creatures. It was mostly a static mirror of the item, but some deviation could ur.


    Quickly scanning the items, he found no irregrities, and flipped a spare shield that was a near copy of the one Cami wanted to use.


    Directing his mana with his spiritual sense, he outlined the item, and connected the perimeter line to the area where the rune would be carved.


    <em>At least with a single rune, this will be somewhat easier.</em>


    Matt was using a major Tier 5 rune that he had saved in his database, durability. It would strengthen the shield by convincing the weapons spirit that its physical vessel was meant to be in one piece.


    It wasnt perfect, and if too much stress was put on the item, it would shatter. The stress would cause the rune to stop functioning, and the shields spirit would no longer have any assistance with keeping its form together. This change would cause the structure of the shield to disintegrate.


    Over the next seven minutes, Matt put 15,000 mana into the rune and parameter lines. It was fairly cheap, as it was only a single rune. But all enchanting was mana expensive on the scale of a run of the mill crafter. It was the main reason why they stayed in cities. There, they could use mana from the citys reserves instead of relying on their own.


    A normal craftsman would either buy the mana, or take out a mana loan, and repay it over weeks or months, depending on their regeneration rate. Most simply paid with mana stones to cover the cost as they were worth more than the mana they contained.


    Matt didnt have either problem, and slowly followed his AIs ovey to carve the rune and lines into the shield.


    Runes grew moreplex as the Tier increased. In some ways, they were like skills, withplex three-dimensional structures. At least at the lower Tiers, the runes he had seen were much simpler.


    Matt developed a much higher opinion of the smith who had made his current de with three runes and a skill as he scanned it as a reference. He wouldnt even attempt the three runes, let alone getting a skill into the Tier 5 weapon as well.


    It was like the smith had painted with the smallest of detail brushes, while Matt was using a massive paint roller. The difference between the amount of detail that each of them could fit on the same wall was night and day.


    Just looking at how the man recreated the skills structure in his weapon gave Matt chills. It wasnt asplex as the true skills structure. The version in his sword was stripped down and simplified, but it was impressive nheless.


    After seven minutes of channeling his mana generation into the item, he finished, and connected the rune to the outer edge.


    Leaning back, he prepared for an explosion. But when nothing happened, he knocked on the shield to test it.


    It held up.


    Huh. I didnt break it.


    Cami looked at him funny and asked, Did you expect to?


    Honestly? Yeah, a little. I neither enjoy this stuff or really practice it that often. This is delicate work, especially for an amateur like me.


    Matt noticed something wrong as soon as he finished his statement.


    He put the rune in the wrong way, and the back of the shield was reinforced by the enchantment, instead of the front.


    Trying not to let anyone see him, he put the shield to the side, and intended to break itter while he was on watch.


    Moving to the next practice item, he repeated the actions like before. This time, he ensured that he put in the rune facing the right way.


    With the third item he tried to practice on, he didnt connect a perimeter line correctly, and it caused the item to crumble. The loose mana ripped the items spirit apart, and the shock ripped its physical form apart. There was no way to salvage the materials. Even the wooded parts were now only good for scrap, as they had turned to dust.


    Over the next few hours, he kept practicing. Only one in every three failed, but eventually, he was able to enchant everything with a durability rune. He wasnt trying to get fancy, and it would allow everyone to participate in the melee.


    Malcolm would finally have more than the light leathers he was wearing. The chainmail he had picked out was a littlerge for him, but now he wasnt quite so liable to die after a single stray blow.


    Matt also had enchanted shields for everyone, and put the two remaining sesses in his spatial bag. Unfortunately, this shop didnt have enough shields for more attempts at acquiring enchanted gear to sell, with all of his failures eating into its stock.


    They lowered the watch to a single person, as all they had to keep an eye on was a door. It allowed them each to get a little more sleep, and Matt was able to prepare arge breakfast during the final shift.


    After they started moving again, the group quickly moved towards the area that Malcolms Talent directed them to.


    It wasnt another staircase this time, but instead an elevator shaft.


    Is this where your Talent is telling us to go? Really?


    Liz looked skeptically at the man, who was peering down the dark shaft.


    Yup. And its strong as well.


    Cami shined her light down the shaft, but it revealed nothing. Shrugging, she asked, Are we supposed to jump or something?


    Everyone raised their eyebrows at her, while Liz poked the womans unarmored arm.


    Matt would be the only one to <em>probably</em> not st. We may be Tier 5, but we arent that durable yet.


    Matt ignored the quibbling and pulled his flying sword out, judging the length. Setting it free, he hopped onto the sword and sunk down, before bobbing back to talking height.


    Is your Talent giving you a floor?


    Malcolm waved his hand back and forth. Ehh. It feels deeper than weve been yet. Whatever way my Talent is taking us, its either avoiding something, or this is the only way in.


    With those extremely vague directions, Matt dropped a te that he had enchanted with a quick and dirty light rune, and watched it fall. As the dull light descended, he slowly followed behind it. He went down nearly two hundred feet, before the runed te finallynded on a tform jutting out from in between levels.


    There was a very obvious ce on the tform to input mana and make the tform move. It was reminiscent of the style that the Empire used. It ensured that the elevators didnt trap anyone if the city ran out of power.


    Sending a message, Matt asked for the others opinions. None of them wanted to risk powering the tform. They had a way up and down with his sword, and using it was guaranteed to not activate something else.


    Matt took Liz and Malcolm down first. If something happened at the bottom, Liz could defend the both of them. Cami and Aster could defend themselves at the top of the shaft while he was in between trips.


    While he didnt say it, Matt was also pretty sure that he could catch them if they jumped.


    Once they were all down, they pried open the door near the tform, only to find more darkness.


    Exiting the elevator shaft, they made a note of the much wider halls. This area was more reminiscent of a loading area. Moving forward, they found massive piles of raw ore, and evenrger piles of refined ingots.


    Matt threw a few of each type into his spatial bag. While Tier 6 metals werent worth a fortune, it was basically free money justying there. If they had a way to pull out <em>all</em> of this metal, they would be sitting on a fortune.


    They moved along the dark forging rooms to find more of the same. Matt couldnt help but to whistle at the sheer quantity of metal here. There had to be millions of tons of the stuff just sitting around.


    As they moved along, they found an odd central dais of some sort. On it were two humanoid golems. They were thinner than the ones they had fought thus far, but they were busy hammering away at something on an ornate anvil.


    Matt turned to Malcolm, whose eyes were fixed on therge, raised tform.


    <em>Of fucking course. He wants the obviously trapped item. Were gonna wake this entire ce up or something. I absolutely regret taking this fucking guy along with us. Why did I think this was a good idea?</em>


    Matts inner dialogue was interrupted by the man himself taking a step forward.


    Matt pped a hand over his shoulder and said, Nope. Fuck that. Just no. If you go take that scepter thing, were all royally fucked. Its obviously a trap.


    Malcolm looked at Matt like <em>he</em> was the stupid one.


    No, I want the armband on the golem holding the scepter thing. The one with the tongs.


    That actually shocked Matt enough for him to let the man slip out of his grip, and he moved onto the dais. Malcolm walked up and popped an item off of the non hostile golem. It appeared to be something in between a small vambrace and arge bracelet.


    Without a care, the man walked back to them.


    See. Nothing bad.


    Cami just looked at Malcolm like she had never seen him before.


    You werent afraid that the golems would wake up and beat you to death?


    No. My Talent would have warned me.


    Liz chimed in, The Talent that doesnt work against anything above you Tier?


    Malcolm froze and looked from the item in his hand to the golems.


    I uhh... Kinda forgot about that. Im used to it always working.


    They turned to each other, and Matt asked, Ok? So what now, Malcolm? Do you want to continue to delve, or do you want an escort out?


    The escort option, please. Ive had enough adventure for a while, and I got what I came for.


    With that, they started to retrace their steps, but they were interrupted by a massive six-legged golem. It had a pallet of bar stock that it used to block their passage. It was huge, and Matt had no idea how they would even scratch the nearly ten feet tall golem. Its legs were as thick as his waist.


    Matt rushed ahead and swung at the creature, but his hammer just bounced back against the creatures thick limb. The giant golem took another step forward, and swung one of its massive arms at him.


    With a hop, he was able to dodge the attack. But seeing that Camis attack was just as ineffective, he called for a retreat.


    Pull back! We cant damage this thing at all.


    Seeing Cami heed his advice, he quickly retreated after her. When he had enough distance between him and the golem, he turned and ran. [Mages Retreat] boosted his strength to the point that a few steps caught him up with everyone else.


    As they were running, a whooshing sound was the only warning for a blow thatnded directly into Matts armored back, sending him tumbling.


    The golem was throwing its bar stock.


    Unable to breathe after the blow that destroyed [Cracked Phantom Armor] and nearly his back, Matt used his AI to send a warning, causing everyone to scatter. The next throw just barely missed Malcolm.


    Scrambling back to his feet, Matt was shocked that only two of his ribs were cracked. The golem was definitely not made for throwing. It was the only reason he wasnt a smear on the floor. With most of his mana dedicated to his armor skill, and the rest going to [Mages Retreat], Matt kept running.


    He deliberately didnt dodge to the left or right. If someone was going to get hit, Matt would rather the golem hit him, instead of any other without an armor skill. [Cracked Phantom Armor] would absorb most of the impact and keep him alive.


    They turned a corner, only to find that they were at a dead-end. Or rather, it was a hallpletely filled with metal bar stock. There was a slight gap near the ceiling, but it looked too small for them to crawl through without having to shift a lot of the metal.


    Liz made the call.


    Stand and fight. Everything we have. We can only hope this is a utility golem, and that it doesnt get a sword or something worse when charged with mana.


    Matt took his ce at the front of the group and readied his shield. If they fucked this up, at least they could try and circle the monster and slip around the sides.


    Before he could n more, the monster came around the corner. It was moving so quickly that two of the legs slipped, and it took a moment for the massive golem to change direction.


    The sudden halt gave Liz, Aster, and Cami a chance to unleash their ranged skills. A pattering of [Blood Bullet]s were apanied by threerge spears of ice. Meanwhile, a small bolt of lightning jolted the creature. At the entrance of the hall, Matt cast [Hail].


    This wasnt the time for holding back.


    Matt thought about draining the skill for a second cast, but he didnt want to eat further into his regeneration. He needed every bit of his 40 MPS for [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat].


    Sidestepping, Matt dodged one leg, and mmed his hammer into the creatures leg joint. It was his best chance to limit its mobility, and he didnt know how they were going to beat the creature besides beating it to scrap.


    Matt took some sce in the fact that as the creature absorbed some of the mana from their spells, it didnt grow weapons.


    Therge shovel and pincers it created didnt count.


    Blocking a kicking leg, Matt was sent skittering back into the wall. The movement irritated his cracked ribs, but he didnt have the mana to waste on [Endurance]. Healing woulde after the fight was over.


    Besides, if they lost and died, he wouldnt have to worry about cracked ribs.


    Focusing on being as annoying as he could be, Matt weaved in between the golems legs, striking at joints and keeping the monsters attention.


    The underside was more lightly armored, and every time Matt struck up at the creature, it diverted all of its attention to him.


    A stray lightning bolt arced down from the beast and into his hammer during the split second that it was in contact, but the shock was negated by his armor. Still, the experience gave him an idea.


    Cami! Come under and shock the underside!


    To her credit, she didnt hesitate at all, and was quickly beneath the monster with him. Matt needed to shoulder check her to get her out of the path of a stomping leg.


    Dont stop moving!


    She took the shove with good grace and started moving, which made it easier for Matt to block and attack the legs.


    The next [Bolt] hit the underside of the golem, and the monster glowed brighter. Still, the golem shook so badly that Matt had to tank a second leg hit to protect Cami.


    She was casting every second, and the golem started to lock up and twitch. They didnt need to discuss getting out from under the soon-to-fall heap of metal.


    As it collided with the wall, it fell back and started spasming. Cami kept the shocksing, and Matt watched something inside the golem try and glow brighter, but it seemed to short out.


    The rush of essence gave everyone a pause.


    Well then... Lets leave.


    Matt fully agreed with Malcolm. But first, he pried open the golem, and pulled out what seemed to be its core.


    <em>Maybe I can do something with this. I should have grabbed one from everything we killed.</em>


    The core of ovepping tes was arranged in a circle, and it was still glowing and shooting off small sparks. But the small sputters were unable to stress his armor at all.


    They reached the elevator, and saw a hall that they hadn''t seen before. At the end of it was clearly a door to some kind of vault.


    As they slowly made their way towards it, they were careful to check for traps. But Malcolmgged behind, pleading with them to just leave now.


    The others agreed to at least check it out. Vaults usually held valuables, after all.


    As they approached the door, Matt and the others readied themselves for another fight or trap. All of a sudden, Matt felt a small amount of heat building in his off hand. He looked down to see that the core of the giant golem was glowing with intense blue light. The closer they got to the vault, the more intense the light emanating from the core became, and after a few more steps, it began to violently shake. A few feet in front of the vault, it radiated such intense light and heat, the core began to stress [Cracked Phantom Armor] to the point of draining more mana.


    Liz became concerned, and yelled to Matt, Drop that damn thing! Its going to blow your arm off!


    Not needing to be told the obvious, with a flick of his wrist he tossed the core as far away from them as he could. Still, it was toote. The core was already too unstable, and it immediately exploded in a giant burst of mana on impact.


    The hall lit up, and the darkness was filled with the light of runes that covered the floors and walls.


    The intersection where they had branched off from the elevator lit up, and the mana barriers that they had seen on the floor above appeared on each tunnel entrance. They were trapped.


    Malcolm pounded on the light from the hall and shouted, What happened!? I heard an explosion!


    Matt cursed himself. He had done this by wanting to y with some new toy.


    If he had even put the core away, this wouldnt have happened. But he wanted to use it as a light source. He hadnt even thought that the core was full of mana, let alone that it would have some reaction to whatever was hidden in the vault.


    Matt inspected the hall entrance. It was locked up tight by the mana barrier.


    Malcolm seemed to be panicking and asked, What do I do?


    Matt thought as fast as he could.


    There were no satellites yet, so the mans AI couldnt do anything. If they wanted help, they would need to either wait out the mana, or let him travel the multi-day hike on his own to get help.


    It wasnt like they couldnt do both.


    Go get back to the settlement. You cant break this any more than we can, and you cant defend yourself if more golemse.


    Malcolm looked aghast at the idea I wont survive out there...


    Liz shrugged and said, Run fast. If you wait here, youll get trapped as soon as a patroles through that hall. You can''t even fight a small golem on your own. Take the elevator up by activating it with your mana. Just run quickly.


    As the man appeared to have a mental breakdown, Cami called out, If you dont make it and end up dead, Ill find your corpse and rece your eyeballs with rocks. You have a Talent based on finding whatever you want. Want to be safe stupid!


    That actually seemed to calm the man down. As he turned to run he called out, Ille back with help!


    Once he was in the elevator shaft, they heard the soft woosh of air indicating that the tform had worked.


    Liz looked at the cage they were stuck in.


    This is less than ideal.


    Matt wanted to pound his head against the wall.


    Im so sorry this happened.


    Cami was looking at the glowing wall and shrugged at Matt.


    Its just bad luck and wasted time. I doubt this willst forever. The energy was draining somewhere, right?


    Liz jolted up like she had been shocked, and sent Matt a message while looking at the vault. What happens if we fill this ce with mana? These barriers are only up because theyre reacting to the mana. Nothing is controlling them. If we fill it up, we could get out a lot faster. And we might even open the vault Find out what caused the reaction...


    Using his AI, Matt did some quick calctions. With the amount of mana the core had released, it could take weeks for enough mana to drain for them to be able to leave. Besides, with this method, they had a shot at the rewards for getting into the vault.


    Without Malcolm there, they could fight quite a lot of golems too. And that would lead to more essence.


    And again, there was the vault. It had to have more than one goodie in it. Especially with how the core reacted as they approached. There was something powerful hidden in there.


    Matt looked at the wall and smiled. He wouldnt have done this if Malcolm was still here, but he trusted Cami at least this much.


    His Talent wouldnt remain a secret forever.


    A growing part of him was interested to see what this ce was really meant for.

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53


    Matt paced back and forth, with scenarios racing through his mind.


    There was a chance that fully powering up this space they were stuck in would deactivate the ruins defenses.


    It wasnt a good chance, but it could work. It entirely depended on the default state of the shields. Matt didnt think they would all be on by default. He assumed that they would normally be deactivated, and only turn on when encountering an enemy capable of triggering something.


    Charging the ruin up could end up being disastrous, but Matt held out hope that it wouldnt be that bad. It was only a Tier 6 rift that had inverted after all. That would limit its power after all.


    ording to some quick analysis from his AI, they had a shot at getting out if Matt directed all of his 40 MPS into a single area. It wasnt something he had thought of with Keith and Travis, but Matts mana output was far beyond the capacity of any conduit of his Tier. Even a Tier 6 mana conduit could only handle that much sustained throughput for so long. After a point, his mana would essentially start melting the more delicate power channels.


    Matt walked up to the vault door and tried to pull the handle.


    Nothing.


    He tried to push through the thick metal with his spiritual sense. He couldnt see more than a few inches past the vaults walls, but he discovered that it would be impossible to gain ess without copious amounts of mana.


    He turned to the other three and said, So we have three problems.


    Cami cut him off. No shit! Were trapped.


    Nodding, he continued, Excellent assessment. The snark in his voice didn''t seem to reach Cami, We <em>are</em> trapped, but thats not the end of the world. Im fairly confident that we can get out of here by frying the power conduits in the area. Thats the first problem, but we have a solution for it. Our second problem is that the vault is using splitting runes to stay shut. They...


    Whats a splitting rune? Cami interjected again.


    This time, Matt gave her a t look in response.


    You know, I <em>was </em>getting to that. The splitting runes are a pretty standard method for making anything you want to lock up, stay that way. On any side or face of the object or room youre storing the valuable in, you put the splitting runes along the outline of your desired opening. You use the runes to make the shape of a door or hatch, and when mana is run through the storage space and runes, the material splits along those lines, as if it was cut. When no mana is present, it returns to a solid wall or face of whatever is being used for storage.


    Wed have to power this whole ce up... Matt trailed off, lost in thought. If were lucky, this ruin functions exactly like a rift. If it does, there should be an item or something that will help us attune the mana to unlock and open this door. Theres even a notch in the door for something to fit. So if we find it, we should be able to run mana through it, and itll be converted. There also could be some item like that already built-in. If thats the case, just giving this ce power should open the door up. I cant see much through the higher Tier materials, so its hard to be sure.


    Liz looked up from teasing Aster and asked, Whats problem three?


    Problem three is that this shield was powered by the unstable core, which had a lot of mana.


    Cami jumped in again with, And it reacted to the vault. She paused before adding, Or maybe something in the vault.


    Matt pointed at her. Exactly. If we do open the door, were pretty screwed if something strong is in there guarding its contents. The core reacted to something. The question is, did it power that something up?


    Everyone looked around, and Matt sat down to ponder thatst question. Aster came over to curl up in hisp.


    With one hand idly stroking his fluffy fox friend, Matt waited for one of the other two to speak up.


    Cami rolled to her back and said, Well, the whole point of delving is to explore the unknown, right?


    Ehh. Not normally. Most rifts in developed areas have been delved at least once, and you can almost always get some general info. These unexplored worlds are different, but thatck of knowledge usually means better rewards. The problem is the risk thates with it, which is why were stuck in this shitty situation. Liz didnt seem very interested in the conversation from her tone.


    Cami asked, So we should just try and leave then?


    That was the million mana stone question.


    Matt presented another problem he had been thinking of.


    Weve been here for a couple of days now, and we really havent gotten any good loot. It might be better to leave and explore more of the as a whole. But Im somewhat partial to the idea of powering this ce up and seeing what happens. This is a Tier 6 ruin. It should be bursting at the seams with loot.


    We already struggle against one of these golems. If they get to full power, how will we fight off masses of them? Well run out of mana and get killed. Speaking of running out of mana, wouldnt it take weeks to fill this ce? If we just sat here for as long as it would take to fill, the barriers would run out of juice, and we could just waltz out. Cami didn''t seem vehemently opposed to Matts idea, but she wanted to test his thinking.


    If he was going to tell her, now was the time.


    I can fill this ce up in a few hours.


    Her response was a single raised eyebrow.


    My Talent basically allows me to put out a lot of mana.


    Cami didnt say anything, and Matt gave her time to chew on the revtion.


    After nearly five, long minutes of silence, she asked, It really depends on the vault, I guess. You dont put unimportant things behind a locked door. The question is, is the prize behind the door worth the risk? Ourck of information here doesnt exactly put my mind at ease.


    He was pretty happy that she seemed to be ignoring thement about his Talent, and moved past it withoutment.


    Matt offered a possible answer. We may not know whats behind that door, but we should be able to escape from anything that a Tier 6 ruin could throw at us. Even if powering up the door means that everything else is powered up too, we all hit above our Tier. We should be able to handle it.


    Cami chewed that over, and finally nodded.


    Liz asked from her back, Can we fry this shield <em>and</em> try to power this ce up?


    Matt liked the suggestion, and after getting everyones approval, he moved to the still glowing barrier.


    How long do you think itll take for Malcolm to get out of here?


    His question made Liz sit up and rub her chin.


    I dont know. Maybe a couple of hours? A week or two?


    With that, they sat and waited. The fool didnt have much of a chance with fully powered golems running around, so they decided to extend him one final courtesy.


    Matt did some more math with his AI.


    He was guessing that this ce held reserves for two million mana at most. That would only take him about twelve hours to fill. He also didnt believe that he would need topletely fill the ruins mana reserves to start everything up. It would be ideal if they only needed to put a quarter of the power in. That would put the monsters at peak Tier 5, which would be easy prey for the four of them.


    After giving Malcolm some time to exit the ruin, Matt started dumping mana into one of the runes responsible for projecting the shield across the wall.


    It only took ten minutes and around 24,000 mana for the rune to give out, and the shield flickered and dimmed.


    Cami, whose jaw was essentially on the floor at this point, asked, How much mana can you make? Thats not normal. I dont enchant, but melting a rune shouldnt take a few minutes.


    Matt grinned. He could tell it came off as cocky, but her reaction was satisfying. His Talent gave him an advantage that few, if any, could even dream of. He might not hit as hard as others, but he would always be able to take those hits and keep going.


    He was <em>endless</em>.


    Lets just say that I can put out a lot of mana over time.


    She didnt press, and Matt repeated his actions on the far wall, where the other rune was embedded.


    Ten minutester, their whole section of the hall was brightly lit, and the barrier was down.


    Matt turned and said to his party, Nows the time to decide. Do we leave? Or do we stay for therger prize?


    Liz got up, and with a grin, asked, What are the chances that a certain scepter is the item that would fit that hole?


    Matt returned her grin. He just had the same thought.


    Everything they came to this ruin for was so close. They just needed to put the puzzle pieces together.


    As everyone prepared to move on, he reactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and they retraced their steps back to the two golems working on the specter. Matt carefully watched the golems and the surroundings as he stepped up to the tform.


    Ready to dodge at any moment, he slipped the scepter out of the golems hands, after checking for traps.


    When nothing happened, he jogged back to his friends.


    Liz had her blood and spear at the ready, prepared for anything to spring to life. Despite no enemies presenting themselves, she didnt lower her guard. She said, Well, that was easy. Almost feels too easy.


    It did, and they all nodded in agreement. But with nothing else to be done, they made their way back to the hall containing the vault.


    After checking the vault, they found that the hole in the door was a perfect fit for the gem embedded in the head of the scepter.


    Not wanting to fall into a trap, Matt used his spiritual sense to scan the scepter. It was aplex piece of rune work, but it didnt seem to be a cursed item or trap. He could tell what most of the runes did.


    Here goes nothing...


    He put a bit of mana into the scepter, and the tip started to glow.


    With a press, the scepter clicked into the vault door, and after a moment, the runes embedded deep inside the door activated. The edges of the door began to glow with a dim light, but it didnt budge. There just wasnt enough mana in the system for the scepter toplete the separation. Not by a long shot.


    Liz, Aster, and Cami had been watching the door with him, and felt the same thing.


    Liz turned with a huff and asked, Were gonna have to fill this ce up, arent we?


    Matt shrugged. If this was a rift, Im sure the ce would start with full mana reserves. We can keep checking the door every so often. Im up for a risk. Even a more risky risk than the ones we usually take. But we should at least <em>try</em> and mitigate the odds of us dying as much as we can.


    In an effort to be as cautious as possible, they hopped on Matts flying sword. They flew close to the ceiling, and mapped out the floor from above.


    The vault was near the elevator, which seemed to be a central shaft that branched out to the rest of the ruin. They found refineries and other smelting equipment, along with stacks of metal that blocked off some halls.


    Their exploration flight took them down various twists and turns, until they finally found what they were looking for.


    An exit.


    It was at the outer wall of the ruin, and seemed to be arger version of the hangar that they had seen a few floors up. Unlikest time, the roll-up door was buried from some sort of cave in. Whether it was already there, or was caused by them in some way, the group wasnt sure.


    After digging for a few minutes, they found themselves outside, and in a copse of trees. Before they returned to the ruin, they moved a few bushes to hide the hole they dug out.


    It wasnt perfect camouge, as they had made the holerge enough for them to fly through, in case they needed a quick escape. But hopefully it would stop any casual observers.


    Returning to the vault, they quickly discovered that things didnt go as they hoped.


    Every fifteen minutes and 36,000 mana, they tried the door. Unfortunately, the result was always the same, even as more and more of the nearby halls started to brighten.


    Matt couldnt just dump his mana in one single ce, and they didnt want to risk overloading the runes near the vault. To prevent that, he rotated to a different part of the wall every five minutes.


    As the time and mana he put into the ruin increased, so did the sense of worry among them.


    Down the other halls, they could hear heavy sounds of activated golems, but nothing came to their corner of the ruin.


    They were close to the one million mana mark, and a little over seven hours, when the scepter made an audible click, and the solid door swung open towards them. The seams of the door glowed with the power of the runes that had split the metal.


    As the doors of the vault opened, Matts eyes widened, as did everyone elses.


    The vault was full of valuables, and they scrambled to stuff as much as they could in their bags, leaving the scepter in the door. The first section had various small bits of metals that felt strong in essence. They were at least peak Tier 6, or possibly low Tier 7. The second shelf had crumbled dust patterns that looked like old herbs, or other organic materials.


    Liz paused long enough to pout. How long does it take for herbs to turn to <em>dust</em>?


    As the one who practiced alchemy, seeing all of the materials wasted by the passage of time had to irritate her.


    They moved past the decayed cloth and dried bottles of potions, and found a small rack of finished items and weapons.


    After they shoved them into their spatial bags, they passed thest rack and saw a glowing core. It was exactly like the one from the utility golem, only hundreds of times more massive. It was in a container that looked like clear crystal of some kind, but from the essence it radiated, the material was something far stronger and higher Tiered than them. There were also arm thick cables running from it to various walls, floors, and ceilings.


    This core was only glowing slightly, and was spinning ever so slowly.


    Matt paused and looked at everyone else.


    None of them wanted to charge that thing up.


    Do we break it?


    Cami withdrew her mace, and brought it down on the crystal. Not a single spark or scratch appeared from the impact. Seeing that they couldn''t damage the core, they started to back out without needing to speak.


    All was for naught.


    With his spiritual sense, Matt could feel the slight draw of the core pulling in ambient mana. With a bit more checking, he found the conduits that were feeding mana to the core.


    The increase in light and spin was visible, but slow. The problem was that both were increasing. After a few seconds, the rate of increase became somewhat concerning.


    Matts AI raced with the calctions, and the output was bad. Warnings from his AI started covering his vision.


    Oh, shit. Run!


    Matt''s shout jolted them out of their stupor, and they ran back to the vault door. Pulling out his flying sword, they jumped on and flew through the ruin, towards their dug out exit.


    This time, Matt didnt worry about being subtle and flying near the tall ceilings. No, he flew as fast as he could, while braking hard to take the corners.


    As they passed the various golems and factories, they watched as the denizens of the ruin slowly came to life, and all of the mana within the ruin was being sucked to its center.


    Matt watched his HUD as it calcted the mana drain, and while his regeneration was being sucked away.


    The drain on his mana hit 5 MPS when the air was practically drained of all mana, and it began rushing in from the outside to fill the void.


    Not slowing down, Matt flew them out and through their dug out exit.


    As they passed the hangar, he had enough time to spot dozens of golems with what seemed like skeletal wings.


    They were arranged in neat and orderly rows, standing at the hanger doors.


    Waiting.


    As they reached the outside, Matt pulled them up, and increased their speed as much as he could. The mana drain was getting worse as they flew through the ruin, and they were unable to increase the distance faster than the mana was being drawn in.


    Once he was outside and able to open the throttle up, Matt put the remaining 25 MPS he had into the sword, with a paltry 5 MPS going into [Cracked Phantom Armor]. But as the distance increased, the mana drain from the ruin lessened. When the drain was back to nothing, Matt stopped the flying sword and hovered.


    He thought he would need his AI to point out the mountain that the ruin was hiding in, but it was visible from their position.


    Matt could see the ambient mana rushing into the mountain, which seemed to be growing in size.


    Liz figured it out before he did.


    The damn ruin is <em>flying</em>.


    As they watched in shock and horror, the entire mountain rose into the sky. Eventually, andslide urred, and it revealed the ruin in all of its glory.


    Before their eyes, the entire ruin was exposed and ascending. To make matters worse, small figures swarmed out, as if the floating mountain was a kicked over anthill.


    The collector spider drones were the first out, and they swarmed in dark clouds. Trees, rocks, and seemingly random objects were collected by the swarms, and brought back to the newly activated fortress.


    Matt quickly checked his bag, but the two drones he had snatched were still dormant.


    The next golems to exit were the humanoid golems that they had seen in formation as they left. They seemed to be slightly smaller than the melee golems, and their skeletal wings were now glowing with mana. They took flight in squadrons, patrolling the ruins airspace in tight formations.


    As the three of them watched, Matt whispered, What have we done?


    With its winged guard in tow, the ruin was still floating higher and higher into the sky, while draining all of the mana in the surrounding area.


    Even Matt couldnt fathom how much mana it was absorbing.


    His AI unhelpfully spat out a number for him. If the volume was a near-perfect sphere, and it had a Tier 6s normal ambient mana density, the ruin would have absorbed nearly two million mana thus far. That number was only increasing as the ruins area of effect grew in size.


    Ambient mana and ambient essence tried to equalize themselves across a. The only exceptions were rifts that pulled in ambient mana and expelled essence. Ambient mana was created when anyone cast a skill, or was at their maximum mana. Any mana regeneration that would put an individual over their cap was expelled into the surroundings.


    All of that mana, built up for however many years that the sat unexplored and Tiering up, was being dragged into the ruin. As the predicted mana consumption crossed the five million mark, the draw began to slow. Thes ambient mana stopped rushing towards the area near the ruin to fill the void it had created.


    Matt and Cami let out audible sighs.


    Well fuck.


    Lizs curse summed up Matts feelings perfectly.


    Then, the ruin started to move.


    It wasnt moving directly at them, but near enough that Matt didnt feelfortable. So, he flew to the side. As they watched the ruin move through the air like a castle given wings, several groups of the humanoid golems broke off from their patrol perimeter.


    They were heading directly towards them.


    What do the golems want with us?


    Matt started to fly, but Liz, who was turning her head over her shoulder, shouted, Go faster! Theyre gaining on us!


    Aster started yipping over the heavy winds, and Matt felt the added cold of herunching [Ice Spear]s at their pursuers.


    From his HUD, Matt watched the red dots grow closer.


    <em>How are they faster than us? This is a Tier 7 flying device. Theyre only Tier 6. They should be slower by my calctions! What did we awaken?</em>


    The terror was building in Matts stomach, and he was starting to fear that they had set something in motion that they couldnt undo.


    A sh of light brightened the entire area, and while checking Lizs perspective, he saw a beam of lightnce straight into the sky. The beam from the ruin burned a hole through the sparse cloud cover. It had to be an attack at something above the sky. Three more shots of the beam brightened the sky in the next few moments, and the sinking feeling in Matts stomach grew deeper.


    There was only one thing he could think of that would be <em>that</em> high in the sky.


    He corrected himself. Not the sky, the atmosphere.


    The ruin was taking down the satellite coverage.


    That was a deration of war if he had ever heard of one. The ruin was proiming that it was the master of this, and dared anything to challenge it.


    <em>I hope a Tier 25es and makes a move. There has to be one here, right? I saw Driver fight. He was so fast, even if they needed toe from the city, they should be here already.</em>


    <em>Wait, what about all the Tier 20s going to the world next to us? Cant one of them p this thing out of the air?</em>


    There was only one answer that Matt felt exined why no one was reacting. This was within their expected limits.


    The ruin was only Tier 6, so they would have to deal with it.


    Before he could think any further, he felt a jolt, and a cry of pain escaped his mouth.


    The flying golems had caught up, and they had crossbows. One of them hadnded a shot in his lower back, and it was everything that Matt could do to not copse from the pain.


    His HUD shed. The bolt had punched through both his physical armor and [Cracked Phantom Armor], and was lodged in his small intestines. Going into evasive maneuvers, Matt tried to make them a harder target to hit.


    Being able to see from Lizs perspective was helpful, but the golems were fully charged with mana, and were using the crossbows to great effect at their maximum range.


    With the two teams of six golems each steadily gaining on them, Matt let their altitude slip, aiming for a hole in the canopy of the forest. They didnt have a speed advantage, but Matt hoped that all of his time ying tag with Travis would give him an edge in flying through a dense forest.


    Another bolt missed him and mmed into Cami, who took it much better than he had, and barely let out a whimper.


    If he wasnt mistaken, he thought he saw a grin on the womans face.


    Just before they sunk down into the trees, Aster let loose a barrage of ice. Matt watched as two of the golems on their left went down.


    Cami called out, Cave ahead! We can hold them off there.


    Matt noticed the area and weaved between the trees. As they made a turn, Matt felt a bolt skitter across his back, and cut a deep furrow along a line of ribs. Even Liz called out in pain, and his AIs status reading for her indicated that she had a bolt in her upper thigh.


    As they crossed the threshold of the cave, another bolt bounced into Matts side. Unlike the crossbow bolts that bounced well in the ruin itself, this one had no power left, and didnt prate his armor. He breathed a sigh of relief when the wave of pain he anticipated didnte. He didn''t need to add a second bolt to the budding collection of wounds on his torso.


    With shaky movements, Mattnded the flying sword, and pulled out his longsword. These enemies were already fully powered, and he wanted to be ready to st them.


    The four of them followed the tunnel, stopping just after a bend that would prevent the golems from pelting them with their crossbows.


    They waited with heavy breaths, and Matt channeled [Endurance]. He needed as much healing as he could get before the fight began.


    The problem was, he needed to charge his de with more mana to get [Mana Charge] to 1000 mana. So, he stopped sending mana through [Endurance] and directed it to his longsword. Those thirty seconds were long and painful. But it had to be done to survive, so he pushed through.


    Momentster, they heard the sounds of metal feet approaching, and Matts hand tightened on the hilt of his de. This was a wide cave, and he would be able to use that to his advantage. He just needed to avoid getting hit with another crossbow bolt. He wasn''t sure if he could fight through many more direct hits.


    As the sounds grew closer, Liz whipped arge sphere of blood around the corner, and two bolts mmed into the far wall. Cami followed that up with her extended mace head, and used its range to attack around the corner.


    Matt ignored the pain and AI warnings that he would catch another crossbow bolt in the side, and turned the corner with his longsword fully charged with mana. He swung with all the might [Mages Retreat] could empower him with.


    As he turned the corner, Matt saw a golem being tossed around while encased in blood. From the way the blood appeared more <em>real</em> than the surroundings, Matt gathered that Liz was using her Concept to empower her blood.


    Matt''s sword took a second, uninjured golem in the chest, and he unleashed his [Mana Charge] with a giant sh of blue light. It didn''t get absorbed as he feared, but instead blew the entire top half of the golem into scrap metal.


    Not taking the time to think, Matt pressed forward and engaged the third and fourth golems.


    He saw that a crossbow was raised and pointed at him, but he didn''t deviate from his attack. The bolt grazed across his shoulder while he chopped down on the golems exposed arm.


    These flight models sacrificed the thick armor and heavy construction for their enhanced flight capabilities, and his Tier 5 sword had no problem cutting through them. There was a strain on his sword''s durability rune, but it wasnt bad enough to worry about the de''s integrity. He could always use the repair rune if they made it out of this mess.


    Shoulder checking the fourth golem, Matt lifted it and used it as a shield while charging the next line of golems. Two more bolts mmed into his newly acquired shield, but they were unable to punch through his repurposed golem and armor.


    Matt cut into the next squad of golems with heavy swings of his de, ignoring the pain from his many injuries, while doing what he did best.


    He swung his sword and challenged the world to take him down.


    More teams must have arrived, because there seemed to be no end to the golems.


    After the first two rows, the next line of golems had mana des that he had to contend with. As was the case inside the ruin, [Cracked Phantom Armor] absorbed the strikes from the mana des without struggle. Matt made them pay dearly for each swing.


    The cave filled with more and more dismembered metal limbs as Matt cut down the opposition. Cami joined him after the archers were taken care of, and her mace struck out with his de, crumpling golem after golem with each swing.


    Matt stepped left, in between the shaft of the weapon and the extended head, and struck out at a golem that was trying to tackle Cami.


    Ice and blood dispatched any and every golem that tried to nk the melee fighters.


    Soon, the momentum of their push through the golem ranks slowed, and it eventually turned into a standstill. Liz and Aster came closer to the front, and took any opportunity to use their magic. Liz even sent her spear over to harry the backline.


    They were making progress while pressing forward as four, and eventually reached the front of the cave. There, they found another line of golems with crossbows, which took the chance to unleash their volley.


    A part of him wanted toin that the golems shouldn''t have been smart enough to set an ambush like this, but instead, Matt''s world slowed. Thoughts didn''t matter. They didn''t even happen. All that mattered to him was action. The instinct to protect his friends guided him, and he reacted without any thought or hesitation.


    Reaching down into his Concept, he used its repulsion effect, and spread it out to cover everyone.


    Unlikest time, he didn''t need to slow a mana crystal. He needed to stop half a dozen crossbow bolts that could punch through [Cracked Phantom Armor] <em>and</em> his under armor. The rest of his team would be dead if something didn''t change.


    With the world turning white, the bolts slowed and then stopped, before reversing their direction and rotating to have their tips face the direction of their owners.


    Reaching down for a final burst of power, Matt pushed thest bit of his will harder than he ever had before, and the bolts elerated. He expected them to pierce and kill the golems, but they werent aimed, and only one had the desired effect.


    His team wasnt slow to press the advantage, and as his world went dim, Matt saw them tearing apart their remaining pursuers.

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54


    Matt watched the distant ruin intently as Liz carefully cut the barbed crossbow bolt out of his back.


    The pain in his back was far less intense than the pain in his head.


    Matt repeatedly went over the choices that they No, that <em>he </em>had made to reach this point.


    Their AIs were picking up a few questions and cries for help, but the ruin was still actively shooting down every satellite that orbited the anywhere near it. Because of the destruction, the connection to theNet was spotty this close to the runaway ruin.


    All Matt could think of was the rift breaks that had taken his city by storm.


    A still foggy memory shed before his eyes. <em>Matt was being escorted to the bus stop by his mother, whose face was still blurry. She listened to him talk about something he couldnt quite remember. He thought it was about some show he used to watch, but he couldnt put a finger on it after so many years.</em>


    As he watched a swarm of golems lifting up a tree, the memories continued to flood in.


    <em>After he boarded the bus with his mother, he remembered sitting with his friend, and chatting with them about more innocuous subjects that he couldnt quite remember.</em>


    <em>What he did remember was the scream. The horrible, ear splitting scream. Someone to his left had seen it first, and the screech they had let out at the sight was as startling as it was mind numbing. They rushed to the side of the bus, to get a glimpse of the creature that was a mix between a turtle and a porcupine. The monster seemed massive to the younger Matt, but it was really the size of a small car. It wasrge, but not an unusual size for a Tier 4 monster, but as a child it was huge,rger than life. The rift-rage filled monsterunched a volley of massive spines at the road, directly in front of their bus.</em>


    <em>The spines were longer than Matt was tall at the time, and they skewered a passing car as they screamed through the air. A few even punched through the side of the bus. One kid was impaled through the leg, but overall the passengers had been lucky. Matt could see that now, looking back. But at the time, he was simply petrified at the mere sight of an injury.</em>


    <em>One of the bus tires waspletely shredded by spines, but the driver was able to react in time to avoid disaster. Instead of driving to the edge of the city, where their school was, he drove away from the monsters and towards the city center. Heading for the wealthier, better defended portion of the city proved to be the right decision, as more than half of the general popce was wiped out during the rift break.</em>


    <em>Matt remembered waiting in the ballroom of the fancy hotel they had stopped at, waiting for news. He still felt the fear that came with watching kids getting picked up after another, as their parents came and got them, with his own nowhere to be found.</em>


    Matt reached for his canteen but his hand shook so badly he needed to grip it with both hands to avoid spilling any. The water when he got it down only seemed to give the bile which was churning in his stomach a path to follow to his mouth where the taste lingered.


    <em>He remembered being a part of the group of children that were left overnight, and how they had eventuallye to the realization that no one wasing for them.</em>


    <em>That first night had set the tone for the next few weeks.</em>


    <em>Adults had tried to dodge questions, and no one wanted to tell them the truth about what had happened.</em>


    <em>There was more than one rift break, which led to mass hysteria across the entire capital city of Lilly. The monster that attacked his bus was from one of three rift breaks that had rampaged throughout that particr borough. The second rift break produced a rat-type monster swarm that had eaten everything in its path. The third rift break produced a fire elemental that had burnt down entire neighborhoods, along with giant swaths ofnd.</em>


    <em>The building that he lived in was attacked by the rat swarm, and not even a single body was able to be recovered. The building that his father helped build as a civil engineer had been set alight by the elemental. Even the concrete had been reduced to ashes.</em>


    Matt watched as another group of golems rose up into the air, with some cargo he was unable to identify.


    The twinges in his back were nothing to himpared to the guilt that he felt.


    Matt felt numb to everything in the world, other than the massive pit in his stomach.


    <em>How many have I killed today?</em>


    The thought had been haunting Matt from the very moment he had been roused back to consciousness.


    He was brooding about how many more would be killed as each second passed.


    His hopes of a higher Tier intervening had been dashed as he witnessed the path of destruction widen, instead of being contained.


    Even without his AI tracking the ruins movements, he already knew that it was headed towards the city they had arrived at when teleporting into the.


    He hoped that whoever the Seven Suns had sent to oversee the ce would be able to take the ruin out once and for all. It was a small hope, but it was the only thing that helped.


    As he felt the bolt being carefully pulled out of his back, he heard Liz ask, You good Matt?


    She rubbed his shoulder, but her normally soothing touch was nofort to him.


    How could he face the most important woman in his life after what he had done?


    He had no doubts that this was entirely his fault. If he hadnt pushed to investigate the vault, this would have never happened.


    If he hadnt insisted on powering up the ruin to get into the vault, this repressed nightmare wouldnt be recurring before his eyes.


    He was so used to rifts being self-contained, that he had gotten ustomed to none of his actions having any real consequences.


    From their vantage point, they were able to see skills being used, and golems flocking to the areas where thetest victims were putting up resistance. Now, he was sure that the death toll was only increasing.


    His stomach kept insisting on purging all of its contents, and it was only theplete insensibility to anything but his guilt that prevented him from vomiting.


    Liz tried to get through to him again. He was unable to keep from flinching at her touch. He didnt deserve herpassion.


    Matt, talk to me Please? Youre closing up. Even Aster is worried.


    He looked down at Aster, who was curled up at his feet. He felt a pang of remorse, but kept their connection closed. Even she couldnt handle the cold that he bore in his heart.


    It was his burden, not hers.


    Liz... I did all of this. This is my fault.


    He half expected her to hate him, and the other half expected her to deny it. He wasnt sure which would be worse.


    Liz plopped down next to him and picked up Aster. The fox took her usual ce on hisp.


    She looked into his eyes with her cier blue gemstones, but he found it hard to return her gaze. His bond looked at him with love and eptance, while pushing both at him, along with partially formedments of reassurance.


    He didnt deserve that either.


    Liz interrupted his mental self-harm when she leaned her head on his shoulder and squeezed his hand. Her whisper barely reached his ear, We fucked this one up pretty badly, huh?


    Matt blurted out, with more venom in his voice than he intended, Not <em>we</em>. It was <em>me</em>.


    Cami, from behind them, spoke before he could continue. No, Matt. it was all of us. <em>We</em> fucked up. Each of us. You werent the only one who wanted to explore the vault. Or the ruin.


    It... That was all he got out before Liz jumped in.


    <em>We</em> fucked up, yes. But I think this one was inevitable. We just sped up the process.


    As he opened his mouth to refute her, he stopped and followed the line of logic. He was desperate for anything that would absolve him of the guilt that was boring deeper and deeper into his gut with each passing moment.


    Sure, we did input mana into the system, but remember that the golems started to glow on their own. That was even before we started contributing mana to the ruin. I think that first blow in the fight with the first golem was what started the reaction that eventually led to the ruin absorbing ambient mana.


    That made a lot of sense to him, but as much as he wanted to believe her words, it was an indisputable fact that he had sped up the process by nearly two million mana. It was his fault that this had happened so soon, if nothing else.


    At this point, Asters wet nose was pressed into his throat. The sensation jarred him enough to drop the barrier that he had maintained between them.


    He was immediately flooded with happy thoughts and some haphazardly formed words.


    She had been getting better at forming her thoughts into words, rather than feelings and images, as her intelligence increased from advancing to Tier 5.


    But her efforts did little to reassure him.


    He was far too engrossed in watching the destruction as the ruin passed. His only hope at absolution was a higher Tier on the cleaning up his mess. There was at least one Tier 7 group on the. They had been in the group that they had arrived on the with.


    A single Tier of advantage wasnt huge, but it should be enough to deal with the golems. Even if the Tier 15s in the star system didnt act, the Tier 7s should be able to avert this crisis to a degree.


    With [Endurance] running with as much mana as he could muster, he checked his AI for Liz and Camis mana pools, and pushed with everything he had towards them.


    Cami was startled, if the noise he heard from behind him was any indication. But he knew that Liz was still hurting, and he could care less about his secret being exposed when her health was on the line. He had more permissions to her AI, and was able to see that her leg injury would be slow to heal, as she was rationing her mana.


    They wouldnt be perfectly healed any time soon, with [Endurance] only bolstering the bodys natural healing. But they could bebat-ready in a few hours, and fully healed in a few days. He was giving them enough mana to keep their respective healing spells going. The bolts hadnt had any anti-healing enchantments or poison, which simplified the process.


    With his emotions still unsettled, Matt moved to his bag. The movement pulled at the wounds on his back with newly forming scabs. They ripped open as he shifted his weight, only to be healed over again quickly by [Endurance].


    Cami moved over and interrupted his brooding. So... Why is my mana regen suddenly a lot higher? I wouldnt ask usually, but this isnt normal. At first, I thought it was just an oddity from being in the ruin. But now...


    She trailed off, but the question was obvious.


    Matt tried to think of a clever excuse, but he just didnt have it in him to keep the ruse up, so he told the truth. At least most of it.


    I have a Concept that allows me to pass mana along to others.


    He paused, and considered that she had also seen the other half of his Concept. He added, And can push things away, but thats a secondary function. It''s a bit more... He searched for the word he wanted. Expensive to use.


    And this wont deplete your mana reserves or anything? I dont want you to run out of mana just from trying to keep us going.


    Matt didnt answer immediately and just watched her. Did she not do any calctions regarding how much mana he was putting into the ruin? He was sure that they had mentioned his abnormal regeneration.


    Was she trying to get more information out of him by ying dumb? Matt decided that it was the most likely answer, and just nodded.


    I can put out a lot of mana. Lets leave it at that. Dont worry about me, at least when ites to that. This side of my Concept is easier to use, and doesnt drain me as much, but I cant control who gets it yet. Only the size of the area is under my influence, so I wont use it near others. But this will help us keep going.


    Cami dropped to the ground next to them and said, What are we going to do? Even if the same thing would have happened with anyone else going into the ruin, we still started it. Were culpable for whats going on out there.


    Matt felt the weight of that responsibility fall squarely on his shoulders.


    Cami was right. They needed to do something.


    Matt wanted to upload the information they had on the golems, but there was no signal in the area. Just to be sure, he checked his AI and ended up getting a ping from theNet.


    It quickly grew stronger, but before he could send a message on thework, a message came through to him.


    The message was a video conference and chatroom. The quality was bad, but improving.


    The man spoke with a voice that sounded like gravel. Matt thought it was a problem with the connection, but as the video improved, he saw that the man appeared as if he was cut from stone. Literally. He was all hard edges and sharp corners.


    Im sure most of you know me, but for those foreigners, I am Prince Albert, fourth prince of the Seven Suns kingdom. We are currently leading an escape from the northernmost teleporter city.


    The man swallowed, and his crystalline skin rippled with his swallow.


    The flying fortress is headed our way, and we have been unable to stop it.


    The chat, which was moving quickly, started to fly by with repeats of the same messages.


    What about the overseers?


    What about the Tier 15s?


    Those were the two mostmon questions and the rest echoed that sentiment.


    The prince raised a hand, but as he was speaking to a camera, the gesture was useless. Morements and questions came pouring in.


    We are unable to get help from the Tier 15 watching over the teleporter. He has stated that this is our problem, and to that end, he had restricted ess to the tform to iing teleports only. To furtherplicate matters, he has captured the Tier 7 teams, and is holding them back from interfering.


    Matt and the others were shocked by that revtion.


    It echoed Matts greatest fears.


    The prince called for calm, but the chat exploded from the new information.


    We apologize for this news. We believe that this is an assassination attempt. As We are low Tier 6, sending a peak Tier 6 disaster like this is within the rules. Again, We apologize profusely for getting the rest of you wrapped up in this. Tobat this disaster, We ask that all functional teams move to the designated locations, and move to protect each other. We currently are using the reserve satellites to get this message out, as the fortress is shooting down any satellites that venture near it.


    Albert raised a hand to seemingly wipe his face, but aborted the motion.


    Our final action before we retreat will be to ground the remaining satellites, in an effort to ensure thatmunication will remain a possibility. The satellites can make a nominal consultation hub, and ensure that information can be passed through thework. Though, it will be limited. We are transmitting the estimated crash locations now. We ask anyone able, protect the lower Tier adventurers. Once again, We apologize for the hardship that has befallen us all.


    The prince looked to cut the transmission, but paused.


    Hope filled his voice.


    We have just received a message containing information about the fortress from a private source. It will be transmitted to everyone now.


    Matt looked around, and Cam rolled her eyes.


    Im not going to out us, but its good information that needs to be shared. We can help people without putting a target on our back.


    Before he could think over the ramifications of her actions, the princes words cut through.


    Please take this information and protect yourselves. We suggest that anyone wishing to let this blow over head to a rift, and stay inside for the next few weeks. If you can hold the entrance for fifteen minutes, the rift will instance, and you will have only to contend with the rift itself. This mess will be solved either way, once that much time has passed.


    For those that are willing and able to fight, please head to the crash sites, and well distribute more information once we are no longer running. If you...


    With that, the transmission cut off, and Matt rubbed his face in his hands.


    I dont think hiding that we did this is a good idea. The thought of causing this and not taking responsibility made Matts guts roil.


    Liz nodded with him but Cami kicked his leg hard and red at Liz who was out of her reach.


    Think it through. We fucked up, sure. But whos to say that they wont just slit our throats? This isnt the Empire proper, or even a <em>civilized</em> ce like the capital. Your status of being on The Path wont matter for shit here. Stop being naive. There is nomunication off this rock and no one to help us but ourselves


    That stung, but a part of Matt whispered that she was right, and that they could just avoid responsibility for now. He agreed with the assessment, but he also wanted, and even needed, to do something to mitigate the damage he had caused. He also had understood her jab about the capital of this vassal kingdom, being civilized. As they knew from experience, that was hardly the case.


    But in the end, the fear of getting killed in retaliation won, and Matt didnt argue with her any more. The cowardice just added to the weight of all the deaths that he had caused, but it wasnt enough to risk Liz and Asters lives in the crossfire.


    Liz spoke up. The prince might be right, though.


    Seeing their confusion, she borated. About this being an assassination attempt. The world is under the control of the two Tier 15 overseers. Holding back and not stopping this is one thing. You could even argue that this is a good training scenario. But not protecting the city, and only protecting the teleporter is another thing entirely. Capturing the Tier 7 teams also points to some sort of foul y. I wouldnt be surprised if theyre a part of one of the other heirs factions, and using this as an assassination attempt of opportunity.


    Matt was genuinely shocked at the idea. Why would siblings try to kill each other? Any death would be investigated.


    Liz shrugged.


    This isnt tolerated in the Empire proper, but here, the titles are hereditary. So that means, if you can make sure that youre thest one standing...


    She let the statement peter off. It was enough.


    Matt just couldnt believe that someone would let so many lives be endangered, simply for the chance at killing one single prince. He could understand the power ys, but to be willing to write off so many lives? No, that was more than he could easily stomach.


    He just shook his head, while using the sensation of Asters silky fur under his hands to calm himself down.


    The fact this was his fault, and that he brought on another instance of the same disaster that had taken so much from him, ate at him. There was just nothing that he could do about it.


    <em>I swear, I will do whatever I can to fix this. Well get to thending site, and Im sure that the prince will want to send strike teams to the ruin or something. I can help.</em>


    Matt looked to the rest of his team, judging their moods before correcting himself.


    <em>We can help. We have to help. The sooner we bring that behemoth down, the sooner the deaths of the innocent will stop.</em>


    The roiling in his stomach lessened, and he calmed down once the decision was made. It wasnt a perfect answer, but Matt never imed to be perfect. This was the best he could do.


    He made to stand, but Liz grabbed his hand and pulled him down.


    No.


    Matt started to exin, but she shook her head.


    Matt, we need to rest and recover. You have the worst injuries out of all of us, and the slowest healing. You cant be half as effective as usual if we want to actually help.


    Thats true, sure. But its not important. I can heal just as well on the move. We need to get going.


    Cami supported Lizs point.


    We cant even move right now, with the golems still patrolling. Besides, moving on foot is too slow. It''s better to wait, and then fly just above the treeline, when its safe.


    She met his eyes, for what he realized was the first time.


    Matt, getting yourself killed helps no one. Think it through. Dont listen to the guilt. I know where that path leads


    The guilt is the worst part, Cami. I <em>We</em> did this. <em>We</em> set this in motion. This is <em>our</em> fault.


    Yes, it is. But think about it more. This is a subjugation. No one here is unaware of the risks. Sure, the Tier 15 is fucking us by not letting the higher Tiers participate, but were still good fighters. Or at least, you three are. Im not quite at that level yet, but still. Even at Tier 5, we can make a difference. But getting killed because were injured and were too impatient is just stupid.


    Liz chimed in. We can even try and gather some people for the re-engagement as we move to the nearest gathering point.


    That reminded Matt to check for the nearest location of a gathering point, set by the prince. The n was set in motion, and while it might not be perfect, it was what everyone else had heard. And so, they needed to follow it. At least far enough to getmunications established. Other, more involved and impactful ns could follow from that. But until then, they were limited to following the majority.


    The news wasnt good. The closestnding site was incredibly far away. The nearly two hundred miles was a short trip on his flying sword, but the more Matt thought about it, the worse the idea sounded. The forest gave them cover, and they would need that if they were to move undetected.


    Matt also wanted to try and rescue as many people in their area as possible. If their teleport group was representative of the average subjugation group for this, there would be quite a few Tier 4s.


    If they didnt get help, they would be ughtered en masse.


    Matt felt responsible for them.


    This was still his fault.


    Ok, lets rest up for the evening. Its almost dark here anyway.


    With [Endurance] eating most of his mana, Matt paced around the entrance of the cave that they had set up camp in. During his watch, he watched as the scene outside the cave returned to a quiet normal. There was a swath ofnd that was absolutely devastated by the ruins drones, and the area in front of their cave was no exception. But the scale waspletely different whenpared to the area directly below the floating mountain.


    Matt made ns while he paced back and forth. Even with [Endurance] helping to keep him going, he was tired and wanted to sleep. Aster had refused to leave his side, and was curled over his shoulders. It was awkward, but he didnt have it in him to push her away.


    When his shift ended, he was so tired, he hardly even took note of Cami sharing the tent. It was a four-person tent, and was plentyrge enough for two to befortable and not cramped. But he worried that the somewhat close quarters would make the girl ufortable. In the end, his tiredness won out over his concern, and he craved the climate control that the tent offered.


    The next morning, he was so stiff and sore, getting out of the tent was a chore. Even with [Endurance] being channeled from the moment he woke up, moving was still a struggle. It wasnt a perfect skill, even when expanded as it had been. It was just all they had and the best that they could get.


    The skill still helped, and seeing Cami on watch, he started to cook breakfast. The smell woke Liz and Aster, and brought Cami back into the cave.


    After they scarfed down the food, Liz spoke up.


    I think we should move in a wide, zig-zag pattern until we find people. Once we do, we can either help them if they need it, or start getting people to meet up at the crash site. Most wont have a flying item, and we can act as messengers for the prince.


    Matt nodded at her suggestion. Getting people to group up would be a step in the right direction. There would be safety in numbers.


    With the n set, they moved to the entrance and got on the flying sword.


    In wide sweeping arcs, they used the speed of the de to cover lots of ground. The first two groups they found were Tier 6 teams, who appreciated being directed towards one another.


    The third group turned out to be a problem.


    It was a group of what seemed to be two parties, being chased by a swarm of the spiders that they had been ambushed by in the ruin. They were almostpletely encircled by the time the group got close enough to help.


    Why they were out of the ruin, was a question that Matt couldnt answer. But the monsters glowed with the mana that they had absorbed.


    Their quick movements through the forested terrain were in stark contrast to their haphazard actions in the ruin. The added speed of the spiders attacks only added to the danger of their mana enhanced, ded legs.


    Matt dropped from the flying sword with Cami, while Liz and Aster started to rain down attacks from above.


    One of the group shouted to them, but their words were lost over the noise of battle.


    Matt brought his longsword around and released a [Mana Charge], and disintegrated three of the skittering spider golems.


    He saw Camis mace sweep through the mass of monsters, and they started to pull back alongside the newly discovered group, as the wave of spider golems kept approaching. Their intervention pulled the swarm in two directions, which was enough to stop the other group of cultivators from being surrounded.


    A mass of blood fell from the sky, and started to sweep back and forth through the backline of the monsters. Matt didnt have the time to truly appreciate the damage that Liz was doing. But from the sound of sshing, he knew Liz was probably taking out more golems on her own than he and Cami were together.


    A wave of cold washed over him from his side, and between swings of his sword, Matt sawrge shards of ice shred through scores of spider golems.


    From the other group, a wave of [Earth Spikes] added to the chaos, and the ensuing carnage seemed to be enough to force the spider golems to retreat.En masse, they turned and disappeared into the forest.


    After the battle, the other group came over to them. Out of the eleven cultivators, all but one was limping, and a quick scan told Matt that he was the only Tier 6 of the bunch.


    He came over and put out a hand, quickly shaking both his and Camis, before introducing himself.


    Geraden, Tier 6 solo fighter. I picked up these groups on my way to the meeting area. Please tell me there are others there. We need medical aid and some rest. This is the third ambush weve been hit with so far, and were almost out of mana.


    Matt took all that in, and nodded at the man. He reached into his bag and pulled out two of their clotting potions. They werent true healing potions, but they could stabilize an injured person for a while. He didnt give them everything, since they only had two dozen, and these resources would be increasingly scarce while the outpost was destroyed. Crafters needed workshops and infrastructure to work properly, and that would be in short supply with the ruin destroying everything it could.


    As the potions were sparingly used, Matt thanked the man for his help with the lower Tiers. The reaction he got was not what he expected.


    I couldnt give two shits about the people. These golems are destroying the forest with no regard for nature. If it wasnt destroying everything it touched, I wouldnt care at all if it ughtered everyone here.


    Matt looked closer at the man. He was wearing what looked like woven-together leaves and vines. His staff felt more like a living tree than a piece of deadwood. The mans manufactured boots seemed like a contradiction to the nature man theme, but they were a top-of-the-line hiking andbat boot. Matt knew, only because he was wearing a nearly identical pair.


    Shrugging, Matt just looked at the retreating swarm.


    Did you all see where they came from, or have any guesses where theyreing from?


    Geraden nodded, and said, The shits were camped out at a surface ore vein, and were reproducing. We stumbled on them, and well... We didnt win. Lets leave it at that.


    Matt looked to the rest of his team, and they all nodded. They had their next target.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55


    Before they could venture after the retreating hoard of spider golems, someone came over from the group of wounded. The hope was apparent in her voice as she called out to them.


    "Are you from the prince''s group!? Have youe to help us!?"


    Matt didn''t know what could have given her that indication. ncing around to Liz and Cami, he could tell from their bodynguage that they were just as confused. They did their best to hide it, but he could read them well enough, especially after all the time they had spent together.


    Being the closest to the woman, Matt shook his head in response. "No, were just a wandering team trying to help however we can."


    He paused for a moment, debating whether he should ask, and decided to sate his curiosity. "Why do you think were with the prince?"


    She cocked her head at the question. With the dried blood still coating most of her head, it made for a weird sight.


    "Did you not get the message? After the prince''s broadcast, there was a second message. A text-only message that he was sending some of the stronger people with flight items to the gathering points."


    She pointed at the still hovering Liz and Aster. "You guys are Tier 5, and you fight like Tier 6s. You even have a flight item. Who else other than those close to the prince would be like that?"


    Matt didn''t know what to say, but didn''t want to lie any more than he had to.


    "I see. Sorry, we aren''t a part of the group that was sent out. Were just trying to do what we can..." At the woman''s downcast expression, he added, "The prince''s representative is probably on their way. They would have needed to fight directly under the fortress or go around. Going around is a lot safer."


    That seemed to work well enough, and she limped back to the other two teams. Looking back to Geraden, he nodded at the man''s impatience. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot, and looked ready to run at any moment.


    As soon as Matt''s armored form turned to him, he started to take off and asked, "You ready? Let''s go already!"


    Liz brought the flying sword over to him, but Matt shook his head. "You and Cami stay on the sword. I won''t run out of stamina, so I''ll stay down here and make sure Geraden doesn''t get ambushed."


    At that, Matt took off after the already retreating man. Matt assumed that with [Mage''s Retreat] and [Endurance], he would have zero issues in keeping up. But the Tier 6 moved through the forest as if he was born there. The bushes and shrubs that Matt had to avoid or plow through didn''t seem to phase the man at all. He ran as if he was on a wide open track.


    As they ran, Matt kept inmunication with Liz. While the satellites had been taken out, their individual AIs were still able to link over a short distance. It was enough for Matt to take advantage of her bird''s eye view.


    They didn''t fly too high, for fear that a patrolling golem would see them and engage. Still, a vantage point at even minimal altitude allowed Matt to see further than he could at ground level. The dense underbrush in this part of the forest was obstructing his view.


    A little over ten minutes of running brought them to a mountain with arge crack in the side of it. The fissure traveled the entire height of the mountain, and gave them a glimpse of the mountains interior. It was <em>teeming</em> with spider golems.


    They crawled over each other in what appeared to be total chaos, until his AI identified a pattern in the golems movements. They were feeding raw ore into a massive, rectangr construct which processed the ore. The spider golems were then building something with the processed ore.


    Geraden''s fist tightened around his staff, which creaked audibly at the applied force.


    "We need to destroy that factory at the center of the mountain."


    Matt looked at the man tly for a moment. That was so obvious, he was wondering if the man was all there in the head.


    "Yeah, but how do we do that? Theres thousands of spiders down there. If..."


    Geraden cut Matt off with a chopping motion, "If we don''t move now, there will be tens of thousands. Think about how much damage that could cause to the surroundings. I can''t allow that!"


    Under [Cracked Phantom Armor], Matt raised an eyebrow. The man really didn''t care about anything but the nature around them.


    Looking for info about the man''s capabilities, he asked, "Do you have some range? Or at least something that can take out the factory from this distance? We have some ranged skills, but you would be a big help. I don''t think our ice mage can guarantee a kill from this distance."


    Geraden rubbed a hand on his staff, while murmuring something too low for Matt to pick it up. He spent nearly a minute looking around the fissure, eventually shaking his head.


    "I can''t do more than an off chance at best. I think were going to have to rely on your ice mage, and hope of the best while we do this the hard way."


    After a slight pause, he added, "If you can get the protective casing broken, I can probably take out that processing unit, but that won''t do much good if were already fighting."


    Matt had been watching the factory intently as well, and said, "Looks like one spider gets popped out every thirty seconds or so. We can definitely kill them faster than that, but taking it out would be nice."


    When he looked up to Liz, Aster, and Cami, the girls flew down for just long enough to let Cami join them on the ground.


    Geraden looked around and shook his head, clearly irritated.


    Matt understood. There were a lot of golems, and waiting would only make the problem worse.


    Cami broke the silence, "We can always just hit and run with our mages in the air. It''s a lot easier for them to disengage that way."


    Matt answered, "It''s not them I''m worried about. I don''t want <em>us</em> swarmed. Theyre Tier 6..." He paused. The golems in the ruin had been Tier 6. These were being made from local materials, which meant that they could be weaker.


    Reaching out with his spiritual sense, he felt the golems. They were weaker than Tier 6, but not by much. They were Tier 5 if his spiritual scan of the nearest golems, and the ones at the edge of the ore vein, was correct.


    "Actually, theyre only Tier 5 because of their source materials. This isn''t impossible. I can block out these golems attacks for the most part."


    Looking around, Matt searched for a suitable ce to stage their attack on the factory, but found none. These spiders had already proven that they could climb on ceilings, let alone the walls of the fissure just ahead of them. A steep wall would only give them a way to climb above them.


    "I think Geraden is right. Were just going to have to fight this out."


    The three of them moved to the edge of the fissure and watched as blood and ice rained down on the swarm. The first ice spear was massive, but shattered on the ore processing units hard outer shell. There was a rent, but the overallck of damage confirmed that the factory itself was Tier 6.


    That first strike signaled the spiders to go into action and swarm. After seeing the mages were out of range, they dove at the trio of targets within their reach.


    Matt stood with his longsword charged and at the ready. When thebatants came in close, he brought his de down, and released the mana umted inside with a massive explosion. The ground quaked from the shockwave; the wash of mana destroyed all of the spider golems within five feet of the blow.


    The area wiped clean of enemies was quickly repopted and Matt cast [Hail] right in front of their position. The ice slowed the spider golems down, but the real advantage was the ice that tumbled down the steep cliff they were defending. It was instantly grabbed by Aster, and she used it to sweep across the terrain, and wiped out a whole slew of golems.


    As new monsters reced the destroyed ones, Matt fell into a rhythm, and started killing in earnest. When they got under his feet, he stomped down and crushed their fragile bodies. When they tried to leap at him, he used his free hand to rip them off his body; crushing them underfoot or throwing them off the cliff.


    Essence flowed into his core in a stream.


    On his right, Matt could see Cami in brief shes. She was using her whip more than her mace. The range and length of the weapon was doing more than the mace could, even against enemies made of metal.


    His AI also registered that the damage she was inflicting to the Tier 5 metal implied that the weapon had been upgraded past her own Tier. Matt took note of that, but it wasn''t exactly a priority.


    To his left, Geraden was mostly an unknown, but the Tier 6 seemed to be holding his own against the waves of spider golems.


    After dispatching a group of spiders with a spinning sweep of his de, Matt was facing the Tier 6 man, and got a better look at the mans fighting style. He was doing a lot more than just holding his own.


    Spikes of stone rose out of the ground to impale the skittering golems in waves. Matt thought it was an odd use of [Earth Spike], or possibly a cracked version. But the man wasn''t limited to that single skill. He used his staff like a club. Each swing crumpled the golems, and when they surrounded the man, he would m the butt of his staff down on the ground. Thick roots would surge out of the ground around the earth mage and grab the golems, before retracting into the ground, leaving the earthpletely unscathed.


    Matt was pretty sure it was [Entangle], but the skill should have been a single target ability, instead of an area of effect.


    Thest thing Matt noticed was that his staff seemed to hit with more force than it should, considering its apparent mass. When Geraden swung the weapon and knocked a spider out of the air, it didn''t just get sent flying... It waspletely disintegrated.


    All was noted with his AI for future use.


    But for all the good they did in killing wave after wave of golems, they were all overshadowed by Liz. She was constantly using [Create Blood] and the skies rained red. As the blood increased, it started to form veritable tidal waves that crashed down on the spiders. When the golems started to avoid the mass of blood, she split the mass of liquid into quarters and sent four smaller waves of blood in different directions.


    From his vantage point, Matt watched as spider after spider threw themselves into the blender of blood and metal that Liz had created. As she approached the factory, the spiders gave her blood constructs more and more attention. Soon, nearly all of them were attacking the blood rather than the melee fighters.


    As Matt watched, Geraden threw his staff towards the giant ore processor. It flew more like a javelin than arge staff, and he threw it with extreme precision.


    When itnded in the small crack Aster had made, Matt was impressed. When the staff began to expand in a mass of leaves and roots, he was shocked.


    It made sense that the staff had felt alive to Matt earlier, as it was turning into a giant tree before his very eyes. Its trunk expanded throughout the factory, and destroyed the ore processor in the process.


    With the device taken out, and the production of golems halted, the spiders seemed to lose cohesion. Each of them started to act independently, instead of as a unit.


    Matt and the other two melee fighters moved into the fissure. As they advanced, they picked off the few remaining spiders in a rush.


    Aster sent sheets of cold at the fleeing spiders from Liz''s backpack, which slowed them and limited their movements. Their small size meant that they were more susceptible to frozen joints. Their limbs would stop working as the ice took hold. Soon, thest of the spiders were swallowed up by the newly formed tree.


    Liz and Aster floated down, with Liz rubbing her armored head. She had overused her [Blood Maniption] while killing the golems. Meanwhile, his spirit was nearly full with essence from the nearly thousand golems they had killed.


    While he advanced, Matt slowly started to allocate the newly acquired essence to his physical core. It was a lot easier for him now, thanks to the skill maniption methods he had learned from ying with [Endurance]s structure. But the task still required most of his attention.


    As the five of them met up, Cami looked to Geraden. "You carry a tree with you?"


    The man chuckled and patted the tree like a pet.


    "Den is a good tree. We do everything together."


    Matt checked the tree again and, now that he was looking for it, he felt the same bond that existed between him and Aster.


    They were a bonded pair.


    It wasn''t something that he had even thought possible. Nothing he had read or heard had ever mentioned anything of the sort.


    Which left one possibility.


    Talents.


    They didn''t follow the rules, and were known for strange phenomena. Matt was just surprised at how weird this one was.


    <em>Does the tree think? Will it get a human form at Tier 15?</em>


    Matt didn''t have answers, and didn''t feel that it was appropriate to ask the man. It would be incredibly rude, and would open him up to the same question, which was a situation he preferred to avoid.


    "We should meet back up with the wounded, and ensure that they get back to the gathering point safely. Can you move your tree, Geraden...?" Matt petered off at the end at the absurdity of the question. Trees didn''t move, but this was a special case. It still felt weird to ask, though.


    "Yeah, just give me a couple of minutes. Shrinking Den isn''t as fast as rooting him."


    Matt watched on, as Geraden walked up to the tree and started to rub the bark while whispering words of praise at the tree. Overall, it was one of the strangest moments that Matt had ever experienced.


    It was so out of the norm, he momentarily forgot about the horror of the golems they had unleashed. He was actually able to enjoy the sight of a tree slowly shrinking, with its branches pulling back in.


    With Den back in his portable form, they began to retrace their steps and moved to catch up with the wounded.


    Before they met up with the group, Liz messaged Matt from above.


    ''Theres a group of people about four miles to your right. Theyre fighting, but we aren''t sure what. We only saw a single sh of a spell.''


    Matt ryed the information to Geraden, who moved to intercept without saying a word.


    Putting 20 MPS into [Mage''s Retreat], Matt nearly kept up with Liz on the flying sword. She pulled ahead slightly, but over the short distance, it didn''t matter much.


    As they arrived, Matt heard the fighting before he could see it. The forest was thick with underbrush. Matt half expected more spider golems, but instead he came upon a group of humanoid golems. They were the variety that they had encountered in the lower floors of the ruin. Shield and sword users.


    Matt threw himself into the fray and hacked down on the nearest golem. He destroyed an entire side of its metal body with a burst of mana. The rush of essence indicated that he had appropriately dealt with the golem, and he thrust towards the next enemy with his de.


    The attack slipped into the shoulder of the next golem. He dug in, lunging into the attack. The downward momentum of his weight allowed him to slice all the way through the golem, mana shield and all. He was left with a golem split in two, down to the waist.


    Kicking the golem off his de, he turned to see that he had brought plenty of hostile attention to himself. It was enough to provide this new group of eleven a moment to breathe.


    Two more of the shielded golems were already on Matt, with shields facing him. They kept close enough to him that he was unable to take advantage of his longsword skills.


    Dropping a cast of [Hail], he parried a blow from a mana sword and chopped his de down hard at the extended arm.


    The problem was, these particr golems were Tier 6, and his de was only Tier 5. It didn''t have the strength to cut through the metal as easily as it did with the freshly fabricated spiders, or weaker ranged golems.


    Matt wasnt phased, and struck out with two more heavy blows. He sidestepped the counterstrikes from the golems in front of him, only to get nked by a third.


    As the trio tried to circle him and take him down, Matt noticed how spread out the golems were and took a chance, charging forward and shoulder checking one. Dropping his longsword, he grabbed the mana erged shield and pulled as hard as he could. When he had the golem off bnce, he kicked as hard as he could at the golems leading leg.


    Something cracked and, as the golem stumbled, Matt punched the golem''s head. There was a slight heat emanating from his vambrace and he remembered what the Baroness had told him when handing them over as payment.


    The vambraces would empower unarmed melee attacks, making it much easier to break bones with hand to hand strikes. Apparently, a golem''s metal structure counted as bones for the enchantment.


    Smiling under his ghostly helmet, Matt sidestepped a swing from the remaining golems mana de and grabbed its wrist. He extended the arm, and punched the joint with a [Cracked Phantom Armor] spiked fist. The pop of metal was satisfying, and he brought his fist back around, letting loose a flurry of punches into the golem''s chest.


    Each blow broke a different metalponent, and the vambraces heated up slightly with each rapid blow. Matt used his bulk to take a golem down to the ground, letting his vambrace enhanced fists make short work of the golems near him. When hended a blow to their chests, itpletely destroyed the defensiveyers of their metal structure. With their armor taken care of, he was able to quickly break the more fragile cores that powered the metal lifeforms.


    As he reached for another golem, a massive wolf jumped out from the surrounding foliage, and quickly shredded the monster it grabbed with a violent shake of its head.


    Seeing that the beast was on his side, Matt tackled a lunging golem and, after a brief moment where they struggled for dominance, he got its sword arm into an armbar. Using his skill-enhanced strength, Matt was able to get on top of the golem, with its chest into the ground. Keeping the arm bar, he got up to one knee with the other pinning the golem down. He twisted and wrenched the arm as he rose, until his leverage won out against the Tier 6 material.


    A screeching sound and theck of resistance told Matt everything he needed to know. The fact that he was holding a dismembered metal arm was a good indication of his victory too. The golem was quickly dispatched with some well ced blows to the chest and core.


    Another golem thrust its mana de along Matt''s back. It skittered off [Cracked Phantom Armor], which was only slightly stressed by the blow.


    Still on his knees, Matt tried to stand and fight, but was tackled by a golem from the rear.


    With his face buried in the ground and a golem on his back punching him, Matt bucked. That created just enough separation for him to throw his hip over to the other side, and get on his back. From there, he punched out at the golem in its mounted position. His vambraces heated and the golem leaned to the side as the structure of its entire upper body copsed.


    The advantage was short lived, as a mana de cut down on his face from above. This time, [Cracked Phantom Armor] was almost stressed to its breaking point, but it held. The golem on top of him was mangled, but kept attacking. Matt gripped its waist and bucked for a second time, nting his feet in the ground and thrusting his hips into the air. The upward force knocked the golem off bnce, giving him enough leverage to pull the golem up and over his head slightly.


    The golem broke its fall with its left hand as it flew over. Seeing the opportunity for a counter, Matt hooked that nted arm with his own left arm, and hooked his left leg around the golems. He bucked his hips into a roll towards his left and, using his free right leg to push off, pulled the golems locked limbs towards him. At the same time, Matt struck the golem in the abdomen.


    The maneuver sent the golem rolling off of him to his left and Matt was able to transition into another arm bar with the golems left arm still in his hold. With the golem now on its back and Matt to its side, he got to his feet and lurched up, wrenching the golems remaining good arm as he rose.


    A pop indicated that he had indeed ripped out the other arm, so Matt scurried to mount the downed golem and finish it with his fists. However, he was shield bashed in the back of the head before he got the chance.


    This blow sent him rolling out of the melee, but he quickly sprang back up to his feet. A quick query to his AI showed that his sword was far enough away to not be worth getting.


    With two golems charging him, Matt punched and kicked until he had created an opening, and was eventually able to take the pair down one at a time.


    As he stomped the chest of thest golem, he looked around and saw that the battle was winding down. The few remaining golems were being surrounded and destroyed by the others.


    His exhaustion faded with [Endurance] active, as it revitalized his muscles and healed the strains on his body from high MPS usage of [Mage''s Retreat]. After a few minutes of recovery, Matt joined the rest of the party.


    "Everyone ok?"


    At the nods confirming what their AIs reported, Matt andpany moved to the group on the slight hill.


    There was a man on the ground with most of his lower left side missing. Matt pulled out a clotting potion, but the woman tending to the next wounded person called out to him. "Don''t waste that potion on him. He''s done for. We need the supplies for those that we can actually help."


    Matt handed over the potion, slightly stunned. He was used to seeing gory messes, as he usually had a hand in them. But this was a fellow human. They were savaged so badly, he agreed that it would be better to help the less injured and move on.


    It wasn''t like he hadn''t killed the wannabe bandits on the training world, but that encounter wasnt a direct result of his failures. This persons blood was on his hands. This was his fault.


    Matt moved to the barely breathing man and asked quietly, "Do you want me to end it?"


    The man tried to speak, but when only a burble of blood came out, he shook his head. His mouth tried to form what Matt could only assume was a plea for help.


    Not knowing what else to do, Matt held the man''s hand while his breathing faded, until, with a final gasp, he joined the dead.


    Matt felt the burst of the essence. It wasn''t directed at him, as he hadn''t killed the man, but he was near. Not wanting anyone else to take advantage, even though he found it unlikely, Matt grabbed the essence and shoved it down into the.


    The resulting feelings wereplex. Matt wanted to rage at the loss, or say that if they had been faster, they could have done something. But he knew it wasn''t true. If they hadn''t taken out the spider golem factory, they would be dealing with much worse. They would have been overrun in hours. A day at most. The reality didn''t stop him from wishing that he could have saved the man somehow.


    Closing the man''s eyes with his hand, he stood and saw the woman who was acting as a healer wipe her face with a clean towel.


    The woman shook her head and nodded at Matt, "Thanks for sitting with him. I was too busy stabilizing thest one."


    "Thanks for doing what you could. Name''s Matt."


    The healer shook Matt''s proffered hand and sighed, "Vanessa. I''m a healer, or at least kind of. I only have the one skill, but this is more than it can handle. Thanks foring to our aid. I saw you jump in there and fight off more than one. She paused for a moment before slightly shrugging. Well. It took a lot of pressure off of us, and it''s the reason that the rest of us are alive."


    "How many did you start with?" It was a morbid question, but Matt needed to know. There were five human corpses on the ground, and from the shocked looks on the others faces, he knew there had to have been more casualties.


    "Close to fifteen more than this. It was a running fight and..." Vanessa didn''t sound angry or upset, just tired. She didn''t finish the sentence; Matt didn''t need her to.


    That was half of their numbers, lost.


    Each confirmed death was like a weight on Matt''s shoulders. But he pushed them off. Now wasn''t the time.


    Moving from the healer Vanessa''s side, Matt tried to get everyone moving. But not before the grim task of looting the corpses. It wasn''t pleasant, but he made sure that their teammates got the spatial bags. It still felt wrong to take from the dead.


    <em>It''s us getting the items or the golems. And they don''t need more of our things.</em>


    Pushing to the side, the remaining twenty people moved to the crashed satellite. They didn''t encounter any more resistance on the way. Matt, Liz, Aster, and Cami all agreed to stay and escort the survivors to the base camp with a few quick messages.


    As they neared the area, they found a clearing with felled trees being stacked. Out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw Geraden shake his head, but he didn''t voice his displeasure.


    As they approached the opening of the makeshift wall, they found five people guarding the entrance. They were not stopped, but one of the guards called out, "Wait inside for Juni to get to you. Hes the prince''s representative."


    As they moved through, they were directed to an open area off to the side.


    The rudimentary camp was actively being worked on, and Matt saw crude tree lean-tos giving cover to a few tents. Matt didn''t know what good a tree would do, but it probably gave the upants a sense of security.


    While they waited, a familiar face came up and offered his hand, "Nice to see you, Matt." It was the man with two bonds that they had met in the woods.


    "You as well Fen, and you Bow and Arrow." The two wolves sat and he reyed his AIsbat footage. He added, "And the assistance was timely Bow. There were a lot of golems to fight there."


    The wolf lightly barked at him. The beast was so big, Matt felt the bark more in his chest than he heard it with his ears.


    The wolfs bond smiled and rubbed its ears. "Yeah, Bow does good work. Don''t you, girl?"


    The wolf chuffed at him.


    Cami and Liz came over, and the five of them started chatting.


    Matt mostly kept out of it, and watched as Aster started tomunicate with the tworger bonds. The yips and chuffs were amusing to watch. The little fox seemed to have the tworger canines under her spell in moments.


    Cami was watching the surroundings with a nervous eye. Matt thought he understood. She was repeatedly cracking her knuckles, and didn''t say much. She only smiled when a wolf tail batted at her side.


    Not long after, Geraden joined them. A shorter man came over and called out, "Please separate into groups based onbat prowess and willingness to fight."


    When everyone else separated from Matt and the two forest men, Juni looked at them and nodded. He said, "Just give me a few minutes to settle this group, please."


    With that, he started directing the shocked remainders of parties to various areas. When Vanessa said that she was a healer, Matt swore that Juni had to hold back from hugging the taller woman.


    Healers would be in short supply. It only took a short look around to see the limping and struggling upants of the camp. It was obvious how badly the woman''s skills were needed.


    Juni came over and asked, "Are you all one party? Or separate?"


    "It''s us four, and theyre two solos. Though weve fought together." Liz''s words had a tone that Matt wasn''t used to hearing, and he couldn''t quite ce it. It seemed almost imperious.


    "Can you head to the east then? We have a group of people who have been hit by a swarm of spider golems. A short message got to us when they crossed a mountain top." As they nodded, the man paused. He asked, "How are you all on, mana? If youre too low, it''s better to wait here. We need to prioritize defense more than sending our able defenders to their deaths."


    Matt had been feeding mana with his Concept to Liz and Cami, who had crowded around him. They were good, but he didn''t have ess to Fen or Geraden''s mana reserves, as both had veils up.


    After the other two men agreed, they moved to leave, but were handed a small box that Juni said would increase their AIs messaging range. Once they were ready, they headed in the direction to help the pinned down group. Liz and Aster flew ahead, and tried to catch their signal.


    As they ran, they received another message from Juni. He said that a second group had gotten a message out and would need their help.


    Matt was just happy to be of some use. The guilt still ate at him, but this shrank the pit in his stomach ever so slightly.

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56


    Matt sat and considered the camp with a somewhat skeptical eye. He was inspecting the log wall that the survivors had created which surrounded the makeshift camp and gathering point.


    Everybody who wasnt posted at the wall on active guard duty was sitting around, mostly with haggard looks on their faces. Morale wasnt exactly high. Since he was part of the rescue team, Matt hadnt been in the camp all that often for thest two weeks. He was thankful for that fact right about now.


    With the increase in golem activity, there wasnt much of a choice. The first few days of rescue work had gone without incident, with the various teams rescuing nearly two hundred people. But as the days went on, the number of golems patrols increased, as did the size of the patrols themselves.


    Previously, the golems traveled in groups of five or six. But now, the squads had twelve monsters at a minimum, and they started traveling in pairs. That meant that the rescue teams of six were fighting groups at least four or more timesrger than their own.


    At first, they had countered by simply merging two of the four rescue teams together as a stopgap. But it didnt work for long. The other team of twelve was barely able to fight their way out of an ambush that they stumbled into. The golems had reserves waiting nearby, and overpowered the unsuspecting team.


    The golems were getting smarter and, if their spection was correct, they formed a hive mind, increasing in intelligence with each new golem. Even fighting a single squad they were morepetent and able to use tactics to their advantage. They set ambushes and retreated, not suffering unnecessary losses.


    It led to harder fights and increased casualties in the teams trying to flee to the safety of the camp. With massive casualties in the third squad from a sessful ambush, the survivors had to cut their losses, and stop venturing out for all but the closest orrgest groups.


    It wasnt an easy call for Juni to make, and Matt didnt like the idea of possibly abandoning more survivors. Still, he understood the mans logic, and epted the decision as the right one.


    Losing members of the rescue team meant losing the most powerful fighters amongst the survivors. With nearly three hundred people to defend in the camp, they couldnt justify losing their greatest defense for thest few stragglers.


    Still skeptical about the effectiveness of the tree wall, Matt was somewhat pacified by the fact that it was currently being reinforced with dirt. Hopefully the y-like soil would impart some extra weight to the thin wall. The entire defensive structure would have been essentially useless, if not for the anti-air construct that the prince had salvaged from the teleporter city. He and his group had salvaged it when he realized that the city was doomed, and that the Tier 15 would do nothing to prevent theing destruction.


    Each of his representatives were given two, and the weapons were the only thing keeping the city from being overrun. The constructs could be overwhelmed with numbers, but they were enough to keep the camp rtively safe.


    The strongest fighters were supposed to have a meeting with Juni this evening. It was to discuss ns for the Tier 4 and weaker Tier 5s, who were unable or unwilling to fight. Currently, the survivors were too vulnerable with the weaker members needing to be defended. And that meant that they couldnt move to the offensive against the ruin and its golems.


    For Matt, it was eye-opening to see thebat abilities of run of the mill Tier 5s.


    They were weak. Incredibly weak, if he was being honest, at least to Matts estimations. So many of them didnt seem to actually practice or strategize in any way. They simply cast spells without regard at the first sign of movement, and only seemed capable of progressing at painstakingly slow rates through rifts of their own Tier.


    Rescuing those groups had been more trouble than an ambush with apetent team. Matt had no idea why they hade to a known hostile area with such ack of experience. He hated having to rescue these amateurs. On more than one asion, their spells had hit rescuers instead of golems, which exacerbated the trust issues between teams of unknown people.


    As of now, the surroundings were calm, and from theirmunication with the other survivor camps in the massive expanse of forest, the situation was simr for them. Things were calm and had been for hours. It was almost unsettling.


    Matt stretched out his legs and shifted in his seat. His group was part of the quick reaction force, and was currently on standby. Liz, Aster, and Cami were asleep in a row next to him, using rocks as backrests. The rest of their makeshift team was situated to his other side. Geraden was either meditating, or sleeping sitting up, and Fen and his wolves were asleep in a solid mass of fur and limbs.


    The newest additions to their team were a couple. Basil and Thyme were slumped together after falling asleep chatting amongst themselves. Basil was a melee front liner, and Thyme was a mage. They were more than likely fake names, but they were what the couple had given when asked. No one pried about their real identities. They fought, and fought well. That was the important part.


    They were all exhausted from theirst venture outside of the camp, and desperately needed the rest that they were finally getting. Even with [Endurance] running, Matt still felt the wear on his mind fromck of sleep. He just couldnt bring himself to close his eyes and lie still. At least, not when there were still people in danger outside of the camp.


    There had to be something that they could do. They had a n for keeping the weaker individuals safe, by getting them into a rift instance.They would be discussing that at the meetingter. From the few reports they had received, protecting the rifts long enough to form an instance would be a brutal fight. The golems had been delving themselves and were protecting the rift openings jealously.


    Getting the nobatants inside through the golems was another problem that theyd have to contend with. From the chatter on the crashed satellitework, it seemed that the prince wanted to mobilize all of the survivor camps at once, in a coordinated strike. Hopefully, the sudden rush of cultivators would stretch the golem forces thin, or force them to only reinforce a single location.


    As his eyes were starting to droop, Matts AI pinged him, and the others all startled awake. The rest of his team all jolted up as well, and there was a flurry of activity while they read the report. Arge group of survivors had just reached out during their journey to the camp. What they were doing thiste at night was a mystery, but Juni had decided that there were enough of them to prioritize a rescue.


    After a quick headcount, Matt agreed. There were thirty-seven people in total. It was too many to leave behind to be butchered. His guilt over the few teams that they hadnt responded to still weighed on him, but right now, he was too tired to feel much of anything.


    It took only moments for them to get ready, and they were outside the walls. Matt withdrew his flying sword, and made sure it was charged before Liz took control and hopped on with Aster and Thyme. They stayed low and just behind the melee fighters, and would provide aerial support from the flying device.


    Thyme, despite being a Tier 6, was a pure mage with minimal physical cultivation. She was simply unable to keep up with the brutal sprint that the melee fighters ran at, so the flying sword was wee.


    Once in formation, they didnt speak. They didnt need to at this point. This wasnt the first, or even tenth time they had done this.


    As they continued at a ground-eating sprint, Matt checked the groups mana reserves. They were the only group of survivors exempt from the mana tax to feed the anti-air construct, but they fought so often, it ended up equaling out. The mages were all nearly full, but the melee fighters were sitting at around half capacity.


    It wasnt a perfect situation, but it should be enough. They had retreated from a fight they couldnt win before, and could do so again. Even if it had left a bitter taste in their mouths.


    Showing mana amounts had caused a slight problem for Matt. He had wanted to hide it, but he couldnt spoof the readout, and not sharing wasnt really an option. So, everyone saw that he always ran on nearly no mana at all.


    He had simply lied, and said that his Talent was his armor skill. His exnation was that it drained most of his mana for the persistent effect and strength boost. That covered both [Mages Retreat] and [Cracked Phantom Armor]s effects nicely. Talents that did two things werent unheard of, just rare.


    When they learned of the team being on The Path, the rest of the group epted his story without question. Weird Talents weremonce for The Path, and those that hit above their Tier always had them. With that, most of the questions were avoided.


    It didnt matter that [Hail] wasnt exined. As long as no one questioned it, he wouldnt have to offer up an exnation. Killing the golems was their goal, not learning the minute details about the skills and oddities of the other fighters.


    Basil was in the lead, and was slowly gathering speed. He was one of the few who had also exined his Talent. He gathered momentum and released it in his first attack, which meant his first hit in a fight was always devastating. But when they ran, he slowly grew faster as he increased his stored energy.


    Matt increased his pace and got ahead of the man, along with Geraden. The earth mage was somehow able to nudge trees out of the mans path as they traversed an untouched part of the forest.


    Before they encountered the party they were being sent to rescue, they ran into a squad of golems with a party of humans.


    Matts first reaction was to assume that they were engaging one another. But as he took in the details, the picture painted was far darker. This was a group of humans <em>selling</em> other humans to the golems.


    The ones being sold were stripped of their clothes and bound together in a pile on the ground. Matt saw a golem handing one of the dressed and armored humans a sack as his team crested the hill.


    No one needed to speak, and when the vers noticed the rescue team, it was already toote. Matt and hisrades were already on them.


    Their camp had heard of this from the others, but they hadnt yet encountered it personally. How the golems and humansmunicated was still in question, but apparently they offered nice rewards, if the goods recovered from apprehended ver groups were any indication.


    No one hesitated to correct the injustice, and the rescue team dismantled the golems quickly. The group of vers dropped to their knees and put their hands up with shouts of surrender.


    Matt looked around after the battle. They were three-quarters of the way to their intended rescue targets. They were close enough that his AI was picking up intermittent messages bouncing off the mountains.


    Basil spoke up first. What do we do with them?


    Matt didnt answer. He knew what they needed to do... he just didnt want to do it. Letting them go would just allow the vers to return to their scummy opportunism, but they needed to press on and rescue the other party.


    Cami answered, We all know what we need to do.


    Everyone nodded. It wasn''t ideal, but they would do as the other groups who encountered bandits before them did and strip them. While, naturally, protecting the captives'' lives over bringing the bandits in for justice. A single member of the party would escort the survivors to the camp while the rest of them continued to their mission of saving therger group.


    To his surprise, along with everyone elses, her ded whipshed out, and wrapped around the neck of the man who took the payment. Before the shouts of protest were out of their mouths, the mans throat was shredded in a spray of blood.


    The rest of the mans party reacted violently. The fight was short and brutal, with Cami getting the drop on the leader. She tackled the nearest woman and choked the life out of her with her bare hands.


    Matt had to cut down another woman, whose hands had started glowing with mana. He felt sick doing it.


    What the fuck was that?


    Matts voice was drowned out by the others shouts of simr expletives. None of the vers were left alive, except the woman Cami was still strangling.


    Looking up, hands still wrapped around the woman''s neck, she red at all of them.


    Why would we leave such monsters alive? They would just return to their ways if we left them! If...


    Fen shouted the loudest, We could have stripped them! And let her up!


    Cami squeezed the womans neck harder. Her kicking and struggling faded as theck of oxygen took its toll.


    She calmly stated, No. They were monsters who betrayed everyone, as well as our efforts to protect people. They would have gotten more gear and started doing this all over again.


    The shouts drowned her out, but she stood her ground and finished strangling the woman. Her brown eyes were as cold as ice and shone out of her helmet with angry defiance.


    They would have stolen more gear and continued their crimes. Youre naive if you think otherwise. The only way to stop them was to either abandon our mission, or kill them. I wont leave any survivors for dead, and I wont let trash like this remain. Ascenders know what the golems need people for.


    Matt hadnt wanted to think of that particr aspect of the situation, but the best-case scenario was that they were being used as mana farms. The other options were much darker, and he didnt have any interest in mulling them over.


    Matt wanted to argue that they could have done <em>something</em> besides murdering them, but he held his frustration in check.


    We need to move. Lets cut these people free and get them moving.


    The prisoners were Tier 4s, and would just get in the way of their rescue. They needed to get them moving towards the camp, and pick them up on the trip back with the other survivors.


    Putting his words into action, he reached down and cut the bindings tying them up. After removing their gags, he was inundated with thanks and tears.


    It didnt escape Matts notice that Cami moved directly to the lone woman, who when freed, cried in her arms with violent sobs. The small tufts of fur and blood told his AI everything he needed to be able to guess the situation. The woman had visible bruising and other marks on her body that the others in her party didnt have.


    They clearly were beating the poor girl, whether for sport or because of defiance, he wasn''t sure. From the w marks on the dead leader''s face, it appeared that her bond died defending her, which made Matt shudder in sympathetic rage.


    Matt couldn''t bare to think that they would stoop so low but, if they had, the entire party deserved to be killed. They were criminals, even if they just stood by and let it happen. But they should have been judged by the courts, not them.


    His louder, more practical side was tired of the deaths and golem attacks, and was just happy that they were gone. That reality concerned him a little. He was worried that this conflict and recent events were changing him.


    It was making him hard and uncaring.


    After a few minutes, they got the group of Tier 4s geared up with their previous belongings and the loot that the traitors had umted. The resources heavily implied that they had sold many groups before this one.


    These people were nothing more than opportunists and rapists who sold out scores of humans. That fact didnt exactly help ease the conflict in his mind. They were bad people, but Matt didnt feel like the right person to be passing judgment.


    <em>I just dont know whats right anymore. They were evil, and deserved punishment, but theres no civilization here. Camis right. We can''t leave people like this alive.. I just need to be careful that we dont go too far</em>.


    Seeing that they werent going to be escorted back to the camp, the Tier 4s panicked and begged them to stay. They eventually quieted down when they heard that there was arger group being attacked.


    Both parties quickly got on their way, and as they ran, Matt noticed that the others kept a little more distance from Cami. Feeling that was wrong, he moved closer to the woman in solidarity. He wouldnt have made the same choice as her, but he understood her reasoning and couldnt fault her.


    She seemed surprised at his approach, and at his nod, sent him a message.


    I didnt expect you to agree with my decision.


    No, I dont. But I recognize that it was necessary. I wouldnt have chosen to do the same, but I cant say that you were wrong either. Even before I saw what they did to the woman.


    There was a long pause, where the only sound was the crunch of leaves and pounding of feet.


    Im not surprised you feel that way. Youre sheltered, and havent seen the less savory side of the Empire. Let alone humanity as a whole.


    Matt wanted to refute that, but couldnt. It was mostly true. The orphanage was hard but they were taken care of and kept separate from most of the hardships that had overtaken the city for the first year or so after the rift breaks. He never saw people sell each other to monsters. So he admitted it.


    Will you help with a problem in the camp then?


    He was taken aback. He didnt know there was a problem in the camp.


    What problem?


    One of the Tier 6s in the group thats staying to protect the camp is extorting the lower Tiers.


    Matt was surprised by her message, but it seemed like a somewhat minor matter.


    So we report it. It can be easily solved.


    Camiughed beside him.


    Theyre a part of the group that the prince sent. And what shes extorting isnt mary or material. She wants sex. And shes threatening people with shoving them out of the rift they retreat into.


    How did you find out? Shed be stupid to speak out before entering the rift with the lower Tiers.


    I dont know <em>why</em> shes showing her hand now, but shes been careful thus far. I only overheard because I got a little too close to a tent, and caught a bit of her conversation with someone.


    The weight on Matts shoulders increased, along with the churning in his stomach.


    I take it, you have proof?


    Camis reply was a recording of the encounter, and it was damning. The woman was whispering to a weeping man that if he didnt do everything she said, she would shove him out of the rift and leave him to the golems.


    The voice was unmistakable. Cami had waited outside with a clear view of the tents entrance, and watched the woman exit. There was little room for it to be called bedroom y, as a panicked and weepy man came out of the tent a few minutester.


    That hurt as well. Matt and their party had been the ones to rescue that particr Tier 4. But now, it seemed they had only rescued the man from one bad situation and inserted him into another.


    Trying to reach out for an answer that didnt involve murdering someone, he asked, This is damning evidence, and we can take it to Juni. Theyre both part of the princes party, but the lower Tiers would riot if this went unpunished.


    When he didnt receive a response, Matt shot a look at Cami as she ran next to him.


    Im afraid that if we press the im, theyll undery it. Its better to just remove her quietly and be done with it.


    No! Cami, if we get everyone here on board, we can press the matter. They cant ignore us. Were half of the best offensive power that the camp has. We arent judges and we arent vigntes. Thew is there for a reason. Before he sent it, he swallowed and firmed his will, adding, If Juni doesnt fix the problem, we can make a move then.


    He didnt get a message in return, just a nod.


    Not long afterwards, they caught up with the group of survivors that they were sent to rescue.


    They were being harried by a mix of spiders and humanoid golems. Matt and the melee fighters moved in, and started cutting down the golems attempting to encircle the group.


    Thankfully, none were the flying types, and the mages on Matts flying sword were able to reinforce the group. Eventually, the golems realized that they were outmatched, and retreated.


    With efficiency born of repetition, they pulled out slings from their spatial bags and got the wounded loaded up. They were stacked two to a stretcher. The golems had been trying to capture more than kill, so they aimed for the Tier 4s legs, to slow the group down as a whole. It led to a lot of wounded, but few of them mortally so.


    The few healthy Tier 5s were given the task of carrying the wounded. At Tier 5, the weight was negligible, the size of the load was the problem. It made for awkward travel in the forest, and the better fighters needed their hands free.


    The mages in the sky used their altitude to scout their surroundings, and were able to trigger a spider golem ambush before the rescue operation ran into it. That led to a fighting retreat, but with the rescue teamsbat ability, they only lost one of the survivors. He tripped in the rush to escape the spiders, and was too slow to get to his feet.


    Matt wanted to help, but was unable to do more than think about it, before the man was covered and shredded into a gory mess.


    The remainder of the trip was uneventful, just long and slow. Still, they were able to catch up with the group of Tier 4s that they saved earlier, and made it back to the safety of the walls as night was setting in.


    Before Matt and his team joined the meeting scheduled for that evening, they were intercepted by Juni, who said that it was postponed. He said that he needed more time to settle the new arrivals.


    As the group changed course to themunal cooking area, they grabbed tes of unevenly cooked meat, and a random assortment of roasted vegetables. They epted their haphazardly prepared meal, and moved to a side table to eat.


    Looking at Cami, they decided to wait until everyone was done eating to speak up. When they had finished, Camille broached the topic that he was dreading.


    We have a problem.


    At the tired and questioning eyes, Matt filled in the rest.


    Its like what we encountered earlier, but in the camp.


    There were sighs and slumped shoulders, but their faces were hard. Liz, next to him, tightened her hand on her fork until her knuckles went white.


    After exining and sharing the video, everyones expressions became dark, but determined. Everyone except Thyme, who looked awkward and sad.


    We have a problem. Zoey technically didnt break any localws.


    A quiet chorus of whats met her promation.


    None of you are from this kingdom. Shes a member of the royal house, though distant from the core family. Thew clearly states that the royal family can take what they want. That includes sexual favors. She would have to have forced him with actual violence. Even him being a lower Tier is fine, as long as she doesnt physically attack him.


    Liz ground out through clenched teeth, She did. She threatened to shove him out of a rift into bloodthirsty monsters.


    Thyme smiled, but it was one of pain and sadness.


    Theres been more than one royal whos done the same thing, and its always held up in court. Here, in this kingdom no one will convict a royal for anything done against a non-royal.


    Cami didnt look surprised. Matt couldn''t tell if it was because she knew that already, or because she had expected the worst.


    Fen spoke up, shaking his head. Sure, Im from the Empire proper, but there has to be a way to charge her. No?


    Basil nodded. There is, of course. You just need a higher-ranking noble of this kingdom to pass the judgment. Then, it doesnt matter if shes guilty or not.


    Geraden was looking at his staff when he murmured, And Im guessing that shes the highest-ranking royal here? Because, of course, she is. They always are. Or at least they only act like that when they are.


    Thyme nodded. Correct. Junimands more of the princes trust, and so he leads, but he isnt a part of the royal family. He could be used of treason if he acted against her.


    Matt asked the duo, who seemed to know more than the rest of them, about local politics.


    So what are our options? It seems that we either ask the prince himself to do something, or take matters into our own hands. What are our odds of receiving help from him? We need a royal decree, or something putting her under our custody.


    As he finished, an idea came to him, and he asked, What if we just get her removed from the party remaining behind? That way she wont have ess to the weaker tiers while we arent around.


    Thyme shook her head again. I dont know the prince, but any royals here are either from opposing factions, or of his own. Hard to say which one shes from. Best case scenario is that shes from his faction, and he puts a stop to her actions. If she isnt, theres little he can do. Theres no way he would piss off one of his siblings by acting against one of their people. And she''s staying behind by virtue of being a crafter. She wont be in the fight no matter what.


    Fen chimed in. So its a gamble if we bring this up. If we do, we draw an easy target on our backs.


    The hard set of Matts jaw and nod to Cami showed that he had already made up his mind.


    Basil added, Yes. And you arent wrong with what you are all thinking. By the same token, that makes the prince unwilling or unable to move against anyone that disposes of her. He wont act to get vengeance if there isnt a sign that points to anyone. It isnt worth it. He paused, before adding quietly, Zoey wouldnt be the first low royal that disappeared for their actions, and theres rarely anyone to look into it. At most, thered be a paltry investigation for show. Besides, Juni detests the woman, so he wont look too far into it.


    Liz opened her mouth to speak, but Cami spoke faster.


    So how do we do this? I wasnt nning on having your particr abilities, or really any help at all.


    Basil nodded at her. Heid out a n, After the meeting, it will be fully dark. Shes a crafter, so any of us melee types can take care of her quickly. But it needs to be quiet. We also cant leave a body as evidence, which means well need to remove her quickly too.


    He looked to Matt, the only one with a flying sword, and asked, Can you get in the air unseen?


    It meant he would be unable to use [Cracked Phantom Armor], but he could do it.


    At Matts nod, Thyme finished for her husband. Then we do it quickly and quietly. Fen, can Bow and Arrow make a bit of a scene?


    With the huffs of the wolves answer, she continued, Cami, you need to be visible. Sorry, but Juni isnt stupid, and he will have heard about what you did to the vers already. While I agree with the action, youll be suspect number one. Geraden, how long can you make your roots? Can you keep Zoey quiet from a standing position?


    No, but I can trip her and do it that way. I have enough reach to be visible, as long as Den is touching the ground.


    Matt didn''t know the man''s tree bond hiding as a staff had that kind of range. He made a note of it in case he ever needed to fight the man.


    Basil asked Liz, The two of you are known to be sleeping together, so can you give him an alibi?


    The duo seemed to know a bit too much about Zoey and how to get rid of her, and Matt had to wonder if they had done this before. They had a n too fast, and it was too detailed for them to havee up with it on the spot.


    Still, Matt was willing to do whatever he had to, in order to protect those weaker. Especially those without the Empire proper giving them a voice. This wouldnt be happening if they hadnt set off the ruin in the first ce.


    I can make the kill if Geraden and Den can trip her. As long as they give me a single second of quiet. No need for two of us to be missing.


    Basil gave Matt a hard look but, after searching his face, nodded.


    They sat around for a few more minutes. Liz gripped his hand hard, while Aster pushed thoughts of confusion at Matt. She wasnt quite clear on why they had to be secretive about the killing. They did it all the time, after all. But after a few exchanges of thoughts, she mostly understood.


    Matt hardened his heart and mind in preparation for what he had to do. He couldnt let something like this go on under his nose.


    He didnt like it, but he knew he would never be able to look himself in the mirror if he did nothing. Especially when he had the power to stop such abuse of power.

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57


    Matt watched the crowd around the table. They had been bickering for thest fifteen minutes, talking in circles that led to nowhere.


    The leader of the nobatants, or as Matt preferred to call them, the lessbatants, was Kline. He kept pushing back on almost every measure brought up. Sure, most of them were fighters, but they were only peak Tier 4 or weak Tier 5s. They had decided to try their luck with the subjugation, but they hadnt signed up for anything like this.


    He couldnt me them, but he did hate that theyined about essentially everything. The original n had been to set them up with two months of food. It would be enough time for the war with the ruin to be decided either way. If they won, they could leave the rift that the weaker survivors were safely held up inside. If they lost, the Tier 15 would be forced to act, and the weak would still be able to leave the rifts safely. But that wasnt enough for Kline. He was demanding more food, more materials, and more defenders.


    It was ridiculous, really. All of thebatants would be escorting them into the rift, and would hold the line for the fifteen minutes that it would take to create an instance. But Kline was asking for a permanent station of guards. His logic was that when they left the rift, they would need more help. But no matter how many times people reiterated that it was pointless, as they wouldnt know what was going on outside the rift until they left, he refused to back down.


    Matt was out of patience, and just wanted the meeting to end.


    The rest of it had been fast enough. Juni had simply ryed the n that the prince decided on, and they moved toplete it.


    Food had been gathered and prepared, and a rift was chosen. Kline even managed toin about the rift they had chosen. Everyone had submitted their ideas for the rift ording to the surroundings, and they had found a Tier 4 wooded rift with deer as the inhabitants.


    It even had a stream for fresh water, but no, that wasnt good enough. Kline wanted a stronger rift so he and the other Tier 6s could get some essence.


    Tuning out the irritating man, Matt scanned the crowd. He and the otherbatants were here to offer their opinions about what they could do in regards to protecting nearly two hundred and fifty people. It would be a challenge, as they expected to face all sorts of ambushes and traps set by the golems.


    The current n was simply to keep the Tier 4s and the weaker Tier 5s in the center, while moving to their chosen rift. It, like most rifts in the area, was being guarded and delved by the golems. From the reconnaissance they had done, the golems seemed to be delving for raw materials, more than rewards or anything else.


    That meant that both of the rescue teams had to be on the offensive. They needed to get to the rift, and hit it hard and fast. Breaking through the defenders would be the easy part, but they had no way of knowing how many golems waited inside.


    The twenty of them had the simplest job on paper, but in practice, they were the linchpin that the entire operation depended on. If they couldnt secure the rift entrance, the mass of people following them would be sitting targets. They were taking the anti-air weapon with them as insurance, but the weaker group expected to be harried by the enemy at least somewhat. The prince had decided to strike out from all of the bases at once, to split the response of the golems and the strain on the fighters.


    The worst-case scenario was the golems focused all their forces on one or two of the bases and overwhelmed them. Still, it was a chance they had to take.


    As Kline continued to argue, the ufortable shifting among the members of the meeting increased, until even he noticed the atmosphere, and gave up. Everyone moved out of the area as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Matt followed Zoey, using views from the rest of his teams AIs.


    He moved to his tent with Liz, then crawled in and right out of the back that they already had unzipped. Once he was outside, he moved deeper into the mass of tents, with a nondescript nket thrown over his shoulders to ward off the chill. With it covering his form, he looked no different than the others who sat out or moved between fires.


    Finding his nned vantage point, Matt withdrew his flying sword, and found some branches and leaves to cover it while he was sitting on it. The foliage made the sword look like any other hill. Sitting down, Matt pulled the nket over his head, and pulled his scarf up higher on his face. It was suspicious, but he didnt want to be seen by Zoeys AI before he acted.


    As he waited, Matt thought hard about what he was getting ready to do. He was going to willingly assassinate someone, only because they had different morals andws in theirnd.


    He couldnt hide that from himself.


    At first, he tried to rationalize that it had to be done. But while that was true, he was doing it in a way that avoided thew. His mind tried to use the excuse that it was the localws at fault, but that didnt help stay his guilt. The vassal kingdoms were given leeway for a reason. Matt was sure that the Emperor could enforcews uniformly, but chose not to. He didnt pretend to know the thoughts and motives of a Tier 50, nor the inner workings of an Empire that spanned thousands ofs.


    He still was agonizing over whether this was the right thing to do. He was stopping someone from abusing their power on the weak, but he still felt dirty for even considering the means to that end.


    As he sat under the stars, with the cold seeping in through his nket, Matt wondered why he had never seen such corruption in the Empire. He knew it existed, but all the examples he could think of were instances of corruption being quickly rooted out. Even Cami, who had it the worst, was eventually saved.


    <em>Does that make me Duke Waters in this situation</em>?


    The thought felt so arrogant, it made him cringe. Duke Waters found a situation and immediately solved it, right there in the open. Matt was hiding under a nket in the cold, waiting to ambush a simple crafter. Thest time he killed humans on the training world he had killed in self defense, but this was cold and calcted. Premeditated.


    His introspection was cut off when a familiar figure moved into the row of tents, and Matt had to stop himself from tensing.


    As the figure approached, the moon gave just enough light for Matt to clearly see her face. It was Zoey. After a quick message to Geraden, it only took seconds for Matt to hear the loud sounds of two wolves making a ruckus.


    Zoey turned slightly, and at that exact moment, a root reached out and grabbed her feet. As she tumbled to the ground, Matt was already moving. When she caught herself from hitting the ground, he mmed the metal rod he had palmed onto the back of her neck.


    From all the power that his [Mages Retreat] infused muscles could produce,the blownded with a sickening crunch. The body of the royal crafter went ck just as the horrible sound echoed in his ears.


    Matt moved his scarf to her face, and wrapped her eyes up. He had broken her spine. It would certainly kill her, but she wasnt dead <em>yet</em>, so he had to be wary of her AI. Pulling both of them up to his sword, he rose in the air. With all the speed that the Tier 7 flying device could muster, he left the area.


    Zoeys body felt like a ton of bricks as he flew into the darkness, with the wind whipping at his unarmored form. He wasnt willing to risk [Cracked Phantom Armor] s slight glow giving him away.


    As he sped away from the camp, he felt the burst of essence from the woman after five minutes of flying. His AI noted it was right in the normal range. The royal was dead.


    Having already moved miles away, he removed his scarf, and dumped the body into the forest.


    Turning around, he quickly returned to find that the camp was a flurry of activity. Slipping through the darkness in between carried lights, he navigated through the mass of tents, and returned to his and Lizs tent from the rear.


    Liz shot him a panicked look that quickly turned to relief when she saw that it was him. She didnt verbally ask anything, but he read her expression well enough.


    At his slight nod, she wrapped him in a big hug, with Aster snuggling in between them.


    They didnt say anything. They didnt need to. Neither of them liked the situation, and they wanted to put it far out of their minds once it was over.


    Not long after, they were checked on, and asked to join the search for the attacker. Zoey had gotten a distress signal out before he had taken her away, but she hadnt been able to identify her assant.


    No one expected Zoey and her attacker to have gone far. They searched the camp for a few hours, until everyone gave up, without finding a single lead or clue. Soon, they returned to the normal that was living under the constant threat of golem attacks.


    The next morning, when they met for breakfast, the group talked over their sessful mission. They all agreed that it was good that Cami didnt carry out the hit herself, and had been sitting around a fire at the time. Perfectly visible.


    She had been the first and most thoroughly questioned person, and was able to say with AI verification that she took no part in killing the woman. It hade to light that Juni already knew about Zoeys actions, but was unable to act. The rumors were spreading around the camp, as a few of her victims had stepped forward with news of her death. Not long after, there was outrage brewing in the camp, directed at the lone leader.


    Matt almost felt bad for the man, but he was still numb from what he had done. He didnt have nightmares, but he didnt sleep well either.


    As they talked over breakfast, the team was asked to meet with Juni and the other rescue team for a briefing. As they ate, they saw that the camp was quickly getting dismantled. There was no reason to dally, as their nned move-out time was just after noon.


    When they arrived, Matt saw the others prepping their gear and sitting around Juni. When he saw them, he called out, Oh good, you''re here. We need to go over a slight change of ns. The prince wants to move the time up by half an hour.


    Why? Liz, their teams spokesman, asked the question on everyones mind.


    Juni shrugged while rubbing his face. I dont know. That was the message passed to us, and all of my requests for more information have gone unanswered.


    Matt felt that the answer was obvious, and didnt hold back.


    So were gonna be used as bait for the golems? Thats fucking grand.


    Juni just smiled slightly.


    This is partially my fault. Well, its really mostly my fault. The prince wasnt fond of Zoey, but she was his maids sister. Since I let her die under my watch, Im pretty sure that weve now be the distraction.


    Fen asked, Is there anything we can do to not get ughtered? I dont look forward to dying, solely because some rapist got removed.


    Juni justughed. Disobeying would be treason in a time of crises, and we would be executed if we survived. The only hope is to go along with the n, and not die.


    Matts hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.


    <em>Were my actions worth getting more people killed in retaliation</em>?


    The second-guessing and guilt ate at him, until he realized that there was no good answer. He couldnt tell the future, and he didnt think he could live with himself if he had walked away from that kind of abuse.


    He just couldnt find the answer that could leave the most people unharmed, no matter how hard he searched for it.


    He decided that what was done was done. He tightened his grip on his sword,and spoke up.


    So we push through, and cut the golems guarding the rift down. Then we... he gestured to the rest of the fighters, Pivot and act as a rear guard.


    That started the nning phase of the meeting, and they decided to go with that general idea. They also wanted to have a group of Tier 5 fighters watch the rift for exiting golems, while the stronger fighters moved to engage the enemies that were sure to follow.


    With their n being the best they coulde up with, they moved into position, with the rest of the camp being none the wiser. Matt didnt know how he felt about leaving the others in the dark about the changes. The only ones who knew the original time were the leaders of various factions, and Juni decided to just tell them that everyone was moving early.


    If the people panicked, it would just cause more casualties. Staying in the camp was a sentence to a slow death, for all the fighters who went out and those who defended the walls as well.


    Matt had bent so many of his morals at this point, he wasnt sure if he was still the same person he had been when he came to this.


    The twenty heaviest hitters moved first, and the fourteen melee fighters ran forward with loping speed, covering ground quickly.


    Juni had given up his personal flying device, which allowed all the mages to fly, with the addition of a third device. It wasnt as good as Matts Tier 7 flying sword, which was not only a higher-end model, but also a model made in the Empire proper. Its quality was far superior to any product made in the vassal kingdom.


    The mages kept overhead, and didnt range too far out, but just far enough to keep them from being ambushed. Despite all of their preparation, they encountered no resistance, until they came to the in of grass containing the rift that they had targeted.


    The golems had created a fortification around the rift, and had small walls built up with stone, either from the rift or scoured nearby. It was only chest high for the golems, but it gave them a modicum of protection and cover from ranged attacks .


    As the survivors ran at the fortification, the mages in the air started unleashing spells, bobbing and weaving through the rain of bolts fired at them. It was more a distraction to keep them from attacking the less agile melee fighters on foot. And it worked. For a time.


    But when they crossed a threshold of the golems defenses, the bolts started flying at the melee fighters. Matt didnt stop running. Cowering would just allow the golems to pin them down.


    It was terrifying to run directly into fortified monsters shooting at him. Every instinct Matt had honed from delving said that there had to be another way to handle this, or to lead them away. But everyone was pressing on, and taking the same risk.


    As they approached the fortification, Matt red his Concept, trying to direct most of the repulsion up instead back at the golems. He just needed to redirect the bolts, not necessarily send them back. He needed to conserve as much will as he could, if he was going to make it through the day.


    There were no screams of pain, but as he felt each bolt reach his zone of control, the drain of his willpower was noticeable. As they closed on the crossbow golems, a flurry of skills flew out from his sides. While most were absorbed by the wall, a few golems were hit and dropped. The reduced number of bolts thrown at them gave the fighters confidence as they advanced.


    Then, Matt was at the wall, and leaped over. His off-hand tapped the wall, shifting his momentum. As his feetnded, heshed out and chopped a golem at the waist, then ducked. Spinning, he shed at the golem behind him, smashing it into the wall.


    Before he could do more than catch a glimpse of the othersing over the wall, the heavier melee variants of the golems rushed them. Matt cast [Hail], but had to draw from the mana stone at his wrist to fill his mana pool for a moment. Thebination of skills drained his mana poolpletely, as [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] drank down the remainder in a fraction of a second. It brought him back under one percent of his maximum, where his mana regeneration would increase to 40 MPS.


    With his swords [Mana Charge] already holding 1000 mana, he didnt bother with fancy de work, and just brought his glowing de around in a wide arc. When his longsword met the shield of a golem, he unleashed the stored mana. In a sh, the shield golems upper half evaporated, along with half of the golem next to it.


    All the fighting in thest two weeks had given him an abundance of Tier 6 essence, which was doing wonders for his cultivation. Even the encounters with the weaker spider golems were valuable for essence. What theycked in Tier that made up for in quantity, and Matt was nearly ten percent into Tier 5.


    It was a crazy advancement speed, made possible only by the abundance of enemies above his Tier. The increase in cultivation made each of his blows hit harder, and he used the increase in power to great effect.


    As Matt moved into the wall of shield users, the other melee fighters did the same, cutting a path with their skills and abilities.


    Matt saw Geraden swing a muchrger Den in an arc that ended with an explosion. The wall that had the audacity to think it could stop a tree was shattered with the blow.


    Sidestepping and spinning, he caught sight of a screaming and iling Cami. She was letting out the pain he knew that she had to be feeling, judging from the two crossbow bolts in her leg. Her whip and mace were tearing through the golems, and she used the oddbo in an ever congealing style, all her own.


    Arrow, one of Fenspanions, jumped past him with a bolt stuck in his shoulder. With Bows help, they savaged a golem after dragging it down. Matt didnt see their bond, but the man was slippery in a fight, and his AI said no one died.


    Yet.


    As spells and arrows rained down from the flying devices, Matt dove back into the fray.


    ***


    Cami looked around and jumped to the side. The two bolts that were lodged in her legs empowered her with their pleasure.


    She screamed as she brought down her mace. She was so angry and confused.


    Cami had expected the reaction of the others, after she killed the filth that sold humans to golems. They all pulled away, exactly as she expected.


    But Matt


    Matt came to her and said that he understood.


    She still didnt get that. It was reying over and over in her head.


    That wasnt how people reacted.


    So, she wanted to see how far his newfound pragmatism went, and told him about the monster that lurked in their camp. She expected him to avoid doing what was necessary. But then, he volunteered to make the kill, and had gone through with it when the others put out the facts.


    Cami hadnt known the localws, and still didnt care after learning them. She saw a monster and wanted them gone. She fully expected to be caught and killed for it, but the rest of her team did it for her.


    She was going to kill Zoey no matter what. But the rest of the team had protected her, and got the job done.


    They were Friends?


    She wasnt sure.


    She came out here to grow stronger, and had instead set off a catastrophe, the likes she didnt know were possible. Aiden said that the Empire wasrge, and that anything could happen, but she didnt believe him.


    The rest of the team had all made their way over to her after they ate, and apologized for their reactions after she had killed the bandits.


    She still wasnt sure that had really happened. People <em>didnt</em> apologize or admit when they were wrong.


    A cut through her leg brought her attention back to the fight, and a shard of ice took out a golem that was trying to nk her. She made a note that she owed the little fox a tub of ice cream, once they got off this forsaken.


    Aster seemed to have an innate sense of her mood, and more often than not, would curl up in herp when she was lost in her thoughts and darkest memories.


    Aidan and her therapist had talked about getting a mundane animal. They thought raising one would help her, but she resisted the idea at first. After spending time with the ball of fluff, it didnt seem so bad anymore.


    ring [Cracked Healing Touch], she healed the gash in her flesh and threw herself into the mass of golems.


    Aidan had spent a fortune on the skill, simply toplement her Talent enforced fighting style. The skill was a good crack, as it was a self-cast healing skill. It sacrificed healing others and bones for incredibly cheap and efficient healing of flesh. It still built up stress on her healing that she needed to manage, but it was less so than a normal spell.


    She owed him so much, and let the shame of relying on someone else guide her recently upgraded whip. She still was shocked that the ruin had the materials she needed. It was an amazing find, and it kept herpetitive with the human wrecking ball that was Matt.


    The man in question threw himself into the thickest fighting, with no regard for his safety. Despite being only Tier 5, he was the tip of the spear, and was leading the charge.


    It had taken months to actually trust the man who looked so much like her tormentor, but she hade to realize that he <em>was</em> a good person. Matt was far more naive than she expected, especially for someone who grew up in an orphanage. He always saw the positive side of things, and the good in people. She had had that removed by life early on, somehow he kept a positive outlook.


    She could now see the difference between him and her nightmare. Matt might superficially resemble <em>him</em>. But they were so different in temperament. She understood why Liz locked him down early. She wanted to find a woman who would look at her like he did with the blood mage.


    A blood golem smashing a pair of monsters next to her brought Camis thoughts to the blood mage in the sky for a moment. But quickly, three attacking golems forced her to concentrate on the battle again. During her fight, she was once again distracted by a sh of mana from Matts de.


    She knew that she wasnt the only one who questioned how he could fight with such sustained vigour. The others thought that he had an armor Talent, but she knew that was wrong. What he was really capable of was only growing more apparent in fights like this. He continuously took blow after blow that should drain the reserves of any armor skill. The others in their rescue team hadnt talked about it, at least not when she was near. She had been keeping an ear out for exactly that, and would warn him if need be.


    A twinge of jealousy wracked her, as he picked a golem up with one hand and repeatedly mmed it into the stone wall.


    She had a Talent that was all about empowering her strength, but was still unable to match the man in power. Pound for pound, her AI said that she was stronger, but the man was huge, and was packing on more and more muscle every day.


    Cami was only 56, and one hundred thirty pounds, to his nearly two-fifty. It was unfair that he got more out of strength cultivation. She had assumed that her Talent would allow her to out muscle anyone at her Tier, but unless she activated her trump card, she didnt have a single hope of matching the man.


    The thought brought her to the small device imnted in her lower back. She had demanded that Aidan go through with the surgery, as soon as she discovered the possibility of creating a drive to directly stimte her nerves. The pleasure was debilitating, but the strength it put out was equally impressive.


    The problem was, it damaged her to the point that she needed a dedicated healer with impressive skills to keep her going. Especially if she pushed it too far, nerve burnout would ur in less than a minute.


    It was ast resort. She had promised Aidan as much, and she wasnt willing to break a promise to him.


    The fighting continued as they moved through the fortifications. Golems rushed to them in waves, only to meet their end.


    Finally, they hit the open area where the rift was situated, and Geraden mmed his staff into the ground. The tree that hid its form in the shape of a staff had its roots reach out of the ground, and swallow the remaining golems. With the area cleared, she turned to see the holding force reach the edge of the forest.


    It was embarrassing that they just now reached them, but they all turned and ran back to save the group of nobatants that were moving towards them. They were already signaling that they were being attacked with greater and greater numbers.


    <em>How useless</em>.


    ***


    Liz stood from her vantage on their flying sword, and reached up and scratched Aster fur. They had helped where they could, but after the melee fighters had engaged the golems, they had to aim their shots well, and this was only the beginning of the fight. With Thyme holding on to her waist, she turned and flew back to the group.


    They had made depressingly little progress for the time they had been running.


    Pushing the flying device, she shot ahead of the others, and quickly reached the rest of the group. There were so many dead that she had to swallow.


    As morbid as it was, it gave her what she needed. With a flick of effort, she gathered the blood of their fallenrades up, and sent it spinning in a whirlwind of blood.


    It wasnt perfect, but it bought the defenders some distance. Seeing the melee golems pull back to avoid her blood, Liz levitated the blood, with her innate connection strengthened with [Blood Maniption]. With waves of her hand, she started attacking the spider drone golems that were trying to overwhelm the anti-air defense with disposable units.


    Her mana quickly drained with the effort, and she pulled from her mana stones reserve. She had been sparing with her expenditure so far, and it was just for a situation like this.


    The mages knew that they would get back here faster, so they unleashed their most destructive spells only when they would do the most good.


    Liz moved the flying device so they were still part the anti-air defense, but Thyme and Aster could join in.


    They helped hold the line by attacking any group of the golems that tried to pierce the thin outeryer of defenses and reach the weaker Tier 4s.


    Liz refused to let that happen. After finding out what they had unleashed, she wanted to beg anyone she knew toe and stop the carnage, but her parents words stopped her.


    When she was young, she asked why Uncle Manny didnt just fix everything. They said, If people dont have struggles and loss, they cant grow. Even if they do, they will fall at the first sign of harsh winds.


    She thought their words were directed at the random people in the Empire at the time, but now she knew better. They had been directed at her. She needed to make mistakes and solve them.


    Matt had held her crying more than once after a failed rescue. They both hurt.


    She hated that he had had to kill the vile woman, and debated using her position to put pressure on the prince, but she found it too unlikely to seed. Promises for the future were worth less than allies now. It had been necessary, but she didnt like it. And the action had hurt Matt no matter how much he tried to hide it.


    With the weight of responsibility driving her magic, Liz moved to disrupt golem formations while the party retreated.


    Two hundred people didnt move fast. As she was trying to snake a line of blood around a golems leg, Asters yip and Thymes sudden jerk brought her attention to the horizon.


    At first, she thought it was only arge cloud, but realized that it was a massive wave of golems blotting out the sky.


    Liz wanted to cry.


    <em>How am I going to protect everyone from that many golems?</em>

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58


    Matt burst into a full sprint. Every ounce of energy he had was directed into his legs, and he cleared the in in moments while heading into the forest.


    He only had half of his attention focused on the path in front of him. The other half was preupied with the influx of messages, and the ovey showing the positions of the refugees.


    As he crested the final hill separating him from his target, his steps faltered for a moment. The group was being overwhelmed by golems. The sky was nearly ck, with the metal bodies blocking out the horizon.


    Matt quickly nced at the icons of Liz and Aster that he had permanently disyed on his HUD. They were low on mana but physically fine.


    Refusing to be dissuaded, Matt let out a scream, andunched himself down the hill at a breakneck pace. He made a beeline for the shrinking space between the golems and the mass of survivors.


    With his longsword fully charged, he obliterated the first enemies he came in contact with. The momentum was short lived as they instantly reced the destroyed drones with more troops. Matt formed a defensive perimeter with the other defenders and covered the retreat of the weaker humans. If they were to seed, the Tier 5s and 6s were in for the battle of their lives.


    It was hard and brutal fighting where each attack felt like iling in a pool. No matter how many times Matt brought his sword down into the swarm, they rushed to fill in the gaps created by his strikes.


    Most of them were the lighter, flying models, and took only a single attack to bring down. Still, their effectiveness was in their sheer numbers. The continous onught of golems wore down the defenders bodies. As the mindless fighting continued, Matt engaged with three of the melee golems, wielding the usual mana swords and shields. He was unable to finish them off, but his sole objective was a sessful retreat into the rift, so keeping the monsters upied was good enough.


    As he was backpedaling and parrying, he stepped on something fleshy and heard a cry of pain.


    Pushing forward slightly, he tried to buy time for the survivor to get up and move. When he heard no movement he quickly nced behind, and his shout of impatience caught in his throat. He found them still on the ground, with an obviously broken ankle. Judging from the other boot marks, they had already been trampled by quite a few people.


    Cursing mentally, Matt let loose a st of mana from his sword and with the space provided grabbed them. With a single hand he threw the survivor at someone retreating in the mass of people. He didnt have enough time to see more than the two of them stumbling and gripping each other, before he threw himself back into the fight.


    In the lull he quickly nced at the icon of Liz; while low on mana she was physically fine. Aster was doing better on mana but she lost a chunk while he watched. If she was using mana, she was fine.


    Matt wasnt sure how the melee fighters were doing, but the fighting was growing more and more frantic as each moment passed so he assumed it was worse than the flying mages. Golems kept slipping through, and trying to grab the weaker Tier 4s. Checking his AI, he saw that they were stretching out, pulling ahead faster than the rear of the formation, separating them further from the pack and forcing the defenders to cover more ground.


    Allowing his anger at the situation to take hold, he let his rage fuel his strikes. He was forced to fight at max effort, and didnt have much mana to spare for [Endurance]. [Mages Retreat] was eating everything that wasnt fed into [Cracked Phantom Armor] or [Mana Charge].


    The fighting seemed to go on forever. In between shes of his released mana, he caught glimpses of spells and ranged attacks pelting the mass of golems.


    It <em>was</em> helping, he knew that, but it felt so <em>useless</em>.


    The anti-air constructs were sending out a continuous stream of mana bolts, and kept the golems fromnding <em>inside</em> their formations. Still, some were already nking them, and attacking those at the front of the retreat. There was a bright side though. The stronger people were running ahead, and were able to clear any golems that tried that.


    A st of me washed over Matt, and the force of the explosion took him off his feet. Rolling and standing, he found more than a few humans moaning on the ground, while clutching themselves in various spots.


    Matt swallowed, stunned for a moment. The smell of charred flesh was overwhelming.


    Looking up, he saw a mage with a staff, who had a crossbow bolt sticking out of his shoulder, the bolt had thrown off his aim while he was using the skill. The mage looked on in horror at what had happened. His expression matched what Matt was feeling.


    Shaking off the shock and jumping into action, he picked up the two most intact people, and started shoving them forward. He didnt get much further, before a golem came into his sight, trying to grab an unconscious man. With a roar, he turned and lept at the golem, knocking it aside and into the encroaching horde.


    Picking up the downed man, Matt ran for all he was worth to catch back up with the retreating masses. Leaving behind the others tore at him, but he knew he had no choice. Not if he wanted to save the still unconscious man, or himself, for that matter. Getting killed or captured wasnt exactly on his list of things to do.


    Turning and running, Matt got back to the group, and after handing off his still unconscious baggage, returned to the fighting. The trees were a blessing and a curse. They stopped the golems from pelting them with their crossbows, but they also impeded their progress, forcing people around the thick trunks.


    Matt kept his HUD up, and saw the group he was next to split off to the left a little too far. They ran into a hill too steep to climb, getting themselves separated from the retreat.


    Checking his surroundings, he found that the defenders had the situation mostly under control. So he ran to the side, andunched himself off the top of the hill that the stragglers were stuck under. Whilending, he tried to lead with his sword. It worked for the most part, but he still tumbled down into a mass of metal limbs.


    Something stabbed into his side and punctured his armor. He let the pain add to the rage already fueling him, and brought his fists down on anything that moved. Before he lost himself in the killing, he retrieved his sword and screamed at the party of nine.


    Fucking get your asses moving. <em>Now</em>! His voice cracked on thest bit, and he spit out a mouthful of blood. He had bit his tongue hard during his <em>graceful</em> entrance.


    The survivors only looked at him as if he was stupid and the rage red up again. He started shoving them to get them going. Seeing that no one wanted to take the lead, Matt pushed forward, with his sword cutting through a pair of golems. With him leading the way, they quickly reunited with the rest of the retreat.


    In the moment he was inside the defensive line he took a swig of water from a canteen someone had out and checked his AI for Liz and Aster''s status. They were full on mana now but out of his range so with his primary concerns ensured safety he made to return to the fight.


    Before he could return to defending the rear, Matt got a ping. Fen was pinned down close by, along with a group of survivors. Not slowing down, Matt turned and rushed through a volley of crossbow bolts. They were simply nuisances that he ignored as Matt didn''t feel any connect.


    After nearly five minutes of sprinting, he found the group. Fen, Bow, and Arrow were the only fighters defending the group of seven. The others were bloodied and wounded, but trying to help as much as they could. Their wounds only rendered their already weak weapons and skills essentially useless. They were barely holding on.


    <em>How did they get so separated?</em>


    He didnt have time to consider the question, as he mmed into the back of the small group of golems. One of them turned towards him, and fired a crossbow bolt into his side at point-nk range. He grunted in pain before punching out blindly through the agony. He was quickly surrounded, but he grabbed the crossbow golem and used it as a shield. Charging forward, Matt barreled through the line of monsters and made it to the group of survivors.


    After coughing out a mouthful of blood, Fen called out, You look like shit Matt!


    Matt didnt know how the man had the energy for banter, and just nodded to the side in response. He led the group away from the rest of the golems, breaking out of the encirclement. The monsters tried to stop them, but with Matt leading the charge, along with the two massive bonded wolves, they were able to secure a path to safety.


    Fen was limping heavily, and he struggled to keep up, but some of the survivors helped enough for him to keep pace. Matt moved to help as well, but then noticed that the cut on Arrows side was disappearing, as Fens limp grew worse.


    Being able to transfer injuries was a very interesting Talent. Matt wanted to probe more, but now was hardly the time for an interview.


    They were able to meet back up with the rest of the party, and Fen, with his two wolves, made towards another group that needed saving. Fen pped Matts back, and the wolves nodded as they passed. Matt gently patted the injured humans shoulder, while scratching the wolves heads in response.


    Matt begrudgingly returned to the melee. They were close to the rear, where the fighting was fiercest. He was tired, exhausted from the effects of [Mages Retreat] boosting him so far beyond his physical means, but someone had to do it. The defenders ranks were growing thinner, as more and more were being taken out of the fight, or fleeing.


    As he fought on, he nearly slipped on the churned mud the ground had be. A bolt of lightning arcd from the small hill behind him, and struck the melee golem closest to him.


    ncing back, he saw a group of about twenty standing and fighting.


    Matt screamed at them, Fucking move! No heroicst stands! Just keep pushing forward!


    They didnt move as quickly as he wanted, so he resorted to herding them with shoves yet again. It got the momentum going, and they all started running together with thest stragglers. A wave of crossbow bolts mmed into the whole crowd through the treetops. Scores of the retreating survivors stumbled and staggered, but most were helped along before they could fall.


    As they reunited with the main group, the relief was palpable, but it didntst long. He thought the darkening of the sky was the approaching night, but the flurry of messages caused him to look again. The golems were sending arge force to nk them and split the formation.


    The worry for Liz and Aster skyrocketed but his AI had an update on their position and he found them with the front of the group and physically fine, just once again low on mana.


    A second quick nce at his AI indicated that the group had grown more and more stretched out as the retreat proceeded. There was simply too much ground to cover.


    Finally, the order he dreaded came down.


    They were to cut and run. The Tier 4s would be unable to keep up, and they would be sacrifices to protect the Tier 5s.


    It was a cold, calcted call.


    Matt agreed with it.


    Without hesitation, he turned and ran. The horror on the faces of the people they were abandoning finally broke something in Matt. It wasnt fair to anyone. He didnt want to leave them to the mercy of the golems, but they were about to be enveloped because of the difference in speed and endurance.


    Each step felt like failure. Each beat of his heart reinforced that he was leaving humans to the mercy of the ruins monsters. Matt knew how much <em>restraint</em> they had. He had seen it firsthand growing up.


    Eventually, the stragglers gave up and stopped moving. Matt found himself free of pursuers, and with about twenty others who ran fast enough to catch up with the rest of the retreat.


    The new, smaller group moved much faster with the Tier 4s gone, and they quickly were able to close the distance and tighten up the formation.


    It was just in time, as the army of golems enveloped the nearly fifty Tier 4s, along with the people that stayed behind with them.


    Now, the fighting retreat was so fast, they didnt even need to fight golems on their rear. Seeing as much, Matt ran to the front and joined in the melee to secure a safe route forward.


    As they cleared the forest and reached the grassy ins, they saw the rest of the rear defenders sprinting out to meet with them. The help was everything they needed, and they were able to make a loose corridor, with the nobatants flowing through it.


    The golems adjusted tactics, and threw themselves into the defenders, trying to cut through and catch the easiest targets. Matt saw more than one sh of a skill, but the remaining defenders were able to hold, with the help of the mages flying above.


    Right in front of Matt, a rain of dozen arrows made from mana peppered the golems from above. It reminded him to throw out a cast of [Hail] to his side, where the defenders looked to be struggling slightly.


    A steady stream of fireballs startedunching at the golems, burning them and knocking them back.


    It was the first time during the retreat that Matt wasnt actively fighting for more than the time it took to reach a new fight. He took the opportunity to scan around, and saw what looked like a tornado of blood flying through the sky. A quick check of his AI showed Liz and Aster were fine and draining mana rapidly.


    Dozens of people were casting everything they had, but even Matt could tell that the flight golems were getting closer. They were now in range to pelt them with crossbow bolts. The survivors were being overrun by the weight of the golems numbers.


    His AI still picked up the pleas of the Tier 4s, who were being collected, shackled up, and transported.


    Matt cursed his inability to use proper spells as he saw his flying sword lower itself out of harms way. Even the anti-air constructs couldnt keep up with the golems. Matt wanted to help, but they were at half their mana capacity, and firing at their fastest setting. More mana wasnt the answer.


    Finally, thest of the nobatants passed Matts position, and he fell in with the rear defenders.


    The golems saw that the humans were nearly out of their trap, and reports of the monsters attempting to cut off the rift flowed in. Matt and Basil rushed to the front in response.


    The man in heavy armor was covered in dents and scratches that told the story of his defense of the heaviest hit areas. Matt caught a slight nod, as the two of them ran faster than the stream of refugees, and crashed into the side of the golems force.


    Matt didnt have the room to do anything fancy, and simply hacked into the golem''s metal bodies over and over. It was more frantic fighting, where he saw more than one person fall to a crossbow bolt or a sword. Some got back up, but many didnt.


    After what felt like hours, they were thest of the survivors outside of the rift, and they quickly retreated inside. The transition from ins back to dense forest was abrupt, and Matt immediately received a countdown on his HUD. The first person through the rift had started it, if their n was being followed correctly.


    Seven minutes and twelve seconds remained until the rift instanced, making it impossible for anyone or anything else to follow them into their version of the rift.


    Matt passed through the defenses already set up, and joined the other fighters, simply slipping into an open space. There were a few simple, earthen constructs only about waist-high, but they would slow the golems down. At least, long enough to give the defenders an advantage. As the final humans passed through, Matt watched as a portion of the defenders rose up in a quiet rumble.


    The golems didnt immediately follow, sparking a small bit of hope in him, until he saw theme through in formation. The leading golems were the heavier shield and sword users. They had their glowing shields raised, ready to absorb the first volley of spells and ranged weapons loosed towards them.


    Matt dropped a cast of [Hail] directly on the rift entrance, andshed out at the first golem in range of [Mana Charge]. The golems shield held for a brief moment, but crumpled from the explosion of unleashed energy. Other golems quickly reced their killedrade, and Matt was forced into a shoving match to keep them from stepping over the defensive wall.


    An arrow whizzed over his shoulder, and took one of the golems in the head, dropping it to the ground. Only for it to be reced once again.


    Matt brought his de down in another mana filled attack.


    The countdown seemed to tick down in minutes instead of the seconds that actually passed while Matt watched. Thankfully, the flight golems were all quickly shot down, and they stopped trying to gain air superiority in the rift.


    The fight ended suddenly, when Matt turned from a bisected golem to find the killing field empty. The rift entrance sat quiet, and only a few scattered limbs still moved in the pile of metal corpses.


    Matt didnt join the small cheer. He quickly checked his AI, and saw that Liz and Aster were ok. He dropped down, letting his back rest against the makeshift wall.


    As he did, he jolted up at the sudden pain, and leaned forward.


    There was a bolt in his lower back.


    <em>When did I get hit in the back?</em>


    The pain now made itself known,and Matt moved over to the area that his AI had marked for the healers. They had a whopping four healers, out of the nearly one hundred and fifty survivors remaining.


    That number, and the realization of their losses hurt much worse than the pain in his back and side. They had lost so many, it made the victory feel hollow.


    Looking around the open-air infirmary, Matt found an aide, someone trained in first aid and mundane medicine. They were all busy with much more severe injuries, so Matt just lumbered over to a stack of bandages, and grabbed some before leaving.


    The cries of pain were digging up memories that he wished would stay buried.


    Matt moved to a tree, and braced himself as he started fumbling around his back. As he struggled, a small white form ran up to him, and tried to scurry into his arms. Aster''s yips were apanied with thoughts of panic and worry.


    Leaning down, he kissed the fox on the head, and went back to his fumbling.


    What are you doing? Lizs voice stopped his hands, but for only a moment. He almost had the angle he wanted, but his hands were pried off, with Liz cursing at him.


    You need a healer.


    Matt killed that quickly, They have more important injuries to deal with.


    Liz grumbled at that, but he felt her hands feel around the bolt still sticking out of his back. The sensation of her cutting around the foreign object wasntfortable, but he was able to grit his teeth through it. He was so tired, he was almost falling asleep while she worked.


    Matt jolted slightly as he felt the bolt leave his back, and Liz started wrapping the bandage around his lower waist. Then she rolled him over and worked on the bolt in his side.


    With his face now out of the fallen leaves and dirt, Matt asked, You ok?


    Aster answered him with a yip and a headbutt, so he started to rub his bonds ears the way she liked.


    We made it through fine. We ran out of mana right before the end. It wasnt pretty there for a while. I cant... Her voice trailed off, and she flopped down next to him, having finished her task to her liking.


    Matt turned and watched the quiet forest. It looked normal, but the sounds of pain still rung in his ears.


    Before he could get too deep into his own head, Matt got a message from Juni calling a meeting.


    Matt wanted to sigh and protest, but there were matters that needed addressing.


    Getting up, Matt pulled Liz closer to him, but was interrupted by a second message that rescinded the original order. The new message said that they would meet up the next morning. The rift was already cleared, so there was little to worry about. It was as safe as a forest could possibly be, decidedly different from the one they had just escaped from.


    Matt sat with Liz and Aster for an unknown amount of time, while they rested in silence, holding each others hands. Before long, they were joined by Cami and Geraden. Thetter of them was covered in small nicks and scrapes. Cami had blood covering most of her armor and exposed skin. It almost looked like she had been in a fight with Liz instead of the golems.


    He felt slightly guilty that he hadn''t checked up on her once during the retreat.


    No one broke the silence as they sat around. There was nothing to say, really.


    They needed to dpress and vent some of the stress that had umted over thest few hours.


    Soon, Fen, Bow, and Arrow all joined them. They had the worst injuries by far, with Bow missing her tail, and Arrow missing a front leg.


    At least they were alive. Limbs could be regrown.


    <em>Not even Melinda can heal the dead.</em>


    Matt finally fell asleep, with Liz and Aster in his arms. They were safe, and that was all that mattered.


    ***


    All of the people who were nning to leave the rift were gathered together, and sitting in a half-circle to get a good view of Juni. They had only thirty-four people who werebat capable, after the golems assault on the rift. Too many of their fighters had taken crippling hits, or injuries that severely hampered them.


    There was no reason to force them to fight. The rift was safe enough, and with the reduction in numbers, they had more than enough food tost for four months.


    When everyone finally settled down, Juni said, That was a fucking shit show. But we made it through. Though, notpletely unscathed. But now, we need to decide what our next steps are. The Princes original n was to wait for a single day, then break out in coordination with the other groups.


    There was grumbling at the mention of the prince, and Juni let them vent some of their frustration.


    Finally, he held up a hand and regained everyones attention.


    We still need to n our next moves. We should be moving in the next five hours, but if anyone wants to stay here and wait this out, no hard feelings.


    No one exactly sprung to their feet. Not that Matt expected them to openly dere their intentions. If anyone wanted to stay behind, they would simply decline to show at the rift entrance in five hours.


    Our next steps are to move to the center of the continent, and meet up with the rest of the Princes forces.


    One of the women who had been with the guard force interjected, Are we still going to join him after what he did to us?


    Juni shrugged. Youre free to do as you please. I cant stop you, nor will I. But that golem fortress is still sitting there, and they will only grow in numbers. We could wait until the higher Tiers are forced to step in, but that might take a while. And how would we know, even if they did?


    Another woman from the guard party spoke out, Whats your idea then? We never even got firm details about what to do after we arrived, well before this disaster.


    We need to get out of the rift and meet up with the prince. Were hoping they arent guarding the rift entrances closely, now that people are inside of them. Anyone that stays would always be vulnerable, even if this isnt an ideal rift for the golems to gather materials.


    They talked a bit more, but in the end, it was up to people to decide on their own.


    As they were about to leave, one of the crafters came up and said, We have a bath house carved into the river, and a small steam house built as well.


    That was all Matt needed to hear. They were still covered in blood and sweat from the fight yesterday. They had been abruptly woken up for the meeting, and had not had the time to clean up at all.


    Everyone else clearly had the same idea, and rushed towards the river. Matt saw that Fen was now missing an arm, but Arrow had four legs once again. The human looked battered, but was still smiling.


    They reached the river, and found a small area dug out in the shape of a small halfmoon and a set of steps built into the side.


    Matt rushed to pull his under armor off, and fell into the shockingly cold water. He spluttered, surfacing with a shudder. The cold was a brutal way to get thest remnants of sleep out of his bones.


    Everyone else had joined him, and was scrubbing away at themselves with bars of soap from the ledge. As he went to grab one, he stopped and twisted to check his injuries. The bandages hade off when he pulled off his clothes. Poking, he found them mostly healed, at least the surface.


    He had kept [Endurance] running for most of the night while he slept, and with nearly 40 MPS to dedicate to the task, it had healed rapidly.


    A slight gasp caught his attention, and the crafter who led them over was covering her eyes while looking up.


    Is there a problem?


    Umm uhh... Men and women dont bathe together. Its not really considered proper. Weakly, she pointed to the partition that he hadnt noticed and continued, Thats the area for men.


    Matt shrugged, walked back into the water and started scrubbing. He didnt notice that only the people from the Empire proper were here. Thyme and Basil were nowhere to be seen. They and the others from the local kingdom must have suspected something like this would happen.


    He didnt have it nearly as bad as Cami, who was covered in dried blood. Liz was helping her with [Blood Maniption], and was using the same skill to keep the blood from lingering in their bathing water.


    Finishing his cleaning, he scooped up Aster, who was busy creating chucks of ice and trying to bite them. In between chomps, she was sending shards of ice at the two wolves sshing around the struggling Fen.


    Aster resisted his interruptions of her ytime, until she saw the soap. Then she made her way over to the ledge, ready to be pampered.


    After he finished scrubbing the dirt and debris out of her fur, returning it to a pristine white, Aster jumped back into the water and resumed her sshing with the wolves.


    As much as he wanted to sit in the frigid water, Matt got up and moved to the sauna. He found a fire device designed for camping, and filled it with mana, sending the water in the bowl on top to a boil.


    Steam quickly filled the air, and he was joined by Liz and the others soon after.


    He called out, Shut the door! Youre letting my steam escape.


    A chorus ofints were good-naturedly returned to him, and the others filled in.


    Liz plopped next to him, and he couldnt resist the opportunity to check her out. It wasnt the first time he had seen her naked, but it was the first time since they had agreed to date exclusively. His appreciation was cut short at the long red line across her hip.


    Running his finger down it, he asked, How did you get that? Liz had her unique [Blood Endurance], but she didnt have his unlimited mana to spend on the healing skill. It couldnt have been terrible, but he didnt like seeing her hurt.


    Liz leaned into his side and whispered, Fucking golems from the ground started to shoot at us at the end. I got snagged. Nothing crazy. It was a ncing blow, but...


    He felt her shrug at the end. He understood. It could have been much worse.


    They sat there for a long while, until the heat had chased away the cold of their baths, and they came back out into the pleasant air of the rift.


    As they toweled off and slipped into their clean clothes, he found Aster holding court with the other two bonds. Bow and Arrow both sat together, and had their heads cocked at the little foxs yapping.


    Matt found Fen with his feet kicked up, and his good arm covering his eyes.


    You see what your bond has done to mine? Its not fair.


    Mattughed, Shell miss them when we leave tomorrow.


    That caused Fen to lift his arm and look at Matt questioningly. Who said were noting?


    Seeing where Matts eyes went, he rolled his eyes. Its only an arm, and I can fill in just fine as a spell caster. I only prefer melee.


    He shrugged and added, And I bet that prince has a capable healer. Cant get it regrown here, so might as well push forward.


    They sat there for a while, watching Aster until she turned around and bolted off. Matt was worried for a moment, until Bow and Arrow followed her. He saw that Cami had exited the steam house, and was promptly tackled by a mass of fur.


    Bow and Arrow looked confused, but didnt hesitate to join in on Aster''s fun.


    Matt let theughter and quiet barks lull him into a peaceful state. With Liz curled up at his side, he rxed. He used the down time to allocate the essence in his full spirit. He hated to think how much essence he wasted being full.


    His hand slightly shook as he reached into his spatial bag and pulled out a few drinks. It took concentrated effort to stop the shaking, but hearing Aster ying was enough to lighten his mood. A part of him wanted to stay here and let the world pass him by, but images of destruction kept shing in his mind.


    Someone had to clean up this mess, and he didnt trust anyone else to do it right.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59


    Matt, Liz, Aster, and Cami sat in a tight circle in a far corner of the rift.


    "If anyone wants to back out, no shame." Matt''s words caused the women to cock their eyebrows at him. Clearly, this wasn''t what they had expected when he gathered them to talk.


    Liz rolled her eyes and quietly said, "I''m staying with you. Dumbass."


    Aster added her yips and lightly growled at him. What Liz had intuited, she plucked from his mind. He was going to go no matter what, but he wanted to make sure that the rest of his team wasn''t hesitant.


    Ignoring the barred teeth, Matt scooped up Aster and flipped her onto her back in his arm. Cradling her with one arm, he rubbed her belly with his other hand. With that, the fox went limp in both body, spirit, and mind.


    Cami just watched him when he looked over for her answer.


    She chewed on her lip hard for a long moment, finally saying, "I think we do have an obligation to the people here. We have the power to make a difference, and so we have a duty to do so."


    That was far more noble of his temporary teammate than he expected. Cami was what he would call a friend at this point, but she still had her rough edges. She had verbally snapped on more than one person during their time together. But weirdly enough, she seemed to have opened up during their time in the camp, and had even started chatting with passerby''s.


    Then, Cami essentially ruined his good impression of her. "Besides, I bet those golems have gathered nearly everything of value in this half of the continent."


    Matt had tough at that, and got a joking re from Cami in return.


    "Fair enough, I just wanted to make sure I wasn''t pressuring anyone."


    Feeling slightly awkward, Matt brushed at some leaves that were stuck to his physical armor.


    "I guess we should go meet up with everyone else?"


    As they got up, he asked, "Why would a rift make a forest with fallen leaves? Really, it makes no sense."


    Cami just pulled Aster out of his arms, while Liz turned to him.


    "Rifts don''t need to make sense. You bring this stuff up in almost every rift thats remotely normal."


    "You say that, but it makes sense for a forest to have fallen leaves, so your own argument doesn''t even make sense."


    Their good-natured bickeringsted until they reached the rift entrance. They soon joined the others milling around the distortion in space.


    Once they arrived, their joking atmosphere disappeared as they prepared for what was about toe. They couldn''t know for sure what was out there, but they needed to prepare for the worst. There could be a fortified position full of golems waiting for them, and they would need to cut their way through.


    Fifteen minutester, Juni came up and counted the remaining fighters. Matt had already done the same, and they were missing three people who hade to the previous meeting. He couldn''t me them for wanting to stay in the safety of the rift.


    Juni didn''t say anything until their departure time had arrived, and asked everyone to gather information and prepare for anything.


    Matt was in front of the formation, with the other melee fighters who could take a hit. His hand tightened around his sword''s hilt as he watched the distortion in space that would take them out of the rift. His sword glowed a faint blue with the 1000 mana he had siphoned into [Mana Charge]. The first thing he hit was going to die.


    "Move!"


    At themand, Matt rushed ahead with the others. He heard Basil let out a roar right before they passed the demarcation line that separated the dimensions.


    As Matt exited the rift, he threw himself forward, and prepared to strike down anything standing before him made of metal. But there was nothing.


    Lowering his sword to a ready stance, he joined everyone else in surveying the ins. There was nothing and no one to be seen other than swaying grass.


    Letting the mana dissipate out of his sword, Matt rxed out of his ready stance, and returned to the side of the rift entrance.


    The next wave came out thirty secondster, and someone called out, "Safe!"


    At that, everyone lowered their weapons, and made room for the rest of the group.


    Cami came over to Matt and shrugged at him, quietly saying, "I didn''t expect there to not be a fight at all."


    "Yeah, same. Feels almost... off."


    Thest wave of the fighters and mages came out of the rift. Shortly after, they were followed by Juni, who had a cart carrying the satellite and anti-air constructs.


    Everyone sat around waiting for him to check in. After a few moments, he jumped on the cart and called out, "Ok, we have our orders. Were moving to the Prince''s location, where he has set up camp around a rift. They didn''t face great opposition, so they didn''t have to enter the rift. When you consider that all of the crafters and such are with him, this is a great opportunity to resupply and get new items."


    "Where are they?" Someone in the crowd called out.


    Along with his answer, Juni sent a message to everyone.


    "It''s roughly a two-day, eighty mile journey on foot. We have to cross the mountain range, so it''ll be slightly more challenging."


    With that, they all started moving. The mages were on all of the avable flying devices, patrolling the skies in circles and scouting their immediate front.


    The party exited the ins and moved back into the forest. It was quiet while they moved through the trees and started their trek towards the mountains.


    As night approached, the scouts came upon a clearing with a camp set up, and a party sitting around a fire .


    When the rest of the group arrived, they challenged the party. If they were thatfortable, there was a good chance that they were bandits.


    Juni called out to them from behind their melee frontliners, "Who are you? And why are you just sitting there?"


    Matt had already scanned them and found that they were peak Tier 6s. They only saw four people, but if there were more hidden, they would be troublesome in a fight.


    One of the people looked over and waved at them. "Listen. Were just delving the rift over there. No more, no less."


    Juni asked the question that they all were thinking. "And the golems don''t bother you?"


    The man shrugged while settling back into his chair. "Not really. They came after us a few times, but after we fought them off, they stoppeding by. We also spend most of our time in the rift, so they don''t really bother us."


    "Then why are you cooking out here?"


    The man rolled his eyes so hard that his head moved. "Listen, dude. I don''t know what your problem is, but we want to be left alone. We don''t care about your grand and epic fight against the golems. Were cooking out here because the rift is underground, and theres no wood. We don''t want to waste mana on a portable camp stove."


    The man stood up and waved them off. "Look, I answered your questions. Move on or fight. Either is fine with us."


    His threepanions didn''t even move from their rxed positions. They were extremely confident. Matt just wondered if that was cockiness or justified confidence in their abilities.


    Juni didn''t want to find out, and responded, "We''ll leave, but we could really use your help. There are a lot of innocent people getting hurt, and we need powerful people. The Prince would greatly value you."


    The man waved them off while sitting back down. He didn''t say anything, and acted as if they were alone again.


    Juni sent an order for some people to guard their rear, and the formation shifted as they moved around the camp.


    As they moved, Matt questioned the group they met to himself. They were so apathetic to the situation of everyone around them. It didnt sit well with him. They were each strong enough to deal with any golems that happened upon them, but they didn''t go out of their way to help anyone else.


    It felt wrong.


    To have power, but then sit on your ass and watch the world go by was unfathomable to him. It got so bad, he messaged Liz in their chat.


    ''Can you believe them? They don''t even care to help. People are dying, and theyre strong enough to handle the golems with ease. They could make a real difference.''


    Liz''s message wasn''t what he thought it would be.


    ''That''s pretty normal, honestly. As you advance through Tiers, that logic bes more and more prevalent. Most call them observers, or independents. They exist all throughout the Tiers, and even have a few guilds they join for protection. They only focus on delving and their advancement. They don''t deal in politics or worldly affairs. If the Empire got invaded today, they wouldn''t lift a finger to help. One political ruler is just like any other to them.''


    A moment passed, and a second message came through, ''Theyre strong enough and prevalent enough that no one can force them to join a group or do anything. That''s why the Emperor gives rewards for managing the political jobs. Theyre able to entice some independents to actively participate in internal affairs. For a time at least. There are whole contracts where independents do X job for Y years, but won''t do Z. In exchange, they get ess to the higher Tier rifts, faster. You have to remember that the rifts be a scarcemodity thats strictly managed. There are wait lists that take hundreds of years to get through for the Tier 47 rifts.''


    Matt pondered her words. It made sense, to a degree. If you just wanted to get stronger, keeping out of political affairs, keeping your head down, and sticking to delving was probably the best way to do that. Managing a city must be hard work, even with a higher Tier AI to help. Otherwise the AI''s would run the Empire, and not the royals.


    The rewards also were enticing. Matt understood having a rift there, but just out of reach. He had worked at Benny''s for years to get ess to a rift. If you were immortal, would a few hundred years of work be all that high of a price to pay for advancement?


    Matt didn''t know how he felt about the situation. A part of him felt that everyone had a responsibility to do what they could for the benefit of others. Matt didn''t think that the few Tier 4s in the rift had a responsibility to fight the peak Tier 6 golems. That was outside of their abilities. But the Tier 6batants who remained behind? Matt didnt have such lenient opinions of them.


    They kept moving until it was nearly dark, and quickly set up camp in a small area near a river. Food was quickly cooked, with Matt helping out the only other person with cooking experience in thebatant group.


    When a short watch schedule was set, they all tried to get as much sleep as they could manage.


    The next morning, they finished their trek to the area that the Prince had indicated. When they crested the hill, and the camp came into view, Matt paused for a second. He had expected a camp simr to the one his group of survivors had built. But this one far exceeded that billing. .


    Where they had rough wooden walls, this camp had stone ones eight feet tall. Where they had tent cities, this camp had wooden cabins.


    There were stationed guards with ranged weapons and staffs every few feet, and evenrger towers on the corners of the Bastion fort''s star-like structure. There was even a diverted river that created a moat in front of the walls, further increasing their effective height.


    As they got closer, he noticed that each guard tower was topped with two of the anti-air defenses.


    This ce was a fortress. He wasn''t sure if they had thrown this up in the two days after the evacuations, or if the structures had been here the whole time. Earth mages could do the fortification in a few hours, <em>if</em> they had the mana to throw around. It made Matt wonder how the ruin had taken the city, especially if they had even a fraction of these defenses.


    <em>No, they didn''t. The city was little more than a camp when we left. They might have just been relying on the Tier 15 to keep them safe.</em>


    That made sense to Matt. Most cities never had physical walls, and relied on their mana reserves and mana shielding. And that would have worked too, if the resident Tier 15 hadn''t decided to y games with everyone''s lives.


    As they came down the sloping hill, he saw a drawbridge lowered over the makeshift moat. On the other side, there were five people in heavy armor. When Matt scanned them, one of them looked directly at him, and then to a few more spots in their group.


    The guards didn''t even attempt to stop or question them, and they quickly made their way through the city to an open-air pavilion made from raised stone. Inside, there were nearly a dozen people clustered around a table.


    When he reached the threshold, Juni went to a knee and pressed both fists to the ground, calling out, "Your highness, I have returned with twenty-eightbat-capable people."


    Everyone stopped talking, and the atmosphere went tense.


    A man walked to the edge, and as he approached, Matt was able to scrutinize the Prince. He was tall, only an inch or so under Matt''s height, but solidly built. He wasn''t sure how much of that was the Prince himself, and how much was his Talent. It seemed to turn him into living crystal.


    Prince Albert stood there, considering Juni for a long moment. It was so long, everyone around them started to fidget, but Juni didn''t rise from his position. The Prince didn''t tell him to rise either.


    Finally, Albert called out softly, while stroking the sharp edge of his jaw, "What am I supposed to do with you, Juni?"


    He sighed so heavily, Matt wanted to call it theatrics. But from the way the Prince sagged, he thought it might be a real sigh.


    "I just don''t know. I just. Don''t. Know."


    Rubbing his jaw, Albert walked around the still kneeling Juni.


    Finally, he asked, "What do you have to say for yourself?"


    Juni, without lifting his head, replied, "Your highness. I am, as always, at your disposal."


    The Prince barked out augh at that.


    "At my disposal? The traitorous subject says he''s at my disposal. Who wants a weapon that will turn on its wielder?"


    The people around the table that the Prince had been at started to murmur. Matt heard a few variations of ''kill him''.


    Prince Albert apparently heard as well, because he shouted at them, with anger leaking into his voice, "I didn''t ask you! Hold your tongues. Unless I ask, I don''t need input from you on how to handle one of my own."


    Visibly calming himself, the Prince kept his pacing around Juni.


    "I really don''t know what to do, Juni. Youve served me loyally for nearly ten years now. Everyone said I was foolish for believing you were innocent with your mother''s treason." The heat started to creak back into his voice. "I protected you, and this is what I get. I send you out to protect the citizens of the Kingdom, and you spit in my face by killing Zoey. Did you think I wouldn''t put together the facts about the other hits, and you not even getting an attempt?


    Matt heard a few people mutter about their suspicions surrounding the circumstances, but the prince didn''t seem to hear thosements.


    The prince took a deep breath and deted a bit, shaking his head.


    You were like a brother to me. More than that. I don''t trust my brothers, but I trusted <em>you</em>."


    Juni''s neck was all that Matt could see, but his tendons and veins were prominent.


    "Your highness, Ive never given you any less than everything I have, and myplete loyalty. I''m more than willing to provide my AIs recording of my time away. I had nothing to do with Zoey''s death."


    Having talked with Juni, and seeing him in stressful situations more than once, Matt thought the man was over acting. He had seen him fight during the retreat, and issue orders without blinking.


    Albert flipped a hand around, "And a portion of the recording will be missing. Conveniently Zoey will die after."


    The Prince seemed to be about to work himself back into a frenzy, but Juni spoke up in the brief pause.


    "Your highness, I am more than willing to hand over the data, and prove that there are no gaps or blips in the recording."


    That caused the Prince to stop his pacing at Juni''s back left side. He didn''t speak, only nodding once. Juni seemed to know, as in the next moment, the Prince''s eyes started to flick back and forth. He was clearly reviewing Junis recordings through his own AI.


    Finally, he quickly stepped in front of Juni, and pulled him off the muddy ground and into a tight embrace.


    "Oh, wonderful news! I feared I had lost my best supporter and friend."


    He pushed Juni to arm''s length, and wiped some mud from his face before pulling him back in.


    "We had seven of our camp''s leadership assassinated. When you were the only group to have a single royal killed, I feared the worst. But it seems I should have had more trust."


    Juni froze at that, and he shook slightly. "Is Bridget ok?"


    The Prince pulled him closer with a hand behind his head, and said quietly, but loud enough for Matt to catch it, "She''s fine. Her group fought them off."


    Finally, after a long hug, the two men released each other, and the Prince turned to one of the men still under the awning.


    "Get our neers settled in. We''ll reconvene the counsel after the evening meal. Juni and I have much to catch up on, and I''m sure he can use some time to freshen up."


    One of the men called out, "Your highness, we don''t have the time."


    Albert cut them off, "A few hours will not cause any undue damage. After dinner, we will finish this out. Were still waiting for more than a few people to make it."


    The man didn''t protest further, and moved to the side. "If you''ll follow me, I''ll get you set up."


    They started moving, and Andersen, one of the lower Tier 6 melee fighters from the other rescue team, asked, "What can we expect in the next few days?"


    The unnamed man called over his shoulder, "The prince wants to start hitting the golems factories tomorrow, or the day after at thetest."


    The man ducked into a cabin and came right back out. "That one has things in it already. Next one."


    They entered a roughly made cabin, but despite the exterior, it had decent bunk beds with cloth bedding.


    Matt moved with Liz and Cami, and imed one of the triple bunk beds byying out their sleeping bags. Matt wanted toin about them leaving him with the top bunk when he was the tallest, but didn''t bother. He wouldn''t win that one.


    The Princes man stood at the doorway for a moment, but upon catching sight of Fen''s arm, called out to them. "We have a bathhouse and most crafters are set up, but things are expensive, as there are incredibly limited mana reserves. You can also get that healed, but it will probably be over a few days, instead of all at once."


    Looking at Liz and then at Cami, Matt shrugged and motioned towards the door.


    With their shrugs and agreement, they started towards the door, and followed the still-unnamed guard. There was no LocalNet, but he still shared a rough map of the camp, with the important areas clearlybeled.


    They began to leave the cabin to explore the camp, and the guard turned around and got their attention. "Hey, the night is free for now, but expect to start moving and fighting tomorrow or the day after. Just don''t start a fight in the camp. The Prince won''t tolerate that."


    With that, they were left to their own devices. Matt moved to the area indicated for the healers, and pulled out all of his mana stones. He had a little over a dozen, and it only took moments for Matt to fill them. It was the best cover he coulde up with for giving them a lot of mana.


    Liz and Cami didn''t even question him, and while they were alone, he pulsed his Concepts mana regeneration function. They popped into the healing station, and the relief on the receptionists face was obvious when they said that they didn''t have injuries to heal.


    They were led to a back room, where there were the racks of mana stones he had seen used by the other healers. They were slotted into a shelf that looked custom made for the same purpose.


    Curious, he looked at the man who led them there and asked, "What are those racks? Like how are they different from a normal mana stone?"


    "Easy. Theyre specially made for the Empire''s healers. Theyre created from a sample of the healer''s mana, and they can only be used by the same healer. That way, theres little chance of theft. These bad boys convert mana a lot faster than a normal mana stone, so theyre pretty valuable. Theyre even better than the fast converter''s efficiency, even though they don''t change users. Makes them super expensive, though. I think they sell for like Tier 15 or 20 mana stones."


    He looked slightly proud, and had a touch of longing when he looked at the racks.


    Cami asked the pertinent question, "Should he input our mana into them or?" She trailed off in an obvious question.


    "No, sorry. Behind the shelf, theres a formation that can feed all the racks and prioritize. Just kinda touch there and you should be able to give mana."


    Matt went over with the others and found the formation. He could tell it was meant to link the shelf to arger mana storage device, and that it was made for throughput. The healers were probably one of the few people who had a direct link to a citys mana storage. After all, no one wanted healing to be slowed by cheaper and lower throughput mana conduits.


    Pushing his hand to the conduit, and holding mana stones in his other hand, he put in nearly 3000 mana, before he pulled his hand back and whipped at his face slightly. He didn''t want them to think it was easy to transfer that much mana.


    Liz just rolled her eyes at him, and bumped him out of the way with her hip. Matt took the opportunity to pull her close, and sted his Concept in a tight radius.


    Lizsted slightly longer than he had, but he wasn''t sure exactly how much mana she had been able to give. She pulled the trick with the handful of mana stones like he did, but he hadn''t actually paid attention to their contents.


    Cami shooed them both away, and Matt made sure he was closer to her than the man who led them there, and continued his Concepts work.


    They moved out, and left after not too long with thanks from the guide.


    "So, what do you all want to check out?"


    Matt didn''t have much of a preference. Now that they had gotten some mana into the system and helped everyone, he was much more rxed. He wanted to visit a cksmith, but was sure that the prices would be absurd here, so he didn''t expect to buy anything.


    A proper Tier 6 blunt weapon with enchantments would be great, but Matt wasn''t about to bankrupt himself for it. Even if he just went with a mundane weapon, and did the enchantments himself, the price would outstrip the quality. He would look at the wares with the others, but doubted that he would actually make a purchase.


    Liz hooked an arm in his and said, "Let''s just wander a bit, just for a small bit of normalcy."


    Aster, from her backpack, yipped her agreement, and pushed ideas of ice cream at him. By Liz''s giggle, she actually said that as well.


    Reaching out, he scratched his bond, and they moved along. More than once, Aster looked like she was about to hop down, but she would always look at their muddy boots and whine. She had just gotten her bath, and didn''t want to ruin her newly pristine fur.


    More than one stall was set up by teams like theirs, and even when it started to drizzle, the streets didnt clear.


    Most of the stalls they visited didn''t have much that they were interested in, or even arge amount of wares in general. There wasn''t a lot of time for people to delve for this''s rewards before the golems attacked. So, people were trying to barter for what they needed. They had to contend with theck of an entity like an auction house and ack of intermediaries. Because of that, everyone thought their item was worth two of their buyers, making any tradeplicated.


    Liz did trade one of their Tier 6 bars of metal for an actual healing potion. It was rift made, and if poured on a wound, would act like a normal healing spell. It was a pretty simple trade, as the potion only worked on its own Tier or lower, and this one was a Tier 5. It was useless for the Tier 6 seller.


    They pocketed the bottle of red liquid, and Liz chimed in, "Did you know that health potions have changed colors a few times?" When she only got questioning sounds, she continued, "They used to be green, but when public perception of them changed, the color changed. Weird but fun fact about rifts."


    Matt poked her under her ribs and mockingly eximed, "Ohh! So you can share fun facts, but if I question rifts, you get all pouty."


    Liz just stuck her tongue out at him. He was feeling frisky with their newfound safety, so he leaned into her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "If you keep sticking that tongue out at me, I''ll think it''s an invitation."


    He pulled back slightly, and saw that Liz''s expression had turned from amused and mocking to heated, so he leaned in and kissed her.


    She drew him closer, and for a moment that stretched into eternity, they held each other. Their kiss was the closest thing Matt had ever felt to a miracle. There was a connection there that he had never felt with anyone else, and he craved it. He wanted more.


    They pulled away, and Matt was sure that the flush on her face reflected his own.


    She yed with the edges of his armor for a moment, before patting his chest.


    "Why did we wait so long to do that?"


    Matt shrugged and said, "I dont intend to wait again."


    To prove his point, he pulled her back in while her fingers twined into his hair.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60


    Ahem...


    Cough, cough.


    <em>Hey!</em>


    Matt ignored Cami for a moment longer as he and Liz slowly separated.


    After staring into her eyes for a moment longer, Matt winked and turned to their unwitting third wheel. He had to admit, they had been at it longer than was polite.


    Did you actually say cough? Couldnt you just actually cough?


    Cami rolled her eyes so hard, Matt felt it. I did the first few times, but I got tired of not being heard, so I started hamming it up. Can we continue our shopping?


    Liz slipped under Matts arm, and intertwined her fingers through the hand that was draped over her shoulder.


    Dont be a sourpuss. We never said anything about you when you uhh... Liz paused for a moment before shrugging. Well, we wont say anything if you decide to make out with someone.


    With Cami cated, they made their way through the shopping area. They wandered until they came upon a cksmith who was toying with a bit of metal. His forge was cold and silent.


    Matt called out to him, Hey, are you taking orders or? He let the end of hisment trail off into a question.


    The man looked up and quietly called out, Nothing with alloys or enchantments. No mana.


    Reaching back into his bag, Matt withdrew a pair of war hammers from the shop they had looted while still in the ruin.


    Dropping them in front of the cksmith, he asked, Can you help me figure out the best way to enchant them? Ill do the work, but I dont want to ruin them.


    That piqued the mans interest, and he looked the weapons over for a long minute.


    Are these rift rewards?


    Matt paused. The man phrased it as a question, but his tone was a statement.


    Yeah, how did you know? Ive dabbled in cksmithing, but didnt see anything that would give it away.


    The smith tapped the hammerhead with a calloused finger. Their internals are identical. It makes them great for beginners to enchant, no human variation to mess you up. That means, you can go with identical runic structures. Easy enough for beginners, so you should be fine, by my reckoning. I can help you, but no guarantee of it actually working. I dont have ess to the towns mana reserves.


    He scoffed and added, Good luck getting the prince to give you ess, either. This is low priority stuff, sure, but it still sucks to be unable to work.


    What are you thinking for the runic structure?


    The man chewed his lip for a minute. Got any more rift weapons? Particrly Tier 6 ones, like these?


    Matt just grinned at him. Maybe.


    One weapon with the pattern for Tier 6 durability and strengthening. Can you enchant more? I can add a repair rune, but that will make the process a lot harder.


    No, the two will already be hard enough for my skills.


    Matt pulled out a war axe, and the cksmith eyed it for a minute. He then asked, Got anything blunt left? Theyre going for a higher price with all the metal monsters running around.


    Reaching back in, he pulled out a mace.


    Perfect, here you go.


    With that, Matt received aplex data packet that contained a runic structure that fit the two hammers. Looking it over, Matt was fairly confident that he could enchant the weapons. At least, he didnt think he would fail and break them.


    Moving on, he caught up with Liz and Cami. They were perusing a shop selling odds and ends and other sorts of things. They already hadparable versions of every bauble he saw, so Matt decided to go outside and look around.


    They met up with the rest of their people shortly after a message interrupted their shopping, Juni asked them to gather so they all trickled into their bunk area. Matt expected to be given orders to go attack somewhere, but Juni had other news.


    We have new scouting reports to go through, and they have all thrown a few wrenches into our ns. We will move tomorrow morning, but for now, just try and rx as much as you can.


    When his information was passed, someone called out, Are you ok, Juni?


    The manughed, saying, Im fine. The prince is under a lot of stress, andshed out yesterday. Think nothing of it.


    At the skeptical murmurings, he repeated himself, Really. Everything is fine.


    Matt and the others found themselves at a loss with the sudden free time, so he found an open area and started working out. He found Tier 6 chains piled to the side,and threw them over his shoulders while doing body weight exercises.


    The extra weight was a strain on his muscles, but he had [Endurance] at full st in between sets. He could feel that the constant training was helping. He worked out as much as he could, but with his increase in cultivation, his natural body weight was hardly a challenge. No matter the exercise.


    He made a note to buy simr chains for his own use. He had worked out heavily in Travis and Keiths house, but in thest few weeks, hecked the faculties to properly work his body. He needed to make sure that his cultivation didn''t outstrip his natural strength with how quickly he had been able to advance with the stream of Tier 6 enemies.


    He watched the horizon, and he forced out the fiftieth pull-up. The chains tried to pull him back to the ground, but he defied them, and gravity.


    Dropping as he finished the set, he enjoyed the burn for a moment, before removing it and healing his muscles.


    As a final cool down exercise, he went over his hammer forms. He had used the mace recently, but the spike on the rear of the hammer opened up some possibilities. He wanted to refresh his skills with it.


    When he was done, he found the bathhouse, and quickly washed while sneakily filling their mana stone reserves in the hot water heater. He wasnt going to give his secret away, but he wanted to help where he could.


    A part of him wanted to give his mana freely, and charge everything so people like the cksmith could work. The man could surely work on forging new weapons, and even if he was unable to do that,he could work on enchanting. Any crafting at all would be helpful to the survivors cause.


    Matt shook the thought away, and after drying off, wandered around. He finally hopped up on a rooftop, and pulled out the hammers that he had gotten enchantment patterns for.


    Carefully reviewing it, he had to admit that the man was better atying enchantments than he was, by miles. Either that, or his AI was better at nning them. That was a possibility that he hadnt considered. If the man had a crafting module, it could exin the ingenuity of his design.


    Settling down, Matt centered his mind away from the turmoil of the day, and started to guide his mana into the appropriate forms and lines. He carved channels for power to flow into the items spirit.


    He seeded with the first one, and was about to start on the second when Cami sent a message in the group chat.


    I found an item my mace can use to upgrade, but the seller wants equal trade-in value. Can I swap some of my shares of the treasures for something he wants, if you have it?


    Matt sent her his agreement, and she said that he wanted a Tier 7 seven ingot he had. Matt would have given it to her free of cost if she wouldnt refuse the charity; it had been by sheer luck that he had grabbed it. But with the restriction of he and Liz being on The Path, while Cami was not, they had to be careful to avoid being called into question as sharing loot was highly scrutinized. She would need to trade with them to keep the AI watching programs happy.


    After letting her know where he was, Matt waited for her toe to him, and they conducted a trade for a lot of her semi-precious Tier 6 materials. She kept adding to the trade until the AI said that they had a near equal value.


    Taking enough time for the sun to appreciably move, he re-settled himself, and repeated the same steps he had with the first war hammer.


    It was a nice item. He had to admit, a heavy head with a spike on the reverse side would do much better than his Tier 5 longsword. If he broke another sword, he would cry, so this was a good alternative. Liz would get the second hammer, as her spear was useless for its intended purpose of getting her enemies to bleed.


    They needed to prepare for the impending battles as well as they could.


    Hopping off his perch after stowing his two newly enchanted weapons he started wandering around the miniature city. Pausing for a moment as he watched the passing people, one of the buildings doors opened, and a person was tossed out into the muddy street. Matt didnt pay more attention until his AI pinged him the persons identity. It was Malcolm, who they hadnt seen since they had gotten separated in the ruin.


    He pinged Liz and Cami, quickly stepping over to the amateur adventurer, who was struggling to free himself from the cloying mud.


    Reaching him, Matt was pped in the face with a stench of alcohol and vomit so strong, it was burning his nose.


    Are you ok, Malcolm?


    The answer was obvious, but he was more so looking to see if he was coherent, rather than looking for an answer. What worried Matt was how the mans eyes werent able to focus on him.


    Whore you? The words were so slurred, Matt took it as a no.


    He looked at the door he had been thrown out of, and saw a sign that said Bar. Obvious, but he was d the man didnt get thrown out of anywhere... worse?


    He popped inside, and was met with a re that disappeared quickly once the barman saw that he wasnt Malcolm.


    Before the man could speak, Matt quickly asked, He owe you anything? While jerking a thumb over his shoulder.


    The mans smile turned sour as he asked, You friends with him?


    Not really, more like acquaintances. But I dont want you to take a loss. I can get it from him easier.


    The man sighed, moving closer to Matt and away from the other patrons.


    He only owes a mana crystal or two. Im not worried about that. Just get him some help. You dont drink like that unless youre drinking to forget.


    Matt flipped him a Tier 5 mana stone and asked a question before he left.


    Did he happen to say anything while drunk? We got some loot while we were with him and well you know.


    At the barmans no he breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the bar; a disaster averted. If Malcolm said something while drunk it could lead to greater consequences for all of them.


    Liz was helping Malcolm up, while Cami poured her canteen over his head, sloshing most of the mud off him. They had arrived faster than he expected.


    Malcolm just muttered incoherently. Listening, Matt heard about how he was sorry and other murmurs of the same vein.


    That tugged at Matt a bit as he helped the man sober up. They maneuvered him to a side road that was clearly less traveled, and plopped him down on a dry patch of grass near a building.


    When they dumped more water onto the man, he seemed toe to his senses enough to realize who had pulled him out of the mud.


    Thank the Ascenders! I was sure you had died... His head rolled off to the side, and finished, Like everyone else had. What did we start? I just wanted to get a stupid item.


    He huped, and then vomited off to the side for a long minute. After that, he slumped backwards and passed out. Matt hadnt missed the t look in the mans eyes, andck of caring in his facial expression.


    Looking toward the others, he shrugged. What should we do with him?


    Cami shrugged as well, but looked hard at the drunk man with an expression Matt couldn''t quite ce.


    Liz offered some sense. Lets wash him off a bit more, then bring him back to our area. There has to be an extra bed we can chuck him in.


    Not having a better idea, Matt activated his armor and grabbed the man, and rubbed him down with water created from his canteen. When the drunk and unconscious man was mostly clean, Matt washed his hands, d that his skill kept the vomit off his person.


    They moved back to their selected housing and tossed Malcolm into an unupied bottom bunk. After ensuring that he wouldnt drown in his own vomit, they called it a night and turned into their respective bunks.


    The next morning, Malcolm was sitting up in his bunk, clinging to his head while flinching at any sound made.


    Matt shook a bottle of painkillers next to his head, paining the hungover explorer enough to make him feel slightly bad.


    Malcolm took the pills and finally looked at Matt, squinting at him. He whispered, I thought you picked me up. What are you doing here?


    Thats what I wanted to ask you. I figured youd be hiding in a rift.


    Malcolm flinched back at that. No, I cant hide from this, it was my fault, and so many people paid the price.


    Matt looked around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear thatment. He didnt even want to think about what would happen if the survivors found a target to vent their anger at.


    Keep that quiet. Dont want the wrong people to hear about that.


    Malcolm spat to the side, worked his jaw for a few moments, and said, Yeah, youre not wrong. But still...


    Malcolm looked at his hands. He disyed them in the air. They shook. Badly. So badly, Matt wasnt sure if it was the alcohol, or something else.


    Before he could ask, Malcolm continued, I tried to volunteer to help. As you know, Im nobatant, but I was able to help on the wall. I I wasnt able to defend my section of it, and we were overrun. After that, I turned and ran. From what I heard, I was one of only twenty people who made it out of that camp.


    Matt felt the loss, and gently patted the mans shoulder. Despite not being a greatbatant, he tried, and didnt run away during their delve. Matt could see the man staying to try and help, even when he was better suited to hiding in the rear.


    You did what you could. That takes bravery.


    Malcolm just shook his head and said, Can you get me in the rift early? I cant handle this anymore. I want to go home. I want He paused and took a deep breath, I want a lot.


    Do you have food and everything else? Im sure we can get you into the rift, but it will be lonely as hell for a few weeks. That might not be the best for your mental state. Do you want to wait for the entire base to evacuate?


    No. I need to be alone. Others have gone in from my understanding. And Im pretty sure the prince isnt trying to evacuate at all. He wants to hold this as a headquarters. I just dont want to fight anymore. Im too weak, and Ill just make it worse.


    Peering into the mans eyes, he found them dead and lifeless. Matt found Liz and Cami standing a good bit away, with Aster on the middle bunk watching them. Cami had a hard look he usually only saw before a fight.


    The two women nodded, indicating they heard enough to agree. They packed up, and escorted Malcolm to the rift near the center of the camp.


    Matt called out to the guards, giving his most pleasant smile, We just want to get some extra essence for our friend here.


    The guard rolled her eyes, saying, I dont care if you want to drop off your friend in there. It isnt our problem. You can go in now. Thest group was out over an hour ago.


    His smile froze, and he awkwardly walked in. It was a Tier 3 rift, so no real danger to anyone in their group. Malcolm looked around and saw the forest, and began weeping slightly. He was able to get it under control quickly.


    Liz started forward, and called over her shoulder, The info said that this is a wolf rift, so Ill go clear it.


    Matt wasnt worried about her. He was focused on watching Malcolm starting to set up his tent.


    After a few minutes, Liz came back, and told Malcolm that it was done.


    Cami looked around, and Matt received a message from her. Liz received it as well.


    So the fifteen minutes are up. Are we going to kill him now?


    <em>What?</em>


    What?


    Lizs outburst mirrored his own thoughts. Cami just turned and walked deeper into the forest seeing they hadn''t agreed with her suggestion.


    When they were far enough away, she said out loud, Was that not the idea? Hes the only one who can peg this on us. I figured you wanted to remove him. I agree, honestly.


    Liz nearly shouted but managed to whisper, No! We cant just murder him because he knows. Thats not right.


    As the two women whispered while arguing their points, Matt felt the urge to vomit.


    His initial reaction to Camis suggestion had been confusion, then eptance. Lizs reaction had brought him back to his senses. He didnt want to be the type of person who would murder a man because it was easier.


    Killing Zoey had been one thing. Matt could ept that.


    This wasnt anything like that.


    Malcolm didnt have to die.


    With his decision made, he turned and walked back to Malcolm.


    He heard Liz shouting at him and felt her tug at his arm.


    Matt, dont do this. I wont let you.


    He paused midstep as he saw her grow more desperate, and she called out, Ill fight you! I will. Ill not be any part of this, or allow this. I wont be with you anymore either. This isnt you, Matt.


    Thest bit was her pleading with him.


    Matt winced. That was more pointed than he wanted to hear. She was right, though. He was once again d that he had given Liz the heart back on the training world. He could see himself sinking into the mindset that killing was the easy way out. He didnt intend to rely on her to be his moralpass, but it was nice to know that his partner wouldnt let him stray too far from the proper path.


    He turned to Liz with his first smile in what felt like forever. His heart wasnt in turmoil, and he felt at peace.


    Im not. Thank you for being willing to keep me on the straight and narrow. I dont want to need it, but thank you for being there for me.


    He turned to Cami and said, Killing cant be our first option. Its easy, sure, but this doesnt need death. Do you think Duke Waters would kill a man for something like this? I never met the man, but Ive seen the movies. He wouldnt stoop that low. But Cami...


    Matt waited until she met his eyes, and finished, We need to be <em>better</em>. That usually means taking the harder path, but we still need to do it. If you kill everything at the first sign of difficulty, how are you better than the trash you take out? We have both pushed our criteria for what is eptable a bit too far, I think we both need to watch ourselves.


    Cami lowered her eyes and slowly nodded.


    Turning, he squeezed Lizs hand and walked up to Malcolm. He pulled back his hand, and smacked him.


    Hard.


    The blow sent the man reeling and sputtering.


    What the fuck, man?


    For the first time, Matt saw life in the mans eyes.


    Look around, Malcolm. Is this what you want? You said that you wanted to help and tried, but you couldnt make it happen yourself. Is this how you want to react to that? Youre just going to cower in a rift? I wont force you out, but ask yourself. Will doing this aplish anything that you want?


    Matt wasnt going to give a speech, and turned and walked out of the rift. Liz and Cami followed through a momentter.


    He didnt miss that Liz came out after Cami.


    Not saying anything, they went and got breakfast. Liz tossed the guards a few mana stones as they passed. He assumed that they were the reward for the rift. Not enough for them to care about, but enough for the guards tip.


    Without talking, they made their way to the dining area. They each got tes of food and sat down.


    They continued to eat in silence, until Cami spoke up while toying with her spoon.


    I think once this is done and the teleportation tform is open, Im going to go back home and return to therapy. Everyone said I rushed it when I decided toe out. I didnt agree with them. I thought I was ok. Thesest few weeks have shown me that Im not ready. I knew I wasnt perfect, but I thought I was good enough.


    She spun the spoon in circles, and watched it reflect the rough wooden table.


    I didnt want to be at anothers mercy. But this wasnt what I expected. I delved some rifts back at the estate, but I thought the exploration would make me stronger. I thought I could slowly fix myself. I was wrong. I could already feel myself slipping, as you said. But with what almost happened with Malcolm that was a harsh wake-up call. He didnt even threaten us or anything. He didnt <em>deserve</em> it like the others. It wouldnt have been right. I dont really know what <em>is</em> right anymore. I thought that if I was hard enough, everything would be ok. But I cant power my way through this.


    She didnt say more, and Liz took it as her cue. Well, Im d youre bing more self-aware. But dont be too hard on yourself. This isnt the easiest time. I <em>know</em> Im going to have a good cry with my therapist, once this is over.


    That got Cami to smile, and Liz continued, Uncle Aiden will take you back with open arms. Im sure of it.


    Cami nodded at that. He was kind enough to make sure I knew that his home was my home. I just felt so stifled there. Its so... I dont know how to exin it.


    Liz filled in for her, Like nothing is real or even matters when they can just wave a hand and solve literally anything. It makes you feel useless and without your own identity.


    That perked Cami up. Oh... I guess you would understand. I was only dealing with it for a couple of years, not my entire life. How did you handle it?


    His partners smile was sheepish when she said, I ran away and joined The Path as soon as I could.


    The two of them reminisced for a few minutes, while Matt just listened. It was weird to hear how living in a powerful persons house was. He had no frame of reference.


    Cami added one thing that struck a chord with him. It can be nice to know that the people around you can protect you when youre scared, but that shield can be a cage.


    Liz had said something simr when she was still hiding her parents identities. She mentioned something about nkets being nice when you were scared but turned smothering when you want freedom.


    The two seemed to bond more during thatst conversation than he thought possible. It was only interrupted when Malcolm sat down next to them. All four of them looked up at the man in slight shock, but Matt was pretty sure that Aster was more interested in his te of food, rather than why the man was out of his rift instance.


    Malcolm didnt bring his eyes from his te, and his hands were gripping his spoon with a white-knuckled grip.


    You were right. At least partially. He red at Matt and said, I could have done without the p and just the words, though. But while you need to work on your motivational speeches, you make a good point. I can be of help, and it wouldnt be right for me to hide. Even with myck ofbat experience, I still have a useful Talent.


    Cami interjected at the mention of his Talent, You might want to hold that one close to the vest. You never know what hole you might fall into if the wrong people find out.


    Malcolm actually smiled at that, contrary to what Matt thought.


    No, Im safe enough on that front, I forgot about it in all the excitement, but Im a part of the seekers guild with this bad boy.


    He wiggled his sleeve down, and showed off the armband that he had taken from the rift.


    That didnt mean much to Matt, but Liz leaned in and looked around, whispering, Why didnt you say anything earlier? We thought you were a trap or something. If you had vouched for yourself with their backing, anyone would have taken you without suspicion.


    Malcolm scratched his head. I wasnt officially a part of the guild until I got my item, and part of the recruitment is not telling anyone. They want people who can think on their feet in the field, not people who need a backer for everything.


    Cami asked the question Matt wanted to know the answer to. Whats a seeker guild?


    Malcolm looked at Liz in confusion. Yeah, how do you even know about them? Most people under Tier 15 dont have a clue about them.


    Liz waved it off nonchntly, My parents are strong enough to know some of them.


    Ah well. Dont feel bad, Cammie. I had never heard of them either, but theyre a group of people with Talents like mine. They contacted me shortly after I was awakened, and recruited me after I hit Tier 3 and had my second Talent. One of their rules is that you need to advance on your own, so it took a while to find people able to help me. Thankfully, I was able to find a few lost skill shards, and could at least help in rifts.


    Matt and Cami were both ring at the man for what he was sure were different reasons. Cami had started iring when he had shortened her name, but Matt wanted to punch the man when he said that he <em>found</em> skill shards. Had he missed when they had turned into loose change at some point?


    Anyway, when I hit Tier 5, they told me that I needed to find a particr item, and once I found it, I would be officially a part of the guild. They said that once I was in, they would get me carried to peak Tier 14. But I can help and use that as a way to keep myself safe. Im sure I can do something. It might not work with Tier 6 items, but all I need is a part of something to be Tier 5 or lower, and I can lock onto it pretty well. My Talent is a bit more broad than most, but it still has its own limitations.


    Matt asked him, So what does the guild behind you <em>do</em>?


    Malcolm shrugged and said, Find stuff, mostly. I dont know; Im barely a part of them.


    Liz borated. They find stuff, yes. But they can be contracted to go on explorations to new areas, and find the best stuff there. Or if theyre strong enough, they can be used to find things like higher Tier worlds. But mostly, they dont work well for things like that. Theyre really good at finding stuff, though. Theyre also used in the higher Tier rifts to find hidden items and locate ores and such. The rifts after Tier 15 are massive, and they usually send in teams to strip them of useful materials, along with the delving team. Seekers make that easy.


    She chewed on her lip and added, They can also help if you lose a or two and need to find them in a hurry.


    Matt just cocked his head at her. How had her parents <em>lost</em> a or <em>two</em>? She just smiled like butter wouldnt melt in her mouth.


    The others had seemed to gloss over herment, so he ignored it as well.


    Malcolm was saying, With the right questions, I can help quite a bit. I already located some of the replicators that the ruin has set down. And a Prince should know about the guild enough to not try anything.


    Matt interjected with emphasis, That the <em>fortress</em> set down. The <em>fortress</em>.


    Getting what Matt was implying, Malcolm nodded and corrected himself, The <em>fortress</em> set them down, and I can help. The prince of this ce said that he wants to take them out first, and I can make sure we do exactly that.


    He stood and looked at all of them, saying, Thank you, guys. For protecting me... and everything else.


    To his surprise, Cami called out to the seekers back, Hey Malcolm!


    When the man turned around, she kept speaking. Dont get yourself into trouble. If you need help, message us as soon as you think somethings wrong. Dont let them p you with an AI blocking device.


    The man smiled and turned, but Cami added onest bit. Oh, and call me Cammie again, and Ill rip out your tongue.


    Malcolm paled. Are you uh joking?


    Cami just smiled at him.


    Matt was confused enough, and he had no idea how Malcolm would feel after such an exchange.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61


    Matt and everyone else stood in the predawn gloom, with a few sparse lights illuminating the Prince. He stood on a tform that had just been erected for this gathering.


    "Today, we strike back!"


    The Prince''s voice was smooth, and carried across the area with gathered people. It tickled Matt''s ears in a way that told him a skill was being used.


    "We will move through the enemy''s ranks, and pay them back for our lostrades. We will make them suffer the consequences of taking our friends and allies captive, and inflicting unknown horrors upon them."


    There was a small cheer from the people in the crowd.


    "We have gotten new information that the menace taking over this world has hidden bases. They are trying to prevent us from pulling them up from the roots in one quick strike. But that is <em>exactly</em> what we must do, because we are the only ones with the ability, and position from which to strike."


    He took a deep breath and paced around the tform, meeting everyone''s eyes.


    "I thank all of you. I know we have others from the Empire proper, and others still from some of the surrounding kingdoms. I want to apologize to you all."


    There was murmuring when Albert said that, but he shouted over the noise.


    "No! I can acknowledge and admit that our Kingdom isn''t perfect. I have spent time in, and traveled throughout the wider Empire. They treat the lower Tiers with respect and kindness, something we seem tock. That is the change I wish to see, and the change I wish to be. I will <em>not</em> turn a blind eye to the corruption that infects our Kingdom."


    At the Prince''s words, the atmosphere shifted oddly. Matt wasn''t sure if it was a smart y to admit fault during the rally before arge fight.


    "I wish to make changes, but we are stuck in a hard time. Weve been cut off from our resources, and our main citys destroyed. This was a chance for my royal siblings to make their move, and so they did. But with adversityes opportunities! Risk means reward. That is thew of rifts and of this world. They put me in this position, hoping that I would die, or be chased into a rift where they could disgrace me."


    The Prince''s face looked like the facets of a crystal as the lights flickered off his scowl.


    "They underestimate me! They underestimate you!"


    The crowd roared at that, but the Prince shouted over them.


    "When we defeat this disaster and crush the golems, who could say we are wrong? I will earn enough acim to firmly entrenched myself as one of the strongest contenders in the line of session. <em>Then,</em> serious changes can be made. Yes, they put us under intense pressure, but we wille out stronger than before!"


    The cheering became a solid wave of noise produced by everyone in the crowd from the Kingdom. It was so loud, it bounced off the mountain walls and echoed back, adding to the noise.


    "We just have to fight, and win. When you go to take the golems factories, I ask you to push as hard as you can, but without losing your lives. I don''t want any one of my new brothers and sisters to throw their lives away. We can always strike a second time if our first attack must fall back. But we must strive to destroy every golem satellite production facility, and thus stymie any reinforcements for when we attack the flying fortress. With their eradication, we will ensure the destruction of this menace, once and for all. This gue on our newnd will be wiped out all too easily. Today, we fight so that the battle tomorrow will be ourst!"


    The crowd went crazy with their cheering, while Matt looked around and observed.


    Liz and Cami seemed to be above the wordy, along with Fen and Geraden. None of them allowed themselves to be caught up in the fervor, but the rest of his team were shouting and pumping their fists in the air. Some were even jumping.


    Matt had been in clubs with less energy.


    Looking over to Liz, he got an answer to the question that had been gnawing at him.


    "He used a skill that amplifies emotion. It only works when the person speaking deeply believes what theyre saying, and when the listener is directly affected or cares about the topic. It just heightens emotions. Nothing nefarious, its just a sort of feedback loop that both sides feed on."


    Matt and everyone else moved to their positions, where they readied up for their departure time. A few teams immediately moved out, as they had the farthest distances to travel.


    It didn''t escape his notice that the Prince visited each team before they left. He made his way around, shaking everyone''s hand and smiling at them.


    Matt couldnt decide if Alberts disy of reverence for his subjects was a sham or not. Did the Prince really want to be a catalyst of change for the better in his Kingdom? If he was true to his words, it was audable goal that Matt could support. But it also felt too good to be true, judging from what he had seen of this Kingdom so far.


    When the Prince made his way over to their group, he smiled and shook hands as he had done everyone else. From the snippets of overheard conversation, the Prince seemed to be genuinely interested in what everyone had to say.


    As the Prince made his way to where Matt, Liz, Aster, and Cami were standing, he stuck his hand out at Matt. With a smile, he said, "I hear you have a defensive Talent as well. One that can even partially jump Tiers. That''s impressive, and I''d love to get in a friendly spar together when this is over. It''s a rare pleasure when I can find someone near my own level. Especially an opponent that can take a blow as well as I can."


    "I''ll dly take you up on that when this disaster is over, your highness."


    Satisfied, the Prince turned to Cami and repeated the same routine of shaking her hand andplimenting her.


    "I hear you have a ded whip that digs into your arm. Thats quite an interesting weapon you don''t usually see. You must have quite the will power to fight with such a weapon. I feel that you haven''t made your own Concept yet. I can give you some literature about making your own, if you so wish. If you are able to fight through that pain, you should seed far sooner than most."


    Matt knew that Cami didn''t need any sort of information that the Prince of a vassal kingdom would have ess to. Not with Duke Waters treating her like family. But she graciously nodded in response and said, "Thank you, your highness."


    When the Prince turned to Liz, his smile turned softer and sweeter. Matt wanted tough. Liz was beautiful. Even in full armor, she exuded ss and poise.


    The Prince was interested in Liz, but his ttery and charming words were the worst way to go about it.


    "Ah, your beauty is greater than I heard. It is only eclipsed by your abilities. I hear you held off the flying golems nearly on your own. Truly it is an aplishment few could match. I..."


    Liz''s expression shouted that she wasn''t impressed, and her tone only reinforced the idea when she interjected. "I was one of many."


    The Prince picked up on her disinterest, and quickly left. He wasn''t dumb, that was for sure.


    As The Prince talked with Juni away from everyone else, Matt clutched his chest and said, "Ahh, for shame! Ive been reced so quickly with a prince." He put his hand to his mouth, and fluttered his other hand by his face, as if he was about to faint. "Whatever shall I do?"


    Liz shoulder bumped him, not at all amused. "Ugh. I hate people like that." In a high-pitched and mocking tone, she added, "Your beauty is only outshone by your skills."


    She shook her head and added in her normal voice, "Ascenders, I hate that kind of ass kissing."


    Cami butted in. "Matt, are you not jealous that Liz could be swept off her feet?"


    Her tone implied that it was said in jest, but Matt looked into Liz''s eyes and answered her as if it was a proper question.


    "Not really. I trust Liz. We agreed that we were exclusive. That''s really the end of it. Am I supposed to be mad at her for being beautiful? She didn''t flirt back or anything. I can''t stop people from taking their shots at her."


    "You''re no fun Matt. I wanted to see you rage and throw a tantrum!. It would have been a great new facet of your personality."


    Cami didnt let him bring the conversation serious and pulled it back to joking, so Matt went with it and yed along.


    She then leaned into Liz, and in a falsetto said, Oh Liz, you are so pretty! Please, your skill is only matched by your beauty. Please be swept off your feet by this line used in every cheesy romance movie! Please, I beg of you!


    Seeing Lizs cheeks tinge pink, Matt added, Oh how I''ve been defeated by honeyed words! Whatever shall I do?


    He leaned back and put a hand to his head, and let the other dangle.


    Liz, growing ever more red, put on her helmet and turned to look at the mountains. She said, The mountains look especially rocky today dont you think?


    Their banter was interrupted when Juni broke away from the Prince, and told them to get moving. He turned towards another group and moved towards them at a jog, yelling orders at every team in the vicinity.


    ***


    Matt and his team were trekking through the mountains, along with half of thebatants that came to the camp with Juni. Originally, they were to have two squads in each strike team. But as Juni had briefed them this morning, the Prince had gotten new information from his scouts. They had discovered new hidden factories for them to target.


    There were so many new facilities discovered, they needed to either split the teams, or make two separate strikes. In the end, the Prince had decided that the risk of the golems reinforcing the remainingirs was one they wanted to avoid if at all possible.


    Matt hadn''t seen Malcolm after he went to speak with the Prince. The only message they had gotten from him said that they were flying him around, using his Talent to triangte locations for the golem bases.


    They were currently wading through a small, mostly dry creek bed that meandered through the bottom of a valley. They were close to their purported mark, but they hadn''t seen anything suggesting golem activity thus far.


    None of them expected their scouts information to be exact. That was why they had nned for a few hours of leeway with their strikes at the golems base. But as the minutes passed, the attack time crept closer, and they continued to find nothing. Their nerves crept up as the anticipation built.


    No one wanted to be the team caught with their pants down, and fail their mission.


    Matt made his way to Juni and said, "I can scout with my flying de."


    Liz followed him to Juni''s position, and added, "No, I should do it. I''ll already need to get on the de for the tactical advantage when we engage."


    "Yes, but I''m going to scout, not fight. I have my armor in case I take fire. If I see anything, I''lle right back here."


    Juni was nodding his agreement as Matt finished.


    "Sorry Liz, I agree with Matt. He''s durable, and can handle a few crossbow bolts if he finds the golems. <em>You</em> are one of our heaviest hitters. Scouting usually isn''t done by the important offensive weapons."


    Liz didn''t say anything, but Matt saw her lips pressed tight under her helmet.


    When she didn''t say anything else, Matt withdrew his sword and took to the air.


    He didn''t fly high immediately, but instead kept to just above the treetops, scanning the area around them.


    Still unable to find anything of note, he increased his altitude and made wide loops at faster speeds.


    Finally giving up, he went straight up the side of the mountain, keeping close to the rocky wall to avoid cresting early. At the top, he slowly and carefully broke the in of the mountain ridge. When he found nothing, he moved forward carefully, along the ridge.


    Nearly falling off his sword at the view beyond the ridge, he dropped to the ground and winced.


    He had found the golems.


    Hearing the sounds ofrge amounts of metal moving, Matt didn''t hesitate to fly directly into the sky as fast as he could.


    The factory was producing flying golems. It had simply dug itself into the mountain in an artificial hole. Coincidentally, that hole was facing directly towards the direction Matt hade from, and more than one golem had spotted him.


    Checking his rear, he found a swarm of golems chasing after him.


    He was faster than them, so he curled around to lead them away from his team. There were nearly fifty flying golems, scores more than they could deal with on their own.


    Using the speed of his unburdened, Tier 7 sword, he cycled through evasive patterns that had been beaten into his muscle memory. His games with Travis of stun Matt and bber on for half an hour were finally paying off. He begrudgingly made a mental note to thank Lizs brother as more than one crossbow bolt whizzed past him.


    When the golems fire died down, he looked back and saw that half of the golems had turned around, and were flying back to the factory. Matt assumed that his team had used his diversion toplete the mission, and that their presence alerted the golems to return and defend their base.


    Cursing, he turned hard and curled around. He sped forward and cut off the golems that turned around towards the factory. Matt dropped a cast of [Hail] in the airspace in front of them, and got some of the golems attention. It wasn''t perfect, but now there were only about a dozen golems heading back to his team.


    The team had enough ranged attackers to deal with twelve golems, even if they tried to stay at range and pelt them with crossbows.


    Matt wasn''t worried about them. He was far more worried about how he was going to keep the rest of the flying crossbow wielders upied, while not getting hit. He was hoping that these golems were also being made with lesser materials. That would make their bolts prating power weaker than that of the ones created in the ruin.


    While the information would be useful, he didn''t relish the idea of having to take a bolt to find out.


    On instinct more than conscious thought, Matt dove down towards the trees and left, before pulling up hard. A bolt nced off [Cracked Phantom Armor], but his maneuvering was enough to change the impact angle, lessening the damage to where he barely felt it in his spirit.


    Continuing his evasive maneuvers, Matt felt the pressure intensify as he was unable to lead the golems away. He couldnt go far without them turning to overwhelm his team, and more importantly, Liz, Aster and Cami.


    Finally, a bolt smashed into Matt''s side and destabilized [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Slowing in reaction to the near injury, he lost the distance he had built between himself and his enemies, and was encircled by the golems.


    Hoping his friends had handled their invasion of the golems replication factory, he flew up in an arc that would bring him down into the tunnel. As he got close to the entrance, he reached the range of thebatwork, and realized that he wasing into a still active fight.


    In the brief moment he had to think, Matt changed his course as much as he could, and sent his flying sword off to the side. He essentially turned his armored form into a cannonball. Bracing before the impact, he mmed into arge spider construct, and crashed through two of its legs before tumbling to the ground.


    He had aimed for the second giant spider golem that was defending the factory. His group had nearly finished the first, but with his pursuers hot on his trail, he needed to free them up to be able to fight their opponents to the rear.


    Scrambling to his feet, Matt felt better than he had any right to hope for after that maneuver. Between [Cracked Phantom Armor], his one hundred percent physical cultivation, and the slight durability increase from [Mage''s Retreat], he was unharmed from the collision. At least, he didn''t feel any injuries, and his AI indicated that he was fine.


    Reaching back, Matt pulled out his hammer from his spatial bag. He ran to one of the giant spiders remaining goodlegs, and brought his hammer down on the joint.


    There was a marked difference from his first fight with a giant spider golem in the ruin. There, he and his entire group were nearly taken out. It was only a hard-fought battle, and Cami using her [Bolt] ''s electrical properties to damage the spiders internals that led to defeating the golem.


    Now, after weeks of fighting hordes of enemies at his Tier or higher, he had advanced through nearly a quarter of Tier 5. That increase in strength was nothing to scoff at. It allowed him to bash his way through the spiders outer protective armor, and get to the more fragile leg joints.


    Having a properly enchanted blunt weapon also helped. Matt couldn''t deny that. Eric''s words from back at Bennys about never only having one weapon type were well proven at this point.


    With all of the golems legs on one side destroyed, it started to tip over, and Matt flicked a nce at his rear. There, his teammates were holding the cave entrance against the returned swarm. Tossing a cast of [Hail] over to assist them, he turned back to his giant spider, and swung the spiked rear of his war hammer. He drove a flurry of holes into the outer shell in quick session, while dodging attacks from the golemsst stray leg.


    After assuming he had done enough damage, he used his hammer to pry up the spiders te armor, and exposed the internals right on top of its power core. After a final blow from his weapon, he turned and ran over to give his team a hand, but they had already destroyed all of the flying golems which had tried to follow him into the tunnel. Their ability to hold the entrance gave them the defensive advantage which let them ovee their numbers difference.


    Fen was the closest to him, and shouted at him, "Fucking awesome entrance, man!"


    Calling over his flying sword that was hovering near the factory entrance, Matt answered him, "I think I''ll stick to somewhat smootherndings in the future."


    Basil approached them, and clearly had modeled his armor after a porcupine, judging by all the bolts sticking out of him. He added, "With a defensive Talent, it would be a waste to not go for broke."


    Not entertaining the two idiots'' suggestions of crazier stunts he could pull, he moved towards the factory. It still hummed with power as it drew in ambient mana in a whirlpool. It was a clear indication they still had to finish their primary mission.


    Juni had a line of blood dripping from his scalp, with his helmet nowhere to be found. He said, "We want to deactivate these without damaging too much of the machinery. A replicator is valuable enough that the Prince wants us to conserve as much as possible when taking it down. But the priority is still stopping its ability to create more golems, through any means necessary."


    Liz mocked quietly next to Matt, "Oh no! Don''t destroy the thing that creates more murder golems. We <em>might</em> be able to use them ourselves. Idiots. It never works, and they break free from their reprogramming eventually. If you want golems to do things, buy the Empire made ones that won''t turn into murderbots."


    Matt couldn''t me the Prince, even if he was doing the exact opposite of what he imed to have wanted. Even he wanted to get his hands on one of the factories and pull it apart. It would be useful for his AI to learn about the creation of the ruin. But he also didn''t think it would be smart to start producing more golems in any appreciable quantities.


    He had seen enough movies involving uprisings that devastated the local popce. He was pretty safe about using the few gathering golems that he had snatched from the ruin. The golems grew in intelligence as their numbers increased, but only using the two he took would be fine. At least, as long as they didn''t get ess to thergerwork of the enemy golems.


    Though that wouldn''t happen, as Matt refused to even take them out of his spatial bag before this crisis was dealt with.


    Matt stood around and watched as Juni tried to find a way to disable the factory. He searched every nook and cranny, but grew increasingly frustrated, and decided to just hit things one at a time. He swung away at constructs until they stopped drawing in mana and deactivated. The Princes'' right-hand man was smart. He actually attacked the runes that drew in the mana, and not the power umtors built into the devices. It was hidden, and Matt was only able to notice its location with his AI burning 30 MPS to analyze the constructs thoroughly.


    As they waited around for Juni to finish, one of the others climbed to the top of the hole, and set up the long rangemunicator they had brought with them. It was really just a stripped satellite that one of the crafters had repurposed fornd basedmunication. The hunk of metal had to be deployed far from the camp to get the range they needed.


    They got a ping that one of their nearest teams needed assistance, and Juni finally just started smashing everything with reckless abandon, until the factory stopped altogether. Afterwards, he quickly called for everyone to get moving. They started their trek to assist the other team, but it would be an hour long journey, even with their cultivation enhanced physiques.


    Juni called Matt and Rachel over and asked, "What''s the carrying capacity on your flying devices? Can we use rope and carry a few extra people to get ahead? We can''t let a strike fail because we were too slow to change the oue. Any base left working means more golems left for the final assault."


    Matt looked to Rachel, the only other person with a flying device, and waited for her answer. She had a Tier 6 flying device, and while it was funcutal, it was a lower end modelpared to his own.


    She slowly said, "I can carry three people total without losing enough speed to make it useless. Three including myself, so only two extra."


    Matt chimed in with his own answer when she finished, "I can carry three on the de itself, and can keep up with Rachel''s device with another 4 in slings underneath. It will kill my maneuvering ability, and I''ll be burning mana like water, but I should be able to handle it for long enough."


    Thatst bit wasn''t true, but he needed to keep up appearances after all. The maneuverability part was true enough, though. He wouldn''t be able to use his usual evasive maneuvers if they got ambushed mid-way through their travel.


    The group quickly gathered the strongest people together and used a rope to fashion makeshift saddles. They tied small loops for hand and footholds, andshed the saddles on each side of Matt''s flying sword. It was quick and dirty, and they needed to rearrange people to bnce out each side. But within ten minutes, they were in the air and moving to render assistance.


    Their luck was good, as they didn''t encounter any opposition on the way, and were able to travel without hindrance. They reached their destination, and set down behind the line of humans fighting with golems on a mountainside. His passengers stepped down as Matt lowered the rope they were holding onto, allowing them to run forward and join the fight. Once they were off, Matt covered thest bit of distance with a single burst of speed, and settled his de with a sliding stop.


    Seeing someone that appeared to be givingmands, Matt called out, "What''s the situation?"


    "Were trying to push into the hill, but they were prepared. They have at least a dozen crossbow golems holding the entrance, along with a front line of the shield golems. We already have four people in critical condition, and another two dead. Now, were just pinning each other down. If we try to retreat, they sally out. Theyre really interested in keeping this base secure. It''s only creating wing attachments for the golems, but not the normal ones that weve seen on the golmes already. Either way, we need to break in and destroy the factory. Like the prince said, not a single factory can be left funcutinal."


    Matt nodded and moved forward, with Liz, Aster, and Cami following behind him. When they reached the front line, they found a makeshift barrier and joined Geraden, who had joined them on the expedition.


    He was busy looking out of a slit in the barrier towards the golems position.


    "We seem to be trying to creep forward with log fortification, but theyre throwing rocks at us. Theyre doing what the crossbow bolts can''t do. I can''t really work with dead nt life, so Im really no help there. Can any of you do something to give us an edge?"


    Matt looked to the others and shook his head. If the golems were able to nearly kill two people, he didn''t think they were the Tier 5 variants, but instead the Tier 6 originals from the ruin. Those golems were a much bigger challenge, as they could pierce hisyers of armor. He already considered himself lucky to make it through thest flying battle without taking a bolt to his fleshy bits, so he wasnt keen on rushing in.


    As they watched, another wall of logs fashioned into a portable shield started to move forward. From out of the tunnel came a rock the size of Matt''s head. It was thrown so hard, it became a blur, and its impact caused the wooden construct to nearly explode.


    Judging from the debris and shards of wood lying around, they had clearly tried this before. Matt didn''t think that either Liz or Aster could make a difference in getting close to the entrance. Liz''s blood didnt have the density to stop a projectile thrown with that much force, and Aster''s ice wouldn''t handle a rock of that size any better than the wooden wall did.


    There was a call to try and just rush the ce, but no one was volunteering to poke their head out first. Matt couldn''t me them.


    Eventually, as he watched another wooden barricade get pushed forward and explode, Matt thought out loud, "Why can''t we just bury them inside? If we get enough of the hill to copse, we can avoid taking the base down."


    While not taking her eyes off the tunnel entrance, Liz asked, "It''s a good idea in theory, but how would we go about making it happen? I don''t have high explosives."


    Geraden perked up at that, and looked to his staff and bond, Den. He shrugged, andunched the tree in staff form into the tunnel, as if it was a javelin.


    Matt had only seen the tree expand to its true size once before, and he wasn''t disappointed this time either. Den expanded rapidly, grew <em>through</em> the top of the tunnel, and then instantly shrunk down and flew back out to Geraden''s waiting hand.


    The destruction of the tunnels roof was only half the damage caused by the tree''s expansion. When Den shrunk back down, it caused half the mountain to copse into the area they had needed to clear out.


    Now, there wasnt even a tunnel left.


    "Ascenders..." Matt breathed out.


    The others around them had equal expressions of wonder and awe.


    Geraden shrugged it off, and called out loudly as the dust settled, "I can''t do it often enough for it to be a real attack. It''ll take two months of nted rest in a nice sunny area with good soil for Den to recoup the energy spent on that stunt."


    The rest of them moved forward and looked at the pile of rubble, searching for anything out of the ordinary. They needed to check if the golems would be able to climb out of this rubble, however likely it would be. More and more people came over, thanking and congratting Geraden. The man seemed to dislike the attention, but he didn''t shoo anyone away either. They were genuinely grateful, and that seemed to get through to him. At the very least, it cated the man''s distaste for so many people touching him.


    From the time Matt had spent with the man, he knew that Geraden couldn''t care less about humans, and was much more worried about the golems destruction of his forest. His priority was putting a stop to the harm being inflicted on the environment, rather than the human element of this mess.


    Matt wasn''t sure if that made him a bad person or not. He didn''t think so. Then again, the trials they had gone through on this had blurred the lines between good and bad for him. Geraden still helped protect the people, even if they weren''t his goal. He could have hidden and waited for everyone to start attacking the floating fortress, and then gone to help, but he hadn''t. The man had fought through thick and thin. At the very least, the man wasnt a coward.


    That was something Matt could respect. He also was self aware enough to realize that he had looked down on anyone not actively fighting as well. They were all trying their best, making the contributions that they could, even when they could have chosen self preservation. Matt had felt that because those people couldn''t fight, they were lesser. But now, he didn''t me them for choosing to live. Having something trying to kill everyone hiding behind every corner would wear down anyones psyche.


    On his home, most of the people near him reacted to the rift break by training to fight. If it ever happened again, they wanted to be prepared. Everyone learned to fight. Even Benny the drunkard, who barely cared about anything, still used the training room once a week.


    But, now he understood the horror and stress people talked about being unable to stomach after delving the rifts.


    As much as this had been a nightmare of an experience, a part of Matt was d that he had gone through with it. He had grown quite a lot in thest month. Even if he didn''t quite like all of the new developments.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62


    Matt sat with his team and everyone else, waiting for the attack to begin. The waiting was eating him from the inside out. It was impossible to resist checking the time. He was sure that a half an hour had passed each time he checked, but it was never more than five minutes.


    Everyone was prepared for the attack on the fortress. The crafters had been busy over thest few days, creatingrge tforms with rudimentary lightening runes. The various flying devices would be able to lift people into the flying fortress that they were set to assault.


    While the crafters had been creating the means for their assault the fighters had been intercepting the fortresss attempts to send out new factories and establish new footholds.


    In an effort to distract himself, Matt listened to the people around him talk.


    Why are we even attacking? We could just wait the golems out. Eventually, they will run out of reinforcements while we whittle them down.


    Another chimed in, Yeah, this feels foolhardy.


    Matt didnt bother to correct them. The prince had exined his n already, and his logic had made sense. Either they hadnt paid attention, or their nerves were getting the better of them. If it was the first option, Matt would be anxious about them being on his team. The second was much more understandable. He was feeling the creeping tension as well, and was finding it hard to sit still. He wanted to get up and move to ease the tension, but couldnt.


    Prince Albert had mentioned it before they even left the base camp this morning. There were visible prisoners in the golem fortresss lower levels. They needed to be rescued as soon as possible. If that wasnt a good enough reason to storm the gates, the scouts had reportedly spotted massive stockpiles of materials gathered by the golems.


    Everyone else assumed that the golems had mined it all, but Matt knew better. The ruin was already stocked when they had ventured inside. The monsters had to have gathered the Tier 6 metals from somewhere. He had only shared his conclusion with Liz and Cami thus far.


    He had a hunch that the golems had supplied themselves through a previous ruin break, resulting in the slow and eventual buildup of high Tier materials. There was no way to share the idea with the others without drawing suspicion to themselves. In the end, it didnt matter. Ruin breaks were much rarer than rift breaks of the same Tier.


    The essence and mana required for the outpouring was a dozen or more times higher than for a normal rift break. The ruin <em>had</em> to be using nearly all of the mana that it was drawing in. Keeping its massive bulk afloat, along with powering the numerous golems was a monumental task.


    It meant that they wouldnt win a war of attrition, even if the golems outer bases had been destroyed. And the ones they couldn''t, the two factories that were too well defended to conquer, were sealed off and guarded.


    Matt checked his HUD, and saw that only a whopping four minutes had passed. At least it was something.


    He looked behind him and checked the raised tform that the anti-air defense tform sat on. It was the only reason they were able to fly directly into the fortress. It helped to keep the hordes of flying golems at bay. The underside of the fortress was woefully undefended, so it would be the best point of entry. Inparison to the top levels of the ruin, where the massiveser that had been taking out the satellites was housed, the lower levels were essentially abandoned.


    The n was to get directly under the fortress, and go straight up its proverbial skirt, starting their invasion from the lowest levels. Starting from there would allow them to reach the prisoners first, thus increasing their fighting numbers as they progressed. It would also help to stave off any unexpected ambushes during their climb.


    Matt was to join one of the three first-strike teams, and was more nervous than he had ever been before. The fight itself was one thing, but he was trusting four other people to fly him up with the other frontline melee fighters. They all had improved defencespared to the average person among the survivors. Their job was to get into the ruin, then create and hold a breach in the fortress, to provide the others a safer route to funnel into.


    It was dangerous, but Matt was more worried about getting swarmed by the flying golems during the flight up, rather than actually fighting in the ruin. There was a slightfort from knowing that he would survive the fall if their tform was destroyed. But still, falling from that height was something that he didnt want to experience.


    Liz had his flying sword, after all.


    As the sun slowly creeped overhead, Matt tried to keep his attention focused on his AI, along with its recent advancements. It had been running simtions with various runes and formations in its spare time, and he had been carving the prospective runes into a few bits of wood strewn in his bag.


    The chilling effect rune was the only one that actually worked out of the batch. It quickly froze the freshly cut lumber, to the point that it cracked and broke with the expansion of the ice.


    Matt made a note to try it with metal, or at least dry wood that could handle rapid change in temperature. Still, the rune had worked, even if it <em>was</em> a half failure with its early destruction. If nothing else, Aster would probably like the chill that it could provide.


    The man in full armor next to Matt had been watching him, and bumped him with his knee. He asked, Howre you so calm, man? Im sitting here fidgeting, and youre just calmly ying with runes. I cant sit still long enough to try anything.


    Matt nced at the man, and saw a pale face that he was slightly familiar with. He had definitely seen the man in thest few days at least.


    Keeping busy helps me not check the time every thirty seconds. It was making everything worse for me. Try to carve something, or just whittle at some wood for something to do.


    Putting actions to his words, Matt tossed the man one of the pieces of wood that he had. He started to use his mana, and dumped it into the block of wood, trying to push out the moisture remaining in the still-green wood.


    It was a practical application of mana maniption that he had never done, but he did something simr while pushing out the toxins in monster flesh from rifts. Matt gave up quickly, and just carved the frost rune on the small dry patch he had created in the corner of it.


    This time, itsted long enough for his spiritual sense to get a good reading. The piece of wood was actually chilling the immediate area around it quite a bit. More so than a standard frost rune, at least as the books showed. He had partitioned his AI to prevent contamination of its learning so he could get results that werent tainted from the general knowledge. A quick check showed that this rune wasnt in the database of Tier 5 and lower runes that he had saved.


    A second check caused Matt to sigh. The rune was awful as far as efficiency, but it was quite a bit more powerful.


    <em>Are all the runes that my AI makes going to be so wasteful? Even if I can power anything forever, it severely limits their uses apart from myself, or even for long-term items. They would eat through any reasonable-sized mana stones so fast, it would be useless.</em>


    Before he could specte more, the tform he was on jolted, and the wooden tform started to rise.


    Checking his HUD, he found that he had been engrossed for thest forty minutes. Their departure time had finally arrived. Crushing his rune, he tossed the wooden fragments off the side of the quickly rising tform, and focused his mind.


    With his sword on hisp, he readied himself for a fight. He expected the raft they were on to charge at the ruin in short order, but was instantly disappointed when it stopped at the top of the trees they were hiding in.


    It was infuriating that they were unable to just get it over with, and Matt found it hard not toin. Why had they moved at all if they were going to just sit <em>here</em>? They could have sat on the ground with little issue.


    In the distance, Matt saw a swarm of flyers rise out of the trees, and they raced to the ruin. Matts heart clenched as he saw a wave of spellsunch out.


    There was ice and blood mixed in there.


    He knew that Liz and Aster would be providing a distraction to let them get a clear path, but he worried for his friends. If anything happened to them, he didnt know what he would do.


    <em>Maybe Ill join Cami in her over the top reactions?</em>


    The half-joke rang a little too true for hisfort, and Matt reassured himself that nothing would happen to them. They were strong, and they werent exactly nning to get into a slugging match with the golems.


    As the wave of golemsunched themselves into the air, Matts tform started moving. At first, the progress was slow. He looked to the four corners of the tform, and saw four people with flying devices strapped into it, with pursed lips and creased eyes.


    Their speed increased as they moved, and soon, they were moving fast enough for the wind to batter them. They had to shout for anyone to hear each other.


    Someone yelled and projected over to their AIs, The wind is worse than we expected. Hold on to your handhold with one hand, and the person to your right with the other. We. Can. Do. THIS!


    Doing as instructed, Matt mped one armored hand onto the small cutout in front of him, and his other on the mans shoulder next to him. The man to his left did the same.


    The approach was the worst five minutes of Matts life.


    The fortress was looming overhead, but as they approached, the defenses started to note their existence. The drone golems attacking the retreating mages turned, and tried to swarm the first three tforms.


    Before the flying golems could disengage, and turn en masse, they faced a counter attack from the previously retreating mages. They broke off their charge, but they were able to keep arge portion of the golems engaged and unable to attack Matts group.


    They couldn''t contain all of the golems though, and as they moved forward, Matts stomach clenched. He desperately wanted to grab hold of his sword, but it was trapped between his legs. As they approached the ruin, he got a better look at, and count of the golems. He wished that he hadnt.


    There were nearly two hundred golems moving to attack them.


    It would be a race to see who reached the fortress first, and the golems were pressing hard to reach them.


    Their sheer numbers would overwhelm their anti-air defenses, and that would spell their quick and ensured demise.


    Matt was sure that they would miss their opportunity, no matter what calctions his AI was outputting about them being fine. In less time than he would have thought possible, they were peppered with bolts from the flying golems. That only served to reinforce his belief that they wouldnt make it. They were at extreme range, but they still hunkered down on the tform, causing a few defensive skills to be activated.


    Arge shield appeared for a moment in the air. It was made from a yellow-brown mana. Matt wanted to check the skill out, but it was quickly canceled when the bolts were proven to be ineffective, and unable to hurt them.


    In what felt like years, but only took seconds, they flew into the open hold. The adrenaline in Matts veins pulsed through him. In the excitement, he questioned if this was the exact same hanger he had explored in the past.


    His AI confirmed that it wasnt. He didnt have more time to think, and charged forward with the others in the first three groups of tform riders. They were meant to push forward, and hold an thus undetermined area. They preferably would secure a chokepoint that would stop the golems from using their numbers to their advantage. Meanwhile, the back rows would turn and start to guard the entrance from the golems already outside.


    As Matt charged at a golem, it was turned to scrap metal when a man to his side activated [Shield Charge]. With glowing feet and shield, he sped past everyone and crushed the golems in front of him. The explosion of mana was deafening in the confined space of the hanger, but Matts [Cracked Phantom Armor] was enough to keep his ears safe. Unfortunately, some of the others werent so lucky, and their shouts of pain could be heard over the din.


    Matt was kind of surprised at that. Everyone should have hearing protection for delving in underground rifts, if nothing else. He never needed them, but Liz used them almost every time they were in close environments.


    It seemed amateurish to forget about that.


    With his longsword fully charged, Matt obliterated a golem as he pushed forward. They reached a hill, and were greeted with a volley of crossbow bolts. The man next to Matt went down when a bolt ricocheted off the wall, and took him in the throat. Someone dragged the wounded man back, and while Matt hoped he survived, he didnt have time to worry about him.


    Weapon swap! His callout was acknowledged by the second ranker in behind him, who stepped forward and rotated his shield forward.


    In the close quarters, Matt sidestepped a sh from a golem, and dropped his sword into his spatial bag. He withdrew his war hammer and shield. It would have been better to already have them at the ready, and he chastised himself for thepse in judgment.


    Returning to the front line, his recently procured shield took a bolt, as he lifted it to protect his head and chest. It had been on the princes orders that everyone in the first wave was provided with a Tier 6 shield. They each came with a simple durability enchantment. It was another weight on the crafters, who had spent the five days after their initial retaliatory attacks hard at work. But it was time well spent from Matts perspective.


    The hall was only wide enough for three people standing shoulder to shoulder. The person next to Matt shouted, Forward! They moved at a steady pace, each of his steps in opposition to the thuds and thumps from the bolts mming into his shield.


    To his horror, the bolts started mming near the bottom of his kite shield as well. He closed his stance in response, not wanting to take a bolt in the leg.


    A roar from the side and a crashing of metal was apanied by a sh of bright light that nearly blinded Matt. He was able to see an arc of mana race down the hall, and watched as it cut the two golems in front of him in half.


    Matts steps faltered when a bolt knocked his shield backwards, into his leading leg. But the man behind him kept an arm across his back, helping him to stay upright and stable.


    Once again, he cursed the fact his armor made him one of the better tanks, even with a Tier disadvantage. He swore that once he could get a usable ranged skill, he would transition to a mage, and never again have to face a dangerous enemy head on.


    Following up with another front liner using a water spell, Matt took his cue and cast [Hail]. The magical ice rained down and damaged the golems, while also slowing their reload speed.


    Screaming to let out the fear, anger, and nerves, he brought his hammer down on the head of the newest golem opposing him. His heavy, Tier 6 blunt weapon smashed the lighter frame of the ranged unit, and he stepped forward with the others.


    He deactivated [Hail], as the survivors were nearly under its effects, and they stepped over the remaining ice and water mixture.


    They reached and killed another row of golem with their next steps forward. They quickly came upon the next wave of enemies. Shield golems made for extended melee battles came to reinforce the ranged golems, and their advancing progress was quickly halted.


    In the close quarters, they were limited as far as their options for effective attacks. They decided on a phnx. In the formation, your range was limited by yourrades holding the shield wall to your sides, so horizontal swings and shes were out of the question. Traditionally, you would stab forward with a thrusting weapon. That tactic was pretty ineffective against enemies who werent made of flesh and blood. They wouldn''t exactly be brought down with a poke from a sword in the gut.


    That left overhead vertical swings with their blunt melee weapons, but that was easier said than done. Especially with their shields pressed together with the golems in a shoving match.


    They had practiced this before in the camp, and Matt knew his part.


    Keep the golems from shoving them back, and tank the hits that the golems would slip through.


    It was the main reason he was chosen to take the front line. The shield-wielding melee golems were equipped with mana des that were nearly useless against [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    As he kept [Mages Retreat] on full st, Matt used the bracing of the men behind him as leverage, and shoved forward. It was just enough to keep the golems from advancing, and he could feel the wind created by the man two rows behind him with the halberd. He brought the rear spike of his weapon down on the golem that Matt was holding back with a brutal swing.


    The mana de slipped between their interlocked shields, and thrust into Matts side and abdomen. All the hit did was drain more mana, in order to counter the damage that the structured mana weapon tried to dish out.


    Suddenly, the resistance in front of him disappeared, and Matt surged forward, before the next golem in line ran up to fill the gap. Still, the briefpse gave the invaders an advantage. Matt, with his attention to the front, was able to see his backup front liner engage the golem to their side. The manshed out and took the golem in front of their next row in the side. He destabilized its footing for long enough for the column next to them to advance, and take up a position in Matt''s newly created line.


    There were more shouts, and Matt used the brief moment of respite to nce over his shield. He used another cast of [Hail] on the backline golems. He only let the spell run for a moment, as he couldnt spare too much of his mana generation. He needed it for [Mages Retreat]. His mana stone only had enough charge for three more casts of [Hail], before he would either need to swap the mana stone on his wrist, or forgo the skill entirely.


    Screaming echoed in the hall, and was contrasted with the sh of metal on metal. The silence of the unfeeling golems filled the invaders with unease as they fought. The humans with Matt fought for their lives, while the golems fought because that was all that they were programmed to do. They didnt have to worry about fear, or self preservation. Their only concern was their assigned task of defending the ruin.


    The humans pushed forward. Matt didnt know how long it took, but finally, they advanced to the end of the short hall. They were able to push the golems out and into the refinery level proper.


    Matt felt someone push him to the side, and his brain finally registered them saying, Were setting up the defensive formation.


    Following the n, he and the others in the first three rows pushed out slightly, and forced the golems back as they advanced.


    The monsters tried to reim the tunnel, while their frontline kept the humans at bay. The only advantage that the survivors had was that the only golems able to effectively engage them were the melee ones. The crossbow variant wasrgely ineffective, thanks to the phnx formation and close quarters.


    Their advance held the golems back long enough for them to hear themand, Retreat! Its set up. There was excitement and joy in the leaders voice that Matt felt in his bones.


    Pulling back, they led the first row of golems back into the hall, and a barrier sprung up. It covered the entrance of the hall in a translucent, shimmering, blue barrier of mana. It was then short work to destroy the cut off golems.


    With the first group of separated golems taken care of, the man behind Matt started to move the corpses away, so they wouldnt be underfoot.


    Matt used the brief lull to swap [Mages Retreat] for [Endurance], which quickly melted his exhaustion away. [Mages Retreat] was an amazing skill, and it allowed him to fight well above his limits, but it strained his body to keep up with such massive expenditures. He also took the opportunity to refill his mana stone, so he could use more casts of [Hail] in the uing battles.


    Turning to congratte the man next to him, he saw that it was the halberd bearer. The man had dropped his main weapon for a shield, and was covered in blood. He had a shocked expression on his face.


    Matt grabbed his shoulder and asked, Is it your blood? Are you ok?


    When he got no response, Matt looked to the rear and called out, Someone get him to a healer! And find me a recement!


    The shell-shocked man just allowed himself to be led away.


    He was reced by Matts own backup, while they watched the golems batter at the mana barrier in front of them. As much as he wanted to run and check on the other partys progress, especially Liz and Aster, he was forced to be satisfied with the readouts from their AIs. There were enough people to ensure that there was awork on which information could be transferred over. ording to his AIs readout, it was only dyed by about fifteen seconds.


    As his breathing slowed, and the soreness vanished from his muscles, Matt kept his shield at the ready. He was interrupted when the man next to him spoke, without taking his eyes off the golems on the other side of the mana barrier that tried to batter it down to no effect.


    Thanks for the save. You handled the attack a lot better than the column to our right. I Just thanks for holding steady.


    Matt just nodded, and didnt say anything. A part of him wanted to know the fate of the others, who were no longer in their newly formed row. Arger part of him didnt want to find out. He saw the first man take the bolt to the throat, but hadnt noticed the backup shield-bearer go down.


    Reaching up, Matt rubbed his eyes. It was odd for a moment. After a battle that fierce, he expected to be covered in blood, but was only met with sweat.


    Not long after that, more people started to fill the tunnel for the next push. His nerves that had been active for so long were strangely quiet, and Matt readied himself to push through the barrier. Their next target was the refinery room in front of them.


    He received a message in the group chat with Liz and Cami. Liz sent, Made it inside safely with Aster. Hows everyone else?


    Matt quickly responded, Fine, we took the first hallway.


    Cami chimed in at the same time with, We have secured the second hall.


    She was a halberd bearer in the third row of the other halls phnx. She didnt have the durability of the other Tier 6s but she was able to deal plenty of damage. She was too valuable to be left out of the fighting, as someone with a self-healing skill.


    One of the Princes strategists had wanted her to heal tank, which was absurdly dumb, considering the amount of healing she would need afterwards. It wasnt like she was able to avoid the side effects of healing being less effective after subsequent damage. Besides, she would be more useful in the open battles, where she could maneuver more.


    Before they could talk more, the order to advance came, and Matt pushed forward with the others in his hall.


    In therger area, they had the ability to use their own numbers to greater advantage. For all the golems strength while fully charged up, they didnt have skills or more than rudimentary tactics. That simple fact let the invaders take and hold the advantage in the struggle.


    Everyone was tired from the previous fighting and wanted to pause, but they were spurred on by the sight of the next room. While there was arge refinery in the room they were currently in, there were visible cages containing humans in the next room.


    The prisoners looked fairly well, and Matt didnt see signs of injuries. When they regrouped, they advanced to the next room before the golems could reinforce it.


    The fighting was brief and brutal, but the invaders were incentivized by the shouting and cheering from the locked-up humans. When they cleared the room, everyone but a few front-liners quickly moved to free the trapped people. Matt noted that the entrance to the room was being sealed with a mana barrier.


    He winced at that, as they only had so many of them, and they were made to be immobile after being deployed. But he couldnt me them for the caution, with some of the human prisoners near at hand.


    They were quickly seen to by their healer, who pronounced them healthy enough, if a little malnourished.


    When someone asked one of the more coherent people what they were used for, Matt went cold as their story was told.


    When we were captured, we feared that we would be used to power rifts with our corpses or something, but they just wanted us for mana. They would only feed us when we provided mana. At first, it was really bad, as they seemed to expect us to be able to give mana endlessly, and withheld food. But the stupid tin cans seemed to figure it out after a few days, and started feeding us, as long as we gave enough mana.


    Matt wanted to pound his head against the wall. The collective, or whatever intelligence that the golems had, must have either seen or recorded him dumping out nearly a million mana, and thought everyone could do the same. It was probably the entire reason that they started to take and hold prisoners. They were trying to recreate what Matt had done on arger scale.


    Rubbing his head, Matt didnt know what to do. This entire incident was his fault, as he had sped up the awakening of the ruin. But he never thought that he was the reason the golems had attacked and captured humans. He taught them that humans equaled mana, and through his actions, had caused so much extra heartbreak.


    <em>How bad would it have been without the golems taking prisoners?</em>


    Matts first instinct was that it would have been better, but he paused halfway through the thought. The golems were rift monsters, and would have attacked no matter what. Matt might have saved lives that the golems would have otherwise ended without a second thought.


    It felt like he was equivocating to himself, and avoiding the responsibility, but the logic checked out. He wasnt absolved from the sin of causing this, but he might have made it slightly better by showing the golems that people had uses. At least beyond killing them to feed rifts.


    He was just too tired to think about it, and was just grateful that the prisoners were safe, and had not been tortured.


    Before he could settle down, there was a call to regroup, and they were to push to meet with team two. Team three would be mirroring their actions on the other side of team two. Grouping up would allow them to secure their nks, and thus start the real push through the ruin.


    Matt just wanted to ensure that Liz and Aster were well and that desire drove him through the pain and exhaustion to form up and prepare for the charge.

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63


    Matt guzzled down water and quickly wiped his face. His party was working on clearing the second floor, and it was brutal.


    What they had expected to take hours was taking nearly a full day. At least they had a trap detector this time. That, and the extra light in the hall were the only bright sides that Matt could find. When he was herest, the runes hadnt had enough power to start up. Now, they were illuminating the whole floor.


    The light and foiled traps still didnt make up for the masses of golems that were clogging up the halls. Everywhere he looked during the assault, Matt was reminded of details that only he and his team were privy to. Most of these halls had been packed solid with material, and were now only mildly congested. To him, it was a clear exnation of how the golems never seemed to run out of troops to throw at them.


    They cleared the first floor with rtively little trouble, and then set their sights on the second. It was worse.


    So much worse.


    He couldnt even imagine how it would be if this was a peak Tier 6 rift. Alex, the man who had been his shield mate, stood next to him. He was a mid Tier 6, who had delved peak Tier 6 rifts many times over. Even he said that hed never seen a rift as bad as this one.


    Matt couldnt quite put his finger on it, but something was wrong with the ce. He was sure that if they had even rudimentary level ess to the EmpireNet, he could find an answer.


    The uncertainty made for tense fights, as they needed to quickly destroy the monsters. But it was a slow process, due to the extensive size of the hauler golems hall.


    Matt ducked a projectile as it bounced off the shield that Alex raised over his head from behind him. It was a futile but instinctive reaction.


    The battle on the second level wasnt going well at all, thanks to the massive spider golems that popted the area. They were so big, they could trample or step over the shield wall in front of them. It left their backline exposed and vulnerable. To make matters worse, the giant spiders would lob bar stock at the human invaders, when they had sufficient range.


    The shield wall advanced, and Matt was braced for the impact he <em>knew</em> woulde, but hadnt yet. If he was hit, he didnt think that he would be walking away. No one else had.


    Only one man in his team had died from the tossed ingots so far, but they had still taken out five people during thest few engagements. Matt wasnt exactly feeling confident about his chances, if he was the newest recipient.


    The one casualty was killed outright, when the steel projectile skittered up his shield, and blew his head off. But the others had only suffered a few removed extremities. They were the lucky ones.


    The shout of Forward! caused their faltering steps to pick back up. Matt watched the advance out of the crack between his shield and the one raised over his head.


    They had closed nearly seventy percent of the distance when they received their second gift from the golem. It whizzed towards them with the speed that only a Tier 6 monster nearly twice their size could achieve.


    There was a spray of stone from the wall where the ingotnded, but no one stopped their charge. When they reached the golems legs, things didnt get any easier. They had to try and keep therge monster upied, while the people with ranged skills tried to bring it down. At least, that was the idea. But as thest two fights had shown, it never really worked that way.


    Instead of fighting the puny humans at its feet, the golem walked over them, and tried to reach their backline. There it could stomp its pir-like legs to its mechanical hearts content. Matt and the other three front liners next to him mmed their prepared hammers into the leg joints, in a practiced and prepared attack. It got the golems attention long enough for the mages to pull back farther, and rain attacks down on its center mass.


    A [Fireball] exploded a little too close for Mattsfort, causing him to duck and miss his swing. That was the danger of being <em>under</em> the monster that the mages were attacking. They didnt all have the best aim.


    Hopping sideways, Matt joined someone else in battering a joint inoperable. When the call for a retreat was made, he was as ecstatic as he could be, with how tired he was.


    With everyone else who had been under the golems pulling back, Matt joined them and retreated. As he ran, he noticed a man trying to limp away with a crushed lower leg. He ducked under one of his arms in stride, taking most of the mans weight on his own shoulders. As he reached the newly forming shield wall, Matt was let through, and he quickly passed off the injured man to one of the back liners. He then quickly returned to his position in the front of the formation.


    Despite the fact that the front was the most dangerous ce in the formation, it had its advantages. He had the best seat in the fortress to watch the mages obliterate the golem that could no longer walk properly.


    As fire and lightning streaked overhead, he grinned, and started to allocate the essence he had earned over thest few fights.


    ***


    Lizunched a series of [Blood Bullet]s, and followed it up with [Blood Maniption] when her attacks sttered on the humanoid golems sides.


    Her team had quickly figured out that the quickest way to defeat therge, hulking spider golems was to get some blood inside one, and then tear at its internals. It was cheaper on mana,pared to beating them into scrap metal, and it was faster to boot. She felt dumb. She hadnt thought of it before. But most creatures had their spirits to protect them from internal tampering, so she never considered the possibility.


    The golems werent alive, though. They had essence, but no spirit, so they were vulnerable to methods of attack that would never work on living things. Apparently, there was a crafter who had been drafted to fight that possessed [Metal Maniption]. He was able to rip coreponents out of the golems without much effort, and was responsible for nearly half of therge spider golem kills on the second floor.


    The third floor was another battle altogether. Traps had made another appearance, and they were taking their toll.


    Liz pushed that thought away, and moved her blood along the floor while they advanced to the next group. Her blood almost immediately set off a spinning de that dropped from the ceiling. It was exhausting work, but she was determined to keep as many people alive as she could.


    She reached the next group of golems, and made her blood flow up their legs, and into the internals. Sensing that her blood had reached the golems cores, she started wrenching it back and forth. The approaching golema started to jerk and twist as she worked. Unable to see what she was doing, Liz focused on constant and violent movement, hoping to deal as much damage as possible.


    Aster yipped next to her ear, and the air went frosty for a moment. A huge [Ice Spear]unched out, killing arge spider that tried to ambush them by dropping down from the ceiling. Apparently, the first team who had been hit with that one only had four survivors out of nearly thirty.


    Liz kissed the side of the foxs head through her helmet, and was rewarded with a questioning series of yipps about how Matt and Cami were.


    Aster thought they were fine, but wanted them to be safe. With a quick check of her HUD, Liz found them safe, and ryed the news to the fox.


    The problem was, they were low on mana when they had made it through just half of the second refinery floor. Now, on the third floor, they were running near empty.


    Without Matt near at hand, they were once again reminded of the greatest w in a magebat style. Mana meant skills, and no mana meant no skills. No skills meant that they were practically useless.


    Aster was nearly tapped out from their earlier fights, before Liz had even started killing thergest golems from the inside. Now they traded off the attacking role, and only Liz struck out at the giant spiders andrger groups of melee golems. Meanwhile, the other mages handled the smaller groups of humanoid golems. It wasnt perfect, but it was the best they could do.


    Reaching up to scratch Aster, Liz moved forward with the others. She mentally tried to calm her building headache, caused by the strain of using [Blood Maniption].


    She almost wished that she was still on the second floor. Killing a singlerge golem was preferable to killing multiple smaller ones, even if the same tactics worked on them as well. The groups required finer control of [Blood Maniption], and her head felt like a spike was being driven through it. She just wanted to find a corner and die in it.


    Aster nuzzled the side of Lizs head in sympathy, causing her to smile. Aster, for all her ice, had a warm heart.


    ***


    Prince Albert walked down the halls, and looked around at the destruction that had been brought to this floor as well. Each step increased his mood.


    Frederick, the asshole of a Tier 15 working for his older brother, had wanted to use this fortress to kill him. Oliver, the other Tier 15 teleport guardian, had been bribed to look the other way as well. They made their ns clear, and had chosen their side.


    He would remember.


    The anger that red up disappeared as he re-examined the fortress. When he conquered this ce and took over, he was going to bring in craftsmen loyal to him, and have them refit this flying fortress to be his newest mobile base.


    To the victor goes the spoils.


    Albert couldnt suppress the smile that crept over his face. He was thankful for being surrounded by only loyal guards.


    This flying fortress was slow, and only Tier 6, but it would have quite the impact on public perception as he flew it through the Kingdom. He could already imagine the awe it would instill in themon man. The little disy Duke Ignite put on while killing his distant uncle would only add to the mystique.


    Everyone would see his flying fortress, and immediately think of the Duke, giving him a slight bit of borrowed prestige.


    The smile returnedrger than before. Even his father didnt have a flying fortress. Sure, once they were integrated into the Empire proper, he would be given one by the Emperor. But that was in the future, not <em>now</em>. Oh, how his father wouldin! He had heard it often enough. His father hated the fact that flying inds were so expensive. Even a Tier 35 couldnt afford one. But <em>he</em> would have one of his own.


    Suppressing the urge to jump in the air and celebrate, Albert tried to remain calm on the outside. But from the smirks of his guards, knew he was failing.


    A pattering of steps caused him and all of the guards to stow the lighthearted mood. They prepared for either a betrayal by their human allies, or an attack from the golems.


    Juni came sprinting around the corner, and the smile returned to Alberts face. His guards made an opening for his friend to make his way through.


    Seeing Juni only added to his good mood. Their little y hadnt convinced everyone, but it had convinced the people he needed it to. Albert couldnt believe how well Juni had pulled that assassination of Zoey off. It was so clean, no one in the court suspected anything at all. That was exactly what he had needed. The woman was vile, and more importantly, a spy.


    He had told Juni to kill her if he was given a chance, and apparently, someone else had decided to take out the trash for them. It was always nice when others did the dirty work for free. Both of them had their suspicions and conjectures, but everyone they suspected was either from The Path, or from the Empire proper with backing. It wouldnt do to provoke either faction, so he let what was well enough lie.


    Juni leaned into his ear, mped a band around his wrist, and Alberts AI fuzzed out. Finally, he whispered, The vault isnt unlocking. Were going to need a key of some kind. I have a few of our trusted craftsmen working on it, but it doesnt look good.


    Calling to the guards, Albert got the group moving and asked, Do we have any suspected shapes?


    Yes, A jewel of some kind. As weird as it sounds, the crafters think it would be arge, egg-sized gem. Maybe a ne, or a scepter.


    Albert thought that over and asked, Why those two in particr?


    The debate is if it needs to be turned or not. If not, there might just be a single pairing rune, or something somewhere keeping it secure. But if it needs to be turned, then there might be a handle.


    Nodding, Albert raised his voice, and unclipped the bands on their wrists. Well, the clearing of the second floor has gone well. What are your ideas for the third floor and higher?


    Juniunched into a recap of what they already had discussed, and Alber let his mind wander to the many ns he had for the future. If he wanted to pull the Kingdom into the future, he needed to be prepared for everything. But first, he needed to take this flying fortress.


    ***


    Cami stood in the third row of her shield wall, and watched the front liner block a golems strike. She used her maces extended head to smash the golems head in. It was clean and quick work.


    With a jerk to the side, she bashed the golem one row over. No matter how many times she used the weapon, it was disconcerting to attack through her allies bodies with it.


    They turned a corner, and she breathed a sigh of relief. They were finally done with this awful level, and she was just as happy as when they exited the refinery areas. They hadnt seen one of the hauler spider golems since. She didnt miss the giant monsters and their deadly limbs.


    Any hallway that had one of them turned into a long and drawn-out battle that she didnt enjoy in the slightest.


    Thisst hall was awful because it was packed with traps and golems. When you killed the golems, the traps would activate, and cut into the humans flesh. She had been lucky so far, but that was bound to run out eventually.


    The man next to her moved, and Cami went hyper-alert, looking for a betrayal or some other attack. She had already witnessed two different people settle personal grudges with a causal push into the golems, or a trap. Maybe it was a conveniently misced weapons handle that happened to catch someones legs during a retreat. It was the small things, but she noticed.


    She wasnt going to be a victim like the others.


    Not again.


    The stone halls and darkness were enough of a reminder of her past nightmares the first time she was here. She had never wanted to return to this shit hole. But because of the constant fighting in the now bright corridors, she didnt have much time to dwell on it. She had to focus on the enemies in front of her, and even the possible ones behind.


    Cami overheard the team leader call in that they had found the stairs up, and were going to hold them from enemiesing down. Everyone set up, and one of the door-blocking things would be brought over. At least, thats what she assumed would happen; it had thest few times they found stairs. But if they were right, this would be thest floor, where they expected the boss room to be.


    ***


    Matt blinked bleary eyes. They had been fighting for three days, while taking the fortress floor by floor.


    Where the halls had been nearly empty the first time through, except for the rare patrolling golems, they were now packed with them like cordwood. They were forced to bash their way through the monsters one step at a time.


    Currently, he was resting with the members of his team while they waited for more Tier 6 shields to be made for the final push. It was the only time they got a break, and he was grateful for it.


    Matt closed his eyes while sitting crossed legged against a wall, and gripped his hammer.


    At the sound of footsteps near him, he jerked to his feet and readied his weapon, struggling to keep his eyes open. Seeing a man walking to the rear, he plopped back down after the false rm, falling back asleep in moments.


    The next time he woke, he actually felt better, and stretched a little while sniffing. Something had gotten his noses attention, and it roused him into action.


    Following the smell, he found a cart with food piled high. It was a lot of what looked like goat, and clearly canned vegetables. But they were steaming, which meant the food was hot. That was more than he could say about what he had been snacking on for thest few days.


    Reaching for a te from the tray, he noticed that his hands were covered in something dark brown or ck. He looked at them for a minute, wondering how they got dirty, and finally walked to a water station that had been set up. He washed his hands while his stomach grumbled at him.


    Scrubbing for far longer than should have been necessary, he got the grime off his hands, and piled the food on his te. He gave a nod to the man behind the cart as he left.


    Returning to his spot, he kicked the boots of the still sleeping people as he passed. They would want the hot food more than sleep. Varied grunts and curses followed his passage, but he ignored them all for the smells of wondering off the te in front of him.


    Just from the smell, he could tell themb needed more seasoning, and that the mixed veggies had been boiled together. They were at various levels of doneness, but he didnt care a bit. Matt savored his first bite as the heat radiated out from his stomach. As he paused to chew, he checked his fingernails, only to see more grime stuck there.


    <em>Where did I even get anything on my hands? My armor should have protected me from that.</em>


    Matt pondered on the question for a while, taking slow and deliberate bites of food. Before he could find an answer that made sense, he finished his te, and wiped up thest bits of food with a chunk of bread.


    Chewing slowly, he looked around, and couldnt recognize anyone. There had been so many losses during thest few days, it was impossible to keep track anymore. For nearly everyone else, it only took a sword thrust to take them out of the fight. The mana des were deadly. Even if they destroyed a dozen golems before they went down, it was still a numbers game, and the golems had the advantage.


    But it was finally done.


    They had reached the final floor that they expected the boss room to be at.


    If this was a traditional castle, it would be a throne room. At least, that was his spection.


    They had cleared the entire rift except for thest floor, where they secured the entrances and waited for everyone to rest and recover. They werent waiting long enough for the injured to get back into the fight, which Matt thought was the wrong call.


    They would lose nothing if they waited a few days, keeping all but a single floor clear. But the orders were that they needed to push as fast as possible, so they were only given eight hours of time to rest, before they were to take on the boss.


    Honestly, after Matt got over the idea of not waiting, he figured that this would be a much easier fight than the ruin had been before. There should only be a single boss after all, and that meant that they could overwhelm it with pure numbers, if nothing else.


    Checking his AI, he leaned back and closed his eyes, falling into a half slumber while waiting for the next two hours to pass.


    Everyone up!


    Someone called out, and Matt stood with everyone else. Even with [Endurance] running all night, he still felt sore as his muscles stretched. It was painful, until he got fully warmed up, and got the blood moving around his body again.


    Not even five minutester, they were formed up and ready for the assault.


    They deactivated the barrier they set up, and pushed through.


    Matt had the best view from his lead position, and he paused when he reached the top of the stairs.


    The others next to him stopped as well, and Matt felt the fear rise up. Soon, the answer for why the ruin had so many golems was revealed.


    There was a throne ahead, with a massive golem sitting on it. Even while sitting, it was nearly nine feet tall. It had a spear clutched in one hand, and a circr shield in the other. In the back of the throne as a centerpiece was a familiar scepter.


    One boss like this one was what everyone expected. Finding another six thrones and bosses was a crushing blow to their psyche.


    The information about ruins he had found came flooding back to Matt at the horrible sight in front of him. They could re-invert, just like a normal rift could break when enough essence was umted. So the reason why there were seven bosses was the same as why there was seemingly a never-ending number of golems. They were fighting seven golems, where there would usually be a single one in the rift version of this fortress.


    Matt awoke from his shock when the boss golems stood in unison, and jumped forward. Each went for a separate entrance, and one aimed tond on Matt and the others. No one needed the order to run, and they scattered from the entrance.


    To his horror, the golem readied its spear as it leapt through the air towards their entrance. Itnded with a bone-rattling quake, and thrusted its weapon into the entrance. It came back dyed crimson.


    Matt lunged back at the twelve-foot golem, and brought his hammer around into its side. He was blocked by its shield as it pivoted to face him. The rest of the golem followed its shield, and in a lightning-quick pattern, it thrust out again with its spear. It was a skill enhanced attack, as the glowing edge of the weapon suggested.


    Dodging, and trying to keep his shield raised, Matt retreated in the direction of the center of the room. His new shield was being whittled down to kindling with each spear thrust.


    Getting desperate, he caught the spear just as it was being withdrawn, and he smashed his hammer on the shaft, trying to snap his opponents weapon. But his hammer bounced off, with barely a dent made.


    Matt tried to avoid the shield bash, but the golem had baited him out, and the blow was simply too fast for him to react. He was knocked flying, skipping across the floor until he bounced into a wall.


    Standing, with loud popsing from his back as he moved, Matt prepared to re-engage. At least he had bought time for the others to flow out of the corridor.


    ***


    Cami and her group had made it into the hall, when they were immediately caught by an expanding cage that seemed to meld with the floor.


    Everyone panicked, and she was no exception. The cage was connected to the boss golem with a chain, and it pulled itself to them, but was intercepted by a massive stone spike as it sprung towards them.


    A quick check showed there was another boss golem connected to another caged group, with a greatsword instead of a shield. That golem wasnt intercepted, and she watched as it thrust into the cage, killing the trapped humans.


    Camis panic skyrocketed. She just wanted <em>out</em>.


    Her answer was provided when she saw that there was the only person left alive in the other group. The cage released on its own, freeing the single survivor.


    The idea to kill the others in her cage popped up. All she had to do was summon her ded whip, and start swinging. It would be so easy to ensure her own escape, if she just sacrificed everyone else.


    Her subconscious whispered that they were all bad people, and the justification that they deserved to die kept echoing through her head. She had already watched them kill each other. Why couldnt she do the same and ensure her own survival?


    The time to decide was taken from her when the golem approached.


    Cami didnt know what to do, and her body started moving on its own.


    Aidens smiling and happy face was thest thing she saw, as she activated herst resort device, and set herself on fire.


    She wanted him to be proud of her, if nothing else. That would make it all worth it.


    The pleasure hit like nothing ever had before, and she extended her mace through the bars, and swung with everything she had.


    She let her emotions flow through her. All of the rage, the panic, the hatred, the anger, and above all, the disgust. Disgust with her Talent and the way it messed with her feelings, making it impossible to live a normal life.


    She put all of her pain and frustration into a single heavy blow, and the golem crumpled like wet paper in the face of her fury.


    She could already feel the nerve damage building up, as it was growing hard to control her now deadened body. So, with onest burst of strength, she grabbed two of the Tier 6 bars and pulled. It was more like pulling apart y, as they bent with little effort.


    Cami copsed, and as her vision went ck, she saw people climbing out over her.


    It was nothing less than she expected of the selfish people in the world, but at least she could die knowing she had done the right thing. She had little hope that someone would help get her to safety while she was indisposed.


    <em>Who knows, maybe Ill get through this.</em>


    ***


    Liz screamed as she punched out with her spear. Blood was everywhere, and she was only getting more as the bodies piled up around her.


    Aster sent out dozens of shards of ice around her, and froze the blood under the golems feet. Their slight stumble gave Liz enough time to send a wave of blood into the creatures innards. Before she could wreak havoc inside the boss golems much tougher innards, theyunched a volley of crossbow bolts at her.


    The worst part of this ce wasnt that there was more than one boss. No, it was that the bosses had different variants that came to be with the inversions. There were seemingly three types of golem bosses. Thankfully, of the seven, there were four melee golems with shield and spear. The other three were two cage golems, and a single ranged crossbow user.


    That final one was the problem. It didnt have a standard crossbow. The bosses weapon shot out a single real bolt, along with a dozen energy copies of the initial projectile. It made for an irritating foe.


    Having dodged the projectiles, she <em>knew</em> people behind her were not quite as lucky. She <em>felt</em> the added blood begin to pool with her connection to the liquid. As much as it helped her fight, she wished it would stay inside her allies.


    But what was spilled couldnt be put back in, so she gathered it up, and formed it around her.


    Aster saw that Liz was going into her blood golem form, and let out a long whine while she attacked.


    Liz interpreted it as, If you get me covered in blood youre gonna scrub my fur clean!


    It was enough to get Liz to smile, but it quickly vanished as she tore at the ranged golem boss.


    It raised its weapon for another volley, and Liz flexed her Concept. It made the world go bright, and her connection to the blood around her intensified, and became more real. Her Concept gave the blood Tier 7 strength. When added to her improved control, it was enough to stop the bolts in their tracks.


    That was the final mistake the golem was able to make. She was on it quickly, smashing down with the bludgeon of frozen blood Aster had created out of Lizs golem arm.


    Having battered the boss to smithereens, Liz surveyed the battlefield, and chose her next target.


    The Prince was doing fine while fighting a melee golem on his own. He seemed to be holding his own against the titan of a golem quite well.


    One of the other teams was being set upon by two of the melee golems, and clearly needed her help.


    ***


    Matt ducked a spear thrust, got in close to the golem, and started punching it in the side. His bracers heated up as the bone-breaking runes started to smash things inside of the metal monster.


    The golem didnt die without a fight, and elbowed him repeatedly in the back and head. Each blow strained [Cracked Phantom Armor]. A few were even able to break the skill long enough to crack a rib. Matt didnt let that stop him, and screamed through the pain and rage.


    He only stopped striking when the golem did as well.


    For all their individual power, these golems were still only seven, against nearly fifty active fighters. Besides, even at Tier five, Matt found that he could hold his own well enough in single fights against the bosses.


    Looking up, he found a giant golem of blood and ice fighting two of the melee golems.


    Desperate to help, he started limping over. As he forced his body into a loping run, then eventually into a sprint, he mmed his hammer into the back of the nearest golem boss. It stumbled, which let the other fighters trying to help jump on it quickly. They finished it off in short order.


    Liz was able to quickly off thest golem, which just left the Prince and his golem. But from the others standing near the Prince, Matt assumed that he wanted to take it down on his own.


    Enjoying that, he limped over to where his AI said Cami was in critical condition. He found her in a cage that was half ripped apart. Wiggling in, he pulled her into his arms then fed her through the small gap, before carrying her to the healers station at the base of the stairs.


    Though the healers didnt know what was wrong with her, Matt still stayed long enough to hear their pronouncement, breathing a sigh of relief when they said she would live.


    Hearing that she was stable was enough for him, and he ran back up the stairs to find the Prince finishing off his golem.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64


    When the Prince killed his opponent with a hammer to its face, there was a loud cheer. The Prince stood up and roared with his hammer raised, reveling in his victory.


    We have won! And to the victor goes the spoils!


    The guards around the Prince cheered at that, raising their unused weapons in the air.


    Moving to a very bloody Aster and Liz, Matt whispered, That was slightly easier than I feared. Especially with seven bosses.


    Liz nodded, and added in a deep voice, Quantity has a quality all its own, as long as its near the same Tier. Otherwise, it turns to scrap.


    Matt just scoffed at her trying to be philosophical.


    Prince Albert called out, This falls under group loot, as no single party took the ce, so the fortress and all its contents have to be auctioned off.


    A feeling of the floor dropping out from under them crept up his stomach. They had just fought a brutal, multi-day battle. They had taken Ascenders knew how many casualties. And now, the Prince was trying to rush the distribution of loot.


    The people called out in shock and anger, with Matt and Liz included.


    What about the vault? someone from the crowd called out.


    It was a good question, and Matt waited along with everyone else for the answer.


    Albert raised his hands and smiled, saying, Ill promise with my AI verifying that everyone will get their fair share of the loot, ording to one of the contribution models. Including the loot from the vault, as well as the golem corpses and discovered bar stock.


    Fucking fucker! Lizs curses mirrored his own feelings on the matter. None of them could outbid the Prince of a Kingdom. If she had ess to her funds from before she joined The Path, Liz would be able to crush him, but they were cut off from essing them. Any auction had to be done with funds on hand. Besides, themunication to the greaterworks was down, with the teleporter shut down and theck of satellites.


    Even if they could ess the funds, the restrictions of The Path forbade them from using funds from Lizs parents.


    Someone else had the same thought, and called out, None of us can ess our savings. Its not fair.


    The Princeughed good-naturedly and said, Neither can I! And I have more than enough in savings to crush all of you, if we had ess to those. This is far more fair, considering it has to be funds on hand.


    That was enough to make people think it over, ande to the realization that they might have a chance. Then Prince threw fuel on the fire.


    We also need to make a choice. Do we want to have a closed auction, with just the people who participated in the assault? Or do we wish to open it up to the greater Kingdom...? He paused as people mulled it over. If that happened, they would make more money, but they would never have the chance to own the flying fortress.


    Still, if whoever won the fortress turned around and resold it straight away, they would then get the entire sale price to themselves.


    As people started to waffle on their decision, the Prince tipped them over. ...Or even the greater Empire? Im sure people would flock to purchase this flying fortress.


    There was grumbling, but a poll about which auction type they wanted was sent out to everyone. Matt realized that the Prince had been having his speech transmitted in text form to everyone who participated, but wasnt present in the boss room.


    Liz whispered, We should sell it outside, or try to get it ourselves if the vote goes that way. It will be worth a fortune on the open market.


    <strong>Open this auction to a grouprger than the people who participated? If yes, a time and ce will be voted on.</strong>


    <strong>Yes? No?</strong>


    The window was sent out, and the vote was forced. Matt watched as the window instantly locked the choice in from people who clicked the No option, and forced the auction to remain closed. The majority must have thought they could outbid the Prince, or were trying to get on his good side by ensuring his n went into action. He hadnt even had time to cast his vote.


    It was the selfish option, and what Matt assumed that the Prince was counting on. Everyone would get a muchrger personal share if they got some Tier 30s interested. From his recent education, only Tier 35s who were given the title of duke were given a flying ind. They were ruinously expensive to make, and only Tier 40s or higher were able to afford a flying devicerger than a house.


    But if someone had more money than the Prince


    Even Matt felt the greed rise up.


    With the event started, Matt saw a hundred and seventeen people attending. A few names Matt recognized were with the healers. Even Camis name was there, but grayed out.


    Matt leaned into Liz and asked, Think we can do this? What are our funds like?


    She whispered back, I dont know. I doubt this was nned, but most of our money from selling your mana was traded for our skills and item upgrades. We never got the hard currency for it. Putting items up for coteral is always a losing bet, as well get the lowest price for them.


    Matt cursed, Shit. Hes definitely going to y games with the loot after as well, isnt he?


    Im sure he has something nned. Otherwise, he wouldnt so openly state it. Maybe a trusted aid sneaks off with most of it or something, and they say he isnt responsible. Im sure hes nning something. Even if hes not, hes getting a flying fortress that even Tier 30s would love, for what essentially amounts to chump change.


    Can we stop the auction? Matt hoped Liz knew of a way that he didnt. After raid-level events, where the loot was found by more than one team, an onsite auction was the standard procedure. It helped to prevent the items from being bid on by a strong faction that an individual cultivator couldntpete with. It was the fairest way possible, as it meant that people were reliant on either their savings, or keeping their wealth on them while going to a dangerous situation.


    As they talked, the bidding price slowly rose up to a Tier 7 mana stone, and it held there for a long moment. The automatic countdown started its slow march down from ten.


    Matt threw in their highest bid of a Tier 7 mana stone, and thirty-two Tier 6 mana stones.


    There was a long pause while the auction timer counted down, and Matts hope started to rise. His excitement at the possibility of getting the fortress skyrocketed as the number hit two.


    Once it did, the Prince called out, Sorry, this is as high as I can go. One Tier 7 mana stone for everyone here who participated. For those alive, at least. Thates out to one hundred and seventeen Tier 7 mana stones. That equals two Tier 8 mana stones, and seventeen Tier 7s. Can anyone beat that?


    Those were depressing numbers, considering they had started the invasion with nearly two hundred fighters. Matt watched as the countdown dropped down to two, then the bid suddenly went up to three Tier 8 mana stones. Everyone paused and looked to the Prince, who eximed, Varrick! What are you doing?


    One of the guards next to the Prince shrugged. Its a steal for the price. Why wouldnt I bid?


    How do you have that much money on hand?


    The countdown almost reached zero, but the price increased to four Tier 8 mana stones just before the fortress sold. The Princes name was shown under the bid. Clearly, his earlier statement that one hundred and seventeen Tier 7 mana stones was his limit was a lie.


    Almost immediately, Varricks name reappeared with a bid of one Tier nine mana stone.


    Matt was surprised at the jump in price, but the Prince looked like he was just smacked across the face.


    How do you have that many actual mana stones on hand?


    Varrick answered Did you forget who my father is? Hes a Duke of the Kingdom. I have some of his spare change to ensure that I can get out of trouble if I fall into it. The armored man finished, Its not like we do any real fighting around you.


    Matt didnt know how to feel after this turn of events, but a petty part of him was d that the Prince was getting screwed over just as much as them. He had instigated this little scheme to keep the price down, so it was fitting that he had been foiled by one of his own men.


    What about the promise? Someone shouted out, Now youre just going to steal everything from us?


    Matt red at the Prince, along with everyone else. If they lost the items in the fortress because of his great idea...


    Varrick seemed to panic as the heated res turned to him, and shouted, No! No! I will abide by the same rules, and give everything that isnt a part of the fortress to everyone, based on their contribution. Just how it should be done. Im giving this to my father, and he couldnt care less about Tier 6 materials.


    Matt checked his information packet about the Seven Suns vassal Kingdom. In the Empire, a Duke was Tier 35. But here, where the King was only Tier 35, a Duke was Tier 30. It was the equivalent of a Marquess in the Empire proper.


    That promise seemed to settle everyone, and weapons were lowered. Before the fighters couldpletely settle down, though, the sound of pping rang out from above them. Matt turned, to see two people floating in the air behind and above them.


    The Prince seemed shocked, and called out, Frederick? Oliver? What are you doing here?


    The one on the right answered whileughing, Watching you make a fool of yourself! You wanted to have your cake and eat it too. But instead, you didnt even get crumbs. How poetic. To answer your question, <em>we </em>are doing our jobs, and ensuring that this ruin is taken out ofmission. The King decided that this has gone on long enough. If you had failed, we wouldve had to step in. But he ordered us not to interfere with your attempt.


    And take the rewards, had you failed, the other flying man added, Honestly, Im just here for moral support. Were pretty bored, and watching you all fight through the levels has been the best entertainment we could find on this rock.


    You tried to kill me! You have no room to mock! The Prince looked from the first speaking flyer to his guard Varrick, and shouted, And <em>you </em>are dismissed from my service.


    The Tier 15s just keptughing.


    Varrick asked the question that Matt had been wondering. So does anyone know how to fly this thing?


    That caused moreughing from the flyers. Most people started meandering around, and Liz elbowed Matt while looking around. Wheres Cami? My AI said she was over there, but shes gone.


    Matt nced at where Liz was pointing, and found the cage Cami had been in. He gave Liz the story of him taking her to the healers.


    Well, lets go sit by her. She could wake up at any time.


    Aster decided, now that the excitement was over, to voice her displeasure at being a blood fox instead of an arctic fox. Her yipping and yowling was even apanied by a pull at Lizs braid.


    Matt just stood to the side and watched as Liz struggled to satisfy the fox. From their bond, he felt that the fox was actually quite mad, and wanted to be cleaned <em>now</em>.


    Liz pleaded for the fox to stop pulling her hair. Please stop. Oww. It hurts! Aster stop! Ill wash you! Just let us find a ce to sit down.


    That caused the pulling to stop, but Matt couldnt hold in hisughter when he noticed that Aster didnt let her mouthful of hair go. Her threat was clear, and it was adorable enough to help the stress and tension from the battle bleed away.


    The three of them made their way to Camis bed, and found a tub for Liz to earn Asters affection back with. His bond let out a mournful yowl when she saw the first bit of water run red, and she tried to raise her paws out of the dyeing liquid.


    A re was shot at him from both women, but he could only cover his mouth, as his smile was bolted on.


    Liz red at him and ground out, What are youughing at? You know what, I dont care. Go find more water, and a ce to dump the dirty stuff.


    Taking advantage of the gifted out, he watched Liz use [Blood Maniption] to pull the now wet substance out of the foxs fur, before he turned and left.


    Matt found a healers assistant by their armband, and was directed to a barrel that they were using for dirty water. Seeing that it was nearly full, he found a second helper, and asked where he could empty it.


    The poor man looked relieved at the offer of help, and told him that they were carrying the barrels to the side of the fortress and dumping them. They just didnt have the time to get to it.


    Not wanting to be useless, Matt found a lid and sealed the gross barrel, then carried it all the way down to the first floor and dumped it. The smell was so bad, he had to activate [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Whatever had been poured into the barrel had mixed into a concoction that he was sure would kill whatever trees it hadnded on.


    Bringing the barrel back up and telling Liz where it was, he returned to helping the healers station with whatever menial tasks they had.


    Seeing the healers struggling to treat someone, he even gave a few thousand mana to their mana stones.


    The man they were trying to heal only consisted of an upper half, and it looked like he was missing most of his internal organs too. But somehow, he was still alive and fighting to stay that way. It took a moment, but he recognized the man as Geraden. The forester showed the tenacity of the trees he loved so much through his refusal to die.


    Repeating his actions, Matt found each healer and silently gave them mana. Seeing the man suffering was almost enough to make him say screw his secrecy, and st his Concept to directly fill the healers mana pools and charge racks of mana stones himself.


    The fear of his secret getting out was enough to stay his hand, and stick with just a few thousand mana for each healer.


    He did send a message to everyone in the area that the healers needed any mana they could get. He was surprised and pleased that a steady stream of people came forward, and dumped their remaining mana into the healer''s station.


    To his surprise, even the Tier 15s came. He hadnt expected that from people that would let personal ambitions stop the Tier 7s or higher from helping. Matt had imagined that they were cold and cruel.


    Once things in the healing bay calmed down, and either the wounded died or were stabilized, a healer made their way over to Camis side. There, he checked on the unconscious woman. Liz was still helping, and Aster was curled up next to their fourth team member. But Matt was in the area, so he made his way over.


    The healer cast a spell that cast a light green glow over the woman. Matt didnt like the frown that came over his face, and waited anxiously while the man pulled over various devices to examine Cami further.


    Finally, the healer looked up and asked, Are you a teammate? At Matts nod, he asked, Do you know what hit her? Her nerves are fried. Through her entire body. Was it a skill the golems used, or a self-skill? Anything about her skills is sealed under my oath, but I need to know. Otherwise, I cant proceed safely.


    That caused Matt to pause, and his AI put together a conjecture, which he shared in a message.


    She grows stronger from pain, and I think she had a way to create pain in an emergency.


    The healer didnt look horrified, just tired. He started to examine Camis neck, finally letting out a soft ah.


    Yeah, I found it. She must have quite the backer, because Ive never seen anything like this in the Kingdom. Its perfectly fused with her spinal cord, and runs along the major nerves, but it doesnt interfere with normal operations. Quite impressive.


    Can you fix it?


    The healer scoffed. Not a chance. I can heal some of it, but its going to be a patch job at best. She should be able to walk, but thats the best I can guarantee. She needs a healer with more experience, and skills at a much higher Tier than what I have. But shes not in critical condition. Whoever set this up didnt mess with anything that would shut down vital organs, so she''ll live. I have more critical patients to see.


    Seeing Matt opening his mouth to protest, he added, Shes stable, and others are still running on the edge. We <em>will</em> get to her, I promise. She needs directed healing, and it costs too much to do that right now.


    Knowing that the man was already doing as much as he could, he offered a hand to give some mana to the mans rack of healing stones.


    For the first time, Matt wondered if the fighters actually had it easier. Their fight was over, and they could rx, but the healers were still dealing with the aftermath. They probably had been working from minute one of the invasion. It wasnt like people were only hurt at the end.


    Leaving to help out some more, he passed Liz. She was collecting soiled nkets, and dumping them in a pile near a bucket with suds. Wanting to avoid the smell, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] to block the dirty water and stench.


    <em>Ascenders, I love this skill</em>.


    Matt scrubbed, only stopping to empty his bucket and get fresh water.


    What felt like hourster, there was finally nothing else left to do. He stood up, and found that the healers area was finally quiet. A quick check revealed that it was almost midnight, and all the healers but one were asleep in cots, off to a corner.


    Seeing an opportunity, he found therger healing rack and stood there for a while, letting all of his mana generation flow into it. He only stopped when the conduits started to heat up. His AI told him that he had given nearly 50,000 mana in thest half hour.


    It was enough, and he was getting nervous that someone would wake up and see him giving mana. He didnt want to invite any unwee questions.


    He found Liz passed out in a chair near Camis bed, and joined her in dreand.


    Matt and everyone else were woken up when food was brought by. To his surprise, Cami actually woke u,p and sent them a message with her AI.


    Can you get me some soup or something? Im starving.


    Surprised she was up, he moved in front of her, and saw that her eyes were still shut. He asked out loud, Cami?


    Another message came through, and her eyes opened, My ears and eyes still work, but I cant really move.


    Surprised, he bumped Liz awake, which startled Aster, who was stillying with Cami.


    Can you put my hand on her?


    Matt did as requested, and Aster seemed to know something was wrong, as she gently licked the hand he put on her back.


    Thanks.


    Matt and Liz grabbed two sandwiches and a bowl of soup, before heading back. Liz spoon-fed Cami, while Matt wolfed down his food before switching off.


    A healer came over and started to work on Cami. Things had calmed down enough for them to be able to tend to her extensive injuries. She kept up a runningmentary while the healers worked on her, which slightly unnerved Matt.


    They were magically repairing her nerves. It had to have been excruciating if she could feel any of what they were doing.


    By the time they were finished, Cami could actually move on her own, but she shook horribly, like someone naked in the freezing cold. They said that they would do more when they had more mana, but it wouldnt get much better without a higher Tier healer.


    Cami waved them off with a stuttering hand, messaging them thanks.


    She quietly murmured, I knew this would happen.


    Getting frustrated, she sent a message, I dont have much ability to talk loudly. But I knew I would be taken out for the count if I used this. We had a healer on handst time, when we tested it.


    Liz got mad at that. What do you mean, when you tested it? You knew someone did this? Why would you let them put something like this in you? It''s dangerous.


    Yeah, I figured this would be a good trump card to boost my strength, so I persuaded Aiden to get someone to perform the surgery. He didn''t want to do it either. Don''t get mad at him.


    He did what!? No, thats not ok. Look at yourself, Cami. Youre crippled.


    Matt put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. It didnt work at all, and she shrugged out of his hand.


    Im going to have words with him when I see him next.


    Liz looked like she was going to choke Duke Waters out with her bare hands.


    They were interrupted when a message came through. They were about to get into the vault. Matt wondered if they found the scepter in the throne room, or if they had just broken in. He wasnt going to tell them, as it would reveal that they had already cleared the ce out once.


    Camis message shot out right after. Take me!


    How?


    No. Youre injured.


    Matt earned a re from Liz for not denying the dark-haired woman.


    Throw me in a chair and carry me. I dont care. I want to see what were going to get. With everything the golems were pulling in, it should be full of good stuff.


    We dont even know our contribution points yet. Matt tried to dampen her expectations.


    Contribution points were calcted from what everyone did during the battle. There were at least a dozen ways to count them up, and Matt assumed that the Prince would go with overall contribution. That way, his leadership and role as acting general would let him reap a percentage from everyones elses work.


    It wasnt umon, and none could deny that without the Princes help, it would have been a much harder fight. His coordination and nning were vital.


    But that meant Matt didnt expect to get much.


    With Cami pestering Liz, the redhead finally gave in and agreed to carry her down.


    Matt found a chair with wheels crudely attached, and after making sure it wasnt in use, grabbed it.


    Together, they moved with everyone else to the vault on the first floor. The hall leading up to the vault door was packed, and the Prince was at the front of the crowd on a raised tform. He was smiling, but the anger was still visible on his face.


    When people stopped funneling in, he called out, Friends, we found the key, and will now unveil the prize weve earned. We sweat and bled for this.


    The words rang hollow, if theck of cheers were anything to go by. His early actions of trying to swipe the fortress hadnt been forgotten.


    Matt just rolled his eyes. Over half the people here had voted to keep the fortress in a closed auction, hoping they would get it. What happened after was on them as much as the Prince who wanted to benefit.


    We shall open up the contribution points that have been calcted, and show everyone their part of the rewards. Then with the points, people can bid on the items we find inside.


    A message popped up, and in the quiet, the Princes outcry of shock was loud, and oh so satisfying.


    Contribution points ranking<ol><li>Liz (Aster): 2751.</li><li>Matt: 1849.</li></ol>


    Matt didnt bother to look any further, and just stared in confusion. That couldnt be right. The shout of, What did you do? from the Prince caused him to look up.


    Varrick just startedughing. Oh? Surprised you are near the bottom? Well, your highness, I own the fortress and everything in it, so I got to choose the way the AIs calcted contribution. That said, I decided to go with direct contribution.


    Matt wanted tough as he found the Prince ranked 82nd, with only 150 points. Clicking on the mans name, he was only credited with a single golem boss kill.


    You screwed yourself as well.


    Varrick justughed in the Princes face. Sure, Ive got no points with this ranking system, but I will be rewarded by my father. You shouldnt have fired me.


    The man was full of pride at getting one over on his old boss.


    Matt clicked on Liz and Aster''s names, and found their points had beenbined, as they were a part of the same team. Aster was a bond who wouldnt choose her own rewards, so they went to the human she spent more time with.


    Finding the list of enemies Liz and Aster killed caused Matts eyebrows to crawl into his hairline. They had been killing therge golems like they were going out of style, and the scroll down to the end of their list took nearly a minute. Between their humanoid and giant spider kills, they could build a whole scrapyard.


    He knew they were strong, but it was impressive how much they had done.


    Confused at his own high ranking, he clicked on his own name, and found the expected number of golems kills. There werent many, but he saw an entry under his kill count.


    Time spent on the frontline. High casualty rate. Points calcted from damage done by backline assisted on.  It was worth 1427 points on its own.


    Matt couldnt hold back a grin. He had never <em>not</em> been on the frontline. Others had taken blows that took them out, and the injuries piled up. Meanwhile, [Cracked Phantom Armor] made it so the only danger he was in was from the crossbow bolts, or the thrown bar stock. Neither of which were problems in the close quarters melee he had been a part of.


    Liz punched his shoulder, cocked a hip out, and posed, while holding Aster up with her paws up in the air.


    We are the champions!


    Matt poked the ticklish spot under her rib and said, Thats two of you. If you were separate, Id be number one. In a deeper voice, he quietly said, I demand a recount!


    Their banter was interrupted, as the Prince got himself under control and opened the vault. Matt and everyone else peered inside, to see the shelves lined with nothing. Or nearly so.


    There were items on the shelves, but nothingpared to full shelves of metal they had cleared out. The dirt and dead herbs and such were actually still there, but with a few new additions.


    The crowd who had gathered to see great riches started to shout and demand answers.


    I cant see!


    Camis message caused him to pick her chair up so she could see.


    Ha! Its empty! Hahahahahaha! We took everything, and they dont even know it.


    Matt didnt find it quite that funny. He had thought that with the golems bringing in so much stuff and delving rifts, they would have refilled the vault.


    Turning with everyone else who was disappointed, they moved back to the healer''s area.


    Apparently, the other Tier 15, Oliver, had gone and got an appraiser from his city. They now moved through and verified the few items found, and put their descriptions on the LocalNet bidding section. There, anyone could spend their points for items.


    Matt looked out for anything particrly interesting, but nothing came up. So, he and Liz decided to just put their points in securing most of the bar stock. It was being bought by the city for a slightly above average price, as it was pure and ready to be used to rebuild. It was much needed, after the fortress had leveled the city.


    The other special items were being bid off, and their price was inted, as two were growth items that clearly fit people. In the end, they got a little more than three Tier 9 mana stones from their portion of the materials. Considering they were only Tier 6 metals, it was quite the haul, and only possible because they were the top earners.


    When they reached the rebuilding ruin of the teleport city, Matt and Liz immediately looked for skill shards on the CityNet, but found nothing. They could probably get a Tier 8 skill for a few Tier 9 mana stones. There were just none on the market.


    The n was to send Cami back with arger party that was returning to the Kingdoms capital, where she could get properly healed. Before she left, they stopped at one of the rebuilt stores ,and had a nice meal together.


    Cami had been seen by a Tier 9 healer, who had gotten her well enough to walk with a cane. That gave her enough mobility to feelfortable enough to make the journey on her own.


    Liz once again asked, Are you sure you dont want us to apany you back? We will. It really isnt...


    Cami cut her off. Its fine. Im going back home and going to have a good look at myself.


    She paused for a moment and collected her thoughts. Everyone was right. It was too early toe out. I wasnt as ready as I thought I was. Its like Its like some part of me is still trapped in that cage. I still feel like a victim, even after growing in both cultivation and experience. Im looking for, and finding betrayal in everyone''s actions. Even now, Im keeping an eye on possible threats. Checking sight lines, counting the exits, wondering if the waitress ising over to take our order or to slit my throat... Its exhausting living like this.


    She rubbed her eyes, and paused to take a deep breath. I I cant keep this up anymore. The stress is grinding me away. If I dont fix myself, there may be nothing left of me.


    No one spoke for a minute, before Cami continued. I dont know what Ill do after this, but I really enjoyed our time exploring the before... She waved her fork around shakily, Well, you know. Maybe Ill do something like that in the future.


    Someone came to their table, and dropped off a bag to Cami, who thanked them and pulled out a tub of ice cream. Aster noticed immediately, and looked up from her nearly empty te, then bounded to the woman across the table. She knocked Matts cup over in the process, and stepped directly on Lizs te of food.


    Neither had the heart to correct the fox, who was already face first in the bag, trying to get at the concealed treat.


    Where did you even find that? Matt had looked at the stores postings, and had found nothing when they arrived.


    Camiughed, I asked our resident finder boy.


    That made sense, and Matt sent a message asking if Malcolm had found the info that he had already asked for while they traveled. He felt dumb for forgetting Malcolm cound find mundane items, and only asked for exotic things.


    Cami had dished out the small tub of ice cream to them all, while dumping the remainder in arger bowl for Aster.


    Oh, I got a message from Uncle Waters. Liz paused her eating, and shared it with Matt.


    It was short, and the man looked hurried.


    Hey, BethBeth. I was nning toe and say hi, but Manny found out about what I did with Cammie, and wasnt happy that I meddled with The Path. So as punishment, Im getting sent to our expanding border with the Sects to secure newnd. I hope everything is going well. If you need anything, I figure Ill have this settled in a year or two.


    The blue haired man smiled cheekily. He just said that I need to secure the expansion and stop them from trying to encroach. He never said how long that has tost. Once I get this done, the army will move in to secure the new border. Have fun and enjoy the exploration! Theyre always fun. Dont set off an apocalypse.


    Thatst bit felt a little too pointed, and Matt looked around. Had he known, or was he just making a joke? Were they being watched even now?


    They finished their meal, and Matt carried a now round and unconscious Aster to see Cami off. They also found Malcolm waiting at the tform.


    You''re leaving so soon? I figured the Prince would want more from you.


    Malcolm ducked at that and whispered, He did, but I slipped out when he started to n his revenge on his guard. Hes so busy with that, he forgot about me in the mess. Im going back to the guild, and never leaving.


    Malcolm then sent over a message containing two locations.


    Sorry I couldnt find anything for you when I asked for the Mana Concentration effect, but I found perfect items for all three of you. Two of them are in the same ce. Id hurry there. Anyone can find them before you.


    Matt pped the mans shoulder and thanked him. Instead of exploring more ruins, Matt traded the items locations for escorting Malcolm to the golems'' ruin, and getting the growth item he was looking for.


    In return, he had asked the man to look for Mana Concentration natural treasures, and perfect items for Liz and Aster. Apparently, Malcolm looked for Matt as well when he didnt find anything for the first request.


    Seeing the tform was about tounch, Matt said, Thanks for the help. I... He paused and gathered himself. I was too harsh on you when we first met. I thought either you were a trap, or just useless. I judged you too harshly, and too early. I cant judge everyone with the same criteria. Sorry.


    Malcolm looked surprised and smiled. Thanks, Matt. You all were kinda dicks, thats true.


    Matt winced at that, but Malcolm continued. But I could have prepared better, and could have been less suspicious. Thanks for not stabbing me in the back or anything. Heughed. Thats what my Talent said would happen if I had gone with the other two Tier 5 teams before you, so you werent the worst.


    Thinking about the ruin caused Matt to remember the vault they had looted, the man had a twenty five percent share of that ording to their original agreement and Matt didn''t want to screw the man so messaged, When we get the contents of the vault appraised Ill send you your share.


    Malcolm''s eyebrows crept towards his hairline as he replied, You got in? That''s why it was empty? Ha, ok that''s fine no rush as I''m sure that would alert the Prince to who got in first and none of us want that.


    The call for the teleport sounded, and Malcolm made his way to the tform, and waved at the three of them remaining on the still unexplored.


    As the count down neared, Cami gave them each a hug and thanks, with a kiss for the groggy Aster. Before she entered the tform she called out, Thank you guys. Find me when you get back to the Empire.


    When they disappeared, Matt looked to Liz and asked, We have locations for good items. Want to go get them?


    No. I want a shower and a real bed for at least a night.


    Mattughed and agreed. A real bed would be amazing.


    What do you want to do after that?


    Lizs question was a good one, and he thought about it before he sent Liz a message.


    We should see what goodies we can get from delving fully charged Tier 5 rifts as a vacation. This is the best chance well have to test it without peopleing to bother us.


    With her agreement, they went to find a real room to crash in.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65


    Matt, Liz, and a still-groggy Aster made their way to one of the rebuilt hotels. It seemed like everyone else from the fortress had the same idea. The hotel was almostpletely full, there was only a small, one-bedroom room left. He was going to suggest they try and find another hotel, when Liz epted the room on their behalf, despite being gouged for a Tier 6 mana stone.


    He didnt care much about the price; he was way more nervous about them only having a single bed to sleep on. Theyd never slept together in the same bed before. Intellectually, he knew it was a stupid distinction, given that they had been using sleeping bags next to each other for months on end. Still, this was somehow different.


    Pushing the thoughts of what he usually did with a woman on a bed away, he reaffirmed their decision to not have sex until Tier 15.


    Suddenly, that decision felt extremely stupid.


    <em>Am I going to go years without sex?</em>


    With a thought, he brought up the age restriction for Tier 15 on The Path and sighed.


    <em>Are we supposed to not have sex until were sixty-nine years old? Thats forever. It seems like such a stupid rule in the first ce.</em>


    Matt debated asking why they had to wait. He knew Liz had said the higher Tiers didnt like their children to get intomitted rtionships before Tier 15, but the reasons why had nevere up.


    While he was trying to figure out how to breach the topic <em>without </em>sounding like he was pressuring her to change her mind, Matt very nearly missed when they reached their room.


    When Liz flung open the door, he was surprised at the quality of the room. The entire city had been leveled just a few weeks ago, but this was posh. A massive bed took up the majority of the room, but there was still a cozy table set next to the kitchte.


    Dropping his spatial backpack next to the dresser, Matt set Aster down on the bed, and peered over Lizs head to inspect the bathroom. It was as nice as the rest of the rented room, even having a shower in addition to arge tub. It was sorge, he was pretty sure that even <em>he</em> would be able to stretch out in it.


    Matt could feel Liz practically drooling, so it wasnt a surprise when she said, Get a bath going. Ill go get some drinks.


    Flipping the shower on, he let the scorching water batter at his sore back for a long moment, before stepping over to the tub and flipping the faucet on. Despite their best efforts, bathing in rivers wasnt as nice as a hot shower, and he reveled in it.


    It wasnt long after he finally felt clean that Liz opened the door, and a wave of colder air woke Matt from his stupor. Turning, he saw her with a stool from their camping supplies. She winked at him after he caught her ogling him, not embarrassed in the least. She squeezed what seemed like half a bottle of bubble bath into the filling tub as he admired her form in return.


    Seeing how everything was sudsing up, she pulled out a case of beer, along with a tter of cheese and crackers.


    Matt had tough at that, asking while he washed the remnants of soap out of his hair, Isnt it supposed to be wine that goes with cheese and crackers.


    Even with his eyes closed under the water, he heard Lizs pouting tone. They only had two types of shit wine. This was the best I could do. Stop hogging the water.


    With that, he was guided out of the shower, despite his protests. But he took the naked form of his girlfriend aspensation. Checking his AI, he started ying some music from the small speaker Liz had brought in with her haul of food.


    As he slipped into the bath, he enjoyed the view while he sipped his beer. He assumed it was a local brand, as he had never heard of it before. But while the aftertaste was a little stronger than he preferred, it was the only option avable, so he drank.


    Not long after Liz finished scrubbing herself, she turned off the shower and slipped into the bath with him.


    Matt wanted to think of it as erotic with their legs intertwined, but he was so tired, he didnt have the energy to make a move on her. It was a struggle to even keep his eyes open with the heat seeming into his muscles.


    He started to smile as Liz slowly sank into the tub, the hot water seeping into her bones, her cheese and beer forgotten to the side.


    As he was about to wake her up before her nose dipped under, she reached over and took the straw out of her drink, and used it as a makeshift snorkel. Feeling her feet brushing his stomach, Matt grabbed one and started to rub the calloused appendage.


    There was a shudder as he hit a sore spot, and Matt had to repress the instinct to tickle her. He didnt want to kill her; she was only breathing through a straw after all.


    After he swapped feet, Liz pulled her feet back and flipped over, crawling up his chest and trailing kisses up to his neck, finally ending with a hug. Matt wanted to reciprocate the affection, and see if it turned into something more.


    He went in for a kiss, but he heard her already snoring next to him. He was so tired, he finally stopped resisting the sirens call and passed out as well.


    ***


    Waking up, Matt felt a kink in his back and heard sloshing. He was confused for a moment, before he realized they had fallen asleep in the tub. A quick check of his AI showed that they had been in there for nearly four hours. It exined why he felt so pruney.


    Gently shaking Liz didnt get anywhere, so with his toes he felt around for the lever that would drain the water. His movements finally earned a groggy response from Liz, and he was able to get her out of the tub and toweling off.


    They were wrinkled all over after their soak, and the heat had leached out of the water, leaving them quite cold. Once dry, they fell into the bed with Aster, still curled in a ball where Matt had put her earlier.


    With Liz next to him, Matt fell back to sleep after mere moments. He was pretty sure it was the exhaustion talking, but this was the softest bed he had ever slept in.


    ***


    The next day, they were eating breakfast at another overpriced ce, and watching a local newscaster report on the situation of the ruin.


    Matt mostly ignored the feel-good story they were spouting about the restoration, and focused on the hard numbers. They had given the number of people who remained in the rifts to the Prince, who then passed them to the local government. But there were still around five hundred people missing or confirmed dead.


    It was a sobering number, but Matt tried not to dwell on it.


    While the reporter droned on about how the Prince had saved everyone, Matt caught that the satellite infrastructure was nearly fully reced at this point. The reporter stated that coverage was steadily increasing for rudimentarymunications.


    The information was wee, and gave them a measure of security. People like the bandits, who had been selling their fellow humans to the golems, would be less likely to engage in that type of action with adequate oversight.


    After they finished their breakfast, they walked to the expanding border of the city, and flew to the location of the first item that Malcolm had said would be good for them. They decided to retrieve Matt and Asters best suited itemsst, as Lizs was closer to the city. They were afraid it would be found by someone.


    The problem with Malcolms Talent, Matt decided, was that they were only given a location and not the actual identity of the item. With the long travel, Malcolm was able to get a fairly urate location by triangting the feelings his Talent gave him. Unfortunately, the location was damn near the center of arge mountain.


    Are we meant to dig up the entire mountain?


    Liz sounded as mystified as Matt felt. They had shovels, sure, but this was a thick mountain of what appeared to be solid rock.


    They inspected the surroundings carefully, and found a deep crack in a cliff near the expected location that nearly split the mountain in half. Far inside, they could see a lump of what looked like standard iron, but was absolutely stuffed with essence. It took Liz using her [Blood Maniption] along with [Create Blood] to fish it out.


    After she retrieved it, they both inspected the hunk of metal with their spiritual senses and AIs. Thependium of Tier 5 and lower natural treasures they had bought had nothing recorded that matched it. Liz couldnt recognize the material either.


    Still, it was apparently the best natural treasure for Liz on the.


    Matt was more shocked by Malcolms Talents ability than anything else. This was a random mountain in the middle of a mountain range, not to mention that the metal was buried two hundred feet up a sheer cliff. But he had been able to find it with ease. The only limiter was the mans own Tier, and this being a Tier 6 meant some things could have slipped by him. But this was so hidden, Matt wouldnt be surprised if the metal had remained here for decades, without Malcolm leading them to it.


    Liz was inspecting it, along with Aster sniffing it over her shoulder. It feels way softer than it should.


    She squeezed it, and the imprint of her fingers were indented in the metal for a moment, before the lump of ore returned to its original shape.


    Matt tossed an idea out, Maybe youre meant to refine it into your weapon?


    Most natural treasures were meant to be eaten, cycled into your spirit, or refined. But he couldnt imagine what the metal could be used for. Liz wasnt a crafter, who would value a rare metal, but his guess was that it could enhance her weapon.


    From what Matt understood of Malcolms Talent, it would give the best answer it could, even if it wasnt that great of a fit.


    Liz didnt seem bothered and said, Lets go get you and Asters items.


    Are you sure you dont want to look around for another item? Maybe this isnt the one we were meant to find. Matt didnt want to let Liz get screwed over because they were in a rush.


    Nah. Either this is the item we were meant to get, or its so hidden we wont find it without destroying the entire mountain. She paused before adding, I guess someone else could have found it, but this is kinda out of the way. Well know when we get this thing inspected.


    With Liz happy enough with her find, they started to move to the other two markers. They were actually off the continent, and in a mountainous archipgo that stretched off into the distance, covered in a tropic beauty. The view as they passed the ind was a sight to behold. The inds looked to beposed mostly of pure marble Most of the inds were even small enough that rifts couldnt spawn there, making them amazing retreat spots. They each came with spectacr views, without the possibility of danger from rift breaks.


    As they hovered, Matt called out, We should build my test rift on one of therger inds here. I think that one would work. He pointed at arger ind separate from the others.


    We could, but we should set up camp on one of the smaller ones. Then we dont have to worry about anything going wrong. Worst case, we just leave the ind we y rift maker on.


    They coasted around the inds, distracted for a long while. Liz called out when she spotted an odd ind off in the distance.


    Oh, check out the map. That looks like our spot, and the ind looks... wrong.


    Flying over, he immediately saw what she meant. Where the other inds were green, interspersed with white marble sticking out, this small ind had not a speck of life on it.


    Not seeing any nt life doesnt give me a good feeling.


    Liz scoffed at him. Obviously dontnd, but weird stuff is always a good sign for natural treasures.


    Not able to counter her logic, Matt hovered around the dead ind, while Liz pulled out binocrs and inspected thendmass.


    She was so quiet, Matt nearly tipped them off the flying sword after her exmation, Oh! Hurry! Gond!


    Flying down, he followed the marker she set. Off to one side of the ind, he found a pair of boulders sheltering the scraggliest looking tree he had ever seen.


    He was about to crack a joke, when his AI pinged him a match from thependium. It caused him tond with half a mind as he read further.


    The tree, and he used the term loosely, was called the Tree of Perfection. The pretentious name was misleading to say the least.


    It was only about three feet tall, and had a single multicolored leaf that looked like a muted rainbow. Hanging underneath the single leaf was a fruit that looked like a ripe mango. If mango''s were striped with alternating colors of purple, red and yellow, that is.


    The tree had a single root poking out of the ground, that was more an extension of the trunk than a proper root. But its odd appearance was betrayed by the trees properties.


    If the description Matt was reading was right, it <em>was</em> perfect for him and Aster.


    Reading the description out loud, he wanted to confirm he wasnt going crazy. The Tree of Perfection is able to raise mind, body, or spirit to perfection, like that achieved after Tier 15. Only one aspect can be improved per person, and although all three can be harvested, they must be eaten within minutes of being picked. The effects willst for roughly one standard year, and improvement will be steady, after an initial burst.


    Liz nodded at him, repeatedly bouncing slightly with exuberance.


    Yes! Its perfect for you and Aster. If you eat the body root, and Aster the mind fruit, we can sell the spirit leaf. We can make a fortune.


    That gave Matt pause, Why wont you eat it?


    Liz looked at him like he was forgetting something obvious. I already have a near-perfect mind, body, and spirit from having Tier 48 parents. Im pretty sure Im close to what Tier 15s have already. I doubt it would do anything for me. Even if it did, it would be minimal. Better to sell it in an auction.


    Matt reread the description. It discussed in great detail how even if someone found a second tree, and ate a different aspect, they would get nothing. It didnt mention anything about whether or not it was useless to the children of Tier 15s or higher.


    Using the rudimentary connection he had to the still buildingNet, he looked up what perfection really was.


    It was more and less than he thought at the same time. At Tier 15, you had the ability to change your body at will, but as you progressed through Tiers, any ws were corrected. The example given was missing potential growth markers from malnutrition while growing up, or even gic mutations. While they would be naturally fixed upon reaching Tier 15, there were even greater changes that happened as one progressed through the higher Tiers. Those changes were believed to be the primary reason it grew harder and harder for people above Tier 15 to conceive children.


    Their changed gics made it hard to conceive, even with others at their own Tier. The article repeated multiple times that it was still only a theory, but it was a well documented and supported one. Matt took it as a near guarantee, as it was more than he could specte.


    So you would have a hard time having a kid, even now?


    Liz smirked at him, wiggled her eyebrows at him. Wanting to knock me up? You beast.


    Matt spluttered back at her, No! No, I just read up on perfection a little bit. It seems like unless you arent really able to have a kid, you cant really be that perfect, and can therefore use the other aspect. I dont want you to lose an advantage just for some money.


    Money, while useful at your own Tier, would mean nothing when they advanced. It wasnt worth it to pass up an item for money that they would eventually outgrow.


    Liz rubbed his arm, and her teasing countenance softened. Thanks for looking out, but we can probably sell the location of thest spirit aspect for a Tier 10 mana stone, or even higher. If we go for a trade, we could probably get quite a few skills.


    Matt thought about it and shook his head. Sure, that would be amazing if we werent us. But Liz, we want to take a break and delve fully-charged Tier 5 rifts. If we pull one growth item, we can make the same money as selling this. More if its a useful one. Its not like we cant make and fully charge a Tier 6 rift either. We could pull more than one skill out of that. Money isnt an issue for us.


    As he spoke, Matt grew more confident in his stance. The money was nice, but it woulde. Even if they just delved rifts at their own Tier, they would advance and progress while umting money.


    They were both eighteen years old, already at Tier 5, and only needed to reach Tier 6 by twenty-four. There was no rush for them to advance yet. Besides, fighting the golems, which were a Tier above them, meant that they had advanced even faster. They were nearly a third of the way through Tier 5, and unlike most teams, they werent limited by delve slots or mana regeneration.


    No, there was no reason to even consider money as a factor. In fact, Matt made a note to look for growth items that suited them going up for auction. They could probably delve a Tier 5 rift four or five times a day if they pushed, and with them being fully charged, their odds of getting good loot was essentially a certainty.


    It wasnt a question of <em>if</em>, but when. Fully charged rifts always gave good loot, and <em>being </em>Tier 5, they could still get full rewards from Tier 5 rifts. And they were thest Tier with any conceivable chance of dropping a growth item.


    No, Liz. I think money is useless to us when were going to delve into a fully charged Tier 5 rifts for more than a day or two. Think about how much wealth we pulled out of the training in the first week. We can do that <em>every</em>. <em>Single</em>. <em>Day</em>. <em>More </em>than once a day. Even if it only improves your spirit by one percent, its still more than we had. We can always get money. Where can we find something like this?


    Liz didnt look convinced, but was clearly thinking it over.


    Finally, she shrugged, Youre not wrong, but I dont think this will do anything for me at all. And thats basically throwing money away. Seeing him open his mouth to protest, she hurriedly added, Even if youre Tier 50, throwing away money is still bad. We arent held by the same restrictions that others have to deal with, but using an item that Im pretty sure wont work on me feels dirty and wasteful. Also, there must be a reason that Malcolms Talent didnt bring me to this.


    But you dont know for sure that youll get nothing out of it. It says improve to Tier 15 perfection, and you even admitted that you arent quite the same as a Tier 15. I dont want you to miss something, even if its a tiny improvement. And Malcolms Talent just got the best thing for you. If this is near perfect, the iron must be even better. Ny-nine versus a hundred.


    Liz still looked unconvinced, but stopped protesting. He understood the idea of not wanting to waste something this rare, but he would rather she got even the smallest advantage, rather than others getting a massive one.


    Helping others would be good for society as a whole, but Matt couldnt worry about things on such arge scale.


    <em>Liz and Aster will get anything before I give to others. Maybe when Im stronger, Ill change my opinion, but I dont want to pass up anything that can help the people close to me. Even if this is only an advantage until Tier 15, thats ten Tiers where we can be better than our peers. And it will help me catch up to Liz.</em>


    Matt read the guide for how to harvest the Tree of Perfection, and frowned at his poor luck. The leaf and fruit were easy to use, someone just had to eat them, but the same was true for the root. Of course, that was the part of the tree that corresponded to the body.


    If Aster ate the fruit, she would improve her mind to perfection over the next year. For a bond, that meant she would hit full sapience well before Tier 10. It would also give her near-perfect natural memory, and increase her mental acumen.


    Matt, being born of two people less than Tier 15, and being the dedicated melee fighter, was best suited to the root. It improved the physical body to great effect. It would act as a bonus to his physical cultivation, as that was based on his physical body, and was the reason why he worked out to increase his strength the mundane way.


    The leaf increased the spirits ability to handlerge mana channeling. Honestly, Matt wouldve liked to use that as well, if it were possible. He would start being able to handle massive amounts of mana, but that was only a real problem after Tier 15. Then, he would have 100s of mana, when under 1% of his Maximum Mana, and could cast more expensive spells on cooldown. Only then would his spirit limit how fast he could cast spells.


    Still, as someone who mainly channeled spells with [Blood Maniption], it would be useful for Liz too. Perhaps it wasnt as perfect a fit as with Matt and Aster, but it would help her nheless.


    All of that meant that Matt had to chew on the dirty root of a tree, while Liz got a one-leaf sd, and Aster an actual fruit.


    Matt looked around and wondered if someone was ying a joke on him. It was a <em>root</em>. Not even a tuber, like a potato, but just a straight wooden root.


    So, are you all ready? Matt decided to stop dying, and pulled out his canteen. ording to the harvesting guide, they only had about five minutes from the first thing being taken, before the others started to lose their effectiveness.


    Liz looked hesitant, and Aster disinterested, but Matt forged ahead. So how should we do this?


    Liz shrugged. I have a leaf and Aster a fruit, so Ill stuff the leaf in my mouth and feed Aster the fruit while you chew on the root.


    Without a better n, Matt watched as Liz plucked and shoved the leaf into her mouth, then picked the fruit as well. She cut it up for Aster, who was still a little too small to eat something thatrge.


    Matt pulled the entire tree out of its stony soil, and to his surprise, effortlessly pulled the distinct and stripped root off the tree. He tossed the swiftly withering trunk to the side.


    Quickly rinsing off the dirt, he wiped it clean on his sleeve, and shoved the whole root into his mouth. Matt had been hoping it would be softer than he expected, but it was just as hard as any other tree root. However, unlike the texture, the released juice was actually pretty good, reminiscent of a nutty honey.


    Before he could delve more into that, he felt something happening. The roots umted essence started to seep into him. But unlike with a killed monster, where the essence went to his spirit for storage until he distributed it, this essence seeped into his muscles and bones. It felt like a fire made of ants was burning through his body.


    With a final burst, he swallowed the remaining root. As he did, the essence seemed to make its way through each and every muscle fiber.


    From head to toe, he became hyper-sensitive, and he didnt know how to stop it. As the itching and crawling sensation rapidly ramped up, and started to overwhelm him, he stripped off his armor and clothes. He was desperately trying to lessen the amount of things touching him. When that didn''t work, he threw himself into the nearby ocean.


    It didnt help the ever-increasing hypersensitivity, but when the fire hit his intestines, he was grateful for his plunge.


    The fire caused him to vacate everything he had eaten in thest two days from both ends, in a squall of vomit and diarrhea. After what felt like a decade, the torrent of filth ended when he had nothing left, and he finally crawled out of the water and onto the rocky beach.


    That was when the smell hit him. It was in addition to the cocktail of vomit and excrement that was slowly dispersing in the water, and permeating the air with an acidic rotten egg smell. Matt was also sweating out what seemed to be fleshy colored sludge. It adhered to his skin like tar. The smell was so bad, he would''ve immediately vomited if he wasnt already running on empty. It smelled like a dead, decaying, rotting corpse, along with a hint of fish and sweaty socks that lingered on his tongue.


    There was something decidedly unnerving about watching something vacate your body that shouldnt be there to begin with. As much as he hoped it was the end, Matt watched as his skin started to slough off, as if he was peeling after a bad sunburn. Underneath was fresh and tender skin.


    Are you fucking kidding me? I worked hard on those callouses!


    Matt cursed as the callouses that protected him from blisters fell away. Even the rounded stones of the beach felt like daggers to his overly sensitive skin, and he struggled to find afortable position.


    There was an itching in the back of his neck that increased to actual pain. When he carefully felt around, he found a sticky glob of dark blood. He tried to wipe his hands on the rocks, but paused when he felt something in the blood.


    Letting the distraction take him, Matt crawled back to the waters edge, and washed the blood away. In his hand, he found the AI chip that he had installed on the yPen, which most certainly should not have been outside of his body.


    Matt only held back a panic attack at the thought of his AI being ruined, because his HUD never even flickered. He still ran a full diagnostic to make sure everything was working properly.


    As the test ran, and more and more systems came back fine, he inspected the tiny chip that used to house his AI, and give it extra processing power.


    The worst of the hypersensitivity was gone, so Matt put the AI chip on arger rock and jumped into the water, far away from where he had vacated his bowls. He wanted to clean off, not get his own filth back on him. His arm hurt for a reason he couldn''t pinpoint, but when he inspected the location, he found nothing wrong.


    By the time he finished scrubbing himself down with his hands, he found Liz and Aster on the beach next to him, with his clothes in a pile.


    Both Liz and Aster wrinkled their noses at the smell that still lingered in the air, near the ck sludge he had excreted from his pores. It was still on the rocks, and smelled as bad as it looked.


    When he moved to leave the water, Liz and Aster backed up. Thetter yipped at him, with a mental projection of, Stay back. Smell bad.


    Along with the actual words, his bond sent him a far too detailed memory of how he smelled to her. He was more shocked by the actual words and detailed thoughts from his bond, who usuallymunicated with feelings.


    Following the connection, he tried sending, Aster?


    His bond shook her head and shot back, Clean now. Petter.


    Liz clearly agreed, as she threw him a bar of soap and called out, For Ascenders sake, please scrub yourself off before youe off! Were going to wait farther down the beach. <em>Upwind</em>.


    She looked ready to vomit, and hurried away with Aster racing ahead of her.


    With the ability to actually clean himself, he scrubbed his baby-soft skin, wishing that nose soap had been invented, as the foul scent lingered.


    When he approached hispanions, Matt called out, Can Ie over now? Or do I still stink?


    Aster sniffed carefully, stretching out as if the extra two inches would make a difference. Finally, he was given the all-clear with a mental demand of, Pet now.


    Quickly dressing, Matt sat down and shifted ufortably, as his clothes seemed to sit wrong.


    That looked fun. I didnt think it was possible for the human body to contain that much junk. Is there even anything left of you?


    Matt ignored his humanpanion, and asked his own question. I can see, or rather <em>hear</em> Asters transformation. What about you?


    Liz had a ribbon of blood swirl and weave in on itself, in a dizzying disy of mana control.


    She red at Matt before smiling. I was wrong, and it had quite a bit of an effect. Not quite as much as you and Aster, but still more than one percent. Maybe closer to twenty percent. I guess Im not so perfect.


    Matt elbowed her in the side, and with his best impersonation of Prince Albert said, Ill allow you to remain by my side.


    She returned the elbow with greater strength, and they wrestled for a minute, before their shenanigans disturbed Aster. She yipped in clear annoyance, and projected a simple demand, No. Pet.


    Liz looked at the fox and rolled her eyes. She said, While you pet her highness, we should decide on our next course of action. I vote we move to the smaller ind, set up our camp, and rx for the rest of the day. We can start delving tomorrow. Even if my transformation wasnt as bad as yours, I could use some sleep to get used to the changes. My spirit feels like someone wrung it out.


    Matt stood and cradled the sleepy Aster, before summoning his sword to float next to him. As he did, he had a thought, and spoke as it came to him.


    You know what this means, right?


    Liz looked at him like he was setting a trap, and carefully answered him, No?


    If this leaf still helped you, and Malcolms Talent didnt pinpoint it, that means the rock must be fucking amazing.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66


    Matt paced around in line as they waited for the groups in front of them to get their items identified. Liz wasn''t any better,vibrating from repressed energy.


    Aster was tired of both of them, and was hiding in her backpack on Matts back. The mind enhancing fruit was leaving a lingering headache that was making her groggy. It made sleep impossible.


    As the line moved forward one spot, Matt checked the stalls, and wondered when the team was going to stop flirting with the man behind the desk. If they wanted to flirt, they should go to a bar. They needed their weird iron rock inspected, and the party being helped was holding their appraiser hostage.


    After what felt like an eternityter, they were the next in line, only waiting for the next table to open. When one did, they moved in unison to sit down, unwilling to let any more dys stop them.


    The appraiser, seeing their rush, tried to repress a smirk, but failed miserably. A grin flitted around the edge of his mouth.


    "My name is Alfonso, and Im a Tier 11 appraiser, active for six years with Kas''s Auctions. Another four years as a frencer. Are you aware of our fees and rules?"


    They nodded. Kas''s Auctions was the reason they flew to the other teleporter city that led to the Tier 20. It was big enough and busy enough that they could be lost in the bustling crowds, if their item was shockingly good.


    The rules of Kas''s Auctions were standard for most auction houses. They charged an equivalent Tier mana stone for each item check, if it wasn''t put up for auction. So, their iron ore was going to cost almost nothing to identify. Most of their money was made with the five percent the auction house took from the sale price.


    ording to what Matt read on the CityNet, appraisers worked for near peanuts, as they were usually over Tiered. But they needed experience, and a number of items correctly appraised, before they could increase their certification. So, they worked in ces like this, where they were a higher Tier than the. Appraisal got harder, the higher the Tier of items, and the fees were higher after Tier 15. That was where appraisers made real money.


    It was still slightly strange that a Tier 11 was working on a Tier 6, but Matt didn''t care. He just wanted to figure out what exactly Malcolms Talent had led them to..


    Liz plopped down the malleable iron on the tray provided, along with a Tier 5 mana stone.


    Alfonso started to inspect the hand-sized piece of ore. Contrary to Matt''s expectations and hope, the man finished in just moments, and shoved the ore back to them with a polite grin.


    "Sorry, guys. Not the best luck. It''s Tier 5 blood iron. Pretty rare, but of debatable usefulness at best. Fighters use it to introduce metal into their blood safely. Gives them a bit more weight and durability. When you Tier up, as long as you add some next Tier metal, your body will start producing that Tier of iron. Crafters do the same, but they use it to bleed themselves, and collect the metal. That way, they can get free iron at their Tier. But it''s slow, as you have to naturally regenerate the blood, and can''t get a healer to replenish it. Even if a healer regenerates your missing blood, the iron would still take time to grow back naturally."


    Alfonso shrugged, "Not terribly useful. However, if you can get a Tier 10 alchemist to refine this, you can make a potion that will massively increase your affinity with metal. That''s what most people use it for."


    As Liz repressed a scream of excitement, Matt asked, "So if I bring this into my body, as a fighter, it can make me more durable? Anything else? Or maybe a better question is, how does it work?"


    The appraiser shrugged, "There are no downsides to using it. From my understanding, it merges with your bone marrow, and somehow modifies its cellr structure to produce both blood and iron. The strengthened bones are especially useful for melee fighters. I personally know of one person who uses the strategy. Hes a pugilist, who concentrates all the iron in his hands. He hits like a runaway train."


    "So it doesn''t restrict blood flow or anything?"


    "Nope, it''s a natural treasure. Just cut yourself and cycle it like a skill, and it will be brought into your body. Any other questions?"


    Matt was about to say no and thank the man, but then he thought of their n to soon delve fully charged rifts. He asked, "Can I buy some kind of Tier 5 and below appraiser module for my AI, or anything like that?"


    Alfonsoughed at that. "Good luck man. If you find someone willing to sell that, let me know as well. Theyre all tightly controlled. I think the only one who has them for sale is the Empire proper. And even then, I don''t think it''s sold for mana stones. Only contribution points."


    The appraisers grin was more wistful now.


    Matt just thanked him, and pulled the useless Liz away. When they left the auction house, she snatched the iron ore from his hand and squeezed.


    "This is so <em>perfect</em>! It can even grow with me. I bought the full report on the item. It can take any iron to upgrade after it''s absorbed, but I need to Tier up first."


    Liz plopped down on a bench, and started to stroke the little nugget of iron ore. Matt was pretty sure he heard her calling it sweet names.


    While Liz absorbed the iron, he looked on the auction house''ssite to see if there was anything worth buying. They had quite a lot of money from their portion of the golem fortress sale, and they would only make more as they delved fully charged rifts.


    It didn''t take him long to see that the site had nothing interesting to him, so he turned back to Liz. She had a distant look in her eyes, and an orb of blood in her hand. A few momentster, she blinked a few times, and rubbed her now healed hands.


    "Oh, that was good. My bones felt ufortably warm, but yeah... I can feel it flowing through my veins. This was the perfect item for me. Damn, wheres Malcolm? I want to get him a box that says ''item finder.''"


    Rolling his eyes, Matt asked, "Are you ready to head back?"


    At her agreement, he added, "Since were going to be stationary for a while, let''s do some shopping. Itll be good to do some while were in a city that isn''t trying to rebuild itself."


    Together they went through a few general stores, and got additionalforts for an extended stay. Most of their purchases were perishable foods, and they threw in two nice chairs. They really didn''t need to buy much, since they already had most of the items they needed.


    When Matt bought a dozen bags of concrete, Liz looked at him weirdly, but didn''t question it.


    Finally, they took to the skies and flew to their ind chain, before finding a smallish ind that they hadnt noticed before. It had sandy beaches instead of rocky ones.


    They thoroughly inspected the ind for any animals that could be threats, but there were only Tier 2 and 3 animals there. They didn''t seem bothered by their presence. Seeing it was safe, Liz stripped her armor off, and flopped under a tree''s shade.


    She let out a huge sigh and said, I know we had an easy half-year with my brother, but ugh, thest month sucked. I needed this. No danger. No looking over my shoulder for a golem trying to tear me apart. Ahhhh, this is nice."


    She dug her feet into the warm sand and justy there. Asfortable as it looked, Matt was too excited to set up camp. He was anxious to begin creating and powering a rift. He was sure it would take some experiments, and he was eager to start.


    Hearing Matt pulling out the tent, she hopped up.


    "Goy down. You don''t have to help."


    She just rolled her eyes and helped him set up. Their new tent was much bigger than the one they used on the training world, but it was easy enough to set up. After they were done, Matt set up his portable cooking station, and whipped up a heavy lunch. He was starving, especially after the afternoon''s adventure of gettingpletely purged and refined by the Tree of Perfections root.


    They ate, and Liz asked if he wantedpany when he went to the other ind. He declined her offer, and decided to take the rest of the day off, and lounge with her and Aster. As much as he wanted to start now, doing it without someone to pull him out of trouble was a recipe for disaster.


    So, he forced himself to rx with Liz and Aster instead. Thetter, who had just woken up from her nap, was positively rambunctious. Her increased mental activity led to her wanting to explore the ind with new eyes, and ask a million questions of ''What'' and ''Why''.


    Matt didn''t mind, and exined with words and pictures through their now stronger bond. It was really nice to have her as an actual member of the party. Aster even had an opinion of what they should eat for dinner. To no ones surprise, it was ice cream.


    She was even learning to unlock her AI, which led to him and Liz getting flooded with videos and pictures of everything she was seeing. It was adorable.


    Currently, she was confused about rocks. "Rock?" She pointed to a chunk of marble and then nosed a bit of something like sandstone, "Rock?". His fox wasn''t quite getting how they could both be rock.


    "Rock is a catch-all term for all hard inorganics. Aster if you"


    She was distracted by the phrase ''catch-all,'' and Matt regretted using those words.


    The little arctic fox scampered off into the woods with a mental shout of "Food! Catch!" and she was gone.


    Not longter, she came back with a bird-type animal, and dropped it in front of Matt. She looked up at him, and exuberantlymanded, "Caught. Cook!"


    Unable to deny the impassioned fox, he plucked and cleaned the bird, before lightly roasting the mighty hunter''s catch. Once finished, it was swiftly devoured, and the mighty hunter was soon passing out next to Liz.


    The next morning, they were ready to go after a light breakfast, and they flew one ind over. They circled the area from overhead, while having their AI measure where the safe area ended. The ind was long, rather than circr and wide, and it only reached the ten-mile width they needed in a few spots.


    That meant that they didn''t have to fight any rift break monsters, but they would have to create the rift from scratch.


    After marking a few possible locations, theynded, and Matt gestured to the surrounding trees. He asked Liz, "Want to do the honors to test the new blood?"


    "Yes!"


    With that, Liz created a whip of blood, after slicing her arm, and swung her creation in a circle.


    Matt expected to see the trees tumble down after being smashed through, not clean slices, as if she was wielding a de.


    They both moved to inspect the stump of the trees with wide eyes.


    "Welp. Thats impressive." Turning, Matt continued, "What did you actually do?"


    "I usually make the blood harder by forming it into apact tube. But instead, I used the blood as a de. It was only possible by having the iron lined up on the edge. The more i focus on hardening the edge, the more iron is directed there."


    "What about your skills? Does it work there? And your Concept?"


    Liz raised her hand, and summoned a trio of [Blood Bullets]. They hovered there for a heartbeat, before they mmed into the felled tree. The impact registered as normal to his AI, just creating arge dent in the Tier 6 wood.


    Matt cocked an eyebrow at Liz, who didn''t look upset like he expected. Instead, blood from her arm rose up, and the spell was recast. This time, punchingpletely through the tree.


    "Ha!" Liz''s exmation caused Aster to yip in excitement. Liz scooped out the fox and raised her above her head, spinning her around.


    "It worked! I knew it! I just need to use my own blood for attacks again."


    Not wanting to ruin her excitement, but worried about the implications, Matt asked, "That doesn''t seem sustainable. Is it?"


    "It''s fine. Did you forget that I can absorb my blood?"


    As she spoke, a stream of blood floated up and into her body.


    "See? Blood and iron back inside. Zero loss."


    "That really is impressive."


    Matt was jealous. His prize had been traumatizing, more than anything. He knew he would get a lot out of it, but he was jealous of the visiblebat effectiveness increase that Liz had gotten.


    Not letting it get to him, Matt dragged the tree out of the way of the path deeper into the forest. After Liz cleared the surrounding area, they repeated their actions, until an arearge enough was ready.


    Rubbing his hands, Matt removed the formation tes he had made at Travis and Keith''s ce. It felt like years ago.


    They were trapezoids of various sizes, that looked like triangles with the tips cut off, and they created a perfect circle whenid out t. When they were arranged together, the inner diameter was nearly five feet wide.


    It took some work with a shovel to level out the ground, but Matt had the tes ready. He was about to start pumping mana in, when Liz asked, "What exactly do these do? I know you made them with my brothers. But this looks, uhhh.... How do I put this nicely? Jury-rigged. Are we going to blow up or something?"


    Matt looked from her to his formation tes. They were just concrete, with the runes for mana containment that he had drawn while the concrete was drying.


    They didn''t look that bad... Did they?


    He didn''t think so. Travis''s versions were much nicer, but they were made from higher Tier metals, and had more functions.


    "Theyre safe. Nothing can really happen to these. All they do is make a bubble that traps mana in."


    After seeing that his exnation didn''t seem to work, he tried to exin more. "Travis and Keith''s had more functions. Theirs actively drew in mana, since it wasn''t supposed to be fed all that much. It let them delve at a faster rate, more than anything else. I was able to strip them down of their other functions, and make them simpler."


    "Other functions like what?"


    Matt didn''t notice that Liz''s tone wasn''t as pleasant as it had been before, and glibly said, "Oh, the automatic purging function, and defensive runes to contain a rift break. Really it''s not that big..."


    Before he finished, Liz exploded. "What do you mean you removed the safety features? What the fuck were you thinking? Are you <em>trying</em> to get us killed?"


    Matt turned around and tried to exin. Her tone was lighter than it could have been, but she had a point.


    "It''s not that dangerous. One, I can''t enchant any of those, or at least the ones on your brothers formation tes. They were all I had to reference."


    Seeing that he had only made her angrier, he hurried to get out, "It''s not really needed for us. Without the runes to draw in more ambient mana, it acts as a bubble ,so no mana can leave or enter. The safeties are only needed if the rift fills up when you can''t get there, and delve immediately. Same with the purging runes. It can''t overflow, so it doesn''t need to vent mana. Really, it''s perfectly safe. I''ve run the calctions quite a bit in the background."


    Trying to ease his clearly unsettled partner, he continued to exin as he put his hand on the formation tes. He was already starting the process as he talked, directing his mana into the formation first, then let it flow out into the inner area.


    "The mana will start to condense, and eventually, well see a rift form."


    They waited together, as his spiritual sense felt the areas mana concentration increase well past the ambient mana. It tried to escape, but just roiled against the wall that the formation tes created.


    Matt''s AI alerted him that there was a leak in the formation, so he paused. After smiling back at Liz and Aster, who were retreating, he found the two tes that weren''t perfectly touching, and shoved them together. When they were sealed, he moved back to his spot, and continued to fill the dome with mana. Now, the mana seepage was perfectly in line with his predictions.


    As he watched with his spiritual sense, he found the light blue of his unaspected mana filling the area. After a few minutes, there was a ripple, and a rift appeared. Wolves immediately flooded out.


    For a moment, Matt was startled, but he instinctively activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mage''s Retreat]. He retreated while punching out with a spiked gauntlet, and the first wolf exploded in a mess of gore.


    It was only a Tier 1 monster, and it crumpled like wet paper under his empowered blows. Standing up, he finished the rest off with kicks that sent the wolves flying. Once the wolves stoppeding out of the rift, Matt turned to Liz, only to get a wolf corpse in the face.


    She shouted, "Oh, nooo. You don''t need the protective runes! We don''t need them, he says."


    Another corpse was flung at him, with trails of blood following it.


    "Well, that was the rune I couldn''t make."


    Liz didn''t seem to care about his excuse, and chased him around while throwing bodies at him. When she finished venting her faux anger, he sat next to her. She poked his ribs, causing him to reflexively jerk back.


    She plopped her head on his shoulders, and asked, "Can I make a suggestion?"


    "Of course."


    "That was rhetorical. Buy the guide for rift making. I know theres one for low Tier guilds. Let''s buy it, and not kill ourselves. While a Tier 1 rift break isnt a big deal, a Tier 5 or 6 rift break could be a problem."


    Matt really wanted to argue, he had actually expected there to be a rift break when the rift appeared. He just hadn''t reacted quickly enough when it formed.. It had been a little too fast for his perception to catch.


    Still, he wanted to experiment and learn as he went. He was having fun.


    "Can you buy it, and let me know if I''m going to do something dangerous?" Feeling her tense up, he quickly added, "Nothing crazy, but this is kinda fun and exciting. I don''t want us to get hurt, but who knows what I can stumble on if I don''t know what I''m doing?"


    Liz sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Fine. But give me an hour to read it over first!"


    She did so, and Matt sat and watched the rift as it shimmered in his formation. It was mind-boggling that he could <em>create</em> a rift. He had hated them for so much of his childhood, but had grown to ept that they were a natural part of the world. He even liked the rewards that they gave out, and his ability to grow stronger from delving them.


    Creating a Tier 1 rift wasn''t crazy, but it was costly enough that most never bothered. He had done it in minutes. It would take him eleven minutes and fifteen seconds to fill a Tier 5 rift to full. Admittedly, that calction ignored his formation''s runes being pretty bad, and the formation only having an efficiency of about forty percent. But it was something that no guild couldpete with. If they wanted to waste 27,000 mana to charge a Tier 5 rift, they could. But that was only if they had perfect efficiency.


    Taking into ount his formation''s own efficiency, Matt would be putting 67,500 mana into the rift to refill it, which would only take about twenty eight minutes. Guilds left training worlds untouched for years, so they would build up enough mana to refill, and make new rifts.


    67,500 mana was just a little over a Tier 15 mana stone. That wasn''t worth it for most guilds andrger organizations, only to get a single Tier 5 rift out of it. Growth items could make creating a Tier 5 rift profitable, but they were rare enough that it wasnt worth the cost. Guilds could do it with a team of mages, but crafters also needed mana to create higher Tier items. Then, the mages would either need to delve less than once every three days, or theyd have no mana stones left for their delves.


    It was quite possible that most guild elites already had a fitting growth item though.


    A quick check, and he realized that if he drained his mana all day, he would put out nearly three and a half million mana. That was an absurd number already, and it would <em>double </em>every Tier. It only reinforced his belief that he couldn''t get caught before he had enough backing, to deter anyone from touching him.


    <em>Though, Liz''s parents wouldn''t let anything happen to me, right</em>?


    It felt like a dumb thought, but he only had stories about her parents. Maybe they wouldn''t care enough to protect him, or maybe they wanted to use him themselves. It was unlikely, but he still feared the possibility.


    <em>What if someone just snatches me off my feet or something. If they get an AI blocking band on me that can block The Path procedures, I could be screwed. And if they don''t know what happened to me, how would they even find me</em>?


    The thought served as more of a reminder to not attract too much attention. At least, not until he was strong enough to do something about it.


    <em>What am I supposed to do during the next few Tiers? At Tier 10, Ill be able to use basic skills like [Fireball] endlessly. No one will be able to tell that, unless I use them out of rifts. But I''m pretty sure theres a tournament for those at Tier 10 on The Path, and it has amazing rewards. Am I supposed to forget all of that</em>?


    He was brought out of his musing when Liz said, "Ok, nothing crazy. Expect rift breaks every Tier up, and when a rift is first created. Nothing else sticks out to me as dangerous. Sorry, you scared me when wolves started to jump on you out of nowhere."


    They stood up, and Matt realized that he hadn''t seen Aster at all. He felt through their bond, only to find his fox lying on her side with an extended belly. She was surrounded by wolf corpses with mutted chests.


    Apparently, she had been craving hearts.


    Letting her nap, he returned to fill his rift. When it reached Tier 2, another break urred. But Liz just blended the monsters so fast, there was no chance to even see what they were.


    When the rift hit Tier 5, and he refilled the rift from the loss after the Tier-up break, they just looked at each other. As the rift thrummed with energy, they continued to stare at each other for a long moment.


    It was done.


    "So we just... enter?" Liz''s question mirrored his own thoughts.


    He was hesitant for some reason. It wasn''t like the rift would be unstable or anything. At least, he didn''t <em>think</em> it was possible.


    "I guess so. It''s only Tier 5, so it shouldn''t pose much of a challenge."


    Liz bumped his hip, saying, "You had to jinx us, didn''t you?"


    "Well be fine."


    Matt almost believed it.


    Together, they entered the rift, only to find a standard Tier 5 goblin rift. Instead of being underground, it was set in a forest, which meant that they simply ran around and killed everything they saw. The only surprise they came across was a contingent of goblins on wargs. They charged at them whenever the trio were spotted, but there was no real danger from the monsters.


    Even the boss was quickly and effectively handled. They dispersed the rift reward, and received a dagger.


    Hope brimming, he leaned over Liz''s shoulder and asked, "Is it a growth item?"


    "I don''t think so. It feels a little different, but it definitely has an enchantment or something."


    Matt took the proffered dagger and scanned it with his spiritual sense. He found that it was far moreplicated than a normal rune, and could have some interesting effects. It would sell for more than a Tier 5 mana stone, he was sure.


    Liz did a little dance while dropping the dagger into her spatial bag. "Let''s refill and run it again."


    When they left the rift, Liz turned and asked, "Don''t we still have the golem harvesters?"


    Matt''s eyes winded at the question, and checked his AI.


    "Yes, and my AI even thinks it figured out how to take control of them. Ipletely forgot about them. Let me get them working before we go back in."


    Sitting down, Matt fiddled with the drones ording to his AIs instructions. Eventually, he got them to think that his AI was the golemwork.


    That gave him and Liz full control of the drones. Wanting to test it out, he directed them to search the surroundings. He found that they wanted to harvest everything they came across. They no longer had the greater golemwork to learn from, and had no idea of what was valuable.


    It wasn''t hard to upload the information packet he had with all the Tier 1 through 5 natural treasures, and have them target anything with a high mana or essence concentration. With his minimal testing in their direct area, he discovered that they could find a Tier 6 bar of metal that he threw out. They zoomed over to it as soon as they picked up the bars essence concentration. Deciding it was enough of a test, he set the pair to search the ind while he recharged the rift.


    With little else to do, he watched Liz poke the sleeping Aster, who simply rolled over and started to kick at the air. Liz had to leave her, as she wasn''t able to keep in herughter. Neither was Matt, for that matter. He was able to feel her dreams after all, even if minimally.


    Aster was chasing bunnies. For all her mental increases, she was still young, and had simple desires.


    When the rift was ready, they delved it again, with the addition of their drones. In the end, they found neither a challenge, nor a growth item. Just a pile of forty three Tier 5 mana stones. It was disappointing to the pair, but they continued to delve, searching for better rewards.


    The actual delving took longer than the rift charging, so they started to rush the boss. They wanted to see if the rift had any good rewards, to make it worth keeping around.


    Giving in to his impatience, Matt asked, "Is there anything in that fancy guide you bought that says how many times we need to run the rift to get a decent reward spread?"


    "Oh, now you want to ask." Liz paused, and he watched her eyes flicker for a moment, before she said, "It says fifteen to twenty."


    Matt thought about that. "Let''s say it takes us half an hour to charge, and fifteen minutes to speed run the rift. That means we can fully vet the rift in a single day, or close enough. Do we keep delving this rift? Or" He let the end of his statement draw off.


    Liz considered, before she finally said, "We might as well learn as much as we can. With fully charged rifts, we can probably call it in half the time, if we don''t get a decent drop table going. Sure, we might miss something, but were looking for amazing rifts, not mediocre ones. Ten delves isn''t bad for a day''s work either."


    With that decided, they started to delve into the rifts as quickly as they could. Finally, as the day ended, they decided to dispel the rift tomorrow. It only produced two items with unusual effects, out of the ten delves they had done. The other eight rewards were either nice but mundane items, or mana stones.


    The drones pulled out a few interesting nts, but nothing of crazy value.


    Matt wasn''t disappointed, the rift wasn''t a dud at all, by his standards. They got essence, and two items with unusual effects. They were delving and gathering essence while making money, like they were back on the training. They hadn''t found a growth item every rift when they were there, and to expect the first rift they delved to be a jackpot was naive. Even though he had still <em>hoped</em> for that to be the case.


    It wasn''t like they weren''t getting an absurd amount of essence either. It wasn''t quite as much as they had gotten when they were fighting the Tier 6 golems, but it was close. It was far more than anyone only delving a single rift every other day would be able to umte. Let alone in just a month.


    Matt marked it as a sess, even if they hadn''t found the perfect rift yet.


    Tomorrow, they could try again and see what they found.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 1

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 1


    <strong>PoA The Concept of Death 1</strong>


    Melinda shuffled left as Mathew blocked the charging minotaur with his shield. Her husband was nearly lifted off his feet from the difference in size and strength, but his Talent made that nearly impossible.


    With one eye on her AIs HUD, she surveyed the rest of the battle. She watched as Sam threw a canister of poison at the attacking horde of charging mice men. The smaller, second monster variant of the Tier 6 rift was quickly overwhelmed and killed by the toxic fumes.


    Satisfied with how that section of the battle was going, Melinda shifted her attention to her left. There, Kyle was wielding an oversized greatsword that was more of a b of metal than a sword. Still, his wide arc of a side sh bisected a minotaur. He was fine. His stacking strength from his Talents meant that there was little that could kill him in a rift of his Tier.


    Melinda looked up and saw Tara letting loose arrow after arrow at the backline mice men. She was methodically putting an end to their poor attempts at being mages. They had purchased their archer and main ranged damage dealer a pair of flying ankle attachments. She continually proved them to be a good investment every day since. Tara''s Talent meant that every shot hit its intended target. It was a lethalbination.


    Melinda was about to turn away from their flying archer, when a rumbling under her feet alerted her to their reemerging final teammate.


    Vinnie crawled out of the rocky soil, and spat out while panting, "Theirir moved east." He then proceeded to curse the mice men, which Melinda ignored.


    I need to break the boys of their cursing habits. It''s only getting worse.


    Melinda made a mental note of that, while their mage finally stood up.


    A mana check showed that everyone was over half, so she called out, "The minotaur boss should be in location three." She saw Kyle start to move northwest, so she reminded everyone, "Location three is due north. Don''t be like me and forget."


    Kyle corrected his path, so she tossed a [Ranged Heal] on Mathew , who had taken a sh from a tusk in the meantime. It banished the shadowy death that started to linger around her husband.


    Her curse of a Concept lingered around everyone, and showed her how close death was from iming the ones she loved. The therapist had insisted that it was just a reaction to the trauma, but she knew better. She confirmed it when she identally stepped into Tier 5 without taking the potions the rest of her team took. A little research on the EmpireNet had given her the answer, once she alreadypleted her self-made Concept new information had been avable to her.


    Rage tried to re up at the thought of death trying to im the ones she loved. But Mathew''s AI reported he was fine, so she stifled her anger and went back on the lookout.


    Their trek through the ins was mostly uneventful, with Vinnie having taken out the mice men''sir. The possibility of an ambush was nearly nonexistent. Melinda shuddered, remembering the first time they had run this rift, months ago.


    It was when they first broke through to Tier 6. It had been awful, and while they wouldn''t have died without her healing, they would have been out ofmission for weeks. They all had suffered serious wounds from the little darts that the mice men shot out. They had a piercing enchantment that rendered their armor useless.


    Their second run onward was much simpler. Vinnie removed the mouse men, and they only had to deal with the asional group that had been in the tunnels, instead of endless waves.


    Melinda refocused herself as they reached the hill where five minotaurs stood around the boss minotaur. The boss stood at nearly ten feet tall, ignoring his horns.


    Their tactic to take this beast down was well established and practiced.


    Mathew shouted and rushed a few steps forward, drawing all of the monster''s attention. Counting to four, Melinda cast [Area Healing], which manifested itself as a circle of green mist. It tickled their ankles, and countered the mouse men boss curse, who rode the minotaur like a steed.


    The area curse wasrger than her healing, and if they walked out of the safe zone, they would start to grow weaker. But they didn''t need room for this fight.


    Vinnie created an earthen wall with his innate [Earth Maniption], and Tara used [Mana Arrow] in conjunction. As the bosses started to fall, Tara pierced both of them in a single shot. They made sure to kill both bosses simultaneously. Previously, they had made the mistake of taking out the mouse boss first, which sent the minotaur into a [Rage Aura]. The skill had the unfortunate effect of empowering the other pairs of minibosses.


    By the time they were done with the boss, Samantha and Kyle were finishing off the five other pairs. They raced to kill the greater number of minibosses. Kyle with his greatsword, and Sam with her daggers.


    Kyle won, as he always did. Sam pouted, as she always did.


    Melinda nodded and sighed. She hated this part.


    "Who wants to open the reward?"


    That started the mor with everyone but her arguing about their merits, and who had earned the right to dispel the rift reward.


    Mathew started it like he always did. "I never get anything, so I should open it."


    Melinda sighed. Her hubby always argued that angle, and it never worked. If he wasn''t actually upset that everyone wouldn''t let him break his bad luck streak, she would think he did it to get out of the argument.


    He walked out of the circle and while pouting. "They never let me do it."


    She stretched up and kissed his uncovered face. "Maybe next time."


    "I got us the skill shard, so I should open it!" Kyle shouted over everyone else.


    That was his go-to, even though he usually pulled average rewards at best.


    Sam stomped on his boot and shot back, "Yeah, and you also pulled a single mana stone."


    Vinnie threw his hat in the metaphorical ring. "I got us the ring with the light shield. That sold for quite a bit. I also got us the hammer with the rebound effect."


    Vinnie was lucky, Melinda had to admit. The others did as well.


    Tara stomped her foot. She hated to gost. "I need a new bow, and it''s a yellow distortion. And that''s my favorite color."


    That changed the game.


    Favorite color was a near-sacred demand, and it shut down the argument. They really should have checked before they started this, but they all knew that wasn''t any fun.


    The expected chorus of "You cheated," resounded out. Melinda waited while holding Mathews hand, andforting him for his loss.


    After another round of arguing started, about if Tara should lose the opening right for peeking early. They finally decided that it was okay, only because it was her favorite color.


    Melinda rolled her eyes. They all cheated and peeked, more than a quarter of the time. Hypocrites. The lot of them.


    Tara walked up to the reward distortion and rubbed her hands, while performing her pre-opening ritual. She hopped twice and did a cartwheel, then tapped the distortion in space.


    Everyone watched in anticipation, as out of the distortion came a skill shard. They all rushed to Tara, who caught the prize.


    "Ha! Fuck all of you. I got a skill as well now. I told you it was my favorite color."


    Everyone else cursed her while celebrating their reward.


    Maybe everyone needs to break the habit of cursing...


    Melinda pondered how to pull that off, while Tara did the honors of inspecting the skill shard.


    "[Create Water]. Not bad, there has to be more than one water mage in the area. We can definitely get something good for it."


    Sam snatched the skill, saying, "It''s my turn to get a skill, so I''ll do the trading."


    Melinda put her hand on her friend''s shoulder and calmed everyone down. "It is your turn, but if you can''t get a skill that is useful for you, it goes to Kyle for trading."


    Sam stuck her tongue out and teased Kyle, "You''ll get nothing!"


    Kyle tackled her, and rubbed his knuckles into her head while holding her down. Melinda just stepped over the pair.


    They really just needed to make it official, and stop flirting at every opportunity.


    Checking the time, Melinda moved to leave. She called over her shoulder, "I''ll see you allter tonight. I have a shift at the hospital."


    Everything was ok. Routine. So she felt fine in leaving.


    Melinda left the rift and stripped her armor off, while waiting for the bus. Her timing was perfect, and the bus arrived just as she stuffed thest piece away.


    Checking into the hospital''swork, she saw that things were slow at the moment, and there were no current emergencies. The bus pulled to her stop, and Melinda raced through the front door, calling out to the receptionist.


    "I need to shower. Then I''ll clock in. What room is free?"


    Sally called out to her back, "Four. Room four is free."


    Melinda cursed. She hated room four. It was on the inner wall, and didn''t have natural light. Racing through her shower, Melinda let the medical spray disinfect her with its purple bubbles.


    Just before the hour ticked over, she slipped into her assigned room, while wiggling to settle the healer''s robes.


    Baxter was already there, and she had to resist a scowl. He was her healing mentor, but she was quite frustrated with the man. Everyone who was an official healer of the Empire got assigned a mentor of an older, more experienced healer. It was good, because they could stop any mistakes and give the junior healer a safe ce to learn. That way, the stakes were lessened.


    Being on the path changed things slightly, as she was supposed to be assigned a healer who would bounce to whatever hospital she was near. But her mentor refused to do any of that, and would only act as a nurse, never showing his skill with healing directly.


    He critiqued her work all the time, and always treatedplexities that she couldnt with ease. It was infuriating.


    Melinda smiled and greeted the man. There was no reason to be impolite. "Good afternoon Baxter. How was your morning?"


    He ignored her and spun in his chair, toe-tapping the floor to keep him spinning.


    Sighing, Melinda checked her AI and watched the seconds until 5 pm. As the second ticked over, Baxter stood up and gave her her orders for the day. "I''ve arranged for a few people from the poorer parts of the city toe. Four of them have different gic defects that I want you to try and fix with your Talent. The others all have various problems that usually need directed healing to fix. I want you to suppress your Talent as much as you can while working on them. Your directed healing skills are still awful. Have you done your mana control exercises?"


    Melinda hated the man. She really did. If he was here as a proper healer, he could be doing good and helping people. But instead, he hid his abilities, and only served as a mundane helper. He was almost enough to make her dislike nurses as a whole, but most were amazing. They did the best they could to help without skills.


    Spending time as a nurse was the fastest route to getting a healing skill of their own. Especially for those that they weren''t as lucky as her, to get a skill shard for having the requisite Talent. They worked hard, and did the mundane tasks that the healers didn''t always have time to do while actively healing.


    Baxter spit on that effort as a fully trained healer, hiding from his responsibility under the guise of a nurse. He even had the gall to critique her while shirking his duty. She had questioned his credentials at one point, and had been shocked to find out that he was a Tier 40 healer. Not only that, he was a trusted aide of the Emperor''s chief healer, who had been filled in on her special Talent.


    She wasn''t happy that her Talent had been shared out, but there was little she could do. The man even took an AI-backed oath. If he spoke of it to an outsider, she would be informed, and he would be punished as a traitor. It still irked her.


    "Yes. I have been doing my exercises."


    She wanted to be mad, but her Talent made everything easy. She never had any reason to push herself the way her peers did, when trying to save lives. Even if her Talent could heal almost anything with a simple undirected healing spell, it was still expensive. Even with her Tier 1 Talent reducing the cost by half.


    When she had time, a directed healing spell could do more detailed work for a fraction of the cost. That wasn''t an ability she was willing to ck on. People deserved to be healed. And if she was out of mana from healing someone the sloppy way, she wouldn''t forgive herself if someone died.


    So she put up with the irritating man. He knew what he was talking about.


    Melinda was even pushed in regards to her Talent. She was under the impression that it was like her Tier 1, and did what it said, nothing more. But Baxter broke her of that notion. No matter what the AI said, it was a Tier 3 Talent, and they all grew. They had discovered that when she found a disease or injury her Talent didn''t work on. If she tried to heal it the next time she Tiered up, she was more effective. So, they tried to push her Talent as hard as they could, and the results from the Tier 4 and 5 breakthroughs were absurd. It was the only time she ever saw Baxter lose hisposure.


    Apparently, healing gic defects was only something that the Tier 44 directed healing spell, [Heal Gics] could do. It was an extremely rare skill.


    Melinda didn''t mind the extra work it put on her. If she had her way, she would heal death itself, but that wasn''t possible.


    Her first patient came in, and she saw the ck fog around him. It was starting to be distinct, which told her the severity of the injury. He wasn''t close to death, but he was hurting.


    "Good morning, sir. Whats the matter today?"


    He was an older man, and he reminded her of her grandfather. Old and frail.


    She took his elbow, and guided him to the reclining bed. A gentle probe of his cultivation base put him at Tier 4, which put his age somewhere near one hundred and fifty.


    He had a pain in his knee that wasn''t going away, so Melinda cast her skill [Directed Heal]. It was the lowest Tier of directed healing skill, at Tier 14. It was given to all official Empire healers. It could do anything that the higher Tier directed healing skills could do, but didn''t have their limitations, nor their reduced cost.


    Melinda used the skill to inspect his knee, and rebuilt some cartge where it had worn down. She then focused on the man as a whole, and cast [Ranged Heal]. She only let the skill take the 50 mana initial cost, instead of letting it drain her until the man was fully healed. Still, the skill would help all of the mans various ailments, at least somewhat.


    She also focused on healing the man''s old age. Baxter just scoffed at her when she mentioned it, but acknowledged that if anything could do it, her Talent could. There was no skill that could reverse aging. Slow it down, sure. Regr healing spells did that for those under Tier 15, but it would only add a few years at most.


    Melinda wanted to de-age people.


    The older man thanked her, and she watched as the healing contribution was deposited into her ount. Healers, when in an official capacity at least, worked for free, while the Empire provided the mana for near limitless healing. The only time they were able to charge for healing was with battle injuries and rift healing.


    The Empire considered that healing was a right for themon man, and the policy provided a facility for healers to practice their skills. She had heard from some of the older healers that had worked on the borders, that the other great powers didn''t have such a system. Most of them would simply let their citizens suffer.


    It was appalling, but it gave her a better appreciation for the Empire. It wasn''t perfect, but the people at the top cared.


    Melinda checked her ount, and that saw she had 436 contribution points saved up. It wasn''t bad. She had to pay off the debt from [Directed Heal], and she was also saving up for the more specific directed healing skills.


    The Empire had a standing order to purchase all directed healing skills for value higher than their Tier, which allowed them to hand them out for contribution points. The better, higher Tier ones cost more, as they were more rare. But it wasn''t impossible to earn them, and they gave people a reason to delve the rifts that would otherwise be ignored. Usually people pursued rifts with better skill drops.


    She was brought out of her pondering when a teen was brought into her room. Baxter pinged her AI that this was one of her gic disorder patients.


    Melinda greeted the woman, and asked questions while reviewing her file. It was long, and fully detailed the woman''s multitude of struggles. She was born with sickle cell anemia.


    The cloud of ckness around her wasrge, but diffuse. She wasn''t in imminent danger, but her body wasn''t as healthy as her age would indicate.


    Getting to work, Melinda used [Directed Heal] to target the woman''s cellr makeup, and convinced her body to create the correct shape of hemoglobin. It was something beyond the normal ability of the skill, but it would be cheaper than fixing her with [Ranged Heal]. She could do it that way, if she wanted to triple the cost of the healing.


    It wasn''t easy, and her efforts quickly emptied her mana pool. But her rack of specially made mana crystals was by her side, courtesy of Baxter. As the mana flowed into her mana pool, it was sucked out of her and into the active skill. She could cut the flow off at any point, but this woman needed the help.


    Melinda felt the tap as Baxter brought her over a second mana stone rack. He refused to tell her how he got a second one made. They were mana stones grown to her exact mana signature, not the moremon type that were able to be aspected. It meant that the conversion factor was nearly perfect, but the cost was apparently massive. They were made with a protected recipe, and thepany only sold to healers, but they had the policy of only one per healer.


    As far as she knew, there were no exceptions at all. Every healer she asked had already tried to buy a second. She even asked what happened if the rack of rechargeable mana stones were lost, and found out that they had tracking runes embedded in the surrounding metal. The racks were also made of a hyper light Tier 40 metal. They were nearly unbreakable by anyone who was dumb enough to steal one, and werepletely protected from casual damage.


    She had given in and asked Baxter, who only shrugged and said he didn''t know either. It was delivered, so he gave it to her. She didn''t believe him for a second. As much as she didn''t like that he hid himself, she wasn''t going to make the man that ufortable.


    It was at times like these that she treasured the precious second rack. It let her heal without interruption. Where other healers needed to rest, she never did. While she had let her mana control fall to the wayside, she had incredible endurance. It was more willpower and stubbornness than anything else, but watching the dark cloud fade gave Melinda all the encouragement she needed.


    They had said that her seeing death floating around people was a result of her trauma, and she couldn''t deny that it may have started like that. But now, it was her Concept and reality. She personally thought that she had touched on the Concept after the night of horrors that the rift breaks created. The passive function of her Concept hadn''t changed when she broke into Tier 5, and the activeponent was the only real change.


    The activeponent of her Concept was something she refused to touch, and no matter how much Baxter pushed, she constantly refused. Eventually, they hade to a head, and she put her foot down.


    She would die before she used her Concept for a second time. Her Concept phrase was Death. And her image was the darkness that surrounded people who were hurt.


    The ability her Concept gave her was to damage people, like reverse healing. The very idea of it was anathema to her. The visuals were even worse. The very rift creatures that had destroyed her life formed from the ck mist, and tore the victim apart. It would inflict wounds that turned ck, and spread over the rest of the body, liquifying flesh as it spread.


    She didn''t care if she would be stuck at Tier 24 if she didn''t use and grow her Concept. She would rather die than be death itself. Killing was one thing, and she fought in rifts withoutint. But even rift monsters didn''t deserve the slow melting of flesh that her Concept created when the appratitions tore into them.


    To his credit, Baxter hadn''t pushed after that. He never even mentioned the activeponent of her Concept, except to tell her that Concepts with passiveponents were a rare but a known thing. He told her to focus on that part of her Concept instead.


    Finally, after tens of thousands of mana, the darkness was gone from the woman''s body. Melinda stood up, with her knees popping.


    "How do you feel?" Melinda cast a [Ranged Heal] to take care of any lingering aches or pains that the woman was experiencing. Sickle cell anemia caused fatigue and pain as two of its main symptoms after all. It should also fix the misshapen hemoglobin that was still in the woman''s body.


    The woman stretched and wiggled her ankles and fingers carefully, before she asked, "It''s gone like after a normal healing, but I don''t feel a lingering sensation. Is it really gone forever?"


    Melinda saw Baxter nod out of the corner of her vision, and she smiled at the woman. She started to babble, "They said it would be a few more years before a high enough Tier healer came around. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you!"


    Melinda held the woman as she wept into her arms. A feeling of contented warmth seeped into her.


    This was why she healed. A woman who lived her life in constant pain and difort was able to live a normal life now. Melinda was able to make the world a better ce. She removed a little bit of darkness from both her Concept''s view and from the woman''s life.


    As she saw the woman off, she reminded her, "The underlying problem is healed, and I re-shaped the hemoglobin in your body right now, so it shouldn''te back. But if anything feels off, pleasee back immediately."


    Once she and Baxter were alone, he said, "That was well done. We didn''t hit sickle cell anemia during your time at Tier 5. It''s impressive that your Talent was able to make the jump to it. We have three others to check on, and see if they are under your umbre as well."


    They continued to heal for hours. When they were finished, and Melinda wanted to strip and wash off the smell of the hospital, Baxter stopped her.


    "We have one other location to hit. I got authorization for a trial a while ago, and now there is a subject to test."


    Interested, as this was out of the ordinary, Melinda asked, "Oh, what is it?"


    "You''ll find out when we arrive."


    As much as she pressed, he refused to exin. He grabbed her and flew halfway across the city. They arrived at the outskirts, where theary prison was located.


    She didn''t know what the big deal was. She had done healing here before.


    "What''s with the secrecy? I''ve been here before."


    "You''ll see." Baxter''s voice had a finality to it that she didn''t want to push.


    They entered the prison, and Melinda greeted the guards and prisoners she had met before. The Empire didn''t haverge prisons, and the ones they did have focused on rehabilitation, and correcting mistakes in a safe environment. Anyone who did something heinous was killed. She didn''t agree with that, but epted the reality that keeping people with the prowess and capacity tomit such crimes was a recipe for disaster.


    She had heard a rumor about people over Tier 15 being sent to an asteroid belt to mine ore, only to remake the asteroid for decades on end as punishment. She hoped it was only a rumor. That was cruel. Death was fine for some things, but endless torment wasn''t.


    They were brought to a room deep inside the prison. There, they came in front of a nondescript man with shackles around his wrist and ankles.


    Melinda saw that he barely had any darkness around him, just a few darker spots that showed minor injuries. It was the sign of someone above Tier 15. They were much healthier than anyone below that, and it showed in her vision. It was the main reason she knew her younger self wasn''t making things up as a reaction to trauma. There was no way to tell a Tier 15 from a normal person without inspecting their cultivation base, but she had always been able to tell.


    Baxter started speaking as he withdrew an actual folder with paper.


    "Spencer Silver. Tier 18. A loyal member of the Empire, until he wasn''t. He was caught trying to sell secrets on a weapon project, and he was revealed to be a spy who took over the real Spencer Slivers life."


    "And what are we doing here? Someone whack him on the head and end it." Melinda couldn''t think of anything else to do with a spy. There was only one punishment for them, and she had no sympathy for someone who wanted to destroy her home.


    "Funny, you should word it like that. That is exactly what were doing."


    Baxter met her eyes with a hard look.


    "He will be killed, as we have undeniable proof, but here we have a perfect opportunity to test your Talent."


    A creeping horror overcame Melinda, as his earlierment started to make sense.


    "We want to see exactly how your Talent works with brain damage. And to see exactly how your Concept works on a human."


    Melinda protested, "No, I won''t do that. We already know what it does."


    As her words ended, Baxter spat out, "We know how normal overhealth works. But as we''ve proven with you, your Talent is both malleable and able to grow. That means it could work differently."


    Melinda didn''t want to hear it.


    "No! I refuse. I won''t be a part of torturing a man. Also, weve gone over this, I won''t use my Concept. I won''t. It''s evil, and its everything I stand against."


    Just the thought of seeing the kobolds and harpies attacking again was reason enough to not use it. But it was her pr opposite, and she refused to even test it. That would be the start of a slippery slope that eventually led to her using it as any normal skill.


    That. Wasn''t. Her.


    Baxter looked at her with aplicated look in his eyes. "Your Talent is game-changing. It''s so strong that you don''t have to be perfect with your healing technique. Hell, you don''t even have to try most of the time."


    She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand and continued.


    "No. Let me finish. Your Talent means that any mistakes you make are fixed with no repercussions. You don''t have to push yourself. But allow me to let you in on a secret. Talents won''t carry you forever. There will be a time where it isn''t strong enough to get you through a situation. For that, you need training, practice, and experience. If you dont hone your skills, you won''t have them. You will fail, and people will pay the price."


    Baxter took a deep breath.


    "I want you to use your Concept because from the description you provided, it seems incredibly strong. Absurdly so. Why won''t you at least use it on rift monsters? They are the reason you lost everything. I could ept it if you only wanted to use it on them, and not humans, but they are rage given flesh. They deserve no mercy."


    "It''s a slippery slope, and I don''t want to make one exception that will lead to others."


    Melinda took a deep breath and continued, "My team does well on their own. Even without my Talent, we would be fine."


    Baxterughed heartily, "No, they wouldn''t. Melinda, you aren''t dumb. Your team wouldn''t be so far ahead of the curve without you. And you aren''t even that great yourself. Healers are usually team shot callers, and you suck at it. If you went into a new rift that you didn''t have a guide for, and you didn''t have overhealth as a Talent, your team would all be crippled or dead by now. What are you going to do after Tier 10 when the rifts no longer have any useful guides because they have too much variation? You have no instinct for being a shot-caller, because you don''t need it for everyone on your team to be fine. If one of your friends got hurt, you just heal them back to perfect health."


    He rubbed his eyes, and seemed really old for a moment.


    "Will you use this man to test your Talent and your Concept?"


    Melinda couldn''t deny what he said earlier had merit, but she held firm. It wasn''t right.


    "No."


    Baxter didn''t push further, and a ray of what looked like moonlight washed over the spy. A split secondter, he was just gone.


    "Let''s go. I''ll take you home. Just think about what I said."


    They moved through the prison and walked to the train station. Melinda wanted toin about Baxter, but a nagging fear told her he was right. But she wanted to help people, not repeatedly kill and heal a man so they could test her Talent.


    The effects of overhealth were well known, ording to the Emperor''s chief healer. Hers would work like that too.


    What if it doesn''t, and Mathew loses his head?


    She pushed the dark thought to the back of her mind. She refused to entertain the possibility, but she also searched for shot-caller sses she could take. Baxter was an ass, but he wasn''t wrong there either.


    As they were on the train, she watched a short-haired man step into their car. He was attractive enough, in a rugged way. But what drew her eyes were the solid kobolds and harpies crawling over him. He was so near death, there was no line to cross.


    She shot up and walked over to him.


    "You need to go to the hospital. You are seriously ill."


    He cocked an eyebrow at her andughed, saying, "I feel fine. I really don''t have the time."


    Latching on to the excuse, Melinda struck back, "Let me examine you for the train ride then."


    He rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. "If you are going to be examining me, we should at least trade names. I''m Made Milson."


    Melinda cast [Directed Heal] to get an idea of what was wrong.


    "Well, I''m Melinda, and you have cancer in the liver, lungs, prostate, and brain. Will youe to the hospital now?"


    Made looked at her like she was crazy, so she pulled out her pad and brought up her credentials.


    Made shrugged and said, "Eh. I have a meeting with some..." he paused, clearly making up a lie, "new and interesting people... And I will be ki...ssing them. Kissing them. I''m going to an orgy. Lots of sex. Not suited for pretty things like you. A lot of old wrinkly, ugly people. But the eirs are to die for. So maybe tomorrow."


    Melinda stared at him, bbergasted.


    "Mr. Milson, this isn''t the time for jokes and humor. You are close to death. It''s serious, and needs to be treated as such."


    Baxter watched her handling the recalcitrant man, and she found an urge to prove him wrong about her being unable to do anything without her Talent.


    "Promise me you''ll show up tomorrow morning. I have a shift then, and I''ll expect you there. If you don''t show, I''ll send the guards to track you down and drag you in."


    "Ohh, kinky. Just so you know, my safe word is kumquat." He winked at her, and while he looked unconvinced, he agreed to show up. She got the feeling that it was more to get her to leave him alone than anything else, but it worked.


    She hit him with a controlled [Ranged Heal], to hold him over until tomorrow, and smirked at Baxter. He just rolled his eyes at her. She had to admit, for his acerbic nature, his crude humor had lightened her mood after the darkness of Baxter''s suggestion.


    When she arrived at her teams rented home, she expected everyone to already be asleep, but found them animatedly discussing something.


    "Oh Melinda, youre back. Did you see the message?" Tara was the farthest, and the one facing the door, so she saw her first.


    "No, I keep my AI on do not disturb mode when Im working. You know that."


    "Check." Everyone shouted in unison, startling her.


    She did as requested and a high-priority message on her AI.


    Person on The Path of Ascension. You are at either Tier 5 or 6, and invited to join the Empire sanctioned vassal war. The kingdom of the Seven Suns has been dered on by the queendom Alliance of Allied Queens, over their newly discovered Tier 20. As their Tier 6 is the nexus point between the two vassal factions, the Emperor has decided to use it as a safe training environment for our youth.


    Pick a side, and fight for contribution points! Anyone on The Path and at the correct Tiers will be allowed to participate! If you choose to participate, picking a side will book you for fast transportation to the in question. Check the attached file for rewards given.


    Please note that winning or losing will be irrelevant, and the losing side may get more rewards if they fight harder. Winning or losing wont determine the oue on the Tier 20.


    The file with the rewards was quite extensive. Even just showing up and standing guard would most people a Tier 8 skill shard. It was also apanied by a multi-page document, entailing how these faux wars usually proceed.


    Melinda didn''t want to go. She wanted her team to stay here and be safe, but just a look told her they had already decided.


    She was opening her mouth to ask which side they wanted to choose, when a knock sounded at the door. Thinking it was Baxter who wanted to say something, she opened it without thinking.


    Standing outside was a woman with me-red feathers in ce of her hair. When the woman saw her, she smiled, "You must be Melinda!" she eximed.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67


    The next morning, the trio moved to the ind Matt was going to do experiments on. There, he swapped the formation tes out for one that would actively drain mana from inside the contained area. It was an expensive formation, as pulling mana from a rift was like trying to pry food from a starving mans hands.


    They did not let go.


    It was why yPens just repeatedly delved the rifts to dissipate them. Why spend money to remove a rift, when you could delve it and get crumbs?


    Once the rift was gone, he repeated his actions from yesterday and created a rift. Today, they were being more methodical, and even Aster seemed interested.


    When the rift formed and wolves popped out, Matt looked to Liz and said, That seems incredibly unlikely. Two Tier 1 wolf rifts in a row? Is there anything in the guide about that?


    While Liz checked the document, he brought the rift up to the peak of Tier 1, watching as Aster found a corpse and had herself a snack.


    No, its not likely but not unheard of. Do you want the actual answer?


    No. Ill think about it. I want to see what me and the AI cane up with.


    What the AI and I cane up with. Liz corrected him.


    AI and I sounds dumb. His retort was met with an eye roll that he could feel on his back.


    They had some lizards when they increased the rift to Tier 2, which stayed when the rift was pushed to Tier 3.The monsters changed to monkeys at Tier 4. When they made the jump to Tier 5, the trio was surprised by tigers. Aster enjoyed her meal, while Matt tried to figure out the mechanics behind the changes.


    The delving was simple enough. They fully cleared the rift the first time, but then proceeded to rush to the boss on each subsequent run. Their haul wasnt impressive, but they still had gotten six enchanted items from the rift. One of them had a chance to be valuable,as it had a much moreplex enchantment.


    It was during their third day when things got weird.


    They boosted the rift to Tier two, and a flood of rabbits came out.


    Aster lost her mind.


    She proceeded to try and eat every rabbit that came out, and when she saw Matt starting to increase the Tier, she pleaded with him not to.


    Matt knew that this was a good time to pick his battles. Especially over a Tier 2 rift. Matt and Liz delved it with her once, then gave her freedom to delve the rift at will. It took a long argument with the blissed out fox before she agreed to leave the rift every half an hour. It took Matt threatening to dispel the rift before she finally acquiesced.


    He had to admit, it was cute to watch her try and find their burrows in the light forest. She didnt even eat many of them, mostly wanting to hunt. If the rifts Tier was higher, he would have never agreed. But at Tier 5, she was able to kill even the boss with a thought.


    For all her insistence and begging, she was thankful. She leaped into his arms and nuzzled him, while sending loving vibes through their bond.


    It made the inconvenience of having to move locations worth it.


    Thankfully, they only had to move a few yards away, but an hour of work was wasted. Not the end of the world, but it caused Matt to be slightlyzy. Instead of carefully clearing the area around the rift, he ended up leaving a small sapling to act as a central marker for setting up the formation.


    Neither he nor Liz thought much of the sapling, except to chuckle when it began fluttering in the thick mana concentration. Matt learned his lesson when he and Liz stepped through the Tier 5 rift. Instead ofnding in a forest or in, as was the case with most of their rifts, they were dropped three feet above arge tree branch. The sudden fall caused them to stumble, and they slid off, tumbling into free fall.


    Matts screams were swallowed by the wind, but he retained enough sense to drag his spatial bag over his shoulder and fished out his flying sword. He used it to catch himself and Liz.


    When they steadied out and hovered, Liz started to press kisses over his neck and face.


    Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Fuck. That woke me up.


    Matt didnt think he could speak for the hammering of his heart, and just gasped out a few unintelligible words.


    Getting his bearings, Matt flew them up to their entrance, to find that they were spat out at the lowest level of tree branches. The problem was, the tree was taller than any building in any city he had ever seen. It pierced the clouds and didnt look any thinner for its height.


    Matt breathed out, I have no idea what this is. They looked down to see a carpet of green that he was sure were normal-sized trees.


    It was so far out of his expectations, he turned to Liz and asked, Anything about this in the book?


    Sheughed, No. Not even a bit. What did we do?


    Matt threw out his best answer, While Im not sure, I think that the little sapling we... He corrected himself, I left is the cause of this. I think. It seems to have influenced the rifts theme.


    Can wend, please? The falling gave me vertigo.


    With Lizs request, theynded on the nearest branch. It was thicker than most skyscrapers. It was so massive, the ground almost seemed t.


    It was still curved enough to send us tumbling.


    Matt cursed the rift. He didnt want to even think what would have happened if they didnt have his spatial bag with them. They had only kept them on because of the habit they made on the training world, and not wanting to leave their valuables at camp while delving for hours. He pledged to always delve with the bag fully stocked from now on, and even made an alert for his AI to ensure he didnt forget.


    After they settled themselves, they flew around the tree and found various giant birds and squirrels to fight. They seemed to have a war going on between the two factions. Each species raided each others nests, until they saw the humans. Then, any animosity was set aside to attack the interlopers. It was a more intricate rift than most of the Tier 5s that they had delved so far. Most of the monsters even had Concepts, which made the rift harder.


    The final boss was a massive bird that tried to fly in strafing runs at them, whileunching a steady stream of [Wind de]s at them. It meant little to the duo, who could fly, and they quickly pulled out an acorn from the reward distortion. If the little nub wasnt stuffed with essence, he would have taken it as mundane. But they stored it along with their other rewards to be checked in a few weeks.


    Their sixth run of the rift gave them the weirdest item. It was a wood axe that seemed to want to cut down the mighty tree that they were delving. It was weird, but it also went into the bag.


    After they ended their day of ten delves, Matt turned to Liz, who sat next to him and watched the sun fade over the ocean.


    Its not a great rift, but its a weird one. Should we keep it, or scrap it and start over?


    Liz shrugged, not saying anything until the sun fully set, and only orange mes illuminated the horizon.


    Its weird enough. I think we should keep it. But the rewards arent great. Its also dangerous, if you dont know about the drop stepping in.


    Yeah, true. Well, we can always keep it around and make a new one tomorrow.


    As they sat, he gave voice to a thought that had been running around his mind all day. It came to him after his conclusion that the rift was influenced by the sapling in the formation.


    If that was true, what else could they do?


    It excited him in a new way. Cooking was fun; he could try things and then eat the results. This was simr, but he felt like a mad scientist in a movie. It was like he was mixing various colored liquids to make a new potion. The unknown set his blood ame.


    What if we do some more testing? Wed need to be more careful with entering the rifts, but who knows what we can do if we put other materials in the center? Is it a guarantee of a rift type, or is it less significant? It seems to influence the rewards after all. But think of the possibilities.


    He ended with a sigh of wonderment.


    What if we use mine, or Asters mana? We all have aspected mana after all... Lizs question jolted him, causing the sleepy Aster to readjust into hisp.


    He looked to his bond and asked the question both verbally and through their connection. Want an ice rift?


    Ice cream? Rift?


    That perked up the fox, who stood and looked around before ring at him, sending over, Bully.


    He picked his partner up and flipped her over to give her belly rubs in rpense.


    Its an interesting idea. I guess I could use your aspected mana stones to fill the formations, but I think it would work.


    Matts mind raced a million miles a minute, but he forcefully pushed those thoughts down and tried to rx with Liz and Aster. The fox had found a burst of energy, and now wanted to wrestle the two of them.


    The next few days were a blur. They tested a bar of steel that they still had from the golems ruin, which taught them two interesting things. One was that the item that the rift formed over had about a seventy percent chance to influence the theme of the rift.The second thing was that the rift had a chance to absorb the item it formed over. If that happened, then the rift was guaranteed to produce a rift rting to the item. At least, that was what they had found through their limited testing.


    The Tier of the item also had to be at least as high as the Tier of rift that was being made. A Tier one metal couldnt be used to make a Tier 2 rift.


    Learning that, they tried to cheat the system. Their next few runs, they only put in an item when they were about to boost the rift to Tier 5 /,but it never worked. It seemed like they needed to have the rift start with the item they wanted the rift to resonate with from Tier 1 .


    During their days of testing the metal bar, they got a skill shard and a bunch of smithing materials. The skill, [Reinforce Metal], was used to dump mana into metals and strengthen them. It allowed the caster to modify the metal in any way they wished. The trio were sure that they could trade it for a useful skill.


    That was only four days in.


    On the fifth day, they had a rift with golems. They only had to look at each other to agree to just dissipate the rift, and not enter. Neither wanted to deal with them again.


    That ended their experiments with metal, and they started using water. This worked in more subtle ways. They expected to find oceans or something simr, and they did a few times. But mostly, it was seasides or forests withplicated river systems.


    Matt was pretty sure that they got another underwater breathing enchantment, as the item they found felt exactly like the ne they found on the training world. But they werent going to test anything themselves. Cursed items were hard to unbind and had negative side effects. They werentmon, but the risk was always present.


    They even pulled a [Create Water], skill which Matt absorbed and put in his inner spirit. It had a mana cost of 30 for the initial cast, then 5 MPS for upkeep, but it created pure water endlessly with his regeneration rate. They could have sold it, but except to a water mage, it wasnt a very valuable skill. So, they felt it was better to have the added safety of never having to worry about running out of water.


    He felt weird pulling a utility skill into his inner spirit, but he cared more about the reduced mana cost than he did about the free slots.


    Fire was their next test, and was a mixed bag. It worked fine for aspecting the rifts, but they couldnt actually run most of the rifts. No Tier 5 could swim through molten rock, and It was only thanks to them being careful on first delves that Matt was able to escape before [Cracked Phantom Armor] was broken. Only their decision to have Matt check rifts alone saved Liz from that disaster.


    It still gave them data points to add to their AIs ever-growing list.


    While the three of them ate dinner, Matt said, I dont think were the first to discover this.


    Oh? Liz was interested, and even Aster gave Matt her full attention. While she spent most of her time ying in her rabbit rift or running around the ind, she liked to watch the rifts being created as much as he did.


    Secretly, Matt knew she was more interested in tasting the hearts of new rift monsters, but he appreciated the support. He didnt mind being a snack dispenser.


    No. Theres no way people have never discovered this. Id put money on individual guilds learning of it, and either not using it because the cost seems to scale with the desired rift Tier,, or keeping it a secret and using it to their advantage.


    Liz nodded, but Aster spoke first, Hide? Why.


    Liz, who was closer, picked up the fox and deposited her on herp after pulling out a brush, Well Aster, you know this is a secret. We wont tell anyone else. And they hide it for the same reason that you dont want others to delve your rabbit rift.


    Mine! Asters yip was filled with indignation at the thought that someone would try and take her yground away.


    As Liz exined to Aster, with the asional interjection by Matt, he had to wonder if this was what having a child was like.


    Once Aster seemed to understand that they couldnt tell people about their rifts, he continued his train of thought. Im not sure what higher Tiered guilds would do if we leaked this, but I dont think they would be happy.


    Liz didnt seem bothered. Lets assume that they somehow find out we know all this. One, were on The Path. This doesnt seem like a big enough reason to cross the Emperor, the only Tier 50 in the Empire. Two, even if Uncle Manny didnt step in, my parents would. Only the top three guilds that are headquartered have Tier 47s, with the rumor of a Tier 48. Im sure my parents have made sure that the movers and shakers know not to touch you. Three, we arent going to share this with anyone.


    She seemed to finish, before adding, Four, its just too expensive to create rifts over and over for most organizations.


    Matt interjected, Yes, but they can. I showed you my math. Its not that expensive.


    I know, I know. But I think you underestimate how much pull crafters have in a guild. They eat up all the excess mana that a guild has. Its a whole lot more expensive to buy your items, which is why guilds raise crafters. They dont have millions of mana to throw around unless the top people are sitting around for some reason. Even then, they would want to use their mana to train.


    Matt just nodded at her. He didnt have the experience with higher Tier people, so he had to defer to her wisdom on this.


    The next day, they took a break and started to delve rifts without trying to affect their theme. The rifts were too varied, and they wanted to collect more items. Besides, this was meant to be a break for them. Almost dying twice because of the environment in the rift wasnt exactly the vacation they were searching for.


    ***


    They sat on their beach with all of the itemsid out. Matt may have had a record of each item, but it still hadnt felt like they had gotten this much before it was all spread out.


    Three weeks of ten-ish delves of fully charged rifts per day gave them a little over two hundred chances for loot. They got a lot of mana stones, but they werent as impressive or valuable. They added up, but were nothing inparison to the items they got. Thankfully, mana stones only dropped about 30% of the time.


    Skills were rewarded about five percent of the time from Tier 5 rifts. They got [Reinforce Metal], three [Create Water]s, of which Matt and Aster each absorbed one. [Mend], [Mana Strength], [Light], and three [Fireball]s, of which Matt and Liz each kept one. They would be selling one [Reinforce Metal], one [Create Water], one [Mend], one [Mana Strength], one [Light], and one [Fireball].


    The [Fireball] that he and Liz kept turned out to be useless for both of them, which was funny. Matt couldnt cast it without the help of his reserve mana stone, and it was just a ball of blood for Liz. Good for moving blood around, but it didnt explode or have heat like the original skill.


    That was why Matt was waiting to absorb the skill until he had a little more free time. [Endurance] was almost out of his core spirit, and Madam Delvers Guide to Skills even had a strategy to decrease the mana cost. Combined with the way they had quickly changed [Endurance] when they absorbed it, he was confident that he could get the initial cost down to 5 mana. With the thirty percent cost reduction from being in his inner spirit, that would mean a 3.5 mana cost. If he could get that down to 3 mana, he could use [Fireball] endlessly at Tier 8.


    He would just need to work on the skill to make it cheaper, which wouldnt be difficult with the time it would take to reach Tier 8. Madam Delvers Guide to Skills warned that it would make the skill slightly weaker to decrease the cost that much, but it was only a twenty to thirty percent loss. It came out to a negligible loss when he could cast the spell endlessly.


    It was an enticing idea, and one he was willing to test. He was spending most of his downtime practicing with the box that could simte skill changes. In a few weeks, he was ready to make the rapid changes. He was just waiting for [Endurance] to settle in his inner spirit.


    The growth items had a drop rate of about one and a half percent, and the three growth items they had received were an odd bag. They could feel the difference in the arrangement of essence that was reminiscent of their rings. It was a testament to his growing spiritual sense, and overall improvement from his time as a Tier 4 that he could feel the difference. The shortsword growth item flickered with me. They had pulled it out of a rift when they mixed fire and metal. Their decision to not delve aspected rifts onlysted until they thought to mix the things they had tried before.


    A mini snow globe that was endlessly sunny, and a hammer were the final two growth items. Neither of them could even guess at the usefulness of thest two, but they definitely felt like growth items. Matt felt good about the hammer. It felt nice and steady; good for a cksmith.


    Throughout their two hundred-odd delves, they had also gotten eighty normally enchanted items. They were mostly just rift made items, with one or two standard enchantments like durability or sharpness. Useful, but not notable.


    They did get thirty-four items with more exotic enchantments that they had great hopes for. If they were like the ones they had found on the training world, they could make them quite a bit of money.


    They also kept any weird items that felt stuffed with mana or essence, like the acorn from the first tree rift. It ended up mostly being a mix of herbs and crafting materials. Sadly, there were only twenty-two of them, but of those, Liz recognized a few and expected good prices for them.


    That was the problem.


    Matt shook his head to Liz, who looked as shocked as he did as they surveyed their goods. This is too much. Theres gotta be a few normal parties worth of goods.


    How do we exin it? She was just as confused as he was.


    Can we spread it out through a few auction houses?


    She considered his suggestion for a long moment. I guess. There were two when we leftst. But even then, its too much. Maybe we split up and sell it in two bunches?


    He thought that over and shook his head. Were registered as a party, so they could see through that easily enough. I I had no idea it was this much.


    It was going to be a problem no matter what they did.


    And we havent even had the items from the vault inspected yet. Theyre still too noticeable.


    Matt had no idea what to do.


    Maybe we can just swagger in and pretend nothings weird, and request a private appraisal. Then we let them know that were a part of The Path. That should take most of the danger out of this, right? If theyre the only ones who know, it will be suspicious, but not dangerous.


    Matt, not having a better idea, agreed with the suggestion. So, they packed up and flew to the auction. Hesitating wouldnt decrease the risk.


    When they arrived on the outskirts of the city, Matt felt like everyone was watching them and waiting for a chance to snatch their bags. By the time they reached the auction house, he was a bundle of nerves, trying to not sweat through his clothes.


    Seeing his state, Liz took pity on him and did the talking to the receptionist.


    We need a private appraisal.


    To his surprise, they didnt even question the request, and they were brought to a room behind the counters. They were warned they would have to wait a while.


    Matt sat down for all of two seconds before he started pacing. His nerves started to bleed into Aster, who started to growl at the wall. He restricted their bond so Liz could pet the floofer into a calm state. He was bad enough without a feedback loop making it worse.


    It was half an hourter when they were seen. The door opening caused Matt to reach for a de, but he stopped himself before he did anything stupid, and moved to sit next to Liz.


    A woman of indeterminate age came in and introduced herself. I am Diana, Tier 12 appraiser, neen years of experience. What do you have for me today? Also, please note that the fee is doubled for a private appraisal, but the percentage for selling any item is still the standard five percent.


    Matt looked to Liz, who shrugged and said, We have a lot of things. These first ones well sell to you if there isnt anything out of the ordinary.


    The woman didnt look convinced until they brought out the eighty normally enchanted rift items. She only cocked an eyebrow, but quickly scanned the items and found nothing out of the ordinary. They received a message with each items picture and description as she went through them. When they agreed to sell for a standard price, Diana absorbed them all into the ring she wore.


    Matts nerves only increased as Liz pulled out their thirty-four more uniquely enchanted items. This caused the appraiser to pull her head back slightly. It wasnt the reaction he feared, and he counted that as a win. He started to let himself calm down.


    Diana did ask them, Do you want to sell these in bulk as well?


    If there isnt anything we want, yes.


    There were only two items that stood out to them as useful to their situation. The first was an orb that could cast shade anywhere, and lower the surrounding temperature to a morefortable climate for a mana per second cost. The other was the broach that allowed the wearer to breathe underwater for half an hour. Everything else wasbat-focused, and not any better than what they already had.


    The appraiser tapped a finger and brought the items to her ring, asking, We will want to auction these items off in our next auction. We can either buy them outright, or we can host them for you.


    Matt squeaked out, When?


    Tomorrow evening. Is that all?


    Liz brought out the crafting items, which earned them a long look, before the process repeated and they sold everything off.


    That wasnt even our vault items. Will we ever have the chance to sell them?


    When Diana asked if they had anything else to get apprised, she didnt seem to expect Liz to bring out their remaining ten items at once. This time, Diana jerked back slightly before she hesitated and got to work.


    Do you know the skills already?


    At their nod, she continued, Ok. And I assume you want to sell or trade them?


    Liz answered, Sell, please.


    They had discussed it, and wanted to try and gather most of their skills in a way that wouldnt be in a database for others to data-mine. It wasnt even umon for people to analyze public fights, and sell prospective builds of fighters. By not buying on public auctions or skills swaps, they avoided most of that possibility.


    Next, she moved to the growth items, and Matt leaned forward in anticipation.


    She started with the sword that even now let off a small me. Her results were predictable enough.


    Its a shortsword growth item that will empower all me skills cast, and its growth potential seems to be the growth multiplier for fire spells. More so for melee fire attacks. Id estimate around a Tier 13 to Tier 15 cost, unless a bidding war happens.


    Diana picked up the hammer, and after a long examination, let out a small politeugh. Its a hammer that will increase the effectiveness of alchemy connections made with it. She shrugged, Sorry, but this one is kinda funny. It might sell if someone thinks they can incorporate it, but it will probably be much cheaper than thest one. Well start the bidding at a Tier 9 mana stone. It will sell, but I cant even guess at how much. Would you like to put it up or not? You might have better luck in arger city, or the Empire proper.


    Matt and Liz met each others gaze and nodded together.


    Well put it up. Matt felt rxed enough to answer the appraiser.


    She picked up the snowglobe and inspected it for a long time, even pulling out new items to poke and prod it with.


    This is a weird one. It seems to speed up time for any living foliage ced inside, but it also seems to have a restriction of only having one single thing in it at a time. As far as I can tell, even the growth aspect will only increase the speed, and not the amount of things you can add. It might be good for a higher Tier alchemist, but even then, the inability to even nt more of that type of nt is limiting?


    Matt was going to agree to put it up anyway, when Liz messaged him, Wouldnt Gereden be perfect for this with his tree bond?


    He paused before thinking it over and replying, Would he take it?


    Matt actually liked the man, for all his taciturn nature, but he was staunchly independent. He didnt see a way to give the man an item without pissing him off.


    Direct delivery with no return address? Liz followed it up with aughing face. Thinking of the mans face when he got the item, Matt agreed.


    Liz, seeing his agreement, said, Can we get it sent to a friend with a description, but not telling him who we are?


    Diana seemed amused and agreed readily. With the volume of items youre selling with us, we can do that. Just give us a name and ast known location.


    With that, they were invited to stay and join the auction the next day. They took Kass auction house up on the offer, and were put up in a VIP room. If they had thought the hotel that they stayed at was extravagant, this ce was a step above. Even the sinks were made of gold. It was frankly unnecessary, but Matt didnt mind spending the night in such a nice suite.


    When the auction started, they mingled with the rest of the guests on the lower floor and mingled. As much as Matt hated it the first time on the training, he was enjoying himself. He even learned of a few interesting tidbits from the other people who flocked here to subjugate the.


    One man he chatted with even told him a story of a misty mountain that erased the memory of anyone who entered. It was so weird, Matt didnt believe the man until he shared a news article. He had gone in himself, but like everyone else, exited an hourter, thinking he walked directly out. Not a memory or scratch. Even their AIs were as helpless as they were.


    Apparently, even the local Tier 15 noble family fared no better. He said that there was a rumor that someone stronger investigated, but as no one had died, they left it alone. Everyone spected about fantastic rewards, but it was all rumor-mongering.


    Matt made a note to tell Liz about it. It seemed interesting enough to investigate themselves. After all, they would need to leave this once it started to get settled, and they couldnt y rift creator without getting caught.


    The actual auction was only interesting when their items came up, and while counting their ever-expanding bank ounts. Liz bought a pair of earrings that doubled as a privacy barrier, while Matt picked up a plucked Tier 4 mana concentration flower. He couldnt use it to condense his own mana, but he thought he might be able to make a rift with it. If he could make a Tier 4 rift, there was a chance for a Tier 5 variant to be given as a reward. Or at least that was his n.


    They had even bought a set of fast attuning mana stones, each with aspected mana of one of the basic elements mana. It was amon enough purchase for crafters, so they didn''t think anyone would question it. He figured that they would let him test mana types when forming rifts, and that they would hopefully influence the rift rewards. Even if it didnt work, their resale price was steady enough that they wouldn''t take a loss.


    They had gotten a Tier 14 mana stone from the growth sword, which dwarfed everything else.


    When the auction ended, they returned to their ind, and were about to head to bed while chatting.


    Neither could quite believe how much they made in thest few hours, and discussed what they should do when they had another lot to sell. Liz thought they should go back to the other city, but Matt wasnt convinced that it would be enough.


    I think we just need to start holding the items. Next time we sell off that many growth items, it will do more than draw attention to us.


    A voice rang out from above. There wont be a next time.


    Suddenly, an enormous pressure seemed to lock down the entire world. It was more than just his spirit being pressed on. It was as if Matt was a bug pinched in between someone''s fingers, ready to be squished at any moment.


    With great effort, Matt turned his head and saw a man floating in the air, backlit from the bright moons in the sky.


    I am Investigator Gregor Hanson for The Path of Ascension. Im here because you were gged for viting Path restrictions.

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68


    Matt felt like shitting himself again. It wasn''t <em>just</em> from the promation that was out of a nightmare he only now realized he had, but the pressure crushing him from the man floating mid-air.


    Liz managed to gasp out, "We don''t cheat."


    She tried to say something else, but it was more gargle than intelligible words.


    The man, Gregor, floated down and walked towards them with a fire in his eyes.


    "I am Gregor Hanson, Tier 41, and have been an investigator for longer than you could imagine. No one admits to cheating, and no one expects to get caught. I have aundry list of gs from the AIs regarding both of you. Mr. Alexander more so than Miss Moore."


    Matt was able to squeak out, "Weve done nothing wrong."


    Gregor just smiled, and the area lit up like daytime, though Matt couldn''t see an active skill or spell. It was like the light was always at the corner of his vision, but when he turned to look, it was gone.


    The Tier 41 chuckled, and a chair and table hovered over the sand. He gestured for them to sit, saying, "The name Investigator gives the wrong impression. You have already been investigated and found suspicious."


    He pursed his lips and wiggled his hand like he was thinking. "This is more of an appeal. For the rare few who actually don''t cheat."


    Without looking up to them, he gestured, and three more chairs appeared on the other side of the table. It was out of Matt''s control, as he was lifted and ced in the chair.


    The Investigator brought out a pad and tapped at it for long enough. Matt tried to send a message to Liz in the lull.


    His panicked message was only half coherent. ''The fuck do we do? What did we even do?''


    To Matt''s surprise, it wasn''t Liz who answered him but Gregor. "I can see all AI messages while the investigation is underway. If you have something to say, please do so out loud."


    "That''s an invasion of our privacy." Liz seemed confident in her assertion, but Gregor shot her down instantly.


    "No. I am intercepting messages, not reading your AIs history."


    He spun the pad around and showed the three of them a screen. It had a list of alleged transgressions so long, he had to scroll to reach the bottom.


    "These are your charges. Or a list of suspicious activity. First: Mr. Alexander, you came to the yPen with a skill that neither of your sponsors reported."


    Before he said anything, Liz got out, "Just tell the truth. We did nothing wrong, and as this is an official investigation, everything will be sealed no matter the oue."


    This caused Gregor to look up at her. "Correct, Miss Moore. You seem prepared. Did your parents prepare you if you were caught?"


    "Oh, go fuck yourself. I joined The Path to escape their influence."


    The man ignored thest bit and looked back to Matt, clearly waiting for an answer to hisst question.


    "That was, uhh... Stolen. Kinda." Seeing that the man clearly expected more, he continued, "The Emperor even said that it was battlefield salvage, as someone threw it to start a fight. I didn''t have an AI at the time, so I can''t prove that, but Griff and the others at the yPen were nearby. Maybe they heard something."


    The man nced down, and when Matt followed his gaze, he found words typing themselves at a blinding speed.


    "Yes. The assistant head of the yPen, Griff. He gave you a gift equaling a Tier 5 mana stone."


    Matt had almost forgotten about that. It happened so long ago. "He had chewed my ass out about taking a risk in a rift challenge, and to apologize he gave me a cor for Aster."


    He looked to his bond, who had her own higher seat. To his surprise, she was face-first in a bowl of ice cream, oblivious to his predicament.


    The Tier 41 just nodded at that and continued, "Yes, it says there was a dispute that ended with a healer''s death. The recordings show you weren''t at fault, but it doesn''t look great on your record. What <em>does</em> interest me is the unique AI that you went and looked for, and received through a special contract. How did you be aware of such a thing existing?"


    "I uh..." Matt remembered Griff explicitly expressing to him that he never told him about the AI, as he wasn''t supposed to deviate from the prepared briefing.


    He didn''t know what to say without one of them getting in trouble. "I had a hunch about it when Griff said most AI use reserved mana, and decided to call them after to see what I could do."


    The Tier 41 cocked an eyebrow at him but didn''t question it, and moved on.


    "And did you guess about the training world that you went to? That was meant to be a secret for most people, and only the best were to be informed. But you were given special treatment. Why?"


    Matt didn''t have to lie for that one, and honestly answered. "Maybe because I had talked with the Emperor? I didn''t even know I wasn''t supposed to be told that one."


    To Matt''s surprise, the Investigator looked to Liz next. "And you, Miss Moore. You had a Tier 3 spear given to you while at Tier 1. Care to exin? Did your parents pull strings for you?"


    Liz actually looked embarrassed when she answered, "I won it in a poker game."


    When Gregor just stared at her, she bristled. "I''m good at poker."


    Matt actually believed her when he thought of how she said she won a favor from Aunt Helen. He also made a note not to y poker with her.


    "Back to you, Mr. Alexander. On the training world, you were suddenly given preferential VIP treatment by the Dual Stars Guild, which is currently under investigation for tax fraud. Why?"


    That was easier to answer if they weremitting to telling the truth. Matt trusted Liz and the Empire. He could also admit, with all the oddities beingid out in front of him, that his actions and encounters were rather suspicious.


    "I traded them for half a million mana to jumpstart the shielding, so they could send people out faster."


    Seeing the clear disbelief on the man''s face, he sent an AI verification, which only caused an eyebrow to raise.


    "Who provided the mana for you to make that deal?"


    Matt sighed and just let it out. "I did. My Talent lets me produce a lot of mana."


    To prove it, he activated [Hail] and [Mage''s Retreat] at full st. and dropped his veil so the man could feel his mana generation. Though, he felt removing the veil might be redundant.


    Gregor tapped his finger for a moment before he nodded, saying, "We''ll explore that more in a few minutes. You reportedly found a pair of growth rings. A bonded set. Right around the time you met Miss Moore. Very convenient.


    Matt shrugged; this one was easy. I found that before I even met Liz. Here, watch it. I have no clue what a higher Tier can do. But I don''t think her parents influencing something on my behalf, before we even met, makes any sense.


    He sent the recording of his delve in the office rift to the Tier 41, and showed the reward from the extra area. Just to be thorough, Matt sent the video where he met Liz as well. The time stamps would prove more than any arguments would.


    Gregor just considered him sternly and said, A Tier 48 could be standing in between us and <em>I</em> wouldn''t even know. But I actually agree with you, they wouldn''t have reason to interfere with your life before you met their daughter.


    He shook his head and refocused. After you left the training world, you went to Helen''s Hearth, where you were given a reward far out of proportion for anything a Tier 4 could sell to a Tier 48."


    He nced at Liz, finishing, "Sold to her mother. With a note of Meritorious service to the entire Empire. Care to exin how that isn''t favoritism?"


    Matt shrugged, "I gave Liz some dragon blood that wasn''t possible in this realm supposedly, and Aunt Helen said they were gonna copy the rift or something."


    The Tier 41, who had looked so unppable, looked rattled when Matt sent the same video that he had sent Lizs mother.


    "I''ll look into that."


    He then went back to Liz. "For someone who says she wants to get out of her familys influence, you spent an awfully long time with your Tier 17 brother. Just before an ascension no less, and then came here selling growth items."


    "I said I wanted to get out of my parents'' shadow. Not that I hate my family. If you want toin about us finding out about the ascension early, me Aunt Helen. She told us to visit Travis and Keith, but refused to tell us why. Go argue with her." Liz''s answer felt flippant and confrontational.


    <em>Liz, don''t get us killed, please</em>.


    Matt didn''t think it likely, and the Tier 41 didn''t seem angry. He just took the snark in stride.


    Gregor just moved on. What about you meeting up with one Cami Anderson?


    Liz took this question as well. We met up with her, but herbat prowess wasnt as significant as ours, so the AIs said it was fine.


    Yes but why did she seek you out?


    Uncle Waters sent her. Apparently, Uncle Manny already punished him for that, so deal with one of them. This feels like a lot of bullshit. We did nothing wrong, and only used our abilities in the best way we could. So either let us prove that we can do what we say, or would you like to bring up more of our past? Should I list every time I took a shit, so you know we didn''t have help there as well?


    There had to be a special irony about hearing the person you were interrogating calling your boss uncle, but Gregor didnt seem bothered, even though Matt felt weird about it.


    He still felt that it was best to step in and exin the rewards, as they seemed to be the big thing that brought The Path AIs attention to them.


    "If you check the ind over there, you''ll see a dozen rifts we''ve made. If you let us go there, I''ll make one in front of you."


    Gregor stared at him for a long time, before they were suddenly in the clearing, surrounded by the dozen rifts they had decided to keep as they made new rifts each day.


    Gregor looked around, and actually looked impressed when he looked back at Matt.


    He gestured and said, "Go ahead, prove it."


    "I need my spatial bag. I need the..." Before he finished the statement, his and Liz''s spatial bags were floating in front of them.


    Matt nodded to the man and pulled out his formation tes. He made a level area and cleared it of debris. He was going to trust the man with his Talent, because he had to. Liz was sure that it wouldn''t leak out, but he wanted to keep the influence of rift archetypes a secret.


    Once the tes were set up, he pumped his mana in while keeping an eye on Gregor and Liz, who was holding Aster. When the rift formed and the break happened, the monster, a purple lizard, floated to the Investigator. He examined the creature before it disappeared.


    "I want to check the rift."


    With that terse statement, the man was gone for a heartbeat. Matt was looking at Liz, and was going to ask what they should do, but the Tier 41 reappeared before he could get anything out. He immediately told Matt to continue.


    Gregor repeatedly entered the rift after every rift break, until the rift reached Tier 5 Then, he asked them to delve it. The monsters that broke out were killed so quickly, Matt didn''t even have time to see what they would be.


    "I want to see you delve the rift." The Tier 41s tone was much more congenial and less terse, but there was still an air ofmand that implied it wasn''t an option.


    Matt was nervous, but pulled out his flying sword, which was met with a raised eyebrow.


    "I fell off a tree once."


    That got a grin that quickly returned to the neutral, t line that the Tier 41 had worn most of the night.


    The Tier 5 rift was no challenge for the trio, and they quickly cleared it. It was fast and efficient, like all of the Tier 5 rifts they had been delving for weeks now. They had fought ambush leopards like this rift had enough to know their tactics.


    Gregor watched them pull out an odd herb that was stuffed with essence, while simply nodding. Matt had been worried that they would get lesser rewards with the vastly stronger cultivator apanying them. But either the man did something to hide his presence, or because he had only floated behind them and observed, it wasn''t counted as help. Whatever the reason, they got the full reward.


    "Do it again. This time with a Tier 6 rift."


    Matt went to charge the rift until it reached Tier 6, but the Tier 41 waved a hand, and the rift dispersed like mist.


    "Start over. I don''t want the rift to stay the same type."


    It was a reasonable, but irritating approach. Matt had been hoping for exactly that. Any advantage he could scrape out of this was good. He wasn''t sure why he was making them do this. But seeing that Liz wasnt questioning it, he didn''t either.


    He trusted her, and while she looked apprehensive, she didn''t look scared.


    The Tier 6 rift was a tropical jungle filled with brightly colored birds and giant, armored hippos. They found a pair of hippos getting stuck food plucked from their teeth by the birds, which took to the sky as soon as they noticed the interlopers.


    It took them only a few fights to figure out the monsters tactics and counter them. The birds were fast, and used [Wind de] to great effect during flying attack runs, while the hippos tried to crush them under their bulk.


    Unlike the Tier 5 rift, where they were left alone, Gregor called out to them when he saw that they had worked out a strategy. Liz was fighting the birds while Matt killed the hippos.


    "I want to see you each fight a pack alone."


    They did so. It was easier for Liz, who quickly killed the birds with a volley of [Blood Bullets], then used her blood whips to slice the legs off the hippos. She was able to cut her way through the rift monsters, and avoid any real danger.


    Matt was able toplete his task as well, but the Hippo was much easier for him to handle. With just two [Mana Charge] blows, he had removed most of the monster''s head. The birds were harder, as he was only able to cast [Hail] at them. He was only able to connect with shes of his sword when they dove a little too close.


    He was nearly as fast as Liz, and the look on the man''s face was still neutral. When they were allowed to finish the rest of the rift together, they were able to quickly sweep through it. They even pulled a skill shard for their efforts.


    Matt half expected their little test to be over, but Gregor dispersed their rift and simply called out, "Tier 7."


    Matt looked at him like he was stupid and said, "This is only a Tier 6. I can''t do that."


    "Yes, you can. It will just take more mana."


    The man''s tone screamed confidence and surety, so Matt did as instructed.


    It took nearly as long as it did to take a rift from Tier 1 to Tier 5, but eventually, the Tier 6 rift warbled and broke as it stepped into Tier 7. Matt assumed that it was because he was pushing the Tier of the rift over the Tier of the. The discovery gave Matt quite a few ideas, but he wasn''t able to think about them before they were ordered to enter.


    Matt looked at Liz, who had backpacked Aster. She had a hard look on her face, but nodded at him. They didn''t need to speak to understand each other. If they found the rift beyond their abilities, they would retreat.


    They found themselves in a rolling desert that expanded out as far as their eyes could see. The air was drier than a tomb, and the moisture was sucked from their bodies as they carefully walked up a sand dune.


    With his spiritual sense, Matt could feel something in the distance. It felt like an exit, but the rift was sorge that he wasn''t sure. Throughout the desert, he saw stone outcroppings that peppered thendscape like a mockery of trees.


    They hopped on Matt''s flying sword and flew over to the outcropping, only to be sent tumbling to the ground when a boulder was flung at them.


    The outcrop was in fact, a rift monster. It seemed to be a sandstone golem of some sort, and initiated a brutal fight. Every time they damaged it, the surrounding sand crawled up its body to heal any missing or damaged limbs.


    With all the loose sand, they were at a massive disadvantage. The monster seemed to treat the sand as solid ground as it moved, but it was a naturally slow monster. It clearly had mastery over the terrain, on top of being healed by it.


    In the end, it wasn''t their skills that made the fight possible, but instead the Tree of Perfection. Matt hadn''t really pushed himself before this, but while being forced into this desperate situation, he saw why the tree had the glowing description and reputation.


    Matt felt nearly twice as strong as he had before the root. His AI said that it wasn''t that exaggerated, only fifty percent stronger. Every movement was fluid and seemingly without effort. When he blocked the golems kicks and punches, it wasn''t his body that struggled to keep up, but instead his gear and skills. His de bent and flexed while [Cracked Phantom Armor] struggled to keep stable in his spirit. It was even shattered more than once, but where he expected to take broken bones, he wasn''t even bruised.


    Matt didn''t feel like a new man, he felt like a god. Perfection was selling the effects short.


    When the golem kicked at him, he caught the blow, and for an instant he pushed back. As he ramped up [Mages Retreat], he was almost confident he could have beaten the monster in apetition of pure strength. But the difference in footing meant that he was unable to get the leverage he needed, and he was kicked to the side.


    Even though the hit shattered [Cracked Phantom Armor], it resulted in nothing worse than a tumble in the sand before he was back in the fight.


    Matt finallynded a solid hit with [Mana Charge] to the monster''s chest, exposing a pearl-like core. At that moment, they realized their strategy. From there, all it took was Liz distracting the monster for Matt to sneak in and disperse the protective sandstone covering the core again. Liz didn''t miss the opening, and followed up his attack with a flying spear, piercing the core and causing the golem to fall apart in moments.


    They each leaned against each other, panting heavily. Matt pulled out their canteen and passed it around, filling it with his [Create Water]. It took more mana than he was expecting to fill the canteen, but there was no moisture to pull out of the air, so his spell had to create all of it. Matt used the shade orb item they had to give them a slight bit of cover.


    Aster was panting heavily, and Matt scratched his partners jowls before dumping the rest of the water over her. He had been sting out his Concept during their break, and watched as his mages mana pools returned to full on his HUD.


    Liz panted out, Stupid thing had an internal Concept. Fuck!... Wasnt expecting that. It shed with my Concept when I punched through its core. Ow, my head is throbbing. Give me a few more minutes of rest.


    Well, I feel <em>good</em>. I''m getting a lot out of the root. Im probably around two times stronger than I was before. I think I could have wrestled the golem had we been on solid ground. Hits that made it though [Cracked Phantom Armor] barely hurt. How are your benefits from the leaf?


    Liz looked chagrined. It''s helping me as well. My skills are much easier to use, almost automatic. I was wrong about not getting anything out of it. Either I''m farther from perfection than I thought, or the effects were additive to what I already have. I don''t know how topare to wrestling a Tier 7 giant sand monster, but my skills feel effortless, and I only got a percentage of what you got out of it. It seems to have made you a new man. Thanks for convincing me to eat it. I didn''t think having even a single part of us perfected would make such a change.


    She rubbed her face while looking off into the distance. And it''s not even done yet. The effectsst for a year. I also didn''t realize how much of an advantage that I had over everyone. I thought it was only a small boost; five percent at most. But, given how much the tree has helped us, it was probably closer to eighty percent. How were you even keeping up with me? I never realized I had such a big advantage over you. She looked serious as she repeated herself a second time.


    Matt wanted to lighten the mood, but the sun beating on Liz was causing her to sweat profusely, and Aster was panting her heart out. He felt nothing, as [Cracked Phantom Armor] protected him from the ring sun, but he still felt for them. Getting out of the heat would probably help her mood more than anything he could say in the moment.


    After Liz was ready, they moved in the direction of what they expected to be the exit, when they were ambushed by scorpions popping out of the sand. It was an easier fight, as Liz and Aster could more easily damage chitin than sandstone. The monsters even had blood for Liz to snatch up and use.


    None of them, not even Matt, let an attacknd, as they were two Tiers weaker than the monsters. Unlike the sandstone monsters that didn''t have sharp weapons, these monsters ws gleamed with skills, and snapped audibly. The sandstone monsters didnt have piercing weapons or skills, which made these scorpions much more dangerous.


    It made for some scrambling, but their teamwork was good enough to cover for each others vulnerabilities, and that was enough to dispatch the giant insects. Matt distracted the monsters, and the mages slowed and killed them one by one.


    When they thought the fight was over, giant vultures circled lower and lower, before they started to attack them with [Wind de]s. Liz noticed that they seemed to be covered in the scorpions chitin, and called for them to retreat. When they did so, the birds left them alone, and feasted on the scorpions.


    They decided to just avoid the seemingly non-hostile vultures. The decision led to them walking for the remainder of the rift, as they didnt want to fight the vicious looking birds.


    Neither bothered to check to see what Gregor thought about it. The man just hovered behind them, and was ignored by all the monsters. He never asked them to fight alone either. He only watched them in silence as they fought brutal battle after brutal battle.


    For all the hard fights and exhaustion, the Tier 7 rift was doing wonders for their cultivation. They had to pause to allocate their newly gathered essence after every fifth fight, just because of the sheer <em>amount </em>they were getting from the higher Tier monsters.


    Nearly nine grueling hourster, they reached the end of the rift and fought a massive sandstone golem. It tried to crush them with lumbering steps and smashing hands. This one, unlike its smaller brethren, had five cores in its limbs. It was harder than any fight Matt had ever fought.


    He had to fight as if [Cracked Phantom Armor] wasn''t there, and that essentially meant being perfect. Every attack had to be anticipated, and damage had to be done at every possible opportunity [Hail] was up the entire time, and [Mage''s Retreat] made it possible for him to keep up with the massive steps of the lumbering giant.


    When the boss crumbled to sand, Matt tiredly stumbled to the reward rift, and dispelled <em>two</em> skill shards. Matt didn''t bother to check them, and just fell out of the rift into the blessedly cool morning air of their ind.


    Liz and Aster stumbled over him, and didn''t bother to get up from their position.


    Gregor came out behind them, and they were raised up to sit at the table that had reappeared.


    "Well done. I have to say, I''m impressed. I''ve busted thousands of cheaters, but have only had three groups, including yourselves, turn out to not be cheating."


    A breeze blew off most of the dust that had gathered on Matt, Liz, and Aster from their time spent in the sandpit.


    "Thest thing I had you do was a test of sorts."


    Liz interrupted Gregor with a muttered, "No shit."


    The Tier 41 didn''t seem bothered and just smiled. "Do you know what the purpose of The Path of Ascension is?"


    He looked at Matt, so he tried his hand at an answer. "To find strong people?" It was more a question, but the man just nodded and looked to Liz.


    "It''s to find strong fighters for wars. People who can hit above their Tier."


    Gregor nodded as he said, "Both are correct, but do you know <em>why</em>?" Seeing that neither had an answer, he continued. "The Empire and the other Great Powers all have an agreement to keep wars to Tier 35 and below. That''smon knowledge, but <em>why</em>? It''s because, after Tier 35, a cultivators'' strength starts to destabilize worlds. It''s hard to identally do at Tier 36, but with some deliberate effort, it''s not hard to rip a hole into chaotic space on a Tier 5 or lower world."


    The man looked off into the distance and shook his head. "So after a brutal war, the Great Powers agreed to turn wars into games. They all decided on rules to keep worlds from vanishing. One of those agreements is to keep Tier 36 and higher people out of them altogether. But that leads to a problem."


    Matt couldn''t help but to blurt out, "With a cap on a fighters cultivation, the wars turn into a stalemate or a numbers game."


    The Investigator pointed at Matt excitedly. "<em>Exactly</em>. So what did they do?"


    Matt felt like the curtains were drawn back, and he could finally see how the show was performed. "So everyone started looking for people who could fight over their Tier."


    In a whisper, he finished, "The Path."


    "Correct, young Matthew. Exactly right. The Ascenders are able to fight well above their Tier. They have to reach Tier 25 by two hundred years old. It''s a race where power shines because of theck of rifts and mana to spend in them. Anyone who has an Ascender is never going to be attacked in normal situations. When you have someone at Tier 35 who can beat everyone at their Tier, it means you win any battle they are sent to. It also lets them act as lightning rods, and draw the attention of the other Great Powers. With the prestige and poweres responsibility that most never see."


    His face hardened, and he caught Matt''s eyes and held them.


    "Matthew, that''s where you be a problem."


    Liz interrupted him, but was cut off by an upraised hand. "I know Elizabeth. Rx. Matthew, you are able to circumvent the main restriction of The Path. The time requirement means nothing to you, as you could buy the best items, or just delve ten rifts a day at your own Tier. With your Talent, any slightly above average cultivator couldplete The Path in record time. What happens then?"


    Matt thought on it hard, and Gregor let him. The man didnt look at all impatient as the time dragged on. "If I finish The Path and be a representative of the Empire, I''ll either quickly be killed or worse, and lose something. Sorry, I can''t guess more than that. Ie from a Tier 4 world."


    Gregor just nodded. "Yes, exactly. You fall close enough into the same category that people with seeker Talents fall into, so I can apply the same rules to your situation. I can''t think of a single instance where someone could create and refill rifts fast enough for it to be useful. But the seeker rules apply well enough. That was why I had you fight in the rifts. The Tier 5 was to prove you weren''t ipetent. The Tier 6 was to see how good you really were. When that wasn''t a challenge, I pushed you into a Tier 7 rift. I would have counted it as a sess if you had been able to retreat without my help."


    "But we didn''t. We finished the rift."


    The Tier 41 looked at Liz and grinned at her statement. "Yes. Yes, you did. You are your parents daughter, Elizabeth."


    Liz flinched slightly, but Gregor continued as if he hadnt noticed, "Your siblings are fine cultivators. Better than average in most ways, but <em>you</em> are just like your parents when they were climbing. "


    Liz didn''t seem to take thatplement well, and hunched in on herself.


    Gregor moved on. He looked to Matt, and finally got to the point that Matt felt he was working up to. "After Tier 10 on The Path, if someone does well in the tournament, and seems to have the drive, they are given a management team. They are offered to seekers early, to either push them <em>forward </em>on or entirely <em>off</em> of The Path. Depending on how strong the pather is, they are offered three levels of help."


    "The first is a safe ce to sell items to the Empire for contribution points or mana stones. All seekers get that. The second level involves you getting a manager who will monitor your progress, and will encourage you to push yourself, but nothing really special. They mostly check up on you and make sure you arent slipping. Finally, for the real monsters with outstanding potential, they get the Tier 10 treatment and a full team to assist them.


    That means a full time manager who has at least a few centuries of experience overseeing your development, and a trainer who will make sure your performance is up to snuff and will also push you to your limits. There is also someone to help cultivate any secondary abilities that you have. Finally, you will have a liaison who handles the interaction between you and the team. They will also handle everything from PR to scheduling the rifts that the trainer suggests. Theyre usually the most junior person on the handling team, trying to work their way up to manager. But theyre the ones that will spend time with you, and deal with the bullshit of trying to hide your identities. The team isnt there to hold your hand or give you free things, just keep you moving and challenged. Their goal is to make you the best version of yourself. But pushing forward is still on you."


    Gregor stretched andughed a deep bellyugh. "The Tier 5 rift was to see if you were lying. The Tier 6 was to see if you deserved the second level of treatment. If you could retreat out of the Tier 7 rift, I was going to rmend the highest level. As you finished it, Im sure I can push through the full team to back you up. At mid Tier 5,pleting a fully charged Tier 7 rift is <em>impressive</em>."


    The Tier 41 looked between Liz, Matt, and Aster. "It''s up to you if you want this, though. I can just give you ess to the Empire sellers, or give you everything. Just note that once you choose, there is no changing the decision. If you choose to take the full team, you will be taking on expectations. Even if you fall off, you will be expected to help the Empire. With your abilities, I doubt you would see frontline fighting, but I don''t decide that. Let me put it this way... If you take the full team, you will be pushed forward, or off The Path entirely. There will be no waiting at the peak age of a Tier and advancing slowly."


    Matt looked to Liz, and then back to Gregor. "Can we talk alone?"


    The Tier 41 nodded, and before vanishing said, "I''ve removed your AI interceptors. Just message me when youre done."


    With a beep to Matts AI with his ID, Gregor was gone.


    "What do you think?" Both Liz and Matt asked at the same time, causing them to chuckle.


    Liz looked awkward and shrugged. "This is up to you, Matt. I wouldn''t be in this position without you. I can''t make it for you."


    Matt grabbed her hand. She looked so lonely at the moment. He needed to stop that.


    "Liz. I''m not leaving you. If you decide to leave The Path right now, I''ll walk off with you."


    "That''s not fair."


    Mattughed. "Who cares about fair? Liz, I started The Path as a way to get off my shithole, and not work myself to the bone. I would have taken any out. I''m with you. Always."


    Liz looked misty-eyed, and she wiped the budding tears with her free hand. "Honestly, the only reason I''m on the Path is to escape my parents. To prove that I dont need their help. But apparently, Ive been relying on them more than I ever knew. Even my perfect mind, body, and spirit are better because of them. Its like they gave me a gift I couldnt refuse, nor return. I don''t even know if I <em>ever</em> left their influence."


    A frustrated look marred her face while she spat off to the side, My parents daughter?! Its like everything that I am and everything I aplish is because of what theyve <em>gifted</em> me. I dont know why Im on The Path anymore, if everything I aplish is because of them. What would I be if I never had those advantages? What If I was born to a lower Tier couple? Would I be useless?


    With her voice threatening to break, Matt pulled her into a hug, which she thankfully didn''t resist. He just held her, his chin on her shoulder. After a few moments, he voiced the thoughts he had been having since they returned from the auction. "The Path might be more of a hassle than it''s worth. Without the restrictions, we could do a lot more. So why stay? I can only think that it would be nice to be famous, but that''s shallow. I also want to protect the Empire, as weird as that sounds. I never would have seen myself doing that, but for all its faults, the Empire at least tries. Even just looking at the vassal kingdom is enough to see what it could turn into. All it would take is a few people in power who dont care about themon man. I... I think I''d like to be one of those people who prevent that."


    Liz nodded into his shoulder. "Thest bit is the same for me. I love my parents, as much as I hate being under their shadow. Even while growing up, they tried to spend as much time as they could with me, but I could still see how busy they were. I always wanted to help. If youre up for it, I''m game. I think we can go the distance. Or at least you can. I don''t know if I really am pulling my own weight."


    Matt scoffed at herst statement and gave her a gentle squeeze. Stop that Liz. I wouldn''t have been able to handle the Tier 7 rift alone. Sure, I could fight the golem but I would have never killed it. The scorpions would have surrounded me and cut me to pieces in minutes. Were a team. We cover each other''s weaknesses. I don''t hit that hard right now, and you do. Together, were stronger than the sum of our parts. We do this together, or not at all.


    She didnt look as sure as he would have wanted, but she nodded.


    Finally she said, Let''s do it. Added pressure isn''t bad. And this way, we still have the tax exemption.


    With the decision agreed on, Matt messaged Gregor. The Tier 41 appeared so quickly, Matt had to wonder if he had just been invisible.


    "From the smiles, I take it you have decided to push? Ride the tiger, as it were?"


    "Yes."


    "Great! I''m sure there will be no issues in getting the approval, with the recording of your Tier 7 rift run, but it will take a bit of time to get a team ready. Maybe six months to a year."


    That caused a spike of fear to cross Matt''s gut. More people seeing his Talent wasn''t exactly what he was looking for. "Who will approve of it?"


    "The Emperor himself has the final say so. That''s who oversees all the investigators. But there is a tribunal to go through first. Don''t worry about them, they run the day to day operations of The Path and they are trusted. "


    That caused Matt to breathe a sigh of relief. The Emperor would already know of his Talent, and this tribunal sounded important enough to have restrictions ced on themselves.


    Gregor made some goodbyes, and Matt decided to ask onest question. "Why did you give Aster ice cream?"


    The Tier 41ughed. "She traded it for her AI recordings. Im an evolved beast, so I just asked. It''s an easy way to corroborate stories. Many people who cheat with bonds forget to block their AI." The man also nced to the side. I was able to corroborate it, which is all that matters.


    Matt turned to his bond and red at her smug fox smile. She had sold them out.


    Gregor turned around and pointed at Matt.


    "Oh, that reminds me. I''m fining you twenty-five Tier 5 mana stones for being in vition of The Paths birth control regtions. Your imnt fell out of your arm when you ate the Tree of Perfection root."

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69


    Matt just looked down at his arm. He had felt pain there when he had gone through the cleansing, but hadpletely forgotten about the imnt that he had received the day he arrived at the yPen. It had simply been too long ago, and wasnt relevant to him at the moment.


    They were alone. Matt was about to question Gregors fast disappearance, when he got a message from his AI about getting ess to the Empires internal contribution point systems and exchanges.


    He ignored it and looked at Liz. Did that just happen? Im still in shock honestly.


    She plopped to the ground and said, Did you see the message?


    Yeah.


    Did you look at it yet?


    Nope. Matt just didnt care at the moment. Sitting next to Liz, with Aster sprawled across thisp, was worth more. After the high tension of being used of cheating and fighting in a Tier 7 rift, he needed a moment to mentally reset.


    Me either.


    They watched the sunrise for nearly an hour as they sat there, just enjoying the quietpanionship.


    Finally, Liz bumped his side and asked, Can we go get a proper room and just crash for the rest of the day? Im exhausted, and a real bed sounds amazing. I could use one.


    Nodding, he pulled Liz to her feet, and the three of them flew back to the city. They reserved the best room that the nicest hotel had. It cost a Tier 8 mana stone for the weekend, but they had money to burn, and decided to splurge a little.


    A long shower and having breakfast delivered led to them sitting on the bed in the provided robes, and pecking at the spread of food. It was heavier than they usually ate, and Matt made a note to get the chefs pancake recipe, as they clearly did something different, but he couldnt guess what. Either way, it was divine, and he wanted to see what he could do with it himself.


    It was mid-afternoon when they slowly woke up from their nap and got moving, but none of them were in the mood for anything strenuous. So, they walked around the growing town and window shopped. Matt only broke off long enough to get his birth control reimnted. It was so fast, he was back with Liz and Aster before they left the shoe shop that they were in.


    Matt decided to check the message he received this morning about the Empire Market, and was shocked by the numerous items listed. They only had ess to the Tier 5 and below market, but there was everything and everything listed. He was shocked to find that the markets biggest ticket items were in fact, growth items.


    There were even crafters of all types selling their services, and it wasnt limited by Tier. If he wanted to spend a few thousand Contribution Points for a Tier 7 tailor to make him a leather vest, like the under armor he was wearing now, it was possible.


    He came to a list of Tier 8 skills that he was interested in. As of now, it was unlikely that he could find the more rare ones listed on his own, even with his creation of rifts. They were still the lowest priority though, as the rifts that dropped them were known quantities. When they increased in Tier, they could farm the rifts in question with some travel and rift charging.


    In the end, his eyes kept being drawn back to the growth items section. It only took a quick search with his AI to find items that interested him in the massive list. Thankfully, everything had descriptions and tags to help narrow the search. Otherwise, even his AI would have been lost in the endless array of items.


    The list was as long as the prices were high. Matt wasnt sure what ten thousand Contribution Points equaled in mana stones, but that was the typical price for the average but good swords, like the fire sword they had found and sold for a Tier 15 mana stone.


    He quickly found a few items that were close enough to theirst sale for him to be able to get a figure forparison.


    It wasnt great.


    The best and most expensive weapons he saw all had more exotic or rare effects, while still being Tier 5. They were, like most growth items, worth tens of thousands of Contribution Points. One bastard sword had the ability to negate its own weight, so it was as light as a feather, but the wielder could flicker the effect on and off at will. On top of that, the item grew heavier as it Tiered up. It cost thirty thousand contribution points.


    <em>Thats a lot of rift delving to get a sword like that</em>.


    When he read the description, he was surprised at what some of the weapons could do. After skimming through the list for what felt like an hour, Matt found that doubling an elemental aspect was the mostmon effect on the list. It seemed to set the standard price for the rest of the growth items.


    He could understand the draw, especially for any melee fighter who was branching into a hybrid fighting style. It was a massive boost tobat prowess that few things could equal up to, <em>if</em> you wanted to specialize in a single elemental type. Matt didnt think it was ideal, unless you had a Talent to bolster the elemental affinity, or naturally aspect your mana. But, it allowed people to specialize, and increase their mastery over their skills. They could grow and strengthen a select few skills, instead of spreading themselves out.


    From everything he read, it was a valid and sessful strategy to get to Tier 14 safely. After that, when time mattered less, people could branch out, and widen their pool of skills to cover their weaknesses. At that point, they wouldnt have to worry about old age cutting their advancement short.


    If a cultivator only delved the already known rifts that didnt counter them, it was fine, but Matt and Liz didnt have that luxury. He created his own rifts, and they delved them blind. It meant that they had to be prepared for any and everything.


    <em>Speaking of luxury</em>


    Matt thought of their room and essed the EmpireNet. He liked living with Travis and Keith. It would be nice to have thatfort, along with Liz and Aster. A quick search killed that thought process. Even the smallest and best made flying houses needed a Tier 13 spirit to handle the stress of using the spatial runes. That spirit limitation meant that even the easiest to bag away houses were much more expensive, and in bulkier bags instead of a convenient ring.


    Matt shrugged it off, and went back to the Empire Contribution Point Market. He kept browsing the items while they sat on a park bench.


    Out of morbid curiosity, he cleared his previous search and looked for the most expensive growth item. When he saw it, he nched.


    One hundred and twenty thousand Contribution Points for a cloak that absorbed <em>all</em> void damage of its own Tier, and could repair itself with ambient mana. The price was still increasing, as it was ced as an auction, instead of a straight sale. The damn thing had two days left as well meaning the price would only increase.


    Fuck! He wasnt able to control himself, and it slipped out, causing Liz to look over at him in question.


    Sorry. I looked at the most expensive growth item and was shocked.


    Liz just shrugged. After her eyes flickered for a moment, she said, Its a lot. But anything that protects against void always sells for a lot. She paused and then added, Have you seen anything you want in particr? I was checking out prices, and if we delve for a few decent growth items, we can kit ourselves out. Buying too many growth items isnt great because of the spirtual stress, but one more for each of us isnt a bad idea. The only problem is finding the items to upgrade them, but its not <em>that</em> hard while still under Tier 15.


    Matt didnt see a reason to disagree. He was still tired from the long night of delving the Tier 7 rift, even after his nap. But now, the new shopping tform was holding his attention. There were just too many things that he wanted.


    If he was being honest with himself, he was at least mildly interested in almost every item listed. But after a few hours of scrolling through the various growth items, he found one that he felt paired well with him.


    As heid in their bed, he reviewed it for the umpteenth time.


    While not perfect, the growth item was rtively cheap, and it entuated his existing advantages more than a powerful enchantment would. Really, it was as good for hisbat style as he could ask for. It had drawbacks that kept the price reasonable, but wouldnt hinder him in any meaningful way.


    It was a longsword that bordered on greatsword length. Even for his height, it was longer than most preferred, but he liked that added reach and weight. Unlike most growth items, it had a distinctlyckluster growth aspect. However,it had the ability to take on different enchantments, which was rare to the point that it was nearly unheard of. Growth items usually just had their unique effect, and were unable to do anything else. This one was able to purge itself for a new enchantment, at the cost of materials of its Tier and a lot of mana. Just as improving upon the sword itself did.


    The only downsides were that the weapon was heavier than most swords of its Tier, and it had to be enchanted by the person it was bound to.


    It wasnt the perfect growth item for Matt, but it was the best he had found. Anything that generally worked for him would most likely work for anyone else, and that kind of flexibility always drove up the cost. That made him want this particr sword all the more, as it was cheaper and leaned into his unique advantages. The price was low, at only three thousand Contribution Points. Not out of their grasp by any means, after another few weeks of delving. The item had already been sitting on the market for two weeks, so he wasnt worried about someone buying it before he could.


    Looking for Aster, he also found what seemed to be a perfect item for her. It was simr to the Blood Iron that Liz had gotten, but for ice-aspected cultivators. It was a natural treasure called Winters Embrace, a seed from an Ice Rose.


    The Ice Rose was a creeping vine-type, natural predator nt. It slowly sapped the mana and life-force from any creatures that had the misfortune to enter its thorny domain of ice.


    Matt had to admit that it was a pretty nt, despite the danger. It was a mimic of a true rose nt, with grasping vines entirely made from ice.


    The natural treasure had more restrictions than Lizs Blood Iron, but it was more offensive. Any creature that entered the zone of control would be entangled and tied down by the flowering ice vines. If they were unable to escape, they were drained of mana and energy. But unlike with the nt that the treasure came from, the energy didnt go to the caster of the vines. It was instead used to sustain and strengthen the vines themselves.


    It was still considered an amazing AOE attack for ice mages. Unfortunately, the natural treasure came with some drawbacks as well. Namely, the fact that the cultivator had to already have ice aspected mana, or using the skill would cripple them. The second hurdle was that the caster couldnt move while using the skill. They were as rooted as the nt that the natural treasure came from.


    As they made their way back to the city, Matt started making ns for the next few weeks. He had ideas that he wanted to try, now that he had official approval for his rift creation and delving for growth items.


    ***


    The rift in front of Matt flickered, and he checked his surroundings.


    This new rift was created in an effort to give Aster something unique to delve. It would also let him test his new theory, before his order of aspected, fast recharge mana crystals came in.


    He had taken her fast converting mana stone and was pumping mana into it, allowing it to feed the output into the formation. It took longer because they weren''t perfectly efficient, but he thought that it could lead to some interesting experiments. <em>If</em> it worked.


    When the rift flickered to life, a few dozen white deer jumped out, and were immediately ughtered by his new and improved formation tes his AI had nned out. It had been a task the AI had been working on for thest few weeks when it didn''t have any testing for TrueMind to do and when he wasnt using his mana.


    The results had been worth the wait; an attack formation wasn''t easy to get to work at Tier 5. It wasplex and difficult to enchant, let alone the sky high mana cost.


    <em>It worked</em>!


    With the anticipation unbearable, he jumped into the rift and discovered a winter wondend.


    It worked!


    Retreating, he continued to Tier up the rift.


    As he waited, he went to message Liz, but stopped as he remembered that she was busy practicing her melee skills in a Tier 5 rift. He had forgotten that she told him she wanted to practice while he spent the day testing things with the rifts. She practiced all the time, buttely she had even been doing it on their dedicated off days.


    When the test rift hit Tier 5, he reentered to find himself on a t ne of ice and snow. When he flew through the rift, he quickly killed the boss and found a skill shard that he already had. He dispelled [Hail] from the reward distortion, but an ice type skill from a rift made with ice aspected mana was exactly what Matt was hoping for.


    Matt pumped his fist into the air when he exited the rift, and shouted into the sky. He had proven that he could influence the rift and its drops by using different types of aspected mana to create and fill the rift.


    Millions of possibilities shed through his eyes, and he exited the rift to check his next test.


    This time, he prepared an area consisting of a hole filled with water. His second theory was about creating a water rift onnd, which was nearly unheard of. He thought it would be possible, but didnt know if just having water would be enough. Water aspected mana might be necessary to ovee the difference in location, but he needed to test it either way.


    After charging the rift at Tier 1, Matt was still hopeful, until the monsters came out. A bunch of weird, green and brown squirrels. The rift was a murky forest.


    Matt sighed and tried again. The testing still didnt work out as he wanted, and he tried a third rift before moving locations.


    No matter how many times he Tiered up the rift or moved locations, he only gotnd rifts containing lots of water. Even when he created what could only be called a pond, with the rift fully submerged, he only got a murkier forest. After hours of testing, he had nothing to show for it.


    It caused Matt to sit and think about his rifts, and how they were actually made.


    His AI agreed with his hypothesis that it was possible to influence the rift creation and get a water rift on thend. But he was missing something that was influencing the rifts makeup.


    The obvious answer was that it was thend under them. He made a note to repeat the test with water aspected mana onnd again, and flew out to test the rift in the ocean.


    Flying over the ocean, he came to a good distance away from shore, and dove down. Using the underwater breathing item they had found, he created a rift under the water, and unsurprisingly found it to be an underwater rift. From his reading, it was a pretty standard one, with various fish trying to eat him.


    Underwater rifts were lessmon thannd-based rifts, but they existed. Matt found nothing in the rift guidebook about why they were rare, but his test proved that his rift creation was at least partially based on the surroundings.


    Rifts could be influenced by it, but they were not <em>wholly</em> dependent on the area where they were formed..


    Matt floated into the sky, climbing in altitude as he pondered the mystery of rift creation.


    If rifts were influenced by their surroundings, he either needed to work with that, or negate the influencepletely.


    He gave his AI a task to create a rift feeding formation that blocked and removed all ambient mana from the enclosure, instead of letting it seep in and help charge the rift. That might be enough. If he isted the area that the rift was created in, and formed a sterile zone without ambient mana, he might be able to levy greater influence on the rift makeup with the items ced in the formation..


    <em>Maybe if I dig out the sphere that the formation makespletely, so theres no dirt in it at all</em>?


    Matt made a note of that idea, and watched as he was swallowed by a passing cloud. It was surprisingly peaceful, flying above everything and everyone else.


    <em>Why arent there midair rifts</em>?


    He paused in his pondering and rubbed his forehead. He had too many questions for now. One at a time, and he would eventually find the answers.


    Matt rolled off his flying sword and let the free fall take him.


    He closed his eyes as the wind fluttered through his hair. It was freeing to be weightless, and one with the surroundings.


    As his AI started to beep at him, he called his sword to catch him and slow him down. Hended next to his failed rifts, and pulled out his next test subject.


    Swords. He wanted to try a bundle of swords, and see if that could change the rifts monsters, or the rewards that he received.


    The ones he had bought were shortswords that bordered on daggers and so cheap to be nearly trash, but that was fine for the experiment he had in mind.


    Matt used his formation tes to section off a new area, and threw in the Tier 1 sword from the bundle. He started to charge a new rift over the sword. When they were used to create a rift, he found that all the monsters had nearly identical swords. But every time the rift Tiered up, the monsters changed, so he was pretty sure that he hadnt just gotten lucky from the initial rift creation.


    If nothing else, they had a way to replicate standard items. He had a few ideas on how they could take advantage of that.


    Matt rubbed his hands, and he ced the Tier 3 sword into the formation. As the rift charged and broke through, he found that the weapon had disappeared. Not unusual, but he hoped it meant good things. The monsters that broke through were killed so fast, he could only tell that they were goblinoids. Scrambling, he once again found an identical sword, but was unable to see if it was enchanted like the de he had fed to the rift.


    That was his hope. If they could get a rift to create enchanted swords for the monsters, he could probably influence the reward drop. It took four clears of the rift to get his answer.


    Yes, the rift made more swords with enchantments, but while the sword only had slight variance, the enchantment could be anything. A sword that was enchanted with durability was great. A sword that was enchanted with flexibility was usable. A sword that was enchanted with brittleness was useless.


    It still gave Matt a data point.


    <em>I wonder if I feed all the Tiers with items with a specific enchantment if I can make it only drop that enchantment</em>?


    It also painted a daunting picture for the future. At Tier 5, it wasnt that bad to create a rift with the specifications that he wanted, but it wasnt perfect or guaranteed. Maybe one rift out of five had the same item used in the drop table, even if the rift adopted the theme of the item that was sacrificed to it.


    At Tier 20, it would be expensive to do these tests. At Tier 40, it would be nearly impossible. That meant that they needed to flip a coin fifty times, and expect it tond on heads nearly every time. It wasnt practical, and he needed to find a way to increase the probability, if he wanted to make this viable for the higher Tiers.


    It was a problem for future Matt, but he didnt know when he would have a nearly uninhabited to perform uninterrupted tests on again. Matt didnt want to pass up the time he had.


    He was also sure that when the management team was created, he would be forced to focus on his fighting prowess. It was in line with what he wanted to do, but experimenting with rifts was so much fun, he didnt want to stop until he had to.


    Matt was enjoying himself too much to stop right now. The research mania of a mad scientist had ensnared him.


    ***


    Two weekster, Liznded next to him on her own newly purchased flight item, a pair of ankle bracelets. She gave him a questioning look after seeing the dozens of new rifts.


    I thought today was our day off?


    It is, but I had a few ideas...?


    Liz looked at him weirdly, Why is it a question? Are you unsure if you had an idea? She grinned at him and asked, Want to spar? Im feeling antsy?


    Matt was always up for a good spar, so he quickly pulled out his sword and looked at Liz.


    Any restrictions or rules?


    No. Im trying to work on my meleebat, and incorporating my flying. This is why ankle flying devices are better. You can keep them on all the time.


    Matt shot back, Sure, you have them, but I can block attacks with my sword. And I also have a higher top speed.


    Liz hovered while Matt stepped on his de, while she leered at him and his sword. Oh,pensating for something, big guy?


    Mattughed and shot after the retreating woman.


    A barrage of [Blood Bullets] tried to cut him off, but Matt opened up his swords throttle and corkscrewed around the attack.


    Liz wasnt wrong. At lower speeds, she had the advantage in maneuverability with her flying device, but Matts sword excelled in raw speed. If they got into a chase, he would win. But if they were maneuvering at lower speeds, she had the upper hand.


    The model they had gotten her was a much more efficient, Tier 7 device. It sacrificed top speed for longer durations of flight time. For each unit of mana, she could stay airborne much longer than he could. They were perfect for a mage who needed to save her mana for fighting.


    Liz wasnt stupid, she dropped off the cliff and into the trees that covered the ind. Matt didnt hesitate to follow her, and used [Cracked Phantom Armor] to st through the thinner tree branches that Liz was flitting around.


    She never let up her stream of attacks while Matt chased her. He tried to dodge them and follow her as closely as possible. Her attacks hit a lot harder than a tree branch, and would easily punch through his armor if theynded in quick session.


    Matt pulled out and loaded his crossbow with a padded tip bolt, and fired it when he had the chance.


    As if she had eyes in the back of her head, Liz countered with her own [Blood Bullets], and dodged the bolt by flying into the sky.


    <em>I have you now</em>.


    As she flew straight up, Matt followed, hot on her trail.


    To his surprise, she entered a cloud. He expected her to use the cover to fly in a different direction, but he found her in free fall instead,unching a swarm of [Blood Bullets] as she exited the clouds cover.


    Unwilling to lose that easily, Matt flipped his sword so the tip faced the sky. He tried to use the more powerful rear thrust to push him down, and out of the trajectory of her attack.


    Realizing that the maneuver wouldnt work, he bailed and kicked off his de, falling towards the still descending Liz.


    She shot him a message as he angled towards her. Im holding your sword hostage. It wonte to you if you dont give up. I win.


    Matt flipped over to verify her threat, and saw that she had wrapped up his sword in a coating of blood, locking it in ce. His automatic calls were nothingpared to the force of her [Blood Maniption].


    He turned back around and grinned at his partner. She had well and truly trapped him. If it was anyone else at their Tier, it would have even worked. If he hit the water at terminal velocity, even with a Tier 5 body, he would be screwed.


    Unlike most people, however, he had an armor skill that absorbed physical impacts almost perfectly.


    Liz changed her trajectory, and Matt angled off to the side, shooting her a message in response. Ha! I dont negotiate with cheaters.


    What are you going to do? Hey, I let it go, dont do anything dangerous.


    Matt deactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor] for a moment and enjoyed the wind blowing through his hair and enjoying the weightlessness of falling.


    MAAATTT!!!!


    It was toote, and he dropped to the beach with a loud thump and impact of sand.


    Thebination of [Mages Retreat] and [Cracked Phantom Armor] did their job. While [Cracked Phantom Armor] was stressed from the impact, Matt was fine. Or he would have been, if he wasnt chest-deep in the sand.


    Seeing the worried look on Lizs face, he deactivated his armor and held out his hands. Can I get a lift?


    Liz, after confirming that he was ok,unched into a tirade about how reckless he was, and how dangerous his stunt had been.


    His protests that his AI had indicated that he had arge margin of error didnt mollify her at all. Instead, the position only egged her on.


    All he could do was take it, as she sat in front of him and bopped him on the nose while he was stuck in the sand. She was satisfied to prove her point about how dangerous his hard-headedness could be.


    When Aster made her way over, he thought that he found his savior, and that she would dig him out. But when he asked, he was scoffed at.


    Not dog. No Dig.


    Shouting, he wiggled to get free and said, Aster, you dig the rabbits out of their holes every day! Just help me get free. Please?


    She just cocked her head and flicked her ears at him. Not Dog.


    Then she proceeded to kick sand at him.


    Thats digging, Aster. Do that but away from me. Please.


    His pleas were finally heard, and Liz dug him out. A smug look was stered on her face the whole time.


    When he was almost free, she asked, Was it worth it?


    Matt thought about it. He was nearly free. After all, he could get out on his own from here.


    Yes, that was awesome. Im going to do it again.


    When she looked at him like he was crazy, he shrugged, It was fun.


    Youre an idiot.


    Probably.


    After he was free, he moved to retrieve his sword, and they sparred with just melee weapons.


    Your extra work is paying off, Liz. Your moves are really smooth. Your spear is like a viper.


    It was true. While Matt was stronger and faster because of the cultivation differences, Liz knew her weapon and how to use it. She kept him at her maximum range, and tried to bleed him. For his part, Matt only punished her when she left an opening, and let her feel out her mistakes by putting pressure on her.


    It wasnt like there only existed a single style ofbat that worked, so Matt let her discover what worked for her while fighting an opponent with near equal strength. Her strategy would change with every new opponent. Experience was the best teacher, after all.


    He did notice that she was giving it her all, and not holding back. There was more than one blow that would have been fatal if he didn''t have [Cracked Phantom Armor]. She was pushing both of them to improve.


    Matt had to smile. Liz was getting stronger. He couldnt wait until he could use spells and truly match his partner.


    ***


    It had been three weeks of delving since the investigator hade, and they had a haul of loot that Liz was going to get appraised. She wasnt selling their growth items to the auction house, but instead was using them to find out the effects of their items. With their identity and special seeker privileges, the Empire covered the cost, and ensured the secrecy of their items.


    The items with better effects and growth items would go to the Empires market. The rest would be sold in bulk to the auction house.


    They had two more growth items pulled from the rifts in thest three weeks of delving, so he was hopeful that they would earn enough contribution points to get the sword he wanted, along with the Winters Embrace for Aster. Only one of the two items had to be at least decent.


    Matt was staying behind to test more riftbinations with Aster''s ice mana. The results were hit or miss, with the various objects rarely mixing with the mana. The mana was either ignored and seemed to have no effect, or the object was overpowered. Still, he was learning.


    He found Liz and Aster waiting behind him. Forgetting his experiments, he hugged them and asked, How did it go?


    Fine. Better than fine, actually. That crown growth item was a mage amplifier. Any water skills cast through it would take on a semi-autonomous homing function. I asked, and blood wouldnt work for it. Otherwise, I would have kept it.


    They had already known that one would be good, but the second item was the true mystery. What about the shoe?


    Yes, it had been a single shoe that felt off to both of them. It also felt surprisingly powerful, so they hoped that fact would overshadow it being only one of a pair.


    The shoe was weird. It apparently increases jump height. Kinda screwed, as its a single shoe and so small, but I brought it back. How was the testing?


    Matt quicklyunched into a recap while he cuddled his bond, who had missed him greatly. He ignored the flickering thoughts about a particr rift filled with rabbits. No, she missed him.


    Liz pulled out a bunch of items that he had requested. She had his order of fast charging mana stones, with all the standard aspects already attuned. With these, he could perform more tests, and hopefully narrow the items they got out of rifts.


    He was running out of experiments that seemed to actually work in thest few days, so it was great timing.


    Did you put the crown up on the Empire Markets auctionsite?


    Yeah, the auction house is taking care of that. The Empire Markets AI rated it at eight thousand Contribution Points, so thats what I listed it for. I also put in the order for the sword you wanted, and the Winters Embrace for Aster. Hopefully, we''ll get them in the next few weeks.


    Matt pulled Liz in for a hug, and let Aster go y in her rift. He wanted to test the new mana aspects and to test what would happen if they were mixed.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70


    Matt sat with his collection of mana stones and nned things out. Seeing that everything was in order, he sent his mana into the newly created formation. It was an improved version of histest set up. It now could remove the ambient mana in the formation and keep it from returning to the formation.


    It also let him put mana through the mana stones with aspected mana, then direct that into the formation at any ratio he wanted. He could even direct his unaspected mana into the formation, through an effort of his spirit to change the channels.


    The added control would hopefully let him increase the uracy of his predictions. He would be able to more easily fine-tune future experiments.


    First was an even split of metal mana and fire mana. The monsters that came out were heated metal golems. Even for a Tier 1 rift, the monsters seemed impressive, so he cleared the area and increased the mana throughput, until the rift hit Tier 5. Each time the rift broke, the monsters were either fire attuned with metal aspects, or the reverse.


    The rewards from the few Tier 5 rifts were... <em>interesting</em>. The bottle of molten metal was fascinating, but not necessarily useful. The hammer that constantly gave off heat had a better chance of being useful, and he had high hopes that it was valuable.


    Sadly, even in the five delves he allotted to the rift, he never got a growth item. But he was more interested in moving on than repeatedly delving a single rift. Liz might use the rift for added training, as it didnt have blood creatures. It would force her to ration her blood and mana, more so than a rift with flesh enemies.


    The next test was a mixture of water and nature aspected mana. It created massive, vibrant forests in the rifts. Nothing asrge as the world tree that they climbed, but every tree was hundreds of feet tall, instead of a single tree that stretched as far as the eye could see.


    Its rewards were also of dubious quality, at least on outward inspection.


    Matt moved through the variousbinations of even splits of mana types that he felt would synergize. Opposing aspects were a few steps away. The interesting thing was, it didnt work every time while Tiering up. Sometimes the mana unaspected, and the rift became a standard rift. But that was a much rarer urrence than when using regr items to influence the rift creation.


    He double-checked with his AI and threw in a Tier 5 log that was currently on fire, along with a Tier 5 dagger. He made sure to prepare a freshly cleared and closed-off area, and repeated the same test as the fire and metal rift.


    The results were better, and at the same time worse than he had hoped for. There were lots of daggers in the rift, and they were part of the haul from nearly every reward distortion, but he didnt see any more noteworthy changes.


    When he made a rift of water mana and metal mana, with a dagger thrown in, he found his first truly strange and powerful item. It was a growth item, and while the de was pitted and rusted, it screamed violence and danger to his spirtual sense. Matt refused to touch the actual de, even with [Cracked Phantom Armor] active.


    His logical side knew it wasnt going to be able to prate his armor without deliberate effort, but it wasnt a risk he was willing to take, especially with the feelings that his spiritual sense gave him.


    Without a doubt, it was a growth item, and he was excited for the appraisers rating. Matt didnt know what other items their team really needed, but if they got enough points, a defensive growth item would be great for either of the girls. They were more expensive, but if even half of his experiments could work this well, and pay out such unique growth items, they would be able to afford them in short order.


    Matt was about to test more ideas, when Liz came out of a rift sweating and with goo dripping from her spear.


    Anything good? She panted at him, but looked suitably impressed with the weird feeling dagger.


    She wanted to go get it appraised immediately, and while Matt wanted to test more things, he also wanted to see why the dagger felt so dangerous.


    When they arrived at the auction house, they were quickly shown into a back room. They were seen by a higher up in short order. Matt was curious as to why they had gotten the special treatment. Apparently, it was half because they were marked as seekers on The Path, and half because they sold their less impressive items to them in bulk, but never haggled.


    Matt wasnt sure if thatst bit was an insult or not, but he didnt mind. They had more money than they knew what to do with, and it ensured that they never had to wait for service.


    The dagger was as impressive as they had expected.


    It gives a really impressive, tetanus-like infection when cutting someone. It also has an armor-piercing effect thats... Their appraiser trailed off and leaned in closer to the item. Impressive. Id give it at least a full Tier of pration. Can I get you to sell this here? Wed love to get the publicity an item like this would bring.


    They declined, and the Empire Market didnt even give them an estimated price afterwards. In fact, it rmended an auction.


    Matt and Liz went out and celebrated the amazing find, and the potential for many more toe. He wanted to party into the night, but she cut it short, as she wanted to get some more practice so they kept their celebration mostly tame.


    ***


    Matt sat down and watched the rift. They had been delving the weirdly aspected rifts for thest few weeks, and he had picked up on Lizs mood. Every day she seemed more dissatisfied, and doubled down on her practice. Whether it was spell practice or melee sparring, she was always putting in extra hours of work. He was worried she was going to burn out.


    This was his attempt to help.


    He had been sneaking out at night for the past few weeks and practicing to make a special rift for Liz. It was the first time he was trying something this ambitious, but his secret testing and his AIs analysis said it was possible. But the surprise would be ruined if he let Liz see what he was creating.


    With a smile that felt bolted on, he got started with a bundle of herbs that created a Tier 1 clotting potion. With the bundle in the mana empty area, he started feeding the rift with fifty percent nature mana, and ten percent each of earth, fire, water, and air mana. He finished with ten percent unaspected mana.


    That was the catch that took nights of work to discover. To get the unique rifts with unequal mana types, there needed to be a neutral catalyst.


    When the rift formed and broke, he cheered to see nt vinessh out. They were quickly shredded by the formation, but it was a good sign.


    He entered the rift to inspect it, and found a variety of herbs like the ones he seeded the rift with.


    The experiment had worked perfectly.


    Matt then encountered his greatest challenge; Tiering it up. He threw in the next bundle of Tier 2 herbs, which were from a Tier 2 recipe to make a fire-resistant ointment, and fished out the Tier 1 bundle. He had expected the transition to be easy, but the rift unaspected ,even though he did everything the same.


    Something about the difference in materials made the rift unaspect and be a normal rift. He didnt think it was the different herbs, as he had tested that with the metal rifts and different weapon types. There was no problem there, but this rift was proving challenging.


    His AI had said that his idea should work, but it took five attempts to get the rift up to Tier 2 and with the properties he wanted. They either changed during the Tier up, or never took on the herbs properties in the first ce.


    It took hours, and the sun was rising when he finally got the rift up to Tier 5 and with the desired properties. After onest inspection of the rift, Matt found that it was filled with nt life, along with an umtion of all the various herb bundles he had seeded the rift with.


    When everything was ready, he took a deep breath and called Liz over.


    After waiting for nearly five minutes, he realized that she was still asleep, and flew over to cook her arge breakfast.


    She was woken up by Aster when the fox smelled the bacon and followed her sleepy nose out of the tent. She had stepped over the blood mage to try and steal a piece, without any regard for the woman.


    Liz leaned over and kissed him.


    Whats the huge breakfast for? Did you do something while youve been sneaking off in the night?


    Matt paused. You knew about that?


    She waved her fork around and said, Youre as subtle as a bear trying to sneak out. I trust you werent doing anything bad, but now with the giant breakfast, I have to wonder.


    She stuck her tongue out at him. Seeing her joking manner only caused Matts excitement to grow.


    No, I made you a surprise. Something Ive been working ontely.


    Is it dangerous? She looked more awake at that, and put down the waffle stuffed fork.


    No, not anything like that. Are you done? Get armored up!


    Liz nced between her mostly empty te and Matt. Finally, she pushed it away and got ready. She was clearly surprised that he was bringing her to a new ind, but he refused to answer her questions.


    Seeing the rift, she just cocked an eyebrow until he started talking.


    I noticed that youve been on a training binge ever since the investigator stopped by, so I made you a rift with herb bundles and a blend of aspected mana. I was thinking about how you said you enjoy alchemy. But we really havent had the time or resources to let you do that since we left your brothers. I figured with a rift made with them, you can get nearly unlimited practice, and you could get a break from the endlessbat training.


    That caused a genuine smile to blossom on her face for the first time in what felt like weeks.


    Thanks, Matt. I was... struggling a bit with what I can bring to the tablepared to you. Youve literally been creating essence for us to advance with, on top of items for us to sell. Just thank you.


    She quickly kissed him as she finished.


    A good alchemist only bes more valuable as we Tier up, so this is a perfect way for me to pull my weight. A whole rift full of herbs will be great practice for me.


    She tugged him to the rift, and they entered. It was only Tier 5, so not a challenge to either of them. Liz was less interested in the strangling vines that they quickly dispatched, and more enamored with the vast variety of herbs she found in the rift.


    Her oohing and aahing continued as they trekked through the marsh.


    When they killed the tree boss, she looked around and did a little dance.


    How did you make this ce? Its got more variety than most of the rifts youve made before.


    That caused Matt to preen. He actually enjoyed the trial and error that was involved with rift creation.


    I used a bundle of herbs that made a potion for its Tier. I was hoping that it would ensure a good mix. It only took a few tries, but it worked.


    Matt wasnt about to tell her how much time the rift making had taken, as it would just make her feel indebted. He wanted to avoid that.


    Liz hugged him. Its perfect. Thank you. You may not know this, but my parents are awful at all of the crafting skills. Neither had the patience to sit around for long enough. Originally, I just wanted to snub them a little by picking up a crafting skill, but I actually ended up <em>really</em> enjoying alchemy. Next time, I can clean this ce out with the harvesters we have.


    Matt smiled. He doubted that Liz would ease up on the training, but he hoped she would spend more time doing what she loved. For now, Liz seemed happy, and that was good enough for him.


    ***


    Matt sat with Liz and looked at the barrel of blood. He had insisted that she use [Create Blood], instead of her own blood for the experiment. He didn''t think it would add anything, and hated to see her cut herself. But he just repeated that the bonded metal in her blood might also mess with the rifts aspects so it was better to me safe.


    With a second look at each other, he threw in the useless shoe growth item.


    They had actually gotten quite a few amazing growth items in thest month of delving the mana attuned rifts.


    He was preparing to send two to Melindas team, and the rest had been sold on the Empires internal market. One was a quiver that acted like a spatial item, but it created arrows over time. It also enchanted them, if the arrows remained in the quiver while it was fed mana. It was just too perfect for Tara. He intended to send it to her when they entered the Empire proper, not trusting local couriers enough to take it however far they needed to to find his friends.


    He also wanted to send a bracelet that increased range with earth skills to Vinnie. It was perfect for his Talents innate [Earth Maniption].


    He hadnt been the greatest friend to them, and slipped with his messages to them during the golem incident. He hadnt picked their conversations back up until he found the quiver. They usually kept up a pretty consistent stream of messages, but he had gone months without replying which he had made sure to rectify.


    With a ssh, the useless shoe sank to the bottom, and brought him out of his reminiscing as it floated back up, just under the surface of the blood.


    This feels wasteful.


    Matt nodded at Lizs statement. Throwing a growth item into the creation of a rift felt like destroying it, but they had to test it at least once. Besides, if they could get Liz a rift that made blood aspected growth items, it would be well worth it. They could use the technique for massive profits if it worked as well.


    As blood wasnt amon aspect for mana, it was nearly impossible to find a good growth item for her. If the Empires tradingwork couldnt find one with its tons of seekers, and others who were either lucky or absurdly strong, then they needed to try other avenues.


    So, Matt proposed testing a rift with both Lizs blood and her mana, along with the addition of a growth item. The shoe was their only useless growth item, so in it went. Liz had a few things that she wanted from the market, but nothing that would amplify her blood abilities. If this didnt work, they were going to get her a growth item spear.


    It wouldnt be perfect, but it would be better than nothing. Having a single, stronger weapon had its advantages. Matt already ordered a spatial ring for his new sword. To have it work for a cultivator less than Tier 15 meant that it would be perfectly shaped to his weapon, and unable to hold anything else. Still, the ability to summon and dismiss his weapon was too good to pass up.


    Even with rifts that swords werent ideal for, having a weapon stored in a spatial ring as a backup was a good safety measure. He had bought a Tier 6 hammer in case they found a golem rift again, but it would never be his preferred weapon.


    Liz didnt want to spend the Tier 10 mana stone to get one made for her spear, especially when she intended to upgrade her weapon soon. They <em>were</em> at the peak of Tier 5, after all. They were only waiting so that they could continue to search for growth items. When they advanced to Tier 6, they wouldnt get the full rewards from lower Tier rifts, and Tier 6 and above rifts had nearly no chance to drop growth items.


    She said that it was a waste to get a spatial ring made if she was going to upgrade weapons every Tier. While he agreed, to say that they had an excess of mana stones was the understatement of the century. So, he really didnt mind if she got a new ring made every time she changed weapons.


    But her reluctance only made Matt want to try this test even more. If it worked, they could possibly get her a growth item through trial and error.


    <em>Or by running it a few thousand times</em>.


    Matt refused to listen to the pessimistic voice. If he needed to run a rift a few thousand times for her, he would do it. Eventually, the rift would give them an item that Liz could use. Hed make sure of that. He still wanted her to try and find a growth spear, but she didnt like any of the ones on the market.


    Either way, they had plenty of contribution points to spend.


    As the rift hit Tier 1, there was a plop sound, and everything disappeared. The blood, the shoe, even the bucket. Allpletely absorbed by the rift.


    It was the worst luck. It meant that if they increased the Tier again, they could lose everything they put into it. Without a second growth item to ensure that the same things were added to the rift, it was sure to unaspect.


    Standing and keeping a smile on his face, Matt said, Unfortunate, but at least we can speed run the rift and get the reward.


    The rift was full of leeches, and was a decidedly unpleasant ce overall. They waltzed through the Tier 1 rift until they reached the boss, and dismissed the reward distortion to find just a few mana crystals.


    It wasnt what they wanted to find at all, and he could see Liz trying to put on a brave face. She was upset that the test had been a failure. The problem was, they were Tier 5 and delving a Tier 1 rift. It meant that they wouldnt get a growth item in any reasonable time.


    Matt didnt ept that.


    While Liz went back to her alchemy table, he called Aster over after she checked in from her time in the rabbit rift.


    He pulled her onto hisp and whispered into her ear and mind, I need your help. We had some bad luck with Lizs rift, so I need you to run the rift over and over while I charge it, so we can get her a good item.


    Aster threw him a picture of Liz with an exaggerated frown, and he nodded.


    With nothing more, the fox threw herself into the rift and was gone.


    Matt started charging the rift. It was only a Tier 1 rift, so it would charge in less than a minute if he used his own mana. But he was using Lizs fast recharging stone, so it took closer to two minutes. The timing was nearly perfect with how long it took Aster to run through and kill the boss.


    They did that for three days straight during nearly all of the daylight hours, but neitherined. Liz tried to get them to stop, but they refused. She said that they pushed themselves too hard for nothing. They said she was family.


    They were a team.


    Finally, a tired but determined fox came out with a single, ck, fingerless glove. Matt could <em>feel</em> that it was different. It felt like a growth item, and apparently, Aster knew the difference as well, as she didnt stop to let him inspect the glove. She scampered over and threw herself onto Lizs alchemy table, knocking over the small cauldron and shattering bottles and containers.


    Aster!... Aster! The first shout was anger, but the second was excitement at seeing the glove in the foxs mouth.


    Liz carefully took the glove and smiled as she felt it. She looked at both of them and snatched up the panting fox, pressing kisses all over her head. Aster yipped about how hard she worked, and Liz praised her relentlessly.


    That ended their day, and they went to get the glove appraised. The oue was better than Matt could have ever hoped for. The glove would let Liz withdraw her own blood without cutting herself, and came with the added growth benefit of perfectly storing blood forter use. The capacity of that function was what would grow with Tier, and it would let Liz store her own iron infused blood with no detriments. They immediately paid to upgrade the glove to Tier 6, and Liz gave both of her teammates endless praise.


    Seeing her so happy was enough for Matt. It was far better than getting items for himself.


    The fox of the hour was treated with an all-you-can-eat buffet at the ice cream parlor. She was dead to the world when they finally returned to their ind, so the two celebrated by themselves.


    When the next morning came around, Matt went to check out their rifts, and noticed that the blood rift for Liz was sitting there, waiting for testing.


    Now that they had a growth item for Liz, they could risk the Tier up and the rift losing its growth item base. It would be great if it worked out for them, but if it didnt, they only lost some time.


    Liz came up to him and watched as he tiered the rift up. To his disappointment, standard bears came out, even while using her fast converting mana stone to charge the rift and including another bucket of Lizs blood. Without a secondyer of added growth items to build upon, they had lost the blood and growth item base on the Tier up


    Liz rubbed his shoulder, Its fine. We got lucky enough with the one. We can try again with a standard rift made from my mana and blood.


    Matt looked over to her. Why? I thought you would have been more upset.


    I love you and Aster, but you were going crazy to get me a perfect item. Can you honestly tell me that you werent going to try again if the rift Tiered up perfectly?


    I was going to tone it down, but yes, I think we could have gotten you other good things out of that rift.


    Matt knew that was mostly bullshit, but he wanted her to have the best. The odds would have been terrible, but they could have delved it for an hour a day to see if they got anything out of it. Losing the attunement meant that they lost whatever increased possibility for a growth item they might have had. But they still could make a new one and roll the dice, like they normally did.


    Liz hugged him, Thank you. I really mean it, but I dont want to see you run yourself ragged. Neither of you.


    ***


    They had been delving the Tier 5 rifts for nearly three months after the investigator incident when the world froze. It was like when Gregor, a Tier 41, used his spirit to lock them down, but it was the entire world. Even the ocean waves froze in their motion next to their beach camp.


    From everywhere, there was a voice that resonated, and a message was projected to his AI. It came with video and sound, though the second was pointless, as he could hear the man fine.


    I am Colonel Throne, Tier 33, and inmand of the 44th infantry battalion. We are here under orders of the Emperor himself. He has decided to allow the vassal Queendom to dere war on your Kingdom for the Tier 20. In his wisdom, he sees this Tier 6 as the nexus point, and is gathering the Empires promising youths to fight for both sides. With the good Duke Waters taking our position of guarding and expanding the Empires borders, we have been given the task to watch and protect the youth who decide to fight.


    The dark-haired man looked sternly into the broadcast, and the pressure took on the vor of blood, hate, and anger. It made Matt want to cower in the corner, and ughter everyone who came near him.


    Thankfully, he was locked down and unable to move, and the bloodluststed only a heartbeat. But it was enough to see that this was a man who had worked his way up through the battlefield.


    Anyone who wishes to avoid this battle is wee to leave, and will be given an escort to a safe location. Anyone who chooses to stay will earn Empire War Contribution Points, and be able to acquire special rewards. Do not underestimate the rewards, but also do not underestimate the dangers. My men will be watching everything, but death can still happen, no matter how unlikely.


    The Colonel looked like he wanted to spit, but refrained from doing so.


    This is babies first war, meant to dip the feet of children into the shallow end. The hope is that when you reach Tier 15, and get thrown into the deep end, you fare much better with this experience. To that end, those who are allowed to fight will be the Tier 5 and Tier 6 Pathers of the Empire. Any <em>locals</em> who are here <em>now</em> can be up to Tier 7, to act as generals and VIPs. No one else will be allowed to interfere, unless they would like to challenge my battalion.


    Make your decision before morning and choose a side. Any and all decisions will be final tomorrow morning, going off the standard time of the entrance teleport location. For anyone who doesn''t answer, we will assume you want to leave.


    With that, the pressure and message ended. The word returned to normal, and the waves crashed as they should.


    Matt shuddered. That was <em>only</em> a Tier 33. He didnt want to think of what the Tier 41 investigator could have done.


    He looked to Liz, who had a shocked look on her own face.


    A message detailing the contents of the Colonels message and supplementary info was provided.


    Matt scanned it quickly and asked, What should we do?


    Liz shrugged, Im looking through the rewards, and while they would be amazing if we didnt have ess to the Empire Market already, they are useless to us. We have ess to everything, so this really doesnt open up any doors for us.


    Matt scanned the short list of expected rewards as she spoke and agreed. There were a few Tier 6 and 7 rewards that would be nice to get, but nothing they couldnt earn when they reached the appropriate Tier.


    I dont see any reason to fight in this. Well have to leave earlier than we wanted, but we knew we couldnt stay forever. We''re at peak Tier 5, so while we can fight, wed need to leave Tier 5, along with the possible growth items to earn anything impressive. I say we skip this one.


    Liz just nodded as he spoke, and as he reached to click the no option, a message oveid his decision.


    <strong>As someone who takes a harder Path, your manager has decided that you must fight. While you may pick a side, you must fight if you wish to stay on The Path of Ascension.</strong>


    A second message followed that up, saying, <strong>The team is still being assembled, but I received word of this early, and feel it is ideal for you both to participate. This is both more and less than the golem fight you had. Learn from this. It might be the only chance you get before you fight in a real war. - G.</strong>


    The message had no ID and was simply signed with a G. Matt was pissed. The first thing they heard from their manager was an order to send them into a-wide battle.


    Matt wanted to be mad but quickly cooled off, thest line mirrored what the Colonel had said. This might be their only chance to fight in a massive battle before they hit Tier 15, and the stakes were real. After some consideration, he wasnt sure that they could pass the opportunity up, no matter how much he didnt want to see people die in droves like in the golem attack.


    Liz just grinned at him. We said we wanted to get pushed. I guess this means our vacation is over. Time to Tier up and prepare for the fight I guess. Which side do you want to choose?

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 2

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 2


    PoA The Concept of Death 2


    Melinda had no idea who the woman was, or why she was even here. Her instincts screamed for her to be wary of the intruder.


    She was easily identifiable as over Tier 15. The woman had no darkness around her, like the normal people who still suffered from the effects of aging. No, the woman seemed to radiate warm energy and charisma.


    Her team thankfully picked up on her nce as the woman bustled in and pressed a kiss on top of Melindas head.


    How the woman managed that when Melinda was taller than her was a mystery.


    Well hello, everyone.


    The woman visibly counted each of them and pped as if she had won a prize when she found them all there. Her next words confirmed that, and immediately caused Melinda to go on the defensive.


    Wonderful, youre all here.


    Melinda missed what she said next, as she shot a nce out of the still-open door and saw two identical men in suits. They seemed to be standing guard in front of their rented homes door.


    Things had gotten too far out of hand, and Melinda didnt trust the situation. Being kidnapped was her greatest fear, and no matter how friendly the woman seemed as she smiled, Melinda sent a panicked message to Baxter.


    Her heart rate picked up when the woman paused in her speech to look through the wall and smile. She called out, Baxter! I havent seen you in years.


    Melinda looked at her wall and found nothing, but she expected the higher Tier man toe barreling through the door at any moment, and stop whatever this was.


    She was sorely disappointed.


    The woman cocked her head in a movement that resembled a bird watching prey, more so than Melinda feltfortable with. The woman only needed to give one of the identical men a look for him to vanish, clearly sent off on some task.


    It was only then that Melinda noticed each of the men was wearing a different colored tie. Blue tie was still standing at the door, and purple tie reappeared a momentter, with Baxter held up by his shirt cor.


    Melindas panic was held at bay when Baxter smiled and warmly greeted the woman. Aunt Helen. Its been too long.


    He shot Melinda a death re over the womans shoulder, but returned his smile as he pulled back.


    She patted his arm and said, You run away every time you hear Iming to the capital. Dont worry so much. After all, I promised I wouldnt make that recipe anymore.


    The man looked like he had been given a stay of execution, but the womans next words seemed to be worse than the threat of a meal.


    Ive been meaning to have a luncheon with your wife. Ill set that up with her after I take care of everything here. You <em>will</em> be there, wont you?


    Baxter flinched as if a knife was ced at his throat, but nodded. The woman, Aunt Helen, smiled and turned away. He red at Melinda with an unspoken message that she would be hearing about this tomorrow, but he didnt stick around any longer.


    The feather-haired woman gestured, and the door shut at hermand. She smiled apologetically at them before continuing.


    Sorry, Matt talked so much about you all. I felt like I already know you. I apologize. Let me cook you a meal before I give you the present that young Matthew sent over.


    You know Matt? How? Melinda was satisfied that the woman wasnt a threat, judging from Baxters reaction. But she was still trying to catch up with the whirlwind that had descended on her home.


    Oh yes. Hes reallye into his own, and I make it a point to visit the future powerhouses of the Empire while they are young. She then grinned like a kid who got a new toy. He also made a team with my niece, so...


    That made more sense, and Melinda started to truly calm down. She just wished Matt had warned her that a woman would barge into her house. She made a note to lecture him about proper etiquette when they messaged each other next.


    Her husbands eyes flicked to the kitchte, and Melinda moved to cut that off. Interacting with higher Tiers never ended well in her experience.


    While we appreciate your graciousness, you dont have to go to the trouble. Miss?


    Oh, I insist. I also insist that you call me Aunt Helen. Everyone does. Aunt Helen pursed her lips at their kitchte and continued, Well... have to go to my house if we want a proper meal.


    Finally, Tara couldnt hold it in anymore and squealed, Youre Helen of Helens Hearth, arent you?


    Melinda couldnt help staring, as her normally unppable teammate seemed to lose all reason.


    Your restaurant is legendary. Ive heard it costs Tier 40 plus mana stones to get your personally cooked food.


    Melinda scoffed at the idea that food could be worth so much, but the rest of her team seemed to be on board, so she quickly queried the EmpireNet. From the results, she guessed that Tara might have undersold the value of this Aunt Helens cooking.


    She couldnt find a single person saying that having the woman cook for you was anything less than the best meal of their lives.


    Seeing her team looking at her, Melinda nodded, giving her approval. It didnt seem dangerous, and she hated to deny them.


    There was a chorus of cheers, and Tara was already at the door, holding it open for the feather-haired woman.


    Mathew moved to take her hand. She leaned into her husband, who whispered, If Matt knows her, she cant be all bad. Besides, she said he wanted to give us something. Even lower, he said, And <em>her </em>cooking seems to be amazing.


    Melinda stopped herself from making a jab about how he would be eating leftovers if he kept insulting her cooking, even indirectly. She had only ruined meals a few times.


    They exited their house to look around, and Aunt Helen pointed up to where a small and quaint cottage seemed to hover in the air. Melinda was impressed, but confused about how such a small house could fit all of them, let alone a kitchen better than their little one.


    As they were lifted into the air and walked through the small gate, she got the shock of her life. Where she expected a small area around the house, she found miles of perfectly manicuredwn stretching out in all directions. The house remained innocuous until they entered it, and they found themselves in a formal entrance that could have fit their entire house twice over.


    There was another identical man standing at the entrance, who took Aunt Helens jacket and disappeared in an eyeblink. The only distinguishing detail that Melinda was able to catch was that this man had a green tie.


    Against her better judgment, Melinda found herself gawking like some country bumpkin reaching a city for the first time. She had done that once, and that experience hardly prepared her for this sight.


    There was a chandelier that she swore was made from mana stones. How extravagant was that? It didnt feel like they were low Tier mana stones either.


    Melinda was aghast at the extravagance.


    Come,e dearies. I have just the meal for you all.


    With that, they were led through opulent halls that had pictures of young people and groups. Some even seemed vaguely familiar, but Melinda didnt have time to search the EmpireNet for the information as they were hurried along.


    They passed a dozen doors before they entered a banquet hall that Melinda swore wasrger than some sports fields.


    <em>Whats the expansion ratio in this ce? It must be insane</em>.


    They were hurried through with a runningmentary about some of the past meals that the woman had cooked for people. Melinda didnt recognize any of the names, but noted them down for future review.


    Finally, they passed through a kitchen that seemed endless. After they made their way through the industrial behemoth, they reached a smaller, more cozy area. It contained a kitchen and dining room separated by a half wall.


    Sit. While I cook, we can get to know each other a little more.


    The woman flicked her feathers behind her ears and smiled at them. Tara seemed like she was going to squeal again, but bit a knuckle to restrain herself. The rest of the team perked up in anticipation.


    So Matt said that you all came from the same world. Lily, I believe. I wasnt in that part of the Empire when it was settled. Dreadful thing that the local nobles did. She tapped a wooden spoon like she was going to p them upside the head.


    Melinda took it for aical gesture, but considering Baxters reluctance, she revised her opinion about the woman only speaking idly.


    Unable to hold back any longer, Melinda asked the question that had been bugging her.


    How is Matt doing? He hasnt responded to our messages in a while.


    The woman paused and looked down through the floor, like she had done when finding Baxter.


    With a bright smile, sheughed. Hes doing fine. Better than fine. You could say he found a new path to follow.


    That was cryptic enough to cause Melindas heart to clench for her friend.


    Quickly she asked, Hes ok though, right?


    Her husband, the traitor,ughed. Im sure hes doing fine.


    Aunt Helen winked at Mathew. Hes doing great. Recently he was given an opportunity to push forward on The Path, and he took it. Now, hes in a race to the top.


    The woman had started cooking during the short conversation, and a divine smell wafted out of the half-wall kitchen. Melinda had to wipe her mouth to make sure there wasnt any drool.


    Checking her team, she saw that Tara was the worst, and noticed her visibly licking her lips. While Melinda couldnt me her, with all the amazing smells bombarding them, everyone else at least had the self control to keep their hunger under wraps.


    So, have you all decided to take the war deration?


    That got the team talking, but Melinda noticed how the woman skillfully guided the conversation around, and asked questions of anyone who seemed to get left out of the discussion.


    Melinda was taking notes. The woman knew how to be charming, as well as disarming. It made her wonder how this woman would make a blunder like bursting into their house. It didnt make any sense. But as she was about to question the oddity, their first dish was served.


    The soup was the first indication that this wasnt the simple meal Melinda expected.


    No.


    They each received a different dish. Mathew had a soup with tomato and potato, as if she already knew it was his favorite. There was even a small corner of golden grilled cheese.


    Melinda had a bowl of thick and creamy chicken noodle soup.


    The first spoon removed any resistance that Melinda had left. She was returned to her childhood home, and re-lived the memories of her mother feeding her when she was recovering from a sickness, along with the subsequent healing.


    Still, the recipe wasnt the same as her mothers. As much as she wanted to deny it, this was better in a million different ways, but it didnt diminish the memory. In fact, it improved it.


    Before she knew it, Melinda had finished her bowl and was scanning the table, when a second te came for them. Everything after that was a blur, as each of them were fed individual, seven-course meals.


    The meal ended with a small scoop of ice cream that tasted as if it was freshly made, and Melinda met eyes with their host. She wore a grin that was seven parts confidence. The feather-haired woman had the right to be proud.


    Any questioning of the meal being the best she had ever eaten was gone after the soup, and further shattered as each course followed the one before.


    Finally, their host pped her hands and beamed, Now I believe its time for Matts gift.


    Suddenly, the woman pulled what looked like a piece of the sky from out of nowhere.


    Melinda didnt know what the thing did, but her Concept tried to reach out for it like a child wanting candy.


    Normally, she would resist anything that her Concept wanted, but this particr urge felt benevolent. But she quickly ran into what felt like a wall blocking her.


    She received a wink from their cook. This helps people build their own Concepts, or beyond.


    Melindas mouth dropped open, but Vinnie got the question out faster. How did Matt get that?


    Kyle got to the second thing that Melinda was worried about. Can we ept that? Since we <em>are</em> on The Path...


    Aunt Helen caressed Vinnies cheek and smiled. Its fine. Youre both on The Path, so there are fewer restrictions, and I can verify that he got it legitimately. I was there when he picked it up, after all. You are well in the clear.


    The woman shook the shard of cloud, leaning forward and whispering, I even happen to have a room that the five of you can use to ensure you get the most out of it.


    Mathew cocked his head and asked, Not all of us?


    Aunt Helen met Melindas eyes, and for the first time that night, it seemed like the woman had seen right through her. It was as if the cook knew her better than she did herself.


    Melinda is wee to use it too. It would help her reach for her Intent as well, but it would just mean less for everyone else.


    The look that followed was one filled with pity, and Melinda knew that the unspoken follow-up would have been, And she doesnt want to grow her Concept.


    Melinda nodded, and the woman winked.


    Melinda turned to her friends. Go, take it. I dont need it, and its better to make sure that the advantage isnt wasted. I cant imagine these would be cheap.


    It warmed her heart to listen as they protested leaving her out, but Melinda put her best mothers face on, and marched them into the indicated room.


    There were cushions arranged in a circle that was surrounded by a series of lines and candles. When they all took a seat, Aunt Helen ced the sliver of sky into the center circle and stepped back. All the candles were lit, and Melinda could smell that they were special. Her Concept seemed to turn to butter when she got a single whiff.


    The shorter woman hooked her arm, and pulled Melinda along and to a cozy tea room.


    When she sipped the tea proffered to her, Melinda sunk into the couch and tucked her legs under her.


    As they sat in silence, she asked the older woman, You set up the bursting into the house, didnt you?


    The woman gasped, and brought her hand to her mouth as if she was shocked, but Melinda noticed the twinkle in her eye.


    Now, why would I do that?


    I noticed the trance my friends dropped in. It was too fast to be just the candles. It was the meals you made for them. They do something.


    The woman cackled and examined her fingers, which were now talons. I cant keep my talons out of other peoples business when I feel its appropriate. Thats why I came to see you. I was already nning on visiting, even before Matt gave me the shard for you.


    See me?


    Melinda couldnt think why she would need to know the woman.


    Oh, honey. I could feel you across the Empire.


    Melinda was going to interject, but Aunt Helen spoke over her. Let me get my story out, and well see if that doesnt answer your questions.


    She cleared her throat, A few dozen million years ago, shortly after the cmity that destroyed the only great union of cultivators, and killed off the strongest, there were no Great Powers orrge organizations. Evens had more than one faction trying to take over.


    Melinda tried to picture that, but couldnt. There had always been the Empire. Right?


    It was long ago. As people and factions recovered, they grew in power and expanded out. Its what we call the unification wars now. Simr ideologies flocked together and joined up. It was around that time when my husband and son died. My son just never came out of a rift, and my husband never recovered. He eventually dispersed his spirit and died.


    The woman looked off to the distance for nearly ten minutes, but Melinda didnt want to disturb her. She found it hard to wrap her head around that length of time that the woman had lived, but could sympathize with her losses. They were reminiscent of her own.


    What you need to understand is that evolved beasts like me are given a Concept at Tier 5. Its reflective of our bloodline or elemental affinity, sometimes both. But Concepts arent permanent. I never resonated with my fire Concept, so I willingly broke it and formed a Concept around the idea of family.


    When my family died, I was left adrift. When something like that hits you, and is so dissonant with your Concept, it can shatter. Mine did. And Ive spent thest few million years trying to rebuild a vase from the dust that has scattered in the wind.


    Melinda nched at the revtion. Thats horrible. Im so sorry. I


    The older woman patted her hand and gave her a bitter sweet smile. I could have dismissed my Concept and started over again. Even made another family Concept. But I chose a much harder route, and slowly rebuilt my Concept over the years. I refuse to give up myst connection to my family. But my age and experience have changed my definition of family. These days, I consider the Empire my family. Now, I can feel when people who will change the Empire are rising up, and get a feeling for what they need. I knew when your friend Matt was leaving the Training he was on. He needed a little push, and it was the right time to give it. The Emperor wasnt happy with how much I gave him, but its not like he didnt get a helping hand in my kitchen.


    Melinda nearly dropped her teacup when the woman in front of her talked so casually about the strongest man in the Empire.


    Aunt Helen continued, Today, Im here for you. Barging into your house was an ident that happily let me repay a slight. Funny how that happened.


    But youre here for me? Why?


    Oh, I can feel that you hate your Concept. Im here to tell you its okay if you wish to break it and start over. Ill even show you how. If you dont want to do that, Ill act as an ear to talk to who understands. No pressure or judgment.


    Melinda didnt know why, but she started to cry at the womans words. The pain and frustration she had been tamping down further and further all slipped out in a wave of emotion. The more she tried to control it, the more she broke down, until she was a small ball of tears being rocked back and forth.


    She managed to get out through her sobs, I dont know what I want to do. It feels so evil. It makes me see so much pain in the world. But it also helps me heal. I dont know... I dont know.


    Thats perfectly fine.


    ***


    The next day, Melinda went to her morning shift at the hospital as if nothing was wrong. She even ate a breakfast that made everything else she had eaten feel like it was prepared by the deaf and blind. She was slightly surprised at the revtion that her friends would be in their trance for at least another two days. Apparently, the formation they had sat in would ensure that they got the full effect from the fragment of the ascension.


    Melinda owed Matt.


    She knew they were friends, and there should be no debt, but she had worried about her friends not getting their Concepts. It was the final hurdle to immortality. Now, even if they didnt get their Concepts, they would be halfway through the race. It was invaluable progress, considering they hadnt even known where the starting point was before.


    She stopped by a coffee shop and refilled her cup. Aunt Helen had seen how tired she was, and made her a cup of coffee that tasted like fluffy clouds on a spring day. The one she bought at the shop tasted like dirt inparison, but it was hot and had caffeine.


    As she passed the streets, she saw crime scene barriers blocking off a bakery. A quick search on the CityNet told the story. There had been a series of murders in the bakeryst night. Supposedly local crime lords were to me.


    Melinda just hurried her walk into a jog. She had a feeling that would mean the ER would be packed, but when she arrived, there were hardly any people.


    Even though she was nearly an hour early, she checked in and got to work. Baxter was there and already ring at her.


    Melinda just smiled at him. After their heart-to-heart, Aunt Helen had told her all about Baxter and how to handle him. The woman had dirt on everyone apparently, and had been happy to share over a night of giggles and whispered ns.


    She just smiled and let the man stew.


    Melinda felt good. She had gotten nearly zero sleep, but felt like she had made a friend in the older woman. She hadnte to a decision about her Concept, but somehow, knowing she could remove it lightened her outlook on the whole situation. Now there was an option, and she wasnt in a hurry to decide either way.


    Aunt Helen provided a valuable lesson. If she broke through to Tier 15, she didnt have to worry about time, and then Melinda could decide without added pressure.


    Her first patient came in while snacking on a box of assorted donuts.


    Eirs? Theyre great. Try one. Mr. Millson offered one, and as she chewed on the proffered treat, she scanned him for any mdies.


    Remembering his idle chatter on the train, she asked, Did you have your wild orgyst night? You seem chipper this morning.


    Oh, it was delightful.


    Melinda kept up the small talk as she healed the mans extensive cancer. She was honestly impressed that the man was up and walking. It was an impressive showing of will power and drive.


    He walked out immediately after he was healed, still munching on the savory sweets.


    Baxter took that opportunity to speak up, You know that hes a contract killer, right?


    She turned and raised her eyebrow at the grumpy man.


    Did you notice thebel on the box of eirs?


    Melinda had to check her AI, but it was the same as the bakery involved in the killings the night before .


    She shrugged. Its not my business to judge people. Ill heal anyone whoes in.


    Does that change if his victims were brought in? What if the person was truly evil?


    Then I would heal them and happily watch them be handed over to authorities. If youre so concerned, why dont you capture the man and send him to prison yourself?


    Baxter just scoffed at her, and Melinda smiled.


    Today was a good day.


    ***


    Aunt Helen had been wrong about when her friends would exit their seclusion. It had taken more than the estimated three days. Only after the fourth day passed did they all seem to wake up and stumble out, at nearly the same time.


    Aunt Helen, the miracle of culinary perfection that she was, stuffed sandwiches in their hands before sending them off to bed.


    The next morning, they were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They all had their phrases and ideas on their images.


    Melinda kept Mathew busy for long enough that they were catcalled by the others.


    She just flipped them all the bird and sat on hisp. They were married, and she knew they were happy for her, but they teased them all the same.


    As they sat around thefy couches, Melinda asked the looming question.


    Are we still doing the war? She hoped getting closer to their Concepts would mean they didnt want to, but she knew it was foolish. They all eagerly jumped at the chance.


    Sam looked to their host and asked, Do you know if Matt will be there?


    Aunt Helenughed, Oh, he wasnt given a choice. Hell be fighting.


    Vinnie looked around, So what side should we choose?


    Sam kicked him. The alliance of Queens. Everyone knows Queens are better than Kings.


    Melindaughed at the reasoning. It really didnt matter which side they chose. It wasrgely a nonissue. She had read the provided information while her friends were in their trances, and it seemed like it would be heavily monitored. Points were dependent on participation, so it was what they <em>did</em> that mattered, not who they did it for. Apparently, the AIs watching the event could ount for disparity in numbers and such, so it might be better to be on the losing side from a pure points perspective.


    But, she still threw her vote in with the other girls. That made it a tie, as the boys used the same logic to say that the kings were better.


    Kyle tried to add some logic. We should choose whatever side Matt is on. If hes participating, we want to be on his side.


    They all looked to Aunt Helen, who simply sipped her tea. Oh, that would be telling.


    The older woman winked at them, and Melinda was pretty sure that Tara was ufortable.


    Sam kicked the bnce once again by adding, Think about it. The Emperor allowed this war, so he must not be happy with the Kingdom. Otherwise, why would he allow this?


    That was enough for Vinnie to change his vote, to the caterwauling of the other two. Melinda gleefully pressed ept and watched it be confirmed by the other four.


    Mathew tickled her, and it turned into a little brawl.


    Two dayster, they were seen off by Aunt Helen, and dropped off at the meeting point for everyone who was on The Path.. ording to Aunt Helen, teleporting from to would be too slow, and they would enjoy this one form of transportation.


    Melinda tried to turn Tara around, who hadnt talked her eyes off the portal Aunt Helen had sent them through.


    You ok, Tara? Youve seemed off thest few days. Did you not like Aunt Helen?


    Tara looked at her like she was stupid. Like her? I intend to marry that woman!


    <em>...What</em>?

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71


    Gregor ripped through the veil of reality and into chaotic space, where he paused and viewed the world. It was always a beautiful sight, and he took the time to observe the ember of light tethered by two strings that would lead to the next worlds.


    Instead of following them, he shifted his Intent and reentered the world, but in another location  the main entrance city.


    His AI sifted through the most recent information flowing through the CityNet, and he found his targets. The little fox, Aster, had given him more than her bond recognized. His AI noticed that there were at least two teams that hadnte out of the rifts where they hid for safety. He intended to fully correct that issue.


    With an effort of will, and by mixing his Concept and Intent, he found the guardian Tier 15, and pulled them through space to where he hovered. He hated interacting with the vassal kingdoms immortals. They thought they were above it all, and treated the lower Tiers like pieces on a game board. Long ago, he had learned that if he acted how they expected a higher Tier to act, things were much smoother.


    My Lord. What can I do for you?


    The man had a weapon out but quickly returned it to his spatial ring and bowed deeply. His heart rate and breathing were erratic, but Gregors spiritual sense felt the man readying spells. They were futile measures, but he respected the man for his attempt.


    Give me a list of all the rifts where survivors havente out.


    There was a moment of hesitation, so Gregor used his spirit to suppress the man for a heartbeat. It had the desired effect, and the Tier 15 quickly sent over the requested information.


    Crossing checking it with the reports he read earlier, he moved to the closest rift and focused his spiritual sense, Concept, and Intent on the distortion as it flickered before his eyes. It took him nearly a full minute to find the spatial pocket that the rifts past instance resided in.


    It took five minutes to grasp the spot and rip it open to force his way into the rift.


    He appeared in the sky and hovered with an application of his Concept. Higher Tier rifts had firmer realities, which would force him to use the [Flight] skill. But he had no reason to use his mana for something as simple as passing a message.


    I am Gregor Hanson, Tier 41 and a member of his Imperial Majestys remation squad. You are free to leave this rift, the incident with the golems has passed, and normalcy has been restored.


    When his voice echoed through the tiny rift, he had a moment of nostalgia for the size of the pocket in space. It had been so long since he had entered a rift that was only a few miles long. Now, when he delved rifts, it took years.


    The moment was ruined when he saw the fear on the faces of the children. He was a predator, and usually took great pleasure in his enemies fear, but these were mere children. He could tell that they feared being killed out of hand for some perceived slight.


    It boiled Gregor''s blood, and he made a note toe and perform an inspection when this vassal kingdom was integrated into the Empire. Personally, he disagreed with the practice of letting disgruntled factions strike out on their own and settle the frontier. But history had shown that it provided a useful outlet for dissenters.


    The Empire had, like the other great powers, learned how to slowly integrate the vassals when they grew to an appreciable size. Still, Gregor despised how the vassal states could treat their citizens so poorly, that just the sight of an immortal would leave them cowering in fear.


    Even when they heard his promation, they still hesitated to look up as they started packing. Seeing that all was moving along, Gregor repeated his actions in the other four rifts that still harbored holdouts.


    After his duty was done, he ripped his way out of the world, and followed the tethers that the teleporters created in chaotic space. It was faster for him to follow the established routes than to make his way through the much more dangerous, empty areas in chaotic space. Whens were linked with teleporters, they were rtively stable, and held their location rtive to everything else in thework. But that didnt mean that the great powers were closely linked in chaotic space.


    No, even a singleary jump was so far apart, it could take hours of travel to reach the next one. It didnt help that new worlds flew through the loose that was the Empire all the time. It was how most worlds were discovered; people waited for the worlds to fly to them, rather than venture out too far away from the safety of civilization. Some worlds moved fast and some slow, but they all moved.


    Two dayster, Gregor arrived at the Empires capital and reported in.


    He was immediately summoned to a tribunal the moment he entered the capitals real space. It wasnt unexpected, but he had hoped for time to freshen up and rx a little before they called on him. Still, he didnt hesitate and moved through the city.


    The Tier 47 world ensured that he had to fly with [Flight], and weave his way through the traffes. There were strict flying zones that dictated allowed flight speed and direction. If he broke them, he would be heavily fined. No one was exempt, not even even the Emperor and the royals. It ensured that few were so brazen to break said rules.


    It was what Gregor loved about the Empire. Rules applied equally to all. He had traveled in his youth to visit the other great powers, and saw how greater power usually meant less adherence to rules andws. The higher the Tier, the worse the unpunished injustices were.


    No, the Empire had the right idea.


    Gregor arrived at The Path of Ascension Regtory Hall, and entered after sending some of his essence into a reader. Even unaspected essence was unique from person to person, once it was allocated or in the spirit. Fingerprints and DNA could be altered after Tier 15, but essence signatures were much harder to fake.


    As he made his way into the elevator, he noted that the button to call for help was over the Tier 5 maximum. Such emergency measures were not allowed to be more than Tier 5, so that weaker people could still manually activate it without their AI.


    That was the problem of living on a Tier 47 world. It was nearly impossible formon folk to exist, as the ambient essence Tiered up anything left in the environment for too long. He checked the elevatorsst inspection data and frowned.


    Nearly a thousand years. It at least exined why the button had Tiered up in the meantime. Time meant so little after Tier 15. He distinctly remembered thest time that the elevator had been out ofmission, and needed to be repaired. It felt like only weeks ago.


    As he exited the elevator, he called out to the receptionist, Barry, Morning Barry. Elevator emergency button Tiered up.


    The man looked over and squinted before he responded, Second one this month. They were supposed to inspect them all. Ill put in another request and see why this one was missed.


    Gregor nodded as he took a seat outside of a nondescript door and waited.


    Anyone who treated Barry as a simple receptionist was in for a surprise. The man was the right hand for one of the seven seats that oversaw The Path. Which seat, exactly, was a hotly debated topic in the gossip circles. There was even a betting pool about which of The Seven he served.


    Gregor had a few thousand contribution points on Madam Moment. They both had the same no-nonsense attitude and took their job seriously.


    It was a short two hours of using his AI to catch up on the documents he had missed while out in the field, when the door opened with a nearly silent click.


    Immediately, he shut down his work and entered the door, carefully closing it behind him.


    He found himself in the center of a room, facing the modest chairs arranged in a half-circle that held The Seven. Gregor didnt dare to make a sound, and waited for one of the officials to make the first move. These were the people who created policy for The Path of Ascension, and answered directly to the Emperor.


    While acting as an Investigator, he only reported to the Emperor in normal duties, but hisst report and rmendation had to go through these seven.


    One of the seven spoke, Mr. Hanson, yourst report has caused a stir. Exin, please.


    It was impossible to tell who The Seven were. They all wore full masks and long robes, differing only in color. The robes had a suppressing effect, which made it impossible to sense who was under the outfit. It gave them unparalleled anonymity.


    The Blue masked administrator who spoke was referred to as <em>Governor Idl</em>e by title. All seven administrators wore the robes and identities of the first people to sit in their seats.


    People would only know who one of the Seven were when they left their seat and retired by ascending. It was a position that was held for life, and both were cut short if they were found to be abusing their position.


    Gregor intended to someday take up the mask and robe himself. He had done his time and worked his way up through the ranks for that singr goal.


    If this worked out, he could cement a good impression in the remaining six masks minds. Madam Terror, the Yellow mask, had publicly let it be known that she intended to ascend in the next few decades.


    My report should make it clear that I went to investigate a reported cheating incident.


    The Purple Mask, Mr. Fracture cut him off, Please report on the incident that caught the attention of the AI.


    It was a sale of two growth items and the inspection of three others. That doesnt include the massive haul of standard growth items. I was the closest agent in the field, so I responded.


    The Green Mask, Madam Moment, asked in a deep and masculine tone, And what did you find?


    I followed them for a few hours and made my entrance when they were alone. I proceeded to investigate the suspicious activities of their profiles and was given satisfactory answers. But when confronting them about the three growth items, I was given an answer that was hard to believe, so I verified it.


    The Red Mask, Mr. Flexible, asked in a light and feminine voice, And what was the answer, Mr. Hansor?


    Gregor swallowed and prepared for what was toe next. Everything so far was standard debriefing that could all be verified with his report. Now was the moment of truth.


    A Seeker-like Talent that allowed for aplete disregard of any difficulty of The Path, through near unlimited mana generation. Id rate it as ten on both the usefulness scale, and the kidnap or kill scale for the other great powers.


    The room went silent, and Gregor watched the unmoving masks. They would be discussing the ramifications of his carefully chosen words. He could see in their hand movements and twitches they were both excited and nervous.


    Madam Terror spoke after nearly ten minutes, Continue. But borate on why you used the highest ssification of seeker Talent.


    The Talent in question does more than just what is seen with a standard seeker Talent. Instead of finding wealth in the outside world, or manipting treasure encountered in rifts, this individual was able to effectively force rifts to run as if they were at full capacity at all times.


    Gregor was careful to tiptoe around the truth of Matthews Talent. Even he shouldnt know the specifics, and had AI restrictions in ce to ensure anything he learned about Talents was kept quiet.


    The Silver Mask, The Arbiter, held up his hand, and every face shifted to see them.


    We find this hard to believe. Please provide an AI backed guarantee to back up that im.


    Gregor did, and Silver just nodded to him. If Gregor hadnt been there and seen it, he wouldnt believe it either.


    The Orange Mask, Governor Busy, asked, And that led you to offer a full team at Tier 5?


    With the im verified I...


    Gregor used his AI and started ying a video. It was heavily edited, with faces and voices carefully left out, so any decision the tribunal came to was unbiased. Even Elizabeths skills were recolored to clear-blue, as to appear like a moremon water mage.


    I challenged the duo team to prove they had the ability to delve Tier 5 rifts. With that proven, they were clear of trouble. But with the ease in which they cleared the rift, I decided to see how far they could be pushed. I challenged them to a Tier 6 rift. A different Tier 6 rift that they had no knowledge of.


    Gregor watched the stream of video as a vague melee fighter killed hippos, and a vague water mage did so with even more ease.


    Timing his words as the trio delved the rift, he added, As you can see, the team cleared the Tier 6 rift in an easy and carefree manner. So I decided to continue the testing. I took them into a Tier 7 rift.


    Silver held up a hand again, and Gregor''s heart clenched. The Arbiter only acted to settle disputes and act as a tiebreaker. He had given three debriefings like this before, but Silver had never acted a single time.


    <em>What are they discussing on private channels</em>?


    As much as Gregor wanted to know, he pushed forward, and provided an AI backed im. It was more information than he wanted to provide, but his hope that they wouldnt notice the was only Tier 6 had been a pipe dream.


    They didnt push, and Gregor continued his story, So I had them delve a Tier 7 rift blind.


    The Purple Mask, Mr. Fracture, asked, What was their exact cultivation at the time of the delve?


    Mid Tier 5. This is the rift that they delved. Id consider it a hard counter to both cultivators. I also would have rmended them a full team if they had been able to retreat against the much stronger opponents. They exceed expectations.


    Green nodded, but said nothing as they watched the children smash their way through the sandstone golems. At the time, Gregor had expected to have to intervene when he saw what the children were forced to contend with. They had surprised him with their tenacity and ability to adapt.


    Those were traits not always seen in lower Tiers, where nearly every rift delved was already plotted out, and the dangers were already known. No, they had adapted to the situation on the fly, and carefully cut their way through enemies two Tiers higher than them.


    They watched the entire multi hour delve at quadruple speed. Gregor searched for a hint of the masks mindset as he reviewed the video along with them, trying to judge the video as he thought The Seven would. Finally, when they had finished, they rewatched the parts with intensebat a few times at half speed. He saw hand movements and tilts of the head as theymunicated, but nothing was said out loud.


    When the video ended with the children stumbling out of the rift, Silver raised a hand for the third time. Gregor swallowed hard. Three times had to be near a record for Silvers interference in a tribunal.


    Are this childs seeker-like abilities going to lessen as they Tier up, or advance with them?


    That was a much easier question than Gregor feared. I did my research with the subjects history, and can assure the Seven that it will only grow stronger as they Tier up.


    That caused a much longer silence. It was almost an hourter when the Seven looked up and dismissed him.


    Mr. Hanson, you have done well with your report. Your actions have shown a good judge of character for both yourself, and of the potential cheaters you deal with. We have no further need for your services. Your patrol was meant to end in just a few years, so we have canceled the rest of it. Your delve slots will be moved up topensate you as well. Personally, I am adding a page in your file about your service, andmendations will follow after it is approved.


    Gregor didnt let himself react. There would be time for that with his husband and wives. Now was time for a calm and collected appearance.


    He said nothing, and retreated out of the now ajar door with a slight bow. His job was done, and he had done it well enough to be congratted.


    Things were looking up.


    ***


    Silver sat back and listened to the others chatter about who they should send to manage the children.They kept out of it, as their position demanded. Only when the other six reached an impasse would they offer up advice.


    As they listened to the back and forth of the conversation, their mind whirled. The suggestions that the others offered up weren''t bad, but they thought that there was more that the masks could do.


    A three person team jumping two Tiers wasnt unheard of while on The Path, but a team jumping two Tiers while only at Tier 5 was much more impressive. Combat prowess spiked when teams approached Tiers 7 and 8, as they could round out their skill sets and cover any ring weaknesses.


    Jumping two Tiers <em>then </em>was noteworthy, but doing so with only a handful of skills and having never seen the rift before? No, that was <em>impressive</em>.


    Silver thought and listened. The others debated pulling off Korun from Light and Shadow, but they disagreed themselves. Korun was good, but they felt the duo needed a special hand. The ability to negate all difficulty from The Path called for arger consideration.


    They had noticed the inconsistencies in Gregor''s recordings that gave them a greater understanding, though they were spections. But they had been doing things long enough to trust their gut, and ept the guarantee that the childs ability allowed him to circumvent the difficulty of The Path.


    That was the problem. Most of the time, the ones with seeker abilities didn''t outshine their peers to such an extent. Especially not this early. Some seeker Talents let cultivators rue wealth, and therefore items and skills, at an unprecedented rate. But those usuallycked actualbat ability, and were it not for their wealth, would be utterly unremarkable.


    They could tell that the children were this strong before they had been able to truly use their wealth generation.


    That meant that they had the ability to push these children forward before they fell into bad habits.


    When the others decided to contact Korun, Silver raised a hand and gathered everyone''s attention.


    Let me offer a separate proposal. Korun is good, no doubt, but he is still finishing up with Light and Shadow. While he could manage both teams, as Light and Shadow are almost done, I feel that this incident needs a special hand. I want to contact Luna.


    Blue and Green both subtly leaned back, while the others let out a flurry ofints, and reasons as to why it was a bad idea. Silver agreed with most of theirments.


    Blue allowed the other colors to bicker, before finally ending it with a point that the others hadnt considered. Luna would be good, no doubt. Shes always had the best track record for taking hopeless cases and pushing them further than anyone would have expected. But she also ims to be retired, and has refused thest few offers we sent over.


    Green nodded in agreement. The two of them had been on the tribunal long enough to remember when the crazy void user had taken the Tier 10 Pather. The individual had only made the Tier threshold by three days, but she managed to get them to Tier 17 while still on The Path.


    The problem was, the mad manager had broken more than one team, and had forced several to leave The Path early with her frantic need to make them better.


    They had better results when she was paired with people who had the drive to continue, not just the ability.


    Luna was three quarters genius, one quarter insane, and one hundred percent perfectionist. She expected everyone else to be as good as she was, and was absolutely insufferable about it. But it was also why she was such a good manager.


    Finally, Green asked, How do you intend to get her to agree? If it''s possible, I vote to allow her to take the manager position.


    After they had a consensus, Silver sent an edited packet to Luna.


    Immediately they received a reply, I don''t care about any up anders.


    Silver waited.


    After twenty minutes, a second message came through.


    Theyre only Tier 5. I''m not looking.


    Silver smiled. They had her.


    Luna was insatiably curious, and now that she opened the file, she would be forced to read the entire thing. If the contents werent up to her standards, she would instantly forget about it, but Silver expected a better oue.


    They waited for the next messages as the rest of the tribunal moved on to other topics.


    They aren''t even abusing their advantages. And what is that fighting style? No. Theyre trash. I''m not going.


    Silver smiled. If Luna had read that far, he knew her mind would be spinning with possibilities. They had sent a highlight reel of their three delves, and a record of their sale to the local auction house, along with their timeline on the. She could make the same assumptions as he could.


    Finally the message they were waiting for came in. No. No. This isn''t eptable. Theyre just lounging around? Theres so many things they could be doing.


    Silver just waited with a grin bolted on under their mask.


    Where is Kurt? Get him sent over immediately, and send me the best liaison you have right now.


    With Lunas confirmation, the identities of the two individuals could be revealed. When Silver satisfied their own curiosity, they cocked an eyebrow under their mask.


    Leon and Maras youngest was hitting well above her Tier. Impressively so.


    The second person on the team, the melee boy, had a much more interesting background and purported Talent. The watcher AIs couldn''t hack the Talent database, but everyone scraped the public information for possible rare abilities. Once the investigation was opened, the AIs had startedpiling information. The boys actions were distinctive enough that Silver had an idea of what he could do.


    It wasnt impressive... It was unprecedented.


    A message was sent to the Emperor with their findings and decision. He probably already knew, but Silver wanted to ensure that the Empire''s leader knew of the new Talent.


    Silver''s smile dimmed as they tuned in on the next topic of conversation. The other great powers were trying to apply pressure, considering the Empires recent sess at creating powerhouses. They hoped to add another team to the scales with this move, before Duke Waters got bored and decided to keep climbing.


    ***


    Aiden flew through chaotic space and looked for the cluster of worlds that were moving through the border of the Empire and the Sects.


    It was a dark and deste ce, but with his Concept extended, he felt the surroundings resonate with him. The purples and ck with hints of red of chaotic space were overwhelmed with blue, as his preferred element took a greater hold in the destructive energy.


    They were here.


    Aiden smiled. This section of space had a single tether connecting it to both the Empire and Sect territories. If one of them could control the others bottleneck, they could force them to abandon anything beyond in this direction. It wouldnt stop their expansion, but it could secure a safe area for them to expand without worry of attacks or raids.


    Aiden saw the fear and hatred in their eyes. Felt in it their spirits. The forty people who came out to stop him were the strongest of the Sects local forces. He was sure that they had dispatched more fighters when word went out that he was being sent to the border.


    The Emperor had made his <em>punishment</em> public and well known. If Aiden had known that all it would take to get sent back out to the frontlines was meddling in The Path slightly, he would have done it a decade ago.


    It had been too long.


    One of the enemies sent an AI message, Leave now, and we can pretend you never came into our territory.


    Aiden justughed. He could feel that the woman only had an Intent despite being Tier 35. They knew they were sent here to throw their lives away. Even he knew it.


    Either they would die at his hands, or they would retreat and be killed by their leaders. The Sects were extremely harsh in their punishments for surrender, or even retreat in the face of an enemy. It made their warriors fight to the bitter end, and had earned them enough victories that they refused to change their policy.


    Though, the Empires spies had heard rumors that they were changing that ideal, after he had ughtered their top generals enough times.


    That always made Aiden smile. They were afraid, but they hadnt even seen everything he could do.


    <em>One day. One day Ill show them all, and they will fall in line</em>.


    Aiden had infiltrated the other top five great powers when he was forced to stop his delving. He had seen how they were generations behind the Empire in their treatment of weaker citizens.


    He didnt think that the Empire ruling everyone was feasible or right, but with his mere presence, and the up-anding threats of Light and Shadow, the other great powers were scrambling. At least, the smart ones were. The Sects were the worst, and doubled down on their past traditions, instead of embracing a higher standard of treatment for their weakest citizens.


    He hated them with a burning passion. If you werent above Tier 15, you were less than trash to the Sects. At least the other great powers were trying to recreate the sess of the Empire. But if anything, the Sects had regressed.


    They called him Duke Waters in the Empire, but they called him The Drowner in the Sects. He would show them why he had earned that title once again today.


    Not bothering to send a message, Aiden called out, Surrender, retreat, or die.


    The Sect fighters clenched their weapons and spread out. They had chosen death.


    Not bothering to move, Aiden let the wave of Tier 35 attacks approach him. There was a tacit agreement with the other great powers that he was treated as Tier 35, and was unable to cultivate by delving rifts.


    It was a sacrifice that he was willing to make, as it had ensured that the assassination attempts on Light and Shadow stopped. Well, nearly so.


    It didnt matter to Aiden that he was unable to advance. Once he hit it, he intended to stay at Tier 35 until he found a sessor. Not every Ascender did the same. Most simply kept climbing once they epted that there was no hope of finding someone to seed tem. He understood, but with<em> his</em> sessors already apparent, he was in no rush.


    He cast [Water Shield], [Water Bubble], and [Water Armor], letting them fuse into a spell greater than the sum of their parts. [Water Shield] was just a t ne of water that could block frontal attacks. [Water Bubble] was a sphere of water that had a weaker damage threshold, but better coverage. But when both were added with [Water Armor], it created a near-solid defense against the barrage of attacks.


    To his surprise, he had to add a little reinforcement to his defensiveyers using his Concept. After he did so, the attacks were meaningless to him.


    He could tell they were growing tired once they started staggering their attacks, hoping to conserve mana while keeping him tied down. The sign of weakness was all he needed to decide to go on the offensive.


    [Teleport] wasnt terribly useful in chaotic space, but it was good enough to close gaps inbat.


    That was when the screams started.


    Duke Waters stood, arms crossed, in front of the leader. She tried to throw her Intent at him, along with a flurry of skills, but he drowned her Intent and skills with his own Intent. She would spend months with a headache as she recovered from the bacsh of having her Intent broken, <em>if </em>she made it out alive.


    A shred of amusement rose at the thought.


    Duke Waters overwhelmed her spirit with his Concept, and watched as the long-lost biological need to breathe air took over. But, there was no air to be found. Only water.


    As she wed at her throat, he watched the light fade from her eyes. Herpanions kept barraging his defenses, but it was futile.


    They couldnt stop him.


    He had given them the opportunity to surrender after all.


    As he felt the burst of essence from the leaders death, he captured it. He used his Concept and Intent to scrub the womans own from the essence. Once it was clean and pure, he brought it into his spirit and began allocating it as he moved from person to person, drowning them as he went.


    When thest were dead, he looked off into the distance and called out, Are you going toe out or not? I dont have all day to wait.


    There was a harrumph that echoed out as five people in robes emerged from hiding.


    You truly are as strong as the rumors say. Too bad today is the day you die.


    Duke Watersughed at them, and the fight started. The first thing he noticed was that all of them were peak Tier 35 and had Aspects, not just Intents. They also had much better gear than the trash that the others had.


    All of that only meant one thing to Duke Waters. A good fight.


    He let loose with a [Water de], and followed it up by closing in andshing out with a [Whirlpool]. As they scattered with looks of surprise, he picked the leader of the five and lunged after them while firing a barrage of [Water Bullets].


    He quickly caught up to their retreating form, as the leaderughed and said, Now youre right where we want you.


    A formation appeared and tried to lock down the chaotic space. It made teleportation impossible for, and slowed down movement of all who weren''t keyed into the formation. It also had a shielding function that would allow attacks in, but not out.


    It was good, but he had seen better.


    Duke Watersughed and threw his Intent at the mans Aspect. It was newly formed, so he didnt even need to use his own to counter it.


    The leaders bravado disappeared and swiftly shifted to panic as his Aspect shattered, and Duke Waters started to drown him. His eyes started to roll back, and his legs iled to get a purchase on emptiness. Aiden just watched them fail and flounder.


    They never seemed to learn. It never worked. Traps and ambushes only had a chance when the other side wasnt overwhelmingly powerful.


    Aiden hadnt been blessed with a powerful or synergistic Talent, but he had always found Concepts and their mysteries easy toprehend. Instead of following the normal path that most took, he doubled down on his power and followed his instincts.


    It had given him amazing strength. When his peers were practicing skills, he yed with his Concept. It was like a sore tooth that he had to poke at. His time ying with it led him to discover something. He was good at Concepts. Most never looked at what a Concept was until they had ess to the information at higher Tiers.


    He had discovered it on his own. A Concepts growth was converting the essence in the cultivator''s core. It was why taking in someone else''s essence was dangerous for the untaught, as they would need to pit their own Concept and will against the inert will of the dead cultivator. If they didnt, they could pollute their own essence with a foreign Concept, and cripple their path forward.


    Unlike most, Aiden never had trouble synergizing with his Concept, and its growth had been explosive. By Tier 7, he had converted all of his essence to his Concepts aspect, and started looking for his Intent.


    That advantage had been pressed until he was here today.


    What always pissed him off was the fact that no two Concepts were the same, and what worked for him never worked for anyone else. He had shared his techniques, but to no avail.


    So, he did what he could do and protect the Empire as a whole. If he had been born in one of the other great powers, as the son of two Tier 4s, he would have never advanced. But here, he had.


    His AI pinged him that he had ns to take his wife to visit both of their parents when he got back. Thinking of his parents always brought a smile to his face. He had progressed so quickly that he had been able to pay for his parents advancement to Tier 15, where they still sat. He didnt mind. They had only gotten their Concepts because he called in and gave favors for Shards of Reality, so they could simte an ascension. But now, he didnt have to worry about them dying from old age.


    Duke Waters was brought out of his idle thoughts when his spirit warned him of an attack. A de tried to cut his throat from behind, but his Aspect locked down the space and turned the water into something harder than concrete.


    At the Depths, water got denser than most could imagine, and he channeled that to block the glowing de that plunged towards his neck.


    He locked the cultivator behind him up, and pulled them around to hover next to the still struggling leader.


    Was that your big n? An ambush? In your next life, try a better one.


    He forced his Intent into the leader and finished him off. He looked to the assassin and found a stunningly beautiful woman, who pleaded with watery eyes and bouncing breasts that were barely contained by her revealing armor.


    A flex of his Concept broke the illusion, and the seductive figure was reced with a fully armored form. Their Aspect tried to fight his Intent, but it was like a child trying to beat at an adults legs.


    Futile.


    Duke Waters frowned at the assassin and looked around. The other three had fled.


    He smiled.


    At least they were learning.


    He moved on deeper into the Sect''s controlled territory as he cleansed the essence from hisst two kills. There were more locations where he needed to route the enemies and the conflicts were escting.


    Aiden had more work to do.


    ***


    April stood to the side of Luna and Kurt.


    She was still in awe that she had been chosen for the liaison position for <em>Luna</em>. The woman was a legend in the manager circles for her handling of rising stars. She, unlike most managers, only dedicated herself to a single team, and was known for either breaking them or creating monsters.


    Kurt was always her trainer, and he never worked for any other manager. April had thought they might be a couple, but after spending thest two months with them, decided that they werent.


    They were just protege and mentor.


    April didnt even know why they were here, or why she had been chosen as liaison. Luna was said to be retired, and Kurt had been a manager in his own right. Why he would ept a lower position was a mystery above her pay grade.


    Currently, they were berating Matthew as he fought his way through a rift.


    He has no footwork. Its like watching a tree fight. Utterly embarrassing. He could be doing much more damage if he just <em>moved around</em> more. The Mages have flying equipment, they aren''t in danger damnit.


    April kept her mouth shut. She didnt know what they were talking about. For a Tier 5, Matt was smooth on his feet. He might not have been a light weapon user, but he was better than most heavy-de melee fighters that she had seen during her climb to Tier 25.


    But apparently, it wasnt good enough for the purple-haired woman, nor for the man she had measuring Matts steps with an actual ruler. They had even drawn up ns for the boy to attend dancing lessons to correct the deficiency.


    As this was her second assignment, April just kept her ears and eyes open while staying silent unless spoken to.


    Luna had been doing this longer than anyone else and knew better. So did Kurt.


    The thing that confused April the most was the fact that Luna refused to ept the offer to manage the trio, and was holding off on making it official. All while creating borate ns for their training.


    They even criticized how Matt went about creating new rifts, calling it unrefined and writing up ns for how to iste more variables.


    Liz, with her background, had it even worse. And they had days worth of nning written out for her as well.


    She over extends on nearly every lunge. Shes better with the spear when using her <em>maniption </em>skill. Completely uneptable.


    Kurt once again broke out the ruler, and measured the blood mages steps and attacks, all while shaking his head and silently tutting.


    Luna grabbed a handful of floating purple hair and nearly pulled it out when she saw Liz using pure [Blood Maniption] in a rift.


    Shes wasting mana by the bucketful with that approach. I don''t care if her boytoy is an unlimited mana battery, shes still wasting so much. I cant stand to watch anymore. Kurt you watch her and write it up.


    For all her criticisms Luna gave praise as much, if not more than when she took issue.


    He hits hard, and he uses his mana stone well to cast spells before he could normally cast them.


    At that Kurt nodded and handed the woman a piece of paper.


    Yes. His n to modify the [Fireball] skill is interesting. If it works, it could allow a fullbat swap much earlier.


    Liz at least gets the most out of her blood skills, and takes advantage of their simr properties to water.


    Luna hated AIs, and insisted that everything was done in actual paper and pen, refusing to even read messages from Kurt. She was always making the man write everything out by hand. Though, he seemed used to it.


    She was a weird woman, that was for sure.


    Luna appreciated Lizs unique use of her abilities and modified spear, but the obsessive manager was disappointed with her only now training so hard.


    Even Aster the fox was put under intense scrutiny, with the ruler being used yet again toment on the foxs butt wiggle while lunging at the rabbit that she was stalking.


    She wiggled four times more than needed, and ten percent more than she had to each wiggle. Is she wiggling to impress people or set her feet? Who taught her how to hunt? Shameful. Efficiency efficiency efficiency.


    Shes just like the other mage. Wasting mana as if it were free. JUST BECUASE YOU HAVE UNLIMITED MANA <em>NOW, </em>DOESN''T MEAN YOU ALWAYS WILL! Honestly! So imprudent.


    The woman shouted so loudly that April half expected the trio they were watching to hear her.


    It was weird enough that April broke her silence and asked why they were judged to such a high standard.


    Luna and Kurt looked at her like she was crazy, and Luna said, Look at Aster. She spends time in the ice rift and makes sure she improves her ice aspected mana. But half of that is because she''s following her instincts, so it hardly counts. The other two have had a long break in thest year, when they could have been improving. They have so much raw talent that seeing it wasted is a crime. The higher the ability one has, the higher the standard they must be held to. Add in their cheating ability to never run out of mana and always have full rifts to delve, and you can see why they need to be pushed harder than anyone else.


    Meanwhile, Kurt nodded like a chicken beside the severe woman and held up a sign that said, Languishing in mediocrity is the worst thing you can do.


    Children, all of them. Is this the standard The Path has fallen to? I''ve only been in seclusion for a few centuries. How did they slip so much?


    Kurt handed a paper over and the woman nodded and corrected herself, Youre right. Theyre still young and don''t have experience. Theyre making good ns for the future as well, judging from their recent purchases. April, make sure those packages arrive in the next few weeks. I like the idea of giving Aster Winter''s Embrace, it has some excellent synergies with other ice skills, and it matches with her personally well.


    And the rift work is interesting. I don''t know too many people that have done much rift testing at these Tiers. We might need to raid a few guilds'' vaults to see what information they have. Could save time.


    Kurt passed over a paper and Luna nced at it. A grimace flickered across her face so fast, April wasnt sure if shed imagined it before the womans face returned to normal. Ah, yes. We should get in touch with the problem child, shouldnt we? Erwin would<em> love</em> this, and he could also help the girl with her alchemy. See what his schedule is like over the next decade, would you?


    April returned to her silence and tried to absorb as much information as she could. She didnt know how she was going to get the packages to arrive faster, but she flicked through her contacts on her AI. She didn''t even know who Erwin was, but started a few searches for anyone with that name who had interacted with Luna in the past.


    When the announcement came for the war, and they listened to their logic for skipping out of the fight, April nodded to herself.


    It was exactly what she would have done. If you can make rifts anywhere and always delve them, spending some extra time at Tier 5 and farming growth items was the smart y. But from Kurts silent shaking of his head, and Lunas clenched fist, they clearly disagreed.


    Finally, a message saying the kids had to fight reached Aprils AI, and she looked to Luna in confusion.


    The woman hadnt even officially agreed to manage them. Why was she forcing them into this fake war?


    Luna saw her look and answered the unspoken question. Yes, we are taking them. I cant stand to see such potential avoid the forge. Ill see them heated and reshaped.


    Gathering her courage, April asked, Whats with the G? None of our names start with G.


    I dont want them to know who their manager or trainer is. You arent to tell them either. Little Lizs parents know me, and so she might. Just call me G to the kids.


    April shrugged. If thats what Luna wanted, thats what she would do. She was the lowest person on thedder and was trying to learn.


    Should I go and introduce myself now that youve decided to take the position?


    Kurt looked aghast, and Luna shook her head. No. I want to see them more without the suspicion of being watched. This war will let me learn a lot about them.


    April just hoped that the trio wouldnt hate her after this.

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72


    Matt pondered Lizs question. Which side did he want to fight on? He didnt know off the top of his head.


    The Kingdom had proven that it was corrupt and Tierest. They abused their power and oppressed their citizens. They didnt care about the little people at all.


    Matt t out didnt like the Kingdom, but he didnt know if the queendom was any better. His first instinct was to say they couldnt be worse, but he really didnt know if that was true. They could be a million times worse for all he knew.


    He looked to Liz, who was pacing back and forth.


    Any suggestions? Im torn. Is the vassal we know worse than the one we dont?


    She spoke from hands pressed together in front of her face. I dont know. I also would feel like shit if we had to fight against the people we took the ruin down with. It would be like a betrayal.


    Matt hunkered down and thought about the possibility. While he couldnt name more than a dozen people by name, it would feel like a betrayal to swap sides. As much as he wouldnt mind punching the Prince for his stunt with the flying fortress, he could understand trying to profit from the whole ordeal. Getting a prize thatrge would have made anyone greedy.


    He just didnt feel any sort of connection to the vassal Kingdom. He didnt care which of two vassals got the Tier 20. They were both subsidiaries of the Empire. In the end, the would belong to them.


    If it wasnt for their manager pushing them into this, he wouldnt even consider staying. The question was, what would they even get from staying?


    Matt checked the contribution point rewards for participating in the war and whistled out loud, catching Lizs attention.


    Theres a ton of rewards teased in here with reduced prices just for participating. Nearly everything is half off forbatants.


    Seeing Lizs interested look, he dropped the bad news. Thebatant part is the key though., Theyre counting a separate contribution point system. You have to earn them in the war for the discount to apply.


    Liz kicked a rock and resumed her pacing.


    As Matt continued to ponder the situation, he kepting up nk. The queendom was the unknown here, regardless of his indifference towards the Kingdom. He wouldnt be able to stomach fighting for people even worse than the Prince and his family. His searches didnte up with anything more than what they already knew. There was nothing that would have indicated they were a bunch of assholes.


    Theck of information on the queendom gave him a bad feeling, especiallypared to other vassal nations of the Empire, which usually had glowing reviews regarding their treatment of citizens under Tier 15. Granted, only about a third of the vassal states had such reviews. But if the ones with no information were anything like the Kingdom, he didnt think the queendom would be any better than what they had experienced.


    Im torn on what to do.


    Liz plopped down next to him and stretched out her legs until they quivered.


    Does it really matter? We have no dog in this fight. If the Kingdom wins, they keep the. If the queendom wins, they keep the. None of that matters to us. I was looking at the provided documentation and found a few interesting details.


    A message highlighting some of the text mirrored what Liz said. We get points based on our contribution, so it seems like the winner of the war is irrelevant. If we want to maximize contribution points, we want to take the weaker side, so that anything we do makes up arger percentage of the battlefield contribution. For what its worth, I think most people will see the Emperor allowing the war to happen as tacit support of the queendom, since he couldve put a stop to the whole thing very quickly.


    That was a good point, and Matt did some searching to corroborate her line of thinking, but was disappointed when he saw that there was no counter formitments to either side.


    He did find a use that stated <em>everyone</em> would be earning contribution points, not just the Pathers participating. It meant that the Kingdom and queendom would probably send everyone they had to the fight, especially if it meant getting benefits from the Empire.


    Matt figured that it was all part of the n. If he was reading the situation right, the Emperor was setting up an entire war just to season his Pathers. The decision to provide essence stones to all Pathers who fought only served to support Matts hypothesis. It meant no one would fall off The Path because of the fighting. In fact, some teams might be able to get an item or skill that would catapult them through the Tiers, or at least help them get ahead of the curve if they were close to falling off.


    The thought that an entire-wide war was an excuse to sharpen The Path of Ascension was mind-boggling. The cost had to be enormous, but it was seemingly not a concern. Even just moving everyone to this, situated on the outskirts of the Empires territory, would mean thousands of rapid, off-schedule teleports.


    It was way more than Matt would ever consider spending, just for a bunch of kids to fight in a mock war. Everything he was reading showed that it would be more like a giant game of capture the g, rather than a real fight.


    Zones and points of control were set up, along with designated areas of high-value resources and rift clusters. It was reminiscent of the golem battles, but with the army watching, there was nearly no chance of death.


    His musing was interrupted by a message from Juni.


    Idly, he opened it. Can we talk?


    Matt looked at Liz and saw her looking at him with a questioning look.


    Do we answer him?


    I dont think we have a choice. Would be pretty dickish to ignore him, and it would set us up against the Kingdom if we didnt.


    Matt paused at Lizs implication. She was right. If they didnt answer Juni, the Princes representative, they would be effectively choosing sides.


    They both epted the message and were quickly greeted with a video request.


    Juni smiled at them when they answered in a group chat.


    I take it youve heard the deration?


    Liz responded, Yeah, we heard him. Kinda hard to miss.


    Juni grinned at that, We were in a rift and missed it. Came out to a shit show. Everyones losing their minds. We dont know much, but some word was sent with off-schedule teleports. The king is responding with force and sending as much as he can in both manpower and resources.


    Matt knew where this was going, and wasnt surprised when Juniunched into his pitch.


    Will you be staying? Wed love to have fighters of your caliber participating. Fighting up a Tier seems to be worth quite a few contribution points from everything I read. We intend to assemble apany of everyone who participated in the fortress attack as the tip of our spear.


    Matt finally cut the exuberant man off. We havent really decided which way were going to fall. Juni, you must understand, the Kingdom looks like shit to us. Everything weve seen so far has been negative. When we were on the capital, we were nearly set up and press-ganged into hardbor. We had to fight a golem war because the Tier 15s kept the Tier 7s from saving innocent people. <em>Then</em> the Prince sent our group to move early, therefore drawing more golems to us, and causing even more deaths. What reason do we have to fight for the Kingdom?


    Juni just nodded and waited for Matt to finish.


    Matt, youre not wrong. The Kingdom needs to be fixed. Thats exactly what we want to do. I know you all had a hand in killing that idiot Zoey. If you hadnt taken care of her, I was going to make a move, which was what the early movement was supposed to cover up. I dont think you understand how the Kingdom works for inheritance. Let me exin, please.


    Matt paused at that usation but kept his face steady. He doubted that Juni had firm proof; the prince''s right hand was just specting.


    When their old squad leader had both of their nods, heunched into an exnation.


    There are neen contenders for the throne. Three of them are direct descendants of the current king. But the king knows that the Kingdom is going to be integrated into the Empire, and he doesnt want to be the ruler at that point. Hed rather pass the Kingdom off to a sessor, instead of ending his rule with a lesser title. Theres a lot ofpetition for that role. The king adopts anyone with a bit of drive or skill from the royal branch families. Hes always considered the talented ones as potential sessors. But that leaves the three actual children at a severe disadvantage.


    The Princes eldest sister, Cori, learned that the hard way. She was and still is a great fighter and a masterful dueler. But she made a mistake. She only worried about advancing, and had no support from the nobles, so she was squeezed out of the running fromck of political acumen. Now shes a general with no hope of taking the throne. The nobles dont want someone who cant be influenced on the throne after the integration. Theyll still be considered upper ss citizens of the Kingdom, just at a lower level of nobility. To keep their status, theyll only give their support to someone they can work with.


    The Prince learned from her failure, and gathered as much support as he could. As much as thest golem fight was tragic, it gave the Prince a massive boost in support. Despite being cut off from vital resources, he was able to tackle the invasion with little difficulty, and without the need for interference. It helped him massively expand his support base, and hes now one the top three royals in contention for the throne. If he can do well in leading this defensive war, he can easily muster enough support to secure the throne and make meaningful changes. Even the king is seemingly lending his support to the Prince, as hes sending Cori to defend the Tier 20. Essentially, this mini-war is all on the Prince. Its his chance to prove his ability to lead without the risk of anyone trying to steal his thunder.


    Matt looked to Liz. That was a nice breakdown of the Princes situation, but didnt exin why they should help him.


    He said as much, and Juni nodded. The Prince is trying to make changes to bring the Kingdom more in line with the Empire as a whole. Even if he doesnt personally believe that would be be a good thing, hes not stupid. He knows that changes will happen when the integration happens, whether he agrees with them or not. He wants to make the transition easier by starting the shift earlier. The other top contenders are pushing agendas of trying to hold off the integration as long as possible. That was only a viable strategy before the Tier 20 was discovered. Now, its inevitable that the Princes tform gathers more support from all sides. Look up the records of the Prince meeting with his people. Hes always pushed an agenda of improving and changingws to more reflect the Empires standards.


    Matt and Liz met each others eyes and silentlymunicated. Matt was swayed by Junis speech, but Liz seemed more reluctant to join the Prince.


    He let her decide, and after a moment, she nodded.


    Sure, Juni, well help. I hope the Prince will keep his promises if he wins the throne. Ill be checking.


    Juni didnt seem to recognize the severity of the threat, and just thanked them profusely.


    Ok, for now, were just preparing defensive embankments. We dont know where the connection to whatevers theyre linking up will equate to here. We expect a few weeks before the first push from the queendom. They need to gather their forces as much as we need to. The king doesnt think they were given any more warning than us for the war, so theyll also be scrambling to get their fighters in ce. At least when ites to this Tier 6. The Tier 20 will be a muchrger and more detailed fight, but that isnt our problem. Try and Tier up in the meantime. With yourbat prowess, you can fight the Tier 7s and make a muchrger difference.


    Once the conversation ended, Matt looked at Liz, who shrugged back.


    For better or worse, we <em>have</em> to fight. Its better to fight for the side that were already familiar with. And now we wont be hunted for the rest of our time on the. I dont know if they could do that, but the Kingdom could still find ways to make the rest of our stay pretty shitty. Besides, I wouldn''t put it past them to try and skirt the rules in the name of security.


    She popped up and brushed her pants off. We might as well Tier up.


    Matt pulled her back down. Hold up. First, we should take advantage of our remaining time at Tier 5. I wanted to gather more information from rifts before trying some of these ideas, but now were short on time.


    Liz cocked her head and poked him, Oh, you have new ideas? Spill.


    First, I want to try mixing every mana type we have and throwing in a growth item. See what we get out of it. We have three remaining, and I figure at least one of them is essentially useless to us. Then, I want to see if I can make a Tier 5 rift from the mana concentration herbs I bought. Theyre Tier 5 too, so itll either mean running the rift at Tier 4 and hoping to get lucky with a Tier up rift reward, or just gamble on it being the same rift. Its stupid that the mana concentration items are so rare. Ive set up automatic notifications for the Empire Market, and I still cant find any.


    Liz chuckled, The people who sell them are people who already used them, and dont have friends or family to help. The only reason we found one was that someone probably found arge patch of them, took what they needed, then sold the rest.


    She poked him yfully. But let me y with the herbs from the Tier 4 rift. I can practice with them in case we get the Tier 5 one to work, and itll bring in quite a bit of money. Especially if we hold them until all the other Patherse.


    Matt nodded along and asked, Should we go get everything inspected? We still have the bucket and a bag of items.


    With that decided, they flew to the city and had a game of tag along the way. It was good flying practice, but mostly they did it for fun.


    When they arrived at the citys outskirts, it was bustling like a kicked-over ant hill. Where there were minimal defences on the outskirts before, there were now huge walls being built, with runes being inscribed on their surface.


    They were clearly getting ready for sieges. Matt had read the information packet, but found little about how actual cities would be treated. He didnt think the army would allow them to be burned down in a siege, but there wasnt a detailed n in the provided information. After seeing the rubble of the golem attack, he didnt me them for preparing more robust defences.


    Walking through the city cemented the feeling of the impending attack. Faces were tense, and everyone walked with a purpose.


    When they reached the auction house, they were met with a line to get in the door. A quick check showed that the auction house had opened an emergency auction, and the news had spread to all the people who were trying to prepare for the war. A new skill or weapon was just the thing they wanted.


    Matt and Liz cut the line, receiving shouts of displeasure from the people who noticed. They ignored them, and when they reached the front, shouted to the security that they were there to sell while shing their VIP credentials. It was enough to get them through the door and out of the madhouse.


    A hurried attendant who Matt recognized came up to them and nearly pleaded, Please tell me you have stuff to sell?


    We have a lot. Liz answered the womans plea with a thumbs up.


    Praise every ascender. Were getting overrun here. Let me get you to a room.


    Not a minuteter, they were seated in their usual room, waiting for their appraiser toe and greet them.


    Instead of their usual appraiser, a younger-looking man came in and smiled. Matthew, Elizabeth, good to meet you both. Im Samuel, a Tier 19 appraiser assigned to you from The Path. Ill always be near where you delve to ensure that you have a secure ce to get things appraised. Ill be attaching myself to the nearest auction house from now on.


    Matt paused and looked to Liz. Well, thats convenient. Are you able to get things on the Empire Market then?


    Yes, I am. It will also keep most eyes off your activities, which will help you remain under the radar.


    Liz didnt seem bothered, which reassured Matt. She just dropped her spatial bag onto the table and dumped out the mass of items. Most were weapons or armor from their testing of variousbinations of starting items and mana types to seed rifts. These were just the mostmon variants, with effects they could mostly sense for themselves.


    They had another pile of near equal size that consisted of items with stranger effects.


    Samuel just grinned. I love seekers. You always bring the best goodies.


    He quickly sorted everything and started inspecting them. It didnt take long, as there was nothing too crazy in the current pile, and quickly everything was put away inside the mans spatial ring. The next pile took longer, but they didnt find anything they wanted to keep.


    Finally, they came to the growth items. As Matt expected, two of them had some value, but the third was a dud. No one wanted a dagger that increased bludgeoning damage. It was perfect for Matts testing, so they kept it.


    With the growth items appraised, Matt pulled out the bucket of skills they had. He had only put them there as a joke, but the absurdity of an entire bucket of skills was too much for either of them to resist, so they just kept adding to the pile.


    Most were various nonbat skills, or crafting skills that they had no interest in. The others were the moremonbat skills they already had, or had no use for. Still, they kept a few skills for themselves. Each of them kept a shard of [Mana Bolt]. Lizs [Blood Bolt] wasnt quite as good as the original, but it still kept some of its prating power. Liz kept a shard of [Ice Spear] that turned into [Blood Spear] which put out more damage for a higher cost, a tradeoff that Liz was fine with.


    Liz and Aster had both gotten [Shatter], which was a skill that shattered targeted ice. Lizs variant, [Hemorrhage], only seemed to work once Liz broke someones spiritual protection, which meant that she would have already won the fight at that point. But for Aster at least, it would still serve as a useful utility skill to fill out her arsenal. Lastly, Matt had kept [Jolt], a rtively cheap electricity skill, for future use.


    Lastly, there were two skills they werent able to identify on their own. Matt and Liz were hopeful that they were Tier 14 skills, as they had the entire catalog of Tier 8 skill shards downloaded in their AI and couldnt identify them.


    It would be rare for a Tier 5 or Tier 6 rift to produce them, but not unheard of. With the number of fully-charged rifts they had delved, it wasnt impossible for them to get that lucky.


    Samuel quickly sorted out the skills, but paused over the two unidentified skills. He paused for a notable amount of time on one of them in particr. Matt got worried, but the appraiser eventually put it down and checked the second shard.


    This one - The appraiser held up the second skill, Is a Tier 14 [Heat]. Its a forging skill that goes for quite a bit. He picked up the first skill and shrugged his shoulders. I have no clue what this one is. Its Tier 8 for sure, but Ive never seen it.


    Matt felt someone breathing down his neck, and swatted behind him to find nothing. He returned his attention to the Tier 19 after checking the room.


    So, what does that mean? Lizs question mirrored his own.


    Give me a minute. It <em>feels </em>like an armor skill, but other than that, I cant really tell. It reminds me of [Iron Skin], but it''s the wrong tier, and the well, not exactly structural let''s call it the details in the cosmetic structure of the skill arepletely different.


    Samuel shrugged. We can put it in a scanner and let it work its way up the chain of AIs until it finds a database with the skill registered. I think its a rare skill.


    Putting actions to words, a small portable scanner plunked on the table, and Samuel set the skill on the scanner. It was simr to the one at Bennys, and the little device took Matt back to when he stole [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It felt so long ago, he barely recognized himself.


    The little machine beeped, Unknown skill. Contacting higher authority.


    A circle spun on its interface pad, and when it beeped next, Matt expected an answer. Instead the machine droned, Higher authority needed. Opening portal to nearest to send request. Please standby.


    Nearly five minutester, it beeped a third time, Unknown skill detected. Higher authority needed. Opening portal to nearest to send request.


    Matt looked at Samuel, who was staring at the device and the skill shard sitting on the ss with naked desire.


    What does this mean?


    Without looking up, the appraiser said, We could be looking at a super rare skill. Its notmon, but an incredibly rare skill is found every once and a while. So they arent always in the normal databases.


    Liz questioned, What does that mean for us?


    Theres a reward for any rare skills and the location of the rift that produced said skill. Normally, the reward is off the drop table and can be anything, but the Empire likes to note those rifts and make sure theyre watched.


    Three repetitionster, the scanner said something different. Higher authority reached. New skill detected: [Copper Skin] Tier 8 variation of the Tier 14 skill [Iron Skin]. Reserve 100 or more mana to increase durability and take on slight properties of the metal in question. Full conversion to metal is possible with enough mana reserved. Please hold the skill for an Empire representative to perform a more thorough skill investigation. 20,000 Empire Market Contribution Points are awarded immediately. An equivalent price in mana stones can be exchanged.


    Matt shot a questioning look to the appraiser, only to find the man looking at the skill like it was his child. The skill would have been perfect for him if it wasn''t for the fact it was a reserve skill and would cripple his mana generation when it locked a part of his mana pool down as it would act as if his max mana was whatever the reserve was lower. As it was, the skill held little value for him now.


    Um. That doesnt seem like a rare skill.


    No. No, it isnt. This is apletely new skill. I dont even know thest time that happened. Do you know which rift you got this skill shard out of? Whoever the Empire sends is going to want to know.


    Matt frowned. He did know where the skill came from. It was a rift he had dissipated when they hadnt gotten a growth item out of it. Now he felt like a dumbass for doing that, but at least he knew the form for the rift. In theory, he could make it again.


    No, the rift is gone.


    Fuck all the ducks. Thats just our luck. Well, its still an amazingly monumental find. Wait, what the fuck!?


    Matt was startled, but the skill shard on the scanner was gone.


    He panicked, and his reaction was met with simr reactions by Liz and Samuel. Thetter he looked to with distrust.


    Did you store it in your spatial ring?


    The Tier 19 looked as panicked as Matt felt, and nearly screamed, No! I didnt! My AI can confirm it. Do you know how fucked well be if we cant find it? Oh no.


    The appraiser looked like he wanted to vomit, and with the AI backed guarantee, Matt believed him. It didnt exin where the skill went.


    The scanner beeped and caused them all to pause. Congrattions, an Empire representative has confirmed receipt of skill, and rewards are now distributed.


    All three of them slumped to their seats.


    Liz looked around and cursed. Whoever picked the skill up, youre a dick. You could have at least appeared in person and introduced yourself. No need to snatch the skill from across the and leave. You also didnt have to wait so long to confirm receipt. Asshole.


    Matt felt Liz was understating it, but Samuel looked flustered. We shouldnt speak ill of someone who can take a skill shard away at that kind of range. Just bad practice to get on anyone that strongs bad side.


    Liz shrugged and countered, Its the truth. They pulled a dick move and deserve to be called out. Its also rude as fuck.


    After they all calmed down, they finished their transaction, and Liz brought up their second reason for visiting. I need to exchange for growth item requirements from Tier 1 to Tier 7. Can we do that off ourst sale?


    The now recovered Tier 19s eyes flickered for a moment, and he nodded. Yes, you will have some money left over with the Tier 14 skill shard, as long as you dont need the absolute rarest materials. This localpany also authorized you some credit, so dont worry about it. Worsees to worst. You just need to convert some Contribution Points to mana stones. Ill have someone lead you to the room where they keep the tables.


    With that, the man quickly vanished around a corner, and Matt grinned at Liz. Think hes still happy to be assigned to us now?


    Pshh, no. I bet hes requesting a transfer immediately.


    They had a goodugh at the mans reaction. Matt had been surprised as well, but after all the weird stuff that came with being around the daughter of two Tier 48s, he was pretty used to this kind of thing.


    Two hourster, Liz was rubbing her gloved hand and looking at it weirdly.


    I think I could handle the Tier 7 upgrade now. My spirit doesnt feel stressed at all from the Tier 6 upgrade.


    Its still not worth it. Sure, we can Tier up if it proves too much for you to handle, but then we lose out on pulling more growth items. We have the Tier 7 upgrade material, so theres no rush.


    Yeah, I know that, but I kinda want to push it and see if I can handle the Tier 8 upgrade at Tier 6. The leaf really did help in ways I didnt expect.


    Matt felt envious, even though he knew it was stupid. He had already gotten a massive boost from the root of the tree of perfection. Wishing for more was a fools errand, but he was still slightly jealous. He put the thought out of his mind and focused on his next tests.


    Before they left, Matt purchased another set of mana stones with all the elemental aspects. If he was gonna do the testing, he figured he might as well go all out.


    Samuel also came back to pay them a visit, and looked nearly gleeful when he asked, Look for more unique goodies like that. While I don''t like higher Tiers ying games. My being nearly right on the appraisal brought my credit up a ton. A few more like that and I can get a promotion, or five.


    When they arrived at the ind, they did their testing. Liz went to test her upgraded glove, and Matt prepared for his two most important rift creations yet.


    He decided to start with the rift to get mana concentration herbs. He used the same ratios as the rift he did to create Lizs herb rift for her alchemy practice.


    Before each Tier up, he closed his fingers and pleaded with his lucky stars to prevent the rift from devouring the herbs he seeded it with. He had two small nts, and didnt want to be left with a single shot at the rift creation process if the rift ate the herbs.


    Thankfully his luck was good, and he reached Tier 4 without anything going amiss. He carefully packed the test subject away with the other herb.


    He queued up a message for Liz and hopped into the wooded rift. He quickly cleared it out and found a variety of herbs, but wasnt able to identify them. Knowing how particr Liz was with the herbs she harvested, he just dug up the entire nt whenever he found something with a high essence or mana concentration.


    The reward at the end wasckluster, as he expected with being over the rifts Tier, but he was hoping they could brute force a good reward out of the rift. It could always dish out something over its Tier with a little luck and persistence.


    Exiting the rift, he dropped off everything he collected near Lizs alchemy table and went to set up his next experiment.


    With the useless growth item and the aspected mana stones he just purchased, he created a rift with equal parts from every mana type he had. He even added in his own unaspected mana. The rift was strange, with golems that seemed to be made from giant crystals arranged in a roughly humanoid shape. Each had a different elemental attack, and it gave Matt hope for getting something unique from the rift when he got it to Tier 5. However, the Tier 1 version only gave a single mana stone.


    Carefully, he Tiered up the rift and noticed that the monsters changed each time. But when he reached Tier 4, the rift swallowed up all the items he was using to influence the rift.


    He spent the better part of a half hour cursing his luck, and debated running it as a Tier 4 rift, instead of chancing the upgrade. If the rift changed to an unaspected rift, he would lose the growth item for nothing.


    With more bravery thanmon sense, he Tiered the rift up. To his relief, the same crystal elementals came out of the rift.


    Matt whooped and hollered long enough for Aster toe and investigate. He ignored the rabbit blood covering her muzzle, and kissed her while spinning her around. To his consternation, it took Liz nearly an hour toe out of her rift so they could delve histest creation.


    The fighting was easy enough, as the monsters couldnt stand up to either of their attacks, and they found a weirdly colored rechargeable mana stone. As best as they could tell, it produced water and wind attributed mana. Matt pocketed the stone, as he needed to do testing to see exactly how it functioned. The mix of aspected mana in a single stone might lead to different effects when used to make a rift, rather than the two elements as separate aspects.


    For all the good luck Matt had with the aspected mana stone rift, he had the opposite luck with the mana concentration rift. None of the nts were mana concentration herbs, and he decided to reset the rift with Liz there, to check it at each Tier up.


    They were lucky with regard to the fact that the rift never ate their materials, but it only produced mana affecting nts once. The Tier 3 rift produced some mana regeneration nts. They were useful for others, but not for them, so he left the rift and created a new one from scratch.


    Nearly a week of delving and testingter, they finally had a Tier 4 rift that produced mana concentration herbs. It was better than anything else they had made, as it also produced mana regeneration and maximum mana herbs. For a Tier 4, it was a gold mine, and they debated endlessly about risking the Tier up.


    Finally, as another week went by, they decided the time for the invasion was too close at hand, and they took the leap of faith.


    Unable to seed the rift without Tier 5 materials, they had to roll the dice. All three of them held hands as the rift Tiered up, and they quickly entered to find that their gamble had paid off. They had sessfully kept the rift correctly aspected, and it produced all three types of mana cultivation herbs. It was worth an absolute fortune, since the rift itself produced the herbs, and they werent dependent on rift rewards.


    It took Lizs full attention to learn how to create each potion, but she had unlimited attempts. After three days of trying, she had a potion for Matt, and the full trio of potions for herself and Aster.


    Liz did some research on the potions as well while she was learning to make them, and she found an answer as to why someone couldnt use multiple potions at the same Tier. Even if they came from different sources, the spirit could only handle one change per aspect of both physical and mana cultivation. This applied to a change in each of the aspects, like strength or mana regeneration. Afterwards the spirit resisted changes in the cultivation aspect for the rest of the Tier.


    They were taking an incredibly dilute version of the concentration potion, as they couldnt recover the lost maximum mana and mana regeneration like he could. They only took enough to counter the effects of the maximum mana and mana regeneration potions. They would positive in overall mana cultivation, as they essentially got free mana concentration out of it. The bonus would increase the overall damage of their spells.


    They sat around and downed the potions in a single swig. The others only twinged at the mana concentration potion, but Matt writhed on the ground as the full-strength potion reduced his maximum mana near zero, before the effects of the potion subsided. A quick check of his AI showed that his new mana concentration was 1.15. Not quite as good as the potions Aunt Helen gave him, but close enough. He wasnt going toin, as it was unfair topare Liz to a woman millions of years old.


    He sat up and used an empty mana stone to increase his maximum mana back up to 40, and waited for the mages to finish their own experience with the potions. He could feel Aster trying to adjust, and gave her soothing pats to help her through it.


    The potions didnt feel any better to them, as they forcefully changed their mana pool without their mana cultivation cores being changed. Where Matts was dark and not used, theirs were alive with pools of essence, which resisted the changes enough to make them painful for the women as well.


    After that was a sess, Liz continued to delve the rift to gather more herbs. She wanted to make mana cultivation potions and sell them to the soon to arrive Pathers. Meanwhile, Matt focused all of his attention on the mana aspect rift.


    His gut told him it was worth it, and three weeks to the day after the war deration was announced, he hit the jackpot.


    It was a ring growth item that had dozens of little shards of what looked like mana stones in it. He wasnt dumb enough to immediately bind it, but they went directly to the auction house to get it inspected.Samuel confirmed that it was exactly what Matt had hoped for.


    The ring could remember the aspect of any mana it came into contact with, and could then convert any mana passed through it into a stored aspect. The ring started with an awful conversion rate, but Samuel told them that as he Tiered it up, the rate would slowly improve. It wasnt abat item, but it was perfect for his experiments. He could have asked for a better item to help with his rift creation method. Matt had to resist jumping for joy, and forced himself to y it casually for their appraiser.


    His de and Asters Winter Embrace arrived soon after their appraisal, and he upgraded the weapon to Tier 6. He made sure to acquire the material to upgrade his new weapon tier 7, and stored it in his bag. Unlike in Lizs case, it was a strain for Matt to use the weapon, since it was a full Tier higher himself. But he was ok with the temporary inconvenience. The sword was physically heavy, and he found that he was able to add more metal to the weapon at each Tier, which would increase its weight slightly. He also learned that he had some slight ability to adjust the weapon''s shape. He used that ability to make the de a little slimmer, and more in line with his Tier 5 longsword. His old sword had only bordered on the size of a greatsword unlike this current, pure greatsword.


    He didnt trust himself to enchant the weapon himself, so he hired a Tier 7 Pather enchanter to n out the enchantmentsyout. He made sure to incorporate his standard sharpness, durability, and repair runes, but he also took advantage of the growth items ability to hold more enchantments. He was able to get both [Mana Charge] and [Mana sh] iid into the weapons structure.


    Before he could get to the actual enchanting, the news came. The queendom was invading, and everyone was called to gather.


    It was time to Tier up and prepare for the uing battles.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73


    Matt looked to Liz and Aster, and in unison, they all Tiered up. There was no need to go to a higher Tier rift and use its essence to help withpressions. After all,they had already delved a Tier 7 rift. Their cores were aspacted as they could be at Tier 5.


    Looking inward, he inspected his recent cultivation. He had been allocating most of his directed cultivation to mind, senses, and proprioception. Now, his greatest problem was keeping up with his boost from [Mages Retreat]. It would only get harder from here, as he would be able to pump more mana into the skill as he Tiered up.


    In the past month, he had gotten the skill into his core spirit, and was slowly expanding its capabilities to increase his endurance when using the skill. Once he was done, he would take the skill out of his core spirit, and start absorbing the other skills he had collected. He nned to try and make them cheaper, so he could use them earlier.


    With the three of them now Tier 6, they quickly packed up their camp and flew into the air. Matt took onest look at the ind they had camped on, and the neighboring one where they had done their rift experiments.


    It was a bittersweet sight. He felt like he had passed a pivotal point in his life. Money and essence no longer meant as much to him as they had before this moment. His time experimenting had also given him a better impression of enchanting and of its benefits.


    He felt like he was a different Matt altogetherpared to when he arrived on this, only a few short months ago. It only took a nce to see the half dozen rifts that hed left. They were the best of his creations, and it gave him a bit of satisfaction to think of how valuable the ind would be in the future. Especially once people saw that there was both a Tier 7 rift, and a rift capable of producing endless Tier 5 natural treasures for mana cultivation.


    One would eventually Tier up the, and the other would create near-endless wealth.


    The other rifts were the ones that produced growth items most often, or consistently had valuable rewards. Lizs herb rift would probably be a hotmodity in the future for an alchemy guild.


    He smiled as he thought of the faces of the people who would find their little retreat.


    With a thought and flex of his spirit, Matt turned and flew towards the gathering point. It was set in the middle of nowhere on thes fourth continent. It was a weird location, but he assumed that it was selected by the imperial army, instead of the kingdom. Otherwise, it wouldve been in one of the two teleporter cities.


    It would take them a few hours to reach their destination, but the message calling them together had a countdown timer. They had nearly a full day until the countdown would reach zero. Neither he nor Liz had any idea what the counter represented, but they didnt want to get caught out of the city if it indicated the invasion point and start time of the war.


    Matt didnt think it likely, as this was more a training ground than a real war, but they hurried anyway.


    As they flew, Matt increased his max mana pool to 80 mana, and then immediately downed one of Aunt Helens mana concentration potions. He almost fell, but was able to keep his flying sword steady with the aid of his AI. After checking and finding that his mana concentration was now 1.3, he was slightly taken aback. The potion had given him an increase of 0.15 mana concentration, even more than the 0.08 that the first one had provided at Tier 4.


    After reflecting, it made sense that a Tier 30 plus mana concentration potion would do more than a max mana of 20 could handle. With the realization that he would get more out of Aunt Helens potions when he had more maximum mana to sacrifice, he decided to save the potions for the higher Tiers, and slightly regretted his decision to take the potion now.


    Putting it out of his mind, he focused on returning his maximum mana to his new cap of 80. The doubling of mana gave him a massive amount of wiggle room in his spell casting.


    A quick test of [Hail] showed his AI that he could create a muchrger area of coverage. When given arger portion of MPS, it also created more ice. By doubling the initial mana cost, the radius increased by forty percent, which equaled a near doubling in overall area of effect. That was nice, but what made it amazing was when he noticed that the increased ice density remained without increasing the upkeep cost. When he increased the channeled mana to his full mana generation of 80 MPS, the skill appeared more like a wall of ice than a natural storm.


    Aster took control of it from his backpack and created a few ice sculptures that floated around the flying trio. He didnt miss that most were rabbits and hearts, but heughed at her antics.


    From her mental pushing, he knew that he would be making rabbit rifts for her anytime they stopped in a single location for too long.


    He was also tempted to instantly absorb [Fireball], just so he had a skill to cast like a normal mage. He would need to use the mana stone trick that he had with [Hail], but the idea was so tempting. In the end, he decided to wait until [Mages Retreat] finished its modifications, and was out of his core spirit.


    It would still be much faster to modify the skill when he absorbed it, rather than doing it the slow way. The small voice that said he could buy another [Fireball] was easily crushed. Even if he could do that, it was just too wasteful. The skill once used was gone forever, and as much as he had changed, he still remembered theck of skills on Lilly.


    <em>I can change that</em>.


    Matt didnt know what he would be doing in the near future, with their management team still being assembled, but he started listing reasons in his AI about why going to Lilly and making some low Tier rifts for the popce was a good thing.


    He brought his mind back to his skills. [Mages Retreat] had already been calcted out, but with his increase of mana concentration, it was nearly thirty percent more effective at increasing his strength for the same mana cost. The same logic applied to [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Matt sighed as he realized that while he would have the advantage in mana concentration at the lower Tiers, he would fall behind at the higher Tiers due to his reliance on potions. That is, if his math was urate.


    Matt quickly searched for the actual scaling for mana concentration. Finding nothing, he turned to ask Liz, Do you know the actual way mana concentration works on skills?


    She shook her head. No, I just know it''s good.


    Turning back to the KingdomNet, he finally found a source that seemed well rated, and spent the money to get hard numbers for his math.


    As it turned out, his notion of how mana concentration worked was slightly off. The math behind it was log10(concentration) + 1. Which meant instead of him having a boost of thirty percent, it was closer to eleven percent. That realization caused Matt to sigh in relief, as it meant he wouldn''t be that much weaker than the mages of his Tier when he got stronger.


    Before he knew it, they were nearing the marked location, and both he and Liz paused in their flight. The others that had been flying near them did the same at the impressive sight in front of them.


    Where there should have only been an unexplored continent and a grassy in, there was a massive city built of stone. It was a few dozen timesrger than the cities that the seven suns kingdom had built around the teleporters.


    At first, Matt swallowed. If this was the queendoms invasion force, they were well and truly screwed, but he quickly noticed the flying patrols were all in the armys color-shifting uniforms. Even with their camouge disabled, they still seemed to blend into the background, making them hard to notice at first, and harder still to keep an eye on.


    What is this?


    Liz was close enough to hear his question and called out, I dont know, but its impressive. I cant imagine how difficult it would be to create a city thatrge in that time frame, but only the army could do it. Look at the wall. Its covered in defensive formations.


    Matt caught the faint shimmering of the enchantments, and nodded as his eye caught something else as well. And look at their cannons. Theyre massive. I think I could stand up inside of that barrel. What are they expecting?


    Liz circled back to him and shrugged, Maybe its a show of force to the vassals. Something like, Look at how strong we are, dont try and fuck with us. I dont know for sure, though.


    Well, its working on me. The walls must be two hundred feet tall, and the buildings make them seem small.


    Matt was thoroughly impressed. Even from here, the city was all a uniform brown that implied that it was created with [Earth Maniption]. Before he could look into it deeper, he saw that his AI had registered an EmpireNet. They hadnt had ess to once since they left the vassal kingdoms capital.


    They followed the stream of people entering into the city, and Matt ogled the tripleyers of walls, each over fifty feet thick. From the surrounding sounds of water, he assumed that there was a moat above the tunnel and between the first and second wall.


    It would have all been useless if not for the flight inhibiting formation over the entire city. Liz tried to peek over the crowd, and found that while her flying device worked, it only got her an inch above the ground before she was shoved back down.


    The expense was mind boggling. Excluding everything else, just running the formation must cost thousands of mana per second for a city four hundred square miles, by his AIs calctions. Matt wasnt thrilled about the implications of needing a city thisrge, but he still asked Liz about it, while she was pressed against him in the crush of people.


    How many people are they expecting to show up?


    He had to repeat himself another three times before she nearly shouted in his ear, Gotta be ten million-plus. Have you checked the CityNet?


    Matt hadnt explored it yet, so he did so at Lizs suggestion, and quickly saw what she meant. The CityNet was tied in with the EmpireNet, but it had more local information. Everything seemed to be about people taking sides in the uing war, or trying to find ways to profit from said war. There were thousands of stores and individual crafters trying to sell their wares or services.


    But what caught and held his attention was the information that listed the wars rules of engagement.


    This city was a designated neutral site, and all fighting was prohibited under imperialw, except in designated fighting arenas. No one would be allowed to break the peace, and the army was there to ensure that the rules were followed.


    The second thing was that all neers from The Path of Ascension would be entering through the city, before either side would be able to recruit or transport their personnel. It was also the location of all reward distributions for every participant.


    As Matt was looking for more information, he received a message from Juni with a location to meet at. If he was reading the message right, the kingdom and queendom had set up buildings across the street from each other.


    It screamed of creating conflict and trying to ensure that people fought, but Matt assumed the Empire knew what it was doing. It couldnt be the first time they had done this, after all.


    The location they needed to reach was so deep into the city, they decided to take a flying cab. The price of a Tier 6 mana stone to go anywhere in the city made Matts inner poor kid cringe, but he still paid it. It let them escape the mob of people, instead of trying to move through the street or waiting for public transportation. Once they were in the air, he was able to see how the crowd quickly dispersed into the massive city, once the area surrounding the gate was cleared. As they flew through the highrises, the true scope of the city came into perspective, and Matt disregarded the expense.


    The city was gorgeous. There were flying inds that looked like parks and meditation areas. Some even seemed to be elementally aligned, and he made a note to find one for Aster to y in. Even if the aura wasnt any good for refining her mana, she would still enjoy spending time with other ice aspected people.


    As they flew, he saw massive floating tforms that were clearbat arenas. Unlike the normal standard arenas he had seen, these were scenario-based ones. From the few he saw, he could tell there was a variety ofbat arenas from false cityscapes to elemental battlefields. Each one was hundreds of feet wide, and several of them held people actively fighting. He tried to get a better look, but the cab moved too quickly, and the buildings cut off his view as they sped along.


    The use of all avable space was impressive, and Matt couldnt help but stare.


    When they started to descend, Matt noticed what he thought was a massive teleportation area. But instead of having runes, it was a clear area that was nearly a mile wide in the middle. No teleportation tform could be that big. Therger they were, the greater the cost, and that was thousands of times bigger than the ones that jumped betweens. It would bankrupt even the Emperor if it was a teleport formation.


    The building they were meant to enter was obvious when he saw it. It was a mirror to the building on the other side of the cleared area, and colored in the Seven Suns Kingdoms colors of gold and dark red, while the Queendoms building was colored in silver and light purple.


    There were also guards in each of the factions respective colors, which Matt assumed were from the respective kingdoms. The fact that there were people manning the queendom''s side was slightly rming. Had the invasion already started, or were they an advanced party sent as an emissary.


    Matt was constantly thrown off by the fact that this wasnt a true invasion. If it was a real war, they would break through at the teleport location and build a teleporter of their own, so that more troops could be quickly funneled into the.


    Matt thought about the notion, and decided that wouldnt be right either. The higher Tiers wouldnt travel through established connections unless they had to, since they could travel through chaotic space. Or


    Matt shook himself out of his pointless musings and climbed out of the cab to march up to the Seven Suns building. It wasnt like the Empire would publicize how they attacked people in a real war, so it was pointless to check.


    They were stopped at the stairs by the guards and told to wait until someone could vouch for them. After a message to Juni, they were immediately let through with an apology.


    They were given directions to a room in the middle of the massive building that was so awkwardly located, Matt wondered if Juni had a falling out with the Prince. To his surprise, they found a massive topographical table map of the, with hundreds of fortifications of different designs and colors, with a dozen or more small groups inspecting various parts of the map.


    Matt and Liz walked around the set-piece while Aster curled up in the backpack, uninterested in the boring human goings on. Juni quickly came over and shook both of their hands.


    Thanks for getting here early. Things are a little crazy right now.


    Yeah, we noticed with the out-of-way location.


    Juni flinched hard and said, Dont mention that. Even though the Prince isn''t here hes a little touchy about that. Weve also had a few... He paused, Incidents. Princess Sara, the Queendom''s leader, is Tier 7 like the Prince.


    Matt was shocked by that and checked Juni. He found that the Prince''s right hand was now Tier 7.


    He interrupted by asking, Sorry, but you advanced? I thought you both had quite a bit more to go.


    Juniughed at that, The King is giving us everything we can think to ask for, and the army said we couldnt bring more Tier 7s to the. They said nothing about making them here with essence stones. Apparently, the Empire is reimbursing everything they spend on this, and the better the battles and war, the more the kingdom will be rewarded. If the rumors are true, that extends to both personal rewards for the king, and rewards for the entire kingdom. Hes sparing no expense and giving everything he can, and ns to advance a lot of people. Last I heard, the king intends to move up something like twenty million Tier 5s and 6s.


    Liz whistled, Thats a lot of people. What are they all going to do?


    Fight, I suppose, Im sure the king would send more, but thats the limit for the kingdom to send. Anyone else will need to be recruited from the Pathers. Speaking of Tier, I see you all worked hard. From mid Tier 5 to Tier 6 means you were busting ass.


    Juni looked around and then pulled them to the side. But back to my point, the queendom''s leader is a Tier 7, Princess Sara. They had a meetingst week where she instantly and very publicly dered that she would marry the Prince.


    The man looked incredibly awkward as he finished. The Prince tried to y it off as a joke, but she bet him that if she won the war he would have to go on at least a dozen dates with her. To the Prince''s dismay, both sides parents agreed to the condition. I believe the king wants to pressure the Prince to not lose, and its working. The problem is, for as much of a physical monster as Princess Sara is, shes unexpectedly crafty for someone of her damage potential.


    Shes already gotten packages into the Princes bedroom twice, and crashed meetings like this with extravagant gifts <em>four times</em> in thest week. In fact, just this morning the Prince woke up to find his room filled to the brim with roses. The man was looking more frazzled the longer he talked. We still havent a clue how she did it.


    Matt had to give credit where it was due. Thats impressive.


    It is, but it''s also a sore spot for the Prince, so weve been moving meeting locations to random rooms, and it seems to have worked. So far, at least. Just dont mention her, please. Especially around the Prince when you see himter.


    Moving the conversation along, Matt pointed at the map and asked, What are the little castles?


    Taking advantage of the change of topic, Juni smiled. So while the Empire hasnt released any information officially yet, we know a few things. The army is busy building locations that have strategic value, or at least simted strategic value. However, theyre still finishing with a few locations. It will be reminiscent of a game of capture the g, where the longer one holds the location, the more points that side rues. Its technically a secondary objective, but not to the king. In fact its his highest priority. The war ends when one side controls the entire for a full month. But from a few rumors, some of the prizes are allegedly worth more than the Tier 20 to the kingdom, so its of vital importance to hold the positions. The king has even said that hed rather lose the war, if we got him enough points.


    Is there not a bonus for winning? d Juni nodded in response.


    Of course, but the problem is that no one knows how much its worth. It could be worth millions, or five mana stones. Thats too far above us, though. As long as youre ok with it, you will be back with the team that assaulted the golem fortress. Well be filling out the group to about five hundred over the next few months, with the best of both Pathers and kingdom fighters. Well be acting as the quick reaction force, and doing a lot of the hard work when ites to taking and holding important locations. I suggested to the Prince that we take the fighters from the golem war and make them our team leads for the best fighters. So we want you three to lead one team.


    Matt shrugged, it seemed like a good opportunity to earn more points. He said, We don''t mind taking a team leader role. He looked at Liz, who nodded at his unspoken question. This just feels wrong. I get that this is a curated war, but it feels a little too much like a game. The queendom is already here. Why wouldnt they just attack?


    Juni looked tired and sighed at the question. Yeah, but we cant do anything about it. When the countdown ends tomorrow, we believe the war will officially start. The queendom will appear in the city that corrtes with their teleport location, and they will start moving in. We dont know exactly where that is yet, though. And were unable to preemptively take control of any of the valuable points. Weve been limited to the areas near our cities, but that leaves nearly two-thirds of the uncontested. Once the war starts, well be scrambling to try and block the queendom off, and it wont be easy. They can appear anywhere and attack a single location with their full force, but at least our defending advantage wont bepletely nullified with the Empires restrictions in ce.


    Matt took a look at the map and noticed that the cities with the teleporters were surrounded by blue forts, while the rest of the map was gray. There were alsorger, city-like structures strewn about. There was one on each of the five continents, and one near an isted archipgo chain on the other side of the


    What are they? Fake cities?


    Juni shook his head. No, theyre cities that the army made like this one, only a lot smaller. They also have teleportation formations in them that will allow the cities to reinforce themselves. We expect that the queendoms teleport location from their string will drop them in one. Sadly, they can only be teleported to when the war starts, and theyve already been captured by one side.


    Matt tried to take it all in but was distracted by the sheer scale of it all. Twenty million people were being brought in for the first wave, and that didnt even ount for the Pathers that the Empire would be shipping in.


    To his surprise, he was actually excited and itching for a fight. Unlike with the golem fighting, lives werent on the line here, and there were goals to fight for. He didnt miss the forts situated around rift clusters and natural resources. If his guess was right, there were a few artificial resource nodes in areas that would otherwise be unimportant.


    Hispetitive blood boiled, and he wanted to get out and take the fight to worthy opponents. Matt had no doubt that there would be strong people in both the vassal forces and among the exceptional Pathers.


    Juni kept telling them about what to expect, but it all amounted to not much of anything. They would have to wait until tomorrow for the truth of the situation, when the war would officially start.


    What should we do now? Lizs question re-focused him once Juni excused himself to make more preparations.


    Well, we don''t have any responsibilities until the war starts, and our team isn''t assembled yet, so I doubt well do anything tomorrow. This all seems to be progressing much slower than I wouldve expected. We have a room set up, but Id like to visit one of the enchanters around the building. I want to get a second opinion on the pattern I made for my sword, so I can enchant it before the fighting starts tomorrow.


    Welp, let''s go. Our room doesnt seem to be in a dorm-style, so at least we can enjoy our off time in between fights.


    She stretched, showing a bit of her midriff where her shirt rose up. That is, if we have much down time. Somehow, I expect this will be more like the golem war, and well running from ce to ce to put out fires.


    Mattughed and shook his head. Yeah, but without the risk of death, this should be pretty fun. Theres gonna be plenty of other Pathers to fight, and lots of vassal people to round out the numbers.


    Liz shrugged, and they wound their way out of the building to find one of the Tier 7 enchanter locations. Unable to find one near them, they wandered in the direction of the crafter''s district, until Aster leapt out of Matts arms and scampered off into the packed crowd.


    Following his connection to his bond, he found her hanging off a mans red and bushy fox tail, who looked at the arctic fox with bemusement.


    He met Matts eye and chuckled over Aster''s growling. He shook his tail, causing the fox to sway. The man lifted his tail to waist height, bringing the troublemaker attached along with it.


    I take it shes your bond.


    Yes, Im so sorry. I have no idea what got into her. Shes never done this before, I swear.


    Matt moved to pull his bond off the mans tail, and noticed that he was wearing an army uniform, and was traveling with a squad of others. Of course, Aster had to attack a Tier 15 or above soldier.


    Its fine. Im assuming Im the first firefox shes met, and our elements shed. I cant me her. If I did, I would be a hypocrite of the highest order.


    Matt finally wormed his finger into his bonds growling jaw, and finally freed the mans bushy red tail from her teeth. Even if Aster couldnt hurt the man, it was incredibly rude to bite someone, so he scolded Aster telepathically as he apologised to the man outloud.


    Really, Im so sorry. As Matt was going to continue, the man shrugged and scratched Asters ears.


    Dont worry about it. Once she calms down, shell have better control over it next time. I remember my first time meeting an opposite element. I bit his ankle and refused to let go. Good times.


    With that, the man left, and Matt looked to a mortified Liz.


    Do you know what that was?


    Sadly, yes. Opposite elements can have reactions of hate and anger. Fire and ice in this case, but I didnt think Aster would be affected like this. Shes never reacted to me, and my bloodline is fire-based. Sorry, I never even thought about it.


    Probing his bond, he could tell that the problem mostly stemmed from the man being a fire aspected <em>fox</em>, rather than being a fire aspected individual in general.. She clearly felt that all foxes should be ice aspected, and anything else was bad. It was all that she was thinking about.


    Matt soothed his bond until she calmed down enough for him to get a message through to her.


    Aster, you can''t do that. You can get hurt or in trouble. You had me worried!


    Fox ice. Fire bad. Fox ice!


    With as stern an emotion he could push to her, he said, Aster no. Foxes can be anything. They don''t have to be ice aspected.


    He was interrupted with an inquisitive, Aster fox. Aster ice. Ice good. Like she had exined the most obvious thing in the world.


    Matt wanted to pull out his hair.


    <em>Is this how it feels to raise a kid</em>?


    Suddenly, he was happy to have been fined for having his birth control imnt missing. It would have been incredibly unlikely, but if this was how it was to raise a child, he wanted nothing to do with it.


    With a sigh, Matt and Liz tried to exin how not all foxes were like her, and that she needed to treat them all with respect, and especially not bite them.


    She insisted that she was right with the inarguable logic of repeating herself endlessly.


    It was a long walk to the enchanters building.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74


    Matt carried a pouting Aster to the enchanter shop, and found that the building was spatially expanded to at least three times its normal size. It was sorge he couldnt see the opposite wall of the building, even though it should have only been a dozen feet away. It shouldnt have surprised him, given it was a Tier 10 enchanters shop, but it seemed excessive.


    While he started walking towards the back to speak with a salesman, Matt got distracted by the rows of enchanted items. All of them were in protective ss, and some cases blocked his spiritual sense while others he could feel through. After scanning one of the items that was protected, his AI told him that it was a special item made by the owner of the shop.


    Matt didnt know if that meant the proprietor designed the enchantment from scratch, or if they had just modified something existing, but it was interesting.


    The item in question was a flying hairpin that had an armor-piercing enchantment. The hairpin was disyed using a wigged mannequin head. It secured the hair in a bun, leaving the mannequins long neck exposed. With a sudden thought, Matt popped up and peered over the rows of shelving. He caught a glimpse of his redhead bobbing in and out of view two isles over, so he called out to Liz.


    Hey,e look at this. I think youd like it.


    Liz meandered around on her way to the container and half nodded, and half shook her head.


    Theyre pretty, but it''s not practical. I have armor on when we fight, which covers my head.


    I was thinking about when we arent preparing for a fight. I at least have my sword in a spatial ring. This would give you something to defend yourself with around the city or wherever we are.


    Matt kept a straight face. The argument wasn''t wrong, but it wasn''t his primary motive. Liz typically kept her red hair in a long braid that fell to the side of her head. She rarely tied her hair up, which was a shame, because she had a long elegant neck that he couldnt resist. Liz was a weapon in and of herself and didnt need any further protection, but if she bought his excuse and got the hairpin, he''d get to enjoy the view of her seldom seen neck.


    Liz ran a finger over the ss, then started to y with her hair, raising it and spinning it into a bun before she shrugged.


    Yeah, I can make it work. Its not a bad idea. It just seems kind of expensive. Its a Tier 7 mana stone for a Tier 6 item.


    I dont see us advancing that quickly in the next few months, so its a good investment.


    Matt didnt <em>say</em> they werentcking money, but they really werent. Now that they were Tier 6, it was no longer economical for them to delve Tier 5 rifts for growth items. However, they still had made more than most guilds could have earned in aparable time. So, they were insanely wealthy for their Tier in both mana stones and contribution points.


    With a mental fist pump, Matt watched as Liz picked up the little slip by the ss container and slipped it into her hand cart.


    As they wandered the store together, Matt made a few mental notes for things to try and recreate. A bracelet that created a bubble that blocked rain while flying seemed easy enough, while also being useful, so he set his AI to research the design. With his extra mana regeneration of 80 MPS, he had mana to spare. He figured while he wasnt fighting, it was a good way to stay productive.


    He reached the clerk, put on his best smile, and asked, Hi, is the enchanter in?


    The man seemed unimpressed and stared at Matt nkly for a moment before asking, Why?


    Not used to the curt attitude, Matt cocked an eyebrow but answered truthfully, Well, your LocalNet listing said there was a Tier 10 enchanter here that was on The Path. I wanted to get his help and look over an enchantment for a weapon I bought.


    So you want a weapon enchanted, the clerk replied in a bored, monotone voice. Put it in the bin over there, and Kelley will get to it in the next few weeks. For an additional Tier 6 mana stone, you can be bumped up to a higher priority.


    Seeing where the misunderstanding came from, Matt smiled at the man. No. I need to enchant the weapon myself, but I want to see if there is anything else I can get out of the weapon, and possibly have the enchanter watch mey the enchantment.


    So you want a lesson?


    Seeing as how the man seemed incapable of understanding what he wanted, or at least didnt care to, Matt just nodded. Sure. When can I meet with him?


    The manzily swiped at the pad in front of him for what felt like a year and finally said, He can do an hour lesson now for a Tier 7 mana stone. Standard disimer applies. Hell teach you what he wants, no matter how much or little that is. Though hell target your wants or desires.


    Just wanting to end this pointless discussion, Matt nodded and sent the payment over with his AI. He didnt carry that much money on hand; they kept it stored in their teams bank ount for safety reasons.


    The clerk looked disinterested to the extreme as he led Matt back behind the counter and to a room with a metal banded wooden door. With a loud rap, he waited. When nothing happened, he started to pound and kick on the door until it opened abruptly.


    The clerk only said, Lesson. Before he walked away.


    The man, Kelley, Matt assumed, looked wild with his beard and hair spiking in every direction.


    You here for a lesson?


    Not really, but that was the best way to get past your receptionist.


    Kelley red at the wall and growled, Sorry, hes my sisters kid. So what do you want, if not a lesson?


    Matt cut to the chase and summoned his weapon from its ring, holding it parallel to the ground so the enchanter could inspect it.


    I have a growth sword that only I can enchant, but its got a few advantages.


    He didnt get any farther before the Tier 10 man snatched the weapon and turned back into his room, shouting, Shut the door when youe in!


    Matt did as he was told, sending Liz a message to keep her in the loop.


    Aster, who was still in his arms, stopped pouting and started sniffing around while still being held.


    The enchanter had his sword on a table with a light so bright, Matt had to squint. He pulled out his and Asters sunsses to spare their eyes.


    Kelley hummed over his de for a while, and without looking up, asked, Its a Tier higher than you? Is that intentional?


    Yeah, I can handle the physical weight, and I figured the spiritual weight isnt a huge problem if I just keep the enchantments at my own Tier.


    Kelley tapped at the de then ran his finger down the t, as if he was inspecting something through feel.


    You can remove the enchantments, right? Hmm. Yeah, I can feel that. I can also feel that only its owner can do the work.


    He looked up at Matt and shugged, While this whole thing is interesting, what do you want?


    I have a blueprint here bought from the Empire Market, and wanted to get it inspected. It was done by a lower Tier enchanter than yourself. If I had known this city was going to be here, I wouldnt have wasted the contribution points.


    Kelley looked at Matt in a new light. You already have ess to the Empire Market? Huh, must be a seeker.


    Something like that, yeah. Can you help?


    The Tier 10 nced at a pile of armor and then firmly nodded. As long as you arent total garbage at enchanting, I think I can walk you through the process. I have some scrap iron you can practice on. And I dont want to work on that armor anymore, so youre a useful distraction.


    Kelley asked for the blueprint and inspected it, finally asking, Can you afford these enchantments? Theyre pretty standard, but this sword doesnt have a slot for a mana stone like a crafted one would, so its unable to have its own reserves.


    Matt carefully said, Mana isnt a problem for me. Act as if I had an unlimited supply of it for the purposes of the swords enhancements and skills.


    That earned him another odd look, but the man was a part of The Path, so he knew that everyone had their own secrets. Matt didnt expect him to ask anything more, but when he did, it was a question he hadnt thought of.


    When you say unlimited supply, do you mean as a stream? Or as a pool? I can do some interesting things depending on each answer.


    As a stream. Think regeneration, not capacity.


    It was more than he wanted to share, but Matt was intrigued by the enchanter. Besides, he had already epted that the man would get a pretty good guess of his Talent when he watched Matt enchant. It was a price he was willing to ept for his new sword, and he was ok with it since the enchanter was a Pather. Kelley wouldnt be under any actual restriction, but Matt felt that anyone who made it to Tier 10 as a crafter would know how to keep their mouth shut.


    If he had to, Matt would ask Liz to throw her parents names around if Kelley tried to ckmail him.


    Oh, thats interesting. You want the standard runes for repair durability and sharpness. This has them all as major runes. Id drop the repair one to a minor one and save the space.


    Seeing Matts skeptical look, the enchanter exined, All growth items can repair themselves to a degree. As long as theyre mostly intact, they can fix themselves. Ive seen swords be shattered, then fix themselves with a little time and metal, if most of the pieces are gathered back up. The point is, we can free up some space and add either another rune or a skill. You have a second advantage with this being a growth item. It doesnt need the rune to take in your personal mana, which gives us <em>just</em> enough room to fit something else.


    The man pushed things around until he uncovered a pad of paper that served as a desk mat. Ripping off the top and stained sheet, he started sketching with a pencil he pulled from nowhere.


    Catching Matts puzzled look, the man smiled cheekily. At Tier 10, you can handle a small, specially made spatial ring. If you know a Tier 30 enchanter, they can make a cubic foot of space into a ring if theyre good. But be prepared to pay out the ass in contribution points. The only reason they do it is so that lower Tiers buy things for them.


    Wait, what?


    The man looked at Matts cores and asked, Did you just Tier up?


    Yeah, why?


    Go and look at something at Tier 5 that youve seen the price of.


    Matt checked his AI and found a growth item that he knew was seven thousand contribution points. He was shocked when he saw that the price had doubled in its value.


    Why the fuck is it fourteen thousand contribution points?


    Kelley grinned evilly at him. When buying an item under your Tier in the Empire Market, you take a penalty to the cost. Double the price for the item for each Tier it is under your own. It prevents higher Tiers from monopolizing the market. But it also means that some things can get incredibly expensive for higher Tiers. At least for low Tier things, like growth items that only sell on the market. Most of the time, you can buy things with mana stones. But when you need a particr item, it can be worth it to offer services in exchange for an item, when dealing with a lower Tier person. I had to spend around forty thousand for a Tier 8 rare item to trade for this ring. Its original price was only ten thousand, but it was two Tiers lower than me. The Tier 30 who also wanted it wouldve had to spend almost one hundred sixty-eight billion contribution points.


    Matts jaw dropped, Thats an impossible number.


    Yeah, its absurd, but thats why he traded for an item. This little beauty is worth around a hundred thousand contribution points, but no one makes them. Theyre incredibly hard to make, and it needs a Tier 30 or higher. But whos gonna spend that much for an item that theyll only use for five Tiers at most? I was lucky toe across someone offering to make one in exchange for an item.


    What item was it? Matt couldnt think of something that would be so rare that it was worth the cost of a ring like this, and also interesting enough for a Tier 30 to buy.


    A Tier 8 rift reward. Thats all I can say. The Tier 30 made it a condition of the deal. But dont expect that to happen all the time. If its not unique, or so rare that it cant be bought, good luck. A Tier 30 would rather spend mana stones than contribution points for something below their Tier. And most people would rather have the money, as you dont get ten times more contribution points when selling to someone a Tier higher. The extra is just lost.


    Matt wanted to p himself for Tiering up. He had wanted to buy other things, and hadnt seen it as an issue. But now, anything Tier 5 and below was incredibly expensive. He didnt know what to do.


    Fuck me. I didnt know that. I would have bought some more shit while I was still Tier 5.


    Kelley had gone back to sketching, but still answered him. Eh. Its not that big of a deal. Tier 5 is the lowest Tier that shit is really sold on the market, and thats for growth items. After that, theres a lull of shit sold, as most things arent so valuable that there isnt a standard market. Most would rather get the mana stones anyway. Services dominate the market until Tier 14.


    The man paused, Well, Tier 10 has the special Concept bottles for sale, but theyre expensive. Although, if youre on The Path at Tier 10 and dont have your Concept, you probably dont have enough contribution points.


    Kelley tore off the sheet of paper he was drawing on and tossed it to the side, then continued. Everyone on The Path gets ess to the market at Tier 10. Tier 5 for crafters on The Path. Its how I knew you were a seeker. They always get ess early, which gives us crafters a market to buy from and sell to.


    Alright, look at this. The enchanter held up a drawing of his swords with runes and forms he only half understood, If we made the suggestions I said earlier, we can either supercharge the runes to handle more mana by expanding them a little, or add something else. A fire enchantment is always popr.


    Matt thought that over. Hed avoid fire out of respect for his fox, who was still watching everything with bright eyes. But the idea didnt really resonate with him either. He was already adding [Mana Charge] and [Mana sh] to his weapon. Hed rather increase their efficiency and double down on what he was good at.


    He could look to add another rune, and he had explored that option before. He still thought that expanding his sword was ackluster ability, as the expansion was made from mana, not real metal. Adding an element to his attacks had its advantages, as it could enhance his overall damage output. If there was something that he wanted, it was a way to make things bleed more for Liz.


    But that wasnt a standard rune in any database he had seen.


    Can you give the de a bleeding effect?


    Kelley paused in his drawing for a heartbeat before shaking his head. Nope. I know of a rune for it, but its at least Tier 20, as that was the weapon I saw with it. None of the databases I own have a bleed rune in them either.


    Thats what I expected. Can we make the two skills more efficient then?


    Maybe. But that would mean putting a higher Tier skill on it, then crippling the skill. It will be better than the Tier 6 skill pattern, since it would technically still be a Tier 7 skill. Thats only possible because the weapon is already Tier 7, by the way. But sure, we can manage.


    Lets do that then.


    With that, Kelley showed Matt a page with a drawing of his de, along with the runes and their approximate locations. He was messaged with a much more detailed version of the design that showed the runes interacting in three dimensions.


    It was moreplicated than anything he had done before by a mile.


    I dont know if I can do that.


    Kelley looked surprised at that. I thought you said youve enchanted before?


    Yeah, a few things that my AI created, but nothing thisplicated.


    Can I see?


    Matt didnt see why not, so he sent the man a recording of his few tests, including his weapons enchanted from the golems fortress.


    Huh. This is an interesting light rune. Tell me more about it?


    They went off on a tangent about how AIs tested and tried to create their own runes.


    They became fully sidetracked once Kelley tried to quickly remake Matt''s light rune.


    It''s not very efficient, but it''s very simple. It also produces a bit more light than the one we use.


    Matt''s rune was lighting up the entire room in a blinding fashion. Even when Kelley threw a nket over the rune, it still illuminated the surroundings.


    Kelley was an amazingly knowledgeable person, but Aster quickly grew bored of his talk, so Matt let her out and told Liz he would be here a while. They had already blown over the hour the lesson was supposed tost, and had no sign of slowing.


    He and Kelley talked about runes for another three hours, until they started testing Matts ability to enchant.


    Matt didnt think he was that bad, but Kelley nearlyughed him out of his shop when he saw Matts mana control. It was embarrassing, as he had been working on it during their breaks. But apparently, he was woefully behind what a normal crafter at Tier 6 would have.


    It took five attempts on nks for Kelley to allow him to try. The first two failed and destroyed the b of metal, but the final three seeded. Thest two were even passable, ording to Kelley.


    Matt was nervous when he enchanted his de, and botched the first attempt almost immediately. Unlike the standard items, it didnt fall apart when its spirit was damaged. Instead, the de refused to allow him to modify its spirit until he fed it a few thousand mana. It was like watching a crack in a wall expand, but in reverse. The crack slowly closed and smoothed out. It was as if it never happened.


    In his second attempt, Matt finished the entire enchantment in a single go. It took nearly forty minutes, and almost 200,000 mana to enchant the de. He half expected Kelley to say something about the absurd amount of mana directed into the de, especially without tapping into the city''s reserves. But the man pretended like nothing was amiss, which relieved Matt.


    When the weapon was finished, he squashed the idea of testing the skills, and settled for testing the runes. When they held mana, to his and Kelleys satisfaction, he sent some mana into the skills, but just enough to see that the mana flowed through the proper channels. He let it dissipate instead of releasing the skills.


    Shaking the mans hand, Matt asked, What do I owe you for the enchantment work and help?


    Kelley looked slightly insulted when he waved Matt off. Dont worry about it. It was a fun distraction, and I learned something new with that light rune, which is worth way more. Lets just call it that Tier 7 mana stone my nephew charged you. Dont be a stranger, though. When you want to talk shop, swing by or message me.


    Matt smiled at the Tier 10 man. They had only known each other for a short time, but he felt as if he was friends with the man already.


    It wasnt hard to agree, and he hurried to find Liz.


    To his dismay, she was across the city, and had just sat down for dinner with Aster.


    Giving up on joining them and telling them to enjoy themselves, he grabbed food at a food cart, and went back to their room in the Seven Suns building.


    Along the way, he was intercepted by Juni, who carried a bag with him. Everyone is to wear Seven Sun colors apparently, so do you want a full suit made? Or get your armor colored? Seeing Matts disinterest, he added, We also have arm- or headbands.


    That made the choice easy, but Juni looked disappointed with Matts decision.


    The gold and dark red armbands were simple enough, and seemedrge enough to tie onto Asters armor as well. He wondered if he could get her to wear it as a headband, andughed at the mental image.


    If he yed his cards right, he figured she might even go for it. A little ttery worked wonders. Besides, he really did think she would look cute in it.


    He quickly changed before finding a training room to test out his new sword.


    ***


    Matt stood with nearly four hundred other people in a field, across from an equal number of people from the Queendom.


    They werent here of their own free will, but because they had been called here as the counter neared zero.


    Matt was just happy he had enchanted his sword yesterday, and hadnt decided to wait.


    This was an assembly called by the Empires army, and Colonel Throne was addressing everyone while he hovered ten feet above the crowd.


    Today is the day that the Queendoms main force is entering the, which nearly coincides with the first wave of Pathers. There will be five waves of Pathers joining us from across the Empire. It takes time to travel that distance, but we will have everyone here in the next three months. There will be about fifteen million Pathers joining us here over that time. But since the war is starting when the queendom breaks into real space, I want to cover a few things.


    Matt tried to listen to the man, but something was nagging him. There was a resonance with his Concept as the man stood there and hovered over everyone.


    His musing was interrupted as the Tier 33 continued. As this is intended for training and not actual bloodshed, my soldiers will be pulling people out ofbat. We will be assisted by a secondary level AI that will be linking with your own AIs. We will only be reacting to the information about whether or not you can survive any attack. If you wish to keep something hidden, feel free to restrict your AI. But dont bitch to me when you get pulled out because of an attack you think you would have survived. I. Dont. Care.


    There was a murmuring at that, and while the Colonel let the crowd buzz, he felt something at the mans feet. It seemed close to his Concept, so he used his own to probe the area. It caused the Tier 33 to immediately nce at him. He was afraid he pissed the man off, but he got a grin instead. Suddenly, what the Colonel was actually doing became more clear to his spiritual senses.


    The man was using his Concept to harden the air, so he floated. It <em>felt</em> like a standard ability that all Concepts could do, much like how monsters could lock down fighters in a rift, if they had general Concepts.


    Matt flexed his own Concept, but instead of willing mana regeneration to those around him or repulsing objects, he willed the air to harden in front of him. He tapped it with a finger and felt a slight resistance, before what felt like a ne of ss broke, and his hand went through it.


    He looked up to see the Colonel nod at him as he continued speaking. This is a game meant to sharpen the weapons that you will be. To that end, you will earn points like in any real war. However, unlike in a real war, if you sacrifice all your umted war points, you will be able to buy back your life, and rejoin the fighting.


    Throne held up a hand and said, You may choose to <em>not</em> rejoin the game, and cash out your points, but know this. If youre dead, you cant spend your points unless you cash out. However, you <em>can</em> spend your points as you wish while youre alive. Yes, that means you can spend your points right before a big battle. The Empire even encourages that. Thates with a second caveat as well. If you have zero points, you cant rejoin the fighting. You need to give up at least one point to rejoin. For those on The Path, note that you can choose to leave the side you have chosen for the cost of twenty thousand points. Good luck to those that choose that route.


    The man nced to the sky. Following suit, the gathered crowd all witnessed ships ripping through space, as if they came from behind some hidden screen. Matt counted four different designs, but as he watched, hundreds, and then thousands of ships arced down to the clear area in front of the two buildings.


    Right in front of their two groups.


    Those are our Pathers. Wee them, try to recruit them, fight for your side for wealth and glory. Good luck.


    Like that, the man vanished.


    Juni called out to everyone, Alright. We have ess to the ship''s logs and have cross-checked them with the people arriving. We will highlight anyone who chose our side blue and anyone unchosen as green. Do your best to sway them to our side. The kingdom started with a number of contribution points to hand out, so anyone who brings someone over to one of the kingdom representatives will get one point. Anyone who directly recruits someone will be given ten points.


    He turned away and moved into the mass of oing people.


    Matt just looked at Liz. That looks like a pain. Want to skip this and go wait on the side?


    She didnt even wait for him to finish, already disappearing into the crowd.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 3

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 3


    PoA The Concept of Death 3


    Melinda looked at Tara in disbelief.


    She had to be joking.


    You must be joking. Right? Shes like a million years old. Melinda thought over what she said and corrected herself. Shes multiple millions of years old. Shes probably had naps thatsted longer than weve been alive.


    Tara stood there with a look on her face that Melinda knew all too well. It screamed that Tara had the proverbial bit in her mouth, and was going to charge ahead no matter what anyone said.


    Wanting to head off an explosion or rant, Melinda threw an arm over her friends shoulders and squeezed. She knew Tara would have gone off with a million and one reasons why it was a good idea.


    If thats what you want to do, fine. Just dont do anything stupid.


    You think I have a chance?


    Melinda sighed and debated lying, but threw the idea out after a slight hesitation.


    Probably not a snowballs chance in a forge.


    What? Why not? Im pretty. Im smart. Im a good fighter. Im...


    Melinda interjected, Young. Tara, you are a fraction of a blink for her. Your life experiences are nothingpared to hers. I think that will be a hard gap to bridge.


    Tara didnt seem as put down by that, and had a thoughtful look on her face, instead of the dejected one that Melinda expected.


    So I just need to get stronger and live forever. Thats easy enough. Life experience is more a percentage than a t number, so I just need to get some under my belt to lessen the rtive gap. After a few thousand years, I assume youd have seen it all and done it all, so I would have caught up by then. Thanks, Melinda! Good talk.


    Melinda shoved her archer away, and focused on the meeting point they were at. She had been more focused on saying goodbye to Aunt Helen than looking around. Now, she saw that there were hundreds of people milling about in little groups. She expected that they were other teams, and that therger ones were multiple teams engaged in casual chatting. She didnt miss the few lone people that appeared to be solo delvers either.


    Her Concept showed her that everyone was healthy and in fine shape, so she meandered around and checked people that she had previously missed because of the crowd.


    As she reached the other side of the mass of bodies, she noticed a massive cordoned-off area. She peered around, searching for some official to ask about it, but a wave passed through the crowd, and everyone got quiet. Following the gaze of the people around her, she looked to the sky and saw a flying vehicle descending. The thing was silent, which felt wrong for its bulk, but fit its sleek and aerodynamic design. The thing looked more like an armored transport vehicle from the movies than anything else.


    A quick search showed her that was exactly what it was. It was a few millennia-old model that had been out ofmission for four thousand years, ording to her AI. She also found the warship that the vehicle was traditionally paired with. It was a massive cruiser-type ship that was used to transfer million-strong armies through the void of chaotic space in a single trip.


    Mathew encircled her from behind and kissed the top of her head, saying, Now thats a ship.


    Did you see what its attached to? Its even more impressive.


    Of course. Do you think they still have the cannons installed?


    Melinda bumped him with her butt and scoffed. The transport has its weapons stripped, and Id bet the cruiser does as well. There is no way they would bring us onto a ship withbat stuff on it.


    But it would be so cool. I guess being on the ship will have to suffice. I wonder if well get to sleep in the old barracks. Oh, that could be fun.


    Melinda listened to her husband ramble on, and smiled as she watched the shipnd. It had been strange to spend three days without him. They hadnt spent that much time apart since before the rift break, so it was nice to have him back.


    The shuttles rear opened up, and she could see a space that was at least a dozen timesrger than the apparent outerhold of the ship. Instead of the rows of hard seating she expected, there looked to be an upscale lounge. There was a crewman in an immacte suit, but she saw what was hidden to everyone else.


    The man, while he exuded only a Tier 4 aura, was at least Tier 15 or more. Their body not aging or having any ckness was the peek behind the curtain, and she assumed he was a hidden bodyguard. It made sense. Why would the Empire gather its young and talented youth, but not have hidden guards to prevent sabotage from the other great powers?


    It reassured her that they would be in no danger during this excursion.


    Soaking up Mathew''s excitement, she followed him around as he poked and prodded at the hull of the ship. Hepletely ignored the splendor while trying to find an unupholstered portion of the hull.


    She did pick up a flute of champagne from another hidden immortal that was pretending to be Tier 5. As people filtered in, Mathew led her to a portion of the ship that had a window. They watched as the city grew smaller and smaller, until it was just a dot on the ground, and covered by a passing cloud.


    With a twisting of reality that she felt in her bones, they were suddenly amidst a soupy void of cks, purples, and tinges of red. As the ship rotated, they got a view of the world sitting in the chaotic space.


    It was like a shining firefly with four strings of light reaching off into the darkness. Mathew had his face pressed against the window and gasped out a quiet, Its so pretty. And look, thats what we teleport on. Wow. I cant tell if its super small, or huge.


    Melinda rubbed his back and murmured an agreement. There was something mesmerizing about the shifting colors that called out to her, soothing and lulling her into feeling sleepy.


    Mathew started peering around as they turned and started moving and said, I cant see the ship.


    A passing crew member stopped after hearing that and lightlyughed, saying, Yeah, without a Concept and with lower cultivation, our vision is limited in chaotic space. I believe well be passing the ship with a good view if you go to the port side window.


    Thanks! Mathew nodded to the liar and pulled her along. Melinda felt a petty desire to call the Tier 15 out for him pretending that he couldnt see from here. The man could probably feel the cruiser in chaotic space from where they were.


    Debating on whether or not to let it go, she chose not to. But she decided to do it in private.


    Matt go ahead. I''ll catch up in a moment.


    Her husband was so preupied, he just hurried along as she turned to the waiter.


    Youre giving yourself away. Even if I couldn''t see that youre Tier 15 or higher with my Concept, I could have guessed it with you spilling something most people under Tier 15 wouldn''t know. Sloppy really.


    The man stumbled and she internally danced to see him so shaken.


    The server turned to her and inspected her head to toe. If she didn''t see the serious look on his face, she would have interpreted it as him checking her out. I don''t know what Concept you have that allows that, but Id ask you to keep it to yourself. Were here for your protection. But I can''t stop you. He paused then nodded to her. Thank you for the warning. I didn''t even register it.


    She walked through the halls with a smile on her face and caught up to Mathew, who was busy snatching snacks off of the passing waiters tters.


    Melinda had to stifle augh at a Tier 6 berating a waiter who was <em>only</em> Tier 4 for not having a better selection of finger food. If he knew the waiter was at least Tier 15, she was sure his tune would turn aroundpletely.


    It also caused her to pause. Was her team like that?


    She thought about it long and hard, but didnt think they were, and decided against telling her team that the people serving them were all powerhouses. It would allow her to observe her team, and correct any behavior that was like that man''s. She also tagged him with her AI, so they could avoid him in the future.


    After watching the Tier 6 man go on and on for a while, she decided to intervene. Being berated like that was wrong, no matter your Tier.


    Excuse me.


    The berater paused and looked startled.


    Seeing that she had his attention, she pulled out what her team called her mother hen tone and expression.


    Listen here. You are being incredibly rude. Would you talk to someone like this if he was a Tier 15? She internally grinned at the squirming hidden immortal, but forged on.


    No. And you shouldnt do it if theyre Tier 4 either. It''s rude and sets a horrible example for everyone else. Also, you make yourself look like an ass.


    But he nearly spilled his tray on me. And he had bad food.


    Melinda looked at him as if he were stupid and waited for the man to squirm.


    So, that gives you the right to call him out publicly and loudly? Shame on you. I was raised in an orphanage and have better manners than that.


    Normally she hated using the orphan card, but seeing the embarrassment that crept onto the man''s face made it worth it.


    Turning to the waiter, she smiled and let it morph into a knowing grin. Its alright, sir. Maybe when you hit Tier 15 you won''t be as clumsy?


    She took a moment to savor the immortals awkwardness for a short moment before leaving.


    After she rejoined Mathew and after a short wait at the window, they saw the cruiser appear like a ship parting the mist on a foggyke. It was massive. With over a mile and a half of exterior surface area, and over fifteen on the expanded inside, it was a monster of warfare travel. Unlike the shuttle that was transporting them, this cruiser was a boxy thing with hard angles. It had no regard for travel in atmosphere, and maximized avable space as opposed to its aerodynamics.


    Apparently, the battleships'' direct use fell off in thest few thousand years, but it was once a titan of a warship that stillmanded the space around it with a threat of imminent violence. She felt that there was some poetry in the fact that it was still being used, but now for civilian activities. It somehow felt like a fitting retirement for a ship that had survived and served well during the wars.


    She wondered what the new ships looked like, but wasnt at all surprised to find nothing of use on her downloaded snapshot of the EmpireNet. There was no way that the Empire would let current military technology out on the open Nets.


    They entered the warship through a simmering silver barrier, and the view of chaotic space outside was reced with a hanger that had a multitude of banners and other decorations. Once they exited the transport vehicle, everyone was corralled to a podium, where a woman in a civilian navy suit called out to them in a resonating voice.


    Good evening,dies and gentlemen. You are on the HMS Deceiver. Shes a good girl who served her time in the wars, and has since been refitted to a more mundane purpose.


    Melinda wanted to roll her eyes. An old warship filled with hidden Tier 15s masquerading as lower Tier servants on a ship called HMS Deceiver. She wasn''t sure if that was fitting, or if someone had a sense of humor when they assigned the ship for this mission.


    The woman who could only be the Captain looked wistful as she looked at the exposed metal, but continued after a deep breath. I am Captain Kelsie, Tier 16.


    Melinda didnt believe any of that. The woman felt more like Baxter did. Their cultivation could be hidden, but there was a depth to it that Melinda had learned to pick up on after enough time around the higher Tiers.


    ncing around to check everyones reactions, she saw that their ship was only one from half a dozen, with each having released a few hundred people onto the hangar floor. A quick guesstimation gave her around a thousand people picked up from the. She was surprised there were that many Pathers on a single out-of-the-way.


    She knew it wasnt that hard to remain on The Path at Tier 6, but the numbers implied were startling. You only had to reach Tier 6 by twenty-four years old, which really wasnt that difficult. Her team had done it byte neen.


    She was pulled out of her musing by the Captains next words. As you are all on The Path, and time is of the essence, you will each be given essence stones of your Tier. One every other day while we are underway.


    There was a slight cheer and some whooping from some in the crowd that caused the Captain to smile. The smirk allowed Melinda to notice the thin scar on the captains face, as it made her smile slightly crooked. If she believed the Captain was actually Tier 16, she would have offered to remove the scar. It could be hard for the newly immortal to exert enough control over their bodies to remove things like scars. But she knew the woman was much stronger, and would have the body control necessary, which meant keeping it was intentional.


    Yes- Captain Kelsie continued, A wonderful and useful resource. If you want the advice of an olddy, absorb them slower than the five hours it usually takes. Theyre aspacted as essence from rift monsters, so no need to fiddle around as if it were ambient essence, but essence stones can teach you something if you look deep enough.


    There was a murmuring that reflected Melindas own thoughts. She tapped into the ships LocalNet and did a search for essence stones, but found nothing. She doubted that the Captain would mess with a bunch of kids, and decided to take the hint as it was intended. She would see if she could discover anything.


    We will be traveling for another two weeks, and making more stops to pick up others on our journey to the vassal kingdoms. Our ships AI has already allocated rooms for each team. But on to the important things. Food! Chow will be avable at all times in the form of sandwiches, and there will be hot meals every six hours, every day. If you have any problems, please just ask one of my staff, they will be more than willing and able to help.


    Someone from the crowd called out, What if we want to fight?


    The Captain smirked at that and grinned into the crowd.  Ah, yes... Fighting. Youre all going to a little war and dont want to show your asses to the locals. Yes, we have training rooms and arenas in the port aft of the ship. If you want some more advice on your little war, wait to choose a side. Show off some skill when you arrive at the neutral city, and get them into a bidding war for you.


    Melinda was miffed they hadnt thought of that and already locked in their chosen side. None of them had even considered not clicking on the box to choose when they were given the option. She had thought it was a requirement, but it clearly wasnt.


    The Captain half turned before she spun back and winked, Feel free to explore the ship while youre on board. There are a few areas not marked that Im sure some of you would enjoy finding. Ill see you all at our destination. Please enjoy your time on my vessel.


    Melinda wanted to sigh. She didnt need to turn to <em>feel</em> her husband vibrating in anticipation at the offer of free rein to explore the ship. She knew he would have done it either way, but at least shed have seen him if he had to be circumspect. Now, she doubted she would see him until they left the ship.


    Ignoring the ping to her AI with their teams assigned room, shetched a hand on Mathews arm and pulled it in. Were all visiting our rooms and settling in, then having at least one meal together before youre allowed to explore. I also want to do some training while were here. A few spars could be a good way to test out ourbat experience.


    There was a slight groan from her team, and she squashed it with, Three hours a day. I dont care; were doing it.


    There was a chorus of sarcastic yes, moms that she took as agreement.


    They, along with most everyone else, filtered into the ship and followed their AIs to their assigned rooms.


    Melinda was pleasantly surprised by their amodations. There were actual beds, instead of the barrack bunk style beds she had seen in movies. They were small, but they had some privacy, as the room was attached to a smallmon area that linked all of their rooms into a suite.


    She waited in themon room while they put their bags away and reassembled, and when they had gathered she said, Theres lunch in an hour, or dinner in seven hours. Pick which one we eat together.


    Dinner!


    That was the general consensus, and she nodded her agreement with her team. It was what she expected.


    Ill see you there then. Do. Not. Be. Late.


    She red at each of them as they filed past her. Mathew kissed her and vanished out the door and down the hall. She gave him fifty-fifty odds for getting engrossed in his exploration and forgetting dinner, so she queued a timed message to remind him.


    With her team duties taken care of, she left the room and found the healer''s bay. She wanted to get familiar with her local healing area, and see if they needed some shifts covered.


    She found Baxter ying cards with a number of other people in healer''s clothes once she reached the healers bay. She noticed that they were also Tier 15 or higher and hiding their cultivation. Feelingfortable in her setting, she scoffed at all of them.


    Why are all of you hiding your cultivation? I get the wait-staff, but healers? Come on.


    She got raised eyebrows from everyone but Baxter, who rolled his eyes and answered the unspoken question. She can see your immortal bodies. He turned to her and continued, Go away. You arent a general healer for this excursion. Youre on team-only duties. No backlines for you.


    He stared at her for a long moment, while she looked back in confusion.


    Finally, he shood her with his hands and returned to his card game, ignoring her.


    But why? Im a good healer...? Thest came out more as a question than she intended, and with a sigh, Baxter turned from his card game again.


    I dont think youll get anything out of sitting in the backlines. We have a ton of healers from the Empireing to make sure you kids dont end up dead. We dont need your help. Your Talent wont be considered in y for this little excursion, which means your team will have the joy of dealing with standard healing. Youll be a normal team healer, like any other team will have. If your team dies, y''all are out. Then youll either have to forfeit your points to rejoin like everyone else, or leave the war. No special treatment.


    Melinda was shocked and didnt know how to react. It was reassuring that getting killed in the war didnt mean the end of their time fighting, as it could mean a long trip for little benefit. But still, she didnt like the implication that she couldnt help with healing others during her downtime.


    People would need her. Overhealth was perfect healing, and therefore had no cooldown on the time to wait between healing. The body automatically epted it as if it were natural, and the patient needed no time to adjust or deal with healing strain.


    Turning, she left the healers station and wandered the halls, lost in thought.


    She would have two possible roles in a real war. Either she would be helping other healers in the backline, or fighting with her team. She couldnt do both, and didnt know what the right answer was. With her Talent, she would be better used in the rear guard. But she didnt think she could leave her team to the ravages of a war, if she had the choice.


    Melinda thought that was exactly what Baxter was trying to prove by keeping her out of the healers'' stations in the rear. If she didnt have her Talent, that meant she would have a singlerge heal per person, before they needed to retreat as the healing resistance grew. She and her team would be limited like never before.


    She didnt know what she had expected, but it wasnt this. She expected to keep her Talents effects hidden, but not to be restricted from its effects with her own team.


    How would they fight? She realized now, just how reliant they truly were on her zero downtime healing from Overhealth.


    Suddenly this war seemed like a bad idea.


    Melinda felt adrift as she wandered without purpose.


    Finally, she passed a line of people, and it brought her out of her daze when she noticed that they were heading towards an Immortal Empire representative handing out essence stones. To her bewilderment, people started immediately betting with the essence stones on fights, or even more shocking to her, on <em>other</em> peoples fights. She could kind of understand betting on yourself, but topletely rely on someone else with something this valuable seemed foolhardy.


    She joined the line to get her teams reserve of essence stones before heading back to their room and writing up a message. She explicitly stated that betting with the stones was not allowed under any circumstance. She hated the idea of her team doing something so foolhardy. An essence stone only had the essence of a single rifts worth of monsters, but it was free progression without downsides.


    They were also ruinously expensive. Her AI indicated that they sold for two full Tiers higher than their own at Tier 6. By Tier 10, they sold for four Tiers higher. The stones also had restrictions on how many an individual could buy per year at that price. Apparently, the Empire subsidized the cost of the stones for the first five purchased per year. She didnt want to know what the true value of the stones were when she realized that she couldn''t find anyone selling them at their non-subsidized cost.


    In their years of delving, her team had never gotten a single one. The fact that the Empire was handing them out like candy was slightly unnerving.


    She understood a mana stone''s value scaled insanely fast, but the amount being spent on this war seemed to dwarf anything they could get out of it. What was worth spending so much on a game for kids on The Path?


    It seemed extremely wasteful.


    ***


    Melinda stood behind her team and surveyed the squad across from them. It was a five vs. six fight, but they were high Tier 6, as opposed to their mid Tier 6. One was clearly a defensive melee fighter like Mathew, while another had what looked like a longsword. Its tip glowed with a shimmering red light.


    Having not seen the weapon before, she quickly queried her AI. It identified the de as an estoc, a variation of a longsword without edges. It was a thrusting weapon, purely designed to pierce armor in a single lunge. What itcked in shing abilities, it made up for in the ability of its glowing tip.


    Their backline had a pair of mages, and a woman with dozens of throwing des strapped to her person.


    Their fighting tform was a rocky setting, with a few scraggly trees clinging to life on the sides of cliffs, and a small stream that cut the area in half. It was perfect for Vinnie, and Melinda felt good about their chances. There was even cover in the form of pirs of rocks that were interspersed throughout thendscape of the fighting arena.


    The referee called the start of the fight, and everyone exploded into action. Mathew rushed forward and mmed his shield into the other tanks, and they began grappling with one another. Melinda jumped left as a glowing de whizzed by her chest.


    Kyle ran forward, and swung the oversized b of metal he called a sword at the ribs of the opposing tank. He was intercepted by the estoc wielder when they used a skill that reflected all of the blows force in the form of a glowing sword. The estoc wielder followed up with a lunge that skewered Melindas teammate.


    She lunged forward while Tara finally released her arrow into one of the enemy mage''s shoulder, and Sam covered Kyles downed and bleeding form with her poison covered daggers while Melinda moved to heal him. If she took too long, the referee might pull him out for safety reasons, so she needed to move fast.


    Melinda reached her fallen teammates side and pushed a [Ranged Heal] into him, and he struggled to his feet. He was up in time to catch the estoc user off guard, and force her to abort a lunge. Together, they seemed to have her under control, but the ability to counter attacks made her a tricky opponent.


    The AI pinged her that Tara was wounded, so Melinda ran while using the rocky terrain as cover.


    Vinnie was gone, but she knew he was underground, going to drag one of the mages under to take them out of the fight. She caught an [Ice Bullet] in the side that preceded a cast of a [Fireball]. They had correctly identified her as a healer, and were trying to take her out quickly.


    While smart, it hurt.


    The ice had turned to steam, and scalded her nk, but Melinda pushed through the pain and grabbed Tara. She had two throwing daggers sticking out of her gut. If they didn''t have a registered member of the team with healing skills, Tara would have been removed for her injuries.


    Tara was still standing, and she ripped the throwing dagger out of her body, hurling it back at her opponent. Her bowstring was cut, and she had been returning thrown weapons with deadly precision. Melinda healed her teammate, who coughed up blood and grinned maniacally in response.


    Melinda used the lull inbat to get back to her responsibilities as shot caller.


    Using their AIs, she called out to her teammates over voice chat, Vinnie, finish the mages and surface. The estoc user seems to be able to counter physical attacks.


    The woman was fighting off Kyles massive sword, along with Sams daggers, to aplete standstill. Her teammates were fighting together while perfectly weaving in and out of each other''s range, but they were unable to get through the womans skill.


    Melinda nced to the side and watched Tara return another knife to its owner, catching the woman in the throat as she popped out of cover. Melinda winced as the referee pulled the woman out of the fight to get the wound tended to. It was a nasty one, but thankfully it was shallow enough in her professional opinion, that it wasnt life threatening.


    Tara had enough control of her aim that if she wanted to kill the woman, she would have aimed for an eye. The Tier 15 referee would have caught the weapon, but that was bad sportsmanship. Part of Melinda was pleased at theeuppance when Vinnies hands burst out of the ground,grabbing one leg of each opposing mage, and pulling them both underground. He left their heads exposed, but they were out of the fight.


    The tank was dispatched when Tara threw a dagger into his armpit, right as they defended a strike with their shield raised. The ref considered that enough to pull the enemy tank out of the fight. Melinda medically agreed, as they would have either bled out quickly from the dagger being removed, or it would have caused more damage while they tried to fight with the weapon still inside of them.


    Finally, it was only the estoc user remaining. She was easily countered when Vinnies [Earth Maniption] wrapped her feet up and pulled her down, but she called out in surrender when she realized the numbers were against her.


    Melinda quickly scanned her teammates and threw a [Ranged Heal] onto Sam, who had a deep gash in her side.


    They hurried off the arena, and Melinda inspected each of them with a more detailed [Directed Heal]. She found nothing lingering, and waved off the healer who came to inspect her team. She was shocked when they ignored her and performed their own inspection.


    The healer nodded to her and said, Good work. Your healing is almost as good as a professional healers would be. Keep up the good work.


    Melinda had to count to ten to keep her tongue in check. She was pissed enough at their performance, and the healer''s sidements threatened to push her over the edge. She was aware of how some certified healers looked down on team healers. They typically only had a single undirected healing spell, and didnt know anything more about the science other than casting the spell and letting it do its job. But it irked her that without her identity as a healer, she was treated like a novice.


    Him doing an inspection was fine, as his job was to see to the fighters, but his condescending attitude had struck a nerve.


    She couldnt turn off her Talent, so she knew her healing was perfect. The condescending ass caused her words to her team toe out harsher than she intended.


    That was awful.


    Vinnie shrugged. We won. And easily at that.


    Tara wiped off the blood that covered her armor and flicked it at him. No, we didnt. You hid underground the whole time, so you didnt see us getting taken out.


    Melinda counted to ten again, and realized some of her irritation was from ignoring the wounds that still lingered on her side. With a thought and push of mana, she healed herself.


    With the rity of being fully healed, she added, We were. Were unprepared for fighting against people. If we didnt have me as even a normal healer, we would have lost in the first two exchanges. Kyle would have been taken out, and then we would have been slowly whittled down. Even Tara had her bowstring cut, and was unable to effectively deal with our opponents. We would have lost that one if the referee didnt know we had a healer. He surely would have pulled us out otherwise.


    Mathew and Vinnies mood sobered, they hadnt dealt with the brunt of the damage and missed how brutal the fighting was.


    We need more training and more practice. No more real fights for the next three days, since were dealing with the <em>healing downtime</em>.


    She made sure to emphasize the fact that they were pretending her Talent didnt exist while they were out in public. Normally, they just pretended that they never got hurt in rifts to avoid downtime. But Baxters words were a strong reminder to be careful.


    It wasnt worth it for her Talent to get out over a game in which no one would die. Especially with Tier 15s watching everything.


    Melinda sighed. Lets get showered up, and then tomorrow we train. We train like were back at the yPen and still struggling. We have amazing abilities, but I think... Melinda paused and faced reality. We havent been pushing ourselves nearly as hard as we could have, or should have been.


    Everyone looked somber as they moved to their rooms. Melinda made a note that they needed armor repairs as well. She just hoped the crafters werent charging too much.


    Either way, they would have to pay for it. But suddenly, this whole adventure took on a new light. She hadn''t realized how different fighting people could be. She intended to use this to ensure that her team didn''t have any ring weaknesses. She would improve them all.


    Only by bing strong could she ensure her familys safety.


    ***


    Melinda and her team worked themselves to the bone for the next week and a half. They spent five hours a day in group training, and another two working out and exercising. When their nonexistent healing cooldown ended, they fought against other teams.


    They lost three matches out of the seven they fought, which was honestly better than she had hoped for. All of their losses were against teams that were peak Tier 6, and clearly older with more experience.


    Those losses didnt hurt as much as their close win against a team that was barely Tier 6. They had six people as well, but it was humbling to struggle against people weaker than them. The team just had better coordination and instincts for fighting together. That, more than anything, drove her team to work harder.


    They had been so busy, they hardly noticed as their ship stopped at two dozens and picked up nearly a million people. If the ship wasnt spatially expanded as it was, they would have never fit everyone, but it wasnt as crowded as she expected. While they werent restricted from wandering the ship, they learned there were five locations like theirs, with chow halls and fighting arenas for each set of living quarters. Theyout helped keep the numbers in any one facility down to a reasonably uncrowded level.


    But today was the day, and they were prepared to exit the ship and start fighting. Melinda felt slightly regretful that they had chosen a side already, but they were all excited to see Matt again. She directed her AI to send Matt a message the moment it got ess to theNet.


    As their shuttle descended into real space, she was shocked to see a massive city bustling with people and flying tforms. There were also hundreds of shuttles like hers that swarmed down and dropped people off into a massive open area in the center of the city.


    She had already learned they were a weekte for the official start of the fighting, as they were part of the second wave, but she was shocked at how many people were already there. Her AI calcted the number in the millions for just this city alone. The problem was, the Empire was just toorge, and they hadn''t been on this side of the territory, which increased travel times significantly. Even more waves after theirs would being for the next month, as the farthest reaches of the Empire arrived.


    Theynded and were hurried out of the shuttle by people in silver and light purple uniforms, or at least armbands. Her AI registered them as people in the queendom, and once they were off, they were led into a building with the same coloring.


    As they entered, she got a message from Matt addressed to their whole team.


    You guys came? I hope you didn''t chose the queendom. Haha!


    Melinda didnt feel likeughing.


    <em>Couldnt something go right for us</em>?

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75


    Matt sat with Liz and Aster on a nearby stone wall while everyone else scurried around, osting the few people highlighted in green in his HUD. It was more like a school of fish swarming around prey than any normal human interaction..


    Seeing nothing interesting, Matt started working on his Concept again. With an effort of will, he hardened the air in front of himself and tapped at it, causing the ne of solid air to crack.


    What the fuck Matt!?


    With a questioning look, he turned to Liz, who pulled at her hair as she red at the area in front of his hand.


    She poked his ribs and growled at him, How are you doing that?


    He tried to get away from the finger of doom, but as he wiggled away, she scuttled after him.


    That hurts! And tickles. Stop! No fair! Im running out of wall.


    Liz finally stopped but still pouted at him.


    How are you doing it?


    Matt noticed that for all her joking attitude, she was serious about her question.


    I just felt what the Colonel was doing and tried to sense it. When he felt me, it became clearer, so I copied it. Its not strong enough to stand on yet, but it really doesnt seem hard to do.


    Liz mixed a re with a pout for a truly odd sight.


    You cant really do that until Tier 10, though... She let the statement trail off as she watched him recreate the ne of solid air. At least thats themon convention.


    She started poking the air in front of her, but he felt nothing with his Concept.


    Liz gave up after two more attempts. I dont know if its my Concept being internal or what, but Im finding nothing here. What are you doing?


    Matt thought about it for a minute before replying, Im just recreating what the Colonel did. I felt him hardening the air, so I just wanted the air to be solid. I didnt really find it hard. Why? Is it normal for people to not be able to do it?


    Liz leaned back and started ruffling Asters fur while dodging yful nips aimed at her fingers.


    Yeah, most people cant do it at our Tier, as they dont have the willpower to do it. Maybe youre getting a benefit somehow with your image, but I honestly dont know. Its impressive that you can do that already, though. Im proud of you.


    Matt let thepliment bolster him as he added a ruffling hand to Liz and Asters game, but he still wanted to help Liz. To that end, he tried to exin further. Im doing what you do when you resist monsters in rifts from trying to restrict movement. Its like that, but instead of countering their own will over an area of effect, Im recreating what they were doing. Im <em>willing</em> the air to solidify.


    Liz looked up from their game of tease the fox and poked at the air once more, before raising an eyebrow at him. But I dont do that. When I resist a monsters Concept with my own, its with my body. I force my way through it, so its not able to slow me down or restrict me. I dont counter their Concept; I fight through it.


    Huh. I didn''t know that. He really hadnt known that she hadnt used her Concept in that way. He had always assumed that she was using it just how he was.


    In his mind, when someone tried to push you down, you resisted in the equal and opposite way, or you redirected the force. That way, it wouldnt be able to apply the intended effect on you. It was exactly how one would resist a physical blow they were unable to dodge.


    He did it constantly every time he fought.


    That was when he realized why he might be able to make the change. With a thought, he turned the Concept from just hardening the air into willing a ne to exist and resist his forward moment. The harder he pushed, the more it resisted. It was like his Concepts repulsive effect, but facing him.


    The new resistance was also much easier to produce inparison. With a t palm, he shoved hard and slid backward until the back of his knees pressed into the wall. It drained some willpower, but as the area was a small, t ne, and not a sphere around his entire body, it wasnt that bad. The cost still increased with his force, but it was a good starting point.


    Aster nipped a too-slow finger, and he returned his attention to where it belonged. With his family.


    ***


    Colonel Throne watched as the boy yed with his Concept and his friends from a hidden, warped area next to them with his Intent. He was about to leave while mentally noting that the boy was good, but not exceptional, when the boys methodology <em>changed</em>.


    Suddenly, the boy did something that shouldnt be possible at his Tier and experience.


    He quickly brought up a profile on the boy, and was about to set up an offer for army recruitment and personal tutge, when his body froze.


    It wasnt an attack, but an overwhelming pressure of a greater cultivator. It was a secondter that his spirit cried out a warning that a monster was looming over him with jaws wide open.


    His instincts gained in countless battlefields over hisst nine thousand years in the army cried out for him to flee, but he was caged by a will stronger than his own. His Intent was gently rebuffed and forced down.


    It was a terrifying realization that also brought somefort, because if someone that strong wanted to kill him, he wouldnt have even noticed his death. The horror of being this close to a monster was something he hadnt felt since his Tier 20s.


    A purple-haired woman floated in front of him, and he received a message verifying the womans identity. Her Tier was only marked as Tier 40 plus, but her message identified her as Luna. She was surrounded by two other people who stood close by, but said nothing.


    With an air of pure authority,she said, These are my subjects. Go find your own y to mold. These are mine.


    This was a Path manager in the flesh. He had never met one before, and he already wished that he hadnt.


    I didnt mean to interfere, maam. I can...


    She didnt seem to hear him, continuing as she sent him a second message with coordinates. Also, make this ind your base. But if you ruin the rifts there, Ill take it out of your hide.


    Throne cringed internally at the order, as he would need to move his entire operation, but this woman was at least Tier 40, and had the Emperors ear. He had no obligation to follow her orders, but for something this small, it was a harmless change that wouldnt impact their ns. He would do it to avoid trouble down the road, if nothing else.


    He waited for a dismissal quietly. He didnt want to leave before he was dismissed, which might anger the greatdy. It was unlikely that she would harm him, but even in the Empire, catching a Tier 40 plus ire was never good for career advancement.


    As Throne listened, his expression grew confused.


    This idiot boy. What is he doing? He could be getting fourteen percent more out of his Concept if he added a bit of firmness behind his repulsion. Lessons in physics are in order. This is shameful, her boy toy is using Concept maniptions, and she cant.


    The man handed what looked like a piece of paper to the ranting woman while he wrote on a floating notepad.


    Luna read it for a moment, then it vanished in a puff of void. I dont care if she has an internal Concept. Its only a little harder for her. She could do it if she put in the work.


    Throne felt bewildered. Internal Concepts made it nearly impossible to harden the air or carry oneself without flight spells. The best way for most people with internal Concepts to circumvent that problem was to use their Concept to lift their bodies up. But that was thousands of times harder than having an external Concept and hardening the air.


    This woman wanted the girl to do something he had only heard of two internal Concept users aplishing? The difficulty of the task was only matched by the reward for actually figuring the methodology out. Internal Concepts sacrificed the ability to use maniptions like that for increasing the user''s power. But if they were able to learn to reach <em>outside</em> of their body, they got the best of both worlds.


    More than one cultivator thought they were unique and could bridge that gap, but the ones who seed were more myths than tangible data points.


    The man turned to him and nodded a dismissal.


    Throne cast [Teleport] and escaped from the crazy manager. Anyone who pushed their charges that hard was someone whose attention he didnt want to garner.


    <em>Those poor kids</em>.


    Just in case, Throne marked the trio to be watched. He didnt n on giving them special treatment, but he didnt want to be surprised about their movements.


    With an internal sigh, he started the arduous task of moving the army base to the ind selected. He would personally inspect the rifts, as they must be unique for the Tier 40 to take an interest in them. He also didnt want any potential dangers near his camp, no matter how unlikely a few Tier 1 through Tier 7 rifts were to be a threat. The Tier 1 rift was particrly unusual on a Tier 6 world, but it was no real cause for concern. The Tier 7 was rift was notable as well. Rifts growing to a Tier higher than the was normal enough, and indicated that the would be Tiering up in a mortal generation or two. But he still would need to check them both out as outliers.


    ***


    They yed with Aster until amotion drew their attention, and they all peered over at the noise.


    Albie! Albie over here!


    A huge woman, with an incredibly muscr frame a little over six feet tall, walked in through the crowd to where Prince Albert sat at a recruiting desk. She called out loud enough that it carried to where he and Liz sat, Did you get my flowers? Were you surprised?


    She had a glowing, menacingnce that she used to trip the two guards that tried to intercept her. Matt didnt miss that Juni moved behind her, but stayed in the crowd.


    Prince Albert crossed his arms and replied with a stiff face, Yes I got them. Very He paused for a long moment, clearly choosing his words. Considerate of you. Although, in the future, I would prefer if you delivered them to the front desk, and not break into our headquarters. I should report you to the Colonel for viting our sovereign territory before the start of hostilities.


    Princess Saraughed. With your outdated security it was hardly breaking and entering. But you like the flowers? Thats great. My team found this great out of the way rift that was full of them. It had these awesome vine monsters that spread seeds if you didnt kill them fast enough. From what my team told me, they should put up a good fight. If you want, I can take you to the rift. Besides the vine monsters, it''s very romantic. Nice and isted, on the edge of a cliff that has a great view. What do you say? Could be fun.


    While the Princess was speaking, she worked her way through the crowd until she was standing in front of and looking down at the Prince, who looked flustered.


    Uncrossing his arms and standing up, the Prince took a step back. If youre done ying games, I think you should leave. As you can see ,we are very bus Hey!! Stop poking me!!


    What? I thought you like being poked with a stick! You know, considering the one lodged firmly up your ass.


    Liz pulled him forward, saying, Oh, I like her. Or at least, I like that shes annoying the Prince. Dudes an uptight prick.


    Yeah, its kinda nice to see him all flustered after all the shit he pulled during the golem incident. Matt enjoyed the exasperated, non-in control look the Prince had on his crystalline face.


    They pushed through the crowd in time to see Princess Sara hit the butt of hernce against the ground. Come on! Lets ditch this ce. How about this? Youe with me to the rift, and Ill let you know where were entering the.


    Like you would betray your Queendom or mother. She would have your skin.


    Sara shrugged. She would chew me out, but Ive been chewed out before. It can be worth it if the cause is just, or the person doing the chewing is the right person. Do you want to be that person? You could put that cut jaw of yours to good use.


    Matt wanted tough at all of them. He wasnt sure if it was a ploy to get the Prince flustered, or real affection. But the woman was shaking the Prince up well and truly. The royal didnt look like he knew how to handle the womans advances.


    If she was serious, Matt was impressed with her determination and forwardness. If she really liked the Prince, she was pursuing him directly. Whether that would work with the kingdoms seemingly backward morals or not was to be seen, but it was an entertaining sight to behold.


    I would ask you to stop your antics and leave. Against my better judgment, Ive already agreed to your proposal if you win the war, and thats thest Ill hear of it until a victor is decided. Remember that I get twelve percent of your ie from delving for a year if I win. I would also appreciate it if you stopped encroaching into my kingdoms territory before we begin.


    She shrugged and called out to the watching crowd, Then get better security! We have quite a few unsigned Pathers here. Why dont we have a spar to show them their potential leaders? If you want to win the war, you will have to do better than your current attempts at recruiting. A good fight, best of ten engagements.


    The Princeughed, And let you take the advantage with your higher attacks? No, if we fight, it will be until one surrenders. I wont let you take advantage of your burst damage like that.


    You want to spend more time with me? Perfect! She pped her hands together and twirled slightly. Lets fight then.


    The Prince looked once again thrown off his n with her change in tune, but quickly he settled himself.


    Matt expected for them to clear an area right there and get to it, but one of the floating tforms moved over. It was a t grasnd with a single tree covered in brown leaves. It had a thick, green trunk that contrasted with the burnt orange hue of the grass.


    Even the Princess looked at the weird flora of the arena with a cocked head, as it gentlynded in thewn. The Prince shook himself out of his trance first, and he climbed to the grassy arena, taking a position on one side of the circle. To Matts surprise, he was nearly half the size he should be, and the grass came up to his knees.


    <em>Is everything here spatially expanded</em>?


    The cost seemed extravagant, but Matt paid attention to the Prince''s armament. He had upgraded from thest time the trio saw him fight. Now, the Prince had a blue sword and yellow shieldbo that seemed to meld with the armor that grew from his skin like liquid metal.


    It wasnt metal though, Matts AI identified it as the skill stopped forming. [Living Crystal] wasn''t bad, but wasn''t amazing either. Its major downside was that the crystal was brittle, and restricted movement of the casters body. It had its advantages in that it rendered shing attacks and most magical attacks all but useless. The skill was essentially relegated to those who couldnt afford better, or those that could either leverage one of its advantages, or negate its downsides.


    The Prince was clearly in the second category. His Talent was obviously something that made him crystalline. But the odd thing, at least to Matts mind, was that the mans skill had clearly merged with his Talent. It made him bulkier, but without the rigidity that the skill normally imparted.


    Princess Sara hopped into the ring with much less armor than her counterpart. Her arms and shoulders were covered in a heavy armor set, but the rest of her armor was either leather or light mail. Her shoulder pauldrons extended up nearly a foot, and were angled in a way to direct blows over her armored head. Matt took note of them, as he had never seen anything like that in an actual battle before.


    It was an interestingbination that seemed to revolve around hernce.


    Lances werent standard foot fighting equipment. It was usually used by mounted attackers, or those with a lot of speed. As the Princess didnt have a mount, Matt expected the reality to be the second option, and he was proven correct as soon as the fight started.


    Saraunched forward with incredible speed that cut a swath through the oddly colored grass. She bolted in a straight line for the Prince.


    Her glowing polearm led the way, but the Prince simply set himself into a defensive stance, clearly willing to take the attack head-on instead of dodging. His reasoning was proven correct, as when the Princess got within fifteen feet of the Prince, she reappeared on his right side, momentum intact.


    Matt wasnt sure if it was a teleport variation or something more unique, but his AI took note of an important clue. Her current location rtive to the Prince had maintained a perfectly circr arc whenpared to her previous position.


    Albert then stepped forward while spinning, with his de cutting across at Saras neck level, and his shield reaching over to block the glowingnce.


    The sword andnce were both blocked by their wielder''s respective armors. Saras shoulder pauldrons perfectly meshed with her helmet when her arm was extended, and caused Albert''s blow to deflect up and over her head. At the same time, her glowingnce was knocked to the side by the Princes shield.


    Sara moved through and out of the Prince''s range, but it was toote for her topletely dodge the [Earth Spike] that Albert created and kicked at her retreating back.


    As she passed the fifteen-foot range, Sara vanished, then charged at Albert for a second time. Now, she came directly at the Princes from directly ahead. He hadnt expected a frontal assault, so his pivot towards the wrong direction in anticipation was costly. He turned his head to face the princess just in time to watch the glowingnce catch him in the side, testing his skill enhanced skin.


    To Matts surprise, the kingdoms leader was neither cut down, nor pulled out of the ring by the hovering referee. He only had a deep gouge cut from his crystal armor that had slowly begun to heal itself.


    This time, Sara moved through the fifteen-foot radius, and kept going until she was fifty feet away.


    Mmm thats so hot, Albie. No one at my Tier has ever taken one of my attacks so casually. Even under her helmet, she cocked a cheeky grin and asked, Why won''t you marry me? We could do this every day.


    I barely know you!? Im sure you can find someone else with a strong defense, if thats yourrgest criteria.


    Yeah, but none of them would have your chiseled good looks, the Princess replied with a smirk.


    The Prince now looked cool and collected in the face of the woman who stood outside of his range.


    Liz whispered, Oh, she has him now.


    Matt was turning to look at Liz when an explosion rocked the stadium.


    As the dust settled, the now soot-ckened Prince charged out of a crater with his shield leading the way.


    Sara seemed unprepared for this, and was unable to create enough distance to effectively use herce.


    Albert wasnt in any better shape, as half of the crystalline armor on his lower half was shattered. It had only just started growing back to cover the exposed skin as he started his charge..


    Sara backstepped and cast [Twister], causing a funnel of swirling air tounch at the Prince. He paused just long enough for her to pass through the fifteen-foot radius around Albert, and she reappeared at his sword side in another charge.


    Their attacks proved ineffective, but neither tried to use more than the skills they had already shown. There were enough aborted movements from both royals to indicate that they were each clearly holding back reserves of skills and abilities.


    It was smart, but it caused the fight to stalemate rather quickly, and the referee called it a draw after a few more ineffective engagements.


    Neither side looked entirely happy with the oue, but they werent upset either. The Prince and Princess both put on charming smiles and headed back to their respective sides. The Princess didnt try to start any other shenanigans, and with that, she was gone.


    The battered and soot-covered Prince smiled while he called out, A good fight! Ah yes, where was I? Mr. Polovesnty, we were talking about what you would gain by joining my faction.


    Matt and Liz turned back as Albert was swarmed by green outlined people trying to join the kingdoms side. Apparently, his little showing was more effective than Matt would have guessed.


    It didnt escape his notice that Sara had an identical scene around herself on the other side of thending area.


    Matt and Liz returned to their room, and by nightfall, were joined by three other people to round out their squad.


    They all sat around in the littlemon room that linked their five doors into a suite.


    The first was a man who looked slightly older than them, and had the beginnings of stubble on his face.


    He introduced himself, The names Conor. Im mid Tier 6 and twenty-two years old. I primarily tank, with a few special properties that allow me to use [Demon Zone] without hurting myself. Im a solo Pather, so Im going to have to change some things up to work with yall, but I can make it work.


    Matt looked closer at the man and nodded, he knew the skill and its limitations, as he was looking at getting it himself back on the training world, but that hadnt panned out yet. It was an incredibly rare Tier 8 skill, since it wasnt valuable enough to farm rifts for.


    Liz nodded and said, Were familiar with the skill, and Matt at least can work inside without issue.


    That caused Conor to look closer at Matt. They would need to have a good spar and test each other out. Melee fighters needed to be familiar with one anothers fighting styles if they were going to work efficiently in each other''s vascinity. The best way to aplish that, obviously, was a good fight.


    Matt looked away and nodded at the next two people who sat close to each other.


    They were identical twins. Even Matts AI had a hard time telling them apart when they left his sight. It didnt help that they purposefully styled themselves in the same fashion, but they took the hint and introduced themselves.


    Im Emily.


    And Im Annie.


    Emily continued, Im a burst mage with mostly water and lighting spells.


    Annie continued without missing a beat, Im an assassin with invisibility.


    Like that, she vanished. Even the indent where her weight pressed down on the couch was gone.


    Matt spun and guarded his and Lizs rear, ready to activate [Cracked Phantom Armor] at the slightest indentation of the short carpet.


    From behind him, Annie questioned, What are you doing?


    Matt turned around to see that the woman hadnt moved.


    I half expected some teleport or [Blink] with a move like that.


    The woman looked wistful when she said, No. I wish. It would be an amazingbination. Sadly, were just too poor to buy a skill like that.


    The other twin, Emily, continued, Were both peak Tier 6 and twenty-five. We were going to Tier up to 7 early, and keep ahead of the curve, but we held off with this little war. We had the time, and even without the rewards, thebat experience isnt easy toe by.


    Matt waved slightly and said, Matt. Low Tier 6. I have [Hail] as my only real offensive skill. Im a longsword melee fighter with an armor Talent that lets me take hits a Tier above my own. I also get a strength increase with the skill.


    Conor and Annie looked interested, so he flicked his armor on for a moment to give them a look. He was going with the same excuse that he used during the golem fighting, as he was sure that Juni had it registered. There was no need to blow a cover that was already provided for him.


    Liz continued, Im Liz. Blood mage who can act like most water mages, as Im sure you already know. Emily, we should see how your lighting works with me. I absorbed some blood iron, so maybe we can do somebination attacks there. Im good at sustained and long fights, as the more people bleed, the more free blood I get to use. I can take down Tier 7 foes with my skills.


    Matt held up Aster, who had walked by him, and introduced her, This is Aster, my bond and the third person on our team. Shes an arctic fox who uses ice spells. Shes just starting to talk, but shes only really at two-word sentences, so cut her some ck. She loves eating ice cream and hearts.


    Thetter caused everyone to pause slightly, but no one questioned it. He also purposefully didn''t say their ages. While Liz was six months older than him, she still wasnt quite neen. While not <em>unheard of,</em>it was an incredibly fast pace to reach Tier 6 by. They were hoping that little tidbit would be overlooked.


    Aster looked around and asked everyone present, Ice cream? Where? No smell.


    The others smiled at that, but Emily asked, While I dont have a problem with it per se, why are you three in charge? Youre weaker than us, and younger by a good margin.


    Liz answered that. Well first, weve been in the kingdom for a while. We came in as a part of the subjugation mission for this.That involved fighting in the golem battles when we were Tier 5, and we took both first and second ces for our contributions when taking the fortification. She let that settle for a moment before she tacked on, We were only mid Tier 5 at that time attacking peak Tier 6 monsters. Were on the Path as well.


    Thest was added as almost an afterthought, but Matt had to smile at how it caused all of them to re-evaluate their perceptions of the trio. Liz, for all her bitching about high society, had a knack for handling people.


    Conor nodded, Thats impressive enough; I wontin.


    Annie asks, So youve been here longer. Why choose the kingdom over the queendom?


    Matt shrugged a shoulder casually. We were already here and actually like Juni- the Prince''s right-hand man. Also, we wanted to delve in peace during the downtime between the announcement and attack.


    They had since confirmed that it was a good call, as anyone who chose to swap sides had been confined to the cities for the duration of the countdown timer. They were stuck there until the neutral city had been built. Matt didnt want to know where they would be if they hadnt had the time off to increase their wealth and strength before the announcement of the war.


    Liz checked her watch and said, We were told that we wouldnt be deployed until tomorrow, but Id like to get some light sparring and team tactics training in tonight. Nothing crazy, since we dont have a healer. But enough so that when we get started, we dont have to fight together blindly.


    No one disagreed, so they went to find a training room, and saw that mostly everyone had the exact same idea. All of the training rooms they came across were already upied.


    The Golem Battalion had been nearly fully staffed with the arrival of the Pathers. It didnt escape anyones notice that there were no teams consisting of cultivators on The Path and kingdom cultivators together. They were always in separate groups.


    They stood around for nearly ten minutes, until Conor asked, Does anyone know how the challenge areas work?


    Liz caught on faster than Matt and called out, Brilliant! I challenge you three to a duel.


    Mattughed as their AIs asked for confirmation. When they epted, they got a notice that a tform would be sent to their location shortly, and showed a four-minute timer.


    Annie looked at the other man and nodded, Good thinking. I wouldnt have thought of it on my own.


    Conor looked unperturbed. Saw it in a movie, so I cant take the credit.


    They milled around, and to the shock of the other teams nearby, boarded the tform when it descended. They got a marshy swamp area; Matt felt bad for anyone who didnt have a skill to keep out murky water and foul stenches.


    The teams who were huddled around the front entrance of the kingdoms building put two and two together as they watched the group of six. As their tform rose, Matt was able to see four more tforms moving in their direction.


    Summoning his sword, he began moving forward, only to stop when a hovering woman appeared to ask, Whats the challenge for, and what win conditions do you want?


    Matt quickly said, Well be using the tform for round-based three vs. three with team swapping and breaks.


    The woman shrugged and vanished while echoing, Well, let me know when you all are done.


    Almost as an afterthought, she added, Do you care if people can see or watch in?


    Liz quickly added, We would like our privacy, please. From all but you, of course.


    The edge of the area seemed to shimmer in the air like a heat haze. Seeing that they were protected, Liz withdrew her spear and said, Well, lets test each other out some, shall we?


    Matt readied his de. They had a war to prepare for.

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76


    Matt flew in formation with his team to their objective. It was a fort, a part of arger chain of fortifications protecting a mountain chain. They had been called upon at 4 am their time, but the sun was shining high in the sky where they had teleported to on the.


    Their side had captured three of the neutral and newly made cities, for a total of five on their side. The other two were under the control of the Queendom. Their cities were being flooded with personnel who would staff and defend the city, since the Kingdom used them as teleportation tforms.


    It was incredibly expensive to do the intra-city teleports, but the Kingdom still sent their strike forces through as fast as they could load them onto the tforms.


    Their team had been called up not long after they went to bed for the night. Thankfully, as Tier 6s, their need for sleep was lessenedpared to the unawakened.


    Their advanced scouts had noticed that the Queendom was mobilizing forces to these forts. From their mission brief, the Kingdom was assuming that the enemy troops were trying to create a chink in the outeryer of the citys defenses. It seemed that they were trying to im a foothold, so that future operations could be initiated from the base in order to break through the defensiveyers. Defending this forward base from the Queendom was the Kingdom''s war AIs decision. They werent entirely sure why this singr base was being targeted, but their trajectory didnt leave much room for debate.


    ording to Juni, they needed to move quickly, so they were out on their various flying devices only minutes after being roused from their sleep.


    They would need to hold the fort until reinforcements could arrive and take over.


    Matt didnt understand why the Queendom was trying to take the base without the surrounding area being controlled. Still, from the limited information he had about the ongoing war, it was mostly a game of sending out small token forces to gather control of as much territory as possible.


    There were points given to each side depending on the amount of territory they held. The territorys worth was determined by the value of avable rifts and natural resources like metals in the controlled area. Both sides were overextended to cover as muchnd as possible, while also contending with teleportation costs and traditional travel times.


    The Queendom hadnt advanced very far past capturing the city neighboring the one they had arrived in, but they <em>did </em>have to gather their forces from their own territory after all. Their inteary teleporters were constantly active to help consolidate their strength. Theck of initial push from the Queendom meant that they had less than a quarter of thes area under their nominal control to start. The Kingdom could have pushed their initial advantage, but it was considered a waste of resources to try and contend with the Queendom over the territory directly around their cities.


    The attack that Matts team was intercepting was just part of arger offensive on the part of the Queendom. As an opening move, he felt it was a littleckluster, but he didnt know what their greater n was.


    Even if they took this fort, it was surrounded by other controlled territories, and they had no teleporter to get reinforcements through.


    In the end, Matt decided that it didnt matter. They just had to sit on the fort and defend it while earning war contribution points.


    They would earn ten apiece for taking and holding the fort, along with an additional point for each hour they held it. It wasnt arge amount, but it was better than nothing, like the teams current point total.


    Matt nced at the map that was oveid on his vision, and spoke to the team over voices. Were two miles out. Im going to scout ahead.


    His flying sword was the fastest of the groups devices, so he moved ahead through the air and performed arge loop around the fortress. Thendscape mainly consisted of scrund that gave little cover, but he kept half a mile above the ground just in case of a hidden ambush. The sky was clear, which protected him from surprise attacks from above.


    Seeing nothing of note, he pushed an all-clear message to his team. Hended in the three-story fort and started to inspect it for any hidden enemies.


    He didnt run into any opposition as he cleared empty floor after empty floor. The forts that the army built were barebone stone fortifications, and were clearly meant to be filled outter by whichever force took them over.


    On the bottom floor, Matt found the item that he was looking for. With a quick scan of the room, he walked over to the head-sized crystal and started to pump mana into it. A few seconds and 1000 manater, he pulled his armored hand off the crystal as the bases systems came online. The forts preliminary shielding and anti-flight formations activated a momentter.


    It only took a heartbeat for Matt to get a ping asking if he wanted to im the base for the Kingdom. As he walked to the door, he mentally selected yes and stepped back into the light.


    His teamnded in the clearing around the fort, and he saw Conor step off his flying carpet. He moved to check the fortifications doors while his carpet rolled itself up and flew into his bag.


    Liz and Emily started to climb the tower stairs to get in a position where their ranged attacks would be the most optimal. Annie pulled out a chair and sat behind the parapet, looking out into the opennd around them.


    Conor was moving to the opposite wall to do the same, so Matt went back inside. After deactivating his armor, he started to get a good charge on the mana reserve built into the fort.


    They had been sent with fifty Tier 7 mana stones to charge the fort quickly. That was a Tier 8 mana stone worth of value, but the pile of little crystals had 40,000 mana in total. It always amazed him how much value an increase in Tier could make. From Tier 7 to Tier 8, the mana capacity only increased from 400 mana to 500, but the cost was fifty timesrger.


    Even with the economics exined to him during his schooling, such an increase felt strange to him. The mana stone value was set from the top down, with the stones value being more representative of their worth as the Tiers increased.


    Matt charged the stone himself and pocketed the money. The job was being done either way, and he felt no guilt in taking the stones for himself. To the Kingdom, a single Tier 8 mana stones value wasnt anything of note, but that was a few nights at a really nice hotel for Matt, Aster, and Liz.


    Five minutester, he exited the fortress and took up his position on the wall. Being thest one out, he got the worst spot of them all. It was built up the side of the mountain, and he had to crane his neck just to observe his section of the wall. Luckily, it wasnt all that bad, as he just leaned his chair against the inside wall to recline.


    Not even ten minutester, a message from Juni came through, asking about their situation. Liz quickly reported in. There was nothing to see, and they were told to sit tight until they were relieved or given other orders.


    With little else to do, Matt let his AI use most of his avable mana running simtions of their team fighting various opponents orpleting random tasks. While his AI worked, he alternated between practicing his mana maniption and using his Concept to make fields to stand on. The first task was actually going well. While his new mana generation rate was hurting his mana control, he was picking it back up.


    On the other hand, using his Concept to will the air to repulse him was nearly nonfunctional. With his weight pressing down on a disk, he just sank through what little resistance he could muster with his Concept. It was like standing on quicksand. It was enough to slow his descending foot, but it wasnt anywhere close to keeping him aloft.


    As he continued to practice, he kept most of his attention on the surrounding area in front of his position. Even his AI was analyzing his vision for any anomalies. Two hourster, he was still wrapped up in his distractions when Annie messaged them through their team channel.


    Got something on my side. Scrub grass moved perpendicr to the wind for a moment.


    Matt wanted to turn and look, but kept his vision on his area instead. He hopped off his chair and changed his position. If there were hidden lurkers, he didnt want to be an easy target for an archer.


    Lizs next words gave him a little more detail on the situation. The one I highlighted?


    Yeah.


    Ok. We see it.


    A secondter, and there was a thunderp that echoed off the mountain cliffs and fortress walls.


    Someone jerked in front of Matt, and an arrow mmed into the crention beside him. He and everyone else called out variations of Hidden enemies!


    Matt summoned his sword with a thought and started charging it with mana. As it neared 2000 mana, he swung his sword forward while activating [Mana sh]. The crescent-shaped mana attack rushed forward, but dissipated before it could cover the two hundred-foot distance between him and his retreating attacker. He cursed his impulsive use of the skill. If he had used his crossbow, he might have hit his target when their camouge was disrupted.


    Conor asked through their voice chat, Do we engage?


    Liz answered immediately, Our orders were to only engage if we thought we had a chance. She paused before continuing, Besides, they look to be retreating. Let me call in.


    During the lull, Matt scanned the area around the rocky outcropping where his attacker had disappeared. He didnt quite fancy fighting in those tight quarters. Flying would be iffy, as the anti-flying formation spread out for nearly half a mile, and unlike the citys formation, this one couldnt tell friend from foe. It was a trade-off for its cheaper operation cost.


    After another minute, Liz came back on and said, We are to pursue and try to capture the attackers. Note that if you do so much damage they would die, they''ll get pulled away by the army, and we wont get to question them. Watch out for suicide. Thats been amon tactic of theirs to avoid capture.


    Matt took over at that point. His AI had been burning mana by the millions since their sparsst night. He had run simtion after simtion with their group in every scenario he could think of.


    Annie, go invisible and see what you can find. Watch out for traps to cover their retreat. Well form up and forge a path behind you.


    I know what to look out for. Her tone wasnt snippy, but it was a good reminder that his team knew their jobs better than he and his AI did. He wasnt too worried for the woman. From what he could glean after their spar, he didnt believe that her Talent was solely invisibility. No matter what she said, [Invisibility] and its lower Tier variants didnt stop water ripples, or weight creating impressions in soft mud.


    When they practiced in the sparring yard, the woman didnt leave these, or any other indications of her presence when invisible.. No matter what she said though, he didnt buy it. But that was ok. She had the right to her secrets. It wasnt like he didnt lie about his own Talent.


    If his AI was right, she could have a cracked skill variant that gave some form of invisibility and intangibility. That, or her Talent did something even more unorthodox, like make her entirely unnoticeable. He didnt think thest option was very likely. When he checked an area she had walked through an hour afterwards, there were still no signs of disturbance.


    Either way, she would be fine if she didnt walk into an ambush. That was what took her out in most of his simtions. He didnt have enough data on her ability to detect traps to urately model her actions. It was an oversight that he intended to correct when they got back to the neutral city. There had been training rooms dedicated specifically for stealth and reconnaissance, and he wouldnt mind picking up some of those skills himself.


    The rest of them gathered at the front entrance and unbarred the door. It left them vulnerable, but anyone who wanted toe in after them would need a way to scale the twenty foot wall. Even with their enhanced bodies, jumping that distance was nearly impossible to do without a climbing rope or adder.


    Either way, it would take time, and they had their orders to sally out.


    Annie sent a message ten minutester that she had found the rendezvous point where their attackers retreated to. It was half a mile away and just outside the no-fly zone. Matt nodded and lowered the locking bar behind his team as they exited the fortress. Running, he climbed the stairs and jumped down from the wall with a crash of dust.


    They moved at a pace only made possible through their bodies enhancement from cultivation. As they neared the location marked by Annie, they slowed and watched the AI updates from their teammate. While it was unlikely that they had the ability to detect the hidden AI frequencies, it wasnt impossible. So, whenever she sent a message she moved to a new location.


    Matt was impressed that he didnt need to warn her about that. He hadnt even known it was a thing until his meeting with The Path investigator.


    They saw three people with crossbows loading their bags in a hurry and with their flying devicesid out. It didnt look like they would have time to do more than rush in if they wanted a chance to stop the retreating team.


    Matt sent a quick attack order to his team and charged forward, while cranking [Mages Retreat]s throughput to 50 MPS for its seventy-five percent boost. The team of three all looked at him and froze for a moment. That moment cost them their freedom.


    As Matt and Conor charged, the mages attacked the flying devices. It was unlikely that they would destroy them, but it caused the fleeing group to backpedal away from their means of escape. Conor proceeded to tackle a woman to the ground, while Annie appeared from nowhere and threw a rope around the second mans neck.


    Matt punched out at thest man, who raised a glowing dagger to defend himself. The man crumpled under the blow to a degree that even Matt cringed at. He <em>felt</em> the mans rib bones crumble under the strike. He had checked before he attacked, and felt that the man was Tier 6. He figured that he would have to strike with his full strength for his blow to have any effect. But before he could worry about potentially killing the man, a woman in army fatigues appeared and quickly vanished, along with the downed man.


    Matt refused to freeze up from seeing the man get pulled away for medical treatment, so he moved to help Annie restrain her captive. They struggled for a moment, but the man was taken down after Matt kicked out his knee from behind.


    He was much more careful with his power this time, and was sure to only send the man to the floor, instead of whatever hospital the army was using.


    Conor had his woman already tied up with her hands and feet restrained behind her, forcing her to arch in an ufortable position.


    The mages arrived soon after, and Liz started mouthing words, alreadymunicating with someone back at the neutral city or one of the captured cities.


    She came back to reality and looked at the two downed captives. Ok, you have two options. One.


    Fuck you. Just kill us and get it over with.


    Liz just nodded while Matt debated the ethics of kicking a captive man. He decided it would be cruel and unusual, but interrupting someone while they were talking was his pet peeve. <em>Especially</em> when the someone being interrupted was Liz. Besides, by the look on the mans face, he intended to do it again.


    Liz shrugged. No. We arent doing that. The Kingdom knows your side is doing some sneaky shit, since you have less area to defend and can send out parties like this.


    We wont tell you anything. It was the woman this time.


    Listen to me first, please. If you interrupt me again, Im breaking something nonvital.


    Both prisoners nched at that, but as the man fixed his mouth to call Lizs bluff, Conor ced his foot lightly on the mans bound hands. That quieted the captive down, and Matt nodded at his teammate.


    We wont kill you. Were going to capture you and hold you for points or prisoner swaps.


    She let the realization that their capture would mean weeks or even months out of the fight sink in. Once the desperation started to take hold, Liz offered them a lifeline.


    If you tell us what you know, were willing to let you go after a few days. If what you tell us is really good, well kill you now, and move to try and stop whatever it is your side is nning.


    The man cracked first as the woman tried to yell at him to stop.


    Theyre attacking another fort deeper in the mountains as a diversion as well. I dont know more than that, I swear.


    Matt looked at Liz and sent her a message, Hes not lying, but I dont believe it. Seems too easy. Shit, we dont even know other groups movements.


    Liz yed along with the two, and nodded while driving her spear into their chests lightly. It was recorded as a way to kill someone without needlessly burdening the healers. They would be out of the fight as if they took a spear through the chest, which meant at least two weeks of downtime, but without the cost of healing a massive and deadly wound.


    A heartbeatter, they were both grabbed, and their scattered belongings vanished as well.


    Matt was about to open his mouth when a series of notifications from theary AI appeared in his message window.


    <strong>Team Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Fort defended from attackers. 4 points.</strong>


    <strong>Queendom Tier 6 scout killed. 5 points.</strong>


    <strong>Two Queendom scouts captured and interrogated. 8 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. 4 points.</strong>


    <strong>Personal Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Queendom Tier 6 scout killed. 5 points.</strong>


    34 war contribution points wasnt bad, considering they were added to the 10 points received for capturing the fort, along with the additional 3 they earned for guarding it in the meantime.


    It was a good start, if Matt said so himself. He also liked that he seemed to be able to double dip with personal achievements and team points.


    Annie whistled softly. Wow. I need to do more covert shit. I got 10 points for discovering the ambush and then another 40 for tracking and discovering the base.


    Matt had to agree. It was a nice haul, and was 10 points more than what he got in total, most of which he assumed that she got as well.


    Liz interrupted their chatting and said, Juni wants us to push into the mountains and check the other forts, but be wary of traps. He agrees with us. Something is funky here.


    Matt used his AI and scanned the area, but neither of them noticed anything that stood out. It wasnt like there would be an obvious spot that said, Trap here! In the end, they just decided to fly around and look for obvious changes in the terrain. If they got lucky, they might be able to find enemies on the move.


    They all removed their flying devices from their spatial bags and took to the sky without much more talking. They inspected the other unupied forts for nearly two hours, and found nothing. The only other Kingdom upied fort in the chain had been attacked, but after wounding two of the defenders, the Queendoms troops retreated without trying to take the now lightly defended fort.


    Together, the six of them hovered in the air high in the sparse cloud cover, where they were unable to be observed or easily ambushed.


    Matts AI had noted a slight discrepancy in the forts coverage. It wasnt obvious, as the forts anti-flying formations werent active, but the designed ovep had a small gap in it. The space coincided with a valley that was closed off from andslide on one end. If the formations could pass through rock, they would be covered, but their effects were reduced with physical matter obstructing the path. Thus, the debris from thendside created a slight gap.


    The gap would be obvious when the formations were up and running, but since they were still shut off, none of them would have noticed the discrepancy. It was the best ce for a party of ambush troops to be hiding. They had flown past it in a test, but they had seen no evidence of human presence or signs of a hidden base.


    Emily said over their voice channel, The logic checks out. This <em>is</em> a good location for a hidden base, but they dont seem to have one set up. Her sister tried to interject, but was punched in the shoulder for her trouble. And no, I dont think its a good idea for my sister to scout by herself. Wed be so far away that she would have zero back-up.


    Conor nodded along with everything the twin said and added his own two cents. I think we report in, and strike at the area hard and fast. We should tear the ce apart. Either we find an enemy and fight them, or we find nothing. We can always retreat if they have a numbers advantage, and if we find nothing, we wont lose anything but some time.


    Matt liked the mans idea, but from how Liz cocked her hip in the air, she didnt agree. As Liz expanded on the ways that it could backfire, he ran the scenario with his AI.


    Their impromptu team was strong for their Tier, and the other three had all run Tier 7 rifts easily enough at Tier 6. Unless the base was chocked full of Tier 7s, they should be fine. If the Queendom was doing the same thing as the Kingdom, they would have broken open their vaults and given each Tier 7 a full kit of weapons and armor at their Tier, with a single Tier 8 item for attack or offense, depending on the person.


    While those on The Path of Ascension were unable to partake of the free gear, they all hit above their Tier, so they should be able to handle a kitted out Tier 7 fighter. They would only have problems if they encountered someone who hit above their Tier, and was also well equipped. If they fought someone on the level of the Princess, they would be distinctly at a disadvantage. There was no rule that said all of the powerful fighters had to be on The Path.


    I think we can do it. The risk is minimal. Seeing that Liz had stopped talking, Matt took his chance to interject. There is a risk. But its unlikely that the Queendom would send a massivemitment for a small base like this. At worst, well face an average Tier 7 overseeing a group of Tier 6s. Its not impossible for us to fight and beat a squad of that caliber.


    Theres still a chance that this is arger y by the Queendom. They dont have as much territory and they arent as spread out, so they have more wiggle room to send out stronger forces. We could very well fight a full team strong Tier 7s. I dont think its worth it if we die now. Theres a lot of free points to gather in the first few weeks.


    Matt didnt really have a counterargument for that. It was risky, but it wasnt guaranteed that they wouldnt run into a situationrger than they could handle.


    Matt could overrule her if he wanted to, but he didnt want to do anything that drastic. They had already decided that he was inmand of anybat operations. His AI was simply able to process more information than hers at any time, which let him n fights better. Liz took charge of their interactions with the Kingdom, and was the official leader.


    He looked at her armored form and shrugged, throwing the ball into her court.


    Finally, Liz said, Lets do it, but we have to be careful. Well fly over first. Then we can go in at a hover. The anti-flying formations arent active; they dont even reach here anyway. So we should be fine to make a quick getaway, if need be.


    With that, they dropped like rocks with the power of their flying devices. Matt kept with his team as they made an arc into the valley.


    They did as Liz said and did a slow and careful search of the valley. Finding nothing once again, they moved to search closer to the ground.


    They almost finished their sweep when Aster noticed something. Matt only got a warning through their bond, as his fox sent a message to everyone else in their chat.


    Smell human.


    They all went on alert, and Annie flew behind a tree. With a thud, she vanished into the sparse trees.


    Liz looked over her shoulder and asked, Wheres the scent strongest?


    Aster sniffed around and led them to a tree that looked like any other in the area. At least, that was what Matt thought until he looked closer. The surrounding trees were in the early signs of spring with small buds of green, whereas this one looked to be in the full bloom of summer.


    Matt called out at the same time that a hatch in the side of the tree opened with a ringing sound of metal on metal.


    Conor dropped to the ground, which kept him from tumbling like the rest of them did when an anti-flight formation activated. Mattnded with a thud, but rolled with the impact and joined Conor in holding the entrance.


    The mans [Demon Zone] was a red haze that epassed the entrance.


    Matt mentally ran through the skill description of [Demon Zone]: 5 MPS base cost. A portion of all damage dealt while in the area of effect would reflect back to the damage dealer as physical damage. There was a percent chance for any damage dealt in the area to affect all upants. No designation of friend or foe. The user would take fifty percent damage from all reflected damage. The skill couldnt be recast for two hours and channeling time didnt count towards cooldown.


    The skill was mming energy blows against Matts [Cracked Phantom Armor] as he countered an attack from a woman. She escaped the tree and moved around Conor to nk the two of them.


    Matt smiled as what felt like a hammer blownded on his leg. His armorpletely absorbed the damage, but the womans posture crumpled as the unexpected reflection hit everyone in the zone.


    Not willing to let the opportunity go, Matt stabbed forward and took the woman in her lightly armored gut with a thrust. As he withdrew his sword, she was suddenly gone.


    Pivoting, Matt moved right beside Conor to help hold the entrance. As much as he hated to admit it, his new melee teammate was a better fighter with more weapons than Matt. He was more skilled with a longsword, but the man was a miracle worker when he used any one-handed weapon with his shield.


    Whether it was a mace, a short sword, or anything in between, the man struck with lightning-fast blows. Each had a chance to strike everyone in the aura. The light blows werent meant to cause any real damage, just to disorientate. Any time [Demon Zone] reflected someones attack to the Queendoms fighters, Conor used [Momentum Strike] to finish off the nearest opponent during the moment of disorientation.


    When they sparred, Matt had only been able to hold his own, but without battering the man down with spell cast after spell cast, he had been forced to call it a draw. Unless they were willing to go all out, there was no clear winner in their fights.


    It made them an amazing frontline duo. Matt wasnt bothered by the light reflected attacks with [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Conor had never encountered someone who could effectively guard his side with his skill active.


    They cut down another two Tier 6s before arger presence moved up and out of the entrance like a charging bull. Conor retreated and let the man escape the confines of the tree facade.


    The Tier 7 tried to turn and attack Conor, but Matt thrust his sword into the mans side, causing him to abort the attack. The armor he was wearing was Tier 7, which meant that Matts de was the same Tier, and would be able to pierce the armor.


    The man was unwilling to take the blow tond one of his own.


    Matt pulled the man away from Conor and engaged the Queendoms Tier 7 on his own. He wielded a white-hot war hammer equipped with a glowing blue spike. It also felt heavier than the man to his spiritual sense, indicating that it was a Tier 8 weapon.


    Cursing the worst-case scenario, Matt settled in to defend against the man, and looked for an opportunity to finish the fight with a single, decisive blow. It was either that, or batter the man down with a few dozen [Mana sh]s and [Mana Charge]s.


    ***


    Liz ducked under a barrage of [Water Bullets] cast from near the top of the tree and thrust her spear into an attacking Tier 6. The man bled an unhealthy amount before he vanished, leaving only more blood to use.


    Aster jumped out of her backpack, and before Liz could worry about her, the world went white.


    Everything was suddenly sh frozen. From the trees, to the enemies, and the grass. Everything was covered in frost that slowly grew roses.


    Chancing a look back, she saw Aster anchored in ice that grew up her legs, while more ice-covered her body in spikes. The nine enemies around them had it much worse than the surroundings. Each was encased in thorny, blooming vines that sapped both life and mana from them. It was a visible process that withered them and all the frozen foliage to nothing.


    Emily looked as shocked as Liz felt. She knew that Winters Embrace was strong, but this was beyond her expectations.


    Seeing that her partner was ok and handling the small fry, Liz gathered the blood. She pulled all of it to her. If this was back when she first met Aster, she would have been unable to control frozen blood, but now it was only slightly harder than the liquid variety. It was still blood, after all.


    Pulling it together, Liz created a modified version of her blood golem, while Emily fried a group of Tier 6s who tried to attack Aster and her ever-expanding zone of frozen death. The now-empty vines reminded her that for all the blood spilled, no one was dying today.


    After Matt had crumpled the Tier 6s chest in a single blow, she had been hesitant to use her full force. She knew he was too.


    Taking a barrage of skills on her heavily armored golems head, she punched hardened arms and feet into the metal tree and started to climb. It took only a minute for her to reach the screams above her. Once she got to the top of the tree, she found a crudely built palisade disguised as tree branches.


    Liz let loose with tendrils of blood that broke bones and spilled more of her red dominion. She was nearly sted off the tree when a Concept infused [Wind de] took her in the side. The man was Tier 7, and had a Tier 8 staff that glowed with light green energy as more wind built up around the staff.


    She didnt have time to savor the look of shock on his face as he realized his sneak attack hadnt worked. Infusing her own Concept into her blood, she struck out, intending to swat the man away, but he was pulled away by a force greater than her own.


    With the realization that she might have been going a little too hard, she toned it back as she finished off the rest of the mages on top of the tree tower. She was a mage, yes, but in the end, she was building her body more than most mages. She was going with a forty sixty split with magic taking therger portion, but she got more damage out of building her blood than most. After the addition and upgrade of the Blood Iron, she was debating whether to transition into an even split of essence.


    After all, the stronger her body got, the stronger her main weapon was.


    Pulling a little blood from her glove, she moved it to the tips of her arms and started to spin her limbs like drills. It only took a minute until she was able to pry off the top of the tree, and she fell into the mass of people still trying to escape from the trees front entrance.


    ***


    Annie moved through the forest with her Talent keeping her hidden from everyone.


    When she found the back door, she slipped in and carefully weaved through the escaping Queendom people.


    She was here for information gathering and to assassinate any leaders running the show from inside the hidden base.


    It was a shock when she found a teleporter formation built into the floor. There was a pair of Tier 7s standing at a row of pads and talking as they watched the fighting outside. We need to consider this a loss. Both Adam and Bret were taken out.


    The other woman cursed, Fucking useless. Neither of themsted more than a minute. Disgraceful.


    The first woman shrugged. This clearly is a very strong Path team. Better to learn about them now than during a more pivotal moment. We now know how strong they are, so we can start nning to counter them.


    The second woman spat on the floor but nodded. Do we pull out with the teleporter, or do we destroy it?


    Set the bomb, and well teleport out before it goes off.


    Not liking the sound of that, Annie debated whether she could take the two women. They were Tier 7, and might be able to sense her if she wasnt careful, but she liked the idea of being here when a bomb went off far less.


    She took careful, quiet steps before she drove her dagger into the leaders armpit, activating the enchantment at thest moment. She twisted and jerked it out before ducking low and stepping around her victim. As the second woman tried to attack, Annie hip-checked the leader into her path, causing the second woman to stumble slightly.


    That was all Annie needed to throw a dagger into the womans throat. In under four seconds, both women were gone, removed by the unseen referees.


    Annie started to download everything on the pads to her AI, and took careful scans of the teleporting formation. It might lead to other hidden bases, and that could be worth a boatload of points.


    She checked her sisters AI and saw that they were doing fine up top. It was weird to be in a team with others. Annie had expected to have to carry the team, but after their sparring yesterday, she was forced to acknowledge that her new teammates were heavy hitters.


    Conors [Demon Zone] perfectly countered her, which was infuriating in and of itself. If she entered the zone and moved too quickly, he could feel the disturbance. If she attacked him, she would take a blow in return. If the blow was strong enough to kill him, it would probably do the same to her, as she was much less invested in heavy armor and durability. She was working on growing her Talent to counter that, but it was a slow process. If the man wasnt so attractive in his quiet way, she would be even angrier.


    Matt, Liz, and the fox, Aster, were another story together. Annie had missed it at first, but Emily had noticed that they were kitted out with growth items. It wouldnt be suspicious if they werent on The Path, but as it stood, it let her know that at least one of them was lying about their Talent. She had met a seeker before, and they were the only ones able to gather that much wealth while on The Path.


    Neither she nor her sister could figure it out, though. Matts Talent seemed straightforward enough, and its effects were obvious. Blood was rare enough that it seemed unlikely to be Liz, but that just left the cute fox. The problem with that was, with the fox being a beast, she would only have standard racial Talents until Tier 25.


    Overall, their best guess was that they had a fourth member at some point, or one that wasnt participating on the frontlines of the war.


    She had expected paper tigers who relied on their items to fight, but the trio was as strong as her and her sister were, if their training duel was any indication.


    So far, she was happy with how things were going in this little war. She and her sister had a little more than a year before they needed to advance to Tier 7 and stay on The Path. But with these four new teammates, gathering the points needed to slingshot themselves ahead of The Path seemed more of a certainty than a possibility.


    They were doing fine as a duo, but they both saw this as an opportunity to gather skills and items that would normally be out of reach for the lower Tiers. The Empire was generous with the rewards for war contribution points. And they intended to leverage those rewards to reach the end of The Path of Ascension.


    ***


    Matt gave up after the first two exchanges and simply charged up both [Mana sh] and [Mana Charge]. He let the first strike out in a light blue crescent of mana, before following it up by releasing the stored mana in [Mana Charge] on the Tier 7s gauntleted forearm.


    Before he could see how much damage he had done, the man vanished, so Matt moved forward to help Conor once again. The man was still holding the entrance as the masses tried to push through him.


    The fighting ended as Liz climbed up the tree tower and cut her way through the metal, and dropped down on their enemies as if she were a blood goddess.


    Only a minuteter, she called an all-clear, quickly echoed by everyone else. There were no more enemies remaining. They had won.


    Not to be disappointed, Matt saw the notifications rain in.


    <strong>Team Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Thirty Queendom Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Four Queendom Tier 7s killed. 25 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Secret base discovered. 50 points.</strong>


    <strong>Various information gathered from enemy base. 100 points. Kingdom may award more based on contents of information gathered.</strong>


    <strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. 87 points.</strong>


    <strong>Personal Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Solo takedown of Tier 7. 25 points.</strong>


    <strong>Five Queendom Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    Matt smiled. Now that was what he called a haul. 537 points for the fight; 487 from the team and 50 from the personal merit. The benefit of double dipping between team and individual points was on disy again.


    Not bad for half a day''s work.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77


    Matt kicked his way through the debris while holding a tuckered-out Aster. His bond was exhausted from freezing half of the valley during the fight. He mentally reminded himself to thank Emily personally after this was done. She had protected Aster while a number of enemies tried to rush her.


    Her protectionsted long enough for Winters Embrace to spread and capture a few more enemies, and for Aster to st away the few that remained free of the ices grasp. Emilys lighting was twice as strong as it should have been, ording to his AIs review of Asters recording of the fight. It also picked up that the mage always alternated between her water spells and her lightning spells.


    It was an oddity, but nothing a Talent or cracked skill couldnt ount for.


    Either way, he was grateful for her help.


    He was currently walking through the hidden base with Liz and refilling their mana reserves with his Concept. When anyone else came too close, he turned it off, but he still had them almost full after ten minutes.


    Liz was inspecting her handiwork from the battle when he asked, Was there anything you didnt wreck?


    She looked profoundly smug when she said, I didnt mess up the floor.


    Matt looked at her nkly while he kicked a fallen metal wall to the side. It revealed four scratch marks in a circle.


    It made him pause while he questioned what they reminded him of.


    When it hit him, heughed and asked, Are you getting a little flighty with your golem form?


    She looked confused, which made himugh harder. Do you not even realize what youre doing?


    Liz still looked confused, which pushed him over the edge.


    Liz, your golem form has bird feet.


    She flushed hard as she stared between the floor and her feet.


    Her spluttering made himugh all the harder. I d- d- do not!. It''s ahh uhh... Someone else! Yeah, its someone else. It''s a good way to keep a grip on a slippery floor! Yeah, that''s it.


    She tried to stop hisughing by covering his mouth, but it was just too funny. For all the bitching she did about her bird-brained mother, she was slipping into the form unconsciously. He couldnt wait until Tier 15, when she got her beast form. He was already preparing bird jokes to tease her with.


    Half an hourter, there was a flurry of activity as forty people descended from the sky in a wave. Juni was one of the first tond. After he saw Matt, he walked over with a sardonic grin and shook Matts hand.


    You always surprise me, Matt. The oddest things happen around you.


    He scratched Asters head while shaking her paw before moving on to repeat his actions with the rest of Matts team. For all that Matt was ambivalent to the Prince, Juni was charismatic, and knew how to integrate into a group.


    Matt followed the man into the underground bunker and watched as the people that came with Juni started plugging into various banks of electronics.


    Juni kicked a piece of the fake tree exterior over as he asked, How did you even find this ce?


    Liz took that as her cue, and exined everything that happened.


    When she was done, he asked, Can you do an escort mission to the rest of the forts? We need them staffed sooner thanter.


    Annie moved forward and spoke for the first time, asking, What are our rewards looking like for this?


    Laughing lightly, Juni shrugged the question off, Well see when we plunder this ce. I have little doubt the teleporter formation will be next to useless. Im sure they moved any bases this ce was linked to, or at least the ones that we couldve gotten intel from.


    So we should get credit for all of those things, right? Conors question caught the Princes right-hand man off guard for a moment.


    Thats a fair point. The problem is, we dont know how much thats worth. I can do 500 points, but in the end, its all spection. Maybe you stopped the great threat that would have led to the copse of our entire defenses. Maybe this was just an outpost meant for spies to get into our territory easier. I have limited funds that I can spend, and giving your team 3000 points is already pushing my authority. Once we review everything, maybe I can get you more. The Prince has control of the Kingdoms wallet, not me.


    Matt shrugged; it was a good point. The information was hard to quantify, and they had already made a killing from the points they had earned so far.


    Juni continued as he pried open a panel and started shining his light at the innards of the console. These were your first points earned, right? You should check the marketce. You should all have at least a thousand points. You can afford some of the cheaper things already, as youre slightly ahead of the pack when ites to earnings.


    Wait, people have done better than us already? How? Emilys question mirrored Matts own thoughts.


    Juni pulled back and gave them a funny look. Your group is about top thirty at best. Theres some other Pather, a Tier 5, that rushed the Queendom''s main city and killed a dozen Tier 7s before he was driven off. Not killed, mind you. Just driven off. Killing two Tiers up gave him 125 points per person. Matt, Liz, Aster, I know youre strong as hell, but there are some <em>monsters</em> running around this war.


    He slid back under the console after tossing them a small bag, and dismissed them with a simple, If you want more points, escort the teams to the other forts in the line, please. There are the crystals youll need. Its the best I can do right now. I wouldnt worry about it too much though. This war isnt expected tost a few months, more like a few years.


    They moved out and escorted the teams to the forts throughout the mountain range, and Matt repeated his trick of filling the forts with his mana instead of using the provided mana stones. He always converted one stone so he could scatter some dust around, but that was it.


    In between forts, Matt flicked into the Empire War Contribution Points Market.


    Now that he had points, he had ess to the listings of items in the war version of the Empire Market.


    Matt searched through the registry, hoping to get a good feel for what everything was worth. He was surprised to see Tier 8 skills listed for 2500 points a piece. It seemed expensive, but seeing how generously the Empire gave out points for fighting, they were in reach for most people. Even for Tier 6s, skills were still hard to afford otherwise.


    Even growth items were avable, though admittedly at 25,000 points instead of the normal 5,000 on the regr Empire Market. Still, Matt could see how it wouldnt be impossible to earn that much over a few months, as the fighting heated up. A single battle hadted them 500 points, and it was a small-scale engagement. If they had to siege a city, Matt could see the numbers increasing massively.


    Sorting by cost showed that there were Tier 14 skills avable, and Matt contemted which ones they could use as a team. Liz and Aster were easier to search for than himself, as his mana reserves limited the skills that he could use. The Tier 14 skills mostly had a higher base mana cost that ounted for their greater effects.


    He still wanted to get [methrower]. It was a channel spell, and he could imagine just burning everything that came close to him endlessly. Aster would hate it, but he was willing to bribe her to ept it. The Tier 14 skill like most of the higher strata of skills listed were double the points of the Tier 8 skills, which made them expensive but within reach if they did well.


    He stumbled upon a seemingly hidden repository of rune crafting made by the Empire crafters for internal use only. It was worth a solid half million points by itself, but it would make his rune-crafting so much easier if he kept it in a partition. It could do anything a Tier 25 enchanter could do with regard to nning runeyouts and utilizing their practical applications. Most guilds had a version of that already, but he expected the Empires own to be the best.


    The repository was the only way to progress past the Tier 5 level that wasmonly avable. And from its description it wasn''t able to be shared with anyone.


    One of the most expensive things for sale was [Side Slide], a Tier 14, short-ranged teleport. The skill was so rare, it was more myth than anything else, which exined its one million point cost. If he and Liz didnt have their bonded rings, Matt would be tempted to get it, but the skill didnt do anything that they couldnt already. If they were willing to expose their trump card, that is.


    The second most expensive item was the Tier 20 skill, [Cracked Breach]. The Cracked effect drastically reduced the minimum cost for the skill, making it possible for someone even of Tier 6 to utilize it. But the cracking made it impossible to further lower the cost. The original spell was a siege-level spell intended to attack enemy fortifications and batter down shielding.


    Its original 500 mana base cost was reduced to 100, but it could then be charged up a hundredfold for added damage. With the Cracked version, that meant it could take up to 10,000 mana for a devastating long range attack.


    Matt salivated at the thought of that skill. It seemed perfect for him. The cost of one and a half million war points was prohibitive, but nothing he couldnt handle.


    Finally, the most expensive item being sold was a void dragon bond egg for a whopping five million points.


    Thest listing was a shock, as Matt expected something like that to be used, and not up for sale. A bond egg was always received from a rift as a reward, after all. How would you get something so absurdly rare and choose to sell it?


    Not to mention that the price was as absurd as the item itself.


    Liz, is selling an egg like this ok? I feel like the beast kingdom wouldnt like that. Matt asked his question on a private channel, and caught Lizs shrug as she flew in front of him.


    Why would we care?


    Theres a bond in there! What if an asshole gets it? What about the person who found it?


    An asshole won''t get it. Im sure theres a high-level beast guarding the egg as well. They will vet the prospective owner, Im sure. Also, if the person who sold it was actually willing to sell it, that means they werent the right person for the bond. If the person meant to bond with the little dragon is here, they wille across the points needed. There is also no rush to hatch the little lizard. Bonds from rifts can stay in their egg indefinitely without issue.


    Matt flew in a daze for a solid minute as he tried to process that ridiculous statement. Fate? Are you leaving it up to fate? Something that has been proven a million times to <em>not</em> exist?


    These things work out, Matt. Beasts have been doing this longer than the beast kingdom has been around. Its not perfect, but its pretty good. However, I have no idea why someone wouldnt want a void dragon as a bond. Can you manage the potential of that little lizard?


    Matt still felt the practice was odd, but couldn''t think of anything better. Someone had to bond the egg for it to hatch, but he still felt selling the unhatched dragon wasnt the most moral thing to do.


    He kept quiet as they moved through the forts. It was a small issue, but it bothered him nheless. Lizs blind eptance of what they always did also rubbed him the wrong way.


    Liz, who flew next to him and rubbed his shoulder, said, Matt, youre thinking about this like a human. I know you care, which is sweet, but think about Aster. What wouldve happened to her if you didnt advance?


    She wouldve... Matt trailed off as he thought of it, She would have stayed a normal fox.


    Or she would have left you when her instincts drove her to advance. Giving the egg to someone driven enough to earn such an absurd amount of points will ensure that the dragon has a partner able to keep up with its frankly absurd powers. Void beasts are rare, and arent like normally affinitied beasts. Void eats away at everything. When I say everything, I mean it. They need special healing while theyre under Tier 15 to keep themselves from burning out from the inside. As long as they advance quickly, they can keep ahead of it. But more than one void user has developed some questionable personality traits from struggling to find an outlet for the destructive forces inside of them. After Tier 15, its not such a problem, but void affinited people and beasts pay for that power.


    What about healing?


    Healing works, for sure. And its amon enough tactic, but how long can a healer be dedicated to taking care of one person if they refuse to advance and fix their own problem? Maybe the person this little dragon gets paired with is an asshole or something, but at least theyll be strong, and able to keep up with their bond. If the person who gets them is on The Path, theyll be given the strongest advantage you can manage.


    Only slightly mollified, Matt continued their job of escorting teams to the forts without furtherint.


    After they finished up, they flew back to the army-built city to catch the teleporter back to the neutral city. On the way, Liz privately messaged him. You heard what Juni said about the Kingdom''s war points, right?


    Yeah, so?


    I think we should try and squeeze both vassals for their points.


    Matt was interested, so he motioned for her to continue.


    We have a few dozen Tier 5 mana cultivation potions left. But I still have a spatial bag full of the dried ingredients, just waiting for me to make them into something useful. We could sell them with Samuel acting as an intermediary. If we sell them in an auction, it will force both sides to bid for them. Theyre only good for Tier 5 people, sure, but if one side has them, they would have a stronger base. It would start a bidding war. We could get all the points!


    Matt actually liked the idea. There were quite a few things they could buy that would help theirbat effectiveness, if they were clever.


    Liz continued, Did you see the healing skills? Theres like thirty cracked healing spells listed. Some are even pretty good. Think what we could do with a healing spell or three.


    With a quick thought, he was on the page and saw what Liz was talking about. It was frankly absurd how many different cracked skills there were. Matt had a fleeting image of someone with a pile of healing skills, smacking them one at a time with a hammer, then tossing them away. He shook his head to clear the ludicrous thought away, then looked at the options once again.


    [Ranged Heal], the mostmon healing spell, normally had a base cost of 100 mana, which put it just outside Matts ability to cast. But at Tier 7, they could have a healing spell in reserve, which would make any future delving much safer. They still had to deal with the healing cooldown from magical healing, but it was better than having to pay for a healer or fighting through injuries in a battle.


    Ideally, they would get the less expensive cracked versions, and get a skill shard for each of them, but they were expensive. If they took the [Cracked Ranged Heal] that only healed skin, it would be a waste. Why that was even an option, Matt didnt know. But he guessed that there was probably someone who could use the skill to great effect, somewhere out there.


    With the n set, Liz went to rent out an alchemy room, and Matt found Samuel at an auction house.


    When Matt exined their idea, the man looked hesitant, until he took out a vial of the potion for him to inspect.


    The man then turned giddy.


    Holding the murky potion up to the light, he said, The auction houses were already kind of nning something like this. They were going to hold a huge auction of goods for the peopleing in this week, right after the second wave of Patherses in.


    He winked at Matt. Speaking of that, I know you kept back some skills in your little bucket. Have any more you want to sell? I expect things will go for a premium in the first auction.


    We still have some, but I think we want to save them. For now, were more interested in potions. What do you expect them to sell for?


    Samuel wiggled his hand back and forth. Id bet the starting bid goes for at least 100 war points. Im not really sure. If they were Tier 6, it would be more, but at Tier 5, theyre for the fodder troops. They might want to buy with money instead of points as well.


    We dont need the money. Wed like to only sell for points.


    Sorry, Matt. If you want to guarantee that theyre sold for points, you need to put them on the market. But there arent that many Tier 5s in the war. If you spread them out, you can probably get a few more points, but the auction house cant force the vassals to bid with points. A percentage of any bulk items needs to be sold for mana stones.


    Samuel shrugged. How many are you looking to sell? Thats really what will have the greatest impact.


    Matt wasnt sure, but tried to give a best guess. Maybe two hundred-ish.


    Hmm... Maybe we can work that into an only points sale. If we put a bunch out, maybe fifty, then ration the rest over the next few auctions, we could get them to spend points. You should put at least another fifty on the Empire market itself, though.


    Matt dropped off the five potions Liz had with Samuel, and left to go join in some team training.


    During the next week, they took various small missions, but with the reinforcements of Kingdom personnel, the menial tasks like fortifying the thousands of forts had dried up. It was a small ie they were sad to see go, but more than one fort had been seized, or at least attempted to be taken, earning points for everyone involved who had survived.


    There was more talk of increasing operations, but the news of all the auction houses holding a joint auction derailed any ns that either side had. The leaked items had sent everyone into a tizzy, and no one was willing to risk their points with something like thating up, so everyone was overly cautious.


    Matt and Liz were both peeved that nearly half of the items were ones they had sold to the auction house in bulk previously. They schemed about making their own auction house and putting them all out of business, but their joking quickly fell apart when they started looking into it. There were simply far too many logistical problems to even think about, especially for something so petty as revenge for reselling items that they didnt even care about.


    As he was in the gym getting some solo weight work in, his AI pinged him. He was so surprised, he nearly dropped the weight he was benching.


    Melinda and her team had arrived. He hadnt been sure that they woulde, but the thrill of seeing his friends again after so long sent him running to the shower while sending them a message.


    You guys came? I hope you didnt choose the Queendom! Haha!


    Even if they did choose the Queendom, it wasnt a big deal, but it would be nice to fight with his friends. Fighting against them could be fun too, but working with them asrades was clearly the better option. .


    ***


    Liz was mixing a potion when Matt messaged her that his friends had arrived on the to participate in the war, and he set up dinner with them.


    Dinner with Melindas group. They just arrived. They said they can be ready in half an hour.


    Fuck! Her surprise caused her to add too much reagent and ruin the potion. She hardly cared about that, but the fact that it caused a bitterly sweet smell to waft over her and the table was a different story. She knew that she wouldnt have time to clean up and still join up with them at the time they set to meet.


    Cursing, she quickly scrubbed at the table while throwing her borrowed ssware into the cleaning station. Shed pay a premium for the cleaning, but the Tier 7 mana stone meant much less to her than making sure she made a good impression on Matts friends.


    They were the closest thing to family that he had. They exchanged messages at least once a month, and she was determined to earn their approval.


    <em>If they are Matts friends, that means they could be </em>my<em> friends</em>.


    The thought caused her to stumble into a table. Aster looked up from her cooling bed with a questioning yip.


    New friends! This is exciting, Aster. People that like me for <em>me</em> and not my parents.


    Aster curled back up, but Liz didnt give her the chance to nap again. Aster had it easy, and only had to nap on the ice nket to passively increase her ice aspect, but Liz had no time to let the fox continue to lounge around. She had friends to make.


    She ran out of the room with Aster in her arms, only to stop when she passed some ss and saw her reflection.


    Her hair was a mess, and she had soot around her eyes.


    Checking the time, she cursed again. Fuck! Matt, why didnt you give me more time?


    She ran to the closest public restroom and scrubbed her face while running wet fingers through her thick unruly hair, before giving up and deciding to braid it when she got in a cab.


    Aster just yipped unhelpful advice like, Rx. And her ever overused pun, Chill out.


    Where she learned that one, Liz didnt know. But anyone who taught the ice fox such a bad joke was on her shit list. The little faker also refused to say it around Matt, which Liz took as a conspiracy against her.


    She arrived at their room to catch Matting out of the shower and looking at her like she was crazy.


    Whats with the rush?


    Liz wanted to scream. I have two minutes to get ready! Thats the rush!


    His eyes flicked back and forth in a motion that she recognized as him thinking, and not using his AI.


    No reason to rush, he carefully replied. We still have an hour and a half before we meet up with them for dinner. Didnt you see my second message?


    Liz checked her messages and saw a follow-up that arrived not a minuteter, saying he pushed it back so everyone had time to settle down.


    She kissed his cheek as she ran past and let the relief flow through her. If she wasnt so happy about the extra time to get ready, she wouldve been pissed that he didnt say all of that in a single message. He let her get all worked up for nothing.


    Aster started to struggle as she noticed Liz cranked the hot water all the way up. She didnt have time for a separate bath for the fox, who obviously preferred ice baths.


    They were doing this together.


    ***


    Matt sighed as he avoided thetest disaster caused by the hurricane that a nervous Liz became. He assumed that she would want to get ready, which is why he pushed their dinner reservation back. He also assumed that Melindas team would need to get settled in with the Queendom. He hadnt expected Liz to miss his second message and work herself into a worry.


    He picked up her discarded armor that was strewn in a line across the room, and started to rub it down. There was a sickly sweet smelling off of it, and he knew she would hate that. Besides, he had little else to do as he waited.


    Ten minutester, Liz and a pouting and wet Aster came out of the bathroom. Aster ran over to him, projecting mental anguish that she had been forced to take a <em>hot</em> bath instead of a cold one. Activating [Cracked Phantom Armor], he dried off his sulky bond whileplimenting her on how nice her fur looked. That instantly turned her mood around, and she preened as he brushed the water out of her fur.


    They were ready an hourter, with Liz in the nicest clothes she had, a newer set of her under armor wear. Matt thought she looked fantastic, but she was worried about the slight wear and tear on the stretchy material.


    Her armor was in his bag, along with his presents for them, in case he could talk his friends into a spar. He thought it unlikely, but he wanted to show them how much he had grown, and to test them out. He didnt expect to win, as they had an amazingly bnced team, but it would be like old times, which was enough of a reason for him.


    They had chosen to meet up in between the opposing factions buildings, at the edge of thending tform. Aster noticed them first, as she jumped out of Matts arms and rushed towards them through the crowd.


    Unlikest time she did that, he wasnt worried. He found her wiggling happily in a tall blonde''s arms, while receiving pets from another five people.


    He called out, Hey guys! and joined the group hug. He noticed Liz was just standing there, nearly wringing her hand and clearly unsure of what she should be doing.


    He pulled back and hooked an arm around her waist, and introduced her to everyone present.


    Everyone, this is Liz. Liz, this is Melinda and Mathew. He pointed at the now older couple. Mathew was nearly his own size, and seemed bulkier. The man was as wide as a door at his shoulders, withrge thighs and calves to even him out. Matt made a note to ask for his workout routine. His calves could use a little work after all.


    Continuing his introductions, he pointed in turn to the people on Melindas right. This is Sam and Kyle. Kyle looked lean, but brimmed with strength. Matt wanted to wrestle the man and see how he fared. With [Mages Retreat], he thought he might stand a chance, unlike before, when he was turned into a pretzel anytime they fought.


    Sam was still shorter than everyone else, and smiled as he pointed at her. Her hair was now a vibrant green and cut in a swoosh, with one side longer than the other.


    She interrupted, Is that Anglers Reagent I smell?


    Liz flushed red, but before she could say anything, Sam continued, I hate working with it. One drop spilled, and you smell for days.


    Oh, you practice alchemy as well? Well have to chat about it. That point of familiarity seemed to set Liz at ease, so he continued to thest two people in Melindas team.


    Thest two are Tara and Vinnie. Tara was still as thin and lean as she had been in the yPen, but Vinnie had slimmed down a little into a more whipcord build.


    They looked good and healthy.


    There was a wave of relief that washed over him, as he was able to see that they were ok in person. Just the asional message wasnt enough.


    Come on. I reserved a table for us to have dinner. Lets go.


    He quickly called over a taxi and flew them to one of the nicest restaurants in town that wasnt catering to the immortals.


    When they stepped into the flying car, Melinda said while holding Mathews arm, Matt, you look really good. Too good, really.


    Seeing his confused look, she quickly rified, I can see damage done to people with my Concept. Its like monsters made of dark mist. The only people who dont have it are those who are Tier 15 or higher. You look like youre halfway broken through. It''s weird. I cant really exin it.


    Mattughed. We met up with a seeker who pointed us to a Tree of Perfection after we helped him out a little. It brings a single aspect of your body to Tier 15, or nearly so. I ate the body root. I guess youre seeing that.


    That makes sense. Let me heal all of you, though.


    Liz protested, Oh, theres no reason to waste your mana like that.


    Melinda shrugged and cast her spell twice at them, and then onto Aster, who was sprawled over her, Sam, and Tarasps. Her thoughts were on her time as a kit and getting pets and affection from them at the yPen. She was in a state of mental bliss that bled over into Matts own feelings.


    Im happy to help. Itll make sure you dont have anything wrong lingering with you. I dont see anything, but a heal a day will keep sickness away.


    That caused all the girls to start chatting, so Matt slid over to Mathew and asked, So what <em>are </em>you doing for your calves? Whatever it is, I need to start doing it too.


    After that, theyunched into descriptions of their various workout routines. Their chattingsted until they reached the restaurant, and Melinda immediately began protesting.


    Matt, we can''t afford this ce.


    He shrugged her concern off. I''m paying. And it''s only one dinner. We made more in thest few months here than you can imagine.


    When Sam looked to protest, Liz said, We sold more than one growth item while we were at Tier 5. Let us treat you to a nice dinner. Shame my Aunt isn''t here. Now <em>that</em> would be a good dinner.


    Tara seemingly teleported next to Liz and nearly shouted, Im gonna marry her!


    While he and Liz looked at her in confusion, the rest of their group groaned. Melinda grabbed the archers arm and started to drag her along.


    Ignore her. She''s delusional.


    Tara protested as she was dragged to the door. Im not! Really, Im not. She''s amazing and Ill marry her one day!


    Matt thought the idea was ludicrous, but Liz looked amused. Youre going to have your work cut out for you. Aunt Helens list of suitors probably spans the known well, everywhere. Shes broken a lot of hearts over the ages with unreciprocated feelings, and Im pretty sure shes identally started a war at least once.


    Hearing Lizsment, Tara looked even more determined, and seemed like she wanted to argue her case. Liz continued, But go ahead and try. Maybe youll be the one. How did you guys meet her though?


    That caused their procession to stop again halfway through the door, but Kyle, who was in the front, grabbed Melinda and dragged her forward, bringing in half of their group. When they were seated, Melinda thanked them.


    As I was trying to say. Thank you for the shard. It got everyone else on the right track to discovering their Concepts. I don''t know how to repay you.


    When he and Liz went to protest, she held up a hand and stopped them. This is massive for us. It''s not a small trinket, but my family''s ticket to immortality. Not everyone can take that first step, and they eventually die. I just fell into mine without knowing what I was doing, and how much it would separate myself from them. Just... Thanks.


    Vinnie smiled and said, I was the first to get my phrase. These dummies took a lot longer.


    Its was a day before the rest of us, which was over a year behind Melinda you rube. Samsment cut Vinnie down, and in the group''s usual theatrics, he fell over and started to smother her.


    Their waiter came over, and when they didnt order enough, Matt just ordered therger party tters in addition to their meals. When they protested, he repeated his earlier statement.


    Liz activated her earring, which gave them privacy, and made it so the entire table was covered.


    Once they werent in danger of being overheard, Matt reached into his bag and withdrew the two growth items he had saved for Melindas team.


    I''m d I didn''t send these to you the slow way. Otherwise, they might have missed you.


    Tara looked at the quiver and asked, I can always use a new quiver, but this feels weird. What does it do? Also, thank you.


    Trying to not let the smugness and pride creep into his voice, he said, Im proud to give you both growth items that are perfectly suited to each of you.


    Vinnie nearly dropped his bracelet as Matt said that.


    Man, this is too much. I can''t afford this.


    It''s no big deal. I wasnt joking when I said we pulled more than one growth item.


    He and Tara pushed the items across the table in unison. Tara said, It''s too much, really. You should sell them and propel your team to greater power. Buy some more skills or something.


    Matt rolled his eyes, trying to downy the gifts. Guys, at least hear what they do first.


    Tara looked longingly at the quiver and said, No, don''t do that! It will hurt even more knowing.


    Ok. Think about it for a minute. You guys know what my Tier 1 Talent does. Have you ever checked my Tier 3 Talent?


    The murmur of yes was universal, but no one seemed to understand, and he could see everyone checking their AIs. Mathew whistled, saying, Same asst time. Its impressive as all hell, but I dont get it.


    How are rifts made and powered?


    It took a moment, and he felt a mix of pride and satisfaction at the looks of incredulity on the groups faces as they pieced together what he meant.


    So you can just... Sam waved a hand around, pointing at the pair of growth items.


    Yup!


    And it''s just that easy? Kyle didn''t seem like he believed Matt for a minute.


    Yup!


    That''s amazing... Melinda trailed off, but it was broken as Tara and Vinnie lunged for their items in unison.


    Ok what do they do? I need to knooow!


    Mattughed. Giving presents like this was addicting. Seeing how happy they were made him tingle in a way he had never felt before.


    He pointed at Vinnie That bracelet increases the range of all earth skills cast while wearing it.


    Vinnie nearly fumbled it as he slipped the metal and rope band around his hand. It cinched down as it was bound to him with a perfect fit.


    Tara was hugging her quiver and giving him puppy dog eyes.


    That- he pointed to her and as she nodded rapidly. He drew out his silence, and as she looked to be ready to vibrate out of her seat, he finally continued, -Is a quiver that acts like a spatial item, and it can also create arrows over time. It also enchants them if the arrows remain in the quiver while it gets fed mana. I thought it was perfect for your style.


    Tara started bouncing around and lunged over the table, knocking over two thankfully empty cups in the process.


    Oh thank you! Thank you! It is perfect! I love it.


    The others looked happy for their friends, and didn''t have the least bit of displeasure on their faces, which only reaffirmed to Matt that they were good people.


    To finish it off, he brought out their bucket of skills.


    We also got a ton of skills if you want something. It''s mostly the ordinary ones, but a few might help. Take and trade anything if you want. We already kept what we wanted.


    Mathew smiled and pped Matt on his shoulder. You sure know how to give wedding presents!


    Wait, you guys got <em>married</em>?

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 4

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 4


    1/2


    PoA The Concept of Death 4


    Melinda cursed under her breath as Matts question came through. He had joined the Kingdom and not the Queendom.


    Her husband noticed her distress and wrapped one of hisrge arms around her. It was just what she needed.


    Yeah, its unfortunate. But nothing we cant work around. This is a neutral city.


    But-


    He cut her off with another gentle squeeze and moved forward to the front of the group, where their guide was leading them forward.


    Hey, quick question.


    When the woman turned around, he shed his charming smile, and when the woman gestured for him to continue, he asked, We have a friend whos fighting for the other side. Is that going to be a problem?


    The woman looked startled, but answered loudly enough for all of the groups following to hear. No, the Empire made their stance on that very clear. This is a neutral city, and here no one is subject to our rules. We would prefer that you not fraternize with the enemy, but we cant stop you, or punish you for it.


    Someone in the crowd called out, What if were spies? Isnt that dangerous?


    The guide still seemed unconcerned. We both have spies and various countermeasures for that. In the end, neither side really trusts you Pathers. Were both treating you like mercs. Youll get your orders with minimum time to give out the information, and for the most part, you wont know the full picture.


    Melinda wanted to be hurt, but she didnt me them for their caution. The gossip on the ship had revealed that the vassals were getting reimbursed for the war to encourage them to actually put a sizable effort into it. If the rewards were enough to get Tier 35s to move, they had to be substantial.


    They were escorted to a suite, and were told that they would have the rooms avable while they were in the city. But, an auction was being held next evening, so there wouldnt be much action in theing days. Both sides were far more interested in the auction than continuing the hostilities, so they had free time to explore the city.


    With that in mind, they sent a message to Matt, saying that they could meet up whenever.


    He replied that they needed another hour or so for Liz to get ready. That reminded Melinda to talk to her team about the woman.


    Guys, we dont know her. So be on your best behavior.


    Vinnie chimed in from beside her, We know that shes rted to Aunt Helen.


    Sam corrected him, Shes a phoenix like her, there isnt any blood rtion.


    Good point. What else do we know?


    Tara added, Theyre dating, sort of.


    Melinda thought that over before she added, I was pretty confused about what their situation is. They werent dating, then they were dating but with no sex. Now, Im not really sure.


    The rest of her team could only shrug with her. None of them were entirely sure of the status of Matts rtionship with his teammate, except that her presence was always felt in their messages back and forth.


    Their friend obviously cared for the woman, which was more than enough for them.


    Look everyone, be on your best behavior. Thats all I ask. We need a good first impression no matter the details of their rtionship. Shes officially a part of his team, so theyll be together for the long haul.


    They lounged in theirmon room while they still had free time. Mathew was kneading a knot out of her foot while he chatted with Vinnie and Sam about a few of their battle strategies for the war.


    While she didnt actively participate, she listened carefully to their thought processes. They were Tier 6, which meant that they would be among the stronger Pathers fighting in the war, but weaker than the people from the vassal states. Thosebatants could be up to Tier 7.


    As the teams shot-caller, she had been putting in a lot of time with an expensive AI trainer that she had gotten. But while she was learning, she also became aware of her ws.


    She wasnt that bad with her simted team, but as soon as the program threw her with an unfamiliar team, she failed repeatedly. When she didnt have a healer, her made-up teams were always killed before the fifth encounter.


    It was sobering. She thought she was a good strategist, but in reality, she was proving Baxter right with each new simtion. It might have been more irksome than the actual losses. As much as she hated the idea, she intended to ask him for advice if their first battle went poorly. This war was a game, but if she treated it as if it was real, and got her family to as well, they could grow a lot.


    After a quick search with her AI, Melinda found that the war was expected tost at least a year, which was perfect. If she had her way, it would go on even longer, so they could milk out more experience. Their team''s oldest member, Tara, was twenty-one and a half, which meant that they had plenty of time to progress. Thankfully, their team was all within four months of each other age-wise, so they had a little over five years before they had to reach Tier 7 to stay on The Path.


    It would be hard if they waited that long to Tier up, but Melinda had a n for that. Their guide had given them all one war contribution point for joining the Queendom. It let them ess the War Contribution Market, and it ensured that they coulde back into the fight if they got killed.


    The single point was what let her n out her familys next steps. They would take a mission and earn at least a dozen points each. With those, they would each buy essence stones. They were limited to buying one every three days, but the stones only cost 5 points apiece. Her team could advance and increase their powers in the short term, then leverage that to gain further rewards. All the while, they would be increasing theirbat prowess by honing the skills and abilities that they already had.


    Before she gave in to the craving and checked the more tangible rewards, the timer she had set went off, and everyone started moving to meet with Matt.


    She was nervous. It had been so long since they had seen each other, and she felt like she owed him so much. Without the shard of reality, she didnt know how long it would have taken her friends to start growing their own Concepts. A dark and pessimistic side of her whispered that with how long it had taken her husband to get his phrase, he might not have ever gotten it.


    In the end, he had, and his phrase suited him. I am solid. It fit him, though he pretended to dislike it. He was and had always been her rock. He was more than their teams front liner, but their very foundation.


    When things got tough, his carefree and jovial attitude slipped away, to show the firm and steady core of their team. She made sure to try and take care of his emotional needs, but he rarely needed anything more than a hug or warm presence. It had taken her time with her own therapist to understand that he didnt need to verbalize things as she did, and he processed things on his own internally.


    He was her anchor and their teams rock. His Concept only reinforced that. She had more than enough fun teasing him about it when they happened to be horizontal.


    They came outside and were waiting outside their building, when a white blur shot into her arms, causing her to stumble back. She was given long, cold licks apanied with an AI message saying, Friend! Pet.


    The fact that Aster could now talk, or at leastmunicate,pletely slipped her mind when she finally saw Matt for the first time in almost three years.


    He was tall. Nearly as tall as her husband, but with a slightly slimmer build and a more golden tint to his hair. His eyes also looked more green than she remembered, but none of that really grabbed her attention. No, it was what her Concept showed her that blew her away.


    Her old friend looked more like a Tier 15 than the Tier 6. Her spirit told her much more than everyone elses eyes could see, as he moved in to hug them all.


    Even perfectly healthy people had slight darkness around them, in the form of a mist of shadow, as aging took its toll. But no, Matt was near perfect. The only blemish was a reflection of a shadow that lingered over him out of the corner of her eye. It was a weird amalgamation of a Tier 15 and someone clearly under. Even a Tier 14 didnt look like this. She had seen and treated more than one.


    She was unable to figure out exactly how exactly Matt had gotten that way, before her attention was drawn to the woman standing next to him.


    The woman, Liz, was pretty in a sharp way. It reminded her of Aunt Helen. It wasnt just the red hair that was a mix of ginger and a deeper me red,, or the same yellow eyes. It was something about her face. It almost had a... <em>sharpness</em> to it.


    The hard angles of her face reminded her of a hawk.


    The hard edges were softened by the clear nervousness that lingered on the womans face, along with the wringing of her fingers. She looked simr to Matt in that she had less darkness around her but it wasn''t as noticeable as Matts.


    As she tried to pay attention to the introductions Matt was making, she internally smiled at Sam mentioning potions. It clearly put the other woman at ease, though Melinda didnt smell anything over the freshly bathed fox still in her arms, demanding rubs with a string of messages.


    Aster was adorable, and she whispered sweet things into her ear, which, when responded to, caused her to lose track of the conversation again.


    When they were seated in a flying car, Matt called to the driver to take them to the restaurant. Melinda couldnt hold it in anymore and said, Matt, you look really good. Too good, really.


    At his raised eyebrow, she realized he didnt know about her Concept and exined, I can see ws in a persons spirit with my Concept. Its like monsters made of dark mist. The only people who dont have it are those who are Tier 15 or higher. You look like youre halfway broken through. Its weird. I cant really exin it.


    It was hard to put into words, but he seemed to understand andughed it off. We met up with a seeker who pointed us to a Tree of Perfection, after we helped him out a little. It brings a single aspect of your body to Tier 15, or nearly so. I ate the body root. I guess youre seeing that.


    She queried her AI, and found that the nt and its effects were as he said, which put her at ease. Both Liz and Aster looked fine, but she still wanted to ensure that they were ok, as she did with her own family. To that effect, she moved to heal them, saying, That makes sense. Let me heal all of you, though.


    Liz protested, Oh, theres no reason to waste your mana like that.


    Melinda shrugged, not wanting to exin her Talent in the cab. There could be people listening. With a thought, she cast [Ranged Heal] twice at the humans, and then onto Aster, who was sprawled over her, Sam, and Tarasps.


    The fox was liberal in her thanks and warm thoughts of love. Her messages were a constant stream of: ahh and scratch higher. Melindas youre wees back were returned with a heart. She dug her fingers deeper into the snow-white fur in response which was returned with a rumbling purr.


    Distractedly, she said, Im happy to help. Itll make sure you dont have anything wrong lingering with you. I dont see anything, but a heal a day will keep sickness away.


    The rest of the ride was filled with idle chatter, and she had to smile at how her team made sure to include Liz in their conversation. Meanwhile, she worked on the indolent fox, who was in a bliss all her own.


    Their conversation died out as they reached the restaurant, and Melinda immediately protested the ce after looking it up. It was an expensive restaurant meant for Tier 10s.


    Matt, we cant afford this ce.


    He shrugged her concern away like it was no big deal, causing her to feel even worse until he borated. Im paying. And its only one dinner. We made more in thest few months here than you can imagine.


    When Sam looked to reinforce Melindas protest, Liz said, We sold more than one growth item while we were at Tier 5. Let us treat you to a nice dinner. Shame my Aunt isnt here. Now <em>that</em> would be a good dinner.


    Tara seemingly teleported next to Liz and nearly shouted, Im gonna marry her!


    While Matt and Liz looked at her in confusion, Melinda grabbed the archers arm and started to drag her along, debating if she should strangle the woman now orter. She had told them not to be weird. And what was weirder than hitting on someones million-year-old Aunt?


    Ignore her. Shes delusional. It took all her effort not to growl the words out.


    Tara protested as she was dragged to the door. Im not! Really, Im not. Shes amazing and Ill marry her one day!


    Thankfully, in the reflection of the approaching door, Melinda could see Liz looked more amused than offended. Youre going to have your work cut out for you. Aunt Helens list of suitors probably spans the known well, everywhere. Shes broken a lot of hearts over the ages with unreciprocated feelings, and Im pretty sure shes identally started a war at least once.


    Hearing Lizsment, Tara looked even more determined, so Melinda tried to crush her arm with her own, to little effect. Liz continued, But go ahead and try. Maybe youll be the one. How did you guys meet her though?


    That caused their procession to stop again halfway through the door, as Tara tried to turn and chat about her crush, but Kyle thankfully saw and grabbed Melinda, dragging them all forward.


    When they were seated, Melinda thanked them. As I was trying to say, thank you for the shard. It got everyone else on the right track to discovering their Concepts. I dont know how to repay you.


    Mentally, she knew that they were friends, but the gift was too big and too important to her family. She wanted to do <em>something</em> for them, but didnt know what. It wasnt a debt that had to be paid off, and it was really one that couldnt be paid. Her family reaching Tier 15 and immortality was her most important goal. She hadnt learned how to heal old age yet, and didnt want to count on something so chancy.


    When Matt and Liz looked like they wanted to protest, she held up a hand and stopped them. This is massive for us. Its not a small trinket, but my familys ticket to immortality. Not everyone can take that first step, and they eventually die. I just fell into mine without knowing what I was doing, and how much it would separate myself from them. Just... Thanks.


    Vinnie smiled and lightened the mood as he bragged, I was the first to get my phrase. These dummies took a lot longer.


    It was a day before the rest of us, which was over a year behind Melinda, you rube. Samsment cut Vinnie down, and in retaliation, he fell over on her and tried to smother her.


    Their waiter came over, her team followed her lead in ordering smaller and therefore cheaper entrees. But when Matt saw that, he just ordered what seemed like thergest and most expensive tters in addition to their meals.


    When all of them tried to protest, he repeated his earlier statement about making a lot of money recently. Melinda still struggled with that. He was spending at least a Tier 10 mana stone on all of this food, at the very least. She remembered when Matt hadined about spending his hard-earned credits on a new pair of boots when he grew out of them. This seemed in stark contrast.


    Liz did something with her earring, which caused a bubble of air to harden around their table. As Melinda listened to the odd echo of their breathing, Matt reached into his bag and withdrew the two items, a bracelet, and a quiver. The second one was obviously a gift for Tara, but the first was a mystery.


    As the guilt of taking more from her friend bubbled up, he said, Im d I didnt send these to you the slow way. Otherwise, they might have missed you.


    Tara looked at the quiver and asked, I can always use a new quiver, but this feels weird. What does it do? Also, thank you.


    Matt was prouder than a mother hen as he said, Im proud to give you both growth items that are perfectly suited to each of you.


    Vinnie nearly dropped his bracelet as Matt said that, but caught it at thest second. Man, this is too much. I cant afford this.


    Its no big deal. I wasnt joking when I said we pulled more than one growth item. The casual statement only caused Melindas guilt to increase.


    Thankfully, Vinnie and Tara seemed to agree with her assessment, and pushed the items back across the table in unison.


    Tara, with obvious strain in her voice, said, Its too much, really. You should sell them and propel your team to greater power. Buy some more skills or something.


    Matt rolled his eyes like they were being purposefully oblivious, Guys, at least hear what they do first.


    Tara looked longingly at the quiver, but Melinda was proud of her teammate as she said, No, dont do that! It will hurt even more knowing.


    Matt seemed exasperated as he said, Ok. Think about it for a minute. You guys know what my Tier 1 Talent does. Have you ever checked my Tier 3 Talent?


    Everyone on her side murmured yes, but Melinda was confused as she reread it. Finding nothing new, she checked Matt, Liz, and Aster''s faces. Matt looked like it should be obvious, while Liz looked amused, but not in a mean way. Aster just watched everything with her paws on the table as she sat in between the two.


    A quick nce at her own team showed that they seemed to be just as confused. Taking the chance to look dumb for them all, Mathew whistled, saying, Same asst time. Its impressive as all hell, but I dont get it.


    How are rifts made and powered?


    Melinda paused and remembered the mnemonic from her childhood, Life makes mana. Mana makes essence. Essence creates rifts. Rifts convert all three.


    It took a moment as she put the pieces together. Suddenly, it clicked, and she was in shock and awe, while Matt looked like a child getting presents on his birthday.


    So you can just... Sam waved a hand around, pointing at the pair of growth items.


    Yup!


    And its just that easy? Kyles disbelief was obvious as he asked the question. It mirrored her own.


    Yup!


    Thats amazing... Melinda trailed off when she was interrupted by Tara and Vinnie lunged for their items in unison, scrambling to take them.


    She couldnt me them. Apparently, for Matt, they were worth nothing. Ascenders knew how many he had pulled out of his rifts before Tiering up. It must have been enough that they didnt feel the need to stay at Tier 5, which implied a shocking amount.


    Okay, what do they do? I need to know! Melinda was curious as well, especially considering Matts ims of how perfect the items were for her teammates. Mathew patted her leg under the table, and she intertwined their fingers, takingfort in his presence.


    Mattughed, clearly enjoying the sight of them cuddling their new items.


    He pointed at Vinnies hand and said, That bracelet increases the range of all earth skills cast while wearing it.


    Vinnie nearly dropped the metal and rope band as he tried to get his hand in it. It cinched down, and her spiritual sense noticed that the bond was now active. It really <em>was</em> perfect for him. The greatest weakness of any low Tier earth maniptor was theirck of range. He couldnt affect anything that was more than five feet away from himself. She didnt know how much the item would extend that range, but she was confident that any amount would help.


    Tara was hugging her quiver and giving Matt puppy dog eyes, silently begging their friend not to make her wait any longer.


    That... he paused as he pointed to Tara and as she nodded rapidly, almost quivering in anticipation. He drew out his silence. As her friend looked ready to explode, he finally continued, ...Is a quiver that acts like a spatial item, and it can create arrows over time. It also enchants them if the arrows remain in the quiver while it gets fed mana. I thought it was perfect for your style.


    Taras bouncing turned into a lunge as she tried to reach Matt over the table, knocking over two empty cups in the process.


    Oh, thank you! Thank you! It is perfect! I love it.


    The same process repeated itself as Tara bound the item and started stuffing arrows into the quiver and pulling them out. Oddly enough, she didnt seem to have to reach inside the quiver, and they appeared far enough away. Melinda was pretty sure that her friend could summon them already notched on her bowstring.


    Melinda thought the excitement was over, when Matt brought out a bucket. It was underwhelming after his shockingly expensive presents, until he added, We also got a ton of skills if you want something. Its mostly the ordinary ones, but a few might help. Take and trade anything if you want. We already kept what we wanted.


    Mathew smiled and pped Matt on his shoulder. You sure know how to give wedding presents!


    Wait, you guys got married?


    Melinda just nodded as she looked at the pile of skill shards.


    Finally, she broke herself out of it and said, Matt, this is too much. Its... Its... Her voice trailed off as he shrugged.


    Guys, take what you want. We already sold a bunch to the auction house. We dont really need them. Also, these are the more basic ones that we kept around to perform more rift experiments on when we get more time and privacy.


    Seeing their confusion, he rified, Rift making isnt just throwing mana into an area. Well, it is, but we learned that you can put stuff inside and use aspected mana to influence the rift and its rewards.


    He pointed at Taras quiver. We made that by using wind mana and putting a bow and arrow set into the area where we created the rift.


    Melinda was thankful for the barrier that kept Matts voice contained, because the man seemed too excited to share. She was happy for him, but she was scared of what someone would do if they figured out that he could create rifts that made specific growth items.


    Liz seemed to be thinking the same thing as she said, Youre getting a bit loud, Matt.


    He looked sheepish, and said in a much quieter voice, But yeah, we learned a lot as we were able to experiment. Got a lot of items and money from it. Even skills.


    Liz added with a rye smile, And investigated for cheating.


    Melindas heart nearly stopped, and she felt a bone shift in her husbands hand as she tightened her grip. But after seeing their grins, she rxed slightly.


    Kyle asked what she was thinking, Wait, what?


    Matt waved it off. Oh, it was scary as hell at the time, but we got ess to the Empire Market out of the ordeal. Its like the contribution point market for the war, but with a seemingly more universal currency. You can buy some amazing things. The investigator was reasonable and heard us out before making any decisions.


    They were interrupted when the air bubble popped as their waiter came in with two massive trays of food. Melinda thought that would be all of it, but server after server came and dropped more food off, until there was no clear space left.


    Melinda was mortified at the amount of food, but seeing how proud Matt looked, she held her tongue and enjoyed the meal as they each shared their own adventures. They had acking amount of storiespared to Matt and Liz, but sheforted herself with the knowledge that her friend-


    She corrected herself, friends. After seeing how Liz and Matt looked at each other, she knew they were in love. She saw herself and Mathew in the shared looks and ncing touches. It was just like when they were forced to wait per their Sponsor, Harpers instructions.


    Liz was a friend. Just one she didnt know very well yet.


    Melinda tookfort that her friends were ok.


    As their meal wound down, with most of the tes only half-cleared, Asterpped at a bowl of strawberry ice cream despite her now extended belly. Matt had ordered it for her after she questioned theck of cold food at the table.


    Hearing stories about how Aster fell in love with the cold treat made Melindaugh until her sides hurt.


    They moved to a park and talked into the night as they continued to swap stories. Melinda smiled as Sam and Liz talked about various aspects of alchemy that went over her head, but they seemed engrossed.


    She sat with her husband and listened to him, Kyle, and Matt, talk about their favorite exercises. Why they allined about their calves was more than she cared to understand, but she enjoyed the sounds of chatter as she held a napping Aster and looked to the stars.


    As she sat there, the skill in her pocket spoke of future power. Matt only had Tier 8 skills. There wasnt anything really rare, but he had a [Bolt] shard. She finally took it after he threw it at her when he saw her put it back in the bucket.


    She knew she needed a damaging spell as a healer. It wasnt as if she never fought, but they always prioritized giving the actual damage dealers in their party skills, so it was a first for her. A small part of her liked the idea of throwing lighting around, which is why she took [Bolt] over the moremon [Fireball].


    Vinnie took [Earth Spear], which would increase his range yet again. One of his most ring weaknesses would essentially be a strength, especially among earth mages..


    At Matts insistence, everyone else took two skills a piece, to trade for something better suited to them at tomorrows auction.


    As the moon crept over the buildings, Melinda stretched with a satisfied sigh. They had a long day, and the amazing food was taking its toll on her. Everyone else seemed to take that as their cue, and they started getting ready to go.


    Matt stretched and said, We should spar tomorrow morning. Like old times. It would be great to see how you have all grown.


    Melinda smiled and said, We''ll spank you around like we did at Tier 3.


    He waggled his eyebrows and said, Ah, but I was only Tier 2 then. In an exaggerated voice, he said, We are now the same Tier! Now I have the power to defeat you!


    ***


    The next morning, they were at a training field after a light breakfast together. They decided to simply call the nearest floating tform and let chance decide the terrain type they got.


    To her chagrin, they got a rocky area with pirs of stone standing like faux trees. It was perfect for Vinnie, which made her feel a little bad and when she suggested a more neutral ground. Matt justughed, saying, Neither of you were able to absorb the new skill into your inner spirit yet. It will be fine.


    Not knowing where his confidence came from, she shrugged and stepped onto the tform. There was an immortal man standing in the air above the field who asked, What type of match do you want?


    He paused as he looked to his side, and as she followed his gaze, she found Baxter standing next to him.


    After a brief exchange, Baxter said, Ill be refereeing this match.


    Matt looked nonplussed when he asked, And you are?


    Liz asked at the same time, What authority do you have to do that?


    Melinda cringed at the pair. It wasnt like Baxter would hurt them, but it felt risky to speak to someone with the power to send the official ref away.


    Baxter, as usual, didnt seem to mind, and calmly answered, Im Baxter. Over Tier 40 and a personal healer to the Emperor. I can keep any secrets you might reveal in a fight just that. A secret.


    Matt looked satisfied at that but Liz, Melinda noticed, seemed even more skeptical until a smile crossed her face.


    She said, Oh, okay. Thats fine. Her grin turned positively wicked, and Baxters eye twitched, causing Melinda to wonder just what message the woman had sent. If she had to guess, she had threatened the man with her Aunt, which was the only other time she had seen him so agitated.


    Melinda readied up with her team as their tform rose up and turned opaque.


    Seeing only Matt on the field, and Baxternding in a neutral area opposite from where Liz and Aster stood, she questioned, Wait, you want to fight us alone?


    With a sly grin, Matt responded, At least once, for old times sake.


    He then paused and looked at Baxter with a raised eyebrow. It was a long momentter when he seemed to reluctantly nod after ncing at Liz.


    Baxter called out, Fight starts when I reach zero. Full killing blows are allowed, as Ill intercept them. This match is not considered a part of the ongoing war, and death here wont mean death outside.


    Three.


    She was given the three-second countdown to look at the only skill she had seen Matt use before. Melinda expected to see the same fairly standard armor that was a perfect replica of normal armor, just with all the joints filled in with a loweryer. They always gave the appearance of eye and breathing holes, along with joints where the armor skill had one.


    Where her older and taller friend was a moment ago, there now stood a white-blue armored form in ghostly te.


    No, this Matt was different. It was like someone had taken all of those little details and smoothed them over. His helmet was still shaped like a helmet, but it was now smooth and seemingly in one solid piece. Where the translucent armor had once appeared rough around the edges, and seemed shoddily made, it was now smooth and steely. It was now the armor of a truly fearsome warrior.


    Two.


    She considered her friend with what felt like awe mixed with pride. The child that she had met on the yPen was gone, reced by this intimidating example of the best the Empire had to offer. A small part of her was anxious to see what Matt had be.


    One.


    Zero.


    When Baxter said zero, Matt seemed to explode forward. She was totally unprepared for his speed.


    He was even faster<em></em>than Kyle, who was getting twice the effect of essence cultivated into strength. Matt moved like a peak Tier 7.


    A sinking dread came over her as she called out to Tara to end this as soon as possible. This Matt truly <em>was</em> different.


    Her call came toote as Matt closed the distance between them. A rain of ice centered on Tara poured down and pelted them painfully. It also knocked her arrow off course.


    She looked to Vinnie to get him to immobilize Matt as he arrived at Mathew, and instead of him diving into the earth, she saw Baxter holding a crossbow bolt in front of his face. In the time it took to blink, they were both gone.


    The panic started as Melinda tried to think, but she had no time before Matt was in front of her husband. She expected him to stop their friend in his tracks, but Matt ducked slightly, then lifted Mathew off his feet. He ran forward with her husband over his shoulder, as if he was a shield.


    Taras arrow was snatched out of the air by Baxter, who took Mathew with him. Their archer had moved out of the still raining ice andunched an arrow, only for it to hit her teammate.


    <em>Did Matt n to block Taras arrow with Mathew</em>?<em> How could someone n that in the middle of a fight</em>?


    Melinda didnt have time to process her shock. With an explosive leap, Matt was immediately on her. She only had a moment to stare into the white-blue of neutral mana that made up his armored helmet. Idly, she thought she saw swirls and lines hidden in the mana.


    She saw the shock and pain in her reflection, and the first swipe of a sword that appeared from nowhere took both her legs and sent her tumbling. She watched the sword arc around, covered in her blood and moving to finish her off, only to be pulled from the field of battle. She looked down and found Baxter already reattaching her legs.


    She took over and sighed as her overhealth dealt with the wound perfectly.


    With her heart still racing, she stood and watched on in shock.


    Matt was rushing Kyle and Sam.


    Melinda looked to Baxter, who smiled at her.


    What the fuck?


    He ignored her and watched as Sam threw a poison vial down on the ground. A noxious green gas quickly spread and covered the surroundings as it broke.


    Kyle would be fine, as Sam had practiced long and hard to not hurt her teammates, but Matt seemed to ignore it, and instead started to duel Kyle.


    <em>How does poison gas not affect him?</em>


    Shed seen that gas take down Tier 6 monsters with ease, which made the contrasting result all the more jarring.


    Where Kyles sword was almost as tall as he was, had a thick de, and was as wide as his thigh, Matts sword was slimmer. She figured that Kyle would win the fight through sheer weight alone, but his first blow was deflected, and Matt stepped around him. He was quickly intercepted by Sam and her dagger.


    Melinda looked to Tara, who was trying to escape another ice field that was ruining her shots.


    Matt punched out at Kyle as he slid under a blow, and Baxter said, Thats what a true Pather looks like. I dont know your friend, but hes good enough that he has a management team at Tier 6, when most dont even get considered until Tier 10. Hes strong and fast. Look at how he steps. Its still a little sloppy, but with each step, hes anchoring himself with a bit of his Concept, letting him turn just that little bit faster, and brace for a little more power in his blows. I can see him refining it each step he takes. Magnificent.


    Melinda tried to watch, but could only focus on her team being decimated. Kyle took a blow that severed his leg and caused him to stumble. She expected Baxter to step in, but he didnt. Just waiting.


    If I were to give you fifty fifty odds against Matt in a one vs six, which I wouldn''t, by the way. It''s far too generous. But if I did, Id give you sixty forty for Liz, only because all of you can actually hurt her. But she would shred you like fresh beef. And I''d give you ny ten for Aster. Congrattions, he said sardonically.You have good odds at beating a barely sapient fox. And <em>shes</em> still a child.


    As Kyle fell, Sam drove her dagger into Matts lower back, with its tip glowing the sickly green of [Venom Strike].


    To her mounting horror, it skittered down Matts side as he turned and grabbed her arm. He tossed Sam onto Kyle and thrust through both of them. Or he would have, if Baxter hadnt moved them to her side.


    Melinda dropped to their side and re-attached Kyles leg, while Sam shouted, Fuck!


    Looking up as Kyle stood on his now healed leg, she saw Matt chasing a retreating Tara through the stone columns.


    She checked on her husband, who had a faraway look on his face, and a hole in his armor near the middle of his gut. She checked him over, only to find that Baxter had already healed him perfectly.


    With a still nk stare on his face, he asked, What happened?


    We got our asses handed to us.


    No. I mean, how did we slip so far? We were good. But Matt. He got better. He kept pushing himself. I... I dont know where we went wrong.


    Her attention was drawn by the cry from her teammate. She expected to see Tara down, but saw Matt standing there with an arm raised and an arrow through his forearm.


    With a lightheartedugh, Matt called out, Well done, Tara! Ive taken blows from Tier 7s at Tier 5 that didnt punch through my armor like this.


    Hisugh and words caused Melinda to nch even more. What Tier 5 fought Tier 7s? That was madness.


    He reached up and broke the arrowhead off and pulled the shaft through his arm, dropping the bloodied piece of wood to the ground.


    With a battlecry that <em>screamed</em> that he was having fun, Mattunched himself forward into a newly appeared storm of ice and with even his sword now glowing.


    Tara tried to escape the onught of thumb-sized shards of ice, but they fell like a solid wall more than individual pieces of ice.


    As Tara tried to hide behind stone pirs, Matt shot forward and sent a crescent of mana at her cover, destroying it and sending rock spraying everywhere.


    Melinda knew the end was decided when Tara slipped on some of the umted ice, loosing her arrow early.


    To her credit, she didnt surrender, andshed out ineffectually with her ankle dagger, only to get her hand stepped on.


    Baxter called it. Good job and well fought. Thank you, Matt.


    Matt helped Tara up as the ice stopped. Her face read as a mixture of grumpy and sad, a reflection of Melindas own feelings as well.


    They had been demolished by someone younger and weaker than them. Matt was only an early Tier 6, after all.


    Liz came over and kicked Matt hard. What the fuck? You seriously injured them! The redhead turned to Baxter and kicked him in the shin as well. And you! What the fuck as well!? You shouldnt have let them get limbs cut off. Theyll be out ofmission for weeks with that healing downtime. How amateurish are you? You should know better! Idiot.


    Melinda warmed up to the girl even more as she stood up to an immortal for them. To head off any more outbursts, she told Liz her Talent. Dont worry, my Talent is one that gives all healing spells I cast overhealth. Well be fine.


    Liz looked shocked at that, but she was cut off by Matt before she could respond. He said, Speaking of that, let me use my Concept to top everyone up.


    With that, Melinda felt her mana pool being rapidly filled from the three spells she had cast after the fight.


    Once again, a feeling of inadequacy overcame her. Matt had a Concept that could give others mana? That was absurd.


    <em>How are we ever going to keep up</em>?

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78


    2/2


    Matt was surprised that his friends had gotten married, but their clear happiness was enough for him. He was slightly jealous, and had to make a conscious effort not to look at Liz. Marriage was a nice thought, if a little scary.


    Melinda stuttered out, Matt, this is too much. Its... Its...


    Her voice trailed off as he shrugged his indifference. It really was nothing to him.


    Guys, take what you want. We already sold a bunch to the auction house. We dont really need them. These are just the more basic ones that we kept around to perform more rift experiments on when we got the chance.


    Seeing their confusion, he exined. Rift making isnt just throwing mana into an area. Well, it is, but we learned that you can put stuff inside and use aspected mana to influence the rift and its rewards.


    Looking for an example, he pointed at Taras quiver. We made that by using wind mana and putting a bow and arrow set into the area where we created the rift.


    Liz poked him and said, Youre getting a bit loud, Matt.


    Matt grinned in slight embarrassment, and after checking his volume, said, But yeah, we learned a lot while we were able to experiment. Got a lot of items and money from it. Even skills.


    Liz added with a wry smile as she leaned into him, And investigated for cheating.


    He enjoyed the little spike of fear that crossed his friends faces. It was what he felt in the moment, but now, after everything was fine, it was more funny than scary.


    Kyle blurted out, Wait, what?


    Matt waved it off. Oh, it was scary as hell at the time, but we got ess to the Empire Market. Its like the contribution point market for the war, but with a seemingly more universal currency. You can buy some amazing things. The investigator was reasonable and heard us out.


    He was going to exin more, but the air bubble popped as their waiter came in with two massive trays of food. He let the matter drop for now.


    It smelled divine, and for its absurd price it had better taste as good as it smelled. It still stung to spend this much money, but he consoled himself with reminders that it was a special asion, and kept the pain of his slightly lighter wallet off his face.


    As the meal progressed, he started to rehash the adventures that had been through with Liz and Aster. Most were things that they knew already, since he had shared stories in their messages back and forth, but it was more fun to share in person. It was really nice to hear about how simple and calm their lives had been. It was fun to see the other side of being on The Path.


    As the dinner wound down, with most of the tes only half-cleared, he suggested they move to a park and continue the talk there. He had seen the waiter pass by twice, and the restaurant was full. He didnt want to hog the table when they could talk long into the night in the nice city air, without bothering anyone else.


    They chatted well into the night, and as it was winding down, Melinda stretched with an exaggerated sigh. Her party seemed to take their cue, as they started getting ready to go.


    Matt said, We should spar tomorrow morning. Like old times. It would be great to see how you have all grown.


    Melinda smiled, Well spank you around like we did at Tier 3.


    He waggled his eyebrows and said, Ah, but I was only Tier 2 then. In an overly pompous voice, he said, We are now the same Tier. Now I have the power to defeat you!


    As they said good night one final time, he smiled while thinking about how good it was to see someone from home. It had been so long, and they had all grown so much.


    Aster was nearly asleep when he picked her up, and he walked arm in arm back to their room with Liz. She leaned on his shoulder as they walked back.


    When they were halfway there, she said, Your friends seem really nice.


    Matt resisted the urge to fist pump the air. He had been trying to make sure Liz was included in the conversations throughout dinner, but once he saw her talking to Sam about alchemy, he stopped paying attention.


    He was unable to prevent his excitement froming out in his voice. You like them? Really?


    He had to make sure, but felt confident that he would get a good answer.


    Yes, they seem kind and intelligent. They also treated me like one of their own, which was AMAZING!


    She shouted thest bit, which caused Aster to kick in her sleep. Matt felt like he was on cloud nine as he floated down the sidewalk. Things were looking up in the best way possible.


    ***


    Liz wasnt sure that sparring was the best idea for friends that hadnt seen each other in years, but with how casual they all seemed, she didnt say anything.


    She was just hanging back as they all talked, watching them. They all seemed so happy. Sam even made sure to smile at her as the others got ready to board the fighting tform.


    The woman was knowledgeable with alchemy, and Liz wanted to coborate with her to use the leftovers she had from the herb rift that Matt had made for her to practice with.


    She was debating how to best ask the woman, when someone appeared next to the referee and shooed him off.


    That oddity caused Liz to instantly go on alert.


    The unknown man said, Ill be refereeing this match.


    Matt looked irritated when he asked, And you are?


    His attitude matched Lizs own. She didnt like unexpected urrences like this. Something was off, and she could smell it.


    Liz barked out, nearly at the same time, What authority do you have to do that?


    The man seemed un-bothered and calmly answered, Im Baxter. Over Tier 40 and a healer in the employ of the Emperor. I can keep any secrets you might reveal in a fight just that. A secret.


    Liz was about to start screaming and sending messages at the tant lie. The Emperor had only one personal healer, not the multitudes that this man implied, and she knew the Emperors healers. He was <em>her</em> healer growing up.


    This young man was <em>not</em> the Harvest Moon. Moon was old and wrinkly. She only knew him from her time in the pce, which wasn''t an extensive period of time, but she had spent a few weeks visiting Uncle Manny now and then. She had met and interacted with Moon enough to know that this wasn''t him.


    As she was creating a message to call for help, she received a message from her Moon, Im undercover, so dont blow it for me.


    Liz paused. It sounded like the Moon she knew, and faking messages was incredibly difficult. A quick check showed that the ID matched her Moons old ID, so she sent him a testing question.


    How many times did I break my arm, and how many times did <em>you</em> heal me?.


    The mans lip twitched as he replied, You broke your leg twice falling from the same roof trying to fly, once with a bedsheet after the first attempt without one failed. And younded in my garden in the imperial pce. <em>Twice</em>. Don''t try and test <em>me </em>child.


    Liz swore she caught the slightest glimpse of a wink as she finished reading his message.


    She smiled at the memory. Shed thought that if mom was a bird, then she should be able to fly as well. When the first attempt hadnt worked, she realized that she didn''t have wings, and that <em>had</em> to be the problem. So, she grabbed a bed sheet to make the jump a second time. Her logic at three years old was wless.


    Moon was one of the few who knew that she had broken her leg trying to fly. Uncle Manny and her parents knew, but no one else. While he could still be a fraud, albeit one with a good information source, she found it highly unlikely.


    His voice messages sounded right, and she trusted the little test she had done.


    She said out loud for the benefit of the others, Oh, okay. Thats fine.


    Liz was unable to stop the grin that crept onto her face.


    Moon, or Baxter, she corrected herself, red at her. She sent him on the side, Ill have dad flood your garden if youre mean to me.


    His lip twitched for a second time. But he didnt rise to the bait and instead asked her, Now that you know who I am, convince your friend that I need him to do what I asked.


    Mattughed as he said something to his friends that she missed while talking to Baxter, but Liz messaged her teammate, You can trust him.


    He paused and looked at Baxter questioningly with a raised eyebrow.


    Liz shrugged and sent another message, Dont tell anyone else, but that really is one of the Emperor''s personal healers undercover, dont tell anyone else who wasn''t here. But you can trust him.


    It was a long momentter that he seemed to reluctantly nod, ncing at Liz.


    Taking her spot off to the side with Aster, she waved the foxs paw at everyone and called out, Have fun!


    She watched as Matt exploded forward while casting [Hail] and shooting at one of his friends with his crossbow. The crossbow golem arm had taken up Matts free time while he tinkered over thest week, and he was as proud as her mother after a molt with his new toy.


    They intended to sell them at the auction, but they were going to hold off until after he used them inbat at least once. They wanted to show their creations value to the Queendom and start a bidding war as the Kingdom, more specifically Juni and the Prince would already know their potential.


    Matt had snatched a few dozen of the arms. But apparently, it wasnt easy to modify them for human use while keeping their enchantments whole. Still,he had figured it out after some tinkering.


    Liz was surprised when her partner ran Mathew through with his sword, and started to shout at Matt for taking it too far, only to find that she was in a bubble of Concept. She raged at Moon through the soundproof wall of will. She tried to resist it with her own Concept, but she only got a headache for her efforts.


    If she knew this was what he wanted from Matt, she wouldnt have agreed to push Matt into it. It also exined why he looked so unsure.


    Seeing that she had no way to stop this shit show, she forced herself to calm down, and watched as Matt decimated his friends.


    She cursed again at the healing downtime he was causing as he ughtered his way through them.


    Liz would have been impressed with how strong Matt was, but the stomping seemed to be more from ack of coordination and training on her new friends part.


    A simple [Hail] was able to shut down their archer, Tara, for nearly the whole fight, and Sam couldnt even pierce Matts armor with her dagger. She knew that [Cracked Phantom Armor] was strong, but that result fell far below her expectations. Matt had talked them and their achievements up all night. She expected to see Matt get pped around, not to watch him toy with them.


    And toy with them he did. She saw it as he fought with Sam and Kyle. Why Kyle used a ridiculous metal b to fight, she didnt know. It looked incredibly unwieldy, even though he seemed to handle the weight better than she would have been able to.


    She knew of other fighters that used massive swords like that, but not without a flight skill or a Concept to anchor yourself. The counter forces were needed to swing that much weight around, which meant it was an ineffective style until theter Tiers.


    Matt took much longer to take down the duo than she expected, going by his earlier performance. He could have ended it with the skills enchanted into his de with two swipes.


    As he chased down Tara, Liz got her first and only surprise. Tara could injure him, which was impressive in and of itself, as he could nearly handle Tier 7 attacks at Tier 5. Now that he was Tier 6, she didnt expect a Tier 6 to be able to punch through his armor.


    She noted Tara as the strongest on the team.


    When the fight ended, she ran out and kicked Matt in the butt and Baxter in the shin.


    What the fuck!? You seriously injured them! The redhead turned to Baxter and yelled, And you! What the fuck as well!? You shouldnt have let them get limbs cut off. Theyll be out ofmission for weeks with that healing downtime! How amateurish are you? You should know better! Idiot.


    She had already cemented the idea of burning down his garden the first chance she got in her brain. This was incredibly unprofessional of him. Melindas entire team would be out of the fight for weeks, even after Baxter healed them.


    Melinda stepped forward and catingly said, Dont worry, my Talent gives all healing spells I cast overhealth. Well be fine.


    Liz paused and recalled what Matt had said about his friends and Manny. One of them had a Talent that he wanted enough to message them at their yPen. She was unable to keep her face straight when thinking over just what that Talent was.


    A Talent that gave every healing skill overhealth both exined his personal interest, and exined his sending the top healer for what she assumed was a mentorship for Melinda.


    Overhealth was just too useful, and being able to cast every spell with it was unheard of. She was sure Manny was watching Melinda with a hawks eye. He probably updated his copy of her Talent every time she Tiered up.


    Liz hesitated for a moment after she broke out of her trance. She debated telling them about her parents, but a small part of her was afraid that they would see her differently. She only had a single night of them treating her as a friend, and didnt want to give that up so soon.


    It wasnt fair to withhold that information after a revtion like Melindas, but the fear kept her mouth shut about her parents. She was mad at both herself and Moon. She red at him- it was a lot easier than self reflection, after all.


    He couldnt have told her about his n, but he could have told her not to worry.


    Matts friends are the perfect team on paper. They have all the traditional rift delving roles, but with Melindas Talent, theyve been coasting and wasting their potential. They needed a wake-up call, which is what I asked Matt to do. I also asked him to y it up. I have to say, you found an amazing friend there. I assumed from the giant Do not touch on your profiles that he was strong, but even Im surprised.


    His message was written in a calming tone that didnt register with her. Liz also didnt let Moons praise of her Matt distract her.


    She could be proud of himter. She snapped back, What if they hate him now? Thats not ok!


    They wont. I made sure to steer the conversation in a way about how they could be better. And from what I overheard, it worked.


    Matt looked hesitant as they asked for a rematch.


    Liz moved back to the side and watched a repeat of thest fight. Matt bounced an arrow off the ground to hit Vinnie, who hid behind a raised b of earth to protect his torso. After the only person who could trap him was gone, this bout was handled as quickly as the previous one.


    Baxter then nodded to Liz and sent over a message. I need you to hammer it home that they need to work hard. One fight, please, and Ill leave you all to train or do whatever.


    Liz gave Aster to a sheepish Matt and took the field.


    Their armor had rents and blood sttered over it, but their flesh was perfectly in tact. Liz understood how they could be so mediocre while staying so far ahead of The Curve.


    Melindas Talent was absurd on so many levels. She knew all about overhealth and just how rare and powerful the Talent was.


    Liz closed her eyes for a moment and calmed her mind. She would repay them for what she was about to do after their fight. She could see the hope in their eyes. They thought Matt was the exception, and the teams heavy hitter.


    They were wrong.


    If they were to learn and grow, she needed to show them that there was more power at Tier 6 than they currently possessed.


    She opened her eyes as the countdown hit zero and reached into her glove. The well of blood was like a pool, and she withdrew it all in a wave.


    The initial surge of liquid deflected the first arrow that Taraunched, and she flowed with it as she pushed the blood and herself forward. She quickly washed over Mathew, and directed the blood to slit his throat with a gentle hand.


    He was gone before she cut more than half an inch, which she was grateful for. She would have been pissed at Moon if he forced her to truly hurt them.


    More arrows tried to punch through her iron-reinforced blood, but with a thought, she formed her blood into a more humanoid form and cast five [Blood Bullets] at the remaining members of the team. She didnt hesitate, and followed it up with five [Blood Spear]s aimed where she expected each of them to dodge.


    Between the two attacks, they were all dead and teleported out less than fifteen seconds after the start of the bout.


    She withdrew all of her blood back into her glove and stood there in the silence. No one said anything until Baxter announced that he would let them train privately.


    <em>Hopefully that didnt discourage them.</em>


    Melinda called out with what Liz interpreted as grim determination to do something she already knew the oue of.


    We need to fight Aster as well.


    Aster looked confused, but after Matt whispered something to her, she scampered out onto the field.


    When the countdown hit zero, she jumped up and forward, calling ice down in front of her. She was copying Matts use of [Hail] to block Taras arrows. Taking advantage of her small form and agility, she worked her way into the center of their formation. When she reached the center, there was a sh of frost as the entire team was frozen solid, entombed by the thorny vines. Roses bloomed as life was drained from them. It was a beautiful sight.


    They were out of the ice and moping off to the side as Aster ran over and tried to bring their mood up with her usual antics.


    Matt joined Liz and quietly asked, You dont mind helping them do you?


    She red at him but softened her gaze. He wasnt the one who she was angry with, and that particr individual had vanished at the first sight of the fight concluding. She was sure that he was lurking around somewhere, but she would never be able to find him if he wanted to stay hidden.


    Liz marched over and was met by a very stern-looking Melinda.


    She spoke before Liz could.


    We suckpared to you.


    Liz didnt want to agree, as that would be in terrible taste, but it was true.


    We got this way by pushing ourselves and training.


    Matt picked up where she ended without a pause. And we can help. We can spar without worrying about injury or mana cost.


    Liz inspected Melindas teams faces and internally sighed as Mathew stood up first. He said, This is a good thing. We found a weakness and a perfect opportunity to correct it. This war wont be short, so as long as we try and get better when we have free time, we can fix it.


    He looked awkward as he asked, I dont want to presume, but we can spar after this, right?


    Liz gave him her gentlest smile as she said, What are friends for if not helping each other?


    ***


    Luna watched her charges spar with a list of a million suggestions and critiques. She was momentarily impressed with Matts use of his Concept. He hadnt practiced that inbat yet.


    But then, the drive to improve her charges took over, and she started noting the ws in his usage of his abilities. Moonie told him to y with them, so she didnt note how he extended the fight, but he could have been smoother about it.


    Cleaner.


    Her other hand wrote down aundry list of what the other team could work on. They needed help, and the need to help them fulfill their potential ate at her.


    It was only her long practice in controlling herpulsions that allowed her to hold herself back from rushing down and forcing them to be better.


    As the final fight ended, she paused, hearing what Liz said.


    What good are friends for if not helping each other?


    She paused her pens and stopped writing for a moment. Harvest entered her sphere of influence and sat next to her quietly, letting her enjoy a moment of calm.


    They were old friends, and he knew her well enough to enjoy a rare moment of peace together.


    She ground out, Are you going to be taking their manager position?


    If they make it to Tier 10, maybe. Where''s the rest of your team?


    Kurt and the new girl are taking a break.


    Luna shook her head. She had to resist the urge to change into beast form. The healer next to her radiated the same feeling that moons gave off, and she was named for her love of that feeling.


    She had lost her bond, Nora, to old age from not advancing quickly enough and not pushing herself. It was what drove her to make sure others met their potential.


    With an effort of will, she stopped herself from retreating to the past and focused forward.


    She <em>needed </em>to prevent others from making the same mistake that she and Nora had. That was why she pushed her teams so hard. Nora had died from not having a Concept, and not being able to break into Tier 15. When she first started in this career, it was enough to stay sane. But as she advanced to better teams, it was no longer enough to quiet the caged animal inside that demanded everyone''s best efforts.


    No, she needed them to push harder and faster. The better they were, the more they could advance, and the stronger they could be.


    Seeing wasted potential was like being stabbed, and watching the little healers team was like being shredded. The waste of potential was <em>that</em> bad. They had so much to offer, but they threw it away like it was worth nothing.


    Little did they know, it was worth everything and more.


    She was mollified slightly by the fact that her team was taking the initiative to help, and that the healer''s team was also trying to correct their mistake. Friends were the only thing that kept you going after bing immortal, and too many people lost theirs along the way. Too many were too engrossed with themselves to look outwards. She was happy that her charges were willing to help.


    She looked at Harvest and said, You look stupidly young.


    He rolled his eyes. Its too much effort to change back and forth. Deal with it.


    It was difficult for him to just change how old he looked? The man was Tier 47! Making cosmetic alterations to his body should have been as easy as breathing. Possibly easier, if he actually breathed anymore. Luna idly contemted a few body modification exercises that he might benefit from, before settling on a set that the man would <em>most</em> benefit from.


    When she handed him the paper he just looked at it for a moment, and in a sh of moonlight it was gone. He gave her the finger and said, You''re obsessive.


    She didn''t have a retort for that one.


    They watched as the children started to spar while getting corrections from Matt and Liz. Their corrections werent perfect, but Melindas team didnt need perfection. She could see the mix of embarrassment and anger driving them, and made a note to check if they continued to push forward. She had to know if they would make the improvements she thought they could.


    Shes going to change warfare for the Empire, isnt she?


    He sighed next to her. She has that potential. More than we did.


    Luna thought about that. She had created thousands of powerhouses, and he had forced the other Great Powers into a new agreement about healing stations after his was attacked. He ughtered the attacking army in a single night during the''s autumnal equinox. It was where he got his moniker from.


    Harvest Moon was more literal than most realized.


    I hope this little wake up call works as intended. She has an incredibly useful Concept that she refuses to use as well. I just hope she can use this to grow.


    Luna moved them forward until she was in the blonde''s face. She inspected her with both her spiritual sense and eyes.


    She looks driven. At least right now she does. Well see if they can keep it up. War ising, and she could be of use.


    Harvest looked at her and bumped her shoulder. Your new ones are just as impressive. Maybe more so. I can see an <em>endless</em> list of things that his Talent could be used for, if it works how I think it does. Even the nonbat potential is wild.


    She ignored his bad attempt at a pun, and moved them back to a higher vantage point.


    He could be great. I intend to make sure he lives up to it.


    Have you told Mara and Leon that youre managing their daughter?


    That caused her tough. The airheads have been avoiding me after I critiqued their y fighting when it moved over my house. It covered my sun bathing spot so I went up there and put a stop to it. I made Mara act as my heatmp for a week. Apparently, it brought back bad memories of their time under my tutge, and theyve avoided me ever since.


    She smiled at that. She was proud of her work with the duo. She was proud of what she had molded them into. Their daughter looked to be everything they were and more. Where they had amazingbat potential, despite their conflicting affinities, they had little room in their heads for anything serious.


    Their daughter was both strong, and a thinker.


    Luna intended to rub that into her once protegees and now friends'' faces.


    She turned into her cat form and curled up under Harvest''s aura. Seeing friends help each other was enough to calm the raging desire long enough to get to sleep.


    Sleep was so rare for her, but she cherished it. When she slept, she dreamt, and when she had dreams, she had Nora.


    ***


    Matt moved around Kyles sh and pped the t of his de into his inner thigh. Kyle didnt yelp, and instead tried to hit Matt with and aggressive backswing.


    They were sparring and working on his style, as Matt was the only one who could match his pure strength.


    He still felt bad for what he had done to them and had apologized to each of them. None of them seemed angry at him, but more so with themselves.


    It also put their progress in another light for him. They had stalled, and while they were ahead of him in cultivation slightly, they should already be fighting like Tier 7s with their Talents. He knew it wasn''t fair when you considered that they had limited mana to spend on delving, but they should have been able to fight up a Tier if they worked on theirbat prowess.


    Their fight had opened his eyes to the harsh reality. When he started the duel, he expected a challenging fight where he struggled to hold his own. When his starting crossbow shot and [Hail] took both Vinnie and Tara out of the fight, he was surprised that they didn''t expect a quick opening.


    When he was able to lift Mathew off his feet to negate the man''s Talent and run him through, he was disappointed.


    As Melinda stood there frozen, he understood what Baxter wanted from him.


    He hadn''t really believed the man when he said that they needed a wake up call, and had only done it because Liz had vouched for the man. While Baxter hadnt said it, Matt expected that he was filling in for the same thing as his own still forming management team, and was trying to push them.


    So, he tried to show them exactly how far behind the power curve they truly were. He toyed with Sam, Kyle, and Tara. He hadn''t liked ying it up; in fact, he hated it. But he had hoped that it would drive the point home.


    He hadnt even needed to use his AI to predict their moves, as they didnt vary off of the most obvious choices. After the first few exchanges, he turned it off and found that it didnt hamper him at all.


    Thankfully, they seemed to have learned their lesson, and were trying to improve. The team had taken the initiative to share their Talents and skills with Liz, who did the same. She was as shocked as he was at how well-rounded they were while being so weak.


    They agreed that Melindas team should, in theory, be beating them more often than not. They had so much utility and damage to leverage. They simply relied too heavily on their cultivation and Melinda''s healing. They had the essence, but not the experience.


    Matt was determined to help them advance. He contrasted the team that worked so hard in the yPen with the team that was unable to do anything against his own. He saw the hurt looks in Sam and Vinnies eyes, and anger and pain in the rest of the teams. There was what he thought was determination, but he wasnt sure if he was just hoping to see that.


    Still, he was determined to help them where he could. He contemted throwing them into freshly made rifts, to help them get used to fighting without a guide. He understood using it to reduce danger, but apparently they <em>needed </em>guides.


    Them being on the other side of the war was suddenly looking like a good thing. He knew their side had some powerhouses, just from the golem war. There were a lot of people on both sides that Matt could see them practicing their abilities and skills on.


    He and Liz also decided to try and get the rest of their new war squad toe to a spar or two. It would mean hiding his and Melinda''s Talents, but it would be good to show them other strong Pathers.


    They sparred for hours, relying on Matt keeping everyone full of mana to burn, and [Endurance] to keep going when exhaustion would have forced them to stop normally.


    Let''s go get showered and meet up for the auction. I hear its going to be crazy.


    Vinnie said while ring at the floor, We dont even have points to spend. Whats the point?


    Matt didnt like the defeatist tone his friend had. Things will be sold for mana stones as well. Also, its useful just to see what is for sale. Our point of contact and leader implied that the Kingdom was buying items to exchange for missions that had a high chance of death, as a form ofpensation. You might see something you like.


    He bumped Vinnie and grinned at him. Come on, if nothing else, it should be a nice little party.


    Melinda stood and brushed her armor off. We only have the skills youre giving us to trade, and we can do that without being there in person. I think we need the night to ourselves.


    She looked at him, and while she did look sorry, she also looked determined. Sorry Matt. Next time. And let''s n for some more sparring tomorrow. Okay?


    Matt wanted to say he could buy them whatever they needed, but he was pretty sure that he was running close to what he was allowed to give as a seeker equivalent. He also didnt think they needed, or even wanted his money. Being there to help them train seemed like the better option.


    While he didnt regret his gifts from the way Tara and Vinnie looked at their items, it seemed to only make them feel worse for not keeping up.


    Thest thing Matt wanted to do was rece one weakness with a dependency on him to keep thempetent. He knew they could be great on their own.


    Matt just hoped that he didnt do more harm than good with his gifts. His friends looked like deted balloons after their fight, and they only seemed slightly recovered after their sparring.


    With that settled, he and Liz quietly went back to their rooms. Their moods were somber as they walked away from where the arena tform dropped them off. Even Aster seemed to sense the mood; she didnt even beg for ice cream when they passed a shop.


    Neither said anything until Liz asked, Do you think that could happen to us?


    Matt looked confused. What do you mean?


    I mean if we didnt get investigated and we didnt get the management team. Would we have stagnated? Liz rified with a troubled look on her face. Matt wanted to immediately deny it, but he paused.


    <em>Would we have?</em>


    Because of Melindas Talent, they got sloppy. He remembered the time before they had their Tier 3 Talents. They were much more diligent. While Matts Talent didnt make injuries a non-issue, it did allow them to gain arge amount of essence in a very short amount of time, with minimal risk if they only delved at their Tier.


    Now that he thought about it, they were already forming bad habits. If the manager hadnt forced their hands, they would have skipped out on this war. They would have stayed at Tier 5, ying with rifts and delving for growth items, simply for wealth.


    Matt slowly replied, As much as I want to deny it, yes. During our break, I was already beginning to back slide. Without the manager, we would have stayed at Tier 5 longer than we should have. With Melindas Talent, they would really benefit from having a manager. Baxter seems like hes trying to fill that role, but maybe he doesnt have the authority to tell them what to do? Otherwise why would he be asking for our help?


    After a moment of contemtion, Liz responded, Yeah. Youre probably right. I felt it too. Getting investigated was more of a blessing than I thought.


    They walked in silence for another moment when Liz said, You know, I wanted to say something about my parents when Melinda shared her Talent. I just froze up and the moment seemed to pass me by. Sorry.


    He grabbed her hand. He hadnt expected her to share until she wasfortable and didn''t expect it that soon. She was working on it, but it wasn''t as if she was cured of her fear just because she told him about them.


    You have nothing to be sorry about, so don''t worry about it. It''s pretty understandable. When or if you feel ready, that''s the best time to tell them. Besides, it''s not like they really need to know.


    I know, but it didnt seem fair to me. Melinda shared her big secret, and I just couldnt bring myself to reciprocate. But theyre good people. I can tell that much already. Ill definitely tell them. I just need to work up the nerve first. With her mind clearly made up, Liz squeezed his hand and pulled Aster from his arms.


    When they arrived at their suite of rooms, they found Emily, Annie, and Conor lounging.


    As they walked in, Emily called out, Weve been waiting for you. Are youing to the auction?


    Liz nodded, saying, We were sparring with some old friends. Well be ready in ten minutes.


    Conor checked his watch, Should be enough time. I hear that it''s being held in a special location, and that transports will start moving at the top of the hour. Thats in fifteen minutes, though. I don''t want to be thest to arrive.


    Annie popped to her feet and added, Yes! This is our first auction like this. I hear if you have more than 1000 points you can have a room for yourself. We can pool our points to stay together, right?


    Emily rolled her eyes, and Matt noticed that Annie hadnt taken her eyes off of Conor, who still had the far off look of someone interacting with their AI.


    Matt decided to help her in her ploy for the man''s attention.


    I think that''s a great idea.


    Annie grinned at him and threw him a thumbs up hidden away from Conor.


    Well hurry up and go shower then. We don''t have time!

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79


    Conor had been right about the area being packed. The entirety of the massivending area where the Pathers shuttles came down was chock full of people.


    There were easily tens of thousands of people waiting. Matt took a quick nce down the streets and couldnt see anything but more people standing around. Considering they had just walked those streets, he was bbergasted at the sudden appearance of the crowd.


    They moved down the steps and fought their way to the edge of the grass tform. Annie tried to say something, but the noise of the mob around them was too loud to ovee.


    Giving up, she shrugged and swallowed what she wanted to say. Apparently it wasnt important enough to message their AIs for.


    They waited for nearly ten minutes before everyone started to look up, drawing Matts gaze along with them. They watched as a swarm of t shuttles flew through the air. They looked like flying stone tforms with railings.


    The stone tforms hovered over the crowd, anddders extended out of them, allowing people to start climbing up. Matt felt for the tforms with his spiritual sense and found that each tforms aura felt as dense as a Tier 15s. These things were spiritually heavy.


    He and his team were near thest of the people to get on the tform, and they were pressed up against the outer railing. The flying tform took off with a smoothness that surprised Matt. There was a shield that seemed to stop the turbulent wind, but it also removed drag somehow. It was an interesting formation. Matt was trying to find where the runes were, wanting to see if he could make heads or tails of them.


    To his surprise, he actually found them, but they were obfuscated with some kind of security formation that seemed to make their forms change every time he looked at them. As he tried to peer through the obscuringyer, he was immediately hit with a headache and a roiling stomach.


    Realizing it was futile to continue, he pulled his attention back to looking over the edge of the tform, and enjoying the view of the ocean shing by.


    He called out, I grew up in a city by the coast. My parents apartment was facing the waterfront. I loved watching the waves pass by. It was always soothing.


    The rest of his team didnt take much notice of his sharing that, but he didnt miss the look of surprise from Liz. He never talked about his parents. He just smiled at her and went back to looking at the water whipping by. His time on the inds had given him a renewed appreciation of the view that he hadnt known he missed until it was gone.


    Emily added while following Matts gaze, We went to y at the beach quite a lot. We grew up on a with more inds than anything else. Kinda like a resort, but not quite. Water is as peaceful as anything. Most nights, wed fall asleep while listening to the water running over the rocky beaches.


    Annie looked to Conor, who added after a moment, I grew up on a Tier 25, so I lived in an ind city. I didnt really ever see the ocean until I joined The Path, after I went to a world without the ability to defend the cities. I spent a half year delving a water rift with lots of little attacking fish. They had an amazing fish soup thing, though. I think I ate it every day for a month.


    Therge front liner sighed, and everyone looked at Liz. Matt did as well. He was interested in what she would say.


    I grew up in the capital.


    Annie and Emilys eyes went big as they interrupted her in near unison.


    The Capital capital? Like of the Empire?


    Wow. Thats a Tier 47 world.


    Conor just raised an eyebrow, asking the same question. Matt was interested in how she would y it. He didnt think that she would tell them about her heritage.He was surprised she had even shared this much.


    Liz shrugged like it didnt matter.


    If youre not the child of a powerhouse, most of the is yed out and locked down.


    Conor nodded like he understood that, but Annie and Emily looked interested, so Liz exined. There are the three great guilds, who each have two Tier 47 rifts. The Empire controls the rest, with six for the independents who refuse to take part in worldly affairs, and the rest under their direct control. Even then, its still a Tier 47. There just arent any rifts below Tier 40. Its too hard to keep the mana and essence out of them, so you cant really advance if youre young and dont want to absorb ambient essence. Most of the kids are taken to another in the Soren star system.


    She waved her hands around and had them orbit in a circle, as if they didn''t know hows orbited.


    The capital has a dozens orbiting it, each trying to Tier up to Tier 47 by using the essence that radiates off the capital itself. One of them is still only Tier 15, which lets them use in-system teleporters, and that provides the kids rifts to delve. But even then, its not really essible for most. Theres just too many people and a limited number of rifts, so most get sent off-world to nearby lower Tiers. I was lucky enough to be offered a spot on the Path, and got a ce to delve. Once I was Tier 3, I got out as fast as I could.


    Annie said, It must be amazing, though. Have you ever seen the Emperor, or one of the royals?


    Matt had to stifle a grin at that. Liz didnt so much as give anything away, but she froze for a moment before saying, Once or twice. Its not that special. Ive found thes that arent just giant cities way more impressive. Or at least, more varied. It can be lonely being a child surrounded by people thirty Tiers or more higher than you. I didnt really have many people near my age to y with.


    He reached over and rubbed her back. Matt was proud of her for sharing that much.


    Before they could say more, their flying tform angled downward, and they smoothly submerged beneath the waves. Matt was surprised because if he hadnt seen the change, he would have had no idea when they moved from air to water. The flying tform didnt change its pace at all.


    He reached out to touch the rushing water, but Liz pulled his hand back and with a mischievous smile and said, Watch.


    He and his team did so. Not ten secondster, someone else reached out and put their hand through the barrier, just to be sucked out violently.


    Liz giggled, and when she saw the looks of shock, she pointed at the dozen or so people who repeated the same action. Ive used these types of shuttles before when I visited my Uncle. There were always a few tourists who got dragged out. The shuttle pilots even made a bit of apetition out of it. They would deliberately fly near schools of fish to tempt people to reach out.


    Seeing their looks of shock, she rolled her eyes, Theyll be fine. Really, if theyre taking us underwater, they expected this. There, look. The collection team.


    As the people were fading from view, they saw another tform scoping them up and bringing them to safety.


    Now that their lives werent at risk, it was actually kind of funny. Mattughed while also looking at his own fingers. He would have tested it without hesitation. It just would have been embarrassing to arrive soaking wet at the auction.


    Before long, Matt saw a massive dome surrounded by a few dozen smaller ones branching off, connected by clear tunnels. It was a shining beacon of light in the inky waters.


    Their tform passed through a shimmering barrier, and they were in dry air once again. Matt should have expected the area to be spatially expanded, but he hadnt. When they arrived in one of the smaller edge bubbles, its outer dimensions had only seemed to be that of arge building. The inside was actually a huge expanse dripping in luxury.


    The edges were lined with balconies that wrapped the entire sphere. There was a circr area in the center that held a floating statue, seemingly made of light. It was sculpted into the shape of a ballerina, frozen in a moment of their dance.


    Matt was mesmerized for a moment until the bustling crowd bumped into his back. They didnt have to climb down thedders this time, as the bubble had dedicated moorings for the shuttles. With the exit made apparent, the passengers poured down the ramp in a wave.


    The signs bombarded him with advertisements for all kinds of extravagant goods and experiences. There was everything from rare wine tastings to specialty cheese shops.


    Wow.


    Conors exmation matched Matts own thoughts. Annie broke him out of his stupor with a poke to his side.


    He looked at her in confusion, before she pressed her hands together with three fingers each and split them off.


    Matt grinned at her. He decided to throw her a bone after noticing the eye roll from her sister.


    This ce looks amazing. We should split up so we can cover more of it. The main auction starts in three hours, so we have time. Ill make sure we get a box like we said earlier. Why dont Conor, Annie, and Aster go together, and the rest of us will do our own thing. We can message each other about anything amazing we might find.


    Aster jumped up into Annies arms and yipped a yip Matt knew all too well, so he headed that off with, Only give her a small bowl of ice cream. Im sure shell want more at the banquet that theyre holding after the auction.


    His foxs ears dropped, but Annie kissed her in between the ears and said something that caused them to perk back up.


    Matt ignored the foreboding implications and turned to leave with Liz and Emily. Before they left, he made sure he put the Kingdoms colors armband on Aster, which she refused to wear as a headband, so he had to settle for a scarf.


    They all had their own on as well. While it hadnt been a hard rule, it had been suggested strongly for anyone attending the auction.


    Annies sister scoffed when they were out of range of her sister, leading Liz to ask, Do you not like Conor?


    Emily sighed. No, its not that. Conor is actually much better than thest few crushes Annies picked up. One tried to get us to have a threesome with him. Like,e on.


    Matts face scrunched up at that.


    Liz threw an arm around the shorter woman and said, Then isnt it a good thing Conor doesnt seem to be that type?


    Emily nodded at that but apanied it with a shrug. I guess, but none of them started out being weird. Just call me a pessimist. I havent seen him checking me out when he thinks Im not looking, at least. Thats something more than I could say about most of her crushes.


    The brown-haired woman perked up and changed the topic. What are you guys interested in checking out? I looked up some of the amenities, and theres a spa section that has a massage parlor. We dont have enough time to <em>really</em> enjoy it, but we have enough time for a half-hour massages and mani-pedi.


    Liz jumped at the idea. Yes! My feet are always in boots. Id love that.


    Matt agreed. It wont hurt, thats for sure. But Ill skip out of the mani-pedi. I would rather have a longer massage.


    They moved through the bubble, down toward the center of the concourse. They made their way down a tunnel set at a declining angle, with a gravity nullifier that allowed for faster transport. It was fun to throw himself down the tube and catch himself at the end with a flip that let himnd with a solid thunk.


    He was tempted to go back just to experience the weightlessness once again. It was exhrating.


    Seeing that the women wanted to move on, Matt shrugged it off. They were in the central bubble, and the sheer size of the area boggled his mind. The entire center was carved out, so that the balconies had a clear view along with the progressivelyrger boxes that trailed up the side of the inner area. Near the bottom, there was a section of what looked like standing tforms that Matt wanted to avoid being ced in.


    They found a booth to reserve a private auction box, only to find out that they already had one set aside for them. Or at least, Matt and Liz did. Emily didnt, which they found odd.


    Guessing what happened, Matt sent a message to Juni asking if he did that, and almost immediately received a response with aughing face and Youll see.


    He and Liz didnt think they were being set up in a bad way, so they decided not to push for more information. They reached their reserved massage appointment after three more transfers through the weightless tunnels.


    The massage was everything Matt had thought it would be and more. The worker dug into his back with fingers of soft steel, while two others attacked his hands and feet at the same time.


    He was d that he had a towel covering his face, because he was pretty sure he was drooling by the end of his appointment.


    The three of them bonelessly moved to a bench near a wall to watch the fish and other underwater creatures slither and swim by.


    Do I still have feet? Matt lifted his now rebooted feet to the giggles of the two women.


    He went along with it. Im just pissed that I''ve never done this before. I always figured that it couldnt be worth the money. Damn, was I wrong.


    Seeing something in the reflection of the wall, Matt turned in confusion as he noticed a massive turtle walking up behind him. Upon further inspection, he was taken aback a second time from the discovery that the approaching figure really <em>was</em> a turtle.


    Standing around four feet tall from floor to shell, the turtle was short but stocky. The sections of his shell were more spiky than normal, appearing like small, sharp hills on its back, instead of the smooth humps he had seen before on the mundane variants. The turtles exposed skin looked more scale-like, reminding Matt more of a lizard than of a turtle. As the light yed over his shell and scales, it reflected like dull metal.


    Liz noticed him looking and turned to nce as well, saying, Ah, a Mountain Metal Tortoise. Poor guy was born in beast form, which kinda sucks. At least he seems to have a friend.


    Matt looked and saw that there was a woman with purple hair and a wide-brimmed hat talking with the tortoise. How Liz knew it was a male, he had no idea, but he went with it. It was a good reminder that the Empire was wider than he really knew.


    Why do they do that? It seems cruel.


    Liz sighed. I''d agree personally, but there are advantages. One is litter births. You can have more children if done in beast form. Tying in with that, theres an increased fertility thates with both parents being of the same species <em>and </em>both in beast form. Also, theres the belief that children born like this are stronger, or have better Talents. It''s not really confirmable, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to make something of the rumor.


    Seeing the Queendoms colors on both, Matt sighed in annoyance. He had no idea how to fight a turtle. His shell looked to be thick and made from metal. He was d that he had a blunt weapon at his Tier, but he honestly doubted that it would do him any good against a shell made for defense.


    Wouldnt their Talents be set by their species? Like Aster?


    Liz rotated her hand back and forth and said, Yes and no. They have human minds, so they have unique Talents, but they tend to be somewhat rted to their racial Talents. Although,pletely different Talents have been known to show up. It''s a practice that''s be somewhat taboo, but it still happens.


    After they recovered from their massages, the three of them wandered around and snacked on the various samples of food that the shops were offering. After an hour or two of eating, drinking and lounging, they moved to their assigned auction box, and Matt realized why they had one already set aside for them.


    As he leaned out of the box to inspect their surroundings, he saw that their box and all of the surrounding ones were covered in screens showing highlights of the golem wars battles. He and Liz were featured on their box, with clips of them shredding golems cycling on the screens in a short, repeating scene.


    Matt was profoundly embarrassed by the disy, but had to admit that the entire stretch of boxes decked out and disying the Kingdoms top fighters from the golem fight gave off an imposing air.


    He retreated into the box and activated the privacy barrier that the area was equipped with.


    Emily gave them shit for nearly five minutes, until Liz flicked water at her and started a mini-war, with the te of hors d''oeuvres serving as ammunition.


    Conor, Annie, and Aster came in shortly before the starting time. As they entered, Annie looked at Matt and grinned at him, which he reciprocated. He didnt think Conor was a creep, and Annie seemed to like him, so he moved seats so they could sit next to each other.


    As the time ticked down, a man with a magnificent beard came on to the stage.


    His appearance was projected to a smaller pad in their room, but they had an unobstructed view from their box.


    Good afternoon, my young friends. I am Javier, Tier 29, representative of the Empire auction house, Deep Sky Auctions. We are the ones who provided the structure you are in now.


    There was a tter of apuse, which he smiled through. Once it died down, he said, We could not do this alone. We are partnered with a number of local auction houses from the Kingdom, and one from the Queendom. Please give them your thanks when you see the number of smaller auctions after the main event. They were gracious enough to provide those items, and have each broken into their own vaults to bring out some truly <em>scintiting</em> prizes.


    The cheering was much louder after that promation.


    Ah, but let me also thank the King and Queen for attending at my humble request.


    The view on their pad transferred to a shot of a man in expensive-looking fabric sitting with Prince Albert. The man looked like an older version of the Prince, with the same eyes and hair color, and simr shapes to their faces.


    The Queen was a woman with silver and pink hair, surrounded by four other women sitting slightly behind her. Princess Sara was next to her, clearly indicating her status as the heir.


    Javier continued, Many wonder why the vassal countries are going to such lengths for this small Tier 6. Perhaps this will serve as an answer.


    Two cases were brought to the stage, both covered in a nket of each countys colors.


    The Emperor, in his wisdom, had these items custom made for each respective ruler if their side earned enough points during the war. He wished these to serve as an incentive for preventing the war from stalling out or bing stagnant.


    With a motion of Javiers fingers, the first cover was knocked off.


    First up is the Kingdoms item; a staff of Tier 37 make. It will multiply all maniption skills effects in both a damage boost and an equal reduction of mana cost. It also acts as a storage device for materials of the wielders choosing.


    The staff was made from metal and what looked like liquid darkness in a swirling pattern that made Matts gaze slide off the weapon.


    The announcer tapped his nose and added with a wink, It does a few other things, but I wont spoil them. Lets just say, the good King should enjoy them.


    The King in question had leaned forward as if to get a better look at the staff, and had a smile on his face that appeared chiseled on. He nced at his son, who nodded at his fathers look. It was apparent that he wanted the item, and was making sure that the Prince knew it.


    The Queendoms item is no less impressive.


    A repeated flick of his fingers caused the other cover to go flying.


    Under the cloth was a gauntlet made from what looked like forged and solidified light.


    We have here a Tier 37 sun gauntlet. It was forged from the remnants of a dying sun. This little gauntlet will condense and store light for future use. Along with the amplification of all light-based skills and spells channeled through it. As with the Kings weapon, it has a few more functions, but well let the Queen figure them out.


    Princess Saras mother licked her lips and flexed her right hand as if she was already wearing the gauntlet. The naked desire on her face was a clear indication that she was just as interested as the King had been.


    Both items vanished with a wave of Javiers hand.


    Finally, the reward for winning the war.


    The mor of the previous items vanished, as a heavy weight seemed to press on everyone at the auction. Both vassals rulers were intently watching the auctioneer, who seemed unbothered by the Tier 35s scrutiny.


    With a wry smile, the man said, As you can see, they havent seen the rewards yet either.


    When no oneughed, he continued on. Unlike the other two weapons, this reward is slightly different. It has not been made yet. No, no. The reward for this wars winner is an item crafted to the exact specifications of the victorious ruler, fully financed by the empire and expertly fabricated by none other than Madam Renaissance herself!


    Matt didnt know what that meant, but by the changes in the Kings and the Queens faces, it seemed important.


    Javierughed at their expressions. For my friends under Tier 25 or so, Madam Renaissance is the Empires best crafter. Her detractors say she is only the best-<em>known</em> crafter, but do not let those criticisms distract you. Hidden masters arent making items for anyone. Madam Renaissance is a Tier 48 crafter, proficient in everything from smithing, to tailoring, and enchanting. She can do it all. Her items have massive markups, and the wait time to even get on her <em>list</em> is counted in thousands of years.


    Matt whistled. That sounded impressive.


    To prove her skill, allow me to say just this. She has Tiered up through crafting seven times. Yes, I said seven. <em>Seven</em> times she has Tiered up through inspiration. That includes herst two Tiers. All achieved through her crafting. She is a woman of prodigious ability!


    On the pad, both rulers looked to their heirs with nakedmand. They both <em>needed</em> to win the war, and Matt could see that neither would ept a loss, especially with the rewards now revealed.


    Matt turned to Liz and asked, Is all of this as impressive as I think it is?


    Everyone turned to Liz, and sheughed. More, probably. Madam Renaissance is more of a crafting legend than anything else in the capital. Ive heard rumors of her crashing sses and giving impromptu lectures. Rumor has it when she did itst, half the ss had inspirations during it. The other half had one within a year. When Javier said that the wait to get on the waiting list is measured in thousands of years, he wasnt joking. I heard they actually need to stand around and wait in a line. They do it happily! Even though the cost is said to be an arm and a leg, sometimes literally.


    Matt tried to picture that. If the woman was that good of an all-around crafter, it didnt surprise him that her time was so valued. He tried to think what it would be like to wait in line for thousands of years, but he just couldnt wrap his mind around it.


    After a long pause, Javier smiled at both rulers and said, With appetites and desires ame, let the auction begin!


    A woman brought out a flower of purple and yellows, and Javier kicked off the auction. Our first item! The Tier 8 Flower of Miraculous Life. Anyone who eats this little beauty will aspect their mana into a nature aspect. If you can find a skilled alchemist, you can have them add a few other ingredients and modify the flower to bestow the much rarer life aspected mana. The aspect is desired by healer and growth specialists everywhere. Well start the bidding at 200 war contribution points.


    The bid quickly shot up to 920 points before the item was sold. Matt wanted to buy it for Melinda, but he would have burned through all of his points while also doing exactly what he decided not to; give them another crutch. He did send her a message with the item and its purported abilities, so she at least knew that it existed.


    The next item was one that Matt recognized from the batch of items they sold to Samuel at the auction house. This is a Tier 5 rift made sword that increases swing speed and damage massively when mana is run through it. The sword is rated to Tier 7 strength. Bidding starts at 50 war contribution points.


    Matt looked at Liz, and they smiled at each other, seeing where this was going. A lot of the items they pulled were like that one. They were useful, but not what they wanted, so they sold them in bulk to the auction house. It was slightly painful, as they had gotten mana stones out of it, which were much less valuable than the war contribution points they were selling for now.


    More items flew by, with nearly a quarter of them being ones that they had sold. Matt reaffirmed his intention to only sell through the Empire Market to avoid something like this. It twisted the knife to see his items go for so much higher than they had sold them for.


    They watched in disinterest until their first mana cultivation potion went up for sale.


    This pretty little thing is a potion that our alchemist confirmed will increase each of the consumers three mana cultivation aspects. Its bnced to give a slight increase to both Mana Regeneration and Maximum Mana. Thats not all, it uses most of the potions effect to give a Mana Concentration of 0.1. This is the first batch up for auction, and it contains 10 potions. Like all of the following ones, they are for Tier 5. Fighters, f you want to firm up your base, these little beauties are the way to do it. Starting price of 100 war contribution points.


    There was a buzz that ran through the audience.


    Someone called out, Are you selling any singles?


    Javier pointed into the standing crowd and answered the question. Yes. The final and best ten will be sold in single lots at the end. If you dont get one here, I believe the war market will have some of them for sale as well, but their price will be set ording to the final bidding price


    Matt leaned forward in his chair in anticipation. They would be getting these points, so he crossed his fingers and hoped their price rose to the sky.


    125.


    150.


    180.


    210.


    250.


    300. The final price was called out by the Prince, and Princess Sara immediately snapped out a counter.


    350.


    Matt wiggled in his seat.


    Finally, after a long moment of deliberation, the Prince called out, 400.


    500! The Princess didnt hesitate in the slightest when she raised the bid again.


    Matt didnt think 50 points apiece was bad for the worst potions that Liz had made. While the others attention was all on the unfolding drama, he smiled at Liz, who looked to be on cloud nine.


    He was proud of his partner and all of her aplishments.


    Looking across the stage, he saw Sara smiling and getting a pat on her arm by her mother.


    Sara was nearly out of her seat, while the Prince was more collected and calm, as if none of this bothered him in the slightest.


    Their third batch of potions, with a Mana Concentration of 0.12, had just sold for 600 war points, when a skill shard was brought out.


    Javier stroked the case holding the skill and called out in his sonorous voice, This beauty is [Cracked Mana Bolt]. At the murmur, Javierughed and spoke over the crowd. This is a marvelous cracked skill. Unlike most mana bolt skills that are neutral in their attack, this one randomly changes its aspect to anything. Shoot it enough times, and you punch through any armor type.


    Emily was out of her seat and had her face pressed against the privacy formation.


    The starting bid is 200 is points.


    She immediately shouted, 1000!


    Matt was shocked by her spending nearly all her points, but he was blown away by someone else immediately bidding higher.


    In just a moment, the price was at 2500 points, with smaller and smaller bids being ced.


    Emily looked at them, and after a brief internal struggle, said, I need to get this skill. Ill pay you back with interest, but please.


    Seeing their hesitation, she blurted, Look, long story short, my Talent basically lets me repeatedly double the effect of any skill, as long as its a different aspect than one I used in the same chain of spells. Once I repeat anything, it resets. This is <em>perfect</em> for me. I <em>need</em> it.


    Matt looked at Liz, and they nodded.


    At nearly the same time as Conor, he said, We have 3000 you can use. No interest needed.


    I have 1000.


    Annie looked at her crush with doe eyes, and Emily turned and shouted, 3000.


    Someone else called out when the countdown was at one, 4000.


    Fucking fucker. I need this. You brain-dead idiot.


    5000! Her voice was overly controlled when she spoke through the screen.


    Matt leaned forward with anticipation as the countdown reached two, then one. It felt like an eternity when it finally clicked to zero, and Emily was the winner of the auction.


    She dropped to her butt at the edge of their box. I think Im going to vomit.


    Matt patted the womans arm and pulled her up to her chair, where she bonelessly sat.


    Thanks, guys. I really owe you for that one.


    Matt was interested in her Talent, but didnt want to press. He carefully asked, Dont answer this if you dont want to, but if you can double the effect of a skill if its a different element, why dont you have somethingmon like [Fireball]?


    She stretched and sighed. We grew up on a water world, and it didnt have a lot of fire skills. Its why I have two water skills and a lighting skill that we were able to trade for. I intended to buy a [Fireball] here with some points, but thats kinda shot for now. Thankfully, its prettymon, so I should be able to get it in a few weeks. Well, after I pay you all back, of course. I <em>really</em> appreciate it guys.


    Matt looked at Liz and raised an eyebrow. He was leery of giving more help after seeing what happened to Melindas team, but he had an extra [Fireball] that wasnt reserved for himself.


    Liz shrugged, putting the ball back in his court, but nodded slightly as well.


    He thought over her suggestion. She was ok with it, and the more he thought, the more he had to agree it was different from Melindas party. Annie and Emily were strong in their own right. They held their own in their fight. And one extra skill would, if he understood her Talent right, take her from a four times multiplier to an eight times multiplier. That was massive, if paired with her [Bolt] skill as a finisher.


    Hoping he wasnt making a mistake, he withdrew and tossed the still boneless Emily a [Fireball] skill. Heres a [Fireball]. No reason to wait. Just giving us the standard value in mana stones or points is fine. Better to have it now if I understand your Talent right. An eight times stronger [Bolt] would be devastating in a fight, and itll help our team build up points faster.


    She looked up from the skill shard that scrambled for, and with a hard look in her eyes, said, I wont take it if you wanted to sell or trade it. Even if it would help me, I won''t slow you down to do it.


    Matt debated taking out his bucket of skills to shock her, but only brought out his other [Fireball]. I have my own. We were going to sell it, but wed rather sell it to you instead of someone else. In the end, we get the same payment, just a littleter.


    Emily didnt protest further, simply nodding to him and then to Liz and Aster. Thank you. This really does help, and your math was right. With the [Cracked Mana Bolt], as long as I dont get fire, water, or lighting, I can pretty much get an eight times damage bonus; possibly more if my luck is good.


    Matt shuddered at that thought. It would undoubtedly rip right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] at that high of an increase in power. He looked at Annie and Conor and said, If either of you are looking for specific skills, let us know. We can help you try and get it.


    Conor raised his drink and said, To new friends and growing stronger.


    They all drank to that.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80


    They started ordering drinks from the auction staff as item after item got brought out to the stage. They were all poor now, so watching new itemse out was more a game for them than it was actual shopping. Matt hoped that this wasnt the best the auction houses had to offer, because no one but the actual factions had earned any substantial amount of points at this point.


    Besides the odd item or two, most things went to the Prince or Princess, who had ess to the points generated by capturing and holding various forts and cities.


    It made the auction boring; nothing was going to the little guys.


    So, they drank.


    They were ordering Tier 6 liquor and were thoroughly tipsy by the time the auction wasing to a close. None of them had to be told to not go overboard, but they were riding the edge of feeling good, and actually getting drunk.


    Matt was trying to keep Aster out of the sour apple brandy that apparently smelled too good to resist, when an item brought on stage caught his attention.


    While a small vial was disyed on stage, Javier called out, Here, as one of our final items, we have a Tier 10 bottled Concept. Unlike most...


    Matt lost interest once he heard that it was a bottled Concept and said, Psh. Who cares? Its just a bottled Concept.


    Annie shushed him, as did her sister. Even Conor got up to watch the auctioneer, with only a slight wobble.


    Seeing that he was outvoted, Matt quieted down and listened. Even a Tier 6 can use this. Yes, truly a marvel of alchemy. This is a triple attribute Concept. Yes, <em>Three</em>.


    After a slight pause to amodate the murmurs of interest, Javier raised his arm, flexing his bicep as he continued. Strength.


    He lightly rapped his knuckles against his chest and said, Durability.


    He casually reached out with an open hand, demonstrably closing his fist as he finished, And Regeneration. This is the ideal bottled Concept for anyone trying to build a more physicalbat style. It can be used to bolster your defenses, or it can help you lean into the offensive a little more. Starting bid of 5000 war points!


    Matts new teammates all made sounds of disappointment when they heard the price and returned to their chairs. Matt felt Aster lurch out of his arms, but was distracted by Liz.


    She scoffed at them and said, Just make your own Concept. She burped in the middle of her sentence while still holding her beer, but continued after a moment. Its <em>waayy</em> better.


    Annie flicked the condensation off her ss at Liz, who spluttered at the droplets'' sneak attack. The twin said Its not that easy. You need...


    Liz threw up her hands. I can teach you!


    Matt missed what was said next as he noticed theck of his bond in his arms. He looked around to find her muzzle deep in his once half full ss of alcohol he had ced on the table.


    He pulled her back to get a burp in the face, and a pushed thought of, Apple!


    <em>Oh, thats not good.</em>


    Aster went into a tirade about apple-vored hearts and ice cream, which Matt ignored while she started kicking slower and slower as the liquor took effect. He red at everyone who could have seen Aster going hog wild on his ss, but sighed in defeat. After all, it was his own fault in the end.


    He was brought back into the conversation by Emily, who kicked at his leg and yelled for him. Maaatt!


    What!?


    I asked if it was that easy. I want my own Concept.


    Matt thought for a moment, until the topic of conversation came back to him. Its not that hard. Do you have your...? He looked at her for a few blinks until the word came to him. Phrase! That''s the word. Do you have your phrase? Or at least an idea?


    Annie shrugged, How would we know if you already need a Concept to tell?


    Damn, thats a good point. Shit! I dont know... Matt shrugged and joined everyone as they looked at Liz, who was now sitting primly. If her cheeks werent flushed so bright red, she would almost look authoritative.


    Its easy. Im telling you. I can get you a Concept. Fifteen minutes.


    Even Matt booed her, and she corrected herself. Okay, okay fine!. Maybe not fifteen minutes, but before the war is over for sure. You guys fight well, and Im betting that if we push you really hard, you can figure it out.


    Annie called out, I want a stabby Concept!


    Everyone stopped to look at her, and she defended herself while holding her ss like a shield. What? I can already do the sneaky part. I just need to do the stabby part better.


    She mimed stabbing someone, and when she sloshed her drink over her hand, she started trying to lick the alcohol off it. Matt failed to stop himself fromughing as Conors gaze was cemented on her actions. He slowly flushed while watching her probably unintentional disy.


    He made a note to tell her about itter. It was a good sign, but he was distracted by Emily loudly saying, I want a Concept of power!


    Even Conor was drawn out of his staring when she said that. He countered, Thats not a real Concept. Its too vague. You need to start with spell damage or something.


    Emily red at the other man and pouted into her drink when he didnt seem to notice.


    Liz added another nail in her coffin. Power isnt a Concept, thats an Aspect. I think I heard of someone using that, or at least something like it.


    She pursed her lips, and was suddenly distracted by a cheese wedge that Matt was in the middle of eating. She snatched the remaining half for herself with a devilish grin at her crestfallen partner, and added, I think they started with bodily strength, then bodily control for their Intent, and finally used bodily power to round it out. Theres nothing stopping you from going for a spell version.


    Emily wiggled in her chair with a dreamy look on her face.


    Conor shrugged and leaned back with arge sigh. No clue what I want for my Concept. First, I need a way to take hits better. Reflection does nothing to me, but my Tier 3 Talent gives me a slight bit of sustainability. Do I lean into that, or go for more tanking? Maybe I can transition into more of a hybrid like you, Matt.


    Matt tossed out, What do you see yourself doing? Do you like being on the front line?


    Conor chewed on an olive while he pondered the question. I dont know. I was given my skill by my sponsor when I joined The Path. They pretty much set me down the path towards my current build. Therge man paused to think about it for another moment, before finally adding, I dont mind it. But being defensive will only take me so far on my own. Rifts are slow fights for me most of the time. I need either more damage, or someone else on my team. I''ve gotten this far by choosing the rifts that I counter, but eventually, I''ll run out of time. Its so nice to fight with all of you, where I can just keep a defensive posture.


    Annie looked like she had a brilliant idea, but she was silenced by her sister, who swiftly lunged to cover her mouth. Annie struggled for a moment before starting to lick her sister''s hand. Emily must have been used to that trick, as she maintained her muzzle on her sister and eventually persevered. Conor nced at them with a puzzled look, but ignored their antics. He looked back to Liz, asking, How do you intend to help us with our Concepts?


    Liz looked up from the near-empty tray of snacks and shrugged as she half leaned over Matt and Aster to get at the other te of hors d''oeuvres.


    Its not that hard. Matt and I... well really just Matt, as I have an internal Concept, can restrict you with his Concept while sparring. Its not guaranteed to work or anything, but its a good start. Youll start to resist it naturally, and that can give you a glimpse into your phrase.


    Emily, with her hands still covering her sisters mouth, called out, Yeah ok, how is that different from fighting in a rift that has monsters with Concepts?


    As if she had expected the rebuttal, Liz countered with, How often do you <em>actually</em> fight monsters with Concepts? At Tier 5 and 6, rifts have like, what? A three or four percent chance to have monsters with Concepts? Faster to avoid them and fight the easier ones.


    That actually made sense to Matt, who nodded his agreement. During their rapid rift-making months, they had only fought a few rifts that contained monsters with Concepts. But <em>they</em> didnt have that much issue with those monsters, since they had their own Concepts.


    Liz had suggested something simr when they started training Matt for his Concept, letting him feel her own more than once during their training to get a grip on his phrase. Once Connor and the twins got their phrases, it was only a matter of time until they created their images. The hard part would be the first step.


    Matts attention was brought to the stage as a copper bowl was brought out to be disyed.


    This little beauty will allow you see anything in a mile radius, at the cost of 200 mana per cast. When people seemed disinterested, Javier added, Its better than you might think! Its incredibly hard to spot by the observed party. If you have this, your scouts will be much more effective.


    For once, the item didnt go to the Prince or the Princess. They actually let the bowl go for only 2000 points. Matt assumed that they didnt care, as long as the other side didnt directly get it. Anyone who spent that many points wouldnt be willing to give it up, and would only use it for themselves, limiting its effect on the war.


    Both sides'' leaders had seemed to understand that they were the only ones with any appreciable amount of points, and they started letting the lower floors take an item if they started to bid. Their benevolence didn''t extend to abstaining from raising the price of an item that they figured the other side wanted more.


    Not long after, the end of the action came to an explosive end. Streams of fire and multi-colored light burst out from the stage. It startled them enough to stir them from their conversation.


    Matt stretched as he stood. About time for dinner. Ugh. All the snacking just made me hungrier. I heard they have a hugeyout nned.


    Annie, finally freed from her sisters clutches, asked, Whats ayout?


    Matt was too buzzed to care and shrugged it off. Layout of food... I cant think of the word.


    Liz scooped up the still groggy Aster and said, Who cares what its called? I want food.


    As they all stood, Conor muttered, A menu. It''s called a menu.


    They trooped out of their box to mingle with the crowd. From the loud calls, it seemed that they werent the only group that had turned to alcohol when they ran out of points to spend.


    As a mass, they trooped down the winding stairs, until they reached the standing room area. Unlike when they entered their boxes, it was now totally clear, with the previous upants now seated on floating tables that lifted off once they were full.


    They got a table for the six of them, which promptly took off into the air once they were all seated. Not long after that, the food was delivered. Everyone got a te that suited their individual taste. No need for them to order it seemed, as Matt was given a honey roastedmb haunch. Aster, who had only just now woken up, had a te of rabbit legs lightly battered.


    Liz was face first in a te of something Matt thought was Alfredo, which was confirmed when he stole a forkful. The twins followed his lead, leaving Conor as the odd man out. Matt cut a few slices off hismb and shoved it over to him, causing everyone to share choice bits of their tes.


    After trying everyones food, he had to say that Conor had the best meal. He was served a pressure-cooked bird of some kind that he didnt recognize, but wanted to try again.


    All in all, the floating meal turned out amazing. Matt had no problem admitting it. The idea of eating on a flying table sounded cheesy, but it was more fun than he would have thought.


    They floated up and down through light constructs that cut through their table as they drifted around. When they finished eating, they talked for a while longer. When the conversation wound down, the table gently lowered itself andnded, as if it knew they were ready to leave.


    As a group, they moved to follow the crowd of other exiting diners who had finished their meals. Two bubble changester, they found themselves in a bubble with recordings of the various fights ying on banners that streamed down from the ceiling.


    One banner on a raised tform caught Matts eye. It was apanied by a smiling young man, who couldnt be more than seventeen, with dusky skin. He looked smug as a recording of his fight yed on the banner behind him. On the recording, the young man attacked a citys walls with des of wind that cut down a number of people that tried to rush him. As the recording progressed, Matt saw more than four distinct wind spells being used. A quick spiritual nce revealed that the man next to the banner was Tier 5. It told Matt everything he needed to know after hearing Juni talk about a Tier 5 rushing a Queendom city.


    Annie scoffed. Idiot. He gave away everything he had on day one. Now, if anyone sees him, theyre gonna throw an [Earth Spear] at him, and hell be dead. Showing you only use one element is asking to be countered. Better to be subtle about your arsenal, so people can''t counter you so easily.


    They walked around through the sea of banners, separating and rejoining each other as they saw banner recordings that caught their individual eyes. Matt, Emily, and Conor stopped by a woman in studded leather ying an upbeat chorus on her guitar, with an ever-growing crowd around her. She seemed to be able to read the mood of the people surrounding her, as she leaned in to sing to a particr section, which caused more cheers.


    She cycled through three popr songs before they moved on to scan some of the other highlight banners.


    One that caught Matts eye was of a woman who seemed to dance around long range attacks as she defended a fortress wall. As the wall was destroyed in an icy st, she leapt down in a sh of lightning. She had tossed what looked like electrical grenades that caused sparks to fly across the ground that moved like living spiders as they exploded and spread.


    Contrary to what he expected, she dove into the field of electricity and started to dismantle the charging opposition with a metal rod. It seemed to be used as a mix of cudgel and spell amplifier, and she shot what looked like [Bolts] out of it. In under a minute, she had taken out nine attackers on her own, and seemed to absorb the remaining lighting arcing along the ground.


    Seeing that she was on the kingdom side, he made a note to try and seek her out. The grenades she used seemed effective, and he wanted a few for his own use. If they worked the way he expected, he could precharge them and use them as an area denial tactic while fighting.


    Mattmented to Liz, who had joined them, How do you even counter someone like that?


    Range. But even then, she took a few hits that I think should have been fatal, so she might have something to counter that. Thankfully she''s on our side.


    Liz pulled him over to a banner that showed a tattooed fourteen-year-old. Watch this one. He looks young, but he''s strong. Queendoms side, so we should watch out for this one.


    They looked far too young to be more than a newly awakened Tier 1, but with only a recording, Matt had no way to tell their Tier. In the recording, the Queendom fighter seemed to flicker around in their battle with three people.


    Matt watched as the man appeared in two spots, faster than he could blink. He said, It has to be a short-range teleport.


    Liz asked, A part of his Talent? I can''t see an actual teleport skill being given out, as it is too valuable and strong for a starting skill gift. It seems to be limited in range as well. It feels like a Talent.


    As they watched the young man use devastating kicks to dismantle a party creeping through a dense underbrush area, Matt had to agree on the Talent idea. If it was a skill, they seemed far too young to be that proficient in meleebat. They were a kicking monster, and Matt didn''t even notice a skill being used. One missed kick dented a tree to the point that slowly toppled over.


    What impressed Matt the most was when the fighter disarmed someone, and proceeded to use the sword with the same grace as when they used their legs. Matt wasnt sure he could be as proficient if he split his focus to more than one fighting style.


    We can just have Conor fight him.


    Matt nodded at Lizs suggestion. The Melee style would force the man to eventually take a hit from [Demon Zone], and that could allow Conor to finish the man if the blow stopped the teleporting.


    Seeing their melee teammate, Matt split off from Liz and watched the banner Conor was trying to dissect. The fighter seemed ordinary enough, with the exception of violet hair and incredibly pale skin.


    The recording started in the middle of an already ongoing fight, as the man moved through a pack of Kingdom embossed fighters like they were cheese. When an attack seemed tond on their uncovered back, a turtle shell of what looked like mana shed to protect him. The shell seemed thinner than a normal skills density, so Matt spected that it was a Talent. Suddenly, the fighter shed forward with ghostly, tiger-like ws, and disemboweled the defenders leader in two brutal swipes.


    Matt expected the recording to end there, but the fighter was attacked by a humanoid-looking tiger. They proceeded to exchange nearly a dozen blows with ws, before both retreated with deep cuts over their exposed arms and chests. Before the fight had a decisive end, the recording looped back around to the start.


    When he saw his teammate standing next to him, Conor asked Matt, How would you handle him? He seems to have a defensive form and an attacking one. Emily would probably be able to st him, but he moves quickly. Might be hard to hold him off. Don''t know if I could do it if he was determined to move around me.


    I might be able to slow him with my ice spell, but even that wouldn''t do much more than hold him off for a few seconds. Shit, there are a lot of strong people here.


    Conor nodded at that. I thought I was hot shit, but apparently not. Average of the better fighters at best.


    Matt had to agree. He knew they were good, but just the people on his team all had the abilities needed to counter him. Annie would hit him from behind, and if she timed it right, she could prate [Cracked Phantom Armor] while it was weakened from defending another attack. If she got a dagger skill, she might not even have to wait for that. Emily could just pepper him at range until her skill got eight times stronger and st him into ash.


    Conor was an easier fight, but only because his main skill was countered by Matt''s armor. He was still was a better melee fighter than Matt was. While Matt was better with his longsword, Conor had a much better understanding of more weapons and that gave him versatility.


    The war was showing Matt that he wasnt as special as he thought he was. It was sobering.


    When the entirety of the team met back up, they agreed to move on. As they left, they passed each of their own banners. The first showed Liz tearing through the metal tree, and they paused to watch out of morbid curiosity.


    The group of them all shifted awkwardly as the next banner showed the footage of Aster and Emily wiping out nearly a dozen people in as many seconds. To top it off, Annie was shown to stab two women from behind, but the video thankfully made her visible, which meant most of their trump cards were still hidden. Although, it made Matt wonder which of the other banners were simrly edited.


    The three banners were in a row, andt they hurried past after watching each once. Matt grinned at Conor, who returned it as they realized that they hadnt done anything to rate the banner treatment with their less shy fighting styles. Matt didn''t mind, and Conor didn''t seem to be bothered about being out of the spotlight either.


    It was a good reminder that people were always watching, and without anyone truly dying, there was no way to stop information from getting back to their enemies.


    They sheepishly moved out of the bubble of banners after that, too embarrassed to remain.


    The next area they wandered into was a casino, and Matt and the others got to watch as Liz won round after round of poker. Matt had heard how good she was, but seeing first hand was another thing altogether.


    Annie asked, How is she that good?


    Matt didn''t have an answer, but felt a little background wouldn''t be amiss. I know she beat a Tier 24 in poker a few times. Shes just good.


    Emily and Annie loudly whispered to never y Liz, then started wondering if they could bring her to an actual casino.


    The table made everyone wear an anti-AI bracelet to restrict things like card counting, but it didnt seem to slow Liz down, and she continued to win. She didnt win every hand, but if she raised the ante, she was more than likely to take it.


    Matt had heard about her skill with cards, but seeing it first hand was both amusing and terrifying.


    Sadly, they werent ying for points or mana stones, but instead various raffle prizes that she could try to win. Considering there was no buy-in, it was fair enough, but Matt wanted to see Liz at a real casino now, and wondered if the twins had the right idea.


    The others eventually left, but Matt was interested enough to stay and watch as the game progressed. He was only able to pull her away when the table bled off its remaining yers, as they ran out of tickets and had to move on. No one was interested in taking their ces, with Liz reigning supreme.


    Liz came up from the table with fistfuls of tickets, and she danced around to their congrattions as she cheered. Lets go see what we can get!


    The ticket counter was staffed by half a dozen people, but they were still swamped as they tried to process people''s purchases. In the end, Liz threw all her tickets on the lottery for what was called the Mundane Living In Rough Conditions Skillset. It had six skills in total, intended to make life easier when delving for long times or away from amenities. It had [Create Water] for its obvious usage, and [Cleanse], which would remove dirt or contaminants from something at the caster''s discretion. It didnt destroy the contaminants, just moved them away, but it was a skill that Matt still wanted. They hadnt been able to find one during their own delving.


    [rm] would wake the caster if anything passed over a set area. It was a niche skill with a function that could be handled by technology, but being too careful never killed anyone. Hee didnt think it was a bad skill to eventually get. [Perk Up] was a skill he had never heard of, but after reading its description, he made a note to get it. It was apparently like caffeine, but without any of the side effects. It was much cheaper than [Endurance] and couldst for hours.


    [Cook] and [Chill] were a pair of food-rted skills that he had heard about, but no prideful chef was allowed near them. [Cook] simply heated food until it was safe to eat for the casters biology while killing any parasites or viruses in the meat. No finesse or care for taste. [Chill] had its usage for preserving food or cooling down drinks, but most used it with [Cook], giving it a bad reputation.


    Matts cooking instructor had spent nearly an entire ss lecturing why the skills were a mockery to the culinary art, and not to be used. He didnt have any use for those skills, but the rest were useful enough to warrant picking up.


    They wouldn''t know the results of the raffle until the end of the week, so they ended their walk around after finding one of the smaller auctions and sitting down to enjoy the bidding. They were selling various small arms, but Annie said that her dagger was fine for her Tier. So, they only lingered long enough to watch a few items get sold before they moved on to the nearby duel arenas. There various people fought in what appeared to be some entertaining bouts, judging by the crowd.


    It only took a quick search to see that the prize for any duel was a t 100 war points for the winner, and 25 for the losers. Also, winners would get 30% of all points bets, while losers would get 10%. It was profitable enough. Matt looked to his teammates and asked if they wanted to try their luck.


    Emily looked interested enough, but shook her head. No. I want to keep what I can do under wraps for as long as possible. The early points are nice, Im sure. But I dont think the vassals are dumb enough not to have people watching the fights topile builds and such.


    Conor nodded and agreed. Shame, though. I could always use more points.


    They did stay to watch a few more fights, but only one caught Matts eye. There was a massively overweight man who slung spell after spell as he gradually grew thinner and thinner. Eventually, he ended the fight with some type of AOE skill. It sent his opponent flying into a barrier that epassed the fighting arena. The payout for his fight was massive, as he had been given horrible odds by the watching crowds. Being that overweight usually meant that they were sedentary, but it was clearly a skill or Talent. If Matt had to guess, the man stored mana as extra weight. It was interesting, and from the number of skills he used during the fight, pretty effective.


    The prize of nearly four thousand war points was almost enough to make Matt take the stage, but he kept walking with his friends as they moved to finally leave. They had wandered through most of the bubbles that they wanted to see.


    With no points to spend, and not willing to give up more information about themselves by dueling, they boarded a tform and exited the underground leisurend. As they left, there was a banner that offered special Tier 5 and Tier 6 rifts to delve for 1000 war points apiece. Matt didnt put two and two together until the banner changed, and an ad for a newly discovered Tier 7 was advertised for 4000 points a delve slot.


    He and Liz met each others gaze and smiled. They knew that the rifts they left would be of great interest, but he hadnt expected the army to camp on them and control their ess. It made sense when he thought it over. A rift a Tier higher than the was an asset for the faster Tiering up of the world. While he wasnt upset that they were selling ess, he wished he could get his hands on a list of the rewards that people got from them.


    They tried to delve the rifts a good bit, but they were nowhere close topleting a true rift drop table by the time they had left.


    Matt rode the tform back through the sea and to the city with a busy mind. After a day of sparring and high emotions followed by a long night, Matt was exhausted. By the time they arrived back home, he flopped into bed with Liz and Aster. None of them even bothered to undress, and they just fell asleep in a pile.


    He woke up the next morning with a dry mouth. Seeing that everyone else was still asleep, he started cooking. He still had some monster meat from their time spent delving, and it was going to go bad sooner rather thanter, as he only had a basic mana powered fridge in his spatial bag.


    Going all out, he cooked a massive breakfast and moved around the little kitchen like a man possessed, determined to wow with his breakfast feast. Annie and Emily came out of their rooms at nearly the same time, just to argue who would use the bathroom first. They ended it with a round of rock paper scissors, which left Annie bouncing from foot to foot as her sister took her time in the bathroom.


    Liz and Aster were thest to arrive, after Conor, Annie, Emily, and he had already finished their tes and then seconds.


    Now that Aster was awake, he pushedughter at her as she was experiencing her first hangover. She was not enjoying it. She yowled at him until it exacerbated her headache, causing her to curl into a miserable ball. Picking up his bond, he fed her a pain killer and waved bacon under her nose until she ate it, before setting her down in her personal freezer bed.


    Liz wasnt in nearly as much pain since she used [Endurance], but she was eating slowly at breakfast.While she finished eating, Matt went to the gym with Conor. The two of them only lifted weights and avoided sparring. They were only there to do some strength training.


    Their rewards for the selling of Lizs potions arrived, along with Emily''s skill shard. They earned a whopping 5603 war points after the auction houses cut. Matt rubbed his hands together at the influx of points, and immediately put up a bounty for anyone with mana aspects that he didnt already have, or different variants.


    He posted it as a crafter looking to aspect rechargeable mana stones. It was true enough, even though he wanted to use his growth item instead.


    With a look at Conor, he asked, Hey, is your mana aspected?.


    Conor looked confused for a second and responded, No. Ive thought about getting mine metal or earth aspected, but I couldnt afford the potion. Why? Are you thinking about getting yours aspected?


    Matt didnt want to lie, but didnt want to give away his Talent or growth item either, so he told him part of the truth. No, I dabble in enchanting. My sword requires me to do the enchanting work myself, and for other work, the books rmend getting as many mana aspects as possible to create synergies.


    With a casual shrug, he added, The aspected mana stones cost an arm and a leg for even themon aspects. With how many millions of people are here, <em>someone</em> with a rarer variant has to be here, and it costs them nothing to inject a little mana for me.


    Ive been thinking about getting a gauntlet that I saw up for sale at a shop. I was wondering if you could give it a look. I dont know enough to know if its a good deal.


    Happy to help. Whats the item?


    A bracer that acts as a kic energy storage, which can be sted out as a short-range attack.


    Matt was surprised and said as much. I expected you to want a longer range spell. I know I did.


    Conor shrugged thement off. I dont see it as that important anymore. At least not for the next year. Well be fighting in teams, and while it would be nice to round out my damage in a rift, I dont see it as a good way to spend my money right now. Better to be a more capable front liner and earn my team, and therefore myself, more points.


    Matt liked the mans approach. If he still had [Copper Skin], and knew it didn''t have side effects, he wouldve given it to the man on the spot. He was right, and the better he was as a defensive shield for their mages, the more Matt could go on the attack as a melee damage dealer. Right now, he was a hybrid, which he didnt mind, but focusing on the attack would allow his abilities to shine.


    They reached the store in question, and Matt inspected the gauntlet Conor was interested in. It was made by a Tier 7 crafter who obscured his work, so while Matt wasnt able to get a perfect look at the items runes, he was able to get a feel for its general craftsmanship.


    He was honestly impressed with the item. It was good, solid work that seemed to have the runespletely integrated with the metal, but not in the way he was used to seeing.After checking the price, Matt understood why Conor was hesitating.


    At a Tier 8 mana stone for the Tier 7 item, it was expensive. Matt could only give his opinion and leave it up to the other man to decide.


    I think the price is worth it. Its well made and willst you a while. Its also a great defensive item if it does as it says, and absorbs attacks thatnd on your off arm. The price, though...


    Matt let himself trail off, and after another few minutes of Conor pacing, he finally bought the item.


    As they walked back to their headquarters, Conor offered an exnation. I had a lucky rift before I came here, but that was most of my liquid assets. Hard to jump off the ledge like that.


    I understand. Look at the bright side. It shouldst you well after this war, and with its durability and repair enchantments, it shouldst a good while longer with minimal spending. I think it was worth it. Oh, by the way, we should probably get the girls together and do some sparring when we get back.


    They were nearly back to their rooms when their AIs were pinged. Their party had a mission in three hours.

 Chapter 81

    Chapter 81


    The two of them ran the rest of their way back, and Matt noticed there was a great deal of bustle for both sides. It seemed that everyone was rushing to make up for lost time,pared to the slight lull that had happened before the auction.


    <em>It could also be the rulers pushing each side to earn more points. They have to both be desperate to win the staff and gauntlet. I cant say I me them. Those items seem incredible, and they werent even made for me</em>.


    Matt and Conor burst into their suite of rooms and saw that everyone else was already getting ready. Liz threw Matt his under armor clothes, which he slipped on, and he slung his bag over his shoulders in a swift moment.


    Conor took longer with his full metal te armor, but his teammates helped to expedite the process. In five minutes, they were on their way down to the teleporter room, only to find a mass of people milling around the entrance.


    The door opened, and a womans voice called out, Quills team, youre up."


    There was a shout from a small group, then a shoving as they made their way forward.


    The same voice shouted out again, If your scheduled time isn''t in the next hour or less, go away. Come back then. The teleporter is busy, so we won''t be doing early jumps.


    Fuck! Annie looked ready to fight at the realization.


    Liz shrugged and offered, Want to go back to our room for the next two hours or so?


    Emily kicked at the ground and added her two cents. Or we stand around like these guys. I guess the three-hour time slot was an actual time to leave, and not a suggestion.


    Matt felt dumb as they trooped back to their room. He knew it wasnt true, but he felt like everyone they passed was watching them. It was just in his head, but he felt foolish for their rushing.


    They all sat awkwardly around theirmon room for a while. before Liz threw on a random show for them to watch. Conor was the only one who removed any of his armor, only his chest te. It was, as Matt knew from his training at the orphanage, the most ufortable portion of te armor to wear for a long period of time.


    It was the first time Matt truly understood the phrase, hurry up and wait from all the war movies he had seen. They were rushed to get ready forbat, then expected to wait around for their time slot.


    Two excruciating hourster, they backpacked Aster and headed down at a more sedated pace, just to wait in line now that their teleport time was closer.


    They still had to wait another forty five minutes for their exact time slot. From their observations, it was obvious that the in teleporter only worked every five minutes, severely limiting the number of teams able to go out.


    Team Bucket? Your turn.


    There was a noticeable air of confusion at the team name, and as Liz kicked at the dirt, she sheepishly mumbled, I thought it was funny. Sorry.


    Now that Matt knew what it was, he startedughing. It was funny. He liked the bucket of skills they had and how ridiculous it was.


    They moved forward and through the crowd to reach the door and entered the same teleporter room they usedst time.


    A woman walked beside them and hastily barked at them, The objective is to tie down the medium fort and keep the defenders from leaving. If you can take the fort, do so, and you will be doubly rewarded. More information is in the AI packet. She took a single breath before she asked, Questions?


    None of them said anything, and they were then guided to the circle of runes that would teleport them to the nearest city.


    They arrived in a sh, and were hurried out of the city center by a uniformed official. They quickly jogged to the entrance of the city before boarding their various flying devices and taking to the air.


    Matt was reviewing what he knew of the medium forts, andparing it to what his AI had on file about them. They wererger than the forts they had charged previously, and usually protected a strategic asset, whereas the smaller forts acted like a fence to guard the more valuable areas.


    The medium forts were wider and covered arger area with both their physical walls and their protective formations. ording to the information survey, there was a simted, high-value ore vein slightly to the west of the fort. It was in the perfect position to provide the upying faction control over the area, and an opportunity to collect points.


    The fort itself was 50%rger than any they had encountered in the war thus far, with an interior tower two stories higher.


    Overall, he thought they could take the fort if it was staffed by the usual number of guards. They just needed to draw the defenders out, and let Annie use her invisibility to sneak in and start wreaking havoc. She could even just open the gates for them. Ideally, they would be able to lure at least a small number of defenders to protect the simted mine. ording to the rules set down, any simted resource had to be protected in order to keep generating points, as any real one would.


    The reward for taking a medium fort was listed at 5,000 points, and Matt was eager to collect. Taking it as a solo team, Matt expected even more when it was all said and done. That didnt even take into ount the number of defenders they would be killing, or the additional rewards from the Kingdom.


    Thergest catch of the assault would be at least one Tier 7 guarding the fort. If they were lucky, there might even be two or three. It was how the Kingdom was deploying them, and their intelligence report suggested that the Queendom was doing the same. Still, it wasnt anything they couldnt handle, which was why Matt started briefing his team about his idea as they flew.


    ***


    Matty behind a short bush atop the hill overlooking the simted mining site. It was about two miles away from the target fortress, and the Queendom had created a small wooden wall around the simted mine. He peered through the sparse underbrush, and watched as people stood around the building next to the hole that was the mine.


    There was a guard station in the small wooded palisade that the defenders had erected so they wouldnt be out in the open.


    Matt breathed slowly and deeply as he kept watch.


    Their n wasid out. They just were waiting for the signal.


    Im in ce.


    With that message from Annie, he slithered back down the hill, and with Conors help, pushed the boulder they had prepared beforehand. They got it right under the crest of the hill, and set their feet before looking at each other around the backside of the massive rock.


    Ready? Matt grunted out the question. Even with [Mages Retreat] active, this rock was still just over 3 feet tall, almost halving Matts six and a half foot frame. On top of that, it was made from Tier 4 material. While the boulders lighter than it would be if it was of a higher Tier, its still incredibly heavy.


    Conor didnt respond verbally, and just started to shove, and Matt quickly joined him. They grunted as they struggled forward, and slowly, the two-and-a-half-ton boulder crested the hill and began rolling on its own.


    The pair of front liners watched the boulder pick up speed as it started racing towards the bottom of the ravine, heading straight for the wooden wall.


    Breathing heavily, Matt summoned his de and started sprinting after the bouncing boulder with Conor right behind him. They screamed with what little breath they had left as they raced forward, futilely trying to catch up to the careening boulder as its multi-ton weight bounced around.


    The rock had been their answer to the wooden walls that they didnt know how to get around, but as Matt watched it bounce down the slope and build up speed, he worried that it would actually kill someone. The rock was now hurtling through the air at a frantic pace.


    They struggled to keep from tripping as they ran down the steep hill, but Matt managed to see the rock obliterate the wooden wall. It passed through as if the barrier had never existed. Wooden splinters flew everywhere, and the rock flew through the building and out the other side of the wall. It continued to roll and skip up the far slope before it lost most of its momentum.


    Matt cursed their luck and choice of rock as Liz sent a message. What the fuck was that!?


    We did the boulder n.


    Ascenders balls, that was a shit ton more than we wanted!


    Matt and Conor rushed the fort and started to fight the defenders who were still standing. Of the nine that were in the base, five met them with weapons drawn. The two of them limped out with clear injuries and fought at their worst, while the others had escaped the improvised missile.


    During their nning phase, Emily mentioned that if they instantly wiped out the mines defenders, the rest would just hole up in the fort and not risk sending more people to an ambush.


    That was why it was just the two of them attacking the mining base. They wanted to appear to be part of a foolhardy attack by rogue elements hoping to earn some easy points.


    Liz, Emily, and Aster were waiting in a bush situated along the most likely path that the defenders reinforcements woulde through. In the end, it all depended on Matt and Conors acting skills.


    Through the shouting and nging of weapons, Matt heard the orders being shouted, Hold them down and dont let them deeper in!


    Hold the entrance!


    Someone else shouted, For Ingrid! She got sted by those bastards boulder. Give them no escape!


    Matt parried a blow and returned with what he hoped woulde off as a lucky thrust through the defenses of the spear wielder.


    They screamed and were suddenly gone as if they were never there.


    He caught sight of Conor downing his opponent, and pushed forward enough for them both to get surrounded individually. Matt was trying to seem overeager after downing one of the defenders, hoping to draw more attention to himself.


    Finally, the message they were waiting for arrived. Ten people on the move. I slipped in while they went out.


    Matt grinned and burst forward with his full strength, as he felt Conors [Demon Zone] activate. He grabbed the Tier 5s sword with his armored hand and thrust his longsword through their weaker chest armor. As he withdrew the de, they vanished, and he lunged at his other attacker, taking their mace attack on his exposed head.


    The Queendom fighter was too weak to damage him through [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Matt pounded them in the face with the pommel of his weapon, breaking their nose as he transitioned to a thrust towards the leader.


    In three moves, three more people vanished as they were taken away by the army watchers. Matt smiled, pleased that the n was going so well.


    Conor was standing over a few spots of blood, and he saw the man return his grin from under his helm.


    Lets go help the mages.


    Conor scoffed at Matts suggestion. They dont need our help. I bet theyre already done with the reinforcements.


    Matt shrugged; his fellow melee fighter was probably right, but they still hurried to their teammates AI reported locations.


    They were only halfway there when they received the message that they were expecting. Reinforcements dealt with.


    When they met up with the mages, they moved to the edge of the fort''s line of sight as a group of five.


    Matt was thebat leader, so he sent a message to Annie. Annie, whats your situation?


    Sitting over the gate. There are five people here, and theyre debating what to do, since their links to the others all vanished. I can take them, but it will be noisy.


    Matt thought it over and had his AI run the simtions.


    Go for it. Take them out, and well rush the gate at the same time. We can batter it down if we have to, but the defensive shielding will slow us down. If you can get the door open, we can back you up.


    After a long pause, they received a message. Ill move on your order. Im ready whenever.


    Youll hear us.


    Matt looked to his teammates and exined his n. Conor and I in the front, blocking the archers. Stay close, and we rush them as fast as we can.


    Emily cursed quietly. I hate these anti-flying device formations. It would be a lot easier if we could attack from above.


    It would be, but stay low and behind us.


    Matt returned his longsword to his ring, and after digging into his spatial bag, withdrew the shield that he had used during his time as a frontliner storming the golem fortress. Conor was already in position, and they started out onto the cleared field surrounding the main fort at a steady lope.


    They were a quarter of the way across the mile of cleared area when the arrows started to rain down on them. At first, it was the asional plink of metal on metal, but as they reached the halfway point, it was like a torrent as the defenders tried to force them back.


    A st of fire impacted his shield, but Matt pushed through it and kept in line with Conor. They were nearly at the fort when a glowing blue arrow punched straight through Matts shield. It was stopped by [Cracked Phantom Armor], but his AI calcted that whatever skill the archer used would punch through if he gave the archer a clear shot.


    It wasnt as strong as Taras Tier 3 Talent that pierced armor, but it was strong enough to be an issue.


    All at once, the rain-like sound of arrows disappeared, and they were under the entrance of a tunnel that was covered in arrow slits. Therge wooden door was slightly ajar, and as they reached it, they could hear fighting from the inside.


    Matt dropped his shield and ripped the door open as Conor rushed through with his shield and shortsword raised.


    Emily was the next through, with Liz right on her heels and with Aster in her backpack looking over the blood mage''s shoulders.


    Matt resummoned his longsword and joined the others, only to see a floor covered in blood and Annie looking as if she had just fought Liz. His AI told him that she only had a single, light cut on her hip, which meant that it was her enemy''s blood that covered the entranceway. He didnt know how many people she had fought, but he was thoroughly impressed with her results.


    Liz took a moment to gather the blood, and moved to the entrance that led into the clear area between the fortress walls and the fort itself.


    Ill go out in golem form and move right.


    Remember to watch out for the archer with an armour piercing skill. Theyll punch right through your golem. Use your [Blood Shield].


    Will that block her?


    Matt waited for his AI to run the calctions before replying, No, but itll make it nonlethal.


    Got it. Ill go out spell heavy and try to take out the remaining defenders on the wall.


    Liz exploded out of the little cover they had to a peppering of arrows and a [Fireball].


    Matt and Conor gave Emily cover as they left the tunnel through the wall. To his surprise, Matt found most of the Queendoms guards already retreating back into the fort itself. Liz had seen that as well, and engaged the retreating archers. Aster was in the golem with her, and was sending shards of ice to anyone trying to nk Lizs blood golem. Matt noticed that the pair was attracting attention from two Queendom archers on top of the fortress roof.


    Matt cast [Hail] on them, and as the near-solid wall of ice fell, it forced the archers to retreat. The remaining defenders raced to join the mass of people trying to all fit through the small entrance at the base of the fortress. Annie had already reactivated her Talent in the chaos to see if she could sneak into the building.


    There was shouting, and they turned to try and stop Matt and Conors charge as Emily cycled through sending [Water Bullet]s and [Bolt]s at the mass of people.


    Every time thence of lightning illuminated the inner courtyard, someone was teleported out. Matt wished they had more time for Emily to absorb the two skills she had, as it would take her from a two times damage multiplier to an eight times multiplier. If she was killing a person with each shot now, he marveled at what she could do when she got the extra effect. [Bolt] could chain if it had enough damage left after impact, or if there was arge amount of metal near the target. The mission had juste too soon; she had only received her [Cracked Mana Bolt] this morning.


    They mmed into the mass of people who had the door shut on them, and Matt and Conor started hacking down at the Queendom fighters withrge, heavy blows. Blood flew, and flesh was rent with each attack.


    The screams in front of Matt were overpowered by screamsing from his left where Liz had gone to rout the archers and other ranged defenders causing Matt to nce over quickly.


    ***


    Otto looked on in horror as the red monster ran out of the gate''s guardhouse. He didn''t know what it was until Lesley loosed a glowing blue arrow at the monster which caused him to do the same.


    Her arrow sunk deep into its shoulder while his skittered off as if the monster was made from stone. He made a mental note to adjust his shots as if this was an armored target.


    Otto prided himself on being the second best archer in their group but theck of an archery skill was showing its ws now.


    Aim for her head. It''s sticking out of the thing''s chest.


    As Lesley said that Otto noticed the discrepancy and loosed his own arrow at the pale face surrounded by living blood.


    He had to force down his bile as the monster cut through the other archers. He knew them, spent time with them, cared for them. Otto watched them get cut to pieces.


    As he withdrew and notched another arrow he was mesmerized at Harvies leg flying through the air and spewing blood before it all vanished. Or the flesh did. The blood was pulled into the monster as it looked up at them overhead.


    With the rain of ice keeping Lesley and him pinned to one side they had the perfect view of the monster as it ran at them.


    Otto repressed the twinge of fear as the golem of blood reached the base of the fort where it met the outer walls walkway. It was the second floor out of five and while they were on the roof the monster was unable to reach them.


    His tion halted as the monster seemed to stick to the wall as what seemed to be frozen bloodtched on and it started to climb up. The first steps were halting and it slid down twice but as he and Lesleyunched arrow after arrow on the thick shoulders of the monster it grew nearer and nearer.


    We need to run! His voice cracked which caused him to repeat the statement again only to see Lesley ignoring him.


    After five useless arrows, the monster had reached the halfway point of climbing the wall and he repeated himself for Lesley to nod and turn towards the front of the fortress.


    They had gotten a single step each, Otto froze along with Lesley as the sight sunk in.


    They were trapped.


    The ice skill which they had avoided by moving back was still producing at a prodigious rate and had umted a foot-deep pile of ice that grew each moment as more fell. The problem was it was covering the front half of the fort''s roof. Where the trap door was.


    Fuck! Their exmations were said nearly in unison.


    Otto withdrew another arrow but fumbled it as he leaned over tounch his arrow.


    The monster was only a foot beneath them.


    Yellow eyes met his.


    He stumbled back but that was the only thing that saved him from a whip of blood that cracked the air with its passage. The snap was so high pitched it hurt his ears and then it was toote.


    The monster was on the roof.


    Lesley had retreated and loossed her [Charged Shot] skill enhanced arrow. His Tier 6 team leader''s shot was deadly and at this range she couldn''t miss and the skill made sure it couldn''t be blocked.


    Until today.


    The arrow was deflected off a t ne of blood and ice causing the shot to careen off to the side of the woman''s head. He saw a wince as two tenderals of bloodshed out and Lesley twisted to avoid them.


    He, still on his back, scooted away and notched another arrow before his legs stopped working.


    Otto looked down to see why he wasn''t moving to find his legs were gone and then the pain hit.


    He screamed.


    Through the pain he tried to lose the arrow but found a bird w descending towards his face.


    Ottosst sight was of Lesley being impaled from behind as the ice on the roof rose up and a rain of blood like bullets killed his friend.


    Suddenly the pain stopped and he was momentarily disoriented in a wave of purple thenying in a hospital bed with a view of Lesleys hole filled body and ssy eyes staring back at him from one bed over.


    He overheard someone saying they got overwhelmed and cursing followed but his eyes were locked on Lesley.


    Her mouth moved and she tried to say something to him but it was lost in all the other screaming.


    Otto reached out to help her but she was swarmed by people in healer''s robes and suddenly he was surrounded as well.


    It''s ok now. An older man stood over with only his eyes visible from his sanitary clothing.


    His eyes were a kind brown that spoke of the soft soil of his family''s backyard. It felt so far away and so long ago that he had seen itst.


    Otto felt everything going cold and wondered if he was going to die.


    The healer said something but he missed it.


    <em>What does a dead man need words for</em>?


    He didn''t die. The pain receded not long after and he looked down to see his legs were now attached and the healers gone. He wiggled his toes and found everything still worked.


    A nurse, a tired looking man, reached out with a hand and said something he missed.


    Otto focused on the man''s uncovered mouth and finally pieced together what he was trying to say.


    Come with me. We have a nice peaceful ce to stay.


    He was led to aforting room that looked like a garden mixed with a petting zoo.


    At his guide''s instance he was sitting by a tree where a curious rabbit wandered over to him and then climbed into hisp.


    He idly stroked the soft fur as the events reyed themselves over and over. Blood and pain.


    Otto pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked around. A few people in healer''s robes moved from person to person but he was confused at their purpose as some stopped to talk and others moved on. It didn''t take long for him to realize that they were checking up to the people who were breaking down and talking to those that needed it.


    He refused to be one of them.


    His pride won out until he remembered the taloned foot descending onto his face. If the watcher had been any slower


    He swallowed hard and focused on the soft fur in hisp until Lesley was led in and he noticed her clothes were reced with a white set he hadn''t noticed himself wearing either. Everyone was but he had somehow missed the change of clothes. He didn''t know why he was focusing on that but he was unable to take his mind off the incongruity.


    That was until Lesley saw him and burst into tears. His strong resolute team leader slumped to the ground in front of him and wept into the soft grass.


    Otto couldn''t hold it in any longer and did the same as he watched her. Great wracking sobs tearing out of him.


    He didn''t know who moved first but they were embracing, they weren''t close friends but they had grown close over thest month of war preparation and then the week of standing guard. As her second inmand over the archers they spent a lot of time together.


    In the end it just felt good to be held and that just caused the emotions to pour out faster until both of them were finally drained.


    ***


    Matt brought his sword around and cut into a hip. Most of the defenders, who were locked out of the fort by one of their fasterrades, were Tier 5 and unable to stand up to a group of Pathers a Tier higher than them. A few of them were Tier 6, but they fared no better, as Matt ignored their attacks that simply bounced off [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He used the openings from their failed attacks to finish them off.


    After a minute of frantic fighting they were standing alone, only left with the sound of me being passed around inside of the fortress.


    Matt smiled when he heard the shouting. Two of the people who made it in med the other for closing the door too early, and the other insisted that they saved them by shutting the door early. It had been them or the people outside, after all.


    Stopping [Hail], Matt began charging his de with mana, and as it reached 1000 mana, he brought the glowing de around on the door. He released [Mana Charge] onto the wood and metal just before impact.


    The door cracked and splintered at the loud explosion, but held. The fortress had a reinforcement enhancement that allowed it to resist more damage, but thankfully, the shielding formation was only on the outer wall to prevent ranged attacks. The inner fort had to make due with the simpler rune.


    As he readied a second attack, Annie messaged them, Got a line to the second floor.


    Matt paused for a heartbeat and said, Conor go with her. Emily and I will keep their attention down here.


    Half a minuteter, he mmed another [Mana Charge] into the door, causing another loud explosion.


    He unleashed three more attacks before a hole appeared at the top of the door, and a [Fireball] greeted him. With his reflexes perfected beyond the norm for Tier 6, Matt was able to duck the attack, and Emily returned the spell with one of her own.


    The [Bolt] caused a scream that indicated someone else was out of the battle.


    He checked everyones oveys and found that Emily, Liz, and Aster were all at around half mana. It would cause them to start rationing their spells. Conor was the one who surprised him during his check. The man had mentioned that his Tier 3 Talent let him sustain mana, and he was currently sitting at around seventy five percent. His AI made a note that he was able to hold the mana hungry [Demon Zone] for so long, which meant that his Talent gave him back quite a bit of mana.


    The next blow of his sword blew away enough of the door for him to see that the defenders had stacked tables and chairs over the entrance. This time, Matt charged a [Mana sh] that he used to cut through the debris. Its prating power was stronger, while [Mana Charge] had more blunt damage.


    Another scream came from inside the fort, and after charging his sword once again, Matt jumped through the now broken down door. He was immediately met by another [Fireball] to the face. It washed over [Cracked Phantom Armor], but wasnt able to break through, only straining his control over the skill. From the feedback his skill gave him, he guessed that the mage was a peak Tier 6, or weak Tier 7.


    Hended with a skid, as the floor was slick with something, and he tumbled across the room as another wash of me hit him. The oil he slipped in caught fire with him, but its slower damage was far easier for [Cracked Phantom Armor] to handle. The mes from the oil were nothingpared to the skills that ate through the mana flowing through [Cracked Phantom Armor]s structure.


    He stood, and with the fire blocking his vision, relied on his spiritual sense to find his nearest enemy. His AI indicated that it was the mage who had lit him on fire, so he decided to return their gift and tackled them into the still burning oil. With a thought, he created spikes on his armored fists.


    It took three blows for the person under him to vanish, and Matt was quickly running low on air. His armor would block the me, but the fire was burning all of the oxygen around his face, and his already taxed muscles were growing desperate for air. If he had known this would happen, he would have taken their underwater breathing broach. He could have used it to expand his breath-holding abilities.


    Drawing from his rechargeable mana stone for a full mana pool, he quickly cast [Create Water] over his head before his active skills drained him down to one percent of his maximum mana. There, his regeneration could handle the costs of his core skills that were constantly running.


    With the fire extinguished, Matt let the water skill run, as the mana cost to continue was nothing to him. The first breath was sweet as his armor filtered out the smoke, and he finally saw a burnt-out bottom floor of the fortress.


    Matt went to move up the stairs, only to get messages from Liz and Annie in almost unison, causing him to pause.


    Top floor is clear.


    Conor and I cleared the middle floor.


    Matt sent back, Bottom floor burnt out but clear. That leaves a floor between each of us. He thought for a second before asking, Anyone kill the Tier 7?


    At the chorus of nos, he said, Annie and Liz, clear the floor between you two. Emily and I will clear the floor between you and us. I expect Tier 7 to be between the top floor and the middle one.


    Emily was now in the room, with a wet cloth wrapped over her mouth and nose.


    She private messaged him, The fuck are you made out of? I saw you burning.


    Out loud he responded, My armor is great for low damage over a long time. What it cant handle are single big hits.


    She nodded at that and turned to the stairs leading to the second floor.


    Ready?


    Matt didnt verbally respond, he just moved forward after finding his de along the far wall. The staircase ran along the outer wall, and they rushed up the stairs and to the door, only to find it unlocked and unbarred. He burst through and found not a single person inside. From the fighting he could hear from above, he assumed that Liz, Conor, and Annie were fighting the remaining defenders.


    He and Emily ran up the stairs, but the fighting was already over when they arrived. Their team was simply standing around, while the floor was covered in blood and debris.


    Matt went over to Liz and Aster and asked, What happened?


    As he approached them under the pretense of scratching his bond, he activated his Concept, but Liz grabbed his wrist and privately messaged him.


    No. Dont do that. Its too obvious right now.


    He did as she asked. She was right, the others could see her mana pools percentage, and if it rapidly filled, it would be far too obvious. He sighed as Liz exined what she and Aster had gotten up to.


    Aster and I fought our way along the wall, then climbed to the roof where we could fight the other two archers. Good call on the shield skill. The archer was on the roof and got a good, skill enhanced shot off, but with my Concept reinforcing the spell it blocked the arrow. After that, I cleared the roof, then Annie, Conor, and I fought nearly a dozen people in this room. The Tier 7 was a melee fighter, so it wasnt that bad. I just flooded the area of the room he was in.


    He looked to Annie and Conor to hear about their floor.


    We had a few people in the middle floor, since it had a door leading to the wall, but nothing crazy. Easy enough that theres nothing to report.


    Matt nodded. Liz, report in for us while Annie gets her hip looked at. Conor and I will go repair what defenses we can. I think well be told to hold this location, so lets prepare for that.


    Emily was already looking at her sisters wound, and he and Conor moved to the bottom floor, while Liz and Aster moved to the roof to message someone back at headquarters.


    Matt couldnt wipe the grin off his face. They had only been expected to harass the fort, but they had managed to take it.


    As he and Conor boarded the gatehouse back up, they discovered that the door was cracked and didn''t sit right in its frame. Neither of them knew how it happened. They could only specte that it was when Annie managed to get the door open for them. Breaking the door wouldnt have been a bad move for the defenders if it kept them out.


    After that was taken care of to the best of their ability, Matt left Conor to go charge the bases mana stone located on the second floor. It still had half a charge, but he topped it off with his own mana. Meanwhile, he drained a single mana stone to spread some dust around the crystal, and hide the fact he filled the fort''s power reserves himself. It was some usible deniability, at least.


    Liz messaged everyone while he was standing around the forts mana stone. They want us to hold the fort. They didnt expect us to take it and are scrambling to get us reinforcements.


    Did they have an estimated time?


    Three hours at the earliest.


    That wasnt that bad, and Matt moved back outside to join Conor and watch their surroundings.


    While keeping watch, he checked his messages from the army AI, and smiled at the points he had earned.


    <strong>Team Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Forty Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 5s killed. 1 point each.</strong>


    <strong>Eleven Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    <strong>One Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 7 killed. 25 points.</strong>


    <strong>Mining site captured. 500 points.</strong>


    <strong>Medium fort captured. 5000 points. Two times normal points are awarded for solo team capture. 10,000 points.</strong>


    <strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. 624 points.</strong>


    <strong>Personal Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Neen Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 5s killed. 1 point each.</strong>


    <strong>Seven Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Medium fort captured. 5000 points.</strong>


    Matt couldnt remove the grin from his face. He had earned 16,298 points, just from this mission. He had little doubt that the Kingdom would also reward them for their surprisingly sessful operation.


    The fact that they got double the expected points from taking the fort made him want to dance on the walls as he kept watch. Getting rewarded for taking the fort as a team and as a personal merit was interesting, but it was enough to make him start nning the next mission.


    If they repeated this feat a few more times, they would have more than enough points to get the Tier 14 skills they wanted, along with some of the top tier items in the price range of hundreds of thousands of points.


    He spoke to Conor as they passed each other on their opposite paths of walking the wall.


    We made out like bandits on this one.


    Conor grinned and fist-bumped Matt as he passed. We need to see if we can do this again. I could use the points.


    Mattughed at him and called out over his shoulder, Great minds think alike. I cant resist the lure of these points.


    The six of them watched the fort for four hours with the expectation that their reinforcements would arrive soon. They had been told it was taking longer, but they were already an hourte.


    None of them minded the extra wait. It was free points, after all.


    Liz, on the top of the fort with Emily, called out, I see something.


    Matt looked where she was pointing, but it wasnt from the southeast as he expected. No, it was from the north. Queendom territory.


    How many?


    I cant tell. I only got a glimpse. They were flying low.


    Matt thought hard. Call it in and ask about the state of our reinforcements.


    A momentter, Liz said, We aremanded to hold. Reinforcements are fifteen minutes out.


    Matt nodded. It seemed like a reasonable call. The approaching enemies would take time to get here, and he doubted they would engage immediately, allowing their reinforcements to scare them off. He doubted that either side was sending more than the fifty people who usually held a medium fort.


    They would just need to defend the fort for a short while.


    He and Conor moved to the front gate to see the approaching attackers. There were nearly one hundred people. Far more than he expected, but with the defender''s advantage, he expected that they could hold them off until their reinforcements arrived.


    There was a special irony about defending the fort they just took over, but he tightened his grip on his de and watched as the group of Queendom fighters advanced.


    He looked to Conor as he stood next to him and said, You know what the Queendom defenders did?


    Yeah? Conor didnt look away but sounded confused as he replied.


    Yeah, were gonna take that, and do the opposite.

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82


    The approaching small army stopped at the edge of the treeline and began to spread out. It wasn''t a full wall of people, but it was wide enough to alert the attackers if Matt and his team tried to escape from the fort by climbing over the back wall.


    It was a good strategic decision that he wished they hadn''t made. If they were ipetent, this would all be a lot easier.


    At least their reinforcements were only a few minutes away. Matt looked to their north and found nothing, but knew they had to be somewhere, racing across the horizon. They just needed to hold these guys off for a little while, and they would get harried from the rear, trapping them between a rock and a hard ce. At that point, he hoped that the Queendom would give up on retaking the fort.


    Annie raced over towards them, under the area where they were standing on the outer wall.


    Any chance I can sneak out?


    Matt looked around and asked, Can you drop down without your invisibility breaking?


    Annie was silent for a minute. Not if they have a Tier 7. And the drop would be hard to hide.


    Matt reached into his bag and withdrew his modified golem crossbow, along with the three quiver of bolts he kept for the weapon.


    Maybe you can make use of this.


    He paused and asked, Wait. Are you any good with ranged weapons?


    Annie shrugged and said, It''s not my favorite style ofbat, but I have the ranged module for my AI, and there isn''t much wind, so it should be fine.


    Matt cursed internally, but they had little recourse. He was needed to guard the broken fort''s door with Conor. It was very obviously broken, and he doubted that the attacking force would be caught unawares about their reinforcements. That would only lead to them sending a single, strong push to break through the weakest point. They would be hoping to secure the fort before more Kingdom fighters could arrive.


    It was a gamble on being able to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. With Annie on the walls, and the three mages attacking from the high ground on the fort''s roof, he hoped that they could hold through one or two waves.


    The attackers would need to storm the fort quickly with everything they had, if they hoped to overwhelm them. Unless they had siege equipment with them. Then things would get a little dicey. Especially if they had the means to climb the twenty-foot stone walls. Ladders would take time to make if they didn''t bring them because of the limited space that lower Tier spatial bags had to offer. Grappling hooks were harder to use, but easier to carry, so there was a distinct chance that they were equipped with a few. He made a note in his AI that they should have brought grappling hooks with them. It would have allowed them to avoid the front entrance.


    As he watched Annie vanish in the light of the setting sun, he received a message from Emily. My [Bolt] is too short-ranged to use from the top of the fort. I need to be on the wall.


    Matts initial thought was to curse, but as he rechecked his surroundings, he noticed that it wasn''t that bad of a situation. They would need someone on their left nk to protect from attacks holding them down, and allowing a token force to scale the walls. Annie could handle one side, being both invisible and ranged, but that left their other side undefended. This could work.


    Take the left nk. He ran the simtions and then added, to his distaste, Take Aster with you.


    His bond was a better pair with Liz and synergizing blood with ice, but she didnt quite have the range that Liz did. Even then, the situation was still less than ideal. Liz was basically a water mage who were mid-range at best. An archer would be ideal to cover them from above, with Liz guarding their rear, but they would have to have her take both roles.


    Aster would be better on the wall, helping to keep people from climbing it.


    He checked his AI and its internal clock. Fourteen minutes and seven seconds. They could hold out for that long.


    The first row of attackers moved forward with quick steps, and set up what looked like a stubby tube. Matt was confused until the image registered with his memories from the war movies that hed seen. It was a siege cannon.


    To his horror, they were pouring mana crystals into the rear holder from a spatial bag, as if they were water.


    He and Conor seemed to register it at the same time, and they dropped off the wall. A split second after they had the chance to hunker down, the concussive force of the spell shattered the air. The world seemed to shake as the dust settled. Matt stood before Conor, with the world around him ringing and blurring. The man was mouthing something while working his jaw. Matts ears had been mostly protected from the concussive force by his armor, but Conor wasn''t so lucky.


    With two steps, he was in the little gatehouse and staring at the door that was little more than remnants of hinges clinging to the ckened stone.


    His AI had already identified the model of cannon and done the math. They had used at least 10,000 mana in that st. That was fifty Tier 5 mana stones; essentially the value of a Tier 6 stone, if not its mana equivalent.


    Matt was aghast. He created mana at an absurd rate, but that single attack was the production of a Tier 5 rift run eight times, if the average reward was given. It just seemed wasteful when that much mana could have sustained a crafter making a permanent weapon, or powered a city for hours. If they converted that mana into personal mana for their mages mana pools, it could havepletely refueled four or five mages.


    Matt wasn''t able to think anymore, as the enemy had charged forward in unison with their first wave, and were now only steps away from the annihted entrance.


    He cleared his head, and realized that he had been instinctively charging [Mana sh]. The blue crescent quicklyshed out with an eager bite. Two people vanished as they tumbled in a spray of blood and still-settling dust.


    Conor appeared next to him as the attackers reached the doorway. The other man stood at his shoulder and thrust his shield forward, blocking a descending mace. An idle part of Matt noticed that the man was using a short metal truncheon instead of his sword, or longer mace.


    Matt kicked an attacker in the knee and immediately noticed that they were only Tier 6. The way they crumpled under his full power almost gave him pause, but he had no time to think, he could only act with power and speed.


    The door was four people wide, which let him swing his longsword around without any hindrance, but it also meant that he was always fighting at least three people while they cram their way in. A shield was split under his Tier 7 de as he braced himself and swung at the nearest enemy.


    A screaming howl of wind tried to knock him off his feet, but Matt instinctively used his Concept to anchor himself to the ground. It knocked everyone else to their asses at the same time, and Matt noticed the mage and five archers standing behind their fallen allies. He didn''t know when they moved forward, but they were now only fifty feet away, so Matt rushed them.


    As he stepped over the rising bodies of the Queendom forces, he kicked an armored head and winched as the man vanished. Head wounds were dangerous, he tried to avoid them if he could, and only hoped that the man had been pulled out before any significant damage was done.


    The archers and mage hadnt missed the opportunity created by theirrades falling, and the archers loosed their arrows. He didn''t know if it was a mimunication or not, but they all aimed for Conors still prone form instead of splitting their targets.


    That was their final mistake.


    Matt was close enough to get off a [Mana sh], which he realized right as he was nearly halfway across the distance separating them. A [Wind Wall] sprang up, protecting the mage in the center and an archer on either side of him. The others were just gone, and as Matt mmed his ever brightening de into the defensive spell, he understood why.


    They were only Tier 5.


    He almost felt like a bully, but they were a part of a mixed force, and therefore fair game. His feelings didn''t cause his de to slow as he reared it back, and with a bright explosion of blue light, broke through the mages defenses.


    The wind mage just dropped to the ground, with blood running from his nose from the rebound of having his spell forcefully shattered. But Matt still had two archers to deal with. They hadn''t been dumb, and knew they were stuck behind the [Wind Wall], but they hadn''t sat still.


    Once the barrier fell, they both fired arrows at Matt. They were good shots. One went for Matt''s face, and the other at his chest, making them exceedingly difficult to dodge or block at this range.


    Matt ignored the arrows as they bounced off his armor, and bounded towards them. He cut through both of them in a heavy horizontal sh.


    As they fell, he noticed another group of attackers forming up at the edge of the woods, and more people mulling around the cannon. Matt sprinted back to the safety of meleebat with his enemies, and started shing at them from behind.


    Conor was back up and had taken most of them out already. He had four arrows sticking out of his shield, and another in his shoulder.


    They retreated into the hall and peered out as the attackers prepped their cannon.


    Can you pull this arrow out? It''s stuck in my shoulder joint and I can''t reach it.


    Matt reached up, and after checking the direction of the arrow, pulled it out. To his surprise, it only had a small drop of blood on it.


    How didnt this hit you?


    Conor shrugged with his now mobile shoulder. No clue, I was just huddling behind my shield when I saw the backline. Got lucky, I guess.


    Matt tossed the arrow and asked everyone else on his team for a report.


    Annie responded first. Two small groups of people tried to scale the wall. They were going more for stealth, so it was easy to deal with them.


    Emily said, A full team withdders tried to scale my wall, but I managed to kill them and destroy thedders.


    Matt cursed and asked, Did they look made here, or professionally made?


    Rough, Sticks and shitshed together.


    Matt breathed a slight sigh of relief. It wasn''t ideal that they were making them, but they at least hadnte prepared with them.


    Liz noted, People were sniffing around the back wall where it meets up with the fortress, but I was able to keep them away without much effort.


    Matt peered out of the tunnel and saw that the enemies were actually pulling back their cannon and assembling arger force. It looked like they were gathering everyone that hadnt been a part of thest rush or the encircling force.


    Scared to see how much time had passed, Matt checked his countdown. Seven minutes fifty-seven seconds left.


    Matt sighed. They were practically guaranteed their victory when their reinforcements arrived.


    If his initial guess of one hundred people was correct, he estimated that they had sent twenty-five or so people to surround them, with another twenty-five in thest attack through the three ces they tried to gain entrance. If they attacked with everything they had, it was at most fifty people, if they wanted to keep their encirclement up.


    At five people abreast, if they all tried to cram through the front entrance, they could probably do this. They didn''t need to kill all of them, just weaken them enough. When their reinforcements arrived, the Queendom fighters would either flee or stay pinned between two attacking forces.


    The party of fifty people moved forward in a ragged formation, with shields in the front and the archers and mages behind them.


    Matt pped Conors side to get his attention, and they moved to either side of the opening. A quick nce at his AI showed him that Emily and Aster were slightly forward, but still guarding their side. Annie had mirrored their actions, and Matt steadied his breathing while he peeked around the corner.


    The approaching unit was peppering the tunnel with arrows, trying to keep them pinned down. But with the thickness of the wall and construction of the gatehouse, there was little chance of him or Conor being hit.


    Matt looked to his left and nodded at his fellow melee fighter when the group reached the fifty-foot mark. They both burst forward as the attackers did the same.


    With how close the groups were, there was no chance of stray arrows taking them out, and they wanted to have the whole entrance to retreat back through.


    Together, they took the charge head on, and stopped it dead in its tracks, but it wasn''t without cost. Matt took a spear to the chest, and while it wasn''t able to punch through his armor, it stymied the swing of his sword. The weakened blow only cut into one shield, and got stuck halfway through. He kicked out and freed his sword, but he took three chopping strikes in retaliation.


    As he was bringing a [Mana Charge] empowered de around, he felt a phantom blow on his shoulder. As everyone in Conors [Demon Zone] also flinched at the same time, he knew it was the chance for an attack in the zone to reflect to everyone. With [Cracked Phantom Armor], he was unharmed by the weak blow, but everyone else was unprepared for a sudden blow, and stumbled under the force.


    When his de mmed onto an unbraced shield, the soldier wielding it and the two people behind him were gone in a sh of light. They might have used 10,000 mana to break down a wall with the war cannon, but Matt used 1,000 mana to obliterate three people with his enchanted weapon.


    With Conor at his side, Matt fought on. They were mostly in a melee, with few spells being cast. Most of the skills that <em>were</em> used were weapon enchantments or melee skills. Anything that needed range was simply too hard to use in such close quarters. After what felt like an hour of fighting, the battle began shifting to a more and more defensive struggle as the minutes dragged on.


    He was breathing heavily. Even with [Endurance] running at a full 2 MPS, fighting was hard work. And with stakes this high, Matt was giving it everything he had.


    A nce at his AI told him everything he needed to know.


    Time until reinforcements: minus three minutes and four seconds.


    They were pulling back because they were retreating, with their retaking of the fort a failure.


    Matt checked his team''s status, and found everyone except himself and Aster with slight injuries.


    Conor''s leg was shing red, causing Matt to reach for him and pull him back deeper into the tunnel.


    What happened?


    Sharpness enchanted de got my thigh. Didn''t hit anything important, but I can''t put much weight on it.


    Matt internally cursed while he pulled out a clotting potion and just dumped it onto the bleeding leg. It had an anesthetic effect, which would help Conor remain active. Though, without full use of his leg, the man would be essentially stationary for anything they needed to do next.


    Annie, Emily, and Liz all had shallow cuts on their upper body, and Matt wondered about how they sustained. But what was more worrying was their mana situation. All of the mages were all sitting at around one-quarter of their maximum.


    Matt left Conor propped against a wall at the entrance to the tunnel at the mans insistence, and moved to the wall to get a better view of what was happening.


    He expected to see the enemy retreating, or fighting off more forces, but his brain ground to a halt when he saw none of the above. They simply retreated, with around twenty people, back to their encirclement line.


    In the group chat, he asked, Whats going on?


    Liz snapped back, Our fucking relief went dark and no one can contact them but they know they arent dead.


    Matt froze at the unexpected situation. He just didnt know how toprehend that. Afraid to attack a wounded party of roughly equal numbers? Who would make such a call? Even if they just wanted to y it safe, they could have fought their way to the fort then joined Matts party in the walls.


    What?


    It was only half coherent, but Liz seemed to understand.


    Ive been talking with Juni, and hes as mad as we are. My best guess is the reinforcement group is led by a coward. Headquarters is trying to find us help, but they already had to scramble to get us that idiot.


    Annie said, Ok, so were fucked. Same with this fort. I vote we get the fuck out of here.


    Matt nodded. That''s the best n. Im not dying just for the Kingdom to still lose the fort.


    They still had to figure out what to do with Conor, but the man seemed to understand and said, I can''t run to keep up, and Im happy to try to buy you some time.


    Matt had already run the simtions and found a course of action where didn''t need to do that. They only needed to fight their way out of the fort and to a mile away, where the anti-flight formation didn''t have an effect. If he couldve simply shut down the formation, he would have done that while still inside, and just had them fly out from here. But sadly, that was impossible.


    I dont think that will be necessary. We can carry you with Lizs blood and get us all out of here.


    Matt looked around and said, Hows everyone else? Any problems?


    At the chorus of nos, he peered over the battlement at the attackers. They were performing triage on their wounded, though there weren''t that many. Most had either died and were teleported out, or didn''t take much damage.


    They needed to escape. And they needed to do it now.


    Matt was quickly joined by Annie, Emily, and Aster, while Liz made her way down to them. In just under ten minutes, they were ready to leave. Conorsrge frame draped an arm over Liz while being held up by tendrils of blood.


    The six of them were getting ready to make a break for it, when another group of Queendom troops came through the woods.


    This time, it was easily more than the one hundred that first came to the fort, and Matt saw their chance to escape vanish when he noticed that the far-off figures had spread out to make the encirclement stronger.


    He cursed, Fuck! Back into the fort.


    It was their only chance, and it was a bad one. At this point, they had to hope that they could hold on to the smaller and more defensible fort itself.


    Matt had an idea percting, but wasn''t happy with it. Still, it was their only chance.


    He wasnt willing to tell anyone about his Talent, it would paint toorge a target on him. But he <em>could</em> reveal his Concept. Giving mana was rare, but not unheard of, and it was limited by willpower. It wasn''t an unlimited resource, so it wasnt as dangerous to expose.


    With a few carefully crafted lies, he could keep them going while giving them a chance to hold out for more reinforcements. As long as they held the inner fort, the Queendom would need to dedicate a sizable force to prevent them from sallying forth and attacking their rear. A hundred Kingdom fighters not led by a coward could easily harass this border fort enough to make it too costly for the Queendom to continue to bleed troops in a losing position.


    It was a faint hope, but it was all they had, and Matt refused to give up. If retreat wasn''t an option, they had to stand and fight.


    They entered the fort, and mmed the surviving half of the door shut.


    ***


    Emily hurt. Everything ached, but her spirit was growing more and more sore with the repeated use of her Talent. It wasn''t exactly as she had told everyone at the auction. While that hadn''t exactly been a lie, it wasnt the full truth either.


    Her Talent didnt <em>exactly</em> double the power of spells, but it was close enough especially at the start.


    She looked down to her wrist as they came into the fort. If she stopped absorbing the [Cracked Mana Bolt] and let it settle into her spirit, her [Bolt] would do four times as much damage. The problem was, if she did that, the skill would be at her outer spirit, and the mana cost of the skill would go up. While she could fix its location, it would take months of meditation to move the skill through her spirit once the initial absorption of the skill ended.


    If her and her sister''s lives were actually at risk, the choice would be easy, but with only a fake death, it didn''t seem worth it. They would lose their points, but this war wasn''t going to be short, and they could be earned back easily enough.


    She once again cursed herself for starting with [Cracked Mana Bolt] instead of [Fireball]. She wouldnt care about dumping that skill into her outer spirit. It would only be used in conjunction with the rest of her chain, not for its damage. She had more water spells that would be better to castter.


    [Water Bubble] also got an increase in effect, and it was an amazing defensive choice if she needed it.


    They were about to get screwed over because some Kingdom leader was a coward. If they had arrived an hour ago, when they were supposed to, this wouldn''t be a problem. If they had arrived and attacked the rear of the enemy, they could have easily held the fort against two hundred people with fifty.


    Matt grabbed her attention as the door mmed shut. He quickly spoke, My Concept gives mana. Most of it is focused inward.


    She almost didn''t believe him. Melee types like him always went with hitting hard. It was the best way to increase damage, but as she thought about it, it made sense. The man always sat near empty with his mana, but that made sense if his Concept was feeding him mana.


    She felt her spirit churn as mana flowed into her from somewhere. It was like water was being poured down her metaphysical spine. Not ufortable, but apletely new sensation.


    I can''t do this forever, but I can get you all back to near full, then Ill run out. I''d appreciate you keeping this quiet, but I can''t let us die when I might be able to make a difference.


    Emily nodded to herself. That was a sign of trust. It also exined how he cast things like [Hail] without his mana changing its level. But with an armor Talent that made it free, she could see the logical steps to giving his excess mana to his mages, and turning that into a Concept. No, now that she thought about it it was a wless move


    . She knew the man was smart, but that was out-of-the-box thinking.


    I won''t say anything.


    Her sister echoed her sentiment, and Conor nodded his agreement. He was clearly using [Endurance] with the free mana to heal quickly, and had his eyes closed while rubbing the area around the wound.


    Annie, the first to reach full mana, said, Im going to slip outside and try to create some havoc.


    Emily was going to protest, but Matt beat her to it. No. It''s better to have you do that in here.


    Emily didn''t like that either, but it was an improvement, so she held her tongue.


    They peered through the destroyed doorway, and saw the Queendom fighters moving forward.


    Liz said, We already blocked the second floor door with some stone rubble. We can hold and bleed them as we climb upward when we get pushed back. Headquarters seems to want to hold this ce, and they want us to hold out while they get another team here.


    Her sister spat, Yeah, because that went <em>so</em> well before. Fuck them. When we get back, Im finding and stabbing that coward of a leader.


    Emily agreed with the sentiment, and from Lizs curled lip and Matts armored stance, they seemed to as well.


    At the pounding of feet, Emily turned to the door and shot out a [Water Bullet], quickly followed by a [Bolt]. Her Talent increased the effect of thest skill, and [Bolt] normally had a slight chance to jump from person to person, if there was leftover energy. When it was twice as strong, the spell almost always took out two people. She wasn''t sure if that was the army watchers being cautious, or if it would take more hits to really kill someone.


    It wasn''t a pretty thought, but she was pretty sure that with both [Fireball] and [Cracked Mana Bolt], she would be hitting seven times harder. That was a jump of nearly a Tier and a half. It was a scary, but exciting thought. She needed to find a way to solve the problem of spiritual strain and mana cost.


    Her mental eye went to the blue armored man in front of her guarding her front. With Matts Concept, while she couldn''t cast indefinitely, she could get as far as her spirit let her. The thought that she needed to keep close to him was quashed ruthlessly. She wasn''t her parents, who used everyone near them. She liked Matt, and firmly made up her mind to never ask the man for mana.


    He was a friend, not a resource.


    It was still a wee novelty, as she cast without care to her reserves. She didn''t worry about saving her attacks for the optimal attack, and just cast [Water Bullet] and [Bolt] as fast as her spirit let her.


    Two Queendom fighters shoved their way into the door, and Matt and Conor stood firm, taking blow after blow. They were more a makeshift wall of skill and steel, but they held admirably.


    She cast herbo once again, and the front two people vanished.


    They were settling into a rhythm when Annie messaged them all, Theyre breaking into the second floor. Earth mage or something.


    All of them cursed, and a rain of [Hail] burst out on the door, causing a pile-up as they all ran to the rear and up the stairs.


    Matt threw himself at a man who, even when cut nearly in half, didnt disappear, and instead quickly fused together with a burst of lighting. They were entangled, and Emily had no idea who woulde out on top. She cast herbo at another two people, and watched as they vanished.


    Conor intercepted a man in armor with a pink undershirt who cast [Force Bolt] at the frontliners armor joints. Conor took the hit without a sound, even as she saw blood fly. She tried to give him a hand, when the world went white.


    Everyone froze, and all of the enemies were encased in white, while Aster was standing at the center of the growing ice attack. The other Queendom fighters were covered in frost, which grew to ice, then roses. It was so pretty, but while she wasn''t affected personally, the disy was a reminder that her fox teammate wasn''t just a cute mascot, but a dangerous mage in her own right.


    Matt disentangled himself from his opponent, and as everyone encased in ice vanished, Liz stepped into the second floor. She was being pushed back from her position holding the first-floor attackers off.


    Aster broke herself from her spell, and they all ran up to the third floor, where they would only have to defend a single point of entrance instead of the two on the second floor.


    The door was mmed shut, when Emily noticed that her sister was nowhere to be seen. She cursed and was about to go back out for her, when Conor stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.


    If it was anyone else with her sister''s Talent that had stayed behind, she would have expected they would run and abandon them, but not her sister. Annie had always taken the burden from her.


    ***


    Annie pressed herself in the corner of the room''s ceiling and waited. Watching Aster sh freeze half a dozen people was impressive, but she still saw the way things were going. They were left out to dry, and they were all fucked if they didn''t do <em>something</em>.


    Matt had a good point about holding out, but she didn''t think it was likely. Themander was throwing everything they had at this assault, and from the way the fights were going, she noticed at least two groups of Pathers being sent ahead to clear the building.


    No, if any of them wanted to get out alive, some chaos needed to be spread.


    She waited until a mass of Queendom fighters came, and then slipped down to the first floor while the stairs were clear.


    She didn''t know what Liz had done, but the room was painted red. There was blood dripping off of the ceiling in a disgusting disy.


    Annie picked her steps carefully. While her Talent allowed her to remain invisible and mostly intangible, it wasn''t perfect, and bloody footprints would give her away. Even if she could walk through most soft objects without disturbing them, liquids were still beyond her for now.


    Carefully picking her way out of the fort, she found a wounded man and scooped him up while using his body to cover her Kingdom arm sash. She had learned long ago that blending in was more than not being seen. Sometimes, being seen was far better, so she abandoned her Talent without hesitation.


    She stumbled like her leg hurt and started to move the man out of the fort, where there was a triage station set up. No one wanted to be killed and lose their points if they could avoid it. She also noticed the leaders camp right next to the aid station.


    As they limped closer, she inspected the healer. It was a party healer, which meant that they were fair game. She formted her n, and as the healer reached out to help her and the man she was caring for, Annie thrust a knife into the man''s chest,and pulled the three of them down.


    She didn''t go for his heart, but his lung. Without the ability to hold air, the man couldn''t scream. The man next to her was dispatched by touching her dagger to his throat. Both of them vanished.


    Annie reactivated her Talent, and half crawled away and under a table. She waited until someone noticed the disappearance of their healer, and ran to report to the leader. When she identified the man in charge, she prepared to slink away.


    From her spiritual sense, the leader was Tier 7, and might be able to see through her Talent. So, she fell into step right behind a Tier 6 woman as she brought the leader a scrap of bloody cloth as evidence of the healers death.


    When the aide was a step away from where Annie thought she would stop, she kicked the aide''s forward-moving foot behind her nted one.


    As the woman iled out, the leader instinctively reached out to steady the falling woman.


    Annie jumped into action, and had just enough time to see the mans eyes widen as her dagger took him in the throat.


    Annie didn''t bother to run. She was surrounded by people, and used her dagger to sh out at the other people who seemed important.


    Her de met flesh until she was too slow, and took a dark, ck, mana made chain through the chest.


    She flung out her dagger in ast, defiant, attack, but was in a hospital bed before she saw the result.


    ***


    Matt brought his de forward in a thrust.


    His head was pounding, and he felt like deactivating his armor and just letting someone split open his head to relieve the pressure. He had never overused his Concept this much before, and keeping the mages over half mana was all he could do.


    It was the only reason they were still fighting strong. Emily was continuously sting people away, and if not for the force of people pushing from behind, Matt knew that no one would be willing to face the embodiment of a lighting st.


    Liz and Aster took potshots while Emily caught her breath. She was panting as if she was running sprints, and clutched her rib as she cast spell after spell.


    Matt was angry.


    They were only in this situation because the Kingdom had put a coward in charge, and he had every intention of breaking his bones for a few weeks straight.


    A [Wind de] shot up the now cleared stairway, and Matt took in on his chest with a wince. That was no normal Tier 6s attack. They broke his armor for a second, but were unable to punch through his lighter inner armor with a single attack.


    Mentally thanking Keith for his armor-breaking training, Matt quickly reformed the spell in his spirit, and had it ready for the next attack.


    The mage realized that they werent getting anywhere after three more attacks, and gave up.


    The only thing Matt could hear was heavy breathing from around him and from the floor below.


    A scream behind him caused him to whirl, only to see what looked like a physical shadow behind them, and a bloody Emily vanishing.


    Mattshed out with a [Mana Charge], but Liz beat him to it with a rain of [Blood Bullets]. The blood attacks didn''t do much to the living shadow, but Matts mana empowered de cut a rent out of the man, and he vanished.


    It was already toote, though. The man had done his job, and people poured around a vanishing Conor and flooded the room.


    Lizshed out with whips of blood, but a glowing barrage of arrows took her out of the fight. Matt heard a yip and felt a sh of pain that only hammered the steel of his rage even further.


    Standing alone in a sea of bodies, he shed withrge rending strokes. Bodies vanished, but more always appeared to fill in the gaps.


    Matt fought on his own for what felt like years, but his AI said it was closer to fifteen minutes. They kept sending bodies at him with little strategy, and the fighting turned primal. Strategy and technique was discarded for power and bloodshed. The Queendom fighters stepped forward and one by one he cut them down as he was slowly pushed back into a wall.


    His armor was broken through more than once, but he was always able to reform it before taking more than shallow cuts.Rage fueled him more than stamina or mana could at this point. In his anger he discarded [Endurance], and put everything he had into [Mages Retreat] and [Cracked Phantom Armor]. They had harmed his family, and he was going to make sure they paid for it.


    With his back to a corner, Matt felled a dozen people in Queendom uniforms. When they pulled back, a shorter man with dark hair and a blue tint to his skin reced them.


    Matt panted heavily as a wave of what looked like ink flew out at him in a wave. Matt tried to sidestep it and charge forward, but felt himself lifted off his feet as the pressure increasing on his armor. The dark water mage was squeezing him until he popped.


    He ignored it and tried to think. He had no leverage, and his only option was to use his teleporting ring. But it felt like a waste to give up his trump card so easily.


    As he tried to think of a way out, he swung his sword through the water ineffectually. The glowing de gave him an idea but with nothing to hit he couldn''t release the mana stored in [Mana Charge].


    Bringing his de around to his leg Matt let the st of mana out. It was unfortunate but without striking something the skill couldnt be triggered, a safety measure he intended to remove after this.


    It broke [Cracked Phantom Armor] and mangled his leg, but it also shattered the spell around him, and he dropped down into a watery puddle. Matt awkwardly lunged forward, but someone else stepped up to protect the mage, and stabbed him while his armor was stilling back.


    The leg he used [Mana Charge] on wasnt working properly, but Matt pushed through the pain and ripped the shield forward with a guttural roar.


    He brought his fist down on an armored head, even as he felt metal bite deep into his back and chest.


    With a final punch and roar, the man under him vanished.


    A momentter, and with an ever-growing cold sensation through his chest, he did as well.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 5

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 5


    PoA The Concept of Death 5


    Melinda and her team walked back to their suite of rooms lethargically. Their brutal beatdown hadn''t ended with the first duel with Matt. No, they tried for a second bout and had been handled just as easily.


    Melinda forced her hands to unclench and wiggled them, letting blood flow freely. Losing to Matt wasn''t the worst thing. Their friend had always been tanky for his Tier. Now that he had rounded out his skills a little, it wasn''t too surprising that he could beat them. He had always been an unrelenting force.


    Even their loss to Liz was eptable. The woman was an elemental maniptor with the ability to carry her element around in a spatial growth item. Her use of skills and the way she helped train Vinnie proved that the woman had invested a lot of time into working on her craft.


    No, it was the loss to Aster that ate at Melinda. Aster, in her mind, was still the cute and adorable baby fox who wanted pets and cuddling. She was pretty sure that they would have beaten Aster if they had a second fight, but having most of her team turned into ice sculptures was something she wanted to avoid.


    Baxter hadn''t said anything else to her, but he hadn''t <em>needed</em> to. His message was taken and understood. If they thought they were slipping before, they now had hard proof that they were weaker than they should be.


    Her musing was interrupted as they entered their suite, and the weight of their recent humiliation became apparent.


    No one said anything until Kyle lightly shoved the coffee table with his foot.


    "That was horse shit."


    Vinnie sneered at him. "At least you got to fight."


    "Shut up. That''s not what I meant. I..."


    Mathew stood and towered over everyone. "No. Stop."


    Her husband was unusually serious, and it caused the bickering to immediately die.


    Once he saw that he had everyone''s attention, he spoke with a t expression on his face.


    "What happened, happened. We can''t change the results of that fight. But we can review and learn from it. Let''s start with Matt."


    Tara interrupted, "We got..."


    Her husband held up a hand. "No. Stop. One at a time. Why did we lose against Matt?"


    They were silent for a minute as each of them pondered the question.


    Sam tossed out, "He knows our talents and skills. He was able to counter us." As if that would absolve them of their failure. Melinda had noticed how mad the woman had been when none of her skills or attacks were able to prate their friends armor. It had been a blow to her confidence.


    Her husband nodded. "Matt knew our Talents. He was able to counter me by getting me off the ground. I know my Talent works less on people, but he was able to negate it by taking me out quickly. But we knew his Talent too, so it should have bnced out. Same with our skills. So what else?"


    Kyle threw out, "He''s strong. Stronger than I am. I checked his skills, and I saw that he was using a strength-enhancing skill." Her teammate grimaced. "It makes him stronger than me. By a lot. It doesn''t help that he''s a better sword fighter either."


    Melinda could see that his admission hurt, but she was proud of Kyle for showing humility. He took pride in his strength and sword skills, so she knew it wasnt easy for him. She learned over and rubbed his shoulder in a show of support.


    Sam had her arms crossed, but Melinda didn''t miss the subtle rubbing of her chest where Matt had stabbed her and Kyle. She made a note to check up on her after this.


    "My poisons are great in a rift, but I''m limited against intelligentbatants. Even more so now, with Matt''s armor being impervious to gases. I would have done better against..."


    Mathew interrupted Sam as she tried to move on to the other fights. "No, let''s get everyone else before we move on."


    Vinnie repeated himself, "He knew our Talents and realized that Tara and I were the two people who could either trap or hurt him, and he took us both out at the very beginning." Vinnie clenched his fist, and with white knuckles said, "We got pped around like kids, but that second shot was bullshit. Tara, how does a crossbow bolt bounce like that?"


    Tara looked confused as she responded, "I don''t know what you mean. I was too busy getting drowned by ice to pay attention. Is the arrow special?"


    Melinda sent everyone her perspective of the second fight, where a crossbow bolt had bounced off the ground like a rubber ball, slipping around Vinnies t wall of defensive earth.


    Tara whistled and said, "That''s a special bow for sure. Maybe it''s the bolt, but I doubt it. Shit, I want one." She cracked a wry smile before asking no one in particr, "Think he''d sell me one?"


    Mathew redirected the conversation. "What else could you have done better, Vin?"


    "I made a t wall because it was cheaper, and well, yeah. You watched how that went. I should have gone underground or encircled myself fully. It''s not like the stone blocks my vision."


    Everyone looked at Tara, and with a sigh she said, "I was screwed from the outset. I can''t shoot an arrow through that much ice. It''s too dense and too heavy to punch through."


    Kyle shrugged. "Was it that bad? I didn''t really see it."


    Tara withdrew an arrow from her new quiver and smacked Kyle. The sharp tip cut a thin line on his leg through his armor, and she said, "I have armor pration. I could feel my Talent trying to punch through the ice. There was so much ice, it was counting as armor." She spoke slowly as she red at all of them.


    "Look at my view of the ice."


    They got another video, and Melinda winced as she saw Tara''s view reced with blue hail as soon as the fight started. The rain of ice was so dense, she couldn''t even see out of the skills area of effect.


    "I can''t shoot through that. My arrows get hit on the shaft and knocked down. It''s absurd how much ice he can shit out. Any normal mage would have had to drain their mana pool to sustain that much ice generation. The only reason I could escape the ice field at all was its small size."


    She looked at Kyle and apologized. "Sorry. Hurting you was wrong."


    Kyle just patted her hand. "I''m sorry I doubted you. You were the only one who was able to hurt Matt after all. I should have known you weren''t sitting on your ass."


    Melinda healed Kyle and said, "I was unprepared for how quickly we went down, and failed as both a shot caller and a healer."


    She swallowed and continued after a minute of reflection. "We should have changed our entire strategy after the first loss. Whether it worked or not, we should have tried."


    Mathew took charge and redirected them. What about Liz? Id say it was pretty fucking terrifying when she just washed over me and slit my throat. I can''t stop a wave, whether its blood or water.


    Melinda saw her husband and Vinnie both shudder at that.


    Vinnie shook his head. I don''t think there was anything we could have done.


    Sam interrupted, I could have poisoned her. And Tara could have shot her.


    Vinnie shook his head. No, while those are both possible, I don''t think theyre practical. We talked. We both have maniption skills. I''d rather fight Matt than her. At Tier 5, she was killing Tier 7 monsters with defensive fighting styles. If she wanted, she could have cut us to shreds with one of her multiple ranged blood spells. You saw the one she used, but she has more.


    Mathew nodded and asked, Anyone else?


    Kyle shrugged slightly and said, Shes strong. We only sparred once, but it was enough to see that she''s stronger than any normal Tier 6 mage should be. Either she''s heavy in physical cultivation, or doing something else. It could be a skill maybe [Mana Strength].


    Sam tossed out, The golem thing didn''t seem like a skill. And she kept her head out of the blood, so she needs to breathe. That''s a weakness that Tara and I can exploit. Its just a hard one to hit.


    They talked for another ten minutes about how to handle Liz, and the conversation eventually shifted to water mages. Technically, you could put Liz in that sort of category as well. It would be a challenge, but taking them out early would be their best chance. The biggest issue is how [Water Maniption] could increase a water mage''s versatility to insane levels. Lizs own version with blood made her a terror in a group fight. The more people bled, the stronger she got.


    They repeated the exercise with Aster, though it was easier for her, as she had blindsided them. That wouldn''t work twice.


    After they recapped everything they had done wrong and what they could have done better, they broke apart. Melinda decided to take a shower when she noticed that there wasnt anyone already making a beeline for it. Standing under the hot water, she was able to rx a bit as it beat down on her shoulders and back. Deep in thought, she watched a few beads drip from her hair onto her chest and roll down.


    So many things that she had always taken as certain were now up in the air.


    The excitement from the new items and skills they were givenst night was reced by the realization of how far they had fallen. Melinda corrected herself. They hadn''t fallen, they just hadnt advanced. Even if shed been able to count on her Talent in the fight, it wouldn''t have made much difference.


    She wouldn''t have been able to get to everyone fast enough to reverse the brain damage that would have urred from Matt and his party''s attacks. Even if it worked once on someone, the fact that she was perfectly healing her teammates would have been instantly identified. After that, she would have been quickly taken down. She could only heal while she had mana, after all.


    She walked out of the shower and started to brush out her hair, still considering the road ahead of them.


    Her team needed to grow. She knew that they could just leave the path, buy a nice house somewhere, and slowly advance. Even if they took their sweet time, they could hit Tier 14 by fourteen hundred years old. It wouldn''t be impossible, or even hard for them. With her Talent, they could carefully delve every few days while being perfectly safe.


    In a thousand years, they could be immortal, and they wouldnt have to worry about anything taking their lives. At that point, they wouldn''t even have to delve very often. She was pretty sure that they could delve a Tier 15 rift once every few months and earn enough to live on.


    As of a week ago, that would have been perfectly eptable. Her family''s lives were the most important thing to her. While that hadn''t changed, Melinda was no longer content to sit around and let life push her along.


    They had worked so hard at the orphanage while they waited for awakening, and even harder at the yPen. Her past self would have never believed the mere <em>idea</em> of her team slipping.


    When they had nothing to distinguish themselves from the masses, they had dutifully strived to improve. When they had be unique, their sense of urgency had all but vanished.


    Melinda stood up, and while still in her slippers, walked out after leaving a message for her team.


    She had only gotten to the front step before Baxter was suddenly next to her.


    She was sure that they looked ridiculous standing next to each other, one in sloppy healer robes, and the other with wet hair and in a bathrobe.


    Melinda didn''t bother to look at her mentor and just watched the people passing by. They were being flown off on transports inrge groups. Laughter and smiles prevalent on peoples faces.


    "What''s the point?" It wasn''t what she really wanted to ask, but it slipped out before she noticed.


    "There isn''t one."


    That jived her out of her crowd gazing. She expected some smartass answer, or being one upped from an angle she hadnt considered.


    Seeing her look, he grinned at her. "No, really. There is no point to anything. If everyone died right now, the would be fine. If the was sterilized right now, it would mean nothing. A rift break would ur, and animals woulde out. If they couldn''t survive, they would die out. Eventually, a rift would invert into a ruin, and an ecosystem would be created and slowly start to terraform the. Then in a few hundred thousand years, this would be perfectly fine."


    The older healer waved around. "It''s the same for the entire multiverse. We don''t mean anything. Gaining power? Bing immortal? Ascending? It all means nothing. We do it because we fear weakness and death."


    He shrugged and said, "Some do it because they enjoy the fighting. Others, because they want power."


    He met her eyes and finished, "It all means nothing, though. The only value is what we assign to it personally. Theres really no point. Only what we make of life for ourselves."


    "I don''t want to believe that." She didn''t want to agree, but a deeper part of her felt that he was right.


    He looked away. "Why do so many people refuse to Tier up to Tier 15? Nearly anyone can hit that Tier. Concepts limit some people, yes. But from the general poption, only about five percent of people hit Tier 14. Seventy percent of those break into Tier 15. Why dont more people strive to at least live a thousand years?"


    "Rifts aren''t always avable."


    He waved that off. "I know you think your is the norm, but it''s not. Your was newly integrated and only Tier 4. Youre missing the bottomyer of the pyramid of rifts. On a Tier 5, no one pays for Tier 1 and 2 rifts. Theyre in abundance. People should be advancing, but they don''t. They sit down for their short lives in the little ruts they make for themselves. Either they give in and die, or snap out of it eventually."


    Thatst bit had a bitter tone that she hadn''t heard from him before.


    "What happened?"


    Baxter waved her off, but when she just looked at him, he sighed and said, "I''m not going to share my own story, so let me share my boss''s. Hes an asshole, so Ill enjoy telling you of his folly. Head healer for the Emperor himself. His moniker is Harvest Moon because he was a battlefield healer who snapped when his healing station was attacked. The idiot went on a rampage and ughtered tens of thousands of people, simply because they were on the other side. The leaders on both sides were furious, but he had technically only responded when the rules were broken, so there was little that the other faction could demand. The only constion they received was that the Empire banned him from the battlefield."


    Her mentor looked ready to spit. If the topic wasn''t so heavy, she would haveughed. He was the only person she knew who would talk bad about their boss like that, but it fit his uncaring personality.


    "But he went overboard. Killing the cultivator responsible would have been one thing, but Harvest Moon had sworn to never take life, and only heal them. The fool didnt realize that he was doomed to fail. The frustration of only cleaning up messes and not being able to help prevent them would cause anyone to snap, and when he did, he ughtered everyone involved in a border skirmish. Now he demands everyone call him ''Harvest Moon'' as a reminder of a healer who went crazy."


    "Is that why you want me to use my Concept? Don''t want me to snap and regret it?"


    "Melinda, you are lucky. Your Talent is amazing, and I have no doubt that your Tier 25 will be just as shocking. But what will you do when someone kills your husband? Your friends? Theyre like family to you. How badly will yoush out when one dies? As you experienced today, you can do everything right and still lose."


    "It''s horrible to watch, though." She didn''t want to see her Concept in action, and she didnt feel like Baxter understood how awful it was, since he hadn''t ever seen it in person.


    "Let me tell you from personal experience that all death is bad. It doesnt matter how they die."


    Melinda let her gaze be pulled along by a flying tform and asked, "If I use my Concept on monsters, it''s a short step to people. I don''t want to be like that."


    "That''s why I want you to use it on monsters, because its inevitable that youll use it on people. You need to know how it works and be ready to defend your family. Most don''t understand what healers go through. Melinda, we can''t save everyone. Even you. I might not be able to heal something, but while you don''t have that problem, you can still run out of mana. When you can''t heal your friends, you have to remove the threat. And trust me, you will be d that you tested it out first."


    Melinda weakly protested, "But I got [Bolt]." She already knew that the argument was pathetic;she didn''t need Baxter to say it. Instead, she said it herself with a sigh. "But if I''m already out of mana, it''s useless."


    They stood next to each other for another few minutes, with only the sounds of life shuffling around them.


    "Fine, let''s go test it."


    Melinda knew it was necessary. She didn''t want to imagine what she would do if her friends died because she didn''t use all of the tools that she had at her disposal. While the story of Baxter''s boss, Harvest Moon, wasn''t one for one, she did recognize that she could snap. If her family was lost, she didn''t have any illusions about going on as if everything was fine.


    In a blink, they were standing in a building with a rift. Two army soldiers stood there, but they didn''t seem to notice as the pair walked into the rift. It was a Tier 5 forest rift that Melinda felt was off, until she saw the massive amounts of herbs scattered on nearly every surface.


    She made a note to get Sam a few runs of this rift, when a screaming tree was suddenly lifted out of the ground and brought over to hover in front of her.


    Melinda watched it struggle in Baxter''s clutches. With an effort of will, she empowered the ck mist that surrounded every living creature. She watched in horror as the monsters that destroyed her home coalesced into little monsters and tore apart the tree monster with their teeth and ws.


    The visual from her Concept was only half of the horror. In her normal vision, she still saw the monster, but it started to melt and slump in on itself as her Concept drained her of will to eat away at the monster. She wished that she could say it quickly drained her, but it was as easy as breathing for her. No strain at all. This <em>was</em> what her Concept was made for, after all.


    As she watched, an arm fell off and plopped to the ground with a wet sound. As it continued to melt, she turned and vomited. The sharp and acrid taste was almost afort, as the smell of the monster melting was like burnt rubber and overcooked meat all at once.


    She looked at Baxter, who just watched on as the puddle of monster gore grew until there was nothing left.


    Once the monster was well and truly dead, she asked, "What''s the verdict?"


    "More testing is necessary, but I can give you some good and bad news."


    "Oh?" It was all she could choke out.


    "The good news is that your Concept is strong as hell. The bad news is that anyone you use it on is a dead man. I don''t even know if you could heal this at your Tier."


    It was a confirmation of every nightmare she had ever had, and she wanted to vomit once again.


    "Your Concept is literally tearing apart the spirit of the victim, which destroys the bonds of reality. It won''t be easy to heal., Without the spirit, it''s hard to recreate the physical structure of a being. Its possible, but incredibly difficult. Overhealth works miracles, but it still needs the spirit to build off of for its automatic healing."


    The monster vanished in a sh of pale light, and Baxter continued. "It''s not unheard of for spiritual attacking Concepts, but theyre rare. They may be strong but they still have weaknesses."


    That caught her attention. She didn''t want to be a killing machine.


    "Spiritual attacks attack the spirit, obviously, so their use is truly a battle of Concepts. You need to overpower the other person and their Concept, or else they can halt the attack. Otherwise if they remove the limb before it fully takes hold they may survive. But like I said it will be difficult to heal, if not impossible."


    Melinda knew Baxter well enough to know that this wasn''t the end of their testing, but she swallowed and nodded.


    An hourter, they learned a few things.


    She could only use her Concept on one thing at a time, and had to kill the infected individual or have her Concept broken to move onto another one.


    The second was that her Talent had enough power to heal her own damage. It was just insanely expensive and slow. It was good to know that she could heal anyone hit with a spiritual attack, but her Talent wasn''t healing the spirit, which Baxter said was normal.


    A person, or in this case, a monster''s spirit would take longer to heal, but as long as the flesh was mended, it would regrow to match their body slowly. While the flesh was functional, it felt like it didnt belong. Immortals could speed the process up a little, but it was still incredibly slow, and could take years.


    She hated the look in Baxter''s eyes, but she knew that for her next Tier up, she would be aiming to get her overhealth Tier 3 Talent to affect the spirit. It would be amazing if it worked, but she knew that it would be a slow process to grow her Talent enough to make it work that way. She would need a lot of time at her Tier, and to practice with spiritually crippled monsters.


    It meant she would be using her Concept often.


    She hated watching the monsters from her childhood ripping even other monsters apart. Killing them was one thing, but watching their flesh slump and melt was a cruelty she didnt wish on anyone or anything.


    He deposited herter that night in front of her suite, and Mathew was waiting up for her while tapping on a pad. She brushed past him with the excuse she needed to shower again.


    Her husband wasn''t dumb, for all of his good-natured attention and ability to see the fun side. So he opened the shower door as she scrubbed herself with some soap and a luffa.


    "Are you ok?"


    She repressed a hup, and with more control of her voice than she expected she said, "No. Not really."


    He crawled into the shower with her and held her, and she let out the pent-up tension from the afternoon.


    After a good cry and talk, she actually felt quite a bit better. Not perfect, but better than she had after the experiments.


    She now had a goal. Be able to heal the damage she could cause. And she now knew that she couldn''t really hurt more than one person at a time. Her Concept seemed a lot less scary.


    She was still going to send her therapist a long message tonight, but things were looking less dim.


    ***


    They were called upter the next afternoon for a mission. They had been running drills while absorbing the skills Matt had given them, or looking to trade them for more useful skills. She felt bad for taking his items, and if they had been offered now, she would have refused to take them. Their team needed to work on their fundamentals before they relied on skills, but they had them now, and needed to put them to good use.


    During their downtime, she had been working on her shot caller module that she had bought. She wanted to say that she was getting better through hard work, but she was more driven now, in and simple.


    It was helping. Her random teams were doing better each time she ran with them, and she hadn''t had a death in three runs. Good progress only meant that she needed to turn up the difficulty, but it was something.


    Their mission brief was interesting, but wasnt anything too crazy. They were guarding a fort in the middle of a forest. They weren''t the primary defenders, but backup. There had been Kingdom activity spotted in the area within thest day. Scouts were seen sniffing around the lower level forts, and the Queendoms higher-ups thought there was going to be an attack. They wanted to have a team ready to respond to a fort being attacked, or a strike team to take out any hidden camps.


    Melinda was nervous, but they stepped onto their extrarge flying sword that they recently purchased, and flew to the indicated fort. Sam flew with Tara as they made their way through the sky. Riding piggyback wasn''t ideal, but the sword was just ufortable for all of them.


    There were a few cheap Tier 6 flying devices on the war market, but they didn''t have that kind of money lying around.


    When they arrived, they were shown a small room full of bunk beds where they were able to set themselves up. After that, they just hung out on the walls, scanning the nearby forest.


    It was slightly eerie. The thick, dense forest blocked out most of the light, and the clearing that was being cut around the fort only increased the contrast.


    Vinnie was out there with them, and was using his Talent to see through the ground as a makeshift scout. His ability let him poke his head under the ground and see quite a distance. He would be a lot more dangerous if it didn''t cost so much mana to move earth while traveling quickly.


    In the end, it still worked out for them, but he was being careful not to be seen above all else. If there were scouts out there, he was at risk. Melinda hated it, but it was the right call. After three hours, they got their payday.


    "I''m hiding in a hill right now and I found them. Theres a team of five people moving to the smaller fort to your fort''s east."


    Melinda checked their location in reference to Vinnie. That wasn''t fair at all.


    She sent a message to the forts leader that they were going toplete their mission and forwarded it to their headquarters.


    In five minutes, they were jogging out of the camp, moving to Vinnie''s location. They didn''t expect to sneak up on the scouts, but they didn''t want to give their location away like a bunch of brutes either. She winced every time they stomped on leaves or twigs, and just hoped the scouts were upied with their sabotage.


    When they reached Vinnie, he crawled out of the ground and joined them as they slowed down and carefully moved to a slight highrise near the smaller fort.


    Vinnieid down, and after shoving his head into the ground, said, "Found them. Or four of the five. Theyre in a dry creek bed around the hill to the west of us."


    The missing scout was a problem, but they could deal with that when they took out the other four. The most obvious answer was that they were hiding somewhere, not touching the ground and thus preventing Vinnie from sensing them. While his Tier 3 Talent said see-through earth, it was more like a new sense that functioned like vision for anything touching or in the ground. Someone not touching the ground negated it.


    "Watch the trees, and let''s push forward."


    They crept along and used Vinnie to get an AI recording of where the four were hiding. At her countdown, they raced over the edge and dispatched the four prone scouts. It wasn''t even a fight with Tara standing on the hill and putting arrows into the backs of three of the Kingdom scouts. Mathew raced down the hill and skewered the remaining one.


    It was surprisingly easy.


    At least it was, until Sam noticed the hideout camouged in a nearby tree. When they saw the small, suspended hut, a short, lithe figure burst out and bounded through the tree branches as if they were walking on solid ground. They quickly lost the final scout, but Melinda wasn''t worried. They had done their job after all.


    She was about to call the mission when Kyle asked, "Why did they run directly towards another of our forts?"


    It made her think as well, so she brought up a map of the area. They hade from a medium fort that had a sprinkling of smaller forts around it. And their unkilled scout had run deeper into Kingdom territory in almost a straight line.


    It was dumb, unless she was trying to lead them away from their actual base.


    She said as much, and her team agreed with her reasoning, so they moved in the opposite direction of where the woman had fled, and let Vinnie search around.


    Two very careful hourster, they found a base being built into a neighboring cliff face across from their own. A wooden wall was being created as they watched. With careful observation, there seemed to be five nonbatants that were quickly building the base with some kind of building skill. It locked the freshly cut trees into a solid wall, and the others were assisting. Fourteen people among them seemed to bebatants, but with how they were constantly moving, it was hard to get a firm number.


    Melinda was reporting the information up to the headquarters when Vinnie cursed and said, "They have an earth mage, and he felt me."

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83


    Ash stood panting, staring at the pool of blood the man had left behind. This was why directbat should be avoided; ambush tactics were so much more <em>refined</em>. Ashs Tier 1 talent granted [Water Maniption] and [Darkness Maniption] as well as changing any skills absorbed, re-aspecting into one of the two skills affinities.


    The kit of skills so amassed were, as a result, always used to fight in the shadows and strike from behind. This made them <em>much</em> better at assassinations than anything else. It was why Ash was teamed up with Thayden for this little war after all; to deal with hard-to-hit targets.


    Why the two of them were sent to take back a fort in the middle of a siege was a mystery. They worked better as a strike unit, used for infiltration ahead of the main assault, focused on taking out a leader or sabotaging gear and defenses.


    Attacking head-on was stupid, but they had their orders, and had toply if they wanted to be rewarded by the Empire war AI. Purely suicidal missions werent permissible, but apparently, kill that monstrous team wasn''t enough to be considered suicide.


    Ash didnt consider it suicidal either, until they had all nearly died. Thayden had a brilliant idea of going through the window by mixing their abilities with shadows to let the man turn intangible.


    Sadly the attack hadn''t workedpletely, and Thayden was dead. On top of that, the attacking force was down to twenty-odd fighters.


    Still, they had won, and the reward for taking a medium fort would be hefty.


    But killing the final armored man was a task that they weren''t sure was even worth it. The man had fought like a monster in human flesh. Or perhaps more urately, in imprable skill armor. Archers were unable to get a good enough shot to kill the man because of the tight space, and the melee fighters were utterly dismantled as they came into reach of the man''s de. Still, they were ordered to capture the fort, so they had, despite the cost.


    Even so, Ash had to burn a Tier 7 mana stone to charge their fast converting mana stone. The stone was an ace in the hole for emergencies, one rmended by their sponsor. It could convert mana near-instantly, but the efficiency was awful. 400 mana invested had yielded in less than 30, but they had figured that it would be enough to restrain the armored man and finish the fight.


    They had never expected that the Kingdom fighter would blow off their own leg after being hoisted off the ground. Ash didn''t even know that it was possible to disrupt a water and shadow skill like that.


    Ash had only survived because a random Queendom guard had jumped in the way of the armored man''sst lunge. Ash hadn''t been sure they had defeated the man until he was teleported out. And that was only after everyone stabbed the man in the back. Repeatedly.


    Screams disrupted Ashs musings, and through the window they saw a stream of Kingdom colored troops fighting the encirclement group outside of the fort with a second group of at least twenty entering the building. Before the Queendom defenders outside could do anything useful like group up, they were quickly subdued in small packs. Unable to use their near equal numbers to good effect.


    Everyone still alive on Ashs floor simply dropped their weapons, too tired to put up any sort of fight, as a smiling woman with dull brown hair entered the room. She had a rainbow-colored parasol spinning behind her. Her cheer seemed out of ce with the blood and gore sttered around.


    Her armored dress was a fashion statement that Ash had never seen before, and looked as impractical as it was shy. Apart from her dress, she was as in as could be.


    The woman surveyed the Queendom fighters and spoke with a clear, bell-like voice, Felix dear, please dispatch these ones. Thank you.


    One of the Tier 6 melee fighters who had survived spat at the woman''s feet, saying, "Fuck y ."


    Before he could finish, the woman inmand turned around and viciously kicked him in the face. Blood from the mans nose arced through the air, sttering the other captives in the face. The woman''s dress had hidden it, but she wore practicalbat boots under all the finery. That must have hurt.


    Now there, Ill have none of that. she said with a gentle smile on her face. She looked down and saw the blood that hadnded on her dress, As if this day couldnt get any worse.


    Looking at the Queendom fighters she continued with a sigh, Honestly, I expected better from the best and the brightest the Empire had to offer. I guess all that glitters is not gold. Well, I thank you for your efforts, substandard as they were. With that final statement she closed the parasol with a snap, ced the tip on the mans forehead, and pushed it back. With a brief sh of blood and light the man disappeared.


    Now, I must be off. Im sure poor little Albie will want to have some words with me and it''s best if I can make some ns before that happens. The woman spun away while waving her hand at the rest of them in obvious dismissal.


    Ash looked at the hulking man behind the woman as he gently touched a sword to Ashs chest and they were gone. Thest thing they heard was the snap of a parasol.


    ***


    Luna watched the show that her little Pathers put on. She was impressed.


    Other managers were more or less <em>hands-on</em> than her, depending on their ideals, but her approach was always to stay in the shadows until she thoroughly understood her subjects. No two teams were the same. She had learned that lesson millennia ago.


    She watched. She evaluated. She nned.


    Once all that was done, she made suggestions on essentially everything for the children ced under her care. In her early years shed had plenty of teams that wouldnt follow her advice, and would simply leave most of the time. It was where she learned to be selective and more stringent with her team choices.


    But some teams <em>could </em>take it, and she would push harder and harder until she squeezed every ounce of potential out of them.


    It was so rare for her to find the true gems these days. It was the reason she had stopped taking children under her paw.


    For all she had watched, Luna had to admit. She was impressed.


    The three were strong, and had fought well for being unaware of the treachery at y. Combat between intelligentbatants was always a shock to people only used to rift delving.


    They were falling prey to the normal machinations that these little wars brought out. She had watched these skirmishes time and time again. More often than not, betrayals like the one the little Rainbow Peacock Alyssa was cooking up were a middle-levelmanders'' first moves.


    The girl thought she was clever for her ploy when it had been done millions of times before her. It had already happened five times on this very, and was currently happening on another three battlefields.


    She made a note to watch out for Alyssa and Lizs first meeting. It would be the first time she would meet someone with a purer bloodline than her, outside of her parent''s protection. Not many could im that, but there certainly were a few out there. High-purity, high existence, like dragons and phoenixes, cultivators born of dual beast parents were rare, but they existed.


    Luna''s senses easily stretched across the entire, so she could see everything going on in this... <em>game</em>.


    Would Liz back down? Or stand and fight? Could Liz handle not being the best at something as intrinsic as bloodline purity?


    Her ws tried to stretch out of her humanoid fingers as she thought of theing drama.


    What direction would the young Pathers take with the ill-treatment of the two vassal states?


    Her favorite was when the Pathers created a third faction and started wreaking havoc. It was always so very fun to watch those wars unfold. Sadly, she doubted that would be the oue this time. Both of the royal brats were taking steps to prevent that exact scenario, but Luna could hope.


    She sent a message through her hated AI to April and Kurt. She had both of them getting the various materials and training facilities ready. Or, in Kurt''s case, tracking down the people Luna felt could best train the trio. Her mute protege was making a list of where they were, and the best order to have the children visit them in.


    Luna had to resist forming a tail to swish as she thought of the kids'' faces when the prices of those facilities were revealed to them.


    When she was a young liaison, she thought it was dumb to make the Pather kids with management teams pay for everything they were to use. But after a time, she came to understand.


    The resources at her and her fellow managers disposal could turn a turd into a diamond if given the proper guiding hand. Competent strength was expected of anyone able to sessfullyplete their training. Sess in the challenges they would face while on The Path would hardly be impressive if everything was given to them.


    The <em>real </em>monsters came out when the added incentives a management team could provide were acted upon. They drove the children harder and helped to advance faster. It pulled the best out of them.


    She had one young woman who slept outside to save on even that little expense. Annabelle had done well for herself and already ascended. She hadn''tpleted The Path, but she had gotten close and gone on to make a name for herself in the explorationmunities.


    One of Lunas earliest works. One of her best.


    She was already calcting cost to ount for Matts Talent, but it would just inte prices. It wouldnt change the rtive timeline that they were expected to maintain. Keep them mostly inline with the other Pathers. The help was meant to be earned with effort. Even with her increasing the price they would be paying less than it would normally cost to hire Tier 25''s or higher for personal training. The Empire gave tax breaks for those who helped Path teams after all. That was worth far more than the paltry sum the teams paid.


    Lunas major restrictions were items and skills. She couldn''t give them either. They had to earn those themselves.


    It shouldn''t be a problem with Matts abilities, but their earning potential was greatly lessened with them now being Tier 6. She would rmend that they sell full Tier 5 rifts to a few select guilds for first dibs on growth items once they hit Tier 10 or 15.


    She wasn''t sure which. It would depend on them.


    Luna floated around the fort for another moment, rewatching the battle from memory.


    Watching Liz shred thirteen people on the bottom floor had been a special treat. A wellid trap was always a joy to watch. The damage her little blood mage had put out was well beyond her Tier.


    It was also the first time she had been forced to help the army personnel assigned to the battle. They were overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties her team had inflicted. Lizs ughter of over a dozen people at once was more than they could handle. A Tier 15 could handle at most two people and with the rate her team had been killing people...


    If Luna hadnt stepped in, someone could have actually died.


    The blender of blood wasn''t a bad trap at all, and Liz used it to... decent effect.


    She made a note to remind Liz that she couldve ensnared fourteen people with a little more patience. Letting the first persone up the stairs wouldve allowed two more to enter the bottom floor. After killing everyone on the first floor, she could have easily handled the remaining person from the higher steps.


    Her n hadnt been bad, but it wasnt perfect either. Little Liz had room to grow, but Luna could see the gem waiting to be polished up. She just needed time, and a little pressure.


    Matt had surprised her. She hadn''t expected him to tell his team about his Concept, while still hiding his Talent. It was a surprising move, from what she had seen of him so far.


    She made a note that he was more devious than her first impressions had indicated. It was good. She hated the blockhead melee fighter stereotype that too many let themselves fall into.


    After watching him savage nearly thirty people on the third floor, she was afraid that might be the case.


    He had failed to use his [Hail] skill as she expected. He could have used it to fill an entire room with ice, and effectively block it off. Or he couldve used the skill during his melee, when he was forced back into a wall.


    Either use could have been exined away by the reveal of his Concept. He already said that it mostly affected himself.


    She sent another note to Kurt to find a few spy specialists. They could be useful for all three, but getting Matt to use a bit moreteral thinking would be their top priority. His mana situation gave him too much variety and that could be a problem in the future if he didnt learn to use more than a handful of spells.


    Aster got most of Lunas praise today, though. The fox had used her growing intuition and intelligence to protect the mage, Emily. And she took out the little wanna-be hive mind, Nael. Without a fire spell, he would have taken them all out in a few minutes, while the damage they inflicted failed to stop his regeneration.


    She hoped that Liz could fight the young man in the future, since he was a good counter to her. Blood counted as biological material, and he would simply absorb all of her attacks.


    But no. Aster noticed what everyone else had missed, and froze the whole room. It was clever. The fox acted so quickly, Matt didnt even notice the oddity of the Pather that he was fighting.


    They each needed help and guidance, but they had potential. Oh, so much potential.


    Seeing the carnage, she made a note to monitor their mental states after this. This was the first time any of them had taken heavy wounds, and they would have died if not for the armys intervention. She had a few experts that she could call if they seemed to slip into some kind of depression. Harvest Moon would be herst resort, but he knew his way around the mind.


    She wouldn''t let her new toys break because of mishandling. It wouldn''t be the first time she broke her hands-off rule before she introduced herself. She had done it before, and would do it again. The long-term gains always outweighed the ruination of her information gathering.


    Luna scanned the rest of the battle, and made hundreds of notes identifying where they could do better.


    A shiver ran down her spine. A delicious one, the likes of which she hadn''t felt in at least a few thousand years. They would turn into her best work yet.


    She could taste it.


    ***


    Albert watched the projection of the as if it spun by hismand. Various upgrades he could buy for mining sites or forts appeared in his vision as the globe spunall things to spend the Kingdom level points on.


    He ignored them.


    He was mad. No, he was angry.


    He thought about it for a moment. No, it was worse than that. He was monumentally pissed off.


    First, his father forced him to bank half of the points their side earned. His father didn''t trust him, so he hampered his progress, then used that as proof he was right. Thankfully, it was only for the first few months, but itpletely negated the defensive advantage he had. If his father hadnt done that he would be out earning the Queendom instead of being slightly behind.


    Albert could disregard his father''s orders, and there would be nothing the King could do while the army was here. But they wouldn''t be around forever, so he had to acquiesce to his father''s orders.


    That had pissed him off already, but the day had only gotten worse as it went on.


    The real problem was that the Pathers were too damn good at their jobs, and too many of his mid-levelmanders were only concerned about their own points. Therger strategy of the war as a whole was lost on them.


    It was the Ascenders-damned point system. It rewarded the individual more for <em>taking</em> a fort than <em>holding</em> it. However, for the Kingdom as a whole earned hundreds of times more points for holding the fort. The incentives were <em>fucking</em> contradictory.


    That caused his relief teams to hold back until they could take a fort back for themselves, and split arger amount of points between their squad. Breaking a siege was only worth a quarter the points a capture was worth.


    A message beeped at him.


    Alyssa had taken over a fort.


    He checked the logs and mmed a crystal fist onto the table in front of him.


    The loud noise frightened a few of the aides as they moved back and forth, so he mumbled an apology.


    Another Pather team had taken a fort, only to have their reinforcements purposefully dyed, so they could take the fort back themselves.


    The more he read, the worse it seemed. The leaders of the team had been a part of his golem disaster.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster. He vaguely remembered them and his AI provided the relevant details. They had been the top earners during the final push, while only being Tier five.


    Now they were Tier 6, and with three others, had single-handedly taken out a medium fort, then almost held it from an assault by three hundred people.


    A quick check of the casualties showed that the attackers had lost a little over two hundred people, with Alyssa taking out the others. He read between the lines and through the provided metadata, and found that most of the people she killed were simply Tier 5 perimeter guards.


    Solely for her personal gain, she was screwing one of his top ten teams over.


    He could only me himself, really. This being the first day after the auction, and the beginning of true hostility on both sides, the orders had been over-optimistic.


    Having The Path teams harass forts was one thing they expected to be easy. They had added take forts if possible as an idle thought, hoping one or two might seed.


    But no. The Pathers were overachievers on both sides. Nine forts had been taken, and they had only prepared reinforcement teams for the first three. After that, it was digging deeper and deeper into the barrel to find more. After the seventh, they werent scraping the bottom of the barrel. They were turning it upside down and shaking.


    That was where Alyssa came into the picture. Albert hated the smug woman, and had given orders for her not to be used unless necessary. The order had only been half because of his personal feelings and half because she really was the worst blend ofpetent and vindictive. Best to keep her involvement to a minimum.


    The fact that it hade to that only drove the point of the Kingdom''s desperation home. She and her little band of nobles were worse than useless most of the time, as they had so readily proven.


    If she hadnt always been self centered and conniving, he would have suspected his political rivals of trying to influence the war. He didn''t think it likely, as his father would take anyone''s head if they ruined his chances at winning the grand prize. But it was a possibility.


    His only sce was that the Queendom was having the same problem. Albert had to grin internally. While the Queendom took nearly sixty percent of the Pather fighters who came in from the greater Empire, the Kingdom had clearly gotten more of the quality troops.


    The Queendom had unexpectedly only taken six forts to their nine. His side might lose out slightly in numbers, but powerhouses could win wars if the quantity difference wasn''t too severe.


    Albert was brought out of his musing by the sound of the door opening. After a quick nce back, he found Juni poking his head in, nodding at him.


    That wasn''t good. It never was.


    Albert moved into a private meeting room, and found Juni slumped over a table with his head in his hands.


    That bad?


    Albert didnt really want to know. But he had to know. His position demanded it.


    Juni mumbled into his hands, It''s bad. Really bad.


    Albert moved over to sit next to his friend. It was a break in royal decorum, but they were alone, and it was the only reason that Juni would do it.


    Finally, Juni pushed back from the table and started to pause. The eight fucked over teams are pissed.


    It''s nine now. Alyssa.


    Juni froze for a moment, then turned and punched the wall. A re of gravity caused the wall to distort for a moment as Juni started wailing on the wall.


    That stupid bitch! I knew she went dark but I was hoping she just got ambushed or something. I spent weeks working on that rtionship, trying to fix it after the mess with Zoey. Fuck! And now I bet it''s all down the drain.


    While Juni didnt and never would say it Albert could read in between his friends words. He had wanted to use the excuse of the golem fight to remove some political snakes and spies nted in his retinue but Juni had advised against it.


    Albert had insisted and that decision was still biting him in the ass today. It was the reason he didn''t have full authority to remove worthless leaders without questions which would solve his problems in one fell swoop. But because of his blunder he now had noble families ready to question every time amander position was changed. Asking if he was trying to purge their young. Or worse yet, slight their honor.


    What do you think the chances are that theyll leave?


    In contrast to everything else that could be purchased from the shop, the 20,000 cost to switch sides was the only item that could be bought on credit. The cynical side of Albert knew that it was so the vassal states couldn''t hold the Pathers hostage, but it rankled.


    Lysandras team is definitely changing sides. But the others are in the air. I think I can offset it by getting the team that took over Kelsors fort to jump ship. They got fucked hard by the Queendom. Everyone else is on the fence, waiting to see how we react.


    Albert thought about that. He already intended to put a stop to this, but how he did it would need careful handling. Especially if he didn''t want more of his best teams to defect.


    What about he sighed, Team Bucket Why, by all the Ascenders, did one of their top teams have to choose such a stupid name?


    Juni flopped back onto the chair and spun it.


    Ive only looked at the quick review, but they seemed to get hit pretty hard. Worse than we expected.


    Looking at his right-hand man, Albert waited for him to continue. Im sure you noticed that the numbers don''t add up?


    Yes. Is it what you expected?


    Juni stopped spinning, I''ll need to confirm, but their magessted far longer than they should have. Especially after taking the fort in the first ce. I already got some information from our sources in the infirmary. They went in fast, hard, and with nothing held back. No way they should have been able to keep up that mana expenditure. Even with the fast converting mana stones, they would have needed to burn tens of thousands of mana to get back to full. No way they burn money for us.


    After a moment, Juni continued, I think Alexs feeling that Matt has a mana Concept makes sense. He only has a phrase, but he said that he felt something when everyone was asleep back during the Golem fight, and his mana came back faster. He woke up to piss and felt it, that is something which would fit the criteria.


    They had collected information about all the heavy hitters during the golem siege and Matt''s team had more mana sustainability than expected. Up until now it had just been a tidbit tucked away.


    That means that it''s limited to a small squad level, though. Albert trailed off. A Concept for giving mana also exined how the man could cast [Hail] for so long. It was the perfect support ability. Odd for a melee frontliner to have it, but nothing unheard of. Concepts didn''t always conform to normal team archetypes. And a mana Concept wasn''t new. Just incredibly rare.


    It could be useful for sieges though, so Albert made a note of it.


    Juni cut into his thinking. We need to keep them. What do you intend to do, Albie?


    Albert thought on it for a moment longer and said, We don''t have the points, but reimburse the teams who got screwed. It will eat into our coffers, but better to handle this now rather thanter, when it bes a greater problem. Also, tell them Ill make the various team leaders give them personal exnations. Do you think that will be enough?


    His father demanding that half the points get set aside made things tight, but Albert could make it work if he spent his personal points for being the overallmander.


    Juni was already walking to the door. I''ll make it happen. I might have to push the limits a bit. I just got a report that Amber is trying to poach our teams as well.


    As Juni disappeared, Albert thought long and hard beforeing to a resolution. Amber was Princess Saras right-hand woman, but he personally felt that she was less efficient than Juni.


    No, that wasn''t his problem.


    He had read the reports of old Empire sanctioned vassal wars for Pathers, and wanted to head off the worst-case scenarios. If they lost control of the Pathers, both sides could lose everything.


    It had happened before.


    If things got bad enough, the army would step in, but he had a few ns. One was increasing the Kingdom-side payments for jobs correctly done. If he matched the Empire''s contributions, it would incentivize people to think tactically, not personally.


    He could also publicly punish people for screwing over their allies for personal gain.


    He could even increase the points earned for holding forts. He was sure that he could get a few Pather teams to stand guard with that.


    The problem was spending the points. It would help resolve problems, sure. But he still needed to make sure that he didn''t allow the Queendom to get ahead in points, solely for strategic level spending. A few upgraded forts could go a long way into fortifying their position on the and making it nearly impossible to win the war.


    But if he warned her of his intentions, he could force her hand into doing the same, if only so he didn''t look like a better side. If they both did it together, it would ensure that they lost a near equal number of points.


    With a sigh, he started a video call with Sara.


    ***


    Matts vision went from the stone floor to a blinding light.


    He tried to reach up to block the light, but invisible bands of force resisted his movement.


    Youre okay, son. Justy there while we heal you.


    Matt checked his AI to make sure that his teammates were ok. Specifically Liz and Aster.


    His fox bond was currently moving in circles, but Liz was still. Since he didn''t have a map of the area, he could only guess at her situation, but her AI showed that she was alive and being healed.


    A second check showed all his teammates were being healed or were already healed. Annie and Emily were together already.


    Matt twitched as he felt something in his back start itching. As it turned to tickling, he started to struggle against his restraints.


    Try not to move.


    In between gaps for air, Matt got out, It tickles.


    Oh, sorry.


    The ticking stopped, and he was back to just the weird itching. Sorry about that. Happens to a select few people. Gotta change my methodology.


    How bad is it?


    The healer was looking at Matt''s stomach, but even with the mask on, he saw their eyes wrinkle.


    Bad enough I''m questioning the judgment of the Army personnel. You are <em>fucked</em> up, kid. You have nearly no meat left on your leg. Not to mention half a dozen stab wounds.


    Matt was kind of surprised. He hurt badly enough, but he didn''t think it was that bad.


    I think they let me finish beating someone to death first?


    He lilted it off in a question. He wasn''t really sure.


    Are you the armored fellow? Had more than a few people cursing you and your family line for a dozen generations.


    A burning sensation started to crawl through Matt''s stomach, but after a moment, he got it under control and answered, Maybe. We got pinned in a fort we had just taken, and then had to fight our way deeper. Finally, they took us out.


    The healer just nodded. Yeah, you''re not the first team to have that happen to. Apparently, its a prettymon event at the start of training wars.


    What felt like a bubble was filled in his guts, and a loud fart was inadvertently released.


    Matt would have been embarrassed, except the healer nodded and said, Ok. Stitched up your intestines.


    He looked at Matt and asked, How ya feeling?


    Not that bad. It just itches and feels like hot waters moving around in there.


    The man nodded. Good. Good. The pain blocker is working. How are you mentally about your death?


    Matt shrugged. It wasn''t a real death. More angry than anything else.


    Oh?


    Noticing that the man wanted more, Matt half changed the subject. On apletely unrted note to being left out to dry, what''s the worst thing to deal with while healing? Maybe a particrly painful thing to break?


    The healerughed. I''m not going to help you get revenge. I''m worried about your mental state. A lot of people don''t handle knowing they would have died without the intervention very well. It can be a pretty heavy moment when youre forced to recognize your mortality.


    Matt thought about it, while what felt like bugs crawled down his right leg. There was a pop that sounded like a tree branch being snapped apart, but he barely felt a thing.


    I think I came to the realization that I could die a long time ago.


    At the single raised eyebrow, Matt continued. My and city had a lot of rift breaks, and a lot of people died. I knew a long time ago that I only lived because I got lucky. Today, I got unlucky. It might happen again. Fighting people is a lot harder than fighting rift monsters. The skills...


    Matt trailed off. The fighting had been more than a spar or anything else. Even the battle at the hidden base. No, this was brutal and primal.


    He made a move, but his opponents made a move to counter him at every turn. He had to be stronger, faster, and smarter. All things he hadn''t been at the fort.


    Matt felt a burning desire to not only beat their reinforcements leader''s ass, but prove to everyone that they had only died because they were unprepared. If he had known


    He forced that line of thinking down. He should have been prepared and expected... well, everything.


    If this was a real war, he would have actually died, and not woken up in a healer''s room. Matt needed this experience against people with skills and tactics.


    Being forced on the defensive was hard. He had tried to make ns, but the enemymander had been a step ahead the whole time. He had felt clever when taking the fort, but now understood how the defenders had felt. He was outmaneuvered, and unable to n for the enemys strategy. Even the things they <em>had</em> nned for didnt turn out as well as they could have.


    It was a good learning experience.


    Matt finished with that, and the healer let it drop. He started telling tales about his younger days.


    He was thinking about how much harder it was dealing with thinking people when one of the stories caught Matt''s attention was the story about how he tried to heal a femur. The man in question was in so much pain, the healer needed to sedate them to heal the bone. Apparently, it was the worst bone to break, with pain levels not seen anywhere else in the body.


    Matt started nning on how to break both of someone''s femurs at once.


    He had to smile at the healers'' roundabout way of helping him get a little revenge.


    Before he knew it, he was guided up as the bed bent forward.


    Back to rights. Youre out of allbat for two weeks. The unnamed healer pulled down his mask and met Matt''s eyes with his own. I''m serious. No fighting at all. If you need to be healed again, your body might not be able to handle it. The mana cost was already increasing towards the end. Whatever you did to your body is making you stronger, yes but harder to heal. Give me your word.


    A petty part of Matt wanted to say that his friend could fix the healing downtime with a single spell, but he took the healers'' good intentions as they were meant. No one else knew of Melindas Talent, and even if he did get healed by her, it wouldn''t get him into the field sooner.


    He did make a note to get her to heal at least Liz and Aster, though. Just in case there was a lingering problem. It was also good to know that his near perfect body was making it harder to heal. That was a side effect he hadn''t thought about.


    I promise. Thank you for the patch-up.


    Matt stuck out his hand and shook the healers. The man didn''t let go until Matt added, And I won''t get into a fight or anything until after the two-week healing cooldown.


    The healer grinned, then let him go, saying, My assistant will guide you to a rxation room. Take your time and let your mind wander for a bit. You need to spend at least an hour in there. Enjoy it. There are rabbits and all sorts of cute critters to cuddle.


    Matt froze.


    Did you say rabbits? And everyone had to be in there?


    Yeah? The healer seemed confused.


    Matt started to run to where his bond was still doing circles.


    He could only imagine what his yful bond would do with a room full of traumatized people and cute fluffy animals.


    <em>Aster! Please don''t be mutting the support animals!</em>


    When he arrived, he found a forest meadow with goats, sheep, and rabbits bouncing around. It was full of people in white clothes matching the ones he was somehow wearing. What he didn''t see was his bond, or any bloodshed.


    After following his AI, he found Aster holding onto a rabbits tail with her teeth, while the plump bunny bounded around in circles. His bond was bouncing around behind said rabbit getting kicked in the head with each leap.


    He would have been worried if his connection didn''t show her having the time of her life finally with a rabbit who wasn''t too weak to y.


    Matt facepalmed.

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84


    Matt quickly scooped up his bond and the abused bunny. It took more than a little gentle coaxing to get her to let go of the fluffy whitetail. Once he did get the bunny free, it jumped from his arms, to rush towards what it expected was freedom from its tormentor.


    Instead, it jumped up and kicked his bond in the head before bounding away twice, then turning and wiggling its nose at her.


    Aster flew from his arms and raced towards the disappearing bunny.


    Allowing the two to y, he turned back to following Lizs AI marker. He found her talking to another group of delvers, and was waved over once she noticed his approach.


    Matt, this is Amy, Gerald, Franklyn, and Dee. They got screwed over as well.


    As she spoke, Liz entwined their fingers, a little firmer than their usual hand holding. He squeezed her back. While he had been assured that she was fine through their AI, it was still good to see her up and moving about. He assumed from her hard grip that she felt the same way.


    Amy was closest to him, and proffered her hand to Matt, which started a round of handshakes all around.


    Amy had an odd ent that Matt couldnt ce, but he sympathized with her words. We got a mission. They told us to take the fort if possible, and our reinforcements just went poof. Never arrived. It was fucking bullshit.


    Dee leaned in and added, But guess who we found here?


    Matt just raised an eyebrow along with a shoulder to show he had no clue. He would have expected her to say one of the people they fought, but his short walk through the rxation area showed him that it was only filled with Kingdom personnel. Separating people was a good idea when they had nearly killed each other, after all.


    Gerald fell back and punched at the air. A friend of mine, Jen. Dead like us. She was a part of a cobbled together relief team, and theirmander forced them to hold back and wait until the team they were supposed to relieve had died. That way, they could earn the points for capturing the fort themselves.


    Matt gaped towards the still standing members of the team and said, No fucking way... They just threw you to the wolves?


    Yeah, fucking pricks. I...


    Matt missed what Dee said after that, as his thoughts slipped to their own team''s situation. Heat seeped into his veins like molten metal. A nce at Liz was returned with a nod. She believed that they had been screwed the same way.


    Wanting to see the full extent of the damage, Matt brought up his AI messages.


    <strong>Team Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Seventy two Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 5s killed. 1 point each.</strong>


    <strong>One hundred and neen Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Seven Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 7s killed. 25 points.</strong>


    <strong>Eleven Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6 Pathers killed. 50 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Medium fort defended. First wave: six vs one hundred. 2,500 points. Five times normal points are awarded for difference in numbers. 12,500 points.</strong>


    <strong>Medium fort defended. Second wave: six vs two hundred. 2,500 points. Ten times normal points are awarded for differences in numbers. 25,000 points. Failed.</strong>


    <strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. 2834 points.</strong>


    <strong>Personal Merits.</strong>


    <strong>Thirteen Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 5s killed. 1 point each.</strong>


    <strong>Fifty three Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6s killed. 5 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Two Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 7s killed. 25 points.</strong>


    <strong>Five Alliance of Allied Queens Tier 6 Pathers killed. 50 points each.</strong>


    <strong>Medium fort defended. 2,500 points.</strong>


    19,254 points lost. No, Matt corrected himself. They had also lost the 16,298 points from taking the fort in the first ce. 35,552 points vanished into thin air, as if they had never existed. That was without the 25,000 they could have received if they had been able to hold onto the fort.


    The heat that rippled through Matt cycled with his mana. He wanted to break someone, and the leader of their reinforcements had a lot of exining to do. He doubted that they could exin their decision to his satisfaction, but hed give them the opportunity. <em>Then</em> he would do some breaking.


    Matt wondered how many times he could challenge them to duels before the army would force him away.


    Liz pulled him from revenge fantasies when she excused them from the group. It didn''t take long to realize why. Annie, Emily, and Conor were at the door and ncing around at the colorful, animal-filled area in something between wonder and bewilderment.


    He understood the oddity of the situation, but it didn''t stop him from running a hand through a sheep''s silky curls as it brushed up against his leg. He still didn''t know how he had gotten here before all of them. His fight hadsted longer, and he had died after them. His only guess was that their wounds were less severe, so they were a lower priority.


    Liz reached forward and grabbed their hands, pulling them forward. We need to talk, and we cant do it in the doorway.


    Annie seemedpletely distracted as a butterflyrger than Matt''s head gently fluttered past. It took Emily forcefully dragging her with them to keep her from running off.


    They found a secluded grove, and all sat in a circle.


    Liz started them off. We got fucked. Hard.


    The three recent arrivals looked confused, but it quickly turned to anger as Liz exined what she found.


    The reliefmanders were ying fucking games with us. They intentionally let us die so they could get more points for a capture of the fort. I talked to two other teams who died in the same way.


    Emily looked ready to spit fire, which matched Matt''s feelings. What fucking pricks! I lost thirty-five thousand points! If this is true, I''m out. I''m switching sides and killing that mother fucker as many times as I can.


    Matt was about to agree when Liz held up a tempering hand. I was thinking the same thing, but two things are keeping me from going through with it.


    Seeing all of their displeasure at that, she continued. Juni wanted to talk to us. His message was short, but he seemed just as mad as we are. Second, if we change sides, we lose the leverage we have over the Prince, and more importantly, Juni.


    Annie shrugged, unconcerned. I don''t think that anything they say can convince me to stay. If we stay, I won''t get the chance to kill whoever failed us.


    Conor surprisingly spoke up. Not necessarily true. I talked to my healer''s assistant. It''s what made me take so long to get here. Apparently, the army has a system for assassins, and they dont have any restrictions on who you kill as long as you give them a heads up. You just need to pass a practical test or something. They didn''t know much more, but I think haunting the leader for weeks then killing them could be worse.


    They all looked at Conor with nk stares. He hadnt yet shown such a dark side of himself.


    Annie looked like she had discovered a new facet of the man, and wanted to gobble him up after seeing how ready he was for her to do wetwork. So had Matt, for that matter. He had underestimated the quiet man.


    Im pissed as well. He answered all their unspoken questions with a shrug. He didn''t look pissed as he scratched a roon''s head.


    Liz nodded, That''s a good idea, but I don''t think there were just the other two teams who got fucked over. I think this was pretty widespread. Historically, there are a few things that Pathers do in retaliation. One is to form their own faction and make a third or fourth party in the war.


    Matt liked that idea. And images of burning down the Prince''s ns gave him quite a bit of pleasure after all the man had bungled.


    But Liz shot that down. That isn''t likely to happen. There needs to be a whole lot more corruption for us to get to that point. What we can and should do is form a sort of Pathers union, with Pathers from both sides. If we do that, we can get more bargaining rights. If we do that, we can try for a few better things, but I need towork a bit more before I can make it happen.


    The others looked at Liz like she grew a second head. It was long enough for her to get ufortable and ask, What?


    Emily shrugged and asked, Where did you learn this? Seems like youre always two steps ahead.


    Liz scoffed. No! I bought and read Ingrid''s Path Vassal Wars. It''s dry reading, but it exins almost everything we need to know about this. This has all yed out dozens of times before, and the rules are purposefullyx, so problems arise. They arent just testing us but the various leaders on both sides. If things got so bad that we, the Pathers, weren''t getting a good war out of this, the army would step in and impose harsher rules. But that''s only happened once.


    Still getting odd looks, she scooped up a passing puppy and held it like a shield as she cuddled it.


    I thought it was interesting, ok?


    Matt knew it wasnt, as she had read parts to him when the war was first announced, but it was the best sleep medicine.


    Emily said, Well, first we need to decide if were going to move in a group or not.


    Conor just shrugged. As the lone solo member. He was free to do as he wished.


    Matt threw his two cents into the ring. I don''t know all of what Liz has nned, but I think we should move as a group. I know we won''t stay together after the war, but we work well together. While we may have lost at the end, we kicked major ass before we went down. I don''t really want to risk being separated if we don''t have to.


    He didn''t want to step on Lizs ns, but added, I wouldn''t mind leaving the Kingdom side, but I also think we should hear Juni out. Weve known him for a while, and he''s done right by us so far.


    No one else had anything major to say, so they just sat together, trading stories about how they went down while petting the animals who wandered past. No one bothered them until they received a message requesting a meeting from Juni .


    They epted it as a team, and a conference call started.


    Oh, good. Youre all up. Is this a good time? Or would you rather I call backter?


    Liz spoke first. No, it''s fine now. We expected your call.


    Juni winced, and his AI tranted that into the image of him projected to them. You and everyone else. Today was a disaster.


    Liz and Emily both opened their mouths, but he cut them both off.


    I''m not ming you. Unless beingpetent has be a bad thing in thest few hours, and I hadn''t noticed. You deserve an exnation to start, though. First, your own sess was against our expectations. Or at least, the chances of the Pathers sess <em>as a</em><em>whole </em>was significantly underestimated. We, the Prince and his headquarters staff, added the line about taking a fort as a throwaway. We expected maybe a team or two to seed, but weve had nine, including yourselves, take their assigned forts. It''s been a disaster.


    We had three relief teams ready and waiting, but that obviously wasnt enough. We were forced to find bodies, but they werent the leaders we originally wanted to use for a reason. By the time your team needed reinforcements, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel, and your team suffered for it. I apologize.


    Juni sighed and continued. Fortunately, or unfortunately rather, this petty bullshit wasnt limited to the Kingdom. We have intelligence suggesting that four out of six of their Pather teams were wiped out, just like you were. Their Pathers just weren''t as good as ours, and didn''t take as many forts. We lost six teams from the nine forts we captured. You should talk to the Queendom fighters you''re recuperating with to verify.


    Emily took the man''s pause to ask, So how are you going to make this right? I assume that''s your intention. And if you thought there was a chance of our reinforcements bailing, you could have told us to leave and not risk it.


    Juni didnt look bothered by the interruption and pressed on. The Prince intends to reimburse every one of the points youve lost, if you choose toe back into the war. And yes, we could have ordered a retreat, but Alyssa was supposed to get there a lot sooner, making it a likely capture.


    Annie opened her mouth, but Juni spoke faster. Even if you wish to leave our side, we will still reimburse you.


    Annie shook her head. Good to know, but not what I wanted to know. I want to know who fucked us over.


    Juni looked surprised for a brief moment but answered her question readily enough, Alyssa. Shes the daughter of a Barron and has an incredibly pure bloodline. She''s a maniptive piece of well, lets just say shes a piece of work. Believe me, shes thest person in the entire Kingdom that we wanted to send, but we were backed into a corner.


    He looked to the right and said something to someone else that wasn''t transferred through the conference, before looking back to them. Sorry. I''m handling a dozen things at once right now, and wanted to start with some familiar faces. The Prince will also be pushing through changes in the way points are handled. He can''t do anything with the army AI, but he intends to reward those that think strategically, and those who can see the bigger picture.


    Liz nodded and gave a nomittal answer. Well need to think it over. Getting our points back helps, but were still on medical leave for two weeks. That''s not nothing.


    It''s not. And if you want to do some grunt work in the headquarters or working a station, well be happy for the extra hands. But that''s optional, and not worth a ton, really. I can''t do much more than that right now. All I ask is that you hear the Prince out before making a decision. I know he has a few ideas that he''s bouncing around, and you can always choose after with little issue.


    If any of you have more questions, please let me know. I just got word; Prince Albert will be having a meeting in two days, when everyone can leave the hospital. And the people responsible will be in attendance so you will have your chance at revenge. And while we can''t force them to ept a duel, you might be able to pressure them to ept a challenge. Maybe even offer arge enough bribe to get them to risk it. You can''t fight for two week, so you should have plenty of time to figure it out.


    With a few more pleasantries, Juni ended the call.


    Emily said through gritted teeth, Did you notice how he didn''t say there would be personal punishments for the bitch? She reached out and strangled the imaginary person in front of her before turning to her sister.


    What are your chances of getting a license to kill thing that Conor heard about? Passing the test or whatever.


    Annie looked around, and to Matt''s surprise, she looked slightly panicked. I don''t know. Pretty good, if it''s a practical test. But I don''t know. The idea sounds amazing, but I don''t want all the pressure on me.


    Matt had never seen the teams rogue be quite so vulnerable.


    It''s harder to work in a city than most people think. There are moreyers to security than just getting into a door. Even while invisible, theres a dozen things to bypass. It''s not that easy.


    Liz brought their focus back to the main topic. Are we all ok with the Kingdoms proposal? Well get half our points back, and...


    Half!? It wasn''t just Matt who eximed. Why would they only be getting half the points back?


    Did none of you read the actual rules? Go try to buy back in.


    Matt did as Liz said, and found a message greeting him.


    <strong>You have rued 35,552 points since yourst death.</strong>


    <strong>If you choose to leave the war, you will be able to spend all of these points, but will have one standard day to leave the world, and will not be able to participate in any fighting.</strong>


    <strong>If you choose to stay in the war, you will have to spend all of the banked points. Half will be lost, and half will be saved until you choose to leave the war. The half that is set aside will not be essible in any way, shape, or form, until you cash out. If you die once again, half of those points will be added to the cash out pool.</strong>


    <strong>Your current cash out pool is 0 (17776).</strong>


    <strong>Please think carefully. All decisions are final.</strong>


    <strong>Stay in the War?</strong>


    <strong>Yes. No.</strong>


    Matt looked back to Liz. Once she saw that she had everyone''s attention, she repeated Junis words. <em>The Prince intends to reimburse everyone for the points lost, if they choose toe back into the war</em>. He said the points lost, not the points earned. So if someone cashes out now, they would get nothing. If someonees back, they would pay half the points we had. It makes us whole, but it''s not perfect either. That''s why I mentioned the time we lose with the healing cooldown. It was a long shot, but I was hoping for more points.


    Matt wanted to sigh, but refrained from it. Those kinds of word games were exactly why he hated dealing with people in power. He would havepletely missed the difference that Junis phrasing made.


    It was one of those things he just never wanted to deal with. But a smaller part of him whispered that he needed to at least <em>try</em> to learn some of Lizs interpersonal skills. If he read the book she bought, like she suggested, he would have known that they kept half their points upon dying.


    He had taken the army leader saying that they lost all their points at face value. He figured that they were permanently gone. Not half of them gone, and the other half put into what was essentially a savings ount.


    The revtion also changed how he saw the overall strategy of the war. Dying still was something that should probably be avoided, if for no other reason than to not build bad habits. But it wasn''t so strong a detriment that it was to be avoided at all cost.


    Even if they had died and lost half their points, standing their ground had earned them quite a few as well. It mostly meant that teams with fewer points could make more desperate stands, as they had less to lose.


    Matt redirected his attention back to the conversation just as Liz finished her thought, and he missed it. His teammate was on a warpath, getting teams together and bargaining for support. He agreed that amassing their political power was a good move. At the very least, they could demand points being returned for unjust deaths going forward. But from the look in Lizs eyes, she had more nned.


    What do you need us to do? How can we help?


    Almost everyone she approached seemed interested. Even Annie had stopped pestering Conor to stay engaged. Emily was also locked in. They were all far more engrossed in Lizs appeals than Matt himself.


    Liz nearly glowed while she was the center of attention. We can''t talk to the Queendom side until were out of the rest area. Its a pretty reasonable restriction, considering we just killed each other. But, if you could all talk to the other Pather teams, that would be great. A word of caution, though. When I approached a team, I got a warning from my AI, but now I know that we can skip that step. Don''t approach anyone if they look to be in distress, or talking to a therapist. Honestly, I''m going to make one round here, then move into the rec rooms. This is meant to be a mental health recovery room. Actually, now that I think about it, we probably shouldnt talk to any more teams here. I kinda got ahead of myself with that one.


    She pulled herself back to the topic at hand. Anyway, my idea is, we get as many of the top teams together as we can. Then, we argue for better terms for ourselves, and harsher punishment for anyone who purposefully abandoned allies for points. Although, if the Prince is having arger meeting, hes probably already nning something along those lines. It would be silly to gather everyone, and show leniency towards the people responsible. It would be like asking for a riot. Still, we can demand our own terms. I''m not certain on what exactly I want, but if we talk to the other teams, we cane up with something appropriate.


    The crowd appeared as if they were ready to leave, so Matt motioned for everyone to sit down.


    Before we go, I think it''s important that we all talk about how we did in the fight. We should address what went right, and what went wrong too.


    Annie snapped, We got fucked over. That''s one.


    Emily bumped her sister''s shoulder with her own. Yes, but we still weren''t perfect. Ill start. The timing was awful. I didn''t have time to fully absorb my new skills, and selfishly chose to continue absorbing the skill I was on, even though it would have doubled my damage output had I stopped. I prioritized getting it to my core spirit over the team as a whole. Sorry.


    She was looking down and pulling at the grass by the end of her critique. Matt didn''t hold her decision against her in the slightest.


    Conor spoke first, though. I doubt you would have chosen that if real lives were at risk. In the end, this is a game. I don''t me you.


    Liz patted her knee. It wouldve taken months for you to fix that. Don''t feel bad. Anything else?


    The mage twirled a de of grass around for another moment before she added, My synergies with Aster were good, but not perfect. Same with all of you. [Bolt] isn''t the perfect skill for aiming, but it''s my highest base damage skill. Im happy with how I handled the wall, though. I had never done anything like that, and I was able to hold my position when they were shooting at me.


    Annie went next without prompting. Myck of range fucked me over pretty well. I need to spend time at an archery range soon. We never really needed it before, since I usually protect Em. But now, I don''t need to block for her. I could do a lot more damage if I had a ranged weapon.


    As she paused, Matt offered, Feel free to keep the crossbow. I have a few more. Besides, the bolts are standard, and pretty cheap. I can offer a little training, but Im no expert.


    Thanks. She grinned at him and said, I think I might take you up on that, but we''ll see. For what went right... Hmm. Id like to think my killing of the healer and leader went really well. It would have been better if I got away, but I never expected that to happen.


    Conor, who was sitting in between Annie and Matt, took her finishing as his cue.


    Myck of range is always a problem, but same with my defense against range and magic. That was what finally got me. An arrow went through my thinner stomach armor. Speaking of that, does anyone know what happened to our gear?


    No one knew, so he continued. I was pretty happy with how I handled myself, since Matt and I held the entrances, even though we aren''t ideally matched. We made a good wall. Even when he went on the offensive, I was able to hold my own.


    Matt nodded. I could have mentioned my Concept earlier. Sorry, mana is basically money, and people get weird about it. If we had more mana at the start, we could have done a little better, I think.


    He paused to think, and Emily looked as if she wanted to say something, so he nodded towards her.


    I don''t want to nitpick, but you could have also flooded a room with ice, and Aster could have frozen it solid. If we thought of that, we could have just held up on the third floor with the second and fourth rooms solid. Then, we couldve been nearly impossible to attack, and wouldve been able to rest and attack at our leisure. Eventually, they would have blown the building apart or chopped through the ice, but it wouldve been a lot better for us.


    It only took him a minute to agree with her. She waspletely right. Youre right. I need to think like a mage, and that''s new to me. I''ve been de only for a while, and when fighting monsters, I mostly use [Hail] to give Aster free ice. I should be treating it as the full skill it is. Any chance I can do some mage training with you?


    She looked surprised, so Matt exined. Liz is more of a mid-range hybrid, and she relies a lot on her maniption skill. That''s not the kind of fighting style I need to work on.


    Emily looked pleased at his asking for her help. Matt really could have asked Liz, but he knew that she wanted to push her ns of creating a Path union forward. I''d be happy to help. I''d also like to buy a crossbow and do some training. It would be good to see if my Talent works with enchanted bolts. Even if it doesn''t, I could still save some mana with it.


    Liz wasst up. My blood spells were useful, and I was able to set up quite the trap downstairs on the first floor.


    Annie interjected, Yeah, I meant to ask. What did you do? Even the ceiling was covered in blood. Shit, girl.


    Liz flushed slightly. I left pools of blood and waited for them toe to the floor, and then I just started spinning it as fast as I could, with my Concept strengthening the blood. I made it sharp. But it could have been a lot better by using skills instead of [Blood Maniption]. Its expensive, and I''m not used to having skills to take up some of the burden. So, I fell back to what I was <em>used</em> to instead of what I <em>could</em> do.


    The five of them talked for a while, but when they exhausted their suggestions for each other, they all got up and followed Matt and found Aster half asleep in a pile of bunnies.


    When he asked her what she thought she could have done better, he only got, "No mistakes. Good kills."


    He debated grabbing his bond for a better answer, but in the end, left her in her pile of fluff. She was having fun, and could always find him when she wanted. He also knew that with this being a hospital, no one would harm her or be mad at her for foxing out. For all her increased mental intelligence, she was still a child.


    Matt half expected to find more hospital beds on the other side of the rxation room, but there they had a temporary suite for teams to bunk in. They were small rooms with three tall bunk beds, but they would work for a single night of sleep. He dreaded sleeping in themter that night. He doubted that hed be able to roll over with how narrow they were.


    No one was allowed to leave the hospital until they were examined the following morning.


    This dorm area contained a distinct mix of vassal teams. There were even a few people that he remembered from their fighting. It was mostly eyes, chins, or body shapes, but he was ignored for the most part, due to hisck of armor.


    Liz was not. It seemed that she had made quite the impression, as more than one person flinched from her gaze as they passed by.


    Meanwhile, the gym was calling Matt. He wanted to work his body and make sure that nothing was amiss, but he put his urge aside and held Lizs hand. He wasn''t sure how she would respond to the attention. She did have a particrly visceralbat style. Getting sliced apart was one thing, but being eviscerated with your buddy''s blood was another.


    You ok?


    Liz thankfully didn''t y dumb. Eh. This hurts a bit, but nothing I wasn''t prepared for. She patted his arm with her free hand. I''ll be fine. Really.


    They had a light dinner together. Neither of them really wanted to separate, so Matt hung out with her as she started to talk to the other teams. He tried to ingratiate himself with them as well, but it took effort, and he wasn''t half as good as her.


    Liz walked up to nearly any group, and after a little introduction, was chatting as if she had grown up with them. Once she did that, it was easy for him to talk to them as well. But when a second group sat next to the one they were talking to, Matts attempts to do the same yielded lukewarm results. Where Liz got a firm yes to her proposal, he got maybes.


    When he asked her, Liz said, You needed to look at them, and their bodynguage. I''m avoiding the unapproachable teams. They either don''t like us, or they don''t agree with our ideas. The worst thing we could do is get into an argument with someone. We don''t need everyone''s support, just a decent amount of them. So, I''m going for the low-hanging fruit first.


    She surveyed the room, and as she pulled him forward, said, Youll pick it up as we go. Don''t worry.


    <em>I hope not</em>. <em>This political shits exhausting</em>. <em>When can I sneak away</em>?

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85


    Matt swung his sword back and forth. Blow after blow carved through the enemies before him. As he killed one, two reced them. He tried to escape, but his feet felt stuck in the ground.


    The crab monsters slowly morphed into horses with teeth of fire. He stood his ground and continued to cut through them all. In the distance, he heard a faint cry, and fought in that direction. He just couldn''t move.


    He and his de were one as they mowed through the thousands of winged rats that reced the crabs turned horses. With his skills fully charged, Matt made quick work of them, but the more enemies he killed, the farther away the voice sounded. Soon, he was unable to move, and the voice seemed to be moving away from him.


    As he looked on, thendscape beyond was just a t, nk te full of monstersan endless struggle against faceless obstacles.


    Unable to move, Matt stood his ground and ughtered anything that approached him. He desperately searched for the pull in his spirit that seemed to lead him towards the distant voice. He tried to drive himself forward to no avail, failing to find the source of the noise in the endless sea of enemies.


    ***


    Liz retreated through her parent''s home. They were nearly upon her. A hard left turn led her to the hall that connected to her parents'' second dining hall. She was panting, and a quick nce behind her told her that shed escaped.


    Her heaving breaths sounded far too loud in the empty corridors. Each step on the polished wood flooring sounded like weights being dropped. Every echoing sound added to Lizs growing dread of being found again.


    Another noise caused her to take off running again, pushing through the sore and aching muscles. The pain was nothing, and she would prevail. If she found her parents, everything would be okay.


    She paused. That wasn''t right. She didn''t want her parents'' help. She was strong on her own.


    Liz opened the nearest door to find Kelly, the young girl from two apartments down.


    Kelly!! Have you seen my parents?


    No, but can you help my parents? They just need a little money. Mommys potion shop isnt doing well.


    She looked around for her parents. They told her to always find them if someone mentioned money. But she liked Kelly, so she offered up her allowance of a few dozen credits.


    Is that it? Its not enough! There were tears running down her face. If she doesnt get more, the bad men are going to take her store away. Arent you rich? Why wont you help my mommy?


    Kelly threw the small, glowing currency down, and stomped on it as she turnedrge and angry. mes escaped from her eyes as she screamed that it wasn''t enough.


    Liz ran through the door and mmed it shut. She breathed heavily into the cool wood. Before she could process what had just happened, she was already opening the next one.


    Dominic, her hairdresser, snipped her hair shorter on one side after she saw it in a movie.


    You know, the preserve of Jastor Nath fish is nearly extinct. That means they will be all gone soon.


    Liz gasped in the boosted chair. Extinction was bad. She had learned that word in schoolst week!


    That''s not good!


    Yeah, it''s really bad. I''m a part of a charity thats trying to save them.


    That''s so cool! Can I help?


    Yes. You just need to get your parents to donate.


    Liz tried to find her mother, but she was gone. She had to find her. She got up and ran towards the exit. Again, she found herself in the long hallway.


    The next door had gold filigree around the edges, and when she opened it, she wound up ying with some blocks that she found at the edge of a party.


    Aren''t you just the sweetest little thing!


    Liz looked up at a matronly woman, Thank you!


    She didn''t know what she had done to earn thepliment, and she was slightly miffed that it wasn''t about her blocks. She had a perfectly presentable tower halfway built. Her work was what deserved to beplimented, but her dad always said to be polite, so she thanked thedy.


    Not like thosemon rabble. When I ruled my house, they didn''t let the filthymoners into the capital. No, it was well kept, and only for those of the peerage. Those of superior blood and breeding. You shoulde with me. I have a nephew your age who would be perfect for you.


    The woman reached for Lizs hand. Liz was scared. She didnt like this woman.


    She pulled her hand away and ran, noticing that she was suddenly taller as she crashed into the arms of a handsome young man on a ballroom floor.


    Liz leaned into the chest of a sixteen year old Hedon. She stared up at him, eyes fluttering. He was handsome, charming, and soo dreamy. All the other girls were jealous that she was dancing with him. And at twelve Liz was smitten.


    So youlle to the autumn ball for society youth with me?


    Liz wanted to frown but refrained herself. She hated social events, but for Hedon she agreed. Of course. I just need to tell my parents about the change of ns.


    Hedonughed, Oh no it''s ok. We can sneak out. It will be great fun.


    Liz turned her head, looking for her parents, and when she turned back, Hedon was gone. She was back in the hallway. She moved down to the next door before she paused. She could barely grip the handle with how hard her hands were shaking. But she pressed on.


    She opened the final door, only to find herself standing on the battlement and fighting off hordes of attackers. There were endless crowds in the Queendoms colors of purple and silver. She whipped out a line of blood and cut half a dozen people in half.


    She fought until her mana ran dry, and she resorted to her spear. When her spear broke, she wed at them with her fingernails. When her fingers were worn away, she bit and tore chunks away from them.


    Everything turned fuzzy as she watched Matt and Aster sumb to the horde of enemies. She watched as they were dragged under, to never rise up again.


    Still she fought the horde, even as they screamed at her how she was the real monster for how she brutally killed them. It was a mantra repeated each and every time she vanquished another foe.


    Finally, she was standing alone on a balcony, and an archer stood across from her. With a mental effort, she tried to gather the blood around and on her, but with no mana to back it up, the blood didn''t respond to her call. The arrow split a dozen times while in its flight towards her.


    She had no fear, as she knew her parents would save her.


    The arrow came closer.


    Liz tried to turn away. She could save herself. She could save her friends. She could...


    The arrow mmed into her.


    Liz died.


    ***


    Matt was on his back, gripping a giant mouth that tried to descend and eat him.


    With a start, he jumped up into the descending mouth, causing him to nearly hit his head into the bunk above as he jerked awake.


    He slipped out of bed to be eye level with Liz as she tossed and turned. She was sweating through her clothes, and the expression on her face was enough for Matt to reach up and shake her awake.


    She startled up with a quiet gasp. Aster, who was on the bed with her, jerked up at the sound. Liz popped up, and Matt didn''t miss how her shirt clung to her from the sweat. Even her hair was wild and clinging to her face, as if in a parody of blood.


    Sorry, bad dream.


    Yeah me too. I heard you and thought I should wake you up.


    Liz pulled the confused fox into a brief hug as Matt heard her say, Okay? Scared, sad, bad?


    He nuzzled her head from behind as Liz held her and projected, It''s okay. Just a bad dream. It''s all better.


    Liz plucked at the shirt that clung to her flesh. I need a shower. She sniffed at herself and recoiled, And I fucking reek. Ugh.


    Matt checked himself and decided it would be a good idea to do the same. He was drenched too.


    The three of them quietly moved out of the room and into the shower rooms, where they washed the night terrors away. Aster stayed outside of the dreaded hot water, but pushed encouraging thoughts Matt''s way and yipped a few times at Liz.


    When they were done cleaning off, they moved to a lounge area, where the bright lights chased away any lingering thoughts of monsters that tried to manifest in the stitching of the couches.


    Matt sat and patted the couch next to him, and Liz sat close, with Aster taking her position on theirps. His bond spun twice before she settled down in a ball, with her tail blocking out most of the light.


    Liz petted the circr ball of fox, and they all sat quietly.


    She looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she refrained. Matt spoke up instead. I might have been a little too cavalier about my death. From the nightmares, it hit a bit harder than I expected. I was fighting endless opponents. It''s getting fuzzy now, but I <em>needed</em> to go somewhere. I just couldn''t get there.


    Before either of them could say more, an older woman came into their room with a steaming teapot and cookies.


    That would have been weird enough, but she was in full healer''s robes. As she dropped off the tray, she offered, If anyone needs to talk to a therapist, were always open to listen. You can find us in the rxation room, or send a message to the hospital AI. We know this can be hard to process.


    With that, she was gone, and the three of them sat there quietly. Matt leaned forward and started to pour the tea, and passed the little cups around. He didn''t know what type of tea it was, but as he drank, the hot liquid had a soothing effect. Soon, he found himself rxing into the couch. He idly wondered if the tea had been spiked, but he felt fine. Just calm.


    Matt looked to Liz, who had seemingly had the hardest night.


    She shook her head after sipping from her own cup.


    It was mostly memories. But twisted into weird patterns. Things I''d rather not think about too much honestly.


    She paused for a long minute as she dunked the small biscuit into the tea before asking, What about you?


    My dream was more fuzzy. Something about not being able to move. I''m not sure. There might have been a voice. Its all fading.


    Matt rubbed her back while he took control of the room''s wall screen and started ying an oldedy show. It was mindless background noise, but it was enough to get a few chuckles from them.


    ***


    Liz stood on a couch back with a hand holding Matts to stabilize her. She probably didn''t need it, but he felt better offering it. They were back in a neutral meeting hall, gathered early at Lizs request to n their approach for dealing with the various sides'' negotiations.


    I got a message for a private meeting before therger general meeting. Im sure theyll try to offer us a pittance for our hardships. If everyone argues for the maximum amount, theyll know that we arent leaving until weve had our pound of flesh.


    There was a murmur from the hundred or so gathered Pathers from both sides.


    Liz nodded at what she heard. They arent dumb, and theyre moving quickly to try and stop us from doing exactly what were trying to do. If we stick together, and argue as a group in therger meeting, we can get much more. Just don''t give into the short term rewards at the cost of long term ones.


    But they gave us our points back! Someone said from the general crowd.


    Liz nearly spat at them, They gave us half of our lost points to counter their fuck up. No. We shouldn''t be content with shitty handouts disguised as rewards. Rewards should be prizes in and of themselves.


    Liz looked as if she was about to say more, when Matt received a message that their meeting slot was up.


    As she dropped down, Liz reminded everyone, Don''t ept their scraps. Argue that you want more, and that well only negotiate as a group.


    The six of them were pulled into a meeting room with Juni, who sat there and smiled tightly at them as they entered. He stood and shook each of their hands as they passed each other, and took a seat on the opposite side of the long table.


    Matt tapped it as they sat. The table''s wood gave a strong, sturdy feeling that he wasn''t sure of, but after examining it with his spirit, he guessed that the material was at least Tier 10.


    Expensive for a meeting room. Or a statement.


    Sorry about everything. We just wanted to speak with the individual teams before therger meeting, and see how we can make things right. This is your chance to air your grievances.


    Matt and the others all let Liz take the lead as she leaned forward and said, Im not sure you can. Were out twenty thousand points and two weeks'' time, which could mean far more points than weve already lost. It''s a significant blow to our point generation.


    Juni nodded and said, We are punishing the guilty parties as much as possible. To our regret, the Empire doesn''t allow us to fine points from anyone. Even our own people.


    Liz seemed as unconcerned as Juni was while she countered, Remove them from the war. That would send the proper message to any would-be offenders.


    The Prince''s right hand man actually frowned at that. We would if we could, but the army heavily limits the number of Tier 7s were allowed to have, and the spots are not transferable. As much as we hate what was done to you and your team, it''s not feasible to cripple our limited Tier 7 powerbase. So only two from each side were removedpletely. It was considered fair, as they had no remorse, and openly stated that they would do it again if given the opportunity. But since each side punished an equal number of people, it keeps either side from gaining an advantage.


    He gestured to the side, Weve arranged for you to talk to the people who have harmed you. Its the best we can do right now. Please remember that youll get in trouble for attacking them without a duel, and you all are on healing cooldowns. Also, theres no way to force a duel.


    Liz held up a hand. Well want to talk to Alyssa. Don''t doubt that at all. But first, we want to hear your offer.


    Junis smile returned. As I mentioned before, we will be matching the points earned from the Empire, if the points earned were the result of the proper orders, and if no allies were betrayed during the process. We feel that is fairpensation, and incentive to have everyone act appropriately.


    Matt actually felt that his offer wasnt too bad. If they earned double the original amount, that could equal quite a lot of points in their pockets.


    Liz ignored the gesture to say, Our team, and the other Pathers who were affected, will want to negotiate for more than that during the joint meeting. But well be happy to see Alyssa now.


    Juni didn''t seem willing to push for more, and simply looked to a second door. The one they hadnt entered through.


    Alyssa sauntered over to them, using a multi colored parasol as both a cane and a baton. One moment she was leaning on the parasol, and the next she was twirling it through the air. She was a in woman in everything except her clothes. Her brown hair and eyes matched perfectly with her unremarkable facial features.


    Her clothes reflected her parasol in their loud and bright colors.


    Matt felt the tension in the room skyrocket from his team, and briefly ced a hand on Lizs leg under the table, to ward any explosions off. The rest of their team came up and nked them, creating a wall against the woman who had screwed them over so badly.


    Juni made introductions and then fled the room. Alyssa irmont, Team Bucket. Team Bucket, Alyssa irmont.


    Alyssa came up and smiled brightly at them all. Well, good to meet you all. Shame it couldn''t have been yesterday, but with you all dying, it made it a bit difficult.


    Annie snapped out, Ohh, you have nerve, woman. I''m going to...


    Alyssa waved them off. Don''t be crass, dear. It''s unsightly.


    Liz, calmer now, said, It''s unsightly to throw allies under the bus for points. If you had done your job yesterday and backed us up, we would have met then, so don''t try and turn this around on us.


    Alyssa didn''t seem bothered in the least, and waved her parasol around as she said, Oh, don''t be that way. Those that can, do. And I can. I did what was best for me at the time. She shrugged. If I had known you were sopetent, I would have moved in between the two waves of attackers. I thought you would die on the first attack. I wouldn''t have done that if I had known, but we all make our decisions, and we must sleep in the beds we make.


    She twirled her parasol once again, before catching it over her shoulders with a flourish at the end of her statement.


    Matts attention quicklytched onto that colorful rainbow of light that was emitted from the fabric, and felt something like his growth mana ring. Her parasol had multiple aspects of mana flowing through it.


    He was awoken from his inspection by a pinch on the leg from Liz.


    Realizing what his inspection looked like, he rified quickly. Your parasol feels interesting. It''s full of random aspected mana. It feels more like a weapon, though.


    The woman beamed as if she had won a prize, Oh this lovely thing? I got it from a wannabe suitor from the Empire. My darling here is a growth item as pretty as I am. We match so well, don''t you think?


    Liz wasn''t impressed, and moved back to Alyssa''sst statement. You had better watch yourself, or youll get a taste of your own medicine sooner orter.


    Alyssa looked unconcerned with Lizs not-so-subtle threat. What goes aroundes around. I''m not particrly worried about it. What will be, will be.


    Emily said from her end of the table, We want a duel from you.


    Alyssa looked overly put upon and sighed dramatically. The same thing little Albie asked for. No I won''t duel you. I did nothing wrong. Was I selfish? Yes, without a doubt. Do I care? Not really. It really wasnt anything personal, and Ive already been punished quite harshly. It''s just a game.


    She sighed dramatically and said, If you want someone to me, me math. It was simply worth more points to let you die. We arent friends yet, so I had no incentive to help you. Besides, youre all getting lucky with Albies bribe. Most of the other Pathers aren''t so lucky. My little birds have been flitting about, and learned that most teams won''t be getting nearly as good a deal as you were offered.


    She smirked at Liz, and met all of their gazes before she stood and sauntered out the door, calling over her shoulder, Well, Ill be on my way. After the next meeting I have a mission where Im sure Ill be tragically ambushed. Ill see you at the little group therapy session in a bit. Ta ta!


    Annie shrugged as the door closed. I don''t give two rats asses about what makes me look bad. Im going to kill her the minute I can get away with it. She can decline our duels all she wants, but she can''t decline an assassination. She can bitch all she wants after the fact, but it won''t do her any good with a dagger in her throat.


    Matt was pretty angry himself. Im going to break both her legs. The healer said that was the most painful thing to break. Think you can work that into it?


    Annie bobbed her head around a little and said, Yeah, probably.


    Matt threw her a thumbs up.


    <em>Maybe after Annie kills her a few times, she''ll be willing to duel us to get the assassinations to stop</em>?


    Matt wasn''t sure it would work, but he liked the idea.


    Conor broke him out of his reverie. While I hate to break up your revenge fantasy, I think we should draw the line at actual torture.


    Annie shot Conor a betrayed look, simr to the look that Aster would give Matt when he cut her off from eating ice cream.


    Conor looked at Annie with an almost imperceptible smile on his face as he exined, Sure she was being selfish, but she had a point. She was just gaming a wed system, and she had no real reason to help us or the Kingdom. Which, from everything Ive seen and heard, is total dogshit. And she can clearly get out at any time, if her suitorments are true. She had no reason to y nice.


    He shrugged, I think a single death will be sufficient. Shell lose half her points and be out of the war for two weeks. Same as us, except she wont get those points back.


    Annie countered zealously, She should die six times. One for each of us.


    Matt ignored the bickering. He wanted to hate Alyssa, but maybe Conor was right, and he and Annie were going a little overboard with their ns for retribution.


    ***


    Juni moved to the Princes side as the meeting hall filled. Things were worse than we expected. No ones taking the bait. They all demand to collectively negotiate forpensation.


    Albert shrugged. It was always a possibility. Well pay more up front, but in the end, they can''t gather up every time one of them dies. It will work itself out.


    Juni hesitated for a moment and said, Well have to cancel the strike on Alyssa. She knows about it already.


    He wanted to curse the woman. For as much as she was a pain in the ass, she was good atworking and getting spies into ces they shouldn''t be. It was good that he had bugged all the meeting rooms beforehand, or he would have missed that she was already aware of their ploy.


    Albert didn''t look surprised at that. We both knew that it was a long shot. If we just pause the order, we might be able to cause her to worry, and that could be just as bad for her.


    Juni wasn''t so sure, but as Princess Sara walked forward, he stepped back and started observing the crowd for the uing negotiation. No matter how this turned out, he needed to identify the major yers and start learning their weak points, so the proper leverage could be applied.


    ***


    Matt stood with about one hundred others in arge meeting hall. They were all Pathers who had been screwed over in various ways over thest few days.


    The groups werent only the teams that Liz had spent all morning recruiting for her n. No, there were at least a dozen more teams that had been abandoned by their vassal allies and other preventable disasters.


    The mood of the room was sour, and getting worse by the minute as they waited for the Prince and Princess to arrive. No one seemed to have taken the small bait offered in the individual meeting, which seemed to only piss the other teams off even more.


    Something Alyssa had said sent Liz into a messaging frenzy, and she had spent the entire time after their meeting typing at her pad and sending messages to various parties. It was like a fire had been lit under her.


    That was what led to more than half of the room being distinctly crowded around their group of six. Both sides were present and mixing without the enmity Matt mightve expected.


    He hadn''t needed to ask Liz after he thought about it for a little while. In the end, calling the Pathers here to fight as mercenaries wasn''t wrong. Their fights with each other were the reason for the war, sure, but it was also a game. And the vassals were screwing it up.


    None of them had been able to sleep much before the meeting, so Matt had read parts of the book that Liz had rmended. While he didn''t find it as interesting as she had, he certainly learned a few things. Mostly, he learned that if the vassals didn''t stop these problems now, they would, at least historically, spiral out of control. At least until a third faction was formed, or the army stepped in andid down new rules.


    Matt was very interested in what those new rules would be, as he thought that they could be a good starting point for arguments. But two things killed that hope. One was that there was no record of what those extra rules could possibly be. Anywhere. He had searched high and low on the EmpireNet, but had found nothing.


    The second was that Liz, when he mentioned it to her, said that it was ast resort for a reason. They were meant to deal with these things on their own. It was a test for both the Pathers and the vassal factions young leaders.


    His musings were interrupted when Sara and Albert walked onto the raised stage. Matt wasn''t sure what he expected, but they seemed unconcerned by the array of angry faces aligned against them.


    Good afternoon. I wish this meeting was under more joyous circumstances.


    The Princes opening statement was met with a hiss of anger, which he nodded towards and spoke over.


    Yes. As I said, these are not ideal circumstances by any means. While I had hoped that the individual meetings would allow for more personal negotiations, Princess Sara and I are more than willing to hear everyone out.


    Princess Sara took over. Is there a speaker for everyone? It would be easier that way.


    Calmly Liz called out, The offer of points is a bandage for the greater problem. And that''s not good enough.


    All around them, there were murmurs of, Yeah.


    Princess Sara looked unsurprised as she asked, And what is it that you want? More points? Money? A duel we can''t force?


    Liz smiled right back at the woman looming over her. No. We- she spread her arms out, epassing the small faction she had created. -and a few thousand of our friends don''t like how were being treated, and want a change.


    You don''t have...


    Sara started to speak, but Liz cut her off. Oh, I assure you we do. We have both the authority and the leverage to demand what we want. On my side, I have the top ten percent of earners for the Pathers. She paused to emphasize her words and finished with, From both sides.


    Lizs voice echoed out as she continued. Were all angry, and most of us have two weeks of healing cooldown. We have nothing better to do than trying to drum up support for our faction.


    Princess Sara looked miffed, but asked, And what are your demands? If you think youll be able to create a third faction, you overestimate how badly weve mistreated the Pathers as a whole.


    Lizughe and said, No. What we want is a cut of the profits, and a seat at the table.


    Albert looked genuinely surprised at that and asked, How so?


    Liz looked like a shark that had found its prey, and with a wicked smile, said, We want three percent of the points earned by our various factions. Given to the teams with the greatest contribution based on percentage. ording to the point totals published by the Army, that should be adequatepensation. If you want us to fight, we need some skin in the game. We also want a voice in all decision making andmand sessions going forward. We want a council created for all war decisions.


    Princess Sara looked slightly green at the suggestion, and Albert looked stonier than usual.


    Liz jumped on their hesitation. Don''t think we didn''t notice that not all of us have been reimbursed. More than one team was simply told to go pound sand. This isn''t ok. We, right here, are a pretty good representation of the best that the Path has to offer. If we dont look out for everyone else now, well all be screwed over sooner orter. And in two weeks, we can have everyone on The Path refusing orders. If youre willing to treat <em>us</em> like this, how much worse will it be for the lesser Pathers?


    The Princess finally said, We can''t do that. It would disrupt our ns too much, and I don''t believe that you can get enough of a faction together to force our hands. That would cripple our point production and slow down every decision to a crawl. It''s an oundish, childish desire.


    Liz was about to speak up, when suddenly, Alyssa''s voice rang out from a corner as she walked to the edge of the stage. She sat down on the edge and said, I and the people I represent agree to this, but we want in on it as well. And I want a seat on any decision making council.


    She looked at The Prince while twirling her obnoxious parasol. I''ve been talking to the crafters in our outlying cities, and they aren''t happy with how things are being handled. I''ll be taking over as a voice for them. She waved a hand around and nearly took out someones head with her parasol. Mana shortages and such. I can solve them, if given the right incentive.


    Albert didn''t look happy, but after a brief whisper with Juni he nodded. I see you had your fingers in that pie already.


    Alyssa beamed at him. Oh, I knew you would try to freeze me out Albie. I took my own measures. But remember that I didn''t cause the mana problems. You shouldnt have only spent your points for mana for the defensive formations. You know how much mana the crafters use, and how they can get when there isnt enough of it. That was <em>your</em>ck of foresight. I just strolled around, and heard <em>oh so much</em> juicy gossip. Same with your cities, Sara. I have agreements with both sides poor, forgotten crafters to negotiate on their behalf.


    Liz looked like she was about to spit fire at the other woman, but she didn''t let it show as more than a clenching of her fist. Still, she didn''t look half as mad as Sara, who realized that a Kingdom representative had the ability to speak for her crafters.


    Princess Sara spat out, It''s Princess Sara to you, and I''ll see your hold over my people broken the second I leave here you venomous, slithering, snake.


    Alyssa seemed unruffled by the threat and just smiled demurely. Im <em>sure</em> you will. I look forward to meeting them, <em>Princess</em> Sara.


    Liz was perfectly calm and collected, and she took advantage of the change in conversation to agree with Alyssa''s counter offer. She replied with a clear voice, If were going to split the points over such arge poption, we need arger percentage. Five percent minimum.


    Matt''s currently most hated person leaned forward on her parasol with a genuine smile and added, One percent of that five to be spread equally to everyone. The poor crafters dont get out much. Hard to earn points inside a city. The other four are to be spread to those that earn it.


    Liz nearly growled out, <em>To those that earn it</em>.


    With the two of them in agreement, the entire room''s focus shifted to the two faction leaders on the stage. Somehow, the argument had turned from the two vassal leaders, to an argument between Liz and Alyssa, then back to the royals just as quickly.


    Albert and Sara leaned in and conversed in whispers for what felt like an eternity. The crowd started to murmur after the first minute, and after the fifth, there was an audible growl in the air.


    The discussion between the two leaders turned quite heated, and they took turns ring at both Liz and Alyssa, before they removed their privacy barrier and came up from their huddle.


    Sara spoke for both of them. We can agree to these terms, with the added stiption that there be no more hesitation or backstabbing on either side. If there is, the offending party will go on a-wide cklist, and be given no help from their own side. A higher reward will also be paid out to those that kill them.


    Albert, who had been ring at Alyssa the entire time Sara spoke, finally looked away and added, Speaking of prizes, were both creating a leaderboard. Or rather, were using the Empires rankings, and well be giving out rewards to anyone able to take out the highest impact people on either side.


    Liz just smiled at the royals and said, The Pathers agree. We don''t mind a challenge. We mind being betrayed for personal gain. She ended her statement with a re to Alyssa, who just beamed back at Liz.


    Out of nowhere, a man appeared, hovering in the air between the two sides. It was the army leader Colonel Thorne.


    His voice boomed around the small building as he said, The army has seen and heard the agreement. It shall be put in ce effective immediately. Any further arbitration will have to be agreed upon by the three sidesprising the agreement.


    As suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.


    The two royals quickly left following the pronouncement. Their act was mirrored by everyone else remaining in the hall.


    Matt figured that everyone was trying to leave before the deal changed further.


    Annie looked around and said, I don''t get what happened.


    Liz stomped lightly and responded, We got helped by that bitch is what happened.


    Emily scrunched up her face and said, I don''t follow. What does that mean for our idea? Seems like we did better than the original offer. Or am I wrong?


    Liz seemed unconcerned about the points, and was still ring at the door Alyssa had used to leave the building. Now, we get a percentage, which should help us in the long run. It''s split more, but with four percent going to the top earners, we shouldnt see much of a difference. At least by rough calctions from the official totals. Overall, we, the Pathers Union, did fine. I''m more mad about that woman stepping in to help me. To make matters worse, she somehow seemed to know about our idea, and used it for her own benefit. Fuck! I hate that bitch!


    They filed out of the stuffy meeting hall with the rest of the Pathers, into the cool city air. Most were happy, but Matt heard more than a few people plotting revenge against their betrayers.


    Matt didn''t really care about looking like an asshole, and was trying to figure out how to pin down the clearly crafty woman, and get her to agree to a duel. No matter what Annie did to her, or how much Alyssa helped their cause, he was going to break something inside of her before the war was out.


    He did take Conors warning to heart though, and would keep his revenge from turning into torture.


    ***


    Sara looked over the retreating audience from the side door. Today, despite the tense atmosphere, had been very beneficial, and she was quite pleased with the result. That redheaded Pathers little ploy had worked quite well. Her profit sharing point system effectively removed the incentives for hermanders to be greedy little shits.


    What benefited the Queendom, benefited all. The only real thorn in her side was having to form a ruling council with the Pathers. But so long as the Pather representative was capable, and saw things her way, it should be a minor issue.


    <em>I expect that the redheaded Pather will be on Albies council at some point. What was her name again?</em>


    She checked her AI, and found the woman''s profile that her people had put together. She saved a deeper look forter, only grabbing her name.


    <em>Ah, right. Elizabeth Moore. Ill have to keep an eye on her. She seems promising.</em>


    The beneficial rule changes aside, Sara was most excited about her interactions with Albie. It was perfect, she had kept him in a call for hours, and gotten him quite rxed around her. It had only taken a littleining about how his Pathers had done better than hers.


    Which wasn''t hard to fake, as she was quite peeved about that. She was getting more Pathers than him, and the fact that they had lost in overall quality was concerning. She also had quite a great time nning ambushes for all of their back-stabbing, and handling the problematicmanders that they hadn''t been able to remove.


    Speaking of which, Albie had sent her a message regarding Alyssas ambush. The conniving snake apparently knew about the ambush, and it had to be rescheduled. Given what she knew of her, Sara wasnt surprised that she found out.


    <em>How did she even get all those Kingdom and Pather crafters to agree to her n?</em>


    Alyssa''s scheme had been amazingly well timed, and she fully expected Albie to have his hands full with that one. It wasn''t perfect on her end either, though. She now needed to find a capable and loyal representative that her crafters would ept. It was never easy to rece a chosen leader but she couldn''t let Alyssa remain the public face of her crafters.


    But overall, today was a good day. Except for one nagging issue Alyssa brought to light.


    <em>Why was Albie spending all of his points on mana for defensive formations this early in the game? Is he expecting a siege?</em>


    That wasn''t like the Albert she knew. She corrected herself. That wasn''t like the Albert she <em>thought</em> she knew. In every interaction she had with him, he seemed intelligent and cognizant of his situation, and how to best take advantage. It was one of the reasons why she was so enamored with him. He would make the perfect co-ruler.


    Neglecting the crafters was a rookie mistake. Everyone knew that there were two kinds of people you never piss off: Healers and Crafters. No one wanted to be cklisted from either of their services. That was why his actions confused her.


    With a flick of her fingers, Sara sent a message to her intelligence team. With onest, long look at Albies retreating figure, she began walking back to her headquarters with a pensive look on her face.


    <em>Oh, Albie I hope youll forgive me when we take everything from you</em>.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86


    Matt and his team were left at their wits end once the meeting was over. They didn''t know what they should be doing with their free time. They couldn''t even spar, in case they injured themselves. So that was out of the question for at least another week, and without the ability to go on missions, Matt felt adrift.


    With little left to do, Matt offered, Im going to pester an enchanter I know. Does anyone want toe?


    Annie sighed. It''s too early to work. How about we go get pedicures? Maybe a full message? Treat ourselves a bit.


    No one else wanted to do work after that suggestion, and Matt wasn''t going to be the odd man out when he wouldn''t mind the distraction.


    They found a nice ce and were pampered into an absolute mess of luxury. The ce was so fancy, they were treated to hair cuts as well. His hair was buzzed back to nearly nothing, as he didn''t want to deal with it during a fight. Conor had taken the same approach as well.


    Liz and Emily both had their long hair merely trimmed, but Annie had taken her shoulder-length hair to a style only a finger-length long. She said that it would only get in her way, with all the sneaking she nned on doing.


    Aster had her coat brushed and shined. The finishing touch was the array of ribbons that she had woven through her fluffy tail, along with a matching pair of bows by her ears. She pranced around, showing off her cuteness to everyone they passed as they walked around the city. Eventually, they stopped in for a light lunch before they went their separate ways just after noon.


    Annie and Emily were going to visit a friend, and Conor was doing the same. Liz just pushed Matt to go visit Kelley, the Tier 10 enchanter that he had made friends with. She was going to start preparing for the uing changes, and try to get ahead of what she expected wasing.


    He offered to help, but was very kindly told that he wouldnt be of much use to her.


    It was actually a relief, he really didn''t want to y nice with people that he didn''t know. All he wanted was to do some enchanting.


    Kelley was waiting at the front desk next to his nephew when Matt walked in. Matt hoped he would be. He had messaged the man earlier, and then once again when he was on his way.


    Oh, youre here, good. Let''s head back. No girlfriend or Aster today?


    Matt shook the Tier 10s hand andughed. Nah. We died yesterday, and after a spa day, we have nothing to do for the next two weeks, until we can safely spar again, which is at least a week out.


    The man looked positively gleeful at the news, and he half dragged Matt into his workshop.


    That''s perfect. I''ve been ying with the light rune you gave me. I think I figured out how they can be linked together to create an array, but the efficiency loss is still a little higher than whats practical. To make itmercially viable, we need it to be as bright or brighter than the standard rune, at the same mana per minute level. Not the high end of mana cost, where it already wins. But I think I''m close.


    Matt snagged a pair of dark-tinted goggles and peered through the blinding light, looking at and recording the string of runes that Kelley had set up.


    At 80 MPS, Matt''s AI started parsing through what Kelley had done, and began testing modifications from both the base rune and the one the older man had adjusted.


    I think we can work on this. First thing I see is...


    ***


    The sun was peeking over the horizon and illuminating the giant walled-off city. The tips of the skyscrapers glowing like candles as Matt walked down the street to their rooms in the headquarters building.


    On the way, he ordered breakfast for everyone and returned to their room with warm bags in hand. He had just finished setting the tes when Liz came out of their room with a sleepy Aster. She still had the ribbons in her tail, but not the ones by her ears. Considering how much she moved in her sleep, he wasn''t surprised in the least.


    Liz just yawned at him and asked, Howd it go? I was surprised you didn''te backst night, so I figured it either went really well or really badly.


    Matt grinned at her around his face full of egg.


    It went really well, actually. Well, kinda. Kelley and I mostly worked on the light rune I gave him, and we managed to solve the problem of the rune being too inefficient. But it only works for single runes, and not for strip lighting. Well work on thatter, after we both have time to think on it. After that, we mostly worked on enchanting various bits and bobs he had lying around.


    Liz looked vaguely concerned at that. He isn''t taking advantage of your mana, is he?


    Matt waved his fork, He isn''t. Or if he is, he''s either really bad at it, or working an extremely long con. He didn''t ask, and when I half offered, he waved me off.


    They ate in silence for a while, until they both finished their tes. Eventually, Matt asked, How did the prep stuff go?


    Liz grinned at him. <em>Gooood</em>. But I need you to stand the first watch for me.


    Watch? What watch? And where? And when? He cocked an eyebrow and said, I''m willing, but confused.


    If Liz needed someone to do something fast, it was much easier for him to step in and take over for a while, than to scramble to find someone else. The only question was what exactly it was that she needed him to do.


    We need someone to staff the situation room and basically see if theyre trying to send Pathers on suicide missions because of terrain or anything. Seeing the expression on Matt''s face, she hurried to add, It''s not meant to be hard. Were still working out the exact details, but we don''t expect it to be more than that. Or at least not much more. Were thinking about rerouting all Pathermunications through the offices we are setting up, but that seems like a little too much for a single person to handle.


    Wait, back up a bit. Who is we?


    Liz looked confused, but finally understood. Sorry. Yesterday I was talking to Juni, and afterwards, Talous. Hes the one of the top Pather team leads on the Queendom side, and were making sure we get everything we can from the two royal heirs. Anyway, he and a few others on both sides who are interested nned out a lot of things yesterday. Some of us are dead, and some aren''t.


    The idea is, well always have a top fifty Pather in charge, and on the council that the Prince is making. If no one in the top fifty is dead, the top ten need to send a representative. It''s not ideal, as it will screw up some missions, but it''s the best we can work out for now. None of us want to do it permanently.


    Matt wiped his te with his toast and asked, And that means someone needs to be in the situation room?


    Yup! That''s where most of the big decisions are carried out. I think you''ll at least not mind it, even if it isnt your cup of tea. The map shows everything thats going on, and the various upgrades that can be bought from the points that the Kingdom is earning. Well get someone else to do it soon, but we all need to start today.


    He looked at their room with longing, but sted [Endurance] at 80 MPS for a few seconds to banish any fatigue he was feeling. They left the food out for the others, and they quickly moved downstairs, where they separated.


    Matt found himself in a brightly lit room with row after row of massive screens, and people tapping at them while interfacing with their AIs. He was surprised by how quiet the room was with that many people talking, and by their gestures, some discussions were getting rather heated.


    A quick inspection of the room with his spiritual sense showed him a series of enchantments surrounding each workstation. It was oveid with an obscuring rune, making it murky and twisty to his senses, but the application was obvious.


    A petite young woman with bright pink hair came over to him and introduced herself. Jessica, watchmander for the first shift. I assume youre the Pather assigned here.


    That''s me. Though I admit, I''m not exactly sure what I''m supposed to be doing, or how any of this works. Any help would be greatly appreciated. He grinned at her, trying to show that he wasn''t going to step on her toes or try to take over somehow.


    If that was Lizs n, he had no idea how he would even begin to go about that, so he just kept things honest.


    Jessica looked at him questioningly, then motioned around after finding what she wanted. This is the ry section and where wemunicate with the various teams who are out in the field. From those that are defending the lowest level forts to those defending the cities.


    Not an AI? I know we didn''t deal with one, but I''m surprised by that, with how many teams are out there now.


    The Tier 7 woman shook her head. The hundred people we have are generally enough to handle the volume we get. It''s usually a lot of small calls that only take a minute, but we don''t let an AI handle themunications simply because the teams don''t like that. She shrugged and continued with, Apparently, it''s been tried, and doesn''t go over well. Even though most of the operators are rying information that an AI is giving them. Don''t ask me about the psychology. I can''t exin it.


    Matt raised his hands slightly and took a half step back. Oh, I understand. I''m sure someone figured out the most optimal way a million years ago. I was just surprised.


    Jessicaughed lightly at that. Fair enough. Sorry, thats something that some of the other nobles were upset about. They thought it was wasteful that we requested their people for such dull work. She made air quotes with her fingers and sarcastically chimed, Menialbor that an AI could do. And they always seem toin during my shift.


    She guided him forward to a glowing, projected globe ringed by panels, with levers and knobs iid.


    Thats the big boy. That isnt our work; the Empire put this together for us. It lets the Prince spend Kingdom level points to upgrade various forts or cities throughout the world. She pointed to a counter on a side wall and said, Thats the overall points total, and where were earning our points. Everything can be interfaced with your AI if youre in this room. Feel free to poke around. You won''t break anything, since none of us have permission to do much more than view the files and processes. Only the Prince has the ability to spend these points. And while he can delegate things, only like three people have been given the right. But I''m pretty sure that all three are really just Juni.


    Mattughed at her attempt at a joke and said, Yeah, The Prince seems to trust Juni, and hes always busy with various things. Though, I''ve only worked with him for a little bit, so I''m sure you know him better.


    Jessica grinned and responded, The running conspiracy is that Junis Talent makes it so he doesn''t need to sleep, since no ones ever actually seen the man sleeping. It would exin how he gets so much done.


    Matt paused to think about that; he hadn''t seen the man sleep either. Juni always was up and about, constantly doing something during the golem attacks, and afterwards. He doubted that it was actually the man''s Talent, but it could be.


    She looked at the map and said, You aren''t a part of the Kingdom, but Juni has a reputation. He gets things done. People have tried to pin assassinations and sabotage on him to the Prince a million times. If he does things like that, he''s never been caught, or at least left substantial proof. He''s also insanely loyal to the Prince, though that one makes sense if you know their history.


    Oh? Matt was officially interested, and tried to pry some more information out of the shiftmander.


    Yeah. The Prince ran away when he was around five, I believe. How he got away from his minders, no one knows, and more than a few heads rolled for thatpse. But he found Junis house and was taken in by the family. He pretty much lived there for a few days before anyone found him.


    Seeing Matt''s look of incredulity, she nodded. It was a new backwater world. Tier 3, and no one there was strong enough to scan the whole ce, so it took a while. Either way, they apparently became fast friends, and when they were to be separated, Juni said he would follow his friend. Five or so yearster, Juni shows up at the Prince''s birthday celebration after crashing the event by climbing down a chimney. Right in front of the King and everything. He swore his allegiance to The Prince in front of everyone, and was granted a knight title by the King himself. Lifted his family right out of peasant status with one move. Theyve never been separated since.


    Matt wasn''t sure how much of that he believed, but nodded along with the woman. It just sounded too fantastical. A Prince without a Tier 25 bodyguard? Or one so ipetent that it took days to search an area that an unawakened child could escape into? No, he didn''t believe any of that.


    It was an interesting look into Junis history, or reported history, if nothing else. He made a note to ry it all to Lizter. She was more likely to be able to weed out the good information than he was.


    Jessicas head jerked away from him, and she said over her shoulder, Gotta work. If you have any questions, find me once I put out these fires.


    Matt walked over to the huge map and inspected it. It seemed to be arger version of the one he had seen with Juni when they had checked in with the man.


    There were five continents with a city each. Two of them on nearly connectedndmasses were red, with the surrounding forts colored in a simr shade. The map clearly showed a series ofrge forts surrounded by a ring of medium forts, with the walls of smaller forts creating something akin to border walls around the cities.


    Little resource icons shed, but any in the Queendoms territory were dim, with not much information provided. He could only see what the resource was, and its expected value in both points and material yield. Though it was just an estimation based on the information gathered before the Queendom took over thend. Quickly swiping over to a Kingdom controlled area, he found a Tier 6 iron mine that was producing two tons of material a day. The mine wasn''t simted, as he expected. Instead he saw that there were upgrade paths in the map where automated miners could be purchased. But the Kingdom seemed to have invested in actual miners.


    After some spinning of the globe, he found a virtual mine by finding the medium fort his team had taken over. It produced aluminum; or it would have, if it was a real mine. Instead, it was simted, and produced a set amount of virtual aluminum, which could be converted to real aluminum for free, or converted into points.


    That mine was creating points at an astonishing rate. Three thousand points a day as it was now. If they upgraded it, they could double that. It seemed incredibly unfair when you considered that it was one of the thousands of medium forts, but two things still caught his ire.


    The first was that they were Kingdom level points, and not normal points. They weren''t the same, and couldn''t be converted except at a pretty massive loss. Even when converted, it couldn''t be done without the armys approval. Matt suspected that it was the reason why Colonel Thorne was there for the meeting.


    The second was that upgrading everything was absurdly expensive. It cost thirty thousand points to upgrade the fake aluminum mine to the next level of production. Ten days of production wasn''t bad in and of itself to double the mines output, but that was nothing when looking at the cost for fort upgrades.


    For a small fort to have the cheapest upgrade, which was to improve the gate to a Tier 7 metal banded wood, cost eighty thousand points. To raise the wall another five feet taller and increase its stone to Tier 7 cost two hundred thousand points. Adding a set of mini defensive ballista on each side of the front gate cost half a million points. Upgrading them to mana cannons was another million points on top of that.


    And those prices were all for the smallest of forts. The prices only scaled further for each level of defensive structure.


    Increasing the defensive rating of the wall around a city cost fifteen million points per section of wall. That meant one hundred and fifty million points for the smallest city, and two hundred million for therger cities.


    The cities were the only structure that could increase the Tier of their defenses to Tier 8, but the cost was so absurd, it was nigh unreachable. Upgrades for each section cost half a billion points.


    Still in shock, Matt flicked to the other defensive upgrades that various ces could get. True magical shielding was on the list, but it was only avable for medium forts orrger. He didn''t even feel that the price was all that high, at least for the initial price. Two hundred thousand points was rtively cheap, until he looked at the specs for the shields. It cost 15 MPS as a standing price, and had a battery of half a million mana, which would be drained to sustain itself when absorbing damage.


    That wasn''t bad. The King was Tier 35, and clearly invested in the prize for winning the war. A Tier 35 mana stone had two hundred fifty billion mana, and the man had, or at least should have, the ability to get them quickly. There had to be a few nobles he could shake down, if nothing else. One stone could power everything itself.


    That was his perspective on things until he looked at the outgoing costs that the Kingdom was incurring. Nearly two-thirds of their ie was being spent on mana. A little searching showed that the Empire had realized that a single, higher Tier mana stone could turn the tides, so they forced the Kingdom to buy mana with points.


    A single point bought 10 mana.That meant that it would cost fifty thousand points to fill up a shield''s reserves. That wasn''t a small investment. It changed the light in which he viewed the mana stones he pilfered. That wasn''t a small investment, though he doubted that the army was handing out lower Tier mana stones. It would make more sense if they had a few Tier 45 mana stones, and just slowly drained them. At five hundred trillion mana, a single one might fund the entire war a few times over.


    That would be a fortune to everyone in the vassal kingdoms, of which the strongest weren''t even Tier 36. But it would be nothing to the Emperor, who had Tier 47 rifts to delve.


    It made sense to limit the outside materials that could be brought in, as it rendered the various mines on the actually valuable to the war effort.


    Matt tried to think of how he could use that to his and his team''s advantage, and spent the next two hours reviewing various functions. In the end, he didn''t see any way to exploit his mana regeneration. The easiest way would be to create a rift where iron was present in the ground, as there were two Tier 5 rifts being delved for that purpose. A team went in with miners who, after it was safe, started mining the rift over and over. The rifts had a limited number of instances, so they could expertly mine the ore and leave.


    He was pretty sure that he could make a rift like that, but how he would own it would be a separate problem. If he said he made it, he didn''t know what would happen, but the questions he imagined being asked would be less than ideal for his continued anonymity. He also didn''t know how he would be able to im a rift at all. He was pretty sure that they were considered a part of the, unless you were a guild or noble family.


    It wasn''t like he needed the money, but he did want to increase his point generation. The two weeks of forced downtime sucked, and he was anxious to earn enough points to buy the [Cracked Breach] skill. He half suspected that it was ced there explicitly for him. It was just too perfect of a coincidence, otherwise considering that the skill could ept an absurd amount of mana with a rtively low upfront cost. But he could cover upfront cost with the help of a mana stone next Tier.


    Some of the upgrades just felt weird. Why spend points on a moat when you could just dig one out? After some consideration, Matt figured that this actually <em>was</em> the armys intent. You could spend an absurd amount of points, or you could build whatever you needed yourself.


    Things like the teleporter setup forrge forts seemed impossible to build on ones own, but considering the strategic value of something like that, it seemed kind for the army to provide them at all.


    That didn''t change the fact that the Kingdom was raking in points like they were hotcakes. A single small fort generated ten points an hour, and there were tens of thousands of them. The medium forts generated one hundred, and therge forts were worth five hundred points an hour. A city generated <em>ten thousand</em> points an hour.


    If he decided to be a mana battery he could make 6,912,000 mana a day.


    Matt paused as the realization sank in. That was worth 691,200 kingdom level points per day. If he sold his secret right here and now, he could buy everything he could ever want out of the reward shop. All it would take was a few days of sitting back and rxing. He was sure that the conversion wasn''t one for one, but that hardly mattered when he never ran out of mana.


    <em>I could change the course of the war with a few days worth of giving mana That''s enough to redirect points into upgrading a fort or two</em>.


    Matt was almost tempted to try and work out a deal.


    <em>No. Fuck that. I''ll earn more points than that by fighting. Ill carve out a deeper impact through my actions, not my mana. I will not, and will never be reduced to just a mana battery. I''ll kick down a city''s walls solo if I have to, but I won''t devolve into nothing more than my Talent</em>.


    Still, the scale of points was mind boggling.


    He received a call from Liz as he was idly scrolling through the numbers. Since it was the first contact he had had in five boring hours, he quickly picked up. Check to see if 5421''56.0"S 3634''45.6"W is a bad spot to send a team.


    Matt found the spot and saw that it was a cold and mountainous region near the pole of the. There was a single medium fort defending a padium mine. The fort was distinctly far away from cities, and acted more as a beachhead for the Queendom, located on the southernmost continent. It was half-covered in ice caps, with arge fort built at the center, with a small ring of forts around it. The continent and fort were both otherwise isted from the main forces of both vassals.


    After thinking it over himself and having his AI simte the situation, he responded, Seems clear enough.


    After a long moment, Liz finally asked, Ok, good. How are things down there?


    Matt shrugged, even though she couldn''t see it. Fine, I guess. Mostly boring, since there isn''t much for me to do other than observe. From theck ofmunication so far, I guess you can handle everything from your end?


    Liz seemed apologetic when she said, We got set up with a full office, and it has most of the capabilities I thought we would need someone down there for. Sorry. I didnt think it was worth your time.


    Don''t worry about it. Matt tried to reassure Liz, who he could tell was genuinely remorseful about leaving him out.


    I thought wed need a lot of oversight, but the Kingdom has been super helpful, and hasn''t tried to double-cross us or anything.


    So, do you need me here? He tried to keep the eagerness out of his voice. While he had not minded this little break, and had learned quite a few things, hed much rather be doing something else.


    For now, yes. Ive got a recement on their way. If nothing else, we at least have a face down there, so that should keep anyone from getting ideas about changing orders or something. Sorry I have to go. Someone''s at my door.


    Matt almost reluctantly disconnected, and spent thest hour of his shift nning out his next steps. He started on his idea for posting a reward for unique mana aspects. He would offer 10 points per person who had an aspect hecked.


    He wasn''t sure if it was enough to attract people, but he felt it was more than fair for someone spending a few points of mana to charge his ring a bit.


    That was an hour''s worth of standing guard, but for a few minutes of effort.


    To his surprise, by the time his shift ended, and a young woman came to rece him, he had half a dozen pings responding to his posting.


    He eagerly sent them each a message to meet up with him at a public park, and hurried his way over to find six people milling around.


    If you can line up, I just need to input mana into my refilling mana stones.


    That was Matt''s answer to hiding his growth ring. He bought two dozen small and inefficient mana stones that could be recharged, and intended to simply have the people add their mana into one, then move on.


    Steam, cloud, iron, tree, nt, and finally ice were the aspects of mana that he added to his collection. He was about to refuse the ice person, but decided to take it anyway. The young man was Tier 5, and had a scraggly look about him that Matt recognized from his days in the orphanage. It reminded him of the kids who were falling into depression. That haunted look along with the young man trying, and failing, to hide his eagerness caused Matt to ignore the fact he had Asters ice mana.


    Thank you all. If you know anyone who has unique mana, please let them know that I''ll take a copy.


    The cloud mana woman was the only one to stick around and asked, I assume that youre a crafter?


    Matt just nodded to her question. He did craft things, after all.


    If you have anything that reduces weight, Id love to buy it. No one else has it at a reasonable price.


    Head over to Kelleys enchanting shop. He has a Tier 7 earring that does that. Price is seven Tier 7 mana stones. At a thirty percent reduction, it''s well worth the price. Matt only knew of it because he had helped Kelley create an earringst night, once they moved on from the light rune. The earring they had made wasn''t the same one he was telling her to buy, but Kelley had shown him the weight reduction one as a reference. The one they made was a custom job to reduce wind resistance, but crafted in the same shape and style.


    The woman winced but nodded. Better than most others I saw. It''s even better if it''s Tier 7. It''s just expensive. Do you know what the price is in points?


    Matt paused. Kelley didn''t actually have points listed in his store, so he wasn''t sure if the man even epted points. But considering that the only reason he was on the was for the contribution points, he would surely take them.


    I think so, but I don''t know the cost in points, sorry. I don''t think it would be more than a few hundred. But I really don''t know.


    With that, they went their separate ways, and Matt pulled out the nearly empty mana stones.


    The first five were quickly absorbed into his ring, and he cleaned off the old mana signatures by ensuring that the stones were fully drained.


    Matt was about to just empty the ice one, but he decided to try absorbing that one as well.


    It was worth the points to see how repeated mana aspects would be handled by his ring.


    To his surprise, his ring absorbed it without a problem, and didnt overwrite Asters ice aspected mana. They sat next to each other as near twins, but with a subtle difference between the mana types.


    Aster''s ice mana was a more <em>cold</em> ice, whereas the young man''s mana was more of a <em>slow</em> ice. Or at least, that was the fuzzy interpretation he came up with fromparing the two.


    He immediately edited his posting about asking for anyone with aspected mana toe and visit him, no matter the type.


    Spending ten points was nothing to get extra unique mana types. He wasn''t sure if that type of difference in mana aspects could make unique rifts, but he was itching to find a secluded ce and test his theories.


    For now, he intended to try and make a new item with a slowing ice effect, instead of increasing the cold damage. Kelley was Tier 10, and probably could go for another all-nighter.


    <em>Probably</em>...

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 6

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 6


    PoA The Concept of Death 6


    Melinda cursed and rechecked her surroundings. They were on a cliff with a half-decent position, but it wasn''t ideal.


    Move right and get into a defensive position.


    She looked over the cliff and added, Vinny, protect our feet. Don''t let them copse the ground under us.


    Her team immediately responded to her orders and ran along the lip of the ravine, but Melinda felt like she was missing something that she just couldn''t see.


    Tara let loose an arrow, and someone vanished from the mass of confused workers and defenders.


    Try to <em>not</em> hit the workers.


    Tara sounded miffed as she responded, They moved in front. That''s not on me.


    She loosed another arrow that raced out to remove another of the charging attackers. The ground rumbled underneath their feet, causing them all to stumble, and Kyle and Sam to drop to a knee to stabilize themselves.


    Vinnie had both arms in the ground up to his elbows, and his face was pale with effort as the cliff around their group started to disintegrate.


    Stronger than me, Vinnie spat out with trembling lips. Best I can do is control the fall.


    Melinda wanted to curse, but avoided wasting time and called out, Sam! Get something poisonous down there! Medium burn.


    Her poison master teammate pulled a vial of purple liquid out of her waist pouch and threw it to Kyle, who lobbed it into the group of attackers. Tara, having heard themand for poison, held her arrow until the vial was directly over the attackers. Once it was in position, she shot the vial, causing the noxious liquid to spray everywhere.


    Melinda didn''t actually know what this poison was. Sam was always mixing new batches with various levels of lethality. The one she called for was something that would take at least three minutes to kill a monster of human size. It ensured that she could heal her teammates if any of the poison escaped the control of Sams Talent-based maniption of poisons and venoms, and blew back onto their team.


    The liquid started to vaporize once it was free of its ss container, causing a fog of miasma to obscure their vision of the attacking group. Sadly, it was mostly for naught, as a huge gust of wind blew the gas cloud back at their still descending team.


    Sam was better, and shunted the poison off to the side, unwilling to fight a wind mage for control over a gas. They had practiced this exact scenario in a rift with wind mage birds, and it was almost always a losing proposition.


    An arrow exploded in a sh of lightning as it hit nearby, causing Melinda to flick a look back at Tara, who seemed just as surprised as she was. Matts little gift wasing back to pay dividends, but she didn''t know how many arrows Taras quiver had the time to enchant. She hadn''t asked their archer exactly how her new growth item worked, and was only going by the quick exnation that Matt had given at the table. It was something she had overlooked, but it would be good to know exactly how the quiver worked, so she could anticipate its uses in any engagement.


    Regardless, it was proving to be a useful addition.


    They mmed into the bottom of the ravine, creating a plume of dust and rubble. While everyone else wobbled on their feet, struggling to stand, Mathew stood strong. He was already taking his position at the front of the group, thanks to the stability granted by his Tier 3 Talent.


    A huge hunk of wood that was more tree than log flew directly at them, but Kyle quickly stepped forward and swung his massive sword. He deflected the projectile away from their group, and mmed it into the cliff wall.


    The group of Kingdom fighters rushed forward, but between Kyle and Mathew, they were able to hold off the attackers long enough for everyone to get into a defensive position around Vinnie. He was busy fighting enemy earth mages in order to keep control of the ground around them. The area outside of Vinnies control was full of rising pirs that he shattered, and spikes of earth trying to stab them from behind, which he halted as well. Even the ground around them was being turned to sand.


    Their earth mage was effectively out of the fight, but he was heavily limiting the enemies avenues of attack.


    With Kyle and Mathew acting as a wall of steel, Sam ducked forward to cut overextended legs and arms, putting [Venom Strike] to good use. It would take a full minute to actually kill an enemy with poison alone, but the venoms effect slowed the reaction speed and coordination of any who were struck. That allowed the melee duo to take their weakened opponents down quickly. Kyle was busy directly cutting throughx defenses, while Mathew''s precise strikes with his mace handled the rest.


    After a few frantic minutes of fighting, Melinda and her team stood alone while thest few workers retreated down the other end of the ravine, along with the final few defenders. Tara continued tounch arrows at them, but considering their wall of shields, it was more to harry them in their retreat than to actually inflict casualties.


    After checking that their backup was quickly approaching, Melinda inspected her teammates. They were mostly fine, except a few light wounds here and there. Against her better instincts, she left them alone to save mana.


    Sam was helping Vinnie to his feet and brushing off the clinging dirt from their teammate .


    Vinnie said, We need to be careful. The earth mage retreated, and he''s strong as fuck. He spit out a glob of blood that was a worrying shade of pink, so Melinda moved over and inspected him as he continued. I think it''s a Kingdom fighter. Not another Pather. He''s got too many skills, and I think he''s using [Entomb], which is Tier 14.


    She found that he had bitten deeply into his cheek and tongue during his fight, and had swallowed a good amount of blood. A quick [Directed Heal] took care of both wounds, but she wouldnt be able to help with the nausea that woulde from his swallowing so much blood.


    Kyle, who had walked away from their group, kicked open a box he had found. Multiple chunks of copper ore fell out into a pile. He picked one up and tossed it in their direction after a quick inspection.


    Tier 6 copper. Why is this worth a special hidden mine?


    Vinnie brought the chunk to his hands with a pir of earth and examined it


    No, this is definitely worth it.


    He bounced the chunk of ore in his hand, showing it off. This is natural, mana infused copper. Tier 6 version of it as well. It''s only found on news, as it takes forever to form naturally. This shit is extremely valuable; it''s impossible to find the infused version in a rift.


    Seeing their confusion, he shrugged and added, I don''t know every detail about how it''s made, but rifts create everything inside right at the moment of the instance firsting into being, while this ore is made over an extended period of time. Otherwise, making it artificially is <em>extravagantly</em> expensive. I think it''s made by sting the ore with buckets of mana over an insane amount of time. Basically, a vein of this stuff so close to the surface is extremely valuable.


    As she watched their reinforcements move along her AIs map, Melinda asked, What''s it used for? They were within the influence of the bases anti-flying runes, so they were forced to proceed on foot, which slowed them down.


    Enchanting, as far as I know. It allows mana to flow with nearly no loss. I''m pretty sure theyre used for permanent rune enchanting; big shit, like the city-wide defenses. I don''t really know for sure, but thats my best educated guess.


    Melinda sent the information back up to headquarters. It was good to know, and they might get some more points out of the find, if the ore really was that useful.


    Their reinforcements came in in such a hurry, Melinda was bracing for a betrayal. Instead, she was shouted at.


    Prepare for another attack! We saw theming back in numbers.


    She didn''t hesitate and called out to her team, Lets take this wall!


    With the order given, they all rushed to take a position at the now dismantled wall that theyd just brought down. Kyle raced over, and they formed up as a group. Vinnie created a small wall of earth about waist high, which they all fell in behind. The wall slowly grew until it covered the entire bottom of the ravine.


    Their Queendom allies ran to the wall and took their ces. Not a full minuteter, from the other side of the ravine, a wave of at least forty people came down the slope at a run.


    At the sight of each other, a variety of spells and volleys of arrows wereunched by both sides.


    An arrow broke through Mathews upraised shield and prated through his arm. Melinda quickly raced forward, breaking off the arrow head as Kyle cut the fletching off the back so they could pull it through his arm without causing further injury. Melinda did so, closing the wound just as she removed the arrow shaft.


    She pped his back as she raced down the line to themander of their reinforcements.


    Why are we holding?


    He looked at her like she was stupid as he shouted, This is our territory! Even with her helmet on, he noticed her incredulous look, so he added, And those were our orders when you reported that there was infused copper here.


    So the Queendom was getting greedy. She made a note that they should be prepared to pull out if things got too hectic.


    But for now, she could work with these orders. I''m a healer, so give me ess to your teamwork.


    He looked surprised at that, but didn''t hesitate in giving her ess.


    Not bothering with him any longer, she ran to the most wounded fighter as another volley came down.


    It was a woman with an arrow in her upper calf. Melinda quickly pulled it out and healed the freshly impaled tissue. She did it all with [Directed Heal], as her Tier 1 Talent made it cheaper for small wounds,pared to the wasteful flood of mana that [Ranged Heal] used indiscriminately.


    She hurried back down the line as she checked everyone''s status. Her team made it through the next volley of attacks unharmed, with only one person dying from taking a [Fireball] to the head. She couldve probably saved the person, but she had to remind herself to worry about her healing cooldowns.


    It was something she usually never had to worry about. With a nce, she saw that both Mathew and the woman she healed had little meters next to their names. They showed her how much healing the average person could take before they started to reach dangerous levels.


    In theory, you could always heal someone, even without overhealth, but the body would reject the regrown parts if there was too much stress on the body. Especially after repeated healing, the danger would increase exponentially if the healer made even the tiniest mistake. Baxter said that even he had limits that he couldn''t heal past. It just became too hard to be perfect on a cellr level. That didnt even ount for the used-up nutrients that were needed to regrow the missing body parts.


    For now, the bars next to each of the people shed healed were bright green, showing that they had a while before they would be automatically withdrawn frombat.


    A third volley was exchanged, and this time, she moved to heal a shattered arm. She was pretty sure that if she hadnt been there, the woman would have been instantly removed. But she <em>was</em> here, and she was a damn good healer, even without her overhealth assisting her.


    She never used more mana than she needed, and she kept her healing limited to what was necessary. She was sure to avoid wasting anything on extraneous mdies. This wasn''t a rift where they could retreat if her mana got low, and she had far more people to heal than her usual five.


    When the two sides shed, she was forced to race back and forth, keeping the Queendom fighters on their feet for as long as she could. This was a battle of attrition, and healers always made themst longer than most expected.


    The real question was whether or not there was a healer on the other side. She felt that it was unlikely, but it was still a possibility. If there was, it woulde down to who was better at managing their mana.


    Melinda moved to a knot of fighting that seemed to be entirely focused on controlling the ground. Vines with golden thorns had broken through, extending to trap and shred the legs of the defenders.


    Someone, break that skill!


    If she healed them now, it would do little good. The wounds would be immediately reopened. To make things worse, someone cast a [Fireball] at their feet. It burned the vines and everything else around, making her job a lot harder.


    Mentally cursing, Melinda cast [Area Healing] and winced as the 150 mana left her all at once. She could have gotten three normal [Ranged Heal]s or four [Directed Heal]s off with that mana. And that was with her Tier 1 Talent reducing the cost of all healing spells by half.


    Still, a green mist rose up and started to mend torn and burnt flesh. For most people, that would be a suboptimal skill, as it would only heal the most basic of injuries, but with overhealth, Melinda was able to set it and forget it.


    Another flickering light on her AI alerted her that there was yet another person that needed her help. It was a man standing shoulder to shoulder with her husband, so she made sure to check her team while she was nearby. They were fine, and she waited there while scanning for another injury requiring her attention.


    She hopped up on the tform that Vinnie had made for Tara. It was enough of a vantage point for her to inspect the other forces and try to pick out her and her allies victims. That way, she could see whether or not people were removed from the fight after a severe injury. It was her only real way of telling if there was a healer within the enemy ranks.


    After a while, she decided that they didnt have one. Tarastest shot had hit a man in the lower chest. She expected that the wound was easily treatable by any healer worth their salt, but the man vanished just as soon as the injury was inflicted.


    The enemies drew back as their numbers dwindled to half, and they carefully retreated back, about a hundred feet or so out of range.


    As the seconds ticked by, Melinda thought that the Kingdom side would retreat again as they had before. But suddenly, a dozen arrows mmed down from above them. The enemy had somehow positioned archers above them on the rim of the ravine, and they were taking advantage of their position to shoot without worry of friendly fire.


    Melinda and Tara were both hit. Tara was wounded in the arm, but Melinda was slightly luckier, as the arrow only hit her in the lower torso. It was mostly a flesh wound.


    She healed Tara as Vinnie started to raise them a roof, but he started cursing immediately. Shit! Their fucking earth mage waited for this.


    If the other mage was resisting his new earth workings, it was a massive problem. They were sitting ducks under the rain of arrows from above.


    Thankfully, theirmander realized that as well and screamed, Charge in close!


    Melinda and her team did as ordered, and ran at the enemies in front of them. Kyle took an arrow in his leg as he ran, and Melinda was only able to heal it as they engaged with the Kingdom fighters at melee range.


    It was a hectic fight, and she had to constantly reposition herself so she wasn''t a target for the archers. The Kingdom archers had the high ground, but the side of the ravine they were positioned on top of didn''t give them very good angles to their targets. Meanwhile, Tara had her pick of targets, and was busy bing a menace with her own bow.


    A quick nce at her AI told her things were going well. Her team had gotten spread out during the fight, and Kyles healing cooldown meter was heavily into the deep orange zone. If he took another hit, she was pretty sure he would be removed from the fight. She checked her teams status on her AI. She wasn''t sure how Sam and Mathew had gotten to the other side of the valley, near where the mine was. When there was a loud explosion and wave of fire in that general direction, she thought they were screwed.


    To her surprise, it was the mine entrance copsing, and then a second burst of fire caused the Kingdom fighters to retreat.


    Even the archers above them retreated, and left them to their now ruined mine. Or at least, the Queendom would need to excavate the copsed ravine wall, and then fortify the ce before any mining could actually start.


    Melinda checked everyone again, and when seeing that both Sam and Mathews outlines were shing orange, while quickly deepening to red, she took off into a sprint.


    Sam stopped her with a near scream. Everyone back away! They detonated some sort of poison.


    Melinda was going to rush in, but Sam''s next words were enough to cause her to stumble to a halt.


    It''s affecting our mana, so stay back.


    Melinda didnt know of any mana rted poisons, but their existence wasnt entirely absurd.


    After Sam shouted thatst bit, she and half a dozen other fighters who had been nearest to the mine vanished in a quick procession.


    Melindas anxiety started to escte off the charts, but she forced herself to be calm. Baxter was there, and he wouldn''t let anything happen to her friends.


    As much as she wanted to rush forward and get teleported to the hospital as well, she could only join her teammates if she died. That wasn''t exactly a good choice, no matter how much her conscience screamed at her that she was the only one who could protect her friends.


    Instead, she started to move to the remaining wounded. She was at around half mana after her battle ministrations, and her three fast converting mana stones were empty as well. Still, she had enough mana to cast [Area Healing], and she let its longersting healing take care of the easiest wounds of those up and walking.


    That left her with just three people who were too wounded to move. She healed an amputated foot, a shattered corbone, and an arrow through the pelvis. The amputated foot would need to be checked out by the hospital, as without her Talent, it would be a patch job at best. But she was pretty sure that Baxter would cover for her, and just fake the healing needed. She had prevented the woman from bleeding out and losing her points.


    As she finished thest wounded fighter, the leader came over and asked, Can you move yet? I don''t know what poison that was, but I want to get the fuck out of this area.


    Melinda nodded and pointed. Those two need to be carried, they need to stay off their feet, but let''s get out now. I can do healing checks once were clear.


    The other fighters had been waiting for just those words.They threw theirrades over their shoulders and started running out of the valley. Vinnie had been put to work, and had created a winding set of switchback stairs that the Queendom fighters were flooding up.


    Themander kept pace right behind Melinda, ensuring that they were thest two to leave the now quartered valley.


    As they reached the top of the hill, Melinda used a tiny fraction of mana to check herself and themander, whose name she still didn''t know. She didn''t have ess to bring up his public profile, and he wasn''t on the top one hundred most important Queendom fighters list that she had downloaded.


    She stuck out a hand and said, Melinda. Healer and leader of my Path team.


    The man removed his helmet and returned the hand with his own. Adam. Tier 7 toon leader in her Majesty''s army.


    He tucked the helmet under his arm, and after letting go of her hand, said, Marvelous that you found this ce and all, but do you know what that poison your teammate talked about was? Or even a guess at what it could be?


    As Kyle, Tara, and Vinnie joined her, she said, No, and Im finding nothing inside of us either. So I don''t think it was spreading or anything. Our teammate is a poison user herself, so while she might know, I haven''t a clue.


    Adam cursed under his breath before saying, Well I assume well be ced under quarantine and act as a guarding force at the same time. At least until we get a report of what that was.


    With that, he ordered everyone to start felling trees to create a makeshift barrier for them to defend. Melinda didn''t have an axe, so she helped haul the logs into ce before Adam called a halt.


    We got a reply back from the hospital. Our men were hit with a byproduct of the mining. Something called depleted copper. ording to the report, its the inverse of the mana infused copper that this ce is teeming with. It seems like it''s copper that forms around the mana conductive version, and it absorbs the mana of anyone it is near. Its a nasty byproduct of mining the stuff, but its not exactly lethal. That''s the good news. The bad news is that we all will apparently need to detoxter, and from the cursing I''m getting from Jamie, its pretty foul both going in anding out. At least they didn''t actually die. They were brought out as a precaution, since it''s easier to treat sooner rather thanter.


    Adam shrugged. So, well be guarding this ce for a bit before we make our way back to the neutral city and check ourselves into the hospital. But headquarters is greatly pleased that we pushed the Kingdom back. Leadership expects that they took the little bit of copper theyd already mined, and left us to deal with the dirty junk they left behind. Luckily, we stopped them from getting a foothold, or mining more than a few hours'' worth of material.


    Melinda wasnt in range of awork ,and had to take the man at his word, but it didn''t seem too bad.


    Adam moved over to her team and plopped down after wiping his sweat-slicked hair. Fucking Kingdom tried to screw us good on this one, but they managed to fuck it up.


    Tara raised an eyebrow as she asked, How so?


    Our analysts did the math, and apparently, they didn''t get to blow up the boxes of depleted copper. Or not all of them. If they had broken more of them, the radius of the poison outbreak would have been muchrger. They couldn''t even do that right. Cowards.


    He ended the statement by spitting to the side over the barrier.


    Kyle peered over the edge of the cliff into the ravine. What if they already disposed of the rest of it?


    Adam looked thoughtful at that suggestion, but finally shook his head. Maybe, but its doubtful. The nearest rift is half a mile deeper into our territory, and that''s the only safe way to dispose of the toxic waste. Chuck it into a rift and let the instance cycle. No, I think theres a few boxes of the stuff sitting down there under the rubble.


    Vinnie just shook his head. I sure as shit don''t want to be a part of the clean-up team that has to work that job. Or the new mining team for that matter.


    Adam raised his canteen to that, and they jokingly toasted to not being so unlucky.


    An hourter, their relief team came in sealed suits, and they dropped off some additional suits for them. The suits came equipped with air runes to keep the air breathable, but the long flight back to the main city left Melinda hot and sweaty as she was led through quarantine procedures.


    Having someone else scrub her down while she raised and lowered her arms as directed wasn''t the most pleasant experience, but it was worth it to know that she and her gear were being professionally cleared of any lingering depleted copper.


    To amuse herself while being scrubbed down, she read about the stuff, and cursed at the Kingdom for being so petty as to detonate the boxes of waste.


    The material started off as perfectly normal copper when left in a mana rich area. The higher the mana concentration rtive to the Tier of the mineral, the faster it absorbed the ambient mana. But as the copper drew mana deeper into itself, the outermostyer had so much mana moving through it. Theyer took on the opposite property, and started to repel mana.


    Thatyer would dissolve into the surrounding soil, and then start to slow the growth of the mana infused copper, until it reached an equilibrium.


    That was the problem, though. It made mining the special copper annoying if all precautions were taken, and quite dangerous if not. The contaminated soil was separated off and tossed into rifts to be destroyed ,as it could poison thend for months at Tier 6, until its properties were equalized with the environment.


    If introduced to a person, the effects were much worse. If the dosage was high enough and left long enough, it could cripple the persons ability to use mana until it was purged. Then, the body had to be almost fully regrown limb by limb to rece the infected tissue. Apparently, a high enough Tier healer could speed up the process, or you could spend a few million mana to simply overwhelm the absorption properties of the copper.


    The best and fastest way to deal with it was to quickly purge the body, and do it quickly.


    It took a message to Baxter topletely settle her fears. The dosage her teammates had gotten was nothing to be worried about. It was only one-tenth the most dangerous levels. The army watchers had confirmed that only one-quarter of a box had been detonated, and unless someone directly ate that amount, it was mostly harmless. At worst, without treatment, her teammates wouldve had higher mana costs for a few months. Still, the army wasn''t going to risk it, and immediately pulled them out.


    An hourter, she met with her teammates, and they were given a chalky white drink that seemed to cling to her insides as she drank. It tasted like rotten sewage dipped in a corpse.


    She managed to choke it down while ring at Baxter, who delivered the potion.


    It can''t be made to taste any better?


    She was pretty sure he was fucking with them, or at least her, by leaving out something to make the drink taste at least somewhat ptable.


    His cocky grin grew wider. Nope. There really isn''t. It''s frog bane. Its nearly a poison all on its own for how bad it tastes, but it sticks to your insides like a film ,and will grab anything remaining inside of you. Like inhaled or swallowed copper dust, for example. Then, theres the harpies cleanser, which also tastes absolutely awful. But thats even worse, as it also makes you shit your brains out, on top of coughing up a lung or three.


    He smiled and said, You can all go home at any time you''d like now, but Id rmend staying, as youre going to want more than one toilet to hug. If you have to share, itll get messy quickly.


    I hate you. I hate you <em>soooooo</em> much right now.


    Baxterughed as their faces contorted, and they all ran to the curtained-off bathrooms. To Melinda''s horror, the toilet had a sink right in front of it.


    This would not be fun.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87


    Matt and Kelley were sitting around two pairs of gauntlets, one with a cold rune etched into the back of the hand, the other with a slowing rune.


    They just sat there and stared at them together. Their half a day of testing had finally paid off.


    The same mana aspect could be subtly different, which led to subtly different results. With some maniption of the standard cold rune, they had created a rune that, when cold-based skills were cast through, created a slowing effect. The effect wasn''t minor either, with a near thirty percent effect.


    All from creating the rune with the cold aspected mana.


    The second pair of gauntlets with a slowing rune were designed to slow anyone struck with them. With the slowing cold mana, it was nearly twice as effective as the base, though it was still limited to melee attacks.


    Hit me again.


    Matt did as instructed and lightly backhanded the Tier 10 enchanter.


    The man dropped an apple with his off-hand and drove to catch it with his other hand. It was like he was moving through honey for about half a second, then the effect stopped, and his hand shot forward like a snake, catching the apple.


    It would havested longer if the man''s Tier wasn''t so much higher than the rune.


    Inspecting the apple, Kelley repeated himself for the sixth or seventh time. I cant believe we got it to work.


    Matt looked at the floor covered in ice from their test with [Hail], the only cold skill between the pair, and the cold slow enchanted gauntlet. He repeated himself as well. Neither can I.


    Kelley kicked his way through the ice, over to his workbench, and pulled out a bottle and two sses.


    Careful with this. It''s Tier 10 liquor and will put you on your ass before you know it.


    He poured them each a drink. Matts was noticeably smaller, more so a shotpared to Kelleys nearly full ss. The enchanter raised his drink and said, To learning something new.


    To getting an edge on thepetition. Matt knew what Kelley really cared about, and couldnt resist teasing the man. He would work for free if everything was provided for him. Selling his wares was just a means to buy more things and fund his projects.


    They both downed their sses. Matt nearly died as the potent alcohol kicked him so hard, his teeth hurt. He had to brace himself against the table while the fire burnt its way down.


    Kelleys two fingers of liquor went down much easier than Matts, if hisck of reaction was to judge.


    Shit, this changes everything. I mean, I knew using aspected mana can improve certain runes, every crafter worth a damn figures it out, but


    He was about to curse the man out a little for not warning him more when he noticed the man staring at his ss with a thousand-yard stare.


    Matts Tier 10 friend started rolling his ss around idly. Aspected manaes from five ces. Innate bloodlines, Talents, carefully cycling ambient mana, special techniques involving cycling essence and mana through materials, and finally, natural treasures. The main aspects are easy to find: air, water, ice, fire and so on. It''s that secondary property that''s hard to capture. It''s more unique to how each person views their aspected mana. An abstract idea like slow doesnt exist outside of Talents as a full aspect of mana. These extrayers are essentially understanding made real. It''s like a concept. No, a <em>Concept</em>...


    There was a rippling in the air that Matt didn''t dare disturb, and after what felt like a year, Fuck! It exins so much! Concepts do the same thing. They can change your mana to better reflect your understanding. Someone with an ice Concept could use it to aspect their neutral mana into ice aspected mana, but that would just be the main aspect, the same as if they used an ice natural treasure.


    Kelley paused for a moment, grabbing one of the gauntlets. Unless their Concept isnt found in nature, but as long as the persons Concept is the same as the natural treasure, it''s no different. The inverse applies as well. Unique aspects could appear from peoples'' Concepts. They would need to use their ice Concept to introduce the slowing secondary property. It would let their mana reflect the abilities of ice as they understand them.


    Kelley started to chew his lower lip as a faint strum rippled through the air.


    If you understand the Concept well enough, you can add that secondary property. The right... The enchanter seemed to search for the word, <em>Sub-aspect</em> to the main mana aspect. You multiply the effects greatly. That must be one of Ascendent Crafters'' guild secrets, it exins how their products always out perform with the same runes and materials. They must have huge libraries of aspected mana. I can do the same.


    Kelley uttered, I make the rune. I can find the best aspect and sub-aspect for the rune. I can change


    Matt felt the air and surroundings vibrate like a bell was struck. Matt''s Concept and his cores of essence vibrated to a frequency that was not his own. But it still sounded discordant.


    Kelley was rapidly thinking his way through forming his Concept, but there was something more happening. Matt had felt when his and others Concepts formed during the ascension, but he had never felt the essence responding like this before.


    I can change the aspect. I can choose the rune. I decide its properties. I can change. I am the sculptor and the stone.


    With each phrase that Kelley uttered, the vibrations were brought closer and closer to harmony. Matts Concept vibrated in what felt like sympathetic resonance, but before the sensation settled down, Kelley said, I am <em>change</em>.


    It was like a bomb went off, as everything fell into ce and a smooth harmony rang out in a melodic fanfare. Essence started to rush into the room as if there was a vacuum pumping it in. And now, Kelley was absorbing the ambient essence at an absurd rate. Like a starving man at a banquet, he kept pulling more and more in.


    The pressure built until Matt felt like he was underwater from the sheer volume of essence that was being pulled in. As the quantity increased, a resonance started to expand out through the essence as more and more rushed inward, condensing within the enchanter.


    Once the entire room was vibrating from the resonance between man and essence, there was a moment where the torrent stilled. His enchanter friend was no longer Tier 10, but Tier 11.


    Kelley''s first word was, Huh.


    Matt kicked the man. Huh!? Is all you have to say for yourself!? That was an inspiration! You just had an inspiration! By every ascender.


    He had no idea how to react, honestly. It wasnt just mind-boggling. It was beyond that. Inspirations were rare, and Matt had no idea how rare it was for a crafter to create their Concept at the same time.


    Matt had no idea why it had taken so long. The movies he had seen depicted an inspiration assting only a minute at most, but this experience hadsted five already. The real oddity was that this was only Tier 6, while Kelley was Tier 10. The essence shouldn''t be useful for the man, but he still felt the essence condensing as it neared the enchanter.


    Or at least, that was the feeling he got from his spiritual sense. It would exin why the man was pulling in so much essence. Quality had to be created from quantity.


    Kelley hardly rocked from Matts kick, and just startedughing until he had to wipe his eyes from the excitement.


    I can''t believe it either. Fuck! Its kinda hard to believe. I I don''t know.


    The newly-minted Tier 11 vibrated with excitement before he broke out into an awful dance.


    I need to test everything!


    Matt wholeheartedly agreed. He didn''t ask about the man''s revtion. From the little he knew about inspirations, which was solely based on a movie or two, asking was considered incredibly rude.


    So he asked about the man''s Concept instead. What about your Concept? What did you make? What do you think it can do?


    Instead of answering, Kelley picked up a scrap of metal and looked at it. Matt felt out with his own Concept and felt nothing. After a few minutes, Kelley looked up and said, I have no idea. How did you tell?


    Matt felt bbergasted, but half shrugged. He had just flexed his Concept, and it had worked.


    I don''t know. It just worked for me when I interacted with it. I felt there were two things it could do, and it was pretty easy. If I had to guess, try something rted to the image. I assume it''s crafting rted, so try that.


    The Tier 11s stylus appeared in his hand, and he started carving into the metal bar in his hand. The rune was familiar to Matt, as they had just been working on it. After a minute, the outline of the slowing rune appeared, and Kelley started to imbue the rune with his own mana.


    Matt was about to offer to do that when Kelley grunted out, Mana. Please.


    Throwing his Concept onto the man, Matt watched as the enchanter imbued his rune and then inspected it with a grunt.


    He waved off Matt, who was still refilling the man. I''m good now, you can stop.


    Matt didn''t and just asked, You figured something out. What was it?


    Kelley looked happier than a kid on his birthday as he said, I got myself the ability to somewhat influence my own mana with different properties. Its almost like copying what I learned from the cold. But it seems that I need to know how the aspect and sub-aspect work.


    He tapped Matt with the bar, then from Matts perspective, rapidly cleared the workbench up. By his AI count, the effect hadsted one and a quarter seconds, but it had felt more like fifteen.


    Matt nodded to the man. It worked, but not as well as the slowing ice aspected mana.


    Kelley nodded. It also burned a lot of my own mana to convert it to both the aspect and sub-aspect, while also eating a ton of my willpower. I have a headache like you wouldn''t believe, but I think that if I practice this, the mana conversion will get a lot better. Something feels off right now, but I''m not sure.


    So, what are you gonna do now?


    Kelley looked at Matt like he was dumb. I''m going to keep testing! At the minimum, I''m going to copy your idea with normal converting mana stones. It will cost me an arm and a leg, but I''ll need to at least test with them. I bet therge guilds have pre-made libraries already, but I don''t. It will just take some time and searching.


    Matt offered, Why not try and hire a few Tier 5 teams to run the rift I got this from? It was dropping dual typed mana stones until I got this.


    Kelley was interested, so Matt exined how the army was selling the rifts.


    It''s a good idea, and its worth a shot. I doubt Ill get a growth item like that, but theres a one in a few trillion chance I get lucky and get something simr.


    With that, they went back to creating various applications of the ice mana. Matt wanted to make an addition to Aster''s cor to get her more cold damage from her own mana aspect, and the ability to slow things down with the other mana aspect.


    If it worked as intended, hed see about making one for himself.


    ***


    After three hectic days, Matt finally saw an exhausted Liz for more than five minutes. She had been working twenty-hour days trying to set everything up, and had finally finished most of her preparations.


    He had been bringing her food three times a day after he noticed that she had been skipping breakfast and dinner.


    She was so busy, he hadn''t seen her with a free moment at all when he brought her the meals. He offered to help, but while she asked him to run an errand or two, it wasn''t much more than her trying to make him feel better. So, he just gave her an open offer and left it at that, while trying to make sure she ate regrly.


    After those three days, she was able to cut down her responsibilities with managing the Pather side of things to about half a day''s work. She said she expected it to be even less as time went on, but she was still effectively running the show.


    While the trickle of points was quite nice, it wasn''t crazy. As a top fifty team, they earned about a thousand points a day. Unfortunately, as their ranking fell, so did their points. It got to the point where, a week after their death, they were only earning a measly seventy points a day.


    It was still something, so no oneined. Well, nearly no one. Liz had ranted about how someone had called toin about the new point system, and how it would let other people buy things faster, and therefore make acquiring the limited goods even morepetitive. That, and people were mad over others getting points while doing nothing, even though it scaled to contribution. At least they had expected <em>that</em>int..


    As dumb as it was, that particr gripe reinforced the reason why everyone was here. To earn gear or skills beyond their normal means.


    Just mentioning it was enough to piss Liz off, though, so it was a topic avoided by everyone.


    Now that it was a week after their deaths, they could safely train with light sparring. Matt, Liz, and Aster were still intent on helping their teammates get their own Concepts.


    It would have been safe for them after three days, when Matt had Melindae by and give everyone a check up with her Talent. But he couldn''t exin that to Annie, Emily, and Conor, so he settled for knowing that they were properly healed.


    They all faced off against Annie, who blocked blows from both Conor and Liz while he and Aster tried to force the assassin to stillness with their Concepts. It was like fighting through msses for her, and while they all pulled their punches, it was a losing battle.


    That was the point, and as her desperation grew, the hope was that she could start to resist, and therefore find her own Concept.


    They were an hour into things, and the training wasn''t going as well as Matt had hoped. He knew that he was overestimating how effective standard training would be, but a part of him believed that it would be as fast as training with the reality shard had been for Melindas team.


    Objectively, he knew the idea was stupid and unrealistic. If it was as easy as fighting someone with a Concept for a few hours, everyone would have Concepts. But his new friends were strong andpetent, so he felt that they should click with it.


    Kelley had been Tier 10 without his own Concept, and was not only sessful, but also considered well ahead of his peers. It was just another indicator of the truth. Concepts were hard to create, and some people never managed to form them. There was a reason that the Empire restricted knowledge until people hit Tier 10, and had already used the two bottled Concepts. It was for their own good.


    Even at Tier 10, a cultivator would have a lifespan of seven hundred and twenty years. At Tier 14, it was double that. Compared to Tier 4, with a lifespan of around one hundred and thirty years, it was a massive difference. Without the bottled concepts, the average lifespan of a cultivator would be drastically reduced.


    As Mattmanded Annie to halt with his will, he thought about what it must have been like before the bottled Concepts. He tried to imagine what it would be like if Annie, Emily, and Conor grew old and died while sitting at the peak of Tier 4. Unable to advance as they grew older and older, with Tiers ahead of them to reach immortality.


    He thought of Melinda, Mathew, Vinnie, Kyle, Sam, and Tara. Even with the help of the reality shard, they were still stuck at their phrases, and only slowly progressing.


    Annie panted out, Break. and he and Aster released their hold on her. Aster was panting slightly, and Matt understood. It was hard work on their end, even if they were sitting on their butts while the others fought.


    Liz flopped to the ground as Matt stood. Emily stood and red at Liz, who was manipting her blood to cover the twin in a thin film. They had quickly realized that Liz couldn''t exactly recreate what he and Aster did with their Concepts.


    She could resist them trying to slow or stop her easily enough, as her Concept was internal. But she didn''t actually have the ability to project her Concept without her blood. Because of that, she needed to cover the person in blood to hold them.


    On the bright side, she was able to fully lock down a person on her own, letting Matt and Aster get a break, but it wasn''t pleasant for the one resisting.


    As Liz was sitting with her eyes closed, Matt repeated her mantra. Find what you are and what you want to be. Find what resonates with you.


    He sidestepped a bolt of mana that was tinged yellow-brown and felt like an earth element. With a stick, he pped Emilys side and rotated around her.


    Think about how you see yourself, and how others see you. Find where you want to go from there.


    A strike from Emily was less than half speed, but Matt blocked it with a raised forearm. Find an idea that represents yourself, or some aspect of your fighting style. Find it and visualize it.


    Emily kept a fierce expression as she shot another [Cracked Mana Bolt] at him. Matt had tried to absorb the mana from her attack into his ring to get free aspected mana, but hadn''t found a way to efficiently absorb it. The skill simply dissipated on contact after expending its energy in the initial hit.


    It was incredibly disappointing, as her skill could create any elemental type. They were still working on the numbers, but it seemed like fifty percent of the time it was a basic aspect like wind, water, fire, or earth. Thirty five percent of the time, it was a higher level of aspect like ice, lightning, wood or metal. The remaining fifteen percent was broken into weirder elements and effects that they weren''t able to document very well.


    Matt was pretty sure that they felt a soap aspect on one of the bolts, but how those percentages broke down would take a lot more testing than they had done so far.


    He changed his mantra to something more specific to Emily as he struck out again, Your Talent lets you double things. Maybe youre a bacterial growth in a petri dish, with the skill being food. The more food you can add, the more you can grow.


    She ground out, I''m not bacteria, Matt. Fuck you.


    Since she had the ability to talk back, Matt hit her thigh and then her extended arm. She sent a bolt of lightning at him. This one stung his shield, as it was within her window of doubling time. Matt kicked some dirt at her in retaliation.


    It was kinda mean topare her to bacteria, but it was the best doubling thing he coulde up with at the moment.


    Think about standing on a pyramid where... Matt halted in his diatribe as he felt something. It was faint, but his Concept felt a resonation from the blood-covered girl.


    They all watched as Emily sat down cross-legged. Conor and Annie, from their panting positions, each scrambled to a spot where they could see Emily. Liz stopped resisting the women''s movements and watched with everyone else.


    After about five minutes of nothing happening, Emily opened her eyes.


    I lost it. I had something, but I lost it.


    Annie crawled over to get right in front of her bloody sisters face. What did it feel like? And what do you think triggered it?


    Emily opened her eyes and mockingly red at Matt. It <em>definitely </em>wasn''t bacteria. There was something about the pyramid, but I don''t know what.


    Liz fist-pumped. Well, see? I was right! That''s the first step. Now you know where to start. We just need to do more training.


    Conor hopped to his feet when Emily retreated back into herself to examine her slight breakthrough.


    Matt hoped it was a sign of things toe, but it wasn''t. No one had any more progress, even when all three of them were out of will power and had blinding headaches, forcing them to stop training.


    It wasn''t much progress, but it showed that the end goal was possible.


    ***


    Matt was pulling apart his golem crossbow arm in a workshop while half-listening to Liz and Sam work behind him. They had rented a general workspace for half the day, as it was cheaper for them to all rent the room.


    He could have crashed Kelleys workshop, but the man had been so busy with his Concept and engrossed in his research, that he hadnt even noticed Matt showing up or leaving.


    So instead of risking bothering the man, he rented out a workshop to convert his golem arm crossbows into ones wieldable by humans.


    When Liz and Sam finally started to meet up to practice alchemy together, they needed a room as well, so they rented one out as a group.


    But Matt wasn''t fully concentrating on the item in front of him. No, he was much more focused on listening to Lizin about running the Pather side of the war.


    I have people alwaysing up with <em>great ideas</em>. It''s always just coincidental that the idea only helps themselves or their friends. These people clearly think I''m an idiot, but I still need to hear them out.


    Something ttered, and Sam said, Just tell them to take a hike.


    Liz groaned, and Matt had to resist turning around. She hadn''t shared any of this with him. She had yed things off like it was mostly busy work.


    I cant. I need to hear people out at least marginally. Its even worse now, because people areining to me about the missions they get. I only approve the missions that the AIs suggest if it looks viable. I can''t help that the Tier 5 teams are outmatched for most things other than guard duty, or being a part of arger group. Am I supposed to make the other side weaker and only send Tier 5s as well? No, thats fucking stupid. Ugh! It''s just frustrating.


    People suck.


    Yeah, but I need to lead them, which makes it worse. Liz sounded incredibly tired.


    Sam said something Matt didn''t hear, and Liz responded in kind.


    Matt wanted to go over and ask her what else was wrong and try to help, but it wasn''t like she couldn''t have told him. They hadn''t seen that much of each other in thest week and a half, but things had been hectic with them ying catch up on training and Concept work.


    They had all been busy with their own thing, but he was slipping as Lizs friend and boyfriend.


    That night Matt asked Liz as they were settling into sleep, Everything okay?


    Yeah, it''s all fine. She murmured her answer while stifling a yawn.


    Matt waited, but when he got nothing, he pressed, Even with the leader gig?


    It''s fine.


    I heard you talking to Sam.


    Liz groaned, Dammit. I thought we were quieter than that.


    You mostly were, but when I was changing arms, I was able to hear.


    Liz rolled into him as she said, I''ve barely seen you, and it feels like all I do isin when I <em>do</em> see you. I don''t want to burden you as well.


    Matt poked her under the rib. I''m happy to help.


    See, that''s the thing. You like to fix things, but this isn''t something that can be fixed. I just wanted toin and bitch to someone new a little. It''s shitty sometimes, but it''s not all bad. Ive met some really nice and grateful people. It''s just turds that taint the whole bowl sometimes.


    Well, I wanted to let you know I''m here to help.


    She patted his chest. You are helpful. Time spent with you is time I don''t have to think about all the bullshit I need to work on the next day. Thankfully, we only have two days off left, and things are heating back up, so we''ll have more time together.


    He kissed the top of her head, and theyy there together.


    Matt wasn''t happy that Liz was dealing with everything on her own, but at least they werent having any problems as a couple.


    <em>How can I help</em>?


    As he drifted off to sleep, Matt kept thinking about the question.


    ***


    Matt took a fist on his unarmored forearm, and felt [Mages Retreat] re slightly in response as the skill moved more mana through the area that increased Durability. He concentrated on stretching that area out. Just slowly.


    If he moved too fast, the skill would actually start pulling from the Strength boost it gave. But if he was slow, he could slowly stretch the skills structure out like taffy. Adding his manual maniption while getting hit doubled the effectiveness of his training.


    His normal meditation was better for feeling out the skill, but he knew [Mages Retreat] as well as he knew [Cracked Phantom Armor.]


    Matts AI pinged him. It was nearly time.


    Shutting down and retreating from the training aid, he sat down. With two hours of meditation, he moved [Mages Retreat] out of his core spirit and into his inner spirit, with [Endurance] and [Hail].


    It was right at the edge, but he needed the free slot for [Fireball], which he was currently absorbing. When it reached his core spirit, he would quickly modify it to reduce the mana cost while it was still malleable.


    He checked his AIs timer, and found that [Fireball] had another three hours before it reached his core spirit. Then, he could perform his modifications to the skill.


    It was enough time for a little more testing. He had practiced for thest week with the cube he and Liz had used to train for modifying [Endurance], and the time was nearly upon him.


    Still, it wouldn''t hurt to test the modification once more. He had the time.


    Matt connected his AI and sent his spiritual sense into the cube, and started to simte the process.


    In thest week, he had doubled down on his skill training. Normally, he spent an hour or so a day doing it in the morning or before bed. But with the abundance of free time, he had been focusing on pure meditation training, and adding in skills training while using them in sparring matches


    He knew it was just another side effect of his Talent that he hadn''t appreciated. Annie, Emily, and Conor allmented on how his refilling their mana regrly let them use their skills more, and actively expand their capabilities.


    They were usually forced to only meditate on the skill, and try to eke out whatever increase they could get when fighting or sparring. Even then, they were normally only able to do that once a day, as it took them a day and a half to fully regenerate their mana naturally.


    His keeping them topped off let them train much harder than normal.


    It was still a weird thought for him, as some small part of himself still thought of his Talent as useless. Even though it gave him and people around him advantages he could never have dreamed of.


    With a soft chime, he stopped his wandering thoughts and focused inward. [Fireball] was close to the edge of his core spirit.


    The longer it took him to make the modifications, the longer the skill would have time to sink deeper into the spirit, and therefore increase the time it would take to move back into the inner spirit.


    He wanted to be quick.


    As the skill breached the dividing lines between the spirityers, Matt started to shrink the entirety of the skill down as much as he could.


    He condensed it along the x, y, and z-axes, along with shrinking the inner tubing that made up the skills structure.


    The first bit was easy, but as the skill shrank down further and further, it was harder and harder topress. Matt even felt some of his willpower going into the task. His task became increasingly more difficult as the skill continued to shrink.


    As the skill stopped moving and its malleability diminished to normal, he inspected the skill. He hadn''t been as fast as he wanted, but the results looked good.


    The skill was nearly half the normal size.


    And at a base cost of 10 mana, he was hoping to get the skill to a mana cost of about 6 when it was removed from his core spirit.


    Still, his modification had worked perfectly.


    Standing, he went back to the training aid and turned on [Cracked Phantom Armor] at the lowest draw possible. He filled a mana crystal up before refueling his mana pool. He only had 80 mana for a second, as the 1 MPS of his armor and AI slowly drained his mana pool. His regen was next to nothing if his current mana was over ten percent of his maximum.


    Still, he sent mana into the new skill in his spirit, and with giddy excitement, watched as a fist-sized ball of me appeared, thenunched in the direction he was thinking of.


    He missed the training aid, and the [Fireball] sshed harmlessly over the back wall.


    Not caring in the slightest, Mattunched half a dozen follow-up [Fireball]s, andughed his best evilugh as the vents needed to pull the heat and smoke from the room.


    After half an hour of testing his new skill, he checked his AI for the results.


    In his core spirit, the skill cost 4.1 mana, more than the ideal 3 mana cost that would allow him to use the skill endlessly at Tier 8. Matt didn''t think an item could reduce the skill enough. He had learned from Kelley that mana reduction items were hard to make, and worked off a percentage. Essentially, he''d need an amazing item to get him under the cost of his one percent max. A thirty percent reduction wasn''t impossible, but it was rare.


    At Tier 9, at one percent of his max mana, he would have 6 mana, which would make the skill perfect for his inner spirit. Skills in the core spirit were thirty percent cheaper and far easier to manipte than the inner spirit, which was considered the baseline.


    He decided to move the skill out of his core spirit until he was Tier 7, so he could continue to work on [Mages Retreat] some more. But he was going tomission Kelley for a Tier 8 mana reduction item. Matt winced for his bank ount. Even with the Tier 15 mana stone from the sale of the growth item, it was going to be an expensive item. Tier 9 or 10 materials at least, to help the efficiency get to thirty percent.


    It wasn''t a huge problem, considering the value of the Tier 15 mana stone that he had. But Matt really hated spending money, and it felt incredibly expensive as a Tier 6. In the end, he refused to take advantage of a friend, and that won out.


    Still, the skill worked perfectly, even if it was at a little less than half power after his modifications. He could make up for quality with quantity.


    Deciding to letrge decisions be a problem for tomorrow, he cleaned up and headed out. Tonight, he would celebrate with everyone for the sess of his new fire spell.


    Matt paused. He should get some ice cream for Aster. She was going to hate his new spell. But he loved it.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88


    Matt flew through the air with his team; they were interspersed throughout the standard guard team.


    A month after their deaths, they were pulling secret escort missions. While neither glorious nor high earning, the missions were necessary. Nearly half of the Kingdoms resource shipments from the outlying forts were being stolen. The third city was being plucked at from all sides, and the thefts were costing the Kingdom valuable resources. The Prince had personally asked them to escort the shipment while hidden inside of it.


    Matt was in forest drab armor, with a long staff at the ready. It wasn''t likely he could hit anything at the speeds they were traveling. The Princes espionage staffers apparently excelled at disguises. His face was made up to the point that he didn''t even recognize himself. His cheeks were filled in, and his hair dyed brown,pletely changing his appearance at first nce.


    Liz underwent the same treatment, and now had ink dark hair, which contrasted with her pale skin. He loved her red hair, but the ck hair was new and exciting. It caused them to both muss their disguises quite a bit before the mission. The espionage staffers who had to redo their makeup were less than enthused.


    Liz was also in heavy armor with a new spear. The former helped conceal how thick the backpack that she was wearing was. It was only necessary because Aster had tly refused to dye her fur red. Shed rather die than take on the visage of a fire fox. After that horrible suggestion, she refused to change into a fox of <em>any</em> other element, while adamantly maintaining that ice was the best. They really shouldn''t have started with fire. Matt tucked that lesson away for future reference and ordered an illusion cor instead; it would turn her into a dog.


    It wasn''t the dyeing that irritated the fox. No, they had been able to make that seem fun to her, and she dyed the tips of her ears purple. What set her off was the people thinking that she used fire. That was an indignity too severe, so she chose the backpack when they gave her the option between it or the dye.


    Arge backpack with a white fox was synonymous with their team, so it had to be made to look like a much slimmer backpack, forcing Liz to wear the fake armor ensemble.


    Conor was in what Matt felt was the most dangerous position. He was keeping his own role as a heavy melee fighter, but his armor was too distinctive, so it had been swapped out with a second set. It apparently wasn''t sitting right no matter how much they adjusted it. That wasnt exactly an ideal way to go into battle, and Liz intended to hurry to his side as soon as things kicked off.


    Annie and Emily had simply done the same as Matt and Liz. Emily was acting like a basic mage, equipped with only a [Fireball], just like Matt.


    Annie was using one of the golem crossbows he had made in bulk and sold in the monthly auction.


    The sales hadted them nearly 5000 points, which while not a ton, was still a few days worth of their idle share of the Kingdom earned points. Their team sat around the fifth spot in the rankings when they could hit big missions back to back. Their death all but grinded their momentum to a halt, sliding them back to thirty-second ce. It was a setback from which they still had hardly recovered from.


    The six of them were infamous for a guaranteed death, so most teams preferred to surrender rather than take the death when they showed up. Losing half your points to buy your freedom and prevent a two-week death timer was a <em>much</em> better option than losing half your points and earning a two week wait to get back in the war.


    They were hoping that this ambush would allow them to get back on track, due to a distinctck of forts changing hands after the Pathers meeting. Without orders to take a fortress, they couldnt earn points from the army war AI.


    That left them with an ambush mission.


    Twenty guards were interspersed throughout the shipment. They flew in formation around a messenger with a spatial bag stuffed to the brim with Tier 6 gold.


    Or, at least, that was the information that the Kingdom had purposefully leaked. Usually, the courier was given both the package and the fastest flying sword. But today, the courier was bait. He was paid well, especially for the second phase of the ambush, which they knew was lying in wait somewhere nearby.


    Matt was the actual courier because he had the fastest sword. His Tier 7 sword was made for speed after all. It was better than the ones that the Kingdom was allowed to bring, and what most people could afford. His [Cracked Phantom Armor] also yed arge part in his role, as he could activate it and take a hit that would incapacitate most of the others.


    And they didn''t intend to <em>just</em> survive the ambush. No, Team Bucket was going to find the ones responsible and kill them, then destroy any and all infrastructure that the ambushers had established.


    As they flew around the target fort''s anti-flying zone, they heard a shout from the neutral zone, and Matt readied his staff while turning. So far, this was precisely how the other ambushes went down. They pinned the teams against the anti-flying barrier, and either pushed the team in when they had the height advantage, or chased the team down if they tried to flee.


    Three teams of ten people had flown up behind, beside, and in front of Matts team. The ambushers must have thought that they made a safe bet with the ten extra fighters. They were wrong to think that they could win through sheer numbers.


    Matt and Emily flew up with the courier and three other guards, while the other fifteen guards rushed ahead to entangle the ten fighters flying in front of them. It was exactly as every other escort team acted.


    The five guards with the courier were meant to help him break through any subsequent ambushes.


    Matt cast a [Fireball] at the nearest group of mages as they flew up and over, and smiled at the staff in his hands.


    An average staff either reduced the mana cost of a spell, or increased the recovery speed of the spell diagram in the spirit, allowing the mage to cast faster. His weapon increased the damage of all fire spells channeled through it. Not exactly a rare effect, but it put his weakened [Fireball] just over the strength of a normal [Fireball]. The staff enabled him to go from the fist-sized ball of me that normally appeared by his hand to a head-sized one that now appeared at the top of his staff.


    With a satisfying woosh, the [Fireball] raced out and mmed into the head of a melee fighter, who wasn''t able to get into contact with the Kingdom troops. That unfortunate soldier was teleported out, and the explosion''s st wave sent the two nearest fighters tumbling as they lost control of their flying devices.


    Matt kept his ce in the formation as the six of them flew up and over the forward-most attackers and escorts. His AI indicated that Liz, Aster, and Conor were fine, but he still worried for them in the madness of the battle.


    Annie was off his radar, as she should be. Her role was to go invisible and shadow their group until the enemies fled from the failed ambush.


    Not even two minutes after their escape, they flew into the expected second ambush, just as they slipped through a slight gap in anti-flying formations.


    Ten more people flew up from their concealed positions in the underbrush below. Eight Tier 6s and two Tier 7s now faced Matt and his group.


    Mattunched five [Fireball]s in quick session, then started to fill the mana stone he had in the band on his wrist, before draining it andunching more.


    The bracelets of mana stones were their team''s newest idea. Normally, Matt kept his team of three going with his Concept, or manually filled their personalized, fast converting mana stones. Their current formation made that infeasible, so they had the idea to make bracelets with ten personal mana stones and charge them before their fights.


    The extra 2000 mana would enable them to fight longer than anticipated. Filling this many mana stones wasn''t usually done, as it took a typical mage about a day and a half to refill their mana pool. Very few people could afford to spend that much time away from any real fighting. At least, not people who were trying to push themselves. Training was just as important asbat, after all.


    Yet with Matt able to refill his team''s mana pools with his Concept, it was fine for them to sit around for an hour and bank the 4000 mana needed for the bracelets, while also having mana to train with.


    Their preparation had some ws, though. The mana stones in the bracelet couldn''t be linked to act as one big battery. So, they had to individually ess each stone and then draw from it. From their testing, ten stones around their wrists were the max they could use before they couldn''t efficiently withdraw mana. With more training, they could probably increase that number, but for now, ten was the best they could do.


    The strategy was still infinitely cheaper than throwing a higher Tier mana stone into a rapidly converting mana stone, which usually had a near ny percent loss rate. Those stones were only to be used in emergencies, or by the uber-wealthy. Even Matt used them sparingly. The standard, personal converting mana stones were more efficient, if you had the time. Even the ordinary fast converting mana stones that theymonly used were better, if you had at least a minute or two. The rapid type was only beneficial when near-instant conversion of rift mana to personal mana was necessary, or when you simply didn''t care about the cost.


    The effect of having an extra mana pool was more pronounced with Emily, who didn''t have to ration her four spells as much. Consequently, she became a terror on the battlefield. Even now, as she rapid-fired [Fireball]s alongside Matt, he was impressed at her speed and uracy. She hit most of her shots, even on the evading fighters, which he routinely missed.


    Together, they removed four of the Tier 6s. One of the Tier 7s flew to them, and the other led their five remaining Tier 6s to attack the melee fighters.


    I got him.


    Emily nodded at Matts AI voicemand, and retreated with the other group.


    Matt readied himself to block the short sword swing with his staff, and used his foot to brace the end of the staff on his flying sword. When the wooden staff met metal, it wasn''t destroyed as the melee Tier 7 expected.


    The staff he was using had metal bands running up the sides to give it more sturdiness, and it was enchanted with durability. If the Tier 7s weapon had been Tier 8, it might have done more damage, but with their weapons being equal, it was a stalemate.


    The Tier 7 flew up and to the right slightly as he swung down at Matts lightly armored head, but Matt had already started moving as well.


    To the melee fighter''s ever-growing surprise, Matt flew into him and started to grapple with his free hand. The mans smirk quickly faded when he realized that Matt wasnt the weak mage he had expected. He probably thought their first exchange was simply a difference in flying equipment, but he should have thought twice about a <em>simple</em><em>mage</em> attempting to grapple him.


    When Matt held his opponents sword arm at bay, it was already toote. He drove his dagger into the enemy Tier 7s armpit and twisted the de as he removed it. It wasn''t <em>instantly</em> fatal. The man had about a minute before he bled out enough to fall unconscious, and two before he died.


    The Tier 7 could have fought through the pain and retaliated, but the wound was damaging and painful enough to force the man to mp his arm down. It was a futile attempt to staunch the arterial bleeding.


    The mans instinctive movement left him open to a second attack. He was teleported out just before Matt moved to slice his throat in a backswing. As his de neared the man''s neck, the shock on his face was evident. Even as he was teleported out, he still didn''t seem to believe what had happened.


    The army watchers apparently decided enough was enough, removing the Tier 7 before more work was given to the healers.


    Spinning with a flick of his hips, Matt faced the back of the melee and startedunching [Fireball]s. In under a minute, the ambushers decided that their mission wasn''t worth it. As a unit, they disengaged and flew off.


    None of the defenders flew after them. Matt and Emily decided to act after they heard from Annie. The encounter wasn''t exactly ideal;they hadn''t gotten the other Tier 7, who had a chance of seeing through her Talent. Still, he trusted her. After all, she <em>had </em>passed the assassination test of the army, killed Alyssa, and torched her closet. All without getting caught.


    The Tier 7 woman, to their mild annoyance, had been more upset about her wardrobe than her death, as she had apparently expected it, and had already spent her points. She had mildly reprimanded Liz about it, saying that killing her was one thing, but destroying her clothes was a step too far. Although, in the next moment, she ended up thanking Liz for the excuse to buy new clothes. The next day, she showed up to headquarters looking brighter than ever. It seemed like nothing would keep her down for long.


    Matt threw Alyssa out of his thoughts. The less he thought about her the better.


    It was just a waiting game now. Annie would track the bandits to theirir, and they could hopefully take down arge central hub, earning enough points to set them back on top.


    The five of them continued on with their mission, with one of the melee guards having been killed and removed from the fighting. Together, they flew the remaining distance to the city and dropped off their payload, earning a decent chunk of points. They hoped that the points for the delivery would be dwarfed by their taking down another secret base.


    He and Emily didn''t dawdle to sight see, and immediately flew back out of the city towards the first ambush site. Liz, Aster, and Conor were waiting for them.


    As they pulled up, Matt asked, How was your ambush?


    Liz answered with a shrug. Fine. They didn''t try to do much more than hold us back, just like the reports said. What about yours?


    Everything went as we thought. The ambushers retreated once they took decent losses. Annies following them as we speak.


    They moved in a group to follow their rogues trail. As they did, Matt threw his Concept on at full st. Everyone was full ording to his AI, but he couldn''t see their reserves.


    All of their mana dipped by about 200 before filling back up, with them having used some mana stones in their fights. Once they stopped emptying their mana after being restored, he cut off his Concept and fully concentrated on chasing after the retreating team.


    To his surprise, they didn''t abruptly rush in. They dismounted and walked through two separate anti-flying fields, then another mile into Queendom territory, before turning back around into Kingdom controllednd. There, Matts squad walked through a few more anti-flying formations near a small fort. Finally, they found the hill that Annie was inside of.


    They didn''t see an entrance despite their careful observation, but they sent a low priority message to Annie, who simply responded that she was handling it.


    Two minutester, she popped out of a grass-covered hatch and waved for them toe down.


    Its all already taken care of. There were only three people inside besides the few who retreated. Easy enough to take them out one by one. They never even saw me.


    Oh.


    Matt was incredibly disappointed. They went through all that trouble, only to not even get a good fight out of it.


    Aster popped her head out of the backpack and mirrored Matts sentiment. No fight? No fun.


    She shot a re at Annie, who shrugged. Sorry. It was easy. Also, I doubt this is the only center of operations. It''s just too small. I''m sure there are others out there.


    Emily said, Maybe we can get points for that, but this was a colossal waste of time. She quietly grumbled, It''s gonna take a week or more for this dye to wash out.


    Matt agreed, it felt shitty that they had gone through so much preparation to get nothing.


    Together, they walked to the small fort and informed the leader that there was a bandit camp under his nose.


    He looked green at the discovery, and none of them bothered tofort him. The man was in for a talking to at minimum, or getting sacked at worst. His best and only defense was that it was a hilly area, but an enemy encampment not even half a mile away from his fort was inexcusable.


    They were halfway back to the city when Aster started sniffing, hard.


    Fire? Fire!


    At her message, they flew higher until they were able to see the curvature of the. At that altitude, they were able to see the medium andrge forts that were part of the circr protection around the city being besieged, bypassed, and set aze.


    From their vantage point, they also saw the mass of people moving through the anti-flying zones on foot.


    This was a full invasion.


    They didn''t need to speak, and rushed forward to the city perimeter, where they encountered its anti-flying formation. They immediately dismounted and sprinted for the entrance. They weren''t the only ones. A message was being sent to everyone in the vicinity to either retreat to the city before they were surrounded, or retreat to one of therge or medium forts.


    Reinforcements were already pouring in from the neutral city, ording to the Patherwork. An urgent call went out to everyone ambtory to get to a teleporter and move to this city, before the Queendom could set up the spatial locks.


    Once those formations went up, all teleportation would be shut down as the space inside the city got locked down.After that, the defenders would be on their own.


    The six of them ran up the stairs to the fifty-foot tall walls, and peered out over the battlements. Together, they stood and watched as therge fort in their view was simply surrounded and bypassed. In fifteen minutes, the front gate was surrounded, and a thin wall of people encircled the city. They had even more concentrated numbers around the citys other entrance that Matt could see from his vantage point.


    The city had four at each cardinal direction, and the Queendom forces seemed to be moving quickly to block all of them off. Small teams moved out to chase down any Kingdom teams who strayed too close.


    With a noticeable rumble, the door under their feet mmed shut.


    Well fuck a duck. This was shit timing. Annie spit over the edge of the fort after saying her piece.


    What? Matt looked to her and said, This is amazing timing. Who knows if we wouldve been able to join if we missed the initial start. Were gonna earn a shit load of points for this.


    Annie didn''t look convinced. I doubt it. Theres thousands of people, and well need to outperform them all. Were gonna get like twenty points for this.


    Her sister pped her shoulder. Come on. Were far better than that. Matt and I can probably hold this entire city ourselves. Easy peasy.


    He didn''t quite agree with that statement, but before he could retort, Conor started to strip out of his armor. Matt and everyone else, realizing what he was doing, followed suit.


    None of them wanted to fight an important battle with gear other than their own. Matt was faster than everyone except Annie, who also wore light armor. So, he moved towards Conor and helped the man with his full te armor. By the time they were finished, the rest were also done, and the six of them moved their borrowed gear into their spatial bags.


    They looked out beyond the ramparts and watched as a trebuchet was assembled at the edge of the Queendom formations. Piece after piece was pulled out of spatial storage containers and rapidly assembled.


    In under two minutes, an earth mage created a boulder and ced it in the sling. The missile was instantly slung at the city wall.


    The first shot was way short, so they calibrated the siege engine thenunched a second. This one looked like it would miss to their right, but as it reached a dozen feet from the wall, it mmed into an invisible barrier. The citys shielding flickered into visibility for a moment, but as the boulder shattered and fell, it quickly dissipated.


    Everyone on the wall flinched and instinctively ducked down. A mageunched a [Fireball] at the attackers, but they were well out of range for a single Tier 8 spell. It traveled only a hundred feet before the mana sustaining it weakened, and it sputtered out like a candle in a tornado.


    It didnt even reach a quarter the distance to the enemy forces.


    Having found their range, the attackers adjusted the counterweight slightly and lobbed a ming chunk of stone at the wall. Unlikest time, this stone hit at the top of the wall. Or it would have, if the shielding didnt block the attack.


    It still made Matt wince. They were going to run out of mana eventually. Unless Matt kept the city charged...He shook that idea off; he wasn''t going to reveal more than his Concept.


    A ballista next to them fired, but therge bolt didnt even reach halfway to the line of trebuchets that were being put together.


    They got a message from Juni a moment after the impact. Youre here? Good. Take control of the Pathers. Please. Organize them into QRFs, and get them ready to reinforce the walls or repel wall climbers.


    Liz started issuingmands, getting the quick reaction forces set up. Matt asked, What''s the situation? And how many reinforcements can we expect?


    Depends on how many we can shove through before the anti-teleporting formation goes up. I doubt you have a spell that goes that far, but if you see them setting it up, try and break things.


    What about the Prince?


    There was a pause before Junis response. He will be gathering an ovend response force and harrying the attackers from the rear.


    Matt almost said that the man was a coward since he had stayed in the rear during the golem battle as well. But this time, things were different. If the Prince died, they would be out of amander for two weeks. And worse than that, if he died, they wouldn''t be able to spend points for the duration either. An outside force able to keep pressure on the enemy wasn''t a bad idea when he thought about it.


    It just left a bitter taste in Matt''s mouth. Still, it gave him everything he needed to know to start feeding information into his AI.


    After two minutes and nearly 10,000 mana, he had an answer. At least for some of their problems.


    He called Juni back up. Get me a mana cannon.


    What?


    Realizing he hadnt exined at all, Matt backtracked. If I have one of the siege cannons, I can tamper with the runes a bit and increase the range. He debated exining fully, but in the end decided to be forthright. Warning though, it will significantly decrease the lifespan of the cannon, and its stability will be shit after a few shots.


    Juni answered him after a worryingly long silence. How many shots are we talking about?


    Matt reran his modification simtions and gave a conservative estimate. Five, if were unlucky. Ten is when I''d be really careful about firing them. After that, theyll turn into bombs if mana is poured through them.


    Ill send you two of them. Don''t worry about the siege equipment. The shielding canst a while. You need to take out the formation pirs that are going to be set up to lock down realspace. The smaller the circumference they have, the cheaper the mana cost. If you let them mostly set up and then break it, we can force them to dig it all up and relocate. That will buy us more time. The more time we have the more we can funnel reinforcements, the better our chances of defending are.


    There was a pause and he thought Juni was done, but the man added, Please don''t waste the cannons. They are fucking expensive. But if you can stall for a while, it will be worth it.


    Matt failed to find a w in that reasoning and signed off themand channel.


    Not five minutester, two people ran up to Matt with a wooden crate between them, carried on poles.


    By their sweating faces and trembling muscles, they were carrying quite the load. After Matt identified himself, they scurried away. He pried open the crate and found that it was spatially expanded. Inside, a singr mana cannon and its disassembled stand were nestled in straw.


    Matt needed to activate [Mages Retreat] to lift the heavy metal tube out of the crate by himself. Conor, seeing him struggling, quickly moved to help. Carefully, they set it down and assembled the stand. Once it was all put together, he carefully inspected the runes on the weapon.


    Or at least, he tried to. It was far, far moreplicated than anything else he had ever seen. There was no way that this Tier 6 cannon was made by anyone less than Tier 15. Matt knew without a doubt that even Kelley couldn''t create runes this small or interlocked.


    The runes were like twisted braids of rope the size of a human hair, and they crisscrossed the entire length of the barrel. It didn''t help that obscuring runes were also ced throughout the rear of the cannon, where the mana conversion happened. Thankfully, he didn''t need to affect those runes.


    His target was the barrel.


    Normally, the barrel simply focused the mana in whatever spell was used. The propulsion was all handled at the base of the cannon, where the spell was generated. He didn''t need to, or want to risk modifying those runes. What he intended to do was empower the spell throughout the entire length of the cannon.


    It wasn''t a new strategy, but it was rarely done, as it increased the mana cost by tenfold <em>and</em> reduced the life span of a cannon. It would go from being able to sustain thousands of shots to a few dozen. It was a textbook example of what <em>not</em> to do with sensitive equipment.


    Matt was only willing to do it because the enemy was outside of cannon and ballista range. The Tier 6 trebuchets had a greater range than their defensive equipment, but that was to be expected. Their effectiveness was pretty much limited to walls and battering them down. They were mostly useless against small and mobile targets.


    With his AIs help, Matt carved runes into the free spaces between the braids of runes that lined the weapon. He was fairly confident that he hadn''t messed anything up, but his clumsy work was far worse than what it could have been. Each of his runes were crammed into the space between formation lines, and more than one had bled over. If the change wasnt a simple, singr, empowerment rune, he would have never been able to get this to work.


    The empower rune would just add more mana to the attack spell as it traveled down the barrel. Which, in theory, should increase the range, since the spell could travel farther before it dissipated. As he was carving, he also realized that he only knew the Tier 5 version of the empower rune. It only made everything worse, as the Tier 5 rune was a mismatch for the rest of the runes and material.


    A second team of men brought up the second cannon, but he only made the modifications then stored it back into its crate. He was essentially going to be the only one able to fire this thing, and not just because of the mana cost. That could be made up for with more mana stones.


    He was much more worried about the likelihood of the cannon exploding, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] had a pretty good shot at resisting the worst case scenario.


    Half an hourter, Matt and his party watched the first column go up. It was a fifteen-foot tall metal structure that was sunk into the ground. There was a slight glow as it was ced upright, and it felt like the air became more restrictive. He almost felt like the air was resisting his movements.


    When each subsequent pir went up, the pressure increased as they locked down real space.


    Matt was watching as the readout from the teleporter showed the mana cost for each teleport increase. When it was getting to the point that teleportation was bing unstable, he charged the cannon and readied it to fire.


    It took nearly three and a half minutes and 15,000 mana, but the cannon drank it all in and started to glow. As the glow spread up the barrel, he winced.


    There shouldnt be that much wasted mana to make the metal glow like that.


    Having already aimed the cannon in the general direction of the pir they were targeting, Matt fed mana to his AI. There was no way he was going to trust himself to fire at a target he could barely see, especially with a weapon this unstable. He wasn''t Tara; he didnt have a Talent for these things.


    He made minute corrections to the aiming equipment in the cannon as his AI registered everything in his spiritual sense. Air temperature, air density, and wind speed and direction at the top of the city wall. Angle and elevation, the rotation of the, and theirtitude were calcted over the course of a minute.


    Matt made the corrections that his AI indicated, and then waited for the conditions to line up.


    Liz called out to him as he seemed frozen with his hand hovering over the firing rune. Everything ok?


    Just waiting for the perfect moment.


    As the wind slowed, his AI shed green once the parameters lined up, and he sent mana into the fire function.


    A [Mana Bolt] the size of a horse raced out of the cannon in a gentle arc, and into the base of the space locking tower.


    It seemed almost gentle as the light blue mass of manashed out from atop the city''s walls.


    That image onlysted until itnded.


    The explosion from the overcharged [Mana Bolt] was sorge, it blew down the nearby copse of trees as the impact released its stored energy.


    <em>I hope the army was ready for that one</em>.


    Matt sincerely hoped so, because there wasn''t even a de of grass left in the explosion radius. The trees that survived looked as if a giant had a tantrum and stomped on them. Their shattered and splintered trunksy in haphazard piles.


    Emily, who was closest to him, whistled. Ascenders balls Matt. Fuck! I want one of those.


    Hoisting the cannon and moving to the next location with Conor, Matt grunted out, Get your own [Cracked Mana Bolt] to hold a few thousand mana.


    You''re a monster, though. I could do it at half the cost, given enough time to modify the skill. Or use it on the seventh or eighthbo. Ohhh that''s a good idea. I bet I could make a bigger explosion than you if I got my streak high enough.


    Annie parted the troops who were manning the walls around them, creating a clear path for them to shuffle through. Thanks to her, they made good speed to the next location. Liz followed up with Aster, assisting her with moving the other cannon with a mix of ice and blood, helping to lift the weight and slide it along.


    When they reached their second position, Conor hauled the ballista out of position, to the displeasure of the crew manning it. But when they saw Matt setting up the cannon, they quieted down and moved to the side.


    After calcting the shot and charging the mana cannon, Matt destroyed the second pylon. They repeated the process three more times, missing only once before Matt had to switch out the cannons, thanks to his shoddy work. It was also enough time for the Queendom to pull back their structures and start setting up the formations further out.


    Matt didn''t know what each of those massive formation pirs cost, but he doubted that they were cheap. They might have made the better sacrifice, with one cannon gone for four of their formations.


    Still, they underestimated the amount of mana Matt was charging the cannons with, and he was able to repeat the feat a second time, just as they were almost done setting up the formation further away. The Queendom moved significantly faster in pulling up and retreating with their space-locking pirs this time, and he could only hit two pirs before they truly were out of range.


    This time, they moved nearly two hundred feet further back. Hisst shot with the cannon was sent at a too slow trebuchet, and even that was at the very edge of his range. Watching the strut of the wooden siege engine shatter, then the entire thing copse, earned a cheer from the defenders around them. They had been the ones watching stone after stone be blocked only feet from where they were standing.


    He got a message from Juni, who sounded near jubnt. Fantastic work. Once were back from the dead, remind me to throw you thergest party I can fucking n.


    Whoa, whoa. You expect us to die?


    Juni was distinctly less happy when he said, Not intended, but there are a million plus troops moving to take this city. I don''t know if we can hold out, but we don''t intend to give up or go out easily. Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die.


    Don''t you fucking quote Albertson at me, Juni... Juni?


    The Prince''s right hand man had already ended the call.


    Matt growled out at the surrounding besiegers. He didn''t intend to go down quickly, easily, or at all.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89


    Matt and his party stood together on the wall by the main gate, watching the dozen Queendom trebuchets fling boulders at the shields.


    They had been at this for a full day now.


    The siege engines assaulting each entrance was the Queendoms way of battering down the shield reserves, and it was effective. The first attacks had been more about frightening the defenders. After that, the artillery was carefully hitting the walls with standard rocks, no longer bothering to set them aze.


    They observed the enemymand tent with the telescope they had linked to their AIs. Meanwhile, Juni was leading negotiations with the besiegers from on top of the battlements.


    The discussion was going about as poorly as Matt expected. The opposing general was demanding the immediate surrender of their city and the entire defending force. Juni was countering with an equally absurd offer of letting all the standard troops leave uncaptured and unharmed, if the Queendommanders surrendered.


    Neither side expected the other toply, but apparently, dick-measuring contests were a part of defending a city.


    That neither side had slowed their siege preparations was telling. The attackers were assembling siege towers as if they were childrens toys. Meanwhile, earth mages formed smoothed out tracks for the towers to advance on. The mages ventured as close as they could to the wall without the defenders being able to shoot them.


    The miniature roads were a worrying testament to the lengths that the Queendom would go to for the capture of the city. It was also a clear indicator that they didn''t intend to simply batter the city to rubble with their artillery. No, Princess Sara intended to take the city intact. After all, theyd need to pay for any repairs once it was in their control.


    Matt looked back over the wall into the massive city. The streets were packed with fighters. Most were uniformed Kingdom soldiers, but there were smaller clumps of fighters in oddly colored, mismatched armor. They were the quick reaction forces that Lizmanded,prised mostly of Pathers.


    He had already run simtions for most of the possibilities with his AI. They were going to have to y this almost perfectly to sessfully defend the city. His estimation of a million Queendom troops wasn''t far off. Around their city, there were eight hundred thousand Queendom fighters setting up camps and their own additions to the fortifications.


    So far.


    To his surprise, the Prince had done as promised. There were bands of Kingdom fighters harrying the attackers and creating chaos. They weren''t getting firm numbers, but the Queendom had dedicated a substantial force to taking out the Kingdoms gueri forces.


    It was the Prince himself that led a raid deep into the Queendom encirclement, where the team he personally led tore down two of the formation pirs that were locking down the citys teleporters. With their assistance, the citys defenders had managed to reinforce themselves, and now stood at nearly five hundred thousand fighters in total.


    Eight hundred thousand attackers versus five hundred thousand defenders wasn''t an impossible matchup for the defenders. It would just be a challenge. ording to conventional wisdom, a three to one ratio was the minimum an attacking force should befortable with for besieging a city of this size. It was why the time they had bought with the cannons was so crucial. The Kingdom might now be able to defend against this siege, if they were able to execute.


    The problem was time. They were running out of it. ording to Juni, the citys mana reserves were nearly spent, and the attackers clearly knew it. The rate of trebuchet fire was slowing down to a sprinkling of boulders,pared to the torrential rain it had been before.


    Ten minutester, the inevitable finally happened.


    A flying boulder mmed unimpeded into the city walls. The <em>useless</em> Prince had spent a lot on city reserves, but it all eventually proved ineffective. Looking around, Matt wished that their leader had spent even more points on the citys fortifications. While their defenses were adequately equipped, they clearly were not enough.


    There was a joyful roar from the attacking army as they saw that the shields were finally disabled. On the other hand, the mood turned markedly somber around the defendingmand center.


    A stoic Juni turned to face everyone and said, So it begins. You all have your orders. Those Queendom bastards will be on us quickly, so move to your positions. We don''t know if the first attack will be a probe, or a dedicated assault. Show no weakness.


    With that, he spun on his heels, climbed to the highest level of fortifications around the citys main gate, and started to give a more energizing speech to the amassed Kingdom troops below.


    Team Bucket turned to the side and raced along the clear half of the wall, moving to their positions. Their team had been assigned to the eastern city gate, along with a mostly Pather force.


    As they approached therge fortification around the gate, Matt swallowed. It was a harrowing picture to see all the faces turn to them as one and lock on. Some had unmasked expressions of greed and hope, but they were in the minority. The resounding majority of the faces shared looks of fear and uncertainty. These were feelings that Matt understood all too well, but he worked hard to disguise them.


    This wasn''t a rift or a single fight. This was a siege against nearly a million enemies, and they were a small but key piece of the defense.


    Matt was poked from behind by the dreaded Finger of Doom and turned to see Liz. She whispered to him that he should speak with his troops. He still felt that she should be the one to speak, as she was the nominal leader. But she reversed the logic on him by pointing out that he was their in-battlemander and strategist.


    He couldnt think of a good counter for that.


    As he mimicked Juni by climbing up the fortifications, his mind nked, and his many prepared speeches flew from his mind. His mouth was left without direction, and started moving on its own.


    We aren''t here because we have a stake in the war. His throat seized up, but he swallowed hard, and forced himself to keep speaking. Either war. What do we care if two vassal states fight over a Tier 20? Were on The Path; its irrelevant to us.


    Matt had no idea where he was going with this, and scrambled to bring the topic around to something applicable. He could see it on the faces below him. People were questioning hispetency from this speech alone.


    Except that''s bullshit! This isn''t irrelevant to us. We walk The Path of Ascension, and this whole mini-war was set up for us. Us! Not the vassal kingdoms. What does a Tier 50 get out of letting us y make-believe in a little sandbox war?


    People started to look interested, so he decided to throw out something that he had learned from Lizs brothers and various new broadcasts.


    War ising to the Empire. Were a part of the same Path that has seeded in creating one monster-among-men already. Duke Waters. And a second pair are only a few decades away from repeating that same feat. I''m sure youve all heard the spection. Once we have two sets of Ascenders, the other powers will target the Empire because of its sess. Any of you could be the third, and now the Emperor is letting us experience a part of whatsing in a safe environment, before it bes all too real.


    Matt paused and looked around at his fighters. His mind frantically calcted how far he wanted to take his next statements.


    How many of you have died already?


    He raised a hand and watched as others raised a hand, some with confidence, and others with shame.


    Weve died. And I''m d for it. If this was a real war, then that would be it. The end. Noing back. This is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes. Ambushes that take down a stronger foe can happen to you as easily as it can to the enemy. I just stabbed a Tier 7 who thought I was a mage. He was dead before he knew to fight at full strength.


    Matt winced internally. He was rambling.


    Don''t let that be you. Take this as what it isa learning experience. <em>Babies first war</em>. Don''t try to die, but if you do, learn from your mistakes. Make damn sure the other side learns from theirs too.


    He flung out an arm, pointing at the opposing army as they formed into ranks that seemed to go on forever.


    This is our chance to fight real people and learn. As the battle goes on, follow your orders the best you can. And try to learn something. The next time we do this, it could be for real.


    He hopped down and activated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He wanted to hide the shakes that started oveing him as hed realized how awful the speech was.


    Then he realized his prepared speeches were in his AI. He wanted to p himself. He could have just read off of his HUD and been fine.


    Liz rubbed his back, That was good. People are more motivated, and a lot of the fear is gone.


    That was awful. I forgot all my speeches and forgot I could read off my AI. Then started spewing that shit out.


    Annie shoulder-bumped him. It wasn''t that bad. Really. It was fine. Look at it this way; Once the fighting starts, no one will remember a word you said.


    Conor shrugged. I''ve heard better. Maybe worse. But who cares.


    That actually helped.


    Liz kicked the tall man''s armored shin and red at him.


    He repeated his shrug. I call it how I see it. Matt doesn''t want us to lie.


    Matt turned his attention to the Queendom forces and watched the square formations start marching forward with shields raised.


    The siege towers rumbled onwards in between each formation, keeping the same pace. He didn''t miss thedders and knotted ropes that some of the footmen held either.


    As the enemys vanguard neared the three-quarters point, Matt called out through themand channels, Catapults with anti-personnel ammo, aim for the troops! The mana cannons and ballista will take down the siege towers! Hold till mymand!


    His AI was noting everything, and was being ryed information from the city AI. He called out a minuteter, and his message went to the appropriate teams on the voice chats. Cannons and ballista fire!


    Changing channels, he barked out, Long-range archers take out the earth mages if you can.


    If they could stop those damn earth mages, the soft ground would at least slow the massive siege towers.


    Catapults, fire!


    As he watched the various spells and mundane munitions being flung out, Matt felt a rush of power. This wasn''t the power of an individual, but the power that came from dozens of coordinated attacks against a simrly coordinated foe. The power of an army. It was a whole new rush, unlike anything he had ever felt before.


    Just as the rush peaked, it came crashing down when he realized that for all their preparedness, they were sorely outnumbered and outgunned. Even as a dozen fist-sized ball bearings mmed into the Queendom formations, only a few handfuls of people were teleported out, and their spots quickly filled in with reinforcements from the rear.


    Their most powerful weapons were still only like throwing pebbles into a pond.


    One of the siege towers suddenly stopped. He looked and noticed that the ground before it stopped turning to smooth stone. The earth mage was gone. One tower down out of five was a great start.


    The attackers soon reached the halfway mark, and he sent out his nextmand. Archers, fire at the marked locations!


    A breathter, the sky darkened as thousands of arrows were loosed in near unison. They arced up and then down to m into the upraised shields of the advancing formations. The next volley was a little more ragged, but gaps started to appear in the enemy formations.


    Mages, when youre in range, take your shots. Prioritize the targets your skills deal with best.


    [Earth Spike]s and [Water Spear]sshed out at the siege towers to Matts right. A barrage of [Fireball]s did the same to his left. They sshed against therge, reinforced siege towers to little effect, but they did hinder the advance of the attackers.


    From behind the first row of infantry, a contingent of archers drew their bows. Matt bellowed out on the open channels, Prepare to receive counter-fire!


    Defenders started ducking under the parapet, but Matt stood his ground. At this range, there wasn''t a chance of an attack making it through his armor.


    His fighters shields were raised just seconds before the archers started to fire.


    Having seen their own arrows fly over his head and darken the sky not moments ago, Matt thought he was prepared to receive a simr volley. He was dead wrong.


    As the storm of arrows hailed towards him, he fought the instinct to duck and cover. Before him was a wave of glinting steel, crashing down upon a shore of flesh and dread.


    The projectilesnded with a heavy push of air. Half a dozen of them bounced off his pale blue armor skill with plinking sounds, but that wasn''t all they hit. The screams started just afterwards. Somested mere moments, but others lingered. Most wounds werent severe enough to demand elimination.


    His AI confirmed that his team was fine, and he dismissed the injury reports after ncing at the tallies of wounded. The numbers weren''t pretty, but they were better than hed feared.


    Healers start getting the least wounded back on their feet.


    Seeing the formations starting to move from a walk to a jog, he called out, Anti-personnel squads their formations are advancing. Stop them!


    It didn''t look like the Queendom was going for a probing attack. With this many resources at y, they obviously wanted to try to gain a foothold on the wall.


    Arrows and spells flickered back and forth as Matt called outmands he received from his AI. Most were only what was obvious. It was like a game. You counter what the enemy tried to do while hampering them as much as possible. There were only so many orders that could be given, after all. The rest of the orders were just trying to counter or preemptively cut off problems.


    The first of the three remaining siege towers mmed into the fifty-foot walls with a rumble. The second and fifth towers were stuck in mud and on fire, respectively. He didn''t know when either had happened, but it was good news.


    Prepare to repel attackers! Don''t let the towers distract you from thedders and ropes.


    Hismand felt unneeded, but it was better to make sure that everyone was on the same page.


    Giant doors opened downwards, creating ramps to the top of the wall, where dozens of attackers flooded out.


    The first wave consisted mostly of Tier 7 melee fighters in heavy armor.


    Matt entered the fray for the first time.


    With his staff in hand, he put his full 80 mana into the initial cast of [Hail], and let an avnche of ice pour in front of the front gate. His staff didn''t just empower a single skill. It empowered any skills that had an initial cast cost.


    The battering ram that was being wheeled up suddenly had no way to advance. There was an ever-growing pile of ice raining down before the gate, blocking its way.


    The hill of ice reached the top of the door and became dozens of feet thick. Matt turned off the skill, then startedunching [Fireball]s at the invaders. He was aiming for those withdders and grappling hooks.


    People screamed, and attacks bounced off his armor as he leaned over the parapet to get a better angle on the Queendom soldiers.


    They quickly realized that their attacks were ineffective against him, and that hed set those attempting to climb the walls ame. The opposition quickly began focusing their efforts elsewhere.


    Taking a moment, Matt looked over to the three siege towers that had reached the walls. His team was contesting the middle one to a halt. Conor stood poised at the bottom of the ramp with [Demon Zone]s crimson hue whirling around him, inviting anyone foolish enough to step foot onto his grisly dance floor. Behind him, the teams mages only added to the chaos, ying a symphony of spells to a chorus of screams.


    Yeah, that tower was fine.


    Matt looked left and right to the remaining towers.


    The third was mostly bottled up, but the first tower was gaining a foothold on the wall. It was small and burgeoning, but it couldn''t be allowed to grow any further. He really didn''t need his AI screaming at him in ring red letters to know that much.


    QRF-Alpha move to support against the left-most tower.


    He cast a scattering of [Fireball]s at the stream of people flowing out of the tower. After seeing three among them vanish, he checked his surroundings again.


    For some odd reason, the battering ram team had brought the covered ram to the edge of his ice field. They seemed to be trying to dig a path forward.


    With a shrug, he cast [Hail] a second time, and entombed everyone and everything under another frosty mountain.


    He needed to be careful about piling the ice too high. If an ice mage was out there, he was just stockpiling ammunition for them, or providing materials for a ramp. Regardless, it was still effective, and it was worth it to prevent the ram from reaching the front gate.


    A [Fireball] mmed into Matt a half-secondter, quickly followed by an arrow. He cast half a dozen [Fireball]s of his own in retaliation, and watched as part of the archers'' division poofed away.


    His head swiveled, but he had no idea where the pesky mage who hit him was.


    Before he could search further, his AI sent him a warning that a quick nce confirmed. A pair ofpetent swordsmen from the third tower were overwhelming that section of the wall. Matt leapt down from his vantage point, and dashed over while calling for the QRF-Beta team to converge at his location.


    Sliding his staff into his spatial backpack, he summoned his sword into hand and charged into the two swordsmen, whose des now gleamed with a sanguine red glow.


    Both were Tier 7 and prepared for his charge. He met their shing weapons with his own glimmering longsword, and used its greater reach to cover half the wall''s walkway. He blocked two hits before taking a strike to his armor.


    It increased his mana draw to nearly the max of what his armor Skill could handle, 45 MPS. But it enabled him to confidently take the ncing hit.


    Knowing that, Matt started moving a little more recklessly.


    Ducking a sinister looking sh, he half-stepped to the right and brought his de up from below the rightmost attacker''s guard. The swordsman pivoted to block, but as their weapons met, Matt unleashed the mana stored in his de. [Mana Charge] detonated on collision, sending the smoking and charred intruder stumbling backwards.


    Before Matt could follow up, his preys partner was already retaliating. Theynded a whalloping blow along his left side. The attack sliced through [Cracked Phantom Armor], and dug into his leather armor beneath.


    Yet another heavy sh came at him, but Matt''s under armor withstood the blow this time.


    Fuck! Why won''t you go down!? The attacker howled with the swing of their third blow, but Matt prepared his own counterattack. He took the iing hit on his armored forearm while cleaving down savagely into the attacker''s forward leg.


    He didn''t cut through their armor, but it dented inwards, and he felt the bone crunch as the man toppled. Matt quickly pivoted, nted his weight on his left leg, and anchored it to the ground with his Concept. He raised his right leg for a stomp with all his weight and [Mages Retreat] empowering the attack.


    His skill-d boot cracked into the stone walkway as the remaining swordsman was whisked away.


    With a few hacks, he started cutting down the charging Queendom regrs who were marching behind the elite swordsmen duo. His reinforcement from QRF-Beta soon arrived and overtook his position. They surged forward and took hold of the area, again buying time for the Kingdoms standard troops to hurry up to the top of the wall.


    Returning to his vantage point at the gate, Matt inspected the battlefield before revising his orders.


    Team Bucket, stop advancing on the third tower. Do not enter the tower.


    His team had pushed forward enough, he was worried theyd enter the tower, which was a monumentally bad idea.


    They receded slightly, and Matt checked on the rest of the battlefield. Get the long sticks to push off thedders. Don''t just clear them of men. Push them over if you can. If you can break or burn them, even better.


    Stop tossing their grappling hooks back over. They can just rece the severed rope. Toss them on to our side of the wall after you cut the rope off. Force them to buy new ones.


    He then took stock of his own condition. His AI reported gashes in his armor and flesh; surface-level wounds that he could quickly solve with [Endurance] running at full st for a moment. He was more concerned about the unexpected damage that the swordsmen''s weapons had done to his armor. Their attacks had included an effect that had corroded it, both physically and spiritually. The affected portions of armor were only rags at this point. So, he stripped the ruined pieces from his arms, but left the chest armor in ce, as it was only damaged on the left side.


    His left bracer, which had broken bones, was mangled. It was irritating as could be, but there was nothing to be done, so he tried to stop dwelling on it. He still had the right bracer at least.


    The assaultsted a full hour. Matt was forced to leave hismand post two more times to personally take action and prevent breaches.


    As he intervened for the third time, Matt resorted to using five consecutive [Mana Charge]s to break the ramp from the siege tower. Without the ability to march down, the attackers were forced to jump. Only a few tested the prospect before they decided to withdraw the crippled tower and reinforce the remaining two.


    Matt dearly wished that he could have prevented them from pulling the tower back for repairs, but had no way to do so. The defenders did their best to damage it further with spells and mana cannons, and were able to give the Queendoms crafters more work. By the time it retreated beyond their range, the tower was smoking, and its top two floors were copsing inwards.


    The final exit of the broken siege tower seemed to signal arger retreat, as well. The Queendom forces started to pull back.


    Everyone, fire! Don''t let them retreat unscathed. Bombard them with everything you have left.


    Most of the retreating formations were frayed and disorganizedpared to when they first advanced. However, some were retreating virtually unscathed, with shields raised and returning fire in perfect coordination.


    Matt, breathing heavily, looked around from his lookout perch. The top of the wall was covered in blood and soot, but there weren''t as many wounded as he expected.


    Healers! Get the wounded to the healers! Matt looked around then added, Rotate in the second shift of teams. First teams, once theyre up here, get down, grab a meal, and recharge.


    Matt walked over to his team and pped Conor on their shoulder, before sliding over to pull Liz and his panting bond into a bear hug.


    How were things?


    Liz was huffing between gulps from her canteen, but wheezed out, Fine. We held on with minimal help. Just a few nicks from stray arrows. Were good.


    Matt checked their mana levels and activated his Concept. While he listened to them debrief and discuss what they could improve next time, he sent out orders and directed the new troops to their positions.


    They had been in reserve under the wall, and unable to see anything, but they could hear the attacks and repelling of borders. The wide eyes of each person who cleared the top step and saw the carnage was almost amusing. If Matt wasn''t struggling to keep from plopping down on his ass and passing out, he mightve even found it funny.


    Realizing how tired he was, he channeled [Endurance] and let the skill wash away his fatigue.


    He barely had five minutes before the reports started toe in, and Matt checked their casualty numbers. The defenders had lost around four hundred people in his section, against an estimated two and a half thousand lost on the attacking side. It was a great ratio, but the battle had still taken its toll. They still had to ount for the fact that the city was outnumbered to begin with, and wouldnt be getting any more reinforcements.


    Once his team was topped off on mana, and their reserve stones were filled, he moved to the healer''s tent set up near their position.


    A harried woman with a healer''s armband looked up at him and said, We don''t have time for walking wounded. Is there something internal?


    Matt shook his hand. Im not here for that. Get me the healers on downtime.


    We don''t


    Mattcked the patience to exin, so he flexed his Concept. As her eyes widened with understanding, he continued. I can''t control the range, but the more people there are, the less each one gets. So I want to prioritize the healers.


    The woman looked ready to kiss him, and eagerly pulled him into what seemed like a recovery room just for the healers. They were all strewn about and pressing cold packs to their heads. At the entrance, most apprehensively peeked up as if expecting terrible news.


    Before anyone could ask, she nearly cheered, Get up! This guy can refill our mana!. The sudden noise caused the spent healers to wince in unison.


    That wasnt a good sign. They must have all repeatedly drawn themselves dry to have mana headaches that serious.


    Matt noticed the racks of personal mana stones, where a pale nurse seemed to be dumping regr mana stones into the charging base. The stones were quickly drained away into nothingness, and new ones quickly reced them.


    I need proximity for this. The farther away anyone is, and the more people included, the less effective my Concept gets. It''s already mostly internal, so I need to get every bit of effectiveness out of it to help you out.


    Matt tried to undersell the efficiency of his Concept as much as he could before triggering it for the first huddled group. There was a wave of relief-filled moans. As each healer felt their mana pools reach maximum, they uncoiled themselves from the circle to make room for someone new.


    Half an hourter, the entire healing staff was back on their feet. Matt moved to the rack of healers crystals. He ced a hand into the bowl and dumped mana out. It would still need to be converted from his personal mana to unaspected mana before it could be absorbed into the healers personal mana stones racks. So, he donated 10,000 mana over the next ten minutes. He couldve done it in a little more than two minutes, but he purposefully drew the process out, and dramatically staggered out of the tent as if the ordeal had exhausted him.


    He wanted to help, but he still wanted to conceal the true scale of his abilities. Besides, that 10,000 mana was already far more than an average person could have donated.


    It also wasn''t aplete lie. He was dead tired from running, and his willpower was low. He didn''t have to fake the strain that part put on him.


    Messaging the mage groups, he offered to help them recover their mana in another half hour.


    In the meantime, he returned to his vantage point on the wall to keep tabs on the enemy forces as they reassembled and started repairs on their siege equipment.


    Contemting the descending sun, Matt let out a long-held sigh. This would be a long restless night.


    Only the second of the siege so far.


    ***


    Four days. Theysted four long days of bombardments and repeatedly repelled the attackers off their walls. The advances were blending together so much Matt wasn''t sure when one ended and the next began. Sometimes the Queendom got a foothold but they were always able to push them back. It just cost lives.


    The defenders were all tired and wounded.


    The Queendom had attacked them twice daily, before trying a more subtle attackst night, when both sides usually settled down.


    That hadn''t worked either. This morning, they had resorted to endlessly using their trebuchets to battering at the walls.


    That would have been manageable on its own, but the Queendom didnt stop there. While the citys teleporters were inoperable, the Queendom had no such restrictions. Another million fresh troops arrived to reinforce the siege.


    Their encampment was starting to look like its own city, only wrapped around the one that Matt and his team currently upied. Tents were set in rows around the city that stretched beyond eyesight. The small forest that was nearby was clear cut and used to improvise rough housing for the multitudes arriving around the city.


    The rest were used to make more trebuchets, which added to the number of projectiles mming into their walls.


    Right now, they had the earth mages trying to counteract the damage, but it was a losing proposition. Matt was drawing his Concept thin, trying to keep their mages and healers functional while also directing his section of the wall.


    Sleep came only in bursts but not for him. Matt mostly relied on [Endurance] to keep him going. Others didn''t have that option and found sleep when and where they could. It had been a hectic few days, and now that the Queendom had given up on taking the city cleanly. They wanted to end this siege soon and were willing to throw the necessary numbers at them to ensure it would.


    With well over a million troops already encircling them, they received reports from outside the city that the Queendom was preparing to send another million fighters to ensure the siege was broken soon. Apparently, they had intended to iste the city early, before the Prince could adequately reinforce the defenses. That n had crumbled with the early and unexpected destruction of so many pylons from both Matts efforts and The Princes. Rumor had it, Princesses Sara was fuming at the failure.


    It was now clear shed intended to quickly take the city and from there immediately move to siege another city at a natural choke point deeper in Kingdom territory. Now the additional Queendom forces they would have teleported directly into this city for the next siege were being redirected to their city on foot. Matt felt proud at their stalwart defense, but seeing one and a half million people surrounding them put things into a new perspective for him.


    Knowing that there were another million fresh opponents marching to them left everyone with a sinking feeling.


    This would not end well.


    A boulder mmed onto the city wall just to Matts right, and he winced. They had actually taken most of their defenders off the wall after a stray boulder clipped the top and eliminated a few dozen people. But the Queendom was still trying to limit damage to the city, and were being extra careful about hitting the expensive infrastructure inside.


    The defending leaders were grateful for it, as they had little recourse if the Queendom decided tounch rocks inside the walls and tten the city. They would need to move the trebuchets closer, which would put them close enough to retaliate, but nowhere in the city would be safe for their troops anymore, who were packed in tight.


    For now, they were ok with letting the Queendom chip away at their walls.


    A disheveled earth mage raced up to Matt and panted, The structural support pir is cracked. We don''t know how much longer we can hold it.


    Matt stuffed a bit of mana into the man with his Concept and then reported to Juni. One of our support pirs is cracked.


    Wait? Only now?


    The man sounded astonished, so Matt asked, Yeah. Why do you ask?


    I just thought you werent reporting it. Everyone else already has cracks. More than one for most of us.


    Matt shook his head. No, Ive been using my Concept to keep the earth mages going.


    Fucking damn it! By the Emperors balls, Matt, our spection didn''t think you could put out near that much mana. You should have said something earlier! Fuck! Juni took a deep, audible breath. That''s unfair of me. But I''ll be sending you more earth mages. Do what you can for them. Please. Even if the walls are doomed to fall, it''s better we drag it out as long as possible.


    Matt almost felt guilty, but it was his secret, and hed honestly expected that Juni would have heard about it from the various groups he was keeping topped off. The Kingdom having a limited idea of his capabilities wasn''t surprising. While he hadnt advertised his Concept or Talent, there were clear anomalies in his team''sbat records for anyone looking to find.


    Half an hourter, a stream of exhausted earth mages started huddling around Matt. They each lumbered away once they were full and another would roll into their ce. There were just so many of them. Too many. Finally, Matt had to start setting them aside and telling them to wait for his willpower to restore itself.


    He was beyond spent, and didn''t have time to sit and meditate. As always, he had situations to resolve and orders to give. It never stopped, not even for a moment.


    They were currently demolishing all the buildings near the most probable breach points and setting up a series of fortified fall back positions. The Queendom would break through the walls sometime soon, and they needed to be prepared.


    Matt hadn''t seen his teammates in two days. Their AI readings showed that they were alive without serious injury at least. It wasn''t enough, he wanted to see them and spend time with them, but it was all that he had.


    The city AI sent him a request for a scan of his area, which hepleted, and then got directions for his building crews. The city AI had apparently lost many of its cameras during the bombardment of the walls. Why the surveince system was connected to and ran information through the walls at all was a mystery to Matt. Seemed like an awful design w. From experience, he could confirm it was.


    The city AI now needed personal AIs to feed it information about the situations near the walls. Also, his crew of workers needed to clear two more rows of buildings and create rubble barricades.


    He highlighted the buildings in question and ryed the orders. He swore that he could hear their groans from atop the wall, but was pretty sure it was just the wind. He knew that they <em>were</em> groaning at the additional work, he just doubted that he could hear it from up here.


    His AI pinged him with a new idea. He reviewed it and then passed it up to Juni and the city AI coordinating the defenders overall strategy.


    He received half the answer hed expected.


    Only take down half the ballistae and mana cannons. Leave everything else up on the walls.


    Not willing to double guess the city AI, he ordered half of the siege equipment to be brought down and stuffed into their fallback positions. He assumed that the AI intended to recall the second half down right before they retreated from the wall. It would be imbecilic to leave them for the attackers to take and then simply turn around after all.


    A boulder mmed into the wall next to Matt again.


    They just needed to weather the storm for now.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90


    Eleven hourster, as the sun was rising over the horizon, the first wall crumbled in on itself. It was the western section, the one directly opposite from Matts position. The lighting from the east gave him a spectacr view of the destruction. The wall now had a slope where the rubble slid down, creating a natural ramp.


    Matt wasn''t surprised. No one was. They had expected this for thest few hours. During the next two, the remaining walls fell one by one. They stopped bothering to have the earth mages reinforce them a while ago. They had since beenmanded to conserve their mana and energy for this pivotal moment. Now, they would form smaller cliffs out of the rubble, so the attackers would have to slowly scale them instead of marching down an easy path. During that climb, they would be sitting ducks.


    Detached stairs had been prepared on their side, to be attached if the defenders needed to sally out. They weren''t going to create a stairway for their enemies after all.


    Around Matt, archers and mages stood shoulder to shoulder. The attackers probably wouldnt bring siege towers this time, when they had easier options. There was always room for surprise though, so they kept the walls manned. Best case scenario, they would be left free to rain down fire on the attackers as they funneled through the breach, turning it into a potent kill zone.


    As they expected, the enemy lines started to trudge forward in a steady procession. These looked like fresh troops to Matt, but he couldnt be certain. The Queendom had brought in a substantial number of reinforcements.


    Formation after formation moved forward with shields raised high. They weathered the storm of arrows, spells, and siege equipment that the defenders rained down on them.


    Matt was hoping to inflict enough casualties to force them into a retreat, but it was a futile ambition. This had all happened before. Only a handful of individual divisions had ever been broken, and only after beingpletely decimated.


    There was no such luck this time.


    The first formation was apanied by skilled earth mages who shaped ramps out of the rubble. It was an oddly satisfying sight. The disorganized rubble shifted and formed clean, precise steps out of the jagged slope. They were a drop of order sshed into a city that had housed only chaos for days.


    Drop.


    At hismand, the buckets of boiling pitch they had heated with mundane fires were pushed over. The boiling ck liquid sloshed into the opening, and the attackers screams were brutally short. Matt saw people clutching their scalded flesh, and others trying to peel off the soaked clothes that clung to them and burned them.


    Matt didn''t enjoy their pain or let it linger. At this point, he was too drained to feel much of anything.


    Fire!


    Every mage with a fire spell, including himself,unched their spells to ignite the ck liquid. What was boiling before was now a raging fire.


    For a moment, it was as if a new sun was born. Everyone but Matt flinched back from the sh and wash of heat. The heat didnt prate his armor, but he felt the burst of the air as it rushed past.


    He hoped the wall of mes would earn them a reprieve, but the invaders had clearly expected something of this nature. The earth below rumbled, and the fires were quickly put out as the stone shifted to swallow the pitch and mes.


    The next wave of attackers marched up the fresh stone stairs like nothing had happened.


    Matt messaged the first fallback position and its apanying ranged positions and squadrons.


    Prepare for enemies.


    He was stillunching [Fireball] after [Fireball] as quickly as his spirit allowed. He paused only to recharge a mana stone with 200 mana, so he could immediately drain it dry and start the process over again.


    Their enemies constructed their own ramp to the ground, not deigning to traverse the makeshift cliffs once more. Their ramp was steeper than what was ideal, causing more than one attacker to slip and fall under the rain of arrows. He cast [Hail] for a moment, but the earth mages hastily created a roof, giving them cover from the onught of Kingdom attacks.


    With a quick check, Matt verified that his melee fighters were protecting the outer wall and the stairs leading to their positions. Good, that gave him some breathing room. He threw himself over the edge, andnded just behind the first fallback position. The men above should be able to keep the invaders from climbing the outer wall, or taking advantage of the stairs. He wanted to be in the thick of the action.


    He was just in time. The attackers were racing forward with a deafening roar. Matt screamed back wordlessly.


    Each side shed with a cacophony of epic proportions. [Cracked Phantom Armor] dampened the noise to a tolerable level, but with his own scream rattling in his ears, it was difficult to tell.


    Matt leaned slightly forward over the small fortification and smashed down on a head peeking towards him. His target vanished without a sound. He struck down a second, and then a third Queendom soldier in rapid session.


    An ally two people over was pulled forward over the barricade. A warhammer was already descending right to where he would crash down.


    Without a thought, Mattunched himself at the hammer wielder with a [Mages Retreat] empowered leap. He body-mmed the man in the back as an axe feebly attempted to cut into his armor from the side, only to propel him forward harder.


    Standing over the man, Matt swung his longsword in vast sweeping arcs that left trails of blue from the mana charging his weapon. The pressure of the advancing forces pressed the front lines forward, but Matt stood his ground, sundering metal and flesh as if they were one and the same.


    When a mere Tier 7 shield had the audacity to block his attack, he let loose his swords stored mana with a [Mana de]. The bright sh arced out in a crescent moon that jettisoned the Queendom fighter and their shield backwards into the crowd.


    That gave the fallen Kingdom soldier that he was standing over enough leeway to scramble to his feet, reach up, and be pulled back up to the fortification.


    Matt looped his left arm backwards, and was met with four outstretched hands that grabbed it and hauled him up as well.


    Don''t let yourselves be pulled over!


    The situation here seemed in hand for now. Matt took a moment to survey the battlefield and located his team. He ran over to join Conor in the clear area that had formed around him. Allies knew better than to willingly walk into the red glow of [Demon Zone]. Enemies that took their chances received a free teleportation ticket to the hospital, as did those who were forced forward by the endless march of the Queendom.


    Together, Matt and Connor culled the swaths of enemies who had no option but to move forward. Aster, Annie, and Liz also made sure to attack the enemies in the range of the skill too. Every target hit was a chance to trigger the skills reflected attack, and strike everyone else in the zone too. With the mages outside of the affected range, they didn''t have to worry about reflection damage. Nor did Conor.


    It was a devastatingbination, and it was how the small team had managed to repeatedly hold a siege tower on their own.


    In a moment of rity, Matt also realized that he should use his Concept, and he let it billow out around him. The enemies that came into range were dead in seconds, before they could meaningfully benefit, so there was no reason not to use the small amount of willpower that he had umted.


    With that extra mana, Aster prowled to the front, just left of [Demon Zone]s aura. There, she dug her paws into the ground and reached out with Winter''s Embrace. In a sh, the thicket of ice branched out, and the frontmost dozen attackers became tangled ice sculptures. They shattered as the upants were whisked away. The embrace didn''t stop growing there. More and more people were forced into Asters chilling garden as her area of effect grew.


    The stones loudly cracked under the cold. Matt recognized that Aster was using the cold cor hed enchanted with separate runes. One for her own ice mana, and the other for slowing ice mana. The rune made from her mana increased the ice damage of any spell she channeled through it. Now, he could finally see the fruits of hisbor, though they had tested it earlier.


    While not a conventional skill, Winters Embrace still qualified for the added damage from the cor.


    As theirrades forced them forward, the frontmost Queendom fighters were shoved into a frigid, flowering jungle that wolfishly devoured them whole. Their fate was sealed after simply stepping into its domain.


    The downside of such a natural treasure was that it guzzled mana as if it was endless.


    With Matt as her bond, it was.


    He crossed over to her and slipped a hand through her spiky armor. Burning extra mana to convert his own mana to her personal signature faster, he charged the mana stones around her neck. Simultaneously, Matts Concept surged forth in a tight circle just broad enough to include only his bond.


    Mana rushed into Aster and kept her going, expanding Winters Embrace and allowing it to gorge on enough invaders to be self-sustaining, even with its meals being stolen. If the army rescuers left people inside for any longer, the skill could have sustained itself from merely one or two ensnared victims. Aster wouldn''t have had ess to that mana, but the skill itself would have continued on its own.


    At a diameter of nearly fifty feet, arge enough number of troops were ensnared by the wintery jungle of roses to keep it sustained with a little help from Matt. The push of the Queendoms advance only led morembs to the ughter at Asters paws. They were so eager to get out of the chokepoint through the wall, they rushed forward into another zone of death. And only the first in line were able to see it.


    The best part? Aster was an adorable little fox, and thus shorter than the berm they used as a parapet. She was sheltered from retaliation.


    An hour and a half of fervent fightingter, an order went out which instantly gave Matt pause.


    All forces Charge!


    Matt thought someone had gone crazy but ryed his orders as was his duty.


    Charge!


    Taking the lead, he leapt over the berm and swung his sword in a downwards arc. After a second of bewilderment, everyone else followed. They collided with the momentum of the attackers, with each side stalling out for a moment.


    Then, Matt heard it. Echos where there had been none before.


    A nce up revealed that the city shields were active once again.


    That madman Juni had lied about the amount of mana they had and saved some. Now he was using that final reserve to trap the invading forces.


    Matt snickered at the pure audacity of the move.


    The Queendom fighters, who had been taking heavy casualties before, were now on their heels as attacks rained down from the outer wall and archery positions. So <em>this</em> was why the city AI only wanted half of the artillery brought down from the wall.


    Death and destruction showered down from all sides. Ballistae and mana cannons tore lines of death into the panicked attackers, as fast as they could reload.


    With refound vigor, the weary Kingdom defenders sheared their way through rank after rank of the opposition. Liz was a golem of bloody death, scything her way through the trapped attackers like ripe wheat waiting to be harvested.


    Lightning thundered so powerfully, Matt knew that Emily had to be at his side. As the blinding shes red out, half a dozen people blinked away while the [Bolt] arced its way through multiple bodies. The spell was empowered enough to chain through and eliminate swaths of enemies in a sh.


    Matt and his forces minced their way up to the breach in the wall, to find an open spot free of enemies. At first, Matt thought that their retaliation ended there. But then he saw them.


    The real prize.


    Matt looked over the breach to discover a formation of Tier 7 elites with their backs against the shielding. The way their equipment looked, he suspected that they carried Tier 8 arms and armor. A hail of arrows from them caught Matt and his people off guard.


    They were backed up to an invisible but sturdy wall. Matt pondered his options. Only for a moment. Now wasn''t the time for thinking, it was the time to pay them back for each and every raid.


    Heunched a max-powered [Hail] with a wave of his staff. It started to batter at his opponents, but they were a Tier higher, and not as threatened as hed imagined.


    Too tired to think straight, hetched onto the simplest option, and ordered a charge into the enemy position.


    As he exploded forward with his sword aglow and a berserk roar on his lips, Matt flew through his [Hail] and into the mass of elite troops. He crashed down with a dry-then-wet crunch of someone elses mangled armor and bones. His reckless blitz prompted enough of the fighters to turn to face him, allowing his allies to charge without immediate reprisal.


    A spear pierced through the side of Matts leg armor. Luckily, it was a ncing blow, half stopped by his under armor. He managed to step away before it drew more than a little blood.


    His own people mmed into the raised shields of the Tier 7 formation. It promised to be a hectic, bloody fight where they were out-Tiered in both cultivation and equipment.


    He kicked andshed downward with his sword as he cut into metal armor. His sword was heavy for its Tier, but not sharper, so the wounds werent fatal.


    Matt expected the melee tost a while, as it was a brawl in close quarters, when suddenly the air went white.


    A huge explosion of cold consumed the area as the air itself seemed to solidify, and ice from the still falling [Hail] started to elevate. The world around him seemed to slow then stop, as if space time had been sh-frozen. The fighters surrounding Matt all stilled.


    Then, just as suddenly, they were gone and the illusion shattered.


    Nearby, a wheezing, quivering Aster copsed onto her side next to a field of ice, blood, and churned earth, with Matt at the center.


    His lungs heaving, Matt slumped to the ground. He felt boiling hot despite his armor blocking external sources of heat. He hadnt noticed the heat until just now.


    Deactivating it sent a shock through Matts system, as the still freezing air washed over him, jolting him fully awake from what now felt like a bad dream. That had been stupid. Monumentally stupid.


    <em>What was I thinking</em>?


    He had troops holding the breach, and the enemy was pinned against a wall. That made them fish in a barrel for the mana cannons and ballistae.


    There were zero good reasons for his reckless decision.


    Liz leaned down to quickly check on Aster, but soon stormed over to him. He expected to be either punched or pped, deservingly so. But she just kneeled and felt him over for injuries while demanding, What were you thinking!?


    I wasn''t. Sorry, I neglected to wake myself with [Endurance] for too long and got tired. Its been a long few days, and it keeps wearing off faster each time. I''ll...


    Stop. What was that? Have you not slept recently? When did you sleepst...? Wait, have you not slept <em>at all</em>?


    At Matts shake of the head, she grabbed and shook him. You idiot! You need to sleep. Right now. Matt, you can only go for so long without some proper sleep. Seeing him open his mouth, she shook her head. No. The rest of us have all slept since this started. While I hadn''t personally seen you sleep, I assumed you were just sleeping when we did. I''m taking over for the next few hours while you get some rest. Things will be easy enough with the shields up.


    Matt shook his head. I need to recharge the earth mages.


    No, stop! Theyve been resting for nearly a full day now. You need to sleep. We all need you to sleep. Go grab Aster and find a bunk to crash in. She severely overextended herself rescuing you from this insane stunt. Juni sent us a message about this <em>that you ignored</em>. He already knew about the Tier 7s here, and an equivalent division of our own Tier 7 elites was already on their way to deal with them. We didn''t have to take this risk.


    Matt didn''t have it in himself to argue anymore, particrly after seeing the state of his bond and hearing her worried pleas. After messaging Juni that he was going to sleep, and being chewed out again for not sleeping, he found a cot and his world went dark before he had time to adjust.


    With Aster in his arms, Matt was out cold in seconds.


    ***


    Liz prodded him awake after what felt like only minutes, but a check of his AI showed that it was closer to seven hours.


    What''s wrong?


    Liz pushed him back onto the cot slightly as he tried to stand. Nothing. We have about three hours before the shields fall for real this time, and I knew you would want to be up. I''ve had everyone resting and recovering their mana. The healers are even ahead of the casualties, and were... She paused. Well, we aren''t at one hundred percent, but everyone is mostly healed and ready for the next engagement.


    Mattid a groggy Aster down on the cot and picked up his sword from where hed apparently dropped it on the floor, returning it to his spatial ring.


    Thank you.


    He kissed Lizs sweaty, soot-covered head.


    He walked outside to see that the area around them was cleaned up, and any debris was added to the defensive berms.


    Quickly climbing the stairs, he surveyed the attacking army. Their numbers had grown again during the time he was unconscious. While observing the besiegers, Matt called Juni.


    Before he could say anything, Juni cut in with, You''re an idiot.


    We went through this yesterday. Yes, I am. No, I won''t do it again. Though I think well be dead before I need to sleep again anyway. Oh! How many Tier 7s did we get? Was it worth it?


    Juni snorted, Nine full battalions of Tier 7s with Tier 8 items. I wish I could have seen The Princesss face when she found out. After they realized we tricked them, the Queendom restarted the bombardment for real. Clearly, the n to take the city intact is dead and gone. Just like their elites.


    The Queendom had moved half their trebuchets forward to within range of the city proper, and was battering at the shield with a vengeful intensity that could only be born from being made a fool of.


    What''s our strategy?


    Hold as long as we can and make them bleed for it. We intend to hold until they take the outer walls, then try to sally forth out of one of the gates. With the Princes help, we should be able to break through their lines and escape.


    Think theyll happily let us walk out of here? Matt didn''t think it was likely, as boulder after boulder shattered on the invisible shielding.


    No. We''ll need to fight our way out. Are your troops ready to ride out the bombardment?


    Matt peered over the edge of the inner wall and surveyed his side. As ready as we can be. All positions are within the protection of the wall, but outside of its copsing range. Are we going to hold the wall this time?


    If we can, yes. But orders will change as we progress.


    Suddenly remembering something, Matt asked, What about the remaining crafters still in the city?


    Juni groaned. Ive gathered most of them that weren''t able to catch a teleport out, but some are refusing to leave their workshops, even though we know the Queendom will be pummeling the city center.


    With that ominous note, they ended the call and waited, with only the pounding of rocks on shielding to give thempany.


    It wasn''t good that all the crafters hadn''t gotten out of the city. They were able to get in the teleporter, as it was a swapping function between locations, and they were trying to bring people in. There was nearly no demand to leave except from the civilians. Even then, some of them had simply refused to evacuate without therge, expensive equipment in their workshops that they couldnt pack up in time. Losing that equipment would financially ruin many of them, and if it wasnt stored on their person, then it wouldnt be looted but returned to them when they died or were captured. The ones who fled without any equipment wouldnt be getting it back either, because it would either be destroyed during the siege or imed as war prizes afterwards.


    It was a shitty situation for everyone.


    Three hourster, the first boulder sailed over the wall and smashed its way through a city block. Then, the Queendom started lighting the rocks on fire beforeunching them. Teams ignored most of the fires, unless they ate their way to their positions, where bucket brigades and mages would handle the mes.


    Onended close enough for Matt to smother the mes with [Hail].


    He looked over the Kingdom casualty list as he waited for the attackers to move in again.


    Things weren''t looking good. They had lost nearly half their troops in the various fights and while repelling the seigers. On the bright side, they had taken out nearly eight hundred thousand enemy troops already. If the Queendom hadn''t gotten reinforcements, they would have won the siege, but there were another million and a half troops out there waiting.


    With the enemy''s new willingness to level the city, Matt hoped that The Prince had a decent extraction force ready to help them break through the encirclement.


    They would needrge numbers to break through and avoid being chased down and killed out of hand.


    Five long, agonizing hourster, as the sun reached its zenith, the Queendom troops started moving forward.


    Matt readied his men. Form up! The enemy approaches. Let''s see if we can bring the tally up to a million casualties with this wave.


    There was a loud but wordless cry from the fighters at hismand. Most were Pathers, but around a third were Kingdom troops who were filling in the gaps from their losses. Even with that help, there were still thin spots on the walls. Matt tried not to think of what would happen once they were unable to repel the assaults.


    There was a scream from below, and Matt looked down to see a woman pointing up. He followed her finger and nearly looked into the sun, but then he saw them.


    Air assault! Dropships iing!


    He repeated the message on all themander level channels. Though it was already toote.


    Dozens of giant, flying battalions were using the sun as cover, and had flown up miles into the sky. They hovered beyond the edge of the anti-flying formations with their immense, needle-like packages, each carried by a hundred plus people with various flying devices.


    They let them go, and nearly as one, the fifty-seven dropships arrowed down, spelling doom for anything in their way.


    The dropships were crude, angr cones, designed with minimal thought given to anything but reducing drag and preventing rotation during descent. The ones Matt had seen in movies were dropped from low orbit, and had fins to allow mundane flight for bypassing anti-flying runes. They always caused devastating damage when theynded behind enemy lines.


    Matt heard orders for the QRF teams going out, but ignored it to give his own.


    Second and fifthpanies. Turn and guard our rear. Lookout only. Get the QRF teams to deal with the fighters. Theyll all be Tier 7s, or at least fight like it.


    The enemy vessels mmed down into the empty city center, where it was mostly just wreckage from the attacking trebuchets. Theynded with ground-shaking rumbles as the heavy metal dropships punched into the ground. As Matt and his troops tightened their grips on their weapons, the heavy steel doors smashed down, creating ramps that teams of a dozen people poured out of.


    Annie?


    Is it time? Am I free? She sounded eager.


    You still have the giftboxes I made for you?


    Yes!


    Matt was almost worried about the exuberance in her voice. Then do what you do best.


    He moved his position down after seeing that the Queendom wasn''t trying to take the half-crumbled walls, and gathered his best fighters from the QRF teams. They were all Tier 6 Pathers, but they fought like monsters. They had to, as they were the ones used to defend the worst case scenarios and plug breaches in the walls.


    Be ready to deal with the airborne troops. Each pod seemed to carry a dozen people in it, but be ready forrger or smaller teams. I don''t know if theyll try to gather together and attack one position, or harry us all around. Maybe both. Don''t go down needlessly, and call for help when you engage. We have the numbers here, let''s use them.


    The next hour was hectic, as other sections of defenders reported hit-and-run tactics over and over. They were targeting valuable structures and facilities like the healing tents. The drop ship forces coordinated strikes gave the other teams time to protect the more vulnerable areas, but both sides incurred heavy losses as the day crept along. All the while, they had to defend from a continuous assault from the Queendoms main forces.


    Even with the sound of battle just in front of him, something felt off to Matt. Things got quiet, and he turned to the rear to ready both his team and the other QRF teams. Something wasnt right. This felt like the times in a rift when a monster stalked in the shadows. You never knew when it would strike, and the feeling slowly wore away at you.


    Matt widened his eyes and watched for movement, not focusing on any specific thing. His arm shot left, and he let loose a [Mana sh]. A scream quickly followed the explosion. A few secondster, a muchrger explosion rocked the entire courtyard.


    ***


    Annie skulked through the shadows cast by the noonday sun in the rubble-strewn city. Streets were more vague suggestions now than actual clear paths.


    She was stalking the Queendom drop-troopers as they made attempts at hit-and-run tactics. They were all foiled by her sending messages to any group of Kingdom fighters they tried to approach.


    They still seeded more than once, simply because they were Tier 7 and could move so quickly through the rubble. But the greatest damages were mitigated.


    She saw they were about to move again and raced around their projected path. They always moved back into the central, deserted portions of the city between strikes.


    They were about to hit her team''s location, and now was her time to strike.


    The army assassination test had given her far more than she expected. Going in, she thought it would just be a practical test, one and done. Instead, it was a series of puzzles that she had to solve in real-time, while stalking and killing a foe. There were dozens of tests with a theoretically infinite number of possible solutions.


    She failed the first dozen scenarios, but eventually she adapted and started seeding. By the end, she was almost always killing her target without being spotted. She knew her Talent made it easy for her to do some of the shadier things in life, but she learned through the training that she had quite the knack for it too.


    Worse yet, she <em>enjoyed</em> it.


    But that was a problem for future Annie. Now, she got to revel in it.


    The group of Tier 7s moved forward to attack her team, and she waited on top of a copsed roof.


    Loading Matts golem crossbow with a special bolt, she waited for the right moment. Matt, thepetent idiot,unched an attack at one of them, causing the attackers to charge, so she was rushed.


    As the Tier 7s came within proximity of her traps, sheunched the detonator bolt at the bomb wedged into the rocks. She was already sliding down the roof when the explosion went off.


    In a white-blue sh, one of the mana bombs Matt had charged for her detonated.


    Using a shadow to conceal her, Annie waited as a retreating Tier 7 ran past her so close, she could reach out and touch him.


    So she did exactly that.


    Grabbing a shoulder pauldron, she pulled and jumped, raising herself onto the stumbling man''s upper back. A quick flick of her knife ended the man''s time in the war, before they both tumbled to the ground.


    Rolling off, she broke into a sprint, off to find and hunt the other teams.


    She tried to remove the smile from her face.


    Somehow, it kept slipping back.


    ***


    Matt looked towards the explosion and concussion forceing from an area behind their defensive lines, and shrugged after ordering two teams to watch their rear.


    If Annie was handling it, he could worry about other things. There was a frontal assault to deal with. He doubted that this was thest time they would try this strategy on them either. So, they needed to prepare more substantial countermeasures for the other teams out there. It wasn''t as if the Queendom sent only one drop pod of fighters, or that they wouldnt send more.


    The work never ended.


    ***


    Three dayster, Matt sat in amand meeting with the remaining staff. Their forces were down to seventy thousand men from their original five hundred thousand, and they were exhausted.


    The Queendom had battered them down with sheer numbers.


    There was no respite from the waves of enemies. Even after adding another million to their casualty count, they were still outnumbered and outgunned.


    At first, they had defended themselves well enough. Then, the Queendom tried four more frontal assaults, before sending anotherrger wave of drop pods yesterday evening. Those troops focused on a concentrated push to take the citys west entrance. Between thebined tactics and dwindling defenders, they were unable to plug the breach, and the invaders started taking the city. With attacks from both sides, Juni was forced to call a full retreat back to his fortified position.


    That was where the Kingdom went from bleeding numbers, to hemorrhaging them uncontrobly. Under the waning light and with a swarm of Tier 7 hit squads running amok, there was little that anyone could do to make the retreat intact. The dropship teams had learned from Annies ambushes, and set simr explosives along the defenders most likely avenues of retreat, further increasing the casualties.


    So, they withdrew to the southernmost wall, and were holding a small fortification hastily created by the few surviving crafters that had joined Junis group.


    They had thrown in the towel. The city effectively belonged to the Queendom at this point, and they were preparing for their breakout run.


    The Kingdom had bled the enemy, and made taking the city a living nightmare, forcing a little more than two million casualties. Four dead enemybatants for every one of theirs lost wasn''t a bad ratio by any means.


    Even with The Prince gathering arge force to harry the besiegers, they were still looking for an opening to break through. This would be their final shot. The enemy knew where they were pinned down, and had excessively reinforced the opposite side of the city gate that they were pinned against. Attempting to retreat through there would be a suicide mission.


    They were stuck.


    But, they had an idea. One born more out of desperation than solid nning. It wasn''t remotely perfect, but it was their best chance.


    Juni turned to Matt. Is everything ready on your end? Annie is in position and the tform is made?


    They had been over this three times already, but the man was worried to the extreme. This was another risky n after the previous two had failed, and it would be thest. It was imperative that they get the remaining fighters out of the city, as they had earned an absurd amount of points in thest week and a half. If they escaped, anyone here would onlye out stronger, with possibly hundreds of thousands of points to spend.


    That was something the Queendom was keen to prevent.


    Juni pulled back the tent p, and not able to see much, said, The sun is about to rise. Everyone get to your positions. You know your jobs. I''ll take the front. Follow my lead and stop for no one.


    Matt and the other surviving leaders funneled out of the tent with somber expressions. Their odds of getting out of this werent great by any means.


    Nodding at the troops he passed, Matt climbed aboard the nearest wooden tform housing a mana cannon.


    As the sun started to filter through the cracked stone walls, everyone stood without being ordered to.


    Matt started charging the mana cannon. Most of the glow didn''t escape the nket covering its surface, but it lent an almost eerie glow in the predawn light. He had to spread his legs a bit to remain steady while the tform was lifted off the ground.


    Ten men were responsible for carrying the makeshift weapon tform, with another thirty as backup. Two hundred men were in a block formation around them, to prevent the enemy from attacking the most vital aspect of their escape n.


    Everyone fidgeted as the seconds ticked by, but a massive explosion in the wall that the Queendom had created to box them in signaled their time to move. They ran in the opposite direction with quiet steps. Screams and shouts echoed across the nearby portions of the city as they moved to the other side.


    Matt lined up his cannon and fired.


    The wall in front of them disappeared. The sparse Queendom soldiers, unable and likely unwilling to throw their bodies in front of the remaining Kingdom defenders, left them a clear path out of their encirclement.


    He reached up and pulled the burning cloth off the mana cannon and readied his next shot. He held the cannon at full charge as they rounded a corner and reached the street that led to the western gate. They turned right and ran to the northern gate when the western gate exploded as well.


    Annie had set the two modified mana cannons near each location, and charged them with a few mana stones after Matt had gotten them most of the way there. A remote device that charged them with even more mana essentially became a massive improvised explosive, ced in distracting locations.


    They were hoping that with The Prince hitting the western city gates defenders, they could clear the northernmost gate. The idea was that the Queendom troops stationed there and at the southern gate would be moved to Reinforce the western gate. The Princes charge would be the distraction they needed to escape.


    In what felt like seconds, but was closer to twenty minutes, they were sting through the half destroyed northern gatehouse and into the open air. Theyd escaped the city, but they werent safe yet.


    The remaining encirclement was sparse, but that was only rtive to the Queendoms forces previously, at multiple millions strong. There was still a line of defenders that they needed to get through.


    Matt and his cannon cleared a path through the defenders as best as he could. He aimed his shots at the biggest clumps of people in rapid session.


    Still, they were being bogged down.


    At the front of the formation, Juni cut his way through the Queendom fighters with a seemingly in-looking stick. It clearly wasnt; it smashed its way through armor like it was wet paper, but there were no visible markings on it.


    As they moved farther away from the city and deeper into the ring of enemy troops, their pace slowed even further, from a jog to a shuffle.


    Between firing his cannon, Matt saw a fifteen foot tall wave of blood wash over troops in swirling patterns, freeing their men from being ensnared in a melee. Liz wasnt exactly going for subtlety with her attacks.


    Person-thick bands of bloodshed out at anyone who strayed too close to her blood wave. Archers shot at her, but nothing seemed able to stop the juggernaut of a blood maniptor on a battlefield. Aster was clearly with Liz, as shards of ice were forming at the tips of the tentacles, and attacking anyone trying to nk the golem.


    Juni was also performing beyond Matts expectations. He fought in a circr field of what Matt guessed was heavy gravity, from the way everyone around him moved sluggishly, and the grass ttened around him.


    The Prince''s right hand man moved like a dancer with a grudge. He wove between attacks and used his stick to kill anyone within reach. A group of six Pathers charged him, and in the time it took Matt to charge and fire his cannon twice, they were dead.


    Conor was near Juni at the front. A clear area slightlyrger than his [Demon Zone] helped relieve the pressure slowing the Kingdom fighters down. Based on the space being given to him, the man was clearly a well known threat. No one wanted to enter his airspace, knowing that their own attacks could hurt them, while the man in the center was unaffected.


    Annie was using her crossbow, but disappeared off Matts HUD from time to time, so he assumed that she was using her Talent when she could.


    Like Liz, Emily was a tyrant, ruling the area around her. Just like during her time defending the berms and fallback points, she started with a [Cracked Mana Bolt]. Then, she rotated through [Water Bullet], [Fireball], and finished up with a truly massive [Bolt]. The electric spell jumped from person to person, devastating the enemy numbers. It also made her an obvious target, but she had six melee fighters as guards. They were hard at work keeping ranged attacks and other melee fighters off of her.


    It was an impressive sight.


    Everyone on the Kingdom side was fighting with everything they had. Matt saw abilities he had no record of, along with flying and weapon skills he had no choice but to envy.


    But <em>he</em> had his mana cannon. Shot after shot raced out while he refilled the mana cannon as fast as it would cycle. People vanished with each shot.


    As Matt attacked, more and more people started to target him. His carriers and defenders tried to help, but they were a long line trying to avoid being cut off and encircled. Firing backwards to help the rear most Kingdom fighters helped, but it wasn''t enough. They were still slowing down.


    Liz, in her blood golem form, roared past where Matt was shooting and smashed into an equallyrge stone golem. He worried that the fight would go the other golems way, but Liz seemed to flow into the rock and annihte it from the inside.


    After her victory there was a cheer, and he turned to see that the leading element of their group had punched through to the edge of the anti-flight barrier. Juni was already turning around and moving back into the fighting. He made a beeline to secure the gap along with Conor and the other imposing fighters in the front lines.


    Matt, atop his tform in the middle of the pack, was constantly taking arrows and spells. But he ignored them as best as he could. One spell dealt enough damage to [Cracked Phantom Armor] to break down the spell structure. Meanwhile, several arrows and a [Fireball] washed over his under armor and scorched his back. The only one he felt was the arrow that struck his side.


    Not bothering with it, he kept firing. Time after time, groups vanished under the blue light of the mana cannon. Where he aimed, death followed.


    His AI shed as members of his team took wound after wound, helping to keep the breach open. Lizs entire head was shing red with a myriad of wounds, but she wasn''t in the worst shape. Emily was missing a leg and an arm, but was being carried away with the retreating team.


    Annie was mostly fine, with only a few minor injuries, along with Conor and Aster. None taking anything more than scratches.


    As the midpoint of the retreating Kingdom fighters was nearly through the opening, his instincts screamed at him to get off the cannon, and he threw himself back with a tumble. Snapping off the arrow still lodged in his side as he fell off, he saw a ball of purple ckness tear its way through the cannon and where he had been standing.


    Matt followed the trajectory to see a lone mage with a staff capped by two orbs on each end. They were racing to close off the gap the Kingdom had created and was holding. At the center of the staff was a light-swallowing darkness so ck, the man''s hand seemed to be holding space itself. Towards the ends, the orbs were a light blue and seemed to have sparks arcing off of them towards the center.


    Another ball of void simply deleted another swath of the few remaining Kingdom fighters holding the line.


    Matt rolled to his feet and rushed the mage. If he didnt take him out fast, the man might wipe them all out on his own.


    Another ball of void gathered at the center of the staff andunched outward.


    Matt threw himself under it and felt at it with his spirit sense as it raced above him.


    It wasn''t actually void. Or at least, not true void, like the mana he had gotten from his advertisement for exotic mana types. This was more like his Concept.


    It was a ck hole.


    As Matt scrambled to his feet, he crossed the remaining distance to the man while another ball of ck hole void magic formed.


    He was two strides away; it was toote and he was too close to change his trajectory.


    The mageunched the orb at him, and Matt threw his left hand in front of the attack. It was a desperate move, as his armor was only partially effective against void aspected attacks.


    He fully expected pain, and the rending of his armor and flesh to follow.


    To Matt''s surprise, the attack felt cold as it hit his palm and ate right through his armor. He almost thought it would be painless, but the agony was just dyed. When it did hit him, it was worse than anything hed ever felt before. It was like pain boiled down to a concentrate and injected into his very being.


    Feeling the spell hit a little resistance from his armor, he redirected all of the armor''s power to his left gauntlet, just like he did when forming knuckle spikes. It seemed to help, but it really just slowed the spell down a little. The pain was immense and all-consuming as the spell progressed down his arm. It grew to such an intensity that Matt blindly threw everything he had into it.


    His Concepts repelling power red to life and countered its inversion''s pull with its own push. The sh of his will against another told him the mage had a Concept of his own as well.


    Matt refused to lose, he refused to go down after so much struggle. He pushed everything he had into his left arm, and the spell stalled from its racing speed to only inching forward as it ate away at his armor, Concept, and arm.


    It seemed like no matter what he did, the attack kept creeping forward.


    To the inevitable end.


    Time slowed, and his attention narrowed down to just this single moment. He tuned out the battle around him. Gone was the lost defense of the Kingdom city. Gone were his AIs blinking damage indicators for his friends.


    None of it mattered anymore.


    It was just him versus the void.


    If he died, they all might die. Void mages were <em>that</em> dangerous.


    The fact that the mage wasnt in standard armor and had a Concept told Matt that he was a Pather. It exined why he was having such a hard time overpowering a Tier 6. Only another exceptional Pather could make him struggle like this.


    Matt refused to listen to the pain radiating up his arm, or the weariness of his Concept.


    He was endless, and would not give in.


    ***


    Luna, Kurt, and April watched Matt take the void attack head-on.


    Luna lost control of herself and a toothy smile snaked across her face. April was wringing her hands with worry, but she would learn. These moments of danger were how you pushed children to be the best they could be; to reach their true potential.


    With an effort of will, she blocked the army watcher from interfering. They should know better by now. She had prevented several true deaths in this siege already.


    She earned this moment.


    This was the perfect opportunity to see how far the boy could reach inside of himself. She couldn''t have asked for a better match-up if she had set the fight up herself. ck hole versus white hole Concepts. It was perfect.


    It was a battle of will, determination, and grit.


    There wasn''t a chance in the multiverse that she would let the army interfere with this moment. Matt wasn''t at any real risk, and she had better speed and control than any of them. The rescuers removed people when <em>they </em>could save them. At her Tier, she could ride the edge so much longer, especially with someone as durable as Matt. Besides, his little healer friend was somewhere on the, so Luna would whisk him away before his head or heart waspletely vaporized. She was ready for every possible oue.


    He wouldn''t die. But he might feel like death if he lost this contest.


    Her newest protege let loose a scream of weakness, hate, and defiancea scream against the world. She had heard it so many times before as people found where their true limitsy. Most people had far more to give than they thought.


    Luna strained to keep her tail from materializing and swishing. If he dug so deep on his own, she could only dream of what he would aplish with her... <em>loving</em> guidance.


    One day, he would look back at this fondly.


    Eyes wide, she watched with [Perception] draining her massive mana reserves, and her mental cultivation dting her perspective. She wanted to catch every microsecond of this; every detail.


    Flesh and blood vaporized as she looked on. She was ready to step in if need be.


    But she expected a better oue.


    ***


    Matt could feel the ball of void growing weaker and weaker. The will behind it lessened until he pushed the ck hole back long enough to expend its power. He stood there, utterly spent.


    His Concept was beyond empty, and he felt like a towel that had been wrung to the point of tearing.


    But he had won.


    One arm was outstretched and gushing blood at the concave point where the orb had eaten at his flesh. The wound was causing him to get more and more light headed with each heartbeat.


    Matt met the eyes of the mage in front of him, who stood panting with pale disbelief written across his face, and gave him a grin of victory. He reactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor], staunching the blood loss, and pulled back his sword. He moved to drive it through the man''s unarmored chest, when a familiar blood-soaked spear blew a hole straight through the mages heart.


    Lizs golem ran past him, smashing through another line of Queendom fighters.


    Turning to face the enemies around him, Matt roared at them and charged, sword glowing as the mana he was storing with each step increased. He raised his weapon, but no one was willing to meet him. They all scrambled away to clear his path.


    With that, thest defenders of the Kingdom city cut their way free of the fallen city.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 7

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 7


    PoA The Concept of Death 7


    Melinda spent ten awful hours purging the contaminants from their systems, but she considered herself luckier than Sam and Mathew. Their sufferingsted a full two days, where they had to get the muchrger dose of depleted copper out of their systems. Neither were willing to speak of their time in quarantine, only stating that it had been rough.


    They did find out that there had been a slew of changes to how the point system worked after the first day of fighting. They were now earning points every day based on their ranking, which was nice.


    They werent the only ones to have some troubles. To their surprise, Matt and his entire team had died after taking a fort. She, of course, healed them at Matts request. They were all healed perfectly by the Empire healers, as she expected, but she discreetly removed their healing cooldown. Matt had messaged her that he would act as if that hadn''t happened, but was thankful to know they were ok.


    They even sparred with Matts squad twice. It was yet another learning experience for her team. Discovering that they had taken out two hundred people while defending a fort that they had just taken had been mind blowing. But the fight didnt go as badly as she had feared.


    Her team actually had better coordination than the three teams who were mashed together. They just didn''t have the raw power of the other party. With their newly absorbed skills, they fared better, but even with light sparring, it was clear they were still out of their depth.


    That was when her husband had a bright idea to hire trainers with the slow, steady ie of points they were earning.


    Jacob was a Tier 11 they found on the CityNet who was willing to teach them team tactics and give them pointers on how to improve.


    It wasnt pretty.


    After having them fight him, he told them that they needed to start dueling other teams. It was his easiest suggestion but not his only one. He had them rent time in a simtion chamber to hone their skills with various simted team mates. He also had them simte solo fights, so that they could always defend themselves should they be away from one another.


    Fighting without her team was enlightening. She was so used to them following hermands without hesitation. Half the time, they already knew what needed to be done, and hermands were redundant. The simted teammates were often recalcitrant towards her, demanding detailed reasoning for any and all of her orders. Other times, they followed her orders too well. If she said move right, theyd sprint in that direction nonstop, and even throw themselves off a cliff if she didnt stop them.


    Worst for her personally, these teams rarely tried to protect their healer. If an enemy moved to nk the back line, her allies just ignored it, focusing only on the opponent in front of them. Without [Bolt], she would have beenpletely defenseless. With it... she was still mostly defenseless. Her solo simtions were also a dissapointment; her mace skills were pretty rusty. Melee training had fallen by the wayside in thest few years. It was just another thing she had to add to her already full te.


    Baxter was helping her with her Concept, and with training her Talent to heal the spirit damage that her Concept inflicted. But the progression was so slow, she wasn''t sure that it was doing anything. The only good news was that she had gotten a bright idea when studying the effects of natural treasures, and while hearing a probably not so offhandedment from her mentor.


    The Tree of Perfection was quite a boon for Matt. If only everyone could get Tier 15 bodies so much sooner. Its essentially the opposite of your Concept, or at least, its function is the direct inverse of your Concepts.


    To her eternal shame, she hadn''t even registered the importance of thement at the time. Shed only asked how he knew about that. Apparently, Baxter made a point of checking up on Matts team. He knew that shed be beside herself if they suffered any catastrophic injury while she wasnt there to help. It was actually very thoughtful and reassuring. So reassuring in fact, that she overlooked the part about Tier 15 bodies until two weekster, while she was in the shower.


    It came back to her as she was washing the shampoo out of her hair. A realization struck her so hard, she nearly slipped and cracked her head open. She wanted to heal old age, and a Tier 15 body was unaging. Yet Matt was able to get that immortal body at a much lower Tier. If it could be done to him, could it be replicated in anyone else? A burst of excitement led to her jumping out of the shower and calling for Baxter. She managed to slip on some damp, sudsy pajamas before he appeared.


    Her mentor smirked at her state, but he did exin more about what had been done to Matt. Not quite. Eating the trees root brings someones body to the razors edge of Tier 15. But technically, it''s still at Tier 14. Besides, its not a cultivators Tier 15 body that makes them immortal, but the essence in their cores. The body just bes hyper-efficient, and stronger in every way. Nheless, its not a bad starting point if you still want to try healing old age.


    The problem was, Melinda felt really ufortable asking Matt for even more help. It just felt wrong after just vowing to be more self-reliant. She did appreciate Baxter letting her know, though. He obviously thought it was a waste of time, but he <em>did</em> try to assist her. That was worth being grateful for. But how do you ask a friend, who had already given you <em>so much</em>, to let you try extracting and producing a personal aspect of themself.


    After a big group dinner one night, she finally worked up the nerve while their teams were headed to catch a movie after. Matt seemed to think it was no big deal, but he hadnt thought that all the skill shards hed given them were a big deal either, so his opinion was suspect. Regardless, she was thankful. Inspecting Matt didn''t suddenly result in amazing, new progress, or instantly reveal exactly how to replicate what the natural treasure was doing, but she got a general idea of what was happening.


    When she asked her husband for a baseline example of a Tier 6 body forparison, he teased her aboutparing his to Matts. Bad jokes aside, she did learn a few things.


    In a lot of ways, the natural treasure was still inside Matt. What it was doing there was interesting to say the least. There was essence cycling throughout his body. That in and of itself wasnt very special. Whenever someone was injured, the essence they allocated to regeneration was cycled through the body, slowly healing any damage. Even when someone was perfectly healthy, a small amount of essence still cycled, repairing the everyday wear and tear. In Matts case, the amount of essence cycling through him was abnormal. Honestly, she was surprised that he was still standing. That amount of cycling essence usually indicated some sort of body-wide infection, but ording to her Concept, he has never been healthier. She just couldnt figure out why.


    The next evening, she met with Baxter for her Concept training. Before he could even say hello, she had a million and two questions for him. The man who had untold lifetimes of experience as a healer; it was time to cash in on that.


    What would happen if Matt lost a limb? Would that limb not have the effect? Would having a Tier 6 arm on a Tier 15 body cause problems? Would the effect just expand into the new arm over time? What about the severed arm? If Matt loses a limb fighting, Ill have to ask him to let me look at it. Also, why wasnt I able to notice any of the trees effects on Liz or Aster? The effects on Matt were pretty obvious. Can someone recreate the effect of a natural treasure like that? I feel like it should be possible. People should be working on that. Why arent people working on that? Who do I need to talk to about working on that?


    Finally, Baxter just forcibly shushed her with a flex of his Concept. He pointed at a boar that had been attracted by Melindas tirade, and was now charging at them. Melt that first, and I''ll answer <em>some</em> of your questions.


    Seeing him ignoring her, she uncaged her Concept in the direction of the boar. A grotesque minuteter, they studied the wing destruction and blight that it left behind. This practice was draining, but she had to admit that it was a good way to improve her willpower capacity. The passive effect wasn''t a burden anymore, even in arge crowd. Turning it off was still beyond her, but she didn''t get the headaches from perpetually overdrawing it anymore.


    Your friend would be fine if he lost a limb. In fact, it would have helped him. Seeing her incredulous look, he rolled his eyes. Theres been a lot of testing with a lot of different itemseven the Tree of Perfection. Remind meter, Ill find the old studies and send them to you. Read through them; maybe you''ll learn something. But I doubt it.


    Melinda still intended to read those studies, just in case there was something useful. But she had to admit that it wouldnt be simple if even the Empire''s best couldn''t copy the effect. Her Talent did grow as she pushed it, so maybe it had the flexibility to copy the effects of the Tree of Perfections root.


    You can''t see whats going on with the other two because youre too weak. Im not being derisive, that''s just the way that cookie crumbles. Normally, you shouldn''t be able to see whats going on with Matt. But your Talent is a giant cheat. The ability to see the physical effects of the Tree cannot be understated. Also, the roots effect on the body is the most obvious of the three. Mind and spirit are trickier to detect. The Tree changes the spirit so it reflects the aspect of the Tree that they ate. He chewed on his lip for a minute. Well... You normally might have been able to see the effect of the leaf. But with Liz, she shouldnt be getting a ton out of it, so it''s more subtle.


    Whats that supposed to mean?


    Baxter poked her nose. Think about it. Aren''t you the one whos all about growing and being self-sufficient now? Figure this one out on your own little chick. Spread your wings and fly before I give you the boot.


    She ignored the jab and pondered what he said. After a minute, the dots finally connected, and she felt a little silly for not getting it sooner.


    The Tree of Perfection was exactly that, perfection. Perfection was Tier 15. Children of Tier 15 parents would be the offshoots of perfection. Presumably, they would have less to fix than the children of imperfect, mundane mortals.


    She had parents over Tier 15? Baxter just shrugged, which she took as confirmation. I would have thought that thered be more advantages. Or are there?


    Baxter barked augh at that. It''s not some cheat, unlike a certain someones Talent. It''s a head start. If having immortal parents was the end all be all, no mortal-born cultivators would ever be able to keep up. You know thats not the case. In the end, it''s just a slight advantage until Tier 15, where it equals out.


    But why has no one created a pill or something to mimic the effects of a natural treasure?


    What''s to say that they haven''t?


    That shocked Melinda dumb. She just stood there as she imagined the nobles keeping the secret powers that they showered on their children to themselves.


    Reading the expression in on her face, he smirked at her. Once again, it''s not what youre thinking. What do you think bottled Concepts are? What do you think that half the potions out there are? Most potions were originally derived from natural treasures. Bottled Concepts in particr. We had a treasure, someone figured out how to recreate its effects, and then they mass produced it. Well, not we; it was done well before my time. It was before the current dynasty as well. To be honest, it''s really old tech. Cultivators have been around for a very long time, and all the low hanging fruit have long been harvested. There hasnt been a new discovery made in millennia.


    Oh.


    Melinda flushed and red at Baxter a bit. That made far more sense. It also exined why bottled Concepts only targeted one aspect; they were derived from natural treasures. She paused... why was it like that? It wasnt hard to imagine a natural treasure that targeted multiple aspects. She thought about the bottled Concepts that her friends had to choose from. Why arent there bottled Concepts that target multiple aspects?


    There are, but the bottled Concepts that are sold on the regr market only target one aspect of cultivation at a time because theyre way easier to make. The price doesn''t feel like it, but it takes a Tier 25 or higher to make a Tier 5 bottled Concept. The Tier 10 version takes a Tier 35 or higher. Both obviously need an Intent. The Empire gives a tax credit to anyone who produces enough of them. As to why they do a single thing, that''s easy to answer. It''s a pain in the ass to make them with more. To add context, at thest auction they sold a bottled concept with three aspects. Do you know how much it sold for? Or how much it would have on the open market?


    Melinda had no idea and said as much.


    Baxter chucked. It was the most expensive item in the entire auction. It would have taken a Tier 45 with an Aspect <em>and</em> masterful control to make one of them. If three or four a year appear on the market, it would be a miracle. On the open market, the King of this little shithole wouldnt have been able to afford it if he shook down everyone in this vassal state.


    Still, that feels like a cop-out. It cant be that hard.


    Ha! When youre Tier 25, I''ll remind you about this, and you can see for yourself. I look forward to watching you fail a few thousand times. Baxter grinned off into the distance.


    Still, no one has recreated a natural treasure in how many millions of years? Melinda wasnt sure if she should be proud of the milestones that she would hopefully, absolutely aplish one day, or if she was just embarrassed for all the ckers that came before her.


    She liked the idea of inventing something new. Something that would change things for the better. There was something thrilling about the thought of it.


    ***


    A weekter, the Queendomunched a massive campaign against the Kingdom without warning, causing a rush of attention. They were moving in on a Kingdom city. Early spection implied that the city would fall easily and quickly. The city was under-defended, and The Princess had clearly found a chink in the Kingdoms armor. After an easy conquest, shed have a staging point to march on a key location further into Kingdom territory.


    Thats not what ended up happening. Instead, there was a mass mobilization of millions of Queendom troops to the quick city siege that was supposed to have ended days ago. Even the Pathers were mobilized in force. They arrived to find thousands upon thousands of tents surrounding a battered city of stone. She and her team joined the western gate, where all of the Pathers were being funneled.


    It was a madhouse.


    The ground was churned into mud except where earth mages had created paths. It still left everyone trekking through ankle-deep muck to get nearly anywhere except the chow hall. The sanitary situation was equally bad, withtrines being dug out and then too quickly filled by the multitudes crammed into the encirclement around the city. Showers were nonexistent, and the rare Pathers with [Cleanse] were charging a premium to use the skill. Her and her team made due with the refilling canteens and using damp cloths to approximate a facsimile of cleanliness.


    Melinda loathed every minute.


    Things couldnt be worse. Or so she thought, until seeing the situation inside the city itself. The once majestic walls were being pounded into rubble when they first arrived. But things suddenly escted after the Kingdom trapped and eliminated a number of their elite Tier 7 fighters using a trick with the citys shield.


    Everyone in the vassal states military was out for blood after that. Over the course of a few hours, the artillery tactics went from a gentle bombardment to maintain valuable infrastructure to a brutal salt-the-earth campaign. The nearby forest was logged t to construct even more trebuchets and new housing for yet another wave of new troops. The Pathers were in a weird situation, as the normal army was either unwilling or unable to order them to attack. From what Melinda gathered, it had something to do with the new war rules that prevented Pathers from being sent on suicide missions. Whatever the reason, they mostly sat around until the Queendoms losses built up, and they started offering lucrative rewards to join the assault.


    Having done nothing for thest few days, most Pathers eagerly volunteered, filling out a full seven regiments for the attack. Part of her wanted to suggest that her team sit this one out, but if they wanted to get stronger, they needed to make the best of the opportunities that the war provided.


    They needed this experience, no matter how much she dreaded it. So when the time came, they went to their assigned positions and joined the siege.


    It was everything shed feared and more.


    Standing in the formation with her team around her, she could only think how haphazard and uncoordinated they all lookedpared to the standardization of the Queendom regrs. Those battalions were full formations of shield-bearers or archers, with the random mage or two to round them out. The menagerie of two hundred Pathers theyd been assigned to was more akin to a <em>very well armed</em> mob. The man next to her seemed less confident by the minute, with eyes nervously drifting down to the whip in his hand. She didn''t me him, you couldn''t block much with a whip.


    The orders came down to advance, and she was bumped from behind before she started moving on her own. A tightness in her stomach grew as they approached the city walls.


    They hadnt looked very imposing when viewed from the safety of camp, behind the lines of battering siege engines. As their formation marched closer, the walls seemed to grow until they towered over them. The smell of blood permeated the air, and the churned, cratered earth below their feet began shifting to ominous hues of ck and dark red.


    The source of the dark red was obvious from the smell alone. They walked on the blood of the fallen, and Melinda was d that they didnt have to walk over bodies. The origin of the ck coloration was made clear when a mana cannon red to life and shot fiery death towards them.


    The attack zed into their formation and seven people instantly vanished. Where they were standing had be a ckened crater.


    Melinda reached out and grabbed Mathew and Kyle in front of her. Their shield and massive sword were raised, but a t piece of metal wouldnt do anything against such a strong st. No one here could stand up to a hit like that.


    A ballista bolt shed forwards and impaled the whip wielder. There was nothing he could have done to survive it, even with a different weapon. It was horrifying. The man was left gaping at the massive bolt lodged through his lower torso. The army likely didnt whisk him away immediately because the wound wasnt instantaneously fatal, and he was so lucky to be standing within 10 feet of a healer, her. Melinda could have helped, and should have helped, but she was too terrified of leaving the safety of her team. She met his desperate, pleading eyes as he finally looked up from the wound.


    Before she could finish second guessing herself, the man was gone. At least it was out of her hands now. Her relief onlysted a split-second, as more attacks rained down on them. Luck, more than anything else, was keeping her friends alive.


    It sure wasn''t anything that she did. All she could do was hide in their shadows and question the decisions that brought her here.


    The situation only worsened as arrows started to rain down upon them, with a smattering of other skills mixed in. Screams and cries for a healer were drowned out by the beating of her heart echoing inside her head.


    Yet one unwee sound rang louder than everything else.


    Charge!!!


    Melinda took off in a gallop with everyone else. Getting through thetest rain of death was a harrowing experience. Yet it was only an appetizer for having to fight their way into the breach in the wall. Death hailed down from above as they struggled their way to the front. There, they found a crudely made stone wall with Kingdom defenders viciously hacking and shing at anything that dared approach them.


    Mathew and Kyle attempted to attack the people reaching over the berm with their respective weapons. Kyles oversized sword was actually effective, and they were able clear the area long enough for Vinnie to bore a new breach in the wall. A new breach forming seemed to signal a rush from both sides, attackers and defenders alike. The Queendom was forced back within moments. With Tara and Sam assisting from the rear, Melinda kept her team healed from the numerous small wounds, despite them being on the back foot. Once evicted from the breach, they were pressed left by the crush of bodies in the mad melee.


    Tara was the first to realize that the Kingdom had blitzed them because theyd been doing something right. A quick AI message put everyone on the same page. They kept creating holes in the fortification, only to be rebuffed by a tide of Kingdom soldiers. But every time they were driven back, they still left another breach behind for the Kingdom''s exhausted earth mages to deal with.


    Their team was hardly alone in that feat. Holes were opened then closed in quick session, as the defenders learned that they weren''t the normal fighters they had been fighting up until that point. What the Patherscked in uniformity, they made up for in individual power.


    A chubby Tier 6 man next to them single-handedly broke through the Kingdoms barrier while wielding a short spear with an oversized de. He hacked his way through bodies with the weapon. Melindas team didn''t need orders to help him. His literal size and presence created an unusuallyrge breach, and they needed to jump on the opportunity.


    They weren''t the only ones with the idea. A massive tortoise with a purple-haired woman at his side slid right in with them. Lightning shed from the tortoise''s shell and zapped three forward-rushing defenders with an ear-splitting crack.


    A ballista bolt stuck out of the tortoises shell, so Melinda steeled herself and raced over shouting, Healer! Hold the lighting!


    Thest thing she needed was sustaining a preventable friendly-fire injury to waste her mana healing.


    The woman turned and met Melinda with maroon eyes as she leaned over to better grab hold of the bolt, not needing the n to be spelled out. As the woman yanked out the projectile, Melinda sent a [Ranged Heal] into the shell, letting it eat up therger mana cost. She knew nothing about tortoise biology, and couldn''t waste the time figuring it out with a [Directed Heal]. That was the main strength of indirected healing. You didn''t need in-depth knowledge to cast the spell; it waspletely automated. Which was also why they had hard boundaries that they couldnt push. At least, that was themon perception. With her Talent, Melinda was able to cast and forget the spell, watching as flesh and shell knitted themselves back in moments.


    Leaving theughing turtle that sounded more like rocks grinding as he thanked her, she returned to her team.


    The chubby man was littered with wounds as more and more defenders gathered to overwhelm him. Through her Concept, she could see the shadow of death closing in around him just a tiny bit more. She cast a second healing spell and grinned as the defenders cried out when they saw their work being undone.


    Her celebration was premature, as an arrow sprouted from her neck. Melinda calmed down, she was used to healing injuries, and when it was herself, it was no different.


    Before she started to heal herself, she messaged her team that they needed to cover her, and she started to pull back with them. It wasn''t worth dying for a closing breach in the fortifications.


    With a quick jerk, Melinda broke the fletching off and pulled the arrow through, immediately casting [Directed Heal]. She quickly stitched up the small hole going through her flesh. They were about to push forward again when a retreat order came through their AI. When she looked behind them, there was a distinctck of people in the reserve. Where the multiple two hundred man formations went was a question she didn''t dwell on. She was just once again grateful that they didn''t have to see the corpses of the fallen.


    The turtle, woman, and chubby man were running next to them. Running back through the attacks from the archers and siege engine was far more nerve wracking on the way out. It didn''t help that the muddy ground was again churned up by their boots on the initial charge, and once more by the many boots that had walked the path since.


    Still not believing their luck, Melinda had to pat herself down and check for wounds. She couldnt fathom that they had made it out with mostly scratches. They had been sitting down for only a moment when screams started to ring out.


    As she tried to stand, Melinda nearly copsed as her legs refused to hold her weight. But a steadying hand from the woman whose name she still didn''t know gave her enough support to pull herself up. They looked to their rear, and in between their position at the west gate and the south gate, thousands of Kingdom fighters and Pathers were rushing into the camp, killing or destroying what they could.


    They could already see that the attackers were turning and running before the Queendom had time to mass a proper defense.


    Melinda plopped back down, nonplussed by the mud that seeped through her clothes. She was just too tired to care.


    She had nearly nodded off when the turtle, in a voice like grinding granite, said, Xander thanks you for the heal back there. That bolt was mighty ufortable.


    The woman leaning on Xanders shell wiggled her fingers in the air. Lena.


    Teddy. the short spear wielder nodded from where he had fallen a step away from them.


    Sam looked slightly green, so Melinda scooted over until she was able to wrap an arm around the woman. Kyle and Mathew were both on their backs, puffing heaving breaths up in the air.


    Everyone was exhausted. And they fell into a stupor quickly.


    ***


    The next days were a blur to Melinda. They repeatedly charged into the breach, and she was repeatedly surprised when they made it back out. She wished it was from them growing stronger, but she knew that it was mostly luck. Even then, Sam and Kyle were forced to stay outside, as they were both on the edge of the healing cooldown. Any more damage would count as a death. Mathew was close to the line as well, but he wasnt in quite as much danger. They decided that it was better to have the two of them stay out of the further fighting, instead of risking their points.


    When a mana cannon aimed at someone, they died. That was all there was to it. But if they so much as took an arrow, they would be out.


    During their fourth big attack, they actually managed to create a permanent beachhead past the walls, and Queendom soldiers streamed through in an unending tide. Everyone there celebrated taking the city, but Melinda couldn''t help but stare out into thendscape of rubble.


    She was sure that there wasnt a single stone remaining in its original position from before the siege. It was like standing in a worse version of the city she grew up in. The rest of her team were just happy that they were alive, and joined in the cheering as they watched scores of Queendom regrs stream by. However, it was a sobering realization that they were capable of doing such damage on their own.


    Once the Kingdom defenders were pushed back into a corner of the city, Melinda had some downtime to walk around and heal a few people. The Queendom wasn''t able to force her away from her team healing role, but she was being provided the mana, and hated to see people in pain.


    While recharging her mana, she joined a fascinating conversation with a worn-out healer about someone she was pretty sure she knew.


    I''m just d to be off the east gate. It was a fucking ughter over there, a wet, icy hellhole. No matter how much we pushed, we were always a step behind the other sections of the wall. The young man was so tired, his hand was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane as he brought up a canteen to his lips.


    A second healer, an absurdly pretty woman with silver eyes, said, That''s bullshit. We all had a tough time. Your side was justzy.


    Fuck you, Jen. We worked twice as hard, took more casualties, and got maybe half the fucking results, and thats probably being generous. It''s all their generals fault. We started called him Ateleos. You couldn''t batter him down. You couldnt get past him. The crazy bastard stood in the way of everything we attacked him with. <em>Everything</em>. Nothing ever phased him.


    Starting rumors to excuse your ipetence? If your section sucked, just own it. No need to make shit up. And I doubt that he''s anywhere near Ateleos levels of power. Ateleos fought for decades, not a week.


    Melinda interjected, This general Ateleos? Was he covered in ghostly blue armor? Wields a longsword? Tall and imposing?


    The healer man sat up, Yeah! You saw him too, didnt you? He nced down at her armor and answered his own question. No wait, you couldn''t have been posted there. Youre on The Path, and they kept your teams apart from us. But yeah, he stands there, just like Ateleos was said to. Someone jokingly called him that on the first day, and since he never went down, the name spread.


    Melinda hoped Matt hadn''t exposed too much of his secret, so she tried to tread carefully. We were at the same yPen.


    Now even Jen looked interested, but the man asked first, How is he such a monster? Do you know? He''s fucking unkible. I have quite a few friends who died facing him, even more that died running from him. Which, by the way, was the smart thing to do. They said nothing that anyone did could hurt him. Even Earl Benedicts sons, the Twin Swords, couldnt break through his armor, and their <em>entire</em> gimmick is destroying armor.


    It sounded like they didnt know much, but the man hadn''t mentioned the other defenderssting so much longer than expected. She knew that Matt had revealed his Concept to his team, but she was hoping that was all he had revealed.


    Hes always been strong. Whooped my entire team of five even as a solo fighter with a cultivation handicap. Im not exaggerating, it wasnt even close, and he wasnt even trying. And were not pushovers either.


    I''d believe it. He never stopped or took a break. We kept waiting for him to. Every attack, he was there to meet us, and he just never went down. A wall for us to break on. Theres no holding him down. So we thought wed just overwhelm him. Durability doesnt matter if you cant move, right? Well it turns out, he can punch through anything short of Tier 8 armor. And when I say punch, I mean with just his hands, not that longsword he wields.


    Jen rolled those pretty eyes. It cant be that bad. There is only so much any single person could do.


    Melindas lips quirked at that. If Matt was only relying on his Concept, then he was actually sandbagging, and was probably doing more than she could imagine. She doubted that the Queendom would have ever broken the citys shields if Matt had been using his Talent to power them.


    Shut up! You don''t know half of it. It wasn''t just him. There was The Blood Beast, that reformed from the blood of our fighters every time someone destroyed it. If you bled, you were just feeding the Beast. How can you fight without bleeding Jen? The Winter Rose, who created an ice garden from the corpses of our fallen. The Tribtion, who struck us down with lighting as if cast from Leon himself. And The Swarm, who controlled insects and sent them upon us like a gue, eating us from the inside out. You werent there, so shut up.


    OK, jeez. Calm down, I get it. You had it rough. They were probably just Pathers. They arent harbingers of the apocalypse. Jen put her hands up trying to appease the hysterical healer.


    Based on what shed heard so far, it wasnt just Matt getting attention. It didn''t seem like Matts secret was out, so she let the conversation continue, but it was interesting to hear the misconceptions about his team and the other Pathers around him. She doubted that her team would ever get cool titles from the Kingdom fighters.


    Later that morning, a long series of explosions rocked their gatehouse, and they heard a report about a man with ghostly armor riding a mana cannon amongst the retreating group of defenders.


    Melinda met the eyes of her team, and they shook their heads. They weren''t dumb enough to try and attack the man using a mana cannon with unlimited ammo.


    They were happy to sit this one out and join the ongoing fight they could hear outside their gate.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91


    Prince Albert watched as his surviving defenders streamed out of the north gate once he retreated from his decoy attack on the west gate. He was d for his helmet, as it hid his smile. The smile felt impossible to remove, but with effort, he kept it off his face to issue a fewmands.


    After a week and a half of brutal bloodshed and determination, the Queendom had finally taken the city. Despite the loss, things went far better than he could have ever hoped for, with the escape of his top earners too.


    Things were looking up.


    His grin slipped out as he watched the soldiers filing into the rubble that was the razed city. His enemies had fought, bled, and died for the city. After such a costly victory and rebuild, they would naturally treasure it, and hold the city close.


    Exactly where he wanted them.


    Albert smiled and turned to leave the anti-flying formation with his men.


    This had been a great sess.


    ***


    Princess Sara stood outside a daunting metal frame. It was the door shed been staring at for thest ten minutes. This meeting would not be pleasant.


    Finally, she lifted a heavy hand and tapped on the door twice. The gesture didn''t even echo. The door behind her slid shut, and the one in front of her opened as the sealpleted.


    Her mother sat at a in wooden table, watching a projected map of the spin at its center.


    Diana smiled at her daughter and lightly patted the seat beside her.


    Come sit, honey.


    With considerable effort, Sara resisted the instinct to slouch down and slink towards the couch. That would only make this worse.


    Her mother popped a brush out of her storage ring, and as she was reaching to brush her daughters hair, she paused. Dearest, when was thest time you showered?


    The affectation gnawed at Sara. Her mother''s Tier was so high, shed known the answer was days the second the door was unsealed. When it was just family, the Queen always pretended that she was no stronger than anyone else.. As a child, that was wonderful. As an adult, it grated. Preferably, her mother would have just called her out instead of babying her like this.


    Mother, its been incredibly busy thest week. I...


    The Queen tutted at her. Ah, ah ah. Youngdy, what do I always say about appearances?


    Sara let out a heavy sigh. Ones appearance is a weapon like any other. And only a fool allows their weapon to rust.


    Go enjoy a hot shower. Then we''ll discuss yourtest n.


    Diana sent her off with a gentle smile that made this whole debacle a million times worse. Resigned to her fate, she headed towards the side door.


    Normally, raiding her mother''s bathroom was a great time. Compared to most people at her Tier, Queen Diana cared little for the trappings of wealth or power. Even this temporary apartment housing her during the warcked even a single piece of decoration. There was one major exception though. The in walls outside were in starkparison to the opulent white marble lining the bathroom, and the luxurious thick high Tier rugs felt like standing on clouds, almost literally.


    Her mother always splurged on one same thing. Sara wasn''t surprised to see the bathroom decked out to a degree that more than made up for her mothers frugality elsewhere.


    Stripping her clothes and armor, the items vanished before they even hit the ground. Sara still wasn''t sure how that worked. Maybe it was her mother or some automated system in the bathroom. All she knew was that by the time she was done with her debrief, everything would be immactely cleaned and returned.


    Sara stepped into the gentle rain pitter-pattering down in the spacious shower. Turning on the jets, she gradually increased the pressure until the hurricane pounding down on her started to hurt a little. For five minutes, she stood there brooding until she was able to tear herself away to actually clean herself.


    It felt... good. Better than shed admit. The shame of her disaster of a n wasn''t gone, but it felt marginally less important. It was over, and she needed to ept the oue of the siege and move on to the next n. After choosing from among the dozens of soaps and shampoo pairs and finishing her shower, she exited the room in the fluffy bathrobe that was hanging next to her mother''s.


    Right before leaving, shed poked her mother''s high Tier garment, but her finger indented instead of the light blue fabric. Phooey, that meant it really was her true robe, and not a prize for Sara to steal.


    The Queen sat waiting for her daughter to finish. As soon as Sara appeared, she patted the chair in front of herbs and brushes. They were at the ready, hovering around the spot where her mother wanted her to sit.


    Sara sat and let the Queen mother her for a good five minutes. She rxed into the soothing feeling of the brush gently working its way through her hair.


    Sensing she was ready, her mother asked, So what went wrong? What went right? Start from the top.


    Theck of condemnation rankled. She felt as if she deserved it, and its absence only made her guilt even worse.


    We took the city, but lost over one thousand important small forts that guarded strategic resources. Seven hundred medium forts and thirtyrge forts. Sara ground her teeth until her jaw hurt, but finished her summary. The city was leveled, and will take at least four million points to start the rebuilding process. And their final defenders escaped with their points. It was a disaster, mom!


    She hated how petnt she sounded at the end. Her mother''s gentle brushing of her hair and theforting pat on her arm were like nails scraping down a chalkboard to her guilty conscience.


    Where did it go wrong?


    Sara wanted to me Albert and his overlypetent second inmand, but that was petty and unhelpful. <em>She</em> should have anticipated everything better. That was her job.


    I was overly ambitious with the idea of moving so much earlier than in a normal war. I thought if we could take that city fast, we could spread out and hit multiple ces at once. Possibly even surround a second city and siege that down as well, over a longer period of time. If Im being honest, I was far too greedy.


    That wasn''t actually true, and she corrected herself. No I was overconfident. On paper the n was sound, but didn''t ount for the Pathers, and things like the modification of equipment. She chewed on her lip and continued on. I only thought in terms of standard specifications, which doesnt ount for the chaos of a real battle. That''s what led to the formation pirs getting destroyed, and the Kingdom of Seven Shits being able to fill the city to the fucking brim with troops.


    What else can you say? Both the good and bad. <em>Be objective</em>. Thest was the gentlest of reprimands, but it stung.


    Sara thought over her decision leading up to this point and sighed. I shouldnt have gotten hung up on taking the city with minimal danger after the initial n failed. Our losses were heavy, and we... no, I... Sara took a deep breath. I should have ordered them to fully bombard the city and just epted the point cost to fix it. Because of my inflexibility, now I not only have to pay the rebuilding cost, but also have two million soldiers cooling their heels in recovery.


    Good. Now dearest, what are your next ns going forward?


    We hunker down and wait for the numbers to even back out. We just need to survive this next week. Once all of our troops are back in the field, Ill take back our forts. With a few exceptions, I doubt Albert ns to hold on to them. Almost all of them are too far outside of his zones of control for a permanent transfer to be feasible. It was a way to punish our concentration of forces, nothing else. But it worked. They took a huge portion of our highest-earning locations. She paused and said, And we probably wont get them back in a functional condition. Shit, I need to be ready for that.


    Queen Diana poked her in the rib, causing Sara to jump and re at her mother, who ignored it. Don''t get distracted, honey. Anything else?


    Sara thought about keeping her thoughts to herself but finally said, The Pathers. Their performance was well beyond my expectations. They were pivotal on both sides. They made the city much harder to breach, and were also the ones responsible for finally breaking through the Kingdoms defenses. Though, our dropships yed arge part in that as well.


    Her mother just hummed at her to continue, so she did. Their leaders were monsters, one of them in particr. And the other Pathers were a much tougher nut to crack than expected. I have goodbat analytics on most of them, which honestly might be worth the cost of all the dead soldiers.


    She flicked a finger at the projector, and a coge of the two dozen most influential Pathers appeared on the screen for her mother to view with her. This entire apartment was locked down to prevent her mother from interfering in the war, and information was strictly controlled. The only exception was what she brought in during these reports. Her intelligence teams had scoured all over to find out what they could about the most notable Pathers. All that information was listed under each picture.


    Sara had already reviewed the information, but not much stuck out. So when her mother visibly stiffened, she spun to question her.


    What!?


    Her mother smirked at her and said, That exins a lot.


    Sara started poking her mother back, but the woman didnt even notice it. The woman wouldnt have noticed if Sara had fired a mana cannon in her face.


    I was wondering why they pped me so hard. This exins it.


    pped? What?


    Diana reached up and parted her robe to expose her upper chest. Sara gasped when she saw her mothers beating heart through a perfect, handprint shaped hole. The flesh around the hole was imbued with purple tinged, void-aspected mana that gave the wound an ominous feeling.


    A hand around her mother''s heart was not a subtle threat.


    What the flying fuck is that!? Who did that to you? Mom!


    Her mother closed the robe she wore and tried to soothe her daughter, but Sara was far too shocked and angry at seeing her powerhouse of a mother so injured.


    What did I say aboutnguage!? And honestly honey, it''s fine. I tried to peek out of here when the war settled into a rut. I''m a higher Tier than the general, so I figured the risk was minimal. Well I was wrong, and someone instantly put me in my ce. She pointed at the gaping hole where the wound was. This is my spanking, so to speak.


    Who could have possibly hurt you, mom? Sara knew her mother was strong. The Queen was one of the strongest fighters of her Tier, and was known to punch up a full Tier. Not once had she ever seen her mother with an injury that lingered. This was disconcerting.


    Well Id assumed the Emperor sent a few hidden watchers, but your report makes the real reason obvious.


    Sara turned to see a redheads picture expand until it filled the screen. She analyzed the picture like she hadn''t done so half a dozen times before.


    Elizabeth Moore. The woman headed the Pathers Union, as they called themselves, and was a blood maniptor. She had way more than her fair share of kills during the siege. She was certainly attractive enough, if you liked sharp features and yellow eyes, but that was about it.


    Her record seemed remarkably ordinary.


    Thats Elizabeth Moore. Youngest daughter to Leon and Mara.


    <em>Wait, what?</em>


    Sara stilled and reviewed to make sure she hadnt misheard her mother. But upon reying the words in her head a second, and then a third time, she realized she had indeed heard correctly.


    What!? How? I thought they hated each other. How do you know? I found nothing like that from our reconnaissance. She didn''t doubt her mother, but she couldn''t believe it. How had her intelligence teams failed to find something like <em>that</em> out?


    I was there when they introduced her as a baby to the court. Our Queendom is one of the ones that report to Leon, after all. It was a massive affair. The celebrationsted a full month. Good times.


    The screen changed to show an older, feather-headed, clone of Elizabeth holding a little baby with a wide beaming smile, and showing the infant off to a crowd.


    I gave thought to getting you betrothed to her, but I changed my mind after Mara threatened to cook and eat alive anyone who made such an offer. Apparently, theyve had problems before with people hounding their children, and I fully believe she would have made good on that threat, so I kept quiet.


    Diana shrugged, unconcerned. It definitely exins a lot. I wondered who could injure me like this so easily, and Elizabeths presence exins it. You know we wondered why we were given leave to start this war. It was a long shot; we didnt actually expect the Emperor to approve, but it cost us nothing to try. When he did approve, I figured that the Kingdom had angered the Emperor somehow. Then it was announced to be a Path War, and I had to assume that was his reason to allow us to attack. But couldnt discern the true reason why for the life of me. But now... Now I think this entire war actually was allowed as an excuse for the Pather training. All so <em>she</em> could get some real experience.


    For a Path War of this size, Sara couldn''t imagine the expense. When this had first been announced, shed asked her mother about the costs, and was informed that the entire Queendom couldn''t have afforded the expense of transporting everyone across the Empire like this. They couldnt have even gotten everyone here, let alone paid the cost of the rewards. She corrected herself, the greater than average rewards. The at Tier items werent that much of a surprise, but the item from Madam Renaissance was a shock to everyone, including her mother. That was above and beyond any normal rewards. And then, add on the expenses from having an entire army battalion watch over it. But apparently, the Emperor was doing it for the daughter of two Royals. That was mind-boggling.


    But why would they attack you, mom?


    If this was set up to give her experience, they really don''t want interference from higher Tiers. If I meddled in the wrong way, it could have ruined their entire reason for the war. Knowing what I do now, I''m d I wasn''t just killed out of hand.


    But shes on The Path. How can they have the help of someone strong enough to hurt you?


    Her motherughed. Oh honey. Mara and Leon are Tier 48. If they want a few million Tier 35s to do something, they would flock to their cause. Even their table scraps are worth more than our Queendom. Sending a Tier 40 to protect their daughter is the matter of murmuring a suggestion, or expressing an offhand concern. Thats all it would take for Elizabeth to have enough protection to fight off another Great Power. I was potentially going to spoil the point of this exercise with a little good-natured cheating, and they werent going to tolerate that. So technically, they didn''t help her. They just enforced the already established rules.


    She exposed her wound again and poked it. Originally, I was under the impression that only a Tier 37ish was sent to watch over the event, and they used all of their power to pull it off. But with the control and damage done, Im pretty certain it was a Tier 40 or higher.


    Sara''s mother grinned at her green daughter. Look at this. This is how you properly warn someone. Attack without being seen and without exnation. You proim to the target that their life is in your hand. The wound is so slow to heal, it will take a few years topletely recover from it. This lingering void mana is just a hair less damaging than what my regeneration can deal with. A perfect message.


    But what do we do, mom? Should we avoid her, or surrender? Seeing the incredulous look on her mother''s face, she continued. I get that the watcher doesn''t want you to interfere, but what if Elizabeth throws a hissy fit at us and decides to run to her parents? We can''t survive that kind of disfavor. Even if they didn''t move themselves, people trying to get in their good graces would crush us. It might be better to just lose and back out of this.


    Diana smiled and caressed her daughters face. You always think ahead. That''s why you are my heir. But while your concerns are valid, I doubt it wille to that. I''ll have to ask a few of my contacts, butst I heard, the youngest daughter was trying not to lean on her parents. She wants to make her own way. She <em>did </em>run off to The Path, after all.


    Sara scoffed at that. The woman had lucky encounters where people in the shadows ced items for her to find. The same tactic was used by her own nobles. It gave the heirs of their houses a false sense of pride and aplishment to earn rare rewards after delving dangerous rifts. It wasn''t as if a Tier 5 could sense a Tier 20 staging a y around them from the shadows.


    She abhorred that kind of willfully ignorant noble. They were the worst kind of privileged, and she strove for a higher standard. Her glory would be her own, not earned from riding on the coattails of her mother. Elizabeth had impressed her before this, but that was now tainted by the knowledge that everything was handed to her.


    Don''t look so suspicious. Even the Emperor wouldnt dare to cheat in The Path, hes too invested in it. Start a war that benefits everyone which just happens to include her right now? Yes. Let her break the outright ts of The Path? Not a chance in the multiverse. He cares far too much for the sanctity of The Path to let anyone, even his Royals, interfere. Since Leon and Mara came up on the Path as well, theyre unlikely to undermine the rules either. If anything, they probably see this as Elizabeth following in their footsteps. Given their personalities


    The Queens cheek twitched ever so slightly. Actually, let''s not go into that. As for how to handle young Elizabeth, act as if shes anyone else. Dont single her out for special treatment, good or bad. Worstes to worst, we rid ourselves of me and suspicion by having acted no differently. It would look awful if her parents were to be mad at us for simply ying our part in this act. At their level, they can''t open themselves to criticism from their political opponents so easily. Act no different, and do not share this information with anyone under yourmand, so they won''t either. The only reason Im even telling you is so that you can make subtle moves to improve her impression of you, and by extension our realm, when the opportunities arise. She will be an excellent connection to have. No one stays on the Path forever, and you should sow the seeds for a better rtionship a few centuries from now.


    Her mother pointed off to the side. But, I warn you... do <em>not</em> make it seem like you know who she is. Better to give no impression at all than one of sucking up. A Royal darling like her doesnt run away to The Path because they <em>like</em> sycophants.


    Her motherzily ran a finger down her chest over the wound that was now hidden to Sara, and patted the seat in front of her as the brushes hovered back into easy reach.


    Moving back to the battle for the city, what do you intend to do now?


    Shifting mental gears took Sara a moment, but she dutifully allowed her mother to start iting her hair as she organized her response.


    I have no intention of letting what I did to Albert happen to me. Starting immediately, Ill have the cities act as hubs for the troops instead of the neutral city. It will increase the overall teleportation costs to move them, but it will also prevent a single city from being overwhelmed in a surprise attack. Next, Ill move to take back our forts and prevent the Kingdom from tanking our point generation any further. Then, I''ll prioritize rebuilding the conquered city, so it isn''t a point sink. Simultaneously, I build up our troops and prepare for arger defense. I''m sure Albert will be on the offensive soon.


    All good starts. What did you personally learn?


    Sara thought over what she had learned from this debacle. If one of her tutors was asking, she would just say what they wanted to hear. But her mother wouldn''t judge her, even if she said everything she had done was perfect. Shed lose some respect for her daughter and express her dreaded disappointment, most certainly, but she wouldnt seriously reprimand her. Sara never had a problem admitting her faults, whether to herself or others. Mistakes were only a bad thing if you repeated them.


    I need to be more flexible with mymands and ns. That includes having more contingencies and giving my generals more freedom. When they insisted taking the city without damage was a lost cause, I should have listened.


    Sara felt a kiss on her head and her mother pulled her into a hug. Excellent, dearest. You know where you want to take things next, now you just have to work for it. I have dinnering in an hour, and a new episode of Samantha Siblings came out, so let''s watch that.


    ***


    Matt was having an awful time, even as they were met by relief teams lying in wait at the edge of the anti-flying zone. All of the remaining defenders were picked up and carried off, while a screening force blocked the still floundering Queendom forces from pursuing.


    On top of missing an arm, again, he generally felt like shit. After seeing his teams health readings, sitting still just made him feel even worse. After struggling his way free of the confused woman evacuating him on her flying cloud, Matt pulled out his own flying sword and bulleted off to check on Liz.


    She was currently in the makeshift flying infirmary that the evac team had brought along. In reality, it was just a t tform with an angled wall to block the wind, being carried by six people on flying devices.


    A man tried to stop Matt from stepping onto the tform, but Matt ignored him. When the man started getting confrontational, he waved his stumpy arm as an excuse, which seemed to settle things down. Before hopping off of his flying sword, he ordered it to fly next to them, and went to find Liz. She was being tended to with a miserable looking, soot-ckened Aster in herp.


    Multiple healers were working on her, but Liz looked awful. Whatever they were doing, it didnt seem like it was doing much. The left side of her face was seared to the bone, and the remaining flesh resembled melted stic more than skin. It was gruesome, and a hate erupted in Matt''s chest. He wanted to go back and massacre whoever had hurt Liz so badly. With effort, he forced those feelings down. He had done just as bad, if not worse, to others.


    For her part, Liz just grinned at him with the intact half of her face. Seems we both got fucked up right at the finish line.


    Are you okay?


    That felt like a supremely dumb question, but Liz shrugged lightly. An exploding fire arrow went through my blood pool and hit me. I still blocked most of it, otherwise I wouldnt be here. Damn good shot though. Luckily, it doesnt hurt that bad. Most of the nerve endings aren''t there anymore.


    She reached up and prodded his still armored form, and hovered her hand over his stump. I''d imagine that hurts worse than this.


    Herment seemed to have caught the attention of a healer nearby. Matt waved them off when they stepped forward to help him. The armor keeps me from bleeding out and I can maintain it long enough. Help someone else who needs it now.


    Aster peaked an eye open, yawned silently, and then sniffed his arm. She said, Smells like empty. She then sneezed a small cloud of ash, startling herself and all the healers around them.


    Matt scratched his bond andforted her. It''s okay. It will all be ok. He wasn''t sure who he was really reassuring.


    The three of them sat together until the flying convoy reached one of therge forts that the Kingdom controlled. The Prince had bought a teleporter upgrade for it, and used it as the staging ground for the assaults around the fallen city.


    Matt was just d to be done flying on the jury-rigged infirmary. Now they could head to the neutral city and be transferred into the care of professional healers.


    The worst injured were the first teleported out. Emily was wheeled into the first teleport, right alongside Liz. She was missing two limbs, and in dreadful condition.


    Juni stood next to the teleporter and talked to everyone in line. He was mostly thanking them for their efforts and cracking small jokes about how rich they all were now. Smiles followed him, even though the ones he talked to were being carried with crippling injuries.


    Matt hadn''t bothered to check his points yet, and finally pulled up the screen for war contributions from the army AI.


    <strong>Prior Total st updated 11 days ago): 21,587 points</strong>


    <strong>TEAM MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant)</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 15,574 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 12,692 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 914 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Repelled major assault on ally city. Worth 1,500 points. Performed 23 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Destroyed major enemy siege asset. Worth 500 points. Performed 13 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Constructed minor emergency fortification, crude quality. Worth 1 point. Performed 53 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. Assigned worth: 27,874 points.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>PERSONAL MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant)</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 4,745 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 1,907 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 182 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Repelled major assault on ally city. Worth 3,000 points. Performed 17 times. Leader bonus (lieutenant general, acting): 2x multiplier.</strong></li><li><strong>Constructed minor emergency fortification, crude quality. Worth 1 point. Performed 19 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Destroyed major enemy siege asset. Worth 500 points each. Performed 9 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Delivered rallying speech to raise troop morale. Worth 2 points. Performed 1 time (limit 1 per day). Audience size bonus (2 divisions): 1.5x multiplier. Quality penalty (substandard): 0.5x multiplier. Effectiveness penalty (substandard): 0.5x multiplier. Reward of 0.75 points rounded to 1 point.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>UNACHIEVED MERITS: For reference purposes only.</strong><ul><li><strong>Defend an ally city against a siege sessfully. Team contribution (estimated): 50,000 points.</strong></li><li><strong>Defend an ally city against a siege sessfully. Individual contribution (estimated): 25,000 points.</strong></li><li><strong>y a major role in defeating a far superior enemy force (509K vs 2,949K). Awards 5.8x multiplier to all merits. Defensive advantage penalty: 0.5x multiplier. Final reward: 2.9x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>New Gains: 243,161 points</strong>


    <strong>New Total: 284,748 points</strong>


    <strong>Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 1st ce.</strong>


    <strong>Estimated Daily Stipend: 5,000 points.</strong>


    Matt whistled. That was a whole bunch of points, no matter how you cut it. The war was a little more than a month in, and hed earned nearing a quarter million contribution points. Suddenly, the 1.5 million cost for the [Cracked Breach] skill felt within his grasp. His team had put in the work, and were now being rewarded heartily. The double-dipping and the steady, albeit small, percent of the Kingdom''s total points would earn them quite a bit. But they earned more with grand feats of fighting.


    That didn''t even ount for their first ce in the Pather ranking. If they kept their position, they would earn around 150,000 total points each month just from the daily stipend. That was over half of what theyd earned for unsessfully defending the city.


    When he scrolled to the merit for deliver a rallying speech, he was slightly mortified. Immediately, he decided to never mention that exact merit to anyone and moved onto the section for unachieved merits. The first two missed opportunities listed were straightforward enough, but he was slightly confused on the multiplier mentioned. As he focused on that item, a more detailed description was offered.


    <strong>For fighting a significant battle (participants on each side exceed 1,000) as part of a far disadvantaged force, a multiplier is applied to merits earned during the battle. For fighting on the defending side from a heavily fortified position, this is multiplied by a defender penalty of 0.5x. Participants: 2,949,377 attackers versus 508,892 defenders. Final multiplier of 2.9x points applied (after defender penalty)</strong>. <strong>Multiplier was not applied to point total as battle did not result in a victory against the enemy forces</strong>.


    <em>Now that would have been amazing</em>.


    If they had managed to hold out defending the city, Matt would be nearly half way to earning the perfect skill for him. His musing of single-handedly sting down city walls was cut short by their turn at the teleporter.


    Juni pped his hands together and nodded deeply at Matt. Thank you all for your help. Without your team, I don''t think we could have done nearly as well. Ive already talked to The Prince, and he intends topensate you for the mana you supplied. If you were willing to help generate mana in the future...


    Juni trailed off, and Matt shrugged but nodded. My Concept is beyond dry right now, but I''m happy to help for an hour or so a day to get some practice with my Concept. If the price is right.


    The Prince''s right hand man just nodded, and offered him a genuine smile before patting Matt on the shoulder and moving down the line.


    On the other side, they were quickly met with healers who rushed them towards individual rooms on wheeled beds. A woman with snake eyes smiled from under her mask and asked, Is the armor keeping the blood restricted, and do you have the arm?


    Yes and no. It was a void attack. The arm is gone.


    She patted his still armored shoulder. Well, don''t deactivate the armor just yet. Once we get you in the room, I''ll let you know when were ready. Have you taken painkillers or had a pain reduction spell cast on you?


    When Matt said no, the healer put a glowing finger onto his shoulder, it sank right through [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It was an incredibly weird feeling. He instinctively knew that he could have resisted the spell, but it felt like healing, and the woman was strong. If he resisted, she could have shattered his armor.


    But as the energy settled in, Matt yawned.


    He was so, so tired.


    As he heard the healer tell him he could deactivate his skill, he crossed his legs and passed out.


    ***


    Matt woke up feeling good. Really good.


    He checked his AI, and saw that only an hour had passed, but the healer was done with her work. A new left arm was back where it should be. Looking around, he found himself in arge room, with dozens of others in hospital beds identical to his own. He debated rolling over and falling back asleep, but then thought to check up on his team. After reading a message from the hospital AI, he rolled off the bed and onto his feet.


    Per the hospital AI, You are on a two-week healing cooldown for the arm. Do not stress it with more than light activities for at least two days. Regr exercise can be resumed after one week. If you need to see staff for trauma, they are avable now, orter at your convenience. Otherwise, you are free to leave when ready.


    His AI notified him that Conor, Annie, Emily, and Aster were together and not far away from him, so he moved over in that direction.


    He found them loudly and aggressively whispering in the recovery room next door as soon as he opened the door.


    Annie wanted to keep her twin sister in the bed, but Emily was struggling to get up. It was almostical to watch. Annie tried to gently keep Emily down without jostling her sisters newly regrown limbs, while Emily tried to squirm out of her hold like a fussy toddler.


    Seeing Emilys own fresh, pale-pink limbs, Matt rubbed his own left arm and sighed as he found no hair. That would itch like hell when it started to grow back in.


    Aster leaped from Conors arms to nuzzle into his. Feel better? You smell better.


    Thanks, Aster. I do feel better. He dramatically swooped up his bond and smooched her on the forehead, getting a yful lick in return. He was impressed that she didn''t even ask for ice cream, and was worried for Liz.


    Matt! Tell Annie to let me up. Emily sounded frustrated.


    Taking in the situation, Matt instead ignored the woman''s plight, and joined Conor in watching the spectacle. A sibling argument was neither his business, nor something he was particrly interested in getting involved with.


    He turned to Conor and quietly asked, Howre you feeling?


    Therger man nodded. Just fine. I got off easy. The healers cast a spell and moved me right along. I saw that void ball attack. I was just too far away to help. Ballsy move, trying to catch a giant ball of death. One-handed, no less. Fucking impressive that you took that on, and shocking that they didn''t pull you out immediately.


    I got lucky. Nothing crazy.


    Conor rolled his eyes. Sure, man. Nothing crazy. Okay, those two are getting too loud, let''s get them out of here. People are still sleeping.


    With that, they herded the bickering sisters out of the room, to Annie''s animated displeasure. She maintained that her sister needed to remain in the hospital for at least a few days after losing two limbs to a ming sword. And while she did, Annie could get some assassination practice in, on a totally random and definitely not rted target.


    They reunited with Liz when she was wheeled out of intensive care an hourter. She wasn''t asleep during her healing like Matt had been, and once the healers left, she pulled herself out from under the sheets and sat on the side of the bed.


    She had the rest of her face back, but was bald where the skin had been regrown. The new skin was glossy smooth like his arm, but her other side was buzzed down to nothing too.


    She saw him peering and sighed. Ugh. I''m going to need a hair regrowth elixir. I look like a ten-year-old boy.


    Matt pulled her into a hug, only saying, It looks fine. This is just different. Buy the elixir if you want, but who cares.


    Their team moved out of the hospital at a tired pace, but in good spirits. Together, they ate a heavy dinner at a nice restaurant. It was amazing, though that could have been from eating something other than military rations for the first time in over a week.


    Aster, having eaten her fill of ice cream and a beef shank, imed to be suffering mental trauma and demanded a visit to the recovery ward. A worried nurse had apparently spoken to the young fox about mental trauma, and what they could do to help her. Aster hadnt cared much until one <em>particr </em>option was mentioned animal therapy. When Matt heard Aster''s im, he immediately outed her for only wanting to chew on indestructible bunnies. To which she retorted that the bunnies were her friends, and he just didnt get it.


    No one else had the energy to stay upte, so they retired to bed early, with Aster whisked off to enjoy chewing on her friends.


    The predawn light was seeping through the windows when Matt woke up to use the bathroom, only to find Liz already out of bed and hogging it. After they both finished up, they slid themselves back beneath the covers.


    Matt snuggled up to Liz, it felt so good to be able to hold her. After the hell theyd been through in the siege, feeling someone close to you, and knowing you were both safe was everything to them. He leaned in, giving her a modest peck on the lips. "Weve been on the verge of death for days, and thats the best you can do? Liz teased.


    He brushed his hand up to her cheek before he pulled her in tight. Not even close.


    The next kiss was the most passionate he could ever remember. They both felt worn down by all the days of battle, so to feel something like this they needed it. As their passion built up, they didnt stop each other. Not this time.


    Matt reached for her shirt, trying to pull it over her head, and she smiled devilishly in response. Sir Matthew, you dare threaten a princesss virtue? she scoffed.


    His lips curled in response. I do.


    In Lizs amber-yellow eyes, a me lit. No longer caring for the silly restrictions theyd ced on themselves, she reached back for Matt. Her hands didnt even bother with his shirt, going straight for his pants.


    It was a while before they came back to themselves, both sweaty and smiling. It was the happiest Matt had felt in a long time, embracing the closeness that theyd skirted around in the past, but now fully dove into. I love you, Matt said.


    I love you too. Liz replied.


    Matt wasnt sure who moved first, but their lips started to meet. From there, hands slipped under shirts. Soon, the offending clothing was off and hitting the walls and floor, leaving them struggling in a tangle of limbs.


    They didnt leave their room until well after the sun rose.

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92


    When Matt and Liz finally got out of bed, they ambled over to the shower and lost themselves for another good while, enjoying each otherspany until their rumbling stomachs finally drove them into polite society.


    Things felt new and fresh as they walked to run errands and pick up Aster from her sleepover in the recovery ward. Even the most mundane things felt brighter and more vibrant. Despite Liz stopping to get a hair elixir, and furiously scratching as her hair grew out nearly a foot, the morning was turning out to be enjoyable. The salon trimmed her hair back to its former length in short order, while Matt ducked out to collect his bond.


    When he arrived at the hospital, a woman with slitted eyes, simr to the woman who had healed Matt thest time, was waiting for him. Their eye colors were substantially different, with this womans being purple instead of green, so he was pretty sure that this was someone else. She didn''t look particrly unhappy, just stern.


    Matt immediately became worried just thinking about how much his favorite fox loved to chew on her rabbits friends. He was right to be concerned, just for the wrong reasons.


    Are you Matthew Alexander? The woman''s tone wasn''t necessarily unfriendly, but there was a tinge of something he couldn''t ce. Maybe disappointment.


    Yes Is everything ok? Did Aster hurt one of the rabbits? I am so sorry if she did.


    The woman sighed a little and seemed to rx at that, confusing Matt further.


    She gestured backwards through the door and around a tree in the recovery area, where Aster was pouncing on a cluster of rabbits. The critters took an opportunity to scatter when one presented itself. Two even teasingly jumped on Aster before scampering off to reset the game.


    The rabbits are fine. Id be impressed if she even <em>could</em> hurt them. I have concerns about Aster though. Shes very young, and everything Ive seen suggests that she needs far more socialization with people her own age. Both mentally and physically. Shes starved for that kind ofpanionship, friends on her own level. Her life needs to be more than just fighting.


    Matt opened his mouth to protest, but caught himself as he watched her prance after the rabbits. She looked so thrilled to be there, so young. He felt a pang of guilt. Had he robbed her of a childhood like he had been?


    Oh fuck. I I...


    Matt ran his hands through his hair and his mind nked out. He had no idea what to do. Aster was always ready to fight and seemed to love it, but she was always with him and Liz. Always.


    The woman softened further. Take a deep breath. She''s fine... mostly. Bonds from rifts tend to be more resilient than natural-born beasts. However, it''s still critical to her long-term development for her to interact with people of her age. Its part of growing up. Honestly, I wish you hadnt given her the Fruit of Perfection. For all the benefits, shell be at a weird ce developmentallypared to other beasts. Still, I understand that it was too good of an opportunity for you to pass up.


    I was sure that it would be a good thing. That it would make her a full member of the team, you know? Not that she wasn''t before, but she wasn''t able to decide things for herself a lot of the time. If I left it up to her, she''d just eat ice cream all day. Did I hurt her?


    The woman patted his shoulder, and he thought to bring up her profile with his AI.


    <strong>Healer Kelsey, Tier 17. Empire-registered healer specializing in beast medicine and psychology.</strong>


    It made sense that she was bringing this to his attention.


    Kelsey said as she pulled him forward, Shes fine. I was worried that you saw her as nothing more than a tool to use in fighting. It''s rare, but Ive seen it before, and with how quickly she''s advanced... well I had concerns. Especially when I realized that she was faking mental trauma just for a chance to y with some other beasts without her bond around.


    Matt opened his mouth to speak, but the woman continued before he could form a word.


    Aster needs regr recreation time with people of simr mental and physical ages. Those two things normally work in lockstep, more or less. However, Asters mental and physical development are off-kilter due to the Fruit of Perfection. Thats going to make things trickier for her. Due to the fruits effect, shes mentally moreparable to other beasts in the Tier 10 to 11 range. Meanwhile, the beasts in her own Tier are the ones she best fit to y with physically, since higher Tiered beasts could identally hurt her too easily. It would need to be a higher Tier beast that specifically knows how to safely handle a youngster, like our rabbit volunteers. She can''t safely wrestle a normal Tier 10 beast, but that''s who shell best connect with emotionally and make friends with.


    Matt felt the pit in his stomach continue to drop. Aster was like the little sister he never had. Realizing that he was failing her felt awful.


    Healer Kelsey, what can I do? I didn''t know this was a thing at all.


    You just need to find other beasts, bonds or not, for her to interact with as you advance. Set up ydates and let her be the kid she is. Us beasts can grow up faster in some ways, but she still needs time with others who get her. Honestly, she''s better than I expected, given her history. But still...


    Kelsey looked at Matt with an unsaid, If you care, you''ll make sure she gets what she needs.


    Thinking about it, Aster was probably only doing so well because of Liz. That realization made Matt feel like a terrible person.


    Do I need to do anything else? Or better yet, is there some reading I can do about this? Maybe a raise a bond for dummies who got far too lucky at Tier 1?


    Kelsey looked at him and patted his arm again. Rx. I''m grateful that youre taking this seriously, but this isn''t a massive problem. Yet. Just get her a friend or two. Find the others with bonds around here, both on The Path or from the vassals. There are several groups that meet up for their bonds to socialize.


    Matt brought them up with his AI, noticing that one was meeting tomorrow and in the Tier 6 range. He signed them up immediately.


    Otherwise, Aster is a very healthy fox who was even willing to let a few people in need cuddle her up. They didn''t realize that she was in here for treatment as well. It speaks volumes of her character, and yours as well. The older healer sighed. Its not often, but some people only see us as tools to be used. She didn''t re at Matt, but it was a near thing as she said, Don''t be one of them.


    Matt normally wouldn''t exin himself to a stranger, but the woman seemed to be worrying for Aster''s best interest, so he answered in kind.


    Shes like the little sister I never had. I grew up without my own parents, so I get it. I don''t really think of myself as Aster''s parent but as an older brother who needs to help her until she can take care of herself. Like how the orphanage brought us up. It was the best they could do. But I don''t want her tock anything she needs. He sighed as his bond nosedived a pile of bunnies, who scattered like leaves in the wind.


    So, thank you for bringing this to my attention.


    Kelsey turned to him and proffered her hand. If you have more questions or concerns, message me. I''m happy to help.


    Matt nodded, but was again cut off as Aster finally noticed his presence through their connection. She barreled into his arms and started recounting all the adventures shed had with the bunnies.


    With the guilt still eating at his gut, Matt gave the Healer a quick wave and nodded along.


    ***


    Liz was tired of paperwork. She was tired of peopleining to her.


    Most of all, she was tired of Talous trying to hit on her. She needed to work with him, as he was the leader of the Queendoms Pathers, but the man would not take the increasingly blunt hints she kept dropping about dating Matt.


    Suchments were simply brushed off with some blithe response, and he would immediatelypliment either her work ethic or her battlefield persona.


    She was one morement away from snapping at him, but she tamped it down. After all, she was a representative of all the Pathers on her side. Ifmunication broke down between the Pathers on both sides, they would lose a lot of their leveraging power. Negotiations were currently in progress, and they couldn''t afford to be disunited.


    Talous had rushed at the opportunity to sit next to her, Over the course of the meeting, he had inched his chair closer and closer, until their arms brushed. She was one more scooch away from picking him up while still in his chair, and tossing him away with her blood.


    Albert sat on the other side of the table with a majority of the people in his retinue surrounding him. We don''t like how people are surrendering. Specifically, the Pathers. We put a stop to it within our own troops, but I want to enforce a two-week ban on anyone who just gives up.


    Liz repeated her prepared speech. That only encourages fights to the death. I agree that ransoming them for half their points isn''t the proper measure, but encouraging pointless death isn''t a habit that anyone should be getting into.


    Princess Sara nced over to Liz. She had caught a sh of something, but it was too faint and gone too quickly for her to identify. Irritation was the most likely answer. Neither leader was pleased about Liz pushing back on this so much. Talous was urging her to ept their demands, but Liz adamantly disagreed.


    While she hardly wanted to encourage surrendering at the first sign of danger, fighting to the death at every turn was just stupid. The stiptions that the vassal states had added to the rules made retreating without orders to do so count the same as a surrender. No exceptions. That was the main point she was fighting against.


    Capture wasn''t unheard of in real Tier 15 or higher wars. Ransoms and such weremon enough, and were easy ways to siphon wealth and resources from the enemy without bloodshed. Wars rarely devolved into outright ughters where surrender wasn''t epted. Trying to keep the fighting somewhat civilized was the reason for rules of war in the first ce. Even the Tier 40s refrained from killing everyone and being done with it.


    Never epting surrender was a step backward, in her opinion.


    But apparently, it was only her opinion.


    What do you propose then? We can''t have people simply waving the white g at every opportunity. The Queendoms leader sounded exasperated.


    Liz calmed herself and refocused. I think enforcing a two-week cooldown on top of half the points is just too much. I also will not ept any change to the retreating orders. That''s neither in line with real military operations, nor logical. If you don''t want people to constantly surrender, you don''t want them to recklessly throw their lives away either.


    Prince Albert looked less interested than Sara, but it was one of the Princesses'' aides who pushed Liz. What do you know about real war? None of us know how anything really works at that Tier. Yes, this is a game, but we must fight as if it were as real as possible, if we want to learn anything from it.


    Liz actually agreed with that logic at its core, and said so. If we want to get good experience out of this war, yes, we need to take things seriously. But in a real Tier 15 through Tier 30 war, people surrendered if they were hopelessly outnumbered, or if there was no way to win. They are then usually ransomed back to their side. Look at any real war in history. Gastor the Valiant was captured some three or four times in thest Sect war. Each time, he was returned after a ransom was paid. Thatst time, The Sects forced him to sign a contract saying he wouldn''t fight in that war anymore. But they still let him go, since he surrendered peacefully when there was no hope. He''s just a <em>single</em> high profile example.


    Liz really wanted to say her brother was in the army, and had been captured twice and ransomed back the same way. Being the son of Royals hadnt been the reason either, as his entire battalion had been captured and ransomed back. It happened back when he first joined the army, and was only a private. It was also before their parents had passed Tier 35. They would have had zero influence if he had been killed off then.


    Admittedly, it was true that wars yed a part in poption control, but no one wanted to create avoidable animosity and unending blood feuds. Even the Sects, who forbade their rank and file from surrendering, still readily epted surrender. It was easy profit, after all.


    Princes Albert shrugged, If people stop surrendering at the very sight of the top Pathers, I''d be happy. I care little for how that gets done, though. We just can''t have people taking the easy way out anymore, especially when they have a clear chance to win.


    Liz nodded at him. He was offering her a bit of help, which she had mostly expected. The Kingdom would be in dire straits if she asked the Pathers on their side to stop participating, even temporarily. But neither of them wanted to see that card yed.


    I propose that we simply add in an addendum stating that if people want toe back immediately, they need to pay half their points back. But they can pay a quarter of their points if they wait two weeks. They can choose how they get back in, and the idea of waiting is already pretty painful.


    Princess Sara shook her head. It''s not enough. There need to be firm repercussions for giving up.


    Liz leaned forward and said, I don''t think that''s urate or necessary. It sets a bad precedent.


    Talous shrugged as if it didnt concern him. Anyone who can''t fight and chooses to fight anyway but isn''t willing to die like a true fighter is a coward. They deserve to be punished. I personally think that we should make surrendering worse than dying. Anyone who doesnt like it can leave.


    Liz forced herself to not grind her teeth, but it was a practice of sheer will. Before the meeting, Talous had mentioned his thoughts, but had acquiesced to her suggestion.


    Sara leaned forward to jump on the opportunity. Im happy to increase the punishment even further. It won''t hurt you personally. We made sure to add a use that anyone with a certain amount of points is able to retreat. We wouldn''t want the top people to get angry at us. We just want the rank and file to fall in line.


    Liz looked to Juni, then Albert. Thats a short-sided idea that will only push people away. Remember why and for who this war is being held.


    That caught everyone off guard, and most people looked around.


    Talous leaned back in his chair until it groaned. Who cares what the weaklings think. If they had the power to change things, they wouldn''t be the ones affected. If they simply be strong enough, the detriments won''t apply to them. Its a perfect way to keep the vermin in line and make sure the fighting is good.


    For the first time, Alyssa threw her opinion out there. The Crafter Coalition is quite unhappy with both sides right now, and won''t take any change like this lightly. Granted, most of the stiptions don''t apply to them, but the restrictions on retreating are vague enough that they could be forced into staying during a siege. Thats why theyre fuming, by the way; they saw <em>twenty</em> crafters lose their lives because they couldn''t get out of the city in time. On top of another two hundred that lost all of their workstations and crafting tools. That''s a devastating loss to anyone not born to royal families, and not a single crafter on either side is looking forward to the next siege. If you wish to include a use, then there either needs to be clear exceptions for all support roles, or Ill have to oppose it.


    Liz was not pleased to be getting more support from the woman representing both sides'' crafters, but she had to take what she could get.


    Internally, she was surprised that Alyssa managed to keep her position. Apparently, the recements sent to take over the Queendoms crafters all refused to go through with it after talking to Alyssa. Rumor had it, she and Prince Albert had worked something out with the other side''s crafters, but even Liz couldnt find any proof.


    Liz shrugged as if she didn''t care. I refuse any agreement like this, hands down. Talous, I doubt that you''d have enough support to enforce a change like that. Some of the top people would agree with you without question, but most won''t, because theyll be the ones screwed over. Without overwhelming support from the top, it won''t pass without repercussions.


    Albert tapped a crystalline finger on the desk. Then we need toe to an agreement. I dont mind the proposed change. He nodded to Liz.


    Now they were once again at a stalemate. There were two on each side, with Alyssa dancing in the middle, but leaning towards Liz. It had shifted from the Pathers Union working together to the opposing sides in the war teaming up against each other again. This wasn''t the greatest precedent to set, but the situation couldnt be changed.


    The argument spun full circle.


    Liz could say, without a shadow of a doubt, that she hated politics.


    ***


    Matt and Liz lounged together, watching Aster y with the other beasts and bonds around her Tier. At the healers advice, Matt had immediately sought out a local y group. His bond was currently trying to extinguish a ming lizard in a good-natured way, and stopped on her own if things got too close. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.


    A bat with gossamer wings chased both of them, sending out little gusts of wind to harry the two from above. It was all incredibly adorable.


    At first, Matt had felt slightly peeved at how hard Kelsey hade on to him about Aster. He took good care of her. But seeing her y, he could see how much good it did her, even if it wasn''t as perilously necessary as shed made him feel. Rather than ponder it further, he just thanked the woman with a short video of Aster ying. He was able to admit when he had faults, though failing here had particrly hurt.


    Jeremy, the bat''s bond,ughed and said, Jasper always has a st, but he''s fixated on Aster''s tail. It''s quite funny to hear some of his thoughts.


    Matt smiled. Aster wants to put out the bad fire. She''s quite adamant about it, but she''s at least being careful.


    He nodded to Rita, the fire lizard''s bond, and she shook her head in response. Chelsea will be fine. She can reignite or extinguish herself at will. Shes enjoying the attention. A little ice will just slow her down a bit, nothing else. Honestly, I''m surprised Aster is so well-behaved. Both of our bonds are natural born, and weve found that some of the rift reward bonds can be a bit too aggressive in their y.


    Aster is a bit further along in the mental aspect than most, but she''s always been yful. She loves to fight, yes. But she knows the difference.


    Liz scooped up a snack and munched on it. She had just gotten back from the meeting in a poor mood. Though she went through the motions of making polite conversation, for the most part, she was noticeably quieter than usual.


    The trio of bonds ran over to another group and started to pester four other bonds ying with a ball. A little tussle broke out when the three of them stole the ball, then dared the others to take it back, creating a new game.


    Matt made a note to talk with Aster about bullying. ying was fine, but he didn''t want her to get in the habit of taking from others. Some harsh years in the orphanage had taught him that it was better to address it now, before it could be a real problem.


    Eventually, as the bonds wore themselves out, Matt and Liz walked home with a stumbling, panting Aster. She was worn down from her afternoon excursion.


    How did the meeting go?


    Liz sighed and flopped into him. Fine mostly. It took hours of debate, but we finally reached a resolution. The Pathers who surrender will have to pay half their points and stay out for two weeks, but I removed the nket retreat uses for everyone. Running away from a foe won''t get anyone punished, unless the AIs report it as a clearly winnable battle. It was the best I could do. Talous was less cooperative than Id hoped. I''m pretty sure he and Sara are cooking something up. Seeing them join up, Albert took my side, and it went back to being the Kingdom versus the Queendom. Though, his disinterest in the argument was clear, which hurt our position.


    It seems like that was better than nothing.


    Liz just kicked at the sidewalk. It is. I know its not a badpromise. But that shithead Talous keeps hitting on me, which is beyond frustrating. I''ve told him more than a few times that I''m not interested.


    Matt wavered over what to say. He trusted Liz, but wasn''t exactly sure where it was his ce to step in. She was more than strong enough to handle Talous, but it felt wrong to leave her to deal with it on her own.


    Can I help? With either issue?


    Liz patted his arm, No. It''s fine, just aggravating. The idiot was arguing that the top Pathers should get special treatment at the expense of the weaker Pathers. Hes a short-sighted fool. His flirting would be easy enough to handle if I was willing to walk away, but I don''t think anyone else on our side''s upper echelons would be as pragmatic as I am. It feels like Im the only one willing to make sure the weaker Pathers don''t get screwed over. It also pisses me off that Alyssa made out the best of everyone. All the crafters will get reimbursements if theyre trapped in a city like that again. But not for their materials at least, unless they earn it. If they don''t willingly stay and don''t help out, they only get paid out for their death, nothing else. We also put out a bounty on all top teams for both sides. If you manage to kill the top team, you get 10,000 points, as of now. That might change, but for now, our team members all have bounties on our heads when our healing cooldown times out.


    Matt didn''t see the problem there. Seems fair enough. If the crafters don''t help in the defense efforts, that''s not unreasonable. He thought about the second part with the bounties. I like the bounties. It can earn us a lot more points if were careful. Sure, it puts a target on our backs, but that was inevitable after the siege. If we die, we lose ess to our points, and that''s a win for the Queendom. Then, we wont be able to use them to power up during the war.


    It''s not. But it''s still bullshit that I was only able to get the agreement through with her help. Talous should have been on my side, but instead, he was deliberately fighting against me.


    Do you have a n to handle him? Matt assumed that she did. Liz wasn''t as mad as shed be if she was helpless against the man.


    Another bad thing. I had to make an open-ended deal with Alyssa to help her once in the future. But in return she''s going to sow discontent with the crafters and lower-level Pathers by spreading all the bad ideas that Talous was spewing today. Hell lose a lot of support with that, and Princess Sara will be forced to either rece him, or let a dangerous element grow inside of her forces. Either one is a win for us.


    Matt, wanting to lighten the mood, suggested, We could always punch him. It might not help, but it would probably make you feel better.


    Liz paused, thenughed so hard it woke Aster up. She questioned, Who? What? Then seeing no one, put on her best pleading face and asked, Get ice cream?


    Stillughing, Liz scratched Aster and said, Sure, let''s get some for after dinner. But that''s funny. I''ve been thinking about beating his ass all day. He''s strong, but hes a melee fighter focusing on attack. I''m pretty sure I could take him. She smiled up at Matt. We think alike.


    After that, they kept things simple and light, just enjoying their time together.


    ***


    Their two weeks of forced downtime were busy after being checked over by Melinda, who gave them all a clean bill of health, along with a little overhealth to secretly remove the healing cooldown.


    Not letting the time go to waste, their team trained as hard as they were allowed. They started with Concept-focused, minimal contact sparring. As they came off their healing cooldowns more, they ramped up to more practical sparring.


    To everyone''s surprise, Conor was the first to get his phrase, Reflection. It wasn''t the word that surprised anyone, just the fact he found it out of nowhere, during a break from being battered down by Matt and Aster''s Concepts. The phrase gave him a bit more reflected damage to his opponents, while still taking none of his own.


    That synergized lethally well with his new skill, [Parry], which let him deflect an attack''s physical force back at an opponent, if timed correctly. Making him even more deadly was his second purchase, [de Arena], an expensive Tier 14 skill that made it so anyone wielding a ded or sharp weapon took reflected damage whenever it moved. It made the man a true monster to face. Even Matt struggled with the barrage of attacks, though Conor quickly ran out of mana if he used both of his AOE skills simultaneously.


    Conors sess gave Annie and Emily a kick in the butt that Matt wasn''t sure was entirely good. They both redoubled their efforts, saying that if he got it, they should be able to get it as well. Emily was in a slightly better position, as she had touched upon something. But Annie was still in the dark, which wasn''t helping her mood.


    She spent all of her free time either meditating or training. A whopping 50,000 of her points went to hiring an Army stealth specialist to train her in assassination, counter-assassination, and espionage. Annie returned to their suite with a variety of bruises most days, but she seemed to be enjoying it.


    Even with that as a springboard, she found nothing to resonate with, which only seemed to piss her off more and more.


    Emily banked most of her points after paying everyone back, stating that she was saving for something. Rather than tell them what, she just smiled wickedly, telling them to wait and see. Matt did notice that she bought [Earth Spike], but figured it was just to increase herbo of chaining mana types. Her firepower was already scary with four aspect types. He worried that she''d actually kill someone with five if it got twice as strong. But during their sparring, he found that while the fifth hit was notably stronger, it wasnt exactly double the strength of the fourth spell.


    After seeing his teammates spend some points, Matt wanted to buy the [Cracked Breach] skill all the more. But even if his team loaned him their remaining points, it still wouldn''t be enough. Not that he had the courage to ask that in the first ce. They all had items they were saving up for, and he couldn''t ask them to put their own growth aside for his own.


    It would be selfish and unfair for a skill he wouldnt even be able to cast in this war. [Cracked Breach] had an initial cast cost of 100 mana, which was 20 mana more than his current maximum. Ascending to Tier 7 was the only way to be able to cast it, and only Tier 5 and 6 Pathers were allowed here. He couldn''t ask for help buying something that wouldnt help any of them get more points.


    He was debating getting [methrower] for 50,000 points instead. The Tier 14 skills were incredibly expensive, but Matt figured that the average Pather would be able to afford one if they saved all their points throughout the war. A channeled spell like that was perfect for Matt, but the price was prohibitive.


    He also wasn''t sure if he wanted to spend the points on [methrower] when he also wanted the enchanting repository. But that also cost half a million points, and he wasn''t sure that he could feasibly get both the repository and [Cracked Breach]. The only positive was that the repository could be purchased by any number of people, so he could try saving for the more expensive item, and then get the repository if he fell short.


    Missions were on the horizon again, and that was his path to earning the vast amount of points needed. Things like the Kingdom paying for his mana, and their slowly decreasing stipend padded his total, but wouldnt take him the distance. A part of him looked forward to the assassinsing. With Annie''s help, they might just have a passive form of ie via counter-assassination. Cashing in the points on an extra attack skill now might help him earn more points in the long run. And [methrower] suited him perfectly. Over and over again, it all came back to points.


    Liz kicked his leg. What are you thinking about?


    He sighed and said, I don''t know what to do about our points. We have three days left till wee off the healing cooldown, and we have so many points on the line. Were good, but everyone is going to be gunning for our bounty, and then theres the tactical advantage of killing us. It''s incredibly risky to hold this many points for the more expensive items. But not saving now might cost me [Cracked Breach]ter. I want [methrower], but is it worth getting it now for the added damage it will give me? The skill is also strong and could mean the difference between life and death. I''ll lose a lot more than fifty thousand points if we die now.


    Aster hopped up and headbutted his chest. Noooo! Fire is bad. One fire, enough.


    Matt reached for her, but his bond flopped over and rolled out her tongue, sending pretend dead thoughts at him though their link.


    Liz started rubbing her belly which caused a tail wag while she still pretended to have been betrayed by his propensity for fire spells.


    Aster, you realize that you have more than enough points to get a new ice spell on your own, right?


    Still with her eyes closed she responded, Yes. I got one. She then sent him a mental projection of the skill she got. He was half afraid that it would be [Create Ice Cream] or something like that. But luckily, it wasn''t. It was actually [Ice Pirs], which created a small area around the caster where pirs of ice rose up to create some cover and concealment.


    I got fly! He received a mental image of a flying fluffy cloud that acted like a Tier 7 flying device. That was actually a good purchase, so he sent proud thoughts to her. He ignored the fact that she got it because it looked like ice cream.


    Her next purchase was less impressive. I got. Ice cream maker! A picture of a little box that created ice cream out of milk and mana came to him.


    Matt rubbed his face, that was exactly what he expected her to spend points on.


    Anything else?


    Aster seemed to think it over, then nodded upside down. Training. With Ice Wolf!


    Matt made a note to get her a little storage item that she could wear. But overall, he felt that she spent her points as well as he could have hoped for, and far better than hed feared. She was still a kid at heart.


    With her settled, Liz turned to him and said, Get [methrower]. It''s a great fit for you, and it gives you a heavy hitting close range spell that you can just st forever. Fifty thousand points is nothing to us right now. If you get it now, youll probably earn more points in the next year or two.


    Matt knew she was right, but if he didn''t get the [Cracked Breach] because of it, hed regret it forever.


    Still undecided, he returned the question, What are you looking to get?


    [Crystal Armor], I need some more defensive skills, and something to stop me from getting exploded by an arrow would be nice. Plus I''m optimistic that a crystal-based skill won''t break from my Tier 1 Talent. At least, that''s my hope. She considered Matt with an odd look and asked, Have you ever heard of the skill [Torch Sprite]?


    Matt had not. Her expression piqued his curiosity though, so he immediately looked into it. [Torch Sprite] was a Tier 14 spell. It was both rare and expensive, not because it was strong, but because it was only found in a few known rifts. That, and no one farmed it because the skill was practically useless. For the cost of 100 mana, the caster summoned a single dim light sprite that floated around feeding on fire. When fed enough, it would multiply and gradually spread out. The sprites were actually fairly autonomous, and if left to their own devices, would seek out new sources of fire to feed on when it got too crowded around the original torch. The spell was great if you only had a torch and needed to light arge area over a period of time. However, the Tier 14 skill [Light Orb] could be cast for just 10 mana, was immediately effective, and would hover anywhere you wanted around you.


    There just was noparison in their usefulness. Even then, [Light Orb] was more expensive than a light-rune shlight which could run for hours on a little mana. Some night time festivals and outdoor venues used [Torch Sprite] for the ambiance, but that was about it.


    No if, and, or buts about it, [Torch Sprites] sucked. Except, Lizs Talent might change that. There was a possibility the skill would be shifted into creating an autonomous, self-multiplying, blood monster that sought out more blood sources to feed on. That was a pretty scary thought on arge battlefield. The skill could multiply nearly endlessly, just for the skills initial cost of mana.


    It all depended on how her Talent changed the spell. For that potential reward, it was still worth a chance.


    That would be interesting if it worked out the way I think it could.


    Liz batted at his feet with her own. Yeah. It''s a gamble, but I think it could pay off big time if we get into another fight like thest one. I just wish there was more information about how much control the caster had over the sprites. The description is light on details, but the festivals that use it seem to keep the sprites contained and evenly distributed within designated areas. Thats something at least.


    Matt rolled back and forth in his chair. It sounds like youre going to roll the dice on it regardless. Me, I''m still not sure if [methrower] is the right thing to buy. Or at least not right now.


    Liz poked him with her toe. Just get it. You need the skill anyway, and the [Cracked Breach] isn''t affordable. She lounged back and said, I''m ordering my skills, do the same so we can save someone a trip.


    With a sigh, Matt decided to take the plunge.


    As a box with their skills fell from mid air, she added, We can always earn more points.


    That was true, Team Bucket just needed to get back into the field. He and his AI had a n.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93


    Team Bucket cheated. Slightly.


    They left the neutral city before their healing cooldown was technically over. They just walked out the front gate and flew to where they needed to go.


    It was skirting the rules, if not outright breaking them. Anyone with a healing cooldown was to remain in the neutral city for safety, but with their contribution to the city defense, they were sure that half a dozen people were ready and waiting to kill them as soon as they were fair game.


    Watching Annie have a conniption as she tried to assassin-proof their suite had been amusing, until they realized the implications. Subterfuge was the better part of valor, so they slipped out of the city the night before their designated time.


    After hearing Matts n, The Prince and Juni were more than happy to have them out and about. So, the team donned some half-baked disguises, made their exit, and were currently flying through the night.


    Matt nced at Aster and held back a sigh. His bond had gotten a custom-ordered flying device with a few interesting features. It was a cloud that radiated cold, which would help to keep herfortable during warm summer nights. He liked that idea. He also liked that her cloud couldpress into a snowke brooch that she could clip to her cor.


    The only downside was that the flying device distinctively looked like a scoop of ice cream, and apparently faintly tasted like it. His bond spent more time trying to nibble on her cloud than fly straight. After watching her fly in a way that would make a drunk seem like a reasonable driver, he requested ess to link his and Lizs AIs to the flying dessert. It was just easier for everyone to have it fly in formation between them while the fox yed around.


    After an hour of circling while looking for pursuers, everyone gathered within a foot of Matts flying sword and under an air shield, then hooked themselves up. Once everyone was in position, Matt flew them as high into the atmosphere as he could before breathing became a problem.


    The Tier 7 sword was geared for high performance over efficiency, so it was faster than the average Tier 7 flying device, even when carrying everyone in their team. Between the air repulsion shield and the decreasing air resistance as they climbed, the team quickly reached their desired altitude and moved from there. After two hours, they stopped above a barren patch of low mountains hidden in a cloudbank.


    After halting, they dug through dozens of spatially expanded bags to find the right one. Within the desired pack were the parts to their cradle, which was carefully assembled midair. Once it was finished and double checked, Matt flew his sword into a specially-made harness, which held the contraption aloft, and dropped down to the tform suspended underneath the sword. It swayed ufortably on impact. After a few quality checks, the others quickly affixed the short walls that would provide some measure of protection for the ten by ten tform.


    As everyone else hopped on, Matt swished his hands in the water vapor that made up the cloud.


    Home sweet home.


    Emily was bundled up in winter gear and ring at him. Put up the barrier, you dick. It''s... It''s freezing for everyone else here.


    Matt noted their foggy breath mingling with the cloud, and activated the air barrier embedded in the tform. It would keep the cold out, and with the heater that Liz was already setting up, it would get morefortable shortly.


    Everyone else besides himself and Aster was huddling up. He brought out one of the two reprogrammed golem harvesters , linked it to the flying sword, and set it to hover above the cloud as a lookout. They could keep hidden, and their automated sentry would warn them if their cloud cover was going to dissipate.


    Since the temperature was only tolerable to Matt and Aster, he started setting up the two tents that they had. He and Conor needed to share the twin''s smaller, two-man tent, much to their consternation. The tent was suitable for the two shorter women, but it was downright cramped for even one of the two men. They both had debated buying another tent, but ultimately, they couldn''t risk raising any suspicions about their n.


    Instead, they agreed to try hot bunking the tent by sleeping at different times and swapping in and out. To that effect, they volunteered to take opposite watch shifts as much as possible.


    After everything was ready, Matt brought out a utility belt filled with mana stones, ensured they were all full, and hung the belt under the flying sword from one of the cables. Someone on watch would have to refill the sword with 200 mana every hour, and the repurposed harvesters every two hours. Each pouch on the belt contained enough mana stones for one refill. He started the timer and sent them to everyone else.


    He felt half tempted to try making a rift on the tform, but he didn''t want to give that ability away, even to his team. Plus, it would create a spotlight on their hidden base for all to sense, defeating the purpose of all their preparation.


    Aster was prancing around and pouncing off the tform, only to be caught by her new cloud. She then raced around, trying to munch on the clouds surrounding them. Seeing that she was keeping herself preupied, Matt slid over to the others huddle and pulled out a camping chair.


    Hows everybody doing now?


    Chattering teeth were the only answer he got back, until Conor made the effort to flip him the finger with a shaky hand. Mattughed and sat back, waiting for the little area to warm up. Finally, the tform reached a bearable temperature, and the rest of the group started to perk up.


    Matt asked, Everyone gonna be ready tomorrow? Skills absorbed and new items checked? Let''s go over our build changes so we can all be prepared.


    Theyd been through this already, but Matt wanted to double check that the team was on the same page. Annie answered first, Nothing left for me to absorb. My trainer made me buy both [Lunge] and [Piercing Stab], which was absurdly expensive, even for a Tier 14 skill.


    Still rubbing his arms, Conor spoke up. [Lunge]? Seems a bit weird.


    Annie rolled her eyes while cupping her hands over her warm breath. That''s what I said. I also ate those words. It''s one of the better movement skills avable for stealthier builds at our Tier. You know, before proper phasing and short-range teleports be a thing.


    Everyone nodded at that and looked past Annie, right at Emily.


    I picked up [Earth Spike] and a new staff that emptied out the rest of my points. This baby heavily reduces mana cost, the speed at which I can cast, and the strain on my spirit from casting such strong spells. All of which will let me hit harder, faster, and longer. I also got some new armor, but that was rtively cheap.


    Matt took his turn next. I got [methrower] and new under armor to fit under my Talent armor. Other than that, not much changed.


    A still shivering, Liz still red at Matt in his [Cracked Phantom Armor] and chattered out a terse exnation. [Crystal Armor] and [Torch Sprites]. The armor is already absorbed. And tested. It worked as I thought, and Ive got [Blood Crystal Armor] now. It gives me some much-needed defense. [Torch Sprites] hits my inner spirit tomorrow. Well see how my Talent changes it then. Im d they dont need to go to the core. Just inner spirit. Saved a day on each.


    Matt had been present when [Crystal Armor] had reached her inner spirit, and she stopped cycling mana into the skill, causing it to settle into its new home. Once the skill came to a rest in her spirit, Liz received an automated message from the Emperor about the skills effects. These messages were incredibly convenient, as they let her skip the painstaking process of carefully testing the skill and getting readouts of the new effects. Some skills could be dangerous to use after being converted with Lizs Talent. Theyd yet to stumble on any truly harmful skills, but the possibility was always out there.


    Skills were easily examined as skill shards, but once they entered the cultivator''s spirit, it was exponentially more difficult to analyze the skills with the testing machines. With the equipment avable to them, it was nearly impossible. It meant that Liz would have needed to meticulously test the skill and have broad preparations ready to counter any potential side effects. Matt was still worried. If any new skill targeted the blood inside her, she might not live through the adverse effects.


    That was why Matt begged Melinda to be on hand during Lizs first use of [Blood Crystal Armor]. Thankfully, everything worked exactly as the message had said, and a reddish-gold armor that was half crystal and half-blood grew around her. Unlike with the original [Crystal Armor], she was even able to individually dissipate any damaged portions of the armor, and perfectly reform them with blood around her. Itpletely circumvented the usual drawback of needing to recast the skill from scratch when it was damaged.


    No one was sure why the armor''s color was tinted gold, but they spected that it might be a reaction between the crystal and the Blood Iron shed absorbed, possibly creating iron pyrite, better known as fools gold with the mix of natural treasure and skill. Matt endlessly teased her about the double princess having golden armor, causing Liz to flush and give him the silent treatment for a good ten minutes to Melindas amusement.


    My other skill will be ready by tomorrow morning. She finished by scowling at Matt, Youre a terrible boyfriend. I can''t even steal your warmth.


    Conor forced out through gritted teeth, [de Arena]. [Parry]. New shield.


    Since they had all trained with the man and his new skills, it was enough.


    Seeing that Aster was still chasing the cloud cover, Matt spoke for her. Aster got [Ice Pirs], which will give us some terrain maniption powers.


    He refused to talk about her ice cream maker. Everyone already knew about it, as she had sat in front of it hour after hour, eating bite after bite of ice cream until she ran out of milk.


    They sat around for an hour or two, and finally, it was just him and Annie left awake. They had the first watch, and it was finally warm enough for Matt to deactivate his armor.


    He asked, What was it like training with the army?


    Ugh. It was awful. The instructor they had was everything I could have asked for and more, but he was incredibly demanding. She smiled into the cloud cover. I already booked more training with him in another two weeks. I can''t pass this chance up. He refused to tell me his Tier or really anything about himself. Even his name. He just told me to figure it out myself. But I bet he''s Tier 30 at least. He''s a ghost. The scariest thing is, he doesn''t even have a Talent for stealth. He did show me that much. His Talent is just that armor protects him morepletely.


    Matt raised his eyebrows and said, Seems like a weird Talent to go stealthy with.


    That''s what I said. He proved his point, though. He''s making me run the assassination and stealth operations without my Talent. It''s hard, and I thought it was impossible until he limited himself to half my cultivation and ran all of them perfectly. Annieughed. I said he was cheating, so he had me devise a custom scenario for him to run. Hes good. Really good. But he''s also the biggest hardass Ive evere across. The mans standards aren''t just high, theyre damn near impossible. Still, he''s a good teacher, and he actually exins what I''m doing wrong.


    Matt thought about who he could get training with while he had the army personnel around. Even with his management teaming, he doubted it woulde with free training from experts. The cost was sure to be heavy, either in Empire Contribution Points or raw currency. Either way, it wouldn''t hurt to get some instruction earlier with the rtively easy to earn war points.


    They continued chatting as their shift passed without incident.


    The next morning, they put their belongings away and headed towards their first target. As they hovered at the edge of the anti-flying formation two miles up, everyone looked to Matt.


    This would be suicidally reckless for anyone but him. His AI had run the simtions half a dozen times, but he still felt anxious to jump without his flying sword to catch him. Even having sessfully executed the same stunt at Tier 5, his hesitation wasnt lessened.


    After his teamnded and crept into position at the edge of the formation, Matt checked his AI and rolled off his sword, hurtling to the ground.


    ***


    Eric walked his post with the usual boredom that came with long periods of repetition. His squad was deep in Queendom territory and guarding a Tier 6 gold mine. It was a functional mine and the metal was actually there. With the Kingdom having taken over a lot of forts that their side was trying to reim, he was left standing guard as a Tier 6.


    It wasn''t beneath him; it was actually a good example to set for the soldiers under him. But it was <em>dull</em>.


    As he was turning to inspect the outer perimeter, he prepared to ask J if she had seen anything out of the ordinary. But suddenly, a loud boom apanied by a wave of dust rushed out and covered him.


    When the air finally cleared enough for him to see, there was a recognizable glowing figure before him that he had only heard rumors about. He never dreamed hed ever cross paths with the real thing. The armored monster rose from the cracked paving stones and sprinted towards the gate.


    Realizing what he was going to do Eric screamed, Stop him!


    He put actions to words and charged. He didnt expect to survive, but the punishment for not trying would be far worse than a traumatic trip to the hospital.


    An arrow bounced off the man as he brought a glowing sword down on the crossbar barring the door shut. The strike exploded outward in a sh of blue light.


    Shrapnel peppered his face as the man parried his sword. Eric sidestepped and used the momentum to sweep low at the man''s forward leg.


    His Tier 7 de just scraped along the armor, but that didnt stop him from ducking a return strike and backstepping.


    Eric was about to re-engage when his world became awash with me. He screamed from the pain, sucking fire into his lungs. Soon everything was ck.


    ***


    Matt kicked at the crossbar still holding the door shut while he bathed the area in front of him in an inferno.


    [methrower] was traditionally a spell that cost a minimum of 1 MPS, but he had modified the skill when it entered his spirit. He tweaked it to ept more mana throughput, rather than lowering the initial cost like most people did. He was currently pushing 15 MPS in the skill, which was the maximum it could handle before destabilizing.


    That was more than enough.


    The skill started as a cone of fire thick as his fist, and expanded to a circle seven feet in diameter at the maximum effective range of thirty feet. He would need to narrow the aperture of the initial me to increase the range further, but that wasn''t what he needed right now. The door just needed to be opened long enough for his team to join him.


    Soon, a message came in stating that they were at the door, so he cut the mana flow to the skill and let the mes dissipate. The stones around him glowed red hot. Matt cast a quick [Hail] to lower the temperature of the gateway. Due to the rapid cooling, the ice popped and bounced, but Matt raced out of the interior front gate to rush the exterior door. The stonework could be heard cracking under the thermal shock, but it didn''t sound dangerously bad, so he ignored it.


    His team followed him up noisily enough for him to tell they were there. Judging by the loud cracks followed by screams, he assumed Annie was using her crossbow to good effect.. Conor quickly came up alongside him, and together they battered down the door. The six of them rushed the fort, ignoring the defenders in front of them. Instead they rushed to the stairs leading down to the mine. Half the team secured the stairs while the other half went below.


    In all of thirty seconds, they found the storage bag for the Tier 6 gold that was mined here.


    After checking the room-sized bag and seeing that it was more than three-quarters full, Matt shouted, Got it! Move!


    With that, they charged back out of the fort, only returning fire enough to avoid being pinned down. When they reached the edge of the anti-flying formation, everyone mounted their flying devices and rocketed high into the sky, away from the now bustling fort.


    Mattughed over their channel as they celebrated their sessful raid. This deep in enemy territory, they were basically attacking unprepared defenders. It was only meant to be a smash and grab, but they had made out like bandits.


    <em>We sort of are bandits, now that I think about it</em>.


    The thought amused Matt enough. When they stopped to rest high amid clouds, he was still chuckling.


    Let''s get our bearings and hit our second location. Annie sounded as excited as he was, and bobbed in the air.


    Clustering around Matt, they used his faster sword and kept warm in the air bubble as they rose to three miles above the ground. The lower air pressure and resistance only allowed them to soar even faster. The next target, a Tier 6 iron mine, was a hundred miles away. They would be in ce to raid it in about an hour.


    This mine wasn''t directly connected to the main fort, which was good news. The fort wasrge, but the mine was a quarter of a mile away, on the side of a nearby gully.


    They repeated their smash and grab tactic, which was made easier by the forts more remote location. Team Bucket was in and out in under two minutes, hauling an incredibly heavy bag of iron slung over Conors back.


    Their third target that day was a Tier 6 titanium mine. The mine wasnt actually real, as the element could rarely be found in a pure state in nature. Instead, the army nted a machine in the location that provided titanium chunks every hour to those holding the mine long enough.


    Of the three locations theyd chosen, this was the most challenging to assault. This raid required more than a simple smash and grab. But the prize would be worth it, if they could hold the point long enough to qualify as holding it.


    Watching from the air, they scouted the fake mine and the stone wall around it, as well as the fifteen guards overseeing it.


    It sat well inside the anti-flying formation, and they didn''t have a well-hidden path to take advantage of likest time. The lookouts would spot them from nearly half a mile away, and Matt suspected therge fort would be much quicker to respond than the others.


    Emily asked, Should we maybe wait for night? We could probably get a lot closer to the walls that way.


    Annie answered before anyone else could. If it''s anything like thest ce we hit, that won''t be possible. Theyll have light runes to set up. This area will probably look like it did at midday, all night long.


    Liz pointed to a section of the wall, which their AIs highlighted in their vision. I can probably vault over the wall in my full golem form, but that means I''ll be alone with Aster on the inside.


    Matt asked, Think you could carry us up with your blood?


    Liz hesitantly nodded. If I have a few seconds to concentrate, yes. But I don''t think Ill get it.


    Annie offered, I think I can get over the wall unseen. It''s only ten feet up, but I don''t know if being on my own will be enough to count as a steal.


    Emily shrugged. If you can get in, you could open the door for us if nothing else. That would make it a lot easier for us if we need to rush in hard.


    Matt worried she might not be able to slip in with patrols walking the wall, but he had to trust his teammate to do her job. So, after getting a few reassurances, he nodded his approval to her.


    They quietlynded, and Annie started slinking to therger simted mine. The five of them readied themselves to rush out to her defense. But after two nerve-wracking hours, Annie popped out of invisibility on the other side of a slight rise.


    In her hand was a ss-like te a littlerger than her palm, and waved it at them.


    The Army watcher slipped it into my hand after I sat next to the miner simtor for half an hour. Some kind of stealth penalty, I think. She shook her hand in anger, Which is a crock of bullshit, but I worked it out. Nine days worth of the mine''s output, right here. She wiggled the te with a cocky grin.


    Matt had to give it to her, she had earned the right to brag.


    Aster hopped into her arms and received a kiss, but the fox was more interested in the clear material than receiving adoration. Annie deted a bit at that, but they quickly snuck away and took to the sky, with no one the wiser for their theft.


    None of them wanted to stick around, so they flew to the nearest Kingdom city to exchange their loot for half of its value. They earned a little more than fourteen thousand points apiece.


    With jubtion, they moved back into a cloud for the evening and glided back over to the Queendom territory. They nned to repeatedly raid overly full mines and strategic resource locations.


    They never held a location for more than necessary, but the increased defense that they encountered each time was a good sign that they were forcing the Queendom to stay on the defensive. To protect their mines, they had no choice but to redirect troops recapturing the many forts they had recently lost.


    After four days, incredible resistance awaited them at every outpost. For the entire fourth day, they had to contend with ambushes set up inside of mining locations that had been cleared out to use as traps. After being baited a few times in session without finding any loot, Team Bucket decided to call it quits. The goods were either well hidden or already moved to the nearest Queendom city.


    That was when phase two of the operation started, and they started to hit the caravans of materials being shipped ovend to the ruined city for the rebuilding process.


    The Kingdoms spies had learned about the shipments and briefed the leadership about it. The materials needed for the rebuild were so substantial that teleporting them wasn''t remotely cost-efficient. The Queendom was forced to haul them ovend to keep costs tolerable.


    Matt and his team burned two caravans to the ground, with the materials going up in mes.


    They avoided engaging the defenders, focusing on doing maximum damage and creating chaos. Matts [methrower] earned its keep a thousand times over during the two weeks they spent sowing mayhem behind enemy lines.


    Their nights spent in the clouds gave them the cover needed to remain undetected and rest without worry. They even watched as search partiesbed the surrounding areas below them where they thought Team Bucket was holed up.


    When theyd seemingly run out of targets, they found rift clusters and started ambushing the Tier 6 teams exiting the rifts, forcing the Queendom to start stationing guards around the rifts.


    The raids were nerve-wracking work that eventually stopped turning such amazing profits. But the disruption and resource losses they were causing the Queendom was worth it, since the Kingdom was giving them extra point remunerations for their efforts.


    No single mission was continued for longer than they were able to handle the Queendom forces. They always moved to an alternative soft spot before the opposing forces became too much of a problem.


    Ambushes happened, but they were able to either spot them beforehand or fight their way out. They were careful to never ovemit, and became proficient at using their new items and skills to maximum effect. Two and a half weeks into their gueri warfare tour, they were preparing to finally pull out when they received an unexpected emergency call from headquarters. A Kingdom team was trying to retreat from arge fort and needed immediate reinforcements.


    The request, in and of itself, wasn''t unusual. Kingdom teams had repeatedly been retreating from untenable positions for thest few weeks as the Queendom retook forts. Some people were eliminated. Which was unfortunate since they usually earned quite a few points for holding a fort deep in hostilends. This time was different. The defenders had apparently been delving the cluster of rifts in the area around the fort, and had acquired an item that couldn''t be lost.


    Matt asked what the item was, so that it could be secured and wouldn''t be teleported out with someones personal belongings, but he never received an answer. That made the team all the more curious.


    So, they detoured to thest reported location, only to find a massacre in progress.


    The Kingdom fighters should have numbered around five hundred with the normal garrison for arge fort, but they were being besieged on all sides by Queendom Pathers and regrs.


    Many of them tried escaping into the air, but that didn''t seem to do them any good. They were stalled, unable to move as a group, but smart enough to know that breaking ranks would only spell their demise further. One by one, they would be picked off. Matt and Conor took the lead, and smashed into the outside edge of the flying mass of Queendom forces.


    Matt cut down some people from behind, even as the formation shifted to respond to their nk. Their enemys slow reaction mattered little. Even while flying, he and Conor were much deadlier than the standard Tier 6s they contended with.


    The resistance picked up as Matt engaged a Tier 7 scythe wielder. She must have had a Talent for it; she moved like a dancer with the unwieldy weapon. It didn''t help that the scythe was Tier 8, and masterfully crafted. The edge screamed danger to his spiritual sense in a way he very rarely encountered.


    She didn''t fight like he expected such a strong melee fighter to fight. Instead of using smooth movements to guide the fight into positions where she could use her scythe to best effect, she seemed to be letting her weapon dictate her actions instead. It worked well enough; she was able to slip the curved de around his longsword and cut a line into his under armor. The weapon left a noticeable gash along his shoulders as it sliced through [Cracked Phantom Armor] with only moderate trouble.


    From that moment, he knew quickly dispatching her was beyond his abilities. He quickly disengaged and requested that one of the mages remove her while he turtled up.


    A sudden bolt of lightning fried her and bounced to Matt, causing him to be jolted when the damage broke through his already stressed armor. His newyer of under armor blocked most of the lightning damage, but his hair was standing on its ends. He reminded himself to not ask Emily for help if his armor was stressed, the woman just hit too hard now.


    Taking only a moment to reset his armor''s skill structure in his spirit, he started to cast and cut his way through the leading edge, trying to free the encircled Kingdom fighters. When they finally broke through and made contact, a woman with bloodied armor nodded at them in thanks while directing her fighters to help widen the gap, before joining the fray as well.


    Matt turned away from her as he saw Conor take the opposite side and simultaneously activate [Demon Zone] and [de Arena]. Matt unleashed his Concept to keep the drain on his teammate from being too prohibitive. Together, they wedged a path through the Queendom troops.


    [de Arena] was a Tier 14 skill that created a field of phantom des. When crossed, the des dealt physical damage to that person. Conor was safe in the maelstrom''s eye, and the ghostly des resulted in several triggers from [Demon Zone] every second as people tried to pass through. Matt ignored the sharp, but rtively weak impacts. He could manage, as long as he wasn''t forced to deal with a ranged attacker. But he was the only one who fared well against Conors newbination.


    Anyone else who crossed the threshold was continuously cut with the static des. As they tried to move in or out, they would only take more cuts from reflected attacks.


    All was going well, until a man with darker hair started shooting [Mana Bolt]s at them while keeping at the edge of their range. Matt did his best to block the shots, but saying on the defensive would only tie them down. Eventually he took an opening and flew out of Conors zones to rush the Pather mage.


    His charge was met by a revolving ring of shields that blocked his first [Mana Charge]. A tiny mallet in the mans hand expanded to ridiculous size as it was brought down in a now deadly arc.


    Matt threw his weight to the right, and using the greater speed of his flying sword, evaded the mallet, which quickly shrunk back down to pendant size. After re-engaging, Matt concluded he would be unable to break the man''s defenses with melee attacks before that expanding mallet would be swung around again.


    Giving up, Matt refilled his pool with a mana stone and cast [methrower], directed the full brunt of the attack at the man. The floating shields were overwhelmed and broke, one by one, in a series of popping sounds. To Matt''s surprise, the Pather actually slipped away, albeit charred and with their clothes smoking at the edges.


    Matt turned his cone of me on the surrounding Queendom forces and watched as the unprepared attackers were set alight and teleported out in quick session. Matt scorches a hole in their lines.


    That was, until a swordsman in distinct armor hurtled towards him. As the warrior closed in, Matt recognized his newest opponent, Talous.


    He sted his stream of fire at the man, already knowing that it wouldn''t have any effect, and raised his sword with his right hand. After hearing Lizsints about the man, Matt did some homework on him.


    Talous was a melee sword fighter. By all reports, he either had a Talent for piercing armor, or a powerful enchanted sword that could. Combined with a suspected growth item that blocked ranged attacks, both the magical and mundane variety, the man was a lethal opponent for both melee and rangedbatants.


    Based on his research, Matt suspected that the man had a Talent set simr to Taras, but more limited. Matt believed he was benefiting from increased blocking power and armor pration when he was specifically wielding a shortsword and shieldbination. The hunch came to Matt after discovering the man had only been publicly defeated in a single duel once, when his shield was broken and he seemingly faltered. It was pure spection, but his guess paired well with the threat assessment reports put together on the man.


    His whole team was deadly with their various builds, but Talous was the major standout. He had yet to die in the war, and had taken at least two forts with his team in just the first week. A gust of wind signaled that his second teammate, Ariana, was nearby. The other two fighters from his team were less shy, so Matt wasn''t able to spot them. The fifth and final member never actually fought on the front lines. The reports spected that he was a Seeker or a crafter, but little was known of them other than the fact that they were Talous younger brother and viciously guarded by the team.


    Matt deflected the first blow, but nearly took a mana infused shield bash in return. He flew higher away from the general melee and used his longer weapon to keep the other swordsman from striking at his feet.


    Once high enough above therge engagement, Matt stopped rising, and using the t of his longsword, blocked another flurry of attacks as Talous rose to equal footing.


    For all of Talous conduct as a pushy asshole, he clearly knew how to fight. Matt was kept on the defensive, even as he retaliated with any openings he was able to make or find. It was frustrating for Matt, even though he was only bottom Tier 6, he was still stronger than the peak Tier 6 opposite him. His full physical allocation of essence and [Mages Retreat] gave him the edge in brute force.


    Talous was just a better melee fighter, able to counter Matt with his shorter rangedbo. Matt considered himself one of the better melee fighters in the Empire at his Tier. He had fought enough people, and rarely found an opponent at his skill level, but Talous was a step above. He read and reacted to every move Matt made, even with his own AI using 5 MPS to predict the man''s moves.


    In terms of raw ability, Talous was a better mundane fighter.


    Simple as that.


    The man slightly edged out Matts strength and the reach advantage from his longsword with pure skill. It was the first fight Matt had fought where he felt so disadvantaged in years.


    If he didn''t want to break every bone in the mans body, he might have actually enjoyed the fight.


    As they exchanged blow after blow, Talous kept his shield up and at the ready. He used it as a wall, redirecting Matts mana-infused attacks with ease. The dust from falling mana stones exined why he was unable to bash through the Tier 6 shield with [Mana Charge]s from his Tier 7 growth item. The attacks should have bypassed the effects of the mans growth item. His greater strength meant little when Talous never took a hit full on. The opposing Pather let attacks slide off his angled shield or the t of his de, while using the flying sword under him to cushion the blows force.


    Matt took more and more slight grazing blows, while unable to maneuver the man into a position where he could fully take advantage of his superior strength. He kept the injuries to a minimum, but they slowly added up as the fight dragged on. Talous talent rendered him essentially defenseless. If not for his proficiency at parrying with his longsword, the Queendom Pather would have carved him to pieces long ago.


    They didn''t say anything to each other during the entire fight, but from the glint of Talous eyes through the gap in his armor, Matt saw pleasure even glee at his state. Matt sensed the man''s thoughts. Judging by what he read from the reports, along with what Liz had told him, Talous believed thatbat prowess was the only way to measure a persons worth. He presumed to be better than Matt because he was keeping the armored Kingdom Pather on the defensive.


    Matt decided to break him of that notion.


    With a surge of speed, he sidestepped a shield bash and struck out with a heavy blow of his own, forcing Talous back on the defensive. He made sure to keep his attacks at the man''s center of gravity, so he would have to absorb each blow with his own strength, instead of letting the force slide off. The shift in momentum allowed Matt to start battering the man around. With his reach advantage, he was able to drive Talous to turtle up behind his shield. He also noted that the spent mana stone dust increased as the man directly blocked consecutive heavy blows from [Mana Charge]. If he had to spend mana stones to fuel his defense, Matt was sure that he could oust him, if he could keep the man on the defensive


    Matt took a shing strike along his nk, which sliced straight through both [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical under armor, as if they weren''t even there.


    Matt ignored the searing pain and cut down on Talous extended arm. When you were fighting an opponent with effectively no armor, you had to ept wounds to give them. That, or remain purely on the defensive. But that wasn''t how Matt fought.


    He could take a few wounds. It was just pain. Matt was old friends with pain. He would oust this arrogant prick, and show him that he was endless.


    The move seemed to surprise Talous, as he was barely able to retract his arm in time to avoid getting it cut off. Still, a furrow was scored in the metal armor where Matt''s Tier 7 longsword met the Tier 6 metal.


    Talous roared at the hit andshed out. The duo exchanged a flurry of blows that drew blood on both sides, but with functional armor, Talous had better protection. Matt would have been leaking enough for Liz to kill everyone present, if it wasn''t for [Cracked Phantom Armor] staunching his wounds.


    Intent on staying on the attack, Matt rushed forward and then backwards, battling to maintain his reach advantage over his opponent. He was trying to use his longsword''s advantages to their best effect, and was battering the Queendom Pather from the edge of his range. But the man was slippery, and was always able to slip in close, forcing Matt to be constantly retreating.


    In the next exchange, they were again both able to draw blood from each other. Talous snuck his shortsword under Matt''s defensive stance, and cut a deep trench into his hip. They both felt metal scrape bone. In return, Matt broke something in the man''s shoulder when blocking an attack. He could tell he had injured Talous from the way the man was unable to raise his shield arm. That opening allowed him tond two hits onto the man''s left leg, where he tore through armor without resistance. The wounds left blood running down the man''s leg, despite the potion he had poured on it during a retreat.


    They were both panting heavily when Talous went in for a heavily telegraphed strike. Seeing what wasing, Matt was grateful for the armor covering his face.


    He had been waiting for the man to grow wounded enough to get desperate and charge. He readied his de as if he was going to ignore the attack, and try to take Talous down with him.


    As they both charged, Matt met the man''s eyes behind his armor. He was sure that the glint in the peak Tier 6s eyes was reflected in his own.


    When Talous wasmitted and only inches away, Matt used his bonded growth ring to teleport six inches forward, with his de already aimed for Talous'' face. The other Pather''s suddenly working shield would have blocked it, but Matt was behind the barrier and de before he could react.


    With a crunch of teeth and metal, Matt nearly cut the man''s head off at the mouth. He might have managed to kill him with the [Mana Charge] he was unleashing, but the other fighter was already gone before the mana had a chance to fully release.


    Matt stood straighter and stopped pretending to be as badly wounded as he let on. Sure, he was hurt. But with [Cracked Phantom Armor] useless, he had reduced its mana drain to 1 MPS. He put the other 44 MPS usually reserved for his armor into [Endurance]. With the skill running at such high throughput, his wounds were already scabbing over. The only reason he kept his armor active was so Talous couldn''t see his wounds heal faster than they should have.


    He had prepared for this fight, and knew the only way to win was with trickery. Anyone with a Talent as good as his could fall into arrogance. He had seen it with Tara, though she had her friends to keep her level headed, and Melinda to outshine them all. He only hoped that the asshole would learn to keep his mouth shut after Matts unsubtle finishing blow. But he doubted it. If Matt knew the type of man Talous was as well as he thought he did, Talous would take the loss personally, ande for revenge.


    Matt would be ready if he did.


    With a painful yell, Matt rushed into the melee and started to attack anyone strong on the Queendom side.


    He continued to do so, until a hand-sized sparrow made of blood that flickered like mes flew up to a wounded man, and started draining the blood from the wound on his shoulder. The man swatted at it, but the sparrow had already split into two. The duo started to feed off the mans wound even faster. Killing one wasn''t enough; he needed to kill all of the sparrows on him. But every time he managed to dispose of one, a second had already formed. Soon, he was encased in an entire flock of pecking [Blood Sprites]. As their sources of food were teleported out, the flock of sprites flew off towards the nearest opponents and repeated their harvest.


    Matt had to admit. It was a scary spell to watch work. The battle was quickly over, as the blood sparrows grew in number and overwhelmed the opponents.


    Once half the Queendoms numbers were gone, the rest called a general retreat, leaving the Kingdom fighters free to enjoy their victory. There was a moment of tension as the blood sparrows had nothing else to feed on, and turned to start flitting around the Kingdom soldiers. But Liz squinted at them and pped her hands, causing the sparrows to disintegrate into a mist of blood.


    Matt flew over andughed in relief. Seems like the skill worked.


    He didn''t know that she had no idea how the skill would actually function before she used it. Apparently, the Emperor didn''t think they would try this particr skill, so Liz had gone in blind. Thankfully, it didn''t seem to have any negative side effects, though Matt wished she hadn''t risked it. But with the spell being external, he knew there was little risk.


    It worked well enough, though the form is annoying. The bitterness in her voice caught Matt off guard, until he pieced it together.


    They look like your mom did, don''t they? Like me sparrows?


    Liz''s face twisted in response to Matts question which caused him to startughing so hard he tore open a few of his cuts.


    It''s not funny! She''s going to give me endless shit about this. Matt! Don''tugh!


    He continued to tease her about the birds as she swore she would never use the skill again, until she could change the shape. They both knew she was lying about that one, but he didn''t call her out on it. The skill was too useful and powerful to waste.


    The rest of the flight back was uneventful, with no one willing to challenge them for thest few dozen miles back to Kingdom controlled territory.


    As soon as he was safe to do so, Matt quickly checked the points they had earned in thest two and a half weeks of looting and piging, with the army rewards and Kingdom rewards totaled up.


    <strong>New Gains: 110,671 points. See point breakdown?</strong>


    Matt smiled as they flew in formation, That was nearly half the amount of points for the unsessful defense of the city. With the increased resistance, they earned less per subsequent day, but they were double dipping with the stolen goods and army points. Matt still didn''t know which one was more dangerous; banditry had its own worries and risks that a defensive battlecked.


    Ignoring his points, he focused on [Endurance] and healing his wounds. The burn was still lingering, and he was sure he''d need a true healer for the hip wound.


    Overall he was happy with how the outing turned out.

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94


    Much to his surprise and delight, Matt wasn''t ced on cooldown after being healed. He was close, but not quite over the edge.


    The good news ended there.


    The very night, after they arrived back into the city, they were weed with an assassination attempt. Someone was blending in with the wall along a corridor to their suite. A knife slid into Emily''s throat, killing her before anyone could react.


    Annie lost her mind. She beat the assassin until they were teleported away in a sh. They were sure that she would have continued until their skull caved in, had he not been rescued.


    As soon as the hitman was gone, she swore bloody vengeance on him.


    That trend continued during their time in the city. On the way to visit Emily, they were hit twice more. After the third encounter, they stopped caring for social niceties, and brandished weapons and armor as they walked.


    The next two attacks were thwarted by Conor reacting in time to block an arrow shot from the top of a statue, and Aster smelling someone creeping up on them using some sort of invisibility skill. Liz flooded the area red, revealing the individual standing not four feet away.


    They tried to run, but Matt was faster, catching up with two bounding steps. He grabbed them, ced his hand over their face, and squeezed. The message was clear, and the sound of their cracking skull served as the armys signal to remove them.


    None of them were in a good mood when they found Emily leaving the hospital, cursing up a storm.


    They got back to their suite without incident, but it set the tone for the remainder of their stay in the city.


    ***


    Team Bucket was forced to wait two weeks for Emilys healing cooldown before they could go back into the field. They technically could have gone on missions without her, but everyone agreed to wait. With time on his hands, Matt shelled out 50,000 points to hire a melee instructor from the army.


    The instructor was not what he expected. He arrived at the training room a few minutes before the appointed time, and at first he thought he was in the wrong room. The only other person there could be mistaken for a child at first nce. She stood a few inches over five feet, if Matt had to guess. But his AI registered them as the instructor he was supposed to meet.


    <strong>She Benson, Tier 22</strong>.


    That was it. No other aplishments or titles listed. But Benson was the instructor listed, so he shut the door behind himself and deactivated his armor.


    Hello? Matt called out, but the mass of brown curls didn''t so much as twitch.


    Matt continued to stare at the motionless woman for what felt like an hour, but was closer to five minutes.


    Finally, at some unseen signal, the woman pivoted on a heel and strode over to him with purposeful steps.


    She got within inches of Matt and red up at him.


    Her first words to him were, You were early. I didn''t ask you to be early. I said 7 AM. Not 6:55.


    Matt was at a loss how to respond, but tried anyway.


    I didnt know if you intended to move locations, or something like that. I figured a little early was better thante.


    A weapon is no good if it''s not where it needs to be, <em>when</em> it needs to be. A strike shouldnd precisely when it is best applied. Not too early. Not toote. On time.


    Matt saw where this was headed, so he attempted to avoid a lecture. My timing was right where I wanted it, which is control. The most important aspect of handling a de.


    She smirked slightly at his response. A weak answer, but an eptable one. You hired me for two weeks. What do you want out of it?


    Matt had listed this on the request, but assumed that this was another test of sorts. Primarily, I want to work on my longsword skills. And maybe polish up my general weapons expertise, if time permits.


    The Tier 22 strolled around Matt and poked various parts of his frame. As she circled him, she asked, Who trained you, and under what schools of dework?


    Matt shook his head. I didn''t have any formal education at any martial house or school. I was orphaned, and we were taught basic stances. I moved beyond that with the training aids. I also learned from a few of the trainers at my yPen.


    The woman knit her brows slightly. Well color me surprised. You have the frame of someone trained under the DaResh school of greatswords. Ive reviewed yourst several fights, and you fight like it as well, if a touch sloppily in ces. If you say you haven''t trained with a proper school, then well start there. Lets see how much is natural ability, and how much is training.


    A longsword sized to her smaller frame settled into her hands out of nowhere. She stepped back and took a defensive stance.


    Start attacking me. Once I get a feel for your abilities, Ill start retaliating.


    Matt summoned his sword and took his own stance opposite the tiny woman.


    Ten minutester, Matt had a bruised hand, arm, and face to match his bruised ego.


    He expected to lose. The woman was Tier 22 and in the army. An ice cream bunny had a greater chance of escaping Aster than he did to even scratch her. What galled him was that she had spanked him while lowering her cultivation level to <em>below</em> his. During the spar, her speed, strength, and proprioception were all significantly weaker than his, but she still treated him as if she was ying around with a kitten.


    As he rubbed at his swollen jaw, She motioned him to sit down, which he gratefully did.


    You''re not bad. Better than I expected when you said that you haven''t actually trained under anyone. Sometimes, people just imitate moves and such, but they don''t understand what theyre doing. You could go far if you want to lean into the art of the de more.


    She waved her hand, and four swords appeared in a row floating between them. The first three were of a simr design, but the final was noticeably different. The first andst were both made from bronze, but the second was iron, and the third was polished steel.


    I participate in the mundane depetitions, and Im pretty good. She tapped thest de, whose shape contrasted to the other three. Got thirty-second ce in the Empire-wide Tier 20petition for shortswords. She waved a hand over the others and said, Worked my way up in the Vassal level fights to first ce. It took over three decades before I even ced in the Empire-wide rankings.


    Matt knew of the mundane depetitions; anyone who enjoyed melee fighting did. They were duels where no skills or personal gear were allowed, only cultivation. Even powerful Talents would be removed from y by giving participants armor and weapons that precisely counteracted their benefits. If the Talent was too broad or all epassing and unable to be countered or turned off the cultivator was unable to participate.


    Thepetitions were held every five years, and people anywhere from Tier 1 to Tier 40 participated. The tournaments werent really considered serious until after Tier 15, where the participants had eons to perfect their craft.


    The fact that the woman had won a Kingdom-level tournament was incredibly impressive. That shed then gone on to ce in the Empire-level tournament? Just scary. Even if she hadn''t taken first ce, shed proven to be in the top fifty fighters out of millions of masterpetitors from thousands ofs.


    Inadvertently, he straightened his posture. From just that information, the dark-skinned woman in front of him was someone to respect. It also exined why she treasured thest bronze de more than the steel one. Getting a top fifty trophy in the Empire was a wide step above getting a first-ce steel weapon from any Kingdom. Matt also made a note to search for her fights and review them tonight. They would be somewhere on the EmpireNet, and he wanted to watch.


    <em>I wonder if I can get an autograph? Would that be weird?</em>


    He hadnt known the woman existed before this, but he was already thoroughly fascinated.


    So, what can I do to improve? He was eager.


    She grinned at him. Well start with the basics and work our way up. Today, we''ll go over various sword forms with a variety of weapons.


    She popped to her feet with an crity that Matt couldn''t match, and started directing him through sword forms.


    The next two days were both the best and the worst of times. She repeatedly pushed him to the brink. And if he didn''t show the results she wanted, she kicked him right off the edge more than once.


    A healer had to be called in twice when she cracked bones to punish him for repeatedly overextending.


    Simr to Annies instructor, She was fair but exacting in her demands. From the way sheposed herself, and the videos of her duels that he watched during the small breaks he was given, she expected more from herself as an instructor than she did from him as a student.


    He strove to meet her own expectations, and she responded by pushing him even further. For the first day and a half, he didn''t sleep at all, just relying on [Endurance] to carry him through. When he began gging despite its assistance, She booted Matt into a corner andmanded him to sleep.


    Five hourster, she woke him up and kept pushing him with renewed vigour. From there on out, she forced him to rest for exactly five hours a day. During those two weeks, he lived and breathed the training room, not seeing the outside at all. His whole existence was endless drills and exercises with She.


    Matt was torn between feeling hed made zero progress, and seeing massive improvement. When he was dueling the Tier 22, nothing made a difference. She toyed with him while continuously calling out instructions. When he fought training aids or simtions, he performed at apletely different level than he had before.


    His instinctive reactions were being honed, even if it was slightly. He could tell that his predictions of moves were just a hair more urate.


    The training onlysted for two weeks, so the improvements were small, but Matt was feeling good.


    ***


    Liz felt like shit.


    Her boyfriend had all but vanished for thest week and a half, only responding to messages once a day before passing out. Being away from him for so long with nearly zero contact was a new inconvenience, but it was one that she could ept. Although Matt didnt say it out loud, Talous greater melee skills had been a wakeup call for him. She was d that he was working to better himself.


    To her endless annoyance, Talous reaction to their duel wasnt quite as mature. At first, he hounded her to find Matt so he could challenge him to another duel. Liz didn''t need to see the reports of him raging around once he got out of the hospital to know why he was mad.


    He told everyone himself. Loudly.


    At every opportunity, Talous told anyone who would listen about how Matt had cheated in their fight, and if he didnt duel him fairly, he wasn''t a real man.


    Liz found that funny. Matt had zero problems cheating in a fight, and using a trump card wasn''t cheating by any means.


    No, what she minded was Talous taking things personally, and creating a rift in the Pathers Union.


    He and The Princess had contacted all the Kingdoms top Pathers and offered them a better deal. In and of itself, that wouldn''t have been a problem from her perspective. The problem she <em>did </em>have was that their new deal changed the form with which the Pathers general point share was distributed. They halved the one percent that went to everyone and redirected it to the top contributors. Now, the bottom half of the Pathers would get rtively fewer points for their contributions, and the top earners would earn more.


    Talous spun it as a great service to everyone, even the people he was screwing over.


    Few bought it, and there was an outcry about the unfair treatment. But enough of the top Pathers on the Kingdom side were swayed over by the promise of greater earnings, and switched sides. Albert was public about his anger towards the situation, and refused to make simr changes, calling it a greedy mindset. Privately, he seemed pretty pleased with Talous'' changes. The Kingdom was being flooded with requests to switch sides from lower ranked Queendom Pathers and independent crafters.


    Albert and Juni were happy with the trade, as the mass defections were nearly crippling the Queendoms crafting economy. All the independent crafters, still under Alyssas guidance, refused to work with the Queendom. More and more, the Queendom needed to rely on their own crafters, slowing their development ns. On the other hand, with a greater share of the top Tier Pathers, the Queendom forces were now hitting harder per person. Ultimately, the Pather split flipped into a forty sixty split, with the Kingdom having more people but the Queendom having the higher quality troops.


    Liz was still ticked off. Anyone with two brain cells knew that the Queendom was up to something, as they siphoned away a good portion of the Kingdoms above average Pathers. But as days went by, no one made any major moves. The leadership eventually eased back their alertness to normal levels. Eventually, part of her figured that maybe Talous just couldnt handle a loss, and this was his payback. But that seemed too simple and easy of an exnation.


    The truly amusing part, at least to Liz, was that the top fifteen Pather teams on the Kingdom side tly refused to switch. As more mid-tier Pathers defected, the opportunities to earn points increased, and there was lesspetition for the highest spots. Sara tried to sway them with gifts and bribes, but none of them budged from the Kingdoms side.


    Liz was still inundated with work, trying to get all the new people into rooms and fending off assassination attempts. She was only caught unawares once. While walking to a meeting of the Pather Union, a potted nt turned into a person and stabbed her. Fortunately, she was able to twist enough to make it a nonlethal blow.


    She just wished Matt would finish up with his training. His steady presence would make all this stress easier to handle.


    ***


    Luna idled above the neutral city and watched as her newest... <em>challenges</em> worked on improving themselves.


    Liz mostly dealt with politics, while training with her new skills and learning their limitations. That was eptable for the present situation. Her new [Blood Sprites] skill was a surprising and creative addition to her arsenal. She was looking forward to seeing the results during the next siege. Although, she made a note to have Liz work on her control. As devastating as the skill was for her enemies, without proper control, the skill could easily backfire and harm her allies.


    Aster was still dealing with her burgeoning intelligence. Switching back and forth from animal to child. The y dates were helping her settle in, so she crossed that off her binder of to-dos for the little fox. The training with the Ice Wolf was a good call for her. The older canine had even mentioned [Ice Form], and its ability to counteract Winters Embraces shoring of being rooted to one spot. It was always better when information was seeded by others before she needed to step in personally. People tended to be more receptive that way.


    Matt was training in mundane swordy. Not the worst idea, after fighting someone who was actually better than him at it for the first time. She would have found him a better instructor, but She was adequate for his current skill level, so she left it as is.


    No need to interfere too early.


    She <em>had</em> pulled a few strings to get Annie the help she needed with her skill set. Luna recognized the enjoyment that the girl got out performing a perfect assassination. She had seen it before, and those types often went into the deep end without realizing it. The thrill of executing a wless n mutated into the thrill of execution.


    Luna had no problems taking small measures to prevent the birth of a sociopath when it was happening right in front of her.


    So, shed called Victor, one of the Empire''s better assassins. She had no idea what they were calling themselves these days; they always had a new, clever name that she couldn''t be bothered to keep up with. Mechanics, fixers, bureau of adjustments, and the like. They were state sanctioned killers who operated in the shadows. Who cared what they called themselves?


    Still, Victor seemed very pleased with the girl. When Annie fell off The Path, Luna was sure that he would quickly be there to recruit her. Victor had even admitted to thinking about stalling the sisters so they would fall off the Path and he could get her early. But Luna justughed at him and told him that if he wanted to train the girl sooner, he should just be a part of the twins management team at Tier 10. If he didnt, someone else would take the reins on Annies training.


    He grumbled, but Luna knew that hed take her warning seriously. Hed already started gently pushing Annie into specialized therapy, which she agreed with. Better to head these issues off now, before they grow to be a bigger problem. An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of a cure.


    The other two were each honing their skills, but it was mundane. Her charges had lucked into an interesting bunch of Pathers, but her team was usually <em>so</em> much more interesting. Now, Luna was bored. The days were turning into weeks with nothing new happening. After rechecking her training notes for the 9,234th time, she checked on her charges with her spiritual sense.


    Again.


    Liz was still politicking, so she tuned that mostly out, while watching Matt get toyed with by the little girl. At least that was mildly entertaining, so she settled in to watch.


    ***


    Matt heaved on all fours while he spat out shards of a tooth and phlegm-filled blood.


    She stood over him with a presence that belied her physical size. I told you to keep your guard up.


    He just nodded. As always, shed warned him exactly twice before she broke something. Grunting, he forced himself back to his feet, to an approving smirk from his instructor.


    Again. The words were agony to spit out, but they earned a nod, which was enough.


    Matt blocked two strikes beforeshing out for a probing strike, only to have it blocked casually.


    She''s follow-up strike was aimed at his jaw again, but he kept hisposure this time, and deflected the de off of his own. He stepped forward and around her, attacking her less protected side.


    But she was already gone. His instructor had mirrored his step forward with her own, and swung at Matts back with her smaller longsword.


    Matt barely managed to raise his own sword up in time. The worst part was, she didn''t even consider herself good in longsword techniques. As much as it rankled, it rang true. Inparison to her skill with a short sword, She was almost <em>bad</em> with her longsword. But only inparison to her skills with a shortsword.


    With the shorter de in hand, it didn''t matter what her opponents did. She danced through them, rending flesh with every twist and turn.


    Regardless, she was still more than good enough to teach Matt about every weapon he could ask for help with. Even about his longsword.


    Only two days were spent training with other weapons. Blunt weapons and axes were the focus, as they covered enough of the damage types that his longsword couldn''t.


    She also questioned why he was walking the line between longsword and greatsword. It was an unusual line to walk for a swordsman. With his height and reach, hisfortable de length for any weapon was longer than most. So, he told her how he had to make do with a cheaper weapon at the yPen, and adapted to it. Then, there was the addition of being stronger than most at his Tier, which changed his style further. She listened quietly through his exnation and just nodded along. Seeing that it worked for him, she encouraged him to stay the course and create his own style.


    While breaking for a quick meal, Matt worked up the courage to ask her why she was even there. That question had been bugging him. She was a good instructor; too good to be babysitting Tier 6s. He was sure that she could have sold her skills instead of joining the army.


    Sheughed at him. I''m doing a three century tour with the army to pay for a straight shot of rift locations and spots to Tier 35. Fastest way to advance.


    Surely a noble or a guild would have gotten you the slots?


    She scoffed at that reply. If I wanted to sign my life away, sure. For a deal that big, I''d be given an incredibly strict contract with exit uses I could never afford to pay. It would keep me leashed to them forever. The bigger the reward, the stronger they bind you to them. With the army, at least I can pay them upfront and owe them nothing when it''s over. Most of the time, it''s easy. I train the troops who want or need help in betweenbat missions. Matty boy, if you fall off the Path, make sure you don''t sign anything without reading the contract over well. Pay awyer if you can. Everything has to be in innguage, but that doesn''t mean youll understand the implications of every phrase.


    Matt just nodded, remembering the contracts he looked over after first receiving the detrimental rating for his Talent. While the contracts were on the surface easy to understand, there were enough ambiguities that made Matt nervous.


    Why do this then? Matt waved around at the training room and himself.


    Ha. This makes me more than training some noble brat. The Empire offers tax breaks to anyone who trains kids on the Path, and your contribution points also turn into 5,000 army merit points. For two weeks of doing chores away from baby sitting duty, thats pretty decent remuneration. So, I get to pay half the taxes for one year of my choosing, per lesson I teach. Itll save me an assload if I do it when I''m advancing.


    She popped back to her feet, and with a wave, the trays of food vanished.


    Alright, I want you to run simtion seventeen, but this time, every kill needs to be with a single blow.


    Matt readed his de and linked his AI with the simtion room as he walked into it.


    ***


    Matt, Liz, and Aster sat curled up in Melindas suite, having finished watching a movie with the other team, when Matt noticed the orbs in their hands.


    Is that an essence stone?


    They looked baffled at his question, but Sam, who was closest to their love seat, extended it with two fingers. Yeah. Haven''t you been using them?


    Matt turned to Liz, who turned to Aster, who just turned back at Matt. None of them had any idea.


    No. Where did you get them?


    Kyle slumped forward. Dude, theyre five points apiece on the shop. How have you not seen them?


    Matt flushed slightly as he realized what might have happened. Well, I mostly sort by cost from highest to lowest.


    That earned him a round of boos from the team. Tara even threw a piece of popcorn at him, which Aster snapped up. He patted her for her rigorous defense of his person, but she was more interested in getting more of the popcorn from Tara, and left to join her.


    Melinda stared at them. So you just haven''t advanced at all in thest four months or so?


    Not really. Matt shrugged, with Liz looking just as embarrassed.


    Vinnie flipped them off, saying with a teasing tone, Must be nice to be <em>that</em> far ahead of the curve. Kicking his feet up, he asked in his normal voice, Haven''t you seen your teammates using them?


    Liz shook her head. Theyre peak Tier 6, so they had no need either. I just kinda figured that stalling a bit was a part of the whole war game. None of the books I read mentioned anything about it.


    Matt could already see the nasty letters shed be writing to the authors of all the Pather war books she had read. What a detail to leave out.


    Mathew leaned forward, showing off the little orb in his hand. The ship''s captain we were transported here with said that theres a secret in these. None of us have found anything yet, but it''s fun to look for while we advance.


    Matt looked down in question. In the corner of his eye, he saw Liz doing the same. Neither of them had any idea what secret he was talking about.


    Who said this? And have you looked it up anywhere? Liz hesitantly probed.


    Melinda nodded. The ship captain. And we did, but we only found rumors, nothing concrete. Figured it was a secret.


    Liz pushed off Matts shoulder to sit herself up. I''ve never heard that one. And I feel like that would be something my parents would have mentioned. Or at least not be able to keep a secret. Even my siblings, for that matter.


    Matt nodded along, but froze as Kyle asked, Why would they know?


    Next to him, Liz tensed, but only for an instant. He was about to make an excuse for her, but she sighed and said, It''s dumb to hide this. You shared your secrets with me. I should reciprocate. My parents are Leon and Mara, the two royals.


    Her words took a few seconds to register, but everyones faces started melting into shock. With one exception; Melinda simply bounced around. Ohhhh! That exins the double princess nickname! I thought it was just a weird pet name, or inside joke, but thats sooo much funnier!


    Liz spun and red at Matt. She poked him in the ribs, You said that in front of her? You''re such a butt!


    Matt had to think back, but he <em>had</em> teased her about the double princess having golden armor in front of Melinda. He hadn''t even thought about that.


    Tara interrupted them. Wait, wait, wait... Youre the daughter of two Tier... I don''t even know... Her eyes flicked to the right. Two Tier 48s. Holy shit. Forty-fucking-eight. Two of them. That''s crazy! Why are you even on The Path?


    Liz pointed back at Tara. That is exactly why. I didn''t choose my parents. I don''t want everyone thinking all of my aplishmentse from them. It sucks to be under their shadow. Or having people always trying to be my friend so they can cozy up to them. Nothing ever feels real.


    That sobered up the room, and Tara wilted slightly.


    Melinda brought the conversation back on track. Well, thank you for trusting us.


    Liz just beamed at them all, including Tara. Thank you for being my friend before you knew. I hope it doesn''t change anything, but I don''t like lying to my friends, so I''m happy to have it out in the open.


    Kyle shrugged, Yeah, super parents are cool and all, but I''m way more interested in you being half beast. Does that mean you will have a beast shape? I''m sooo jealous. I''d love to have one. He kicked at the ground slightly. Stupid humans.


    That brought out a round of questions that Liz answered happily. No one seemed to judge her, and when Tara went to go get more drinks, Liz followed her. They came back with smiles; Lizs happy, and Taras relieved. Matt suspected that she apologized for the rude question earlier.


    As his essence stone crumbled to dust, Vinnie finally asked, So theres no secret in these?


    Liz put up her hands. Maybe. But I''ve never heard of it. Doesn''t mean that it doesn''t exist.


    Matt quipped as the thought entered his head, Maybe the captain was trying to keep all of you quiet on the trip.


    Kyle jumped at him and put him in a headlock. Ill show you ''keep quiet on a trip!'' And started to rub his fist into Matt''s head.


    As they devolved into wrestling, the partys mood returned to what it was before Lizs revtion.


    When they finally walked home, Liz was jubnt. They didn''t treat me any differently when I told them.


    She clung to Matt''s arm before bouncing off into a skip and a jump.


    They like me for <em>me</em>! Her shout echoed off the building and was eaten by the mostly empty streets.


    She came back and stole Aster to start a little dance with her as she jumped along.


    Finally, she settled down enough to walk normally next to Matt. Thank you for having great friends to share with me.


    Matt just put an arm around her. What''s mine is yours.


    Liz finished the quiet with a devious grin. And what''s mine is only mine!


    She tried to flee, but he caught her and started tickling her until she corrected herself with a lingering kiss. What''s mine is yours. She pecked his nose before hugging him and saying, You already have my heart. What else is there to give?


    To Matt''s relief, the assassins left them alone to enjoy the walk home. Nothing should have ruined their moment.


    ***


    The war settled down, with each side having taken the easy measures to earn points, and then blocking the other side from doing the same. As the weeks stretched into months, there were norge movements on either side, with only the asional fort exchanging hands. There was also the odd skirmish that turned into arger battle as more people flooded in from each side.


    All in all, thergest thing that happened at the six-month mark was a grand auction.


    The auction was once again held in the same underwater location as before, where they all sat in their auction booths. There were screens disying various scenes of them fighting throughout the months. Nearly everyone had a moment where they shined, and anyone who rated a private box let it show.


    Talous still irritated the hell out of Matt. He hounded him both privately and in public for months about a rematch. To get back at him, Matt widely shared his recording of him nearly cutting the man''s head off. Above their auction booth, it was shown on arge screen, ying on a short loop. There were more dramatic and visually impressive clips that he could have shown from the siege, but none so satisfying to share as Talous execution.


    He''d already received seven threats from the man, and each one brought a petty smile to his face. After everything the jackass put Liz through, he wasn''t above showing off the man''s only death to everyone watching.


    Of course, Talous wasnt one to sit and do nothing in response. He retaliated by having Matt''s single death disyed above the box of the man whod killed him. Considering that Matt was sitting on the top floor now, and that fighter was near the bottom, he didn''t mind. Besides, Matt was pretty proud of that death. It showed him killing two people and beating a third to death while being repeatedly stabbed in the back by a half dozen people.


    The impact wasn''t the same as having a sword shoved through your head in singlebat.


    If the man werent such an asshole, he would have happily epted the duel. Matt had learned a lot with She, but he needed to fight opponents nearer his own level to truly realize his gains. Talous would have been the perfect sparring partner.


    But with how vindictive the man was, and how mad he was about not getting his way, Matt enjoyed refusing the requests all the more.


    He smiled and waved over at the box where he knew Talous was, then chuckled as the man scowled and flipped him the finger.


    They were all rxed in their box; assassinations were strictly forbidden during the auction. Not that it mattered. The attempts hade to a halt after Annie personally and viciously took revenge on anyone who tried to take them out. She didn''t just hunt down anyone who attempted to make a hit on them. She hunted their friends, their family, and their bosses. All without mercy. Each time, she made sure that her victims knew <em>exactly</em> why they were suffering in the slowest and most torturous deaths she could get away with, before the army would step in and extract them. After two weeks of knife-work on her part, the constant attempts on their lives hadpletely stopped.


    Emilys assassin had, very publicly, opted to leave the war right before his two week healing cooldown ended. His nerve had broken after watching his teammates, friends, andmanders end up in the hospital, mutted and screaming for mercy. Each one had carried a message for him from Annie, with promises of his fate toe. This had earned her a title from the Queendom fighters: Cmity Annie.


    At the entire teams insistence, she started seeing a therapist. None of them werefortable with just how far shed been taking the kills. Annie had only acquiesced when her sister confronted her about how hard she was taking Emilys death, and how extreme the level of revenge was.


    Matt could understand Annies feelings, but definitely agreed with the group. Her methods dove a little too far in the revenge category for his taste. At the same time though, she had watched her sister get knifed through the throat for a tiny bounty. That wasnt something hed handle any better, so he could sympathize with her.


    If this wasnt a game with army watchers, Emily could have actually bled out right then and there. As would Anniester victims. There was a good lesson here for the other side; anyone they killed might have loved ones willing to go to extreme lengths for revenge.


    Matt just didn''t want to see his friend lose herself in the shadows.


    Annies attitude improved after some time away from her personal wetwork, particrly with the end of the constant attacks. Here at the auction, they were perfectly safe. The army made it clear that any violence on the auction houses grounds would result in the perpetrators being kicked out of the safety bubbles, and no one would be rescuing them. The only ce people were allowed to fight was the dueling arenas.


    That rule allowed everyone to rx and focus on the auction, which was the entire point. No business wanted their potential customers too afraid to buy things.


    Emily was still bitter about her point loss, but hade to ept it. Her death meant that she only had about 200,000 points from the teams passive gains, along with a few missions, by the time the auction rolled around. However, the rest of the team had offered to help pay for any items or training she wanted, so she wasnt left destitute.


    As item after item passed by the auction block, they mostly ignored them. Prices had skyrocketed with the umted points people now had to spend. Items that went for 5,000 points in the first auction raked in ten or more times their previous value. Other people were still spending their points, but Team Bucket needed little. Their team never left the top five earners, ensuring a good flow of points from the daily stipends. But with theck ofrge movements on the war front, they were unable to save up enough for what they really wantedthe chase items.


    Annie was gazing longingly at the store entry for [Side Slide]. But at a cost of one million points, she was still a ways away. Additionally, she and her sister were aging nearer to twenty-seven as each day passed, pushing them ever closer to needing to Tier up to stay on The Path. The moment they did, the twins would be Tier 7 Pathers, and booted from the war. Having just had their twenty sixth birthdaysst week, they only had a year left.


    Matt made a note to send Annie a [Side Slide] if one ever appeared during his rift experiments. She was a good friend, and the skill would do wonders for her.


    The auction closed out with a gauntlet that increased melee damage. As thatst item was wheeled away, the junior auctioneer in charge of the auction gave a flourish. In his ce,Javier, the Tier 29 representative of Deep Sky Auctions, took the stage.


    Good evening, my friends! Good evening. Today is a special day. He paced around, nodding. Yes, it is. It <em>most certainly</em> is. Today marks the six-month anniversary of the start of this vassal war!


    A slight cheer rose, but Javier waved his arms, prompting the crowd into a roar. Yes, my friends, you have worked hard! You have learned! You have died.


    The crowded hall quieted at that, but Javier just grinned. Around this time, in most such wars, things tend to be slowing down to a grind. To help push past this, the Empire likes to provide a little extra encouragement. For the fighters on the ground, there are new rewards in the contribution points shop! Next month, even more new surprises will appear in the auction house. Im sure they will interest a great many of you. As for your daring leaders...


    He waved, and both Sara and Albert were highlighted with orbs of light that raced from his hand. To the two young generals of the war, the Empire offers these....


    On the podium next to him, two Shards of Reality sparkled into existence on a plush cushion. Two perfectly preserved Shards of Reality. For those that dont know, these are the echo of an Ascension, preserved forter use. Anyone who cultivates under their influence is all but guaranteed to form at least part of their own Concept.


    At the murmurs of appreciation, he nodded. But that is not all! Not remotely. We will also provide the chambers needed to ensure that the maximum benefit is squeezed out of them. This is a rare treat! Yes indeed! Shards of Reality are not cheap. No, they are not! Ascensions are rare, and Shards of Reality do notst forever, no matter how much we may wish for it. But the Empire has purchased a few just for this vassal war.


    Javier nodded at the two rulers as he said, Just ask the King and Queen. I''m sure they tried to purchase one, but only a thousand or so are produced per Ascension, and theyre quickly snatched up by those there. These treasures are not easy to get your hands on.


    Both royals nodded in affirmation at the man''s words, but they didn''t look particrly interested. On the other hand, both Albert and Sara stared at the two shards like ravenous wolves being held back by sheer will.


    What is required of my young friends to earn these prizes? Now that is the question, isn''t it?


    He grinned. Simple! Just fight. Move your troops and make progress. When each side earns twenty million points from <em>new, active </em>sources, these are yours. Send your people out to raid! Send them out to take a city! Prevent a city from being taken! You simply must <em>do</em>!


    Matt grinned as well. This meant that things were going to kick back off, which meant more chances to earn points. Thesest three months had been far too slow for his taste.


    Javier turned as if to leave, before pausing and adding, Oh! I almost forgot about these beauties in all the excitement. The two royal rewards, the staff and the gauntlet, shed into ce on either side of him. The two grand prizes for the benevolent rulers!


    He disyed what Matt could only call a predatory smile. Each respective side is just under halfway to earning these trophies for their monarchs.


    With that, both he and the items poofed away. The Queen simply ced a hand on Saras forearm, but the King turned his head towards his son like a loaded cannon ready to fire. Both of their reactions were still visible on the projection. The look aimed at Albert was borderline hostile. That face held more than simple, naked greed; there was a rabid hunger there that made Matt shiver.


    Matt opened and flipped through the new additions to the contribution point shop, still sorting them from most to least expensive by default. The first item he saw froze him solid. Tier 14 upgrade orbs were avable for the low cost of half a million points. They were limited to one per person, and only fifty total for sale. A minuscule number for the millions of people participating in the war.


    He couldnt believe his eyes. A lot of contradictory things was said about these orbs, but one thing known for certain was that they were incredibly rare rift drops. Luckily, the store description provided more information directly from the Empire. The Tier 14 upgrade orbs only dropped from Tier 14 to 25 rifts, and could upgrade any Tier 8 or Tier 14 skills to improve them.


    They appeared every two ranks of skill shard drops, and were able to upgrade any skill at an appropriate Tier or equivalent once. Each upgrade used made the Skill eligible for the next avable Tier of upgrade orb too. So a Tier 8 skill like [Cracked Phantom Armor] could be upgraded up to four times. First with a Tier 14 upgrade orb, then with a Tier 26, then a Tier 38, and finally with the theoretical Tier 50 upgrade orbs.


    The level types of the orb were only theoretical, because there were no Tier 50 rifts to delve, and thus no Tier 50 rewards to earn. If previous trends held, the Tier 38 upgrade orbs were dropped until Tier 49. But the Empires highest rift was only Tier 47, so there was no way to know for sure.


    Matt was close. With the passive points he had earned from being in a top five team, he was sitting on about 450,000 points. But if he was so close, that meant others would be too.


    Even as he was looking, the number avable dropped to forty seven, a gut wrenching decrease that spoke volumes for how fast they would disappear.


    Using the reference provided in the store description, he quickly researched how upgraded orbs affected cracked skills, and checked the mostmon upgrades for [Phantom Armor].


    Cracked skills could be upgraded, but didn''t have set rules they followed like standard skills. Their upgrades were far more varied, and hard to precisely predict. Generally though, the upgrade would somehow parallel one of the upgrades avable to the base skill.


    [Phantom Armor] was a historically popr choice, with a single, well-established upgrade. The first orb always granted the ability to store a second distinct charge in the skill, which gave the user the chance of blocking up to two life-threatening attacks in one fight.


    Matt wasn''t sure what that would mean for [Cracked Phantom Armor].The upgrade could range from something that forced him to reset his entire fighting style, to something that made him invincible. There was just no way to tell beforehand.


    Even with risk in the randomness, he salivated at the thought of upgrading it.


    As the group headed to the dining hall, Matt checked the known upgrades for the rest of his skills, to cover his bases.


    [Mages Retreat] added arge increase to running speed. The skills name was actually derived from this upgrade. At one point, an infamous mage demonstrated this upgrade so thoroughly and effectively, it was widely ressified as an escape skill for spellcasters. Matt passed on that for now.


    [Endurance] simply helped enhance the body''s physical fitness while in use. The user could get a work out simply by channeling mana into it. No other effort needed. The effects were permanent, but not something Matt needed, so he put it to the side as well. He already went to the gym and enjoyed it. Getting fit through a spell wasn''t on his radar of needs.


    [Hail] was a weird one, with a trio of possible upgrade paths. But Matt couldn''t find any information on how to choose, or if you even could. Two of the options were particrlymon though. The first made the chunks of ice sticky, causing them to bind to an opponent and slow them down as the weight of the ice chunks gradually built up on them. The second made it so the shards of ice contained pockets of hyper-cooled liquid water, and would rupture on impact. It would soak the target in freezing water and cause severe frostbite. A third and much rarer upgrade made the hail des sharper, and interspersed the storm with massive chunks of ice. However, it would lower the diameter of the spell.


    One excelled at crowd control, the other increased the cold damage, and thest upgrade made the skill great against unarmored opponents. The first two were interesting, and possibly very useful for Aster. None of them were anything that Matt particrly cared about more than boosting [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    [Fireball] had an increased range, damage, and explosion size on impact. That was more tempting, but still not amazing for Matt as he currently stood. He intended to eventually rece the [Fireball] in his spirit anyway, once he had enough mana to afford a version with the increased base cost and damage. It would outpace the lowered cost version he had now by miles.


    [methrower]''s upgrade made Matt pause in deliberation. It increased the fire damage a little, but more importantly, it changed the nature of the fire. The skills output gained the quality of a sticky, ming liquid that lingered on anything it touched, and could be spread on contact. Now that was a nice upgrade that Matt could see a million uses for.


    Matt warred with himself over the options. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was his primary skill that had taken him so far, but the cracked nature made it a risky and random choice. The improved [methrower] would be a solid, immediately useful, all-around upgrade. The fact that he intended to shift to a more mage-like style just made the decision more difficult. [methrower] was a short-to-mid-range skill that he wasn''t willing to use without [Cracked Phantom Armor] anyway.


    He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and enjoyed his floating dinner with his friends. There was no point stressing over it until he had the points anyway. He would talk it over with Liz and Aster as well. This was a big purchase that could affect them as well.


    He added the rest of Team Bucket into the conversation. With the uing push, he was sure they could all afford it sooner than most.

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95


    The action immediately picked up when the auction officially ended. Matt was pretty sure that the Prince and Princess didn''t stick around long enough for the smaller side auctions to end or the banquet. They quickly flew out of the bubble and started getting things ready.


    Team bucket didn''t linger either, but they didn''t exactly rush out the door. Once they finished their meal, they left at their own pace.


    None of them thought that the fighting would start immediately. But their assumption was incorrect. Both sides had already sent out teams to take forts through any means necessary. Matt figured that would be it for the first day, but both sides were emptying the outlying cities to mass troops in a pretty transparent attempt to take new cities.


    They were going to rush into the fray, but as soon as they surfaced, a warning went out.


    Assassins were out in full force, attacking anyone suspected to have arge amount of points. At first, they thought the attacks were all sanctioned hits. But it was soon confirmed to be opportunistic Pathers trying to remove points from the general point pool and collect bounties. The upgrade orbs and the rumored auction next month were surely motives for the attempts. They all wanted to ensure that they had a greater chance at the more expensive items. No matter their motives, their pursuits were causing a ruckus.


    No one targeted them in the time it took to make it to their rooms, but they were all on high alert. A quick message to Juni registered the team as ready for new missions, and they immediately received a standby order.


    Liz started pacing. The upgrade orbs and the promise of new items appearing in the auction are going to cause a fucking disaster.


    Conor rubbed his hands together with a hungry look on his face. Upgrading [Demon Zone] increases the likelihood to trigger the reflected damage, and the percentage of damage reflected increases while upping the range. It''s just too perfect for me. And I''m so close.


    Therge man paused. Well there is the chance that the skill will get the rarer upgrade that increases attack speed with each sessful reflection of damage, along with an increase in area of effect size. But thats so rare, I highly doubt Ill get it.


    Everyone nodded. Matt felt the same way. He was only 50,000 points away from the orb, which could mean quite a significant change in his fighting style.


    Liz, chimed in from next to Conor. Same. My maniption skill gets cheaper and easier to use. That alone would be worth the price. Otherwise, I have no idea what my skill would turn into after my Talent goes into effect. But that one should be safe enough.


    Liz nodded to Conor. Granted, any maniption skill can be upgraded so it''s instinctive to use, just like a limb. Zero effort required to direct it. That would be great, but thats like one in a trillion. Theyre more well documented rumors than anything else. Theres tons of theories about ways people have changed their skills into Talents, but Talent scanners havent figured out how to predict it. Like I said, everyone is searching for the secret to recreating the unique upgrades, but no one has found it.


    Annie shrugged. It''s not like were banking on that effect anyway. What are you thinking of using it on Matt?


    Everyone looked to Matt, who said, I could risk it on my innate skill He meant [Cracked Phantom Armor], as he was still lying that it was a Talent. It was a slight, sudden change to his story, from a Talent to an innate skill. But it was one he hoped they overlooked. Although, he was getting tired of lying to his friends about it. But that could backfire, since it''s a cracked skill. I honestly have no idea what it could turn into. I also have [methrower], and that upgrade is amazing without the risk. Honestly, I don''t know which I would choose, but it would be a worthwhile investment either way.


    They all turned to Annie, who wiggled her hand back and forth. Not sure if I really need it. It would be better for me to save up. My skills are less magical and more mundane for the most part. If I could get [Side Slide] <em>and</em> the upgrade orb, it would be great. But as of now, I dont really need the orb on its own.


    Matt agreed with her logic. The orb would be nice for her, but it wasnt as vital for her as for the others.


    Everyone turned to Emily, who nodded to her sister. It would be great for [Bolt], but the upgrade only slightly increases base damage, and adds the ability to jump to more targets. If I use it on [Cracked Mana Bolt], it might let me get more aspects, or maybe give me the ability to choose. But I really cant be sure since the upgrade for the base skill only increases damage and range. Its such a gamble with a cracked skill. The upgrades would be nice, but I''m so far away right now, I doubt I''d get an orb before theyre all gone. Her eyes flickered off to the side before she said, Theyre already down to thirty-one.


    Checking for himself, Matt saw the counter on avable upgrade orbs and verified what his teammate said. It was a heartbreaking realization, but Conor put a voice to the frustration and started cursing out loud.


    Matt clenched his fist. The precious orbs were just going too quickly.


    He was so wrapped up in his thought he missed the looks Annie and Emily passed to each other. He didn''t miss what the twins said afterwards.


    Take the points you three need from us.


    You already gave me points once. I''m happy to return the favor.


    It took him a long moment to register what they had said.


    He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was just toorge of a favor for him to ept, but it was too valuable to decline.


    Matt felt frozen in limbo from indecision.


    Conor wasn''t so afflicted. We can''t take that. It''s too much.


    Annie rolled her eyes. Just take it. We know youre all able to pay us back. We don''t need the orbs, but with them, the whole team will be stronger. If you three are stronger, <em>we</em> can earn more points. I''m sure this is exactly what the other teams are doing. Besides, were friends.


    Thatst bit sounded so simple, but it wasn''t.


    Liz slowly shook her head. I''m not sure what to say. It''s a lot more points than the few thousand points we gave you. I...


    Emily waved her off. It was arger percentage of your points. Just take it. Seeing their reluctance, she said, I still want an orb, so if we can pool our points together to get me one after the next few engagements, I''d call that repaying the favor. if it makes you feel any better. We just think that our team could use the upgrades now.


    Annie jumped in. We already agreed to pool our points if we needed to in the auction, so this is really no different. Dont be weird just because youre on the receiving end.


    That seemed fair enough to Matt. He checked Aster''s point total and saw that she was at 230,936 points. Where exactly she had been spending her points he didn''t know, but while the others bickered, he impressed on the fox through their bond that she should save up her points. Getting her an upgrade orb now would be incredibly useful, even if she didn''t use it right away.


    He tuned back into the conversation after Emily called his name twice. He rejoined the world of the living while she rolled her eyes. Ugh. How many points do each of you need?


    Matt checked. He needed 47,291 to reach the half-million marker. I cant thank you enough. Ill take it if you insist, but just know that we can do this without the upgrade orbs.


    Seeing both twins wave him down, he imprinted this favor into his heart and said, I need 47,291 points to buy the orb.


    A heartbeatter, Emily flicked a finger at him, and he received 47,292 points. He now understood why Emily had been so grateful when they gave her the points she needed at the first auction.


    She grinned. One extra, just in case you die right here and now.


    Matt clenched his fist and carved their generosity deep into his memory. He knew they weren''t doing it for favors to be traded, but he was determined to repay both for their friendship, trust, and generosity.


    Conor nodded slightly at Matt before half bowing at the twins. Same as Matt. I am incredibly grateful for this. Since you both have made up your minds, I won''t hesitate anymore. Just... thank you. I need 71,013 points to buy the orb.


    As Annie repeated her sister''s gesture of point transfer, and Conor whispered another thanks.


    Everyone looked to Liz, who flushed and said, I need 91 points.


    What!? Everyone eximed in some fashion.


    Matt actually couldn''t see Lizs point total. After all, they were dating, not actually married, so some things were restricted. He could ask, and she could send him an updated number, but neither bothered with that.


    Liz''s blush deepened to a crimson as she sputtered, I never made anyrge purchases besides my two skills, and I get a stipend for doing most of the actual leading of the Pathers. So I have a bit more points left over. I was just going to borrow what I needed from Aster.


    His fox yipped a response at Liz, who blew a raspberry at her in return.


    Emily flicked a finger at Liz and quipped, Here''s 100 points. Keep the change.


    The three of them quickly purchased the orbs. In under a second, three ck boxes with silver ribbons tying them shut hovered in front of them. Matt plucked the box out of the air, but immediately stumbled at the unexpected weight.


    A quick scan with his spiritual sense revealed why the box was so heavy. Both the box and its contents were Tier 14. Matt activated [Mages Retreat] to control his stumble. He barelynded in the chair with the heavy object pressing down hisp.


    Liz and Conor learned from his fumble, and just removed the lids of the floating boxes. The covers floated next to the box as if that was their intention.


    Matt flicked his box open with some effort. Nestled in the ck, silk-like cloth was a thumb-sized orb of silver, with pulsing streaks of ck running through it.


    It was much smaller than he expected.


    He picked up the little orb and marveled at its weight. The box and its lid vanished, presumably back to where they hade from.


    With a trickle of essence he still had from an essence stone hed recently used, Matt connected to the orb in his hand.


    Unlike a skill, this object vanished into nothing. But he felt the change immediately in his spirit. There was no cycling needed. A new kind of energy was sitting in his spirit, waiting for direction and eager to be used.


    Matt reviewed his choices, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] won out in the end, despite the risks. [methrower] was handy, but he didn''t need the upgrade when he could simply keep the heat on his opponent endlessly. After all, upgrades were rarely bad for cracked skills. From everything he had heard and read, the upgrade would be a neutral at worst.


    He expected some sort of significant change, but no. There was a brief rush of energy that wrapped up his first and most important skill, and then the change was over. The whole ordeal was done in an instant.


    With fear building, he inspected the skill and found that there were no immediate changes. Focusing in further, it almost seemed as if there was a second copy of the skill, situated in the same ce as [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He attempted to move his skill, but the original skill structure and the other copy moved in unison.


    With trepidation and a hammering heart, he poured mana into the skill. Everything functioned as normal. He searched around himself to see if anything else changed, but he couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary. His armor was its usual, smooth light blue. Meanwhile, the second, illusionary copy of the skill structure was still sitting there, untouched.


    Carefully, he poured more mana into the skill, to the point where it would typically start to overload its structure. The mana was instead redirected to the illusionary copy of the skill. Matt inspected himself as he put his remaining 34 MPS into the other side of [Cracked Phantom Armor]. His AI took thest bit of mana to analyze and record everything that he was doing.


    Nothing hurt, or warned him of impending doom, so he inspected his arms a second time.


    The changes were distinct.


    His armor had thickened, and changed from its simple, smooth design to add an borate filigree that lightly lined his armor. He twisted his hands, marveling at the thicker gauntlets, and at his idle thought, all of the extra armor flowed to his fist. Both gauntlets grew incredibly detailed, and the ting became more dense as he focused on the area.


    All of the extra decorations glided from the rest of his armor to fill out the gauntlets. It was almost overly detailed when it was finished. He was worried that the ridges would give enemy des purchase, but they were just a slightly different color of mana, instead of actual engraving.


    Huh...


    Everyone was looking at him, so he shrugged. The skill seemed to grow a secondyer thats really easy to shape.


    With a thought, he imagined a shield connected to his left arm, and the secondyer of armor rushed to create the image. The mana around his left hand simply traveled from his fist to his forearm, creating a ghostly image of the medium kite shield he had imagined. The mana from his right hand crossed his chest before filling in the armor and making it more solid. It was harder to hold this shape than the gauntlets, which were almost natural. From a little testing, he discovered that the farther away from his body or maybe the original [Cracked Phantom Armor]yer the harder it was to keep the shape of the image in his head. Even when just six inches away, the skill started growing slightly hazy.


    As his thoughts drifted off, the shield fell apart.


    Interesting.


    An exacerbated Liz hollered, What!? Give us the details!


    Matt didn''t have them to share. So as he tested and confirmed his hypothesis, he said, It seems like another channel for my skill. Its default state bulks up the armor all over. But if I concentrate, I can make the secondyer reinforce one area in particr.


    He met Lizs eyes with his own. Hey, can you stab me, please? I want to test it.


    A tendril of blood rose up, and Matt could feel that it was full of Lizs Concept. The darker tinge spoke to her using the blood iron as well, "Sure, my initial mana cost is lower so I didn''t get lucky it seems." She didn''t seem upset at that at all as she nearly vibrated as she couldn''t stand still.


    He stopped sending mana into the second channel, and the extra mass of the armor vanished into nothing.


    Liz carefully drove her blood tendril into his armor until she broke through.


    Ok, I know how much that took. Feels about normal. I didn''t notice it being harder than before.


    Matt reformed the skill, but added the rest of his mana regeneration into the other channel. With 45 MPS in the original skill, he sent the rest of his 80 MPS into the secondyer, and let it settle naturally in the full body armor configuration.


    Liz tried to drive into the skill, but he could see the visible effort it took her. She finally broke through with a grunt, and the outeryer of his armor shattered in his spirit. It only took her a moment to then drive through the normal armor underneath.


    Matt checked what his AI registered and nodded at Liz.


    She inspected his unarmored arm for wounds before finding none. She said, That was about twenty-five percent stronger. Or it took twenty-five percent more effort for me to break through.


    With [Cracked Phantom Armor] having settled down in his spirit, Matt reformed both spells and then redirected the entire secondyer of the skill to cover his forearm, where Liz was testing.


    Liz had to bring considerably more effort to break his armor, even leaning into the attack while directing her blood with a hand.


    Finally, the skill shattered when Matt felt her do something different. He flinched out of the way as a drill of blood shed past his quickly broken inner armoryer.


    She quickly stood straight and nodded to Matt, with everyone else watching. That was the hardest I can hit and I had to use a drill to get through it.


    A private message reached him. I had to use my full Concept to break through the thickeryer. Can you keep that up all the time? I was breaking Tier 7 defenses at Tier 5. I''d call that top quality Tier 8 armor if it''s all concentrated.


    Matt thought out loud. Nope, can''t manage that. Too expensive. That eats everything I have. It takes a lot of focus too.


    Conor gave him an evil grin. Nice. Now we can just stand there and beat anyone whoes to challenge us.


    Therge man hugged Annie then Emily in quick session as he thanked each of them again.


    Matt nodded to them as well, but was thinking more internally. The upgrade wasn''t his worst fear; [Cracked Phantom Armor] still functioned as a pseudo-channel skill, and was fundamentally unchanged. But its direct application right now was limited. If he wanted to use the skill, he would need to drop every other spell to use it. That meant no [Endurance] or [Mages Retreat] to increase hisbat ability.


    The ability to manipte the skill so easily was great, but it didn''t seem to transfer to the original skill. The firstyer felt firmly anchored to his body. Whereas the secondyer felt loosely anchored to the mana of theyer below it.


    With that thought, he reactivated the skill and tried to create his spiked gauntlets with his newyer of armor. It tly refused to form the spikes. In a panic, he tried to create them with his standardyer of armor, and they formed as quickly as before. Then, and only then, would the secondyer cover the spikes, lengthening them a hair. It was still far less than the changes he could do when making it a shield.


    That was an interesting limitation, but not one that bothered him a ton. He continued to test the new portion of his skill, but anything that wasnt strictly armor was impossible to create. Considering that the skill was called [Cracked Phantom <em>Armor</em>], he wasn''t surprised. But it would have been nice to have a backup weapon that couldnt be taken away or stolen.


    Still, having a shield that couldn''t be stolen and didn''t need to be stored could be useful. He wondered if it would fulfill the requirements for a skill that needed a shield, like [Shield Charge] or [Shield Bash]. It would be quite handy if it did.


    His second test was a simple one that didn''t work. He was unable to activate the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] without putting at least 1 MPS into the baseyer. At the same time, the amount of mana he fed into the bottom skill was apparently the max he could channel into the secondyer. It was another interesting limitation that unfortunately prevented him from gaming the system, as it seemed that the secondyer of armor was directly tied to the first.


    All in all, Matt was happy with the upgrade. It added further defense at only the cost of more mana. While just increasing the overall effect of [Cracked Phantom Armor] would have been simpler and cleaner, he was pretty sure that this would allow the skill scale with him even more. The secondyer was far less mana efficient in terms of pure defense, but the increased flexibility made the skill more adaptable. It was a worthy tradeoff. Eventually, he would have millions and trillions of mana generation, which meant that taking twice the mana was a great long-term upgrade. It was just somewhat less useful in the short term.


    Hed still need to focus on increasing the mana throughput on the skill, but it wasn''t anything new. He worked on that every day.


    The only problem was that his current maximum mana was only at 80, so he only had 80 MPS to spend on channeled skills and his AI. When he Tiered up, he''d double that. But as of now, he had more skills than he could afford to keep up at once.


    Realizing that he wasining about having too many skills, Mattughed at himself. Most people were happy to have a single skill or two at Tier 6, and he wasining that he didn''t have enough mana to power all the skills he had.


    He rubbed his face with a self-deprecating smile.


    Idly, he checked the number of upgrade orbs left. Twenty-six. He peered at the twins, who smiled and chatted with the other three as he tested his armor.


    He owed them. Massively.


    ***


    That evening, they were called to martial up, but not through their AI. Instead, they were summoned in person by a nervous looking aid. They asked Team Bucket to assemble with everyone else. Over the course of an hour, the team and nearly a million others were funneled through the teleporter, and into arge fortress on one of the other continents.


    During their down time, Matt and the other fast flyers were asked to scout the area. This was one of the few newrge forts that the Kingdom had managed to hold on to from their mass invasion into Queendom territory in retaliation for the first city''s capture.


    They were actually closer to the second city that the Queendom had taken. It was therger of the two cities situated on this continent, and the Queendom had made their headquarters, as it held the intercontinental teleporter linked back to their main holdings.


    Matt didn''t see much of anything during his time scouting; neither enemies, nor anything else out of the ordinary.


    Their intention to hit a less prepared city was for naught. They had been flying for most of the afternoon in a loose formation, and their scouts reported that the first small fort they were meant to engage was already garrisoned and on alert. Not only that, but a million extra troops were spread out around the base of the fort too, positioned well inside the anti-flying formation.


    For what must have been the third time in thest hour, stair, the top general for this mission, stood around with his own entourage of people and nodded towards the enemies. What are we going to do about them? Suggestions?


    Matt suspected he was only in charge because his father was a Kingdom Duke, and that his two aides were the real brains of the operation. Finding an equally sized force shouldn''t have stumped the man this much.


    With each side fielding massive armies and sending them to cause mayhem and destruction, Matt hadn''t expected this to be easy. From the reportsing in, the Queendom was already trying to invade Kingdom territories and attack a city of their own. If the Kingdom could anticipate that move and set up blocking forces, there was no reason that the Queendom couldn''t as well.


    One of the aides, Philip, said, I see zero reasons why we should fight this battle. There arent even any notable strategic assets in the area. We just need to go around them and clear a path to the city we were supposed to attack.


    Olivia countered his point. No, we need to weaken the enemy troops now. That alone would be worthwhile. Remember, were here to siege a city down, but theyre probably nning to do the same. If we don''t engage them now, they wont simply disappear. Best case scenario, they march on one of our cities that can hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive. But most likely, theyll ambush our supply lines, nk us in the middle of the siege, and then partially reinforce the city. That would be utterly disastrous for us. The Princess might be desperate for new gains, but only a <em>short-sighted idiot</em> would pass up such an easy opportunity to decimate the enemy like that.


    Olivia sighed as she rubbed her brow under her helmet. Were it not for The Princes <em>very firm</em> directive to not concern ourselves with reinforcing the cities, Id say that this should be our n too. Either way, convention states that every potential defender we kill here will be worth three of our attackers during a siege. Let''s take the opportunity to cull their forces now, in the open, before they have surprise on their side or walls to hide behind.


    Phillip tried to counter what Matt felt like was a good point. Yes, but were only the first million of several waves of troops on the way. Were meant to clear a path, not get bogged down with a battle against a random small fort that we couldve bypassed.


    Matt just watched the mass of Queendom troops with a careful eye. They sat there, but something felt off about their movements around the top of the hill. He just couldn''t pin down what was bothering him about it.


    He wasn''t alone in noticing. stair interrupted the squabbling aids and said, What are they doing? Does anyone have binocrs? I don''t like the way theyre mucking about.


    The loose formation had been shifting around in seemingly random patterns, but it was too smoothly coordinated to truly be haphazard.


    A minute and a halfter, the long barreled mana cannons were revealed.


    Take cover! The scream echoed half a dozen times, but even as everyone scattered, it was toote.


    Matt tackled Liz and activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], putting everything into the skill and covering his back. Liz didnt sit on her ass either, and a bubble of blood surrounded them. For a moment, the evening sun went dark.


    Until the mana cannon shotsnded.


    The world lit up in bluish-white, even overpowering the deep crimson of the blood wall. Despite having his eyes squeezed shut, he could make out the color clearly.


    <em>Well, I cant say I like being on the other side of a mana cannon</em>.


    Matt looked around himself and breathed into Lizs face.


    After a second of silence, she asked, Think it''s safe?


    He shook his head. It was more instinct, but he expected a second volley.


    Liz repeated her question, and he realized that she couldn''t see him, and must not have been using her special sense. So, he repeated himself. Not yet. My gut tells me there''s another volley on the way.


    Thirty agonizing secondster, he was proven right. Another all-consuming sh and world-rocking explosion washed through the area around them.


    Instantly, Liz deactivated the dome around them, and they scrambled up to their feet. He had been monitoring his AI, and the rest of their team was fine, still where they had been with the general troops.


    Themand area was a crater, sted ruin of holes and smoke.


    Things had gone to shit with most of the leadership decimated, and the general troops had rushed forward. To his bewilderment, they were charging on foot.


    They were in an anti-flying formation from the nearby small fort, but he had no idea why they would just rush into the enemy army after their leadership had been taken out so quickly. It would have been far better to pull back out of range and formte an actual n. Now, the best move was trying to instill some fragment of order back into the chaos.


    When no mid-levelmander responded to his messages, he had to give up and face reality. There was little else left but to simply throw himself into the fray and find his team.


    Matt barreled into the front line with a roar and a torrent of fire that roasted half a dozen people as they cooked inside of their armor.


    Still trying to keep his cover, he cut the spell once he cleared a hole in the defender''s shield wall.


    Half a dozen people followed him into the gap and started to hack and sh, before enemy reinforcements tried to close the breach and push them back. The Tier 6 defenders were led by a Tier 7 who engaged with another giant of a Tier 7 on Matt''s side.


    After they were forced back out, Matt traveled along the frontline to find his team. Liz had be separated from him at some point, but he had no idea when. Nheless, all six members of Team Bucket had responded to the situation in the same way. They rampaged their way to the front lines, causing massive damage, and eventually found each other. Conor and Matt reunited first, and converged to create and hold a zone of death that none dared to enter.


    The upgrade for [Demon Zone] was a massive improvement. The general reflection chance had doubled to three percent. Now, everyone in the area took an unexpected and unblockable attack once every thirty or so hits. Considering that the range was now close to ten feet to a side, the skill was able to hold down a significant number of attackers.


    The twins appeared behind their position, with Emily carrying Aster in her backpack. Momentster, Liz joined them from a tidal wave of blood, and collected her partner in crime. Led by Conor, Team bucket scythed into the enemy ranks. With Aster, Liz, and Emily unleashing a bombardment of spells from behind their front line, their advance was nearly unopposed.


    The enemys situation devolved further once enough blood had been spilled to soak the ground, and Liz had enough to cast [Blood Sprite]. As the first sparrow appeared, it dropped to the ground unnoticed and feasted until it split, over and over again. As Matt and Conor hacked their way through the Queendom troops, even more food was left behind for the little monsters to feed on.


    When Liz finally directed the flock to attack the Queendom troops, pandemonium ensued. Except, it didn''tst as long asst time.


    A purple-haired woman with a guitar strummed a cord that sttered all of the little sparrows, and left everyone around her clutching their ears. Everyone except her defenders, who seemed unaffected. But the odd attack had worked, and had prevented [Blood Sprite] from cascading further and overwhelming the defenders.


    Annie tried to pick off the woman with a crossbow bolt, but one of her guards intercepted the shot. With the threats taken care of, the musician went back to buffing the people around her. Visible energy rose off her instrument and into the people around her as she worked.


    The tide of battle ebbed against them, and Team Bucket was once again broken away from each other. They had to struggle against several waves of Queendom fighters before being able to file back into a formation. The fighting only grew fiercer as each side endured more and more casualties. Annie eventually slipped away, pretending to be hit with an arrow and falling down, just before activating her invisibility and disappearing.


    Sheter reunited with them and reported that shed returned the favor, executing two of the Queendoms top brass before having to escape from the small fort they were using as a headquarters. Their top general was out of the picture.


    With Matts Concept keeping the team charged, they battered their way forwards until their enemies broke.


    ***


    Matt and Lizy next to each other in the smoking ruins of the battlefield, panting from exhaustion. Aster was sprawled out across them, with her thumping heart beating in lockstep with Matts own through their bond.


    They had been one of the final groups to take out the lingering Queendom forces. The bloody and disastrous fight had only been won because the enemymander hadn''t expected anything as dumb as a full frontal assault. Under no circumstances was that a reasonable response to their leadership being beheaded in the opening salvo, especially not for a measly fort. The Queendom hadn''t bothered to set up significant forward defenses, which cost them dearly when things got to melee range.


    With only one hundred and some odd thousand troops left, the force Team Bucket hade with was effectively destroyed. They were now fit only to be absorbed into their reinforcements, which were already funneling through the nearby portal, and flying the long way over the ocean separating the continents.


    Now, Team Bucketid in the wreckage of their final encounter, where theyd chased down thest few Queendom soldiers unable to flee fast enough. It was a disaster for the Kingdom, but their team was too tired and exhausted to care.


    Emily, lying at their heads, groaned as she sat up and spat. Her coughs squelched with a wet sound that couldnt be healthy.


    Annie flopped over and asked, Whose bright idea was that charge?


    Matt had to clear his throat twice to force out, Everyone was already moving when we came up from the first shots. No one responded to my hails either.


    Emily cursed as she started inspecting her face with a broken sword that shed polished. Are you fucking kidding me!? This is gonna take a healer to fix. She poked the deep gash and screeched. Fuck! My face...


    He didn''t need to get up to see what she was looking at. That blow would have taken her head off if Matt hadnt been there to block it. Well... most of it. Her face was split with a gnarly scar that cleaved through her helmet, grazed her head, and ran down part of her face. Bone was visible, but only gently scored. While not life-threatening, the wound was damn ugly.


    The bit of sword dropped as she deted, Still, thanks for the save guys. I''d be dead if not for your help. What a disaster.


    Matt nodded as he sat up, it had been a disaster of epic proportions. Even for the winning side.


    But it had earned them quite the number of points.


    <strong>Prior Total st updated 0 days ago): 1 point.</strong>


    <strong>TEAM MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant).</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 141 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 8,592 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 7 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy general assassinated, Tier 7. Worth 1,000 points. Performed 2 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. Assigned worth: 7,874 points.</strong></li><li><strong>Captured a heavy artillery asset intact, long-range mana cannon. Worth 1,000 points. Performed 3 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Eliminated enemy general(s) in the middle of a major engagement (each side >500K units). Reward: 1.4x multiplier to all team merits.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>PERSONAL MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant)</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 21 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 1,272 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 2 times.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>ARMY MERITS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Defeat a major enemy army of equivalent size (975K vs 997K) in a defensive position, field fortifications. Reward: 1.2x multiplier to all merits (applied after other multipliers). Note: All leadership bonuses (brigadier general) forfeited due to loss ofmand over subordinate troops.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>UNACHIEVED MERITS:</strong><strong> For reference purposes only.</strong><ul><li><strong>Capture a fortified enemy position defended by an equivalent force, small fort. Worth 250 points. Leadership Bonus (brigadier general): 1.x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li><li><strong>Reestablish themand structure of a major army (>500K units) after the sudden loss of >90% of top leadership. Reward: 1.5x multiplier to all merits. Victory from the Jaws of Defeat Bonus: 2.0x multiplier. Final Reward: 3.0x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>SUMMARY OF GAINS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Team Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 56,150</strong></li><li><strong>Team Multiplier: 1.4x</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 78,610</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Personal Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 6,431</strong></li><li><strong>Personal Multiplier: N/A</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 6,431</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Combined Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Sub-Total: 85,041</strong></li><li><strong>Total Multiplier: 1.2x</strong></li><li><strong>Grand Total: 102,049</strong></li></ul></li></ul>


    <strong>New Gains: 102,049 points.</strong>


    <strong>New Total: 102,050 points.</strong>


    <strong>Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 3rd ce.</strong>


    <strong>Estimated Daily Stipend: 1,250 points.</strong>


    He sent 47,292 points to repay Emily while theyzily chatted for a bit. The points would only actually be sent once they went back to the neutral city, but he felt better knowing he had cleared his debt. It put his total at 54,758, but he had repaid his friend after just one disastrous battle.


    A quick check of the market showed that there were still twenty-six upgrade orbs remaining. Anyone who could have bought one had done so quickly, and the second half seemed to be waiting on those who could earn the most points over the next few weeks. He still wanted to get Aster her own orb, and then help Emily get one for herself. But the rush for the orbs seemed to be mostly over. That, or no one was in the neutral city anymore, so they were unable to purchase items for the moment.


    As he recovered his energy, Matt realized that he had to pee something fierce, and stood to find somece slightly out of sight. A deeper crater fit the bill, as no standing trees were nearby. After fighting through the entire night and into the morning, his body was finally alerting him to its needs.


    Seeing him up and about, the rest of the team wobbled to their feet with various grunts and moans. They were all drained, but everyone started to address their own waid needs while groaning at stiff muscles and pains. Only their fading adrenaline had kept them upright.


    The highest-rankingmander to survive was Olivia. Shed stepped up and directed the battle as best she could, despite losing both her legs to the mana cannons. Even now, she was still barking outmands from her newly cobbled togethermand tent.


    Half a dozen new orders awaited Team Bucket that still needed to be acknowledged.

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96


    Their remaining troops gathered together, and a debriefing was conducted by the still wounded Olivia. Matt listened in while he acted as a mana battery for the healers, who were hard at work getting the survivorsbat-ready.


    They had moved into the small fort, and she was permanently stuck on her flying device, as her legs would need to be regrown before she could walk. For now, while under the anti-flying formation, she was carried on a stretcher. That still didnt diminish her contributions to the earlier fight.


    Olivia had regained consciousness from one of the sts that took out the rest of themand staff, and immediately started issuing orders despite her charred off legs. She quickly found that all of theirms were jammed, and began working on a solution. As it turned out, an opportunist spy hidden among their mid-levelmanders had taken the opportunity to sabotage theirms, after starting the charge himself.


    It had taken her half an hour to even be able to send messages at all. But once she had regained some measure of control over the system, she ordered all the troops she could reach to organize an offensive.


    Matt and the other Pathers in the army were totally unaware of the situation, as theirms had remained obfuscated until there was aplete wipe of the system. It had only taken ce close to the end of the battle, when Olivia felt secure enough about a victory to cken her micromanagement. The entire process took about two hours.


    After reviewing the telemetry of the battle, Matt had personally messaged the woman with how impressed he was with her orders. Hermands and decisions, while onlymunicating with a fraction of her forces, hadnt simply been practical and smart.


    They were inspirational.


    She had predicted everyone''s moves; even her own unreachable allies. She moved her few troops to counter enemy movements, while also assisting faltering sections of their ranks during chaotic and brutal melee. The disparate forces that should have been beyond her control were seemingly shepherded into ce.


    The meeting started with Olivia rying orders. We won the fight, but our unit has been renderedbat ineffective, so were going to be absorbed by General Lupis. We did well, but our overall mission was a failure. I''d like to thank the Pather Annie, who took out the enemy leadership early enough to let me direct our troops mostly uncontested.


    Matt sent Annie a thumbs up in their private team chat, but there was grumbling from half a dozen indistinct voices transmitted over the AI. Olivia let the remaining mid-levelmanders vent for a minute, but she quelled the moderate dissension shortly after.


    Her voice cut through the murmurs, I don''t like it either. And that''s why we won''t be sticking around for reinforcements or another enemy unit toe finish us off.


    That only caused another round of questions, which she answered with a casual, I intended to get started on our original objective. Were down to one hundred and fifty thousandbat-capable troops, which is more than enough to start the initial push. We won''t be able to secure as much ground as Id like, but we only need to keep things going for a day or so before our reinforcements arrive.


    There was more chatting, but Matt tuned it out. He was concerned. They had nearly twenty thousand heavily injured fighters who only needed time and mana to get back on their feet. This didn''t seem like the best course of action in his mind, and it was at odds with Olivia''s earlier decisions.


    Our preliminary scouting shows that the medium forts andrge forts are reinforced, but not to the degree that this fort was. Theyre just doubled up in defenders. I want us to surround them and keep their forces contained. We wont be engaging, just clearing the way for our reinforcements.


    That seemed a far better use of their time, and Matt nodded along with the questions being asked. Nothing jumped out to his AI or his own experience. The n seemed sound enough.


    The wounded were going to be shifted into the fort, and its defenders would be the Kingdom fighters who were too injured to fight and fly, but could stand on a wall on guard.


    Olivia ordered Team Bucket to join the fourth squad, which was more of a quick reaction force than anything else. They were to stay with themand structure, and be ready to intervene any time the fort''s defenders tried to sally forth and break free.


    Matt hoped at least one fort would try and break the siege, but none sent their troops out. They had a boring day of easily advancing. They moved forward as a unit, flying when they could, but dismounting and jogging when they couldn''t. It was slow, but their numbers ensured that no one could easily attack them while they engulfed each fort on their way.


    It waste evening when their reinforcements arrived. Matt saw them approaching from the rear, not by sight, but from the pirs of smoke that rose up in the air. They were from the splinter groups that dropped off to siege down the surrounding forts. It was a fiery testament to the devastation that a million-strong force could muster.


    Matt and his forces had already arrived at the city''s edge, and were busy setting up a small camp, while the general troops were digging defenses and preparing the siege engines.


    When the leading elements caught up with them, Liz and the rest of Team Bucket were unpleasantly surprised at what they found.


    Alyssa was leading the force in an armored skirt while twirling her obnoxiously colored parasol. Their team followed her into themand tent.


    Good afternoon, everyone. You all look spiffy after losing most of your forces. She beamed at them like she had just given them the greatest ofpliments.


    Where is General Lupis? Olivia seemed suspicious, and Matt prepared to summon his sword from its ring at her shift in demeanor.


    Little Wolfie will not be joining us, unfortunately. An unexpected guest arrived and sent him on a vacation. I''m the new general. How convenient! It seems the Queendom was quite upset about someone killing their generals in the middle of a major battle, and took revenge. Or maybe they were just <em>so</em> impressed with how effective that tactic turned out to be, they decided to copy it.


    She shrugged as if none of it concerned her. Either way, our generals all seem to have a number of assassins gunning for them now. Between that, and all the major movements happening, there just arent many generals avable to step in for poor Wolfie and Alister. The only other candidates are all leading smaller forces right now, and they each seem to be <em>thoroughly</em> tied up at the moment. They simply wouldn''t be able to get here in time.


    Alyssas mouth stretched from ear to ear as she finished, Which leaves me the highest-rankingmander for this siege. Wonderful, no?


    Everyone present knew that absolutely none of this was a coincidence. There was no chance that every avable field strategist could be simultaneously held up. But if she was rightfully in charge, she wouldnt be removed easily.


    Seeing the looks on their faces, Alyssa continued with augh. Oh, dont be like that. Ever since the auction, its been chaos out there. Combine that with a few of the wrong wild mushrooms being cooked into some meals, and a very messy incident between a member of the peerage and their less-exclusive-than-expected mistress... Well, our beloved Kingdom finds itself with a shortage of high levelmanders to send our way. Nheless, Im confident we will prevail.


    To Matts shock, Liz beamed right back at Alyssa. Wonderfully said. We have all the leadership we need to win right here. Im sure then youre prepared to suborn yourself to General Olivia and her orders?


    Everyone froze, particrly Alyssa and Olivia. Thetter of whom made a face like shed swallowed a bug.


    Alyssa looked ready to spit fire but yed it cool. My, my. I dont know what youre talking about. I''m the only person here with a general''s title.


    Lizs smile grew sharp, and her yellow eyes glittered. Ah, but you yourself said that Lupis was your original general. If you took over from him, then youre technically just an acting general. No?


    Matt could see Alyssa debate lying, but she finally shrugged and asked, So?


    His girlfriend looked like the cat who ate the canary.


    Then, when two <em>acting</em> generals meet in the field, the acting general who was on site first retainsmand. Per section 9 subsection 14B of the Kingdoms articles of war.


    Her words were apanied with a smile that could cut ss, and an AI message listing the relevant passages straight out of official Kingdom protocol.


    Alyssa just red at Liz. As a representative of the peerage, even the younger generation, I have the authority and responsibility to take over battlefieldmand from someone I deem unfit.


    Annie shrugged and said, I don''t know... Is someone who can''t stop a fire in their closest better than someone who single-handedly salvaged a disastrous battle?


    Alyssa stilled, then pivoted to stare Annie down. With bared teeth, she smiled before closing her eyes and biting down hard on her lower lip. Taking a deep breath in through her nose, she twirled back around to face everyone else with a gentle smile.


    I will, of course, follow the <em>letter</em> of thew. My troops are at your disposal. Oh, and should things get a little too tall for you, Im ready to step in and shoulder the burden. Best of luck to you, <em>General</em>.


    As she made her exit and passed themand tents anti-listening bubble, Olivia spun to Liz and nearly roared, What the fuck was that?!


    I...


    No! You just threw me under the bus as a political tool to get back at her! Everyone knows how you hate her, don''t pretend differently. We all know thews, but everyone <em>also knows</em> they arent applied equally. Alyssa can ruin me <em>and my family</em> if she wants. Easily. I would have happily agreed to hermand to avoid that kind of trouble.


    Liz looked crestfallen and worked her mouth for a moment before she cleared her throat and tried, Sorry. I...


    No, don''t. Just don''t. That situation was about as nuanced as a rift break. That stunt you pulled? Youre either politically braindead, or knew exactly what you were doing, and just didnt give a fuck about the coteral damage. And if the Pather Union negotiations Alister brought to me were any indication, it sure as shit isnt the former.


    Olivia looked ready to puke, but Matt stepped forward. This this isn''t all bad. You can foist me on us. We can handle the little pressure anyone in the Kingdom can put on us. But remember what Alyssa said; she will follow the letter of thew. If you dont show gross ipetence, she can''t oust you. He pped her shoulder lightly. We believe in you. You can do this.


    I''m not qualified.


    Emily scoffed. We don''t believe that for a second, and neither do you. Everyone could tell in ten minutes that you and whats-his-name were the real brains behind that other idiot.


    stair, isn''t dumb. He''s just... busy. Even Olivia must have heard how weak that sounded, because she wilted in a bit. He has other strengths. He''s nice, at least.


    Liz looked subtly chastised as she nodded to Olivia. You''re right. That was wrong of me to put you in the middle of our pissing match, and treat you like a pawn. I''m sorry, and Ill make sure to head off any fallout from it.


    Matt looked around to the fewmand staff in the tent and said, I know who I would rather havemanding me. If we do our job, well have a much better chance of getting through this. He knelt down and said only loud enough for her to hear, Remember that youre being watched, and if you impress the right people, she cant touch you. Youve already proven that you can do this.


    Olivia got a hard look in her eyes. Keeping her voice low, she responded, Fine. But I still need to hedge myself against the political blowback youve brought down on me. If Im going to foist the me on you as suggested, then I need to make it publicly clear I think youre to me, and dont trust you now. Raising her voice once again, she continued, Effective immediately, youre no longer officially part of seniormand. Your presence in themand tent will be by invitation only from here on out, which I will still provide for the daily strategy meetings. Itll cost you your leadership bonuses, but it will also probably cate Alyssa enough to keep her from taking the first opportunity to smother you all in your sleep and me Queendom assassins.


    She almost looked as if she enjoyed the thought of thestment. A hand snapped towards Lizs face. Only Olivia''sck of legs kept the pointed finger at bay. But if you ever y games with me like that again, I will personally see to it that your whole team spends the rest of the war ontrine digging duty. Now get the hell out.


    With that, Team Bucket moved to exit the tent as Olivia started barking orders. Matt doubted that Olivia could follow through on thatst threat, but he wasn''t going to call her out. Thest thing they needed was for him to dig the hole Liz had dug even deeper.


    He could only sigh as he heard Liz berating herself under her breath as she stomped past him. Fucking fuck. I didnt even think about Olivia when I made the move. I just saw an opportunity to get back at Alyssa. Birdbrained idiot. I cant fuck up like that.


    Matt wanted to console her, but she had messed up. And she didn''t need or want to be lied to. All they could do was move on.


    By the time they moved out of the tent, the new troops were already on the move. It was frightening to see over a million troops begin to engulf the city.The space locking pirs were set up at the maximum range of standard anti-siege defenses, but they were also paired with semi-portable shielding units. If the Queendom tried to recreate Matts prior sess, they would find the pirs a much more resilient target.


    Their scouts who flew out at the edge of the anti-flying formation reported two million troops in the city from their best estimates, using the best telescopes they could carry.


    That wasn''t ideal. If they wanted to take the city, they would need three times their current numbers at a minimum. They would also need to worry about any troops in the surrounding area. The Queendom would surely try to perform hit and run tactics, as Prince Albert had.


    Matt was assigned to handle that eventuality, and with a team of earth mages, they raised a fifteen-foot wall around the entire city. It took them a day and a half, even with their use of mana crystals when he was forced to take a break. But eventually, they had a passable defense set up.


    After that, they created a five-foot berm to render sallying forth a more dangerous decision for the Queendom defenders. Several mid-levelmanders balked at what they called ''overly cautious behavior,'' which meant they would earn fewer points.


    Matt and Liz privately thought that Alyssa was behind that little cabal, but she publicly defended Olivia''s actions.


    On day three, the trebuchets startedunching their payloads. They were being built and staffed as fast as possible, once the first siege weapons found their range. Olivia had already given an order stating that they wouldnt be trying to take the city intact. Instead, they would be battering it to rubble before they fell for the ploys that the Kingdom had used in their defense.


    Team Bucket covertly agreed that it was much better to be on the attack and not the defense. It was a lot less stressful to watch the giant rocks fly away from them instead of towards them.


    It took half a week to batter through the shielding. Despite their greater number of trebuchets, and no desire to take the city intact, the Queendom had extra months to perform various upgrades. Those enhancements now allowed them to hold more mana, and as they learned when the shields faltered, improved the Tier of the walls stone to 7.


    That caused their summoned rocks to be nearly ineffective, but that was when Olivia pulled out her n. She wanted to bring down the walls from underneath.


    Half a dozen teams were given orders to start digging, and Matt was assigned to try and keep the earth mages full of mana, so they could reinforce the walls and move the dirt to the side. It worked until the Kingdom sappers approached the walls, where they found that the enemy could feel the earth mages work, and resist their efforts. The mages yed a game of back and forth, while the Queendom defenders tried to copse the tunnels. Meanwhile,the Kingdom sappers tried to punch through the queendom forces, and reinforce the tunnels they dug.


    Despite her critics, Olivia gave orders to keep the ns intact and move forward. They also criticized how she tly refused to create siege towers ordders to take the walls, calling her a coward, among worse things. Her counterpoint was that they were more worried about their individual points, and less about the overall situation, which put a halt to anyone questioning her decisions.


    Matt personally felt the sapper n was a lost cause, but when publicly asked, he backed up her decision to keep up the attacks.They could receive reinforcements and resupply,on top of his own mana contributions, which werent insignificant. He remembered well enough how mana became a valuablemodity on the other side of the siege, as the days ticked on and supplies dwindled.


    As Alyssa stated, all of their reinforcement generals had various idents, leaving them indisposed. Since they were unable to make it to their camp, it left Olivia inmand with no appointed general to supersede her. Matt found headquarters'' response of shrugging it off concerning. But when the third wave of troops arrived without a general, putting their numbers at seven million, he assumed that Alyssa had worked things out so she could remain inmand.


    A week after the start of the tunneling efforts, Olivia sat outside watching the wall and smiled at all the importantmanders.


    You said my efforts were wasted, but here we go. Perfectly as I predicted.


    Someone interjected, The only thing perfect is the condition of the walls!


    Olivia turned in her chair, and Matt had to give her credit. She was sitting down, and still managed to re at the man. Do you know how saboteurs work, udius? When the man just wilted back, she pointed down. Normally it''s a battle of earth mage versus earth mage. But what happens if you dig with mundane forces?


    That stumped everyone. Even Matt had no idea.


    Olivia spun her wheeled chair and pointed back at the wall. I used our earth mages as distractions, and now the walls will fall. If they had been paying attention to their surroundings, they could have felt us. But , they were too focused on our own mages working to dig through the walls. Theypletely missed the mundane diggers.


    As she spoke, a deep rumbling sound and backdrafts of dust rushed out of the grass-covered areas without sapper tunnels. At first, nothing of consequence seemed to follow. But as the ground in the middle of the closet wall slumped down, the wall bent slightly. It buckled forward, and then, as if trying to resist the pull of gravity, crumbled inward.


    Now we have ess to the city proper. Or at least, one out of four sections. Olivia tried to sound calm, but her pride and smugness shone through. It was as if she was calling out everyone who questioned her early actions.


    She had lied to everyone, but with their recent spy problem, he had to give it to her. She had nned her deception perfectly, and pulled down the walls with the Queendom caught totally unawares..


    Now we move forward with phase two, which is us bringing down the other three sections of wall. Then, well create a breach head. But first, I worry about being harried from our rear, and the defenders saving enough mana to bring up the shields when we have troops inside.


    The other three sections of wall came down with water.


    Olivia had the ground soaked, turning the area at the base of the hill that the city was built on to muddy slush. They then flooded the existing tunnels to create enough instability that the walls copsed once explosives were set at the ends of the tunnels. It normally wouldn''t have been enough to take down the walls, but the weight of the stone,bined with the weakened ground, caused the walls to slump outwards as a portion of the hill copsed.


    It was an impressive feat of structural de-engineering.


    Olivia''s prediction proved true as well. The night the walls fell, they were beset from their rear with arrows and other distractions. The attackers didn''t show themselves, nor did they stick around long enough to see the siegers muster a response. The Kingdom forces didnt need to worry themselves too much. Therge rear wall they had set up greatly limited the amount of damage that the Queendom could inflict through gueri warfare.


    That onlysted until a million-strong army approached, hoping to force their way through the east side of their fortifications and reinforce the city. They were repelled with minor casualties, but when the assaults repeated day after day, it became an ominous sign. The Queendom even set up their own siege weapons to bombard the Kingdom army. Olivia responded by mustering twice that number of troops, and sending them to harass the enemy with Alyssa inmand.


    The tactic was ineffective, and Alyssa struggled to pin them down long enough to aplish anything of note. Her forces spent most of their time chasing the enemies between the forts that they controlled in the area, while trying to limit their own casualties. They had to contend with ambushes, traps, and battlefields of their opponents choosing.


    As it turned out, it had been a distraction from the start.


    With the million Queendom troops keeping their two million pursuers upied, the citys defenders attempted to break the siege. With yet another reinforcing army of two million troops arriving on the outside, they tried to pincer the Kingdom at the weakest point in their encirclement, and rout them.


    They were fighting off a major push against their rear berm when the front gates of the city nged open behind them. A massive wave of troops charged into the field to nk the Kingdom forces amassed on the berm. Olivia ordered her forces to ignore them and focus on repelling the greater number of enemies flooding in from the outside.


    Matt felt like he was back in the first city siege. He cast spell after spell and repulsed the Queendom fighters as they scaled the smooth and steep berm. The nking army worried him, but he followed his orders and kept the enemy fighters from gaining a foothold in their defenses. He had his team travel from breach to breach, plugging them once the enemy made even slight gains.


    Team Bucket was handling an enemy formation that cleared the top of the wall when a series of explosions rocked the world and rattled the air.


    Everyone instinctively came to a halt and turned to see. The city defenders were falling to shambles just short of their targets. More and more explosions went off at their feet, which were soon apanied by a devastating synchronized barrage of cannon and catapult fire right on their location.


    Matts attention was wrenched back to the fight behind him as an arrow plinked off his armor. He threw himself into the still wide-eyed defenders as the melee resumed.


    Once he was deep in the enemy ranks, Matt filled his mana pool and cast [methrower], letting the me wash over the Queendom attackers around him. Screams followed, and his team secured the breach, only to migrate and do it again as the battle raged on around them.


    As they were fighting off a dedicated charge from an earth mage who broke down their berm, screams started to be heard from the rear of the enemy''s formation. There, Alyssa was busy tearing a hole through the defending ranks while attacking from the rear. The Queendom army was caught between the berm and the two million attacking troops led by Alyssa. Unable to advance or retreat, the enemy fought like monsters, turning to try and overwhelm the attackers in their rear. But when they did, Olivia called for a general charge.


    That signaled the end of the enemy army, as they shattered and ran. Alyssa''s forces must have been prepared for it, as they opened a hole for the enemies to retreat out of. Any who stayed were cut down, savaged by the kingdom troops.


    Nothing was held back, and no quarter was given.


    More than one of themanders said that it was dumb to let over half of the two million-strong force retreat out of the ambush. Most of the level heads agreed that forcing them to fight to the death would have cost them far more troops than necessary. After all, there was already a million man unit out there, which could have hit Alyssas force from the rear as well.


    That night, the army celebrated their sess. The massive fight had earned everyone arge amount of points, and the general troops were happy to see the increase in their bnces. Matt didn''t bother to check. He wanted to see a massive increase at the end of the entire siege.


    With the city missing half of its defenders, Olivia turned her attention back to the main siege. The next morning, the first probing attacks were sent in.


    Matt and his team wanted to be in the first wave, but they were told under no uncertain terms that they wouldn''t be a part of any initial waves, and would instead be saved for the true push with the rest of the elites.


    So, they had to watch as the first wave moved up under withering fire from the intact portions of the walls. It was a long and brutal fight that inflicted heavy casualties on both sides, but the first wave retreated after the well-protected earth mages created even steps for the next wave to climb.


    It was far worse to watch the others go and fight. Matt felt like he should be out there, leading the troops in each attack and watching theme back with far fewer troops than they went out with.


    After two days of attacks, along with the trebuchets constantly battering the city, they were ready tounch their true assault. Their scouts reported that the inside of the city was ttened, and the defenders had lost most of their anti siege weapons atop their walls from the bombardment.


    Matt and his team were a part of the assault formation, and he had to calm his nerves as they neared the city walls. They were so muchrger from this side. Even as arrows and spells rained down on them, they ran forward with disposable shields raised.


    They hit the stairs, and Matt took them two at a time, throwing himself off the cliff that the defenders created in the stonework. Heunched into the defenders standing at the base of the tower.


    It was a simr scene to the formations he had constructed when he was defending the Kingdom city.


    To their side, a flurry of mana cannons and other long-range spellsshed out at the attackers as they tried to take the breach. They pushed through the enemy fire as they closed the distance to engage in meleebat, where the ranged weapons had the chance to hit their own troops.


    As Mattnded, he swung his longsword and let loose a [Mana sh] that created enough room for Conor tond next to him and activate [Demon Zone]. Together, they cut a path to the stairs, trying not to get bogged down.


    Team Bucket fought their way up the stairs to the portion of still intact walls with Conor in the lead. Matt reached around him to unleash a never-ending torrent of me on anyone attempting to prevent their ascent. Liz and Emily took care of protecting their heads from attacks from above, with Liz creating a roof of blood and Emily sting anyone that stuck their heads out to fire.


    Together, they cut their way to the top of the wall and created a beachhead, as Annie anchored and lowered ropedders down the other side of the wall.


    They were attacked by what Matt expected was a QRF team, but they couldnt stand the onught of Conors [Demon Zone] and Matt alternating between [methrower] and his de. They held their position long enough for reinforcements to scale the ropes, even as they were attacked from all angles.


    A massive Tier 7 with a hammer that had to weigh in the dozens of pounds made his way to the front. With his heavy armor, he was able to shrug off both Matt and Conors attacks. As the fight drew out, the man seemed to increase in size until he was nine feet tall. Liz called for them to retreat once the hammer wielder shrugged off one of Emilys [Bolts] as if it didn''t even affect him.


    Liz gilded forward on a streak of blood as more and more of the ruby liquid poured out of the glove on her hand, and she grew to equal the man''s size. The Tier 7 brought his hammer into Lizs golem form, sending a spray of blood everywhere, until Liz activated [Blood Crystal Armor]. Her golem form subtly shifted, growing solid and angr, with its ruby hue acquiring a tinge of gold.


    The next hammer blow only cracked the solidified blood, which quickly melted and reformed back to full defensive power. In ten seconds, Lizs liquid form enveloped the man, and he was gone. How she killed the Tier 7 in Tier 8 armor, Matt had no idea, but she used her already formed golem to start clearing off the top of the wall..


    Seeing that she was fine, the rest of the team waited for the reinforcements to climb the ropedder, and set up another three. They spaced them a dozen feet apart, creating enough room for more and more people to flood the top of the wall.


    Matt, Aster, Emily, and Annie climbed partway down the stairs and started peppering the makeshift barrier that the defenders had erected from above. It was a long, bitterly fought battle of attrition, where they whittled down the defenders. Without the high ground provided by the walls, the defenders couldnt stop the never-ending waves of Kingdom soldiers.


    Liz joined them half an hourter, as they were resting at the first makeshift barrier. They were busy scouting the Queendom defenders at the secondyer of fortifications. The Kingdoms assault had devolved into more of a stalemate. The Queendoms position was fortified by mana cannons set up and ready to hit anyone who poked their head over the edge.


    The Kingdom set up their own fortifications and troop stations in the breach as they flooded in. They had managed to take three out of the four holes in the wall, and the fourth was falling, thanks to a concentrated force that punched through with an extra unit of elite troops.


    Matt had to marvel at how much better this siege went whenpared to their first one. When you didn''t care about the coteral damage, and smashed everything with siege weapons from the start, things went a lot easier.


    Once they had captured the city walls, Olivia gave her most controversial order yet. She ordered them to man the walls with their own mana cannons, and simply st the defenders away from their entrenched positions from range.


    Some mid levelmanders called her a coward, along with everything else under the sun, because they were losing out on potential personal points since they weren''t fighting themselves. It was a selfishint; the overall strategy was safer, and inflicted greater casualties without risking themselves.


    Nheless, it pissed off enough people to nearly inspire a coup, as themanders openly spread their discontent to the rest of the troops. But to almost everyones surprise, Alyssa again backed up Olivia''s decision, and forced the malcontents into a simmer.


    As they pushed the defenders to retreat deeper into the city, they were forced to endure more and more casualties. The opinion of the Kingdom general soldiers shifted as they saw the wisdom in the decision to bombard the Queendom from afar.


    Finally, the defenders tried to break out for a second time and repeat the Kingdom''s tatic from thest siege. They tried to break out from the gate opposite of Team Bucket. But unlike when the Kingdom made their escape, the defending troops were defeated in earnest.


    Three and a half weekster, the city had finally fallen. It was a massive victory.


    Matt knew he had made out well from the siege, even without engaging in the final battle. He had his AI check his point total for taking the city.


    <strong>Prior Total st updated 25 days ago): 102,050 points (47,292 pending transfer; 54,758 avable).</strong>


    <strong>TEAM MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant).</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 784 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 22,877 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 215 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. Assigned worth: 15,214 points.</strong></li><li><strong>yed a major role in capturing an enemy city. Worth 50,000 points. Performed 1 time.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>PERSONAL MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant)</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 174 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 3,741 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 35 times.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>ARMY MERITS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Defeat a major enemy army of quarter-size (6.32M vs 1.91M) in a defensive position while besieging a walled city. Reward: 1.05x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li><li><strong>Sessfully besieged an enemy city (6.32M vs 1.98M). Reward: 1.1x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li><li><strong>Won a major engagement using only sound tactics. Reward: 1.05x multiplier to all merits. Note: Merit awarded based on rmendation of Army observers.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>UNACHIEVED MERITS:</strong><strong> For reference purposes only.</strong><ul><li><strong>Capture an enemy city without causing significant damage. Worth 250,000 points.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>SUMMARY OF GAINS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Team Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 185,758</strong></li><li><strong>Team Multiplier: N/A</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 185,758</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Personal Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 19,754</strong></li><li><strong>Personal Multiplier: N/A</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 19,754</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Combined Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Sub-Total: 260,270</strong></li><li><strong>Total Multiplier: 1.2x</strong></li><li><strong>Grand Total: 312,324</strong></li></ul></li></ul>


    <strong>New Gains: 312,324 points.</strong>


    <strong>New Total: 414,374 points (47,292 pending transfer; 367,082 avable).</strong>


    <strong>Updated Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 2nd ce.</strong>


    <strong>Estimated Daily Stipend: 2,500 points.</strong>


    The points for the siege, along with their team keeping third ce in the Kingdom rankings, earned them 36,000 points. It put Matt a little over a quarter of a million points. It was exhrating to know that they were back over the points needed to buy the upgrade orb that Aster still needed. By his rough estimation, even Emily would be able to purchase an orb, with a little help.


    The troops partied like crazy with the influx of points that first night, as they started to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. They wanted to get the city in good enough shape to get the teleporter active. But to everyone''s surprise, the Queendom pulled off of the Kingdom city that they were besieging, and were now making a beeline towards them.


    They were ordered to abandon the city after only holding it for three days. It spoiled the jubnt mood that everyone had after such a massive victory, but with the Queendoms estimated seven million troops to their remaining four million, there was no hope of holding the destroyed city.


    With their forewarning, they were able to leave the city without resistance, but not before they set explosives to drop the remaining walls that had survived their initial bombardment. With the city leveled, they made quick time back to the coast, and flew over the ocean and back to the closest neutral city.


    Matt and most of the general troops expected to find the Prince upset, but to their surprise, he was exceedingly happy at their return.


    So happy, in fact, he even called all of the topmanders to watch as he made Olivia a peer of the realm, and promoted her to a Baroness. He didn''t even wait for them to enter the city proper, and did it in front of the entire army.


    For her inspiring work securing us a city before the Queendom was able to repeat the feat! For forcing them to retreat without earning the points we have from such a victory! The Princes voice echoed out over the field out of the neutral city, causing near-endless roars of approval and cheers for the Kingdom''s newest noble.


    Matt just smiled and pped along with everyone else as they stood in the long grass that surrounded the gate to the city.


    Even without her legs, Olivia seemed to stand tall as she received her reward, and clearly suppressed tears as she repeatedly thanked everyone and anyone who came close to her. She even thanked one of the waiters that the Prince had brought out to serve everyone, to her embarrassment. When she realized her faux pas, she nervously stammered an apology.


    Alyssa walked over to where their team stood, and sighed with a ss of champagne bubbling in her hand. What a lucky girl. Still in her armored skirt, she bumped Lizs hip with her own. That could have been me up there.


    The you took that from me seemed unsaid, but Matt heard it loud enough.


    Apparently, so did Liz. What do you need to be made a peer for? Your parents are already nobles.


    Alyssa sighed. Yes, yes. They are. But theres a key difference between earning my own peerage and gaining it through my parents. Namely, that all decisions rted to said peerage <em>also</em> go through my parents. That title would have granted me power that belonged to me, and nobody else. She didn''t look hateful or angry, just tired. Oh well, there is always the next n.


    The colorfully dressed womans voice gained some heat as she turned to Liz. You know, considering that favor you owe me from getting the Crafters to back your little Union, I expected you to back me up too. Or at least not get involved. Dirty of you to ke out like that.


    Liz nibbled on her lip before she said, I didnt even think about it. If you had messaged me, I wouldve kept my mouth shut to return the favor.


    Alyssa sighed and sipped at her ss. It would have taken a favor for you to simply not <em>actively </em>sabotage me? At poor Olivias expense no less. Well, I guess I expected too much of you, that''s on me. Here I thought wed been quite friendly thesest few months, with each of us keeping out of each other''s way. <em>One</em> of us even lending <em>the other</em> a much needed hand on multiple asions. Clearly I was mistaken. Thats not the type of rtionship we have. Not at all. Ill be keeping the favor in my back pocket for now. Be warned; when I do call it in, I wont be holding back. Not anymore.


    Another cheer went up, and she raised her ss to where Olivia received congrattions, then downed the ss and walked off to the main gate.


    Thest thing Matt heard was a muttered, Lucky girl.


    Their team moved to get in line and congratte Olivia. Matt wouldn''t call her a friend, not with how they had foisted her into this position unwillingly. Still, there was no denying that she had done well, and had earned her rewards. Adding a little bit of camaraderie to a celebration never hurt.<strong></strong>

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97


    The city was bustling when they filtered in. It was a long walk to their rooms through the massive city, and they couldnt help but notice the divided popce during their trip.


    The rightmost half of the city, the side where the Kingdom headquarters was, was filled with celebration and cheer. In contrast, the left side of the main boulevard was home to a decidedly dejected popce. The Queendom general troops, along with quite a few Pathers, were glowering at the partying Kingdom side. But none dared to cross the street, thanks to the Army personnel hovering over the dividing line.


    Matt just kept to his side of the street and tried to get back to their suite. They had ordered a taxi, but with millions of troops filing into the city at once, all forms of transportation were overwhelmed. After walking for nearly an hour, and realizing they hadnt even traveled a quarter of the way to their suite, he called it quits. He walked straight into the next hotel that they came across on the main road.


    When he could hear himself think again, he said to his inquisitive team, Okay enough walking. We deserved a bath and a nice meal yesterday. He waved around at the marble and gold-trimmed lobby. So, hotel!


    It was expensive to get a suite of four bedrooms; a Tier 7 mana stone for a single night was a hefty price, even for Tier 6s. But, the room came with an all-you-can-eat menu prepared by a Tier 9 chef.


    Matt would have paid that much for the shower, let alone everything else. So, paying the bill and taking the elevator to their suite was easy.


    Each room in the suite had an individual shower, which they promptly took advantage of. It was slightly crowded with two people and a fox in the shower, but the shower was asrge and fancy as the rest of the suite. After soaking in the overhead spray, Matt sat on the floor and started scrubbing his bond, who was more irritated at the dirt in her fur than the hot water.


    To soothe his whining bond, who treated the hot water as if it was personally hurting her, he turned the sink on its coldest setting and let her lounge in the icy water.


    He and Liz were too tired to do anything more than clean off and flop on the couch. They threw on a random show while luxuriating in the fluffy bathrobes that the hotel provided. Their dirty armor was piled up on a cart, along with the rest of their team''s, to be cleaned and returned.


    After seeing that the armor was already piled up, Emily came out of her room and said, Thanks for clearing that up.


    Wasn''t us. Liz half yawned as she slumped over into the side of the love seat.


    Annie and Conor came out of their respective rooms in near unison to join them around the living room.


    Annie opened her mouth while looking like she wanted to bring up something important, so Matt cut her off. Food first. Important shitter.


    He refrained from grumbling that the camp cooks had sucked and should all be fired. They had already grown tired of hisints about that, but he still wanted food. Good food.


    They ordered a full on buffet, and even Aster left her ice bath when the food arrived. To everyone''s amusement, the hotel had even provided her with a bathrobe as well.


    When they were finally done eating, Emily brought up the topic her sister almost had. I want to buy an upgrade orb.


    Conor, who had at some point fallen on the floor, said, Is that the best idea with an auctioning up?


    Emily flopped her hand around. I don''t know, but there are only thirteen left, and even if I have nothing to use it on now, I mightter. It''s too valuable of a prize to pass up. And I could always risk it on my cracked skill, and hope it leans into the cracked, random mana type aspect of the skill.


    That felt a little too risky for Matt''s taste, but they were her points to spend.


    Liz rotated until her feet were in Matt''sp, and after sighing as he rubbed the sore spot, she said, Could always sell it. I doubt the army will let you change the price, but I bet you can return it or sell it for... She yawned and paused, Half a million.


    Speaking of the points, he checked Aster''s total and saw that she was over the half-million mark. He rubbed her until she woke up and said, See this listing, this is what we talked about before. It will help you out and boost your ice maniption.


    The fox was half out of it, but the ck box appeared next to her. He instructed her on how to absorb it and what to upgrade. She did as instructed, and was the proud new owner of the actual skill, [Ice Maniption]. As it was her Tier 1 Talent, Matt hoped that she would get the rare variant that acted on its own. From the two seconds of Asters testing though, that didn''t seem to be the case. It was just stronger, cheaper, and easier to use.


    Still, it would boost her growth potential.


    The same ck box appeared in front of Emily, but she queried into the air, Can you hold on to that for me? Not sure if I want to actually use it quite yet.


    The box idled there for a moment, but was then reced by a slip of paper. Emily plucked it out of the air and read out loud, If you decide you don''t want this item before the remaining stock runs out, it can be returned to the store for a full refund. If and when you want the orb for yourself, simply message the reward AI and it will be retrieved from storage. Should you fail to either pick up or return the item before leaving the war, it will be logged as a charitable donation and added to the Armys contribution store.


    Annie, who was the only one still eating, mumbled, At least that worked. She dropped the clean rib and sighed, I''m going to save my points. We have five months left before we need to Tier up, and I think if some more cities trade hands, I can get [Side Slide]. It''s at least a possibility.


    Matt checked his own points. 367,082 wasn''t a small amount, but he still wanted to save up for some of therger prizes. At least with Aster having her upgrade orb, he could look at other things.


    He idly used his AI to check the other new additions to the reward shop.


    The first thing he noticed was a fresh batch of cracked [Healing Touch]es and [Ranged Heal]s. They were both Tier 14 skills, but they would be incredibly helpful for the team to have. The problem was, the base price was 200,000 points apiece, and most of the cracks were either worthless for the healing spell, or incredibly valuable which drove up the price ordingly.


    One [Cracked Ranged Heal] had the bonus effect of increasing the strength of the target for ten minutes. That skill went for half a million on its own. It was damn near one of the chaser items, but it wasn''t the most expensive skill on the list.


    That honor went to a [Cracked Healing Touch] that had a doubled effectiveness and whose price sat at a whopping one and a half million points.


    The rest were cracks that had no real benefit to the healing spells. A healing spell with the added effect of changing one''s hair to a random color for its duration was just effectively a normal healing spell.


    Getting one for his team was on his list of priorities, but the real question was, who should get it and which spell? It would technically be best on him, until the healing cooldown applied. But until then, he could cast them all day without issue. When he hit Tier 7, he would be able to cast both as well. Unable to decide, he read the description of each normal skill.


    [Ranged Heal]: Spend 150 mana to heal the target over five secondsrange of fifteen feet. If the target stays in range of the caster, the spell can be channeled for half effectiveness. As this is an undirected healing spell, it does not require knowledge of the human body to function. It can not heal more than what a Tier 0 body would naturally be able to heal. It simply functions at an elerated ce.


    [Healing Touch]: Spend 100 mana to heal the target over ten seconds. If the target stays in contact with the caster, the spell can be channeled for three-quarters effectiveness. As this is an undirected healing spell, it does not require knowledge of the human body to function. It can not heal more than what a Tier 0 body would naturally be able to heal.


    [Ranged Heal] had more versatility in its range, since the mana cost wasn''t really an issue to anyone on his team. But the lowered effectiveness of the healing meant that they would hit the healing cooldown much faster.


    He also wondered if Liz could change one of the skills to something useful. But considering the point cost, he wasn''t sure it was worth it to test his theory out. Healing skills were Tier 14 after all, and not cheap.


    Either way, he couldn''t cast the spells yet, and they had other things to save up for.


    He joined his friends in theiratose conversation as they came down from their time in the field, and the talk of points turned to general chatter.


    ***


    The auction was a wild affair. There were half a dozen items previewed, with most possessing hidden effects or special promises. It was shaping up to dwarf the first auction twice over. Everyone was excited, but the queendom was more subdued. With their failed siege of the city, they were at a distinct disadvantage in the uing auction.


    With fewer points overall, the Queendom was a much more somber crowd. It only increased the fervor of the Kingdom fighters, who had a surplus of points and lesspetition. The noticeable absences were The Prince and those closest to him, including Juni. It was in stark contrast to Princess Sara, who sat with a moody expression. It didn''t take a genius to see the missing Shard of Reality, next to the Queendoms unimed shard. The Princess red at the podium as a tribute to her failure, it only drove home the disparity in points from the recent failure of the city sieges.


    With his usual ir, Javier strode out onto the stage and waved. Ahhh, my friends! It feels like it has been <em>so</em> long. But my, how youve fought!


    He pumped his arm up in cadence with the roaring crowd. I hope you are all flush with points! If you are, tonight is the night to spend them. Indeed, it is. You will find items crafted by the masters of the Empire proper here tonight.


    He waved, and five mannequins were rolled out with dark brown leather armor. These beauties are a Tier 7, squad-level formation armor. If you wear these and remain within two hundred feet of one another, you can share strength between each wearer. The high Tier man raised a finger and said, And if one of you is hit, the damage will be dissipated between each suit of armor. A truly formidable starting item!. Well begin the bidding at 100,000 points.


    The first item set the tone for the rest of the auction. Extravagant items were brought out as if they weremonce.


    Nothing particrly interested Team Bucket, so they only paid half attention to the auction as they conversed amongst themselves. Halfway through the auction, their boxs door smashed open, and Alyssa waltzed in. She shut the door with her foot and came in with sses of alcohol in both hands.


    Annie spun and started to growl out, What the fuck do you think you are doing...


    Alyssa interrupted her with a raised hand and said, Please just stop. I needed a ce to crash, and you were close. After you fucked my ns over, you owe me this much. She paused to finish the half-empty drink in her right hand before she leaned on the wall and slid to the floor. This doesn''t cover your favor. Just call it interest.


    The thoroughly drunk woman let her head thump against the wall, and just sat there with her eyes closed.


    Aster hopped down to investigate the new person in her space, and Matt readied himself in case the drunk woman tried to hurt his bond. But Alyssa just scratched her ears. Aster was more interested in the drink in her hand, and startedpping at the concoction before shaking her head at the dark beer, then going back in for more.


    Matt and his party warily watched the sitting intruder as the auction continued on in the background. Alyssa set the cup that the snow fox had taken a drink from onto the ground, which Aster took as permission to continue drinking with gusto. She gave a halfhearted glower at the party staring her down before setting her own empty cup down as well.


    Alyssa grabbed Aster as soon as the fox had finished the drink. The peacock blooded womanid down, and curled up into a ball around the fox bond, murmuring, Wake me up when the auction is over.


    Matt gave Liz a look, and she could only shrug at the newest development.


    They turned their attention back to the auction, which then had two surprising items go up for sale.


    The first one that piqued Matt''s interest was a copsible, Tier 7 smithing station. It was only the size of a fist in its copsed form, but it expanded to a room-sized, fully functional forge. It gave him the idea to get one made up for cooking. Until they had a portable and flying house, the stations would be quite useful.


    At the very least, he wouldn''t be forced to eat the slop that the army cooks served.


    Thest item was the most valuable; it was a growth storage ring. Javier brought out the ring on its own stand, but left it covered with a velvet cloth.


    This, my friends, is our final item. And let me warn you, if it doesn''t hit our reserve price here, it will be sent to the Empire proper for Tier 15s to fight over. A Tier 6, <em>growth</em> storage ring, obviously still unbound. This beauty will not be shown, so don''t fret about bing a target! But know that its growth aspect is that the size massively increases with Tier. But that''s not all! No, not in the slightest As this miracle of rift creation Tiers up, it will gain a stasis effect applied to stored items by Tier 20.


    The auctioneerughed, and with a self-deprecating smile said, Even I don''t have a ring that canpletely stop time, and Im Tier 29! That enchantment makes the ring sorge, theyre measured in square feet, and reserved for Tier 35s or higher.


    Hearing that the general audience lost their minds. Even Matt leaned forward to get a better look.


    For our guests'' safety, we will be conducting this auction through AI only.


    The starting price was half a million, but in seconds, the anonymous bids had it over a million. From there the bidding slowed, but it didn''t stop. The final price was one and a half million points, which just caused Matt to sigh in appreciation. A top team must have put every point they had into the ring.


    They tried to wake the two drunks, but Alyssa and his bond were dead to the world.


    Ill take her wherever she calls home.


    Matt offered to help, Ille with you.


    Liz patted his chest. It''s fine. I''ll do some work at the office once I drop her off. Enjoy the dinner.


    You shouldn''t need to babysit her. Matt tried not to whine. He was looking forward to his night out with Liz.


    Liz grinned at him, reading his thoughts. It''s fine. Seeing his doubt, sheughed and looked down on Alyssa. Despite her attitude at times, she <em>has</em> helped me out. I owe her at least a littlemon decency.


    Annie stepped forward with an evil grin. I can take her to her room.


    Emily rolled her eyes. Stabbing her and sending her to the hospital isn''t the same as getting her to her room.


    Annie shrugged. She''d get there. Eventually.


    Liz justughed, and with a drunk in each arm, she walked out of the room.


    Matt chuckled to himself as well. Yeah, I agree. But If Liz wants to help, who am I to interfere?


    They moved to eat dinner and enjoyed their time floating amongst the heights. It was a novel way to eat, with their servers floating to each person and their meals trailing behind them.


    Everything was going smoothly, when Matt heard a voice call out from behind him.


    I see you finally came out of your hidey-hole. Talous voice echoed over the buzz of conversation.


    Matt sighed as he turned to face the man. What do you want? You must have something better to do than follow me around throwing challenges left and right?


    He really wasn''t in the mood to deal with the persistent Pather.


    Yeah, I''m here to challenge you. Youre a coward who hides behind tricks and would have never won in a real duel.


    Matt sighed, he was tired of this game, and he didn''t really care about petty insults to his honor. He knew what mattered. This insecure man wasn''t it.


    Turning to leave with his team, he paused when he heard Talous next words. Where are your two women? Didn''t have enough to pay for their time? Heughed like it was the funniest joke ever uttered, and said something aboutpanionship. Or are you trading down to these two? I guess twins can be fun.


    Matt had to restrain himself. The asshole wanted to fight, and giving in would only further whatever n he had. The smartest move would be to just walk away, which was exactly what he did, even though he was sick and tired of the man and his badgering.


    Already walking away, he froze when he heard Talous follow up remark. Didnt your parents raise you with any pride? Or are they just as cowardly as you?


    Those words drilled deeper than Matt was prepared for. Rage bubbled up and drowned out his control.


    Matt turned towards the opposite direction of the smart move.


    ***


    Talous was desperate. The irritating man wasn''t epting his challenges no matter what he did. And he <em>needed</em> the man to ept his fight.


    Being perpetually annoying to Liz, and the n to challenge her team had started just as a way to drive a wedge into the Pather Union. All on Saras request, of course. If he could bait either Liz or her boyfriend into a public challenge, he could humiliate them, which would only further his own goals. Neither of them had risen to the bait, no matter how disrespectful he had acted, and hed resorted to tracking them down in the field instead.


    But after that first fight, he was desperate to challenge the man again. He had been so close to understanding his Concept during their first bout, and the cowardly piece of shit had cheated to end the fight, just before he grasped it.


    If he had just a <em>few minutes</em> longer, he was sure he could have solidified itboth the Phrase and Image in one shot. But no, the man had to surprise teleport and cheat his way to a victory, stealing Talous chance to advance.


    The war had been nice enough, and had earned his team some easy wealth. But that was nothing he couldn''t earn with his brother''s help. A Concept would stay with him forever.


    When Talouspleted The Path, he would prove that he was the best, and would earn the des he was due. From his birth, his parents had forged him into a warrior, and he had met every expectation with flying colors. He was the perfect son. Unlike his brother Malous.


    Where he was strong, Malous was weak and frail. His younger brother wasn''t meant for the sword, like the generations of his family that strived to perfect the art. So, it fell on Talous to maintain the familys honor.


    The weight was something that both of the brothers should have carried together. Despite everything, Talous loved and tried to protect his brother, but he not so discreetly resented him more and more as time went on. Their parents made no secret about the extra training and brutality they put Talous through stemming from his brother''sck of drive. It was as if they med <em>him</em> for his brother''s failings. But Talous knew the truth.


    <em>The weak have only themselves to me</em>.


    The younger man stopped even trying by the time they were teens, which was the most infuriating part. If Malous had given it his best effort, their parents would have let Talous off with minimal training. But no, the selfish slouch had refused altogether. He sat back and left it to Talous to earn enough of their parents approval for both of them.


    It only meant that Talous had to work even harder to appease them. They were ecstatic when his Awakening revealed a Tier 1 Talent for true ambidexterity, and the ability to split his attention.


    When his brother received a Talent for meditation, they cast him out and threatened to banish him. Some part of Talous never epted that. When his parents convinced an acquaintance to sponsor him on the Path, he demanded they make it a team with Malous.


    It was a spontaneous decision that brought the brothers closer than they had ever been before. But they still weren''t friends; not by any means at all. Neither of them really understood why he had made that decision. But it paid off when Malous Tier 3 Talent unexpectedly made him a Seeker, albeit an odd one.


    It was his brother who had found three new friends that could keep up with them. At first, Talous had felt indifferent. But they formed a team which, over the Tiers and trials, gradually bonded. Now, Talous was thest member of the party without his Concept. He could not stand for being the dead weight of the group. Never.


    And the bastard who could give him what he needed simply refused to fight him. Talous had tried fighting half a dozen people at once, but none of them stimted the spark that he needed. He even went as far as spending 100,000 points for two weeks of army Concept training. They tried to force the realization out with their power, but he felt nothing. Their only suggestion was to repeat the actions that got him closest time.


    So, hed tried to recreate the moment. When the ever calm Liz was out of the picture, hed sling some of the crassest insults he could think of to try starting a fight. Once again, as usual, nothing he said worked. Then, just as hed given up, he offhandedly threw out a <em>mild, half-assed dig </em>at the guys parents. Somehow, <em>thats</em> what did the trick.


    The man <em>finally</em> turned and lunged for him.


    Talous had forgotten how damned fast the man was. He moved like a Tier 7, even at the bottom of Tier 6. Along with that insane armor Talent and Concept, Matt was a frustrating opponent. Exactly what he needed.


    Before Matt could close the distance, a towering bald Pather in monks robes reached over and stuck a huge melon hammer between them. The charging brute reached to rip the weapon out of the way, but stopped when the monk reminded, Do battle, but not here. Or youll get a long swim to the surface.


    A second, much tinier and equally bald monk glided up next to hisrger counterpart. He traveled on a gust of wind while excitedly waving his staff. Yeah, what Tito said! Take it to the arena, where everyone can enjoy the show. The whole has been anticipating this matchup for months.


    Talous made a note to thank the men. Drowning to death would have put a hamper on his ns. He hadn''t actually expected the man to ept his challenge after all this time, and was mostly just mouthing off to blow off steam. If he had known that mentioning the assholes parents was all it would take, he would have done so months ago.


    Matt spat at him over the hammer blocking the way, There are lines you don''t cross.


    He would have passed the statement off as idle chatter, but the man''s eyes were t like a corpses. Apparently, a certain someone had mommy or daddy issues. Not that it mattered anymore. With Matt already giving him everything he wanted, there was no point taunting the man further.


    They made their way to an arena that was already crowded with spectators watching the ongoing fight. Matt just threw himself over the railing and into the waiting area,nding with a thud. Talous expected him to shove the two people waiting aside, but he just took his ce at the end of the line and red at Talous the entire time. His gaze never wavered as the other matches progressed.


    The fights seemed to drag on forever, as the army changed the arena between each fight to clean up. He also noticed an increase in the number of spectators sitting in the viewing stands. Word had been spread. The bubbly little monk was still calling people over too, making a show out of the impending fight.


    He smiled to himself under his helmet. The more people who witnessed him beating therge Tier 6, the sweeter the victory would be. Matt had humiliated him by ying that death over and over on his banner, but Talous would make it a million times worse. He would make the man quit the war with the humiliation he was going to deal out.


    There was clearly something wrong with Matt. Even as they climbed the ring and the shielding went up, he never broke eye contact. It was almost unnerving.


    Talous had fought many people. Some were amazing, and some were passable. The man in front of him was irritating.


    His own Tier 3 Talent gave him increased armor pration with his sword, and blocking power with his shield. Along with his growth belt, he should have been the perfect counter to the man. The problem wasn''t Matts decent skill with the de, but his damned Concept, which gave the man near-endless mana.


    Some digging into Saras records had exined his anomaly. The crazy bastard was suspected of using [Mages Retreat]. At least ording to one of the spies that the Princess had stationed in the enemy camp. They had heard Liz reference the skill twice in private conversations with Matt.


    [Mana Strength] was a better option for most melee fighters, since it was a t reserve skill. You didn''t have to lose too much of your mana to use it effectively, hence its consideration as a mainstay skill. Talous himself used the skill to good effect, but if he wanted to match Matt in strength, he had to increase the reserve to at least 400 mana.


    He felt it was bullishit that the man was able to increase his strength so much with an unconventional method. Anyone could be exceptional with endless mana. But Talous had counters prepared; he would not be losing this time.


    Matt stood there as the countdown was called, and his Talent-made armor flickered to life around him. Talous shook his arms to settle his armor and weapons. His pouch of mana stones reserved for feeding his shield was ready, and his de coursed with mana as well. His enchantments were humming with power.


    Talous settled himself as the referee counted down to two. At one, he was ready. When the referee began the fight, he was moving at the instant ofmand.


    A trait his parents drilled into him.


    If you moved first, you often won, and he needed to win. His Concept was on the other side of victory.


    He stimted his bottled Concept the best he could, and the strength increase allowed him to close the distance between them in a heartbeat. He was able to duck under the crosscut from his opponents longsword thanks to his enhanced speed.


    Talous let Matts sword deflect off the t of his de and activated [Shield Bash]. His left arm glowed with mana as he lunged forward with the spell propelling him.


    He met armored flesh and tried to drive the man off bnce, but was unable to get Matt to even budge. The ghostly form felt rooted to the ground.


    He brought his de down on the armored man''s glowing leg. The poison on the weapon would slow Matt as it worked its way into his body. There was no way the man had a healing spell at this stage. And even if he took [Endurance] like Talous suspected, the man wouldn''t have the skill modified that far yet. If by some miracle he did, the man would eventually run out of willpower to fuel his Concept. The poison was perfectly calcted to linger and draw this fight out.


    When he won, he would have his Concept, and then he would show this cheater what true power was.


    They exchanged blows half a dozen times, and Talous had to reassess. Matt had gotten better. Not a ton, but some of the gaps in his style were closed, or turned into bait.


    He was able to get in a few light wounds that he could have turned into finishing blows if he didn''t need to drag the fight out. The man was angry and it showed in his fighting style. As they exchanged attacks, Talous noted Matt tightening up his form, but not before he just barely avoided a diagonal sh where he expected an opening.


    Talous sidestepped a chop and licked out with his de, cutting into the flesh of Matts left arm. He took a kick to the shield in return that sent him skidding backwards, followed-up by a sword sh that burned a Tier 5 mana stone to keep his shield charged.


    Talous kept the wince off his face. That was his portion of a delve stolen away from blocking a single blow. The man was too strong for his own good, and wasnt afraid to use it. He had no doubt that the man used that advantage to bully most opponents into disadvantageous spots. That tactic wouldn''t work on him, his parents had never trained him to fight an equal opponent, this was just another day of sparring for him.


    An over-extended leg let Talous get another cut in, but it didn''t seem to phase the man. Why Matt wasn''t slowing down, he couldnt answer. But he didn''t need the poison that was just a backup. A way to ensure he could control the fight.


    A necessary precaution.


    Talous was careful to never fully engage likest time. He wouldn''t let the man teleport himself into a victory. If he could bait the items use out, that would be ideal, but he didn''t expect that to happen. There was no way Matt could win once he did, any teleport item had to be incredibly limited at this Tier. Otherwise, it would be used at every turn instead of saved and hidden.


    He just had to be careful of the move.


    Talous took a nasty kick to his knee that nearly sent him sprawling. He was able to roll backward, dissipating most of the blow before he was wounded, but it was a reminder that the man wasn''t a training dummy.


    As he was unable to end the fight without his Concept, he grew more frustrated. He was <em>ready</em>. He had prepared for every contingency. He should have earned his Concept by now. He was defeating the man in their exchanges, which should have brought on the realization of his Concept, but it lingered like a spark in the dark. It was glowing and dimming to a rhythm he couldn''t quite hear.


    There was something there, a flicker of sorts in his spirit, in both the Phrase and Image. He was prepared to strike and defend


    He was pulled out of his reverie when a spiked fistnded on his shield, and crumbled more mana stones to dust from dissipating the force.


    Talous thought the fight was won when he cut deep into the man''s ribs, and he felt the ember of his Concept ir up. But a massive glowing gauntlet gripped his forearm and held him in ce, stopping the nascent Concept from fully forming.


    A hand raised, and me gushed out at him just inches from his face.


    Talous could feel his growth belts reserves start to dip, and hurriedly connected it with a pouch of mana stones. He linked them one after another to his belt, preventing the mans ranged attack fromnding. It was an expensive way to fight, but it was his best counter to the cheating mage. What the belt didn''t stop, however, was the mes burning all the air away from his face.


    Matt only let go after the third shield bash, and Talous stumbled back.


    <em>Why isn''t this working</em>?


    He had nned for everything. His Concept was so close, he could feel it.


    Talous set himself to block and deflect a sword thrust that would be followed by a sh, but it was automatic.


    He just needed to find his Concept.


    He was ready for it.


    The tingling grew.


    <strong>Talous was ready</strong>.


    The world grew sharp, and everything clicked into its ce. His bottled Concept shattered, and vacated the spot in his magical and physical cultivation cores to make room for his new Concept.


    His Image was simple. A sword and shield in his hands. Each with a single opposite purpose that could be swapped at any moment. They were all he needed. He was prepared for every encounter. Most importantly, he was ready to strike and defend at any time.


    With wild glee, Talous threw himself into Matt, and with his Concept empowering him, he deflected the sword with his shield and stabbed the man in the heart. Or he would have, but there was a repulsion force that resisted his de long enough for the man to twist out of the way.


    Talousughed out loud and rushed forward to re-engage.


    The longsword caught his first de thrust, but he was fine with that. If his sword was acting as a shield, his shield could be a weapon. He was ready.


    He knocked the man off bnce and expected to end the fight there, but Matt teleported closer and, just likest time, brought his de to Talous head.


    Still smiling, Talous flexed his Concept and used its added power to get his shield up, just in time tosh out at Matt''s chest. With his Concept empowering his enchanted de, he felt it slice through the man''s feeble attempt at armor and bite deep into softer flesh.


    Therger man kicked out, and again Talous was barely able to roll with it.


    He came back up ready to fight, and brought his de down on his opponent''s own, trying to maneuver it out of position. It worked, but Matt was able to dodge his first sh. He was too slow to fully dodge the thrust to his nk that followed, and Talous felt the enjoyment of whittling down an opponent who had once bested him.


    He was better. And now he would show everyone.


    Matt readied his sword one-handed, and to Talous surprise, a shield formed on his now limp left arm.


    So the man could improvise. That was surprising, but nothing he couldn''t handle. The length of the de was good for two-handed styles, but it would hamper a one-handed and shielded style.


    Talous victory was assured.


    Then the man''s other skill, [Hail], made its first appearance, and thumb-sized chunks of ice littered the floor, until they were a hazard to good footing. Then, the armored man followed up with a torrent of water.


    Stop the coward shit and fight like a man! He wanted to punish Matt for withholding his Concept from him for so long, and he intended to finish the fight in the same humiliating manner that he had lost in.


    But now, the man was flooding the floor with chunks of ice and water. A cowardly ploy.


    Talous understood why Matt made such a move when he saw the armored man standing <em>above</em> the ice and water near his feet.


    Talous measured his steps carefully and shuffled his feet, trying not to step on any ice. But it slowed him enough that he was forced to rely on his Concept to block a portion of Matt''s heavy longsword. With his return swing, he found the new shield did little more than the original armor, and ignored it to hack away at the man''s already injured arm.


    If he had to cut the man to pieces, he would. Talous would pay him back for the humiliation of his first loss. He would make Matt pay even more for not giving him this duel sooner.


    This was Matt''s fault. He was only getting what wasing to him.


    Talous had to rely more and more on his Concept to counter the water walking. He thought it was a weird skill, but in one of his brief respites, he could feel that it was actually the man''s Concept.


    <em>Hows that fair</em>?<em> Nobody their Tier can do that</em>.


    Talous didn''t have time to curse. Matt refused to die.


    Two more heavy hits to the torso failed to put the armored giant down, and he could feel himself tiring. His new Concept fit him perfectly, but it was draining his willpower like a leaky bucket.


    He refused to give in, and forced himself to remember his parents'' lessons. Losing wasn''t an option.


    They exchanged blow after blow, with Talous deing back red each time, but Matts armored form did not waver. The amount of poison hed been dosed with should have put him in aa by now.


    When Matt teleported again, he was caught off guard, and his left knee buckled as therger Tier 6 stomped on it.


    Talous could feel tendons and ligaments tear under the blow. He was sent sprawling, but rolled to his good foot with an agonized scream.


    <em>Fuck! Two teleports in one fight</em>?


    No item at their Tier could manage that. It had to be [Side Slide], no wait an upgraded [Side Slide]. One of the possible upgrades would have beening off its shortened cooldown right about now. The copy in the store was still there, so the cheating bastard must have lucked upon the skill even before the war, and bought an upgrade orb for it from the market.


    He struggled to dig deeper into his Concept, but his cores felt like sponges wrung out one too many times. Just trying to tap into it was giving him a splitting headache.


    He had nothing left to give.


    That was fine. He had fought his entire life without a Concept. He didn''t need one to finish this.


    While Talous feebly tried to shake off the pounding in his head from overdrawing his Concept, Matt slipped in a thrust to his chest that glowed with an impending [Mana Charge]. He had to rely on his new skill to stop it. [Phantom Armor] shed into ce around him, and blocked the blindingly explosive blow, just long enough for him to cleave deeply into Matts left arm, leaving itme.


    With his Concept drained, Talous found it harder to punch through Matts now ornate armor. The thicker ting was resisting his Talent more thanst time. Talous panted between their exchanges. For all he was slicing the man up, he was growing exhausted while Matt stood tall as ever.


    His gging energy was only weakened further when a heavily embellished shield appeared on his opponents left shoulder, and almostpletely blocked his next attack. In a sh of rity, he realized that the armor must get more effective the more detailed the armors moulding became. Otherwise, that sh to Mattsme side would have ended this, surprise shield or no.


    <em>How is it fair that his armor is so much stronger than even Tier 7 armor? Why does he cheat so much</em>?


    In their next exchanges, he was forced to burn more mana stones, as he was drained of mana trying to re-stabilise [Phantom Armor]s still fragmented structure. It was destroyed after it saved his life from Matts exploding de. He was hoping to piece it back together quickly enough for a second activation, but that massive [Mana Charge] had stressed the skill too much, and it had shattered more thoroughly than usual.


    He wasn''t used to skills needing to be rebuilt, and it took valuable mental concentration to reform the skill. Let alone filling it with mana while fending off an opponent who could now block some of his blows.


    As the fight dragged out further, Talous drew blood twice more in rapid session. Suddenly, Matt teleported for an unbelievable <em>third</em> time, and shattered his sword arm with a heavy chop. Only his armor stopped the blow from severing his arm. If his leg wasnt crippled, he knew he could have dodged, but he was slightly too slow.


    It had been maybe three minutes since thest teleport. Not even an upgraded version of [Side Slide] could be used that quickly in session.


    <em>What the fuck is going on?!</em>


    Talous screamed as he was tackled, and therger man''s heavy formnded on his destroyed leg. He wedged his shield between them, but Matt grabbed the other half of Talous and twisted. He was forced to let go, as the shield acted as a lever, and threatened to snap his other arm. The man was still unnaturally strong.


    <em>How is he not out of Willpower yet?!</em>


    Sacrificing the shield, he quickly drew a dagger and plunged it into the man''s kidney with all his strength. To his horror, the armors lower back suddenly became much thicker and more decorative as the de arced in. The daggers enchanted tip simply skittered off the glowing, Talent-made armor, and a spiked gauntlet smashed into his chest.


    Talous could feel his breastte cave in as the spikes prated the Tier 7 armor and dug into his chest. The gouges hurt, but the shattering ribs were tortuously painful. His arms crumpled to his sides as one of his lungs copsed, and he started bleeding out internally.


    The fight was over. There was noing back from this.


    He tried to get out a final quip, but he couldnt even take the needed breath as Matt relentlessly mmed down with his one working arm over and over. He crushed Talous ribs to powder, mincing his heart and lungs with the splinters. Finally, he was pulled out of the ring as his vision faded.


    Thest thing he remembered was the cold faceless visage of his armored opponent, reeling back for yet another killing blow. Talous saw a monster pretending to be a man, whod uttered not a word as it was sliced to pieces. A beast that would not fall.


    In that final moment, the ghostly mirrored helm reflected his own dying eyes straight back at him. Talous shuddered as the darkness imed him.

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98


    Liz hoisted the two drunks as she made her way through the underwater auction house to the tforms that would take them to the surface.


    She didn''t like Alyssa, but the woman was in a pretty bad state. She originally thought the woman was faking it when she barged into their room, but as Liz carried her she got a whiff of the woman. She positively <em>reeked</em> of booze. Even for a Tier 7, the woman was well beyond drunk, and well into hammered.


    Her bloodline still thrummed with oppression due to Alyssas purer bloodline, but she shoved that down to walk her back home. The imposing presence whenever she was around Alyssa put her in a constant state of anxiety. Bloodline suppression was something that she never thought she would have to cope with, but spending time with Alyssa during the council meetings had slowly helped her adjust to the feeling. At this point, it wasnt very difficult to ignore.


    They were on the surface when Liz finally said something. Youre lucky Im willing to drag you all the way home.


    Not as lucky as you are. Such a lucky little bird.


    Liz looked around for a moment before realizing that Alyssa had been the one to answer her. Both the condescension and overly friendly attitude had been absent from her voice. The woman almost sounded sincere.


    Liz warily asked, How so?


    Alyssa justughed as if it was the funniest joke, even as she stumbled in an attempt to walk on her own.


    It''s nothing. Dont worry about it.


    Liz didnt let it drop. No, really. Exin. And why are you this drunk? In all ourte night council meetings Ive never even seen you take so much as a sip of theplementary wine. You being this hammered is out of character.


    Alyssa gave Liz a long look before she replied, Out of character. Yeah, how right you are. I just found out Im getting married to a handsome young Count from the Empire.


    Congrattions? Liz responded with a questioning lilt. Its what you wanted right? To move up in the nobility. y the game. Gather political power.


    Not this way. Not by selling my bloodline. It makes sense to use it as a lure to gain power, but I am<em> more </em>than my bloodline. When I pushed back and told my parents I would rather die than y their game, they lost their minds. Called me ungrateful and everything else under the seven suns.


    Liz was taken aback at that. She had put Alyssa in the same category as the rest of those social schemers that she was unfortunate enough to deal with when she was younger. The type that would do anything and <em>anyone</em> to get ahead. She figured Alyssa would jump at the chance to marry up, given how she unted all the gifts she had received from other suitors. Apparently, she had the wrong idea.


    <em>Perhaps Ive been too harsh?</em>


    You must know what it is like? I can feel your bloodline. Mine is perfect, <em>better</em>, but yours is close. Plus, I know a noble education when I see one, even in the way you hold yourself. I''d bet everything and anything that you had just as many people sniffing around you as I had. She tripped on nothing, and Liz paused as Alyssa ominously held her hand to her stomach. You joined the Path, though.


    Alyssa panted for a moment at Lizsck of response before she got herself under control and tried to walk. She tilted so far, Liz had to scoop her back up and start guiding her again.


    I didn''t get that lucky.


    Liz hesitantly asked, If they were just trying to sell you, that would vite the Empire''sws. You can''t be forced into a marriage against your will.


    The drunk Tier 7 barked a mockingugh. There was no humor in it, only pain. Forced? No, but pressured...? Absolutely. They are my <em>parents</em>, after all. And oh, how they pressure. And how little Ill be left with if I refuse. No money, no home, no title, <em>no protection</em>. Besides, you think the Empire really enforces itsws in the Kingdom? Has no one told you about the privileges given to the high nobles here over themoners? The royals arent even subtle about it, and yet not once has your great, benevolent <em>Empire</em> even bothered to sniff around. They couldnt care about any of us. Now... if you would excuse me for a moment.


    Alyssa jolted to the side to finally empty her stomach into a bush. The acrid stench rolled over Liz and Aster like a wave. Even while unconscious, Aster squirmed to get away.


    Wiping her mouth, Alyssa said, Much better. Honestly, I shouldn''t have such a pure bloodline. My mother and father are both third-generation Peacocks. No, no, no, I should have been a normal human. By some fluke, I popped out with apletely pure bloodline. Perfectly, freakishly pure. A curse more than a blessing, really. The vultures were circling from day one, and my parents only worried about finding the highest bidder. Duke Asfodels Tier 17 son is now in the lead, after I rejected the Count. So, I might actually be headed to your precious Beast Kingdom. Not that Ill ever leave their estates. But my parents could care less.


    She scoffed, then groaned. Fucking worthless. They can''t even break through Tier 14 and be real immortals. Their clocks were already ticking down when I was born. They were <em>desperate</em>, and fate simply handed them the prize they needed. That''s why it was a fucked up thing to remove me frommand. Especially after all the free bits of help I kept giving the Pather Union. I only asked for a favor in return when you wanted something really big.


    Liz shook her head, even though the other woman couldn''t see it. Albert would have never given you a Barony. Not after how you try to counter him at every turn.


    Alyssa gave Liz a sardonic look. It was worth a shot at least. Rumor had it that Albert had a title or two for the news tucked away in his back pocket, ready to motivate the generals or buy an important traitor with. He was desperate enough to get that Shard of Reality to give a barony to anyone. Even me. Figured if I paired a big aplishment with a promise to step out of his way, he might bite. Youre probably right though, that ship sailed a long time ago. She shrugged. But once you pick a side, it''s not easy to change.


    Liz felt sympathetic, but worried that this was just a ploy to garner said sympathy. Either the woman was a controlled drunk, or she was ying her. Were it not for the vomit and boozy stench still clinging to the woman, she wouldn''t have picked out drunkenness as the source of her sudden personality shift. Alyssa didn''t even slur her words. The question was, just how used to being drunk was she?


    Maybe she was getting a view into the <em>actual</em> Alyssa.


    Why not leave for the Beast Kingdom? With your bloodline, you could have found a sponsor to one of the royal academies. I was offered a spot, and it boasts one of the best educations in the Empire, along with rifts for advancement all the way up to Tier 14.


    Alyssa scoffed in response. Sure, then throw myself into the arms of a random benefactor who would have just as much control as my parents, but even less reason to care about my well-being. She spat off to the side. No, Ill make it to the Beast Kingdom when I''m Tier 15 and can y the political game for real. Then Ill be an adult by any standards. Only then will I be able to show them how wrong they were.


    There are a lot of strong people there, and not everyone is as civilized as they could be. Without a backer... Liz didn''t know how to say the woman''s idea was pipe dream politely.


    Alyssa snorted in a less thandylike manner. So what? Hardly any different than here.


    After a few more minutes of guiding the shuffling girl, they arrived at Alyssas room. It wasn''t what Liz expected, though she couldn''t have exined why it felt off. It was a simple room. The only addition that seemed from the woman herself was a multicolored bedspread.


    Otherwise, the room was the same as the one she and Matt shared, just not connected to others in a suite. Though, she did notice a dark smoke stain over the closet. A remnant from Annies act of arson.


    Right where her own side table was, she gently set down Aster before maneuvering Alyssa over to her bed.


    As Liz dropped the drunk woman onto her bed and yanked off a boot, she thought over what Alyssa had said. When she was done with the first one, she asked, If you were nicer, you would have more allies. You had never even met my team and backstabbed us. If you do the same to your own side, it''s no wonder they aren''t very happy with you. You killed how many generals exactly?


    Alyssa scoffed as she covered her eyes. I didn''t kill shit. All I did was use the Queendom''s ns and get myself in the right position to take advantage. Or at least try to. Their n was to remove thepetent generals and then slowly siege down the city, while sending massive forces to kill off most of Albies'' troops. Little did they know, Olivia was smarter than all the generals they killedbined.


    That surprised Liz. It also piqued her interest. Alyssa had proven herself an apt political yer, but that was information that she really shouldn''t know, so Liz pushed slightly.


    So you didn''t kill the generals?


    Alyssa rolled over and buried her face in a pillow. If I had the influence and resources to pull that off, I wouldnt need a barony to escape my parents. No, I only sent the message to Happer that his mistress was cheating. He''s in an unhappy arranged marriage, and actually loved the girl. I felt bad for him. It''s not my fault that he sucks atbat, and Mistys other boytoy didnt. Timing was just lucky.


    Still, being nice to people rarely hurts. Liz was surprised that the woman had cared enough to try to help someone, even if she then tried to publicly make it seem like a master n. It wasnt who she thought the woman was.


    Alyssa''s next words dashed any hope she had for the woman being a nice person. Like I need to attract even more dumbass suitors. None of the twits around here matter anyway. A bunch of useless losers.


    Seeing that the woman was resigned to being a dick, Liz scooped up the passed-out Aster off the table as she said, Don''t sleep on your back. You might choke to death.


    I know how to sleep drunk. There was half a heart beat pause when she added, But your boyfriend might die. Talous finally got his wish.


    Only a secondter, Liz received a message from Annie confirming Alyssas statement, and an attached recording of the insults to both her and Aster, then Matt''s parents.


    She put Aster down into Alyssas arms and raced out of the room. She didn''t like the woman, but she wasn''t evil enough to hurt a sleeping beast bond.


    She had the fight streaming to her AI as she tore her way down the halls and into the street. Even as she grabbed a taxi to reach the loading tforms quicker, she watched as Matt was cut repeatedly.


    Liz had every intention of making Talous pay for the nderous things he had said. Emily had filled her in, and seeing the t angry look in her boyfriend''s eyes as he turned to attack Talous filled her with rage.


    Win or lose. She was going to make Talous pay.


    When she arrived at the tform loading and unloading area, she nearly tore her hair out, seeing the massive line.


    She needed to get down there now. She didn''t doubt that Matt would win, and she knew that shed have to do damage control if things were as bad as she feared. His parents were a very sore spot for Matt, and she wouldn''t forgive Talous for poking it.


    ***


    Malous stood there as he watched his brother''s mutted body vanish. He had let his attention slip, and the fool had run off to challenge Matt in another misguided attempt to get his Concept.


    That was fine. Annoying, but fine.


    Talous losing? Probably for the best, honestly.


    What wasn''t eptable was the fight not ending when it was clearly over. His brother should have been pulled out after the first punch to the ribs.


    Malous could see his brother''s ribcage crumple and tten with each extra strike. That was far too long to allow the fight to proceed.


    It was ipetence. Or deliberate interference.


    He looked at his team and saw the same looks. They all suspected that the referee and army watchers were ying favorites.


    Malous turned to leave. Without a word, his team followed him to the tforms that would take them out of there. His brother needed him, and he had to do damage control while investigating who had let the fight drag on so long.


    He and his brother didn''t have the best rtionship before joining The Path, but they were closer now, and he really didn''t care for seeing him punished over something so minor. The already brutal loss <em>should</em> have been enough.


    The watchers and referee <em>should</em> have been impartial.


    As his blood began to boil, Malous tried to decide how to handle this. Someone needed to be held ountable.


    ***


    Luna smiled as she watched the broken body vanish. Her notes hovering nearby were filled with critiques, but she was happy.


    Matt had thoroughly impressed her. He had resisted the referees standard attempts to remove Talous long enough that the army watchers stepped in before the referee could do so physically. The referee didn''t have the skill to extract Matts opponent without destroying his Concept; it was still long enough to get in a few more blows. He was so angry, he probably had no idea that he had identally locked down the space around him, preventing the referee from executing their standard removal procedure.


    The Talous boy would be fine too. She had seen his type many times before. Knowing he wasnt the best would just motivate him more. He woulde back stronger if he didnt let this get to him. Plus, countless people that shed mentored would have taken a thousand of those beatings for their Concepts. One day, hed count himself as the clear winner here.


    From someone with his Talent, drive, and proficiency with a de, she expected good things. She even had a pile of notes ready for his manager when he inevitably got his own team at Tier 10.


    Her tail swished, and she couldn''t wipe the grin from her face.


    Her new protege just kept surprising her.


    Oh, she was going to mold Matt into a <em>monster</em>.


    ***


    Conor watched as Matt dueled Talous, and winced at the earliest stages of the fight. Matt was raging, and it showed in hisbat style.


    He hated to admit it, but Talous was good with his chosen weapons. Better than anyone else Conor had personally met.


    As the fight progressed, he had to reevaluate Matt several times. He had fought and dueled the man in training, as well as fought beside him dozens of times. For all their time together, he still underestimated the man and his willpower to fight.


    He t-out refused to go down.


    There was something in that tenacity that he could learn from. Conor wasn''t the best. He knew that. But he was good. Maybe he didn''t need to be the best; he just needed to oust everyone else. With his defensive style, it wasn''t the worst idea.


    Conor took note of the way Talous moved for his own purposes. He was a more defensive fighter, but he still wanted to try replicating a few of his moves with his shieldter while sparring. They both used a single handed weapon and a shield, after all.


    Annie leaned over and cheered as Matt kicked Talous leg out from under him. Conor took a moment to double-check their wagers, now that the fight was turning.


    The initial odds had leaned slightly in Matt''s favor, as he had won their first encounter. But during the beginning of the duel, Talous had clearly been taking the upper hand. After a sudden onught by Talous a few minutes in, the odds shifted heavily in his favor. At that peak, shortly before betting was closed, Matt winning offered a two-to-one payout.


    Annie dropped every single point she had on Matt. Conor had put all but two points in the fight, and transferred the other to Annie. If she died with no points, she was out of the war, and it was better to be safe rather than sorry.


    A few minutester, Emily had arrived and done the same. Her tardiness had actuallyted her a much better payout, since Talous had be the major favorite. At the end of the fight, they cashed out with nearly two hundred thousand extra points.


    It was a nice reward, but it was quickly soured. When Matt deactivated his armor, his clothes fell away in bloody strips, showing the damage inflicted on their friend. His body had more bloody gashes than unharmed flesh.


    The sight of him spoiled their good cheer. They rushed to their teammates'' side, but were held back by the referee as a healer rushed forward.


    Matt was quickly treated. A week-long healing cooldown was prescribed, but the healer didn''t seem overly worried.


    Matt was clearly out of it. He looked off into space until Emily asked if he was okay. The question seemed to bring him back to the present.


    ***


    With a shake, Matt stood up and nodded. Sorry, guys. He really pissed me off... I was stuck in my own head for a minute there.


    That was an understatement, but he wasnt going to tell them that he had snapped at the repeated insults, and was about to kill the man. The only reason he hadn''t gone for the man''s head was that he wanted the pain tost. He was afraid that if he damaged his head, the army would step in before he could dish out the sort of agony that he wanted Talous to feel.


    Mattughed like it wasn''t serious, but he could feel his eyes still t, despite his voice''s forced cheer.


    Annie didn''t seem to notice and lightly elbowed the man. Great fight, and we won an assload of points from betting on you.


    Oh, that''s good.


    He wasn''t sure what else to say. Regardless, he was happy for them. The more points they had, the stronger they were.


    His AI notified him that his winnings from the duel were transferred. He was entitled to 30% of the houses take. It was an enormous sum, a little under 750K points.


    They tasted like ashes. He hadn''t fought for the pointshe fought because he got angry, and Talous smug attitude only made it worse as they fought.


    The points were tainted, and he didn''t want anything to do with them.


    Hey Annie, how close are you to buying [Side Slide]?


    She was startled, but he spoke before she could say anything else. Here, take the points I won from the fight and see how close that gets you.


    He was relieved when they were out of his point bnce. It felt like a weight off his shoulders.


    Annie spluttered, Matt, I can''t take these. It''s just too much.


    Without ruining the mood, he tried to exin. Annie, I didn''t fight for the points, and I really dont want them. Just take them, please.


    She turned to her sister and pleaded, I need one hundred thousand points. Pleaseeee.


    With an eye roll that could onlye from family, Emily flicked a finger at her sister, transferring the points over.


    Annie poked at her AIs interface, and a secondter, the listing for [Side Slide] disappeared. A nondescript skill shard sat in the air directly in front of her.


    She turned and hugged Matt. Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!


    With a smooth motion, she snapped it into a band around her wrist to ensure it couldn''t be stolen during the time it took to absorb the skill. As soon as it was in ce, she started to dance right there.


    Seeing his friend so happy helped to thaw Matt out of his icy mood a bit..


    Talous had irritated him with the insults to his friends, but when hed attacked his parents, Matt snapped. He shouldn''t have. Compared to the disgusting nder Talous had stooped to before, that finalment had been rather tame. It had just rubbed him the wrong way.


    He wasn''t happy with his actions. He should have walked away from the fight. It was dumb and unnecessary, while also ying into Talous own ns.


    Matt wasn''t dumb. When he felt the Queendom Pather form his own Concept, he understood that was Talous n from the outset. The realization that Talous had used Matts dead parents as a ploy to earn his own Concept still burned at his gut.


    He wanted to rip the new Concept away from the man. It felt like he had stolen it from his parents'' graves.


    As Emily and Annie bickered yfully, he met Conors eye and nodded slightly to him. The man gave him a concerned look that he appreciated, despite wishing he noticed less. Right now, he didn''t want to deal with questions of a more delicate nature.


    All he wanted to do was rx.


    Lizs messages blinked at him from the corner of his eye, and he read through them. They were mostly asking if he was ok. Clearly, she had seen the duel.


    Herst message said that she wasing down as soon as she could get a shuttle. He messaged her back, telling her to wait.


    He was going home now, whether the others were or not.


    The bustle and cheer of the auction house didnt sit well with Matt. On the tform above, he could already see people cheering for him. If he left the auction house, he could get away from most of this.


    Having made up his mind, Matt said, Hey guys, I''m going to meet up with Liz. Why don''t you continue the party? Enjoy yourselves.


    Even Annie, who was in her own world, stopped to give Matt a weird look.


    Conor pped his shoulder, Nah. Thest thing you need is to be alone right now. We''ll all go back up. Were a team.


    There was a finality to that statement that wasforting. Emily pulled him to his feet and patted his back. We aren''t assholes like Talous. If you want to talk, or even be alone, let us know. But we aren''t going to let you run off on your own after something set you off so badly.


    That brought a real smile to Matt. He might not have any blood rtions left, but he had a family.


    ***


    Sara lurked next to the chamber where Albert was using his Shard of Reality. A special item let her seamlessly blend into arge potted nt in the room. An actual fortune, most of her very generous allowance from her childhood, had been paid to a Tier 12 crafter to make it. But it would fool any Tier 7 not specialized in breaking illusions.


    She was getting desperate, and needed to make her move. Two days had passed since the auction, and Albert should being out any moment.


    She was doing this personally, as she could only trust herself to handle this particr mission. The Queendoms next moves depended on this fight. On taking out most of the Kingdom leadership in one fell swoop. The massive reward for personally killing her rivalmander was secondary.


    Half an hourter, Juni approached with a contingent of guards.


    Seeing him caused Sara to stop and reevaluate. Juni should have been in there with Albert. Their spies had seen him enter the formation, and no one had seen him for thest week.


    It could only mean one thing. The man already had his Concept.


    That hampered her ns. By every report, Juni was loyal and strong. His performance in the war so far had been ster. If he could perform at that level even with his Concept hidden, then he might be able to prevent this assassination with it.


    With a steadying breath, Sara refocused her mental well being. She could die for this kill. Her orders were given and ns already in motion. Her people could make due, as long as Albert was unable to give orders or buy upgrades to his cities. She had already spent all her sides points in the perpetration phase.


    The Queendom needed a win, and they needed it now if theirrger ns were to seed.


    The door swung open, and she tensed her hand with the specially made storage ring for hernce. The ring would be useless when she Tiered up and got a new weapon, but she needed the utility right now. Speed was of the essence, and a six-footnce would be toorge to quickly draw.


    When Albert stepped out, she targeted him with her Tier 1 Talent. As he was well within her fifteen-foot range, she immediately teleported to his side.


    She didnt thrust at him or attack him with hernce. She didnt even summon it from her ring. The man was too well armored for that to guarantee a kill. No, she stuck an explosive to his face. Even as it made contact, she changed her Talents target and, with an effort of will, appeared beside them fifteen feet away.


    The bomb detonated almost instantly. A shock-wave rocked the hall that threatened to blow out her eardrums. Her AI pinged to report the death of the enemy vassal''s leader with a fanfare of color and points. Doing it herself merited a million points. Better yet they were personal points with no restrictions on their use.


    Now, she just needed to sever thest of the hydras heads.


    The only important survivor was Juni. When he stood up and caught her eye, madness stared back at her. Bits of debris scarred his face and blood poured from his ears, but he looked manic. At the sight of her, he lunged with a gravity assisted leap.


    The gravity around Sara multiplied a dozen times, and the surprise almost caused her to stumble, but she changed her target and teleported out of the range. Her spirit was on fire from changing targets so many times and so quickly, but seeing Junis sticknd on her previous location with an explosion of stone, she forced the pain down.


    That blow might have ended her. She checked her AIsbat evaluations. Her mother had gifted her a nearly perfect copy of her own AI skill, just scaled down to work for a Tier 3. Its starting capabilities were massively beyond what the typical nk te AI began with.


    The AI assured her she could win this fight, if she didn''t fuck up. With her emergency backup n, she could win even without a fight. But that had other costs.


    Juni immediately lowered her chances by half as a wave of gravity sent everyone around them flying. With no one else in range, Juni was the only viable target for her Talent. Which he no doubt wanted.


    With his gravity maniption, fighting in close quarters was ill-advised.


    Sighing, she resigned herself to using the backup n. This was something shed only readied in case the bomb didnt finish her Albie. Ast resort.


    Sara removed her belt and tossed it to the ground, where it started spewing smoke, and moved left to dodge a thrown knife.


    This needed to happen quickly. Reinforcements were no doubt on their way, and it would be dumb to die from archers while trying to kill a secondary target.


    Under the concealment of the smoke, she targeted Juni and teleported directly in front of him. Hernce''s thrust felt slow as msses as she tried to push through the repulsive force emanating from him. As her weapon nearly stopped, she activated the enchantment on hernces head. In a blue explosion, a Tier 8 mana stone between the shaft and head discharged. The front of her weapon bulleted forward, covering the needed distance while simultaneously supercharging the piercing enchantment on the tip.


    Her beloved weapon was destroyed, but as she walked out of the now normalized gravity zone to confirm her kill, she found Juni standing there with hernce <em>through</em> his chest. He was still standing somehow.


    With a sudden manic grin, he brought his stick down at her head.


    The deactivation of his gravity field had been bait.


    Sara rolled backward and drew her daggers from her back sheaths, but the tip of the weapon caught her in the head even as she tried to avoid it. She felt the bone crack, but ignored it as the split skin wasn''t leaking blood into her eyes.


    She was ready to fight.


    Thankfully, she didn''t need to. Juni disappeared just secondster, as he moved forward to engage her. The watchers must have decided thence head through his chest was life-threatening enough to warrant removal. Him holding still was probably the only thing keeping the bleeding in check enough.


    Seeing the Kingdom guards rushing her, she dashed down the other hall to an exterior wall. With a final burning effort, she targeted the man waiting outside of the building and teleported next to him.


    As soon as she was outside, she sprinted to where her own people were waiting and checked the reportsing in.


    Her armies were in their ces and making their moves. The ambush teams for the Kingdoms top Pathers were already engaging. Two armies that had been moving in the open were already engaged and encircled.


    Things were finally looking up.


    Now she needed to focus on their other n. It needed to go well, just as much as this one had. She checked her timer. Two weeks and six days.


    That was when they would end this war.


    And they would be taking far more from the Kingdom than the prizes. Hopefully, Albert would forgive her one day.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99


    Matt spent the evening with his team, casually watching movies and dining in. He wanted to cook, but the others wouldn''t hear of it, and ordered a spread of dishes before they even reached their room.


    On their way back, they picked up Aster from a groggy Alyssa, who only opened the door long enough for them to enter before she shuffled into her bathroom and into the running shower.


    Aster was happy to see him, but was still mostly out of it. So when they got back, they put her in the freezer until the food arrived. Unsurprisingly, she miraculously revived at the smell of roasted rabbit.


    She was still feeling the alcohol and only nibbled at her food until Matt cut it for her. She whined a mental, Thank you, before projecting an image of her being fed by hand.


    He was happy to do so. It was cute and nostalgic to see her so helpless. It took him back to when she was a newborn, when she needed him to help with pretty much everything.


    His introspection ended as they watched aedy movie, and he went to use the bathroom. He noticed how Liz wouldn''t take her eyes off of him, and was tracking every movement he made.


    When he went to fetch a drink from the kitchen, she took the opportunity to descend on him.


    She rubbed his arm, and when that wasn''t enough, leaned in for a hug. Then, holding him tightly, she apologized, I''m sorry I wasn''t there. I...


    Matt rubbed her back while in the embrace, but cut her off. Don''t worry about that. Even if you had been there, I still probably would have snapped on him. I''m more mad at myself for giving the bastard what he wanted.


    Against his conscious desires, his body tensed at the mention of Talous and his Concept.


    Liz noticed and pulled back. What do you mean?


    Her eyes were sharp, and Matt understood how it felt to be a rabbit with Aster eyeing them from a bush. It was unnerving to know that a predator had their full attention locked on to you.


    When he didn''t answer quickly enough, Liz prodded again. He wanted a fight, but your tone tells me that''s not all. What did he want?


    Her tone was gentle, but there was a hardness in there that spoke of the pain and anger just waiting to be unleashed. Not willing to lie to her, he debated a half-truth, or something less revealing. But in the end, he decided to just let it out.


    I think the reason he wanted to fight me so badly was that he was close to finishing his Concept, and fighting me got it for him. Halfway through the fight, he finished forming it and started using it. I expect he was just a hair away, and needed the final push.


    He tensed up again, but tried to shove it down. Liz noticed, so he finished his thought. It pisses me off that he insulted my parents to get me to fight, and that''s what earned him his Concept. It feels like he besmirched their memory.


    Liz was clearly concerned, and he noticed that his knuckles started to pop. Realizing he was tensing, he shook himself in an effort to rx.


    It''s fine. I just need some time to cool downpletely.


    His girlfriend and teammate looked at him like he was stupid.


    What?


    Her look of incredulity only increased to nearical levels.


    Matt, you need to talk to someone. When he opened his mouth, she spoke over him. A professional. Talous threw some hateful shit at you, and youre just pushing it down and bottling it up. Have you even messaged your therapist at all?


    Internally, he winced. He had thought about it, but had decided against it. He just wanted the incident behind him.


    No. I haven''t.


    She hooked an arm through his arm and started to drag him out of the suite. She called over her shoulder, Were going for a walk, to the rest of the team, who was watching them leave.


    Aster jumped off Emilysp and padded after them on her slightly wobbly feet. He leaned down to scoop her up and carry her after he probed their connection. Her head was hurting enough. He felt bad about her not resting, but kept his mouth shut.


    The Tree of Perfections fruit had nearlypleted its mental effects on her. She was self-aware enough to decide what she wanted to do herself. If she wanted toe, he wouldn''t stop her. And he wanted her close. She was a balm to his spirit.


    His fluffy bond sent peaceful thoughts to him, which stopped him from resisting more than anything Liz had said. Aster had a direct line to his emotions, as did he to hers. Despite her pain, she was more worried about him than anything else. Even rabbits and ice cream were distant thoughts for her right now.


    They didn''t talk much as Liz led him to the hospital and into a check-in section. Seeing she was going to sign him in, he gently put a hand on her arm and handed off Aster to do it himself.


    After checking in, he was barely able to sit down before his AI pinged that he was able to be seen.


    A man in nurse''s robes escorted him to a room situated along a hall filled with doors next to each other. Behind the doors, his spiritual sense could feel blocking wards and spatial expansions. From the spacing of the doors, they should be closer to closets than the spacious room he was led to.


    He had waited in a stuffed chair for only a few seconds, when an older man came in and smiled at him.


    Healer Lester, Tier 18 with seventy years of mental health expertise.


    Matt. He had no idea what else to say and waved slightly, which just caused the older Healer to smile and ask,  And how do you think youre doing today?


    Matt wanted to say he was fine, but tried to be more truthful. I snapped on someone after they insulted my parents to get me to duel them, and then proceed to beat them to a pulp.


    The Healer took that in stride and started to talk to Matt.


    They conversed for a little more than an hour and a half, before the man escorted Matt out and back to Liz.


    He felt slightly better, but realized it was still too soon for him to really be ok. He was angry, and the only way to start healing was to let that simmer down a bit.


    He and the Healer had scheduled a follow-up meeting for the following week.


    The three of them wandered the city for a good hour, just window shopping and seeing what they could find. Aster was feeling well enough after a passing Healer threw a healing spell on her. Now, she was bouncing around and revelling in the attention she garnered from the crowds.


    They made it back to their room just as everyone else was getting ready to go to bed.


    The next day, Matt found a reason to escape his teammates watchful eyes thanks to Melinda, who asked to inspect his body once more. With that excuse, he spent another few hours in this hospital, being poked and prodded by Melinda and her mentor, Baxter.


    Most of what they said went over his head, but finally, when they both seemed happy, Melinda asked for his help.


    I think I was able to get my Talent totch on to the spirit and make the changes.


    When he looked confused, she punched his arm.


    If I can figure this out, I can heal people to have a perfect body like yours.


    Matt sat up. I didn''t think you would get it to work. What changed?


    She looked awkward as Baxter smirked.


    Well, for one, I''ve been practicing my Concept. And secondly, Im getting a lot of practice, since you keep getting injured.


    Matt opened his mouth to congratte her, then closed it with a confused click. He had no idea how to respond to that.


    Youre wee?


    At his question, Baxter snorted, and Melindaughed as she exined. No, really. The Tree of Perfection works by changing the spirit, then providing the energy to the body for the transformation. When you get limbs cut off or whatnot, the new flesh that grows back <em>is</em> the perfected flesh. All of your injuries have allowed me to observe the changes, and see the different stages as they appear in different parts of your body.


    Matt was taken aback. Wait, wait, wait... Is that safe for me?


    Matt started looking for parts of his body that were distinctly better than any of the other parts. The arm he lost to the void user waspletely regrown, but it felt mostly the same.


    At least he thought it did.


    Rx, Matt. It''s not dangerous. Your body is just more perfect than before. It''s not physically a Tier 15s body. It''s just that any imperfections are fixed, and your body runs a lot more efficiently. It''s also primed to start using essence as a fuel source.


    So it''s not dangerous to have bits and pieces in different stages?


    This time it was the mostly silent Baxter who answered. It''s not. The rich will start cutting limbs off and regrowing them to speed up the process. It''s not dangerous. And even if it was, Melinda would keep you alive.


    Thatst bit isn''tforting.


    The older man rolled his eyes and flopped into a chair that wasn''t there a moment ago.


    Melinda refocused his attention. So, I want to try to <em>heal</em> you into the point of the Trees process being finished. But Im pretty sure it''s gonna take absurd amounts of mana.


    That was something Matt had in abundance, so he stuck out his hand. I can keep you going with my Concept, while also refilling the mana stone rack things your healers all have, if you want.


    Baxter just watched as Melinda cast a spell. They were both staring at something Matt couldnt see or feel as thousands, then tens of thousands of mana was drained from Matt into Melinda.


    It cost him nothing, and was a good willpower exercise. After an hour and way too much mana, Melinda stopped casting and dropped into her own chair next to the examination table.


    So?


    She just grinned at him, so he asked, It worked then?


    It worked like a charm. I was able to improve the furthest-behind portions of your body by fifteen percent.


    That didn''t sound like a lot, and he said so, to both of the healers'' derision.


    Baxter pointed at Melinda and shook his head. Kid, she just proved that it worked, then demonstrated it. That''s huge.


    Yeah, but that took over half a million mana and two hours. While I dont mind providing it, it seems ineffective.


    Melinda stepped in. Only because I was providing the energy for the physical change. The spiritual one is already done. Now I need to test on someone without the spiritual changes. If I''m right, making the spiritual change won''t be anywhere near as hard.


    Matt put up his hands. Back up for a second. Did you say the Root of Perfection provided the energy? Wouldn''t it be bad if that wascking?


    He was worried that she''d hurt herself.


    Rx, Matt. Worstes to worst, I''ve already proven that I can fix that with enough mana. She pointed at the older Healer and said,  From other tests, Baxter and I theorize that at worst, it will siphon off a small bit of mana regen, or steal a bit of the essence we absorb until the changes finish.


    Seeing that the two far more knowledgeable people were in agreement, he again provided mana to Melinda in an endless stream, and she cast a healing spell on herself.


    It took hours, but eventually, she came up from her casting and started to look at herself, while Baxter walked around and did the same.


    Matt, having no idea how things went, asked, So?


    Melinda grinned at him. I was able to convince my spirit that the changes were its natural form, and even jump-started the process a bit.


    He smiled. That sounds great. He paused and asked, It is great, right?


    It''s amazing. This will let even Tier 5s live for centuries longer than normal. It''s a step to healing old age itself. To turning back the clock.


    He had no idea what she was talking about. The two things seemedpletely unrted. Letting someone live longer wasn''t reversing aging, and it wasn''t like she could heal people one at a time.


    When he said that, Melinda exined, My Tier 3 Talent is the ''you know what''. It''s still a Tier 3 Talent though, which means it''s a growth Talent. It will grow as I push it. When I Tier up, I should be able to rely on it doing the hard work, and making changes if I want to. No going inch by inch to convince the spirit to ept the changes.


    That doesn''t sound that hard. Why couldn''t a normal Healer do that?


    Baxter snorted, It''s what her Tier 3 does. Its still doing most of the heavy lifting. I wouldn''t trust anyone else with that type of detailed work. Even the healers who <em>do</em> manipte spirits mostly do so with Tier 44 specific healing spells. They rely on those spells to do the heavy lifting. Seeing that Matt still didnt believe him, he continued, Imagine trying to demonstrate an entire ecosystem with only your hand, while blindfolded... and drunk. And without having hands.


    Melinda cut him off from further diatribes. It''s hard, Matt. My Talent makes it so I dont have to worry about the little details. I just need to think about the ecosystem in general, instead of every detail. If someone else tried and messed up one little thing, it could be quite dangerous. At the yPen, when I was still learning before acquiring my Tier 3, it was explicitly stated a million times to not mess with the spirit.


    So when you Tier up, youll just p a normal healing spell on someone, and itll just make the change? What if someone doesnt want that?


    Melinda shook her head. I have control over things like that. I can''t turn off the general overhealth, but I can turn off the things I''ve added to it. And it still won''t be that easy. It will require a lot of mana to do, but Ill be quick. I still need to convince the entire spirit that the body should be more in line with what the root did to you.


    Matt changed the topic. He was thoroughly lost in all this medical talk.


    You said that you worked on your Concept. You''ve been cagey about it. What did you figure out?


    That caused Melinda to sigh. Ive learned to ept that it''s what I have. Death isn''t who I want to be, but it is whats shaped me. I wish it was something like life, but that''s a hard ideal to embody.


    That was something Matt had experience with.


    I feel you. Did I ever tell you what my Concept image was?


    At her head shake, he exined. Matt didn''t miss that even Baxter seemed interested. But if the man worked for the Emperor personally, and was sent to watch Melinda, he expected the man to know how to keep his mouth shut. He might even get the higher Tier man to talk.


    I knew my phrase was, I am endless, but the image gave me a lot of trouble. I didn''t like how a wellspring felt, even if it was easy to make.


    Baxter nodded silently as Matt continued. A sun was a lot harder to make, but felt way better. Suns live forever with essence, but the knowledge that they die without essence kept cropping up in the back of my mind. Weirdly, going with hotter and shorter-lived suns worked better for me. They were less endless, but they had power.


    Seeing Melindas interested expression, he exined. With the Ascension, I was able to form all of those images, but what I settled on was a ck hole. Those are endless... or so it felt.


    Matt paused to gather the right words. It felt perfectly wrong. Like a mirror image. So, I inverted it into a white hole. They aren''t necessarily real, but the image was perfect for me. Endless energy outflowing.


    Melinda looked interested but stayed silent.


    Baxter nodded respectfully to Matt before saying, Thank you for sharing. A person''s Concept is a glimpse into their truth.


    He raised a hand, and a greenish energy mana flowed out into a tree. My Concept was the idea of growth and renewal.


    The tree bloomed into a green explosion, but he smiled as it withered. My Intent wasn''t what I expected. It was the night that let some rest, and others hunt. A time for healing and pain.


    The trees leaves drooped as a white moon rose out of the mana and took center stage, casting its light down on everything it touched.


    Matt leaned forward, No one I''ve talked to really knows Intents or Aspects. What about you?


    Baxter leaned back, and his solemn aura vanished. Suddenly, the rxed man who took nothing serious was back.


    No one can tell you anything because it''s a personal journey. I can''t tell you about you. Matt opened his mouth to protest, but Baxter waved him down. I''m not trying to be cryptic. You can''t even start on your Intent until you''ve converted all of your essences to resonate with your Concept. I''ve already heard that you learned about mana aspects. That''s an extension of expanding your Concept. When youve fully converted your cores, things will be clearer.


    That was actually helpful, so Matt nodded at Baxter before asking, Is it the same for Aspects?


    Not really. Even Intents are different to form, but there isn''t a one size fits all way to go about it. You''ll still need a phrase and image, but beyond that, it varies from person to person. Don''t worry about it now. You have plenty of time.


    As the older man said time, Matt had a thought and blurted it out. If you said I need to convert my essence to resonate with my Concept, I shouldn''t advance.


    Baxter shrugged. That''s a strategy. More than one person has used it. If you convert everything to resonate with your Concept early, it''s easier. Any new essence added will automatically convert. But it''s not like you have to stop. Your Concept is already doing it. It''s a passive thing. The more your Concept fits with you, the faster it spreads.


    He pointed at Melinda. She didn''t even mean to get her Concept, and it''s <em>perfect</em> for her. Her essence is already converted. It only took her weeks. But your phrase and image are massive andplicated. The white hole is a brilliant move, but it''s still a huge idea. Death, or at least how Melinda sees it, is simple.


    Matt and Melinda both looked at each other with confusion. Baxter rolled his eyes and stood. You have until Tier 24 before this bes an issue. That''s why this information isnt widely avable. Focus on the next step. Not the one ten steps down the line.


    With that, he walked out the door and was gone.


    Matt and Melinda chatted a bit about their Concepts and their experiences with them. He was slightly jealous of the idea of a passive part of her Concept.


    It seemed incredibly useful. He had no idea what he could do with a passive version of his own Concept, but he liked the idea.


    They eventually both had to leave for their team training, but it was nice to spend time with his old friends, and even help them grow. Even if it was just giving them the mana to try wacky things, like reversing old age.


    Team Bucket''s Concept training was going well. Emily felt closer and closer to her Concept with each training session, and was hopeful that she would fully manifest it in the next month or so.


    Contrary to the norm, she actually already had her image. It was herself standing on a growing pyramid as her Talent increased the power of each subsequent spell she cast. She just couldn''t pin down her phrase.


    Annie was growing frustrated with herck of progress, but Conor was closing in on his own image, after already having his phrase.


    Matt almost felt back to normal as the evening rolled around.


    The next day, he was still on a healing cool down, so the rest of his team was sent on an escort mission without him. The army was moving arge number of troops who would have normally taken care of such activities.


    Unable to participate in the mission, Matt encouraged them to go while he went to work on crafting with Kelley, after receiving a message saying that the man had something to show him. He was d for it. With all of the sub-aspected mana he had umted over the length of the war, he was ready to try new things.


    Most people were happy to give him a bit of mana for a few points. It cost them nothing, and the points meant little to Matt.


    Still enjoying his new Tier 11 status, Kelley was strutting around the room when Matt walked past his nephew manning the desk.


    When the crafter saw Matt, he beamed, extending his hand with a familiar-looking ring to the one Matt had on his finger.


    Look what I got!


    A quick inspection showed that it wasn''t a growth item, but a standard item.


    I see that. What does it do, and how did you get it?


    Kelley let Matt take and examine his ring while he exined, I''ve been putting every point I have into hiring Tier 5 teams to run that rift for me. Myself, and every other crafter who learned of your ring. I finally got lucky.


    Matt nodded along. He and Kelley had talked to other crafters after discovering the changes to see if it affected their own products. It did for everything that took mana. Tailoring, smithing, and every other trade were all improved with the proper sub-aspect to the mana that the crafter used. It even improved the quality of the finished product.


    Items that went through more than one crafter''s hand were improved as well. A sword that was smithed with hardness sub-aspected mana was better than one without. If paired with an enchanter that also used hardness sub-aspected mana, or even strengthening, the de was nearly unbendable when an actual hardness enchantment was embedded into the weapon.


    The effectspounded. It was an incredible revtion, and everyone wanted the ability to store the sub-aspected mana types without having to imprint a personal mana converting stone for each type.


    The number of needed stones quickly got out of hand.


    Matt knew that Kelley had a spatially expanded storage crate made that held all of his tools and materials. It was a huge boon for whenever he wanted to move locations. He had heard the man bitch often enough about how much it cost and how unwieldy it was. But it was muchrger than a standard backpack, and was the only way to store as much junk as the Tier 11 pack rat kept.


    He, along with every other crafter, had another crate made for the mana stones, and they quickly filled them.


    They had all wanted a ring like Matt had, and while no one said it, he was sure that they wanted to buy or steal his own. Fortunately, the ring being a bound growth item put a stop to all of that.


    Kelley stroked his ring with his thumb. It only holds one hundred mana types, but its efficiency in converting the mana is nearly perfect. About ny-eight percent.


    That was much higher than the normal converting mana stones avable, making the ring an amazing tool for saving mana.


    Matt brushed past the shorter man and asked, How many people have tried to buy it from you?


    The Tier 11ughed as he, with his greater cultivation, shoved Matt back. Nearly all of them. Even had a few assassination attempts from real contract killers.


    Matt looked to his friend, but the man waved it off. Nothing new. Nothing new about that at all. I''d be more concerned if they <em>weren''t</em> trying to take it.


    Still, killing you? That seems excessive.


    Kelley still seemed unbothered, Not at all. Id at least try the same. Most of the things we pull from that rift are trash. He showed Matt a familiar dual mana stone that his own team had gotten from the rift. These things are interesting, but theyre ultimately useless. It''s just pre-aspected mana. It doesn''t even have a sub-aspect, and once you empty the stone, it breaks just like any other mana stone. This is mostly what we pull out. Tiffany is trying to figure out how to use them, but she isn''t making any headway at all.


    That lined up with Matt''s own experience with the rift, so he brought them back to the ring. And youre the first to get a ring like that?


    Kelley shrugged and responded, I''m the first one to make it public.


    Seeing Matts look, he scoffed. Idiot team I hired to run the rift started celebrating as soon as they left the rift and were showing the ring off. I still paid them, but I would have paid more if the idiots didn''t broadcast it to everyone else. So every crafter knows I have it.


    Only able to trust that the man had it handled, Matt offered, Do you want the rest of the mana samples I''ve gathered then?


    Of course I do. In thest teleport from off, I had another two hundred personal mana stones brought over. Damn merchants are jacking up the price, so that''s all I can afford right now.


    The crafter moved to the shipping crate that held his mana stones, and they ducked into the waist-high box to enter the expanded space, where shelf after shelf lined the six-foot-tall space.


    Every three inches was a slot with a mana stone,beled with a single mana type held in each stone. Matt filled each of the new stones with mana types that the man didn''t have already.


    Matt had nearly five hundred various mana types and sub-aspects, all gathered from the people who were willing to give him mana. Kelley could have fit all of them in his newly constructed container, but every other crafter was trying to do the same. Thepetition drove up the price of mana stones to the point that he couldnt buy them.


    After Kelley got the mana types he wanted, they started crafting various trinkets.


    Kelley was convinced that he could make a fireball staff with water aspected mana, along with a sticky sub-aspect. So far, he had gotten nowhere, but the man was determined, and Matt enjoyed the tinkering enough to join in.


    They were in the midst of an attempt when Matts AI red a warning that all but one of his team was now in the hospital.


    He quickly told Kelley what happened and started running out the door to get to the hospital. As he did so, the general messages started flooding in, painting arger picture.


    Everyone of importance to the Kingdom side was taken out at the same time. Everyone from Prince Albert, to Juni, Alyssa, and even Olivia werent spared.


    Anyone with any authority was hit during the coordinated attack. Assassins made most of the kills, but reports wereing in that more than a few spies took the opportunity to break cover and take out valuable targets.


    The top ten Pather teams were all attacked. Ambush squads hit a few teams, but at least one of them was reported to have been bombed in their room. There were even reports of another team turning traitor at the same time.


    From the brief messages from Liz, the attackers had hidden in a mass of normal soldiers, and were perfectly picked to counter their abilities.


    She had fought a man who had simply absorbed her blood, and by the time she realized the problem, he was already on her with a spear through her chest.


    Emily had been countered by a woman who turned all spells near her to fire, regardless of the original mana aspect. Itpletely cut off her advantage and let her opponent, who seemed to be immune to the element, waltz up to her and slit her throat.


    Aster, who had been with Emily, has suffered a simr fate. All of her spells were at best hot water, and at worse, actual fire spells. Neither of them hadsted very long.


    His heart hammered at his bonds condition, but he could see her AI, and despite a cut to her chest, she was fine after being teleported out. Even now, he could see the report that said the wound was closed, and that the scarring was being removed. She was still unconscious, but he expected that had more to do with a Healer than her being hurt.


    Conor was thest one to fall. The enemy had peppered him with long-ranged attacks, while sending waves of Tier 6s in heavy te to keep him pinned down.


    Annie was the only one to survive the hit, with her new skill giving her an advantage that the enemy hadnt prepared for. With her Talent, she was able to escape into a forest and hide, but she was currently on another continent, avoiding enemy troop movements. Once the area calmed down enough she was going to fly away but she couldnt risk it until she was sure she could escape detection.


    As bad as his team''s situation was, the general situation seemed worse. Two armies were caught out in the open, and were being whittled down. Reports were alreadying in about how both generals were taken out right at the start, along with theirmand staff.


    People were demanding answers as to why the armies had been out in the first ce, when it came to light that the Queendom had gotten wind of their movements through spies, and had nned the ambushes well in advance.


    From the stream of information, things didn''t exactly seem perfect for the Queendom. At least two teams had fought off their attackers while sustaining only minor losses, and one Pather had survived the room bomb. Apparently, he was in the shower during the explosion, and it protected him well enough that he had only needed minor healing.


    Matt was approaching the hospital when the news came in that the Queendom had two of the Kingdom cities under siege.


    Pushing away the things he could do nothing about, Matt waited with dozens, then hundreds of others for their friends and teammates toe out of the healing ward.


    Matt paced, unable to do anything. He was out of the war until his healing cooldown psed in five days. Waiting in the crowd for his friends like so many others, he felt very alone with only Annies unending stream of curses through their team chat to give himpany.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 8

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 8


    PoA The Concept of Death 8


    Melinda called outmands and retreated as her simted team pulled back.


    This team was heavily stacked with mages, and only the nt mage had any ability to tie down the attacking ogres. Even then, it was a losing proposition. [Root] was a Tier 8 spell, and the finger-thick, wooden tendrils were hardly enough to slow the massive monsters down, let alone halt their movement.


    Theck of an earth mage made the simted run that much harder; at least Vinnie could have created barriers. Instead, they pulled one monster, then retreated to the cleared part of the forest.


    It was slow, but effective.


    She spent most of her time using the drones that came with this simtion watching their rear. It wasn''t perfect, with the Tier 5 drones limited flight time and mana efficiency, but she had been able to catch two wandering ogres before they were able to ambush them from behind.


    Her lightning mage fried one of the monsters as her fire mage peppered a second from the side. She checked everyone''s mana and sent a message to pull back and refill their mana with mana stones.


    Melinda was getting ready to settle in for a long wait when the simtion ended. Her scoring report wasn''t bad. Apparently, she had hit all the criteria except she scored low on the section regarding her anticipation of the ogres movements. Considering that was a monster-specific trait, she was happy with her score of eighty-two percent.


    She opened her eyes and used her AI to open the cubicle she was in, and she unhooked herself from all the gear helping to trante her movements into the simtion. It took a few minutes, but she checked out of the simtion room and saw that her friends were still busy.


    After checking their progress, she sent a message to the group and set off to do more training with Baxter. She felt like she was close to getting her Talent to interact consciously with spirits.


    She only needed a slight push to close the gap.


    ***


    Tara shuffled as her ranged instructor, Robert, threw a pebble at her knee. She loosed her arrow as the y pigeon appeared. Trying to not rely on her Talent was nearly impossible, but she could blunt its influence on new weapons. However, the bow was so ingrained into her, she didn''t really know where her Talent ended and where her own skill began.


    Her two weeks of individual training hade after the team had taken the much cheaper group lessons. For 5,000 points, it was a steal. But the ranged trainer had pulled her aside on day one and offered her a refund, saying that he couldn''t train someone possessing a Talent that needed individual attention along with a group of others.


    The rest of the team had leaned into their specialties, with Melinda taking general mage training. She needed healer training from a generalist just as much as Tara needed ranged training from one.


    Digging into her point reserve, Tara took the specialized training that was rmended to her.


    Robert was a Tier 19, and had abilities far beyond her skill with a bow. He didn''t have as wide a base as her Talent gave her, but he was good enough to critique her.


    There she learned that her Talent wasnt perfect. Sure, it was powerful; it let her pick up any weapon with what felt like years of experience. It allowed her to skip most of the prerequisite training, but she still needed to learn for herself through experience.


    Robert mostly focused on forcing her into new positions, and demanding that her and her Talent adapt to the sudden changes.


    He had transitioned to reactive training after she had put an arrow through the mobile training aids that they were using. After that, they moved to more receable, stationary targets.


    She needed to get every points worth of training from the soldier during her limited time. She could afford another two training sessions if she dipped into her reserves, but their team wanted to save their points to change sides when they died.


    None of them were happy with the Queendom''s recent changes, but they were high enough in the hierarchy of Pathers to avoid any negative side effects regarding their point earnings. At the same time, they weren''t so high up that they benefited, either. Their team was right in the neutral zone.


    That didn''t mean they agreed with the changes though, and they intended to join Matt as soon as possible.


    Tara made a mental note to thank Matt once again for the quiver. It was so stupidly useful, she didn''t know how she ever fought without it. When she paired it with a summoning enchantment on her bow, she was able to carry and summon a nearly unlimited number of arrows.


    The best part was, they wouldn''t fall out of her quiver if she moved too much. While she could have gotten an enchantment for a normal quiver with the same effect, it wasn''t perfect. If the enchantment was too strong, it would interfere with the summoning rune on the bow. If it was too weak, it would still let the arrows slip through.


    With the growth item, she got the best of both worlds. She could summon her arrows for less than a single unit of mana.


    That didnt even take into ount the random elemental enchantment that would be applied to the arrows that she left in the quiver for long enough. The quiver enchanted one single arrow at a time. However, the effects werepletely random, so she had to store a number of arrows before the enchantment became very useful.


    Some elements were more effective than others. The single void arrow she had gotten was being held as a trump card, just in case their team got into a sticky situation. The arcane arrow she had gottenst month was a curiosity with how rare the mana aspect was. Void was well known for its singr purpose; she didn''t need to test the arrow. But the arcane arrow was aplete unknown that she didn''t want to waste.


    The water arrow had less utility, as it had no pressure behind it, which did little to add to the damage. Along with fire, earth, and wind, it was one of the mostmon elements that popped up.


    The fire arrow exploded, adding a good bit of versatility to her kit. When the arrow was paired with pration, the explosion was mostly internal, making the fire arrow a valuable part of her kit.


    The earth arrow immobilized targets, which was handy in a pinch. But overall, Vinnie could do the same job, better. It was good to have a backup, but it wasrgely redundant.


    She hadn''t let the quiver enhance the same arrow twice, after seeing that it gave diminishing returns on power. It was better to widen her breath of stored arrows than to go for one super arrow. Though, she had let the void arrow get upgraded three times.


    A trump card should be invested in, after all.


    Two rocks whirled past her as she loosed another arrow, only for her dance to be interrupted by a third, prompting Robert to call out how she needed to be more prepared.


    ***


    Mathew pushed the bar off his chest and held the weight for a heartbeat before slowly lowering it and inhaling.


    After seeing his wife off to work on her healing project, he went to work out. The group training with a defensive instructor taught him a lot, even with the limited one-on-one time.


    He had redoubled his training in the simtors, but things werent progressing as well as he''d hoped.


    During all his simtions, he had scored a max of seventy-three percent. He needed to defend his team, but he was always pulled in five directions at once, with himself being the only dedicated defender.


    The point was only hammered home in thest scenario, when he needed to block a fireball from the front.


    His first instinct was to scatter the team to avoid the projectile, but his shot-caller had ordered him to block it.


    The first time he ran the scenario, he had followed orders, and they were attacked by a pair of wolves as he was blocking the fireball. The second time he ran it, he ignored the order and called for his team to scatter.


    They did, and while he was able to take the first two wolves, his team members were torn apart, and he once again failed.


    It was beyond frustrating, and he took it out at the gym.


    As the bar slowly touched his chest, he forced it away with an explosive exhale, and equally violent push.


    When his AI alerted him that Melinda should be getting off soon, he cleaned up and made his way back to their suite. After picking up her favorite stir fry, of course. She would have forgotten about dinner, as she usually did when working long hours, and would starve to death if he didn''t force her to eat.


    He had a te ready for each of them when she shuffled in the door. She kissed his cheek before digging in, and didn''t say anything as she scarfed down her food.


    When she was done, she sighed. Thanks. I needed that.


    How did it go? Mathew tried to grin and pull Melinda into a cheery mood.


    He wasn''t feeling great himself, but Melinda was running herself ragged.


    His wife stretched until her limbs quivered with the movement. I keep feeling like I''m so close, but it''s just out of reach. I''ve tried changing my methodology... I''ve tried changing the way I think of things to get a new perspective... But nothing has worked so far.


    Mathew thought that over and offered what he could. Maybe take a break? It could help refresh your mental gears.


    Melinda had a look on her face that he was all too familiar with. He knew that it meant she was getting ready to raise her hackles, and resist any notion of taking it easy.


    It was amon sight in their youth, but it had faded quite a bit in theirst few years. But in thest seven months, it had only reappeared more and more, as they all noticed how far they had slipped.


    He believed that there was a time for being obstinate and driven, but this wasn''t it. She was burning herself out.


    Finally, the energy wooshed out of her, and as she slumped down, Melinda nodded.


    You''re not wrong. I''m tired. Were too busy trying to make the most out of this war and fix our deficiencies.


    Mathew scooted his chair beside Melindas, and rotated her until he had her back in front of him. He started to dig his fingers into her shoulders.


    The little gasps were what he was looking for throughout his crusade against knots and tightness He would focus on those problem areas and gently work her aches and pains away.


    When Melinda was half asleep, he carried her to their bed and slid her under the covers. He went and showered his sweat off before joining her.


    There were so many things they should be doing, but what they really needed was a break.


    The next morning, he put his foot down and made the entire team take the day off. Together, they sat around and watched movies and rxed.


    It did them all good.


    He spent the next afternoon distracting Melinda with a day of window shopping, and ended their evening in one of the parks inside the city. They ate a pic made by Matt and himself that morning after they worked out together.


    He mostly helped by cutting things, or fetching things from the various bags of ingredients they had gotten on their way.


    Once the sandwiches were made and the sds were prepared, they only had to wait on the soup to cool down.


    Or so Matt said.


    When Mathew suggested turning the heat up higher so it would finish faster, he was kicked out with a warning that Matt would have it ready for their dinner.


    He really didn''t understand the man''s anger. If they cooked it faster, it would boil off the water, and he could package it up now and save a courier the trip. It made sense to him, but he also realized that he ordered out food a lot more often than he madeplicated meals.


    As he dipped his bread in the creamy soup, he had to give it to Matt, the man could cook. And by the noises Melinda was making, he should get some lessons himself.


    It was an amazing evening; both of them had more energy in their steps as they went home. The date had reinvigorated them both.


    Things were pretty nice, despite the war going on behind them.


    Now, he just needed to save up for the taunting skills in the point shop. The problem was, they were all Tier 14 and expensive for their Tier.


    ***


    Sam mixed a potion with Liz as they chatted about the recent happenings, but were careful not to interrupt their careful mixing.


    She had figured that things would be awkward once Liz had revealed that her parents were some of the strongest people in the empire, but the pair had quickly fallen back into their grove.


    With her AI reading her spiritual sense, Sam adjusted the temperature of the pot and stirred twice. The concoction turned to a vomit yellow, and she cursed.


    It was supposed to turn a shade of green, before returning to clear.


    Liz leaned over and tisked. I knew that Fennel Root was bad. We should go back to that merchant and get at least part of your money back.


    She thought about it; it wasn''t the worst idea. She shook her head and said, He could easily say that it was my concoction ,and not his herb.


    She didn''t add that it was already eating into her funds to try to make this poison. Kepler''s Kneller was a potent vomiting agent that would debilitate a swath of enemies, but the ingredients were expensive.


    Liz threw around money like it meant nothing. If Sam had only known her parentage, she would have med it on her upbringing, but she had seen the woman haggle to the Tier 2 mana crystal for items. No, it was just that she and Matt were wealthy beyond their Tier, after selling more than one growth item.


    The partner to her friend hadn''t sessfully concocted the Astral Blood potion in her nine attempts thus far. Each attempt cost <em>thirty times</em> all of Sam''s attempts.


    In a roundabout way, Liz had offered to buy the ingredients on theirst shopping trip, but she declined. Sam had the points to spend, but it felt so much more wasteful when they were a limited resource, and they werent earning hundreds of thousands like Matt and his team.


    It was hard not to be envious sometimes.


    Still, she didn''t want any handouts, especially from a friend.


    As she started scrubbing the failed poison into a waste disposal storage bucket, Liz helped her rinse and empty the vials. It was a nice gesture, as she had more downtime before her next step, where she needed to add the extract of a Silver Bears blood.


    Liz nodded to her workstation when Sam didn''t move to start again. Are you going to try again? We still have enough time left.


    Sam thought about it but shook her head. I need to get out of my own head. Ive made potions harder than this. The shit product doesn''t help, but I could have noticed that, and added the brine of Harpy eggs to prevent that.


    We all have off days.


    The redhead looked worried about Sam.


    She waved the concern off. It''s fine. Really, it is. I just need to step away for a bit. What are you doing tonight?


    Sam could use some girl time with someone not on her team for a change.


    Liz wiggled her hand. I don''t have ns, but we have team training early tomorrow. She paused with a look that Sam knew meant she was reading her AI. And I have a meeting tomorrow. Your Pather boss is a pain in my ass.


    Sam had never met Talous, but the impression she got from Liz wasn''t exactly a good one.


    I was thinking we should go to the bakery and tea shop. I want a strawberry cake.


    Liz nibbled on her lip and smiled a smile that was half predatory, half devious, and all-around attractive. She understood how Matt had fallen under her spell. She was as attractive as any woman could wish for.


    When Lizs potion turned a peculiar shade of purple, they tossed the contents and cleaned up, heading off to get their snack.


    They were sitting around when Sam indicated that she wanted to talk, and Liz activated her trinket to block sound.


    I was thinking about your Talent.


    Liz just raised an eyebrow in both question and encouragement.


    Have you heard of [Torch Sprite]?


    At the woman''s shake, she exined, So I was trying to see what cheap Tier 8 skills there were, and if I could make something out of the box work. I happened upon the skill while I was searching.


    Liz nodded. The skill sounds like it would work with what I think you mean, but it would be a gamble. The report on the skill says it''s iffy with control at best. Its more general ideas than anything else.


    Sam grinned and stabbed her cake in triumph. Ah, but have you read Madam Delvers? It had a way to upgrade the skill to add more control. It could take a while, but you could get exactly that.


    Seeing the ideas whirl around behind Lizs eyes, Sam dug into her treat and preened internally.


    Friends helped each other. She wouldn''t take the woman''s money, but giving her a good idea or two felt good.


    ***


    Vinnie dodged the wind empowered sh by rolling to the side to avoid the pretty woman''s attack. He had every intention of asking the woman out on a date. Her dark skin glistened with sweat, which only made her starburst eyes all the more striking.


    He used his innate [Earth Manpation] to raise a small wall to disrupt her follow-up [Wind de]. His tattered shirt was a testament to learning that trick.


    A gong rang, and the woman stopped her barrage of attacks and went on the defensive.


    Vinnie started with a [Earth Spear] that punched through the woman''s [Wind Wall], but was slowed enough for the woman to be able to side-step it. He had the advantage through their elements, but that didn''t mean that his opponent was helpless.


    She was forced to refrain from retaliating, but it was still good training. He avoided using the much slower [Earth Maniption], and she avoided flying. They both could use the training, and the two instructors tried to discourage people from using instant-win conditions in every bout. That habit was only a good one until you fought someone with a counter.


    Instructor Adam stopped three flights down from Vinnie''s sparring ring and started yelling at the two mages, Gerald and Yenna.


    The two gave half-assed effort in all of their duels, to everyone else''s troubles.


    Hearing them get yelled at put a smirk on both Vinnies face and his unnamed opponents. Use of their AI was strictly against the rules for any reasons less than an emergency message, so Vinnie still hadn''t picked up her name.


    Instructor Prices appeared out of nowhere, right next to their circle, and shouted at them, Good! You want tough at others getting yelled at, do you!? Soo funny, isnt it!?


    Vinnie shouted at the top of his lungs, No, maam!


    The Tier 21 woman just shook her head. No, I don''t hear the right sincerity in your tone. I think you want tough, so let me give you something tough about! She tapped a finger on her chin before grinning with malice. Now I want tough... Fiveps around the training yard!


    That wasn''t that bad, so Vinnie instantly began running to the edge of the sandpit-lined wall. Hesitation only meant moreps, and five was an easy sprint.


    Hold up!


    Vinnie and the unnamed woman skidded in the sand as they turned around to face the grinning instructor.


    I want tough, but normalps just wont do the trick. I want you to jump like frogs for the fiveps. Make sure youre croaking while you jump. Her grin split her face as she added, Any jumps without a ribbit won''t count.


    Vinnie turned and ran before any new additions could be added. He saw more than one person smirk andugh at the sight of the two of them jumping like frogs. But, Prices caught everyone and gave them a new animal to imitate.


    He took a perverse pleasure in watching the growing farm behind him.


    Halfway through, he started using his [Earth Maniption] to assist his jumps and send him farther. He only had to make a ribbit sound each time hended, so increasing the distance of his jumps seemed like a good idea.


    His frog partner started copying his tactic with wind skills. They had nearlypped the most recent offenders when he noticed Prices and Adam watching the two of them.


    He thought they were busted, but Adam winked at them, and Prices nodded slightly.


    That changed his perspective on the methodology of the soldiers training, and for the rest of the day, he tried to use his skills in new ways to assist everything he was doing.


    People started noticing when he and his dark-skinnedpatriot went to the mana stone pile more often than everyone else. It wasn''t their money, and they abused the free mana with glee.


    Soon, everyone caught on, and they were cut free once the group had finished their assignedps. That evening, Vinnie was finally able to make a move on his partner for the day.


    So, care to get a drink? Seeing her raise an eyebrow, he stuck out a sandy hand. Vinnie.


    She smirked as she shook the proffered hand. Brianna. And I could use a drink... or eight. I think I swallowed half that sandpit by the time we finished.


    Brianna unashamedly looked him up and down before a smile crept over her face, and she said, Why don''t we freshen up at my apartment? It''s just a few streets down.


    Vinnie smiled as he messaged his team that he wouldn''t be back for the evening.


    He had better ns.


    ***


    Kyle stretched in line with everyone else. To his team''s confusion, he was taking a Proprioception ss.


    He fully intended to get a melee instructor, but he wanted the personal tutge, not a group ss. After hearing how effective it was from Tara, he wanted to spend his points in the most effective way possible.


    But after his time fighting new people in the war, he had learned something crucial. His strength meant nothing if he couldn''t hit his target.


    And with both his strength allocation doubling in effectiveness, and his regeneration cultivation boosting his strength further, he didn''t need to worry about being strong.


    He needed to hit his target.


    Right now, that was hit or miss, depending on how many people he was fighting. In a mass battle, it was fine, and he was a harvester of lives. But in a one-on-one fight, it was a questionable proposition at best.


    In his training with Matt and his team, he did the worst out of everyone. He was just too slow with his massive sword. Even when he was fast enough, he couldn''t control his body with the precision he needed to do any damage.


    He still had every intention to keep his massive greatsword as his primary weapon, but he wasnt going to be dumb about it.


    After Matt had nearly beaten him in a wrestling match, he concocted his n. Matt hadnt nearly won through greater strength, but through wiggling like a fish.


    The instructor called out, Now bend left.


    He nted both of his hands t on the ground while keeping both of his feet nted.


    Kyle groaned as he tried to get his left hand to the ground without bending his knee too much. He could feel his body protesting the unnatural position as things in his back pulled and twisted in ways they weren''t meant to.


    He ignored the burning that only increased as he held the pose.


    The second instructor came and wordlessly tapped his right foot. With sweat running off his face, Kyle tried to follow the guiding taps, but lost his bnce and had to scramble up and reset.


    The instructor was a shorter man who quietly said, You need to breathe more.


    Kyle opened his mouth to say that there was no way to breathe when bent like that, but the man stopped him and smiled over him.


    If you can''t breathe in a position, youre trying too hard. This isn''t fighting, or strength training. Flexibility will onlye with time. Don''t force the positions. Just rx into them as much as you can.


    Kyle took the advice as it was meant and reset.


    The instructor tapped his foot again, and this time, he was able to bring the foot out. That adjustment allowed him to go deeper into the bend without difort.


    As the lead instructor moved to a new position, Kyle groaned. This was going to be a long two weeks.


    He almost wished he hadn''t signed up.


    Almost.


    ***


    Melinda sat in the hospital room with Baxter. They had a monster strapped down and sedated.


    It was so drugged up, it was guaranteed to feel nothing. In fact, the creature was so sedated, it didnt even have the energy to bite and w at them.


    If she wasn''t well aware of what this monster could do when awake and aware, she would have never agreed to this.


    Doing their testing in a hospital felt wrong somehow. Almost unfair in a way. At least when they went into a rift, they were being attacked. This felt cruel, even though she knew all too well that if this bear monster got free, it would try to kill everything and everyone around it.


    She knew that lesson all too well.


    With a small burst of willpower, she targeted her Concept on the monster while the monitors beeped around her.


    As her Concept tore at the spirit of the monster with slightly amorphous blobs of darkness, she cast [Ranged Heal] and tried to prevent her own Concept.


    There was resistance, but the spell faltered. She then cast [Directed Heal] and tried the same again.


    She once again failed, but the experience got her slightly farther. She was so close.


    Baxter waved his hand when the monster was little more than a pile of goo, and the mess vanished. Then, he vanished for a moment, and the fifth monster suddenly appeared.


    While Baxter was gone, she inspected the instrument''s readouts and used the data to adjust her approach for the next attempt.


    This one was a giant squirrel that chittered slightly as the sedative knocked it out.


    Melinda met the red eyes with her own, and even with the monster nearly unconscious, she could see the hate and rage in its eyes.


    She activated her Concept and repeated the process once again.


    A failure. And more analysis of the acquired data..


    It wasnt until their thirteenth monster when something fell into ce. With an apparent mind of its own, her healing spell attacked her Concept like a rabid dog.


    Her Concept broke with a headache-inducing rebound effect, but she had done it.


    Baxter hadically wide eyes. He blinked several times before his jaw slowly dropped.


    I can''t believe you did it... Seeing her look, he shrugged and grinned. I hoped for it, of course, but I didn''t think it would actually work. That''s...


    She filled in for him, Impressive? A visualization of my hard work?


    Unbelievable'' was what I was going to go for, but sure, if you want to fluff your own ego... This is as good a reason as I''ve ever seen. Congrattions.


    They spent another two hours testing until the headache from Melindas Concept breaking over and over finally grew toorge, and she had to stop.


    That night, she celebrated with her team and asked Matt to meet her. Now, she had gotten her Talent to interact with the spirit. It was natural to make the changes she wanted to.


    She tested with Matt, and found that it was easy if detailed work to coerce her spirit to ept a copy of the changes that the Tree of Perfection had wrought on his body.


    The changes that only took a year for him would take at least three for her without the energy provided. Though, if she had Matt to constantly feed her mana with his Talent and Concept, she could do it in a week.


    Baxter was even impressed with the amount of mana Matt generated, although he didnt show it. He only shook his head when they did the math. Without a higher Tier giving up a mana stone, rapidly changing a body to perfection was a pipe dream.


    That didn''t stop them from very carefully applying the same transformation to her team. It only took an hour, and a few thousand mana. The changes would take longer, but with Matts help, they could have been done in a few months at most.


    Even if they didn''t enlist Matts help, they found that the process only stole a small portion of the essence that they had absorbed. Instead of going to their spirit, where they would normally allocate it, it was funneled off into their body. But the percentage was so small, it was hardly noticeable.


    Melinda was dreaming of healing old age when the call to battle sounded. Everyone in the Queendom was called up, and ordered to join the armies going to siege the Kingdom''s cities.


    Considering they still had nearly two million soldiers on a healing cooldown, it seemed like madness, but here was their chance to earn more points.


    They just needed to perform well.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100


    Albert nodded to Juni in his private hospital room as he walked in the door.


    What''s the report?


    Juni looked purposefully nk as he ryed the information. Your highness, it''s better than we feared, but worse than we hoped.


    That hardly rified anything. Albert cursed Sara and her little stunt with the bomb. He was impressed, but still irritated by her methods.


    Even with the army watcher''s intervention, the explosion nearly took his head off, and he was under observation for the next day due to the concussion. They had pped an AI restraining bracelet on him that prevented the skill from interacting with him, forcing him to get updates manually so he didn''t strain his brain.


    His right-hand man kept his professional demeanor as he said, Weve identified most of the spies in our structure. Not just the ones who moved, but the others who wereplicit in their endeavors. As we predicted, they immediately moved two armies to surround and siege down two of our cities. Cities two and four. As we expected, Sara pulled most of her troops out of her teleporter city to make up the numbers. Our elites are ready to move out, and the general troops will be ramping up while the survivors try to hold the situation together. When we make our move, they will be ready.


    There was a slight pause before Juni added, Nothing else unusual has been noted, except Alyssa was also assassinated and is recovering herself.


    Albert nodded along until thest. They had their own spies and informants in the Queendom hierarchy, and had early warning of the Queendom''s attempt to take out the leadership. They were also well aware of the Queendom armiesrger movements brewing behind the scenes.


    They still didn''t know why the Queendom higher-ups were pushing for a lightning-fast end to the war, but it slotted nicely into their own ns. No, Albert forced himself to be honest


    His father''s ns.


    It was risky, but having the Queendom on the offensive was exactly where they needed them. Them taking the Queendoms teleporter city and cutting off their supply lines meant that they only needed to take a single, undermanned city.


    If the Queendom wanted to end the war in under a standard year, they were prepared to respond in kind. It was incredibly unusual for co-opted vassal wars to host Pather wars, but not unheard of.


    The Emperor wanted a ce to train his youth, but he only put down a fewws regarding how that would happen. He gave out various rewards and reimbursement for resources spent, which meant the vassal wars were usually milked for years.


    It was unusual, but they weren''t close to the shortest Pather war, even at a year. No, that honor went to the Ascender before Duke Waters; the yellow dragon, L Worldwalker.


    The young dragon had killed three-quarters of the enemy troops in the first two weeks, before being forced to retreat from serious wounds. That massive number advantage allowed her side to win in under a month, creating an Empire-wide shock.


    A year would raise a few eyebrows, but it was nothing on that level.


    Albert still wanted to know why the Queendom was pushing so hard.


    He came out of his musings and realized that hed let Juni stand there for far too long. He was engrossed in pondering the ramifications of the rapidly approaching end of the war.


    Of all his people, he had thought Alyssa was a spy, with how she always seemed to be in ce to take advantage of both sides'' actions. While you might kill a spy to keep their cover in a situation like this, her death made no sense to him.


    If Alyssa was left alive, she could have taken control of his side''s troops. If she were a spy, she could have handed them the victory with that move. He had orders for his own assassins to take care of her if she had survived.


    She was a contender for one of the high level spies they hadn''t been able to find and negate or remove. They left the lower level spies so they could report curated information the Kingdom mostly controlled. Their worry was spies in the highest position that they hadn''t identified and Alyssa had been their number one suspect.


    He nodded for Juni to continue, and the man delivered the rest of his report in short order. He quickly left once excused.


    Albert''s father reappeared in the chair next to him as he watched the door that Juni just left through.


    The boy always knows when I''m near. What an exceptionalmoner.


    The gruff man straightened his shirt before standing. I don''t have much time left outside of my box. He spat to the side, Fucking army.


    Before Brice could exit the room through a spell or other means, Albert called out, Have you figured out why the Queendom is rushing? Any word at all? And is Cori ok?


    The King paused, and the air grew heavy. Albert could see the man''s thoughts as he considered punishing Albert for his impudence, but in the end, he decided to humor his son.


    Nothing from either front. They keep me in a fucking box to limit interference. The real war is going fine. Your sister ispetent enough, and is fighting in a <em>real</em> war. He narrowed his eyes at Albert in a not-so-subtle threat. And she''s winning. But theres nothing I care to share with you otherwise. Focus on your own war, and don''t lose me my item crafted by Madam Renaissance.


    Albert wanted toin. He had earned his father the staff by earning enough points, but had never heard a word of praise for the act. His father onlyined that it took him too long.


    The King must have seen the bitterness in Albert''s eyes, because he appeared at Alberts bedside, either teleporting or moving so quickly that Albert couldn''t tell the difference.


    You knowingly decided to let that bitchs n go off unhindered. If this little stunt of yours loses me the war... The Kings pointer finger pressed into Albert''s ribs, and he felt bones crack, but tried to keep it off his face.


    Showing weakness only invited more punishment.


    The King growled, Well there is a price for disappointing me. If you do fail... I. Will. Have. Your. Head.


    With that, he was gone. Albert coughed up blood as his shattered, crystal-like skin had punched through his lungs in a few ces.


    The alert by the room''s monitoring system brought Healers running.


    Albert resolidified his hate for everything his father and everything he stood for. The man controlled his actions at every turn, then when his own ns might yield detrimental results, shifted any possible me to Albert.


    If the King wanted to set up contingencies that cost Albert his lead in points, those ns were going to be used.


    As he was being healed for the second time, he wished his father would just up and leave the Kingdom already. Even if he didn''t get the throne, he just wanted the man gone.


    ***


    Matt was finally able to see his friends when the four of them were let out of their recovery rooms.


    Aster threw herself into his arms with a whining yowl. It drew attention, but he didn''t care, and shoved his face into her soft fur.


    They hurt me. It''s not fair! I didn''t take <em>their</em> ice cream.


    Matt paused at that and squinted his eyes at his bond, who realized that she had given up too much.


    Putting her ice cream theft off for ater conversation, he pulled the now approaching Liz into the hug before Conor and Emily neared them.


    After a whispered check-up with Liz, Matt hugged both of them eliciting an eye roll and light punch from Emily.


    Damn, Matt, you didn''t get like thisst time.


    She did return the hug, which took any possible sting out of her words.


    Matt unashamedly shrugged. I wasn''t with you, and that makes it a lot worse. I probably couldn''t have saved us all. I''m not arrogant enough to think that, but I couldn''t do anything at all, and that sucks.


    Emily gave him another half hug before they all turned to leave. That''s fair enough. Annie is still pissed.


    Conorughed. Yeah, I can see the chat log. Two hundred and neen messages.


    Emily scoffed. That''s less than half the personal messages she sent to me.


    At least she got away, and is on her way back. That''s the important bit. Liz had an odd tone in her voice that made Matt look at her in worry. She was only half paying attention, and from the flickering of her eyes, he assumed that she was reviewing the information from thest few hours.


    He had already taken in the information one piece at a time.


    Things werent as disastrous as the initial outlook had appeared. A decent number of individual survivors from various sources were gathering together and trying to salvage the situation.


    That didn''t prevent somemanders from trying to further their reach, and take overall control. It caused some chaos, and no one knew what to do while the established leadership was out of the picture.


    With five days left on his healing cooldown, Matt had watched the situation carefully, but was unable to take any action directly.


    In theory, he could act as the Pather liaison, but that meant little. It was a position that allowed people on a healing cooldown because they didn''t have direct authority. They only had veto power to send the Pathers to battle.


    And Liz could perform much better in that role anyway.


    They were back in their suite when Matt started to interrogate Aster.


    She denied everything, but her furtive nces towards the fridge gave Matt all the confirmation he needed. They kept ice cream on hand for the fox, but usually, the freezer was safe because she didn''t have thumbs or a way to get that high up.


    When he opened the door, everything looked to be in its proper ce, but when he popped open one of the ice cream containers, he found it filled with ice. Not ice cream, but ice.


    Aster wilted and plopped down at his re.


    So that''s why you only nibbled at your dinner?


    Through their bond, he got, I was hungry, and it smelled too good.


    Really, Matt wasn''t that upset. Honestly, he was more impressed that she had gotten into the packages, and had the foresight to fill the containers to keep their shape and weight.


    He kept that off his face as he gently reprimanded the fox.


    When he told her that they wouldn''t be buying her more ice cream until they would have if she hadn''t eaten it all, she flopped over dead and yowled.


    Thats not fair!


    My cultivation will backslide!


    I''ll starve.


    He had to interject at thatint. You ate three pounds of ice cream. You won''t starve.


    Matt tried to prevent a smile at her caterwauling, but froze when Aster paused and stood up with her ears and tail perked up, as her sadness turned to happiness.


    Ill just buy my own ice cream!


    Matt opened his mouth, then shut it, finger still outstretched. He had no counter to that, but tired anyway. You can''t live off ice cream.


    I''ll get hearts. Ice cream and hearts.


    You still need a bnced diet. It was a weak excuse, but it gave him his second idea, Will you not eat my cooking? No more braised rabbit.


    Asters tail flicked, then drooped slightly.


    She turned and met his eyes with her ice blue ones that glimmered with tears. But I like the rabbit...


    Her questioning tone seemed to long for reassurance that he wouldn''t take her favorite dish away.


    Well, I won''t cook it unless you can enjoy it. And if youre full of ice cream, you can''t enjoy it.


    That seemed to convince her, and she happily pranced away to the living room.


    Shaking his head, Matt promised himself to never have a real kid. A little sister in fox form was bad enough. And she was rapidly aging, thanks to her Tier advancement and the effects of the Tree of Perfection.


    Dealing with an actual child seemed like torture.


    Annie came backte that night, and was visibly happy to see her sister ok along with the rest of the team.


    Matt didn''t miss the awkwardness when she hugged Conor, as Annie came out of the hug a light shade of pink, which everyone else pretended not to notice.


    The next morning, Matt found Annieing out of her room with an array of des strapped to her while he was cooking for everyone.


    Matt tried to stop the determined woman with a, Wait.


    It mostly worked, and she paused long enough for him to get his piece out.


    What''s your n?


    Annie looked at him like he was dumb as she said, I''m going to stab Sara a few times, then work my way down her organization. She tapped her bandolier. I''ve got a knife for each person. Knives for everyone!


    Her smile had none of the cheer on her face.


    Matt had been busy with Liz that night. Things didn''t sit right with either of them, and they had spent most of the night reviewing the Kingdom''s survivors. They were pretty sure a good few were Queendom spies.


    Liz shuffled out of their room, and when she saw Annie, asked while holding back a yawn, Did you tell her yet?


    No.


    Tell me what?


    Liz looked into the pan while Matt answered, We were reviewing informationst night and think weve identified a few spies in the Kingdom hierarchy.


    Liz set down four tes full of eggs while Aster took her own chair and started digging in. She had found their investigation boring, and quickly went to sleep.


    They exined their findings over breakfast while Annie nodded along. She wasn''t dumb enough to disregard them, and eventually agreed with most of their reasoning, while also setting a few targets of her own.


    After eating, she was out the door, ready to spy on a fewmanders and remove them if they turned out to be dirty.


    Considering that her n was already to pay back the people who ambushed them, she was happy to add more targets. Though, it was harder to get her to stick to only gathering information until Matt came off his healing cooldown.


    She wanted them punished immediately.


    With her promise to only watch, she went out the door as she faded from their vision.


    Matt and Liz informed the rest of the team about their n when they woke up, and the five of them tried to scour the Kingdommand structure for more suspicious targets.


    ***


    Annie stood next to hertest suspect and listened to her conversation.


    The woman was in her bath while lounging. She was actively plotting against her own people, but not with the Queendom, just with other opportunists in the Kingdom.


    Annie slipped out of the bathroom, and after checking her mana, teleported past the door. It was much easier than having the door shut on her when she entered behind the woman.


    She had to drain three mana stones to deal with the rapid drain from making her intangible. Invisibility from her Talent, and even a minor level of intangibility, was free. But moving through hard, impassable objects drained her quickly.


    As she made her way to the next target, she contemted her assignment, with her mind drifting to her Concept. She had discovered her phrase weeks ago, but hadn''t told anyone, not even her sister.


    It was just too shameful.


    She even had a good idea about the image that worked for her. Not the one she wanted, but the one that fit. She could make her Concept at any time, but resisted letting it solidify.


    She didn''t like what she had learned about herself.


    That was part of the irony.


    <strong>I do whats necessary</strong>.


    She had an idea of her image. Annie was the de in the dark, the de <em>of</em> darkness. She was the one who spied on allies to find traitors. She would get her hands dirty. Where others shirked away, she threw herself into the challenge.


    If it was a reluctant realization. She couldve tried to force something else, but the reality was that she <em>enjoyed</em> all of it. The skulking and hurried movements gave her a rush like no other.


    Taking her target''s life and then escaping was better than any thrill she could imagine.


    <em>That</em> felt wrong.


    She did what others didnt want to do, but she didn''t think she should enjoy it. The uncertainty was making her hold back.


    In the end, she knew that she would need to make a choice, and it felt as if she was at a crossroads. Before she had found this realization, she had been able to get sharp and the image of a de to mostly work.


    She could always form a Concept around a standard sharpness idea, and fight like a generic rogue for delving rifts. But she didn''t like that idea any more than the second option. It could work for her, but it wasn''t the perfect fit.


    Doing what was necessary fit her like a glove, but its rted image did not.


    As she found her next target, Kepler, she followed and watched his interactions.


    She could tell he was a spy almost immediately.


    The idiot wasn''t even trying to hide it. Or had gotten careless in the extreme. While taking a Queendom man on a date could be innocent enough, his half-assed attempt at stealthily handing his date a sealed bag was beyond obvious. Especially when the date ended soon after.


    It sent every sense she had on high alert. She didn''t really know Prince Albert. She had met Juni more than once, and from Matt and Lizs recounting of their time on the fighting the golems, the man was anything but dumb. She had seen as much for herself when under hismand during the first city''s siege.


    There was no way that she could believe someone thatpetent didn''t know about the rampant corruption in the middle ranks of hismanders. The only options she believed were either he was a traitor himself, or they did know, and her team wasnt privy to whatever he had nned.


    That possibility sent her on a searching spree for the next two days, whenever she wasn''t trailing a target. The only time she rested was when she went and got her mana stones refilled by Matt.


    She would rest while he dumped endless mana into fast converting mana stones, then transferred the mana to her stores. She took naps while that happened, but kept pushing herself otherwise.


    It was finally when she started following Alyssa that she found the proof she was looking for.


    A Kingdom spy was following the woman. They were good, but Annie was better. She could admit that she might not be as good without her Talent, but she <em>did </em>have her Talent, so she followed the watcher as they observed Alyssas every move.


    Over the next few days, she unraveled the Kingdom''s counter-espionage operation. For an organization that had just been decapitated and was now floundering, they had a thoroughwork of watchers.


    It wasn''t obvious, but she found dozens of people who worked at static locations, or were responsible for covering a modest area with limited movement. They reported information through secure pads while keeping a low profile and limiting their exposure.


    The Kingdom seemed to have one in every position. With that knowledge, Annie could identify the Queendom spies by noting the people who werent being actively watched. It seemed that the Kingdom wasn''t wasting manpower watching those they knew were turncoats, and instead were dedicating resources to ferreting new ones out.


    Liz and Matt repeatedly asked her to not kill anyone until they were ready. But when the man with too much mana had one day left of his healing cooldown, they finished vetting their targets, and she rested for the fun that would follow.


    ***


    Matt and Liz prepared for their next moves as they painted a picture of the corruption. They quickly all agreed that The Prince and Juni had a n after Annies information came back in, but they didn''t care.


    The spies and traitors were making sure that the political situation remained turbulent, and the remaining top Pathers were barely able to hold things together. The two intact teams were leading troops in harassing actions, while trying to get reinforcements to attack the armies surrounding the Kingdom Cities.


    The other Pathers, who were single survivors from decimated teams, were less cohesive. Their inexperience in politics was only further increasing the disunity.


    Matt had let them know that when he came off his healing cooldown, he intended to add some order back to the situation.


    When the team asked how he nned to do that, Liz answered for him, and said that hed use the same tactic anyone else would use in a power struggle..


    Overwhelming power.


    That, and an invisible, stab-happy trump card didnt hurt either.


    Really, they were going to heavily rely on her gathered information. And after killing a few of the spies, they expected that most people would fall in line.


    The crux was killing the right people without setting everyone against him. Thest thing he needed was to unintentionally unify the leadership against him.


    Matt was incredibly nervous, but with Liz reassuring him that he couldn''t mess things up <em>that </em>badly, he was ready to at least try.


    The next morning, he came to the area that had turned into themand center. In reality, it was just where the surviving leadership argued with each other every day.


    Matt felt like an idiot as his armored form kicked down the door. That was Annie''s demand to go along with the situation.


    He knew that it was purely theatrical; hed never actually do something so obnoxious. The door, frame, and wall were all made from reinforced Tier 7 materials. He would run out of mana before he kicked the door down.


    Annie promised that she would handle that, and after she convinced the rest of the team that it would set the right tone, Matt gave in.


    Considering the door nearly flew off its hinges at his [Mages Retreat] empowered kick, he rxed and stepped through the now empty metal frame.


    Annie had done her job. Now it was his turn.


    Someone stood up and shouted, What the fuck are you doing!?


    Matt punched him in the face as hard as he could. The man crumpled, and before he hit the floor, he was gone.


    They had used Annies contacts with the assassination reporting function to let the army know that they were going to clean house, and to be ready to take bodies out.


    Seeing the numerous shocked faces, Matt took the temporary silence to hop onto the table and shout at everyone present.


    You are the dumbest group of people I''ve ever fucking heard of!


    That''s not fair. We...


    Matt kicked a pad at the speaker. They werent highlighted red like the known spies, so he didn''t kill them out of hand, and continued speaking.


    The Queendom kills most of the leadership to stop a coordinated response, and you all bicker for individual power. They already have breaches in a wall. <em>In less than a week</em>. All because you can''t unify to put up a resistance.


    A wave of sound hit Matt as everyone proimed their innocence.


    Matt ignored most of it until a woman highlighted in red copied his action of standing on a table and shouted, Exactly! Like Ive been saying for days. We need unity.


    She reached out a hand towards Matt and said, We need to gather our forces and strike out hard.


    Matt reached out and took the proffered hand in his armored own.


    Annie didn''t need to be told, and a message of the woman talking with a Queendom higher up and receiving a pouch of mana stones yed for everyone who watched the video.


    There were sounds of surprise orughter as Matt''s grip tightened, and he pulled the woman towards him and drove a spiked fist into her chest.


    Jenifer gasped out ast burble of blood as Matt shoved her away to be taken by the army.


    He shouted, None of you can trust each other because youre all a bunch of lying, traitorous pieces of shit! There are nine other traitors with us here, right now. Or at least, nine that we have proof of.


    As the noise level tried to pick back up, he shouted over it, No, this is my time to talk! All of you need to listen. You have had days to talk, and youve gotten absolutely fucking <em>nowhere</em>.


    Linking his AI to therger wall screen, he yed the other traitor''s videos in rapid session. Those around the spies quickly restrained them, and Matt shouted to get everyone''s attention once again.


    They aren''t the only ones! We have more spies that need to be disposed of. But until Prince Albert is back from his healing cooldown, I''m in charge. I don''t give two shits about your Kingdom, or this war. He patted his armored chest. I''m in it for the points, and I''m not going to let you stupid fucks screw this up for me.


    That''s not right! You have no power over us! Arger man shouted, and Matt shrugged, then punched him in the chest.


    He had retracted the spikes, but he still felt things shatter.


    Thats your first and only warning. The next person toin will be sent for a two-week vacation.


    He paused to let that settle in, then sarcastically asked, Would anyone else like to voice an objection?


    When no one said anything else, Matt started passing out his orders. It was mostly him reiterating the ns that they and their AI hade up with, but it got people moving.


    All the while, Matt felt like absolute shit. He felt exactly like the Healer Iris, who tried to steal Asters egg what felt like a lifetime ago. He was using his greater power to enforce his desires on those weaker than him.


    Liz and his team had convinced him that with the Pathers outside of the normalmand structure there was nothing they could do except crush everyone''s resistance with physical might as they had no political power in the situation. At least nothing they could do and resolve the situation quickly at least.


    The fact that it was for their own good didn''t alleviate his concerns or make it any better. It somehow made the pill harder to swallow.


    These people were his peers in Tier and power. But with his greater than average fighting prowess, he bent them to his will.


    Still, he shouted his orders, and when a woman balked at merging her force with someone she hated, he didn''t stop Annie from driving a knife through her chest.


    His teammate had said something that stuck with him when he expressed his concerns for their n. Sometimes, you needed to do what was necessary, instead of what you wanted to do.


    It reminded him of killing Zoey in the golem war. The woman endangered those weaker than her, and had to be removed. Matt had killed her to prevent further harm, but worried that those incidents would only be more frequent.


    He had done what was necessary, but while he shouted orders, he was worried that this wasn''t <em>really </em>necessary. He had no stake in this war.


    Even earning more points didn''t feel like a justified reason to lord his power over those weaker than himself. The whole thing just left a bitter taste in his mouth.


    But he didn''t stop giving orders and turning his armored form to anyone who resisted and intimidating them into following his orders.


    ***


    Albert and Juni were sitting and watching a show when their informants reported that Matt and his team''s assassin were taking over. They watched the recording of them storming the room and throwing their weight around with bemusement.


    That indifference turned to worry as the man started killing spies and traitors.


    They needed some of the spies and traitors to enact their own n.


    Albert looked to Juni when someone they didn''t have registered as a spy was outed.


    Juni cursed as he threw popcorn into his mouth. Well, fuck. We missed one at least.


    Albert red at him. They had spent a massive amount of resources to not be surprised. It was far toote in their n to have unknown actors.


    Juni shrugged. Edward is a small yer. He didn''t matter, so us missing him is fine. Our digging teams were well-vetted, and he had no contact with any of them. Were fine, Albie.


    His friend chewed, then said, The die is cast. The chips have fallen He waved his hand, Other cliche sayings. Yada yada yada. We can only do our best now. It''s really a good thing. It will take them at least a day or two to get a sizable army to face the Queendom, and I doubt they will immediately engage. When we get back, we can reroute them to the Queendom main city.


    Albert tried to rx, but the King''s threat loomed over his head. He really didn''t want to be killed by his own father because the Pathers suicided all his troops in a stupid battle.


    All he could do was wait, so he snatched the bowl of popcorn from Juni and went back to watching the show. Try as he might, he couldnt stop shifting his focus back to Matt, watching as he distributed orders.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101


    Matt wasn''t doing what he expected when he took over the Kingdom''s military affairs.


    He had expected to lead troops into battle without any other real considerations. He was wrong.


    So, so wrong.


    He was trying to figure out the logistics of moving a million people spread throughout squads of ten thousand. Without the ability to spend Kingdom level points, he could not provide for so many people, and he just didn''t have the personal points to spend. To add insult to injury, he could watch the Kingdom level points umte, but couldn''t touch them. They could solve all of his needs in seconds.


    It should have been easy. Just hand them food and water and give them their orders. That was all his team needed for extended stays in the wilderness or rifts. They had done it, and when he suggested that to the others, they looked at him like he was an idiot.


    They were right.


    Throughout all his campaigns with therger armies, Matt hadnt realized one simple fact.


    People always needed mana.


    Logically, he knew it was a concern for most people, but he hadn''t realized how much the Kingdom spent in resources to move any number of fighters.


    Every standard flying device cost a little more than 10 mana per hour to maintain the average flight speed for efficient Tier 6 devices. That number multiplied out of control if they flew at max speed for any length of time but he ignored that.


    For one or two people over an hour or two, that was nothing. But when you needed to move a million people in a group, the mana cost became enormous. For a ten-hour flight, which was conservative to get an army in position to engage with the enemy, Matt needed one hundred million mana. <em>One hundred million</em> mana just to engage.


    It was impossible.


    The cities were surrounded by nearly all of the avable Queendom troops, and each siege had at least three million soldiers participating. As the soldierspleted their healing cooldowns, they moved to reinforce the armies.


    So, Matt needed more mana in order for their troops to perform hit and run tactics. Otherwise, they would be susceptible to counterattacks and end up getting decimated.


    One hundred million mana would take Matt a little over fourteen days to produce with just his Talent, but that didn''t ount for the extra mana needed to mobilize afterwards. Even if he sat around only generating mana, they didn''t have the storage to hold that much mana.


    The thing that pissed him off the most was that even a Tier 6 melee fighter should be able to cover their mana costs with just their regeneration. But they tly refused, on the grounds that they needed it to practice and train with. He was fairly sure if The Prince had given that order they would haveplied but it was another way people resisted his orders.


    Then there was the food. Matt had learned that each side hadn''t bothered to procure rations the usual way, and were simply purchasing it in bulk from the army.


    That had baffled him. Even his backward shithole of a home world used rifts to farm. They had a team go in and clear a rift with sunlight and decent soil, and once it had no threats, they let loose farming robots to seed and water crops. Then after however long it took for the crop to grow, the robots harvested the crops and trundled out of the rift with a full load of produce.


    Other, higher Tiers just used nt mages with the Tier 8 skill [Grow]. Or, better yet, the Tier 14 skill [Farm]. With a single Tier 8 mage, they could grow acres of crops, only having to worry about soil fertility and harvesting.


    With the Tier 14 spell, they didn''t even have to worry about that. The skill rapidly nted, grew, then harvested the selected crop in seconds. It even provided the needed nutrients for the soil, leaving no impact on the ground for a mana cost.


    The army had neither skill for purchase; he''d already checked. He had been willing to buy the skill, just to get the army moving, but he didnt even have the option.


    So, he was forced to find other workarounds for each of the problems.


    Matt had mostly solved the mana problem through the expedience of lying.


    He had simply told everyone to break out their savings and buy the mana stones themselves, and the Prince would pay them back double when he was able to spend the Kingdom level points.


    It was his fault that Matt had to deal with this shit, and he could pick up some of the cost himself when the time came.


    The food was still a question, but he thought he had an answer to that as well. They could steal it from the enemy. He wanted to hit a Queendom reinforcement caravan and steal their food.


    It was their fault as well that Matt had to deal with these problems, and stealing from the enemy was never a bad thing.


    He looked over his numbers for the third time, and had his AI run the numbers for the tenth time.


    Things didn''t look great.


    If they sessfully took a resupply party, they would get mana stones and food, allowing their teams to run rampant and harass the besieging armies.


    But if he could think of that, so could the Queendom.


    That was why Matt was considering a riskier option.


    Of all the Kingdom military operations that had fallen to bits when the leadership was taken out, the scouts had remained fully operational. They were even willing to fall in line once Matt reaffirmed that he wanted to give upmand as soon as the Prince was back.


    After that, he had a half-decent idea of how to get all of his needs met. It just remained to be seen if he could pull it off.


    ***


    Annie stalked around the Queendom headquarters, just as she had been doing for the past two days.


    She was going to kill Sara. It wasn''t a question of if. It was only a matter of when and how.


    The woman was hiding somewhere. A panic room of some sort, she assumed. If she was taken out, the Queendom would have the same problems that Matt was bitching about.


    She had made her way into the headquarters by carefully following behind people, giving her free rain of the building. It was identical to the one she knew.


    The problem was, she couldnt find Sara anywhere.


    Annie had followed her right-hand woman. She had followed food carts. Shed even managed to scale the building to find the room that should have been hers. The Princess just wasn''t in there.


    The room didn''t look inhabited at all.


    Annie was running out of ideas and time.


    She wanted to take Sara out before the first army moved out, but with each passing minute, it looked like she wouldnt be able to.


    That fact had started to eat at her, and a whisper in the back of her mind, she affirmed that she would be able to find Sara with her Concept. She just needed to finalize it, and embrace that she was a monster in human skin.


    It would be so easy to fall into that rabbit hole, but she denied herself that. Her image wasn''t perfect. She could make it work, but she wasn''t a mindless monster, and trying to create an image like that was incredibly hard.


    She couldn''t deny that it would make things easier. Sara needed to die, and Annie believed that conviction would allow her Concept to assist her in finding and ending the woman.


    Still, she resisted.


    Annie was currently hiding in a garden, where she watched a young man trim the various vegetation. She was pretty sure they were various herbs as she remembered the smell from Liz on a few asions. When he finished making perfect spheres of the decorative hedges, he started checking something with the soil, and then watered a few of the nts.


    It was pretty soothing to watch the man work. He waspletely engrossed in his task, and seemed happy.


    There was something about the way he guided the nts growth. The tending and pruning she found intriguing, but as she thought on it, she wasn''t able to put her finger on why she was drawn to it.


    The sight was a nice distraction, but she moved on.


    She had the urge to kill Talous and his team if she ran into them. With the beatdown Matt put on the man, there was no way he wasn''t on a full two-week cooldown.


    Talking shit about her friend''s dead parents wasn''t something she was willing to overlook. She continued skulking around the base, careful to conserve her intangibility by dodging obstacles and people. She didn''t want to waste mana either. Eventually, she found Talous team suite and waited.


    The army watchers approved a hit on the rest of the man''s team, so she inspected the lock to n her best entry method. She wasn''t nning on killing them until after she killed Sara. No reason to give up her presence.


    She was listening to the muffled sounds inside the room when she heard footsteps.


    There was something about the pace that caught her intuition.


    It was the speed of the footfalls.


    The walker wasn''t walking briskly with an urgent task. No, that pattern of steps had speed, but surety.


    This walk was the near run of someone who wanted to move quickly, but quietly. It sounded like they were running crouched and on the balls of their feet.


    Annie trusted her intuition.


    Her still-unnamed trainer had hammered that into her.


    Anyone doing undercover work needed to trust their gut. When she asked when it was wrong, he justughed. He told her that in those rare cases, sess resulted whenbat skills and evasion skills met proper nning.


    If any of the three werent up to par, you died.


    It was as simple as that.


    She had understood that quite well, to her own surprise. There was a freedom in knowing that only death awaited in true failure. It took some of the pressure off.


    Emily didn''t understand that in the slightest, but Annie embraced it like a warm nket.


    When she turned the corner, she found a man skulking through the halls at a low crouch.


    He reached a corner and rounded it with a tray in hand.


    Annie moved forward like spilled water, and caught a brief whiff of balsamic vinegar.


    Princess Sara was said to love sds, and no sd was being served in themunal dining hall. She had already stolen a meal from there. They were eating some vegetable pie thing.


    She was sure that Matt could tell her a million uses for balsamic vinegar, but she only knew that it went on sds.


    More importantly, her gut told her that she was onto something.


    The Pather quarters were a perfect hideout for a Princess trying toy low.


    She followed the man as he made two circles around the spatially expanded quarters. Finally, he went into an unremarkable door.


    Annie was far enough back that she couldn''t follow him into the room, so she positioned to get a good view into the room as the man exited.


    He was just as furtive when he opened the door, and ran out of the room while crouching. Annie got a half-decent view inside, and that little glimpse was enough to give her pause.


    Nothing was wrong. Not overtly, at least.


    The only thing out of ce was the missing alcove that was normally at the entrance of each room she had been in. It was meant for people to drop off jackets or coats as they entered their rooms.


    It was missing here, but was standard issue for every room.


    She could think of a million reasons why it was missing, but none were good. Or at least, it triggered her paranoia regarding small details that shed earned during her training missions.


    She would assume that it was just broken or moved in a normal situation. But there was no reason for the space to be filled in like that.


    Annie hunkered down and waited. She was patient.


    Whoever needed to have food delivered would eventually have it delivered again. Then she would make her move. Until the moment came, she would watch.


    There was no need to rush.


    ***


    Matt moved his troops out en masse. They didn''t have the mana reserves to use the teleporters, so they were forced to trek the long and slow journey.


    They quickly ran into their first roadblock when their scouts discovered that they were being followed. Matt ordered them to wait and observe their watchers. The Queendom scouts had their direct route to the armies under surveince.


    That wasn''t a surprise to anyone. Their options were limited, which meant they were predictable.


    The only thing the Kingdom troops had on their side was that their enemy had no more troops to throw at them. Most troops were holding their cities as they tried to race down its walls in retaliation, or were reinforcing the notable forts.


    With the remaining troops surrounding the Kingdom cities, they had no real way to counter Matt''s army''s movements.


    Not unless they wanted to give up a siege.


    Matt could hope, but only an idiot would give up their progress on taking such an important objective, when there was only a smaller force unounted for.


    That was why he wanted to change the paradigm.


    When they were nine hours into their flight, and about to reach the continent where the Queendom was attacking the two cities, the million-strong army split apart. They formed ten units, each one hundred thousand strong, and scattered.


    Matt would have preferred that they only broke off into a few units twice that size, but he had to bow to practicality. If the Queendom gathered enough troops to wipe out one of his teams, they would have a warning at least. All of the teams had orders to retreat at the first sign of being engaged on. Their purpose wasnt to fightnd battles, but to hinder the Queendom''s ability to reinforce their troops.


    Burning mana, everyone sped up and started to hit theirrge fort targets. They were acting as supply points, and the teams were each assigned smash and grab missions.


    Matt and his team werending at the farthest section of the forts. They would be attackingst, and therefore would be in the most danger, as they were the closest to the armies engaging the cities.


    After seeing the performance while the Kingdom leadership was dead, he didn''t trust anyone else with the job. He also wasn''t entirely sure that he had weeded out all of the spies.


    His mennded like a wave of locusts. Their positions were already set, and everyone jumped into action. Matt had the remaining Pathers that weren''t acting as hit and run units with him.


    He hit the ground and started running towards the front gate; he wanted to shoulder check the door and knock it down like some great hero. Instead, he skidded to a stop as he was peppered with arrows through the slits in the gatehouse tunnel.


    Matt responded with fire.


    Lots of fire.


    [methrower] washed over the stone, ckening it during the brief exposure, and the arrows stopped for a heartbeat.


    He rushed to one of the windows and let his torrent of fire loose inside of the building. He could hear the screams, and when they stopped, he moved to the other gate and repeated his actions.


    The follow-up teams quickly advanced, and they started hacking at the gate.


    They were mostly a distraction.


    Their long-range scouts reported that the defenders were sending everyone to the gate, and the general troops rushed forward in a wave. In seconds,dders and ropes were secured, and their numbers crushed the unprepared defenders.


    Two minutester, the door opened from the inside, and Matt strode in over the blood of the fallen.


    Matt sent the next wave of orders, but the inner keep was barred up tight.


    Two mana cannons were brought out and assembled next to Matt. He sted his Concept and had the men fire them into the front door.


    It took six shots, but the doors finally exploded, and Matt repeated his [methrower] trick with the same results.


    The spell was a death sentence to anyone unlucky enough to be stuck in an enclosed space.


    They had the front room clear, and started to take the boxes of provisions that hadn''t burned. A few of the spatially expanded storage containers had been too close to the heat, and had caught fire.


    When the enchantment broke, the space returned to its normal size, and items were scattered everywhere.


    As they pulled the boxes out, Matt could see his other teams setting explosives along the inner walls of the bottom level. All of their first targets wererge forts that had been upgraded with teleportation formations.


    They intended to cut off the Queendom''s easy ess to reinforcements and goods to start. Then, when they began to attack the besieging armies, they wouldnt be able to reinforce and re-supply as easily.


    They took the fort in under ten minutes and set the explosives off. The building crumbled in on itself and down.


    Matt cheered internally as he watched their supplies numbers tick up. Their casualties were painful, but they hadnt lost enough to materially affect theirbat capabilities.


    For now, they just needed to move to the nextrge forts that they believed had teleportation formations, and batter them down.


    Everyone''s orders were to do so from range, instead of directly assaulting the forts. They only needed tost long enough for The Prince to reinforce them.


    Two weeks of supplies were more than enough.


    They just needed to slow down the Queendom. Not kill them all.


    ***


    Sara sat in her bunker of a room and cursed.


    The damn Pather connected to Liz was ruining her ns, or at least slowing them down. It was the same thing really, when things were going this poorly.


    He had taken out herrge fort''s teleportation with eerie uracy. It only built on the stress of being stuck in a tiny single room with nothing to do.


    She was losing her mind being cooped up.


    How her mother handled it, she had no idea. The stress was brutal.


    She turned tofort food when it grew too bad for her to cope with. She hadnt thought to take anything besides prepackaged meals, and if she ate another one, she would drive her head through the wall.


    As she watched another fort fall, she gave the order. She needed to force the cities to fall quickly. She only had a week and three days before Albert was able toe back andunch a point-funded counter attack.


    She figured that the inability to spend Kingdom level points would have stopped any coordinated counter-attack in its tracks. Apparently, Albert had known of a number of her spies, and set countermeasures in ce with the Pathers.


    It made her wonder if he also knew of Lizs background, but that didn''t feel right.


    She expected it was more Juni, and his previous rtionship with the group.


    The problem was, Matt was keeping his troops out of directbat. If she pulled off enough of her own troops to take him out, shed be reducing her sieging units to dangerously low numbers.


    That was if she could even get him to engage. He had already proven, from one skirmish, to be unwilling to fight head on.


    She had ordered her generals to ignore the Pather and his army, in favor of taking the cities faster. That didn''t mean she didn''t give them orders to protect their rear. Each city had a barricade around them to avoid recreating the disaster that had befallen her own city.


    With two weeks and two days remaining before the real war was supposed to be over, she needed to keep to her own deadline and end the Pather one.


    Casualties didn''t matter as long as they won, but if they lost too many troops now, they wouldn''t get them back before the end of the war. If that happened, then they would be truly dead.


    It was a delicate line to walk, and she wasn''t sure if she could manage it.


    Time.


    She needed more time.


    After deliberating, she ordered an agent toy a trap for the Pather, and activated a few spies.


    Sara checked the time. She wanted another good meal, but forced herself to open the packet of cold pasta and heated it up.


    She craved a fruit te, or anything that didn''t taste like it couldst a few dozen years and still be considered food.


    Still, she resisted the cravings and choked down the food.


    Shed get a good dinner tomorrow.


    As she controlled herself she reviewed her intelligence on Matt and his team and her spies reports.


    Her eyes lingered on the goals section.


    Her people suspected that Matt was a perfect fit for the [Cracked Breach] skill. It was such a good fit that with the knowledge of who Lizs parents were she suspected that it was ced there for him personally.


    It only reinforced her conviction that this entire war was for Liz and her partner''s benefit.


    She had the personal points to buy the skill. It would make a good bribe to remove him from the war or even to just have him lead a less effective counterattack.


    She only needed to stall him for a little while.


    Sara nodded and decided to buy the skill if her trap didn''t work. If he refused she could sell the skill to a Queendom noble for a hefty profit.


    ***


    Matt and his hundred thousand troops set up on a bluff near the encircled city and rained down fire on the Queendom attackers.


    It had been irritating to his own besieging army when it happened to them, and with the Queendom trying to take two cities, they didn''t have the numbers to properly manage their force.


    They had been chased off twice already by a unit three times their number, but they hadnt set down tents or anything else that couldn''t be rapidly packed, so they were able to retreat quickly. The hit and run tactics were making it rough for the Queendom.


    To that effect, they werent able to use their mana cannons. They took too long to set up, and using them immediately always provoked a reaction, until now.


    Their newest spot was a much better one, and the bluff was just inside the anti-flying formation, which meant that the Queendom army had to go around, or fight up a sheer, hundred-foot cliff.


    One of his Pather members, Adam, had noted that the shape of the valley indicated that the cliff was inside the formation, despite the standard sphere suggesting it wasn''t. It was like the area they had found the Queendom secret base in on their first mission. A slight variation on the standard formation.


    It was the break they needed to put some more significant hurt on the Queendom armies.


    So, they set up a more permanent camp with heavy rear defenses.


    Matt sat on one cannon and let it fire at the speed that his Concept should be able to refill his reserves. It wasn''t nearly as fast as he could have actually fired the weapon, but every minute, a st of blue licked out.


    The damage was beautiful. Spots in the enemy camp simply vanished when the shotsnded.


    But, like all good things, it ended all too soon.


    From their rear, warning rms rang out, and Matt turned to survey the situation as he gave orders for his rear guard to brace for a fight. They had a decent position, and could bleed some of the Queendom troops during a defensive engagement.


    His looking back was the only reason he saw Adam taking off on a flying sword at the edge of the formation.


    Then the explosion went off.


    The hill under Matt crumbled, and the mana cannon he was standing behind crumbled with him.


    Matt put every bit of his mana generation into [Cracked Phantom Armor]. 40 MPS went into the normalyer, and 35 MPS went into the secondaryyer. The remaining 5 MPS went to his AI to figure out how he was going to live through this and give orders before he died.


    His first order out was to hold the line, as he could see the explosion only affected the top of the cliff, and not the entire thing. The second was to reinforce the chain ofmand.


    As Matt fell into darkness, he read the report that showed hed most likely survive the fall. It was only a question of if he could dig himself out of the rubble before he suffocated.


    When the world stopped rumbling, Matt oriented himself from the AI connections with his men, and tried to feel around himself.


    He started digging as best as he could when he hit something hard. Feeling around, he found that it was a metal tube.


    He smiled as he checked its orientation, then checked his AI.


    The odds looked pretty good. His AI also noted the anomaly that let this area remain in the anti-flying formation had disappeared. It wasn''t hard to realize that it was just a part of the Queendom trap Adam had set.


    Matt filled the mana cannon with mana, then put everything he had into his armor.


    The world rumbled, and Matt felt [Cracked Phantom Armor] break under the close explosion. But despite his ringing ears, he was alive. He coughed out what he was pretty sure was blood, but ignored it.


    His flying sword that had been at the edge of the only anti-flying formation raced to him and hovered around his head. With one hand, he gripped the de and hoisted himself up out of the crater in thendslide.


    Using his flying sword and [Mages Retreat], Matt pulled the mana cannon out of the rubble as well, and started charging it as he rose into the air.


    The Queendom troops, who were flying up the side of the mountain, froze for a second after seeing the flying mana cannon fully charged and ready to fire.


    Matt let it loose.


    The world went blue for a second before he mmed into the ground from the kickback.


    While he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] to protect him, the Queendom troops did not.


    He started charging the cannon while he unstuck himself and flew to his troops, where his most recent orders to get into the air were being followed. Together, they flew out of the trap, with an enemy force keeping a <em>very</em> respectful distance behind them.


    Anytime they got too close, Matt let loose a st from his cannon. He also wondered if he could build a tform to carry their two other cannons, and just fire them from the air.


    Their squad ran until they met up with another team of equal size, and then turned to chase the Queendom soldiers.


    Or at least they tried.


    The Queendom troops didnt hesitate long enough for Matts forces to turn on them. They quickly retreated back to the safety of their greater army, instead of fighting it out with a force that they only outnumbered by fifty percent.


    Once theynded, Matt began giving orders while healers came to tend to him. He wanted to ignore them, as his wounds weren''t too bad, and some of his men had far worse. It was only after a quiet and ufortable reminder that he was the only reason they were out here that Matt let the healers do their jobs.


    The man quickly left, but not before Matt topped him off with his Concept. They needed their healers in the best condition, and he did feel better from the healing. At least one rib had shifted ufortably during the process, which only confirmed what his AI had been telling him.


    Their teams harassed the enemy armies while avoiding conflict for the next week. Seven brutal days of little sleep, and being constantly on the move.


    Still, their hard work paid off in the following days.


    Neither city had fallen, despite the Queendom bombarding them night and day. The defenders were able to repulse every attack, and rumor had it that Prince Albert was preparing for a grand campaign when he came off of his healing cooldown, in four more days.


    While they were all tired, their presence had slowed the Queendom down enough to have a fighting chance at relieving one of the cities.


    Their chances were so good that arge portion of the general troops even mored for it. They were easy points, they said.


    Matt and the othermanders all believed it to be a trap.


    The Queendom had only reinforced one of the cities the entire time. It wasn''t as if the Queendom hadnt had traps before and something so obvious made them all wary.


    In the end, Matts threats and presence had cated the dissenters. He didnt have to kill anyone, but he had to go and give some friendly chats to a few mid-levelmanders. A few questions about their loyalties were enough to stop any more of thoseints.


    After the traps and betrayals, any hint of being a traitor was enough to merit an instant killing. No one disagreed with the method after the third poisoned camp stew, and a bomb nted under themand tents.


    The bombs had been ineffective because Matt refused to hold any personal meetings, insisting on only using their AI. He purposely avoided gathering everyone together. It made things harder for him, since half of his authority came from the threat of him kicking someone''s ass if they refused his orders.


    He had to substitute in threats of giving generals andmanders personal visits to keep them in line.


    That was, until they got the news.


    Sara had been killed, along with a number of her higher officials, in the chaotic aftermath.


    Someone, presumably Annie, had finally killed the woman.


    ***


    Annie had grown tired.


    Not just physically, but mentally as well. Standing watch on a random door had been too much for even her after two days, and she looked at other methods.


    She trusted that barging into that room would mean her death, when she had an idea.


    <em>Do I really need to stab her?</em>


    A quick message to Liz had provided her with the name of a particrly subtle poison, and she had spent 200,000 points on a small vial of the stuff.


    The list of ways the little vial could kill someone was longer than her forearm.


    Even the fumes were toxic if breathed in too long. The advantage of the stuff was that it was odorless and tasteless to humans. Most beasts could smell it, but Sara wasn''t a beast, so Annie expected it to work.


    She stalked the kitchens for days, following the one man who brought down the food the first time. He was a mid-level manager, who was unremarkable besides delivering the Princess''s food.


    When he started cutting a cheese and fruit board, she knew that she had the right person. It was also not a part of the general menu.


    Annie also noted how he tasted each piece of food before he started walking down the hall.


    She shadowed him until he was about to enter the same door asst time, when she put a drop of the poison on a halved grape as he went through the door.


    One drop was all that the little vial contained.


    With things already in motion, Annie ran to one of her marked locations, and watched key members of Sara''s side.


    She was only one woman. She couldn''t operate like a dozen assassins and take out their entiremand structure, but she could take out a few key people. Or at least, people that she thought were key.


    When the panic started, she began stabbing.


    Blood ran as she worked her way through the ranks.


    When people started bunkering up, she concluded her bloody work and ran.


    She had to use a bomb to blow out a window, as they had an anti-teleportation formation active after the first murders. Also, her mana was too low after all the time she spent behind enemy lines, and without Matt to refill her.


    Her escape was messier than she would have liked, but after two and a half hours of mingling in the shopping district, she was happy with the operation.


    ***


    Victor smiled as he watched the chaos Annie had caused.


    She had a knack for assassination.


    So many young recruits got overly attached to one n, and couldn''t pivot to another when the situation demanded it. It would have been better if she had changed her ns faster, but he was still happy with the results.


    He was going to turn her into another Blink. Her Talent wasn''t as good as the elusive man''s, but Talent wasn''t everything.


    Annie enjoyed it. He could tell.


    A predator recognized a fellow predator.


    A dark-haired woman appeared out of nowhere next to him, and Victor had to repress the urge to stab the intruder.


    Luna was a menace with her void element. She was able to erase her presence better than nearly anyone, and when she appeared, it made him jumpy.


    The infamous manager shook her head without looking at him, her attention on the piece of paper she was writing on.


    You won''t get what you want.


    Why do you think that? She''s perfect. Victor was actually curious. He knew when he was outmatched, and in predicting young Pathers, Luna was one of the best. Listening to her was just good business.


    She''s going to settle on a more cause and effect Concept. She realized something with the gardening she saw earlier. the delicate nose wrinkled as she sniffed. Smells like it at least.


    Victor shrugged. If her phrase is still the same, it will fit well enough. I can work with that.


    Luna paused and met his eyes before the orbs of obsidian wandered down his body in a slow path.


    It made him shiver.


    I guess you have grown up, Vicky. Lunas attention then drifted back to the paper she was scribbling on.


    That was closer to the truth than he liked to admit, so he tried to y it off. It''s been a long time, and even immortals can grow, if given sufficient incentives.


    She just nodded along before asking, Are you about to leave?


    He nodded. I intended to. She''s a good candidate, and I need to get my affairs in order before she reaches Tier 10.


    Luna tisked, The final show is about to happen. Stick around to see it.


    Victor shook his head. I''ve already noticed and extrapted. I don''t need to see the aftermath. Weve all seen <em>her</em> tantrums. I don''t want to get caught in the crosswind.


    Luna smiled a toothy smile. But she didn''t say anything, just wiggling her fingers in a half-wave.


    Victor hadn''t been lying. <em>She</em> was going to be pissed, and he didn''t want to be in the same sector as the madwoman. It wasn''t the first time she had done something like this, and after the events that had urred on this, anyone who knew her could predict her intentions.


    It didn''t mean the Emperor wouldn''t be pissed as well, even that wouldn''t stop her.


    The time to leave was now, while the getting was good.


    Victor took onest look through realspace at the King.


    He <em>really</em> didn''t envy the man.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102


    Liz paced around their shared living quarters. She was restless and irritable. Matt had been gone for so long, and she was stuck here. The days had passed agonizingly slowly, with nothing to do but observe.


    She just hated being forced to sit around, unable to act.


    At first she tried to lose herself in alchemy, but she could never keep focused long enough, and kept ruining her mixtures. Even Conor and Emily tried to keep her distracted in their own ways. The partys healing cooldown was just over halfway done but she <em>needed</em> to start moving again. Now. But there was still a long way to go.


    The situation outside wasnt looking entirely awful, but it wasnt anywhere near good.


    It may have been self-centered or egotistical, but Liz believed she could make a real difference. She just needed the chance.


    ***


    Albert was doing hanging crunches when his AI pinged.


    He tried to ignore it as he concentrated on his form and aching abdominal muscles. Out of habit, he flicked his attention to the message to skim the subject at least.


    In sudden shock, his legs slipped from the bar and he plummeted to the ground.


    The impact didnt even register as he started tough.


    Sara was dead!


    He smiled as he flexed his newly formed Concept from his time with the Shard of Reality.


    Things were looking up. Now she would be in the same situation he had been in. She might have contingencies set up but he doubted she would have counters in ce for what he intended.


    ***


    Sara cursed as she popped in the hospital above a bed. A cracker stacked high with cheese and meat half hovered an inch in front of her open mouth wiggled ominously.


    What the fuck!? Realization hit, followed up quickly by, How did I die!?


    The Healer pressed a hand to her arm before nodding a few times as his eyes flicked back and forth.


    Simted poison in the cracker before that one. Seeing her confusion, the Healer exined, No one is going to risk actual death with something <em>that</em> dangerous. No actual damage done, so youre free to go.


    Sara red at the cracker in her hand before asking, Simted poison? So is this safe?


    At the Healers nod, she chomped down, making sure to savor the vor. It was the only enjoyment she was going to get out of her day, after all.


    Thankfully, shed prepared for this scenario. Her subordinates knew what to do next. And while she couldntmand her own people during her healing cooldown, bribing the Kingdoms hierarchy was another matter.


    <em>Proper nning prevents piss poor performance.</em>


    This inconvenience may slow her down even further, but she could recover. She had multipleyers of contingency in ce for a reason.


    She started at the bottom of the Pather and Kingdom personnel who weren''t a part of the greater n.


    Sara only needed to stall for another week and a half.


    Amber should already be making calls now that Saras death was reported. While she was on her cooldown, she might as well give her mother an update and see how the real war was progressing.


    ***


    Matt was sitting in hismand tent with half a dozen of his most influential officers, listening to a brief from their scouts. Suddenly, a message from Princess Saras right hand woman, Amber, came in, asking for a conversation.


    He was going to dismiss it out of hand, but thought better of it. Making a quick excuse, he backed out of the room while everyone discussed the ramifications of this n or that n.


    It was fairly moot. The Kingdom forces currentlycked the manpower to aplish anything truly significant.


    When he epted the call, he found a smiling virtual head waiting for him.


    Hello, Matt. I know youre busy and dont appreciate the normal political wordy, so Ill cut to the chase. I want to talk with you abouting over to our side for the remainder of this war.


    Matt should have expected it, but he was still taken off guard by the request.


    Amber seemed to take his speechlessness as permission to continue her pitch.


    I''ll ensure you are wellpensated. After your win in the duel arena, we noticed the [Side Slide] skill vanished. With your teammate Annies survival of the ambush, we can put two and two together.


    Matt nodded slightly at that. It was an easy enough deduction, so there was no point trying to hide it. But he wasn''t sure how that rted to him and the Queendom.


    Amber continued, Obviously you used your own duel winnings to help her get such a high value chase item. Which would mean, with your team''s recent deaths, that youre all rather low on points. So, I took the liberty of buying [Cracked Breach] myself.


    He internally panicked as he checked the points store to find the skill, along with several other high-cost items, gone.


    We would be quite willing to give you the skill. All were asking in return is that you use it to help us level the final cities. It would be a double win for you, since youd earn a queens ransom of contribution points in the process. Amber finished with a beaming smile.


    Matt could feel the temptation bubbling up inside of him. It was an incredibly generous offer, and with a few notable exceptions, the Kingdom had not enamored itself to him. That skill was perfect for him. He honestly hadn''t considered that anyone else would buy the skill. It was a cracked skill that needed massive amounts of mana to properly use.


    Any normal mage would have to wait <em>at least </em>a few Tiers before they had enough mana to make it consistently useful. Technically, anyone could use the skill if they had enough mana to initially cast it, and others fed them converted mana afterwards. It was just that most people didn''t have a spare 10,000 mana to throw away on a single shot of a skill, or a battalion of support mages to feed them more mana.


    But that was the problem. Amber, and through her Princess Sara, wanted him to cast the spell <em>now</em>. Matt had a maximum mana of 80, and the 100 mana was needed upfront to cast it. Nothing he could do would allow him to cast the spell without Tiering up first to double his maximum mana again. But that wasnt an option, since hed be removed from the war the moment he became a Tier 7.


    He was also afraid to try and brute force the skill to lower its cost, considering the skills additional cracked effect preventing the initial cost from being lowered further.. He wasn''t sure if it was a hard limitation, or if it meant that the skill couldn''t stabilize with less mana. An unstable siege skill would be like an unstable mana canon. Every shot came with the risk of just exploding instead of firing at the target, and he didn''t want the equivalent of a mana cannon detonating inside of him.


    Matt couldnt ept the bribe, no matter how much he wanted to. When he couldnt follow through on casting [Cracked Breach], it would reveal that his Concept wasnt responsible for his insane mana generation. It would raise questions that Matt couldnt afford to have people asking.


    Fighting to keep the disappointment off his face, he decided to y it straight. Id never change sides for something as simple as a bribe. How would that look on me as a person to the Army watchers? A supposed ally any enemy can bribe away with a sufficient enough trinket? No, Im sticking with the Kingdom.


    Amber raised an eyebrow, but didn''t seem phased. Were willing to sell you the skill for half-price, on the condition that you don''t absorb it until after the war. You just have to stall the counter-attacks on my sieges and let the two cities fall. She smiled and continued, Even if those two cities fall, the Kingdom will still have one left. It won''t end the war.


    Matt was even more tempted, and regretted the excuse hed chosen. Having made such a hardline stance about moral appearance, he couldnt take this offer either without revealing his lie. Sabotaging the Kingdom from within would look even worse to the Army than openly switching sides. He shook his head. That''s another generous offer, but Im unwilling to sell my morals.


    Amber seemed unbothered and just nodded. Then best of luck to you. I know we don''t need it. The call ended with a grin on her part.


    Curses started to flood from Matts lips, drawing widespread attention to him as he debated what to do.


    Finally, he decided to report to Juni that Saras people contacted him in an attempt to bribe him away. This mess would look much worse if he didnt get ahead of it now. Sara could send carefully edited recordings of everyone she messaged to Albert, and destroy any trust the Kingdoms leadership had in him and the other top Pathers.


    Even with AI proof, suspicion would fall on them, creating doubt.


    Juni picked up nearly instantly. Matt rushed to exin the situation.


    Juni only nodded along before saying, With the restrictions in ce, all I can say is that we trust you to do your job.


    With that, the connection cut out.


    Matts mouth dropped open before shutting. Reflexively, he just shrugged. There was work to do.


    ***


    Sara tisked as she listened to the call with Matt. Shed hoped at least one of the propositions would have enticed the man. Having Matt at her side would have given her an incredibly useful, not-at-all suspicious connection to Liz. With some subtle leveraging, she could have gotten closer to the woman in short order.


    Tapping her fingers, Sara nodded at Amber, her second inmand.


    The woman was still engrossed in her pad. She didn''t look up until Sara tossed the [Cracked Breach] skill shard onto the table, along with all the other failed bribe items. Even if she couldnt bring the perfect matches for her ns over with these items, she could use them to motivate her own people.


    Thankfully, the pile of epted bribes dwarfed the discarded pile. That made things easier.


    Sara pulled [Cracked Breach] from the reject pile and slid it towards her second inmand. Amber, for your years of loyal service, please ept this skill as a gift to absorb and use <em>as you see fit</em>.


    Sara immediately felt the weight of a higher Tier being pressing down on her spirit like a wet nket. The army watchers were warning her. That barely disguised order pushed the boundaries of what she could do while on a healing cooldown.


    Amber was smart, and understood her lieges meaning as soon as she reread the skills description. Without another word exchanged, Amber bowed slightly and left. She''d be sting holes in the cities walls. A bag full of mana crystals from the supplies should ensure that they could end the sieges quickly.


    It was best to give such a dangerous skill to a loyal subordinate, rather than someone who might turn on them after acquiring that kind of power. By the time Saras own healing cooldown ended, the war would already be over.


    Both of them.


    ***


    Cori stood in front of the mirror and contemted her actions for the millionth time.


    She came to the same conclusion she always did.


    Betraying the Kingdom that she grew up in didnt bother her. They had done nothing for her and deserved nothing from her in return. She was pretty sure that themon people living under her few noble supporters would lead better lives under the Queendoms rule.


    Her motivations for this werent just personal.


    Or, they werent <em>only</em> personal.


    Personal grievances may have started her down this road, but shede upon a plethora of other reasons to continue along the way.


    Cori traced the half-inch scar on her temple where her father had backhanded her.


    An old rage simmered back to life, but she tamped it down as she thought of her childhood.


    The daughter of the King from one of his manypanions, she was the first possible heir he had produced.


    Not thest. Nor the most valuable.


    Just the first.


    The testing bed for how he raised all of her other half-siblings.


    A series of nannies brought her up, being rotated in and out as soon as they made the slightest error. Even the most minute slip ups sent the Tier 35 King rabid.


    Her own mother abandoned her as soon as the agreed payment for birthing a child to the Kingdoms ruler was transferred. Cori loathed her mother for that as a child. Now, she understood the choice, even if she refused to respect it.


    The King offered a handsome reward to anyone who birthed him a child. No one could stand the man long enough to stick around for any significant amount of time after that, let alone consider marrying him. The same song and dance had yed out for each of her younger siblings too.


    Only one of the mothers had reconsidered and protested, trying to secure a better life for her child. But poor Maria simply vanished one night, never to be spoken of again.


    Cori was certain that shed been killed off, likely quite brutally. Her father didnt tolerate people questioning or interfering with his affairs, particrly regarding how he chose to rear his children.


    She had met her father only half a dozen times in as many years. He barged into her wing of the pce one day, shoved a miniature sword in her hand, and physically dragged her out to a training yard.


    With the bastards cultivation pressing down on her, she was scared and confused. She didnt react fast enough when he pointed at the training dummy andmanded strike.


    Her ten-year-old self hadn''t even properly heard themand. Only when he backhanded her and sent her sprawling did she realize exactly what their rtionship was.


    In the early months, she thought something was wrong with <em>her</em>, and repeatedly cried herself to sleep. At the same time, she just hoped that someone, anyone, would save her.


    After the first year of training, she grew hard and realized that the only way to survive was to meet the madman''s expectations.


    So, Cori threw herself into martial training. With a Tier 1 Talent for bnce and a Tier 3 Talent for proprioception, she dedicated herself tobat and Tiering up to advance. All for the sake of winning some sliver of her father''s approval.


    When she reached Tier 15 in record time, and was rewarded only with a dismissive sneer, she realized that she''d never make him happy.


    He had called her to task for not creating a political base, and instead rushing through the Tiers. She had done exactly what he had taught her to do, and then he had called her an idiot for doing it.


    Cori despised fighting; it had never resonated with her. But for him, she had forced herself into it when she could have had a more normal childhood, or at least a less horrific one.


    She left that meeting with a drive to correct her mistake, but it was toote. Branch family members showing promise had been adopted into the main family, and had poisoned the well with most noble families. Their birth parents had given them the political lessons her own father had neglected.


    Her noble peers wouldn''t work with her, and she was cast off as an heir who would never ascend to the throne because all she cared about was fighting. So, she embraced that persona and entrenched herself into the Kingdom military.


    It had taken decades, but she had worked her way up, and was now in the perfect position for revenge.


    The original idea had been to just kill the bastard when she matched his Tier. But perspectives change. Once she was released from her sheltered life in the capital, and was no longer focused solely on delving to advance, she witnessed the rampant neglect and abuse in her Kingdom. The system was broken beyond repair. It needed to be shattered, melted down, andpletely reforged if anything good was going toe out of it.


    At the Kingdoms outskirts, people didnt even bother to hide their contempt for the heavy taxes, neglect, and disgusting privileges taken by some nobles.


    That was where she found people who were desperate for change, butcked the power to act against the higher Tier nobles pissing on them from above.


    So, she made use of the political skills her father imed she didn''t have. Bit by bit, she gathered the disparate groups and few decent nobles under one banner. Like-minded individuals slowly rallied around her.


    It wasn''t easy or fast, but the right person noticed. A Queendom spy eventually contacted her. At that time, her n had been a mass defection to create an independent splinter nation. When instead offered full membership into the Alliance of Allied Queens as a Queen herself, Cori could not refuse.


    A deal was worked out.


    Under hermand, arge swath of border worlds would defect to the Queendom, stealing away 12% of the Kingdom''s current territory. Centuries worth of expansion would disappear overnight in a single, devastating blow.


    To give Cori leeway in winning over additional nobles in the targeted area, the deal included a provision that all Kingdom nobles that willingly defected would retain their titles in the annexed territory, so long as they fully adhered to Queendomw. The rules as such had been explicitlyid out in no uncertain terms.


    Paired with a chance to escape the Kingdoms inevitable war of session among her siblings, that guarantee was all many of the nobles needed to hear. However, there were several nobles that no one believed would jump ship, and her people employed various methods to remove them from power in the area.


    Some were just killed, but that tactic had to be used sparingly to avoid attracting notice. Only the most vile and pigheadedly loyal could be put in the ground where they belonged. A few even found themselves unexpectedly promoted to better territories on the other side of the Kingdom, after Cori and her supporters secretly cashed in all of their political favors. Most of the other potential holdouts were simply challenged, and quickly saw reason when they realized that they were surrounded and outnumbered by nobles intent on defecting by any means necessary.


    Their actions caused some turbulence, but nothing that wasn''t smoothed over easily enough with copious amounts of wealth. Bribes could get you nearly anything in the Kingdom. For all it made the ordinary citizens life a struggle, the very corruption she hoped to cure made nning the rebellion much easier.


    So many people flocked to her side for a reason. It was why she was able to embed so many of her own troops in the war, despite the measures her father took to ensure that only soldiers loyal to him were under hermand.


    When the new, higher Tier had been found in the neighboring sector to her little rebellion haven, she had hardly believed the luck. It set them up to take an evenrger portion of the Kingdom with them when they left. As she and the other Queens had hoped, the Emperor allowed them to dere war on the Kingdom for thend, which would let them cripple the remaining loyalists.


    Careful nning ensured her own people suffered fewer losses than the most loyal regiments. The difference wasnt enough to tip her hand, but enough to hobble a few critical assets in key areas. Her traitors knew the risk, and put their lives on the line for a better tomorrow.


    Some died willingly for that. Unlike little Albies Pather war one over, this wasnt a game. Death was all too real.


    Cori traced her scar again. She kept it as a reminder for all these years.


    With an effort of will, she convinced her spirit that the scar wasnt a part of her true self anymore. Over the next hour, she watched the mark gradually vanish.


    It had been a reminder of another life.


    Today, she was free.


    She withdrew her helmet from her spatial ring and strode out of her tent, into the bustling camp that her army had set up.


    Assembled around her were 200,000 Tier 20s and 75,000 Tier 21s, along with a smattering of Tier 22s.


    Less than half were on her side. Most were loyalists from the personal armies of the Dukes, the most sycophantic of the Kings supporters. That was fine. Most of this army was destined to be ughtered in the mass ambush that she had waiting.


    She started sending orders to gather everyone up. Within half an hour, the tents were stored and everyone hovered in formation on their flying devices.


    The army flew over the mountain range where the Queendomy in wait. The scouts were some of the first to be infiltrated, and reported what she wanted. At her request, a token Queendom force had been moved a little too far out of position, leaving a supposed crack in their defenses. When her generals predictably mored to attack, she let them gather the majority of their forces and led them to their doom.


    Her countdown timer ticked down, and when it finally hit zero, she struck out with her true power. In an instant, she went from the apparent weakest leader, here only because of who her father was, to one of the strongest.


    Byw, the Queendom couldn''t have a Tier 20 ruler, the Tier her peers had sessfully stalled her at. As a sign of good faith, they had secretly given her resources and time slots in their own rifts to advance. At Tier 24, her power allowed her to cleave through the two strongest Kingdom generals highlighted. They were also Tier 24, but the element of surprise allowed her to slice clean through their heads. There was no surviving without a brain, and she ended herrgest threats in an instant.


    Two of herpatriots, highlighted blue, assaulted the nearest red generals. They werent overwhelmingly strong, so she gathered a bit of mana and sent out a [Mana Thrust] at each of them.


    The strikes hit true. They slumped over on their flying devices before falling, with a mist of blood flowing from the holes in their heads and residual energy dissipating into the air.


    Chaos surrounded her. A rainbow of spells and skills lit up the sky with shes of light and death.


    Kingdom loyalists fighting Kingdom traitors. Only she and her forces could see the difference, and more than one of her troops fought alongside their own brethren to integrate themselves into a group of Kingdom loyalists, before attacking from the inside.


    Theyd trained for this.


    Hermand channel sang with a chorus full of panicked and contradictory orders. Captain Michels was trying with mild sess to reinstall order, so she found him in the melee and directed a free squad to gang up on the man.


    Things would have looked bleak with the loyalists numbers advantage, but then a wave of Queendom troops arose from concealed locations in the mountains, and only now were they apparent to her spiritual sense. Like a tidal wave, a multitude of Queendom elites flooded up and around her men, even as entire battalions of snipers began felling their preselected targets.


    In under ten minutes, the final Kingdom loyalist fell.


    Milly soared up next to Cori where she hovered.


    I half thought you wouldn''t go through with it.


    Cori met the younger woman''s eyes. Milly held her gaze for longer than most were willing to, but she looked away and down. She was the third daughter of the sixth and newest Queen of the Alliance of Queens.


    Or rather, her mother was the second newest of the current Queens. As of this moment, Cori was thetest, though she needed to push her cultivation to at least Tier 30 in a hurry. Her Intent was close, but she needed something else, even beyond her phrase and image. The Intent refused to crystalize like her Concept had.


    That information was one of the many things she intended to ask from her peers at the first possible opportunity.


    I never break my word. Are your other troops taking the locations I specified?


    Milly nodded. They made their move at the same time. The teleporter formation should be under our control as long as your people don''t back down.


    Cori checked her AI and the reports. The situation looked eptable so far, but there were a few pockets of resistance that she directed troops to. Controlling the Queendom troops as well as her own gave her a thrill of pleasure.


    She didn''t miss the voids inmunication from certain locations. That signified some of the loyalist troops had already ditched the standardbination channels. It was smart of them to realize that the lines werepromised, but dumb of them to reveal that and make themselves high priority targets.


    Looking to Milly, she sent her the locations. Have troops check these locations.


    Before she could respond, Cori finished focusing her will, and ripped a hole through reality into chaotic space.


    She was immediately buffeted by the energies that made up the realm between realms. It took most of her power to keep the corrosive energies at bay.


    Without reality to help it travel, her spiritual sense didn''t cover even half the distance it usually did. That was still enough for her to scan around the spark of light in the void that was the essence-full world. Seeing no one around her trying to escape, Cori changed the location of her focus, and punched back into the world, halfway across the.


    That stunt had cost her nearly half her mana and most of her willpower, but she was still confident in herbat prowess.


    Damien and Kristen came to a halt, sensing her presence as she entered real space and hovered behind them. To avoid breaking the rules of engagement, Cori needed them to attack first as she was the stronger party. The Tier 22 man and woman were her most significant problems. They were a Marquess and Marchioness, respectively, and die-hard loyalists.


    They were also capable tacticians, which was why she was going to take them out herself. Or that was the excuse she had briefed the Queendom on.


    In truth, she detested the pair. They were willing to sell anyone out for personal power. Starting as unded nobles, they had schemed their ways up the ranks. At every opportunity, these two sociopaths were held as shining examples of why her father''s methods worked. They were loyal enough to have eagerly performed violent loyalty purges of their domains, often unprompted.


    While they had officially only killed heads of state, they had taken out any political opposition they could get their hands on. More than a few people were executed on charges that wereter revealed to bezily fabricated. Her father adored the pair.


    Everything they embodied, Cori abhorred. Wiping them from existence would be a public service.


    They also took every opportunity to talk down to her, iming that their power was only their own because they had earned it, and not squandered it. The unspoken as Cori had was always hidden in their smirks and the glints in their eyes.


    The tall, pale man summoned his waraxe, and the woman readied a staff that cracked with lighting, water, and eddies of air.


    Kristen spat to the side. You sold us out to the Queendom!? You fucking bitch! When the King hears of this, hell have your head on a tter!


    It was hardly a question, but Cori smiled under her helm in response.


    She activated [Flexibility], [Endurance], and [Mana Strength]. Moving at full strength normally drained her rapidly. It was really a question of whether exhaustion would set in or she would tear a muscle first.


    The buffs allowed her to fight with neither constraint nor worry. A Tier 26 mana stone was already being pumped into a rapid mana converter to slowly recover the mana from her trip through chaotic space. The expense was ruinously wasteful, but she had her own sources of wealth. The underground fighting arenas paid obscenely well for deathmatches. It was how she could afford her new weapon.


    The rapier gleamed a glossy green in the setting sun.


    It was an exceptional weapon that she had ordered from an Empire crafter. Most considered a nt mage weaker in the air, but Cori disagreed. You just needed a little ingenuity to make the spells work effectively.


    There was little point in hiding her abilities anymore. It was time to put down the rabid dogs who thought themselves her rivals.


    Damien lost his patience first, and used [Blink] to close the distance.


    There it was. All the provocation that she needed to engage. They had attacked her first, after all.


    Cori rushed forward to where she could feel the spell targeting. In the split second it took the spell to transport the man, Cori struck with a [Mana Thrust].


    She was still too slow, and only grazed the man''s chest armor, instead of timing the attack tond inside of him.


    A disappointing failure, but nothing to worry about. She ignored him to rush the mage. Kristen was already summoning a storm. The entire horizon was being gorged with rapidly darkening clouds.


    A bolt of lightning struck out at her, but she cast [Entangle]. The vines absorbed the energy. The electricity fried the nt life, but it let her close the distance.


    Kristen wasn''t stupid, and was already retreating on a gale of wind. But she was too slow. She wasn''t a real storm mage. Not yet.


    The enemy mage had yet to merge her three distinct mana types into a solid, unified whole. Instead, she was pulling from carefully portioned areas of her mana pool. Not only was the practice slower, it was dangerous. If the woman lost concentration, her unstable mana would mix, and the result wouldnt be a storm, but an unusable mess which she would need to purge to fix.


    That necessity made her slower, which ensured her death.


    Cori, with her higher cultivation, was nearly on the Tier 22 mage. Her rapier was only feet away when she felt Damien close the distance with a [Shield Bash] used in conjunction with a [Lunge]. Interweaving skills required a delicate blend of magical control that he wasn''t able to properly achieve. She could feel the mana spige from the spell structure radiating around Damien. For it to be this bad indicated the shoddiness of his efforts.


    Unfortunately, it still allowed him to close the remaining distance in an instant.


    With her Talent and passive skills helping, Cori bent backward and under the chopping axe. Her bones and ligaments screamed with the sudden bend, but she hardly lost any momentum with the maneuver. Still, even that slight hesitation was enough for Kristen to cast [Tornado]. She was clearly mixing water mana with wind, and the funnel of wind quickly grew to monstrous size as it absorbed the clouds around them.


    Kristan retreated into the cutting vortex of wind, a ce where Cori would have to expend a lot of resources to reach, leaving her open to the couple''s retaliation.


    Instead, through her rapier, she cast [Spore] and [Seed]. Tiny motes of nt life ked off from the green de, and were sucked up into the tornado. If Kristen had been able to merge lightning with the skill, she wouldn''t be able to pull this off. But as it was, Cori was free to pump the tiny nt life full of mana.


    In seconds, the pinhead-sized motes of [Seed] swirling around Kristen were massive tendrils of greenery.


    Suddenly, the defensive tornado became a trap.


    Damien struggled to cut through the magically strengthened vines, but he was two Tiers below her, and a full three Tiers below her weapon.


    Kristen scrambled to race up and escape out of the apex of the spell, but Cori was prepared, and she was faster. She had ensured that her spell spread out well above and below the mage.


    Damien spun to attack her, hoping to break her concentration on her spell. To his growing rm, she avoided each of his attacks simply by leaning on her training and physical advantage.


    Finally, a vine wrapped around the Kristens''s leg. Cori smiled. The woman was in her grip now.


    The resistance stopped, and she paused to find that she no longer had a hold of the mage. Not all of her at least. Her growing vines searched to find the leg severed at the knee.


    It was a shrewd move. One that may have worked if not for [Spore]. The spell was already in the air, and she could now feel Kristen''s location. A Tier 15 or higher could keep the tracking spell out of their body as long as they concentrated. With a gaping wound to infect though, it was already toote. The skill was <em>inside</em> the woman.


    With a mental effort, she bent around another heavy mana-infused axe strike and changed the skill that was still connected with her de.


    Through her rapier, she merged the still active [Spore] skill with [Toxin]. Combining an active skill was incredibly hard and painfully slow, but it had the desired effect.


    In Kristen''s body, the skill slowly turned poisonous. It was already hard to break through the mages Concept, willpower, and spirit. Dodging Damiens attacks on top of that was taxing, and forced her to split her attention. Still, she managed it.


    Long ago, Cori had learned that her Talent made it far easier to dodge a blow than to block the hit. She was a small woman. Dodging was easy, and only risked injury if she couldn''t move out of the way fast enough.


    As she felt Kristen abandon her active control of the weather, Damian finally earned both her full attention and a counter thrust into his chest.


    [Phantom Armor] appeared, and for an instant helped his own armor resist the strike. The force of her attack sent him flying upward and out of the atmosphere.


    Not letting the opportunity be wasted, she rushed towards Kristen, who sat shaking and vomiting. A bored sh took the woman''s head off.


    It was almost too easy.


    In her spiritual senses, Cori felt Damian going utterly berzerk. Music to her ears. He unleashed his veil and shockingly started burning essence to empower his attacks.


    A massive, twenty foot wide [Mana Chop] forced her to both activate her own [Phantom Armor], and wrap herself in a ball of vines to block it.


    Using essence in your attacks was possible after Tier 15, but it had two major drawbacks. First off, it permanently damaged the skills used, and would destroy those skills if used too much. Using essence also permanently damaged your cultivation base as you ripped it away. As far as she knew, there was no way to use loose, non-allocated essence to attack. It had toe from one of your cores, which meant you lost that progress forever.


    New essence didn''t go to fill those voids, it went to advancing. All that power was just gone.


    Most people weren''t willing to sacrifice that much, even for a lover. For immortals, spouses were often temporary. Personal power was the only thing that couldn''t betray you, after all. And it was the only thing that could drive you forward.


    If the couple hadnt been such vile pieces of shit, she might have almost found Damians dedication touching.


    Cori was still rebuilding [Phantom Armor] in her spirit to charge it again, when another [Mana Chop]shed out. Unlikest time, she was prepared, and got out of the way in time. She felt a mountain explode behind her from the impact of the spell.


    She could now personally attest to the power of essence-fueled skills. Despite her two Tier advantage, that first strike had punched through two of her defensive skills. Her armor was still smoking from the impact.


    Still, Coris confidence didnt falter. At best, this put Damien at her level, and only until his diminishing cultivation and crumbling skills caught up with him. She had never had issues fighting people at her level.


    Only stronger fighters ever provided a challenge worth enjoying. An equal was nothing to get excited about.


    Cori unleashed a normal [Mana sh], causing Damien to twist out of the way and interrupt his next attack. By her estimation, he probably had two more casts of [Mana Chop] before the skill fell apart.


    She closed the distance and shed out with a heavy blow. The haft of his axe rose to block it. The blow still sent therger but weaker man flying into true space.


    Cori refused to let him take advantage of the momentum shed provided him and flee. She would keep close here; her higher cultivation gave her the t advantage over the dedicated melee fighter.


    They neared the''srgest moon when she caught up with hisrger form. In her brief but rapid approach, she felt someone watching.


    She had an inkling of who it was. If she guessed right, she wasn''t sure if she should be insulted or ttered. Either way, it was time to put on a show.


    To show her worth.


    Damien mmed into the moon with a crash, sending debris spraying everywhere. Right before impact, an essence-fueled [me Barrage] shot towards her. Two dozen person-sized fireballs exploded out and homed in on her.


    Cori weaved her way through them without letting a single me lick her. But she cut it close enough that her armor heated up, even through the vacuum of space.


    Damien was ready, and had a [Mana Chop] charged with essence building on his de. She met the attack with magic and steel, as her own full power [Mana Charge] shed to meet it.


    As their attacks shed, a wash of energy surged out in all directions as the two opposing forces tried to overpower each other.


    She had to use her Concept to brace herself in ce with nt life on the moon, but soon, their attacks dissipated. When she saw Damien, she trusted the fight was over. He was bleeding from the bacsh of their sh, and each drop was evaporating in the vacuum of space. Despite neither having nor needing air to breath, he wheezed with undeniable effort.


    In contrast, she kept herself controlled and poised. Even if she wanted to vomit after the effort that repulsing that attack had required, she was a Queen now. And honestly, this was the most fun shed had in decades, from the thrill of a fight that she actually believed in.


    Plus, Cori loved to put on a good show.


    To her surprise, Damien began to glow with the ominous crimson aura of [Berserker''s Rage]. The red color was taken over with white as essence was cycled through the skill, and the aura became massive. She could feel how it skyrocketed with power. The increase was absurd, too much for even burning essence to exin. Shaking off the initial distraction, she took the whole of him in. With her own eyes and spirit, she could both see and feel the damage the skill was doing to the man.


    More than just cultivation was being devoured. It was burning away his spirit.


    That was mildly concerning. Best to end this in a hurry.


    Damienshed out with [Mana sh]. It was empowered with essence, but it was far weaker than the [Mana Chop]s he had been using before. His weapon wasn''t a great match for the skill, and he had clearly neither modified nor mastered [Mana sh] as much as [Mana Chop].


    Cori flexed like a tree in the wind, and dodged the arc of energy that tore across the moon''s reddish surface.


    Increasing her boosts to the maximum, she let her Talent fully take effect. With three rapid steps that tore at her bones and ligaments, she arrived next to Daemen. She reached up, grabbed his burning head, and yanked it back to where she could run her de across his neck.


    It was a pointless gesture. She felt his spine snap on the initial yank alone. But this was supposed to be a show.


    Her watchers stepped out of chaotic space, pping metal hands.


    Verona, the fourth Queen in the alliance, strode over to where Cori stood. Through AI messaging, Cori received, Well fought. I thought I''d have to step in when he started using essence to power his attacks.


    Cori just stared her newest peer down. If you intervened, he would have had to be let go. No, I wanted him dead. So he died.


    Verona shrugged. He already crippled himself, so it was no bother. Your life is more important, my newest sister.


    The ebony-skinned woman''s smile was sincere.


    Cori didn''t trust it on principle. But she didn''t show that. That would be rude.


    Verona seemed to catch that regardless, and just silentlyughed in the void.


    Worry not. We may never be the best of friends, but we are sisters of a purpose. That is something beyond mere friendship. Still seeing Coris expression not soften, she added, There is no rush. We have time. Speaking of which, we have an appointment to catch.


    That caught her attention. Something like that was distinctly not a part of the n. Cori grew wary. What do you mean?


    The Tier 31 shrugged one shoulder, Our eldest sister was wounded severely when she tried to peek into the little vassal war. In retaliation, someone put their hand through her chest and around her heart. She''s not exactly in the best shape to go up against your father, so we will all gather to support her.


    That caused Cori to pause. No sane person would tell their direct subordinates they were seriously wounded. That was begging to be stabbed in the back. But why else would they change their ns so suddenly?


    And who could casually injure a Tier 35 like that?


    Then Cori understood.


    The Emperor had clearly sent a hidden powerhouse to watch over the war. If they were that strong and that trusted, the Queendom could use them as an official witness to the willing rebellion of her side.


    An official treaty would prevent retaliation of any kind.


    Cori nodded to Verona, who smiled and stuck out an arm. Come,e. We have a turbulent path ahead. Something strange is happening in chaotic space. The currents are muddled; it makes travel slower and more unpredictable.


    It took a moment, but she realized that her new peer was offering to carry her there like a baby. Not thrilled at the prospect, she still recognized that this was the only way to get to the neighboring Tier 6 without using the teleport path. Cori reviewed the situation, sighed, and sent her orders to the troops still on the. She didn''t miss Verona''s grin widening at that.


    Neither of them trusted official routes that her father set up. It was why the Queendom invaded using chaotic space vessels instead of using the establishednes. No one had missed the fact the Kingdom stopped using them too after the war was dered.


    But even she wasn''t sure if thene was tampered with. Theyd need to be thoroughly and carefully inspectedter.


    Gathering her power, Cori prepared for the trip. She thought of her father. She thought of the face hed make when he lost a huge chunk of his kingdom. That put a smile on her face that just refused to leave.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103


    Matt had once again just finished leading his troops to attack a portion of the Queendoms defensive fortifications. Scores of soldiers were surrounding the second of the two cities under siege. The other city was receiving constant reinforcements, and he got news that a new skill was being used on the quickly falling walls.


    As the reports filtered in, he started to curse. Amber had clearly gotten [Cracked Breach] after he refused it, and she was using it to devastating effect in the siege of the second city.


    They had managed to knock down two of the three standing walls in just hours. The city was quickly falling as they lost defensive position after defensive position. The highest-ranking officer had ordered his remaining troops to attempt to sally forth, but they were stopped on the rampart of dirt that the besiegers had set up.


    He watched two shots of [Cracked Breach] obliterate nearly half the Kingdom personnel in the recording.


    The siege was officially over when the Queendom troops rose up in a wave, and cut down the few scattered and disoriented defenders. It left the kingdom with a single unmolested city, and another under siege.


    That report was only minutes old, and the new information implied that the Queendom was moving to take the city with most of their wounded and less than ambtory troops. The remaining troops were being organized in formations that Matt expected to be moving to end this siege.


    He felt so helpless. It was abination of knowing his perfect skill was gone because he couldn''t immediately use it, and envy at seeing the skill in action. If he had that, and could use it, he could finish this siege in an hour. Two at max. It would be like having a perfect mana cannon ready at any time.


    If Matt had that, he would be unstoppable. And he doubted that there was another version of that particr crack on [Breach] around. Now he would need to wait until Tier 9, when he could afford the initial cost of 500 mana for the original skill.


    Still, he couldn''t say that he regretted upgrading [Cracked Phantom Armor], or giving Annie the points from his win in the dueling arena. He had good reasons for each of his decisions, and while they had cost him an amazing skill, he didn''t think he would choose differently in either scenario given the chance.


    It just hurt to see a skill that would let him eventually fully utilize his Talent go to someone who was surely being stuffed with mana crystals.


    Still, he had a much more important job to do; slow down the reinforcements as much as he could. The Prince only had two days left on his healing cooldown, and they needed to try and buy time to prevent the second tost of their cities from falling.


    After he was able to pass offmand, the army couldn''t me him for any losses. As much as he did his best, he was sure that the army AI would be handing out critiques left and right for his performance.


    Still, he shook off the morose thoughts and set his AI to create a n to slow the enemy down. That was on top of dealing with a woman who could take down city walls in quick order.


    There were two distinct possibilities. Either they tried to hide Amber because of the value of her new skill, or the armies unted her and the prowess she represented, while she sted through any defenses his side set up.


    Matt felt like pulling out his hair as he failed to develop a suitable counter to the [Cracked Breach] skill. His best option was to call on Annie to assassinate the woman, but it was a pretty obvious n that he was sure the Queendom would expect. Especially after taking out Sara.


    But he didn''t have an adequate way to remove Amber besides throwing a ton of people at her, and hoping one of them could take her down between sts of her skill. It wasn''t an ideal anti-personnel skill from the recordings, as it was rtively slow for its Tier and power, but that was only rtive to other spells. It would be challenging to dodge a well-nned shot if directed at you, but not impossible, given the normal distance the skill was cast at.


    Their only other advantage was that it took Amber nearly ten minutes to charge up each shot. Still, they would need to know exactly where she was and be aware of her forces movements.


    To that effect, Matt gave orders for the scouts to carefully shadow the city and the troops that were forming up as he predicted.


    The army didn''t immediately move out, to his surprise. So he started sending out his own orders in the time that the Queendoms inaction bought him. The two cities were separated by a mountain chain, which he could use to set up defenses and hopefully slow down the Queendom''s advance.


    He and his troops quickly abandoned their camp and moved to the most likely passes the Queendom would take, setting up skeleton fortifications. They didn''t want tomit until the Queendom troops had established their route.


    Matt was digging out the side of a mountainte into the night, when the report came in. The Queendom was finally moving. Even with their head start, the task was less than ideal. The Queendom was moving nearly three million troops, but they weren''t staying grouped up. They were splitting in half.


    To make matters worse, the two formations went in opposite directions around the mountain chain.


    The scouts had no idea which formation Amber was in.


    The whole situation brought herst words back to mind. Then best of luck to you. I know we don''t need it. Her little promation felt like a p in the face now.


    He calcted the odds of which formation she would be with, and had his AI do the same. He had no better way to determine the path she took than a fifty-fifty chance.


    His AI was better at processing information, and had seventy percent odds on the southern formation. The northern procession was too obviously centered around a single individual that was careful not to be seen. That in and of itself hadn''t given the AI sufficient information to make such a call, but it had noticed an anomaly in the southern procession. A much smaller selection of individuals revolved around one person.


    It was a detail that was easy to get lost in the movement of millions of people, but his AI was able to use his full mana generation of 80 MPS to analyze each person. His AI finally found the hidden anomaly, and he trusted it enough to order his forces south.


    They needed to at least slow Amber down.


    He was hoping that Annie could get out here quickly, and would be able to pull off another miraculous kill.


    She was still on her way from recovering in a hidden location, after killing Sara, and would take another two days by her estimation. Apparently, there was a city-wide hunt for her. The Queendom hadn''t taken kindly to their Princess being assassinated, and had ced a sizable bounty on her head.


    With the Queendom having to travel for ten hours to reach the mountain range, Matt and his men rapidly built fortifications. Sadly, this area had ack of small forts that would have anti-flying formations, but they were able to set a few mana cannons up. They hoped they would be able to quickly strike into the heart of the troops and kill Amber.


    If they did, they woulde out on top no matter the losses they suffered. Or at least, The Prince would heavily reward them for their sacrifice.


    The wait for the Queendom unit to appear was agonizing. But eventually, as the sun rose over the horizon, the mass of flyers breached the curve of the. They were right where their scouts report said they would be.


    Matt could feel the morale of his troops plummet like a stone, and he couldn''t me them. They were currently flying in range of the mana cannon emcements for support, but almost unconsciously, his troops retreated slightly.


    Wanting to put a stop to that as the Queendom formation swung wide, he said over the generalmand channel, This isn''t the time for retreat. We need to force our way into the enemy formation and break their spirits.


    That was clearly the wrong thing to say, as he felt the air shift. His side''s spirits were breaking, not the Queendoms.


    He was tired of all the responsibilitynding on his shoulders, and the ever-building murmuring of the troops who increasingly disliked their ability to decisively end the sieges.


    Without thinking, he added, Ok fuck that. We need to kill the woman with the siege spell, and it doesn''t really matter how many of us die to do it. It has to be done, or well die when its used on a city instead. We rush in there to watch for the st, then focus on that location. The reports say that it takes her ten minutes to charge back up, so that''s our window of opportunity. Find her, and kill her.


    While that didn''t improve the general mood, people tightened their grip on their weapons. Seeing that it was the best he was going to get, he called out the general charge.


    His remaining three-quarters of a million troops rushed forward like a wave into the prepared nk of the flying enemy.


    Spells and ammunition raced across the distance in a multi-colored rainbow of death. Matt kept the lead position until a pir of rock smacked into him, sending him spiraling until he steadied himself.


    To his mounting trepidation, Matt felt the mana in the area building, signaling Ambers charging of [Cracked Breach].


    He raced back to the lead position quickly, but a hole opened up in the Queendom formation as their sides were about to sh.


    Out from it came a figure with glowing hands, whounched a bus-sized arrow of mana.


    Matt reacted with everyone else and scattered.


    Most of the flyers were able to escape the projectile''s path, but the mountain and their embankment weren''t so lucky. So when the [Cracked Breach] shotnded, there was a sh of light, and a rumbling sound apanied by an impact of wind.


    Matt felt like Liz kicked him while in golem form as the wave of wind passed.


    He internally cheered when his AI reported that the shot missed the majority of his troops. When he ordered a follow-up charge, he found that a portion of his troops refused to listen and retreated.


    That still left a sizable wave of men and women all desperately rushing to where the [Cracked Breach] shot came from.


    Matt parried an axe while he spun on his flying sword, trying to rush forward. The Queendom soldiers were just throwing their bodies at the rushing Kingdom troops in an attempt to prevent them from reaching Amber.


    He was hemmed in by five people as he charged a [Mana Charge]. As soon as his weapon hummed with power, Matt brought his glowing longsword around, into the flying sword of a Queendom fighter.


    There was a faint scream as they started to fall, and he slipped through the gap created with his faster flying device.


    Once he was through the barrier, he found a few hundred Kingdom fighters trying to batter their way into a knot of Queendom troops. Tired of this farce, Matt rushed forward and cast [methrower] at anyone in a Queendom uniform. The spell was fairly short range, but even the thirty feet was more than enough to send people running.


    Matt was peppered by a rain of glowing arrows a momentter, but when he turned to look, it was one of his Pathers using [Arrow Storm]. It was a Tier 14 skill that, for 200 mana, created a mass of mana construct arrows that created a cone around the original arrow. He was simply hit from the expanding cone as the archer took out a number of other fighters.


    The archer created a tunnel in the Queendom defenders that he didn''t need to order people into. It was mostly other Pathers, but the Kingdom fighters streamed into the gap and closed the distance with Amber.


    Matt was intercepted by another four fighters who hacked and shed at him while trying to dodge his [methrower]. They disappeared as he washed the jet of fire over them, but they still slowed him down. He was now at the trailing end of the forces chasing Amber down.


    The ten minute countdown timer was nearing its end, and Amber started glowing again as the ambient mana started reacting with the mana being converted and pumped into her.


    She must have decided that she didn''t need a fully charged shot, because with three minutes left on the timer, anotherrge arrow of manashed out. It was significantly smaller than the first shot, but much faster.


    It cut through a number of her own people who stayed engaged with the Kingdom troops, taking them along for the trip to the hospital.


    Matt rushed with everyone else to fill in the gap, when another team curled around and attacked from above. A man with tiger ears sticking out of his helmet swooped down, and with a gust of wind that swirled around, elerated to blurring speeds as he tore into four of the defenders around Amber.


    A second member of the team started throwing [Fireball]s that froze their targets instead of burning them, creating a gaprge enough for the final man to rush forward.


    Matt paused in his rush at the sight before him.


    As the final man approached, the defensive spells and magical attacks all seemed to lose cohesion and fall apart before they could hit him. The arrow that mmed into his neck only slowed him down as he got within arms reach of Amber.


    The Pather cast a [Fireball] inches from her, and the resulting explosion caused them both to vanish.


    After confirming that they had actually taken out Amber, Matt called for a general retreat. He and the others who made it deep into the enemy formation had to fight their way out, but no one held anything back. A wave of spells created enough of a gap for them to slip up and over the flying Queendom soldiers.


    Everyone fall back and watch our rears. The Queendom might decide to engage while we pull back. We killed Amber. Now we need to make it out of here.


    That actually seemed to help slightly, as the middlemost troops slowed and formed slight defensive walls as they continued their retreat. Forming up allowed the rearmost Kingdom fighter to catch up and have some modicum of protection.


    Matt was afraid that they wouldn''t get away safely at all when the Queendom moved to pursue them for longer than he anticipated. He was concerned that they would be unwilling to let their ace being killed go unpunished, and wouldnt relent in chasing them down to finish the remaining troops off.


    Considering that he was down to nearly four hundred thousand troops, he sorely hoped not. They had killed Amber, removing her and the [Cracked Breach] skill from the war for two weeks. But they didn''t have the numbers to fight off the Queendoms army. They started out with a numbers disadvantage, and it was only growing as they were picked off.


    At some point, the Queendom must have decided that pursuing them deeper into the mountains was a losing proposition, and contented themselves with their advance to the besieged city.


    Matt called for the end of the retreat twice before the leading elements of the unit stopped their advance.


    Theynded in the mountains, and he started barking orders to set up a camp, but he didn''t have any ns other than to wait for the Prince to finish his cooldown timer. They would rest until he mobilized the entire Kingdom army with his <em>actual</em> authority.


    He and his people had done their part trying to hold everything together, and had even taken out a vital asset.


    They had earned the break.


    ***


    Albert watched the timer tick down and smiled as it hit zero.


    He sent out his orders to his elite units and the remaining troops. He added Matt and his forces as an afterthought. At less than half a million troops, they mattered little. They were farther away from the Queendom capital, but he could use the extra manpower in their rush on the Queendoms teleporter city.


    He also didn''t want the top Pathers caught in the fallout of his father''s ns. They had done more than he could have hoped for by stalling the Queendom, and he didn''t want to repay that trust with a death right before the end of the war.


    Albert had already pushed their trust with his seeming failure to stop Saras surprise attack. Since he couldnt go out to reassure them, and could onlymunicate with those who came to him directly, many were despairing about the oue of the war.


    When you had the win condition and could trigger it at any time, what did games matter? And having nearly seventy percent of the Queendom troops in or around the cities was exactly where he wanted them. He couldn''t have gotten Sara to more perfectly ce her troops if he had asked her to.


    She was so concerned with holding the cities, that by all reports, she had stripped her forts to avoid weakening any of their defenses. She was concentrating her forces exactly where he wanted them to be. While he only had a single city that wasn''t under siege left out of the six, he was fine. Even if they moved to siege that one down as well.


    The only city with a variable that he didnt control was the Queendom teleporter city. As long as that fell quickly, he had the victory of this war in his pocket.


    As much as he hated his father forcing his n on him, it had worked out well. The Queendoms'' greed to end the war quickly had driven them to swallow poisoned pills.


    He knew that he could have prevented quite a bit of his nobles bickering with some simple calls, or some casual face-to-face conversations. But that indecision let him keep most of his troops safe while the two armies were all on healing cooldowns. He would need them to swiftly take the final city. So, letting his troops sit around without risk was ideal for his ns.


    More than a few of the nobles and generals who werent in the loop had contacted him, asking for whatever guidance he could offer. He was able to cate most of them, despite the seemingly worsening situation, without giving away therger ns. He wasn''t sure how many were spies trying to ferret out information for Sara, who must have suspected that something was wrong, or who were truly loyal and worried.


    Still, a few carefully selected top generals and their personal retainers knew about the n. They were the ones who had done most of the hard work in preparing the cities. Olivia had been a massive help in that effort, which was a part of the reason why he rewarded her so heavily.


    But all of these games were going toe to an end in the next day or two. It was only a matter of choosing the <em>perfect</em> moment to end the war.


    With Amber dead, trying to take down the much better walls of the second city would be a much more difficult proposition. Even the most consertive estimates put the Queendom at half a week out.


    Things were going perfectly.


    ***


    Matt and his remaining troops were told to move to the Queendoms teleport city the very minute that Prince Albert was off his healing cooldown. They met up with arge force that was moving in that direction already. It was an odd order, but he was happy to no longer be the highest authority on the Kingdom side.


    The only positive was that they had sessfully stalled the original force, and whittled down their numbers for long enough. Their city was in much better shape for it.


    Through preventing the pounding that Amber could have delivered, the Kingdom still held the city.


    The Queendom would win, that much wasn''t in doubt. But they were going to have to bleed for it.


    Matt still had no idea why Albert wanted them to go to the Queendoms capital city. It seemed like a stupid move.


    He was unable to figure out their n, but with Liz, Aster, Emily, and Conor on the attacking force, he was fine with just following orders and meeting up with them.


    Thest week had been far too stressful for his taste.


    The new army quickly absorbed his remaining troops into the standing army of five million, bolstering their numbers by quite a bit.


    He pulled Aster and Liz into a sweaty hug when he saw them for the first time, once he found their tent in the sea of simr, spatially expanded tents.


    Liz pushed him back to examine his face and said, You look like shit! She got a much more perceiving glean in her eye when she asked, When was thest time you slept?


    Last night, after our failed attack. It''s been a disaster thest few weeks.


    Conor pped his shoulder and said, From everything we''ve seen, it looked like you did the best anyone could have asked of you.


    Aster wiggled to make her presence known.


    Yeah! You did good!


    Matt had his doubts that Aster had any idea what he had actually been doing, but the encouragement was nice nheless.


    Thanks, Aster. He kissed her head before squeezing her a bit. That was apparently a signal to y, as she yowled her distress, and Matt started to spin her around and rubbed her all over.


    The pleas that she had just gotten her fur the way it should be sounded more like encouragement to him.


    As he yed with her, he listened to Emily while she idly informed him about the general disposition of the neutral city.


    Odds are heavily in the Queendoms favor for winning the war with thetest developments. A lot of middle-level Pathers were even wondering if the Kingdom could hold onto their final city. Others wondered if there were more points to be had in changing sides. She kicked at a partially visible stone until it was free as she talked, knocking it away and out of the standing area in their tent.


    So far, the more restrictive point distribution and the cost to change sides are keeping people over, but I think this siege is the important bit. Rumor has it, Sara stripped most of the forts she had of troops to fuel this attack without weakening the city. She pointed through Conor to the city under siege.


    Matt shook his head. What''s the n then? Why not relieve the siege on the other city?


    It wasn''t Liz who answered, despite her open mouth.


    Junis voice answered from outside their tent, I can exin that if you''d let me in.


    Liz turned her head and red. Come in. I''m so d you are listening in on our conversations.


    Juni ducked under the p and shrugged. I coughed twice and messaged Matt three times. I had to make my presence known somehow.


    Matt checked to see if that was true as Juni continued. Generally,manderse to the headquarters tent to report in. They normally don''t have the leaders track them down.


    He cringed at that as Juni turned an icy and tired gaze at him.


    Yeah, sorry. It''s been a shitshow with thest attack. Matt tried to sound apologetic, but he wasn''t sure it worked. He really didn''t care.


    Juni looked nonplussed as he waved Matts statement away. That was fine. You were able to take out Amber, which was the true victory. No, we need you to help with the next attack. We have been digging a trench forward, and have a fortification of mana cannons set up with a clean shot on the front gate.


    Matt interrupted, And you want me to fuel the attacks?


    Juni just nodded, to which Matt asked, What good does that do? Theres no way we can take the city quickly, even if the gates fall.


    The Prince''s right-hand man shook his head. Taking the city through one entrance is stupid, yes, but it''s a start. Were in a rush, but we cant be stupid. We won''t throw our troops away. Once we have the gate down, well start battering down the walls. But theyre upgraded, so it will be harder. Speaking of which, wed like you to charge up the mages with whatever willpower you have leftover.


    Matt just looked at the man with tired eyes. He just wanted to rx. He may have been able to sleep, but it hadn''t been as good a rest as he needed.


    Juni seemed to understand that, and offered, Take a few hours. We can wait that long.


    Matt just nodded at the man and turned to his friends, which Juni took as the dismissal that it was.


    He needed to recharge from them in a way that had nothing to do with mana.


    The war just felt so distant and unimportant.


    Liz didn''t leave his side as they sat around and talked, except when she brought out a stew from a heater next to their little sink.


    It tasted amazing. Matt wasn''t sure if that was from his only eating cold rations, or if the person who cooked it was just that good.


    Listening to his friends washed away the lingering self-doubt and endless questions of the past week. Having Liz close was even better, though she barely said ten words, content to simply intertwine their fingers and soak in each others presence.


    Aster yammered on through their connection about all the fun she had ying with her beast friends, and chasing the bunnies during her downtime.


    <em>This is what matters</em>. <em>Not the war. Not the prizes. Friends and those close to me. I cant lose sight of that</em>.


    Matt vowed to keep what was truly important firmly affixed in his mind as he went forward. He knew he would have to fight, and taking the city would be anything but easy.


    ***


    Five hourster, Matt was back in action with a team of mages who rotated off, feeding the mana cannons with their personal mana and mana stones. Their underground bunker only had slits for the cannons to stick out, but it protected them from the return fire with minimal losses.


    If the dust from the destroyed mana stones didn''t vanish into nothing, they would have been hip-deep in the stuff. Sack after sack was brought up and emptied of their crystalized mana.


    Still, they had managed to destroy the front gate in short order. What was taking longer was sting through the rubble that the defenders had set up behind the inner gate.


    Two hourster, they were finally through, and their entire bunker was ordered to halt their attack and move to secondary locations.


    Matt was going along with them, when he was called to rejoin his team for an attack with siege towers. He thought it was suicide, but didn''t think Juni would throw their lives away on a foolish attack.


    He was right. Mostly.


    ns had shifted with new information that their long-ranged scouts had discovered. The exact nature of that information was kept quiet, but it necessitated a faster siege.


    Their team was part of a coordinated effort to attack from fifteen metal d siege towers at once. The majority of his tower consisted of the other top Pathers, as well as a battalion of Tier 7 men and women equipped with Tier 8 weapons or armor.


    He felt quite a bit better seeing that. These had to be Kingdom elite, who were in no way disposable.


    When they arrived, they were given a position inside the tower, to all of their surprises. Normally, people didn''t ride the tower for the approach, as any added weight simply slowed them down.


    Mattughed when he reached the top of the tower and found a mana cannon already set up on a swivel.


    It was exactly what he wanted to see.


    The Kingdom had to have splurged on spending, because each of the towers were set up with a portable shielding unit. While weaker than the city-wide version, they were enough to protect the towers on the approach.


    With an ease that belied what Matt knew to be true from the other side of this tactic, they mmed into the wall and dropped the towers ramp down . They were met with a rain of arrows, along with a wall of shields.


    It meant little when Matt was sitting on a mana cannon in the entrance.


    He didn''t even flinch as the first arrows and spells mmed into him, while the cannon lit up and blew away the front-most troops.


    Quickly, he charged another shot and swiveled right as he fired again. Scores of troops vanished in the expulsion of mana. When there was a clear area, the Tier 7 troops moved out in a shield wall and set up small barriers. Meanwhile, Matt and his team removed the mana cannon from its mount and carried it to the roof of the tower.


    There was a second mount there, where he was able to shoot over the heads of his allies.


    During the quieter moments when the Queendom was unable to take the offensive, he saw the Kingdoms mana cannons firing from each of the siege towers.


    The expense boggled his mind. Albert must have put every point he earned in the two week healing cooldown into this siege. Mana cannons weren''t cheap by any means, and the non-castle versions were only more so.


    Adding in the sheer number of mana crystals, they must have spent an absurd amount of points on funding this attack.


    Liz acted as his spotter, along with his AI, allowing him to target problem areas in his range. Eventually, they decided to move to the wall to get a shot inside the city, but Juni tly refused that request.


    Liz even asked to use [Blood Sprite] to set upon the enemy but was simrly refused.


    Matt didn''t understand that, since things seemed to be going well. At least, until he essed themand channel and looked at the overall casualties. Things were looking awful. The Kingdom had taken nearly half a million casualties in thest push.


    Their side of the city had either gotten lucky, or they were stacked with stronger people, because they were holding their section without much issue. The only thing they had to worry about was the Queendom troops shooting anyone who stuck their heads over the parapet, into the inner city.


    The other side of the city had had three towers repulsed and set aze, along with a higher concentration of anti-siege weaponry. They had bled to take a single section of the wall and hold it, while reinforcements streamed up their tower to rece the losses.


    Things were slowly stalling as the sun set, and the night that was still sweltering went on, ensuring that anyone without magical armor was ufortable. Liz and his team, with little else to do, cursed up a storm the entire time.


    They were waiting around for more orders when Matt felt the ground rumble. He looked past the besieged city, over the northern horizon. It was like a new dawn was born over the wrong horizon.


    He turned to look along with everyone else, and saw a massive fireball rise into the air.


    It didn''t take a genius to know that location was one of the Queendom cities. He still had no idea what was actually going on when he found himself standing in the sunlight with millions of others. Instead, he blinked to clear the bright sunspots out of his eyes. It was nighttime where he wasst, and the sudden trantion to mid-day was jarring.


    In those few blinks more and more people appeared around him.


    He was still confused, and looked to Liz and the rest of his team stood in the shadow of the neutral citys wall.


    What just happened? He asked the open air, but he was hardly the only one.


    Liz looked around and shrugged and messaged him through their AI, to be heard over the growing rumbling of a confused crowd. I don''t know, but I thought I saw Juni.


    Matt jumped with [Mages Retreat] empowering him, and as far as he could see, Queendom and Kingdom troops mingled.


    Liz ducked away into the crowd for a moment, before pulling Juni back by the arm, with Alyssa following close at his heels.


    What the fuck is going on!? Matt, Conor, and Emily asked variations of the same question as Juni scanned the air.


    When he found what he was looking for, he pointed at the sky with an armored hand. Look.


    Hovering in the air were three distinct sides. One of them only had two people. It was hard to see exactly who they were from a distance, but the figures were dressed in the Kingdoms dark red and gold.


    The army was in the other corner of the triangle, with a mass of people hovering behind who Matt suspected was Colonel Thorne because their uniforms seemed to blend into their surroundings.


    The final section was a mass of at least two hundred people in various forms of the Queendom colors of silver and light purple. The mass of people seemed hostile towards the two lone figures.


    His questions of what was going on were only partially answered when his AI bleeped at him,


    <strong>Kingdom Victory by surrender of Queen Diana; rejoice as your side has won</strong>!<strong></strong>


    Matt looked back up to the sky as a broadcast started streaming to his AI.


    <em>What is going on</em>?

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104


    Albert was in hismand center reviewing the information stream routing through Junis AI when he felt the world tremble. No one else seemed to notice, but he was sensitive to his father''sings and goings. That experience had honed his skill in detecting the fluctuations created by higher Tiered beings when ripping through the veil of reality when entering or exiting real space.


    His father came to mind first, but it only took a second to realize that it was someone else. The tearing didn''t stop quick enough to be a single person. In rapid session, half a dozen presences flickered into his awareness, presumably members of the Army.


    Things soon returned to normal, so he shrugged it off and turned back to the ongoing sieges. Juni had cut off thest Queendom city with the space-locking formations already. Ending this war was just a question of when the ideal time to detonate the bombs would be.


    ording to his scouts, the Queendom was stripping their forts to skeleton crews, as they funneled all avable personnel to either repair the conquered city, or to speed up the next siege.


    Once enough people gathered in or around the cities, the Kingdom would win the war in one fell swoop.


    His daydreams of future glory and prestige were shattered when a much more violent tear rippled out around him, this time causing <em>everyone</em> to flinch. Albert prepared an emergency query to send out through his AI, asking for any rted information, but he felt space ripple around him before he could send it out.


    This power was familiarhis fathers. He was yanked through space, only to find himself hovering above the neutral city. Facing him was Queen Diana, nked by four other stern looking women.


    One was Sara, who stood slightly behind her mother. A Chaotic Space ship behind them drew his attention before he could inspect the other women more closely, as it disgorged dozens of his father''s nobles. But then, his brain picked up on a familiar figure standing beside Queen Diana.


    Cori. His sister.


    <em>Has she been taken hostage? How did the war go so badly</em>?


    Thest reports from the Tier 20 world had indicated that while the real war was slowing down, the situation leaned in their favor. Then his brain took note of the colors that Cori wore, and thepleteck of shackles on her.


    His older sister wasnt simply standing near the Queens. She stood <em>with</em> them.


    A woman amongst equals.


    He scrambled to write her a message when Queen Diana broke the silence. Her voice resounded in the air around him and his father.


    This war is over, King Brice. I will ept your surrender now. She gestured behind herself at the Kingdom nobles behind her.


    Albert corrected himself mentally; they were new Queendom nobles, which Diana confirmed. I, First Queen Diana of the Alliance of Allied Queens, have epted oaths of fealty from these nobles on behalf of themselves and their subjects. They have renounced their allegiance to the Kingdom of Seven Suns. Apparently, they desired finer leadership. For their own betterment, and that of their people. These are just a portion of your nobles who felt they could do better under a new ruler.


    Albert peeked up at his father. The man smiled as if everything was going ording to his n.


    The King barked out augh. I don''t see how that changes the oue of this little Pather war. Why should I surrender?


    The Queen was clearly prepared for the question, and looked to her right at the empty space beside her. Suddenly, Colonel Thorne appeared, nked by half a dozen other officers.


    Queen Diana smirked at everyone. With the annexation of the territory these nobles represent, we control all spatial routes leading up to this series of worlds, and all adjacent territories. On behalf of the Alliance of Allied Queens, I hereby request this war be ended, on the premise that the Kingdom has no remaining im to the Tier 20. In ordance with Chapter 6 Section 2 of the Empires Articles of War: a war between vassal states must have and maintain a valid casus belli. The new borders ce Kingdom territory too far away from the original war im to justify their continued involvement. Therefore, I ask that both wars be concluded.


    The Colonel nodded. As I have confirmed the noble''s willing allegiance change, we can move forward. Thew does state as much. In the absence of higher interference, I, Colonel Thorne of the Imperial Army, as His Eternal Grace''s most senior representative present, confirm that the Kingdom of Seven Suns no longer has sufficient connection to the Tier 20 to stake a legal im. Therefore, the real war between the vassal states is dered over, and ownership of the contested Tier 20 is awarded to the Alliance of Allied Queens.


    The Queen''s smile widened, but Thorne held up a finger. However The Pather war is a separate matter. The casus belli for this was an Imperial Mandate directly from His Eternal Grace, which is independent of therger war for the Tier 20. Unless the Emperor himself revokes said mandate, the Pather war will not conclude until at least one of the victory or dissolution conditions set forth has been met.


    For a heartbeat, Queen Diana paused, before shrugging and ring at Albert''s father. As my daughter will soon conquer your Kingdoms second-tost city, why don''t you just surrender and save yourself the shame of a protracted defeat.


    ***


    King Brice smirked outwardly, but on the inside, he was fuming. His traitorous little bitch of a daughter had sided with the enemy. Worse yet, she had seduced a flock of his nobles over to her side as well.


    He didn''t care about the Kingdom one whit. He had one foot out the door anyway, in preparation of leaving it altogether. He was ready to reap his rewards from the Empire for expanding his territory, and, by proxy, the Empire''snd.


    That reward wouldpensate him for the five millennium of stalled advancement. The main factors regarding hispensation were the quality and quantity of thes he subjugated under the Kingdom during his expansion. In theory, his expansion efforts were sizable enough to warrant the resources required to pave his path all the way to Tier 39. Maybe even Tier 40 if he was lucky.


    With his firstborn''s treason, his expansion rating would probably be shed down by half, if not more.


    His reward would be equally reduced.


    Taken away from <em>him</em>.


    No one had taken <em>anything</em> from him, not since he had ascended to the throne. He was the one who took from others.


    <em>How dare they</em>.


    He stared at his daughter.


    <em>How dare she</em>.


    The anger zed like a coal, and he was already nning his revenge; how he would kill his daughter and any Queens he could get his hands on. After ceding the throne and Tiering up, he would lodge a long-term stay in a rift, using the excuse that he needed a few decades of seclusion to settle himself.


    It was amon enough practice that no one would question it. To avoid blowback from the Empire, he would need to change his identity. That would necessitate changing his face and destroying his AI before absorbing a new one. But after a few years, he could exit the rift with no one the wiser.


    Then, he''d stalk the chaotic space around the Queendom, kill his daughter at the first opportunity, and start picking off the remaining Queens at his convenience. His cultivation was only a breath away from Tier 36, which meant hed overwhelm any single ruler with it alone, not even taking into ount hisbat prowess.


    After all, people went missing in chaotic space all the time. If he destroyed his AI for a second time after he finished, there would be nothing to connect him to their disappearances.


    But for now, he needed that reward from Madam Renaissance. Anything crafted by her was worth far more than the slots to advance given by the Empire. That item would be the lever he would use to fight above his Tier, and advance through thest few Tiers faster.


    He just needed to reach Tier 45 andplete his Aspect. Then, he could ascend to newnds and advance further.


    Grow stronger.


    Before leaving, he wanted to twist the knife. Spread some distrust.


    With his best shit-eating grin for Diana, he faced his useless youngest son and ordered, Detonate the bombs.


    ***


    Sara noticed Alberts repeated shocks and felt terrible. The naked confusion when he saw his sister on their side made her feel even worse.


    She was contemting how their rtionship could advance past this when the King''s words froze her brain in its tracks.


    Detonate the bombs.


    <em>What bombs</em>?


    Albert swallowed hard and looked to Colonel Thorne. She followed his gaze to where the Colonel red daggers at the King. The soldiers around him flickered away. A slew of Army announcements arrived through her AI. None of which were good.


    The general order to stand still and halt fighting for immediate evacuation caused her stomach to roll.


    The King backhanded Albert and repeated himself. I said detonate them! That means now! Not when you feel like it.


    Without so much as a ripple of power, a shorter woman with finger length, midnight dark hair appeared across from where the Colonel stood creating a square.


    With a purring voice, she asked the King, Are you not willing to wait for the evacuation to finish before enacting your n? The kills will still be rewarded without the need for bloodshed.


    Albert''s father spat off to the side, It''s mostly Kingdom and Queendom personnel. The few thousand Pathers are an eptable loss. Deaths are expected with this war.


    The woman, who Sara couldnt feel at all, just cocked her head as if she was studying a particrly interesting specimen before dissecting it. Her pose held for a long moment before a re of light, like a new sun rising over the horizon, drew Saras attention away.


    When she looked back, the woman faded away without a ripple of power. But from her ce in the sky, Sara witnessed millions of people pop into existence at once around the neutral city. Her AI was too overwhelmed to identify them all, but her gut told her that this was <em>everyone</em> from both sides in the war.


    The Kingdom and Queendom sides were intermingled, but if the woman had moved close to forty-two million people at once. It was a massively impressive feat in and of itself. It was a show of power.


    Sara instantly knew that this was the woman who had so casually injured her mother, and left behind a wound so dire, that only the Queen could survive it As merely a warning.


    Queen Diana said that only a true powerhouse could have managed it so wlessly, and that it was a disy of power like none other.


    Considering that the woman hadn''t reprimanded the King, Sara feared that she may side with him, and possibly interfere with the Queendoms expansion. But the woman was just gone.


    The total death tolls rolled into Saras AI, and she nched. Nearly 75% of her troops were registered as dead. Even the city that the Kingdom had only held for days was obliterated.


    Her only city left standing was the teleporter city that linked them to Queendom space. The one that was locked down, and actively besieged.


    Saras mother cursed at the King. You would set explosives thatrge? And you added depleted copper to make them dirty bombs? Are you insane?


    Hearing dirty bombs drew her up. Sara had to look up what depleted copper was. Her AI reported it as a byproduct of mana enriched copper, which was unusuallymon on this. The list of side effects were long enough that she had to scroll for quite a while. But the short of it was, anyone who was unlucky enough to breathe the stuff in would be facing chronic mana problems, depending on the severity of the exposure. It could also linger in the air and soil for decades.


    Huge swaths of the were now uninhabitable.


    The smug bastard smiled and said, Ill ept your surrender now. He obviously took great pleasure in throwing her mother''s words back at her.


    Diana just shrugged. So be it. We lose the Pather war. With most of our troops dead and our final city locked down, Prince Albert only needs to blockade the entrances to the central city. Hell easily be able to hold the for the required month. I''m not too prideful to admit defeat. The Alliance of Allied Queens officially surrenders in the <em>Pather War</em>.


    Saras mother nodded to Albert. Well yed, young man. I


    The Kingsughter boomed You think this sniveling idiot had anything to do with this!? No, I wouldn''t trust him to empty a boot filled with water even if I told him the instructions were on the heel. I ordered this at the start because I didn''t trust the little idiot to win himself! If it wasn''t for the blood test, Id have thought his mother was sleeping around. He''s worthless.


    For the first time, The King looked for Cori. He actually smiled kindly at her. No, I only have one heir. My only true daughter. The only one willing to do anything for power. As is proper. Heughed, and this time it was deep and sounded genuine. No, Cori is the only one of my spawn that measured up. Most of my children ended up as only whining pups, but she''s a wolf like me. Vicious, and willing to do anything to seize what she desires. I knew of her plot long ago, when the other contenders froze her out of the throne. It was only a question of when she would make her move.


    Sara turned enough to see Cori look nauseous, but the King kept talking. And you, my once nobles. Did you think I wasnt aware of your little plot? No, I knew, and it''s why I was willing to poison this. What do I care for a wrecked world I won''t have to deal with?


    Diana cut in, You should care, because you vited half a dozen treaties forbidding deliberately harming habitable worlds. Theyll have you ving away in an asteroid belt for this.


    This time, the King pointed at the now returned Colonel Thorne. That''s a stretch! No, ask him. When a war is dered, thes <em>current</em> habitability rating is locked in until the wars conclusion, to keep the rules of war from swinging with the poption of soldiers. This shithole was still well under the poption threshold needed to be considered an inhabited at that time, and so it remains uninhabited. I can do anything I want to an uninhabited. They are explicitly outside of the rules.


    He looked back as he turned away and called over his shoulder, Oh, and do watch out for my little daughter. She won''t be content withst ce. Eventually shell start picking you all off. One by one. I would know, since that''s how I ascended to <em>my</em> throne, after all.


    With a finalugh, he vanished.


    Albert hovered over to Thornes side. He hadnt taken the King''s disparaging of his abilities well. His dejection was mirrored in Cori, who looked physically ill.


    Sara thought over the early parts of the war and started to piece things together.


    Albert had spent a reckless amount of points on mana, which she now knew went towards charging those massive mana bombs. They must have been ruinously expensive, which exined the discrepancy in spending that her side had noticed.


    It also answered where Olivia hade from. A strategic mind like hers should have been making waves much sooner. After the first week of the war, her and her noble liege had barely been seen before they vanished off her spies radar. Her intelligence officers had written them off as azy noble and his retinue treating the war like a vacation. If they were in charge of digging the hiding spots for the bombs, that would exin what theyd actually been up to.


    There was just one thing she still didnt understand. None of that exined how her earth mages hadn''t discovered any of the bombs. When they took each city,rge portions had to bepletely rebuilt by them. The mages should have felt the lingering signs of other earth mages work.


    It made so little sense, she had to ask Albert.


    I don''t understand how you nted the bombs. I just don''t get it. Her message was private enough, as she asked through their AIs instead of in the open.


    He replied through the same method, without meeting her eyes. Mundane digging teams. No magical residue to give them away. We also put the bombs under the teleport pads. No one but the army is dumb enough to mess with them. And they knew of the ns beforehand, and didn''t interfere.


    Albert looked at his hands. Even from where she stood a hundred feet away, she saw his hands tremble as he clenched them into a fist. But it didn''t stop the shaking, only increased it.


    Sara might have lost the Pather war, but she wouldn''t switch ces with Albert for anything, not if it took her mother treating her like that.


    That was far too cruel.


    He just said those things to hurt you. He was just trying to be cruel.


    Albert shook his head. I don''t know. Was he? I just leaned into his n. I made excuses to myself that you wouldnt be willing to siege any of my cities if you found out so I let you take the first city. Maybe if I had yed my hand better, I could have won on my own. My side may have won, but I don''t feel like a winner. I''m just tired.


    He looked to the side at the Colonel, and a secondter, he vanished.


    Sara turned to her mother, where she stood with Cori. The newest Queen hadposed herself again and looked no more shaken than she had when they first arrived. The only difference was she had a frigid edge to her now.


    Sara only knew the woman in passing. They had spoken only once, at a private dinner several years back. So she might be wrong, but Sara suspected that the Kings parting words had marred Cori as much as Albert.


    Most of what she knew about the new Queen was second-hand through her mother, but everyone knew Cori hated her father with a burning passion. She could understand why, after only interacting with the man once. He publicly demeaned Albert, and even went as far as to hit him.


    And in public, no less. The abuse was no doubt far worse in private.


    That level of disrespect was hard to believe. Her mother never publicly reprimanded her, let alone physically assaulted her. Considering the level of thirty Tier strength discrepancy, keeping a blow nonlethal required a minuscule margin of error. The slightest slipup would leave his son in pieces.


    King was almost asking for an ident to happen. Or simply didnt care.


    With nothing else to do, Sara began organizing her people. The needed to be secured. The Queendom might have lost the Pather war, but they had won the real war, so this was theirs by proxy.


    A mountain of work needed to bepleted, starting with quarantining the contaminated areas around the cities that had been hit with depleted copper.


    Hopefully, her mother would step in to assist in the clean-up. Otherwise,rge swaths of the would remain dangerous for decades. The army reported the wind patterns to her and expected fallout zones. The predictions were troubling. The city locations had been selected to maximize rift ess, but now they were untraversable wastnds. The rifts themselves would be unaffected, but they were nearly impossible to safely reach for now.


    With more and more messages piling up, Sara asked her mother to send her back to her headquarters.


    Overall, today was a cause for celebration. Despite losing the Pather war, the Queendom had a new Queen, and a new Tier 20.


    The future looked bright.


    ***


    Alyssa stared nkly into the sky as the recording yed through her AI.


    The betrayal and treason were hardly news to her. She had caught wind of that early in the Pather war. Or more urately, she had been approached by the Queendom early in the war with an offer. If she fed them critical information, there would be a permanent spot in the Queendom for her.


    Initially, Alyssa had refused the offer off hand. Spies took on massive risk while beingrgely expendable. She refused to needlessly put herself in such a precarious position. Plus, massive effort had gone into establishing good connections in the Kingdom. Among this generation, her informationwork ranked second to only The Princes, despite being born to the lower nobility. Losing all that work for a spot in the Queendom? No, that pitiful reward didnt remotely justify the price


    On top of that, there was all the effort that went into creating contacts among the independent crafters and various Pathers too. If word got out she had been a spy, they would assume she was only using them to sabotage the Kingdom and the trust she built up would sour. No, she had worked too hard to build her position in the Kingdom to lose it all for so little gain.


    Then, the letter from her parents arrived. Once again, they were trying to sell her off. The pretext of her being able to approve her suitors was fading away with each attempt. Eventually, she might just disappear in the night and her parents would publicly announce shed epted a marriage offer outside the Kingdom.


    After careful deliberation, she realized she was running out of time to escape her parents machinations and decided to throw her lot in with the Queendom. It would take more work to rebuild her social standing, but she was confident that she could make it happen. With her ess to Kingdom informationworks and her own rumor mill, she could earn enough political clout to gain a better starting position when she officially flipped sides.


    That same night, she had gotten stered in an attempt to make her decision easier to swallow. With one message to Amber, her future was set in motion. Immediately afterwards, she panicked and resorted to drinking herself into a stupor to dull the feelings. She had given up everything she knew for an even greater unknown, with only blind hope tofort her.


    Ending up in Lizs room was more of an ident than on purpose. Alyssa had just needed to move, and her desire to avoid all of the people she decided to betray led her to Lizs room.


    That night, she feared that she had slipped up, but Liz hadnt seemed to mention that she had called the Kingdom <em>losers</em> to anyone. She kept a wary eye out for the following few days, but either Liz hadnt picked up on the slip or she just hadn''t cared enough to report it.


    Which was why she didn''t balk at the news that she would be killed in the assassination wave, after giving Sara the hidden location of Albert''s meditation room and making sure the woman had an entrance to the secure building.


    All of her work was now gone. On both sides. She had burned her bridges with the Kingdom by betraying them, all to escape into the Queendom away from her parents authority. But even that work went up in smoke. Her parents were <em>here</em>, still with her under their thumb. There was just no winning, or no escape at the very least.


    She stared up at her parents with horror and disgust, as the implications started to settle in.


    They had long been nning to jump ship without informing her. It made everything feel so futile. If she had remained loyal to the Kingdom, she would still have been forced to join them in the Queendom anyway. No one would trust the daughter of two traitors.


    Even with her AI to prove that she hadn''t known about the treason, they would always suspect her of being a nt. She would never be trusted, and would be under constant surveince.


    From the very start, Her parents opportunistic cowardice had screwed her over once again.


    Her only hope was that that the goodwill she had earned with Princess Sara might be enough to prevent any marriages without her consent.


    Alyssa was a peacock. She wasnt necessarily choosy about her future mate. They just had to meet her criteria. She wasn''t picky, like her parents imed. At least, not really. Was it so much to ask for someone who was beautiful and powerful in their own right? Someone <em>she</em> chose.


    She didn''t even mind if they had other spouses. Thepany might even be nice. She could share, as long as she was number one.


    What she wanted to avoid was being stuck in some loveless marriage of convenience, like her parents had. She intended to stick it out with her spouse forevernone of those timed contract marriages.


    <em>Is that too much to ask for</em>?


    Alyssa didn''t think so, but her parents waved away all of her concerns as the pointless whining of a child. She figured it was because neither of them had a strong bloodline, and didn''t feel her instincts. They didn''t feel the pull to act as the primal, unthinking portion of your brain guiding them.


    Her mother''s eyes met hers, and after nudging her father, the two of them started to fly down to where she stood. Her stomach dropped as they, and the inevitable fate they would press onto her, once again loomed over her.


    Juni had already run off after Alberts scolding from the King was broadcast to everyone, and she was thoroughly alone in the mass of people. She didnt feel like she belonged to either side.


    Her mothernded gracefully, with all the bearing that someone flying with their Concept would have. Or it would have been, if it wasn''t so obvious that she was trying to hide the flying device around her waist. Her father mirrored her mother''s movements, and they settled down with faux smiles and irs of their power to clear a space for themselves.


    Oh good, we were worried that you would struggle with making a connection when we changed sides. It was gratifying to hear that you had already jumped ship. It also smooths a lot of our hurdles in introducing you to a new generation of suitors. While this switch will be a benefit to us in the long run, well have to start making alliances. We


    Her father only nodded along as he added the asional, Good, good. His attention was more on a Tier 15 noble who flew under her own power. Alyssa had no idea if he was talking about her taking the Queendoms side, or the woman''s body.


    Her mother must have noticed, but she said nothing. As usual.


    Alyssa''s mind raced in circles that turned into ruts. She tried to find a way to use this to her favor, when Liz slipped away from her team, deliberately showing her back to Alyssas parents.


    Her bearing was tight, as was her posture, suggesting that Liz was bringing news that someone didn''t want to hear. She had seen that expression enough in their various meetings and verbal duels. It usually meant some good fun, but now, Alyssa didn''t know if she could handle someone else kicking her while she was down.


    Alyssas mother moved forward to continue their conversation, when Liz started speaking and halted her with her voice.


    This wasn''t how I expected the war to go. Or, for you to have been a part of arger plot to change sides. The redhead looked at her parents with a withering nce that took all of them aback. Or for your parents to be such pieces of shit.


    Alyssa stood up straighter at that direct provocation. Pather or not, that was an insult few nobles could let pass without a response.


    Her mother opened her mouth, but her father barked out, Now, you listen here


    Liz ignored them, but Alyssa didn''t miss Matt shifting his weight and taking a subtle ready stance. The rest of their team fanned out slightly, but it would do them little good. Even as worthless as her parents were, they were still Tier 14.


    No Tier 6 could fight through that much of a power gap.


    It was touching in a way. Alyssa knew that they weren''t doing it for her, but seeing others disagree with her parents'' attitude felt good.


    I recognized my owed favor to you after our little talk, but we never had the opportunity to make that even. Thankfully, I prepared for such an opportunity.


    Liz coughed slightly, and a woman appeared out of nowhere.


    Power radiated off her nearly see-through skin, and Alyssas bloodline resonated with the woman''s power.


    She spoke with a whispery voice that was somehow lulling and grating to Alyssa''s ears and spirit at the same time.


    I am recruiter Felicia, Tier 22 of Red Feather Academy, the Beast Kingdoms preparatory school for exceptional youths. I am here to offer you a full schrship. Our program will take you to the peak of Tier 14, and there are sses to help you find your own Concept. We boast a nearly 75% sess rate for our charges discovering their own Concepts while enrolled. After our more unlucky charges leave our halls, they still have a 90% sess rate, through the skills we teach and connections they make while walking our illustrious halls.


    At the slight pause, Alyssa shook her head. She didn''t want to be under someone''s thumb with thatrge of a favor. The statistics were also probably carefully selected, and curated to show such high percentages. Even 70% of people getting their Concepts was unheard of.


    Still, she wanted in.


    She expected that Liz might have gotten her this little opportunity, but the cost might be untenable. Nothing was truly free.


    I can''t afford the price thates with someone offering that.


    Felicia nodded slightly and grinned, revealing thin ck needle-like teeth. A perfectly astute first observation. A youngdy should always be wary of the potential unspoken price of any gifts. But no, this favor isn''t one thates with a price tag. Possibly the only such one you''ll ever encounter in your life. Your sponsorshipes directly from Queen Mara herself. Considering she funds most of the school herself, she is allocated a number of spots per year to give away however she desires. There is a standard contract you can have reviewed, but there is explicitly no repayment use.


    Alyssa doubted that it was as simple as that, but changed her view of Liz. This wasn''t a favor equal to her helping Liz set up the Pathers Union. If she took this favor, shed be firmly in the woman''s debt.


    Why? And how? She needed to know before seriously considering the offer, despite how tempting it would be to jump in feet first.


    Liz shrugged. The why is rather hard to exin, and less important at the moment. <em>How, </em>on the other hand<em>,</em> is quite easy. I''m a young Phoenix with an exceptionally pure bloodline. When my Talent came to light, I was concerned that it might present dangerousplications. So my family requested an evaluation from Queen Mara. She has a well known soft spot for Phoenix children and granted our request. I met her at that time..


    Liz shrugged as if that wasn''t a monumental urrence, but Alyssa figured that it made sense, given they were both Phoenixes. She could imagine the womans bloodline allowing the her to meet someone so powerful and above her station.


    Her Majesty told me to message her if I ever needed anything. Considering she offered me a position in this very school, I figured I might be able to get you a spot in my stead. I never wanted it, but I suspected you might be interested, so


    The Tier 22 nodded. Once we were made aware of you, your bloodline, and your other She drew out the word with a hiss, as if she was searching for the right thing to say next. Alyssa felt that it was purely for dramatic effect.  achievements. Once you came to our attention through more standard means, the academy would have extended a schrship offer anyway. Perhaps not a full ride, but the amount would have been substantial by its own merityour merit.


    Alyssa swallowed. If they knew of her ying both sides, they might have been watching her for quite a while. That was unsettling.


    Liz finished off with a half-smile, half-shrug. Now back to the why. I thought that it would fuck over all of your scheming and nning, while also clearing our favor. It''s everything you wanted, while rendering theworks and connections youve made over the years useless. I know how much you care about those things. The smirk grew slightly evil as she added, And I don''t think youre ready for the level of pettiness andyers of intrigue youll find there. It made me happy to imagine you getting eaten alive by people who are a million times better at these little games than you.


    Alyssa had no idea what to think about that. She knew or she <em>thought</em> she knew Liz pretty well. But even she had to admit, that was quite the devious gift. It was everything Alyssa ever wanted, while, just as predicted, also ruinous to everyst one of her ns.


    A favor equal parts gracious and cunning.


    It was also a challenge. Alyssa didn''t fear the others at the school. She wasn''t arrogant enough to think that she''d be better than them, but she knew that shed be able to hold her own. And if the recruiter was to be believed, her backer was the Queen of Beasts herself, Mara. No one would push things too far, even if she fucked up and got herself on the wrong side of a bad bargain.


    Alyssa could see herself thriving in that environment, and she tingled at the thought of battling equals.


    It was thrilling.


    Even at its worst, decades of work beat a lifetime as a broodmare.


    Looks of shock and horror slowly crept across her parents faces at the realization that their greatest prize might escape their clutches. Seeing that only sweetened the deal.


    She just nodded. Ill take it. I


    Felicia cut her off. Good! Now that you have decided, we must be off immediately. Your current education is years and six Tiers behind your peers. We will need to work on forming good habits, and erase all these bad ones. As Elizabeth said, your peers will eat you alive if you enter as you are now.


    A sleek ship hovered in the air above the crowd. They rose up to an opening door as the Tier 22 said, I only have a month and a half while we travel to personally get you up to snuff. That isn''t nearly enough time. First, we need to


    Alyssa carefully listened as she nced back down. Liz had a smile that said Alyssa would hate what was toe.


    Liz was wrong; good or bad, this was exactly where she wanted to be. She tried to convey that in her return smirk.


    The Pather justughed and waved as they entered the ship.


    And if you want to send messages with just a look, you need to be far more subtle. You don''t need to shout with your face. Its uncivilized and you give far too much away. Instead, you should have


    ***


    Matt watched Alyssa leave with poorly hidden amusement. The fact that Liz had called her mother to get Alyssa the schrship, while presenting the exact same tale about only knowing the Queen, was quite funny when he knew the truth.


    Having been on the other side of that lie, he could appreciate the delicate web of truths that Liz had spun to give the impression she had.


    He looked at the grinning Liz and asked, Seems like she won that round, no?


    Liz shook her head. No, not at all. She thinks she''s going to do fine, but those other kids are going to eat her alive. Everyone who enters the Academy thinks theyre hot shit. To make matters worse, the cliques have already formed for her year group. Shes going to have an awful few decades.


    Alyssa''s parents turned as one to Liz, and the woman roared, How dare you!? You little viper! I''ll have your head for this!


    She started to lunge, but her husband blocked her and frantically started talking her down.


    He at least caught that Liz had a good rtionship with a Tier 48. Attacking her was suicide, and he kept repeating that to his wife. The army was still here and watching, after all.


    With that dealt with, Matt and his team started to move into the neutral city with the rest of the crowd.


    It felt odd. Even with the Queendom technically losing the war, they celebrated on their new. Meanwhile, the Kingdom troops were in poor spirits.


    Matt saw Conor and the twins huddled up and whispered together as they walked through the crowd.


    Finally, when they had just exited the tunnel through the outer wall, Annie swung an arm over his and Liz''s shoulders and asked, So.. what are your ns?


    Matt shrugged. Right now, they were just waiting for their management team to be created and to start directing them. They didn''t really have control of their travel ns for the foreseeable future. His spection of what Annie wanted was confirmed when she asked, Were going to form a permanent team. After Tier 3, our Sponsor gave us permission to add anyone we wanted. We want to officially or unofficially team up with you three.


    Emily and Conor both nodded along.


    Matt was touched. They may have met through random chance, but they had be good friends. He just didn''t know how to turn them down.


    Liz took care of it first, but through their group chat. We really appreciate that offer. We really do. But we have a management team waiting for us in the wings somewhere.


    Emily cocked an eyebrow while saying, I don''t know what that is?


    Matt filled them in. After Tier 10, if you show enough potential to excel on The Path, a support team is put together for you. They help you press your advantages and shore up weaknesses. Seekers, or people with seeker-like abilities, can get it early if they can fight above their weight ss. Think about my Mana Concept in terms of charging rifts. It lets us advance without the normal time restrictions, so we were offered the team early to prevent us from falling into a rut. It came with strings attached though. I''d love to have you guys join, but our path is now a lot more restrictive now.


    They didn''t press, which Matt was grateful for.


    Annie punched his arm as sheughed out loud. Well, well expect great things in the future then. It''s not like we won''t see each other again. The three of us are close to finishing our Concepts, and once we have them, were going to race ahead.


    They idly chatted before they separated with hugs all around. The trio were taking one of the soon to be leaving Empire ships out to the other side of the Empire. They had agreed on hitting a Tier 12 for the abundance of Tier 7 rifts. They wanted to get used to being Tier 7 before they moved to the much more profitable Tier 8 rifts that would drop skill shards regrly.


    Matt had little worry about them running into issues. They were strong individually. Together, they would make a fantastic delve team.


    They wanted to stay and chat, but their ship was going to be the first one to leave. Their scheduled departure time was quickly approaching, as the ship was going to the farthest reaches of the Empire.


    Hugs and ps were once again shared as the new trio turned and raced away. Matt was watching them go when half a million points were transferred from Annie, with a note of thanks for the loan.


    Matt smiled as he brought up his own points total.


    <strong>Prior Total st updated 24 days ago): 365,751 points.</strong>


    <strong>TEAM MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant).</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 541 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 20,274 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 748 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy leader assassinated, Tier 7. Worth 50,000 points. Performed 1 time.</strong></li><li><strong>Items and equipment looted but returned. Assigned worth: 50,447 points.</strong></li><li><strong>Assisted in the elimination of a critical enemy strategic asset, siege mage. Worth 5,000 points. Performed 1 time.</strong></li><li><strong>Eliminated enemy general(s) in the middle of a major engagement (each side >500K units). Reward: 1.4x multiplier to all team merits.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>PERSONAL MERITS:</strong>


    <em><strong>(Calcted for Tier 6 Combatant)</strong></em><ul><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 541 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 20,262 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 732 times.</strong></li><li><strong>Victory achieved! Top 100 contributor. 500,000 points.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>ARMY MERITS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Sessful seizemand of vassal kingdom forces. Leadership rating: poor. 1500 points.</strong></li><li><strong>Lead a long term harassment campaign against a superior invading army. Reward: 1.3x multiplier to all merits (applied after other multipliers).</strong></li><li><strong>Took charge and led remaining troops while infighting dyed proceedings. Reward: 1.5x multiplier to all merits (applied after other multipliers).</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>UNACHIEVED MERITS:</strong><strong> For reference purposes only.</strong><ul><li><strong>Conquer the final enemy city. Reward: 2.0x multiplier to all merits.</strong></li></ul>


    <strong>SUMMARY OF GAINS:</strong><ul><li><strong>Team Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 226,058</strong></li><li><strong>Team Multiplier: 1.4x</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 316,481</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Personal Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Raw Total: 620,151</strong></li><li><strong>Personal Multiplier: N/A</strong></li><li><strong>Category Total: 620,151</strong></li></ul></li><li><strong>Combined Merits:</strong><ul><li><strong>Sub-Total: 936,632</strong></li><li><strong>Total Multiplier: 1.8x</strong></li><li><strong>Grand Total: 1,685,938</strong></li></ul></li></ul>


    <strong>New Gains: 1,685,938 points.</strong>


    <strong>New Total: 2,185,938 points.</strong>


    <strong>Points transferred from teammate: 500,000.</strong>


    <strong>New Total: 2,551,689 points.</strong>


    <strong>Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 1st ce.</strong>


    <strong>Estimated Daily Stipend: N/A.</strong>


    He had well over two million points now. If [Cracked Breach] was still on the market, he would have bought that without a second thought. But now, he really didn''t know what he wanted. He knew it should be things that he currently couldn''t afford on the Empire Market, which meant Tier 14 skills, or other obscure skills that were made cheaper for the war.


    But as he had told Annie, Conor, and Emily, they had a management team that should be here shortly, and it was prudent to wait for their input. There might be some super underrated skill that he was overlooking.


    Matt and Liz stopped by Kelleys to say goodbye. The man was ecstatic about the end of the war, and what it meant for the expansion of his craft.


    Myself and a number of other crafters are staying. Really, it''s most of us. We will work for the Queendom for a while, with the condition that we get first dibs on the rift that makes these. He rubbed his ring. It''s a fantastic deal.


    The older man brightened. Speaking of which, were starting our own little informal guild-like structure. It''s mostly to just trade unique mana types. Youll join, wont you?


    Matt was already looking over the sent-over information, and nodded as he epted. The rules were fairly straightforward and fair. Mana types were rated and shared, but had to be posted on the open forum for everyone to browse. Selling was done in between the parties involved, and any restrictions could be applied.


    This is perfect. I''m happy to add to it. I need lots of weird types to experiment with.


    Kelley grinned. Oh, I know. With the war over, the Queendom is happy to host a number of Pather crafters, and is already moving resources over. We''ll be making things with nearly no profit margin, but that''s fine for now.


    Matt knew the resource in question was more personal mana stones that could be imprinted to hold a mana type. Kelley and all the other crafters would need massive numbers of them, even in a ce as small as the Queendom.


    Let me know if any more good growth items pop out of the rift.


    Kelleyughed. That''s what were hoping for. It''s not even close to likely, but were hoping nheless.


    They chatted for a few more minutes, before Kelley got called into a meeting and had to go.


    The three of them were moving down the street, when suddenly, they were floating in the air amongst the clouds.


    Aster yowled at theck of ground. She tried to jump into his arms, but was only able to spin herself, which only increased the yowling.


    Good day, children. A woman appeared with short, ck hair so dark that it looked purple. She had gleaming, slitted eyes, and smiled at them with two others nking her.


    She gestured and said, Im Luna, your new team manager.


    Seeing no reaction, she pointed at a man who held up a sign that had, Hello! It is good to meet you! written on it.


    This is Kurt. Hes mute, so you''ll need to read what he says. If you want to use AI, that''s fine, but only as long as Im not around.


    She took a deep breath beforeunching into a tirade. I don''t like AI. They make peoplezy and overdependent on them. We can think for ourselves. They make you predictable.


    From slightly behind her, Kurt held up a series of boards that he flipped through, each with Lunas rant on it, word for word. Even her dismissive wave of the signage had its own card. Apparently, it was amon rant.


    He''s my assistant, and hes damn good at his job.


    The short woman pointed at the remaining blonde woman. This is April. She is our liaison. In a normal management team, she would be the one who interfaces with you, while we" Luna gestured between herself and Kurt, work with a number of different teams.


    She shook her head. I don''t work that way. I only work with one team at a time, and most of your primary training wille directly from the two of us. April will be helping with our scheduling, PR, and making you new public personas. None of those are easy. She will also be taking care of your day to day needs. That doesn''t mean shell be wiping your asses for you, so don''t push her willingness to help.


    Kurt pulled up a sign asking, Can you please share your Talent information with us?


    Matt was surprised that they didn''t have ess already, but the mute man shook his head while Luna exined, Even we cant ess it without your permission. I can feel your spirits and get a good idea, but it''s not perfect by any means.


    He, Liz, and Aster silentlymunicated for a few seconds. They came to the agreement that if they were doing this, they had to do it right, and their trainers would be better with hard numbers instead of guesswork.


    Together, they shared their information, which caused quiet murmuring and note scribbling from Kurt and Luna.


    Finally, the two came up for air and Kurt wrote out, Matt, it''s good that your mana is a true double. We feared from our observations that it would drop off. It gives you amazing versatility after a few Tiers worth of growth, and youll eventually make one monster of a mage.


    Luna interjected as he flipped pages and started to write, But that''s a problem as well. Youll need to put in even more time to grow your skills and learn how to use them, but this isn''t a bad problem to have. It just means that you need to put in more work.


    Kurt flipped up his board. Mana Concentration will hurt you going forward, but if you can recreate that rift again, we can handle this. It will be expensive and time consuming, but we don''t want to let you fall too far behind on that.


    A page flip showed the next text. Mana control is something else youll need to work on. It''s going to get harder and harder as your mana pool starts to expand massively, and in sudden jumps. Were also looking into ways for you to deal with your mana doubling issue. It will get hard, but we might just rent out a city''s storage, and have you refill it as payment eventually.


    Luna then pointed to Liz. Your Talent is more straightforward, but it has potential that Mattscks. You should be trying to understand and truly be one with blood. I get the feeling that it will help when you hit Tier 15, and get a beast form. Also, you should be trying more unorthodox skills like [Fire Sprite]. That was a good roll of the dice.


    Kurt held up a sign for Aster. You are fairly standard, but your Concept is a variation on the normal ice bloodline, which is useful. You can do anything you wish to with ice or water magic. That gives you less room to grow, but you can be a master of your element.


    Luna held up a finger. Speaking of growing.


    Around the woman, dozens of paper notepads appeared and then hovered before the three of them in piles. Matt''s was taller than himself, and from what he could see, the other piles were just asrge. To make matters worse, the notes were written in a small, but neat hand that filled every avable spot on the visible pages.


    These are the notes that I''ve umted over the past year of watching you three.


    She pointed a finger at Matt, with her tone turning a bit more severe and chastising. You have too many options and versatility inbat. While your mana pool limits you now, it won''t forever. We need to do a lot of work with both your melee and magicalbat if you don''t want to be shoved into a dark hole and forced to power a. Or twenty.


    Luna seemed to ripple as she appeared in front of Aster, who was between Matt and Liz.


    And you, miss wiggles her butt a lot. It''s to set your grip, not to show off. You need to pick a role in the group and start working toward it. You can''t remain in a backpack forever.


    Aster cut the older woman off with a yip and a growl. I like my backpack! It''sfy.


    Luna grinned evilly. I don''t care. If you want to be useful, you''ll have to <em>be useful</em>. You have a massive advantage with your intelligence, and we need to press it for everything it gives us.


    She turned to Liz. And you. You''re a short to medium range mage, with your boy toy and the glove. Good idea to make that, by the way. That was a creative use of your time. She nodded back to Matt and Aster. You dont have the problems that every other elemental mage has. You carry your resources with you everywhere, and can just kill something to get the ball rolling.


    Liz opened her mouth, but Luna held up a finger that demanded no interruptions.


    You need to decide if you want to remain a mage, or turn into a more melee-oriented style. Or, you might tread the path of both, so you can be more versatile and cover more situations.


    Liz raised her own finger in question, to which Luna nodded her assent.


    I was just wondering who G was. The first message you sent was signed G, and none of your names start with a g. She shrugged as she added, Seems weird.


    Luna barked augh, and Matt didn''t miss Kurt crack a smile as well.


    I was afraid that you might recognize my name. When you didnt react after I introduced myself, I realized your parents must not have told you about me. Even if you did, I could have worked with that. But really, if you knew who I was at my first message, you would have known that Id be watching you the entire time. I didnt want that.


    All three of them must have had looks of confusion, because Luna grinned wide, with far too many teeth showing.


    I''ve been retired for a while, but I was your parents manager a long time ago.


    Liz groaned. Does that mean theyll be hanging around? I have a deal with them to not show up until Tier 10. But I wouldn''t put it past them to say that theyre visiting you to see me.


    Ha! No, not a chance. Your parents wouldnt even be on the same as me if they could avoid it. Last I saw them, they ruined my nap with one of their little forey sessions, so I made your mother y heatmp and your father water my garden for a few years. Haven''t seen them since.


    Lizs eyes grew wider and wider as Luna spoke, until it was almostical.


    I''m honestly surprised that your parents neverined about me.


    Liz leaned forward andughed. Oh, they did. I know that story, but all they called you was that ''bird eating bitch''.


    Ah yes, your mother was still a mouthwatering little me sparrow when I took on their team. Catching and eating the other birds around her proved to be great motivation for her to train harder." She caught Aster''s eyes. "Will I have to do the same with foxes?


    Aster shook her head violently and deted.


    Luna turned back to Liz. Your parents were giant failures, which I intend to rectify with you. They werezy, and more concerned with goofing off. I will not tolerate that in any way, shape, or form. Not again. Not with <em>any </em>of you.


    Liz shook her head. No, this is perfect! I hate how they just gallivant around and refuse to take anything seriously. And if you being here means that they won''t spy on me, I''m all for it. I''m pretty sure they have been. Ive gotten the feeling of being watched more than once.


    She looked to Matt, who still had reservations but about a separate topic. So how long have you been watching us?


    Luna shrugged. A month or so after that investigator, whatever his name was, reported in.


    Matt winced. It meant she had fully seen his Talent at work. His initial reaction was to tense up at that but he had already shared with her the exact details. What did it matter if she watched him make rifts? Which led him to his second question. And how often did you watch us?


    All the time. Im over Tier 40. I can see an ant on the other side of the fall off a branch while sleeping.


    Matt blushed at that thought. Luna apparently understood and just smiled. Yes, I watched you two have sex. Notebooks seventy-three and seventy-four have notes where you can improve on that for the both of you.


    Matt felt himself flush to the point that his ears felt hot. He had to resist the urge to activate [Cracked Phantom Armor] to hide. Knowing that a higher Tier being could sense you was one thing. Having her critique their sex and write suggestions down was another thing entirely.


    Wanting to change the topic and person he was talking to, Matt looked at April and asked, Do you know what our ns going forward are? What are we supposed to do? I don''t know how a management team actually works.


    April had a soft voice that carried on the wind. I know we have a few rmendations for you, but in the end, you arent forced to take our offers or orders. In reality, they are simply strong suggestions. I do know that they want you to travel back through the Queendom, and head to a Tier 10 for your initial... she hesitated for a second, training. We found an individual that we feel can help the three of you with melee training, first and foremost. After that, we have a list of people for you to visit. With your age and Tier, Luna says that it''s better to have you work on the fundamentals than to Tier up. Once we cover some bases and basics with you, I believe she intends to have you Tier up to Tier 8 rather quickly, and start with your she nced over at where their ind was, rift experiments.


    What about the rewards for the war? We have quite a few points left over, but the item I wanted was bought. Matt tried to not let his longing for [Cracked Breach] leak through, but he could tell he failed.


    Luna turned around and jabbed a finger at Matt. I wouldn''t have let you use the skill much, even if you had bought it. It''s too strong for your current prowess. No, it''s better that you didn''t get it. Besides the none cracked version will be better for you in a Tier or two anyway.


    Liz leaned forward. Wait, did you tell Sara to buy it?


    Luna shook her head. No. I didn''t interfere in the war a single time for or against your benefit. The only thing I did was prevent real deaths and watch.


    That actually made Matt feel better, until Luna said, If you want my opinion, Matt, you should buy all the Tier 8 and Tier 14 elemental maniption skills. I don''t expect you to ever get the finesse a focused mage should have, but I want you to be able to out muscle or out mana any mage in the small bit of space around you. It will help prevent you from being taken out of a fight too early. Also, get [Mana Charge] and [Mana sh]. Stop relying on the runes residing on your sword. Youre leaving too much damage on the table, and at Tier 7, youll be able to cast them. Plus youre wasting space on your sword that can go to enchantments there arent skills for already. Spend your extra points on whatever you want. I don''t care.


    She pointed to Liz. You need to get the same things. Keep them in your outer spirit, so they don''t get changed by your Talent. You don''t need to be amazing with them. Just have them. Also, get any skills you think might change to be useful.


    Aster received a look that said she needed to get the same things, and from Aster''s ear flick, she understood.


    Luna turned back to Matt. If you have any points left over, just trade them for Empire points, even with the awful conversion. Then buy [Ranged Heal]. I intend for you to need it.


    She looked down and to the side as if someone called her name, and she listened for a minute before turning back to the trio.


    As I said earlier, we will be making new identities for you all. Masks and the whole shebang. Also, Baxter intends to point his kids in the same direction. Treat the travel as a vacation, because it''s thest one you''ll get until you meet my standards, or reach Tier 25 andplete The Path.


    With that, they found themselves in the crowd that they had disappeared from. Matt looked around and, not seeing anyone they knew, sent a message to Melindas team stating that they were apparently traveling together.


    Taking Lizs hand in his own while carrying Aster in the other, Matt made the suggested purchases along with the repository of runes up to Tier 25.


    They all made sense, and it wasn''t like they couldn''t afford them. Money would never be an issue, and he needed to get over that particr hangup. Buying Tier 14 skills was still out of his price range, but knowing that rare Tier 8 skills sold for Tier 14 prices was enough to ensure that it was at least possible.


    Add into that the things he had learned about crafting, and using aspected and sub-aspected mana types for making items, he was sure that he could repeat his sess with making new skills like [Copper Skin]. It was only a matter of reaching Tier 7 or Tier 8, so he could rapidly make and charge rifts to Tier 8, and guarantee skill drops.


    Even with the disaster of the war ending in what felt more like a loss than the victory it was, he felt like things were looking up. They were getting a break, and could rx with friends for the next few months. It was a shame that Conor, Annie, and Emily were not along for the trip, but he had the feeling that things were going to change up once again.


    His life before The Path of Ascension was repetitive and dull. It had been anything but since he stepped foot out of the yPen.


    He was looking forward to the future, no matter what it brought. They were just challenges to be ovee, and he wasing to truly believe that the three of them could triumph over anything life, The Path, or Luna threw at them.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105


    Emmanuel looked around his office while lost in thought.


    He had cracked thousands of healing skills, to no effect, before he started looking elsewhere.


    More than one person had taken to collecting odd cracked skills for a variety of reasons. Some did it more as a hobby, just trying to find or create unique cracks thatpletely changed the skills function.


    Others, people he disapproved of, used the rare and unique cracks as recruiting tools. They functioned as bribes, used to entice people that the new skills perfectly fit over to the creators side, along with stringent contracts.


    It was never illegal, but the contracts could be restrictive. They essentially stated that the person epting the contract was given something genuinely unique and incredibly valuable. That definition allowed the skill owner to bind people to their cause nearly forever.


    That was where he found the answer to his Melinda problem.


    Duke Frederic Macheteuil was the cause of quite a few of the Empire''s current problems. He was a part of an old house of nobility that had remained neutral when Emmanuels grandmother took the throne from the previous dynasty.


    The loyalists had all been purged or forced to ascend during his grandmother''s rule. Still, her supporters and the neutral parties had been given specialpensation, along with exemptions from the rules that had been implemented.


    His grandmother was a monster, and might have been able to give Duke Waters a run for his money. At Tier 48, she had an inspiration that pushed her to Tier 49, allowing her to kill the Emperor of the time.


    The gaps between Tiers only grew more prominent as a cultivator ascended through them. The Tiers where you earned a Talent or needed a Concept were always watershed Tiers, where it was even harder to close the gap.


    Grandma Agatha had been a beast that few couldpare to. He only had recordings of the woman, but she had dethroned a corrupt dynasty, then struck down the internal strife that nearly led to a civil war. Most of the vital Ducal families tried to seize the throne, causing chaos amidst a struggle for power.


    It hade to a head when a noble had secretly met with the then slightly stronger Sects, and proposed an alliance. He had convinced the Tier 50 ruling them to assist in his take-over plot, for some unknownpensation.


    In an at-the-time realm shaking event, his grandmother cut the Tier 50 in half, causing him to retreat in a panic. Agatha then proceeded to cull the families that backed the coup. That event cemented the Empire as a power not to be trifled with, but it also painted a target on their back.


    The Sects didn''t take their loss lightly, saying that their Tier 50 was about to ascend, which he did in short order. The new Tier 50 was incredibly aggressive to the Empire, and dered nine wars on them during their thirty thousand-year reign.


    Most ended in draws, with nond exchanged on either side, and only spilled blood to show for them. But, in order to fund those wars with both money and bodies, his grandmother had to make several concessions to convince the remaining noble families to back her.


    She instituted many new changes, which would eventually be the foundation that the Empire''s sess rested on. But those changes came at a cost.


    In exchange for amending the Path of Ascension to allowmoners, and reducing the stringent requirements to recruit new people, she was forced to reform the tax policy and rece those funds with her own delving profits.


    Preventing newly raised noble families from excluding all but their firstborns from seats of power, and allowing anyone to challenge a noble to their position caused even more bacsh. In response, she had to write an exemption for the nobles of that time. It dered that they, their houses, and anynd they directly settled were exempt from those rules.


    As was the case today, the nobles of the past subtly threatened to go to the other great powers and split away from the Empire. His grandmother could fight one Tier 50, but if there were two


    She never wanted to find out, and thus refrained from pushing the nobles too hard. A trend his father had followed. So did he, for that matter. But he was slowly trying to chip away at their power bases, and the noble families knew it.


    That threat had caused Agatha to turn to the then simrly powered Conglomerate of Guilds and offer a truce, treaty, and official defensive alliance. It was rare for two of the Great Powers to ally, since they usually contested each other for territory and resources. It was rarer still for two <em>neighbors</em> to enter into an alliance, as settlednd didnt need to be curated or Tiered up. To that effect, most alliances were ones of convenience, andsted for only a single conflict. They usually were formed to knock down amon threat or rival.


    That didn''t mean that the two Great Powers didn''t have their differences, but their alliance had been tested, and had never faltered. Even when the Empire was at its weakest, and recovering from strife caused by the multitude of changes that his grandmother implemented.


    As they started to rise in his father''s time, the two powers only grew closer, and the Guilds were the first to implement simr changes. They only remained the fifth great power due to a string of terrible luck. Both of their most recent territorial gains at the time had yielded nothing but low Tier worlds. Theck of any higher Tier gains caused bottlenecks in their ability to produce simrly Tiered fighters, causing apparent stagnation. Low Tier worlds had their usage, but they were only really settled to create connections to the more valuable, higher Tier worlds.


    In truth, the Guilds were nipping at the Sect''s heels then, and were about to overtake them in rtive power, even if they were significantly smaller.


    His father and the Guildsst Tier 50 had both gone off to delve the far reaches of chaotic space, and together had found and hauled back a Tier 39 world, causing a resurgence in exploration and cooperation.


    Power was what prevented the lower Tiers from breaking free and setting up their own kingdoms. Tier 50 was a hard limit in this realm, and as long as there was a single Tier 50, everyone was forced under their power.


    Emmanuel was a Tier 50, which equated to strength that couldnt be ignored. He could kill any of his nobles without question, and easily. If he wanted them to die, they would. But it would cause the other nobles to scatter into the arms of the other Great Powers, and split the Empire.


    The other Great Powers were always hungry for newnd, and high Tiers were at a premium. If he pushed changes too fast, the nobles would band together and defect to one of their neighbors.


    All of thepromises that his grandmother made were still causing problems today. Despite all the good his father had done, he wasn''t a fighter. His grandmother chose him as her heir because of his steadfast personality, along with his ability towork and y politics.


    That wasn''t to say he was weak. His father was strong, but he simply wasnt the mostbat-oriented cultivator. In truth, he was a seeker of middling ability at best. His abilities relied more on his honed skills, rather than Talents.


    His father had made great strides in limiting the abuses of those under Tier 15, to the point that themon men lived amazing lives, free from most worries.


    After Tier 15, rules were less enforced outside of cities, and to Emmanuel''s shame, the rules were treated more like guidelines after Tier 35. He and his forebears had ensured that fighting down without being attacked first was a death sentence, but only living people could report the attacks.


    It didn''t help that his nobles clung to the old ways, and rarely intervened. Most believed or purported that thew of the strong was paramount, so it wasn''t their ce to intervene.


    Two of his Royals were nobles, and were backed by the opposition faction while supporting noble causes. Rusty and Tur''stal had been found and backed by noble houses during their advancement, and had pushed back against any reforms that were too hampering.


    Harper was deliberately neutral in all dealings, leaving Emmanuel backed solely by Mara and Leon. They were excellent friends, and steadfast in their support of his changes, but they were kier in their duties than a fresh pastry. Getting them to show up to a meeting of Royals was like pulling teeth, as if they were actively hiding.


    That worked well for the nobles aligned against him, but it was also why he was able to allocate them rifts to reach Tier 48 so quickly. The nobles didn''t mind his having two allies that couldnt be bothered to participate in court politics. Even his most fervent opposition wanted the Empire to remain strong, and no one could deny the couples fighting prowess. And with Great Powers limited to having only two Tier 48''s he was happy to have them on his side.


    The pair just worried more about their personal entertainment than directing their entire being to the betterment of the Empire.


    Emmanuel sighed. That wasn''t fair. They dedicated all of their profits from delving to him and to taxes, and their presence wasn''t entirely needed at meetings, since they had standing orders to always vote with him. But it still left him at a distinct disadvantage in those meetings.


    He, as Emperor, had three votes. One for each of the Kingdoms he presided over, and an extra vote for being Emperor. With Mara and Leon''s votes he had five,against the two from Rusty and Tur''stal, and the single abstained vote of Harper. In theory, that should allow him to push everything and anything he wanted through. But Rusty and Tur''stals Kingdoms ounted for nearly forty percent of the high Tiers, and were far and away thergest powerbases.


    It forced him to need at least their tentative support for most things. And to their credit, they were incredibly supportive of reforms that didnt affect noble power or privileges.


    Duke Frederic Macheteuil was the reason he was in a pickle. The Empire had grown sorge in such a short amount of time, it was already time to raise another Royal to the council. Duke Frederic Macheteuil was the strongest non-Royal who was interested in politics. At Tier 46, he was a powerhouse in his own right, and he was widely popr amongst the old blood families for his desire to retain noble power.


    In one of his few mistakes, his father had given Frederics father the Dukedom of one of the outer systems, in which a Tier 35 was found. At first, the deal seemed terrific, as the noble family had to give up their current holding to take the newnd. At the time it was a reason for celebration, but now it was a thorn in Emmanuel''s side, letting Frederic campaign to be raised to a Royal position.


    Emmanuel''s father had refused to grant the request, on the pretense of the sector not being built up enough, which Frederic and the other nobles epted. There was a long-standing tradition to only award Royal seats in areas that met the inner worlds standards. Frederic''s ancestors had used this reasoning to prevent a rival''s ascension to power, so his faction couldn''t balk at it now.


    In an expected move, but one he couldn''t prevent, they poured massive amounts of resources into the sector. They rapidly attracted settlers under Tier 15, along with quite a few higher Tiers, over to the new regions.


    They even followed hisws and edicts to the letter about under Tier 15 treatment. Things were going as well as he could ask for, which was the problem. Frederic, for all his faults, wasn''t an evil or stupid man. He was a supporter of the reforms that Emmanuel pushed through when he took the throne, to once again increase noble taxes so the proceeds could be reinvested into their worlds and for The Path.


    What Emmanuel worried about was creating another Royal that would work on the old system, making this another prime position for a corrupt noble to take over after Frederic ascended to the higher realm.


    Emmanuel sighed as he debated whether it was worth it to go see the man.


    In the end, he had to. He had so many useful skills for when his current hopefuls fell off The Path, or participated in the Tier 10 tournament.


    Melinda particrly was too valuable of a resource not to cultivate.


    Her growth with her Talent was one of his highest priorities. He wished she would focus on things other than healing old age, as was her current obsession, but he wouldn''t interfere. That would stifle her at best, which was something he was unwilling to risk.


    Still, he had consistently made trips to her the moment she Tiered up, so he could get the newest version of her Talent. It was so potent, it reced his Tier 3 in situations where he wasn''t in directbat. Assassins werent expected, but they could strike at any time, and the ability to save someone''s life around him was too useful a power.


    The skill in question was [Cracked Miasma].


    [Miasma] was a Tier 20 skill that created a massive area of effect noxious gas when cast. It was formidable in and of itself, but nothing exceptional. Mostly, it was paired with more dangerous poison skills to increase their range. The skill lingered in the cast area for hours or days, depending on the initial mana cost. And unless purged, the toxins remained in the body for up to a week.


    The cracked version only had one single change that made it useless for other people. It was a healing skill that acted the same way as the original skill. In theory, an AOE healing skill was amazing, but it was as weak as it was longsting. While not usually a problem, healing a body already under the effect of a healing spell was dozens of times more difficult. It wasnt impossible, but it was an unnecessary added effort for subsequent healers.


    Melindas overhealth didn''t have that problem.


    He had Moon check a dozen times.


    But for Melinda, a healing skill thatsted a week would be a game-changer. Instead of the active skill interfering with subsequent healing spells cast after the fact, any healer treating someone with the spell active inside of them would get the benefit of overhealth. It would let Melinda cast the spell on entire armies, who could then walk through the lingering miasma and be practically immortal for the next week. He hadnt even factored in theck of healing downtime, which couldst decades at the higher Tiers.


    Emmanuel needed the skill, unless he wanted to wait for Matt to make a new skill with his rift experiments. But while the boys experiments showed promise, he was unwilling to wait that long, or risk the situation with his nobles changing. While he and his people didn''t know thebination Matt had used to make [Copper Skin] they could brute force it with enough mana and attempts. Mana he didn''t really have the budget for.


    Perhaps Alex would be able to coax it from a Rift if they knew where to look but no.


    The Empire needed the skill.


    He just didn''t know how to get the skill without tipping his hand and revealing Melindas existence, or backsliding on millennia of progress. Frederic was known for his hard bargaining.


    Emmanuel sent a message to his wife to let her know that he was leaving. Once she responded, he ripped through reality and into chaotic space.


    For him, the angry winds of the corrosive energy werent even an annoyance, and he could see farther than nearly anyone else through the swirls of power. Orienting himself, he plotted the most direct path to Fredric''s duchy, and ignored the lines of power connecting the linked worlds. It was faster to go through space directly.


    In only a month, Emmanuel was inspecting the linked worlds of this new region. With his Tier 50 perception, he could nket and inspect half a dozen worlds and all their inhabitants at once.


    He needed to change his Tier 25 Talent to one that let him split his mind into portions, allowing him toprehend the information at a reasonable pace. But he was quite happy to see the progress.


    There were no overt abuses of power, and no signs ofmoners being mistreated. The worlds around him were thriving and proliferating. It was everything he could ask for.


    Crime and such happened, but that was just human nature. The worst offenses he observed were recorded and sent to the proper authorities, ensuring that the guilty would be punished. There was nothing egregious to be rmed about.


    Emmanuel repeated his actions with each new world he passed during his month-long journey. It would take someone in a state of the art chaotic spaceship a year to traverse this distance, and longer if they tried under their own power, but that was a benefit of being on top.


    If he wanted to, he could snuff out any of the worlds around him with a thought.


    Power was dangerous, and he wondered if it would be better if there was no cultivation for the millionth time. His wife, Carissa, thought he was crazy for even trying to contemte the idea. But he figured that if everyone was simrly weak, they would be truly equal, and no one would be able to abuse their power.


    When he arrived at a bright speck of light in the void, he politely sent a strand of perception, and deliberately brushed upon the strongest perception on the.


    He could have, with his greater power, inspected the without being noticed, but it was the politest way to contact someone on their home.


    A strand of perception punched out of realspace and offered an open but questioning invitation.


    Emmanuel noted where Duke Frederic Macheteuil was, and ripped through space to meet him in a sitting room. It was clear that he had just teleported into the space to meet Emmanuel upon his arrival, as maids were scurrying to prepare delicacies in the nearest kitchen.


    Duke Macheteuil was standing, and bowed deeply at Emmanuel''s arrival. He kept the position held as he said, As always, it is a pleasure to receive you, my liege. My home is your home.


    Emmanuel waited for the proper timing, and responded in the traditional response, Rise, my loyal retainer. I protect what is mine, either by proxy or directly. Only together does the Empire remain strong. Rise, and let us speak.


    They both sat as tea was brought in, with the formalities out of the way.


    This being a Tier 35 world, Emmanuel didn''t have to worry about identally tearing an uncontrolled hole into chaotic space and destroying the, but he still moved with more control than Frederic.


    As they sipped the tea, Frederic probed slightly. It is always a pleasure to have you visit your grace, but I must ask if this is an official visit or a personal one.


    Both. It was time to inspect this region of my territory, in preparation for integration to a kingdom. I was also looking for some practical skills in your collection.


    He was trying to offer the carrot to get what he wanted, rather than the stick he was willing to use.


    Using his father''s Tier 50 Talent, he checked the next few seconds of time and reviewed the various possibilities in descending likelihood. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he observed Fredric''s reactions.


    The Duke nodded. I was sure you would see the progress that weve made in thest few thousand years, and grant our request in short order, but it is good that we have met your expectations.


    Emmanuel wanted to scoff. The man was essentially saying it was good that Emmanuel would be forced to elevate him and this region of worlds to a proper kingdom sooner orter. Whether he liked it or not. And it wouldn''t buy him any favors to do it early.


    I am d that you and your nobles have worked so diligently and kept any excess in check.


    Frederic just smiled. We always strive to do what is best. Clearly seeing Emmanuels disagreement, he temporized, Not all of us are so conscious of our obligation. I do admit that, but no system is perfect. I keep a strong leash on my nobles, unlike other locations.


    The Tier 46 scoffed, There are no uncontrolled rift breaks on any I control.


    Emmanuel nodded to the man. That was true. It had only been with Frederics support that he had been able to push through reforms against such negligence, after the disaster at Lilly. It was also only with his interference that thew passed with the use that nobles would only lose their title and privilege, if subsequent disasters were at least sixty percent as destructive as the break on Lilly had been.


    Still, it had been a good reform. Emmanuel could admit that.


    Yes. I inspected your worlds and only found the normal crimes one would expect. I mustmend you on your control over your retainers.


    The small talk continued as they talked about expansion routes and various resource exchangesnormal and mundane things between Kingdoms. Most deals were fair and equal, but they each got the upper hand on a few key items. Emmanuel had two kingdoms worth of resources at hand,pared to Frederics single new Kingdom.


    When that was settled, Frederic broached the second topic after leading Emmanuel to his vault.


    They passed throughyer afteryer of restriction to reach a massive door made from Tier 47 steel. Even Emmanuel would need time to physically break through that much metal, which was all that it was meant to do. Nothing could stop a desperate cultivator except for someone stronger.


    The vault only needed to slow anyone foolish enough down, so Frederic and his guards could rush in and subdue them.


    The spatially expanded space was massive, and they meandered around as Frederic showed off the various things he had collected throughout the years. Most were unique rather than useful, but that was to be expected. Useful things were used.


    They finally reached the section of the vault where the cracked skills were kept.


    Frederic waved and said, And so we finally arrive within my most prized collection. Unique cracked skills with various effects. The more unique or specialized, the more I prize them. He sighed in a way Emmanuel believed was genuine, if rehearsed.


    And the same ones that you use to bind people to you.


    Frederic shrugged. I don''t force anyone, nor do I prevent them from growing in power and ascending. That breaks all contracts, and they keep the skill. When something is that perfect, what is a little service? Seeing they were going to tread down a long rehearsed path, he waved. I wee you to look around if you aren''t sure what skills you need, but if you want to pick the ones you need, I will be happy to start negotiations.


    They started with moremon skills to bargain for. There were two dozen promising youths Emmanuel was preparing to reward with special, targeted rewards in the next Pather tournament, and it would help obfuscate the skills he actually wanted to get from Frederic.


    Vince and Adam both just needed cracked skills with lower spiritual strain. Easy enough to get, but hard to find good ones that matched their hybrid fighting style.


    Tiffany was a void melee fighter who needed [Cracked Heavy Punch] with a void aspect to really shine, and he intended to get it for her here.


    Very few Skills could withstand part of their structure being twisted to Void, and given the <em>immeasurable</em> rarity of true Void Skills, this was a perfect reward for her.


    The others would either get specialized items to further their advancement, or Tier 20 skills. Adding to the numbers would hopefully hide Melinda''s skill.


    Emmanuel had already found the skills he wanted, and with an effort of will and a show of power, broke the restrictions around their cases and brought them to hover in between them.


    He wasn''t stealing them, but he was showing that he had a distinct advantage, and wasn''t going to deal with bad faith bargaining.


    The first ones were easy enough to bargain for, as they were there more so to round out Frederics collection than anything else. They were hardly of any true value. To Emmanuels irritation, the mantched on to [Cracked Miasma] with much more enthusiasm.


    Yes. [Cracked Miasma], truly a rare crack. A damage skill turned to healing. One of a kind.


    They both knew it wasn''t one of a kind. Just rare.


    Yes, its a great find indeed, though no rarer I would say, than [Cracked Heavy Punch].


    Frederic smiled. If it is your majesty who needs the skill personally, I will be happy to give it as a gift. But He trailed off seeing if Emmanuel would lie.


    The man was probing to see if there was a new rising star in the Empire that had a Talent the Emperor could use to his advantage. The free gift wouldn''t be free, but instead a favor, which was far worse. It was also a way to see if Frederic could make the cost too high, and then try to rope in the young person the skill was meant to synergize with.


    Emmanuel would kill the man before he let Melinda fall under his thumb.


    He still needed to avoid lying, though. No. As you suspect it is for a young person who can make good use of it.


    Seeing the mans smile turned predatory, Emmanuel flexed his power.


    Slightly.


    Reality trembled for an instant, and the expanded space grew disjointed as the enchantments started to fail under the stress.


    Do not try to y games with me on this, Frederic. I will not tolerate it in this instance. What do you want for these skills?


    Even under the power, Frederic remained calm.


    I would like to know who the young up anders are. I like to do the same as you. Bring them to my side early and raise them up. Don''t pretend that youre doing anything different. I just don''t hide my bindings. And you say I''m the worst.


    I''m nothing like you. I don''t force anyone into my service. Seeing the man about to object, Emmanuel raised a hand, I won''t argue that you don''t treat your people well. But I don''t force anyone to ept my leash. You should know, with how many of your guards were on The Path. You snatched them all up as soon as they fell off.


    Frederic nodded at that. It was true, after all. The Path of Ascension was a fertile recruiting ground for noble houses and guilds, and Emmanuel let them take freely from those that fell off. His only restrictions applied to approaching the youth that were looking toplete The Path. Those were national assets, and not to be touched.


    He had killed more than one noble for trying to tempt Light and Shadow off The Path.


    Frederic sighed. If you want the skills with no strings attached for your prospects, I want you to halt all of your reforms targeting the nobility for the next five thousand years.


    Emmanuel resisted the urge to curse. He was hoping, despite knowing how unlikely it was, that the man would just ask for his own Royal title and leave it at that. Still, that was too far. Emmanuel only had thirty thousand years as a ruler, and a thousand were already gone. Losing one-sixth of his time to get a single skill was inexcusable.


    He wanted to have the old nobles well under control, and a bnce for the guilds, while the new meritocratic nobles who were more loyal to him and the central government held more of the power.


    Emmanuel shook his head this time. That''s too long. Two thousand years, and I''ll immediately raise you up to a Royal during the session.


    Frederic tried to retort that the deal was too unfair, but Emmanuel held firm.


    It is not enough. This is a one of a kind skill. I can''t part with them so easily.


    Thinking, Emmanuel brought out [Copper Skin]. It was one of a kind, until Matt made more of them. If the boy took too long, he would start tasking other people with it, but his mana budget was already held together with promises more than anything. Everything cost mana, and there were always ces to use more of it.


    This is [Copper Skin], a unique Tier 8 skill. A seeming variation of [Iron Skin], but a Tier lower. One of a kind.


    Frederics eyes glinted with interest, but he tried to y coy. But the skill will be pulled out of rifts in the future. It''s only rare now. Not forever.


    Emmanuel, shook his head. No, the skill wasn''t thought to be unique at the time, and with its birthce being only Tier 6, the rift was either Tiered up or dissipated. They aren''t sure, as it was a part of a batch increase. Regardless, the rift is gone, and the skill is the only one that remains.


    That caught Frederics interest, and Emmanuel knew he had him on at least that.


    The conversation turned to more obscure negotiation methods for them to move the price, but Emmanuels tactic of saying it was for a poison user fell t. Frederic had the skill well investigated and it didn''t count as a poison skill in terms of damage any more, only healing which meant most poison Talents wouldnt affect the skill any more.


    Eventually, they settled on the two thousand years of no changes to noble privileges without Frederics approval. A condition they both agreed on easily enough. Change needed to happen, and if Frederic approved it, the nobles that followed him would fall in line. The deal also came with Frederics immediate rise to Royalty, with Emmanuel assisting him in a few public speeches, and shows of support in his new Kingdom. [Copper Skin] was the final touch which let him keep the years of the condition down.


    Frederic was a collector after all and the skill was a prize he couldn''t pass up on easily.


    Neither were happy with the deal, which was how they both knew that neither was being screwed.


    He believed that before two thousand years had passed, Matt would be a high enough Tier to change the face of the Empire. Then, he could turn this deal in on the nobles, and hold the benefits of unlimited power to those loyal to him.


    Emmanuel was touring the new Kingdom while meeting and greeting various local nobles andmoners, when the report of the Pather war ending came in.


    Things were normal enough, until he saw what Mara and Leon had done.


    He had to resist face palming in front of the crowd when he got the high priority report. They loved to create problems for him.


    ***


    Brice, former King of the Seven Suns vassal state of the Empire, as he had sent his abdication order as he left real space, moved through chaotic space with the rage still burning hot in his chest.


    It didn''t help that he was being buffeted by the ever-increasing chaotic space, and was nearly unable to fly through the turbulence before things started to settle down.


    His anger only increased as he left. All of his recent troubles had started from Pathers. Pathers had gotten tangled up in his idiot family members scheme of taking indentured workers and then the Pathers had caused the war to be allowed in his territory.


    He thought it was a good sign when he noticed the chaotic space turning into a me type, in response to someone strong enough to impose their will on the untamed space.


    Not willing to interact with someone that strong, he started to fly out of the area, when he noticed that the mes grew hotter and started to follow him.


    His worry turned to rm, and he flew ahead at full speed, only to turn and see a woman with ming hair feathers chasing him down.


    Realizing that he couldn''t escape, he began to ask why he was being chased down, only to be grabbed by a massive talon.


    His ribs and arms shattered like dry twigs, as the crushing power was apanied by a cultivation pressure that threatened to extinguish his very spirit.


    He tried to ask why, but was unable to even concentrate enough to use his AI.


    The woman looked at him with a tilted head that reminded him more of a bird of prey, wondering the best way to pick out the soft bits of its meal, than a human. It was then that he put the pieces together. This was Mara, Queen of Beasts and Evolved Humans. A Tier 48.


    Are you King Brice?


    I


    The talon tightened. Don''t bother. I already know. I''m quite upset with you.


    The chaotic space around them red to orange and me.


    As Mara expected an answer, her talons lessened their pressure, and Brice was able to say, You attacked down Tiers. The Emperor will kill you for this.


    She shook her ming hair. Nah, I don''t think so. More like chewed out. I''ve been chewed out before.


    The w around him tightened as she leaned forward. I''m debating just eating you now. It would solve so many problems. But I won''t. I''m sure you have plenty of enemies lining up to take your head. Your own family for example. I can''t believe you actually treat them that way. As if theyre disposable.


    The mes roared around them, and even Brices'' full power couldn''t keep them at bay. The inferno started to char his skin.


    I treasure my children. They are the most important thing to me. Now how do you think I felt when my youngest daughter asked for a favor from me to help a friend?


    The crazy bitch pped her hands and smiled. I was ecstatic! Friends! She had so few growing up that I worried for her. Now she has a friend good enough that she requests a favor on their behalf. How wonderful! She also formalized her rtionship with my soon-to-be son-inw on that. I was going to memorialize it and add it to my collection. So how do you think I reacted once I found out that you detonated depleted copper all over the ce!? It''s going to take <em>years</em> to return to its pristine condition! It cant be a part of my collection if it''s not pristine, can it?


    Brice tried to speak, but the talon tightened. From the report, I saw that you were even willing to kill quite a few people with your little n. Youre lucky the army had overrides for your son''s detonators to the explosives. The poor boy was panicked enough to actually do it.


    With a monumental effort, he wheezed out, There are always losses. I


    The talon tightened even further. Clearly, you are much too stupid. Maybe I should just kill you after all People disappear in chaotic space all the time... Mara seemed to really ponder it for a minute, but shook her head. No. I have a much better punishment.


    The power radiated off of her, and there was an authority in her voice as she said, Former King Brice of the Vassal Kingdom Seven Suns. I, in my authority as a Royal, am ordering you to serve on a clean-up crew on the old frontier, to help re-terraform them from thest war. This is nonnegotiable, as I find you guilty of using-harming munitions on a soon-to-be habitable world. You may have followed the letter of thew, but I find you in vition of the spirit of saidw, while risking the lives of thousands of Pathers.


    Unwilling to be forced to cleans for who knew how long, he tried to protest. I am due my reward for growing the Empire by proxy. I


    Mara cut him off. Yes, you are, and even I can''t touch that. But with my authority, I am postponing yourpensation until after your punishment isplete. If you fail to report in, you will be treated as a criminal, and will be hunted down. She smiled a hopeful smile as she finished, Please do run. I''ll chase you down, even into another Great Power. Test me. Please.


    Brice was flung away, and slowed in the non-controlled chaotic space while he focused on healing. He intended to flee into unsettled space to get away, but that was only an initial reaction.


    He would lose too much. No, it was better to report her, and try to use the physical attack as a lever to reduce the punishment. It was also far more likely to work; the woman had gone overboard, and had broken half a dozenws. Even ifws were less enforced when between two peoples over Tier 15 she had broken them nheless.


    She was probably right, and wouldn''t be killed, but he could fight to reduce the punishment on the grounds that she had already punished him.


    He was still focusing on healing when the chaotic space started to change again. He feared it was Maraing back to finish the job, as he would have, when he noticed that it was a lightning user.


    To his bafflement, he saw a single man hauling around an entire world. It felt like a Tier 7, and they were wing their way through chaotic space. They were pulling a <em>world</em> against the current. Brice couldn''t pull a world through chaotic space <em>with</em> the current. At least, not more than a few feet. He had done so once as a show of power, and had needed years to recover his overtaxed spirit and that had only been a Tier 2 world.


    It didn''t take his reading the message that was sent for him to figure out who the man had to be.


    When I get done hauling this, I''m gonna kick your ass for ruining my daughter''s fun!


    Brice decided that it was much better to report into the terraforming location, and shelter somewhere even those two maniacs wouldn''t dare act against him.


    ***


    After the party andmiseration, Queen Diana was positively sloshed with her newest sister.


    Her father''s parting words still bothered Cori, but they convinced her that they were all bluster, and that he was only trying to hurt her.


    It had mostly worked, and they had gorged themselves on good food and better wine for the better part of a week.


    Even their immortal bodies could only take so much punishment and abuse. Coupled with her almost gone, but still lingering wound, Diana was feeling sore, but good.


    That was, until she and all her sisters were ripped through chaotic space, suddenly standing in front of Mara.


    Diana immediately bowed deeply while sending messages to her sisters, who followed suit.


    Technically, they were peers, as they were both queens. The only noble she technically had to bow to was the Emperor, and Leon, her direct liege. Maras husband. Even thend they ruled was of different quantity and quality. Dianas entire Queendom was the size of maybe two duchies in the Empire proper. And Mara controlled dozens of duchies. Only a fool wouldn''t bow in front of true power.


    That wasn''t even to mention the difference in Tiers. A Tier 35 might as well be a child in front of a Tier 48.


    Stand up! Stand up. Mara sounded in good cheer, which relieved most of Diana''s worries. The fear that her daughter had said something still lingered, but lessened.


    How can I assist you, Queen Mara? We will do


    Mara waved an arm that slightly turned into a wing. Please, hunnie. I don''t care about the formalities. I want to buy the.


    Diana paused as she reyed the words that the Queen in front of her just said. It made no sense.


    We will happily give you sovereignty over the, if that is what you wish. I


    No, no, no. I want to take the. My daughter had quite a few first experiences here, and I want to add it to my collection. I want to take the home with me. She made real friends here! I can''t let this ce go.


    Diana started to panic. This was the only tether to the Tier 20 next door, and if they lost the connection, the Tier 20 would start to drift into chaotic space. Then, they would have lost everything.


    Trying to figure out how to deny the woman without pissing her off, Diana tried, We would give you the if we could, but there is a Tier 20 one jump over. We will lose the other if you take this one. Greatdy, please, I beg of you not to make us lose something we have fought so hard for.


    Mara scoffed at her. I''m not an asshole. My hubby is bringing a recement over as we speak. A fresh Tier 7. Well just plop it in ce before we leave.


    They stared at each other for a long moment as Diana questioned if she heard her right. She knew Leon. The man was strong. He had to be to remain a King, but moving a Tier 7 over more than her range of perception should be nearly impossible.


    She peered upstream to see if he was just guiding the over. That would be much more believable, but her spiritual scene showed her the opposite. There was nothing there.


    She did, however, find him pulling a Tier 7 world from <em>down stream</em>.


    Diana was speechless as her mind ground to a halt.


    Mara shoved a bag into her chest, along with each of her sisters.


    Diana took it out of reflex, and nearly drifted away as the higher Tier stones had enough spiritual prescience to try and drift off, it was more than she could easily stabilize. Her lower Tiered sisters weren''t so lucky and she felt Mara assisting them.


    Five Tier 45 mana stones apiece. I''ll also be paying everyone on the a mana stone fifteen Tiers above them.


    Seeing the woman pause and look at her with a cocked head, Diana nodded.


    This is more than generous, greatdy. We will immediately start evacuations. I


    Mara waved her off. When we get the other in ce, Ill move everyone over. She also looked at the connection between the Tier 6 world and the Tier 20. Ill also clear the traps through there. Did the idiot do that?


    Not waiting for an answer, Mara continued, Maybe I should have killed him.


    At the same time, a series of explosions rang out in chaotic space. She turned to Cori, who had passed off her bag of mana stones to remain with them, instead of drifting off into chaotic space.


    Hey, girl. Your dads a proper dick. If you n to kill him, you need to get a lot stronger, and soon. I ordered him to clean up duty for this little stunt, but it won''t prevent him from advancing forever.


    Cori opened her mouth, but Leon arrived, puffing with exertion. I''m here. He panted more before continuing, Did we make a deal?


    Mara transformed her battle garb to a skimpy maid''s outfit, and started patting his forehead with a small cloth while shoving her chest into his arm.


    Theical scene was offset by the weighty words, Yup! All sold. Ill do the swap and move the people.


    There was a sh of mes, and the two worlds seemed to merge in space for a second, before the Tier 7 reced the Tier 6. Even the connections were transferred over.


    Mara froze as Diana felt a powerful perception inspecting the people on the new world and Mara looked at Diana. Ummm, did you happen to get a note with training instructions on it?


    Diana paused. She actually <em>had</em> gotten one. Everyone on the had. They were quite good, and addressed everyone''s singr greatest weakness while giving them things to improve on. The instructions for Sara were so good, Diana was genuinely impressed. Concise information about her general fighting style, and tips for her budding Concept. That didn''t even ount for the note for her, which hinted at what she needed to do to get her own Aspect.


    Yes, would you like to see it?


    Mara screamed, No! Even her feathered hair stood straight out.


    Leon looked like he would be sick as they turned to each other.


    Tell me they wouldnt do that to our baby girl!? Leon seemed to be asking anyone for reassurance, while Mara looked as if her mes would gutter out.


    How are we supposed to spy on her if the crazy bitch is there? She''s going to try and make us work hard!


    The two looked stricken as they peered around, like they knew someone was watching them.


    Finally, they said in unison, Let''s get out of here.


    Mara, with an effort of will, moved everyone on the over, and then the two flew off, with Leon dragging the away.


    Squawk!


    Marasst word confused Diana further. The woman had <em>said</em> squawk. Not actually made the noise, but said the word.


    Those two were weird.


    Still, as Diana inspected their new, she smiled. It was lovely, but the Tier 45 mana stones would pay for quite a lot. They would both increase the value of her Queendom, and her own personal equipment.


    Overall, they had made out well.


    She wondered if there was another that the crazy couple wanted to buy.

 PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 9

    PoA The Concept of Death Chapter 9


    PoA The Concept of Death 9


    Melinda found this siege far worse than the first one she had been a part of. The Queendom was in a rush, made apparent by their willingness to just throw bodies at the city walls in an effort to take them down.


    To make matters worse, they wereying siege to the city that Matt had chosen to harass. His ceaseless attacks were a constant worry to her team. They were on opposite sides, but no one wanted to kill or be killed by their friends.


    That would make things too awkward. She tried sending him a message, but it was blocked by army AI. Apparently, it wouldn''t route messages to someone actively opposing her unit. An interesting tidbit to learn. That revtion caused her to wonder how spies did their work mid-conflict. However, she had little time to ponder the oddity, as she was already overwhelmed in her familiar role as a dedicated healer.


    Vinnie and Tara had been pulled out of their team to assist therger army. Knowing that they were beyond her reach to heal didnt help her worry any less. The Queendom couldnt forcefully break up teams, but they had dangled enoughpensation in front of the pair to convince them to willingly join other units.


    Vinnie endlesslyined about digging trenches up to the walls, or creating reinforced paths to allow the siege towers to approach the city walls. He was constantly under fire, and the work was harder on him than the other earth mages. Whereas the rest of hisbat engineering unit used skills like [Reinforce Earth] and [Walkway], her teammate relied solely on his innate [Earth Maniption].


    The stubborn idiot refused to buy the other skills, as he imed that the manual work was helping his innate skill grow faster, especially with the Queendom supplying him with endless mana to continuously use it. Keeping up with the other mages cost him more effort, but his maniption abilities were getting better, faster.


    Meanwhile, Tara was pulled to help man the siege equipment. Her Talent let hernd shots with scary precision. Even more notably, her Tier 3 piercing Talent affected the city walls so well, it almost felt wrong. Her shots always seemed to bring down much more of the wall than anyone elses. The sess garnered her friend a great deal of notoriety.


    Melinda was less than pleased about that.


    Assassination attempt after assassination attempt were thrown at her teammate. She had silently cursed Matt for that, because the army was keeping hush about Taras identity and her contributions. His team were the only Kingdom people who would know to link her to the walls destruction, and specifically target her. It cut deep for him to use that information against them.


    Or so she thought. When they finally captured an assassin alive and interrogated her, they learned that one of the Pather teams to flip sides had been a nt by the Kingdom. A Pather spy in Taras own siege engine unit had marked her for the assassination. That, in turn, made Melinda feel even worse for doubting Matt.


    Thankfully, she had no time for pity parties. Being a dedicated healer kept her incredibly busy.


    As usual, Baxter was hovering over her shoulder the entire time, but he only observed and talked her through a few tough patients. Instead of relying on her Talent, she acted as a normal healer would. She was much more proud of the patients she saved without it, even if her sess rate suffered for it. Not that it prevented her from gaining some notoriety of her own. The other healers were, in her opinion, utter garbage.


    Even that was being too nice.


    The Queendom healers werent real healers at all. Their knowledge and understanding paled inparison to hers.


    ording to what shed learned, a healer was a professional who could use [Directed Heal] on any injury covered by their knowledge of the human body. In the Empire proper, these Tier 6s would be ssified as nurses at best.


    They had simple, undirected healing skills like [Ranged Heal] and [Healing Touch]. Neither of the skills were bad, but their applications were limited. More than one soldier had to be sent off to the armys <em>real</em> healers for missing limbs.


    The hardest cases fell to Melinda, and they left her swamped.


    But that wasn''t the others fault.


    She had asked around about their situation. In the Queendom, young, aspiring healers were given the basic healing spells as a first stepping stone.


    More than a few team healers started that way, and most nurses did as well. Melinda had too, before her Talent allowed her to skip steps. The education that was supposed toe afterwards was simply absent in the Queendom.


    It hurt her to see them so clueless about the intricacies of healing.


    Even with undirected healing spells, knowledge of basic human anatomy could be applied to slightly concentrate the scope of healing spells, and thus boost the spells effectiveness where it was actually needed. Basic knowledge would help them heal a broken hand in a single cast, instead of needing two. The second casting also put a greater burden on the patient''s body, and sped up the rate at which they umted healing resistance.


    To offset this, she prodded Baxter to give a lesson or something.


    He justughed. Such azy girl! If you want to help them, do it yourself. Even <em>you</em> have the requisite knowledge to teach them this much.


    Doubtful, Melinda had protested. I don''t have that kind of skill. If I teach them wrong, I can set them back years. I''m safe because my Talent covers my ass if I make a mistake. She shook her head. They don''t have that, which makes it irresponsible to teach them with my half-assed information.


    The irritating man just ruffled her hair. Ahh, look at little Mellie being all humble. It''s good you think that way. But Im definitely making you do it now. Just keep it simple, and point them in the right direction. Not even these children can mess up limiting the scope of their healing spells. At least, not directed ones.


    Melinda opened her mouth to protest more, and he raised a hand. If they really fuck it up somehow, Ill step in.


    With that assurance, she began offering lectures during their recharge times.


    To their credit, they were quick and eager learners. Lack of avable information held them back, not drive.


    When shed asked why they simply hadn''t looked up the relevant information up on the EmpireNet, she had been met with nk looks.


    The Queendom troops didnt have free ess to the greaterwork. They had to pay fees that Melinda considered absurd. Meanwhile, the Queendoms LocalNet had nothing about the basic subjects she was lecturing on.


    That bothered her. Eventually, she asked Baxter about it when she had a free minute. His answer logically made sense, but she still didn''t like it.


    The EmpireNet isn''t cheap to run, and people had to find, verify, and then upload all the information it holds. The page owners take home most of the money that normal people pay.


    That doesn''t seem fair. I have free ess to all of that stuff.


    Baxter actually looked confused. No, you don''t. You have ess because the Empire covers the cost while youre on the Path. But youre still being charged. Mooching the cost off the Empire doesnt change that. The guilds and conglomerates who curate the lower EmpireNet permission levels spend and earn quite a lot of money on the system. He paused. Not exactly passive ie, but low effort ie.


    She thought that was incredibly stupid. People should just copy the information and make it free. Or only charge people enough to cover the cost of essing the information. These bloated fees for basic information seemed so unfair.


    Her pondering onlysted until another wave of wounded flooded into the tent. She needed to focus on healing now.


    As the only person with a directed healing spell, reattaching limbs and such always fell to her. It was seemingly never-ending work, as the troops were called up in waves to try and take the walls.


    Eventually, Team Unbroken went on standby, and they were collectively sent to rest up before they joined a wave.


    Melinda suspected Baxter of pulling a few strings, or five hundred, but she didn''t mention it. She wanted to help, but half of her team was still waiting for a decent chance to earn more points.


    While she, Tara, and Vinnie had been assigned elsewhere, Mathew, Sam, and Kyle had been pushed into spending their downtime performing generalbor. That tranted into backbreaking menial jobs like hauling supplies, assisting to clear nearby forests, and prepping the trees for refinement.


    Mathew was ecstatic to see her for more than ten minutes, and likewise for her. But they were both so tired, they fell asleep in their full armor. She had an imprint of his shoulder pauldron on her face, but being near him was enough to recharge her mental batteries.


    Their team was attacking at sunset, when the defenders would have the sun in their eyes on this side of the wall. In theory, it was a good idea. But she didn''t miss the two burned-out husks of siege towers approaching the walls.


    Unlike thest time, the Queendom army seemed more prepared to work with Pathers. Large shields were handed out and collectively held up to protect them from the iing fire, which was an improvement fromst time, when they were left to their own devices.


    Remembering the man with a whip, she winced.


    They advanced in darkness, with the raised shields blocking everything. However, the sound of their steps was soon matched by the patter of arrows striking shields.


    Melinda kept an eye out for any wounded, and quickly healed the few injuries she found. Their forces remained mostly unharmed, until a ballista bolt ripped through a column of their ranks.


    Then, the screaming started.


    A man missing most of his chest quickly vanished, courtesy of the ever-watchful army personnel. He was arguably one of the lucky ones.


    A young man clutched the stump of his lower leg while blood hosed out of it, driven by the frantic beating of his heart. Melindas AI noticed where the leg was. The severed limb was mostly intact, so she grabbed it, almost stumbling as some of the armor fell away. As she made her way, she saw the remains of pink nnel pajamas underneath. There were even pictures of adorable snoozing kittens on it. After quickly shaking off the sense of incongruity with the scene around her, she pried the kid''s hands away from the wound and casted [Directed Heal]. She didn''t have long,as the formationation was relentlessly marching on around her. Yet with the assistance of her Talent, the man was back on his feet in seconds, ready to push forward again.


    One poor woman sat impaled through the hip and anchored in ce by the bolt. Melinda tried to help her, but the formation moved past too quickly. Thankfully, she was pulled out quickly, but Melinda still saw the womans pleading gaze.


    An unfamiliar earth skill rose from another part of the formation to meet the next ballista bolt. A foot-wide pir of stone shot out and intercepted the bolt with a head-on collision, resulting in an explosion of stone fragments. But the projectiles energy was spent, and they were safe. For that brief moment.


    A mana cannons st proved more difficult to block. More of them disappeared in shes of blue-white.Then, seemingly without warning, they found themselves at the breach in the wall and climbing the stairs, hobbled together while climbing out of the rubble.


    They quickly rushed through the iing fire raining down on them from above and in front, but the sts petered out as they arrived within melee range of a makeshift barrier in the middle of the breach.


    She called out through their team channel, Vinnie, open us a hole in the berm. Tara, take out any mages you see. If not, pick off the defenders on the wall. Sam, hit them with something to clear the wall.


    Kyle and Mathew moved up through the little clearing that Vinnie made, drawing attention to themselves. But between the two frontliners, her team''s position was secure, at least for the moment.


    A woman sped unnaturally fast towards them with a purely electric wreath atop her head and lightning glowing around their arms. She suddenly slid into the ground as Vinne pulled her down before she could touch Mathew or Kyle. Mathew used his personal shield to keep the small berm controlled as he took measured steps forward, using his bulk and heavy armor to prevent anyone from moving past him.


    Kyles massive swinging sword dissuaded anyone from even attempting to approach him. Instead, archers and mages began peppering him from a distance.


    Seeing the issue develop, Melinda called for Sam. I need something to clear out the second berm''s ranged attackers.


    Sam pulled out arge bottomed vial and threw it high.


    Tara pivoted and shot the vial mid-air, without breaking her stride. The orange liquid quickly dissipated as a vapor, melting everything it touched. Skin and metal bubbled in a sickening disy before the entire swath of people vanished.


    The next defensive berms upants stayed far away from the cloud of gas as it settled on the stone, after one person lost a foot to the remnants.


    That was not a potion that Melinda knew of in Sam''s arsenal. Nor was she fond of seeing it in action. She made a note to get an exnation from herter, but she suspected a certain double princess involvement.


    Despite the grotesque way of killing people, the tactic had worked. Their team single-handedly captured a portion of the berm, and Queendom troops rushed in from behind them to try and secure the gap.


    The Kingdom troops didnt idle either, and reinforcements stormed in from deeper in the city.


    Kyle and Mathew fought a pair of Tier 7s to a standstill, and to her pride, were now gaining ground. It would take them a bit of time, but they each were holding their own, and even pushing the Kingdom reinforcements back. Until a full group of Tier 7s arrived, and shifted the odds heavily against them.


    Outnumbered, their team started falling back.


    The situation deteriorated further when an arrow sprouted from Sams chest.


    Her teammate crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, and Melinda called out for cover.


    Discovering the issue only took a moment; the arrow had nicked her friends spinal cord. Sam didnt even say a word, simply trusting Melinda to make her whole again.


    She called out, Hold for me! I got her.


    Healing something like this was a delicate job. Were it not for her Talent, Melinda would have needed to go back and perfect the areater. But she extracted the arrow enough to free the spine, and delicately stitched the broken nerves back together, with her overhealth guaranteeing perfection.


    Sam gasped for breath as function returned to her body. Melinda left the rest of the arrow in her after breaking off the fletching. It had missed everything else vital, and she didn''t have the time with their retreat.


    Standing together, Sam tossed a potion at their feet which produced a dense, grey haze. With the woman''s Talent, the gaspletely avoided her side, and created a deadly zone for the counterattacking Kingdom troops.


    Melinda dodged out of instinct as a Kingdom man attacked her after taking out part of the team next to them. He seemed unconcerned with the poisonous fumes around them.


    She took the first strike on her armor, but her AI registered that the de had pierced through and bit into her flesh. She struck out with her mace, forcing the man to step back. He tried to lunge forward, but she used a backswing to strike his arm, which broke under the weight of her weapon.


    Using her shield, she blocked the next two attacks, feeling them get stronger each time. In between each strike, she realized that he was holding his breath to avoid inhaling the poison, yet he didnt seem to be slowing down withck of oxygen. Luckily, heavy wounds taken from thest team were wearing on him, or else shed have been gone by now.


    Reeling backwards to desperately create distance, she saw Vinnie ping her AI, Grabbing him.


    When the man moved to close in on her, only to sink into the stone down to his knees, she was prepared. Her blow that the man clearly intended to take on his shieldnded directly on his armored head instead. He was gone before she could identify how bad the damage truly was, but she knew that it had to have been a fatal blow.


    With the team next to them fallen, Melinda checked her mana, and found that she had half a pool. She decided to use [Jolt] to help clear out a portion of the enemies who were rushing to attack their nk.


    Baxter had repeatedly rmended that she never exhaust her mana pool below the cost of an emergency offensive skill. Those words proved their worth, as her rarely used attack extended from her. The energy ripped through three people before fizzling out. It bought them enough time to disengage.


    Or at least, for most of them to disengage. Tara was locked up, trading shots with another archer.


    Melinda wasn''t sure if she was showing off, or having trouble taking the other archer out, as they were shooting each other''s arrows out of the air.


    Finally, Tara lost her patience, and her next shot split into five copies before the other archer could shoot it, and several copies made it through. Mathew was there to block the final return arrow, but the explosions of fire in the distance told Melinda that Tara had used the skill on one of the elemental arrows.


    Exposing one of their trump cards was an unfortunate oue, but she agreed with Taras usage of the skill.


    Most human enchanted arrows couldn''t be easily duplicated with skills. They either didn''t work, or lost most of their power. With each copied arrows explosion being the same size, anyone who noticed could deduce that their team had either a supply of rift enchanted arrows, or a rift item that made them.


    She hoped that everyone would assume the former, if only because theyd all try to steal Taras quiver if they knew it was thetter.


    With half the secret out of the bag, Melinda gave Tara leave to use three more arrows. That should be just enough to imply that they had a supply, but were using them very sparingly, as if they were few in number. Hopefully, they could get ahead of the information with some incessantining about the loss of irreceable arrows.


    Two more fire arrows wereunched to cover their retreat as they raced away with the rest of the survivors of their unit. There was no order, and the surviving formations ran together while trying to dodge the iing fire.


    As they neared Taras maximum range, a lightning arrow crackled out from her bow and created an instant of daylight in the pitch ck of night.


    The sh ruined their visibility, but that sameck hampered the Kingdom defenders on the walls, as most of their ranged attacks went far off target.


    When the team were back in the Queendoms encampment, Melinda pulled Sam to the healer''s tent and extracted the arrow that was still inside of her.


    Baxter had to volunteer information on how to extract the arrow from the sealed wound without doing excessive damage. Her Talent had healed the wound around the remnant of the arrow perfectly, locking it into ce. That was great on a battlefield or in a situation where her Talent was counted, but she could send Sam into a long healing cooldown if she did too much damage while removing the projectile.


    Or a simted healing cooldown.


    They were pretending that her Talent didn''t exist, which felt unfair in this case, when she was dealing with it doing its job <em>too well</em>.


    Even still, after she gave Sam a pain killer, she managed to gently cut the arrow free and reheal her friend. All without sending her over the threshold for a mandatory healing cooldown. It was close though. Close enough that if Sam stubbed her toe too hard, she might end up teleported out.


    Begging off pleas for a shift at the healing tent, Melinda crashed with her team.


    Their fight onlysted an hour, but they were all drained of mana and exhausted.


    The siege continued on, following a simr routine for the next four days, until they heard news of the other besieging army finally taking their city. Even with their ownck of progress, the encampment celebrated the victory and its implied hope that Amber, with her infamous new spell, woulde to assist them in battering down the Kingdom troops still holed up in this city.


    Then the news came down that Amber had been killed in an ambush by Matts remaining troops. The cheery atmosphere faded away in a blink. As the surviving troops escorting their fallen hero arrived, things in the encampment turned even grimmer.


    More than one squad ended up in a brawl, as frustrated fighters mocked and threw insults at the portion of men who failed to protect Amber. With both Sara and Amber dead, internal strife began to spread. Melinda felt that this was an ironic turn of events, as she remembered how this very army had celebrated the death of Prince Albert and Juni, which led to a simr situation.


    Orders came down demanding that they take the city in the next two days, casualties be damned.


    That soured the mood, but everyone prepared toply nheless, and readied themselves to take the city.


    Melinda''s team was in the third wave and watching from afar, when there was a ring rm override in her AI.


    Halt all fighting and prepare for emergency transit.


    The message repeated three times, then Melinda and her team saw the world around them change.


    Baxter stood with them in the all too bright sun around the neutral city, staring up into the sky.


    A death notification shocked Melinda as much as the rapidly teleported people.


    What the fuck was that!?


    Baxter pulled his gaze down at her and smiled. Want to watch the show?


    Melinda had no idea what he was talking about, but nodded.


    A secondter, her team hovered over the rapidly emptying city.


    Then, in a sh of purple haze, everyone remaining vanished.


    Melinda opened her mouth to ask what was going on, when the world turned white.


    She worried about going blind when the air in front of her team went dark.


    Melinda grabbed the nearest hands she could as an enormous fireball engulfed the city and turned into a mushroom cloud. But they were perfectly fine as the st ofpressed air smashed the nearby forest, and stripped the topyer of a nearby mountain off.


    Then, everything seemed to reverse as the air rushed inward to the epicenter, dragging the debris inward to cause more destruction.


    When she thought things were over, Melinda watched as a smaller, secondary explosion fired something into the air through the dust plume.


    The city which had resisted their attacks for thest week was just gone. The encampment where they had stayed was simrly destroyed, but there were more remnants of it tangled in the mess of trees and stones.


    Melinda turned to Baxter. What was that!?


    Heughed as he pointed off into the distance, where she could see another plume of dust rising. That, sweet child, is the end of a war.


    At his words, a message greeted her.


    <strong>Kingdom Victory by surrender of Queen Diana; weep as your side has lost</strong>.<strong></strong>


    That made even less sense.


    Tara pipped in, Yeah. I don''t get what happened.


    With a sh, they were in the neutral citys shadow again, as Baxter exined, If the light show didnt make it obvious enough, the Kingdom nted bombs in all their cities from the beginning. Traps. It was the main part of the King''s overall n.


    Mathew huffed, That hardly seems in the spirit of a training war.


    The rest of her team chimed in while Baxter shrugged. The Queendom could have and <em>should have</em> noticed them. But they were disgracefully sloppy. The bombs were hidden under the teleportation pads, but you never settle yourself in former enemy territory without a <em>thorough</em> search first. This was an ameture strategy working against an even more amateurish opponent.


    He pointed up. Besides, the Queendom had their own little ploy to end the war. It even worked for the real war, just not here.


    The drama ying out in the air above them was broadcast to everyone present. Together, they watched the King and Queen face off. Melinda disengaged from Sam and Vinnie to hug Mathew.


    Seeing Albert publicly degraded caused Melindas fist to clench, until she felt her own knuckles pop around Mathew''s stronger hand. That was a humiliation no one should suffer, and it was being broadcast to everyone. Normally, she disdained anyone that didnt appreciate still having their parents around. But watching Alberts father, she couldnt help but feel that his son would be happier as an orphan.


    Baxter maintained a carefully neutral face throughout, which Melinda found uneptable. Why don''t you stop him? He''s hitting someone so much weaker than himself.


    Her mentor let out a sigh that felt tired, even to her. I wish I could. I do, but familial discipline is an exception to the Tierws. If he killed the boy, Id have cause to act. But he''s careful, and didn''t even break anything.


    Melindas teeth clicked as she held back a retort. Baxter didn''t like it either, and if he refused to act, there was nothing she could say to move him. And he clearly wasn''t happy about it either.


    As Sam cursed under her breath with something Melinda didn''t quite hear, earning augh from Baxter. Why yes, that jackass will get hiseuppance. If you remember Lizs mother, you even know who will probably do it.


    Kyle asked the question they were all thinking first. Um. I don''t get it. I know who youre talking about, but I don''t see the rtionship.


    Baxter sent a group voice message in reply. Mara and Leon are well-known oddballs. She likes to collects where important events of her children happened. Liz made a lot of friends and grew a lot here, with both the golem incident and Pather war. Id bet everything I own that she''sing to collect this ce as we speak. He looked at them, Which means that we want to be out of here sooner rather thanter.


    Tara leaned forward to peer around Vinnie. But still, how does that equal anything?


    Baxter smirked. Those bombs were packed full of depleted copper. The is going to need years of work to be made clean again. And how can a collector have a dirty prize? She''s gonna be royally pissed, and Id bet shell take it out on him.


    Melinda scanned her team to confirm that they didn''t have any depleted copper in them, and concluded that Baxter must have shielded them.


    She guessed it made sense for Mara to be mad, but the resolution still felt empty overall. The end of the war was so unsatisfying. They had fought so hard to secure a win, while bleeding and sacrificing everything they had. All for it all to suddenly vanish through the machinations of two Tier 35s and a sudden surrender.


    She couldnt say if she would do anything different. With most of the Queendom forces dead for two weeks, and a good portion of the now poisoned, the war was as good as over.


    Dropping her mace, Melinda asked, So what now?


    Baxter stretched. Whatever the hell you want. Personally, Id suggest you kiddos tag along with Matty and Beth-Beth out to a more remote location of the Empire. Theres someone out there I think you would do well to meet, Melinda. Plus, you can have a nice rxing break after working so hard during the past few months.


    He started walking into the city while her team scrambled to keep up. A break sounded good. Spending it hanging out with Matt, Liz, and Aster sounded amazing too.


    Baxter said over their still open channel, Besides, you can take advantage of Matts abilities when we get out there.


    Melindas hackles rose. She and her team had already talked about that, and decided not to take <em>anything</em> else from Matt.


    No. I''d rather go our separate ways if that''s the n. We need to stand on our own.


    Her team backed her up in a chorus of agreements, but Baxter just turned and walked backwards to face them. I don''t mean youll be mooching free shit off him. I mean that youll delve the rifts he can power. It will do you guys good to delve blindly and often. With him there, you can all stay full of mana too. You can condense years of training into months. If you really feel that bad, just don''t absorb the essence and give the rewards to him. But your little team <em>needs</em> the practice. Fighting people is great training, don''t get me wrong. But delving blind is its own type of equally good practice.


    Melinda hated to admit it, but she agreed with his reasoning. She wanted to say Matt couldn''t afford it, but the man was a literal mana fountain. He wouldn''t miss the mana it took to keep them topped off and delving often.


    She even agreed that it would be good training.


    As her team followed Baxter into the city, they had a rapid conversation through their AIs.


    Sam was all for it. This is perfect. Liz told me how she got the ingredients for the mana concentration potions. If we can make one for general herbs, I can advance my craft a ton. And I know she''d be all for it.


    Tara poked her as she rebutted. We already took a ton from him. It''s not fair to use Matt for items. If we do this, we need to be independent.


    Kyle scoffed, Yeah, maybe you and Vinnie took a ton, but the rest of us didn''t get growth items. He held up his hands. Not that I think were owed growth items or anything, but even with the skills, we got a lot less than you two.


    Mathew interjected, Speaking of skills, the war is over, so even though we died, we can cash out and not take a loss. Better to buy skills and items now, before everyone else realizes that.


    That distracted them as Melinda sighed. Of course, now that she finally had the half-million points needed to buy the upgrade orb, they were all long gone. Disappointed, she went with her backup n and bought the Tier 20 directed healing skill, [Mend Flesh]. It was like [Directed Heal], but specialized in mending muscles and skin. The individual skills [Mend Muscle] and [Mend Skin] would be better, but they were even higher of a Tier. Still, this would let her cheaply stop bleeding inbat situations, while being useful for hospital work.


    The skill had an incredibly low mana cost, while being even more effective at its specific task than [Directed Heal], which could do anything. It also caused less healing cooldown than undirected healing spells.


    Normally, she would need to save over years of hospital work to afford it. But the rewards for the war were generous, and you needed to be a registered healer to buy directed healing skills from the store. Which meant that she was one of the few people on the who could and would purchase it. Unless the army healers didn''t already have the skill, for some odd reason.


    With less than 100,000 points left over, Melinda sent them to the groupnso the others could use them to get what they needed.


    Kyle, in the end, needed the points the most, and bought a weapon charm growth item that increased the connected weapon''s weight at the wielder''s discretion. The only reason the charm hadn''t been bought yet was that it only increased the weight of the item, and couldnt lower it.


    For Kyle, who had more strength than he knew what to do with, it was nearly perfect. But even with the limitation, it was still pricey at 400,000 points.


    Mathew bought a new Tier 8 shield that he insisted he could handle, despite the spiritual strain, as long as he didn''t use the embedded [Expand] skill.


    Eventually, they returned to the topic of going with Matt.


    Mathew shrugged. I dont think we should take anything from him either, but free unlimited rift ess would be amazing for a little while. Her husband promised, We really do need the practice, but I don''t think it should be forever.


    He looked at Baxter. I assume we wouldn''t be allowed to use it forever, would we?


    The older healer grinned and winked at Mathew. Nope. Not a chance. But while youre at Tier 6, if you stall there for a bit, I''m happy to let you do it for a year or two.


    Melinda had to nod to herself. That made sense. They were nearly at the peak of Tier 6, and they could advance with little effort with normal delves. Their team was also well ahead of the curve, so their stalling would put more pressure on them when they did advance.


    They would have to bnce practicing in unlimited rifts while at Tier 6, and learning while eating into their buffer.


    Vinnie asked, Hey, I cant help but notice you didnt mention what Tier of rift we can delve.


    Baxterughed. Color me surprised. I didn''t think any of you would catch that immediately. Yes, if you want to delve up a Tier or two, then I''m all for it. If you can beat Tier 8 rifts at Tier 6 and farm a bunch of skills, I won''t interfere at all. Fighting up is why we have The Path after all. His grin became positively evil as he added, If you really feel that motivated, I can even ask a dear old friend to give you some pointers. She just <em>loves </em>mentoring the younger generations, and I''m sure shes been taking notes.


    He refused to borate further, only chuckling to himself as they collected the few belongings they left in their room, then waited for Matt at the teleporter. Baxter said that they were going to arrive soon, and Melinda just wanted to get out of her armor and into somethingfy.


    As she leaned on her husband and chatted with her family, she thought back to the past year''s events. They hade a long way, getting out of the rut they had fallen into, and honing theirbat skills in real danger. Their individual skills and teamwork had increased tremendously as a result.


    Melinda had even gotten over her phobia of using her Concept, even if she didn''t like it.


    She had no idea who the person Baxter wanted them to meet was, but was confident that her family could handle it. And traveling with friends would make anything they encountered a challenge, instead of an impossible task.


    Seeing Matt and Liz holding hands as they walked in, with Aster prancing around their heels, she smiled.


    Things would be ok.


    She would make sure of it.


    Healing took on many shapes, and she would master them all.


    Eventually, she intended to even master death.


    Eventually.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106


    Head Sect Elder Winter Ho looked around the gathering of leaders and met Defiant Comets eyes. The woman was glittering with released mana in a wasteful disy. For her, it was nothing unusual, but her nod back spoke of understanding.


    Smooth Bow and Dual Spear sat together and quietly chatted with their heads pressed together. Their sects were an annoying alliance that always voted together.


    They were the fools trying to reform their sects and feeder sects to follow the cursed Empire''s path of cowardice.


    He would have removed the two, but their Sects were old and held great sway, ounting for nearly thirty percent of the highest Tier smiths and alchemists among the coborating sects. It could cripple the war effort to alienate them now.


    And they <em>were</em> loyal. They advocated for war with the Empire as much as the other Elders. Only, their goals were different. The duo wanted to slow the Empire''s growth and recreate its sess.


    Elder Winter Ho knew that to be the folly it truly was. The Empire might find the rare gem, but their harsh and brutal training method of allowing the strong to dominate the weak had made them a top Great Power for generations by ensuring everyone of their cultivators were hard as the stones beneath their feet. The Empire might have surprised them in short order, but he believed them to be a paper dragon with one real tooth.


    Duke Waters.


    Elder Winter Ho sneered. The man was a monster, that was a fact no one doubted, but he was only one man. The Empire hadnt allowed their regr troops to fight in nearly three millennia.


    The new Emperor was a coward, like his father before him.


    A new Tier 50 had to make their mark and show their power. The normal way to do that was to duel the other Tier 50s, and start a war, or at least fabricate a border skirmish. It was what he had done, and it forced the others to take him seriously. Through his fists, he ensured that no one would try to interfere with hisnds.


    Emmanuel had only wanted to duel them, which was an oue that no one would allow. The thiefs Talents were well documented, and no one was willing to allow him a chance at their Tier 50 Talent. In a fight the man might be able to breach their defenses and take what was their core.


    It wouldn''t do to give the man more power, especially theirs.


    If Elder Winter Ho had been in his ce, he would have simply started a border skirmish to show his willingness to fight, but Emmanuel had just sat there.


    Then, Duke Waters had been found, and suddenly, the Empire was willing to engage with their Ascender.


    That had been an undesirable oue, but an eptable one. When a Great Power had the advantage of a cultivator who could punch above their weight, they pressed it. As was right and proper.


    No one even contemted having a Tier 36 or higher go and assassinate the man. That was a precedent no one wanted to set. Besides, the stronger the Ascender, the faster they usually advanced past Tier 35, removing themselves from therge-scale wars for newnds and olds.


    They would just need to wait, and eventually, the man would move on. Then the Empire could be taken down a peg to restore the bnce between the Great Powers.


    However, Light and Shadow had been found shortly afterwards, and things had changed.


    Suddenly, the expensive social reforms that the Empire had been undertaking, which the other Great Powers had mocked, had produced another pair of powerhouses.


    In and of itself, that was fine. It was rare, but a Great Power with two sets of Ascenders was not unheard of, and it was usually considered a golden age for the realm. But normally, the Ascenders were millennia apart, not just a few hundred years.


    It meant that they would have the pair for far longer than was average.


    The Empire had been used of cheating, but the Coward had provided overwhelming proof that neither he, nor anyone else, had interfered with the general rules that they all abided by.


    Ascenders were strong. There was no question about that. But that didn''t mean a carefully nurtured chosen one couldn''t equal them. There was power in the public perception of someone who had reached Tier 25 in two hundred years on their own.


    Most rightly assumed that any Ascender was then given everything they needed and wanted, which only increased their power further. It was true that the cultivators who reached Tier 25 on their own, when given the full support of a Great Power, bloomed. It was adding water to arid soil.


    They flourished.


    A third batch of strong youths were being raised in the Empire, and the fact that a few were suspected of having the ability to at least make it to Tier 20 while on the Path made the timing urgent.


    The other Great Powers needed to attack and cripple the Empire before their lead on the others became so great, they would be left behind and forced to bend the knee.


    Looking at the rest of his Elders, Elder Winter Ho pushed his perception out of the capital to see if their visitor had arrived yet.


    Two short dayster, she arrived with an entourage befitting the next Tier 50 of the Republic. Datys recement was a tall woman with pure, white eyes that drew you in, and with her near the peak of Tier 49, he had to resist the pull even while she didn''t use the ability.


    The spies he had in the Republic hadnt learned much about the Talent, but it was known to be her Tier 25. Overnight, she went from just another average cultivator to a Republic sensation, who was unbeatable in a direct engagement. She seemed to also have a partial Seeker ability, rising through the ranks withbat prowess and political maneuvering.


    When in use, J''s eyes drew in attacks, where they then vanished, until she spat them back out many times stronger. So far, no one had figured out how to counter the ability, but he had a few ideas.


    Standing, he pushed his perception out and weed the party of seven to his capital.


    With his five sect elders at Tier 47 and two at Tier 48, he had the strength advantage. But he also had three thousand years to advance his stronger people, where J hadnt. It would be the height of folly to disrespect them now, right before they took full control of the Great Power stronger than his own.


    When the group appeared in the meeting chambers, he nodded slightly and said, Good evening. I am happy to have you visit my realm. Elder Winter Ho gestured around. If you would like, after our meeting, please partake in any activities you wish on my. I wish you to feel at home.


    J kept her eyes nearly closed and responded, Once we get the formalities out of the way, I will be happy to take you up on that offer. But first... She trailed off and nced to her side, where a burly man with melee fighter cores stepped forward and presented a box with a single, thin and absurdly sharp needle. It radiated so much cold, that during the few seconds of the man opening the box, he was covered in frost. Though, it didn''t seem to bother him.


    J nodded to the box. With Daty ready to ascend, I have been delving rapidly to reach Tier 49, after securing the general vote. During that time, I had a lucky encounter. A rare permutation of one of our rifts created a Tier 48 Ice Wasp.


    Elder Winter Ho stiffened at the name, but wasn''t dumb enough to think that she was mocking his weapon of choice. No, he could feel the barb was indeed the stinger on a wasp.


    In his childhood, he had been a simple ve, who was sent into the deep underground caverns to chip away ice from criticalponents of the Ice Forges. The Winter Forge Sect had used them to create their special elemental weapons. It was hard and bitter work, where two out of five died from exposure, or ice falling on them. But he had absorbed the cold, and cultivated with it. When he fought his way out of the mines, he had done so with the only weapon avable to him. His ice pick.


    When he emerged, he discarded his ve clothes and old names for cultivator robes and a proper cultivator title, as he was made an official disciple. That was the start of his climb to the top.


    Elder Winter Ho had never forgotten his humble beginnings or changed his weapon of choice. He had only elongated the handle to fit in his hand better. With the cold, he slowed then killed stronger opponents with his awl, which let him punch through the heaviest of armors.


    It was why he knew the Sects system worked, and that the Empire was only getting lucky.


    Struggle brought out power.


    It always had, and always would.


    He nearly licked his lips as he looked at the stinger. It was the perfect weapon to make into a recement for his elementally neutral awl, which was a full Tier lower than the material presented.


    The problem after Tier 47 was theck of rifts, and the inability to find high enough materials to make proper weapons with. With an elementally aligned weapon closer to his own Tier, he would double his power output without the threat of ascending involuntarily.


    I offer the stinger as a show of goodwill in our alliance to take down the Empire. This is too big of a threat to our Great Powers future prosperity to have any doubt in our dealings. Let this show my sincerity.


    Elder Winter Ho smiled. It was a good show of faith, and he knew he would end up paying for this favor. But whatever future favor this cost him, it would be worth it.


    He smiled. Let us chat. I want to bring in the lesser Great Powers to round out our numbers. Sit, and let us discuss.


    ***


    Matt and Liz met up with Melindas team at the Queendom teleporter, to find his friends dirty and tired looking, but they had smiles on their faces.


    What happened to you guys?


    Tara kicked his shin. You! You kept attacking our encampment and causing a bunch of stress! She mockingly pouted. You owe me for that! I lost a lot of points because of you.


    Matt smiled as Liz retorted, You could have jumped ship when the Queendom changed the rules.


    Sam scoffed. Yeah, and join the losers? At least our side won the real war.


    Mattughed as the three of them started to bicker, and turned to Melinda and Mathew. So what are your ns? I hear that youre going to the boonies as well.


    Mathew half shrugged. Apparently. Baxter wants us to meet someone.


    They both looked to Melinda, who looked back at them with a nk face. I don''t know either. Everyone heard him say the same thing. He was trying to be mysterious.


    Matt didn''t care. It would be nice to travel with them either way.


    Before long, it was their turn to teleport to the Queendoms inteary teleporter, and they crushed in with everyone else attempting to get into the city that he was just besieging an hour ago.


    Relying on Melinda, they made their way to the muchrger teleporter, and were quickly transported out. Apparently, with the Queendoms taking of the Tier 20, the victors rushed to bring in vast quantities of goods, and used the teleporter as fast as it could be loaded on the other end.


    When they appeared on the other, Matt, Liz, and Aster all started sneezing so rapidly and so intensely, they gave themselves headaches.


    Melinda patted Aster, who seemed to have it worse, and covered her face with a cloth mask. Everyone else had already brought out face coverings.


    Sorry, we forgot to warn you. We looked it up after hearing from other in the Queendom. This ce has pollen that is really irritating for a while. It will pass in an hour or so, but it''s rough.


    Matt looked up through tearing eyes and saw that the air was hazy, and had a purple tinge to it. It was actually really pretty. Or, it would have been, if he wasn''t attacked by another round of sneezing.


    They were escorted off the tform by the workers, and once inside a sealed room, they quickly recovered, and he cursed himself for not using [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Matt grabbed Kyle, who hadn''t stopped smirking, and started jabbing his ribs. You remembered, didnt you?


    Yup! Kyle said, doing his best to speak whileughing. Thats What you get for Hey!


    Upon hearing that she could have been warned, Aster had frozen his legs solid, causing him to stumble to the ground. There, she pranced onto his chest and started yipping at him.


    Her AI messages were broadcast for everyone to hear. That''s not nice. So I''ll make you ice!


    She seemed inordinately pleased with her rhyme, and the frost started to creep up Kyle''s waist until Matt picked her up.


    Sam took Aster and cradled her, loudly whispering, It''s ok. We can put itching powder in his clothester. The big meany.


    Liz red at him as well before adding in the same faux quiet voice, I know of one thatsts for hours.


    Kyle tried to protest, but even his own team was ignoring him.


    Now that he had time to observe, Matt found that they had been led into a building for charter ships to the other teleporter. They walked into a private room, dragging Kyles still half frozen form from where they left him on a seat.


    After settling him, Matt checked and found a local teleporter, but the price was absurd. For each teleport, it was a Tier 9 mana stone,pared to the Tier 3 mana stone for a luxury suite on the slower flying transports.


    Why does it cost so much money? That''s ridiculous.


    Matt didn''t actually expect anyone to answer him, but a frazzled looking April was suddenly at his side and said, This is a Tier 2. Mana is at a premium if they want to Tier the up in any reasonable amount of time. Teleporters are hungry things, and eat a lot of mana. The Tier 9 mana stone is more a deterrent than anything else. It costs way more mana to activate the formation, but few are willing to pay it. If too many people start paying for it, theyll increase the price.


    Everyone was looking at her, and she waved. I''m April. Liaison for their management team. She pointed at Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    She turned back to Matt and flicked a finger at him. This is the destination Luna wants you to go to. I''ve set a travel n for you. It''s not a rush, but you don''t really have time to dally either. Tworger stops because of teleportation timings, but as long as you follow this, you should be able to travel infort.


    Matt was reviewing the n andined, These are all luxury travel ns. I can''t afford this. He paused to ask, Can I?


    April just blinked at him. Yes? Yes, you can. It''s not even that expensive. But more importantly, there are millions of people trying to get out of Queendom territory, or returning home to said territory. The cheaper amodations are booked for months.


    Mathew opened his mouth and raised a finger, but April answered, Yes, those ns included you all. Baxter asked me to schedule for you as well.


    She peered at all of them with a raised eyebrow. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Seeing them silent, she continued, Good. Then Im off. I won''t see you at your destination unless things go really well on my end.


    The woman looked ready and was fading away when Liz asked, What are you doing?


    April reappeared and quickly said, Setting up your next travel ns. This war was supposed tost a lot longer, giving me more time before our initial meeting, but Luna wanted us all to meet you first. Im the new girl, so I get to do the grunt work. Luna wants half a dozen people to spend time with you all in just the next few years. She sighed. Anything else? I really need to get going.


    When Liz shook her head, April vanished.


    Melinda asked, What do we owe you for the transportation cost? I didn''t n for that.


    At the same time Vinnie asked, Who was she? His eyes lingered on where her lower half had been, and he kept blinking.


    Sam reached out to p him while Melinda did the same. He dodged the attacks with practiced ease.


    Matt tried to think back and realized that he had never actually exined to them about the management team.


    Well, because of my abilities, we were investigated and got the option to toughen up The Path with a personal trainer. Their job is to ensure we don''t ck off.


    Seeing Melinda''s entire team wince at the mention of cking off, Matt rushed ahead. So that was April. The liaison for the other two. I guess we won''t be seeing her as much as I thought.


    Vinnie made a sad noise before dodging two more ps.


    Melinda straightened up. As interesting as that is She smiled before continuing, And congrattions, that sounds really important I don''t want charity. We can reimburse you for anything she charges you.


    Matt looked back to the travel ns that said the tickets for the entire travel were already paid for.


    He ryed that, to everyone''s confusion.


    Liz offered, We have to pay somehow. Were still on The Path, and can''t get free things. She was flicking through her own AI, judging by the rapid movement of her eyes. Ah, here it is. Oh. Oh!


    Sheughed. Matt, check your training regimen.


    Not knowing that he could do that, Matt checked.


    <strong>Time charging mana stones owed: 17 days</strong>.


    Matt opened his mouth but clicked it shut.


    Heughed to Melinda. Well, unless you want to donate to the mana fund that Im apparently responsible for, you can''t really pay for it.


    Tara offered, We have some mana stones. If the conversion cost is the same, we can pay for ourselves.


    Matt did the math and shot back, Unless you have a Tier 25 mana stone, no. Apparently, Im paying with my mana, and it''s dirt cheap.


    Liz actually nodded at that. I can see that actually. The reason mana stones are worth so much is because they don''t change size. For your mana, itll take a butt load of storage to fit all that. I bet Luna has something in mind.


    Mathew still objected. It doesn''t seem fair. We don''t want charity. We want to shore up our weaknesses and stand on our own.


    He looked between Melinda and Matt. And to not rely on <em>anyone''s</em> Talent.


    Matt shrugged while sitting back in the chair. I really don''t know what you can do. This is something that will only cost me a few weeks out of our travels. I can have it paid off before we even reach the halfway mark, if I donate for six hours a day. Were going to be traveling for a while.


    Kyle, who was thawing out, said, Yeah. Jokes aside, this feels wrong. We aren''t here for free rides.


    Eventually, they epted the trip, as there was little else they could do but get left behind to deal with the masses of people trying to leave the Tier 6. It took some light bickering and exnation of all parts, but they all agreed that they would pay their own way after this.


    Matt really didn''t mind, but kept his mouth shut. He understood, but his Talent was paying for it, making it feel free.


    Only a few hourster, they boarded a massive flying ship that soared through the sky, nearing the outer atmosphere to increase speeds. It was still slow, but Matt really didn''t want to be outside in the pollen-riddled air. Especially after having to use [Cracked Phantom Armor] for the majority of the time he had been stuck on that golem and war-infested. It was as annoying as it was pretty.


    Their rooms were amazing. Matt and Liz had a massive shower and tubbo that they rxed in until they were pruney and cold.


    They had nned for a dinner with Melinda''s team, but their messages had gone unanswered, and Matt suspected they were as tired as he was.


    The war had its downtime, sure, but the stress of never knowing if an assassin was going to attack you, even in the neutral city, meant that everyone was always on alert. It was exhausting in a way he hadnt realized until the need for it was gone.


    Add onto that the stress of leading thest of the Kingdom troops against internal opposition, and Matt just really wanted to sleep.


    He was lying in bed with Liz and Aster when he had the feeling that someone was watching him.


    That sent a spike of adrenaline, which fully woke him up and startled Liz.


    What? She didn''t bring her head out of the pillow as she asked.


    Liz, could Luna be watching us right now? I just had the thought. If she made notes about us having sex, that means she''s really watching us at all times.


    Liz yawned as she cuddled Aster. Yeah, so?


    That''s an invasion of our privacy. It''s creepy.


    He looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.


    Liz, to his irritation, seemed unbothered. Yeah, that''s what it means to live with high Tier people. They always know what''s going on around them, unless you block them out.


    Matttched onto that. How do we do that?


    Liz pulled him back down to curl into him. Reach a Tier near hers. Or super expensive formations which don''t really stop dedicated snooping. Shes going to watch us all the time, but we can still ask her to leave us alone when we sleep.


    Without opening her eyes, she called out, Luna. Please dont pay attention when a normal person would expect privacy. Thank you.


    That''s it?


    Liz mumbled, All we can do. And I really doubt that were the most interesting thing going on. She wants to train us, not watch us poop.


    Matt, still unsettled, snarked, I don''t know. Maybe she has a notebook about how we can poop better.


    ***


    Luna looked into her piles of notebooks and threw two of them out.


    ***


    The next day, they mostly rxed as they watched the pass under them, until they arrived at their destination. It was arge, but under construction city, which housed the teleporter that would take them to their next destination.


    As they traveled, they settled into a routine of self-training where they could and rxation when appropriate. Itsted a week before they all got bored and started to spar when they could. They even bought out rifts when they had longer wait times at the teleporter cities.


    The sparring was good for all of them.


    Matt had to admit that his friends had improved greatly, and even their AI simted full contact spars were much harder. He was now unable to defeat them even a quarter of the time. Between Vinnie and Tara, they usually had him quickly pinned down and taken out.


    Their coordination was much better, and Kyle and Mathew kept him from attacking the more vulnerable back line. It usually spelled his doom once Tara or Vinnie hit him, or pulled him underground. Tara was able to ce shots though his armor if he wasn''t concentrating the extrayer on a single spot, and he hadnt had the chance to absorb his new [Earth Maniption] skill to counter Vinnie.


    He was proud of them for specifically countering him, and once he started to change tactics, things settled back into an even split of wins and losses.


    With Liz and Aster helping, they still utterly dominated, but each round got slightly harder as each side learned to contend with each other. They never lost, but they <em>did</em> asionally have one of them taken out by the end of it. All and all, it was good training.


    Matt also spent a lot of time absorbing the skills he had bought.


    [Water Maniption], [Earth Maniption], [Air Maniption], and [Fire Maniption] were all Tier 8 Maniption skills that, whilemon enough, sold for a premium because of how useful they were. The cost of one on the open market was usually above a Tier 14 skill just because of how practical they were.


    He had also gotten some of the Tier 14 variants, [Lightning Maniption], [Mud Maniption], and [Lava Maniption]. Those were the only three Tier 14 maniption skills left in the point shop when they left. They were mostly useless in the day to day, as he needed the element avable to actually be able to manipte them.


    Matt found that, for all his training, he had rtively awful mana control. Where Liz could weave masterful shapes out of her blood tendrils, Matt was lucky to get water to do more than ssh in the direction he wanted.


    It caused him to spend more time with his mana control orb, though he used to think that he had gotten quite proficient with it. Apparently, it wasnt good enough. He found the dexterity needed for the maniption skills was on apletely different level. He was used to sending mana to spells inside his spirit, which was automatic for him at this point. But manually controlling spells once they were out of his body was another matter entirely.


    Maniption spells were weird. They had an initial mana cost, and for the Tier 8 skills, it was only 50, which he could easily afford with the use of a mana stone. Then, they turned into channel skills, where the skill just needed mana per second to function. That cost was based on the quantity of the element that one wished to move, and how intricate the desired movement was.


    The casters'' mastery of the skill also increased those limits, while also reducing the MPS cost, as he found out when talking to Vinnie and Liz. Even with Vinnie''s innate skill, he had to practice a ton to be fluid with his control. Liz had things slightly easier with her Talent, but water was also just an easier element to move in general.


    Matt found his ability to move earth even weaker than his ability to move water. He found air and fire easier, but apparently, most did.


    Even with his apparentck of skill, Matt found it fun to train. Everyone spent time together honing their skills in a single chamber, so Matt could keep them topped off with mana, which allowed them to grow that much quicker. The time together felt less like work and more like busy ytime.


    It was like when they were with Annie, Emily, and Conor. They were able to progress the mastery of their skill in a short amount of time when they could practice with zero mana worries.


    Matt was pretty sure that he had given Melinda an aneurysm when he asked her for help with the healing skill that they bought.


    He couldn''t even cast the spell yet, with the initial cost being 100 mana, but he wanted to learn how it worked.


    Apparently, Cast and send mana was not how it worked. Melinda had started giving him anatomy lessons every day.


    Matt tried tomit it all to memory, but knew that he would never amount to much of a healer by the second day. Melinda refused to give up, and even took him to a few hospitals where he shadowed her.


    That impressed him. Melinda had a deft touch with the patients, and it wasn''t just her Talent. She got people to open up and talk to her about their lives and worries. She put them at ease, and usually made her patients leave with a smile, no matter the horrific condition some of them came with. Baxter was always there, watching in the background, but rarely interfering. Matt thought he saw pride on the older man''s face more than once as he watched Melinda work.


    When Matt needed a change of pace, he used the rune library that he had bought to practice his enchanting with various items. He had even finally convinced Melinda''s team to let him make them a few items that suited them perfectly.


    Melinda was the only one with a very minor sub-aspect to her mana, but as it was death-themed, she tly refused any item with it. She went as far as to get Baxter to tell her how to remove it. Matt thought it was a waste, but kept his mouth firmly shut.


    ording to the older man, it was mostly an effort of not wanting to aspect your mana with your Concept. Matt listened with the opposite idea. He wanted mana with the endless sub-aspect. That would be amazing for his enchanting work, but sadly, he had zero progress in that area, where Melinda quickly cleaned her mana.


    He made a note to ask Luna about that when he saw her next, but they were left alone as promised for their remaining break.


    Still, he had good practice enchanting everyone''s remaining bits of mundane armor before their halfway mark.


    It was around that point that Matt got a message from Kelley,ining about how someone had stolen the.


    Some crazy asshole stole the and rift from us, Matt. They just up and swappeds. We lost it all! And worst of all, she gave everyone a mana stone fifteen Tiers above them, and The Pathers got screwed there too! We just got notes to collect when we fell off. I don''t want money! I want my rift back! The crafter was obviously distraught, while Matt was bewildered.


    Liz, on the other hand, started cursing.


    Those <em>idiots</em>! They stole <em>another</em>. I can''t believe them! They said they weren''t watching. If they weren''t watching, how did they know about what I did there! I''m going to beat my mom when I see her. Ill turn her into a chicken!


    She devolved into grumbles about punishment after punishment she would inflict on her parents when she saw them next. Each one became more and more oundish as she worked herself into a huff.


    Matt just found it hard to imagine that her parents had stolen a world. He wanted to ask how that was even possible, but refrained, as he saw how angry Liz was.


    Kelley and most of the other crafters, with no reason to stay in Queendom territory, were moving back into the Empire proper. There, they intended to use their newfound knowledge to advance their craft and make money.


    To Matts irritation, he actually wasn''t able to pay off the debt during their travels, with nothing to add the mana to. It would have been nice to be able to do it during his down time, but when he asked, he was told to wait until they arrived.


    Three monthster, they arrived in the Empire proper, but to a world that was at the edge of inhabited space.


    It was a Tier 9 that, while useful, was new enough to be crawling with monsters. It only had two cities currently settled and secure. Otherwise, it was an untamed wilderness, though generally hotter than the normals.


    When they arrived, they were given coordinates deep into one of the continents, and were directed to fly there.


    They found themselves in a vast desert that slowly turned into an oven that irritated them all. Even Matt, with [Cracked Phantom Armor], was affected. He had to feel Asters misery. His arctic fox was not suited to such dry and scorching environments.


    Once everyone was in a bad mood, they found a flying house that hovered over the treetops of an oasis, to find a man waving at them.


    Well, hello. I''m Wrangle, and d to meet you. Come inside. Ive heard so many interesting things that I simply must see for myself!

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107


    The groupnded on the small frontwn of the floating house. Wrangle waved them in.


    As they walked in, the man held the door open for them. Matt nodded and echoed the thanks of everyone else.


    Wrangle just responded with a gentle smile to each of them.


    Matt reached out with his spiritual sense to inspect the man, but found nothing. If it wasn''t for his vision, he wouldnt believe the man was even there. Matt couldnt stop himself from scrutinizing the man as he shut the door, and the scorching heat was reced by a refreshing breeze.


    Everyone, please drink. I know how hot it can get out there. Wrangle smiled and waved a hand as sses of icy water hovering in front of them.


    Matt tookrge gulps until his thirst was quenched, then quizzically peered at the ss in his hand. It was still three-quarters full, though the cup should have been drained many times over. Unlike the others, hed been protected from the heat by his armor, but he was still parched enough to enjoy the refreshing water.


    Thank you. Matt received another smile in return, and a table appeared in front of him, set with coasters for each of them. Wrangle hardly brought his attention off Aster while providing for them.


    Looking at his bond, he saw that her entire face was submerged in the provided bowl, and she was blowing air bubbles as she tried to guzzle the endless water bowl dry.


    Shaking his head, he told Aster that she was being rude. But she shot back, I''m not climbing inside. A hint of threat tinged that statement. Even if he didn''t think Aster meant it that way, he still let it be.


    Wrangle didn''t seem bothered, so Matt let Aster cool off. His bond really was suffering, and he didn''t begrudge her anyfort she could find.


    As everyone else drank their fill, Wrangle waved them to a seating area with enough chairs for everyone. It faced a massive window that had a view of the oasis and desert all in one. It was a stunning sight, and Matt was only pulled out of his trance by Wrangle beginning to speak.


    Lets get introductions out of the way. I am Wrangle. Peak Tier 24, and a summoner. The man nodded to them as Melinda introduced herself, and the rest of her team followed suit before Matt''s team did the same.


    Out of nowhere, Luna stepped to the side of the two groups.


    Matt was startled, but managed to restrain himself. In contrast, Wrangle only stood straight and sped his hands in front of his chest as he bowed deeply. Great Lady, it is a pleasure to wee you into my home. Please treat it as your own.


    There was a traditional cadence to his words, and Matt worried that they might have broken some protocol with their entrance to Wrangles house.


    Luna matched the sped hand, but her bow was more a nod than the deep bow Wrangle had made.


    Thank you for the gesture. It is received in the spirit it was given.


    Wrangle seemed quite pleased with the response, judging by the smile on his face. That, or he was a fantastic actor.


    Luna snapped twice, gathering their attention. She then red at Aster, who was passed out on the pillowed chair next to Matt. He moved to nudge her awake, but Lunas hand seemingly stretched across the intervening space and snatched his bond off the chair. She then dunked Aster into a pot of steaming water that suddenly materialized.


    Aster screamed her torment both through their bond and out loud. Matt was going to race over, but he didn''t miss that Aster wasn''t burned or hurt, just indignant.


    Luna, still holding a now dripping Aster by the scruff, met the foxs eyes as she held her suspended in the air.


    Need another dunk, or are you awake?


    Aster yowled at Luna, That wasn''t nice! Ill


    Luna dunked Aster again to more yowling and protesting. Afterwards, a now thoroughly soaked Aster replied that she was awake.


    With a flick of her wrist, the fox was mostly dry and back on her seat.


    Luna met all of their eyes. Does anyone else need extra incentive to pay attention?


    When no one dared speak, Luna smiled.


    Good. Now your break is over. I''m d you took some effort to train while you traveled, but ytime is done. Now your time is <em>my</em> time. You will not waste my time. The start of training is harsh and hard like thend around us. For a better foundation you must break what you have and reforge it.


    The shorter dark-haired woman nodded to their host. Wrangle here will be supplementing the next portion of your training. If you would, please.


    Wrangle nodded. Next to him, a ghostly blue beetle appeared and cked its pincers.


    As his chosen name suggests, Wrangle is a summoner, and an exceptional one at that. This little bug is an Elemental Beetle. Matt, fry it.


    Matt paused and looked around the house they were in before saying, I don''t want to burn anything.


    Luna met his eyes, and he swore he saw swirling pools of purple darkness in them.


    This is your one warning. When I tell you to burn down a forest, I expect you to light it up and not ask questions. You don''t know enough to question me. Torch the bug.


    Every hair on his body stood on its end and he swallowed. It felt like something harsh was caught in his throat, but he turned to do as she said.


    With a thought, he activated [methrower]. To his surprise, the mes took a few seconds to destroy the mana construct. Nothing else was even scorched, which put his prior worries to rest.


    Wrangle, please.


    Half a dozen more beetles appeared in a formation at Luna''s words. A nce at his manager was the only prompting Matt needed to activate his skill, and fry the summons.


    This time, only a few seconds passed when Luna called out, Enough. Now look.


    Matt halted the gush of mes and saw that only one of the beetles was dead, and that the rest of their carapaces were now a mottled red.


    Wrangle seemed to take this as his cue to speak, Elemental Beetles are a fascinating monster that can change their bodies to perfectly negate a single elemental type of damage. A single beetle is weak, but a swarm is a death sentence to a singrly specialized mage. The higher general Tier the elements level is, the harder they find it to shift their defenses against it. Unfortunately, these little guys are only Tier 21. They cant change to resistplicated mana aspects like storm or void. I can make them weaker but...


    Matt swallowed. If they were expected to fight these things, Liz and Aster would be effectively countered. He doubted that blood skills ranked anywhere near void or storm mana. He might be able to fight them with abination of [methrower] and [Hail], but Aster only had ice skills to use. Plus if he used [Hail], he might prevent her skills from being effective.


    Luna took back over. These little monsters have a major weakness, though. They are unable to counter mundane attacks. This is where we will be training your melee skills. Before I find you a proper trainer, you need to reach a certain basic proficiency. Otherwise, you would just waste everyone''s time.


    The higher Tier woman looked outside, and another house appeared floating next to Wrangle''s. That''s where you will be staying. Training starts tomorrow morning. She waved at Wrangle and said, If I were you, I would take the time to ask Wrangle about creating spells inside yourself. That is where his true expertise lies. When he was Tier 14, he created a limited specialized copy of the Tier 32 skill, [Barrage].


    She must have seen theirck of understanding as she borated. For those that don''t know how impressive that is, let me give you an example. If you attempt to make a skill and fail, it''s normally a death sentence. Doing so under Tier 15 is almost guaranteed suicide. I don''t care what healer you have near you. It will always kill you, as without a functional spirit, you can''t survive. And that''s for skills near your Tier. Doing so with even a limited version of a skill double your Tier is pure madness.


    Matt followed her gaze to a pale-looking Melinda, who only nodded in recognition of the warning.


    She nced at Wrangle, who seemed to preen under the attention. Wrangle here was able to create a skill that let him create copies of his summon skills, while still only counting as a single instance to control. Youll find out what that truly means tomorrow.


    Wrangle held up his hands like he was trying to defend himself from her praise, though the smile never left his face. You tter me, Great Lady. I still failed on my second attempt.


    Luna cocked her head at his chest and stared for a few seconds before shaking her head. I read the report, and I must disagree. You were only a hair''s breadth away from sess. What skill were you trying to make? It wasn''t in the report I read.


    Wrangle patted his chest. I had Well, I still have the desire to make a skill that will let me merge mana constructs. I feel that I should do it before I advance to Tier 25. The feeling I get from my spirit is my Talent won''t be in that direction.


    Luna tapped her chin. Im even more impressed then. She looked to Matt''s friends, Creating apletely new skill is far harder than simply copying one.


    She then pointed at Wrangle''s upper chest. Your spirits reconstruction is going well, but you need to focus more on the quadrant near your shoulder. The framework is misaligned slightly. That will dy your other repairs if you don''t address it quickly. What technique are you using?


    Indiana''s Third Method was the one that helped the most when I started, and I have continued to use it.


    Luna didn''t seem surprised. Id rmend switching to Indiana''s Sixth Method for your remaining recovery if that style works better for you. In theory, it will be slightly slower, but it will ensure you don''t run into any issues like this again. If you avoid even a single such w though, then it will still be much quicker and more efficient.


    Wrangle stood and bowed deeply. Thank you for your wisdom, Great Lady. I shall do as you suggest.


    Luna held out her hand, and what looked like a tomato nt growing in a vase appeared. Here is the payment my liaison promised. If you take this now, it will reduce your recovery time to mere decades. Alternatively, if you choose to wait, it will greatly assist you in creating the skill. It is yours to do with as you wish.


    Wrangle set it on a table in the sun and beamed at it, then back to Luna.


    You have my sincerest gratitude, Great Lady.


    Luna waved off his thanks and turned to the rest of them. Tomorrow at dawn. You wont like it if yourete. Be down in the sand and be ready to start.


    Just like that, she was gone.


    Wrangle pped and rubbed his hands together. Let us feast! We will have no time in theing days, and I wish to get to know you all before the days pass us by.


    Melinda stood forward and cautiously asked, I''m a healer, and if you don''t mind, can I look at your spirit? Ive read about the dangers of trying to heal this type of damage, but Ive never seen it before.


    Wrangle just offered her a hand with a slight smile that seemed forced.


    Melinda touched him, then went sickly pale. She looked as if she would vomit as she quickly retreated.


    Wrangle just chuckled. Quite bad, isn''t it?


    Worse than I imagined. I Im sorry. I know it doesn''t help, and I didn''t do it to you, but Im still sorry.


    The Tier 24 seemed unbothered. The damage was far worse right after it happened. This is almostpletely fixed. But worry not. In a few short centuries, I will be recovered, and able to try again. Then, I will truly race ahead. Let me go set up a good dinner. If you wish to clean up, I shall be ready in an hour. I''m sure you need it after the flight over here.


    Everyone turned to Melinda, who answered before they needed to ask, I learned about this while researching spiritual damage and modification. Creating a skill in the spirit and failing isn''t like normal spirit damage. That can be healed and tries to right itself, given time and rest. This was like someone chopped his spirit into cubes then mixed the locations all over. But his spirit wasnt trying to heal. I could feel that it considered that messed-up state as the natural one. Hes having to manually reconstruct his spirit.


    She shook like Aster did when trying to get water off her coat. If that was almost fixed, Id hate to see what he looked like when the injury was fresh.


    Liz hefted the still pouting Aster and said, Let''s go shower up and get ready for dinner. I think we should call it an early night. I don''t know what Luna will have in store for us, but I don''t think it will be easy.


    ***


    Matt and everyone else stood in the sand under the flying houses and watched the sun slowly creep up over the horizon.


    They kept waiting while nothing happened, despite them being out here for over half an hour.


    As the bottom of the sun cleared the horizon, there was a rumbling, and from over the dunes came a swarm of thousands of beetles.


    Everyone started shouting, and they started tounch off attack after attack into the horde.


    Aster took out a swath of them with her initial [Hail], but the proceeding monsters were blue speckled and unaffected by the falling ice.


    Lizshed out and attacked the leading monster with a tendril of blood, which was quickly countered by a lighter blue that greatly reduced the damage she did. Unlike Aster, she was able to deal damage, but not more than half her normal amount.


    She, like everyone else, started bashing the beetles with her spear. They were only mana constructs, but they still had thick outer shells that resisted the cutting edge of her de.


    Matt didn''t have that problem with his heavier de, but they were forced to retreat to prevent them from being surrounded.


    Even with Melinda trying to give direction, the two teams were unable to effectively coordinate an impactful defense. With thatck thereof, the mass of beetles soon nked them, and they were quickly surrounded, fighting back to back.


    To everyone''s horror, even Sams poison was unable to affect the beetles for long. The most effective method they had was her and Aster teaming up alternating their elemental attacks. The beetles were killed as they changed back and forth, but after a few sessful skirmishes, the beetles turned a blue and green mix. Then, neither attack was particrly sessful in killing the monsters. The best either of them could do was slightly weaken them.


    Matt wanted to yell, but he didn''t have the time to do so. With the nine of them, they had more than enough elements to rotate through and kill the beetles, but their attacks allnded in separate locations. Or worse, they attacked the same monsters twice, which just wasted mana.


    Melinda had started an AI group to coordinate their attack. It helped, but they were still getting crowded, as the two teams failed to anticipate each other''s actions. Matt, Liz, and Aster were used to doing their own thing in a battle, andpletely failed to react to Melindas rapid orders. Even in the war, orders were more big picture and not individual.


    They had researched both normal summoners and the elemental beetlesst night.


    A normal summoner used the Tier 14 skill [Summon Mana Monster], which created a copy of a monster they had killed before from its corpse. That monster was then recorded in the skill structure for future use. The base number of recordable monsters was five, while the skill could summon three monsters at once unless it was modified.


    Since they were able to damage the constructs, Matt assumed that Wrangle was lowering the Tier of the monsters that they were fighting somehow. But he hadn''t seen that listed in the information pact they bought.


    The packet detailed a skill called [Barrage], which was a meta-skill that only affected other skills, and was cast in conjunction with them. It increased the number of effective casts by a multiplier, based on the skill it was coupled with and how that skill was expanded with mastery. The example given was [Barrage] cast with [Fireball]. Instead of one fireball, you could have five for a minimal, percentage-based increase in initial mana cost.


    The skill was incredibly valuable, and the more they learned, the more they were impressed with Wrangle''s achievement of creating the skill for himself early.


    But the fact that there were thousands of monsters boggled the mind. Wrangle shouldnt be able to summon <em>that</em> many monsters, unless his custom [Barrage] allowed him to create more than the normal skill would have. Even if he could summon them, he shouldn''t be able to control that many. Summoners rarely went for numbers because of the mana cost to summon an extensive amount was untenable. They also needed to split their concentration for each cast of the skill.


    The fighting continued, but they were eventually overwhelmed. One by one, they fell.


    Matts armor helped himst the longest, but eventually even it was overwhelmed. When a beetle mped its pincers around Matts actual leg and shook him, he found himself sitting with the rest of his friends, off to the side next to Luna. She was looking down at a watch on a chain.


    She tsked as she put the watch away in her breast pocket. Seven minutes and eleven seconds. Two hundred and fifteen kills against Tier 7 summons.


    The short woman met their eyes one by one. That''s far worse than I expected. Clearly, we need to back up a bit and work on our basics.


    Luna gestured up with a single hand and an obstacle course rose up from out of the sand. Or at least, what Matt thought was an obstacle course.


    We will be working on this for the next few hours, before we start a lesser program.


    She pointed imperiously andmanded, Start climbing.


    Matt and everyone else turned and started walking, but it was apparently too slow for their trainer. From Lunas fingertips, a small bolt of lightning zapped them all.


    It went right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and thoroughly shattered the skill in his spirit, while also locking up his muscles. To his relief, it didn''t actually hurt. It was more of a tingle than any real pain.


    Matt scrambled to run with everyone else.


    They reached the front of the course to find ropes hanging over a pit of some kind of sludge. Whatever it was, it smelled gut-wrenchingly awful.


    The smell was so bad, Matts eyes watered. As he hadn''t reformed [Cracked Phantom Armor] in his spirit yet, he couldnt protect himself from it either. Lunas attack destroyed the skill structure far more thoroughly than Keiths skill had when he trained with Lizs brother inw.


    Mathew reached out and grabbed one of the two ropes and handed it to Sam, who was closest to him.


    Liz hooked the one next to Sam and swung over with Aster in her free arm. To all of their surprise, Aster appeared back on the other side. They turned to see Luna filing her nails in the air next to them.


    The message was clear. No assistance allowed.


    Aster just cocked her head back at Luna, and then to the still swaying rope.


    Everyone paused as the difficulty of a fox with no hands crossing a pit of sludge with a rope was pondered.


    No one answered, but Aster didn''t seem bothered. She sent Matt a picture through their bond.


    He grabbed the rope, allowing Aster to create a tform to stand on with [Create Water] and her bloodline. They looked up to Luna, who still seemed to be ignoring them, so she jumped over while standing on the tform.


    She didn''t reappear on their side, but the ice tform vanished as soon as Aster was off the rope.


    So they could help each other, but couldnt directly carry each other through the obstacle course.


    The rest of the course was a child''s yground twisted to a sadistic level. They climbed over and under swinging logs, and traversed bnce beams only a finger''s breadth wide that were suspended over pits with chains. There were areas that they needed to climb with only their fingers able to hold on to a ledge, and adder with only one rung that they needed to use to climb over thirty feet up and back down. The hardest obstacle was a section of poles sticking out of the ground five feet apart from each other. They needed to jump from pole to pole, but since they weren''t in a line, they needed to stop and pause between jumps.


    All the while, failure came with the threat of falling into the pit of foul sludge.


    Still, the course wasn''t that difficult toplete. They were Tier 6s and well beyond mortal limits. Completing each obstacle was more tricky than hard. Particrly for Aster. The fox was faced with a new puzzle to solve for each of the obstacles a small beast couldnt possiblyplete normally. Whether through ice constructs or clever schemes with Matt and Liz assisting, the fox was expected toplete the same challenges as everyone else.


    Despite taking time to work out Aster extra challenges, the whole group finished in just over a half hour, with nobody stumbling into the sludge once. Matt wondered what the point was.


    Luna sent them through the obstacle course twice more. With each pass, their speed increased. Even though the armor made the dexterity focused parts of the course unwieldy to navigate, it mattered less each iteration. After their third repetition, Luna told them to strip into their under-armor clothes.


    Then she tossed them each a wrist band and told them to put them on.


    When Matt did, it felt like his cultivation vanished in an instant. His cores slowed their rotation until he felt like a mortal before his awakening.


    Matt activated [Mages Retreat] to alleviate his weakness, but looked up to find Lunas piercing, slitted eyes staring into his chest.


    She met his eyes and warned, No cheating.


    I''m not cheating


    All he got for his protests was another zap from her finger.


    I should have expected it, but I didn''t n for the restriction bands not working on your mana. Luna paused for a moment. Hmm. It must be because your mana core has nothing to do with your mana generation. It makes sense. No one else can use their mana, and it would defeat the purpose if you could. No skills or anything. Not even AI. Dont even think about using that sted thing. You know Ill see it.


    Matt reluctantly dropped the skill and felt the weakness take back over.


    Luna gestured once again, and a track rose from the sand.


    This is physical training. Youll get more out of this if you don''t have any cultivation She red at Matt, Or skills to lean on. Split into pairs.


    Luna nodded to the track. That track is a one-mile circle. One person will be running ap while the other will stay here doing burpees. When the runner arrives back here, the partners switch. As soon as any pairpletes twentyps, theyre done, and can rest until the final group is done. Thest group to finish will get only a five-minute break.


    Matt looked down to Aster, who had refused to leave his side, and after finishing a count, he pointed out, We have an extra person.


    Luna seemed unbothered. That''s fine. You three can just have two run together.


    Matt regretted opening his mouth. Instead, he moved over to the side of the track and stretched a bit. Burpees sucked, but the running was only ten miles per person. That was practically nothing.


    While they stood around, Luna asked, Do I need to start zapping you to get you running?


    Everyone started moving as Matt dropped down. He extended one leg before the other and started to do a push-up when he was zapped. Again.


    As he spasmed, Lunas voice sounded in his ear, Both legs need to extend and retract at the same time, Matt. Dont make me tell you again.


    Matt didn''t miss Kyle, Tara, and Mathew, all also spasming.


    Matt twisted until he was back in a push-up position and went to do a push-up, only to be zapped again. The start of a burpee is the standing position. Return there to begin.


    With a growl he stood, then dropped. He flexed and did as perfect a push-up as he could manage, before bringing both his legs into his chest with one motion and jumping.


    In mid-air, another shock hit him and he crumpled to the ground while Luna said, You need to explode out of the push-up position as high as you can. Less than your full effort will not be epted. That doesnt just apply to burpees.


    With great concentration, he did two perfect burpees before he nced to the left to check on his teammates. Finding them only a few hundred feet away, he wanted to curse.


    <em>How were they so slow?</em>


    Matt was wheezing hard as he finished the thirtieth burpee. A quick nce confirmed Liz and Aster were only around the quarter-way mark. His turned attention earned him a zap, which redirected his focus.


    With heavy breaths, Matt focused on his form until he heard Tara ask, How are we supposed to do this with our cultivation gone?


    Theint wasn''t what caught Matt''s attention. It was Lunas reply.


    Your cultivation is about 99.8% sealed up. That is only a seal. With practice and the right technique, you can force your cores to spin and break through the restrictions. If you can manage that, I won''t stop you at all.


    They all earned a zap as they pondered that and went back to their burpees.


    It felt like a yearter when Liz and Aster returned. They panted heavily, but Lizs damp shirt was nothing to Matts sweat-soaked one.


    The desert heat was brutal, but the night''s chill hadn''tpletely vanished, even though the air was increasing in temperature by the second.


    Matt stood from his ce and panted, Can break restrictions. Something with spinning core to return cultivation.


    Liz panted back, She told us as well. The faster you run, the more the restrictions slow you.


    Noticing Lunas gaze turning to him, Matt took off on the track. As Liz said, the faster he tried to run, the more the resistance increased. It was like running into a strong wind, but without the cooling effect it would have had. Running t out was still faster than jogging, but not by much.


    He then understood the method behind this exercise. The slower you went, the longer your break from the burpees and Lunas zaps, but you left your teammate to suffer longer. All the while, if you tried to run faster, you were resisted, and your break was no break at all.


    What an evilbination.


    Unwilling to let his friends suffer, Matt put his head down and pumped his legs with everything he had.


    He was panting heavily as he rounded the final corner, and saw a water station set up at the end of the track.


    Another break for him to make his friends suffer more. Not stopping, Matt reached Liz and Aster and saw them in different spots of the burpee. Under other circumstances, it would have been funny to see a fox doing a push-up and jumping as high as she could, but Matt was too tired tough.


    They switched off, and Matt started to do his burpees.


    By the thirdp, Matt was more jogging than running. By the seventhp, he was tasting blood in his mouth, and was forced to stop at the water station to get a mouthful of the refreshing liquid.


    Their team was the second to finish, with Vinnie and Kyle finishing theirp only moments before them. The five of them were directed to a second water station under the shadow of the flying house. The shade was an enormous relief.


    About ten minutester, the final four finished up, in near unison.


    Luna followed behind, and as thest four got and drank water with shaking hands, she addressed them. Five minutes. Then we go back to the obstacle course.


    Matt was actually thankful. The course was far easier than what they had been through.


    Everyone sat quietly, sipping at a small amount of water until Luna called for them to get moving.


    Matt really didn''t want to get up. He hurt in ways that normally never happened, except in the few battles he had fought in thatsted all day. His arms trembled from the experience, and he was looking forward to getting his cultivation back, so his Regeneration portion couldbat this fatigue.


    He weighed trying to sneak a use of [Endurance], but Luna would surely be able to tell. Another part of him didnt want to have an advantage over his friends. But thergest remaining part of him was enjoying the training.


    This almost felt like when he was back in Bennys Inn, working all day while training during any free time he could find.


    He enjoyed the challenge, despite the pain.


    Luna followed them to the start of the obstacle course and met their gazes with a smirk.


    When Vinnie silently proffered his arm with his cultivation reducing band, Luna raised an eyebrow in question, daring them to ask.


    Liz spoke up as Matt was about to. Are you going to take them off?


    Lunas smirk grew into a full-blown grin. Oh no. I''ll only remove them when youve negated the band''s effect. These are staying on until then. For now, start going through the course.


    The short woman floated in the air with a cackle.


    Oh yes! I almost forgot. Wrangle here will have some ranged summons attacking you as you try to advance. Good luck. This challenge wont stop until youplete the course twice. Though if I think youre taking too long, Ill add some <em>extra incentive</em> to get you really moving. Luna pulled out the watch and checked the time before slipping it away.


    Aster yowled and yipped, and Matt understood. She had struggled with the obstacles when she could use her ice, but now, even that was taken from her.


    Mathew pointed to their right. There seems to be a second path for you, Aster.


    They all crossed the rope, and wobble bridge for Aster, without incident. But as they reached the over-under pirs, they heard a chittering, and found an insect on a post. Once discovered, it shot out a glop of slightly acidic gunk.


    To test it, Matt carefully poked the gunk on the ground. It felt like getting hot sauce on his skin. It hurt, but it wasnt dangerous. Still, that didn''t mean that he wanted to get shot with it, particrly when it was already this hot out.


    Matt lunged forward. Hisck of cultivation made him almost miss his jump, but he managed to save it with a desperate extension to grab the log. He pulled himself up, and immediately needed to jump again to avoid a shot from the insect on the side.


    The following bar was situated nearly at his head height. Despite having easily cleared itst time, the distance was now a daunting proposition. Bracing himself, he jumped and wrapped his arms around the log. He was hauling himself up when a caustic glob hit him from another side that he hadnt seen an insect on.


    In surprise, Matt lost his grip and fell into the pit of sludge below.


    The substance was like ck oil, heavy and sticky. He vomited from the stench as it pervaded his senses. The taste was awful, and caused a second retching fit. Luna called out, Climb out and start over.


    Matt worked his way through the waist-high liquid with slow steps. The only upside was that the stuff seemed to neutralize the goop from the insects attacks. His skin no longer burned.


    After wiping off as much of the sludge as he could in the sand, Matt rejoined the others. They fared no better.


    Aster got the worst of it, as her method of cleaning herself was licking. Even her hatred of her fur being dirty wasnt enough to ovee the awful smell and taste.


    Tara was the luckiest one, and made it through the logs without getting hit. But she wasnt so fortunate on the rope climb, and was knocked into the sludge to experience it herself.


    They found out that they wouldnt be attacked on obstacles theyd alreadypleted. So if they made it to the third obstacle, they wouldnt be shot at for the first two on the next attempt. But when Vinnie fell at the second one, he was attacked when crossing that one once again. So long as you made it to the same ce each time, you didn''t have to deal with the insects. The downside was, with their tired muscles and sludge-covered hands, they hardly were able to make it past the second obstacle more than three times out of five.


    The rope climb was impossible with the ck sludge covering it, and Luna refused to acknowledge that. No matter their grip strength, they were unable to hold on as they had in their earlier attempts, when they had ess to their cultivation.


    Eventually, Vinnie had an idea. He ferried over handfuls of sand, which gave them enough of a grip toplete the challenge.


    Only three obstacle sets in, they were each incredibly smelly, and not a single one of them had a muscle that wasnt in pain.


    ***


    Luna watched as her team struggled.


    Harvest Moon''s team was doing just as well, but she didn''t miss theck of vital drive in them. She might just be able to bring it out of them, as they had a good potential from everything she had seen so far. Even without Melindas Talent, she could see them reaching Tier 17 before they fell off The Path. With the girl''s Talent, she expected them to be asked to quietly step off around Tier 22, unless they started hitting well above their Tier.


    The only question now was if they could find that part of themselves that was willing to push forward. And she needed to break them down for better training in the future.


    Still, it was different for everyone.


    Some, like Matt, liked the challenge. She could see it in everything he did. He cracked poorly hidden smiles more as she pushed him harder. He would continue to delve into stronger Rifts because he enjoyed getting stronger and advancing.


    Others were like Liz, and drove themselves to prove something. Whether it was to themselves or others didn''t matter, it could be a powerful driving force. That drive was subject to more outside influences than she liked, but Luna could already see Liz transferring that will onto Matt, which would ensure that they motivated each other.


    Aster was more an extension of Matt, and also loved to improve, even if the little arctic fox cared more about her looks and ice cream than the actual delving. Luna didnt think that she would need to do much more than reprimand Aster when she started to g. Her bond with Matt should be enough to drive her forward, if only to keep up with him.


    That was an instinctive aspect of the bonds. Few that weren''t beast bonds understood, but Luna knew it all too well.


    That had been her own driving force, but it always came down to what drove you.


    Some were pushed from behind, and some ran towards something. But you always needed a goal and the will to push through the monotony.


    Most of Melindas team didn''t have it.


    That wasn''t entirely true. They didn''t have the <em>amount</em> of drive needed to trulyplete The Path. Anyone who wasn''t Matt needed to be delving up a full Tier by Tier 7 to keep pace with the regr schedule. A team that size would need to be pushing up yet another Tier, until at least Tier 10 rifts, where the essence per monster increased substantially. While Melinda negated the second biggest impediment of being injured, and thus having longer and longer healing cooldowns, Luna didnt think that they had the drive to delve back to back. Theyd have to do it over and over, and would have to delve many Tiers above their own for decades.


    Time would always be against them.


    That was why the early Tiers were the best ce to get ahead, rifts were plentiful, and the cooldown time wasn''t too long.


    Still, Luna believed that she could force them to find that drive to advance. They were willing to improve and haven''tined too much yet.


    That in itself was already a point in their favor. The only one who hadined so far was Aster, and that mainly was grumbling about how it wasn''t fair since she didn''t have hands. Even then, she would cut such a young child a smidgeon of ck there.


    Luna wouldn''t admit it, but she had messed up. She had just recreated thest obstacle course she had used, which didnt have a portion for a beast. A stupid mistake that she had rectified, but it was an embarrassingpse in judgment. At least the little girl got some basic creative thinking exercises out of it.


    She had been out of the game too long. Too much of her focus had been on sending messages and trying to find old friends who owed her favors. That had taken up most of her attention for the travel time, and if she finished the list, the next few weeks as well. But she stopped, because while she demanded everything from her charges, she would give them an equal amount.


    Besides, she had the time in which they slept.


    She judged their progress and saw that they were struggling with the sludge and its slickness while climbing the obstacles.


    If they didn''tplete the course at least once in the next hour, she would clean and reset them. That would hopefully let them finish it in a reasonable time. She had fifteen hours of training that they needed to get through today. The first weeks would be about carefully breaking them physically and mentally.


    It was why she gave out the bracelets. They sped the process up tenfold.


    The cultivation suppressing bracelets were a particr type, and gave her incredibly detailed biometrics of anyone they were attached to. The design she was using was usually used for prisoner transport, as they prevented the prisoners from making their bodies smaller to remove them, but she didn''t need that function.


    She didn''t expect them to be able to push through the restrictions of the bands. While they were weaker versions, the technique to do so usually took someone centuries of practice to even touch on, but they might be able to find the right direction now.


    Even if one of them did figure it out, it was only an anti-restraint technique, more so than a boost to cultivation. Without the band, if you moved your essence manually, people maxed out at a 5% increase in power for a short time. Afterwards, they would need to let their essence recover its power.


    She watched as their bodies gged with the stress they were putting them under, and nodded slightly. The training would lose its effectiveness to a degree in the next week or so. But for now, they would make significant gains.


    When they went to sleepter, she would deactivate the bands so their bodies could recover faster. Plus their need for sleep would be reduced, which would give them longer to train.


    She debated increasing the strength of Matts band, but decided against it.


    The Tree of Perfection was showing its benefits with his nearly perfect body. He was doing the best out of all of them, with the fewest minor fractures and stress tears. Melinda, who had the effects transferred over, but hadn''t had the time to fullyplete them, was in the next best shape. Liz and her advantage from having Tier 48 parents was a close third.


    Luna knew that Melinda would be kicking herself over not finishing that conversion when they had the time, during their three month travel to this.


    When this training was over, she wanted to see if Melinda shared that change. If she didnt, Luna would have Moon suggest it to the girl. If his hypothesis was correct, Liz and Aster might be able to receive the same benefit, even though they had taken another aspect of the tree into themselves.


    It was the magical properties that changed the soul, which couldn''t work twice, but Moon believed that Melindas Talent could get around that restriction.


    That would be a good trade.


    She checked her team''s help meter and frowned. Matt would need to pay more mana to counter the amount of help he was getting at this rate, if the growth was as she predicted to keep the path challenging. She hadn''t expected Matt to not be affected by the band, and it meant that his mana was truly unlimited, and effectively worthless to him. The Path was meant to challenge the person traversing it. Matt was giving up something effectively worthless to himself for the help of a Tier 24, which would be invaluable in theing weeks and months.


    She didn''t know how she could make the training feel expensive, and didnt have a ready answer.


    Seeing that the kids were only one more obstacle further in, Luna resisted the urge to sigh. They were going about this in the mostplicated way possible, which was precisely why she had removed most of their strength.


    When you could lift your body weight with a pinky, you didn''t worry about the fundamentals anymore. It was a rope climb. They should be using their legs to brace themselves, not dirt.


    She started using [Earth Maniption] in the distance to modify their following training scenario. She wanted them to have to defend against Wrangle''s hordes in different locations.


    Luna looked to the man who was carefully aiming his summons shots at anyone who stalled. He was quite good at this, even if it wasnt a passion for him.


    He was impressive, and she now understood why the Empire had noticed him. Creating a skill was amazing, but the man''s ambition was nearly matched by his ability. They had talked when the children had gone to sleep yesterday, and he had given her a detailed report of the skill he was trying to create.


    He wanted to make a skill to permanently merge his summons into stronger variants.


    The fact that he had almost seeded was mind-boggling. If she hadn''t seen the damage to his spirit, she wouldnt have believed the story second hand.


    If he created the skill, it would be a top priority to see if the Empire could recreate the skill in a rift. The only issue was that she suspected the skill would be at least Tier 38, which meant creating a rift for a specific skill was basically impossible. The price was simply too great to repeatedly destroy perfectly good rifts for. And no higher Tier would sacrifice one of their proven useful rifts to test the theory, even if the Emperor covered the cost himself. Essentially, they would need to find a new high Tier which was unpredictable at best.


    It was a well-known fact that most <em>new</em> skills were copied by the rifts after humans and beasts had made them. If the skill was viable, it was perfected, and made a possible reward after the cultivator entered any rift afterward. The oldest records from before thest great shattering and subsequent political unification''s had noted new skillsing from created rifts, but they seemed to have plucked most of the lowest hanging fruit already. And with the generalck of mana for the Great Powers, it was considered a fool''s errand.


    That was themonly epted truth, at least. But Matts own [Copper Skin] called that back into question. The skill had literally <em>never</em> been seen or heard about before, and while someone in another Great Power might have made it, it seemed unlikely that someone above Tier 15 bothered to make an inferior [Iron Skin]. Of course, there might have been some low-Tier prodigy that managed it, but she and Manny were hopeful that theyd stumbled across a new way to make new Skills.


    Luna decided that she''d help Wrangle with his Aspect while she was here. He was going to be fixing his spirit for the next few centuries, since he rightly chose to save the spirit healing nt for when he made his next attempt at creating the skill, so he might as well advance in other avenues.


    Luna saw Kyle fall, and used a fraction of her power to ensure that the boy wouldnd safely in the sludge.


    Seeing how the sun was beating on her charges, Luna also flexed her will to slightly remove some of non-visible light in the surroundings. Not enough to be noticeable, but she''d increase that protection as the day wore on, so they avoided the worst of the heat.


    She was going to force them to do mana maniption training as a break after this. They needed to hydrate, and the break would make the next workout harder.


    Luna got a reply on her damned AI and smiled.


    <em>Purrfect</em>.


    Erwin had finally answered her, and was willing to suspend his own research for a while to see Melinda and Matt.


    That would be a good break after this, where they could all reach the peak of Tier 6 and then start delving Tier 8 rifts.


    Luna wanted them fighting up three Tiers by Tier 9, and they had a lot of work to do to reach that point.


    She was also limited in the time she had with Melindas team before her influence started to do more than <em>bend</em> the rules. So it was good that he was avable, and she didn''t need to go track him down and rip him out of whatever hole he found himself in. Erwin could get lost in a rift for decades if it was interesting enough, and him replying within a year was already a good sign.


    Luna noticed as Sam started to try and use her burgeoning Concept to stop the insects'' attacks. How she convinced herself that they were poisonous enough to slightly affect the projectiles Luna wasn''t sure, but that was goodteral thinking on her part.


    Things were going surprisingly well.

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108


    Matt and his friends panted as their break neared its end. He didn''t know if he had the energy to do more physical activity after barely finishing the obstacle course. His arms shook involuntarily, and he had drank too much water, which now threatened toe back up.


    He, like everyone else, had taken a lesson from Aster, and dug a small pit to the much cooler sand a few inches down. They all let it leach the heat out of their overworked bodies.


    Luna hovered above them, and as her countdown reached zero, a building rose out of the sand.


    Our next training exercise was <em>supposed</em> to be more physical conditioning, but I don''t think you have it in you to perform up to my standards. She gestured to the building. This is a proprioception training house. Make it out of the room and to the next one. Complete all five sections. That''s it.


    Matt forced himself to meet the woman''s eyes and was unnerved by the glint in them. They spoke of someone ready to enjoy watching them fail.


    All of them filed in. They were exhausted, but were in slightly better condition with the break. They entered and lingered in the first hallway they came to, as they waited for Luna to appear in her usual fashion. Ever herself, she appeared hovering near the ceiling as if she was peering over the edge of a bed.


    She pointed to the rooms. Pick one and enter. It should be self-exnatory.


    After entering the closest door, Matt found himself in a dimly lit room with nothing to exin anything.


    A whooshing sound was his only warning. Before he could react, a fist-sized ball struck him in his sore leg. Between the unexpected impact and tenderness of his leg, he crumpled in a heap, clutching his leg as his muscles seized up uncontrobly.


    When the whooshing sound happened again, Matt rolled to the side. He heard the projectile bounce off the floor and a whispery voice called out, One.


    Matt had just climbed to his feet when the next woosh broke the silence. This time it was louder, and he was struck on both his hip and shoulder simultaneously.


    Ready for the impact, they didn''t hurt nearly as much as the first had, but the double impact still sent him reeling.


    When he sessfully dodged the first attack, he heard a repeat of the same message. After dodging the second volley with two projectiles, he heard the whispery voice call out the expected two.


    Matt survived five volleys in short order, when the already dim room wentpletely ck, and a ball nailed him silently in the chest.


    Instead of lighting back up, it seemed like he had reached some checkpoint, and didn''t have to start overpletely.


    This new exercise was a thousand times harder without the benefit of an auditory indicator for the attack. He was a twitchy mess when he finally reached the end of the third session, when the number of projectiles doubled and increased speed.


    He was set back half a dozen times in that round, and his sess was more pure chance than skill. The final test in the room counted ricocheting balls which hit him as failures, and he had just gotten lucky by freezing after rolling out of the initial trajectories.


    He expected another exercise, but a door on the far side of the room opened. Awaiting him was another training room situated deeper in the building.


    Here, Matt was presented with a pad and had to repeat color patterns that shed in increasingly moreplex patterns. His task was to tap their corresponding area on the pad and say the color out loud.


    Matt wasn''t proud of the fact that he debated using his AI to memorize the patterns. In the end, he refrained. He was sure that Luna could see what he was doing, and wouldn''t approve. Her displeasure was arger deterrent than having an advantage over his friends, so he controlled the impulse to cheat and performed the task as intended.


    Unlike thest room, there were no negative consequences, except the pattern resetting to the lowest level and a change in the pattern.


    Having to perfectly replicate eleven different increasinglyplicated patterns took nearly an hour, but it was a good break from the physical training he had been doing all day.


    The third room was a footwork training room where he had to dodge the shing red tiles that moved around.


    Dodging the moving red light was easy for him. He practiced his footwork as a matter of course with his melee training. A slow melee fighter was a dead one, after all.


    At least, it started that way, until it built to a brutal dance he had no way to beat. This room thankfully had only minor variations in its challenges, and eventually, he was able toplete thest challenge with a massive leap to the final safe area. It wasn''t pretty or the intended route, but the only one he could think of on the fly.


    Matt sat in the empty room for ten minutes while he caught his breath. He had gotten over confident with his early sess, and paid the price with theter levels of the room.


    Room four was again physical training, just less intensive. Matt had to navigate a blind maze that changed around him. In and of itself, that would have been fine, but Matt kept getting shot by balls at random intervals. Which after many failed dodges, he learned was the trigger for the room to shift, which meant he was thoroughly turned around by the time he stumbled out of the maze, and found himself surprised when the sudden light red into his eyes.


    When Matt entered the final room, he found a lounge room with Liz and Tara. He had plopped down to rest when his attention was drawn to Tara.


    He froze in an air squat while she looked back at him and asked, What''s wrong?


    Liz asked the same thing, and patted the chair next to her while asking him to sit down.


    Still, his instincts screamed something was wrong, and he reanalyzed Tara.


    Liz asked with a voice that promised danger, Are you checking out mypetition?


    Matt ignored her and fixated on Tara when he finally realized what had raised his hackles. It was her shoes. Even back in the yPen, Tara had a weird habit ofcing her shoes leftce over the right. She had just beenining about it on the train, so while he hadn''t paid attention to her shoes, the incongruity stood out.


    Here her shoes wereced haphazardly.


    At that realization, everything in the room started to blend together, like water on fresh paint.


    pping sounded out next to him and Luna stood in the white room with him.


    Well done, that was the fastest anyone figured out that they were in the illusion array. I had to start introducing other oddities before they caught on. Luna actually smiled at him.


    Despite the woman standing on the floor and being two heads shorter than him, he felt like she was looking down on him.


    Matt was too tired to really process that, as his mind was still focused on what she said. He asked, An illusion array? I thought those were restricted.


    You really think I dont have permission? Luna pointed out the door. Theyre too perfect for training to <em>not</em> use. Get going. Out, out, out.


    Matt met the older woman''s eyes, and with every bit of energy and will he could muster, said, Don''t use my parents in one of those.


    Luna just met his gaze for a long moment before she quietly added in a gentle tone, Youll have to deal with that eventually. And more than one person has foundfort in even their self-made illusions.


    Matt vehemently shook his head. No. Just no. If the information I read is even half true, you should have control over what is shown. Just don''t. Please.


    He half expected Luna to push him on that, but she just nodded and pointed to the door that appeared when hepleted the room. You are waiting for Aster and Sam to finish theirst rooms. Then you all have a slightly longer break. Take that time and settle yourself. If you''re not mentally here for the training, it''s worthless. I want to push you <em>to</em> the breaking point. Not actually to break you.


    He had no idea if that was true, as his experience with the woman was nearly zero, other than her orders during the war. But even then, that had been precious little to go on or gather any perspective from. Matt had little other choice but to take her at her word. When he entered the room, he found his friends already chatting about their training. Needing to center himself and quell his roiling emotions a bit, he stretched while listening. Or he did, until Aster barreled into the room.


    She honed onto his location and burrowed into his chest,ining, The ice cream rabbits were all made out of sand! It''s not fair! I want ice cream rabbits!


    Matt justughed. If nothing else, Aster''s antics were adorable.


    If you knew they were made out of sand, why did you keep trying to eat them?


    Aster flicked one ear while looking at him like he was dumb. If I found the real one, it would have been good to y with <em>and</em> tasty. That would be the best!


    He felt her push ideas of ice cream rabbit rifts at him. The mental pleading was paired with puppy eyes and a droopy tail. It was just too cute to resist.


    Ill try, but I''m surprised that you even left willingly. His joking words caused Aster to flop over and kick at the air.


    I wouldnt have if the stupid cat didn''t kick me out! The indignation was too much for everyone, and even Liz started tough.


    Aster hopped up and headbutted Liz. Foxes eat cats! Ill eat her one day. Took my ice cream. Big meany! I''ll take <em>her</em> ice cream one day.


    Asters grumbling devolved into more threats about stealing Lunas ice cream while Matt asked Liz, Luna is a cat?


    His phoenix girlfriend shrugged. Her nose is better than mine, so I wouldn''t doubt it.


    Matt thought back and couldn''t pin anything non-human on her except her slitted eyes, but after Tier 15, that didn''t mean that she wasn''t human, just that she had different aesthetics.


    He wondered if he could get her to lighten up on their training if he got some catnip, but expected that joke to fall t. So he kept it to himself.


    <em>Theedic timing would be better when Aster is strong enough to bully Luna</em>.


    The thought made himugh enough that he was able to push away his mncholy at the mention of his parents.


    Sam came out of her room red-faced.


    When Tara asked her why, her blush deepened further until her neck was red. Thatsted the entire half hour break, but any further teasing was put on pause when Luna got them training again.


    Going back outside into the heat from the cool indoors was brutal, and the next training consisted of fighting without their cultivation bases against more summoned monsters. Thebination made for a miserable time.


    This time, instead of beetles, they each had to fight individual chimps half their size. In what should have been a one-sided fight, they were getting brutalized by the monsters that were at least Tier 5 to their effective Tier 0.


    No matter what they did, they were quickly defeated. Matt looked around only to notice that something was off.


    The chimps were too fluid in their movements, too natural in finding their weakest spots.


    Wrangle was clearly controlling each monster, and having it pick apart their fighting style. That realization changed the paradigm, and he focused on eliminating his own ws in his style, instead of actually defeating his enemies.


    As soon as he made that realization he turned to tell the others, but an apparition of Lunas face shushing him appeared in his view.


    Prevented from telling his friends, he started to protect himself, with his only goal to endure and not lose any more fights.


    It felt like ages, but in reality, it was only half an hour when Luna called for a halt and lunch.


    Matt and everyone else tore into the meal with a voracious appetite. The food just seemed to disappear as nine hungry people dug in. Having some experience cooking, he knew that it wasn''t simple low Tier food after the first bite, even though the others didn''t seem to notice. It took him half the meal to pinpoint the ingredient, but he identified a green leaf to be the item that was sending what he could only describe as a lesser form of Melindas healing energy through his body.


    His sore and tired muscles eased up, and that relief almost sent him into a stupor.


    Luna clearly expected that, and had them all get up and start stretching as soon as the table was empty.


    It was an easier half-hour, where they were able to digest their food under the shade of the two floating houses while solving mind twisting questions.


    Matt still had no idea how to answer the question, If a ship is perfectly situated in a drydock, how much water is needed to make it float?


    More but lighter physical training followed where they were sent through a second, obstacle course. This one was a course where they couldn''t use their hands whilepleting various challenges. Of course, the challenges were all tasks in which the use of hands was critical. Climbing arge tunnel was nearly impossible without being able to use their hands to brace themselves.


    Aster breezed through it, but the two-legged humans struggled while she watched on. Her yips of encouragement seemed to transform intoughter as they failed to aplish the feats that she had easily managed.


    Finally, they rounded their training out with Wrangle directly teaching them about how he managed to control his monster hordes. It was nice to avoid the usual beating that they earned while wondering how he managed thousands of summoned creatures all at once. They were all thrilled to not be on the receiving end of a beetle bite for a change.


    This was more a general and informal tactics training ss than an introduction to being a summoner. Still, it was enlightening to hear him and Melinda talk about various ideas concerning theory on the subject. She, having prior training in tactics, was able to offer suggestions and observations that the others couldn''t. While everyone else had their own bits to add, it was an interesting look into what they could have done to better survive against the initial test.


    What Matt took away was more how to disrupt other parties'' formations, both human and rift monster.


    Several scenarios were presented through their pads, and their designated roles in each situation changed. Sometimes they were attacking a fortified position, and others they were asked how they would deal with defending.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster seemed to exasperate the Tier 24 man when most of their tactics were, Matt goes in first, and Liz and Aster kill anything he hadnt managed to.


    After Matt confirmed with his AI that he and his party could actually tank and kill Tier 7 monsters at Tier 5, he started making them do the scenarios with different teams.


    That''s where theirck of nning and structured coordination made their defensive efforts fall apart.


    They were used to everyone being set in their role and reading the flow ofbat, already knowing what they needed to do. Not having their own abilities caused them to hesitate and fumble over each other''s orders. Combined with having to direct simtions with only pads, instead of their much more intuitive AIs, it was a disaster that only marginally improved when they limated to the controls.


    Matt wasnt used to the thought process of a role outside of his usual one, let alone the multiple roles that were covered during the training.


    Aster was the only one given ess to her AI, with a change in setting on her band. She did only have her paws to work with, after all.


    Melinda and her team, on the other hand, were seemingly naturals. Even when ced in teams other than just themselves. Or at least, Melinda knew what she was doing well enough that she could cover for her team''s fumbles when they were sitting next to each other. But they still followed her directions, and simple orders from her would sessfully direct them through an entire fight.


    Once the sun was well below the horizon, and the moon was bright, Luna sent them for a cooldown jog around the edge of the oasis. With no restrictions or rushing, it was an easy jog where they chatted and exchanged tips from what they learned throughout the training.


    Matt was afraid that he wouldn''t be allowed to share his findings with their duels against the chimps, but Luna didn''t prevent him from telling everyone else as she had earlier in the day. Either she didn''t care anymore now that the first training session was over, or she wasn''t paying attention.


    Considering the stack of notebooks in his spatial bag, he was quite sure that it wasn''t the second option.


    It was Tara who gave everyone a somewhat workable answer to the first proprioception training room, where they were shot at silently in the dark. The pattern for thest set of attacks was just the previous twobined, but the first set was mirrored along the diagonal for the final round of shots in the dark. So, it was possible to know exactly where the shots wereing from, even without the warning sounds. That wouldnt help them with the ricochets, or if the pattern changed, but it was an interesting tidbit.


    They went to sleep almost immediately after they showered. An exhausted Matt didn''t even notice that his band was deactivated until the morning, when he woke with his body in far better shape than it should be, considering the brutal training they had been put through.


    After a light breakfast, they were sent into more training.


    ***


    Luna watched as her charges fought their monster opponents, and signaled for Wrangle to increase the difficulty to a full dozen monsters against each individual. His creatures weren''t quite up to her standards of meleebat, but they were good enough for the training she needed.


    Now, to sow seeds of doubt that could lead to the revtions she needed each of them to obtain. Just enough to make them angry, or to push themselves harder.


    Seeing Mathew struggle, she sent her voice into his ear, Melinda will be dragged down by you like a weight around her ankle, like the rock you try to be. If you want to protect her, you need to be faster and stronger. Smarter. Why are you letting your enemy nk you? In a group fight that means death for your team. She decided to add a bit of help with the boys Concept, A strong rock is solid from all sides but that is not necessary.


    She paused, seeing the anger re up in the boy. She didnt particrly like this training method, but it was effective in the early stages, and this group could handle the extra pressure. If they couldn''t, they would die when an enemy taunted them. Or an illusion array showed their family turning against them.


    After praise muste the truth.


    Or maybe you''ll just wait for your wife to save everyone. Again


    As the boys rage red bright and fueled his attacks, she turned to Samantha.


    You rely on poisons and venoms, but without your Talent, you are more of a danger to your friends than your enemies. What will you do when you get taken out early? You could die happily, knowing that all your friends would follow you soon. If you''re dead, your poisons will rip through your team like the reaper. Oh yes, that''s right. You''ll just have Melinda save you. She''s <em>always</em> been doing the heavy lifting in the team, hasn''t she?


    That was enough to send the girl into a cursing frenzy so she hit her with one final fact she knew the girl hadn''t thought of, Can Melindas healingst long enough to get them out of your poison? Or will she run out of mana first?


    Kyle was next on her list. You''re so strong, but you can''t even protect your friends. You rely on Mathew and Melinda to protect everyone. Matt doesnt even have a melee Talent and you can''t even beat him half the time when he''s <em>not using</em> [Mages Retreat].


    The boy didn''t react outwardly, but she didn''t miss the signs in his body. His heart rate increased and his swings became slightly sloppier.


    Tara required a different approach, but no less devious. Are you afraid that youll leave them too? If you are too strong or fast? What will you do if you outstrip them? Will you sacrifice your own future for theirs? Or will you let them die because you are afraid of being too strong?


    The girl was so afraid of the rest of her family dying she was stunting her own development.


    To Melinda, she whispered, Why do you fear death so much? You are death given form, no matter what your Talent lets you do. I see the hate still inside of you. Will you use that darkness? Purge it? Ignore it? She paused to allow her words to sink in just enough. I think you know the truth. You like to see the violence. It lets you be the savior and earn all the praise. But what good is a healer when no one needs healing? You need and want the violence. It''s not the dark reflection of you. It is you. I think a portion of you wants to fully embrace your Concept.


    With Vinnie, she was more direct. The way you are performing right now, you might as well retreat underground once you get into danger. You couldn''t even save your friends if their lives depended on it. You can save yourself, but will you risk saving them?


    Luna turned her attention to Aster as the little fox half-heartedly wrestled with a tiny beetle. She yelled, Buck up, or Ill wash your fur in red ink that can only be removed with hot water!


    That turned the foxs effort into overdrive. She understood how hard it was to keep fur clean. She also had no problem with using the method to get the cker to work harder.


    Matt was easy. Do you want to get locked into a room? The Emperor will try to protect you, but without personal strength, youll eventually be snatched away and shoved in a cell. When they threaten Aster, will you not give up and give them your mana? Hmmm? What about Liz? Will you let them kill her to motivate you? If they aren''t afraid of youing and ssings, you will never know freedom. Only personalbat power will protect you.


    Liz shed with her spear before using its butt to crush a second beetle, and Luna waited until she was fighting two beetles to say, What will you do when Matt leaves you behind? Will you be able to keep up with the man who can cast siege-level spells as if they are free? Will you cling to his leg and hope he pulls you along with his glory? Will you rely on him like you relied on everyone else in your life? What if the other Great Powers find out about him? Will you be able to stand by his side and protect him, or will you be a liability?


    Thatstment caused Liz tosh out with a scream that was more of a growl.


    Luna noted the damage ruing, and decided to let it umte. She would have Melinda heal them tonight. A missing limb or three was good training, but she would have to be careful to not let them get ustomed to perfect healing.


    When it did happen in a rift, it was better they know how to deal with it. And there was no safer environment than with Melinda.


    ***


    Days blended into weeks as the toll on their bodies started to show. They had all lost weight, even if just a little. The weight lifting regimen that Luna had them on put muscle on them like nothing had before. Their meals were filling, and they were focusing on different exercises than they were used to.


    Matt, Kyle, and Mathew all showed the greatest changes without their cultivations regeneration to slow the degradation of their muscles during the day. They lost upper body mass, quickly bing leaner with thicker legs. While their overall weight only fluctuated by a few pounds, their bodyposition had changed quite a bit.


    Everyone else actually buffed up slightly, thanks to the increased workout loads they were put under. None of them were unfit, but a mage usually didn''t undertake the same kind of strenuous training that a melee fighter would. .


    With Melinda keeping them healthy and in one piece, they were able to train at a rate that was impossible elsewhere. Getting an arm eaten was a lesson learned for the next fight, instead of a month-long recovery process, or death in a rift. It was jarring, but Luna never let them forget that this was a special thing, and heavily punished any mistakes that led to a loss of limb with grueling exercises.


    That was good, because at the two month mark, Luna put them through what she called a crash course in high Tier fighting. She practically tortured them by forcing them to fight with missing limbs, while burning, or having their flesh melted off with acid. The goal was for them to keep fighting through the pain, and if they were inevitably going to lose, to lose as slowly as possible.


    Without Melinda, it would have taken years, but she was always able to heal them up perfectly. She even was able to give everyone the start of the perfect bodies she had copied from Matt. This let them push their physical boundaries to levels that they hadn''t known were possible, and that excited Luna until her tail twitched in delight.


    Sometimes, the trainingsted days, and exhaustion was the true enemy and they had to keep fighting on. One particrly brutal training was getting themselves out of simted capture, which usually meant sacrificing a limb to escape.


    Extreme hot and cold were mixed with wet and dry climates to help them limate to surviving in any rift that they could encounter, and learn how to deal with those conditions.


    They were given time with a local therapist and down time between each training method, but the thing that helped most of them recover was their friends knowing exactly what they were going through, and being able to share that understanding.


    Matt was d that this more brutal iteration of the training onlysted a month, because they were all breaking. There was just only so much pain, even pain that was perfectly healed, that the mind could take before the adverse effects would be too great. Luna pushed each of them to the edge of their personal cliffs, and then let them recover before finding it once again.


    That second month was the worst of Matt''s life, and he was happy when at the three-month mark, the training took a sudden turn. Their cultivation was returned to them for brief, but increasing periods of time. It was mostly for actualbat experience against the various monsters that Wrangle had in his arsenal, while each of their training times became more specialized for the individual and their weak points.


    The overall difficulty was kept at more manageable levels, where they only lost when failing to quickly react to the ever changing situation.


    Their teamwork as two seperate groups, and all together, increased dramatically. By the six-month mark, they were able to effectively defend against arge horde, just like the one they faced on their first day.


    The rest of Melindas team had reced their bottled Concepts with individualized ones by that point, which increased their morale to the point that they happily epted all of the brutal training that Luna threw their way.


    Mathew created a defensive Concept around that idea that he was a porous rock. In conjunction with his Tier one Talent, it allowed him to tag someone and absorb a portion of the attacks targeted at the tagged individual. He could take the damage into himself while remaining steady and stable. It was an incredibly draining Concept for his willpower, but it was a perfect pair to his role in their team.


    Sam made herself a Concept centered around her Phrase, the dose makes the poison. It let her extend her poison control to nearly anything, at varying degrees of willpower expended, as long as she could control a toxic level of the material.


    Taras Concept was focused on being a storm of des that always hit their targets. With her mastery over all ranged weapons, it made her an even deadlier opponent to deal with. Her prowess was expanded by the slightly honed properties that her attacks possessed when empowered with her Concept.


    Kyle, in the same vein, created himself a greatsword Concept. It let him control his massive de with grace that was present even when he wasnt actively flexing his Concept. Something about the breakthrough had given him the insight necessary to handle a normally unwieldy weapon expertly. The proficiency was akin to those individuals whose Concepts centered around that particr weapon. This would be an interesting thing to be an Aspect, but the boy had to develop his Intent before that.


    Vinnie was the only one who went with an internal Concept, defined as him being one with the earth. While it currently did little, Luna said that it would pair well with [Earth Form] once he reached the prerequisite Tier, or could afford the Tier 26 skill.


    Their training also quickly started to incorporate mana control exercises. It was one thing to send the tiny orb through a ss obstacle course while sitting down and watching it move. But doing so while dodging projectiles in the dark was an entirely different matter altogether. It was more a matter of feeling where the ball couldnt go, and creating a mental map of walls than of actually figuring out the maze.


    Matt was the worst at it among the mages, but leagues better than the other melee fighters, who had never needed to do more than send mana into a skill. Vinnie, Liz, Aster, and Melinda all had the easiest time practicing their maniption skills, and in the healer''s case, her directed healing spells.


    They managed to adapt to the various simultaneous training methods involving mana control much faster than Matt and the other melee fighters. Luna took the time to instruct each of them when they ran into a wall that they couldn''t ovee themselves. It was another facet of the woman that Matt was impressed with.


    He understood that she was older than the dirt on somes, but the depth and breadth of the woman''s skills repeatedly shocked him.


    When it came to magical training, he didn''t know enough to judge her, except that she helped everyone equally, and always seemed to be able to identify their problem in a single nce. Her knowledge of melee fighting was what shocked him the most, after she casually gave a pointer to him, Kyle, and Mathew in a single breath.


    When he asked what weapon she used, she simply shrugged and said she preferred to fight at range, but was passable with most weapons.


    He still struggled with the mana control she demanded of him, but when she exined it to him, he redoubled his efforts.


    You aren''t like other mages. Your mana doesnt increase at a slow and steady rate. When you gain a million mana in an hour, you will struggle to control it. The better your skills are now, the better you can recover themter. Though, I believe that until you finish The Path, or leave it and have a chance to pause in your advancement, you will struggle with your mana control.


    She then gave him a pointed look, and Matt was able to extrapte the rest of the information from those few clues.


    The problem would only get worse, as his doubling would be earning him billions of mana a Tier. He might be unable to adequately control his mana for years after a Tier up, and that would be a problem that was only exacerbated as he advanced.


    Now was the time to create a strong foundation, when he didn''t have too much mana to throw around.


    Even with months of training, he was unable to match the mages and their own improvements, but he was at least as good as they had been before they started the training themselves.


    It did have a tangible benefit to his usage of his element maniption skills, and the precise control it took to use them.


    An interesting tidbit that Matt learned with everyone else was when Melindained that her mana kept trying to aspect into a death mana.


    Luna just shrugged and asked, Why are you trying to remove something so useful?


    It will interfere with my healing! I''m a healer at the forefront. I can''t have my own mana trying to damage my patients.


    Luna actually swatted the girl over the head. Don''t be a dumbass. Split your mana pool, then. Baxter said you''ve seen it before in patients. If you split it, you can direct all that into a smaller pool.


    Melinda shrugged. Id rather just not have it at all.


    When the shorter woman just red at her, she wilted and added, I don''t know how to do it.


    That was when Matt, who was only half-listening, perked up. That would be perfect for him. He''d have more mana than anyone, and being able to sling around perfectly attuned mana for every type of spell seemed useful.


    Luna exined why she hadn''t mentioned it to him or his team before. You can''t do it if your mana is already aspected, and the way to do it is to mentally section off an area of your mana core. Once you do that, you''ll find a portion of your mana pool is split off. It''s not easy, but it isn''t particrly dangerous. You can also then merge the mana to form higher-level mana, if you have more than one split pool.


    Seeing everyone''s excitement, she raised a finger. Now that <em>is</em> incredibly dangerous. If you fuck that up, youll be lucky if you only taint your entire mana pool. Itll turn into a mess that will take decades to clear out. But if done sessfully, this is the first step to making permanent, high-level mana, like storm mana. When your control is great enough, you purposefully merge your mana pools back onto one. But again, if you fuck that up, youll be fortunate to avoid crackingyour spirit.


    Melinda now looked more hesitant as she asked, But just making a partition isn''t hard or dangerous?


    Luna red at Liz. Not unless you''re like her dumbass father, who decided that he didn''t want to wait to let things settle before making a higher levelbination. The stupid truly are lucky, as the idiot created it in his first attempt.


    The dark-haired woman shook herself and added, In theory, it can be dangerous, but the worst thing that can happen with a single partition is that you lose control and taint the rest of your mana pool. If you catch that quickly, it''s just a few months of busy work separating them out again. If you want to make a second one, that''s when you need to start worrying.


    Matt tried to partition his mana, but failed even with Lunas direct help. With his mana pool and regenerationpletely reliant on his Talent, he had nothing to work with, as he had no essence in his mana core.


    Even trying to mentally pull his mana pool into two pieces had no effect, and they concluded that he was stuck with a single mana pool.


    Liz tried tofort him by bringing up the scary point. They had no idea how his Tier 3 Talent would react to him splitting his mana pool, and its effect on his regeneration. In the end, Matt just wrote it off as a sacrifice to his eventual potential.


    They did learn a lot about Wrangle, who they discovered was in the desert because it rted to his Intent. He waxed on for hours about how a desert was the greatest creator of life. The harsh sands being diametrically opposed to pockets of life, while creating a myriad of monsters for him to pull from. Matt only had a vague idea what the man actually meant, but it was good to get insights on someone elses Concept and Intent.


    While none of them really understood it, he also freely shared how he went about creating new skills. He sternly warned them not to try until at least Tier 15, and said that it was better to wait until Tier 30 or higher.


    He was actually a fun person to be around when he wasn''t actively pushing their limits. Liz likened him to her uncles when she was growing up.


    Matt and the others all had a distinctck of older rtives that quickly led to a change in topic.


    The party was nearly at the eight-month mark with their training, when Luna told them that they were almost done, and would be engaging in a series of massive horde battles against Wrangle.


    ***


    Matt stood with the rest and as they saw arger horde of beetles charging at them, and he immediately used [Wind Maniption]. One thing they had learned during their months of training was that the beetles didnt react to what hurt them. They reacted to the elemental mana around them. It was why Vinnies [Earth Spear] was still effective, despite losing a portion of its damage. It was still a chuck of stone propelled with a point.


    Using [Wind Maniption] was still difficult for Matt, but he didn''t need fine control. He needed to whip up a ton of mana to cause the beetles to change their defenses. That was well within his abilities.


    Matt cast then channeled all of his mana into the skill, and pushed with everything he had.


    Across the dunes, sand started to be picked up, and pulled into the cyclone that Matt was circting. It was too diffuse to turn into a tornado, but it caused the beetles to turn a pale white.


    That was the signal for everyone else to startunching skills. A barrage of skills raced out to intercept the iing horde. Each of the attacks tore swaths out of the monsters.


    When the beetles tried to adjust to defending against the iing attacks, Matts movement of wind mana caused the monsters to quickly revert to their white forms, keeping them vulnerable to the attacks that his friends threw out.


    As the beetles approached, Matt shrunk the area of wind that he was manipting, and started to fuel his other skills.


    When the melee started, a series of five arrows exploded out and took off the heads of the closest beetles.


    A poisonous fog crept out from behind the front line consisting of Matt, Kyle, and Mathew. Out of the corner of his eyes, Matt saw Aster freeze one beetle, while savaging a second one with her teeth.


    It was a testament to their training that she was able to fight in melee while also controlling her various skills. Half of her shots were carefully threaded in between everyones legs, or in the gaps between their melee fights.


    Matt dedicated 10 MPS to [Wind Maniption] while fueling [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat]. A kick sent a beetle flying into a cluster, and Matt brought his mana infused de around in a sh thatshed out in a blue crescent. It tore a channel through the packed masses of beetles.


    Mathew activated his newest ability, [Roaring Scream], and all the beetles began fixating on him. Even Matt could feel it. It was like a maic pull to the man, one that the monsters were unable to resist.


    With them clumped up, everyone forced their attacks around Mathew. For a few seconds, they had a bit of respite.


    Matt used his Concept to refill up some of the mana everyone expended during the first engagement, and waited for the second wave to reach them.


    Sams poison seeped out and forward into the next wave in a disy that reminded Matt of the shore and water meeting. The poison washed over the bugs in a wave, not unlike the monsters charging at them. He pulled his [Wind Maniption] up higher, so he wouldnt impede her progress. This time, the monsters were severely weakened and easy to kill when they reached them.


    Melinda called out, Liz take out thatrger beetle!


    Just as she gave the order, Matt saw the muchrger beetle approaching them. They had experienced these before; they were Tier 8 variants of the summons. Only Liz and Tara could reliably take them out with their superior damage.


    Liz darted out with her spear held behind her. She injured the beetles that tried to snap at her legs and back as she approached therger beetle.


    A trail of blood followed her, and it had the telltale dark look that meant she was concentrating her Blood Iron in it. Right as she thrust at the beetle, the blood became more reflective, and Matt could feel her Concept infusing the blood.


    Her blood encased spear punched right through the monster, and as Liz retracted her weapon, she set herself and twisted. A whip of blood arced out and sliced the surrounding beetles into chunks. As Liz darted back into their formation, she carved out anotherrge gap in the approaching hordes'' advance.


    Aster cast [Hail] behind Liz, and cut off more of the monsters from approaching.


    Seeing they had a free moment, Matt called out, Send another volley out.


    As he said that, he threw everything into [Wind Maniption], and moved the skills control out far enough that his team could get several attacks off.


    For a while, the fight settled into a lull, with them beating wave after wave back. But as time progressed, the Tier 6 beetles started to be reced by Tier 7 variants, and their first injuries started to appear.


    They fought on as the sun reached its zenith, then started to dip. But they continued on, with Melinda keeping them going as the Tier 7 monsters started to be reced by Tier 8 monsters.


    Kyle took an unlucky blow and lost his leg, which spelled the start of their doom. He continued to fight, but even Melinda was unable to get to him before he was overrun. To his credit, he kept swinging his greatsword until he was teleported out by Luna.


    Down a man, and with only two dedicated front liners, they were slowly picked off. Even Vinnies walls and makeshift defensive fortifications were crushed under the weight of the approaching beetle horde.


    Matt finally called for Aster to use her Winter''s Embrace, and the sand sh froze in a wave. Sadly, even with his [Wind Maniption], the beetles quickly adapted to the skill and ran through the portion of winter in the desert.


    Once they lost Mathew to a Tier 9 beetle, the end of their attempt came swiftly.


    Tara was able to take it out with a lucky shot into its mouth as it tried to eat Sam, but the damage was already done.


    Matt, with Aster at his heels, managed to stall a second Tier 9 beetle, but they were overwhelmed before too long.


    When they were teleported out, Matt found that everyone else was already hovering next to Luna except Liz.


    His girlfriend was a whirlwind of blood and death in her armored golem form. She looked glorious as her [Blood Crystal Armor] reacted to the Blood Iron and created golden armor. Every punch or stomp killed, and he watched as she single-handedly eliminated two of the Tier 9 beetles before running out of mana.


    Luna, for all her criticism, was equally willing to praise them when they did well, and only had a few pointers where they could have done better.


    Hearing how well they had done was a shot of pride for all of them. They had fought for hours against monsters as strong as them, and nearly as long against ones that were stronger. Liz had even killed two monsters three Tiers above her. That was impressive, and Matt could see that Liz could barely stand still through Lunas debriefing with her excitement.


    She ended her speech with a pointed look at Matt, saying, When you all start delving Tier 8 rifts, youll be able to round out your skills more to fix that.


    That perked everyone else. Matt, Liz, and Aster had been sitting at Tier 6 for nearly two years at this point. Liz was nearing twenty-one, while Matt had just turned twenty a few months ago. They had until they turned twenty-seven before they needed to advance to Tier 7.


    Melinda and her team were older, but only slightly, and were in no rush either. They were nearly at peak Tier 6, and could Tier up in a matter of weeks. But Melinda had told them of the deal her team made with Baxter. As long as they didn''t Tier up, they could remain with Matt, and use his mana to delve fresh and unlimited rifts.


    Luna nodded. Yes. The next person that were meeting will help you experiment with rift-making, and you with your healing Melinda. I think you will find that Erwin is a good wall to bounce ideas off of.


    Melinda rocked forward. Where and when do we meet him?


    Matt had the same question, and brought up a chart of the sector of the Empire that they were in.


    Luna sent everyone a data packet. Two months travel into the border region. Erwin is on a Tier 11 which was just subjugated. It will be the perfect ce to do some testing. One of the smaller continents was guaranteed for our use, so well be free of prying eyes should we stumble into something of interest..


    Matt rubbed his hands together. He was ready for <em>this</em> training to start.


    He had so many ideas to test.


    But first, he needed to spend the next week charging Wrangle''s mana crystal stores, to pay the man back for all his help in thest nine months.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109


    The next week was spent sleeping and charging Wrangle''s personal mana stone reserves.


    The stones were different from what Matt was used to seeing. The shape was the same, but these stones had a greater weight. Not physically. Or at least, not when they were empty. It was more like a spiritual weight,bined with a sense that the massive crystal was more <em>real</em> than the surrounding materials.


    That didn''t stop Matt from dumping mana into the ten foot tall mana stone. It devoured his mana just fine.


    Creating just one unit of the Tier 24s personal mana consumed nearly a hundred of his own. That revtion was slightly disheartening. It showcased the gap between Tiers all too clearly.


    Still, he just had to sit there, feeding a constant stream of mana into the boulder of a mana stone. Boredom would have overtaken him if Luna didnt repeatedly send his friends in to get their mana topped off by his Concept and have him do mana maniption exercises. That at least gave him people to talk with until he ran out of Willpower, at which point, theyd be recalled to continue lighter training with their Concepts.


    Matt expected to get a break when they boarded their train after jumpings, but Luna broke that feeble hope as she gathered everyone together to continue working on their mana maniption skills.


    As Luna pushed them to work through increasingly difficult exercises, Matt was reminded how much utility his Concept and Talent offered him, and by extension, the people around him. Without the need to rest and regenerate mana between exercises, they squeezed weeks of intense practice into mere days.


    Luna had finally sent them off to their rooms, with orders for Matt to fill more of the mana stones she had provided for him. Like the ones he had filled for Wrangle, these were a higher Tier version than the ones he was used to. Lunas personal stone, though, gobbled up thousands of his mana to produce even one unit of hers, and he was unable to even put a dent into the void of the stone during his breaks.


    Having done the math, Matt stopped to ask Vinnie, who was eating next to him, what their normal training routines looked like before this.


    That earned him res from everyone in Melinda''s team. Tara even pelted him dead center on his forehead with the crust of her roll.


    Vinnie just squinted at him before saying, Matt Fuck you Just fuck you, dude.


    The grin he shot Matt before he dug back into his soup took any sting out of the words.


    Melinda added, I have to agree with him, Matt. This is your fault. We would only be able to do a few hours of this training every few days, unless we wanted to burn through mana stones. Were only able to push this hard because of you. She added with a false whine, I just want a break.


    Even Mathew shot a mock re his way. Bro, I really wish you could just, like, run out. Maybe then we could get a break. Half of us are meatheads that only have internal skills anyway.


    Tara added, Yeah, this is good training, but we aren''t getting as much out of it as our more delicate magepanions.


    Matt returned to the topic he wanted to talk about. But mana maniption, if done right, only burns like one mana every ten minutes. You all should be able to do this even without me. Youre just sloppy.


    He stifled a grin as he threw an exaggerated re at Melinda. And we wouldn''t be able to go nearly as hard if not for little Miss No-Healing-Cooldown always patching us up either.


    There was a round of good-natured ribbing at Melinda until Sam tapped on the table. Sure, Melindas also a dick. But youre worse, you enable her as well. Sure, the team mommy can fix our boo-boos, but she cant normally do it indefinitely like this. Even without that, your endless mana nonsense is still so much worse. First off, Ive never even heard of anything remotely like half of these training methods. So either Luna concocted them herself, or theyre normally reserved for higher Tiers. Considering she had us all doing different things, I''d wager a mix of the two. Secondly, we would normally be delving to train, and would need to save our mana for that. It''s just not usually usible for us to burn through all our avable mana in a single day, let alone multiple times. Andstly, my feet fucking <em>hurt</em>. Im not sure how that''s your fault, but I''m gonna me you for it anyway.


    Matt then got facetiously med for all of everyone''s little problems. It culminated with Aster being actually upset that Matt hadnt made her a bunny ice cream rift yet. She had made her request <em>months </em>ago, and he was a failure of a bond for neglecting her vital needs for so long.


    That, in turn, led to another repeated argument between Kyle and Aster about the best vor of ice cream. He insisted that all ice cream was built off of vani, and therefore it was the best vor. Aster disagreed because all ice cream was good, and therefore equal.


    The rest of them left the fox and fighter to it as they moved on to the train''s workout room. With their cultivation back, they didn''t have to do much to maintain their fitness levels, but it was a nice way to relieve stress.


    Their travel was easier because of theck of space for Luna to really work with them. Those two months were a nice break from the intense physical training.


    What was mentally tiring was the tactical training. Things started simply, with examples seemingly pulled from their time in the vassal kingdoms war, but they continually grew in scope and difficulty.


    Their hypothetical tasks ranged from acting in small scale units, to forcing them toplete virtual missions inrger scale conflicts.


    Matt didn''t need to be a genius to piece together that they were being trained for the time after they finished The Path, and started fighting in the Empire''s wars for real.


    That realization gave Matt pause.


    He had long known that the purpose of The Path was to create powerhouses like Duke Waters, or Light and Shadow. But having now fought in the subjugation of a, the golem ruin incident, and the follow-up training war, he held a better appreciation of what war really entailed.


    The fighting wasn''t like how it was depicted in the movies or books. Real wars were brutal, and next time, a safety of higher Tier people wouldnt be in ce. There wouldnt be anyone standing by, ready to rescue them at any second.


    Death was a very real possibility. He had to confront that, as he fully realized that Luna was trying to teach them how to do things like go behind enemy lines to kill high Tiermanders, or disrupt supply lines.


    Hed already been killed in the vassal war. It might have been only once, but it was a moment that he saw in a new light, now that he knew what he was being trained for. Once was all he had from here on out.


    The lessons of fighting through pain and missing limbs also took on a more serious tone.


    Luna fully expected them to have to deal with that one day, and wanted them to be ready.


    Matt wasn''t sure if he wasfortable with taking up that responsibility. He enjoyed the physical training and pushing himself daily, but he didn''t know if he truly wanted what that led to. Still, he knew himself well enough to understand that he was prone to floundering and rxing without a goal.


    In his free time, Matt looked into the news sources, and when that didn''t answer his question, directly asked Luna what the future entailed after a group lesson on mana maniption.


    She didn''t sugarcoat her answer. War ising, Matt. She looked to the others, clearly meaning that they were not exempt from the consequences of this answer. The other Great Powers are eyeing the Empire and its changes. They see us rising above them, but it''s toote to stop us. Theyll still try though. They cant afford not to.


    What do you mean? Can''t they just do the same as us? It seemed like the easiest answer to Matt.


    Luna wiggled her hand. They are, some in different ways but they are. The problem is theyre too far behind the curve. Meanwhile, were growing exponentially. Even if they start now, or had they done so centuries ago, they have no hope of catching up. Unless of course, we run into a major roadblock, or get taken out at the knees.


    Matt didnt understand, and after looking around, he could tell that his friends didnt either. So he asked, But why? Why fight to the death at all? Rifts give us everything we need to live. Why doesn''t everyone just work on expanding their borders and just leave each other alone? It seems so wasteful.


    Luna floated down from the ceiling where she was lounging and met everyone''s eyes. Because we are human. Even the beasts are still human in emotion and desires when we hit Tier 15. We are greedy and stubborn. Why spend millions of years building up yours slowly, when you can take someone elses already establisheds?


    She tapped the train''s floor as she said, We don''tck for food and such, but we are a mana starved society. All the Great Powers are.


    This time Tara opened her mouth, but Luna continued. It doesn''t seem that way because you haven''t spent much time on higher Tier worlds. The capital is at a mana deficit even being fed mana of a thousand other worlds citizens. There are too many people with too many enchantments for the. Its essence rich, but not mana rich. Think about crafters. They burn tens of thousands of mana to make a single item <em>at the lowest Tiers</em>. That applies to every craft. The higher the Tier, the more we need mana. We hoard our mana stones from rifts to spend when we need an item crafted, or a sudden rift to delve. That doesn''t even ount for the mana we need to spend actually delving a rift which drains more mana stones.


    Luna pointed at them. Think about immortals. It''s only Tier 15, and bam! You never die. Unless you do something stupid, or just get tired of living. Tier 15 isn''t that hard to reach, and it''s where the resource scarcity starts to hit. Every five Tiers, the amount of essence needed to Tier up again spikes, and thats beyond the normal increased essence requirements between Tiers. Meanwhile, the rifts take longer to naturally recharge, even on a mana-rich world. Time isn''t the issue, but there are so many mortals having children that there are more and more immortals every year. Add the invention of bottled Concepts giving people longer to find their Concepts and it''s a growing problem. All of that is increasing the demand much faster than the supply. Consequently, it''s bing harder and harder to advance. People are spending more and more time waiting around, saving their mana to buy items or rift slots. Sadly, wars are amon way to cull the immortal poption, and remove some of that burden from society. It''s also how Tier 15 through Tier 35s are incentivized to fight. More resources.


    When Matt opened his mouth to speak, Luna brought up a hand to silence him, but he ignored it and pressed on. But that''s even worse! There are unlimited worlds out there. We can expand...


    Matt noticed that he was looming over his trainer, so he took a step back and started pacing behind the space where his friends sat.


    Lunas next words didn''t help his mood. Its human nature to want to expand and help the people near you. And we do expand all the time, Matt. It''s one way to relieve the pressure of more and more immortals. If you aren''t actively advancing or rich, Tier 15s and above are asked to move to outlying worlds that are under Tier 5. Their greater mana generation helps Tier up worlds safely, without crashing mortal economies. And if rift breaks do ur, they are hardly of any consequence. What else would you have the Empire do? Is it better to prevent people from bing immortals? Only give bottled Concepts to a chosen few? That was done by all the political entities right after the Shattering, and before the political unification wars, when everyone was just licking their wounds. No one was finding new worlds, and the mortals were prevented from cultivation at all.


    Sam raised a finger. I hadn''t heard of that. What happened? What was the Shattering?


    Luna nodded. The Shattering was what happened when there was only one Great Power, and they didn''t have a sufficiently strong Tier 50. They were the only political entity around, and had a firm grip on their people. Things were apparently pretty good, despite theck of some modern solutions like bottled Concepts and such. They had enoughs, and their slow and steady expansion ensured that more room and high Tier worlds were found. But their Tier 50 was a weak coward, only put on the throne as a puppet. However, the factions in opposition to him were far too strong to be held at bay. This original Great Power had seven Tier 47 worlds. You understand what that means?


    Kyle learned forward. Those are the capitals of the current Great Powers? Wait, there are eight Great Powers now?


    Luna flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture. I''ll exin thatter. Now, yes most of the developed sections of space near theses were heavily popted, and there was strength in that. But you need to understand how the wars started. Everyone thought that they could take over the throne, and with theirs being so strong, they created alliances and started dering wars. Not our y wars, but legions of Tier 40s fighting. It ruineds, and destroyed spatial connections. Entire regions of space were broken off and drifted off into the reaches of chaotic space, never to be seen again. Even mores were directly destroyed, or rendered useless.


    She sighed in an almost-disgusted way. When the dust settled, everyone over Tier 30 was pretty much dead, and everyone kept to their corners to rebuild their strength. Eventually, that led to the unification wars, and the various powers with simr political entities banded together. These entities are what make up the current Great Powers.


    Matt thought that was interesting, but wanted to return to his original point. But why war? Seeing Luna narrow her eyes, he added, I mean, why are the other Great Powers going to attack us? Shouldnt the follies of the past show them that it cant possibly be worth what they think?


    Lunas apparent irritation vanished. Now thats a good question. What do you know about the other Great Powers? The current ones, I mean.


    Matt shrugged. What I found on the EmpireNet. Were the second-ce Great Power behind The Unification of ns, and just ahead of The Republic. Seeing Luna nodding, he added, After that, in order of power, its The Sects, The Conglomerate Guilds, The Monster Collective, The Corporations, and The Federation.


    He quickly checked his AI to make sure he didn''t miss anything. Seeing Luna narrow her eyes at his use of the AI, he hurried to ask, I couldn''t find out much about them. What are they like? I know The Conglomerate Guilds are our ally, and that they use the guild structure for their general governance, as the name implies. But thats pretty much it.


    Seeing that Matt was done, Luna said, That''s about all you''ll find on public information channels. No one wants anyone thinking the grass is greener because of some propaganda. The reasons why we will have a war on our hands are manyfold, but the short of it is that we are about to overtake The Unification of ns, and be the first ranked Great Power.


    Matt thought that was a good thing, and was about to say so when Luna shook her head. Matt, you need to realize that three rulers ago, the Empire was in fourth ce. In a little more than sixty thousand years, The Empire has gone from fourth ce to first. That''s not just unheard of, its incredibly frightening to the other Great Powers. Add in the fact that we have an ascender in Duke Waters, along with another team about toplete The Path. The other Great Powers are scared. Terrified even. They want to take us down a peg or twelve, so they have time to recreate our sess.


    He interjected at the slight pause. Why attack us? Isn''t everyone afraid of Duke Waters? It seems like it would be better to sit back and let him advance past Tier 35.


    Luna shrugged. Normally, when a Great Power has two sets of ascenders, it''s when the first ascender has already been there a while, and is about to advance past Tier 35. Then, it''s normal for the senior to show the up ander the ropes, then move on. That''s the problem. Duke Waters has been an ascender for less than a thousand years, and he''s in no rush to move on. Two ascenders in less than a thousand years is absurdly lucky, and we have other promising prospects in the generations after Light and Shadow. Weve proven that our method works, Matt. If the other Great Powers don''t attack now, they won''t ever have the chance again. But if they attack now, and force us to give concessions about expanding, our progress will slow enough that they can catch up.


    Mathew spoke up, So war is inevitable?.


    From the tone, Matt figured that the man already knew the answer, but didnt me him for asking anyway.


    Yes, Mathew. We expect it to happen when Light and Shadow reach Tier 25, and officiallyplete The Path. That will give our enemies a reason to dere without looking like petty tyrants.


    How can we win a one versus how many war? Melinda sounded quite worried, and Matt understood her concern. And why dont they just attack us before Light and Shadow canplete The Path?


    Luna held up four fingers. It will probably be a four versus two. The Guilds will support us since they''re our allies, and have recreated most of our programs. They would have increased in ranking if not for a streak of awful luck, with new worlds not drifting by them. But they havent decayed in power either, which is telling. It would be us two against The Sects, The Republic, and The Federation. Possibly, well have to contend with The Corporations as well. They don''t particrly love us either. We know The Federation will join in, as they are the weakest of the great powers, and share a border with us. They''ve also never forgiven us for helping dismantle them, and creating The Monster Collective.


    Wait, what? Vinnie raised his hand while looking sheepish.


    Matt only knew because Liz had said something about that when they were on the training.


    Luna grinned, showing all her teeth. Yes. We and everyone else jumped down their throats when they got too strong. They were assholes who deserved it, but don''t mistake the real reason for it. The then third strongest Great Power got lucky, and found a natural Tier 46 deep in their own territory, not even near their borders.


    Matt had a sinking feeling that he wouldn''t like where the conversation was going.


    His trainer seemed to notice and looked at him. Yes, Matt. No one could allow a Great Power to have the equivalent of a second capital world. They could have created more Tier 46s than anyone else, breaking the current bnce of power. Currently, everyone is limited by the fact we all have a <em>single</em> Tier 47. It limits the number of higher Tier people that a Great Power can have when they need to raise up a new Tier 50 every thirty thousand years. The Federation having two was uneptable.


    She raised two hands like a scale, and started to raise them up and down in counterpoint. No one could allow them to have a fresh, mana full, rift full Tier 46. Thankfully, there was an excuse to go to war. They had been treating Beasts, Evolved Monsters, and Bonds as second-ss citizens. It had been going on for a while, and was only getting worse. That was the reason every other Great Power dered war on them at the same time. Or at least officially, we came to the aid of the beast liberation movement. That was our justification for war. We weren''t taking the knees out from under a rival. We were saving the downtrodden.


    Matt was able to draw the parallel to his own Talent, and what it meant. The realization made his throat go dry, and he had to swallow twice to ask, And what happened? Did the higher Tiers fight?


    Lunaughed, The Federation got their asses beat, and most of theirnds taken over. And yes, the war hadbatants as high as Tier 42, but the battles were kept out of real space. None of the Great Powers could decide on how to split the territory, and with our official justification being the treatment of Beasts, a new Great Power was raised. The territory was split, and most of thends were given to the self-named Monster Collective. The Federation was given the weaker capital, and the worst areas ofnd. They hate us enough to jump in a war to try and expand into better territory.


    Unwilling to say it directly, Matt asked while gesturing to himself, What about


    The shorter woman seemed to understand even without him spelling it out. Our situation is different. We have an agreement with the ns to stay out of any wars because of an agreement between Emmanuel and their current ruler. The next one up is unlikely to break that agreement. Then, we have very good rtions with The Monster Collective, so theyre unlikely to join in either. But that''s only the first war for Light and Shadow. I believe the current strategy is to cause enough damage in that war so that no one is willing to go for a second round so soon.


    And if they are? Matt really didnt want to know, but needed to ask.


    Luna seemed unbothered as she said, Who knows? Maybe another high Tier war. We just don''t know, Matt. All we can do is prepare. She blinked and then turned to Melinda, Forgive me, that exnation took too long and led me astray of your question. Why wait to attack for Light and Shadow toplete the Path, correct?


    Melinda nodded and Luna smirked wryly. They likely assume that with the threat of two sets of Ascenders, others will flock to their cause out of fear that we could eventually be tyrants, and bully worlds from others. Attacking early makes the attack personal, and that leaves others with no reason to be entangled in the squabbling of two Great Powers. But if theyplete it, they can see that we can replicate what others only dream of, and that should be terrifying to them.


    She cleared her throat, with her predatory grin softening. Though, I will merely reiterate and impress upon you now, we can only prepare. And part of that preparation lies with all of you. Go now, rest. We have much to do in our time together, and I mean to aplish all of it.


    After that, Matt went back to his room, and constantly thought things over for the next few days. He really didn''t like the future that Lunaid out, but he didn''t see any loopholes or ws in her argument.


    He himself would probably cause billions of people to die by his mere existence. He didn''t see any way to prevent the eventual war. He even contemted vowing to not advance past a certain Tier, to prevent his Talent from being useful to the highest Tier ofs. It only took a few rounds of his worried brain thinking things over to know that wouldn''t work. Hed still be used, despite the lessened efficiency.


    Eventually, he decided that he wanted to protect himself and The Empire enough to continue on with the training. If he didn''t, he might not have the power to stand up for himself when push came to shove. Having more personal power was the best way to ensure his own safety, and thus, the safety of those he cared about.


    If things got bad enough in the war over him, he feared that the Emperor would sacrifice him for the greater good. Liz would protest, but he could see a future where he was sent to world after world to Tier ups for the other Great Powers to prevent war.


    It wasnt aforting thought, but the only solution he saw was to get personally strong enough to prevent that from happening. If he was strong enough, no one would be able to use him as an unwilling mana battery. He had calcted that he would need to be Tiered up to at least Tier 45 to be truly useful for Tier 47 rifts, which meant that if he was a strong enough fighter, like Duke Waters, no one would be able to restrain him.


    A Tier 50 might be able to handle him, but he <em>did</em> have the Emperor on his side, which meant that he only needed to fight the other Tier 45 through Tier 47s.


    After his realizations, Matt redoubled his efforts in the training Luna set up for him.


    His future no longer looked as carefree as it had before.


    As they neared their final destination, Matt and his friends discovered that there was no particrly high Tier world that had been found. Instead, it was a closely clustered collection of worlds that would make for an excellent future nexus point and jumping point. They would connect the next wave of expansions to whatever new and exciting worlds could be found on the border of the Empire.


    While the they were going to was near the edge of the cluster, the central world had neen connected worlds. The EmpireNet said that it was the seventeenth most condensed cluster of worlds.


    That in itself meant that the world would be heavily invested in. It was only Tier 6, but the surroundings had up to a Tier 16, which meant that immortals would be drawn to the location, if nothing else.


    Their destination was, as Luna said, an otherwise unremarkable Tier 11. The only oddity was that the smallest ind continent waspletely restricted.


    As they neared it, their AIs were sent a message that breaking the cordon on the continent would result in a high Tier representative of the Empire being sent to investigate. Not that Matt saw anyone watching the border, but the message stated that there was.


    Luna led them right through without stopping, and no one came to investigate, so Matt assumed that she had messaged someone to show clearance.


    It took them roughly five hours to reach an area that was a convergence of grasnds, mountains, and a massiveke.


    Next to theke, was a flying house that looked more like a simple cabin than anything grand. Luna just walked straight inside, and led the rest of them in a winding path through half a dozen rooms.


    Everything but the dining room and kitchen seemed to beboratories of various types, which Matt couldn''t identify in the brief time they walked through them. Beakers holding concoctionsbeled in scrawling script were scattered about, along with piles of notes that nearly threatened to fall as they all passed through. Another room contained all kinds of creatures in various levels of decay and destruction, where yet more notes were piled precariously. Luna moved with purpose and little care, the lower tiers moved more cautiously, if only a little.


    Finally, they found an average-looking man inspecting what Matt could only call a miniature world. He was pretty sure that it was a spatially expanded crystal orb that somehow had what looked like a full forest inside of it.


    The man, who he assumed was Erwin, was inspecting the soil from under the globe with a microscope.


    He called out, You didnt have problems getting here, did you?


    Luna peered into the globe and said, You have too much nitrogen in the soil.


    The man shrugged. Yeah, its the ferns. I found a variety that can fix nitrogen and wanted to see if they could be used for natural fertilization, but they dont have a wide enough root ball to properly distribute everything. I was <em>hoping</em> that I could use the ants from Altar Prime as a way to help distribute it more, but theyre dying out. Maybe with a few hundred more generations I can


    The man finally seemed to notice the rest of them and fiddled with a pair of glowing sses. Now that he could see them, Matt could feel the enchantments on the sses from where he was standing.


    He stuck out a hand and said, Oh, hi. Um, right, Luna did say that shed be bringing you all. Well Im Erwin, but I guess you already knew that? Anyway, wee to my humble abode, I suppose?


    Luna grabbed his outstretched arm and said, Your gloves are still covered in the ant''s venom. Don''t kill the kids.


    Erwins gloves vanished, and he shook everyone''s hand while he grinned sheepishly, Right, right. Sorry. Still, theyd <em>probably</em> be fine, I know I have the antitoxin around here somewhere, but proper Oh! Actually, now that Im thinking about it His attention moved back to the spatial terrarium and was only pulled back by Lunas cough.


    Right! Training. I remember. One of you makes unlimited mana, yes?


    His sses increased in glow as he inspected each of them, before settling on Matt.


    Yes, yes. Use a Skill, please.


    Matt met Luna''s gaze with a raised eyebrow, and when he received a nod, he pushed [Mages Retreat] to its maximum.


    Erwin oohd and ahhed for a good minute before asking, So you never run out of mana? At all?


    Not at all. Ive also got a Concept that gives people around me mana.


    Matts Concept seemed to be less interesting than his Talent.


    Interesting, and Im sure you can make good use of it given your Talent, but not <em>that</em> rare. Transferring mana is definitely useful, but rarely worth the hassle.


    Matt, understanding his misconception, used his Concept on the man without lowering [Mages Retreat]s mana draw.


    That got the man''s attention, and Matt added, It doesn''t take my own mana. It''s a mana generation Concept.


    Erwin nodded like a chicken, eyes focused off into the distance, Now <em>that</em> is much rarer, and is quite the interestingbination. I would have thought you just use your Concept as a supplement to your mana. But with this, I presume you must have copied your Talent over while building your Concept? That must have been quite the challenge.


    Matt nodded, but the higher Tier man moved on before he was able to speak.


    Anyway, I hear youve been making rifts with that? Then oh, unique Skill? Now <em>thats</em> interesting.


    Erwin looked to Luna and asked, What happened to it?


    Luna met his gaze as she said, I passed it to the Emperor.


    Erwin deted slightly at that before he popped back up and said, Well, if you made it once, you can make it again. Come on, lets get started on that now.


    He vanished with a pop into the air, then a secondter, reappeared and hurried out a different door than where they entered. Following him, they were outside, and he waved out at the grass next to the massiveke. First, let me see you make a rift.


    Matt eyed theke and asked, Is that creating a safe zone? It looks big enough to prevent rifts from spawning, like the seas do.


    Erwin shook his head. No, nine percent too small. I <em>do</em> want to see what makes your rifts different from natural ones. Maybe theyre unaffected by the Coastal Exclusion Principle, and well test thatter. But for now, I just want to see your process.


    Not knowing what else to do, Matt brought out his concrete bs and arranged them in a circle, after clearing the grass inside. As he arranged them, he realized how cheap and crude they werepared to the sophisticated machinery he had passed in theb. If he had a few hours, he could make a better set with the things he learned with Kelley. That wasn''t even taking into consideration the rune library he had in a partition of his AI.


    I, uhh. These are pretty old, but Umm.


    Erwin didnt seem bothered, and just waved at him to continue on.


    Matt sat down and started pouring mana into the formation. It took longer than he expected, but a rift flickered to life as the mana density increased. The monsters that flooded out were quickly minced by the formations he had built into the device, but Erwin grabbed one of the purple skunks and inspected it during the time it took Matt to Tier the rift up to Tier 2.


    As the monsters remained the same, Erwins next inspection was much quicker. Even having heard about it, its still so strange to see such a low-Tier Rift here. Perhaps while I- while youre here, we can get some insights into more natural rift formation as well.


    At Tier 6, his attack formation struggled to kill the monsters, but with a wave from Luna, the monsters pouring out of the rift just vanished.


    As Erwin stepped into the formation and started looking at the rift with his glowing sses, Matt noticed his friends were looking at him with weird looks.


    What?


    Mathew was the first to speak. I knew you could do that. And I''ve gotten a lot of your mana But this


    When he trailed off, Tara picked up. It''s wild. Almost unbelievable. That''s like. Not really done.


    Matt countered, I''m pretty sure a lot of guilds and nobles make rifts. It''s not that weird.


    Liz interjected. It''s more that you do it all by yourself. A guild doing something is like a higher Tier doing something. It''s impressive, sure. But theyre so powerful, it doesnt have the shock value that your rift creation does.


    Vinnie nodded his head. Exactly. It''s like you don''t need anything but some space and time. You can delve as much as you want, wherever you want. We traveled around to go to ces with rifts. Youre basically the opposite.


    Matt actually felt quite embarrassed. He wasn''t doing anything that anyone with unlimited mana couldnt do. And they hadnt even seen his rift experiments with items and mana types.


    He had learned so much about mana types, mana aspects, and sub-aspects with Kelley. All of which should apply to rift creation.


    When Erwin didn''te out of the rift after fifteen minutes had passed, and the instance would have cycled, Luna waved her hand, dissipating the rift.


    Erwin was kneeling down like he had been inspecting a nt, and looked quite confused when he suddenly wasn''t where he thought he should be.


    Luna said, You don''t have to inspect everything before you even see him make other rifts.


    This is <em>important</em>! You never know what sorts of trivial things might end up being the key to some massive new discovery. You cant just <em>rush</em> this. Its not some scuffle where every second counts, this is <em>science</em>! Have a bit of patience!


    Luna crossed her arms and set her stance. I sent you the information that we have on rift building. This shouldn''t be anything new for you.


    Erwin shook his head, tapping out points on his fingers. First, you sent me the information that <em>you</em> gathered on rift-building, not the sort of information that <em>I</em> can gather. Second, its not like we get that many chances to actually study fully-charged rifts, let alone artificial ones. Sure, we have detailed information about the first eight Tiers, but thats pretty much entirely done by <em>guilds</em>. Theyre just worried about how dangerous their training rifts are and their rewards. Nothing about the Essence content or


    Erwin didnt stop until Matt asked, Should I make another rift? I learned that mana types matter, and so do items.


    Erwin turned and nodded to Matt, who pulled out a short sword, set it at the center of the formation, and used one of the more neutral metal mana types he had gotten to charge the rune circle. With thecking efficiency of the ring he stored his mana types in, and simr problems with his shoddy work on the concrete bs, it took a lot longer to create the rifts.


    When the kobolds came out wielding short swords, Erwin asked him to stop and entered the rift. It was only a Tier 1, and he was quickly out of the rift. He returned holding a mirror of the short sword that Matt had used to influence the rift.


    One moment, I want topare them first. Erwin then nced between the swords before pronouncing, Okay, so not quite a perfect replica. Same appearance, but the internal structures are really different. Interesting.


    After tapping at the air, he said, Go ahead and Tier it up.


    Matt made it to Tier 4 before the sword was sucked up into the rift, and vanished.


    He looked to Erwin for guidance as he said, This usually means Im screwed on this attempt. He brought out a pair to the sword he had used earlier and added, Ive found that if I use a sword nearly identical to the original , it helps keep the rift from un-aspecting. But they need to be rift reward levels of simr.


    Matts attempt was unsessful, and despite the sword remaining in the center of the circle, horses with silvery hooves exited the freshly Tiered up rift.


    He was going to start draining the rift to reset his attempt, but Erwin, contrary to his expectation, wanted to explore the rift. He was gone for close to half an hour, but came out with a smile.


    It lost the sword, but there was clearly still some influence from it, and the metal mana you used. Fascinating.


    Erwin rubbed his hands together, narrowing his eyes in thought. Let''s restrict this rift so it can''t Tier up and then move the formation and experiment with a clean te. Its time to start some <em>proper</em> testing.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110


    The first thing Erwin did was have Matt make a series of rifts, starting from Tier 1 to Tier 6. The first set he wanted were just random rifts using only Matt''s mana. The second set he wanted to create were all made with a singr elemental mana type. In this case, he was using earth mana.


    Erwin had his own set of formation tes ready, which kept the ambient mana out of the rift, preventing them from Tiering up. The idea wasn''t unknown to Matt, but the way the formation tes did that intrigued him. They didn''t just keep the mana out, but they used the iing mana to power themselves, which was an interesting application of the rifts suction ability.


    After that, Matt was pulled off by Luna, much to Erwin''s irritation. But he didn''t press after having a few rifts to experiment on.


    Luna pointed to a section ofnd around the house that they stayed in previously.


    I want you to make a few random Tier 1 rifts.


    She tossed him a few bags. Use what you find in there to make the rifts, and use the mana types you think would be best. Use the second bag for Tier 2 rifts.


    Untying the first bag, Matt found a variety of weapons and other odds and ends. He had no idea what a rift built around a spinning top would be, but it was an easy enough order.


    After setting the rifts up, Luna called everyone and tossed the dreaded cultivation restriction bands at them.


    Wear these.


    She gestured to the side, and Kurt appeared with a wave and a signboard that said, Hi!


    Luna continued, Kurt will be your trainer for the next year or so. Hes a de mage himself, so don''t doubt that you can learn a thing or two from him.


    With that, Luna was gone, and Kurt pointed at each of the rifts before a pen floated and wrote on his board, We will be going through the first rift together. Please watch out for your surroundings.


    He stepped forward, then stopped, and his pen moved again. Also, please shunt the essence you receive. It''s less than ideal for lower Tier essence to be added to your cores.


    Everyone nodded, and with the bands affixed to their wrists, entered the rift. Matt found himself on a forest path. Immediately, he noticed that two or three feet past the edge of the trail, the forest turned blurry and indistinct. It was clearly the edge of the rift, which was normally more hidden.


    This rift didn''t have goblins or kobolds like Matt expected, but instead shadow monsters that looked like someone draped a sheet over a void.


    He moved forward when Kurt gestured for him to advance, and the monster extended a finger towards him as soon as he took the first step. It shot out a [Fireball] at him once he closed the range. Matt had used a wand and neutral mana to create this rift, and he didn''t expect the normal monster to be able to use a spell.


    That was <em>not</em> normal.


    Still, this wasn''t Matt''s first time fighting a mage, and he rolled out of the way,ing out of his lunge in a sh with his Tier 2 training sword. The blow rent the monster in two at the shoulder, and the fabric fluttered to the ground. Matt eyed the shady remains carefully, but the monster stood down.


    Kurt pped twice to gather everyone''s attention, and with his board, asked, What did you all notice?


    Vinnie gestured at the cloth on the floor. A Tier 1 monster had a spell. What the fuck?


    Kurt wrote spell then looked around with a raised eyebrow.


    Aster yipped out, No smell and no heart.


    Kurt added those two additions, then kept ncing around.


    Tara said, It can either only cast one spell, or its recharge time is a long time.


    Kurt gestured for her to continue with his hand, so she added, That means it''s either limited in mana, or the spell structure is kinda shit inside of it.


    Their silent instructor nodded and wrote, It''s rare, but Tier 1 rifts with pure mage monsters aren''t unheard of. It''s a fun discovery, but not quite what I wanted. We wille back and get everyone used to this, but I want to start with meleebat.


    The page flipped, and he wrote, Let''s leave, and when I restore your mana cultivation to a tier 1 level, we wille back.


    The next rift was a metal rift with a dagger used as the base, and inside they found a mountain pass. It was heavily popted with goblins wielding daggers made of what looked like bronze.


    Kurt raised a hand, and even while he kept his gaze forward, his board showed, Ok, perfect. Liz, you first, please.


    As a group, they made their way up the mountain pass and fought the ever-increasing groups of goblins until they reached the boss. They came to a goblin riding arge boar, guarding the exit and reward distortion.


    After Luna''s training, none of them had any issues killing their way through the goblins. Even Aster was able to brutalize the poor creature, and cracked open its chest to eat its heart. She pranced around the rest of the rift with her prize. It was only then that Matt realized his bond hadnt been able to eat monster meat in almost two years.


    While she wasn''t a kit anymore, and her dietary restrictions were far less stringent than they were years ago, she still wasnt a human. Matt resolved to make sure that she got some actual monster meat in her diet from now on.


    Tara used a short sword to quickly dispatch the goblin leader, and Kurt pulled them out of the rift after dispersing the reward distortion. It was a single bent dagger that Matt expected to be tossed away, but Kurt kept it in a box in front of the rift.


    They moved through all the rifts for the next seven hours with their cultivation restricted. The Tier 2 rifts were far more difficult, with the monsters being more normal than the Tier 1 monsters.


    Matt expected Kurt to have them work them out, but when the sun started to set, he waved them off to do as they wished, as long as they practiced some skill or hobby. He even removed the restrictions on the bands to return their cultivation.


    Sam and Liz came right up to Matt and asked for a rift so they could concoct herbs.


    He was about to do that when Aster came up and gave him her best puppy eyes. She quietly asked for a snow rift to y in.


    As if he heard the questions, Erwin appeared out of nowhere and waited for Matt to create the herb rifts.


    Matt talked through his creation as Erwin took notes. So with ourst herb rift, we found that wood and earth mana worked well for ensuring that the rift actually produced useful nts. But this time, I have wood aspected mana with a sub-aspect of nt that I want to try.


    Erwin learned in, examined the mana flowing from his ring, and asked, How do you know its sub-aspect?


    That caused Matt to pause and consider. I just get that feeling. Is there an actual way to tell?


    Erwin waggled his pencil. Not rigorously. You can get an approximation with the right enchantment of course, but usually its just intuition. I was actually working on not important.


    Matt paused at that. He hadnt thought to use runes as a way to check a mana type and sub-aspect.


    With everyone watching him, Matt began his first attempt at a Tier 1 herb rift. While the resulting rift had copious nt life, the herbs produced were all mundane varieties. Four riftster, he got a wide array of herbs to appear by adding a touch of wind and water mana to the mix, along with a bundle of Tier 6 herbs that they had on hand.


    He quickly repeated his experiments to get all the way to a Tier 6 herb rift, and demanded promises that neither Liz nor Sam would enter the rift alone. In total, they lost three bundles of herbs throughout his two dozen attempts to create a satisfactory herb rift. But it was a small price to pay when they held a near unlimited number of Tier 6 herbs, acquired during their travels.


    Aster''s rift was more straightforward, and it only took half a dozen attempts to make a snow rift filled with rabbits burrowed in the snow for her to chase.


    He got her to reluctantly agree to the same conditions that she operated under when they were making rifts on the ind together, with a few additions. Aster would have to exit the rift every hour to check in, and sleep outside while not skipping out on any of the training.


    As soon as she got all the all-clear, Aster shot off into the rift like an arrow.


    Everyone else decided to help Liz and Sam harvest the herb rift while Matt worked with Erwin on the finer points of his rift creation process.


    Matt liked to think that he had an instinctive grasp on the process, but his understanding was nothing whenpared to Erwin''s testing.


    Once they were off in their own area, Erwin pped his hands and said, Alright! Where do we start?


    The man looked like an eager kid with presents at a New Years'' celebration.


    Matt''s following words didn''t dampen that at all. I want to redesign my formation tes from the ground up. I''ve learned a lot from when I was only Tier 5. Besides the rune repository I have ess to, I learned a lot about mana types and their sub-aspects.


    Erwin nodded. Yes, yes. Excellent idea, I was actually thinking pretty much the same thing. Your stuff is good.


    Seeing Matt''s look of doubt, Erwin hurriedly added, No, really! For someone of your Tier and experience? Quite ingenious. The man rubbed his hands together and asked, What are you thinking? I have a few ideas of my own, but I want to see where your mind is at before I exin.


    Matt toed the concrete bs and said, I want to change the material that the formations are made out of. If I use a higher Tier metal with an iy of precious metals, I think I can increase the efficiency.


    Erwin raised a finger like he was the student and asked, Why not wood or monster remains? They have <em>significantly</em> higher rune capacitance, after all.


    Matt didn''t have an answer for that, and opened his mouth twice before he said, I didn''t even think of them. I''ve only enchanted metals.


    Erwin shrugged. Fair, fair. Im sure youll get used to them quickly enough, though. Theyre not <em>that</em> different, but they have their own quirks. With metals, you see He nced at something off to the side before saying, <em>How</em> does that woman always Im getting distracted. Perhaps a hybrid setup? We do really need to focus on controlling the mana flows, and keep a close eye on everything. Even the smallest change might hide something important.


    Cant a lot of that be done with secondary equipment? It will just make it harder to make the tes with this. Seems easier to use an outside formation.


    Erwin vehemently shook his head. No, no, no! Well okay, it <em>will</em> make it harder, and we <em>could</em> use other stuff, but that will create far more variables to ount for. Maybe we introduce a mana spectrometer, and that changes its interaction with the mana flow slightly. Or perhaps we can set an essence recorder interface during formation of the rift somehow. There will be time to use multiple devices of that ilk, but this is <em>clearly</em> a<em></em>delicate<em></em>process. I want to make sure that as many of our methods and variables as possible are absolutely identical between each test. Hard-carving all of our analysis equipment into the formation tes <em>will</em> make it harder, and will limit us in other ways, but what matters now is getting a control rift.


    Matt couldn''t really argue with that logic, and agreed to make a secondary formation set with more specialized materials, once he was able to gather some from his rift experiments.


    Why wait? Erwin said, while looking at Matt as if he was the one saying something absurd.


    Matt exined, I have Tier 6 metals on hand, but I don''t have any monster parts or woods, and I''d rather get this next set made sooner rather thanter.


    Erwinughed. Oh, dont worry about that. I keep tons of materials in storage, and have to restock at least once a decade. A few dozen formation tes will barely even scratch my reserves.


    With that solved, they moved on to designing the tes.


    This set was far more robust than Matts current tes. The base was made out of Tier 7 ironwood iy, with Tier 7 gold for the actual runes. Matt ruined two sections of the set with his initial creations, but they had a working group of tes by the time the sun rose above the horizon.


    Unlike hisst set, which only had the basic functions for adding mana, depleting a rift, and defensive formations, this was anything but a simple setup. This generation of formation tes had several new features, and could do everything thest one did.


    The difference between enchanting with metal and wood was night and day. With metal, it felt like chipping away at the dense material, even when the runes were carved directly into the items spirit. The wood took on the runes like a fish into water.


    With their added capacity to hold runes, they also added a barrier formation to the tes. It helped to keep out ambient mana and maintain a near mana vacuum. Erwin insisted on that, and Matt agreed without further prodding from the older man. He was sure that ambient mana could change the results, which meant that they needed to ount for the variable.


    The formation tes could also monitor every change in mana density and concentration, while sending that information to their AIs. That was the only rune that Erwin personally carved. Matt actually had the rune in his repository of knowledge, but it was far outside of his ability to carve a Tier 22 rune. And that was the most stripped-down version. The one Erwin used was leagues above the simpler runes that Matt had copies of.


    Kurt served them all breakfast, and Matt dug in while he watched the sunrise. He was tired, but ted at their sess through the night. Burning [Endurance] perked him up enough not to be sleepy when Kurt started their lessons.


    The first thing he did was line them up, and nine versions of himself walked out of his body. Each had their own boards to write on, but Matt could clearly see the difference in the clones.


    He could tell that they were replicas, clearly made out of mana as they were hazy and slightly see-through.


    A quick search in the Tier 8 skill repository showed nothing, and Matt was pretty sure that it wasn''t the publicly listed Tier 44 skill, [Clone]. That skill created perfect copies.


    Kurt answered the unspoken question with his main body. I am using [Mana Clone]. A Tier 32 skill that will let me speed up your training. They arent that useful in directbat, as they don''t have a copy of my skills, but they are useful in other ways. We will be dueling for an hour. Then, we will be working onbat skills. For those withoutbat skills, we will be working on the skills you do have. Does anyone have any questions?


    Kyle raised a hand and, when he was nodded at, asked, Can you exin the difference between a de mage and a normal melee fighter? They both use skills, so the difference seems to be more one of naming than anything else. Luna said you were a de mage, and Ive always been interested in them


    Kurt nodded and his pen rapidly wrote out, A true de mage is more than a melee fighter who uses skills or spells. A de mage uses a variety of spells that a mage would usually use, while also using normal melee skills. We usually have an equal essence allocation, or a slight preference one way. Anyone see any problems with that?


    Mathew nodded. Yeah, youll be a lesser version of a floater. You can be a front liner, but won''t take a hit as well. You can be a mage, but won''t have the mana to do it as long or as effectively. After a second of hesitation, he added, Without taking Talents into consideration.


    Kurt pointed at Mathew and gave him a thumbs-up. Correct, and well exined. Now, what are our advantages?


    Liz was the first to answer after a long moment of silence. You don''t have the traditional weaknesses of either group, and can solo a lot easier as well.


    Kurt waved his hand, encouraging her to continue. You also have a lot of versatility. I think I''ve heard de mages called mage killers as well.


    When it was clear that no one else would speak, Kurt wrote, That''s all correct, but you are forgetting one thing. de mages are very hard to kill for more specialized roles. We also are able to use our mana control and practice to get more out of our more melee-oriented skills. Kyle wasn''t wrong when he said that a lot of melee fighters look like de mages at the higher Tiers. Skills be more and more useful as you advance, so the difference between mage, melee, and de mage bes less noticeable, except in our essence allocation. We are also the best for solo missions, when the parameters are unknown. If you have a Talent that lets you cover one of our weaknesses, then a de mage is a dozen times scarier than a normal team of melee fighters and mages.


    He nodded to Matt and Kyle. The two of you are good candidates. Especially you Matt. Kyle, it''s not toote for you to consider it either. Your strength stacking means you wont suffer from ack of physical essence allocation either. But let us get to training.


    The mana copies raised their weapons, which were a match of each of their own. With their cultivation, Matt didn''t expect to get abused in the fight.


    He expected to lose. That was never in doubt. Kurt was at least Tier 35, and was chosen as a trainer for The Path.


    Kurt''s clone was slower and weaker than him, but he was unable to even so much as touch the man. He was repeatedly smacked around, despite the openings Kurt left open. He was never cut deeply, but Kurt sliced through [Cracked Phantom Armor] as if it wasn''t there. If he wasn''t so controlled with his blows, Matt was sure that he would need Melinda to heal severed limbs.


    What was more humiliating was that Kurt was also fighting everyone else at the same time. The mans attention was split nine ways, and he was able to batter Matt around while being in a weaker and slower state.


    Even Aster wasn''t left alone. She too was forced to fight Kurt, who used a variety of weapons that monsters and humans might use. She mostly dodged, but it was still good for her, with her limited arsenal. She did keep a small blizzard around her, and shot out des of ice every time she had an opening, but it was still futile with the man''s skill.


    After the melee training, Kurt brought Matt away from the others and told him to only use [Fireball] on him while he fought.


    Kurt would then start thirty feet back and rush Matt. He left openings. Matt couldn''t argue that he didn''t. It was just that even with unlimited mana, Matt was unable to actually hit the man before Kurt was upon him and tapping him with his de.


    Matt started to try and anticipate the attacks, but it left him relying more on luck than any nning or skill. Kurt stopped every five charges to exin what Matt was doing wrong. It helped, but Matt was still struggling to hit his trainer.


    What helped him the most was when Kurt told him to change locations, and had Matt charge at him. Then, using only [Mana Bolt], he was able to hit Matt three out of three times in the time it took Matt to cover the distance.


    That helped Matt get into the right mindset. First, he needed to predict how Kurt would act as a melee fighter trying to close the distance. Then, he needed to predict how someone with thousands of years of realbat experience would react.


    All without his AI.


    In the two hours of training and lessons, Matt managed three hits on the man when he forced him into hard to escape positions, using a few carefully ced [Fireball]s. When Matt managed to hit the clone, the difficulty ramped up until he was once again struggling.


    That early morning training was only a highlight as to why the training with Kurt and fighting in the Tier 2 and 3 rifts with their cultivation restrictions was so practical.


    Fighting against monsters that were faster and stronger than them was a valuable lesson to learn. The Tier 3 rifts were where they started taking wounds. Or at least, their mages did.


    When they stalled out, Kurt gave the mages Tier 1 levels of mana so they could cast a few spells, which let everyoneplete the rifts.


    The next training he had them do was delving at full strength with random teams of three. They were only Tier 7 rifts, so they had fewer issues. But the teambinations could lead to them having an easy time, or to them being punished against the random rifts that Matt was directed to make.


    Any team consisting of Matt and any of the mages meant an easy clear. Even easier if he was lucky enough to get Melinda on his team, as they could crush any same Tier monster with no risk. When it was him, Kyle, and Mathew, they struggled to deal with ranged opponents, whom they only could strike with Matt''s [Mana sh], [Fireball], and crossbows. That was not enough to kill the birds that were attacking them with wind magic.


    They got put together once again, in a rift based with massive wind type bees. They were nearly invisible, and had an armor piercing effect on their stingers. They tly refused to enter the rift after talking it over.


    Contrary to their expectations, Kurt just patted their shoulders and wrote, Good. Knowing when you can''t win a fight is a good lesson. Wait for the others to finish their rifts.


    With the new formation tes he and Erwin made, Matt and the older man made a lot of progress in their understanding of how rift creation actually worked. Through their experimentation, they found thatplementary mana types increased the chance of a rift sessfully keeping its aspect.


    The examples they were currently testing during their rest were the most normal elemental types of wind, water, fire, and earth. Those rifts didn''t seem to have any problems in reaching Tier 4 or 5 without losing their aspects.


    They also learned that bypletely draining the mana from the spot where they were forming the rift, they had increased the chances of the rift keeping the mana type they wanted. Theirrgest problem was that they didnt always know if the rift truly lost the elemental aspect it had.


    It was only after Erwin insisted on a more thorough examination of theirtest rift that they discovered something to the contrary. The rift seemingly had no rtion to the element they were using to form it. In that instance, it was a water mana charged rift that had a typical forest setup. But when they Tiered it up, the rift transitioned into a water beach.


    That wasn''t the only oddity. Afterwards, they discovered that when a rift absorbed an item, it was almost always going to have a theme based around the item. But that wasn''t always true if the area where the rift had formed contained ambient mana. It only held true if they had cleared the location of ambient mana, and used the exact same mana types to Tier the rift up every time.


    Together, they created hundreds of Tier 1 through 6 rifts. They attacked their experimentation on the rifts and the effects of the mana used to create them from every angle.


    Some things seemed to remain consistent.


    If a weapon was used to make the rift, the monsters inside would usually use that weapon, or it would be dropped from the reward distortion. If the items were a higher Tier than the rifts, the rewards were always bent or broken in some way, but it led them to their next series of tests.


    Rift-made weapons were perfectly identical. Or, the closest anyone could get to identical without atomic levels of precision.


    If the item used to seed a rift was absorbed by Tiering up the rift, they had another chance at seeding the rift with an exact copy of the same item. That chance was low, at only one in fifteen, but it meant that rift rewards were better to seed rifts with. The problem was that rifts seemed to absorb items if their Tier was higher than the item''s Tier. Items of the same Tier were fine, but if the rift was a higher Tier, it was guaranteed to absorb the item, and could still potentially unaspect.


    Their measuring equipment picked up minute fluctuations in the rifts. They theorized that the fluctuations might indicate that the rift was unstable, or would unaspect. But afterbing through the data, their findings were wide ranging and inconsistent from element to element. The data wasrgely useless if they wanted to draw any concrete conclusions.


    After over a month of testing single elemental rifts, they started testingbination rifts with even splits of two of the elements.


    Somebinations worked well, and others not so much. Fire and wind nearly always worked well, when constructed with a fifty-fifty split in mana types.


    The rifts it created were usually hot and dry climates with either wind or fire monsters, but in a few rifts, they discovered that dual-element monsters were possible. The most normal wereva or mud creatures. The more esoteric ones, like steam, were practically harmless if they stayed away from them, as the monsters didn''t really move.


    They also found out that a rift with two monster types nearly always had both elements present. But at Tier 6, rifts with two monster types were rarer than singr elements, and Erwin refused to rush them past the rifts that were easy for Matt to create.


    Fire and air. Earth and fire. Earth and water. Water and wind. They all created simplebinations that were easy to make and Tier up.


    They learned that opposing elemental mana rifts like fire and water were possible, if highly finicky. They were only able to get two out of hundreds of attempts to stabilize and actually form the rift. Only one of the two reached Tier 2 before deaspecting.


    The rift was incredibly hard to stabilize, and the resulting aspect could only be described as odd. It was a jaggedndscape with no shrubbery that they could see. At random intervals, exploding jets of superheated water sted out of the ground. Erwin and Matt spent hours afterwards clearing the grotesque smanders out of the rift so they could examine the mineral content and temperature of the water.


    It was also filled with bacteria that prompted Erwin to disappear for two days. Matt didn''t understand half of what the man said about them, but he used the time to test his own theories.


    Despite Erwin''s insistence that they were rushing, Matt hypothesized and tested that if they used unequal amounts of opposing mana types, they would be able to create more stable rifts.


    He was right, or mostly so. With a seventy-five to twenty-five percent ratio, the rifts were stable, even with the opposing mana types. The issue was that they almost always presented only the majority mana type.


    After Erwins return from his bacteria study, they found that if they used a forty-five, forty-five split of opposing mana types, with a neutral mana type as the remaining ten percent, they could get the opposing mana-type rifts that were far more stable.


    During that same time, Kurt had them delving Tier 7 and Tier 8 rifts with their original teams. They were taking the rifts exceptionally slowly, as it was dangerous to delve without knowing the ins and outs of the rift. That was arger issue for Melindas team than Matt''s team, who were more used to the unknown. However, they didn''t have Melindas Overhealth to fall back on. At least, not during the delve itself.


    As they got used to Tier 7 rifts and gotfortable, Kurt pushed them to begin delving Tier 8 rifts. The difference was only one Tier, but it was a massive spike in difficulty.


    Tier 8 rifts wererger, and every monster had their own Concepts and skills. The terrains were also more varied, with a minimum of two monster types for them to deal with.


    Matt, at Kurt''s request, created a new basic Tier 8 rift every day for them to delve blind. The skills they got were mostlymon ones, but they started to pile in. Being under the Tier of the rift, and having the rifts bursting at the seams with mana, helped with their drops as well.


    It took a lot of convincing to get Melindas team to ept the skill shard drops, but they eventually did when they saw the pure amount of wealth Matt was able to generate with a single rift.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster didn''t struggle with the Tier 8 rifts all that much, and used the higher Tier essence to push to the peak of Tier 6 in a short time. The extra cultivation only helped them clear the rifts even easier. They had to be safe, but after Luna''s brutal training and Kurt''s careful tutge, they had little issue fighting monsters two Tiers higher than them.


    The only rifts they truly struggled in were rifts that had incredibly defensive monsters. Even then, it was mostly only Matt who struggled without his spells. He had been banned from using [methrower] for more than ten seconds during a delve, after he used the singr skill to clear an entire rock turtle rift.


    He agreed with the reasoning, but his swordcked the piercing power he needed to fight monsters with hard armor.


    When they asked for Tier 9 rifts for the third time, Kurt had them start solo delving Tier 8 rifts, inbination with more restricted cultivation Tier 3 rifts. That was enough to keep them busy for a while, but it didn''tst. When Melindas team gotfortable with the Tier 8 rifts, they went back to random three-man teams to delve in.


    That element of uncertaintybined with the random rifts caused them to struggle once again, and quelled their desires for a greater challenge.


    ***


    Luna stood in front of the tribunal and scowled internally. She could tell from their postures that they werent going to agree with her.


    Finally, Silver sat forward and they said, We have considered your proposal of loosening the restrictions on one Pather, Matthew Alexander, on the grounds that he needs greater ess to restricted items, such as Mana Concentration potions, resources to create rifts, and better training aids. We have unanimously denied said petition.


    She had expected that, but Silver''s next words caused her hackles to rise.


    As for your second petition, to force one Matthew Alexander off The Path for his own good, we have unanimously denied this as well.


    Luna interrupted Silver with a growl. That''s bullshit. The Path is already aplete charade for him. He feels none of the normal pressure applied by the Curve. He has no speed that he needs to be restricted to. With his Talent, he couldplete The Path in his sleep, and with rifts below his Tier. The only thing The Path does is harm him. If he''s off The Path, and given everything we have, we can create a much stronger fighter. This is actively hurting his progression. He''ll only be three quarters the mage he could have been if I can''t get him everything he needs.


    Silvers will shed against her own, and Luna was about to smash their Aspect when a greater power than both of theirs ripped into the room, and the Emperor now stood with them.


    Everyone stood and bowed. Luna included.


    She respected Emmanuel more than his father. His father had been a fine Emperor, but his son was willing to shoulder every burden himself in defense of the Empire. He never asked others to do what they weren''t willing, and insteadpleted the task himself. He was what his Concept made him. <em>Self</em> sacrifice for the betterment of the Empire.


    That, if nothing else, earned her respect.


    Still, it didnt mean that she wouldn''t argue her case. Matt needs greater resources than I am allowed to provide with the current restrictions. He, Liz, and Aster are strong and driven. They are Tier 6, and are already clearing Tier 8 rifts solo. They dont need the stupid tournamenting up. Theyll get nothing out of it. They definitely don''t need the fame, fortune, or rewards thate with it. A couple hours of Matts time will have every guild and noble family emptying out their vaults to get their higher Tier rifts supercharged, or create custom ones for them. They need <em>nothing</em> The Path can offer them. What they actually need is training, resources, and time. I can


    She was cut off by the Emperor''s raised hand. I''ve reviewed the information. Matt and Liz had a good chance toplete The Path before any interference, <em>and</em> they meet the criteria of allowing them toplete The Path. We are not asking them to step off. The rules are set up so that we don''t ruin them by helping too much.


    That infuriated Luna, because she knew all too well what he was doing with Melinda. While he hadn''t gone overboard or broken any rules, he had bent them like they were wet spaghetti.


    And your interference with Melinda? Sending Harvest Moon to train her? Looking for the best healing spells for her? Are you intending to allow her to finish The Path with all that help? I can get around these restrictions, but that will mean wasting time and exposing his Talent to more people. With his Talent, he will fundamentally change the Empire, leading it into a new era of growth. Are you willing to risk making him even a fraction of a percent weaker?


    She could see all the colors cringing back behind their council table at her p to the Emperor''s authority.


    Emmanuel didn''t get angry, and instead just nodded. You are correct. Melinda and her team were noted early on to be unlikely toplete The Path, and with my interference, they will be asked to step off before Tier 22. As is tradition. Even with our intervention, its not certain that they would be able toplete The Path. They just don''t have the mentality for it.


    The Emperor gestured with his other hand, Matt, on the other hand, was noted at his yPen with high potential, and that rating only increased on the training world he attended. Liz, in turn, had the same rating noted under a false identity, which means I won''t interfere. They are top candidates toplete The Path, even without Mr. Alexander''s Talent. The Path of Ascension is sacrosanct and I will not let the rules be broken. I am willing to allow some measure of inefficiency with Matts training, if it is in line with his wishes. I will not be a tyrant who sacrifices personal wants on the altar of for the betterment of The Empire.


    Luna opened her mouth, but the Emperor raised a hand. I do agree that Matt would objectively be better off if he left The Path of Ascension. That is true. It''s just not arge enough difference to force him off. I will not interfere with the rules. If he is willing to leave The Path, I am more than willing to throw every resource we have to him. But I will not interfere with his desires or wants for what is best for the Empire. If he and Liz want to remain on The Path and don''t fall off, I will not allow you to interfere. Make your case to him. But if he declines? You will stick to your role as a trainer <em>on The Path of Ascension </em>and the restrictions and guidelines that entails. <em>Do I make myself clear</em>?


    There was a hint of the Tier 50s Aspect in thest words that made the world tremble.


    Luna repressed a smile and said, Perfectly clear.


    With that, she tore her way out of real space. Matt would probably be willing to step off The Path if she exined everything to him. He was pragmatic enough for his age. Liz was the problem. He wouldn''t leave without Liz, and she was bent on proving to everyone that she earned her power without her parents'' connections. The boy was love struck, and would do anything for the girl. Luna didnt have a way to ovee that.


    Not yet at least.


    But the Emperor said <em>if</em> they fell off The Path. There were more ways to get booted from The Path than being too slow to advance. Having a higher Tier save you from imminent death while delving a rift was immediate disqualification from The Path. The Emperor wouldnt even darein about it either, judging by the not so secret babysitters constantly guarding Liz, Melinda, and Matt from chaotic space.


    She wouldn''t force them into an impossible situation or set them up to fail. Shed create a practically impossible situation and let them know that. When they impulsively rushed ahead despite her warning, shed have her chance to step in and save them, rescuing them from The Path at the same time.


    It was as natural as knocking a ss of water off a table. Some things just had to be done.


    If they made it, then she would just have to deal with the restrictions. If they proved thatpetent, she could find another way to get Matt the resources he needed. They would probablye with extra risks that he didnt need though.


    When she returned to the fringes of Empire space, she stood high above the continent where the children trained below. She could feel them, and see every minute mistake they made. It made her tail twitch andsh out. She wasn''t mad at them, but at the restrictions she was ced under. She was quite happy with their progress in the months she had been gone. But she was quite finished with the restrictions that shebored under. They were preventing the children from being the best they could be.


    Once night fell and she had suitably calmed herself, she returned to her office with Kurt, who simply scrawled, And?


    Bitterly, she growled, Those fools denied it.


    Kurt looked as if he wanted to speak, but refrained himself. While she was in no danger from him, they both knew that it wouldnt do for him to grow even the slightest bitx when around such low-Tier individuals. It wasn''t like he was in the army, where he could be morex behind enemy lines.


    Instead he hurriedly wrote out, The restrictions?


    Luna nodded and he stilled. I want to get Erwin to help with making an incredibly hard Tier 9 rift. One that is harder than most Tier 10 rifts. Well have them run it. Ill let them know that if they fuck up, we will have to save them, and theyll be off The Path. Ive read the reports, theyre chomping at the bit and will jump at the chance.


    Even without her, Luna knew that the boy would be a force to be reckoned with, but she had a responsibility to make him the best. Not only for his sake, but the Empires too. There were so many fates tied to his. It was hard for her to not simply force him off The Path herself.


    She didn''t agree with the Emperor that an individuals wants outweighed everything else. After a point, the burden was too high, and the betterment of all was worth more than one persons autonomy or an overzealous desire to prove that The Path worked. She wanted what was best for her charges, but not what they thought was best for themselves.


    The Path wasn''t optimal for Matts future growth so it had to go.


    Matt wanted to be the best. She knew that, but what would get him there meant abandoning The Path <em>in favor of his own</em>. The Path excelled at finding and nurturing normal geniuses, but it wasn''t a one-size-fits-all solution.


    Liz fit the mold fine, and would thrive on The Path, but not Matt.


    With Matts Talents, she believed that he had the responsibility to help alleviate the mana problem that the Empire suffered under. Trillions of lives would be improved immeasurably. And he needed to be strong, because doing that would cause a war.


    Luna would give her charges a chance. But she would make them earn it.


    She sent a message to Erwin. She needed a rift designed.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111


    As they neared the third month of their training, Luna returned and gave them the okay to delve a Tier 9 rift, as expected.


    What Matt and Liz didn''t expect was for Luna to have a counter offer and additional conditions.


    I dont think either of you are ready.


    Seeing both of them about to react, their manager borated. No, its not that I think you aren''t strong enough to fight in a Tier 9 rift. I think you should both leave The Path.


    This time, her upraised hand did nothing to stop the torrent of questions they had.


    What? Why? Liz sounded almost frantic, and a part of him shared the sentiment.


    Matt was more confused than upset, and added, That came out of nowhere


    Luna pointed at the two of them, Neither of you are challenged by The Path. Your mana means it''s not a race at all; theres simply no struggle. You could coast through The Path with zero effort. The only real hurdle you have is obtaining your Intent, but given how your Concepts have progressed, I dont see even that as an issue.


    That irritated Matt enough to say, I''m working my ass off. We all are. It''s hardly fair to put us through that training then say that were coasting.


    Luna just met his gaze. I only said that you <em>could</em> coast. I will ensure that you do no such thing. The problem is the restrictions on The Path. I want to pour the best mana concentration potions in existence down your throat and get you the best skills for you <em>now</em>. But I can''t with the rules set in ce.


    Matt didnt think that it was all that important, and Luna seemed to sense that sentiment. She continued, Think about it. Better resources to craft rifts and better concentration potions. Better trainers all at once instead of drip-fed to you, as we have to do now. If you step off The Path, I can train you without restrictions. I can ensure that no inefficiency is left unaddressed. You''re going to need a Tier 14 mana concentration potion to get your mana to near zero at your next Tier. When you''re Tier 8, youll need approximately a Tier 16 potion. Eventually, we''ll need Tier 35 plus natural treasures to ensure that we get the most out of your Tier ups. If you dont max your mana concentration out at each Tier by bringing your max mana down to near zero, your mana will end up only seventy five percent as strong as it could have been if you used better potions. And your mana will then end up dozens of times weaker than a normal mage of your Tier. Theyll eventually have more essence to allocate per Tier than you will, even with the best potions we will eventually not be able to get you down to zero mana so these Tiers where we can are critical for your future growth.


    Her words actually swayed him. He really didnt have any challenge on The Path that Luna didnt intentionally put there. It also didn''t sound like she would make it easier if he left, they would just have better resources to use.


    Luna then added, "Right now things aren''t a huge issue. Just your delving speed and mana generation are enough to buy items above your Tier. But remember that mana stones increase in value and mana capacity massively as they Tier up and you don''t have growth items to let you jump Tiers of wealth anymore. Even if you just sit in a box right now and charge batteries all day every day it will take you over a year with the rift mana stone to produced mana value difference to buy a Tier 17 mana concentration potion at Tier 7. We are ok for the next few Tiers but why wait? If you don''t reach zero in your current mana when you Tier up you are wasting potential mana concentration. That''s where the weakness will creep in. Tier by Tier you will grow weaker the more you don''t maximize your mana concentration."


    Matt was honestly tempted, but a nce at Liz told him that she wasn''t willing. She wasnt saying anything, but he could see it in her eyes. Shed agree to it if he wanted to leave, he knew she would, she had said no many times before but that wasn''t her desire.


    Liz was on The Path to show everyone, including herself, that she wasnt relying on her parents and their influence.


    They had even had a conversation where she worried about relying on him and his Talent in the same way.


    He could see it in her eyes that she wanted to remain on The Path. Her being willing to let it go for him wasn''t enough of a reason for Matt to take Lunas offer. And while in theory, they could break their team so that Matt could leave the Path while Liz remained, neither of them wanted to do so.


    Staying on The Path was better for Liz, and Matt didnt think there would be that much of a difference in the effectiveness of their training in the next few Tiers. After they had participated in the tournament for Pathers at tier 10, they could reevaluate. But he couldn''t think of anything better that would prove to everyone that Liz was strong in her own right.


    She was willing to sacrifice for him, but a good partner didnt force someone to make that choice. And Matt wasn''t willing to let Liz lose one of herrgest goals for him, in exchange for only an extra bit of training.


    Knowing it would make no difference to ask Luna to leave, he asked Liz, What do you think?


    Liz shrugged. If that''s whats best, we should do it.


    Matt shook his head. No. What do you think? What do you feel about it?


    Liz repeated her shrug. If thats whats best, I won''t hold you back. That would be too selfish of me. I refuse to do that.


    Matt sighed internally, but was careful to keep that out of his voice. No Liz, that''s not fair at all. You can''t just sacrifice everything for me. Were partners. That means equals. If I just let you give up on your dreams for me, I''d be the biggest asshole in the world.


    He looked to Luna. How much of a difference are we talking here?


    The dark haired woman quickly said, Several percent to half as strong at the very worst case. There are a few risks that wed have to mitigate, but if I had my way, wed just shove the best Tier 35 plus natural treasures in you which will ensure you don''t have any inefficiency in your mana concentration.


    Liz pointed at Luna. See Matt, this isn''t nothing. Ive said it before, I will step off The Path for you if we need to.


    Matt had to refrain from snapping. But this isn''t necessary. Its a minor thing that there are workarounds for.


    Seeing Liz willing to give up so much for him reaffirmed his decision. No. Liz, If I asked that of you Id be the worst partner in The Empire. If we can''t solve the problem before we run out of Aunt Helen''s potions we can reevaluate then."


    Keeping eye contact, he grabbed Lizs hand and squeezed to reassure her that it would be okay.


    No, we''ll stay on The Path.


    Luna didnt seem surprised or angry as he expected. She just nodded and moved on. If you want to delve a Tier 9 rift, we do it my way. I choose the rift and the mana types you make it with, as well as the items used to seed the rift. I will not put any restrictions on you. There is no advancing until you beat that rift, and you will only get one attempt at the rift per day. Im going to make it hard. And if you want to keep on The Path despite the disadvantages, you need to survive this rift and not need rescuing.


    Matt and a now smiling Liz were ready to agree when Luna shook her head. That''s not all. If you want this, you need to have Melinda on standby. Tier 9 rifts are normally arge jump in difficulty. They usually have three monster types and are muchrger. They can range between one hundred and five hundred square miles. But that''s not what makes them hard. It''s the first Tier where true sub-bosses appear. If you want to, we can continue, but you need to remember that if I have to pull you out of the rift, youll be kicked from The Path. Just like you would be if any other higher Tier saved you. If you do make it, I wont bring it back up, and will put my full effort into making the best out of The Path for you..


    With that warning, Luna vanished. Matt grinned at Liz, who looked emotional.


    Well, I guess this is her way to try and force us off The Path. If we don''t leave willingly, she''ll force us off if we aren''t strong enough.


    Liz ignored hisment and said, Thank you. I know it''s dumb. But I


    Matt pulled Liz into a hug and cut her off. Don''t mention it. Were a team, and without exceptional reason, if one of us wants to do something, we should do it. I know you want to stay on The Path, and that''s enough of a reason for me. No need for thanks. It''s not like you don''t help me all the time, and I think this is toorge a sacrifice for you to make for something so small.


    Liz pulled back and smiled at Matt. Thank you. Seeing that he was going to say she didnt need to thank him, she added, I do agree, thats Lunas n for us, and its a normal rule for management teams. The logic is, if they weren''t there and you died, you''d be dead. So with this, you leave The Path, but keep your life and potential. Well just need to be extra careful.


    She pulled back, and they walked hand in hand to her alchemy area, which was now under a gazebo. She said, Luna did imply that if we passed this test, she''d find ways to not let you go without the stuff you need.


    Matt didnt quite follow that logic and asked, When did she do that?


    She said that she won''t bring it back up, and look at her. She''s a perfectionist. I don''t think she <em>can</em> let what she sees as inefficiencies go unfixed. Think of her training. I think she <em>needs</em> to fix anything she sees as less than efficient, but it will just be harder to do while on The Path.


    With Luna back, their magic control sses came back with new added twists. If they weren''t training with Kurt, delving, or practicing some constructive hobby, she had them using an elemental maniption skill.


    With the skills they had been pulling from the rift and the cities on the nearby continents, they had all traded for enough skills to round out their Tier 8 wants. Kurt had told them that they should all get at least one elemental maniption skill for practice, so everyone on Melindas team had saved up for them. Matt and Erwin hadnt progressed to making rifts to delve for specific skill shards yet, so they had to trade for or purchase them.


    Even with Matt making endless rifts for them to delve every day, it still took an argument to get his friends to take skill shards and mana stones. It had finallye down to him refusing to take them, like a child, for them to ept that they meant nothing to him.


    He wasn''t sure what Melindas team ended up doing with the mana stones and skill shards that they didnt take, until he found them putting them in a box they refused to talk about. He and Liz ended up adding most of their unneeded skills in there as well, though they set up a bucket next to the box. Despite their prodding, neither Matt or Liz could get any inkling about the box from any of the six. All they could get was that the group wouldnt be keeping it.


    Matts current training was with his maniption skills and creatingplex structures with their element. Luna''s current task involved him creating pirs of earth with swirling ramps on the outeryer, as he and Erwin waited for a rift to finish charging. As of now, he could only make the most basic swirls. Meanwhile, Vinnie had apletely hollow tower made from interweaving, but not touching strands of earth that only met at the tip of the pir.


    Matt sent a pulse of [Earth Maniption] over to Vinnie''s tower and smirked at his friend, who just stared at the pile of rubble for a long second. In return, Vinnie created a replica of Matt being chewed on by a giant crab. It was well made, if gruesome.


    Their good-natured banter ended when Matt''s next rift creation had stabilized, and he and Erwin started going over the details of it.


    The rift was one made with only air mana but with the sub-aspect of weightlessness.


    When they entered, Erwin had to catch him as they started to fall, a reminder of why he had been so careful after the tree rift. Falling when you went inside a rift was dangerous. This just happened to be very slow. Matt pulled out his flying sword, and found it was even hard to <em>fly</em> down. That was a good thing, because he was quite sure that Luna would have been more than willing to pull him from The Path if his life had been in actual danger.


    It was like they were being resisted in their downward momentum, but still falling. It was like falling without the eleration force that was normally applied by a''s gravity.


    He and Erwin spent over an hour mapping the Tier 3 rift out. It was a cylinder shape about a mile across, but over fifteen miles tall. If theypleted the rift as intended, they would have fallen, and wouldve had to fight various birds until they reached the ground. There, to their surprise, they hovered off the soil by a few inches while fighting a muchrger bird.


    Matt tried to forcefully touch the ground, but even with his flying sword and Concept, he could not cross the final few hair''s breadths of distance.


    Erwin, on the other hand, was able to easilynd and scoop up some of the soil forter testing. To both of their dismay, the soil was perfectly normal. Even the reward was subpar, as they were both well above the Tier of the rift.


    It was still an interesting enough rift. It was marked to not be destroyed, unlike most other rifts. They had started removing the less interesting rifts once they started having ambient mana issues caused by all the rifts trying to feed themselves.


    A monthter, or four months after they started training with Kurt, Matt and Liz hadpleted their preparations to delve the Tier 9 rift.


    When they approached Luna, she tossed Matt a bag and said, Use this with the manabination listed.


    When he looked inside, he saw a jumble of swords, potion vials half-filled, clothes, and other single-use items that he didnt recognize.


    The mana list was just as odd. Luna wanted nine mana types, all with careful ratios and specific sub-aspects to be used to create the rift. Thankfully, he had all of the mana types, but thebination was odd.


    Pausing most of his other experiments, Matt spent the better part of two months making Tier 9 rifts for Luna. Arge portion of the rifts unaspected before they hit Tier 9, and the rest, Luna simply entered for a second before dispelling the rift.


    Every time that happened, Luna changed the items and mana form until she found what she wanted.


    It waste in the evening when Luna entered the seventeenth Tier 9 rift then called Liz away from her alchemy after exiting. She said, Not what I was nning for, but itll work if youre ready. Let''s go.


    Matt knew they were very much not ready, and went to get Melinda. She was to wait at the entrance in order to honor their earlier agreement. They got her quickly enough for Luna to force them to wait until the instance cycled.


    Then, the three of them entered the rift.


    The view that met them was picturesque. They were halfway up a mountain on a forested seaside ind that overlooked a calm and peaceful bay. It was protected by two arms of shore, giving the appearance of crescent moon edges that almost touched at the tips. The strips ofnd were crossed by an ornate wooden bridge. Below, they saw a winding dirt path framed by trees with pink leaves. It stretched on into the distance, cutting through the forested mountainside, precariously bordering the shore of the bay. Clean and perfectly round boulders dotted the sides of the path toplete the spectacle.


    Matt looked at Liz and said, This is too nice. I don''t trust it.


    Aster sniffed around and yipped, Those trees smell like cherries. Too strong. . Can''t smell anything else.


    His bond then sneezed twice before growling at everything around them as her tail grew poofy, and she started to freeze their surroundings.


    Liz asked, What''s our vote?


    Matt offered, Proceed with extreme caution after we test the ce? We know she only chose this one because she thinks we''ll fail.


    Getting agreements from all around, Matt used [Earth Maniption] and took control of all the ground around them, then shifted it a hair. It was a trick that Vinnie taught him. If something didn''t move, it either meant that it wasn''t earth, or was a single object too big to move. Either way, the test was a poor man''s [Earth Sense]. Matt found nothing. Even extending into the boulders on the path, he felt nothing out of the ordinary.


    Nothing with [Earth Maniption]... going to check with [Air Maniption].


    Putting actions to words, he repeated his test of grabbing the air and moving it a hair. It was harder than with the more static ground, but even though the natural air patterns in the rift, Matt felt nothing that his instincts or his AI noticed as off.


    Looking between Liz and Aster, he said, Nothing. Any ideas?


    Aster, to his surprise, yipped, I don''t like the trees. Burn them.


    If his ice bond wanted something burned, hed trust her instincts.


    Using [methrower], he set the nearest tree on fire, then used [Fire Maniption] to ensure that the mes spread rapidly.


    Still, there was nothing. No additional essence, and nothing moved besides the ashes floating in the sky.


    Liz lowered her spear and tapped her armored chin. Nothing. Huh. I really expected some traps. She met his and Aster''s eyes and asked, Continue on?


    Matt nodded as Liz readied her spear, and a tendril of blood floated around her. Aster kept close to her heels as he took the lead.


    Stopping after one step, Matt said, Let me clear the air.


    Saying that, he used [Air Maniption] to whip up a frenzy long enough to push the smoke away, and with the help of a few touches of [Fire Maniption] removed the remaining fires.


    With a clear path forward, Matt led the way, with most of his mana dedicated to bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    As they passed the first copse of trees, nothing of note happened. Matt felt more on alert now, than if something had already attacked them.


    After nearly two hundred feet into an open rift without being attacked, the trio became increasingly disconcerted. Add in the beautifully crafted scenery, and the whole thing seemed too perfect. The rift almost seemed to be purposely lulling them into a false sense of safety.


    They were passing one of the perfectly round boulders when Matt looked back to Liz, about to ask if they should turn back. Something was wrong, and he could feel it.


    As he turned, he saw the boulder swiftly and silently turn into a ck-clothed, man-shaped monster. It kicked off the air and shed out towards Lizs neck from behind with a glowing de.


    On instinct, Matt used their rings to swap ces, and concentrated all of [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer around his head and neck, creating a shield as thick as he could muster.


    His de pierced the humanoid''s chest, but at the same time, the glowing sword that had been aimed for Lizs neck adjusted trajectory, and cut Matt in the shoulder. The weapon skittered along his corbone to his neck.


    Even as his sword killed the monster, and he felt a massive rush of essence, he felt his armor breached, and could feel his windpipe fill with blood.


    The next seconds were a rush of panicked emotions from Aster, who had frozen everything around them, and Liz, who was carrying Matt to the entrance of the rift.


    It was only because of Luna''s training that Matt managed to focus on not breathing, and using his armor to prevent the blood loss from being worse, or drowning in his own blood.


    As the world changed colors, Matt quickly felt Melindas healing energy washing into him. Spitting and coughing out the blood took Matt a good few minutes, while he heard Liz exining what had happened to everyone else who had gathered around.


    That put a damper on any further training for the evening, and he, Liz, and Aster just snuggled together, recovering from the close call earlier that afternoon.


    Liz held him tight and whispered, Thank you.


    Matt shrugged but said nothing. He''d always willingly take a blow for Liz and Aster. That wasn''t a decision that took any thought.


    He shrugged. That''s my job. Take the hits. You might not survive.


    Aster quietly yowled a mournful tone that broke Matt''s heart. Along with the sound came a mixture of emotions he had no words for, but were a mirror of what he felt when he realized that he was truly alone in the nights after the rift breaks.


    Liz continued, I really dont want to find out what its like to lose my head. She looked over at Matt, then nodded and simply said, Thank you.


    None of them slept until nearly dawn, but no one bothered them for the normal morning training.


    ***


    Luna watched them sleeping only for the first few moments, pride and suffering guing her as she stared. Theyd made it out of the rift better than she could have hoped.


    Better than I hoped at all. Her soft whisper blew off on the breeze, and she turned her attention to the next regimen of training, and how all of them needed to improve. The way forward was clear, but The Path was muddied and treacherous after all. There was no telling when one might slip and fall off without a guiding hand to catch them.


    Their preparations and testing of the rift were as good as she could ask for from Tier 6s. Even if Matt had used [Earth Maniption] on the boulder that the monster was hiding in, he wouldn''t have felt anything amiss. The monster had <em>been</em> the stone before it transformed.


    The rift was better than she expected when she had Erwin design the hardest rift he could think of. It was harder than an average Tier 10 rift. The only reason that it was a Tier 9 rift was the monster''sck of corporal forms. If their armor or clothes were broken, they had little holding them together. Or at least, that held true for the normal monsters. The sub-bosses were a different matter altogether.


    It also helped that the rift had a constant danger of assassination, which would help the children in the uing years, whether they stayed on The Path or not.


    Knowing that the kids would bounce back from this, she started to create a training regimen that would ensure they had the skills to sessfullyplete a rift as tricky as this one. She was stacking the deck, but she had to make the task presented possible.


    If she was lucky, they would get overconfident and need rescue.


    ***


    The next day Matt, Liz, and Aster threw themselves into the training presented.


    When that was done, before he moved to start examining the rifts with Erwin, he asked Luna how to increase his defenses with [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Her answer wasn''t what he wanted to hear. You need to work on your mana maniption and stressing the skill. I would also work on changing the base form''s shape more. If I were you, I''d even try to change the color. If you can remove the color entirely, you''d have the best armor in the Empire.


    After she gave him some extra mana exercises that would help him, he went to join Erwin.


    They had intended to work on reducing variables in rift construction, as they had most of the base elements tested.


    To start, they created ten rifts with neutral mana. In theory, all of the rifts should have been identical, but they were anything but. Each rift was unique and varied. That was a problem with their elemental rifts, but they hadnt been testing for that.


    The results were okay because they were just their baseline.


    Then, they removed all the ambient mana from the enclosure and created ten more rifts. These rifts had slightly less variance in their features, but there was still a wide variety of aspects. They could clearly see that some of the rifts were even elementally aligned.


    That particr detail stumped them for a while. The new rift creating tes that they had made actually created a t portion at the bottom of the rifts, which should have prevented any mana froming up through the ground. But there was clearly still <em>something</em> influencing the mana.


    Their theory was that Matts personal mana wasn''tpletely pure anymore, despite Erwin, Luna, and Kurt all agreeing that it was unaspected mana.


    They even made a special trip to thergest city on the, and found a group of kids being awakened.


    To iste that as a variable, they brought with them a struggling Tier 1 monster pulled from the most neutral rift they had made so far. For the first time, Matt got to see the other side of a mortal''s awakening.


    A monster was ced in the machinery connected to the awakening chairs, and then killed. The killer then shunted the essence into the machinery, where it was transferred to the teen, and then absorbed so they could step into Tier 1.


    It was incredibly efficient. One Tier 1 monster could awaken two dozen mortals. The machinery was that good at splitting the essence into the smallest of portions, as only the tiniest amount was needed.


    Then, they had all the kids donate their mana for a Tier 2 mana stones value in credits. It was quite the reward for them doing nothing, but Matt and Erwin were able to discern that the kids mana had no differences to Matt''s. At least, none that either of them could detect in a dozen tests.


    They still repeated their tests with the new mana types, to no appreciable variances.


    After that failure, they redesigned their rift creating formation tes, and added a barrier as a way to keep out ambient essence, thus removing it from the formation. That required six iterations of formation tes, since they needed the tes themselves to be outside of the formation. It was simr to the designs of their earliest versions.


    When they tried to create a rift with that set up, they were left scratching their heads. Even when Matt pumped in nearly a million mana into the formation, they still had no rift.


    The theories they were tossing back and forth were bing more and more esoteric. Or they were, until Liz wandered over to observe and help get them back on track.


    She looked from between the locked-up formation and the pair of mad scientists, and asked, Isnt it just like the saying, Life makes mana. Mana makes essence. Essence creates rifts. Rifts convert all three? You don''t have any essence in there. So no rift.


    Matt and Erwin looked at each other in bemusement at their stupidity.


    I can''t believe we overlooked that. Matt scratched his head as he tried tough off the shame as Liz walked away chortling.


    Erwin shrugged. Thats just how it goes sometimes, you miss the most obvious stuff. We were simply too deep into the weeds, as they say. Thats why assistants are good. Also breaks. Mostly breaks, actually.


    Matt looked back to their bubble of mana and asked, So what do we do now? New formation te time?


    Erwin looked to the ring on his hand and then to the rift. He repeated that action half a dozen times, before withdrawing an essence stone and meeting Matts eyes.


    Well, I guess we just add Essence? Even the older man seemed unsure.


    Matt figured that nothing bad would happen as Erwin tossed the essence stone inside the barrier.


    The world went blue as the mana reacted to the introduction of essence explosively.


    Instinctively, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and protected his face, but Erwin was as fast as his Tier befit.


    He stuck a hand out, and instead of washing out in a fury, the energy was directed upward in a geyser of mana.


    Everyone else came running as Erwin started cursing, as his hand had been almost entirely scoured of skin.


    Matt was just impressed the man had been hurt at all. He never shared his exact Tier, but he had in passing mentioned his Tier 25 Talent, so he was at least that strong. To have his flesh stripped off by touching the explosion was impressive. Scary, in fact, It meant that Matt wouldnt have teeth left if the older man hadnt stepped in.


    Melinda moved forward despite Erwin waving her off. Dont worry about it. I make healing potions by the ring, and you dont need to go wasting all your mana trying to patch me up. Theres a few Tiers of difference at y, after all.


    The healer of the Empire ignored that entirely, and cast a [Healing Touch] on the man.


    To only Erwins astonishment, the hand regrew its skin in a matter of seconds.


    Erwin blinked at his hand twice before turning to examine Melinda closer, with his sses ring to life.


    Wait, wait, wait. How did you do that? The man''s eyes flicked off to the side. Wait, I got a message about that? Oh. Hm, where did those go ah. Hmm Overhealth, oh yeah Oh Oh!


    He stepped forward and started murmuring as he examined Melinda. I thought that was a <em>joke</em>. How does that even work? Hm. Essence isnt really


    Mathew asked the question that Matt was thinking. Did you really not notice that before now? Melindas been healing all of us from crippling injuries for months now.


    Erwin blinked several times at all of them. Ummmm I was of course I um. Look, whats important is that theres some experiments I need to run now!


    That derailed their rift experiments for a few hours, until Melinda exined her Talent and demonstrated it for the man again.


    Hearing that Melinda wanted to heal old age, Erwin immediately became interested, and started drawing up ns for her to try and attack the problem. Most of his ideas had been fueled by the suggestions of Baxter, but Erwin came up with a few points that were new to Melinda, and she was happy to workshop them with the higher Tiered man.


    The session ended when Erwin became more enthralled with the ck goop that her Concept left behind when used on a rift monster than interested in her Talent.


    After the man nted a few seeds and young nts in soil, mixed with Melindas Concept goop, Matt tried to pull him back to their rift experiments and the explosion they had set off.


    When the seeds he nted instantly grew green, and then wilted to brown, he ran to drag Melinda back to take a look.


    Melinda, who watched the entire process, hunched into herself. She said, Yeah my Concept is all about death. I didnt need to see a nt die in seconds.


    Erwin looked like he wanted to shake her as he said, No, no This is amazing! So I call this stuff Mayfly Grass. <em>Normally, </em>it grows and dies in a single day, with decent soil. But it can be sped up slightly by good soil quality. Theres a few simple tests to run once it dies, which we can learn more about the chemical and magical bnce of the earth from. Really <em>good</em> soil, even fertilized, might take a few hours. Not five point seven seconds. Anyway, the stuff your Concept makes is <em>absurdly</em> good at fertilizing


    Erwin peered at Melinda. I dont suppose I could persuade you to make me some for my biomes? Actually, would you mind if I got you some attuned monsters to use it on? Ill need to run some tests, but what Im <em>hoping</em> is that this stuff might even be Essentially aspected, and that I can use that for a bit of minor terraforming. Let me get some ice-attuned potting soil. Or, I suppose, if it <em>doesnt </em>impact the soil attunement, then I could just get normal, low-quality stuff. I can use this to bring it up to a much higher grade, and get my garden to really <em>flourish</em>.


    Melindas eyes went wide at the realization and mouthed what Matt thought was, only through death can new life flourish, a few times, before she pulled herself out of her trance and looked to Matt. She asked, Is he always like this?


    Matt just grinned. Yeah. We lost two days when he found a new algae. It''s fun, honestly.


    When they finally got back to their rift explosion, they hypothesized that it was the unnatural buildup of mana. When suddenly introduced to a Tier 28 essence stone, it reacted. Badly.


    Matt red at the man for using such a strong essence stone, but he waved it off. It was the only one I had on me! I didnt expect any reaction, let alone something like <em>that</em>.


    When they went to investigate the rift, Matt let Erwin go in first. It was the first time he saw the older man don armor. It was sleek, and looked to be made from wood, but Matt could feel the enchantments giving off a feeling of power.


    He reappeared after a second, and gestured for Matt to enter.


    The rift was perfectly ordinary, except for the fact it was Tier 8 from the outset. But other than that, it had no anomalies.


    That discovery led them to recreate their initial test, albeit far more carefully. They still pulled most of the mana out, but Erwin redirected the tiniest fraction of essence from a captured rift monster to insert into the rift.


    They added greater reinforcement to the newest iteration of the rune tes, but as they were far more careful with the amount of essence they added, there was no explosion.


    There was a rift created, which they rushed into immediately. They discovered that there was nothing unique about the rift. It was a simple grass ne rift with rodent monsters.


    The next rift they created had a simr general structure, but with different monsters.


    They had finally been able to create a rift that had a repeatable feature.


    They did the same test again with elemental mana, which proved less predictable, but they were able decrease the variability by forty percent. Still, they were unable to get a rift created through this process to Tier up without unaspecting.


    Having run into another roadblock, they simply pulled back, and started to use items with no essence and elemental mana inside of the rift.


    That created nearly identical rifts, as long as the rift was created in the same spot, with the same item and mana. If those conditions were met, the rifts were near clones physically. The monsters were usually simr, but not to the same degree as the terrain. The rifts were able to Tier up without unaspecting, but it was a coin flip on whether it remained the aspect that they wanted.


    Their next idea was to create an essence filter, to only allow certain essence aspects to remain in the rifts creation formations.


    Matt knew that cultivators and their Concepts could affect the essence in their cores, but he hadnt realized that even ambient essence could be aspected. Erwin exined it as the essence that settled around or inside the element in question. Essence that settled in the ground would be earth essence. In water, water essence, and so on.


    Matt had no way to filter essence, and even Erwin struggled with it. They spent two weeks getting the first prototype set up, then over a month on improving it, before Erwin gave up and used the one they had cobbled together.


    Their sess at creating an essence filter was fleeting, as they failed to make any improvements to the rate at which the rifts were deaspecting.


    Using the filter, barrier, and the formations analyzation function, they got an answer that they should have expected.


    They already knew that essence was produced by rifts, but the problem was that the rifts created pure, neutral essence. That led them to their next hypotheses.


    The rifts were deaspecting because the non-aspected essence interfered with the Tiering up process.


    Even with that knowledge. they currently had no way to prevent rifts from doing exactly what they were meant to do.


    Their testing with elemental rifts gave them another glimpse at what was happening. A fire rift didnt give out pure fire essence, it was about eight parts pure essence to two parts fire essence.


    In retrospect, it made sense, as it exined why cultivating with ambient essence was so slow and difficult. It also exined why monsters in rifts didn''t have any type to their essence. Even a fire rift would make mostly neutral essence.


    Matt didn''t understand that, but Erwin hypothesized that the ratio was hows with a single rift didnt be singr elementals. If rift only produced elemental essence, it would eventually spread and change the whole.


    Their testing continued for another two months, along with Lunas training, before he, Liz, and Aster decided to train in more rifts. It was time to prepare for a second attempt at the Tier 9 rift.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112


    Emmanuel stood in Maras and Leons capital world estate as he scolded the newly returned couple.


    You idiots! Do you know what you''ve done!?


    Leon pursed his lips and tapped his chin, while Mara inspected a fingernail that looked more like a talon as she buffed it with her shirt sleeve.


    As if he had an idea, Leon snapped his fingers and said, We didnte into the designated reality stepping location and came into our house directly. Sorry!


    Mara nodded without looking up. Oh yeah. Whoops.


    Emmanuel had to resist actually smashing the two idiots'' heads together. If he didnt know them as well as he did, he wouldve believed that they actually <em>were</em> idiots. Normally, their antics were a source of stress relief. But dumping that much wealth into a small vassal state had centuries of repercussions, if not handled promptly.


    You gave out enough wealth on that world to crash their entire kingdoms economy. You gave them credits fifteen tiers above their own. That much money dumped into the economy at once will make any savings or local currency totally worthless! Its caused a crisis. Most of the people were Tier 6, and now millions of them are walking around with Tier 21 wealth! I carefully regte the prices of things so that the nobles <em>can''t</em> do what youve just done.


    Mara looked baffled. Butst time we took a, you said we can''t do so without properpensation. Emmanuel didnt miss the smirk that flirted on the corner of her lips as she finished.


    They were deliberately trying to get a rise out of him. Unfortunately it was working.


    Emmanuel felt his blood pressure rise. His heart didn''t need to beat normally, but these two drove him to fall back into old habits.


    Through gritted teeth, he said, No, no, no. I said that you need to stop <em>stealing</em> entires. And then, I told you to go pay the refugees that you disced for their inconvenience.


    Leon nodded along. Yeah, so this time we <em>brought</em> a new, and paid them beforehand. We even paid the other people on it for the inconvenience too!


    Emmanuel battled with his self-control, and decided that it wasn''t worth it to hold back anymore.


    If they thought ying stupid could get them away from his ire, they were sorely mistaken.


    Punching out, he started wailing on the two idiots.


    When he felt better, and their living room was destroyed, he brushed the dust off his shirt and toed the two lumps of flesh.


    The two blobs quickly reformed into his friends and subordinates. Though, they did so with exaggerated lumps covered with bad bandages, as if they were characters in some sort of childrens cartoon after a fight had taken ce.


    He knew why they were acting up. They were bored. They were the type who enjoyed the climb more than the power and influence that it brought to them. They had fallen off The Path due tock of focus, more so thancking the necessarybat prowess. Stealings and creating little shrines to their children''s aplishments had only started after they had their ownnds well in hand, and their territory was running smoothly.


    That didn''t change the severity of what they had done with their little stunt. And he was going to make them pay for it.


    Emmanuel found more than a hundred spatial rings scattered throughout the estate with a flick of his spiritual will.


    Knowing he wouldn''t like the answer, he asked, Why do you have so many spatial rings? And why are most of them in ces that a mortal would lose them?


    Mara used her leg, which now had arge single talon, to scratch her head. The kids get really mad when we use our spiritual senses to watch them all the time, so we promised to not use it while in any of the houses. So weve lost a few spatial rings over the years.


    Leon nodded along as if that made any sense.


    Are any of the kids here now?


    Leon picked up a fragment of the broken table, peered under it, and said, I don''t think so, but if you give me a few hours, I can check. He then had the audacity to say, Itll take that long to check each room, one by one. Emmanuel had to fight back a smile at that.


    If nothing else, they knew how to get him tough. No! They arent here, so use your spiritual senses, you idiots.


    Mara looked at Emmanuel and scoffed. But we promised! It wouldn''t be nice if we went back on our word.


    Leon tapped his chin, only to wince as he touched a cut. A promise is a promise after all. So, we have to be 100% sure.


    Giving up on that line of inquiry, Emmanuel pulled the various rings to his location and changed his Tier 25 Talent to one that let him see inside spatial items. Letting him see spatial items that werent bound to him, made it quite the useful Talent.


    After cataloging the rings, he threw nearly half of them at the two. Why are <em>thirty</em> of these filled with sex paraphernalia? One wasnt enough? And why is onepletely full of identical couches?


    Seeing the two happily pick up the rings, Emmanuel moved on. He wanted to avoid any more discussion on the topic. Otherwise, hed learn something the that would probably make him feel like he needed to shower in the nearest volcano to feel clean again.


    Keeping a ring chock full of Tier 26 skills, he tossed the rest back to the two. I''m using this one to fix your blunder. Ill offer Tier 26 skills at Tier 21 rates to get rid of most of the money you just dumped into their economy.


    Seeing Mara pout, Emmanuel shot her a dirty look that kept her quiet.


    Catalog the rest of your rings, and use or sell the rest of the skills. He shook his head and continued. There are thousands of skills in there. Why do you even have skills that far below your Tier?


    Putting up his hands, Emmanuel began to teleport out, but then remembered what else he had wanted to tell them.


    Moving on to more important concerns, Emmanuel said, I have a delve slot for you next month. Tur''stal had to pass on hers, so I swapped it with yours.


    Their yful demeanor and fake injuries disappeared, and a more serious Leon asked, Is that going to create an issue?


    Emmanuel shook his head. No. This seems to just be a case of bad timing. She had a favor called in that required her immediate attention.


    Despite the stress relief that were his two Tier 48s, he had far too many things to deal with. So after settling the economy of the vassal states, Emmanuel teleported to his own estate.


    ***


    Matt pulled his attention back to the rift in front of him and inspected it for instabilities. Luna and Kurt had been destroying every monster that escaped from the rifts that were to be delved, so Matt and his team couldn''t get any hints about the rift before they entered.


    This was a Tier 8 rift hed be delving with Liz and Aster. As they were used to working together, they were restricted in a few ways. Matt was limited to fifteen seconds of [methrower], and only two minutes of [Mages Retreat] and [Endurance] for the whole rift.


    Liz had more stringent restrictions, with her golem formpletely prohibited. As for Aster, she wasnt allowed to use Winters Embrace.


    They still didnt expect too much of an issue with the rift, as they had cleared more than their fair share of Tier 8 rifts before. They were extra cautious, as this particr delve was his and Lizs idea to train for Lunas Tier 9 rift.


    If they had to fight in a rift that was specially crafted to be difficult for them, they first needed to delve weaker rifts that were made in the same way.


    They had discussed it with everyone else, and in theory, this riftbination was one they should struggle with.


    They used earth mana with an unyielding subaspect for fifty percent of the mana, then used touches of water, wind, and air mana with no subaspect for thirty percent. The remaining twenty percent was an even split between unaspected mana and Wrangle''s summon aspected mana.


    To seed the rift, they used a single-edged sword and reinforced in clothes, hoping to get the rift to create lightly armored opponents.


    The monsters in the Tier 9 rift were fairly easy to kill if you survived the initial ambush. But the trio recognized that they had only gotten a few hundred feet into the rift before they were forced to retreat.


    They hoped that this would give them a good challenge, despite Erwinining that they were skipping too many steps in the rift-making process for his liking.


    Matt stepped through and checked his surroundings, and found nothing out of ce in the dark, forested area. The woods seemed to circle the perimeter of the clear area they had arrived on.


    He stepped out of the direct entrance and into the rift, and found that it was still quite bright, despite theck of sun. The moon was massive, and reflected a yellowish light down on everyone in the graveyard. The only problem was the lingering fog that enveloped them as soon as they entered the rift. It ensured that they couldn''t see more than a dozen feet in front of them and it grew worse by the second. As he struggled to peer ahead, Matt noticed that the fog also restricted his spiritual sense, and he couldn''t perceive any more than the vague direction of the entrance rift.


    Matt was still cursing as Liz came through next. I think it''s an undead rift.


    Aster yipped, Smells like rotting meat. She gagged for effect but it really did smell bad enough he could feel it through their bond.


    Matt spun to take in the rest of the surroundings. The moon seemed to be growing brighter as they waited for anything out of the ordinary. Matt ran through his maniption skills, testing the area around them for any immediate danger. Matt wished that his [Water Maniption] skills were better, as he might have been able to remove the fog, but the diffuse liquid was outside the limits of his control.


    I''ve found nothing. What do Matt was giving his report when a massive bell rang out, causing the air itself to vibrate.


    Aster yowled in pain as the loud sound hurt her more sensitive ears, while Matt spun towards the direction of the noise. As the note of the bell faded away, all of the fog suddenly dissipated.


    With visibility finally restored, Matt saw that they were in a massive graveyard littered with, as he expected, zombies.


    They also could clearly sense the exit rift. It was in the same direction that the bell had rung from.


    Matt noticed that in the center of the clearing, not far away from where they stood, there was a massive, three-story building with a bell tower attached. The tower stood another two stories above the roof. Directly under the bell was a clock glowing a cheery yellow through the panes of ss.


    The clock seemed to be functioning, and read five minutes till midnight as the second hand made its way around the face. Matt couldn''t be sure without his AI, but he was pretty sure that time in the rift was moving along at a normal pace.


    All the zombies started to move toward them as the fog slowly began to rise from the damp ground once again.


    Matt cut down the closest zombie with a [Mana sh], only to find that he received a fraction of the essence he should have. It was as if most of the essence had been suctioned off.


    Cutting down a second allowed him to follow the trail better, and Matt saw a peculiar zombie standing perfectly still in the distance, watching them.


    It wasnt any zombie type that he was familiar with. This one looked like a normal human, but if their face was made of half-finished wax. The only sort of detail on the creatures face was the circle directly in the center of its forehead.


    Did you notice that? Matt called out, to affirmations from both Aster and Liz.


    Liz called out orders. Im a little skeeved out by the monster absorbing essence, but I think we fight it. Aster, backpack time.


    Luna wouldnt like that, but Matt agreed. With the rising fog, the shortest member of their team was at a distinct disadvantage. They couldn''t risk letting her contend with the reduced visibility on the ground.


    Let''s kill our way to the monster that was absorbing the essence. I think that''s the boss. After that, we check the building. Liz finished up as Aster got herself settled.


    With the n settled, Matt took the lead as the fog rose up to his waist.


    A shuffling corpse walked into view, and Matt chopped it in half withughable ease. It felt more like a Tier 2 or Tier 3 body than the Tier 8 monster that he should be fighting.


    It only took seconds to kill the dozen slow zombies in their path.


    They found the odd zombie still absorbing essence from where theyst saw it.


    When they were able to see it through the fog, the wax-like skin was in stark contrast to the vivid, purple eyes that tracked their every movement.


    Mattunched a [Mana sh] towards the zombie, slicing it in half, but no essence rushed into any of their spirits.


    It fell where it stood, causing Matt to say, That was too easy. And I got no essence.


    Liz and Aster agreed, while Matt thought over the situation. Let''s get to the building.


    They reached it with little difficulty. The monsters they encountered were quickly killed as they passed.


    The porch was only raised two steps, but the door had metal bars running across the entrance, preventing anyone from entering the building. Matt puzzled at the dead end as Liz and Aster continued to watch their surroundings for walking zombies that ventured too close. In a moment of morbid rity, Matt realized that he hadn''t seen any other windows or entrances to the building as they hade upon the structure.


    He was turning to Liz to question her about it, when the bell chimed again.


    All of the fog dropped to the ground instantly, and they could see the entire field now that it was free from the obfuscating clouds. Eerie looking markers in various states of disrepair were scattered throughout the area.


    The graveyard was ringed with a deep, dense forest that Matt expected to be the boundary field.


    Using that moment of freedom, Matt extended his spiritual sense and found the rift exit inside the building, flickering nearby from what felt like the third floor.


    Matt was about to suggest that they try to fly to the roof, or cut their way into the building when Liz said, Matt, look at the boss.


    Spinning, Matt found the boss standing where they had left itst, but now intact. It also held arge, single-edged de in its hand.


    As it took a step forward, there was a sickening sound to his rear, which caused Matt to spin again.


    He found one of the ten bars that had been covering the doors was now retracted.


    Turning back around, he noticed green energy rising up from the ground, along with the returning fog, and being absorbed by the zombies. Their shuffles turned into walking strides as their movements smoothed out and their gaits lengthened.


    He didn''t miss the monsters climbing out of the soil either.


    Not liking where this was heading, Matt called, Let''s take to the air.


    As he said that, Matt pulled out his flying sword, only to have it fall to the ground when he activated it.


    Fuck.


    The curse made Liz turn, who didn''t need things exined when she saw the sword on the ground.


    Quickly retreating and stowing his sword, Matt followed Liz as she used a tendril of blood to cut her way through the zombies who had approached the building during their examination of the door.


    As they hit the ground, Aster created a swarm of small ice projectiles andunched them at the monsters in front of them. The zombies fell easily, but Matt could tell that they were harder to kill than they were before the second toll of the bell.


    One monster even managed to stagger to its feet after her attack, despite a missing arm.


    Speeding up, Matt took the lead and tore through the zombies in their way. When they had circled the building and found no other entrances in either window or door form, they paused in their run.


    Matt half turned to Liz and asked, What do you think?


    Liz shouted, I think you made a really weird fucking rift.


    Aster didn''t let the opportunity to yip her agreement pass.


    Matt refocused them. From everything I''ve seen, this seems like a mix of a wave rift and a timed rift.


    From behind Matt, he heard the whipping sound of Lizshing out with a tendril of blood. She said, Agreed. Do we retreat, or forge ahead?


    Matt thought their situation over, but Aster was the first to answer. Fight by entrance. Retreat if needed.


    Nodding in agreement, Matt oriented himself and took off at a lope. The zombies were still easy to kill, but they apparently didn''t have issues with seeing through the fog as they chased them. The trio always had monsters approaching them, meaning that they couldn''t sit still if they wanted to avoid being surrounded.


    With that in mind, they needed a new approach, as Asters n would make them sitting ducks.


    Halfway to the rift entrance, they encountered the boss monster, who was bisected with a single sh of Matt''s de.


    Seeing the monster fall once again without receiving any essence gave him a bad feeling. He started to wonder if they should avoid killing the other zombies, and possibly the boss itself.


    They fought near the rift entrance, moving inrge circles as the bell tolled its fog-removing sound time and time again.


    At the forty-minute mark, they started to struggle.


    The zombies were armored in thick bone tes that managed to fend off most of their attacks if they werent perfectly ced.


    That wasn''t the real issue; Liz had enough pure damage to deal with them. The problem was the pale fleshed boss monster.


    Matt sidestepped its lightning-fast swipe, more out of instinct than any sort of n or recognition of its movement. He had abandoned Lunas rule of not using [Mages Retreat] and [Endurance] when the monster became faster than him on the seventh wave.


    Now on the eighth wave, the boss outssed him in speed, even with his enhancements taking all of the mana generation he could spare from [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The only reason he kept his limbs attached was that the boss zombie was fighting like a monster. It had no tactics or strategy in its attacks. It only took wild swings that were more likely to give Matt an opening than hurt him.


    The next problem was that the monster''s defenses had improved significantly, along with those of the normal zombies. Its thin skin, which he had sliced through so easily during the first few encounters, now only caused Matt''s de to skitter off.


    Matt was just thankful that he had upgraded his sword to Tier 8 before this. He could feel the durability and repair enchantments struggling with each hit hended on the boss, and even worse, when he blocked with it.


    His sword had a chip in the de from that mistake.


    Baiting the monster forward with a shuffle step, Matt took the boss in the neck with a heavy, [Mana Charge] empowered swing that exploded its head in a gory mess.


    Only then did the bell toll. On the fourth wave, they had learned through some testing that they needed to kill the boss, otherwise the clock tower refused to tick over and sound the bell.


    Turning and helping Liz take care of the remaining zombies, Matt cast [methrower] for a second, then used Hail to crack all the monsters armor. Early on, they had learned that fire did little to the bone te and undead flesh underneath. Ice and cold did far better, and together, they were able to shatter the armor with minimal effort.


    Casting his gaze to where they had first seen the boss, Matt found it once again standing there. As the sound of the bell ended, the monster raced forward so swiftly, it was blurring in its race toward them.


    Matt realized that it was using an unknown skill, and called out to Liz, It''s using a skill. Watch out!


    That in and of itself wasn''t odd. Most of the rifts they had delved contained monsters using at least one skill. This rift had been the exception to that rule, since the monsters had not used any skills at all, up until this point. That fact alone had raised his hackles by the fourth wave.


    Matt intercepted the boss, but was knocked back when his weapon was intercepted by shadowy armor. It was almost like a dark, corrupted version of his own.


    Matts moment of surprise allowed the monster to get in a heavy cut that Matt barely managed to block. He had to drop all of his other skills, and put all remaining 80 MPS into [Cracked Phantom Armor] and its secondyer.


    His under armor managed to block the blow, but having learned his lesson, Matt managed to recenter himself and take a swipe at the monster.


    The mana held in his de washed out in a wave, but the attack once againnded on the zombies shadow armor that seemed to appear out of nowhere.


    Unlike most armor skills, the shadow armor didntpletely break. It had a hole where the boss''s skin was scorched. The rest of the armor was intact, and began filling the hole that Matt''s attack created. Tendrils of shadow started to knit the hole closed as he looked on.


    Unwilling to give the stronger boss the chance to get its armor back, Mattshed out with a desperate attack, stabbing forward with his de. The tip of his de took the monster in the eye, slicing through the softer flesh as the boss scored a sh at his leg. Agony pulsed out from Matts struck leg as the boss roared in defiance.


    Keeping control of himself, Matt managed to start casting skills to take out the rest of the monsters, and called to Liz. Leg''s fucked, but I can stand and fight.


    Matt wanted to know what Liz was nning. They needed to use the few remaining minutes to decide whether they were going to go for the rift entrance, or the exit in the house.


    They had just finished the ninth wave, and only had one left if the rift subscribed to the same rules as the wave rifts they had encountered so far. The number of bars that had yet to disengage from the door indicated the same, leading him to believe that there was only one final wave to stand against. Matt didnt want to give up now, but Liz would need to take care of the boss herself if they stayed.


    Liz called out, Let''s finish this. I can take him if you can keep the rest off of me.


    As Liz took Matt''s shoulder on his left side, Aster scurried from Lizs backpack to his.


    They reached the porch right as the bell tolled, and the second tost lock disengaged. Matt used the railing to steady himself as he tried to avoid putting pressure on his mangled leg. Casting [Hail] and [methrower], Matt took care of the zombies that tried to rush the porch.


    When the boss sprinted forward, Liz was ready, and threw her spear at the monster.


    It wasnt a normal attack.


    Liz used a spear that she hadmissioned after their failed attempt at the Tier 9 rift, forged in the nearest city. While it didn''t have the bleeding enchantment that her old spear did, it <em>did</em> have a piercing enchantment, and a hollow core that she kept filled with blood.


    As she had the entire spear coated with blood, and Matt could feel her Concept thrumming with power through his own, it was no surprise to him when the spear glowed with mana as Liz cast [Piercing Shot]. She had ruined the first version of the skill that they had found by bringing into her inner spirit. The skill had simply shattered.


    It was less effective, as Liz wasnt using a smaller projectile, but it still gave the spear extra power as it mmed into the charging boss. As the shadow armor red to life, Lizs shot tore through it as well.


    The boss fell with a hole in its chest as Liz panted heavily at the expenditure of mana, willpower, and stamina.


    Matt and Aster fought off the remaining wave, and they were helped once Liz retrieved her spear, using it to attack the rushing zombies from behind.


    When the bell tolled for the tenth time, Matt heard the door swing open with a soft creaking that made the hair on the back of his neck rise.


    As he turned, Matt saw the boss standing there once again, and they rushed through the door to m it shut.


    As they did, there was a rush of essence that made them all stagger, as seemingly all of the essence that they hadn''t earned from the rift streamed to them in a never-ending torrent. It was wasted since they were peak Tier 6, not that Luna would have allowed them to absorb it anyway.


    They had to climb one set of stairs, but they found the rift reward and exit rift next to each other. There was no final boss, or even a single monster guarding the area at all.


    Aster hopped out of her backpack and dispelled the reward rift. A skill shard ttered to the floor, and Aster scooped it up with her mouth, then jumped into Lizs arms.


    Together, they exited the rift to get healed.


    Luna stood next to them and went through everything they did in the rift. Right and wrong.


    You actually kept the restrictions up longer than I expected. I thought you would have abandoned them by the third wave. You should have changed who was fighting the boss at the sixth wave, when you started to struggle with damaging it, Matt. Her intense re of reproach went from him to his tired partner. Liz, you could have done a lot with your blood, like flooding the battleground to give everyone a safer area to fight in. Aster, you should have at least tried Winter''s Embrace.


    Aster growled at that. We never had time, and ground felt bad.


    Luna nodded to that. Yes, getting low to the ground was dangerous, but you could have relieved a lot of the pressure off of Liz with an attempt.


    Her suggestions and critiquessted for another five minutes or so, but Matt was pretty happy with the result of the rift. That was not a normal rift, and they had gone in blind.


    It only took a nce at Liz to see the same desire in her eyes. None of them had missed the fact that the monsters had been ready to go for another wave after the door had opened. Like most wave rifts, the longer yousted, the better the rewards.


    Their rewarded skill was a simple [Mana Charge], which Liz was going to attempt to absorb and turn into [Blood Charge].


    They both wanted a second crack at the rift.


    When they were fully healed, and had practiced some tactics they thought would counter the rift''s monsters, they were determined to delve it for a second time.


    They still took a few days to settle themselves and ensure that they were in the best possible shape.


    Matt approached Luna during one of Liz'' solo delves of a Tier 6 rift. Liz said you could get me good potions for way longer than what you implied. Whats my actual cutoff point? When would I have to drop off The Path to avoid losses regarding mana concentration?


    Luna tapped her fingers. Tier 11, if we don''t take into ount the potions you got from Helen, and are willing to create some specialized rifts for a guild or two. If youre also willing to use the potions, Tier 15. Give or take a tier, provided your mana growth doesnt do something unexpected. If you dont want to create rifts, and are only willing to use the potions? Tier 11, maybe Tier 12 if you get truly lucky. Depends on whether or not some of my ideas work. Liz wasnt necessarily wrong, but we <em>will</em> run into issues sooner, rather thanter. You only get one chance per Tier to increase your mana concentration. If we lose a chance, it''s gone forever, and that will seriously cut into how dangerous you could be. As I saidst time the value of mana stones twice your Tier scales far faster than even your prodigious regeneration.


    It was a lot to take in and ount for, but for now it was good enough to affirm that they''d be leaving the path at that stage.


    Or at least he would. He really didnt like that idea, and he didn''t want to separate from Liz, but the disadvantages were only growing more obvious. He just didnt want to pressure Liz into doing something she didnt want to. Still, the knowledge that he couldn''t cripple himself either tore at him. He couldn''t ask Liz to give up her own goals for his needs anymore than he believed she would ask that of him.


    Eventually, he just tamped it down and refocused on the goals in front of them, as he had no answer he liked.


    After ensuring that the rift was fully charged, Matt, Liz, and Aster fought through fifteen waves before they needed to retreat into the house. The rush of essence was proportionally greater for their fighting stronger enemies, and their reward was just asrge, if less exciting. Over three hundred Tier 8 mana stones tumbled out. They would have rather had a skill, but the reward was generous by normal cultivator standards.


    It was just that Matt didnt need mana stones by the bucket full.


    Three months after their first attempt at the nearly-Path-ending Tier 9 rift, they geared up and moved in for a second attempt.


    The rift was nearly identical, and they repeated the same actions of scouting the rift, to again find nothing. Matt even paid special attention to the boulders, but found every rock in his reach to be normal stones. He even went as far as to bury all of them, just in case they were traps again, but nothing jumped out at them.


    It didnt help.


    This time, one of the trees changed into a humanoid shape. With a glowing de, it lunged at Matt.


    Liz sliced the monster in half with a tendril of blood, causing the weapon and ck rags to fall to the ground as the mist that the monster seemed to be made from disappeared.


    Matt cursed and said, I can''t tell the difference. The tree was just a normal tree, until it wasn''t. Did either of you pick anything up?


    Liz shook her head, but Aster said, The smell changed right before the change. Smelled like darkness and damp.


    Liz pointed at the path ahead of them. Do we keep following the path, or do we push through the forest?


    They had discussed this before, and their decision would depend on what they found inside the rift. The forest was new growth, and had little room between the trunks for them to swing their weapons. If they didnt have to, they didn''t want to risk the forest.


    Matt shook his head. Let''s push on. Further, we know there will be ambushes along this path and can be mostly ready for them.


    With that decided, they carefully moved forward. Matt kept [Air Maniption] and [Earth Maniption] active, holding their respective elements still around them.


    As his [Earth Maniption] washed over a boulder, he felt nothing amiss. But as he neared it, he could feel the stone turn into another assassin.


    With that early warning, Matt was able to cast a burst of [methrower] as the monster lunged at them. To his surprise, this one stepped off the air as if it was solid, and tried to get above the torrent of mes. It didn''t matter, as Aster shot it through the chest with an arm-length shard of ice.


    During the entire fight, Liz kept a tendril of blood moving around herself and Aster while watching their rear.


    After having exined what he noticed, they moved forward carefully. They crept along cautiously until they reached what looked like a deserted, walled-in city, built in an architectural style that Matt hadnt seen before. There were many circr open spaces and flourishes adorning the buildings, for what he could only think were for ornamentation purposes more than practical ones.


    The gate through the ten-foot walls was unguarded, but Matt and Liz still thoroughly inspected it before they decided to enter.


    They were three streets in before they heard the ttering of metal on stone. They retreated around a corner to see a nine-man squad of armored humanoids round the bend. Most of them had short spears and shields, but what caught Matt''s eye was their armor. It was covered inyered metal tes that ovepped, structured like shingles.


    It was also the first time they got to see the face of one of the monsters. They were, going by the tusks sticking out of their mouths, orcs of some variety.


    Matt nced at Liz and Aster and received nods from both of them, so he charged out, casting a preemptive [Hail] on the formation.


    The monsters didnt rush at Matt as he expected; they simply ignored the chunks of ice falling on them and raised their shields and spears, bracing for his charge.


    Matt wasn''t dumb enough to do as an enemy wanted, and halted twenty feet away from them. He started casting [Fireball]s at the formation as they stood their ground.


    The shields all red to life when the first spell impacted the front line. Matt didn''t have enough time to truly get a read on the runes, but the formation obviously had a linked defensive array. The only question was whether or not it would still work if they broke ranks.


    As the ice started to build up, and Aster started to control it, one of the orcs raised their spear and pointed it at the spells epicenter. A burst of orange lightnced out and shattered [Hail].


    Matt recoiled from the unexpected destruction of his skill, which usually was never damaged, and recovered from the shock enough to reset his stance. He quickly retaliated with the [Mana sh] that he had been charging.


    The crescent moon of mana knocked all of the charging orcs back as it mmed against their still upraised shields. Liz whipped out a tendril of blood, which caused the shield to re up a second time. Aster used the ice that she had taken control over to attack the orcs from the rear, and the same orc as before used their spear to shatter her newest spell as well.


    Matt kicked the closest member of the formation''s shield, and was happy to see therge monster stumble back without the rest of the shields taking the blow. When he shot out another [Fireball], it was blocked, and caused all the shields to re up. It told him that this was an anti-magic formation, not a universal one.


    Use melee!


    That shout was all Matt was able to get out as he ducked a spear thrust and a shield bash from two of the monsters.


    His sword ineffectually nged off the thick armor tes, which he had expected, as this was a Tier 9 rift. But with their first enemies being so weak, Matt had hoped that the trend would remain the same.


    These monsters were actually well trained with their weapons. It took him five exchanges to create an opening, and thrust his sword into the armpit of the first orc. Then, he retracted his weapon fast enough to parry the next attack and sidestep a second.


    Everything went white for an instant, and Matt immediately knew that Aster had used Winter''s Embrace. He hurried to finish off the slowed, armored orcs while they battled the frost that froze their armor''s joints.


    Seeing Aster with a gash along her nk, Matt watched as ghostly darkness rose from the monster''s corpse and rushed into the nearby buildings.


    Matt froze and asked, I got essence from them. So what was that?


    Liz pointed to a pir in the nearest building. I saw one go into the pir. Careful. Don''t move too much.


    Aster growled as an arm-sized spear of ice impacted the pir.


    As before, an assassin jumped out and tried to attack them, but it was quickly dispatched.


    Another rush of essence tried to enter them, but washed off their spirits.


    Liz tapped the butt of her spear on the ground. Well, that exins that. The fallen we kill will inhabit the objects around us. I didn''t track the rest of them, but they each went further than the first one.


    Matt looked over his team and saw that they both had slight cuts, but neither were slowed as they continued through the city.


    They were almost finished with their third encounter with the orcs when a second squad approached their rear.


    Making a split-second decision as the stomping sound rounded the corner, Matt called out, I''ll take the rear group.


    With that, he finished off his opponent and turned and ran.


    As he got a good look at the next group, he noticed a difference in the makeup of the squad. This time, there was an additional orc to make ten.


    The tenth orc was half a head taller, and had some manner of banner or g on their back. They also had deep red armor, and a more ornate helmet that finished with a crescent moon on top.


    Matt cast [Hail], but the lead orc quickly destroyed the spell.That was fine, as it bought him the time to cast [methrower], letting the me wash over the upraised shield. A plethora of orange lightsnced out at him as he chopped down at the nearest orc and battered past its shield.


    Alone versus an entire shield wall, he took several hits. But with Lunas training, [Cracked Phantom Armor] could take a much greater beating than before. As if he was using the secondyer of the skill like a shield, Matt focused his mana onto the areas that he expected the spears to hit.


    While hisyer of under armor helped to absorb the blows, Matt felt three of the spears pierce his flesh as he got inside the formation.


    Once inside, Matt braced himself and swung his longsword with [Mages Retreat] at full strength.


    He sliced through the weaker inner leg armor of one orc, and took a second in the throat as a spear pierced his back and got stuck on a bone.


    The rush of darkness didnt leave to the surrounding city as Matt expected, but rushed into the g the lead orc had on his armor. As he fought on, he saw the armors colors brighten. That was apanied by the leader growing stronger and faster.


    It was bad timing that Liz and Aster hit the other side of the formation and killed two of the orcs, which only increased the speed of the leader. The monster was now faster than the zombie rift boss when they had killed the fifteenth wave, and it took all of Matts concentration to deflect the blows as they rained down.


    If he hadn''t spent so much time sparring against Liz and her spear, he was pretty sure he would have fumbled a parry and taken the glowing spear through the chest.


    He had no faith in [Cracked Phantom Armor] resisting the orange light that destroyed other spells.


    As Liz and Aster killed the remaining orcs, the leader turned into a blur that quickly battered through Matt''s defenses, and left ragged wounds on his arms and torso.


    Thankfully Liz had enough blood on the ground. She was able to grab the monster''s leg for an instant and cause it to stumble. Aster used that opportunity to turn it into a pincushion with all the ice Matt had created with [Hail] that was scattered around.


    With an absolutely massive rush of essence, they all knew the fight was truly over.


    Panting, Matt spat out a mouthful of blood as he activated [Endurance] and asked, Did you catch the darkness absorbing? Fucking thing got way too strong.


    Liz nodded. Sorry yeah. Only after we took out the first one.


    That was when Matt noticed Liz was missing her left arm at the shoulder.


    What happened? Despite having seen her go through worse in their training, he was worried. Protecting Liz was his job, and he had clearly failed.


    Liz shrugged as if it was no big deal. I needed to finish the monsters off quick, and an arm was the price. Let''s get out of here, though.


    Having encountered the second type of monster, then what Matt expected was one of the sub-bosses Luna mentioned, he was more than happy to oblige her.


    They needed to heal and strategize for their next attempt.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113


    They got out of the rift and were debriefed by Luna while Melinda healed them, and the three of them received quite the shock.


    That wasn''t a sub-boss. It was just a stronger variant of the normal monster. If you weren''t delving the rift at full mana, I don''t think they would appear. Their trainer sounded smug as she finished.


    For a second, Matt wondered if he could get away with not charging the rift to full before they delved, but didn''t want to waste the experience. The rift was pushing them to grow.


    Liz flexed her new arm and used it to pull Melinda into a quick hug before saying, So where are the sub-bosses? I assume they should have been close.


    Luna pondered her answer for a minute, but then said, One is in the city, yes, but you weren''t that close. She seemed to debate saying more for a second before adding, Anything else you''ll have to figure out for yourself.


    Matt did want to know one thing, though. You said these rifts are bigger. How far did we make it into this one?


    His instructor grinned. About twenty percent.


    Matt wanted to curse at that, but he didn''t have the energy.


    Aster did, though, and started yipping and yowling in protest. Just getting that far had taken them hours, and they hadnt even reached the one-quarter mark.


    Matt had wanted to avoid using his flying sword to map out thebyrinth of a city, but he started nning on how to take advantage of their vertical capabilities. He would just need to n for dealing with any flying monster they might encounter.


    After that revtion, they doubled down on their training.


    Liz and Sam pestered Erwin into giving them alchemy lessons. His only condition was that they buy the herbs themselves, instead of letting Matt create new rifts with the herbs they needed.


    He was adamant that they were too far from that goal with their current setup, and didn''t want to skip any steps. As they were mostly focusing on Tier 6 and Tier 7 potions, the cost was negligible.


    He and Liz also got everyone to agree that they needed better armor, and after arguing their point, Luna and Kurt jumped to the central and it''srger cities. There they found a married armorer and enchanter who were happy to work on arge order of Tier 8 equipment.


    Matt decided to change up his setup, and ditched his lighter armor in favor of something a little heavier and tougher. The armor slowed him down a fraction, but it didn''t impact his flexibility in the slightest, since he requested the joints to prioritize flexibility rather than defense. After all, he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] and its secondyer to protect his joints.


    The purpose of this armor was more to protect his limbs and chest from the Tier 9 monsters than anything else. From this rift alone, he had already experienced a variety of weapons, spells, and abilities breaking through his armor. His body and spirit werent strong enough to keep up with where he was and where he wished to go.


    At least, not yet.


    The armor being two Tiers higher than himself meant that it was heavy on both his physical body and spirit. The physical weight was the lesser of the two problems, but the spiritual weight meant that he could only use the armors enchantment for a few seconds. Otherwise, it started to hurt badly enough to force him to drop the power.


    His growth sword was also upgraded to Tier 9, and he hoped that it wouldn''t get so damaged in his subsequent fights.


    Finding the item that the sword required to Tier up led them on a chase across every auction house the had. Eventually, Matt took a rmendation from Liz, and they visited the local noble house.


    Count Petros was a cheerful enough man, and hosted the nine of them while taking Matt into his personal vault to find the item that resonated with his sword.


    Eventually, they found it.


    His sword wanted to go against the grain for a change. Instead of a metal or other monster part, it desired Tier 9 Tears of a Weeping Willow. They were an extremely rare ingredient that were the secondary byproduct of the natural treasure Weeping Willows of Watery Widows. They grew as a grove of trees, and had the nasty habit of killing anyone that was below their Tier who entered their domain. When cut down and harvested, the actual trees were incredibly valuable for mages staves, as they could channel far more mana than most other woods without degradation. Their capacity for enchantments was nothing more than average, but a mage wouldn''t need to get their items reenchanted if they used them for a long time.


    Oddly enough, women werepletely unaffected. The story that the trees got their names from told of widows safely grieving under the trees, and their tears creating a pool where even the most grievous wounds could be healed.


    More than a few unwarranted, and probably avoidable deaths proved that the legend wasn''t true, but the name stuck.


    The trees actually pulled water from deep underground and secreted it from its branches, only for it to return to the soil and rejuvenate the area that the trees grew in.


    The tears were rare and mostly useless, which is why Matt had such trouble finding what his sword wanted. Not to mention that growth objects made of metal typically wanted harder materials, which ended up leading him astray. While it was interesting to see that even metal could take water into itself to grow, Matt found himself wondering if there was more to the byproduct than met the eye.


    Was there something else that it could be used with? He noted his thoughts down in case they ran into any other obstinate growth items.


    Still, once it was Tiered up, Matt was disappointed. With the sword needing such an odd item for the upgrade, he expected some type of improvement in his weapons functions. But the Tier-up only increased the swords weight and slightly increased its capacity for enchantments.


    As he was still unable to self cast [Mana sh] and [Mana Charge], with his maximum mana of 80, he was forced to reinscribe them onto the weapon until he could afford the 100 mana initial cost. It wasn''t a huge problem, as he only put the Tier 7 variants on the Tier 9 de, which left plenty of room for passive enchantments. It didn''t strain his spirit as when he used a Tier 5 enchantment at Tier 4, so the same logic should apply.


    He was much stronger then when he was back on the training world, after all.


    For the rune setup, Matt didn''t just stick to his standard repair, durability, and sharpness runes. He doubled up on all of them. It wasnt some revolutionary new tactic; the effects of the dual sets of runes werent just additive, but multiplicative. The problem that usually stopped normal warriors from doing the same was mana cost.


    Kurts de mage training had given him the idea. It was apparentlymon with fighters who used wooden weapons for their higher enchantment capacity and mana throughput.


    It took Matt four attempts to enchant the de, during which he had to dump mana and metals into his de to repair the damage his missteps.


    With the new enchantments, Matt was confident that he could cut through the defenses of the heavily armored orcs in the Tier 9 rifts. Not to mention the more defensive monsters that they encountered in the variety of random Tier 8 rifts they delved.


    Everyone else upgraded their growth items as well, and were all equipped with new weapons and armor.


    Aster even took the initiative to get armor that came with a de for her tail. It wasnt as effective as she mightve liked, but she now had a less magical option for dealing damage. Matt couldn''t really argue against it.


    His gentle suggestion she get a w or tooth attachment was shrugged off.


    He used a sword, so why couldn''t she?


    Matt had no counterpoint, so he just gave up.


    Liz, on the other hand, leaned into a much heavier armor set that was built to fuse with her upgraded Blood Iron and [Blood Crystal Armor]. It actually had room for Liz to cycle ayer of blood inside the heavy metal tes. It allowed her to control the armor with [Blood Maniption], as the armor was built more for defense than movement. When she flooded the armor with Blood Iron, she was able to reinforce it to an insane degree. It was onlypounded when she used [Blood Crystal Armor]; she was nearly unkible when she used both of them in conjunction. The only downside was that the Blood Iron, once used for either purpose, was gone forever.


    With Matt to keep her mana full, she didnt need to worry about the high mana cost for using the skills she needed to move gracefully.


    When Liz used [Blood Maniption] to supplement her movements, she was actually more agile than she was when using her old armor. She even managed to lift herself up and levitate for a short period of time, which let her use the weight of her armor in a devastating downward attack.


    Her spear was also built with the newly Tiered up Blood Iron in mind. It could attract part of the Blood Iron, and use that to extend the spear or change the shape of the de. The iron used was consumed by the spear, just as with the armor. However, Lizs natural treasure would continue to be replenished by the naturally urring iron in her blood. Since Lizs growth glove let her store a swimming pool''s worth of blood, she would always have enough iron to sustain her new equipment.


    While they were waiting for their armor and weapons to be crafted, everyone took time to rx and dpress for a change. They were able to breathe for a bit without Luna and Kurt hounding them with lessons constantly.


    Matt and Liz even took the time to go on a proper date to one of the newly constructed amusement parks. Everyone else came as well, but they split into smaller groups. Aster joined Sam and Tara, who wanted to ride in all of the biggest roller coasters.


    They spent the entire day just goofing off and ying various games of chance. They even took their getting banned from the Tier 6 and 7 games as a badge of pride. Their training was so effective, they could easily beat games of skill meant to swindle people out of their money.


    As the day settled down into evening, they all stood at the edge of the waterfall as the blue-tinged sunset painted a cascade of colors, creating a dazzling rainbow for them to enjoy.


    To splurge a bit, and repay Matt for treating them to such a nice feast back in the war, Melindas team took them to the best restaurant in the city.


    Reading the tasting menu that listed out the meals they would be served immediately caused Aster''s tail to start swooshing back and forth, and Matt had to repress a chuckle as he saw why.


    There was savory ice cream on the menu for the entree.


    Seeing Kyle open his mouth while looking worriedly at Aster, Matt kicked him under the table.


    Matt wanted to see Aster''s natural reaction to ice cream that wasn''t a snack.


    When the dish came out, Asters eyes locked onto the orb of white, and she stretched to get a better look as the waiter brought out the tray.


    When the dish was set before her, Aster started to quiver in anticipation as the waiter introduced the te and the origins and preparation of each ingredient.


    Matt was honestly impressed that Aster had remembered the lessons in table etiquette well enough to wait for the waiter to finish.


    As soon as the waiter stopped speaking, Aster attacked the ice cream and swallowed it up in a single bite.


    Everyone waited as Asters energetic movements slowed, then ground to a halt as the vors she was expecting werent what she tasted.


    Slowly, Aster started top the air. Through his bond, all Matt felt was a sense of deep confusion.


    As Aster came back to life, her disappointment grew until she let out a mournful yowl while her tail and ears drooped.


    That was too much, and everyone started tough. Aster just sat in confusion as her friends guffawed.


    Sam lost it to the point that she snorted out the wine she had taken a sip of.


    That just reset everyone else''s humor, and even got Aster tough.


    When they finally started to calm down, Matt picked up his bond and hugged her while asking her if she had understood what savory ice cream was when it was on the menu.


    She had distinctly not, and pouted about no one exining it to her, until Liz said there was sherbet on the dessert menu. Liz assured the fox that she would probably like it.


    The rest of the meal was delicious, despite Aster eating Matts steak in retribution for not warning her. He took his punishment with grace, having had a bite of it from Lizs te to taste it.


    As it turned out, Aster did enjoy the sherbet.


    While she rated it as lower than ice cream, she enjoyed the denser and fruity vors that she was able to sample.


    They ended the night by strolling through a light garden as the three moons rose in a dancing orbit.


    The next day, they picked up their armor and weapons from the couple, and thanked them before jumpings back to their continent.


    They found Erwin watering a garden in a floating ss orb that had seemingly drained a good portion of theke, as the waterline was at least a foot lower than it had been when they left.


    Erwin gave them no downtime before pulling Matt into more rift crafting experiments.


    They actually went to a new continent, where they met a Tier 5 team who was going to delve into the Tier 5 rifts that they created. They were contracted by Erwin from one of the local guilds that were in good standing with The Empire. He had only said that Matt was his apprentice, and that he was trying to create specialized rifts with growth items.


    Having seen more of the records, Matt understood that it wasn''t unheard of, though most guilds didnt bother with trying for specific elemental mana rifts. They usually just delved randomly generated ones. If it gave out a half-decent number of growth items when fully charged, that was good enough for them.


    Erwin was apparently known as an entric enough scientist that no one questioned his being willing to waste millions of mana, even though it could be better spent on other endeavors.


    That was the real reason that no one tried to create rifts.


    Matt had suspected it before, but after having tested it himself, he understood why no one bothered. No guild would be willing to throw away hundreds of millions of otherwise valuable mana. Even the most delving-oriented guilds had crafting divisions, which consumed buckets of mana to craft the most simple of weapons.


    Then, the guild had to afford the spatial expansion that they used. Guilds, unlike apartmentplexes and other spatially expanded mass housing, had to cover all of the mana cost for their building, or pay double the price for drawing in ambient mana.


    That was why the guild was happy to agree to Erwins request of providing teams to delve the rifts, as long as they reported everything they received from the delves.


    The guild was Madeleine''s Marauders, named after the guild''s founder, a Tier 26 melee fighter. It was actually a feeder guild to the stronger Darknorth Delvers, a Tier 35 guild that wanted to get a foothold in a new region of space to find promising youths.


    She was actually quite nice. When they first arrived, she met them personally to introduce herself and discuss the location where they wanted the rifts created. The location was in a secure area, situated deep inside the guildspounds and hidden underyers of restrictions, both magical and mundane.


    Matt and Erwin intended to create a few hundred rifts to test out the potential growth items and how they changed with mana types. On the other hand, the guild only needed and wanted the best five. They intended to keep those rifts fully charged and restricted to Tier 5, which wouldnt be cheap. Only the fact that they were getting growth items worth Tier 14 prices made the investment worth it.


    That, and they weren''t going to reimburse Erwin for the mana he used at all. If Matt wasn''t able to produce millions of mana a day, the deal would have been incredibly unfair, but neither of them cared about the cost as much as the guild would. The official story was that the Empire was funding the research at Erwin''s request, and would be buying any growth items the guild didnt keep for themselves.


    The first thing they did was set up privacy formations that could keep spiritual senses out of the area. If someone stronger than the formation poked their nose inside, it would set off rms and warn them.


    Matt got the feeling that either Luna or Kurt was watching over them, making sure no one spied on them. For all her grumblings about wanting them off The Path, Luna gave her all to training them, and he was sure that she cared about their well being. She had said so on their train rides. She kept her own spiritual sense wrapped around them to prevent others from spying, more so than to watch them herself.


    They started with creating random rifts with no elemental mana or essence restrictions. As expected, it only yielded normal rifts. Even when fully charged, they had no chance to produce a growth item.


    Their next tests turned into making rifts with the simplest of single element mana allocations. These rifts were a little more of a challenge to Tier up sessfully, but none of them created growth items regrly.


    Another result in line with their predictions.


    In the next round of testing, they tried to craft rifts with at least three variations of elements, to a slightly higher sess rate. One in fifteen of the rifts they created produced a single growth item drop out of one hundred delves.


    Not even close to the numbers of a good growth item producing rift, but it was a start.


    The delving groups were ecstatic, and when Matt spent time in their lounge, he got to listen to them wax poetic about how much money they were pulling in from delving full rifts five or six times a day.


    The guild was paying to have their mana topped up, while also letting them keep all of the non-growth items that they found. The guilders also had first im on any growth items that they found while delving, up to one item per person.


    As the days ticked by, and the amount of rifts he and Erwin created increased, it became almost amusing how many of the guilds Tier 5s were tasked with delving their rifts. Even with the guild providing mana, the teams were bing overworked and sloppy, leading to injuries mounting.


    That was in stark contrast to Lunas training, with them delving a dozen or more rifts at higher Tiers than themselves in a day.


    Erwin and Matt were eventually asked to slow down their testing, so that the teams wouldnt be in danger of being overwhelmed.


    During the downtime, Matt met some of the teams, and had to stifle a snicker when they asked what it was like apprenticing under such a rich high Tier master. Especially who was willing to throw mana around for testing rifts. A portion of him wanted to see how their heads would explode if they knew it was him producing all of the mana that they were using.


    One of the women was a tailor on the side, and repeatedly sighed at the grant use of mana. She had said wasted once, only to get dogpiled on by her team. After that, made a point to say used, instead of wasted.


    They couldntin about getting good items and mana stones from even the failed rifts.


    Herining actually inspired him to order a set of casual clothes with enchantments embedded in the fabric. They were more forfort thanbat, but they would self clean and repair small holes. After wearing them for a few days, he knew they were worth every mana crystal.


    Some of the guilders even took Matt to tour the less secretive areas of the guild when he said that he almost joined a guild himself. He gave them the short version of his awakening, and how Erwin picked him up during one of the times the man was off getting supplies.


    A small, but necessary lie to keep their cover.


    It was an eye-opening tour.


    The guild was reminiscent of the yPen in some ways, but vastly different in others.


    They both had spatially expanded apartments, but the guilds were significantly better, with more creatureforts. The dining hall was staffed by people who actually knew monster cooking. He spent an hour chatting with the cooks after the dinner service.


    Even the head chef, a Tier 19 man, was happy to hear Matt out and answer his questions. Especially after he name-dropped Aunt Helen, and how he had a signed cookbook from her.


    After that, he was invited back anytime he wanted during his time working with the guild.


    The real areas where the guild outshone the yPen were their rifts and the crafting sector. They had half a dozen Tier 1 through Tier 6 rifts, all being kept from Tiering up, and with instructors who knew each rift inside and out. They would follow the younger fighters through during their first few delves in their assigned rift, to ensure their safety.


    That was in stark contrast to the yPen letting anyone rated asbat-ready into the rifts with no watchers or guardians.


    Personally, Matt thought the yPen could do with such a method as well, but he wasn''t in a position to tell The Empire something that they already knew. He just felt that some help early on would prevent the unnecessary loss of many. He still remembered how the yPen lost more than one of the non-sponsored teams a year, due to morex rules.


    It just seemed like such a waste of life.


    The guild also had lessons from higher Tier members of the guild who were on break from delving duties, or had simply wanted to get out of delving for a while and raise a family.


    While the instructors were good, Matt felt that their individual skill was lesser than the cultivators at the yPen. But they were adequate for the safer style of delving that the guild subscribed to.


    It was a fascinating glimpse into what could have been.


    In the lounge, there was a sense ofradery and shared purpose that he could only gaze at from afar.


    Still, it didn''tst long; Erwin soon returned, and the rift creating process continued.


    They started creating rifts with moreplex mana types, then proceeded to charge them up to Tier 5. The odds were horrendous because of theirplexity, but they saw a marginal improvement in the sess rate of the growth items pulled.


    It still wasn''t good enough for either of them.


    They wanted to figure out the underlying mechanic that produced growth items in rifts.


    Through test after test, they were able to get the rate of growth item pulls from aplex rift with at least four elemental mana types to about two percent. Unfortunately, they were unable to increase the yield any further, despite their constant tinkering with the variables.


    Once they hit that wall, they moved onto phase two of the testing creating Tier 5 rifts with mundane items at the base of the construction.


    They didn''t use growth items as the seeds of the rifts. That was their third and final phase, which they hoped to avoid resorting to. Rifts still unaspected far too often for their liking to risk growth items being sucked into the rifts during an unsessful Tier up.


    They spent two weeks testing these phase two rifts and having the delver teams report their findings. Despite all their attempts to iste a single variable that would produce growth items, they werepletely unable to do so.


    One of their baseline rifts was nearly perfect when fully charged with mana, it had an unheard of ten percent chance to produce a random growth item. That tidbit of news made the guild leader Madeleine ecstatic, as she now had a way to print money, simply by charging the rift. If her wife and second inmand wasn''t there to receive the exuberant kiss, Matt was afraid that he and Erwin would have been on the business end of her affections instead.


    Matt and Erwin were far less ecstatic with the results. The rift had been a simple rift with a dagger as the base. Half the mana used was unaspected earth mana, along with an even split of fire, water, wind, and pure mana. They hadn''t even used an essence filter to ensure that the rift was scrubbed of rogue essence types.


    They recreated the rift half a dozen times, to no sess.


    Finally, they started testing their other theories.


    The item used to seed the rift didnt seem to have much of an influence on the reward, if the reward was a growth item. Normal items usually mirrored the item used to seed the rift, but growth items seemed to be random in nature.


    They also confirmed that growth items coulde from any Tier 5 rift, if it was fully charged and delved enough. They hypothesized that there was something intrinsic in all Tier 5 rifts that made them different from other Tier rifts, but they were still unable to iste the contributing factor.


    Rifts also seemed to deaspect at a higher rate if they had more than five mana types used in their creation. But the sess rate in getting growth items equally increased with the number of mana types used.


    Before they moved on to seeding rifts with growth items, they tried lessbat-oriented items such as furniture, art, books, and even building a rift around a te of dinner.


    Matt insisted on testing thest idea, if only to see whether they could actually make an ice cream rabbit rift for Aster or not. But they predictably had no sess.


    The rifts made from furniture had a tendency towards creating mimic monsters, but the theme always leaned more to urban environments. It vaguely reminded him of the drain monster rift he delved at Tier 4.


    The rifts made from books usually were set in libraries and chock full of mimics, and oddly enough, mummies.


    Neither of them understood why the book rifts produced those specific types of monsters so frequently, but the books inside were always gibberish. Erwin said that it was normal, but they still cleaned out two dozen instances of the libraries so they could run the books through their AIster.


    When they gave up on cracking the secret of why Tier 5 rifts created growth items on their own, they moved on to the final phase of their testing.


    Using other growth items to seed rifts.


    It actually worked enough to be the solution to their problems almost.


    Creating a rift with a growth item increased the chance of the Tier 5 rift producing one to a decent rate. The problem was, the rifts were incredibly hard to stabilize, and frequently deaspected or absorbed the seed item when Tiering up.


    It was only because of the insane number of delves that the guilder teams had been undergoing that they had a decent supply of growth items to use as test subjects.


    As a part of the agreement between Erwin and the guild, any growth item that didnt appear useful to any guilder was kept for their seeding of rifts.


    With a little more than fifty unimed growth items, they had ample supplies to test some of their theories, just not as extensively as they would have liked.


    A rift seeded with a growth item, if charged to Tier 5, had a better than twenty percent chance to create a growth item when it was delved at full mana. If it wasn''t fully charged at Tier 5, that percentage dropped like a rock, but that was in line with all Tier 5 rifts.


    It was just getting the rift to Tier up without de-aspecting that they had issues with.


    If the rift was diametrically opposed on mana aspects to the growth item, they learned that there was a near-zero chance for the rift to sessfully Tier up without deaspecting. After learning that, they expected rifts that mirrored the mana types of the item would always Tier up. But they actually had a harder time Tiering those up than the rifts with growth items and mana types were adjacently aligned.


    With that knowledge, they started creating rifts by the hundreds. As long as a rift didn''t absorb the seed item, it could be used seemingly endlessly, which made no sense to either of them. The seed item should have been doing something to influence the rift, and they expected it had to do with the essence of the item, but they were unable to prove it. Eventually, all of the items got absorbed.


    They just couldn''t prove if something in the item''s spirit was being used, leading to the seed item being eaten by the rift, or some other underlying method. Even with their precautions, the items rarelysted more than half a dozen rift creations before they were absorbed. Even Erwin and his higher Tier senses were unable to find any degradation in the items before the rift absorbed them on Tier up.


    They were still able to produce four other rifts that created growth items at a sess rate of over fifteen percent, despite an approach that was more artistic than Erwin, ever the scientist, preferred. They called it a sess and packed their bags, receiving more thanks from the guild as they removed the rest of their testing rifts.


    As they drove off in Erwin''s flying car, Luna appeared next to Matt,curled up in seat.


    The instant she appeared, she asked, So what did you learn?


    Matt knew that she had been watching, but answered anyway. It would help cement the knowledge in his own brain.


    Creating a rift can be controlled, but it''s more akin to an art than a science right now. We know that there are variables, but we havent identified enough to make any true headway. That only leads us to frustration and dead ends. Matt checked his AI while ignoring Lunas dangerous squint. Were at phase one of scientific discovery of Riftology.


    Seeing Luna smirk at the name and Matt grinned back. No one else seems to have named the field before, so I made one up.


    Luna burst his bubble. While Erwin might not have remembered to tell you, and the EmpireNet might not have the knowledge, the field is called Aperology. Aper as in Aperture, an opening, hole, or gap.


    Matt frowned at that. It was far too pretentious, but he didn''t argue. His idea wasn''t any better if he was being honest.


    In phase one of the process of scientific change and study of a field, it is characterized by several ipatible and iplete theories. We have no existing framework that exins even a fraction of the phenomenon we see in our testing. We are touching upon the second phase, but we are only at the beginning, where normal science has begun. Where puzzles are being solved within the context of the dominant paradigm, which is spotty at best. We aren''t even close to the point of refining our framework and creating more precise methodologies, which is the basis of phase three.


    Luna, seeing Matt had stopped, snarked, That would have been much more impressive if you weren''t reading off your AI.


    Matt returned her attitude with his own. I''m not going to memorize obscure facts about the philosophy of scientific discovery. Channeling Aster and adding a smirk, he said, AI good.


    Seeing the woman get a dangerous look in her eyes, Matt swiftly continued, What we learned was, we can get the results we want with massive costs. If we''re willing to throw millions of mana at the project, and an equal number of material resources, we can eventually get a rift close enough to our desires. Honestly, I think with a better and more robust mana-type catalog, we could solve a lot of these issues. My gut tells me that its not the actual answer, but I think its arge portion of the answer. Im pretty confident that I can create rifts as payment, if that was your tactic to get me the items I need.


    Luna sighed. Are you not willing to leave The Path? Even with the math shown to you?


    Matt shook his head. He and Liz had decided on that already. After the tournament, we''ll reconsider.


    Pausing, he added, I do recognize the issue of currency that I will encounter.


    Luna settled back and nodded for him to continue.


    Personal mana is sold at a loss after Tier 25. Though, I couldn''t find a hard reason for that. I only have spection. He looked at her for an actual answer.


    His trainer raised an eyebrow, not about to let him get an answer that easily. So, he said, I assume it has to do with mana stone sizes, but at my Tier that''s not really an issue. Personal mana stones aren''t our limiting factor yet, with 200 mana per stone. I don''t even have 100 mana yet.


    Luna shook her head slightly. Correct. It really depends on mana concentration and the aspect of your mana. The easier it is to convert into neutral, the more its worth for general applications. It also <em>is </em>about the size of mana stones. A rift mana stone is the same size from Tier 1 to Tier 50. To hold a million mana, you need a personal mana stone bigger than my house. You can''t draw mana out of the stone while it''s in a storage ring, so the size is the most valuable part of a rift mana stone during a fight, not how much mana it holds. That''s why most people just use the less efficient rapid converters to drain a rift mana stone in the middle of a fight.


    She sighed. So yes, trying to jump Tiers will require converting your mana into someone elses, who has a closer mana concentration to the Tier you want to buy at. Otherwise, the mana will be worth a lot less unit per unit, so it will take you more time to create enough mana to equal the standard concentration expected at Tier 20. It will only increase as whatever Tier you want to buy at advances, which leads us back to the original problem. You need to get every drop of concentration out of the potions while you can. Each Tier matters.


    Matt nodded at the confirmation of his theory. And that will only make it harder to hide what Im doing. That, as I see it, is the real issue. Even with the best we can do, I assume it''s hard to hide that much mana. I just want to help Liz as much as I can. She means more to me than a few years of easier resource gain. I know she won''t let me run into any true issues, but I want to support her dreams until I can''t stay on The Path anymore. It was always a means to an end anyway.


    Luna gave Matt an odd look that he couldnt decipher, but changed the subject. Have you decided what cover you want to use during the tournament yet?


    Cover? Like a mask?


    His manager shook her head. Not just that, but abat style that doesn''t give away your trump cards.


    What? Matt was loud enough that Erwin looked back to where the two were sitting.


    Luna rolled her eyes like he was foolish. Matt, do you really think that The Empire lets the truly powerful delvers show off their actual abilities in the tournament? Not a chance. There will be more spies there than you can shake a stick at. No, the best fighters are given handicaps that will allow them to fly under the radar, while still disying their prowess.


    Matt shook his head. That doesn''t make any sense. Light and Shadow still won their tournament.


    Luna spun the ring on her finger. I will bet you everything I own that those two won despite the restrictions ced upon them. I can''t see their actual abilities, but I guarantee that theyre hiding their true skills. We''ll do the same with you. I expect you to win if youre going to be foolish enough to actually participate.


    She let out a sigh that contained more frustration than Matt could understand. Though, I don''t think The Emperor will allow you two to sit on the sidelines if you choose to remain on The Path. I believe he''s trying to curry favor with the more neutral Great Powers by showing them that we''re creating Ascenders at a prodigious rate. Combine that with a few concessions and territorial treaties, and he probably hopes to keep them out of the uing wars, if not pull them under our own banner as more permanent allies.


    That seems risky. If we''re too strong, won''t it invite the Great Powers to gang up on us? Matt felt a kernel of fear settle into his stomach.


    Luna nodded. It''s a possibility. No doubt about that. But I do agree that it''s a risk that we should be willing to take. When Light and Shadow reach Tier 25, there will be a war. But no one expects it to be a war that breaks the rules. As long as we aren''t outright crushed, we will at worst lose some territory, and have to make some concessions. But if we have promising ascenders in theter generations, we can ensure that we will rise again. And there are at least two other teams who seem like they can make it. Or are least close to being powerful enough. Not quite on a Light and Shadow level, where they''re able to easily fight up three or four Tiers, but able to fight up three with some preparation.


    Luna shook her head. If you don''t fuck up in the Tier 9 rift, we will talk about this after the tournament. What else did you learn?


    The guild was nice. Like arge extended family. At least on the surface, everyone was friendly and helpful to each other. It was nice to see. I think I want that for myself one day. Set up a crafting guild where I don''t need to hide my Talent, and create wondrous rifts and items. Create without the normal constraints of mana. I saw how the crafters were limited in their ability to make items and improve their skills. I could remove all of that. One crafter cried when hepleted an item two Tiers higher than himself. Matt didnt think that was what Luna was quite looking for, but he felt that it was important to say.


    Luna just gestured for him to continue, and they talked about what Matt learned until they reached their normal base.


    He was surprised to find out that Luna believed The Empire would step in to buy the excess growth items. It was to prevent the local prices and economy from crashing more than anything else. She said that it was a fair price to prevent the guild from being attacked from all sides. It was a reminder of what his Talent actually meant. A target on his back.


    Matt spent time with his friends, who he hadn''t seen in over two months. While they chatted with AI, there was no substitute to being there with them in the flesh.


    The next day, he and Erwin started on their own project seeing what would happen if a growth item was used to create a Tier 6 rift. It wasmonly epted that rifts past Tier 5 didnt produce growth items at an appreciable rate, but that was for normal, natural rifts. Rifts in nature didn''t have growth items used to influence their makeup.


    They discovered whatever special property that made the rifts create growth items disappeared at Tier 6, even when they used a growth item as a seed for the rift.


    It was disappointing, but not unexpected.


    While they tested their rifts, Matt, Liz, and Aster prepared to delve into the Tier 9 rift once again. They wanted to prove once and for all they had what it took.

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114


    Their preparation wasn''t as simple asst time.


    They started by doubling down on their training, with Kurt overseeing the melee aspect and Luna the magical.


    Kurt actually stopped them from training with their new gear against him after they got used to it, instead sending them to fight members from the various local guilds closer to their Tier. The arrangement felt just like they had returned to the vassal kingdom''s world, and were able to duel the other Pathers. Except this time, they were fighting entire teams, which were all at least two Tiers above them.


    They lost many of these fights, but never so severely to necessitate healing. Kurt broke down each battle for them and analyzed where they could improve. Matt was the most restricted out of the three, having been handed a strict mana usage limit. Despite that, he managed to give a good showing.


    Without their AI, they were put at a disadvantage from the start. The predictive algorithms gave their opponents a distinct edge that was hard to ovee. Spells and skills kept them slightly unpredictable, but not to the degree they were ustomed to. That was when Luna sat them down and deconstructed how AI algorithms worked, and the problems thaty within.


    At their Tier, AIs weren''t stupid, but they didnt have the time or mana capacity to truly break away from the limits of their initial programming. Until then, the AIs predictions could be, quite ironically, rather predictable. Their base algorithms could be tricked by setting traps with certain stances that <em>normally</em> flowed to other stances or moves. By using the first stance, then transitioning to a stance that could exploit the original stances counter, they were nearly always able to beat someone who only relied on their AI.


    As simple as that sounded, it wasn''t quite as easy to put into practice. The AIs were seldom tricked twice in the same way, and it was like learning apletely newbat style for every position they could be in. The trio did learn though, and even gained valuable insight to their ownbat methods, despite Luna barring them from using their own AIs.


    To Lunas distaste, Aster still struggled to properly use the sword attachment on her tail. The older evolved beast convinced Aster to hide the sword in the fluffiness of her tail, and save it for sneak attacks, which gave her a bit of unpredictability. No enemy expected Aster to turn and slice their leg off with her floof.


    Liz toiled at first with her new spear, which Kurt insisted that she use in as many forms as possible. For training and sparring, she used mock replicas of the weapon in its halberd, great axe, and hammer forms, to avoid wasting her valuable Blood Iron but never in fights.


    She worked long and hard to internalize the new fighting styles that the different weapons demanded of her. But with so much to learn, her progress was still slow. Matt sparred with her, but he couldnt actually teach her about her new weapons. He knew them well enough to use one in a pinch, but they weren''t exactly his preferred style. Kurt used thatck to push him during the training as well, but didn''t force Matt into the same variety of weapons he did with Liz, just increasing Matt''s ability with blunt weapons.


    Where Liz did excel was swapping weapon forms in a fluid manner. With her true weapon and its shape-shifting function, Liz was able to rapidly change between styles, and was able to create an unpredictable fighting style. One second her enemies were blocking a spear thrust, and the next, they were dodging a heavy chop from a halberd. If anyone then tried to get in close, she switched to the great axe or hammer forms. The only reason Luna and Kurt allowed her to use it, instead of a normal halberd, was that Liz usually used a medium length spear, not a weapon as long as the halberd usually was. A weapon that long had problems in a lot of rifts and no one wanted to create problems for themselves.


    Liz only really struggled when she was forced to use a single weapon form for longer than a blow or two. She fell back on her spear too easily, which led to her defeat on more than one asion. Still, she was improving massively between each fight.


    In addition to their training with Kurt, Luna also had them practicing their Concepts every day. She led them through both their general applications, and the abilities granted by their specific Concepts.


    They spent a minimum of two hours a night, right before they went to bed, exhausting their willpower on Lunas Concept training.


    Matt was quite proficient in stepping on hardened air, and could even climb a few Concept created stairs to get an approximation of flight. But he was still struggling to raise himself in the air without the tform. He also had a difficult time using his Concept to zipper the air around himself, to help him move just a bit faster than he normally could. Luna had exined that he needed to start training now, because once he reached T15, he''d be breaking the sound-barrier. If he was still interacting normally with the air, then, he''d be too easy to track and it would slow him down. Sometimes he was able to get it, but other times, he ended up creating walls in his own way. More often than not, it led to a sudden and painful stop.


    He also waspletely unable to lock down space to prevent teleportation. He wasn''t sure why, but Luna was growing more and more frustrated while he struggled with it. She never said anything, but he had spent enough time with her to recognize the look of impatience in her eye growing with each failure.


    Liz, with her internal Concept, struggled with all of the physical applications except moving air. Kurt said that was mostly normal for internal Concepts, and had her doing exercises to practice influencing things outside of her body <em>without</em> using blood to interact with everything but there was little progress on that front.


    Aster actually had the least issues among the trio. Locking a space down was a breeze for her, with her absolute zero Concept. It was second nature to the fox for things to freeze in ce. Matt wasn''t sure he understood the logical leap that she was making, but realized that was probably why he was struggling with the training himself.


    Aster also seeded in using her Concept to warp the light around herself to a degree. As of now, she could only blur colors, but it was far more than Matt or Liz could do. It wasn''t practical for stealth against anyone with their own Concept, as Aster''s control of her own power was tenuous at best. When she used the ability, it was like she was screaming her presence to anyone with their own Concept.


    Luna did say that was normal, but technically fixable. Normally, if she or Kurt wanted to remain invisible, they used one of the invisibility skills, or their own Intents or Aspects. All had their ws, but against people weaker than themselves, they were easily dealt with.


    Aster struggled with flying and air zippering as much as Liz did. Which was to say, she couldn''t even manage to touch on the requisite skills.


    Two months into the new training regime, the three of them tackled the Tier 8 wave rift. With their upgraded weapons and armor, they were able to reach the twentieth wave, which they learned was the final one. The boss had been the only monster toe back to life, and it took thebined efforts of all three of them half an hour to finally take it down. They estimated that the monster was at the peak of Tier 9 in power. They only won the fight because they outnumbered it, and the monster wasnt all that good with its de.


    None of the zombies returned to life and the mist didn''t rise again. When they finished checking their surroundings and entered the house, they discovered that a trap door had opened in front of the stairs.


    Matt carefully led the way down the stairs into the darkness, where they found what appeared to be a room of ritual sacrifices.


    There were no enemies, but they did find a skill shard nestled in a book that seemed to be made from poorly stitched together human flesh.


    Liz used a tendril of blood to grab the skill from a distance, but nothing happened, and they returned to the second floor. There, they received a second skill shard and exited the rift.


    Luna and Kurt were both standing there as they exited.


    Kurt pped for them as Luna pulled the two skills to herself.


    Kurt wrote, Well done. I didnt expect you to beat that big guy this time. Good teamwork.


    Luna tossed both skills back to Matt and Liz, saying, Well, that rift is now on the keep list. Two Tier 14 skills. Hmmm. We''ll need to notify the local noble that they need extra security for an undead rift. She tapped her chin while looking at the distortion. The boss was Tier 9 in strength at the end, but that''s still incredibly rare. It probably has something to do with the rift being full as well.


    Matt had to agree. At Tier 8, rifts normally dropped only Tier 8 skills. From Tier 9 to Tier 13, rifts dropped Tier 8 skills at the same twenty-five percent chance, but that wasn''t the whole story. Just as rifts below Tier 8 could drop skills, Tier 9 through Tier 13 rifts had an increasing chance to drop Tier 14 skills. At Tier 13, there was an even chance between Tier 8 and Tier 14 skills. It was incredibly rare for a Tier 8 rift to drop not one, but two Tier 14 skills.


    Luna wanting to save it madeplete sense.


    The one from the sacrifice room is [Lesser Sacrifice]. If you use it and kill an enemy, the essence is consumed by the skill for a mana boost, along with a pretty hefty, but temporary boost to all of your cultivation stats. Both magical and physical. The conversion rate is pretty bad, but


    All three of them looked impressed, and were excited to see what Lizs Talent would turn the skill into. There were a ton of possibilities, and most of them were good.


    Liz took the skill and immediately slipped it into the skill locking band, then mped it to her wrist. It was too perfect for them to consider giving the skill to anyone else.


    Luna held up the other skill shard. This is the armor skill that the boss used. [Shadow Armor]. It''s a fairly rare Tier 14 skill.


    Seeing Matt''s hopeful gaze, she shook her head. Sorry, Matt. It''s worse than your skill. It''s a reserve skill, with the advantage that it can heal itself, yes. The problem is, its weak to melee attack while excelling at magical defense. Its also useless against void, which it has no ability to resist.


    Matt sighed. That was a straight-up downgrade to [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It wasn''t like his armor needed to be recast every time its damage threshold was breached like normal armor skills. It just reformed once the object no longer blocked its ne as long as he kept the skill active.


    Still, it could be useful for Liz or Aster. Liz already had an armor skill, but her Talent meant that this could transform into something unique.


    Aster, on the other hand, could use it as it was, which was still an improvement to her nonexistent armor skills.


    They talked it over and decided to give the skill to Aster. His bond wasn''t super happy with the drab color, but epted it without much more than a grumble or two. She was quite proud that her armor, while quadrupedal, was a nearly identical copy of Matts armor when he used the more ornate secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Lizs Talent was beyond powerful. The skill [Lesser Blood Sacrifice] did everything they hoped for and more. It didnt take essence to power itself, but blood. And while the conversion rate was worse for both mana and the power boost, Liz didntck for blood, and the buff stacked. It sadly had a soft cap in the avable boost because summoned blood couldn''t be used to empower the skill, and each buff had a separate cooldown. Still, it was still an incredible power spike for Liz, and partially solved Lunas critique about Liz being too dependent on Matts concept. It would let her use the essences blood she created in a fight to kill faster and sacrifice more blood snowballing her damage to an insane degree.


    They intended to delve the Tier 8 rift to get three more copies of the skill, so they could all have an original version of it, as they werent able to use the essence anyway. But they decided to attempt the Tier 9 rift first. The mana wasn''t needed, and the boost to their cultivation wasn''t necessary for their ns.


    Together, they stepped through the rift entrance and appeared on the familiar, wooded mountainside.


    They quickly cleared the rift''s first portion of shadow assassins. Through experimentation,they learned that the method the shadows used to materialize wasn''t perfect. As Aster had noticed before, the smell of the monster was apparent before anything else. Then, there was a slight noise of disced air as one appeared. At the same time, the visual aspect of the object changed right before the monster appeared.


    That was a part of Lunas anti assassination training. Low Tier invisibility or camouge techniques all had ws. This one was the smell of the monster appearing first, then in rapid session, the rest of the illusion faded.


    With their theory confirmed, they were able to slowly but safely clear the rest of the path to the city entrance.


    There Matt boarded his flying sword and rose into the air to survey the city.


    He was mentally untangling the maze-like city, when a massive building in the center of the city started to glow a fiery red. The building was nearly as wide as it was tall, with the same nted shingled roofs that had ornamentation on every t surface.


    The fire grew brighter, and Matt started to worry. It wasn''t natural, and had only started when he took to the air. Getting [Fire Maniption] ready, Matt started to descend to his teammates.


    He was just too slow.


    An arm thick beam of fireshed out, and resisted any control that Matt could exert on it with his [Fire Maniption]. Matt threw himself to the side, whilemanding his flying sword to fly up and in the opposite direction.


    The beam of fire quicklyshed upward, and sliced his flying sword into two uneven halves that were instantly melted with follow-up sts of fire before they hit the ground.


    My sword!


    Matt couldn''t believe it. That was his first and favorite flying sword. He and Keith had scoured and reviewed every Tier 7 flying sword on the market to find the perfect one for him, and it was gone, just like that.


    The damn tower hadn''t even left him with g to keep as a memento.


    Liz and Aster rushed over, asking, Are you ok?


    Matt threw up his hands. No! Im clearly fucking not! I liked that sword! Someones going to pay with their head for destroying it.


    Matt could hear the eye roll as Liz said, Ok, you''re fine then. So while this ce doesn''t have an anti-flying formation, its the kind of rift that attacks anything that flies. Good to know.


    Aster poked Matt''s face with her nose with a questioning thought of her checking the air, but Matt just patted her in reassurance.


    He got to his feet, retrieved his longsword, and said, Well, well be able to fly fine when I kill whoever is up in that tower.


    Liz pointed out, Could be the building itself.


    Well then, Ill knock the fucking building to the ground.


    That ended the conversation. Matt was still fuming as they entered the city, but forced himself to remain rational. While his AI hadnt gotten a perfect look over the massive city, it had gotten enough to help them avoid turning in circles.


    Their first encounter with a troop of orcs was night and daypared to theirst one. Matts upgraded weapon cut through armor and flesh as if they were nonexistent.


    Liz fared even better than he did. Her new weapon and armor allowed her to fight toe to toe with the Tier 9 monsters.


    Aster avoided getting hit with her smaller, more nimble form as she continually froze feet and armor at the perfect moment, allowing Liz and Matt to dispatch the orcs in short order.


    Just to test herbat abilities, she soloed a single group of orcs. She had to quickly rotate through her skills to avoid the spears that destroyed any skill or spell that lingered for more than a second or two but fared well otherwise.


    Aster started with a spurt of [Hail], then transitioned to [Ice Maniption] to surround all the orcs in ice, and finished with [Shatter]. Even with the magic-resistant shield, the orcs were shredded in seconds, as their armor did nothing to stop the onught of ice from all directions.


    With theirbat prowess proven, they moved through the city with more speed. They even took fights with more than one squad at a time when they needed to push through a certain part of the city.


    They only struggled slightly with the orc squad leaders bearing gs. It took them five fights with one of the ten orc squads before they settled into a working routine. Aster would hold the attention of the red armored monster by shooting him with ice. That simple tactic was enough to keep his attentionpletely on the fox. Her small size meant that the orc had trouble actually hitting her. When the orc did get too close, she simply created some water, then sh froze it. She had no trouble walking on slick ice, but the boss struggled.


    Her toying with the ever-strengthening boss gave Matt and Liz time to ughter the other orcs, who were no stronger than the other squads.


    It took them close to six hours before they reached the central tower.


    Matt had expected it to be the headquarters of the orcs, but the patrolling squads avoided the building like it would set them aze as well.


    They entered the wide-open door to find a simpleyout that was conspicuously empty. Theck of any enemies caused them to take extra care as they climbed the ten-story building, but they found nothing.


    No guards, no shadow assassins in the objects of the building nothing.


    As they reached the ninth floor, they found the first oddity. The ceiling was made from some sort of brick or stone, and it radiated heat that they could even feel from the floor below.


    When they reached the steps, Matt carefully poked his head over the lip of the floor, to find they were facing a giant chicken.


    A giant <em>ming</em> chicken.


    A giant <em>ming</em> chicken, at the peak of Tier 9.


    It was sitting in a nest of charred timbers, but it was still a giant firebird.


    Matt popped down and said, I think your flightless cousin is up there.


    Liz was confused until he shared his AI recording of the view he had gotten, and his girlfriend winced.


    Matt, let me remind you. Please don''t ever call a phoenix a chicken. That really, really pisses off mom. That isn''t a phoenix. It''s a ming ostrich.


    Matt grumbled, They''re both flightless birds, and they''re both on fire. And what will your mom actually do?


    Liz shrugged. Last time someone said she was a chicken who justid eggs all the time, she followed them around and burnt their hair and clothes off at inopportune moments. Just don''t. You won''t win that one.


    Matt made a note of that, but pointed up at the ceiling and asked, So what''s the n? I''m pretty sure this is the sub-boss that Luna was talking about. It feels strong.


    Liz highlighted a portion of the AI recording Matt had missed. Look here, there are giant lenses on each of the walls. I''m pretty sure that was how the ostrich shot such a strong beam of fire at you. The ss concentrated it. That means we probably won''t have to deal with such a strong fire attack.


    Aster quietly yipped, Also exins why it burnt the sword.


    Matt and Liz looked down to her, and she exined, Jealous it can''t fly. Stupid chicken.


    He resisted a snicker at Aster picking up that insult. It was funny.


    It also made sense, and they hadnt seen any other birds in the rift, which the jealous chicken might be responsible for.


    After hashing out a rough n, Matt ran up the stairs and cast [Hail] directly over the nest. The ice spell worked about as well as they expected.


    Not at all.


    The ice turned to vapor before it even reached the bird. It did obstruct the long-necked chickens vision enough that itpletely missed its first stream of fire at Matt. Now that he was close he could feel it wasnt pure heat vaporizing the ice but some part of the monster''s Concept at y.


    The attack was noticeably weaker than one that killed his flying sword, but Matt didn''t let himself get overconfident. He could still feel the heat from the attacks passing.


    He could feel it through his stupidly strong armor skill.


    If he got hit, he was sure that he would be seriously burned at best.


    Mattshed out with his sword, and a crescent of mana smashed into the bird, bringing its attention to him long enough for Aster and Liz to get into their positions.


    Rolling out of the way of another attack, Matt rushed forward, only to be forced to dodge once again.


    The stupid chicken, as it turned out, really was an ostrich. The characteristic long legs and neck were revealed as soon as the boss stood up and stomped its feet.


    The nest it had created for itself roared to life with an outward wash of me that Matt was unable to control with [me Maniption]. He was forced to activate his physical armor enchantments, and to cast [Create Water] over his head. Even with all of that protection he still felt the skin of his face and limbs singe.


    His AI said that Liz and Aster were ok, so Matt rushed forward while bringing his de around, and a mana-filled arc flew into the ming feathers of the beast.


    The rune inside of the weapon was only Tier 7, but Matt had no problem bridging the Tier gap with mana. The two thousand mana stored in the weapon exploded out with a burst of wind that caused the mes to gutter out for a moment.


    The sub-boss screamed, which roused the mes from the entire room to life at its cry.


    But Matt had still done his job.


    A thigh-thick shard of ice took the bird in the head. Unlike his hail, this attack was hardly diminished by the incredible heat, and cut a furrow into the face of the monster.


    Then, as the boss was turning its attention to Aster, Liz came in with an oversized axe that thunked into the skinny leg as if it were a tree.


    The scream was ear-shattering as the boss stumbled. Another wash of me cascaded out in an expanding circle and hit Matt and Liz. They were close enough to take damage, but this wasn''t the first time they had been badly burned, so they continued to fight.


    Lunas training had prepared them for this.


    Keeping his breath held, Matt swapped ces with Liz the second she removed her axe. He intercepted the [Fireball] that the monster had aimed at her with a swing of his own de.


    The explosion of a partially charged [Mana Charge] and [Fireball] colliding caused a shockwave that sent Matt tumbling, but a second scream echoed out as Liz took a swing at the other leg.


    The ming ostrich fell to the ground and started to glow as it let out a piercing wail of pain.


    As the heat in the room increased, Matt felt the boss''s Concept infusing the fire, making it all the more deadly.


    The wing that Matt had damaged with his first attack knocked Liz back, but a shadow-covered Aster stood in the open and screamed.


    If she had been a wolf, the cry would have been majestic, but since she was a fox, it was too high pitched and warbly to be anything other than amusing.


    What wasn''t funny was the weight of Aster''s cold Concept.


    Aster rejected the bird''s reality of heat and fire, and reced it with her own.


    His bonds Concept of absolute zero shed with the Tier 9 sub-boss''s own fire Concept.


    Fire and ice. The eternal cycle of everything without essence.


    There was a moment where the two powers were in bnce, but with a flick of Aster''s tail, the tide changed, and the fire went out.


    The room, which had been charred and ckened, was instantly transformed into a winter wondend. Stone shattered, and wood cracked at the rapid temperature change, destroying the objects around them.


    Liz was closest, and brought her axe down onto the neck of the stunned bird.


    A torrent of essence rushed into Matt, but as he was still a peak Tier 6, it spilled out of his spirit like an overfull ss.


    Aster wobbled two steps before using [Heart of Power] on the corpse of the monster. A ripping sound was clearly audible as the chest of the monster ripped out, and a head-sized heart hovered in front of Aster as she tore into it.


    As his bond feasted, Matt hobbled over to Liz, who was working her left arm in a way that told him something was wrong.


    His AI said it was nothing major, but he still asked, How''s the arm?


    Liz grumbled, It''s the armor. A piece got bent, and it''s sticking halfway extended.


    Are you ok to continue?


    Liz was about to answer when Matt spun. There was a ripple of power from Aster, and Matt felt her mana pool grow slightly.


    Really?


    Matt was honestly jealous. That was the second time the upgraded effect of [Heart of Power] activated and gave his bond a permanent boost to her cultivation.


    Liz noticed andughed, asking, Was the boss good?


    Aster pranced over, and around thest mouthful of heart, said, It was like spicy chicken. Let''s kill it again.


    They took an hour to rest and recover, with all of them using [Endurance] to its fullest. Aster had used most of her will power to break the bosses Concept and she would need the rest of the day to actually replenish that well of power. Matt was still unable to cast [Ranged Heal] and speed their break up, as his maximum mana pool was still 20 mana short of the spells initial cost. He made a note that they needed to buy copies of [Ranged Heal] for Liz and Aster. It was dumb of them to rely on Matts endless mana when he didnt have the mana to cast lifesaving spells.


    None of them wasted any time. As Liz hammered her armor back into shape, Matt used their perch to observe the entire city, and record itsyout for the rest of their delve.


    When they were ready to move on, they decided to spend some time clearing more of the city before moving onto the massive bridge that crossed the bay.


    They didn''t want to have to retreat through enemy attacks, especially with Matt no longer having a flying device of his own. As they killed more of the orcs there was a sharp increase in the number of assassins but as long as they moved slowly Aster was able to smell the precursor to the transformation and ambush.


    While they were all a little worse for wear, they killed enough of the patrols that they were unable to find any other squads, even when using the drones to scout for them.


    They carefullyid out a retreat path, then moved forward to cross the bridge.


    Before they even set foot on it, the water started to rumble and crash. A massive, whiskered water serpent wrapped around the bridge and screamed at them. Its ck, iridescent scales shined with hues of green and purple, and its deep, golden eyes glowed with anger.


    The monsters power felt just like the ming ostrich''s had. This was another sub-boss at the peak of Tier 9.


    A jet of water tore a furrow at them. While the bridge was unharmed, the cobblestone path they were walking upon was ripped to shreds.


    Matt pulled back with Liz and asked, Can you handle this monster?


    Liz had a major weakness to water, after all.


    If the monster mingled its water with her blood, shed lose control of the element long before the reverse happened for the monster. After all, it had an entire ocean to pull from, while Liz was far more limited in the amount of blood that she could carry around.


    Liz nodded. I''ll be limited, but I think we can take it.


    Aster yipped, Let''s see if snake tastes as good as chicken!


    Matt was more reticent. We pull back if we don''t think we can win. We already learned a lot, but we arent in perfect shape. Better to pull back if we need to. Formation three and priority two.


    That meant Matt would be acting as a hybrid tank, but they would pull back if they didn''t make significant progress on the monster in the first two or three minutes of the fight, or as soon as one of them felt that they were in danger.


    It was one of the more conservative formations that Luna had drilled into them, but it was exactly what they needed right now.


    Matt rushed forward and sidestepped a jet of water, but was almost knocked off his feet as a wave crashed over the bridge. He used [Water Maniption] to create a small bubble around himself.


    To his surprise, it actually worked. But as he reached out to do the same with the next wave, he felt a greater power keeping a firm grip on the water.


    Not willing to be swept under the wave, Matt used the rings and teleported past the wave, while striking out at the scaly hide of the serpent. It was like smashing his sword on a wall for all the good it did him. He actually felt the repair enchantments on his longsword struggle for the first time in the rift.


    Turning back, he saw Liz and Aster struggling to contend against the jet of water that was being sent their way.


    Liz was using her Blood Iron, but he could see it being cut through, and Aster was struggling to freeze the tidal waves of water that the serpent could summon from the bay around them.


    They were losing their foothold.


    Matt made the call.


    Pull back!


    Neither of them said anything, but Matt had to deal with the full attention of the boss as they moved back. It started to turn the jet of water towards him, but Matt used [Air Maniption] to punch the serpent in the face with as much air as he could control.


    It wasn''t a strong blow, but it was unexpected, and disoriented the monster long enough for him to safely reach the end of the bridge and join his team.


    The four of them had a stare-off until the snake decided that they weren''t going toe back, and it unwrapped from the bridge and slithered into the ocean.


    They walked back to the entrance once again.


    While they had seeded in progressing deeper into the rift, they had failed in their task of conquering it once and for all.


    The worst part was, the exit portal was fairly close to the other side of the bridge.


    As Matt walked past the dark forest, he started nning their next attempt.


    If the bridge proved too much of an obstacle, they would just have to go around it.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115


    April moved through the world with as much speed as her Intent would allow.


    Luna had her running around like a chicken with its head cut off. At first, she had just been tasked with finding some of the betterbatants in the Empire, near the Tier 30 mark.


    That should have been easy.


    It had been one of herst assignments as a liaison.


    This time, the people Luna wanted located did <em>not</em> want to be found.


    April wasn''t sure if it was because Lunas information was at least three decades old, or because the news of Lunaing out of retirement had sent the people she was looking for into hiding.


    The fact that she had apparently missed the Tier 32 Madam Ultra by mere hours indicated that it was likely thetter.


    Still, the woman would be waiting on the next teleport swap, and that wasn''t for another five minutes.


    Ignoring the city''s anti-flying restrictions, Aprilnded at the front door of the transport hub and raced inside. She would be heavily fined for that stunt, but she intended to present the bill to Luna. If the woman wanted people chased down, she could pay for the fines that she incurred while doing so.


    The tall woman with purple hair was visibly cursing as April walked over to her.


    April pretended she didn''t see or hear anything. Good afternoon. I am representing an Old Friend who is requesting your assistance. You are the potion master, Ultra, correct?


    The woman sighed. I''m going by Reina now. There was a pause before she said, Didnt think you''d risk the fine to catch up with me.


    April shrugged as if it didnt bother her. Ill be writing it to my boss as an expense.


    That earned her a fleeting grin.


    Can I offer you something to <em>not</em> have caught up with me?


    April let her professional smile turn hard. I''m afraid not. We all have our jobs, after all. You can always refuse.


    Reina spat to the side. And have the thrice-damned cat chase me down herself? No thank you. When and where? Just tell me so I know how long to hide for.


    April passed on the information and watched as Reina carried several spatial bags onto the teleporter pad.


    April just ripped her way into chaotic space and summoned her vessel. After ensuring that she had enough mana stones to power the ship, she set the course for a nearby, but unconnected region of chaotic space.


    Running the vast emptiness wasn''t ideal, but she had a limited amount of time, and too many ces to be.


    Aprils next target was one she didnt expect to have issues with. He wasn''t an old contact of Luna''s; he was an old associate of hers who, she believed, would be a better fit than the random person that Luna had chosen.


    When she had been given leeway to change the roster as she saw fit, she hadnt thought the woman meant it initially. But as she researched some of the names, she discovered that more than a few were of distinctly lesser quality than the rest. Most were still masters of their crafts, but some were considered to be in the top one hundred at this point, rather than the top ten like the rest of the people Luna selected.


    April didnt have to be a genius to realize that it was a test from the older woman.


    The simple answer was that the woman wanted to see if she was paying attention to the selection of trainers she was lining, but her gut told her that it wasnt that simple.


    The children might not see it, but Luna was testing them a million ways with every interaction and assignment.


    She suspected that the policy carried over to her own assignments.


    That was why she was going to see Achlys. They had met when she was on her first assignment, and her manager had wanted to find a wolf evolved beast to help train their Pather. It was then that April had found Achlys.


    He had refused to help them, as he disdainedbat, but she talked with him long enough to learn about him.


    He was a Briarwolf, a subspecies of World Wolves, with a peak lupine bloodline with an odd second form. Normally, Briarwolves could control nature itself to a limited degree. The wood-aspected monsters were usually found in the forest. She had even fought a few of them before the species had been domesticated a few thousand years ago. After the rage had been bred out of the species they had learned they were naturally sapient instead of beasts who needed to Tier up for intelligence.


    Now, there were only a few rifts containing them that had been around before their domestication. New rifts never spawned sapient creatures after allsimr ones, sure, but not true reasoning beings. And those rifts were under protection to bring out more of the species before they would be destroyed to prevent abuse.


    Achlys was abnormal for the breed. He was even more of a loner, which could be chalked up to personality rather than anything in particr, but she had done her homework on him. Achlys had been on The Path himself, before deliberately stepping off at Tier 7, after which he vanished for a time.


    When he reappeared, he was Tier 15, and had retreated to the edge of the Empire. There, he worked on creating habitables with his Talent.


    Like most Briarwolves, Achlys had cursory control over nature. However, April had noticed that the area in his influence acted more like a rift-created area than the normal forests. Even for Briarwolves, it was very strange, and she suspected that the phenomenon might extend to influencing actual rift environments.


    Even the chance was worth requesting his help in training Matt. She knew of Matt''s rift creation, and if her suspicions were true, figured that the wolf would be a good addition to Matts experimentation efforts.


    When her chaotic ship arrived next to the bright speck of light that was the he inhabited, she made a cautious approach andnded a few miles away from a growing forest.


    The Tier 13 world had been scoured clean of life by a rogue meteor impact. It had torn the atmosphere away and rendered the uninhabitable for millions of years, until the Empire had found it. At Tier 13, it was a prime candidate for terraforming, and after it had been located and scouted, they had done just that.


    April was sure that an air mage hade in and repaired the tattered atmosphere, while a fire or magma mage came and ensured that the core of the was cycling properly for habitability.


    Those were always the first roles to start the terraforming process. After that, a water mage woulde and make sure that the had the correct level of water for its size. Meanwhile, a Tier 40 woulde and change the spin of the to keep it in line with the Empire standard.


    Now, the world was in the growth phase. Life mages, along with any other mages that could encourage safe but elerated growth, were paid toe to this world and create self-sustaining ecosystems.


    While she wasnt a part of the teams that did such work, she had read up on the process, and knew that this was nearly finished. Soon, the noble house given dominion over this region of space would start to settle this world. Being Tier 13, quite a few people would flock here for the resources that it would eventually produce.


    The noble family that received the title was a branch house of the Tier 26 Earldom Falors in the Empire proper. It was an old and established noble house, and they had broadcasted far and wide that they intended to quickly bring this up to Tier 15.


    As April stood around and inspected the, Achlys finally returned her introduction message.


    Achlys was willing to grant her an audience, and she quickly hurried over to his location.


    A wolf stepped from the side of a tree, as if it was a part of the tree itself, before deciding to separate for a time.


    His beast form appeared as a mix of wolf and forest greenery. Vines, leaves, and tree bark seemed to fight for space over his body, between the more normal flesh and blood.


    As the wolf padded over to her, its form changed, and a man stepped over to her as a robe covered him. He was utterly nondescript in a way that managed to draw the eye, despite the best efforts of his inness. Brown hair and eyes tried to hide the fact they had just been the deepest ck and bright yellow, only moments ago.


    The soft voice she remembered asked, So why have youe? I won''t fight, and I made that quite clearst time.


    April sent him a standard nondisclosure agreement, which he quickly signed and returned.


    After ensuring that everything was in order, April flexed her Intent and locked down the space around them.


    This isnt likest time. I''m here now for your more <em>unique</em> abilities. Were training a young Pather who has the ability to create rifts, and were studying everything about them. I thought your services could be useful in such an endeavor.


    She looked out through the forest, and watched as a rift formed a few miles away.


    It was natural in the sense that no one had created it with mana gathering formations and the like, but it was distinctly unnatural, as this area should have been protected from rifts forming while Achlys was present. Briarwolves naturally prevented rifts from spawning near them and in their forests.


    She could still feel the other cultivators'' power reaching out and nudging the growth of the surroundingnds.


    Achlys shook his head. I''d rather not. I don''t want to help someone create more experiments.


    April jumped in before he was able to turn fully away. He''s a good kid, and makes them for free. He even helps his friends as much as he can within the Path restrictions.


    Achlys stopped walking away, but didn''t turn back around. Then let him continue to do so. I want no part in it.


    He wants to make a difference, and doesn''t like rifts either. He lost his family in a rift break during the Lilly tragedy, and wants to ensure that it can''t happen to others. He wants to help people.


    She hoped that would work. While most of Achlys'' past was a giant question mark, he always tried to improve the ces he traveled to and she was banking on the fact that was for a reason.


    Seeing the man stay still, she added, Erwin and him are working hard to change how we treat rifts.


    Achlys turned back around and sighed. Erwin is in on this? Hes entric, but not stupid. Who are you working under?


    Luna and Kurt.


    Achlys'' eyes went distant, and he looked up the information before saying, The void cat and the siren? She''s retired. And Kurt is a full manager on his own merit.


    He is, but he opted to reprise his role as Lunas assistant for this <em>particr</em> assignment. April let a smirk tinge her voice. She really couldn''t reveal much else. Not until he agreed, at least.


    Achlys ignored it, but nodded. Very well. Ill consider it. This project is nearly over anyway. Why not take a break and fiddle with some rifts for a bit?


    As she was mentally celebrating, the wolf added, But if I don''t like it, I''ll leave.


    April shrugged, Thats your right as a helper. Im sure youre aware that you forfeit any agreed upon rewards if you leave early.


    The man turned back into a now brown-colored, but smaller wolf. Seeing this, she hurriedly sent the rest of the information and took her leave.


    This was far from herst stop.


    She had just entered the next world on her list when she received a barrage of messages from Luna. A portion of them were routine, but one stuck out to her.


    Her boss had the children fighting other people on the <em>without</em> disguises.


    April''s good mood vanished. She would need to spend even more effortying down false trails now. That seemed like such a stupid move; she had to question why.


    She tried to remind herself that Luna had been doing this for far longer than she had even been alive and must have her reasons.


    Unable toe up with any answers that made sense, April started calling her own contacts. False tracks were normallyid by contractors who had no idea what they were doing. There had been a government program for it a few thousand years ago, but it was so filled with spies, it had been scrapped for a more organic approach.


    April would have to hire a few dozen teams to change their appearance and make some waves in the Tier 7 through Tier 11 range. If she muddled the trail enough, they could say that the kids were any of the false teams, instead of exposing their true identities.


    It was just more work for her.


    She had just dealt with the inconvenience when she got another message about Erwin and Matt creating rifts for a local guild.


    Letting out a small scream of frustration, April started hiring <em>more</em> people to set down false trails. She had no idea how she had pissed off the older woman, but she regretted ever epting this assignment.


    Three dayster, she was off and moving to find a suitable swordsman to train Matt. ording to the list of acimed melee fighters that she had ess to as a part of a management team, the one Luna had asked for had been most recently ranked fifty-second.


    After herining about Matts instructor during the vassal war, she was sure that this choice had been a trap.


    Seeing that her ships mana crystals were low, she changed her route slightly so she could hit one of the management team supply caches.


    The only way through this was to finish the assignment, and April had never given anything but her all.


    Her goals were much loftier than being part of a simple management team, but this was her first step.


    Mistakes were not eptable.


    ***


    Melinda sat with her back against a rock and watched theke surface ripple with the soft wind.


    Things were so peaceful. After the months of harsh training in the desert, she was happy for the reprieve.


    She was just tired.


    Tired in a way that had nothing to do with physical activity.


    Her team was growing strong and wealthy. They had earned enough skill shards from delving the Tier 8 rifts that they had all rounded out their skill sets for the foreseeable future, while also improving theirbat prowess.


    But that wasn''t all she wanted from life. She wanted the simple life she had lived with her friends before the vassal war. She also wanted to keep them safe which is why she had epted the idea to fight in that war.


    Melinda plucked a leaf off the small shrub next to her and twirled it.


    She had embraced the training at first. They had been clearlycking in power and ability before it had started. In the past, they had sometimes struggled delving rifts at their own Tier. But now, they could split the party in random ways, and still delve two Tiers higher than their own. Now only the strongest Tier 8 rifts Matt could make were able to make them struggle. They had worked hard for their current abilities, and had earned the progression that they were now benefitting from.


    She just didnt know <em>why</em> they were progressing.


    A few years ago, she would have said that it was to keep her family safe, but they were now. She made sure of that.


    She looked over to where Matt was runningps through an obstacle course.


    He wasn''t doing it because he was told to. He enjoyed it.


    She had <em>just</em> healed them from theirst attempt at the Tier 9 rift, but he had immediately thrown himself back into training.


    He had several cracked bones, and burns all over his face, but was entirely unbothered by the experience. He wasnt even phased enough by the defeat to <em>consider</em> resting first.


    Aster and Liz had also gone off to do their own thing, but Melinda doubted that they were cking off either.


    She simply did not have that same drive. In her free time, she wanted to rx.


    They just seemed to drive themselves harder after each new challenge.


    Her team had also started tackling the Tier 8 wave rift, and while they hadnt been in danger of dying, they always struggled after the tenth wave. They had only reached the fifteenth wave once, through excruciating perseverance. Their team had everything on paper that Matts did, besides the unlimited mana, but there was something else missing with them.


    Melinda didnt want to say they didnt have the ambition necessary to progress on The Path, but she feared that it might be the case.


    They would always push themselves, but somehow, they always came up short.


    She knew it wasn''t fair. Matt, Liz, and Aster were monsters in bothbat ability and pure endurance.


    They were good people, but they had to be some of the best in the Empire. She and her team''s pride depended on it. Because if they were average her team would be regted to the trash heap to be thrown into a rift to be disposed of.


    When her group cleared a rift, they wanted to rx ande down from the adrenaline of the fight, but Matt''s party just went right back to working.


    The only time she had seen them truly take a break was when Matt had nearly lost his head.


    His entire esophagus had been cut through, and one of his carotid arteries had been severed. How he had managed to use his armor to help slow his bleeding, she had no idea, but it was an impressive use of his armor.


    If that was the level of dedication her team needed to truly make it on The Path of Ascension, she didnt know if she even <em>wanted</em> her team to finish it.


    She turned to the right to see Mathew and Sam sitting on the little pier they had built. They were fishing. It was a calm and rxing sight.


    They had delved five Tier 8 rifts today. Five. Two years ago, she would haveughed at the absurdity, but today had been a fairly light day.


    They only needed to recharge their mana once, because of how efficient they had be with Kurt''s practicalbat training.


    With that, and more blind delving experience, they had been able to easily clear any Tier 8 rift they encountered.


    Melinda flopped back and gazed at the passing clouds. She wondered if she could convince her team to slow down a little once this training was done.


    She mentally probed the center of her magical and physical cultivation cores. She could Tier up at any time, as her spirit was full of essence. Her cores were in need of condensing before they advanced, but she pushed through that to the center of her spirit.


    Her Concept was a shadowy puddle that reminded her of the end of all things.


    She could feel her Intent waiting to be created. It was at her fingertips if she so chose; or, almost there. It was missing one final ingredient. She was half way there, but the final piece seemed massivepared to the passive part of allowing her Concept to convert her essence.


    When she had had a revtion about her Intent, she asked Luna about it, and the cat had confirmed that she was ready to create her Intent. Or at least had the prerequisites. She had a Concept that had fully converted the essence in her cores to resonate with herself, and an idea of what she wanted.


    The problem was, her Intent seemed to want to follow her Concept on the path of death. There was an easy answer if she wanted it. When she had run into problems in creating the Intent she wanted, she had half-heartedly tried to create the death Intent that seemed to want to form, but even that refused to crystalize.


    That next step seemed like a gulf she couldnt cross.


    While she hade to ept her Concept, and actually found its passive form quite useful, she didnt have any desire to be more deathy. She wanted to heal people. She wanted to fix what was broken.


    As she watched a cloud pass over, she focused on everything she thought of as death and conceptualized it.


    The good and the bad.


    Pain, blood, the end. Release.


    Feeling that mental imagery resonate with her Concept, she added all the anatomy she knew about the human body and its various functions. How to break it in the little ways, and how to restrict blood to a portion of the brain and shut everything down.


    With the proto-Intent forming, she added what she thought of her childhood, and how the death of her parents had changed her life.


    As she held all those dark thoughts at the front of her mind, she felt the mncholy wash over her, and for a moment, she let it take her.


    She followed it to the darkest depths that it had to offer, then waited. There was still something missing, but she wasn''t sure what. Luna and Kurt had said that there was a second part of Intents that she would have to discover for herself, but could only reveal that it was different for everyone.


    Within the dark abyss of death that she had created, she remembered what Luna said.


    Concepts are the foundation of what you are. An Intent is the next level, both literally and metaphorically. You need to find what that next step is for you. When you find it, youll know. Common advice is to create the phrase and image you want, and then try to embody that. If I say more, I''ll most probably send you down the wrong path. It''s different for everyone.


    She had countered, But I didn''t even want my Concept. How do I build off of something I don''t want?


    Luna had shrugged. You can always break your Concept and make a new one. I''m sure youll figure it out.


    Melinda hesitated. She had learned to ept that her Concept was a reflection of herself as a child, and how she viewed the world around her.


    She wanted her Intent to reflect the her of tomorrow.


    With that thought firmly in her mind, Melinda inverted her dark thought of death and pain into life and relief.


    Like the goop from her Concept when it killed things.


    Life came from death.


    Her mental image was bathed in light where there had been darkness. In that same instant, she turned her thoughts to the positives of healing. She now focused on mending and healing the bones she had mentally broken, and the flesh she had ripped apart in her mind.


    It was so stable, she could even back off the image for a while, and it would stay intact. But only for a moment. If she backed off for too long, the image started to crumble.


    There was something missing.


    As Luna had said, she needed to find something more.


    She just didn''t know what.


    Withdrawing from her cores, Melinda noticed that the sky turned a vibrant red as the sun started to set.


    She hopped to her feet and started to stretch.


    While she had no confirmation, she believed what was slowing her down was her Talent for overhealth.


    A small part of her questioned why she needed a healing Concept, Intent, or Aspect with a Talent that almost guaranteed that she would never need to apply any effort into perfectly healing someone. It whispered how it was a farce that she pretended to study and learn about the body when she didn''t really need to. Her Talent could handle all of that after all, so why bother.


    That had gotten to her for a little while and stumped her, but now, she had a proper answer. She wanted to be a proper healer. If, however unlikely, there came a time when her Talent didn''t work, she would still possess the skills needed to heal anyone.


    She also truly liked healing. It was fun, and provided an amazing service to people that would always be needed.


    Melinda was a healer.


    Seeing everyone moving to the house they were living in, she took her ce at the table and watched as Matt brought out an array of food. It was hardly unusual for him to cook for everyone, but she hadn''t expected him to do so after thest fight and histe training.


    Watching him set down the te of what she thought was ham, she carefully inspected her friend. He looked fine, and had a cheery smile as he joked with Kyle, who made fun of the pineapple flowers he had cut.


    She thought they looked cute, but let the two of them bicker.


    Inspecting Liz, Melinda found her newest friend looking morose. She was trying to hide it as she talked about the projects she was working on with Sam, but Melinda saw a flicker of darkness in her eyes.


    She made a note to talk to her before she went to sleep for the evening.


    While she didnt quite understand where Liz wasing from with her issues regarding her Royalty parents, she did sympathize with Liz feeling like none of her achievements belonged to her.


    Aster was wagging her tail as Vinnie cut three slices of the ham off for her. Aster seemed unaffected by her ordeal in the Tier 9 rift, but it was harder to read her.


    Melinda still had trouble differentiating the Aster of now, who could talk and reason, with the more animal Aster of the yPen. She, and everyone else, were careful not to slip into old habits, and instead address her and treat her like the person she was.


    But even as Melinda watched, Aster seemed fine.


    She had been reading up on beast and evolved human psychology in thest few months, and everything about them being more desensitized to the dangers and killing associated with delving seemed true. Aster seemed less bothered than even Matt.


    When they were finished with their meal, she waved everyone else off as Liz started to clean up the table. So, how are you doing?


    Liz didnt say anything for a long enough time. Melinda wasnt sure she would.


    Im just wondering if we''re doing the right thing.


    Melinda made a noise of encouragement, but didnt say anything.


    The redhead continued after that prompting. I just worry about <em>everything</em> recently. I worry Im holding Matt back by wanting to stay on The Path. I worry something will go wrong, even though we talked to Luna, and hell be fine with the restrictions until at least Tier 10. I worry that I''ll lose my identity by relying on Matts mana. I worry about being able to keep up with him if he leaves The Path. I worry that if we aren''t together, we''ll drift apart. I worry that Im just not strong enough. <em>I just worry</em>.


    Melinda let the woman pour out her problems, and just nodded along as they rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.


    Finally, Liz turned to her and asked, How does your team do it with you and your Talent?


    Hearing the question, Melinda had to resist brushing it off. Liz deserved a true answer.


    They all do things without me. I think while simr, the situations aren''t identical. Melinda paused before finishing, We work together, and yes, they rely on me to delve, but when we''re out of the rift, we do things together and apart. We each stand on our own. For example, you have your alchemy, and Matt has his rift building. You help each other, but you don''t <em>need</em> each other for it.


    Liz seemed to mull that over for a while, and Melinda let her. The other woman wasnt dumb; she just needed time to process her own thoughts.


    Finally, Liz said, I just worry, you know. This rift has beaten us three times now. While weve gotten a lot farther, Im not sure how to counter the new sub-boss. It''s a water monster in an ocean, and I just don''t have the control yet to keep my blood from diluting.


    The taller woman clenched her hand. I fear that Luna is right, and if we can''t beat this rift, we don''t really deserve to be on The Path.


    Melinda grinned. It had taken some getting used to knowing that someone was always watching you, even if they didn''t want to, but she knew Luna would hear her next words.


    You can always tell her to pound sand.


    Liz snorted, We could, but that would be the same thing as giving up. Are we supposed to give up anytime someone challenges us? No. I don''t like that answer. She even said she stacked the deck, but this is beatable.


    Liz talked on for another ten minutes, mostly just going over the same worries in slightly different ways, but Melinda listened and reassured Liz where she could.


    Melinda was a healer. She was a healer in every way.


    And her Intent would reflect that.


    She would make sure of it, no matter what she had to do.


    ***


    Aster padded through the snow in the new Tier 6 rift that Matt made for her.


    There was a particrly nasty type of ice bear that roamed the windy icendscape, but she was pretty sure that she had killed most of the ice monsters.


    She settled in next to the exit rift and started to absorb the ice mana in the surrounding air.


    What had once been instinct, now took conscious effort.


    She didn''t absorb the cold mana itself, but mixed it with her own mana, and as her mana absorbed some of the cold from it, she separated them and grabbed the next handful.


    While she loved and thought of herself as the prettiest fox in the Empire, she was growing ever more irritated with her body. Every day the limitations grew more obvious.


    Her frustrations had gotten so bad that the stupid cat had even taken her aside and talked about it.


    She said that they all went through it, but usually only after Tier 10, when their minds fully awakened.


    Aster didnt regret or me Matt and Liz for giving her that part of the tree thing, but it was inconvenient at times.


    She still relished being a true member of the team, and able to contribute more than her irritation at being unable to open doors and not having thumbs.


    Luna had tried to use that as motivation to get her to practice her Concept and object maniption, but Aster had bitten the woman instead, and earned a dunk in a hot bath for her troubles.


    Really, the cat needed to chill out.


    Aster chortled at her joke.


    As she sat and cycled her mana, she flip-flopped between daydreams of how she would make her human body, and wondering how she would kill that stupid water snake.


    Her first idea was to turn enough of the water into ice so that the monster couldn''t control the element.


    She was the best ice mage, after all. She had a little more than two thousand mana, and with her bond to keep her full, she knew she could do it.


    After all, she had beaten the chicken that had roasted Matt''s flying sword. He loved that flying sword almost as much as he loved her, and despite getting a recement, he was still upset. She could feel it.


    Wiggling deeper into the snow, she decided that she would sleep on his chest tonight. That always cheered him up. He liked the cold!


    It was also thefiest ce to sleep for her, so it was perfect.


    Now that she had that problem solved, she started thinking about the perfect human body for herself. She wanted to be tall, like Matt! That one was easy.


    Shed keep her tail, because her tail was the prettiest thing around. Her hair would be white, because what was better than pure ice?


    Her ears, she wasnt sure. Human ears would be nice, but her ears were adorable! After all, they were hers, so they were perfect. And Matt scratched them just right. But most other humans didnt.


    She put that down as a maybe.


    Probably. She moved the ears to a probably.


    She then moved onto her face itself. She mentally modeled what she would look like if Matts parents were her parents. They were the closest thing she had to parents, after all.


    Her first idea was more cute than she wanted, so she sharpened the angles a little bit to give her a more fierce appearance. She was a fox after all sharp angles were her thing.


    When she was happy with that, she moved on to the chest. She went with something a little smaller than Liz. While she was a mage, she didnt want to have them in the way and didnt see much point in them.


    They looked nice, sure, but she didnt need much for herself.


    She wanted a thin waist and slightlyrger hips. Matt had called it willowy before.


    Long legs. Those were a must.


    Aster spent more time tweaking her appearance until her AI beeped that it would be dinner soon. Good thing too; she was hungry. She only got to eat three rabbits today.


    She saved the form she had been working on to her AI. Human form possibility #315.


    Shaking the snow off her fur, she dispelled the rift reward and scooped up the mana stones.


    Aster really couldn''t wait to get hands. Everything would be so much easier.


    Maybe she could get Matt to buy her a spatial ring for her cor.


    It was worth a shot.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116


    When they left the rift, Matt threw himself into training to work off his frustration. His flying sword''s destruction didnt matter in the grand scheme of things, but he was still upset about the loss.


    The sword had served him well over thest few years, and had saved their lives on more than one asion during the golem disaster and vassal war. To see it reduced to g hurt far more than he would have expected.


    Still, he wouldnt let his frustration hinder his progress. The next morning, he channeled his simmering anger into nning for the rift.


    Matt sat down and started contemting their next delve. It was a habit he had fallen out of after his time in the yPen, and he felt that he needed to return to it.


    He went back to basics.


    Analyzing the rift''s strengths and weaknesses.


    The assassins were deadly. If they moved too fast to focus on their surroundings, and failed to stay vignt for the signs of an impending attack, they could easily die. The more they killed the orcs, the more shadowy killers appeared in the city.


    The orcs were incredibly strong and well-coordinated, but that was secondary to their ability to destroy any active spells used against them for too long. That ability didnt have many workable counters, but they could be defeated with some effort. The squads with the red armored orcs were a little harder, but if they could kill the leader first, the fight was no harder than the fights without them.


    The chicken was another type of problem.


    Its little tower provided a clear view of most of the ind, and the ss walls allowed it to shoot out massive bursts of energy, and take down anything flying in its airspace.


    Matt paused there. That was a pattern that was exploitable. If the chicken always attacked anything in the air, they could drain its mana with a series of flying devices.


    As he ran through the possibilities, Matt liked the idea more and more. He could make some simple flying constructs that wererge and would attract the attention of the chicken, thus wasting its mana.


    The water snake was the real issue. It countered Liz perfectly, and he and Aster didn''t quite have enough oomph to take out a creature that strong on their own. They needed a n to coordinate their attacks if they wanted any chance of defeating it.


    Eventually, his train of thought led him to the forest, and the small mountain that ringed the edge. His gut told him that things wouldn''t be quite so simple there, but it was their best option for their next delve.


    The rift wasrge, but if they destroyed the chicken, they could fly with impunity, and bypass most of the rifts challenges.


    Matt paused at that thought. Would Luna even count that as a win? Regardless, he refrained from scrapping the idea because of his first, knee jerk reaction. She very well might see it as them simply using the tools they had avable. After all, she was all about efficiency, and getting the job done. Shortcuts and cheats were fine, as long as they didnt harm their foundation, or directly interfere with her orders and limitations to assist in their training.


    He put the idea on the back burner for now. If they failed again, he would proffer that strategy. There was nothing wrong with attempting it again to gather more intelligence either, so they could further nail down the best path forward.


    If that failed, he figured they could try leaving the chicken alive, and use something flying to lure its attention and fry the sea snake. Its refracted me attack was incredibly strong; it just might be able to overwhelm the serpent and its water maniption.


    His team had their own advantages too.


    Liz was able to attack up Tiers as if they didnt exist, and had a ton of versatility in how she could fight, but she was limited to her own element forbat.


    Blood skills were the only ones she could modify and increase in power, so they were the only skills that she could effectively and efficiently use inbat, outside her melee attacks with her halberd.


    That left her at a loss when it came to the water snake. It couldpletely dilute her blood, thus rendering her offensive and defensive skills essentially useless. Trying to go in on the massive thing would leave them susceptible to the waves, and If they were unlucky, they could be washed away from the bridge entirely.


    Aster was strong in her own right, and had a slightly greater degree of versatility in her skill set. She had made overwhelming the fire chicken seem an easy task, even if Matt could still feel a touch of weakness in her Concept a dayter.


    His bond might be able to kill the water snake if she could freeze enough of the water around the bridge. He changed his mind once he had his AI calcte the sheer volume that she would have to freeze. It just wasn''t possible in the time frame avable to them.


    Matt turned his attention to himself.


    He didnt like what he saw.


    He was a melee fighter who could take a hit, but hecked a way to hit above his Tier, like his teammates did. There was nothing self-deprecating in the line of thinking; it was just a matter of fact. That disadvantage would disappear as he Tiered up, but for now, he was handicapped against these beasts that wielded their elements as naturally as breathing came to him. Mana was a huge gift, but without the strength and right avenues to use it, there was little more he could offer of himself in those situations. He was basically relegated to bing a meat-shield.


    Still, he was a good shield. Even his most pessimistic side couldn''t deny that. With Lunas training, and his secondyer of armor, he could take hits from the Tier 9 monster without instantly dying.


    Not letting himself sink into a pity party, Matt honed in on what he did have; unlimited mana. Outside ofbat, that tranted into near infinite wealth, even now.


    He paused to correct himself. He had <em>unending</em> wealth, which was slightly different.


    Either way, at his Tier, it was nearly the same thing. He passed on getting into another philosophical battle of numbers with himself over the subject, and moved on while shaking his head.


    Matt tapped his fingers in a rhythm as he continued his musings. He could do what most people were unable to do; throw wealth at a problem until he was able to crush any opposition.


    Turning to theNet, then EmpireNet, Matt ordered a new flying sword. This one was a Tier 9 variant that would stress his spirit to use, but was incredibly fast, and had a built-in suite of onboard enchantments. It even came with an expandable windscreen and temperature regtors.


    It wasn''t abat variant, as they only were avable after Tier 15, but this was one of the fastest flying swords on the market at its Tier. It was even top ten in maneuverability. It would have ranked higher, but the insane top speed meant that no amount of enchantments could allow it to corner more than it already could.


    The price of fifteen Tier 10 mana stones made Matt wince. That was <em>fifteen hundred</em> Tier 9 mana stones, but he had the money from selling the growth items before they reached Tier 6. They were Tier 14, and far more highly valued than just Tier 9 stones.


    <em>And its a good investment</em>.


    Matt tried to convince himself of that before he purchased anything; the incessant worry over the usefulness of the items procured always needled him. But it got easier as he continued to buy more things.


    The next item he bought was a set of Tier 7 scouting drones. They were small, and had worse optics than even the ones he had taken from the golem ruin, but he wanted them to be disposable.


    The Tier 8 harvesting drones he bought were dozens of times more expensive for just a set of five, but Matt didnt intend on carelessly risking them. They were meant to move behind them, and pull resources like herbs and other materials that they didnt have the time to tend to themselves.


    He was offered a deal for a better version that included small-scale mining and body processing attachments as he was checking out.


    The price was quite a bit higher, but Matt recklessly hit ept for the better versions.


    Then, he started looking into a new skill to practice.


    Talismans were technically a subskill under enchanting, but were less prestigious. They were formations put on objects and were pre-charged before use. Inbat, you could send in a tiny amount of mana to activate the stored mana, and let loose any spell or function that the talisman creator ced on the device.


    The craft was slightly looked down upon, as they were creating expensive, one-use items that required almost too many resources. Meanwhile, normal enchantments were less expensive, and were permanent.


    Few people wanted to pay more money for something that could only be used once.


    While Matt didnt know much about the craft, he had seen enough movies and read enough books to know that their advantage was being as strong as the enchanter could make.


    He wasnt a master enchanter, but Matt was pretty good. He also had the advantage of being able to overcharge the talismans to an absurd degree without worry. Unless the talisman couldnt handle the sheer amount of mana he thrust into it. But he would cross <em>that </em>bridge when he came to it.


    Buying a set of books about talisman creation was more expensive than he would have expected, but once again, the problem vanished once he threw money at it.


    After reading the information, he purchased the materials he would need from the nearest city.


    Monster skins were the safest and best items to create the talismans on, but were also one of the most expensive options. The parchments needed to be specially treated before use, and Matt bought the beginner''s guide on that as well. As he skimmed through it, he found that it was fairly easy to make the talismans.


    At least for him.


    It was all about removing the monster''s mana and essence through the use of time or mana. Then, it needed to be treated with a series of normal enough chemicals, which he was able to buy in bulk.


    The way enchantments were created on the talismans was different enough. Matt expected that he would need some practice, but he doubted he would have any real issues. They were normal enchantments, just with a portion of their diagram shifted out of ce, or otherwise cut off, ensuring that the power was contained. Once the user wanted to activate the talisman, they just needed to send mana into a secondaryponent that would ovey the missing piece, thus unleashing the stored mana.


    The final step and why they weren''t used more was to shove thousands of mana into the talismans and then wait. It was also why beast skins were used. They had, at least after treatment, the highest mana storage factor of items of their Tier. Greater even than woods and miles better than metals.


    They just weren''t as durable. Which they didnt need to be for a once use item.


    Not a lot of people could afford that which regted talismans to Tier 10 emergency use.


    It all seemed easy enough to Matt.


    While they were waiting for the new items to arrive, their team tackled the Tier 8 wave rift three more times.


    They discovered that as long as the rift was full, and they cleared all twenty waves of monsters, they always got an extra skill in the hidden basement. But it was always the same [Lesser Sacrifice] that they had gotten the first time.


    That was rare enough to pull Luna, Kurt, and Erwin into examining the rift. Higher Tier rewards forpleting difficult challenges weremon enough, but always pulling the same, otherwise rare skill was nearly unheard of.


    Erwin spected that it was because they were so far below the Tier of the rift, and Tier 7 or Tier 8 teams would get a corresponding lesser reward. That information drove Melinda and her team to redouble their efforts to delve the rift.


    When they didplete all twenty waves, they were also awarded the same skill. It gave everyone a way to refill their mana in the middle of a rift, which was invaluable.


    Erwin even confirmed that the skill had no known rift that it reliably dropped from in the Empire. It was seen as a rare drop from various rifts, but never as the set reward of a rift, especially not for one of such a low Tier.


    At that information, Matt wanted to try creating a rift with one of the skill shards, but Erwin tly refused, saying that they weren''t at that step yet. Matt bowed to his expertise, but was itching to try after they finished the Tier 9 rift.


    He expected that Luna would allow them Tier up once they cleared it, and that added mana generation would allow Matt to create rifts faster, and advance them to a higher Tier. Considering it took him hours to charge rifts above his Tier, but minutes for rifts below, he didnt argue.


    Melinda''s team didnt get any other rare Tier 8 skills or rewards from the distortion during their first twenty wave run. Eventually, they did find a natural treasure that looked like a drop of salt water that had crystallized into a perfect sphere. When they brought it out, Erwin became quite excited.


    Ooh! Ive been looking for one of those! I managed to get the basics of course, but thats sea, yeah? Yeah! Neat He turned to Luna, how much am I allowed to pay them?


    Her answer seemed half hearted at best. Keep it reasonable.


    Thats not helpful! Ugh. Tier fourteen?


    The dark haired woman spun from where she was lounging in the air as she said, No! Eleven at the most.


    Sheesh, this is why I asked! Anyway, a Tier 11 mana stone for the Sea Seed?


    But what is it? Kyle seemed more interested in what the item did than the price.


    Oh, well if were keeping things simple, seeds in the crystal sense mind you, not the nt work by slipping inside of your spirit. They create a transmutation in someone of your Tiers mana pool, aspecting the entire pool to whatever affinity that the seed is attuned to. It can also be used in a potion to affect someone of a Tier higher or so. In this case, the affinity in question is Sea, which is a <em>lovely</em> little aspect thats about asplex as yours, Liz. Lots of fun things to do with it. So, Tier 11? He pulled out a mana crystal, looked at it, stowed it again, then pulled out a new one before offering it to them.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure what Erwin was nning on doing with the Seed, and was surprised when the man just swallowed it whole as soon as he was handed it.


    Hm. Salty. He burped quietly then patted his stomach, before acting as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary.


    Melindas team, meanwhile, seemed slightly shocked at the amount of money theyd just been handed.


    Matt was yelled at when he said that they would get used to it. Rare and useful rewards were a benefit of delving rifts that were full of mana.


    After a month of preparation and training, Matt, Liz, and Aster entered the rift for the fourth time.


    ***


    Luna watched the children with a bittersweet mix of emotions running through her.


    They had learned most of the early lessons she wanted to teach, the hard way.


    She was proud that they were growing strong and sessful, but that shed with her irritation at what woulde in the following years, as she skirted and bent the rules she would need to until Matt stepped off.


    If he did so at Tier 10 or 11, there would only be a little extra effort needed to get him his mana concentration potions, but she wasnt sure that they would want to leave once they tasted fame and glory.


    So many young people found that they <em>enjoyed</em> the overwhelming attention when they got their first lick even she had.


    It was nice to be seen and valued.


    If Matt waited till Tier 14 things would get dicey.


    Sighing, she brought herself into the rift and watched them try the second route to the end.


    ***


    The first thing they did was deploy their disposable scouter drones to root around the ind. They rose in a staggered flock and dispersed quickly through air, jerking back and forth in their haphazard flight.


    Even with those precautions, the fire chicken quickly destroyed the half dozen drones, but they were able to get a broad picture of the ind.


    It was enough.


    Matt took the lead, and they ignored the city and the angry chicken to push through the forest.


    It got unnaturally dark under the canopy of trees, but the breeze carried a touch of cold.


    As expected, they met their first ghost assassins not twenty feet into the trees, but easily cut them down.


    After they had fought their way through over a mile of forest, they encountered a new foe.


    A series of throwing knives wereunched at them from the canopy of trees. Aster and Liz managed to dodge, but Matt took a few hits on his upraised arm. While they managed to prate bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor], they lost all of their kic energy in the process, and fell harmlessly to the ground.


    With ornate vambraces ready to defend another sneak attack, Mattunched a [Mana sh] at one of the trees that the volley appeared toe from.


    Before he could see the results of his attack, two more sets of throwing knives wereunched from a nearby bush.


    Matt cast his weaker [Fireball] at the bush, and saw what looked like a living version of the shadow assassins rush forward with a curved sword.


    The orcish face was visible, and its eyes were full of bloodlust, but Matt sidestepped the sh and its follow-up energy attack. Setting himself with his Concept, he punched out and felt bone crumple, followed by a rush of essence that he funneled into [Lesser Sacrifice]. The mana was quickly drained back down to less than one percent of his max, but the boost to his cultivation was a heady feeling.


    They had learned in their testing that the Tier of the sacrifice influenced the potency and duration of the boost.


    To a Tier 6 cultivator, a Tier 9 monster provided a substantial buff.


    Turning, Matt jumped into the fray and attacked the orcs that were assaulting his friends. Cycling a portion of his mana generation to [Mages Retreat], his leap covered nearly ten feet, and his first sh bisected the monster at the hip.


    Matt suddenly found his position swapped with Lizs, and moved to attack the monster, trying to catch its thrust in his well protected chest.. Kicking out its leg, Matt stomped its head as it hit the ground, and turned to see Liz fighting what appeared to be a tiger half made of wind.


    Portions of the monster were fading out of physical form and merging with the air in powerful gusts.


    Thankfully, Liz had seen the ambush predator, and swapped ces with him before he was mauled from behind. Now that he was free, Mattunched a [Mana sh] at the nk of the monster while Aster froze thest of the orcs.


    His attack didnt seem to bother the monster in the slightest, as its rear half simply shifted to a gust of air, with his attack passing through the space its body had upied.


    Seeing itsrades dead, the tiger roared, and in a breeze, it vanished.


    Thanks for the save. Matt said as he turned to inspect his surroundings.


    What I''m here for. Liz then added, Did you not notice it at all?


    Matt shook his head. Not even a little. Was that a sub-boss, or a stronger normal monster?


    Aster was the one to answer. Boss. It smelled like the others. It reeked of its element and power.


    She cocked her head and asked, Can I eat a heart made from wind?


    She seemed quite concerned, but none of them knew.


    Matt asked, Want to try and burn down the forest?


    Liz nted her spear. I doubt it would work.


    Matt still tried, but swirling gusts of wind suffocated the me before it could grow and spread.


    With that failure, they pushed forward, deeper into the forest. The ambushes came in bursts; nothing like the regimented patrols within the walled city, but dealing with the wind tiger made up for the lesser challenge. It would start its attacks with either a silent ambush, or by waiting for them to be embroiled in a fight, then trying to slice one of them from behind.


    Even though the attacks were fast and nearly undetectable, they didn''t have a ton of power behind them. Not to say that they were weak; the monster was still a peak Tier 9 enemy, after all. But its attack power was slightlycking whenpared to the fire and water bosses.


    When they had fought through what they expected was half the ind, they encountered a base set into a ridge of the mountain that ran to the bay. The stone was ravaged and had w marks scratched into the face on the side that they could see from where they stood, mouths agape.


    On top of the fortress stood a lone figure with an unusual polearm at his side. The weapon looked like a curved shortsword with a spear shaft for a handle. After a moment of consideration, Matt recognized it from his studies as a traditional naginata. A portion of the de was dyed a deep red, as if it had been recently dipped in fresh blood. The orc gestured with the naginata, and the gates mmed shut with a rumble. Beside him, the tiger stepped out of a breeze.


    Matt cursed as a dozen orcs took to the walls with bows.


    Together, they retreated behind the treeline, but he could feel that they were being watched, with arrows likely trained on their locations.


    Knowing what they had to do, Matt said, Well need to go through the wall.


    Liz looked to his back and asked, Do you have something for this type of situation?


    Unable to help himself, he smirked, despite knowing neither could see through his armor.


    Why, yes. Yes, I do.


    Grin still affixed to his face, Matt dug out rolls of parchment and started handing them out.


    With Aster in Lizs backpack, they darted out of the forest and towards the wall.


    As arrows rained down on them, Matt activated the first of their scrolls. A barrier of blue mana blossomed out in an explosive pulse that knocked the arrows out of the air as they smashed against the expanding energy wave.


    When a second volley came, Liz activated her talisman as well. A second pulse of mana rippled out and intercepted the arrows again.


    The talisman was one of his earliest works and a bit crude, but it didn''t need to be any better than that. A whopping 5,000 mana was packed into the enchantment, and the entirety would be unleashed outwards in a sphere, knocking anything back that wasn''t inside the safe zone.


    Normally, a mage would need days to fill a single scroll like this, but he had done so in minutes.


    Matt pped a second talisman on the wall as they reached it.


    He had sought out Vinnie''s help to get this scroll to work properly, and they had managed after multiple failed attempts. A few nearby mountain sides had paid the price while testing their progress. Their sacrifice was a noble contribution to the glory toe.


    As he pushed a thread of mana into the scroll, the wall started to shake.


    The stone resisted for a second, but the front portion cracked and fell to the ground, causing the entire structure to destabilize. Matt couldn''t get the enchantment to work deeply, but he didnt need to bring down the entire wall. Instead, he had intended to use these to kill the chicken, by bringing its building down around its feathery ears.


    Still, they worked well enough for this particr purpose, considering the situation at hand.


    The normal assassin orcs managed tond safely, along with the sub-boss and naginata wielding orc next to it. The pair drifted to the ground on a swirl of wind, bying their rtionship of warrior and mount.


    Matt shouted, Ill hold them off while you finish off the rest!


    With that, he threw himself forward and swung at the orc, while moving to keep the tiger on his far side. The orc, as he discovered, was also peak Tier 9, but was not as strong as the tiger it battled alongside.


    The pole of the naginata blocked his first attack, but he was ready for that. He was also prepared for the tiger''s lunge, and preemptively activated the talisman that he had on his wrist.


    A massive mana bolt raced out, forcing the monster to drift away in a sudden gust. That opening was more than enough for Matt to cast a [Fireball] at the orcs face. He expected the orc to dodge the attack, but the monster took the hit to its face so it could drive a dagger into his ribs.


    The pain told him that it had managed to pierce through bothyers of armor, but Matt didn''t let that slow him down, throwing himself onto the orc.


    He was lighter than the monster, but with the essence boost he was getting from the kills in the forest and [Mages Retreat], he was stronger than the orc if barely.


    Knowing that he was about to be attacked, he let the orc roll them and get into a full mount without struggling against it.


    Seeing the tiger once again drift away, Matt took a move out of the orcs ybook and drove a spiked fist into its gut.


    The thin cloth armor failed under the power of his blow, turning the orcs internal organs to mush, and he felt a rush of essence flow into him. The victory was short lived, as he had to deflect counterattacks from both above and behind, courtesy of the wind Tiger. Thankfully, the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor]sted long enough that a spike of ice pierced the tigers nk.


    The sub-boss screamed with rage at the loss of its partner, andunched a burst of wind, kicking up a gale and sending all of them tumbling. Matt was entwined with the remains of the orc, but managed to free himself and recover his footing, then raced forward to meet the enraged monster.


    Liz wasshing the tiger sub-boss with tendrils made of blood, but the monster seemed to be able to predict where the blows wouldnd, and shifted those parts of his body into air.


    Matt joined the attack as Aster let loose a rain of [Hail]. It actually seemed to disrupt the tigers movements long enough for Liz to get the first wound in.


    A gash ran down its side and dripped thick, viscous blood to the ground. Finally confirming that they could hurt it, Matt led the attack with his sword.


    It took them nearly half an hour and two more burst talismans, but they finally caught the tiger sub-boss between transitions, and Matt drove his sword into its side.


    With his sword inside of the beast, he unleashed the mana he had stored in [Mana Charge], and the sub-boss exploded.


    Panting, they moved back into the trees where they rested. They inspected each other for injuries and recovered over the next few minutes. Matts stab wound was poisoned, and it took them three hours to get the ck tendrils to vanish, even with him putting 75 MPS into [Endurance], and Liz casting [Ranged Heal] over and over.


    They had even started dumping potion after potion onto the wound, but none of them seemed to work better than their repeated efforts.


    After they were healed and recovered, they entered the base and found a tunnel descending into the mountain.


    They encountered no opposition until they found a miner orc, who attacked them with a pickaxe. He was no threat, and was quickly dispatched, but they found an increasing number of miners as they pushed deeper into the mine.


    When they turned one corner, they found a Tier 9 iron ore pile. It was enough that they werent able to keep it all, but it was an interesting fact, as it meant that the orcs were actually mining while the instance was active.


    ording to all the information they had found, most rifts didnt have active miners at this low of a Tier.


    It took them nearly seven hours to wind their way through the mines, but eventually, they found the second sub-boss of the area. It was a massive turtle eating a vein of iron ore that seemed to rise out of the ground like a strand of pasta.


    Matt used [Earth Maniption] to feel how the turtle was drawing the iron out from deeper in the mountain. That small magical probe was enough for the monster to notice him, and it charged.


    The walls rumbled and began to move as if to trap them, but Matt threw his prodigious mana generation into [Earth Maniption], and held the walls and floors back as much as he could. The walls still started to edge in, but he was able to slow things down long enough for Aster and Liz to throw themselves intobat.


    The pressure increased, and Matt was forced to use his Concept''s repulsive force to add additional pressure on the encroaching walls. If Liz and Aster weren''t fighting the monster, he was sure that he would have been quickly overwhelmed, but they kept enough of the sub-boss''s attention to allow him to resist the monster''s trap.


    It felt like decades, but his AI told him that it was only five minutester when the resistance ended, and Matt let the spell drop.


    Aster jumped into his arms and thanked him. I don''t like being in tunnels with earth monsters. She licked his armor and added, Thanks!


    Matt sighed into his bond and saw Liz limping over. A distinct chunk was missing out of her thigh, but she otherwise seemed ok.


    She grinned at him from under her helmet. So, I learned that I can move the blood inside of me to move a limb when I cant use my muscles.


    They once again rested, but were unable to totally heal Lizs injury. There was more damage than the body could normally heal, and [Ranged Heal] couldnt aplish more than that.


    Still, Liz was up and moving with her armor''s assistance. Despite Matt''s protesting, she insisted, and eventually proved that the wound didn''t hamper her mobility.


    He was just impressed that she had been able to get her spear into the monster''s shell hole, and then used her Blood Iron to create a cyclone of death that minced the sub-boss from the inside out.


    They exited the tunnel and found themselves in a pces rear entrance, in front of what seemed to be a nearly forgotten garden. The flower beds were overgrown with small trees and other weeds, but they hid the entrance of the tunnel that they came from nicely.


    Just on the other side of the overgrown shrubbery, hiding their egress from the turtles tunnels, the sight was something to behold.


    For a deathtrap designed and approved by a sometimes-sadistic cat, it was breathtaking.


    The walls of the pce cut into the sky, with roofs that matched the chickens tower in shape, but cleaner and much more well kept. The pointed roofs of the guard towers pierced the clouds, with the sides sweeping down to cover the grounds and lower portions of the ce in a canopy of sorts. There were walkways and ramparts along the walls meant for guards and watchers, with stations that had braziers that could be lit. Matt could only guess at their purpose, but they were all simr in style to the ones that glowed in the garden.


    Inside, they discovered entire squads of red armored orcs that grew stronger with each of their allies'' deaths. Still, the three of them were strong enough to carve a path of death to the exit rift. They could feel it in the area as they moved through a section of the pce with thick, red logs that acted as fine pirs. Matt and Liz used them to their advantage while engaging with the squads patrolling the area.


    The forest orcs, with their ambush tactics, also started appearing as they entered an even more ornate portion of the pce. Carvings of Jade, gold and other precious-looking pieces in the shape of vases and urns adorned every nook and cranny of thework of halls. The air of luxury, power and wealth only intensified as they got closer to the exit.


    They took breaks inside cleared-out rooms when they needed to. The thin, paper-like walls offered more cover than being in the open, but the rooms were rare. Rest came at the cost of a loss in potential damage, as they could convert all the essence from their kills thanks to [Lesser Sacrifice], which encouraged them to kill as fast as possible.


    When they reached the boss, they found a massive throne roomced with more ornate decorations lining the walls, as mes crackled in braziers, despite offering no warmth to those inside.


    Within, they found a massive orc sitting on a throne, with armor that looked to be made from silver and gold. It was gaudy enough to make Matt almost consider it ornamentation, rather than armor that served any realistic purpose. But at their Tier, they would still be tough metals for the trio to cut through.


    nking him were five other orcs, each representing one of the sub-bosses'' elements, with corresponding symbols engraved on their armors. Their bearing and appearance was as intimidating as their first encounters with the armored foes had been.


    The fire and water symbols glowed faintly, which told them that they were empowered somehow, but they had already decided on an aggressive n of attack. They wanted to start the fight with as much of a boost from [Lesser Sacrifice] as they could, so they didn''t hesitate.


    The final orc looked like the object inhabiting shadow assassins, but was more corporeal, as it had a steady form just standing there.


    They retreated, then rested up before luring a pack of monsters near the boss room, and killing them for the essence boost.


    Matt took the fight to the water and fire orcs, while Liz and Aster attacked the other four.


    ording to their n, Liz would attack the boss, while Aster assisted him in attacking anything else.


    When his sword met the first attack, Matt was engulfed in a bloom of fire that washed over his armor. It was strong, but not strong enough to take him down in a single attack, so he held his breath and fought through the heat. The mes still stressed [Cracked Phantom Armor] enough that he had to direct most of his mana into its twoyers to defend against them.


    Throwing out a punch, he knocked back the fire orc, only to be swept over with a wave of water. A number of rms started to beep through his AI as the rapid temperature change cracked the stone around him, and prated his already stressed armor. Pressing on, Matt kept his head and arms protected as his de cut into the orc''s leg.


    He felt the blow pierce the water orcs wave molded armor and draw blood, but he was forced to parry a second sh from the fire orc.


    As the fight settled into a rhythm, Matt saw that Liz was actually holding her own against the Tier 10 orc boss and shadow assassin, while Aster was easily fending off the earth and wind orcs. She actually had the earth orc half-frozen, and was trying to finish it off while the wind orc shot out small gusts to harry her away from her prey.


    Her [Shadow Armor] and physical armor were strong enough that the much weaker blows were of no danger to her.


    When Matt felt the first burst of essence rush into him, he knew the tides were turning. The power boost let him get another heavy blow tond on the water orc, and he took off its leg at the knee.


    With a roar, he took a blow to the chest from the fire orc, and even with the de prating his armors and piercing a lung, he grabbed the fire orc''s head and repeatedly drove its armored skull into his knee. Eventually, the metallic crunching of armor caving in reached his ears. It sounded like a symphony of triumph when the final blow struck, and the second burst of essence rushed into him.


    This essence reward was massivepared to the orc Aster had killed, and it was quickly followed up by a third burst equal to Aster''s first kill.


    She had finished her two orcs.


    Matt took the extra energy, and found the water orc struggling to stand with its missing leg. He quickly drove his sword through its chest.


    With four of the five lesser monsters dead, Matt and Aster were able to help Liz, but the boss had grown in size to match Lizs prodigious blood golem form. Even with her [Blood Crystal Armor], it was able to cleave great chunks out of her body.


    Anger raced through Matt as he saw her AI readout. Liz had already lost an arm and a leg while fighting the orc.


    Aster took the attention of the final shadow assassin, and Matt threw himself into the battle of giants.


    He might be smaller than the two ten-foot-tall behemoths, but he had his own tricks up his sleeve.


    With as much mana as his Tier 9 weapon could handle, he filled [Mana Charge], and let loose an incredible explosion on the orc''s nk.


    The st was enough to crack its armor, but not destroy it outright, and he was forced to roll out of the way of a downward swing of the boss orc''s sword.


    It glowed a dangerous mix of colors that spiraled down the de in a pulsating rhythm. Matt''s instincts screamed that if the de hit him, he would be killed, but was unwilling to let the monster hammer into Liz unhindered.


    He was the front-line fighter of the group. If anyone wanted to hurt his friends, they needed to go through him first.


    Taking hold of his Concept and digging deep, Matt embodied his phrase.


    He was <em>endless</em>.


    Matt would not die at the hands of a gaudily-dressed boss in a shitty rift of his own making. He would fight, because that was all he knew how to do in situations like this.


    He didnt make any timely breakthrough, but kept digging deeper, despite having used most of his willpower to resist the turtle''s [Earth Maniption].


    Using every bit of training he had gotten in the past two years, and every bit of experience he had umted with delving, Matt took the focus of the boss, and kept its attention as Liz and Aster hammered it from the sides.


    Anytime it tried to turn its attention to his friends, Matt pulled out a talisman he had prepared before they ran into the room, andunched an overcharged attack at the boss, spending money and mana like they were nothing.


    Over the drawn out battle, he eventually lost the boss orcs attention, and Aster was nearly killed with a single attack. To make matters worse, Liz stopped sharing the reports of her damage after a second hit.


    Matt would not let his friends take the damage for him.


    That was his job. And Matt would do his job.


    The multitude of cuts through his body were a testament to that. He had avoided taking any hits that would be lethal, but he had still umted an array of wounds.


    The boss was an amazing swordsman, and its weapon was enchanted with some form of protective measure, as it always blocked with the de when it could. The multicolored sword would cleanly absorb any attack with no trouble.


    Even intercepting the weapon with their own caused increasing damage to their items, making dodging their only real option.


    The boss once pristine golden and silver armor was cracked and falling apart when Matt saw what he needed to do. They were just too slow with their attacks, now that the fight had dragged on so long, and the boosts from [Lesser Sacrifice] had worn off. The giant orc always got its weapon in between itself and their attacks, even while fighting three on one.


    It was, after all, a Tier 10 monster, and they were only Tier 6. The gap in power was simply a bridge too far.


    They needed a second to actually hit the monster.


    As the orc swung its de in a downward arc, Matt partially sidestepped, and caught the guard of the weapon as he dropped his own, and the de sliced through his left leg.


    His armors didnt offer the slightest of resistance, but that didnt matter.


    The multicolored light pulsed and ate right through his armor and hands as he gripped the weapon. Matt didnt just use his hands, but also used his Concept to lock the air around the pommel of the sword down, with [Air Maniption] mixed in as well.


    Aster, his lovely bond, felt what he was doing. From where she crawled along the floor, she threw [Ice Maniption] and her own Concept into the effort.


    Theirbined efforts were enough to force the de to still for a split second.


    One endless second.


    But that brief pause was long enough to leave the boss open to Lizs spear thrust, which took the boss in the throat and up through the brain.


    As the essence hit him like a truck, Matt dropped to his knees, and his missing hands and severed leg finally registered to his senses.


    Matt let out a primal, triumphant scream, and let out all the emotions he had bottled up in the day-long rift, giving an outlet to the pain racking his body.


    They had finally done it.


    ***


    Luna nodded. It wasnt a clean victory, but it was a victory.


    Limbs could be regrown, and items repaired, as long as you were alive.


    Matt had even lost his teleportation growth ring in thest attempt, and she was sure that he was going to balk at the cost of having Lizs ring regrow its missing partner. Even <em>his</em> wallet would suffer.


    But they had seeded.


    While Matt had taken a sword through the chest, been hit by a plethora of other attacks, and lost his hands and leg, he was in the best shape of the trio.


    Aster had a shattered hip, and part of her spine had been severed. The little fox had used her front paws to drag herself along the rubble-strewn floor to keep up with the battle, and assist as well as she could, despite the debilitating pain.


    Liz fared the worst.


    She had been cleaved in half just under the ribs, only saving herself when she shifted her position in the golem to avoid having to be rescued. Her Talent was also doing its utmost to keep her alive. The girl had an intrinsic bond with blood, and it showed its worth as her body kept functioning by burning some of the blood she pulled in with [Lesser Blood Sacrifice]. Being in a golem of blood was the safest ce for the girl, as her Talent let her body use the blood as substitution flesh. It kept her alive, even with the monstrous damage she had suffered.


    Grimacing, but needing to be absolutely certain, Luna went about checking her medical AI module and its report on the girl. She nodded at the confirmation to her own assumption. The girl had five minutes before she actually risked death.


    More than enough time to stumble out of the rift on her own.


    Lizs golem form shrunk as she lost consciousness, and Matt struggled to his knees. With great effort, he picked up Aster and shouldered the now exposed Liz. Or, what remained of her upper half.


    He pushed them through the rift exit, and then shuffled to their weapons and tossed them through as well, before dispelling the rift reward. The gold and silver suit of armor was kicked through with his remaining limb before he dragged himself out.


    Luna knew that Melinda would have them all healed up, so she stood where she was.


    In his all too melodic voice, Kurt, next to her, said aloud, They''re all damn good Pathers. A Tier 10 monster at Tier 6. A whistle rolled off his lips.


    Even that simple tone felt like a blissful symphony, but Lunas Tier kept him from affecting her, so she got to enjoy the beauty without danger. It was a pleasure not afforded to most others who heard the voice. That was a shame, but Talents were never fair.


    She sighed and said, Theyve done everything Ive asked of them and more. I expected them to retreat from this attempt and push through, on the next one. I guess we''re going to have to have the talk that I was avoiding.


    Luna rubbed her face with her wrist, a trait that she just didnt care to mask in the moment.


    She was old and tired. Things would have been so much easier if they had needed to be rescued, but she was a cat of her word.


    If they couldplete the hardest Tier 9 rift she could make, she wouldnt try to force them off The Path again. She had even stacked the deck as much as she could without making the rift impossible, and they had stillpleted the fight.


    Luna had noints. She would turn these kids into monsters.


    They had what it took.


    The path of destruction they had carved through this rift had proven that beyond any doubt. Even as tired and forlorn as she was, Lunas teeth shone in a near-sadistic grin.


    The next few decades were going to be <em>interesting</em>.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117


    When Matt crawled out of the rift exit, his only good leg was doing most of the work. He was quickly scooped up by Mathew and Kyle, who dragged him over to where his team and Melinda. She had clearly started casting spell after spell at the sight of their condition, unwilling to stop until they were whole again.


    Knowing she was burning through mana at a prodigious rate, Matt used his Concept to keep her mana topped off, though he barely had any willpower left in the tank.


    Despite his exhaustion, he knew she would need the mana.


    Yes, she had Overhealth, but her skills still needed to be powered if she was to regrow their flesh.


    And considering that Liz was more like half a corpse than a living person, he would make sure that she was able to keep healing.


    Mathew asked, Dude! What the fuck happened to your hands!?


    Matt managed to grunt out, Stupid sword had some skill on it. Damn thing absorbed attacks and shit out damage.


    Still, he kept his eyes on his teammates as he spoke.


    Aster was covered in blood, but was asleep, and seemed to be fully healed. Liz, on the other hand, was being regrown before his eyes. Her torso healed, then filled out.


    It was slightly disturbing to see her hip bones form under the skin, then fill out, and eventually sprout into legs that extended to their original form.


    In mere moments, she was whole, and Melinda turned to him.


    Matt, trying to lighten the mood after seeing the dark expression she wore, waved his stumps.


    Can you give me a hand?


    He was still hurt, but his family was healed, and they would be fine.


    They had officiallypleted Lunas task as well.


    He had a plethora of reasons to be happy.


    Melinda didnt even smirk, only saying, Drop your armor on three.


    Matt was about to speak when he remembered that back in the yPen, she had also needed him to drop his armor to heal him. She quickly counted to three, and heplied with an effort of will.


    With the sudden disappearance of his armor, and with it no longer keeping pressure on his missing limbs, he slumped over as lightheadedness overtook him.


    He wasn''t so out of it that he didnt feel the calm energy of Melinda''s spells, and it rushed to all the injuries in his body.


    He expected the energy to rush to his apparent wounds, but the rush to his kidneys was unexpected, and brought on a sudden urge to urinate.


    As the feeling overwhelmed him, Matt stumbled to his feet and pushed everyone away. He waddled off until he put a few feet of distance between them, and pulled off his tattered armor.


    He was still luxuriating in the relief of emptying his dder when Vinnie asked, Why is your piss purple? That cant be good


    That caused Matt to snap his eyes open to see what Vinnie was talking about. With a pang of nervousness, he quickly asked, Melinda, why is my piss purple?


    He was pretty worried and disturbed by the implications.


    She called back, I don''t know Maybe the massive amount of poison your body was trying to process? Did you ever think of that?


    Matt finished and pulled up the remainder of his pants as he cast [Create Water] to wash his hands and clear the foul-smelling urine away.


    Turning back to them, he said, I did get poisoned, but we got it healed. The dark color vanished along with the pain as we healed it. As he considered what they had done, he added, I even used a ton of [Endurance] to ensure I was healed.


    Melinda gave him a t look while Sam just smirked.


    The healer was the first to speak. You stopped most of the damage, yes, but it was already in your body and needed to be processed out. It also did quite the number sitting in your kidneys as they tried to break it down.


    Sam was more interested in the poison. You didnt happen to keep the poison, did you? I assume it wasnt from an animal.


    Matt shook his head in the negative. No, it was on a dagger. I didnt pick it up either.


    Mathew asked, How did you guys get fucked up so bad?


    Vinnie chimed in as he held up the gauntlets from the reward distortion. I take it you beat the boss?


    Matt went over to inspect his armor and said, Yeah, we won, but we also got our asses kicked doing it. The boss was Tier 10 and really good with his sword. We He trailed off for a moment, We paid a hefty price to win is all.


    They quietly chatted while the others slept, and when Matt saw Aster start to wake up, he moved over to his bond and gently rubbed her head.


    She licked his face and asked, Ice cream?


    Matt sighed and scooped her up. She was fine.


    Seeing that her ploy for treats went unanswered, she opened her eyes and scampered up over his shoulder, then gently jumped onto the bed Liz still slept in.


    After sniffing her for a long minute, Aster jumped into Melindas arms and started thanking her as well.


    Matt took the hint and did the same.


    Melinda just brushed it off, refusing to acknowledge the help at all.


    Half an hour after Aster woke up, Liz did as well. After washing up, they sat around and joined in telling the story of how they fought through the rift. Melindas team was far more interested in how they fought the two new sub-bosses, and how they defeated the Tier 10 boss.


    They inspected the armor set, but were unable to determine the effects just by feel. It was far moreplicated than anything they had discovered before.


    A part of him had expected Luna to show up and talk to them, but she, Kurt, and even Erwin were absent from the camp that evening.


    Taking it as a sign that they were being given time to rest, the trio did exactly that.


    The following day, Luna gathered the three of them up first thing in the morning.


    Well done.


    Kurt held up a sign that had a bunch of fireworks and confetti drawn around the same sentence.


    Matt expected ament about how they hadnt cleared the rift well enough, but Lunas following words surprised him.


    Completing a rift higher than your own Tier is always dangerous, and a full rift, even more so. With the boss being four Tiers higher than your own, any victory is beyond reproach.


    Aster fluffed up at thepliment, and her tail started pping hard against his side.


    Luna then poured a bucket of cold water over their heads. Do you think you can do it again?


    Matt wanted to say they obviously could, but paused. They had fought hard, but they had only seeded by making a desperate move. One that only paid off because everyone had immediately reacted to the n, and had thrown everything they had into it.


    He wasn''t confident that things would y out as cleanly as they had the first time.


    But they had learned a lot with the practical experience.


    There were counters that could be prepared.


    Liz answered for them all. Yes. With proper knowledge we can n better. We know how the boss fights, and have an idea about the full rift now. So I think we''ll do better in the next fight, with some preparation.


    Kurt wrote, Yes, that''s true. Are you confident in a full clear of the rift?


    Matt answered, With some more practice, I think it''s possible.


    The older man smiled, and Luna said, Good. Thats my goal before we Tier you up. Once you fully clear the rift with a clean fight, well push to you Tier 7, then directly to Tier 8 without stopping. Once were there, that''s where youll sit for the next two decades or so. I want you to have more mana to throw around, and let you cast other spells with an initial cost of over 100 mana.


    Kurt added, This little break will also let us gather the materials for your mana concentration potions Matt.


    That was when Luna pointed at his hand. So, do you want to know how to regrow that ring, Matt?


    Matt looked at his hand, and finally noticed the teleport ring that he had exchanged with Liz so many years ago was missing. He hadn''t even noticed it.


    Instantly, his body locked up as he asked, How? It felt like he had swallowed an entire egg, but he pushed through it to get the question out.


    Her grin was evil as she said, Youre going to need to regrow the ring from Lizs, and that''s not easy. You need to find a material five Tiers higher than the rings current form that it actually wants, and then pour it in. Sometimes, it only needs a pinch, and sometimes it needs a thousand pounds of material. Fixing broken growth items isn''t cheap at all.


    It didn''t seem that bad until Kurt wrote, The materials to regrow missing parts of growth items are never cheap. Theyre rare, and hard to find.


    Matt wanted toin, but not because of the price. He was pissed that the ring was gone. That was one of the things that had bound Liz and himself together. He had offered the ring more on instinct, and it had paid off better than he could have ever expected.


    It wasn''t about who Lizs parents were, or anything else.


    The gift of the ring had earned him Lizs friendship andpany. That was worth more than any tangible benefit.


    Still, it was a price he would pay. Now that he knew the ring was missing, his hand felt empty.


    That would be the first thing he rectified.


    Luna then said, We need to set up a n for your mana concentration potions going forward. The next one is easy enough with your current funds, but that''s about as far as they will travel.


    Matt shook his head. Cant we discuss that when were Tier 8? I don''t need to use the potion immediately, and the extra generation can help cover the cost. And Tier 8 is so far away.


    Luna looked like she''d wanted to say more, but refrained and just let them go.


    ***


    In theing months, Luna was proven correct. They had to hop fives further back into the more settled regions of the Empire, because Matt tly refused to go without his ring any longer than necessary.


    The item ultimately needed was known as Stones Knuckle. It was the liquid metal joints of stone golem bosses. The ring being Tier 9 worked against them, as there were only a few rifts with the necessary monsters, and only one at the required Tier, Tier 14.


    It didnt help that the monsters, even when perfectly harvested, only had about two ounces of the material.


    Adding to the problem, Lizs ring ended up taking fifteen pounds of Stones Knuckle to spit out a second copy of his.


    The only reason they were able to afford it was that they delved the Tier 8 wave rift, and an assortment of other Tier 9 rifts Luna let them make. Through their efforts, they were able to get a small number of Tier 14 skills, and they supplemented their ie by selling Matts mana to the local cities through Luna.


    Even the armor they had gotten from the T9 challenge rift wasn''t worth enough, though it was incredibly valuable for its Tier. Kyle ended up buying it from an auction that their team insisted Matt hold. They didnt want to take advantage, and he wasn''t willing to argue it.


    As it turned out, the armor was a Tier 10 set of heavy armor that could absorb nearly all the damage from the four basic elements. If that was all, the armor would have been interesting, but not that valuable. What set the armor apart was its ability to funnel those attacks into whatever weapon that the wielder was using.


    Matt and Liz found no use out of the armor, as they each had their own styles that precluded heavy armor. He didn''t want to be slowed down with that much bulk, and Liz got more out of armor that let her use her blood. If rift items werent so notoriously hard to modify, they would have tried to let her use it, but even the best smiths they found were unwilling to make the attempt with any degree of certainty.


    So, they sold it. Local teams went crazy for the armor, bidding the price up to two Tier 11 mana stones- a total of two <em>hundred</em> Tier 10 mana stones. Or an absurd one billion, two hundred Tier 6 mana stones. Melindas team had at least had one of the Tier 11 mana stones from when Erwin bought their Sea orb reward, which greatly lessened the burden on them.


    I told you that youd get used to it, he joked as they exchanged fortunes.


    Once they had their items back in good repair, which was child''s y inparison to the difficulty they had with the rings, they went back into the rift.


    Theypleted the Tier 9 rift another five times at Tier 6. They revised their ns and made each rift clear cleaner than thest.


    Thest two were done perfectly.


    As they delved the rift, they learned a few things about its makeup.


    If they killed all four of the sub-bosses, they had a much easier fight, as the monsters that apanied the boss were far weaker than when their respective elemental animals were still alive.


    In the end, money was what finally helped them beat the water serpent.


    Or, more urately, talismans.


    Matt used Asters mana to create talismans that froze an expanding area rapidly. They used the disposable drones that were in no danger of being shot down, with the fire chicken dead, and had the drones dive into the water with a talisman set to activate after a dy. They tried to enchant the drones themselves, but the metals couldn''t hold a fraction of the mana that the animal skins could so they had to strap the talismans to the drones.


    With most of the bay frozen over, they were able to trap, then kill the water snake. The first attempt wasn''t pretty, as the monster had a massive range on its [Water Maniption], but they fixed that with more drones and talismans.


    They even learned that the ghost monster in the boss room could be removed entirely if they killed <em>every</em> shadow assassin in the rift, prior to fighting the boss. Easier said than done, but each one killed also made it correspondingly weaker.


    When they fully cleared the rift for the first time, they held a four elemental beast flesh feast. The sub-bosses had a delectable taste that was a treat for Matt to create dishes from. His preference was the fire chicken, as it made a wonderfully spicy meal when sliced into steaks and incorporated into stews.


    It wasn''t because it had destroyed his flying sword. Not at all.


    After their fifth sessfulpletion of the rift, Luna dropped an almost crystal-like potion in Matt''sp, and told him to Tier up.


    When he brought up his contract with TrueMind to show them his AI each Tier, and how he hadnt done so yet, she looked at him like he was stupid before saying that the contract was null and void. The Empire wouldnt allow a civilianpany ess to his AI, now that he had a manager. He was going to have to pay a penalty use, but that would be once he fell off The Path, meaning the Empire would be able to cover the debt.


    With that settled, they Tiered up, and Matt concentrated his mana.


    The event felt like something between a circus and a dissection, as Erwin had Matt hooked up to half a dozen different testing machines while he increased his max mana to 160, then drank the potion. After his mana dropped to zero, and his mana channels felt like they were set ame, he cleared his mana stone imprint and then filled his mana back to 160.


    Erwin, Luna, and Kurt all spent days inside the scientist''sb, only telling Matt, Liz, and Aster to reach Tier 8 as soon as possible on their own.


    They delved a variety of Tier 9 rifts that were all markedly easier than the one Luna had created for them. Compared to the difficulty of that rift, these were a vacation.


    With over 100 mana as his maximum, Matt was finally able to remove [Mana Charge] and [Mana sh] from his longsword, and use the skill shards he had saved for that purpose.


    With the skills in his spirit, he was able to take advantage of his mana generation, and pump far more mana into the actual skills. The proper skills also provided much more damage per unit of mana than the stripped-down versions of the skills that were simplified to fit into the de which lead to an explosive increase in hisbat prowess.


    With their new strength, they delved Tier 9 rifts multiple times a day. In a little less than three quarters of a year, they reached the peak of Tier 7, then advanced to Tier 8. They focused almost solely on delving, to the point that it was their main activity, other than some light training. They fully cleared rifts to maximize their essence gain, and refrained from using [Lesser Sacrifice]. Without it, they were slightly weaker than they could have been, but the increase to their Tier meant that all the essence from Tier 6 was now increasing their strength. And with their advancement through tier 7, they got the strength from half the essence they distributed. That more than made up the difference.


    It was almost bittersweet, as Luna told them it was thest time they would be advancing for the next decade, as they only needed to reach Tier 9 by thirty-five years old. They would be sitting at the peak of Tier 8 for the foreseeable future.


    They didnt have Matt concentrate his mana quite yet, as Erwin was apparently working on creating an even more potent version of the standard mana concentration potion, with the goal of getting Matt down to as close to 0 mana as possible. The potion would be designed for his spirit specifically using lower Tier ingredients, as simply using the Tier 17 herbs that he would need to take wasnt allowed on the Path. At least, not without him somehow earning an equivalent amount of wealth. But that sum of money was far out of his reach.


    Not that it mattered for their training.


    With Matt at Tier 8, he had a maximum mana of 320, and as long as his current mana was below 3, he regenerated the full 320 mana every instant. It wouldnt be long now before he could infinitely cast spells. Once one percent of his max mana was higher than the initial cost of a spell, he could cast that spell infinitely, with only its internal cooldown limiting his damage, without having to use a mana stone to fill his mana pool.


    It was also the first time his mana pool was greater than a rechargeable mana stone, though not by much. It was an odd feeling to have outgrown them.


    That was an absurd amount of mana, and they swiftly put it to use, testing and creating rifts by the hundreds.


    With the ability to make Tier 8 rifts in under a half-hour, versus the multiple hours it had previously taken, Matt and Erwin started to create rifts with the intent to make unique skill shards.


    They didnt forget about everyone else, and continued to create rifts for everyone''s hobbies and crafts. There were a half dozen rifts of each Tier, from Tier 5 to Tier 11, with a wide variety of herbs for Liz and Sam.


    There were rifts with minerals for Vinnie to practice his smithing hobby with, and rifts for any other craft that someone would want to try their hands at.


    Matt even made Aster a number of rifts with rabbits for her to y with, though he was still unable to make a rift with bunnies made from ice cream.


    Eventually, Erwin and Matt settled back down into their research, and created a dozen rifts with the same variables. Then, they had everyone delve them repeatedly, to get aplete picture of their skill drop tables.


    Even Melindas team participated, despite the fact that they stayed at Tier 6. It was one of the conditions that the newly returned Baxter set down, if they wanted to remain with Matt andpany.


    None of them wanted their time together toe to an end too soon, so they remained at Tier 6 and kept honing their skills. They even managed to delve some of the weaker Tier 9 rifts that Matt created for his team''s push through Tier 7, albeit with difficulty. But they did manage it after a few attempts, and he was happy for their sess.


    The rifts they started crafting with were simple enough.


    Their baseline consisted of two sets of tests that they repeatedly conducted through the continent.


    The first series of tests was to create rifts with a normal rift charging array, with no active barriers and only drawing in ambient mana. They also refrained from using items to seed the rifts, and let them form naturally.


    As they expected, the rifts created using that method varied wildly, with seemingly no rhyme or reason between the rifts or their rewards.


    Some of the rifts were even valuable, dropping a variety of rare skills. The rifts were marked as keep-able, but their primary purpose was to test terrain and other factors.


    The two of them then repeated their testing with rifts near the same areas, and with the outside world cut off. In those rifts, the terrains more closely resembled the areas around them, but interestingly enough, they had far less variation in skill drops.


    The rifts still followed the standard twenty-five percent rule for skill drops, with there always being threemon skills that dropped seventy-five percent of the time. There was also one rarer skill dropping just twenty percent of the time, called the umon skill. The remaining five percent chance for a skill was utterly random, but could even ignore Tier barriers, though that was rare to the point of being theoretical.


    Rift skill drop tables were only technically consideredplete when one thousand delves had beenpleted, and the percentages for skill shards fell within a ten percent margin of error. But they considered the rift scouted when they had a rough table mapped out. That only usually took forty delves or so, which didnt take them long at the same Tier.


    They cleared the rifts individually, with no issues and typically without even getting wounded.


    Luna had them delving Tier 10 rifts alone, and Tier 11 rifts with their teammates plus a few restrictions. They even delved a Tier 12 rift, though that was an exercise in the slow, methodical progress of learning the best ways to fight higher Tiered monsters from Kurt.


    Even as a team, they struggled to fight a single Tier 12 monster, though they slowly improved.


    A Tier 8 rift was nothing to them, and they were quickly able to clear the rifts by simply going straight for the bosses, and killing them before dispelling the reward and leaving. They even turned it into a game of who could clear the rift the fastest.


    An interesting tidbit that Matt learned about rift rewards was that the umon skill drop of a rift didnt necessarily mean that the skill was worth more than themon drop. Umon in the context of the skill drop table only meant that it was the skill least likely to drop from that rift, as one of the four regr drops. A rift could have the umon drop be something as mundane as [Fireball].


    Rare skills were a product of their value, and how often rifts produced them. If there weren''t enough skills to meet the demand of the popce, then it was considered rare and valuable. If the skill was hard to find, but useless, then it wasnt regarded as rare.


    [Endurance] was a rare skill, as only a few rifts dropped it as their umon drop, and the demand was incredibly high for it.


    [Random Color Change] could change the color of a skill to some other unchoosable color, but it was considered useless, despite it being only found in one rift.


    When they finally moved onto careful testing with mana types, they discovered that they could influence the skills that the rift dropped.


    Rifts with earth mana producedmon drops of earth skills more often than rifts without them. The same held true for the other elements.


    They even had an oddity pop up during their various tests. They had a fire rift with two of its threemon drops as [Fireball]. It was apparently seen before, but it was a one in a trillion circumstance. The situation was so rare, that they delved the rift the full thousand times to confirm that their initial rewards weren''t just a string of unlucky rewards.


    No, they confirmed the rift had two chances to drop the same skill.


    Matt and Erwin tried to recreate the feat, but never managed to do so, despite their numerous attempts with elemental rifts.


    It was almost sad when they had to remove most of the rifts that they created. They couldn''t leave a continent packed with valuable rifts without drawing massive attention to their activities. Neither of them were willing to remove all their hard work, so they culled all but the most exceptional rifts by keeping a list, and removing anything that fell out of their coborative top ten.


    After testing rifts only by varying mana types, they moved on to creating rifts with mana types while also seeding them with items.


    Rifts with swords and mana aspects of metal created weapon skills more frequently, which was what they expected. To the pairs irritation, they were unable to control the variables well enough to determine which skills would drop. Only the general type of skill could be predicted, as long as the rift didn''t unaspect while Tiering it up.


    That was a far moremon problem, as they added multipleyers of mana and seeds for the rifts. With two types of mana and a single item, they had less than a twenty percent chance to get the rift to Tier 8 before deaspecting.


    Neither of them let that fact slow them down, and they simply noted down every variation they noticed for further istion and testing.


    They both agreed that it was too early to add in variables like essence filtering for their tests.


    If they added more variables, likeplex mana types, the chance of a rift reaching Tier 8 before deaspecting plummeted. Adding to their disappointment, they discovered that the rifts didnt usually have moreplex skill rewards. Most of the skills had a single element that they used from the creation of the rift, and that was all.


    By sheer ident, they did discover how to create rifts with Aura.


    Matt had to be reminded of what Aura was, as he hadnt encountered it since they found some on the training world. It was able to help people create a Concept that aligned with the Aura type, as long as the cultivator was of a lower Tier than the Aura.


    They were trying to create rifts with only sword skills, when they created a rift containing tigers that umted Aura in their ws while still alive. It was an incredibly rare find, but with theirbat prowess, Matt and Melindas teams had no difficulty in subduing and restraining a number of the tigers to harvest the Aura.


    Collected Aura was sold for massive profit, as everyone wanted help in creating their own Concept. Shards of Reality were better for that purpose, but they were rarer, and came with a limited lifespan. Aura was farmable from rifts, so it was far more avable.


    That led them onto a tangent of creating rifts that contained monsters with Aura of various types.


    Through nearly a year of testing, they discovered a way to semi-reliably create rifts with Aura of the simplest elements.


    The first ingredient that the rift needed was mana of apatible type, and a subtype that could work as a weapon, or some way to attack. Thetter was a hard requirement that they found no way to subvert.


    Fire mana with a hot sub-aspect was essential to create fire Aura on monsters like fire aspected smanders and firebirds. With the proper sub-aspect, the fire aspected monsters back scales and wings, had wisps of fire Aura, more than a quarter of the time.


    If things had been simple, they would have discovered the second ingredient to making rifts with Aura in the first week. After two months of testing, they finally narrowed it down to Matts personal mana being the factor that made the Aura more likely.


    It threw them for a loop. While Matts Concept had been slowly converting his essence, he hadnt noticed any difference with his mana. However, with testing, they isted his mana type and sub aspect. His mana was primarily neutral, but with an endless sub-aspect.


    The effect was minute, as only the smallest portion of his mana was converted, but it was still noticeable. When his mana was used in charging items and runes, theysted a little longer than they should before running out of energy.


    After observation, they saw that the percentage of aspected Mana was always the same, at each step of observation. They even nned for Matt to take some extra time sitting at 0.1 when he used the next mana concentration potion. With a mana pool that small, his mana would quickly aspect that small portion, which would then be kept through his expansion of his mana pool.


    His mana, like himself, was endless.


    At least, it tried to be.


    The efficiency boost was less than a single percent, and only noticeable when they had light rune tests thatsted more than an hour. At that quantity, the lightsted a second or two longer than the control test, every time.


    Matts mana seemed to be required to create Aura with any regrity, but they spected that it was due to his mana acting as some sort of bridge, to allow whatever deeper factor happen regrly. Even all the information that Erwin had about rifts from the Empire stated that they had noticed no repeatable patterns to Aura rifts. Their best guess was that the Aura was the mana type in a more permanent and enduring form that was, without his sub-aspect, difficult to recreate in nature.


    They did discover that the sweet spot for creating rifts with Aura was within Tiers 6 through 9. Outside of that Tier range, they were couldn''t to get the Aura to form with any regrity, no matter how many times they tried to tweak the form. Tier 7 seemed to be the Aura''s preferred Tier, since it would continue to form there despite any deviations in their forms.


    That revtion forced them to return to the start of their tests, and repeat them all with the mana samples that Matt had gotten from the kids he had helped awaken, and then his old mana imprint.


    Thankfully, his mana did not seem to change any of the results other than the Aura, but only when the conditions were aligned. Otherwise, the mana seemed to have no impact. To be careful, they only used the cleanest mana types for their baseline testing from then on. Though Matt had the feeling that he could create wave rifts with more experimentation, he and Erwin agreed to wait until they finished their Aura testing first.


    Still, the Aura rifts were a closely guarded secret that even pulled Luna and Kurt into the discussion.


    Matt passed nervously as Erwin unbotherdly studied a lizard with me Aura rolling off its back like waves of fog.


    Luna seemed bothered, and Kurt seemed like he wanted to say something, but kept stopping himself.


    Matt looked to the older cultivators and asked, This is as big of a deal as I think it is, isnt it?


    Kurt wrote, Yes. Aura is great for lower Tiers. It''s a step between bottled Concepts and shards of reality. We need to keep this quiet. Maybe not even look into it.


    Matt was relieved at the man''s serious take on the situation, and was going to agree, but Luna squashed that hope.


    No. Continue with the testing, just only do it when Kurt or I are nearby. We can''t risk this information getting out, but we cant just avoid exploring this avenue.


    With that promation, the conversation ended, despite Matt wanting more reassurance. From then on, whenever Erwin and Matt tried to create Aura rifts, one of the managers was always with them. As an added precaution, they would personally destroy the rift as soon as Matt and Erwin were done with their testing. Every time, they would collect a sample of the Aura, take one corpse, and then use their greater cultivation to scrub the area of life.


    That was when Matt started to get nervous.


    If two high Tier individuals were taking this many precautions, then he wasn''t sure that he and Erwin should be creating rifts of this nature.


    Erwin just looked at him like he had been reced with an imposter when he broached the topic with him, only saying the science demanded they continue. And of course that they needed more testing.


    That nonanswer forced Matt to seek out Luna and ask the same question.


    She seemed to age a dozen years when he brought up the topic, but only said, It isn''t up to us. We will find out what information we can, then pass it up to people stronger than me.


    Matt cocked a confused eyebrow, and Luna exined further. This is big enough that well need to take our findings to the Emperor. Theres no question that he needs to be informed, but we can''t trust any public information channels with this information. So, Ill have to make a trip to visit him. But Im not going to him empty handed. We will get what low hanging information we can, then give it to him so he can make a decision for everyone.


    That didn''t quite make Matt feel better, but he couldn''te up with a better answer.


    Before Luna dismissed him, she added, Worry not young Matthew. Even if the Emperor is going to make this information public, which I doubt he''d do, it won''t involve you. At best, hell ask for a few thousand mana crystals to be imprinted with your mana, and then sent around to be used in rift creation. You won''t be involved.


    When he talked to Liz and Aster about the situation while in bed, he was d for the first time that Luna kept the three of them epassed in her power at all times. If she didnt, he wouldn''t even feelfortable talking about it with his AI.


    It was a secret, much like his Talent. It was big enough to get him shoved into a box.


    Ignoring his mana sub-aspect, the Aura could allow more people to create their own Concepts earlier, reducing the reliance of bottled Concepts, and people being stuck at Tier 14.


    With his mana sub-aspect allowing his mana to power standard runes and enchantments longer, he was now afraid to sell his mana without deaspecting it first. And that took a week normally; time he couldn''t exin if he was filling a city''s reserves.


    Aster had the idea to just use his oldest mana imprint in his mana ring, and just deal with the inefficiency when selling his mana. It wasn''t even arge loss, like when he converted his mana to other types, as it was only changing the sub-aspect of his own mana.


    It was the best idea they had, but it still reminded Matt that there was an ever lingering threat over their heads.


    His head.


    The threat was entirely on him, with his Talent and Concept. Liz and Aster would just be caught in the crossfire.


    A selfish part of him wished that his Concept was different, and he debated doing what Melinda did. But deaspecting his mana was out of the question, since he couldn''t create a separate mana pool like she had done to keep the changes contained.


    He was unable to do that, and was unwilling to sacrifice his uniqueness for safety.


    It just lit a fire under him to get even stronger, and make sure that no one could threaten him.


    Within the year, they found the recipe for creating Aura of the basic mana types of fire, water, earth, and air, while also making more abstract Auras like sharpness. In their testing, they even created Aura for the other weapon types, like blunt weapons, staves, axes, polearms, spears, and such. Though, the more abstract their experiments became, the harder the intended Aura was to create.


    They were able to create Aura for a few of the dual elements, but not all of them. Oddly enough, mist and magma were easy to create Aura for, taking almost no effort and being easily recreatable. The rest were far more hit or miss, for reasons they couldn''t determine.


    With thousands of rifts created, they were able to make at least one of each, but it was difficult, and took time for tweaking their forms. To Erwin''s irritation, they had more sess when Matt simply followed his instincts regarding what to make the rifts with.


    No matter what they did, they were unable to get Aura of the triple elemental mana types, no matter what they tried. The obvious answer was that Matts mana wasn''t strong enough to create endless versions of those mana types, but they couldn''t be sure without converting more of his mana. But that was normally a slow andborious process.


    They estimated that about one percent of his mana was converted, but that had taken him over four years, which was a result of his Concept being sorge and robust. Keith and Travis had warned him that this would be a problem, and that this would be where Matt would feel the effects of such a massive Concept. However, if he spent time with nearly no mana, he could shorten the process down to a few days or weeks at most.


    Aspecting his essence would still be an issue, they unfortunately couldn''t find any shortcuts there.


    Luna had just left after Erwin and Matt finished up thest of their Aura testing, when a brown-haired man came into their encampment, escorted by Kurt.


    Erwin seemed to know the man, who he was introduced as Achlys, but said to just call him Ace.


    When he said he could influence rifts, Matt knew that they were in for their final steps of rift creating.


    Trying to create unique skills, and using skills as rift seeds.


    ***


    Luna tore a tiny hole through chaotic space with a finger transformed into a w, ripping into the defenses around the Emperor''s pce on the capital, and then quickly retracted her power.


    Her intrusion was instantly noted, and the familiar presence bled out into chaotic space, then locked the nearest three worlds down.


    The Emperor looked as if he was ready to kill, until he saw that it was her.


    Luna was quickly enveloped in his power, and then dragged into a sitting room inside the pce.


    Emmanuel''s first words were a curt, What? That was little more than a growl.


    I need somewhere more private. Luna knew the importance of her news, and refused to speak more without greater security.


    After The Emperor inspected her for a moment, she was pulled along as they went deeper into the pce.


    Once she was inside, she felt that they were in an odd expanded space that was almostpletely cut off from realspace. It was isted to a degree that she had never encountered before. She could only specte that it was a Talent from someone else that the Emperor was using, or a special rift reward that the imperial family had gathered.


    Either one was just as likely.


    It''s safe here. Speak.


    Luna tossed him a spatial ring and then sent the video of Erwin and Matt''s experiments. The ring held a sample of each rift and its Aura, along with one monster per rift. In a corner of the ring was Erwin''s preliminary hypotheses and theories about the phenomena on an information crystal.


    Emmanuel''s face visibly hardened as he reviewed the information.


    Well fuck me a thousand ways from Monday.


    Luna understood the feeling. It was beneficial information that they couldn''t use for fear of creating waves. The entire Empires lower Tier rift setup could be adjusted to allow more people to reach past Tier 15, which would increase their power in a way not seen since bottled Concepts.


    Emmanuel paced for half an hour before the ring vanished into one of his own spatial rings that could store more of its kind.


    After turning to Luna, he spoke with a tone of finality andmand that couldnt be ignored. Tell them not to mention it, and to cease all rift creation with his mana. Not until after the war, at least. Catching her eye, he added, I want you or Kurt near them at all times. Ill assign another half dozen Tier 35s through Mara and Leon. Make it seem like it''s them being themselves.


    The Emperor threw his head back and took a massive breath before holding it. He let it out with augh.


    If we make it through the next few millennia, we will change the realm. With enough targeted Aura rifts, we wont need bottled Concepts, and well be able to make Tier 24s by the billions. Even if their Concepts arent perfect, theyll still be immortal, and we can always have them break their Concepts and reforge them when they figure it outter. The pure number of extra people well be able to create will help tip the bnce forrge scale engagements.


    Luna disagreed with the macabre humor.


    <em>If</em> was the keyword, and she hated uncertainty. She also didnt want to die in a realm war.


    But she did agree. We must dig into our reserves, and hope our preparations are better than our enemies. If we lose, we won''t live to regret it otherwise. The efforts of your grandmother and father will be put to the test, while your leadership will steer us through the next few centuries.


    If they lost, Matt might survive if he sold his Talent, but she doubted that the child would be allowed to. For all his goodwill and kindness, she wasn''t sure that Emmanuel would let him have the choice.


    But she wasn''t sure. Luna didn''t know this new Emperor as well as she did thest. She knew for certain that Emmanuel''s father would never let Matt fall into enemy hands.


    At least not alive.

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118


    Achlys was an utterly in man, Matt found through the brief introductions. It only took minutes for the man to change the topic to rift creation.


    Matt thought he was a kindred spirit, who would join him and Erwin in their testing, but he was quickly disabused of that notion once they started to get to work.


    The man''s soft voice almost wafted to Matts ears as they looked at a formation setup. Why do you even want to make rifts?


    Erwin opened his mouth to say something, but Achlys shook his head. Not you, Erwin. I know your mind well enough. Youve helped me some time ago; I understand you. You have no motive greater than the quest for knowledge itself. No, my question was directed to Matt. Why do you want this?


    That question was one that he had never considered. It wasn''t something that hade up in conversation, or something that hed pondered on his own. He was just doing what he found in front of himself, for the most part, over thest few years.


    He struggled over how to respond, but concluded that the truth was better than trying to guess what Achlys might want to hear.


    It''s fun.


    Seeing an edge creep into the mans cid, brown eyes, he hurriedly added, It is. This is something new and cutting edge. I can provide the mana to allow everyone to delve all sorts of rifts. But it doesn''t stop there. If we can figure out the underlying mechanics in rift creation, we can design rifts that are safer, or at least identical, so low Tier people can be safely taught how to delve.


    He saw his new trainer soften and kept up his rambling. This is new ground, and its so under-studied, our potential to uncover useful information is endless. Rifts are the center of everything we are as cultivators. We don''t study them more almost solely because of the cost it entails. I''ve spent billions of mana in thest few years. That isn''t without it''s opportunity cost, of course. I don''t know exactly how higher Tiers are really run, but that much mana could help several higher Tier rifts cycle a few times, I''m sure.


    Matt gestured to his frame and said, I''m weak. I get that. I can get swatted into a bloody mist by anyone. I won''t pretend that I''m about to discover the truths of the universe or anything like that, but this is important work. I was born on a Tier 4 world. We didnt even have enough rifts to go around. We were too afraid to build cities anywhere but the safe areas off the coasts, which severely limited our strength. I was unable to delve when I was awakened, because the rifts near the cities were all monopolized by the governing bodies and guilds.


    A wash of sadness overcame Matt as he thought of the rift breaks, and he didn''t restrain the heat that crept into his voice.


    Our local nobles were ipetent, and their negligence led to rift breaks destroying more than a few cities. I lost my parents in those attacks.


    Matt felt his Concept resonate with his mounting anger, and felt his mana start to leak out as well. 320 MPS wasnt a small amount, and the visible blue haze began to escape into the surroundings as his mana rushed out.


    Achlys waspletely unbothered, and just watched Matt with a t look.


    I was weak then. Yes, I was a child, but our entire was weak. They were Tier 3 and 4 rift breaks. No one should have had any issue in fighting that level of attack back, even with three rift breaks happening at once. If we had been stronger, we could have done something. At present, I alone could have prevented all of those deaths, but we had no one.


    Matt controlled himself and pointed to the formation tes. This is how we do that. I want to ensure every has rifts that they know are safe and fueled. I might not be able to aplish thetter on my own, but I can ensure that information about rifts is readily avable for all.


    The brown-haired man seemed utterly unmoved and tly asked, What do you intend to do when a guild or noble family gets mad that you''re spreading information that they probably have? What will you do when they send their hit squads?


    Matt snorted, I don''t expect the Emperor will tolerate such actions, but I''m not so naive to think theyll be happy if I spread knowledge thats been locked away. But Matt held up a finger,  I don''t expect them to have as much information as I do. A higher Tier mana stone could provide more mana than I have, but from everything Ive seen, few would be willing to spend the price to have researched this thoroughly.


    With a slight bit of pride, he finished, And if they want to y stupid games by attacking me, Im happy to return the favor.


    Achlys shrugged slightly. I think you underestimate the powers that might be aligned against you, but good enough. You seem to understand the weight of what you''re researching and the consequences it will bring.


    A yellow tint tinged his eyes, and a soft growl entered his voice. Just remember that you are responsible for the monsters you make. They mighte back one day to eat you.


    Matt just blinked at the higher Tier man, and they had an awkward stare down for a long minute, before Achlys gestured and asked, What have you learned so far?


    With that out of the way, the three of them dove into the rift creation process, and Matt detailed what he and Erwin had learned over the past two years.


    Theypletely skipped over the Aura experiments, but filled Achlys in regarding the rest of their research. Most of their examples were apanied by practical demonstrations, to show the actual effects they were exining, and give the other man a better grasp of the situation.


    A few hours into their lecture, it was clear to Matt that Achlys was brilliant, and had an instinctive understanding of the process.


    When they discussed trying to create a rift around a skill shard, the brown-haired man shifted into a medium-sized brown wolf.


    His voice remained understandable as he said, As Erwin knows already, Im a Briarwolf, a species that has a deep connection with forest, and a power over our environments. I''m something of an oddity, with a greater control over things like rifts. Most of the brethren can only stop rifts from forming, but Ive found that I have a degree of control over where they form.


    Matt bent down and stared at the man''s paws. They had seemingly merged with the grass around them. He had a hard time pinpointing where the grass ended, and the flesh began.


    He was unable to resist asking, Does that hurt?


    A wolfish eyebrow was raised with a cocked head that reminded him of Aster a great deal.


    Seeing that the man wasn''t offended, he continued, My bond is an arctic fox. She can''t merge with her element, and honestly, that looks painful.


    No. It''s as natural to me as breathing. Im simply expanding my domain and control to the area around us.


    In fifteen minutes, Matt understood what the man had meant. The grass around them perked up, and the flowers that had started to wilt in the chiller evenings began to revitalize.


    Finally, Achlys sat down and gestured with a paw for Matt to continue.


    This was the first of the testing they did with the Briarwolf.


    As they repeated all of their previous tests, they discovered that Achlys'' presence increased the sess rate of rifts keeping their aspects by close to five percent. As long as his intent was in line with the rift they wanted to make.


    If he wanted the rift to <em>deaspect</em> on Tiering up, it happened close to seventy percent of the time.


    But for all the good the man''s presence did them, they ran into a wall when trying to create rifts with skill shards as the seed.


    Despite their best efforts, close to eighty-five percent of the rifts sucked up the skill shards whening into existence. That was the precursor to the troubles they had when Tiering the rifts up.


    They were unable to get a rift to Tier 2 without deaspecting at all.


    The three of them spent almost a month just trying to get a single rift to Tier up without deaspecting, but had no sess at all.


    It was during that time they decided to take a half step back, and try to create rifts with the purpose of creating skills.


    They had a much greater sess with that line of testing, and within a few months, they had created Tier 8 rifts that usually produced the skills they wanted.


    Taking that a step further, they tried to recreate the rift with [Copper Skin]. It wasn''t easy, and took over a week of tweaking the form, but they finally were able to create a rift that dropped the skill.


    It was an awful rift, with crab golems that shocked anyone who touched them, but it fit the general theme of the first rift they had gotten the skill from. It being a Tier 8 rift instead of a Tier 6 rift meant that the skill dropped far more often, with it being one of the rifts threemon drops.


    Instead of the haphazard form Matt had identally made when he was Tier 5, they broke down the elements needed, and were able to recreate the process of forming the [Copper Skin] rift.


    That caused a celebration thatsted days. Despite his outward quietness, Achlys even joined in and chatted with all of them, instead of disappearing into the uninhabited parts of the continent, as he usually did. Aster pestered the older beast, but he seemed unbothered by the endless stream of questions that generally came back around to making an ice cream bunny rift for her.


    She shot mock res at Matt every time she brought it up, still miffed that he hadn''t figured it out for her yet. Matt just blew raspberries at her when she brought up the topic, to her endless annoyance.


    Over the following year, they discovered two new skills from their efforts.


    The first wasnt a helpfulbat skill, but instead was a skill for cleaning bushes of bugs and other insects. The skill removed pests from nts or small trees, like snails, slugs, and bugs. The key was that it didn''t kill them, but instead pushed them off of the target via a burst of air from the nt.


    The other skill came from a test Matt had done solely from a gut feeling. The fact that his hunch paid off irritated Erwin to no end, but they had gotten a seemingly new skill out of it.


    The unnamed skill allowed the user to send a strand of mana into anything their feet were touching, and stick to the surface as if it were the ground. It was a mana hog of a skill, taking fifteen mana per cast, and it had to be recast for each footstep.


    The rest of their other tests mostly created already known skills, but that was hardly an issue. They were filling in their data points, and constantly making improvements to their models.


    When he was taking some time to work out on the new obstacle course, Matt sat at the top of a pir he had climbed and watched as Melinda trained with Baxter on her Concept. He was woken out of his trance and paused as a thought came to him.


    Melinda''s Concept goop was an excellent fertilizer. It was also something that he hadn''t really thought of after seeing it in use the first few times. She didn''t like it, and didn''t want to talk about it. She was a friend, and he respected her wishes on the topic.


    The poor girl already took too much pressure onto herself as it was, and he didn''t want to add to it. She was always trying to mother them all.


    But, that goop could be useful in creating rifts.


    After dropping the twenty feet, Matt took off in a loping stride that ate up the intervening distance.


    Melinda wasn''t happy with the idea to use her goop to create rifts, but acquiesced after Matt exined his thoughts. Baxter seemed to vibrate with excitement at the idea, and followed behind like a puppy.


    He was helpful, though, and produced an endless stream of monsters for Melinda to melt.


    With thest months of testing, Matt, Erwin, and Achlys were able to make the rift they wanted.


    They started with some wood aspected mana with no sub-aspect, andbined it with a life aspected mana that made up a greater percentage of the rifts total mana.


    The other mana types were the standard elements, with sub-aspects that had a healing or life theme.


    It wasn''t easy, and they had more than a few failures when trying to Tier up the rift. But they threw mana at the problem until they got a rift to Tier 8.


    The rift didnt have the skills they wanted, so they tried again and again.


    Fifteen unsessful rifts, and weekster, they finally got what they were looking for.


    A new skill appeared. It was in none of their databases, and even Luna and Kurt didnt recognize it.


    Everyone on the continent crowded around Luna, who inspected the skill with a plethora of equipment.


    Finally, she said, I think it''s a Tier 8 healing spell.


    What!


    No way!


    Melinda and Baxter let out nearly simultaneous shouts, but the older man was faster, and snatched the skill from the table where Luna left it.


    Before anyone else could do more than stare, the skill shard crumbled to dust.


    Matt was doubly shocked. He knew that higher Tier people could absorb skills faster, but that had been near instant, which implied that Baxter was a much higher Tier than he had believed.


    He was also still reeling from the fact that they might have created a healing skill where there hadnt been one before.


    That had massive implications that couldn''t be underestimated.


    Baxter brought out a small knife, and sliced a furrow into his forearm as they all watched.


    A glowing light appeared from his hand and covered the wound, like a see-through bandage made from mana.


    Melinda started probing the man''s arm around the wound before saying, I cant tell what it''s doing exactly. You''re too strong, Baxter. Before anyone could say anything, she used the knife still in her mentor''s hand to cut herself slightly.


    Baxter then cast the spell again, and a near-identical bandage appeared to cover the wound.


    Matt leaned forward to watch.


    The small wound sat there with seemingly no change for nearly a minute, before the skill faded.


    As the mana faded, the wound started to bleed again.


    Huh! Not what I expected. Baxter said that with so much confidence, Matt almost believed he had predicted the oue.


    Mathew looked at his still bleeding wife and said, I don''t get it.


    Melinda cast a healing spell on herself and thanked Liz as she removed the blood before saying, I think the spell isn''t a true healing spell. It''s more like a bandage. It doesn''t heal anything, but stops it from getting worse. Kinda like a pause button on the wound.


    She looked to Baxter. What was the cost of that?


    The older man brought his attention back to them and said, 20 mana, but I think more mana will be needed forrger wounds, and for the skill tost longer.


    Slowly, he added, From the feeling I''m getting with the skill, I think 20 mana is the minimum cost, but not the max. If what I''m feeling is correct, more mana can either expand the coverage of the skill, or increase the duration of the protection. Theres also a slight instinctual feedback from the skill, letting me know how long it willst with the amount of mana I used, and with how bad the wound is. Interesting Let me see if


    To Matt''s horror, the man''s hand fell off with a glow of a pale light, and blood started to pump out of the severed stump.


    Baxter seemed unbothered, but everyone else recoiled in shock. Matt didnt miss Liz sneakily gathering up the blood and sucking it into her glove.


    Unbothered, the same healing light appeared and covered the stump, and stopped the bleeding almost instantly.


    Melinda,e feel this. The skill is acting as a prosthetic and circting the blood naturally. It''s quite


    As Baxter was still talking, the skill faded, and he started to bleed once again.


    Hmmm... It seems like the skill uses the mana faster for greater injuries.


    Melinda nodded along and picked up his severed hand, and asked, What does the skill do for the severed flesh?


    Baxter pointed at his detached hand, but nothing happened. They then put the hand back to the stump and cast the spell once more but the skill failed to activate.


    Vinnie, from his ce next to Matt, asked, What''s that mean? I don''t get it.


    Mathew shushed him, but quietly said, It means that it''s an undirected healing skill, like [Ranged Heal]. So, without Overhealth, it wont do more than keep the user alive. If you lose a head or heart, it wont activate, since it will consider the body dead. It also wont act as a way to keep a limb attached if it''s fully removed.


    Baxter nodded to therge man. Correct. I guess you do listen when Melinda talks. My wife stopped listening to my babbling ages ago.


    Mathew shrugged. Of course. Though, is that a bad thing?


    Melinda snorted at her husband. Hardly. It''s a Tier 8 spell. I''m surprised it does this much already. Honestly, this is perfect for low Tier delvers. This will give them a cheap way to survive a more serious injury. At worst, it will give people time to use a potion or real bandage. At best, it will help people escape the rift and get to a proper healer.


    She turned to Matt and hugged him hard. Thank you for making something good out of my Concept.


    She then repeated her actions with Erwin and Achyls. Thetter of whom looked ufortable at the attention, but didnt pull away.


    Baxter pressed his hand to the stump, and a few secondster, it was perfectly attached.


    He then looked at everyone who was Tier 8 or under. I need you all to delve the shit out of this rift. We need a few hundred of these for further testing.


    Luna opened her mouth with squinted eyes and said, I know you arent pulling that card.


    Baxter looked unbothered. I will, and I am. I need a hundred before I report in, and I need it done yesterday. If I need to bring in outsiders, I will. This is too big, Luna. You know that as well as I do.


    Luna looked to the confused Pathers and exined, Baxter is calling in an imperial edict. As of right now, this is the most important thing on this, and all other projects are now of a lesser priority.


    Matt shrugged. It really didnt bother him. He wanted one of the skills for his own testing. He would have done it without the order.


    At Baxter''s instance, they all started to delve the rift. It wasn''t a challenging rift, considering the value of the skill shards. But it was an irritating one, with its swampy jungle environment and amorphous, blob-like monsters. For Matt, Liz, and Aster at Tier 8, it was a breeze for them to individually fly to the boss, kill it quickly to retrieve the reward, and leave.


    They generally could get the reward before the rift cycled instances.


    For Melindas team, they went together as a whole first to learn the rift, and then split in half to tackle the rift in two groups. They were employing the same tactics, but they struggled because of their lower Tiers.


    They spent every waking moment of the next week delving the rift, until they had the requisite one hundred skills for Baxter. To speed things up, with the five of them running the rifts, Matt took the time to create a second version of the rift as he waited for his turn toe up. As they learned the rift the fifteen minute cycle time for instance was longer than it took everyone to finish the rift, as they were only going for a boss kill, and they were wasting time sitting around.


    It was interesting to see Baxter slowly and methodically testing the new skill and all of its variations. How the man withstood the constant pain of cutting various parts of his body off, Matt didnt know, but the results were soon hammered out.


    The skill had its oddities, but nothing they hadnt initially deduced. They just hammered out the hard details, like how much mana it took to keep the skill going based on the degree of injury. [Bandage], the tentative name of the skill, was an efficient skill for what it was able to do. A few hundred mana was able to keep a life threatening injury controlled for nearly an hour.


    The efficiency was even more broken on Melinda, whose Tier 1 Talent reduced the cost and increased the effect of healing spells by fifty percent each. She now had a 10 mana skill to remove the healing cooldown on someone. It didnt actually heal anyone, but it gave her options to make her manast longer when Matt wasn''t around.


    Baxter also was willing to waste upgrade orbs to check what the skill could do at higher Tiers.


    At Tier 14, the skill was able to reattach limbs and hold them in ce, while being a lot more efficient in its mana usage. With a Tier 26 upgrade orb, the skill started to get interesting. It started to boost the body''s natural regeneration, and stopped only pausing the wounds. If that was all, Baxter wouldnt have been so happy, but the skill had a multiplicative effect on the Tier 26 skill [Regeneration]. Sadly it had no effect on the upgraded Tier 38 [Regeneration], with its overhealth.


    Baxter raised [Bandage] to Tier 38 with an upgrade orb so rare, even Luna watched in fascination as he used it. When asked, he only said that it was given to him by the Emperor, for the purpose of testing the new skills upgrade path. It was a normal procedure for new skills that seemed to have potential. The skill then started to heal any wound it was cast on, without incurring a healing cooldown for the wound in question. It was slow healing, but one with little cost other than time.


    It made Matt wish that he could afford the orbs himself, but they were rare, and extremely expensive. Lacking that, he wished he could make Tier 14 rifts in less than weeks. That was the minimum Tier that the orbs started to drop at, and to make a rift seeded with upgrade orbs, it would take too long at his current Tier. Just filling a Tier 14 rift would take over a day with his regeneration. Getting it to Tier 14 would just take too long to be practical.


    He wondered if he could get a few for his team aspensation for making the rifts, but he assumed that they were just waiting for him to fall off The Path to give them to him. From his understanding, when strong Pathers fell off orpleted The Path, they were provided with resources to round out their skills thatplemented their styles.


    Once he got the final skill shard, Baxter vanished after speaking to Luna and Kurt. Things returned to normal after that, but there was an added pressure on those remaining.


    All of them, including the higher Tier cultivators, took a copy of the spell to test. Personally, he thought the higher Tiers did it with the intent to get the skill to Tier 38. But none of them used the upgrade orbs in front of him, so he couldnt confirm his theory.


    With Lizs Talent, the skill was turned into a scabbing skill that was useless for anything more than minor cuts. The only advantage it had was that the scab was natural, so it took no mana to recast the spell and stop the bleeding. Baxter tried to sneak her an upgrade orb, but Luna batted it away, then pulled the man out of reality. Liz took a second copy of the skill and kept it in her outer spirit to prevent her Talent from affecting it.


    Matt found the skill to be fascinating, but it was outssed by [Ranged Heal]. [Ranged Heal] was a skill that only took 100 mana to cast, and actually healed the target. Meanwhile, the new skill, [Bandage], only paused the damage. It seemed like a worthless skill at Tier 8.


    For someone like him, with unlimited mana, he expected to never use the skill, but Melinda reminded him of an important fact that he had forgotten about from having her around. Without Overhealth, wounds couldn''t be endlessly healed with undirected healing spells. [Bandage] would allow them to get healed in a rift right to the limit, and then still be able to take a final hit before having to retreat. It paused the wound without adding to the healing cooldown.


    Melinda tried to exin how much that would change healing, but Matt wasn''t sure he understood.


    ording to her experience in hospitals, more than one person was at their healing cooldown, and took a wound that pushed them into rejection. Afterwards, they started to fall apart from the wounds that reopened.


    Directed healing spells could be used to a greater degree than undirected skills, but there was still only so much a healer could do when the delver had already reached that limit. And the sad reality was, anyone who was severely wounded in a rift that had a healing spell just cast it as much as they could, hoping to keep themselves or their teammates alive. That left the proper healers with little wiggle room to work with, in regards to the healing cooldown.


    The new skill, [Bandage], could let the Empire healers dy healing until the body recovered enough to use proper healing spells once again. Or better yet, if the delvers themselves got the skill, they could use it to keep their wounds at bay without making the healer''s job harder.


    When Matt reminded her that this was only possible with her Concept, she actually teared up.


    With renewed vigor, the three of them tried to create rifts with skills as the seed object.


    It took them months, but they discovered that creating a rift with perfectly pure mana and essence, along with a skill shard, gave them a better base to work off of. What made the discovery so obtuse was the fact that it was contrary to every other rift form they had discovered so far. In the others, they had needed to start with aspected mana, or they would fail. The rifts seeded with a skill shard needed the aspected mana added <em>after</em> the rift was created at Tier 1.


    Erwin had been the one to theorize that, and he had been incredibly proud of his scientific approach seeding, where Matts gut instinct and Achlys'' Talent had failed to provide results.


    Neither of the other two begrudged the man his good-natured celebration. Without his methodical process, they would have never guessed that skill seeds needed an entirely different approach.


    Matts AI hadnt even had an inkling of that idea, still insisting that they needed to better match the mana types and sub-aspects.


    That got them over the first hurdle, but they still struggled with Tiering the rifts up. In desperation, they used a [Fireball] skill, one of the mostmon skills they had gotten in thest few years, and tried to brute force the creation of a Tier 8 rift.


    With the [Fireball] skill as the base, they created a rift with only pure essence and mana, simply adding another copy of the skill every time the rift sucked up the previous shard. It was wasteful, but the process produced results.


    The results were just bad.


    The skills that the rift dropped were all nk skills. Matt had been excited at the concept, but Erwin and Achyls both dashed those hopes. nk skills weren''t unheard of, just rare. The nk shards only had one purpose: to let someone transfer skills, pushing it out of their spirit back into physical form. They had severe limitations, though. The nk skill shard''s Tier had to match or exceed the Tier of the skill, and there was a chance of shattering the shard in the transfer process, which would waste both the skill and the nk skill shard.


    Besides, not many people were willing to buy second-hand skills, since they could be altered in ways that the new users might not find desirable. Not to mention the fact that few people were willing to give away skills that they had invested their time in modifying. They lost all of that effort in transferring the skill, after all.


    He and Liz did use a nk with [Create Water] and [Water Maniption] shards, to make him a [Create Blood] and [Blood Maniption] with her Talent. But other than that, they considered the test a failure. He still had trouble with the maniption skills, and his fine maniption in general. After Tiering up, he had to contend with the absolutely <em>massive</em> influx of mana and regeneration that came with it.


    But they both liked the idea of Matt being able to create blood for Liz, and having another maniption skill was never bad. After they collected half a dozen of the skills, the rift was discarded for itsck of value. They wanted to give him other skills but were limited by the nk skill shards being only Tier 8.


    Not long after Baxter came back, Melinda and her team decided to Tier up and return to their own advancement. They were twenty-five years old, and didn''t want to push their ages any closer to the edge of falling off than they had to as they needed to reach Tier 7 before twenty-seven.


    It was a sad departure, but Matt knew that they wanted to be able to stand on their own two feet, and say that they earned everything they had.


    He could understand that, and didnt protest.


    Their absence left a hole in the house, and all three of them threw themselves into more training. At least for Liz, an alchemy trainer came for her not long after. They spent weeks on the maind, working on her own projects.


    During that rut, Matt, Erwin, and Achlys discovered the recipe for using skill shards as seeds for rifts.


    To give rifts a way to form around the skill shards, they needed to supply mana types of the opposite alignments to the skill''s own, while having the sub-aspects be in line with the type of skill. It was a confusing paradigm, but they were able to get rifts to Tier 8 about fifteen percent of the time. However, the skill used in the seeding process was always one of the threemon skill drops for the particr rift. They still had the issue with the rifts eating nearly every skill they used as a seed, but that was fixable with more skill shards.


    The oddity was that the rifts needed opposite mana types than they normally would use. Erwin theorized the opposite mana was needed to counteract the absorbed skills, which were heavily weighted in their aspecting and they were simply bringing things back in line to bnce out, but they were unable to prove that hypothesis either way.


    Achlyss help proved to be invaluable, as without his help, their chance of sess was only about seven percent. The Briarwolf was a steadying presence, guiding the rifts to whatever destination they desired.


    After they figured out how to replicate the skill rifts with a degree of certainty, Luna had them leave for a new border region of the Empire. She made sure to destroy all traces of their presence on the continent, including everything but a few mid level rifts they felt wouldn''t stick out too much. When they arrived to a new area of the frontier, on a single world, they created a skill shard rift with otherwise rare skills.


    The rift with the new healing skill, [Bandage], was created deep in a forest that was cleared out for their presence on a Tier 11 that only had Empire terraformers. They even created a rift with [Endurance] as amon reward, the third in the Empire, ording to Luna.


    The only reason the skill was avable to the Pathers as a Tier 5 reward was that it could drop from any Tier 8 rift in the five percent chance roll that could be any skill. And there were <em>a lot</em> of Tier 1 through Tier 13 rifts across the Empire with a chance to drop it. The government just had a standing order to exchange the skill with a Tier 14 skill to encourage people to sell to them, while personally controlling the two rifts that dropped them regrly.


    Adding in the convoluted method behind seeding rift with skill shards as seeds, Matt understood why no one had figured it out before. Even with unlimited mana, it had taken them years to get even the most rudimentary method for making skill shard rifts nailed down. He wasn''t even sure if they could have figured it out without Erwins methods and odd thinking patterns.


    The other rifts they created were more ordinary, but valuable, like the rifts for the four elemental maniption skills. Matt suspected that they were cover for the two more important skills. No twos near each other were seeded, and while Luna moved them through chaotic space, he was certain they had covered vast distances. They didnt even use anyary teleports to reach the recently discovereds that had just been added to the Empire''swork ofs. They hadnt yet been explored beyond cursory scouting missions.


    He also understood the idea behind not creating more of the most valuable rifts. More attention wasn''t a good thing.


    After that initial burst of rift creation, the four of them returned to the same, and picked up Liz and Aster from the training they had been undergoing with instructors.


    Luna hadnt provided any details, but she had ns for them that didnt involve cultivation.


    ***


    Virgil paced as she watched the operation below with her spiritual perception. The head healer, Lester, was a part of the old guard, and was loyal. The rest of the assistants would be purged once the operations were sessful.


    As a Tier 50, she was well aware of the true cruelty of the realm. Her grandfather had been too weak to protect what was his, and caused The Federation to be splintered and fractured.


    She wasnt as softhearted and weak as him. While her family had lost the title as Federation leader for a generation, and they were now the weakest of the Great Powers, she had wed her way back to the top by proving herself the best leader that the Federation had to offer. Her program of expansion and unapologetic foreign diplomacy had also yed a part, but none of her peers in this generation were weak. They had suffered too much to be anything less than ruthless.


    This little experiment was how she was going to reim the territory that was rightfully theirs.


    Nine sets of ten-person squads were arrayed throughout the room.


    Jecker was a fantastic enchanter and had a unique Talent. His Talent was simple, he was able to reduce the Tier of an enchantment. So he could make a Tier 30 enchantment act like a Tier 5 enchantment, then, at his discretion, increase its power. Even if he didnt reactivate his Talent, the enchantments would slowly return to their former power.


    It had been considered a useless Talent, no one wanted enchantments weaker, until her head healer came to her with a proposal to use the man''s Talent in conjunction with their own.


    Virgil had been skeptical at first, but her head healer had his own unique Talent that let him perfectly heal someone if he was the one to create the wound.


    Together, they would take the country''s cast-offs and create the strongest fighting force avable under Tier 35.


    She had been tempted to break the international agreements on war, but would refrain until she had the power to back up such a bold move.


    With the Empire about to be jumped on, she needed to be ready to upy arge swath ofnd, and to do that, they needed to be able to fight Duke Waters.


    Virgil wanted to spit at the thought of the man.


    It was unfair that the Empire had gotten so lucky with the monstrosity. Light and Shadow were ordinary enough, but she had seen recordings of Duke Waters. The man was powerful in a way that was only seen once in a hundred generations.


    Still, she believed that she had the means to at least equal him. Soon, she would rush the children through the Tiers, and she had two retainers who were ready for Ascension. She could ensure that they got their Concepts and Intents in short order.


    As she watched, the test subjects were stripped to their bones, and their brains were hooked up to life support. Then, the enchanting started.


    One at a time, the bones were enchanted with formations to increase their power individually, and as a unit. If everything went well, as they Tiered up, they would transfer power to a single person of the squad, and allow them to hit like a Tier 37 or Tier 38.


    The brains were carefully carved and healed to remove their past memories. When they awoke, the soldiers would be nk tes for her to mold to perfection.


    Virgil didn''t expect more than a single of the squads to reach Tier 35, but that would be more than enough. It would let them have power greater than an Ascender, while staying entirely within the rules.


    If more than one of the squads made it, she would be ecstatic, but the odds were already low.


    The Tier 0 humans were so fragile, and even with Jeckers Talent, the runes would be a tremendous strain on them. They would need to quickly Tier up to prevent their bodies from falling apart as the restrictions weakened, but she believed that they could do it.


    She would turn the Federation''s trash into their greatest asset.


    As the bones were enchanted, the ligaments were regrown and then inscribed, and following the tendons wasyer afteryer of muscles. Finally, their skin was stitched back together.


    One by one, the runes were carved, empowered, then healed. It was a beautiful disy, as the colors became indicators of future strength.


    Virgil''s smile grew wider as squad after squad was finished without anyplications.


    When the final squad was finished, and all vital signs were normal, the assistants began celebrating.


    Lester moved to Jecker and pped the shorter man on the back. Her head healer nodded slightly to where he knew Virgil was waiting.


    She paused and frowned. The original n was to kill Jecker, but apparently, her healer disagreed. She trusted him, so she decided to entertain the idea for now.


    With an effort of will, she teleported the two men out of the room, then killed the assistants.


    She ensured that it was a gory sight, and observed as her new soldiers came awake.


    Putting on her best motherly expression, she reached out and helped the first man to his feet.


    He was a newborn in mind and spirit, but a teen in body.


    Who are you? Where am I?


    As he asked the questions, Virgil held back a smile.


    Perfect. He knew thenguage, but his other memories were gone. As a Tier 50, she could tell that he was being truthful without external skills. Everything from his heartbeat to brain waves indicated confusion.


    I don''t know. I only just found out about this dastardly plot and came to rescue you. Sadly, I was toote. The evildoers were killed, but they already did something to you all. Are you sure you remember nothing? Try hard. Please?


    Her eyes pleaded for the boy to try his best, and she watched as he looked inward and found nothing.


    I don''t remember anything. The boy then inspected his glowing arm and asked, What happened to my arm? My entire body feels weird.


    She rubbed his arm and, as others started to wake. I don''t know, but I''ll take good care of you. For now, let us help the others get up. Maybe one of them remembers something that can help us piece this together.


    There was so much trust in his eyes as he moved to help the others.


    Virgil inwardly celebrated. The untrained boy with no memories already moved like a seasoned soldier under the influence of the enchantments. Swift and fluid movements came as naturally as breathing to the boy. She used a bit of her will to knock a table over behind him. Spinning, he caught it and righted it, all without a conscious thought.


    She repeated her story of saving them as the ny men and women were woken and questioned for memories. None had even a faint recollection left, though one was missing most of theirnguage functions. But that was fixable, with a bit of time and training.


    Gathering the kids up, she started phase two.


    She needed to make them loyal, and then start training them in earnest. After all, she was their savior, and had delivered them from the evil men and women who would perform such invasive surgeries on them.


    Virgil was the closest thing they had to a mother now, and her Talent hooked into them in a way it hadnt for millennia. She had been too busy to put in the time necessary to garner a strong effect from her influence Talent since hitting Tier 30. Children were her life''s work, and her Talent only operated at peak effectiveness if she was personally invested.


    She hadn''t had time to raise children for far too long.


    What good child wouldn''t die for their parent?


    The ones she raised would, at least.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119


    Liz stirred the mixture as Regina stood back and watched the culmination of three months of experiments.


    When the dour woman first arrived, she hadnt seemed like she wanted to be there. But the worst of her personality seemed to slough off with each passing day as they worked on alchemy projects and lessons. Liz had been debating getting Kurt to send the woman away at first, since she had been so ornery.


    It hadnt helped her own attitude that Matt was off working with Erwin, Achlys, and Luna to make rifts. He had been so excited to leave to go create rifts other people would use that she hadnt even thought about what beings away would mean. They werepletely uncontactable in anything but the slowest means, as messages had to be routed to all thes in the region, since no one actually knew where Luna was taking them. It hadnt been so bad at first, but as the weeks dragged into months with just herself, Kurt, Regina, and Aster, she wished she had gone with them.


    Still, she was learning. Regina expected Liz to understand things with little to no exnation, and to intuit things with minimal experience.


    Liz didn''t work like that. She understood better when she could get her hands on something and y with it. She needed to try things out, make mistakes, and form questions that she then would research.


    Regina expected her to nce at a concoction and know exactly what was going on, and it was causing friction between the two of them.


    It was quite the change from the few other trainers they had dealt with so far, but both of them had to shift their expectations and meet somewhere in the middle.


    Erwin, the big cheater, had given her an idea about how to solve Matt''s mana issues when he was helping her with alchemy. But that was a rare asion, as he was far more enamored with Matt and aperology.


    He had mentioned that he wished he could use his Talent to just make a higher Tier material, but he was unable to do that for Matt''s potions, as it would count as true help from a Tier 32. Of course, that would be far beyond anything they could afford.


    During the time that she, Matt, and Aster were delving, Luna, Kurt, and Erwin had worked on creating concentration potions that could get more effect out of the lower Tier herbs, but failed to make any progress. The first problem was, Erwin''s Talent directly Tiered up the materials with essence that he hadnt yet allocated. The second was that he had to use essence at his Tier, which meant he needed to get a delve slot for a Tier 32 rift. It was cheaper for him if he used his Talent on the finished product, but that was still a lot of essence, and it didnt really lower the value of his help.


    He had the idea of taking Tier 10 herbs, and changing the form for mana concentration potions to produce more mana reduction per single dose.


    When they had first met, Liz had mentioned her project to Regina. The older woman had scoffed and asked, Do you know how all cultivation enhancing potions work?


    Liz was about to answer when Reina spoke over her, Clearly not. Potions are already concocted to maximize the benefits of the herbs of their Tier. A Tier 7 potion can only do so much because of the base materials; materials at a Tier are meant for people of said Tier. They strengthen the spirit and body to produce their particr effects, but theres a delicate bnce to walk between a potion and a poison.


    Liz finally interjected, Yes, but thats the traditional potion for a standard cultivator. That''s not what I''m trying to create. A normal potion can only do so much, but clearly, that isnt limited by the Tier of the potion''s user, as Ive seen a Tier 4 use a Tier 35 potion.


    Regina rolled her eyes and said, Wasteful, but yes, it''s possible. But remember girl, it''s dangerous to push your mana pool with higher Tier potions. There can be some undesirable side effects if you unbnce yourself.


    The older woman scowled at the potions that Liz was making and sniffed. Ill agree with your decision to start with mana concentration potions. Theyre far cheaper to make at your Tier. Still, it''s unnecessarily wasteful to try this. The potion forms for the lower Tiers were set millions of years ago, after rigorous testing.


    Liz resisted the urge to berate the woman for herck of understanding and impatience. Her time away from court and high society had made her less willing to tolerate such jabs.


    Putting on her best smile, Liz gestured to the herbs on the table and the storage case that she had sitting at the edge. It was a nifty thing that she and Sam had bought when they saved up enough money. It was a spatially expanded storage case that could keep the herbs in their ideal states, with various little rooms inside p that could dry or preserve anything stored. The box wasn''t as ideal as a storage ring with stasis, but it was the next best thing.


    I have a few thousand sets of ingredients for all three concentration potions from Tier 6 through Tier 9. I also have enough for a few hundred potions of Tier 7 and 8. I want to find a way to get more out of the normal herbs. Reducing maximum mana to zero isnt an issue.


    Seeing the woman''s skeptical look, Liz used her prepared half-truth. I found a few rifts on a new world that had tons of useful herbs, and delved them as much as I could before the went into a controlled state. I was able to make out quite well, then traded what I didnt want for more of the herbs that I needed.


    For the first time during their conversation, Regina seemed pleased. Liz scrutinized the woman''s face closer. Maybe it was even pride. She wasn''t exactly sure, but the scowl was gone.


    I just want to try and create a potion using lower Tier ingredients, but with more potency. It doesn''t have to be perfect; I''ll settle for using Tier 10 potions instead of Tier 20 potions.


    Seeing the woman''s horrified expression, she added, I know someone who needs to get as much mana concentration from outside sources as they can. But


    Regina nodded. The Path, yes. Hmm That''s an interesting conundrum, to be sure. I still dont think it will be possible. But if nothing else, it will be good training.


    With that, the woman dropped her own bags and donned gloves and sses. Even from across the room, Liz could feel the enchantments on the two items. They were like miniature suns that zed with power.


    Regina popped open Lizs herb box and rifled through each section,menting on the amount and variety of herbs.


    When the older woman resurfaced, she nodded, Youve got a small fortune for your Tier here. I''d have slit your throat for this many materials when I was Tier 8. Her sigh seemed almost wistful.


    Anyway, if that''s your goal, who am I to stop you? I''m getting paid as long as I help. But you''re going about this wrong. All wrong. Backwards, even.


    All Lizs prepared ingredients swept themselves up and into her herb box with a gesture from Regina.


    We must first start with the physical cultivation potions, as <em>they</em> are a better example of why this is impossible.


    Regina put action to words, and the nine herbs for a permanent strength potion came out and arranged themselves.


    These are nine herbs used to make a strength potion. Regina peered over her sses and waited for Liz to nod before she continued. Most people don''t know how these work until Tier 10 at least. They just don''t have enough of an effect to be valuable enough for most of us to make.


    She moved three of the herbs to the side and asked, What do these three do?


    Liz had already tried to make the potion, so she actually knew the answer from the top of her head. Ascent''s Virtue, Boar''s Feather, and Cinder''s Heart. The three of them make up the strength increasing effect.


    She pointed at the next three herbs. Kepler''s Nibblers, Morning Sun Dew, and Frog''s Tongue make up the potion''s mediating effects. They ensure that the potion has the intended effect on the intended portion of the spirit. In this case, to the physical cores and body.


    Moving her finger, Liz finished, Lapis Return and Harpy''s Sanction are used for all Tier 8 potions, with Origin''s Awakening used to properly merge the two.


    Regina nodded. At least you''ve read a textbook. Now let me ask you what happens if you remove or change one of the ingredients.


    Depending on the ingredient, and what you''re substituting it with, your actions change the potions effect. For example, there are at least five different strength potions at Tier 8, with various forms.


    Liz didnt miss the subtle gleam in the woman''s eye as she asked, And what are the differences between forme?


    Knowing where the woman was going, Liz walked into the trap. There are only minor differences. Small enough that for the consumer, there is no practical difference. Sighing, she added, The potions are limited by the Tier of the herbs in their effects. I know this, but Im trying to find a way to get more into or out of a potion of that Tier.


    Regina tapped the table with a gloved finger. That would be wonderful, but the potions are limited in two ways. First, the herbs can only make a certain amount of change with their power. That isn''t easily circumvented by using more of the herb, as one might think. You also have to consider how much your secondary ingredients can handle. If they don''t properly bnce out the primary effect, you can hurt or kill someone. You need to bnce things properly.


    In a mockingly high-pitched voice, the woman asked, But Regina, why can''t we just add more of all the ingredients? She mmed down her palm and said, We aren''t making soup. You can''t just condense things down by boiling off the water. Your parts per dose must be correct. Changing it will change the final effect. A concentration potion reduced too far might turn into a color changing potion. Or something else. I wont know until we try, but I know it won''t do what you want.


    Liz knew all of that and said so. All things I''ve considered. My idea is to substitute some ingredients for higher Tier ingredients. Mostly the secondary ingredients, which might allow me to add more of the more expensive concentration herbs. The secondary ingredients are generally moremon, and therefore cheaper.


    Liz ruffled through her bag and found a strength potion. The physical enhancing potions are different from the magical ones, though. Their only simrity is the fact that the physical ones can only be used once per Tier. But with the physical cultivation potions, you can''t even use the same physical potion two Tiers in a row. You can use the magical ones back to back, and magical potions can also be mixed together without an issue. At least, as long as you stay below the maximum change allowed by the Tier of the potion, as defined by Nancys Law. The physical potions are different enough in their application. I think by ying with some of the principles of the theory, I can get a stronger concentration potion. The older physical potion recipes used secondary ingredients a Tier higher than the main ingredients, until more stable concoctions were discovered.


    Regina nodded. Yes, Nancy''s Law is exactly the problem. We need to ount for the Tier of the herb and the Tier of the user.


    Liz interjected, Yes, but we have higher Tier potions able to impart their full effect, so it''s not a hard rule.


    Regina rolled her eyes. Thew has a long track record, and one known exception isn''t enough to shake its foundation. The full version of thew even exins the phenomenon. The Tier of the potion can, if higher than the drinker, impart a greater effect than a potion of their own Tier. But it''s dangerous. The potion can grow the spirit, and some nobles and higher Tier guilds even do so for their children and prodigies. But it''s expensive, and dangerous if mixed improperly.


    They went around in circles for the next hour until Liz gave up arguing and started going over her attempts.


    Liz didn''t expect toe up with an idea that would work for everyone. She only needed a potion that work on Matt.


    She had realized the problem before, but things hadn''t be clear until she sat down and did the math. The short answer was that Luna was vastly overselling the problem that Matt would face with his mana concentration at lower Tiers.


    Both she and Matt should have checked before this but now that she had things became clear.


    Mana concentration was useful in and of itself, but the main reasons that any mage put essence into it were the residual effects of increasing maximum mana and mana regeneration speeds as well. If they didn''t put essence into mana concentration, the essence in the other two sections wouldn''t be as effective, after a point.


    The returns would eventually get so bad that a mage without mana concentration cultivation would have weaker mana than a mage with less regeneration and a smaller maximum pool. The spirit needed mana concentration to allow for stable growth.


    But with Matt, that wasn''t a problem. He just needed enough mana concentration to hit harder than a pillow. Luna made that seem like a huge problem, but it really wasn''t.


    Considering how mana concentration affected the power of spells, it wasn''t that imperative for a normal mage to prioritize cultivating it. They just needed enough to avoid any losses in potential regeneration speed and mana pool size.


    She had looked up the numbers. When a mage was Tier 50, they would have about a billion mana if they stuck to the standard of being able topletely refill their mana from empty in three days. That meant they regenerated about 230 thousand mana a <em>minute.</em> It was a lot until Matt came into the picture. He would be regenerating more than that much mana every minute at Tier <em>11</em>, when under his one percent.


    But all of that wouldn''t matter if the difference in mana concentration wasn''t simr. With log10 scaling, a thousand mana concentration made a spell four times stronger than someone with a mana concentration of one.


    The problem was after Tier 35. At that point, a mage would have a mana concentration of over a million, and their mana would be seven times stronger than that of a mage with a mana concentration of one.


    While she didnt know what exact concentration a mage reached at Tier 50, Liz didnt think that it was a billion. At most, she expected it to be a few hundred million, which would yield mana only thirty percent stronger than it had been at a million. Being a strong mage was more about improving spells, having <em>more</em> mana to throw around, and knowing what spells to use and when, as opposed to pure mana density.


    Matt needed to get to at least one hundred thousand mana concentration to stay relevant inbat. That was what a melee fighter usually cultivated to, and their spells were still effective. She figured that Matt would increase his beyond that, but it was the minimum that he required.


    While Luna was exaggerating the drastic need for maximizing his mana concentration at these Tiers, she wasn''t <em>entirely</em> wrong either. If Matt didnt exploit his advantage of being able to restore his mana cap, he was wasting potential.


    But Luna was also underselling the fact that Matts mana concentration at the early Tiers would be a rounding error after Tier 25, when he would have millions of mana to condense. While it might hurt him in the short term if they did nothing, Matt would have no issue getting to one hundred thousand mana concentration with Tier 40 plus mana concentration potions.


    Mana concentration was, after all, directly and solely proportional to the amount of mana sacrificed. It was what made the Tier gaps so tall at theter Tiers. They had to get more essence to Tier up one Tier than they had earned from all the collective Tiers before.


    One potion at Tier 25 could give Matt more concentration that he had in all the previous Tiers as well.


    Currently, Liz and Aster both had a bit over four thousand total mana, and a mana concentration of nearly twenty at the peak of Tier 8, thanks to the potions theyd taken. Aster, with [Heart of Power], was even slightly ahead of Liz in regeneration, as the effect was permanent and gave the fox an edge.


    Matt had 320 total mana, and a mana concentration of 7.3 after thetest concentration potion he had used at Tier 7.


    He was behind, and wasnt catching up as quickly as she had expected with Lunas insurance. That discrepancy was what had prompted her to look into the numbers herself.


    With more mana to sacrifice, he should be able to gain more mana concentration, but a mage had millions of essence to allocate at the higher Tiers. He wouldnt be able to find a potion in the realm that could reduce his mana by millions.


    That was a pipe dream.


    But Matt didnt need to worry about Tiers 8 through Tier 20, because one potion at Tier 21 would give him tens of thousands of mana concentration, where those other Tiers would have given him far less.


    If Liz hadnt known Luna from her parents stories, and hadnt seen the woman in action, she wouldve believed that she was purposely sabotaging them. Luna was a perfectionist, and Liz believed that was tainting her viewpoint, and causing her to overvalue the concentration problem.


    Her realization that the mana concentration problem wasnt much of a problem at all was a guiltden relief. Liz wanted to finish The Path, and wanted Matt with her as she did. Together, with Aster, they could prove that they were the best of their generation.


    Liz was eager to solve the main issue keeping that dream from bing reality. She had two ideas for how to rectify it.


    One was to make a new potion, with greater effect, from lower Tier herbs. It didnt need to be safe for anyone but Matt.


    For all her taciturn attitude, Regina was correct that a mana concentration potion with the potency she needed would cripple a normal mage. But Matt wouldn''t have to contend with the same limitations.


    Her second idea, the one she was less hopeful in, was to find a way to make Matt''s spirit ept the potion over a longer time frame. If she could figure out how to do that, she would be able to drip-feed him even a Tier 1 potion, and just have him cycle his mana for hours. Eventually, he''d get unlimited mana concentration.


    She would also break one of the most fundamental understandings of alchemy, and change the Empire forever.


    In theory, it was possible.


    There was a Tier 32 natural treasure that reset the spiritual resistance once, as long as you were its tier or lower. The treasure couldn''t be used more than that single time, but it showed that there was a way to help the spirit stay malleable.


    If she did manage to figure that out, she would make it possible for <em>anyone</em> to have nearly unlimited mana concentration and mana regeneration. Along with a mana pool that would make Matts Tier 50 look small.


    For that reason, if nothing else, she doubted that it was possible. If it was, someone else would have figured it out long before her.


    She was just one woman after all.


    She knew that every other organization in the realm was trying to do the same thing, so she refocused on creating a stronger potion just for Matt.


    If she had to, shed step off The Path, but she didnt want to give up her ambitions for what would be a rounding error in the future.


    It was a quandary that she didnt know how to solve, with him so far away. This wasn''t a conversation to have though the slowest of mail.


    How could she say that their experienced trainer was overstating how bad things would be if he didnt heed her advice.


    As the days ticked by with no progress, she forced her efforts on using Tier 9 herbs as the secondary ingredients, to allow more of the Tier 8 herbs that directly increased concentration to fit in a single dose.


    They had managed to increase the concentration by about two percent, but neither Regina or Liz considered that an eptable increase.


    Liz had to admit, as the days passed, she learned a lot from Regina. The woman, once she settled in, had a wealth of knowledge that she freely shared with Liz. Quickly, her own alchemy skills increased to the point that she could even concoct a Tier 9 potion with a seventy percent sess rate.


    She and Regina worked together for the several months that Matt was gone.


    It was her first time being away from him for so long, and it was irritating. She and Aster had each other, which was nice, but Matt was a giant rock for them to lean on. Aster spent most of her time ying with the other bonds in the city while Liz worked, but they took time out of their day to train and spend time together.


    As proud as Liz was, and as reluctant she was to admit it, even to herself, she also missed Matts mana.


    Alchemy without him around was expensive.


    Everything cost money, and without Matt there to create rifts with the herbs she needed, they had to buy them from the open market.


    She wished Luna hadnt destroyed all the good rifts before opening the continent to the general public. Liz would have loved to slip over there and restock for cheap.


    But the herbs werent their only cost; they weren''t even thergest cost.


    The alchemy room that they were in was rented, and it wasnt cheap, since she needed a Tier 9 room to handle the potions that she was creating. But even that didntpare to the price of buying mana from the city.


    A typical Tier 8 batch of potions took around 30,000 mana to create, on average. That included the purifying steps, the magical filtration, and separation. The final step, imbuing the brewing potion, was the worst part. It ounted for more than 20,000 of the mana usage per attempt.


    With Matt there, it would have been a simple matter of just asking him to fill the massive mana stone that she had purchased solely for the purpose of conducting her alchemy without needing to constantly bother him. It held 100,000 mana, and was about six feet tall, which would have been incredibly inconvenient if it hadnte with its own spatial bag.


    Without Matt there for her, she had to purchase the mana from the city, which was expensive, but not something that she couldn''t afford. She actually had so many excess potions that she was able to sell some off, which helped recoup her expenses. She even turned a bit of a profit from the whole endeavor.


    The physical boosting potions she had created had helped. She and Aster both took a regeneration variant that seeped into their bones like digging worms, and gave them about a one percent boost in recovery speed.


    The sections of physical cultivation: strength, proprioception, flexibility, senses, mind, regeneration, and durability, all had their potions that increased their effect. But at this Tier, the effects of the potion were minor.


    Still, they sold out quickly. Even with their minor effects, the demand outstripped the supply. The potions were hard to create for an alchemist at the same Tier, and few would make potions below their Tier. Profit margins were always better when selling goods at ones own Tier, in any particr craft.


    A batch of potions for Liz yielded anywhere from four to six bottles, with six being the max for the recipes that she was using. Regina considered any batch with less than the full yield a failure, but when pressed, admitted that her rarely failingpletely was far better than what the average alchemist could do.


    Liz had taken thepliment with grace and poise. She was good at alchemy, and had worked for years at maintaining a high sess rate. Lunas mana maniption practice hadnt only been good for her maniption skills, but for her general application of mana as well.


    Her and Aster, unlike Matt, weren''t putting all their essence into physical cultivation, so a bit of extra regeneration would allow them to retain more muscle mass without exercising. It would take until Tier 9, even with the potion, for them to bepletely immune to physical degradation. But it was nice to mitigate the backslide when they delved deep into other projects.


    When Matt finally came back, she was overjoyed.


    He tried to surprise her, but Aster, who had been napping in the corner, popped up like she had fallen into a hot bath.


    She stood and started to look around until she started to track a path through the wall.


    Matts back! Her tail started wagging, and Liz was happy that she didnt have one of her own. It wouldve been wagging even more than Asters.


    It took him nearly fifteen minutes to get to them, during which Regina made ever-increasingly acerbic remarks, but neither of them let that put a damper on their excitement. It had been nearly half a year since Matt left.


    When the door opened, Matt had a bouquet of flowers in one hand and an ice cream cake in the other.


    Liz leaned into a hug and enjoyed his scent while Aster jumped up and tunneled into Matt''s neck on the other side.


    I''m d you''re back.


    d to be back. It was fun, but I missed you.


    Aster yipped her own greeting, You were gone for too long! Years! I had no one but Liz. The new woman is a grump.


    Liz stifled augh at the snort Regina gave off and disengaged from Matt. She took the flowers he offered and sniffed them. It was a full bouquet, but it was centered around lilies and tulips, her two favorite flowers.


    The smell was delightful.


    Aster had already dug into the ice cream cake, and was murmuring about how good it was.


    While she had gotten a jar out to put the flowers in, Matt had walked over and introduced himself to Regina.


    He was at least twenty Tiers weaker than the woman, but he walked up with confidence that mirrored his greater physical size.


    His smile was self-assured, to the point that it almost bordered on arrogance. His good looks and charm softened it, but the underlying message was apparent to those who knew what to look for. Matt was sure of himself in a way that she envied.


    Regina wasn''t restricting her spiritual presence at all, but Matt was ignoring it in a way that spoke of long exposure to people stronger than himself. Erwin wasnt the best at holding his power under a veil when he was excited, and Matt had be ustomed to the weight of his presence. And while Regina had neglected to tell Liz her Tier on introduction, the weight she gave off was less than that of Erwin.


    They idly chatted, but before long, Luna strolled in and told them that they were leaving in the morning, and to be ready by dawn.


    It was the first and only time that Liz had seen Regina quiet and meek, despite Luna never even looking at her.


    They called it an early evening, and shared stories in bed of what they had been up to during their time apart. The next morning, things were slightly hectic as they packed up the apartment she had been living in, and moved to meet Luna in the lobby.


    When they arrived, they were pulled through space and appeared in a chaos ship. Liz could feel the change in reality that indicated they were outside real space.


    To her own shame, Liz had not worked up the courage to broach the subject about them staying on The Path, and just basked in their time together.


    Seeing Matt unbothered, and flopped onto a couch as if he had traversed chaotic spae a dozen times, she mentally noted that Luna must have taken Matt off the normal paths during their travels. He hadnt mentioned that, but he might not have realized what it implied.


    Luna came into the room, and Liz waited for the shorter woman to speak.


    She had known that Luna wanted to have a conversation when they finished the Tier 9 rift, nearly two and a half years ago, but had acquiesced to Matt asking if they could dy that.


    It seemed that now was the time.


    Luna inspected her in a way that Liz had to resist shifting away from. Her slitted purple eyes were piercing, more like a predator looking at prey than a demanding instructor.


    What do you think we should do next?


    Since Luna was looking solely at Matt, Liz refrained from answering herself.


    Matt shrugged. If we aren''t going to be making rifts, I assume that well be returning to a more normal delve schedule.


    Luna finally looked to Liz and waited.


    Knowing it was her time, Liz said, I think your ns are more dependent on whether or not we''re leaving The Path, and if so, when.


    Feeling Matt tense up, Liz patted his forearm.


    She wasn''t happy that Luna was forcing the conversation now, but epted that this was the time to broach the topic that she was avoiding. She could only hope that Matt could understand where she wasing from.


    For her, The Path was more about proving her independence, and that she was more than her parents'' daughter to the Empire atrge. She also enjoyed her time on The Path with Matt and Aster. Growing together was fun, and she wanted to reach the peak of power with them. She knew that Matt was more pragmatic about it, but he still liked The Path for the opportunity it had given him, and how it had changed the course of his life. He was just practical enough to step off when it was no longer a positive for his long term growth.


    She just didnt want to be alone.


    Gathering her courage and ignoring Luna, Liz turned to Matt and said, We don''t need to leave The Path. Either of us.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120


    Matt''s return had been amazing. He might have failed in his surprise arrival, but he spent good quality time with Liz and Aster that night. When they returned to real space, he had even gotten a reply message from Dena and Eric. They had questioned his rapid rise to Tier 8 in an unheard-of amount of time.


    It had been touching to see them worry about him having gotten himself into trouble. Them being willing to extract him from said trouble gave him a warm feeling, and he wanted to put their fears to rest.


    Having seen that this reply message to his quietly hinting at his Talent was weeks old, there was no rush to get another message out to them. He intended to respond while they were traveling with Luna, and would enlist Lizs help to craft a message if they hadn''t understood.


    His good mood was ruined when Liz said, We don''t need to leave The Path. Either of us.


    Lizs words echoed through Matt''s mind like the persistent shaking and silence-shattering bang of a gong.


    It just didnt make any sense. Theyd talked about it. Matt would need every bit of mana concentration he could get.


    Seeing his confusion, Liz started exining, Luna is overstating the mana concentration problem.


    Hearing their trainer scoff, Liz forged on and asked, You know the increase in effective power from mana concentration is a log10 correct?


    Matt nodded. He had looked it up before, but with a base value of 1 mana concentration, he would be quickly outssed in mana power, which was the problem.


    Seeing him nod, Liz continued. That means your strength doubles when you go from 1.00 mana concentration to 10.00. That''s three times stronger from one to one hundred; so on and so forth. Do you know what that means?


    Matt nodded slowly. Yes it means that I need every bit of mana concentration I can get.


    Liz looked happy that he was hearing her out, and blurted out, Yes! That''s all I thought about as well. She looked at Luna and gave the woman a dirty look. Luna only gave us half the picture, though. I''ve been working on making better mana concentration potions for you, but that got me into the actual math of mana concentration, and the potions that affect it the same.


    Matt felt his chest loosen slightly at that information. Liz was always looking out for his best interest, including taking her training time to try and create all-new potions, just for him. It was just more evidence that she loved him.


    Liz looked to Luna, probably expecting her to say something, but when their manager didnt stop her, Liz forged on. The Tier 32 potions you''re using from Aunt Helen are meant for Tier 32s. Seeming to try and inject some levity, she said with a half-grin, Surprising, I know. These are rough estimates based on what I could find, but when a Tier 32 uses one, theyll lose about 900,000 mana, which is about 10% of their total mana at that Tier. In return, they get around 90,000 mana concentration, and their limits for mana regeneration and max mana go up a ton.


    Matt felt Aster perk up at that from her ce on the couch, and he responded in kind. None of this sounded like a reason that he needed less than all the mana concentration he could get.


    Seeing that he was still following along, Liz went in for her killing argument. Mana concentration is obtained from sacrificing mana. It''s not a one for one, or even a hard value for value, but we can assume that for every ten mana lost, you gain one concentration. That''s why you only got about 14 mana concentration from thest potion. You don''t have enough to sacrifice. When you have millions, 1 or 2 mana concentration will mean nothing.


    She watched his eyes as he processed what she was implying, and his own mind raced. He hadnt thought of that. Luna had said that mana concentration mattered, and after checking that mages in the higher Tiers could hit millions, he had agreed with the assessment and resigned himself to leaving The Path.


    It was like his old swords. He was attached to them for what they had done for him, keeping him alive and allowing him to fight, but he wouldn''t use one after he had outgrown it. That was stupid, and he applied the same logic to The Path.


    But The Path had more sentimentality for him. It had given him his current ce in life, led him to meet his friends, and helped him be someone that others could look up to. Matt didnt think he would be the person he was today without The Path.


    Liz then added, Matt, if you can get to 100,000 mana concentration, your mana will only be one third weaker than a mage with 100,000,000 mana concentration, as they will only have 50% more mana density than you. That''s the same gap that a normal melee fighter will have. The next ten Tiers will mean nothing when you have millions of mana. And you won''t only have 100,000 mana concentration. You''ll get far more than that, even if you never catch up to us normal mages.


    Luna finally interjected, The next Tiers matter less than the teens, but they <em>still</em> matter. Why leave any power on the table? Thats the height of folly and foolishness.


    Matt took a deep breath as he processed everything, and used his own AI to run the numbers, following the logic that Liz had brought up. His confusion and resignation at his predicament slowly churned in his mind, until he had a better idea of the situation.


    Matt looked at Luna and narrowed his eyes as he asked, Is that true?


    Luna looked unashamed as she said, If you are willing to settle for mediocrity, yes. You can do more than that, Matthew. You can be the perfect mage, <em>and </em>the perfect warrior. You can earn a few hundred mana concentration before you hit Tier 19, and then we can really get you a lot of it. Despite Lizs impassioned speech, that <em>isn''t</em> nothing. It would be like taking a dull sword versus a sharpened sword into a fight. Certainly theyre both useful, but which would you rather have?


    He shook his head. It wasn''t surprising that Luna had let him believe the difference was sorge but the difference wasn''t a sharp sword vs an unsharpened one. It was more than the difference between a club and a mace. They could both do the same job but one was sturdier than the other.


    Without bothering to mask his annoyance Matt replied, And you would have let me fall off The Path for something a single potion would make irrelevant in a few Tiers?


    Luna met his re and calmly responded, No. I would have you not suffer at all. You need the best. Youll need higher Tier potions to keep hitting zero. Think, Matt. At Tier 15, youll be almost perfectly using a Tier 32 mana concentration potion. What about after that? Will you leave power on the table? You wouldn''t have lost anything of value by leaving, and you would have gained even more of my support. Better trainers and items would be the least of what I could provide. No limits to the Tier 35s who can fight in the wars. I don''t see any issues here.


    He tried to remain logical and think it through. Luna was a perfectionist, and he could see her obsessing over a fraction of a percent of power.


    Liz must have seen something on his face and added, That''s entirely true, Matt. I''m not trying to lie to you. If we need to leave The Path, I will. But we don''t.


    He knew she was serious, and nodded.


    His partner turned to Luna and said, I assume you have something in mind.


    Yes, I


    Matt shook his head and interrupted as a second answer came to him. Wait, wait, wait. All this talk of potions got me thinking. Where are my rewards for creating three new skills for The Empire? Okay, one of which is useless, Ill give you that. But the second one is fairly valuable, and the third is downright priceless. And then creating rifts for [Bandage] and [Endurance] out on the frontier. And even the basic research on rifts. I should get a portion of credit, even if most of it goes to Erwin. That should be enough to get me anything I need.


    Liz turned and joined Matt in his questioning nce to Luna. Aster yowled slightly, adding her own voice. They were a united front against Luna.


    Luna just sighed. What can you give for something priceless that must also be hidden? Any official rewards must be able to clear the fact check of an AI. That makes it incredibly difficult with your past rewards from the dragon blood rift. Too much luck and corresponding rewards will still g the AIs about outside help, let along creating new priceless rifts. And you are already pushing that limit. If there are any discrepancies, the other Great Powers could use that to make a smear campaign. It wouldn''t lower thebat prowess of the fighter, but it would ruin the entire Empires prestige. That matters more than you know.


    Matt was about to say something to rebut that, but Luna talked faster. No one is disputing your efforts, Matthew. But for now, things must be kept quiet. I do know that your reward for reaching Tier 10 will be increased to amodate thatck. I told you, if you beat the Tier 9 rift, I would help you push all the way. I''m not your enemy. I applied and got approved for another three Tier 32 mana concentration potions. Anything else will have to wait until you leave The Path. If you want more after that, you need to reach Tier 15, and so forth.


    Luna was crazy, but she had honored her deal. Matt could admit that, but he was still upset as his mind raced through everything with a new perspective.


    Rubbing his face, he asked, After Tier 19, what do we do when my mana increases further? I do see the problem, but I don''t know enough. He looked to Liz and asked, What about your potion stuff?


    He wanted to be more grateful for her even trying, but he didnt have the time to properly appreciate her help, so he just made an AI note to thank herter.


    Liz shook her head, but Luna spoke first. That isn''t practical. Our best bet is to use Erwin and his Talent for Tiering things up. The problem is, you need to be able to afford a Tier 32s services. <em>At market rate</em>.


    Matt mentally winced, knowing how valuable that was.


    Luna didnt pause. Even then, that''s only a stop-gap measure. I don''t even think theoretical Tier 50 potions will work on you past Tier 25. I have other ideas, but none as promising. Alchemy has a chance of working, but we''ll see. It mighte down to you making specialized rifts to find herbs or something. I believe the Emperor will be working on the same problem from an imperial standpoint. We can only hope to see what maye.


    Matt started pacing as he worked out his thoughts, So the Emperor will get me the best potions he can get, but Ill lose out on some potential mana concentration if we stay on. Even if we don''t, there are no potions that can reduce mana by the trillions. I just need enough to stay relevant.


    He nodded to himself, as that seemed to jive with everything that both women had said.


    You''re our trainer. You''re meant to help us. Not give me half information for a few percentage points now, that only add a fraction to the big pictureter.


    He shot Luna a look that he hoped conveyed his irritation.


    Luna nodded slowly and caught his eyes. I truly believe that any loss in potential isnt worth staying on the Path for. You want math and hard numbers; you shall have them. I still think youll need to step off The Path after Tier 20 to avoid falling behind, unless we discover some other way to increase your mana concentration. Even you can see that math. Dont forget that staying unnoticed is important for your safety.


    Matt felt like a toy that two children wanted, while each held an arm and tugged at it. It wasn''t Luna versus Liz. It was everyone else versus him and his wants and desires.


    He heard the warning in thatst sentence, but he didn''t like it.


    That left them all quietly contemtive. Looking to Liz, he could see that she didnt have an answer for that particr problem. She had no issue in leaving The Path if he needed her to do so. He had never doubted her sincerity. He just didnt want to force her to. He had never wanted to leave The Path; it was a symbol of protection for every scared young orphan in the Empire. And now, he might not need to. Him having even 100,000 mana concentration was one percent of a true mages raw mana concentration, but it would make him only half as weak in spell power.


    He also knew that a fight wasn''t purely decided on how hard one hit. Otherwise, there would be no top-levelbatants who were melee fighters. How well you fought and could read a battlefield was infinitely more important than just raw power. And Matt would have more mana than any mage. He would not only be physically stronger, he would be faster, and would have a greater variety of skills to use in a fight.


    Melee fighters usually used fewer skills, but further customized them to increase their mastery, thus increasing their damage.


    Matt could do that, but he would also have all the options that a mage would in a fight, while also having an unlimited number of skills that he could cast.


    Looking at the numbers again, he shook his head.


    Even at the worst yields that he could get from mana concentration potions, he expected his mana to be seventy percent as strong as a mage.


    Matt shook his head again. He wanted to stay, and said so.


    The dark-haired woman shrugged at all three of them and their weird looks that bordered on mutinous. It was the best option to keep you two under the radar while maintaining the level of challenge that youll need to further advance.


    Lunas grin grew dark. In the meantime, I have other ideas for training.


    Asters hackles rose from where she sat, and Liz looked ufortable, but Matt was only half paying attention after her second mention of hiding. That was a bigger issue that he couldn''t easily ignore.


    The woman''s look was evil. How do you deal with higher Tier people wanting to dictate your life?


    It seemed to take Liz a moment toprehend what the woman was getting at, but she answered quickly. There isn''t much anyone can do. The power difference in Tiers is just toorge to fight back. Liz must not have thought the question was that simple, and added as she thought, If you don''t have a backing, you need to be strong yourself. There arews, but they can only do so much.


    Luna then turned without speaking to Matt.


    Matt half answered as he thought, Hide? The way he said it was more of a question than a statement, but Luna just turned to Aster.


    The fox whined slightly before saying. Nothing?


    Luna sighed. Correct. Or close enough. You need power or influence to survive people stronger than yourself. But if your value is too high, you draw a target on your back. Matt will be exposed, and probably captured if we don''t y this carefully. Staying lowkey is our greatest strength. Now, the best way to prevent that is to not be noticed. I intend for us to do that, but to seed, we need to y things properly. In the meantime, no more rift creation. Well also be training more with nobat topics.


    A series of messages started to ping Matts AI.


    Ignoring the fact that she used her hated AI, Luna said, I sent you information packets. You can decide what you want to do, but first, I want you two to learn how to blend in. Ill be training you on urban stealth and assassinations to start. I want you to be able to break into secure areas and steal something, or kill someone. I hope you''ll get good enough that you can stop any such attempts on your own lives.


    As Matt skimmed through the list of other topics, Liz paused and asked, Why are you adding more cultivator versus cultivator training?


    Luna once again looked tired and asked, Is there any way I can convince any of you three to not fight in the uing wars?


    Matt flinched hard enough that he felt Aster respond. It was like a boulder had been thrown into his own turbulent thoughts.


    Liz slowly said, I wanted to say that I wouldn''t, but as the thought settled, I rejected it. If there is going to be a war where The Empire was being attacked because other Great Powers were jealous, I cant sit by and do nothing. What good is strength if not used to protect what I value? The Empire is my home. So how can I let others risk themselves and do nothing myself? No, I can''t do that.


    Liz was noble, but that wasn''t where Matts thoughts had gone.


    Luna just sighed. These warsst for, at minimum, decades, and usually drag on for centuries. Don''t be in a rush. But I didnt expect you three to be willing to sit out. It''s also good training for you all. Fighting only matters more as you Tier up.


    Seeing something on their faces, Luna barked, But don''t think I''m going to let you three go into any fight without proper preparation. The real wars aren''t a game, and even I can''t save you if you choose to fight. Although I will try to talk you out of it, Ill still prepare for that eventuality.


    Luna looked at Matt and caught his eyes. I don''t have any proof, but Id bet all my money that higher Tier people who will remain nameless won''t want you on the front lines.


    Matt flinched at the mention of him being put in a box. That''s bullshit! No. How is that fair? Why cant I help defend the Empire? War is approaching, and it''s not going to be an even fight between two Great Powers. Everything youve said suggests that well basically be getting ganged up on.


    Thatment struck far too close to his own thoughts on the subject.


    He started pacing again, and his anger bled over to Aster once more, putting her on edge.


    Matt shook his head as Luna said, I''m sure that theyll say something like, you''re more valuable in the back lines. Even while hiding your Talent, there is a lot you can do to power things quietly.


    I don''t like that. It feels too close to being merely a battery. It feels too passive, like waiting for others to do all the work.


    Luna scoffed, Be grateful that Emmanuel isn''t his father. If the old Emperor was still here, you would already <em>be</em> in that box you so desperately fear. Without a doubt. Georgios was far more pragmatic than his son. He would have imprisoned you for the greater good the second that your Talent was fixed. For the greater good, and your own protection. A warship''s battery is put behind all the armor, after all. You would have been well treated, but you would have never been afforded any measure of freedom. But I dont know Emmanuel that well.


    Liz nearly shouted, Uncle Manny wouldn''t do that!


    Luna raised a hand to quell hering tyrade. I like the man too, for all hes done for the Empire as it is. I respect him and his word. She then shrugged a single shoulder. Still, I don''t know the man well enough to confirm that he wouldnt be of a simr mindset to his fathers, considering the abundance that sits on The Path. Its right here, not ten feet from me.


    Matt felt like a toy once again, being too weak to decide anything for himself. If someone else found out about his Talent, he would be shoved in a box. If the Emperor was kind, he would be allowed some freedom, but he would still be a prisoner. If another Great Power found out about it, war would surely follow, which would lead to countless deaths.


    It was different when he <em>chose</em> to give mana, but when that choice was taken from him, it would poison the well.


    If he wasn''t strong enough, he would ultimately be a captive in his own home.


    He needed to be strong enough to refuse on his own merits.


    He was being stifled and repressed.


    It was suffocating.


    He was <em>not</em> being endless. He needed others protection just to train, and avoid being abducted. His very existence was the temptation of a lifetime and beyond.


    Needing to let out the fear of the unknown, Matt punched out at the air with that thought,shing out at the hopelessness that threatened to drown him. He realized that all roads could ceaselessly lead to someone more powerful or well off putting him in a hole somewhere, forcing him to power their own will and machinations.


    It was like a wet nket had been draped over the room, and then tightened. Space itself locked down, aligning with the air that reacted to Matt''s anger.


    At the edge of his vision, he could see what looked to be heat waves rippling. Liz and Aster looked stifled, but Luna seemed unbothered.


    That was just another reminder that he was weak.


    If he was weak, he could have no agency. Matt would not be a toy for others to use and discard when they were done. He would not be taken out of the box to be yed with, then returned for, <em>his own protection</em>.


    Matt was no one''s prize; he was no ones endless battery.


    He turned to Luna and growled, I will not be a tool to be used. The edges of his vision flickered with that same heat that hed barely registered earlier. Not by my enemies, nor by my well-intentioned allies. I refuse both the iron cell and the golden cage. I am more than a means to an end.


    Luna was unbothered by Matt''s Concept, and just smiled in a way that he could only interpret as a cat whose prey had moved exactly where they had wanted it to. It made him wary.


    Matthew, I know you don''t agree with me wanting you off The Path. But besides that, have I ever let you give me anything but your all? Have I ever epted anything but your best? Have I not pushed you to be strong? Ask yourself, why? Why not keep you weak and pampered?


    Matt''s sh of anger waned, and the force of his Concept slipped away as he slowly puzzled it out. You expected this, and you don''t like it either. That''s why you want me strong. So I can break out of any cage.


    He honestly hadnt expected that. Luna had seen farther than he had, and had already tried to n for it. She had her own ideas about what was best for him, but she didnt want him to be weak.


    He figured that all of her insistence on strength was due to her obsession with perfection and efficiency. That could still be the majority of her motive, but Matt now knew that there was more behind her machinations.


    Luna paced around him. Yes, Matt. Exactly. I dont like the idea of your potential being wasted any more than you want to be a mana ve. I also don''t think The Emperor will force you into bing one, but youre going to need to prove that you won''t die in the first fight, if you wish to move with impunity. No one will allow you to risk your life for something as foolish as pride. You need to prove that youre a beast too rabid and strong to cage. I want you to be strong. We agree on the end result. We just disagree on the best path to get you there.


    As he listened to Luna''s impassioned speech, he reviewed all of her actions so far. At least, with the persona she had disyed, her wanting him off The Path made sense.


    He didn''t think that she was lying to him now. If he understood her properly, and he thought he did, she wouldn''t even consider letting a millionth of a percent of power be wasted. So exining the actual math never urred to her.


    Matt thought for a moment longer, then stuck out his hand to shake. He might not agree with everything Luna wanted, but he truly believed that she wanted what was best for hisbat prowess. And right now, he needed that kind of support more than ever.


    To keeping me out of a box. He was still fuming, but managed to crack a joke.


    Luna nodded and grasped his wrist. We have long to go if were to aplish that, Matthew. Which means training. Go sit down.


    After he had sat down and took Lizs hand, Luna gestured off to the side, and a hidden screen was revealed as a panel of the wall moved. A was disyed, apanied with various statistics.


    First thing I want you three to do is infiltrate a high society gathering for youths of the nobles and influential guild leaders. Your mission will be to find out as much as possible about each noble house. For further missions, you will be using the information you gather to do other things, like steal or assassinate designated targets.


    Seeing Matt''s hesitation, Luna rolled her eyes. It will be Kurt or me acting as the target for most of them. If I want to have you really kill someone, I would need to have you register with one of the assassin guilds, and we aren''t going to do that. Maybe I''ll have you put a letter in someone''s pocket or something. We''ll see.


    Besides that, Matt noticed a plethora of other lessons, such as multteral thinking, weapons training with masters, foreignnguage training, and crafting training for the skills they did use.


    It seemed like Luna wanted have them to learn everything in the next dozen years.


    Liz dug her fingers into Asters fur and entwined her other hand with Matts.


    He took a lot offort from that.


    They were a team.


    When Luna finally left, Matt turned and hugged Liz and Aster.


    Thanks for letting me know.


    Liz hugged him back. We''re a team.


    Aster wiggled in between them and pushed hugs to them both.


    It was nice to have them on his side.


    He jokingly wondered if Luna gave snuggles in cat form.


    They went to sleep early that night after a quiet dinner.


    He showed them around their suite in the ship, but none of them had the energy to enjoy it. They were too tired from the emotionally charged day, and called it an early night.


    When they woke the next morning, Matt recognized a feeling in the air from his travels with Luna. She would being to brief him on training today. If she kept to the same pattern as she had on thest trip, she woulde right after he ate breakfast. He had no idea if she was actually doing something, but he could always tell.


    So as he cooked, he filled in Liz and Aster. So my Sponsors finally got back to me.


    Oh? Liz set the pad she was tapping at off to the side and asked as she sat at the table.


    Yeah. They were worried that I had gotten myself into trouble and was cheating somehow, with how fast my speed of advancement had been.


    Aster chuffed, and Liz snickered.


    What did you say?


    I just said my Talent was good for something after all. I only got the reply message when I was back in real space, so I didnt have any time to respond. I haven''t even read it yet honestly.


    As he put down breakfast for them, he projected the message to the pad Liz had been using, and they watched the video.


    Dena was sitting to the right and Eric to the left.


    They waved, and Eric said, Hey Matt. We''re pretty sure we understood your message and the implied logic behind it. I suspect you have a management team yourself.


    Dena rolled her eyes and said, Honestly, if were at all close on our guess for what it is, we could use your Talent ourselves. We''re mming our heads against a wall at Tier 24 rifts. Delving three up isn''t easy, as I''m sure you''re aware of, or will soon find out.


    She waggled her arm. Lost my entire right side in thest delve, so we''re back on a healing cooldown. Same reason we were able to go scout you back then, if were being honest.


    Eric nodded. Ugh, yeah. Had a monster chew off my arms, which is why I was working on my mana control. Might as well use a healing cooldown for something useful, you know. If I had better control, I might not have lost my shield spell.


    They chatted about the random things they had been up to in thest few years for half an hour while Matt chuckled and listened along.


    The duo werent a substitute for his parents. He didn''t know them nearly that well, but they were like older friends, or a distant aunt and uncle he could trust and look up to.


    They had helped him so much, even if they had just been randomly asked by aary AI to investigate him. They had still said yes, and were kind to him when he needed it most.


    He wouldn''t forget that.


    Anyways, Matt. We want to get your manager to coordinate with our manager so we can be sure to be at your Tier 10 tournament. We''re getting close to falling off The Path, and we will have to do something after that, but we want to make sure that we can see youpete. We came in second ce during our year. Eric seemed almost wistful as he reminisced.


    Dena nodded. When you make it as far as we do on The Path, there are a ton of opportunities that open up for you. We''re joining the army for the next few centuries to help Matt didnt miss Eric''s shift subtly, and Dena seemed to change what she was going to say. With whatever they need us to do. Well probably be cleaning toilets or something.


    Theyughed it off, and if Matt hadnt been keenly aware of the uing war, he would have missed their meaning.


    Dena wanted to tell Matt that they were going to fight in the war, but Eric had warned her off, and she had agreed.


    Remembering their first message that you could never be sure you weren''t being watched, unless you were in a rift, had a new meaning. Especially after he had spent so much time with his own management team.


    As if to prove his point, Luna walked in and said, I''ll let their manager know. Dena and Eric Hmm. They implied that they''re fighting up three Tiers to Tier 24 rifts at Tier 21. That''s impressive. Even if theyre getting wounded, they aren''t dying outright. They''re going to be folded into the special operations section of the army.


    Seeing that they didnt understand, Luna smirked and exined. The special operations section of the army does exactly what the name implies. <em>Special </em>things. Actually, Kurt can exin this better. He was a part of them.


    She turned to the side, and Kurt appeared, standing next to her.


    He quickly wrote, I was there for my second contract. And yes, I believe any Pather who makes it that far, with that strength, will be selected to that section. I worked with plenty of people like them. The whole point of the section is to solve or create problems for the enemies. We went behind enemy lines, or we reinforced our own side when we were getting hammered. If they aren''t exaggerating their power, they''re top Pathers, so theyll do fine. But well need to let them know when the tournament is if they wish to go. The training for that position takes a decade, and then the missions can take far longer, depending...


    His pen trailed off as he wrote, then scratched out, And with the war...


    Kurt stuck up his thumb as his board wrote, I know people in themand structure. Worry not. They should be able to show.


    As Matt thanked the older trainer, Luna waived off the problem. It doesn''t matter. We have things to do. Matt, you know what you did yesterday?


    He was worried that she was mad about him yelling and cursing at her, but her next words put him at ease. You locked down space. And quite well. That''s the second time you''ve done it without knowing. And you''re pretty good at it. We just need to get you to do so consciously.


    The second time? When did I


    Luna waved for silence. When you fought that Talous boy. Now, I need you to focus. We only have a week of travel, and I''ll be damned if you take that long to figure it out.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121


    Matt struggled with locking down space more than he expected. He knew that it was well within his capabilities, but he still struggled with performing the maneuver consciously.


    Luna was not patient. She started out by guiding him through exercise, but eventually, her guidance devolved into mockery.


    Despite knowing that she was only needling him, the tactic worked wonders. With her throwing increasingly childish taunts at him, he was able to lock down space through sheer frustration.


    After that first sess, they simply worked backwards with a calmer mind, until he was able to lock down space with intent and a reasonable degree of repeatability.


    His actual ability to lock down space was subpar at best, and Luna was able to use his own level of power to break through his Concept with ease. Her technique was leagues above his own; that was to be expected. To improve, they yed a game involving her stealing his cups and utensils while eating, in which he had to prevent her interruptions.


    The exercises actually became somewhat fun once he refined his initial mental image.


    When he wanted to lock down the area around himself, he imagined the space as being <em>his</em>. If it was his, then no one else could affect it, which meant nothing got in or out.


    Luna had a way of slipping inside his awareness and cementing herself as a part of the reality that he was holding an image of, which meant she was able to circumvent his efforts effortlessly.


    His first counter was to explicitly exclude her and anything that reminded him of her, but she shattered that attempt simply by changing her hair color, which was enough of a difference to render his mental image useless.


    She didmend his efforts, but told him that singr exceptions were a bad idea unless you were in a one-on-one fight. They were more efficient in willpower usage, but they left you vulnerable to the opponent changing something about themselves and bypassing your shallow defense.


    No, it was better to use a broad mental image, and rely on the fact that distance was a massive factor in a contest of willpower. So, Matt worked on building a better understanding of reality, and willing it to remain as it was.


    Eventually, he stumbled on his current image, which was to ovey his Concept and use a white hole vomiting energy to prevent any spatial shenanigans. If his mana was flooding the area, it was obviously part of him, which meant that he had a greater level of control than anyone else. Foreign influences had to contest with the endless expulsion of mana pushing them away.


    That worked fantastically, except it drained his willpower immensely, since he was keeping two effects up at the same time.


    Theynded on the before Matt was able to make any sizable headway on solely using his Concepts mental image of a white hole, while suppressing its mana generation function.


    When they arrived on the, they started scouting their target. The manor was a small countryside vi that used to be owned by a noble family that had lost power. In the shuffle of the power vacuum, the residence was discarded. A local merchant picked up ownership, but never used the estate, and eventually resold it.


    That trend repeated until now. It was currently owned by the son of a Tier 22 bowyer. He was seemingly unmotivated to cultivate, as he was only Tier 7, and looked to be middle-aged.


    Lunas goal for them was to simply steal a painting that hung in the hallway of the main entrance.


    Not thinking too much of the project, they casually scouted the building and its formations for a few days. When the noble left for a short time, they rushed in and kicked down the front door, looking to take the painting and leave.


    At least, that was the idea. In practice, they ended up locked in the courtyard by a mana barrier as they tried to leave.


    The three of them turned in fear at the sound of pping from behind them.


    It was what they expected; Luna and Kurt were there, but they were apanied by a third man.


    They recognized the unexpected third party as the person living in the manor. Except, he was no longer Tier 7, but was instead well beyond Matt''s ability to scan with his spiritual sense.


    The new man was the one pping. Well done! Well done. You managed to fall into the simplest of any estates security. Well done!


    He shook his head and walked over, introducing himself. Ignatius, Tier 35, and one of the best espionage operators currently active in the Empire.


    Ignatius gestured to his face, and not that he was close, Matt could see that half of his face seemed waxy, and didnt quite move correctly.


    This is what happens when you mess up in the real world. Peoplee and try to kill you, and if you aren''t good enough, you get hurt. I lost everything from my ear down after myst mission. I''m held together with my own mana generation and [Regeneration] running constantly. Im so far over the healing cooldown that I''m lucky to be alive. It''s also why Im able to see to your training for the next year and a half.


    Aster yipped a question in return. If you''re so good, howd you get hurt?


    There was no malice in her tone, but Matt winced at the uncouth question.


    Ignatius didnt seem bothered. I got out because I''m good. The enemy isn''t stupid either never doubt that. Im not bragging when I say that any lesser agent would have been killed out of hand. I also was able toplete my mission, if that settles your fur.


    Luna stepped forward and said, Ignatius usually only trains the best of the best for the Empires active spies, assassins, and other covert operators. He only agreed to train you while he recovers. Do note that his being here abides by The Paths rules of only using Tier 35 and under for training, despite his being the best. Also, you will still have to pay for his training as usual, though the cost will be higher. Dont waste his time. Once he recovers enough, he''s gone.


    All three of them nodded as Ignatius started to lecture them about the estate, while he shuffled around on a leg that seemed to hesitate behind the other.


    Matt had to respect the Tier 35. He was able to talk at great length about everything from formations, to smithing, to being a servant.


    One thing he said stuck out to Matt.


    This job isn''t just about spying or assassinating people. Those other professions do what I do, but they dont need to know as much. They know what''s relevant to their profession, and thats it. They don''t need an expansive knowledge base, so they be awfully good at their portion of the job. Take an assassin. They''ll be masters of remaining hidden, infiltrating, and exfiltrating, while a spy will be good at blending in and gathering information. But they''re careful not to get bogged down during their espionage.


    Ignatius paused at that and pointed to the three of them. You don''t need to be a master. Find out whats required, and learn to be proficient at it. I doubt that you two will ever be good operatives. You''re all too damnbative. Look at your first attempt. You idiots just kicked down the front door. But that can work, in certain situations. If you know you can fight your way out, you can always have that option as a fallback. But never make it your first course of action. The best operations are the ones where no one knows what happened, but going in loud can work sometimes.


    ***


    Ignatius walked them through nning andpleting several jobs in theing months, but he wasn''t their only trainer.


    Luna, or rather April, as the stressed woman had finally returned, found them trainers for nearly everything.


    Etiquette and table manners training were torture for Matt, but he took the time to learn and improve in his defenses, as far as the rules of courtly dinner were concerned. As his instructor had once said, The many knives before you mean little to the other nobles who wield the de of their influence. Excell here, and their des just might hang limply long enough for you to curry their favor, turn them against one another, or strike first.


    Then, Matt grabbed the wrong sd fork, and received a whipping on the knuckles with a ruler from the stoic man. It irritated him far more than it hurt.


    The mundane training provided much more enjoyment. For him, it was a breeze to insert himself back into a normal cook or farm hand position. Matt even found some inspiration for his rift work after joining a rift farming operation. Thebat team would clear the rift, then a team of farmers would set up the automated farming equipment, and after ensuring it was working correctly, leave.


    The idea to use fertile rifts with automated seeders and harvesters was a brilliant idea that he messaged Erwin about, and they started theory-crafting rifts explicitly designed for the purpose. The ideal rifts were open ins with an avable water source, and not too many hills or trees.


    The rift Matt helped in was only a Tier 6 rift, which made it almost amusing to have to pretend to be scared with the other workers. While he could understand their trepidation at the prospect of monstersing from anywhere at any time, he had long since lost that initial fear himself, with the years ofbat experience that he had at his disposal. He was far from an expert still, but having to pretend to balk at the idea of setting foot in a rift was odd.


    He mused inwardly as he milled about and loitered with the other nervousness helpers. He had never acted this way, even before his first rift.


    Matt had always wanted this.


    He could have killed every monster in the rift with his eyes closed, but for the workers who huddled around the rift entrance distortion, it was a scary few minutes as thebat team cleared the areas directly surrounding the entrance.


    Both sides had done this before, and while the farmers trusted thebatants to protect them, they were all Tier 5 or below. Whenbined with theirck ofbat skills, theirck of strength gave them good reason to be afraid. Matt had to admit that thebat team he was paired with was professional; they constantly reassured the farmers that everything was safe.


    When they finished clearing the rift, they returned and informed the farming team that it was ok for them to start. The rift was full of centaurs, which meant there was no worry of monsters hiding in the shadows somewhere to attack them.


    When they got the all-clear, Matt joined the others as they mapped out the edges of the rift, and set the machines to work. Under the endless sun and fertile soil, the giant, crab-like seeders and harvester drones would cut the grass down and till it under the ground, helping the fields grow for the next few years.


    Matt was a part of the mapping team, who had to ce markers so that the visual optics of the farming equipment wouldn''t run into the invisible boundaries of the rift. While the rift looked like an endless in of grass, it wasn''t, and setting up responders for the harvester was much cheaper than repairing it for damage.


    For the job, Matt was apanied by one of the fighters who kept a ready guard to protect him from anything. While he didnt need it, the character he was ying did, and Ignatius had drilled into Matt that an operative had to y the part to the fullest of their ability.


    It was interesting to watch the five harvester crabs get to work. They all stopped over at the water extractor, which had been ced in a river before they started cutting the tall grass and tilling it into the ground.


    It was crazy to think that in half a year, the rift would then start sending out a variety of crops, which would continue for three years, until the rift''s soil was depleted and no longer suitable for growing. Then the harvesters would leave, and would be quickly sent back in. With thousands of instances running the same operation simultaneously, a single rift was able to provide for a city of millions on its own.


    Every hour, the rift had a new team sent in, which meant that they had a little over twenty-five thousand units in constant use.


    Apparently, it was a tactic used on most well-establisheds. In the higher Tiers, they would have bigger rifts that could feed even more people before the soil was depleted. Erwin told him that the output of a single rift provided food for each of the seven hundred billion people on the capital.


    Matt fell in love with the idea, and the two of them used their free time to try and theorize the perfect rift for crop farming. They were sidetracked into talking about an ideal rift for producing meat as well, via the rift monsters. They eventually decided to trybining both perfect farming space and livestock monsters into one rift. It wouldn''t be too useful for lower Tier worlds, as they didntck fornd, and had no way to purchase the necessary number of Tier 15 harvesters, but that didnt stop them from nning during their free time.


    Liz, on the other hand, struggled with the mundane training, due to herck of experience. Though, she wasnt a skeptical, spoiled princess. She had lived on her own, and knew how to survive in the wilds as well as any delver.


    Shecked the experience of working in a professional kitchen during a dinner rush. She never had to personally scrub toilets after someone made a mess. She was new to dealing with angry customers who wanted to vent their anger at someone that couldn''t tell them to jump off a roof.


    Liz simply had never walked in the shoes of amon citizen trying to get by and struggled to slip into the necessary mindset.


    The situation was actually kind of nice for the couple. Matt was able to help her learn some things about themon folk, and she was able to help him learn how to act in high society.


    Neither became experts at the aspects of life that were foreign to them, but the training allowed them to turn hard work into fun.


    When the focus of their training returned tobat, Kurt insisted that Matt needed to bring his skills with his other weapons up to par. He told Matt that he couldnt solely rely on being an expert with his longsword, and Matt had readily agreed. The problem was, the man was an insufferable teacher who refused to exin anything, and expected Matt to decode the lessons from their practice bouts.


    Matt finally became so fed up with theck ofmunication that he asked for his instructor to be reced. April seemed inordinately pleased with the request, and had a new instructor there in a month.


    Despite their other training, the trio primarily focused on espionage work with Ignatius. As time went on, they learned about blending into various upations, and how to identify others doing the same. They eventually settled into the various roles more readily, though it was still hard work.


    Matt had fun with the training, and actually liked employing the covert skills in the field. Their first real mission ended in disaster, as Aster identally tripped an rm with her tail, but they learned from their mistakes.


    The bakery they had broken into had a surprisingly robust security AI installed, which identified her not as a burr, but as not wearing the proper attire for being behind the counter.


    They had gotten away without a hitch, but it was a good lesson about not being able to prepare for everything.


    After the year of practice with Ignatius, they moveds, settled down, and started doing small jobs while training.


    While they didnt increase their Tier, the three of them rapidly grew inbat ability, from all the training Luna had lined up for them.


    With Erwin, Matt finally settled in and started training his AI, despite being quite sure Luna would rather he not. But he suspected that in the battle between efficiency and her hatred of AI, the need to make sure he was at his best would always win for Luna.


    His AI rapidly improved itsbat predictions, but that was the least noteworthy improvement. Matt and Erwin focused his massive mana regeneration to expand its work functions, and recreate all the standard functions that a normal AI could do, like identification, to take better advantage of his unique mana situation.


    But the best new skill Matt had honed over his next two years of training was how to fly with his Concept.


    He was slow, and a little unstable, but it was true flight without the use of a skill, or a de beneath his feet.


    Matt spent hours creeping along the ceiling to scare Liz, or pick up and twirl Aster.


    It turned into a game, and he would mess with them a little whenever they were lounging around. Despite neither of them figuring out how to fly themselves, they <em>did</em> both learn to lock down their own bodies with their Concepts, effectively stopping Matt from messing with them directly.


    That stymied Matt for a while, until he took a page from Luna''s book and started manipting the air around them, which led to them learning how to lock down an area beyond their own bodies. It had taken them quite some time, so he had his fun, but they eventually managed the impressive feat.


    Days blended into months, then into years, as if they weren''t working so hard. The age old saying, Time flies when youre having fun, came easily to mind for Matt as he reflected on the recent stretch of years that theyd spent training this way.


    He found their work on the security formations fascinating, as it advanced his knowledge of formations and enchantments by leaps and bounds.


    He was surprised to learn just how advanced higher Tier formations could get. Allegedly, formations at Tier 15 had parts shifting through spiritual and spatial dimensions, making it impossible to view them without the use of a finely honed, higher Tier spiritual sense. Matt was barely able to view more than the outline of the runes.


    While Matt didnt have a chance to create thoseplicated runes, he was able to break them more often than not, if he was given ample time.


    Aster, on the other hand, was really good at sneaking into ces where she wasn''t supposed to be, and became one of their better scouts after they got her a cor that let her change her shape to a degree. She could shift to anything from a small cat to a medium sized dog, given a few minutes to hide.


    She loved doing that sort of work, but enjoyed the more traditional education she was getting with a number of other Tier 10 and Tier 11 beasts even more. Her counterparts were just getting their own human-like minds, so she was ahead of the pack, if only slightly. She had a st spending time and ying with other bests at her level of mental acumen.


    The yful floof had a surprising head for learning, even if she willfully refused to apply it whenever it pleased her.


    Still, it was good for her to make friends and expand her horizons, despite the number of times Matt was called to exin her shenanigans.


    They were nearing the two-year mark of their training when news came that Lilly, Matt''s homeworld, had been taken over by a Margaret Thresh. She hadpleted the Emperor''s mandate and reached Tier 15 while on The Path first. Shed been a teenager when the rift breaks struck the first city, and had lost her family nearly fifty years ago.


    Directly after the tragedy, Margaret had epted a position at an off world guild, and left Lilly soon after before being scouted for The Path at Tier 2 and leaving the guild.


    She had taken the opportunity of the Emperors edict, and as a solo melee delver, rushed her way to Tier 15. There, she had immediately stepped off The Path to take control of her home.


    They were too far away for Matt to get more than a small fluff piece from one of the Empire-wide news stations, but he wanted more information, so he bought an information packet about the woman.


    By all reports, she was a kind and fair woman who was hardworking and determined.


    While she hadn''t been the Baroness of Lilly for long, she was already expanding the Empire''s incentives out of her own pockets, and had begun lowering taxes on the cities that had been hit hardest by the Rift breaks. All while encouraging the expansion out of the safe coastal areas, and into the depths of The, so there would be less uncontrolled rifts.


    Matt could find nothing indicating that Margaret was a bad person, but he didnt know how he felt about Lilly.


    On one hand, he was happy that someone who waspetent and seemed to be trying to fix everything was finally in charge. But he was sad that the world was in the hands of another. He realized the hypocrisy in that feeling, but it didn''t lessen the way he felt.


    A part of him a <em>small</em> part of him, had wanted to take control of Lilly for himself, and use his Talent to make it a high Tier world.


    He knew it was unrealistic, but he was in a funk for days, until he epted the fact and talked with Liz and Aster. Together, they decided that it was best for him to go home for a visit before the Tier 10 tournament.


    ***


    Jacob, Jake to his friends, was excited to be delving and exploring the guild''s new territory with his team.


    The New Horizons guild was a smaller operation that had only earned a slot on the new because the guild leader''s brother was serving in the army. He had cashed in some of his army merits to get his sister a slice of real estate on the frontier.


    As a Tier 19, thend grant was more than Reba could have earned on her own in the next hundred years.


    Jake had only met her twice, but he liked the guild leader. She was reasonable enough, and had given everyone a fair shake after recruitment. The terms of service with the guild were generous as well.


    With and grant of a little more than fifteen hundred square miles, they were getting a sizable chunk of real estate. It was far bigger than anything the forty members of the guild would need, but they expected to grow. Logan was back at their old, and was still trying to recruit more people.


    Jake was just happy to have been brought along, and be able to increase his Tier. He was been stuck at the peak Tier 7 for years because he couldn''t afford a Tier 8 rift. It was annoying, but he persevered.


    Thest nine months of subjugating their part of the had paid dividends. Justst night, he had broken through To Tier 9, and was nowfortably one of the <em>true</em> guild members. Since they were on a Tier 13, most of the monsters were still beyond him, but along with his team, he had given support and earned a generous portion of the essence from their kills.


    He could hardly believe his luck. Breaking through Tier 8 in a year and a half was still unbelievable. He wasn''t so brash to think that he couldve done it on his own, without his guildmates feeding him all the essence from Tier 10 monsters, but he had still done it.


    He was proud of that.


    Reba had tasked his new Tier 9 team to delve into one of the rifts in their area, and they were finally ready.


    It would be the first rift of his new Tier, so he was slightly worried about their delve, but the Tier 13s had already cleared it and given them a full rundown of the rift.


    There would be no surprises.


    That morning, the newly minted Tier 9s in Jake''s team entered their assigned rift, and fought through the odd, four-armed, green humanoids.


    They struggled, but only took a few minor injuries that their medic was able to easily bandage up.


    The monsters all had their own Concepts that seemed to let them fight without fatigue, which increased the difficulty of the delve significantly. With all of the team still working on their own Concepts through lessons from the few Tier 15s, they were at a constant disadvantage.


    It took them nearly two full days inside to clear the rift, but they managed, and a fist-sized gem fell out.


    His teams whoops and hollers echoed off the cliff walls. They were excited, and were stilling down from their epic fight against the monster''s leader, which was at the peak of Tier 9. They had gone through a fight for the ages, battling from the bottom of their Tier to y the boss.


    When they exited, Alejandro, one of the Tier 13s, was waiting for them. He took the gem to get inspected while they fell asleep in safety for the first time in days.


    Jake and his team spent three days recovering before they entered the rift again. As one of only four Tier 9 teams, it was their duty to inspect the guild''s new rifts and see if the rewards were worth anything. It wasn''t morous work, but it was their work, and with everyone so busy, they were happy to do what they could.


    Since the was old and only just found, it had an abundance of rifts, even in their small area ofnd. The fledgling guild was hard-pressed to even keep wandering monsters out of their area, let alone keep all the rifts delved.


    The next three delvested them unremarkable rewards besides the [Chop] skill, which was an excellent addition to the guild''s coffers.


    On their ninth delve, they got another skill that none of them recognized. When they showed it to Alejandro, the man nearly exploded.


    You guys got [Endurance]. Wow! I need to tell the bossdy.


    He looked to the side before looking back.


    Sally took the opportunity to ask, I know it''s expensive, but not how expensive. Doesn''t the Empire buy them all up?


    Their Tier 13 guild member bounced the skill shard in his hands. The Empire trades nearly any Tier 14 skill for [Endurance]. You guys just made a killing.


    Before he could say more, Rebanded without a flying device, and the skill shard rushed into her outstretched hand. She inspected it for a long moment before grinning.


    Well done. It''s yours by right, but I''ll offer each of you, any two Tier 8 skills if you sell it to the guild.


    Jake and his team of five instantly agreed. That was an easy trade of one skill for ten. Since they all couldnt absorb the skill, they were quite happy to round out their arsenals thanks to the lucky drop.


    No one thought anything of the rare skill dropping. They just figured that it was a lucky reward. At least, they did until a second [Endurance] dropped on their thirtieth delve. That caused amotion sorge, Reba recalled everyone at Tier 9, and had them delving the rift as fast as they could.


    She seemed almost manic, but once there was a third, then fourth [Endurance] drop, she exined.


    Everyone, we got extremely lucky, but we need to discuss how to handle this kind of luck.


    Jake, being one of the weakest members of the guild, kept his mouth shut, but noticed that only the other Tier 15s were nodding along.


    Seeing the confusion on most of the guild members'' faces, Reba exined. This rift, if the preliminary drop table can be believed and I believe it can be has an [Endurance] skill drop for one of the three. That''s fantastic news, but horrible news at the same time. This is too big of a matter for us to handle. I''m not sure of the specifics, but [Endurance] rifts are super rare. I think there are like, two others in the entire Empire.


    There were cheers and shouts as people realized that they would earn a killing from this rift.


    Jake didnt miss that while Reba looked happy as well, she was clearly nervous.


    Yes, this is good news, but we need to report this up. I''m also sure that while well be generouslypensated, were going to lose our plot ofnd.


    Even Jake felt indignant at that, but the immortals amongst them looked relieved.


    I need to report this to the local noble, who will report this higher and so on, until at least a duke gets involved. We only have a limited time to delve into the rift before we lose ess to it, and it bes an Imperial rift. After that, I don''t know. But I believe we have a few weeks at best before things spiral out of control.


    Jake started to get nervous, but Randle, the second inmand, spoke up. This is a good thing, people. But don''t do anything dumb. Don''t share the news, and be sure to keep your mouths shut. The Tier 9''s will all be delving the rift until we get kicked out.


    Reba added, Same with the Tier 8s. Have two teams merge, then slowly and steadily delve the rift. Well be getting you all new gear. Gear thats a Tier higher than yourselves, so you can get every bit of damage out, and increase the speed of your delves. Also, let me know after this meeting what skills you all need for your ideal builds. Even with all these new upgrades, our number one priority is still safety. I''d rather have no skills than have any of you die.


    After the meeting, things became hectic. Jake got his new gear in short order and returned to delving. With the new skills and items, they were able to clear the rift in a day and a half. Whenbined with their minimum downtime between delves and their familiarity of the rift, Jake and his team were able to constantly delve the rift over the next month.


    Reba was right when she said that things would change when the news came out.


    The day after her promation, a squad of the Baron''s personal Tier 20 guards came and stood guard over the rift, while Tier 9s from other guilds came over. New Horizons had first dibs over all delve slots, but with only five teams able to delve the rift, they were far from enough to fully exploit the time they had remaining.


    After a month, Jake was rxing with his team, having just returned with their seventh [Endurance] skill shard reward. Out of nowhere, hundreds of people appeared and started politely but firmly removing everyone from the area.


    It only took them one look to see Duke Dartmouths insignia, and everyone scattered. Not long after, a floating ind that housed the ducal castle floated over, and hovered directly over the area with the rift.


    As a Tier 9, he wasnt a part of the discussions, but Reba kept them all informed.


    Their im on thend and its rifts wasn''t being contested, but even the Duke said that he was unable to make a decision for them.


    They were all confused as to why until, an entire battalion of the Empire''s armynded and took control of the area.


    News quickly spread that this wasn''t an ordinary battalion, but a Tier 35 battalion. Jake had never seen so many Tier 33 through Tier 35''s before in his life, and from the gossip, no one else had either.


    After the arrival of the General, everything was settled in hours. As Reba feared, New Horizons was losing their entirend grant, as it was being appropriated for the capital, which would be relocated to the area around the new city.


    The Baron was ecstatic at that, as he was nning to do that himself.


    There were a lot of other things that changed, but what mattered to Jake was what happened to his guild.


    Rebas brother would be refunded his army contribution points, and they would be given and grant twice the size of the previous one, on this, or any other from the new frontier.


    If that had been all, they would have been bitter, but that was the least of their rewards.


    Every member of the guild was exempted from taxes for the next five years, and given their pick of a skill shard above their Tier.


    The guild as a whole made out even better.


    They were given a six-block space allocation in the new capital, which they wouldn''t need to pay taxes on for the next hundred years.


    Their final reward was generous beyond what any of them could have even dreamt of: a free, permanent slot in the [Endurance] rift, as long as the guild and rift existed.


    Reba had been unable to control her excitement when sharing the news, and had blurted out how thousands of guild applications were being filled out after the rift was revealed to the masses.


    It seemed to take only a day before a city was created next to the army encampment.


    People were flooding the and everyone was vying fornd, which sent the price skyrocketing. In turn, that made the freend they had gotten even more valuable. Even the outlying portions of the were quickly bought up by powers both local and from farther out, as everyone wanted a foothold at the new rift.


    In just a year, the guild had turned from a struggling, small-time guild to one of the newest juggernauts in the entire sector.


    Jake, having been a part of the guild before its sess, was carried upward through the guild ranks despite his low Tier.


    Life was good.


    Sometimes you just get lucky.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122


    Matt walked through the crowd and pointedly ignored the waiter as he snagged a champagne flute off their tray and weaved his way through the crowd.


    He had to be careful with his actions; the Tier 35 mask he wore wasnt as simple as a mask for hiding one''s face. It was a shape-changing device, given to Pathers to keep their anonymity, but it did so much more. The mask could forcefully change the body as well, making someones physical appearancepletely different.


    With it on, Matt was no longer his 64, bulky self, but a more slender 511. It was odd to see things from so far below his usual viewpoint, but in thest dozen training scenarios, he had been forced to learn how to quickly adapt to various changes in form.


    The training hadnt changed how ufortable it was to be squeezed into a smaller form. Matt felt like he was stuffed into a sweater three sizes too small, that managed to itch and pull all over.


    Seeing Baroness Sylvia Von Dreyfuss nce at him, Matt smiled and sauntered up to her.


    Good evening Baroness. I must congratte you on your investiture. Getting the marquess toe here personally and pass your father''s title down was a huge boon to your future rule.


    The Tier 15 woman batted her eyes and nodded slightly. Thank you, Adam. And yes, it was quite nice of his lordship toe out this far. It made for a splendid evening.


    Matt kept up his idle chatter for a minute before stepping away and heading to the edge of the ballroom. He had yed his part in this phase of the n, and distracted the region''s newest Baroness. More importantly, he upied her bodyguards long enough for Liz to slip into the castle proper.


    Usually, an out of ce person walking around would be instantly noticed by the Tier 15s, with their greater spiritual perception. But with so many other powerful and influential people around, no one was willing to expand their sense out to more than a few inches away from themselves.


    Knowing that the groundwork had beenid, Matt moved to the side of the room and joined a circle of random nobles. They were rambling on about something to do with the newest batch of wine that a famous local vineyard had shipped. He followed none of the conversation, but tuned in at the mention of some scandal regarding the vineyard mibeling a collection of wine as a lower quality. The nobles snickered about it like it was the most embarrassing thing to happen all year. He couldn''t understand why it was such a hot topic, but just nodded along with the crowd, trying not to be noticed.


    When his AI indicated that the proper time for his next step in the n was nearing, he entered a nearby bathroom. After closing the door of thevish room, he quickly stripped his outeryer of clothes, and his face changed once again.


    Watching the timer on his AI countdown, he slipped out of the window and started climbing the exterior of the building as fast as he could.


    He only had a forty second window to scale the exterior of the building. They were using the setting sun and its apanying sr eclipse as a distraction, which was the highlight of the evening''s investiture.


    As Matt climbed, he started to get nervous. His every sense not upied by climbing was on high alert, scanning for anyone sounding the rm. He was wearing clothes that would almost perfectly match the building''s exterior during the eclipse, but he was still a moving object on a surface that shouldn''t have any.


    While the Baroness was more of a politician, who only fought on the backline as a mage, her bodyguards were all seasoned delvers.


    If one of them turned around to look at the building, instead of keeping their eyes on the crowd, he would be spotted for sure.


    With two seconds left to spare, Matt reached the ninth story window, and to his relief, found that it was open as nned.


    He climbed through just as the day was brightening. Quickly spinning, he closed the window and paused to listen.


    Hearing nothing that would indicate he had been spotted, he cursed the estates nners for having such a solid anti-flying formation. It might have been standard protocol, but it hadplicated things.


    Brushing off his hands, Matt checked the room and found the cab that Liz had stashed a change of clothes in. Unfortunately, not being able to use spatial devices without setting the AI off made this job one of their mostplicated yet.


    If nothing was amiss, she would have converted to a servant as well.


    Directing his mask to change his form once again, Matt wiggled as the changes set in, and his form once again shrunk down.


    Once he was in the yellow and ck of the Von Dreyfuss, he stepped out of the room and joined the bustling crowd of servants. While the party was calm and collected for the guests, things were quite hectic for the servants.


    Matt and Liz had ensured just that, with some carefully changed shipments and a few key people bing violently sick over the past two weeks.


    None of them were made sick for the event itself; there was a healer on staff to ensure that it wouldnt be an issue. But they managed to make things more difficult for the event staff.


    They had added a little chaos into the event, which gave them just the opening they needed.


    Coming into the storeroom with a false flush on his face, Matt asked, Am Ite? Sorry, I got all turned around.


    He swallowed visibly as his manager red at him and rubbed his eyes, grumbling about the anti-AI formation that had been set up in the castle itself. It wasn''t able to stop anyone from using their AI, but it would notice such things and alert the security staff. It was a headache no one wanted, not even those in charge.


    It was one of the more interesting protective formations that Matt had learned about during their nning of this operation. It was used to protect the noble family''s privacy in the more secured sections of their estates.


    The other jobs they had done in thest five years hadnt been nearly as hard.


    Matt saw a dark-haired woman enter, with a bunch of trays precariously perched on her one hand as she tried to open the door. If everything was on track, that was Amanda. And her being there meant that Liz had already reced her.


    Sally, the manager, looked to Amanda and said, Bret, go help Amanda. I already filled your position on the serving team.


    Matt winced and lowered his head. If he was the real Bret, he would be devastated at the demotion. Back-end staff didnt make a quarter of the wages that the more prestigious front-end staff did.


    For a young man who had worked his way up two restaurants positiondders, and had finally been poached for a noble family, it would be a disastrous blow to his career.


    It was perfect for what Matt and Liz wanted, and April had done a fantastic job in creating the identities they were using.


    As he stumbled over apology after apology inteced with excuses, Matt rushed to help Amanda with the trays of food, taking some hurriedly from her precarious grasp.


    Together, they moved down to the prep station and passed off the trays, so they could be loaded onto carts. During their trek back to the kitchens, they took an alternate tunnel and started jogging down the hall.


    They didnt say a word to each other. If they were both here, they had clearly handled their portions of the job. Besides, speaking out of turn was what had gotten them caught in their sixth job. Spending the evening in the local jail had been humiliating, coupled with the knowledge that they would have been sessful if they hadnt talked at the final meet-up point.


    Pausing at the doors at the end of the hall, Matt listened as Liz pulled a lockpick out of her pocket. If this wasn''t a simple door in an unimportant portion of the building, it would have been secured with a far more impressive lock. They probably would have needed anti-enchantment gear to disarm it. Still, they were happy to take advantage of thepse in security.


    It was adjacent to the more important noble quarters, and with their prior nning, they had ensured that a window was reporting itself as always closed to the main security grid, despite its current state.


    As they opened the window and started climbing the tree, Matt took a second to pause and enjoy the courtyard.


    It was a beautiful setup, and he admired it during the time it took Liz to shimmy over to the edge of the balcony.


    They took the fifteen-foot jump with the grace of peak Tier 8s, andnded without a sound.


    Opening the small ss door was easy enough, but they had to worry about the security systems that would alert the guards about said opening.


    It was the most dangerous part of their n, as it was the one obstacle that they couldn''t deal with. If the system was tampered with, the Tier 15 using his AI to monitor the castle would instantly notice. Even if they tried to falsify the signal, there was a near-certain chance that the AI would detect their tampering.


    If their intelligence was correct, the door would have already been tampered with, and <em>wouldn''t</em> report in. But that information was three weeks old, and neither of them were confident that the security team would neglect to fix it by now. But they didn''t <em>need</em> the door to be broken; it would just make their next steps a lot easier.


    It only took a second of inspecting the frame to see it had been repaired. New enchantment lines were visible.


    Matt shook his head to Liz.


    It meant they had to go in loud.


    With only the slightest hesitation, Matt pulled the door as hard as he could, with [Mages Retreat] pulling all of his mana. His strength was more than doubled, and with his full allocation into physical cultivation, along with the Tree of Perfection, he was able to break the door.


    The tinytch holding the door shut wasnt his goal. No, that was made from Tier 15 metal, which was still beyond Matt''s ability to break. The ss, on the other hand, was stronger for being Tier 15, but it was ss. ss didnt scale nearly as well in strength as metals did as they Tiered up.


    As Matt pulled the door, it bent the frame just enough for the ss to shatter.


    Liz was already moving the moment the ss was broken, and Matt was right on her tail.


    They entered the room and shoved storage rings into mundane bags they had prepared. These were the gifts that the various other nobles had prepared and given. The most valuable gifts immediately went into the vaults, so these rings were the more mundane offerings.


    But one of them contained the operations current target.


    If they had been able to enter the Duchess chambers quietly, they would have stealthily gone through them with the scanner they brought. But now, they were racing against the clock.


    Taking everything was the best way to ensure that they got their target, after all.


    They quickly ran out of the broken door as they heard shouting and boots approaching the door.


    Matt flexed his Concept and lifted both of them out of the courtyard as the door behind them opened, and a [Mana Bolt] raced through to the spot they had just upied, singing the metal framework and charring the wood.


    They only needed to get to the edge of the wall to leave the anti-flight formation, and they would be able to fly away on Matt''s newest, Tier 11 flying sword. Despite the guards being Tier 15, there was no way they would be able to keep up with Matt once they got on his sword. He had custom-made the weapon himself, with a little help from Erwin.


    It was a sword meant for one thing.


    <em>Speed</em>.


    Matt was able to utilize his prodigious mana generation to power the sword, and outrace anymercial flying swords within a five Tier range.


    Liz shouted from his arms, Six flying with Concepts and two with skills! I think one is [Puddle Jumper]. I don''t recognize the other one.


    Matt flexed his Concept and tried to carry them along faster, but he was trying to carry two people <em>and</em> reduce their air resistance, which was incredibly taxing to his abilities.


    Still he had practice with the ability and that mattered more than Tier.


    Liz, facing the rear, sent magical attacks to provide cover, while giving Matt an AI-powered feed to know exactly where the enemys attacks wereing in from, and where they would likelynd.


    She managed to intercept most of the attacks with skills from her outer spirit, but Matt was forced to dodge more than a few, which only slowed them down further.


    The guards were nearing them when they hit the edge of the estate and its restrictive formations.


    Not hesitating for a second, Matt called his flying sword from the building where he had stashed it, and it raced over.


    The two of themnded with a thud, then took off.


    The city streaked before them as they raced between the skyscrapers.


    The capital of the they were on was old and well established. Having moved four times as the was Tiered up to its current Tier 11, the capital had finally been ced in its current location, near a man-made ind sea. The new cement gave it protection from rift spawning, without the need for another mana expensive formation.


    It was almost a necessity with how old the was. When Matt had first arrived in the more settled worlds in the Empire, he had been shocked at theck of ambient mana.


    His first breaths had felt like something was missing in the air he breathed. It didnt affect his or anyone else''s mana generation, but theck was noticeable, especially when powering enchantments. It was impossible to have the ambient mana power a formation, or even lower the cost, as he had done countless times before. Everything had to be provided by mana stones, or sold to the enchanter by the city.


    The city was worse than the more remote ces of the, but few of those were left, with the having been settled for so long.


    The capital had massive mana gathering formations that sucked in all of the ambient mana from the surrounding farnd around the cities.


    Ironically, nearly a quarter of the mana was sent right back out to those same crops, as the vineyards were responsible for the''srgest export.


    That sameck of mana gave Matt hisrgest advantage in running away from higher Tier fighters.


    All of the guards needed to provide the mana to chase after them themselves, which meant they would need to burn a lot of mana stones to catch up to him, and not be too drained for any subsequent fight. Once he had felt how mana parched the area was, Matt knew that it was a weakness he could take advantage of.


    Finding a straightaway that led directly out of the most built-up section of the city, Matt turned off the air parting enchantment, and entirely relied upon his Concept to cut through the wind.


    He thought of it more like being a zipper moving wind around him, which was the mental image that helped him avoid mming into a wall of his own making. Despite his copious amounts of training, it was still difficult to manage, and Matt was grateful that all the spells flying at him stopped. A stray thought meant a barrier that would get them caught.


    Their pursuers were unwilling to attack in the city, it seemed; a fact that Matt took full advantage of by flying straight over the main thoroughfare. Not needing to slow down to dodge or turn meant that he quickly pulled even further away from the guards.


    They had just left the city''s limits when a man in a yellow suit appeared directly in front of them.


    With a gesture, the two of them were captured safely and suspended in the air. It was done so cleanly that even their massive momentum had been dissipated, and they were held still by the man''s will.


    They had sessfully made it.


    Getting to the edge of the city was when Kurt or Luna would step in and return whatever they stole, then they would leave the for some ce where they hadn''t pissed off the local powersyet.


    The sound around them vanished as Kurt spoke.


    Both he and Liz had been shocked to learn that the mans not speaking was a result of his Talent. He was able to bewitch anyone at or under his Tier with just his words.


    If they had exceptional willpower backed by a strong Concept, Intent, or Aspect, they could fight back. At least, in theory. Kurt fully admitted he went all-in on his Talent with his CIAs.


    There were few people at even Tier 36 who could resist his voice.


    They had even watched him tell a rift monster to kill itself, and the beast turned its head so hard and sharply that its spine snapped. It twitched and shuddered for a moment, then fell still as its brain stopped all function at the suggestion.


    He never let them hear his voice, so they could only guess at what he was saying to the guards, but from the nods andck of tension, Matt believed that he was using the same excuse they usually did.


    The story usually went something like, Kurt was a passing Tier 35 who witnessed the escape and decided to step in.


    As the bag they had shoved all the spatial rings into was lifted from Lizs unresisting grasp, Matt mentally nodded while putting on an outwardly angry expression. Luna had been furious when they celebrated their first sessful mission during their capture.


    The goods were returned to the lead guards with a plethora of thanks in return. Angry res were shot their way along with smug looks that Matt interpreted as you might have escaped us, but you still got caught anyway.


    The ease at which the guards simply let Kurt lead them away to jail was only possible with the man''s Talent bending their minds.


    Kurt''s Talent would make the guards believe that was the natural course of action. So Kurt would say something like, I''ll take them to jail as is standard protocol. which would change what the guards thought of as standard protocol.


    That was the danger of Kurts Talent. They would forever think what he said was true, so he tried to avoid talking unless absolutely necessary. Later, he would have to go back to them and give careful instructions to remove his earlier enchantments, so they could return to normalcy.. It was confusing at first, but the more Matt considered it, the more it made sense after the first couple jobs.


    If Kurt suggested that a suspect or burr be entrusted to someone stronger, like himself, that could cause serious problems as they carried out their dutiester on. . They would be susceptible to someone conning them, just as he was doing. The nobles security were innocent in this, so Kurt made sure to return them to their proper state.


    He was unable to remove a suggestion, but he had learned how to give counter instructions that neutralized previous maniptions.


    After learning about what Kurt had been going through his entire life, Matt felt awful for him, but the man just shrugged it off, writing that he did fine and learned to live with it.


    He even stressed that he was able to speak if he was only in the presence of higher Tier people than himself, but he liked to be careful so a carelessment didnt hurt someone.


    After Kurt finished with the guards, he pulled Matt and Liz through the fabric of reality and into Lunas ship outside the world.


    They were allowed to wash up and spend some time with Aster before they were debriefed.


    As soon as the two entered the room that had been designated as their briefing room, Luna appeared and sat with her back to the wall-sized screen. She spoke to them the way she usually didas if she had seen and knew all.


    It wasn''t a bad operation, but what could you have done better?


    Matt hated how she debriefed them. It was a test in and of itself, which they could and had previously failed.


    Liz sank onto the couch as she said, I had a problem getting changed into Amanda''s form and convincing the other staff why I wasing in from the public entrance. That could have cost us, but I was able to make up the time.


    Luna brushed off the remark with a dismissive wave. That was handled well enough. What else?


    Matt offered, I''m still notpletelyfortable with changing shape. It makes it hard to move.


    Luna kept looking at him and he, not knowing what she was waiting for, kept silent.


    Finally, Luna blinked and asked, What did you learn about the noble children you talked to, Matt?


    He had to resist the urge to sigh.


    When they had nned out their operation, Matt had intended to take Lizs ce infiltrating the servant''s quarters. He spent over a year working at Bennies and knew how to keep his head down to not be noticed while working.


    With all the security formations they had running through the castle, it was essentially a mundane help staff section.


    Instead, Luna had forced him into the role that required him to talk to the other nobles.


    There was some mess up in a vineyard. He squinted as he tried to recall, Something about mibeling their better vintage and selling it for cheap.


    Matt trailed off and then looked to Luna, who just red at him.


    Did you ask around? About which vineyard it was?


    Despite knowing that he was going to regret it, he answered honestly. No. It didn''t seem important, and I wanted to remain as unnoticed as possible.


    Luna rolled her eyes as she said, If you had asked, you would have found out the incident happened because the vineyard had a breach in security, and the old manager ran off with a few storage rings full of a rare vintage. That entire sector of the city''s defenses waspromised, which would have been a great avenue to leave the city. You''re lucky the guards weren''t willing to activate the city defenses, or we would have needed to fail the mission and capture you early. If you''d used your human resources at the party, you could have ensured one lessplications in your escape.


    Matt winced as the rest of the debriefing proceeded. He didnt like talking to the nobles; they seemed to act so superior. They just radiated an air of superiority that he found hard to deal with, let alone mimic.


    He was self-aware enough to know that it was something he needed to work on, and if he didnt take steps to rectify the situation, Luna would keep pushing him into scenarios where he would need to deal with the insufferable elites.


    When the debriefing ended, Luna looked almost hesitant as she said, Theres an opportunity for the three of you. A situation to put your skills to the test for real.


    Matt perked up, as did Aster. Liz looked more hesitant and wary.


    The screen behind Luna changed to show a new that seemed less settled than the populous cities that theyd spent thest five years in.


    A local noble has requested assistance from the Imperial government to help pin down the location of some missing people that she suspects were taken by a local guild. Viscountess ra has conducted her own investigation, but was able to find any proof of foul y.


    Liz leaned forward as she tapped at a pad detailing the information that Luna made avable.


    She didnt find anything, but she still thinks theyre responsible? She frowned and continued to rifle through the information present. From what I can see, she looked through the entire guild top to bottom to try to find any discrepancies in their records or actions. It seems like there wasnt any evidence of wrongdoing.


    Liz looked over to Matt and asked, What are we missing?


    Matt had been going through the notes on the disappearances, and his AI noticed the discrepancy he believed that Viscountess ra had seen.


    The first three unexined murders in the city had happened near the guild. Those three had been written off as random homicides at first, but after the more organized string of kidnappings had begun taking ce across the, the Viscountess had reviewed those first few murders a second time.


    The seemingly unconnected murders had all happened within days of each other, and within a two-mile radius of the guild''s local headquarters.


    They were in stark contrast to the seemingly random disappearances; some of the victims went missing during explorations into the unknown, or were taken from crowded cities. There was no rhyme or reason to the disappearances, except a general once-a-week pattern of three or four people going missing.


    Matt looked up and asked, What does this have to do with us? I''m sure there must be a task force to deal with this sort of thing.


    Luna sighed. The noble in question doesn''t want this getting out. It''s her territory, and more than three dozen people have gone missing so far. She publicly investigated the guild, which is now using that failed investigation to imply that the noble isnt capable enough to rule the, and the subordinates that report to her. The head of the noble family she reports to, Count Rendall, is siding with the guild, making things even moreplicated for her, and in turn, the investigation.


    Hesitantly, she added. I know the great grandmother of this one. She was an old mentor who helped me out when I was young and just finding my feet in a world of immortals. ra must have heard I was active, and asked for my help.


    Aster asked the question floating around in Matts head, Then why dont you go deal with it?


    Luna shrugged. It''s very much not my ce if she doesn''t want to bring in the officials. She believes Count Rendall is either using this as a method to knock her down and remove her from power, or worse, hes in league with whoevers truly behind the disappearances. Luna took a careful breath before continuing to exin. She can bring this to the attention of a higher authority, but if she does, and it turns out shes in the wrong, Count Rendall will have her out on her ass. Shes ying into his hands if he <em>does</em> have designs on her and subordinates. And with the disappearances having ceased temporarily after the investigation into the guild, she would look stupid if she were to continue. Hes personally told her to leave it alone since theyve stopped, and the issue seems to have been taken care of already.


    Liz pointed out that Luna didnt answer the question. But how does that involve us? I''m happy to fake rob people and slip letters into their pockets, but there are real things at stake here. So why don''t you just go and investigate the entire, since she cant?


    Their manager smiled and motioned to the three of them. It''s a good opportunity for you three to learn in a real environment. If needed, I will step in and solve it, but if a few passing Pathers solve the issue, it keeps things a little more under wraps. I won''t let the issue go unresolved, but this is a good chance for you all. It''s good practice for applying most of our training so far. Youll need to recon everything yourselves and investigate the issue. Then youll have to infiltrate the base of the alleged guilty party, and gather evidence. At that point, capturing or killing the suspect or suspects would be left up to your discretion.


    Matt shook his head. All of that is something you can deal with in a second.


    Luna just met his eyes as she said, I have a good handle on the situation, and its something right up your alley.


    Seeing that the three of them clearly werent fully convinced, Luna looked directly at Matt and said, Think of it this way, investigating these murders and disappearances could allow you to discover ways to protect yourselves without further relying on the good nature and will of those stronger than you. To remain out of the box you so desperately hate.


    She affixed Liz with a knowing side eye. Knowing how to infiltrate a building and kill a target helps you prepare for what, Elizabeth?


    Liz sighed and muttered, For those same attempts against us. She thought some more and then looked to Matt. And if someone were to try and take you, we coulde up with countermeasures against that.


    But weve prepared for those kinds of things. Matt insisted, and red at the world on the screen behind their Manager. How is this different? Other than giving us a little more experience.


    Consider it taking off the training wheels for a brief attempt at independence, and a better way to gauge your skills, hmm? Knowing Luna wouldn''t tell them more, Matt looked to Liz and Aster to gauge their reaction.


    They had spent thest five years pulling jobs like the one they had just finished, and doing something real, like stopping a rogue guilds conspiracies and murders, seemed worthwhile to him. Sure, the added bonuses were nice, if they ever came to pass, but those were only what ifs that they had to prepare for as best they could.


    Liz seemed more hesitant, but Aster was all for it. She had been forced to sit out on most of the jobs they pulled, only able to help with the scouting and prep work.


    Liz carefully said, This seems important. I don''t know if we can handle this.


    Matt understood, but disagreed. It''s only a Tier 10, and the local guild leader is only Tier 15. There isn''t a lot that can go wrong with that, unless we get into a fight. And if that happens, we have Luna to back us up. I doubt security will be tighter here than in the well established guilds and noble estates that weve had to worm our way into.


    They couldn''t fight a Tier 15 straight up, but Matt felt that if Luna wanted them to get involved, they were dealing with someone they could handle. Even if the guild leader was involved, they had broken in and stolen from Tier 15s often enough. They shouldn''t have any issues.


    Liz cracked her neck and nodded. Let''s at least go take a look. I don''t like the idea of people being murdered, or I guess kindapped. But let''s be honest, anyone whos missing is more than likely dead.


    Matt sadly agreed with that statement.


    After telling Luna, they agreed to take a look.


    They spent the next two weeks training and reviewing their strategies for what they would do when they reached the.


    When they arrived, they had Luna put them on the nearest, and they teleported in like ordinary people trying to advance by moving to a higher Tier.


    At least, that was their official story. They were a team of Tier 8s just trying to reach a with an abundance of Tier 8 rifts.


    As the was one of the stronger ones in that sector of space, it wasnt an unusual story, and no one would look into their backgrounds too hard. Considering they were fake aliases made for them by April, they needed to remain innocuous, so their newest identities weren''t even Pathers. They paid their way like anyone else.


    Changing their appearances slightly, they made their way through the teleporter and did what anyone who came to a new world would do. They booked a room in a hotel and started inquiring about rifts for Tier 8s. They in no way needed a rift at their own Tier, but their cover stories dictated that they were mid-Tier 8s who took a bad injury, and needed to sell their delve slot on theirst world to help cover the cost of healing.


    Unable to get the slot back, they decided to changes and try their luck elsewhere.


    With veils, they were mid-Tier 8, and what they hoped would be prime targets for the guild that was taking people. Tier 8s had been the most widely abducted people by far, with a smattering of lone Tier 9s and a single team of Tier 10s.


    They made sure to talk to a lot of people, and got their fabricated story about being new and delving without backing out to as many locals as possible.


    By their third day on the, they had already scouted the guild and had preliminary reports on all of its members, when they woke up to a discovery that made them pause.


    That night, as the investigators slept, someone had taken three of the guilds personnel; all of whom had been out in the city.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123


    Matt, Liz, and Aster were all startled by the report, and were going to investigate when Kurt and Luna appeared in front of the door to their hotel room.


    Luna seemed only half interested in them, and was looking off into the distance in a manner that wouldve suggested the use of an AI in anyone else. Considering Lunas vocal hatred of the tool, Matt had no idea what she was doing.


    Still, even while distracted, she was the first to speak. Things have escted. You have twenty-two days before we intervene.


    Kurt was quick to write, If you can''t solve the issue before that, I will step in to prevent the deaths.


    That gave a surprising amount of information, and Matt jumped onto it. So you know whats going on?


    Liz noticed a more important detail. That sounds like a hard limit. Why?


    Kurt went to write, but Luna shook her head slightly, and he stopped.


    Their manager said, Yes, it is. The situation is what we expected, and I won''t say any more. Twenty-two days is a firm time limit. We expect that to be the soonest the kidnapping victims will die, but I cant call it a concrete fact. Things could easily overtake our projected timeline.


    Aster paced in a circle a few times as she asked, Why not deal with it yourselves, since you know exactly what is happening?


    Kurt''s pen moved faster than he usually allowed it, and his message was instantly written. This is training you need, even though I dont like it. You might very well be called to deal with a problem like thister on in life. I know I''ve dealt with it before. Better to learn now, with us here to prevent a mess.


    With that, he shook his head, and Matt couldn''t interpret the man''s expression. It seemed sad, angry, and resigned all at once, but there was more he was unable to read.


    Luna just waved her hand and said, I''ll have April send some disposable identities over. Use them, and remember your time crunch.


    Matt interpreted that to mean they shouldnt be as meticulous and forward thinking as they usually were while nning.


    With the two managers gone, they started to strategize while they waited for April. When she came, she only appeared long enough to send them their cover identities, which they changed their physical form to match.


    Aster grumbled about having to morph into a dog, but eventually acquiesced. For all her outwardining, Matt could feel that she didnt want innocent people to die either.


    Matt shifted to a smaller form, with paler skin and darker hair, while Liz shifted to a taller but thinner form.


    Checking their newest identities, Matt found that their coverbat roles were close enough to their actual styles. They wouldn''t need to shift their fighting style. Liz would be the most hampered, as she was listed as a water mage, so she would be using only her outer skills.


    Still, they could and would break that restriction if they needed to.


    To their surprise, their identity came with a few perks. They were empowered as a part of a special task force that the local noble set up to hunt down the culprit terrorizing the city.


    They, along with half a dozen others, had the backing to do nearly anything to prevent more people from vanishing.


    The city was also being put under curfew, and Viscountess ra had already issued a public statement warning that she was ready to put the city, and even the entire, under martialw until the guilty party was caught.


    Matt picked up the dog version of Aster, and began to pet her while he asked Liz, What do we know?


    This back and forth between the three of them was how they started most nning sessions.


    Aster started them out. We know they cant or won''t kill the kidnapped people for twenty-two days.


    Matt nodded along as he followed the logic. So that means the kidnappings happen continuously, but the killings are nned to take ce at a certain date.


    Liz asked the pertinent question. Whats twenty-two days from now? If theyre waiting for a reason, why not move ahead now?


    While he didnt have an answer, Matt started searching through the local calendar for any moon phases, or something odd about the current year, but the date given didntnd on anything of any significance.


    Liz asked a question that brought his attention away from his AI.


    What if theyre waiting because they need more people? Theres been close to fifteen people captured every month for the past year or so. That could mean they need fifteen people. The noble said she was going to lock down the cities with no oneing in or out. If that limits the kidnappings to a single city, we know that the lockdown was effective.


    That was a little too cold-blooded for their liking, but it was a good point, and would give them more data to extrapte from.


    I don''t like it, but that <em>is</em> something we should look into. Matt hmmed as he thought for a second before adding, I think we need to consider the possibility that someones trying to frame the guild.


    He checked the information packs for the name Nigels Delvers. Things point a little too well at them, and look at the message he sent out. While he might be a great actor, he looks pissed.


    Aster wagged her now less fluffy tail and shook her head. That only means he''s not involved. Could be someone else in his guild.


    They agreed that it was a possibility, but the guild remained at the top of their suspect list.


    Mattpiled the relevant information and then sent it to everyone''s AIs.


    This is what we know about the first set of victims. Theyre all Tier 7 through Tier 10, with the majority being Tier 9s and Tier 10s. The three newest victims also fit that profile, being two Tier 9s and a Tier 8.


    They chewed on that before Liz sent over some additional information. Look at the first three killings. The bodies were all hacked up brutally. That''s a detail we can look into. Did the person attack them because of a grudge?


    Matt read the report and agreed it was a decent lead.


    He then looked for any connections between the other victims, but even with his AI, they found nothing in their public profiles that fit the bill. He doubted that hed find anything the professional investigators hadnt already, but being thorough was key to solving these kinds of cases.


    That thought made Matt realize something, and he said, There are professional investigators, and from what I see, theyre all Tier 10s. Which makes sense, because this is only a Tier 10. But the Viscountess also investigated the guild, and shes Tier 20. If she didnt find anything, I doubt theres anything to find. Even an anti-spiritual sense formation shouldnt pass under her nose, as long as it wasn''t made from Tier 20 materials.


    Liz nodded at that. So if it <em>is</em> the guild, they aren''t doing it in their own home.


    Aster shook her head and asked, Didnt the higher noble try to shut this down? What if he''s involved? He''s a Count. He couldve easily created a ck room that the Viscountess wouldnt be able to find.


    Matt scratched her neck as she liked. It was a really good point, and he told her so.


    For all her beast form, Aster had matured a lot in thest few years. She was still yful, but she was just as smart as he and Liz.


    Liz tapped her lips as she thought, and Matt let her stew as he looked over the rest of the information pertaining to the case.


    After a few minutes, Liz said, I can''t rule out the possibility, but that doesn''t feel right. Nobles have a lot of control. Especially in this region of space. The noble titles here are all blood inheritances, so their families have been here a long time. Count Rendall is a typical noble, but nothing I can find paints him as evil. If anything, the information I can find on him puts him in the don''t rock the boat camp. He pays his taxes and invests in his, but has almost always backed down from power struggles. He''d have been removed from power by more ambitious siblings, but the others didnt want the title, and took deals to advance or get their own noble titles in the frontier. Him being involved in some dark plot to sacrifice people just seems out of character.


    Matt remembered what Luna said and asked, But Luna said he was siding with the guild. That isn''t backing down.


    Liz shook her head. No, it is. The guild lodged an officialint about Viscountess ra''s investigation and her continued suspicion. She did overstep there, at least by publicly stating that she still believed they were guilty. Telling her to back down was the correct decision.


    With her being raised in the noble circles, Matt bowed to her expertise and changed his thought process.


    He brought up another oddity that hed noticed, which was also mentioned in the Viscountess team''s investigation. Not a single one of the victims had gotten even one AI message out, which was frankly bizarre. AI worked at the speed of thought, but nobody had been able to get any calls for help out.


    AI blockers, or at least devices that could prevent AI from working, were rare and expensive, let alone illegal for civilian use. The distribution of them was heavily regted, with each unit usually tracing back to the producer and tracked by the Empire. Matt figured it was worth digging into.


    If they were using AI bracelets, they could learn quite a bit by following the trail and discovering where they went astray.


    But they might be using a more general blocker, which Matt felt was less likely. General signal blockers were easier to make and cheaper, but far more obvious. He had used them in their burry missions often enough. But the broad anti-signals indiscriminate effects were a detriment; they made obvious dead spaces that the city andary AI would pick up on.


    The devices were incredibly illegal to possess, but they weren''t hard to make, which meant they were prevalent enough to be a problem. The anomalies they caused were regrly scanned for by city andary AI.


    He doubted that the kidnappers were using them. If they were, theary or city AI would have picked up on it by now.


    AI restrictive bands were more expensive, but nearly impossible to notice. If someone had one activated, it would just look like they stopped using their AI abruptly. It was a tell, but not something even a city AI could look into. There would be a billion false rms for every kidnapping.


    Matt decided to try and contact the local underground, and see if anyone was selling or buying bands.


    He corrected that thought. They wouldn''t need more than a few, so he needed to see if anyone had bought any recently. It was less helpful, but he would still check.


    Any piece of information could lead to solving the case.


    Not long after, they ran into a wall created by theirck of information, and decided to go and scout the city.


    Twenty-two days seemed like a long time, but with three lives already on the line, and possibly more, the triol felt great pressure.


    They split up to cover more ground, but kept their AI active the whole time, making sure to stay in contact with each other.


    Aster went to skulk around the guild and watch everyoneing and going, while Liz went to link up the other teams that the Viscountess had created to investigate the disappearances. They had called for a group meeting to prevent them from converting the same areas more than once, but only one of them needed to go, and Liz was better with people.


    Matt made his way to the poorer part of the city, and changed his appearance once again. This time, he kept his normal height and bulk, but gave himself a more swarthy look ,with a few visible scars and a broken nose.


    He stopped to buy some shabbier clothes from a second-hand store, and easily blended in with the denizens of the poorer section of the city.


    It took some getting used to after spending so much time in more established cities. He had expected no one to be poor, but that had been an extremely naive notion.


    There were always people who didnt cultivate beyond the minimum, and those that were simply down on their luck.


    The less well off needed to exist somewhere, and even with housing and food being provided to everyone by imperialw, there were always poorer sections of every city.


    Since this was a capital city, things were slightly better off, but the decrease in building size was inversely proportional to the number of people Matt saw loitering around.


    His first few stops were the various bars in the area, where he tried to pry information from the patrons through active conversation and passively listening, but he found very little information.


    In his hours of fruitless searching, he only got one useful piece of intel. There was a local fence that had the connections to get AI restrictive bracelets.


    He wandered for a while until he found what he was looking for.


    A fence. Or at least, what he believed was the fence.


    The shop was dingy and poorly lit, while also proiming that it bought all manner of goods, and in the proper location from the rumors he had heard.


    Matt didn''t dawdle as he came up to the front counter, and dropped two Tier 8 mana stones while enveloping the man with his Concept and spiritual sense.


    I want to buy information.


    The shopkeeper was an older man who Matt felt was at Tier 7. He swept the mana stones away without saying a word.


    Matt sighed and put out a single Tier 9 stone.


    That got the man''s full attention and he asked, What information?


    Keeping his voice gruff, Matt asked, AI restrictive bracelets. What do you know about people buying them?


    The shopkeeper tightened slightly at the question. The only reason he noticed was his ability to observe the man through his Concept. It was less precise than a spiritual sense scan, but unless the man has his own personal Concept, it was undetectable.


    I don''t know anything.


    Having long since run out of patience with peoples lives on the line, Matt sighed and reached over the counter to grab the man by his shirt cor.


    Unsurprisingly, half a dozen defensive enchantments activated, but Matt flexed his Concept and resisted their activation. He was able to dy them long enough to haul the older man over the counter and throw him into the nearest shelf.


    The shopkeeper yelled as he broke the cheap shelving and crumpled onto the pile.


    Matt was already on the man as he tried to stand up and stepped on the man''s knee.


    What do you know? Despite his revulsion of this tactic, it was what his cover persona would do, and it was effective. So, he kept his voice steady and calm as he asked the question.


    I dont know


    Matt stepped down hard and felt the man''s knee shatter.


    Over the man''s screams, he said, Danny was a friend of mine. Grew up around here. He was too nice, and got out. Im neither nice, nor out.


    Danny was one of the three guild members who had vanishedst night, and was a local. From the petty burry charge he had picked up when he was seven, he had been a part of the local underground growing up.


    The judge had sentenced the young boy tomunity service for his crime, where he had been forced to pick up trash nearby Nigels Delvers, and had been picked up by the guild. From then on, he left a life of crime for one on the straight and narrow, by all ounts.


    Moving his foot to the other knee, Matt asked once again. What do you know?


    The shopkeeper kept it together well enough to re and spit at Matt, but he answered. I dont know.


    Matt started to put pressure on the leg, ready to break the second leg, but paused as the shopkeeper hurried to add. I really don''t! Fuck man My fucking knee!


    As the man got off-topic, Matt put more pressure on the knee and said, You reacted to the question. Don''t lie now. Me and my crew havent heard anything but the normal rumors, but I <em>know</em> you have something.


    Adding enough pressure to make the man groan, he asked one word at a time. What. Do. You. Know? Last chance.


    The shopkeeper clutched at his leg and started to babble. I don''t know shit about anything to stop AIs. No ones asked for anyrge shipments in years. Last time was for a gang thats already disbanded, and that was ten years ago. All I know is youre the third person to ask about that same thing today.


    That caught Matt''s attention, and he asked, Who were the other two?


    I


    Sensing the man going to lie, Matt stomped down on his knee.


    While his ability wasn''t as good as Luna and Kurt''s in sensing deception, he was able to get the gist of truth and a lie through the man''s pulse and other body functions.


    He had been abou to lie once again, and Matt''s patience was gone.


    Kneeling down, he grabbed the mans clutching hand and gripped his fingers, and separated one from the others.


    Who were the other two? Asking once again, he put a bit of pressure on the finger.


    I don''t know


    Matt snapped the pinky and gripped the ring finger.


    His unspoken question was quickly answered.


    I really don''t know who the first one was. Not for sure. The man was staring at his hand in shock and horror.


    Matt could feel the overwhelming adrenaline coursing through the man, and it was starting to pollute his readings. He needed to hurry this up.


    Thankfully, the shopkeeper began spilling his guts.


    The first person that came around was obviously a guilder, but I don''t know from which guild. A shorter man, with brown hair in new but cheap clothes.


    As the shopkeeper started to curse about the pain, Matt put a little pressure on the ring finger.


    Seeing that it didnt work, he squeezed the hand until he felt bones grind together.


    My friend is missing, and my patience is gone. Answer, or I start breakingrger bones.


    Fuck! Fuck you! The second was one of those investigators. I told them both I don''t know shit. Unlike you, they aren''t assholes.


    Matt believed the man.


    He debated how he could make this right while not burning this identity.


    Finally standing, he pulled out a sack of twenty Tier 9 mana stones and dropped it on the man''s chest.


    Next time, speak up first. Then I won''t have to break things. I was willing to pay. You made this harder than it had to be.


    With his thuggish logic as his parting words, Matt hurriedly left, with the overwhelming feeling of needing a shower.


    When he opened up the door, he found five tuffs.


    Quickly, he scanned them and saw that they were only Tier 7s. Not feeling a threat, Matt kept up his act and asked, What?


    Menard pays protection to us, and you beat him. You think you can just walk away after that? Not a fucking chance. The man cracked his knuckles as he tried to puff himself up.


    Matt walked forward until he was surrounded and said, My friend vanishedst night. I couldn''t give two flying fucks about your racket. He didnt answer my questions, so he was encouraged to answer faster. Besides, I paid. There are twenty Tier 9 mana stones with him. That will more than cover his healing and the damage.


    Seeing the greedy look in the leader''s eyes, Matt reached out and gripped his shoulder.


    He once again squeezed until the man started to drop to his knees. Matt prevented him from hitting the ground with his greater strength. If he humiliated the man, he would only start a gang war, which he didn''t have time for.


    That money is for his pain and suffering. Would you like to earn your own share?


    Matt didnt want the shopkeeper to lose the money he had given him, despite the fact he dealt with stolen and illegal goods. He had been the aggressor, and in a fashion he detested, but his time limit meant that he didnt have time to slowly gather information through alternative methods.


    He looked around to the others as he asked. They all shrunk back, so he asked, What have you and your gang heard?


    Loosening his grip, Matt let the leader stand on his own.


    The man brushed himself off and took a step back, but answered the question. No. I don''t know anything. No one does, and were all losing our shit about it. We all had the word that this shit was supposed to be over with thest investigation.


    Matt nodded as if his prior knowledge was confirmed, and said, Then you know nothing that I dont already. He sighed and brushed past the group, and walked through the city for a few blocks. When the loiterers who lounged around the buildings stopped ring at him, he found an inn and got an early lunch, knowing that he was out of the first gang''s territory.


    He sat there and listened into as many conversations as he could, but found out nothing substantial.


    Everyone was nervous, and scared of being the next ones to vanish.


    They had believed that they were done with this nightmare, after thest few months of a break from disappearances.


    Matt moved around the city, changing disguise and asking questions as he went, but learned nothing more.


    Still, he found out that there were two others who were also asking the same question about AI restrictive bracelets around.


    As he moved around, he was able to piece together a description of both people. The investigator was registered to a team that the Viscountess had put together. The guilder, he was able to confirm, was a part of Neil''s.


    It was interesting, and at least to Matt, confirmed the idea that the guild wasnt a part of the attacks. At least, not all of them. And that only reinforced his opinion that the guild leader was most likely innocent.


    When he met back up with Liz and Aster that afternoon, they both had learned little more than he did. Everyone was scared and worried that they would be next, but no one knew anything more than petty rumors they were able to dismiss.


    They changed into their official cover identities and started inspecting the city''s defenses, hoping to find some clue that the other officials might have overlooked.


    That evening, the suspect guild, Nigels Delvers, opened their doors for anyone involved in the official investigation to inspect their guild house.


    Matt doubted that theyd find anything. If the guild was willingly opening their doors, there would be nothing to see. They still went, just to check if anything seemed suspicious to them, and to get a general feel for the guildhall.


    They even resorted to measuring the walls with their AIs topare with the official building ns, hoping to discover a hidden room.


    The guild leader had given the order that not a single door was to be left closed, and everyone was to make themselves avable for questioning.


    Mattpared his charts with the official records, but found nothing that piqued his interest.


    The guild was arge one, at a little over five hundred people, with most of them being Tier 6 through Tier 9. Meanwhile, the guild''s leadership positions were filled with Tier 10s that had worked their way up the ranks.


    Matt could understand why the noble found the guild suspicious at first nce, but after inspecting the ce top to bottom, and talking to nearly everyone, he found nothing. Most of them were just like the average citizens, scared and worried that they would be next.


    The only keeping the guild intact was the leadership. They werepassionate, and helped reassure their juniors that everything would be ok. It was a shallow promise, considering they had just lost three people, but it seemed to help.


    The three of them waited until that evening, and broke in once things calmed down. Even then, they found nothing out of the ordinary.


    Willing to break a fewws, Matt channeled his prodigious mana regeneration into [Earth Maniption], and after gripping all of the ground around the guildhall, twisted slightly.


    rms red, and guards rushed out to find out who had tripped every ward they had, but Matt had immediately ran once he used his skill.


    To his consternation, Matt found nothing that wasnt officially reported. They hadnt expected to find a secret basement with their three missing people, but they had to check.


    They investigated the city and all the other guilds and corporations in the next week, but once again found nothing.


    One week after the first three people went missing, another four more were kidnapped. They were also from the capital city, but this time, they were a team of local Tier 9 delvers. They had been returning from a two-month-long expedition from a rift in the mountains nearby.


    The same morning, the Viscountess announced that the cities would all be going on lockdown until they found the killer. No one would be going in or out. She tasked her Tier 15 guards with inspecting the border.


    It was a great idea in theory, but Matt didnt need the still absent Luna or Kurt to exin why it wouldnt work. They would need a lot more to catch an elusive person who could kidnap so many people and avoid capture.


    Spiritual sense was limited in size depending on cultivation, Tier, and the amount of information one could process with their mind cultivation aspect. The three dozen Tier 15s that the Viscountess sent out were woefully inadequate to guard more than one city. Let alone the half dozen she spread them out to.


    With only fifteen days left, the three of them felt tremendous pressure building. Seven people were missing, and they had no new leads.


    Despite Luna hating AI, Matt went with his better instincts and used his AI to crunch every data point they had learned. He had extensively trained his AI with Erwin, and they had practiced the skill a lot. With his ability to throw unending mana into his AI, it had grown fast if not efficient.


    It sadly didnt give him a miracle answer as to who was doing the kidnapping or where the victims were, but it <em>did</em> note that the kidnapped people were all taken from nonrandom locations.


    They were perfectly mathematical in their methodology, to a degree that was only obvious when running thousands of other simtions, with all the kidnappings taken into ount.


    That prompted the three of them to investigate the location where the team had gone missing. Matts AI proposed that the kidnappings were more about people in the right location than specific targets being chosen. It was the best idea they had, so they set out towards thest locations.


    All three of them inspected the surroundings with every skill they had, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Even their Concepts werent able to uncover anything, and they moved from ce to ce to still find nothing out of the ordinary.


    No matter how many times Matt reviewed the information himself and with his AI, he kepting back to the same conclusion. The people were being kidnapped because they were in the right ce. Not because they were targets.


    With 320 MPS going into his personal AI, Matt was a powerhouse of processing power, but he was nothing whenpared to theary AI.


    It was a massive external AI that could burn tens of millions mana in seconds, if fully utilized.


    With their best guess, and their only lead, they met with Viscountess ra and proposed their theory, while showing what little proof they had.


    ra was skeptical, but was willing to direct theary AI to run its own simtions with the information they provided. She had had it do so before when the killings and disappearances first started, but the AI had no guidance to go off of, and less information. Theck of data had limited its ability to see patterns.


    To all of their shock, the AI agreed with the general idea, and was even able to extrapte the most likely target locations of the next kidnappings, based on the form that the other attacks seemed to be following.


    The seemingly random locations were only random when looked at one by one, but when plotting them all at once, they made aplex grid across the. It intercepted a number of the cities andmon passageways for people traveling to the more popr rifts.


    It wasn''t perfect, but the AI came up with forty-three locations that it believed could be targeted.


    Still, it was better than nothing.


    Seven days after the second set of disappearances, and with only eight days left to the twenty-two-day countdown imposed by Luna and Kurt, they staked out all the possible locations.


    The locations wererge enough that they had to enlist outside help to watch them all.


    That evening, just as they suspected, a group of five broke curfew and walked through one of the suspected locations, and vanished.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster watched the recording from the briefing room in the Viscountess castle.


    The watcher, one of the Viscountess Tier 15 guards, had caught it all with his AI. As Matt watched, the group all vanished together as they crossed the shadow of a light pole.


    Viscountess ra growled out, How did they do it?


    Everyone looked to Walter, the guard that had been stationed there.


    He shook his head and said, I felt nothing mdy. They were there one moment, and gone the next. I searched the area thoroughly but found no one.


    Matt caught Lizs eye, then met the dog eye of Aster, who was cradled in her arms, and saw the agreement in their gazes.


    That was not a good answer, but they decided to let it go.


    The man had reported the information in, even if his spiritual sense hadnt noticed anything He most likely wasnt with the kidnappers.


    Viscountess ra wasnt stupid, and made the same conjecture that Matt did when he watched the video.


    They seemed to vanish as they passed the shadow. That reeks of a Talent.


    Aster yipped what she had noticed. The temperature was wrong for fogst night, but it lingered around their feet.


    They spent the next few hours dissecting the video, but they didnt get anything more than spection regarding the ability. It was a weird enough teleportation method that it could only be an item, cracked skill, or Talent.


    Everyone was leaning to thest option, as it made the most sense.


    It sadly also exined why people were going missing, though no one came out and said it directly.


    Matt had seen enough horror movies about Talents that required sacrifices to get the gist of what was going on.


    It, at least if the movies were to be believed, exined the time between actual killings.


    In the movies, Talents that required sacrifices were usually limited by strict conditions, or long times between uses.


    Matt hadn''t looked into real world applications for sacrificial Talents, but he quickly corrected thatck of insight.


    The Talents were incredibly strong, but limited. If the movies got right, that is.


    What they didnt get right were the massive variety of ways that such a Talent could manifest.


    It also exined why Luna and Kurt said they might need to deal with this again. While the Talents were rare, they were powerful enough that most of the people who got them eventually resorted to using them.


    Now, it was just a matter of finding the culprit.


    Liz figured that there were at least two people, which he and Aster agreed with. Teleportation was a Talent on its own. How that would fit with a sacrifice Talent in someone below Tier 25, they didnt know. But they knew Kurt and Luna thought the trio could handle it, so it couldn''t be someone that strong.


    Besides, the people who were going missing were Tier 7 through Tier 10. None of it suggested that there was a Tier 25 involved, so there had to be at least two people.


    They didnt share their spection with the Viscountess until after the meeting was over, and they had her alone.


    When they left the castle, they redoubled their efforts in investigating the surrounding areas. Matt spent hours using [Earth Maniption], checking for hidden bases in thends surrounding the capital city, but found nothing.


    As the days ticked down, they only had three days until the next kidnapping, and four days left until Kurt and Luna would step in. Finally, Matt, Liz, and Aster came up with a desperate idea.


    They would be the next victims.


    If they couldn''t find the kidnappers, they would allow themselves to be the next victims.

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124


    Matt, Liz, and Aster spent the next few days trying to follow up on whatever leads they had been looking into before thetest capture.


    No one turned up anything useful besides the mist that Aster had noticed in the video. With that as their only lead, they decided to look into anyone on the with water skills.


    When they saw the sheer volume of possible suspects, they were tempted to just give up. But given the severity of the situation, they gritted their teeth and started the slog; there were thousands of results in the capital city alone. When the results were expanded to the entire, that target poption skyrocketed to the hundreds of thousands. With that many results, they could do little more than rely on their AI to sort through the information.


    Even then, there wasnt anyone who obviously screamed evil cultivator who kidnaps people. Even with theary AI, they found little to move forward with from that nugget of information.


    The best they were able to do was just get abat report on anyone who used water or mist attacks, but they found nothing of significance from those results.


    Their best lead was proven to be a dead-end. One of the middle lieutenants of Nigels Delver''s guild was incredibly suspicious, but her mist skills were reportedly a steam Talent. Viscountess ra wanted to bring the woman, Daphne, in for questioning, but her Talent was widely known, and she was widely respected in her own right. Her steam abilities were regarded as something that only an incredibly unique Talent could produce.


    It didn''t mean that they didn''t investigate her, but nothing stood out. She hade to the with two friends, half a dozen years ago at Tier 8, and shortly after joined the guild. She advanced slowly but surely, until she had earned her current position. She was primarily a melee fighter, despite her being able to manipte an element with her Talent.


    Daphne had even been recorded in public during the period when most of the kidnappings happened. There was little they could pin on her, but she was their only real suspect.


    With that stumbling block, they instead tried to locate an area that could hold the requisite number of kidnapping victims.


    With that as their highest priority, most of the Viscountess'' guards spread out and began surveying the least inhabited regions of the.


    Despite the being considered well-popted, there were still only half a billion people on the. Vast swaths ofnd were mostly empty, with only the asional team of delvers camping by a rift, despite the danger of a kidnapper running around.


    That didnt stop them from inspecting every uninhabited ce they could find.


    Sadly, they found nothing.


    It was good training for Matt, as he extensively used [Earth Maniption] at its max power to try and locate any underground bases. Most of his training involved strengthening his mana maniption, so he rarely had the opportunity to spread his power out far enough to affect an entire mountain at once.


    What Matt lost in finesse while increasing the amount of mana he used, he easily made up for in pure output. By funneling 320 MPS into the skill, he was able to spread the radius of his control out for nearly a tenth of a mile.


    That was absurd for any Tier 8, as the cost to take control of any element scaled with distance. Someone of Matts power having even a modicum of control over a sphere of little more than a thousand feet was unheard of.


    He wasnt able to do more than get a sensory view of thend at that range, let alone manipte the earth, but that was all he needed. The whole purpose of stretching the skill out so thin was to find ces where his actual maniption wouldnt work.


    With theck of results, he changed his tactic, and stopped using the skill in a sphere around himself. Instead, he narrowed his control to a single, body-wide line that he extended out as far as possible.


    By shing his search range, he was able to push his sense of the earth out to nearly half a mile. At that point, he would just slowly spin in a circle and look for anomalies.


    The first time he tried it, he spun too quickly, and passed out from the sensory overload. He had turned a quarter turn, thinking it would be fine, but he forgot to ount for the sheer amount of ground that turning a half mile long line would cover. The resulting feedback had knocked him out for hours.


    He just didnt have enough allocated to his sense and mind cultivation to handle that much information. It was a problem he was determined to rectify at Tier 9.


    During his next attempts, he spun much more slowly, and processed the information without being overwhelmed.


    Even with all of the Tier 15 guards conducting their own searches, they found nothing of consequence.


    As the deadline approached, Matt, Liz, and Aster abandoned their search, and prepared for a fight.


    If they were going to be the next victims; they were going to make sure to break the teeth of anyone who considered them an easy pill to swallow.


    To that end, they nned out everything they could. While they didn''t know much, they knew that Luna felt they were capable of handling the situation. Otherwise, she would have dealt with the problem directly.


    They were able to guesstimate that the leader of this kidnapping ring was at max Tier 10. If they were any higher, they were screwed anyway, so they nned for a strong group of opponents.


    Tier 10 was a watershed Tier, much like every fifth Tier was. To break into every Tier that ended with a five or zero required one hundred times the essence, vs. the normal ten times. It was a stepping stone Tier for a reason; anyone who reached that point was <em>far</em> stronger than at previous Tiers.


    Still, they were only at the bottom of the cultivation pyramid, and the difference between Tiers 9 and 10 was still smaller than the gap would be at the high Tiers.


    They didnt discount the fact that they had cleared multiple Tier 10 rifts at their current strength, butpeople were far more dangerous than rift monsters.


    The three of them were still confident that they could handle any four Tier 10batants or less. If they were faced with anything more than that, things would start getting dangerous.


    They talked about trying not to venture into the unknown, but none of them were willing to leave thetest victims to their fate.


    With their running theory of someone involved possessing a sacrificial Talent, they had looked into how the situation was normally dealt with.


    It wasn''t pretty, but was effective.


    If the suspected cultivator was below Tier 25, the standard operating procedure was to send in a Tier 45, have them inspect the, and wait for the suspect to make a move.


    If the suspected cultivator was at Tier 25 or higher, a special team was dispatched in secret to quietly find the culprit, catch them, and eliminate them. The authorities needed to act quickly, as someone at that Tier most likely had their third Talent, which unterally made sacrificial Talent users far more dangerous. If they had made it that long without discovery, the suspect was sure to have a way to hide, or some outside support helping to cover the incidents up as well. It was a frighteningbination


    To find someone that clever or strong, they needed specialized teams, usuallyprised of former Pathers who excelled atbat. Even Kurt and Luna had recognized the possibility of the trio being recruited to such a team, or being called in to assist with a simr investigation.


    The Empire estimated that only one in a few dozen billion people had a sacrificial Talent awakened per year. That meant thousands of instances of the Talent appeared every year, but most of the recipients dered it to their local noble, who would then report it up the chain ofmand.


    They would be ced into a database and given a special AI after being carried to Tier 3, where they could be monitored for Talent usage. That was the standard operating procedure for any Talents that were considered especially dangerous, in ways that the user couldn''t control.


    After that, they would be allowed to live a normal life. Or, as the information reported, they would be recruited to the government. There, they could use their Talents under supervision, and cause minimal harm.


    Even sacrificial Talents were desired, as the Empire still had criminals executed, despite capital punishment being ast resort. The people who didnt report their dangerous Talents generally did so because they didnt want to limit themselves. Eventually, they all fell to the temptations that came with acquiring power through their darker means.


    With all their prep work finished, the three of them lounged around, just trying to rx before theing encounter with the kidnappers.


    That night, they went to one of the suspected locations, and walked back and forth for nearly half an hour.


    While they didnt know entirely how the teleportation worked, they believed that they could force their way into bing the next victims by forcefully keeping the other possible locations clear of people.


    The prevailing theory was that any of the possible locations were avable for teleportation, and the controller was able to pull anyone who fit their criteria.


    Despite knowing that they could be walking through the area for hours, after fifteen minutes, Matt was getting impatient.


    It took two long hours for a power to encase them, and suddenly, Matt found himself in a pit.


    Despite being ready for it, he was still startled.


    But they had nned for this.


    Immediately, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and sent out a pulse of both [Earth Maniption] and [Air Maniption].


    To his surprise, he found that while they were in a pit, there was only earth for about five feet before it vanished into nothing. It was like they were in a chunk of earth surrounded by a void. Adding to that, while he could push his skill through the ground, he was unable to actually control any of the earth around them.


    [Air Maniption] gave him more information. With his power, he quickly grabbed control of all of the air in the enclosed space, and found that it was arge cavern the size of an apartment building.


    They were in one of nine pits with iron bars fastened across the top.


    A jeering voice filtered down from above them. Little rats caught in a trap. I love it when we get you idiots who think they can somehow defeat us.


    Matt looked and saw three men and a woman, all pointing ranged weapons at them through the bars.


    Seeing he had their attention, the man called out, Put your items and weapons in the bucket. Or eat an arrow.


    They didn''t need to talk about surrendering. While this wasn''t one of their ideal situations, it was one they had nned for.


    Matt picked them all up with his Concept while whipping up a gale with [Air Maniption]. That was enough of an excuse for their captors to fire their arrows, which Matt easily blocked with his armor.


    It was only when he tried to affect the air that he discovered the same resistance that existed in the ground, only it was extended to the air in a lesser form. He was able to control the air, but his power over it was greatly reduced.


    They reached the bars before the four of them recovered, and Matt cast [methrower] with a scorching 70 MPS.


    From his palm, a wide cone of fireshed out, raging hot enough that the metal of the Tier 10 bars started to glow almost instantly.


    Once the temperature was hot enough, he stopped, and Aster directed her prodigious ice skills at the now orange bars. They shattered with an explosion that Liz blocked with ayer of blood.


    It didn''t protect the others, and two rushes of essence tried to enter Matt''s spirit.


    He shunted and felt that something else sucked it up.


    They rose out of the pit and saw that two of the archers had died, while their other two assants were little more than charred corpses. They were only still alive due to the innate vitality of a Tier 9.


    They picked up and dropped the two alive ones into the pit they had just escaped from, before quickly inspecting the other pits around them. Inside each, they found the missing people.


    All of them were worse for wear after their time captured, but they were all still alive.


    Matt tried to reassure them that they were safe, but the pleas for help were unceasing, and he had to move on.


    Their actions were noticed; he could hear shouting from outside the room they were in.


    He took the lead as the door was kicked open, and a pair of Tier 8s barged in.


    Instantly, a st of greenish water gushed forward at Matt, but he pushed through, with his twoyers of armor funneling 100 MPS each.


    Matt was taken aback by the pressure that the skill was putting on him, but it was nothing that even a singleyer of his armor couldnt block. What surprised him was that the skill felt more like a Tier 9''s level of power.


    The acid was powerful beyond its Tier.


    As he was defending against that attack, a trio of arrows mmed into his armor.


    That stressed the structure of his skill enough to worry him, but Liz and Aster quickly dispatched the two Tier 8s in the instant it took to get off their own attacks.


    Once again, the essence from the two kills was pulled away once they shunted it away from themselves.


    Matt looked back to Liz and said, Two ways, both lead to arger room. Left or right? Pausing to check with [Air Maniption], he found no one rushing in, and added, Doesn''t matter. No one ising, theyre all holed up in the biggest room.


    They pushed through the hall that seemed to be made of chiseled stone, but Matt, with his [Earth Maniption], knew that it was just a surfaceyer facade.


    When he entered the room, he found half a dozen people in ck and red robes surrounding a multi-level plinth. A nude woman stood with her eyes closed as she gently waved her arms in alternating circles.


    The rest of the room was made of the same false brick as the stone walls, with hundreds of candles in recessed candbras. Dark columns ran in parallel down the length of the room, culminating into ornate arches in between each pair. Torches burning with mes of various colors dully illuminated the room from their perches at the center of each arch.


    Everything was bathed in the flickering light, which, whenbined with the chanting of the robed figures, created a creepy atmosphere to the situation that made Matt''s hair stand on end.


    As he looked back to the woman, there was a visible power radiating into her like heat waves, but Matts spiritual sense indicated that the energy wasnt essence. What exactly it was, he couldnt be sure, but he wasn''t going to let it continue. It felt dangerous.


    Sending mana into his spirit, he cast [Fireball] and [Mana Bolt] nearly simultaneously, after filling his mana pool with a mana stone. His own attack was followed up by Liz and Aster, who bothunched spells of their own.


    Sensing the attack, the woman''s eyes snapped open, and she shouted wordlessly.


    Matt''s entire body felt like he had been kicked, and their attacks wereunched backwards,nding harmlessly against a wall. In his spirit, [Cracked Phantom Armor] vibrated as if the shout was able to shatter skills, but he was either too far away, or the skill was too weak.


    Youe where you are not wanted, and you are early. It is before the time of bleeding. Your lives are to be forfeited tomorrow.


    The woman spoke over the chanting, then smiled at them.


    With herpletely nude, the effect could have been almost seductive, but there was an ominous presence that surrounded her. It gave her words a weight that should have been precluded by herck of dress.


    Her next words sent the robed figures into action. We must restrain them. The sacrifice must not be stopped.


    With that, the silvery red energy that Matt had felt the woman absorbing rushed out, and in a stream, entered the twelve robed figures.


    Suddenly, the Tier 9 presences in Matt''s awareness spiked. The shift was so extreme, it was almost as if they had reached Tier 10 with the infusion of power.


    Treating the woman like a standard buffer seemed like the easiest answer, as the energy transformed into writhing tattoos on the robed figures'' faces and hands.


    I''ll handle them. You kill her. Matts n was the standard counter to a support mage; he expected that if she died, everything would end. He could handle even a dozen people empowered to Tier 10 for the time it would take Liz to do her part.


    Liz jumped over him and onto the tform, where he saw that the leader was now fully armored, and wielding a sword of her own.


    With Aster at his heels, Matt lunged forward and cut the closest women''s extended arm off.


    The light that was forming vanished, but the woman seemed unbothered by her missing limb, and sent a glowing kick at him.


    Matt sidestepped the attack, as a feeling from Aster told him that she was going to strike.


    An icicle the size of his thigh pierced the woman''s gut, but didnt kill her. That was theirst resort. None of them were dumb; they could see that there was some sort of feedbackponent to the leader''s Talent. Killing her followers would probably just make her stronger.


    They had all noticed the essence being pulled away, and it didnt take a genius to guess that the woman was taking the power for herself.


    Still, the woman tried to stretch out with her good hand, but the massive blood loss took its effect, and Matt was soon embroiled in a fight with four of theckeys.


    He was holding his own against the robed fighters that couldnt feel pain, but it was a struggle. While they were only Tier 9, the boost to their powers allowed them to fight with the strength of Tier 10s.


    Being outnumbered didn''t exactly help.


    He was only able to prevent himself from being dragged down by the sheer numbers because of his training over thest few years. It had refined his abilities, and he was able to dance through the crowd with his de.


    The robed figures seemed to be an even split of melee fighters and mages, as he was getting peppered by attack after attack.


    More than half of his attention was directed to [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer, reinforcing the areas getting hit repeatedly.


    He dodged a thrust from a spear, only to catch a [Jolt] to the side.


    As the fight dragged on, he noticed that the silvery energy was infusing the skills and spells that the cultists were using.


    From the brief glimpses he was able to take in during the hectic fight, the energy somehow reinforced and supplemented the mana in the skills, while also increasing the strength of their physical bodies.


    Still, Matt was a steel te with his magical and physical armor. While he was slightly weaker, with so little mana to spare into [Mages Retreat], he was slowly whittling down the robed figures.


    Suddenly, he was hit by a purple liquid that resisted his movements.


    He turned and saw that the first woman had been healed, with both arms reattached.


    Unwilling to let this continue, Matt was about to unleash [methrower] and fry everyone when Aster sent him an idea through their bond.


    After seeing her n, Matt winced but agreed.


    Her situation wasn''t any better, but with her small size, she was able to dodge in between their legs while attacking them from underneath. If they had felt pain, she would have quickly dispatched them, but her idea was an eptable alternative.


    Aster used [Ice Pirs], and from the ground, half a dozen arm thick pirs appeared. Matt threw himself to the ground and maxed out the mana throughput to bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Despite 275 MPS in the sections of his armor reinforcing his back, Matt was still rattled when Aster cast [Shatter].


    All the ice pirs shattered in a wave of rapidly expanding ice that shredded everyone still standing.


    [Shatter] broke any ice skills it was cast on, doing more damage with the amount of ice broken, and mana spent in the cast. Inbination with the strength of the [Ice Pirs], anything inside the field of ice had little chance of survival.


    The only problem was that the high damage was met with a correspondingly high mana cost, and his bond was nearly emptied of mana in a single spell.


    After deactivating [Cracked Phantom Amor] for a second, the purple goop fell off of Matt, and stopped restricting his movements.


    Careful not to step in the pool of purple goop, Matt popped to his feet as the silvery mist from all the robed figures rose up. In a swirling mass, it rose to rejoin the leader.


    Along with the mist, Matt felt the essence from her dead followers flow into her as well. He was getting ready to rush forward when he paused.


    That wasn''t right.


    When the energy left the robed figures, it killed two of the people who had survived the explosion of ice.


    He didn''t like that. It just felt wrong, and he suspected that it was going to make the resulting fight even harder.


    Rushing forward with Aster, he channeled his Concept onto her to refill his bonds spent mana reserves.


    He wasn''t able to fully replenish her, but he was able to reduce the strain that she was putting on the mana stones in her cor.


    Meanwhile, when they checked on their nearby teammate, they found that Liz was actually fighting defensively.


    The cultist leader kept fighting, but a second illusionary image of her had stepped out of her main body and yelled, You killed them far too early! The time of bleeding isn''t now! So much of their power went to waste! I''m going to kill both of you! Slowly! So much faith energy wasted... Years of work! Gone!


    Matt flicked out his sword to cut the apparition, but it vanished, like smoke on a windy day.


    On the leaders main body, the silvery tattoos were much more active in their movements, and Matt understood why Liz was having such trouble killing her.


    Just as the robed figures before her, she seemed to feel no pain, and the silvery energy seemed to heal her perfectly and quickly.


    It didn''t help that the leader was a true Tier 10, and with the excess energy, she was pushing peak Tier 11 inbat strength.


    Matt threw himself into the fray, parried the woman''s de, andshed out at her arm in response.


    She withdrew fast enough that Matts counter-attack missed, but Liz was quick to follow up.


    As they were forcing the woman back, a shard of ice punched through the woman''s side.


    It was a grazing shot, but Matt was able to watch as the woman''s silvery energy rushed forward and recreated the flesh.


    It was minute, but there was also a dip in the woman''s power.


    Seeing that they could exhaust the energy, Matt pushed forward again, only to catch a face full of silvery, razor-like wind des.


    They broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor] easily, but Matt''s helmet was enough to prevent him from being blinded. Though, he could still feel the gashes on his face as they bled freely.


    Growling, he activated [methrower] and heard the woman shriek again.


    Like before, it felt like he was kicked. But this time, the skill also destabilized all of the active skills in his spirit.


    It wasnt a thorough shattering, but it did remove his armor and buffs.


    Not letting the chance go, Matt threw himself into the woman, using his longsword to knock her weapon aside, and took them to the ground.


    As they tumbled to the stone floor, she headbutted his already injured face with her helmet. All of a sudden, the world around him ground to a halt as Matt felt the familiar presence of Luna and Kurt appear.


    Luna was the first to speak. Well done on this one. Better than we expected. Liz, going for the kill was the proper action. But we have questions for her. We need to see for how long, and how many other times shes done this.


    Matt scrambled out from under the frozen woman to see Liz standing up from a half-crouch, with her blood ax only inches away from the woman''s back.


    Now that the fight was over, Matt started wiping at the blood leaving his face, and cast [Ranged Heal] on himself until his vision was no longer impaired.


    He then cast the skill on Liz and Aster, only pausing to refill his mana.


    Kurt had sealed off the area around the woman and was speaking to her.


    She was already under the influence of his Talent, and she started babbling. My Talent is to have this space, and interlock it with a. Inside of here, any humans killede with extra energy efficiency, to the point that a single kill is like running two or three rifts. My Tier 3 allows me to collect the worship of others, and it acts like a secondary energy source that reinforces the body and heals rapidly for a short time. Any injuries will reappear if not healed properly after two hours. The more worshipers I have, the more energy I can collect and distribute to them. Faith energy also allows me to advance rapidly and smoothly. It''s like a second core of energy, like mana.


    The sound around her vanished once again as Kurt spoke. When she started speaking, sound returned. I''ve done this on three others. Staying for less than three years each. Then, I leave and move at least as far as a new duchy. This time, I was going to push to Tier 11.


    Kurt must have asked something else, as the woman said, Something was wrong, and I needed more and more faith energy to advance, which is why we needed one more ritual. That was why we started taking more people, even after the investigation. I can only change the once per Tier. I already cast my miniature world at this Tier, and we needed to finish up here quickly, as the authorities started paying more attention after they found those chopped up bodies. This was supposed to be myst ritual before we left for another.


    Silence fell as Kurt asked another question. No, that wasnt me, my miniature world expands slightly with each corpse. Im not stupid enough to leave corpses lying about.


    Matt was surprised that she had nothing to do with the three bodies that has been brutally murdered. If Kurt wasn''t the one asking, he would have assumed that the woman was lying, but she was incapable of that while under Kurts influence.


    It meant that there was another killer out there, but Matt was honestly too tired to care about that.


    Luna then asked, Why did you only start using your Talent at Tier 7?


    The woman ignored the question until Kurt asked it again while locking down sound. She responded, I had a boyfriend who was deeply in love with me, and it acted like weak faith energy. It was a massive rush of power like I had never known before. Once I got a taste, I was tired of being weaker than everyone else, and having to slowly advance. My Talent is there for a reason. Then, once I started actually killing people, I was growing too fast and too easily to think about stopping.


    Aster growled at the woman, and Matt concurred. It was obvious who had been her first victim.


    Luna and Kurt interrogated her, and they learned of her entire operation. Her name was Cindy, and she was pretending to be a socialite, integrating her way into noble society while she gathered followers.


    She would then find and recruit anyone that was power-hungry and morally flexible enough. If they didnt agree to join her little cult, she would bring them into her miniature world and kill them.


    The teleportation was a function of her Talent world. The way it was bound to a was up to her, but she envisioned it as attice of linking fibers. nning them out herself was too much effort, and she left it up to her AI to get the bestyout, which exined why the pattern was so mathematically arranged.


    Finally, they were done with the interrogation. Luna waved her hand and radiated power, then the space shattered.


    Suddenly, they were outside an apartment building in the capital city.


    As Matt caught himself and his friends with his Concept, he noticed that Nigels Delver''s guild house was directly behind the apartment building.


    That exined why the Viscountess kept thinking that the guild was behind the kidnappings. At Tier 20, she was hard to fool, and must have been feeling something off, but couldn''t identify it as a pocket dimension created by a Talent.


    The Viscountess was quick to arrive and take charge of the victims. They were starved, and most had injuries of one type or another. Thankfully, they were all still alive, and they were quickly given to the healers.


    As Viscountess ra was debriefed by Luna, Matt found Kurt sitting on the roof and staring off into space. He had never seen his trainer so depressed before, and was worried.


    Are you ok?


    Aster, sensing he needed attention, crawled into hisp from Matts.


    Kurt took a deep breath and sighed as his board appeared, and he started writing.


    I hate people like her. I have a simrly rated Talent. The difference is, I reported my dangerous Talent to the proper authorities. We tried everything to create a workaround to stop it. Most Talents like mine have some weaknesses, but not for me. If my willpower is stronger than my opponents, or my Tier is higher than theirs, my words are like imperial decrees. I don''t speak because it''s dangerous, and I don''t want to hurt people. I can''t even sing anymore. Im just too powerful. You know, I had a schrship for singing in four different schools for the fine arts. Good schools, too. I could have made it big. But I sacrificed it all, and it burns me up to see people like her using their Talent with no regard for the consequences. I spent three centuries hunting down stronger versions of her type. Eventually, it got to me, and I was transferred to training other Pathers. It was a way to do something productive that wasn''t so damaging to my mental wellbeing. I fell in love with training, but seeing this brings it all back.


    Aster headbutted the man then snapped him with her tail, causing the Tier 35 to silentlyugh.


    Matt was ruminating about what he said. He realized that his own Talent could be a lot worse. He was at least able to speak, and sing in the shower.


    Liz patted Kurt''s hand and said, That''s because youre a good person. You gave up something you love to avoid the risk of hurting anyone. That says a lot.


    Matttched onto that idea and said, When we out Tier you, can we hear you sing?


    Kurt looked at him as if he was crazy, then started silentlyughing until he had to wipe tears out of his eyes.


    Then he wrote, If anyone else had said that, I''d have called them delusional. But with you three? Yeah. That''s possible. I''d be happy to take you to some deste and sing for you. Thanks, that means a lot.


    He jumped into the air and set Aster down, writing behind himself, Well be leaving soon, but I wanted to let you guys know that you did well. These types are hard to find without overwhelming power, and Cindy had one of the hardest Talent sets to find that Ive ever seen. But you did find her. Be proud of that. She can''t hurt anyone anymore. Well have a full debriefing tomorrow, but youpleted the mission and saved their lives. Well done.


    Matt scooted over and wrapped an arm around Liz as they watched the investigation that took ce, with guards going over all the bodies of Cindy''s followers.


    That had done it. It wasn''t perfect or clean, but they had made a true difference.


    Cindy would even be given a public trial, despite the overwhelming evidence Kurt and Luna had gathered over thest month.


    Matt had half expected Luna to just swat the woman into paste but she was captured alive and would be tried like anyone else.


    The three of them sat there even after everyone else left, and together, they watched the sunrise. It was a new day, and one free from fear for an entire, thanks to their efforts.

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125


    The following day Luna and Kurt interrupted breakfast to debrief them.


    Luna hovered whileying horizontally and addressed the room. What do you think you could have done better?


    Matt rapped on the table to interrupt the older woman''s question. Cindys fate had been bugging him all night.


    What happened to Cindy? Whens the trial? Do we need to be there?


    Luna stretched slightly before saying, Shes safe in custody. But I think the real question you want to ask is why she wasn''t just killed on the spot. Am I right?


    Matt peeked at Liz and Aster, and with small shrugs, they confirmed that it was close enough for them. He nodded.


    Luna took that as enough of an answer. The short version is, shes going to be publicly tried, and then executed to help restore public confidence in the local government. Kurt and I recorded everything she did for thest month. We have recordings of her admitting the past killings and nning this most recent setup. It will be a good lesson to the popce that the Empire''sws are not to be trifled with, and that no one is above thew.


    Luna''s indifferent expression hardened as she looked at Matt. Speaking of which, you pushed a fine line with that stunt with the fence.


    Matt went to open his mouth, but Kurt held up his hand and wrote, No one is saying you didnt get the job done. And in the end, thats what matters. But you pushed a line, and pushed it hard. You punched down a Tier and tortured the man. That''s not eptable as anything short of ast desperate resort, and you were far from that point. You had information that normal teams never get, and our assurance that no one would die for weeks. If he hadnt been such a deplorable character, I would have brought you up on charges myself. Not that you even knew about the true extent of his criminal activities at the time.


    Luna nodded along as Kurt wrote that out.


    A chill ran down Matts spine. In its wake, all of his hairs stood on end. Not trusting himself to speak, he only nodded.


    Liz had no such problem verbalizing. We all can agree that it wasn''t perfect, but he was our only lead at the time. People''s lives were on the line.


    Luna raised an eyebrow and snarked, So harsh. You didnt think that wed step in to save the day if you failed?


    Liz shook her head. Honestly? No. None of us were sure if you would step in or not. You never said that you would stop the killer. Only prevent deaths. We both half expected this to be another gambit to boot us off The Path.


    Kurt looked surprised and slightly hurt, but Luna just looked tired. ncing to Matt and Aster, she must have read something on their faces that deted her.


    I''m a hard woman. I push you to the edge. But have I ever been anything but fair? Or honest? She must have meant the question as a rhetorical one, because she answered it herself. No. Ive exined everything we do, and give you a fair warning of when Im pushing you. I clearly told you when I was trying to shove you off The Path with that special Tier 9 rift. And if that were my goal here, I would have told you beforehand.


    Luna sighed. True, this was a real mission that we had no right getting you three involved in. However, Kurt and I were here, so there was no harm in taking the opportunity to get you some real life experience. We would have stopped the sacrifices anyway; we could have wrapped it up ourselves in the first five minutes. Believe me, if you had not solved the case, I would have intervened. If any of the hostages were in danger of dying before the deadline, I would have intervened. If youd gotten yourselves into a fight you couldn''t win, I would have intervened. In all three cases, I wouldn''t have pushed you off The Path either. It would have been unfair in the extreme to punish you for something you shouldnt have been involved in to begin with. Especially without any prior warnings about the consequences.


    Matt felt sheepish. Luna seemed honestly hurt that they thought she was that callous.


    I want you to be the strongest you can be, yes. But I won''t push you into being rabid beasts.


    She pointed at Matt. Beating the shit out of that guy should have been thest step after <em>everything else</em> failed. There arews for a reason. I know you spend most of your time fighting and training, but you need to remember that the world isn''t just a rift. If might makes right, you are way too low on the power scale to be throwing your weight around. Sometimes, you need to pressure people. asionally, more brutal methods cant be avoided, but theyre supposed to be the final esction. <em>Not</em> your first resort. Were going to chalk this up to you thinking this was your only chance, but understand that it can''t happen again. Forget about simply falling off the Path, Ill throw you in prison myself before I let you be some sadistic little tyrant.


    Matt opened his mouth to apologize, but Luna cut him off. No. Keep it in your head. It''s done and over with. You don''t need to apologize to me, or even the idiot you beat. You need to ask yourself under what circumstances will you do it again. That''s a conversation that only you can have with yourself.


    While Luna moved on to pulling apart how Liz performed, one thing stood out. They could have used [Lesser Sacrifice] to prevent Cindy from absorbing her followers power. It would have given them a power boost, and would have weakened her as well. They were so used to shunting essence from people that none of the three had even thought about it.


    As he half-listened to the rest of her critiques, Matt thought over what she had said.


    He had been quick to resort to violence. Almost eagerly so.


    There had been a potential source of information that the fence hadnt given up, and he had immediately used his power to extract it by any means necessary. Only for the lead to be a dead end anyway.


    The excuse that he had limited time was just that an excuse.


    He didnt know exactly when, but he had started bing someone that he would have hated as a kid.


    Lives were on the line, yes, but they had <em>known</em> the timeline. There was no rush at that moment.


    Kurt seemed to understand what he was thinking and wrote, It''s hard to not use the easy solution. Overwhelming violence is our answer for so many things, it easily bes a habit. We have to remember to only use our power for good. Thews preventing attacking down Tiers are so irond because abuse can easily be rampant, even if it''s not overt. What happens if a Tier 9 can beat a Tier 8 without consequences? What happens when the Tier 8 is a produce seller? If the Tier 9 can physically overwhelm him, then how can he not be afraid of that implied threat anytime he sells his food? Will he be strong-armed into lowering his prices to the point that he cant make a living?


    Kurt shrugged while shaking his head. It''s not all perfect, but the no punching down rule is strictly enforced below Tier 15. After that, things are a little less concrete, if only because its much harder to catch and enforce. If it''s not in a city, no ones going to look into it. And after Tier 35 Well, at that point, there are too many monsters whove grown up with the old rules for punch downws to ever be enforced. It might help if you remember that you can''t save everyone. Sometimes, I believe that following thews as much as we can is all that keeps us from bing like the people you hunted down. More people might die because we dont start breaking kneecaps at the first question, but eventually, the general poption would be just as scared of us as murderers like Cindy. Lawful restraint is a price we have to pay as a civilized society.


    The older man smirked. Plus, if you''re going to do that to someone, dont start with their knees. How are they supposed to get to a healer when they can''t walk? Start with the hands and ribs.


    Matt tried to takefort from Kurt''s joke, but his thoughts started spinning in circles.


    He had been wrong in how he handled things, but he couldnt change that. He could only be better going forward.


    Matt just had to remind himself of that.


    ***


    A whirlwind of activity consumed the next three days. Cindys trial was swift and brutal. Kurt and Luna had damning evidence of her misdeeds, and from more than just thetest kidnappings. All of that information rapidly came to light in the following days. The citizens were nearly sent into a riot after learning what kind of monster had been living in their midst.


    Viscountess ra came out of the whole thing, if not looking like the hero, then at least with most people''s support. She took the initiative to apologize to the guild in a nket statement with no caveats, but Matt didnt miss that the location of the hidden world was leaked, and most news reporters were quick to point out the hidden space''s location next to the guild headquarters.


    Nigels Delvers was given remuneration that went undisclosed, but there seemed to be no bad blood left between the guild leader and the Viscountess.


    The minute both the judge and jury handed down the guilty verdict, Viscountess ra ced her hand on Cindy''s head, and the woman instantly turned into a pile of ash that fell to the ground.


    Kurtter spilled the beans that she hadn''t actually incinerated the criminal instantly. She had used her Concept to squish the woman''s brain, and then brought her body into her spatial ring. She swapped the body with ash to give the appearance of its instant destruction.


    He said that not having a physical remains helped hasten the mourning process for the victims and prevented martyrs.


    Matt figured that it was just cleaner that way.


    That afternoon, they departed the to return to their normal training.


    Luna informed them that she had a few things to set up, and dropped the trio off with Kurt, April, and another tactics trainer in the meantime.


    The training was low intensity, which was needed after the mission they went through. None of themined about being allowed to dpress.


    A few monthster, Luna arrived and kicked off another round of espionage training and missions.


    Matt took special note to avoid any serious physical altercation whenever possible. No exceptions. It got to the point that Luna had to pull him aside and remind him that ast resort was still a resort, and was not to bepletely avoided altogether.


    Their thirtieth birthdays were approaching when Luna finally instructed them to break through to Tier 9.


    For Matt, they explored new ways to concentrate his mana pool, which involved them using Erwin and hisboratory. For thest few years, the scientist had been working on potential answers to Matt''s mana concentration problem. While he had ideas, nothing was confirmed.


    Since they had a margin of error for the lower Tiers, they wanted to attempt a few simpler methods based on some of Edwins hypotheses.


    For Tier 8, they made Matt a faux mana crystal with no capacity but incredible throughput.


    Erwin''s idea was for Matt to continuously fill his mana pool as the potion took effect. If the potion worked on the iing mana too, they could get more out of the potion, effectively giving him arger mana pool to concentrate.


    It didnt work, but they didnt really expect it to. That method had been a long shot at best, but was low-hanging fruit in terms of how cheap and easy it was to test.


    What turned out to be a stunning sess was his sitting at nearly no mana to speed up the aspecting of his mana type.


    In just three weeks, Matt fully converted his 0.01 mana. When he expanded his pool back to 320 mana, it had kept its progress, which let him skip the slow process of converting normally.


    His mana now spun like a top. Even once it left its string, it kept spinning for some time.


    The effect kept Matts mana active for longer than it normally should. Single cast spells like [Fireball] or [Mana Bolt] had their range expanded by about twenty percent. It was useful, but for his other skills with continuous effects, the advantages were far greater.


    When Matt now cast [Mages Retreat], he could cut the flow of mana early, and the mana inside the skill structure would linger before petering out. That allowed him to redirect his mana generation to other skills while keeping the effects of the skill going for a few seconds. With rapid and controlled switches, Matt could keep twice as many skills active simultaneously, without losing power. Luna had him practicing hard with that ability anytime he had downtime.


    While still barred from performing rift experiments with his mana, Edwin helped him test his mana on enchantments and runes. The endless aspected mana granted the same twenty percent increase in duration there as it had on his single cast skills. But it had far more interesting implications.


    While neither of them were willing to let Matt''s mana aspect out into the general public, they theorized that crystals imprinted with his mana aspect would more efficiently power enchantments, so long as the enchantment didnt require a special type of mana already.


    It would only be cost effective on items after Tier 20, Erwin predicted, as the price of a lower Tiered, aspected mana stone would outweigh any efficiency gain. Nheless, a fun few weeks went by where they tested his mana on any items they could get their hands on.


    When Luna came back, new orders arrived with her.


    She wanted their freshly Tier 9 selves to delve like anyone else.


    Her reasoning was twofold. They needed to firmly establish their cover identities for the next tournament, happening in seven years, and learn to fight with their newbat styles. At thirty-seven, they would be among the youngestpetitors, but not so young as to make their advancement speed worth investigating.


    Apparently, most Pathers waited for thest tournament they could participate in, without endangering their ability to reach Tier 11 by the age forty-four deadline. With a tournament every five years, everyone, even at the slowest pace that The Path enforced, had a chance topete.


    Talented enough Pathers might have enough buffer time to qualify for multiple Tier 10 Tournaments, but the rules only allowed them to enter once. Instead, such individuals would often stall themselves at the peak of Tier 10 and refine their skills, to ensure the best showing possible.


    The individual rewards were said to be enough to catapult anyone who did well into stardom. But Matt only wanted one thing, mana concentration potions.


    Still, to enter, they needed to settle into their cover identities andbat styles.


    Matt thought about it long and hard, and ultimately decided to lean into his talisman making. Using talismans usually required a linked Talent to be profitable or affordable, but money was the least of his worries. Plus, it would allow him to continually practice his enchanting skills in theing years.


    He had half-joked that he wanted to be a culinary fighter, but Luna just rolled her eyes, saying he wasnt Helen. Despite badgering her endlessly, he failed to pry even a single detail out of Luna as to how Aunt Helen fought with her cooking skills. To his disappointment, Liz was clueless on the subject, and no information was avable on the EmpireNet.


    Liz settled into a more melee-oriented fighting style boosted by fire-based skills.


    Aster was firmly limited to her ice-based fighting style, and moped for days about not being able to fight alongside them during the tournament, but eventually epted it.


    That left only their physical forms still needing to be decided on. It was a necessity to remain hidden and establish their cover identities for the next few years, so they kept their physical size close to their natural forms, and only changed their aesthetics.


    Liz cut her hair short and made it a bright silver that contrasted nicely with her dusky skin. The purple eyes were a nice touch that made her more rounded face seem innocent.


    Matt went with his normal height and frame while switching to a sickly pale skin tone and obsidian dark hair. His initial idea of a form that would have been closer to Lizs had to be scrapped when they discovered that his burgeoning Concept had revealed its first physical alteration.


    His pupils had formed little white holes that endlessly spewed energy that bled into his irises. The masks they were using werepletely ineffective in changing that feature, and the ethnic group that Liz was disguised as, Onsomi, always had purple or violet eyes. Matts own eyes kept overriding the mask and forcing his eye color back to the normal green with swirling white pupils.


    When they noticed the change, Matt freaked out and rushed to find any of his higher Tier mentors. Erwin was closest and exined it to him. Spontaneous physical manifestations of Concepts were apparently rare at lower Tiers, but not unheard of. It only signified that he had deepened his alignment with his Concept, nothing more. After Tier 15, he could simply will it away. Until then, he was stuck with it.


    Such phenomena were considered as proof of highpetency for thoses in his situation; a badge marking someone as a promising young elite.


    Many cultivators gained some version of the effect eventually, though it usually appeared after Tier 15, which meant it was easy to hide.


    Kurt and Erwin didnt have one, but both Luna and April did. Luna had wispy purple smoke that radiated off her fingernails, while April hadplicated tattoos that slithered along her skin like snakes.


    Matt calmed down a bit when he saw that, but was still slightly freaked out. In theory, he should be perpetually blinded with a light source in his pupils, but his vision was unbothered, if not slightly better than before.


    One thing finally convinced him that the change was a good thing; Lizs newfound fascination with staring into his eyes and watching the blue-white specks of his white hole slowly expand out. Despite the image shifting so slowly, she could happily gaze at them for hours.


    Aster, in the end, decided to pose as an Imperial Cloud Hound; a fluffy dog breed with luxurious white and silver fur. Apparently, it was the closest thing to a fox she could be. ording to her, the proximity to her usual fluffiness and cuteness was enough for her.


    After settling into their new appearance, they moved to a Tier 11 world and bought out a Tier 9 delve slot.


    To their irritation, they were only allotted a delve window once every five days, which was determined by the natural rate of refill with thes ambient mana. It was so slow, they needed to space people''s delves out to once every three hours, just to keep the rift stable.


    Matt was slightly tempted to sneak in and charge the rift himself, but wasnt so impulsive.


    Luna wanted them to experience what normal delvers dealt with, and this was one of the greatest limiting factors.


    Beyond the restrictions on theirbat styles, she prevented them from buying anything with their previously earned funds. For the first time in years, Matt was actually poor again.


    It sucked just as much as he remembered. Maybe even more.


    He hesitated to say that it was worse, and believed that it was just his time spent away from struggling that made it seem harder. After getting ustomed to the finer things, poverty tasted all the more sour.


    Still, Luna allowed them limited funds. They could rent decent amodations, and food wasnt an issue. Matt cut costs by sourcing meat and some other ingredients from the rift. Both the food and lodgings were hardly much worse than the high Tier versions they had grown ustomed to in thest few years.


    Delving was harder with the limited skills they had ess to, which caused them to initially struggle a bit with the Tier 9 rift. But as they settled into their new styles, they quickly eclipsed the challenges that the rift presented.


    It was arge affair that took them nearly ten hours to clear under their restrictions. Using their full array of skills, the team could breeze through to the end in half the time.


    For the three of them, who were used to delving new rifts every day, the experience became incredibly nd after the first five delves.


    The rift was mountainous, with a variety of goats and boars on the outer regions of the mountain range, along with a tribe of kobolds living inside the mountains themselves.


    After they learned the generalyout of the rift, even the variations that the rift sometimes generated were just as boring. The variations changed theyout of the mountains, but not much else.


    Theirck of liquid funds did force them into more careful harvesting of materials, both flora and fauna.


    Matt learned how to process animal hides into parchment for his talismans, and their harvester drones got their first real usage. The mountains were poor in ore, but that didnt mean that there wasnt any. After clearing the rift location, they spent hours finding the minerals and digging them up.


    With the rewards of the rift, they slowly built themselves a little nest egg to purchase a Tier 10 rift slot on the same with, after half a year.


    Luna congratted them for adapting to their new identities so well, but forced them to hold at the Tier 9 rift for a full year.


    Matt decided that after all that time, he abhorred how slowly they advanced most of all. With one delve every five days, they only had six delves a month. Even with the rifts increasing in size, that didnt make up for theck of activity. If they kept delving at their Tier, they would only advance to Tier 10 in three years. If they got badly injured, that would increase the time needed exponentially.


    Suddenly, Matt and Liz both better understood why everyone else found their pace of advancement so absurd.


    With his Talent and their full skill sets, the three of them could have reached Tier 10 in a year and a half, if they delved every other day, which was a pretty rxing pace to them. If they also delved the same rifts over and over, they could probably finish the rifts fast enough that they wouldn''t even need the rest day in between. With enough familiarity, they could reliably finish a Tier 9 rift in six hours, and have the rest of the day to unwind.


    At the one-year mark, Luna let them purchase a Tier 10 rift slot, and they started delving up a Tier. Tier 10 was a breakpoint for the increase in power, being a tenth Tier, but even with their limited builds, Matt, Liz, and Aster had little difficulty. The prior year of practice had smoothed out many of the kinks in their newbat styles.


    The increased size of the rifts lead to them advancing faster, and the essence being over their Tier helped solidify their past gains. With the monsters giving more essence per kill, the group started pushing through Tier 9 at a more tolerable pace, but it was still slower than they would have liked.


    When they finally moved up to Tier 11 rifts, they really started to challenge themselves. Punching two Tiers up was nothing new, but their various restrictions forced their new styles to be tested again and again.


    Matt learned how to be a standard mage, which he found to be far too fun. At Tier 9, he had 640 total mana at his fingertips. With his one percent mana being 6 mana, he was finally able to endlessly cast his modified [Fireball]. Despite having a hamstrung skill as his go to, apart from talismans, he was able to st through or wear down all of their opposition with little effort.


    It was some of the most fun he had had in years, as he stood and cackled like a viin in a bad movie while he leveled a small hill inside the rift.


    His exuberance was enough for Aster to push past her hatred of fire spells and yip around his legs in excitement.


    Their delving eventually devolved into the three of them starting a contest of who coulde up with the best monologue line that fit with an endless stream of [Fireball]s.


    Aster insisted that she won with I just beat you with the worst elemental type. Imagine what would happen if I used a real spell.


    After that, they moved back to normal training, but it felt like the start of a turning point for Matt. Despite not fighting with his sword, his melee fighting skills were still of great use, as they let him control the battle during the rare instances that a monster got around Liz.


    His blood mage partner turned out to have a knack for meleebat that was only outshone by her control of fire spells. Despite her Talent changing her affinity to blood, she had spent her earliest years with an innate ability to create and control mes, and it all came back to her in short order.


    Liz bought and mainly used [Fireball], [Fire Maniption], and the Tier 14 [Fire Weapon], to give her weapon a little more damage. Considering they were limited in their funds, thest skill was all they could afford for her. It tweaked Matts pride that Liz, with the skills in her outer spirit so her Talent wouldnt affect them, had better control than he had with them in his inner spirit.


    Aster sulked with all the fire skills being used, which was one of the reasons why Matt purchased [Jolt] for his cover identity. The Tier 8 lightning skill was rare enough that they wanted it on public record that he had it.


    After using it a few times, he understood why Emily had adored the skill. At 20 mana, the initial cost was higher than [Fireball] or [Mana Bolt], but the damage was correspondingly greater too.


    Still, Matt mainly used inscribed scrolls forbat against all but the weakest forms of monsters. Most talisman masters werent willing to waste even the smallest talisman on a weak monster; the rtive costs simply did not justify it. As he discovered, the role of a talisman master was to hang back for most of the delve, and then kill the bosses and sub-bosses in quick, massive bursts.


    With the proper two or three scrolls, Matt could usually obliterate the bosses in under a minute.


    They settled into a new routine, living their lives where little happened between delving the rift and their activities of training and other hobbies. Eventually, while they were delving the Tier 11 rift, the monotony was broken up when they met someone special.


    Samuel Barker was a solo Tier 10 delver on The Path. He was only a few years older than them, and intended to participate in the same tournament they were going to.


    For a normal Pather team, delving up a single Tier wasn''t unusual. Samuel was a solo delver though, which made things more interesting.


    He and Matt met by chance at a tactics ss, and they learned that they had quite a few simrities. A friendship quickly blossomed. Both were tragically orphaned by rift breaks, though Samuels managed to handle the situation after the first break. The local noble also stepped up to ensure that the orphaned survivors were well taken care of.


    Unlike Matt, he had been scouted for his Talent, which let him turn most skills into variant summons.


    Both he and Liz were fascinated by the man''s Talent once they saw it in action. Samuel was in turn intrigued by Matts powerful talisman-making Talent.


    Upon learning that they were going to the tournament as well, Samuel was happy to train with them.


    His Talent turned most non-channelled skills into miniature humanoid forms that had a great deal of independence, but were loyal to Samuel. The only downside of the summons was their need to havemandsmunicated verbally.


    It was amazing to watch as a [Jolt] skill turned into a three-foot-tall stick figure made of lighting. It would rush the opponent and punch them, inflicting the normal [Jolt]''s damage with every hit. The Talent was amazing, as the summons didnt run out of power and dissipate, needing to be physically destroyed in order to be stopped.


    [Earth Wall] turned into a stocky pile of rocks, half the size of a normal human, that regenerated from any non-mortal damage, creating a fantastic front-line fighter.


    [Fireball] turned into a teardrop of me that shot out its own [Fireball]s, but it was positively adorable looking, and more like a mascot than something dangerous.


    Or so, everyone but Aster thought. She kept freezing the summon while acting innocent.


    Matt believed that it was because [Ice Spike] wasnt nearly as cute inparison, and just looked like a crystal with arms.


    They even delved together more than once, and Samuel was a wrecking ball of damage with his variety of skills.


    The other Pather was clearly holding back some of his abilities or skills; while he was holding his own in the rift, he didnt seem to be at the level of soloing the Tier 12 rift.


    None of them could me him, as they were also hiding portions of their own abilities, though they were showing the true capabilities of their cover identities.


    Luna even made an appearance as Matts hired mage trainer, and spent an afternoon with the man, giving him some pointers and suggestions. She believed the other Pather had an interesting enough Talent, so she said that she was making a few calls for him and his future trainer.


    If Lunas friends were anything like Kurt and Luna herself, Matt pitied the other man.


    They spent four years undercover and establishing their identities, when they got word that Amelia Galley was going to hold an expo, with her tailor abilities as the focus of the attraction. The rumor mill had spread the unofficial word that she was close to her Tier 22 inspiration. It would be her neenth one, which showed her dominance in the crafting field.


    Her clothes, both armor and casual, sold for Tier 30 values because they were head and shoulders above what most others could make. Her light armor had the same defensive ratings as full metal pate that was three Tiers higher than self.


    The rumor was given more credibility with her personally inviting crafters from all over, scheduling more than one demonstration, and even setting up question and answering tforms for herself and other crafting legends under Tier 30.


    Both Matt and Liz wanted to go for their respective hobbies crafters that would show up. For Liz, her alchemy, and for Matt, his cooking and enchanting. The expo was bing the gathering ce for every crafter in the nearest three kingdoms and Matt wanted to see what other enchanters had to offer.


    They, along with millions of others, swarmed towards the that was housing the event. Or, more urately, the moon that was housing the event. Amelia had gotten the local Duke to let her fully upy one of the moons surrounding the that had been terraformed, but not heavily settled yet.


    By the time they were nine jumps away, ces were already overflowing, and thes were forced to run hourly jumps as the demand only increased. Matt, Liz, and Aster reverted to their original identities, and used their greater wealth to ensure that they weren''t left behind. Even with the two years warning, they only arrived three months before the actual event.


    Even the below was so packed, finding a ce to sleep was more a matter of chance than money. Buildings were being constructed as fast as the inspectors could go through them, but it was still too slow for the influx of people.


    The three of them ended up getting a position in a building that was little more than stone walls and doors for privacy. They had to live out of their tents, but it was a ce to sleep, which was all they needed.


    In the intervening time, while everyone waited for the moon to open its metaphorical doors, Matt used Luna as a manaunderer, and was selling eight hours of his mana generation to the for exorbitant prices. And with his current regeneration at 640 MPS, he produced over eighteen million mana in that time frame.


    He was making a little less than two Tier 31 mana stones a day, which put his personal contribution second to only the local Tier 35 Duke.


    A full eighth of the buildings were created using Matt''s second-hand mana. He was smug enough that Liz and Aster stopped talking to him when he started guessing if each building they saw was created from his mana.


    It was just too good to see the direct impact his contributions had on the. He wasnt single-handedly changing things, but he was making arge portion of the work possible. That feeling made him warm in a way that building rifts and other indirect uses of his mana never had.


    There was a housing problem, and he helped to solve it.


    It also served as a reminder as to why people were so keen on his Talent, but Matt tried to keep that voice quiet and in the corner of his mind.


    The rest of the time they spent going around to the various impromptu marketces that turned up. There, they browsed various goods from crafters or merchants.


    One man was selling metal rings enchanted to conjure various mundane drinks, which Matt just found pointless. It took more mana to use the device than simply buying the drinks would cost. Who would waste money on a ring that created coffee?


    The answer was a whole lot of people. He didnt understand the desire, but added it to his list of profitable items to create once he reached Tier 15, and could make the moreplicated runes needed for the enchantment.


    Most of the best crafters spent their time meeting together behind closed doors, which meant Matt and Liz had no chance at meeting them. But they enjoyed seeing the others near their own Tiers work, and learned quite a bit from their peers.


    When the moon and full event opened up, they were some of the first people to arrive. As Luna said, they were a part of her party, and as one of the people who had given the most mana, she was given one of the earliest spots.


    She would have gotten one for her Tier on her own, but Matt was proud of the special treatment, even if it was second-hand.


    He was impressed when Luna and the other highest Tiers worked together to bring up everyone who couldn''t traverse the intervening vacuum of space themselves. As the world was Tier 27, the space was so firm that Matt was only able to fly with great difficulty. But even that was a struggle, to the point of it being useless, and even dangerous to leave the ground higher than a few feet.


    Lunas disy of moving millions of people over the course of a few hours was a direct reminder of her overwhelming power. Luna was, at least ording to April, the strongest person there, and was doing most of the work herself. Even she didnt know the woman''s true Tier, just that it was at least Tier 40.


    Seconds after Matt arrived, he noticed something was wrong with the surrounding essence and mana of the moon. Before he could look into it, he got a message from Kelley, the crafter he had met and befriended in the vassal kingdoms.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126


    After receiving Kelley''s message, the three of them headed to the indicated location, where they found the older crafter standing off to one side.


    Kelley was only Tier 12, which almost surprised Matt. Though, the man sat at the upper limits of that Tier, and seemed only a baby step away from advancing. It had been so long, Matt had expected the man to have advanced much further.


    Kelley shook each of their hands and said, It''s good to see you all, but honestly, I''m surprised to see you guys here so soon. He took a massive breath and grinned, Can you feel that? It''s amazing, isnt it?


    Matt reached out with his own spiritual sense and tried to make sense of what was giving him such a weird feeling. It wasn''t the gravity that he could feel was enhanced through a series of formations to increase the gravity to aary standard.


    No, this feeling was different.


    Aster had no desire to figure it out herself; she just directly asked, What is it?


    Kelley tapped his foot a few times on the concrete and continued grinning. This moon was found and brought back by an exploration team. It was orbiting a gas giant situated a pretty substantial distance from a Tier 20.


    That exined the moon only being Tier 2, despite currently orbiting a Tier 27 world. Essence was just light enough to escape a standard''s gravity well, but not enough so to escape the greater gravitational pull of a sun. Sr systems would slowly Tier up as long as a rift-bearing existed, but the further away from the essence producing that a celestial body was, the slower the growth would be.


    That still didnt exin the weird sensation Matt was feeling now, though. There was something like an aura of spiritual lightness to it, but that didnt particrly help define the other sensations he had picked up on. Simrly, the moons normal gravity could easily be exined by a formation, but that didnt feel correct either.


    Kelley kept tapping the ground with a growing smile. This moon had three subsatelite moons, and through some luck, all three formed with nature aspected rifts containing strong wildlife elements. That created an aspected feedback loop between this moon and the sub satelites. The essence here is nature heavy, leading to a fantastic number of rifts withrge open areas, and a preponderance of monster rifts. The situation makes this ce perfect for our crafter goddess.


    Matt assumed he was referring to Amelia Galley. The adoring look on the man''s face wasical. Or, it would have been, if it didnt awaken memories of what Cindy had done with her little cult.


    Carefully using his own Concept, Matt probed for signs of foreign influences on Kelley, but found none. The man was just in old star-struck.


    Matt, Ill try to get you a meeting with Master Amelia. I''m super junior on her team of researchers, but she''s amazing. Her thought process is just so... so different. Matt, she can use Tier 2 monster hides and produce the defensive bonuses equivalent to a Tier 6 item. It''s incredible to watch.


    Liz seemed unbothered by being left out of the conversation and asked, How did you get involved with her, Kelley? Weren''t you nning on working with the enchantments that you and Matt figured out?


    Kelleys face scrunched as if he wanted to spit. Yeah, that <em>was</em> the n until someone stole the we were on and the prismatic rift with it. Who the hell steals <em>a</em>?


    Liz must have forgotten about that, as she pursed her lips and nodded along.


    Matt chuckled but prodded Kelley back to the topic at hand, and the man continued his story.


    Right. Yeah. I was actually still working on that stuff, and even making some inroads with a few smaller guilds about trading mana samples. Then, some influential people started questioning our little aspect-trading organization. A few said that people were showing serious interest in my malleable mana type too. Honestly, I got a little scared and skirted their questions about it for a while. Eventually, Master Amelia came knocking personally. She offered me a job, and I took it. Best decision Ive ever made.


    That made enough sense to satisfy Matt, so he decided not to pry. But he <em>still </em>didnt understand why the moon was so special. Yes, it was rare. Useful? He wasn''t so sure about that.


    But what''s the big fuss about this moon? There are several elementally aligneds in the Empire, and none of them seem like that big of a deal. At least not the ones I know of.


    The only two examples Matt could think of were fire and ices that had been too close to one another, and too far from their respective suns to start. When essence finally reached them, it was filtered through their extreme environments, leading to a cascading effect. Most of the essence aspected into fire and ice respectively, before spawning rifts with those elemental types. That cycle repeated itself for millennia or eons before most, if not all the essence in the''s core was aligned to that element. At that point, not even terraforming the could change the cores affinity. They made great training grounds for anyone who wanted or had to specialize in those elements, but they were otherwise normals with unvaried ecosystems.


    The wildlife subtyping might be rare, but it didnt seem nearly useful enough for a famous Tier 21 to relocate their entire operation to a Tier 3 moon.


    Kelley looked ready to shake Matt.


    This means that the rifts here are all but guaranteed to include animals with high quality hides. Theres also a ton of nts suitable for making natural fibers. It''s perfect for Master Amelia. She worked out a deal with Duke Fletcher, stipting that he''d provide essence to help the moon Tier up. Hes just thrilled to have her based out of his territory. Just in thest two years weve been working here, Master Amelia has discovered new methods for curing hides andyering enchantments that allows far more power to be inscribed into low Tier materials. She wouldve had hertest inspiration within the first year, but shes been repressing it.


    Matt didnt really see the appeal, but he also recognized that he was a mere amateur in the crafting professions at best. It just seemed no different to him than if she simply had the hides ordered from a variety ofs and rifts.


    He wasn''t dumb enough to say so out loud. Amelia had found over a dozen inspirations, and he had had zero. She was clearly doing something right, and to devastating effect, if her very presence could inspire near zealotry in someone like Kelley. The man used to have issues with authority.


    Kelley led them into the building, where he bypassed half a dozen security measures and got the three of them into clean suits for a tour. They were able to enter a hallway that let them see into ab, where half a dozen people surrounded what looked to be a boar''s skin. They were brushing the hide out while stretching the skin as someone else brushed vague rune forms onto the skin with a liquid.


    Kelley was helpful enough to exin. A part of the process that Master Amelia figured out was better prep work on the animal skins. By using a mixture of slightly higher Tier liquids, we can massively increase the amount of energy that leather and cloth armor can hold. And that''s only the first step.


    They were then led to the next room, where a team was sting a hide with a truly massive amount of mana. Matt, the man with limitless mana, even felt that it was a waste, seeing how much energy they were hitting the material with.


    This is our example chamber. The normal enrichment chambers are far more effective, as theyre just boxes that the materials are ced in while their mana parameters are calcted. Helps give the material a higher threshold of power.


    Kelley took them through another three rooms, where the process continued on to one of the final steps. At this point, the leather was cut and hardened into a shape resembling armor.


    That was where Matt found Erwin, Kurt, and Luna standing next to a woman with a massive, brown braid that reached her knees. She was tall and graceful in her movements, and positively towered over everyone but Kurt, whom she only loomed over.


    It was Amelia. Matt had to admit, the woman definitely matched her pictures. But her physical size, while well documented, was much more apparent in person.


    Kelley whispered, Master Amelia has been giving VIP tours, trying to drum up money. Let''s move on before we disturb her.


    Matt had no intention of doing so, and messaged Erwin, who turned and waved.


    Amelia said something, and with a familiar burst of power, the four of them were inside the cleanroom.


    Matt didnt miss Kelley starting slightly, but he had half expected this. Or at least hoped for it. Erwin was a well-known and respected figure in the scientificmunity, which gave him the ability to meet and greet crafters of high status.


    As his half assistant and friend, Matt had been toying with the mere hope of riding the older man''s coattails to get a meeting with Amelia. But he honestly hadnt expected it this early.


    Erwin made the introductions. Amelia, this is Matthew, the one I was telling you about earlier. Also, Elizabeth and Aster. I don''t know the other one. I assume he''s one of yours?


    Amelia, in a deep but lilting voice, said, Yes. Kelley is one of the more recent and promising additions to my team. He''s the one with the malleable mana type I was telling you about.


    Erwin, in his forgetful way, immediately ignored everyone else and started pestering Kelley about his mana and Concept, while Luna just rolled her eyes at his antics.


    She spoke to Amelia, but Matt felt it was also directed to himself. If you want to make a contact yourself, this would be the person and time to do so.


    She was leaving the ball in his court, but he wasn''t sure if she was referring to his mana aspecting and its usefulness in creating things, or his endless reservoir of said mana.


    While Matt was considering how to handle it, Liz took the pause in conversation to ask Amelia a question. Matt mostly ignored the ensuing discussion, lost in his own thoughts.


    He decided that he did trust Luna, and figured that she must have meant his manas unique effects from his Concept, rather than his Talent.


    Then, he remembered what Kelley had said. Amelia was looking for backers to fund her testing. Matt was the perfect person to do so.


    Finally giving up, he looked to Luna and messaged her. I have no idea what you want me to tell her. Any suggestions?


    Luna rolled her eyes and pped her hands, and everyone but the eight of them vanished from the room. From the spatial ripples he felt resonating from the working, Matt knew that Luna had cleared the entire building.


    Then, he felt the familiar presence of Lunas Aspect wrap around them, preventing anyone else from listening in.


    Seeing Amelia narrow her eyes dangerously at the removal of her staff, Matt stuck out his still clean suited hand. Matthew Alexander. The go-to guy for all your mana needs.


    He also extended Aster, who stuck out her own gloved paw, to the woman, while gushing out his entire mana regeneration. His 640 MPS was a noticeable expenditure, even for a higher Tier. And with his own Tier 9 strength that he did nothing to hide, Amelia grasped the significance behind the private session as she shook both Asters paw and his hand.


    Well now, isn''t that interesting. Erwin said he was working on rifts, but wouldn''t exin how he was funding it. This certainly makes things clear now, doesn''t it?


    While Matt continued his outpouring of mana, she quirked her head and asked, And this doesn''t cost you anything? You dont get tired? I can''t imagine how your Talent works.


    Kelley finally worked up the nerve to speak. That''s gotten a lot stronger since Ist saw you.


    Liz slithered an arm through Matt''s. Yes, hes quite the interesting specimen, but I don''t know if telling people about his quirks is the best idea.


    Kurt nosed his pad of paper into the conversation, writing, Amelia here has been fully vetted, and is trusted by the higher ups. Shes a good contact to have for your own reasons, and said higher authorities want to help her develop as well. Having the two of you meet ande to a mutually beneficial agreement suits both desires.


    Luna took over. While no one is forcing anything, we were hoping that you two coulde to some arrangement. You can uniquely help each other. How exactly you do that is up to you to decide. She looked straight at Matt. We practiced for this. Now is your first opportunity to put it into action.


    Matt felt thoroughly out of his depth, despite their training. His nerves were fluttering crazily as he reviewed his lessons. What settled him down was noting that Luna wasnt giving off any subtle hints to him, so he decided to show off a little and establish his worth. While he had the more valuable goods in his mana sub-aspect and Talent, he was of a much lower Tier.


    My Talent lets me endlessly produce mana at an increasing rate as I Tier up.


    The giant woman''s eyes glimmered, but he didnt let that distract them.


    I also have an unusual sub-aspect to my mana that increases the longevity of any effect it powers. After removing his hand from hers, he reached into the bag on his back, blindly fishing around until he found a small wooden b with a standard light rune carved into its surface.


    He put two mana into the rune and let it light up, then waited as the rune''s glow stayed lit for longer than it should have. Being Tier 21, he held no doubt that the woman could feel the difference.


    That''s what I bring to the table. I''m willing to give you mana to fund your research.


    Amelia looked like she wanted to salivate. As she was going to speak, Liz said, The real question is


    Suddenly, she was relocated off to the side, next to where Luna floated.


    Everything stopped for a moment, but his mentor simply shrugged. This is one of those things you need to do on your own, Matt. At least this time.


    Aster started to yip in response, but the fox disappeared out of Matt''s arms and was deposited into Lizs.


    Amelia looked amused, but shifted her focus back to Matt. What are the exact specifications of your Talent and sub-aspected mana?


    Matt shook his head and shot back, My exact Talent is private. Sorry, but references from on high or not, I don''t know you well enough to share that much. Lets just say I can put out a royal fuckton of mana, and leave it at that.


    The tailor looked taken back at that, so Matt forged on. The sub-aspect, I dont mind sharing. Thats from my Endless Concept. <strong>I am endless</strong>. As is my mana.


    He flexed both portions of his Concept for a brief second, refilling her mana pool and Erwin''s, while gently repulsing everything around him.


    It gives a twenty percent boost to power generation with my mana. Works best on channel spells and enchantments. As my mana is a neutral aspect, it works really well in most general applications, if mana cost or longevity are a factor.


    Amelias tongue started fiddling with her left canine tooth, almost as if it was how she focused on her thoughts, or was her bodys way to assist her level of focus. That had been an interesting thing to learn while in their spycraft traininghow to spot a tell or read bodynguage. Those sses had been almost fun for Matt, since higher tiers usually were better about controlling themselves.


    She continued to tongue her tooth for a moment before finally saying, That''s a lot to offer. Honestly, your Talent is of more direct use to me than your mana type. I need to test various things, not add new variables. How much mana can you provide, and how often?


    They spent the next few minutes going back and forth about his avability. Amelia didnt try to keep him local, and immediately started her bargaining in deliveries made to her and not him sitting around, which made Matt fond of her.


    She realized he wasnt going to agree to being a battery, and directly started negotiation on the amount of mana she wanted and how often. Honestly, it wasn''t a lot for how often she wanted the deliveries.


    Once a month, she was looking for a billion mana. That was too much for Matt to reasonably provide right now, with all of his other training, so they settled on a third of a billion every month going forward. It would stay at that amount as long as he was Tier 9. She would be responsible for the transportation of said mana, along with its discreet delivery to Luna.


    Matt wasn''t dumb enough to believe that he could protect himself if he openly gave the woman mana directly. He was fully relying on Luna to act as a cover for him. As the older cat didnt say anything, he assumed that she agreed.


    Finally, they moved on to what he wanted from the deal, and Matt found that he honestly didn''t know, beyond the obvious. His training for this all predicated that he was trying to make a fair deal, and he honestly liked what Amelia was trying to do with sharing her knowledge.


    I want armor for Aster and me whenever youre at the point where you can produce items at a higher Tier than us at that time.


    He looked to Liz to see if she wanted to switch to light armor, but she shook her head.


    After that Matt ran out of ideas, and the negotiations turned slightly awkward.


    Even Amelia clearly felt at odds with the requestedpensation being so low, and hesitated to agree right away.


    Matt saw Liz fight against Lunas powers, clearly trying to say something, but he couldn''t intuit what she was driving at.


    As they stood there in an ever-increasing awkward silence, Matt asked for three more sets of armor made for his friends, up to a limit of thirty times.


    Even then, it still felt like an incredibly lopsided deal, until he had an idea. After looking up what information he could find out about the woman, he deceived to go for broke, hoping that she would go for it.


    I want you to share what you learn using my mana. Whatever processes or general discoveries that can help anyone, I want you to make it public, with no strings attached.


    For the first time, Matt saw the woman truly react to a request. He knew it was arge ask, and headed off any possible rebuttal.


    I get that''s a lot to ask for. I really do. But so much of the higher Tier information is locked away behind guilds, other organizations, or pay walls so exorbitant that its almost impossible to truly grow your craft. Those on the outside always end up being reliant on, or indebted to someone else. Everyone is singrly focused on keeping their own unique edges. I was working on rifts, and we learned a ton. But I''m sure if I peeked inside all of the oldest noble families and guilds records, I bet I would find most of what I learned already there. It''s too wasteful of a process. I cant let a chance to prevent that pass by.


    Matt thought as he spoke, and came to a decision. He trusted Luna, and even the Emperor that he had only met once. If they wanted him to work with Amelia, they must have their reasons.


    The tailor tried to open her mouth again, and Matt finished, Like I said, I know it''s a lot to ask, but my own value will only increase. If the higher ups want us to work together, Ill trust their judgment. My mana generation only increases every Tier. Eventually, Ill be making more mana than I could possibly use. I didn''t intend to hoard it, so youll only really be dying getting my mana if you say no now. But Id like to help everyone out, and make a real change in this Empire. If you can agree to that, Ill eventually ensure that you have more mana than you know what to do with, once I Tier up a bit.


    Amelia smirked at him as he finished, and Matt noticed an amused look on both Luna and Kurt''s faces. Liz looked exasperated more than anything, which told Matt that he had messed up.


    The Tier 21ughed. I take it you looked me up, did you?


    Matt nodded. Luna had prepared him for contract negotiation years ago, and they had even applied that situation to his mana, but a lot of those ideas revolved around him taking percentages of their profits or parts of thepanies. If the tailor wasn''t trying to make things better for everyone, he would have gone down that route.


    As it was, he would rather let her develop without worry, and reap the less tangible benefitster.


    Seeing his nod, Amelia chuckled. While I learned not to unt it too much in thest few decades, I was a massive proponent for freedom of information. I cant say I was going to share <em>everything</em>. But I already intended to share most of it. It''s a small price to pay for so much mana.


    Matt nodded. That was what he had seen.


    She continued, Most of what I know has been learned already. Hidden by guilds, I''m sure, just as you said. As Ive Tiered up and gathered support, my public rtions people have been having me tamp down on those statements, so as to do the research I want to do. I need the support of the factions that Im looking to eventually undermine. That''s why I''m holding this expo. I want to share knowledge, not hoard it, so Im happy to honor that agreement.


    Liz was just rubbing her head through her clean suit, but she did smirk at him. In most of their training, she was the far more aggressive negotiator for his mana, always trying to get the most in return for his help.


    Aster just wanted to see what outfits she could get made.


    Matt chuckled. He might have made the most lopsided deal in history, but he didnt want to go down the same old paths, with everything valuable locked up. He also realized why the Emperor wanted him to meet up with the crafter. She was a rising star in the Empire, and as she advanced, especially if she advanced through more inspirations, she would gather more political weight and influence.


    She wanted the same changes he wanted, and he suspected the Emperor wanted the same.


    Trying to get at least something tangible out of the deal, Matt took inspiration from Aster and tacked on, I also want you to make more nonbat clothes for the three of us.


    Aster''s suit-covered tail started to wag furiously, and Liz, now free of Lunas influence, sulked forward and grumbled, Could have taken her for way more.


    His girlfriend didnt look too disappointed, though.


    ***


    They spent the next few hours talking with Amelia about her process, which she was happy to share. It made Matt feel dumb, as Kelley had said she was giving tours, after all. He should have realized what she was doing far earlier, but he still wasn''t unhappy with the deal. Supporting her research was a positive, as she tried to streamline her process for tailors and leather workers of all stripes.


    One interesting tidbit was what Amelia truly wanted with the moon. She had spent a sizable fortune to get the moon moved over to a more stable region of Empire space, so she could slowly Tier it up while preventing it from losing the aspects of its makeup that made it unique.


    If they moved too quickly, or dumped too much essence into the thing, they could dilute the moons core, and it would start to make more non animal rifts. If nothing was done, eventually, the moon would produce enough neutral essence to shift the bnce in its ambient essence.


    As the moon Tiered up, that would be harder to do. But at Tier 3, the moon was easy enough to shift, so they needed to be careful. The sheer size of the moon only worsened the situation


    Technically, the molten core of a was a fantastic crafting item, and technically harvestable to aid in higher Tiers cultivation, but it was a massive taboo to touchs'' cores, except in extreme circumstances.


    It was one of the few things that all the Tier 50s agreed on. Or so Luna said.


    The exact reason why, or what happened when an essence core was removed from a, Luna wouldn''t say. No matter how much Matt pestered her. Eventually, he just epted that whatever it was, he shouldnt investigate further.


    After the first night, they retired to rooms Luna had arranged for them in one of the massive, spatially erged buildings. The fifteen-floor buildings were expanded at least a thousand times over, to the point that it was a twenty-minute walk from the front entrance to their room.


    It was an impressive, but ultimately temporary measure, as the amount of mana that the building needed per day to stay active was mind-boggling. While the underneath could handle permanent construction, the low Tier moon could not. But it didnt need to, as they expected most people to use the intrasystem teleporters to travel to the moon. At least, they expected that to be enough when half the crafters in the Empire werent moring to reach the moon.


    Even with Luna bringing people over with her greater ability, the moon was slow to fill up. Still, slowly but surely, the areas started to fill with crafters showing off their wares, orpeting in official and unofficial exhibition matches that were held for every profession.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster spent days wandering through the stalls and talking to other crafters.


    It was humbling to see so many other exceptional crafters. Matt knew he was only an amateur, but seeing just how far he had to go was jarring. He learned as much as he could from the various books avable, but his inventions rarely worked on his first attempts. Most of his projects were finished with patience and his unlimited mana.


    The crafters he interacted with didnt have that advantage, and had to carefully n and study every rune and material before attempting an enchantment. They were forced to be perfectionists in everything they did to cut down costs and waste.


    Mana was the greatest limiting factor for any normal crafter. They needed to purchase the mana from cities, or wait and umte it themselves. The first cut into their profits, and the second would simply take far too long if they wanted to practice more than once a month.


    Which was exactly what most higher Tier crafters did. They needed millions of mana at each step of the process, and few cities were able to supply them with enough mana.


    When he wanted to enchant something, or try his hand at crafting, Matt just attempted it. He wouldn''t run out of mana or materials with his ability to fuel rifts.


    He was good because he had the wealth to practice without worry.


    To call his situation rare was an understatement.


    Matt started to imagine what things would look like if he was able to gather those more talented crafters and remove their greatest limitation. Sure, materialponents were important, but the mana was the truest issue that they all faced. What if Matt could pull them to himself, and foot that most important bill on his own? The fantasy was enticing as he looked around at the vendors and stalls where people cautiously plied their trades. As the days passed and the moon filled up, and Amelia started to give more talks and guide other crafters with various lesions, his idea crystallized.


    He wanted to start a guild of crafters. A guild where people were free to make whatever they wanted, with an unlimited mana supply backing them up. He wanted to push testing and advancement as far as he could.


    It wasn''t something that he would be able to do until at least Tier 35, when his mana generation would be truly monstrous. The idea of a ce of crafting where he could gather the best and brightest minds was an intoxicating thought. Especially if, like Luna and Liz always suggested, he could get the best for himself. How much stronger and better protected could he be if he had the best and most-cutting-edge equipment avable to the Empire at his disposal?


    He kept the thoughts mostly to himself as he pondered the rough ideas and problems, but he figured it was possible. Few would be willing to turn down the opportunity to have every project funded, and materials provided through Aperologists making rifts, in which he could have delvers working to feed the crafters.


    A wonderful dream indeed.


    But in his current state and level of power, it remained just thata dream.


    During his evenings, Matt spent eight hours filling massive mana reserves for Amelia and her future crafting tests. At Tier 9 and with a perfected body, he needed only two or so hours of sleep a night, and only really slept longer most nights because sleeping was fun.


    At the actual start of the exposition, Amelia shocked everyone with her announcement.


    She had not only one, but <em>two</em> inspirations ready.


    Having seen an inspiration before, Matt wasnt all that interested, but Erwin brought him, Liz, and Aster to a vantage point just out of the moon''s atmosphere. He didnt miss that Kurt came with them, but hovered slightly behind, not interfering.


    Through an AI group chat, the older man asked, Do you know what an inspiration does?


    Matt felt like this was a trick question, and kept his mouth shut, but Liz had no suchpunction. Its when someone resonates with essence about a revtion they learned, and essence rushes into them, instantly Tiering them up.


    Erwin nodded. Correct on all ounts. But that''s not what I''m getting at. Let me re-ask the question. What happens when a Tier 21 has an inspiration on a world much lower than their Tier?


    Matt''s initial answer was that the might be cannibalized through the intake of essence, but that didn''t seem quite right. Amelia had a vested interest in protecting this moon, not destroying it.


    In the vassal kingdom, Kelley had had an inspiration. Being four Tiers above the''s Tier at the time, he had absorbed essence for minutes on end, since the essence needed to umte to match the man''s Tier.


    But Matt had no idea how much essence it would take for a Tier 21 to reach Tier 22, then Tier 23 in short order. He became worried that it would be enough to hurt the core of the moon.s needed magnitudes more essence than a human would need to Tier up, but the difference between Tiers 21 and 22 was just sorge. Matt''s initial gut feeling was that Amelia would hurt the.


    As a pulse of energy washed out, it was toote to ask Erwin, so he just turned and watched.


    Just as he feared, even from miles up, Matt could feel most of the essence rushing into the woman. But as he started to worry, something like the energy he felt when they traveled through chaotic space appeared.


    Except that it wasn''t exactly the same. The feelings were like near-identical fraternal twins; they were simr, but there were subtle differences.


    Matt pushed out his spiritual sense as far as he could reach into the swirling energy, but before he could catch on to what was going on, the energy started to transform into essence.


    Tier 22 essence.


    It rushed down into the Tier 2 moon like a tidal wave, and Matt could feel the moon nearly instantly Tier up. It shot through Tier 3, Tier 4, then Tier 5. Spots of purple void energy that felt like Luna''s willpower flickered as the rifts improved qualitatively, and spewed their monster hordes out upon sudden Tier up.


    Matt shook his head in awe.


    He, Liz, and Aster simultaneously asked, What was that?


    Erwinughed in the bubble of air he had brought with them and replied through his AI.


    Theres a sort of defense mechanism fors that are too weak if someone much stronger than them goes through an inspiration. Once the world starts to experience a significant degree of essence loss, to the point it will cripple the, there is an influx of energy from elsewhere.


    The older man looked at them. It felt like chaotic space to you, right?


    Aster yipped in the thin air, Yes, but no.


    Erwin nodded in reply, A good enough answer, my quadrupedal friend. Yes. It''s not quite chaotic space energy. That energy is anathema to life in real space. That was its bigger and far scarier cousin, the energy that separates realms. It''s got a few more uses than pure destruction.


    Liz figured it out before Matt, Wait, like an ascension?


    Exactly like one. Except for the part about boosting Talents for the unawakened and a few other details. There is a rush of essence that will fill the, or in this case, the moon. Normally, going from Tier 21 to 22 wouldn''t be enough to push a up so many Tiers, but it''s a moon, and much, much smaller, so it needs correspondingly less essence to Tier up. That final condition is basically impossible to fulfill ons, with their greater size and essence reserves. On a, even with the Tier difference, Amelia would need to be at least five Tiers higher than she is now to have an influx of essence.


    There was a gathering of power, and Erwin quickly said, Get ready. Shes about to Tier up again. Try and feel the higher realm energy.


    Once again, the essence on the moon rushed toward the ce Matt knew Amelia to be, and the process started over again. She pulled in a substantial portion of the essence on the moon to her, and when it wasn''t enough, that same energy appeared.


    Being ready for it, Matt was able to get a better grip on its appearance. The energy felt like someone pressing their figure onto a cube of gtin, but not hard enough to push fully through the surface tension. They pushed just enough to indent the gtin and have their presence known. No more, no less.


    That slight pressure was enough for essence to rush in, and it was a perfect match for both Amelia and the moon. Matt could feel two distinct types of essence mixed in with the rush of power.


    The tailor''s essence was like leather and cotton. Soft and pliant at the same time, while also exuding an aura that gave the impression of being as strong as metal.


    Matt wasn''t able to pinpoint the feeling that the higher Tier essence gave him to any degree greater than that vague initial sensation.


    The moon''s essence was, as Kelley had said, distinctly animal vored. It smelled of the wilds to his spiritual sense. Not just one type either, but of all of them. From jungles to deserts, to cold mountain peaks, to the frigid depths of the oceans. Everything that was nature and animal was represented in the essence. Despite being far weaker in Tier, it had far more depth than Amelia had in her essence.


    Matt watched on in awe as the moon advanced to Tier 7, then stopped.


    They stood there in silence as the weight of the event that had just happened washed over them. Matt caught Erwin breathing in deeply a few times, despite the air being incredibly thin. Not long after, they were brought down to the surface of the moon.


    Amelia was giving a speech that Matt couldn''t focus on as he thought about that greater energy. The energy was on apletely different scale to be able to fill in the gap created whens couldn''t handle the presence of stronger cultivators.


    Erwins remarks implied that inspirations were miniature ascensions, and Matt wasn''t sure if thatforted him or scared him.


    But he wasn''t sure if that was right either; his gut told him that it wasn''t the whole truth.


    If inspirationsmuned with the Higher Realms, or something simr, Erwin would have said so. He didnt beat around the bush most times. It would also mean that inspiration Tier ups, like Kelleys, were different in some way. Maybe the location mattered, or the massive Tier difference forced thes to protect themselves somehow.


    There were greater powers out there that even the higher Tiers might not fully understand.


    It was a beautiful and scary thought.


    As Matt was finally swept up in the celebration, he had to put aside his questions and let himself enjoy the moon-wide party.


    Amelia had earned it.


    This was her day. Existential crises could wait.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127


    The after-party was moon-wide, and continued for nearly two weeks. The trio being still mortal, they couldnt keep up the partying and fell asleep partway through. Though, the celebration continued on without them.


    Running off the high from her double breakthroughs, Amelia sponsored a multitude of crafting trials andpetitions for various different Tiers and skill sets.


    Matt jumped at the chance to participate in a Tier 8 through 10 cooking tournament. His entry, a cheese souffle, was one of his better works,andted him first ce. Only a few hundred participants entered the bracket for his Tier, which made his victory less impressive, but he was there to flex his cooking skills more than anything. That ended up being more than enough to take home the prize, a Tier 11 portable range. It was an excellent addition to his spatial backpack, but he was more proud of his win than any physical reward.


    Still, thepetition had clearly beencking. Cooking as a profession tended to be popr after Tier 15, when unlimited life spans allowed people to devote more time to a craft that wasn''tbat applicable. Some enthusiasts dedicated themselves to the field even at lower Tiers, but this expo didnt have a strong enough focus on the culinary arts to justify the time off and travel expenses for low Tier professional chefs.


    Comparatively, the Tier 15 cooking contest drew in almost two hundred thousandpetitors, all of them drooling over the grand prize. It was a chance to apprentice under one of the most popr celebrity chefs around.


    She may not have been Aunt Helen, but Yvette Gerald was an extremely well-respected chef. She specialized in simple, but creative dishes, elevated to high cuisine through masterful technique.


    Even among the elites, the woman had been a chef longer than most. Rumor had it, she was pushing close to ascending. Todays winner might be one of thest people to be personally mentored by her.


    Matt, with Aster on hisp, got to watch the Tier 15 through 20petition from the special winners booth, near the front of the crowd.


    Liz was absent. Instead, she opted to spend her time squeezing in somest minute practice for the Tier 10 and under Alchemypetition. Matt hadnt seen her so excited in awhile, even if she didnt expect to rank in the top thousand. There were just too many skilled professional alchemists, often with Talents and Concepts linked to the craft, for an amateur enthusiast like her to win.


    At every opportunity, Aster kept sneaking off to try and swipe samples of the cookingpetition entries, but her mission was rendered impossible by the horde of high Tiers involved. Nheless, she and the other olfactorily-gifted beasts suffered the enchanting smells of the dishes far more intensely, and were salivating at the chance to get a taste. Unlike most others, the wiley fox was simply willing to take some initiative on the matter.


    Not that Matt fared any better. He just had more self-control, and the foreknowledge that the lesser tournament winners were guaranteed a portion of the dishes that were being cooked. A particrly generous winner could even choose to share their servings with their rambunctious bond.


    Those small portions avable were shared during the preliminary rounds, so they were waiting for the final round to finish to taste the desserts. So far, most of the dishes had been themed around a random rift monster meat, but the final desert was a free for all. There were no restrictions or limitations, letting the finalists disy all of their skill to the judges in one final showing.


    As the final seven contestants presented their entries to the judges, Matt inspected the dishes.


    The top contender, in Matts opinion, had baked an apple pie that looked like something out of a cooking magazine. A magazine with digitally enhanced pictures. The dessert looked just <em>too</em> perfect.


    Yvette seemed impressed as well as she tasted a slice of pie. It escaped nobody''s notice that she devoured the entire serving, going so far as to wipe the dish clean of crumbs and filling.


    Lucian, the pies baker, kept his cool visibly, but Matt expected him to be rejoicing internally. His dishes had alle together perfectly, and had showcased his wide array of skills. At only five hundred years old, he was the youngest remaining contender by arge margin. Some of his fellowpetitors had been thousands of years older than he was, making his level of skill all the more impressive.


    The only other dish that caught Matts eye was Zamans strawberry cake. The pastry was light and fluffy, with a clear distinction between theyers throughout the cake.


    He was the probable runner-up, if the previous rounds were anything to judge off of. Zamans style more closely resembled Yvettes, but he was rtively new to the profession, despite being alive for millennia.


    ording to his biography, the man had been stalled at Tier 15 for nearly a thousand years. He had retired to one of the immortals, before slowly discovering a passion for cooking.


    Based on that detail alone, Matt had initially written the man off, much like most of the crowd. Immortals, as they were called, were where the Empire encouraged immortal Tier 15s with no desire to advance to spend their retirement, so to speak. It segregated their greater wealth from the fragile economies of most low Tiers, while decongesting the perpetually over-popteds with Tier 15 rifts.


    To have spent a significant amount of time on one of thes was considered the mark of the undriven. For good reason too; the immortals had a well-earned reputation for mass indulgence, frivolity, and hedonism. Unlimited lifespans didnt mean people were more motivated, they just had more time to be themselves.


    People rarely wound up there by ident. Most simply choosing to settle down for an endless life without any further growth or advancement.


    Zaman spending most of his life there, betrayed his younger self''spleteck of direction after achieving immortality. Whenbined with his history of only starting to pursue the culinary arts in thest few centuries, everyone was astonished when he had made it through the preliminaries,let alone gotten this far.


    As the judgespared the final dishes, the untouched portions were brought over to where Matt and half a dozen others were sitting.


    The dishes were sectioned out into bite-sized portions and served. Having tasted everything, Matt fully expected Lucian to be dered the winner. The apple pie was among the best he had ever tasted, especially considering the Tier restriction on the ingredients used. Even the essence that the Tier 5 materials imparted into the vor was of the highest purity. It infused each ingredient to enhance them and bring out unique vors. Matt shunted the lower Tier essence out of himself, but it still heightened the vor profile.


    Even with premiere quality, Tier 10 ingredients, Matt doubted that he could prepare such a fantastic dish.


    Even Aster agreed that the pie was better than anything Matt could cook, including his handmade ice cream, to Matt''s eternal shock. The pie was simply <em>that</em> good.


    Yvette finally stood and walked before the contestants. I haven''t seen this level of skill at this Tier in a long time. It shouldn''t surprise anyone that Lucian was unanimously voted the best cook here today. His skills impress even me.


    A massive uproar rose at that, and while all the contestants kept their cool, Matt could see the disappointment on everyone''s face. Zaman sagged slightly before pulling his shoulders back.


    Your skills are good. So good in fact, that while I dere you the winner of this tournament, I won''t be taking you as my next apprentice.


    Everyone froze at Yvette''s words. The crowded stadium then burst into pandemonium.


    The other contestants stood ck-jawed, but Lucian casually yawned. Either he had been warned, or had expected this oue.


    Instead, I believe that you will do better under no one''s tutge. You already have your own styleset, and direct mentorship would taint more than help that. At this point, you don''t need anyone to apprentice you. In rpense for withholding the promised prize, I will personally buy you a restaurant in any of the Empires capitals, and fund it for the next two hundred years.


    That promation deepened everyones shock, and rattled Lucians professional facade for the first time. The capitals were all Tier 40s, at least. Every inch ofnd held incredible value. It was monumentally challenging to buy even a shed, let alone an entire building for a restaurant.


    Lucian shook with excitement at the announcement, and he and Yvette chatted quietly between themselves for a few minutes.


    Finally, Yvette addressed the audience again. Also, I will be offering my apprenticeship to Zamanif you will ept it. I believe you have an abundance of untapped potential, which I am well suited to bring out.


    The crowd was once again sent into a flurry. Matts AI beeped a warning at him before too long, and he hurried out of the mass of people trying to rush forward to meet the various chefs.


    Liz''s alchemypetition was about to start, and it was far enough away that he needed to rush.


    He just started breaking into a sprint when April shed into ce next to him, gripped his shoulder, and teleported them both.


    Recognizing where they were, Matt beamed at her. Thanks April. I would have been pushing it painfully close otherwise.


    His liaison chuckled and scratched Asters ear. It''s no inconvenience. Im actually here to watch thepetition myself.


    Matt raised an eyebrow, but he didnt ask. He just didnt know April as well as the rest of his management team. Lunas nonstop tasks kept her upied, which usually kept her out of view.


    As he mulled over what she could want to see here, Aster just tly inquired, But why?


    Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his bond''sck of decorum, Matt still listened for the answer.


    It''s manyfold. One, you guys are my charges, and I like to see how yall do. I made sure to catch your big cookoff too. She shot them a smile before turning back to the disy before them. Second, there are quite a few very promising kids in thispetition. Schmoozing up-anders while they''re still young and weak is a great way to earn a massive return on investment. A few kind words, some initial funds to show good intentions and prove your sincerity it doesnt take much. These initialworking events are just a few ways for me to cast my wider if I want to progress further as a mentor and trainer, because having good contacts is crucial.


    Matt smirked; he had a lot of the same ideas, if for no other reason than to just meet people. If his future ns progressed as he imagined, he would be weeding people eager to work with him out. Knowing their personalities now would give him a better sense of their true self, rather than meeting themter, when he was famous and well established. This was his chance to get a read on these people before they came to him with ulterior motives.


    As the tournament started, the three of them found their ce among the bystanders and watched Liz. She was far away from them, just a dot in the spatially expanded distance, but the venue AI had a swarm of cameras to solve that issue. Their own AIs could stream video of any participant by tapping into the camerawork.


    Matt could only follow half of the tournament''s proceedings, only from the bits and pieces of information he had learned from watching Liz over the years. Aster actually understood more of the happenings, as she liked to hang out with Liz when she concocted potions.


    The first trial was a potion to increase proprioception for a short duration. As the contestants began preparing their equipment, Matt turned to April and asked, Hey, how can you tell whos worth investing in?


    The blonde smirked at him. Ah yes, for your big ns. Not a bad question, but you need to remember that were looking for different things. She gestured to herself. I want someone whos adequately skilled, not tied down by any guild, and preferably good at teaching. I''m trying to make contacts for when I have my own teams. <em>You</em> will want something different. At most, Ill be working with these people in stints, as their skill sets be relevant to whatever Pathers that Im assigned to. Theylle and go mostly, so I don''t have to care about things like trustworthiness and shing personalities. At least, not nearly as much as you do. You, Matty boy, want to form a crafting guild. And thats a <em>much </em>longer termmitment, with <em>way </em>more at stake for people to fight and politic over.


    Matt nodded, that all made sense to him They watched the first round progress in afortable silence, until the two hour time limit ended.


    Nearly half of the two hundred thousand alchemists were eliminated for either failing to make the potion, or because the quality of their entries fell below the standards required to move on to the second round.


    The second phase forced the alchemist to identify a variety of herbs, and list their uses without using their AI. To make things interesting, it was set in faux rift situations, where herbs could be harder to identify than normal. It wasn''t a hard test considering everyone''s Tier, but if the contestant relied too much on their AI, or couldn''t handle the pressure, they could be eliminated at this phase.


    For everyone else, it was about rapid identification, which made for some entertaining test results.


    Together, he and April pointed out a few people that caught their eye and discussed the reasons for each. Aster eventually entered the game as well. To his surprise, his bond had a fantastic intuition for this type of thing. Just based off of a few minutes of observing the contestant, she could figure a lot out about someone before even reading their history.


    She quickly identified the people who had conflicting personalities that wouldn''t mesh well with Matts ideas.


    Not able to copy his bonds instinctive grasp of people, Matt learned from April. Her method was to start with a visual perusal; she was looking for anything that caught her eye. Not to suggest that she only looked for interesting or shy people. She even identified people who looked <em>too</em> in, and were otherwise overlooked. After that, she looked up what personal information was provided by the contestant themselves. If she thought they were still a good fit, she would then contact an information broker, and get a more detailed and aggregated information packet. If one was avable, that is.


    Using that, she would then craft a list of people to meet with in person.


    Matt didn''t think it was an idea that would work for him, but it was something to learn from that he could build his own strategy with.


    He was half tempted to offer her a job, but knew from their conversations that she wasmitted to her career, and wanted to be a manager in her own right more than anything else.


    There were a few people in thepetition that Matt felt were worth getting to know, and he made a note in his AI to try and meet them in person before they left.


    The third round of thepetition was an interesting one. The contestants needed to make an apparently brand new concoction, invented by one of the judges just days before. It was a task meant to test their ability to create and improvise on the fly.


    More than a few beakers and cauldrons exploded as the contestants tried to follow the unfamiliar steps.


    Liz, in the end, was eliminated in the fourth phase, when they cut the numbers down from one thousand to the top one hundred. The test for that round was making a potion mix consisting of three physical enhancement potions. This step led to explosions in more than half of the contestant''s faces, immediately eliminating them. Lizpleted her potion, but the purity was lower than the cut-off point, so she too was sent back to the stands. Her final ranking was two hundred and seventy-two.


    Matt pulled her into a hug as she returned to their side, saying, Well done. You kicked ass.


    Liz was trying to remain stoic, but he could sense that she was giddy with her performance. She had been far more pessimistic than he had been regarding her cement prospects.


    I did my best, and it paid off. How was the cooking one? Was the food as good as you thought it would be?


    He briefly told her about the dishes he had been able to taste, but didn''t let her change the topic. He refocused on her own cement and congratted her for her performance.


    Even with their less strenuous delving schedule thest few years, they hadnt focused on their side professions as much. Luna and Kurt simply trained them in more tactical subjects, or enlisted the help of other trainers for specific areas of study. Their downtime was extremely limited.


    They wandered around the various venues while sightseeing, which was a lovely breather. Watching the various crafters and groups discussing the goings on was just as fun as watching thepetition live. The trio wandered for a while longer, just taking it all in.


    Before long, a group of people crowding a stall caught their attention.


    They were in the area sectioned off for the below Tier 15 crafters, and there were at least three hundred people crowding around a single stall.


    Together, they inched closer to the front until they could see the front of the stall.


    The signage said, Retrieval enabled spatial backpacks. Direct trades only.


    Surprised, Matt checked the proprietor of the shop and felt that the man was only Tier 11.


    That made his im of selling spatial backpacks entirely unbelievable.


    Spatial items came in two types, open and closed.


    The open type was simr to the backpacks and storage crates that were expanded, but had a direct entrance to ess the space inside. Technically, the spatial ergement that was used on buildings used the same principles.


    That type of spatial expansion was easier to enchant, and could expand the space inside by a greater factor than the closed types.


    Closed spatial items had no way to physically enter the space from the outside. That meant the location was more controlled, and allowed for additional properties to be added to the items, such as weight negation and time slowing or stoppage.


    By their nature, closed spatial items needed a way to retrieve items ced inside them, which was where the retrieval function came into y. Without that, no one would be able to get their items out, but creating that function was only possible because of the way closed spatial items were enchanted.


    While he had never tried to create a spatial item, even Matt knew the logic behind them. After all, the ring that contained his growth sword had the same function.


    The problem was, closed spatial items relied on higher Tier materials to hold theplicated runes required, unless they were limited to holding a single item, like his sword. The rune for retrieval was a Tier 15 rune at minimum. It needed the space to be fully closed to limit the variables, so the enchantment was able to easily locate any items inside.


    A backpack that had the retrieval function broke half at least a dozen enchanting rules that Matt knew of, and he suspected it broke another two dozen that he wasn''t aware of. There was just no way of having a retrieval rune on an open spatial item.


    Yet, that was exactly what the man was advertising.


    Currently, someone was checking the disy backpack and withdrawing a small canteen, then storing it.


    Matt turned to ask the woman next to him, Why hasn''t he sold out yet?


    She inspected Matt before she pointed to the second half of the sign. A couple reasons. He''s asking for incredibly rare items or Tier 20 mana stones if you want to make a direct trade. Also, whatever hes done to the bags greatly limits the space inside. By about three quarters Id estimate. Plus he''s <em>only </em>selling bags at his current Tier 11, so...


    She ended with a half-shrug that exined it all.


    Matt understood the issue. With a Tier 11 spatial backpack''s size reduced by three quarters, it would only be about the size of a Tier 6 or 7 bag. That wasnt small, but it was a sharp reductionpared to normal.


    That first issue was bad, but not necessarily enough to prevent people from buying the bags. But then there was the price. A Tier 20 mana stone was absurd. Anyone who could afford that price would almost certainly be over Tier 15 already, and would have no need for a Tier 11 spatial backpack.


    If the man wasn''t trying to sell the backpacks, he was doing a good job of it. Checking with his AI, Matt found and skimmed the list of items the man wanted to trade for.


    It was even worse. He wanted one of a variety of incredibly rare, bordering on unique, Tier 12 materials, with a few practically mythical Tier 13 materials sprinkled through the list.


    All of them were rarely sold, to the point of being functionally non-existent. Most of them couldn''t be bought, even with a Tier 20 mana stone, because they simply never went on sale.


    Once the man who had been testing the item walked away, someone else strode forward, leaning in and whispering to the salesman.


    After a few minutes of conversation and exchanging a small cloth bag, the crafter handed over the spatial bag, and the other man quickly disappeared into the crowd.


    Liz cursed softly. I want one of them. Ugh, why is the price so high?


    Aster squirmed in Matt''s arms to yip at Liz. I don''t even have hands! I need it more.


    That was a good point, but Matt still wanted one for his cover identity too. As a talismans master, his main obstacle in battle was having to stop and root around his bag for the right talismans for the situation.


    It wasn''t like he could st people with his unlimited fireball strategy in public, so he was limited to a few normal casts before pulling out his next talismans. The instant retrieval would make a huge difference in the Pather Tournament too, without revealing any of his other abilities.


    Knowing there was minimal chance to get the bags, Matt walked forward to talk to the seller.


    Is there anything else that you want in exchange?


    The seller remained polite, but Matt could hear the irritation in his voice. No. Everything''s price is stated.


    Matt smiled and shook his head. Everything has a price, and few things are non-negotiable.


    Liz tapped the air and followed him up. What is it you need these items for? Most are crazy rare. Maybe if we knew why you needed them, we could offer alternatives?


    The man shook his head and looked like he was resisting the urge to cry. If you can''t trade, please leave. Youre taking the space of potential paying customers.


    ncing at Liz, the three of them turned and pushed through the crowd to exit the congestion.


    Aster let out a long wail as her ears and tail dipped. I wanted it. Would have been like having hands. I could have picked things up!


    Comforting the depressed fox, the three of them traveled through the rest of the shops and idly perused the other items offered. They picked up a few odds and ends, but nothing stood out to them like the bags had.


    That evening, they got Luna''s attention and asked her about the weird spatial bags they had seen.


    She seemed unbothered. Yeah, I saw that the kid had a nifty Talent, but his prices are too high. He must know it too, so hes got to be desperate for something.


    Liz leaned forward, And you don''t know what he wants?


    Luna rolled her eyes in return. I''m not a fortune teller. All I know is what I''ve seen him say and do, and hes getting no more attention from me than anyone else. Most of my attention is dedicated to hiding your eyes, Matt.


    Their manager turned to leave, but stopped as she faded out of reality, turning back long enough to say, Hes a person like any other. He has wants and desires. Use the skills youve been learning and find out what they are.


    With that final bit of advice, Luna vanished.


    The next day, they started to investigate the enchanter. They began by purchasing an information report on him, and learned his name and upation.


    His name was Jamie, and he was a registered enchanter since Tier 3, but he was an independent. He wasnt connected to any guild or noble family. ording to the report, he had been selling his bags at extraordinary prices for as long as he had been active. As Jamie was fairly ordinary, despite his ability to make the bags, there was little on him.


    The three of them followed him and gathered what information they could in person. They <em>did</em> find out he was trying to meet a variety of the highest Tier crafters, but for what reason, they were unable to find out.


    Jamie was trying desperately enough that they half expected him to need something in particr, but he never seemed to try his luck with a single crafter more than once.


    After observing the man for a few more days, they decided to call in a small favor. Amelia agreed to meet with Jamie if he was willing to work with them.


    Finally, they approached him in a pub as he finished his dinner.


    Liz started with the introductions. Hi, my names Liz. That''s Matt and Aster. We were wondering if we could talk to you for a few minutes.


    Jamie sighed and looked ready to decline offhand, but she threw out their baited hook. We can get you a meeting with Amelia. <em>The</em> Amelia.


    That brought the man up short. His open mouth clicked shut and he looked them over skeptically.


    Finally, he asked,  Just what will that cost me? And how do I know that you can really do that?


    Matt tapped the table. That depends on what you can really do, and how it works.


    A sh of hostility entered the other mans gaze, so he hurried to add, We aren''t looking for exact details of your Talents, but we want nonstandard items. Were willing to pay well. Three Tier 14 skills or skills of equivalent value. We even have an [Endurance].


    Jamie didn''t look nearly as interested as they hoped he would at the offer, but he did nod slightly. After chewing on his lip for a minute, he stood up and gestured for them to follow him.


    He led them out of the dinner and into a nearby hotel room, where he sat them down.


    Yes. Obviously, it''s a Talent. But it''s not easy or cheap to use. It has associated costs. Steep ones.


    Liz raised an eyebrow, And you can''t do it for Tier 14 skills? That seems unbelievable.


    Jamie let out a deep, weary breath. Well, believe it. I''d be pushing just to break even at that price. What changes are you looking for in particr?


    Aster leaped forward on the table and yipped. I need a bag that won''t slip around? Can you make it a vest?


    Jamie blinked several times as if he was just now noticing Aster, but finally, he shrugged. I can probably do a cloth vest, but that will further limit the space. If the actual interior is limited, I can only expand it so much further beyond that.


    Aster was fine with that, and said so.


    Liz nodded and continued, I want something longer than it is wide, so I can fit a medium spear with plenty of room for potions. Also, can you make it a vest for me as well?


    Matt added, Same for me. The slim bit, I mean.


    Jamie sighed. None of that will be easy. And I still need that guarantee that you can get me a meeting. An actual sitdown where shell listen to my proposal seriously. Thates first.


    Not able to speak for the woman, Matt shrugged. We know her, but we can''t guarantee that she will agree or anything. Im confident that shed at least listen to what you have to say, though. What do you want from her anyway?


    Jamie shook his head. That''s between her and I. Alright, what skills do you have to trade?


    Matt and Liz brought out a few of the skill 14 skills they had collected from their various delves. While rifts Tier 14 and above were guaranteed to drop Tier 14 skills, rifts under that Tier also had a smaller chance too. They had been delving Tier 11 rifts for the better part of a year and a half, so they had a few of the skills, even if they weren''t the most valuable ones.


    After haggling, they exchanged one [Endurance] and five other Tier 14 skills for the three custom ordered spatial backpacks, along with their setting up a meeting with Amelia.


    They had no idea what actually happened in the meeting, with it being private, but Jamie left with a sunny smile.


    Amelia, on the other hand, seemed more conflicted about the oue, but not upset at all.


    It took another week before their new items were ready, but the spatial vests were incredibly useful in their mundane lives, and inbat. The vests weren''t quite as seamless to use as a spatial ring was, but with practice, Matt was able to identify what talismans he had in his bag, and withdraw them at will.


    Thanks to the vest, Liz started to incorporate potions and poisons into herbat style, which made her an incredibly hard opponent to deal with in both of her personas. As a mid-range mage, the concoctions let her deal devastating damage with poisons delivered through her own blood. As a fire melee fighter, she was able to take a variety of physical boosting options inbat, where most others couldnt. Fire also synergized well with a great number of explosives that she could concoct.


    Aster''s spatial vest was, as warned, much smaller than theirs, but the closet-sized space was still enough to let her pick items up that she couldnt bite, and gave her a degree of autonomy she had greatly desired.


    As the weeks turned into months, the celebration ended, and most of the casual attendees left. Only the most diehard of the crafters, who were interested in the more in-depth exchange of ideas, were left on the moon.


    It was beyond their ability to meaningfully participate in those discussions, and the three of them left not long after that. Matt spent his final week there filling up the mana reserves of the research facility, wandering around collecting mana samples, and rxing with Liz and Aster.


    When they returned to training, they doubled down and refined their skills with their alternative identities.


    They intended to participate in an earlier tournament, and would be younger than most of their Tier, but they were also reaching a point where their fundamentals were as polished as they reasonably could be. They were getting restless.


    For thest few years of their training, they alternated between delving as their false personas and their real identities, which gave them a decent delving pace of twice a week. Living a double life was sometimes confusing, but they managed without any major slip-ups.


    That didnt stop Luna from issuing them ndestine missions from time to time. Some were true missions, where they used their skills to stop or prevent various minor cmities. The most notable for Matt was when they investigated a local corporation for rifts disappearing on the, and found that they were a front for a neighboring noble. They were trying to discredit apetitor from challenging the Marquees above them for his position when their term ended.


    They busted the corporation and the noble behind them, leading to their removal and jail time.


    It was a subtle reminder that the Emperor''s initiative to remove hereditary nobility, in favor of a more meritocratic system, had its own downsides.


    Matt liked those missions, though. It made the three of them feel like they were making a difference and improving the Empire.


    Most others were mundane, with them being caught at the end by Luna or Kurt, before they left whatever they had found themselves on. Those missions had fewer stakes, and didnt give them any satisfaction beyond ensuring that their skills remained well-honed.


    At first, selling the mana to Amelia was annoying with their traveling around, but Luna somehow procured a truly impressive number of mana storage devices, letting Matt charge them during their travels. Then, she just had local agents swap the empty mana storage devices for the full ones at the normal delivery rate.


    With only a year left before the Tier 10 tournament, Matt had onest stop on their way to the Kingdom capital of Tur''stal, where the tournament would be held this time.


    Matt needed to see Lilly once more.


    Home awaited.

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128


    As Matt stepped out of the formation that had just swapped space to return him home, he paused and took a deep breath.


    He had insisted on returning through the nearest portal to his hometown, and in doing so, he had retraced the steps hed taken to travel to the training world.


    The others had been so simr to when he had traversed themst that he expected the same to be said of Lilly. But from the moment he returned, he realized he had been sorely mistaken.


    If he hadn''t known which he was teleporting to, he would never have thought this was his homeworld. A small part of him still doubted. The teleportation chamber alone had been renovated to a degree far exceeding what would have beenmon on Lilly. The once small and cramped warehouse-like room had gone through a marvelous change in thest fifteen years.


    The building was now spacious and even contained half a dozen scaffolding''s designed to perfectly fit inside the formation and ensure easier transportation of goods. At that very moment, a shipment was being unloaded off to the side.


    Instead of the singr monthly teleports that were standard for such a low tier, Lilly was now performing a pair of teleports every other week.


    Baroness Margaret Thresh had clearly been pouring in a rtively insane amount of money into the as only someone many Tiers above the could. Improved infrastructure for inteary travel like this could redefine the formerly backwater, opening a path for it to be so much more.


    As he and all the other new arrivals exited the building into the city, Matt unfurled his spiritual sense and let it wash out over everything in his vicinity, searching every nook and cranny of his surroundings.


    Luna, for all her abrasiveness, had taught him well. With minimal effort, his peak Tier 9 senses extended nearly a city block in each direction without being overloaded by information.


    At his side, Liz kept quiet and just observed the city around them just as he was.


    Aster, on the other hand, scampered up and down the street just inspecting everything directly. Not even a sliver of spiritual sense could be felting from her like with Matt and Liz.


    Passing through the streets, Matt couldn''t help but notice the additional massive changes that had cropped up during his time away. A century was but a blink in the life cycle of a, yet just fifteen yearster everything looked fresh and new.


    Like all inteary travel hubs, as teleporter cities were always among its most prosperous due to all the trade moving through them. Some development was not unexpected. Yet not only had the city spread horizontally, it had sprouted vertically. Actual skyscrapers with spatially expanded interiors were almost the norm. Probing each building, he could feel the stretched space stitched together by the runes encased in higher Tier materials.


    Something like that was usually only resorted to when thend to build on was scarce and cost a premium, not on a practically untamed with a scant few million residents.


    Still walking the city streets in silence, Matt quietly gripped Lizs hand. She stood as a pir of support for him even if he had no idea what he needed. Whatever happened next, she was there for him.


    A leisurely hour of walking passed by until they reached the edge of the city. There, a wave of new construction could be seen on the rise, pushing forward the city limits outward along the coastal safe zone. After everything else hed seen, this was no surprise. The same could not be said for the automated construction drones flying about.


    These machines were generally only good for building with mundane materials, but they were still incredibly expensive to the point few ever bothered to use them. Their main advantages came from them being autonomous, they were tireless, precise, and consistent in their work. Each drone could be filled with the materials and set to work through day and night, requiring none of the breaks that a human would need. The rtively absurd costs still made them ast resort though, only worth using if you were out of manualbor to hire and still needed to speed up construction. Their presence was another sign that the world was developing well.


    With an effort of will and a flex of his Concept, Matt raised himself and Liz into the air. Aster lifted herself up, following him in a maneuver that she had only mastered in thest few months. Once well beyond the city limits, they all boarded his new Tier 11 flying sword and raced along the coast at blistering speeds.


    At Tier 1, this distance had taken Matt days of travel via train. At Tier 9, the same journey took less than an hour atop a homemade flying sword. With 640 MPS to pump out, he had more than enough mana to spare. His self-made de reflected that, sacrificing any thought of efficiency for a greater max speed.


    In fact, even with Tier 11 materials, the sword could only handle around 500 MPS before it started burning up under the stress of processing that much energy.


    Arriving above Warrington, Matt halted in the sky and just stood there.


    This city was not the one that he remembered.


    When he left more than a decade ago, the southern side of the city had still been a smoldering wreck with only the first signs of healing.


    Now even his memories failed to find the old scars that he expected to linger.


    Not only had the city been made whole again, it had almost doubled in size.


    The city, like the rest of the, had experienced a wave of immigrants and grew to amodate them. And still more woulde.


    He sighed and drifted down into the citys airspace.


    Technically, he was unting a dozenws with this maneuver. Those kind of infractions only ever came with fines though. Matt was too interested in moving quickly to care about the money.


    He circled around the northern side of the city before he found his target, Warrington''s Upper East Side Orphanage #3.


    <em>Home sweet home</em>.


    Except, he only managed to locate the building by relying on a few notablendmarks to have gone unchanged. The once worn down building bustled with people, bothing and going.


    Landing across the street, he just stared in confusion, stunned. More than twenty years hadpsed since the rift break. Even the youngest children had already aged out of the orphanage system by now.


    Matt expected to find a closed and boarded-up building. Instead, Warrington''s Upper East Side Preparatory School greeted him in its stead.


    With his spiritual sense, he enveloped the building andbed through the facilities. They were good. For a this Tier, he would even call them state of the art, especiallypared to what he had grown up with. In one room, a dozen kids wielding training weapons and wands battled against training programs, which his AI identified as being both decent quality and only two generations old.


    Instructors called out from the sidelines with tips and advice while the kids battled pertinent foes.


    Aster came back from a nearby ice cream vendor with a banana split hovering next to her. Matt hadnt even noticed her peel away. With her snack at a convenient height to nibble, she was content to sit and wait for Matt to finish his mental struggle.


    Liz, too, just held his hand silently, waiting for him to speak.


    Knowing he owed her an exnation, Matt gestured with their interlocked hands, That was the orphanage. My orphanage. I  His breath caught in his throat. I didnt expect them to make it a prep school.


    Exhaling his confusion, he shrugged, I don''t know why I expected it to be boarded up and crumbling, but I did.


    Using his Concept to scoop Aster up into his arms, he gave her a quick squeeze and started to walk across the street holding her while her snack still hovered beside her.


    He didn''t know exactly why, but he wanted to see inside with his own eyes. Needed to. His spiritual sense was just as good as his physical vision, but something inside him craved the sight. Almost like the echoes of his previous life somehow resonated within him and pulled at the memories he had of walking those halls. How much he had changed in his time away, no longer the scared child hed been but now a man with the power to affect change.


    Maybe walking in those same ces as he was now would somehow make things easier, or more tangible to him.


    When they entered the lobby, two things he did remember waited for him; the old security booth and reception desk. The booth had once held an off-duty city guard on special duty to watch over the building for a time. The guards would change, but someone would always be there. Conversely, the reception desk had sat forever abandoned. Now, despite still feeling familiar, their roles were reversed.


    No security stood at vigil to stop them. But the receptionist desk now held a smiling young man who looked up and asked, Oh, hello! I dont believe Ive seen you around before. Are you here to pick someone up? Or are you two looking to enroll your own child? If so, youve chosen well. This is the premiere prep school in the city. We have great rtions with the local guilds and even some connections with off guilds making for easier entry to their ranks too.


    If he was still the same Matt who had left Lilly, he would have stumbled at the question, but he had spent so much time undercover and training with Luna he easily answered, Looking to enroll actually. You said something about guilds?


    It hadnt escaped his attention that the man had asked if they were there to pick someone up. The reception assumed they were here for a child or sibling, clearly leaning towards thetter. Despite being thirty nine years old, Matt and Liz only looked to be in their early twenties. The increased lifespan of cultivators kept them looking young despite easily being old enough to have children the right age to enroll.


    But hearing about the guilds recruiting, memories emerged about the types of guilds that tried to recruit him after he awakened. He wanted to investigate and leaned into the misconception.


    The young man kept his face and voice free of surprise, but Matt felt his body tense, exposing his shock. Yes, we have several contracts with a variety of organizations. We have pipelines for our enrollees to join half a dozen local guilds. Bothbat and nonbat oriented.


    From his side, Liz asked, Do you have information about them by chance?


    The receptionist gestured to the side wall mounted with a chest high rack of colorful brochures. You can find a variety of pamphlets and information packets set up by the guilds in question. If you want, I can check if any of their representatives are here right now as well?


    Matt smiled and thanked the man, letting him go back to his job.


    Before they could fully turn, the receptionist leaned forward and whispered, Unofficially, the board is sorted from least desirable at the top to most near the bottom. Anything on the bottom three rows means the guild has a proven track record with the kids whoe through here.


    Having already scanned the board, Matt had already noticed the more familiar names near the bottom, but still ruffled through some of the leaflets he recognized through his memories.


    A smile blossomed on his face to see the colorful pamphlets preaching on the wonder and dangers of delving.


    Gavles Good Guilders had two spots on the bottom row which made him grin wryly. They had tried to do their best by him and had continued to do so as far as he could tell.


    As they stood up, Aster finished her treat, and Matt threw away the container while Liz asked, Oh by the way? Is it possible for us to walk around a bit? Just to take a look at things.


    The receptionist waved down to the two halls that Matt remembered, leading to the dining hall and youngest kid''s halls on the left, and the older kid''s rooms and training schooling rooms on the right.


    Now they led to a smaller dining hall that seemed more like a snack facility for hungry kids than a ce meant to feed hundreds of children like he remembered, and training rooms.


    Of course. We encourage our patrons to explore the facility. We have nothing to hide, but we ask that you not enter any closed rooms. Some of our kids have private training that we don''t wish disturbed.


    Of course, we wouldn''t intrude. Thank you for your help.


    Together the three of them walked around, and Matt was able to see children as young as eight roughhousing in padded rooms. The kids were wearing protective gear and ying some games he didnt recognize with a single adult supervising them. As they progressed deeper into the building, the children all got older, and the training turned from games to serious practice.


    Matt stopped at one room and watched through the ss as a young woman pummeled two other kids with a padded staff as an older man called out instructions for both sides.


    He was so engrossed in putting himself in their shoes when he was their age he almost missed the presence round a corner and approached them with waddling steps.


    It took him an embarrassingly long time to recognize the man, and he only did so because of his voice as he proffered a hand to Liz, who was close and said, I''m the faculty head, Alex. Do you like what you see? We act as a fun and engaging daycare for the youngest and transition fun games into real-world experience as they mature. And I always like to show what we have to offer myself. I''m quite proud of what we have be in thest few years.


    Shaking Matt''s hand next and scratching Aster''s head took long enough that Matt was able to gather his wits.


    Alex, or as he knew him, Headmaster Jones, had gotten fat in the intervening fifteen years. The skinny, haggard, and brooding man from his memories was reced with a rotund, rosy-cheeked man with a smile as wide as his belly.


    As a kid, Matt hadnt understood fully how hard the man had worked to campaign for money to run the orphanage and try to make and use connections to get the kids good jobs or guild contracts as they awakened and aged out of the system. But looking back, he could recognize the man''s efforts for what they were. He could recognize the toll the job had been taking on him.


    Despite the man''s weight gain, he looked good in a way Matt had never seen before or expected.


    He looked happy.


    Content.


    Shaking the man''s hand, Matt saw no recognition in his eyes, not sure if he was proud of that for all his growth or sad the man couldn''t recognize one of his former charges.


    Not that Matt med him. Nearly a thousand orphans had moved through these halls throughout the years, and Headmaster Jones was an administrator, not a caretaker. Matt had also changed from a scrawny kid to a six-foot-four muscle-bound fighter with a beautiful woman by his side and a fox in his arms.


    There was little to link him to his former self.


    Alex guided them through the halls showing them each room as he prattled on, We work hard to give the kids a head start that the education system or a children''s parents can''t. It''s some of the most hard and rewarding work there is but with donations and support from the government, we have the opportunity to make things better.


    Having donated quite a few Tier 5 mana stones himself to this ce, that piqued Matt''s interest, and he asked, Oh? Just donations? This equipment cant be cheap, and there''s a lot of it. I imagine that you must charge quite a lot for enrollment.


    Alex shook his head andughed merrily, I assume you two are from off-world?


    Matt checked his cultivation veil but considering he hadnt felt any probes and their clothes while higher Tier were indistinguishable from mundane materials without one, he doubted the man suspected anything and just listened.


    Seeing Lizs nod, Alex continued, I expected so. With the Baroness'' offer to settle, Im both unsurprised and d to see people choosing to settle in our humble little city, but there are a few things you might not know yet.


    He tapped the wall next to him, First, this used to be an orphanage created from the rift breaks and the increased demands from that. A sad testament to some of the worst years in our city. But we did our best, and as they say, good deeds create more. Quite a few of our charges have done quite well for themselves and set up a nice fund for the orphanage. There were enough of them that we still had a lot of money left over when everything was said and done. Once thest child was awakened, we had no use for the money or the building, but it wasnt like the city didnt need help anymore. In fact, it needed it more than ever.


    Alex started down the hall again as he continued, But most of the donations were earmarked for the orphanage, which meant we had no ess to the money, so we petitioned the city, and then the oversightmittee to use the funds for local projects. The thing was, we were one of a dozen new orphanages who were no longer needed but most, if not all had some backers who had given generously to our cause. In the end, it was decided to open a few of these preparatory schools in a few of the better-located orphanage buildings and repurpose the rest. With that money funneled into just a few buildings, we have no need to take funds from parents as long as their children are working hard for their future.


    There was a true smile on the man''s face as he patted his chest and looked out and over the training room they had stood at. These halls have seen a lot of kids through the years. We''ve transformed them through hard work from a ce of sadness into something good that makes the city better. Before, I wouldn''t have known how long such facilities would havested as I assure you they aren''t cheap to run. We pay our staff well, but we would have run out of money and time eventually. Now we have the Baroness''s backing, and she took our idea and spread it to the entire. With her help, we have funds set aside for the next dozen years and no need to charge parents like yourselves.


    Matt was touched at the change and happy that whoever had had such an idea was able to implement it. His own fund had run out of the initial money years ago though he had a flow of automated credits to keep it funded, he never really thought of it. But now seeing the ce, it was heartwarming to see the changes that money made.


    It was a perfect ending to a building he had such mixed feelings for.


    The kids he could see were all enjoying themselves, and there was even a healer or someone with a healing touch skill on staff to take care of any injuries that happened in training. But what surprised Matt the most was seeing the sses on the crafting skills, and he asked Alex about it.


    I wasn''t expecting to see crafting jobs. Isnt the training really expensive?


    Alex nodded, By far our biggest expense despite using the lowest Tier materials. But the Baroness wanted people to know how to do more than fight, and added this to our curriculum when she expanded the program. This is a bit more selective of a program because of the expense, but there have been some skilled children who havee out of here even in just thest two years.


    During his exnations, Alex guided them through the various different wards of the building, showing them where their potential children might end up. During one such cursory inspection, his eyesnded on a familiar silhouette. As he realized who he was looking at he felt as though someone had pped him with [Jolt].


    Ms. Reba was one of the caretakers who had been assigned to his age group of kids. She was currently in a room with the youngest kids and directing them to y a game with a series of shing lights that was reminiscent of some of Lunas training.


    Ms. Reba looked up through the ss door and first nodded at Alex before her gaze inspected Liz for an instant. She smiled at Aster before her eyes traveled up Matts chest andnded on his face.


    She froze upon seeing him and quickly stood up, leaving the room.


    After closing the door, she paused and inspected Matt head to toe before carefully asking, Matthew? Is that you?


    Not caring that his cover was blown, Matt pulled the older woman into a hug. She had been a kind but overworked woman trying to take care of nearly a hundred kids every day with minimal help.


    She hadnt been the mother he lost, but she had stretched herself thin trying to help everyone.


    Yeah. All grown up.


    She pulled him into another hug, forgetting about Aster for a second, then moved back. Sorry little one. I just can''t believe it. You look so young.


    A pair of clumsy spiritual senses washed over Matt from both Ms. Reba and Alex, probing his strength and finding his veiled cores to be mid-Tier 8. He had publicly joined The Path after all and couldnt be below the curve, so he kept his power just above the curve.


    I cant believe it.


    Ms. Reba was still shocked, but Alex remembered Matt''s earlierments, I thought you were both parents here to enroll a kid? I didnt even recognize you, Matthew!


    Matt resisted smirking. Alex was trying his best to pretend that he remembered Matt but with theck of his nickname he assumed the man was just following Ms. Rebas lead.


    Ms. Reba nodded along with his question, and Matt happily answered them, I was able to join the Path of Ascension after I left here and have been fortunate enough to remain on it. Sorry about the lie, but I wanted to see for myself how things were going.


    Proffering Aster, he introduced her and Liz before gesturing to the building. You''ve all done something great with the ce. Thanks for everything.


    Alex just nodded, but Ms. Reba sniffled. Im d you made it out, Matt. Not everyone did. It was hard on some of the others. Part of the reason I work here. I feel like I didnt


    Matt paused her apology with a hand on her shoulder, You did the best you could and more than most. That was more than enough. Not everyone can be saved or helped. You cant set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.


    Liz stayed quiet on the side but squeezed his arm, and her presence gave himfort that he desperately needed.


    After exining some of the more mundane details of hisst decade to the relief of Ms. Reba, Matt pulled out a pouch he had prepared for petty bribes and handed it to Alex saying, It''s not a ton, but Id like to give some help.


    It was actually a pouch of twenty-five Tier 7 mana stones. Petty cash for the people on the worlds that he normally spent time on but a hefty sum on a Tier 4 world.


    Alex tried to hand them back, but Matt stepped back with Liz in tow. It''s nothing to me, but can be useful for you all. Take the money and ensure the kids get a good foundation. Buy some more crafting supplies with it.


    Matt shrugged, Take it and keep it for yourself, if you feel that is best, but I doubt that you two will. Not after seeing you still here. It means little to me, but Im sure it can help quite a lot here. Though maybe put a little aside and treat yourselves to a vacation.


    He was actually pushing heavily against thews about keeping higher Tier funds in their proper economies, but they were the only physical mana stones he had on him, not having nned on the orphanage still being in use.


    Alex finally nodded and his grip was firm around the small pouch. Well put these mana stones to good use, but I don''t know how we will spend them. Tier 7 mana stones aren''t easy to exchange but we will manage. But that''s a good problem to have, thank you. And sorry for not recognizing you.


    Mattughed, I don''t recognize myself some days. It''s fine. You were busy trying to keep this ce running all those years ago. Take care of yourself. Please. And Ms. Reba, thank you for giving so much to us. I couldn''t appreciate it as a kid but you burnt yourself at both ends and in the middle to help us all. If you ever need anything please don''t hesitate to contact me. Please.


    It didnt escape his observation that Alex was Tier 3 while Ms. Reba was only Tier 2. They didnt have forever to live, and he wanted to help them out.


    After giving them that much money, Matt didnt want to stick around, and they quickly made their goodbyes. Their change in demeanor, having noticed his cultivation, hadnt gone unnoticed, and Matt wanted to leave on a positive note.


    Aster looked up from his arms, You lived there?


    It was a long time ago, but yeah. That was my home for a good while.


    His bond pushed mental warmth to him and said, Home is with us now. We are a team and family.


    Yeah, we are. Matt smiled before scratching her the way she liked.


    Liz pulled his arm, Are you doing ok? I know you had mixed feelings abouting back.


    Matt nodded and lifted them off the ground and flew them to their next destination via his Concept.


    He had already looked up Miles and learned the man was still on Lilly, though his position had been increased to head of recruitment instead of his previous position of a direct recruiter.


    Having seen two people from his past, he wanted to see how he was doing and show the older man that he had been doing well for himself.


    Without Miles, he would have been lost and directionless when he received his detrimental rating. The course of his life would have been changed drastically, for the worse.


    I feel good. I didnt expect them to turn the orphanage into a training house, but I like that they''ve done so. It''s a good way to move forward. Keeps the best parts of the orphanage and discards the worst parts. I had fond memories there. Or at least as fond as you can have of such a ce, and most were of training. They did their best to help us, and ensuring that we could fight was the best they could do for most of us.


    They arrived at the Gavles Good Guilders headquarters in just moments.


    Entering, a Tier 5 guard sat at the front desk who immediately pressed a button as she got a good sense of their cultivations, likely fearing they were here to make trouble.


    Not being so inclined, the three of them walked up to the counter and asked her if she was able to get them a meeting with Miles.


    That, more than anything else, seemed to calm her down, and she tapped the button a second time with her knee as she said she was happy to help them.


    It took nearly fifteen minutes, but eventually, Miles came down and froze as soon as he saw Matt. Feeling the careful probe of his spirit, Matt smiled and reached out to shake Miles''s hand.


    Matt? I can''t believe it''s you!. What happened?


    Smiling, Mattughed, I took your advice. Joined The Path and here I am.


    A second probe at his cores apanied Miles shaking his head. Yeah, I see and feel it, but Im not sure I believe it. You''re only what, thirty? And already Tier 8? That''s amazing, you only need to reach Tier 8 by thirty one years old and you are already there. Amazing. Last I saw you, you were lost and weak. Now you''re stronger than me. Come, I was almost done with today''s duties. Join me for dinner; we have to catch up.


    Matt smiled at the mans incorrect guess at their age but that was what they wanted so he just smiled along.


    As Miles went back to the receptionist, he gave instructions that he was going to be out for the rest of the evening and to contact him only if it was an emergency.


    Sorry about that. I''m Miles, and you are? He trailed off, asking for Liz and Aster''s names which Matt provided with augh.


    Liz shook his proffered hand with her best smile, Im personally grateful for what you did. I know Matt''s story, and you did more than you had to.


    Miles took the hand but scoffed, Maybe more than I had to, but not everything I could. If the big lug made it to Tier 8 on The Path, his Tier 3 clearly fixed his problem. He tapped the side of his nose, I remember what it was, and good on you kid for working past it.


    Matt felt a warmth settle inside him at the words and just smiled. Aster feeling the bleed-over of his emotions, squirmed to make her presence known.


    I''m Aster! I think I have you to thank for me being me? She tilted her head as she worked through her convoluted logic. At least I think so. Matt got me from a rift, so yeah. Thanks!


    Miles justughed, Youre quite well spoken for your Tier Aster. Id say youre wee, but all I did was give the best advice I could. Matt actually getting on The Path was outside my expectations as well. Last I heard, he was working at Benny''s, then he vanished. I always feared he was dead. I have to hear the story.


    They soon reached one of the better restaurants, and after the hostess saw Miles were immediately informed they would be seated soon.


    Matt looked down at the smaller man and smiled. He didn''t know that Miles had been looking in on him, but it didnt surprise him. The man was kind and tried his best for all the orphanages, even if it wasn''t just getting them into his own guild. He exined how to make the kids more desirable for all the guilds in general.


    What about yourself? You clearly got a promotion and advanced in thest few years.


    Miles looked proud and, after they were seated, said, I was actually rotated out about four years after your group. I was put back onto abat team and got to Tier 6, where I am now. After that, I was put back on recruiting duty as I had a good sess rate and more than a few of my prospects turned out fantastically. Do you remember Bob? One year older than you, Matt. He joined a bit earlier than you with a preference towards sabers?


    Matt vaguely did, it was fuzzy at best, but he still nodded.


    He caught the eye of the second inmand in one of their walk-throughs and is now Tier 8. Can you believe it? He''s a beast with his de despite having no Talent for it. Tier 8 in only seventeen years.


    Miles shook his head in wonderment.


    Matt imagined the look on his face if he revealed his real cultivation, but contented himself with the mental image.


    There were at least three people eavesdropping on their table that he had noticed so far, and he had no idea how many other listening devices.


    He wasn''t here to show off. Just to see an old friend and spend some time reminiscing.


    Unfortunately, the food was so poorly made he only picked at the te. The chicken had only been basted for a few hours instead of the full day that would have brought out the more subtle vors of the spices. To add to the dish''s problems, the vegetables were paired well with the dish but poorly prepared. The chunks were of different thicknesses leading to them being cooked to different levels. With these same ingredients, Matt could have prepared a better dish over a campfire just using just some sharp sticks and a t stone.


    After suffering through the first few bites, he only pretended to nibble at his food and listened to Miles.


    Then there was April. That talented girl, shes been working as a smith and


    Matt smiled as Miles spent more time talking about how the kids he recruited had done well than his own aplishments.


    Eventually, Matt got him to tell them how his sess rate had caused the guild to promote him to further develop his rtionships with Lilly.


    Miles was going to be on the for another decade before he made a push for Tier 10.


    After a few drinks, he tly admitted that he was an averagebatant at best and was going to be carried through rifts like a crafter. While he was able to fight, it was neither his specialty nor something he enjoyed. His real skills were with people.


    Noticing that he had monopolized the conversation so far, he insisted on Matt retelling his own story and he listened attentively, making choicements during each event. He was more impressed with Matts Concept than he was with the vassal war which Matt found amusing as the few Pathers he had told those stories found it the opposite. Miles hadnt found his own phrase let alone formed his image.


    He, unlike them, had no rush.


    After the restaurant hit closing time, they exited the building with the promise that they wouldn''t be strangers to find a familiar woman standing across the street. Everyone else passed her by as if she couldn''t be seen, but the application of Concept was like a spotlight on her to the trio.


    Despite her skin being now an amber color, Baroness Margaret Thresh was unmistakable as she stood before them calmly watching the restaurant''s exit.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129


    Baroness Margaret Thresh carried herself with a demeanor like a tightly coiled spring as she watched them exit the building. She was unmoving, but it felt like she could burst out with full power at any time, for any reason.


    If Matt couldnt read the clear irritation in her eyes, rather than hostility, he would have been worried about being attacked. Even though it would be a suicidal maneuver on her part.


    Miles, why don''t we talk more tomorrow? Liz offered, and gently patted the older man on his arm to send him on his way.


    Miles took a good look at the opposite side of the street. Without a Concept of his own, he wasnt able to see anything out of ce, but he was smart enough to pick up on the oddities. With just that hint, he quickly left.


    Baroness Thresh jerked her head up and floated away in a streak of power.


    Matt lifted himself and his team with his own Concept, and followed the Baroness until they hovered over the buildings, facing each other.


    Matt was the first to speak. The lessons Luna had beaten into him had eventually been learned, and he put them to good use. Lady Baroness, how can we help you?


    Baroness Thresh rolled her eyes in such an exaggerated manner that it derailed his further ns.


    That wasn''t the appropriate response to his polite question.


    Do you know how much of my time youve wasted today? Shit, man! Are you deliberately fucking with me?


    Dropping any formality, Matt just shrugged and shot back, I have no clue what youre talking about, and frankly don''t care for your implications.


    Baroness Threshs posture sagged and she gestured to the edge of the city. You shot out of the teleport city so fast, you sent half a dozen rms off. I assumed you wereing back for revenge, like so many other pathetic avengers have in these past few years. Then you muck about at your old orphanage for an hour before going to have dinner all night.


    Matt was baffled, but put the pieces together. Who were you thinking I would take revenge on?


    Baroness Thresh shrugged a single shoulder at the question. You had all the hallmarks of someone trying to get revenge before I could react. Now that the Tier 30 regent is gone, a lot of people have been trying to settle old scores. They usually end with a murder, and then I need toe up with answers as to why I cant control my own world.


    Matt was half dumbfounded and half angry that she would think he was unable to control himself.


    He also could understand that others had it far worse than he had, and might use new power earned in thest twenty years to take revenge.


    Sorry to disappoint, but no. I was just here to put this ce behind me. I


    Baroness Thresh waved his exnation off, asking, Can you exin how you got here so quickly then? Or why you bothered to rush here, then do nothing?


    Matt strengthened his veil and flexed his Concept. We''re going to be participating in the Tier 10 tournament, and I didnt want this lingering on my mind before I go.


    Baroness Threshs eyes flicked as she read something on her AI, but she waved them back down to the street.


    Well,e with me while I eat something. I''ve been sitting over that stupid inn for half a day, and I haven''t eaten.


    She red at them as she started walking along the street, and murmured loud enough for them to hear, Couldn''t have just traveled at a reasonable speed? Noooooo, gotta burn mana stones to shave off a couple hours of travel. Bah. Pain in my ass.


    Despite herining, Baroness Thresh kept up a masterful application of Concept to keep people from noticing them as they walked along.


    Aster just watched the woman while she stalked along, before saying in a teasing tone, Maybe I can help you chill out?


    With that witty retort, Aster manifested a cold area around the Baroness, who just snorted. I''m hangry, not pissy. Slight difference. And Im not going to eat survival meals unless Im in a rift.


    Matt met Lizs gaze, and theymunicated in a single gesture that they had no idea what was going on, but it was better to follow and see what happened before doing anything rash.


    The Baroness stopped and checked out half a dozen street carts of various foods before her nose led them to a noodle and dumpling cart.


    It smelled good enough that Matt got two orders for himself, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the Tier 15.


    You nibble at the fancy restaurant, but order this crap?


    Having had this same conversation before, Matt gestured to the shop before them. Street food shouldn''t be judged with the same criteria as a fancy restaurant. They were charging absurd prices for food only half-cooked right. That''s a disgrace, no matter how you chop it.


    Nodding to the man who was dishing out their food and the entire cart, he continued, This is street food. It''s not meant to be pretentious, just taste good. And honestly, I crave some shitty food every once in a while.


    For the first time, the Baroness smiled. Finally, someone who understands. Shitty street food is what you want sometimes.


    Liz coughed, which brought their attention to the ring chef who had clearly taken offense at their repeatedments about shitty food.


    Matt coughed and offered an apology while leaving a tip.


    Margaret had vanished already with her food, but it didnt take long to find her hovering half a mile above the city.


    They joined her as she quickly shoveled the order down her throat.


    Seeing there was going to be no conversation until they finished eating, Matt floated next to her before digging in himself.


    The Baroness paused after her first container of dumplings and offered an apology.


    Sorry abouting on strong. I''m hungry and was expecting a fight. Badbination.


    Liz answered, as Matt was busy trying to protect his remaining dumplings from Aster, who decided she did have more room after all.


    That''s understandable, and we ept your apology. What issues have you been facing?


    Margaret gestured with her fork out over the city as she said, Everything. Being a noble fucking sucks most of the time, to be honest.


    Seeing the surprised looks on their faces, she asked, What? I knew it would be shitty, but it''s way worse than I hoped. Thereve been thirty assassination or straight up murder attempts, like what I was going to stop you guys from doing, since I took over. People getting revenge on the people who hurt them. It wastes my time to prevent them, and I have precious little of that already. Being a noble of a fully settled world might be nice, but trying to pull this up a Tier is a massive pain in the ass. Add in the fact that the guilds have been piging all the kids with a halfway decent Talent set for thest forty years, and I have <em>half</em> the guards I need to protect this ce. Most of thepetent ones were loyalists to the Junipers, and I sure as shit wasn''t going to keep them around.


    Matt nodded, giving up thest three dumplings to his bond. That was close to our predictions, if not a bit worse. Why did you take the position then? Im sure the Empire would have warned you beforehand.


    Margaret barked augh. Yeah, I knew what I was getting into, but if I''m honest, I didnt trust anyone else to do it right. You guys are clearly strong, with a management team of your own that you obviously got early. You must have seen far more than most Pather teams of your age. You tell me if you would trust the average Pather with this responsibility?


    Matt ignored the second half of her statement and asked, I don''t even know what a management team is. Why do you think we have one?


    Margaret snorted and choked on a forkful of noodles, but once she got rid of the obstruction in her airway, sheughed.


    Ha! Most fall for that little cover story, but its clear as day if you know what to look for. Your Concept is way too polished; there isnt any other exnation that would leave you on The Path still. Besides, youre Tier 9, and you told me that youre going to participate in the Tier 10 tourney. I can piece together a decent picture of what you''ve done in the past few years, especially after your showing in the vassal war. Id be surprised if you didnt get a team. Then there''s you guys turning out to be good little boys and girls. A management team makes the most sense.


    Matt sighed internally. It wasnt like they could hide the obvious facts, but if a random ex-Pather could puzzle that out, everyone else could as well. Or at least, the people who mattered could do the same.


    Giving up on their act, Liz asked, We can''t refute that information, but wed prefer not to confirm anything.


    The Baroness waved thatment off with a skewered dumpling that had attracted Aster''s gaze.


    My point still stands. I didnt trust anyone else to do the job right. So, I stepped off The Path to create the home I wished for. Doesn''t mean it''s not hard work. I can''t even talk with most people because they''re so weak. They look at me like an omnipotent power instead of a weak-ass immortal. She gestured with another dumpling between them. At least other Pathers, who understand that Tier 15 is just the start of the journey, dont bow and scrape every time I ask a question.


    Seeing that they were having an amicable conversation, Matt decided to see what he could get from the Baroness.


    What are your ns for Lilly? Ive seen and agree with the extra training houses for kids. It''s a good way to get anyone interested in delving and progressing a head start, but they need to seek it out, which keeps costs down. But the only other thing Ive seen is your offering sweetheart deals to get people to move to Lilly.


    While he talked, Aster had floated next to Margaret''s dumpling box and pounced on it.


    In a blur of speed that only a Tier 15 could manage, Margaret stuffed the final dumplings into her mouth and taunted Aster through her overstuffed mouth.


    Aster bemoaned her loss. That''s cheating! It''s not fun if I can''t even win.


    When she managed to swallow, she pointed out to the depths of the continent.


    I''ve got half a dozen Tier 5 rifts creating Tier 5 essence, which will slowly bring up the Tier of the, but that will take time. She paused before continuing, To give credit where it is due, I didnt make them. The regent did. Im just keeping them delved and full of mana. Right now, I''m just trying to expand my human assets by sending my people to delve and get experience. I need at least Tier 7 or 8 guards going forward, as I want to create a few more Tier 5 rifts and have them well guarded, while having at least one Tier 6 rift.


    That was gutsy. A Tier 6 rift on a Tier 4 wouldn''t draw in enough mana to fuel itself. It would actively drain the of mana until the reached Tier 5 and the gap lessened. Or, as was more likely, it would continue to siphon mana until the rift Tiered down to Tier 5, where it would have less of an impact. If the rift was well fed with mana, it would speed up the process of Tiering up the massively.


    That''s dangerous for a number of reasons, as I''m sure you know, and I doubt the popce would agree with that. Too much trauma, way too recently.


    Yeah, and that''s why I want to get a nice big ind made in the middle of the ocean, so we can put the rift there. Minimal risk if done that way. But, like everything, ites back to money. Even for a Tier 15, I can''t afford the services of an earth mage with enough control to create even a small ind that''s stable, and won''t fuck up a tectonic te or something. Then there''s the mana for paying him, and then running a rift so far above the Tier of the. That''s at least a few decades out. Right now, Im trying to ensure a smooth transition of power, and slowly implement changes that I think will benefit us in the long run.


    Matt nodded along. He wasn''t an expert, but thought he understood why the Empire had allowed Margaret to take the barony. She was smart, and willing to look to the future while not overying her hand for short term gains. Despite knowing the same things, Matt wasn''t sure he could be as objective about his home.


    There were just too many mixed emotions for him to be able to guarantee the same degree of nning.


    Sensing the conversation was heading to a darker corner, Liz asked, How surprised are people to see you when they go to get revenge?


    That caused Margaret to bark augh. Most metaphorically shit themselves, and two have done so literally. Honestly, I don''t want to stop them, but I have to uphold thew. I can''t have rogue elements breakingws so soon into my reign. Most of the time, I stop them before they actually do anything, and then strongarm them into pursuing a more legal avenue of revenge. Im not some local judge who has nothing better to do than to punish past offenses.


    The four of them chatted until the horizon started to lighten, when Margaret''s demeanor changed. They were clearly dealing with Baroness Thresh now, instead of the amiable Margaret.


    I have a pile and a half of overdue paperwork now. Enjoy your time back home, and remember toe back in the future as well. Always nice to have someone to talk to. When you reach Tier 15 or so, Im happy to have a spar. There is a distinctck of action thates with ruling a.


    With that, the Baroness streaked away in a sh of power.


    Aster was the first to speak after the Baroness exit. I like her! Her tail wilted as she added, Would have liked her more if she yed by the rules. Her exuberance returned as she yipped, Next time, Ill be stronger than her, and Ill steal her dumplings! Hehehe.


    Matts Concept was thoroughly spent, and he carefully set them down as he said, I know she was testing me with the chat in the sky, but damn. Its bullshit that the Tiers give you so much more willpower.


    Liz smacked his arm as she asked, Did you have to enter a contest of wills with her? You could havended us on a building or something.


    Aster scoffed at that suggestion, Wheres the fun in that?


    Matt agreed with her and echoed, Yeah, where is the fun in that?


    Liz just rolled her eyes and started walking to their hotel room. When you get a splitting headache, don''tin to me.


    Mattughed, I won''t <em>get </em>a headache because I already <em>have</em> one. Ha!


    That earned him augh, and they walked back to their room inpanionable silence.


    The next day, Matt visited Benny''s when he knew things would be starting to get busy. Having exchanged AI contacts with Margaret, Matt sent her a picture of him with aically evil expression as he flew above the inn with a [Fireball] hovering above his staff.


    They only got an eye roll in return, but it was a good way to lighten the mood before Matt went back to his ce of employment.


    To his surprise, Benny immediately recognized him, saying, Are you looking for a job again? Well, too bad I already got a new kid for the position. At least he doesn''t nap in the storage room.


    It was only Matts training in espionage that kept him fromughing out loud. The new handyman helper was currently snoring away in the same storage room that Matt had.


    It''s good to see you doing so well, Benny. You even Tiered up. I half expected you to have stagnated. Matt returned the man''s normal cynicism with a barb of his own.


    Benny just poured the three of them a drink and promptly ignored them.


    Somehow, that felt just as fitting as everything else. Benny was always looking out for himself, but he wasn''t necessarily evil. A free drink to him was argepromise in his ideals.


    They stayed long enough for Matt to see that none of the waitresses were the same as when he had been there, before leaving for theirst evening in Warrington. After catching up with Ms. Reba, Matt cooked a meal for Miles before their final stop.


    He refused to let the man believe the restaurant he took them to was the best in the city.


    Miles, on the other hand, said it tasted good, but not exceptional.


    Matt thought he was messing with him until Miles shrugged and repeated his earlier statement.


    Lizughed so hard, she nearly fell out of her chair when Matt tried to get Miles to visit a healer for his clearly broken taste buds.


    He refused to believe anyone could say his food wasn''t as good as the restaurant Miles had raved about.


    Unable to convince the man it was a medical necessity, they eventually left to visit the yPen. It would be Matts final stop before moving on.


    Griff was still the second inmand, and met Matt at the edge of the ind when they approached.


    He looked exactly the same as he had twenty years ago. The only difference was how he styled his hair. It was a much longer style that was free-flowing, instead of the shorter, morebat-oriented style he remembered.


    The Tier 15 cocked his head and asked, Who are you guys with Aster?


    While Matt was looking at the man like he was stupid, Asterughed and ran through the air with her own Concept to say hi to Griff. The two of them chatted while Matt tried to gather a sentence, but he was so bbergasted that he just stood there in the air dumbfounded.


    His first words were, Griff, you''re a dick.


    That earned him a smirk, but the older man kept up the facade, saying, I really dont remember you. Hey Aster, want to share some ice cream? I have moose tracks!


    As Aster, ever the glutton, yipped, Yes! Griff took out a half-gallon container with two spoons, and they started to dig in. Aster used her Concept to deftly wield the spoon topensate for herck of hands. A new ability that she had only developed after having the spatial vest she now wore. The irony of the timing of that ability wasnt lost on them.


    Matt finally gave up and grumbled to Liz, Well, that''s just not nice at all. They aren''t even offering to share.


    Liz grinned and hooked her arm in his, saying, If you want to y with the other children, I can get you your own ice cream.


    Seeing his game was up, Matt justughed.


    Finally, after they had devoured the ice cream, Griff stood up and stuck out his hand to Liz. Griff, second inmand for this little yPen. And who might you be?


    Liz kept her expression neutral, but Matt could see theughter in her eyes. Elizabeth Moore, a pleasure to meet you. Matt has said so much about how helpful you were to him during his time at the yPen.


    Griff winked at her while failing to hide a smirk as he asked, Who?


    Matt had finally had enough and tossed a [Fireball] at the man, who finally acknowledged him by pulling him into aughing hug.


    How you doing, kid? Been a long time. You look good. Strong. And I don''t even mean flying with a Concept. You have a giant I will beat your ass aura going for you. It looks good.


    Matt had never been so insulted in his life. I do not have that aura. Im a nice, peaceful guy who only kills things in rifts. You besmirch my honor, good sir. I demand an apology this instant!


    That got them allughing as Griff started to drift away, waving, Come on and let''s go for a walk. No reason to float above the ind like a bunch of weirdos when I have afortable home.


    Griff''s house was an actual house, to Matt''s surprise. He had expected a condo arrangement, but on the other side of the ind, there were a half dozen cozy houses nestled between a beach and an open field.


    A familiar-looking woman came out of the house at their approach, and Matt felt a powerful but gentle scan of his spirit as theynded.


    Griff''s wife came up and introduced herself. Jessica. I feel like I remember you, but I can''t ce it.


    From behind her, Griff was vehemently shaking his head and mouthing no.


    Matt was perfectly happy to throw a wrench into the Tier 15s'' domestic bliss after his earlier stunt, and answered. We only met once briefly, when Griff was making crude jokes about Aster here.


    Aster, sensing his n, yed the aggrieved victim and wilted.


    Jessicas eyes narrowed as she remembered. The foxy joke. Yes, I remember. She then looked to Aster and asked, Well, are you <em>foxy</em>?


    Aster, for all her advanced mental age, was still innocent of the innuendo Jessica was implying, and confusingly looked at her paws before licking herself and nodding.


    Yup! Still a fox.


    That pure naivete broke the joke, and caused Jessica to devolve into a fit ofughter.


    Eventually, as she got herself under control, she said, Come on in. It''s been years since we had any of Griff''s old studentse and visit.


    The house wasnt spatially expanded, but was still a littlerger than the two of them seemed to need. It became obvious when Matt saw the pictures of a young woman at various ages scattered around.


    Griff saw his interest and took it for the distraction that would hopefully get his wife to forget about his past blunders. That''s Cassy. She''s turning twenty this year. It''s crazy how time flies after Tier 15. Feels likest week we were changing her diaper. Now she''s a delver on her own.


    That surprised Matt, who remembered how Griff had talked about the dangers of The Path. So he asked, You put her on The Path?


    Jessica snorted at that as she put down a series of cups for everyone and got Aster a pillow to sit on. No. Thankfully we were able to talk her out of that, and we had her join a guild where she can advance at a reasonable pace.


    Liz jumped in and changed the subject from the trap strewn hall that Matt had led them down. You guys must be getting ready to move on yourselves then, right? Or how long do these appointments usuallyst?


    Griff stretched and answered, Twenty-five years, so yeah. We''ll be gone in another three. Then we''ll push to Tier 20 with the merits this has earned us. Matt, I told you about my team from before, right?


    Yeah, I remember them.


    The best mages Ive ever known. Good people, better spell flingers.


    With that conversation, the five of them chatted about various topics until it was time for the trio to leave for the teleporter they had arranged earlier. At Tier 9, and with Matt''s Talent, it wasn''t hard to get a personal teleport out. They just had to cover the mana cost, and their Tier 10 delving rewards could do so. They had simply given the city fair warning, so they could arrange an extra shipment and not waste the trip.


    During their travel between the yPen and the maind, Matt called out to Luna, who he knew would be watching somewhere, What did you think of the Baroness?


    His dark-haired manager appeared next to them as if that was where she had been the whole time. She''s strong, but you can tell that. She had, or rather <em>has</em> potential to be a strongbatant. I would have bet that she could have pushed to at least Tier 22 or Tier 23 on The Path before falling off.


    You think she could have made it that far? Lizs question was what he was thinking as well.


    Margret seemed strong, but she was a solo delver in the end, and that made each fight all the more challenging, despite theck of restrictions it afforded her in picking rifts and earning capital. There was only so much one person could do, after all.


    Her ability with her Concept is better than most, and it fits her well. Despite having a more normal management team, who mostly just interacts through their liaison, they''ve decided to keep training her even though she stepped off The Path. They clearly believe in her that much, which tells me even more. They''re doing all of that on their personal time.


    Matt thought that sounded wrong. You don''t think the Empire would keep them there on orders? She did step off on her own, and didnt fall off, after all.


    Luna shook her head. No. Our resources are refunded through the Empire, yes, but the budget behind us managers is incredibly strict. Theres next to no wiggle room. So that means no tax rebates for the helpers, which is our biggest draw, really. Otherwise, we need to find altruistic people who are willing to sell their time cheap enough for a lower Tier to afford it.


    Following that to its logical conclusion, Matt asked, So when you said you would be willing to fund our training if we stepped off The Path, you meant you would do it yourself?


    Luna didnt bother to respond, and phased back out of sight.


    It gave Matt a lot to think about during the final leg of their journey.


    His emotions finally settled down as they approached the coastal city andnded next to the beach.


    Good people could give up their own advancement for the betterment of their home, and stillin about it.


    Assholes could serve a free drink for an old employee.


    Kind, older women could take care of kids, even after a disaster had faded into the past.


    People wereplicated, but were capable of good.


    Matt couldnt solve every issue, but he better understood why some of the people in power kept their positions. Some did it for power over others, and some because it was an obligation passed down through the generations. But there were still those that did so because they believed they could make a difference.


    There was no simple answer, but Matt thought he understood what he could offer to the Empire with his abilities.


    It was more than pure mana.


    He could offer change. He could break the stagnation that had crept into society.


    Ms. Reba and Headmaster Jones were two examples of people who weren''t seeking immortality; they just wanted to be able to live their lives one day at a time.


    Even Benny, who he had once believed was too bitter to die, was aging and seemingly content with it.


    Those were the people that Matt felt a desire to protect and help. Building was far more satisfying than destruction, but you needed to be strong enough to protect what you cared for, or someone else would take it for their own. If they couldnt take it, they would try to destroy it instead.


    He was a beacon of change that could prevent such destruction.


    Or, he could be.


    He just needed to be strong enough to protect himself and those he cared about.


    As the three of them waited around the transport pad, Matt hugged Liz. Thanks for being so understanding thest few days, and just being there for me.


    Liz smiled and returned the hug. Its ok. I''m going to be cashing in all of these brownie points over the next few months.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that statement, and Liz just grinned. If you think my parents will be normal, you have another thinging. They''re going to be weird and annoying and all-around pains in the ass. Staying back a bit and letting you take the lead here is nothingpared to what well have to deal with there.


    Matt felt a giddy anticipation boil up inside of him that quickly turned to fear as he imagined it.


    His hands were sweaty at the thought of meeting her parents, and the implications therein. It wasn''t about their Tier, but what if they didnt like him?


    How would his and Lizs rtionship survive if that happened?


    What if your parents dont like me?


    Liz sighed. That will be the least of our problems. Of that, I have no doubt.

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130


    As Matt left Lilly he wanted to look at his parents'' information packet, but despite having fond memories of Lilly now, he couldnt bring himself to open it. Something inside of him felt that it wasnt the proper time, and he followed his instincts.


    He eventually told Liz, I don''t know why I can''t open it. It feels like I should be able to but I just can''t hit the button.


    Are you afraid of what you''ll see? Her question got to the heart of the matter, but Matt shook his head.


    Not quite that. He stared aimlessly ahead, collecting his thoughts until he finally said, It''s more like if I look at it, everything is real. Despite me knowing they''re long dead and gone, it feels like the weight of it will just <em>crush</em> something.


    Liz nodded, understanding and graceful enough to let the subject drop for the time being. After leaving Lilly, the three of them had started crossing the Empire as fast as they could manage with the normal teleportation schedule. Their destination was the capital of one of the true kingdoms; it was governed directly by a royal in the more distant regions of the Empire.


    Tur''stal was hosting the Tier 10 tournament this time, and her kingdom was two full kingdoms away from Lillys position in the Empire. With little less than a year to reach the capital, they had to rush to move through the hundreds of intervenings if they wanted to arrive early.


    Most of their travel time was spent sitting around teleportation tforms, which meant that Luna was able to hammer in somest-minute magical training.


    To help counter his mana control problem, Matt broke through to Tier 10 immediately after leaving Lilly. As they expected, the doubling of his mana pool directly reduced his mana control to worrying levels. With 1280 mana at his disposal, Matt was a force to be reckoned with, but regaining his abilities with his mana required constant training with Luna and Kurt.


    The exercises started with simple things, like moving a small ball in a controlled pattern, then they slowly evolved into battles of control against Luna. Once his control returned to the minimum eptable level, they started working on his elemental maniption skill control.


    For all her issues, Luna was an excellent teacher, and was always able to identify when Matt was consciously or unconsciously using crutches for his abilities. But she always had suggestions on how to improve his skills.


    Aster joined Matt at Tier 10 with her own breakthrough, but Liz resisted the urge to Tier up, as her deal with her parents was only effective until she reached Tier 10. She knew they would flock to her side immediately if she broke through.


    It''s better if I wait until we arrive on East Flower to break through. We only have a few more weeks of freedom left. Liz said it was like there was an executioner''s axe hovering over her head.


    It was a feeling that Matt understood but for the opposite reasons.


    While Liz was apprehensive of her parents wild and mboyant behaviors, he was growing more and more worried about having parents again. Inws or not, they would still be his parents as well.


    <em>What if they don''t like me? I know what Keith and Travis said about them, but I don''t know them well enough to predict. Should I bring them a gift? What can I even give a Tier 48 couple? They have literally everything they could ever want, need, or toss away a million times. How could I give them something of any true worth, or value.</em>


    <em>I''m so screwed.</em>


    Matt was in a constant state of stress that slowly built until he was about to explode. Luckily, he had their arrival to take his mind off things, as they had finally reached East Flower. They stood with hundreds of other Tier 10 Pathers, who were also arriving early.


    It looked like a lot at first nce, but the impression was misleading. Arge number were showing up now, but it was nothing whenpared to how many would be arriving in the final three months.


    They were five months early for the final check-in time and start date of the tournament. The majority of those present wanted to get onest delve in, or practice their abilities just that tiny bit more. But Matt, Liz, and Aster needed to arrive early so the bipedal members of their group could set up their identities to participate.


    The Tier 10 tournamentsted for exactly one standard Empire year, and hosted thousands of smallerpetitions simultaneously with the big three.


    The big three were the main attractions of the tournament; everything was centered around them. The length of the event ensured that he and Liz could swap between their identities without issue, until their real identities were quietly lost in the middle ranks.


    The first was thergest attraction, where most of the prestige and rewards came from: the team duels.


    The second of the big three was the solo duels. Although popr as well, the solo matches had slightly smaller rewardspared to the team event.


    The final portion of the big three was the crafting event. None of them had any hope ofpeting in it, and they didn''t intend to even try.


    As a part of their deal forpeting, their cover identities would be shooting for the top spots in both the solo duels and team battles.


    Matt was slightly peeved at the rules for the solo duels, as they made it impossible for team members to fight against each other in the lower brackets, and the structure of the top fifty ensured that they couldn''t fight there either. The final rounds of thepetition were a point system, where each contender would fight everyone in the top fifty at least once, before the process was repeated with the top ten, then five.


    If team members met in the finals, it would be considered a draw, to prevent hard feelings from a loss and missing out on earning points.


    He had been looking forward to fighting Liz for the tournament victory spot, but had to hope that he earned more points than her against the other contenders.


    Other than wanting to win in both categories, there were a few of the lesserpetitions Matt had his sights set on as well.


    There were a number of single weapon or fighting style tournaments that had fantastic rewards, but were less prestigious, that he wanted to get involved in. The reported rewards never changed, but never lost their value either.


    Legacies.


    Matt had only seen them in movies before, and they were purportedly extremely rare, with strict requirements to create and use. But, over its time as one of the Great Powers, the Empire had amassed quite a few that were suitable for cultivators under Tier 15. They offered use of the Legacies to the top three winners of each style.


    He had to ask Kurt about them. The movies were fairly urate in their representation of Legacies, but a few details werecking.


    They were incredibly rare rewards that were found from Tier 45 rifts or higher, with incredibly strict requirements to use them. The person who wanted to create a Legacy needed to satisfy three requirements.


    First, they needed to be Tier 45.


    Second, they needed to have an Aspect.


    And finally, the individual needed to have experienced an inspiration about the topic that they wanted to pass down at some point in their cultivation journey. On top of the maddening prerequisites, Legacies were known to fall apart after a random number of uses.


    Sometimes, theysted for only a single use, but they could alsost for thousands of years.


    It waspletely random, which was why the Empire restricted their use for all except motivated and skilled cultivators that resonated with a specific Legacy.


    There was a longsword only bracket with a longsword Legacy that Matt desperately wanted to get his hands on. It was the main goal of the tournament for his true identity.


    Matt was brought out of his musings once the teleportation countdown started, and his nerves built into a crescendo.


    As the familiar feeling for swapping worlds enveloped him, Matt felt nauseous. He wasn''t sure if it was his fear of meeting Lizs parents for the first time, or the rougher than usual teleportation, but it took him a few seconds to clear his head as they arrived on East Flower.


    His first impression of the Tier 43 was that the name was apt. Tur''stal was the fifth strongest royal, with her Tier 1 Talent that made nature love her, and her Tier 3 that warped the environment to her will.


    Even inside the teleportation hub room, it felt like they were outside with the number of flowers lining the room. Vines crept up all of the walls, washing everything with greens and browns.


    That first impression was dwarfed when they exited the building to the city proper, and found that the greenery didnt stop there. The metropolis seemed to be more of a well-curated garden than a true city.


    He had seen green cities before, but they were like a snake trying to imitate a dragon. Just from their first steps onto the street, Matt saw half a dozen gardeners taking care of the variety of nts, trees, and flowers that lined the streets. Though, he didnt know what they were actually doing if Tur''stals Talent worked as he believed.


    Tur''stals vision of a perfect city seemed to be one of beauty and aesthetics, as every flower seemed to already have its perfect ce in the cityndscape without disrupting the city flow.


    As far as he could tell, there didnt even seem to be cracks in the sidewalks from the trees growing along their borders.


    The majesty of the sight was only enhanced when Matt felt the ambient essence pressing down on like a heavy nket. The Tier 43 was the strongest world he had ever been on, and the essence was on apletely different level than the essence he knew from others, or even the rift monsters.


    That illusion of grandeur was shattered when he noticed the absolute absence of mana.


    He had been ons with a worryingly sparse amount of mana, but he had never encountered something like this before.


    There was <em>no</em> mana in the air at all.


    Spreading his awareness out, he felt the buildings drawing in what little ambient mana the passersby leaked from their full mana pools, like starving men fighting for every scrap.


    From what he could feel, everything was spatially expanded to a crazy degree. The closest building was a skyscraper taking up half the city block, but as his spiritual sense pierced the outeryer, he found dozens of businesses inside the small fraction of space he could feel.


    His investigation was cut off by the overwhelming feeling of a presence locking on to them as Liz said, Here we go.


    Following the pressure, Matt saw two familiar-looking people watching from the end of the street.


    Before seeing them, Matt had thought the saying that people vibrated from repressed energy was mostly a metaphor. But seeing the two royals, he had to reconsider his position.


    The duo were actually vibrating, and at a speed which made their edges transparent.


    Matt felt Liz crunch her essence cores down and step into Tier 10, and at the same instant, the two vanished and reappeared to embrace their daughter in a group hug.


    Mara reached Liz first and picked up her daughter in a massive embrace, in which her hair feathers stood straight out and quivered, while Leon picked both of them up and bounced from foot to foot.


    Oh, babycakes, it''s so good to see you. It''s been too long! Oh how we''ve missed you. Maras voice came out muffled from where she had been smothered by Leonsrger frame.


    Lizs father didnt miss out on the reunion, and he said, Oh, you''ve gotten so big. It feels like it was yesterday when you were just learning to walk.


    Liz was trying to say something, but her voice wasn''t able to make it past the couple''s ramblings.


    Matt felt d for Liz to have such loving parents, but felt a bit like an outsider as he watched from the edge with Aster in his arms.


    As if sensing his feelings, Leon and Mara finally let go of Liz, who took a dramatic, deep breath while the overjoyed parents turned to Matt.


    With expressions of glee, they looked from him, to each other, and then back to Matt, and he froze with Aster like a rabbit spotting the shadow of a hawk.


    Their eyes literally <em>gleamed</em> with a light as they looked at the two of them, and every primate-brained instinct, battle-honed and not, screamed that he should run. Run harder than he had ever run in his life.


    Leon squealed while pulling Matt into a hug, with Mara only a fraction of a second behind her husband.


    Oh, we''re so d to finally meet you properly! Mara babbled as they bounced around from the couple''s irreversible excitement.


    Leon said something as well, but Matt didnt hear it. He was lost in the hug.


    The couple were warm.


    It wasn''t the heat of the fire that he knew Mara could unleash, but a feeling offort and eptance.


    It spoke of somewhere that he could shelter from the turbulent winds of the greater world, that would always wee his return no matter what. Somewhere that only wanted to prop him up when he got tired. Somewhere he was epted for being himself, by people who wouldn''t ask him to change. Somewhere that didnt expect anything from him, but would support him in every desire he had.


    Somewhere that he could call home.


    That feeling broke something in him that he hadn''t even known he had been missing, and with seemingly no thought, Matt reviewed the information packet about his parents that he had been avoiding for so long.


    For the first time since the rift breaks, Matt saw his parents'' faces.


    Young, and alive.


    It startled him to realize that they had been younger than he was now when they had him, despite looking older.


    He saw his first birthday, and the little cake he ruined, to only his parent''s smiles.


    There was a video of his first steps, and his dad doing a little dance with him in celebration.


    As he got older in the pictures, he started to remember bits and pieces of the images, until near the end. There, the memories became clear as he recalled the incidents.


    Pictures of their life scrolled by in a loop. It was everything the city had been able to find from nonlocal servers, and Matt wondered why he had waited so long to view it.


    They were full of sad memories, but happy ones as well. Photos of memories that he should have looked at the day he got them, instead of letting them fade.


    He felt ashamed at that but the feeling onlysted a moment.


    As the pictures and video flickered past his eyes, he felt the warmth of the duo still holding him. While he knew that they weren''t trying to rece his own parents, he let himself imagine that they were his parents for a moment, and sunk into the embrace.


    It felt like an eternity, but finally, he pulled back slightly, and the duo let him go as he blinked away tears.


    A subtle [Water Maniption] removed the lingering effects of his tears that threatened to fall, and he saw understanding smiles on Mara and Leon''s faces.


    Liz noticed the change, and having been together so long, knowingly beamed at him.


    Like a switch was thrown, once they saw that he had centered himself, Mara squealed while grabbing Aster from his arms and pulling her into an identical hug.


    We finally have a grandchild! Leon was so excited that little lightning bolts started to shoot from his hair, and Maras mane of feathers started to glow.


    Mara mirrored him and cheered, We finally have a grandchild!


    Knowing the joke, Matt shattered their illusions. Aster is more like a little sister than a child.


    Three faces turned to him. All three were pleading, but for different reasons.


    Aster wanted him to save her from the insane duo, while Mara and Leon looked heartbroken at the revtion.


    Mara, with a quavering lip, asked, But you raised her and Liz helped that makes you parents, right?


    Going along with the routine, Matt shook his head. No, Aster has only been like a sibling to me.


    That confirmation shattered the duo''s world.


    Literally.


    Leon turned into a gray cloud that gave off a drizzle and sparks, before popping like a balloon then twirling around as his cloud lost its shape. As he dramatically deted, Mara crumbled into a pile of ash and then swept herself up with a dustpan, and put herself into a trash can.


    Still hovering where she had been hugged, Aster pleaded for Matt to save her.


    From inside the trash can, a distant Mara asked, Can we convince you to change your mind?


    A squeaky Leon backed his wife up. Yeah, kids are great, and grandkids are better! You sure you don''t want one?


    Biting his lip to notugh at the ridiculousness of the scene, Matt got out, No. Quite sure.


    The two let out sighs as their forms recreated themselves, and they were back to their human proportions as if their little disy hadn''t even happened.


    Seemingly unperturbed, the duo said as one, Eh. Well get grandkids eventually. No rush.


    Mara continued to hold Aster as they started to walk forward, and she said, Come on, let''s go to our house so you three can settle in. Then well portal you over to whatever youreing from with your cover identities.


    Matt looked around to see if anyone was listening and overheard that slip of the tongue, but finally noticed that not a single person was aware of their presence.


    In fact, people were walking through them as if they weren''t there at all.


    How they were managing that, Matt didnt have the faintest clue, but was grateful that they hadnt blown years worth of work in a single instant.


    He started to understand Lizs feelings, and as he met her eyes, she smirked and shrugged as if to say that was just how they were.


    Matt found that he actually enjoyed it, now that he knew they weren''t actually reckless, and were simply too strong to not have the same considerations.


    Leon then snapped his fingers and asked, Oh yeah. What are your cover identities'' names?


    Matt smirked as Liz rolled her eyes. Im Shawn, Liz is Jules, and Aster is Lassie, then our public Masks are Torch and Quill. Nice, simple, and descriptive.


    Leon took the names in stride and said, Good to know. We''re getting shirts made for the entire family so we can cheer you guys on!


    That brought Liz back into the conversation, and she asked, Oh? Who''sing?


    Mara, with Aster still cradled in her arms, said, Everyone, silly! This is a big event for you guys, and it''s a great time to get everyone together. It''s been far too long since we all gathered.


    As they walked down the crowded streets, Matt observed the couple as they walked along.


    From outward appearances, they were no different from any other couple, besides the casually performed feats that went beyond any skill or ability that Matt knew of.


    Their physical, practical jokes were impressive, but what really shocked him was how they seemed to be aware of everything at once.


    Without taking her attention off of Aster, who had finally started to speak, Mara casually caught a passerby who was too engrossed in their AI to notice they were about to walk off the sidewalk, and righted them.


    Things like that happened everywhere they went, and Matt didnt miss the subtle spatial magic they were performing. Each of the group''s steps seemed to take them half of the city block, and quickly they were at a seemingly normal building.


    Granted the building was only normal when the was taken into consideration. It being a skyscraper that Matt couldn''t even see the top of, and spatially expanded to an extreme level.


    As they entered, Matt was shocked.


    At Tier 10, his spiritual sense was able to cover half a mile if he extended it in one direction, but even with that, he was unable to see anything past the <em>lobby</em>. The giant, golden circle that pulsated above the desk gave off a majestic feeling of might and grandeur.


    The lobby was currently amodating at least a few thousand people just trying to get a room, from the snippets of conversation that Matt heard, but Mara and Leon quickly moved them to a bank of elevators.


    Leon, seeing Matt''s confusion, and that Mara was busy with a chattering Aster, exined for him. Space is at a super premium on the capital worlds. And right now, it''s even worse than usual. Most buildings are expanded at around a thousand times their normal size, giving us way more room for people. This is a hotel that caters to transient travelers who''re here to delve the rifts, so it''s long term amodations usually. But with the influx of people, well see more temporary tenants.


    Matt was slightly confused at the implications and asked, So you guys got a room? I figured you would stay with Tur''stal. I hope it wasn''t an inconvenience to amodate us.


    Leon returned him an equally confused look beforeughing. Oh no! Tur''stal''s great, and we have an open invitation to stay with her, but we own the hotel chain, so we stay here.


    Matt paused as the line in front of the elevator moved, unable to take a step forward.


    That level of wealth was off the charts, even for him, and as he calcted the number of people delving, he shook his head in wonder.


    Leon continued. Yup, we own all the Feathered Nestled Inns throughout the Empire. We have hotel chains on every capital.


    Matt paused and looked at the Tier 48 to see if he was joking, but seeing the earnest happiness on his face, Matt had to ask. But we aren''t in a Feathered Nestled Inn. We came into the Golden Circle Inns.


    Leon froze before turning and standing on his toes to see the front desk again.


    Haha Whoops! Honey, we went to the wrong hotel again.


    Mara looked up from her conversation with Liz and Aster before saying, We''re at the Feathered Nestled Inn. How is that wrong?


    Liz rolled her eyes and said, You two are idiots. Theres a giant floating circle of gold above us. Howd you mess that up?


    Maraughed before turning and leading them away and back down the street, until they reached an evenrger building that boasted a giant ming red feather floating over the lobby. It radiated a gentle warmth that washed over them as soon as they entered.


    Mara nodded. That''s better. I was wondering where my feather went. We were just in the wrong building. Silly me.


    <em>Theres no way she meant that its </em>literally<em> her feather, right?</em>


    Matt was stupefied at the sight.


    <em>Its at least three hundred feet long, and not even from a wing. The shape is all wrong for a wing feather. How big are her wing feathers?</em>


    He gave it another look, probing it more intensely with his spiritual sense, but it felt utterly identical to the woman skipping alongside them.


    <em>Just how big is her other form</em>?


    He had seen videos of Maras fights, but he had never gotten a good scale of her before. Seeing the feather forced him to reevaluate all the videos he had seen with a new perspective.


    As they rode the elevator to the top floor, they reached a set of rooms that divided the building into six equal suites.


    Aster asked the question before Matt could. Why are there so many rooms? I thought you would have the entire floor.


    Maraughed as she skipped along. We keep the top floor avable for all the royals. Lets us have an area that we can be ourselves in without bothering whoever rules the ce.


    Matt nodded until the number stood out to him. There were six rooms when there should have only been five.


    The Emperor one. Mara and Leon the second. Rusty, Tur''stal, and Harper. That only equaled five.


    Do you each have a room here?


    Leon shook his head. No. We installed the sixth room recently. Spoiler alert to the start of the proceedings, but we''re getting a new royal. It''s been kept quiet, but the official announcement will be made at the opening ceremony. His name is Fredric or something.


    Mara rolled her eyes and spun around as she opened the door. You know his name, dear. Dont be a spoilsport because he beat you in the royal poker game night.


    Leon pouted as thunder clouds started to circle his head, and he murmured. He beat me with a bluff. It''s not fair. How was I supposed to know reflective sunsses would let him see my cards? Who could have guessed?


    Matt was stillughing at the absurd image of all the royals ying poker and the two goofballs being themselves when they entered the suite.


    With the outward size of the building, he had expected something grand and opulent, but it was the exact opposite.


    The ce was downright homey.


    The five of them entered into a smallish living room with two couches and a loveseat centered around a wall-mounted screen. It was ying a kids'' show that he recognized with a mouse and cat getting into various shenanigans. Even from where he stood, he could see a decent-sized kitchen, but it looked well lived in instead of fancy.


    Liz noticed his perusal as she brought him through the living room to a small hall with only four doors.


    She stopped at the first and opened it to show him a massive workout room and connected sparring room. Workout and sparring here.


    She passed the next one saying. That''s my parents'' room. Don''t go in there unless you want to be scarred for life.


    Maras head stretched into the hall from around the corner and said, We told you not toe in if the door was shut, little chick. Sex is natural. How do you think we got <em>you</em>?


    Liz shoved her mother''s head and extended neck back around the corner before she opened the third door, on the same side as the sparring room. Library. Feel free to peruse at your own leisure. They have everything you can think of in paper form. Even some restricted and higher Tier tomes.


    She opened the room next to her parents'' room and said, And home sweet home.


    Inside, they dropped off their spatial bags and started unpacking for an extended stay. But as they worked, Matt asked, That''s it? What about your siblings? It all just seems too small.


    Liz shook her head. They use the sameyout for all their apartment condos. And the ce can expand or shrink at will. There are a few dozen rooms of various sizes tucked away right now. As my siblings arrive, they''ll extend the hall. Otherwise, the building feels too empty and lonely. This way, it feels more homey. Also, for all their faults, they will respect our privacy in our room. But everywhere else, expect them to be watching.


    As they finished putting their things away, Aster pranced in with a new bow tied around her head.


    She inspected the room before jumping up onto the bed and yipping, I''m going to be Queen after Mara!


    Matt turned to her, Oh? What made you want that?


    Aster rolled over and wiggled as she said, Mara said being Queen means everyone has to listen to you! Then I can get all the ice cream I want. Ill even make new ice cream vors! There will be a Queen Aster ice cream vor! Itll be heart and bunny vored.


    She salivated at the thought, before popping to her feet and adding. Also, Queen Aster has a nice ring to it.


    Through their connection, Matt understood that herst point was her real motivation. At least aside from the ice cream idea.


    Aster thought the name sounded cool, so she was going to aim for one of the royal positions.


    Matt just rolled his eyes at his bonds antics and let her prattle on. He was sure that she would forget about this in a week or two, so just let her have her fun. Aster, as she was now, was far too immature to be a ruler.


    <em>Oh, shit. Mara is a Queen. Aster can''t be any worse, can she? Well, I don''t know how Mara acts in official meetings, to be fair</em>.


    Matt just hoped his bond forgot about the idea sooner, rather thanter.


    He pulled Liz down to sit next to him on thefortable bed and asked, How are you feeling?


    She leaned her head on his shoulder and returned the question. What about you? I know how much my parents can be. Are they too much for you? I can tell them to tune it down.


    Matt shook his head. No need. I find your parents adorably charming in their entricities. They''re fun, and everything I imagined. They arent pushing it too far at all.


    Liz sagged next to him and pulled him back onto the bed as she fell backwards. Oh, good. I was so worried. They can be too much for me, and I grew up with them. But you answered your question. I''m happy to be back. The small messages we sent back and forth weren''t enough. To be honest, I did miss them.


    The three of them were chatting when a burning smell came into the room.


    Matt followed his nose to find Mara and Leon snacking on what looked to be overcooked chicken wings.


    He didnt miss that to cook them, Mara just blew a stream of fire at the bowl, and they grabbed a few of them out. They didnt care at all about how over or undercooked each piece was.


    Unable to take the affront to cooking, Matt asked, Do you mind if I cook something if youre hungry? That doesn''t look very good.


    Leon nodded like a chicken. That would be great! These are awful.


    Mara nodded right along, which forced Matt to ask, Then why are you eating them?


    Leon gave a heartyugh and honestly answered, This is about the only thing we <em>can</em> cook.


    Sensing they were joking with him, Matt deadpanned. That''s not cooking.


    Mara shrugged. It was the best we could do when we were delving. We never really got better.


    Matt could just imagine the two of them as a young bonded pair, with the me sparrow Mara roasting whatever they had to eat with no control. It was a memory that he could understand, but he knew that the two of them could cook. Liz had mentioned them making various dishes for her growing up.


    If you wanted me to cook, you didnt have to butcher the meal. I would have done it anyway.


    Leon popped up and struck a triumphant pose. Yes! Our n worked!


    Mara pped for him. Good job, dear. It was brilliant!


    Matt rolled his eyes, but repressed a smirk as he asked, This is how you get Aunt Helen to cook for you, isn''t it?


    Two nodding heads met his gaze with not an ounce of remorse.


    Mattughed as he made his way into the kitchen and inspected what they had for him to use. To his surprise, he found all the cabs were spatially expanded, which was a fantastic idea that he noted down to replicate when he got his own house, and started cooking.


    Now, he just needed to impress the inws.


    How hard could that be?


    He poked his head out of the kitchen to spy Leon taking a pointed bite of nearly-raw chicken wing as he smirked.


    Not hard, apparently, but Matt would still try his best anyway.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131


    Matt''s next few days were abination of hectic work and leisure time.


    The morning after their arrival, the first thing they did was register for their slots in the tournament with their real identities.


    It was an easy process that consisted of a simple examination and demonstration of their skills. At least, the ones they were willing to show.


    An hourter, they were finished and able to return to their room, only for Mara and Leon to teleport them to one of the nines that were linked to East Flower. From there, they would then hop on a quick teleport back using their false identities.


    With their firstyer of masks on, they were able to change into their false personas. But with the second, they could create true anonymity.


    Matts mask was a pitch-ck, hard shell covering that seemed to absorb all the light that hit it. All except for a silver, stylized feather pen giving form to his persona''s name of Quill. The feather took up the entire left side of his face in a mostly vertical curve that somewhat traced the shape of his face.


    Liz had a pale mask that was always flickering with a me where her hair would have been, giving her a radiant back glow which cast her face in shadows. It gave her an intimidating appearance that she could thankfully turn off if she needed to. Having a glowing light on your head made for an impressive sight, but also told every enemy where to aim.


    He quite liked it for its aesthetic purpose, but its secondary function was far more useful. When Luna had delivered the mask, she had exined that it had a false center of power that would let their newly advanced Tier 10 cultivation seem as if it was at the peak of said Tier.


    It wouldn''t pass a close inspection by anyone over Tier 25, but that was why she would be personally keeping her spiritual sense concentrated on them when they were wearing their masks.


    Someone would have to be vastly stronger than her to pass bothyers of protection and see their real cultivation. Although she wouldn''t tell them the exact number, her cultivation was somewhere around Tier 45. It wasnt likely that a spy would be able to see through their identities.


    Matt had been surprised that she expected spies watching the tournament. Not that he didnt expect there to be any at all. He was surprised that they would be willing to show themselves somewhere that the highest echelons of the Empire were residing. That seemed incredibly risky, and for little gain.


    His manager had exined that the ce would be crawling with every spy the other Great Powers could get in. When she added that some of the lower ranks of the nobility had been known to ept bribes for information, he was d for the multyered defense.


    Unlike their first time registering for the tournament, their cover identities were put under far more scrutiny.


    With the masks on, they weren''t asked or able to provide an easy information packet of their abilities, which meant they needed a far more intensive screening.


    They were quickly brought into a private meeting room, where an unassuming man sat them down and told them that someone would be there to interview them shortly.


    Matt had to resist smirking under his mask as Mara and Leon invisibly mimed ying with the mans suit.


    The duo had such a crazy control of their powers that they were perfectly visible to Matt and Liz, but seemingly intangible to everyone else around them as they tagged along.


    It only took half an hour before a woman in a smart suit came in and set a pad down in front of each of them.


    Please fill out as much information as you feelfortable doing so. Her statement was met with raspberries from the invisible Mara and Leon.


    The forms were easy enough to fill out, and less than five minutester, Matt was done. As he waited for the woman to finish whatever she was doing, he perused the first events that would be hosted during the Tier 10 tournament.


    While the solo fights and team fights would only start at the beginning of the third month, the first three werent empty by any metric. Everything from speed-delving specific rifts, to finding andpleting trap and puzzle rifts was avable, but Matt was more interested in the other challenges.


    There purportedly was a rift containing three hidden bosses that were hard to find and harder to kill. Rewards were given based on how fast the delving team coulde back with the respective remains, and how many of the bosses they had killed. The point structure made it a bncing act, where teams needed to manage their time spent finding and killing said monsters. It could pay off to simply kill one quickly and leave, rather than flounder through the rift and waste time.


    The next entry that piqued his interest was the endless rifts. They were a subset of wave rifts that had no limit on the number ofbat waves. They were incredibly rare, but they gave no essence during the fights, which prevented skills like [Lesser Sacrifice] from helping delvers endure countless waves. The essence given was limited to the same amount as a standard rifts delve, which made the rifts unpopr for the general public.


    It wasnt just his interest as an aperologist that made him want to look at the rift. The rewards were doled out each month, and increased as the tournament went on. While the rewards during the first few months were decent, by the end of the tournament, they were beneficial to the extreme.


    There was everything from special weapons and armors created by Tier 35s, to greater rewards like true, low Tier spatial rings for the top five finishers. He even saw a portable house listed for first ce after the first six months.


    Matt wanted that house.


    He was tired of mooching off of others when they stopped somewhere, or having to rent a new apartment. If they had their own ce, they could have home wherever they went. Including when they delved rifts.


    Before he was able to see the rest of the challenges and rewards, they were escorted to a training room with two instructors waiting for them.


    The still unnamed woman gestured and said, These are two Tier 25 testers we have. We need to ensure that you have a minimum level of ability in your chosen skills.


    She looked at the pad that Matt had filled out and said, Quill, you indicated that you are a talisman user. We will need you to create a series of talismans in front of us, so we can ensure that youre making your own consumables. Same with you and your potions Torch.


    Matt nodded as one of the men separated and asked, Who''s the mage?


    Matt looked at Liz, and she offered, Quill is a pure mage, and I''m a heavy melee hybrid, but I still sling fire skills around.


    That same man gestured to Matt and said, I''ll start with you then.


    As they moved to the second half of the room, a barrier of light separated the room into halves, and the man said, Ok, please attack me as you would in a duel. Feel free to go as hard as you wish. I will be reactive for the second half. I will warn you before I start my offensive. We need to see where you will be ced for the seeded slots in the solo duels. If you want a good seed, show more of your skills. If you want to hide some of them, feel free; Ill let you know if you don''t hit the minimum threshold forpeting here.


    Withdrawing his staff from a second copy of his weapon storing spatial ring, Matt pointed his staff at the man and cast [Ice Spear].


    The staff was one of his creations, and it took full advantage of his massive regeneration with a series of inscribed spells to add to his skill set. There were even a few tricks that he had added with Erwin''s expertise, but he had no intention to show those skills off here.


    This was just to test theirpetency; showing off trump cards would be stupid.


    The tester smacked away the shard of ice, but Matt had already moved to the left and cast a second [Ice Spear], and followed it up with a [Fireball].


    As the pair of projectiles raced out, Matt used the new spatial bracelet that Jamie had started selling in thest few years to remove a talisman. He had balked at buying a second set of the enchanted items, but had doled out the price to keep his cover identity a little more secure.


    The bracelets were produced by the hundreds, and were less conspicuous than the vests they had ordered, despite being much smaller.


    With a tiny amount of mana, he activated the talisman and felt a rush of energy course into his limbs. He raced forward, covering the twenty feet to his opponent in an instant.


    The effect faded, and Matt drew a second talisman that created a massive burst of mana that shoved the Tier 25 back.


    He knew the man had allowed that spell to push him back, but he was happy to see the effect was working as intended.


    With two more sheets of parchment pulled from his spatial bracelet, Matt increased his speed and raced away as the second parchment startedunching a stream of [Fireball]s.


    Taking the time that bought him, Matt pulled out another paper and held it as he waited for the end of the [Fireball]s. When he counted thest projectile, Matt sent a bit of mana into the paper, and a giant bolt of lightningshed out.


    The spell was just a massively overcharged [Jolt], but with Tier 11 materials, he was able to shove thousands of mana into the single spell, to devastating effect.


    As befits his Tier 25 status, the tester wasn''t even phased, but he nodded in approval as he said, I''m going to start attacking now.


    To Matt''s relief, he was only moving at a physical fighter''s Tier 10 speed, which meant he didnt have to use any more of his speed talismans. It put an incredible toll on his body to increase his speed for even the short two seconds, and his joints were alreadyining.


    Retreating as much as the room allowed, Matt cast a few spells through his staff while taking out a defensive talisman.


    As the man rushed forward and threw a punch at Matt, he activated the talisman, and a barrier of blue mana crystallized around him. It shattered under the higher Tiers power, but he didnt press the attack.


    Matt used the time to retreat back into the center of the room, andunched another series of attacks while being forced to dodge and avoid the testers relentless approach.


    When Matt had spent half of his mana usage allotment, the man waved him off and said, I''ve seen enough. You hit hard. I have to ask, though. How much harder can you hit? Some of those attacks border on lethal for even Tier 11s. If you can get a lot stronger, Well want to prepare special defenses for any time you''re fighting other people.


    Matt hesitated before admitting, If I have a few seconds, I can hit three or four times that hard.


    That earned him a raised eyebrow and a headshake, but the man just tapped at the air before gesturing them to a secondary room.


    Here, we need you to prove that you can create talismans. Feel free to use the provided materials. We need to see you make a version of each type of talisman you intend to use in the tournament.


    Matt thanked the man and got to work.


    He would need to create an offensive talisman, a defensive one, a support talisman, and finally, an array talisman to meet those requirements.


    The first three were standard enough talismans that anyone could buy or make with the proper tools, but the final one was more specialized, and a much more difficult application of the craft.


    At the cost of time and an absurd spike in difficulty, it was possible to link talismans and let their power funnel into a single attack. It wasn''t as simple as creating onerge talisman, but instead involved mathematically linking a series of smaller talismans to create an array that was able to express more power than the sum of its parts.


    The problem was, creating a talisman array was a thousand times harder than a single talisman, and there was no room for error over the seven talismans. Prime numbers being the most stable talisman array formations, Matt usually went with seven or eleven, depending on exactly how much power he needed.


    Talisman arrays also had a much longer cast time, as he needed to link the parchment together before casting. So, therger the array, the longer it took to set up, but there was little that could survive that level of attack.


    Using the provided mana from the city, Matt quickly created the first three types of talismans. He went with his easiest skills, a [Fireball], one of his speed talismans, and his [Mana Barrier].


    It took him only an hour toplete the three, but close to eight hours to properly n and create the talisman array. Each imperfection on the parchment needed to be taken into ount before he could even start drawing out the lines and engraving the spell lines into the spirit of the material.


    Still, hepleted the process without an issue, and was even able to keep the talismans he created, to his surprise.


    He hadnt expected that, with them providing the materials and mana.


    Liz had long finished her own testing and had proven her alchemy skills, so they were let go after being given a teleportation token.


    The man who gave it to them exined, This will teleport you to a personal room, created for your privacy, from any of the teleportation pads throughout the city. No one will be able to track your movements, and the rooms are perfectly private. When the tournament starts, you''ll be issued another set of keys. Even though these are linked to you two directly, I wouldn''t suggest losing these. Recing them isn''t cheap.


    They quickly used the keys and found themselves back in their own room at Mara and Leons ce.


    Liz pulled off both of her masks and asked, What did you do, mom?


    Mara opened the door and innocently said, Nothing much. We just had the teleportation array link you here.


    Matt didnt mind that fact, and tuned out Liz bickering with her mother. He had spent quite a few talismans that he would need to recreate before he fought again. He had expected that, and stockpiled a truly massive amount of processed parchment and enchanting liquid, but he wanted to keep his reserves topped off as much as possible.


    He only stopped his nning to give Aster a pet as she joined him, sitting on the bed.


    Leon reappeared at some point and joined in teasing Mara, but as Matt was nning out his next few days, the absent Luna appeared with a small cough.


    Mara and Leon each let out a small scream and vanished, only leaving behind outlines of themselves.


    Luna just rolled her eyes, but focused on Matt and Liz. You two did well in hiding your abilities. Now that you''re Tier 10, I have a new training method for you, though.


    She looked to the two still fading outlines and reached through them, pulling back a pouting Mara and Leon.


    Luna didnt give them even a moment to speak. Show them mana patty.


    Mara turned and looked shocked to see the shorter woman. Oh, Luna, how nice to see you. It''s been too short.


    Leon kept up his pouting, and crossed his arms and legs while being held by the cor, keeping his eyes closed.


    Luna shook him and asked, Aren''t you going to say hi as well, Leon?


    The Tier 48 shook his head and murmured, If I see no evil, there is no evil.


    Luna just threw the man into the far wall and scoffed. I have no interest in teaching you two idiots. I have new proteges, who aren''t giant ckers. Now, stop fooling around and show them mana patty, before I draw up some lessons for you two.


    Seeing their lifeline, Mara and Leon quickly sat in front of each other with only a few feet between them.


    Mara was the first to speak. Mana patty is just like normal patty cake. You create a ball of mana As she said that, a small orb of liquid me appeared in her hands and hovered there.


    She then bounced it between her hands as she said, then you work on bouncing it around while keeping it in a ball.


    The phoenix repeated that action for a few times before she said, After you can do that, you start to y patty cake.


    Mara then bounced the ball of mana to Leon, who tapped it back, then created his own ball of mana that looked like a sphere of thunder clouds.


    Back and forth, they knocked the balls to each other until they doubled the number. Before long, they had increased the mana balls to two dozen, and their hands blurred to knock each back in time.


    Luna nodded along, This is an advanced application of mana that I was waiting for Matt to have enough mana to actually do. This will help you three learn how to now interrupt each other''s spells inbat. It also is a fantastic way to gain a modicum of mana control.


    Seeing his manager look at him, he knew thatst bit was meant for him, and nodded back to show he understood.


    Kurt appeared and waved, but was interrupted from writing by Leon appearing next to him.


    Ohh Kurt, it''s so good to see you. You should serenade me!


    Mara was only a split second behind him, and shoved her husband out of the way to sp her hands and blink coquettishly at the mute man.


    No, serenade me! <em>Hes</em> just a dumb brute who casts spells.


    Leon jumped back to his feet and shoved his wife down before saying, That''s riching from a mage!


    Matt watched the bickering duo while trying not tough. They were both mages, and were unable to be serious for more than a minute, it seemed.


    Luna waved her hands, and the four of them were suddenly in the training room, where she started to instruct them on how to condense their mana into more permanent forms.


    It''s about quantity and control. Throw at least a thousand mana into each ball and see what you can do. If you feel it start to disperse, try to recondense it, or draw the mana back into your core.


    Matt took out a series of mana stones and filled them, before pulling all the mana back into his core.


    Taking control of his full mana pool, he sent 1000 mana out of his hand and visually tried to create a ball of mana. His light blue mana condensed for a second before starting to bleed off like water vapor in the desert.


    Cursing, Matt tried to pull his mana back under his control, but struggled. When he finallypleted the task, his ball was little more than a dot.


    Looking up, he found Liz and Aster had bothpleted their own balls, and while they had had some mana loss before condensing the balls, they hadnt lost even half of their mana.


    Luna didnt seem bothered and just nodded. Now try to move the mana ball to the other hand.


    Matt tried to bounce the ball, but it kept its position rtive to his hand. He paused and reviewed what Mara and Leon had done.


    They had treated the balls of mana as if they were separate entities, independent of their bodies, but he knew that wasn''t true. It was still his mana, and he realized that they already had manipted their mana dozens of feet away from their bodies in countless instances. But now they needed to do it while also controlling their partner''s mana, without losing control and letting the mana dissipate.


    Concentrating, Matt was able to send his mana towards his other hand, but it dissipated before it moved more than an inch.


    Looking up, he saw that both of his teammates had experienced the same thing, and he activated his Concept to refill their mana before trying again.


    Matt, you arent holding the mana firm enough.


    Aster, you arent moving the mana so much as transferring where you''re projecting the mana ball. You want to move it as if it were a real ball with weight.


    Liz, good job. You''re doing well. Reinforce what you''re doing.


    As they practiced, they all made progress, but even as they ended their two-hour training session, none of them were able to transfer the ball in a realistic way. Though, Liz was the closest.


    Aster had the best control of her mana ball''s physical shape, but her ability to move it was abysmal.


    Matt just struggled with everything, showing just how far his mana control had fallen when he doubled his mana capacity.


    Mara and Leon finally came in to spectate, and he asked them how much mana they were using to create their mana balls.


    Mara shrugged. Only half a dozen mana or so.


    Thinking it might be easier to control if there was less mana, Matt tried to create a mana ball, but he found that his mana just blew away before he could even begin to control it. He then tried to take advantage of his mana regeneration rate to fill the mana ball, but found that the ball didnt ept any more mana once formed and outside of his core.


    Leon grinned evilly. Getting the skill needed to create the ball with less mana is a massive pain in the ass, but its good practice. Once you get below a hundred mana, you''ll be better than ny-nine percent of mages, even in the higher Tiers. It''s really hard.


    Mara sat next to him and positively preened at the implication. Her hair feathers even stuck out and quivered a little, waiting for Matt to realize what that meant.


    That feat was impressive enough that Matt had no problem feeding their egos. Then getting to six mana must be an incredible feat.


    Mara started to wiggle. Leon tried to y it cooler, but Matt didnt miss the lightning bolts jumping from his eyes as he smiled. Yes, quite difficult. Practically unheard of, as it were.


    With that inspiration, Matt refocused on his training, and worked to get his mana to condense as Luna instructed them.


    Eventually, they ended the training session, and Matt cooked a feast to wind down.


    As they finished up, he moved to the library and started perusing the books. The room was deceptivelyrge, more so than some training halls he had been in, but it was still cozy.


    Eventually, he wandered into the depths toe back with a fantastic retelling of a Tier 45s delves.


    He was ncing through it to see if he could learn anything interesting about the higher Tiers when Leon came in and sat down next to him.


    Ah, that one''s a fun one. Sadly, the veracity of Gilbert''s stories are heavily suspect. Still, he''s a good storyteller. The older man sounded wistful.


    Matt asked, What about it is wrong?


    Leon snorted and said, First and foremost, he has the size of the rifts <em>way</em> off. Ultra and Adam are in a Tier 45 rift, but they fully clear it in just a few decades. That''s impossible.


    Matt flipped back a few pages and pointed out, But they''re Tier 46. Seems fairly reasonable toplete it with that power difference.


    Leon nodded at that. Sure, and I get what you''re saying, but it''s still impossible. Yes, the hierarchy of Tiers bes massive where even being in the middle vs. high levels of the same Tier can be an unbeatable difference, but rifts are <em>massive</em> at those Tiers.


    He looked around for a minute before giving up and waving his hand.


    On the table, a of mana appeared and rotated. Call this a standard with standard gravity. They''re generally within a few percentage points of each other in size. Rifts will reach this size at Tier 20. By Tier 25, rifts will be gas giantrge, which means at least a thousand timesrger in volume. By Tier 30, rifts will be asrge as most suns.


    Leon paused to let that sink in, and Matt struggled to wrap his head around the sizes that implied.


    Lizs father eventually continued, By Tier 35, rifts are around the size of a sr system. By Tier 40, they''re a few dozen times that size. By Tier 45, they are asrge as a standard gxy. Rifts be <em>massive</em>, Matt. Mara and I are Tier 48, and with a full Tier over the highest Tier rifts in the Empire, it takes us a little over a year of flying to <em>just</em> reach the final bosses of a Tier 47 rift. We can fly really fast, Matt, but they''re just thatrge. And the gap between a Tier 48 and Tier 47 is massivelyrger than a Tier 46 and Tier 45. Theres no way Ultra and Adam fully cleared the rift that quickly.


    That seemed unrealistic, but he knew better than to doubt the man. How do you get anything done then? It seems like you would go into a rift and take forever to advance. And how many rifts do you even need to clear at that point?


    Leon grinned, and Matt realized that this was the most serious he had seen the man.


    At Tier 47, it took us close to nine thousand rifts, with just me and Mara, to reach Tier 48. And that was with us fully clearing out each rift personally, killing literally every single thing inside them. Most higher Tier rifts work in two ways. Single team delves, and mass delves.


    He waved at his chest. Mara and I are Tier 48, and not looking to advance with lesser essence, so we don''t take any of the essence from our kills. But we also don''t run a lot of rifts anymore, and donate our rewards, which is the only reason we even delve them at all. That means we enter a rift with a few dozen Tier 47s who are looking to advance, and let them have free reign as we go and kill the boss. The others pay for a slot in the rift, and help the rifts handle more rapid delving. On the capital, it takes about two decades for a rift slot to be cycled because of how much mana they need to run, and how long it takes to recharge naturally. The cycle time for an instance is still ten minutes, but the rifts need far more mana to run. Selling a ton of slots lets the Empire farm more rift rewards, but that isn''t the only way it works. You can also fully fund the rift yourself, and earn the right to fully clear it yourself. We did that to advance. After learning how the rift works, you can get quick at clearing them, but it still takes centuries.


    Matt paused and did some math. Mara and Leon werent nearly old enough to have spent centuries in rifts.


    But you guys aren''t that old.


    Leon winked at Matt. Good catch. After Tier 25, rifts start to have a slight time dtion that grows with their Tier. We''re a lot older than we seem. You can expect a higher Tier rift to take a few centuries to clear out, but you''ll only take a few decades of real-time. Otherwise, no one would even see the higher Tiers. When I said it takes us about a year to fly to the rift boss, I meant in real time. In subjective time, that''s closer to a hundred years. He paused, "And while there are ways to speed that up they are expensive and not worth it unless you are trying to advance quickly like when a new Emperor is raised up. Then you can get to and kill the boss, while clearing a decent portion of the rift in less than two weeks real time being at Tier 47. If you are Tier 49 you can cut that down to days."


    Matt digested that, and it brought up one of his problems with the Empire in general. Why isnt that public knowledge? This feels like important information.


    Leon sighed but answered, In subjective time, Im well over a hundred thousand years old, Matt. It''s not easy to remain connected to humanity after so long. Mara and I goof around because it keeps us centered. We go out on dates and enjoy time spent with normal mortals because that''s how we keep our humanity. More than one old bastard has turned into little more than an AI piloting a meat suit. They be so distant from what it means to be human that the general poption has incredibly adverse reactions to learning about it. It''s been tried and seen. The mortals are better served to have limited information until they reach Tier 15, and they earn their own immortality. Even then, from Tier 15 to Tier 35, youre treated as a second ss of citizen. The only truly important people are those who have passed the barrier, and are past the mundane wars, stepping upon the final stage of this realm.


    Leon looked off into the distance, and for the first time, Matt imagined what it would be like to live for millions of years. He wasn''t sure that he even had a frame of reference to begin to understand the man''s experiences.


    I know it''s frustrating. I felt the same way, but with age and experience, I can honestly say that a lot of information is restricted because it''s good for normal people to only learn it when it truly affects them.


    Matt looked at Leon and asked, So the goofball personality is just how you deal with being super old?


    Leon grinned. It''s also fun, but as you spend time with immortals, you will learn that we all have our quirks. Do you know the number of people to make it to just Tier 15?


    Matt didnt, and shook his head in the negative.


    It''s something like six percent of the poption thats expected to reach immortality.


    Leons statement shocked Matt. He had expected it to be farrger.


    Seeing his skepticism, Leon continued. Really. Arge portion of the poption don''t want to advance Matt. They don''t have the drive or the mindset. They want to live their lives, and that''s it. Immorality is one massive draw that makes quite a few people push until Tier 15. But even to do that, you need the ability to fight and kill monsters. Thats a full-timemitment. Not a lot of people can do it. Now, what portion of those that reach Tier 15 do you think hit even just Tier 20?


    Matt tried to analyze what Leon had told him, and finally guessed, Half?


    Leon smiled as he pped. Close!. It''s around forty percent. Now, of that forty percent, do you know how many hit Tier 45?


    That was beyond Matt, and he just shrugged.


    Leon didn''t make him wait, and filled him in. It''s close to eighty-five percent, when you ignore the people who die along the way.


    Why therge difference? As Matt asked the question, he realized the answer and hurriedly added, Because those that reach that far have the drive. Right? They''ve already stood out from the general poption, and those people have something pushing them forward to delve day after day for thousands of years.


    Leon looked absolutely proud of Matt as he said, Exactly right. And most of us have oddities that put a red hot poker under our butts, forcing us forward. That usually means we have odd personalities. As you grow old, Matt, you''ll be more of yourself. You should do things that will help you be what you believe you want to be. Mara and I want to be easy-going and casual. We enjoy ying around and goofing off. We''re the type to work for days to avoid half an hour of work. As we get stronger and our abilities grow, we''ve embraced our unique individuality. Everyone else might be different, but it''s a trend you''ll notice more and more as you advance. People get a little weird if they have what it takes to reach our level. It''s inevitable, and more a question of finding <em>how</em> it manifests than <em>if</em> it manifests.


    Mara came in with a te of steaming cookies and tworge sses of milk. Using the opportunity to lighten the mood, Matt asked, Is that why you stole the that Liz and I had sex on?


    Leon and Mara both had exaggerated looks of shock on their faces, and the phoenix put her hand to her throat as she said, Oh no! Not at all!


    Leon shook his head as his wife added, We didnt steal the because you guys had sex. No, no, no, not at all


    She pped Leon''s hand that had, at some point, stuffed his face full of cookies until he looked like a chipmunk.


    We took the because you twomitted yourselves to each other. Sex is just sex. Who cares about that. No, we wanted to make a shrine because of your <emmitment</em>. That''s beautiful, and something to be preserved.


    Matt had no idea how to respond to that, so he just took a page out of Leon''s book and shoved an entire cookie into his mouth, smiling around his bulging cheeks.


    It was almost worse to have such a sentimental reason to have taken the, but he didnt feelfortable telling them off like Liz would have.


    Aster followed her nose into the library and hopped up into hisp, saving him from having to answer. When he could speak, he moved the topic back to safer waters, and asked Leon about what his favorite book in the library was.


    He had had enough of heavy conversations for one day.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132


    After a few days of downtime with her parents, Liz was itching to get out of the house. While Matt wasn''t nearly as bothered by the duo''s antics as Liz, he was still happy to look around the area and mingle.


    The Tier 10 tournament was an Empire-wide affair, and even with months left before the official start, people were swarming to the capital in droves.


    In the region set aside for the Pathers (a few massively spatially expanded blocks in the city), a number of facilities had been set up beforehand, catering to the needs of the contestants.


    Both thebat Pathers and their crafter counterparts were present, and both plied their wares in the open market. At a quick nce, it was easy to tell which group was which just from the goods they were selling.


    Combat Pathers were mostly peddling raw materials, be they animal parts or pure metals pulled from the rifts'' grounds. Meanwhile, the crafting Patherss stalls were packed with finished products.


    Prices were ridiculously high, and Matt expected them to only get higher until the final months of the tournament, when only the big three events were still active.


    The big three had strict rules concerning what could and could not be used during the trials, especially when it came to consumable items that werent self made. However, the various otherpetitions had far looser restrictions on single use items.


    With such amazing prizes at stake, manypetitors would eagerly shell out money for any edge they could get. If a powerful consumable could push you forward even a single extra round, then it more than paid for itself. That resulted in an inted market for products like talismans and potions. It was something that both Quill and Torch intended to exploit by hawking some of their wares to rake in some extra money. After all, their poor alter egos didnt enjoy the same excess of funds that Matt and Liz did.


    As the three of them meandered through the stalls, Matt took note of the few enchanters booths. While they typically focused on enchantingpleted weapons and armor, each one also advertised a small selection of talismans.


    Most were standard shielding talismans, though the exact means used to achieve the effect varied slightly. Among them, the mostmon was the standard, neutral mana barrier. It was a good, versatile defense, but even that had its own weaknesses, as Matt well knew. None of them seemed particrly impressive, until he came upon yet another stall with the same, standard talisman. Only this one was somehow recreated with all the major elements, instead of just neutral mana. Matt immediately stopped and started leafing through the papers.


    A more thorough inspection revealed that the enchanter had used the same base enchantment that he used for the standard mana shield. But this time, he managed to incorporate the basic elements into the effect without changing the base enchantment. Matt hadnt even known that was possible.


    The stall''s owner picked up on his interest and walked over. Howdy there. You looking for a defensive talisman?


    Matt nodded back. Yeah. Ive used talismans once or twice before, but these seem different from the patterns Im familiar with. He stuck out his hand, Im Matt, by the way.


    The woman smirked in a way that only someone who had done something unique could manage, and took his hand. Im Sally. And yes, those are my special little side products. Good eye, by the way. I used the standard mana shield as the base runes to create those talismans, and wove in the elemental effects.


    She reached over and pulled out a box from a few spots down and tossed him one. These are the standard versions of those talismans. Built from the ground up as shields of their respective elements.


    Matt, ying the normal delver, shrugged. What''s the difference then?


    He had an idea of where she was going with herments, but he wanted to y his part properly.


    Sally tapped the pricesbeled on each box. If you don''t make enchantments, it''s not a surprise that you don''t know. The big difference is in the price. The basic mana shield is far, far cheaper than the specialized elemental shields to create, even with the elemetal additions Ive added. That''s just in mana cost, then you have to consider the difficulty of the runes needed for the other shields, assuming you even know them all. This isn''t a new idea or anything, but I figured out a way to make simr elemental talismans far cheaper, just by enhancing the basic mana shield. The results arent as strong as the real thing, but they still offer the same elemental synergies and counters at a fraction of the cost.


    Matt carefully kept his face nk, but already intended toe back as Quill, and have a much more in-depth conversation with this enchanter.


    Sally saw the look on his face and wrapped up the topic. Basically, I only rmend these to people who specialize in the element. They can use their own skills and Concept to boost the power of the shield massively, or use the shield to introduce some of their element into the environment for no mana cost. The starting strength of the shield matters far less in those cases.


    Matt nodded, but put the cheaper version back and bought two of the standard mana shields.


    He was pretty sure that his own shields were better, by virtue of his endless mana type and mixing of other sub-aspects, but he wanted to see what the woman had to offer. If nothing else, it would let him gauge the capabilities of other talismans that people might be using.


    The only other talismans of note were incredibly cheap weather control talismans. That was an interesting use of the disposable spells. He had never considered it before, and intended to replicate some himself.


    Eventually, he met up with Aster, who was mingling in a private lounge for Pathers bonds. He didnt miss the engraved red feather that hung over the door, nor the chaperon quietly sitting in the corner and tapping at a pad with a smattering of scales around his eyes..


    Waves of power radiated off the man. Matt harbored no doubts he was plenty strong enough to ensure that none of the bonds identally hurt each other. So after spotting Aster happily romping around with a number of other bonds, Matt wandered back into the crowded market once again.


    He stilled for a heartbeat when Quill and Torch came into view, walking around the market, before realizing that Kurt or Luna were ensuring that both sets of personas were seen together. Even if not interacting with each other.


    They had warned him of their n, but seeing his own alter ego sauntering about was disconcerting.


    A Pather next to himughed. First time seeing the masks in person?


    Matt took the excuse and shot the man a grin. That obvious? The movies never make them look so real.


    The man was shorter than Matt and whipcord thin, and he continued chuckling while reaching out for a handshake. Felix. And I recognize the look. I had the same bbergasted face when I first saw one in public. The question is, are these <em>majestic masked men of mystery</em> hiding their identities because theyre really strong, or because theyre really weak?


    Matt grinned back and introduced himself. Pleasure to meet you, Felix. Im Matt. And I heard the same thing, but it seems silly. Even the worstpetitor here is stronger than the average delver. Just qualifying is an aplishment. Evenst ce is nothing to be ashamed about around here.


    Felix shrugged dramatically. No argument here, but then again, Ive never been one for pride, so what do I know?


    In a moment of unspoken agreement, they started off, walking through the stalls together while chatting about the items on disy.


    They were jointly musing over a pair of Tier 11 vambraces with a repulsive effect, when Felix was violently shoved from behind. He was forced to tuck and roll under the table in front of him to avoid colliding with the crafters disy.


    Matt withdrew his longsword from his spatial ring and performed a whirling sidestep to ce the des tip against the shover''s chest.


    Four people stood in a semi-circle surrounding the shop. Two shifted towards Matt, but he flexed his arm slightly, showing how precarious their friends life was, which kept them back. Looking between them, Matt quickly picked up on the bodynguage cues and intuited the groups dynamic. The attacker was definitely the leader of this little band of belligerents.


    The leader, for all his anger, didn''t seem bothered by the de pushing into his chest. Dont know who you are, but you aren''t involved, so keep the fuck out of it. I have a pressing debt to settle with this asshole.


    He pointed to Felix, who had just jumped back over the stall. It''s okay, Matt. I kinda deserved that one, I suppose.


    Understanding that there was more going on than he knew, Matt slid back and stowed his sword back into his ring.


    Unwilling to be waved off without a word, he addressed the leader. Attacking someone in the market is a pretty fucking stupid idea. Take it to the arenas.


    The leader only took his eyes off of Felix long enough to nod slightly at Matt in acknowledgment.


    Turning back at Felix, the man spat at his feet, You two-timing fuck! Are you not in the least bit guilty over what you did?!


    Felix sagged, just looking tired. I had no idea she was your girl, Grady. Honest. She came onto me at a bar, and I went with the flow. While I couldnt have known better though, Deb definitely did. me her for starting trouble, not me.


    Realizing what was going on, Matt sighed and stepped back, letting the drama y out.


    Apparently, Felix had met up with the other team as they traveled into the city, and they had be decently friendly. Last night, they had split off, and Grady''s long-term girlfriend had arrived at the city with her own team.


    That night, the pair had supposedly gotten separated. Deb ended up meeting Felix at a pub while wandering around on her own. One thing led to another, and theyd found their way back to Felixs apartment for some fun.


    Based on how the event was described, she hadnt been ck-out drunk. In all likelihood, she had deliberately chosen Felix to try and start a fight.


    Said woman arrived upon the scene, and his hunch was only confirmed when she immediately sidled up against Felix and tried to hang off him, despite his repeated attempts to shrug her off. All the while, she side-eyed Grady. Matt could admit that Deb was attractive enough, but her attitude was extremely off-putting.


    At times like this, he was overjoyed to be happily taken by Liz.


    Being in amitted rtionship let him avoid all of this drama.


    Digging through his spatial backpack, he extracted a foldable chair and a beer, and sat back to watch as the juicy drama unfolded.


    The city guards arrived not long after, while Grady was still screaming at Felix. Their response wasnt what Matt expected.


    Alrightds. Youve made enough of a racket for one day. Are you going to break it up, or do you need to settle this ugliness with a fight?


    Felix looked resigned to the oue as Grady eagerly epted the guard''s offer and roared, Felix, you rotten shit! Meet me in the ring so I can beat your ass properly.


    Felix just let out a long breath. I think youre a good dude, Grady, but youre getting yed by your girl. I''m not going to stand there and let you pummel me. But fine, Ill humor you I suppose.


    Seeing a consensus between the two parties, one of the guards withdrew a small ss orb and tossed it between the two of them.


    The instant the orb hit the ground, the two of them were sucked inside. After the orb settled down, it rocketed into the sky and started growing rapidly.


    With its expansion, a massive projection of their fight took over the sky between the skyscrapers.


    Matt leaned back in his chair to watch the duel.


    Felix and Grady appeared in a seemingly perfect replica of the market, just without the crowds of people, and quickly charged at each other.


    The fight wasn''t nearly as entertaining as Matt had hoped.


    While Grady summoned a sword and shield from a storage device, Felix simply flicked a dagger that shot forward copies of itself in an undting, wave-like pattern. One of the des slipped under Grady''s shield and sunk deep into his chest, before flickering out of existence and leaving a gaping wound behind.


    In just seconds, the fight finished. The aggressory on the ground bleeding out.


    As Grady failed to rise after a ten count, the orb dropped, and both of the fighters plopped back in their original positions.


    Grady, in contrast to his dying figure, was perfectly fine, but rubbed his chest in shock.


    Deb tried to simper to Felix, but the shorter man just shouldered past her.


    Matt slung his chair back into his backpack and grumbled, You could have at least made the fight more interesting.


    Felix just smiled. I thought about it, but since I didnt have time to put money on the oue, I decided not to bother. If Im putting on a show, I want to be paid for my performance. Unlike that idiot. To think dick-for-brains over there actually started monologuing before the fight. A fight he started, no less. Who does that?


    Matt side-eyed Felix, who caught the look and questioned, What?


    Matt quirked an eyebrow. Thats not what we saw. At all.


    With a mental tug, he forwarded the man the AI recording of what the spectators witnessed.


    Felix snorted and reciprocated, sending his own view of the duel.


    The real fight proceeded differently than what they had seen.


    Where Matt had watched the both fighters immediately start and end the fight in near unison, Felix had to listen to Grady ramble as a countdown happened.


    As the number hit zero, he withdrew that same dagger in one hand, but in the other, hurled a throwing knife that split while it flew.


    Those knives all speared into Grady''s chest the instant before he was able to pull out his sword and shield.


    Huh. That was all Matt could say. Checking the local PatherNet for recent uploads, he found that everyone had seen a slight variation on the truth.


    Pondering what it could mean, he sent the links back to Felix. Apparently, everyone saw something different. Or at least, different regarding the details. The oue was always the same.


    Maybe they''re hiding our abilities before the start of the actual fights? Felix offered.


    Noting where he was going, Matt asked, You think the chick was trying to find out your abilities and skills?


    Slowly, Felix nodded. It would seem that way. I cant say it''s a bad idea. I know I already tried looking up some of the more impressive Pathers.


    Matt asked, Who''s your information broker? Im looking to get a copy of those records myself.


    Felix shrugged and sent him an information packet. I didnt get anything too fancy, but here''s what I bought. Call it a thanks for having my back when that dumbass shoved me.


    Matt skimmed the packet and agreed. It was a very general dossier about the highest-profile Pathers who were expected to participate in this year''s tournament.


    Matt found it amusing that Talous, the man who had instigated a fight during the vassal war, was considered notable enough to rate a mention. It wasn''t much, just a blurb about him having done quite well in the mundane de tournaments over thest decade.


    What was more interesting was seeing both Melindas team, and Conor, Annie, and Emily all getting their own posts. Melinda''s team, from solving some kind of problem in a newly settled world that suffered unexined monster attacks. Though, it didnt say what the actual issue was, just that the team had resolved it.


    Emily, Conor, and Annie had participated as a team in both Tier 8 and 9 open tournaments, making a name for their relentless assaults and massive damage capabilities.


    Suddenly remembering to check his messages, he saw that they said they were still a month out and grinned, happy for their sess after the vassal war as abined team.


    His own team was missing from those reports, which amused him all the more. When he looked his team up specifically, the reports stated they were expected to wait for the next tournament, where they could take advantage of a greater time at Tier 10.


    No one expected them to be here at their age.


    For any normal team, the smart y would be to wait and rue wealth, power, and any extra advantages they could before participating in the tourney, after all.


    Based on that, they would probably be rated quite low once their participation was noticed. Matt smiled at the thought. That fit perfectly with their n to publicly settle in the middle of the pack, and disappear into the anonymity of mediocrity.


    Eventually, he and Felix met up with Liz and a group she was chatting up.


    A pair of men stood to meet him first. Dark, metallic-looking skin contrasted sharply with silvery eyes, giving them each a distinctly unique look that Matt hadn''t seen before. Or, it would have been unique, were their two faces not identical.


    I''m Johnson. The first twin stuck out his hand to shake.


    The second twin proffered his hand right after. Im Johnson as well.


    That brought Matt up short. Really?


    The first twin burst outughing. No! Not at all. Im Harvie, and that''s Adam.


    Adam smirked. Sorry, we just can''t resist. It''s a funny story. Our parents joked that we looked and acted so simr, they should have just named us both Johnson and been done with it. Now, we just fuck with people with the joke.


    Now aware of the joke, Matt grinned and was introduced to the rest of the team. A woman nearly his own size, J, and a smaller man who had a moving band of air swirling around his arm named Kevin. If his spiritual sense was to be believed, that little feat of magic was done with [Air Maniption], and was incredibly well controlled.


    After acquainting himself, Matt introduced Felix, whounched into a retelling of his own story as drinks were ordered for the two of them.


    Liz snuggled into his side. Did you have fun?


    Matt grinned right back. I did. What about you?


    She smiled. Oh yeah. Saw a few really nice items that I''ll probably go back for in the next few days, and started chatting with J when we were looking at a chest te. After that, we moved here towork. You wouldn''t believe what Ive learned so far.


    Interested, Matt asked, And what have you learned?


    Kevin must have heard that question, as he scooted over with J while the twins shamelessly flirted with Felix in their own little corner.


    We learned a lot about the uing challenges. Or, at least what was seenst time Tur''stal hosted the Tier 10 tournament, twenty-five years ago.


    Liz snuggled deeper into Matts shoulder while tracing distracting patterns into his chest as Kevin continued.


    The endless rift has thergest amount of information, as they don''t ever remake it. Too hard to. But the information is pretty helpful. The monsters are always random every round, so there isn''t much you can do to prepare, but we did learn a few good tidbits. The rift starts the monsters at Tier 10, and works its way up every ten rounds until hitting Tier 14 levels. At that point, it just repeats bigger and bigger waves of Tier 14 monsters forever, until you eventually get worn down. The broadcasts of those delves are always a hit, so the info was easy to find.


    That fell in line with what Matt had learned of the rift, so he asked, What else did you learn?


    J sipped at her beer before she added, That was just the easiest one, since we know it won''t change. Apparently, most of the otherpetition rifts are brand spankin new, so we can only specte based on what the other tournaments have had before. There are always the rift speed runs, but that''s all about finding a w, quirk, or vulnerability in the rift that you can exploit in some way.


    Matt nodded along, as he had done his own research on that event. Have the rules about sharing information been released yet? They always handle it differently, allowing some information leaks before the rift is closed, after all.


    Martial abilities werent the only things being put to the test here. The organizers always left avenues for participants to leverage their lessbat-oriented skills too, like information gathering and espionage. At least, that was what Luna said.


    The rules for the beginning challenges werex enough that a contestant could gather intelligence about the contest beforehand, as long as they were only using their own capabilities.


    The testing went far beyond the obvious firstyer ofbat strength that the general popce focused on.


    Kevin shrugged. Nothing yet, but we got a lead on a private viewing of the old tournament, cut down to only the highlights of what we can expect from the rifts here.


    J nodded to Liz, who finally sat up and joined them.


    Yup. I already agreed for us to go as well. It''s next week, and while we won''t learn much, it can''t hurt.


    Matt smiled down at Liz.


    They had spent years undercover and created their own understanding of subtle signs, and her drawing on his chest was one of them.


    She was indicating that the team was one they should get to know, as she expected them to do well enough in the tournament that they were worth bing acquainted with.


    The drunk act was exactly thatan excuse for her to get close without anyone questioning it.


    J leaned back as a waiter dropped off the drinks for him and Felix.


    Matt reached to take his drink, but Liz snagged the green liquid and coyly sipped at it before he could.


    Her yful demeanor shattered before the ss even left her lips.


    Gagging, she shoved her ill-gotten gains back into his hand. Harpy shit! How does something called an Apple Drop taste so foul? Ugh. That''s vile.


    Matt ventured his own sip and instantly concurred. The cocktail was somehow sickeningly sweet and oppressively bitter at the same time.


    The wretched vor was already massacring his taste buds anyway, so tilting his head back, Matt downed the rest of the drink and quickly ordered something called a Sunflowers Dew. It couldn''t be worse than hisst drink.


    J had been waiting for him to finish his drink and asked, So, I hear you''re quite the swordsman?


    Matt smiled back and, after checking he had room, withdrew his de from his spatial ring and handed it over to the woman.


    She whistled. I''m jealous. A growth item. I want to get a spatial ring, but I change weapons so often, it''s just not worth it yet.


    As she ran testing fingers over his de, inspecting the enchantments etched in the metal, he said, Yeah. Though, theres always the reward for some of the challenges that will get you a Tier 10 general spatial ring.


    Without looking up, she nodded. Sure, but that''s a littleter than Id prefer. I''m just waiting for the guy who sells the spatial bracelet-bag thingies.


    Matt wasnt surprised that Jamie''s product was well known. He had gone around the Empire selling his cloth bracelets in thest years. Luckily for his customers, Jamie had figured some way to lower the prices of his goods from a kings ransom, down to mere highway robbery.


    Trusting Lizs instincts, he offered, While I wouldn''t say we are friends with the guy, I do know him, and can probably get you a meeting with him. Should at least ensure you get one before he inevitably sells out.


    J smiled up at Matt. Thank you. I normally wouldn''t take that offer from a new friend, but I just can''t say no right now. Though, I do have to ask how you know him. Coughing slightly, she said, Sorry, feel free not to answer that.


    Matt waved off her faux pas. I was at Amelia Galleys big meeting a few years back, and won a cookingpetition that earned me some face time. I leveraged that to get Jamie a meeting with her. Nothing crazy.


    J turned her attention back to his de. Huh. It''s a fantastic de, but I can''t tell what it does. It feels almost empty?


    Matt chuckled, That''s because it currently is. This de is just the best I could get as a growth item. It weighs more than it should for its Tier, which is good for my physical strength, but its actual growth aspect is that it can clear itself of enchantments, and be re-enchanted at each Tier. The only downside is, I have to do the enchanting myself. I just Tiered the de up, so I havent gotten around to that yet.


    That was true enough, as Matt wanted to keep the de free from enchantments until he could consult a professional enchanter about the next design. While he was apetent enchanter, he was about to embark on an important challenge, and wanted to see if there were any Tier 11 enchantments outside his knowledge that would better match his melee identity.


    After giving back his weapon, J pulled out a greataxe that had two gleaming des.


    As she passed it over, he noted that the weapon, like his own, was far heavier than what most Tier 10 melee fighters could handle. That made him btedly realize that J had handled his Tier 12 de in the same way, showing her physical strength far surpassed the average for their Tier.


    This baby is my new weapon. Tier 11, and as heavy as I can reasonably handle.


    Matt traced the runes engraved on the side of the weapon and bobbed his head. I feel sharpness, durability, and repair runes, but there''s something else... Lightning maybe? Im not getting a good feel for it.


    J grinned and tapped the wooden handle. With a big ol axe, I get the ability to have a lot more wood than most, which lets me shove an extra enchantment or two into my weapons. I used this lightning-ironwood-tree-thing to add a bit of extra damage to armored foes.


    Matt nodded in appreciation. While a greataxe would fare better against an armored opponent than his longsword, it would still struggle against metal monsters or heavy te armor. The lighting damage would bypass most standard defenses that didnt explicitly counter that. It made him wonder why she didnt go with the standard spike as a counterweight, and instead opted for a double ded weapon. Still, her choices were her own, and she didnt get this far on the Path by being ignorant of basic weapon theory.


    That''s a good idea. One I should look into myself. When I cant cut something up, I usually just default to the club it with something blunt strategy.


    Their conversation was interrupted by Kevin steering the topic back to the tournament.


    So, we also know that the tournament will have a few multi-team battles to tackle some of therger challenges theyve set up in pocket dimensions. Are you guys already spoken for?


    At that prompt, Matts mind raced through all the information he had about pocket dimensions. They were technically made in real space, but were massively spatially expanded zones, used to make training grounds out of. Most of the time, they wererger ensembles of five teams, or twenty-five people, that went in to fight a massive challenge or scenario. During thest Tier 10 tournament, it had been a challenge of saving a city from a Tier 12 rift break. The more of the city, and more importantly, the citizens that the teams had been able to save, the better the rewards.


    He had intended to gather Melindas team and Conor, Emily, and Annie for those challenges, but considered the offer.


    Why us?


    The twins came back into the conversation at that point, and shot them a matching pair of knowing smiles.


    From the AI nametag Matt had ced on him, he saw that Harvie was the one to answer.


    We aren''t dumb. We did our research shortly after we started hanging out with Liz. Imagine our surprise when we found out that you two were the stars of that vassal war a while back. No one expected you two to participate in this tourney. Younguns as you are, everyone assumed that youd be in the next one. While we would have been happy to drink and make friends with anyone, were even more happy to make a connection with a strong team.


    Sighing internally that they had been caught already, Matt shrugged, Well, were also weaker than average, being <em>younguns</em> and all. We really didnt want to sacrifice our age lead, which kinda bites us in the ass. But it begs the question, do you want to risk it?


    Adam tagged in for his brother. Oh, while we expect you to get beat out in raw power in the top one hundred, we also expect you two to hit far harder than your advancement would suggest. And we aren''t expecting to win everything ourselves. We just want to do well enough to earn some nice rewards. Were good, but not quite win the whole thing good either. Even a top thousandth cing would be fantastic.


    Matt met Lizs eyes, and she answered for them. Were happy to join up, though we would want to bring our team from that vassal war with us. And a second team of friends. Both are strong, though. And of course, you can vet them yourselves.


    That seemed to settle that, but Felix jumped in, Color me interested too. I''m a solo delver, and had written the entire venture off before this.


    He then looked at Matt and had the decency to color slightly, And yeah, I noticed the same thing. I recognized you from the reports on your friends in the vassal war. Sorry.


    Matt just shrugged, letting that go, so Kevin jumped in. What''s your specialty?


    Felix nibbled his lip for a second before saying, While Id prefer not to say too much before we have an agreement, I''m a dagger user, but not the standard assassin type. Suffice it to say that I can delve any Tier 12 rift on my own, if I''m slow and careful about it. If I counter the rift well, I can even fight a single Tier 13 monster, but that gets dangerous enough that Ive only done it twice.


    That was impressive.


    Enough so that Matt wondered if Felix had also qualified for a management team early.


    Luna had made it clear that while she wouldnt tell him anything about other contestants, there were always a few in every tournament. And even the im that Felix could delve two Tiers up solo was impressive enough, especially as a dagger user. Matt had to consider the possibility.


    That, or he had a gimmick that worked on monsters, but not the more intelligent people he would be encountering. <em>If</em> they could figure out how said gimmick worked he might be screwed.


    The twins pleaded, and after a second, Kevin and J acquiesced, We want to test everyone beforehand anyway, so it''s not a big deal. That would be five teams, but we can always find a few other solo delvers to fill out any gaps we have.


    With that settled, they dispensed with the important talk and startedmenting on the challenges that were going on between various Pathers.


    Challenges were rampant, with people trying to show their power off.


    All of them felt it was dumb to show off any kind of hidden trump cards this early, but they were d enough for the entertainment.


    Backseatmentary was always a fun pastime, after all.


    And making new friends was even better.

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133


    When Matt and Liz returned to their rooms that evening, Luna and Kurt briefed them on what their other personas had been up to.


    Which amounted to not much.


    Their managers had enjoyed a very casual walk around the city. The only interesting thing that had happened was when they were invited to a mask wearers only gathering in two days.


    From what they put together, it was billed as an exclusive and elite event, put on during every Tier 10 tournament. The next gathering was actually the sixth one held so far this year, as the organizers sought to round up all the Pathers that had arrived in thest month. Or at least, all the masked contestants.


    Commonly referred to as <em>The</em><em>Mas</em>querade, the events attempt at using an official sounding name had been widely usurped by the colloquialism. Over the course of centuries, it had simply stuck better with time. And now, few people even bothered remembering the original.


    It was public knowledge that neers would be tested inbat to determine if they were <em>worthy</em> of their masks. If a fledgling member failed to meet the group''s standards, they would not be invited back a second time. Matt and Liz, or rather, Quill and Torch, saw it as an opportunity. They were ready to create a ssh, and cement themselves as top contenders in this year''s tournament.


    To do that, preparations were in order. The duo spent the next day gathering resources for their respective specialties.


    Torch sought supplies for her alchemy, and Quill began selling his talismans to help fund their endeavors.


    Aster, thankfully, jumped at the chance to hang out with the other beast bonds, so she didnt need to hide in the apartment while they were busy, or don her Lassie the dog persona.


    Matt felt bad about excluding her from their preparations, but he was ecstatic to see her spend time ying. This was her first opportunity to make beast friends with advanced sapience at her own Tier. These bonds didnt quite reach her effective mental age, but at Tier 10, the cognitive gap between her and her peers shrank considerably.


    These new bonds she connected with might be thepanions she spent her years in the beast academy with after reaching Tier 15.


    Tier 15 represented a massive upheaval in a bonds life, since they were sequestered by the Beast Kingdom once reaching it. For the following decade, everything would change for them; their form, their level of sapience, their home, their routines, and the people they could spend time with would bepletely uprooted. Sparking these new friendships<em> now</em> would only help lessen the severity of the transitionter.


    After ensuring that Aster had everything she needed, and the reasonable things she wanted, Matt lingered just long enough to enjoy the sight of the feisty little fox horsing around with an actual horse. He shook his head with a chuckle before rushing back to transform himself into Quill.


    Torch was already out raiding the market booths that were selling herbs, and Quill only stopped to check his reflection before using the suites teleporter to zap himself into the middle of the market.


    Swirling white holes once again adorned his eyes, gazing out through the eyeholes. The manifestation of his Concept stood out brilliantly against the dark mask and silver-etched feather pen.


    More than a few people stopped to stare, and Quill brushed past them without acknowledging their presence. Right up until one man stepped directly in his path and refused to move.


    The challenge was clear, but not the reason. Quill just cocked his head, waiting for the other man to speak.


    The man stayed silent, and after a few seconds of silence, Quill moved to brush past him. His obstacle sidestepped to block his way again.


    Suspecting the man wanted to expose his abilities, Quill strongly preferred to avoid the confrontation. This wasn''t the ideal time or ce to make a ssh.


    But if the brute insisted


    Matthew Alexander would never rise to such simple provocation, as Talous more than proved.


    But Quill was not Matt.


    No, Quill was the type of person to send a message. And much like a talisman, it would be the kind of message that was only ever used once, because that would <em>always</em> be enough.


    Brett Zangari, as Quill''s AI registered him, was a knownckey for one of the stronger masked contestants, Emerald de. Or at least, one of the stronger contestants who had arrived so far. Brett had egged numerous other masked contestants into fights out of the blue. After seeing Felix fall into the same trap yesterday, Matt had been prepared for such a situation before he donned Quill''s persona today.


    For appearances sake though, and his own conscience, he would prefer not be the one seen striking first in a crowded public area. His idea would work out best if this goon was the one to escte the situation.


    So, Quill made onest token effort to bypass the thug. As predicted, Brett refused to ept that oue, and pped his hand on Quill''s shoulder as he pushed past, leaned in, and tried to say something.


    Quill was prepared, and reacted faster than he could speak.


    A [Jolt] burst from his shoulder into Bretts grip. His assant stiffened, and then toppled to the ground.


    With a mocking snicker, Quill theatrically spun back to face him and made an exaggerated spitting sound. Don''t touch the goods unless you can pay for damages. Next time, Ill collect the hand as coteral.


    With a slight mental effort, Quill molded a cheshire grin into the hard outer shell of his mask, and leaned forward.


    Now be a good boy and tell your owner to send a real dog instead of a puppy next time. Or wait until the masquerade in two days. Ill put them in their ce then. No need to rush the inevitable.


    As he saw the rage boil over on the downed man''s face, Quill was already lifting his leg when his opponent lunged from the ground. As his assant lunged, Quills bootnded squarely in Bretts face as he followed through, stomping his head hard into the ground.


    Bad dog! <em>Heel!</em>


    Or at least, the stomp was hard for a mage with a normal seventy-thirty cultivation split. In actuality, less than a quarter of Matts base physical strength went into the blow, but as Quill, he had worked hard on limiting his physical abilities to usible levels.


    With the opportunity present, Quill spread his arms. And if any of the big doggies want toe y, Ill be around. But be warned, I y <em>ruff</em>. Quill paused for effect. Get it? Ruff? Like a dog?


    A burning red face and loathing re were the only response.


    His masks smile shifted into a cartoonish pout. Ahhh, you didnt like that one? Or the heel pun either? Tough crowd. Well maybe tough isnt the best word to describe <em>you</em>, runt. But, whatever.


    He pointed to the ground. Now <em>staaay</em>. Stay!


    Knowing how his wide green eyes with white holes spreading mana would contrast with the mask, Quill performed a refined pirouette and dismounted Brett''s face, staring him in the eyes as he swaggered backwards.


    Beneath the Quill persona, Matt felt weird about hitting the man while he was down, but he <em>had</em> started it.


    As a melee fighter, the man was undamaged; at least,his physical body was. His pride was definitely wounded, if the growling was any indication.


    Shrugging mentally, Matt reset himself and his mask as Quill.


    Huh. You even growl like a dog. How <em>shocking</em>. He cast another [Jolt], controlled with [Lighting Maniption], to let arcs of electricity jump between his fingers.


    Switching to making shoo motions in the opposite direction, hemanded, Now be a good puppy and go home. When Brett didnt move, he repeated in a much more hostile tone, <em>Go home</em>.


    Then, he strutted off into the crowds and messaged Torch.


    She had simrly been challenged to a fight, and simrly avoided giving away any important information, but Quill sighed.


    The masked contestants were far more ruthless to anyone they suspected might be toppetitors.


    The anonymity that the masks afforded them allowed them to push limits that they normally wouldn''t dare.


    Masked contestants very often won thepetitions, which exined why so many sycophants like Brett were willing to throw their own pride away to get into the good graces of someone who might be the next Light and Shadow.


    Matt and Liz both found the behavior pathetic, but they expected to inevitably attract their own hangers-on as Quill and Torch rose in fame.


    Leaving the crowd behind, Quill made his way back to Sallys enchantment shop and started flipping through the talismans that he had taken an interest in yesterday.


    After pulling out the more specialized versions, he took a moment and tried to peer into the enchantments she had imbued into the parchments.


    As he expected, her obscurement runes blurred the details too much for him to discern exactly how she created her elementally inclined [Mana Barriers].


    Sally saw him perusing the talismans and introduced herself. I see you have a good eye. Those are my little pet projects. You wont find anything half as good in other shops. Im Sally, by the way. Owner, proprietor, and best enchanter on the block.


    He nodded along as she spoke, but didnt stop leafing through the papers, inspecting what runes he could make out through the obscurement enchantment.


    Quill would return pettiness and bad behavior tenfold, but Matt refused to let himself start any trouble, and that was a personality trait he shared with Quill. His alter ego would eagerly dump gasoline on a fire, but only if someone else started the fire first.


    Tapping the papers, he asked, How did you manage that? Im a dedicated talisman maker myself, and I have no idea what you actually did here.


    Sally shook her head at the question. Im not going to share my trade secrets around, especially not with a directpetitor. That would just be in dumb.


    The only thing he had to trade was the knowledge of using mana types, and how to incorporate them in enchantments to offer. Except, he wasn''t sure that was a fair trade either. Under the mask, Matt bit his lip, but finally made a decision. It was worth the risk if he could learn something new.


    Turning, he asked, What about a talisman duel? Would that satisfy you? That would build your reputation as well. Good advertisement.


    Puckering her lips, Sally shook her head. Talismans arent my main seller, and I dont get anything of equal value out of the duel.


    Withdrawing one of his talismans, Quill lobbed it towards her. Inspect my work. I can trade knowledge for knowledge. Honestly, I think Id be getting the worse end of the deal. The trick Im putting up works with almost all types of enchanting.


    Eyeing his unobscured talisman paper, Sally shook her head again. These are some weird formations. Is it a Talent?


    Quill shook his head in the negative and waited for her to make up her mind.


    Finally, Sally reconsidered. An exhibition match won''t do me any harm, and will help me stand out a bit.


    She put her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at him. Though, Id really like to know who Im dueling first. You got a name, <em>stranger</em>?


    Oh! Where are my manners? Quill, talisman maker extraordinaire and soon-to-be tournament winner.


    With an agreement, they called the guards. After being informed it was an exhibition match, and not a true fight, the officers happilyplied and a familiar ss orb thunked down between them.


    Having talked to Luna in preparation for something like this, he sent an AI voice message to Sally.


    Connect to the orb and ask for an open view. That way, the people can see what really happens. Otherwise, theres no point in this match.


    He got no direct response, but a confirmation pinged out stating that the orbs counter-espionage functions had been disabled by mutual agreement.


    Just as with Felixs duel, the two of them were in a simtion of the outside surroundings, just without any other people. Matt nodded at the quality of the orb. All the details were perfect, as far as he could tell.


    Slipping back into his boisterous personality for anyone watching and the recording, Quill proimed to the crowd outside, Hello everyone! I am Quill, and with me is <em>the </em>Sally from Sallys Superior Supplies.


    He actually had no idea what she called her business, but rolled with it. The two of us will be performing a talisman exhibition match today. For those of you not familiar with the many fine dueling traditions used by enchanters, a talisman exhibition match urs in alternating turns. One enchanterunches an attack with one of their talismans, and the other enchanter must defend against it with a talisman of their own. Then, the roles swap, and we rinse and repeat. It''s all about the quality of the talismans, and matching or countering the opponent''s moves. Not so much a duel to the death, as a way to show off the power and variety of a crafters talismans.


    Gesturing at Sally, he continued, As the challenged party, my esteemed opponent gets to choose to start as the attacker or defender.


    Sally didn''t hesitate, and a box of talismans hovered next to her as she called out, Ill be taking the offensive, and kicking us off with a standard [Mana Bolt].


    Quill copied her action, and a dozen talismans hovered around him. He plucked a talisman out of the air.


    Ah! A traditionalist after my own heart. Then its a standard [Mana Barrier] for me.


    [Mana Bolt] versus [Mana Barrier] was the traditional opening exchange. Starting off with the absolute basics showed off just how much power a crafters enchantments could hold, all other things being equal. The two spells had no significant weaknesses, but neither was anything particrly weak to them.


    With a gesture, Sally activated the talismans, and the precharged spell raced out to m into Quills prepared [Mana Barrier]. The energy dispersed without causing so much as a ripple on the shield. Defending was always easier with talismans, as the maximum amount of mana one could put into a talisman was dictated by the Tier of the animal skin used to make the parchment. While there could be a variety of monsters used in their production, the maximum mana would fluctuate by only a minute amount.


    Still, static defenses were almost always more mana efficient than ranged attacks. Defensive talismans always held an advantage if all else was neutral.


    At least, that was the normal convention.


    With it being his turn to attack, Quill copied her and sent his own [Mana Bolt]. The glowing missile mmed into Sallys [Mana Barrier], causing the spell to sh opaque as it struggled to stand against his attacks power.


    A flicker of shock came over Sallys face, but she quickly mastered herself and snagged a talisman from her box. Suddenly, a bolt of ice careened towards him, only to be scattered against another standard [Mana Barrier].


    Quillughed. My talismans are the best there are. It''s my whole thing after all. I might only do one thing, but I do it better than anyone else.


    His mana barrier fizzled out, having used up the remaining bits of its charge. Quill flicked through his talismans with exaggerated movements, even going so far as to pretend to lick his finger before pulling out a parchment.


    Having made his selection, he tugged a [Wind de] out of the pile and fed it a drop of mana to trigger the effect.


    It was actually kind of fun not to rely on his mana pool during a fight. He could charge all of the talismans he wanted beforehand, and use only a single unit of mana to unleash skills worth thousands of times that.


    Fighting with a talisman was all about preparation and using the resources you had at your disposal.


    Even with this being an exhibition match, he still enjoyed the give and take between Sally and himself immensely.


    Not that he was getting serious yet. When you knew an attack wasing, [Wind de] was an easy option to identify, and the best way to block one wasmon knowledge.


    His opponent countered with a weird [Earth Barrier] variant, one that he didnt recognize. After a split second of confusion, understanding hit him. This was one of Sallys special elemental [Mana Barriers], and he quickly saw the differences. Where the normal [Earth Barrier] would have summoned a dome of short lived earth, Sally''s talisman summoned a dome of mana, but converted the neutral mana to earth mana on the fly.


    That was something he could have aplished by inscribing and charging the parchment with earth aspected mana. Seeing her spell in action, he was sure that she wasnt using that method. Whatever rune she <em>was </em>using, he wanted it for his own use. He could see a dozen ways to pair that with aspected mana, for even greater results.


    Still, her talisman blocked his [Wind de] with minimal strain, clearly benefiting from the elemental advantage.


    Quickly understanding what he had done, Sally asked, Are you seriously willing to throw away this much mana on an exhibition challenge?


    Under the mask, he smiled.


    She had noticed how well her dome had stacked up. While it had survived without a hitch, she felt the barrier shudder under the impact. If she hadnt had theplete elemental advantage, he might have blown through her dome with thest attack.


    Quill shrugged and retorted, Easye, easy go. But that attack''s strength wasnt from having more mana. Like I said before, theres a trick I know. A damn good one. It''s a worthwhile trade. For you, that is.


    Sally grimaced andunched her own attack. A [Fireball] red forth that Quill countered with yet another basic [Mana Barrier].


    With his next attack, he responded with a [Fireball] of his own, and Sally countered with one of her unique water [Mana Barrier]s.


    They exchanged another half dozen blows before Sally tilted her head back, growing frustrated. Damn. Why dont we end this here? I can''t break your defenses, but youll eventually break mine when I guess wrong. At this point, Im just burning through seble goods for nothing. Plus, youve sold me already. Whatever this cheaty nonsense is, its worth trading for.


    With that, they were both teleported out of the orb, and Quill sighed at seeing that only two people were watching.


    He had hoped for more, but shrugged off any disappointment. The recordings of that little fight would be widely popr after the masquerade.


    Following Sally into her shop, he asked, What do you know about enchanting with other types of mana? Like most crafters, you must have realized that some other crafters have much stronger enchantments. Mostly the big guilds and noble brats. I know their secret, and if you want to be an actualpetitor in theing crafting tournament, you need to know it.


    Sally perked up at that, but held herself back. Is this something that will get me locked up or killed?


    Quill dropped a box onto the table. Not at all. But it''s kept quiet because it lets them keep the best prices on items. Eventually, you would have put it together yourself, or be forced to join them. It''s about the mana used. Not just the aspect, but the <em>sub-aspects</em> of said mana. In that box, there are conversion stones for the basic elements of mana. Nothing unique about them, but their sub-aspects havent been scrubbed out, and <em>thats </em>the difference.


    He scooped up a stone and handed it to her. For example, this water mana has a sub-aspect of stillness that pairs exceptionally well with barriers. A water barrier with that particr mana as the base will be far more effective than a normal one.


    Quill exined the other three elemental types, to Sallys shock.


    How did you learn this?


    Quill shrugged. Its a part of my Talent that I don''t want to talk about. Suffice it to say, I can take advantage of mana types without having to carry around a spatially expanded building, like most crafters.


    He was calling his growth ring his Talent. That was the cover they had decided would keep him out of the limelight for his mana. Rather than saying he could charge talismans an unlimited amount, he was just able to freely convert his mana to any type he had absorbed before.


    With his ring, no one could find a single fault in his cover story.


    Sally sent him an information packet with her unique talisman types to hold up her end of the bargain. He would delve into the details once he had some time to tweak his enchantment methods, but he was able to pick out a few facets of the nuances behind her tricks.


    As Quill painfully set aside the data he had been so eager to acquire, Sally asked, Can this be used for everything? I mean all enchanting?


    It can. While I dont use it, I know of a friend or two who has. Now, you just need to start collecting mana types. I''m happy to sell you some to get you started, but take my advice and work on the basics first. Youll need to change most of your current runic structures to get this to work, after all.


    Under his mask, Matt smiled. From seeing her in action, he knew that she was far more skilled than he was. Giving her the information about using matched mana types would be like putting wings on a tiger.


    She could go anywhere after this.


    The question was, if she had enough time to fully digest the information and change her style. The best of the crafters would have had this information for years.


    Pulling out a feather pen, he drew out a series of runes. These are how you can lock regions of the formations to only use specific mana types. You then need to set up converter runes, but it''s not thatplicated. Theyre just harder to enchant, and more expensive to initially charge. The efficiency also goes down if the wielder doesn''t have apatible mana type, but the damage increase is well worth it, if you ask me.


    The other enchanter shook her head and asked him to rify a few more points about the runes needed to stabilize the multiple mana types, but Quill could tell that her mind was already racing.


    Seeing that she was about to dive back into her crafting, he turned to leave. Once he made his way back to a teleporter, he activated it to find himself in Mara and Leons apartment.


    Mara and Leon were waiting with popcorn and together cheered, Good show!


    Leon added, I liked how you stomped on his face. You really brought him to <em>heel</em>! Well done!


    Matt rolled his eyes as he started stripping Quill''s armor off.


    Pulling off his boot, Matt mused, Well Im d someone appreciated that stupid pun. It seems wrong to be such a dick to people, though. Just feels unnatural.


    Mara was more focused on Sally. It was nice of you to give the girl that information. If she can scrounge together a decent collection of mana types, in time, she might break into the top hundred enchanters. There are a lot of nice rewards up there.


    Leon just shrugged. Get used to the hecklers though. People will probably hate you for any perceived power. Light and Shadow were detested during their tournaments, and they didnt act like pricks at all. People love to tear down thepetition. Once you win, all that hate will turn into favor as your star burns brighter. And better to remember that it''s all an act. One day, youll probably merge your identities, and then youll have to deal with rabid fans. And you were kind to the girl. Being a dick to only those who are particrly assholes wont make <em>too many</em> people mad.


    An equally serious Mara added, You can always change your mind. Theres no real reason for you to be the next Aiden sorry, Duke Waters. You can let someone else deal with it. Live afortable life, and just work on the mana projects you enjoy.


    Matt met their eyes and saw nothing but eptance.


    Firming his will, he said, Those that can, should. I can protect the Empire by making a ssh and showing were strong. The stronger mypetition and the heavier my restrictions, the better it will be when I pull back the mask and show them that the Empire has another Ascender not to be trifled with.


    Taking a deep breath, he stood and said, I don''t have to like it, but Im in the position to make a difference. So I should. And I will.


    Looking back at the older couple, he added, Just let me know if the fame starts getting to me. Please.


    Two goofy grins met him with enthusiastic thumbs up.


    Matt dove into making talismans for the uing masquerade, and was joined by Liz, who exined what had happened to her.


    Nearly the same as you. People tried to ost me and see what powers I revealed. I did set up an alchemy contact, though I didnt have to fight anyone for it.


    The next two days flew by as they prepared for the <em>Mas</em>querade.


    Stupid nickname aside, it was their first timeing into contact with the bestpetitors in the Tier 10 tournament.


    At the appointed time in their Quill and Torch personas, they entered the teleport pad and appeared in a vast marble ballroom swirling with decorative gold iys. Vibrant, scarlet draperies adorned the walls and pirs.


    The second floor''s wrap-around balcony was packed with people drinking a variety of beverages as they watched the ballroom floor fill up with the newly arrived masked contestants.


    As the hour ticked over, a trio of gem-like masks stepped forward and held up a hand to silence the room.


    Emerald de stood to the front and hovered off the edge of the balcony with both Sapphire Shield and Ruby Wand behind him. All three were using their Concepts, if the ripples that Quill was feeling were urate.


    Not a surprising skill in and of itself, but the ease with which they managed to hover told him that theyve had their Concepts for some time, and pushed their limits hard.


    Sapphire Shield and Ruby Wand were women, and from the way they stood next to Emerald de, and their general physical closeness, he suspected that they were all in a rtionship.


    Quill noted that as a potential weakness.


    Emerald de waited until he had everyone''s attention and said, We wee you, neers, to our august presence. Sadly, not everyone will be invited to next week''s gathering. If you cannot defeat one of us on the second floor, you will be deemed unworthy.


    He gestured, and a number appeared over everyone''s head in Quills AI. The lower the number, the stronger we are.


    Emerald de, Sapphire Shield, and Ruby Wand were all marked with a seven. Seeing that, Quill knew it was a ranking by team. He focused up as Emerald de continued to speak.


    Challenges can be held by team, or by individual. You all have three attempts to win, but losses don''t matter here. Your only task is to be victorious once. Healers are, of course, on standby.


    No one said anything for a long second, but knowing what he had to do, Matt looked at Liz through their masks and asked her if she was sure that she wanted to do this.


    With her nod, he lifted them into the air with his Concept.


    Laughing, he asked, Are you lot the best thats down here? If so, that works out perfectly. I already intended to give you a spanking for that little gnat you sent to pester me, but we didnt want to pass up an opportunity for a decent warmup against a strong team. All the better if I dont have to choose! We can knock you losers out and this little entrance exam at the same time. Saves us a fight. Looking about, he leaned back into the Quill persona after his slight slip from his real irritation. Come, gather round everyone. Ladies and gentlemen, please, will you bring your attention to me? This will be a feast for your eyes to see. Like nothing you have ever seen before! When this is done, your jaws will be on the floor and you will be begging for more!


    A chorus ofughs met with Quill''s grandstanding, but Torch withdrew her spear and silently pointed the ming weapon at the crowd.


    The silent threat was well understood, and those that were at the point of her spear quickly shut their mouths.


    Torch''s stylized face was like a marble goddess. Her stern mask brokered no argument, and the power of her me skills silenced anyone not cowed by her gaze. The ming hair was only a backdrop that amplified her gravitas.


    Not letting Emerald de speak, Quill asked, Oh, wait! You never answered my question. Are your team actually the strongest here? Whoopin your asses now saves time, but I think Id still prefer a <em>real</em> fight. Based on thatme puppy you sent to do your dirty work while you hid, you lot must be pretty damn weak too. Where are the top five at least? Maybe they could give us a decent challenge.


    As Quill chopped his hands, he saw a flicker of anger in Emerald des posture. That was good, as he was still irked that the man''sckeys had tried to fight them two days ago.


    With an upraised hand, Emerald de said, As a neer, you don''t know the rules, but prance around anyway. You can''t challenge the top ten without passing through number eleven. If you


    Quill interrupted him, Yeah, no. It wasn''t a question. We can fight here, or you can get one of the guards to grab us an orb. Youre getting your ass beat either way.


    Ruby Wand asked, Have you ever heard of respect?


    Torch pointed at the red masked woman and asked, Have you ever heard of earning it?


    Sapphire Shield was about to speak, but Quill interrupted her.


    I''ve heard it both ways. Laughing at his own joke, Quill waved for a guard. An orb, my good man. When you want to get to the top, you can''t hesitate in the face of a challenge.


    With thatst statement, he knew he had Emerald de at a loss. If the man insisted on forcing Quill and Torch to fight the other top ten members, it would make him look weak.


    And with so many eyes on them, Emerald de wasn''t willing to lose out before the tournament even began.


    As the ss orb was tossed between the floating teams, Quill said, Power is the only thing that can speak. Rules don''t matter in the face of it. Today, well show you what that looks like.


    Before Emerald de could get in a word, they were sucked into the empty space. Instead of a nk space, they found themselves in a mirror of the ballroom, but back in the now cleared floor instead of at the edge, where they were floating a moment ago.


    Not sending the message to open the viewing for everyone else, Quill withdrew his staff as Torch did the same with her spear. Entering the orb had returned all of their weapons back to their storage items.


    Matt still wasn''t sure how the orbs worked, but all resources spent inside were truly spent, and damage to items was emanated. Everything was real, except for wounds.


    How the seemingly mass-produced orbs managed that, he had no idea.


    Emerald de withdrew an oversized saber that had a heavy air around it.


    It felt like an earth enchantment, but Quill didnt count on that being one hundred percent urate.


    For all his mockery, this was one of the best Tier 10 teams in the Empire, after all.


    While not all the contestants had arrived, most of the best had had the tendency to arrive early, and make a name for themselves.


    Sapphire Shield and Ruby Wand had their respective weapons out, and Quill took note of each of them. Sapphire Shield had a kite shield paired with a spiked mace, and Ruby Wand had a staff taller than herself.


    Sending a message to Torch, he said, Careful of Wand. Something is off with that staff shes using.


    Torch sent back, Got it. Any changes to the n?


    Quill shook his head, and as the countdown reached one, he rushed forward with Torch taking the lead in a streak of fire.


    It was amusing to see Liz move that zingly fast. While most others would attribute that speed to some fire Talent or skill, it was actually Liz using [Blood Maniption] on her own body. With an internal Concept as a shield, no one at their Tier could feel her using it.


    As Torch passed him, she punched out with the butt of her spear, and a [Fireball]unched out.


    Sapphire Shield smoothly stepped in front of it and blocked it, but that was enough to break line of sight, which let Quill withdraw a talisman and throw it in the air.


    A second [Fireball] crashed out, but Ruby Wand shot a [Ice Spear] through the center of the skill, trying to dissipate it.


    That would have worked, but Torch grabbed the fire with [Fire Maniption] and wrapped it around herself.


    She thrust her spear out in a lunge, only to have Emerald de sidestep and Sapphire Shield block with a spell that Quill didnt recognize.


    It looked like [Mana Shield], but the skill extended out nearly a foot in each direction, which wasnt typical for the skill.


    Ruby Wand had circled left and shot a [Mana Bolt] at Quill while Emerald de rushed him.


    As a mage, he was considered the weakest link, so they had expected the strategy. Especially considering the numbers disadvantage.


    pping a talisman on his chest, Quill raced forward for two steps with the parchment''s help. That was enough to break the trajectory of Ruby''s spell and make Emerald''s sh miss.


    Pulling out a number of talismans, Quill threw two at the ground and watched a series of [Ice Pirs] rise up, cutting him off from his two attackers.


    Intending to turn their advantage into a victory, Quill turned to attack Sapphire Shield, but his instincts screamed that he needed to move.


    Trusting his intuition after years ofbat, he threw himself into a roll.


    Where he had been not even a second ago, a massive [Mana Arrow] that wasrger than he was shattered a pir that held up the balcony as it impacted the far wall.


    Activating a [Mana Barrier], Quill blocked the sword blow that tried to chop at where he was rolling.


    Pulling out another talisman, he aimed at Emerald and activated it at point nk range. The [Jolt] hit the other man in the chest and sent him stumbling back.


    Considering the thousands of mana he had shoved into the paper, Quill had expected more damage. That level of talisman had killed Tier 10 bosses in a single shot before.


    That Emerald de had survived the attack was a testament to the power of Pathers.


    With a second to breathe, he looked at Ruby Wand and saw her aiming her massive staff at him. An arrow glowed in the arc of the staff. Or, more urately, the longbow. A true magic archer wasn''t something you normally saw, but with the power of thatst shot, he pegged her as having a Talent for the specialization.


    Giving her a pure mage name was a good cover. That longbow didnt have a string, and could double as a staff.


    He sure didnt expect that.


    Pushing them to reveal it would exin the scowl on her crystalline mask.


    Once Emerald de was blown back, Ruby Wand let loose a second, charged [Mana Arrow]. Quill wanted to curse, but kept himself in front of the arrow, casting two [Mana Barrier]s on top of each other.


    She had chosen her angle well, and if he dodged, Torch would have taken that attack on her nk.


    As the [Mana Arrow]nded, it shattered the firstyer of defense, and Quill cursed as the second shield finally dissipated the spell. He had created those with standard mana types, but pumped close to five thousand mana into each of the papers.


    It only confirmed his belief that the woman had a Talent for spell archery. It wasn''t easy to punch through that much armor, but now that he knew, he swapped the talismans he was using.


    After the arrow hit, Quill didnt pause, and rushed left to get behind Torch and reset the battle lines.


    Both teams paused as Sapphire Shield disengaged from Torch.


    It didnt escape anyone''s notice that Sapphire Shield had burns all down her less protected right side.


    Even her shield was ckened after fighting with Torch for a minute.


    Quill, keeping in character, shouted, Youre all so weak. And this is the top seven? How pitiful.


    Before Ruby could send the arrow at him, he threw up a talisman, and it started to suck in heat as a massive ball of fire began growing over Torch.


    Sensing that they shouldnt let the spell grow, but unwilling to shoot at a mass of energy thatrge, Ruby shot the skill at Torch.


    Quill cursed internally. That was actually the right move, as Torch needed to stay still to fully utilize that little trick. Shooting the skill would have only sped things up.


    Torch shoved her spear butt into the miniature sun and sucked it into her armor.


    Like a sun herself, Torch sidestepped the arrow and lunged at Emerald de.


    Unwilling to stay in her heat range, the sword wielder tried to back up to maintain distance from Torch, but she was far faster.


    Her spear let loose a portion of the fire and burned a hole through his chest armor. Quill had already moved to prevent Sapphire''s shield from attacking his partner''s rear, and sent a barrier of spells from his talismans.


    They were enough to stop her progress, so he used his staff and cast his first real spell of the fight. The [Jolt] wasn''t anything special, but he didnt intend for it to do anything but break up Emerald des attack pattern.


    As he hoped, the difference in timing was enough to catch Sapphire Shield off guard, and the next [Earth Spear] took her in the leg.


    There was no breaking of bone, as he hoped.


    Seeing Ruby point her bow towards the sky, Quill raced forward and cast two [Mana Barrier]s over Torch and Emerald de.


    As an unending [Arrow Rain] mmed into the shield, he cast a [Water Bullet] at Emerald. The other man ignored the attack, despite it carving a line into his armor, and focused on defending against Torch and her relentless assault.


    While most of her attacks were melee oriented, and her fire skills were weaker because of their being in her outer core, Torch made up for those deficiencies with aggression. The items that increased her fire damage at the cost of mana didnt hurt either.


    As the [Mana Barrier] was about to end, despite the [Arrow Rain] still falling around them, Quill cast another pair of [Mana Barriers]. Suddenly, it felt like <em>he</em> was fighting against the person with endless mana. That [Arrow Rain] hadsted for nearly a minute, when the normal spellsted about five seconds.


    Knowing that she couldn''t keep up the spell forever, Quill prepared to take out the annoying ranger mage.


    Twisting his staff, he summoned three talismans into the prepared holsters, and then another five in a circle behind the first.


    The [Arrow Rain] ended, and Sapphire Shield must have been warned by Emerald de, as she was standing with her shield raised between him and Ruby Wand.


    Smiling under his mask, Quill activated the fiveyer talisman array.


    A three-foot-wide pir of ice raced out and mmed through Sapphire Shield''s glowing shield. The fact that shested longer than initial contact was impressive, but as her magical shield cracked, a [Phantom Armor] appeared, then shattered in quick session.


    Quill had to dodge the arrow that Ruby Wand sent at him, but he already saw that Sapphire Shield was dissolving in a ray of light.


    Turning his staff, he cast the second three talisman array at Ruby Wand.


    Seeing another arrow already racing towards him, Quill held his ground and tracked the dodging mage as he sent a triple [Jolt] at her.


    She vanished in a spray of light, as he expected from that level of damage output.


    Turning to Torch and Emerald de, Quill watched as his partner was able to quickly overwhelm the other man. Each sh and thrust of her spear inflicted wounds of burnt flesh and melted armor.


    It wasn''t long before Torch sidestepped Emeralds massive saber and punched her spear through the man''s chest.


    Once they were alone, Matt asked Liz, Are you ok?


    She nodded. Perfect. I was able to match up to both of them in pure physical ability, though theyre better with their pure weapons handling. It''s what I expected.


    That was her greatest weakness as Torch. Liz needed to fight in melee range with a sixty forty split, with the majority of her cultivation going to her mana cores.


    While she could match the more physical fighters as long as she used her boosts, once she ran out of mana, she would be ced at a disadvantage.


    Quill''s limits with a normal mana pool for active spells and limited physical ability were far less restrictive.


    Liz was afraid that her weaknesses would drag them down, but as she proved to herself with this fight, she was able to fight two on one for a while against dedicated melee fighters.


    Kurt''s and Luna''s training wasn''t for show.


    Their advantages over the general contestants were numerous, and Matt felt that if they were to both go all out, they could easily take out all of thepetition.


    Just Liz with her [Blood Maniption] could have probably taken out both melee fighters in seconds.


    Her Blood Iron and growth glove would have allowed her to overwhelm and suffocate them as soon as they tried to attack the weak mage, as they did with Quill.


    Liz would have been a near reminder of why Duke Waters was so feared.


    The setting started to dissolve, and Quill caught Torch with his Concept as they returned to their previous positions.


    The number eight now hovered above the gem trio.


    Matt didnt feel like rubbing in a well-fought loss, so just said, Well fought, but not nearly enough to beat us. Where are the higher numbers? Color me interested in meeting them.


    Emerald de had regained hisposure and gestured to a door in the corner of the ballroom.


    Head up, and you will find the top ten lounge. If you think it will be easy to beat everyone, you are sorely mistaken. We didnt use all of our trump cards either, of course.


    Torch waved the words off with a flick of her fingers. Neither did we.


    Ruby sounded infuriated, but her mask hid the expression. You can''t rely on talismans for every fight. Youll eventually run out, and be brushed aside. A gimmick can only take you so far.


    Truly, your insight is staggering, and I had never once considered that I might have such a w with my primary weapon. I suppose I shall now reconsider the strategy which I have spent decades relying upon. Thank you for your <em>sagely </em>advice.


    That earned him some snickers from the crowd.


    "It just takes mana to make the talismans. Easye, easy go."


    While he didnt know exactly what version of the fight they had seen, he knew the use of so many talismans couldn''t go unremarked.


    Walking through the air, he and Torch stepped down to the balcony and proceeded up the stairs.

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134


    With their victory over the now eighth-ced team, Quill expected some pushback from the other top tenpetitors. With just a look, the pair prepared themselves to deal with a hostile atmosphere.


    As they entered therge and dimly lit lounge room, they were surprised to see only four sets of people sitting around at different tables.


    Quill''s attention was brought to a team that raised their sses to them as they entered with a cheer.


    Wee to the club. A woman''s voice came out of a violet mask with a stylized flower over one eye.


    Quill nodded slightly, but his attention was pulled to the side, where a lone woman sat.


    Matt was tempted to go over and have a chat with the woman with an oversized greatsword. It was leaning against her shoulder as she watched videos of swordsmen fighting on the screen that had risen out of her table.


    As his gaze lingered for longer than a second, she immediately looked up and asked, Are either of you swordsmen?


    At their shaken heads, she sighed and looked back down to her videos. That single look was enough for Quill to get a good look at her mask, which was fashioned into the likeness of a screaming woman that seemed familiar, but he couldn''t ce it.


    Not wanting to blow his cover Matt slipped back into the Quill persona and moved to the table that had weed them.


    With azy wave, he asked, How should I call you guys? Were Quill and Torch. Obviously.


    The same woman with the violet mask said, I''m Daisy.


    She pointed around the table at the man with a vine etched on his brown mask. Thats Thorn. Next are Primrose and Carnation.


    The final two of her team members had more recognizable masks that were both slightly off-gray colored.


    With the gesture to sit down, they joined them at the round table.


    Thorn was the first to speak. Good fight. Those idiots needed to be taken down a peg.


    A quick nce showed the team was ranked fourth, but his nce didnt go unnoticed. With an androgynous voice, Carnation said, Ugh, please don''t be obsessed with ranks like these idiots.


    Torch shook her head and answered for him. We aren''t. Honestly, if they hadn''t started the fight with us, we wouldn''t have publicly challenged them like that. But we won''t roll over meekly.


    That earned them a second toast, and Quill asked, What about you guys? Do you care about the ranks?


    Daisyughed. Yeah, we do. Or at least, we will when the tournament actually starts. Until then, who cares? Her mirth dropped like a stone as she leaned forward and added, And fair warning Queen over there


    She nodded to the lone swordswoman and said, dont fuck with her. That woman is a fucking monster. She''s only rank three because the old rank three was a swordsman, and she fucking eviscerated him in a single exchange. She just doesn''t care if you aren''t a de fighter.


    Quill turned to take a better look at her.


    Now that he heard her mask''s name, he was able to ce it as a replica of a statue of the Fallen Queen.


    The screaming woman filled with despair was iconic enough that he was sure Luna would berate him for not noticing immediately.


    It was an old story whose origin was hotly debated, but for all the iterations, the narratives were simr enough. A female ruler was betrayed by her spouse and stabbed in the back, turning as she died to see that her lover was the one to betray her.


    Sometimes, she was a leader elected by her people. In other versions of the story, she was a hereditary ruler. In some she was betrayed by a spouse; sometimes a wife and sometimes a husband. Her background was as varied as the people who told her story. Other times, a trusted general or friend were the ones to betray her, though that scenario was rare toe across.


    No matter how the details about the story changed, the only thing that remained constant was her being a woman and a ruler of some sort. That, and the image of the screaming, betrayed face. It was based on an old statue found in a ruin, and had been replicated enough to be the official face of the story.


    Queen''s mask wasn''t a carbon copy, but it was simr enough to get the meaning across. It also spoke of implications of her past that he didn''t even want to consider.


    Primrose''s voice was masculine, and he said, That woman is scary. I wielded a sword and shield, which was enough to garner her interest. But after seeing one of my fights, she said I wasn''t what she was looking for. Gave me the creeps.


    Thorn shook his head. I''d rmend not challenging her. To be honest, she has the best chance of winning this tournament outright if she has some hidden cards. Theres a video going around of her slicing a Tier 12 boss in half with a single swing of her sword.


    Matt desperately wanted to go over and see what the woman was about, but quelled the urge. If she was looking for swordsmen, she would inevitably seek out his true identity. He just needed to wait.


    Checking the video, he whistled. A single swing didnt give the woman''s attack justice.


    In the video, she was facing a bus-sized wolf, and with a casual wave of her greatsword and no visible skills, the wolf fell into two halves.


    Restraining himself, he said, It''s a good thing Im a mage.


    Morphing his mask into a wink, he added, I think Torch can surprise her.


    Torch just shrugged next to him.


    Changing the topic, he asked, So whos in first and second ce?


    Primrose shrugged. We have no idea. Haven''t seen them. All we know is that theyre teams strong enough to have held their slots for thest two months since we arrived.


    Daisy added, Queen knows them, if you really want to know. But getting her to talk is like pulling teeth. Anywhoo, we just wanted to wee you to the top teams club. Feel free to make yourselves at home. The royals have this ce decked out. The masquerade <em>was</em> created by thepetitors, but its earned the recognition of the higher-ups.


    With that dismissal, the two of them stood up and made their way over to Queen.


    Quill pointed at the open seats and asked, Mind if we sit?


    Cradling her greatsword, Queen shook her head, not taking her gaze off the screen in front of her. Sit if you want. I don''t have much to say, though.


    She proved that true, as she only gave one-word answers to their questions.


    Seeing that, they gave up as a new team came in.


    This team had a mask and cloak theme going on, which just seemed impractical. They paused to look at him and Torch, and nced at their numbers before moving to the fifth-ranked table.


    Leaving Queen''s table, they sat with the three neers and introduced themselves again.


    The one with a mountain on their mask made the reciprocal introductions. Im Cliff at the Edge of the World. That''s Summer Rain Striking the Grass, and Winter River Burbling Over a Brook.


    Winter leaned forward, and with a feminine voice, added, That was a fairly impressive showing. Sapphire Shield''s defenses are rarely overwhelmed. Or at least, weve never seen it. When we fought them, we had to take out the others and move on to herst; we had to hit her from every angle.


    Summer seemed to be a man by the voice, and he asked, Are you guys up for a spar?


    Quill shook his head. If there arent any stakes, we couldn''t care less. This is all pointless until the actual tournament starts. Until then, rankings mean nothing.


    Cliff tapped the table, and a bottle of liquor was lifted out of an opening that appeared. He poured everyone a ss before nodding. At least you aren''t as annoying as the Gem trio. They care far too much about this little club for our liking. If you guys do want to spar, were down nearly any time, but we also recognize that everyone is holding back their abilities. Enjoy your stay at the lounge then.


    Moving back to their own table, Torch and Quill sat across from each other and started to go through the functions of the ce.


    As the others said, there were a number of functions at their fingertips, but everything seemed geared towards aggregating information about the otherpetitors.


    While that was useful, it wasnt something so interesting that Quill felt it was worth the hassle of earning a top ten slot.


    As if someone was listening to his thoughts, a message shed on their pad rapidly.


    Auction starts in five minutes.


    Looking around, he checked to see if Mara and or Leon were watching him, as that timing was just uncanny.


    But he knew he wouldn''t see the duo unless they allowed it; his efforts were futile.


    After digging through a few menus, he saw that they were given the option to offer anything of value to the auction as well.


    That made Quill pause. If this was apletely audience-run auction, good items would be rather limited. At least, <em>they</em> had nothing of true value to put up for an auction. And he doubted that the other teams would be keeping items hidden thiste. Especially not before such an important event like the Tier 10 tournament.


    Activating the privacy bubble the table came with, he asked, What are your thoughts on the auction?


    Torch shook her head and shrugged. Seems odd, but what do I know?


    The Gem trio came up and red daggers at him and Torch, even through their masks. They were sitting at their old table, after all. But the the trio didn''t say anything.


    Quill debated saying something to antagonize them further, but didnt feel that it was worth the effort. Being mean was hard work.


    Sitting in afortable silence, they waited for the countdown to finish. When it hit zero, a new window appeared, and the first item for auction appeared.


    A delve slot for a Tier 11 rift from a local guild? Just for a single Tier 10 mana stone?


    Quill looked to Torch, and even through their respective masks, he could read the surprise on her face as well.


    Tentatively, she asked, Are the local guilds trying to earn their ways into our good graces?


    He agreed with that suggestion, but waited as the ninth team bid two mana stones for the slot. A new countdown appeared, and as it hit three, the second team increased the bid by one mana stone.


    Not willing to show their hand so early, the two of them waited through the first auction slot. Eventually, the slot went to the second-ce team for seven Tier 10 mana stones. Considering that a single Tier 11 mana stone was worth one hundred Tier 10 mana stones, that was a steal.


    I think we should get a delve slot if anotheres up.


    He left unsaid that they were freshly advanced Tier 10s, and running a rift could allow them to increase their power, unlike most of the other contestants. The majority of those participating had long since reached the peak of Tier 10, and had no way to increase their cultivation.


    Torch nodded and took his hand as she slid around the table to sit next to him.


    As that first auction ended, a second item reced it.


    A second, local Tier 35 guild was selling a Tier 11 mace that was enchanted with a vibration enchantment that would bypass armor.


    That was the theme for the next few items. Guilds and corporations were selling items on the cheap to the top ten masked contestants.


    It wasnt until the final items that things got interesting.


    Torch whistled softly. A guild level information packet on who they suspect to appear in the tournament. I can''t tell if theyre ballsy, or just in stupid. Tur''stal can''t be happy with that can she?


    Quill offered the other usible reason, That, or the information is all open secrets, and nothing actually valuable.


    Torch nodded without saying anything else, and they watched as the bids rocketed up to fifteen Tier 10 mana stones. Eventually, the first-ce team, who was still unounted for, upped the bid to one Tier 11 mana stone. That caused a long stall before someone else added a second stone to the bidding.


    After a few more rounds of back and forth, the packet of information was won by the first-ce team.


    Even for the price, Quill considered it cheap. He assumed that, like them, most of the teams were able to delve two Tiers up, and had ess to at least some Tier 12 mana stones. As for why they weren''t using them in the auction, he wasn''t sure.


    There seemed to be an unspoken understanding to keep prices down, but so far, nothing truly valuable had appeared yet.


    Once again, as if someone was reading his thoughts, a Tier 11 natural treasure appeared up for auction.


    Reading the description, Quill leaned forward, with Torch mirroring his action.


    Someone was selling a Tier 13 chunk of lightning stone.


    If a cultivator wanted to get lightning-aligned mana, all they had to do was cycle their mana through the stone, and they would have elementally aligned mana from then on.


    It was one of the easiest ways to earn a mana alignment, and for those without a Concept that forced their mana into that direction, the item was worth its weight in mana stones far higher than the Tier 11 stones the auction started at.


    Even he could use the stone for the core of an item. If he built a staff around the lightning stone, he could increase the damage of lighting spells cast through the staff by at least half, and possibly up to double. Though, that would waste the stone in the process.


    The stone''s price quickly shot up to thirty-two Tier 11 mana stones before pausing slightly.


    It took until the countdown reached two digits before the first-ce team stepped in once again, and started a three-way bidding war.


    The first, third, and sixth teams were all seemingly unwilling to give up the item, and the price skyrocketed to forty-two Tier 12 mana stones before the momentum petered out once again.


    In the end, the sixth-ce team was willing to pay the most, and the item vanished.


    The next item forced Quill to bid.


    Someone was selling the nail sheddings of a Tier 15 wind dragon. While it wasn''t as ideal of a crafting material as the hide of a monster, it was the next best thing, and its elemental alignment would allow him to create five or six devastatingly powerful wind talismans.


    While it was literal scrap to the dragon that shed the nail, it was a useful crafting material for anyone at their Tier, and the bidding quickly raced up to a Tier 13 mana stone.


    At that point, Quill sighed and backed out of the bidding.


    While they had the funds to keep going, he wasnt willing to burn most of their liquidity at their first auction.


    They had only been delving Tier 12 rifts at Tier 9, and hadn''t made the jump to delve a Tier 13 rift after advancing. They also needed to make sure that their separate identities finances werent mixed. After all, Quill had expenses with his talismans, and spending more than they should would be a red g to anyone looking.


    The final item was a Tier 13 strength potion that could triple the effective strength of a fighter for a few hours.


    Torch was interested, but as the price raced past the Tier 12 mana stone cost, she backed out as well.


    She tapped the table and said, I can make something just as good for that cost. Or at least nearly so. Damn, we should have bought that rift slot.


    He pulled her into a one-armed hug and said, We have next week. And it was good to see that there are some interesting itemsing to our attention. I think we should remain a top ten team for the auction, if nothing else. If the guilds want to sell us things to earn our favor, I''m all for it.


    Torch sighed and started to y with his free hand as they watched the auction end.


    As the potion vanished and the auction ended, he asked, Hows your potion project going?


    Torch just sighed as an answer. It was answer enough.


    He knew she was working on something, but she had recently hit a stumbling block on using her potions in a fight. She had had a few ideas on how to increase their efficiency, but none of them had panned out, as far as he was aware.


    With the auction over, all the other teams started to file out of the room.


    Queen stopped at their table long enough for Quill to lower the privacy barrier and said, All auction items will be delivered here. Now that it''s over, theres little reason to sit around.


    Quill nodded, and Torch thanked the solo delver.


    That was a good privacy measure, if nothing else, he had to admit.


    A package delivered to any location would paint a massive red g on anyone who went there, and a neutral room like the top ten lounge was the safest ce to prevent spies from gathering information on who the masks were.


    Quill assumed that the other teams that had joined the auction remotely would be stopping by at some point and picking up their items.


    Getting up from their table, they moved to the teleportation pad and left with the others.


    Appearing back in Mara and Leon''s apartment doorway, Matt was shocked to see a thirty-year-old looking man sitting in pajamas and watching the pad in the living room.


    It didn''t take Lizs exmation of Sam! to realize it was one of her brothers.


    The older man raised his arm and pulled Liz into a hug as he teased her. Youve grown up BethBeth. Last time I saw you, you were only as high as my knee.


    Liz punched the older man in the kidney, but he didnt even flinch. That''s because you haven''t been back since I was that tall.


    Having removed his own mask, unlike Liz, Matt proffered a hand and introduced himself. Matt. It''s good to meet you. I wish I could say I knew anything about you. Liz isn''t exactly forting with information about her siblings.


    Samughed and ruffled his sister''s ming masks hair. Were all a little weird. I''m Sam. The oldest sibling. Nice to meet you.


    Liz pulled off her mask and squirmed out of the hair rub to take Matt''s hand. This is Matt.


    Sam interrupted her. Yes, he just said hello. I have ears.


    Liz ignored his rebuke and said, This is my brother, Major General Samuel Moore.


    Sam grinned, tapped his nose, and coughed. Lieutenant General now. This break is a part of my change over to a new unit. I have the next three years off before I report in.


    Matt let out a long whistle.


    A Lieutenant General was the second-highest rank of active officer in the Empire''s military.


    At that point, promotions were no longer just about Tier, and were more about umted merit, as well as a reflection of past actions.


    Even a one-star Brigadier General was a rarity, but a three-star Lieutenant General meant that Samuel was one of a few dozen active officers who had proven time and time again they werepetent in battle. Someone of his stature had shown that could lead their troops into a war, and get them out again.


    Matt nodded slightly and said, It''s an honor then, sir.


    Sam rolled his eyes and waved Matt down. Were family. And I''m off right now. Don''t sir me at home. If you see me in uniform, sure. But here, I''m just an older brother.


    Liz was still staring bbergasted at her brother and shouted, We need to celebrate! A promotion is huge! How can you be so casual about it? This isn''t you reaching Lieutenant, or something rote that anyone can reach with enough time. This is amazing!


    Sam justughed and pulled Liz down onto the couch. Rx. Well celebrate when mom and dad get home. They vanished in a puff of smoke when I told them the news.


    He sighed and added, Just don''t bring up Annie.


    Matt raised an eyebrow, and Sam lightly pped Lizs head. Did you tell him nothing?


    Liz rubbed her head and blew him a raspberry. No! He''s with me, not my family. And he''ll meet everyone here. That''s better than getting stories about people he''s never met.


    Sam sighed and exined to Matt, Annie is my wife, but she was unable toe because her unit deployed. He looked back to Liz and squinted at her before sighing, Little sister, you need to get over your hangups.


    Liz grinned evilly as she asked, Well, when are you going


    Sam tackled her and tried to cover her mouth but was unsessful, and Liz got out betweenughs.


    To.


    Have.


    Kids?


    Sam froze while Lizughed.


    Matt froze as well because he noticed the same thing. Two pairs of owlish eyes appeared, hovering in the middle of the living room, along with a pair of foot-tall ears.


    Clearly, Mara and Leon were all too eager for grandkids.


    As the talk of grandkids paused, the peeping eyes and ears faded into the air as if they had never been there.


    Matt began to understand exactly why Travis and Keith had so many hang-ups of their own.


    Sam red at Liz, and as he looked between her and Matt, his re turned into a smirk.


    Baby sister, you aren''t so young anymore yourself. You might want to watch what you threaten people with.


    Looking to Matt, Sam exined, Annie and I had decided to finally step back and have an actual family when one of us got promoted. We both have enough merits to get the time off and


    He looked furtively around, and a pressure of a stronger cultivation epassed the room before he said, We have a Tier 40 fertility potion that should ensure we seed.


    Seeing his parents didnt appear, the pressure lifted and Sam sighed, But with the uing troubles, were going to wait. We want to raise our kids without the risk that one of us will get called away for a century-long deployment. But mom and dad are on my ass about it. So just dont bring it up, please.


    Matt probed the power that he had felt, but was unable to get a good grasp on how strong Sam was. He knew that the wars were limited to Tier 35s and below, but that pressure felt way stronger than Tier 35.


    Still, it was so much higher than his own cultivation that he had trouble getting a good feeling on it.


    Sam changed the subject, and he and Liz agreed not to mention kids again. So what have you two been up to? Also, don''t you have a bond, Matt?


    That got them chatting about more casual things for the next few hours. Sam seemed happy to listen to their stories of adventure and training, asking all the right questions to keep the conversation going. But he seemed genuinely interested, which somewhat surprised Matt.


    With the massive age difference, he had expected Lizs oldest siblings to be distant and removed from her life.


    It was nice to see that wasnt the case.


    Eventually, their conversation turned to the vassal war and their actions in the battles.


    Sam was pestered by his sister until he actually gave real feedback on their actions.


    Matt, youre a good team leader, but not a great general. Now, Im not saying you cant develop that in the future, but you don''t have the natural ability.


    Seeing something on Matt''s face, he hurried to add, That''s not a bad thing. I sure as anything didnt have the ability when I was Tier 6 either. Shit, I didnt start learning to lead massive amounts of men until I was thrust into the position myself. I''m just saying, you can work on that if you want. On the flip side, youre a natural as a squad orpany-levelmander. You seem to have a knack for small-unit leadership, which is a fantastic start.


    He looked at Liz and tapped her on the nose. You need to trust yourself. You did well with the political shit. Even I don''t like politicking, and I grew up when Mom and Dad were just Tier 20. Trust yourself, little sister.


    At that point, Aster returned and cocked her head at the neer, which necessitated another round of introductions.


    Aster had no problems with new people, and quickly situated herself into the man''sp for pets. Meanwhile, she happily chatted about what she and the other bonds had gotten up to.


    Matt mock red at thep traitor, but had tough at the antics she had gotten up to.


    Eventually, Mara and Leon returned, and they went out to one of the more fancy restaurants on the other side of the.


    The dinner was exquisite, but Matt mostly watched how Mara and Leon acted with their firstborn. For all their yfulness, they were generally concerned with his health and wellbeing, despite him being Tier 35 and having fought in numerous battles through his advancement.


    It was touching to see them care so much. And for all that, Liz was smothered by the attention Samuel seemed to happily wee.


    Samuel''s arrival put most of their ns on hold, as he and Liz spent most of their days with him. Matt found the older man easy to talk to; he was a good listener, and always had a helpful suggestion to offer.


    As one of Lizs brothers, he was let in on their double identities, and was more than happy to spar with both of them under each identity and offer suggestions.


    While most of his suggestions werent groundbreaking, they were practical, and always were intended to help them reduce wasted movement and go for the kill.


    It wasn''t hard to imagine why hisbat style had evolved in that way, but both he and Liz took the lesson to heart.


    Samuel had spent all of his time from Tier 15 to Tier 35 in the military, honing and perfecting his craft.


    One thing that stuck out to Matt was their talk of Intents.


    Do you know what you three want? The Tier 35s question came after they had gone through a Concept workout. It was simr to Lunas, but focused more on practical power than the control she usually pushed for.


    Liz was the first to speak. Nothing yet. None of us have even finished converting all of our essences with our Concepts yet.


    Sam shrugged as if that wasn''t an issue. That makes it harder, sure, but there is nothing to stop you from exploring where you want to take your Intent. You can already start trying to shift your personality in that direction. While youll still need to deal with the uniqueness that everyone''s Intents demand, theres nothing that stops you from nudging the process along. Tier 24 will be upon you before you know it, and you don''t want to get stuck at the end of the race, only to find the door locked shut.


    Matt thought about what he needed, and came up with only one answer. Mana concentration.


    I''d love for my Intent to give me mana concentration, but I have no idea what my Tier 25 Talent will be. It would be dumb to use my Intent for something that might be solved by my Tier 25.


    Sam rolled his eyes, and flicked Matt''s forehead hard enough to make him see stars.


    Dont be stupid. When I say push your Intent to the end you want, Im not talking out of my ass. Having your Talent solve your mana concentration issue and having an Intent that does that isn''t a bad thing. The effects would be multiplicative. Also, your Domains are about finding your own true self amongst the chaos that is the world. If your Intent is farting bubbles on rainy days, and that fits you, that''s what you should go for. A <em>fitting</em> Domain is better than a Domain you think is powerful. Seeing Matt''s raised eyebrow, he added, Domain being the collective name for a Concept, Intent, and Aspect, if you didnt know that yet.


    Sam then leaned in and mock whispered, And with enough mental gymnastics, you can get almost any effect out of any phrase. Sitting up straight, he added, I knew a guy that turned aziness Intent into letting him practice in his sleep. The man was always working, but somehow was alwayszy about it. Find what fits you, then work to make it practical.


    That got Matt thinking, but he didn''t have any easy answers. His Concept wasnt developed enough to start building and testing images and phrases, but he let the Tier 35s words percte in the back of his mind.


    The idea of using aziness Concept to work hard gave him some ideas, not for his Intent, but for his talisman making.


    Using that idea, he created a slow barrier instead of a hard-shelled barrier like [Mana Barrier]. It was actually far more effective than he predicted. For the same amount of mana, he could slow ranged attacks by creating a barrier of a jelly-like consistency, mixed in with a little repulsive force provided by his Concept.


    In their practice, the barrier couldst minutes instead of seconds, and with his own reaction time, Matt was able to dodge everything that Sam and Liz could throw his way, both magical and physical.


    It also paired well with Torch''s up close and personal fighting style. As Matt well knew, melee fighters were at the mercy of ranged fighters, and with just a few of the slow barriers, she was able to fight an opponent and dodge anything shot at her.


    As the end of the week came up, they had another masquerade to attend, and they wanted to see if any new top contenders appeared.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135


    Zack studied the stream of information as it rolled in, looking for any clues as to the abilities or identities of the masked Pathers.


    ncing at the time, Allie was now forty minuteste for her shift. If the patterns over thest week were anything to go by, he expected her to bete by another ten. And yet, that somehow managed to be an overall <em>improvement</em>.


    He pulled up the information feed on the top ten Masks again, and reviewed what details theyd sniffed out over thest two weeks.


    Currently in tenth ce, and determined to stay there, was a team of four who had matching masks, each emzoned with a different number written in the same, deadnguage. The fact that they were using thirteen, twenty-one, thirty-four, and fifty-five from the golden ratio was interesting. Zack had whittled away hours looking for a connection between that and the abilities they had revealed so far, but he hadnt cracked the riddle.


    <em>Yet</em>.


    He hadnt found the answer yet, but he knew that he eventually would. People never did anything without a reason, even a dumb one. Zack would find said reason. Eventually.


    So far, the team, which Allie had dubbed the Math Club, had only shown off pretty standard skills. They had yet to reveal any of their Concepts. However, he pegged them as having hidden depths, and being unlikely to ever be knocked out of the top ten from a personal loss. No, so far they had only slipped from their chosen position due to a higher ranked team being beaten, knocking everyone else down a rank with them.


    Their team would have been more inconspicuous had they not repeatedly moved back into <em>exactly </em>tenth ce. Anytime someone new entered the running above them, and shifted them into eleventh, they would immediately challenge the new tenth ce team and reim their old spot. The Math Club always won handily, and they never advertised any new abilities, which ultimately highlighted both their strong capabilities and their poor sense for subterfuge.


    As he continued on to the ninth-ced team, Allie rippled into being via a spatial distortion, loudly munching on what smelled like salted roasted peanuts.


    Taking a second sniff, he noted a faint aroma of honey as well, and cringed at his friend''s crude palette.


    Zack Attack! Anything new and interesting? Allie leaned over his shoulder.


    Zack maneuvered his chair seven and a half inches to the left, giving his partner and begrudging friend enough room to see the screen without forfeiting his own designated space.


    He refused to venture into the disaster zone that was Allies section of the hideout.


    Yes, hello to you, Allie. Why yes, I was happy to workte for you while you goofed off and got roasted peanuts. He tried to keep the snark out of his voice. He failed.


    Still, Allie grinned as she popped another peanut into her mouth,pletely unbothered by hisck of restraint.


    Zack zeroed in on the crumbs that sprinkled to the floor, and with a strand of mana and effort, swept the offending debris into a pile. He then incinerated them with a puff of fire mana. The smell of smoke even helped to cover up that hint of sweetness desecrating her peanuts.


    Allie still peered at the screen and quizzed, Anybody new?


    Knowing from long experience that it was better to simply humor her, he started his report with the relevant details.


    The authorities still havent caught on to our hacking of the spatial orbs, so were still getting full recordings of the actual battles. Here are thetest challenges.


    In apressed video, streamed at a rate that he knew his partner couldprehend, thetest fights raced by.


    Allie just chewed and bobbed her head as everything shed past.


    Finally, she broke the silence. Ooh! I like Quill. His eyes are gorgeous! And hes got good quips.


    Zack fought the urge to roll his eyes. He failed. Of course that was the first thing his partner would address.


    Personally, Zack found the boy''s partner, Torch, far more intriguing. But that could wait.


    Before he could mention those oddities, Allie asked, Oh! Have you found a weakness in the teleportation matrices yet? That would make this job a cakewalk.


    Shaking his head in the negative, he said, I tried, but Tur''stal set thework up herself. The reports on her crafting abilities were not overstated. If we even look at it wrong, well alert her to our presence. Then were done for.


    Even at Tier 23, and with their Talents, they had a zero percent chance of escaping if the Tier 47 caught wind of their espionage. The Tier 35 responsible for crafting the dueling arena orbs had overlooked a small vulnerability in the spatial enchantment that they had been able to exploit. However, the orbs were mainly intended to hinder espionage betweenpetitors before the tournament. Comparatively, the teleportation beacons were in ce to keep all the masked Pather identities secret, to help protect them from assassination and harrassment. Thus, the Royalty took measures to ensure it was vastly more secure than the orbs. But not even the highest Tiers were infallible, and the duo had hoped to find a loose thread to pull somewhere.


    Allie chewed her lip as she nodded.


    As they were talking about security, Zack inquired, On that note, have you set up the next set of burn rooms? We need to abandon this one in the next few days.


    Allie brushed her sandy blonde hair away from her eyes. Three are all ready to go, except for the snacks, and I got some space set aside for a few hideyholes on the itself.


    Zack nodded. The small tournament was far out in the distant reaches of the star system, and under constant surveince by Tur''stals personal guards. At Tier 35, they would normally sense a Tier 23 like Allie, but she had far too much practice infiltrating ces where she wasn''t meant to be for them to notice anything amiss. Combined with their focus on the rifts and critical equipment, an extra worker slyly fashioning their tiny little hideaways would simply escape their notice, especially when a wetworker like Allie was the one making them.


    If she even suspected someone noticed her, she would have already enacted aplete burning of their operation, after all.


    For all her faults, Allie could be adequatelypetent when the situation demanded it. If she could just be more serious the rest of the time, Zack could rx more.


    Even as he mentallyplimented his partner, the menace seized his collection of markers. In the process of plucking out the purple one, she jumbled all the other colors from their careful arrangement of descending wavelength.


    Allie strutted over to the whiteboard and started listing what they knew about the Pathers, as he turned and carefullyid out his poor markers. Then, one by one, he returned them to their proper positions in the cup.


    Even while doing so, he was still listening to Allie.


    So, we have a talisman user mage hybrid and a fire specialized melee fighter. She drew a line under them after writing their new position on the board, bumping everyone else down a slot.


    The Math Club also managed to get back to tenth ce after being pushed down to eleventh. Again.


    Allie perked up, Oh! Did those geeks finally use any new skills?


    Zack just shook his head, to Allies disappointment.


    She frowned. Whatever. Theyll have to bring out more power and tip their hand eventually. Back to the new duo. Quills a talisman flinger, but with some skill at real spellwork as well. Good sense of battlefield awareness and positioning too. That rounds him out much better than the stereotypical paper cannon. Do we have any real leads on his prospective Talent?


    She twirled around, and he saw that his marker''s cap was being chewed on. Immediately, he set an AI reminder to go buy another few packets of markers. That whole pack was ruined now.


    Still, Zack hesitated with his next conjecture. Eventually, he relented and voiced what he had learned. Yes. Quill told a crafter he challenged that he has the ability to take others'' mana types and store them. Considering he knows about mana sub-aspects and uses them in his talismans at this Tier, Im inclined to believe its at least partially true, but well discuss why I remain skeptical in a minute.


    Allie shot him a familiar look, and he slumped, knowing where this was going. To his surprise, she didn''t ask what he expected. And hes actually able to <em>use</em> different sub-aspects? Effectively?


    Zack nodded. Yes, most definitely. I was able to get a good read on his fight and He brought up and reyed the talisman array Quill had used. He''s actually utilizing at least five different types ofplementary ice-aspected mana, including notes of stillness, slow, draining, cold, and one I couldnt quite catch. It''s quite ingenious, honestly, and Im almost jealous. Theyering adds to their power, giving him a greater spell that even punched through Sapphire Shields Talent in less than two seconds.


    Allie whistled. Impressive. I thought all that power came from the array. If not, thats strong craftsmanship. <em>Inspired</em> even. Any chance hes walking the divide?


    He strummed his fingers against the desk. I considered that possibility. Walking the divide between The Paths is <em>very rarely</em> permitted, but Quill really does check off all the right boxes for it. However, I ruled it out in short order. Dedicated talisman craftsmen on The Path are far too rare. Too notable. The potency of his work would make big waves in a very small pool, and Id have easily narrowed down his identity already from that alone. No, hes been keeping his work to himself, which he couldnt do if he was trying to stay on the crafters side of The Path too. For whatever reason, Quill must have chosen to be abatant, and <em>just </em>abatant, on The Path. Arguably an odd choice, given his preferred weapon, and especially given a Talent that even lets him copy mana sub-aspects. The potential crafting applications are manifold.


    She smirked, and he knew what was finallying. So Quill has a better version of your Talent?


    He struggled to hold in a sigh. He failed. She knew just as well as he did that was not the case, but if he didnt refute her now, hed be mocked about it all day. Probably longer even, given the one time hed actually tried to wait her out. Hed failed then too.


    His Talent may be <em>superficially </em>simr to mine, but I am inclined to believe that his is significantly less flexible inbat, as all mana used in real-time was purely neutral. Yes, I am aware that this could very well be a misdirection, particrly considering some additional facts that well go over momentarily. But given his reliance on talismans, Im more likely to believe that its a genuine limitation of some form or another. Perhaps its an efficiency penalty, perhaps it simply takes time, but I am skeptical that he would have invested so heavily into pre-prepared spells on a whim. Thus, preparation is his strength. If he is given adequate time to create a counter, I am confident that he could manage as much.


    Raising a finger to emphasize his point, he lectured, However, if taken off-guard by an unexpected tactic, or simply worn down over time, he is unlikely to perform very well. In this tournament, where all potential foes may be studied beforehand? Where the fighting is limited to single isted encounters? With long breaks in between to restock his talismans? He will do extremely well, but that strength will be something of an illusion, and we should keep that in mind during our final threat assessment. Dont mistake me, if his Talent is what he ims, he is very strong. This is just an optimal environment for him. Unfairly so. Its for all the same reasons that he might make a good hit man, if he can be less shy and a little more limited in his attacks. The amount of danger he poses sharply fluxuates based on his ability to either predict or choose his battles. Comparatively, my Talent sacrifices his extra variety for<em> far greater</em> flexibility. While its perhaps ironic to say that in this circumstance, it is nheless urate.


    Gesturing to the mans partner and a particr moment in her fight, he continued, Now, keeping all that in mind, the melee fighter is substantially more interesting, and makes <em>him</em> all the more curious for pairing up with her. Torch.


    Allie butted in. Meh, I saw her fight. A melee mer isn''t that interesting. Curious, sure. And shes adequate with her spear, much better than the average Tier 10 Pather even. But that''s to be expected. Nothing truly exceptional.


    Zacks lips twitched upwards. His thoughts had been simr, until his third breakdown of the fight.


    Maybe, but watch this maneuver.


    He reyed a moment where Torch twisted in a dodge and, on a burst of me, glided to the side.


    He let the scene continually rey until Allie caught the moment, the tiny irregrity.


    Wait! She was already moving the instant before the expulsion of me. His partner paused. Huh. That''s a good catch. So how did she actually start gliding to the side?


    Zack nodded. That was the real question, after all. I do not yet know, but I strongly suspect shes a Muzzled Mask. Otherwise, why would a fire Talent, even a minor one, utilize a melee build? And such an aggressive one at that? If my guess is right, she has some form of innate spatial awareness too. Watch this moment where she dodges one of Rubys arrows.


    On the screen, Torch was attacked from behind, but without turning her head, she sailed to the side with a perfectly timed jet of me.


    The moment she reacted timed up with when the magic arrow was exactly fourteen feet away from her elbow, which was unnaturally specific enough to imply a Talent at work. And a sphere of total awareness would exin why she chose to fight in melee range, when distance would be better for a weak fire Talent.


    That was why he thought she was a Muzzled Mask. Pathers who took extreme measures to obscure their abilities, even during the tournament itself, were dubbed such for their harsh, self-imposed restrictions. Their primary goal was to remain as anonymous as possible, while cing higher in the tournament remained a distant secondary concern.


    Maybe its some kind of energy-based perception or precision ability? Plus whatever trick shes using to move. Allie suggested, Though youre right, it does mean Quill is worth another look too. If his partners hiding this much, that means he probably is as well. Then again, it <em>could</em> just be an odd Concept. Maybe how mes flicker or how their heat radiates into the air? Some sort of danger sense coupled with limited flight? It wouldnt be <em>that</em> strange.


    Zack nodded, and they brainstormed Torchs potential Talents next to Quills. Both agreed that the pair would go far. Even without their Talents, they had hit far above their Tier, as shown by their grudge match against the Gems.


    Sapphire Shield herself was a fortress of a tank, and overwhelming her in a full frontal attack was previously unheard of. While that could partially be exined with the talisman array, Torch had also been holding her own against both Sapphire Shield and Emerald de, who was a prodigy with that saber.


    Allie asked, Anything new with the rest of em?


    No. In fact, Queen has still not dropped the manifestation of her Concept.


    He projected an image of the masked woman and showed the massive greatsword she hugged as she watched video after video of swordsmen in the top ten private lounge.


    Allie looked shellshocked. Still? Its been at least two months! Are we sure that keeping her Concept manifested <em>isnt</em> her Talent?


    Zack shook his head. That still seemed wrong for all the reasons they had previously debated. Its almost unheard of for a Talent to focus on something someone doesnt even have yet. Unless you''re suggesting she managed a Concept manifestation even before her Awakening. Thats all the more absurd though. She wouldnt have the cultivation cores to even sustain that. At best, she could know her image and phrase, but that shouldnt be enough to spark a Talent for its manifestation.


    Allie tapped his marker on the screen and then circled the sword. Yeah, but the girl is Tier 10 and has kept her Concept manifested for two months. Even if shes instantly dismissing it the second she''s behind closed doors, theres no way she has this much willpower. Heck, even a Tier 15 wouldnt be able to make their swordst that long. It would even be a slight hassle for <em>me</em>. She said with a wry smile before she resumed gnawing on the back of his marker.


    Humming to herself, she pitched an alternative. I mean, it could also be a greatsword Concept thats almostpletely geared towards manifestation? It would be a weird one, but how else do we exin it? The top contenders are now cracked skill, Talent, or something with the Concept itself. I got close enough to rule out some kind of insanely unique growth item at least. Definitely would have felt that. Maybe the Talent is rted to object summoning, and she was able to weave her Concept into it? A cracked skill not sure. The glitchy things can be too unpredictable to really rule out.


    Together, they trawled through the woman''s fights again.


    The first one urred when she had first arrived on West Flower and joined the masquerade. In her first duel with the rank two-hundred-eleven solo Pather, she had wielded her greatsword so elegantly that most people didnt even realize it wasnt a real de made of metal. In just three exchanges, she eviscerated the man with nigh perfect sweeps of her de.


    Zack appreciated it for the meticulously controlled attacks. She knew the length of her de and perfectly maneuvered her opponent into backstepping, just not quite far enough topletely dodge.


    Her movements recited poetry in visual form, and the precision of them resonated with him down to his core. He even caught his hand idly drifting to where his rapier usually hung. Of course, it wasnt there, which meant hed annoyingly moved his hand all that distance for no reason.


    It was simr to how hed analyzed decades worth of lower Tier mundane de tournament records in search of Queens identity <em>for no reason</em>. Given her prowess with the de and obsession with dueling, thosepetitions should have been her domain to conquer and rule with an iron fist. Yet not a singlepetitor seemed like a viable match for the mysterious fighters skill level, age range, and general description.


    The next fight showed her battle with the then third-ced team. Even in a five versus one showdown, she decimated her opponents in under five minutes, despite being outnumbered and bombarded at long distance by both a ranger and mage.


    With her presumed greatsword Concept, Queen deflected all of the projectiles without interrupting her attack patterns. That was the only battle so far that had forced her to use a skill, a simple [Mana sh]. With it, she had eliminated both her ranged opponents from the fight.


    That act would have been impressive if she had been fighting normalbatants, but the Pathers she had been fighting never slipped below the sixth rank, and had preserved their ranking despite three other challenges.


    That single [Mana sh] had simply moved so quickly, it crossed the fifty-five foot distance in less time than it took for the teams mage and ranger to blink.


    Zack had timed each, just to be certain.


    While increasing the movement speed of a skill was possible, it was one of the hardest modifications to make to a spell, and usually resulted in a notable reduction in power. Queen''s attack suffered from seemingly no side effects, but that could be exined through the use of her Concept.


    Except, that brought them around to the fact that Queen had her Concept manifested at all times. To imbue her Concept in a skill and send it out would be easy, but her sword didnt even flicker. That wasn''t something seen until after Tier 15, when people had long years to train their Concept.


    To manage a doubleyering of her Concept at her Tier made her an enigma. The Empire seemed to have a surplus of those these days.


    Allie drew a tongue sticking out of Queen''s paused mask and sagged her head. Ugh. She''s a pain in my ass. Let''s just move on. What about first and second ce? Still squabblin?


    Zack brought up a projection and yed their most recent fight.


    The two solo Pathers had been duking it out incessantly for thest two months. Their current record was a near-even split, but they carefully kept their little feud out of the public view.


    That may have helped them, if Zack didnt have the feeds to all the ss orbs.


    Currently in first ce was the Pather code-named Adam.


    The man''s mask changed consistently, but with an illusion Talent, even they weren''t sure what his real face looked like.


    Sometimes he wore actual masks that covered his identity, but other times he wore nothing or just a mask that covered his eyes and cheekbones.


    The trickster was slippery, as his control over his illusions was so refined that even the cameras couldn''t pick him up. If Zack was there in person, he could have shattered the facade, but that was asking to be discovered, so he had to resort to videos only. Passive recon was safe recon.


    While the Tier 10 Pathers didnt know it, the little ballroom they were congregating in was inside Tur''stals pce.


    The second-ce Pather went by the name Pause. And what an apt name it was.


    The girl didnt even try to hide her Talent, just her identity.


    As near as they could figure, every three seconds, Pause reverted to a physical form she had previously chosen. That included her clothes and stamina, just not her mana. Though as far as they had seen, the Talent didnt depend on mana to function. More than once, Adam had cut the woman''s head off from an invisible hiding point, only for her to reform perfectly unharmed.


    A monstrously strong Talent. Nheless, not even the greatest Talents were invincible. It must have some limitations that they hadnt puzzled out yet.


    For that matter, Adam hadnt either. His wins were from when he managed to entomb Pause in some entrapment skill or another. She usually had ways to wiggle out of them, clearly knowing her own weakness, but that didnt stop the tactic from being effective half the time.


    So, most fights devolved into seeing if Pause could stumble upon and stab the invisible man before she was trussed up.


    While entertaining, the pair never revealed new skills to each other, and just applied the same few skills in new ways.


    They also never really visited the top ten lounge, which limited their ability to track the top two Pathers.


    After covering the other things he had learned during his watch, there was nothing else worth discussing.


    Zack stood up and carefully pushed his chair under the table at his spot. Taking a moment, he inched it slightly left, so it lined up with his stationery, and turned to bid Allie farewell.


    Even at Tier 23, he needed the break after a week of being perpetually alert and observing the Tier 10s.


    That, and he had to report theirtest findings to their handlers.


    Sighing, he paced to the teleportation formation and vanished.


    ***


    Allie watched as Zack winked away and then leaned over, poked his chair a smidgeon, and slightly tilted his pad of paper.


    A finger flick moved his markers into a counterclockwise spiral instead of a clockwise one.


    She grinned and let loose her best evilugh.


    Having been partners for well over a century, she knew all the best ways to mess with him.


    She practically had it down to a science; maximum annoyance with minimum effort.


    Leaning back, she swung her feet up to put them on the desk, but her chair slipped off the pole, and she crashed to the ground. Crawling to the base of the chair, she saw that her chairs'' bolts had been carefully cut through so when she leaned back, she would be sent tumbling.


    She giggled as she reached up, grabbing the peanuts from where they still hovered in the same spot.


    Having been partners for well over a century, <em>he</em> knew the best ways to mess with <em>her</em> as well.


    Still smiling, she pulled a plusher recement chair out of her spatial ring and settled in for the grind.


    ***


    Shoving away from her alchemy table, Liz let out a huff and waited for thetest potion to finish its final stage of boiling down.


    Looking over, she saw Matt carefully tracing out the runes for his talismans, and once again, she wondered if she could keep up with him.


    Even using [Blood Maniption] to move her body like a marite, she was still weaker than his persona.


    Quill was a force of nature, with enough trump cards to fill a dragons hoard.


    With only skills unaffected by her Talent at her disposal, namely in her outer spirit, she was heavily limited.


    Even with her blood doping methods and [Blood Maniption], she only held so many other cards she could y.


    <em>And if you consider each of the talismans as a card, Quill would have a million cards to y. Almost literally.</em>


    Liz squashed that train of thought, as it would only lead to jealousy. Besides,she believed that she might have a way to massively increase her power shortly.


    If only she could perfect the process.


    Originally, the restrictions on her Torch identity had sparked the idea. While she was barred from using any outward blood skills, she still had free reign within her own body.


    In theory, that gave her an advantage over even her hulking partner, who couldn''t use the repulsive or mana charging effects of his Concept. In practice, even with an internal Concept, she was limited in what abilities she could exhibit.


    Against normal opponents, even Tier 12 monsters at Tier 9, that had been more than enough to carry her through. Against the other best Pathers her generation had to offer, she struggled to overwhelm them as she had the more predictable monsters.


    She needed an additional edge. That had gotten her thinking about her alchemy.


    Battle potions were their own field of alchemy for a reason. A boost to strength in the middle of a battle could be the deciding factor.


    The problem with most potions was their immediate side effects, which usually entailed the drinker getting weaker for a time,bined with an increasing resistance to the effects of the potions if used back to back.


    There were some serious drawbacks to ovee if she wanted alchemy to be more than ast resort or finishing measure.


    As with most things, her Talent proved both a curse and a saving grace.


    What boxed her into a specific fighting style also potentially opened a door to something unique.


    After enduring agonizing testing with Luna, she had confirmed that she could purge herself of a potion''s side effects. With her control over her blood and body, she could locate the small remnants of the potions and expel them, while focusing [Blood Endurance] on regenerating the exact areas where the potion had stressed her body.


    The required caliber of control forced her to push the scope of her abilities to a level she would never have thought possible at this Tier. But it was. She proved it.


    A shudder ran through her as she remembered the training. Luna had no issue in dosing her up to the gills with untold types of potions to build enough toxins for her to learn how to identify them. Apparently, this type of training hadnt been nned for another few Tiers, but their manager was delighted to start early. That nightmare had left her bedridden for a week, and Matt had tried to convince her to give up on the idea entirely.


    When she refused, he hadn''t pushed, but she knew the whole tactic still troubled the big softy.


    Regardless, he supported her and ensured that she had all the ingredients she could ask for.


    And she had gotten the idea to work. Just not as well as she needed it to.


    Now, if she took a potion, she could control the speed at which it affected her by controlling her absorption of the potion. She could also make a short duration potion only affect her when she needed it to.


    That had been the first step, but she needed to push it further.


    Scrutinizing her cauldron, she watched as the normal strength potion thickened and the liquids boiled off, When it was reduced to a few thimbles of liquid, she transferred it into a waiting pair of vials.


    Aster, who was lounging on the chair next to her and reading a book through her AI, was more than happy to quickly cool the concoction.


    Liz peeked up to see Matt paused in his talisman creation; the parchment in front of him was messily dissolving. He must have halted mid-enchantment to cause a failure so catastrophic.


    He remained silent, but she easily guessed his thoughts.


    Babe, weve been through this. It will be fine. I can direct the potion well enough to quickly shunt it out if something goes wrong. I have before. Even if that fails, you spent a small fortune on Tier 12 purification potions as backups.


    He scooted his stool forward. Yeah, but you shouldn''t have to put yourself through that much pain. But if you insist on going through with this, I''m going to be ready with a healing spell too.


    Liz leaned forward to peck on his forehead and then moved over to their confirmatory testing station and observation center. It wasn''t just for his concerns that she was going to pre-test the vial of concentrated potion. She wanted to do that for her own safety as well.


    Liz wasnt stupid. That particr trait had skipped a generation.


    After the concoction was verified as a viable strength potion, she put the vial in an injector and stabbed it into her thigh.


    Her jaw locked open as she felt the concentrated potion suffuse her bloodstream. It was like moltenva as the thick solution oozed its way through her veins.


    With what felt like limitless power stampeding through her muscles, she punched out at the Tier 13 strength measuring device next to her alchemy station.


    Not checking to see what number shed on the disy, she shifted her concentration inward to see what was going on.


    The removal of extra water wasn''t the only thing she had changed during the formtion of her potion.


    Potions were made with ingredients that would slow the absorption of the medicinal effects. Removing them greatly increased the efficacy of the potion, but came with the drawback of being much harder on the body.


    Even now, she could sense enough damage to her muscles and veins to verify she would be needing that healing spell. Probably more than just the one.


    Thankfully, they had just returned from the masquerade, and she would recover from the healing cooldown before the next one.


    With only a month before the opening of the Tier 10 tournament, everyone was getting increasingly restless, and the maskedpetitors were all jostling for a ce in the top ten.


    They had already fought seven other teams in thest three masquerades, and she expected that number to drastically increase over the next four meetings. She also worried that numerous rival teams might conspire to deplete Quills talisman supply as much as possible before the tournament, by issuing them continuous rank challenges beforehand.


    In actuality, such a tactic wouldnt even put a dent in his stockpile, but every fight was an opportunity for them to slip up and reveal something they shouldnt.


    It took everything she had to control her blood and start to extract the lingering effects of the potions that tried to build up her resistance. As she had known it would, the increase in efficiency came with a greater reaction from her body.


    Still, with precise control and a mountainous nudge from her Concept, she gathered the lingering remnants and shunted them out through the injection site on her leg. The rust brown ooze smelled wretched, but she hardly noticed.


    After a healing spell from Matt, she gingerly picked up the remaining vial and injected it directly into her other thigh.


    Instead of letting the potion run free, she strictly regted its journey through her system with tightly controlled barriers of blood.


    Standing tall, she looked back up to Matt, whose hand glowed with a healing spell at the ready.


    All good. I''ve got the concoction under control. Now for the next test.


    Saying that, Liz waited as she stretched out the portion of controlled blood through her entire muscr system.


    When the potion was evenly spread around, she dropped her control for an instant and punched out again.


    The rush erupted through her so strongly that her vision faltered as colors instantly sharpened to a mind bending degree.


    Still, her fistnded, and with her tight control over her blood, she had only burned through about a quarter of the medicinal effect of the potion.


    Inhaling deeply, she focused on remedying the more broadly stretched out damage and checked the amount of force she had generated. While not a perfect indicator of her power, it was a decent metric that she could use before sparring with someone else.


    Her first results with just the pure injection was poking into early Tier 11 territory for melee fighters. Nothing to scoff at, but also nothing specialpared to the followup strike from when she had saturated the potion out through her entire body.


    With that technique, her pure physical power approached the middle of Tier 11. Despite it being a single step within the same Tier, the difference amounted to a massive leap in qualitative strength.


    Liz whooped and pulled Matt into an embrace. She had pulled it off.


    <em>It worked.</em>


    Matt squeezed her closer. Well done! I just wish you didnt have to torture yourself in your testing.


    Liz sunk into her beau''s warmth. Matt was her rock, and she knew better than to take him for granted.


    Trying to lighten the mood, she teased, Ahhh. Youre just worried that I can wack things harder than you now, arent you?


    As he leaned back with a grin, she realized that shed egged on hispetitive spirit. Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], and she suspected, or rather hoped, [Mages Retreat] too, before turning andunching a haymaker at the strength measuring device.


    Assuming he wasnt holding back for her sake, that single punch edged into the middle of Tier 11.


    She slinked into his armored side and, in her most sultry voice, taunted, Is that all youve got, big man? Your lead seems to be slipping. I can use blood doping, and if that isn''t enough, I can finally go buy [Mana Strength].


    As she teased him, she actually ordered the skill. [Mana Strength] was such an obvious melee skill that she really should have bought it already, but Luna had advised her to better master Torchs more melee fighting style before adding passive physical boosts into the mix. By then, Torch had had no issues delving even Tier 12 rifts without the skill, so it just sort of slipped her mind.


    Come to think of it, she should look into some of the other physical reserve skills too. If their blood-versions didnte out detrimental, she could actually slot them in her inner and spirit for the tournament.


    Matt turned and pulled her into a lingering kiss until her toes curled and then some.


    Three-quarters of the potion still awaited in her body that she needed to expend, so she needled, Want to spar a little? I might overpower you now, ya muscle head.


    That was enough of a reason for them to retreat into the sparring room, where she employed the final potion remnants to great effect. With their help, she overpowered Matt for brief instances.


    Seeing him d for her progress was the greatest reward she could have asked for. Now that she had advanced, she knew that Matt would be looking for anywhere he could increase his own power. They would drive each other to greatness.


    What an incredible feeling.


    As their duel started to end, she hypothesized how to better y this new card of hers.


    First, she needed to recreate the same type of concentrated potion for flexibility, regeneration, and durability, at a minimum. That would allow her to fully utilize her increased strength.


    After the final portion of the potion faded, she sagged. Matt came over and slipped an arm under hers.


    Liz, you need to get some sleep. Or at least rx for a while.


    While experimenting with the new potion application exhausted her, she didnt feel ready for bed. Or at least, not ready to <em>sleep</em> in bed.


    High on her sess, she let her instincts take over.


    Trying to entice her boyfriend, she nipped at his ear. I don''t know, babe. Maybe you can give me a massage, and then once Im <em>extra limber</em>, we can move on to something a little more fun.


    Matt just raised an eyebrow and snorted, If youre even awake at the end of the massage, sure.


    She donned a pout in response.


    Still, as he started kneading sore and overworked muscles, she contemted how to further lessen the side effects of the potions. Mixing the other physical aspects and using them in conjunction might help, but she would then need to recreate three new potions.


    She also reasoned that if she could ration out smaller bursts of power, or somehow created a constant steady stream of less power to match her advanced regeneration rate, courtesy of her bloodline and Talent, she could hypothetically negate the side effects altogether.


    Liz continued pondering hertest achievement as she rxed under Matt''s practiced hands, hitting all the right spots for her to drift into sleep.

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136


    With the official starting date of the tournament approaching, things started to ramp up.


    It was something Matt could feel in the air as soon as he stepped outside of their apartment.


    With Lizs eldest brother having arrived and taking a well-earned vacation from the army, they had a calming presence nearby that somehow managed to stay unbothered by almost anything. Even his parents'' antics were brushed off like water off a duck''s back.


    Matt found Sam to be a treasure trove of information. At least for things rting to the army. The oldest sibling waspletely unwilling to let Matt peek into higher Tier only knowledge.


    After his promotion, Sam was going to be in charge of one of the few Tier 35 battalions. They were a prestigious unit who wereposed of only the strongest in the army. Men and women who had fought up through the Tiers, going from battle to skirmish for a minimum of a thousand years.


    The cultivators who made it that far were all hardened elite troops who would be equal to his Tier if not his rank, and Sam readily admitted that he was nervous tomand such a unit. If he seeded in his duties during the uing war, there was nowhere else for him to go in the active military.


    If he wanted to advance past Tier 35, he would need to leave the battlefield and take up a strategist position, or retire altogether. Both options meant an end to his career on the battlefield.


    Even now, he had no idea what he wanted to do.


    Matt found it refreshing to see a Tier 35 having the same problems as anyone else.


    Despite knowing several immortals, he had always figured they had everything nned out. They had the time, after all.


    Hed even cajoled the man into a few friendly spars, as he wanted to see how hepared to a man who had been fighting for thousands of years.


    The answer, to his surprise, was pretty damn well.


    When Sam limited himself to a Tier 9 level of cultivation, Matt was able to dominate the older man, even when spells were incorporated after they fought with just melee weapons.


    Even with his years of experience, Sam wasnt able to bridge the gap in physical ability between his Tier 9 strength and Matt.


    When they fought on an even Tier, Matt started to lose, but only in a small minority of their duels.


    It surprised Matt, despite knowing that he was good with his de. All the lessons with the trainers Luna had arranged for him usually resulted in him getting smacked around, even with a Tier advantage.


    Still, that didnt mean he was able to actually fight against a Tier 35. Sam wasn''t used to fighting with such slow and limited reactions, let alone the reduction in his spell repertoire.


    When they fought with Sam''s cultivation limited to Tier 11, but with Tier 14 skills, Matt started to lose more than he won.


    Sam was able to chain skills and predict the battle in ways that Matt wasnt able to with his short two decades ofbat experience.


    Sams instinctive reactions were leagues above Matts own in both ferocity, timing, and judgment of the battle. He always seemed to know what Matt was going to do before he had even nned it.


    Matt wasn''t upset with the results, as he had honestly expected to barely be able to fight Sam, even at Tier 9. But Luna just rolled her eyes and asked why he thought they cared about The Path of Ascension at all if years of battle experience couldn''t be ovee with ability, talent, and Talents.


    Sam was good. He was one of the best Tier 35s active in the Empire''s army, but Ascenders were on another level for a reason.


    Matt was even more enthralled when Kurt and Sam sparred.


    They only did it once, and the fight onlysted three exchanges before they separated, but it was a wake up call for Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    They had moved so fast from their starting positions that none of them had even seen anything. The two didnt even flicker from their positions. They had to watch a recording that the room had slowed down thousands of times to see what had happened.


    Kurt used a simple thrusting sword in the fight, while Sam wielded a rapier and parrying dagger.


    Kurts first attack was a high probing attack, which was easily countered with Sams offhand dagger. Sam followed up with a thrust at Kurt''s waist, but that seemed to be what Kurt wanted, as he already had his own de thrusting at Sams heart.


    Not to be outdone, Sam dropped his rapier and had a glowing hand pressed to Kurt''s chest.


    With the apparent draw, the two Tier 35s backed away and returned to their original spots.


    Even knowing they werent going all out, Matt was impressed. They had so much control of their power, they didnt even cause waves of turbulent air from their attacks.


    That much power on disy was like a perfectly cooked meal ced in front of Matt. He could see it. He could smell it. He just couldn''t taste it.


    Still, he wanted it.


    Badly.


    That seemed to be Lunas entire point of allowing the spar, as she redoubled their training on the fundamentals of Concept maniption.


    Both him and Liz were still unable to use their Concepts external abilities. At least, not the unique ones like Matt''s repulsive ability. So, they were focusing on general skills that any Concept could do, such as spatial maniption and cutting through air resistance.


    With only two weeks before the start of the tournament, Melindas team, as well as Annie, Emily, and Conor, finally arrived. They actually arrived just hours apart,ing from different connecteds. Js team and Felix were happy to meet them, and quickly they all agreed to do at least the first month''s group challenge together.


    Melinda and her team had done well for themselves, and spent thest decade honing themselves to amendable degree.


    They were surprised by Matt, Liz, and Asters progress, orck thereof in the tenth Tier. But knowing they had Luna behind them as a guiding hand, the Unbroken quickly epted it.


    Annie, Emily, and Conor had made themselves a name in the few years with their fantastic teamwork and synergisticbat styles. Together, they moved around and entered into as many Tier 8 through Tier 10 tournaments they could find, whether they were hosted by the local nobles, or by guilds trying to set up another avenue of recruitment.


    While they hadnt won all of their battles, they had spent their time at the top of Tier 10 well, and had honed their skills to a razor''s edge.


    Conor had turned from a good frontline melee fighter who relied on [Demon Zone] to deal most of his damage into a true tank. He used his new taunt skill to attract monsters attention to him, and then weathered their blows with a new magical armor skillyered upon his physical armor.


    Thatbination allowed for Emily to run through her new and expanded spell repertoire to send a rain of lightning down on whatever was foolish enough to not die immediately. With her greater cultivation, Emily was now able to chain up to seven skills together before the strain on her spirit became too much. After that, she was forced to reset the spellbo, and bring her damage down to a more reasonable level.


    In the unlikely event that thatbination wasn''t enough to overwhelm anyone they fought, they had Annie in the background, invisible and ready to stab anyone remaining.


    They made for a formidable team, with only a few weaknesses that Matt could see from the recordings.


    He wasnt nearly dumb enough to say something that crude out loud, but he did see some ces they could improve. He was sure that they would be earning a management team of their own after this tournament, and he couldn''t wait to see how they grew with the additional direction.


    While the twins'' age would be forcing them to advance soon after the tournament ended, they had the best possible foundation to show off their prospective skills.


    They spent two full days with the teams while showing them the delights of West Flower. As one of the capital worlds, it had everything and anything anyone could even think to ask for.


    With the Tier 10 tournament bringing in the best of the next generation of Pathers from across the Empire, every business opened their doors and lowered their prices, trying to entice the Tier 10s into their establishments. Even if they would have normally had no such business in those ces.


    A Tier 25 spa had the highest quality of rxants discounted to Tier 9 prices for anyonepeting in the tournament. The business was eating a massive loss, but they were banking on the fact that once the Tier 10s experienced the higher Tier luxuries, they would be back in due time.


    And as far as Matt was concerned, they were right.


    He was counting down the days until he would be able to afford whatever lotion they had rubbed onto his skin. A part of the nearly free package was that each participant was only able to sample the higher Tier goods once, further driving them to reach a high enough Tier to be able to afford the services properly.


    While it left him rubbery for hours, he had never felt so rxed before.


    Even the various dinners and exclusive restaurants were opening their doors and practically giving away the high Tier ingredients.


    None of them had ever tasted something as excoitc and rare as a Tier 20 wyvern tenderloin, but they all learned something new that day.


    Aster learned that even a thumb sized chunk of meat of such a higher Tier than her put her into a catatonic state in just minutes. Her body struggled to process the immense amount of energy contained inside the small morsel.


    She got it the worst with her smaller size, but they were all nearlyatose from the single bite. It was almost worse when Matt informed them that they were only getting a fraction of not just the energy in the meat, but also the vor.


    If the meat was prepared as if they were Tier 20s, they would have quite literally exploded from the power difference.


    With their lower cultivation, they were only able to handle a stripped down version containing most of the energy, but with the extrayers of vors removed. It was a massive waste of a precious ingredient, but it served its purpose.


    It was the best thing any of them had ever eaten, and they would all be back to chance the more authentic version as their cultivation increased.


    The only exception to those goods and services were items that could be useful for the tournament.


    Things like weapons, armors, or even skills had had their prices fixed at their normal values.


    As they explored, Melinda found the whole thing odd until Matt exined.


    He had had the same questions, and had dug around until he found the reason why.


    Long enough ago,panies had tried to buy the victor of the Tier 10 tournaments by lowering the prices of their better Tier 11 and Tier 12 items. They used contracts tying the fighters to future repayment in the form of service to be worked off after they fell off The Path.


    It had worked for exactly fifteen minutes until Georgios, the former Emperor, had killed everyone involved. But the precedent had still been set, and no one was willing to test that line again.


    That forced the Tier 10s to buy theirbat equipment at the normal prices for their Tier, but that didnt stop a number of higher Tierpanies, guilds, and independent crafters from making lower Tier items.


    Due to the better enchantments and experience used in their construction,the prices were correspondingly higher. They were at least three times the price of a normal item of their Tier, forcing the items out of most people''s price ranges.


    Besides, there was only so much power that even the best Tier 35 enchanter could eke out of Tier 11 or Tier 12 materials.


    All of that culminated into Annie, Emily, and Conor each only buying one Tier 12 item in their tour of the various shops.


    Matt found the items they ended up buying interesting, and was somewhat surprised by their choices.


    Annie, being an invisible and mostly intangible assassin, was the only one who bought an item that he expected. It was a dirk that was able to extend its reach with a razor-thin edge of mana. Whenbined with the high Tier materials and armor pration enchantments, it made for a fantastic strength multiplier for her abilities.


    Emily and Conor bought what Matt considered strange choices.


    The mage who increased the damage of her spells after each elemental skill used didn''t buy a new staff, nor anything to augment her spell repertoire as he expected. Instead, she purchased a robe that was so chock full of defensive enchantments that it glowed slightly when active.


    While its physical resilience was only mediocre, the spider silk Tier 12 robe was nearly impervious to magical attacks of any kind.


    Matt understood the logic behind her reasoning, but would have gone with something to lessen the strain on her spirit from the increased spells instead.


    Conor bought a helmet that Matt vehemently disagreed with.


    The helmet had the normal enchantments of any defensive armor, but they were kept at a level normal to most armor of that Tier. The major enchantment was a sight amplifier for mana sight.


    When wearing the helmet, Conor was able to see ambient mana with his eyes instead of only feeling it with his spiritual sense.


    It was a choice that Matt didnt understand, but Conor seemed happy with it, so he didnt question his friends decision. Conor had more than proven hispetence and acumen in the vassal war.


    When the money earned from his teams fights in various tournaments was taken into consideration, the cost of even the Tier 12 helmet was hardly bank breaking.


    Matt still found it to be a head scratching choice, though.


    No one in Melindas team even bothered to buy one of the high priced items, and instead chose to shop at the other Pather stores for the much cheaper items.


    While his oldest friends had reforged themselves into a much stronger team, they tly stated they didnt really care about the Tier 10 tournament, and were only there for the experience.


    They were ready at any point to advance to the next Tier. Thest decade had forced them to all grow up, even more than Matt felt he had.


    Despite being over thirty, he still felt like the kid who had just left the yPenst week.


    Melinda''s team had grownfortable with their abilities, and their desire to stand on their own had morphed into a desire to be a force for good in the Empire. Participating in the Tier 10 tournament was just a step to get more experience and hone their skills.


    Along with Js team and Felix, the five teams spent a few afternoons practicing for the group challenge, but they were all more focused on their personal training.


    Matt was up to his elbows in enchanting talismans when he received a message that jolted him out of his trance, and he ruined the dozen talismans he was working on. With an endless supply of mana, he practiced a method of multi-enchanting that, while harder, let him increase his efficiency at the cost of more mana. The only downside was that it forced him into making only one type of talisman per round of enchantments.


    But when he was startled, he lost everything.


    Reading the message, he didn''t even care.


    Eric and Dena were about to arrive.


    Checking their reported arrival time, he still freaked out that he had less than a day to prepare.


    As he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, he was followed closely by Mara and Leon, who watched him curiously.


    He had long since learned to ignore the inquisitive duo, and raced to get everything ready.


    Liz and Aster just watched in amusement as he ran himself into circles, but he was just too nervous to care.


    He owed the duo everything he currently had, and wanted to make a good impression now that they were meeting without deception.


    Lizs second oldest sibling, Leah, was nice enough to actually help him pick out clothes that would be appropriate for the asion, while Sam justughed at his predicament.


    At Tier 44, Leah, was just starting to try and create her own Aspect so she could advance to the next highest realm.


    She was an Independent, or sometimes called an Observer, and had taken a vow to leave all political ties behind her. It was rare to see anyone take the vow in the lower Tiers, but as one advanced, it apparently became more and more prevalent.


    But <em>none</em> of the Great Powers were thrilled with having independents running around. Especially not ones with power simr to their own. While a Tier 50 could squish anyone below Tier 49 with a thought, they could only be in so many ces at once.


    And there were tens of thousands of Tier 44s who were trying to advance and find their Aspect.


    The Great Powers kept that abundance of power in check by making them renounce their worldly affairs after a certain Tier if they didnt want to join the official power structures. It didnt mean that the cultivators couldn''t advance, but they had greater restrictions ced on them.


    Leah had never bothered with the political portion of the Empire, so had no issues with the vow.


    Once she found her Aspect, she would be expected to leave this realm as soon as she reached Tier 45.


    As it stood, she had been stuck at her current Tier for thest few thousand years, and had taken up the hobby of a fashionista. With her help, Matt was able to outfit himself in a nice, but casual ensemble that was neutral enough to pass in even the most humble of establishments. It wasnt so casual that he would be barred from more formal restaurants either..


    Erin, the sister with the harem, just threw out good natured barbs the entire time to her eldest sister while trying to dress Matt in the most outrageous outfits she could manifest with her mana.


    Normally, Matt enjoyed the back and forth with Erin, but as he was frazzled, he made the mistake of throwing a pillow at her. It started a pillow war that devolved into a war that swallowed the entire family.


    Eventually, the sides settled, and it was him, Aster, Sam, Leah, Travis, and Kurt vs. Alice, the third sibling, Daniel, the fourth sibling, Erin, and Liz. Despite the lopsided numbers, Matt''s side was thoroughly trounced.


    Alice was a crafter who, in seconds, created a device that spawned pillows by the dozens. Combined with Daniel and his experience of running a guild, he had them coordinated and wellmanded. Meanwhile, there was Sam, who justughed at everything.


    Mara and Leon were less than helpful in the mini-war.


    The phoenix returned to her bird form, sized not muchrger than a chicken, and ran around, trying to dodge the projectiles that wererger than her. She always seemed to fail at thest minute and catch a pillow in the face, while Leon just turned into a cloud and flew around, trying to keep score. He did such a poor job, both sides teamed up to swat him out of the sky before long.


    That distraction was enough for Matt to rx, but he was still nervous about his meeting.


    Still, the next morning, he was ready with Liz and Aster to receive his Sponsors at the teleportation pad.


    He didnt know what he expected when the thousands of people rushed out of the scaffolding, but the couple looked exactly like they had at Benny''s all those years ago.


    Dena was still a 59 woman with copper colored hair in a simple ponytail and simple clothes, while Eric was slightly shorter than Matt at 62 or so.


    Matt felt a weight lift off him as they smiled and walked over to him.


    Somehow, seeing them exactly the same as they had been before was the lifting of a burden he didn''t know existed.


    Eric was the first to speak as heughed and reached out to shake Matt''s hand. Matt, look at you. I almost didn''t recognize you.


    Dena was a step behind and just pulled Matt into a hug. It surprised him when he was easily lifted off his feet and swung back and forth.


    Thest time he had seen them, they had been pretending to be Tier 4s, and some part of him still thought of them as that Tier.


    Now, he could feel they were much stronger than he was, and it took his mind a moment to adjust.


    Look at you! Last time you were just a touch taller than me. Now you are too damn tall! Like this damn giant.


    Dena pushed him back to arm''s length as she inspected him from head to toe, before adding, You look good, though. And you feel strong.


    She looked into his cores, and he lowered his veil for a second so she could see his true self, and she whistled. Well, that''s telling.


    Eric was more cognizant of Liz and Aster, who had been standing off to the side and stuck out a hand to introduce himself. Eric, and you two must be Aster and Liz. Nice to meet you two in person.


    Aster took that as her cue to leap out of Lizs arms and, standing in the air, put out a paw to shake.


    Hi! It''s nice to meet you guys as well!


    Liz returned Erics handshake with a more reserved smile and nod.


    Dena had no such scruples, and hooked an arm with Lizs and scooped up Aster to start walking down the packed streets.


    Dena let her eyes wander up and down Lizs frame with a mock leer as she turned to Matt and asked, Did I awaken something in you for redheads, Matt?


    Matt froze as he realized that Liz did share a vague simrity to Dena. They were both redheads, though the shade greatly differed. Lizs hair faded to a more blood color with her advancement, as opposed to Denas copper tone.


    Still, they were both attractive women who bore more than a passing resemnce to one another.


    Eric saved him with augh and elbow bump. <em>Clearly </em>he just has good taste.


    He added a saucy wink at the women walking ahead of them.


    That seemed to break Liz out of her reserved facade, and sheughed as she joined in the teasing. Oh, is that so?


    Dena leaned in with a mock whisper, You should have seen him when I took off my shirt that one time. We had just given him a ticket to the yPen, and he was more interested in my breasts than his future. He must have stared for an hour.


    Now out of his funk, Matt threw back, Hardly an hour. Fifteen minutes at most.


    That broke any tension, and they started swapping stories about their recent activities.


    For the most part, Dena and Eric kept the conversation on his adventures during their dinner at a decent Tier 25 restaurant.


    They wanted to hear the actual details of their adventures, and seemed to be happy to hear them retell stories of the golem attack and the vassal war.


    As they sat around and picked at the unending food, they started to swap stories about their various adventures in and out of rifts.


    Dena and Eric were cagy with most of their stories, but after Matt and Liz regaled them with the story of the trio tackling the Tier 9 orc rift at Tier 6, they got them to open up.


    Matt knew that Luna was nearby, as she had given him the ok to reveal that bit of information.


    Eric leaned back and then rolled up his right sleeve and showed that his arm was waxy looking.


    This is why were pulling off The Path. Just too many injuries piling up. Ourst rift was a Tier 25, and one mistake led to my arm getting mangled.


    He flexed his arm, and while everything seemed to be working, Matt also noticed the muscles twitching and bunching under the skin in ways that were clearly not correct.


    Liz leaned forward and asked, What did that?


    Dena poked Eric''s side and answered for him. The idiot tried to punch the boss barehanded. Not a very smart move, but it probably saved my ass.


    For the first time, the yfulness dropped, and she slithered an arm around her partner. Delving up three Tiers is nothing to scoff at, as you know. But the gap between Tiers only increases as you advance, and it gets harder.


    Seemingly trying to lighten the mood back up, she winked and added, Not that delving three up at Tier 6 is easy. So few skills and all. I think I''d rather do it at our Tier if I''m being honest.


    Eric rolled up his sleeve and said, The body can only handle so much healing after all, and we have to constantly push that line. With our manager''s help, we eked out every bit we could, but in the end... He shrugged, It wasn''t enough.


    Liz snorted, and Aster joined her with a scoff. We know how weird and temperamental managers can be.


    She leaned in and said, Our manager had us running rifts with a dozen restrictions and kept piling them on us. She also has the worst training measures I''ve ever seen. For a month, she took to just throwing things at us. We could be sitting down and eating dinner, and she would throw a book or something at us, expecting us to dodge it.


    Aster chimed in with the indignance only she could manage, She kept making fake ice cream and tricking me! How mean can you be?


    They looked at Matt, and he pulled a line out of Leon''s book. I hear no evil and see no evil, therefore, that evil isn''t real. Seeing that wasn''t enough, he added, I really could have done without the training to handle inclement weather. Freezing my ass off isn''t fun. Or burning in theva rift.


    Aster howled at that in agreement. She had hated the fire training even more than the other two because of the conflicting elements.


    Thatunched them into a friendlypetition ofparing the various training methods that their managers had subjected them to.


    It eventually became clear that Matt, Liz, and Aster had had it much worse.


    Dena and Eric rarely had their actual manager there with them for more than a few months out of the year, with most interactioning from their liaison rying the information.


    They only won in the time department, as they had spent nearly a century with their management team, versus the decade that Matt, Liz, and Aster had.


    Eventually, they ended their dinner, and at Denas insistence, moved to a rented training room.


    She wanted to see how much Matt had progressed in the past years, and he was more than happy to show them their investment in him had been a good one.


    In a near mirror of their first fight, Matt stood across from Dena with his longsword brandished in a mirror stance to her twin daggers.


    As they sized each other up, he said, I remember you saying that you liked staffs more. You might want to use that if you want a chance to beat me.


    She just smirked, but Matt shook his head, cutting her off. I''m not joking. If you think being only two Tiers higher than me is enough with a weapon you don''t specialize in, youre going to lose. Quickly.


    Dena narrowed her eyes, but the smirk dropped off her face.


    Seeing that she was now taking things seriously, Matt set his stance and readed his weapon.


    The second she started to move, he flooded [Mages Retreat] with 250 MPS to more than double his physical strength. He had spent long years improving the efficiency of the skill, and he lunged with his de extended for a perfect attack at her center of mass.


    The speed of his attack caught Dena off guard, and he watched her eyes widen as she tried to side step the attack, but he was already moving through the attack. He turned his thrust into an upward sh that she only narrowly blocked.


    Even then, his full essence allocation into his physical core was more than enough to push her back a few steps when doubled by his skills.


    When he added [Mages Retreat] to the equation, he was able to fight up two Tiers with no difficulty. He was stronger than most peak Tier 11s, but weaker than a typical Tier 12, as his boost put him right between the normal dividing line. But that was more than enough to fight someone one at bottom of Tier 12, which was where Dena had limited her cultivation to.


    He dealt withrger gaps all the time.


    As Matt kept up an unending stream of mundane attacks, he was keeping Dena and her shorter ranged weapons on the defensive, unlikest time.


    Finally, when he had pushed her around the training room for a full minute, sheughed and vanished from his attack.


    Seeing she was halfway across the room andughing, Matt lowered his weapon.


    Dena cracked her neck andughed heartily. I thought you were talking a big game Matt, but hot damn! You can fight up two Tiers without an issue. At least against the battle prowess of a normal cultivator. No bullshit now. I''ll fight you with everything I have, but limited to a Tier 11. Let''s add spells and have a real duel. I want to see everything you have. How have you grown? Show me! Can you stand toe to toe with even an <em>almost</em> Ascender?


    With that finalmand, her daggers vanished, and she was wielding a staff, standing in melee range.


    The ends of her staff were glowing silver and yellow, giving off a feeling of danger that Matt didnt ignore. He had spent more than enough time fighting the unknown to trust his instincts, and he activated [Cracked Phantom Armor], maxing out the firstyer with 500 MPS.


    Being Tier 10, he could generate 1280 MPS if he was below 12.8 mana, and with his channel skills, he had no issue staying below that parameter.


    But, that extra mana generation gave him a massive advantagepared to his lower Tiered self.


    He had mana to burn.


    And he burned it.


    Sending mana into [Mana Charge], he let his excess mana generation fill his weapon with a truly absurd amount of mana. As the skill was inside of his spirit properly, instead of in his weapon, he had been able to modify the skill.


    Instead of holding only 1000 mana, it could now hold close to 7000 mana, and the actual damage was far more effective for each unit of mana than it had been before.


    As he mmed his glowing de into Denas staff, he didnt release the power, as it had only reached 1000 mana.


    She tried to strike out with the yellow edge of her staff, but Matt was already moving, and swayed out of the way.


    They both held their ground and exchanged blows, until Matt noticed the way she engaged him in their flurry of attacks changed. Openings in her forms and hesitations in her advancements vanished as if they were water tossed into a forge. Despite her cultivation strength being reduced, the fight was far closer.


    That actually put Matt at a small disadvantage, but it was nothing that technique couldn''t close the gap on.


    The trainers that Luna had found for him hadnt been wasted.


    As he kicked the middle of her staff to block an attack, Matt smiled and decided to cut fully loose.


    He was going to be restricted in his fights for the rest of the tournament, as both himself and as Quill. Quill was limited to being a mage, while his true persona would be limiting his attacks to a normal Pathers level.


    Still, he was wary of the change in Denas fighting. Where he had been handily winning, he was now being pushed to his full strength. She had been holding back far more than he expected, but that only made the fight all the more desirable.


    He wanted to see just how far he could push his sponsor, giving her everything he had.


    With [Mana Charge] fully filled, he sent his extra regeneration into [Mana sh], andunched a full 1000 mana crescent of power at Dena.


    She got her staff up in time, and a shield of mana that he expected was [Mana Barrier] formed. This was the actual Tier 14 skill, not the stripped-down version that he used in his talismans.


    Stifling a smirk, Mattunched himself forward and brought his glowing weapon down on the barrier.


    7000 mana unleashed in a single attack was more than enough to overwhelm a Tier 11''s defenses, but Dena, while limiting herself, was no ordinary Tier 11.


    Still, with Matts endless mana, and the pure quantity packed into the attack, the released energy from the impact turned the world bluish-white. The color of his mana was considerably lighter due to the influence of his Concept. Even with the attack being his own, he felt [Cracked Phantom Armor] strain under the bacsh.


    If he didnt trust that he couldn''t actually hurt Dena''s Tier 22 physical body, he would have never attacked with so much power.


    When the energy was expended, he looked over their locked weapons to see the [Mana Barrier] gone, and Denas hair now free of its ponytail and scattered across her face.


    But she looked up at him with a glowing smile.


    Now that is one hell of an attack, Matt! There is no way that I could beat you as a Tier 11. Not even at the peak of that Tier. Let''s increase the power, and see how far you can go.


    Dena spun off from their lock, and the silver end of her staff shot what looked like a wrong colored fireball at him.


    Matt dropped [Mages Retreat] and put another 500 MPS into [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer, and took the attack head-on.


    It felt like a [Fireball], but as the skill burned, he could feel the element of the attack was some metal type that he didn''t recognize. Still, it wasn''t strong enough to punch through bothyers of his armor.


    In only a second, he lowered the mana output to his armor until he was just barely holding the fireball back. With his free regeneration, he reactivated [Mages Retreat] and threw himself back into the attack.


    As they both started to mix spells into their engagements, Dena increased her strength and widened her repertoire of skills. It forced Matt to bring out every trick he had, even with her cultivation only at the bottom of Tier 12.


    Now that she was using all of her skills that had been honed in countless rifts and battles, the increase in her avable power changed the pace of the battle.


    Dena fought like a rabid dog, and ferociously punished any openings that Matt left open. If it wasnt for his armor, both physical and magical, he wouldn''t have been able to withstand her onught of attacks for long.


    But Matt wasn''t an average Pather.


    He took every attack and countered with his own, forcing her repeatedly into disadvantageous positions whenever he saw the opportunity. She always wormed her way out of them and counterattacked, but Matt did his best to keep her on her back foot.


    His smile matched his Sponsors own as they battled around the sparring room.


    When she brought her power up to the middle of Tier 12, he started to be pushed back, but Matt didnt let that stop him.


    He had already covered the entire battlefield with ice from [Hail], and as he was forced onto the defensive, he started to use his elemental maniption skills. Throwing around those more free form skills let him retake the advantage for a while, but Dena hadnt made it to her current Tier by being mediocre.


    She was able to dodge or block everything he threw at her after seeing it once. She even started to interrupt his elemental attacks when they started to form.


    If he hadnt been trained by Luna to deal with that exact situation, the bacsh of losing control of the skills would have lost him the battle, but he had trained for such moments long ago.


    In return, he started to throw his Concepts general spatial disruptions and air hardenings at her.


    Still, he was unable to push her to release more of her cultivation, and finally resorted to full use of his Concept and its repulsive effects to draw in close for a final attempt tond a blow.


    The fight ended when he blew back her [Ice Spike], [Jolt], [Fireball], and the odd metal version of the [Fireball] with his Concept. In a move that nearly mirrored theirst fight, he scratched her under the arm as she tried to dance away.


    This time, her shirt was visibly sliced open, and Matt dropped his skills as he panted a grin back at her.


    Eric started pping, Fantastic showing, Matt!


    Dena walked forward and punched him in the shoulder, and waved her hand as all the remnant elements from their spells vanished.


    Hot damn, Matt. Now that was impressive. You could easily solo a top Tier 12 rift, probably could handle a Tier 13 rift as well. She looked to Liz and Aster and asked, Now, what about the three of you together?


    With that, Ericughed and summoned a massive axe, and appeared next to his partner.


    The sparssted hours as they were pushed and prodded by the older Pathers. Dena and Eric didnt necessarily guide them as much as they pushed their limits, trying to see what Matt, Liz, and Aster could do under duress.


    Eventually they still lost, but the three of them forced the pair to increase their cultivation to peak Tier 12 by the end of their fight.


    It was a fantastic evening, and Matt was on cloud nine as they returned to their home.


    Or, he was, until they entered the apartment to see the Emperor sitting next to Mara and Leon at the dinner table.


    The only Tier 50 in the Empire waved at them and said, Come sit down, kids. We need to have a conversation that has been dyed too long.

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137


    Matt froze like a rabbit that had just noticed Aster was standing above it.


    He also felt the instinctive urge to run that the rabbit must have felt before it was gobbled up.


    In the instant their eyes met, Matt settled his instincts and looked at the Emperor, trying to analyze him as any other person.


    Without knowing that he was a Tier 50, Matt wouldn''t have looked twice at him in a crowd.


    He looked to be in his mid-thirties, with just a sprinkling of gray in his hair around the temples. Otherwise, his light brown hair was cut in a short but ssic style that had been trendy a few decades ago.


    The clean-shaven face was otherwise unnotable, except for the ssically wide jaw.


    It was his eyes that drew all of the attention on his face.


    It looked like someone was mixing molten gold in his luminescent eyes.


    Despite having a source of light that should have overwhelmed his ability to see the Emperor''s pupils, the light did no such thing. In fact, he thought he could see images ying across the Tier 50s pupils.


    Matt tried to peer deeper, as he was sure some questions that he couldn''t put into words would be answered if he just looked deep enough.


    As he did so, the color in the world around him seemed to sharpen to a painful level.


    Matt noticed something was wrong, and with that realization, he was able to settle his racing mind and pull his eyes away from the Emperors.


    He was met with a kind smirk, if such a thing was possible.


    Well done, Matt. I didnt expect you to pull out so quickly.


    Matt turned to see that Liz and Aster were nowhere near him, and had seemingly showered and changed their clothes at some point.


    A quick reference to his AI showed that he had been standing in the doorway for thest hour and a half.


    Mara and Leon both pped for him as the storm mage said, Better than most people. Now that you know the feeling, you won''t be sucked into the passive effect as easily.


    Matt red at Aster, who was shooting him smug thoughts, as she had broken out of the mesmerization in mere minutes.


    Maraughed and ruffled Aster''s fur as she said, Don''tpare yourself to Aster. It''s only normal that us beasts are better than simple humans.


    She threw her head back andughed theatrically as mes flickered around her.


    The Emperor shook his head and nodded slightly to Matt. Shes not wrong about beasts being harder topel, but the dragon blood that you found is also ying a massive part in her defense. Normally the hypnosis effect of my Talent can hold even a beast for a few hours. Someone who tries to peer deeper is usually caught up for a day or two. It''s telling that you delved that deep but pulled yourself out. And prescient to the conversation that I want to have. Go shower and calm yourself down.


    He turned away to rejoin the conversation that had been going on before Matt had pulled himself out of the trance, before turning back and saying, I did that because people always question if Im trying to influence them with the future sight. You know the feeling, and even if I tried to use the active version on youter, it would be obvious. Even if you can''t resist it, you will be aware of it.


    Matt swallowed and nodded silently. It hadnt escaped his notice that man''s eyes no longer had the maic draw they once did.


    He quickly did as suggested and moved into their room to clean up.


    As he started scrubbing the dried sweat off his body, he thought over the draw that the Emperor''s eyes had and how it no longer drew him in.


    No, that wasn''t quite right.


    Even the memory of the eyes still tried to draw him in, but they held no allure now. It was a mystery prize that he already knew theckluster contents of.


    He might decide to open another box, but there was no desire to dive into the pile and tear them all open.


    When he finished his shower, he took a few minutes to stretch and center himself before he walked out to join the others at the table.


    Liz winked at him and took his hand before giving him an easy squeeze of reassurance.


    As Matt sat down, he realized that all of his etiquette sses hadnt prepared him for meeting the Emperor at his girlfriend''s parents kitchen table.


    Considering this had been a distinct possibility, he found it to be a serious w in his education.


    Falling back to his general manners and respectful address, he greeted the Emperor with a deep nod and asked, How may I be of service to your majesty?


    The Tier 50 tapped the table as he said, This isn''t open court, Matt, no need for the formalities. I get this is a weird position for you, but we need to have this conversation. As both the Emperor of the Empire and your significant other''s uncle.


    Matt lifted his head to meet those golden eyes, but he was able to ignore the pull without issue, and suddenly he was happy that he had been given the opportunity to delve those hidden secrets before this conversation.


    The Emperor smiled at Matt and said, Feel free to call me Emmanuel, Manny, or Uncle Manny. But do whatever makes you morefortable, even if that is using my title.


    Matt cringed internally. He didn''t even feelfortable to think of the man by name. It just felt wrong.


    Seeing him in person, Matt had a feeling that everything in the room was pulled to the man, like a ck hole sucking in stars.


    It was only the Tier 50''s will that kept everything from crumbling to dust.


    This man sitting at the table was the true center of the universe.


    Seeing that Matt wasn''t able to speak, the Emperor continued, You and my niece are expected to be able toplete The Path of Ascension. He then nodded to Aster, You too, Aster, for all that you arent officially on it.


    The Emperor gestured, and Matt felt a great futility and weight in that gesture that he couldn''t exin.


    Normally, that is a reason to rejoice. We as a political entity have grown in thest two generations of rulers, and our changes have resulted in great strides. Weve been finding the best and brightest of the younger generations. The problem is the timing. The Empire is going toe under a time of great duress. We will soon be embroiled in a war with at least three other Great Powers. Probably more.


    Matt swallowed hard, like a fishbone was stuck in his throat.


    It didnt help.


    This is nothing unique. Small-scale wars aremonce. Or at least,mon enough that it''s usually not a worry. We will fight, people will die, and eventually, a victor will be decided, and a treaty will be negotiated. In it, territory, goods, or expansion routes will be traded. Honestly, it''s all fairly mundane. At least, normally.


    Matt didnt know if he could wrap his head around wars spanning Tier 15 to Tier 35 as mundane and routine, but he knew of the uing wars. Until now, he thought he had been prepared for the idea of them.


    Now, hearing the strongest man in the Empire talk about it, he realized that he had no idea of the scale and magnitude of the situation.


    The Emperor watched Matt with a gentle smile as he continued.


    This next war will be on another level not seen since thest realm war. The Great Powers are muchrger than we were back then, by at least half. I want to reiterate, the scale of this war will be on another level. And thats only considering the fact they are scared of our future growth, and want to take us out at the knees to slow us down. They will strike out early to prevent being fully eclipsed. That doesn''t even take into consideration the ramifications of your Talent being revealed.


    The Tier 50 seemed far too calm as he caught Matts eyes with his golden ones. They now seemed to be harder than steel.


    Im sure that Luna and your other trainers have exined this before, but let me stress this personally. The other Great Powers are jealous or scared of our growth. Our politicalndscape has changed rapidly in thest few rulers, and we have paid a great price to get where we are today. The problem is, our gains have been massive in too short of a time. The others see our growth as a threat.


    He paused, and even though his tone and expression didnt so much as flicker, Matt felt like the Tier 50 was growling. As they should. Our political structure has always been one of the more centralized ones, which means we can implement changes quickly, adapting as needed and with fewer headaches. Not that our changes havee easily, or all that fast whenpared to a mortal''s lifespan. But when looked at from an immortal perspective, they are rapid. Thises back to how my grandmother and father were able to enactrge-scale societal changes in a mere sixty thousand years, because of the traditions of the Empire as a whole. It goes back to when the Empire was young and still took the name of the ruling family, right after the political unification wars when all the current Great Powers were forming. Our past rulers made sure to set a precedent of holding onto a greater portion of political power rtive to the rulers of the other Great Powers. That has continued even today, and has led us to our current problem.


    Matt leaned forward, despite feeling like he was putting his head in a dragon''s maw.


    The Emperor''s words were maic.


    It wasnt his eyes, but something in the way he spoke. There was an honest belief that came through in the way he spoke, and it pulled Matt in.


    Societal changes aren''t easy or fast. People don''t like change, and immortals less so. The other Great Powers need to buy time, in an attempt to catch up in the next few generations of rulers. We are already expanding faster than them, and if nothing else changes, we will be twice the size of the nextrgest two Great Powers in three or four generations of rulers. At that point, the others would be at our mercy.


    The Tier 50 flicked a finger, and in the air, like clouds, eight bubbles of uneven space appeared. Near the center, they all bordered each other, but they were all expanding outward in different directions away from the center. The disy gave a visual to support the Emperor''s words.


    One of the bubbles with purple and gold colors expanded faster, and then swallowed the others once it epassed its neighbors.


    The Emperor''s next words were like falling hammers, despite being perfectly mundane. A position they do not wish to be in, I assure you.


    As he lowered his hand, the illusion faded, and he added, To that end, this next war will be especially vicious. They can no longer deny our sess, and are scrambling to make up for the lost time. But their time is quickly running out if they wish to hold on to their power. The more damage they can do to us in this next war, the longer they have to enact simr changes in their own societies, and the better their odds to stay in the game. While I do believe this war will be far more dangerous than usual - unprecedentedly brutal, as one of my advisors put it - I don''t believe we''ll have a Tier 35 or higher war stemming from this. If you want to participate in this war, you need to understand how bad this will get.


    The Emperor recaptured Matt''s eyes as he said, It will be dangerous enough that I feel the need to warn my niece about her current path. That goes doubly so for someone with a Talent as valuable as yours, Matthew.


    Matt couldn''t help but scowl. It always seemed toe down to his Talent.


    He felt like he could never escape the fact his Talent made people want to protect him for his own good.


    The Emperor''s face split in a wide smile that felt a little predatory, and Matt was taken off guard, as his words didnt follow the path Matt expected.


    I won''t force you to step off the Path, Matt. But I will offer the options. They need to be said, if for no other reason than transparency and understanding between all parties.


    The Tier 50 leaned forward, and for the first time, Matt actually felt that the man in front of him wasn''t the Emperor of the Empire, or even a Tier 50. He was a concerned uncle and wanted what was best for his family.


    Liz must have felt it as well, as her hand tightened around his own. Even Aster''s tail stopped its slow movements.


    As a concerned uncle, I would rmend that the three of you take the vow of non-interference, and leave all the fighting behind. After that, I can have you left alone or rushed to Tier 24. Either way, you would be safe. I have more than enough power to guarantee that.


    At that, he nodded to Matt. More ideally, at least for my own benefit, I would allow you to progress until you discover your Intent. It''s far easier to do so when you are able to grow on your own, but once you have that, I can have you raised to Tier 48 in the shortest order. At that point, you would be one of the strongest people, and few could harm you. That would also give me ess to your frankly stupidly high mana generation, and with that, I would be able to ensure the protection of the Empire even without abat Tier 50 Talent. That is the ideal oue from my perspective.


    That brought the topic of conversation to Matt and his Talent. A ce he was never fullyfortable with.


    Matt, with your Talent, you know you will be a great asset to anyone and everyone. But while your growth and future power are without question, the current issue is Mana Concentration. If you simply wish to be a generator of mana, it''s not even an issue. If you wish to be a powerfulbatant, it will be a problem if not addressed by your Tier 25 Talent.


    At that, the Emperor narrowed his eyes, and Matt felt the world sharpen as the very air seemed to harden around him.


    Even Mara and Leon, from their unusually silent positions on the other side of the table, joined the Emperor in staring at Matt.


    The feeling onlysted an instant, but the Emperor continued after a confirming look with his two Tier 48 subordinates. They didnt try to hide the negative shakes of their heads.


    None of us can get a clear vision of your spirit and its growth so far away from Tier 25 to even begin to guess if your Tier 25 Talent will solve this issue. But Aunt Helen is far older than us, and much better at reading the ways spirits grow. From her initial impression, she didnt believe that your spirit would manifest in that direction, but we can hope things change as you advance and have her look. Even so


    The Tier 50 took a long breath that he held for a minute before continuing.


    Even so, this is an issue that I believe I have a solution for. Or at least, Im working on one that I have high hopes will pan out. But I don''t want to speak too much about it until I have more definitive results. Either way, I will be providing Mana Concentration potions as most of your personal rewards for reaching The Paths goals going forward. It''s a stop gap solution, but the best I could have done, even if you fell off the Path today. I believe the math says that at Tier 19 you will need to chug Tier 49 potions that don''t even exist to fully condense your Mana Concentration. Even if Im unsessful with my first n, I am working to purchase all the highest Tier Mana Concentration potions that exist. You can still use them, even if they aren''t enough to fully condense your mana to near zero.


    He met Matt''s eyes and nodded slightly to him, and Matt thought he understood.


    Either as Emmanuel, Lizs uncle, or the Emperor, he would ensure that Matt was well taken care of going forward.


    That was a worry off Matt''s shoulders, but Emmanuel, and with the man''s frankness and caring tone, Matt was finally able to see him as such, leaned forward. But note that being carried up the Tierses with issues as well. Being carried will, as is well documented from past attempts, likely result in you being weaker inbat than your peers in a few ways. Not exactly an issue here in this realm, but one that coulde back to bite you if you intend to ascend. Thebat portion of that is a fixable issue with enough time to grow your skills, and with time spent inbat. Even if its while being watched over by someone. Therger and much harder issue to solve from that n is your Aspect.


    As Emmanuel said that, he sighed so deeply, it sounded to Matt like the man was personally holding the weight of the sky, and someone had dumped another world on his shoulders with no warning.


    Considering the man''s power, that was a stomach churning proposition.


    Domains are inherently about the self. In a civilized society, people give up things to have protections and such, but cultivation is the opposite. We havews that say you can just go and kill someone who steals from you. We havews that limit the eptable amount of power and influence that a higher Tier individual can have over mortals. They are all affectations of the people on high. There is nothing physically stopping a Tier 45 from going around and killing all my weakest Dukes who are only Tier 35. The only thing that stops them is the greater threat of myself, a Tier 50. We ept the restrictions thatws ce on us personally because they also protect us and those around us.


    The Emperor tapped the table twice to emphasize his point. That is directly contradictory to a cultivator''s individual growth. That growth is all about personal power and progressing through said power. Domains, specifically a Concept, an Intent, and finally an Aspect, are about the self. Understanding yourself. Seeing yourself and how you interact with the world around you. A Concept, for all the difficulty you might have had in making it, is the foundation of everything thates after it. Whether you hone yourself down to a single idea of a Domain, like Duke Waters, or you take the other path. One of expanding and broadening yourself and the scope of your power. Even still, you could take a more personal and varied approach. In the end, it''s about how you see yourself fitting into the world as a whole. And a cultivator who wants to walk their unique path needs to experience the ups and down of life. The victories and losses of a battle. Gain and lose love, experience life and death. We can not lock ourselves up in a rift and expect to grow. To grow, we must experience. Some people can grow with protection and help, but others are inherently limited by it. Therein lies the problem. If I have you carried to even Tier 49, there is a real chance you would stall out while trying to find your Aspect. Especially without the challenge and journeys you would have experienced while moving through the Tiers on your own merit.


    Matt still felt like Emmanuel was working up to try and get him to ept the offer of being carried to Tier 49, despite him exining how it would hinder him, but the older man''s next words caught him off guard.


    Emmanuelughed. Matt, I believe in self sacrifice. It''s what my Domain is centered around. But the core part, the fundamental lynchpin that the whole idea is built off of, is the fact it must be willing and selflessly given. I don''t ask that others give up their personal paths for myself, or even the Empire. To that end, I don''t believe that you are best served by taking either of those options. From everything Ive seen about you, I don''t think you would ever be truly satisfied by taking the easy way out. Personally, I''d be relieved if you took the vow of non-interference, as I believe you could live a full and meaningful life. Even with the restrictions of the Vow. But in the end, <em>you</em> need to decide what you want to do personally, by asking where your heart leads you.


    With a circling finger that seemed to epass the table and everyone else at it, he added, The other option is to continue your current path. Finish the Path of Ascension and show the world we have another pair of Ascenders ready and willing to protect the Empire. Fight, bleed and experience. Show our enemies that our system works, and will continue to work, even if they try to take us out at the knees.


    Matt clicked his mouth shut and looked to Liz and Aster.


    They already had this conversation long ago, and from the quick nces, neither had changed their mind.


    There was a look in the older man''s eyes that clearly wished they would step off the Path, for their own safety if nothing else.


    Liz shook her head and said, Weve heard all of that before from Luna and others. We don''t want to step off the Path simply because it''s dangerous.


    Aster growled an addition, Why should we pay in blood because the other Great Powers are afraid? If they want to fight, they shouldnt expect us toy down and take it.


    Matt felt the need to add, We are willing to fight to protect the Empire and ourselves. None of us are willing to be in the position to do something, and waste our power by faltering. That would be worse than failure.


    Feeling like that wasnt enough, he added, I recognize that because of my Talent, Id ideally be in the backline of society, churning out mana to keep everything running. But I don''t think I could ever feel content to just sit around and charge mana, while being as strong as wet tissue paper. I enjoy a good fight like anyone else, but I don''t enjoy killing.


    Looking to his bond, he ruffled her tail as he said, As Aster said, I can''t sit still and watch others trying to hinder our hard work, simply because theyre afraid of what weve done. Besides, I don''t think Ill ever be able to rest easy if I can''t even protect <em>myself</em>. I''d feel even worse if I can''t protect those that matter to me.


    Seeing a way to bring the Emperor''s own words back into it, despite disagreeing with the man''sments on self sacrifice, he said, We are helped and protected by a society which enables us to have strength. I believe the individual has a duty to stand up and protect that way of life, for everyone who would stand to lose something without it. Self sacrifice is a noble ideal, but if everyone else believes someone else will carry the burden, we will lose the very thing that enabled our growth. No, I believe that everyone has the obligation to give as much as they got, if not more. We must protect what is important to us.


    Matt felt the world sharpen for an instant, but the feeling was fleeting, and quickly passed from his mind like a fading wind.


    Emmanuel leaned back, and suddenly Matt felt the Emperor return to the conversation.


    The Emperor smiled, but there was a sadness to it that Matt didnt have the life experience to really understand.


    Audable sentiment, but one few share. I''ve learned from a long life that its a hard sentiment to live up to. Still, amendable point of view. If that is your wish, then I won''t interfere, and I wish you the best of luck. Truly, I do. But know that you can change your mind and step off until Tier 24 or so. After that, I will expect you to do the job of an Ascender, and be a bulwark for the Empire. Once you take that mantle, you will be expected to carry it to the end.


    Matt swallowed, but nodded. He wanted to protect his home, and didnt feelfortable putting all of his safety in the hands of others, despite how arrogant that sounded. Even in his own thoughts.


    He may be a small cog now, but he wouldn''t always remain so. There were no shortcuts in life, and this felt right.


    It wasn''t the easy path in life that gave the best results.


    The fundamentalw of rifts came to his mind. Greater risk brought greater reward.


    As the conversation settled into a lull, Matt asked, You believe we canplete The Path?


    While he was confident in his own abilities, doubly so after fighting his Sponsors, he wanted to get the perspective of a Tier 50.


    Emmanuelughed and gestured with his hand as a view of him fighting Dena reyed in front of them, surrounded by a light golden haze.


    Matt, not everyone can fight those two evenly. Even with them being limited because of their cultivation, they are two of my best Pathers right now. They are the one percent that I am looking for from The Path of Ascension. While they aren''t quite up to the level of an Ascender, they are <em>close</em>. You beat Dena in a one versus one at the same cultivation level, which is impressive by any measure. While theck of higher Tier skills hurt their normal strategies a bit, I think only two other teams in thepetition could evene close to matching them on an even footing. Let alone beat them. Dena and Eric aren''t lightweights, and I expect great things from them when they enter the special forces, and are given the best gear and skills. You forcing her to use a greater level of cultivation to fight you to a draw is The Emperor snorted, not finishing his thought. Let it suffice to say, while Im sure they are proud of you three, the duos pride is sorely bruised about now.


    The golden-edged recording changed to the team fight. Then, the three of you forced one of my best Pather teams to fight you with a two Tier advantage. That is impressive, rare, and dare I say unprecedented. He lifted a single finger and waggled it back and forth. Those other two teams I mentioned as having high hopes for in this tournament? I''d give them fifty-fifty odds of fighting Dena and Eric with a single Tier deficit. With a two Tier disadvantage, I don''t think they wouldst for more than a few engagements before they lost. <em>You three</em> pushed them to the peak of Tier 12 power, while being bottom Tier 10s yourselves. I''m sure if I chucked you three into even a full, peak Tier 14 rift right now, locked the entrance and forced you toplete the rift, youd figure it out. I''m <em>also</em> confident that even if I took away Matts ability to give you two mana, or charge rifts, that the three of you could reach Tier 25 in two hundred years. You have enoughbat prowess toplete The Path in its intended manner, if push came to shove. You three make an incredibly well-bnced team after Lunas training. You all are by any and all projections, <em>more</em> than able toplete The Path.


    Liz leaned forward and pped the table. Dish! Who else is as good as us?


    That broke the tension, and Emmanuel waggled a finger at Liz. I''m not one to spread secrets. He winked at her continued wheedling, but eventually gave a little more information.


    There are two other teams, beside your group and Light and Shadow, who I believe have what it takes toplete the Path of Ascension. We''ll need to see how they grow in the next few decades, as things can always change, but I have high hopes.


    That was enough to force even Lizs good nature teasing to stop.


    Aster was the first to speak, as she asked, That seems like a lot. Her tail twitched back and forth faster and faster as she built up steam. I''ve looked up the records before. Even having two Ascenders at once is usually considered rare.


    She raised her paw and started counting. Light and Shadow are one. Duke Waters is another, which makes us number three. Three guaranteed Ascender teams, and two probablys?


    Correct. And yes, thats exactly why the other Great Powers are scared. If they have one Ascender every few thousand years, they are happy. That was the normal status quo and reinforced by the fact the personalities and temperaments of those able toplete The Path of Ascension never linger long so everyone loses Ascenders at the same rate. But I believe that weve finally hit our stride. Our mortal poption is growing at a fantastic rate, with the subsidies on food and housing giving us more and more births to get lucky with. The Path of Ascension, in its current state, gives opportunity to nearly anyone who desires to improve from poorer backgrounds. <em>That</em> is why they fear our growth. Even if our rate of producing Ascenders stays the same as it is now, they can''tpete with the advantage this gives us.


    Matt could just imagine. An Ascender was considered thergest threat in any actual battle, first and foremost. But in the end, they were a single person or a single team. And while they were generally considered an instant win condition, that power was bnced by only being able to be in one ce at a time.


    Most conventional strategies said that Ascenders were a better defensive asset, because they could be entrusted to be a bulwark themselves, while the general army moved through wider space.


    Some Ascenders were better on the offensive, and were used to make deep probes into enemy territory. They forced the enemy to assignrger andrger numbers of troops to try to and protect assets behind the established lines of engagement.


    Duke Waters was the second type; a single man was hard to find in the vastness of chaotic space. Especially if he chose to flee.


    Still, the risks were greater with such tactics, so it wasnt the ideal role of an Ascender.


    If the Empire had three Ascender teams, they could have one or two on defense, and safely risk the others on any number of offensive missions.


    He started to <em>really</em> understand why the other Great Powers were fearful. The rules of the game had changed and they found themselves t footed and unprepared.


    Wanting to change the conversation to a happier topic, Matt asked a question he had been wondering about since the day he had first met the Emperor.


    How did you see when I took the skill shard and hid it in my pad? I know there weren''t cameras in those locations but I didn''t think of that untilter.


    Emmanuelughed as he waved a hand, and an apparition of Matt asking the question appeared. The recursive effect started to loop when the illusion vanished.


    Matt, my father had a seeker like Talent. His Tier 50 was the ability to predict the future to an incredibly limited degree. Frankly, it''s nearly useless against the other Tier 50s because of their rtive power, and the associated cost in trying to predict someone with that much power. But it does let me peer into the past anywhere my spiritual sense covers.


    Matt was unable to get his head around the concept of being able to peer through time, like looking through a video recording.


    As he was contemting that, he murmured, I knew there were no cameras there.


    That led him to a second question that had bothered him. That also made me wonder, why did you need to get your head healer when you found out about Melindas Talent? Theres no way that you didnt know what Overhealth was.


    Emmanuel, who was lounging in an overstuffed armchair, snorted. Matt, youre getting close to forty, but youre still essentially an infant whenpared to immortals. You were what? Thirteen at the time?


    Matt nodded, but stayed silent.


    When you have a few centuries as an immortal, youll probably start to alienate the younger kids for a while. Youll have massively more experience than them, and a near-perfect recall, even discounting your AI. If you want to not seem like an alien, youll learn not to be perfect around non-immortals. That sometimes means asking someone in a perceived position of authority to rify information you already know. And to be honest, I <em>was</em> pretty baffled. Something like Overhealth has nevere up as a Talent, as far as I''m aware. I wanted a second opinion from someone whos first hand experience with healing.


    Matt only let out a ''huh'' as he thought that over.


    So the Emperor had only gotten his head healer because the exnation about a healing abilitying from a healer was easier to swallow, for a bunch of teenagers.


    That actually made sense as he thought it over.


    Or at least, he could understand the logic behind it. He was pretty sure at the time that if the Emperor had said the sky was purple, and Melinda''s Talent would make elephants fly, he would have believed it without question.


    It was the Emperor, for ascenders sake. Even knowing him personally, Matt had a hard time doubting anything he said.


    Eventually, the rest of Lizs siblings returned to the apartment, and they had what Matt could only call a family dinner.


    Matt was kept involved in the conversations, but during one of his trips to the kitchen, he paused and watched how the siblings interacted with Emmanuel.


    Alice, Lizs third oldest sister, caught his perusing and stopped to chat about the way each sibling interacted with the Tier 50.


    It''s all about when we were born. Sam was born and in the army before our parents became nobles, and then made friends with the then crown prince. It''s hard for him to separate his work life from personal life and rx around Manny.


    Matt nodded. He could see that barrier in their interactions. While Sam wasn''t weird or anything, he looked like he was ready to snap to attention anytime Emmanuel looked in his direction.


    He just wasn''t able to fully rx.


    Matt looked at the Tier 37 and asked, What about you?


    She winked at him and returned the question. What have you observed?


    Matt gestured outward. Leah is younger than Sam, but shes more friendly with him than you. Not sure if that is just individual personality, or something else. If I had to guess, that''s because when you two were born, he wasnt the Emperor yet, and had more time to be active in your lives?


    He ended the statement with a raised eyebrow, asking if he was right..


    Alice sipped at her drink as she agreed. Daniel as well. Emmanuel is a great uncle to the younger siblings, but he had more time to juste visit with us. And when he did, he was just another friend of the family. Or at least, that was how it felt to us as kids. Our parents were only dukes at that point, and we had more normal childhoods. Daniel and I are just more reserved with him, having grown up, than Leah is. As kids, we used to be every bit the immovable burr that Leah remains.


    Matt nodded to Erin, the next youngest sister. And Erin was born when your parents were royals?


    Alice let out a giant sigh as she agreed. Yes, and she didnt handle that added pressure well as a kid. Not that she shouldve, but her personality is quite a mismatch for such a public position. Our parents learned from their mistakes with her, but she got hurt more than once because of their political newness to the position. She might have a giant harem, but shes an incredibly introverted person.


    Matt agreed with the assessment. He often found her sitting on the balcony and watching the city pass under them with a coffee in hand.


    She never scorned his presence if he joined her, but she carried an air of solitude like a nket.


    He had misinterpreted it for loneliness, but after interacting with her for a while, he understood the difference. The absence ofpany didnt bother her, it even seemed to give her peace. He wasn''t sure how that led her to developing a harem, but he wasnt going to question her methods of finding love and happiness.


    For all she liked her time alone, Matt actually got along with her well, and she had even voluntarily joined him for some silent time while he cooked or crafted talismans in the living room.


    They had apanionable silent understanding between the two of them, despite having said less than a thousand words in thest month of living under the same roof.


    Matt finished off by hitting Travis and Liz together. Travis and Liz grew up firmly in the <em>my uncle is the Emperor</em> camp, and still hang off of him like a jungle gym. Hes always beenrger than life to them, so it never really changed their interactions with him. Matt nodded to Keith, who was the only other non-sibling who came. And Keith is my only bastion of normality in this too damn strong family.


    Aliceughed. Well see how you feel after a proper family get-together, with <em>all</em> the extended family. Changing the topic, she hooked an arm through his and pulled Matt to the table. Come on, I want to have a rematch on Battle Bots. That flipper bot was a cheap way to win, and I won''t give you such an easy victory this time. I''ve spent more time as a crafter than youve been alive, and I refuse to let our contest end on a loss from a cheap trick like that.


    The rest of the evening was spent in a variety of ad hoc pickup games, and various members of the family telling stories of their past adventures.


    It didnt surprise Matt that Mara and Leon always had a wacky story of the two of them doing something stupid or ditzy, then having to clean up massive messes.


    After gettingfortable with Emmanuel once everyone had a drink or two in their systems, Matt decided to ask about the Aura rifts and the two rifts he had helped Erwin create. Luna and Kurt hadnt heard anything more than what he had heard from the news about the new skill and [Endurance] rifts so he had been wondering for thest few years about the truth behind each event.


    Emmanuel sipped at his beer while giving him such a tired look, Matt almost felt bad.


    Do you know how much trouble you dropped on myp with that? Emmanuel pointed at Matt with his bottle as he added, Never mind, you have no idea. While I''ve kept it quiet, there are a few people in various guilds and corporations who would love to shake you until you drop all your secrets. Ugh. Anyway, long story short is I showed a few of the samples of the Aura you made to people I trust, and they are salivating to get your mana sample. As we suspected, your mana is acting like glue for the Aura to form when it normally wouldn''t. The Aura your mana makes is noticeably different in how it''sposed despite working the exact way normal Aura works. They have a million ideas they want to test it with, and when you eventually start your own guild, theyre going to be kicking your door down to partner up with you.


    Matt smiled at that. They had suspected his mana acted in that way, but it was nice to get confirmation. It was nicer still that Emmanuel knew of his fledgling n to start a guild, and tacitly approved of it.


    What about the other rifts?


    Emmanuel looked off to the side for an instant before he said, The [Endurace] rift was nice, and is well under control. We have a standard operating procedure in ce for it, and we let everything y out without interference. Thankfully, the guild who found it reported it up as they should have. So, they got rewarded, and now everyone is delving the rift as fast as the instance can cycle. The [Bandage] rift was more interesting. We kept our eyes on it, but didnt move it at all. At first, the skill was well received by the local guilds and nobles, but they didnt think the skill was all that good until a few teams actually started using it. Eventually, the practical uses were noticed by the local hospital. Now, the skills are being sold for a Tier 20 skill to any healer who can get in line. Harvest Moon pointed one of his subordinates to go check out the new skill and test it, now those healers with it are using the skill to stop people from dying when they need healing beyond their healing limits. With enough mana to throw at the skill and constant reapplication, they can keep people alive who would have otherwise died. We are already acquiring all we can for ourbat healers in the army. It''s a useful skill despite its Tier 8 rank. It''s a wonder how it never appeared before.


    He tipped his bottle to Matt and said, Thank you for that. When we go public with your contributions, you <em>will</em> be rewarded for what you have done. Or, when you fall off The Path. It makes me eager for when you can fuel a team of people like Erwin to push past Tier 8 rifts.


    The Tier 50 smiled. Can you imagine the other skills and items we havent been able to find? Though if I''m being honest, what Im really looking forward to seeing is what items, skills, and rewards a true Tier 50 rift drops.


    Emmanuel had a look in his eye Matt resonated with. One of adventure and exploration of the unknown.


    A wicked grin spread across Matts face as he asked, Is there any chance you would be willing to throw a couple thousand upgrade orbs at us when we do? Id love to make a rift that constantly drops them so I can really see what happens to skills when theyre upgraded. The whole different upgrade thing for the same skill has been bothering me, and I want to test it more before I push [Cracked Phantom Armor] up again. Maybe theres a way to control it? But if I want to do any serious testing I need to have a steady source of them and making a rift that drops them should be possible even if it''s like skill rifts and counter intuitive and hard. Eventually we could figure it out.


    Emmanuelughed hard enough that he snorted slightly. Now that''s ambitious, and the Empire supports anyone trying to learn if possible. To be honest, the items at that Tier aren''t that hard to find, it''s the mana to run the experiments thats the issue. I have a thousand interest groups who are all sucking my mana budget dry. If youre providing the mana yourself, whos to say what you can spend it on? No one, that''s who. That''s why I love the idea of you making a guild around Aperology.


    As hisughter died down, he winked at Matt as he added, Though, after Tier 30, youll have to start dealing with the guilds, and get them to break open their treasuries. Itll be the only way to get enough seed items to test at that high of a Tier. Good luck with that. He snorted out, Youll need it. Stingy bastards.


    Their conversation was interrupted as Liz pulled Emmanuel into a card game as Leah had given up after losing three times in a row and they needed a fourth. She was taking everyone for their shirts as they lost round after round of every game they yed.


    Matt was moved to help Leah and Keith stack bottles around the passed out Aster when Emmanuel started to make his goodbyes. He was heading off to deal with official details for the start of the Tier 10 tournament.


    They also found out that he wouldn''t be attending the actual tournament.


    Daty, the leader of the Republic, is going to ascend, and that celebration takes a few years normally. Then, Hastor is going to ascend directly after him. So Ill be gone for the next decade or so.


    Liz pursed her lips and sighed. I was hoping you would be able to see our victory.


    Despite sometimes acting like a kid around her older siblings for humor, she seemed actually disappointed at the revtion.


    Emmanuel ruffled her hair, to Lizs annoyance, and dodged the [Fireball] sheunched at him. All the Tier 50s are expected to be there to watch the Ascension, to ensure no shenanigans happen, and watch their heir reach Tier 50. We can all feel when a Tier 48 bes a Tier 49, and bing a Tier 50 is an even bigger shock. There have been people who tried to time their own breakthroughs in conjunction with the raising of a new Tier 50, to hide their advancement. But with all the current Tier 50s located together, they can''t hide so easily. And honestly, we like to make sure that one of the rulers doesn''t try to do anything, like remain behind and start ying shadow games.


    He shook his head. Youll understand when you advance in Tier. For now, dont worry about that. Just do your best in the fights and have some fun. I know I enjoyed all the twists and turns in my Tier 10 tourney. And I''ll be sure to see you before I leave.


    And just like that, Matt''s second meeting with the Emperor ended as suddenly as it started.


    With his official arrival on the, the starting ceremonies for the Tier 10 Pathers tournament began.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138


    When Matt woke up, he found that Aster was still upset about the pyramid of household objects stacked on and around her. She was ignoring everyone while sending chilly gusts of wind at anyone she thought it would bother.


    Currently, her only targets were Matt and Liz, as they were the only ones in the living room.


    Not long after Emmanuel had left, the party had devolved into various drinking games.


    Possibly because she was the first to pass outst night, the fox was feeling the best.


    Matt felt like someone hit him in the face, but he was at least able to function.


    Liz was only doing slightly better than Matt, and had an arm thrown over her eyes while trying to find afortable position on the couch shed taken over at some point.


    Despite the fact they were much higher Tier and fully able to control their bodies, the immortals were doing far worse than the three of them. The high Tier liquor they had started drinking apparently hit a lot harder than what the three of them had drunk.


    Mara was currently in a tiny phoenix form, and had at some point created a miniature nest in a bookshelf. She wasn''t actually in the nest; she had gotten stuck in the chandelier that hung over the kitchen table. She had struggled valiantly, but eventually gave up, and slept entangled in the gems and chains.


    Leon, if Matt remembered correctly, and if his ears were working properly, had been stuffed into the fridge, and was currently asking for someone to open the door.


    Matt ignored that and looked around for anyone else.


    He found Sam curled up under the table using a bottle of silvery liquor like a pillow.


    Leah and Alice were nowhere to be seen, but he could see Erin''s slippered foot sticking inside the apartment from the balcony.


    Matt eventually found Daniel when he noticed the second couch was extra lumpy and looked closer.


    The middle sibling had apparently decided that getting <em>under</em> the couch pillows was the mostfortable position to be in.


    Considering that Matt had woken up with a pile of stacked cans and a chair falling on him from when Aster freed herself, he wished he had thought to protect his head as well.


    Moving slowly, he started to cook everyone breakfast after letting Leon free from the fridge, where he had been stuffed inside an intricate bottle in storm cloud form.


    Matt didn''t even try to remember what the older siblings had been thinking when they convinced the man to get into the bottle.


    He remembered it <em>had</em> been funny, just not what the actual joke was.


    By noon, everyone was up and moving, which actually allowed them to catch the official start of the games.


    They had used the capital city''s location for the opening ceremonies, which was six or so hours behind their current location on the.


    It was an impressive showing, and everyone watched the proceedings with rapt attention.


    The Emperor had given a speech at Tur''stals floating estate. They were in a spatially expanded garden, and he addressed the crowd of millions as the sun broke over the horizon.


    Most of it was political fluff that passed through one slightly hungover ear and out the other, but seeing the Emperor use a primitive flint and steel to start the fire that would stay ame for the next year was a sight to behold.


    There was something entrancing about watching a man that could easily summon fire at a whim create it through mundane methods.


    Matt was sure that there was some greater symbolism to it, but the subtler aspects of the ceremony were lost on him.


    From then on, there were seemingly endless banquets and parties as the weeklong countdown began.


    The Emperor kept things interesting by crashing random gatherings and doing impromptu meet and greets between his official appearances at various higher Tier events.


    It gave the random Pathers a chance to meet the Tier 50 personally, and despite not having more than a minute to spend with each person, he somehow made everyone he interacted with feel like he had taken note of them specifically.


    Matt was pretty sure that the Tier 50 was abusing a cloning skill or Talent, but it didnt change the fact people were ecstatic to meet him.


    The three of them spent most of their time in their normal identities so they could hang out with their friends, old and new. But they also donned their Quill and Torch personas to attend a few of the masked parties.


    But as the final day approached, the atmosphere of the took two distinct turns. The Pathers got serious, and like an unspoken switch was thrown, the partying and fun time stopped when the day counter ticked over to hours.


    At the same time, everyone elses parties seemed to kick into high gear.


    When there were only minutes until the official start, Matt and Liz stood with Melindas team, Annie''s team, J''s team, and Felix in the crowd of participating Pathers. Quill and Torch, run by Luna and Kurt, were off in the distance with the other top ten maskers.


    They actually had a much better view of the festivities, but Matt and Liz had wanted to be with their friends.


    From the sidelines of the massive open area that they had all congregated in, the stands were full to bursting.


    They were spatially expanded to the limit. Both the building in general and the stands that wrapped the venue were expanded to hold the fourteen billion people who were attending the event in person.


    The staggering number only consisted of the lucky few who had won the-wide lottery to earn a seat. Everyone else on the that housed trillions, and all the viewers throughout the Empire had to watch on a screen.


    And Matt had to be honest


    Anyone not here in person was missing out.


    There were two dragon and phoenix pairs chasing each other around the venue''s sky in an acrobatic disy that was dazzling even before their handlers started to add illusion spells to the showing.


    The two dragons chased the phoenixes around in loops that brought them seemingly within arms reach of the crowd, but that was more an illusion created by their massive sizes than anything else. The great beasts wererger than some buildings, but were still nimble enough to turn tight circles. Matt was pretty sure they were cheating with their Concepts.


    Something that big just shouldn''t be able to turn that quickly.


    Throughout the show, the dragons and phoenixes shot jets of elemental magic at each other, so their attacks fizzled out in colorful disys of magic that dissipated above the standing Pathers'' heads.


    It was an amazing backdrop to the entertainers who wandered above their heads and performed acrobatics and other impressive stunts in miniature performances.


    An illusionist was performing sleight of hand card tricks near the group, but his shadow was constantly disrupting his tricks and pulling the hidden cards out of his pockets, to the annoyance of the main body.


    After running through a few shows, all the hovering performers shifted ces on an unheard cue.


    Matt was watching a woman juggle half a dozen ming des with her feet, when all the performers faded away as if they were made of mist.


    As they started to vanish, everyone''s attention moved to therge stage that took up the center of the venue.


    With billions of eyes watching, the empty stage that had held a fewrger performances just moments ago was covered in a rising mist.


    As quickly as the mist appeared, it vanished in seconds, and the t tform was reced with the Royals standing in a semi-circle around the Emperor.


    At the first sight of the Emperor, the crowd went wild, and screams and shouts sted out in waves.


    The Emperor was the only royal that reacted, and simply waved at the crowd, letting them burn off their excess energy.


    Matt''s eyes were drawn to the royals nking Emmanuel. On the right were Leon and Mara, standing next to each other with stern looks on their faces.


    Seeing them up there, he looked to where he knew the Moore family was in the stands, and found the real versions of Mara and Leon shouting and waving like anyone else in the crowd. No one else recognized them, or any of the other Moore''s as someone of stature in the crowd. Matt had checked with Kyle, and he only saw normal-looking people in the Moore family''s ces. In fact, he couldn''t even see their shenanigans.


    Currently, the family had matching cartoon shirts of Matt and Lizs faces while they mmed tubes together to make noise with the rest of the crowd. Matt plucked his bond with Aster, and she started wiggling and yowling as he was looking at her.


    That sent the Moore family to redouble their effort in making noise, which Matt was only able to smile at. It was nice to have his own personal cheering squad.


    He didn''t mind in the slightest that no one else could see them, but their presence was a warm feeling that lingered in his heart.


    Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to see the other royals in person, he scoped out the rest of the royals,paring them to the pictures and videos he had seen and studied. Next to Mara, on the Emperor''s right side, was a shorter, masked form.


    Harper, the [Telekinesis] specialist, was small in stature, but the robes and mask hid any identifying features. Ironically enough, it had be their only real identifying feature.


    To sate his curiosity, Matt had been forced to abuse his ess to Mara and Leon. He asked them for details, and found out that Harper had started as a cover identity, but had eventually took over as the main identity. Or at least, the outward one. Along with their past identity, the royal had discarded everything else.


    If the duo knew anything about the real Harper, they didn''t offer the information, and Matt took their silence as answer enough.


    On the other side of the Emperor was Tur''stal, in an elegant dress that seemed spun of light made solid.


    Looking closer, the dress had vines and flowers in the stitching, which was a surprisingly subtle nod to her power set of controlling nature.


    Normally, the left and right position next to the Emperor were taken up by the two Tier 48s, Mara and Leon. But with this being her, her position was switched with Maras for a more prestigious cement.


    Next to her was a burly man who, even in formal attire, rippled with muscles. Rusty, the only pure melee fighter of the royals, was closing in on seven feet tall. All of which was supposedly gic, instead of from using his physical control earned after reaching Tier 15 to tweak his form.


    The man was like a walkingndslide.


    His easy smile hid the fact that his fist-based fighting style was brutally effective, and had seen hard use in the Empire''s military when he had been under Tier 35.


    Like the others, he stood still while the Emperor slowly waved down the crowd.


    That led Matt to the final and newest royal, Frederic. The man who cheated at the royal poker game by looking at the reflection of Leon''s mirror sses. sses that Matt hadter learned were made from actual mirrors.


    He was a more unassuming man than Rusty, who stood next to him. With simple brown hair and in features, the man could have mixed into any crowd and been lost in a second of inattention.


    As Matt inspected the man, he swore that Frederic noticed and met his gaze through the crowd of millions of other Pathers.


    Matt just nodded slightly, and the man moved his gaze somewhere else.


    He wasnt that surprised.


    When trying to learn about the other royals from Mara and Leon, he had learned more than a little about the newest royal.


    Despite his differing political views from the Emperor, neither Mara nor Leon were willing to say he was anything butpetent. He was incredibly politically savvy, and Matt had no doubt that his identity as Lizs delving partner was known to the upper echelon.


    Matt had worked up the courage to ask Emmanuel why he let Frederic be a royal if he didnt agree with the Emperor''s ideas of government, and Emmanuel had only shrugged and said he was loyal andpetent.


    Not everyone would agree with Emmanuel''s ideas, and Frederic was the newest rallying point for the inheritance nobility who hadn''t fallen under Tur''stals or Rustys much older political blocks. When the expanded borders were taken into ount, something needed to be done to secure the Empire''s control over its far flung territories.


    And thus, a new royal was born.


    Matt thought he understood, but the high level politics wasn''t anything he was interested in, as long as it left him alone. So, he hadn''t pushed farther than making sure the new royal wasnt some evil nt by another great power.


    A cartoonish plot, but after spending so much time with Mara and Leon, he had been worried.


    After fifteen minutes or so, Matt felt the sound slowly start to dampen around them, and in moments, the crowd quieted down.


    The Emperor walked forward a few steps, and with a smile that felt like he was directing it at Matt personally, said, Good afternoon, and wee!


    That was all he was able to say as the crowd exploded in another roar of sound, but they quickly settled down at the Emperor''s benevolent smile.


    Today, we mark the official start of this generation''s Tier 10 Pathers tournament.


    He let the resulting criesst longer this time.


    I would first like to thank Tur''stal and East Flower as a whole for taking charge of this event and bringing it to life. A lot of work goes into the games, and it is a burden to the and its people. I personally thank the more permanent residents of East Flower, who have weed the influx of new citizens to their home with grace and aplomb.


    Behind him, from her ce, Tur''stal dipped her head in a shallow bow, which set off the locals.


    The Emperor nodded slightly at that, and let the crowd scream their heads off for a solid five minutes.


    For those that have been weed to East Flower, but will be leaving after this event, thank you foring so far. It always warms my heart to see citizens from even the farthest reaches of the Empire able to attend these events.


    A smaller cheer was allowed to go on for a short while before the Emperor''s smile lit up the entire stadium.


    Finally, I would like everyone to wee the Pathers we have gathered here today. I wee all one million, one hundred seventy-eight thousand, fifty-two of them. For they are the best of their generation of billions.


    This time, the cheering crowd was allowed to cry themselves hoarse for a solid ten minutes. They were egged on by the royals, all following the Emperor, who pped at the Tier 10 Pathers.


    Matt whistled mentally at the final number of Pathers who were good enough to attend this event. That didnt just mean that there were a million or so Pathers who had reached Tier 10. It meant that there were over a million of them who had reached Tier 10, and had the possibility to reach further.


    This time, the Pathers joined in the cheering, and Matt could feel the excitement of the crowd. It was exhrating, and seeped into him as well.


    Matt and Liz tried to out-scream each other while Melinda''s team started to jump in unison as they yelled. The energy was infectious, and quickly, everyone around them was jumping and screaming along with them.


    The Emperor seemed content to let everyone shout their heads off, and just smiled along.


    They are our people''s best and brightest. In theing year, we will see them push themselves to the limits of their personal power, and showcase their potential. We will look on as they surpass their previous achievements in rift delving and fighting. Let us not forget the crafters and the wonders they make, for they will be showcasing their own skills alongside our morebat-oriented subjects. We have more people attending this event than five years ago, when a new attendance record had been established. Through all of you, the Empire grows strong.


    The Emperor clenched a fist as he said that, and then opened his hands and gestured to everyone around him. We grow strong because of you, the people of the Empire. As you better yourselves, the collective whole grows stronger. And for that, I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.


    The Emperor seemed content in the cheering that followed his statement.


    It gives me great pleasure to be able to do this. The Emperor swept his arm backwards and continued, I would like to introduce our newest royal, King Frederic, and offer him the opportunity to say a few words to everyone.


    With that, Frederic exploded from his position like he had been holding himself back, waiting for those exact words.


    As the Emperor took half a step back, Frederic shook the Tier 50s hand and bowed slightly over their sped hands with a radiant smile.


    When they broke apart after an unheard but seemingly pleasant exchange of words, Frederic stepped forward and opened his arms wide.


    Good afternoon, East Flower! It is my great honor to be here today. As the crowd cheered, he looked to Tur''stal and nodded to her. And to my esteemed fellow royal, Queen Tur''stal, I thank you for the gracious hospitality you and your people have shown me during my visit. I hope that my own capital can one day be as glorious and generous as yours has been.


    That seemed to please Tur''stal, but Matts gut told him there were deeper currents to the political game that Frederic was ying at.


    To that end, I would like to wee all who wish to migrate out to the newest sector of the Empire and join my kingdom. We will wee one and all. I don''t care about your Tier or Talent. We need and wee everyone from all walks of life. Thes are safe and settled, as required of one being appointed to an official royal position, but we have so much room to grow. And to that end, I wee you. There are rifts to delve and jobs to work. Be you a Pather looking for a rift with lesspetition, or an inspiring entrepreneur looking to start your own business. I open my arms in wee.


    There was a wave of cheering that only served to widen Frederic''s smile.


    To assist in that endeavor, I will cover the cost of anyone who wishes to relocate for the next two years. In return, all I ask is that you do your best in growing and thriving.


    Seemingly having said his piece, Frederic took a step back and repeated his handshake and slight bow to the Emperor.


    The Tier 50 retook his ce center stage and redirected the crowd''s attention. I wish everyone the best as they flock to take up Frederic''s offer. Moving into the newly settled regions of the Empire is a hard but rewarding life, filled with opportunities to grow and expand. Now He paused for a heartbeat, and Tur''stal stepped forward to stand beside the Emperor. Let our gracious hostess introduce our venue.


    Tur''stals voice was soft and elegant, but carried to his ears as if she was only arm''s length away as she directed everyone''s attention to the sky.


    Matt and the other Pathers grew silent, hanging on her every word. This was their venue for the uing games. After all, no one wanted to miss if there was a hint in her words. Examples of such were easy enough to find, if one researched previous Tier 10 tournaments.


    If everyone would look to the sky, I will be bringing our little into orbit around East Flower.


    Her voice held an unmistakable pride as she added, For my higher Tier immortal brethren who are watching, if you send your spiritual sense out to about forty-three AU, in the second quadrant, you will find our. For the watchers who can''t send their spiritual perception out that far, let me <em>show you</em>.


    Matt couldn''t even spread his spiritual sense to the location of the center stadium, so he had to wonder at just what Tier could someone see nearly fifty times the distance from the local habitable to the central star.


    He was sure they had to be well over Tier 35.


    With that, the bright blue sky darkened as the sun seemed to dim and the stars came out. As the stars became visible, a portion of the sky shimmered while Tur''stal created a magnified view for everyone watching the spectacle. A single dot of light slowly took over the sky, expanding to show a small in the coldness of space.


    Tur''stals voice once again slithered through the crowd, and Matt was able to see her reach up from the corner of his eye. With a twisting motion, she seemed to grab hold of the air itself and pull down.


    Her maniption of the sky had finally focused onto the surface of the, as if looking at a nearby moon through a telescope. As the image in the sky became clear, the fabric of reality seemed to shift around them. To his Concept, it felt like something with authority over existence itself had decreed that the''s location wasnt correct, and then moved the to its proper home.


    At that moment, the zoomed-in portion of the sky faded away, and the that had been forty-three times farther away from the central star than East Flower had been teleported into a nearby orbit.


    The new was close enough that it took up over half the horizon, and even as the sun slowly returned brightness to the arena, the still dominated the backdrop of the sky.


    Matt swallowed at the disy of power.


    He could also feel that he had missed a massive portion of what had just happened, as he didnt have an Intent or Aspect to feel those powers at work.


    Even still, the power that his Concept could detect felt vast in a way that he couldn''t put words to.


    Tur''stals Concept was somehow <em>more</em> than his.


    The entire disy was a raw and naked threat to anyone watching.


    Tur''stal had just moved an <em>entire</em> across a sr system in realspace, while an audience of billions watched on. And she did it without any visible effort.


    She hadn''t even used any visible skills that would have made the effort easier. She had seemingly only relied only on her Domain and its control over space.


    That disy of power actually caused the crowd to go silent for once, as everyone stared at the now dominating the sky.


    Someone somewhere started to cheer, and that small noise woke the beast. The roar of approval was ear-shattering as the citizens of East Flower celebrated their Queen''s disy of power.


    After letting cheering go on for a long while, Tur''stal started speaking once again. This is our Tier 15. It''s a small, as those things go. Little more than the size of our moon. Still, it''s a proper Tier 15, with rifts ranging between Tier 11 and Tier 15. But to let us have a little more leeway in our nning, a number of rifts have been held back from advancing to keep them Tier 10.


    As she spoke, areas on the lit up in a variety of colors. A small minority were red, and Matt understood them to represent the Tier 10 rifts. At a Tier lower than what the would naturally birth, they were only kept from advancing with formations. That made them expensive, and much less numerous than their naturally urring, Tier 11 counterparts.


    Those were the most numerous. The orange highlighted rifts were plentiful, and held a noticeable majority, judging from the half of the they could see.


    The''s infrastructure seemed to be built around each beacon of light, and corresponded to the difficulty of the rifts. Yellow and green lit-up areas were lesser still, but apparently had far more infrastructure dedicated to them.


    Giant buildings were spaced out between clear areas that surrounded the Tier 12 and Tier 13 rifts.


    There were a few bright green lights showing the location of the Tier 14 rifts. They seemed to be orbited by the lesser rifts colored yellow and orange.


    Interestingly enough, the two blue lights he could see were lost in the nning of the other rifts; their locations appearing more random than the others.


    It made sense when you considered that no normal Tier 10 could fight in a Tier 13 rift, let alone the Tier 14 rifts. While the Pathers were stronger than average, even a dozen teams couldn''t bridge a five Tier gap in power.


    That made the Tier 15 rifts superfluous, and only a byproduct of having the maximum number of Tier 11 rifts avable by making the Tier 15.


    Even still, the Tier 13 rifts would be housing the greatest of single team challenges, with the Tier 14 rifts curated to be weaker than normal, and designated for the group battles.


    Or at least, that was the historical information that Matt had been able to learn beforehand had suggested.


    There was always the chance they had changed things this year.


    Tur''stals words slithered to his ears once more. Here we have the stage for our uing Pathers. This entire world is dedicated to them for the next year. Here, we will challenge them and push their limits.


    In the sky, a simr apparition to the one that had been used to view the Tier 15 appeared.


    This time, it was a giant, numbered listing of nk ces.


    For everyone who isn''t a participant, we will be able to watch the teams fight in the rifts through the streams. Well have a front row seat as theypete in challenges of speed, clearing rifts as fast as possible.


    The view in the sky projection changed to show half a dozen different scenes in a massive grid.


    As the months progress, the challenges will change and be reset, giving opportunity for everyone to grow and learn from past experiences. They will also earn greater rewards as thepetition grows.


    Tur''stal paused at that. With allpetitiones betting. People love gambling on their chosen champions and hoping to be rich. While a fun way to participate in thepetition, I wish to remind everyone to gamble responsibly, and to use the officially sanctioned brokers. If you choose to use an unlicensed bookie, there is no guarantee for receiving your rewards. Please bet responsibly.


    As if trying to wave that warning away, Tur''stal gestured out, and streamers of light slithered around the Tier 10s standing at the foot of the stage.


    With that final warning, I send off ourpetitors. I wish all of you the best of luck, and remember to stay safe.


    As the two strands of light stretched around the Pathers, and finally met at the far end of the stadium, the light extended to the ground. Suddenly, Matt was looking up at East Flower from the surface of the Tier 15.


    The gravity felt the same, but he knew that it was a product of enchantments, rather than the mass of thes being identical.


    To his surprise, the royals were still in the same location, despite the stage having disappeared.


    A more serious Tur''stal called out, Now that we are here, and away from the crowd, I would like to take the time to go over a few more formalities.


    Her words were apanied by a gentle smile, but there was a tone that demanded everyone''s attention.


    The Tier 10 rifts are hardly a challenge for anyone here. Even the Tier 11 rifts are hardly a difficult hurdle for any of you. To that end, most Tier 10 rifts are free for anyone to delve for essence or rift rewards at any point. But there are correspondingly nopetition rewards for said rifts. There are a few rifts of that Tier that are used for challenges and testing, but if youre good enough to appear on this stage, a rift at your own Tier is no challenge. Like all rifts that have associated challenges, we will be relying on your taking AI-backed oaths to not spread information about what you learn in those rifts. To assist in that endeavor, the information spread between our little garden and the East Flower will be limited in the extreme. So, if you expected to get help from there, you will be sorely disappointed.


    Tur''stal gestured to the crowd, and a massive information packet was downloaded to Matt''s AI.


    This contains all the rewards and current challenges for the first month of games. Even though the rewards are small now, they will increase as each month resets the standings.


    Matt resisted the urge to snort at thement that the rewards were small.


    The smallest reward he saw in his perusal of the list was of a speedrun of a Tier 10 rift, which gave a Tier 12 crafting material. Even if it was just sold on the open market, it was worth quite a bit.


    As was stated earlier, most rifts will be recorded with our drones for entertainment and verification purposes. Some rifts will be exempt from said recordings, and you will be notified if that is the case. Also, for our more interesting challenges, like the endless wave rift, we have direct ess to view what happens inside each instance at any time. I remind you of this as all of you have hidden skills and abilities you might not want revealed until the final, Big Threepetitions. Those same videos will be open to the general public, but we will be censoring any information we find too sensitive. Still, remember that the others who actually care about your abilities aren''t stupid, and are perfectly capable of deductive reasoning. Also, note that any location marked with a White Rose means there is no recording allowed from us or you. All of your apartment rooms are included in that. Please respect your fellowpetitors'' privacy, as they will respect yours.


    Tur''stal waved her hand, and an arm band hovered in front everyone until they took it.


    This is linked to ourary AI, and monitors your health at all times. It''s powerful enough to punch out of rifts, so we can monitor your health even during a delve. We do not wish for any deaths, and will be actively preventing them if needed. That doesn''t mean you should be reckless in your battles. Know your limits, and push them carefully. We have the best medical staff the Empire has to offer here, but we cant remove healing cooldowns, and we <em>will</em> block you from delving if you reach that limit.


    Matt wanted to poke Melinda, but resisted the childish urge as he took the slim band of metal and put it around his wrist.


    Still, her warning was a good one. They were going to be pushing hard, and a bad injury could take the most promising contestant out of the running if they were unlucky.


    Tur''stal smiled at the reaction from the crowd said, Back to the fun information.


    A three-sided pir of stone rose out of the crowd and the surface rippled as a listing appeared.


    Here is, at least for most of you, the most important ranking. The Big Three. The crafters'' challenges will start preliminary rounds in three months, while the solo duels and team battle will start at the six-month mark.


    Everyone''s gazes were drawn to the pir as it rose hundreds of feet into the air.


    Matt couldn''t wait for his and Lizs names to top the twobat pirs.


    The challenge of beating everyone else as Quill was invigorating. Especially after histest conversation with the Emperor.


    A woman appeared next to Turstal, standing smartly at a modified parade rest. She was dressed in a sharp looking uniform that was reminiscent of military dress uniforms, but in green and silver. Tur''stal''s personal colors.


    These are our guards, the personnel who will be staffing this event. They are all Tier 20 at a minimum, and while they are here to assist you in your time here, they arent servants to be ordered around. If they tell you something, please know that they do so for your own good. If you believe they are acting out of turn, just call out my name. I will be watching everything closely, and listening for any such calls. Otherwise, they are here to assist you all, so I ask that you listen to their orders.


    The unnamed guard nodded before saying, We will do our best to ensure your stay is asfortable as possible. Simply calling out, or messaging theary AI the phrase A bud needs care will draw our attention to your location in short order.


    With that single remark, she vanished.


    Matt wanted to smirk at them being called buds, as it matched the theme of Tur''stal Talent, but it was also a reminder of what Matt had mostly forgotten after living with Mara and Leon for so long.


    A Tier 47 could easily see and watch the entire, all at once.


    An ufortable thought, but one he had long sincee to terms with.


    With each Tier 10 tournament, we try to change things up, and this time is no different. For this tournament, everything you do will be judged and awarded points. Complete a Tier 10 rift speed run and earn a point. Do it in under a specified time, and earn more. Have the fastest time at the end of the month, and youll earn even more points. The harder the challenge, and the better you do, the more points you will earn. Tur''stals grin was palpable through her voice as she smiled at the Pathers under her. These points will be cumtive throughout the entire year, and at each month, you will receive rewards depending on your total ranking in the various challenge categories.


    A second but t pir of stone rose from the ground, and had a hundred listings waiting to be filled.


    These rewards will not be insignificant. If youre a generalist, and are able topete well enough in each challenge to take the top ces, you will find your rewards simr to those of the final victors of the Big Three.


    That set the Tier 10 Pathers ame. The rewards for the winner of the Big Three were always stunning. Even the top 100 earned rewards that usually were out range for any Tier 20. Rare and unique items weremonce at that level, and Tur''stal had just said that there was a new, fourth way for anyone to earn rewards of a simr caliber. They just had to be active and able to spread themselves out.


    Thepetitive edge that had been simmering under the surface now exploded out from each Pather team in the crowd.


    Those who had been their neighbors and fellows in the celebrations were now theirpetitors.


    Tur''stal, having anticipated this, added one final bomb. Also, your umted points can be spent for a variety of rewards at any point. They can be anything from time with a high Tier personal trainer to new weapons or armor. Or, for those more spendthrift individuals,vish evenings of decadence and pampering, the likes of which you have never imagined possible.


    The avable rewards were then sent to each of them in an information packet. They were everything that Tur''stal had hinted at and more.


    Growth items of all types weremonce and plentiful. As were items personally crafted by Tier 25s, which also appeared with turn around times that Matt had to question the possibility of. A personal weapon being made in a single evening seemed impossible, until he realized that the Queen of East Flower was probably going to be sending the crafters into the rifts on her Tier 43 worlds. She would most likely be abusing the time dtion to get the orders done quickly.


    With the ability to buy things at any time, everyone needed to bnce the possible rewards and power boosts they could earn with the loss of points that would set them back in the overall standings.


    It would make for an interesting bncing act.


    Even with his inted view of money from his Talent, Matt found dozens of things he wanted. They had previously been impossible to afford, or were just not sold on the open market.


    It all just cost points.


    Matt was going through the listing of point-earning activities when Tur''stal finally said, With that, I wish everyone the best of luck. We will be eagerly awaiting your showing.


    Matt turned to Liz and saw a matching fire in her eyes.


    They had two identities that they needed to start earning points with, after all.


    They needed to get moving if they didnt want to get left behind.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139


    Zack observed the projection of the opening ceremonies with half a mind, until the Pathers were teleported to the now much closer trial.


    They weren''t going to be making a move until most of the royals, and most importantly, the Emperor, left. At that point, moving over wouldnt be suicidal, just recklessly dangerous. That, they could handle.


    Families and people close to the Tier 10s could get visitor passes to the Tier 15, a method he and Allie would be exploiting as their way in. Anything else was too risky.


    Zack was watching the cloned health monitor they had been able to get their hands on and started his own tracking of the Pathers'' health statuses. Those bands were not new technology by any means. Still, this was only his third time seeing them in action. Each band was ludicrously expensive to produce. Only a Tier 35 with a good grasp on space and teleportation could create the runes that they relied on.


    The damn things only worked reliably when the transponder was crafted from rare materials at least double the rank of the rift it was meant to broadcast from. Even these bands were only rated for up to Tier 14 rifts, but the sheer amount of exotic Tier 28 materials that went into producing this many would make anyone flinch. Turstal many times predecessor had personally invested into this health-tracking system, and the security protecting thework reflected that even to this day.


    It was why they hadnt bothered to try and hack into the system directly. Instead, they simply located a less-than-well-observed monitoring interface that the guards had used to track the kids'' health, and cloned it.


    They could only copy the same informationing into that device without giving themselves away, but it was still something to work with.


    Allies cry brought him out of his efforts to organize the iing information to better suit their needs. Hah! I fucking got them!


    She was fixated on her wall of screens, and he quickly scrutinized the scene that she had on a loop.


    In the video, a nondescript woman walked through one of the teleporters and vanished. Nothing unusual, but she had subtly sent out a burst of mana during the formation''s activation, an act that would normally result in the travelers death.


    Except, no explosion of blood and gore followed.


    Did you trace their jump to the real exit location? Zack tried to keep the tion out of his voice. He failed. This was the first other cell of spies they had detected.


    You bet your stick-filled-ass I did! I told you! I fucking told you that they were using this teleporter as their redirect.


    Allie gloated, and admittedly, she had earned it. He had postted that they were using a more obscure method of travel. Using the-wide teleporters was downright brazen, and raised the question of how they managed to modify the teleporter pad without even the maintenance technicians noticing anything.


    Those formations were inspected daily, and underwent more thorough audits monthly.


    Either their counterparts had a new method of redirecting teleporters, which was always a possibility with Talents, or they had a few well-ced spies on the inside, who had been activated for this event. Either way, Zack was a little envious.


    Still, they had a job to do.


    Standing, he quickly strode across the room and pulled up the location that Allie had tracked the spatial ripples to.


    Zack had to nod in professional appreciation. This operation was being run out of a spatially expanded mobile base hidden inside a <em>fake pigeon</em>. Even with all their sensors and knowledge of what to look for, they couldn''t tell the imitation bird from the real ones sitting next to it. If the operatives teleportation didnt lead directly inside the bird, neither Zack nor Allie would have ever found it.


    Zack didnt gamble, but he would bet his life savings on the construct being a Talent.


    It was just too perfect to be anything else.


    After confirming the birds location, he turned to Allie and began considering their options.


    Should we dispatch them ourselves? Or do we justpromise their cover and let the local guards step in?


    Naturally, their primary assignment was to gather information on the Pathers going through the Tier 10 tournament. However, counterespionage was the next highest priority in the mission statement. After all, it would not do to let their <em>enemies</em> learn too much.


    The question was; how to eliminate thepetition?


    If they did it themselves, they could possibly extract the other team''s findings, which might fill in some gaps in their own investigations.


    That option came with the highest risk of blowing their own cover, though.


    He knew which option Allie would champion, but a part of being a good team meant talking things through when you could.


    Yet, his partner surprised him. Yeah, I''m notying a hand on that winged rat.


    Zack nodded happily. I''m d you agree. It would be an unnecessary risk


    Allie interrupted with a raspberry. <em>Pffft!</em> No, no, no. I want to see the big bad Emperor make a move. He''s less than a blink away. If we pop their little bubble now, he might just hop over and curb stomp these yahoos <em>personally</em>.


    Even though Zack already approved of this strategy, the outside chance of seeing the Emperor himself make a move added to the appeal.


    While it would be exceedingly unlikely that they could poach any new information this way, they might witness a Tier 50s power for themselves. That was tempting.


    Very tempting.


    While I was already on board with the strategy, I would relish such an opportunity as well. Even if the Emperor doesnt make a move, getting one of the Royals to personally intervene would likewise be valuable. Even if the odds are long, theres no harm in trying to bait a response either.


    Once the pigeon entered their attack radius, Zack started up their Base ster, as Allie insisted on calling it. In truth, the attack consisted of numerous, intricate formations that worked in concert to disrupt concealment measures. In almost any scenario, it could unveil camouged facilities, at least temporarily. The catch was that the activation was <em>anything </em>but subtle, and the area of effect was limited. Realistically, it was only effective if they had already narrowed down the location of their target to within a few feet.


    He hated to admit that even he started to think of it as the Base ster, if only because of Allies continual obsession with using the childish name. Firing it would sadly mean they would have to burn this base. They had to sever any connection that could reveal their next actions, and their base would also bepromised. However, the recording equipment was already running in their next base, so at most, it was a minor annoyance.


    The procedures that followed were something they had practiced many times. No words were exchanged as Allie levitated a needle with her Talent, floating it from its resting ce on the far side of their base over to Zack. Both vigntly avoided touching the object. Thanks to how Allies Talent worked, neither of them would ever have any direct contact with the needle, which would ordingly foil many forms of divination that might be used to track them with it.


    But it was still insufficient.


    While Arcane manacked true ess to Void affinity, the one type which would make it truly untraceable, Zack had discovered a tolerable alternative. When fed a unique blend of Fire, Earth, and Metal mana, the normally illusion-based [Invisible Object] would reset any mana signatures which might have imprinted themselves onto a targeted metal object. This technique also yielded the side benefit of superheating the needle to the point where any physical evidence was incinerated.


    Zack nodded once the needle waspletely scrubbed of any possible evidence of their involvement, and they began their countdown in silent unison.


    When it reached zero, they acted.


    Zack called on his Concept, using the smallest fraction of mana he could tounch the needle forward. Meanwhile, Allie wrapped the projectile in her Talent and triggered the teleportation formation they had etched throughout the city. In the next instant, the needle vanished in a sh of untraceable mana.


    Without a moment of hesitation, they activated their emergency escape talismans and arrived in separate locations of the city.


    Nomotion or outward disturbance could be felt, but Zack hadnt expected one.


    When they rendezvoused hourster in their next hideout, they reviewed the recording of their attack.


    The needle appeared half an inch away from the pigeon and punched through the creatures hide.


    Apparently, the pigeon was actually alive, and the poor bird erupted into a shower of viscera, revealing a prismatic marble that had previously been hidden within it. As they continued to watch, the marble cracked and then split apart in slow motion.


    A base not unlike their own became recognizable as it expanded to its normal size, now that the formations and runes containing it were broken.


    Before the space ballooned torger than the size of Allie''s hand, everything vanished. Even the pigeons sttered remains had been wiped away.


    That''s it? They didn''t even bother to appear themselves? Fuck me sideways. No, fuck <em>them</em> sideways! Allie kicked away from the screens and spun her chair in a huff.


    Zack frowned himself. He concurred with his teammate. It had always been a longshot, but this oue was more than a little disappointing.


    That was the life of undercover and spy work, though. That same life also meant no protection from a Tier 50 snatching you if they stumbled upon your base.


    The rules of war did not cover spies for a reason.


    And one could argue that the international treaties on not attacking down a Tier were never even broken.


    He was sure the other operatives were still alive. At least, for now.


    What tomorrow brought them was best left unthought of. The fate of unsessful spies was never clean.


    Well, let''s get to work and dissect the information we can glean from the few frames of their safe room that we have from before it was pulled away. We might be able to identify which other Great Power they hailed from.


    Allie grumbled, but set to the task with him.


    ***


    Matt and Liz took off with his best Concept flying speed.


    Sadly, they were in the middle of the group of other Pathers, which put them in one of the worst positions possible.


    Still, not many others could fly without a flying device.


    That didn''t stop everyone else from getting on their flying devices, but the time it took them to remove them from their spatial bags slowed them down a little.


    That dy let the two of them catch up to the leading edge of the Pathers, who were rushing out in a wave of flesh and steel.


    Liz called through their AI, Forward to the left and up is a Tier 12 rift with a challenge to kill three hidden bosses. Five points a pop if we take off their heads.


    That was more than good enough to get Matt to head in that direction. Even still, others were faster.


    One by one, others passed them and headed to various rifts.


    Not wanting to give away exactly how fast he could fly with his Concept, but unwilling to be more than second in line, Matt increased their speed by a small degree.


    The rate at which people passed them slowed to an eptable level, and they quickly flew the few miles to their target.


    They were the second team to arrive, which put them first in line to wait out the fifteen-minute reset time.


    At the entrance to the tear in reality was an attractive man in the same guards uniform that they had seen earlier.


    As they approached, the man adopted an easy-going air and simply asked, Would you like the information I can provide about the rifts in this area, and this one in particr?


    Matt nodded, but Liz actually spoke up. If you could tell us what you can while we have the fifteen minutes to burn, wed be grateful.


    The man nodded back politely and started what seemed to be a well-rehearsed spiel. Let us start with what applies to every rift. You may queue up for any rift and enter as soon as the fifteen-minute cycle time is up. To keep everyone moving through as quickly as possible, participants are allowed to reserve rift time, but were requiring that anyone with an appointment is in line at least twenty minutes before their scheduled time. Additionally, rifts may not be scheduled for more than a day in advance.


    As another two teamsnded behind them, the guard nodded to them and said, If you wish to delve this rift, please form an orderly line. Firste, first serve rules apply. Any timing disputes will be handled by us gardeners.


    That the local guards were called gardeners seemed amusing until Matt realized the darker implications about what a gardener did. Sometimes you needed to cut a branch to let the tree grow healthy. Not that he expected them to be attacking people left and right, but Matt took note of the implication all the same.


    With their new audience listening, the gardener continued, If you wish to schedule a rift, you simply must go to the rift and register. A separate line for the scheduling can be formed if needed.


    Matt felt that would be a line they frequented more often than not.


    The Gardener smiled as he gave the line a saucy wink, This half of the garden is kept civilized. The other half, not so much.


    Matt cocked his head as he narrowed his eyes at that hint.


    A quick search of the information he had made no hint or reference to a different rule set or any kind of other half of the that the gardener had mentioned. No one had shared anything on theNet yet about such a thing, and that it hadnt happened instantly showed just how important these initial waves of rift rushes would be.


    Liz caught his eyes, and they made a note to find out what he meant when they exited the rift.


    The gardener moved on quickly as if he hadnt said anything of import. Now about this rift here. It always has three hidden bosses, and each have unique features that are always the same. The ranking is based on how many of the bosses you kill and how fast you do it. At the end of the month, the person in first ce will earn an extra twenty points, second ce will earn twelve, and third ce gets an extra five points. If you are in fourth or fifth, you will earn three extra points, and sixth through tenth will you one extra point. Anything below that will not earn any additional points. Please note that clearing the rift doesn''t give any pointsonly by killing the extra bosses will you earn anything. As a final note, each team is only able to run this rift twice a month, and if you are the victor in first ce, you are unable to challenge the rift again for at least two months.


    He pointed to a small stack of drones next to him, and one rose up at his gesture before floating behind Matt and Liz.


    This rift is recorded and televised to everyone watching, so do not forget her Majesty''s warning about using trump cards without reason."


    The man leaned forward and said in a dramatically lowered voice, Do note that for this rift, the secret bosses will remain as such with AI-backed oaths. Please read the oath over, and if you feel like you can''tply, step out of line.


    Matt reviewed the oath and quickly epted it, as it was the standard one used in the Tier 10 tournaments.


    It boiled down to, Don''t speak to anyone outside your team about the things you learn in the rifts. And when you do speak of them, only do so in a way as to not be overheard by anyone outside of your team.


    That final addendum meant dont talk about the rifts anywhere but your private rooms or through your AI.


    Nowhere else was secure enough to meet the requirements.


    The minutes seemed to stretch as they waited out the fifteen-minute instance change before they could enter the rift.


    Already, Matt could see people leaving the rifts and wandering around into the various buildings. Either they had signed up for a rift slot, and had enough time to feel that they could leave the area, or they had given up on the idea altogether.


    Right before their turn came up, he and Liz received a message from Luna and Kurt that they had registered them for a rift delve in a Tier 11 speedrun rift in four hours as Quill and Torch.


    That should be more than enough time for them to clear this first rift.


    They weren''t going for a full clear after all. They just needed to find and kill the bosses and leave the rift.


    Ideally, they would only be killing four monsters before leaving.


    Still, the rift was a proper Tier 12, which meant it was at least fifteen hundred square miles at the smallest, and could balloon up to double that at therger end.


    Once the timer indicated it was safe to enter the rift, Matt and Liz entered with their weapons at the ready.


    They found themselves looking at the edge of a densely packed forest that led up to a mountain range in the distance. Jagged peaks sprawled out in front of them as far as they could see, reaching towards the starry sky above. The moon hanging in the sky seemed almost like a second, providing enough light that the entirety of the rift was bathed in its soft white glow. Its pockmarked surface appeared close enough to simply reach out and touch. The whole scene would have been quite serene, if not for the menacing red glow causing their shadows to reach towards the trees.


    Looking back for the secondary source of light, Matt found that they were at the edge of a cliff that dropped down to a river ofva. It looked like a glowing ribbon that seemed to be the boundary edge of the rift.


    Want to just fly around and see what we can see? Matt asked, turning to Liz while she lifted off the ground with her now attached ankle bracelet flying devices. Neither of them wanted to waste the willpower it took to fly manually when flying devices were faster and only cost mana.


    Matt withdrew his personally made flying sword, and after Liz joined him on the de, they took off with all the speed that a Tier 12 flying device powered by 50 MPS could muster. He could have gone faster, as, the de could handle around 500 MPS, but he didnt want to show his hand. Besides, 100 MPS was in line with his Concepts expected power growth from what he had shown in the vassal war.


    Still, they were moving faster than most standard des avable for purchase.


    It was fast enough that they wouldve been battered by air resistance without Matt controlling the air with his Concept. But he had gotten quite good at his control over the years.


    Liz pointed down and highlighted the first monsters they saw. Looks like elemental dogs. So far, I''ve seen poison and lightning. Nothing else seems to be Tier 12, though.


    That wasn''t surprising. While higher Tier rifts had increasinglyplex ecology, there were usually a limited number of at-Tier monster types that served as the main opponents in the rift.


    At Tier 12, they could expect three or four monster species.


    With two identified, Matt kept his eyes and spiritual perception scanning the air around them for aerial opponents.


    They flew in the direction of the exit, which was over the forest and next to the mountains, but not through them. Matt circled around the much darker part of the forest that was bathed crimson by the light, giving it an even more eerie ambience.


    The rest of the forest that they passed over mostly consisted of various species of deciduous nts, but this section was a near-perfect circle of evergreens. It was painfully obvious from the air, though Matt knew that the change in trees would have been harder to notice from the ground.


    They hovered in the air, keeping a bit of distance from the discongruent patch of forest.


    Should we burn it? Seems suspicious.


    Liz didnt hesitate as she said, Burn it.


    Matt, as Liz didnt use fire spells in her real identity, cast a [Fireball] andunched it into the forest.


    As the fire hit the trees, the entire region of evergreens rippled, and an ear rending screech mmed into them as the trees pulled together and started to form a whip.


    Now that the monster was no longer hiding, the weight of its spirit was obvious, as was the mid Tier 12 boss presence.


    Liz jumped off Matt''s flying de and flew off in the opposite direction, starting to summon gallons of blood from her glove growth item.


    They werent willing to show off the true extent of their abilities, but as the monster seemed only able to attack with whips made of trees, they did not have to show much.


    Matt flew close while he threw [Fireball]s as fast as the skill recovered in his spirit.


    From the side, he saw Liz swinging arcs of blood at the monsters whips. Despite the two Tier disadvantage, she only needed a few chops to cut through each limb.


    Her Blood Iron once again showed its prowess.


    With most of the monster''s attention on his partner, Matt flew forward, getting closer to the center mass of the creature as its bark obstructed his sight.


    [methrower] took a second to burn through the outeryer of the bark, but as it hit the monsters inner flesh, the fire took on a life of its own.


    Matt was instantly attacked by every whip the monster had, but his sword was fast, and he had practice dodging attacks in the air. Still, he was only able to keep his attack up for another few seconds before he was forced away from the monster. The sheer defensive frenzy that the boss was driven into, and the remaining time limit on his skill that served to hide his Talent pressured Matt as he continued his assault.


    Still, the damage was done, and as they retreated higher up into the sky, he and Liz watched as the monster burned from the inside out.


    Matt shrugged and said, That was almost disappointingly easy.


    Liz scratched her armored head and gestured with her spear. I don''t think Ive ever seen a monster with such a ring weakness before. I guess that fight would have been awful if we didnt have fire spells, but who doesn''t have at least one? She turned to him and asked, How long did it take you to get through the outer armor?


    Matt reviewed his AI and said, A little more than two seconds of a full 40 MPS [methrower].


    Liz shook her head and joined him on his flying sword again. That means even with just basic [Fireball]s, anyone else could have broken through the armor in about six shots if they could hit the same spot. Probably less, since the explosion damage would have helped punch through.


    They waited in silence until they felt the rush of essence that flooded their spirits before moving on.


    The next sub-boss they found was a boulder golem in a ravine, situated at the edge of the mountain region.


    The fight was harder than the tree monster, but only because <em>this </em>boss didnt have any ring weaknesses, unlike the first monster.


    Matt fought it from the ground and kept its attention on his armored form while onlyunching the asional attack. It allowed Liz to build up enough blood to smash the boulders into pieces too small for the boss to reform.


    It took them nearly twenty minutes to finish the monster off, but the fight hadnt been particrly hard.


    The essence rush this time felt far more earned, and Matt smiled as they moved to search out the next boss.


    It was essence two Tiers higher than their Tier, and as a sub-boss, it gave quite a bit more for a single kill than killing dozens of the regr Tier 12 monsters would have.


    As they neared the exit, they were unable to find the third sub-boss, and decided to kill the main boss before looking around more.


    The final boss of the rift was a pack of massively scaled-up versions of the elemental dogs that they had seen throughout the rift.


    Before they went into the fight with the mid Tier 12 monsters, Matt and Liz went and killed several packs of the lesser monsters, to see if they had any surprises or unexpected skills.


    As it turned out, the monsters didnt. They mostly used breath or ranged attacks of their elements while closing in, and tried to finish the two of them off in melee range by biting and wing as much as they could.


    While there were four types of the elemental dogs, the main ones were the poison and lightning-based dogs that they first spotted. They had little issue dealing with them, though Matt tried to fight the poison monsters himself, as he was practically immune with [Cracked Phantom Amor]. Liz had to fight them from a distance, so she focused on the other two dogs.


    Thest two types were wind and mud elementals, but they were even easier to kill than the other two variants, which made them feel almost like afterthoughts.


    They didnt bother to fight fair against the rift boss, and Liz started the fight with a wave of blood that she had taken from their previous enemies.


    As the wave crashed over and then clung to the bosses, Matt followed up [Mana sh]es charged with 2000 mana and aimed at the monster''s legs.


    Together, they had the monsters down in less than ten minutes. Eventually each of the elemental dogs throats were cut by Liz as they futiley grappled with the manipted blood.


    Checking their time, they saw that they were closing in on three hours in the rift already, and after opening the reward distortion and receiving three bottles of Tier 12 mercury, they started to look around for the third and final sub-boss.


    It was Liz who noticed it after half an hour of looking.


    The third sub boss was a giant whale swimming around the edge of the rift, hiding in theva flows that they hadnt particrly investigated.


    Since Matt had [Lava Maniption] in his arsenal from his spending spree after the vassal war, the fight was absurdly easy. After pulling the section of river where the monster was waiting into the air, they simply attacked it while the monster fell helplessly to the ground.


    Even as it tried to gather upva from the nearby river, it was unable to put together enough of a defense with Matt fighting its every effort. Meanwhile, Liz drilled holes through its craggy flesh with all the blood that she had gathered from the Tier 12 bosses.


    With a final time of three hours and eleven minutes, they exited the rift to see that they were actually the first team to havepleted it, which put them firmly in first ce.


    Not that they expected to stay in first ce, as they were sure that now that they knew where the monsters would be, they could cut down their time spent in the rift to simply flying around and killing the bosses.


    Still, it was nice to see they had beaten the team that had gone in before them, and the ones that had gone in after hadnt bested their time.


    Their delve earned their team fifteen points, which was pretty nice, but they both wanted to delve the rift once again with their knowledge of the boss locations and abilities.


    With a second attempt, they might be able to actually win the fastest time, if they could cut down their delve by about an hour.


    With less than an hour to their rift delve as Quill and Torch, they went back to their rooms and changed out their personalities with Luna and Kurt, after getting a warning that they were pushing their shown power a little too far in their real identities.


    The rift they had been signed up for was a simple race of a Tier 11 rift.


    Wanting to show off in their masked personas, Quill and Torch were already hovering in the air with their matching flying ankle devices as the countdown to their entrance time began.


    This rift could be run only once a month by each team, which made the first clear of the rift a blind one, but they were able to gather some information beforehand. The rift''s designation was a speedrun, but it had a second, more telling category.


    It was a maze rift.


    As flying would have implied that they could bypass most mazes, they could conclude that the rift was underground, or had natural anti-flying restrictions. The two teams they had seen exit the rift so far had flown out, so they were able to remove the second possibility.


    That information,bined with the current fastest clear being two hours and thirty-two minutes, gave them quite a bit more information than they had had for their first rift. The current first ce team finished only ten minutes faster than the second and third ce runs.


    Lunas training with information gathering showed itself useful once again, as they were able to make preliminary ns without even entering the rift.


    When the two of them entered, they were immediately proven correct in their initial assumptions, considering that they were in an natural underground tunnel with four openings. Of course, each path branched off in the four cardinal directions.


    Interestingly, the direction of the exit was clear to their spiritual senses. Quill had expected it to be obfuscated in some manner to increase the difficulty, either by means of the rift itself, or by the hosts if it were possible.


    Without even a nce, they took the path that led them toward the exit, only to find that it almost immediately looped up and around, to send them in thepletely opposite direction.


    The Tier 11 monsters they found were almost an afterthought.


    Quill was able to kill entire packs of the monsters with a talisman or two, if Torch didnt sh fry the monsters first. Whatever this rift was meant to be, the monsters were weaker in actualbat than the average Tier 10 monster, despite being technically stronger.


    Their greatest issue was the looping tunnels and all the backtracking it took to actually reach the exit. With no way to find the clear path, the two of them just followed their instincts and flew at their fastest speeds.


    Despite theirck of clear path, they were able to clear the rift in just two hours and six minutes, putting their names firmly in first ce over the next fastest speed of two hours and fourteen minutes.


    That rift felt like something a seeker would do well in, and both Quill and Torch knew that they wouldnt be getting any rewards from maze type rifts in the near future. Unless they were able to bypass the actual maze somehow.


    They easily decided to forgo those luck based rifts, and agreed to stick to rifts wherebat prowess was the deciding factor.


    Wanting to see what the mysterious other side of the was about, they moved along at a half-decent flying speed, admiring the well crafted city that Tur''stal had built. They carefully plotted their approach for the next challenge as they went, determined to assert themselves as the best the Path had to offer.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140


    The rifts they passed were all central to the construction of the various buildings and shops that the crafting Pathers were already settling into which created interesting pathways and buildings they flew over.


    Eventually, after nearly an hour of slow flying, they came to arge square formed around two rifts on opposite sides.


    From the giant projections, Quill was able to see two different teams fighting against seemingly random monsters on a hovering ne of light in the darkness. It was one of the most popr forms of entertainment after the big three.


    The endless rifts.


    They were a huge attraction just for that very reason; it was an opportunity to show off against an endless stream of random monsters that grew stronger as you progressed.


    Everyoneing to the tournament had hyped the rifts up, and they seemed to have lived up to it. The event especially drew the teams that were on standby, and had little else to do but watch. Learning about thepetition was always a good move, and Quill approved.


    While it wasnt earning anyone points, learning about your soon to be foes was an eptable pastime.


    Wanting to get closer, Quill moved forward until he could feel the rift in his spiritual sense.


    Getting close only confirmed what he suspected. The rifts felt off; wrong somehow.


    A normal rift felt like a tear in the fabric of reality, but with had a sense of rigidity and firmness that thesecked.


    The pair of what Quill suspected were copied rifts felt like the reflection of a shadow.


    When he had been creating rifts by the dozens, he had heard of them, but the actual practice of copying rifts was rarely done.


    First and foremost, the act of copying the rift created a weaker version that took more mana to run. Secondly, it had apletely new and random drop table, no matter what the copiers did.


    To add a final insult, the act of copying the rift also damaged the original rift. Luckily the damage wasnt permanent, but that meant they could only copy it once again after the rift had restablized.


    Few people bothered with the expense and difficulty of copying a rift unless there was something particrly special in the rift itself.


    Something like the dragon blood from the boss monster in the rift that Mara and Leon had taken.


    Or, in this case, the unique rift challenge style of endless stagebat. The rift was prized for its ability to push a delver to their limits, then through them.


    The rewards were secondary in the two Tier 14 rifts. Still, they just inly felt wrong to his spiritual sense.


    Looking up at the live projections of the team fighting, as it was reced with another instance, Quill whistled in appreciation.


    Another effect of having copied rifts was a weaker spatial wall in each instance, allowing for people to actively watch what was going on with minimal dy.


    Even now, there was a local channel on his AI that he could tap into and watch the various teams in near real-time. Meanwhile, therger screens showed highlights of each team, and simultaneously focused on the team that had made it the farthest.


    Torch came up to him and pointed at one of the non-leading teams as they appeared on the screen. She said, That was the third team to enter, and theyre currently on the second wave of high Tier 12 monsters.


    Checking the time, it had taken them over six hours to make it that far. Quill scoffed.


    That really was slow, and while there was nothing wrong with slow and steady, they were advancing at a cial pace.


    Blinking, Matt felt eyes on both him and Torch as they watched their surroundings. That caused him to wonder


    <em>If these people saw our standoff with the Gems and the other top masked teams, then they likely think we have something to say.</em>


    The personality he had cultivated for Quill had its advantages, but at times like this, it forced him to do things that he felt were mean.


    <em>Quill would be just as appalled with some of the showings as most of the proud and braggart nobles Ive been forced to interact with. How can we spin this to make these watchers get mad enough to force some more intensepetition, and show their hands?</em>


    With that thought, a n formed in his head as he leaned toward Torch and stage whispered<em>, </em>Are they taking naps after each wave? For fucks sake. Quill honestly was surprised they had only made it that far.


    Still, others in the crowd threw curses at him, most insisting on wanting to see him try and do better if he was able to talk that shit so casually.


    A fair ask, but he gave them a middle finger as his only response. Hisment had been spoken to Torch alone, not the whole crowd. At least, thats what he wanted them to think.


    One of the more battered-looking teams took enough offense to actually confront him.


    <em>Hook, line, and sinker.</em>


    A shorter woman with fresh blood staining her light armor chest piece pointed at him with a bow in her hand and sneered, For a bloke who just showed up, you spittin a lot of shit through that silly mask of yours. Naw, Id like to see you go at this too. Whens your crew signed up for? With fightin words like that, must be next, right? Lets see you put your money where your mouth is.


    Quill turned and scoffed at the woman. His mask feigned a shocked expression to mock her. No my friend, we actually haven''t signed up yet. Regardless, wed have easily been pping around the mid-Tier 13s in half that time, if not less.


    Matt wanted to let it drop there, as his statement hadnt seemed to have the desired effect. He had only caused more outrage, rather than enthusiasm, but the woman took it personally. She shouted, So you talk a lot of shit, but haven''t actually done anything? How mighty impressive. You can''t judge another team like that.


    After a slight internal debate, Matt decided to give the woman a proper exnation, as she had gathered enough attention. He felt a lesson for his fellow Pathers was warranted. A war wasing, and they were meant to be the best the Empire had to offer.


    Stepping forward and gathering everyone''s attention while willing a more schrly look to his mask, Quill said, No, they <em>are</em> slow. It''s taken them over six hours to get to where they are. That means theyre clearing each wave at a snail''s pace. Theres five rounds a level from bottom Tier 11, to mid Tier 11, then high Tier 11, finishing with peak Tier 11s. It continues so on and so forth for each Tier of monster they fight, which means theyre only on the forty-second wave. Essentially, theyve averaged a ten-minute clear of each wave, and you don''t need to be a genius to understand that theyre slowing down with every cleared wave.


    Leaning forward, Quill pointed up to the screen, which now showed the first-ce team.


    The first-cing team has been averaging a four-minute clear, and theyre are only slowing down at the mid-Tier 13s. They averaged three minutes a wave before that.


    Having led them to the masked team in question, Quill waited until they fell into his word trap.


    The woman took the bait.


    And you think youre better than them? She spat at his foot, but Quill pulled his foot back and sent back his own verbal attack.


    Yes, we <em>are</em> better than them. That team is a ranked mask, and their rank is forty seven. Theyve challenged us before, and got their asses handed to them. So yes, it''s embarrassing to see someone doing that much worse than <em>those </emggards.


    The woman seemed to be gearing up for a fight, but her team pulled her back down and away.


    Still, she shouted as she was dragged away, I want someone to tell me when you go up and fight so I can watch andugh.


    Quill put a cheery expression on his mask as he watched her go, waving merrily before he turned to rewatch thebat video of the team that he had just exchanged words with. He was tempted to have his AI send her a message to do just what she had suggested, but refrained from giving her an avenue to try and harass him even more.


    He hadnt attacked them personally, as they had been doing well until their mage fucked up, and was out of position during a wave with mostly diving bats. It was an awful counter to their team.


    There was nothing wrong with doing well, then getting countered.


    Calling back out to them, he offered up some analysis of their own battle with a chipper smiley face in his mask. In the future, dont take someones critical analysis of a team who did worse than you to heart. You guys did better than them, and got fucked with bad luck. Nothing wrong with that. The monsters are random with each wave, and it''s hard to counter everything. Dont try to protect a failing team as a salve to your bruised ego. Be better, and get better.


    That actually got the team to stop and pause.


    Seeing he had their attention, Matt nodded to the man with an empty longsword sheath slung across his back. It was reckless, but that was a good throw to take out the bat and save your mage. Youre all alive, and made it into the Tier 13s yourselves. There are half a dozen rifts around here with primary flying monsters. Take the time and go figure out a way to handle them while sorting out another weapon to rece the one you lost.


    Flying monster rifts were rarely kept as primary rifts on settleds, since they were so hard to fight without an abundance of skills. It wasn''t surprising at all that they struggled against the monster type.


    He turned to the mage who had a sullen look on their face and added, At least you got a good view of the depths of the rift. Is it as unsettling as Ive heard?


    The man shuddered slightly, but said nothing.


    From what Matt heard, the underneath of the stage they fought on was an endless void, and anyone who fell was considered dead, as they had never recovered the bodies. It was also said that looking over the edge was a one way ticket to nightmares for years.


    Seeing that his little speech had gathered an ever growing interested audience, he continued, Queen Tur''stal has made something clear with the format of this year''s tournament. We are expected to grow the entire time. Anyone who hoards the points and never spends them is going to do well early, but will then be unable to catch up against the others. Those who spend their points will be able to buy items that we frankly have no right to ess at our Tier.


    Quill tapped his foot at the spot the womans spitnded on. If you can''t see past your anger at the truth of what Ive said, I have nothing else to say.


    Tapping his mask, he added as he turned, And because that slow team wears a mask, and never bothered to show up to any of the masquerades and test their mettle, I believe their team is simply weak. But that doesnt mean you dont have a chance to pass them. Or anyone else.


    Together, he and Torch walked out, and kept on their path to reach the second half of the.


    Matt was frustrated, deep down.


    While he had been critical of the other team, they were shown on therge screen because they had rated the longest time spent in the rift, and they had issues delving two Tiers up. That wasn''t a shameful thing in any otherpetition, but being that weak, they had rushed to the most prestigious anduded rift challenge. They just werent able to match that level of prestige and challenge to an eptable level.


    He was still mulling over the situation when he and Liz saw a wall rise up on the horizon.


    With questioning gazes, they both flew up until they were able to see more of the.


    Quill''s eyebrows rose under the mask as he saw what the wall was. An entire half of the was walled off and guarded by the gardeners that Tur''stal had introduced.


    Still, what they had done was impressive. It was like someone took a patchwork of different biomes and spliced them together, with no care for the natural inclinations of each area. A desert and tundra area were adjacent, but seemingly unbothered by each others presence. The sprawlingndscape created a majestic patchwork of colors that stretched beyond the horizon.


    Torch whistled and asked, What the hell did the bossdy do?


    They wanted to avoid using Tur''stals name more than absolutely necessary. She told everyone that she would be listening out for it, and saying it for no reason seemed foolish.


    When theynded, they saw a gathering of people and joined them in listening to a Tier 20 gardener exin what the second half of the was.


    This side of the the one contained within the wall behind you is the Garden. Well manicured and controlled. The other side of the is called the Jungle, and nature has taken its course. The main rules on the other side of the wall are not killing each other, and not taking equipment from defeated teams. A final rule about the rifts out there The first team in line to delve is immune to challenges, as we want to make sure the rifts are being used. Otherwise, you must learn about the other restrictions yourselves as you explore. Some areas have more or less restrictions than others.


    He gestured out behind himself and grinned as he said, Besides that, anything goes. Its survival of the fittest. If you are strong enough, go and take what you can. Things beyond the wall are the same as here, with rifts avable and challenges toplete while delving them. Theres just less <em>civility</em> in the Jungle.


    The man smiled at the mumbling going through the crowd as he stoked the mes. Also, note that there are various valuable natural treasures hidden throughout the other side of the. You are free to take and keep them if you can actually get your hands on them.


    The gardener nodded at the eager crowd, until someone said something that Quill didn''t quite hear.


    Ah, a good question. Yes, there are more dangers than your fellow contestants out there. The other side of the has a number of rifts that we deliberately filled until they broke and spilled their monsters out. They were then allowed to wander free, and set up their own little monster tribes and such. He flicked a finger at them, and an information packet waited to be downloaded to everyone''s AI.


    As Quill read over the information, he whistled.


    There were a number of points avable to anyone who actually cleared the monster nests, or even managed to kill a number of monsters.


    Ten average Tier 12 monsters were worth one point, while the rare Tier 14 monsters were worth ten points split between everyone on the team that took one of them down.


    He looked to Torch, and even behind the mask, he knew she was as eager as he was.


    This was the perfect location for theirbat prowess to shine.


    The gardener threw some cold water over the crowd with augh.


    Do note that you need to spend five points a team each time you enter the Jungle, and those points are non refundable. If you get beaten by another team, as soon as we believe that you can''t protect yourself out there, we <em>will</em> pull you out. If a monster is about to eat you, we will pull you out. If we pull you out, well take any items and points that youve gathered during your adventure.


    A part of the crowd started to grumble at the need for points when most teams hadnt had the opportunity to enter any rifts yet. There wasnt even any guarantee that theyd be able to earn <em>any</em> points for the next few days.


    Still, it seemed like the gardeners had thought about it.


    If you wish, the points can be taken on loan to enter the Jungle for your first time, but thats a one time deal that you won''t be offered again.


    Done with his speech, the gardener gestured to a teleportation formation next to him. Anyone who wishes to enter can teleport into a random location in the Jungle with one of these. You will also find teleportation pads spread throughout the Jungle at random, and at any Tier 12 or higher rift location. They are one way, and the only way back to the Garden. Also, using one of those teleporters is the only way to keep the stuff you gather from the Jungle.


    With that, the crowd separated into two. Some people walked away, unwilling or unable to fight in such a dangerous environment, while the others took their ce in the line.


    When it was their turn, and they found themselves inside the walled location, Quill froze as he felt the difference in the space around them.


    They spatially expanded half a fucking? Are they crazy?


    He honestly couldn''t believe anyone would be that spendthrift. The size of a spatial expansion scaled exponentially with the original size of the location, and the degree of the spatial expansion.


    His mind went back to the wall that cut the in half, and he shook his head. It wasn''t a wall there to keep the monsters in, but to stabilize the spatial expansion. He hadnt even known a spatial expansion field could be kept stable over a distance thatrge.


    Torchughed next to him as she pointed to the drone that had followed them through the teleportation.


    Don''t want to have a meltdown in front of the Empire.


    Laughing, Quill gestured to the drone, and it followed his direction to get a better view of his masked face.


    Looking directly into the lens that would project his mask to anyone watching, he repeated, Queen Tur''stal is fucking crazy. But <em>wow</em>, do I respect it.


    As he finished his statement, he added a slight bow and a dramatic look around the grasnd they were in. Then he moved to take off in the air with the flying devices wrapped around his ankles.


    To both his and Torch''s surprise, they found that after they reached a height of ten feet, their flying devices started to struggle to rise higher, and their speed was restricted to a slow walk.


    Not wanting to fight the clear rule in ce for their location, the two of themnded in the waving grass and started to stalk forward, blending in with the waving grass.


    As they heard a lion''s roar, they prepared for a battle.


    ***


    Tur''stal looked over at the view of Quill and Torch, and brought her ss to her lips for a small sip.


    Mara preened next to her, He definitely takes his trash-talking from us!


    Leon, ever willing to y along with his wife, nodded along while not taking attention away from his conversation with Rusty.


    Tur''stal rolled her eyes at the bird. Matthew''s Quill persona seemed to take a great deal from the duos exaggerated personalities, but she was more interested in how they actuallypared to everyone else in truebat. The Tier 48s had kept the pair under their own perception the entire time they had been under her skies, and she hadn''t been curious enough to disrespect Mara and Leon''s desire for the Tier 10s privacy.


    That meant the rift speedrun they had done earlier was her first time seeing the masked personas in action, and she wasn''t particrly happy with the rift. It was an awful match-up for them, which was deliberately done by their managers, she was sure. But it meant that she didnt really get to see them in action.


    Still, they had gotten first ce, even if a seeker team had solved the rift in less than an hour.


    The rift before that had provided more of a show, but the only real highlight had been Matts lifting of theva river and pulling out the Lava Whale. That had taken some serious control, and plenty of power to back it up.


    But that wasn''t enough for her. She wanted to see <em>more</em>. The few reports she had ess to all stated that the team was following the rules, but the exact details about a Pather team were only essible to the Emperor by default. If she wanted to see the truth, she would need to petition him, and he never epted those. No, the reason she was watching them was the conversation she had with Emmanuel. He hinted to her that he expected them to be the next Light and Shadow.


    High praise.


    At first, she thought it was just because of Lizs connection to him, but she had spent enough time with the girl as a child, as all the Royals had. She knew her well enough, and understood that her royal bloodline wasnt the girls only merit.


    She <em>did</em> have the personality to push far enough. Her reaction to her royal upbringing gave her the correct mix of anger, stubbornness, and determination to push long and hard enough toplete The Path. Even if only out of spite.


    The boy was another question entirely. A tragic personal history with a detrimental Talent that was rated as corrected at Tier 3. It made for the possibility of explosive growth, and meant that he was thergest unknown. Still, she had some guesses. From everything she had seen, he was the driving force behind the team, which surprised her.


    Liz didnt have a small personality, so most people would be overwhelmed by her, and ultimately submit to her lead. Instead, the pair seemed to be actual equals.


    Emmanuel had hinted that he would have a talk with the pair, and if they agreed, he would read them all in on whatever he was nning. But so far, there was nothing set in stone. It was actually standard practice for Pathers ted toplete The Path, but the meeting could theoretically happen at any time, despite a precedent having been long set for it to happen here, at the Tier 10 tournament.


    With Emmanuel leaving in a few days, that could change.


    But she was patient.


    Moving first in politics usually had greater risks when you werent assured of the results. It was better to take a roundabout approach to the topic.


    Turning to look at the Emperor, she asked, And you believe that they have what it takes toplete The Path?


    The Tier 50 just nodded while he chewed on some of the finger food she had prepared for everyone.


    Frederic took the opportunity to lean in and asked, What are their real styles and needs? He quickly waved his hand as he hurriedly added, Not the gimped versions they show in each persona. If I knew that about them, I''d be happy to check my vault and see what I have to offer. No strings attached, of course.


    Tur''stal pursed her lips at the new royal. His little recruitment stunt had pissed her off enough that she was debating taking the man out for a little duel.


    She had not appreciated her Tier 10 Pathers tournament being used as a recruitment tool. And from the way the Emperor was treating the Tier 46, he wasn''t particrly happy either. But he hadnt said anything in front of the other Royals.


    Still, Emmanuel was the type to praise in public, and punish in private, so she was sure that the man had already been dealt with.


    That didnt mean she was satisfied.


    Him giving the kids a few of his extra-special skills actually wasnt a bad idea. He hated the loss of his precious treasures, and she decided to pressure him, just to see how much she could make him squirm.


    The top twenty-five teams of the Big Three and the Points ranking get the best matching skill from your vault, and I will forget your little stunt. Her words cracked the man''s easy-going mask for the first time since she met him.


    The shameless man finally had his calm persona shatter, and seeing that was almost worth the earlier anger. As she watched the frown that reced the smile, Frederic calcted the potential loss if he agreed, and the possible ramifications of denying her in front of the Emperor. After all, he had just been so <em>eager </em>to be generous.


    Still, she looked over at Emmanuel, who didnt bother to keep the grin off his face at her words.


    While they disagreed on general political policy, she actually liked the man personally, and returned the smile.


    Frederic tried to weasel out of the deal. You see, with the vast state of my vault being as it is, taking the time to find the right fits for twenty five teams would be easily done, but


    Before he could finish the excuse, Turstal grimaced and lowered her tone. Ah, so then it really should be the top fifty, right? That would make the vastness a little more manageable, no?


    Frederic cleared his throat and rebuilt his smile. No no, Turstal, thats quite alright. I think your earlier offer was much better. We wouldnt want to dilute the grandeur of winning such a well-run tournament. Besides, cing so high shouldn''t be rewarded with tertiary, and seemingly token gifts, should it? Excuse me, I shall see to it that my people are prepared for this.


    He had agreed to that too quickly. Suspiciously quickly.


    Looking to the Emperor as Frederic got up in a hurry, she raised an eyebrow in silent question.


    Emmanuel smiled as he revealed what he had done. I told him that his punishment was yours to decide. It was your time to shine and he stepped in, so I felt it was appropriate.


    Tur''stal returned her smile to the video of Matthew and Liz. No, <em>Quill and Torch</em>, she mentally corrected herself. They were ughtering their way through a pack of Tier 11 earth aligned Scorpion-Lions withughable ease.


    If she had known that was the deal, she would have pushed harder. But the man hadn''t pushed the line far enough for her to feel the need to truly hurt him. Losing a few hundred skills was a fair trade for his calcted slight.


    Hearing someone call out her name, she focused on her spiritual sense and watched as a team tried to worm their way out of the crime they had been about tomit by saying her guards were fabricating evidence.


    Sending her gardeners a message, she rejoined the conversation with her fellow royals.


    This was a rare time when they were all together, and it wouldn''tst long before Emmanuel had to leave.


    She had a few positions she wanted to feel everyone out on, and there were few better chances than the one she had now.


    Still, she kept a portion of her spiritual perception on the two kids as they fought their way through her Jungle.

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141


    Quill sidestepped the bear''s raking w and shot a [Jolt] at the raging monster.


    The bear shrugged off the attack with an annoying resistance that it had exhibited with all of his attacks so far.


    If he had his sword, he could have made short work of the monster, but at Tier 13, it was just too strong for the average spell.


    Torch was fighting a second bear and was having the same problem.


    What the bears had in defensive power, theycked in offensive power, so they were forced to slowly whittle the monsters down. It was in stark contrast to overwhelming the first two bears they came across with a few talismans.


    Still, this was good training that the two of them didnt want to pass up. He added the personal restriction of killing the monster without resorting to talismans, but that decision was putting him in a pickle.


    The bears had too much defensive power for Quills spells.


    Most skills he sent out were dissipated by the bear''s thick fur and hide, so he gave up on the normal spells, and decided to use one of his anti-monster skills.


    Quill backstepped a lunging bite that was empowered with mana as he started to charge one of the few spells built into his staff.


    A small marble-sized orb of fire lit up, then started to absorb all the heat from their surroundings as it umted power.


    The attack took up to a whole minute to charge, but Quill focused on keeping his distance and using his off-hand to send attack after attack into the monster''s face. It wasn''t meant for solo fights; he usually only relied on it when Torch was protecting him. But against one bear, he would be fine.


    He cast a few spells from Quills limited non-talisman arsenal, but they didnt do more than piss the monster off for the few seconds that it was blinded. It was still more than enough to help Quill keep his distance.


    When the skill was finally done drawing in the energy it needed, he twirled his staff to have the orb facing the monster. When the bear lunged once again, he pushed the orb of concentrated fire into the monster''s skull.


    The marble-sized orb of fire punched right through the monster''s thick head, and kept moving.


    The spell wasn''t meant to explode, i would just keep moving forward at a slow and steady pace.


    As it bore a hole through the monster, the orb of fire kept its momentum and began searing a hole through the ground at a constant rate.


    As he watched the orb continue, Quill did some quick calctions with his AI, and realized that hed gone a bit overboard with the attack.


    He had been forced to stab the orb downward as he sidestepped the bears mana empowered jaws, but his miscalction meant that the orb would burrow through the ground for at least a few hundred feet. He intended to have the orb carve out a shallow rut in the surface of the earth, but had to change his attack angle to avoid injury.


    Normally, he wouldnt have to worry about burrowing such a depth. But with this entire ce being spatially expanded, he worried there were spatial anchors buried in the ground nearby, and he didnt want to risk hitting one.


    Seeing that Torch was whittling her monster down, and didnt need his help, he called out, A bud needs assistance!


    As if the woman had already been standing next to him, a gardener appeared and was looking at the hole in the ground with pursed lips.


    She clenched her fist, and the lighting out of the hole vanished before she turned to look at him. Don''t use that spell outside of a rift, please.


    Before he could respond, she was gone, and he moved to wait for Torch to end her fight.


    After seeing just how the attack worried the woman, he didnt intend to. The spell was a brainchild of Matt and Erwin, from when they had created the array staff.


    One of thergest weaknesses of a mage was the inability to pierce heavy armor, and they wanted to have a counter to that weakness.


    The fire orb was their answer. It collected all the fire mana and heat energy it could in the surroundings, while guzzling mana from Quill at a fantastic rate, to create an incredibly hot but stable orb of fire.


    Not much could stop that level of heat concentrated into such a small area, and it was able to deliver massive damage.


    It needed to be precisely aimed, as its attack radius was so small, but that wasn''t a problem for Quill.


    As Torch had finally cut a hole in her bear''s side, her spear was able to puncture the monster''s heart.


    She turned, and after seeing his monster with a clean-cut hole in its head, said, Cheater.


    Always! he said with a small bow, flourishing an imaginary cape and making his mask wink.


    The two of them sat down to pretend to absorb mana stones and refill themselves before they kept moving through the forest, fighting pairs of bears as they encountered them.


    Eventually, they came to a part of the forest where it seemed like someone with a map of thendscape had changed the topography with a hard line.


    As this was their fourth area, they weren''t surprised when they entered a more rocky terrain. If their estimates were right, the beacon which signified a Tier 13 rift was only two or three areas away.


    Once again, they tried to fly, only to be thwarted by anti-flying formations when they crossed the boundary into the new area.


    So far, only the second area didnt have the formation, so they weren''t too surprised by the restriction.


    They were only feet into the area when a stone covered snake struck out at Torch, who was in the lead.


    She blocked the attack with her spear shaft, but was pushed back a few feet over the rocky ground.


    As the monster was only Tier 12, Quill readied a talisman while looking around for others.


    So far, in all the areas they had been in, the lower the Tier of the monster, the more of them there were.


    A slight shifting of rocks gave the next snake away, and before it lunged, he activated the [Ice Spear] talisman that he had readied.


    The spell met the snake''s lunging head and exploded in a shower of ice, while carving a ravine into the monster''s hide that drew only the smallest lines of blood.


    The attack was enough to distract the monster, and it coiled back up as it shook its head in pain.


    With a moment to actually think, Quill brought out two of his wind talismans and sent a [Wind sh] at the monster.


    With the elemental advantage, the attack cut the snake in half at the midpoint of its body. Even bisected, the monster tried to attack while bleeding out. But with half of its body gone, the lunge was uncoordinated, and his second [Wind sh] vertically sliced the lunging half in two.


    The two new snake fillets fell to the ground in a heap.


    Torch had finally given up burning through the hide of the monster, and shoved her spear through her snake''s mouth. Meanwhile Quill used the limited range of his flying devices to scout their surroundings.


    A third and fourth snake were quickly dispatched by a few talismans, and they moved deeper into the crags of the new area.


    The rock snakes were soon apanied by Tier 13 water snakes, who could only be killed by siphoning off all the water thatprised their secondyer of scales before being able to damage the flesh underneath.


    Torch was finishing off two of the stone snakes when Quill heard barking and howling.


    The sound was obviously not a snake, so they decided to rush to the top of a small hill, where they could get a better view.


    There, they found a familiar friend.


    Fen, from the golem war, with his two wolf bonds, Bow and Arrow.


    Seeing an old friend, Matt asked Liz through their AI, I want to go say hi. How do we not blow our cover?


    Her message back was nearly instant, Bow and Arrow shouldn''t be able to smell us with the twoyers of masks, which is the real worry. Let''s just go over and offer a hand. They aren''t struggling, but theyre moving pretty slow with all the monsters.


    Matt checked the direction Fen seemed to be going and added, Seems like he''s going for the center of the area.


    The unsaid addition was that they had found Tier 14 monsters in most of the centers of the areas they had passed so far. That was a level of challenge they werent willing to fight for no reason.


    Still, it gave them an excuse to move over to Fen and offer their assistance.


    With that decided, the two of them slipped back into their masked personas and moved over to the group of man and beast.


    Keeping their distance, as they didnt want the man to think they were an ambush, Quill raised his hand in a wave.


    Well, good day, and fancy seeing someone else out here on the wild side!


    Fen paused and looked to Bow then Arrow before returning the wave. Yes, kinda suspicious that youe up upon us, though. You wouldn''t have bad intentions, would you?


    All three of them seemed to prepare for a fight, but Quillughed as he took the initiative to slide down the rocky hill.


    Walking forward with his hands out, he let both bonds sniff him. Not at all. More curious than anything. You seemed to want to push into the center of this ce, and Torch and I have been wanting to peek behind whatever the Tier 14s are hiding, but we also want to reach that Tier 13 rift.


    Matt pointed along the direction Fen was heading and the pir of light behind it.


    Fen understood what he meant and said, I can offer 10 points for each of you if you help us take the Tier 14 out and leave the treasure to me.


    Torch, who had arrived, shook her head silently.


    Quill made his mask smile and said, We dont want your points, but we <em>do </em>want to handle the Tier 14 ourselves. The rewards are your own.


    Bow moved forward and started sniffing Quill and Torch before Arrow followed up and did the same.


    Having spent time with the beasts before, neither of them were bothered, and gave them a quick scratch behind the ears.


    That seemed to win Fen over, and he nodded. I can take that deal, even though I dont understand what youre getting out of it.


    Really, he just wanted to help a friend. But knowing he was acting suspiciously, and needing to ay Fen''s concerns, Quill said, Fighting a Tier 14 will make for a fantastic showing. Doing so for no reason is just stupid, though. This way, you get the rewards hidden behind the monster, while we get to show our skills and earn the points from killing the beast.


    That seemed to mollify the man, and he stuck out a hand and introduced himself and his bonds.


    Im Fen, and those are Bow and Arrow. To Quill''s surprise, he then pointed off to the side. That''s Ga and Ruby.


    An absolutely massive porcupine trundled out from behind a hill, with a simrly oversized earthworm swimming through the earth next to it.


    At the name Ga, the porcupine nodded, which meant the earthworm was Ruby. Its red skin kinda resembled the gem, but Matt wanted to make fun of Fens awful naming sense.


    Both creatures seemed to be earth attuned. As Ga, the porcupine, moved, the very ground seemed to reach out to meet each of his steps. Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to burrow through the stony ground as if it was the loosest of loam.


    With an added surprise, a small mouse with golden fur scampered out onto Fen''s shoulder and squeaked at them.


    Fen obliged and said, And this is Kenny, my Golden Mouse.


    Quill couldn''t help but whistle. So I assume that your Talent is your bonds?


    Fen didnt bother to hide it. Yeah. Only reason Im able to bring them with me.


    Wanting confirmation, he nodded to Kenny and asked, Golden Mice have a seeker like Talent, right? So he''s leading you to a treasure?


    Fen just nodded, but was quick to add, His treasure sense is only attuned to things a beast wants or needs.


    The implied he cant help you was obvious, but Quill ignored it. The Golden Mice were famous for their ability to find things of value, but they were as rare and hard to find as the treasures they sought, which was why Quill was surprised that Fen had one as a bond.


    Still, he didn''t press.


    Torch tersely said, Maze rift.


    Quill expanded, Then you should try some maze rifts. Fucking things are a puzzle, and he might be good at leading you out.


    Fen cocked his head in arger mirror image of Kenny, still on his shoulder, and the little mouse chittered at him for a long moment.


    Fen finally smiled and said, That''s a good suggestion. Thanks.


    Before things could grow awkward, Quill gestured to therger hill and said, Want to watch us kill a Tier 14?


    Fen grinned back a challenge. Can the two of you do it? We were nning on clearing the area before luring the Tier 14 out and into a trap. We can still do that if you aren''t confident.


    Torch snorted, to which Quillughed. A Tier 14 is a challenge for sure, but not one we can''t handle.


    Bow snorted at the words, and Arrow chuffed inughter.


    Quill hip-checked the closer Arrow, who justughed harder.


    Together, the eight of them easily carved a path to the center of the area, where thergest hill seemed to be dug into to create a massive nest.


    At least a dozen Tier 13 snakes and a mass of the Tier 12 variants slithered over each other in the center clearing,making it hard to get a feel for their numbers. All of them rested around a giant snake that must have been a hundred feet long, and thirteen feet thick at the middle.


    Its scales were a green that seemed hewn from jade and glimmered in the light. The monster clearly sensed them, as its head rose up from the ground and red at the two teams.


    Each eye was asrge as a dinner te, and as the monster took a deep breath, lightning gathered around its tworge, exposed fangs.


    The hiss it let out sent all the other snakes into a frenzy, and they slithered forward en masse.


    Without needing to coordinate, Quill and Torch raced forward and moved to engage the Tier 14, while Fen took care of all the weaker monsters.


    A lightning bolt the size of a treeshed out at Torch, but she was already prepared, and a wash of me intercepted the attack, rendering it useless.


    Quill cursed internally as he called out, Thats [Bolt], careful!


    [Bolt] was the Tier 14 version of [Jolt] and hit far, far harder than the Tier 8 skill they were familiar with.


    Torch waved her spear, and a trio of [Fireball]s shot out and mmed into the monster''s hide.


    The Tier 14s innate defenses were more than enough to defend against the attack, and only small scorch marks were left where the spellnded.


    Knowing this would be a hard fight, Quill pulled out a pair of talismans.


    The first he pressed to his chest, and the second he threw into the air as the movement talisman sent power into him.


    The talisman was a mixture of strength, flexibility, durability, and proprioception increases, which let him fight against the higher Tier monsters that moved so much faster than them.


    Thankfully, the difference wasn''t so great that they needed to use mind talismans to keep up. Increasing those attributes led to massive headaches that lingered for weeks.


    He knew Torch had already used the same talisman, as a countdown indicator had appeared on his AI. They had only seven minutes to kill the Tier 14 monsters before the talismans wore off, and they would need time to recover from pushing their bodies so hard.


    In theory, they could use a second talisman, but at that point, they would need serious healing afterwards.


    Quill activated the second talisman as he ran up a hill, and shot out an oversized [Wind Lance]. The narrow jet of air was meant to prate the hardest of armor by sending all of its damage into a single spot. It wasn''t as strong as his fire orb, but the skill was faster to cast.


    The jet of air cracked the hard scales of the monster, causing it to hiss and turn its attention to Quill and send a [Bolt] at him.


    Having hoped for that exact scenario, he activated the [Earth Barrier] talisman he had prepared, along with a general [Mana Barrier].


    The brown mana solidified into actual rock before the light blue mana barrier appeared behind it.


    The explosion of the [Bolt] hitting the barriers caused Quill''s ears to ring painfully, but he had confirmation that a single [Earth Barrier] could tank the monster''s attack head-on, which was aforting realization.


    Rushing out from his dome of protection, he was just in time to see Torch flying next to the monster''s head, mming a massive fire version of her spear into the monster''s head.


    The [Fire Spear] was an incredibly strong skill when paired with Lizs innate phoenix bloodline, despite the skill only being in her outer spirit. It helped that her spear was made with that particr skill in mind, and boosted its power.


    The attack left a deep, cauterized wound in the monster''s head, but didnt pierce the Tier 14''s thick skull.


    Quill pulled out three talismans and tossed all of them in the air afterpleting the runes inside with a tiny bit of mana, to activate theirtent power.


    The [Wind de] activated first and left a shallow line on the monster''s hide, while the [Fire Burst] detonated just in time to empower the [Wind Lance] as it passed through the skill.


    The fire empowered [Wind Lance] created a muchrger crack in the snake''s hide, and it whipped its tail at Quill in rage.


    The attack was so blindingly fast, he was only able to activate a [Mana Barrier] before the impact. The single defensive spell was far from enough, and he was sent flying into the rocky wall.


    Climbing out of the hole, Quill felt at least one cracked rib. If not for the talisman increasing his durability, he would have been in a much worse state.


    Torch had been forced to dodge a series of bites from a head that wasrger than she was, but she had left a series of shallow cuts on the monster''s head in retaliation.


    With a flick of his wrist, Quill sent out an [Ice Spear] and [Wind Wall] to speed the attack up while it was in flight.


    Thebination sent the chuck of ice deep into the snake''s nk, and earned him another tail whip. But this time, he was prepared, and he quickly flew over the racing tree trunk.


    Torch immediately took the monsters attention back with her attacks at its head and eyes.


    They engaged in a few more rounds of attacks, but with the power levels their masked identities were allowed to show, killing the giant snake would take a few minutes longer than they had left with their talisman buffs.


    After running the calctions again, he came to a decision.


    Quill called out, Firestorm iing! Buy me thirty seconds.


    At thatmand, he pulled out thirteen talismans. With a twist of his wrist, his staff bloomed, and he used his Concept to guide the pieces of parchment into their correct locations.


    [Firestorm] was his low-level version of the Tier 32 skill [Meteor Shower], and took a full thirteen talismans in an array to cast.


    It was his mostplicated skill, only matched by a simr version that he was saving for the solo fights, since it didnt pair as well with Torch.


    As fast as he could, he started linking the talismans in the proper sequence. Then, once he had everything in ce, he sent a flood of mana into the talismans and jammed his staff into the ground.


    Nothing happened for a long second, but as he continued to flood the talismans with mana, they finally activated. All the while, he was careful to keep his mana usage under the limit of a normal Tier 10 mage''s mana pool to maintain his cover.


    From a hundred feet above them, the sky started to light up as dozens of [Fireball]s started to manifest, and they rushed downward like a deadly version of rain.


    As if it was endless, the storm of fire incinerated the area around the boss.


    Each impact of the overcharged [Fireball]s created a crater, as they each were created with obscene amounts of mana. Unlike thest, self-cast [Fireball]s, [Firestorm] sted apart the Tier 14 scales as if they were mundane tes of shale.


    The snake, sensing that it was unable to escape the area of bombardment, coiled up in a tight spiral. It tried to make itself as small as possible while trying to intercept the rain of fire with its own [Bolt]s.


    Quill watched as Torch pulled back from the monster and started to twirl her spear around her head.


    This was phase two of theirbination attack, and all of the [Fireball]s that would have missed the snake started to redirect themselves as she took control of his mana.


    They had spent months perfecting this attack, and even as his mana generation was draining to assist the talismans for their final activation, he watched her gathering the attacks.


    The snake tucked its head, just trying to weather the storm, but Quill just smiled, knowing how futile that was.


    As the final portion of the spell activated, the parchment papers crumbled to dust, and a single, oversized [Fireball] was created. At twenty feet across, the spell had nearly a third of the mana that the talismans had cost during their creation.


    It was the descent of a sun.


    Lizs armor''s defenses red to life, and she was encased in fire as she used it to increase her [Fire Maniption] control. She looked like a fire elemental as she brought her spear down in a chopping motion, guiding the massive [Fireball] onto the Tier 14 snake.


    Quill hit the ground and activated two [Water Barrier] talismans, then a [Earth Barrier], as he waited for the impact.


    When the [Fireball]nded and released its stored energy, the world went white for an instant, and the ground rumbled in a small earthquake.


    Even under the barriers, he felt the rush of Tier 14 essence that signified they had killed the beast.


    As his defenses crumbled, Quill found himself in a circle of ckened ground that had been swept clean of loose rocks and anything not rooted to the ground.


    At the center of the desecration was a crater, where the Tier 14 snakey inrge, scorched ck pieces.


    Torch still hovered in the air, but Quill could see it was taking everything she had to not fall over. Guiding that much energy for the final attack always put her on her butt for hours.


    Now, she was pushing through because everyone in the Empire would be watching.


    Jogging over to where she was descending, Quill sat down next to her, and they pulled out mana stones and started to run them through converters, to give everyone a show of them being out of mana.


    In reality, they were using Tier 1 mana stones, and Matt was abusing his Concept.


    With a rapidly filling mana pool, Torch was able to stabilize herself, but they were both hurting from the physical boosting talisman.


    Only a minuteter, Fen popped his head over the edge of a hill and said, What the fuck was that!? Are you guys fucking crazy!? You almost fried us as well!


    Quill waved the man over as he said, You were fiiiine. The hills protected you! I made sure before I cast the spell.


    He really had checked first. While Fen might not know Quill was Matt, he wasnt going to risk a friend''s safety like that.


    That seemed to mollify the man, and he trekked over with his five bonds in a slow procession as they inspected the destroyed corpse of the Tier 14.


    Bow and Arrow moved in unison as they sniffed the monster''s corpse before pulling chucks of the charred monster''s flesh away. They quickly revealed the non-burnt flesh underneath, and they started to grab a meal''s worth for all the bonds.


    Even the mouse, Kenny, was given a small chunk to gnaw on.


    Fen seemed used to that, and sat down with the three of them and started to recharge his own mana.


    Matt felt bad, but he kept his Concept pulled in so only Liz was affected, and turned it off anytime one of the bonds moved too close.


    After half an hour, even the bonds had their mana restored, and the three of them moved to inspect the snake''sir.


    Kenny directed them from Fen''s shoulder, and soon they found a small cave with a massive wolf skull that radiated the power of lightning. It seemed to be Tier 14 itself.


    Quill asked, Is that the item?


    Seeing Bow and Arrows fur raise as they neared the object, he suspected it was, and he even had an idea of what it did.


    Fen, to his surprise, didnt hide anything. Well, Ill be damned. Yes, this is what we were looking for. Kenny only knew it was good for Bow and Arrow, but I didnt think it would be this good.


    Fen looked at them and exined, This is useful for upgrading a beast''s bloodline, and as it''s a wolf rted item, it''s perfect for Bow and Arrow. They can probably upgrade their bloodlines to have lightning powers if they refine this head.


    Matt only knew the generalities of the beast''s bloodlines, as every time he asked, he was told not to worry about things he had nothing to do with.


    Even Mara, usually a fount of information, refused to say anything. Liz, keeping quiet about it as well, told Matt to keep his questions to himself, so he gave up on the topic. It irkd him, but he trusted that those around him had their own reasons.


    Fen didnt exin more, but he offered, I know what our deal was, but this is massive to us. I''m willing to pay you both twenty points. I''d offer more, but that''s more than half of what I have.


    Torch said a short, Deals a deal.


    Quill patted the man on his shoulder and turned to leave. We''ll wait outside for you. I assume you want to make it to the Tier 13 rift to leave as well?


    Fen gave the masked duo a smile and agreed. Give us half an hour to prepare to move this. I dont want to fuck anything up, and I cant fit it in my bag.


    A little more than twenty minutester, Ga and Ruby had the giant skull hovering next to them on a moving wave of earth.


    The maneuver seemed to take all of their concentration to maintain, leaving everyone else to protect them as they moved forward.


    They ended up crossing two full areas before they found the Tier 13 rift, and the corresponding teleport formation.


    After seeing Fen and his bonds through the formation and promising to meet up again, they turned to the rift.


    They couldn''t leave without going in, after all.


    ***


    Tur''stal watched a rey of the giant [Fireball] array once again with all the other royals.


    As the attack descended and Liz took control of it, Mara once again gloated, She takes after her mother, after all!


    The bird poked her husband and started to wiggle an uncoordinated dance of mockery.


    Tur''stal turned to Emmanuel, just like everyone else not yet aware of the children''s ability.


    Harper was the first to speak in their androgynous voice. Array or not, that level of power is far beyond most Tier 10s. Spill.


    Rusty leaned forward and knocked on the table; it sounded like hammers striking an anvil.


    I agree with the telekic. That isn''t normal. Even his voice was like thunder.


    The Emperor was unruffled at the united disy of royals.


    He took a long drink before cing his empty ss down and saying, I told you, theyre strong for a reason. His grin turned feral as he said, And that''s with their arsenal being restricted.


    Frederic smiled broadly. Then I must congratte you, and all of us. He raised his ss in a toast.


    Tur''stal joined him in the gesture, as did everyone else. This was a tradition as old as The Path of Ascension itself.


    To another pair of children who will shoulder the burden of war for everyone else.


    The royals all responded in unison, To those who do what we can no longer.


    With that somber statement, they downed their drinks before Tur''stal turned to Mara and asked, What else can they do?


    The phoenix was always the easiest to get to spill information, and this time was no different.


    Oh, theyre actually swapping their normal roles. Matt is usually the melee fighter and Liz the mage.


    Tur''stal sucked in a deep breath. After that showing, she had assumed their real identities were only faking their roles. But now, she needed to adjust her estimation of their power levels.


    Liz as she well knew was only able to use fire skills if she had them in her outer spirit where they took a significant penalty to their efficiency. Most never fought with skills in their outer spirit for good reason but anyone not in the know would assume Liz was a true fire user.


    Rustyughed, I''m going to need to spar with the two of them! Feel them out myself. Good hybrids are hard to find!


    Emmanuel finally cut in, The briefing for those two will be made avable, but thergest secret will have to wait until after Ive talked to them, and I get their permission.


    He looked down to the side for a moment before saying, Their little stunt has already shot up to the top of the news stations. Damn showoffs. Couldn''t wait a single day before making a ssh.


    Rustyughed harder than before. Good for them! The brighter their star, the better. It will give everyone else something to strive for, and set a fire under the weaker kids'' asses.


    Tur''stal nodded to her noble ally. She knew he put on a front of muscles over brains, but it was just that. An act. He was as smart as anyone else with the acumen to rise to the top of the political pile of snakes that were the noble circles.


    As the Emperor handed them out paper information packets, Tur''stal started reading. It only took her seconds before she had memorized the information and destroyed the documents, but she was shocked at the level of power the children had shown.


    With Luna as a trainer, she expected great things toe from those two in this tournament. The woman''s track record was slim but extraordinary.


    Still, it was the things not said in the packets of information that she really wanted to know. Entire years were redacted, even from them, which spoke of massive secrets. Even the most rudimentary thoughts on their Talents spoke volumes, because the boy''s Talent clearly wasn''t with talismans. It only made his disy with the disposable items all the more impressive.


    Tur''stal shivered in anticipation of meeting the children properly.


    Then, everything would be made clear.


    Watching the giant [Fireball] fall once again on the screen, she smiled and allocated another portion of her attention to the kids who were about to enter the rift.


    She didnt miss the five other spiritual senses of her fellow royals also on them.


    As cultivators higher than Tier 45, they had more than enough power to view what happened inside a Tier 13 rift instance. They all had a front row seat to the newest Ascenders next challenge.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142


    Quill walked up to the Tier 25 gardener after Fen left with his prize and asked, So what''s the gimmick this time around?


    The woman smirked right back at him. Completing it <em>is</em> the gimmick, as you say. It''s a rift three Tiers higher than you. The monsters in there are going to turn you into a chew toy.


    Quillughed and made his mask wink. While ying the chew toy can be good fun, were in the mood for a more of a stabby-stabby and burny-burny time. Though I wouldnt say no to experimenting with some stabby-burny. Or mayhaps even a bit of burny-stabby. You need to change things up sometimes you know?


    The Tier 25 snorted at his quip and gestured to the side at the usual board disying the rifts current delve records. I expect youll bothe out well nibbled, but there actually is a specific challenge assigned to this rift, if youre up to it. We know the general number of monsters spawned in each possible version of this rifts instances. Extra points are awarded based on the percentage of them killed. Completing the rifts you fifteen points, plus another point for every ten percent of monsters cleared. Be happy this isn''t a swarm rift. The monsters here are a bit tougher than average, but theres fewer of them to hunt down overall.


    She forestalled Quills next question with a raised hand. For scoring purposes, we consider a ny-eight percent as a full clear, so no reason to start prying up floor tiles looking for stragglers. If you explore properly and murder anything that moves, youll easily kill enough to count as a full clear. For the end of month rankings, ties among the full clears will be broken bypletion speed divide.


    Having heard everything they needed, Torch moved up to stand next to him, and together, they entered the rend in reality.


    For the second time that day, they found themselves in a nighttime rift with an oversized moon hanging in the sky. This time, the moon was less exaggerated, and was situated at a more normal distance in the false sky. The blue hue of the moonlight suggested that the orbited a blue supergiant star; a rare urrence among popted sr systems in real life butmon enough in a rift.


    It still provided more than enough light to illuminate the sparse forest around them.


    The rift kicked them out into a small clearing that seemed to have been cut recently, if the fresh stumps still weeping sap were any indication.


    After probing the direction of the exit to get her bearings, Torch rose in the air high enough to see over the tree line and get a view of the surroundings.


    From the ground, Quill watched on through their shared view from his AI.


    The forest they were in extended behind them for quite some distance, with the trees growing denser and taller as they moved away from the rift''s exit.


    In the direction of the rift exit, there was what looked like a primitive city made of stone and wood construction, only a few miles away. That would have been unusual in a rift if it wasn''t for its rundown condition, and the pattern of destruction that seemed to have been unleashed upon the town.


    Beyond that, a clearly unnatural mist clung to the ground beyond the town, as a more mountainous area sprang out of nowhere.


    Looking past the mist that clung to the foot of the mountains, a path was carved out of the cliff face that lead to a castle. It seemed like it had just recently survived a war, with holes covering its outer walls and two of the closest towers knocked down.


    If his inspection was correct, the fort was guarding a pass that led deeper into the mountains, and eventually, the rift exit.


    Dropping to the ground, Torch motioned to the area behind them, and Quill agreed.


    Normally, backtracking was a waste of time, but as this was a Tier 13 rift, the extra essence would do them a world of good for their advancement. If they delved enough high Tier rifts, they might reach the twenty percent mark of progression through Tier 10 before the year was out. A feat which was only possible with the abundance of higher Tier rifts that they would have ess to.


    The days of blowing through a Tier in a year were long gone. To pass through Tier 10, they needed more than the normal ten times amount of essence, as it was one of the five and ten breakpoints in cultivation. At this Tier, they needed one hundred times the normal essence to advance.


    Still, even slight advancement beyond the bottom of Tier 10 would give them a small increase in power, considering the massive amount of essence they wouldve umted to progress.


    Even that small increase in power would help them when the Pather vs Pather fights started for real, in six months. The rift monsters were dangerous, but they were, in the end, mindless meat machines of rage that had a handful of skills at best, even at Tier 15.


    Most cultivators were more dangerous than a monster at a simr Tier, just for the variety of skills they would possess. When they considered the fact that their opponents would be the best Tier 10s that the Empire had to offer, who could also jump Tiers and kill Tier 13 and 14 monsters, they wanted every advantage.


    They were only a mile deeper into the forest when they discovered what the at Tier monster in the rift was.


    A howl resonated in the night air, attempting to send Quill into a panic.


    The skill was too weak to break through his Concept and spirit, but it alerted him and Torch that they had been spotted by the beasts first.


    They didnt have to wait long for the first lycanthrope to charge at them.


    This variant leaned more towards wolf than man, with a distinctive wolf''s head, and fur covering its entire body. But it seamlessly moved from running on all fours to running at them on two digitigrade hind legs.


    As the monster rushed at them, its ws glowed with the power of a skill. Quill readied himself as Torch stepped forward and prepared to take the attack head-on.


    First encounters were always the most dangerous, as they had yet to learn exactly what the rift had created.


    When the monster was fifty feet away, it lunged. It was an impossible distance, even for a Tier 13 to cover, but it jumped a second time, using all four of its limbs to propel itself faster and farther.


    Seeing [Puddle Jump] used by a rift monster was a surprise, but one Torch was ready for. She sidestepped and sent ance of fire at the descending monster.


    As the beast saw the mes, it tried to jump in the air for a third time, but the spell still smote it in the chest, sending it tumbling to the ground.


    Giving up on its acrobatics, the monster tore into the forest floor as it got the purchase to throw itself at Torch.


    Quill turned from that fight as he noticed a second werewolf approaching them from the woods, slightly to the right of where thest one came from.


    He immediately threw out a talisman while pping a second on himself.


    That second talisman was a fake to cover the fact he was using [Mages Retreat] to help him battle the higher Tier monster on a more even footing.


    But the first talisman that he threw out wasn''t for show. A [Fire Bolt] carved a stream of light through the night air and punched through the tree that the wolf tried to use as cover.


    The tree still slowed the bolt enough for it to miss the monster.


    As the wolfunched itself at Quill with glowing teeth and ws, he rolled under the attack and used a [Wind de] talisman at the exposed belly of the beast.


    The attack cut through the bone of the monster, and its guts rained down in a gory mess. But by the time Quill hopped back to his feet, the monster already hadrge chunks of its flesh pulling back together at a rapid pace.


    Cursing mentally, he changed his attacks. Some rare lycanthropes had increased regeneration that rivaled a troll''s, which meant that only attacks from silver weapons, or attacks that cauterized the inflicted wounds would be effective.


    Even cauterized wounds would heal, but at least they took longer. Only wounds inflicted by silver wouldnt heal at all.


    Quill mentally paused for a second as he corrected himself. Technically, inflicting enough damage to drain the monster''s mana pool would also stop the regeneration, and poisons would slow the healing. But those were less than ideal methods for dealing with this type of lycanthrope.


    Essentially, this rift would be an absolute pain in the ass, as it removed more than three-quarters of his arsenal. Though, Torch would fare better with her fire-based fighting style.


    Cursing the gardener who mentioned them getting chewed on, he cast [Jolt] at the monster while throwing out a second [Fire Bolt] talisman.


    Both spells impacted with small explosions, and he was d to see that those wounds were taking far longer to heal than the [Wind de] wound that had already closed.


    As the monster lunged a second time, arger, mana constructed version of its maw appeared and extended out nearly five feet, mming down with a crack.


    Quill backpedaled, tossed out a [Fireball] talisman, and cast a second [Jolt].


    The [Fireball] would cause explosion damage that was only moderately effective against the monster type, but he had far, far more of those talismans than the Tier 14 [Firebolt]s.


    Before the monster could heal its burned eyes, Quill moved in for the kill.


    Throwing out two [Wind de] talismans, he cut the monster''s muscr rear legs off, and despite the rapid regeneration, he knew that he had already won. He just needed to stop the monster from jumping around for a second.


    His follow up [Fire Bolt] talisman punched right through the monster''s head and burned out its brain, putting an end to the wolf monster. He felt the rush of essence course into his spirit as proof.


    Quill looked over to see that Torch had her monster pinned to the ground, and was already testing the regeneration capabilities of the werewolf.


    They kept slitting the monster''s vocal cords to prevent it from crying for help while they tested its ability to heal.


    The results were worse than feared.


    The wolf continually healed from any non-cauterized wounds for over an hour, before it finally ran out of mana and died.


    It had sustained itself through <em>an hour</em> of severed limbs and being eviscerated over and over again.


    After they felt the rush of essence, Torch kicked the monster and spat. Troll levels of regeneration and a mana pool way above average for a Tier 13 monster. Great. Just great.


    Quill agreed. This was a less than ideal rift. Nheless, they weren''t hard countered here, andpleting the rift would greatly boost their status.


    Most Tier 10 teams enter a Tier 13 rift with more than one team, and only while choosing rifts where they had the advantage over the monsters.


    With neither of those advantages, they would look all the better forpleting this rift.


    It was worth them pushing through, despite the rift being a slog.


    The revtion of the monster type also exined why there was no speedrun of this rift. No Tier 10 team would bepleting this rift in anything less than a full day.


    Quill looked to Torch and ran their odds with his AI.


    The predictions actually looked decent.


    The lycanthropes had massive regeneration, but they paid the price for that absurd healing with slightly weaker bodies for their Tier. Additionally, the whole group had only disyed four skills the entire fight.


    Five, if he counted the howl.


    Theoretically, they could mop up this rift in a little under nine hours, if they really pushed themselves.


    After sharing his findings with Torch, the two of them began clearing out the back edge of the rift. To their surprise, the deep forest didn''t have a sub-boss, just a small den of werewolves that tried to overwhelm them with numbers.


    Quill pulled out a dozen [Fire Bolt] talismans and cast them in an arc, which slowed down their attack enough for Torch to move through them. Sheshed out at the wolves with a potion and talisman assisted flurry of attacks.


    Now that they knew the monsters'' weaknesses, they were more confident to press their advantages.


    Between the two of them and their liberal use of fire and lightning spells, they quickly had the dozen monsters in.


    After that, they moved onward to the city, where they encountered their second and third monster types of the rift.


    Giant bats and skeletons.


    The two seemed to work in unison as they defended their destroyed town from the two delvers.


    Quill mostly fought the skeletons, while Torch took care of the aerial opponents with her greater range and fire attacks.


    While she dealt with them, Quill used a variety of earth talismans to batter the animated skeletons to powder.


    He had quickly learned that the skeletons would piece themselves back together and reform if their heads were not thoroughly shattered.


    As they advanced, he fell into a rhythm of killing them by self casting [Earth Spear]s to knock the monsters apart, and then smashing their skulls with his boots or the butt of his staff.


    He attempted to overwhelm the monsters with various elemental attacks, but they seemed immune to anything but good old fashioned skull-crushing. Even then, they had been knocked down separated into pieces first.


    That made clearing the surprisinglyrge amount of enemies a slow and arduous process, but they persisted until they found the town center. There, the skeletons were burning a pile of werewolves at the behest of a giant skeleton equipped with arms and armor.


    The fifteen-foot-tall sub-boss almost immediately noticed them, despite the fact that they were hiding behind a building two blocks away.


    Unlike its slow and easier-to-kill brethren, this skeleton raced at them and crashed directly through the buildings like a wrecking ball.


    I''ll take the boss, you take the rest of the skeletons!


    The boss wasn''t alone in its greater armament. Those thirty, normal-sized skeletons were also equipped withbat gear.


    With his ability to batter the thing with talismans, Quill knew that he was better suited to solo the boss. Meanwhile, Torch could dance through the lesser monsters'' greater numbers with ease.


    Casting an [Earth Spear] and running in the opposite direction of his partner, Quill led the monster away and deeper into the city.


    Not willing to take to the air, where the bats might still be flying around in the darkness, he flew fast and low along the city streets as the giant skeleton raced after him.


    Seeing that it couldn''t get close to him, the monster started to grab and throw pieces of stone from the building with worrying about uracy. After it nearly clipped him for a second time, Quill turned to face the sub boss. They were away from the city center, and here, his attacks shouldnt affect Torch.


    Tossing out three talismans, he peppered the monster with ice attacks. While they didn''t effect the skeletons as his earth spells had, he was more focused on setting up the battlefield.


    Dodging the boss club strike was easier said than done. It seemingly had unlimited stamina to swing around its oversized mace. Each missed attack cracked the cobblestone street, and created new hazards for Quill to navigate. But with [Mages Retreat] and a general physical boosting talisman, he was quick footed enough to evade everything the giant skeleton threw at him.


    After littering the battlefield with ice attacks, Quill pulled out five [Create Water] talismans and cast them in a pentagon around the battlefield.


    A smallkes worth of water flooded into the street, but the giant skeleton remainedrgely unaffected by the water as it passed through its boney figure.


    Throwing out a talisman that stuck to the boss, Quill hovered slightly as he quickly pulled out a five-talisman array. He slotted and connected the talismans in under a second, even while avoiding the boss''s attacks.


    Waiting for the dyed activation of the talisman he stuck to the boss forced him to dodge another five flurries of attacks. But as all the water started to rush to the boss, he pulsed power through the talisman array connected to his staff.


    As the water gathered around the boss, a pulse of cold mana exploded from Quill, forming a sphere that sh froze everything in almost a two hundred foot radius.


    The stones and buildings were suddenly covered in frost, and a few waterlogged bricks had exploded. The real sight to behold was what remained of the giant skeleton, encased in a frozen obelisk.


    Still, immobilized as it was, the boney bastard wasn''t dead yet.


    There was no rush of essence, but Quill had not expected that trick to actually finish it.


    No, he expected the <em>next</em> talisman to do that.


    With a casual, entuated flick of his wrist for the viewing drone, a single talismannded on the towering pir of ice.


    After a two-second dy where he used an [Earth Barrier] talisman, the pir shattered, demolishing the ice-encased boss with it.


    The rush of Tier 13 essence hit Quill like a bull as the massive monster splintered into pieces norger than his fist.


    By the time he returned to the city center, Torch was finishing up with the final skeleton soldiers. They quickly exited the city after confirming that they had eliminated most of the monsters.


    In the misty field leading to the mountain path, they encountered over four hundred werewolves in groups ranging from two to asrge as nine.


    The monsters seemed to have no issue seeing and hearing in the magical mist, and always called for reinforcements before they died.


    Hours passed before they finished killing the hordes of monsters because of their crazy regeneration. The pair also needed to take breaks, so they allocated their essence gains while pretending to be recovering their mana.


    Five hours into the delve, they started ascending the mountain path. They trekked a mere twenty feet up the stairs when bats appeared and began bombarding them. Faced with a constant barrage, they decided to forgo the walking, and flew directly into the air to engage the bats.


    That tactic only earned a more intense series of attacks, but by keeping their backs close to the cliff wall, they burned through every one of the bats that engaged them.


    They culled the winged monsters for half an hour before the stream of aerial attackers finally let up.


    With clear skies, they were free to fly directly to the fort, where they found another pack of werewolves. They had seemingly taken the fort over from the animated skeletons, if the scattered remains were any indication.


    With that, and the skeletons burning the werewolf corpses in the town, the rifts storyline was obvious. It was a war between werewolves and skeletons, which he suspected symbolized sapient beasts and humans. The bats were seemingly neutral to both parties.


    Regardless, it was irrelevant. All that mattered was their objective to kill everything.


    After they cleared the fort of every monster, a task that took another grueling two hours, they discovered a narrow stone bridge with no rails spanning a half-mile chasm. To add insult to injury, the bats were back, infesting the chasm in even greater numbers than before. They almost seemed to be daring them to try their luck flying across the divide.


    This should have been one of the most difficult portions of the rift, but Torch and Quill simply took to the air and cast theirrgest area of effect spells, sting through all the flying enemies that tried to swarm them.


    Eventually, as the bats died out, Torch tracked them back where they came from, a cave set deep into the chasm wall.


    Inside, they found a bat breeding ground that they proceeded to incinerate from a distance.


    Not trusting that alone, they tossed half a dozen [Create Fire] talismans about, and sealed the entrance with a few stone talismans, letting any remaining monsters suffocate with the entrance closed off and the breathable air burning away.


    Theyzed on the ledge as the rush of essence informed them of each monster''s death.


    It made their dinner almost entertaining.


    After the bursts of essence halted, they moved to the rift exit, where they were met by a goliath werewolf at the bottom-middle of Tier 13. It was a good bit stronger than the fresh Tier 13 monsters they had faced so far.


    Together, the two of them gradually battered it down with fire attacks, followed by strategic removal of its limbs with overcharged wind talismans.


    With little fanfare, the boss copsed dead, and they collected their reward. Thirty-seven Tier 13 mana stones.


    They were tired and worn out, but happy to see that they had actually cleared ny-nine percent of the rift monsters in just nine and a half hours.


    The gardener shot them a look of respect as they entered the teleporter back to the safe side of the.


    They needed to rest before they were going to pick more fights with monsters above their Tier. If they lost a fight, they would lose the thirty nine points they had gathered so far.


    It was better to leave with the cost of their next entrance covered, ande back for an extended stayter.


    ***


    As the pair of them exited the teleporter to return to the safe half of the, they were quickly beset by a pair of news reporters.


    Under the Quill mask and persona, Matt frowned.


    Luna had prepared them for this situation, but a part of that training had been showing him exactly how easily a news channel could twist anything you said, and ruin your life.


    Neither he nor Liz wanted anything to do with the pair, but from the director and oversized drone following them, he knew that if they refused to y ball, they would be ambushed by reporters.


    The greatest advantage for them was the fact that this was an Empire-run event, and the news anchors were invite-only by the grace of a Tier 47. At least they were assured that none of the reporters would treat them <em>too</em> harshly.


    The man was fair-skinned and haired, though his five o''clock shadow was noticeably darker. But as the man was over Tier 15, that could have been a personal choice of aesthetic, rather than gics.


    Considering the man looked like he spent every waking moment in the gym, with his rippling muscles obvious through his skin tight shirt, he very well might. But once again, being over Tier 15, the man could have just morphed his body to achieve the look.


    He was only slightly shorter than Matt, at around six feet in height.


    His co reporter was shorter than Liz, and as dark-skinned as she was busty. Considering the fact that she looked like her shirt was one deep breath away from popping open, he expected that she had done as much work to her appearance as her co-anchor had.


    The reporters made for an attractive pair with their contrasting light and dark effect, though. Even Matt couldn''t deny that.


    The woman briskly asked, Quill! Torch! Would you two be willing to give us an interview?


    Knowing what he had to do, Matt slipped back into the Quill persona. Of course we are.


    He paired that with an exaggerated wink from his mask.


    The man who was directing the drone herded them off to the side, in a clear area where the active teleporter gave them apelling backdrop to their conversation.


    That was actually a good sign that they wouldn''t be trying to edit the video to rearrange their words, but Quill still had a small dot appear on his mask, and had it start moving counterclockwise.


    Cutting the video''s timing around was fair game for the news station, but editing someones appearance was strictly against thew. This tactic was used in some form or another by anyone who felt the news channel would be less than fair in an interview.


    Torch did the same as they were moved into the proper locations for the interview.


    It ended up with the woman standing next to Quill, who was next to Torch, who was bracketed by therger man.


    A third person appeared from seemingly nowhere, and took all of thirty seconds to pat some makeup on the two news reporter''s foreheads before vanishing just as fast as they arrived.


    Quill noticed that the already low-cut dress shirt the woman was wearing had lowered its cut a fraction, while the once X-cut opening ttened at the base into a square cut.


    The man''s dress shirt also experienced a simr change, though his was just to tighten the shirt until it clung to him like a second skin.


    The man controlling the drone started counting down out loud while lowering his fingers at the same time.


    We are live in... Five. Four. Three...


    For two and one, he only lowered his fingers before pointing at them.


    The woman was the first to speak. This is Page Woodrow with Diego Hearting at you live from the Tier 10 Pather Breakout Tournament, with the first interview from the hottest duo, Quill and Torch.


    She then shined a megawatt smile at Quill. Were you aware that the video of you killing the Tier 14 region boss has already hit the top of the charts for most-watched clips?


    A short video yed at high speed of Torch standing in a rain of fireballs, then guiding the giant fireball into the snake''s coiled-up body.


    The man, Diego, asked Torch, Is that your ultimate move? Are the two of you worried that youve given away too much information too early?


    Torch, with her ame mask, turned her face up slightly to look the man in the eyes, before veering to the camera and delivering only three words.


    No. And no.


    Quill let his mask smirk as he borated, My esteemed colleague, Torch, isn''t the chattiest person around. But as she so efficiently answered, no and no. Thats hardly our ultimate move. Nor are we remotely worried that others might figure out a way to counter it, or that we used it too early.


    Seeing that Quill would be the main source of words from the duo, Page leaned in. So you have greater destructive forces in your repertoire?


    Quillughed, Was that not clearly implied?


    The smile Page gave him and the camera caused him to clench his jaw so hard, his teeth hurt, but he kept the rest of his bodynguage neutral.


    Page dived into her next topic with lighting speed. I supposed it was. Also, we saw youe to the aid of that other Pather, despite having no prior rtion to them. As far as we can tell at least.


    That wasnt a question, so Quill didnt respond, forcing her to add, Most expected you to attack thepetition viciously after your scathingments in the endless rift za. What made you change your approach? Do your real identities have a connection with Fen?


    Now knowing where she was trying to lead them, Quill let a small smile creep onto his mask as he spoke. Nothing so fun or scandalous as youre probably hoping for. We had no such prior rtionship with Fen and his menagerie, but we didnt need one. This tournament isn''t about stepping on the necks of ourpetitors to get ahead. While welle to blows at the end of the year, we hold no ill will towards ourpetition. Torch and I may y on the Wild Side, but we wont be ambushing any other teams. Even myments at the endless rift were simply honest, well-earned critiques that I stand by.


    As his smile reached inhuman proportions, he added while wiping it off his mask, That doesn''t mean were pushovers though. If anyone decides to test us, well pay back their intentions a millionfold. Id also like to remind everyone that killing an attacker in <em>self defense</em> isnt legally murder. If the guards aren''t fast enough


    Page smiled like he had just made a new year''s celebratione early. A bold statement. Were all eager to see if you can back it up when pushes to shove.


    Diego tried once again to get Torch to give a bit and asked, What do you intend to do to anyone who does attack your team, Torch?


    Matt just knew Liz was grinning like a loon under the mask as she replied, Burn them.


    Diego walked into the next question like an amateur, And if that doesn''t work?


    Stab them. Torchs answer was short and sweet, and Quill let a smile slip back onto his mask.


    Diego, not willing to give up, prodded, And if neither work?


    Burn <em>and</em> stab them.


    Page, seeing her co-anchor get nowhere, turned back to Quill. Were just getting video of your delve of a Tier 13 rift, and our analysts are already iming that youre some of the best delvers of the past three tournaments. High praise from them. Are you worried that youll be unable to live up to the hype already surrounding you? Will your prodigiousbat power fall apart when probed by someone who isn''t a mindless rift monster?


    Quill looked directly at the shorter woman as he said, As you <em>and</em> your viewers are well aware, we are rather high on the Mask ranking, which means weve fought and won numerous duels against some of the strongest teams here. We wee anyone to challenge us to the dueling arena, or try and attack us in the Jungle. Thats the point of the Wild Side, is it not?


    Page cocked her head as she apparently received new information, and her megawatt smile somehow increased in brightness.


    We just got a report that you two were just rated by a poll done on East Flower. Youve been rated the most likely contenders to be the next Light and Shadow. How do you feel about beingpared to such legends? Do you believe that you can crush thepetition like they did?


    Quillughed while Torch snorted slightly. This was a question they expected and had prepared for.


    Without hesitating, he said, We are more than honored to have the general populous favor, but that is a title that everyone here this year wants. None of us are weak, and while we have every confidence in our chances to win both the solo and team tournaments, we aren''t so arrogant to believe that ourpetitors will simply crumble before us. Theyll make sure we sweat and bleed for our inevitable victories.


    Page turned back to the camera drone, You heard it here first, folks. Quill and Torch intend to win the entire tournament and take home the rewards for first ce. A feat not pulled off since Light and Shadow swept their own breakout Tier 10 Tournament. Will the upstarts see themselves burn out early, despite a bright first showing? Or will they reduce theirpetition to ash, and find themselves the final victors? Watch the highlights of Torch and Quill''s Tier 13 single team delve after a short word from our sponsors.


    In a coordinated move, both Page and Diego recited, This is Page and Diego with One Two Three Newsing at you with exclusive interviews from the Tier 10 Pathers tournament. And remember, folks, getting the fastest and most current updates is as easy as one, two, three.


    Everyone held their positions until the director lowered his hand, and the drone flew to his shoulder, where it perched like a mechanical hawk.


    Page turned to Quill and Torch and shook both their hands as she said, If you do as well as you think you will, well be seeing more of you. Good luck, kids. Wed love to stick around, but some crazy woman cut a Tier 13 boss in half with a single swing of her sword, and the video is trending something fierce.


    With that, she spun and soared off into the distance.


    Diego quickly shook their hands with a short few words of encouragement as he flew off to catch up with his team.


    Quill shouted after him, Oh, and say hi to Queen for us!


    Turning back to his own partner, Torch met his eyes for only a second before they jointly moved off to the teleporter formations that would lead them to their rooms.


    They expected to be able to rx and unwind, but the Emperor was sitting in their room and immediately prompted, Are you two up to meeting the other Royals?


    Liz ripped off bothyers of masks and groused, Does it have to be now? Weve had a long, busy day.


    The Emperor shrugged. It can wait if you want, but Im going to be leaving in a few days. I figured you''d want as much support in your corner as you could get. Also, you two put on too good of a show. Between that and your parents constant bragging, the Royals not in the know are waiting with eager anticipation to get the full debriefing. I can''t do that without your approval, since it pertains to your Talents.


    Matt reached up and rubbed his still masked face as he nced between Liz and Emmanuel. Theyre getting the full truth? I half expected you to keep them in the dark.


    Emmanuel snorted, Despite our disagreements on the exact direction the Empire should move in, I chose them as my Kings and Queens because I <em>do</em> trust them. They want whats best for the Empire as much as I do. To best act on that, they need to be kept apprised of important events and developments across said Empire. A part of that is them getting read into any potential ascenders. Usually, that takes ce in thest few months of the tournament, when were assigning team managers. But seeing as you already have a manager, theres nothing stopping us from doing that early.


    Mat and Liz shared a nce. It wasnt going to get any <em>easier</em>, but at least they had the Emperor as their mediator now. But before that


    Can we at least take a shower first?

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143


    As Matt and Liz quickly stripped and jumped in the shower, Liz started to give him onest rundown on the Royals. They had done this before, but Matt appreciated the refresher.


    Tur''stal is nice enough, though she has little patience for fools, so no issue there. Out of all the Royals, she''s my favorite on a personal level.


    Matt nodded, even though Liz couldn''t see it, as she took his ce under the stream of water while he soaped himself up.


    Coming out from under the water, she continued, Rusty will definitely try to get you, or even more likely both of us, to spar with him. Do <em>not </em>ept. He doesn''t hold back nearly as well as he thinks he does. Hes nice and a great uncle, but he <em>will</em> try to fight you. He tries to fight everyone. He tried to fight me when I was five.


    Matt nodded along as he took his turn under the water.


    Harper won''t say much, but theyre far deeper than you''d expect. They run foreign affairs, which includes all the spies of the Empire. So yeah, don''t let them drag you into a conversation about anything to do with the other Great Powers. You wont escape anytime soon, and youll have to listen to detailed breakdowns about the other Great Powers political structures and strongest representatives.


    As they toweled off, she shrugged about thest Royal. I don''t know Frederic very well, outside of his reputation. Which is to say, hes a politically savvy noble who champions noble rights over the more progressive measures that my parents and uncle Manny are pushing. His faction is newer than Tur''stals and Rustys. Its made from the more radical elements of those factions, and those who left for greener pastures and ended up settling the border.


    After putting on semi-formal attire, the two of them entered their room to find Emmanuel sitting on the small desk provided, sporting a smirk.


    Is that all you think of my precious Royals, Liz? Im devastated. Youre lucky I blocked the room off so they couldn''t hear you. They would weep at your words.


    Liz didnt hesitate to shoot back, If you weren''t listening in, you would be blissfully ignorant as well. Hardly my fault.


    Emmanuel''s smirk turned into a full-blown grin. Sorry, my earplugs are only Tier 47. I''m listening to everyone''s conversations on all sixs of this star system, whether I want to or not.


    Thatment gave Matt pause, but for only a second. The Tier 50 hardly seemed overwhelmed by the influx of information, but Matt wasn''t sure he would be able to function with that much sensory input.


    Higher Tiers were almost a different species altogether.


    After Liz ran a brush through her hair a few times, they were ready to go. With a snap of Emmanuel''s fingers, they appeared in a small, but luxurious lounge.


    Everything was made of woods polished to reflective levels, or metals with rougher, brushed finishes to contrast with the sleeker wooden facades.


    If the objects had been made from lower Tier materials, it would have been one thing, but Matt only recognized one wood type. It had the distinctive alternating ck and whiteyers of spirals that belied its identity as an extinct Tier 46 tree. It was being used as a coaster holder on a side table.


    If everything else wasparable, he figured that this single room could be worth more than some star systems.


    Mara and Leon were the first people to grab his attention. They were wearing kids'' party paraphernalia, which included small hats and noisemakers. Of course, they were blowing and shaking them wildly.


    What caught Matts eye was the poster that they had written on. The first letters were oversized, and the rest of the letters grew progressively smaller, until they were microscopic.


    The sign could only be described as distracted. Happy meet the Royals to exin your Talents and why you are going to change the Empire. Why do I always forget to n writing these things out? I say I will every time, but I always forget, and now the first letters are way too big, and Im running out of space


    Matt couldn''t read anything else after that, since the writing got too small, but he had tough at themitment to the joke.


    Having met and lived with two of the Royals, and their being the strongest besides the Emperor, helped Matt brace himself as he met the other four Royals eyes.


    Tur''stal stood next to a table with a ss of wine in her hand as she watched him and Liz silently. She wore a different but less formal dress than the one she was wearing a few hours ago, at the start of the tournament.


    As she watched Matt inspect her, she just smiled as he moved on to the mountain of a man standing to her left.


    Rusty was a massive man, and only seemed bigger in the small room and dim lighting. He had also changed into more casual clothes that seemed like a version of sparring gear, but Matt wasn''t sure. The style that he thought Rustys clothes were based off of was at least a few thousand years old.


    Harper had on the same mask and cloak they always did, which gave Matt nothing to inspect. Though, that might very well have been the point.


    They were at least neutral in the political tug of war between the Emperor and the old nobles, which made them more of an ally than the others.


    At least, in theory.


    Frederic was still in a suit and seemed just as average as he had during the opening ceremony, but Matt noticed something different about the man''s eyes. They were likesers that tracked every one of his movements, and seemed to miss nothing he did.


    They had all been silent, except for Mara and Leon, for long enough that Liz moved forward and said, Hi, everyone. Long time no see. Always good to get the extended family together. As I''m sure everyone is salivating to hear <em>my</em> Talent, I do blood things. That''s all. We can all go home now.


    Tur''stal met Lizs sarcasm with a small smile and a slight rise of her wine ss in Lizs direction, while Rustyughed outright and extended his arm far enough to ruffle her hair from the other side of the table.


    Harper was covered by their mask and robe, which let nothing slip, but they did nod slightly to Liz.


    Frederic smiled politely but otherwise did nothing, as the clear outsider..


    Matt moved forward and said, My Tier 1 Talent was rated as detrimental by the Talent system, and for good reason. I can''t allocate any essence into my magical cultivation, and my starting mana pool was lowered to 1 mana.


    That earned him several pairs of narrowed eyes aimed at his midsection, where his cores were located, as they looked to confirm his statement.


    None of the Royals seemed bothered by the fact that he had a very good veil up to prevent exactly that sort of snooping, but Matt didnt let that get to him.


    But that wasn''t all that my Tier 1 Talent did. It changed how my spirit creates mana. Instead of being a normal, t rate dependent on my allocation of essence, my mana regenerates faster the lower my current mana pool is. If I''m under one percent of my maximum mana, I regenerate the value of my entire mana pool continuously over the course of a second. A useless Talent without my Tier 3 Talent, which increased my mana pool to 10 mana, and then allowed me to double it for every Tier after that.


    Pausing for a deep breath, Matt continued, That means that I can currently generate 1,280 mana per second, as long as my mana total is below 12.8 mana. I also can use mana concentration potions down to nearly zero mana, then return my mana pool back to full without issue, which is kinda nice.


    Not knowing how to end that, he finished with ame, Yeah, that''s pretty much it. But then he remembered his Concept. Oh, and my Concept is about endlessly making mana, which lets me give out some mana to those around me. Its also given my mana an endless sub-aspect. Essentially, my mana kinda lingers and keep effects going on for longer than they should. So, single cast spells fly farther and channels just run on their own without input for a second or two, depending on how much mana Ive put into them.


    Matt looked around to find three shocked faces and one masked figure looking at him as if he was under a microscope.


    ***


    Frederic paused for a full three-quarters of a second.


    An eternity when he lost control of his mental cultivation and started to perceive time as a Tier 46 would.


    Still, he was so shocked by the boy''s Talent and the ramifications it would bring, he couldn''t help but lock up.


    Thousands of ns he had carefully been preparing for had been dashed and rendered useless or redundant, but in the best way possible.


    He didnt need his AI to do the math for him, but used it anyway to confirm he wasn''t dreaming.


    At Tier 30, the child in front of him would have ess to more mana than a Tier 50 mage. At Tier 13 just three Tiers higher than his current Tier the boy would have a greater mana generation than a Tier 50 mage.


    The potential impacts were staggering.


    When they went public with this, the entire Empire would have seismic reactions to the news. Most would take this as good news, but some would see this as the end of their business.


    The price of mana would plummet anywhere Matthew spent even a small portion of time.


    The worst-hit industry would be the mana traders. They bought mana from the Empires citizens, and held onto it in massive caverns that were spatially expanded to hold rechargeable mana crystals. They then sold that mana back to crafters and the nobility at a small markup. Selling the traders mana was also a small lifeline to poor people down on their luck, as they always bought it at a slightly higher cost than the local guilds and nobles.


    He had significant holdings in several of thosepanies. They normally provided a certain, but slow return on investment.


    When the news of Matthew''s Talent hit, those stocks would plummet to record lows. They would eventually recover to a degree once people caught on to the fact that Matthew would still need a ce to store said mana for distribution. The mana traders would be the only ones with the necessary infrastructure in ce.


    If he positioned himself right, he might be able to buy out those businesses for little more than the cost of their facilities when the news first hit.


    He filed that away as something to do once this tournament was over. If he wanted to pull out of thosepanies without tanking the stock prices, he would need to move slowly.


    Frederic had to give it to Emmanuel. The man had even more luck than cultivation. The Emperor had just put the entire noble faction into check with not a scheme or power y, but one single Talent that his biggest supporters daughter just happened to stumble upon first.


    With Matthew''s Talent, the Empire would be able to run high Tier rifts on the instance cooldown, instead of waiting months or years for the rifts to slowly absorb the sparse ambient mana.


    The entire crafters'' economy would change, as they would suddenly have more high Tier goods than ever before. It wouldnt be more than they could use, but certainly more than they could quickly adjust to. Even still, the limiting factor for the crafters would be the amount of avable mana. But if Matt was pumpings full of mana, theyd simply be able to collect it from the air.


    The Emperor could leverage Matthew''s connection to Elizabeth, Mara, and Leon to focus the boy''s efforts ons and regions that were loyal to him and his way of thinking.


    If they did that, the hereditary noble faction would grow weaker and weaker, until they were irrelevant, hollow shells of their former selves. Their citizens would leave by the masses for more profitable regions of the Empire, and no amount of proper administration or leadership could bridge that gap. Before long, the current nobles would be paupers with emptys and left in no position to bargain at all.


    Even the unspoken threat of defecting to another Great Power would be moot. With Matthew, the Empire could finally have a Tier 50 capital. Then, they would be able to produce Tier 50s with no regard to the old international agreements and treaties. The rest of the universe would be at their mercy. Even the most stubborn of the nobles knew that it was better to be the tail of a lion than the head of a mouse.


    Everything would change.


    Frederic paused again as that thought crossed his mind.


    Matthew was still speaking about the first word of his Concept when Frederic peeked over at Rusty and Tur''stal. They were of differing noble factions, but the three of them usually acted in unison to strengthen their position, even if their political bases didn''t always agree on the finer details.


    They had been there when Elizabeth was born, which meant they had a much greater attachment to Matthew through Elizabeth. Something he sorelycked.


    Maybe he could find an angle. A search into Matthew Alexanders background brought up that he was 38 years old,st registered as an early Tier 10, and a former ward of the state from the Lilly.


    <em>Oh no</em>.


    Of all the times and ces for their new kingmaker to rise from, that might just be the absolute worst possibility. The age range and orphaned status matched perfectly with his rising fear too. A split microsecondter, the family records and death certificates popped up to solidify the mountainous dread.


    <em>Curse those thrice-damned </em>Junipers<em>! How many times must that wretched house of ipetents haunt me?</em>


    The Lilly Tragedy had been a disgrace to the Empire, a disgrace to the nobility overall, and a disgrace to his faction in particr. Despite the falling under the Emperors direct jurisdiction instead of Frederics, that Baron had loudly and publicly ascribed to some of his peoples most hard line rhetoric. A highly questionable set of policies, crudely justified by that same extreme philosophy, had been a major contributing factor to the disaster.


    Most of his nobles werepetent enough to know that themoners had to be protected, but a few wanted things to return to the old ways. Back then, eachary leader was a king in his own right, and ruled with an iron fist.


    But that only led to disasters. Time and history had proven it over and over again.


    It was the type of thing that happened in the Sects, the Federation, or the Collective, not a civilized society like the Empire. Yet, it had happened here, thanks to a single,zy Baron. That PR nightmare had struck a blow to the nobility''s image throughout the entire Empire back then. And on Lilly itself? Well needless to say, the boy would not be predisposed towards hereditary nobles.


    Frederic was well aware that no political system was perfect, but he believed that the hereditary nobility was a key reason that the Empire had grown so well. Despite all the faults of such a system, the nobles had invested heavily in their fiefs. They spearheaded the growth of theirs on a scale iparable to most of the other, more transient ruling systems. They only looked for short term gains, with little regard for anything else.


    It wasnt even about the hereditary nobles being inherently superior. Hereditary families drew lessons and internal family culture from long legacies of governance. Additionally, children trained from birth to be leaders and societal managers simply ended up as much higher quality rulers on average. Lessons drilled in during those formative years tended to stick with people better. Even ifmoners raised to the position had an eternity as adults to learn those same lessons, they very rarely seemed to bridge the gap fully, and many never even got close.


    That sort of thing worked <em>passably well</em> in the Republic, and to a lesser extent, the Guilds, because themoners that gained enough power and status still had to be voted in each term. On top of that, the prominent cultures in those Powers expected a degree of proactivity in their elected officials, which helped weed out the majority of subpar candidates. Their nomination requirements, by design, also favored potential candidates with strong backgrounds inw, finance, administration, management, and military leadership over professional delvers.


    In the Empire, people frommon stock most often gained <em>life-long</em> noble titles purely throughbat power. It was an awful metric to select the ruler of a state with, even if it ensured that the Imperial faction grew continually stronger. Even in those other two Great Powers, a huge portion of their leadership came from political dynasties, which were electedrgely based on their familys reputation for leadership.


    They called it by another name, but to Frederic, that just sounded like hereditary nobility with extra steps.


    There was a reason that the current Emperor and his father before him had both been descendants of their noble grandmother, who had wrested the throne from the lineage before her. They had been raised with the expectation that they would rule, and were ruthlessly trained on how to do it well. It was the main reason why the throne had stayed inside the family, despite the new dynasty dering that it would be passed to the most suitable candidate.


    A prime example of the opposite was the thuggish Earl that rose to prominence on the back of his [Cracked Shadow Sword]. That immortal manchild ran his province, spanning <em>numerous </em>start systems, like a mix between a street gang and a low Tier guild. Across most metrics, he was running his Earldom less efficiently than ny eight percent of his peers, all despite having above average resources to work with.


    If he was honest, Frederic just couldnt forgive such an exquisitely rare cracked skill being wasted on such an ipetent, low-life plebian. It was like salt on a gaping wound. At worst, that skill could have been one of the core showpieces of his collection. At best, he could have scoured the Empire for the right person to give it to, creating a new Imperial champion.


    That skill would be beyond formidable whenbined with the right personality, Talent, Concept, and the uniquely bizarre [Cracked Summon Sentinel] that was currently stashed in Frederics hidden vault growth-item, unknown to even the Emperor. All together, it could have been the foundation for a literal one-person army, capable of guarding long stretches of their borders alone. Instead, the Empire got a small-time, would-be gangster ying pretend nobility at the expense of billions.


    Sure, hereditary nobility had its issues with bad apples, but it was still one of the better systems currently in use. Even the temporary nobles that the Emperor''s father and grandmother had introduced were already showing the same problems that the Republic suffered through. It was getting to the point where administrators did most of the actual ruling, instead of the noble responsible. That worked fine, as long as the Emperor was strong and morally upright, until a less than ideal sessor was chosen poisoning the entire system.


    But now, the future of his beloved Empire rested on the shoulders of a young man who grew up experiencing only the worst that his faction had to offer. If that wasnt enough, Matthew had been all-but-engaged to the daughter of his greatest political rivals since he was a teen. No doubt, he had been continuously fed a biased perspective over the decades.


    If things went the worst way possible, Tur''stal and Rustys factions might eke out a few crumbs being Elizabeth''s aunts and uncles, but he and his people would be left with nothing.


    Frederic nced over to Emmanuel, who was watching everyone with his glowing eyes.


    He had wondered why the man had bargained away the new Royal title without pushing for any social reforms in the next few thousand years. Now he knew why.


    The Tier 50 had known about Matthew, and wasnt concerned with ying the normal political game when the entire board was about to be flipped. That single Talent would reshape their society on its own.


    As he listened to Matthew exin his Concept and how it was synergistic to making mana, Frederic knew what he and all the nobles would have to do.


    If they gave up a few of the smaller side issues now, they could bargain for fair treatment and a longer cessation of key changes. Matthews mana would be a destabilizing factor in the uing years, despite him being sorely needed. If not introduced and managed properly, it could easily cause more chaos than good.


    If the Emperor wanted things to stay as stable as possible, as Frederic believed he did with the uing war


    Frederic paused once more.


    If Light and Shadow were going to kickstart a war, then Matthew was going to restart it, if not escte it into a true Tier 35 or higher war.


    He cranked his perception of time as high as he could to give himself more time to think.


    Yes. A second great war was all but guaranteed. That war would likely bring Tier 36s and above, along with higher assets into the field. Everyone would want to get their hands on Matthew.


    Few would be trying to kill him; he was simply too valuable. There were levels of value where if I cant have it, no one can prevailed. But for something as mythical as endless mana in unheard of quantities, only the insane would be willing to risk the boy''s life.


    The war would be over concessions and use of Matthew, in a desperate bid to ensure that their own powers stayed relevant. At this moment more than ever before, he could sympathize with that desire.


    As Frederic was nning his next moves, he focused on what Matthew had just said. I''d like to reiterate. The biggest problem is my mana concentration. I can''t manually increase it, which is a problem. Sorry, I forgot to mention that when I said I used potions.


    Frederic froze again. This time for nearly one and half seconds.


    <em>A problem</em>?


    That wasn''t a problem, unless the boy wanted to remain a viable fighter. But everything Frederic had seen of him, in both personas, indicated that the boy loved to fight. Frederic did some quick and dirty math and calmed down. Things weren''t nearly as bad as they looked at first nce. Matt even using just Tier 45 potions at every Tier would still be a fine fighter with a mana concentration just slightly below the average melee fighter of his Tier.


    But if he wanted to excel...


    The Emperor had already warned them not to tempt Matthew off The Path because the kid had started to touch upon his Intent when they talked about fighting to protect the Empire.


    If the boy wanted to live a life of indolent luxury, then his mana concentration being low wouldnt matter to him. It could recharge rifts just fine, and would only suffer when people took his mana to convert into their own personal mana. But that issue could be solved with quantity. Something Matthew would have no trouble with. But his efficiency driven mind went over it he rejected that possibility. Losing even one percent of efficiency would be a travesty that must be avoided at all cost.


    Frederic looked to Emmanuel and caught the Emperors eyes, which glowed with his father''s Tier 50 Talent.


    The man would be working on alternatives as they spoke, but Frederic and his father before him had always invested in advancements in all fields. Now that was going to pay off more than it ever had before. He could have some of the best minds in his kingdom ready to work on finding an alternative way to increase someone''s mana concentration in weeks. With an unlimited budget, because mana reserves would be worthless with Matthew, he expected results quickly.


    He sent the Emperor a message through their AI, which could move faster than words, as it traveled through their spirits instead of mundane air.


    Congrattions. You drew the wild card, and it trumped the rest of the deckbined.


    Emmanuel smiled like a cat that ate the canary. Thank you. And yes, Ill ept your faction''s unconditional surrender. The Tier 50 paused for an antagonizing microsecond before he continued, Just kidding. If you all agree to five of my demands, I will not push for any new changes until at least the second half of my reign. Even then, I won''t touch your rights of session or your holdings. If you can agree, I will ensure that your regions of space will be treated fairly in any changes thate through Matt.


    Frederic looked through the list that the Emperor sent and sighed internally. The list of demands was light as those things went, more so than even the Emperor probably realized.


    The hereditary noble faction would be giving up a bit of power to the Imperial government in the form of greater inspections and a few key resources. But overall, Frederic was surprised by how little the Emperor was pushing. Most of these were concessions that he had convinced his faction heads to trade away over a millennium ago. Since then, he had only fought Emmanuel so viciously on these points to grossly overinte their perceived value at the negotiation table, hoping to cash in big another few millennia down the line.


    Regardless, the Emperor could have demanded <em>far</em> more before Frederic would have balked. Tur''stal and Rustys factions would have no issues with these conditions either. In fact, they had been actively preparing to surrender two of their concessions in theing decade as part of a sacrificial deal.


    Frederic was actually pleased to see them forfeited now instead. His fellow Royals had nned to ask far too little in return. In most negotiations, the Emperor would snatch a billion miles if you offered him even a fraction of an inch too easily, much like his father before him. Those quick sacrifices they were willing to make would have cracked the door enough for Emmanuel to jam his foot into the opening. Despite not having a natural seekers Talent like his father, Emmanuel was just as politically savvy as his predecessor, and had far morebat strength to back it up. The other Royals were politically adept in their own right, but the Emperor simply worked at a level one step above them. That left Frederic to take the lead on keeping their glorious leaders more<em> contentious</em> ambitions in check.


    So, Rusty and Tur''stal trading these items for equal ess to the new endless mana font instead was far more preferable. In their ce, he would advise the pair to substitute some guaranteed war contributions in the offer they wanted to propose, but the deal was too good to risk modifying it.


    Actually, for the Emperor to be ying so nice at a time like this, he must be dramatically more worried about theing wars than he let on. That was the only answer that Frederic coulde up with that exined why they werent being hung out to dry.


    Before the deal could get worse, he epted. Ill get my people to agree to those conditions. Speaking of my people, I have quite the number of researchers at my disposal and will be putting them to work on solving the boy''s mana concentration issue. What say you about keeping the teams separate for the next hundred years before letting them coborate with their past works?


    The Emperor nodded. That''s fine and a good idea. But make it seventy years of independent work instead of a full century. I dont think theyll be waiting until two hundred years old to reach Tier 25, and we need an answer to potions before Tier 19.


    Frederic checked the math on mana concentration potions and frowned internally.


    There were only so many high Tier potions, and even then, they would be a drop in the bucket to the boys mana pool after Tier 25 or so. That inefficiency rankled at him.


    Aunt Helen wasing to this tournament, as she usually did, but she wouldn''t be here for another month or so if her usual timeline still applied.


    The ancient phoenix was exactly that, ancient. She had more experience reading spirits and how they grew than anyone else, which gave her the ability to predict a person''s Talent, to a degree. Other people might be subjectively older than her because of the time dtion in rifts, but she had spent more time in and around people than nearly anyone else. She might be able to see if Matthew was going to have a Tier 25 that fixed the issue. But he also knew that he wasn''t the only person aware of that. Besides, the boy had already met the old bird.


    If the issue was still being brought up, then she didnt believe it would be solved by his Tier 25 Talent. Still, there was always the chance that his spirit had grown in a different way than when she had seen himst, five Tiers ago. Hopefully, Helen would be able to predict it more closely this time. Simply based on the pattern forming from the Talents Tier 1 and Tier 3 effects, Frederic could easily see the Tier 25 ability going several distinct directions. A few of those general possibilities could significantly change what the Royals needed to prepare for.


    Still, it was better to n for the worst while hoping for the best. He would dedicate his best teams to the work regardless. Most people often dismissed the importance of mana concentration at higher Tiers due to the sharply diminishing returns. However, as the intricacies andplexities of skills, formations, and enchantments continually spiked inter Tiers, the value of mana concentration increasingly became a much more nuanced subject, particrly when it came to crafting.


    The boy was wise to present the problem to all of the Royals right away.


    Frederic almost felt tempted to bargain with the Emperor about Matthews mana concentration, but held back.


    Emmanuel held too many cards, and while he was advancing his own agenda, he wasn''t putting them over the barrel. Instead, he led with a gentle hand for exactly this reason.


    Inparison, Frederic had too few cards left to bluff with, and if he did try to y them, he expected those five demands would multiply.


    In exchange for the man acting so gently, Frederic knew that he would be hard pressed to do much of anything for the next few thousand years.


    He paused as he scented a glimmer of hope. If the hereditary nobles contributed exceptionally well in the uing war, he could leverage that to their advantage. It was one of their only major cards left that didnt result in severe concessions, or them being left in the cold.


    More than ever, he would have to be on the lookout for potential powerhouses that would gain massive power spikes from any cracked skills in his collection. That way, he could reap a small portion of the credit for theirter war-time aplishments too. So long as the cracked skills were framed as gifts in support of the war effort, Emmanuel wouldnt darein either.


    Plus, a carefully nurtured reputation for generosity and nonpartisanship in the face of war might soften Matthews view towards his faction as well, and help distance them from deadbeats nobles like those bratty Junipers.


    Honestly, if Tur''stal were not already forcing him to award cracked skills to the toppetitors, he would have been considering the idea anyway. Though the Emperor no doubt poached the best potential gifts in theirst negotiation. He still wondered about a few of the more unusual picks Emmanuel had been so insistent on.


    Matthew finished talking, so Frederic stepped forward, ready to turn on the charm and give his best first impression possible.


    After hearing the boy''s Talent, he could think of several cracked skills in his collection that would suit him well. One in particr was an ideal fit for this stage in his development. As the boy was a shoo-in for winning both tournaments, he would owe the kid two skills. He figured that talking shop and showing off his collection was as good an inroad as any.


    ***


    When Harper heard Matts Talent, they paused for the first time in thest few thousands years or so.


    That just didnt happen anymore. They had spent more time training to remove those weaknesses than anyone else.


    When Harper still had a gender and identity, they had fallen in love with spy work. But to be the best spy, you needed to be able to fit any role. Harper had risen through those murky ranks to where they were now, but that gave them the view to know what wasing.


    Everything would change.


    The entire lower realm could improve in a million positive ways.


    But trillions would pay for it in blood.


    War loomed on the horizon. Of that, they held no doubt.


    The conflict over Light and Shadow bing a second pair of Ascenders was now all the more important. They expected all of their greatest enemies to join in on the war, which was now a good thing. If they were able to cripple the others, they might be able to forestall a Tier 35 plus war. Though, Harper found that unlikely their AI registered the chance at less than two percent.


    Still, a Tier 35 plus war was winnable if they prepared properly. L Worldwalker, the ascender before Duke Waters, was still in this realm, after all. The dragon was just as formidable now as when she was under Tier 35.


    With the Guilds as a staunch ally, they only needed to give enough concessions to the Unification of ns, the Monster Collective, and the Corporations to stay neutral. If they managed that, their odds of winning were above sixty percent.


    Harper looked at Matt and wondered if he was willing to spend some time in those Great Powers. From everything they knew about him, it seemed like he would y ball.


    Still, war wasing.


    Under the mask, Harper smiled.


    They hadnt assassinated a Tier 47 since before they became a Royal.


    They would need to brush up on their skills and ensure they were ready for anything.


    Matt, for all his power, was only one person, and Harper believed that the Sects and the Federation would stop at nothing to kill him. Those two Great Powers hated the Empire enough to be willing to doom them all before epting lesser benefits.


    The Sects were the worst; a war that encroached on their territory was always a disaster for the upying force. The average citizens of the Sects firmly believed that they were the best Great Power, and never cooperated with any invaders. Harper firmly believed that the Empire would have to decisively crush the Sects before they stopped trying to kill Matt.


    They were too fanatical.


    The Federation on the other hand, hated the Empire for helping incite the war that had cut their territory in half when they discovered a second Tier 46.


    Now that they had the possibility for a Tier 50, Harper believed that Virgil, the Federations Tier 50 ruler, would see the whole realm stripped of mana before allowing Matt to give the Empire something the Federation had been denied.


    That was the difference, though. A single only helped one Great Power. Matt could help them all.


    Harper looked to the Emperor, and they conversed silently.


    In the past years, he had Harper look into ways to keep the other Great Powers out of the wars, and now they knew why.


    Their job was now a million times easier with a resource like Matt.


    Still, this new asset needed to stay alive if they wanted to reap any benefits from him.


    That would not be an easy task.


    Maybe, if they yed their cards right, they could be assigned to protect Matt. The other Royals all had public personas that they needed to maintain, but Harper never bothered, preferring anonymity instead.


    Still, they had time before the other Great Powers knew of his Talent. The dual cover stories of an armor Talent and a talisman Talent fit well enough. I if they were careful, they wouldn''t have to deal with more than casual assassination attempts until after Tier 25.


    After the secret of his mana came out, though The other Great Powers might risk sending Tier 45s or higher to end the threat in the cradle, as it were.


    Things were about to get busy.


    Still, with his endless mana, they had to see if Matt wanted to learn about telekic skills. Telekinesis was an incredibly strong branch of magic, often forgotten about because of its high mana cost in both initial cast and channels.


    Matt wouldn''t care about either of those, and if he practiced, he could get his mana control to a passable level for a telekic mage.


    And Harper had been looking for someone to pass on their skills to for nearly a thousand years.


    Matt had too much versatility to ever truly dedicate himself to the branch of magic, but he could make a passable apprentice if they worked with him enough.


    As they saw Frederic move forward, they stepped forward as well.


    While the man talked to Matt, they would say hi to Liz. It had been too long since they had seen the young woman.


    ***


    Tur''stal nearly shattered her wine ss as she heard Matt exin his Talent and Concept.


    Everything would change.


    She had quickly worked out a deal with Emmanuel as soon as she realized that the nobles'' position had turned from one of slow bleeding to being decapitated.


    Better for her faction to concede early and get a better deal.


    From the results, she believed that Emmanuel was <em>truly</em> worried about the uing wars. And she understood why.


    They were going to have to deal with attacks from every side if they wanted to make it out better than the Federation had.


    Still, Tur''stal believed in their chances.


    The Empire stood strong, and was only growing stronger.


    Years of hard work had finally paid off, and they were rewarded with a young man who could single-handedly change the realm.


    They might end up sharing some of that wealth, but she believed they woulde out on top.


    As she sipped at her wine, she smiled.


    Matt would be creating Tier 50 rifts on the capital, she was sure. He would need to sit and feed the rift mana so it didnt Tier down, but based on the math, she suspected he could do it around Tier 35 or so. After that, he would just have arger andrger surplus.


    The Emperor would be delving the Tier 50 rift as fast as he could, and she couldn''t wait.


    With Matt around, there was no reason to follow the old treaties, which limited their Tier 46 and higher assets so no one ruined their capital to get a short term advantage in war. Now though, she would be able to reach Tier 50 in this realm, and upgrade all four of her Talents when she ascended.


    That had been just a dream until a few minutes ago, but now she couldn''t wait.


    With the Emperor and Matt both using the same Talent, they should be able to Tier up the capital to Tier 50 before the Emperors reign ended in 28,213 years.


    The math said it was possible. That was enough for her.


    But what she really relished was the advantage for the people in her queendom. She couldn''t wait to get Matt to do a tour of her queendom and Tier up hers. Her people would grow and prosper in a way that they had never been able to before.


    Her people were like nts in her garden. Each needed love and care to grow big and strong.


    For too long, her people had been dealing with good enough, rather than an abundance.


    Tur''stal had ns of creating smoothly ascending pyramids ofs, so there were fewer bottlenecks in people''s advancement. A utopia of worlds, where no one had to wait to delve a higher Tier rift for hundreds of years. It would also allow her to finally get all of hers to a Tier 5 minimum. Even as an old kingdom, they were still expanding into news, just at a slower rate than the bordends. The Empire expanded in every direction in chaotic space, after all. As long as new worlds passed by her borders, she snatched them up.


    At that point, her people could safely advance. Those that would stop at Tier 5 or so would be able to live peaceful lives without worry of ack of mana, and those who wished to advance and grow would be able to spend mana freely. They would no longer be limited by avability, nor have to gather their mana before doing anything.


    She was already putting ns in ce so her people could be ready to embrace the changes that would be taking the Empire by storm.


    She could barely wait.


    ***


    Rusty could barely restrain himself when he learned of Matts Talent.


    Everything would change.


    With a few spoken sentences, thousands of military super projects that never even left the theoretical design stage had just bepletely viable. The absurd upfront mana costs to build them, which originally rendered them fantasies, would not even be a consideration soon. The armed forces would never be the same.


    He had always wanted to make the moonser base, but they never had been able to power it. Not without higher Tier mana stones than were allowed in the political wars.


    Rusty also understood the societal ramifications of that Talent well enough to have a dozen ns ready to go. He personally knew of two guilds and a noble family that were trying to dabble in aperology, and had requested funds to push their projects past Tier 5, but he never had even a fraction of what they needed. Rifts worked well enough as they were for any additional funding to be allocated to it.


    After learning about Matts extracurricrs, he had just the people to point the kid to.


    If nothing else, the guilds and noble family would sacrifice any and everything to get into the Matterys good graces.


    He smirked at his own joke. Mattery was a good pun. Almost as good as his own situation with his stamina.


    Still, the kid would be a walking fount of changes to the Empire in both social and economical ways. But what he really cared about was getting the kid to Tier 47 and having a good brawl with him.


    Even at Tier 10, the kid showed a deft hand with both de and spell, and Rusty always enjoyed fighting a proper hybrid better than any more specialized fighter.


    His Talents turned his mana into stamina, and his spells were all converted to have internal effects that further boosted his physicality to incredible levels. His <em>stamana</em>, as he liked to call it, allowed for him to be a hybrid in the truest of senses.


    He even created more energy with [Endurance] than the skill''s cost, giving him his own version of endless magic. Though, it was limited to himself, as his <em>stamana </em>couldn''t be removed from his body.


    Better than anything else, Matt and Liz both had potential to give him a good true fight. Matt, with his endless and absurd amounts of mana, might be able to match his physical might, with all of his essence going to his physical cultivation. Along with a few spells to boost it. Rusty doubted that would be enough to outdo the multiplicative effect of his <em>stamana</em> core, but it might get him close. And if he was right about how Little Liz''s fighting style would grow, she would be a monster to beat.


    But those were always the best fights.


    As he saw Frederic and Harper going to talk to the boy and Liz respectively, he stepped forward as well.


    If he caught them early, he might be able to convince Matt and Liz to spar before they started the boring talking.


    ***


    Leon watched as his fellow Royals learned of Matty''s Talent.


    His not-quite-official son-inw had been kind enough to share his Talent with him and Mara without any prompting, on only the second day they had met, which only warmed his heart more.


    Still, he scrutinized his Royal counterparts more than the star of the show.


    If any one of them were entertaining less than pure thoughts, he would not hesitate to kill them.


    He and his wife had already nned out what they would do.


    If someone legitimately threatened one of their kids, he and Mara wouldnt let it go unpunished. Whether it was their fellow Royals which was doubtful, but always a possibility or more likely, another Great Power.


    And if that someone wanted to ck bag Matty and shove him into a box, they wouldnt hesitate to act. In that event, Mara would take the kids out past the Great Powers until both Matty and BethBeth were strong enough to protect themselves and ascend. Meanwhile, he would protect the rear and keep any potential pursuers busy.


    The simple truth was that she was faster than him in her phoenix form, and had the best chance to escape while carrying low Tier cargo.


    As two Tier 48s, they had more than enough power to protect Matty, even if the power expenditure meant that Leon would probably be forced to ascend.


    If he did that alone, without Mara ascending simultaneously, right beside him, there was only a one in three chance that theyd end up in the same higher realm.


    That was less than ideal, but from the little they knew of the higher realms, not an insurmountable challenge to ovee.


    Still, if you weren''t willing to make sacrifices for your kids, then why be a parent?


    It was a good thing that none of them seemed to have ill intentions, so he kept waving his noisemakers, trying to get a rise out of either of his kids.


    Maybe if he tooted a song with the rollout paper thing?


    It was worth a shot. If nothing else, Mara wouldugh. That was always more than enough for him.


    Some things would never change.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144


    As Matt finished his little self-introduction, he watched as all the Royals stared nkly back at him.


    Seeing that, he tried to reiterate his mana concentration weakness, but even that didnt seem to bother them. He had honestly expected more of a reaction from the Royals. He was almost disappointed by theck of any expression.


    Frederic was the first to approach, followed by Harper, but Rusty cheated by covering the ten foot distance between them in a single fluid step.


    The mountain of a man just appeared next to Matt and Liz; she had hopped up onto a table while Matt gave his little speech.


    Rustyughed and then pulled the two of them into a huddle before he whispered, Hey Mattery. Why don''t we go have a good spar before we get down to all that boring talk? Better to get it out early. Work off some steam.


    Even as he chafed at the awful, punny nickname, Matt took in the man''s eager expression and immediately chucked Liz under the bus. Liz already warned me that you don''t hold back nearly as well as you think you do.


    Rusty shot Liz a hurt look as he straightened. Well, that''s just not fair at all. I hold back my cultivation perfectly, its just that Im also amazing in ways you cant hold back!


    Instead of leaving, he plopped himself next to Liz on the table and started to swing his legs like a child as he offered, What if I restrict my cultivation to Tier 7? Tier 6? Five? Four? three? Tier 3, final offer. Even you have to admit thats fair.


    Liz just poked the man under the ribs, an act which he didn''t even seem to notice.


    Rustys insistence to fight stoked Matts ownpetitive spirit, but he declined. Maybe when we reach Tier 25 and finish The Path.


    Rusty jumped on that offer quickly. Done! No take-backs.


    At that, he seemed content to sit and watch as both Frederic and Harper arrived after walking the normal way.


    Harper moved over to Liz and took up a perch next to her on her free side, as Frederic moved forward to talk to Matt himself.


    Tur''stal glided forward, seemingly unbothered by the other Royals advancing, and took up a position next to Frederic.


    Mara and Leon had removed the noisemakers and had started to animatedly talk to the Emperor.


    Frederic was the first to speak of the two, and he offered a hand to Matt as he introduced himself. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Alexander. While weve seen each other, we have never formally met. I am Frederic Macheteuil, the newest King of the Empire. I must say that I have never heard of a Talent quite as special as your own. It''s truly remarkable.


    Tur''stal offered her own hand as soon as Matts was free from Frederic, and gave her own introduction. Queen Tur''stal, as I''m sure you are aware. I agree that youe as quite a shock. Mana Talents arent that rare, but one that generates as much mana as yours is truly unique.


    Frederic nodded along to his fellow Royal''s statement. Your Talent puts you in quite the peculiar situation, he followed up. You can do nearly anything you want at a much earlier Tier than most, at least in terms of spells. Most of us take up a single elemental type or hone a specificbat style because of our limited time when young, which defines ourbat style going forward. But you are hardly limited by something so trivial. Your Talent gives you a freedom and versatility that few have at your age. To your credit, you are already showing a remarkable ability for adapting your fighting styles, as seen by your identity as Quill. You easily shift between talisman types and styles. In fact, you do it so well, I don''t know what skills to offer you.


    Rusty interjected, Take a punching one. Nothing is more satisfying than punching someone in the face! They always look so shocked.


    He thenughed at his own joke while Frederic smiled politely.


    Matt used that pause to say, While I try to keep my abilities hidden, my Talent means channels and high cost skills are ideal, but I do like my talismans. Theyre practically free for me to make, and they offer a high degree of versatility that I just don''t have from my skills at this Tier. He paused, not knowing how to say the next bit without sounding rude. Why would you be giving me a skill, though?


    Frederics smile turned slightly brittle as he said, with a nod to Tur''stal, My earlier recruitment drive may have pushed the bounds of good decorum with our generous host, Queen Tur''stal. As rpense for that gaffe, I will be awarding everypetitor in the top twenty-five slots of the Big Three, and the overall points total, a skill from my personal collection. As it''s awarded by the slot instead of the individual, you will most likely be qualifying for two skills, not just one.


    Frederics smile turned genuine as he spun his hand and a small, clear box holding a single skill shard appeared, clutched between three of his fingers in a tripod. His voice almost sounded giddy as he said, I like to collect unique skills, whether they be rare in and of themselves, or merely have an interesting cracked effect. Its my hobby, and favorite pastime. Normally, I use them as recruitment hooks, but as you are without a doubt able toplete The Path of Ascension, you are off-limits for that. Still, sometimes there are matches that are just too perfect to waste.


    With that, he moved the skill shard closer to Matt. This beauty has been sitting in my collection for close to two thousand years. Seeing he had Matt and everyone else''s full attention, he continued, This is [Cracked Mana Spear]. The original [Mana Spear], as you are likely aware, is a simple, variable-cost Tier 20 skill that creates an oversized mana bolt. It''s a simple spell with little to make it unique or interesting. This cracked version, on the other hand, functions a little <em>differently</em>.


    Matt couldn''t help but lean in and look at the skill. He knew of [Mana Spear], and even intended to get the skill himself at some point. What Frederic had not said was that while [Mana Spear] had a massive range and incredibly high striking speed, the skill was believed to be the Tier 20 evolution of [Mana Bolt]. There allegedly was a Tier 14 version of the skill that was still unknown, or did not exist at all.


    He had wanted to get the skill for some additional ranged options, but after hearing Frederic say this cracked version was perfect, he couldn''t contain himself. He wanted to snatch the box away. He wasn''t above a few greedy thoughts when an item was this perfect.


    This [Cracked Mana Spear], on the other hand, is perfect for you. Like [Mana Spear], the skill has a variable cost, but when you reach the mana cap of the skill, the mana you provide is shunted out of the end of the spear. The strength of the outflow depends on the rate in which you provided the mana, acting like a channel skill.


    Seeing the hope on Matts face, he nodded. Yes, you get a beam skill as well out of this. It''s the best I can do for now. Obviously, I can''t just give you [Mana Beam], as that''s a Tier 38 skill, and too strong for your spirit at this Tier. Plus, a reward <em>that</em> valuable isnt allowable while youre on the Path. Nheless, I think you can see why I believe this skill is perfect for you. The main downside is that there will be a dy in firing the mana beam, since certain aspects of the skill need to be powered and stabilized first. Otherwise, it functions as mostly normal, and shoots a single, continuous projectile.


    Matt sighed to himself. That skill <em>was</em> perfect for him. There was only one question about its viability he needed to get cleared up before he started to celebrate internally.


    After being cracked, is the skill a true channel or a pseudo-channel? I have a skill that was cracked into a channel, and Im constantly having to expand how much mana it can take, unlike a normal channel skill thats built to expand an indefinite amount.


    Frederic looked intrigued, so Matt decided to fill him in. The Royal already knew his real Talent, and that his armor skill Talent was just a lie. So he said, My armor skill is [Cracked Phantom Armor], and it was turned into a channel.


    He flicked the skill on, then sent mana into the secondyer and moved the mana around, showing the difference between it and the bottomyer. Thetter was growing ever more in and sleek as he advanced, while the secondyer became more and more ornate.


    It''s my core skill, but it''s not a true channel. Or at least, its firstyer isn''t. After upgrading the skill, theres a secondyer that can take as much mana as the firstyer without issue. But at the same time, I can''t go past the firstyer''s mana limit. Though, to be fair to the upgrade, I can put all of that increased defense in a single location.


    Frederic looked at his skill with undisguised interest. Was that skill a rift reward by chance, and has anything like ite out of said rift again? Id love to add a channeled [Phantom Armor] to my collection, or anything simr. That is truly unique.


    Matt shook his head. No, I got the skill at Tier 1 when a team found it back on my home after getting lucky in a rift. They wanted to show off, so had the skill appraised in front of everyone at the inn I worked at. When the crack rating came out detrimental, people gave them shit and a massive bar brawl broke out. The skill shard ended up getting thrown across the room in the chaos and I stole He coughed for effect while grinning at the Emperor,  I mean, salvaged it.


    Frederic seemed wholly unbothered by that. Do you by any chance remember the name of the team who found it? I want to try my luck at sending a team to delve that rift for a few years. Sometimes a rift has a penchant for cracking skills in a particr fashion. While no two cracked skills are ever<em> exactly</em> the same, the resulting effects can still follow a particr motif, or even function almost identically.


    Matt had to think for a minute to remember the fine details, but the whole event was carved into his memory, so he quickly remembered. The team leader was the son of Brackus, of Brackus Holdings. It was a local courier service, and I''m sure they will tell you which of the three nearby rifts they were actually delving when a Tier 46 asks.


    Frederic seemed tickled pink at the chance to get a unique skill, despite how unlikely it was to get even a skill at all from a Tier 3 or 4 rift. But Matt assumed that hiring even a dozen teams of Tier 3s for a decade wouldn''t even cost the man a rounding error of his daily ie.


    If he wanted to try and get the rift to spit out another [Cracked Phantom Armor], Matt wished him the best of luck.


    Frederic got himself back on topic quickly after looking to the side once. My apologies, I got off track with my own musings there. Back to the [Cracked Mana Spear], you neednt worry. The crack making it a true limitless channel is exactly what made this gem worth adding to my collection in the first ce. We can tell by the skills structure. The infeed function for a limitless channel skills structure appears far more malleable, to the point of having an almost ephemeral quality, even from inside a skill shard. While predictions based on structural analysis aren''t always <em>perfectly</em> urate, I employ the best appraisers, and I myself am not without some renown when ites to skill analysis. Although, I must admit that I dont have as much time to dedicate to the field as I would prefer. As such, I am profoundly confident that this skill will act as a limitless channel. You should face no restriction in how much mana you can power it with. In fact, at higher channel rates, it will generally surpass anyparable option, short of a true channeled beam skill with an equally variable cost. But something of that ilk wont be dropped by any known Imperial rift until at least Tier 38.


    On hearing that, Matt smiled at the skill still in Frederics hand. It wasnt his yet, but if he needed any incentive to win in the solo battles and team fights during the tournament, he now had it.


    Frederic continued, That isnt to say that this particr gem wont shine brighter with the help of some carefully targeted polishing. Like any cracked skill, the rest of the skill isnt necessarily bnced with the change from the crack. Normal skills are highly optimized in how each partes together. With cracked skills, the parts not directly impacted by the crack generally remain as or close to their original state as possible, which rarely fits perfectly with the cracked skill structure.


    The man paused, seeming to realize something. This [Cracked Mana Spear] is actually a phenomenal example. If you dont object, I might record this structure as an example for my next book, once I get around to it. While the crack makes it a limitless channel skill, certain unchanged parts of the skill arent well suited to support that. Most importantly, the portion that helps stabilize the aim is not designed for sustained activation, which will result in the pseudo-beam gradually gaining a slight instability over time, leading to increased strain on the spirit. At lower rates, the effect will be fairly negligible, but if more than around" The Royal paused and hummed. "Oh say roughly 3500 MPS is channeled into it, youll hit a threshold where the strain begins to spike beyond the norm. Greater channeling speeds will rapidly exacerbate the w further. Fixing that should be your first priority. In fact, Ill write you a guide on how to best correct that portion as you absorb the shard into your inner spirit. Additionally


    Mara interrupted from across the room, Matt! Listen to Frederics advice on this. While he doesnt advertise it often, hes actually one of the Empires foremost experts on cracked skills. Now if he would stop cheating at poker... She shot her husband a smirk and garnered an exaggerated pout at the reminder of his loss due to his mirrored sses.


    Frederic looked tly at the other Royal, not immediately responding to the outburst,pliment, or barb. As I was saying, theres also the portion of this skill that shapes and loads the mana into the projectile to consider. This function is also still streamlined towards creating a single, contained shot. Thats not to say it wont still work well enough for the beam. However, by shifting how the mana gets divided up to rebnce the ratios, you can better stabilize it for continuous activation. Even by conservative estimates, this could increase the effective range by over forty percent, since the beam will bleed much less mana into its surroundings as it fires and travels. Those are just the two main points, but there are actually numerous smaller tweaks that will help optimize the overall skill structure too. This gem will never be a beam skill in the truest sense, but you can still bridge the gap considerably. Like I said, Ill prepare you a general guide on how to address the skill structures failings while sustaining its strengths. In fact, I should probably prepare one for each skill I give out during this tournament.


    Frederic turned to Liz. As for you Ms. Moore, I am sadly not familiar with you and your Talent. However, I do have a few naturally blood-aspected skills which might interact with your Talent in interesting ways. The wording on your Talent was `makes skills blood aspected, correct?


    At Lizs nod, he smiled. While I have no guarantee, my years of experience tell me that absorbing a blood skill will result in it bing even <em>more</em> blood aspected, so to speak. If not, I also have some other, unorthodox suggestions for you as well. But Im going to hold those back until I can run some advanced simtions. Blindlybining cracked skills with a much different skill-changing Talent is always a massive gamble. Sometimes the skill is ruined. Sometimes it changes predictably. But on rare and elusive asions, the crack and Talentpound to produce an unbelievably unique and powerful effect. We can discuss such possibilitiester, though. I can talk about cracked skills for weeks if left to my own devices so lets call that conversation done for now and we can revisit it once you are immortal. In the meantime, take a look at the skills I have up for offer, and let me know if anything catches your eye.


    He looked back to Matt. Same for you, Mr. Alexander. If you perform as well as projected, both of you will be earning two skills from me. Ah, and you have a bond, no? It seems a pity that a member of your team should be excluded from all of the tournaments rewards, so I will extend this offer to her as well. Though, due to The Paths restrictions, I wont be able to give anything to her until Tier 15, when we can take advantage of the Bond Sequestration Loophole.


    He looked to Mara, who just gave him a thumbs-up without turning from her conversation with the Emperor.


    Matt saw the gleam in Lizs eyes and smiled to himself. They, or rather Luna, had the same thought about blood skills and her Talent. But proper blood skills only started appearing after Tier 26, and were incredibly rare drops, which meant they were out of their price range at Tier 10.


    At worst, this would her a good skill that wouldn''t break in her spirit due to her Talents blood aspecting. At best, the skill would be a better, stronger version of itself.


    But before they could check the list, they needed to address Tur''stal, who had been patiently waiting for Frederic to finish. Yet as they turned to the other Royal, she waved them off.


    Skim through Frederics catalog first. There is a specific matter I wish to discuss, but I would very much prefer to have Matts full and undivided attention for it. Right now, youre both practically vibrating with anticipation. Go satisfy your curiosity and select some future prizes for winning <em>my </em>tournament. Im not in a hurry.


    Neither of them needed any further prompting. As they looked through the library of rare and unique skills, they made a list of the skills they wanted.


    Lizs first choice, [Cracked Blood Drain], was an easy pick. The Tier 26 skill drained the blood out of an opponent and weakened them for a time, while transferring that strength into the caster. The crack simply increased efficiency with no foreseeable drawbacks, making it quite remarkable amongst cracked skills.


    While Liz would need an open wound, and would need to break through the target''s spiritual defenses, it was an incredibly strong skill for her fighting style. If the skill was upgraded further with her Talent, it would be incredible.


    Her second choice was a bit more of a gamble: [Cracked Inner me]. The original skill allowed the user to spend their mana to create a heat wave area of effect around their body. But with Lizs Talent, they hoped it would integrate well enough for her blood to be the fuel and the source of the heat, instead of her mana and body. This would allow her to use the skill as both Liz and Torch without spending her mana. The cracked version greatly increased the size of the affected area, and afforded more precise control over the heat that the skill created. The only downside of the cracked version was that the ramp up time was longer than the original skill.


    A few other options stuck out as well, but Liz wanted to avoid getting toomitted to anything until she had time to sit down with Frederic and discuss the unorthodox ideas he had hinted at.


    Matt wanted a skill that he could use as Quill, and settled on [Cracked Mana Trap]. The original [Mana Trap], as its name suggested, created a near-invisible trap that would lock down the movements of anyone who crossed into its area of effect. A simple Tier 14 spell if ever they was one.


    The cracked version on the other hand let the user charge the skill with any mana type for various modifiers to the lockdown effect after the initial cast. If charged with ice mana, the skill would attempt to freeze the affected person. If charged with fire mana, the opponent would be set aze. If Frederic was right about the way the skill worked, it could take mana from people other than the caster. Which meant that Matt should be able to add effects with his mana ring as if he was charging a pre-existing item, instead of casting with the foreign mana. Something that his ring couldnt do as the spell was cast inside his spirit where the rings mana couldn''t go.


    If the skill worked in synergy with his ring, Matt wanted to integrate the spell into Quills more ranged-based fighting style by imbuing the skill into talismans. They would allow the mage to keep his distance with the slowing effect, while dealing damage to anyone who tried to close the gap.


    At the same time, he could see his true fighting style casting the spell under and around his opponent''s feet at melee range, and tanking any ssh damage with [Cracked Phantom Armor]. As the skills caster, the movement reduction would not affect him.


    Frederic seemed content with their choices and said that he would provide Aster the list of skills to choose from as well, in case there was anything she wanted to reserve now. Matt still took a peek at the ice skills on the list on her behalf, mostly out of curiosity. Towards the bottom, he saw something that caused his mind to halt and blurt out his immediate thought.


    What the fuck is [Yawning Winter Breeze Greets Radiant Sunflower]?!


    A sudden snort erupted from Rusty and some muffled giggling could be heard from the direction of where Leon, Mara, and the Emperor stood. Next to him, Frederics lip quivered almost imperceptibly as he responded, Ah yes. That particr shard was smuggled into the Empire by a defector from the Sects. Fleeing a blood feud of some sort, apparently. She then auctioned it off to help fund her resettlement after Monarch Harper finished the vetting process. The only rift known to drop that skill is deep in the Sects territory, so theirs is the only name for it. Depending on which of their sects discovers a given skill, the names can end up dramatically more <em>poetic</em> than typically seen in the Empire. As a general policy though, we dont bother officially assigning our own names to skills only found in foreign rifts. He considered his next words for a moment. Well, for the most part. Well rename such a skill if we can somehow still acquire enough of them for it to matter. Or alternatively, if multiple other Great Powers have conflicting names that can cause confusion, like when we internally standardized [Waning Moon, Rising Thunder], [The Dromyran Rebuke], and [Area Stun NS32-DE]. We chose to designate it as [Sphere of Dibobtion]. We Imperials are far more utilitarian on our naming conventions than some of our neighbors, thankfully.


    Rusty barked out from the side, Speak for yourself, Frederic. Sometimes, even the <em>inSects</em> pick amazing skill names. Hell, the name was the only reason I so aggressively outbid you for [Despotic Jade Lion Palm] at that auction. How could I resist? It just sounded so cool.


    Leon spun and proimed, Yes! And I will <em>never</em> let you party-poopers rename [Vigorous Thrusts of the Rooster]. No. Matter. What. He swung pointed, usatory fingers back and forth between the Emperor, Rusty, Tur''stal, and Frederic. Cuddlebird and I only<em> just</em> learned about that skill two or three millennia ago, and have had a bounty out for a copy ever since. No one gets to ruin that name for us. His wiggling eyebrows undercut any possible threat that a higher Tier individual yelling at someone weaker could have given.


    Matt wasn''t sure if the skill Leon mentioned was a sexual skill or just a poorly namedbat skill. He could see the other man getting excited for both.


    The Royal beside Matt just let out a long, slow exhale, and then brought up a projection of the description for the original skill in question. Lets get back to Mr. Alexanders original inquiry. As you can see, the <em>ponderously</em> named [Yawning Winter Breeze Greets Radiant Sunflower] is a Tier 26, ice-aspected, curse spell. Ittches onto a single target and imbues the space around them with a [Frost]-like effect. It starts rtively small and weak, but grows in area and power over time. Any ice-aspected attack that would strike the cursed target gets boosted in power as it passes through the area of effect. This area also helps draw ice attacks that enter its effect directly towards the target, which makes them increasingly harder to dodge as the zone expands. The longer a fight drags on, the more vulnerable the target bes to ice attacks, until the curse either wears off or is purged somehow. It''s quite the devious skill to counter, unless youre prepared for it.


    With that question taken care of, the man stepped back and let Tur''stal move in to finally have her own conversation with Matt.


    Well Matt, let us cut to the heart of the matter. What do you see yourself doing with your mana? she asked.


    The question seemed simple enough, but Matt gave it honest consideration. Still, that didnt change his answer.


    I know that I will have He paused as he considered his words, obligations. No, that''s not right... <em>Expectations</em>. There are expectations of me to fill the capital''s rifts and reduce the crazy recharge rate dictated by theck of ambient mana. I have no problems doing that. I really don''t.


    Tur''stal just blinked at him, but he couldn''t read herck of expression. She didnt look upset, so he continued. Still, that''s not where my passion lies. I want to further the research on aperology. My idea is to build a guild around advancing the science and fund the research myself, while helping where I can. I know I cant discover everything myself, but with a few teams of people, I think we can do a lot of good work. Besides that, I''d like to fund the guild with the rifts and try to bring in the best crafters of every type to push those specialties as far as they can grow, without worrying about a mana budget. Ideally, my guild would be on the cutting edge of research and development, and spearhead innovations that could improve the Empire as a whole. I don''t intend to restrict our findings unless there are pressing reasons beyond just making money. Obviously, money won''t be something that Ill everck, and even rare materials can be acquired with proper rift building. Better to give the information out freely, and improve everything for everyone.


    Tur''stal nodded. Audable goal, though I believe that youre thinking a little too small.


    Matt raised an eyebrow. He felt he was already aiming too big, and would be instructed to bridle his ambitions.


    No, Matt, I believe that you could do so much more with your Talent. Not that you have any obligation or requirement to do so. Nheless, you should look at the bigger picture of the Empire as a whole. We have a plethora of Tier 5s, and even mores below that despite our efforts to raise them up. Your own homeworld, for example. It''s not umon for a world that has nothing special about it to take a few hundred years to reach Tier 5. That''s with the Empire helping them reach that minimum threshold. After Tier 5, they no longer get that help. Not because we don''t want to, but because the price is exorbitant, and we already don''t have enough mana to go around. That''s why localary taxes are usually reinvested into thes to get them to advance. Even beyond that, we find a dozen Tier 5 worlds whizzing by for every world that is over Tier 5, but under Tier 10. It only gets worse as we go up. Even if every single rift was able to run at the fifteen minute instance timer and we didn''t have to wait for ambient mana to regenerate, we would still not have enough rifts to allow everyone to delve. We simply don''t have enough high Tiers, and therefore rifts, to go around.


    Tur''stal leaned forward slightly and caught Matts eyes as she spoke with steely conviction. You can single-handedly change that. With you giving your mana to the Empire, we can smooth out that gradient so that there is a smooth pyramid to the top, instead of everyone getting stuck at the bottlenecks where they just need to wait for rifts. We could double, or even triple our amount of high tiered worlds. It would also spread out some of our human assets. On the top worlds, there are billions of people. My queendom-level capital has over half a trillion people packed into spatially erged areas. Humans congregate where the power is greatest, because there are more jobs and opportunities for even low Tier people. Even just halving my poption would free up a good bit of mana. Fixing the innate lessening of higher Tier worlds would do more for solving the issues the Empire faces than almost anything else. It won''t just be the elites who can afford high Tier items or custom made rifts. It will help everyone and, most importantly, the ones who would otherwise have less of a chance to grow. The Path is fantastic for those with drive and the ability to fight, but that isn''t everyone''s path. Arge portion of the citizens of the Empire would advance farther if they could do so safely by cultivating ambient essence or being carried through rifts. We just can''t do so unless someone is wealthy enough to afford the slot, and a team to carry them. If you can do that, you would have made a contribution that has evesting effects that everyone can take advantage of <em>forever</em>.


    Matt was actually taken aback by her vehemence on the topic, but as he heard her talk, he couldn''t help but be surprised by her apparent care for the little people of the Empire.


    While Tur''stal might just be a fantastic actor, he could see passion in her eyes about improving things for the average citizen.


    He hadnt met many of the hereditary nobility except the children of the low level ones at the various parties he infiltrated, but he had found them to be mostly vain and foppish. The certainty that one of them would be chosen to take over had made them indolent with their wealth and standing.


    Tur''stal, on the other hand, seemed to truly care about her subjects and not just the other nobles.


    He knew that the position of Royal was, in the end, chosen by the Emperor. He was apassionate person, but the candidates were also funded by the kingdoms that the nobles represented. They could always ensure that the candidates were of a like mind.


    If Tur''stal was chosen, it implied that the duke level nobles might not be as uncaring as he believed.


    Matt paused momentarily. The candidates also had to be exceptional in theirbat abilities, which further limited the pool. But he wasnt sure if that helped or hurt the selection of kind andpassionate people.


    Before he went further down the mental rabbit hole, he pulled himself back. Noble politics were something to think about when he had more free time.


    Now, he reviewed Tur''stals n and came to the conclusion that she was right, At least, at a surface level.


    Her n would change the Empire for the better, and provided a strong foundation to grow further. The only question was its feasibility. He could only be in one ce at a time after all, ands couldn''t get too much mana at once, or it would cause rifts to overfill and create rift breaks. And that was the exact opposite of what he wanted to happen to any.


    After mulling it over for a minute, he nodded. I like the idea. Love it even. I do believe that it could do a lot of good for everyone. I just don''t know how feasible it will be.


    Tur''stal dismissed his words with a gentle smile and a wave of the hand. Don''t worry about that so much. Even if we just moved you around to fill all the avable mana reserves ons every few years, they could slowly leak it out, which would safely increase the''s rifts essence production. With a few well ced rifts higher than the Tier of the, we can ensure the fastest and safest advancement for thes as a whole. If you are willing, I can start the primary nning on just how to do this best.


    Matt nodded. He was willing to give up some of his time moving around to do something so useful, and having ns didn''t lock him into anything. He wanted to see how viable the idea was anyway.


    I''d like that. My mana generation isn''t at that level yet, but this won''t be an easy thing to implement anyway.


    Tur''stal smiled and toasted him with her wine before saying, I believe that day wille sooner than you think, but yes, we have time. Thank you for hearing me out. While you are on The Path, there is little I can do for you, but know that I will do what I can to assist you in your own endeavors.


    Matt returned her smile and thanked her.


    Harper, who had been off to the side, seemed to be waiting for that. They smoothly stepped in and said, Are you interested in telekic skills at all?


    The voice waspletely androgynous, and came from a small device at their wrist. But after spending so much time with Luna, Matt no longer assumed that the Royal was speaking through it, instead of using an ability to do so.


    Luna and Kurt seemed capable of doing anything with their Concepts.


    Matt was slightly taken aback by the seemingly random question, but he nodded. He was always up for learning new skills.


    I wouldn''t mind. They are just higher Tier skills, and rare on top of that. But if I found one, Id use it. It''s like any elemental maniption skill. Better to have them and be proficient with them because of how versatile they are, even if the mana cost is inefficient for most mages. I don''t have that issue.


    Harper nodded. Exactly so. I doubt that you will ever have the same level of control that I have developed, but [Telekinesis] is an incredibly versatile tool that no other skill can match. It also has the advantage of being nearly invisible to spiritual senses, making it a useful tool for ambushes and other activities that you want to go unnoticed.


    A pair of rings hovered up in front of Matt, and he recoiled slightly as he saw that they were his growth ring and his mana aspect ring.


    Harper looked at his mana ring and then nodded. So that''s where you keep the different mana types. Interesting growth item. I could use a ring like this for my operatives. Where did you get it?


    He looked at the rings, then back to his hand in disbelief, staring at where they should have been. He hadnt felt a thing, but the rings were truly gone, despite feeling as if they were still on his fingers.


    Yes, Harper was massively stronger than him, and if they had teleported the rings away, he could ept that he wouldn''t notice. But using [Telekinesis] meant that they had manually removed the rings in a way anyone could theoretically do. Despite the canyon-sized gap in their strength, he felt that he should have picked up on it.


    He would be less surprised if they had used their higher Tier speed or abilities to do the feat, but this was impressive because in theory, anyone could have done the same thing.


    Matt looked to Liz, then to Mara and Leon, who had taken an interest in the conversation at some point.


    Did they teleport them or actually use [Telekinesis]? He coughed to cover the slight crack in his voice as he asked his question.


    Leon nodded. [Telekinesis]. Harper is that good with it. Even without their level of control, the skill is nearly impossible to directly detect with your spiritual sense.


    Harper nodded at their fellow Royal before swiftly returning his rings to his fingers.


    Even watching the action, he couldn''t actually feel the rings moving at all. He assumed that was some advanced application of the skill, but his desire to get [Telekinesis] and learn how to use it ramped up a few levels, regardless. Their recruitment ploy had worked.


    To answer the telekic''s earlier question, he told them about the rift he had made, and that it was currently in Mara and Leons collection, gathering dust.


    Harper just nodded at him in thanks and moved on. Once youre Tier 15, or otherwise have some time, I will take some time to teach you [Telekinesis] properly. It''s difficult, but rewarding. I believe you intend to take a break when you reach Tier 15 because of your bond? We can spend some time then, when you''re not delving. Getting you the skill might take some finagling but Im sure we can figure something out.


    Matt wasn''t sure how that would work with the rules and restrictions of The Path, but assumed either they knew how to get around those restrictions, or that they wouldn''t be an issue.


    As fast as the conversation started, Harper pulled back and seemed to fade into the background of the conversation that Rusty started about fighting.


    Matt and Liz spent the rest of the evening with the Royals, even having a small dinner with them before returning to their rooms for a few hours of sleep. Afterwards, they met up with Melinda, Annie, and J''s teams to n for their group delve of a Tier 13 rift.


    Having only met the man a few times, Matt still was sad to see the Emperor leave before they really got to show off all of their abilities. He had more cool talismanbinations to use, after all, and Emmanuel oozed uncle vibes that he couldn''t resist.


    Even if it wouldn''t be a challenge for their real power levels, they would be right alongside their friends, struggling with their respective real identities restrictions.


    Matt smiled as he and Liz got into bed. It could be fun to have to hold back.


    Before they fell asleep, Liz rolled over and asked, Have you seen our videos? Were trending hard, just like the reporter said. Even hourster, were still in the top five most-watched videos in the nearests.


    Matt watched the drone''s view of Liz guiding the oversized fireball into the snake and nibbled at her neck. Seeing her throw around that much power was getting him excited.


    You looked sexy, wielding that much energy. It''s even hotter when I remember that it''s not even your best element.


    Liz started kissing along his shoulder and said, I''m impressive, aren''t I? Your little Aster impression was too. I always love to watch you work.


    Matt was missing his bond already after delving so much without her, but it wasn''t the time for that. Refocusing on Liz, he pushed any other thoughts out of his head.


    They didnt manage much talking after that.


    ***


    Emmanuel watched as his Royals mingled after the kids left.


    They all reacted approximately how he expected, which was reassuring. Rusty just wanted a spar and to round out the military, Tur''stal immediately thought of her dreamed utopia, and Harper focused on the war. Frederic had been the biggest wild card. While unquestionably loyal to the Empire as an institution, he also led a faction that was staunchly opposed to change. Even the slightest reform had to be wrenched from the mans adamantine grip at great cost. Yet when faced with an arbiter of absolute change, his newest King had adapted quickly. It gave him hope that they would all react equally predictably again, when Harvest Moon introduced Melindas Talent. It would be soon, once her team was vetted for their own management team in a few months.


    He had thought about pushing it up sooner, but had decided against it in the end.


    It was best for Melinda to take the normal path. That fit what she and her team wanted more than anything else. And whenever possible, he preferred not to push people into doing things they didnt want to do.


    Melinda would change the face of the next war in ways that needed to be nned around. Rusty was in charge of most of the active-duty military, and would be the best ce to start preparing, but Emmanuel would wait. He had to let things progress at their own speed.


    There was enough time for that.


    Still, he was happy with his Royals'' suggestions to Matt, and the young man''s responses, though they would be disappointed at how true blood-aspected skills reacted to Lizs Talent. He would let them learn it for themselves; he had tested it, just in case the reaction could possibly hurt his niece. But it didnt, so he wouldn''t butt in on their experiments. While her Talent had an effect, it wasnt nearly as exaggerated as they hoped, and would just make the blood skills slightly easier to modify inparison to normal skills.


    But in the end, every conversation came back to Matt. After they had collectively badgered him to see Matt and Liz in a real fight, he used his fathers Talent and pulled the trios fight with Dena and Eric. That was enough to mollify them about any concerns with Matt risking his life in a fight. The kids hit well above their Tier, but it only increased their security concerns about assassinations.


    Harper had already given him two hundred and thirteen reasons why one of them needed to be glued to the mana fount at all times, but for now, he wanted to keep things quiet. Harper even agreed with the logic.


    Putting too much protection on Matt could have the reverse effect. Royals couldn''t move without being tracked by the various spies, and if one of them dropped off the radar, the other Great Powers would quickly start turning over every stone to find them.


    Since Luna was with Matt, he had enough protection anyway. The old cat was dangerous in her own right. If the other Great Powers found out about Matt and sent high Tier assassins, breaking the rules of war, they needed to get through her ws.


    Not an easy feat.


    Before he left, he checked over the situation of East Flower to ensure that it was just as he expected. His attention lingered on the spies and counterespionage teams for a few moments before moving on. Neither side could hide themselves from his detection, but he didnt do anything. Anything the spies could find out was only going to be marginally better than the information the general public would receive, so he let both sides y out their games.


    His own people needed training and experience, after all.


    When that wasbined with the fact the real problem for him was higher level traitors he was willing to let this game y out for a few more months. Harper might be able to ferret out some information when his n came to fruition.


    Still, he was sad to miss the rest of the kids'' Tier 10 tournament. Seeing it live was always way more fun. He had loved his time at this same event, but he was leaving tomorrow to make it to the ascension of Daty and the rise of his sessor.


    Politics. A painful, but necessary game to y.

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145


    Zack watched four different news stations report on the various Pathers in the tournament. While they repeated the same ten or so top moments, giving a dozen talking heads their chance to analyze thepetitors fighting styles, he was busy scanning through all the information avable on the toppetitors.


    Not the teams that the news stations imed were the toppetitors though. That was a middling set of predictions, but it was only a starting ce. From the points ranking, he had already noticed discrepancies rted to some of the top names.


    Some groups raked in far more points than their overall ranking would signal. Meanwhile, other teams scored few points, despite topping a few leaderboards.


    Those were the anomalies that he was digging into.


    With the tournament ongoing and the Royals still hovering around, the best thing he and Allie could do was try to find any information about the Pathers, and then cross-reference it with information in past years. It was their best path forward for finding out the participants'' identities.


    The work was incredibly boring, even for him. Even Allie had tried to obscure the fact that she was napping in her chair.


    If the propped-up book wasn''t enough of a clue, rumbles of snoring had started up a few minutes ago.


    He let her rest. Despite herckadaisical attitude towards most things, she would work just as hard as he did when they had something more than general spection. It was nice to be able to hand her a pile of preliminary dossiers and then, in return, get fully flushed out information packets about whatever she was able to find.


    She just abhorred the grunt work. And while he was not thrilled to shoulder all the menial tasks himself, the tradeoff felt fair.


    A new report arrived about Queen slicing a Tier 13 dragonfly out of the sky with only a few attacks. The video was taking the stations by storm, but he was more interested in the tenth-ranked mask team, the ones sporting the numbers thirteen, twenty-one, thirty-four, and fifty-five from the golden ratio.


    They had managed to enter a Tier 13 rift with a full clear challenge, yet exited in perfect health without earning a single point. From what he knew of them, they more than had the power to dominate the rift, but it was one of the few rifts that didn''t allow for recording drones to be sent in with the teams.


    Adam, the top-ranked Mask with an illusion Talent, had entered a Tier 12 speedrun rift and exited less than twenty minutester. But since he had been invisible the entire time, no one was able to discern how he managed the feat through the useless recording.


    Pause, the second ce Mask, had already entered the endless rift, and was simply managing to oust all of the monsters. Zack looked to a screen that he had dedicated solely to her feed and confirmed that she was still on the seventy-second wave, where she was fighting a horde of peak Tier 13 monsters.


    Based on her current rate of progression, Pause would be there for a while yet.


    The Pather had performed remarkably well as a solo delver with a defensive Talent. Adding to her praise in his mind, she had resorted to using only five skills to reach her current spot.


    Keeping cards up her sleeve was an intelligent y, even if it frustrated him to no end by making his job harder.


    Quill and Torch had surprised him with their performance, both inside and outside of the rift. His newest evaluations ced them as contenders for top ten in the solo and team battles. However, the overall tournament was only in the starting stages, so how they really stacked up would be clearer over the next few months.


    Historically, a lot of Pathers experienced growth spikes in theirbat prowess from the rewards gained in the first few months. Tur''stal''s new points system also promised to shake things up more than usual. Zack strongly suspected that this new format would most egregiously benefit the highly specialized teams that normally struggled to break out of the middle of the pack. Such narrowly-focused teams could now sweep the leaderboards for their preferred challenge types to more than make up for their poorer performance in other areas.


    ***


    As Matt and Liz left their room after a few hours of sleep, they made sure to send Aster a video of how they were doing. Their message would be reviewed before being sent out. Simrly, the return message would be vetted for information that could give them an advantage.


    Knowing that, they kept the message light, and only briefly mentioned their delves before asking her what she was up to in their absence. Thankfully, Aster was fine and nning a get together with the other bonds. It sounded like a good ce for her to mingle with her peers, so Matt had no worries about her.


    With Matts mind at ease, the two of them headed into the Garden and started wandering around the various shops that had been set up throughout the city.


    While theyout of the city waspletely centered around the various rifts, a fewrger buildings were obvious exceptions. The first they encountered was amunal resting area filled with goods and services that were all free to the Tier 10s attending the tournament.


    That floor was mostly filled with simpleforts, and seemed to be designed around a casual and rxed atmosphere, while keeping everyone together.


    The two of them didnt fail to notice the fifteen Gardeners assigned to enforce the no fighting rule in the building.


    The second levels and above needed points to enter, but neither Matt nor Liz felt the need to spend their points just to walk around, despite the advertisements that proimed how wonderful that area would be.


    Moving on, the next area to catch their eye were the Pather-run shops. Some were inrger buildings where dozens of shops coexisted, while others had simpler stalls outside, lined along the street.


    With some single shop buildings and a few open-air markets mixed in, the area felt far more lively than it otherwise might have.


    The once busy streets that had struggled to amodate the million-plus attendees were now onlyfortably crowded, as the teams realized that standing around waiting for a rift was incredibly ineffective, and just reserved a time for the next day before moving on.


    One stall caught Matt''s eyes by virtue of the person behind the counter having an actual uniform on, but not one of Tur''stal''s Gardeners. This woman wore a silver and dark green uniform that had an unknown guild''s emblem emzoned on the chest.


    As he looked closer, he found that the stall was selling talismans. <em>Healing</em> talismans.


    Walking closer and joining the small crowd, he listened to the spiel the woman was giving.


    "These talismans are a wonder of our guild, all based around a new Tier 8 healing spell thats been found in the recent decade. This is a revolutionary new skill in and of itself, but that means the skill is being sold for enormous markups when they hit the open market, if at all. Instead of spending the equivalent of a Tier 26 skill on a Tier 8 one, you can simply buy one of our talismans. At a very low price of fifteen Tier 10 mana stones, you could have professional quality healing whenever you find yourselves in a pinch."


    A portion of the crowd audibly grumbled at the price. The talisman was a Tier 8 skill, and while it could be overcharged for a greater effect, which would require a higher Tier parchment, these were obviously Tier 8 talismans.


    The guild was unashamedly fleecing anyone and everyone.


    As if she knew what the crowd was thinking, the saleswoman just smiled. "If youre injured, these willpletely stop any bleeding and prevent the wound from getting worse, while not applying any healing cooldown to the wound. Instead of using your own healing spells that are undirected and incur arge healing cost, you can leave the rift safely without risking your life, and get one of the professional healers to heal you up properly. After all, they can treat you and give a reduced healing cooldown by using their specialized skills."


    That brought the crowd''s attention back to her, and piqued their interest.


    Being wounded was most people''s greatest fear during this time. While it was never anyone''s intention to get so badly wounded that they couldn''t safely receive more healing, anything could happen in a rift.


    And for the few people who had healing skills, or the rare healing potion rift reward, they both rued arger healing cooldown than what a proper healer would.


    The saleswoman wasn''t wrong about that, and despite a cost of Tier 10 mana stones for a single talisman, most teams here were able to delve Tier 11 rifts without an issue. After all, at a one hundred to one ratio, they could get six talismans for a single Tier 11 mana stone.


    When looked at from that perspective, the price suddenly became a bit more ptable.


    Matt immediately checked the stall''s information on his AI, and found what he was looking for.


    The guild, Burning Hearts, had a patent for their version of the Tier 8 [Bandage] healing skill. If the EmpireNet was to be believed, they were also the only guild,pany, or noble house to have sessfully simplified the Tier 8 spell to a level that it was enchantable by the average Tier 8.


    If anyone else had also done so, they had either hidden it, or the result was too simr to the Burning Hearts guild''s version to be issued its own patent.


    That didn''t mean that others couldn''te up with different ways of simplifying the skill, just that they hadn''t yet.


    The basic skills like [Fireball] had forty two variations in the public domain that all specialized in different aspects to various degrees. One version of the enchantment might have more explosion damage, or another might have a greater heat in its magical mes. But all in all, the skills were simr enough.


    Even still, guilds were said to have better versions of skills kept under lock and key, not entered into the patent system. They supposedly kept those rare versions to themselves, but that was mostly spection.


    The guilds keeping secret versions of enchantments wasn''t a problem most of the time, as the Tier 8 skills had been around forever, and had mostly entered into the public domain. By now, people had created versions and offered them for free, or the patents on most had expired after five hundred years. While that was nice for the Tier 8 skills, it wasn''t the case for the higher Tier skills, which had patents that needed to be bought.


    In and of itself, that wasn''t an issue. Matt had bought hundreds of enchantment licenses from the Empire for cheap. What irritated Matt was the ridiculous cost for getting the guild''s schematic.


    Even for a personal license that prohibited the enchanter from reselling, it still cost a yearly rate of fifty Tier 13 mana stones. The guild had a monopoly, and was pushing it for all it was worth.


    The problem was that a simplified enchantment wasn''t the only way to make a talisman. It was just generally the cheapest way for most crafters.


    Anyone with the skill in question could cast the skill on the parchment with a few containment runes and have a passable talisman themselves.


    In fact, Matt had a few hundred [Bandage] talismans made that way in his spatial bracelet right now. He had intended to use them when they got injured as Quill and Torch, but with the guild here and selling their own version of the talisman, they were all useless.


    At least unless he wanted to admit he had the actual [Bandage] skill, or be used of having stolen their intellectual property. The first option was a problem, as the skill had appeared on the far side of the Empire not that long ago, and was being sold for Tier 26 levels of wealth. If he didn''t admit to owning the skill himself, he woulde under the scrutiny of the Burning Hearts guild.


    Even if he beat the charges without revealing too much information, it would draw far, far too much attention to their masked identities. Not to mention the false identities of Shawn, Jules, and Lassie that existed under the masks.


    That left him with the option of not using a potent healing talisman, or paying the ridiculous fees the guild was charging.


    Knowing that he was screwed, Matt stewed internally as the woman demonstrated the talisman''s effectiveness on her own arm.


    He wanted to storm off and curse the guild, but he had far too much training to even let a flicker of emotion show on his face.


    Like everyone else, he watched the rest of the presentation. Then, like most other teams, they bought a set of seven talismans for one Tier 11 mana stone. The guild was <em>generous</em> enough to offer thest talisman at a small discount to round off the cost total.


    Cursing their extortionist ways, Matt thanked the woman with Liz before stuffing the parchments into their spatial bags, mentally swearing revenge.


    <em>Maybe I can pass off as Quilling up with a distinct version supposedly based on just seeing them in action? I need to think this over and see if my AI can actually simplify the skill structure down to a runic formation. If it can, I might be able to take the guild out at the knees by making the enchantment public.</em>


    While he would need to do some research, he expected that the guild selling the talismans had only gotten the patent because they were a low Tier guild that cared about Tier 10 levels of wealth. They had simply lucked out by being close to the world they had made the rift on. If that was the case, he had no issue with undercutting them.


    Besides, if they hadnt been so tantly greedy, he might not have minded their little enterprise. But now that he was irritated, he wanted to do something about it.


    Matt was hardly in the mood for more window shopping, but they went through a few stores before they sat down and watched a mana charging station while they snacked on a few bits of street meat.


    The mana charging station was actually run by Tur''stal, and was seemingly run at cost, or at least near to it, which was rare to see. The station was a simple rest area that sold mana back to the delvers in either mana stones or raw collected mana. Plenty of tournament participants were willing to pay to avoid waiting the day and a half to refill their mana pools naturally.


    They also offered mana stones that could be bought with either items traded from the rifts, or their virtual bank ounts.


    Still, the rates were reasonable, unlike some ces he had seen in their travels. Matt wondered if Tur''stal mighte and ask him for a top off of the''s mana reserves to help maintain the low prices.


    They browsed the mana converting tools selection while they rested. Most of the converters were rated for a range of Tiers of mana stones, which was their major difference, rather than speed or efficiency.


    The slow converters were nearly ny percent efficient in their conversion of unaspected mana to personal mana, but they took time. Hours, usually.


    Next were the fast converters, which were about sixty percent effective, but could convert a few hundred mana in five minutes or so. That was the converter most people used, but there was also the instant converter that had an awful twenty percent conversion efficiency, but could convert a few hundred mana in seconds. They were sometimes necessary in the middle of a fight, though never desired, as you were essentially burning money.


    Their own converters worked for Tier 10 through Tier 12 mana crystals, but seeing how cheap they were selling the next set, he and Liz bought the Tier 13 through Tier 15 converters.


    Even if they doubted that they would need to convert the higher Tier stones, the converters were so cheap, they couldn''t pass up the opportunity to buy them. They also took a set of ten rechargeable mana stones with a 200 mana capacity, made for Tier 10 through Tier 12''s. They didnt get the bigger ones because even for 100 extra mana the size nearly doubled and they would need to remake their gear unnecessarily.


    With their pockets lighter, they stopped by the endless rift, only to find a line fifty people long waiting to sign up for a delve tomorrow. Instead, they decided toe back another day, and watched some of the better performances in the rift while they waited for their meeting time with the other teams.


    Finally, they met up at a smaller teahouse to discuss their ns for the Tier 13 group rift.


    Matt found J sitting at a table with a small cut still scabbing over on her face. It was a small wound, and she seemed otherwise unharmed.


    Harvie and Adam, the twins, were pulling over two other tables to extend their area. Kevin, the wind mage who still had bands of air swirling around his arm, carried over tray after tray of drinks.


    Seeing that they were the first other team to arrive, Matt pointed to his own face and asked, "What got you?"


    J groaned loudly as Harvie burst outughing.


    Adam actually answered the question. "We had just killed the Tier 12 boss of the rift, and dumb dumb here went to go try and skin the thing, when its insides ruptured from built-up pressure and nicked her."


    J hid in her hand and groaned. "It was an embarrassing mistake to make in front of so many people watching. I''m better than that. I just got nervous."


    Lizughed and slid next to the woman and patted her shoulder. "We''ve all made mistakes like that. You should ask Matt about our time trying to kill a Tier 9 water snake that guarded a bridge. He spent more than one attempt in the water because of a careless moment."


    Matt smiled and agreed. "Yup. Fun fact, water monsters are hard to fight in the water."


    He didn''t mention that they had been Tier 6 at the time, and used the story to help J get over her embarrassment.


    Harvie dropped off thest of the drinks and nodded at him and Liz. "We saw your guy''s rift delve. Good work on that kill with the Lava Whale. Impressive way to kill it."


    Matt grinned and winked. "Channel skills are my forte."


    Fen, who had just entered the building,ughed, having caught the end of hisment. He exined as he pulled Matt into a hug before hugging Liz.


    "Don''t let him undersell it. I was in the same vassal war as this guy, and before that, we fought in a much harder war against a rogue ruin that was trying to take over a. This guy is a monster if he can use a channel."


    Matt ignored Fen''s boasting of his aplishments and leaned over to say hi to Bow and Arrow, who had followed their bond into the teahouse.


    He pretended not to know the three new bonds, and was quickly introduced to everyone for a second time.


    Harvie smiled at Fen after the introductions and said, "You have the real story. How was meeting Quill and Torch? That video was impressive enough. It must have been crazy being near them as they took out the Tier 14 on their own."


    Fenughed, and Bow joined him while Arrow took Kenny the mouse to the counter to order a more size-appropriate drink. "It was impressive. I was nning to slowly whittle that boss down over a day or two, and they just smacked it around a few times, and killed it."


    J shook her head. "Nah, don''t undersell yourself. You might be one of the strongest people were inviting to the group delve. It''s a peak Tier 13 rift, and while the snakes you fought were only bottom Tier 13s, you did super well. Just because you met two of the better contestants, don''t think everyone is at that level."


    Kevin snorted, "We sure aren''t. Killing a Tier 14 in under ten minutes. That''s impressive."


    While they were making introductions between Fen and his bonds, Matt was sure to tell the others how well they had done in the golem fight and Pather war.


    Fen was trying to hide his embarrassment when Felix, the dagger solo delver Matt had met, came in with Melinda''s team.


    Matt grinned as Tara came over and said, Well done in the boss killing rift. I hear that the actual kills were quicker than most, but that''s all been cut from the videos we have ess to, so I didnt get to watch it.


    Vinnie punched Matt on the shoulder and added, We actually n to hit that one before the end of the month as well. Should be interesting.


    Before they could really get into it, with everyone here, J stood slightly and introduced everyone around the table.


    "Now that we all know each other, I think we should go over the group rift and our strategy. With the rule change to a person limit instead of a team limit, we now have a full roster. Sadly, we didn''t know that we could bring so many people, which means we didn''t have the chance to train with Fen and his bonds and Geraden. We can either push our delve back a few days or"


    She looked at Matt, and he smiled, knowing what she was asking. The reason they didn''t want to push their delve off was because the group rifts were some of the few rifts with nearly nopetition. As a peak Tier 13 rift, most teams couldn''t handle it alone, and only teams that had practiced together would risk going into a dangerous rift without having worked together with new people. That was asking for trouble.


    Training with the others would burn mana that they could be using to delve rifts, and any mana they did spend would have to be bought back.


    J had done her research and knew his Concept, and had asked him privately if he was willing to use his Concept to fuel their training as arger group.


    Matt was more than happy to, but it spoke to her character that she didn''t assume, and was giving him a chance to back out.


    Instead, he red his Concept at a low level, only double what he had been able to do in the vassal war.


    He could feel his Concept filling everyone at the table to a minor degree. He assumed they had used small spells at some point during the day, but had mostly regenerated their mana over the evening.


    "I''m happy to help us. I''m also willing to use my Concept for everyone here when I''m free. It costs me nothing if I fill us up every night, and saves you all money."


    That was met with halfhearted protest by the others who didn''t want to take advantage, but Matt insisted.


    Before long, they had hashed out everything they could about their general battle ns and moved to a training room. If everything went well, they intended to delve the rift in two days.


    Most of them had delves scheduled for tomorrow or this evening, and Matt made it a point to let everyone know that they could find him in a cafe closer to their teleport formation most nights. For a few hours, hed camp out in a corner where he would use his Concept for any of the team members that came to him.


    He yed it off as good training for his Concept, but from the expressions from everyone but Melinda''s team, he could tell that they thought he was just being nice.


    In fact, he actually <em>was </em>using it for training purposes. In thest few months of training with Luna, he had finally started to think he had an idea for cklisting people from his Concept, but he hadn''t made any progress. Using his Concept in a public ce would give him a good ce to practice.


    It wasnt like he could do it as Quill, after all.


    Their group training extended until the final minutes before J''s team had a scheduled delve and needed to leave.


    Everyone but Melinda''s team was discovering how beneficial it was to train their skills without worrying about mana cost, and after they had a good feel for each other''sbat styles, they had broken off to do individual training.


    Matt was more than happy to fill everyone up at a speed much slower than his maximum.


    He was happy to see his mana go towards good work and to such appreciative people.


    It felt good. Helping old and new friends alike only increased his feelings of content.


    It was small scale, but this was still making a difference.


    ***


    Aster looked around and yowled at the crowd.


    All four hundred and some odd beasts turned to look at her where she stood in the air.


    Seeing all the beast bonds look to her caused her tail to wag, and she didn''t even attempt to stop it! This was just too much fun.


    After the initial ceremony, she had been all excited to watch Matt and Liz go and delve, but she had quickly discovered that they couldn''t watch them live. She had to wait for her humans to leave the rift to get the recordings from the drones.


    Spending time with Liz''s siblings had been fun as they watched the first videos, but she had grown bored after Matt and Liz used the giant fireball skillbo.


    Seeing that irritated her, but even she could admit that the attack had looked even cooler when used for real than in practice.


    She had only been mollified when Matt used her idea of summoning a lot of water, then attracting it to a monster before sh freezing the area.


    Normally that was her job, but she was happy to see another element other than fire being used.


    But now, she had grown bored, and decided to gather all the other beast bonds who were here with their own humans for some good fun.


    None of them had much to do, and Mara, the queen of evolved monsters and beasts, had provided them all with amodations while their humans participated in the tournament.


    She was sad and jealous that Bow and Arrow were actually on the and allowed to fight. But she knew that she''d be able to see them in a week, when the first round of visitations started, so she wasn''t too bothered.


    They woulde to the visitor center and say hi then.


    That was when she had the idea to get all the beasts together and have some fun. She only had a few days until Aunt Helen arrived, and then, she would be busy enough that she would only be able to y fora little bit. She didn''t want to waste the opportunity.


    Seeing everyone was there and ounted for, she jumped higher in the air and said, "Okay. Everyone''s here. I know I''m super bored without my humans."


    A collection of hisses, yips, barks, meows, roars, chuffs, and whinnies met her promation, to her immense enjoyment.


    "So to that end, I got this room rented out for the next year, so we can hang out in a space for us!"


    Mara had actually just called down to the front desk and set that up, but unlike Liz and Matt, she had no problem asking the older beast for help. After all, she owned the entire building. Why wouldn''t they take advantage of that?


    "But as this is some of our first-time meetings, I suggest we all go out to dinner! That way, we can get to know each other better."


    With that decided, they exited the room and proceeded down the street in an uncoordinated gaggle.


    A few of the lower Tier bonds had to be redirected back onto the path, as they had the habit of getting distracted, but she made sure that everyone got there safely. It wasn''t exactly needed, as all the bonds had minders assigned by the Beast Kingdom, but she was in charge here, and took her responsibility seriously.


    Before long, they found a restaurant that most of them agreed smelled the best.


    Aster led the procession of beasts inside and jumped into the air to tell the hostess, "We need a table for four hundred!"


    She waited as the woman leaned around her to peer at the variety of monsters that were behind Aster and out the door.


    "I''m sorry, but we don''t have a table thatrge." The woman sounded apologetic, but Aster wilted.


    Maybe she should have nned this out more?


    The woman then smiled and said, "But we do have an executive lounge that can hold everyonefortably."


    Aster perked back up and yipped in excitement with all the other beasts who heard the good news.


    Screw nning! Things worked out better this way.


    "We''ll take it!"


    Quickly, they were led to a fancy room with a table that had adjustable seats that could be raised or lowered to amodate all the varied body types of the beasts.


    As everyone filtered in, Aster took her position at the head of the table and listened to everyone having a good time, chatting about how nice the room was. A few of the bonds were bragging about their humans, and she filled away the tidbits of information that she overheard to pass on to Matt and Liz. Nothing was vitally important, and she only listened to the beasts who had a modicum of self-awareness, as doing otherwise felt just wrong.


    The rest of the beasts were kids, and taking advantage of them wasn''t something she, Matt, and Liz were willing to do.


    She smiled and watched until the waiter came in and asked what they wanted for dinner.


    Having always wanted to do this, she said, "One of everything!" Then, looking at the mass of beasts, she corrected herself. "More than one of everything!"


    The waiter opened and closed his mouth for a second before smiling, nodding, and leaving.


    In just minutes, a procession of appetizers started to filter in, being ced on the table in front of everyone.


    No one held back as they leaned forward and grabbed pieces of the various dishes, making noises of appreciation. After seeing that everyone had at least one bite, Aster leaned in and took thest bite of a m thing.


    It was delicious, and she started to talk to Linguine, the Tier 11 snake that was sitting next to her.


    Linguine wasn''t his real name, but the nickname had stuck, as he was yellow and noodle-like.


    He had taken it with good grace, and returned the favor by calling Aster Ice Cream. What could be a better name than that?


    More people should have food-rted names, she decided.


    They were talking about their favorite type of rabbit to eat when <em>he</em> appeared.


    Ember, the fire elemental fox, was the bane of her existence, and despite her best efforts, she always fell to his level instead of rising above it.


    The stupid fox smugly sauntered over and said, "I ordered everyone drinks. If only we had a refrigerator to keep everything cool."


    Aster felt her hackles rise as she said, "It''s okay. If we have leftovers, you can keep them warm for everyone."


    Happy with her zinger, she tried to return to the conversation with Linguine, but Ember butted into that as well.


    Not willing to allow the stupid fox get the upper hand, she challenged him to a drinking contest when the drinks arrived.


    Those near them cheered as they both used their Concepts to tip the drinks back.


    Asterughed when after only the second beer, the stupid firefox had an issue controlling his Concept well enough to tip the drink back.


    Their challenge was interrupted by the dinner arriving, and everyone dug into the piles of food that seemed toe in a never-ending wave.


    ***


    Aster was wobbling as she tried to gather herself while Ember, the dumb fox, started to argue that fire was the best element. Eventually she had enough, and argued back with him.


    Ice was the best element. <em>Obviously</em>.


    They yowled at each other back and forth while trying to stay upright on the table.


    It was quite hard, but Aster felt certain that if she was louder than him, she was obviously the most right fox. So she warbled all over the ce, trying to drown out the stupid fox''s monotone droning about fire.


    ***


    Aster woke up in a tree inside a park she vaguely recognized, surrounded by all of her new friends.


    Everyone was unconscious still, but she was the boss, and even through her pounding headache, she did a headcount with her AI.


    She scrambled to her feet and jumped from the branches of the tree as she realized that five of them were missing.


    In a panic, she started to shake everyone awake.


    When they started to piece together the end of the evening''s events, they came to the conclusion that their missing friends were beastnapped by spies! One of the snakes had seen two people in masks walking through the group when they woke up to give a hug to one of the coyotes.


    <em>How dare they!</em>


    These were <em>her</em> people, after all.


    No one was allowed to bully them.


    Aster yowled to the sky with everyone else in a pledge that they would find and rescue their missing friends.


    Except Ember. The spies could keep him.


    Aster sighed. She''d even rescue the stupid fox. After she saved him, he would be forced to admit his element was the weaker one.


    <em>She</em> didn''t end up foxnapped after all.


    They would rescue their friends without involving their minders to show they werepetent! More importantly, so she did not get lectured by Matt.


    Still slightly hungover, the four hundred beasts marched to the restaurant where they could investigate the evening''s events,pletely missing the five beasts tucked safely behind a small hill, having been moved off the walking path they had passed out on.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146


    Matt and Liz met up with Melinda and Annie''s teams outside the group rift over an hour earlier than the scheduled delving time, which gave them a chance to catch up with each other.


    The topic of conversation quickly turned to their uing delve, and the monsters contained. Wyverns were the dragons'' failed cousins, ording to the dragons themselves at least.


    They were simr to dragons in nearly every way, except theirck of front legs, only having wings.


    Attempts to domesticate them and breed the rift rage out had proven a futile effort, despite many different approaches. Something about the monsters put them in the same category as goblins, orcs, and the few other monster types which couldn''t be removed from the rifts influence, though there was living offspring in the real world.


    Wyverns were also some of the strongest rift monsters at their Tier. With this rift having peak Tier 13 monsters as the baseline, with the boss rumored to be Tier 14, they were going to have to y the rift slow.


    That was what the other group, whose video they had watched had done, and their collection of teams agreed on.


    The rift had its own challenge, but it wasn''t a speed run or a full clear challenge.


    The challenge for the group rift was a rating challenge. The fewer people who entered the rift, and the better the groups did, the better the ranking from the independent AI.


    So far, only four groups had formed up to tackle the rift, but they had only watched two of the videos, which only really showed the rift monster and primary setting. Any sub-bosses and the actual boss fight were all removed from the videos avable to them.


    Half an hour before their rift delve time, everyone else arrived, and they went back over their battle ns after checking over their gear. This rift had a danger rating approaching that of most Tier 14 rifts. As Tier 10s, they needed to be extra careful and were taking nothing for granted.


    With no one else waiting to enter the rift, they entered without hesitating and found themselves in a destroyed city.


    The intersection they found themselves in was clear of monsters, but Matt, Conor, J, Mathew, and Kyle rushed forward and created a circle around their ranged teammates regardless.


    J, as their leader, called out through their AI, Vinnie and Annie start scouting. Fen, what do your beasts sense?


    From his AI, Matt watched Vinnie sink into the ground and Annie pass through a building''s wall.


    Annie was the first to report back with the news they had feared. As we suspected. The buildings are hollowed out, and I see wyrm skins along with eggshells.


    Matt internally cursed.


    The videos they had watched had been heavily edited, and only showed the fully grown wyverns. But where they were wyverns, there were usually wyrms.


    The legless and wingless dragons were more like overgrown snakes. The only difference wast their propensity to grow a pair of rear legs and wings after molting.


    While not every wyrm was a baby wyvern, it seemed like most wyrms present in rifts were the variants that were linked. Some rifts had the two monster types as separate breeds, and when removed from the rift, they each would only give birth to their respective species.


    The problem was, the wyverns were incredibly strong in their own right. To make matters worse, the types that grew from wyrms were usually stronger than the types that bred true.


    Vinnie came back secondster, The city is as huge as we suspected, and most buildings seem hollowed out.


    If they wanted to get the highest rating for this rift, they needed to clear out a significant portion of the buildings.


    J only took a second to check in with Fen and his beastpanions before making the call. Alright, this is our worst-case scenario. We push away from the rift exit and entrance, then start clearing each building.


    As they started moving, Matt pushed forward and took a position in the front with Mathew and Conor. They were the strongest front liners with the best defenses in the group, so walking into the enemies wouldnt be as dangerous for them.


    J and Kyle were right behind them, with the mages situated in the middle. Felix, being a melee fighter, along with Fen and his beasts using their superior senses, covered the rear for anything sneaking up behind them.


    Annie, meanwhile, was abusing her Talent and roaming around the group to watch out for anything unexpected.


    They had only walked through half a dozen streets when they met their first wyrms.


    They were undersized for the breed, meaning they were young and far away from their molting, but they were stillrge at about four feet wide. a They slithered along the cracked and pitted street towards the group of delvers.


    Matt moved forward alone while Conor and Mathew spread out to cover his nk.


    Before he had even reached the monster, it turned and hissed at him before lunging at him with arm-length teeth exposed.


    Matt hopped back and let loose a half-powered [Mana sh] into the mid-Tier 13 monster''s open mouth.


    The Wyrm''s mouth snapped shut on the de of mana, causing the attack to do absolutely nothing, and he cursed. Wyrms were known for their incredible durability, but this was on another level than anything that he had experienced.


    Even his half-powered [Mana sh] was more than enough to wound Tier 13 monsters most of the time, but these things were tenacious.


    As Matt sidestepped a second lunging bite, he thrust his longsword at the wyrms eye and finally dealt damage to the beast. His de sunk two inches deep into the monster''s skull before being stopped by ayer of bone.


    From Connor''s side, he heard a second hiss and knew that their battle had attracted more monsters.


    Still, Matt focused on his own battle.


    His armor was specifically made to limit his physical abilities when he used [Mages Retreat], and he was already pushing against those limits to keep up with the beast three Tiers higher than him.


    He could break the restrictions with a thought, but the whole point of doing those rifts was to establish weaknesses and limits to watchers.


    Still, he was confident in beating the monster on his own.


    Now half-blinded, the wyrm screeched and twisted around, setting its remaining eye on Matt.


    They held still for a second before Matt cast a [Fireball] at the monster''s face.


    It reacted to protect its remaining eye just as he expected, and with all the strength his true identity was allowed to show, Matt lunged forward. Using his weight, he drove his de through the monster''s remaining eye, and punched through theyer of bone, into its brain.


    The wyrm stopped moving almost instantly, and Matt removed his de before turning to see Conor blocking each of his monster''s lunging bites with a magically expanded shield. He returned its strikes with a glowing mace.


    Conors opponent had deep wounds cut in its head from his [Demon Zone], which had the chance to return any attack to everyone in the area. As the monster was attacking with gigantic bites, its reflected attack left wounds even in its own durable hide.


    It only took Conor a few more minutes to whittle his beast down through his efforts.


    Matt was surprised at just how far his friend had grown in thest decade. He had seen some of that growth in their training, but nothing was as good as seeing someone fight for real.


    J called out as soon as Connor''s fight ended, No injuries. Perfect. What are your reports having fought them yourselves?


    Conor spoke before Matt. Their durability is crazy. My [Demon Zone] has been grown to reflect all of the damage struck. That fact that it only took medium level wounds from my skill is a testament to how strong they are.


    Matt felt the attention turn to him, and he said, They have a te of bone behind their eyes that will protect them from eye shots from anything without an armor pration ability, or someone who can put some serious weight behind the attack. Also, despite being fleshy, the insides of their mouths are very durable as well.


    With their initial impressions out, they continued deeper into the city in ruin.


    Their next encounter happened on Mathew''s side, and despite being unable to hurt him through his incredibly heavy physical armor, Mathew could not kill the beast himself.


    They had expected that, but the true frontliner kept the monster at bay singlehandedly for nearly ten minutes without breaking a sweat. Eventually, J turned to Kevin, the air mage on her team, and he stepped forward to join Mathew in the battle.


    With a mage to protect now, Mathew seamlessly changed his fighting style from mostly dodging what he could, to throwing out his best impersonation of a wall. While Mathew kept himself between the monster and his teammate, Kevin chopped down with his arm that was always wrapped in a cyclone of wind.


    From his arm, a tendril of white wind extended, and like a whip, it mmed into the monster''s nk.


    It only cracked some scales, but after learning just how defensive the wyrms were, no one was surprised. Kevin had a wind Talent of some variation that gave him the tendril of air, and it was powerful. He had cut a peak Tier 12 monster in half in a recording they had watched during their learning-about-each-other phase.


    He wasn''t weak. The wyrms defenses were just excellent.


    Still, the wind mage quickly followed up by casting [Wind sh] at the same spot where his previous attack hadnded. That finally broke through the scaled hide of the monster and drew blood.


    Finally wounded, the wyrm was enraged and moved to brush past Mathew, but then his Talent kicked in. The monster that was dead set on attacking the one who hurt it immediately turned its rage to the tank.


    Mathew, being able to redirect the aggression of rift monsters, was amazing in situations like this. With that Talent and a good team, he had no need to be offensively strong himself, and simply took every attack his enemies could throw at him on his shield.


    Matt was impressed with one of his oldest friend''s showing. He knew, as he had ess to Melinda''s full team''s skills, that Mathew still had two different shield skills. He had a magical armor skill, and a taunt skill that he hadnt used yethe was just that good at being the frontliner and protecting his mages.


    Kevin''s third attack,ing on the heels of its attention shifting to Mathew, was [Wind Lance]. It punched through the monster in its already wounded side, and the wyrm began bleeding out through the gaping wound that was left in its nk.


    Kevin came over to Matt, where he red his Concept for a few seconds to refill the man''s mana. Afterwards, they kept moving forward and taking each fight slowly but surely, giving each person a chance to fight one of the rift monsters on their own.


    Harvie and Adam fought as a team of melee fighters, with Mathew ready to use his Talent to draw the monster''s aggression to him, but they didnt need it.


    The two twins fought with a strike and retreat style that always seemed at risk of being dismantled by one badly timed counter-attack. But even when the dragon-snake managed to guess which twin was going to strike out with their short sword, it was unable to punch through the shields that each brother possessed.


    Matt still had no idea what their Talents were, but he was impressed at how quickly they managed to kill the monster, and was happy to have them watching the nks of the group.


    Felix and Fen got their chance to shine when they were attacked from the rear, and it was just as brutal as they expected.


    Fen and his bonds moved like a perfectly coordinated team, and killed the wyrm in only a few exchanges.


    The porcupine started the fight by turning around and drawing the ground into its body, and using the earth to reinforce itself and its spines. When the wyrm attacked the bond, it found its fangs met with longer and harder spikes of earth thatunched outwards and impaled it through its mouth.


    The earthworm burrowed into the ground, then through the distracted wyrm''s underbelly. It was a gruesome sight, one that made Matt d that Ruby was on their side. Having a monster just eat its way through you was a new nightmare that Matt wasnt aware of before seeing it in action.


    But Matt had seen Fen and his bonds fight on their way back to the teleporter, so he wasn''t that surprised when the man and his bonds quickly killed a Tier 13 monster.


    No, Felix was the real surprise.


    Felix had said he was an unorthodox dagger wielder, but his Talent wasn''t really able to shine against anyone that he didnt truly want to hurt.


    When the second wyrm attempted to go around Fen and his bonds, Felix stepped forward, and a silvery lightunched from his chest andnded onto the wyrm.


    With the light growing along the wyrms body, Felix swung his des from over ten feet away, as if he was attacking from close range.


    Dark shadows from a skill Matt didnt recognizeunched out and mmed into the light area, causing deep, rending wounds that pierced the wyrm''s hard scales.


    Then, Felix just started to attack the air as the wyrm lunged at him.


    Each attack at nothing caused more wounds to appear on the monster when the darkness that had lingered from the first attack stretched out.


    Before the monster could reach Felix, the light and darkness seemed to reach a point where enough was enough, and both colors left the monster, jumping to each one of his daggers, respectively.


    With glowing des, Felix moved at an incredible speed as he lunged forward, and with two swipes of his de, he cut the wyrm in half.


    Matt whistled.


    Felix had said that he had a gimmick to kill even higher Tier monsters, but that he was weak against groups of enemies. That disy of power, and the fact that the lights lingered around his weapons, led Matt to believe that the other man had undersold his Talent.


    With that demonstration of power, Matt was surprised when J moved forward and took care of the next wyrm herself.


    Matt found out why she had chosen to add a second redundant de with a lightning enchantment to her double-ded axe, instead of using the typical single de with a spiked counterweight on the other side for piercing heavy armor.


    With each swing of Js de, lightning seemed to grow out of the weapon, epassing herself and her axe before long. Matt tracked what was happening with the help of his AI.


    Js Talent, because something so specific in its use could only be a Talent, seemed to send the tiny bit of lightning from the rear de to the front de and reflect it back. Then, it added that lightning damage to the collective power until she built up a massive charge.


    He suspected that she used lightning damage not because it was required by her Talent, but because she wanted the damage from the element.


    His AI registered that the Talent was the movement and build-up of power, and it needed two des to work with.


    Liz wentst as a melee mage hybrid, and quickly dismembered the monster in seconds with her Blood Iron empowered whip of blood.


    With all the melee fighters having shown their abilities, the ranged attackers started to test their abilities on the wyrms.


    Tara practically cheated with her Talent and the growth quiver Matt had given her. Her first arrow punched straight through the scaled hide of the wyrm and then exploded, creating a head-sized crater in the monster''s side.


    Before it could do more than lunge at her, she drew a second arrow and cleanly put it through the monster''s eye, putting it down for good.


    She winked at Matt and teased, I don''t know why you found that hard.


    Matt just replied with a raised middle finger. They didnt all have Talents that let them punch through armor like tissue paper.


    Emily showed her power of ramping up her skills damage with each different element by casting a [Tangle] at her wyrm to slow it down, and then following up with a [Fireball] and [Jolt] in rapid session.


    The empowered Tier 8 lightning skill was four times as strong as her base level skills, and fried the Tier 13 monster in a single attack. Even then, that was far more damage than she had been able to dish out when he saw herst, and it took some probing to figure out how she was able to kill the Tier 13 without pushing her Talent to a fourth or fifth skill.


    After inspecting her gear with his spiritual sense, he found that her staff was built around empowering lightning skills. It reminded him that she had bought and intended to use a upgrade orb on [Jolt], which also ounted for some of the greater damage.


    Then he reviewed the attack itself. He had felt a Concept in use, though it was slight. It felt more like when Liz used her internal Concept versus his or Asters usage of the ability.


    She hip bumped Tara as she returned to her ce in the formation, I think it was easier for me.


    Matt tuned out their good-natured teasing as they moved further into the city. The fact that Emily was flirting with Tara didn''t pass him by, but he hadn''t expected Emily to be so bold, knowing that Tara was crushing on Aunt Helen.


    Neither pushed the banter too far and they kept their focus on their surroundings, so no one stopped them until it naturally petered out.


    Vinnie used his earth skills to entrap the wyrm he was engaged with, and then just buried it, leaving it to suffocate.


    Kyle, with his new mage de fighting style, empowered his de and used his massive strength to beat the monster to death in short order with his oversized sword.


    Samantha used her poisons to whittle down her wyrm while Matt took his turn ying the tank role.


    They finally found the edge of the rift when they came to a sea that extended outward for what seemed like forever, but had an invisible wall not twenty feet out.


    With everyone having shown what they could do, and having a safe area behind them, they decided to ramp up their speed and start tackling the buildings around them.


    In the first building, they found half a dozen wyrms on the lower floors, but as they cleared the ten story building, they found half-grown juvenile wyverns with undersized wings and weak legs.


    It was also the first time they had to deal with skills from the monsters.


    The wyverns all seemed to be fire-based monsters, and shot back [Fireball]s and [methrower]s at them when the group attacked. The strength of their innate skills was well beyond what any of them expected, and Matt had to resort to bringing out a shield to help block some of the iing damage.


    While [Cracked Phantom Armor] could have barely survived the attacks with around 700 MPS between the twoyers, he wanted to establish his Armor Talent as being overwhelmed by the tier difference.


    With that in mind, he kept his [Cracked Phantom Armor] to a level where it broke under the [Fireball]s, and flickered under the streams of fire.


    While that was a deliberate showing of a weakness, with his physical armor under the skill, he was more than fine physically.


    With a shield made to counter fire-based attacks, he was more than able to block the small wyvern''s attacks.


    Having seemingly just molted, the monster''s attacks were strong, but their scales were soft, which meant they had little problem in cutting through the young wyverns.


    That all changed when they encountered their first adult.


    On one of the topmost floors, a full-sized Tier 13 wyvern awaited them. Standing eleven feet at the shoulder, the monster was only fit inside the building because it had destroyed the other floors. It had carved out a spacerge enough for it tofortably move around in.


    Not willing to test out this monster like they had the wyrms, Tara immediatelyunched an arrow at the monster''s eye. It might have worked, but the wyverns, despite being rift monsterscking sapience, were not stupid. Seeing Tara draw her bow, it immediately ducked its head.


    That was all it took for even Taras arrow, empowered by her Talent, to deflect off the beasts fully hardened scales.


    Matt, Conor, and Mathew rushed forward to be met by a wall of fire that washed over them.


    Matt hunkered down, and as the stream of fire kepting, he cast [Hail] over the spot where he expected the wyvern to be.


    His [Hail] caused the stream of fire to pause for a second, but as the obscuring fire disappeared, Matt watched the wyvern look up at the area where the ice was falling from. It suddenly unfolded and pped its front arm wings, then flew through the ceiling.


    Rubble rained down on them, but they were safe enough.


    Before they could reorganize, the wyvern had returned and mmed into the side of the building. From a destroyed window, itunched a [Fireball] at the mages from their nk. Conor was the closest and intercepted the attack, but he wasnt able to set his footing well enough, and was sent flying.


    Matt''s AI registered a few burns on him, and a cracked rib from where hended on a piece of exposed rebar, but Melinda was quickly on him and cast [Healing Touch].


    The wyvern was wise enough to keep moving while attacking, so the mages counterattacks just sailed out of the window harmlessly.


    Seemingly faster than should have been possible, the wyvern repeated its actions on the opposite side of the building,unching a second [Fireball] at them. However, Ruby the earthworm raised a wall of earth to intercept it.


    J quickly called out, Move to the roof so we can see!


    Considering that from the videos they had seen, quite a few of the fights had been on rooftops, Matt agreed with the call.


    He took the lead with his magical armor, and when he reached the mostly intact roof, it was proven as the correct decision. He was greeted immediately by a [Fireball] as it caught him in his upraised shield.


    Having braced himself for that exact thing, Matt only got pushed back into a wall before he rushed out onto the roof.


    With the mages taking the center of their defensive formation, melee fighters took the outer edge, and Matt finally realized why the monsters speed had seemed so off.


    There was a second wyvern circling their building with the original.


    Taraunched a lightning arrow that separated into half a dozen copies, and hit one of the monster''s wings. But even with half a dozen holes in the thin membrane, the monster''s flying seemed unhindered.


    That didn''t mean it wasn''t enraged. Itunched half a dozen smaller [Fireball]s in quick session.


    Matt shed his longsword out, sending weak [Mana sh]es at the attacks, causing explosions as the attacks intercepted each other. Tara shot two of the remaining attacks out of the air, but it wasnt enough.


    Melinda was forced to cast an area of effect healing spell as the mages got singed and burned from the attacks that made it through. It was only the small size of the attacks that prevented them from seriously hurting anyone.


    Mathew asked over their AI, I can probably get them tond if I taunt them, but I might draw over more attackers if I do so. What''s the call, J?


    J, to her credit, immediately answered, Not yet. Hold that in reserve. For now, try to damage the wings more. From the reports on wyverns, they cant actually fly with their Concepts. Focus on the one that Tara already hit.


    With that order, all the ranged attackers sent out attacks at the single wyvern.


    Emily actually got the final hit with an overpowered [Wind de] that was nearly four times the size of a normal one. Even as the spell hit the monster''s chest and cracked its scales, its overflow damage shredded the wings of the wyvern.


    With a roar, the monster plummeted to the ground, and they turned their attention to the second wyvern.


    Before they could take it down, the first monster had climbed up the building, and Matt was forced to turn his attention to the angry Tier 13 monster.


    He rushed forward to see the monster opening its mouth and a glowing ember re to life. Not willing to take the attack, heunched a half-powered [Mana sh] at its open maw, and smiled as the [Fireball] exploded in the wyvern''s open mouth.


    That earned him a scream loud enough to cause [Cracked Phantom Armor] to struggle at the low MPS he directed through it.


    He was forced to dodge the monster''s snapping bite, but Kyle was quickly next to him, and brought his sword around in a sh that cracked some of the scales on the monster''s neck.


    Seeing that, and the readout his AI spat out, Matt cursed. It actually rated the adult wyverns'' durability higher than the wyrms.


    This was a peak Tier 13 rift for a reason, after all, but this was a crazy level of defense.


    Kyle''s return strike was just slightly slower than Matts, and their des cut into the already weakened scales of the monster.


    There was a rocking of the building that Matt wasn''t able to turn and look at, then Harvie and Adam joined them in attacking the monster.


    Matt only half-heard J''s order for them to just hold the first wyverns'' attention while they killed the second one.


    With the other three, Matt focused on trying to block the me attacks for his team while they dodged or blocked the monster''s shredded wings and tail attacks.


    More than once, they were in danger of being thrown off the buildings roof, but as the battle stretched on, they learned the patterns of both the monsters attacks and each other''s abilities.


    While they were dealing with a bite attack, a hand and dagger rose out of the roof and sliced the wyvern''s left leg tendon, before turning translucent and fading back through the floor.


    Matt smiled as Annie finally showed herself.


    With the monster''s damaged leg, they had a massive mobility advantage, and quickly started to turn the tables and beat the wyvern.


    ***


    Liz dodged the second wyverns attack with a stream of blood pushing her to the side, and struck out with her spear, taking the monster in the side.


    While Matt and the others fought the first wyvern, the rest of them tried to take down the second, muchrger flying beast.


    They had finally damaged its wings enough to bring it down when Vinnie sent a weak spear of rock into the wings of the monster.


    Instead of falling to the ground like the first wyverns, this one had chosen to glide into the building and rush them.


    They quickly discovered that this monster was at least twenty percent bigger than the first, and far more dangerous.


    With itsrger body, this wyvern seemed to favor its physical attacks, and had already sent Mathew flying into the small building on the roof with a p of its tail.


    Melinda managed to get Mathew back into the fight despite four broken ribs, but it set the tone of the battle.


    Liz was frustrated by how limited she was.


    This was a hard fight, no doubt, but she was confident that if she used every ability she had in her arsenal, she could have killed the beast quickly. Having to purposefully show herself as weak should have been of no consequence by now, but it still rankled in a tournament.


    As the monsters began attacking the ranged fighters, Lizshed the open wounds on its wings and redirected its attention onto her.


    Felix was setting up his weird light and darkness Talent while J hacked at its legs.


    Liz rolled under a stream of fire and changed her spear into a halberd just in time to chop down on the momentarily still tail.


    When her de cut through the scales and bone, the wyvern screamed.


    Conor and Mathew were finally able to take their ces and keep the monsters attention while Emily and Tara attacked as fast as they could. Sadly, for all that the two of them were good counters to the monsters, it never sat still long enough for them to get a good hit in.


    It always seemed to know when Emily was getting a spell strength high enough to kill, and shot a [Fireball] at her every time, forcing her to defend with her over-charged spell instead of attacking. Anytime Tara attacked its eyes, it always managed to duck and take the damage on its harder scales.


    As Felix and J got their Talents going, they finally started to inflict real damage on the monster.


    Fen and his bonds kept to the side of the monster and moved in for quick attacks and nips that were fantastic distractions for the rest of their team to capitalize on.


    With more and more blood building up from the leaking wounds, Liz made her move.


    She sent a wave of blood over the wyvern''s legs, and didnt even bother to try and cut the hardened scales. Instead, she pulled with every ounce of control she had with [Blood Maniption].


    That was enough to make the gigantic beast slip and crash onto the ground.


    While she struggled against the Tier 13''s immense physical strength with just her magical skill, everyone else unleashed everything they had.


    Tara finallynded an attack on the wyvern''s eye as its chin hit the ground and stunned it momentarily, while Emily finally got her [Jolt] off and caused the monster to seize.


    In seconds, they had the monster dead, and the rush of essence confirmed it.


    The Tier 13 essence was high in quantity and quality, firmly pushing down on her essence cores as she automatically allocated it.


    A second rush of essence hit her before she could do more than turn to help Matt and his group.


    Even split so many ways, the rush of power was nice. Not as good as the werewolf rift, but enough to make a difference. The difference between a bottom Tier 13 rift and peak Tier 13 rift was evident just from their rewards of killing a single monster.


    Annie climbed to the roof and said something to Matt before both groups met back up.


    Melinda cast a healing spell over all of them while everyone took advantage of Matt sharing his Concept.


    Annie turned to everyone and smiled as she waved towards each of the other buildings in the cityscape.


    Great job everybody. Now we just need to do that a few hundred more times, presumably with each taller building being harder and harder. Who else is having fun?

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147


    The group quickly found out that Annie was right. Each and every building was full of the same two kinds of monsters. Time and time again, they had to fight their way through a horde of wyrms, to then take on an increasing number of adult wyverns.


    At the start, the entire group was forced to take mana refilling or essence allocation breaks after every third building, when they were only ten or so floors tall. Then, as the buildings grew to thirty or forty stories, they rested after every clear.


    When they neared the dozen tallest towers, the fighters even opted for a long, half-hour break.


    As exhaustion set in, people started to slip up and lose synergy as old instincts took over, leading to getting in each others way more than once.


    So far, the errors had been mostly harmless, but they still didn''t want to risk their lives on something as foolish as rushing to the end of the rift.


    Said exit was located at the top of a skyscraper that was around two hundred and fifty floors tall. The portal out was only visible because of apleteck of clouds in the rift.


    It towered over the surrounding buildings, which were less than half its height, and had at least a hundred wyverns flying around it.


    They decided to fight their way up the building as they had with the others, as being swarmed by that many monsters while outside would mean certain death.


    Once they reached and stormed the final tower, it took them close to eight brutal and bloody hours to go from the ground floor to the roof. The boss, a bottom Tier 14 wyvern, had made its nest at the highest point in the rift.


    The fight started well enough, as they had long learned the monsters fighting style and created their own counters. Fen and his bonds started the encounter off simrly to most fights, with Ga shooting a volley of earth infused spikes out of their back. Then, as the wyvern struggled to cope with the opening salvo, Ruby the earthworm dove into the floor and started clearing the area debris, creating a clean fighting area for them.


    Bow and Arrow, the two wolves, then joined the front liners and harassed the wyverns nks with their incredibly strong and sharp teeth, and their agile maneuvering. Tired as all of them were, the two wolves were so in sync with their timing that it was hard not to pull back and watch them work.


    Fen himself kept to the backline and yed the role of assisting mage, helping to distract and entangle their targets.


    Emily and Tara were a devastatingbination and had learned to blend their styles together. Tara would shoot lightning arrows from her growth quiver into the wyverns right nk, while Emily charged herbo for her empowered [Jolt]. Once her finishing skill was ready,Emily would use a lightning arrow as a conduit to bypass some of the bosss defenses.


    The tactic was strong enough to two-shot most of the Tier 13 wyverns, but it proved less effective on the stronger monster facing them now.


    Emily was forced to increase herbo of spells to the fourthyer, but that more than doubled the strain on her spirit. Still, the boost in power helped the pair incineraterge swaths of the boss scales.


    Tara was shooting as fast as she could at the more vulnerable parts of the Tier 14 boss while Emily fired off skills for anotherbo. But like its smaller brethren, the boss always seemed to know when to duck its head, making most of their finishing shots ineffective.


    Vinnie was a floater, osciting between offensive and defensive casting while creating small berms and obstacles for the boss. He was still able to get some attacks in when the opportunities presented themselves..


    Matt, Mathew, and Conor kept themselves in front of the boss, trying to block the rampaging monsters from rushing their backline. The task was made all the more difficult by the monster''s size and Tier advantage, but they were barely able to keep the monster at bay together, despite constantly fighting in a circling retreat.


    They were slowly whittling the boss down when disaster struck.


    Kevin had to roll out of the way of a wing sh that was followed up by a [Fireball], while Mathew was still recovering from blocking a shing stomp that almost ttened their mages.


    Matt, seeing that he was the closest one, dropped his sword and did the only thing he could do within the constraints of his identity. He caught the monster''s upper and lower fangs in his hands


    The boss'' attack was halted for an instant, as Matt threw all of his Concept and physical strength into resisting the wyverns forward momentum, growling and snarling with feigned strain. Had this been a normal fight, he would have thrown enough mana into [Mages Retreat] to yank the beast from its feet with the proper purchase. But not now.


    Not with the majority of the Empire watching.


    Before he could let go, the Tier 14 wrenched its head back and shook vigorously, trying to dislodge the human holding onto its mouth. Saliva flung from its jaws and onto Matts hand, loosening his grip ever so slightly before it shook its head once more, with even more strength thrown in.


    Matts grip slipped off the massive teeth, causing him to fly off of the building. That wouldn''t have been so bad, except his left leg clipped a part of the building that was still intact.


    Despite all of his armor, both magical and mundane, his leg shattered as he was sent tumbling through the sky.


    The pain was blinding, but nothing he hadn''t learned to deal with during Lunas tourture resistance training sessions.


    As he cast [Ranged Heal] on himself and felt his bones start crawling back together, he caught himself with his Concept and started to fly back inside. He had a bone to pick with that wannabe dragon.


    As he neared the entrance, he could hear everyone except Melindas crew, who knew he could fly with his Concept, start to panic.


    His AI was reporting that he would be on a four day healing cooldown when he saw what had happened during his impromptu flight.


    Even with his blocking the wyverns lunge, the beast was fast and vicious, quicklyshing out with its tail and cutting through Vinnies leg cleanly.


    Melinda had already moved to reattach the limb, but J had taken the opening to cut through the boss''s wounded leg, while Tara was able to finally put an arrow into the beast''s eye. Emily used that as a conductive rod to the monsters brain, and ended the fight with an overpowered [Jolt].


    Matt flew over to Melinda to get his healing cooldown removed, even if unofficially. He still needed to be able to delve as Quill, after all.


    Liz shot him a worried look, but didnt say anything.


    J apologized profusely for not positioning the teams better, but Matt waved her off. This boss outssed them and was smart. Mistakes were bound to happen.


    They had been delving for nearly a day and a half, and mistakes would always happen as fatigue grew.


    When they opened the rift distortion, they all paused. A shiny, overtly obvious bond egg sat on the ground. It was white with clear tips on the craggy edges, where Asters had been ice covered. But otherwise, the new egg looked simr in size and shape to Asters.


    Matt, along with everyone else, looked to Fen as the most obvious recipient of the bond.


    To his credit, Fen raised his hands and said, While I get it, we all earned this reward. Besides, I don''t think I can afford to buy out everyone else''s shares. He then dropped an interesting fact. There are no wyverns bonds, which means that isn''t a wyvern egg. I''d bet everything I own and can borrow that that egg contains a true dragon.


    That rekindled everyone''s greed to unimaginable levels.


    Rift-born dragon eggs were rarely sold, and always fetched a fortune. Most were bought by the beast kingdom to be raised by worthy people they hand-selected, and kept inside the dragonmunity. But they also reached the open market often enough for them to know that the price would exceed Tier 30 wealth.


    Everyone knew they couldnt ess most of that while on The Path, but just knowing that they would have a windfall awaiting them when they stepped off The Path made the offer tempting.


    Tier 30 wealth would ensure that they live like kings, or at least guarantee a smooth cultivation journey.


    Matt wasn''t interested. His dance card was already full with the ever-growing and learning Aster, but he watched everyone else and read the thoughts on their faces. A dragon with Liz could be interesting, but that would be a lot for her to focus on while giving her all towards thispetition. Another proverbial mouth to feed with essence wouldnt necessarily kill their growth speed, but it wouldnt help either. So, Matt sincerely doubted that she would be interested in the creature.


    To his surprise, J was the first to speak, even though it looked like someone was pulling her teeth with each word. I think Fen should still take it. It''s better to keep rewards on The Path. We couldn''t get most of the wealth, and when or if we do fall off The Path, we will have far more generous offers. I think the best choice is to keep this with one of the teams here.


    That caused everyone to look around. No one would say no to a dragon bond, but that same thought process meant that Fen was still the best person to take the egg.


    Js next words followed Matt''s own thought. And the best person to get the egg is clearly Fen. He has a Talent for it, which will ensure that the bond gets the best treatment and growth possible.


    Vinnie raised his hand and wiggled it in uncertainty. Is that true though? Fen already has his hands full. Will another bond be <em>better</em> treated with him, or being raised alone?


    Matt nodded at the point. It was valid.


    Matt could see that if someone truly wanted the bond for themselves, they could argue that the bond getting their full attention was better. As opposed to Fen having to split his focus equally between the bonds he already had. Bonds, like children, required a great deal of time and attention.


    That was enough for her team to nod reluctantly, but they all looked like they had swallowed a lemon as they looked to Fen.


    Fen nodded slightly but said, My Talent lets me bond with more than one beast, but it also lets all of us know each other''s thoughts and feelings to a degree. I call it my pack for a reason. We are all family, but I won''t contest if someone else wants a bond.


    Matt scanned everyone else to see their reactions.


    Deciding to let that argumente if it did, Matt paid careful attention to the micro-expressions and emotions of those around him.


    Vinnie, Tara, Sam, looked disinterested, and were scanning everyone else like he was. J and her team looked slightly more conflicted, but were also staring more at the people around them than the egg.


    Matt interpreted Melindas expression and bodynguage as more interested in the oue than getting the egg herself. She just stood by Mathew and whispered something to him while watching Fen and the others.


    Annie, Conor, and Emily all looked at the egg with naked desire, but there was a measure of restraint in their eyes. He had a good idea of their thoughts. They could use such a formidable addition to their team, but also agreed that Fen was the best to get the egg.


    Felixs thoughts were unknown to Matt, as the other man seemed to want the egg, but also was holding himself back.


    Liz asked a follow up question in the contemtive silence. How did you get your other bonds, Fen?


    That finally pulled his attention off of the egg and he smiled sheepishly. Rift rewards. I don''t have a Talent for it, but when I have an open slot for a new beast, I usually get an egg drop.


    Liz shrugged and said, That pretty much settles it. Bonds believe that the one they are meant for is the one they drop for most of the time. I''m not going to try and stop it.


    She looked around to everyone, but no one tried to counter her words.


    Felix looked the most conflicted, but in the end, he shook his head as he said, It wouldn''t really fit my style, but damn. It would have been cooler than any movie to fight from the back of a real, live dragon.


    That was enough to cut the tension, and the majority of those gathered around the small object chuckled together. Seeing that the matter was settled, Liz walked over and picked up the beast egg, then pushed it into Fen''s hands. He was reverent as he took it, but Liz still said, My mom is going to want to talk to you about this, so expect a visit.


    Seeing the surprised looks from everyone not in the know, she exined, My mom is Mara, Queen of the beast kingdom. She nodded to the egg. And dragon bonds are rare enough that the dragons are going to want to ensure that Fen can properly take care of a baby dragon. At minimum, theyll offer him a buyout, and if he turns it down, theyll assign a dragon to offer advice to the bond.


    Matt smiled as Lizpletely ignored the surprised looks from the revtion of her parentage, and the stupefied looks from everyone but Melindas team, even Emily, Annie, and Conors eyes winded at that bit of information. Seeing how open Liz had be about her heritage always made Matt happy, and she hadnt even hesitated to warn Fen in front of the others.


    J and Felix both had thergest reactions of the group, while the twins, Harvie and Adam, just looked tired and ready to pass out. Kevin didnt even seem to have heard thement, and just rested on the nearby wall, staring out to space.


    With that settled, Fen said, Ill pay this back as much as I can now, and then as we go on. I know you guys don''t really know my Talent beyond more bonds, but I promise that the dragon will be the best and strongest he can be with me.


    They weren''t five feet out of the rift when Mara appeared in a re of fire and nced at the egg.


    Matt half expected a joke or a quip to them, but she was cold and professional as she said, That''s a dragon egg, alright. The Queen of Beasts then looked at everyone else and asked, And you all agree to give it to Fen to bond with? Nost minute changes of your minds?


    When no one changed their mind, she smiled gently and said, Good. Im stealing Fen for a conversation, but know that I saw your generosity and level-headed determination to make the best choice. If any one of you want, when you fall off The Path, I, on behalf of the dragons, offer you all a boon. That''s standard procedure with rare bonds, though dragons take it even more seriously than most. We believe there is a reason that bonds drop for the groups that they do, and while we won''t stop a group from selling a bond, we prefer that it goes to its destined partner. So thank you.


    With that, Mara, Fen, and his bonds were just gone.


    No one else, except for their group, even seemed to have seen the exchange. But everyone who had seen the royal looked to Liz, who shrugged and just said, Told you.


    Before anyone could respond to her quip, Emily said, Look at our ranking!


    Her exmation caused everyone else to look at the board next to the rift, and they saw that they were firmly in first pce.


    The group in second ce had only a little more of half their points in the rating from the AI judges.


    Matt shuddered to think of how badly those other delves had to have gone, considering their own issues with multiple teams mixing, for them to earn that high of a ranking. Still, they were a firm contender for winning the first ce prize at the end of the month, which was two hundred points split between the teams evenly. Thirty three points per team wasn''t a small amount by any means, and would help them rise in the rankings.


    They all agreed to celebrate the next day, but as of now, everyone was tired, and they all wanted to go to sleep.


    ***


    One dayter, Matt donned his Quill persona over his Shawn identity, and went outside for a walk. Not for delving as they had thest two days, but for the project he had been working on since he saw the Burning Hearts guilds [Bandage] talismans.


    After he had seen the [Bandage] talismans being sold, he had asked Luna for a report on the guild and their actions. Nothing he learned had dampened his anger at the price gouging activities, which was why he was here to put on a show.


    By ident, he came across thergest stand selling the [Bandage] talismans for Tier 10 mana stones. It also had the benefit of being staffed by one of the guild''s upper echelon members. While none of the guild members selling the talismans here were low Tier, this man was one of the actual decision makers, so Matt had no qualms about making a scene in front of him.


    Instead of buying one and walking away quietly, as he had as Matt, he bought one then started examining it before tossing it back into the table.


    You want to charge people Tier 10 mana stones for this dog shit work? This is an embarrassment to enchanters everywhere. I want to vomit seeing such clumsy work, which would make these raggedy talismans very convenient, since wiping it up is really all theyre suited for. You didnt even use Tier 10 materials, or anything to even <em>begin</em> justifying the price. Its crap enchanting smeared across already crap-soaked toilet paper. This is shameless extortion by your guild, to an almost cartoonish degree.


    The man behind the counter had lost his smile, but kept his calm as he said, Those are bold and profane words, young man. Our people have worked hard on making a new and unique skill into a lifesaving measure. We charge more to recoup the cost of simplifying the Tier 8 skill into an enchantment that can be inscribed into talismans.


    Quill pretended to spit at the man''s booth.


    Having a mask was sometimes an annoyance for his performances.


    Are you serious? That just makes it even worse. He pointed down at the enchanted paper hed tossed back onto the table and then made a show of thumping the table before he spoke again. Your guild is taking a new life-saving skill that is extremely limited in supply, and then you threw your patent at the first faintly viable enchantment you stumble across! Then you cranked the price to the highest possible level you could get away with. All for a barely functioning prototype. I''d even ept that if Burning Hearts didnt <em>then</em> make the license for the design ridiculously expensive. You didnt even include the typical discounts or waivers for military and emergency medical use! All so that no one who would need such a spell can afford to make it, or buy it from anyone but you scoundrels. And most of them cant afford to buy from you anyway.


    The man interjected with a smirk, If you feel so strongly about it, we wee you to get the skill and make your own version. Then let''s see if you are so altruistic after all that effort. Research like this takes time and money. We arent monsters for ensuring that our R&D costs are recouped. Since that seems so unreasonable to you, why dont you do your own research and show us how it''s done?


    Quill let a smile grow across his mask and loudly shouted, You know what? Thats a great idea! I rather think I will. You may have obscured your enchantment so that it''s impossible to make knock offs, but I don''t need to copy your pathetic scribblings to make my own.


    He stepped into the air behind him, then floated above the crowd while raising his arms out to his side and shouted, They think that they have something we all need and want. A life saving item! The problem is that theyre right. If Im going to beat them at their own game, I need the actual [Bandage] skill to work off of. Is there anyone here who has the skill? I ask that youe to me and demonstrate the skill in action so I can make apletely free version for everyone to use. Theatrically, he bowed, crossing his arm over hisp before standing and loudly proimed, If you dont recognize me already, I am Quill, one of the top masked Pathers, and someone unwilling to stand by while we are all taken advantage of. I won''t pay anyone for their help, but I wont be taking anyones money either. Any enchantment for [Bandage] I make will be released to the public for free.


    Quill plummeted to the ground amid a near-silent crowd.


    No one approached him, but half a dozen people called out from enchanters in the crowd, eager to offer their help in his endeavor.


    He was going to ask Melinda to offer her services as his official [Bandage] skill source when arge man stepped forward and said, I have the skill. I was in that region of the Empire before the skill was realized to be as useful as it is, and already got one myself before the rush. If youre really willing to give the enchantment away for free, I am willing to let you study it.


    The volunteer shot a vicious re at the man behind the table before saying to the crowd, I don''t know if youve heard yet, but the guild isn''t only price gouging their goods here. Theyre selling to hospitals and worlds in general at the highest markup they can manage. A single one of those Tier 8 [Bandage] talismans costs more than the average Tier 8 worker earns in a decade.


    Quill did in fact know that from Luna''s report, but pretended he, like the rest of the crowd, was learning it now.


    That statement caused a murmuring in the crowd that Quill jumped on. See? The Burning Hearts are just profiteering scum who would put shameless greed ahead of saving people. It is detestable. Those who offered their expertise in enchanting, I just rented a work area and would wee your help. Tell your enchanter friends who know how to simplify skills toe as well. I''m confident in doing it myself, but more hands will help make the process faster.


    With that, more than half the crowd followed Quill and therge man, whose name was Ulster.


    He led them into a workshop, and after the enchanters were gathered around Ulster, they started to track the skill and try to work out the runes that they would need to create or merge to copy the effect of [Bandage].


    It was all theatrics.


    Matt had pumped his AI full with his crazy amount of mana generation during his down time and sleep over thest four days, directing it to make a Tier 5 enchantment version of the skill.


    Erwin had trained his AI well. Despite Lunas distaste for them, it had proven its worth by creating an enchantment rune for [Bandage] in less than a week. It wasn''t pretty, but it was functional.


    The firstyout that his AI created was audaciously inefficient, as were all the things he made with his own abilities in mind. Mana efficiency was readily sacrificed for better throughput and stronger effects since his AI knew and worked with his own Talent. It wasnt until the third iteration of the skill, which had been developed in the rift during their sleep break, that the AI returned a rune he felt satisfied with.


    By normal standards, this version was still moderately inefficient. But by his standards, it was downright economical.


    With the finished product already in his hand, Quill simply guided the others into <em>discovering</em> the runes and alignments needed. Despite him cheating shamelessly, the other enchanters seemed unbothered about taking the supporting roles. Most of them even had good ideas to offer about tweaking the design, and helped create a fourth variation that was better suited for the average enchanter.


    The work was still an incredibly arduous process. Taking a skill and tranting it into a runic formation that could be miniaturized, then simplified into something that a lower Tier crafter could replicate was an incredibly tedious andplex process. Few enchanters ever bothered with even the idea of aplishing it, and for good reason.


    One of the key metrics used in the rating of enchantments was the Tier of the enchantment. A Tier 5 enchantment meant that it was enchantable by the average Tier 5 enchanter, and could be put on Tier 5 materials without destroying or burning the items from the inside out. Unlike the proper skills, enchantments didn''t fall into narrow bands of drop rates and Tiers.


    Taking a Tier 8 [Fireball] and making a Tier 8 enchantment wasnt easy, but it was leagues easier than making a Tier 1 [Fireball] enchantment. Thetter needed to be simplified until a Tier 1 with the weakest of spiritual sense couldprehend it in its entirety, <em>and</em> burn it into an item.


    That was also only taking the example of a single,mon spell.


    With an entirely new skill like [Bandage], a second issue came up: there were no known runes that properly mimicked the skills effects. For something like [Hail], you could just take the same-Tier runes for ice, falling, and chill before shoving them into a diagram defining the size and intensity of the spell. That would let you fake the effect of [Hail], even if you didn''t have a simplified single rune for the skill.


    There were no Tier 8 healing spells, and the Tier 14 versions could only be stripped down so far before they became nonfunctional as an enchantment.


    That was the issue Matts AI burned over 200 million mana trying to figure out. It had to, from scratch, create an entirely new rune that would mimic the effects of the Tier 8 spell [Bandage]. The first draft of the rune had been Tier 12, but once it had the initial working prototype, it was able to quickly lower the Tier of the rune through subsequent iterations.


    The lower the rating for a rune, the better, but there were a number of factors that could make that rating higher or lower. Matts AI was only able to bring the enchantment level to Tier 5, but even then, it was <em>just inside</em> the upper expected limit of a Tier 5 enchanter.


    With the others'' help, Quill and his AI improved the efficiency and effectiveness, but it brought the skill into the lower level of a Tier 6 rune from the Tier 5 version his AI had originally made. Still, the decrease in mana usage was worth it for a public version.


    All the while, they kept pinging the patent AI repeatedly, it continually confirmed their ongoing design was sufficiently different from the Burning Hearts guilds patent.


    After a fifteen hour extensive session of enchantment work, the whole group walked out of the room together to meet arge crowd.


    Quill quickly noted that half a dozen Burning Hearts guild representatives stood in a huddle off to the side, their faces ranging from vindictive res to cock-sure sneers. Better yet, the vice guild leader Jacob was there.


    Their presence was mirrored by two dozen of Tur''stal''s Gardeners mixed into the crowd, though the guards were a bit more professional in their bearing. The crowd that started as a few dozen curious tag-alongs had grown into at least a thousand people gathered outside.


    Quill looked behind himself and knew that some of the other enchanters had spread the word to gather up for a show, and he couldnt me them.


    He had deliberately cultivated a persona that liked to make a ssh, after all.


    Before he could prepare for his speech, a message arrived to his AI from Jacob. The Burning Hearts guild is willing to offer you a very lucrative deal if you don''t offer that patent to the public. Making friends is always preferable to enemies, don''t you agree?


    Quill looked over to them and stered a sneer across his mask before jeering, Im sorry It''s better to make friends than enemies? Yeah, I don''t believe you know who youre talking to. You ingrates are a half-rate guild, and you want to threaten me? He looked around at the gathered crowd, a look of mock shock on his mask. You can barely paste together a viable enchantment and now youre stooping to threatening me, one of the top maskedpetitors here, to try propping up the shakedown youre running. You couldnt stop someone like me if you wanted to, even if I wasnt on The Path, and thus untouchable to the likes of you. Honestly, I bet I could dog walk my way through your guild with half my gear and my hands tied behind my back. All while being hungover from a three day bender. And I would <em>still </em>butcher the majority of you filthy animals. Make that threat again, I dare you. Can your Tier 15 guild leader cash the bill your mouth is wracking up?


    The leader, Jacob, was a man who looked to be in his forties with a touch of gray at the temple. He took a step forward and replied with an amiable smile stretched over his face. Oh my! I think you misunderstood, young man. That was hardly a threat. We just believe that anyone would be happier to make friends. And you don''t make friends by undercutting someone elses hard work. That''s not nice, after all. Everything would be much simpler if


    Quill raised a middle finger to the man in a salute that was cheered on by the majority of the enchanters behind him. That''s all you''ll get from me. Burning Hearts guild? I hope your future profit margins give you all heartburn.


    It was not his best pun, but he had been working on it for almost a day straight.


    With that, he rose into the air and announced, Myself and the seventeen other enchanters who worked on this project can report that weve seeded in the shortest of times. I''d like to also thank Ulster for being willing to reveal such a new and valuable skill, and allow us to test its effects.


    With an oversized smile on his mask, he finished, We are proud to present an only slightly subpar [Bandage] enchantment that we are not restricting in any way, shape, or form. It''s not the most efficient, or the prettiest work, but we confirmed that it works. Better yet, its sufficiently different from the current product on the market for the release to not be contested. With this, I wish everyone a wonderful evening.


    He turned around, but paused to make eye contact with the guild representatives. The way they red after him made their ire known. Matt knew, under his persona, that he had earned an annoying enemy today, but the total victory was worth it.


    Before he could leave, he received a message from Luna, which made him smile under the mask.


    The Guilds version of the enchantment was only a Tier 8, pushing Tier 9, runic version of the skill. It was why they were selling at Tier 10 prices. They could barely get the enchantment to take on Tier 8 materials, and they were trying to recoup all the money they could before someone did exactly what he had just done.


    He and his AI, along with the others, had created a staggeringly low Tier version of their product.


    The keys to their sess was his AI taking advantage of his mana generation, and being able to send mana into his AI while asleep. Having spent most of four days on the project, his AI used nearly 200 million mana designing the rune, basing it off of the skill in his spirit. It was a feat only made possible by having plenty of field testing to work with. Even so, it was still a lot of mana, especially when tranted into mana stones. He had spent the equivalent of two Tier 34 mana stones on the project.


    No one with that level of wealth was willing to burn so much valuable mana on a simple Tier 8 skill when there was a license they could buy.


    Matt simply could throw more mana at the problem than the guild could afford to as a Tier 15 guild. If they had that much mana, they would have never spent it on a simple Tier 8 skill. They would havemissioned a high Tier item, or bought some other valuable skill or material instead.


    Quill paused dramatically as he asked the guild representative, still ring up at him from below, What Tier was your enchantment?


    Jacob must have felt the executioner''s axe hovering over him as he tried to bluster, That''s proprietary information, we cant divulge that.


    Quill waved the words off and said, It matters not. Our version settled at the bottom of Tier 6. I suspect most decently aplished Tier 5 enchanters can manage to recreate the rune, once they get familiar with it. Oh, and our version can also scale to at least Tier 12 without substantial changes to the base structure.


    There were gasps in the crowd that told him that there were more than a few enchanters in the crowd who understood just how impressive that was, from less than a day''s effort.


    To add to the insult he added, Even better: heres a proper Tier 5 version of the rune. It''s a rough prototype and far too inefficient for practical use, but we still managed to make a Tier 5 rune. What was your runes Tier again? Oh yeah you wouldn''t share.


    As he turned to walk away, he called over his shoulder, Try to keep up boys, or at least don''t put out so much trash for the <em>real</em> enchanters to have to wade through, okay?


    His revtion that they had created a Tier 5 version, no matter how bad, set the crowd off again; but he didn''t stay to listen.


    He was about to escape when the news reporting duo, Page Woodrow with Diego Heart, descended on him. Their camera was already blinking with a red light, indicating that it was live. They looked as physically exaggerated as they hadst time he had seen them, but despite his dislike of their profession, he knew that this was a golden opportunity to sell his image and rune.


    Page shoved a mic into his face as she badgered, Quill! You say you just created a brand new rune in less than a day. Our experts say thats an impossible feat without a dedicated Talent for someone at your Tier. How much was that of your own work, and how much was it of your impromptu team? That same idea confirms the suspicions of most that you have a Talent to create talismans unique to yourself. What can you say about that?


    Quill sighed audibly as he felt the other enchanters and Ulster arrive at his back like ducklings following their mother.


    Diego took one of the enchanters, stepping forward slightly to put a mic in their face. The reporter let Curt, if his AI was to be trusted, answer his partners question. I can say without a doubt that we were just there to provide some extra muscle in the effort. As much as it hurts my pride, Quill could have made the same rune in maybe two days without our help.


    The other enchanters all nodded or spoke affirmations of Curts statement, but Quill interjected, While I won''t speak to my Talent, I do want to make sure that everyone knows that the enchanters behind me were incredibly valuable. I might have done a bit more of the leg work, but they took my rough designs and polished them up until they shone. The iteration I would havee up with would have been far, far rougher. Their contributions were much greater than they are implying.


    He thought he was going to be able to get away from them when Page asked, Our in-house enchanters are already praising your group''s efforts in the released version, and we have reports of at least two Tier 35 enchanters saying they will take up the mantle youve set before them. They are already working to help create even lower Tier, and more efficient versions of the rune for free as well. Was that your intention with your own design? Was that something that you wished to happen with this sort of interaction against a guild like the Burning Hearts?


    Quill leaned forward slightly, I am more than honored that others have taken an interest in the idea, but I simply feel things like this shouldnt be locked down behind extortionate patents, being locked away for half a millennium. Making a profit isn''t inherently bad, but when you push an inferior version of a product that can disproportionately help others, and save the lives of the lowest Tier of delvers and citizens, it''s just t out wrong. After Ulster said what he did, I looked into it during our breaks. The [Bandage] skill is critically useful for people of all Tiers who can''t be healed due to a healing cooldown, orck of a true healer, and this is something that needed to be distributed freely. But while high Tier people can use the skills, there are no low Tier healing talismans, as the only other known healing spells are Tier 14. As we all know, thats out of the price range of the average Tier 5, and there are a lot more Tier 5s than Tier 14s.


    He paused before taking a deep breath and saying, If a higher Tier with more experience takes this opportunity to make a hyper-efficient Tier 1 version, ps their name on it, and makes it free for everyone, I wish them the best of luck. If I could have done so myself, I would have. But a Tier 6 version is within reach of most enchanters, and they can make them for a small profit while helping to save lives. Theres a reason healing is free for everyone but delvers, who take injuries in a rift. No one deserves to die when it''s preventable, just to pad someone elses pocket. Hopefully, this can serve as a reminder of why such a policy was implemented in the first ce.


    He was turning away for a second time when he felt Page''s demeanor change, the set of her body and the tension in it physically shifted, if only momentarily.


    It was a subtle thing he wouldn''t have noticed before Lunas training, but he felt her get ready for a confrontation.


    Quill, we have people already questioning what happened here today. She tilted her head to the left slightly as she looked over to him from where her gaze had been at the camera. They wonder if this was just a public rtions stunt to help improve your image with your growing number of fans? And there are some among those fans, and even some of your fellow Pathers, who are making statements iming that youre only this capable from throwing money at your problems. Is there something you would like to say to the naysayers, and those using you of cheating? Those that are iming you aren''t really a good fighter in your own right?


    A message from Luna came in and gave a brief reminder of the delve that she and Kurt had done in the masks while he and Liz were in the group rift, so he justughed. Is it cheating, to be good, nay <em>the best</em>, at something? Is it cheating, for a cksmith to make a sword for their own use? Is it cheating, for Shadow to hide in darkness? If Im a cheat, then so is everyone, shy of perhaps Duke Waters. If someone wants to throw around schoolyard usations, I wee them to say it to my face like a grownup in a challenge ring, or on The Wild Side. I''m happy to show them how painfully effective my <em>cheating</em> is. Let those naive brats throwing tantrumse see what a real Pather looks like.


    As he inadvertently confirmed his Talent being one about talismans, he turned away and walked over to where Torch was standing, and they quickly jetted off to The Wild Side.


    Overall, he considered that a sessful encounter.


    Now, he just had to wait for todays fallout.

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148


    Allie shoved away from her desk and spun in her chair with a tap of her foot.


    She was on her third time around when her AI beeped with another fruitless scan.


    Her search query involved a possible identity of one of the masked Pathers, but she had to be careful to not directly search for anything important. If she carelessly searched for keywords rted to the identity in question, she would trip a million automated alerts. Monarch Harper, the head of the Empires intelligence bureau, took counterespionage very seriously, and plenty of foreign agents had flown straight into their webs by data mining the EmpireNet too explicitly.


    At that point, it wouldn''t matter how many proxies and false rys she hid behind. The Empire would burn all information rted to the masked Pather. Then they woulde looking for her.


    That didnt mean relevant information was impossible to find. Far from it.


    They had briefly intercepted an official backup of the EmpireNet six months ago and cloned it, giving them an offline way to search for most of the information they needed.


    Still, her investigation of the Gems came up empty. Again.


    Polyamory was hardly a unique or even rare trait, but it did limit the possible identities to a much smaller sub-group than any of other known criteria that they had. Yet despite searching for any mentions of polyamorous trios in official reports over thest decade, zero promising leads popped up.


    Even something as simple as a trio of people booking a single room for a Pather rift was usually enough to put her on the right scent. But so far, every hand she yed went bust. At this point, she was leaning towards the whole thing being a red herring. It would hardly be the first time maskedpetitors faked a rtionship to help throw inquisitive people off their trail.


    She pped her foot t on the ground, making a loud smacking sound as she stopped, facing Zack where he sat.


    Hopping to her feet, she walked over to where he was working and flopped bonelessly onto the back of his chair to look over his shoulder.


    I can''t find jack shit. Remind me who thought this was a good idea? Im bored, and this is dangerous work. It''s the worst of both worlds. She deliberately added a whine to her voice that she knew he couldnt resist responding to.


    Her friend did not disappoint. After holding firm in his stoicism for a moment, he gave up on staying silent. Well Allie, I seem to remember that a particr someone, which I must note was definitely <em>not </em>me, was and I quote, so super excited I might just climax right here and now for this when we first got our briefing.


    Even with the pair having been working in close proximity for almost a month straight, he still sat upright in his chair as if he had a metal rod shoved up and through his back. To disguise his utter annoyance, he shuffled through a pile of paper reports that had fallen out of a spatial ring and into theirps. Zack didnt think he would ever get used to her cavalier approach to her work. The reports were regarding food preferences of the masked Pathers, which he was trying to corrte to previous reports from Pather events.


    Allie knew that would be just as dead of an end as her own searches, but she hoped something came out of it to alleviate her boredom, if nothing else.


    She sighed. Yeah, someone should reach back in time and bitchp whoever suggested that.


    Not that it would have made any difference. It seemed so interesting at the time.


    Zack shrugged. Well at least see something interesting in He paused to check the feed of news reports. ...four hours and six minutes. The end of the first month''s events are about tomence, and Tur''stal has gathered everyone for an announcement.


    Allie knew that as well as he did, but she doubted anything woulde of it.


    The first weeks of events had been exciting and action-packed, with rampant spection and debate among the watchers. However, as the second week ticked over to the third, things had settled down into a monotonous grind. As the smaller events, like the legacy battles and nonprofessional crafting events would start, some more inspiring performances would be disyed. But currently, they were in the most boring phase of the tournament.


    Zack interrupted her moaning with a question that caused her to slump to the ground bonelessly.


    Anything turn up on the Scribbling?


    Dont. Just <em>dont</em>, Allie groaned, trying to not get into this argument again.


    Zack asked anyway. Its something we know must lead somewhere. If


    She interrupted him again.   ! Yes, I know. Quill must have a history of interaction with the guilds, and/or ess to an insane amount ofputational resources. I already did all the searching we can without scouring for smaller sources on the live servers.


    Allie half-heartedly rolled over the cool ground to dodge Zack as he stood and went on his rant for the thousandth time. To mess with him, she started to mouth his words along with him.


    Creating apletely new rune in just hours isn''t something that just <em>happens</em>, Allie. Most Tier 20 enchanters would take a month or longer to make even a Tier 8 rune based on a well known skill.


    Allie pulled a beer from her spatial storage, and while she drank, mimicked Zacks words with her hand instead. Her thin fingers waggled in the air as his own hands began to wring together excitedly. This topic, to her chagrin, had been fascinating for him to delve into. His passion was well meaning, if a tad boring, and was easily mimicked.


    This is either something he prepared months, or even years ahead of time, or his Talent is drastically moreplex and powerful than we first thought. You dont just pull a new rune, let alone such an astonishingly abridged one, out of thin air in front of trillions of people and millions of on-site crafters. And if you miraculously can, why arent you walking the crafter side of the Path!? We <em>already</em> ruled out him walking the line between the Paths. If he were, the Empire would be promoting him as the potential Duke Waters of enchanting right now.


    Allie already knew all of this. When they witnessed Quills stunt, she had been bbergasted, but Zack had been more dibobted than she had seen him in over a century.


    He, along with every other enchanter, had acquired the first rune that Quill released to the public and studied it. Themon refrain among experts called it rough, but brilliantly inspired work.


    When Quill had then offhandedly released a Tier 5 rune at the end, her partner lost what little shit he had remaining. Allie smiled at the memory of it, fighting the urge to watch the recording of it that she had saved to her AI as he thered on.


    Anyone else might have tossed tables and rampaged, or maybe even spat and shaken a fist, but Zack simply cursed twice and joined in the mid Tier crafters debates under a false identity. He surfed and searched and started to rip apart the hasty scribble, so dubbed because of the speed and rtive crudeness it was made under. One prominent figure in themunity was widely quoted as calling it a sloppy, drunken masterpiece.


    For two full days after the Scribbling, hed done almost nothing but join in the raging EmpireNet debates as to its construction. Seeing her partners rigidposure slowly deteriorate as he argued with the denizens of the EmpireNet was a much needed reprieve from her boredom, but it hadntsted.


    The news had treated the Scribbling with a curious level of indifference which she agreed was odd. They simply talked about how it was interesting, but otherwise not more important than the original patent release. Someone was putting pressure on the stations to not make a fuss, but that could be the Empire proper, or bribery from the higher Tier guilds and corporations. They would hardly want another round of copycat activists making free products again.


    The talking heads were significantly more interested in running fluff pieces about the Tier 35 enchanters who had already started an officialpetition to make a lower Tier [Bandage] rune, all while touting the boy''s altruism.


    But under the surface, all of the professional crafters were obsessed with the second rune.


    Idiot savant was how Zack reported their findings.


    Parts of the rune were apparentlypletely new in their methodology, enough so to likely warrant an inspiration at such a low Tier. Meanwhile, other portions were so obviously ass-backwards that no one understood why such a prodigious talisman maker had left them so totally unpolished. Allie had stopped him and ordered him to exin what he meant by that, and he just red at her for a moment.


    Anyone who is able to create the core of a Tier 5 or Tier 6 runeeven a Tier 10 who is capable of that featshould have been able to solve some of the issues we see in the Tier 5 rune. It''s a rough first work, but He took a moment topose himself before adding, Think of it like someone building a brick wall. You have the foundation, the bricks themselves, and the mortar. A professional would do things like go back and ensure that the mortar doesnt seep out and make the wall look poorly constructed. Theyd tap any bricks that shifted out of ce while the wall settled and whatnot. I don''t know what else; Im not a wall-maker! They make shit clean and presentable at the end of a project, you know? But this! Quill has half the wall constructed perfectly, but then a random brick is turned sideways, or is just missing, and mortar is seeping out of the cracks in some ces. If he was able to create the rune in the first ce, which is <em>obviously</em> not an easy feat, these mistakes are ones that you just don''t expect him to be making!


    He threw up his handsreally only a flick of the wrist. But to Allie, it may as well have been him shaking his fists at the sky, given how controlled he normally was. Still, he quickly went back to his keyboard-warrioring. The analogy was weird, but if Allie understood it correctly, almost everything about the rune functioned in a manner that it shouldnt. It wasnt pretty, but it got the job done, and that bothered a lot of people.


    Allie could respect that. Pretty didnt always matter, especially in the kinds of situations where someones life was on the line. Sometimes it was better to have a shitty wall than no wall at all.


    Over those two days, Zack grew more and more irritated with the other crafters as they experimented with applying some of the amateurish changes to their own runes, to see if Quill was secretly onto something else.


    While she hadnt asked Zack, he had already taken and re-enchanted half of their gear after the event, making use of the new runes and methodology.


    Allie, this isn''t a joking matter. There are two prevailing scenarios here, both of which are startling. Either Quill has an oundishly powerful Talent that enabled him intuit the rune in mere hours


    Which <em>is</em> the leading theory.


    Zack nodded. For good reason too. The alternative is theres a shadow group behind him feeding him the information. And most importantly, theyre somehow getting away with it.


    That second possibility was more worrying. If that was the case, they would have a damnable time investigating and pulling it all apart, and management would <em>definitely </em>order them to. If only to see if they could replicate the groups methods themselves. Plus, with the number of factors intersecting here, the shady details all-but-promised to be worth knowing.


    Pathers being backed by outside organizations was explicitly against the rules, but it had happened before. Unlocked masks were not easy to get a hold of, but neither were theypletely impossible to steal or forge.


    Around twenty thousand of years ago, someone got their hands on a surplus mask and then pretended to be on The Path during the Tier 10 tournament, recruiting a group of specialists to help them pull it off.


    Theysted all of two weeks before their organization was uprooted and publicly punished.


    The fact that Quill was still moving around unhampered mostly likely meant that he was clean, or his background was notable enough to hinder his removal. The next best possibility was that releasing the rune straight into the public domain might be keeping him in a legal gray area of sorts. In this scenario, Quill was essentially just the frontman for a mysterious nonprofit. The rules against outside backing were not explicitly written with the consideration that a Pather might exploit outside help without actually receiving <em>any</em> benefits themselves. He had certainly gained public recognition from the stunt, but whether that qualified as prohibited assistance could depend on what Quill did with it. Which, in turn, might be connected with the mainstream medias strange reticence to praise him for the Scribbling.


    She let Zack rant for a while about how he wanted to get his hands on Quill for a few hours before she shot to her feet.


    Tur''stal''s announcement was about to begin, and at least that was something she hadnt heard before.


    ***


    Matt found the remaining two weeks of the month to be far more simple. At least, he did in his real identity.


    Quill had garnered too much attention, and it had bit them in the ass.


    To his and Lizs amusement, Quill was being hailed as a hero of themon, low Tier people, while being vilified by the guilds and many of his fellow Pathers. Now, any time they went to the Wild Side of the Garden, they were quickly beset upon by more than half the teams they encountered, leading to a massive, chaotic, free-for-all fight.


    They won cleanly against all of their fellowpetitors, including the ones who had bothered to ambush them. Annoying as it had been, the majority just weren''t near the level necessary to challenge them, but each victory just added to a resentment-based feedback loop.


    People despised him either for hoarding the limelight and newsworks attention, or because they bought into the rhetoric that he was paying to win the tournament.


    ording to their logic, his talismans had to cost an absurd amount of money to make, and yet he threw them around like they were dirt off the ground. That,bined with their excellentbat records, actually ignited arge enough public outcry to prompt an official investigation into Quill and Torch for cheating.


    Nothing came of it. Tur''stal personally released a statement verifying their innocence. Yet instead of dampening resentment, it only seemed to stoke the mes higher.


    Everyone either abhorred or adored Quill. No middle ground existed.


    Matt, on the other hand, was beinguded as a direct inverse to that bastard Quill and his greedy spendthrift ways. The time he spent freely sharing mana in the various tea houses or coffee houses made a huge difference for a lot of the Pathers and their exhausted mana reserves, buying him more than a little good will.


    He and Liz found it amusing, but harmless overall.


    Less harmless, though, were the guilds themselves.


    Apparently, his little stunt had tweaked the nose of far more guilds than just the Burning Hearts. Numerous organizations feared Quill would undercut them too, and in a rather odd statement of solidarity, they banded together to conspire against him.


    Rumors spread of them resorting to everything from contracting assassins on The Path, to trying to identify and unmask him. ording to the hottest gossip, they were even going as far as paying otherpetitors to target them.


    Luna confirmed thatst tidbit as fact, but rejected any suggestion of stopping them. As she repeated, they needed to be challenged if they wanted to grow. Plus, actions had consequences, and this was a practical lesson in that.


    For now, instead, Matt took note of the guilds involved and added them to his shitlist. At the same time, he didnt go out looking for trouble with any of them directly. Not yet. Instead, he focused on the most immediate repercussion of his actions in creating low Tier runes.


    In the days and weeks after his reveal, millions of messages flooded in begging him to recreate various runes at a lower Tier.


    That, far more than attempts to kill him, was terrifying. People desperately wanted help and were pleading with him to solve their problems.


    The majority of the messages asked for simplified versions of other patented runes and they mostly fell in two distinct groups.


    The first category consisted of more honest and simple people asking for things like a lower Tier version of the [Purify Water] rune that they wouldnt have to pay for. Those were understandable, even if he couldn''t actually refine a Tier 3 rune into a lower version at his current Tier.


    Matt empathized with those pleas for help. They weremon folk searching wherever they could for a helping hand.


    Based on the messages, hepiled a list of ten other runes he wanted to prioritize in theing year. In addition to the good that having those runes avable would do, it would also let him vet more enchanters and other crafter Pathers for his future guild. Anyone willing to spend their time during such a crucial tournament with little to nothing to gain were the type of people he wanted to recruit. Those would be the people he would see shine, and who would create the best goods for the Empire.


    The guilds be damned. He honestly couldnt care if they got upset. In fact, he was looking forward to giving them an even worse headache than the one hed given them thus far. One message in particr pointed him toward an idea that would make the guilds indignant at the potential loss of revenue should he pull it off.


    A number of runes, especially forplex formations, had never been simplified. Tier 15 and higher runes were often kept under lock and key by the stronger and more specialized organizations.


    While he doubted that he could solve those issues at his current Tier, his mana generation would only grow, which would make the problem easier and easier to tackle.


    In any case, any guild, noble house, or corporation opposed to his altruistic actions had no ce except for his do not help or interact with when I start giving out billions of free mana list.


    The money they made from the low Tier patents was negligible as far as overhead was concerned, almost to the point that most entities didnt bother to restrict runes below Tier 5. The value they earned from sales mattered far less than the good publicity they could earn from giving it away cheaply, or even for free. That didnt mean there wasnt profit to be had, just that it wasnt as crucial as other benefits.


    People at the lower Tiers would always need practice with how to make things and improve them, so making the lowest Tiers ofmon runes free was worth it for both the guilds and craftsmen. Coupled with the fact that there were far more low Tier rifts across the Empire, you had a decent-sized market to grow your pool of customers from a seemingly altruistic act, like making low Tier runes free.


    And what pulled them in better than quality gear and expendable items? The warm fuzzy feeling they got buying from someone who imed to be working for them and their safety.


    But some saw any potential earnings as lost earnings, and refused to let realized profit slip through their fingers, much like the Burning Hearts.


    It was the second category of messages that were less savory: others were asking and willing to pay big money for theirpetitors'' runes to cripple theirpetition in a specific field.


    Matt didnt just throw those veiled offers away. Instead, he made sure he saved the list of the perpetrators in a <em>very</em> special ce.


    The entire event showed him a darker side of humanity that he knew existed, but didnt appreciate being pulled into. Let alone having it pointed at him, like a dagger at his throat.


    He still didnt regret his taking a stand. He had gotten a message from Mara and Leon saying that they knew of the attempts on Quill''s character and life, and would take action if he wanted.


    The fact that they had his back unconditionally warmed his heart, but he told them to let whatever wasing,e. Any assant at his own Tier was just good training. Anyone stronger taking the contract would enable Luna or Kurt to act. Either way, he wasn''t too worried for now.


    Seeing the smear campaign that the threatened guilds ran would have been amusing if it wasn''t directed at him.


    He took sce in the fact that only jealous people currently in the Tier 10 tournament seemed to be buying into the drivel at all.


    Matt understood, even if he begrudged the small mindedness of people.


    Still, the month had crept towards its end, as well as the consequent, inevitable reset of rift rankings. As Matt and Liz, they had actually managed to top the ranking for their multi-team delve into the wyvern rift. Despite their problems and bloody final boss fight, their run proved much cleaner than any other alliance of teams that braved the challenge.


    On that same note, Fens baby wind dragon hatched. All of the teams from the delve were invited to watch her birthday. Together, the rest of the group fought to save the wee dragon from the atrociously cliche names that Fen intended to curse the poor thing with, like Windy and Storm. It had taken some time, but in the end, they had persuaded him that if he really needed a sky based name for the female dragon, they could do better.


    Baby Azure was an inquisitive dragon hatchling who explored endlessly, and was constantly getting into trouble while trying to fly, despite her undeveloped wings. It reminded Matt of his first months with Aster, but in a more scaly way.


    As Liz warned, an older water dragon, Joshuah, now tagged along with Fen. The elder beast chaperoned Baby Azure when her bond delved, and ensured that the hatchling understood her connection to the greater dragon society. There was an agreement made between Fen and the Dragons as a whole, giving Azure at least the year he spent in the tournament at Tier 1 so she could enjoy her childhood. It was something Fen had had no issue with, and readilyplied with.


    Joshuah was pleasant enough to interact with, but was clearly dedicated to Baby Azure above everything else, and never let a conversationst longer than it had to. Not even with Liz, though she never tried to take up the man''s time by asking questions, like some of the others did.


    They had brought the little dragon to meet Aster on one of their weekly meetings in the visitor center, which had been amusing. Aster had immediately adopted the little dragon, and somehow got her invited to the gathering of bonds she had started.


    Matt made her promise to not to lose any more bonds in her grand adventures too, which she was sour about. He had ignored her indignation at losing five of the bonds in the very park they had passed out in, and the further shenanigans they got up to when searching for their missing friends. It was a good thing Mara had picked up the bill because he didn''t want to even remotely liable for what they had done.


    Still, Baby Azure enjoyed her time with the other beasts and apparently made some good friends, ording to both Aster and Fen.


    But besides Matt and Lizs one big ssh in the rift rankings, Quill and Torch had also been at the top of the rankings for three rifts in the Wild Side, and two in the Safe Zone of the.


    They had actually done the winning delves themselves, rather than having Luna and Kurt win for them.


    Luna and Kurt delving for them, and inevitably earning points for them, had been an odd problem to have. But they had settled it by just having Matt and Liz furiously spend those points on the luxury services that the offered. It was a decision that only exacerbated their reputation for extravagant wastefulness, and the resulting hatred aimed at those identities.


    Or rather, aimed at Quill. Torch seemed to sit above the endless contempt, despite enjoying all the same benefits, a situation that Liz endlessly teased him about. One thing that Matt was able to throw back at her, at least, was that the stoic, grunting woman had earned herself a band of super fans. They organized club that called themselves the Light Bringers and worshiped her visage in a manner that made Liz blush in frustration.


    Mattughed as he found an edited image of her on the EmpireNet forum for the group. He had joined the forum right away, as the poster was too good to resist. It showed Torchs spear pointed at theirtest attackers, with a caption that said, Allow me to light your way back to the Garden.


    The entire incident had urred because she had prevented her mes from hitting a pretty flower, and it had gone viral on the tournament world, and in the Empire as a whole. Most thought she was trying to protect the flower for its beauty, when in reality, Liz had been hoping the flower was a unique alchemy ingredient.


    The incident had earned the quiet Mask a following that only grew day by day.


    When he had shown the picture of her inspecting the flower to Liz, she had covered her face and groaned. Ohe on, they cant even be original!


    Despite the levity of the situation, the issue with the guilds and the surly Pathers left them in an awkward situation for the uing event that Tur''stal''s was holding.


    Ideally, they would attend as Matt and Liz, but Luna had warned that going as Quill and Torch would be better for what was nned. The problem was, he and Liz weren''t superfortable with Luna and Kurt pretending to be their real selves and interacting with their friends.


    That just felt wrong. It was dishonest in a very personal way.


    Still, they took their manager''s suggestion, and were standing on a stage with everyone else who had topped a ranking.


    They were, it turned out, closer to Tur''stal than their real identities because of their higherpletion rate. They were actually in the top ten for most won events as a team, though they knew that wouldn''tst once the other events started in the uing months. At that point, they wouldn''t have the time to dedicate to delving, as they would need to focus on the main events rather than their delves. Because of that, their overall ranking would start to slip.


    Ten minutes before the start of the event, Tur''stal appeared and pped twice, which stilled the air and ceased all noise in the venue.


    Good afternoon, my charges. I hope you have had a <em>fruitful</em> time in my lovely little garden.


    The Tier 47 paused and smiled at everyone who looked up and over to her.


    She seemed to meet everyone''s eyes individually before she moved on. As this first monthes to a close, I would like to congratte everyone. You have worked hard, and the results make that obvious. I expect the same to continue as the next eleven months fly by.


    She gestured to her right, where the top ranking teams were. I would like to make special note of the ten teams who topped the most leaderboards.


    Quill and Torch were introduced, along with everyone else, as Tur''stal went down the list. He found it interesting that half of the leaders in the overall points ranking were also among the top ten masked Pathers, and the other five were all still in the top twenty.


    When Tur''stal reached Quill and Torch, she changed up her introduction. I''m sure everyone knows Quill and his partner Torch. Some of you have met their staff and spear, while others have followed the tale of Quill inventing a brand new rune for the Empire.


    The smile that crept onto the royal face neared a smirk as she continued, As some of you are no doubt aware, there has been a public outcry amongst the people of the Empire to reward Quill with points for his contribution toward the greater good of our beloved Empire. Personally, I tend to agree.


    She let that statement build the resentment in the other Pathers in the tournament. Matt could feel every eye on him trying to burn a hole in his chest. If Tur''stal''s idea was acted upon, there was no way he wouldn''t instantly top the points ranking.


    While the people of the Empire might like that, the peoplepeting against him were vehemently against any such action.


    Tur''stalughed slightly as she continued, Sadly, rules shall not be changed mid event to benefit one singlepetitor.


    A collective audible sigh swept through the crowd at those words.


    At the same time, we recognize the extraordinary event that happened, and my fellow Royal, Rusty has already agreed to provide a particrlyrge bonus for creating and releasing a rune free for the Empire in the next Tier 10 tournament.


    Quill fought the urge to re at both Tur''stal and the unseen Rusty, but maintained a neutral expression and bodynguage through sheer force of will, despite every eye shifting back to him.


    Tur''stal looked up and to the side before a grin snaked its way on to her face. But this year, we have our own nned events. I have invited a special guest, and here shees.


    Everyone looked to where Tur''stal turned, but saw and felt nothing for nearly ten minutes.


    Then they saw it.


    A speck of yellow appeared flying in from space.


    As it drew closer, they finally got a good look, and cries of surprise and excitement broke out from the crowd.


    An amber yellow dragon with a vibrant violet discoloration on their chest was immediately identifiable.


    L Worldwalker.


    <em>The</em> L Worldwalker.


    The Empires Ascender just before Duke Waters.


    Rumor had it she was in the Tier 40s, and preparing to ascend to the higher realm soon. A rumor most strongly driven by the fact she had stepped down from her position as head of the premiere exploration guild, and sequestered herself from the public view.


    And yet, here she was.


    The massive yellow dragonnded to deafening shouts and cheers.


    Quill now understood why Luna advised them to choose these identities. At this moment, they stood a mere twenty feet from the legendary Roaring Sandstorm herself.


    Despite not being the Ascender of their own generation, like Duke Waters, L Worldwalker was still a widely celebrated hero in her own right. Even little orphan Matt had been taught of the woman and her meteoric rise through the Tiers.


    She was actually a rift-born bond whose partners Talent gave her sapience from the moment of her hatching, and she immediately chose to join The Path of Ascension, creating an interesting reverse of most situations, like Matt and Aster.


    L, as a dragon, was not given good odds toplete The Path due to the narrow time restriction. Defying all early predictions, she quickly emerged as a monster of a cultivator.


    Dragons, as a species, grew slowly. Even at Tier 1, they had to live nearly two hundred years before being considered young adults. Therefore, they would effectively need to finish the entirety of The Path in their childhood. They also required decidedly more essence per Tier than a human or the average beast.


    L had not let any of that stop her, or even slow her down.


    With her innate control over sand, she crushed anyone who stood against her, and then protected the Empire throughout the middle of Emperor Georgio''s reign, before stepping down and reaching Tier 36. Her retirement came a few thousand years before the changeover of leaders.


    With a flurry of wind, L settled next to Tur''stal and roared into the sky.


    The entire world trembled with the crowd''s cheers before L shrunk and twisted into the form of a human woman.


    Her sandy hair contrasted sharply with otherwise dark skin, and all the more with the purple diamond-shaped mark on her sternum. That particr feature was only visible thanks to a notably deep neckline, the single apparent concession to fashion her otherwise simple outfit gave.


    Anyone elseing to such an event with clothes that seemed better suited to hard physical work would have been inappropriate, but who was going to tell an Ascender that they needed to dress better?


    Quill was sure that anyone ballsy enough to do so would earn a one way trip to the hospital if they were lucky, or the dragon''s stomach if they were not.


    L Worldwalker smiled and waved to the crowd. Hello, everyone


    Not another word could be heard as the crowd of young Pathers boomed with cheers.


    The dragon in human form let the cheering die down before continuing, Ah. Its good to see all of you. And there are so many. Far more Pathers are still here at Tier 10 than in my time. It''s amazing to see how far we havee as a nation.


    A second round of cheering fired off, but L just smiled through it.


    Ill always remember what it was like during my time at this event. It was a grand ole time. I lost half my tail and a wing during my final fight in the team battles. She winked, To any of my fellow solo delvers, I do wish you the best of luck in those uneven battles.


    She then looked to everyone who had topped one of the leaderboards and smiled at them, I have heard of the new points system and ranking of the delves. What a wonderful idea, and when I heard of it, I requested a chance toe see it myself.


    The dragon nodded to Tur''stal, who smiled back.


    While I can''t and wouldn''t want to give you all much, I can do a few things. For the months remaining in thispetition, I will be spending some time with any team who manages to top a leaderboard. The more top spots you take, the more time I will be able to spend with you.


    This time it wasn''t only Quill getting red at on the raised tform that Tur''stal had put them on. Everyone who had not pushed themselves to take first ce on at least one leaderboard now regretted it, and red at the lucky few with the chance to meet and interact with the legend.


    Lughed at the looks, This was why we didnt warn anyone beforehand. I thought it might be more interesting this way.


    She let the res intensify for a while, before bringing everyone''s attention back to her by walking down the line of people.


    The Ascender stopped at Fen and Baby Azure, who seemed star-struck at the older dragon.


    L scooped up the baby dragon as if she weighed nothing before walking back to her ce next to Tur''stal, saying, Sorry, this was a surprise to me, and I couldn''t resist. It''s so rare to see other dragon bonds, let alone a newborn. Her hand morphed into a w-like shape as she grinned and tickled the baby dragons stomach scales, making her legs kick at the air in delight before L looked up and continued to speak. Anywho, I will spend two hours with each team who takes a ce on the leaderboards going forward. Some of you will have substantial time with me, and Im happy to give you some advice on your styles, or just chat.


    Quill internally snorted at thatst bit. Who would waste such an opportunity with a living legend? Hordes of people would kill for just fifteen minutes in the Ascender''s presence. Inparison, they were getting two hours alone with her where they could ask for her help, at least. Those who had done better, like he and Torch had, would be getting far more time.


    L then officially reset the leaderboard with Tur''stal''s blessing, and the next monthmenced.


    Quill and Torch were fourth to meet with L, and both Matt and Liz felt nervous.


    Liz had zealously idolized the older dragon from a young age. Meanwhile, Matt was just excited to actually meet an Ascender; Duke Waterss video messages about them teaming up with Cami did not count in that regard.


    When they entered the building set aside for the meetings, they were ready for a lot of things, but not to hear the older dragon say, I can''t really help train you two.


    There was a smile ying at the corners of her lips that seemed to be trying to escape, but she took a sip of her tea instead as the light yed across her eyes.


    In the seat across from L, Luna appeared without warning. Their manager smirked at them and their ck jaws. What? Who do you think her manager was?


    L burst outughing while Quill and Torch stared at their manager.


    L shrugged. I can''t teach you anything that Luna couldn''t or wont, so let''s just enjoy some food and get to know each other. Share some stories and lie through our teeth about them.


    Luna pointed at their masks. You can remove those if you like. L knows how to see through them as well as any of the Royals.


    Liz shot Luna a re as she pulled off both masks. You knew, and sent us here in the masks anyway, didnt you?


    Luna didnt even try to deny it. I have to amuse myself somehow. I''m considered the best manager because I <em>make Ascenders</em>. Its kind of my specialty. Both L, <em>her</em><em>predecessor, </em>and<em> his predecessor </em>were trained by me, and I also made quite a variety of <em>almost</em> Ascenders. The waterboy should have been mine too, but the timing was all off. At least he still turned out <em>okay</em>.


    Matt pulled off his Quill mask, then the Shawn one, before setting down next to Luna, giving Liz the ce of honor.


    L winked at him at the shrewd move, but said nothing about it.


    L proved an excellent conversationalist. They spent their hours together chatting about andparing their time on The Path of Ascension, before L moved on to what the two of them could expect after Tier 25, when they would spend their time protecting the Empire.


    L didnt hold anything back from them. ording to her, if they had Lunas training and her confidence inpleting The Path, then they would. She didnt need to know their real abilities or Talents. She just trusted in her former manager and trainer.


    You kids have it worse than I did. I only dealt with two defensive wars, and one offensive war, during my time as an Ascender. But you have your work cut out for you. Still, you have at least two other sets of Ascenders to help you, which will lessen your burden.


    Soon, they turned the topic to Ls own time as one of the Empires Ascenders, and she was a font of information and warnings.


    Youre going to end up as the clean up crew. It always happens if theres an Ascender. She paused at that before wobbling her head back and forth. Maybe not with Light and Shadow, but probably. Duke Waters is a fucking wrecking ball, and will continue to be sent to the most dangerous missions, or to shore up a weak spot. But mostly likely the first. Light and Shadow specialize in their own brand of fighting, and while they are good at what they do, they are best used on the defense, in my opinion. That leaves you two to make and clean up messes, and act as an Empire wide quick reaction force.


    The dragon grinned at them. Which ironically puts you in the position of most solo Ascenders. I spent most of my time during actual wars running from ce to ce and putting out fires for Georgios. There was this one time when we got into a scuffle with the Monster Collective, and Georgios didnt want t out war, but refused to cede the Tier 22 world and its connecting branches. I got sent in, and was told to nt my scaly ass on the and not move. I was only Tier 31 at the time, but the Collective sent dozens of Tier 31s to fight me. I ended up fighting against well trained and coordinated teams of their best up-anding fighters. Thankfully they didn''t have an Ascender at the time, and eventually I killed or injured enough of their fighters to make the world not worth it for them.


    L paused at that, and looked off into the distance for a few seconds. Matt and Liz kept quiet, allowing her to process whatever she was remembering.


    Anywho. A thing to remember, even though your handlers in the Army will beat this into your heads. If you aren''t fighting the Sects, try to spare people when you can. If you can take them prisoner, all the better. But needless killing when you can avoid it will not help your image. Also, it will be easier for you to win fights if people know that they won''t die if they lose. People fight the hardest when they know their backs are against the wall.


    She leaned over and spat. Fucking Sects are an exception to the rule. Kill every one of them with no quarter given. If you try to be merciful, theyll surrender and y nice until theyre inside your base, then detonate their cores to kill themselves and everyone around them.


    Matt didnt need to be a genius to understand that there was a story behind thatment, but L pulled herself together quickly. He wasn''t brave enough to ask further questions about what was obviously a sore topic.


    Being kind will thirdly keep your ass alive if you end up getting into a situation where you can''t win, and need to surrender. L shrugged. Dont give me that look. It''s rare, but it happens sometimes. You can''t win against a million people of the same Tier, and might get trapped. It happens.


    Her grin told a different story from her words. Never to me, mind you. I was far too good for something like that. But I did manage to capture the Corporations'' Ascender when he overextended in a border dispute against the Guilds, and crossed into our territory. She let out a long, wistful sigh. I''d never seen Georgios so happy as when I delivered him an Ascender wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. The ransom we got from those guys for his safe return was enough to triple my hoard overnight. Good times. <em>Good times</em>.


    Matt tried to imagine it, but failed to grasp the magnitude of that feat.


    The stories had lulled L into a jovial mood, and she ended up spinning them a tale that Matt felt was more than half embellished. It was about how she got the chance to ransack two of the then stronger Republic''s Tier 42s, or at least the governors'' estates of thoses.


    ording to her, she had singlehandedly fought through hundreds of Tier 35s before reaching the vault, and being unable to break into it in a timely manner, had decided to just carry the Tier 45 vault off the and through chaotic space. Apparently, she had to fight off more and more pursuers before eventually forcing her way out of an encirclement with her prize still clutched in her ws.


    Even if she had exaggerated the entire story, she was an excellent orator and drew both Matt and Liz deep into the events with her descriptions of the fighters who tried to stop her grand heist.


    As the hours ticked on, they learned a lot about the older Ascender before they finally left with her personal AI contact information, and the offer to message her at any time they wanted to chat.


    Neither could really believe it, but they waited to have their geek-out moment in the privacy of their own room.


    When they met L officially as Matt and Liz, as a part of their group who tackled the group rift, they had to pretend it was their first meeting. But that was easily done by following the lead of the others who were meeting the Ascender for the first time. Azure took up a portion of Ls attention, but she still gave everyone good advice and suggestions, even while cooing at the baby dragon the whole time.


    The arrival of L shook things up, and thepetition for the next month''s top rankings was increasingly fierce as the halfway mark of the second month neared. Fewer teams were able to hold as many first ces, as teams who had been trying to hide some of their abilities started to show hidden cards to secure a meeting with L.


    What Matt and Liz found most interesting was the first rift they had delved. They actually only ranked second, despite their incredibly fast runing in at just under an hour and a half. Another team had taken first ce, despite taking over an hour longer than them.


    It was something only made possible by the other team killing more bosses than they had, meaning there was a fourth, hidden boss somewhere in the rift that they would need to find.


    They nned to take another, closer look at the rift, but they had already used both of their chances to delve the rift for the second month. They needed to wait until the third month to enter the rift again.


    With that disappointment, they could only wait with bated breath until the next reset to see what other secrets the rift held.


    In the meantime, they were preparing to tackle the endless rift under both sets of identities in the next week.


    It was time for all their identities to make a ssh.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149


    In their preparations for taking on the endless rift, Quill and Torch spent arge portion of their time on the Jungle side of the, further honing their skills and earning points. Currently, they were tracking a Tier 14 death knight that had been wandering around the adjacent zones. They wanted to take it out for the massive bounty of forty points.


    Matt and Liz, or at least those identities, were currently in a rift to help make it all the more unlikely that the two identities were the same. Quill and Torch, on the other hand, were just returning from the safe side of the. There, they had spent nearly thirty points at the Pather lounge to burn the points that Kurt and Luna had earned for them.


    That was actually where they heard the news about the roaming death knight and its bounty. The expensive and private lounges had exclusive contracts that rewarded the team thatpleted them a ton of points.


    Most were reasonably challenging bounties that the top ten percent of teams couldplete, but some were too hard for the average team on the second floor. Quill and Torch had only learned of the death knight because a Tier 13 Shadow Sparrow had been released, with a point reward of thirty points to the team that sessfully captured or killed it.


    None of them had any desire to track down the bird itself, but it clued them into the existence of the open contracts as the news spread to the Pathers around them. Checking into the lounges job board themselves, they were able to sift through the various postings, like the one on the death knight. When they came upon the forty point reward, they immediately wanted to go after it.


    Quill kept his eyes forward as he watched the death knight walk around a tree and kept his attention conspicuously on the target.


    Through his AI, he asked Torch, Are they still following us?


    His partner, positioned on the other side of the hill, replied instantly. Three on you and two on me. I get the feeling that there are moreing. Should we take them out now, or wait until their help arrives?


    Quill chewed his lip. They had felt the hostile gazes the instant they entered the second floor lounge, and taking the contract was their way of luring out the team who had reasons to hate them so much.


    Apparently, they werent alone in wanting to ambush the two of them. One other team had joined them, and both him and Torch sensed a third team that would be arriving shortly.


    The real question they wanted answered was how the teams had followed them through the teleporters. They were supposedly random. The fact that the other teams arrived at the same ce suggested something was amiss. At first, they thought the other teams took the same contract, which would include a direct teleport to an area near the wandering boss. But there were no extra team names on the contract, so that couldnt have been their method.


    Now, the teams were just waiting to strike at the opportune moment.


    If they wanted answers as to why the teams were targeting them, they needed to take them alive and uninjured enough that they werent taken away by the Gardeners. Both he and Torch knew were watching, ready to intervene in an instant.


    The rules of the Tier 10 tournament were simr to the rules of the vassal war, but there was far more leniency given to these contestants. Being both stronger and older than the Tier 5 and 6s who fought those battles came with some additional freedom.


    Quill and Torch loitered for another thirty minutes, ostensibly stalking the death knight, before he noticed the arrival of at least three more people. His [Air Maniption] felt at least that many enter the barrier of slightly still air around them, but he couldn''t be sure that was all.


    Still, that meant their n was good to go.


    Stepping forward, he threw out three talismans meant to trap the death knight and slow its moments. It was far, far too little to stop such a strong undead, but they werent trying to fight the monster.


    Not <em>yet</em>.


    As he activated the talismans, he threw out two more [Fireball] talismans and rushed forward.


    Death knights, a Tier 14 zombie variant, usually boasted heavily enchanted te armor and an oversized longsword or sword and shieldbo. They also had a variety of spells; far more than the average Tier 14, with their most prominent being an area of effect aura that hindered magical casting. It made any spells cast in the area cost more mana and produce a lesser effect. If that was all, they would have been dangerous, but the death knights usually had at least three other spells. A possible fourth depended on whether they had the longsword or sword and shield.


    The sword and shield knights had a defensive spell that empowered all other undead around them, increasing their magical resistance to insane levels, while the longsword knights had an offensive version of the same spell.


    They were a pain to kill when in a rift that produced them; the buffs stacked with each knights cast. But alone, it wasn''t anything they couldnt handle.


    The death aura red up in a fifty-foot radius, and Quill threw two more talismans out before jumping to the side and rolling.


    He had timed it perfectly, as ance of energy shot directly through where he had been standing.


    Springing to his feet, he turned and pointed his staff at where the attack came from, and seven people stood infront of him in two distinct formations.


    He didnt bother talking, and cast [Jolt] through the staff as he removed an overcharged [Hail] tasliman and threw it into the air.


    The rain of ice interrupted the two iing [Fireball]s and [Mana Bolt], but did little to stop the arrow that mmed into his upper chest.


    It thankfully only pierced a lung and didnt hinder his arms, but the pain was nearly blinding as the arrow started to burn inside of him.


    Unable to appreciate the new enchantment or spell that he hadnt seen before while roasting alive, he twisted his staff and sent a small talisman array of three into the holders that ensured his talismans were arranged in formation.


    He was forced to dodge a second arrow inside the hail storm, but he still got the makeshift [Tornado] spell off.


    From the side, a stream of fire entered the newly formed spell, and the two elements fed on each other and merged, exactly as they had practiced.


    Quill smiled under the mask at the look of shock on the faces of two of the attackers, who had clearly expected Torch to be locked down and unable toe to his rescue. If only they knew how much theyd practiced for scenarios just like this. They would have never tried an ambush.


    All it managed to do was to piss them off, ensuring that the pair didnt y nice.


    There was a screeching sound from the now unengaged death knight, and a second aura that looked like inky darkness slithered out. Tendrils of darkness that resembled hands wed at the ground, as if searching for victims.


    Under the mask, Quills grin grew. The second skill of most death knights, [Hungering Darkness], was a dangerous skill; it formed an aura that drained the vitality of anyone in the zone. The effect was doubled for anyone hit by the grasping hands on the outer edge of the area of effect. Getting grabbed meant months of healing to return the energy that the monsters stole, and any injuries inflicted when affected by the skill took far more energy to heal.


    It would have been the perfect skill for the monster, except one didnt even need a Concept to fend off the aura. A cultivator''s natural spirit was more than capable of warding off the effect.


    At least, as long as the cultivator was healthy and uninjured.


    That was why they had decided to take this mission, allowing their enemies to gather together, rather than crushing them piecemeal.


    The two of them were tired of being ambushed by their fellowpetitors, and figured that the best way to make a statement was to cripple their assants chances of doing well in the points ranking. They knew that the Gardeners would step in before the death knights'' aura hurt the other teams to the point that they couldn''t fight in the big three. But those didn''t start for another five months.


    They had checked with Luna, and got the green light for their little operation after confirming that it was within the rules of thepetition. Maybe it wasnt in the spirit of the rules, but interpretation worked enough in their favor that even the ancient cat had smiled after learning about their plot.


    The attackers weren''t amateurs, and only blinked at the monster behind him, keeping their attacks solely focused on him.


    Quill pped on a physical enchantment talisman and started running while using a touch of [Air Maniption], creating pushing force in the middle level winds. He was able to override the natural air currents, thus directing the ming tornado towards the group attacking him.


    The two groups split, and Quill ran through the mes at the team with the archer.


    He had proven to be thergest threat with those specialty arrows.


    The team he rushed was prepared, and sent a barrage of attacks at the spot where he exited the mes, but Quill was one step ahead of them and threw himself over the attacks.


    A second arrow mmed into his prepared [Barrier] talisman, and the attack imparted enough force to change the trajectory of his jump. He was forced directly on top of a melee fighter who managed to raise their sword in time to skewer him. Unable to dodge the blow, he took a deep cut to his hip. But in return, he pressed his staff to the man''s head and cast [Jolt].


    The spell hardly went off before the man under him vanished; the Gardeners were not willing to risk brain damage.


    On his mask, opposite his feather pen, Quill put up a tally of 1 to 0 and let a smile grow across the mask.


    Except this time, the smile had teeth. Sharp teeth.


    To the team''s credit, seeing their teammate taken out so quickly didn''t phase them, and they kept attacking while a melee fighter rushed forward from the second team. To this point, that group had been cut off by the ming tornado.


    With a second team on him, Quill started going for debilitating attacks.


    Five talismans flew out of his spatial bracelet and into his staff before he mmed it into the ground, channeling the attack.


    The grassy earth quivered for a second while the five thousand plus mana pulsed through all at once.


    Dozens of stone spikes shot out at knee level; they emanated out in a swirling circle with Quill at the epicenter.


    For all their preparation, none of them had expected the new move, and four of the remaining six were hit in their legs and taken for a trip as the spell started to rotate.


    A second arrow took him in the arm as he found the archer dancing above the moving spikes, until a ming meteor flew out of the tornado and crushed the sharpshooter in the chest.


    Torch had arrived.


    Quill, knowing that Torch had already dealt with the three on the other side, changed his counter to 4 to 0 and started casting again.


    With the spikes moving around him, the immobilized attackers had a hard choice to make. They could either sit around and wait to be saved by the Gardeners, or they could wrench their legs free from the impaling stone spikes and try to fight him.


    They made the wrong choice, and decided to take the leg injury. Exactly what Quill was hoping for.


    The spells stone spikes were designed to shear off with anyteral pressure, creating long shards of stone that cut through flesh as easily as any de.


    Most of the attackers were screaming and clutching their now shredded legs. Sadly, the melee fighter was not one of them, and charged at him with a glowing shield and growing sword. Quill recognized the skills as [Mana Shield] and a standard size rune.


    He was forced to pay full attention to the onught in order to dodge the series ofbination attacks. While he was caught up with the melee fighter, he took a [Wind sh] in his side from his blind spot.


    Quill''s light armor held up as well as he could have hoped, but the attack still left a massive wound that rent him from his thigh to his shoulder. If not for the armor, he was pretty sure that he would have been immediately removed from the fight.


    With the pain and mobility reduction from thetest attack, he was too slow to dodge a shield bash, and was sent stumbling back. After taking the hit, he was left hopping on his one working leg to remain upright.


    Growling, Quill cast [Jolt] through his staff once, then twice, then a third time, forcing the melee fighter to hunker down behind this shield.


    The [Jolt] talisman that Quill threw out for his fourth attack caught the man off guard, and the overcharged talisman destroyed the man''s shield.


    Glowing hot metal fragments peppered the area, as both the spell and internal enchantments were overloaded and couldn''t resist the attack. That was the risk of only relying on a durability enchantment for a weapon without pairing it with a repair rune.


    If the threshold of the durability rune was exceeded, the item had the tendency to explode, and Quill had gotten a good feel for the shield after the fighter smacked him in the face with it.


    The man looked down at his missing arm and dropped to his knees as he screamed in pain. The half of his face that Quill could see was shredded, agonizingly peppered with still glowing shards of metal.


    Disregarding his suffering opponent, Quill threw out three [Bandage] talismans and an [Earth Wall] talisman to stop the death knight from approaching too quickly. One of the [Bandage] talismansnded on him and helped stop the bleeding, but did little else besides ensuring that he wouldn''t bleed out.


    Still bleeding from his wounded side, and with the now cool arrow in his chest, Quill looked over to see Torch choking the archer out with their own bow. It was twisted and wrapped around their neck as she bent backwards to put more pressure on the archers neck.


    His shuffling steps took him towards their mage, who was trying to muster the energy to cast something with his shredded legs.


    Oh no-no-no, Quill grunted, and punctuated his statement by mming his staff into the mans injured knee. We can''t have that now, can we?


    The scream was overbearing and shrill, but he kicked them in the face twice to put an end to it.


    Enough. You don''t get to scream and bluster. You attacked us. This is going to get a lot worse, don''t worry.


    There was no smile on his mask now, but he <em>had</em> updated the counter to show 11 to 0. Just to rub it in.


    One of the others cursed at him before calling out for a rescue. Fuck you, you piece of shit! You may have won this fight, but well pay you back for this! I surrender. You won''t be able to torture us now, asshole.


    Quill let a smile reappear on his mask as he hobbled over to the talking man, the image unfurling slowly as if to mock him.


    An angry part of him relished the growing panic on his attackers face as he approached, and the man wasn''t teleported out.


    See, that would normally work, but you <em>ambushed</em> us.


    I want ou


    Quill smacked the man in the mouth with his staff and tutted. I was speaking. Please don''t interrupt. That''s rude.


    He rubbed his chin as Torch brought over the archer and threw his mangled body next to the man he was talking to.


    Now, where was I? Ah, yes. He snapped his fingers theatrically before tapping his mask and pointed down to the man and his friend. See, asking to be teleported out would normally work, but you ambushed us. Ambushes aren''t very nice, and I have questions as to why you would ambush us. To that end, I already asked for an interrogation exception, and was granted it. That means, as long as your life isnt in immediate danger, the Gardners won''t teleport you out. Now, we get to have a little chat.


    While he was spitting mad under the mask, Quill let his evil smile creep outward until it split the mask in half, pulling out a fist full of talismans as it grew.


    Dont worry. I have more than enough [Bandage] talismans to ensure that none of you die. I even have a few actual healing talismans in case one of you gets pushed too far.


    He used his good hand to point at the still bleeding wound that took up half his body. Im going to be on a healing cooldown for at least a week, and I want to make sure that <em>I</em> won''t be the only one.


    With everyone gathered, Torch moved to engage the death knight and upy it as he started to interrogate the prisoners.


    He had learned a lot from Luna and Kurt about the distasteful act, but pushed that aside to get information.


    Okay, who wants the easy, less fun trip out of here, hmm? Whos going to spill everything and avoid staying on a shit list that you <em>really</em> dont want to be on? He twirled a knife around as he asked for dramatic effect.


    He had no intention of actually using it.


    Pain was easy enough to resist. They were all delvers, and had fought for decades. The act with the knife was just theatrics for the watching audience on the other side of the. Quill had something far, far worse in store for them if these attacks continued after today.


    One of the melee fighters with shredded legs growled at him, Fuck you. You won''t get anything out of us before you send us to the hospital.


    Quill used his staff to leverage himself up to his feet before pping enthusiastically. You are correct! Yes, you are. I''d be limited to a healing cooldown of roughly a month with just physical injuries. Youre certainly right about that.


    He stopped pping before hobbling over to the man, when he reached down and grabbed the man''s ruined leg and started to drag him to the wall he had built. He looked back to the others before speaking loudly to no one in particr. You see, being a talisman specialist, unlike what your friends may tell you, is substantially more involved than just throwing money at problems. When Im making my toolkit and using it, I have to keep in mind an almost limitless number of possible options at my disposal. Unlike most warriors or even most mages. It forces you to really, really consider your surroundings, and every tool at your disposal. Such as, shall we say a death knight?


    The man, realizing what he was going to do, started screaming and struggling, but it was futile. Still, to humor him, he paused and looked back at his victim and muttered, Something you want to say? Care to enlighten me on whats running through your mind?


    The man quieted and began muttering that he had pull, and could get him good deals for certain items and information. He was just following orders, after all. It was all typical stalling tactics and swill that just didnt interest him, so he tuned it out. Quill drug him to the edge of the wall before dismissing the magic that held the stone together and letting it crumble to the ground.


    The others needed to see this if it was to be effective.


    As he pulled the man over the rubble, he casually said, You know death knight auras are easy enough to resist if youre in top shape, but <em>you</em> aren''t. He made the smile on his mask shift to a mocking frown. You look like shit buddy.


    I have my Concept. I can resist its aura for weeks with just that. Let me go now, or when I get healed, I''m going to hunt you down forever. If you let me go now, we can pretend this never happened.


    Quill whistled as they entered the first aura, then the second, and grasping hands of darkness tried to grab the two of them.


    Remember, you ambushed us. Not the other way around.


    Both of them fended off the attacks, but as he whistled a jaunty tune, he crushed the man''s Concept with his own.


    The screams and pleas started as soon as the hands started draining the man of energy. Where the hands grasped, dark bruises formed, spreading slowly like visible darkness moving through the mans veins.


    In just thirty seconds, the man shriveled up like a raisin before the Gardeners removed him. That dark, angry part of Quill thought about using his Concept to resist the spell that the guards were using, but he crushed the impulse. Matt was still in control here, and as much as it would have served them right, he wasnt like that.


    Not without a damn good reason.


    He needed to make a point, and he had. There was no cause to go overboard.


    He was better than that.


    Before he turned around, he watched Torch as she kept the monster''s attention while dodging the purple glowing longsword attacks, along with the phantom images that the attacks left in their wake. It was an interesting skill that forced other melee attackers to keep their distance or be corroded by the purple energy, but Torch was just keeping its attention from the wounded, not trying to kill it.


    Still, he knew that he didnt have too long before the Gardeners pulled everyone out.


    As he hobbled back to the group, he decided to skip the showboating and simply asked, Okay, who wants to answer my questions now? Ive got a friend whod love to get his hands on anyone else that decides to be a pain.


    After seeing theirrade take enough damage to need healing for months, they were all too eager to talk and spilled the beans.


    We took the bounty that someone set up. One hundred points if we take you out. Two hundred points if we manage to destroy your spatial item with all your talismans. It was just a job, man.


    Quill nodded, squatting painfully to look the man in the face fully. That seemed believable enough, so he asked, Who put the bounty up, and how did you follow us through the teleporter?


    A different man answered quickly, We dont know who set it up, but it lets us teleport to wherever you are.


    Quill paused at that. If what they were saying was true, this was officially sanctioned. Or at least, official enough to manipte the teleporters. It also proved the rumors that they could create their own missions true.


    That was something to look intoter on. Right now, Quill and Torch had to set the record straight, and raise the bar for what was expected of their fellow Pathers from here on out. Afterwards, they had a death knight to kill.


    Once he confirmed everything about the ambush that he could, Quill smiled, then bowed his head to everyone. Well, thank you for your help today,dies and gentlemen. I''m sorry to say that we <em>won''t</em> be seeing each other soon though. All of you will be spending a long time in the hospital.


    He stood up with a soft sigh, and pped his hands as if trying to dislodge dirt and dust from them before speaking again. After all, I need to send a message to those watching from where its safe, dont I? Attacking us can''t be seen as worth it. Otherwise, Ill be dealing with this shit anytime wee out to the Wild Side. And before anyoneins, you were all enough of a pain to earn it.


    The pleas and screams didnt stop him from signaling Torch to lead the death knight over to them, and soon, the aura started to drain each of them. Quill made sure to stand there with a look of glee on his mask through it all, before looking up into the drone that followed them as if he were looking into the souls of those watching.


    Slowly, ever so slowly, he tilted his head and put up the number of attackers that he and Torch had sent the hospital on his mask. He held the pose for a few seconds before allowing himself to turn away without furtherment. The statement would be clear enough. If anyone else came, their end would be just as brutal and creative, limited only by their imaginations.


    Despite not always having a death knight around, they were quite capable of finding other ways to make their opponents healing cooldowns as long as possible.


    Once the injured were removed by Tur''stals Gardeners, he and Torch focused on killing the death knight. It took them a while with Quill''s injuries, but they managed to y it before retreating to the nearest rift to teleport out of the wild side.


    Once in the safe zone, they quickly found a healer and got treated. As suspected, Quill was put on a week-long healing cooldown.


    The fallout from the news only really hit after he and Liz had been healed. To not blow their cover, they had been directed to a special healer, able to heal them without incurring a healing cooldown. It was drastically inefficient, and nowhere near as strong as Melindas healing, but it allowed them to keep delving without risking death.


    The news reports they could see had the entire fight being critiqued, with most calling Quills interrogation overboard and excessive. Specifically his allowing the death knight to drain the opponents, and breaking their Concepts when they tried to resist.


    What I dont understand is how someone who has such altruistic ims can sit here andud himself as better than the Burning Hearts. How is he holier than a guild of people who found<em></em>a life saving skill and created an item for anyone to use when he pulls stunts like this? One reporter chuckled darkly, shaking his fist before looking rhetorically to his co-host for an answer. I mean, dragging injured, <em>fellow Pathers </em>into something that would take them out of thepetition for so long just simply isnt what a truly for-the-people Pather should do. Rules or not.


    The co-host nodded empathetically and added, Youre right, Shane. And to me, it seems like it could just be a cowardly ploy to knock off some of thepetition, and make himself look better. I mean, at this point, Torch has what it takes to go all the way, and a budding following that could build to epic levels. How long will it be before Quills antics start to drag her down? I guess time will tell.


    Matt tuned the broadcast out, and focused on the people around him. From the chatter around him, Matt knew that his actions had only half worked. Some of the patrons were already talking about how they could shoot an arrow and send Quill on a week long healing cooldown as easily as anyone else. Meanwhile, the more sensible half of the crowd realized that Quill and Torch had managed to fight off an ambush while they were outnumbered by three teams in the top five percent.


    His actions might have been excessive, but judging from the small sample of people who were getting mana from his Concept, he had dissuaded a portion of the people who thoughting after them was a good idea.


    Matt still considered it a win.


    However, some people continued to puff themselves up, saying how they could do much better than the previous assants.


    Matt justughed internally. If they did try it, they would be in for a surprise. If they had to use more drastic measures, they would. But eventually, the attacks would stop.


    Through their AI, Matt watched the video of Torch choking out the archer with his own bow. To his chagrin, Torchs odd kill was being hailed as a funny moment, unlike his own attacks, which were being called cruel. Someone had already called his earth spike circle, with the stone that created grizzly shearing wounds, excessive and unnecessary.


    <em>How was that more excessive than choking a man with his own bow</em>?


    Matt had no idea, but asked through their AI to ensure that no one could hear the question. Why did you choke him with his own bow? I can see the edits to the video, but didn''t really see the fight in person.


    He could always check her AI recordings, but that was unneeded with Liz next to him.


    Liz smirked around the croissant she was nibbling on. The shithead had some phasing ability that let him dodge most of my attacks, but I noticed that his bow was phasing with him, and I <em>could</em> touch that. So I just used that to beat him down, and when he tried to phase through the ground, I wrapped it around his neck.


    Matt rolled his eyes but let the matter drop. They hung out for a while longer, refilling people''s mana and graciously declining those that tried tipping him a small number of mana crystals or materials.


    People were more than happy to pay for a fast refill of mana, but he always declined, just saying that he had no need of it but appreciated the thought.


    That, more than anything, seemed to help his image. Plus, as word of his abilities spread, his reputation increased.


    People had even started to recognize him on the streets, which was a novel experience, considering that the same could be said of Quill for opposite reasons.


    Throughout the entire venture of his mana distribution, Matt worked on chatting with people and trying to exclude them from his Concepts ability to give mana.


    He thought he had the start of an idea, but so far, he couldn''t fully cklist people from the effect. Still, he could tell that he was close. It was just a matter of wrapping his head around the idea properly. Once he figured out what he was doing, Matt was fairly certain that hed master the trick behind excluding people. It was just the first step that he found so difficult.


    When they had to leave for their delve, Matt was thanked by everyone, and not a single personined about the free mana disappearing. It still surprised him every time.


    They arrived early to the endless rift, preparing themselves to fight for their lives while holding back.


    When they entered the rift, they found themselves on the same tform as everyone else in the recordings, with an endless expanse of darkness that seemed to extend forever in every direction.


    It felt just <em>wrong</em>, but Matt couldn''t exactly describe why. It just <em>was</em>.


    He was unable to ponder the rift''s oddities any further, as the first wave of monsters appeared at the edge of the tform and rushed at them. A quick count put the number of ming horse monsters at thirty seven.


    At the bottom of Tier 11, the monsters wereically easy to kill, but that wouldnt be the case forever. The second they killed the final horse, a rift reward distortion appeared next to the single entrance and exit.


    As they didnt touch the distortion for ten seconds, the next wave appeared. This time they had to fight a dozen ape-like monsters with crab arms.


    When they had killed the final monster in the fifth wave of bottom Tier 11 monsters, the reward distortion appeared for a full thirty seconds before a new monster variant appeared. With his spiritual sense, Matt quickly put the new arrivals at the middle of Tier 11.


    This time, they fought waves of seventy two zombie rabbits that constantly turned into blurs of light as they increased in speed.


    It was one facet of this endless rift that was different than other rifts. The essence used in creating the monsters was always the same amount per wave, so a wave with higher numbers meant weaker monsters.


    At least, that was the general rule for every round inside the same five level bracket. During those intervals of five, the monsters power was kept the same.


    Liz proved that true as she created a whirlwind of blood tendrils that shredded all of the bunnies that tried to attack them.


    When they finished the five waves of mid Tier 11 monsters, they moved on to the high Tier 11s, then finally, the peak Tier 11 monsters.


    Still, it didnt matter in the least bit to them. Every Tier 11 monster died in seconds, and they blitzed through the waves as fast as they could without giving away too much information.


    They repeated the same pattern of twenty waves for the Tier 12 monsters easily enough, before they started to show a struggle against the weak Tier 13 monsters.


    The Tier 13 waves made for a great spectacle for them, though. With their restrictions, they had to fight strategically and slowly, but they still managed to whittle down the monsters and kill them.


    When they reached the peak Tier 13 monsters''st wave, the sixty ninth wave, they only needed to exchange a look to know the next one would be theirst.


    If they were in their Quill and Torch persona, they could have pushed further, but they didnt want to make a ssh in their real identities. They had already shown their ability to fight in a rift that Matts Concept countered. It would earn them a decent number of points and recognition, but pushing past the first wave of Tier 14 would make people start to wonder what they were hiding.


    So, as the seventieth wave came out, they readied themselves for a long and brutal fight.


    The low Tier 14 monsters were, luckily enough, a type of slime monster which was weak to magical attacks and water. Attacks that they both had in spades.


    Still, they put on a show and took over an hour to kill the fifty four Tier 14 monsters, before Liz dispelled the reward rift to end the challenge.


    The rush of essence hit them like a truck, as all the essence they should have earned from killing seventy waves of monsters Tier 11 through Tier 14 came to them all at once.


    To Matt''s joy, it was all Tier 14 essence, as they had reached andpleted at least a single wave at that Tier. The rift could be temperamental, and had a chance to give Tier 13 essence if only one Tier 14 wave was cleared. That would have been a miserable ending to the delve, considering how long they fought in thatst wave.


    As he was inundated with essence, Matt took the time to allocate it as fast as it came so he didnt waste any.


    While he focused on allocating, he received a message from Liz. I want to ask Tur''stal to get us a delve in this rift without being watched. I think we can push past the peak Tier 14 monsters after wave ny, even with this same power set. It wouldn''t be easy, but we could do it.


    Matt agreed. He might need to pull out some talismans, but he believed that they could push to at least wave eighty five before resorting to that. If they merged their full fighting styles, he believed they could fight as long as they wanted, or until they found a monster that countered them.


    It was frustrating to have to hold back, but if they wanted to be able to safely exist, they needed to keep up the facade.


    Their reward from the rift was a Tier 14 mushroom that neither one of them could readily identify, so they stood to leave without waiting. When they left the rift, they exited to a crowd of people watching them, and his currently most hated duo of news reporters.


    The fact that they were the only two news reporters he knew didn''t really factor into his consideration.


    Just like the first time he had met them, Page introduced the two of them. This is Page Woodrow with Diego Heart,ing at you live from the Tier 10 Pather Breakout Tournament. Were here with the first interview from the biggest surprise from the endless rift, Matthew Alexander and Elizabeth Moore.


    She put the mic between them as she started the interview proper.


    You both have set one of the top runs for the endless rift this month; one that would even rank in third ce forst month. And as some of the youngestpetitors at this tournament, no less. In fact, youve only just turned 39, Elizabeth. Is that right? Whats the secret of your sess? Why not wait until the next Tier 10 tournament, where you could have ensured your domination.


    Lizughed and smiled into the camera while whipping a strand of hair that was stuck to her face away from her eyes. Where do we start? Liz looked up to Matt and said, We chose to advance and participate in this tournament because we have a beast bond on our team, and so well be taking a break at Tier 15, when she receives the necessary training and schooling in the Beast Kingdom. We recently took arge break after we got a lot of skills in a vassal war, so we didnt want to stall a third time, in between those two breaks. I guess our secret is that we counter this rift perfectly. Matts Concept ensured that we never ran out of mana, and it was just a matter of whittling down the monsters. That rift was just a perfect matchup for us.


    Page nodded along, but didn''t ask another question, letting Diego lean into Matt and ask, We have reports that youve been using your Concept, a Concept that gives out mana to anyone around you for free. Why give it for free when so many would pay for mana at any given time?


    Matt smiled at the duo, who were much less confrontational than with his Quill persona. He said, It''s hardly free. It''s practice for me. I can''t really use the Concept if other people aren''t around, and Im working on limiting and changing the rate at which I give mana to everyone. All of that is stuff I can''t really do if someone isnt low on mana. Helping them is really just helping myself.


    Diegoughed and looked at the camera, twisting to open up his shirt as he said, A generouspetitor, how rare! Matt, our viewers want to know how you think youll fare against the other top contenders?


    Mattughed before scratching his head, putting on a bashful appearance. I doubt well win. We knew thating into it this early, and at a low Tier 10 level. But I think the items, experience, and the essence we earn will help speed up our progress through the next Tier. Anything we can get to help with that gap created when my bond goes to the Beast Kingdom at Tier 15 will be so useful. Then, we can settle down and work on further honing our skill for a bit while burning our age lead and delving a bit slower.


    Page took Matt''s breath to interject. Our fans and analysts don''t think you guys show too many weaknesses with a missing team member. How do you rate your own performance? Is your bond very strong? Our reports say you have an Arctic Fox bond, which isnt a breed known for theirbat prowess. With having a friend like Fen, who just hatched a dragon bond, how do you feel your ownpares?


    Matt and Liz both shot the woman a nasty look, but Matt spoke first. Azure is a fresh hatchling, and a baby for one. That seems incredibly unfair to put that kind of expectation on her. And second, my bond isn''t only valuable because of herbat abilities. Aster, my bond, is an ice fox, and shes incredibly helpful on the battlefield, despite the breed being rated less than ideal forbat. Even more than that, shes as much a living being as you or I, and shes as helpful as any other teammate I''ve had. Shes hardly the tool that you just portrayed her as. How rude can you be? Even if she just sat there and ate ice cream all day, that would still be out of line.


    Diego covered for his partner and hurriedly asked Liz, You have a unique fighting style with blood. Our viewers want to know how that changes your style from a standard water mage?


    Liz let the duo off with a re to Page, who kept silent for the rest of the interview. Liz, on the other hand, answered Diego''s questions with a nk expression that turned into a smile over the course of the interview. They pretended to loosen up as the overly attractive man''s questions continued.


    When both he and Liz had been pumped dry for any soundbites that they couldve produced, they were finally let go. Matt hoped that the interview had actually been live, and they hadn''t been dumped off the air when he tore into Page a touch.


    Still, it was a good interview, and they were proud of their showing. He had even earned a message from Mara saying how happy she was when he had smacked down the rude question from Page about a bonds worth.


    When Quill officially came off the healing cooldown, they intended to do the endless rift again. But this time, theyd go farther into the waves, and wouldplete the rift until it started repeating the same peak Tier 14 monsters.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150


    Aster was a bundle of nerves and excitement as she waited in the meeting room they had set aside for Aunt Helen''s arrival. Or rather, the room that Leon and Mara had set aside.


    There were half a dozen other people also waiting in the room. She didnt really pay attention to them, but they felt familiar somehow. Though, she didnt have the mind to ponder where she had seen them before.


    Today was <em>THE </em>day!


    Years of preparation and work on her bloodline with the help of the dragon''s blood had resulted in her advancing far, far faster than normal. That in and of itself wouldnt be a problem if she wanted to take the path most traveled.


    But thereiny the issue.


    Aster didnt want to evolve her race into that of a kitsune, a nine-tailed fox variant, or any of the other <em>standard</em> ice fox evolutions. She had a precious building block in the dragon''s blood, and it opened up <em>so many</em> doors for her. She wanted to use it and pave her own way.


    Both Matt and Liz were unique and strong in their own right. If she wanted to keep up with them, she needed to use her advantages and press them for everything they were worth. If she didnt, she wouldn''t be worthy of her humans, nor the standard she held for herself.


    Her musings were interrupted when Aunt Helen arrived with two passengers in tow.


    Aster only nced at Cami for a heartbeat before she recognized her, and her attention was quickly drawn to the small bunny resting on her shoulder.


    Aster felt the predator instincts start to take over as they met each other''s eyes, and Aster set herself and pounced.


    Admittedly, she cheated by using her Concept to help her cover the twenty-foot distance. But as she neared Cammie and the Bunny, she noticed that they were only Tier 7, so she adjusted her power and speed.


    The chase wouldn''t be fun if she just outmuscled the Bunny because of a Tier difference, after all.


    The bunny saw her, and instead of fleeing as Aster expected, she only turned around tosh out at with her back feet.


    ying along, Aster let the blownd and send her back a few feet before she created a ne of force for her to stand on. After gathering herself, she wiggled her butt as she readied herself for round two.


    The Bunny saw her and froze for an instant before she took off, just as Aster lunged.


    That started the best chase of the week!


    It took her nearly half an hour, but eventually, Aster had the Bunny cornered, and pounced on her after a false lunge.


    With her prize mped firmly between her teeth, Aster jumped to the couch and curled up around the panting and gasping Bunny before starting to groom it.


    It was only fair after a good chase.


    When they both got their breath back, the Bunny revealed her foul mouth. You stupid fucking fox! How dare you hunt me?! It''s humiliating!


    Aster perked up. The Bunny was sapient at Tier 7, which meant that her parents had been over Tier 15 when they had her in their own bunny forms. That was rare enough to be interesting.


    Aster licked the bunny again before saying, My names Aster! What''s yours?


    Hazel, you oversized and over-Tiered bundle of instincts.


    The two of them were joined by Cammie and Aunt Helen, thetter of whom scratched behind Aster''s ears as she said hello.


    Cammie just smirked at Hazel and teased her for getting caught.


    The Bunny then showed that she had an absolutely foul mouth once again, unleashing a tirade that caused Aster''s ears to fall.


    Looking to Cammie, Aster asked, Is she always like this?


    Before Cammie could answer, Hazel snapped, Only when stupid foxes try to eat me!


    Cammie then smirked and rescued Hazel before dropping her in her ownp and saying, Hazel, as you can see, is fully intelligent, and hates being treated differently because she''s stuck in a small body. You chasing her just hit a sore spot.


    Aster yipped an apology that was grudgingly epted by her new friend before Aunt Helen pulled Aster away from the group.


    When she saw Mara following along, Aster knew her little respite was over, and that it was time to get to work.


    Aunt Helen set Aster down on a raised stool at the breakfast bar after they teleported into a new room.


    Before saying anything, the older phoenix pulled on an apron and started whipping something up that smelled <em>amazing</em>.


    Aster thought the food at the higher Tier restaurants was good, but even the smells from Aunt Helen chopping vegetables were better than those final products.


    What have Mara and Luna told you about the procedure you want to undergo, Aster?


    Aunt Helen''s words took a moment to settle in before they prated her food hazed mind.


    Pretty much everything. I can go over it if you want. Aster offered because, for all her certainty that she wanted to do this, she was still nervous.


    At Aunt Helen''s nod, she started at the beginning, carefully recalling her lessons. Im a Rank 1 beast as an Arctic Fox. That means I have one bloodline ability, which in my case, is control over ice. A Rank 0 beast would be a normal fox with no elemental control. She drooped her ears as she thought for a second before continuing. A Rank 1 beast doesn''t <em>always</em> have an elemental affinity for their bloodline power, but that''s the mostmon. Then theres Phoenixes- like you! Phoenixes are Rank 2 beasts, and your Rank 1 bloodline power is <em>fire</em> mana, like <em>I </em>have ice mana. Then your Rank <em>2</em> bloodline power is the rebirth stuff.


    Aunt Helen gave her a gentle smile, and Aster continued. The dragon blood Matt got is Aster paused as she looked at the older bird awkwardly, Did you get any of the dragon blood?


    Aunt Helen reached out of the kitchen and gave her a head pat with a gentle smile as she said, I did, and thank you for asking.


    Aster perked up and continued. That big old dragon was really really strong, so we can use its blood essence to refine our own, and take that stronger power to upgrade and modify our existing abilities with other treasures. You two can be Rank 3 phoenixes, and that makes your tears get all heal-y.


    Mara interjected for the first time, and was more serious than Aster had seen her in a while. Yes, thats right. But not all of our tears are that powerful, just some of them. Of course, theyll fix you up just as much as your friend Melinda can, but they still have a healing cooldown, so they arent <em>quite</em> as good. Still, pretty strong for something any phoenix can theoretically get.


    Aster moved on. With the higher Rank blood, Ive been polishing my Rank 1 bloodline in preparation for either bing a Rank 2 Arctic Fox, or something else.


    She dipped her head at Lizs mother as she said, I don''t wanna be a dragon or anything, so I havent been recing my own bloodline with the dragons like you did to be a phoenix from a me sparrow. Her ears drooped again as she said, I really want to be a fox. All the racial paths mean <em>not</em> being a fox anymore, even if a nine-tailed fox is still mostly a fox. But who needs nine tails when I have one perfect tail already?


    The two birds were serious as they listened, which helped soothe her nerves a little further. The food had helped calm her down quite a bit. But the dragon''s blood has polished my bloodline to the point that there are few improvements to be made without bing something more, so it''s time.


    Aunt Helen pushed a bowl of soup in front of her, and Aster dug in while she talked. All correct information Aster, well done. One thing I want to mention, in case you forgot, is that you don''t have to be something more to reach Rank 2. You can stay an arctic fox and reach Rank 2. It''s just harder, as you are forging your own path instead of walking a pre-existing one. With the dragon being Rank 4, or even <em>higher</em>, you definitely have enough power to draw on.


    Aster nodded. She had thought that was obvious from her own exnation, but was too engrossed with the meal to refute the implication she hadnt known that.


    When she was done, she sat back down and exined her n to both women. She hadnt told Mara this either, as she had still been mulling over the problem for thest few weeks. Only Luna knew, as she had been Asters sounding board for the viability of her n.


    After all, she was doing something simr to what the void cat had done to her own bloodline to reach Rank 2, except she was taking it a step further.


    I don''t want to reach Rank 2 right now. I want to change my Rank 1 bloodlines element to something stronger to have a better base; itd be a waste to spend a whole rank on only changing my element. If I use my Rank 2 to have my mana be winter, Im wasting the entire level of power, even if that''s the normal path most bloodlines take.


    That was enough to cause both women to rock back, Mara more so than Aunt Helen, but both were clearly surprised.


    Before she could lose her courage, Aster said, I don''t want to make a massive shift, but I do want to change my current element from Ice to Winter while staying Rank 1. It''s really not a big deal, and the dragon blood is a big help anyway. Seeing she wasnt going to be interrupted, she continued, It''s <em>not</em> just a fancy idea, I have a n! I want to make my Rank 2 power an Aurora power. Because Aurora is rted to spatial mana, I can''t go from a two-element mix like ice, which is just water and wind mana, and jump all the way to getting myself an Aurora ability. From what I know, Id need at least a Level 3 mana type, so I want to add wind mana into my ice again. Changing my Rank 1 bloodline from ice to winter shouldnt be that hard since its almost the same, and just deepens my connection to ice and cold. That should be enough to let me reach Aurora for a Rank 2 power, instead of Rank 3.


    Mara looked concerned, But why are you trying to add Aurora mana to your bloodline? I can''t really see the connection to your current abilities.


    Aster wagged her tail. She knew this question woulde up and had prepared for it.


    Whats colder than the depths of space? The chill of nothing. That''s what my Concept is about, after all. I want to take my bloodline to the coldness of a dead universe thats run out of heat. Aurora is the best point to grow from <em>normal</em> ice to <em>space</em> ice. Her tail paused as she thought about withholding her next statement, but decided against it. And it would be very pretty, which makes it all the more perfect for <em>me</em>. And Astral Seals can do all kinds of stuff with their affinity, like like make really pretty illusions! And even change the area around them to make attacks miss! Either would be really strong alongside my ice. Luna said their Rank 3 is even <em>actual</em> space, which is why I want to use the Aurora affinity as a stepping stone. It will help me get to space ice as my eventual Rank 3.


    Aunt Helen put a lid over a pot before walking out of the kitchen and taking the seat next to Aster, giving her full attention to the conversation. Well, Astral Seals usually need to tap a bit more into the spatial side of their bloodline for their Rank 2 to bend attacks around them. So it''s not quite that easy. Space is a hard thing to grasp, but I suppose youve already considered that, havent you? While Im happy you did your research, as part of that, you must have realized that there are precious few Rank 1 bloodlines with a level 3 mana, right?


    When Aster nodded her understanding, Aunt Helen asked, Do you know why that is?


    That question stumped Aster. She knew there were Level 3 mana types at Rank 1, but only knew a handful.


    I know there are things like the Storm Eagle and Swamp Lizard, but not why theyre rare.


    Aunt Helen didnt seem surprised at Aster not knowing, but answered easily. That''s because a Level 3 mana type is inherently harder to control or find in nature. Ice mana is fairly easy to find. Find a cold ce thats been cold for a while, and eventually, mana of that type will be produced. But something like storm or winter are much moreplex mana types. You need to find a ce where theres an endless, and never-ending storm. Or somewhere where it''s not just cold, but cold and windy in precise ratios to create winter mana. Those ces are restrictively rare, and theyre always jealously guarded by the beast factions with those aspects. In my long lifetime, Ive heard of five other ice or wind foxes seriously trying to pursue a winter bloodline, and they all had to <em>beg</em> the Winter Wolves for ess to their most prized territories. Two eventually gave up, anothers pursuit ended in gruesome tragedy, and thest two both ended up switching to a lupine bloodline instead, after marrying into the pack. Without those coveted sources of winter mana, advancing and strengthening your bloodline through cycling ambient mana is not just hard, but can be nearly impossible. The dragon blood helps alleviate that, but it wont remove the problem altogether. You understand if you go through with this, your future path will be that much harder?


    Aster nodded. She had thought of that and had a ready n of action.


    That''s why Ill have Matt make me rifts with my mana type so I can cycle mana there! We already did it with my ice mana. We can just do it with winter, then winter <em>and</em> aurora mana!


    The two birds shared a look before Mara said, While that''s possible, Ive never even heard of a pure winter rift. Or at least, not a natural one. And storm rifts are incredibly rare already, though that''s one of the moremon and stable Level 3 mana types. Storm, after all, is just water, wind, and lightning mana. Thest of which is a Level 2 element on its own, created by air and fire mana. While it''s aplicated mana type, storms are natural on every, meaning there are ces that have enough storm mana to create a storm rift. I''ve never heard of a winter, as opposed to ice rift. They are simr, like you said, but theyre so simr that ice dominates an area before winter mana can be born. Plus, from what I understand, winter needs to deeply integrate trace amounts of several other aspects for it to remain stable long term. In some ways, it edges a bit more towards a level 4 mana aspect than a typical level 3. Even for Matt, it might be really difficult to make a stable, high Tier winter rift.


    After rubbing her brow ridge she continued, And changing your bloodline at all also changes <em>you</em>, whether or not you rank up and change your species, or simply improve whats already there. I noticed a difference after changing from a me sparrow to a phoenix. Luna stayed a simple Void Cat, instead of opting for one of the myriadrger and more powerful feline bloodlines, like an Abyssal Jaguar, Hollow Tiger, or Lonely Lynx. Yet, just by adding space to her bloodline, her personality <em>still</em> changed quite a bit. Are you sure you want to change your Rank 1 bloodline? It will change you more than the other two options, and its difficult to know how that change might manifest.


    Aster thought hard over the old bird''s words before shrugging. I believe Matt can make the rifts I''ll need, and this will let me keep up with them. I trust them.


    Maras eyes watered at thatst bit, and Aster understood. Bonds were massively influenced by their partners, and often took on simr personality traits that werepounded by the bond, making the beast want to keep up with their humans. Aster was self-aware enough to know her drive was a result of both of those phenomena, but they were still parts of her.


    She loved Matt and Liz, and wanted to keep up with them forever. Staying an ice fox wouldn''t make that impossible in any way, shape, or form, but she had the chance to be something new, and wanted to walk her own path.


    She was named after the stars, and it just felt right to take her bloodline to the coldest ce in the universe.


    It was perfect.


    She would be different after changing her bloodline, but she changed a little bit every day.


    Aster quoted something she heard somewhere, A sunset isn''t beautiful in a picture because the nature of the sunset is eph-e-me-ral and ever-changing. I won''t be the same person tomorrow as I was this morning. There is no remaining the same, as every day we live changes us. But were still just as much us at the end of the day as the start of the next. I''ll still be me, no matter the changes to my bloodline.


    It took a few more hours of talking, but she eventually convinced the two that she knew what she was doing, despite them reiterating that staying a Ice fox was the easier route to Rank 2.


    Aster remained firm, and they acquiesced to her demands.


    Aunt Helen looked to Mara, This is closer to what you did when you ranked up, so you should exin how this will work. I only have second hand knowledge of this, even if I''ve helped a few people do the same before.


    Aster didnt have time to be surprised that Aunt Helen had seen others do what she was doing before Mara, with a serious countenance, exined, Changing your Rank 1 will be simr to evolving your bloodline. At least in general. Youre taking whats there and recing it with something else, or something <em>more</em>. It''s simr to letting the dragon''s blood take over and bing a dragon, instead of polishing your own bloodline. Im not going to lie. This is going to hurt. Badly.


    Aunt Helen chimed in. Recing your Rank 1 is going to hurt far worse than what Mara experienced. I''ve seen it done a few times, and I can say with all certainty that this won''t be pleasant. And Mara is correct. The fact that you arent yet Tier 15, and still rely on your body''s physical functions to live, will make this hurt all the more.


    Aster nodded to show she understood before Mara continued, When I did it, I had a rift drop me a source of phoenix blood essence like what we got from the dragon. With it, I had two options. Be a better me sparrow, or turn into a phoenix. Considering that phoenixes are really hard to kill, I went with that option. If I had be a Rank 2 me sparrow, my fire control would have been a whole lot stronger, as phoenixes sacrifice a lot of their Rank 1 powers to have such a strong Rank 2. I was Tier 16 at the time, and I still was little more than a puddle of blood and flesh when I was done.


    Aster fished around in her spatial cor and withdrew the items she had bought from her portion of the rift proceeds of thest two decades.


    The first was moremon, and the added wind mana she needed to absorb. A Tier 10 Eye of the Gale was actually a flower that, even in a ss jar, looked like it was being blown around in a hurricane. She actually had three of them, and pulled each of them out before she pulled out the only source of winter mana she had been able to find.


    The Heart of Winter was a blue-white crystal the size of Asters head, and immediately started to chill the room around them. It was only Tier 13, which was the main reason why she wanted to do this now.


    The only source of winter mana over Tier 15 she had been able to find on the market was a Tier 21 item. She just didnt have the time to wait until after she reached Tier 15. The high ranking dragon''s blood was constantly pushing her forward, and she didnt have a Rank 2 bloodline like Liz, that took a lot more energy to improve. Aster needed to advance to Rank 2, or change her Rank 1 element in the next few months. Otherwise, shed pop from the pressure.


    Now was the time.


    Aunt Helen tried one more time to convince her to just use the items to make her Rank 2 bloodline winter, but Aster was firm in her resolve.


    She had already spent the dragon''s blood, replenished by phoenix bloodline, all she could. She had been constantly widening and deepening her bloodline powers over the years. When they had stopped at Tier 6, and then Tier 8, she had allocated all of the essence that would have been otherwise wasted into expanding her ice bloodline, just like Liz had.


    A beasts bloodline was called blood essence for a reason, after all. To improve one''s bloodline powers, you needed to spend a great deal of essence in what was essentially a third path of cultivation that paralleled mana and physical cultivation.


    The dragon blood didnt help with that. Its help as a general higher Rank bloodline was to open new paths, and improve upon the powers that bloodlines gave, but it only made empty containers. It also helped make breaking into higher Ranks of bloodline power easier, but that was a marginal benefit. Essence was the power source of all cultivation, and this was no exception. Even most of the essence spent <em>on</em> bloodline cultivation didnt really go to properly empowering her. It just went towards expanding the pools of power that she <em>could</em>ter put essence into. It was a great thing to do with spare essence, but otherwise, it was almost a waste.


    But for all that her work had made her stronger, and had pushed this day farther into the future, she almost regretted it now. She now needed to remove all of that work, and mix a second element into the preexisting power.


    This would not be fun.


    Mara pulled out a giant te and put a number of towels on it before exining the process.


    While it''s not exactly what I did, it''s simr. Youre going to need to remove your blood essence from your body, and then inject the wind mana into the ice bloodline, while also cycling the winter mana into your mana pool.


    Aunt Helen pushed over a single spoonful of swirly ice cream, saying, This will help deaden the nerves while not affecting your mind. It should help with the pain. Are you ready? Also, try to keep in mind how your existing Concept rtes to your new mana. That will help.


    Aster didnt hesitate to swallow the ice cream and almost immediately felt her paws go distant.


    In the next five minutes, she could barely move, and she partly wished for Matt and Liz to be there, but squashed that feeling.


    Humans weren''t normally allowed to be told about this until they had been immortal for a while, because they had the tendency to react badly. Or maybe explosively was a better word. Humans in the past usually fell into three categories.


    Some didnt care that beasts had a special path of advancement that they couldn''t embark on, but they were by far the minority.


    Far moremon was hate and jealousy. Those people coveted the beasts additional powers for themselves, and had the habit of trying to forcefully remove a beast''s blood essence, and trying to imnt it into themselves. It never worked, and always killed both parties.


    The other group, and the mostmon one, was people who were squeamish about the process of changing your bloodline, and felt that it was unnatural. They usually had what they considered good intentions, but until they achieved their own immortality and had control over their own body for a while, they opposed the process altogether.


    Human bonds were some of the worst offenders in that regard, because of the pain their bonds suffered in the process. They didnt want their bonds to go through something so terrible and almost always reacted badly.


    It had be arge enough problem that the Beast Kingdom passed aw that said anyone who didnt have a serious need to know was to be kept in the dark.


    Matt, despite her and Liz asking, had been deemed not in the need to know. If she hadnt had Liz with her, Aster might have gotten the request approved. But with Liz knowing everything, and present to provide any support Aster might otherwise have needed from Matt, it had been denied until he had at least reached Tier 15.


    Still, she could have used hisforting presence now.


    When the numbness reached her nose, she started the process, and with her spirit, gathered all the air mana she could. Then, starting at her paw, she wrenched her bloodline out of its normal ce in her blood and flesh.


    Even through the numbness, it felt like her leg had exploded.


    Still, she kept her control firm and then started to weave the two powers together. As the ice and air mana mixed, she felt the pain start to radiate up into her mana pool. When that started, she began cycling the true winter mana into her mana pool.


    It was like a soothing balm to the pain in her mana channels, but it was a temporary relief. She quickly ripped more of her bloodline out of her body, and started the process of interweaving the air mana to create winter mana once more.


    As she worked up her leg, Aster listened to Mara and Aunt Helen''s advice and redid the spots they said werent integrated well enough. She didnt fully grasp why that was important until a healing spell was cast on her to replenish her lost blood and injuries.


    That single spell both set the winter bloodline firmly into her, and in the ces less integrated, reverted the changes as the healing spell recognized them as foreign.


    Seeing parts of her painstaking work undone, Aster wanted to howl, but she didnt have the energy to move, let alone do something so vigorous.


    Gritting her teeth, Aster went back and started remixing the parts of her leg that had been undone by the healing.


    She also realized why doing this at Tier 15 would be easier.


    Then, she wouldnt need to worry about bleeding out and dying, so those sloppy areas would be able to slowly integrate, instead of being quickly rejected by the magic healing.


    Determined to prevent any further rejections, Aster slowed down to be more thorough.


    It helped, only marginally.


    She had arge rejection on her tail when she started there next, and the resulting rejection of the new mana blew off a portion of her fur.


    Her precious fur!


    She was going to be bald if she kept this up.


    That thought almost hurt worse than the actual pain. <em>Almost</em>.


    When she finished her extremities, she moved on to her torso, and the pain she experienced here was a million times worse than on her legs.


    Still, she had things mostly under control, despite the asional rejection during a healing.


    It was when she started working on her heart that she felt the first sign of something being wrong in her Concept.


    In theory, to rece a Rank 1 bloodline, a beast needed to break their Concept and create a new one. After all, it was created as a reflection of their bloodline power when they werent sapient. Changing the thing the Concept was based off of meant that the Concept couldn''t be stable anymore.


    Aster had hoped to side step the problem through the simple fact that she was only <em>adding</em> something to what was already there. She was simply moving to a stronger version of what she had, rather than recing the entire bloodline.


    Still, her Concept of the absolute cold cracked as she started on her heart.


    Mentally juggling four things was hard, but Aster used her will to mp down on her Concept, and demanded that it recognize winter as simply ice, but colder. Deeper and stronger than it had been before. It actually worked, and the cracking halted as long as she kept a firm mental grip on her Concept.


    Now she only had to merge air mana into her bloodline, cycle winter mana into her mana pool, and keep control over her cracking Concept. All at the same time, while the excruciating pain of removing parts of herself and adding a foreign substance wracked her body.


    Still, Mara and Aunt Helen''s droning on about the process and words of encouragement were enough to keep her centered.


    Aster needed to do this, or she would be wasting her potential.


    She refused to take the path most traveled.


    She wasnt a normal fox who just wanted to be pretty.


    She was Aster. Bonded to Matthew Alexander and best friends with Elizabeth Moore.


    Aster was greater than her origins.


    <em>And</em> she wanted to be pretty.


    That drive kept her going as a valve in her heart exploded, but she epted the pain and worked through it.


    As her control over her Concept slipped for a second, and the crack widened, she simply re-exerted her control before moving on.


    Pain became her world as she reached her head and knew that the hardest part was upon her.


    Working on her brain would be not only dangerous, but it also came with serious risk to her wellbeing and recollection of self. But she had saved it forst for a reason.


    She had practice. And now, all of that woulde full circle, as she couldnt allow for a single mistake.


    To her surprise, Aunt Helen touched her head. Well done, sweetie. But we can take it from here.


    Aster was in too much pain to understand what she meant, until two greater powers reached in and took control of everything.


    She felt Maras Concept, Intent, and Aspect reach through her and somehow grab her own fractured Concept, while a different presence took control of her mana pool and bloodline power.


    She was cursing the stupid birds for not doing this earlier when she felt a spell put her to sleep.


    ***


    Mara watched Aunt Helen work as she kept the fox''s Concept frompletely shattering.


    Working without a brain was something that only a Tier 15 had a chance of doing, and only because they relied on biology less than mortals. That didnt mean a Tier 15 could survive a catastrophic failure but the line was pushed further. After Tier 15 converting the bloodline in the brain wasn''t necessary for the fullpletion. It just sped things up tremendously and reduced the side effects.


    By the same metric, a stronger beast could assist in the whole process, but anyone who had been through it knew how bad of an idea that was.


    Eventually, all beasts would have to go through the process as they increased their bloodline rank. Pain was a part of cultivation as much as it was a part of life. If one couldn''t handle it, they wouldnt go far in either.


    It still tore at her heart to see Aster in that much pain.


    Truth be told, Aster had done better than expected.


    She loved the little fox as both the grandchild she supposedly wasn''t, and the sibling to one of her kids she officially was.


    But she also knew that the fox was a free spirit who liked to joke around and y when she didnt need to work.


    Mara nced at Luna, who had remained hidden in the corner, watching the process.


    The stupid cat hadnt wanted to let Aster know how much she cared, and neither Aunt Helen or her were going to cross the old cat; though for different reasons.


    Still, Mara wished that the cat had tried to talk Aster out of this.


    Mara, better than anyone else, understood the drive to keep up with your bond. It was one of the reasons the beast kingdom took bonds for ten years after Tier 15. Time and space were the best ways to reduce that external drive, and let the bond learn who they were without that influence.


    Publicly, they just hammered the point about bonds being forced into rtionships, but while that was a problem, it wasnt the real reason they separated the bonds by at least a.


    A bond needed to be able to see themselves for who they were without their partner, and then decide what they wanted to do.


    She had returned to her bond, and they had continued to be delving partners for centuries before their rtionship turned romantic.


    She hated the separation then, but older and wiser, she understood it was a good thing.


    Still, it hurt to see Aster tear herself apart just to walk a new path. Mara respected that choice, though, and didnt interfere.


    Though she would never admit it, she believed Aster made the right choice.


    Ice foxes did not have the greatest evolutionary path, despite their variety, unless she wanted to lean fully into the mental charm aspects with the kitsune path, or sidestep into a lupine path. From everything she had seen though, that was not Aster.


    And forging your own path was the cornerstone of cultivation.


    Growing strong, leaving your own legacy behind, and paving the path for your descendants.


    Today, a new breed of fox was born, and as Aunt Helen finished integrating the air mana into Aster''s brain, Mara probed the fox with the other two.


    Luna spoke first. I knew she had it in her. For all her y, she has a core of steel. She might bend a bit, but she is firm in her convictions.


    Aunt Helen ran her fingers through the fox that was now covered in blood, and started to wash her with a number of spells. Aster is a driven woman. I dont know if I could have pushed through ripping out my Rank 1 bloodline to upgrade it for greater power.


    Mara rolled her eyes, but didnt correct the bird.


    Aunt Helen would have done the same thing. Of that, she had no doubt. The old bird had painstakingly recreated her shattered Concept from metaphorical dust, instead of just starting over. The woman who spent millions of years rebuilding what was broken to honor her dead family would never have hesitated to do the same, or worse.


    As Aunt Helen squinted her eyes for a second, and a single, glistening tear rolled down her cheek before she caught it with a finger and dropped it on Aster.


    Aunt Helen was <em>old</em>, and was one of five Rank 3 beasts in their realm. Even Mara, despite being stronger in Tier than Aunt Helen, didnt have the phoenixs abilities to heal others like she did. Aunt Helen had only managed the feat of upgrading her bloodline to Rank 3 because she had spent millions of years making connections and cashing in favors. She had eventually gathered enough resources to break through the barrier that separated Rank 2 and 3 bloodlines.


    Her being a Rank 3 phoenix and able to heal people was considered a state secret of the highest order, and only the royals were aware of it.


    Honestly, Mara hadnt expected Aunt Helen to use a tear on the fox. She hadn''t needed to, and the cost was enormous. It would take decades to recover the amount of energy it cost her to make that single tear. Despite Aunt Helen having a stronger bloodline, she was still a low Tier phoenix, which meant she didnt have the energy reserves to use the ability more frequently. If Mara was a Rank 3 phoenix, she could have used the ability every few months instead.


    Mara pulled out a higher Tier hair growth potion and poured it over Aster once she was clean. Technically, that was pushing the rules of The Path, but she didnt care. No one as vain as Aster wanted to wake up with half their fur missing.


    She recognized her own self in the fox at that.


    Looking good was important. After all, outward perception could be the inward mirror to those who were their own best selves.


    To look good, was to <em>feel</em> good.


    Not so much as a means to just preen and pomp for others, but to be your best self in that moment, and appreciate yourself and who you were. Mara had felt this way of herself for centuries, despite her love of fart jokes and making herself explode on the spot for fun, and she was pretty sure Aster felt the same way.


    And Aster was going to feel like shit for months, so she might as well look good.


    Luna left after ensuring that Aster had settled into her new bloodline, and went back to pretending to be Matt.


    Mara looked at Aunt Helen, How bad is her Concept?


    The older phoenix smiled and started cooking again, but didnt immediately answer the question.


    Mara sniffed, and her stomach rumbled as she smelled a Tier 44 Desert Worm stew that she hadnt had in thousands of years. From her perspective. Subjective time was the worst.


    That worm went extinct ages ago, and the leftover supply was limited, so Aunt Helen only cooked it during important asions.


    Mara paused. She wondered if she could get Matt to make a rift from one of the remaining worm carcasses. She knew that Aunt Helen had a ton of otherwise extinct recipes that he could possibly do the same with.


    Mara wanted her worms again.


    Leon insisted that eating worms was weird, the prude. But he had been the one to feed them to her when she was young. So really, it was his fault if you thought about it the right way.


    When Aunt Helen finished cooking and brought over two bowls of Desert Worm stew, she finally answered Maras earlier question. All things considered, Aster kept her Concept in remarkably good shape. She''s a strong-willed young woman. It will take her only a few months to fully heal, I suspect. Though, shes going to be sore for even more months after. We pushed her healing cooldown hard there, even with my tear helping. Shell be sore, but that''s a good thing in my opinion. The pain will remind her what she earned. She did well.


    Mara sighed. I didnt expect her to do nearly as well as she did, to be honest. I doubt I would have reced my bloodline before Tier 15 sessfully. It hurt bad enough when I didnt need those fleshy bits to live.


    Aunt Helen just patted her hand, but changed the subject. What do you think of her idea? Staying a fox and diverting her bloodline into a spatial realm?


    Mara had been unaware of such ns before today, and had been shocked. Luna must have known, since Aster had been well informed Astral Seals which only existed in the higher realm. <em>Too</em> well informed. When she knew that the cat had a few minutes, she was going to have a serious discussion with Luna about withholding information about her family from her.


    That was <em>uneptable</em>.


    Its certainly an ambitious goal, but shes taking the right steps toward it. With the Celestial Dragon''s blood, the two of us are all but guaranteed to reach Rank 3 in this realm. I had hardly dared hope for that before, even if it was technically a distant possibility. Wasting a rank to simply diffuse wind into her ice to make winter would have been a waste with its powers.


    Aunt Helen smiled as she hit a sore spot for Mara. If only we had Talents like dragons. Wouldnt that be nice?


    Mara felt her feathers rise before she lowered them. The stupid dragons were thergest of cheaters in that regard. Most beasts, Aster included, never strayed from their element because they had Talents rted to them. Even with her change of bloodline, Aster''s Tier 1 and Tier 3 Talents would remain about controlling ice, not winter.


    She had only allowed the fox''s n because winter mana was essentially just ice with a heaping of wind mixed in, alongside some faint echoes of a few other elements, so she wouldn''t have had any major issues. If Aster had tried to shift her mana any further, she would have put her foot down.


    Dragons, on the other hand, had their first two Talents formed in a way that their elemental control and element was dictated by their bloodline, and not set in stone. So a fire dragon who wanted to be a water dragon simply needed to rece their bloodline, and then they would have a Talent for water spells instead of fire spells.


    There was a clear reason why dragons sat at the top of the Beast Kingdoms Rank 2 bloodlines in terms of purebat power. They could freely change their bloodline to what best suited them, and reset their Talent for the new element.


    Mara let the old frustration go. She was born a simple little me sparrow, and had grown to one of the strongest beings in the entire realm. But Talents were still something set in stone for her and so many others. The only thing she could do to improve her weaker me sparrow Tier 1 and Tier 3 Talents was ascend, and let that rebirth upgrade her Talents along with her Domain.


    The two of them chatted about old times until Aster woke up and groggily cursed at them. You giant mean birds. If you could have done it for me from the start, why not bonk me on the head and save me the pain?


    Mara smiled at theint. From the tone, she knew that Aster was just venting. She understood the feeling, so she let the pup growl and yip.


    Instead, she watched how the fox carefully ced each paw and winced as muscles that were pushed too far protested being used once more.


    Aunt Helen asked, How do you feel?


    Aster shoved her face into a turkey that Aunt Helen pulled out from a spatial ring. In between bites, Aster said, Awful! Everything hurts. And my Concept feels like it owed the wrong person money and they werent exactly a fan of waiting for pay day. But


    A gust of frigid air swirled around the room. It worked, and my Talent works surprisingly well for controlling the ice in winter. In fact, I think my ice might actually be stronger. Just as I hoped. Winter is a Level 3 mana type, after all. It''s better than pure ice. In fact, I thi


    Aster fell over, snores rumbling forth in the middle of her sentence. Both Aunt Helen and Maraughed.


    Mara stood up. Let me get her to bed. Are you going to visit Matt after this?


    Aunt Helen nodded, Once they win a legacy I''ll visit them like I do every winner to help them recover. Emmanuel asked me to look in on him, but I doubt much changed. Last time, his spirit wasn''t showing the slightest sign of converging towards Mana Concentration for his Tier 25 Talent. If I had to guess, Id say it was focused towards something more external than inside his mana pool, but it was too unformed to really say much more than that.


    Mara sighed. Things were never so easy.


    She smirked as she scooped up Aster, gently rubbing the little angels belly as she snored peacefully into the air.


    She had never liked easy.


    Things were more fun when you had to work for it.

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151


    Quill and Torch idled away their week on a healing cooldown by publicly puttering around and spending the small portion the points Luna and Kurt had earned for them, before throwing themselves back into the wilds.


    Instead of just wasting most of the points as they had before, they started setting up their own counter-bounty system on the more determined assassin teams. Some protested that action, but their hypocritical arguments were sessful on exactly no one.


    As a continued show of force, any team that took a snipe at them was ruthlessly hunted down and killed with as much damage as they could get away with, before the Gardeners pulled the victims away.


    Still, the number of people willing to attack them only increased each time they went out.


    With only two days remaining till the end of the month, they entered the endless rift, and they were forced to change their tactics from the first time they entered as Matt and Liz. Even with that change, they cleared their Matt and Liz record in less than half the time.


    Being unable to cast unlimited spells, as they did when Matt publicly used his Concept, they paced themselves in the first half by swapping between who did the fighting and mana recharging.


    That method let them pull out the stops for the Tier 14 monsters, who were still a pain to fight, despite being able to showcase more of theirbat skills. Being four Tiers lower than their enemies was nothing to scoff at, and as the monsters started to reach higher and higher through the Tier, the fights likewise increased in difficulty.


    In the first wave of the Peak Tier 14 monsters, they were forced to use the improvised meteor skill to kill most of the monsters. It was difficult to damage the rift created creatures without showing any more of their hidden skills, but with that spell and its synergy with Torch, they managed.


    While they slowed down, they eventually finished all five waves of the peak Tier 14 monsters, and exited the rift after getting washed in essence.


    Having experienced the rush once before, they expected to get more essence, seeing as they had advanced further through the waves. To their surprise, they received only about ten percent more essence for their much greater efforts.


    Their reward, on the other hand, made up for it. A Tier 14 chest armor dropped for them that appeared to be made out of smoke. When they inspected it spiritually, they were shocked to discover that it was a growth item. While a growth item dropping after Tier 5 was not impossible, it was absurdly rare, to the point of being almost unheard of. Neither of them could figure out what it did, but what little public data existed on post-Tier 5 dropped growth items suggested hat the effects were often more nuanced andplicated than their Tier 5 and below counterparts. For the time being, Torch stowed it away so they could quickly leave without advertising their monstrous luck. However, when they tried to leave the rift area, Diego ambushed them, though without Page backing him up this time.


    After her very public faux pas suggesting beast bonds werent worth anything more than theirbat ability, she had been pulledpletely out of the spotlight for the next two weeks. In the interim, Diego was working the tournament scene on his own.


    Matt took a bit of pride in her public apology video, but also epted that the punishment was fair. She had seemed honestly sorry for her offending question, and promised to do better going forward.


    Maybe it was just him being naive, but he chose to believe her.


    He also chose to be thankful that Quill and Torch only had to deal with half of their tag-team today.


    By reaching the end of the ny-fifth wave, they had taken the top spot in this rift. This feat elicited a flurry of questions from Diego that the duo delivered primed answers for, all without revealing anything new that wasn''t already obvious from the recording.


    Once they could escape, they took the smoke armor to an appraiser, who immediately confirmed it as a growth item with a rare power set. Just not one that Matt, Liz, Aster, or even any of their friends would ever find very useful.


    On the first inspection, the appraiser believed that if the bonded person had a smoke affinity, they could shift themself into the element for up to a certain amount of time before reforming back into their corporeal bodies. In and of itself, that would have made it a powerful piece of armor, if acutely limited in who could use it. On the second, more detailed inspection, they determined that the chest piece wasnt actually that restrictive regarding its required mana type. Any smoke-constituent mana affinity would also work to activate the armor, but resulted in increased spiritual strain and cooldown time. Smoke mana was a higher level mana type, mainlyposed of air, fire, and wood mana. If the caster had any of those mana types or their pairedbinations, they could still use the armor, just not quite as efficiently as an individual with true smoke mana. Considering how incredibly valuable the effect was to various build types, Matt could easily see someone with a lower Tier affinity pursuing a smoke affinity specifically to make better use of the armor. All together, the loosened restriction increased the number of people who could and would want to bond such a powerful item to a higher level. So much so, they expected to snag a significant profit for it.


    As they didnt have any of those mana types, none of them could make good use of it. For all that Torch used fire spells, Liz had blood mana. Matt, in turn, had no interest in aspecting his mana to any of those types. With that information, it was an easy decision to put it up for sale on Tur''stals special auction. It was scheduled for the middle of the fifth month, right before the start of the solo and team battles of the Big Three. Only Pathers would be able to ce bids at the event, but all bids had to be in points. They expected to arge amount of points for the armor, which could then be converted to items and skills they otherwise wouldnt be able to afford.


    As the second month ended, the top performers were all brought forward to hear L talk. The number of different people who qualified had nearly doubled, as the number of teams topping more than one leaderboard was down to just seven. Only one team, the Gems, imed three top spots. Thepetition had greatly intensified now that everyone knew time with the Ascender was on the table.


    Aster had been so busy with her friends that she had only been replying to Matt and Liz in text format, which made Matt wonder if this was how parents felt when their kids left them, but he managed to stay busy.


    In thest month, he had already released a second rune for free. This time, it was a version of a neutral mana barrier that was slightly more mana expensive, but proportionally stronger. With more time for his AI to spend on the project, the final version was a much firmer and cleaner Tier 5 enchantment. It was an overall improvement from his first rune, and a good workout for his AI. Kurt warned him that he was starting to make enemies from the guilds, corporations, and noble houses that had a vested interest in enchanting, but the man seemed proud when Matt was insistent on making the improved runes free.


    The end of the month came and went, but as the third month was the start of the one-quarter mark, and the crafters profession rankings were going to start the next month, Turstal held an extensive amateurs tournament for every profession.


    Quill participated and won a Tier 15 enchanting set in the enchanting portion of the tournament, which was fun but hardly challenging. His victory had people questioning whether he was a crafter hiding as a fighter, but the usations held no water and were forgotten after a few days.


    Liz, on the other hand, surprised Matt with her insistence on getting in the top one hundred of the alchemy tournament. The fact that there were more than two hundred thousand participants, versus the ten thousand amateur enchanters he had to deal with, spoke to how hard her goal was. But he still gathered all of their friends to support her.


    She said she had a reason to reach that rank, but refused to exin until after she won the tournament, no matter how much he tickled her.


    So, like everyone else, he was forced to wait and cheer.


    ***


    Liz sat in front of the table they had set up for the contestants and took long, deep, steadying breaths.


    Despite her efforts, she couldn''t stop her hands from shaking. She needed to reach the top one hundred winners if her n was to work. If the crafting Pathers werepeting against her in his tournament, she wouldnt have had a pipe dream of even reaching the top ten thousand, but everyone here was an amateur, just like her.


    That gave her hope.


    It was actually her perusal of the tournament and its rewards one night, along with the formatof the tournament, that lead her to consider the possibility of using her blood alchemy for a chance at some of the rewards.


    Alchemy was one of the most popr sub upations for good reason. It offered a way to heal and empower any fighter without a need for a skill. Anyone could learn it, and there were plenty of knowledge databases centered around it. That meant on average, at least one person on a team was trying to master the craft and use the items they found.


    Matt hadughed that the alchemy tournament, at least for the early rounds, wasn''t using real items because of the number of contestants, and was instead using [Mana Copy] versions to help cut costs. His nextment that he wished he could use [Mana Copy] to rece his talisman parchment had struck her like a punch to the gut.


    She was using blood alchemy to absorb potions into herself and then boost her powers. But with physical materials, it was an annoying process that forced her to vent the waste materials.


    For her, [Mana Copy] would presumably be [Blood Copy]. If it worked the way she hoped, turning her blood into the ingredients she made her potions out of, then she could mix them inside herself, and revert the changes after their effects ran out.


    It would allow her to continuously boost herself without one of the biggest drawbacks.


    Of course, it wasn''t so simple. [Mana Copy] needed a physical representation of what it was going to copy, and it didnt work on finished products, but that wasn''t an impossible restriction to work around. The skill had an initial mana cost to cast the spell, and reserved a portion of the casters mana for each item copied. This put a limit on how many copies could exist at a single time. However, the biggest w was that any item copied by the skill didnt contain any essence, which meant that anything created using the items wouldnt have an effect on reality. The copy was just a shadow of the real thing.


    Essentially, any potion Liz created wouldnt actually work.


    It made [Mana Copy] a practice only skill. Still useful to practice within theb to ensure valuable ingredients werent wasted, but not so in battle. This was a major gamble with her n. If the blood version of the skill didnt produce working potions, then her whole idea would copse. Her hope was that the blood copies being made from something containing essence would resolve the biggest limitation of the skill.


    [Mana Copy] was a rare Tier 14 skill, but there existed two other skills that went hand in hand with it for higher Tier alchemists. [Create Blueprint] and [Library] were Tier 20 and Tier 32 skills, respectively, and were just as rare as [Mana Copy]. But they were indispensable to any higher Tier alchemists.


    Alchemists generally used [Mana Copy] to let them practice with the exact herbs they were about to use to make a potion, and to give them unlimited tries without wasting rare ingredients. But that was just the lowest application of the skill. With [Create Blueprint], they were able to perfectly scan the item and store the blueprint in their spirit forter use. Due to the size of the blueprints, the caster was limited to half a dozen blueprints without [Library] to organize, index, and efficiently store them. But thetter was only needed if one wanted to store more than a dozen ingredients at once.


    Liz could manage with just [Blood Copy], and having the ingredients on hand for the near future.


    And coincidentally, [Mana Copy] was avable to purchase from the points rewards shop for any of the contestants who ranked in the top one hundred. [Create Blueprint] wasnt going to be so easy to get, but she only needed [Mana Copy] for now.


    She just needed to beat everyone but ny-nine other participants, or she would be forced to fight with every other alchemist in the greater Empire that also wanted the skill.


    It was why she was shaking like a leaf. If she failed here, she was screwed until she could throw around the Tier 20 wealth that the [Mana Copy] would undoubtedly cost.


    Even with Matt creating rifts, they would be hard-pressed to earn that much wealth in a reasonable time, or without drawing attention to themselves. Even if they wanted to make a rift that dropped it as a Tier 14 skill, they could end up spending years just trying to get the rift to Tier 14.


    It was now or never.


    As the countdown reached zero, she and everyone else looked up to the stage, where a middle-aged woman stood and pped twice.


    On the first p, a number of blue-tinted and slightly see-through materials appeared, and the second stilled the air, stopping any sound from escaping the contestants.


    Good morning, everyone. I am Senior Alchemist Giana, a Tier 35 professional alchemist in the employ of Queen Tur''stal. I will be overseeing thepetition for you. Also, I will be one of the five main judges for the uing official Alchemy Competition. Her being a judge for one of the Big Three did mean that getting to know her beforehand could be very useful.


    At that, she looked to the side towards the crowd, where Liz suspected a number of the Path crafters were watching thispetition to try and learn what they would be dealing with.


    Today, we will be eliminating most of you over the course of four events. First is a written test to weed out anyone here just for fun. Were not wasting true ingredients for people who arent even serious about the field. The second trial will entail creating a simple Tier 10 strength-boosting potion. The recipe ismon enough to be familiar to almost any alchemist, but producing it at high quality requires exemry application of multiple key techniques.


    Liz took a deep breath and settled herself; hearing what they were going to be doing helped to settle her nerves. Exemry application of multiple key techniques could mean anything, but if she worried about the standards being too high, it would push her out of thepetition before it even started.


    Third, we will provide everyone with a set of ingredients that they will need to prepare properly. That will be harder than most of you suspect, as we have purposely mixed in ingredients that required special handling, but are <em>very often</em> mistaken for othermon ingredients. Even more so for anyone only relying on their AI to identify ingredients. Good luck with that event.


    Off the top of her head, Liz could think of a few possible examples they could use. Depending how obscure the deceptive ingredients were, that task could be insidiously tricky.


    Finally, were going to have all of you create a Tier 10 wound closing potion. There were a number of silent reactions from the contestants that Liz could see, and she agreed internally. Wound closing potions were a lesser healing potion, and were incredibly hard to make.


    Giana smiled and said, We will give everyone five tries and ten hours toplete the fourth round, so don''t worry about it being impossible. Then, anyone remaining will proceed to the second day ofpetitions tomorrow, where we will hopefully narrow down thepetition from several tens of thousands to a few thousand. On the third day, we will eliminate everyone remaining until we have our winner.


    The Tier 35 pulled out a snowglobe and set it on the podium in front of her. This is the winner''s reward, a portable Tier 15 alchemy station. Unlike most of these, the actual items inside aren''tyes, let me repeat that <em>are not</em> tied to the spatial enchantments, and can be reced as you advance in Tier. The enchantment is also stable enough that you can ce it in a spatial bag or ring, if you are so lucky to have one of thetter. I can honestly say that I want one of these myself. It''s a perfect way to work on your alchemy skills, even while you travel. Just enter the globe and work on all of your projects before leaving.


    Liz was interested in the item, but it wasnt that important for her. Being able to take her alchemy workstation with her wherever she went would be fantastic, but she wasnt too worried about it. The real draw was the ability to take a full enchanted workstation, but she and Matt intended to win one of the spatial houses that appeared as a reward for taking first ce in the rift challengester in the tournament.


    She also knew that there was no realistic chance she would win. Unlike Matt, she couldn''t throw her AI at thepetition and win. Even if she could, alchemy had much more nuance than enchanting.


    The first test was a written one that questioned them about the various uses of the typical alchemist''s tools.


    As promised, the test was easy enough that anyone who had created a potion even once should be able to pass. Liz had no sympathy for the people who failed, and as she expected, she got an easy one hundred points.


    The second round, and the first actual alchemy challenge, was still easy for her. With the three sets of ingredients provided, she easily crafted the Tier 10 strengthening potion.


    The ingredients made with [Mana Copy] were strange. They were slightly transparent and didnt contain any essence. She was so used to sensing the essence within objects that it took her a few attempts to believe that the [Mana Copy] versions of the items acted the same, but once she got past that, it was easy enough.


    From watching the otherpetitors from her silent workstation, she saw that when they failed to concoct the potion or ruined the ingredients, the [Mana Copy] ingredients just faded away in a burst of mana.


    She knew that each copied item locked away a portion of the casters mana, but she found it interesting that a failed attempt caused all of the other ingredients for that set to also vanish.


    It meant that someone was watching each and every one of them, or that the ingredients were somehow tied together.


    Before she could ponder further, Giana walked into her area and picked up the potion, and brought it to her eye for inspection.


    The normally dark yellow final product was lighter than its correct color because of the [Mana Copy] ingredients, but Liz knew that the potion would technically work. It would be less effective than usual, but the general results were the same.


    As Giana shook the potion, Liz looked on nervously until the judge set the potion down and said, You pass. Well done. Next time, don''t be afraid to filter your ingredients a second time. It would have removed a degree of your impurities. Otherwise, its a good showing. Ny-four out of a hundred points.


    Liz clenched her fist as the woman vanished, and the other two sets of ingredients flickered away just as quickly.


    It made Liz wonder if Giana was the one reserving her mana to create the copies. That was hardly impossible, but Liz suspected that there had to be more than just a single Tier 35 with [Mana Copy] to provide three sets of ingredients for over two hundred thousand people.


    Noting how much time remained, Liz took the chance to meditate until the next test started.


    The ingredient preparation test could have easily been called an ingredient identification test, as that was the make or break portion of the assessment. Treating an Ice Drop Lilly like amon Frost Lilly would ruin the ingredient, and render the herbs medicinal effect moot. That would be grounds for a failing score, so looking out for minor differences between the herbs was crucial.


    Most of the time, their AI could correctly identify the ingredients, but she still caught a few mistakes that almost slipped through because of the tester''s shenanigans.


    Someone cleverly thought of taking a Purple Sunset Ginseng and dusting the leaves with Chromeberry Bush pollen to give them a metallic tint, like the far moremon Silver Ginseng. Luckily, Liz didnt fall for it, having noticed the strange, faint, flowery scent. She properly harvested the stem of the herb, rather than the roots or leaves.


    When Giana came back around, Liz earned another smile and a ny-three points ranking.


    While you identified everything correctly, your handling of the Ephemeral Carrot and Summersong Peach both bordered on failure. Of course, they are technically usable, and both are very hard to get your hands on, so it''s not something we expect you to have practice in. Still, if you had slowed down a touch, you wouldnt have wasted so much of the medicinal efficacy.


    Liz checked the clock and saw that she had over two hours left and nodded her understanding. She had rushed too quickly.


    She took the two hours she had and started doing body weight exercises and stretches to calm herself down.


    The next test would push her alchemy skills to the limit, and she needed to be fresh.


    To her surprise, instead of going right into the next test, food was brought out to all the contestants, and Giana went through the process of concocting a Tier 10 wound closing potion for everyone after they ate.


    After seeing the potion made firsthand, Liz felt better prepared, but still took her time when the round started.


    Even with five attempts, she could only really afford to mess up three times because of the time restrictions.


    With that in mind, she settled in and got to work.


    Her first attempt failed at the final stage, where she needed to stir the concoction, introduce the final two ingredients, and add exactly three thousand two hundred and seven mana, while also rapidly increasing the heat of the beaker she was working out of.


    Her stirring failed to keep a consistent rhythm, and the potion turned a sickly pink color, and she was forced to start over.


    On her second attempt, she managed to bnce all of the steps, and the light red potion kept stable for the required five minutes.


    Liz had just dropped to her chair when Giana appeared and inspected the batch of potions for a long minute before proiming that Liz had passed.


    Well done. You clearly have never made the potion before, but you took what I showed you and applied the lesson well. She then looked at Liz and inspected her from top to bottom, focusing on her hands and sighing quietly. I suppose theres no chance I can convince you to stop hitting things and move over to a more permanent crafting role?


    Liz beamed at the praise but shook her head. Sorry, but I want to see thebat side of The Path through.


    Giana just winked at her and said, I figured, but it was worth a shot. I expect you to do well tomorrow. Rest well, and Ill see you then. You have raw talent with alchemy, girl. Don''t let it gopletely to waste. Once you reach Tier 15, spend some time honing your craft, eh? Ny-six points.


    With that, Liz was dismissed for the day, and she happily ate dinner with Matt and their friends before going to sleep and getting ready for the next day''s tests.


    As Giana said, they had reduced the number ofpetitors from hundreds of thousands to just tens of thousands, and the test got proportionally harder.


    The second day''s tests required them to create a Tier 9 mana concentration potion, a normally hard task, but one Liz had endless practice with. She earned a ny-nine rating, as well as another recruitment pitch from Giana.


    Their second and final event was to tend to a patch of herbs in a simtion through their AI, over the course of two subjective days.


    The splitting headache she had after the two days of time dtion exined why the event was saved forst better than any verbal exnation could. Still, she did alright, despite not having much experience in growing rare herbs. A seventy-eight was still enough for her to advance to the third day as one of the final one thousand contestants.


    That night, they skipped having a party on ount of her splitting headache, but Matt took care of her, massaging her back and shoulders until she fell asleep.


    While she wasn''t perfectly recovered the next day, Matt had gotten Melinda to swing by and p her with an Overhealth healing spell that wiped the headache away in less than a second.


    She felt bad about getting the healing from Melinda and gave Matt a stink eye that he ignored. Liz didnt want Melinda thinking she was friends with her just for her enhanced healing. There was a reason she hadnt asked for the healst night, after all.


    When the third day started with a Tier 11 potion of fire weapon enhancement, she was only able to be grateful for the clear mind that she was afforded. Even though everyone here was primarily delvers, the remaining thousand were head and shoulders above the average alchemists.


    With so few people remaining, Liz was able to see the others at work, and she cursed mentally. More than half of the remaining contestants were using [Water Maniption] to stir their beakers, and [Fire Maniption] to heat their items.


    While not technically better than a perfectly calibrated oven, [Fire Maniption] had the advantage of allowing the alchemist to make rapid changes in temperature that a mundane me had a hard time replicating.


    It was something she could theoretically do, as she had the skill, but she had never practiced using them in such a delicate manner. Her alchemy teacher had just said that it was something she didnt need to bother with until after Tier 15, but clearly that wasn''t a universal truth. Unfortunately, during the middle of apetition was not the time to experiment.


    It paid off, and she passed the first round of the day, entering the top one hundred. Barely. But she had done it.


    Eighty-third ce was more than enough for her to purchase [Mana Copy], and with a thought, a hundred of their hard-earned points vanished from their Matt and Liz ount.


    That hurt, but she needed the skill, and after she spilled her idea to Matt, the matter was settled. He was more than happy to see her further her blood alchemy with their teams points.


    To her surprise, Liz finished in the top fifty before being eliminated after the third round of the day.


    All of her friends took her out for a party at one of the more exclusive restaurants, and it was only the day after the finals that she was able to absorb [Mana Copy].


    One and a half dayster, the skill entered her inner spirit, where her Tier 1 Talent took effect. She didnt bring the skill into her core spirit, which had an extra spot, on the rmendation of Luna. Their manager had told them to keep that spot open for the inheritances that would be opened next month.


    To her surprise, Uncle Manny didnt have a prerecorded message for [Mana Copy] turning into [Blood Copy], which meant that she didnt have an easy and convenient way to know if the skill would work as she hoped.


    At Matt''s insistence, they invited Melinda and her team so she could be healed with Overhealth in case the skill had some adverse effect.


    With nerves worked up from everyone elses worry, she took out a Tier 10 Grasping Vine and cast [Blood Copy] on the herb, and she felt something lurch inside of her.


    The spell was reaching for something more than just mana or blood to finish creating the replica of the Tier 10 Grasping Vine. Liz quickly dismissed the skill and took a moment to exin to everyone else what had happened.


    Matt was worried, but after Melinda gave Liz the all clear they started considering what might have gone wrong. It didnt take them long to specte that the blood Liz provided either didnt have enough, or the right type of essence, so the skill tried to draw essence from her spirit. The problem was that she didnt have any unallocated essence, so the skill failed. They quickly went to the nearest rift, and after a small bribe, entered with the next team. They allowed Liz to kill a few of the monsters to gather some essence before they left.


    This time, instead of being painful, she felt an odd draining sensation that pooled in her hand, and a portion of her blood seeped out of her skin, forming an identical copy of the Grasping Vine. The amount of essence contained in the blood copy was approximately twenty percent of the original.


    Melinda was the first to move, with Sam right behind her, and they both leaned in and started examining the herb while Liz looked inward.


    Just like [Mana Copy], [Blood Copy] seemed to reserve a portion of her mana, and she felt that she could dismiss the copied ingredient by dismissing the structure that held a portion of her mana still in her mana pool.


    The only odd thing was the blood used for the ingredient. While she could use [Blood Manpation] on it, the blood didnt move oxygen, or have any of the other properties of blood.


    It was something to investigateter, but for now, she joined Sam in their testing of the Grasping Vine. The herb in question was one of the main ingredients in her strength potions, and they were now hoping that [Blood Copy] worked differently than [Mana Copy], while keeping the magical properties of the original skill. As it was creating things out of a physical liquid, she believed it would.


    As they hoped, it worked. The essence made all the difference. But in turn, the Blood Grasping Vine was harder to work with normal alchemy tools, and basically required someone with [Blood Maniption] to properly handle.


    Liz then created copies of all the needed herbs, locking down around a quarter of her blood, and used the blood ingredients to create one of her concentrated strength potions.


    Matt, who had been looking adorably proud, turned worried again, and practically begged Melinda with his eyes to edge closer as Liz pulled the finished blood potion into herself.


    With months of practice, she kept a firm control over the potion and its medical effects, but she found it almost trivial. Where she had once needed to encase the potion in a film of blood, now she justmanded the potion to not be absorbed, and it flowed like normal blood.


    It was made entirely from her blood, after all, and her Tier 3 Talent meant that she was one with blood.


    Liz only had to will the blood potion to release the medicinal effects, and it flooded her body with strength. About twenty percent as much as when she used the real ingredients, but this was fully under her control. The strength of the potion corresponded to the amount of essence contained in the copied ingredients, which made sense. The dosage had to be increased, but it had worked.


    Her gamble had paid off.


    She threw a few punches with Matt to give her an outlet for her power and smiled the whole time. As she had hoped, when she was done with the potion, the small remnants of the potions that usually lingered in her body like a poison vanished when she dispelled [Blood Copy]. She felt the release of her mana and a small trickle of essence returned to her spirit as the skill dissipated. She couldnt recover all of the essence that was used in the ingredients, but a small portion of the total cost was returned.


    <em>Perfect</em>.


    With the safety of the new skill tested, she kicked everyone but Sam out, and the two of them started to test everything they could with her new skill.


    As with the normal skill, she was unable to copy a finished product. But after a lot of work, and an idea from Sam, Liz was able to skip copying the intact ingredient. Instead, they used a refined version of the herb as the starting point to copy, and then created a potion with those ingredients.


    It didnt save Liz any ingredients, nor make the potion creation any easier, as she needed to tweak her recipe. But at least the samples were now small enough to hide on her person. Since she wasn''t at the level of control where she was able to mix the potion in her body, they created a small pouch that slipped under her armor on her back, where she could mix the ingredients on the fly and then absorb them into her body.


    Despite not wanting to interact with Frederic and his shitty backwards noble faction in any way, shape, or form, she still messaged him and asked if he had a [Create Blueprint] skill handy, and if she would be able to swap her second choice spell out for it.


    She was nearly instantly rejected, which, while expected, was still annoying.


    He said he didnt have a cracked version, and because of the rarity of the skill, he was prohibited from substituting it in.


    Frederic did offer up a good suggestion that she use the true [AI] skill and her Talent to make [Blood AI], which might let her mimic the effects of both [Create Blueprint] and [Library] with a single skill. He wasn''t able to give her one, but the skill was far, far moremon than the other two, so it wasnt a bad idea.


    Frederic was a stupid idiot who she believed honestly bought the drivel he peddled, but he knew what he was talking about when it came to skills.


    She had honestly expected Matt to have a worse reaction to him because of his history, but Matt just shrugged it off, saying that the man wasnt the one who ruined his home. No matter the connection, he would treat the man fairly until he had a reason not to.


    Liz knew her partner well enough. She knew he wasn''t lying, but she was still surprised at how level-headed he took it. She wasn''t sure that she would have been so sanguine about everything that had happened after meeting the man representing the faction that believed the Junipers had done nothing wrong. Even if it was just a portion of his retainers, Frederic still represented the worst of the nobles.


    There was a reason why those nobles had been removed from Aunt Tur''stal and Uncle Rusty''s kingdoms, and Liz wasnt going to forget that.


    Matt might be willing to y nice, but she was watching every move they made, waiting for a single misstep. When that happened, she would strike with everything she had in both political power and physical might.


    Still, that was for the future, and she stopped herself from nning, as it only angered her. Besides, today was a day of celebration.


    With her testing done, she gathered everyone up again and hosted thergest party they could without spending points.


    She had spent a little more than half of their points on [Mana Copy], and they would need to save them before the start of the next month, when the legacy battles started. While she didnt know everything that would happen then, she did know a few things from the tidbits that Luna, Kurt, and Uncle Aiden had said over the years.


    And if they were right, each of them would need to buy another skill.


    With the increase in her power, the two of them powered through the remainder of the month with an increase in points earned in both identities.


    They even left the safe side of the with their real identities more than once, which made for a stark contrast to their time in the Jungle as Quill and Torch.


    As their masked identities, they had to constantly deal with attacks from people who thought they had the drop on them. It never ended well for the other teams, but apparently, whoever was funding the bounty on them was willing to give five points to every team that they crippled. And considering that was the same as taking second ce in one of the rift rankings, most teams were more than willing to take the risk.


    One man repeatedly attacked them to earn the bounty, but only after announcing himself and asking if it was a good time to fight. When they agreed, he died after carefully losing a small chunk of non-vital flesh, and took the reward for trying.


    Neither she or Matt had any issue with someone wasting the oppositions points and happily yed along.


    But as Matt and Liz, they never encountered any problems, and were even helped by random teams who knew of Matts mana giving Concept.


    Liz wanted to punch every smiling face who would happily pull out their knives if they knew the bounty on their heads, but kept up the same fake smile as Matt did.


    At the end of the third month, they managed to take two first-ce rift rankings as Quill and Torch, and one as Matt and Liz. They and the same group who took first ce in the wyvern rift had gathered back up to ensure they managed to ce first at least once. The group rift they chose this time was a swampy marsh rift that meant an awful three days of slogging through for them, but they managed to clear the rift with no injuries, and faster than the second-ce team by a day and a half.


    Spending time with L was unsurprisingly amazing, as the older woman was more than happy to keep telling stories for their enjoyment.


    Even taking fake advice from her when the others were around was still fun. The older dragon had, after knowing they were actually friends with the people they tackled the group rift with, given them her full attention. She had full training regimens ready for everyone, created to interact with their AI and the full virtual reality capsules.


    The others were shocked and in awe of the treatment, but epted it when L said it was because she wanted to see Baby Azure more often.


    It was a believable excuse, as no one missed the dragon-sized bracelet that the small dragon came home with.


    It was a <em>Tier 1 spatial item</em>.


    Even Liz, growing up with the rich and noble, had never heard of a Tier 1 spatial item before.


    The wink L shot her and Matt hinted to the fact that her tall tale about stealing the Republics'' higher Tiers vaults might have a touch more truth than she had believed.


    As the Fourth month started, and the crafter Pathers started their own realpetition, the Legacies tournaments started for the fighters.


    She and Matt had a date with a power-up.

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152


    Tur''stal looked around to her fellow Royals and L, who, while not a Royal, merited a say in the uing decisions.


    Are we in agreement to increase the number of the children we allow into the legacies for this tournament, along with the next four? Anyone after that wont be on the timeline to fight in the uing war, so they don''t matter nearly as much as these uing generations. Her question was met with frowns and nods.


    No one wanted to increase the burden on the legacies, but now was a critical period to forge future elites.


    Rusty punched the air twice before uppercutting an invisible enemy. This isn''t the time to hold back. Better to have a few of them break than to lose everything. The only ones worth squirreling away are the pair Harper and I called dibs on for Project Straw Shirt. And if Ciceron is careful, most won''t even break. Theyll just need an extra long time to recover.


    Harper nodded slowly. Agreed on both points. Those two particr assets represent too much potential for the project for us to risk them here. Otherwise, if we cycle the other legacies set aside for this, and pull them after the second use, I don''t think we will encounter too many problems. The real issue is that rotating almost our entire stock out at once will alert the other Great Powers as to how many surviving legacies we actually possess. At the very least, their overall estimates will get significantly more urate, and theyll get an almost exact count on the scarcer varieties. That means we wont have as many surprises for our elites in the Army and spy branches. Not the end of the world, but not ideal by any means.


    Tur''stal nodded and sipped at a sauvignon nc that she saved for when her nerves got the best of her.


    She had waited to broach this topic until Emmanuel was long gone for a reason.


    ess to the legacies was normally limited to the top three rankedpetitors from each specialized category. That restriction was put in ce because they had so few, and repeated usage in too short a period of time rapidly increased the risk of the legacy shattering.


    Per type, three total uses of the obelisks every ten years was considered a safe number. That was enough to make a difference without risking the stress levels in any single one of them reaching a catastrophic level. While one particr legacy recovered from use, it would be removed from rotation for a decade. In prior times of conflict, their Royal predecessors had risked up to ten candidates at a time for each of therger categories. As Harper said, allowing far more people to use them at once would give the other Great Powers a better guess at how many the Empire actually had possession of, something they would rather keep hidden.


    If Tur''stal wanted to increase the number to ten, that would be one thing, but she didnt. She wanted to increase the number to fifty.


    For the mostmon types, they had more than ten obelisks. For the more umon legacies, each single obelisk would have to survive five back-to-back uses, <em>at least</em>. For the rarest and most unusual of specializations, the Empire might only have one or two.


    Ten per specialization isnt enough. For at least the major categories, I want to give everyone in the top fifty a chance. For the rarer types, we increase the slots by the same scale, four to five people per avable legacy.


    That crashnded as poorly as she expected.


    L was the first to speak. That''s certainly ballsy. However, if those reports are to be believed, then we might not be around to use them in the future anyway.


    Having said her piece, the dragon sat back and pulled out a sandwich from her spatial ring, and began to unconcernedly munched away.


    Mara shook her head, serious for once. I don''t think this is a good idea. We risk too much. If this goes as badly as I expect, we will gimp the next two or three tournaments. Well have to increase the restrictions in response to thisckening of standards.


    Tur''stal pursed her lips and refrained frommenting that ckening'' wasn''t a word; pettiness wouldn''t help her argument.


    Thankfully Leon disagreed with his wife. I don''t think we should increase it to fifty, but it''s not so bad. At worst, this is bad until we can get some rifts made that drop legacy obelisks. Then, we just find people who meet the requirements.


    Everyone but L knew he meant Matt, but the dragon didnt seem bothered by being left out, continuing to crunch her sandwich as she listened.


    Frederic raised a finger and said, I think allowing twenty would be a ptablepromise. It''s enough to make a difference in this tournament, but shouldn''t truly strain the moremon legacy types. For those we dont have ten of, well still cap it at two per legacy.


    Mara looked hesitant before shaking her head. I think it''s still too many. Theres a reason that ten is as far as we go, even in times of crisis. This will cost us dearly. Remember we still need Legacy slots for the Pathers who were rated highly by their mangers and are below Tier 15.


    As one of the two Tier 48s, she and Leon technically outranked everyone else and their words were final. But neither were unwilling to listen to others advice, and Tur''stal could see Mara wavering. With Leon on her side, they just needed to find apromise.


    ***


    At the start of the fourth-month announcement, Tur''stal and L said a few words about the legacies to inspire the participants. After their speech, Matt and Liz went back to their rooms to go over a message they received from Kurt.


    When they all arrived, Luna immediately asked, Both of you have an open spot for a skill in your core spirits, correct?


    Matt and Liz both nodded before Luna continued, Ok, good. Now you need to make a decision on which identity you want topete as.


    Kurt quickly wrote, You can only use one legacy every decade or so. The strain on the spirit is simply too massive. No healing or special methods will fix that for you, so you need to choose wisely.


    While Matt was still formting his question, Liz asked, Ive only heard rumors about legacies, but not how they actually work. What can you tell us?


    Both Kurt and Luna exchanged a look before the dark-haired woman finally said, Not much. Everything about them is backed by AI oaths, and even we don''t have exemptions from those. Normally this isn''t an issue, but you are walking the line with two fighting styles. The real question is, what do you want most from your fighting styles.


    Kurt nodded to Matt and took up the thread of the conversation. Matt, do you want to focus on more magical abilities, or do you want to increase your prowess with the de? If you want the first, participate as Quill in one of the magical tournaments. If you want the second, go as Matt and take part in the longsword bracket.


    The mute man then turned to Liz. Do you want to take advantage of your Talent, and lean into your bloodline and fire skills, or possibly hone your spear abilities more?


    Matt and Liz tried to get more out of them, but their managers tly refused to exin any further. With that in mind, he and Liz strategized about what their most dire needs with regards to theirbat abilities.


    Lizs decision was easier than Matt''s; she quickly decided on furthering her blood abilities, and Luna signed her real identity up for the water magespetition.


    Matt waffled back and forth with his decision.


    In a few Tiers, he would have enough mana to be best suited for a mages fighting style, but he didn''t want to give up his longsword in the future either. Melee fighting was a coreponent to any fighting team, and for good reason. It was strong in its own right, and a perfect counter to mages whocked in physical cultivation.


    Matt could see himself starting most battles as a mage and firing spells, but in his mind, he always devolved into a de mage style, mixing spell and sword. When someone who thought he was only capable of casting spells got in close, he would then be able to punish their assumption, as he out muscled most other melee fighters at his own Tier.


    The question was just what exactly the legacies did, and how useful they would be.


    Is there a reason that I can''t get another legacyter? Matt hedged his bets.


    Luna immediately dashed his hopes. You can only use them before Tier 15, so while you might physically be able to use one in a few years, no. The policy on legacies is only contestants in the Tier 10 tournament are allowed to use them. There just aren''t enough of them to go around, and the stronger the person using them is, the greater the chance of them breaking.


    Luna paused for a moment before contradicting herself. At least that is how it normally works. Masked Pathers are usually allowed toe back for a second round most of the time. But for our purposes, make your decision as if you can only have one.


    Matt frowned and threw ideas back and forth with Liz until he started to settle on an idea. His magical abilities would naturally increase as his repertoire of skills increased, but his melee skills would only go so far.


    Looking towards the de-mage in the room, he asked, If I want to keep a hybrid, de mage fighting style, which legacy do you rmend I take first?


    Kurt looked like he was struggling to write, as his usually fluid pen jerked around in the air for a few seconds before he said, Starting at the basics is never a bad choice.


    Matt turned that less than obvious statement over in his head before tranting it as a de mage is a melee fighter first and foremost. He even vaguely remembered Kurt saying something simr to that when he and Kyle started going through his training together at Tier 6.


    Liking the decision more as he thought it over, Matt said, Ill stick with my original idea and fight in the longsword division.


    Kurt just nodded firmly, but the smile that flitted around his lips told Matt that he made the correct choice.


    Luna then threw out two sheets of paper and said, Then your tournament starts in the second half of the month, as one of the more popr events.


    Matt checked and saw that he and Liz were signed up for the longsword and water mage categories.


    He had half hoped there would be a true blood mage legacy for her, but he knew that Luna knew what she was doing.


    With that settled, Matt noticed that some of the brackets for the lessmon weapon styles and magic types were starting as soon as tomorrow.


    Seeing the greatsword tournament, Matt decided to watch Queen and see how she fought with more restrictions.


    ***


    Matt sat with his friends in the stands as he watched the start of the greatsword tournament. There were only ten thousand or so people who favored the weapon type, and were good enough topete with one in a skill-less tournament.


    Kyle was down there as well, and while Matt supported his friend, his attention was centered on the woman in the stoney mask.


    Each month, she had repeatedly ranked in the top ten for gathered points, despite being a solo fighter.


    The announcer started his spiel, but Matt ignored it until he said, For this year, instead of only the top threepetitors being able to browse the legacy library, the top eight will be given that opportunity.


    That announcement perked everyone up except for Queen, who looked unfazed. And Matt understood why.


    To her, only the first slot mattered. A single spot or a thousand meant the same thing to the person who would win easily.


    When the rules were announced, Matt tuned back in. As usual, we will provide everyone with standard greatswords that have no enchantments. Additionally, no skills or Weapon Concepts are allowed during the duels. If you have a relevant Talent with the weapon, please ensure that it has been registered with the tournament AI. Failure to do so will result in immediate disqualification from the entire tournament, and pending your public judicial hearing, possible ejection from The Path. Appropriate measures have and will continue to be taken to level the ying field as much as feasibly possible. You <em>will </em>respect that.


    This was the rule Matt wanted to see.


    Just how good was Queen without the strange weapon she always used?


    The preliminary round was abative test through everyone''s AI, which reduced the number of qualifiedpetitors down to a scant few thousand in a quick and dirty VR test.


    After that, a hundred floating stages floated away with ten people each, setting the stage for the initial battle royale. Matt tuned into the feeds for both Queen and Kyles tforms.


    The first true round was a quick way to knock out most of the remainingpetitors into the losers bracket, where if they did well enough, they would be able to challenge anyone in the top one hundred who they believed they could defeat.


    To his surprise, Queen kept her greatsword strapped to her back, and after testing the weight and bnce of the provided sword once, stood off to the side and didn''t move.


    The other nine contenders on her tform didnt hesitate, and immediately turned as one to attacked her.


    Matt had studied her fights, but he was still shocked at how easily she cut down nine otherpetent fighters with identical weapons, all while carrying a second de on her back.


    The woman wasnt merely good. For a Tier 10, her skill rivaled the mythical stories that her namesake came from.


    In eleven strikes of her de, she eliminated everyone on her tform, and was the firstpetitor to settle back down to the ground.


    The announcer went wild, along with the rest of the crowd.


    Matt chewed his lip as he pondered how he could beat her.


    If he leveraged all of his skills and physical strength, he believed that even if he couldn''t match her technique with the de, he could just overpower her with abination of magical spells and his own ability with the de. He just needed to engage her in an open battle, which this event was definitely not.


    But if he didnt have ess to all of that, he doubted that he could match the masked woman, de to de.


    His Quill identity stood a better chance, but even that would mean pulling out and revealing one of his final trump cards. Nheless, if he caught her off-guard by pulling an ace out of his sleeve, he believed that he had a ny percent chance at beating her. If he was forced to reveal that trick before fighting Queen, his predicted odds at winning dropped to an even split.


    The woman was just <em>that</em> good.


    Kyle did well, and was also the final remainingpetitor on his stage, but his fight was much harder than Queens.


    Still, he moved on with the other top one hundred victors, and made it to the one versus one matches.


    That started the losers bracket and their own elimination brackets, where they fought amongst themselves to find the hundred best fighters in one on one duels.


    To prevent anyone fromining about a bad matchup, anyone remaining was now able to challenge and then rece any of the top one hundred before the start of the points round. This way, everyone would have the chance to fight everyone else, which prevented a bad match-up from eliminating a top contender early.


    After the tenth match, anyone remaining in the loser bracket was able to challenge anyone on the stage, and if they won, the challenger could take their ce and half of their previous score. It gave them a bit more information than the first group of challengers, but it meant they started at a heavy disadvantage.


    It was a simr, if truncated, structure the solo and team battles used. Just replicated in a smaller format.


    While a few of the losers took a few ces from the top one hundred, they mostly took the ces of the weaker fighters with the worse skills that would make it harder for them to rank well.


    Queen, as expected, never lost a single fight, and never needed more than three strokes of her de to end her opponent''s hopes at victory. If not for the judges, there would have been a pile of neatly butchered corpses left in her wake.


    After her thirtieth win, where she cleanly beat the number two rankedpetitor, people just started to surrender as soon as they had to fight her. The masked Pather seemed unbothered, and simply sat off to the side and inspected the borrowed sword she had been given, as if it was more interesting than her opponents.


    Kyle, on the other hand, started off strong and kept his streak up. He was initially ranked in the top fifteen, then slowly crawled his way to the top ten, and eventually to sixth ce, where he ferociously defended his position.


    Matt and all of their friends cheered for him as he won, and cried foul when he lost to someone else. But as the day progressed, Kyle held strong at his sixth ce position.


    Finally, as the sun was setting, the top eight were decided, and everyone remaining was given the chance to challenge them for their spots.


    No one was crazy enough to waste their challenge on Queen, of course. Everyone else was challenged, but no one was able to dislodge one of the top eight who had already proven themselves.


    After that, an older man came out and escorted everyone who was getting a legacy away.


    Kyle was able to send a message, but it only said that he was going to be out ofmunication for four to five days, and not to worry about him.


    The news that some of the best fighters would be out ofmission for longer than half a week after winning a legacy tournament reinvigorated thepetition for the rift ranking, but neither Matt nor Liz had any intention to focus on those, with the more important legacy fights on the horizon.


    Amongst their friends, Kyle, Melinda, Tara, Emily, J, Felix, and Annie all earned a ce amongst the early legacies for their weapon types, as they were some of the first topete. But everyone other than Tara and Emily wouldn''t have rated the opportunity without the massively increased pool of legacies offered.


    As one of the more popr styles that could be tested quickly, archery had a staggering twenty ces avable, but more than two hundred thousand Pathers tried their luck at earning a spot.


    Tara had been forced to go through the entire tournament with a higher Tier suppressing her spirit, and in effect, the expression of her Talent. But she still managed to take the second ce spot from her peers through sheer dint of skill.


    Anniespetition with the other rogues wasn''t publicized or viewable by everyone else, but she only squeaked in the top six, taking thest spot.


    She seemed happy she even got that far, but wouldn''t or couldn''t say what they had done. Considering that she <em>still</em> didnt have her own Concept, Matt was just impressed she had done as well as she had.


    In between cheering on his friends, he took time to scope out more of the top Pathers in their own events. To his surprise, the funnest events to observe were the extremely niche specialties that his investigation eventually brought him to.


    Unusual weapons like slings, whips, katars, hook swords, and tridents often had equally unusual conditions involved in the event. Additionally, the rtively minuscule starting pools lead to the duels feeling <em>particrly personal</em>, with many of the betterpetitors seeming to know each other. It was a pity that few of them had legacies as prizes, and even those exceptions that did were only avable to the top two ces.


    The blowgunpetition ended up being Matts favorite so far. Instead of simply shooting targets or dueling in an open ring, everyone was first given an hour to mix poisons from scratch. Then, they were stripped of their armor, released as groups into a densely wooded area, and given a time limit to hunt each other. The results were bizarre and intense. In his opinion, those two winners had earned the hell out of that obscure legacy.


    Matt did see a familiar face at the sword and shield preliminaries that were held earlier, as the single most used melee weaponbination.


    Talous, the man from the vassal war, waspeting, and after the initial fights, even nodded to Matt, but said nothing. The neutral expression after theirst bloody encounter just rubbed Matt the wrong way, but he wasn''t sure if that was his opinion of the man showing itself. When Liz heard about itter that night, she suspected his look wasnt as simple as it seemed on the surface, and he might be nning something.


    The fact he took the fourth spot in such apetitive legacy as sword and shield was impressive, but Matt didnt let that get to him.


    Finally, the time for the more popr events started, and Matt joined the longswordpetition.


    Like the greatswordpetition, he was pitted against nine other people on a floating tform with a judge flying next to them, watching the fight.


    Matt didnt hold back, and tried to recreate Queen''s feat of taking out each of his opponents in a single strike, but didnt quite manage it.


    He was able to easily defeat five of his opponents, but his final enemy had killed the remaining three people himself, and dueled Matt to a deadlock for several exchanges. Eventually, Matt got a lucky blow tond on the man''s leg, and ended the fight with the resulting advantage in mobility.


    Unlike the greatsword tournament, there were slightly over a hundred thousand longsword users trying out, and there were another ten rounds of eliminations to get the top one thousand. Before they moved on, they offered anyone who had lost the chance to challenge the top one thousand contestants.


    These fights took two days of challenges, but Matt was only challenged once. His resulting victim was skilled enough that no one else bothered him, and instead chose to take on people they perceived as weaker.


    After the shuffling of the top one thousand, the primary brackets finished with a final few bouts for anyone who thought they had the chance to win a spot in the remainingpetition. That event took half a day on its own. Even with ten stages always being used, they were sent home and told to be ready for a long several days of fighting.


    The round-robin of the fighting took two days, but Matt came out in third ce overall.


    Matt felt he did quite well, and was happy with his performance. The final rounds were brutal fights between mostly evenly matched opponents, and without apetitor like Queen, who stood head and shoulders above thepetition, they devolved into stalemates.


    Once a fight reached the one hour mark, the judges called it based on the number of hitsnded and theoretical damage done.


    That was where Matt came up short, and because his style was built around [Cracked Phantom Armor], which he couldn''t use, he had taken more ncing blows than his opponents. Because of his propensity to take unnecessary hits, he was dered the loser in a few fights.


    Still, he was happy with his showing. He had done well, and showed everything he had in a skill-less longsword battle.


    He wasnt the best, but he was <em>good</em>.


    The longswordpetition had twenty people allowed in the legacies, which was a number only tied by the other toppetitions.


    As they had seen before, an older man appeared to take them away, but on closer inspection, Matt realized that they weren''t actually older. They just had gray hair, despite a face that looked like it was in the prime of life.


    When their group left the stadium, the gray-haired man opened a portal in the air and led all of them through into afortable waiting room, before closing the circle in space.


    Turning, he pped to gather their attention. My name is Ciceron, and I am the Head Librarian of the Imperial Archives. Thates with a lot of privilege and responsibility, but this is one of my favorite times of the decade. Sadly, we only have two tournaments every ten years, and once you be as old as me, decades start to feel like weeks. Before I can say more, I need you all to take an AI-backed oath of the following. Its a pain, but someone a long, long time ago set everything up so that I can only talk to you about it if you take the same oath. I wont pretend this isnt incredibly stupid, but we still havent found a way around it.


    On the wall, writing appeared and spelled out an incredibly restrictive set of rules that they had to follow. They essentially boiled down to tell no one who hasnt sworn this oath anything about legacies at all, and anyone who has sworn this oath shouldnt say any more than they need to.


    Matt swore the oath easily enough, as did everyone else. They had alreadye this far, after all.


    Once they all finished, Ciceron pped and smiled. Okay, excellent. Can you all line up in the order of your ranking, please? As they moved, he watched with keen eyes. Good, good. Thank you. I know some information on Legacies has managed to leak, but in the interest of keeping everyone on the same page, Ill give a quick primer. So fundamentally, a Legacy is a spiritual imprint of a high Tier individual, saved to ensure their unique abilities arent forever lost. If the Shards of Reality are a shredded snapshot of an Ascension, then a Legacy is a stylized portrait of a high Tier master. Simr to a Shard of Reality, they also act as a miniature pseudo-Inspiration of sorts. However, the three have some major differences. First off, Legacies can potentially be used over and over again for eons, as long as theyre managed very carefully, and they don''t randomly break. Second, unlike the Shards, which help advance Concept formation, Legacies dont directly help with Concepts. Third, while any Shards will help advance any Concept, the type of help a specific Legacy can offer is entirely dependent on whoever established it. Everyone good so far?


    Ciceron gaze spread across them as the group nodded. Good, good. So in order to <em>establish </em>a Legacy, someone first needs an Endowment Obelisk, which is essentially just a nk, unactivated Legacy. They only begin showing up at Tier 45 as exceptionally rare rift rewards. Next, that person needs to meet the four criteria for using the Endowment Obelisk, which will then sculpt itself into a functioning Legacy obelisk.


    The librarian held up four fingers and then lowered them one by one as he counted off. For one, the person imprinting themselves into the Legacy needs to be at least Tier 45. Second, they must have already solidified their Aspect. Third, they must have truly mastered and then personally refined a specialization of some type. And finally, they must have achieved at least one Inspiration directly rted to that specialization.


    Ciceron gave everyone a knowing smile. Now, do any of you know why a legacy is so valuable?


    When no one answered, heughed and continued, Well phooey. Im eagerly waiting for the day when enough of this info has leaked that we can do away with this whole silly song and dance. Half the reason Im giving you all this lecture is in hopes youll find a way to leak more information past this oath. Simply removing your AI and recing it wont get around this one, sadly. But no matter. A legacy, or more specifically for you, a longsword Legacy, is able to assist in the creation, refinement, and use of skills pertaining to the idea that was embedded into the obelisk. Take, for example, one of our oldest legacies, older than even the Empire itself. It will assist you in skills that focus on [Mana sh], and skills like it. If you already have the skill, then the imprint in the legacy can help you modify the skill to be far more effective than normal when cast through a longsword. If you dont have that skill, the legacy can possibly even help you create a new skill variant safely from scratch. Be forewarned though, most of the subjects of these legacies honed their own skills specifically for use with the longsword. Any skill you modify or create will likely also sacrifice efficiency and usability with other weapons to better improve its resonance with a longsword.


    After that, you are then ced into a time dtion state that willst for roughly a decade, while only three days pass normally. The legacies only have so much energy to do everything with, so you need to manage your time well. If you make a skill from scratch, you will have less time than someone who has or brings in a skill to be modified. But even they will have less time than someone who simply chooses to just be trained for the whole decade. You will enter into a semi-dreamlike state for the training portion, so you won''t be alone for a decade in a white room with only a remnant of a person. That would drive most people crazy, after all.


    Matt internally whistled. A decade of time with someone who had an inspiration about longswords was valuable on its own, but making or creating a new skill variant? Now he understood why Luna had been insistent that they both leave a core skill slot open.


    He expected that the legacy would do something simr to the technique he had learned from Liz about rapidly modifying skills as they entered the core spirit, and before they stopped moving and solidified.


    Ciceron then pulled the first-ranked man away through the single door before vanishing for over two hours.


    When he came back the third time, it was Matt''s turn, and he was led to an adjacent room with a small book ced on it.


    Ciceron smiled and held Matt back before offering an AI blocking band and saying, For this part, I need you to block your AI and consent to having your memories altered of your time in the room. Matt recoiled slightly as the librarian brought out another helmet-looking item.


    I know it''s not pleasant, but you will be able to look through the entire catalog of legacies, and we can''t let anyone know of what we actually have in storage. This little beauty will block out any memories of the legacies you don''t choose. But I can''t force you. If you don''t consent to it, you can tell me about yourself and what you want, and Ill do my best to find you a proper match.


    Matt frowned, but took the bracelet and helmet before sitting down.


    The book had seventeen pages, and each had a listing of a legacy and what they knew about the creator of said legacy.


    Some of the pages were just a few lines long, with simple descriptions about what the legacy specialized in, while others had short paragraph biographies introducing the person and their aplishments.


    What did surprise Matt was the fact that not all the legacies were from people in the Empire. One was actually from the Republic, two from the Corporations, and three from the Conglomerate of Guilds.


    After ncing through the list, Matt understood the reason for secrecy, even if he didn''t like the fact that he wouldn''t be able to remember any of this.


    From the side, Ciceron offered him a piece of paper and a pen before saying, Youre allowed to write notes to your mind wiped self, if you wish, about the legacy you chose and why. I can''t allow you to say anything about the other legacies more detailed than they don''t fit as well, but it will help save some time when you finish. Otherwise, take your time and feel free to ask me any questions.


    Matt flipped back to the front of the book and looked over the first entry.


    Quintus Octavius Malus only had a name and a description of the skills he modified; anything else was lost to time, as his legacy was expected to be at least forty million years old. It was from the political entity that existed <em>before</em> the entity that fractured into the current Great Powers.


    That was such a long time ago. Matt had trouble even visualizing it, but the skill that the legacy specialized in was just as unique.


    Quintus Octavius Malus and his legacy preferred to modify movement skills to empower both the body and the sword. If Matt entered the legacy with any Tier 8 or 14 movement skill, the legacy could allow him to modify it.


    The example given was if he took in [Fleet Feet], a Tier 8 skill that increased the proprioception and flexibility of the legs for a degree of reserved mana, he could extend its effects to the entire body <em>and the sword</em>.


    Matt had to check, and Ciceron confirmed that the very sword would be able to bend mid-attack. He could imagine a million and one uses for that ability, but didnt think it fit his more strength-oriented fighting style.


    After dismissing the next two legacies as useless to his fighting style, since they were all about increasing the defensive abilities of his sword and spells, Matt found something that caught his eye.


    Scthach Giogin was a woman who took empowering skills like [Mana Charge] and increased their prating power to a razor''s edge. Thest reported person to take this legacy used only 100 mana in a [Mana Charge] to cut through a block of solid steel, three Tiers higher than themselves and their sword.


    Matt had enough mana that he believed he could make something truly deadly with a skill like that.


    But the legacy of Shen Ruogang from the Corporation caught his eye, and took the top spot on his list the instant he found it.


    She took sword creation skills and improved them in a number of ways, depending on the base skill. If Matt went in there with [Sword Minion], instead of taking a real sword, and needing the casters'' concentration to direct it, it would turn the skill into a reflection of the user''s ability with the de. Meanwhile it would increase the base speed of the empowered weapon.


    If he took [Phantom de], she could modify the skill from simply summoning a short-lived weapon that recklessly charged at the enemy, to also violently exploding near the end of its duration. She could also remove the limit of, or at least greatly increase, the number of simultaneous phantom swords the skill could create.


    [Shadow Sword] could be taken from creating a second strike a quarter as strong as the original, to leaving a trail of pseudo-real swords in the wake of every strike, which could be used to block attacks, interfere with regeneration with a lingering corrosive effect, or attack multiple people simultaneously.


    But what Matt was interested in most was what Shen Ruogang could do with [Sword Doppelganger].


    The original version of the skill was a weaker Tier 14 weapon skill that created a single sword. While autonomous and equal in sharpness to the original, the sword copycked durability, and could be shattered with a decently powerful hit. With her modification, the summoned swords hardness and durability scaled with the amount of mana used to cast the skill. Best of all, it could both function as an independent weapon, or merge with the original sword to boost the weapon''s sharpness, durability, and magical effects.


    With a growth longsword and a massive mana pool, Matt could have a strong, autonomous sword to defend himself while he cast magical spells. Then, when the fight devolved into a melee battle, he could merge the mana based weapon with his own to ensure that he could cut through higher Tier material.


    It was the <em>perfect</em> skill for Matt, the warrior who was always fighting monsters and people above his Tier, and for Matt, the mage who would have millions and then billions of mana to throw at the skill.


    After questioning Ciceron, he finally wrote himself a note and then chose the skill and legacy he wanted. The skill was part of the reward for ranking in thepetition and was provided for him, which saved Matt from hoping that someone on East Flower was selling it.


    At least the Empire made things easy for them.


    ***


    Matt found himself sitting at a table with Ciceron next to him, along with a single sheet of paper exining the abilities of a woman named Shen Ruogang from the Corporations. He was confused at first, until he saw the way she could modify [Sword Doppelganger]. He understood his past self''s intentions, even if he couldnt actually remember them.


    Being able to copy his longsword and then merge the weapons was already strong, but being able to throw his ridiculous mana into the skill would ensure that it was a skill he could use forever.


    After confirming his choice with Ciceron and being handed a single [Sword Doppelganger] skill shard, Matt was brought into a room that contained row upon row of light gray obelisks. They sat surrounded by a ring of pillows with a single light above them.


    Ciceronughed and said, Not all of these are real, so we don''t mind you seeing them and getting a count. We learned that letting people walk to the legacy obelisk with their memory intact reduced some of the side effects.


    They walked for what felt like hours before Ciceron stopped at a stone pir that looked just like all the others, and directed Matt to press the skill shard against one of the stone faces. He then had to send a strand of essence through, as if he was going to cycle the skill into his spirit.


    When Matt did as instructed, he dropped to the ground as his mind was pulled into the legacy.


    ***


    Ciceron watched the boy fall into the trance of the legacy for a few seconds before shifting him into a morefortable position. He would be like that for three days, and if he wasid out properly, he wouldn''t suffer so much.


    In two steps, he exited the illusion formation and into the true legacy room. Sometimes, a small lie and a misdirection did more good than any memory wipe.


    He was surprised that Matt had gone with that particr legacy and skill, but just filed it away to be reported to the Emperorter. The children usually had a few surprises for him every tournament, and he liked to learn where his guesses had gone wrong when he could.


    Ciceron had long ago learned the technique for peering behind the Pather masks, and knew what this young man had done with his other identity.


    He wasnt foolish enough to leak such information, and just made a note to keep an eye on Matt as he grew up.


    The boy seemed happy to share his information instead of hoarding it, which was all Ciceron ever asked for.


    If people hid information, it took him so much longer to find it.


    <em>Knowledge was power, after all</em>.


    And he wanted <em>all of it</em>.

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153


    Matt found himself standing in a sea of oppressive white light for what felt like an eternity until slowly, almost too slowly to notice, the color and form bled back into the world.


    A simple room materialized from the nothingness, nothing more than a in stone box. A woman with steel gray hair was kneeling there, gently polishing a longsword.


    Shen Ruogang, for that was the only person she could be, didn''t look up, and Matt didnt disturb her. He had met more than a few sword wielders who had odd tempers and traditions, and he was in no rush.


    Finally, after nearly half an hour, Shen Ruogang looked up, and he was met with a woman who had a face worn by time and tragedy, every line etched deeply into her flesh.


    But what caught Matt''s attention were her eyes.


    Like how his own had been taken over by a white hole, Shen Ruogangs eyes were a matching steel gray to her hair, but they gave off a pressure that felt like it was cutting his very spirit as he caught and met them.


    He was unable to rally his own Concept to prevent it, but also felt it wasnt needed. The pressure wasnt inherently good or bad. It just was.


    Their staring contest continued until Matt was forced to look away, as the pressure finally grew to a point that he felt light-headed.


    I am Shen Ruogang. And what is your name?


    The woman''s voice was in contrast to her appearance and light and airy. What took Matt by surprise was that she was speaking the Corporationsnguage, and he understood it. It wasnt like when his AI was tranting for him; it was almost as if they were speaking in some form of spirit-to-spiritmunication that transcendednguage.


    Matt nodded but kept his eyes on her face as he said, Matthew Alexander. Call me Matt, please.


    Shen Ruogang nodded and gracefully rose to her feet, her sword snapping into her hand as if it was maized.


    Youe here for training and the modification of a skill, young Imperial. I have a few questions before we begin. What year is it? How fares the Corporation Great Power? What is the status of the Great Powers in general?


    She gave him a slight smile as if not expecting him to be able to answer any of those questions, but Matt was well read on most of that thanks to his lessons from Luna. Ciceron had also warned him that the person inside the legacy might ask questions, and to answer as best he could with no worries.


    The imprints of the original cultivators werepletely sealed inside the obelisk that was the legacy, and were unable to share anything they learned. But they still wondered about what had happened since their creation of the legacy.


    We are in Emperor Emmanuel''s era and just over two thousand years into his rule. He is the son of Georgios and grandson of Agatha. The Corporation still serves as the main trading partner of the Great Powers, and fares well enough with JR at their head. KalDire and Amon Dai are the sales arbiter and Military leader, respectively. The ns are still the mightiest Great Power, but as Sword Saint Hastor is about to ascend, their ranking as the number one Great Power is in jeopardy.


    Shen Ruogang nodded before thanking Matt. I hadnt expected you to know so much. Thank you. It hasn''t been all that long at all since I entered this obelisk. Good to know.


    She smirked at Matts questioning face and asked, Confused as to why I am here in the Empire? Easy, the price was right.


    She looked at her sword, and lovingly stroked its guard with her thumb. I needed a Tier 45 material, one which only Georgios had, to upgrade my sword to Tier 45 so it could survive ascension with me. In exchange, I agreed to pass on my specialties.


    The steel-haired woman caught Matt''s eyes, and she asked, Now onto the more important things. Are you talented, or are you Talented?


    Matt could hear the capital T on the second Talented and shook his head. I''m good, but not Talented. I just needed to rely on a weapon, and the longsword always felt mostfortable to me. But I''ve never had a problem with picking up a hammer or an axe if they were needed to get the job done.


    Instead of looking upset, Shen Ruogang nodded at that. Picture your sword and everything about it. Imagine it, and it will appear.


    Matt did as he was instructed and pictured his sword. It was easy. He had wielded the weapon for decades, and they had fought through most rifts together.


    He pictured its weight, which was above average for weapons of its Tier, and how it settled nicely into his hand. He knew exactly how the tip of the weapon would hover slightly above the ground with the angle he was holding his wrist at, and how it would reflect a portion of the light with its dull gray metal.


    The runes he had personally carved into the weapon to enchant it at every Tier, and their effects further strengthened the already powerful and durable weapon.


    Matt knew every detail about his sword.


    When he looked down, his sword was in his hand, exactly as he knew it.


    Shen Ruogang brought her sword up and to the ready before saying, Let us learn about each other in the only way a practitioner of the sword knows.


    With that, sheunched into a series of probing attacks that sought out any weaknesses in his defensive forms. When she found none, she started moving and brought footwork into the fight.


    Matt kept on the defensive until he believed he had a measure of the swordswoman, and instead of just blocking, thrust at her hip after deflecting Shen Ruogangs de.


    The more experienced woman weaved out of the way while stealing the momentum of his blow, and bringing her sword around in a downward chop.


    Matt sidestepped the blow and struck back. He had nothing to fear about his secrets getting out, and pictured [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] in his spirit, then flooded them with mana.


    He was going to show her everything he had.


    With overwhelming strength, Matt''s longswordshed out, and as he felt the air resistance slow his de down and scream in protest, he used his Concept to part the air in front of his de.


    Shen Ruogang took the strike on the t of her de, and with a smile, kicked at his forward knee.


    Matt smiled and stepped into the blow, checking her kick.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] didn''t even flicker, and with that moment of distraction, he pushed through the legacy spirit''s de and sent her stumbling back. Or, that was what he expected to happen.


    While Shen Ruogang was sent into the air, shended gracefully and then shed downward at where Matt would have been if he had heedlessly rushed to follow the attack up.


    Good. While you fight with superior strength, you are not ruled by rage or overly confident. I must say, that that is an impressive armor skill you have. I don''t know if I could break through it without skills and at your Tier.


    After speaking, she calmly dropped out of her fighting stance and walked over to the chair and table before sitting down.


    Sit with me, and tell me what you will of your Talents and fighting style. Speak of how you believe you will progress. Tell me what you want out of [Sword Doppelganger].


    Matt sat down, mentally dismissing his weapon and armor.


    While it went against decades of training, he spilled everything. My Talent will give me billions of mana per second and reserves that are in the millions. Right now, it''s fairly limited, but I am able to generate around 1000 MPS and use that to fuel attacks and channel skills. With that in mind, I believe that Ill be starting most fights with magical attacks, and mostly manage as a mage.


    Matt summoned his sword and let it rest against his chest and neck as he said, But I don''t want to be weak and vulnerable to a short range ambush or anything. Even with all of that, I want to take my greater physical strength and be a true hybrid. A de mage. I wanted [Sword Doppelganger] because it will afford me the greatest benefits in both the short and long term. With its near-unlimited ability to take and utilize more and more mana, it synergies well with both my Talent and my growth longswords ability.


    Shen Ruogang nodded along until Matt finished. What do you know about weapon Domains?


    Matt half shrugged. Not much. Every Concept I''ve seen so far has been far more personalized to the individual like my White Hole Concept, or others.


    Despite the woman not being able to share anything, Matt still wasn''t going to tell her about his friend''s Concepts, but those were what he was thinking over. Everyone had found their uniqueness and built upon it.


    While he had heard of weapon Concepts, he hadnt met anyone who used one.


    While they are the easy example, or at least were in my time, few people resonate with a weapon so much that they can build a Domain around it. A longsword Concept is sometimes the first step people take, and others thest, depending on how they grow their Domain. While all Concepts are unique, weapon Concepts vary less than some of the others in their effects. Like how all Concepts can manipte space, weapon Concepts have their own advantages.


    She lifted a finger. First is a manifestation of the weapon in question. She pointed at his eyes, Kinda like your eyes, but in a physical and deadly form. They are fairly recognizable because of their reaction to real space. They generally have a warping effect on their surroundings, and often seem more real than anything near them. They are incredibly hard to maintain for long periods of time for most Tier 10s. You will rarely see a low Tier fighter manifest their weapon for more than a strike or two, as it''s incredibly draining for ones willpower.


    Shen Ruogang lifted her empty hand, and then a second identical longsword to the one resting on her side appeared. It seemed to draw in everything around it in subtle ways.


    Matt''s mind immediately went to Queen''s weapon, and he asked, I''ve seen one person with a weapon like that, but it''s always on her, and she seemingly uses it for her normal weapon.


    Shen Ruogang raised an eyebrow but didnt contradict Matt, so he continued. She''s a masked Greatsword wielder and a beast in a fight. She cut a Tier 13 boss monster out of the sky in a single strike with a skill. But she always has the weapon out.


    The first one isn''t that surprising. A weapon manifestation lends itself to sending out skills, especially weapon skills. It''s like a more perfect conductor for those skills. The second part about her always using her manifestation is Shen Ruogang shrugged, Surprising, concerning, and impressive. Take your choice of adjective, and she''s it. I couldn''t do something like that until farter.


    Matt filed that tidbit of information away and nodded before they moved on. Weapon Concepts can do other things I''ll show youter, but for now, I want to know what you want to get from [Sword Doppelganger]. I know you said you want the ability to spend more mana, but I can do so much more than that.


    Matt nodded, then described his sword and its growth ability to Shen Ruogang, who just nodded and agreed that the ability to double up on such a strong weapon would be advantageous. In the end, she suggested the ability to have an autonomous defender would be better for his role as a mage, and would better reinforce his weapon when hebined the skill and his physical sword.


    He didn''t quite agree, but eventually acquiesced when she said, Let''s start with my suggestion, and if you can draw out enough of my powers, I can assist you with allowing the skill to take more mana.


    That started a conversation about how legacies actually worked, but Matt focused on one piece of information in particr. He could draw out more energy the better he fought Shen Ruogang.


    As Matt had never been one to back down from a challenge, he readily agreed to her suggestion, and they both stood from the table in unison and readied their weapons.


    ***


    Matt deflected a downward thrust from Shen Ruogang''s plunging attack before he was forced on the defensive once again as the older womanshed out at him. Before the start of their second fight, Matt had thought [Cracked Phantom Armor] was more than strong enough to withstand a direct attack from his teacher. But he had quickly learned that once she infused her weapon with her Concept, his armor meant little.


    The only time he was able to defend against a direct attack was when he put all of his concentration to a single part of his armors secondyer. Even then, if he was the slightest bit off with his mana control, he would lose a limb.


    Getting wounded in here wasn''t dangerous, and the room would automatically reform him after a few minutes, but he had learned and mastered the ability to forcefully recondense his body, instead of wasting his time waiting for the legacy to do it for him.


    Speeding up the healing process increased the pain and mental stress he was under a million-fold, but it let him reduce downtime. Still, he could feel himself pulling energy from the legacy, even in the slowest of motions, because of the time dtion. He could feel [Sword Doppelganger] slowly moving through his spirit, closer and closer to his core spirit. Once it reached that final spot, their time would be over, and Matt wanted the very best Shen Ruogang was offering.


    And the better he did, the harder she pushed.


    It didnt matter how many times he got hurt. He reformed himself and returned to the fight.


    ***


    Matt had no idea how long they had been fighting when he finally mastered dueling against an opponent who could cut through his armor and sword so easily. Just as he started to draw even with her, Shen Ruogang brought out another move that a longsword Concept could do.


    She had just finished a rightward chop when a second version of her arms and de appeared and attacked him from his left.


    Matt,pletely unprepared, was killed on the spot, and was forced to recondense himself before they continued with the fight.


    It took quite a few deaths, but he eventually, he learned how the new skill worked. Shen Ruogang was able to create a second, or even third copy of herself, superimposed on her location for the purpose of attack or defense with her weapon Domain. It was like fighting three of her at once, and all the advantages he had learned in fighting her were seemingly reset back to square one.


    As they fell into a new rhythm, Matt felt his mind slip into a dream-like state.


    ***


    After what seemed like an eternity of battling, Matt finally had an epiphany and created a [Sword Doppelganger] to fight next to him. At first, the weapon was slow and unwieldy, but it helped level the ying field.


    As they fought, the weapon grew faster and smarter. More aggressive.


    Once it became an equal partner in the fight, it started to grow more durable, and was able to survive a hit before Matt was forced to recast the spell. Soon after, it was able to withstand two separate attacks. Eventually, it was able to block a full-powered strike from Shen Ruogangs Concept empowered sword with only a few chips in the de.


    Shen Ruogang just smiled as Matt grew and adjusted his new skill to more of his liking. He could vaguely feel that she, or rather the legacy itself, was doing something to help him, but it all seemed secondary.


    [Sword Doppelganger] learned how to fight from a few clumsy swings and thrusts with a weak form and through their fighting refined itself every time it was destroyed.


    It seemed to learn from and with Matt and before long became his mirror in more than form.


    That figured out the only thing that mattered was the fight, and Matt felt his mind slip back into that half-dream space once again.


    ***


    Matt lunged forward and attacked Shen Ruogang with endless aggression and mmed his de into hers. As he fought and refined his fighting style he learned that he did better and grew closer to his Concept when he embodied it.


    That meant he needed to be endless.


    And it was easier to be endless when on the offense rather than defense.


    It also helped refine his ownbat style as Shen Ruogang was hands down the best melee fighter he had ever had to deal with.


    Unless he pulled some new move out of his repertoire she never even so much as took a hit.


    And Matt refused to let his opportunity pass him by.


    He couldn''t ask for a better training partner.


    ***


    Matt and two [Sword Doppelganger]s cut and hacked at Shen Ruogang with her seemingly imprable defense. No matter how he came at her, she was always able to get her sword between his weapon and her person.


    The grueling onught of training had forced him to refine his fighting style over and over while under the dreamlike mental fog, but Matt''s very bones and muscles remembered the new moves as he improved.


    Whenever he was able to beat her, Shen Ruogang changed her styles and form before pushing Matt into finding new limits. Eventually, all the kinks were worked out of his meager proficiency with [Sword Doppelganger] before she forced him to grow once again.


    Currently, Shen Ruogang was fighting with a heavy, strength-based style, while Matt used a faster and more light-footed style to counter her.


    He flitted from one light attack to the next and rarely stood still long enough for her to bring around one of her heavy attacks.


    After dodging back from a blow that he knew he couldn''t block, Mattunched forward using one of his [Sword Dopplegangers] to intercept the second copy of Shen Ruogangs arms and sword, before thrusting at her abdomen.


    His sword was cut in half as a third set of limbs and arms slipped past his second weapon.


    Matt had a sh of frustration, and the rity that followed led to him merging his magical [Sword Doppelganger] with his real sword.


    At first, the merging was slow and crude, with the magical de rejecting being inside the physical de. But Matt was the master here, and kept forcing the two swords to merge until he learned how to make them a stable, cohesive whole.


    He tried to then summon a second copy of [Sword Doppelganger], but in the process of learning how to merge his weapon, he had lost the ability to summon two copies of the skill.


    Something about the process of learning to merge his weapons was exclusive, with the sacrifice being summoning two versions of the skill at once.


    In the back of his mind, he heard Shen Ruogang whispering that the issue couldn''t be solved before the skill was upgraded, and he needed to make a choice. Learning that Matt easily chose the single sword clone and the ability to merge them over two helping swords.


    He somehow knew that there was greater strength in starting the skill with a single instance of the weapon that was stronger,pared to starting with two and then trying to figure out how to merge themter.


    ***


    Matt screamed as he forced the [Sword Doppelganger] clone of his weapon to cast a version of the spell he wanted. He had finally forced Shen Ruogang to start using her other skills like [Sword Minion], [Phantom de], [Shadow Sword], [Vanishing Sword], and even [Sword Doppelganger] but with those extra skills at her disposal she was a beast he couldn''t defeat.


    At least not if he couldn''t cast spells through his extra [Sword Doppelganger].


    He had seen Shen Ruogang do exactly that so he knew it was possible but the skill seemed to resist making that change.


    Matt kept forcing it despite dying over and over.


    What felt like monthster he seeded and a double [Mana sh] flew from hisbined des.


    His grin matched Shen Ruogang''s.


    Progress.


    ***


    Matt felt [Sword Doppelganger] settle firmly into his spirit, and the legacy tried to eject him.


    Matt refused to be sent away, and as Shen Ruogang''s smile grew, he forced the world to ept his presence as he threw himself back into the fight. Even if [Sword Doppelganger] had finished its changes, he could still learn from the swordswoman in front of him.


    This was an opportunity, and he intended to squeeze every drop out of it. Fighting a stronger opponent endlessly with no chance of death was too valuable an opportunity to pass up.


    Staying here fit both his Concept and his own needs to be a better melee fighter.


    ***


    Liz entered her legacy and found herself standing in front of an old woman who looked to have both feet in the grave.


    As she inspected the hunched back and wrinkles, Liz corrected herself. Oppa might have more than both feet in the grave. She looked ready to fall over at the slightest breeze.


    After Liz took third ce in the water magespetition, she had been led into the legacy by Ciceron, and ording to her notes after browsing the files, she knew exactly who she wanted.


    Oppa the Tidal Wave was one of the oldest legacies the Empire had. It was so old, no one actually knew where or what time period the legacy actually came from. Even thenguage it spoke was aplete unknown.


    What they did know was that the woman of the legacy was one of the only ways to get a Tier 14 [Tidal Wave]-like skill. She was able to take the Tier 14 [Wave] skill, and upscale it to an unheard-of level that rivaled, or in some ways surpassed, the Tier 32 [Tsunami] skill. The boost in strength wasrge enough to give the upgraded version of the spell a new name by Empire standards.


    Oppa immediately spat in an unknown but understandablenguage, You are no water mage, girl. What are you doing here?


    Liz frowned but answered truthfully. My Talent allows me to convert skills to have a blood affinity, rendering water spells optimal for most cases.


    Oppa, upon hearing that, hobbled over to Liz before sniffing her hand and then arm.


    Fair enough, girlie, fair enough. Ill allow it. But first, answer me this. When someonees to your home and kills everyone you care about because they wanted to test out a skill and wipe out a continent, what do you do?


    Liz could feel that Oppa sincerely cared about that answer, and Liz asked herself how she would react. I''d hide away and gather my strength, and then once I was strong enough, Id capture them and then punish them.


    Oppa shook her head, and the tight bun of gray hairs swayed back and forth. But what do you do when they have already left the realm, and are beyond your reach?


    Liz jerked her head above them to where the higher realms were. Chase after them.


    If someone took her friends and family away from her, she would spare no effort, even if she needed to spend a million years training and growing to enact her revenge.


    Oppa smiled an evil and vicious smile. No, girl. He tested out a skill on my people, and I tested out a skill on his. But I ensured there were <em>no</em> survivors, unlike him. The skill you want to learn from me has a history steeped in blood. Are you ok with a legacy like that?


    Liz nodded, ignoring the smirk and pun at the mention of blood. She knew the world isn''t kind or nice, but while she couldn''t change anyone else''s actions, she could ensure her own reactions were within proportion to the crimemitted.


    She was tailor-made to bathe a city in blood, but Liz was better than her element. She was not defined by it leanings.


    I will take what you used and make it the physical representation of blood, but I wont kill those who dont deserve it. At Oppa''s raised eyebrow, Liz continued, I need the skill for the battlefields where I will be facing hundreds of thousands of people at my Tier. [Tidal Wave] is the perfect clean up move for after Ive already decimated the enemies'' armies. Anyone who refuses to surrender or flee can be washed away.


    Oppa smiled at Liz and said, Let''s see how long your convictionsts.


    ***


    Liz dodged to the side as a st of water was shot at her, and sheshed back out with a tendril of blood.


    One of the things Oppa seemed to want to beat into her was the ability to control blood even when it was diluted with water.


    It was a hard skill, and Liz had only mastered keeping the blood already under her control from being diluted. She still didn''t have the minute control to pull blood out of water when it was already diluted.


    Gathering her energy, Liz cast [Tidal Wave] with the blood that had built up over the hour or so from theirtest fight since resetting the battlefield.


    A massive surge arose from the gathered blood and turned into a pir that mmed forward.


    Liz frowned as Oppa waved a hand, and a proper wave sted her blood away like a sandcastle at the beach.


    Her [Blood Tidal Wave]cked the speed and viciousness that Oppa''s did. Oppa''s [Tidal Wave]s had a presence and weight that ensured they were self perpetuating, and destructive enough to crush even thergest of city walls before their might.


    Oppaughed. Youll never have more blood than a water mage will have water, unless you start sacrificing cities. The only way to advance is on a sea of blood. Embrace it girle. Youll be even more of a monster than me given time. It''s in your Talent which means its in your nature.


    Liz started to gather blood as she created a bubble shield to protect herself.


    ***


    Liz punched out, and a swirling tendril of blood tried to catch Oppa off guard, but the normally hunched back woman was slipperier than an eel. She didnt suffer from the joint pain and stiffness that someone of her physical age should have.


    As Liz cast [Blood Tidal Wave] for what felt like the millionth time, she tried to focus on the effects she wanted.


    A mass of blood rose up and then crashed forward, into and through the defenses that Oppa created. But while she had broken the initialyer, her skillcked the prating power to truly break through the womans defenses and hurt her.


    Still, Liz was getting closer.


    And that wasn''t all that was improving. Oppa had exacting expectations ofbat proficiency she held Liz to, and whenever Liz wasn''t performing up to par, she brutally crushed the blood mage and forced her to restart.


    Considering that most of Liz''sbat potential came when she had built up enough blood to overwhelm Oppa, it meant that Liz once again needed to start building up a reserve of blood to cast her more destructive spell.


    [Blood Tidal Wave] had turned into her single most destructive skill now, and was fully capable of destroying a small city on its own. Liz still demanded that they use army busters, but while Oppa usually acquiesced to those requests, she also forced Liz to cast her spell at a city-like structure when she felt Liz had started to stall in her progress.


    If the woman didnt have a childlike smile on her face whenever Liz destroyed an everrger part of the city, Liz would have thought she was trying to warn Liz off the destruction.


    Liz took away a different lesson than what she believed Oppa wanted her to.


    ***


    Liz punched out and hit Oppa before casting [Blood Tidal Wave] for what seemed like the billionth time. From behind her, a two hundred-foot tall and fifty-foot thick wave of blood sprung up and then raced forward, overwhelming the defenses that Oppa created.


    As the hunched-back woman was sent sprawling, Liz heard herugh. You''re a right monster, girl. Youll be drowning your enemy''ss before you know it. Maybe youll be able to match what I did when I extinguished a sun. There is nothing better than hearing a cry as you cut off their teleportation routes and extinguish their life-giving star. Hearing their pleas and cries as they run out of mana to keep themselves warm... Then you start filling the with water and watch them learn to swim.


    Oppaughed and despite it not being a cackle it transformed into one in Lizs mind.


    Liz cursed the old woman in her mind as she readied herself again.


    She would prove this old woman wrong with might if nothing else.


    ***


    Liz felt the end of the legacy nearing but resisted. She might hate this old crone to her core, but this was some of the best training she had gotten in years, and she wanted it to continue.


    While she knew it was futile, she wanted to show the crazy woman that she was better than her for her control and restraint, not despite it.


    As she gathered her energy for another round, Liz smiled.


    She was in control, and she was strong.


    Stronger than she had ever been.


    And she wanted to beat this old crone. She just needed one more attempt.


    She was <em>this</em> close.


    ***


    Liz woke up and instinctively tried to reach for blood, but as the act sent a stabbing jolt through her spirit, she realized why she was in so much pain.


    The legacy obelisk next to her had cracked and was leaking blood, as if she had almost destroyed the legacy after defeating Oppa the final time.


    It had been a titanic fight, but it was one she had won.


    Ciceron appeared next to her and looked shocked and possibly angry, but Liz ignored him to spit at the half broken legacy.


    She now understood why only those who had been rated as having strong wills were able to use that legacy. Anyone who was malleable to external influences would have turned into a beast from the woman''s provocations and maniptions.


    But just as Liz defeated Oppa, she had not subsumed the temptations.


    Liz would have been more than happy to see the foul woman truly gone from the realm, but her overwhelming victory hadnt been enough topletely crush the legacy.


    Only crack it.


    But that was good enough.


    ***


    Matt woke up and felt like a worn out dishrag that was so threadbare it was see through.


    He wanted to vomit and cry, but forced himself to sit up and brush the dust off himself.


    The legacy looked thin and vaguely see through near the peak of the obelisk.


    Ciceron was quickly on him and looked to the now shattered obelisk, sighing before looking to Matt. I hope what you got out of this is worth it, as now there is one less legacy for the Empire as a whole for the next forty years at minimum. If we dont want the next person to shatter it, at least.


    Matt hurt too much to really respond, and Ciceron seemed to understand that as he hoisted Matt to his feet. After a pause for Matt to steady himself, they moved in front of a door.


    As the white haired man was leaving he heard him mutter, Three nearly ruined and we aren''t even half way done yet.


    It opened to a fantastic smell, and Matt immediately noticed three things.


    One was Liz, who was just pulling out her chair to sit down.


    The second was Aunt Helen bearing tes of her cooking, which smelled absolutely out of this realm.


    The third was that Aster, now close enough to feel with their bond, was feeling as bad, if not worse than he did.

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154


    Aster yipped a hello to Matt, but he wasnt in the mood for her diversion. She had no reason to be feeling that bad if she had only been ying with her new best friends, as her messages had indicated. Aster had done something to her very spirit, and was now recovering.


    Still, he trusted his bond, and first asked what she had done before yelling. Are you ok, Aster? You feel as bad as I look.


    Through their connection, he felt that Aster was different, but in a way he couldn''t quite put his finger on.


    She was still Aster, but she felt like a new vor of Aster.


    At least that was the best way Matt could describe it. He just couldn''t identify the exact difference.


    I had to upgrade my bloodline because the dragon bloodline was starting to push me in another direction. Aster tried to shrug but mostly flopped down. So, I chose a direction and went with it. I''m now a winter fox instead of an ice fox. Im me, but better.


    Matt had hobbled over to his bond by this point and scooped her up before running his fingers through her fur and giving her a good scratch as he felt for any injuries.


    Feeling nothing obvious, he asked, What does that mean?


    He looked from Aster to Liz, who both just looked at Aunt Helen as if for permission.


    Matt red at the old phoenix, sensing that she was the gatekeeper for this information.


    Aunt Helen just smiled and asked, Are you going to force the issue, Matt? There are good reasons for not telling people until after Tier 15 after all.


    Matt clenched his jaw and let his expression do the talking for him.


    Aunt Helen chuckled and shook her head. Matt, its actually illegal to tell you. Humans have bad reactions to this information before Tier 15. Just know that Aster has grown in power at the cost of some blood and pain. She did it to better keep up with you. The dragons blood you found was strong, and with her bloodline being simple, she ran out of space to grow and had to evolve or sidestep. She chose to do thetter, and changed her existing bloodline from ice to winter, and gave herself a better foundation to grow from. Myself, Mara, and Luna were all there to make sure that she didnt hurt herself.


    Thatst bit of information was a relief, but Matt chafed at the secrecy. Without thinking, he asked, Why is everything always seemingly restricted? Liz kno


    Thinking of Liz made Matt turn and ask, Are you going to have to do something simr? Youll take on a phoenix form at Tier 15, right? A blood phoenix?


    Aunt Helenughed slightly and shoved a te of cheese and crackers in front of them, saying, These will help with the spirit strain. And no, Liz will not be turning into a blood phoenix. How easy that would be if a standard Talent like hers could affect her bloodline? Sadly, it''s not so easy. If Liz wants to turn into a blood phoenix, she''s going to have to do the same thing Aster did. But that isnt until Tier 15 or beyond, which means we can exin more then. Youre still young, and cling to certain ideas and beliefs. Given some more time, those will fade, and youll be more epting of the different things out there.


    Matt took a deep breath before he counted to five, then to ten as his irritation at being kept in the dark spiked once again.


    He couldn''t change anything, and despite the anger at being left out of the loop, he did trust those who were keeping said secrets. He decided to let the matter rest. Not that he had much of a choice.


    Not yet, at least.


    Nheless, he decided to drop the topic and move on.


    Turning to Liz, he asked, How was your Legacy?


    She smiled before she frowned. Thedy inside was a right bitch, but I ended up beating her finally. What about you?


    Matt smiled and thought about reaching for his new skill, but stopped at the pain thatnced through his spirit.


    Looking at the te of cheese that Aster had more than half demolished on her own, he snapped some up and ate it.


    As the cheese hit his tongue, he was surprised at how tangy it was, but before he could fully process the vor, he felt the effects.


    The cheese was like cool water to his sore and irritated spirit. But while it felt good, Matt could tell that it wasn''t solving the underlying issue, only masking it. Still, it was a pleasant sensation, and he gobbled the rest of the te down.


    Aunt Helen seemed to have timed their appetite correctly, and almost immediately had a small soup ready for them.


    This dish was beyond words in taste, and Matt felt it strengthening his sore spirit directly.


    It was like a weight off his shoulders, and he sighed as he noticed the contents were gone, and relief flooded his entire being.


    The slight lull in the conversation made Matt think of the dinner they had had with the wyvern meat on East Flower, and how they thought it was the best food they had ever eaten. Apparently, his taste buds had a short memory, as even this simple soup was miles better than the meat had been.


    Matt didnt know what his past self had been thinking.


    Looking to Liz, he exined what he had seen in the legacy, but found himself limited in what he could say to an annoying degree.


    All he managed to get out was, I learned a lot but didnt manage to beat my trainer. You must have done well.


    Liz teased him for a few minutes until Aunt Helen brought them around to the more important topic of conversation.


    I don''t just do these little meals for you kids. I actually do this for all the victors to get them back on their feet a little quicker. But for you, Matt, we have less time than normal. If you want to get a chance to go back into a legacy, you need to go finish your fights as your other selves.


    The very thought of fighting as he felt now made Matt want to crawl into a hole and die, but he managed to keep eating.


    It took a few spoonfuls of soup before he realized that Aunt Helen knew about their other identities, but he wrote that off as normal enough after thinking it over.


    As they were being served a thick steak, and Aster was telling of the new rabbit friend she had made who was actually paired with Cami, Matt raised a questioning eyebrow to Aunt Helen. She was the one who brought the woman here, after all.


    Aunt Helen just smiled as she said, Cammie hase a long way in getting her head on right, and wanted toe watch you two fight and say hello and sorry. But thats for her to do, not me.


    She then finished up their meal with a brownie covered in hot chocte, paired with a delectable ice cream that she whipped up in minutes.


    Now that he was a higher Tier, Matt could see her using spells through each dish. He tried to memorize what she was doing, but he was too tired to really give it his all.


    When they finished up, Aunt Helen put her hand on Lizs back while asking her to cycle mana as if she was going to cast a spell.


    Liz did as told for a solid minute before Aunt Helen patted her shoulder. Your Tier 25 Talent is forming well. She grinned at the younger phoenix and continued, And from the way your spirit is forming, it feels like it will reinforce what you already have. But until youre closer to Tier 25, I cant really give you anything more.


    Matt perked up at that, and while Aunt Helen kept her hand over Aster, he joined her and asked, What are you feeling for? I can''t sense anything.


    She was unbothered by his question and answered, Spirits are the ce where everything magical happens, and we only have one after we are awakened to Tier 1. Talents are the uniqueness of every single person given form, and are ability manifested. The spirit grows a lot in those first three Tiers, which is why we believe that the next Talentes so fast. The spirit is growing and changing rapidly, but for most of us, we have settled down quite a bit in our profession after Tier 3. As for why we need to wait for Tier 25 for the third Talent, we believe that it has something to do with the cultivator having an Intent, which allows for growth into a stronger spirit. While it''s impossible to test, it''s theorized that anyone without an Intent that reaches Tier 25 wont get a Tier 25 Talent. But thats pure spection.


    She then pulled her hand off Aster''s back and scratched her ear before giving her verdict. Your new bloodline is changing your spirit so much, I can''t get a good guess at what youll get. Well see again when youre Tier 20 or so.


    Aunt Helen smiled. Thats a perfect segue back into what we were just talking about. What we do know is that Tier 25 is the first Talent where the individuals experiences ys a vital role. She looked at Matt, and he took a half step forward so she could look at his spirit.


    Her hand felt surprisingly warm as she pressed it over his heart.


    Spirits and Talents are hard to quantify without eons of experience. The AI that does so was created by using the Talent of a certain someone, and was then cloned. All the Great Powers im that they were the true source of the invention, but even I don''t know the truth. I heard of it at the time, when that was the big craze to try and quantify, but I thought it was just a fever dream of fools. A skill is obvious in the spirit and easy to measure, but a Talent is the spirit itself. They are one and the same.


    She pursed her lips as she asked, Matt, would you be kind enough to cycle your mana through a channel skill, please?


    Once he put his entire generation into [Mage''s Retreat], she continued, Reading a Talent is more an art than science, and I won''t hear differently no matter what the AI reader says. All it does is what I do. Compare what you are seeing to what you have seen before. Reading a Talent is like trying to read the patterns made in the middle of a storm, but youre working with something more like colors and vors. Colors and vors that I can guarantee won''t be giving you anything to do with mana concentration. If I had to make a guess, your Tier 25 will be something more She paused for a second searching for a word, external than your Tier 1 and 3. Those both exist entirely inside the region your mana core that generates mana, so thats really not saying much. There are simply too many possibilities to consider based on more external than something affecting your mana alone. Maybe if I had a better frame of reference for this kind of Talent I could narrow it down, but Ive never seen such an extreme mana regeneration Talent before. Remember that external doesn''t mean outside your body necessarily. Just less contained than what you have so far, only affecting your mana pool.


    Matt frowned, but Liz asked his question before he could. Is there nothing he can do to edge his spirit in the direction we want?


    Aunt Helen removed a chair from a spatial ring and sat down next to them as she exined. Now youreing onto therger question as to whether or not Talents in their entirety are present at all times, or even fated. I don''t believe so, because Ive seen enough people who get Tier 25 Talents that dont quite fit the expected pattern, and better fit what the person needs or wants. But then there are other times, like yours, where the spirit seems to have a more rigid path to travel. If you can figure that out, you will be the first one to have an answer. Sadly, I dont have one for you. Perhaps it will help you control mana that isnt yours, or it might allow you to draw in mana from your surroundings for your own use. It might allow you to fuel your physical cultivation with your mana, simr to what you use [Mages Retreat] for. Or you might even be able to overcharge magical items. It could be anything from easier mana maniption to an innate Skill, or even something more exotic, like your body turning more invisible the more full your mana pool is. Hah! If youre extra lucky, it might just turn all cooking Skills into channeling skills. You and I could have some fun with that one. All I can tell you is that it will effect more than your mana pool again, which is why I don''t believe youll be getting a mana concentration Talent.


    Matt tried to think what his Talentbut more externalwould be, and the first idea actually seemed useful.


    He turned to Liz. Hey, maybe I can more freely share mana with you with my Talent. Maybe get rid of the range limit for my Concept. That would be cool. You two could be as endless as I am.


    He was shooting Liz a knowing smirk when Aster jumped in, Think of all the ice cream I could make with your mana! All of it!


    Her tail turned into a fan as she got more and more excited.


    Aunt Helen poured a cup of cold water over them. Maybe, but I don''t know if that lines up with what Im seeing. But then again, Im not exactly sure what Im seeing. If you want my opinion, don''t worry about it. Just do what you enjoy. What will be, will be.


    The three of them ignored her advice and tried toe up with the coolest ideas for their Talents they could.


    Aunt Helen even joined in on the silliness for a while before looking up and saying, Sadly, our time together was limited, and is now over. You two young punks need to go fight in the top one hundred for your second legacy. Wouldnt look good if the victor of the whole thing didnt earn themselves a ce with a legacy, but took the top spots home, now would it?


    Before Matt could respond, he found himself in a small room where Kurt stood off to the side expectantly. His teacher immediately started debriefing him on how the starting rounds of the general mage tournament had been going for Quill.


    As Quill, he had easily pushed through the early rounds of testing that only involvedpleting various magical puzzles and the like; all subjects that the talisman-wielding mage persona would have crushed easily.


    Most of thepetitors had little difficulty in the early stages, as this was one of thestpetitions and had the fewest restrictions. The leftovers from the other magepetitions flocked here for any Legacy at all, swelling the numbers for onest chance.


    Torch was fighting for a more specific elemental spear Legacy, and Matt had little doubt that Liz would be able to finish what Luna had started. While she wasnt naturally gifted with the weapon, years of training with the best and harshest trainers Luna could find had worked wonders. Earning a ce in the top three wouldnt be an issue for her.


    When they came back in for their second usage of a Legacy, they wouldnt be restricted by the tournament they entered into now, but they needed to enter to win legacies that they could fake with their current skills.


    That was why Quill and Torch had both saved a few skills from the public eye.


    As Matt slipped into his Shawn persona, and in turn, his Quill identity.He thanked Kurt and exited into his next match.


    Unlike the normal tournaments, where theypeted against each other inbat, the generalist mage category was more a showcase of skills and magicalpetency than about direct fighting.


    The round they were in now was a version of chess, where each piece had its own elemental alignment, and you had to ensure that your element had either an elemental advantage, or was a stronger mana type.


    Each piece was chosen beforehand, and had an associated cost that was multiplied by the mana type.


    That meant a void pawn was much cheaper than a void queen, but more expensive than an air rook or knight.


    With a mirrored but randomly generated point total, the game was insanely popr, and Matt had yed it quite a bit after learning the mundane version of the game. For the tournament, an additional rule was implemented in order to create an appropriate challenge for such a grand stage.


    Any time a piece was taken by your opponent, they were free to attack you directly, and you could only defend yourself, not retaliate.


    It changed the entire game to one of attrition and strategy.


    Quill would have been undefeatable, except for his inability to use his talismans. That led to his already strained spirit having to manually cast spells to both attack and defend himself. Thankfully, his first opponent hardly had sturdy defenses. He was able to st them out of thepetition after sending his knight into their advanced pawns. It would have been reckless and stupid in a normal game of elemental chess, but since he just wanted the opportunity to attack, he didnt care.


    The next two bouts were far harder, as both opponents had defenses that he had to batter through, but he eventually won through careful moves that limited his opponent''s ability to take pieces without being hit in return. That was enough to let him win with a few well-practiced attacks and defensive spells, when paired with theircking abilities to y chess without their AI.


    Once he beat those final two people, Quill was entered into the finals, where he needed to contend with the others in a game of magical tug of war. If it had just been about raw output, he would have easily imed victory, but there was an element of finesse and precision in pushing the floating orb around. It made victory more of a challenge than a simple game of who could throw more mana at the problem.


    Normally, it wouldnt be an issue, but the aftermath of the Legacy meant that even for him, sustaining a channel of mana felt like pressing his spirit against a hot stove. Even without the limitations ced on him of not spending more than 7,000 mana over the course of thepetition without faking a recharge, he didnt want to spend more than a few mana each second. At least when he was on defense, the orb being closer to him meant that he needed to spend much less mana to keep it away.


    Still, it didnt take Quill long to learn the tricks of thepetition, and how to put pressure on the side of the orb. While the orb couldn''t be pushed too far off a straight line, it had some small amount of wiggle room that allowed for one of the participants to shift them, and change the direction that their opponent needed to push on the orb from to stay even.


    Sadly, he wasn''t the only one to figure that trick out. His battle with the top twenty five contenders for the final six slots devolved into brutal, drawn out fights that no one was willing to lose.


    Despite his aching spirit, he managed to get into first ce through sheer force of will. Matt could lose, but Quill the Ascender couldnt afford that, no matter how badly he felt.


    When Kurt swapped ces with him, Matt copsed to the ground, dry heaving.


    Having to pretend to be fine had taken its toll, and he was absolutely spent.


    Liz was already on the bed, and had a wet towel covering her face. Matt found a bowl of ice water and a towel ready for him on his side of the bed, and joined her before passing out.


    ***


    The next morning, after the two of them were functional enough to get out of bed and start moving, they rejoined their friends.


    For the ones who didnt manage to squeeze their way into a bracket, they could only watch on as they suffered. But as the month neared its end, most everyone recovered and were stronger for their ordeals.


    In an interesting turn of events, the teams who topped a rift leader board had a massive change in the rankings. Nearly all the teams who won a spot were new teams who had taken advantage of the former top teams'' fixation on winning the legacies.


    That caused a cascade of changes in the new and ever changing points ranking.


    As the fifth month settled into its first weeks, Matt and Liz focused mainly on their alternative identities earning points in the Jungle while baiting out assassins. At the same time, they were trying to keep their true identities in a top one thousand ranking, but without showing off too much. Their doing so well in the Legacy contests had sparked an increase in their poprity amongst the general poption and news stations.


    There was a small pool of people that expected them to climb to the top one hundred, or top fifty in the solo and group tournaments.


    Neither of them wanted that attention, and they purposely held back a touch more in the next month, letting the furor die down.


    Both of them intended to fall out of thepetition in the top one thousand bracket after fighting a poor match-up.


    For both their team battles and solo fights, they were simply told something was nned for them already, and not to worry.


    Most of their free time was spent watching the crafting Pathers'' tournament that was starting to heat up.


    Groups consisting of tens of thousands of contestants were battling it out in various professions.


    Liz focused on watching the alchemypetition and trying to learn what she could from her professional colleagues in the art. Matt, on the other hand, spent more time watching the other crafters, and even spent time watching the smiths and how they worked. Anyone could hammer metal or pour a mold, but these people made it look more like an art form in most cases.


    The enchanters were always a popr venue, but this year, the stands were packed after Quills recreation of various runes that had been locked down under patents, or were too expensive for widespread use. That publicity and the help he had gotten from some of the various enchanters had brought more idlebat Pathers into the stadium to watch the show, despite Quill himself not participating.


    Quill and torch had just recently left the Jungle after a week of wandering around while defending themselves and fighting through various rifts and Tier 14 monsters. During theirtest stretch of downtime, he decided to make an appearance in thepetition as a special guest.


    Originally, he wasnt going to do anything important with the event, but he had the idea to release his new rune in conjunction with this bracket of the tournament. He heard that the judges were willing to adjust one of the tests. Instead of having thepetitors using a more established rune, which could give some participants an advantage through prior experience, they were using an entirely new rune to level the ying field.


    His newest rune was a water concentration and purification rune based on [Create Water], which was hardly a new idea, as there were thousands of variations of the rune already. Instead of just trying to simplify one of those preexisting runes, most of which were in the public domain already, Matt took a step back and had his AI analyze the skill. He had it in his outer spirit, so he was able to start building a new rune from scratch, instead of basing it off of the single existing variation.


    It had not been an easy task, but he had managed to create an entirely new base rune that extracted water from the air, purified it, and then condensed it. If needed, the rune, like the skill, could create water from pure mana at a higher cost. But that was a secondary feature that Matt felt was superfluous in most modern cities.


    Matt wasn''t sure if the new rune base was exactly an improvement on the preexisting ones, but he wanted to see if he could make anything good out of it. He knew it was possible, as some other skills had different base runes, but the simple Tier 8 skills all only seemed to have the single rune as far as he could find.


    He had directed his AI to focus on the condensation and purification aspects of the [Create Water] spell, since most habitables had more than enough atmospheric water to be forced to create water through mana.


    While the runes he had managed to create werent actually better than the older, more specialized runebinations used currently, Matt hoped that the new rune base could eventually be expanded upon in further iterations to be a cheaper, more specialized alternative.


    After seeing the new rune, the judges became excited. After learning he had already scaled the rune from Tier 5 to Tier 10, they immediately jumped on the idea of having the contestants use the new rune for a challenge.


    That earned Quill another round of interviews with Diego and the now returned Paige, but most of the attention was focused on thepetition itself.


    Quill enjoyed watching thepetition where the enchanters needed to work in small groups to create and then build a working water purification nt for a simted forward military base. The new rune threw them all for a loop, and caused a few of the formerly moreposedpetitors to fumble and make mistakes. Meanwhile, a few of the previously middle of the pack Pathers were able to roll with the changes and adapt.


    He was watching on with interest as the clones of the judges walked around and supervised while their real bodies sat around with him. Despite not knowing exactly which cloning skill they were using, none of them seemed bothered by splitting their attention, and all of them eagerly tried to engage him in conversation.


    They were all trying to recruit him to the various guilds and noble families they represented, both subtly and openly. It was amusing, as he was vetting them in the same way. Matt knew that having older, more experienced hands in his guild would go a long way towards creating a stabilizing voice to measure the radical ideas he wanted to try and implement.


    With his crazy mana generation, he could fuel dozens of intensive projects, and intended to do exactly that. But enchanting, and its applications in every other profession, would be his most important cornerstone.


    Currently, Brenda Woo, and Alejandro Eltoro were highest on his people worth recruiting'' list. They had made their initial offers to join their corporation and noble family, respectively, and when he politely declined by mentioning his desire to stay on The Path of Ascension, they dropped their recruitment efforts, and started talking shop about the rune and his methodology behind creating it.


    While his AI had done the heavy lifting, Quill still knew everything it did about the practical enchanting it had applied for him. He had the advantage of unlimited practice and a near unlimited supply of resources, which put him head and shoulders above even most of the noble heirs and guilds chosen.


    They had the advantage of higher Tier backers, but their resources were usually split between half a dozen or more people, while he got everything he created for himself. It didnt hurt that he was pretty good at it, and had learned to love the craft over the years. He eventually embraced the fact his mana gave him the perfect foundation for enchanting work.


    Alicia Day and Genghis Quarter were in turn at the bottom of his shit list for near-identical reasons. They kept trying to recruit Quill and pry into exactly how he was making the runes so quickly. When he didnt answer their questions, they started trying to pry into who he had studied under, and generally trying to find out who was under the mask. Not at all umon, given the circumstances, and the likely rewards they could earn if they had found out. But they werent subtle about it at all, which was annoying to say the least.


    It made him quite happy that he was, in fact, wearing twoyers of masks, and had the Shawn identity to fall back on, because those two would do anything to get leverage against him. Whether or not they would survive the ensuing fallout depended on what they did with that information, but he didnt think they were stupid. Just greedy.


    The final three judges mostly kept to themselves after their instructions, and he was unable to get a good grasp on their personalities.


    When that round of enchanting ended, everyone got quite the shock.


    Robert Seed, one of the three general overseers of all the crafting tournaments, came out and made an announcement. Instead of the normal next round, we will be taking a slight break in our testing for Queen Tur''stals uing auction at the end of this month, to signal the start of the solo and team matches. We will be having all of you build, create, and then sell an item for the auction. You may work in teams or by yourselves, but know that any team divides the points among the members based on the contribution they gave toward the final project. Also, we have been given generous mana allocations. You have the final three weeks of the month to make your arrangements. Points for advancing in thepetition will be based on two criteria. The first being how well your item performs, judged by all the respective judges. The second? How much profit your item earns at the actual auction itself. Assuming you can even secure a slot for it on the auction block, that is. The auction house wouldnt dare disgrace our beloved Queen Turstal by epting substandard goods into her auction. And make no mistake, Her Most Bountiful Majesty''s standards are fittingly high.


    After that shocking news, the man vanished as a portal opened under his feet. He sank through it gracefully, leaving behind a shocked crowd andpetitors. The judges were cursing while scrambling to get both groups under control.


    Quill hopped down and moved out of the mad house that the stadium had be.


    The news was spreading through the entire, and all the materials that thebat Pathers had been gathering were suddenly in the highest demand. Every crafter was trying their hand at making something valuable for the uing auction.


    Matt was excited to see what woulde of all this, and enthusiastically ear-marked the names he had chosen to keep an eye on, if only to see if they would continue to impress him.


    He had high hopes for a few of them.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155


    Queen woke up with the taste of bile coating her tongue. Ciceron tried to help her up, but she drove her still-manifested great sword into the pillows to give her some leverage to stand up.


    Embarrassingly enough, her sword wasn''t strong enough to puncture the higher Tier material, but it was still enough to let her stand.


    Her manifestation flickered and threatened to dissipate, but she dug deeper and forced it to remain stable.


    The time dtion had put a massive strain on her mind and spirit, and her willpower was well drained from the decade of time spent in the Legacy.


    As she stood up, she saw that the Legacy Obelisk still stood, but now with a deep gash carved straight through the center. A toothy smile split open under the mask.


    Coming into this, her goal had been to shore up her greatest and most predictable weaknesses as a melee fighter: her limited ranged options. Within the length of her sword, her dework reigned supreme against any challenge. Outside of that swing, her prized mastery and abilities were forced to give way to just [Mana sh]. Skills like that bridged the literal gap, but they were extremely limited. She could weave [Mana sh] and simr skills into her sword style, but they would only ever be isted techniques, never a fundamental part of the greater whole.


    But while flipping through the descriptions of the greatsword Legacies, Queen unearthed her answer in Dur''kurk. The man had solved that intrinsic issue by touching on a spatial Concept that saturated every aspect of his swordwork. So many of her lessers would waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on gaining a single improved skill. That was like choosing a gold nugget as your prize over a gold mine. So instead, Queen dedicated her entire Legacy to only training, so she could learn something truly valuable from a high Tier. With that, she couldy the foundation for something far greater.


    Dur''kurk understood her intention, and taught her a sophisticated and esoteric method to warp space around her de using her Concept and willpower. Right now, it only gave her that little bit of extra reach, though the effects on her skills proved greater still. At a massive mana cost, she could double the range <em>and</em> striking speed of any long-distance de skill, like [Mana sh].


    But this was only the beginning. With time and practice, shed be capable of <em>so much</em> more. The possibilities filled her with cheer, though not as much as seeing the mark from her final parting gift.


    Before she left, she had hurled her strongest spell out with everyst drop of willpower she had left in her. That blow had cut a hole in the white room and knocked her out of the obelisk. It cheered her up to see visible damage on the actual object.


    Dur''kurk reminded her too much of her deadbeat father, and after a decade of snidements, she felt the need to vent.


    Ciceron said something, but Queen was too exhausted to register the words properly. It wasn''t until she was set down in a small kitchen, with a woman with red-feathered hair working behind the counter, that she came to slightly.


    She thought to ask what was going on just as a bowl of soup slid in front of her. As the delicate aroma reached her nose, a cooling sensation washed over her spirit.


    <em>Well no point questioning how the Empire handles the aftercare of their Legacy holders.</em>


    She dug in and focused on settling herself. Soon, the bowl was polished clean.


    When a mushroom risotto took its ce in front of her, Queen paused. Then, she raised her eyes and took a much closer look at the woman behind the counter.


    That was her favorite dish. Her <em>real </em>identity''s favorite dish. Right down to the types of rice and wild mushroom used. No one here should have no idea what foods she <em>really</em> liked.


    The woman shed her a grin. "It seems I finally warranted your attention. Hello child. I''m Helen. Feel free to call me Aunt Helen. Most everyone does."


    Susanne wrapped a free hand around her de and readied herself forbat, no matter how futile it was. If she tried to cast a spell now, she would probably fall to pieces from the spiritual strain.


    Regardless, she refused to go down without a fight.


    Helen just kept smiling on while she mixed something. "I''m a chef, first and foremost. I take pride in knowing what people like to eat. But, as you suspect, I know more than just that about you. My condolences about your mother. What your father did to you three was inexcusable."


    Realization struck and Susanne went cold as her worst fear came true. Her little brother was her greatest weakness. And he was also her responsibility after their father left their mortal mother, as she got too old and ''ugly''. The bastard had hidden the fact that he was a Tier 15 and immortal from them, right up until he shattered her mother''s heart.


    The poor woman never worked past the depression, heartbreak, and sense of betrayal. Rather than healing all wounds, time just seemed to make them fester. She held out long enough to reach her daughters awakening, but she eventually and unsurprisingly ended her own life not long after.


    Her piece of shit father had only celebrated the fact he no longer needed to pay alimony. He literally held a celebration. The cost to throw it had probably been greater than the pittance hed been paying her.


    That was when Susanne knew the truth; the only one she could rely on was herself. Or perhaps more urately, her sword. After hearing about her mother''s death, one of her old friends working for the local Baron had managed to get her a slot in the yPen, where she earned herself a sponsor and a ce on The Path of Ascension.


    But this woman <em>shouldn''t</em> know any of that. When she established her mask twenty years ago, she had discarded everything except a secure way tomunicate with her brother, when he was in college.


    Helen smiled, and while Queen felt no malice from her new personal attendant and chef, she lowered her guard ever so slightly while eyeing the room for an escape.


    "I lost my own family a long time ago, so I can sympathize. But you have nothing to worry about from me. The Emperor asks me toe here and vet all the Legacy holders, as well as see if I can get a feeling for what their Tier 25 Talent will be. Feel free to decline if you so desire, but at least dig into the food. It will ensure that you canpete in the uing fights without a handicap."


    Queen reluctantly sat down after her AI verified Helen''s im of being sent by the Emperor himself.


    The mushroom risotto was the single best thing she had ever eaten. Better yet, with each bite she could feel her spirit strengthening.


    When she finished, Helen pushed a banana split in front of her. Pineapple sauce reced with caramel, just as she liked.


    Helen just beamed at Susanne before sliding into the seat next to her.


    "Do you want me to check your spirit? Find out what I can see?"


    Susanne snarked, "You don''t know already?"


    Helenughed lightly. "No, sadly. Even my informationworks and Concept don''t quite tell me that much. They just let on when and where Im needed, but it''s more of a feeling than a seeker like skill or Talent."


    "So, how did you know about me?"


    This all still felt too easy. Too convenient. This random woman just happened to know of her and Susanne wanted to see what answers the chef would offer. She would not blindly believe this woman, but her answers might still provide some valuable information.


    Helen shocked her. "I have a sense for these things, and felt an odd desire to visit Grenad about the time you reached Tier 5. But at the same time, I didn''t think you needed or wanted to have a conversation with a stranger back then. Now, youve grown up a bit, and it''s time. You have the power of change in you, and it''s a question of what you want to do with it. Are you a force of chaos, or peace? Will you upholdws, or will you do whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like it?"


    Queen might have thought the woman was threatening her if she didn''t fall in line, but she read none of that on her face. Just idle curiosity.


    Finally, the younger woman muttered, "Things aren''t so ck and white. People are gray, and each situation needs to be treated as the unique thing it is."


    Her mind went to her mother. Her father hadn''t wrapped his hands around her throat and killed her physically, but he had shattered her will to live, leading to the same result. She understood that he didn''tmit murder, but the fact he couldn''t be charged with anything was frustrating, even thirty yearster.


    Helen must have sensed that she was done with that topic and asked, "That aside, would you be willing to let me analyze your Talent?"


    Susanne shrugged. Her real identitys Talent was hardly a secret, and the woman already knew of that. Besides, learning what her next Talent was could be useful.


    Digging into her spatially expanded backpack, she pulled out a decorative wooden case and opened it up to set up her workstation.


    As she pulled out a feather pen and started working, she narrated her Tier 1 and Tier 3 Talents.


    "My Tier 1 Talent gives me an instinctual understanding of writing and calligraphy, and extends to understanding how to use space on a page, along with some other, smaller things. My Tier 3 increases my proprioception and flexibility while writing." she paused for a moment before continuing, "Sadly, my Talent initially only worked on a feather quill made from the plume of a particr bird on Grenad."


    She demonstrated that by picking up the quill in the left-most spot, and starting to draw a very borate, looping pattern that she turned into a nice margin decoration.


    "For obvious reasons, I wasn''t satisfied with my Talent only working for writing, and especially with only a very particr type of writing implement. So based on some advice I got at the yPen, I started to push my Talent."


    She picked up a second feather quill and drew the next design. "It took me over a year to get my Talent to work on a quill using a different feather type, but eventually, I got it to grow and expand more and more until any quill would work."


    Finished with that section, she picked up a fountain pen to make the third corner. A ballpoint pen had been her fourth step, before moving to an ink calligraphy brush. That small jump alone had taken her seven years of persistent work, but she had done it.


    Currently, she was fighting with her Talent to ept a smaller, basic paint brush. Progress was cially slow. Currently, her Talent would putter out after the first few strokes.


    She looked into her carrying case and narrated her next steps. After I get a painting brush to work, I wanted to try to make the next jump to a craft knife. The way you hold it is simr enough that I should be able to push it that far. Then I want to move to a dagger. If you think about it in just the right way, carving a block of wood with a de is just another way of writing. Once I get that to work, Ill work my way up to writing with my greatsword. The boost I get will catapult me to the highest echelons of the strongest Pathers.


    Helen nodded along until she finished before saying, Very impressive. I have a few rmendations, based on simr things Ive seen people do in the past. First off, the leap from a tiny craft knife to a dagger will likely be very significant, and it will take you drastically more time to aplish all at once. Personally, Id add a paring knife in between the two, and apply it to fruit carving. There are entire libraries of books written on food presentation and what itmunicates to the diner. Id imagine that your Talent would take to that easier than anything else. Alternatively, its possible that your Talent might struggle less against a traditional quill knife. Since theyre used to make quill pens, that makes them more closely rted to your Talents origin.


    Susanne nodded along, considering her words. That made sense, and while she didnt want to hear that the jump to a de would be that hard, she had expected nothing else. Especially with the way her Talent resisted new writing implements.


    The phoenix continued, Next, bridging the gap between writing and broader physical movements wille easier if you start building a strong conceptual foundation now. Start expanding your training into things like signnguages, interpretive dance, g semaphore, and maybe even fire dancing. There are also some ceremonial and ritual weapon forms Id strongly suggest researching, but theyre rather archaic, so itll be much harder to find good resources. Mention those to your management team when they meet you, they can help. My point being, every minute movement and position is meant tomunicate a very specific meaning, which will likely help a great deal with the transition into swordy. Youll need it too, since your Talent will resist expansion even more stubbornly the further it stretches from its origin. Be warned, you may be forced to add more intermediary steps between the dagger and greatsword for the same reason.


    Helens suggestion sparked a rush of other ideas that she would need to look into too, but the chef just moved on. Now, will you allow me to see if I can tell how your spirit is growing? That might give you a more precise idea about how to move forward.


    Queens interest was piqued at this point, so she let Heleny her hand on her back.


    Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, she said, Your spirit seems to be leaning to expand the idea of what your canvas is. Not what you can write with, but more so the paper you write on. How that will form, I don''t know. But Ive seen something nearly identical before, and the spirit formed the same loops and swirls as yours is starting to.


    Queen didnt let that information crush her spirits. She had never banked on her Tier 25 Talent fixing her Tier 1 Talent. She always knew that she was taking a path not traveled. There was no reason for her to expect anything else.


    Helen seemed to try and soften the blow. Dont underestimate how useful that might be though. It might very well run parallel to your current efforts. Plus, youve already done fantastically on your own. It''s beyondmendable. It''s always staggering for me to see how people push themselves in the face of disappointment, desperate to achieve what theyre striving for against the odds. But allow me to offer a little assistance. When you reach my age, you learn a thing or five. You even end up finding an item or twelve along the way.


    The feather-haired woman reached up and plucked one of the feathers from her head and brought out a vial of what looked like bottled star light.


    With a quick flick, the tip of the feather sheared into a slotted edge for writing, which she lightly dipped into the vial before offering the feather quill to Queen.


    Queen watched the orb of star light wobble at the tip, but it resisted gravity with what seemed like a herculean effort.


    What is it? Queen couldnt help but be suspicious of free items from a stranger.


    Helen smiled. Help. But if you want this, you will lose some of your rewards for the tournament. Are you ok with that?


    The cryptic one word answer didnt help Queen in the slightest. The loss of rewards on top of the vague answer made Queen not entirely sure that the trade was worth it. Still, this woman was sent by the Emperor, after all. Who knew what she needed better than he?


    In the end, she decided to roll the dice and reached for the feather.


    When she touched it, she felt like her only-starting-to-recover spirit screamed as if it was lit ame. Against her will, the feather seeped into her hand <em>through</em> her glove. She ripped her glove off to see that the feather had sunk into her flesh, and appeared like a tattoo.


    Through gritted teeth, Queen demanded, What did you do to me?


    Her greatsword was in her hand, and she flooded it with her will power, ready to strike, no matter how futile it was.


    Helen just smiled. A phoenix''s feather dipped in Tier 19 nightmare unicorn tears. A nightmare unicorn is a rare and incredibly elusive animal thats nearly impossible to find, even when delving a rift containing one a second time. They seem to flit through rifts, or so says the theory. But every part of their body, if properly harvested, has a million and one uses. However, all we care about right now are their tears, which in their raw form have a very special property. Its a bit too convoluted to get into the specifics right now, but to <em>grossly</em> simplify, they briefly allow the spirit to be incredibly malleable. The catch is that the changes are ultimately temporary, and its undirected without a proper medium to appropriately channel it. Hence the feather quill to link it directly to your Talent.


    After that, Queen could hear the blood pumping through her head. It created a din in her mind as she imagined the possibilities that this would offer her.


    It didnt take a genius to put the pieces together, and realize what Helens feather and the unicorn tears had given her.


    It was a gift that she didnt know how to repay, or even if a gift of this magnitude was allowed while on The Path. The feather from a phoenix of at least Tier 15, as she had taken human form, would already be valuable enough to push the boundaries of the Path. But the woman in front of her had a veil so strong, Queen would never question that she was a Tier 5 if they passed on the street. Still, no one sent by the Emperor would be so weak, and anyone possessing an item she had never heard about from a monster out of legends wasnt someone to take lightly.


    Even so, as Queen looked down on her new tattoo, she wanted to tell Helen to take it back, but what came out was, How many uses can I get out of it?


    One. As is only proper. Do you really need a second chance? You never did before.


    Queen knew she could save the gift as some life saving item, but discarded the thought immediately. Once she understood the direction she needed to go, she could speed up her journey instead of fumbling around in the dark.


    With a thought, she sent her will and after a moment of fumbling, a touch of essence into the tattoo on her hand. Once she did the fire reignited in her spirit.


    In a single fluid motion, she picked up her sword, and for the first time in her life, she wrote with her de.


    The proprioception and flexibility boost was immediately noticeable, and threw off her normal gracefulness during the first attack pattern she tried. But by the second swing, her body was as in tune with her sword as it had always been. As it always would be.


    She danced with her de and wrote a story of anger and loss in the air with her sword filling the small kitchen with the pages of a novel as great as any other ever penned. Every twist of her hips carried the sword in a new direction, her shoulders tightening and guiding the ded pen as it scrawled her soul into the air, but only for her to bear witness. Queen was free to do as she had always wanted to, and reveled in achieving what she had hoped to be.


    It felt like decadester when she finally came to a stop as the effect ended.


    She almost shed a tear to match the unicorn''s at the feeling bleeding away from her and her bruised spirit, as what was once so easily malleable firmed back into the concrete it had been this morning.


    But she was harder than that.


    Today''s novel experience would be tomorrow''s mundane use of her Talent once she worked long enough.


    The light that had illuminated her path forward had been almost extinguished, as the marking faded from her flesh before her very eyes, but she had seen the path forward once. And with that path forward emzoned on her soul, she could walk forward confidently, now that she knew the proper direction.


    Queen turned to Helen and nodded deeply. It wasn''t quite a bow but as close as she had evere to one.


    Thank you. I don''t know how to repay you, but what you have shown me today She lifted her head and spoke clearly. I will repay it as best I can.


    Helen waved her off. I dont do this for the favors I get in return. If you wish to give me nothing, so be it. This helps me as much as you, if not more. Each time I help raise someone up, I learn a little more of what family is.


    The feathered-haired woman shook her head and flicked a finger at the far wall, and a portal to her room opened.


    Sleep and rest, child. Youll need it in theing days.


    Queen walked through, but instead of falling into bed as her body craved, she turned on the shower, and fully clothed, sat under the scorching heat as she inspected her sword.


    She needed to ensure that she had remembered everything she could about the way her Talent worked with her de.


    There was always more work to do, and the only things she could rely on were herself, and her de.


    ws werent allowed in either of them.


    ***


    Matt stood and stretched in his seat at the auction house. They had arrived early, preparing to mingle with the other Pathers, but instead of being teleported to the auction house lobby, they had been directly teleported to a sealed room and instructed to wait until the start of the auction.


    Neither of them knew what was going on, and they were powerless to do anything, so they sat around and ordered room service over and over again, almost out of boredom. After the fourth time, where they didnt even see the staff deliver the food, they grew self conscious and stopped.


    They had been sitting in their room for nearly an hour when the wall mounted screen flickered to life.


    A woman with a flowering vine growing along her arm appeared. The vine traveled all the way up her torso and into her hair before culminating into a faux crown of flowers.


    Her voice was sonorous as she weed them. Good evening to all the Pathers here tonight, bothbat and crafting professions alike. Today, we have an amazing event nned. I will be your illustrious host, Willow Morningsong. Before we begin the auction, Lady Tur''stal wanted to congratte everyone on such an outstanding performance in thest six months. You have delved well and grown stronger, all while showcasing what the best and brightest of the Empire''s younger generation can do. To that end, she tasked the crafters amongst us to create the best items they could; things that would impress not just the judges, but the entire Empire. The pickings were so good, the initial submission count of the top one hundred items to be auctioned was expanded to the top two hundred and fifty.


    Matt whistled, and Liz joined him.


    They had seen the fervor and frantic effort that all the crafters had put into the three weeks they were given, but no one knew how well the crafters had performed. Everyone was secretive, and the participants only came out of their crafting rooms to pick up the materials that thebat Pathers had been selling.


    Their real identities had made a little more than fifty points from the wyvern leather they had harvested from their group delves in thest few months. It was a prime material for any leather bits that were needed, from leather armor joints to grips on weapons.


    Their masked identities even took on bounties that the crafters put out, hunting and retrieving materials from the wandering Tier 14 monsters that inhabited the various zones in the Jungle.


    That had earned them over double the points of their real identities.


    Individually, the crafters didn''t have nearly as many points as the delvers who could earn them. They delved a rift, but there were so many of them teaming up or exchanging points forter services that they were able to pay fantastically for the items they wanted.


    In the end, the points didnt matter to them. Earning the recognition of one of the higher Tier guilds, corporations, or noble houses with their invention would earn them far, far more in the long run than the points themselves.


    Willow coughed slightly into her hand, gathering Matt''s, and he assumed everyone else''s attention. But that isn''t the only change to this auction. We will be adding some of the more interesting items that have been submitted for auction by some of yourbat-aligned professionals, along with a special treat as well. She smiled, and a twinkle danced in her eyes as she added, All of the royals have each ced an item up for auction. They are neither the most valuable or obviously useful, but they have stated that anyone who can identify one of them will not regret their purchase.


    The first item up for auction was a sword forged from what, to Matts mature eye, seemed to be a gold alloy.


    First up in an exciting item made by our very own crafters. Here is a Tier 13 sky gold standard, one-handed sword, forged with a deep rock anvil to create an incredibly flexible sword. It will be nearly impossible to break, as it has Tier 12 durability and repair runes, along with a sharpness rune.


    Matt nodded at the Tier 12 runes on the higher Tier sword. It was technically a waste, but the lower Tier runes meant that people wouldn''t overburden themselves to cast the spells embedded in the weapon.


    A smart move on the crafters'' part.


    The current bid started at five points before rapidly rising to twenty three, then paused long enough to start the five second countdown. A few more bids came in as the counter reached two, restarting the countdown.


    The final bid reached thirty one points when the sword was finally sold.


    Matt checked their bnces and chewed on his lip.


    As Matt and Liz, they had one hundred and seventeen points, while Quill and Torch had two hundred and seventy two.


    That put the masked identities in the middle of the top one hundred, but they were paupers whenpared to the teams with double their points. Despite ranking well in the rift challenges, and hunting down monsters with point rewards, they were forced to waste a number of points that Kurt and Luna had earned them to keep things as fair as possible. Not to mention the need to protect their dual identities.


    If they had been able to concentrate all their efforts on one identity, they would have easily taken a spot in the top five, but they needed to avoid anything that could connect their personas.


    As the points were public record, they couldnt even use the fact that the bids were anonymous to merge their points and buy something really nice, since so few people had three hundred points to spend.


    The only good thing Matt found was the fact that everyone''s point totals werent being publicly updated in real-time, and would only reflect the changes after the auction ended. If they didnt have such a measure, the anonymity of the auction would have been useless.


    Matts attention wavered as the crafted items raced by, until a bracelet that increased the wearer''s bnce and firmed their footing came to the stage.


    He could do something simr with his Concept, but having an item that did it for him was always useful, especially when he needed his Concept for something else. He put an initial bid of thirteen points in with his AI, but his bid never even showed up on the screen as the cost skyrocketed to forty points, before stalling and being sold for the same price.


    Liz ended up buying a rift drop ring that would slowly purge low Tier toxins from the wearer for the low cost of twenty five points. The only reason the ring was so cheap was that it could only ever purge the first toxin it encountered; the ring would never affect any subsequent substance.


    Still, it was a useful addition to her potion skills, if for whatever reason her blood alchemy wasnt an option.


    Matt tried to bid on a few more items, but knew better than to push too hard for any item that made the stage this early. A shield that reflected a portion of elemental magical damage was useful, but not worth the seventy points it was finally was sold for. The same could be said for thepass that pointed to the nearest vein of ore. It was useful for gathering resources in a rift, but the final selling price of thirty eight points was far more than what he valued it at.


    When Willow began to introduce a helmet, Matt sat up straighter. Liz mirrored the action next to him.


    This helmet is a wondrous items made by our crafters. It has the standard defensive enchantments, but also allows the user to see into the ultraviolet and infrared spectrum''s of light. Even more impressively, it also allows the wearer to see into the mana spectrum with at will.


    Thatst ability was rare, and beyond useful for crafters and fighters alike. While casting a spell took ce in the spirit, the effects took ce in reality, and in a hectic battle, it was entirely possible to miss a subtle casting or a maniption skill with ones spiritual perception.


    Crafters wanted the helmet because it would allow them to see the mana flows they were working with, and not have to rely on those same spiritual senses for their work.


    As it was a crafter made item, the two of them could share the helmet if needed, while Matt might also be able to crack whatever obscuring runes were used to enchant it. Leaning how they had created the mana sight effect would be a boon beyond measure.


    Seventy points? Matt asked Liz for what she thought their highest bid should be.


    Liz didnt answer right away, and the bidding ] quickly jumped to fifty two points before pausing.


    Eighty from our real identity is as far as we should push. The second Liz said that he sent an offer of fifty-five.


    His bid only remained on the screen for a second before it was reced by a fifty-seven.


    This time, Liz was faster on the uptake, and the number jumped to sixty-three.


    They grabbed each other''s hands while the bid stayed steady and the timer started to tick down.


    When it reached two, the bid jumped up to seventy in a few lightning quick shes of the screen.


    Seeing there was now a third bidder, Matt sat back and contemted whether the item was quite worth the extra ten points Liz wanted to spend. But his partner leaned forward, all the more eager to try and get the helmet.


    Come on. Come on, don''t bid. Dont bid. Dont bid. Just let mama have this. Dont bid.


    When the bid reached eighty, Liz huffed and leaned back in frustration at being once again one-upped. This time, she went over their firm limit, and the point total didnt move for a long count. After what seemed like an eternity, the countdown timer started ticking down.


    They clumsily grabbed at each other as the countdown reached three, and when it hit two, they were out of their seats. When it hit one, Matt started to cheer when the bid flickered to eighty-one, and the excitement came crashing down.


    Oooh fuuuck you, you fucking fucks. I will track you down and turn you inside fucking out. I have the fucking power to. Liz gave the screen the middle finger as she flopped into her seat.


    Matt gnashed his teeth, but said nothing.


    The other party clearly wanted the item, and was willing to pay an exorbitant price. One they were unable and unwilling to match.


    The two of them spent an irritable few minutes clearing a charcuterie board before a familiar smokey chest te appeared on the screen. He was d that theyd put the item up for sale, and that the auction considered it one of the more interesting entries chosen from thebat Pathers.


    Hearing Willow introduce their item, Matt rubbed his hands together. The only thing better than buying new items was seeing yours get sold.


    When the initial bid was set at thirty-five points, Matt started pping Lizs shoulder in excitement. Together, they watched the price rocket to seventy before what seemed like three teams got into a bidding war. Eventually, thepeting trio drove the price up to one-hundred-and-four points.


    Seeing the final number, Matt hopped to his feet and started to give an exaggerated fist pump and hip thrust, causing Liz to giggle.


    Mara and Leon were dopes, but they were amusing dopes. Matt had learned a few things in the time he spent with them.


    After they settled down, now flush with points, they excitedly watched more items sh by.


    Theter they went into the auction, the more impressive the items brought up to the stage became.


    Matt whistled when a crafter made healing potion was brought out, rated to be near official healer levels of quality.


    Liz just sighed. Wish I could make a potion that good. And it''s a Tier 13 potion. The alchemists who made this must be monsters to do that at Tier 10.


    The item that followed was a tiny key that looked as if it would only open a locket, but Willow treated it with reverence.


    Monarch Harper''s item is the first of the Royals items up for grabs. This key doesn''te with a lock, so you must go and find its other half. But heed the warning thates with it. This key may only be used once, and there can be more than one answer to a riddle. Take their words to heart if you wish to gather the items they have hidden.


    The bidding started at fifty points and in seconds reached a new highest cost, going for one-hundred-and-twenty-seven points.


    Matt wondered what person or group would be crazy enough to attempt Harper''s challenge, but wished them luck. They were going to need it if his initial impressions about the Royal were correct.


    A pair of fist wraps from Rusty, which increased punching damage and reduced damage taken when striking, sold for a much more reasonable sixty points.


    Frederic auctioned off an orb that would allow someone to randomize the rift distortion reward, as long as they hadn''t dispelled the reward distortion already.


    Matt found it interesting, but not super valuable to them.


    Without a Talent to see rift rewards, you might end up removing a valuable reward without knowing it.


    Mara put up a cor that could shrink the beast wearing it to a more reasonable size for the bigger beast bonds. Meanwhile, Leon sold a Tier 17 storm crystal. It was an item that could help someone convert their own mana to storm mana, so ensuing the fervor was understandable, and the final price was a sky high sum of two-hundred-and-thirty points.


    Finally, an item they couldnt pass up appeared in the form of a cloak made from a very familiar wyvern leather. The item absorbed any hostile fire attacks, and couldunch a burst outwards with the stored energy in a massive area attack.


    Torch had to have it. By spending one-hundred-and-eighty points, they got it for her.


    When it was delivered, seconds after their sessful bid, Matt inspected the craftsmanship that went into making the magical item. At least, he looked at everything that wasnt covered in obscurement runes. He spent a few minutes trying to crack the formations, but gave up to pay attention to the auction.


    The next items were interesting, but nothing Matt or Liz wanted. There was a gauntlet with a bone breaking effect, a dagger with massive armor pration properties and a poison elemental effect, and a [Cracked Withering Touch] that channeled the effect though the users teeth and tongue instead of their fingers and palms. A ne that slowly absorbed ambient mana and converted it to the wearer''s mana type, came soon after. Thatst item was a rift dropped item which meant Matt had to give up any hope of replicating, but it still sold for a staggering price.


    There were also some odd items, like a pair of boots that drew in any liquids that the wearer stepped in, or the conical hat that didnt block sunlight or moonlight. Both were crafter made, then started and sold for staggering amounts, but Matt assumed they were custom designed to get specific Pathers or teams. Still, they were odd items that he didn''t expect to see.


    When the action was winding down, Willow stepped forward and ended the auction with the item from Tur''stal herself.


    Everyone leaned forward as a small, covered orb floated next to the auctioneer.


    This is a special treat from Queen Tur''stal, and the one lucky enough to purchase this item will be blessed with good fortune.


    With a furious swipe of her hand, she removed the covering to show a single rose suspended in the ss container.


    This gorgeous bloom is a Fated Heart Rose. For the one who absorbs it, it will rece them if they were to ever take lethal damage up to its Tier. This beauty may only be Tier 19, and will only be effective until then, but its still a free life.


    Willow sighed, and with a flick of a finger, the starting bid of two hundred points appeared.


    Matt whistled as he saw it was outside of his price range, and looked to Liz to ask, Do you think she grew that with her Talent? Or is that a natural treasure that cant be cultivated?


    Liz shrugged, but never took her eyes off the prize. I dont know, but damn, Im jealous. Even from here, I feel like that works with blood in some special way. At least, my blood is craving for that rose like a moth to a me.


    Matt was about to say more when as soon as the rose sold for a staggering seven hundred and eighty points, a soft cough echoed through the room, and Tur''stal herself appeared on the stage next to Willow.


    Thank you for the exciting auctioneering, Lady Willow. It''s always such a pleasure to watch you work.


    As Tur''stal looked at the woman, vines and leaves appeared on the woman''s flesh like tattoos, and Matt finally understood the name.


    Willow Morningsong was obviously one of the rare natural items that had reached Tier 15 with enough awareness to take human form.


    He had only read of that in stories, but seeing it in the flesh, and seeing the woman''s reaction to Tur''stal made everything clear.


    As the Royal caressed the vine that traveled up Willow''s arm, it bloomed to life. Willow seemed as if she had just been given the strongest aphrodisiac before she controlled her expression and bowed to Tur''stal, then vanished.


    Tur''stal seemed unruffled as she turned to the crowd and smiled. And thus, the end of the first half of the tournament has arrived, ushering in the second half of our time together.


    The Royal smirked and gestured off to the side. And who better to introduce the solo and teampetitions than the rising stars themselves, Light and Shadow?


    Matt and Liz shot to their feet as two masked individuals that everyone recognized stepped into existence next to Tur''stal.


    Light and Shadow.


    Light''srger frame and wide array of weapons, not even stored in a spatial ring, spoke of his melee prowess. Comparatively, Shadow arrived like a dark piece of fog that slowly solidified into a human shape, until the shorter figure joined Light.


    Tur''stals next words caused enough of amotion to ovee the soundproofing that had gone into the auction houses construction.


    They will be acting as guest judges for all of you, and will take off a week after the tournament to assist L in doing a touch more hands on training for the top ten teams in the team ranking. There will be a simr offer for anyone''s team who ranks in the top ten in the solo fights. Good luck, and tomorrow, may you take everything you have aplished in thesest few months and show the Empire your strength Better yet, show the entire Realm just what you can do.

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156


    Allie flopped bonelessly to the floor of their hidden base to bask against the coolness of the tiles, only to grunt as Zack nudged her with his foot.


    He sat in a perfect meditation pose, clearly doing some mental shit that she had neither the time nor patience for.


    She didnt even mess with him, so why was he interrupting her dpression time?


    Whaaaaat?! Allie groaned just the single word and hoped it was enough to express her displeasure.


    Want to make a hot tub? I need a break as well.


    Hearing her stuck-up friend''s surprisingly good suggestion, she popped to her feet and carved a new space inside their base.


    Rubbing her hands, she watched as Zack created a stone tub in the space, filled it with water, and then sh-heated it. As a finishing touch, he cast some kind of wind spell to froth the steamy surface in bubbles.


    Shaking like a dog, she shed her clothes and tumbled headfirst into the tub.


    For ten long, glorious minutes, she curled up at the bottom of the tub letting the spell made bubbles hit her before finally revisiting the surface.


    Zack had returned to his cross-legged sitting position, even in the tub, which she hypothesized was due to the permanent Tier 500 stick imnted up his ass. He mustve truly been unable to unbend himself. She, on the other hand, sprawled out, intent to enjoy every bubble she could get in the way of.


    After another ten minutes of euphoric bliss, Zack did what he always did. He opened his mouth and ruined everything. What did you learn?


    Ugggggh! Do we have to do this now? I just want to rx and maybe sleep. Some good eating and a goody wouldnt be unwee either. Allie had no problem whining.


    Sadly, it didnt work. I still need your report, unless you want to pass the report up yourselfter?


    Allie let herself dip beneath the surface of the water and started sending her findings through her AI.


    To kick off the active surveince, I infiltrated a government Maintenance department and got involved with delivering materials to the Pathers making items for the uing auction. I was able to get inside and see a few of the uing items, along with the identifications of the crafters of each item. I also noted a few dozen crafters who might be amenable to recruitment from outside forces. Nothing solid yet, just the typical gs. Itll give us a good starting point for the next phase.


    Blowing a bubble of air, she paused to gather her thoughts. I wasnt able to get closer to any of thebat Pathers because of the stricter security protocols, but that should change with the auction. So long as I can freely ess the site, I should be able to see who is who.


    Zack cut her off. About that... Management wants us to step away from this spy game for now. I just got the message a few hours ago. Something is about to happen. The orders from above say were to pull out in a hurry. Its not a full burn, but the timeline theyve given us to scrub the current op is still pretty tight.


    Allie erupted out of the water. What?!


    She immediately checked her AI and found an order that said nearly the same thing.


    The fuck?! Whats going on?


    She immediately started looking for information from Zack''s time undercover as one of the technicians servicing the spatial expansions on the trial.


    Zack said exactly what was on her mind as she thought through everything. Something big is in the works, and were not the only ones being queued in. All the other cells we have eyes and ears on have gone to ground too. The Emperors presence didnt even warrant a response this immediate.


    Allie grumbled and startedbing through information. If they needed to leave immediately, they would have gotten the burn signal. But as they hadnt, they didnt need to scorch the safe house and start evac measures.


    After finding nothing new, she decided to spill what little bits of information she had managed to find.


    Well, at least I have good news. Im happy to report Ive pegged down who Quill and Torch are. I got eyes on one of his runes when I was helping deliver shit. The judges had a copy of that new rune he released. A copy he <em>personally</em> made.


    Zack cracked open an eye, and she smirked. Getting a piece of information before her friend was always a feather in her cap. And this one was one of her best. Quills repeated antics had gotten under Zacks skin a little, leading her partner to get a smidgen obsessed with unmasking the little hellion.


    Remember that journal from the guildy I had found mentioning buying some talismans that performed better than expected? The one where they were trying to reverse-engineer to produce the same effects?


    At her friend''s sharp nod, she grinned. They noted that the person used an older style when creating their runes. A little like cursive or whatever, I dont rune. But it''s distinctive, and even I can recognize it. Well I got an eye on the rune Quill made himself for the judges. And much to my surprise, little Quilly-poohs style is exactly the same. A little more flourishie than normal. Someone got sloppy. If we had been able to get our hands on one of his personal talismans, I''m sure they would be the same. While it can be a coincidence, Id bet every mana stone I have they are the same person.


    She threw a bit of information she had searched for on the open EmpireNet. A risky move if the Empire was watching for anyone searching for that information, but with it, they had the true identity of a top Pather.


    Three down, seven to go.


    It would be worth it, even if the kids went to ground.


    Shawn and his <em>spear-toting partner</em>, Jules. I found their travel ns from a few years ago, but they suddenly vanished after selling a huge number of talismans. They havent been seen since. Not even here at the tournament, even though theyre the right age to participate this year.


    Allie was proud of her find and gloated.


    Zacks eyes crinkled in what, for anyone else, would have been a scowl, but she took her victories as she got them.


    Well, that <em>is</em> a good bit of information. Odd, but that might be from where he learned to enchant, or possibly his Talent forcing a style of enchanting. Well need to push it and see what falls out, but thats perfect. Well have to see if theyre amenable to some outside persuasion before we do anything else, as a character test. If they dont already have a manager, they will soon. That means whoever makes contact will need to be extra careful. Zack sighed and corrected himself. Disposable.


    Mulling it over a split second further, he added, Well want to act quickly on this too, which unfortunately might not be possible right now. Unless we can bury every trace of that journal, someone else is going to make the same connection eventually. That showboating buffoon handed a sample of his enchanting style over to a host of judges from various powerful guilds and noble houses, all of whom want to either recruit or silence him. Theyll be scouring the Empire for possible matches. Idiot kids.


    Allie was still gloating over her victory when Zack jumped out of the tub and rushed over to the screens.


    Despite not wanting to, she got up, and with a thought, dried and clothed herself.


    Zack grinned at her from over his shoulder. You might have found that out, but I located one of the Sects drop-off points. Coincidentally, someone just left a package there. Want to intercept?


    Allies tiredness washed away as excitement flooded her brain.


    Time from the drop?


    Seventeen seconds and counting.


    Hearing that, she grinned and prepared half a dozen spells. Location?


    Port Marigold. A cafe called Bushel of Bagels on the south end of the Bellknots apartment block. At the table to the left of the side door. The package is sealed inside a single-serve packet of apricot jam. Itll be the only one of that vor among the condiment packets.


    Allie thought for a microsecond and located the area on the. She had a jump site near enough to that location to get there in just two jumps.


    They would need to torch one of herworks, but that could be a small price if the package was of enough value. Even if they were going to be benched for now, they would need thoseworks to quickly get the operation back up to speed again, whenever this mysterious situation passed.


    Possible value?


    Zack instantly shot back, High to critical. This drop is too rushed and too far outside their normal cycles to be warranted otherwise.


    Hearing that, Allie vanished and appeared in the basement of a bus repair station. Using her Tier 23 physical capabilities and reveling in flexing her Intent, she raced through the open bay door as fast as she could.


    She was down the street and thirty blocks away in seconds, but already felt hundreds of spiritual senses pinpointing her location and attempting to prevent her from making a menace of her higher Tier in a popted city.


    With a flex of her Concept and Intent, she slipped through their perception and stepped on a rune she had ced on a sewer grate.


    Just like that, she was gone and free of any surveince.


    With a thought, she burnt the entire runework she had used to the ground. Now, unless they had already had aplete copy of the structure, they would find it incredibly hard to track her down soon enough to stop her.


    With her Intent to ensure that no one would be able to see her for a while, and while moving at a more normal speed, she strolled down the street of the poorer section of the.


    People here were weaker, and there were more buses around instead of the more expensive teleporter pads, but there were no signs of malnutrition or crime.


    Not even a gang sign was visible.


    Allie made a note to see if any of the locals were open to some outside support to change their social status. It probably wouldn''t work if things were actually as good as they appeared, but it was worth a shot to see.


    Desperate people were perfect for maniption.


    If Tur''stal actually treated her people as well as she made it appear, they would have a hell of a time finding anyone willing to risk their lives for social stability. Nothing was ever quite as it appeared though, which warranted more investigation. Now that she thought of it, she made a note of it to pass up to higher management.


    Anything that appeared good was doubly suspicious. You either learned that very quickly in this field, or died walking into a trap.


    As she reached the coffee house, she saw the pile of condiments on the table and started to move in that direction. Then, she paused as a man with a bag of freshly-bought bagels walked up to that exact table, grabbed a massive handful of the jam packets from the bowl, tossed them into his bag, and then headed straight out the side door. A quick scan of the table revealed that the apricot vored packet was among those grabbed.


    Allie would have had to be brain dead to not realize that had been the pickup. Seeing that it had already happened, she followed the man and located where the target packet was in the bag of pastries. Luckily, one packet had notably more empty space inside it than the others, which were actually filled with jelly.


    When he was about to send the entire bag into a spatial ring, Allie reached out with her Talent and snagged the contents of the packet.


    A single, small roll of paper appeared in her hand. She unfurled it one-handed and nced down long enough to read the message, before reflexively incinerating it.


    Her AI took a few seconds to decode the message using the cypher they had copied off a known Sect agent a few days prior. Before the smoke from the burned paper fully dissipated into the air, she heard that satisfying ding signaling that Brainy Bot was done and had the real message ready for her.


    Only her training kept her from stopping dead in the middle of the street, shellshocked.


    She immediately sent the emergency burn order to Zack.


    Light and Shadow wereing to East Flower. Not only that, but an inside source found hints that they would be hunting spies during their stay.


    How the sted Sects, of all the powers at y, found word of this before <em>they</em> did was a matter of discussion forter. When they were both <em>much </em>more secure.


    Information like that would have been top secret, which made her wonder how it was leaked. She and Zack hadn''t found a trace of info even halfway confirming such a rumor in theworks they had infiltrated, let alone that the pair of soon to be Ascenders would be running counter-espionage operations. Sure, they heard themonly repeated gossip about the duoing to the, but those popped up every tournament. Even if they did show up, no one expected them to be doing more than taking a break from delving, and at most, acting as the asional celebrity judges and propaganda mouthpieces. That was all L Worldwalker seemed to be doing after all.


    This short leak changed the whole game. For now, they, and at the<em> very least</em>, the Sects knew it.


    Right now, Allie and Zack needed to move.


    ***


    Rusty sighed as he looked over the paper and then to his other Royals.


    Meetings were nothing new to him, but he still hated and avoided them whenever he could.


    Assigning the Managers to up-anding Pathers was one of the easier tasks, but it still rankled that he had to sit through the tedious discussions.


    Thankfully, this was mostly the job of The Seven tribunal. However, the Royals were officially needed to settle any disputes.


    Normally, the Royals were only needed for the first few dozen assignments, where a number of managers were fighting over a few of the best kids.


    He sighed and listened as Silver, acting as the Arbiter, introduced the first kid. Hearing it was the illusionist Adam, he tuned out everything and peaked over to Leon, trying to entice the man into a high stakes game of rock-paper-scissors. Unfortunately, Mara caught them and lit her husbands pants on fire.


    Seeing that his only opportunity for fun was stuck dealing with an unusually persistent fire, he looked over to the managers and huffed.


    Half a dozen of the top professionals in the field jockeyed over the slippery little twerp, arguing with the colors as to why they were the best suited to train him.


    He saw Luna sitting off to the side, at the bottom of the seating area in what was considered the worst spot, and smiled internally.


    So far, no one had noticed the cat lurking in their midst, and she seemed just as annoyed as he was at the inane bickering.


    Finally, Jasper imed the role of Adam''s manager, being somewhat uniquely qualified for this type of build. Thankfully, as the others finally withdrew their ims voluntarily, Rusty and the other Royals didnt need to intercede.


    Pause was a more interesting debate. Two different managers both refused to relinquish their stake.


    As the tribunal could only give the prospective managers the collected information about her Talent, they could not precisely pin down her abilities and who would best train her.


    That was where the Royals came in.


    They were stronger and had more experience, and even if they didnt know exactly how the Talents worked, they usually were able to make better guesses. As they were responsible for protecting the kids spirits from casual inspection, they generally had a more nuanced view of how their Talents worked, and could settle debates like this.


    At least, most of the time.


    Rusty looked to Frederic, and then to Mara and Leon, who were leaning forward and listening intently. Both Harper and Tur''stal were off doing their own things and ying hooky, which left only the remaining four of them. Tur''stal used the fact she was hosting the tournament as an excuse to get out of the meetings, while Harper was reportedly dealing with a security leak.


    Blocking off the area so no one could hear their discussion, he began, Kestrel has a better track record with time-rted Talents.


    Mara shook her head and disagreed. Arguably true, but Sdin has a much better record with kids who need to avoid vital restrictions, like her. He also specializes more in meleebatpared to Kestrel.


    Rusty conceded that, but still felt it was better to hone the girl''s Talent than her melee skills. If Pause could expand her Talent to reduce some of the penalties, instead of simply avoiding the restrictions, she would be an unkible frontline fighter and a solid damage dealer.


    As of now, she was dealing half as much damage as everyone else with any spells, and was pigeon-holed into non-magical melee skills to cope with her abilitys limitations. Seeing someone so restricted like that was like having a thorn in his foot to Rusty. He hated the thought of a potential adversary being wasted due to such bindings. It would take a while, but she was another prospective challenge that he had his eyes on <em>if</em> she could negate some of the negative effects of her Talent.


    Finally, he, Frederic, and Leon convinced Mara to side with Kestrel. They needed to present a unified front to settle these matters, or else these meetings would grow increasingly and pointlessly political. None of them needed to learn that lesson <em>again</em>.


    If they still could not agree, they would bring the kid in for a final call. That was a waste of time that they all hated resorting to. It would be fine if the kids were ever experienced enough to make a properly informed decision, but at Tier 10 and maybe half a century old, that was asking too much from most of them.


    With that settled, they fell into a lull where the managers and tribunal settled everything they possibly could.


    When they came to Quill and Torch, a flurry of requests rang out, with half the managers standing up and shouting.


    Rusty audiblyughed as Luna deafened everyone by tisking softly. In the shocked silence that followed, she casually announced, Theyre mine.


    That quietsted for a full second before they all started moring for her attention like kids meeting a celebrity. A few momentster, the cat lost her patience and grumpily waved a paw. They all quieted down again.


    Not even a single protest popped up, which was unsurprising.


    Every manager aspired to achieve even half of her track record. Seeing that the <em>supposedly</em> retired legend had been sitting inconspicuously amongst the lowest rankings of managers caused quite themotion. Everyone had their eyes on her and it disrupted proceedings for a long hour.


    Rusty, at least, found it a very entertaining hour.


    The woman might not be the scariest fighter in the universe, but she had trained more Ascenders and near Ascenders than anyone else.


    The managers feared and respected her abilities to churn out monsters. Even her <em>failures</em> were strong enough to earn two Royal positions through theirbat prowess.


    Their fear was not misced.


    Those two words from her quickly strangled what would have been <em>days</em> of circr arguments.


    It was an annoying scene that he still got to experience when Queen''s name was called next.


    Every eye in the room turned to Luna, who just sat there examining her nails without a word. While she preferred to focus on only one team, she had made an exception once before, when multiple exceptional geniuses appeared in the same generation. Queen certainly fit that bill as much as Quill and Torch.


    Seeing that she had no intention of iming another top Pather, the pandemonium started anew.


    Rusty cast an illusion of him sitting upright and slumped in his chair. Wake me up when we need to make a decision, or something interestinges up.


    They were not even done with the top ten Masked ranks yet.


    This nightmare was going to take weeks.


    ***


    Matt stood with everyone else in the crowd as Light stalked across the stage. Today, we start the team battles, but there are just too many applicants to easily rank and seed the bracket with. To help us lock in the starting rankings for both the solo fights and team fights, were going to have a friendly littlepetition first.


    As he turned, his axe cast a shadow from the overhead light. Shadow stepped out of the darkness and continued, Were keeping it simple for you kiddies. Everyone gets a number. Evens go first. Odds go second. Yay math!


    Matts AI pinged and he found an odd number. Meanwhile, the portion of his AI dedicated to running Quills system received an even number.


    Shadow pointed into the sky while Light copied her.


    And for todays ss, were ying King of the Hill, or a special version of it. I will be casting pirs of darkness in the city while Light casts pirs of light. Everyone will continuously earn points while they stay inside a pir. The more points you earn, the better your starting seed and the chances for earning a bye during the first few rounds. But that isn''t the only prize. In each of the two rounds. Those that take the top five slots in each category will be awarded a single nope card; an opportunity to <em>choose</em> who you are going to fight instead of who would have gotten in the random brackets. Its the perfect answer to an opponent who badly counters you somehow. Though, theyre only valid up until the top ten cement matches. Good luck, little chickies!


    As Shadow finished speaking, Light took over. Sadly, theres a twist that my darker half neglected to mention. My pirs will be awarding points for the solo battles, while Shadows will award you points towards the team bracket. Youll need to decide on how to prioritize each category.


    His white mask smiled, and he dropped two nuggets of information. However, points are shared between teams sorry, solo fighters. He chuckled as if screwing the solo Pathers over was the funniest joke, and continued, And the pirs will equally divide the points between everyone in the pir. So it''s best if you can single-handedly hold a pir the entire duration. Do note, each pir will only stay in its ce for so long. Once they reach the end of their life span, they will randomly relocate.


    Matt felt himself shift in space as his location changed, and had to deal with the disconcerting feeling of moving ces.


    He was standing where Kurt and Luna were pretending to be Quill and Torch, and upon seeing the shimmer of the wrong side of an illusion, started to strip out of his Matt armor and clothes and change into his Quill identity.


    In seconds, they were dressed and masked, and he felt his limbs be subtly shifted into matching the illusion.


    They were fast enough that he didnt even miss Light''s next words. Shadow and I have asked Queen Tur''stal to create a barrier to prevent any outside surveince. So those who can rest? Prepare yourselves. Everyone else


    His mask smiled, and he pointed upwards, casting a spell that shot a sphere of blinding white light into the sky.


    When the light reached its apex and created a shadow directly under everyone, the human form of Shadow blew away like smoke. At the same time, Quill felt the darkness underneath him turn spongy, and like every other even-numberedpetitor, he sunk into the ground, then fell into the sky above the central stadium.


    Light and Shadow stood above the blue dome that appeared over the stadium. Light pointed his finger into the sky once again, and fifteen pirs of light shot down from the atmosphere, with an orb of light hovering at the top of the pir.


    Shadow mirrored his actions, and an equal number of pirs of darkness appeared, intermixed through the city with balls of darkness hovering overhead, mirroring the balls of light.


    Quill tried to move, but felt something restricting him.


    When I say zero, you are free. Five four


    As Light continued the countdown, Quill looked to Torch and asked, Do you want solo or team points?


    She shrugged and responded through their AI, Youre probably better suited to face the teams who want to skip a solo fight for their weaker members. The middle rankings are going to go buck wild for that chance. Itll be quantity over quality.


    With that settled, Quill tensed as he listened to Light continue his countdown. Two One...


    Light paused, and when everyone thought he was going to say zero, he said, Point five Point four Zero point three...


    Hearing zero, Quill rushed forward while half the contestants failed to realize that he was messing with them, and that the game had already started.


    Quill had enough training with Luna and literal rules to catch what the man was doing.


    As he flew with his ankle bracelets, he started pulling out a number of talismans and casting them as fast as they could leave his hand.


    Giant clouds of elemental mana appeared and forced everyone who was trailing him to veer to the side.


    One man who thought that he could fly through an ice cloud was nearly a quarter the way through when he felt the ice freezing his clothes solid, and his flying device stopped working.


    Hended on the ground with a scream and a crunch of bones, but got up without the refs pulling him from thepetition.


    Quill was nearly at the first pir of light when he noticed a familiar figure flying over to it, with a giant sword brandished and at the ready.


    Not willing to give up the closest pir of light, as the ball that was at the top was already descending at a steady pace, Quill advanced towards the dangerous adversary. His AI calcted that it would take the ball of light ten minutes to reach the bottom, when he expected the pirs would move.


    He wanted to maximize every second of time in the pir, instead of flying to a more distant, and more easily conquered pir of light.


    It was a shame that Queen had the same idea.


    Still, he refused to give up so easily.


    As he entered the pir of light, he felt the light seemingly condensing on his flesh like water soaking into his clothes.


    Queen arrived a heartbeat slower than him, and wasted no time in bringing her greatsword down and unleashing an oversized [Mana sh]. Quill flew to the side, dodging the attack while throwing two [Fireball] talismans at her.


    She easily sliced the balls of mana apart in a single stroke. Before they could re-engage, a swarm of other Pathers rushed to join their circle of light.


    Neither had to speak to know that splitting the points two ways was far better than a dozen, and instantly turned to expel the neers.


    Quill withdrew half a dozen [Fireball] talismans and threw them while flying back to the center of the city-block-wide pir of light.


    Queen flew forward and stood directly in the path of the tide while Quill picked off anyone who tried to fly around her.


    As he was throwing around [Fireball] talismans like confetti, he started to also load his expanded staff with talismans too.


    When he had the array prepared, he cast his hail storm directly in the center of the pir of light, and watched as the sky darkened slightly. Fist sized hail started to fall, just as lighting started to arc out from the dark clouds.


    With the top portion of the pir protected from people flying over them, he slid to the side as he dodged a team that had entered the pir from the opposite side.


    The mage cast an ice spell at him while the archer followed up with a splitting arrow technique.


    Quill withdrew and activated two barrier talismans, tanking the hits while setting up a small three talisman array.


    The wind shes he summoned cut deep furrows into the backline fighters'' armored limbs, but the melee fighter, in his full te armor, was unaffected in his charge.


    Quill used his staff to deflect a ncing blow, and flew back to avoid the spell-infused shield bash. The mana spikes on the front of the shield screamed to his spirit, so he didnt dare risk being punctured.


    Sinking down a few feet, he hurled a [Jolt] talisman, and as it arced to the metal armor, prepared his follow-up.


    Before he could get the second attack off, he instinctively dodged as an arrow whizzed through the space he had just upied.


    His long experience in battle helped him to anticipate the attack, but the mage was no cker themselves. They immediately had their own [Jolt] cast right to where Quills momentum was carrying him.


    Casting another barrier, he took the hit and finished his attack on the melee fighter. Unfortunately, they had already recovered in the extra moment, and already had their shield ready to defend themselves.


    Before he could attack them, another team assaulted him from the edge of the pir of light. Every team was rabid for the chance to earn a free skip, and many were joining together to snipe the top threats first.


    Growing irritated and cursing, Quill flew up as fast as he could into the hail storm and cast a five talisman array that summoned a tornado-like swirl of wind. It grew in size and strength as it fed off the ambient mana.


    That attack took out half a dozen people trying to break into the pir of light, but didnt even phase Queen, who seemed to know exactly where the next wind de woulde from. She easily sidestepped them while fighting off the more persistent teams who refused to find another pir.


    Without outside interference, Quill was able to st through the melee fighter''s defenses with a coordinated ice, then fire attack, which overwhelmed the durability and repair runes on the shield, causing the item to explode.


    That was enough for the refs to intervene, and without their melee fighter, he was able to easily chase down and finish the archer and mage.


    Seeing the inside of the pir was clear, he turned to take out Queen, but saw her attacking a team trying to disrupt his spell from just outside its range, but while still inside the pir of light.


    Readying himself, he threw out twenty [Fireball] talismans and let the wind spell suck the attacks up, spreading their mes over a wide radius.


    It was a temporary measure, but it bolstered the defenses of his barrier, and forced the team trying to break in to change their methods of attacking.


    A woman from that team screamed at him. All you can do is throw money at problems, you fucking coward!


    Hearing the often-repeatedint, Quill took out a stack of talismans and started fanning through them. So I have been oft informed. Unfortunately, the simple-minded masses seem to forget the part where you need power to make money, and money to make power perhaps thats why you lot are so far beneath me and my few <em>actual </em>peers here? Were the real point of The Path, while youre the constion prizes.


    Having riled them up, he watched as the ball of light neared them and found himself gently pushed down. Resisting it, he found if he went above the ball of light, he umted no more points and let himself be pushed down with it to the ground.


    Once the ball of light reached the ground, he shot to the sky with everyone else and saw fourteen new pirs of light appear in various locations in the city.


    With all the speed his flying devices could manage, he flew to the nearest pir of light. Thankfully, Queen picked a different pir. There was no reason to share this early in thepetition, if they could avoid it.


    He had brutalized his way inside the newest pir of light, and was starting to clear out thepetition, when a rain of arrows started to pour down inside the pir.


    With a prepared barrier, he blocked the attack to see the Gem trio pushing their way into the pir.


    He was prepared to share the pir of light as he had with Queen, but the three of them immediately locked onto Quill and charged.


    Sighing at his awful luck, he readied a storm array in his staff while tossing out a trio of [Fireball] talismans.


    Emerald de flew right behind Sapphire Shield, while Ruby Wand stood to the back with her staff in bow form, gathering a truly massive amount of mana.


    As the two melee fighters pinned him down with an ensnarement spell, he swapped out his storm array for a shield array, and as Ruby cast an attack, he quickly activated it.


    The barrier of mana took the oversized arrow directly on its spherical shell, but with five barrier spells cast in conjunction and linked, he withstood the initial hit.


    To his surprise, the attack wasnt just a single attack. There was a channel portion of the spell, and the energy lessened in intensity, but continued to hammer his shield.


    Preparing an attack, he readied himself for when the shield would break.


    His calction showed that his barrier wouldnt be able to oust the spell, but it would be close. He would take that opportunity to strike back.


    Right before he expected the shield to break, his barrier was mmed by two attacksing from where Emerald de and Sapphire Shield had just been.


    As the shield shattered early, he felt the mana scorch the bits of exposed flesh that weren''t covered by his light armor and coat. Even those defensive items struggled to protect him under the assault of Ruby Wand''s attack.


    Smoking, he swung his staff forward and cast his own array.


    A dozen fireballs appeared in the sky and started to fall.


    If Torch had been there, they could have taken the opportunity to direct the attacks, but Quill didnt bother, using the opening to rush at Sapphire Shield.


    From under her helmet, he saw her eyes widen at his smoking scorched form as he flew out at her.


    Reaching with his off-hand, he grabbed her shield and wrenched it forward. The move was less effective, as they were in the air, but it still caused her to stumble forward in an effort to prevent him from taking advantage and leveraging her arm.


    She was well trained, and twisted to keep her shield between him and her back, but Quill rushed past her to the open air, dodging the asional descending fireball.


    Sighing, he said, I really didnt want to use this yet. But you forced my hand. Good luck with the healing cooldown.


    With a flick of his hand, he tossed his long coat off to the side, and from his spatial bracelet, pulled a long cloak made entirely from talismans out of his storage device.


    Even from half the light pir away, he saw the fear in their eyes as he slung the cloak around his shoulders.


    With a thought, two talismans lit up in theyers of parchment, and he cast [Mages Retreat] at nearly his full mana regeneration under that disguise.


    Now empowered, he burst forward with incredible speed and punched Sapphire Shields tower shield. Right as his fist was about to impact the shield, he activated a talisman on his cloak, and a gauntlet of lightning appeared for a brief instant.


    The entirety of the discharged energy was contained in the single, empowered punch, and it zapped through her metal armor with a bang.


    Emerald de tried to rush forward, but his shield-wielding teammate was already rocketing to the ground in a smoking ruin.


    Quill was internally shocked that she hadnt been <em>immediately</em> pulled from thepetition after that blow, if not before, but didnt have time to question it as he chucked two [Fireball] talismans out. Following them up, he rocketed toward Emerald de while tracking another arrow from Ruby Wand, simply letting the cloak activate a barrier and take the hit for him.


    Emerald de used his weapon of choice, which Quill could feel was empowered with the man''s Concept, to strike out at him. To counter it, Quill used a metal gauntlet and his own Concept to suppress the effects of Emeralds strike.


    As the spell-infused de and gauntlet impacted, the energy blew them apart, but Quill justughed.


    Emerald de tried to close the distance, sensing something was wrong, but Quill flew backward and tapped his chest.


    Directly where he had ced a talisman on the melee fighter''s armor.


    The explosion was sorge, it created a sound wave that sted through the entire city from the impact zone.


    He was about to turn and take out Ruby Wand when he saw that Emerald de was still flying in the air. A massive portion of his armor was blown away, and the flesh underneath was gone, with his left arm only attached by a few sinews of muscle and skin.


    The man chopped off his own arm with a casual swing of his de, and the pumping blood that was squirting out from his stump slowed with each beat of his heart, before stopping altogether.


    Quill made his own quip. Oh my, so you''re not useless? How interesting. Andpletely unexpected. Though, is taking that level of healing cooldown worth a single fight? Thats a rhetorical question, by the way. This is whole new level of stupid for you three, which is saying <em>a lot</em>, honestly.


    He was surprised that the man was willing to risk such levels of damage before the tournament even truly began. It was an anomaly he had no answer for.


    As he spoke, Sapphire Shield flew up to rejoin her team, despite her armor still smoking.


    <em>Huh. They all have increased defensive abilities or some healing factor. That''s the only way to exin them not being removed, let alone still able and willing to fight with such injuries. Maybe they can share injuries like Fen and his bonds</em>?


    Sapphire Shield surviving his lightning punch was exinable, if unlikely, with armor and enchantments. But whenbined with Emerald de surviving the devastating injuries caused by his bomb, it made Quill reconsider the teams abilities.


    Emerald de shrugged his one good arm and rolled his neck before saying, Im going to do my best to cut your head off for pushing us this far. Youre lucky that there are watchers, or I''d guarantee it. Now, Ill just do my best to hurt you as much as possible.


    Quill red [Mages Retreat] while illuminating another pair of false talismans, and rushed forward while casting a [Jolt] and seven [Fireball] talismans to overwhelm the two melee fighters.


    As he neared them, a [Mana sh]shed out at him, and he slid to the left while punching the [Shield Bash] projection that Sapphire shield cast at him.


    The impact of a metal fist and mana barrier caused a surge of energy, but Quill pushed through it, taking the damage necessary to close the distance again.


    Before he reached the shield wielder, he activated two of the talismans in his cloak, and a sphere of wind burst out from him, mming into both the attacking Emerald de and turtled up Sapphire Shield.


    With his coast clear, he rushed the final member of the team, who was still shooting magical arrows, but nothing that was skill-based.


    Quill assumed that she had spent most of her mana on the arrow rain andrge attack that shed hit him with.


    As he closed the distance from her, he ducked down as the bow began glowing, and a cone of arrows crackled through the air towards him.


    He took one ncing blow along his chest as he twirled, but his armor took most of the damage.


    Facing upward, he threw out two [Wind de] talismans and severed Ruby Wand''s leg in a spray of blood.


    Sadly, he was unable to finish her off before she hobbled over to her teammates. They all hunkered behind Sapphire Shield and started to pull out healing potions and [Bandage] talismans to staunch the bleeding, preparing for his next assault.


    He was going to put them out of their misery, but the ball of light descended to his level, just half a minute from the ground. Heughed while leaning into his melodramatic persona and said, You pups can have thest few seconds. My scraps are all runts like you are worth, after all. Youre lucky that I don''t have more time to y, or Id show you how a <em>real</em> predator collects heads. Gardeners or no, they can''t stop me. Not when Im serious. That''s the real difference between us. You worry about the punishment; <em>I am</em> the punishment.


    Flying off as the light touched the ground and reset, he soared over to one of the thirteen new pirs of light.


    Sporting only a few light wounds that were little more than scratches, he turned his back without a care while the Gems were teleported out of the battle. Whatever kept them in the fight despite their injuries either ended, or they decided to take the excuse to leave he had handed them before they incurred more injuries. The middlings teams were still like ravenous dogs trying to take any scraps they could, and would fall upon the wounded trio to remove strongpetitors.


    Quill didnt care. He had more light to gather.


    Having already revealed his cloak, holding a pir on his own would be easy enough, unless Queen or one of the other top Pather teams showed up.


    The masses of mid-level teams were a threat, but he excelled at culling the herds.

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157


    Kimberly nodded along as the healers finished reattaching her leg and tried not to show any weakness.


    Ruby Wand wasnt a weakling.


    She clenched her fist as the helplessness tried to overwhelm her.


    She wasnt weak anymore.


    Kimberly was a part of a team of top Pathers.


    <em>I. Am. Not. Weak</em>.


    As the healer did their job, she felt incredibly lonely. In a way, that hadn''t happened since she had gotten her Tier 3 Talent.


    After the fight, she had been forced to dispel her conjurations of Emerald de and Sapphire Shield. They had taken so much damage, it would be cheaper to resummon them, rather than heal them.


    She had wanted to heal them anyway, but <em>they</em> had insisted.


    When she was able to escape to her room, she pushed through her sore spirit and recreated her friends after pulling out a Tier 10 emerald and sapphire. They were unenchanted and unenhanced gems, but they would do until she built them better cores.


    As they reformed around their gems and came back to her, she smiled. Emerald de started to rage and vent the helplessness she was feeling. In contrast, Sapphire Shield pulled her into the warmest embrace.


    Her friends were everything she wished she could be.


    Emerald de was confident, leaning towards brash, but he was unafraid to speak his mind, like she was. At the same time, Sapphire was the big sister she had always wanted to defend her from all the bullies. The wall between her and the world.


    Seeing her friends back, she wept as they held her, letting out all the emotions she had bottled up in front of everyone else.


    As she settled down, she frowned as she remembered how Quill had so easily defeated them.


    The guard had admitted as he dropped her off that if they werent magical constructs, they would have been pulled out in the first exchange of blows. That same guard warned her that she needed to be careful about how she handled the repercussions of showing so much durability.


    It was a good and kind warning that she took to heart.


    Quill, for all his showboating, had shown her that she needed to improve herself and her teammates further if they were going to advance.


    That was twice now that he had defeated her, and worse yet, on his own this time.


    She wouldn''t mind so much if he wasnt such an arrogant ass about it, but his overbearing personality reminded her of her school tormentors far too much to befortable around him.


    When Emerald de had seen him alone, she had allowed him to convince her that this was their opportunity to take him down a peg.


    It just hadnt gone the way any of them expected.


    Kimberly pulled out three new gems and started to send her power into them as her friends watched. First, she recreated her friends'' cores with these new gems, but put more power into them than the haphazard cores that were currently in use. She had reinforced the copies of their skills inside her while they had been alive. They were of no use to her while her gems were active, as <em>she</em> couldnt use any skill that her friends possessed. She also took the time to round out their abilities more fully as she worked, putting in everything she had learned about swords and defending since she hadst created them. She made them the best versions of themselves that they could possibly be.


    She pulled out an unenchanted Tier 10 ruby. Looking at the final gem, she sighed as she reached into her chest and pulled out a smaller, weaker ruby.


    Her power dipped a fraction, but the gem was old and weak. She had already kept it around for too long as it was. Sentiment had its ce, but she wasn''t strong enough yet to not rely on her Talent.


    One day, she would be. But not today.


    She had shown her bullies that she wasnt to be messed with and proven her power. Now, she would just need to do the same to everyone here who looked down on her after her defeat.


    A grinning ck mask with a silver feather penughed at her as the wearer brutalized her friends.


    Kimberly clenched her fist and pushed down the tears that threatened to fall.


    She had cried once already, and that was enough. Any more would be another weakness for everyone to attack.


    In the next fight, her team wouldnt be recognizable.


    She had always learned from her mistakes. She spent more than enough time in her own head to be intimately familiar with self-reflection. She had allowed it to fester into self-ridicule for too many years, but she had mastered that.


    Once she was done with reinforcing her own ruby, she pulled out a Tier 10 onyx. She hadnt wanted to create a new friend yet, even though she had unlocked a <em>second</em> empty slot, but maybe it was time. She could use a rogue to stab those pesky masked Pathers before they closed in.


    But that felt like a dark step, and she knew it.


    She pulled out a Tier 10 topaz and weighed it. This would be her team''s healer, but she didnt know if she deserved that yet. She had already spent a portion of her points to buy [Ranged Heal] for the healer, but she had regretted the purchase the instant she had bought it. She hadnt proven herself enough yet to earn such a powerful upgrade.


    She pushed the decision to the morning, and crawled into bed after seeing that Emerald de and Sapphire Shield werent feeling any lingering effects from dying or being upgraded.


    She didnt need outside help. Just her friends.


    <em>A gem shines brightest alone, </em>after all.


    Tomorrow, her team would be winners, and she would make all of them learn that she wasnt to be trifled with.


    There was no longer a Crying Kimberly.


    Only Ruby Wand.


    ***


    Talous looked off into the distance as his team held a portion of the pir of light.


    His brother Malous called out from above and behind him. Another teaming in from below and the right. Seven seconds.


    Oliver and Troy, their mage and tank, respectively, shifted their attention towards the encroaching enemies. Meanwhile, Talous kept a lookout around his teammates.


    His brother''s Talent gave them an advantage, but in thest six months, Talous had learned a lot. He knew it wasnt infallible.


    They were good. All of them earning a ce in a legacy had proven that, but it also highlighted their weakness. They were all specialized in their roles, but that left them open to counter.


    As a team, they were strong.


    Their holding a portion of a pir of light for so long had proven that.


    As individuals


    Before he could go down that path more, the team his brother predicted had arrived. The first thing they did wasunch a barrage of magical and mundane attacks to try and soften them up.


    Troy cast the Tier 20 [Bulwark] and blocked most of the iing fire, but Talous moved to cover Oliver and his brother in case anything got through.


    They couldn''t allow these free passes to elude them. Their team was strong together, but his brother especially wasn''t great in singlebat. Malous wasnt so weak that he couldn''t handle himself, but he could be countered easier than the rest of them.


    That was the problem, though.


    After they beat back the newest team that tried to enter the pir, he took the time to see the nearby shadow pir. Even now, he could see mes flicker out of the darkness every few seconds.


    Torch was, as far as they could tell, holding a pir on her own.


    <em>On her own</em>.


    Bodies fell out of the darkness, or teams retreated, scorched and abused.


    His team was strong, but they were only good at their roles, and onlypetent at everything else.


    The true top Pathers, he hade to learn, were all good at <em>everything</em>.


    Even Matt, the man who had beaten him so badly, was only somewhat above average here. <em>He</em> only excelled in the endless rift that he perfectly countered, and the group rift.


    People like Queen were a level above them. There was a qualitative difference between them that he wasn''t sure how to bridge.


    As he caught an arrow on his shield, he kicked the man trying toe up under his defenses and cut a furrow into his side. After a quick exchange of blows where Talous was the clear winner, the man and his team retreated to try and break into a different section of the light pir.


    Talous looked at his brother and caught his eye.


    Malous closed his eyes for a second before pointing off to the side. The next one willnd there.


    As a team, they all moved in the direction Malous indicated, but after traveling a portion of the distance, they veered off and moved to the actual location, shaking off the people who had realized his brother was a seeker. They needed the misdirections to help throw off any countermeasures.


    When the next pir of light descended on top of them, they shifted to upy a portion of light, but didnt dare to hold the center.


    A masked team with numbers on their masks came over, and after looking at them for a few seconds, left them alone.


    Talous let out the breath he had been holding as they turned away.


    They were only on the third pir, and what he feared most was upying one that the top Pathers wanted. If Talous team had to engage them, they would have little recourse if they weren''t willing to take serious injuries.


    As hundreds of other Pathers rushed to their pir and tried to fight their way in, they were forced to cede ground on more than one asion, but they were able to keep their position inside the pir.


    By the time they reached the fifth stage, when there were only ten pirs of light and darkness each, he knew they were starting to reach their limit.


    Not a limit of theirbat abilities, but the limit of their obscurity.


    Everyone was being funneled into fewer and fewer pirs, and thepetition was getting harsher with each passing round.


    He had already watched as Queen single-handedly held a pir by herself. If they wanted to beat those monsters, they needed to do something different.


    Should we join in and try attacking some of the top Pathers? He asked his team over the AIms, but even he wasnt sure if it was a good idea.


    There were a lot of risks with that n, but the weaker and middling Pathers were being weeded out as each pir fell. If the top people didnt get ganged up on, the top five spots would be theirs.


    Troy disagreed, but Oliver was on board with his idea.


    We need to do something, or else we won''t earn more than a round or two of byes, even if we make it to the end.


    Malous nodded slowly. We need to do something, but we need to be smart about it. I think arge attack is going to converge on Dianas team. Theyre a top ranked team, but not a masked team. If we join and nothing goes drastically wrong, we can ensure that we don''t get taken out.


    Talous watched as his brother wipe at his face, and knew that he was trying to wipe away blood. His Talent took a toll on him that was more than spiritual, but they all knew that they were relying on him to keep them out of danger.


    His brother would recover after a few hours of rest on his own, but if they lost in the solopetition early, they would all regret it.


    Most people didnt realize that the solo tournament gave better prizes if a teamrger than two people did well together. The team tournament prizes were technicallyrger than the solo team''s rewards, butbining a teams worth of solo rewards paidrger dividends.


    Talous had full confidence that they could make it to the top five hundred as a team, and if they were just a little lucky, the top one hundred was a distinct possibility.


    Malous shrugged. It''s now or never. I think if we beat Dianas team, we can keep everyone together, and then try to roll over one of the other top teams.


    Talous shifted his grip on his sword and shield, readying himself amongst the hundred of other middling and high-level Pathers.


    Dianas team of three looked unruffled, facing down nearly seventy members of the various teams that had surrounded them.


    How they managed that was beyond him; it only served to reaffirm his image of Dianas team in his mind. They were truly different. He was afraid for his team, and <em>they </em>were the attacker.


    He settled himself after a deep breath. This fight was where they could show off their skills to the watcher, and earn themselves a better manager. That could catapult their power to another level.


    He just needed to protect his team while they threw themselves into the maw of a beast.


    This was going to be a hectic battle


    ***


    Talous looked down at what used to be his legs.


    <em>Well, that was a mistake</em>.


    ***


    Light looked down at the kids fighting, and noted a few who showed potential that he felt were left out of the reports he had been given.


    This little exercise had been more than a way to shake up the preliminary rounds of the tournament. It served as a way for the kids who weren''t able to show off their abilities in pure rift delving to gather recognition from their prospective managers. <em>And</em> it shell shocked the ones who assumed structured fighting would be their only test.


    He looked off to the side at East Flower as it hovered above them in the sky.


    Once this second round ended, he and Shadow would be quickly leaving, while body doubles took their ce for the celebratory dinner that would urter.


    They had already been briefed on everything that the multiple counter-espionage teams had found, and were ready to hunt. The spies had been left in ce for exactly that reason, and they would soon find out that all of their escape routes had been shut off.


    Perfect practice.


    He smiled under his mask as he cracked his neck.


    Seeing one of the kids fall into a dangerous situation with no guard around, he marked them and returned most of his attention to the fights.


    This second half was interesting, but the kids he had been personally interested in had been carefully seeded in the first group.


    The number generation had been anything but random, as Shadow had needed to prepare the teleport spell through her shadows days in advance to teleport everyone.


    They were strong, but teleporting close to a quarter of a million randomly scattered people that were mixed amongst non-targets was a feat beyond either of them.


    Light continued to scan the battlefield as he started to review the debriefing once again.


    ***


    Matt blocked a de with his own as he and Liz fought inside the pir of light together.


    The final battles of the second round had once again turned into a hectic hodgepodge of slung spells, as everyone was forced into fewer and fewer pirs.


    Unlike thest round, where they were Quill and Torch, there was no centralized effort by the middle rankers to take out the top teams.


    Even with the royals suppressing the news of those disastrous attempts, word had still spread.


    The deaths of nearly a quarter of the total contestants had been shocking enough.


    As Quill, he had only been attacked once by a casual probe of fifteen teams who decided that him and his endless talismans weren''t worth the effort.


    The attackers had learned the hard way that Torch wasnt to be trifled with, even without his help. Thirty-seven teams tried to take her down, and only seventeen had escaped. The rest had been burnt or stabbed to death with her empowered physical might, thanks to her new blood alchemy.


    He had still carved his way through teams who were foolish enough to try and take his pirs of light, but he hadnt been able to win nearly as impressive of a show.


    Instead, he, Queen, Dianas team, Carlos Duo, and the tenth ce team Matt didnt have a name for but had numbers on their masks, had easily taken the five skips for the solo fights. The final pir of light saw the final thirty thousand contestants trying to besiege them, but they had fought off the uncoordinated attacks long enough to secure their skips.


    Torch had secured their team skip with Adam, Rewind, Nyx, and Sam, the summoner they had met as Shawn and Jules. Matt didnt find it at all surprising that the solo Pathers had taken the team skips; it made sense, as they could be more easily countered by a team.


    Queen was the only exception to that rule, but he assumed that she knew what she was doing.


    The two of them as Quill and Torch had created a sensation, being the only team to take a pass in both sections. But knowing Luna''s personality, and her intentions for their masked identities, they said that they had no intention using either, and just wanted to see how strong everyone else was.


    That has caused amotion throughout the news stations, and Paige and Diego were enamored with the soundbite they had gotten. In just thest few hours, Luna reported that they were the talk of the, garnering arger following as each hour passed. All of whom seemed to have a greater belief that they would take the solo and team battles championships home. There was also a growing contingent of top Pathers who were upset that they took up a spot that could have gone to someone who could actually use it.


    Still, despite knowing that it was good for their protection, and that they had to y everything safe to keep their identities protected, it ate at them to have to hold back in their real identities.


    While they had to use limited skills in their masks, they still had the ability to go all out, while their real identities were hobbled to only show a fraction of their power.


    The smart y was starting to grow irritating, and both of them were more than happy to have the second round of battles end.


    They had earned themselves a decent cing as Matt and Liz, but were far from earning a skip.


    When the battle ended, the two of them were happy to fade into obscurity and hang out with their friends during the banquet.


    Matt did enjoy watching Kurt use the prepared lines he had recorded to speak as Quill.


    When he didnt have to personally say such antagonizing and sometimes corny stuff, he enjoyed the show.


    Knowing that Luna was speaking for Kurt when he wasnt able to pull together a prepared line made it all the funnier. Thinking about the always sour and dour Luna shit talking Tier 10s gave him endless entertainment.


    Melinda''s team did well in the first round of fights themselves, and were prouder than a group of peacocks at their cing.


    It wasn''t until the end of the dinner that they would be told their final cement, but everyone was able to make guesses based on how long theysted.


    When the banquet came to an end, and the tables were whisked away, Tur''stal stood up from her ce at the head of the table and raised a ss of wine in a toast to everyone present.


    I wish to congratte everyone who fought on this day. You have shown that you have what it takes to handle adversity and strife, what it takes to fight in a chaotic battle. For those who are happy with their cement, congrattions. For everyone who feels they could have done better if they had done something differently, or if they had fought better, I encourage you not to wallow in self-pity. Instead, take what you learned and work to fix those mistakes. The end of the training period ends soon for you all. Tier 15 is when the training wheelse off, and there are fewer protections for each and every one of you. You may fight in wars where there are no referees to pull you out of dangerous situations. You may find yourself delving rifts that be ever more dangerous as the gaps between Tiers berger, and your advantages be less effective. Maybe youll find yourselves traveling the distant stars through chaotic space, exploring the frontiers. All of these avenues will be dangerous. I don''t say this to discourage you. I say it because I want you to look at myself and my fellow royals. None of us were exceptional Pathers in our youth. I myself was considered weak and useless. Discarded by my parents and seen as a waste. I couldn''t fight for my life until well after Tier 15, and I purchased or exchanged my Talent for people carrying me through rifts.


    The crowd started to murmur, and Matt heard more than a few people questioning the validity of those ms. Tur''stal didnt stop them, and let everyone specte about her story.


    Matt had actually asked Mara and Leon about Tur''stal, and found out that her official biography was urate enough. While some information had been tweaked, the general information was correct as a whole.


    Tur''stal smiled and sipped at her wine before speaking over the crowd. Yes, my biography is correct. I was thrown away and discarded. That isn''t a fabrication. Eventually, through long effort I earned my immortality, thennguished for nearly a century before I got off my ass and started to address my weaknesses. I wasn''t good atbat? I learned. I joined a ss of children and got pped around when I suppressed my Tier. I learned. I grew, just like my nts. I looked at what I needed and wanted, and then addressed those issues. I did so muchter in life than you all. Even the weakest of you are in a better position than I was back then. Dont take a poor cement or a loss today to heart. Pick yourself up. Wipe away the blood and take one step. That is all you need to do. One step at a time, and you never know where you will end up.


    There was a small moment when everyone apuded, but some people looked more contemtive than their table mates.


    Someone Matt couldn''t see called out, Then how did you be a noble?


    Tur''stal seemed unbothered by the question and chuckled slightly before asking, How do you think?


    The person who asked the initial question clearly didn''t expect a question in return as they stuttered out, Marriage? A fight where you took over a title?


    The Tier 47ughed, Nothing so fun. I punched the people I had to, when I needed to. I even got married, yes, but I never took their title ornds. Instead, I used my political savvy and my Talent to expand my influence. Easy and free terraforming is valuable on its own. But I earned my title by ying<em> the game</em>. I started as an advisor to a baron, and when a new, lower Tier world was found, the Duke who controlled it gave me a title for my insight and governing skills. I was then Viscountess Tur''stal.


    There was a spreading murmur of disbelief that Tur''stalughed at. I know that most of you aren''t noble, and aren''t a part of the hereditary nobility like I am now. Youre probably surprised at myck of nobility, and that I wed my way to the top.


    At the sounds of agreement, Tur''stal continued. Before Tier 15, everyone is treated like children, at least when power and position is taken into consideration. The hereditary nobility factions arent like most of you probably believe. Im not saying it''s some paradise where anyone can make it, but the Empire is always expanding, and there are ces for new blood <em>If you work for it</em>. It''s not just how hard you can punch, as it can sometimes be in the fiefdoms, where inheritance is more fluid. We aren''t the same nobility that the stories of the old dynasty would have you believe. But I''m not here to try and recruit anyone. Only to congratte you, and wish you the best of luck in the uing tournament. Those who earned themselves byes through their cement, enjoy the show. Those who didnt, prepare yourselves.


    Before she turned and left, someone else in the crowd called out and asked, What''s your favorite color?


    Tur''stal snorted at that. Blue. It''s such a rare color in nature, but has some of the prettiest results.


    With that, she vanished, and someone else called out, What kind of question was that?


    That sent off a round of shouting and bickering before Shadow stood and interjected. Light and I are about to leave as well, but asdy Tur''stal entertained some of your questions, we will take one each before we leave.


    Light stood and added, While I normally love chaos, we will have everyone submit their question to our AI, where you can all vote for the questions you want asked. We are fair, after all.


    Considering they had created a battlefield where solo Pathers were put at a disadvantage, Matt wasn''t sure that was a true statement. But he was still eager to hear the elusive duo speak.


    It took nearly ten minutes for the crowd toe up with two questions, but eventually, they settled on a question for each of them.


    At Tier 10, what did you wish you knew back then, that you know now? And what would you have done differently with that knowledge?


    While Matt considered it two questions, tying them together had allowed them to slip it through, and it took an easy first ce.


    The second question was more personal.


    How did you remain so strong andpetitive on the Path that was designed to kick you off?


    Light took the second question first.


    How did we remain so strong on The Path? We found our strengths and leaned into them as much as possible, while helping each other when we could. Shadow has her Talent, and I helped her with that by taking more light skills, and incorporating light abilities into otherwise neutral skills. She helps me by scouting and taking out thergest and hardest to kill monsters. Together, we cover each other''s weaknesses and boost each other''s strengths.


    Light then shrugged. I know it''s an obvious answer, but its the truth. Alone, we probably wouldn''t be able toplete the Path, with all its restrictions and time limits. Together, we are more than the sum of our individual powers. If you want to improve yourbat prowess as a team, see where you can bolster your teammates'' power with either better tactics or synergistic skills. For the lone Pathers? You all have it harder; you need to do everything yourselves. You need to cover every weakness, and still have the strength to punch above your Tier. That isn''t impossible by any means, but it is harder, and will only get harder as you advance. There is a reason that more teams get to Tier 22 or so whenpared to solo Pathers.


    He paused for a second before adding, I will add that the rate between solo Ascenders and team Ascenders are nearly even when looked at over arge historical average. Make of that what you will.


    Shadow took up the first question.


    I wish I knew how hard the rifts would be. You hear about it, but when monsters are mostly limited to one to three skills, things are manageable. But after Tier 14, things ramp up in difficulty. A lot. That happens again at Tier 20, and again at both Tier 25 and Tier 26, with monsters getting their Intents. Then theres a new batch of skills directly after.


    Shadow sighed. If you aren''t punching up at least three Tiers after this tournament, especially with all the goodies youre getting here, you need to evaluate what youll do when you fall off. Because you <em>will </em>fall off. A good manager will help you, but they can''t do everything. ce well in the tournament, and a good manager can push you further than you thought. If you have untapped potential, they might even be able to get you into the running of the best, the pseudo ascenders and true Ascenders. But youll need to work hard for it. Look at Duke Waters. He doesn''t need his Talent to be good. While that''s not a reasonable expectation for most of us, he proves that it''s a possibility.


    The famous duo were about to leave when someone tried their luck and shouted, How do you make enough money to sustain yourselves?


    Light turned and held out a hand, saying, Give me a Tier 45 mana stone, and I''ll tell you.


    That brazen answer shocked everyone before they started tough.


    Matt felt incredibly tempted to say. Just give me a few centuries.


    In fact, he was so tempted, he sent the message to Liz and Melindas team, Mara and Leon, and even the rest of the family with a clip of Lights statement. He had to ask Mara and Leon to forward thement to the rest of the family, Aunt Helen, and Aster, as he couldn''t risk it getting read by the people keepingmunication on lockdown. But it was too funny to resist.


    Liz and his friends burst outughing, with Kyle choking on his drink to the point he was red in the face as he pounded the table, trying to stopughing while trying to breathe.


    Lizughed into his chest while he got a pointed message from Luna. She didnt reprimand him, but he could feel her displeasure from here.


    He sent the grumpy cat aughing face and enjoyed his time with his friends.


    When they met tomorrow, it could be as enemies, and they needed time to reinforce their bonds before they stressed them.

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158


    Shadow watched on through the rend in space into the mundane room that the two Sect spies were staying in. Using a mundane hotel under a fake name was such a traditional idea that the base had slipped under the radar for nearly two full weeks. Seeing it in person, the set up was so obvious it <em>had</em> to be a trap.


    She grinned wolfishly as she saw the man scribble a note down, then fold it into a bird before enchanting it. Shortly afterward, it flew off as if it were alive.


    Through her AI, she called out the mark. Message leaving through the window. Expect it to pass through the barrier between section five and six in seventeen seconds.


    Stone, as it was, responded. Roger. I have eyes on it. Acting as it passes the corner. Three two one. After a second of silence, he came back on and reported. Message sessfully intercepted. Note that the bird tried to split off a spiritual copy, but that was also intercepted.


    Shadow internally nodded at the man. She had been leery when she and Light had been paired with the duo of <em>almost</em>-ascenders, expecting them to only be a burden. But she was repeatedly being proven wrong.


    She heard her partner call over the AI, Barrier and sound proofing formations are down on my end, and the smaller formation is ready to be activated.


    Shadow called in her status. I have eyes on them. Ready when everyone else is.


    Stick reported in. Primary formation ready to give assistance.


    Stone reported the same thing. Primary formation ready to give assistance.


    Light then called in. Secondary formation ready. Moving in as cleaning staff. On my mark.


    Shadow readied her Talent, and felt space fall under her control everywhere her spirit could reach.


    With long practice, it was easy for her to locate the shadows that she needed, and prepare a teleport to the room.


    Something with the shadows still felt wrong, but she had already warned the team, and they were prepared for anything.


    All the reports said that this was a trap, which was why they were tripping it early. From the number of materials that had entered the room, the counterespionage teams had calcted that the Sects spies had created a fortified base, or something worse.


    Still, the counter-espionage teams were very, very good at their jobs, and ensured that no information had been able to leave the base. While the spies might have been able to destroy any information, they hadn''t been able to get anything out.


    Now, it was just a matter of cleaning out the base and capturing the spies, preferably alive.


    As Light, with an illusion hiding his weapons and armor, came up to the door and knocked, Shadow readied herself.


    The second the door opened, her partner cast [Mule Kick] and shoved the door into the man who was standing behind it. She was already moving through a spatial tear, and stepped out of a shadow inside the room once the door and man hit the ground near the interior wall.


    Her dagger took the second man in the chest right next to the heart as the door tipped to the side. The de sank deeply into his flesh and grazed the man''s left ventricle, depositing the Tier 26 Swamp Viper venom directly next to the sensitive organ.


    The spy dropped like a rock as the venom restricted his cultivation. While the venom would only temporarily make the man''s essence be harder to control, while itsted he would need to spend enormous effort to manually keep the blood moving around his body.


    With the essence restriction, he needed to focus on mundane things, like <em>breathing</em>.


    The Swamp Vipers'' venom sadly wasnt longsting, but it would take the Tier 24 out of the fight long enough for her to capture them.


    A quick [Shadow Dagger], one of her true shadow skills, cut the other spy''s carotid artery and sent him down in a spray of blood. With a twist of power, she started to take her captive and escape. As she was pulling the incapacitated man through a portal hidden inside a shadow, she saw what had been hidden inside the room.


    Golems. War golems.


    As she sank into their prison, she called out. Team Bravo, move in to assist. n seven, variation Juliet.


    Light, for all his power, wouldnt be able to fight off the twenty-plus war golems without breaking containment. And the civilians in the rooms and building surrounding this one couldn''t be involved. That would mean the mission was a failure, and Shadow hated failure more than anything else.


    Seeing the techs had the first spy hooked up to a number of medicines to stop him from either killing himself or escaping, she stepped behind a pole and teleported through the line of darkness.


    Hiding her Talent had taken time, but her management team had started training her early and well.


    Ironically, it was that power that had caught their attention shortly after she and Light had met each other.


    They had been forced together by a local noble who refused to allow two Tier 4s to delve a Tier 6 rift by themselves, and forced them to join up if they wanted to delve above Tier on his.


    That Baron had been a particr vor of luddite, but they had learned that they worked together exceptionally well. When they had chafed at the long wait times on the, they had started to steal rift allocations. That ended up not going as unnoticed as they thought, and an investigator had quickly been called in to deal with them.


    He had, after seeing how strong they were, rmended them to a management team, which meant their covers were <em>exceptionally</em> thorough.


    As she fell back inside the room, she felt the restrictions of the secondary formation and cast [Dagger Empowerment], which wrapped her des in mana to strengthen them.


    She dodged the first golem''s fist, and while dodging the blow, slipped through the shadow that the golem fighting Light created. Coming out from behind a third golem, she cast [Thrust] and drove her dagger through the golem''s armored back.


    The twice empowered de sunk through the armor like a hot knife through butter and nicked the power core.


    Sensing the power start to run rampant, she slipped through a portal and reappeared in the second adjoining room, as Light contained the discharge of mana. Seeing there were another seven golems in this room, she tried to duck through a shadow cast on the floor from the door next to her, but the room brightened to remove every ce of darkness.


    She pretended to stumble as if her portal had failed, but it was an act.


    This wouldn''t be the first time someone tried to ferret out her real powers, and she knew how to act in such a situation.


    Turning her stumble into a roll, she shed out with her dagger at the higher Tier golem that tried to stomp her, and smiled as her de parted metal to expose the more vulnerable interior of the monster.


    Each weapon had its specialties, and so did the skills made for them. Daggers, for all their tiny size and short range, had unique spells that had some of the best armor pration. And of course, <em>range</em> was hardly an issue for her.


    With Tier 25 daggers and the Tier 26 empowerment skill, she was able to cut through the metal with ease.


    Still, she was kept at a disadvantage; she was outnumbered, and was forced to fight defensively while still hiding her true Talent.


    That onlysted until Stick and Stone arrived on the scene.


    She felt them before she even heard them as their Concepts and Intents washed over her and empowered her.


    She had been surprised that the couple had both created more supportive Domains, but seeing the ovepping effects, she understood why they went as far as they had on The Path of Ascension.


    It also exined why they were falling off.


    Their empowerment domains were purely external, and while <em>incredibly</em> strong, they could only do so much in a group of two. But when others fought with them, they were boosted by both Domains, and the effects were exponential.


    With increased proprioception, flexibility, mind, and senses, the parts of her cultivation she asked to be boosted, she could dance through the now slower golems as if they were standing still.


    Stone came into her room and cast [Chop] with his axe, taking a golem in the side before the spell dissipated and its leftover energy could so much as ssh on the far wall.


    Shadow slipped under a vibro knife that one of the golems was equipped with and put her dagger into its armpit, cutting the conduit that sent power into the weapon.


    The golems, for all their higher Tier materials, were easy to kill with just their rudimentary, pre-programmed attack patterns. If the duo of spies had been able to finish equipping them, and had been able to send them out under AI control, they would have been far more dangerous.


    Now, they were worsebatants than a training dummy, and in less than five minutes, they had safely dismantled the war golems.


    As they expected, all the information they had gathered was destroyed, but they still gathered the remnants up for the counterespionage department, who might be able to salvage something from the shattered storage crystals.


    It was a long shot, and Shadow believed that they would have a better chance at interrogating the captured spy.


    That didn''t imply that the chance was <em>good</em>, but it was a better chance all the same.


    Regardless, that wasn''t their job.


    She and Light needed to go back and retake their positions for the uing tournament''s first rounds.


    Stick and Stone would be doing the fun work of setting up their next target.


    As she pulled them through a shadow once they left the room full of lights, she turned to the two neers and nodded at them while sticking out a hand to shake. Good work. I was leery of teaming with the two of you, but you more than held your own.


    Light cracked his neck but agreed. Yes. That would have been a dozen times harder without your direct help and Domains.


    Before they could say anything else, Stick and Stone''s manager came through the door and pointed at Light and Shadow. Marcus wants you back now. He sent half a dozen messages, but you two haven''t responded.


    Shadow tried to y it off. Whoops, new AI, and I blocked his number as spam. How silly of me.


    To Gerards credit, he didnt even blink at her snark. Bullshit. He then smiled and added, Marcus said you might say that, and he said if you did try to dy any further, he''d start making promises for you both to teach local elementary school kids. And you <em>wont</em> get out of it.


    Cursing, Shadow grabbed Light and fell through the shadow of a nearby chair.


    She refused to spend time teaching kids who couldn''t wipe their asses without messing it up.


    She had been one of those kids, and didnt need any reminders.


    Better to sit on her ass and talk into a mic.


    ***


    Cami sat with Aunt Helen, Hazel, Aster, and most of Lizs family while watching the news reporting on the just-starting Pather team tournament.


    Having seen Matt and Liz fight before, she knew they were sandbagging, but she had been trying to pester one of the people in the know to spill the beans of who their Masked identities were.


    Aunt Helen was her current target.


    The woman owned and operated one of thergest gambling houses on the, but refused to let Cami ce a bet on anything.


    She had tried everything from pouting to weedling the information out of the woman, but had so fare up with nothing.


    Ten years ago, she wouldn''t have been cavalier about seeing the two people who were the closest things she had to friends so obviously faking their power, but she had grown a lot since she had been foisted upon their team.


    Aunt Helen poked her side and pointed at the wall-mounted screen, which had finally started the report.


    The bald news anchor smiled at the screen and said, We have a special program for everyone before the first round of the tournament starts. The camera panned over to a well-groomed man who stood with two other people nking him. Javier, Rosemary, and Aldar, who together make up one of our local Tier 12 teams, a part of the Rising Raiders guild. Please give them a warm wee as they join us.


    When the screen came back to the news anchors, they were sitting on a couch with enough open space for the trio to sit down between them.


    Javier was the first to speak and shook the bald man''s hand as they sat down. It''s our honor, Amir. I know that my parents are more than happy to see me on your show. The team leader looked directly into the camera and smiled before saying, Look, Mom and Dad! Im sitting on The Couch Of Doom!


    Amirughed along with the audience before waving at the camera and smiling with a fake, thousand mana smile. Always good to see my fans showing the young ones the good old clips. Javier, for being such a big fan, Im going to send you home with two tickets for the show during the finals for the folks. Prime, first row seats. Theyll be able to see everything live. You think theyd like that?


    Javier seemed slightly taken aback before he, giddy with excitement for his parent''s good fortune, nodded and profusely thanked the man.


    Cami tuned out the nonsense pandering to the audience until they got to the point of the interview. Amir was just too fake for her.


    Amir brought the cheering crowd back under control as a clip started to y in the background.


    It was Javier''s team moving their way through a rift with Amir talking over it.


    This is our young guests team, moving through one of the Tier 13 rifts currently active on the Tournament. He was awarded this privilege from Lady Tur''stal herself, to show just how strong some of the bestpetitors in this year''s tournament truly are. Javier''s team is one Tier weaker than the rift, and is doing excellently, let me add. Truly an exemry showing of one of the up-anders in our society. But they are one Tier weaker than the rift, and it took you guys how long to clear it?


    Javier leaned forward as he said, Roughly ten hours, give or take a break or two.


    Amir pped the table as he eximed, Ten hours! <em>Ten hours </em>people. I couldn''t have cleared a rift a Tier above me in a week, let alone just ten hours. Javier, Rosemary, Aldar, you three are good. How would you describe the rift? It has Amir looked off to the side as if consulting someone before saying, Three monster types. A bear that has incredible durability and empowered ws and teeth, a tribe of goblins, and then a breed of water birds. What was your impression of them?


    Rosemary finally spoke, and Cami noted her captivating voice. We expected the bear or the goblins to be the worst, but the birds were the biggest challenge by far. They kept diving into theke and healing themselves, which forced us to spend hours whittling them down until it was safe to cross the bridge.


    Amir nodded along before pointing at the air, where a window showing the team fighting the monsters in question were shown.


    Cami had to admit that they did seem like tough opponents, considering their elemental synergy with theke.


    Amir then shouted, And this is a good team of strong delvers, very solid work and effort. Everyone remember this as we show you the next clips of some of the top ascenders fighting these same opponents.


    The first clip was of a team with numbers on their faces that simply ran across the bridge, cutting down any bird that dared toe near them, without taking a hit.


    Next, a video of Dianas team came where their ice mage sh froze the surface of theke, preventing the monsters from going into the water to heal.


    Cami nodded along, but chuckled as Aster scoffed at the ice mage''s efforts. I would have frozen the entireke. Wimp.


    The next video showed Pause, who just let the birds cut her to ribbons before she healed herself and moved on.


    For the fourth video was of a summoner, Samuel, who had a small army of tiny elementals that surrounded him. They beat any of the birds that tried to attack him to death in short order.


    The final video was of Queen, who just danced her way along the bridge, cutting the birds out of the sky without pause.


    Amir shouted again, to Cami''s annoyance, jarring her out of the trance she fell into while watching the alluring swordsmanship. Out of the five top twenty teams that challenged the rift, the <em>longest</em> clear for that section of the rift was twenty minutes. And half of that time was due to their mage freezing theke over. What do you have to say about that?


    Cami felt the question was mean-spirited, but Javier justughed good naturedly and with a twinkle in his eye that showed genuine mirth. It shows that they are strong! Stronger than us, by far. Even if we had an ice spell that strong, it would have taken us longer to kill our way through the birds. If we also had to fight up three Tiers? I dont know if we could have done it. We can frequently fight up one Tier, and <em>sometimes </em>even two. But even then, we usually take injuries and need long recovery periods afterward.


    Amir mmed the table again as he nodded along vigorously. You heard it here, folks. And again, Javiers team isn''t weak. Theyre nearing the peak of Tier 12, and are a formidable team by any metric. Better than me, and I''d wager even most of you!


    Amir turned around to face a new camera before finishing the segment.


    That''s all the time we have for this wonderful interview, but if youlike myselfare leery of delving and want strong protectors, The Rising Raiders guild is offering a special rate tomemorate Javier and his team''s wonderful showing. Get strong guilders to carry you through delves while allocating all the essence to yourself so you can Tier up. Dont let anything keep you down!


    Cami rolled her eyes while Hazel started to twitch her back legs, ready to thump the man.


    They both hated that kind of showboating and insincerity.


    She turned to Aunt Helen and asked, Why did I need to pay attention to that?


    Aunt Helen frowned at the screen. Amir was supposed to plug my gambling house during that bit. Im the one who got them that slot in the rift for the show. Show and boast about our new anti-Seeker methods to ensure the bets are fair for the average person.


    The old bird didnt outwardly look upset, but Cami smiled at the overly loud man''s uing misfortune.


    Despite being a chef, and usually reserved, Aunt Helen was scary.


    Cami picked up Hazel as Aster lunged for the bunny. She missed and went for her again, but hit Camis open palm while straining half-heartedly to get to the annoyed beast. Cami restrained Aster, settling the fox who was technically stronger than her on herp. Once Aster was subdued, Cami ced the bunny on top of the fox and smiled at their continued shenanigans.


    Aster had no problems with it, and justughed as Hazel tried to criticize her fur, until the first of the team matches drew all of their attention.


    ***


    Queen looked at her fellowpetitors in the masked Pathers lounge and her face burned with embarrassment.


    She had earned herself a three round bye, and a chance to change her opponent, but had foolishly done so in the solopetition.


    She had been paying more attention to the walking arsenal that Light carried around, and by the time she found herself teleported out of the arena, she had no idea what was going on. She had just followed everyone to the nearest pir, which was one of light.


    It wasnt until Quill started bragging about not needing a team or a solo fight change up that she had realized her blunder.


    But it was toote for her to change it, and even if she could, she wasn''t sure that shed be able to handle the embarrassment that woulde from trading the spot with another team.


    She was just d that she had a mask to hide her true face, along with the burning crimson on her cheeks.


    Queen tried to look on the bright side. It wasn''t all bad; it ensured that she got to fight at least one of the people she had noticed using a sword well in thest six months.


    She internally nodded and repeated to herself that that had been her n all along.


    If she said it enough, she might even start to believe it.


    ***


    Matt looked around and sat with Liz in their contestant''s box.


    They had been able to skip the first day of fights, but the second began the second round, and their real identities bye had only been for the first.


    Quill and Torch had earned the maximum three-round bye, which, whenbined with their different brackets, meant there would be zero ovep between when theyd need to fight until well after he and Liz should have been eliminated.


    When their number was called, the two of them stood before a team of five people. They were vaguely familiar, but it took Matt checking his AI to realize that they had been frequent customers of his free mana sessions.


    They were even nice people who always bought him a croissant after they refilled.


    He was pretty sure that the leader''s name was Kat.


    Matt gave them a wave. Hey, guys.


    At Kat''s look of embarrassment, he shrugged. No hard feelings either way. This is meant to be a fight, and one of us has to lose. All we can do is fight our best.


    Liz, next to him, tapped her helmet as she said. Dont overthink it. We wont.


    That seemed to settle their opponents down, and Matt could hear the announcer assigned to their stage give a summary of Matt and his mana-giving exploits.


    As the ref came into the ring, he exined the rules that they had heard before every match. The fights are no holds barred. The royals are watching and ready to intervene if needed, but I should be more than enough. Leave everything in the ring, and hold your head up high no matter the oue.


    In a quieter voice that didnt get picked up by the microphone, he added, The Empire is watching. Do your best.


    In his regr voice, he continued, You start at zero. No skills or movement before then.


    As the ref started his countdown from five, and they were lowered into the arena, Matt inspected where they would be fighting.


    They had drawn a light forest biome littered with young and thin trees that blocked a good degree of the light, but not so much that itpromised their vision at all.


    When the ref hit zero, Matt raced to the right while Liz went left. The rift was spatially expanded, so he was able to run for nearly half a mile before he found the edge of the expanded zone and turned inward.


    With [Mages Retreat], Matt raced through the forest without bothering to be stealthy, letting [Cracked Phantom Armor] keep the distracting branches at bay him as he blew past and through them. He saw the protective formation that Kat''s team had created, and messaged Liz with the information as he barreled towards the small wall of hardened earth.


    He saw Liz racing over from the other side and pumped his arms faster for some extra speed, so he would get there first.


    An arrow whizzed at him, but throwing extra mana into the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] easily deflected the arrow to the side.


    Nearly in unison with Liz, he reached the wall and jumped over it, inside their opponents formation.


    To his surprise, he found only an archer golem that slowly panned over to attack him.


    He kicked it as he threw himself off to the side, just as a massive ball of firended on the trap fortress they had just entered.


    Matt felt it slightly strain his armor, but even with his restrictions, it was easy enough to block.


    What surprised him was how the fire was trying to linger and eat into his armor.


    It was an interesting skill, but it had also alerted them to where Kats team was attacking from. He checked on Liz, who was hiding in a sphere of blood she must have pulled from her gloves storage, before tracking the enemy team..


    With the trajectory, they easily found the five of them, who then unleashed everything they could at Matt and Liz, but their attacks were weak and ineffective.


    It was clear that Kat''s team was not one of the better teams on the Path. Matt would be surprised if they were able to safely delve rifts two Tiers above them.


    Still, he and Liz let them show their best skills off as they slowly whittled away the team''s defenses. They werent here to show off or humiliate anyone, and three minutes after they started fighting, the pair eliminated thest of the enemy team.


    The announcer wasnt overly excited, but narrated the end of the fight before wishing the now beaten Kats team good luck in the losers'' bracket.


    With so many people, they didn''t have another fight the rest of the day, and were on standby until the third day, when their next match was scheduled.. This team was slightly better, but still not enough for Matt to find the fight memorable.


    On day four of the first week, they were finally able to fight as Quill and Torch.


    As one of the top seeds, they were given arger break, but their first team fight was going to prove harder than their two fights as Matt and Liz.


    While top seeds had been put into separate brackets, ensuring that they didnt have to knock each other out early, and thus ruin theter matches, that didnt mean the low-seeded teams were weak.


    Anyone who was able to survive to the fourth round was powerful in their own right.


    The team they were facing was an unknown team of three before the tournament, and had made something of a name for themselves while hunting down monster bounties in the Jungle.


    Quill red off to the side when they drew a tundra with a blizzard raging on for their match location.


    If he didnt know better, he would bet that someone was ensuring they had exciting matches by giving their opponents the best terrain for their abilities.


    It might have been their first round, but he smelled a conspiracy.


    When the fight started, Quill followed Torch as they trudged through the deep snow and blustering wind that cut through the dense trees.


    They had been moving forward for a few minutes when an ice arrow shattered off Torchs spear, exploding in a cloud of ice crystals.


    Quill threw out a [me Barrier] Talisman, which countered the ice arrow, before throwing himself into a nearby snowbank to dodge a thrown dagger.


    Knowing the attacker had already moved, Quill let his instincts guide him as he mentally recreated what he believed the attacker would have done. He used an [Earth Spike] talisman in the area where he figured his enemy had relocated.


    The yelp of pain told him he had found something fleshy, and without hesitation, Torch sent a pulse of me at the location.


    The fire was weakened by the blizzard raging around them, but they had both felt the attacker''s veil slip for a moment, and their spiritual perceptions were able to lock onto them.


    Quill threw out a [Wind Barrier] talisman just as his battle instincts began screaming that danger approached, and an arrow exploded in a cloud of poisonous yellow gas.


    The wind blew the attack directly at him and Torch, so he cast [Air Burst] to push the poison away from them.


    That move gave their opponents enough of a distraction to relocate and slip from Quill''s spiritual perception.


    Knowing they needed to take what advantages they could, he pulled out and cast a five talisman array, creating what would have normally been a scorching and dry day. But since the heat needed to fight the wind and cold, it only created a clear area of lightly falling snow. But that was enough for Torch to see a running figure.


    With a me-empowered leap, shended in an explosion of steam as the surrounding snow was sh boiled during hernding.


    That would have normally been more than enough to take out most people, but her spear took the somehow fleeing man in the back.


    The ref teleported the man out before he was gravely wounded, but they still had two more people to deal with.


    From the arrow barrage that started to assault them from five different directions, Quill knew that they unfortunately still had to contend with the teams archer.


    With the sunny zone nearing its end, the blizzard started to howl and obscure their vision once again.


    pping a talisman on his chest, Quill slunk through the forest and started his own hunt.


    It only took him a few minutes to guess where the archer was hiding. After inspecting the area and finding a dozen traps, both magical and mundane, he decided to just zap the man from a distance.


    For all the archers'' preparation, he didnt ground himself, and was a smoking husk when the ref pulled him from the snowbank.


    Amotion drew his attention to where Torch was fighting, and he found her abusing the melee fighter of the group.


    To the woman''s credit, she was taking the cuts and bashes from a boosted Torch without a grimace orint.


    She was losing, but was doing everything she could to minimize the punishment she was taking. Quill had to give her props for surviving so well, but he also knew that if she was hoping for her archer teammate to save her, she was waiting in vain.


    You should just give up now. I already fried your archer. Save yourself the healing cooldown.


    The woman growled but didnt give up.


    Instead, she exploded in light and deflected Torch''s spear, driving the side of her shield into Torch''s side.


    It would have been effective if Torch hadn''t caught the shield, holding it and the woman at bay.


    With eyes wide at her opponent catching what was probably her trump card with a single hand, the woman called out, I give up.


    Just like that, they were all teleported out of the arena.


    Quill dusted off the residual snow as Torch red some fire and burned it all off. This time, the announcers for their team were two old hands who had been officiating at every Tier 10 tournament for thest few thousand years.


    Quill heard Shadowment how his stalking had been good, but he had used an ineffective search pattern for low visibility situations. Considering he had just been inspecting the surroundings for clues, he had to wonder exactly what the serious woman had been referring to.


    Still, they won their first fight and moved on to the fifth day.


    As Matt and Liz, they had another easy match and advanced as well, and soon, the fifth and final day of team fights for the week was upon them.


    As Matt and Liz, they had a long and drawn-out fight against a solo wind mage, who flitted around the two of them for four hours before finally being forced tond when he started to run out of mana.


    He had strong wind skills at his disposal, but forced to contend with both Matt and Liz with his mana drained, the wind mage was finished off in seconds.


    Matt almost felt bad for the mage, as his skills were strong enough to break [Cracked Phantom Armor] in the limited capacity he was restricted to during the tournament. But they weren''t strong enough to break through his physical armor underneath. Combined with Liz hiding under a dome of blood, the man had little recourse to fight them when they refused to meet him on his terms.


    That didnt mean the man was out of the running altogether, as he was still able to fight in the losers'' bracket, but getting knocked out of the tournament in the first week wasn''t a good result.


    As Quill and Torch, they had a much easier fight than they had expected. With nearly half a million contestants, they still had a lot of weaker teams to fight through.


    The sad thing was, the team battles were much faster than the solo fights, which wouldmence next week, then go on for two weeks before reverting back to the team battles. With everyone needing a chance to fight, and with limited arenas at their disposal, more time was needed if both formats were to end in six months.


    The fights started to get harder and more intense as the weeks ofpetition turned into months, and by the time the ninth month of the tournament rolled around, the fights finally started to get interesting at the tournaments three quarter mark.


    These were the cream of the crop of Tier 10 Pathers, and there was nowhere better to showcase exactly what they were made of.


    Luck, skill, experience, and tenacity all would y a role. Even though Matt knew they would be taking a fall at some point, to continue protecting their real identities, he was still happy to be here to see and learn what he could. He was stirred from his thoughts when the next match began. He cheered with the crowd from his seat in the stands, wondering what he would see next.

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159


    Quill stood tall as he walked into the ring.


    As the tournament progressed, the arenas became simpler to a degree. There was still the odd biome of some type, but they were usually basic in design, like a fire biome consisting of a small copse of burning trees.


    This time he had gotten a grasnd arena with just half a dozen pirs of stone sprinkled through the barrenndscape.


    His opponent was a man expected to do well in the tournament with his short-range teleport Talent. It had carried him through both the solo and team fights alone.


    Ronin was a young-looking man who appeared to be no older than fifteen. It was a stark contrast to all of the other Tier 10 Pathers, who mostly looked to be in their early twenties.


    Despite his appearance, the man had used his dual short swords to good effect thus far, as he cut a path to the third month ofpetition.


    Quill was looking forward to a good fight.


    As he met his opponent''s eyes, Ronin called out, Youre going to want to pull your cloak out now. Otherwise, youll be defeated in seconds.


    Hearing that his opponent wanted to trash talk, he made his mask smirk and shot back, Nah. I doubt that youll push me that far. If you manage it, you''ll be the first in the tournament. He pushed out his long coat and said, Besides, I think the coat looks cooler. ck and silver is a winningbination.


    Ronin lowered himself into a low crouch and spat, Oh, youre going to regret not using that chance to change your opponent. Ill show everyone that you cant buy skill.


    As the ref called the final countdown, Quill tilted his head and obtusely misunderstood his opponent''sment. You can''t buy skills? I buy them all the time. Sell them too. Are you too poor to understand how money works? I can give you a lesson after this match if you want.


    Ronin shot forward in small, several-foot lurches as his teleport let him cover the distance faster than would normally be possible.


    Quill tossed out two [Wind de] talismans at where he expected Ronin would appear, but the man managed to sidestep the attacks, so he took to the sky while using a [methrower] talisman to prevent the man from closing the distance.


    Landing on one of the pirs, Quill stopped and twisted his foot while crumbling a talisman in his hand.


    He was able to see Ronin''s eyes widen as the pir he was next to exploded in razor-sharp shards of stone, and despite his teleportation Talent, Ronin was unable topletely avoid the attack. Quill found that odd; while he had purposely shattered the pir to create a wide area of effect, he had still expected that the swordsman would be able to escape.


    Quill''s opponent had two long cuts on his calf and arm, where the stone shards had grazed him aftering out of his teleport, but Quill still had to whistle.


    Noting the oddity, he snarked, Impressive. Have you ever thought about selling your Talent to a courier service? Im sure that theyd love to have you run letters for them.


    Seeing Ronin charge up his des with lightning, he added as he took off higher, Never mind, theyd probably expect their employees to understand how money works.


    Ronin flickered to the side and mmed his des together, and a burst of lightningshed out from his des. Quill quickly activated a [Mana Barrier] talisman, stopping the attack in its tracks.


    While he had been defending himself, the swordsman hadunched himself into the air and flickered closer to Quill.


    Taking off and throwing out two [Cold Air] talismans, Quill covered his retreat.


    Turning and analyzing his opponent, he noticed something strange about how the areas of freezing magic had been cast.


    The edges of the spell had dropped noticeably faster than the center, and Ronin had gotten a small degree of the slowing effect on him, as evidenced by his sluggish movements and blue powder covering his armor.


    Quill ran the oddity through his AI and concentrated on his fight as the teleporting swordsman was nearly upon him.


    He was forced to use two more [Mana Barrier] talismans to block the man''s attacks, but when he reached a distance of five feet, Ronin teleported to his side.


    Quill nearly overreacted and fully turned around to cover what would have been his back, but a small flicker gave away the man''s destination with just enough time for him to abort his turn, and get his staff in position to block the twin swords.


    Letting the impact knock him away, Quill cast a [Fireball] while throwing out half a dozen more [Fireball] talismans in a cone.


    He caught Ronin with one of the projectiles as the man teleported above him, but it was merely a ncing blow.


    Seeing that he was at a disadvantage with so much open space, Quill loaded a makeshift, seven talisman array into his staff.


    The second hended, he activated the talismans and used [Earth Maniption] for some minute adjustments.


    The once basic arena rumbled as the ground surged up in crude and crooked pirs of stone. Unlike the pretty and perfectly cylindrical pirs they had started with, Quills modifications were rough and dirty copies.


    Exactly as he wanted.


    Ronin had dodged the stoneing out from the ground, but having seen the man''s reaction time and ability to teleport, Quill hadnt expected the move to hurt him.


    He didnt immediately activate the next dozen talismans he threw out as he walked under the crisscrossing stone arches. The battlefield was now much more advantageous to him, with limited avenues of approach, so he began setting the stage for his next attack.


    Ronin straightened himself slightly and asked Quill, You can''t win in an even fight, so you throw money at the problem? Pathetic.


    Quillughed and tossed out a [Fireball] talisman as he forced the swordsman to move.


    This is far more fun, wouldn''t you say, Mr. Teleporter? How many people haveined about you flitting around like a leaf on the wind? I''m sure more than a few. And if you want to throw stones in a ss house, you should be able to fix said house. I can at least afford repairs.


    Listening for Ronins flittering footsteps, he waited until he was next to one of the pirs of stone, and the second the man exited his teleport, he activated the [Shatter] talisman he had stuck to that pir.


    When the dust cleared, he saw Ronin with a thin but wide piece of stone sticking out of his chest armor. With the touch of blood he saw burbling from the wound, Quill knew he had finally hurt the man.


    Teleporting is strong, but it has its problems. The lower Tier skills are limited in either range or direction. You only have one of those weaknesses, but whenbined with the internal cooldown of the skill, it makes a predictable opening. Even if it''s not always easy to predict where to attack. Though at that point, I can just use area of effect skills


    Ronin threw a knife at Quill, and he was forced to cut his monologuing off and roll to the side.


    When he came to his feet, Ronin was just one teleport away, and was already driving both of his short swords down in a plunging attack, preparing for the closing teleport.


    Quill withdrew and activated two talismans at the same time while kicking himself up to his feet.


    A lightning-infused de came down on his shoulder, but the pir of stone he had summoned from the ground pushed him out of the way in just enough time for the attack to only nce off his armor.


    The second blow came from the side and deposited its lightning into Quill''s nk, unblocked.


    A third, fourth, then fifth attack followed the sessful attack up in far too rapid session for a teleport, and Quill activated a [me Wave] talisman to push the man away.


    As he stood and inspected his wounds, Quill''s AI shed the information he had asked it to gather at the start of the fight.


    Ronin wasn''t a teleporter At least, not a true one.


    The man was warping time in a localized area.


    It exined the way the sections of [Cold Air] had fallen at different speeds, and the supernatural speed of his attacks.


    He had actually slowed the AI down in reaching that conclusion, as he had started its calctions with the base of Ronin having a teleporting Talent.


    Spitting out a bit of blood from where he had bit his tongue, he set to the clear area around him that was still scorched from the mes.


    You have a time Talent. How interesting. That exins a few things, but it also gives you a massive weakness.


    Quill listened for any noise as he readed another talisman array.


    Time maniption, even in a small area, must be rough on the spirit. Trapping and affecting me would make that doubly difficult, since the spirit naturally resists those kinds of intrusions.


    Talisman array ready, he red his Concept to lock down space in a sphere around him as he sent a touch of mana into his staff.


    All the pirs of stone he had created exploded away from him, crashing upon the barrier surrounding the arena, but also clearing the obstacles hiding Ronin.


    Ronin made it through the explosion mostly in one piece, but there were new scratches on his armor that Quill smiled at.


    Time maniption in a small sphere clearly has its downsides. I bet it''s even tougher on the spirit the more shit youre trying to stop. Then, you need to maneuver through all the debris yourself. Bit of a weakness there too. Still, being able to attack that quickly is incredibly strong at close ranges.


    As his mouth filled with blood again, Quill spat before smashing his staff on the ground.


    Honestly, Im slightly impressed. But sadly, you had to get matched against me.


    Every loose stone in the cracked and destroyed arena rose up, and at Quill''smand, flew towards Ronin.


    The swordsman tried to dodge, but when pitting his Talent against Quill''s Concept, whichmanded space to stay firm, it didnt quite work properly.


    Ronin flickered, but not as far or as fast as normal. Space and time were intricately linked, and while Luna had never trained him on the second, he was confident in his ability to lock down the man''s power for long enough to win.


    As he predicted, a stone caught the time maniptor in the side, and that mistake spelled the end of the fight. Shard afer shard was attracted to the man, with each sessful hit slowing his movements, thus inviting more and more daggers of stone into his flesh.


    When it was clear that Ronin couldn''t escape, the ref swooped in, and with a wave of his hand, dispelled Quills work.


    As Ronin was being pulled away, Quill tipped an imaginary hat to the man to signify it had been a good fight. And it had been. Quill was proud of the disy he had put on, and his opponent had nothing to be ashamed of either.


    The arena would have filtered his words about Ronin''s Talent, which would keep the man''s secret. Quill felt that Ronin would be able to fight through the losers bracket with little issue, especially with such a strong Talent and abilitybination.


    If he had to put money on it, Quill expected the man to reach the top two hundred, if not the top one hundred.


    His Talent and abilities were that good.


    Ronin just had a few weaknesses in his kit, and one of those wasrge area of effect attacks that were more taxing on his spirit to deal with.


    In the end, the man would climb through the losers bracket just fine.


    After all, it was there for a reason.


    The winner would, by their very nature, take out everyone they encountered, and he intended to be that winner.


    ***


    Luna nodded along as she saw Matt use his Concept to lock down the little time maniptor. She hadnt expected him to figure that out so quickly, but Ronin had shown his hand a little too obviously.


    Taking a few hits to sell his Talent as a teleporting one was smart, but he shouldnt have used his Talent so many times, especially that early in the fight.


    He was used to beating people early enough that it wasn''t a problem for him, but the child should have known that he couldn''t use such tactics this far in the tournament.


    She jotted down a few notes for the boy''s future manager and flicked a nce at Kurt next to her. What do you think?


    Returning her attention to the note she was writing, she read his message with her spiritual perception.


    Matt is learning well, but he is starting to reach diminishing returns. Hes better than most of the kids here, but they will close that distance a bit when they get their own managers.


    She nodded along to his words but said nothing. That was to be expected, and happened to all the youths who earned a management team early. While earning a team early wasnt the end all be all for a Pather, it helped them get a step ahead of their peers. The best of Pathers didnt always need that advantage, but it helped.


    When she had trained L, the dragon didnt have such an advantage, and neither did any of her actual Ascenders. In fact, the two that she had taken early had only turned out to be almost ascenders.


    What mattered more was drive and willingness to bleed for their desires.


    Kurts pen flitted across his page. His ability to adapt to new situations is good, but his willingness to take a hit to hit back harder will take him far.


    The pen hesitated for a second before he added, His use of his Concept is good, and shows that he''s actually learning the lessons we want him to. He''s not only absorbing the surface level applications of skills were teaching him.


    Luna purred an agreement. What about Liz?


    Kurts pen flew across the page as he answered. She''s going to be scarier than Matt, given a few more Tiers. She''s learning all the same things Matt is, but she''s more limited in both identities, and shes still keeping up. When the shacklese off, she''s going to be terrifying. When its all said and done, I''d probably rather fight Matt than her at an equal Tier.


    She nodded, agreeing with everything her protege and friend had said.


    Luna answered for Aster herself. As a beast, she had a better view on the fox. Aster works hard and pushes herself to keep up, and with her bloodline modification, she''s going to be hitting a lot harder once her spirit and Concept fully heal.


    She chewed a knuckle before saying, I want the kids to go to the next cycle of Minka, and not the one after that.


    Kurt jerked, and he locked down the area before verbally saying, That''s beyond risky. Theyll be Tier 11 at best, and thats only if we have Matt fill rifts so they can delve at least two Tiers up. Theyd have to finish three delves a day under those conditions to even sniff Tier 11.


    Luna nodded. That was in line with her own predictions.


    But if you wanted monsters, you needed to forge them in the harshest environments.


    But the rewards will be insane for them if they canpete with the Tier 14s who will be there. If they reach the core


    She let that statement speak for itself.


    And it did.


    Kurt said nothing for nearly five minutes, with his pen dipping toward the pad beforeing back up, pausing, and then doing it again. Eventually, he wrote out, They would. That they would...


    With that settled, Luna started to n for the future. While not all Ascenders went to Minka, let alone earned the greatest rewards, most did. Especially the best ones.


    Even Duke Waters had delved the twisting depths to earn the greatest rewards. She could see the subtle signs in his skills. With such a specific skillset he could have gone in at Tier 12 with minimal loss but she wasn''t entirely sure just from watching a few recorded fights. She was less familiar with Light and Shadow, but Luna suspected that they had as well. She just wasn''t sure if they went in at Tier 11 or 12.


    She always pushed her charges to do it, and they all earned a lot, and she usually sent them into the ruins at Tier 12 if they were solo, or T 11 if they were a team. While it might only be one Tier more of a wait, and while going at Tier 12 would ensure their safety against the Tier 14s, there were a small but potent number of rewards that only Tier 11s could earn in the depths.


    Luna felt that the children would both want those rewards, and would eventually agree with her ns.


    Most importantly, she believed that they could survive those treacherous depths.


    Kurt finally nodded and wrote. I agree, they can do it.


    With that settled, she called April through her AI. Go set up everything for a trip to Minka.


    She smiled as she watched her other little project pull at her hair at the impossible order and curt dismissal.


    April too was shaping up well.


    ***


    Liz punched the man who burst out of the ground with a blood-encased hand. She smiled at the man''s surprise as her fist met his face.


    Rusty was right about one thing. People always looked surprised when you punched them in the face.


    That was doubly true for hybrid mages who relied on their elemental advantage to try and ambush their opponents.


    She had fought Vinnie enough times to learn all the tricks that an earth mage could pull out of their sleeves. Her friend had learned the same lesson about trying to ambush her that hertest opponent had just learned.


    An ambush only worked when you didn''t expect it.


    As the man tried to flee back underground, she sent the blood she had on her fist to flow into his face.


    While she couldn''t keep control of the blood if she sent it inside of the man''s body, she was able to cover his nose and mouth to stop him from breathing.


    He threw his Concept against her blood, trying to st away her [Blood Maniption] skills control, but she flexed her own Concept in return and firmed her control over her blood.


    Despite it not being inside her, the blood was still hers, and more importantly, <em>she</em> was blood.


    It was her Tier 3, after all.


    Her talk with Aunt Helen had shown her a path forward, and she was trying to lean into the idea that her Tier 25 Talent would reinforce what she already had.


    She was blood, and blood was her.


    Liz waited as her opponent tried to create distance to weaken her control over the blood, but it was futile. If she hadnt reinforced the blood with her Concept, that might have worked, but her Concept ensured that all of her blood was as easy to manipte as if it was still connected to her.


    That was the advantage of her internal Concept; it was more than just a boost of her blood''s strength when attacking.


    Seeing that he couldn''t break free of his mask, her opponent tried to finish her off byunching attack after attack at her.


    Liz dodged what she could and used a tendril of blood to smash what she couldn''t.


    She thought about taking to the sky to avoid the attacks, but every time she tried, the man startedunching more dangerous, exploding earth spears at her. Exactly why he couldn''t use that move on her while she remained on the ground, she wasn''t sure, but it made her decision easy.


    It took a little more than fifteen minutes of dodging stones spikes for her opponent''s breath to run out. Even with an essence-supported body, he was only Tier 10, and he eventually passed out. It was only then that the ref pulled him from the ground.


    Before she could celebrate her win, she was pulled to a room to change with Luna, who had been pretending to be Torch.


    This next match figured to be much more interesting.


    Cain was a solo Pather that Liz expected to not only do well, but excel in the tournament, and she was looking forward to fighting the man with her alternative identity.


    Ironically, Liz would have easily countered the man, but Torch would have a hard-fought battle on her hands.


    When she stood across the bare arena, she tsked.


    She had been hoping for an arena with some burnable materials. That would make this fight a lot easier, but instead of that, she got hard-packed stone.


    Still, it would be a neutral arena for both of them, which was better than nothing.


    Cain waved at her and blew her a kiss while their tforms lowered, and she sighed.


    Her fan club was alive and well. In fact, it was thriving.


    If she didnt know better, she would suspect someone was fanning their metaphorical mes for her.


    Cain shouted something out, but the barriers made it inaudible.


    When they lowered, he repeated. Let me take you out for dinner after I beat you, Torch?


    Liz would have snarked back, but Torch was quieter than that, and she only said. When you win? Unlikely.


    With the ref counting down, Torch watched as Cain started wiggling his fingers, and the instant the ref hit zero, he summoned a strip of meat and tossed it into his mouth.


    She didn''t bother to move, as she had seen the effect already in a recording and from the stands. She knew that there was nothing she could do to stop the transformation that would overtake the man. Others had tried and failed in most of his early matches. His Talent protected him to a degree during the shapeshifting process.


    In seconds, the unarmored human twisted and cracked as scales, and miniature wings grew from his back.


    The dragon-like shape of his head and teeth gave away the source of the meat he had eaten. That was a new one for him, but it was an improvement over the wyvern meat he had been eating for the majority of the tournament.


    This time at least, he had arms, which meant dragon meat.


    He breathed out a stream of liquid metal, and Torch cursed. A molten metal dragon?


    That was a surprisingly badbination for her Torch identity to fight against.


    Dragons were hard enough to hurt as a baseline, and they always had innate resistances against their own elements.


    She doubted that she''d be able to easily burn through a dragonhide that was able to handle liquid metal.


    With a burst of fire, she took off the ground to dodge the ssh of glowing metal, and sent a probing bar of me with [methrower] at Cain.


    The attack sshed off his scaly hide and didn''t even scorch his more vulnerable wings.


    The mans Talent was truly unfair.


    With two ps of his undersized wings, he rose into the air, but Torch felt most of the lift was provided by the Concept that the man was using. That would have been easy to stop if she had an external Concept, but unless she was able to use hers externally for the first time now, she had no way to punish that.


    Letting mes gather around her spear, Torch thrust forward and let a [Fireball] lose. It caught Cain in the mouth and caused his next breath attack to rebound in his maw.


    With her boosted abilities from her blood alchemy, Liz reached forward and thrust her reinforced spear into his wing.


    The leathery flesh parted easily, and she pulled her spear to the side to widen the wound, listening to Cain scream in pain. She might not be a dragon, but she knew more than her fair share of them, and none of them liked their wings being damaged. The older ones learned how to deal with said pain, but the younger ones were extra vulnerable to damage on the sensitive membrane.


    Clearly, Cain hadnt used dragon meat in practice.


    Given how expensive getting his hands on even a tiny piece of the meat had to be, she had expected nothing less. While his Talent didnt demand he kill the creature he wanted to take the form of, not many dragons were willing to slice off a bit of flesh, for <em>any reason</em>.


    Flying to the side, she activated her new cloak and smiled, and fire started to gather on its fluttering leather.


    Going in for another attack, her spear was intercepted by Cain''s w while his tail wasing around, but she punched out with her off-hand to stop it.


    She had to pretend that it was the fire that empowered her, but Torch hit hard. Hard enough that she felt scales crack from the impact, and saw Cain''s eyes widen at the fact that he had lost the exchange.


    After all, few things were able to match a dragon in physical might at the same Tier


    Torch was simply one of them.


    Once her cloaks ability was finally ready to be cast, she let the stored fire st out in a wave.


    She was unaffected as the item''s wielder, but Cain, who was still so close she could feel his breath, wasnt so lucky.


    After the auction, they had learned that the more me they stored in the cloak, the stronger the explosion was. And Matt had no problem using his [methrower] on the cloak between fights to keep it fully charged.


    As the arena was filled with me, and Cain was pped into the outer barrier, Torch started to swirl her spear in a circle and started gathering the fire that now flooded the arena. She then activated her armor''s enchantments as the fire washed over her.


    The metal started to glow as it absorbed the fire, but it also strengthened her, like a secondyer of muscles.


    Cain had righted himself by the time she finished buffing herself, and she flew at him as fast as she could, dodging the streams of liquid metal he spat at her.


    Landing, she started to use the blood she hadyered between her mes and heavy armor, and guided her actions.


    With boostsing from her blood alchemy, her armor burning the fire for power, and her ability to manipte the blood in her body andyered in her armor, Torch punched Cain in his scaled chest. She felt bone and scale break under the blow, and Cain flew backward into the barrier.


    He tried to run, but Torch was faster, and snagged his one intact wing.


    nting herself, she pulled, and as the dragon-man tried to go with the movement to reduce the pressure, she shoved her spear through his foot, pinning him into the ground.


    Cain screamed from the dual pain of having his wing ripped off and the spear pinning him into the ground. Not letting go of the momentum, Torch uppercutted him and felt bones and teeth break.


    She took one w to the side, but it was little more than a ncing blow.


    Torch was surprised that Cain hadnt been removed yet, but didnt stop throwing punches at her pinned in ce opponent. If the referees didnt pull him, it only meant that his life wasn''t in any danger.


    She caught an oversized w in her own hand as it tried to encase her head, and pushed back with everything she had to keep the razor-sharp ws at bay.


    Looking up to her opponent, she saw him gathering his breath for a final breath attack, now that they were so close.


    Shemended him for the attempt.


    Against someone who didnt know dragons, it might have worked.


    Torch shoved her arm into Cains broken maw and then pushed into his throat.


    With a grip like iron, she grabbed the soft flesh in his throat as soon as she found the orifice that was opening up to dispel the stored liquid metal.


    Unlike most cultivators, dragons didnt necessarily need a skill to cast their bloodline elemental breath weapon. It was a physical attack more than a magical, skill-based one.


    While most dragons used a skill that did the same thing to save their more limited natural attacks, it normally didnt matter, as the attacks were so simr. But the ability to cast without spending mana was an invaluable trump card.


    That is at least, unless someone grabs the organ that dispels said attack and holds it closed.


    Torch gathered fire around her arm as Cain tried to bite her, and thankfully, her armor resisted the broken teeth as he chomped down.


    After she gathered enough me, Torch started to send it into the exposed gums of the teeth she had knocked out. The attack against a vulnerable bit of flesh caused the dragon man to try and recoil in pain, but Torch kept her hold over the man''s throat.


    It was only a question of what would give first.


    Her grip or his flesh.


    Finally, something gave, and Torch was left standing and holding a chunk of flesh in her hand, as molten metal started to leak out of Cain''s mouth without the orifice that normally kept it stored away.


    It only took the referee seconds for the referee toe in and snatch the now drowning dragon-man to get him to a healer.


    Though, Torch wasn''t sure if would need a healer before or after he was turned back into a human form.


    Pulling her spear up to her with a touch of [Blood Maniption], thanks to the blood incorporated into the shaft, she started to absorb all of the fire in the surroundings. Despite theck of mmables in the area, the fire cast from Matt''s endless sub-aspected mana liked to linger, and Torch never left any for someone to examine after a fight.


    It would be wasted to power her armor, but that was better than the alternative.


    With her expressionless mask, she flew out of the arena and heard the roaring of the crowd. For all Liz didnt want to be vain, she had to admit, it was nice to hear the cheering of the spectators. They might not know her, but they loved to watch her work.


    She was enjoying the adtion when she saw a group of Pathers hoist a massive sign that said My love for Torch burns forever. She resisted the urge to burn the offending sign and people. Her Torch <em>Barers </em>were infuriating with their lewd puns.


    If she had known she would get a fan club, she would have never agreed to this. At least it was for her <em>Mask</em>, and not her true identity. She couldnt help but feel a renewed sense of understanding as to why Duke Waters was so adamant about protecting the separation of identities.


    Appreciation for her abilities was one thing, but the fervor some of her fans had was worrying.


    She flew off to the rest area when she caught a nce of Matt and a copy of herself cheering in the crowd. To her horror, he had a cringy My Torch Burns for Thee banner, and a tee shirt saying, I stand for Torch. Even her other self was wearing a too tight shirt with a cartoon torch and heart ovepped.


    That settled her down. Matt had watched her fight and enjoyed the show.


    She was proud of her showing as Torch. While she couldn''t use her obvious blood skills, she was able to out-muscle most everyone else here.


    If she was lucky in a few Tiers, she might even be stronger than Matt. At least, if he wasnt using Mages Retreat. She was pretty sure her Concept scaled harder than his single skill did.


    That could lead to some fun times.


    As she changed into her Liz clothes and swapped ces with Luna, she pulled Matt''s arm around her and stood on her tippy toes to snatch a kiss.


    She made a note to make herself a few inches taller when she was Tier 15. Matt was just too damn tall, naturally.


    Liz refused to be the girlfriend who had to fly next to their boyfriend.


    That was just embarrassing.


    Looking over to the side, she asked, Want to go watch Kyle''s match? He''s up next I believe.


    Matt smiled and agreed before saying, I don''t know. I might want to go get myself a Torch fan club membership. She''s so hot.


    Liz resisted smiling to give him a t look and asked, Oh, I bet she has red hair as well?


    The call back to their first meeting was funny.


    She still hated the obvious redhead jokes, but this was at least amusing.


    Matt nodded deeply. Oh yeah, she has to be. Redheads and fire skills. It''s a universal constant after all. He leaned in to nip her ear, sending a shiver down her spine as he whispered, And you know I love me some red hair.


    Liz was half a second away from dragging Matt back to their room when Melinda sent them a message that she had saved them a seat. She disengaged from her frisky partner as they started walking to see their friend fight.

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160


    Matt was strolling through the crowd with Liz as they made their way to Kyle''s uing fight when he got a message from Emily through his AI.


    Where are you? Hurry the fuck up! Kyle had his opponent changed. Someone used their skip!


    Sharing the message with Liz, they stopped meandering and cut a more direct path to Kyles scheduled arena. There, he found a ring Emily, sitting primarily next to a nervous-looking Tara.


    To his surprise, both of the women had put on a little makeup and were out of their armor, dressed in more formal clothes than either usually wore to lounge around.


    It seemed that Emily had finally gotten Tara to agree to a date, but his archer friend looked like Aster when she was surprised.


    In fact, Melindas entire team had some variation of a worried or scared expression.


    He shot Emily a raised eyebrow as they approached, and she pointed at the stage before saying, Can you tell them that Kyle will be fine?


    Matt shrugged and parroted, Kyle will be fine. Pausing, he asked, Why would Kyle not be fine?


    While he asked, he looked up Kyle''s opponent to find out who they were.


    At the same time, Melinda answered, Hes fighting the lightning support mage from Dianas team. Graham used his skip to change to Kyle.


    Matt frowned.


    That was a bad matchup for a low Tier demage.


    Graham was an excellent support mage, and while support mages had weaknesses, they excelled at keeping range, boosting their allies, and asionally sting their opponents away. Graham in particr was a menace with his lightning attacks. To make matters worse, he had gotten an insane power boost from a legacy, adding debuffing skills to his repertoire. It gave him the ability to render all of themon Tier 14 anti-debuff skills less than half effective.


    Apparently, Graham had been forced to use their solo tournament skip, as he had drawn a match against Nyx, a stupidly strong archer who wouldn''t be countered by their new debuffing skills. Nyx had proven themselves strong enough to be a solo Pather, and earned a top spot in the team skip brackets.


    Kyle might just end up losing this round.


    Looking at the anxious Emily, Matt chewed his lip. She might have a reason to worry that her date was going to be ruined or canceled if Kyle lost his fight.


    This was the first time any of them had been put up against a strong contender, and it was an awful matchup for him. Technically, Melinda had already been eliminated, but she had willingly surrendered, like most of the pure healers in the teams had.


    Liz tried to be positive. He has a chance to win. Hes been training hard on bing a good demage. She paused before adding, And even if he loses, he can fight his way through the losers bracket until the top one thousand, where he can earn his ce back in.


    Matt nodded. When they finally whittled the hundreds of thousands ofpetitors down to the top one thousand teams and individuals for their respective tournaments, anyone in the losers bracket who hadnt taken a loss would have the opportunity to challenge anyone in the top thousand for their ce.


    It wasn''t ideal, but a single loss to a bad counter didnt mean that Kyle would bepletely screwed.


    But Matt wasn''t sure if Kyle could win this uing fight.


    Even <em>he</em> would have an issue fighting Graham without [Cracked Phantom Armor] to tank the hits from the mage.


    Annie arrived minutes before the start of the fight and threw herself into Conor''sp, pouting.


    Her arrival caught everyone off guard, but her boyfriend was the first to speak. How did the training go?


    Her sister didnt let her get a word out before asking, Why the hell do you have a mini tree?


    Annie bared her teeth at her sister, and then at the tree in herp before growling, My trainer said this would be all I need for making my Concept. It''s useless, though. It''s a stupid overgrown bonsai tree. I don''t need this! I dont think I need this?


    Matt didnt miss that she sounded a lot less confident by the end of her statement.


    Liz carefully prodded, What happened?


    Annie slumped over and fell into her own seat before saying, So I bought the Concept help package, and I met with the teacher. Annie paused at that and looked as if she swallowed a lemon, but she recovered. Whatever. The teacher gave me some overly esoteric advice that was effectively useless. When I didnt instantly create my Concept from her stupid ideas, she showed me her garden and peppered me with a bunch of questions to try and exin more obtuse shit. When I didnt understand that nonsense, she kicked my ass out the door with this weird mini bonsai tree.


    She held up the two-inch tall tree before glowering at it.


    Matt probed it with his spiritual perception to find that it was a simple Tier 1 tree of no real value.


    Emily rolled her eyes at her sister, And she said nothing else? I swear you don''t pay attention to shit people actually say. You just absorb every third word. What did she specifically tell you, stupid? She gave you a tree; that must mean <em>something</em>.


    Annie snarked right back, She said something about the guards, but I was frustrated at that point, so I stopped paying attention.


    Emily snapped back, Did you make it past her first few sentences before you zoned out?


    Fuck you! I didnt zone out, I just didnt understand what she was getting at with her riddles and shit.


    Fuck you right back! Those were our team points, and it seems like you squandered them. If you dont understand, look at your AI. It records <em>everything</em>.


    Annie looked guilty and wilted like a flower.


    Conor rubbed her back, What did she say about the tree?


    Annie sighed. She said it was a normal ass tree.


    Liz cocked her head to the side disbelievingly. That''s it? Really?


    Yes, really. I asked like twenty times, and she just kept saying that it was a normal tree. And before that, she was just talking about gardening techniques. I listened, I really did. I just dont really understand how it applies. Im an assassin, not a florist. But there was <em>something</em>. It''s like I can almost touch it, but I can''t put my finger on it.


    Melinda tried to be encouraging, Well, maybe you only need a normal tree?


    Before she could properly respond, Vinnie interrupted, Also, aren''t bonsai trees also usually more well-trimmed? To keep them healthy and all? That thing is a mess.


    Annie paused as she heard that, and then her face morphed into bbergasted contemtion. Matt asked what just popped up into his head. And when she said guards, did she mean the Gardeners? Tur''stals gardener guards that she employs?


    Annie looked like he had just shocked her as she plopped down. Then Matt felt something in her pop and shift as her spirit flexed and grew.


    Like a seedling sprouting from the earth, her true Concept broke apart the bottled one that she currently held in her spirit, and pushed through the cheap imitation to make room in her core.


    ***


    Annie desperately wanted to curse at Matt and Vinnie''s words, but it had given her the inspiration to finally finalize both her Phrase and Image.


    She had resisted variations of brutal assassination-based Concepts for nearly two decades now, as she didnt want to be the type of person that relished in killings like that. She knew that sometimes a good assassin was needed, but she didnt want to <em>only</em> do wetwork.


    She didnt want to be defined by her Talent, no matter how much she enjoyed it.


    When she had spent nearly all of her team''s points for a Concept trainer, she had expected someone high Tier to help her. What she hadnt expected was to see Tur''stal sipping at a ss of wine.


    She was half-convinced that she had gone to the wrong room, but the royal had shut the door behind her with a wave of her hand and told Annie to sit down.


    After that, Annie had been so flustered, she had missed most of what the royal said, and it was only when Tur''stal brought her out to look at her garden that she was given the bonsai tree and sent on her way.


    It wasnt every day that you meet a royal, and she hadnt been prepared for such a big moment.


    Sit down, Annie. Ive been impressed with how well youve been doing without your own Concept. You do more than just hold your own, in fact. That''s impressive, and people have taken note.


    Annie swallowed at the implication, So Im one of the only people who don''t have a Concept on The Path at this point?


    That was so embarrassing, she hoped it wasn''t true.


    On the Path all together? No. At this tournament? One of a handful, and the only one whos doing well in spite of that fact.


    Hearing that was too embarrassing for words, but Annie forced herself to listen to what Tur''stal said next. A garden can represent a grander image than just nts in a greenhouse. They can represent life and growth. Hardship and triumph. Struggle and sess. Life and death.


    Tur''stal flipped over her hand and a small flower grew, bloomed, and died before fading away to dust.


    Annie felt like there were giant question marks hovering over her head, but she resisted the urge to say anything.


    <em>Tur''stal is a royal. She must have a point. Right</em>?


    But you can look at nearly any Concept image and get the result you desire, if youre clever enough. A me image can be more about heat. It can be a representation of love and passion. It can even symbolize returning to your mothers embrace. It can be anger and rage, or it can represent whatever else truly <em>fuels</em> you. Its your phrase that helps narrow down your image. Why do you feel a draw to gardens?


    Annie shrugged helplessly. I don''t know. I can tell that theres something about my Concept and gardens that isn''t just about stabbing things, but I can''t figure it out. I even worked part time at a nt store for a few months, but I got absolutely nothing out of it.


    Tur''stal nodded and started to repeat things about life and nature, and how they link and mirror society, but Annie was lost. It all felt like pointless small talk that she would normally only half-listen to.


    Eventually, Tur''stal had caught on that she was losing Annie''s attention, and she brought her out to see said garden.


    That had been impressive, but when Tur''stal started to talk about how she managed the ce, Annie was lost again.


    She was more interested in how the garden had a wild look, while also clearly having the touch of guidance. Annie just knew if she could get a shovel and start to dig around, she could discover something.


    Her not stabbing things Concept was resonating with some ephemeral idea, but she couldn''t put her spiritual finger on exactly what it was.


    She flushed as she cringed at the memory of Tur''stal handing her the tree.


    She asked, What good is this? Am I supposed to meditate under it? As her imagination ran wild, she asked, Is the tree going to make a fruit that gives me powers?


    The woman was a royal, after all. Her gifts should be as magical as she herself was.


    Instead, the woman had given her a t look. The tree is a little small to be sitting under, but youre wee to wear it like a hat if that helps.


    Annie must have given the tree a weird look because the royal quickly added, That was a joke. It''s a perfectly normal tree you could buy at any garden shop. If me hinting at what I believe your Concept is verbally isn''t going to work, I hope this will work better.


    Annie just looked at the tree, But how?


    Tur''stal must have finally lost her patience, as that was when she waved her hand and lifted Annie out of the room, calling out, For fucks sake, girl. I can feel that youre right there. Go think about what I said about gardening and keeping things healthy. I can drown a horse, but I can''t make it drink.


    With that final statement, she had been teleported out.


    It wasnt like what Emily said, and she wasnt air brained. She was really good at remembering things, but with this Concept stuff, she felt lost and out of her depth.


    And she had believed Tur''stal was just idly chatting about gardening. Annie figured it was small talk. Tur''stal was <em>the</em> nt mage, after all. It would have been like anyone else talking about the weather.


    Unimportant small talk.


    It wasn''t Annies fault that her not stabby Concept was actually about gardening.


    Really it wasn''t her fault.


    And Tur''stals exnations <em>had</em> helped. Once she had calmed down, she was sure she would have figured it all out on her own. Tur''stal had even said that.


    Her friends just gave her a little nudge that sped it up.


    <em>I prune the branches to keep the tree healthy</em>.


    Just like that, her Concept snapped into ce.


    It was just like her. Notpletely peaceful, but it wasn''t evil.


    A tree needed pruning to keep it growing healthy. That was a simple, inescapable fact. Not every branch needed to be cut, but the sick and dead were just burdens to the tree. They were literal dead weight.


    Society was no different. People and organizations that were nothing but dead, rotting weight needed to be pruned for the whole to be healthy.


    Her Concept emphasized trimming where she needed to trim, but nothing more than that.


    She now understood why Tur''stal gave her the bonsai.


    The tree epassed her Concept.


    It needed pruning to stay healthy, but go too far and you kill the tree instead. You had to find the middle point, the bnce.


    Restraint.


    Annie needed to carefully prune the tree that was The Empire with restraint and a light hand.


    She would never take too much, but she wouldnt leave any overgrown branches.


    She felt her Concept wash over her with a new kind of power. She understood that sometimes she would need to lean into her assassin Talent, but she could do more good by refraining from killing everyone whenever she encountered a problem. That was exactly what her more stabby Concepts had been driving her towards, and it was why she refused to manifest them.


    Annie hadnt wanted to be that kind of person, and now, she saw a new way to progress.


    While she knew she would need to practice with her new Concept before her next match, she wanted to finish watching Kyle''s.


    She red at the small tree in herp.


    First, she needed to give this little shit a trim.


    It was like nails on a chalkboard to her Concept to have something of hers so desperately in need of a trim.


    ***


    Tur''stal swirled her wine before tipping back the ss.


    Annie had irritated her beyond words.


    The girl had been sitting on her Concept, but refused to change her mindset to see it.


    Tur''stal could <em>feel</em> the girl''s Pruning Concept begging to be realized, like a faint persistent ringing in the air, but the little blockhead was so fixated on not wanting to manifest her more bloody Concepts, she was blinded to it.


    Seeing the girl rendered clueless when she personally took her to her garden had only confirmed it again. That the girl stood half a breath away, but refused to <em>see</em>.


    Simr Domains could resonate with each other, and Tur''stals had been nagging at her the entire conversation.


    She had already decided that if the stubborn mule of a girl didnt figure it out by the end of the tournament, she was going to snatch the dolt, bury her up to her neck in the garden, and water her like a tree.


    Tur''stal was sure she would get results like that. Being too forceful wasn''t ideal, as it could taint the vor that each Concept had, but such extreme measures werent needed in the end.


    The girl just needed to get crowdsourced opinions from her friends.


    Tur''stal gulped down her ss of wine before pulling a better riesling out.


    Being a Tier higher than all of her wine was fantastic, in so far as she could enjoy even the mostplex vors without ever getting drunk. However, at times like this, she wished she could get at least tipsy.


    And she refused to drink that cursed swill Mara and Leon imed was liquor.


    Sure, it might be able to get her drunk in a fashion, but the sludge tasted vile. A good alcohol was a piece of art. Simply taking the rare Tier 48 bosses'' bodies and fermenting them was <em>not</em> anything resembling an art form. They didnt even use proper yeast. The savages just mixed the corpses with water from a high Tier rift with a poison bog motif and let whatever bacteria were present just go wild.


    At least the airhead finally figured out the obvious. To that, Tur''stal rose her ss into the air in Annie''s direction before sipping at it.


    She sighed and settled in to watch the star system.


    ***


    Matt watched on as Annie solidified her Concept, and felt relief when she opened her eyes and then immediately pulled out a dagger to give the tiny tree in herp a haircut.


    Once the nt sported a cleaner bob of green, Annie seemed to be at ease, and returned everyone''s good-natured ribbing.


    The yfulness didntst, as Kyle and Graham moved to their respective tforms, where they were lowered into a barebones arena with only a few shrubs that couldn''t seem to decide if they were trees or not.


    The mood sombered instantly, but Matt hoped his friend would pull something clever out of his hat to eke out a victory with.


    As soon as the fight started, Graham raised his hand, and an orb of purple shot out towards Kyle.


    Their friend was fast enough despite the small ring, and slipped to the side of its path before trying to rush at the mage in a zigzag pattern.


    Graham sted Kyle with a much faster lighting st, but Kyle took the hit without even slowing.


    Matt caught his friend''s armor glowing with magic, but was too far away to see exactly what it did. Still, it protected him from the lighting well enough that he could close the distance by nearly half.


    Graham wasnt sitting still though, as an experienced support mage. Before Kyle could close the distance, he cast an area of effect slowing spell thatnded between him and Kyle, forcing their friend to detour.


    Kyle aborted a lunge but paused, dodged the next slowing purple orb, and underhand threw a knife at Graham with his offhand. That interrupted the mage''s cycle of attacks, and Kyle managed to get a [Mana sh] off before he was forced to dodge another purple orb.


    Graham dodged both attacks and quickly took to the air, while Kyle raced after him, sword at the ready.


    Kyle was struck with a purple orb in the next exchange, and like with everyone else, his Tier 14 [Cleanse] only partially diminished the skills effect.


    Matt and his friends were shouting and calling encouragement for Kyle as he evaded the purple orbs while also avoiding therger, but weaker area slowing skills that Graham sent out.


    After a few more ineffectual exchanges, Kyle was forced to reveal his own Legacy skill. His alreadyrge greatsword expanded to create a shield-like projection that blocked Graham''s own purple legacy orbs.


    When the Legacies shed, Kyle was finally able topletely negate the slowing effect with [Cleanse].


    Melinda groaned next to Matt. Ugh! This hurts to watch. I''m usually our anti-debuffer. Kyle only has [Cleanse], and he can only use it so many times.


    Matt nodded. He didnt have the skill himself, but he had looked it up. It cost 200 mana per cast, and Kyle was a fifty fifty mage fighter, so he had less mana than Graham would have.


    It woulde down to how much those legacy debuffs skills cost versus how much mana the twopetitors had left.


    Matt felt bad because if Kyle had a few physical magical skills, he could easily counter the more deadly slowing orbs by putting a physical object through them. It was a known counter to single target energy skills, after all.


    Kyle justcked a skill of that ilk, as he usually had Vinnie on his team to sling earth around.


    And Matt knew that Kyle only carried four throwing knives on him for a fight, which meant that he needed to save those attacks.


    Their friend threw out a [Mana Bolt], but was caught in the area of effect slowing skill, and was forced to take another purple orb on his legacy shield. Still, his newest power held up against both attacks. Now free, he tried to close the distance once again, but any time the faster melee fighter got close, Graham put the area of effect field in between them. It was as if he was daring Kyle to enter its slowing field.


    Kyle was eventually forced to use his movement skill, [Rush], but it was a short range, straight line skill that made him vulnerable to Grahams slowing skills. He only used it when he had no other choice.


    Still, with the new variable, he could hit Graham with a [Mana Bolt] that blew a chunk off of the mages bicep.


    The ensuing stalematested for close to five minutes while Kyle chased the fleeing mage around the arena, but he could notnd a hit or close the distance.


    They were starting to find hope that Kyle could oust the mage, when Graham brought out a new skill that no one had seen thus far in the tournament.


    His back exploded with light, and soft white light started to rain on him, increasing his speed by twenty percent. Kyle also learned the hard way that the light burned his skin when he tried to push through it.


    Still, their friend was strong, and with a roar, he [Rush]ed into the light. Once he closed the distance, heunched [Mana sh]es at Graham, along with a [Mana Bolt] to where he believed the support mage would dodge to. ying off that distraction, he threw another dagger, and this time, he caught Graham in the thigh. Sadly, the wound was too shallow to hit anything vital.


    That momentary victory was for naught, as Graham was able to finally catch Kyle''s leg with one of the purple orbs, and their friend''s entire body started to move as if he was dropped in msses.


    Graham panted for a few seconds before he sted Kyle once again with [Jolt]. But once again, Kyle was unhurt, as his armor blocked all of the damage from the lightning spell. Even without his legacy skill, Kyle was still a well armored, front line fighter.


    Despite his bad situation, Kyle still had a chance to win if his armor could oust the mages remaining mana pool.


    As a group, they cheered while Graham tried three more times to zap their fledgling de mage to no effect.


    Graham then hit Kyle with another purple orb before asking, Anti-lightning armor? Must have been expensive. Smart though, it''s one of the harder-hitting elements, and its even harder to dodge.


    He pulled Kyles throwing dagger out of his thigh before examining it.


    Fucking ouch! I have to say, Kyle... I chose you because I didnt think a simple melee fighter could do anything against me. I was proven wrong, but thises to an end now, before you oust me. Good fight, though.


    With that, he brandished the dagger that had been in his leg, and started to walk forward after hitting Kyle with a purple orb for a third time.


    He paused halfway, as Kyles de started to glow as if he was going to cast [Mana sh].


    Graham paused before saying, Huh. Not a bad idea, but [Slowing Shot]sts too long, and I don''t have to wait till it ends to reapply it. Otherwise, that [Mana sh] mightve worked.


    Despite his words, he circled around Kyle to approach him from the side.


    Matt smiled as he saw Kyle charging a [Mana Charge] in his de. Outwardly, the skill was nigh identical to [Mana sh], but Matt knew that his friend had both.


    Most considered [Mana Charge] a mages skill, but after seeing how Matt abused it in close range, Kyle had also picked the skill up during their demage training with Kurt.


    Kyle slowly moved his de to touch the ground as Graham neared him and leaned in to stab him.


    Right when Graham was going to ce the de against his neck to im the win, Kyle unleashed the stored energy into the arena, sending stones flying in every direction from the explosion.


    Graham was sent tumbling back, but the immobilized Kyle was forced to take most of the damage without being able to roll to dissipate the energy. But despite the explosion shredding his armor, he had managed to break the debuffing skill.


    Turning and charging, he was only inches away from skewering the mage when he was hit with a [Jolt], and without his armor, he seized up before falling to the ground, smoking.


    He tried to lunge from the ground with a dagger, but Graham hit him with another [Slowing Shot] before throwing out another two [Jolt]s.


    It was only after that third shot the referee intervened, calling the end of the match.


    As Kyle was pulled out and all of them got out of their seats to visit him in the hospital, Matt saw the blood running down Graham''s face. While it hadn''t been a vital hit, he had a deep wound that cut to his skull. It wasrge enough it left a p of hair and skin falling down, covering one eye.


    Kyle might have lost the fight, but he had surprised his opponent, and taken his own pound of flesh.


    To their surprise, Kyle was in good spirits when they were finally allowed to see him, just half an hourter.


    He was actually listening to the announcer''s recap of his fight and smiling along.


    His first words to them surprised Matt. Ha! I kicked ass out there. I didnt expect it to work at all, and I almost got him. Im awesome!


    Seeing their friend in a good mood, everyone rxed, despite Melinda trying to mother him. She fussed even after personally healing him, despite the official healers already doing their job.


    Once he was cleared, Kyle pulled them all to meet up with Dianas team and Graham, who had messaged him after the fight and offered to get him a drink.


    It turned into a good celebration, despite the loss.


    Annie had created her Concept, and Kyle had made a fantastic showing. He even came away with a new friend in Graham.


    Later on, Emily and Tara snuck away to a dark corner, and have a more private dinner between the two of them.


    Matt considered that win too.


    ***


    The next day, the fights continued, and everyone gathered themselves for their own matches. In the fourth month, Quill was finally pitted against a decently strong opponent.


    As they were lowered into the arena, he nodded to his counterpart as he mentally organized his talismans, nning for how he would take out his newest opponent.


    His current opposition was something of a dark horse in thepetition, and favored a rare sound-based demage style.


    Or rather, fistmage.


    Surely, Rusty was observing the other fist-fighter with anticipation.


    Quill was just wondering how hed deal with the sound-based attacks. If he was able to use [Cracked Phantom Armor] as Matt, he could easily counter the man, but he didnt have an easy counter ready as Quill.


    Seth stood stock still as they were lowered into the arena, but Quill didnt miss the throwing knife he had preemptively palmed before walking out.


    He hadnt been able to hide that tactic for all of his fights, as he had been pushed to show more of his power.


    When the countdown reached zero, Quill instantly prepared half a dozen [Air Barrier] talismans as his counter to the inevitable sound-based attacks, but also braced to have his eardrums ruptured. The earplugs he brought would be as useless as they had been for everyone else who fought Seth before him.


    Still, it was worth a try with the quick-and-dirty sound repelling enchantment he had put on them.


    Seth bullrushed forward with a speed that belied the fact he wore heavy armor, and Quill threw out a few probing [Fireball] talismans to little effect.


    The man let out little yips, which popped each of the fireballs mid flight.


    They were thirty feet away from each other when Seth unleashed his signature screech, [Banshees Wail]. It was so loud and fast that it created ayer ofpressed air as it smashed into Quills [Wind Barrier] talisman.


    Even with that defense, the earplugs were overloaded and the enchantment was disrupted.


    But the [Wind Barrier] had done its job, and blunted most of the attack.


    Seth tried to close the distance, but Quill threw out a pair of [Earth Wall] talismans to create a small trap around the sound mage, hoping to buy a little space to retreat with before nking the man.


    To his surprise, he forced Seth to use a thus far unseen skill. The man screamed into the wall, causing it to shake and copse like it was made of blocks.


    Seth punched out as Quillunched two of the stronger [Fire Bolt] talismans, but his opponents punch cracked the air, sending a pulse of sound in a projectile. The two attacks canceled each other out, but Quill thought he saw a glimmer of a solution in the pattern of attacks.


    Letting Seth approach, he threw out a [Create Water] talisman, and used [Earth Maniption] to mix the two quickly. With some mud between them, he watched as Seth stepped into the slippery mess.


    Not one to sit still, Sethunched a preemptive [Banshees Wail], but Quill cast [Air Burst] at the same time.


    The two attacks canceled each other out, which let Quill cast a [Jolt] at Seth as he rolled out of the mud.


    His attacknded on Seths armor and caused him to jerk a little, but it didnt take the man out of the fight.


    On his knees, Seth punched out and caught Quill in the chest with a [Sonic Punch].


    Taking the hit, Quill felt the sound vibrations rupture his ears, and the world went silent as he felt the hitnd on his chest.


    It was less effective than a more traditional [Mana Punch], or any of the elemental variations, but it bypassed more of his armor to strike at his fleshly insides.


    Quill cast [Jolt] once again while loading a five talisman array into his staff.


    The attack was traded with a silent p of Seths hands that caused a wave of visible sound to m into Quill.


    Even as he slid across the arena, he cast the talisman array, and the area turned slightly dark as storm clouds started to form, and the wind started to pick up.


    A miniature tornado reached the arena floor despite Seths attempts at pping it away.


    Seth turned to him and said something, but Quill was deafened, and didnt bother asking his AI to read the man''s lips.


    He just snarked, Not nice to deafen a man then try to hold a conversation.


    Throwing out two [Wind de]s, he cast [Air Maniption] to guide the tornado, and used some of the energy in the array to send out some [Wind de]s from the cyclone of wind. Quill had tried to make a talisman array that would suck all the air out of an area for this fight, but he hadn''t managed to make it stable enough to be broken down into a few talismans. It was a shame, because it would have ended this fight instantly.


    It was when his attacknded and Seth exploded into dark smoke that Quill knew something was wrong, and he rolled to the side on instinct.


    Seth had never used illusions before, and it wasnt a good sign that he was using them now.


    Coming out of his roll, Quill jerkily scanned the arena.


    It only took a second to see the misshapen blob of shadow fluttering around the edges of the dark cloud.


    Quillunched a [Wind de] at the darkness and directed his tornado at the location, blowing the smoke away.


    Seth was revealed, and Quill saw that he had taken his time in concealment to drink a healing potion, if the bottle rolling around on the floor was anything to go off of.


    Still, Quill didnt let up, and sent another wave of attacks at Seth to hopefully keep him at bay long enough to whittle him and his heavy armor down.


    Seth rushed Quill and either dissipated the attacks he sent at him, or took them on his heavy armor.


    Just as the wind array was ending, Seth threw a ball of ck, exploding smoke and concealed the battlefield once again. Except this time, Quill was inside the darkness.


    Cursing, he readied an [Air Burst], but a punchnded on his shoulder and sent him tumbling to the ground, as his armor failed to absorb the damage.


    Spinning, Quill caught Seths legs and tripped the heavily armored man, sending the both of them to the ground. Rolling the two of them over during the struggle for grappling position, Quill was finally able to get into a guard, taking two hits to his kidneys as Seth tried to get him out of the advantageous spot.


    Seth tried to buck Quill, but he was a second too slow, and Quill got the [Air Burst] off.


    The explosion of air was at point-nk range, and Quill heard the crack as his head mmed into the ground behind him.


    As the fight wasnt interrupted by the referee, he pped an explosion talisman on Seth''s chest for good measure, before rolling off and activating a [Mana Barrier].


    That finally ended the fight, in contrast to his fight against the gems four months ago.


    The fights were getting harder as the tournament progressed, but pping a dazed opponent with 5,000 mana set to explode was usually a good way to ensure someone''s defeat. The fight might have onlysted a few minutes, but it had been a hard won victory.


    With the smoke cleared, Quill staggered to his feet before waving off the referee who had been about to teleport him out of the arena.


    Cracking his neck, he walked over to his fallen staff and picked it up before walking to the podium that lowered him into the arena.


    As he exited the enspelled arena, Quill looked around to the crowd and put his hand to his ear, calling out, I can''t hear you!


    Despite his reputation being both good and bad, people loved a victor, and he could feel the screams of the crowd.


    Waving to the flying drones, he hopped off the stage and walked over to the healer''s station, where he sat down and kicked his feet up on an adjacent chair as if he didnt have a care in the world.


    It was all an act; he hurt all over from the sound-based attacks, but he needed to put on a good show.


    As Luna beat into him over and over, Ascenders were more than human. They could <em>not</em> be allowed to show weakness. They were meant to be near mythical cultivators, not humans who hurt after a fight. No matter how false that idea was.


    An Ascender was a sign of hope for the Empire, and Quill tried to project that invincibility to the watching crowds.


    No matter how bad the damage, he would always be ready for another round. When things got hard, they could look to Quill and Torch forfort.


    For hope.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161


    Matt sipped his drink as he watched the fight going on underneath him, listening to the announcer talk about A Stopped Clock Was Correct Once A Day, or Once as everyone shortened the name to.


    The masked Pather was an oddity in the tournament, being both a crafter and a fighter.


    They were hardly the only ones to straddle both sides of The Path, but they were one of the few who did well in the tournament, and the only one still in the running four months in.


    However, Matt expected this to be the end of their run.


    Their opponent was a dark horse Pather who hadnt done exceptionally well in any of the rifts in the tournament, but they had excelled at the Pather versus Pather fighting.


    Ellie, a light mage, had proven that a single, nearly instant spell was enough to neutralize her opponents before they were able to do anything.


    Spells, like everything else, increased in power with Tier, but the progression was rtive. At Tier 25, a [Fireball] would move faster than a Tier 10 could blink, but it would still be slower than a lightning attack at the same Tier.


    Light-based attacks were some of the faster spells at their Tier, and were just as impossible to dodge as lighting spells.


    The only way to counter a light-based spell was to block its damage. Considering that the spells usually packed less of a punch to bnce out their higher speeds, it was a feasible n of action.


    Matt was pretty sure that if he was fighting Ellie, [Cracked Phantom Armor] would allow him to just sit there and take all of her attacks without a thought.


    But Once was a different matter. They had fought with a variety of disposable items that unleashed incredible damage, but there wasnt much in their arsenal that Matt figured would counter the light mage.


    While it seemed unlikely, there was always the possibility that he and everyone else would be surprised. Crafters were versatile, after all, and even with only a single night of prep time, they could pull of off near miracles.


    When the fight started, Ellie raised her hand, readying her signature opening attack, and a beam of prismatic lightnced out at Once.


    The masked Pather took the initial hit surprisingly well, despite it seemingly striking the broken clock face adorning their mask. As Ellies spell faded, everyone was able to see why.


    Once had a small shattered mirror in his hand, and it had trapped the light attack in its shattered shards.


    Matt looked to therge screen as it zoomed into the mirror, and as he thought, the beam of light was bouncing around inside one of the fragments of ss.


    Once and Ellie were saying something, but their words were blocked by the arena, so it was clearly rted to one of their powers.


    Ellie floated off the ground before she raised her hand again and a second beam of lightshed out. But this time, she aimed lower, and tried to target Onces leg. To everyone''s surprise, the beam of light curved tond on the mirror, where it was absorbed like her first attack.


    Ellie didnt seem surprised, and shot another three beams of light at Once.


    Despite the blinding light, Matt and the rest of the crowd didnt miss the [Earth Spear] that rose out of the ground right next to her floating form.


    The pir of earth rocketed out and hit Once in the leg.


    Matt raised an eyebrow as he saw the attack bothnd and wound Once.


    He had expected the mirror to absorb the attack as well.


    Instead, Once looked unbothered as the light attacks ended, and he again said something indiscernible to Ellie.


    To everyone''s surprise, Once reached into the mirror and pulled out a full-sized sword. Unlike the normal items that Once used, this one looked properly created, without any of the ws that identified his one-use items.


    This sword didnt explode as he thrust forward, and instead, a pir of what looked like snow and ice formed.


    The attack didnt hit Ellie, but she was forced to fly off to the side to avoid the attack. Looking off to the side, she cast more light attacks that allnded on Onces [Mana Barrier]. It wasnt a talisman, like Quill used, but the proper Tier 14 skill.


    Matt squinted as he saw the skill start to turn opaque nearly instantly.


    It gave him and his AI insight into the skill Ellie was using, and her Talent. [Light Beam] was a utility skill, unless you had a way to add damage to the skill, and from the way the skill was damaging [Mana Barrier], he had some conjectures.


    If his guess was correct, Ellie was adding radiation damage to her spells, which was an interestingly specific Talent. From this distance, he wasnt able to see if they were neutron, gamma, or x-rays, but his gut said that she was using abination of thest two options.


    The more specific the damage type, the worse a general skill like [Mana Barrier] would hold up, and she was using pure light.


    When the skill failed, Once raised up his mirror and unleashed the two captured beams of light back at Ellie. The mage cast a light barrier which blocked the spells, but it lingered in a blindingly bright bubble around her before starting to fracture.


    It suddenly exploded outwards in shards of dissipating light, and Ellie stood hovering in the air with a pair of feathery wings made of light given physical form. There was a simr halo hovering behind her head like a backlight.


    The ming short sword in her hand was another new addition to her arsenal. It was one that she immediately used to brutal effect.


    With a p of her wings, Ellie raced forward, leaving an afterimage of herself trailing behind her that mirrored her movements.


    Shended next to Once and thrust her shortsword at his neck, which Once tried to block, but his sword exploded as it took the attack. Still, it held for the split second he needed to avoid her de.


    Not letting up, Ellie pped her glittering wings with powerful strokes, and feathers of lightunched out, peppering the ground and Once despite his best efforts to dodge.


    As Ellie clenched her fist, the feathers exploded, creating scorched holes in every surface they had previously inhabited.


    Once took the hits without a sound, and lunged forward while pulling out a dagger with a clear de. Ellie floated to the side and thrust with her ming short sword,nding a hit on the crafter but also taking a ncing cut from the dagger.


    It looked like the hit would be ineffective, but from the small wound, Ellies arm started to transform into ss and expand.


    Matt whistled as he saw that. Onces Talent must be something special to make a one off item that could ovee the innate spirit and Concept of a same Tier cultivator. Let alone convert their body against their will.


    It was as challenging as Liz trying to control the blood inside another living person. A feat only really possible when she had a Tier advantage to overwhelm the spirit''s natural defenses.


    Ellie reacted to the spreading transformation by severing her arm at the shoulder with her own wing, while driving the other wing into Onces chest.


    With that, the fight ended, to the shouts and cheers of the crowd.


    Matt made a note that Ellie had still been holding back, but suspected that the transformation was the start of her going all out.


    Contestants were being forced to show their trump cards more and more often, signifying that the end of the tournament was near.


    Once had made a good showing. What they had aplished was unprecedented, considering they were splitting their time between crafting and fighting on the Path. Matt wasn''t sure if he would do as well if he needed toplete the demands that the Path required of its crafters.


    It wasnt just a certain number of items crafted, but also keeping your crafting skills above average. It was a bar that only got higher as the number of people in your Tier shrank while advancing.


    Even with unlimited mana and his AI, he had no Talent for the specialty, and would be at a distinct disadvantage against those who could make truly unique items, like Once. Matt had no way to create a dagger that could turn someone to ss, even if his life was at stake.


    It was an interesting Talent that he wanted to get his hands on. Win or lose, Once had impressed him, and had earned himself an invite to his future guild. Hopefully as an aperologist, but hed settle for just seeing what oddities the man could invent without worrying about a mana budget.


    He looked to his AI and saw that his own end was only a week away.


    Queen had finally encountered someone with a skip, and they had swapped opponents to avoid the scary woman. They just so happened to have picked his scheduled opponent. His match with Queen was on Monday, so they had a week of team fights to deal with before his big showdown.


    He suspected Luna or one of the Royals to have meddled, but she insisted that she hadnt had a hand in the change, which left him to believe that one of the Royals had interfered.


    Not unexpected, considering they were just inside the top one thousand contestants now. They needed to fall out of the tournament soon if they wanted to avoid garnering more attention, considering they following they had already earned for cing so well in the legacy battles.


    Liz was going to fall out a few roundster, but she would still be ending herpetition soon.


    Matt was just happy that he got the chance to fight Queen on the big stage. He didnt really care about the circumstances behind it.


    ***


    Quill and Torch touched down on the arena and raced towards their opponents in perfect unison.


    He threw out a handful of [Fireball] talismans that Torch took control of and sent off in arcing trajectories. They smashed into the exposed nk of their opposing teams front line shield-bearer, searing his armor.


    Quill split off to the right and tossed a [Wind de] talisman and an [Earth Spear] talisman towards the mage and archer. At the same time, Torch thrust her spear at the front liner.


    His [Wind de] was blocked by the second longsword wielder, who used a [Mana sh] to break the skill, but the [Earth Spike] took the mage through the leg.


    If the skill had been a normal cast, it might have only punched a hole in their thigh, but Quill had overcharged all of his talismans to the upper limit that his materials could handle. The majority of his talismans were made from Tier 10 monsters, which gave him an upper limit of around 5,000 mana per talisman.


    That much mana meant that the skill was stronger, and faster than normal. The unprepared mage didnt just lose their leg; the appendage exploded in a spray of blood, and the mage was sent tumbling to the ground while screaming.


    Their suffering didntst long, as the referee quickly removed them from the fight.


    The archer attacked Quill, but a simple [Mana Barrier] blocked the encroaching arrow, even as the longswordsman tried to rush him.


    Quill just pointed off to the side, where Torch had shish kebabbed the shield wielder, and was running down the longswordsman from the side.


    The man tried to deflect the tip of Torch''s spear, but she was stronger than him, and she quickly added a second person to her skewer.


    Quill looked at the remaining archer and asked, Want to give up easy?


    The manunched an arrow at Quill for his question, but he had already prepared a [Mana Barrier] to catch the attack.


    Shrugging, he threw out four [Wind de]s at the final member of the team.


    The archer was able to dodge the first wind de, but Quill had spread his wide, and the second and fourth attacks cut deep gouges in the archers lightly armored flesh.


    In less than a minute, the fight was over.


    Quill wasn''t impressed. Neither with his opponents, nor their own showing.


    It was like bullying toddlers.


    The solo fights had more time allocated than the team fights, so the weaker teams had already been weeded out.


    That wasnt to say that this team was necessarily weak, but they weren''t up to the level ofpetition that was demanded by the Pathers tournament.


    Quill was looking forward to the two of them actually being challenged.


    ***


    Tur''stal looked off to the side. Her spirit had noticed something going on in one of the rifts. The world slowed to a crawl as her perception of time increased to its normal high Tier speed.


    The Flowers masked team had gotten themselves into danger in one of the rifts.


    They had tried to challenge a Tier 13 rift alone, and were suffering the consequences of taking on such a risk.


    One mistake was all it took to kill you at that power difference.


    Still, this was a protected area, and she wouldn''t let any of the children die under her watch.


    Delving in the off hours of the second half of the tournament wasn''t something that the top one thousand teams would do, but the Flowers were trying to eke out every scrap of power they could to rise to the top.


    Sadly, it only took one mistake. Just one.


    Hoping they might be able to salvage the situation, she watched as ava bear raked its paw at Daisy. As she expected, the young woman was slightly out of position, and their frontliner, Thorn, was unable to block the attack.


    When the scorching paw had already passed through half of Daisys body, Tur''stal flexed her will and teleported the girl out and to safety.


    With their mage down, Primrose and Carnation, the melee fighter and archer, respectively, were quickly overwhelmed. Tur''stal watched as they were mauled and badly wounded before she interfered and teleported them out one by one.


    Thorn, the frontliner, screamed his rage and pain out at the monsters, but emotions werent able to hurt them, no matter how much everyone wished they could.


    She nodded in approval. Thorn didnt lose himselfpletely in the dire situation and tried to retreat, but it was already toote.


    With four Lava Bears there to surround him, he stood no chance, and was eventually cooked inside of his armor.


    She made sure to protect his actual brain, but she let him burn before she flexed her will and pulled the final member of the team out.


    A pity, but their time on The Path of Ascension was done.


    They were just lucky that they had made that mistake here, and not in the wilds.


    Leaving behind a clone to oversee thepetition, she bent reality to allow her to step into their hospital room.


    She had kept the healers at bay until her arrival and said, Heal them enough to be able to hear, see, and speak.


    They were experienced, and healed the bare minimum that would allow her to converse with them.


    Pain was sometimes the best teacher.


    Im sorry, children, but your Path ends here. But that does not mean your lives are over. I interfered to save your lives, but now you must figure out your next steps.


    As she paused for a second, Thorn, despite his flesh being melted and fused to his armor, managed to ask, Where are the others? Are they ok?


    He had only just managed to open his one healed eye, but was otherwise unable to move.


    Hearing their friends voices, the rest of the team made various grunts and whimpers, but Tur''stal silenced them with her will.


    Handling the children after such a traumatic experience had to be done carefully, and long experience had shown that they needed to hear some things before being allowed to process too much.


    I saved all of you, yes. But that isnt important right now. Right now, you are all dead men. You may choose to take this experience and leavebat altogether, but that is something you need to decideter. Right now, I need you to understand what happened.


    You have died. This isn''t a question of if. Youre all dead. Without me, you would be no more. If this happened on another, Id be saying this literally. I want you to realize that a second chance is a miracle. It is a gift from someone strong enough to break the rules, doing so to watch over and protect the weak.


    None of them said anything, to which Tur''stal nodded. They werent panicking, which was a good sign that they would make it through this ordeal mentally intact.


    Despite what you just went through, I want you to understand, to <em>really understand</em>, that there are no more second chances. The cost of this gift is that you are no longer qualified to continue on The Path. But, dont look at this as if it is all bad. You have an advantage few others have. You know what it is to <em>die</em>. What it is to make a small mistake and lose <em>everything</em>. Take that experience and pain and forge onward in whatever you choose. Choose to take this pain and make your team stronger, or do the opposite, andnguish at Tier 15 forever.


    Daisy was starting to fade, but Tur''stal flexed her will and forced the young woman''s body to keep functioning. A low Tier body was as malleable as y to someone of her power. If Tur''stal chose so, she could end the woman''s life with a thought, or keep her alive as long as her brain kept functioning. Honestly, at her Tier, Tur''stal could manually force even that delicate organ to keep working well beyond when it would naturally want to give up.


    She let her voice turn gentle as she said, The Path of Ascension isnt the only thing to do in life.


    Tur''stal nodded to the team of healers who had been standing by, and they rushed forward to begin healing them.


    If you never want this to happen again, ask yourselves why it came to pass, and take measures to prevent history from repeating itself.


    Seeing the four of them grind their teeth or clench their fists, even despite their horrific wounds, Tur''stal started toy out their next steps. Officially, your Masked identities have gone missing, and will be presumed dead after a week or two. What happened to you happens to enough people that we have a procedure in ce. Youll be given letters which roughly outline your capabilities and powers, but not your exact Masks. Should you wish to join a guild, corporation, or noble house, with your abilities, most will wee you. That, I know for certain.


    Tur''stal sipped her wine to give them the healers a moment to work. If you wish to join the army, there is the Cadets Corps, which will take and train you until Tier 15, where you can officially join the service. That has its own perks, like a higher starting rank of Private First ss, but you have to make your own way. She paused for half a heartbeat to give emphasis to her next words. And you should do so soon. If you dont get up and move soon, it can be a mental block, and prevent you from ever standing back up.


    Sighing, Tur''stal added the bit she hated, When the healers have cleared you, you will be teleported to East Flower, and you will be on your own.


    Tur''stal reached forward and gave them a gentle caress on uninjured parts of their bodies. Dont forget to talk to someone about this, whether it be a therapist, with family, or just amongst yourselves. Dying is traumatic, and you need to process it. A therapist will be made avable to you at the highest priority, if you feel the need.


    As she stepped back through space, she added onest encouragement. Good luck.


    ***


    Matt stood to his side of the stage as he finally came face to face with Queen.


    Their arena was a perfectly in, t expanse, which suited both of them.


    When the referee called the start of their match, Matt dropped into a defensive stance, but Queen didnt immediately attack. Instead, she called out, When I saw that we were matched, I looked up your history. Not too shabby. Not the best, but not bad either. I saw your battle during the longsword Legacy after I recovered. Youre pretty good. Your innate skill makes you strong and durable. This might just make for an amusing spar.


    Queen tapped her greatsword on the ground twice before continuing, If youre amenable, Id like to face you with everything you have to offer. I will do my best to not just beat you down, but kill you. I hope youll do the same to me. The best way to push ourselves is to fight against opponents that push us. Ill help you improve some and maybe, just maybe, you can help me improve a little bit too.


    Despite his surprise at the woman actually speaking more than a handful of words, Matt swished his smaller sword back and forth before settling back into a ready position. You might be better than me with a de, but I have more to rely on than just pure swordsmanship. If you cant counter that, you might be the one getting yanked off the stage here.


    Queens mask didnt change, but Matt heard the new amusement in her voice. Perfect!


    With all the speaking out of the way, they simultaneously threw themselves at each other.


    Not having a weapon Concept, Matt kept Shen Ruogangs lessons in mind as he charged up andunched a [Mana sh] ahead of himself.


    Queen mirrored his action. Arger version of his own spell erupted out in a crescent of light blue.


    As the two spells collided in the air, the resulting explosion washed over both of them as they charged to meet each other.


    Matt took the damage on [Cracked Phantom Armor], while Queen relied on her physical armor. In the glowing remnants of the explosion, their des shed for the first time.


    The impact forced Matt to lock himself down with his Concept to keep his footing, but he transitioned his willpower, and used that leverage to push through Queens de.


    His advantage onlysted for a second before he felt her strength shoot up to match his own. Stalemated, they both disengaged and reset, only to immediatelysh back out.


    Queen thrust forward while Matt sidestepped the attack to chop down at her nk.


    Faster than he believed possible, Queen spun around in nearly a full circle, bringing herrger sword around to cut him down.


    Frantically twisting his attack into a block, he intercepted her greatsword and had to flood [Mages Retreat] to parry her attack. He was now pushing up against the limits of what his restrictions would allow him to show, but he needed every advantage he could get against this opponent.


    While this would be a losing fight, he needed to walk a careful line between appearing as a top one thousand Pather being knocked out on time, instead of a top five hundred or better fighter losing early to an unlucky matchup. Matt needed to show that he had grown during thest few months to not be suspicious, and he needed to showcase abilities he had publicly shown in the Pather war as organically as possible.


    There needed to be no questions about this fight in the public eyeter, when news stations went over these clips. He had been beaten over the head with that by Luna.


    Still, Matt had some advantages over Queen, like his physical strength. The Root of Perfection and his strength-boosting armor Talent were well established, after all. Even with his physical armor directly limiting the amount of strength he could show, he still had more raw muscle than the smaller woman for his cultivation, along with enhancements to work with.


    Queenughed, Youre actually stronger than me?! Wonderful!


    Matt dual charged a [Mana sh] and a [Mana Charge] into his weapon and lunged forward with the tip of his longsword leading the attack.


    Queen rolled under his thrust and kicked his de upward along the t, sending his attack amok, and used her lower position to sweep an attack at his hip.


    Unwilling to ept the hit, Matt leapt into the air and unleashed [methrower] at his still mid-strike opponent.


    Continuing the deluge as he descended, Matt''s eyes snapped wide as a [Mana sh] cleaved his spell and crashed into his chest, instantly shattering through the maximum mana he was allowed to power [Cracked Phantom Armor] with. His physical armor kept him from being severed in two, but the thundering impact whipped him backwards.


    Having been sent flying, Matt crashed and skittered along the arena floor for nearly half the remaining distance, before he finally caught himself and scrambled to his feet. Queen had not done him the favor of waiting. Looking up to see slightly scorched armor hurling his way, Matt realized that she was nearly upon him already, forcing him to ignore his cracked ribs and battered chest.


    The crowds might not be able to see it with [Cracked Phantom Armor] back up, but Queen had drawn first blood with that hit.


    Honestly, Matt was impressed. Even if he maxed out [Cracked Phantom Armor]''s firstyer, he doubted that he could have perfectly tanked that blow. Queens spells had the advantage of being cast by a bigger weapon, true, but they hit far harder than just that fact would suggest. On top of that, they were far too early in the fight for that to be the apex of her power. She was sure to have stronger attacks ready to unleash.


    All of Lunas dossiers about his opponents researching and strategizing against him had pointed to the same conclusion; expect that a powerful opponent would continually advance on him until he was forced to be retrieved by the watchers. No matter how damaged, his armor could clearly reform back to full strength if given the opportunity, so they needed to deny him that at all costs.


    Meeting Queens de with his own, Matt leveraged his greater physical strength to push through her attack, and with a small [Mana Charge], he detonated a burst between their weapons.


    Queen seemed wholly unbothered by the attack, and reengaged immediately before Matt could squeak out any kind of advantage.


    After the next few exchanges, Matt was ready to openly admit that Queen truly outshone him in pure swordwork. He had hoped that with his time spent in the Legacy, he would be more her equal, but she had improved just as much, if not more, than he had.


    Every counter and feint he tried, she predicted and punished to devastating effect. With every attack, she sliced through both [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor underneath to reach his flesh. He minimized the damage as best he could, but the strikes stillnded over and over again. Her weapon''s greater reach was slightly offset by her shorter stature, but not enough topensate for the difference.


    Recognizing he had to y to his few advantages, Matt switched tactics. He would need tobine his greater strength and more versatile arsenal to force her on the defensive, if even for a moment. Standing around and getting whittled to death was not how he wanted this fight to go. If he lost without using all of his publicly known skills, it would look far too suspicious. It needed to seem like he was pulling out <em>all </em>the stops.


    He started with [Hail], but Queen had no issues with the footing obstructions, and her armor easily shrugged his skill off. After letting the skill run for a few seconds, he cut it off and shifted tactics again.


    Using [Air Maniption], he gathered a burst of air to punch her in the side. Maniption skills by their nature were versatile, and were hard to notice spirituality, but they suffered from much higher mana costs for the same effects. With a publicly-known Concept that fed him bucket-fulls of mana, the expenditure would still be well within expectations.


    A surprise elemental assault was also a solid tactic against most melee fighters.


    To his mounting horror, Queen simply turned just as the gathered air wave was about to hit her, and split the mass apart with a single attack.


    If he felt that right, the woman hadn''t even bothered to use a skill.


    His gut told him that it had something to do with her Concept weapon, but he didnt have the faintest idea how to do something simr with his own Concept.


    Matt speedily made a note to ask her how she managed that after the fight. For now, he pressed his attack again with another offensivebination of metal and magic.


    Queen didn''t allow that to continue for long, and she quickly went back on the offensive. She threw a [Mana Bolt] from her off-hand while spearing forward with her greatsword by using [Mana Thrust].


    Matt jerked sideways to dodge, but took the [Mana Thrust] on the side of his de, which mmed it back into his body. He was caught off guard by how quickly she had closed the gap, not expecting her to have that Tier 14 skill.


    He tumbled back from the force, with the skills mana washing around his de to rupture [Cracked Phantom Armor]. More of his physical armor crumbled away from the damage.


    Matt wrenched himself back up on his feet and saw the bloody streak left in his wake across the arena floor.


    Feeling that it was time to pull out his trump card, Matt cast [Sword Twin], the nickname he had given his unique [Sword Doppelganger]. He felt the skill no longer fit its past name and description.


    This was the first time he had cast the weapon skill publicly, and to give it justice, he pulled mana from his rechargeable mana stones, filling his mana pool to its maximum 1280 mana before dumping it all into the skill.


    From his sword, a light blue, twin copy swept forward to intercept Queens careening de. An autonomous de would be the extent of what he revealed here. ording to Luna, the ability to merge the sword construct with the original was more than a Pather would normally squeeze out of a Legacy. That would hint at abilities greater than a mere top one thousand Pather should have.


    Not pausing for even a second, Matt threw himself into the fight, joining his copied sword. Together, they forced Queen back and into a defensive, circling retreat, splitting her attention.


    His [Sword Twin] had learned from their battles in the Legacy, mirroring both how he fought on his own, and how he fought as part of a duo. Together, they formed a nigh seamless team.


    While Matt probed Queen directly, the other de tried to entangle the woman''s greatsword to create an opening for him to exploit. Queen yed it safe, always retreating at a set pace and denying both of them the opportunity to do more than scratch her armor. With every step, his opponent adapted more and more to his final trump card. Desperate to break the stalemate, Matt traded tactics, and when his attack was blocked, he twisted his de to pin her greatsword on the ground with his guard.


    The hold onlysted an instant, but that slight opening provided more than enough for his sentient de to thrust into her side.


    Matt couldnt help but feel surprised when the de finally drew blood from the top-ranked Pather. Yet, his opponent casually disengaged and danced back a few steps more.


    Matt let her go. Something had changed in her demeanor.


    Queen slid back slightly to inspect him before poking at her wound and eyeing the bloody finger. You know what? Youre annoyingly hard to kill. A real chore.


    So Ive been told.


    Matt hardly considered himself prideful, but her words stung a bit. She was wiping the floor with him, restrictions or no. She was thest one that should beining about injuries. Matt knew that he had to maintain his cover, but the part of him that trained so hard for decades wanted to throw it all to the wind, and have a true fight with the greatsword wielder. But he was doing this so he could live a normal life without the mask on; he couldnt afford to give in to hispetitive instincts.


    That fleeting thought helped settle him. Matt was more than his impulsive desires. Especially since he would be gleefully evening the score as Quill anyway. Showing too much here was like strapping a sign onto his back for everyone to target. The entire idea was to fade away into obscurity after Tier 15, when they officially fell off The Path.


    This was just part of that n.


    There would be <em>plenty</em> of time to fight all-out once he finished The Path too.


    Having aired herint, Queen nodded to him before catapulting herself at him with a chopping overhead swing.


    Matt sent his [Sword Twin] to block while he skirted around the descending de. Unfortunately, the floating weaponcked the mass and stopping power to halt thebined momentum of woman and sword. On contact, the construct went reeling back. Having already moved, Matt stood slightly outside the length of her swing, not needing to dodge further. Or so he thought.


    Suddenly, her swords arc was longer than anticipated.


    The edge crashed down on his chest.


    It felt like a building dropped on him. His all-too-limited [Cracked Phantom Armor] exploded under the force of her attack. Even his physical armor parted before it like butter, leaving his chest with a canyon of a line cut through his torso.


    Not letting up, Queen ripped her sword back upwards and tried slicing Matt in half from below, but [Sword Twin] had already repositioned itself between him and the de. Sadly, that blow finally proved too much for the mana construct, and it fragmented and dissipated in a burst of mana.


    Matt cursed and used his Concept to lock down space with the time that [Sword Twin] bought him. While he could take the opportunity to go down here, as Queen had undoubtedly showed her Legacy for the first time, not disying more skills could still leave questions in the eyes of the viewers. It would be too suspicious for him to fail to use half of his famously versatile kit, but still go down after this long.


    Matt needed to keep this fight going until even the most incredulous viewer believed that he had fought with his all. Every well known card needed to be yed and then shredded. Including his signature durability.


    While he had no idea what skill she was using to extend her de, the effect sort of felt like spatial maniption. Firming up space was well within his repertoire, so he tried it without hesitation. Anyone who watched his fight with Talous in the dueling arena during the vassal war would have a good idea that he could do this. Not using it here in response to a spatial skill would raise eyebrows.


    As Queen stepped in with a cross-cut, he flexed his Concept and concentrated on locking down the space around them.


    He felt a resistance to his working, but he seeded in keeping her sword the normal length.


    Queen cocked her head slightly, but he didnt bother to exin. Hed trade information after the fight if she really cared that much.


    Queen didnt hesitate as she swiped her de at Matt again.


    This time he felt a mountain crash on his Concept, but he again resisted the pressure. Queen looked unbothered as she closed in for a proper melee engagement. Unwilling to let her get her way, Matt cast [methrower] once again with his off-hand, but Queen seemed almost nonchnt as the inferno surged into her armor.


    He needed more distance to refill his mana pool to cast [Sword Twin], but [methrower] was ineffective at rebuffing Queen. If that was all, Matt might have been able to muddle through the fight for a while longer, but with every sweep of her de, Queen smashed her will against his Concept. Wild iling quickly became refined strikes as she rapidly experimented and learned how to systematically dismantle his Concepts control.


    All of that added together put Matt firmly back on the defensive. He could feel the tide of battle resolutely turning against him as the fight dragged on longer.


    Feeling his Concept starting to give way, he ducked and gave up on the tactic. He had no intention of personally training his opponent any more than he had already. As it was, he estimated that he could block two or three more blows before she fully learned how to fully counter the spatial lockdown.


    With a weapon now reaching several feet further than it should, her greatswords range advantage became an insurmountable obstacle.


    Matt mentally sighed, shrugged, and started his final retreat.


    If he couldnt match her in melee, he would swap to magic and try to beat her there. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and it was time for a convincing finish.


    Even despite the restrictions, Matt felt himself enjoying the fight. Everything else had faded from his mind except the duel and trying to ovee his opponent. It was a puzzle, a challenge, and a test.


    The world narrowed down, and Matt felt himself be free.


    The restrictions didnt matter. The separate identities didnt matter. The Royals, who might or might not have evil intentions towards his mana, <em>did not matter</em>.


    Nothing mattered except the fight he was currently in.


    Charging his weapon with as much mana as he could, Matt let loose a supersized [Mana sh] that Queen cut in half with her de.


    She threw her own skill at him, and this time, the attack was faster. It almost struck Matt cleanly, but he managed to deflect the attack with his own de, and took the leftover energy on [Cracked Phantom Armor] without the skill breaking.


    Casting [Mana Bolt] to momentarily stall her, Matt created thergest [Hail] he could before charging his mana stones and emptying his mana pool into the initial cost of the spell.


    Unlike the usual, several feet wide hail storms he usually cast, this one wasrge enough that it brushed the sides of the arena and met a greater power that contained it.


    Instead of a pattering of ice, this time, Matt put nearly half his mana generation into the skill, and a wall of ice poured down on the arena. If Aster was here, she could have easily entombed Queen. But she wasnt, and he didnt have an [Ice Maniption] of his own. He now regretted relying on Aster alone for that skill. He really should have just bought the shard earlier, but he didnt feel the need to add yet another maniption skill to master when his bond already specialized in it.


    Still, that was a part of his strategy. Cutting off the skill after a second and letting a few Tier 1 mana stones dissipate into dust in his clenched handbined to give the impression that he had burned most of his mana for the spell, and had just recharged manually.


    Queen was buried up to her knees in the hail, but she jumped out of the ice and flew into the air without a second''s hesitation.


    Exactly where he wanted her.


    Matt took off and flew away from her,unching [Fireball]s and [Mana Bolt]s at her approaching form. Now that Queen was forced into the air, her concentration was again split between maintaining her Concept-based flight and fighting. He wouldn''t give her time to pull out her flying device to ease the strain. Like him, she had used a flying sword in the Jungle, after all. With his greater experience flying, he hoped that he could dogfight better than Queen, and that her focus on flying would hinder her ability to urately use that spatial skill.


    Matt was sorely disappointed.


    Queen seemingly had no issue flying with her Concept while simultaneously extending her de to reach out and dice him.


    A heavy hit shattered his left leg, but hended a [Mana Charge] on her hip in return.


    This time, her armor finally dented, cracked, and splintered under the force, but Queen didnt let loose even a single sound of pain as she continued to viciously exchange blows with him.


    Locking down space again to create an opening, Matt threw himself into a lunge and heaved his weapon through Queen''s side. His attacknded, but before he could wrench his de free and eviscerate Queen, she drew a rondel dagger and jammed it through his neck.


    That unempowered attack on its own wouldnt have prated [Cracked Phantom Armor], but Queen simultaneously brought her greatsword around and pped the t of the de against his body.


    The two attacksing from two directions overtaxed his armor instantly. Matt felt the bones fracture, and the de punctured his windpipe at nearly the same instant, and the world went red with pain.


    As he plummeted into the ice field below, Matt growled internally.


    He didnt want the fight to end here. <em>Not like this</em>.


    With a cut neck, he only had seconds before he was removed, even with [Endurance]. He refused to go down so easily. Matt was known for his tenacious fighting will. He always went down swinging. Simply lying down was not an option.


    Despite all the broken bones on his left side, he teetered to a stand in the ice and unleashed thergest [Mana sh] he could, aiming up to where Queen hovered.


    He would have roared if his throat wasnt slit and bleeding out. It would have really sold the act.


    In hindsight, Matt felt dumb. He should have expected her to have a backup, close-range weapon with such a long de. Even the orphanage had rmended that fighters always having a dagger as ast resort. Forgetting that was a massive mistake. He couldnt even me the restrictions for such an oversight.


    Queen seemed pleasantly surprised to see him still standing, and reacted a second too slow to dodge the crescent of mana that clipped her leg. Spun head over heels, she went tumbling into the ice on the other side of the arena.


    Matt tried to lift his legs to wade through the ice, but his vision closed in and began darkening. Thest thing he saw was a blurry, distant figure hop up and brandish a glowing weapon.


    ***


    Luna nodded as she watched Matt finally go down.


    The boy had pushed hard and dug deep without exposing too much more power than he was supposed to. The analysts would ce him a bit higher than her original target, but not concerningly so. She had worried that he was going to push too far at the end there, but he kept it just inside the eptable limit for a top one thousand Pather. Though it was only because thepetition was so strong this year.


    He had mostly reigned in his pride, and she was proud of him for that. This was the greatest potential failure point in her ns for this tournament. It was all too easy for battle maniacs like that boy to throw away decades of work for a single fight. She had been ready to restrict him if he started to use too much power, but she hadn''t needed to.


    He had given an excellent showing, but kept it inside the proper limits, if just barely.


    Matt had power <em>and</em> restraint, though he would have far more of both when she was done with him.


    Luna couldn''t think of a betterbination. She was even more certain of her decision to push the kids.


    She peered towards Queen and wondered how the feisty little girl would handle her protiges other half, who could swamp the entire arena with endless spells and area effects.


    That would be an almost opposite match-up between the same kids, and Luna was curious to see how the budding spatial maniptor would handle a crushing defeat.


    Still, both of them impressed her a bit.


    She jotted down a few notes for Queens manager. The girl had, in seconds, learned how to bypass a very advanced spatial locking ability. That was worth devolving.


    If she was younger, she might have regretted not snapping the girl up, but she believed that Carol would be an eptable alternative for Queen. The woman had trained Duke Waters in Lunas absence, and he fully relied on his Concept. For a child who couldnt use her Talent in a fight and relied on skill and a Concept manifestation, Carol would be a fine match.


    Lunas pen scrawled across the papers until half a dozen were full.


    Queen needed to hurry up if she was going to be useful.


    Luna had ns.


    So very many ns.

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162


    Melinda watched as Matt took the loss against Queen with all their friends and shouted and cheered with the rest during the match.


    The fight had gone exactly like the rest of his matches had, but in a twist she hadnt expected, he had pushed Queen much harder than she thought possible.


    Thanks to her Concept, she had known from day one that Matt and Liz were swapping ces with other people, whom she assumed were Luna and Kurt. But she hadnt been able to pin who their masked identities were one hundred percent until after their wyvern rift.


    She had actually discarded Quill and Torch as considerations because of Torchs ability to use fire. But seeing the masks with identical injuries, and in both their cases, the same quasi-immortal life force shed first seen with Matt and everyone else who had consumed the Root of Perfection, had cinched it for her.


    After that, it had just been a matter of keeping her mouth shut. It wasnt her ce to question why the powerhouses were hiding their real abilities, but it didnt take a genius to understand.


    So thereafter, Melinda had started trying to see if any of the other masks had hidden alternate identities, but had so far only discovered one other team in the top ten who had true immortals rece them from time to time.


    Liz, next to her, didnt seem to be bothered as Matt was quickly teleported out, but Melinda still hooked an arm through the redheads and said, Hell be fine. He put on a better showing than anyone really would have expected.


    Before Liz could say anything, Emily whistled and said, Matt did great, but Queen is a real monster. Fuck, I dont think our entire team could take her down.


    Tara chewed her lip before agreeing, Yeah. We might have a chance if you or I get a lucky hit off, but she always seemed aware of attacks around her. Tara nodded to Annie, You might have a chance, but I suspect she won''t be surprised.


    Annie pouted but agreed.


    A few months ago, the three of them had started to look at the assassin contracts that had been put out on Quill, Torch, and the other top contenders. But in the end, they decided not to attack Quill after they simted the fight, and saw how they would always lose unless they killed them on the first exchange. They had then gone on to test that fight with all the best Pathers, to the same result. Queen had been a near impossible opponent for them. If they didnt get a lucky five-fold spell cast from Emily, or a direct headshot from Tara, the woman just never went down.


    Seeing her fight Matt today, they understood why.


    She was a monster who could stand in front of a [methrower] without blinking.


    Conor looked at Mathew as they walked and asked, Think you can block her? I don''t think I''m good for more than a few hits with how easily Matt was cut through.


    Her husband shook his head. She hit hard. If this was when Matt was only wearing magical armor, and wasn''t wearing physical armor, I might think we have a chance. But he was wearing both, and got treated like a fish on a chopping block.


    Melinda was going to poke the goof for saying something that direct, but Lizughed. I''m sure Matts happy he forced her to show her Legacy. No one else has to this point, and Matt showed how tenacious he is. He put everything on the table. Nothing to be ashamed of after that level of fight.


    Melinda had a lightbulb go off as Liz said that. Reviewing the fight, she nodded. Matt had shown <em>exactly the same skills</em> he had at the vassal war, but each of them were stronger andrger than they had been back then.


    Matt had shown he improved, but not anything Luna had taught them.


    The fact Luna was behind them and pulling the strings exined the rest to Melinda.


    When they arrived to inspect Matt, Melinda let her death visione to the fore of her Concept and inspected Matt in greater detail.


    It was an ability she had learned after figuring out how to somewhat suppress the visions.


    Once again, she saw that Matt was healed with no obvious healing cooldown. He wasnt perfectly healed, as there was a hairline crack that had been missed. She once again made a note to pester Baxter until he exined what skill he was using that was seemingly half as good as her Talent.


    As the Emperor''s personal healer, she knew it had to be him, but she hadnt been able to pin him down yet.


    Putting a hand on Matts shoulder, she let a subtle [Healing Touch] wash away any lingering injuries as she tried to make sure that he was ok with his loss.


    The fact that he was at peace with it made her nod, but not pry. It only confirmed that they were trying to keep a low profile with their real identities, but she still hoped that they weren''t taking the forced losses hard.


    After Matt was discharged, they actually encountered Queen in the hall, who nodded to Matt and the rest of them before leaving.


    She had been perfectly healed, but not with the same cooldown less healing than Matt had gotten. It seemed that the skill was reserved for the teams with two identities and as far as she had seen there were only two other teams with that privilege.


    After that, they went and got slightly drunk before calling it a night.


    Melinda was just putting on her slippers to shuffle to the kitchen for breakfast when Baxter pinged her. It was time for her to meet the Royals.


    She quickly threw on her armor and readied herself for the unknown.


    The rest of her team could sit this one out, and she didnt do more than leave a note for them on their group chat that Baxter was pulling her away for a while.


    She was the entire reason that their team was getting special interest, and they didnt need to suffer through this, no matter what she suspected was about to happen.


    Ready, she was teleported into a room with the Royals sitting off to the side, while there were hundreds of managers sitting in rows facing the group. They all wore masks of various colors.


    Before she was able to inspect the masks, she heard the silver mask say something that caught her attention.


    Matthew Alexander and Elizabeth Moore. Mid Tier 10 and having a good showing in the vassal war they participated in. Matthew showed his skill in thest fight with Queen, pushing the top-ranked Pather farther than anyone else so far. Then there is Elizabeth


    At that point, Mara stood up and coughed lightly. At that small sound, the room went dead quiet. Not a magical silence but one of fear towards a stronger monster rearing its head.


    Sorry to interrupt, but those two are off limits. Darling BethBeth is my youngest after all. She and my future son-inw have <em>finally </em>agreed to step off The Path ande home when they reach Tier 15. At that point, my hubby and I will be setting aside time to directly oversee their training and development. Needless to say, we already have our own ns and teams ready. They have no need of your services.


    Melinda looked around for Luna, but didnt see the irascible cat among the crowd.


    Well, that was one way to stop anyone from learning that they already had a management team. Personally, it felt a bit heavy-handed to her.


    However, considering that no one even looked up to where Mara still red down from, Melinda guessed it might actually be the easiest way to handle it.


    Mara then leaned to the side, leaving behind a projection of herself looking at the managers, to smile and wave at Melinda.


    Melinda returned the wave and grinned.


    Mara and Leon were exactly as Liz described, goofballs who just wanted to enjoy life.


    They had spent a few movie nights with Liz''s parents and family, which had let Melinda and her team meet the two Royals.


    Having the goofs already knowing her somehow helped, even if they didnt know her Talent. It already felt like they were in her corner.


    With that settled, her own team was introduced, and each of their strong points were gone over.


    At that, Melinda looked to Baxter, who just watched on as he exined, Sorry, but your manager has already been chosen for you to keep your cover. <em>Jacob Burch</em> is a good manager who I can work with.


    He pointed, and a shorter man was fighting for her team by saying how good he was at training people with prospective Talents like theirs. Interestingly enough, her being a healer was only passingly mentioned. Most of the time, they talked about Tara, with the rest of the team getting smaller mentions.


    Baxter stood up and brushed off his coast before leading her to a nearby door.


    And now we march into the lion''s den.


    His little quip didnt help settle Melindas now churning stomach, but she marched on without a protest.


    When they entered the room, she saw that Jacob was already sitting in the corner next to Luna, and he sprung up to walk over. His body morphed and grew slightly taller before a pen floated over and started to write a message to her.


    It''s me, Kurt, if you didnt figure that out.


    That earned him a smile, and she asked, How are the pancakes?


    He narrowed his eyes while raising his eyebrows in aical manner before writing. Yes, Id appreciate it if you didnt continue to ask odd questions. I only have so many prerecorded answers after all. I can only say good so many times without it seeming weird.


    Melinda just smiled at the man and nodded to Luna, Are you our real manager then?


    Luna shook her head. No, Kurt is a manager in his own right, and more than good enough. Hes been trained by the best, after all. He also knows your Talent already, so it makes things easier. Plus, he''s better suited to you and your teams personalities than I am.


    The Royals filed in from a second door, but not before Melinda saw that they were still sitting down in their original ces.


    The new Royal, Frederic, was first out, and nodded to them before taking a seat, followed by everyone else.


    Baxter patted her on the back before he stepped forward and bowed slightly. Good evening, Your Majesties. Youve been called here today because the Emperor wishes you all to be read in on another one of our greatest assets for the uing wars.


    Melinda took that cue to walk forward and introduce herself. Im Melinda and I have a Talent for Overhealth.


    Mara and Leon just nodded along and encouraged her to continue with waving hands.


    I can heal anyone without a healing cooldown and also remove existing healing cooldowns as well.


    Tur''stal raised an eyebrow, but only sipped at her wine while Frederic looked like he had just eaten a lemon.


    Rusty looked excited and bounced over to her before holding out an arm to Luna. Take it off, please?


    Lunas hand glowed with purple light that screamed danger as she sheared the man''s hand off and then annihted the falling appendage.


    Rusty seemed unbothered. With burning eyes, he held his stump over to her.


    Melinda cast the most basic [Ranged Heal]. Despite her mana reserves not being enough to heal the higher Tier man, the stump started to regrow.


    Baxter stepped forward and put his hand on Rusty and said to everyone in the room, While it''s only considered Overhealth by current definitions, Melindas version does more than weve ever seen before. So much so that Id propose a rework what we define as Overhealth. She can heal any wound even a Tier 47s perfectly. Her mana pool limits her a touch, but when paired with Matts mana generation, she''s truly unmatched. Most importantly, her Overhealth also has the advantage of continuing to work on any other healing spell cast while her spell is still active. Another healer can take over for Melinda and benefit from her Talent until her original spell wears off.


    After saying that, he pointed at the slowly growing appendage and Rustys hand regrew in seconds. See? My own healing spell takes advantage of her still active spell to continue the perfect healing, all without destroying the original effect of her Talent.


    Rustyughed as he flexed his regrown hand. Its perfect, <em>and</em> you know Matt. Even better. Can you convince him to spar with me? With you around, we can go all out. Actually, do you want a part-time job healing people I spar with? I can never get them to agree because of how long they need to recover. This is perfect!


    Melinda assumed he was putting on an act, like Mara and Leon did to make herfortable, and was about to agree when Baxter mped a hand over her mouth.


    She will be agreeing to no such thing. Her secrecy must be ensured until the proper time in the war. The Emperor wants to have her avable to bring back some of our agents to the field faster than expected. The perfect skill has already been reserved for her. He looked to Frederic, who now just smiled. Thanks to King Frederic, we have a longsting cracked healing spell that youll be getting. The area of effectsst for days while the healing-over-time effect it applies lingers weeks. We can shuffle people through the spell before they head into a fight, then all of the frontline healers can take advantage of your Overhealth while keeping you out of danger.


    Melinda swallowed and nodded. She wasnt looking forward to that, but knew that she had to help if she could.


    Frederic nodded. Yes, I now know why the Emperor was so insistent on safely securing that particr skill. Youngdy, would you be against sitting down and talking about your Talent and how it works in the particrs? I have a few ideas from what Ive heard, but I also think I have a few other skills in my collection... He must have seen her confusion, as he said, Im a cracked skill collector and have the skill I believe you will be getting as your reward for hitting Tier 10. But my collection is vast, and you might discover a second or third skill you may find useful in my vault. Anything that helps you will no doubt help the whole Empire.


    Melinda felt like she would be making a deal with a loan shark if she agreed, but Kurt wrote, We can do that after the tournament, when we have some more time. Until then, Melinda and her team are under protection, and will continue keeping a low profile. I was brought before the Emperor before he left, and was made to understand that Melinda is not to be exposed early under any conditions.


    Melinda was forced to answer a few questions before she was finally allowed to leave, and Baxter sent her away.


    ***


    Frederic cursed up a storm internally. Emmanuel hadnt just won the lottery with Matt, but had pulled doubles with Melinda.


    That would have been bad enough. But for them both toe from Lilly, at the same horrific time? This was an unmitigated disaster. Not just for his faction, but for the entire universe.


    The statistics proved that traumatic experiences didnt produce better Talents. You lose more capable people than you got out of it when you let disasters run rampant.


    Two insane oddities did not make <em>millions</em> of years of data irrelevant, no matter how much one wished it did.


    But it wouldnt matter. Even some of the Empires nobles, who knew that for a <em>fact,</em> would still use it as an excuse to treat their subjects like cattle, much like in the Sects.


    Even more people would simply refuse to believe that these twin miracles were a coincidence. With one look at the Lilly tragedies and the windfalls that shortly followed after, leaders both inside and out of the Empire would have to think twice about that. The possible rewards were just too valuable to ignore.


    Reviewing the timeline only made him feel sicker. First, the disaster struck after it was already obvious that Light and Shadow would start a war. The Empire had actually been ramping up their military research and spending around that time in preparation. It fit depressingly well.


    Then, the Junipers were lightly punished very close to when Melindas revolutionary Tier 3 Talent would have been revealed, with Matt also hitting Tier 3 not long after. To a skeptical intelligence officer, that would look like a hasty coverup. Like they shut the initial experiment down once they confirmed the results they wanted, so that no one else would catch on until it was toote.


    Even worse, Frederic, the upromising bastion for nobles rights, publicly and suddenly helped resolve the situation quickly after a decade of quiet deadlock. Members of his own faction had fought him over the decision, but he had remained adamant despite the Baron technically going against his own people. His being named a King mere decadester would look like he was being rewarded for his parts in the groundbreaking experiment and subsequent coverup.


    The scandalous decision to give the Juniper''s title to a local Pather? That would look like a distraction. Like a shy sleight of hand to quickly make Lilly famous for something else. All the while, the mad dash to find and sponsor the next potential Baron would camouge their own peoples efforts to scour the popce for more god-like Talents. Then, even if the Empire found more golden geese, they could have disappeared them with no one the wiser. In a poverty-riddled disaster zone, the missing persons rate for orphaned teens was plenty high to smokescreen dozens, or even hundreds of extra kids disappearing without a trace.


    Possible hints of mass monitoring could be seen in the events of Melindas awakening too. That Pather just happened to be present and ready to step in when her Tier 1 Talent was revealed. What were the chances? The Path would make a perfect excuse to put the most promising test subjects directly under the control and eye of the Empire too. It would make sense to have potential sponsors secretly lying in wait at awakening events.


    Then there was Elizabeth. Matthew randomly meeting and teaming up with the only Royal Princess anywhere near his age was a crazy fluke of fate. The boy getting an invite to the training would widely be viewed as suspicious as well. No, it would be far easier to believe that Elizabeth was sent there to honeypot the hormonal teenage boy, securing his loyalty to the Empires ruling ss while slowly indoctrinating him into their views.


    Every single nation, guild, and noble house in the universe would suspect that Lilly was a-wide military experiment that went shockingly, unbelievably right for the Empire. They would assume that the truly absurd series of failures leading up to the dungeon breaks were by design, rather than an ident. They would have to conclude that while maybe not <em>all </em>traumatic experiences resulted in overpowered Talents, the Empire may have found the exact right set of conditions where it could breed demigods.


    All across existence, leaders would desperately try to mimic their methods and results. Just like how Matt and Melinda were too valuable to kill, they were far too valuable to not try recreating.


    Hundreds of trillions would suffer for it.


    So much would be lost.


    All for<em> nothing</em>.


    It was all more than Frederic could personally ever deal with. It was more than he could bear thinking about right now. All he could do was focus on the smaller picture. Yoking his own people up would be tough enough.


    He certainly knew that his job had be much harder in the uing war, and afterwards.


    Though, maybe he could use this for the Empires benefit at least. So long as he and the other Royals kept aspiring copycats to a minimum in the Empire, and <em>maybe </em>among their allies too, then their enemies would ultimately waste dramatically more time, people, and resources on this wild golden goose chase. That sort of wastage could build up into a massive disadvantage. So, why not encourage them even more?


    Frederic perused a list of unsettled frontiers in his kingdom. Circumstances already implicated him in the Lilly experiment, so his activities would definitely be a key focus of foreign espionage when they looked into it. If one or two of his low Tier frontier worlds quietly disappeared along with their poptions, anyone who eventually found out might assume he was trying to recreate Lillys sess again, lending more credence to the wrong conclusion. He could even subtly bias the recruitment program for thoses. To a discerning enough intelligence analyst, it would suggest he was trying to covertly select for specific traits in the settlers.


    In truth, he would just tuck away thes in an isted, uninhabited sr system outside of the teleportationworks, install a high Tiermunication jammer, and then pour enough extra resources on the settlers that no one would even considerining about being cut off from the Empire for a few generations in return. After maybe a century, he would just as quietly shift everything to where it was. Also, a secluded, controlled poption would be a prime opportunity to trial run some of the ambitious public education revamps one of his great grandchildren had been championing. No point in wasting the opportunity there either. Thed was alsopetent and trustworthy, making him well suited to govern one of the hiddens too.


    Frederic felt his foul mood retreat just a little. The thought of pulling one over on the other Great Powers helped slightly numb the headache of todays revtions. Some important numbers on the other side would plunge, at the cost of only slight dips on their side. It wasnt pretty to think about some of the details, but it would still be a major victory in its own way.


    There were all sorts of devious false gs he could nt that many of the other Great Powers would immediately try to experiment with.


    The supposed secrets to their sess could do with more than just the poptions. Maybe he could get the other nations pointlessly fighting over some exceptionally rare resources too. He just needed to act like they were needed. Around a decade before the chosen worlds disappeared, Frederic could send coded requests for different, notably unusual materials through every covert channel he had ess to. Such methods were usually beyond secure, but nothing was ever truly perfect, so faking a convincing leak was just a numbers game. If he used enough of those channels, eventually one of them would bepromised and the request would leak. Coming from such a secure source, the people drinking it up on the other side would never believe it was on purpose.


    Then, the mad rush to acquire that rare, highly limited material would begin, and theyd be at each others throats, trying to get as much as possible to run their experiments with.


    <em>Oh, this idea was fun.</em>


    But it was not an immediate concern. Hed need to run it by Emmanuel before he did anything major.


    It was promising though.


    Some false trails could beid now, but the best time to fully implement the ruse would be in a century or so, a bit before Matthew and Melinda went public. It wouldnt take more than a few decades of focused preparation to pull off the deception wlessly.


    Mitigating the more direct impacts of their Talents was a different story. Even a century was far too little time to address even for one of them, let alone two. For the sake of his faction and his nation, Frederic needed to make use of every precious second. More than any other Royal, the future promised turmoil for his ns, territory, and subordinates.


    Matthew would change the economy in uncountable ways, but Melinda would change the face of war for as long as she sat below Tier 35. She could then make an army an undying and unkible wave of bodies. Her Talent was simply staggering.


    And ess to it would determine which factions gradually died off in the war, and which ones came out with negligible losses to their manpower and influence.


    He even agreed with Harvest Moon that with Melinda''s appearance, they needed to reword how Overhealth was ssified. Shamefully grabbing onto yet another distraction from the impending disaster that was his fiefdom, he started to n how he would suggest they reshape the ssifications.


    Before now, everything that did more than normal healing was considered Overhealth. Some variation already existed, but not enough to warrant ressifying an ability that was already all-but-unheard of. However, Melindas Overhealth was head and shoulders above thepetition, and would be used <em>en masse</em>. They needed to rify thebeling for the overpowered healing type before it became household knowledge.


    He would propose a few subcategories. Special healing, which was cooldown-neutral and how upgraded [Regeneration] worked. It could heal a exploded brain perfectly as long as it was the one doing the healing, but it couldn''t remove the cooldown on any injuries that had already been healed by another source. Meta-healing would be cooldown-curing skills or Talents. They didnt have any non-cracked skills that worked like that, but there were a few cracked skills that did the same.


    Then there was what he was calling Superhealing. Skills that could fix exploded brains without removing memories would fall under that category. They only had two known cracked skills that could heal <em>someone elses</em> exploded gray matter, but it was known to exist. Then of course, phoenix tears would be included in the same category.


    He would propose that anything with the capabilities of Special and Super healing be called Overhealing. Both cooldown-neutral and the ability to fix broken brains. He only knew of one healer who could do that; they were in the ns, and could only do so with a single spell, which implied another unique crack.


    Then there was Melinda. He proposed to call her Talent True Overhealth as it was Special, Super, Over, and Meta healing all together.


    <em>Or perhaps True healing? True health? Absolute healing? Panacea? Hmm</em>.


    He sighed. The distraction of nning something was nice, but he knew he had issues to get ahead of involving any nobles who thought this whole situation meant a return to the old ways. He knew hed need to preemptively remove a few of his nobles that couldnt be reasoned with.


    It hurt him to even consider it, but he couldnt allow them to drag the entire faction down.


    Hed group the Junipers in that list, but hesitated. Matthew and Melinda might want to end that enmity themselves.


    Frederic sighed again. He had trillions to protect, and culling a few dozen was a small price to pay for the safety of everyone else. Some of them would represent major losses for the faction. Additionally, if not camouged thoroughly, their deaths would spark suspicion and infighting. A handful could simply go missing in rifts or on the battlefield. For others, he would need to get more creative.


    He might not like it, but knew it was what he had to do.


    The math was dead simple.


    He still abhorred it.


    But his father had raised him well. He understood what needed to be done.


    Even the highest prices had to be paid by someone, and sometimes you needed to cut out the rot before it spread.


    He had hoped that he could use the uing war to soften and reform some of his most adamant nobles, but he knew that it was a futile task now.


    Emmanuel had him hook, line, and sinker.


    First, the boy who created unlimited mana, and now the girl who could heal <em>anything</em> as long as she had mana.


    Both would define theing era.


    His ability to make inroads with each of them would redefine the future of all of the Empires hereditary nobles.


    Considering they came off the same wretched, and then simply fell into theps of the Emperors faction, he wondered if the Realm had a sense of humor.


    If it did, its sense of humor sucked.


    ***


    Matt watched on as Liz fought with an earth mage who was a more refined version of Vinnie.


    She was at a distinct weakness, as the man hid behind walls of stone and blocked her attempts to wash over her opponent.


    She was putting on a good show, but eventually, she ran out of mana and was defeated.


    It was a less shy showing than Matts, but Luna had reported that this was the best answer to Lizs skills.


    There were already murmurings about her overly relying on Matts Concept, and they decided that was the easiest way for her to fall out of the tournament.


    The groupmiserated with Liz about her loss, but as more than half of them had fallen out of the solo fights, those nights were bing a moremon urrence.


    Only Annie, Emily, and Tara remained in the solo fights, with the rest of them getting knocked out in thest week.


    All of them ranking in the top thousand was an aplishment though, and they were deservingly proud. Matt and Liz, like most of the losers, voluntarily stepped out of the losers bracket after seeing how strong the remainder were. Kyle was actually the only one of them still fighting in that far morepetitive bracket for a chance to rank in the top one hundred.


    They wished him well, but Matt wasnt sure he would make it much farther than that. Definitely not the top fifty, when they moved away from a bracket fighting, single elimination, and went to a points-based system.


    The next weeks turned into a grind, with little to break it up.


    Matt and Liz went back to delving rifts to advance their cultivation, while Quill and Torch fought in the tournament, punching higher and higher in the top one thousand until it was limited to the top five hundred.


    Around that time, Matt and Liz stepped off the team fights tournament with a loss to Carlos Duo, a team with a healer named Bill. He seemed like a mini Melinda with how he threw out a ton of healing skills. The other half of the team was a fire mage named Carlos, who spat out tons of fire spells augmented by his signature fire armor.


    They were a strong duo who worked well together, and forced Matt and Liz into a bad corner with a wave of attacks.


    Even without a frontliner, they were able to rely on Carlos and his overly hot me armor to keep their distance from them.


    Matt and Liz noted that Bill was throwing a ton of healing spells on Carlos, which implied that his armor actually burnt him as well, which was interesting, and something they noted for their fight as Quill and Torch.


    As the team was one of the strongest, it didnt raise any eyebrows when Matt and Liz lost.


    The team was proof that any Talent synergy, if strong enough, could take you far on The Path of Ascension. Even without a front line, and while just relying on endless healing spells and stupidly strong fire spells, you could burn your way through thepetition.


    Still, Matt and Liz got to see a few very interesting fights as they watched along with everyone else.


    Teddy, arge but hairy man, had gathered attention thus far, but he exploded in poprity as his signature style of sleeping up until the moment he was lowered into the arena paid off.


    He clearly had a Talent that empowered him depending on how long he slept, but when he was fighting a Masked Pather called simply, Knight, they got to see exactly how strong he could be.


    Knight was a more typical sword and shield fighter who relied on heavy armor to take hits, while whittling down their opponents with their de and the asional spell.


    Teddy had tried to take out his opponent with few well-ced hits, but Knight took the attacks without issue. It was only after Teddy had been left at a loss from his consistent failure to do damage that he changed tactics for the first time.


    He pulled out thick, heavy gauntlets, which stood in stark contrast to his light leather armor.


    With the gauntlets, he punched at Knight''s shield a second time. Instead of just shrugging off the blow, the other Pather had been sent flying from the sheer force of the punch.


    Matt and the crowd didnt miss the glowing reinforcement enchantment that traced up Teddys arm and spread out the force of the attack.


    Knight tried to get up, but now that Teddy had started to fight for real, he was a ferocious attacker who charged the heavily armored man down, and started beating him with no regard for his own defense.


    His light armor proved to be just that, and was quickly shredded, but Teddy seemed unbothered by the too-small cuts appearing on his body.


    When he finally got Knight down to the ground, he nearly ripped the man''s arm off as he removed the shield. It was then that the referee stepped in and removed the fallen man, giving Teddy the win.


    Liz whistled next to him. That''s a strong bloodline.


    Matt nodded. He might not be able to feel it like she could, but he could see the effects of it.


    Bear? He asked. It was only a guess, but it fit the demonstrated fighting style.


    Liz nodded. Yes, but I don''t recognize the Talent. Something with hibernation, but no bear bloodline I know of has a Talent like that.


    Matt chewed on his lip. So a bloodline influenced Talent, but not a direct inheritance. Half bear, probably.


    They noted the man for being a top contender with that level of strength, but one with some serious ranged weaknesses if that was all he had.


    One of the other teams that was making a name for themselves out of nowhere was a healer mage hybrid and a melee brawler duo.


    A simplebination, but one that stood out.


    The mage, Feri, had some sort of mana Talent, as she alwayssted longer than was expected. But Matt wasnt able to model more than a vague idea of her Talent, besides the fact that it made her spells cost less.


    Zeran was a shorter man, and like Matt, enjoyed throwing himself into battle, not caring for the small wounds that umted during a fight. In fact, the wounds seemed to heal as they fought on.


    They had an explosive fight against the numbers masked team, where they almost won.


    The golden ratio team had a fairly standard teamposition of a mage, an archer, a melee damage dealer in the form of a rapier wielder, and a more defensive-oriented melee frontliner.


    The golden ratio team hadnt left their bottom of the top ranks at all, but they hadnt needed to show extraordinary abilities in their fights either. Until they fought against Feri and Zeran.


    Thirteen was their rapier user, Twenty-one was the tank, while Thirty-four was the mage, and Fifty-Five was their archer.


    Zeran rushed forward at the start of the fight and upied both Thirteen and Twenty-one with a flurry of chops from his greataxe. Twenty-one, the tank, seemed unprepared for the aggressive disy, and was put onto the defensive, even with Thirteen trying tond attacks on Zerans nk.


    Feri kept her teammate alive and sent out a [Wind Spear] at Thirteen while she tried to rush the back line.


    The spell near instantly appeared in Thirteen''s face, and carved a line in her chest armor before she gave up on the idea.


    The archer, Fifty-Five, tried to pepper Feri with simply empowered shots, but an [Earth Wall] rose up and cut their battlefield nearly in half.


    Matt whistled as he saw the wall and looked at Vinnie. Any chance you could do that?


    Vinnie nodded. I could do it, but it would cost more mana than its worth. Better to use [Earth Maniption], even if it''s slower. There needs to be a cracked skill or a Talent at work, though. The skill was too long and fast.


    Matt set his AI to trying to figure it out, but didnt expect much with just a visual reading, and not having his spirit to be able to feel what was going on.


    Zeran and Feri were pushing their opponents back, and started to look like they would get the upper hand when Fifty-Five dropped their bow. From nowhere, the archer pulled out a pair of pistols that felt <em>dangerous</em> to Matt, even from the stands.


    With deafening bangs, they fired the weapons at Zeran. The small projectiles punchedrge holes through the man, but since they didnt hit anything vital, he was able to continue the fight.


    The other masked Pathers all retreated and lowered their weapons, clearly letting their archer-turned gunman take on the other team.


    Feri healed Zeran, but Fifty-Five just kept firing shot after shot at the charging axe wielder who tried to close the distance.


    Fifty-Five sidestepped each of Zerans attacks while sending bullet after bullet into the charging bruiser.


    Matt narrowed his eyes as he looked at the gunfighter.


    He didnt know a lot about guns, given how rarely they were used, but he had ess to the EmpireNet, and while bullets were generally considered expensive for their single-use nature, they should have been doing more damage than that.


    It took his AI a second before he got the answer. Fifty-Five was using low Tier ammunition. His AI expected them to be using Tier 8 ammo with the limited damage it was doing to a Tier 10.


    As Zeran tried to cut the man down, Fifty-Five danced through each attack as if it was a choreographed fight. Matts AI was able to notice that they either had a Talent for flexibility and proprioception, or they had gone into those aspects of physical cultivation heavily.


    It was an odd choice, but one that clearly worked. Zeran, an experienced melee fighter, was unable to evennd a single blow. Even when he charged a st of electricity in their axe, the attack and its tendrils all just missed Fifty-Five.


    Zeran finally took a step back andunched their axe in an overhand throw at Fifty-Five, but the gunman sidestepped the attack while reloading his guns one at a time.


    The crowd went wild when the axe stopped flying and rushed back to Zeran, but Fifty-Five easily backflipped over the weapon as it almost touched his back.


    This time, when he shot Zeran, the hole in his chest was inline with a Tier 11 weapon. Even with Feris healing as a second, third, then fourth shotnded, Zeran was forced to be removed from the fight.


    Feri put up a good fight against the gunman, but even with her walls of stone that she was able to rise out of the ground, she was still unable to dodge every attack. Fifty-Five was able to avoid her full arsenal of [Mana Bolt], [Wind Maniption], [Jolt], and [Wind Spear]. None of them were even able to touch the man''s jacket.


    Zeran and Feri were cheered out of the arena despite their loss. They were the first team to force the odd number team to show what they were hiding.


    A gunman hiding as an archer was interesting, but Matt and everyone elses eyes went to the three members of the team who had just stood off to the side.


    They were an unknown, each with hiddenyers to their powers.


    Matt was just excited at the realization. They seemed like a good fight for him and Liz. Quill and Torch were going to have an exciting time ahead of them if all their opponents still had hidden depths like the numbers.


    It just meant that they could show off some of the cool ideas they had prepared. Their rain of fire was only one of their prepared trump cards.

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163


    Queen smiled as the waiter ced a chocteva cake in front of her. The cheery expression melted into a frown when a tall woman with tinum blonde hair and sparkling amethyst eyes sat herself down in front of Queen, in the seat right across the table.


    At first, she assumed it was a fellowpetitor who was taking liberties to sit down at her table, but her spiritual perception said that this woman was clearly above Tier 20. So, not herpetition.


    <em>Probably another fucking reporter.</em>


    The woman remained silent and only flicked an eye to her dessert.


    Unwilling to speak first, or maybe at all, Queen dipped her spoon into the perfectly cooked cake and shoved the spoon through her mask.


    The masks were wonderful things. They didnt hamper her ability to eat while still concealing her identity.


    Halfway through her dessert, the interloper quietly coughed.


    Queen stared down the woman, but she once again offered nothing back.


    Queen returned to her delectable snack.


    She cleaned the te and began standing up from her seat when the silent stranger finally spoke. Stubborn one, arent you?


    It wasnt really a question, let alone one that warranted a response, so Queen ignored the woman and put away the tray she had been served on. The woman shadowed her out of the bakery before demanding, Really? Are you not at all curious about who I am?


    Queen sort of was, but refused to take the bait. No random, higher Tier woman should be prancing around Tur''stals backyard like this, unless she was invited. That might mean she wasn''t a physical danger to Queen, but it didnt mean this nuisance didnt have some agenda of her own.


    Queen then noticed how no one else was reacting like they could see or hear the woman. People didnt even seem to notice as they all stepped around her when walking down the street.


    Yet another reason why keeping her mouth shut was the best choice.


    They had reached the teleporter pad which would blink her to her room when the tagalong stepped forward, gestured forwards, and asked, Now hun, arent you going to invite me in?


    Queen quirked an eyebrow under the mask as she activated the teleport.


    Hell no.


    Then she was gone.


    Queen stepped off the tform in her suite when she bumped into someone standing in her path. The tall woman with tinum blonde hair and amethyst eyes.


    Immediately, her sword was in hand and cutting down at the intruder, while she howled for Tur''stal and set off an emergency ping on her AI.


    Her unwee guest simply stood there as her sword pressed up against a repulsion barrier and whistled low. There we go! Now, that''s one of the best manifestations Ive seen from a mortal. Period. Very nice! However


    Before she could say more, Tur''stal appeared with a put-off expression. While nodding to Queen, the more literal Queen took in a deep breath and then sighed it out while turning to the invader. There are better, easier ways to do this, Carol.


    The Royal looked back to Queen and flopped a hand in the self-satisfied blondes direction. Queen, this is Carol, your assigned manager for The Path. Believe it or not, shes quite good at what she does, and she specializes in honing Concepts and Intents for young Pathers, which seemed ideal for you. Carol was even Duke Waters manager back when he was on The Path.


    Tur''stal rubbed her tongue across her teeth before adding, As you wille to learn, the best managers often have dare I say <em>asinine </em>quirks and entricities that can make them bothersome to deal with. Carol here isnt the worst, not by a long shot, but she likes to introduce herself by seeing how far she can push her new charges before they attack. Often very justifiably. If you want a different manager, simply say so and we will get you one. You wouldnt even be the first to give Carol the boot for her antics. However, she was selected for you in particr because we believe she fits your needs better than anyone else that we currently have avable.


    After a moment of consideration, Queen nodded at Tur''stal, who then returned the nod, folded her arms, and glowered at the manager.


    Carol, do not foul this up. Not today. Freir pulled a simr stunt with his charge in order to and I quote assess the damages. And guess what? Now weve got an increasingly unbnced Pather with an incredibly concerning Talent-Domainbination who is refusing to even <em>meet</em> with any potential manager or team. Because who needs support systems, right? That disaster is enough of a mess to clean up. Do <em>not</em> make my day even worse by ostracizing yet another elite Pather with known trust and authority issues. Turstal paused and looked over. No offense, child.


    Queen just shrugged. It was a fair assessment.


    The Royal shot her back a small smile. At least someones being reasonable today.


    With a long look at Carol and a final humph, the Royal disappeared.


    The other woman let out a low whistle into the empty space and whispered through gritted teeth, Maras tits! Freir, you troll runt. You poke at the curious yful kittens, not the feral rescues.


    Then, Carol turned to her new charge and smiled again, while distinctly not moving out of the opening, preventing Queen from exiting through the small, recessed nook containing the teleporter pad.


    Seeing that she was boxed in, Queen whipped her sword at the higher Tier again. The cramped space forced her to expend more willpower while twisting space to avoid scraping the walls, but Carolughed as she dipped back out of the way before bunny-hopping back a step.


    You have spunk, hun. And I like it. Drive and determination. The two things I demand in all of my charges. Before we begin, we need to talk about your Talent and skills though. I don''t have ess to them, but I can make some educated guesses. Id prefer to know for sure though. Would you mind sharing them with me?


    The way cleared, the younger woman headed into the suite. After leaning her greatsword on the wall next to her, Queen plopped down on her bed and scrupulously appraised Carol.


    Tur''stal rmended her highly, and that certainly counted for something. How much so, Queen wasn''t sure. Nheless, if this vexing woman trained Duke Waters into a behemoth, she was probably the right woman for the job.


    Queen just didnt like her attitude.


    Still, Tur''stal imed that all the best managers had their oddities. It sounded like Carols were more about the initial impression, which was something that she could deal with. If her shenanigans continued, then


    That bore some thinking.


    After letting the idea stew in her mind for a good five minutes, she finally consented and sent all the details. Queen wanted toplete The Path, and she had heard that a good manager was worth their weight in Tier 50 steel.


    Carol bobbed her head and hmmed as she read through the information. Finally, she dered, A good start! And your progress, as noted by Aunt Helen, has been fantastic.


    Queen noted that even her irreverent manager referred to the old bird as Aunt Helen, but filed it away when she saw the gleam in the woman''s eyes.


    I want to get you as good with your Concept as Aiden was at your Tier, and I also want to help grow your Talent. Both are a tall order, but its possible, in my opinion. <em>Then</em>, you''ll be a monster of a calibur rarely seen. But first, we need to talk about your progress in the tournament. I dont like how things currently stand. We have a little more than a month and a half left, with only two weeks before the top fifty fights start to really prepare. And I want you to take second ce in both the solo and teampetitions.


    Queens eyebrow shot up. Carol must have seen it, because she said, Yes, only second ce. Sadly, one of the other teams has had a management team since Tier 6, because of one of their Talents. Knowing who that manager is, I doubt we have a good chance of winning in the short run. Maybe if it was just about the Talent, but theyre plenty good on their own. Honestly, Id say their natural prowess is at leastparable to yours. Just with decades of professional refining.


    Queen clenched her fist. That hardly seems fair. She held up a hand to forestall anyments. I know nothing is fair, but being the only ones with a manager seems like way too big of an advantage.


    Carol chuckled, Well first, theyre not the only ones out there with a manager already. They just qualified the earliest, and are the only ones Im overly concerned about. Secondly, that kind of thinges with downsides, believe me. In this tournament, you''re better off than if you had me early. Otherwise, Id have been forced to make you fight with a wooden spoon, and a dull, mildewy one at that.


    That information caused her to raise her eyebrows in shock as she considered what their real strengths were but as neither were sword wielders she didn''t care and Queen filed that tidbit away before asking, What''s your n then?


    Carol smirked. We have a little time now that all the managers have been assigned, and we have free reign to train you. As it stands, I believe youll take second ce in the solo fights, and then maybe third or fourth in the team fights. Im okay with that first one, but disgracing yourself in the team battles is uneptable. I intend for you to win second ce there as well. And to do that, well need to change up your training. You need tools to counter some of your more problematic matchups. Additionally, we need to shore up a few weaknesses you have, particrly concerning how you use your Concept.


    Carol waggled a finger, and Queen was almost lost in her purple eyes. But first, we need to talk about an opportunity one of my colleagues offered. She''s well known for breeding monsters and


    Queen interrupted, Another manager? The same one who is training the people you expect to beat me?


    Carol nodded. Yes, and I even have permission to tell you who they are. Quill and Torch. Though I imagine you already suspected as much. Their manager wants to send them into Minka directly after the tournament, instead of at Tier 13, which is normal, or even at Tier 12, when it''s just stupidly risky. She wants them to go <em>at Tier 11, </em>when it''s utterly suicidal.


    The unspoken rule of risk equals reward rang in Queen''s ears as she processed Carols words, but she kept quiet.


    The sadist has officially invited you to go in with them. While I agree, it''s up to you. That ce is dangerous, but going in at Tier 11 is the best time for you. I would be hesitant to send you in alone, but with them, I think the risks are minimized. Plus, their lead will only widen further if they go in, but you dont.


    Queen mulled thatst bit over before asking her own question. What <em>is</em> Minka anyway?


    Carol''s smile twisted deviously. Minka is a word from a long-lost civilization. It means forge, more or less. The precise trantion is moreplicated, and has a bunch of cultural connotations. It simultaneously means forge, anvil, hammer, right of passage, and is a part of the character for refinement. In the modern day, we just say it trantes to The Forge for simplicity.


    Her new protege looked less than impressed so far, but Carol just rolled on. What were specifically talking about here is a very special ce called Minka. Its creation predates any known record, but its been theorized to have either fallen from a higher Realm, or to have been the coborative work of <em>at least </em>nine different Tier 50s in this rock-bottom Realm. Its said that they wouldve used materials from multiple Tier 49 to 50 rifts that no longer exist.


    The Pathers attention was hooked now. Carol beamed inside. Time to reel the fishy in.


    This Minka, or The Forge, is exactly what it sounds like a ce to refine the body and spirit before Tier 15. If you want to go, you''ll be unprotected, as no one above Tier 14 can enter. That includes spiritual senses. You''ll need to fight against opponents as high as Tier 14, and all the other Great Powers have ess, and will also be sending in their promising youths. The Young Masters from the Sects. The Heroes from the Guilds. The Alphas from the Monster Collective. The yers from the Federation. The diators from the Republic. The Chosen from The Corporations. The Knights from the ns. Our own Ascenders. <em>Everyone</em> sends in the best and brightest along with their Ascender-equivalent hopefuls.


    And the lower the Tier, the better? Queen quizzed.


    Yes, with Tier 11 being both the minimum and the most rewarding. Anyone below that gets blocked at the entrance. While there isn''t a hard limit on how many people can get the best rewards, there are soft limits based on Tier. The fighting will be brutal, vicious, andpletely merciless. Despite what the treaties say, some Great Powers also send in literal death squads of peak Tier 14s specifically to hunt down their rivals most promising fighters. It''s why I wouldn''t be willing to send you in before Tier 12 normally, but with the other two


    Her hand wavered in the air.


    Queen pondered for a while before quickly nodding. This Minka sounded like an opportunity she couldn''t afford to pass up.


    I agree. But first, Im not content with settling for second ce. What can we do to get me first?


    ***


    The elimination down to the top fifty devolved into brutal battles that pushed everyone to their limits.


    Mostly, it came from the losers bracket. Anyone who had been eliminated from the mainpetition had then been forced to fight in winner-takes-all battles for a static one thousand positions. That repeated every day until the top fifty were decided in the winners bracket.


    Those who survived in those brackets, like Kyle, turned into battle-hardened monsters who put everything on the line in every battle. Their friend had experienced a surge of growth in thest few months as he doggedly clung on to anyst hope of reaching the top fifty.


    At least, that was how it worked for the solo tournament. Only a third of those numbers remained for the team battles.


    Today was the first chance for the resurgent losers to issue their challenges to the top fifty winners.


    Quill and Torch idled next to each other at the far right end of the waiting area with all the other toppetitors like Queen, Adam, Rewind, Nyx, Sam, Dianas team, Carlos duo, and any others who had managed to make a name for themselves over thest year.


    It was a cornucopia of power on their side, but one thousand hungry wolves eagerly prowled among the three new arenas brought out for the event.


    The organizers could have utilized one of the smaller spatially expanded arenas, asmonly used for thest six months, but this was also a highly anticipated, publicly broadcast event, and they clearly intended to put on a show.


    Quill was even shocked to see a few million civilians stream into the spatially-erged, heavily shielded viewing boxes so they could enjoy the action live. Turstal was breaking from normal protocols by allowing live audiences this early.


    But this tournament had already had a dozen weird wrenches thrown into the mix. What were a few more?


    Under the mask, Quill watched as number one thousand was given a chance to challenge one of them.


    Assuming this dog-and-pony show would take a while, he turned to Queen and tried to strike up a conversation. Through his AI, he messaged,So, anyone youre looking forward to fighting?


    Their newest future teammate only tilted her head slightly to peer at him before nodding to the long line of the losers bracket. Ollie has an interesting skill set that would be fun to fight.


    Quill nodded, but ignored the woman that Queen had indicated.


    After Luna informed them that she had a big expedition nned for them, and wanted to invite Queen, he and Torch had been trying to get to know the woman a little. Their efforts were handicapped, as the woman only appeared at her scheduled duels before vanishing, like smoke into the wind, after the matches ended.


    Luna and Kurt declined to exin where the group would be going to any degree. Instead, they simply stated that the big surprise was equal parts opportunity and risk. The only meaningful tidbit they dropped was that participants needed to be peak Tier 11 to earn the greatest gains. Alternatively, having the best chance of survival meant going in as strong as possible.


    Thankfully, Luna at least gave them a soft timeline of sorts; maybe three years after the Breakout Tournament wrapped up. Less, if they were unlucky. Before then, they all needed to advance all the way to peak Tier 11.


    The Curve normally allotted up to five years to go from Tier 11 to 12, so he and Liz were slightly skeptical that they could Tier up to 11, and then rush to the very edge of Tier 12 in three years <em>or less</em>. Not with the normal restrictions they dealt with, at least. Luna had refused to say more, but once they pried some words out of Queen, she unknowingly slipped up and gave them a name.


    Minka.


    That lead was enough to dig through the EmpireNet with. Half-surprisingly, a moderate degree of information was avable without resorting to obscure avenues. Minka was an automated trial. Only Tier 14 and below could enter from <em>any </em>Great Power. For reasons not really exined in the info packets, no one nation could hold the ce for themselves, or even block another from essing it.


    It was mysterious, and horrifically dangerous. An estimated sixty percent of those who entered the ce never came back out. Why so many died, they couldnt find out, but it was enough to get them to start nning.


    The ce predated the founding of the Fallen Empire. Even the conservative estimates put it at trillions of years old. When the once-united Realm shattered into the modern Great Powers, each side had fought to seize control of Minka for themselves, but never seeded. Oddly, each fledgling nation signed a treaty guaranteeing equal ess and ownership to the trial world <em>well before</em> the Great Splinter War ended.


    They also found out the reason for Lunas dicey timeline. Anyone could enter at any time, but almost everyone waited for what was called the turning of a cycle. During this period, the trials rewards massively increased in value. A cultivator could only ever enter once, so no one wanted to squander the opportunity on anything but the best rewards. In general, the cycles turned at semi-predictable intervals, around every five to seven years with the asional outlier. Based on this, the next turn was expected to ur in three to four years.


    Even after learning all of that much on their own, Luna and Kurt continually withheld any further details.


    They told Matt and Liz to focus on winning the tournament. Minka was a concern for afterwards. A concern the pair clearly werent ready for if they couldnt even sweep this middlingpetition.


    With no idea about the unnamed rewards, but knowing Luna wanted them to go in at the lower Tier and with Queen, they expected the ce to be a dangerous area. They just didnt understand how the restrictions were enforced. A rift might not give rewards to higher Tier people, but it didnt force them out or keep them from re-entering once they delved it.


    The way people talked about the ce was almost as if they were referring to a, and not a rift.


    Left with more questions than answers, they did the only thing they could do. Pester Queen.


    Sadly, she knew less than they did, as she hadnt bothered to look the ce up. When pressed, she simply said that she had been busy.


    After learning nothing more and acquiescing, he and Liz hoped to get to know the woman behind the mask better, especially before they ventured through anywhere dangerous with her. As they expected to be whisked off to who knew where after the tournament, they needed to try as much as possible now.


    Queen, while recalcitrant, seemed open to chatting in small bursts.


    Quill looked at the ring and offered, Honestly, Im hoping Betrix gets through. Her spells are weird, and Im looking forward to fighting her.


    Torch added, in more of a Liz tone, Nah, I want to fight Tie. Ive never heard of a silk maniptor before. That''s just cool.


    Quill and Queen nodded to that. The Talent was cool, and even seemed to make the silk fire resistant. They had actually lost to a water mage who had drowned them, which was an amusing turn of events.


    After that loss, the masked Pather had gotten new armor, and the tactic hadnt worked since.


    They had been standing around for two hours when Quill eventually got tired of it, and he pulled out a few chairs for Torch, Queen, and himself.


    It only took a few seconds for Adam and Rewind to saunter over and pull out their own chairs. Adam was even kind enough to make an umbre to cut the sun for them, and they all started to idly chat.


    Everyone had secrets, and they were all stillpetitors in this tournament, but they were able to add their own colormentary for the ongoing fights.


    As they were the top Pathers, no one in the bottom fifty dared to risk their challenge on them when there was easier prey, but they still watched and analyzed everyone who managed to take or keep a ring. As the beat person had one opportunity to challenge anyone in the top fifty, the challenger had the tactical advantage, and the lower positions changed hands frequently.


    Quill whistled as a masked Pather named Boulder took the stage and challenged one of the original top fifty who hadnt been called to fight yet.


    With the challengers greater numbers, any top fiftypetitor that had taken part in each of the two most recent fights was immune to a third challenge in a row. But even with that rule, the losers bracketpetitors were mostly sticking with those of their own ranks who had earned a ce in the top fifty, or rather, the bottom twenty-five. No one had tried to challenge anyone above the the twenty seventh spot yet.


    Quill was just wondering when, or even <em>if</em> anyone would risk a top half challenge, when someone called out Adam.


    The woman standing on the stage was ring at their table with a simmering rage.


    Adam sauntered over to therge, spatially expanded ring and waved at Patty with both hands.


    Hey darling, nice to meet you. Youe her oft


    Before Adam could utter more, a bolt of mana shredded his projection, leaving behind only swirling mists.


    The illusionists first trick had already been discovered, at least on a surface level. Anywhere he appeared to be, he never was. Ever. But what made him extra dangerous was the fact that even knowing this and knowing he was an illusionist, no one had managed to counter him.


    Even as the bolt traveled, Patty spun a sphere of water around herself, warping the audiences view of her.


    The mist reformed into a whole new person and continued to speak, but the arena filters prevented everyone from hearing what was being said.


    Patty started spam-casting wide area spells, but Adam''s projection justughed andughed as it continued to reform.


    The main point of her water barrier became obvious when she cast an arena-wide frost spell. In an instant, the battlefield was sh frozen. The humidity in the air transformed into a minefield of airborne frost and ice crystals.


    As sparkling ice crystals floated in the cold, biting air, Quill whistled. That massive cold attack exined why she dared challenge Adam. In theory, she should have found his real body in the ice-filled air, with the moisturetching onto his body surface as it froze. Reality wasnt so kind. There was no disturbance, or even a fluctuation to show a hidden person.


    Out of nowhere, her head jerked back and her neck opened wide. Blood spurted out of her wound. Even through the ice-coated sphere, Adam executed her with ease.


    That was impressive. Quill wondered how he had managed it. The water sphere never rippled, and neither had the outer iceyer been shattered.


    As the fight ended, Adam sauntered over andughed, despite his illusion self looking nothing like what it had looked like before the fight.


    Quill and the othersughed with him, but all took the lesson to heart. Adam was more than he seemed. Much more.


    Annie, down in thirty second ce, was then challenged for her spot, and even though Quill kept his eyes on the table and other top Pathers, he watched with his AI to see how his friend did.


    Annie hadnt expected to make it this far, but after realizing her Concept, she had turned into a calcting assassin who always knew the best ce and time to strike.


    They had done some sparring, and now, without [Cracked Phantom Armors] protection, he had no chance of beating her. She would dodge everything he threw at her as if she knew it wasing, and then take advantage of even the slightest of openings to gut him like a fish.


    It burned her willpower at a degree close to when he first got his Concept and used its repulsion effect, but when she could slip into that empowered mode, she was nearly unbeatable.


    They theorized that her Concept acted like a pseudo Seekers ability, and both guided her actions and body. She hated that second part, but admitted that it was useful. Her Concept also guided her to what she considered evil, or in need of pruning, pushing her to take those entities out.


    Creating her own Concept had catapulted Annie from the middle of the top thousand to a proper top fifty Pather.


    Her first opponent was arge melee fighter who used a fairly typical melee style of sword and shield, with a few assistive spells.


    Even as the fight started, the melee fighter cast a spell that encased him in mana armor, but unlike normal spells, his variant concentrated the protection around the joints and other typical weak points in armor.


    Quill wondered how Annie would handle the change in tactics that the spell would force, but no one, including him, had expected his rambunctious friend to dance around therger man for nearly ten minutes. She spent the entire time just dodging, before finally lurching forward and driving her glowing dagger into the man''s heavily armored back.


    The dagger, which should have skittered off the material, slipped right through mana and metal as if they werent there, and almost immediately, the referee teleported the man out of the arena.


    The ref even took the dagger, and only returned it after close to ten minutes.


    Now that all the top Pathers were looking at Annie, Quill was able to do the same, and inspected her new dagger and skill.


    He had been the one to enchant the weapon for her, and knew how special it was.


    Made from a Tier 14 vipers fang, the weapon couldn''t sh worth a damn, but it innately had part of the armor-piercing properties it did when the snake was alive.


    He had then pped it with every endurance rune the monster material could handle without unbncing the weapon. Sharpness and repair runes were almost secondary, but had also been added.


    Taking advantage of the fact that monster parts could hold more enchantments than even wood of the same Tier, he had been able to put one final rune on the weapon.


    It wasnt really a true enchantment, but it gave Annie''s neutral mana a sharpness sub-aspect, and gathered it around the tip of the weapon. It might look like a typical enchantment or spell buff, but the effects were multiplied. Matt made a mental note to examine the dagger with Annie after this. The item had been tested, but this was its first real world application, and it would need to be inspected then further refined.


    Annie had loved the dagger, despite it costing her most of her team''s points, but they had all agreed to spend the points to ensure her continued victory. As both sisters were in the top fifty, they would easily earn their points back, as long as they didnt get kicked out now.


    Emily was scary herself, consistently one-shotting her opponents. But she had also gotten slightly lucky in the sense that no one who countered her, like Rewind or Adam, had been ced in her bracket. Even so, she had still charred a path through thepetition, making most unwilling to challenge her to this point.


    Tara, their final friend in the top fifty, was challenged for her spot just seven boutster.


    She sauntered to the stage as if unworried, but Matt had heard more than his fair share of worries andints over thest few days as the nerves started to get to her. Despite being both strong andpetent, Tara was worried like a mother hen that kept checking on her first eggs.


    Even Emily had slipped away, despite her girlfriend duties, after an hour of her second round ofints.


    Matt had nned on yelling at her for ditching them, but she had returned with a pitcher of Tier 12 beer, and the two of them proceeded to get Tara properly sloshed, helping her to forget about her worries.


    Tara stood on her tform, and Quill could almost hear her cursing at her opponent.


    Another heavily armored man stood across from her, wielding a massive tower shield that had visible runes carved onto the front of it.


    Repulsion runes were an interesting choice, but they were a good counter to an archer or other long ranged attacker that used mostly physical projectiles.


    Cataphract, the man who was fighting her, took the first two arrows on his shield before nting his sword in the ground and beginning to cast a long spell. Tara tried to interrupt his casting, but despite leaving deep gouges in the b of metal, her arrows werent quite able to punch throughpletely like they usually did.


    When Cataphract finally finished his spell, they all understood why he had chosen such a name.


    From inside of body, a heavily armored horse made from mana stepped out and grew to massive proportions. It was seven feet tall at the shoulders, and the horse was heavily armored, just as Cataphract himself was.


    Even Quill had to whistle at the imposing sight. Whatever Cataphract''s Talent was, it was imposing to look at.


    Once on the horse''s back, he pulled a long spear out of a spatial backpack and brandished it while blocking every arrow Tara shot at him.


    With just his knees, he sent the horse into a gallop, forcing Tara to leave her starting area.


    It was an awful arena for her, being wide open, but she immediately started to shoot skills at Cataphract''s mount to little effect.


    The arrows passed through the horse as if it wasnt there at all. Not how most summons or projections worked, but it made for an interesting Talent.


    Being forced on the defensive, Quill could now see Tara calming down and settling her nerves. That immediately changed the way she fought, and despite being forced to dodge repeated charges from Cataphract, she started to push the momentum of the battle to a more neutral position.


    Neither stopped moving throughout the exchanges, as that would mean certain death against the other''s arsenal.


    Tara rolled out of the way of the spear and dodged a shield bash, but held her arrow fully drawn, and from the ground, released the crackling lightning arrow. The projectile was again caught by Cataphract, turning his horse on a mana stone, which allowed him to get his shield between himself and the arrow. But Quill had to stifle a fist pump at her sess as the arrow punched through the runes effects, and struck the shield directly, pushing through and sticking into the thick metal.


    Repulsion enchantments had a weakness against magical attacks, and using enchanted arrows could normally get around such effects, at least to a lesser degree.


    It was a pretty obscure rune, and he hadnt been able to tell her the weakness, as Cataphract had only unveiled this new shield once the fight started.


    Tara, for all the things she was good at, was no enchanter.


    Quill was just happy that she had figured out the answer she needed to beat her mounted opponent.


    Still, she was at a disadvantage in height and speed, and was only able to pepper Cataphract while he rode her down or passed by. The problem was, he was learning her dodging patterns, and his spear started to get dangerously close to skewering their friend.


    Finally, Tara dodged an attack, but Cataphract made his horse rear its front legs and stomp down as it twisted.


    Despite her magical arrows piercing its flesh without issue, the summoned horses hoovesnded true, and crushed Taras leg.


    Still, she had drawn an arrow and loosed it right up the man''s underside.


    Everyone cringed as Cataphract tried to stand in his stirrups, but paused and fell backwards to the ground as his summon dissipated.


    Quill closed his legs in solidarity. No one missed the arrow sticking out of his clenched legs as Light, who was giving colormentary in the box,ughed.


    Ohhh, he''s going to feel that today <em>and</em> tomorrow. Healing or not, you don''t forget someone shooting an arrow up your taint. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Tara, you vicious woman.


    Tara was brought back to her spot, and a healer started to attend to her. She had a ce in the top fifty to defend, so she needed to be ready for potential challengers.


    She at least had a round of time where no one could challenge her, and that proved to be more than enough time for the healer to fix the powdered bone.


    Now that she was mobile again, no one was going to risk getting an arrow in such a sensitive spot, so they chose targets who they considered to be easier opponents.


    It also helped that she hadnt used her Concept or any of the more special arrows she had stored in the special growth quiver Matt had given her.


    It showed just how strong her Talent and she herself was by the fact she was holding her own in such apetitivepetition against fully armored melee fighters and mages who had proved themselves the best in their ss.


    Melindas entire team was good but if Quill was behind honesty their team as a collective didn''t have the desire to be the best which kept them down. Tara on own for the first time as a cultivator seemed to have learned a little about herself and her motives. Each fight she improved and advanced.


    They were approaching thest thirty challenges when Kyle finally had his chance to challenge one of the top fifty; Quill was interested in who his friend would choose.


    He hadnt told anyone, but Torch and Quill had a bet going on. As it turned out, they were both wrong. Kyle ended up choosing Fel, a tall melee fighter whod just imed the forty-third position. Hed won his challenge against an agile twin sword fighter, countering every attempted attack before finishing his foe off with a deadly blow to the head.


    Kyle beat the man in four moves. In the first exchange, he purposely let Fel deflect an overhand strike, but instead of resisting the parry, he dropped his weapon and grabbed his chest armor, and took them to the ground.


    He took a vicious headbutt, which must have broken his nose from the blood that spurted out of his helmet, but elbowed Fel in the throat twice, which ended the fight in short order.


    With blood dripping down his armor, Kyle ripped off his helmet and shouted to the sky.


    Even Light joined him and congratted him. Well that was quite the bloody turnover. After hes healed, even if Fel had another chance to earn a spot back, I doubt he would try to fight Kyle again.


    Shadow added, Taking out a challenger is no mean feat, but for how long can he hold onto that position? Thats the real question.


    The answer was, not for long.


    Emily fell to her first challenger, a rogue type who dodged her charged up attacks andnded a throwing knife in her gut, between the leather tes of her armor. Within a second, she was removed from the arena despite the wound not seeming fatal. Emilyter told them that the weapon had clearly felt like a growth item as it sat in her stomach, but the referee pulled her out before its abilities became apparent. Whatever it was, the overseers considered the weapon deadly enough to call the match<em> before </em>it activated.


    She had tried to earn her spot back, but her challenged opponent brought out a new shield that nullified all the lightning she sent at it. Before Emily realized the problem, the melee fighter had already closed the distance with an impressive movement skill, forcing her onto the defensive.


    Emily put up a good showing overall, but she was kicked out of the top fifty for good when she lost that challenge.


    Kyle was defeated by a mage that ranked in the top five of the losers bracket, and lost his position in the top fifty for good after again losing his revenge battle. He was officially disqualified because he took too much damage in hisst fight to regain a top fifty position, and was already pushing the healing cooldown limit. It wouldve been his third time to earn a spot, but the umted damage added up, and he was unable to participate any further.


    Quill knew that they would be having a drunken pity party, as only Annie and Tara were left in the top fifty.


    Still, the others would be well rewarded, but their hopes and dreams were crushed with those final losses.


    Talous almost made it into the top fifty, but was quickly eliminated after losing the subsequent challenge to take back a spot.


    Zeran, from the team who lost to the numbers, earned himself another chance at the top fifty, along with a woman who seemed to change form more than Adam did. Every time you looked away from her or stopped paying attention, she transformed from arge melee fighter with pale skin to a shorter, dark-skinned archer, and everything in between.


    No one even really saw how she beat her opponent, just like Adam. She just stood there after the man''s throat was cut in an instant.


    Considering she never took her eyes off Adam''s ce on the stage, Quill and the others asked him what was up, and he simply shrugged as if he was unbothered.


    Ladies love me, and after a single night, she was smitten. What can I say? Im a pleaser.


    None of them believed it, but they also didnt touch on the topic.


    Still, with her victory, the shuffling of the top fifty ended, and they had to go through the same thing for the team battles the next day.


    It was actually even less interesting. No one was willing to fight Quill or Torch alone, so they certainly werent willing to fight them together.


    So, they spent the time with the other toppetitors, analyzing thepetition.


    As night set, the atmosphere of thepetition started to boil over with each challenge.


    There was still a chance for the loser bracket teams to earn a good reward with the points system. Despite getting points for their cement, the solo and team brackets didnt award more points than taking multiple top spots in other events over many months.


    Everyone was burning with desire as their time in thepetition wasing to a close.

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164


    Luna was situated amongst the crowd pretending to be Liz, when she felt an ever-so-subtle pressure try to rub against her and all the people around her.


    A Seeker. She could smell it.


    With a mental thought to Tur''stal, she alerted her that someone was trying to spy on thepetitors and smiled. Through her spiritual perception, she watched a clone of the royal rece the original on the stage, where she was giving a speech, and the real Tier 47 teleported to one of the weakers in the star system. She returned almost instantly, pulling the Tier 37 Seeker up by her cor.


    That Seeker would be finding themselves in a world of trouble; they would be ruthlessly interrogated to find out whether or not they were a greedy gambler, or a wannabe spy.


    Either way, they had broken over a dozenws with their little stunt, so they would be having a bad few decades.


    Lunas gut told her it was greed, but you could never be too careful.


    ***


    Quill stood with the other top teams as Tur''stal droned on about the tournament and how it represented the Empire.


    He had long since tuned it out, like most everyone else.


    Even L had bobbed her head as if she was falling asleep a few times, but he was pretty sure that it was just her way of trying to get the top contestants tough.


    When Tur''stal got to the end of her speech, she waved her hand, rolled out an opaque cylinder, and opened a p on its front.


    This little beauty is made from Tier 47 materials, and it being so high of a Tier means that it''s nearly Seeker proof. You will all spin the handle and receive a numbered orb. Then, you will fight the person who picks your paired number, starting with one and working our way up.


    She started with Adam, who withdrew the number seven, which was green. Then Rewind spun the wheel, and out came a brown twenty-five.


    When it was Queen''s turn, she went up and spun the handle for nearly two full minutes until Tur''stal coughed slightly. When she pulled out her orb, it had a green number one, which caused a cheer to explode out from the crowd.


    Quill bowed to Torch and gestured for her to go first, andughed when she sent him a message with just a middle finger.


    Her brown two made everyone aww in sadness. She had been so close to fighting Queen in the first round that everyone was disappointed.


    The top fifty wasn''t a single elimination, but a round-robin fighting style where everyone would fight eachpetitor at least once. The crowds number one fantasy fight would happen at some point, but the first match-ups would be determined by these draws. The winners would be decided by the number of victories over the course of the round-robin.


    Quill sauntered over to the drum and knocked on it twice as he inspected it.


    Everything was made from high Tier materials, but nothing that provided an increase in weight that scaled with Tier, like metal or minerals. It was the only reason he was able to turn the handle and listen to the balls inside bouncing around.


    He stuck his hand into the opening and rummaged through the orbs until he heard some grumbling from the crowd.


    Pulling out his orb, he tossed it into the air and let everyone see the green seventeen.


    Sauntering back to his position, he waited with everyone else for the rest of the field to pull their numbers.


    When he got his first opponent, he cursed.


    Tara was not the one he wanted to fight first, but now, he had no choice.


    She had spent most of thest nightforting her upset girlfriend, who had to deal with both her girlfriend and sister making it into the top fifty. Even when she lost, she wouldnt be eliminated, but he really didn''t want to be the one to take out a friend.


    Queen''s first fight was against the man who beat Emily, and even with his rogue fighting style, Queen nearly cut him in half before the ref teleported the man out.


    Even from outside the ring, Quillined to Torch through their AI. She already learned how to lock down space? What the fuck?!


    Torch just shrugged back. You taught her that it was possible. This is really on you.


    He had noeback for that, and could only frown in response.


    Quill had prepared a dozen counters and trump cards that he hadnt needed to use up to this point, but knowing that Queen was so strong, he wasn''t sure that the one trump card he had nned to use on her would be enough.


    Torchs first fight was against a melee fighter who had little in the way of measures to stop her overwhelming heat and physical strength, and he was defeated in short order.


    When Quill had to finally fight Tara, he almost felt bad, but didnt hesitate.


    As the fight started, he dashed to the side, dodging the first arrow and starting to throw out talismans as if they were free.


    Two dozen [Fireball]s raced out toward Tara, and she let loose a [Fragment Shot] to break most of the magical orbs with multi-point, short-range attack. Still, that was well within Quills expectation, and he threw out an [Earth Barrier] to catch the follow-up arrow he knew wasing.


    Sidestepping, he prepared for her armor-piercing Talent to punch through the barrier of earth, but he had cast it for concealment, not cover.


    As the arrow punched through the packed earth, he had already readied his talisman array and cast his makeshift [Tornado].


    The raging winds would do more than anything else in his arsenal to counter his friend.


    Stepping, he calmly walked towards Tara, who stood like a tree facing the raging winds, alone and unafraid.


    He watched as she shifted her aim and finally loosed the arrow.


    Quill smiled under the mask as he saw the arrow fly in a trajectory that would clearly miss him if there wasnt a gale assaulting the arena. As the arrow flew through the outer edge of his spell, it got caught by a gust of wind that redirected it perfectly towards where he was standing.


    With a burst of speed, heunched himself forward and away from his previous location, quickly entering the center of the whirling winds.


    Tara tried to cast her spells, but with Quill at the center of the tornado, her arrows were all tossed to the side no matter what enchantment she used.


    Even the wind arrow she pulled out of her growth quiver was unable to pierce the cyclone.


    Quill was readying his finishing move when he saw an arrow so dark, it seemed to eat all the light around iting from her quiver, and he threw himself to the side.


    Tara held her shot and tracked him, but Quill knew that the void arrow she had just pulled out wouldn''t care about any of his defenses, or the wind. While the arrow itself would technically be affected by the wind, the void enchantment would make the detrimental effects negligible.


    With the lessening winds, he didnt dare stand still, even as he slotted thest of his talismans into his expanded staff and waited for the right moment.


    They were at an impasse now.


    While he didnt need to stand still to cast the array, Quill couldn''t do anything predictable, else he would find the void arrow stuck in one of his limbs.


    He was sure his next spell would take out Tara, but he also knew that if he got hit with the arrow, he was just as certain to be eliminated.


    Keeping his eyes on Tara, he waited and jumped around, trying to bait her into loosing the arrow.


    He stopped for a second, hoping she would shoot, but she anticipated his sideways leap. Dropping his staff, Quill rolled and came out of the dodge with his staff glowing with light.


    Tara hesitated for a second, and he threw a few [Jolt] talismans out as a distraction.


    Tara loosed her void arrow, but Quill activated his mental boost talismans to pair with his physical boost talisman. Thebination was enough for him to track the arrow''s trajectory, and he was able to twist enough to take the arrow through the side of his chest, instead of the heart.


    Tara tried to dodge the [Earth Spear]s he had targeted her with, but the array cast over forty spikes of rock. One caught her in the leg, then another in the chest.


    Having been skewered, Tara was unable to use her bow, and was pulled out of the fight by the ref to be healed.


    As the matches proceeded on and the first round of bouts concluded, the team fights started, and the round-robin format started off once more..


    He and Torch were again paired up against a friend, Sam, the summoner.


    As soon as the fight started, he cast half a dozen half-sized fire teardrops, and then ice and lightning variants in short order.


    Torch burst forward with a jet of me as he cast a half dozen [Fireball] talismans to give her some ammo to work with.


    The earth summons that Sam created threw themselves into the path of the projectiles and tanked most of them, but they had a harder time entangling Torch. She was able to out muscle the golems and break through their line of defense. With Quill nking him, Sam struggled to get enough summons out to defend himself from both sides.


    That was the problem with having to fight in the team battles as a solo. He was at a distinct disadvantage against anyone who was able to handle his summons.


    Still, he was strong and smart, and kept on the move. With a few wind summons, he was able to keep dodging everything they threw at him.


    Seeing that the fight would go on too long, Quill just cast the talisman array for [Fire Rain], which Torch then took control of, and bombarded Sam until the ref pulled him out.


    A few fightster, they had the pleasure of watching Fen fight a riveting battle with his bonds.


    Unlike Sam, who was able to fight in both the team and solo side of the tournament, Fen and his bonds were all living beings. In the solo fights, he had been forced to go in by himself, or with only one of his bonds. It quickly resulted in Fen being countered and eliminated early, but in the team fights, Fen and his pack were able to shine.


    Bow and Arrow, Fen''s original bonds, had fully absorbed the lightning wolf skull, and now each had a streak of yellow fur running down their backs. The pair were now able to innately use lighting attacks to support their other pack members.


    Even against a full team of five Pathers, the team of bonds were able to surround and then overwhelm their opponents as Fen transferred all the damage to himself, keeping his bonds in perfect fighting shape.


    The porcupine, Ga, started theirtest fight by sending a volley of razor-sharp spines at the team of five, forcing them to hide behind their melee frontliner. That set them up perfectly for Ruby, the earthworm. She softened the earth underneath their feet, slowing them enough for Bow and Arrow to have free rein in shocking and tearing at their limbs.


    Even with only the two wolves in an offensive role, they were able to dart in and out of the enemies, taking small injuries to rip at flesh and armor without distinction.


    The team fights and solo fights switched off every round, and each day, every contestant participated in two battles. For teams like Quill and Torch, who were in both, they had no breaks. It was a test of endurance and willpower as much as it was one of purebat power.


    It was in the second week that Quill was finally paired to fight Queen in the solopetition, and he couldn''t have been any happier.


    Despite her not knowing it was their rematch, Quill was itching to get back in the ring with her.


    He was thrilled that he hadnt needed to unleash any of his best trump cards yet, so he could get the most out of them against Queen.


    As they stepped into the ring, Quill tossed off his coat and reced it with his talisman cloak, but didn''t stop there.


    Pulling out gloves and shoes, heughed at his opponent''s tilted head.


    Did everyone think I only made a cloak of talismans? No, I made an entire set of armor out of them.


    While it looked kinda stupid, he had done exactly that, and was now covered in parchment head to toe.


    Queen seemed happy to let him get ready, and when he finished, asked, Are you ready? I want to see everything you have.


    He knew there was an unspoken message of, if you want to team up, you need to be able to keep up,'' but he smiled.


    Gesturing with his hand, he said, When the ref calls it.


    Light jumped into the ring instead and started to speak, The most anticipated match of the day. Quill versus Queen. Who will win in a battle of juggernauts? The man who has endless talismans, or the woman who cuts everyone down with her sword? Will the range advantage give Quill the victory, or will Queen show her Legacy skill again, and cut him down at a distance?


    Looking between both of them, he asked, Are you ready?


    At their nods, he started the countdown as he floated into the air.


    The instant he said zero, Queen shed out with a [Mana sh], but Quill stood there and activated his armor talismans.


    ck smokey armor appeared, and absorbed the attack with only a ripple.


    He had used Aster''s [Shadow Armor] as the base for the spell, as his own [Cracked Phantom Armor] was far too conspicuous for keeping their identities separate. Still, it worked well. With the talisman array that created the spell, it was nearly impervious against magical attacks. At least for a short while.


    Queen tilted her head at his non-reaction, but Quill expanded his staff with a flick of the wrist as he tossed out twenty-three spikes of steel, and directed them tond around the edge of the arena.


    Queen, using her Concept to fly at him along the ground, stumbled as her flight stopped working.


    This was a lesson he had taken from the wild side. Limiting the fight to the ground had its advantages.


    The spikes had cost him an arm and both legs to make, but anything inside their area was forcefully restrained from going into the air. Sadly, he wasnt good enough to make an array that would also allow him to be an exception to the restriction. It was all or nothing, and he chose all.


    Running to the side and forcing Queen to chase, he threw out handfuls of [Fireball], [Jolt], [Earth Spear], and [Wind de] talismans, but none of them even scratched Queen as she blocked or parried the spells with her greatsword.


    Even with the restrictions, Queen was fast, and he was forced to dodge attacks from her extending greatsword in all directions.


    With a burst of mana, he activated a physical enhancement talisman, which allowed him to dodge most of the attacks by pushing himself to his limits.


    Unlike his fight as Matt, he was able to stay unbloodied, and evennded a few magical attacks on her body.


    He used an [Air Burst] to deflect one of her attacks upward, then ducked under the de and sent it into the air while punching out at her midriff. He got in a clean hit with a shadowy fist that crackled with earthen mana.


    To his horror, Queen had an illusionary version of her arms and sword appear, and cut at him from the other direction.


    That was an ability he had dealt with in the Legacy with Shen Ruogang. She had even said that was an incredibly advanced application of one''s Domain, and few managed to do it before they created an Intent, let alone before spending a few centuries as an immortal.


    Perfecting the ability at this point waspletely unheard of.


    And yet Queen was doing it right now.


    The only good thing was, it was a half-formed replica of her weapon and not quite as solid as her primary andsted less than a second. Still, Quill was unwilling to take the blow head-on, and redirected his punch into her illusionary arm to block the attack.


    The earth mana he had made into a gauntlet exploded with power and destroyed the Concept copy, but Queen was already kicking at his knee, and Quill was forced to retreat.


    Before she could charge at him, Quill created an [Earth Barrier] between them and used a talisman to push himself to the side.


    As Queen burst through the barrier of earth, he pointed his staff at her and unleashed a [Jolt] array.


    The lightning sted Queen, despite the illusionary arms moving their own copy of her de to block.


    Quill saw the Concept arms shatter under the blow, and her armor try to ground the attack, but the enchantments were overwhelmed, and Queen was sent flying.


    ***


    Luna whistled a long and low note as she sat next to Carol in their viewing box.


    It was only a clone of her real body that was pretending to be Liz, but most of her attention was present.


    You taught her this?


    Carol scoffed with pride coloring her voice. Of course I did. Im the best after all.


    Lunaughed at the younger managers pride.


    Queen was exceptional for learning a second copy in less than two months, so she decided to let the quip from the manager responsible slide.


    ***


    Quill started to cast an ice barrage at the spot where Queen wouldnd, but she used what little Concept his anti-flying array allowed to slow and correct herself, stopping short of the area of effect.


    Queen shed down, and even from forty feet away, Quill felt the instinct to dodge. His intuition was the only reason he was able to avoid the top portion of her greatsword as it mmed into the arena.


    The explosion of stone peppered him through his armor, and Quill activated another two talismans on his chest te, then one on his glove.


    Pointing his palm at her, he sent an unending stream of [Fireball]s at her.


    This wasn''t him using a talisman, but himself casting the spells, using the one percent of his mana pool that was nearly impossible to empty.


    At his current 1280 mana, he always had 12.8 mana avable, and with [Fireball] costing 10 mana, he was able to cast the spell as fast as its structure in his spirit would allow. As he had absorbed this version of the skill for the streaming effect, instead of making it stronger or cheaper, he had modified the skill to allow for faster casting.


    Quill was sending out seven [Fireball]s a second in an unending ze of fiery destruction.


    The talisman on his glove fell apart, and he stopped casting long enough to see Queen approaching, despite cutting down each attack with her two weapons. Her real set of arms attacked on her left and the false one to her right. Still, her armor was well singed from the portion of the attacks that got through her defenses.


    As soon as the air cleared, the two [Mana Bolt] talismans he had activatedunched out at incredible speeds, and arrived in unison with thest of the [Fireball]s.


    Queen decided the fireballs were the lesser of the two evils, and chopped down at the [Mana Bolt]s.


    That proved to be a mistake, as those [Fireball]s were talisman cast ones, and were much, much stronger than the 10 mana spells he had been casting.


    The explosion that rocked the arena sent Queen skittering along the ground, but she quickly got back to her feet and readied her de.


    Quill saw her look down, and watched her shoulders move as if she was taking a deep breath, before she looked back up to him with her sculpted mask.


    Her eyes glowed through the mask like weapons-grade steel as their manifestation overwhelmed her mask.


    They were a match to his own white holes, and as they stared at each other across the blood and debris-strewn arena, he had to wonder what she was thinking.


    ***


    Queen cursed mentally as she looked at Quill.


    The man had more talismans than a forest had leaves, and she was getting pped around, even with the new Concept manifestation that Carol had taught her.


    It was a good thing that her soon-to-be temporary teammate was strong, but Queen wanted to win. No, she <em>needed</em> to win.


    If you didnt win, you died.


    It was that simple.


    Queen refused to give up, and dug deeper.


    Deeper.


    Deeper than she ever had before. She felt herself grow closer to her own Concept as she pushed, but she needed more than what it could give.


    Carol had said she that was leagues away from her Intent, but Queen felt that it was only a hair''s breadth away.


    She couldn''t touch it yet, but she didnt need to <em>truly</em> form her Intent now. She only needed it to break that damn restriction on flying that Quill had created. Any time she tried to near one of the spikes to ruin the formation he attacked her and forced her into a defensive postilion.


    Pushing with everything she had, it felt like she was trying to break through a membrane to reach her sword''s handle, but was unable to.


    But that was fine.


    The membrane separating her Concept from her Intent was stretchable. It was no longer a wall.


    Pushing with everything she had, she hooked a single finger around the de that was her Intent.


    It was like when she was a Tier 4, and had just began delving against monsters with Concepts. Her own nascent Concept had been able to resist their fully formed Concepts slightly, despite being the furthest thing from solidified.


    She didnt even have an idea about her Intent''s Phrase or Image, or even the bridge between them. Carol had said that she needed to figure them out for herself, but Queen didnt need the finished product.


    She just needed to be able to move with her Concept.


    The single finger that touched her Intent created something like an umbre that blocked a portion of the anti-flying formation, and she rocketed forward, fueled by her Concept.


    She could feel the blood pouring from her eyes, ears, and nose from pushing herself too far, but she didnt care.


    Losing was death.


    Queen refused toy down and die.


    ***


    Luna once again whistled a long and low note as she sat next to Carol in their viewing box.


    She once again asked, You taught her this too?


    Carol once again scoffed, but Luna heard the worry in her voice this time. Of course I did. Im the best after all. The manager then added, But I hope she doesn''t push too hard here. This is dangerous.


    Luna tranted that to mean, I didnt teach her shit, and am terrified that she''s going to break her Concept by pushing too hard.


    That was good, because if Carol had, that would have been gross negligence. Intents werent as simple as Concepts, and forcing it like this was dangerous, but Queen was only brushing up against the slimmest piece of her Intent. It beingpletely unformed was actually preventing her from shattering her Concept so easily, if only by limiting the power she could channel.


    Shed be fine.


    Probably.


    Luna was impressed, though.


    The girl was Ascender quality if she had ever seen it.


    Matt would have his hands full trying to take her down like this.


    It would be an interesting show. She just wondered which trump cards he would need to pull out to beat her.


    ***


    Quill cursed out loud as Queen sped up with what was clearly Concept enhanced flight. Or at least, near flight.


    She bounded along the arena like she was on skates.


    Cursing, he activated the talismans on his boots as she neared him, and they flung him through the air to the other side of the arena.


    Sadly, Queen was Queen, and her greatsword extended to cut a furrow through [Shadow Armor] and physical chest te.


    Landing in a roll, he stood and expanded his staff to its max form, then called out to the rushing Queen.


    How well do you dance?


    She was in the zone and didnt reply, but he didnt mind.


    The seventeen talisman array slotted into the staff, and he raised the staff into the air and mmed it into the ground.


    A burst of mana mmed out, punching Queen in the face as she raced forward, and sent her tumbling back.


    From the ground, she had the perfect view of what was manifesting in the sky.


    This talisman array was based on the fireball one he made with Torch in mind, but this one was meant for solo fights.


    Instead of a [Fire Rain], it was a [Sword Rain].


    Swords made from sharpness sub-aspected metal mana formed in the air, crashing down towards the ground in a deluge of destruction.


    The array was horrendously expensive to make, needing Tier 14 monster hides for each talisman, Tier 16 enchanting ink, and tens of thousands of mana in prep work. But it was one of his strongest moves.


    You showed everyone your Legacy, so let me show you mine!


    Quill threw that out there for the watching audience who would have been wondering what he got from his own Legacy.


    This was impressive enough that no one would question it.


    In a dense cluster, the mana formed swords mmed into the arena and lingered for a few seconds, with their edges razor sharp.


    pping on a physical amplification talisman, he started to weave in and out of the swords in a well-practiced pattern. When he had started to practice maneuvering through the aftermath, he had done it with [Cracked Phantom Armor] to protect him. But even then, a single misstep had cost him most of a hand, and a trip to the hospital to reattach the appendage. And that was with [Cracked Phantom Armor] taking all the mana it could hold in bothyers.


    These swords were <em>dangerous</em>.


    The swords didnt fall randomly, but they were so dense, and fell so quickly, it was impossible for anyone who wasnt the creator to path through them.


    Quill raced toward Queen, taking two steps forward for every one back and to the side, but he sessfully closed the distance, even as she used her second sword copy to help deflect the rain of des. Real and illusory arms passing through each other as she furiously tried to block the falling spell des. The second version of her arms and sword onlysted for a second but she used that second to best effect and kept herself safe.


    Quill was nearly upon her when Queen sidestepped, taking a falling sword to the arm to dodge the [Jolt] he sent at her, and the mana swordnded with a stream of red coloring its edge.


    Queen didn''t seem to mind, continuing to use the flickering illusionary copy of her weapon to block while she swung at Quill.


    He ducked and sidestepped the attack, as well as the falling sword he knew was aboutnd on top of them.


    Carefully throwing out talisman after talisman, he tried to force Queen into another falling de, but he noticed something as the fight lingered.


    Queens eyes glowed an even brighter shade of molten steel as she watched his feet.


    She was using his own movements to predict the pattern of the falling des, then using her second greatsword to block the ones she couldn''t dodge while attacking with her real de and arms.


    Not willing to let her learn the pattern, Quill purposely stepped into a falling de and watched as Queen mistimed a blow, taking a much worse cut down her back. Her heavy armor was sliced through as if it was streetwear, versus his own rtively minor cut along his calf.


    Queen tried to punish him for the move, but Quill ducked the blow and reached out to where he knew a sword would fall.


    He knew that she and everyone else must be wondering why he had closed the distance with her, and this was exactly why.


    <em>The swords lingered, and could be picked up</em>.


    With a falling sword dropping into his hands, Quill drove the mana de into Queen''s chest. There was no technique to it, save for surprise.


    No one expected Quill to be able to interact with the skill after it being cast, but his endless sub-aspected mana gave the swords just enough of a shelf life to do it.


    Her greatsword cleaved down in an effort to bisect him, but he tackled her and sent them into the ground. [Sword Rain] didntst forever without a power source beyond the talismans, and he needed to take advantage of thest cycle of falling des.


    A falling sword took him in the hip, but he twisted and felt the de shatter as sideways pressure was put upon the mana construct, and watched as a falling de pierced Queen directly in the chest.


    She had been unable to block the sword, despite her secondary des best efforts.


    Her eyes were dim, and her Concept copy vanished.


    Even her normal greatsword was flickering and bing translucent.


    As the [Sword Rain] came to an end, he cast a [Jolt] at her head from point-nk range.


    An armored hand caught the lightning in a gauntleted fist, as if it were a physical attack instead of a magical one. Lightughed with the flickering lightning shing in his hand. Now, thats not how <em>anyone</em> expected this fight to go! Quill finishing Queen with a rain of swords. That has to be a record for irony, at least somewhere. The man picked up Queen, and as he vanished, added, Well, maybe not. Theyre magical swords, so it fits.


    As he returned, he pped Quill on the back as he stood and raised his hand to the crowd.


    Our victor, Quill! Is there anyone who can beat such a mad man? With this victory, it''s up to just a few others to take him down, and break his streak. Can Diana do it? Nyx? Maybe one of the Gems? Who knows. But what I <em>do</em> know, is that Im looking forward to the matches.


    With thatst bit of showboating, they were teleported into the healing area, and Light dropped some of the persona.


    Good victory, kid. That was impressive. I look forward to your next fights. The top fifty is a gauntlet of blood, and you''re doing well.


    With that, the man vanished, and Quill heard him announcing the start of the next match.


    He was just settling in when he got a message from Queen.


    Rematch?


    Quill justughed.

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165


    Torch watched as Quill was teleported out and wished her character wasn''t supposed to be so reserved. He had worked so hard on [Sword Rain], and seeing it end the fight so decisively made her ecstatic. She wanted to join everyone else in the stadium and shout at the top of her lungs.


    Even Light, as he reappeared, riled up the crowd with an enthusiasm that she felt almost matched her own, If that doesn''t make the top ten moments of this tournament, Ill eat my mask. Can we get some other good fights, or did we reach the climax early?


    Shadow, even though she was more serious, added, The real question is, can Torch match her partner''s prowess? Let''s find out as she fights Rewind. If she loses here, they won''t be able to both take first ce, and their bragging will be for naught.


    That brought everyone''s attention to Torch and Rewind, who were sitting in the waiting boxes.


    Rewind winked and put her thumb down to Torch, who ignored her.


    Rewind would be an annoying opponent, but she had her own trump cards ready for any situation.


    Any single element user had their counters, and anyone at their level would have counters to the counters. Torch had taken a page out of Duke Waters book, and had selected specific skills to ensure that no one could easily subvert her fire skills.


    Stepping forward, she gestured for Rewind to go ahead of her and bowed slightly.


    Her stupid supporters started cheering at that, but she ignored them.


    Rewind was one of her biggest problem opponents in the tournament, with her fire abilities having little physical stopping power.


    Rewind had proven time and time again that she was nearly immune to being burnt or drowned. You couldn''t really kill her, and had to trap her long enough for the five minute countdown to take her out of the fight.


    Just killing her did nothing, as far as anyone could tell.


    Fire skills were bad at locking people down, considering the mes were made out of energy.


    Stepping into the ring, Torch withdrew her spear and a me ran down the haft of the weapon, engulfing the entire spear.


    Rewind drew her short sword and daggerbo, and the instant the ref counted down, rushed at Torch.


    Not letting an easy opportunity to test how Rewind''s Talent worked pass by, she pointed her spear and sent a bar of fire at the charging woman.


    As she ran through the mes, Torch watched the woman''s exposed flesh on her neck and hands char, then return to normal a secondter.


    Knowing it was a waste, Torch stopped the stream of me andunched herself into the air.


    Rewind did the same, but Torch was faster, even with her heavier armor.


    Torch blocked the first strike with the haft of her spear and flew to the side to avoid the sword aimed at her weaker midsection armor.


    She noticed that she was stronger than Rewind, but the woman''s absurd Talent made her more than willing to take any hit in order to make her opponent bleed as well.


    Sending her spear into the air and controlling it with [Blood Maniption], Torch caught the dagger wielding hand at the wrist. Using the boost that came from her Blood Alchemy, she squeezed as hard as she could.


    Bone shattered to powder. Rewind seemed unbothered, and tried to bring her main weapon around to strike Torch, but that arm was also caught.


    Through her gloves, Torch felt the bones that were ground down to fine powder start to reform, pushing even her strength enhanced fist open. Squeezing once again, Torch shattered the reformed bones, but this time, she nted her boot on Rewind''s chest and shoved while pulling her opponents shattered wrists.


    Flesh tore, and Rewind went flying with a spray of blood that Torch was oh so tempted to grab and wrap around the woman. But she just watched on as Rewinds hands reformed before she even hit the ground.


    Interestingly enough, the scraps of torn flesh in her hands didnt disappear or vanish in any way.


    Seeing that ripping her to shreds wouldn''t work either, Torch tossed the limbs aside just as Rewind pulled out a second set of weapons and charged at her.


    She wanted to avoid showing any more of her trump cards than she needed to, so Torch braced herself for her opponents next charge.


    She blocked Rewind''s chop at her head with her arm, and exploded into a pir of me as the dagger-wielding hand drove towards her stomach.


    Torch thrust the spear through Rewind''s chest, but the woman''s Talent kicked in, and it was expelled from her body as the flesh mended.


    Before Rewind could react, Torch kicked her in the chest, sending her opponent smashing into the ground for a second time.


    Even with the woman''s body exploding on the impact, she quickly returned to normal. After recovering, she looked as if she was going to take off into the air, but Torch already had her next attack ready to go.


    With [Earth Maniption], she quickly sent ayer of stone flowing over Rewinds legs, chest, and arms. As the stone covered her head, Rewind made her mask smile up at Torch, who just watched until she could no longer see.


    As she expected, her skill ran into resistance as Rewind used [Earth Swim] to slip through the encasing stone.


    The skill was a Tier 14 skill that allowed anyone to move through stone and earth as if they were water. It was one of the most effective ways of escaping such a trap.


    But Torch had been faster.


    The instant Rewind had her vision blocked, she had cast [Create Water] right over the tomb and sh froze it with a potion. It was an incredibly expensive tincture made from a Tier 13 ice lily, but seeing the ice grow thicker and thicker was worth the cost.


    Rewind ran into the thick b of ice and pounded on it from inside the stone, but seeing that her opponent remained trapped, Torch smiled.


    Her strategy almost worked, but Rewind hardly an amateur. She used [Earth Swim] to pass through the remaining stone and under the ice.


    Torch tried to slow her down long enough for the still growing ice to cover the entire arena floor, but Rewind was quick, and escaped right before the ice reached the edge of the stage.


    Brushing herself off, she called up to Torch, Using ice seems against the archetype, and its really unfair. I was <em>not</em> prepared for that one.


    Torch remained standing in the air, and directed her ming spear at the talking woman.


    Rewind dodged the attack andunched herself into the air at Torch, who met her sword with a fist covered in fire.


    When Rewind was once again thrown away, Torch charged after her and mmed them both into the now thickyer of ice that covered the arena floor.


    Rewind looked like she was going to say something, but Torch used her cloak and unleashed a wave of fire over the now frozen over area.


    Steam washed over them and scalded Rewind''s lightly armored form, while Liz had her full te and enchantments to block the attack.


    For the first time, Torch heard Rewind scream in pain, but it still wasnt enough to take the woman out of the fight. In response, Torch received a punch to her armored face that rocked her back.


    Growling, she returned the favor as mes enveloped them.


    Escaping back underground, Rewind fled the overheated water while Torch took back to the sky.


    Cursing internally, Torch realized that she would need to resort to another one of her trump cards. She hoped that freezing the arena would be enough to end this fight, and she had been saving this next one for Queen. But at this point, she wasnt sure if she could beat Rewind without it.


    The only thing working in her favor was that Rewind couldn''t hide forever. Eventually, it would result in her losing the fight.


    As Rewind plotted her next move underground, Torch started to extract the blood iron from her body and bring it to gather around her fist.


    Super heating the iron to a red hot state was hard, especially when she needed split her attention to maintain [Blood Maniption] in order to keep control of it. But she had practiced this enough; maintaining several skills was almost second nature.


    Luna would only allow Torch to use the attack from Lizs kit under one condition; she had to make it seem like she was simply using a metal maniption skill. In other words, her timing had to be perfect.


    When Rewind came out of the ground, Torch red up the mes surrounded her now molten metal-epassed fist, and rushed to meet the woman in mid-air.


    When her fist met Rewind''s de, she sent the blood inside the molten metal to swarm over her opponents entire body, just like she had previously with [Earth Maniption].


    Torch needed to send a constant stream of blood into the core of the molten metal to keep it under her control, but the burned blood could be recovered after the fight.


    Rewind dropped her des, and with bare hands, tried to tear at the glowing liquid metal that covered her face. It did little more than help spread the molten iron while burning her hands.


    Torch used one hand to direct the metal, and a second to unleash a [methrower] on it to keep it liquid. Sadly, she didnt have an endless mana pool like Matt, and quickly had to cut the stream of mes off. Even with her bloodline making fire spells stronger, the skill was too expensive for extended use.


    But it was enough, and in a few seconds, Rewind was encased in molten iron.


    Torch raised an eyebrow when she wasnt immediately dered the victor. Apparently, having molten metal stered all over her skin wasn''t enough to endanger Rewind''s life.


    Shrugging, Torch cast [Create Water] over the red metal and let her blood inside the metal boil off.


    With the new hard shell of iron out of her control, it plummeted fifteen feet to the ground, and the five-minute countdown for a trap victory started.


    Torch almost expected Rewind to have some way to escape the metal prison, but five minutester, the referee pulled Rewinds metal blob away, and she was crowned the victor.


    Returning to her seat, Torch didnt forget to shoot a look at Light for theatrics'' sake.


    He didnt pretend to miss it and called out, After that stunning victory by Torch, I believe we all have a better appreciation of what it means to be able to hold their own. I have to eat my earlier statement for sure. At this rate, can anyone stop the power duo of Quill and Torch? Maybe tomorrow''s team battle will give us an answer! Theyre up against the ever mysterious Numbers team, after all.


    Torch just sat down and waited for Quill to join her, which he did not long after. Queen followed him out shortly, and thankfully didnt seem too upset by her loss. If they were going to brave what essentially amounted to a hellscape together, her holding a grudge could spell an early end to their coboration.


    The quiet woman was apparently in a good mood, as she quipped to Torch through their AI, Good thing Rewind forced your hand. That might have worked on me if I wasnt aware of it.


    Torch sighed and quipped right back, Yeah well, she was annoyingly persistent in not wanting to die. That Talent is monstrous. I figured there had to be a weakness, but I couldn''t find it. Her healing pushed my spear out of her chest, despite my best efforts in trying to keep in there.


    Quill, next to her, kicked his feet up and shrugged. Easy fight for me, to be honest. I''m more worried about Adam. I still don''t know how he gets past people''s defenses like that.


    Liz nodded to that, along with Queen. Adam was more than the typical illusionist.


    Even though their fights were done for the day, none of them left, as they wanted to see how the rest of the contestants fought. The three of them were going to take any advantage they could from watching each battle.


    Liz was impressed by a few of the contenders, but no one stood out to her more than they already had. At least, none except for Annie.


    The assassin in training was proving to be a terror to all who faced her. With her new Concept, along with her invisibility and intangibility Talent, only one person had managed to take her down in their fifteen out of fifty matches. That ranking left her tied for second ce with three other people.


    She had turned into quite the monster, seemingly overnight.


    ***


    The next day, Quill and Torch were forced to sit around untilte afternoon, when their battle with the Numbers squad wouldmence.


    The golden ratio team, at least publicly, was a very standard team. Thirty-Four was their mage, Fifty-Five was their archer, Thirteen was their melee damage dealer, and Twenty-One was their melee frontliner.


    But Zeran and Feri had already proven that they were hiding their true abilities. Quill suspected they were like them and had a double identity under their masks but wasn''t sure.


    As they were lowered into the arena, Quill readied his battle n, preemptively putting on his cloak, but keeping the rest of his talisman armor in reserve. The periphery armors were too expensive for their more limited use, and he didnt think that those uses would be needed here. With Torch there to back him up, he would be able to stay true to his role as a mage, unlike in the solo fights, where he needed to do a little bit of everything.


    When the fight started, he whipped out half a dozen talismans to give Torch some free fire to control. But as the first of the talismans were activating, Thirteen, the rapier wielder, screamed.


    Reality seemed to warp slightly as she shouted, Imand the world to not burn!


    The fires that did exist immediately shrunk down to marble-sized orbs and quickly extinguished themselves. Torch''s spear and armor dimmed and sputtered down to a tiny me. Even the runes that were embedded into her armor to spread the fire around flickered as they tried to function.


    Above Thirteen, arge me illusion sputtered and flickered. With his spiritual sense, Quill felt that the illusionary me was sucking in all the fire around them like a heat sink. Despite her decree, all the fires didntpletely go out, but most of their power was extinguished.


    It was a very interesting Talent, but it wouldn''t be half as effective against Torch as they might have hoped.


    Without pausing, the two of them ran forward, but they were once again surprised as the frontliner, Twenty-One, exploded into a swamp-like creature. The disfigured form was ten feet tall, and was seemingly made up of mud and decaying tree branches.


    He swung his oversized fist at Torch, but she met the attack with her spear and cut a furrow into the bark of his hand, before dodging a thrust from the nking rapier wielder.


    The numbers team wasn''t holding anything back, so they were forced to return the favor.


    As Quill passed the opposing teams melee fighters to attack their back line, he saw Torch kick up and back, catching Thirteen in a surprise uppercut as the rapier wielder tried to intercept him.


    From his talisman cloak, Quill summoned a barrier of mana that floated in front of him and caught the first wave of bullets that Fifty-Five shot at him. He mentally noted that the gunman was using higher Tier bullets from the start, but was surprised at the explosions on each impact.


    It took his AI a few rounds to understand exactly what the man had done, and Quill had to give it to him for thinking outside the box. After watching Fifty-Five break out his guns for the first time, Quill had researched everything he could about the weapon. He was able to piece together enough information to understand the mechanics behind Fifty-Fives fighting style. The gunman had enchanted his bullets, despite it being such an extensive time and money investment into disposable items. It wasnt unheard of for a gun wielder to do, but it was a rare subset of an already obscure weapon.


    Archers did it much moremonly, as arrows could at least be picked back up, as long as they werent destroyed. But once a bullet was fired, it became scrap metal. To reuse a bullet, you would have to to melt it down and recast it, which would destroy any enchantmentsid into the metal.


    Still, Fifty-Five had enchanted his bullets to the gills with durability runes. Normally, it was an idiotic move, since once the enchantment was pushed to its limit, the item would explode. But with alreadybustible bullets, the runes turned them into small explosives on impact.


    Preemptively casting another shield, in case Fifty-Five switched to a more armor-piercing round, Quill closed the distance from the gunman and mage through the torrent of bullets. He was almost on them, and had already thrown out two [Wind de] talismans when a rune appeared in the air in front of the mage, Thirty-Four.


    He was just barely able to recognize it as a wind and reflect runeyered on top of each other before his attacks were sent flying back at him.


    Quill was fast enough to dodge both attacks, but Thirty-Four had created another rune behind himself that sent out a stream of ice.


    A preemptive st of mana into his cloak activated an earth barrier, with a secondary but weaker wind barrier under it, just in time to catch the bullets trying to kill him.


    <em>Well, that answers what the rest of the team was hiding</em>.


    Thirty-Four was able to project runes into the air to create intense magical effects. Fifty-Five was a gunman with an emphasis on dexterity. Thirteen was a melee fighter who was able to stop a single elemental type in an area around her, and Twenty-One was a shapeshifter who could turn into a swamp or bog. Quill wasn''t really sure if there was any difference.


    Now that he knew their real capabilities, Quill threw down an [Earth Lock] talisman to prevent any attack that Thirty-Four tried to use. It was really just a [Earth Maniption] talisman that was programmed to hold things still, but it was effective.


    He loaded a talisman array before he burst from his protective prison, and activated the spells inside.


    Thirteen might be able to stop fire spells, but Quill was a talisman fighter, so they had to be prepared for everything. On top of that, one thing that he had learned through his experience with enchanting was that <em>phrasing</em> for Thirteens kind of abilities mattered.


    Thirteen had said the world should not burn, but fire was a byproduct of things burning. Things burned because they had too much energy.


    Quill just needed to gather all the heat energy in the arena for Torch to use. Overwhelm her heat sink as the ce for fire to gather.


    They even had prepared an array for this ahead of time, though they had originally made it so that Torch could use all of the fire mana in a volcano when she was first training. It was supposed to be used to greatly empower her fire skills, and as a countermeasure for Aster being hard countered by the environment.


    As Quill spun, he threw a talisman in the direction of where Torch was fighting.


    Despite Thirteen and Twenty-One''s best efforts, the parchmentnded, and stuck to her chest.


    At the same time, the other five talismans spread throughout the arena, and started to absorb all of the fire mana in the vicinity.


    Despite Thirteens Talent suppressing the mana, it was still present in the arena. As the array activated, all of the mana gathered into the talismans, and then transferred to Torch and her armor.


    Dodging a mass of wind des, Quill saw Torchs armor re to life and engulf her in mes. His mask grinned as the numbers shirked back from the intensity of the mes. He didn''t have time for any <em>more in depth</em> theatics during a fight this intense, but he felt that got the message across.


    They needed to keep up the pretense that her physical strength increased with the more fire she had under her control. Now, Torch had all the fire mana in the arena so she could use her blood alchemy without worry.


    As bullets mmed into his barrier, he threw up half a dozen other talismans that bloomed into stylized flowers of me.


    They were only hand sized under the suppression effect of Thirteen''s Talent, but they still produced a ton of fire mana for Torch to use.


    Matt had made them on a whim when Liz quipped that Torch should have fire flowers to fit the jokes floating around, as they could sell them for a stupid amount of points to all the people in her fan club. He just wished that he could hear the crowd through the formations blocking the arena off. Except now, they were actually useful, instead of the decorative money-makers they were intended to be.


    Now able to focus on his own fight, Quill threw out half a dozen [Wind de] talismans at Fifty-Five, who had tried to nk his barriers while he helped Torch. His barriers were mostly full spheres, which made the tactic essentially useless, and only put the gunman out of range for Thirty-Four''s cover.


    Even with a dozen attacks, Fifty-Five dodged and wove through the spells with flexibility that even Queen couldn''t match at her full power, like when she was evading his [Sword Rain].


    Landing right as Thirty-Four created a fall and heavy rune to suppress his flight, Quill had tough. Thirty-Four''s Talent was unique and interesting, but their attacks were easily readable by any enchanter, or anyone who had downloaded a rune dictionary.


    At least, at the early Tiers, those were easily avable and were a hard counter to the mages style.


    It didnt mean that he was a pushover, though; the mages team worked well to cover up his Talents weaknesses. Fifty-Five increased his rapid-fire attacks while the mage was creating his runes to provide covering fire.


    As the gunman changed bullets to prate the wall of ice that Quill put up, he prepared his own attack from behind his cover. But right as he was about to cast the talisman array, he paused slightly.


    Fifty-Five changed his bullets to a more prative one, yes, but he hadnt been shooting with both guns.


    His second gun had shot a number of bullets at Thirty-Four, who had a pause rune to capture the bullets and create a protective shell around his more vulnerable partner.


    With his idea to rush the mage no longer a good one, Quill tossed a talisman behind himself so Torch could knock the swamp man into it. The resulting explosion blew the ice wall to powder, and Thirteen tried to pivot and attack Quill, but Torch hit the woman with a ming fist, and Quill used the distraction to strike the woman with a [Jolt].


    Separating as the swamp man stood back up, Quill jumped away and threw out a number of [Wind de]s that Torch dodged, but the others in the arena didn''t.


    The gunman tried to shoot at Torch, but Quill sent a barrage of [Earth Spear]s at him, bringing his attention back to Quill.


    They were fighting fine, but they were stifled by the anti-fire effects of Thirteens Talent, which removed most of the fire from the arena. At that point, the path to changing the tide of the battle was clear. They needed to take the mage out of the picture, so they could then shift focus to the element nullifying melee fighter. Quill activated his strength-increasing talisman and rushed Thirteen with a fist encased in metal mana. The numbered mask smiled as Quill approached, and the rune for halt dissolved right in front of him. Suddenly, all of the captured bullets that had been suspended in air resumed their momentum.


    Right as he was about to dodge, he felt air and space try to restrict him as a second rune appeared. However, he had long practice with breaking such restrictions with his Concept, and his momentum didnt even slow. Powering through the resistance with his willpower, Quills gauntleted fist crashed into Thirty-Fours chest, and he felt their ribs shatter under the impact.


    He was unable to effectively follow up with another attack, as Fifty-Five rushed close and unleashed a barrage of bullets that all grew in size as they approached. Quills defensive spells were quickly overwhelmed, and he needed to stop and withdraw another set of protective talismans that were effective against physical attacks.


    The mage struggled to their feet, but coughed up blood twice before they created a healing rune. It was almost amusing to see his [Bandage] rune being used by his opponents.


    Needing to stop the seemingly unending stream of bullets that Fifty-Five kept sending at him, he threw out two [Create Water] talismans and then froze them once the arena was covered in water.


    It forced all of them into the air and stifled most of Fifty-Fives acrobatics, allowing Quill to focus on him. He quickly overwhelmed the man''s defenses and cut through his coat and thin armor.


    He was going to cast a [Hail] array to trap the gunman, but the wounded mage cast a disruption rune that interrupted Quills talisman casting.


    Cursing, Quill changed his target to the gunman when Thirty-Four unleashed a massive torrent of cutting wind. Quill thought little of the gusts, and only used a single earth talisman to block them.


    Treating the attack lightly turned out to be a mistake, as the condensed wind attacks carried a trace of void mana, and sliced right through his defenses as if they weren''t even there.


    Growing tired of this fight now that he had been bloodied, Quill wished he had more copies of [Sword Rain]. He only had two more at his disposal and he wasnt willing to use them here, since he couldn''t be entirely sure that the mage couldn''t use his own runes to interfere with the attack again. He was just happy that he had forced the man to stop his earlier [Hail], which was only made with his more plentiful Tier 10 materials.


    If he had lost a [Sword Rain] like that, he would have wept at the waste. Tier 16 enchantment ink wasnt cheap, even with his Talent, and he couldnt make it himself, like the lower Tier versions he normally used.


    The only good thing was that the wind attack only contained the barest hints of void, and most of it had been used up while punching through his defensiveyers, so his injuries were minor.


    Turning to Thirty-Four, Quill let his staff slip in his hand while rushing the mage with all the speed he could muster with his flying devices and Concept. Instead of trying to trap him, the mage retreated, but Quill cast [Jolt] twice, forcing him to spend energy on defensive runes instead of speeding himself up.


    Even with Fifty-Five shooting him from behind, Quill quickly closed the gap andnded a [Jolt] on the man, causing his body to spasm in pain. An [Ice Spear] talisman took him in the hip, and spun him around as he plummeted to the ice-covered ground.


    Before the mage could gather himself, Quill tossed a [Shatter] talisman on the ice, which exploded, taking the mage out of the fight when the referee saved him.


    Quill turned to Fifty-Five and cracked his neck. Interesting true power sets, but its not enough. He nodded to where Torch was fighting Thirteen and Twenty-One, and the two looked much worse for wear.


    He was about so say more, but Fifty-Five shot another wave of bullets at Quill, who was forced to dodge and trash talk at the same time. Torch is about to take out Thirteen, and then youll all immediately lose. So tell me, why the golden ratio? I can''t make heads or tails of it. I half expected you guys to be the same person, but only as strong as thest two put together, or something like that.


    Fifty-Five shrugged as he paused his barrage and nodded with one of his guns. We thought it would confuse people who think they''re smarter than they really are. Seems like it worked.


    Quill nodded at theeback, and then raced away from the gunman towards Twenty-Ones unprotected back.


    pping an explosion talisman on the man''s back, he flew around to the side to avoid the explosion.


    Thirteen was distracted just enough for Torch to grab the hand that held her rapier, and pulled her into a heavy punch that deformed her helmet, and the face underneath. The damage was so bad, the ref pulled her out of the fight before Torch couldnd the second punch she was pulling back.


    Without Thirteen and her Talent, Torch red up as if an elerant had been poured on her, spelling the end of the fight.


    Twenty-One and Fifty-Five tried to fight, but now that it was two-on-two, Quill and Torch quickly dominated the momentum of the battle, preventing their opponents from making any kind ofeback.


    When they exited the arena, the crowd was going wild, especially the civilians who had been brought in.


    Quill paused as everyone cheered for them and said, Beating them was as easy as 1, 1, 2, 3. He shot a re over to where Page and Diego sat and added, Maybe I should partner with the masks and make my own news studio.


    With his corny joke out of the way, the two of them made their way into the healer''s tent. Torch had made it through the entire fight without taking anything more damaging than a slight cut to her elbow, where Thirteennded a thrust.


    That was leagues better than Quill, who had threerge cuts through his abdomen.


    Thankfully, the fact that there was void mana was hidden in the attack meant the cuts were clean, leaving easy-to-close incisions. It was unfortunate, but it didnt push him into healing cooldown territory any more than a broken bone would have.


    As they listened to the announcers, along with Light and Shadow,ment on how their fight went, Quill sat back down in his chair to watch the next bout.


    Diana''s team was going to be a serious challenge, especially with their greater numbers and well-rounded abilities, so they needed to get everything they could out of observing them. They could only hope that their opponents could push them into show a few trump cards.


    ***


    Shadow cursed as she waded through the sewage-holding tank as if it was the realm''s most foul swimming pool.


    It was a good thing her mask could filter out things like water, and whatever was floating around inside of it, or she would do this the hard way.


    Not needing to breathe didnt mean that she wanted to dive in sewage.


    Tracking down spies entailed going wherever they went, and they had just found a lead suggesting that one of the Federation''s spies had been using the sewer system as a base.


    This particr tank had been out of the normal cycle for no discernible reason. Normally, the sewer tanks were filtered and extracted of any viable fertilizers before they were sent into low Tier rifts maintained for waste disposal.


    After the tanks were dumped, they were cleaned and returned to absorb trillions of peoples crap.


    But this tank was, for some reason, taken out of the cleaning rotation, despite being full.


    The counter-espionage team had noticed the traces of the Feddies'' presence, and pointed them at the problem.


    So she, Light, Stick, and Stone had the pleasure of swimming through the vile tank to find any spies who might or might not be lurking inside the filth.


    To the counter-espionage team''s benefit, they had already found obscuring runic formations etched into the steel walls. They most certainly weren''t a part of the normal spatial expansion formations, which meant that someone had been there who shouldn''t have been.


    Shadow had just wanted to cut the bottom of the tank out and then fish out anyone inside as they flowed out, but management had rejected that, saying that the waste disposal tanks were too valuable to destroy on a whim.


    They only gave the spies a ten percent chance of still being inside, and they considered that too small a chance to be willing to destroy the tank.


    So, they had to swim through shit.


    Stone called out over their AI channel, Found a rune here that I''m pretty sure is the start of the entrance sequence.


    Swimming over to her position, Shadow started making bargains with any Tier 50 who could read her mind, begging that the spies were still inside so she could force feed them all of the excrement theyd traversed and then some.


    When they set up their entrance protocols, they triggered the rune, ready forbat, but found themselves inside a pure white room with a message scrawled on the walls in Federationmon.


    Please dont dirty the floor. We just had it cleaned. Shitty people not wee.


    Shadow clenched her fist as she counted down from ten. She wanted to destroy the entire ce but if she set this trap up she would leave memory crystals hidden around with useless data so anyone who broke them regretted it as they could have never known if they had destroyed anything useful.


    Reporting into management, she used her Talent and cut a hole in their shadows back to real space from the pocket they were currently in, and deposited the four of them in a shower room.


    When she found the spies who had set this little trap up, she was going to get them back for their little prank.


    Once she reached Tier 25, and didnt have a time restriction, she was going to go take a walk through the Federation''s known spy hives.


    She was going to make them pay.

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166


    Annie stood around with her sister and Conor as their manager, Brett, introduced himself and started critiquing theirbat styles.


    Brett started with her boyfriend and gave him what she considered to be good advice, especially for someone so pigeonholed into a role because of his Talent.


    It boiled down to do your job <em>really</em> well.


    Emily got a moreprehensive instruction list that essentially meant that she needed more nning and flexibility. In a team setting, she was fine being the hard-hitting mage, but she needed to be able to stand on her own as well. Being countered by some enchantments wasnt a viable option long-term, if she wanted to grow stronger.


    To that end, Emily would also be meeting with a specialist who could help her make [Cracked Mana Bolt] a more fitting addition to her kit, as it was falling far short of its potential. He declined to expand on the details, but he had already scheduled her appointment for shortly after the tournament ended.


    Annie fully agreed with everything he had said, up until the point where he dropped a stack of textbooks in front of her.


    She looked at Brett with a confused look on her face. Whats all this for?


    He, on the other hand, gave her an evil smile and replied, For you, obviously. Youre going to study and memorize each and every one of them. And dont forget to do the exercises. No AI.


    Annie looked devastated as she looked at each of the books. What? No way! If I wanted to be a nerd, I wouldnt have joined the Path in the first ce! Why do I even need <em>Kandau and Kifshitzs Mundane Physics Fundamentals!</em>? Or <em>ck and Whites Anatomy</em>? And whats this <em>The Updating Manual of Mental Disorders</em>? Some of these are bigger than my head!


    Brett just continued to smile slyly and said, If you want something to me, me your new Concept. Its ability seems toe in two parts. The first part acts passively, and seems to help you intuitively understand the cleanest and most efficient method of achieving your goal. You do what''s necessary, but <em>only</em> what''s necessary, nothing more.


    Seeing Annie nod her head in understanding, Brett continued. If the passive part of your Concept is the nner, the active part of your Concept is the agent that executes the n. It guides your every action toplete the mission. Its quite something to see in action. Its almost like you be a high tier AI opponent. Though, actually integrating it into your AIes muchter.


    Thats the part of my Concept that needs improvement. If it wasnt for the damn thing hijacking my body and throwing me into unfavorable positions, I would have ced higher. Annie shuddered, recalling the deeply unsettling feeling of her body being puppeted by an unfeeling and cold Concept. If it wasnt for the massive power boost that came with it, she would just rely on the passive portion of her Concept, and never touch the active portion.


    Brett smiled. Now see, thats where youre dead wrong. By definition, the active portion of your Concept was executing the best n that the passive part of your Concept coulde up with. You cant me the active part. It was just blindly following orders. Think back to your fights. If your body was following the best n to win, then why did you lose?


    Annie lowered her head and reflected on the question. In the beginning, she did very well. She cleanly and quickly defeated her opponents with nary a scratch. The problems didnt start until she fought Torch, where the weakness of her Concept was openly exploited. At the start of the match, she actually seemed to be winning against the woman. In reality, Torch had been leading her Concept into a trap. She purposefully epted a seemingly fatal strike in order tond a genuinely fatal counter-attack. After that, the other opponents picked up on the trick, and she began to lose more often.


    With the two exceptions of Queen, who just clearly outmatched her, and Adam, where she didnt even know how she lost, every other loss hade from an opponent stringing her Concept along into some sort of trap.


    Intangibility was useful, but not so much in directbat, where she could be led around until her mana ran low, or when she needed to attack from the front.


    It was tricked. Annie groused with a sigh.


    Yes, but why was it tricked? When Annie didnt answer, Brett continued, It was tricked because <em>you </em>were tricked. Your Concept acts like a pseudo-seeker Talent. Out of the millions upon millions of ways to aplish a goal, your Concept seeks out the best n with <em>both</em> the highest chance of sess and least amount of effort required. However, unlike true seeker Talents that pull key information out of the ethereal, your Concept only has the same information that you have. In the fight with Torch, she baited you with false information, leading your Concept to draw the wrong conclusion about what n to go with. With Adam, youcked any actionable information about how his gimmick worked, so you were dead in the water to begin with. Against Queen Well, your Concept tried its best. I wont fault it on that one.


    A look of enlightenment graced Annies face. So the more I learn, the better it can n. And thus, the better I can stab people...


    Precisely. You will study physics to better understand the world. You will study anatomy so you can be confident in your fatal blows. You will study psychology to better understand your enemies and their thought processes. Once you have a strong grasp on those, well move on to the more challenging topics. Additionally, I suspect that improving your own nning skills will make using the active part much less ufortable and willpower intensive, as it wont have to operate nearly as independently to aplish your goals. By the time Im done with you, you will be a schr of death, capable of killing a man by flipping a coin. Now, are you ready to hit the books?


    Yeah! Although, she eyed the tower of books, Can I get lunch first? I havent eaten.


    Brett sighed, lowered his head and rubbed his brow. He felt like a parent trying to get their child to do their homework. Yes, go ahead. But starting tomorrow, I expect you toplete your assignments. If you do, theres an outside chance you can still make the Top Ten.


    When he nced back up, she was already halfway down the hall, sprinting towards the cafeteria.


    ***


    Kimberly met Abigail and had to admit that the woman was intimidating.


    Her new manager looked like the strictest librarian in the universe, which was almost afort. She had spent more than her fair share of time hiding away from bullies in thebyrinths of bookshelves. The woman exuded a quiet confidence that she found almost enviable, but she was also intimidating enough tomand her utmost respect.


    She had already started listing out things she needed to do, and was now pointing to notes in a massive binder where she went into greater detail. Kimberly assumed that Abigail was going to ignore Emerald and Sapphire for just being Talent constructs. It was something most people were wont to do, simply because they couldnt wrap their heads around the fact that the constructs were as real to her as any other living being in the universe. All had been going well before that thought, and as she chewed on the inside of her lip, trying to gauge how she should bring the subject up, Abigail withdrew individual binders for each of them too.


    Seeing her friends treated as the real people she <em>knew</em> they were, Kimberly was able to rx, and start seeing the manager as someone that she could maybe trust.


    When she exined the current n to win the team tournament, Abigail tly rejected the idea.


    She simply said, I want you to lose.


    Why would I lose? My friends and I have worked hard toe this far, if I try hard enough and pull out some of my trump cardswe could take this thing! I can still make two new friends.


    The manager shook her head. You could do a lot of damage with your Talent, but you need to consider the worst case scenario, Kimberly. It could do a lot of damage to you. Your gems focus on being what you need in that moment, and thats amazingly powerful. But at the same time, watching them die is eating at you. You might not be feeling it, but I and my team of analysts can see it. We know that it sucks to lose, but losing right now <em>with purpose</em> is better than losing long term. The prizes for the top are great, but the difference between first and tenth ce isn''t <em>that </emrge. What, you want a cool, personalized house? We can buy you one with the rewards you lot get from delving rifts. As long as you reach the top fifty. The rewards that really matter, the personalized rewards that are custom tailored to you are the first ones allocated. Ranking higher only means more, and a better Tier of those rewards, but just cing is enough for our purposes.


    Abigail flipped through a folder she brought out of nowhere. What you and I really want, Kimberly, is for your friends to get another shot at going into the Legacies. And if you trust me, and do what I say, we can make that happen. There are methods to allow sapient constructs to use them. But the rules for Legacies are strict, as you no doubt know from asking around. We are lucky all Pathers who are rated well by their managers by Tier 14 are allowed another trip to the Repository so none of you will miss out.


    Emerald de was going to respond, but Abigail shot him a t look that made him wilt back.


    Looking between all of them, Abigail said, But you must have realized that your Talent, when creating a new friend, is entirely dependent on your own emotional state at the time. They fill a role based on your needs, but theyre also influenced by your emotions. If you want to make a healer, and more importantly, a rogue, you need to be more emotionally centered for them. Emerald de and Sapphire Shield being aggressive and action oriented is a good thing, since theyre both frontliners. Id wager that you made Sapphire Shield when you were feeling defensive and alone. Same idea for Emerald de, Im sure you ended up making a saber fighter when you wanted to strike back for once.


    Kimberly could only nod in response, as everything Abigail had said about Emerald de and Sapphire Shield was one hundred percent correct.


    Abigail continued, But a healer needs to keep their calm so they can rationally assess the team''s needs. And a rogue needs to be patient, and strike at just the right time. They need you to be stable first. You don''t want to have to overwrite one of their personalities if you mess up and can''t work with them, do you?


    She didnt exactly love the n, but once Abigail exined more, she understood. She <em>really</em> didnt want to have to overwrite one of her friends'' personalities. She knew it was possible, but the idea was anathema to her. Shed rather set them free to live their own lives, but that was impossible, as her Talent onlysted for so long before she needed to re-energize them.


    When her manager brought out three more binders to choose from for her next steps, she even started to like the idea.


    When she was allowed to talk it over with her friends, and was able to pick which of the ns she wanted, Kimberly waspletely on board.


    A little would be lost now by not showing all of her power, but the future was bright.


    Shed had no idea that top ranked Pathers were given a second chance to enter the Legacies after their spirits were healed. They just needed to prove that they were worth the expense.


    Abigail even had a method and n for getting Emerald and Sapphire their own chances at a Legacy, if the three of them could meet some of her challenges. They weren''t sure that they could use them as every Talent was different, but she was willing to get them slots to try, which was all Kimberly cared about.


    Short-term loss for long-term gain.


    That was something Kimberly could ept.


    ***


    Adam nodded along to what his managers recording said as they yed a game of spot the fake and find the original. He never expected to win the game that the Tier 35 started, but he hadnt expected to be continuously spanked on pure technique.


    That was respectable. After his first tournament loss to Queen, he had been forced to reevaluate his own Talent and Concept.


    Losing a second time to Rewind was tolerable. They both knew each other, and understood each other''s secrets and weaknesses.


    But Queen had just shoved a sword in his chest, ending his borate dance before it could begin. Unfortunately, her Concept manifestation was a hard counter to him that he hadnt known existed until it pushed straight through all of his defenses. His ignorance has been his downfall.


    Which was why he had been desperately trying to find his manager. They were meant to help one grow and learn.


    Except, he still didnt even know his manager''s name. The only thing he had found was a note that started him on a trail through the tournament world. Those hints always came with something for him to improve on that he would need to find the next clue.


    So far, he had learned how to better blend in and avoid detection in various ways, which he believed had all led up to this.


    His current clue was hidden inside one of the Gardeners'' rest shacks, and he had no idea how to get inside without breaking his cover. His illusions only really worked on people around his Tier. Those that vastly outranked him were able to see right through his power. Monsters were easier to fool, so he was able to delve up a few Tiers, but humans were intelligent mostly.


    Chewing through a sandwich, he brushed the crumbs off his hands before walking forward.


    He was just going to wing it and see what happened.


    Worst case scenario, he was kicked out on his ass, and the manager would be forced to show themselves to continue the game.


    Sometimes beating the game meant flipping the board.


    ***


    The next week delivered a slog fest of fights, but most of them proved easy enough for Quill and Torch to handle without showing or burning more of their trump cards.


    There were only two exceptions during the team fights. The Gems unexpectedly pushed them into using another of Quills precious [Sword Rain] arrays. Then, Dianas team forced the duo to reveal their even more powerful, team variation of the skill.


    [zing Spear Rain] was an upgrade on [Sword Rain], creating spears of fire that fell just as the swords did. As they were made of fire, Torch could control and empower them. She directed every strike into Dianas team in a hellish barrage.


    Even with a potent front liner and healerbination, their formidable team was unable to stop enough of the concentrated salvo to prevent their loss.


    The resounding victory saw the pair clutching first ce in the team rankings. No one had a sufficient counter for the overwhelming power concentrated on their team. If the attack was simply an area attack, like [Sword Rain], the other toppetitors might have had some counter-y. But they couldn''t stop the attack when Torch directed the barrage in a much smaller area. The usual fire defenses also failed, simply because [zing Spear Rain] hit at a high enough Tier to overwhelm them.


    After transitioning away from the team fights and their domination of Dianas team, opponents in both brackets started to surrender as soon as they were put in a disadvantageous position against them, instead of risking pointless wounds. A lengthy healing cooldown was the easiest way to get dropped to the bottom of the top fifty, and no one wanted to risk it.


    Only one remaining fight worried Quill his uing bout with Adam.


    The normal-named Pather was still a giant question mark for everyone.


    So far, hed been bested only thrice. The first time, Queen stabbed what should have been an obvious illusion, but Adam was immediately yanked out of the fight.


    Next, Rewind took a victory from him, but only because he failed to keep her locked down. Eventually, he just surrendered, likely because he was running too low on mana.


    Yesterday, Torch had beaten him by flooding every inch of the arena with so much fire for so long, even the stone of the arena floors started to crack under the heat. While it technically revealed that Adam was vulnerable to absolute and sustained area attacks, it was a moot point. No remainingpetitor could adequately match the time, area, and intensity of attack that Torch was able to dish out.


    That currently left the man in fourth, but if Quill wanted to tie his partner for first ce, he still needed to beat Adam as well. He hadrge area attacks, but not of the type that Torch had used to defeat the masked Pather.


    It was a shoring in his arsenal of talismans that he intended to rectify when he had time to sit down and design a few.


    Their fight was hisst highly anticipated one remaining in the tournament, as the top fifty had all fought with each other at this point. Though, that anticipation paled inparison to the Torch and Queen fight that would happen right after.


    Today was the day of the final matches, and Quill felt that Adam was still hiding exactly what he could do.


    Quill had no proof, but that was what his gut told him, and he trusted it.


    When they were lowered into the arena, Quill readied a handful of talismans, but he didnt immediately use them.


    Wide area attacks hadnt worked on Adam, except when Torch had flooded the arena with an absurd amount of fire.


    Others had tried the same thing to no effect.


    Whenbined with Queen''s single attack, he was left with more questions than answers.


    Seeing Adam walk out of his box and wave, Quill tossed a [Firebolt] talisman out, which took the man in the chest to no effect.


    Throwing out three [Create Water] talismans, Quill added a talisman that sh froze the attack a split second after he used [Water Maniption], to shove all the water away from him in a wave.


    When it froze, it created a massive circle of ice protecting Quill.


    With his spiritual senses, he saw Adam walk up then <em>through</em> the ice.


    He felt real, but it was obviously an illusion, as it wasnt bothered by simple things like physical obstructions. Throwing a [Wind de] talisman, Quill made the illusion ripple but nothing more.


    The false Adam teased, An interesting tactic, but not one that will work. Best to use your big, bad [Sword Rain]. He then twisted to show his shoes. I even brought my tap shoes just to dance with you. I might not be as pretty as Queen, but Ill bet I dance better.


    The masked Pather winked at Quill as he walked up and patted him on the shoulder.


    Quill felt no danger, so let the illusion touch him. But just as the handnded, the illusionary Adam next him began to feel dangerous, so he struck out at it with his staff.


    The illusion vanished like it was made from smoke.


    Suddenly, Adam appeared next to the wall of ice and tapped it. He winked as hemanded, Break!


    The entire multiple-foot-thick b of ice shattered in an explosion of ice shards. Some wererge spears that would crush the unwary, and others were small and razor sharp, cutting at any fragile flesh that was exposed.


    Quill was ready, and used a [Wind Barrier] talisman that blocked most of the attacks as he waited for the ambush that he expected to strike at his back.


    Except, it never arrived.


    When the ice settled, Adam sat on a boulder-sized chunk of ice and asked, What, not even a flinch?


    That was when Quill whipped his staff to his front.


    Amateur rogues always attacked from the rear, as it was the hardest to react to, but Quill had spent enough time around and training with Annie to know that sometimes, letting someone expect the obvious and doing something stupid instead could be effective.


    Feeling his staff m into something solid and fleshy, Quill followed up with two [Wind des], but they did nothing.


    The Adam sitting down on the ice rubbed his shoulder as if he had been the one struck and whined, Well, that''s just not fair.


    Quillughed and pulled out a talisman. It''s okay. Most people have fallen for my sleight of hand in one way or another. You''re just the first sucker to do it literally.


    With that, Quill sent a pulse of mana into the talisman, activating the stored spell andughing as it resonated with the powder he had left on his staff.


    A line of light appeared not two feet from Quill, and he sent a [Jolt] at the area, only to hear a yelp and cry before half a dozen new light sources appeared.


    Behind the mask, Quill''s eyes widened as he felt the talisman''s resonance move halfway across the arena in an instant.


    Adam could change ces with his illusions.


    That actually exined most, if not all of his odd behavior in the previous matches. There was nothing else that exined how he got through most everyone''s defenses, but was defeated by Torch.


    What that didnt exin was how Queen ended the man in one hit.


    Quill couldnt ponder it more, as the resonance moved behind him and to the right, but he kept his body forward and head rotating, as if he was looking through the sea of light marks to find the original.


    Quill had no reason to give away his actual advantage this early.


    It would only work once, and he was determined to only reveal what he knew when he finally had Adam in a position that he couldn''t escape.


    He threw out a [Wind de] at a bar of light that paused for a second, but it passed through where the body should have been without even a ripple.


    Quill was about to say something while the still sitting Adam asked, Shame. I thought it would be a more interesting fight.


    Then, all of the light-up images turned into various versions of himself that Adam had used in the tournament. They ranged from every size to skin color and hair color as they all rushed at Quill.


    Sidestepping the first of the attacking illusions, Quill waited for the real Adam to make his move and wasnt disappointed. From his left side, he felt the illusion be reced with the resonating mark, and use a [Firebolt] talisman at the illusion when there was less than a hair''s breadth between them.


    Adam looked surprised as he peered down to the hole in his chest, then back to Quill.


    His mouth moved, but then an illusion covered the wound, and Quill heard Adammand. <em>Reality is an Illusion</em>.


    He felt his own Concept resonate with the man''smand as the wound vanished, as the illusion became real.


    Visually Adam hopped two steps back before cursing. I really didnt want to expose that, but if I beat you, I can catapult to the third ce spot. Damn, I have to ask though, howd you do it? In reality the man had teleported across to the other side of the ring. The false copy paused, as he looked to the light on his arm, and it vanished with another burst of power from his Concept.


    Quill winced. Each time Adam used his Concept to invert illusion and reality, it felt like someone ran their nails down a chalkboard to his own Concept.


    It didnt hurt, but it was profoundly ufortable.


    Adam looked to him and said, I slit your neck.


    An illusion of the wound was created on Quill, and he felt the Concept try to sink into his flesh and invert truth with fiction, but he flexed his own willpower and threw the attempt off.


    What surprised him was how strong Adam''s willpower was. The man felt like he had been trained with his Concept. It was strong and precise in its application, like a honed de.


    If Quill hadn''t spent so much time fighting with Luna when training his own Concept, Adam might have been able to convince his body that it had just been fatally wounded.


    Not letting the man try for a second time, Quill rushed him, but a trip line appeared in front of him and became real just as he was about to pass its location, sending him tumbling to the ground.


    Quill went with it and threw out two [Wind de] talismans where he felt an attack wasing from.


    As he sprung to his feet, he saw a half dozen throwing daggers get scattered to the side.


    They ttered to the ground, signifying that they were quite real and deadly before fading away.


    Quill threw back his cloak to catch a real half hand as it tried to pull at the sp. Another hand pulled at the talismans that make up the cloak, but that was a mistake.


    Cloaks were notoriously easy for an enemy to grip, and Quill had been prepared. You fell for my trap card!


    Adams hand exploded as the talisman on the edge of the cloak activated at his touch.


    No one had been able or willing to touch his obvious trap for good reason. Even with his ability to turn injuries fake, Quill knew Adam had just lost that hand.


    He appeared on the other side of the arena as all the illusions vanished, missing half of his arm below the elbow, proving his conjecture correct.


    Adam opened his mouth to speak what Quill was sure was going to be an illusion and an inversion of his injury, but Quill threw his own Concept at Adam and did his best to interrupt the attempt.


    The distance worked against him, but Quill had willpower to spare and in the end enforcing the status quo was always easier than change. He prevented the inversion long enough to use two attack talismans. The [Firebolt] took Adam in the pelvis, and the [Wind de] cut off his other arm.


    Even with the crippling injuries, he still tried to invert truth into an illusion, but Quill was now closer, and the power failed to take hold of reality with Quill actively fighting it.


    Before Quill could finish closing the distance, the referee pulled Adam from the fight, signaling Quill the victor and first ce winner of the tournament.


    The only question was if Torch would be tying him for first, or if they would be taking separate cements.


    Her final fight was against Queen, who they knew had prepared counters to all of her shown abilities.


    When he was able to sit down, the two women were already lowered into the arena. The solo tournament gave team members the option of automatically drawing instead of fighting against each other, which he and Torch had opted for before their match on day two. So if Queen beat Torch here, Queen would have just a single loss, and would be sole possessor of second ce. Meanwhile, Torch would drop to third with a loss and a draw, instead of tying for first with Quills one and only draw.


    Even as they took their positions, Quill listened to Light exin everything to the watching citizens and crowds of people at home.


    The Royals were even on their own tform, just waiting for the tournament to officially end with the two women''s final fight.


    On their tform, there were small pirs of marble that each held a in ring corresponding with the top fifty rankings. Next to that, the points ranking pir showed the top fifty in each category. Those winners were all already seated in their order, with only a few missing people who had made it into the top fifty. He nor Torch knew anyone in those rankings, though. Those teams were mostly those who disregarded the solo and team events for whatever reason.


    The crafters rankings had also already been decided, and they sat off in their own area.


    There were more groups of finalists amongst the numerous separate categories, but they only had public rewards for the top twenty-five, instead of the top fifty.


    A sh of me brought his attention to the arena where Queen and Torch met in a furious disy of melee prowess.


    Torch was forced to dodge Queens second manifestation of her weapon, but had the strength advantage in their exchanges. Her spear was mostly used to block, but when she had an opportunity, she struck like a viper and drew blood each time.


    They were never serious wounds, but they were alwaysnding where Queen''s armor was weakest. As the swordswoman was unbothered by the heat of the mes, Torch was mainly relying on her internal [Blood Maniption] and Blood Alchemy to give her the strength boost to out-muscle the other woman.


    In one exchange, Torch grabbed Queen''s de with a gauntleted hand, and held it just long enough to jab her with her spear. It skittered off Queen''s armor, but it left a scratch deep in the metal. As it became apparent that Torch wasn''t going to be able to beat Queen in a battle of weapon arts, she pulled back and summoned a blob of molten metal, but it was instantly sted away from her control with a burst of energy from Queen''s armor.


    Torch took to the air, followed immediately by Queen, but Quill nodded, seeing that she was finally using her own false Legacy trump card.


    Queen was just that hard of an opponent, and he understood why she was being pushed to this degree.


    Torch was limited in crossover skills from Liz, but they both had and used the bloodline that her mother had given her.


    In the air, Torch theatrically screamed as a st of fire came out of her cloak and armor. That same fire rebounded off the barrier separating the arena from the crowd, and then reformed behind Torch in a pair of wings.


    Wings of raging mes.


    The air around them rippled from the insane temperature, and he knew that even Torch would be feeling the heat.


    How exactly Queen ignored me attacks, they werent entirely sure, but no enchantment was perfect. They <em>all</em> had upper limits.


    As the wings condensed around Torch, she rushed at Queen, who, for the first time, started to retreat and fight defensively.


    Even from where they were, they could see Queens armor start to soften and melt under the crazy heat that Torchs armor was producing.


    It was supplied by an enchantment based on Matt''s endless sub-aspected mana, which caused her attacks to linger longer than what would be allowed by her mana pool. They pretended the effect was gained from a Legacy for the observers. An easy and convenient lie that no one could, or even <em>would,</em> question.


    Light was nearly out of his seat as he shouted, With Queen''s armor melting, will she be able to so easily shrug off such intense heat? Every time she tries to open some distance between herself and Torch, the fire wielder ignores her own defenses to press the attack even further!


    As he said, Queen''s armor started to glow and warp, and they were all treated to the answer of why Queen seemed so impervious to the fire.


    Instead of the standard skintight clothes to pad the metal armor, Queen wore a nearly translucent, full-body suit that appeared to be made of water with runes floating inside it.


    Light provided the exnation. Who would have expected Queen to be hiding a Tier 12 water skin suit?! Those are made from condensed water essence, and are highly valued for their protective properties. Incredibly rare before Tier 15, too. That said, her problem now is that her armor is only good for blocking magical attacks, not physical ones.


    As if he jinxed it, Queen pivoted too slow and took a deep gash across her thigh that sliced right through the water suit. Blood started to flow freely into the water, and Quill knew that Liz must be cursing up a storm in her own blistering armor. If she could use her true skills, the fight would end right there.


    They had expected the heavy armor itself to be enchanted, so once it melted, they figured that Queen would be crippled by burns from the molten metal. Instead of that being the case, the rare and unusual water suit perfectly shielded her from any of the heat. His partner was back to square one in a melee fight against a true monster.


    Dodging back from a counter strike, Torch hurled her spear at Queen and tried to rush in for the grapple behind it, only to be nearly bisected by the second de Queen had created.


    After two more attempts, Torch finally knocked the second sword away, closed the distance, and wrapped Queen up in a wrestling hold, keeping control of one of her legs and arms. She held on just long enough for her spear to fly up and puncture Queen through the side.


    Queen kept up the struggle, but it was useless, as Torch forced the spear to skewer clean through her chest to the other side.


    The referee quickly ended the fight, causing the crowd to collectively lose their minds.


    The cheering thundered so loud that Quill felt rumbling in his chest.


    As Torch walked out of the stage, she raised her spear and roared. Skills started to beunched into the sky at the movement, and Quill smiled to see his flower talismans in the crowd amongst the other non-physical attacks.


    Stepping up next to his partner, Quill wanted to say something, but Light spoke faster. Unbelievable! For the first time since Shadow and I did it ourselves, we have a single team sweeping first ce in both the solo and team tournaments. Everyone, give the champions a round of apuse! Undefeated! Unbeatable! Unstoppable! Legends in the making, and you were all here to witness the story start! Quill and Torch! A mage and melee fighter once again proving that the iconic pairing is stronger than anything else!


    Shadow popped up next to them, stepping right out of Quill''s shadow, and pped her hands on their shoulders. Before they could react, she drew them into the darkness and then onto the stage with the Royals.


    Before she slipped back through the ground, she whispered, Congrattions kiddos. Enjoy the long, boring ceremony.


    Tur''stal gestured for them to take their seats at the front of the stage where the chairs were rearranged. Now, the normal top seats for solo and team had been merged, and slightly raised. He took the time to catch Torches hand and give it a squeeze to show how happy he was for her defeating Queen as the crowd cheered.


    After letting the crowd burn off most of its energy cheering for a long few minutes, the Royal began her speech.


    People of the Empire. Today is a momentous day. Not just for our victoriouspetitors, but for all of us. Over thest year, the Tier 10s who arrived in my little garden have grown and improved. I could not be more proud of you all. And yes, I do mean that. All of you have worked hard, and should take pride in that. Without blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices, none of you would be where you are today. Even if you aren''t on this stage, you know what your next goals are. Take what you earned here and learn. Grow and strive to surpass those who sit behind me.


    Tur''stal looked to those behind her and gestured to the crafters. First though, I want to recognize the crafters. I always love this section, even if it''s not the most popr in the wider Empire. This is where I found my own trail in life, and it led me all the way to where I am today. Seeing you all take raw ingredients and making special things out of them always gets me emotional. First, the crafters of metal. My smiths, pleasee and receive your awards. In the twenty fifth spot, Vic of House Damone, who created an expanding shield that can be madepletely transparent from either direction. Let us give her a round of apuse!


    With that, she started to introduce each and every one of the top crafters and described what they had created in theirpetitions.


    Quill took note of a few of them, but he had already marked most of the ones that he believed he could work with early in the tournament. At this point, he was able to just rx and enjoy the show. He did however record the name of one Ripley Jones, who had created an intriguing stained ss de. Based on that item, he suspected that the man had ess to several odd mana types; he wanted them for both his talismans and aperology research.


    The rewards were fittingly generous to the top crafters, starting with a two month apprenticeship under a Tier 25 crafter in their field and expertise, then moving on to include more and more rare skills. Custom tools and exotic materials to make items with were also included as the rankings of the recipients increased. The other categories kept the winners rewards a secret, but for the crafters, Turstal tantly advertised how much their wares would soon improve.


    After finishing with all the crafters and moving on to the delve point rankings, Queen quietly arrived on stage to take her seat. Thankfully, she didnt look upset. At least, her bodynguage appeared calm.


    Her congrattory AI message to Torch was also friendly. The demand for a rematch when they met back up at Tier 11 that immediately followed eased any concerns that the dual losses had tainted the budding friendship that they had been toiling over.


    When the solo and team tournaments were introduced, Tur''stal stopped after third ce in both.


    Then, once every other tournament winner had been announced, she introduced Queen. And now we have Queen! Ranking second ce with an absolutely stunning performance, the swordswoman who cut her way to silver in both the solo and team battles. This is a rare happening, but one that we all love to see. To her go the rewards for the team battles. Tur''stal dropped a shining ring into her waiting hand.


    And the solo fights. A second ring tumbled down.


    Queen had actually lost against Dianas team in the team battles, but they had in turn fallen to three other teams, which still made them rank below her. In every other fight, she had managed toe out ahead, even if only slightly. A one-versus-many was never a good situation, especially in the top fifty, but the lone swordswoman had scraped through time and time again. Only one team had developed an effective strategy to keep her fully contained, and none of the others had replicated the feat.


    As she had with everyone in the top ten, the Royal added a third ring. And the traditional bonus for all the medal winners, a portable house that is fully customizable and built around the specializations we believe best suited to your future.


    Everyone, please give Queen a huge round of apuse for her magnificent showing.


    Tur''stal allowed the crowd all the time they wanted to cheer their hearts and lungs out. Nearly ten minutes went by before the Royal finally quieted them.


    Queen seemed nonchnt about the whole thing, but waved back. Once the din subsided, she nodded to Tur''stal before returning to her seat. Most contestants had taken the time to say a few words. Queen simply turned around and sat back down.


    Tur''stal then gestured for Torch and Quill to stand next to her, on either side.


    Before she even said anything, the Pathers started to roar and cheer. Tur''stalughed and calmly spoke over the roar without seeming to even raise her voice.


    Today, we have two people who went undefeated in both the solo and team tournament. Technically, they drew to each other, but I dont think anyone is counting that. Tied for gold, there is nothing we can do but double the first ce rewards, and move everyone else up. Exactly what they get will be between the two of them, but know that prizes are numerous and valuable. The Empire has so many new treasures to share this year.


    Tur''stal looked to Torch and smiled. The inspiration for one of thergest fan clubs weve seen in recent centuries, paired with one of the most contentious contestants weve ever had.


    Torch waved, but Quill took half a step forward, sensing that now was an appropriate time to speak. He said, Thank you! Thank you! I know how you all love, adore, and lust after me, but I must beg that you to not hate on poor Torch so much. Shes a delicate and sensitive flower that doesn''t handle the heat very well. Hearing the booing, Quill let his mask smile. But as Adam would say, every magician needs a good closing act. So heres my big finale!


    A hush ran through the crowd.


    Over thest eleven months of the tournament, I have released ten new runes, all for free. Ive heard people specting that Ive been too busy with the finals to do another drop for this month. But no! In my boundless genius and benevolence, I have formted something very special for you all.


    Two talismans appeared in his hands, apanied by the words, These two little beauties are a mated pair. A new spherical homeostasis temperature rune that notably does <em>not </em>need to be set in a predefined area, alongside a matching rm spell. The two runes pair seamlessly together, and can work in almost any environment. If you have them active, and someone or something trips the rm rune, you will be alerted by the sudden and rapid change in temperature. My coborators and I have pared them down to Tier 7, and have scaled them up to Tier 14.


    Most of the fighters radiated disappointment and disinterest in the homeostasis temperature rune, but the crafters were nearly falling or jumping out of their seats at the news.


    Homeostasis runes normally needed to be contained to a formation built around limiting the area of effect, if only to keep the temperature stable, but not his rune. After expending over a three billion mana, Matt and his AI had managed to make it work in any space, and without needing to be permanently anchored.


    The crafters universally understood what a revolutionary idea this was, and were beyond excited.


    Everyone else, not too much.


    Matt had been over the moon as well, but Erwin <em>and</em> Luna had partially burst his bubble. This precise rune was definitely new, but they knew of at least two guilds who probably had something simr hidden away for only their own members.


    Still, Matt was pleased to use the Quill identity onest time to tweak their noses, before it vanished until their journey to Minka. After this, Imperial agents would be taking over most of the high profile masked identities to lead spies and assassins on wild goose chances through the Empire, while the <em>real</em> Pathers focused on delving.


    Once they sat back down with a single, shared, butrger portable house, Frederic stood up and made his deration. In celebration of his coronation and in thanks to the wonderful host, he would be awarding everyone who ced in the top fifty of the Big Three a rare or cracked skill out of his personal vaults. Additionally, he and his staff would be providing everyone in the top one thousand free consultations on how to uniquely enhance any cracked skills they already had, orter gained while on the Path. The offer even extended any previous tournaments top thousand cers who were still on the Path.


    That once more thrilled the top contenders, who had long since grown weary of the long talks.


    Quill had to admit, the man worked fast to establish ties with the Pathers, and he was sure it would work. At least a little. In fact, he really did hope that a lot of people took advantage of the consultations. After Frederic sent him a starter guide on how [Cracked Phantom Armor] could be modified, Luna had clued Matt into the fact that the new Royals expertise in skill modification served as a persistent if small advantage for his faction. On average, the nobles he worked with had more skills that worked harder, more efficiently, more precisely, and sometimes even uniquely. With normal skills, the advantages were mild yet notable. But with cracked skills, the differences ranged from stark to game breaking.


    Eventually, the cheering celebration and joviality died down and there was nothing else for them on the.


    And then, just like that, the Tier 10 tournament ended.

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167


    Allie kicked her feet up on the breakroom table and winked at an intern who scurried by.


    He was cute in a mortal, still goofy kind of way, and she liked to see him squirm a bit.


    She wondered how long shed have to tease him for him to make a move. It had already been six months, and she was beginning to wonder if she had lost her charm.


    If he just asked her out, shed rock his world at least once. What happened after that would depend on how he <em>performed</em>. And after herst few stressful months, she could use the release.


    As soon as Zack sat down, he brought out his tea set, carefully and methodically setting it up before boiling some water, then steeping his tea as she watched.


    She pulled out a fresh mug, used [Create Water] along with [Fire Maniption] to steal a bit of the ambient heat, and sh-boiled the water before dunking a tea bag into the cup. She was sure to slosh some over the rim so it ran down the side of the cup.


    She started to whistle as she saw the tendon on her partners neck stand out, but that was the only rise she was able to get out of him.


    Allie was about to take a nap when another intern, a more senior one, poked her head in. Sorry to interrupt guys, but Management wants to see you in briefing room three. New mission.


    Allie groaned as she let her chair m back on all four legs. Already!? We just sat down! Literally. Poindexter here hasn''t even finished his thirty-seventh step of drinking tea yet.


    The woman shrugged. Bring it up with Management. I pass on the orders, I dont make them.


    Allie grumbled but acknowledged the point.


    Poor Zack just silently packed up his tea set after pouring out what was left in his cup. As much as she liked to fuck with him, she didnt actually bother him after he poured the drink. It was a meditative act for her stuck-up partner, and everyone needed a release valve in this line of work.


    Reaching up to pat him on the shoulder, she consoled, We can get you a hooker on the next mission. I''m sure there''s a cleaning supply store that sells nice long sticks. You can shove it right up your


    Zack patted her shoulder and nodded, which ruined her fun. If he was serious, it wasn''t right to tease him.


    Stepping forward, she called over her shoulder, Come on, big guy. Sooner started, sooner over. Maybe this mission won''t be as shitty.


    Zack nodded. Too many variables and surprises. Hopefully, this next one is simpler. Simple is good.


    Allie had no response to that. It was true. It was also true that their missions were never simple. If they were simple, they wouldnt be the ones getting assigned to it. And they both knew it.


    ***


    Quill felt like the end of the tournament was not only abrupt, but jarring.


    After the final award ceremony, the contestants were immediately teleported off the tournament and back onto East Flower.


    The million and some odd Pathers were weed back with cheering and excitement, and the crowds were unlike anything Matt had ever seen before. The very sky was nketed by anyone who could fly, and the streets were packed to the point that Matt worried about people being able to breathe.


    Luckily, the Pathers were teleported to the city block that had been used for their amodations before the start of the tournament, which was being kept clear of all crowds. Quickly entering their room, Matt and Liz stripped out of their Quill and Torch identities.


    Luna appeared and said, Toss the Shawn and Jules personas off as well. They''repromised. We had half a dozen major pings on the trails we set up.


    Before he could do it, Liz asked, Which ones?


    The enchanting ones mostly. They quickly started to dig around the seeds we nted in that regard. Mostly the false diaries we set up, but once they found that, they started to pull at every string they could about the identities. We even had our contact in the ck market get asked about Jules inquiring about a Tier 20 fire spell.


    Matt nodded, but was personally a little sad to know that the Shawn, Jules, and Lassie identities would have to be given up as well. He had enjoyed their time living as normal Pathers in those identities. Hopefully, the imperial agents that assumed the identities would enjoy them too.


    Luna tossed them each a stic chip and said, We leave two days after most of the parties have ended, which should be in about four days. Go and enjoy yourselves, but be ready to work when we leave. We dont have much time, and youll need to reach the peak of Tier 11 in less than three years. She paused, and though neither her expression nor her speech changed, Matt could almost feel frustration oozing from her very being as she continued. Normally, youd have around five years at Tier 11 to reach Tier 12. And while I despise rushing through the Tiers, the potential benefits of going to Minka at Tier 11, especially if you ally with Queen for that trip, outweigh the risks. We cant risk the off chance the next cycle taking longer than usual, and forcing you to decide between stepping off The Path or going in at Tier 12. Her lip twitched up into an almost imperceptible smirk. Youll just have to train even harder to make sure that your abilities dont fall behind where they should be at that Tier.


    She turned away, and was mostly invisible when she stopped and turned back to point at the rings on the table. Don''t forget to go over your rewards, then leave the rings to me before you exit the room. Matt and Liz didnt earn them, and the rings are far too conspicuous right now. Later, no one will question it. But for now, we need to remove them.


    As she vanished, Aster dropped onto the bed and scampered over to Matt to m into his chest, where he picked her up into a hug before she squirmed out of his grip and lunged into Lizs outstretched arms.


    Asters excitement was infectious as she started to prattle on about the battles. Then you burned the armor right off her! Only time that fire is eptable. And then when Matt used the sword rain? That was sooooo cool! We need to make an ice version for me! I want an ice rain array! Then there was the illusion guy. Him grabbing the cape was too funny. I bet with Cammie and Hazel that at least someone would try. They didnt think anyone would be so dumb. But then when you beat that stupid gem team with the


    Aster went on for nearly five minutes, until she ran out of breath from talking and running around the bed without pausing to breath.


    Matt and Liz were just happy to let her burn herself out for a while.


    When she finally settled down, they looked at their rewards, and to no one''s surprise, they found Matts rings to only contain a few bottles of mana concentration potions, and two shining skill shards. The rings had a way for their spiritual perception to view anything stored inside at a nce, which made it easy for them to see the potions and skills in the otherwise empty closet sized space.


    Matt was still happy with the potions that would ensure him an easy advancement to Tier 16 without issue. But therger prize was the ring itself. It was only asrge as a standard closet, but anything inside could be retrieved with just a thought. That was a step beyond even the bracelets they bought from Jamie, the unique enchanter. His bracelets were like fumbling in the dark to withdraw items, whereas the rings were like having a well-lit room which was also organized.


    Lizs ring was chock full of items that were thankfullybeled. The most obvious, because of the size, was a pile of alchemy ingredients. While their size wasrge, they were actually part of the cheaper rewards. In the corner of her ring, there was an armor stand covered in a bulky, but sleek-looking armor that felt like it was Tier 14. Paired with it was a spear that looked to be made from simple iron, but felt moreplicated to his spiritual perception.


    In addition, Liz got a number of items to assist in increasing the potency of her blood aspected mana. The various items would allow her to take her blood aspect to the next level in various ways. Next to those, there was a single drop of blood that looked like glistening amber.


    The Tier 13 Ten Thousand Monsters'' Blood Crystal radiated power like a bloody battlefield, but the note ced under it exined its uses. While it wouldn''t provide any instant gratification if she cycled the bloods power, the crystal would allow her to understand blood on a deeper level, in all its various forms.


    That same note exined it would be incredibly useful for solidifying her Concept, and then starting to take the next step towards an Intent.


    Neither of them quite understood how the Blood Crystal was actually supposed to work, but they knew that Luna would help Liz get the best out of it.


    In addition, Liz had a small pile of Tier 14 skills, and arger pile of Tier 8 skill shards. At first nce, there didnt seem to be a rhyme or reason to the skill selection. Most of the shards werent particrly valuable, nor were they widely sought-after skills. Rather than an exnation, there was just a list detailing what each skill was with a hand-drawn winky face at the bottom.


    Off to the side, and almost lost in the cutter were three upgrade orbs, but what Tier they were they would only know after having them inspected. Still, Matt assumed that they were Tier 14 orbs, instead of any of the rarer versions.


    Matt was almost upset with the seemingly disproportionate reward, but if the bottle of mana concentration potion that wasbeled for Tier 16 was actually able to condense all his 81,920 mana to nothing, it meant that the potion was Tier 32, and was probably worth more than the rest of the rewards given for the Tournamentbined.


    It only reinforced how much Aunt Helen had pushed the rules of the Path when she had given him the four bottles of mana concentration potions when he was at Tier 4. That still felt wasteful, but he wasnt going to question it, or her methods.


    After inspecting the rewards, Matt, Liz, and Aster left their room to meet up with their friends. Every establishment on the had opened their doors to anyone who had participated in the Tier 10 tournament, which is what the chips Luna had given them signified. Anyone with them was treated to all the food and drink they wanted, as long as it was under Tier 15. That was more than enough of an excuse for the to party with the Pathers, which meant that each and every bar, restaurant, and lounge was packed to the brim with people.


    Even with the sheer number of drunkards, all of Matt and Lizs friends were able to gather together in a bar without issue. Everyone was there, from old friends to new. With two of their party ranking in the top fifty, and another two ranking in the top one hundred, they were treated like kings at the bar they went to.


    Annie and Tara were the heroines of the evening, with Kyle and Emily taking a slightly less prestigious but still respected spot. With their rankings, anyone at the bar came over to them and shook their hands at least once. It was surprisingly cordial, with the citizens of East Flower making sure not to linger after greeting them, before moving off to their own area of the bar.


    Mathew stood up and toasted the table, A group of friends that grows every time we meet up! To never forgetting where we came from.


    J''s team had joined them in their celebration, and Matt nodded to Mathew for including the newer additions of the friend group. With Fen and his bonds taking over a corner, they had a crowded section of the bar for themselves, and before long, they were all eating and joking as one whole.


    They all knew that they might not see each other for years as their managers all took them in different directions. Matt had already heard about how Kurt was taking over Melindas team''s position of manager, and would be branching off with them for the next year. It was his responsibility to ensure that everything was ok with their foundations, before returning as Lunas Trainer in their team. He even said that Luna was one of the only Managers who never left her charges side during their training, preferring to focus all of her attention on one team at a time.


    Kurt had no issue managing them from a distance, as it was perfectly normal.


    Annie still hadnt stoppedining about how her own manager was forcing her to return to book learning like some school kid. But no one missed that while sheined about the work, she neverined about the results, or Brett himself.


    Js team seemed happy to have gotten a manager, and tried to gush about the upgrades they had been able to cash their points and top two hundred rewards in for.


    They were conscious of Matt and Liz taking the lowest ranking as a collective, and tried not to rub it in, even while they were too excited to keep it repressed. The teams as a whole were just happy to get themselves managers, and increase their power.


    But mostly, everyone just rxed and enjoyed their remaining time together.


    Melinda and Mathew absconded off into a corner after the dinner was served and eaten, which started a cascade of people splitting off into small groups as they chatted with those they wouldnt see for a while.


    Emily and Tara were the most tragic, as neither was willing to sacrifice their Path for a rtionship, nor were they willing to let the other do the same. It ended with them in an odd stalemate, where their rtionship was left in limbo with no easy solution. Matt wished them the best, but didnt know if they would be able to work it out.


    He doubted his rtionship with Liz would havested if they had been separated in the early years.


    Still, they all had fun, and were finally able to rx after months of hard work. Even the teams who weren''t in the finals were delving for money and points, which meant long days in the rifts, even if they didnt make it into the top fifty of their respective tournament.


    Their eveningsted until Aster passed out, which signaled the end of the activities.


    The parties would go for a few more days, and no one wanted to burn themselves out too early.


    After agreeing to get together in the next day or so, they all went back to their rooms to sleep.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster returned to her parents'' apartment, and rejoined her extended family.


    They chatted for a few minutes, but quickly made their way to their room for some sleep.


    The next morning, the excitement that Mara and Leon had been repressing exploded forth with a variety of noisemakers and confetti.


    Congrattions! Everyone cheered together and shouted for them. Even Sam and Erin, who were the quietest of the bunch, cheered for their participation in the tournament. Matt wasn''t sure if they knew which masks they were, but Lizs siblings had seen him and Liz fight, so they knew that the pair was sandbagging in their real identities. It was just a question of whether or not they knew who they really were. Since they didnt specify about winning the tournament, he could only guess.


    As they ate a massive breakfast, Travis and Keith chatted with them about everything they had been doing while exploring thes they whizzed by in chaotic space, which led them to a discussion about their portable house.


    Once that was brought up, breakfast was interrupted as Mara and Leon demanded to see their new home. At least, they asked privately through their AI. In front of the rest of the siblings, they pretended to give them the ring with the house inside of it. As giving them a portable house was a grant vition of The Paths rules he wasn''t sure any of the siblings bought the ruse but no one called them on it either.


    Haven''t you already seen it? Matt had to ask. They were Royals, and he doubted that they couldn''t see through spatial rings. At least, not the non-bound ones, like their prizes had been stored in.


    Leon looked at him like he was stupid and asked through their AI, And ruin the surprise? Of course not!


    Mara just tisked at him like he didnt understand them at all. Though, to be fair, Matt supposed that he didn''t. At least, notpletely. We really dont even have anything to do with the rewards. The Royal whos hosting the games is the only one who deals with it normally. Even then, we just interface with the tribunal. The other Royals usually have little to do besides sit around and pretend to be real people.


    Matt couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow at that.


    Leon understood and filled in his gaps. Normally, we''re far too busy to do more than send a clone. Clones aren''t that great for anything besides chatting and looking good at the distances we normally operate at between kingdoms. The only reason we all had to arrive this time was because the Emperor showed up. So, he told us that we all really had to appear. Same with the tribunal. We normally don''t have the time toe to these every five years. A clone is usually more than enough to deal with everything.


    Liz looked from the ring on the table to her parents and asked, And you havent peeked?


    Mara and Leon shook their heads while all of Lizs siblings nodded in affirmation.


    Mara shot a look at Travis and Keith and grumbled, You should have let us buy you two a house as well.


    The couple rolled their eyes at her antics, but they didnt fall for the bait, and refused to respond.


    Matt looked around and saw that they had a distinctck of space to plop out a house, so he asked, Where can we open it? Id like to see it as well.


    They had been asked about their preferences when they secured their ce in the top ten, but despite both of them securing a ranking in the solos and team battles, they didnt get a house twice asrge.


    In fact, they only had around thirty percent more spatial expansion than the teams and individuals who had earned just a single medal, and the house that came with it.


    As Luna exined it, that was more so a limit of the rings themselves than the rules of the Path.


    While rings that were built around a single, specific item were easier to make for lower Tiers, they still weren''t <em>easy</em> to make. They also had some pretty serious size limitations before much rarer or higher Tier materials were required. Even that extra thirty-ish percent likely <em>tripled</em> the cost to make their shared house and its ring.


    Mara pped her hands, and they were on top of the very hotel they were staying at.


    Seeing the wide open space, Matt trusted Mara and Leon as Tier 48s to protect them from observation, and activated the ring to withdraw the house.


    The spiritual weight of using the ring hit Matt like a kick to the gut, but he <em>was</em> able to activate the ring, which was all that really mattered.


    Their house sat on the gravel of the roof and looked very much out of ce, but Matt was happy with it. The style they had chosen was called vige cottage, which meant the one-story building was made of brick with wood trimmings.


    The wood of the door was adorned with a brightly stained number that stood in contrast to the grayish bricks of the wall.


    Everyone oohed and ahhed appropriately as Matt, Liz, and Aster led them into the building to explore.


    They entered into a kitchen living roombo that, while not spacious, had a decent amount of room for cooking, as he had asked for. The ind also acted as a table for them to sit at, which gave him more than enough room for everything he needed to do. The stove and fridge slots were empty, but standard sizes were cut out for them, so he could get anything to fit inside. The cabs werent spatially expanded, but Matt figured that he could probably cobble something together.


    The living room wasnt massive, but it was enough for the couch and loveseat that they didnt have yet. If they could find a ce to plop their house down with a view, they could even have a nice way to enjoy it from thefort of their home, thanks to therge bay window they had asked for.


    Aster hopped up and explored the window before hopping down. The first door they tried off the living room was the bathroom, which wasntrge by any means, but was functional. Though, Matt noted that there was no way he''d be able to enjoy the bath part of the shower-bathbo. Even Liz would be half out of the water if she tried to use the tub. Aster seemed more than happy to jump inside of it before exploring the rest of the bathroom.


    It felt a bit cramped, but it was theirs.


    Just looking at Liz, he could see the happiness in her eyes that matched his own.


    The master bedroom was as empty as the rest of the house, but they had enough room for arge bed and a dresser. The closet wasnt massive, but it wasrge enough for them to store their clothes somewhere that wasn''t a spatial backpack, which they mostly lived out of for thest few decades.


    There was a second slightly smaller bedroom that was ostensibly Aster''s, but considering that she usually slept in the bed with them, it would probably turn into a guest room. Next to the second bedroom were two workshops for Matts enchanting and Lizs alchemy. They were the only ces furnished, and they had spent arge amount of their budget for the building to perfect each set up.


    Upgradeable workshops were <em>not</em> cheap, but they had bit the bullet so they could ensure that they could modrly upgrade their workshops without ruining anything.


    That wasn''t an immediate concern, as they had gotten Tier 13 workshops, which should be more than enough for their needs over the next few years but neither of them wanted to move again any time soon.


    Just between Matts enchanting workshop and Lizs alchemy room, there was their mana umtion room. A pir of mana stone rose to the top of the 10-foot ceiling, and would be able to hold around five million mana. It served as the heart of the houses defenses and storage capabilities. Luna had insisted on them getting thergest model of artificial mana stone they could fit in their house, and pairing it with the strongest shield slots they could fit.


    They didnt actually have the shield units, as they were far, far too expensive to fit in their budget. Especially when they could delve Tier 15 rifts in a year or two, and would be able to afford something better in short order.


    Seeing the mana stone, Matt sent his mana into it, and instantly, the lights and other environmental enchantments were activated, illuminating and cooling the house.


    The mana umtion room was cramped, which left only Matt, Liz, and Aster in the room, with everyone else just poking their heads through the door.


    Leah winked at them as she said, Oh good, you have lights. I was getting worried. Now it''s time to go shopping!


    Sam sighed and offered, Anyone who doesnt want to go shopping,e with me. Im going to do literally anything else.


    Keith, Daniel, and Erin joined him, while the rest of them went shopping to furnish their new house.


    It ended up being a lot of fun, as Mara and Leon both hid their appearances while they walked through various shops, sauntering about with perfect anonymity. They ended up buying everything they needed by dinner time, and Matt hosted their first family dinner in their new house.


    In return for his cooking, they helped put everything away and settle in the new furniture.


    Not that it would have been hard, as Leon demonstrated when he and Mara werepletely stumped on how to build the bed frame. The storm mage eventually just waved his hand, and the damned thing assembled itself. Still, other than that one incident, everyone kept the use of their higher Tier powers to a limited amount, and acted as normal mortals when helping them.


    Eventually, everyone was sitting around watching a tv show while eating, and Matt was able to test thest thing he had asked to be added to the house.


    Taking off his socks, he wiggled his feet into the carpet and felt a small, cold spot, and directed his mana into it. The entire house was littered with little nodes for him to send his mana into, and charge the mana reserves.


    They had talked about using wireless charging, but it was less than 0.1% efficient, and even for someone with unlimited mana, it became a huge waste while his idea was documented and tested. While it was less efficient than just going to the store room and charging the mana stone directly, using thework of connected nodes was seventy percent effective, rather than a thousandth.


    The next day, Matt and Liz returned to see their friends onest time, and even donned their masks once more to meet up with Queen for ate dinner.


    They didnt discuss anything of particr merit, but they did find out that Queen was leaving East Flower early. She and her manager were eager to get her to some training opportunity that was time sensitive.


    It meant she was off immediately, but she expressed her willingness to continue theirmunication over the next few years, as to get to know each other better before they started their delve into Minka.


    After that, they met Light and Shadow for their promised meet and greet, but the duo were far more reticent than L had been. They didnt offer any advice that the dragon hadnt already, except a few tips about hiding their other identities.


    The two of them chatted a bit with their senior ascenders, but Light and Shadow had little to offer that they hadnt already heard or experienced during their time on East Flower and the tournament. The only thing that the ascenders pressed upon them was to enjoy the dwindling amount of time they had left before serious responsibilities were set upon them. Shadow made sure to remind them that they should listen to their manager as well, which earned an exaggerated groan from Light.


    Overall, Matt felt like the answers were too <em>rehearsed</em>, and he couldnt help but wonder if it was the managers pretending to be Light and Shadow, rather than their true seniors. Matt felt slightly cheated with the whole experience, and it left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.


    Then they returned to their real identities as Quill and Torch made onest public appearance before leaving the.


    Matt wished his other persona well. It had been fun to be a little more abrasive than his normal self, but it was hardly something that he wanted to do forever, and he was happy to take a long break from the exaggerated persona.


    Liz just sighed as she saw the two masks leave.


    She then turned and red at her parents, who were both dressed in I Love Torch regalia that only the two of them could see.


    Growling at them, she said, Ha ha. Very funny. Just wait and see who signs any merch in the future.


    Matt wasnt immune to the re, as he was openly wearing a variation of the shirt that said I love Liz, with her name scratched over Torchs. Ny percent of the Pathers who had made the trek out to watch Quill and Torch leave were wearing some variation of the shirt, and few noticed his change to it.


    She stuck up her nose and stomped away before scooping up Aster and joining their other friends, who had all gathered to see one another off.


    Matt earned himself a wink from Melinda, who he assumed was able to see the difference when Kurt and Luna took over their personas, but she had never said anything and he never asked. Besides, Luna had reassured both of them that their persona swapping was safe.


    They stayed on East Flower long enough to enjoy their time with their friends before everyone started to splinter away.


    Before they left, they spent some time with Aunt Helen, who was hosting Cami. She seemed to be in a much better frame of mind, as far as Matt could tell.


    Her rabbit friend, Hazel, was the perfect foil to Aster, and Matt simply couldn''t handle their antics.


    Hazel constantlyined about Aster, but more often than not, sought the fox out on her own to pick a fight with the fox.


    Neither tried to hurt the other, but they pushed the limits of their higher Tier bodies constantly during their chases. It was a good thing that Aunt Helen''s house was full of higher Tier items, or else their shenanigans would have destroyed everything.


    After spending some time with Cami andpany, they stopped by Tur''stals to thank her for hosting the tournament. After a final dinner with Dena and Eric, who had to leave to go start their own training with the Army, they were off to a training area that Luna had prepared.


    It took them almost a month of travel, but eventually, they reached the edge of the Empire. The only reason that their travel across the Empire was so fast was that they had used one of the four realspace crossings to teleport across most of the distance. Matt hadnt even heard of the term before, but he looked them up once he learned they would be taking advantage of them.


    Realspace crossings took advantage of how chaotic space and real space interacted. In chaotic space, anyone over Tier 15 could break through the bonds of reality, and enter a ce beyond. Real space was everything inside the universe that contained worlds, the term the Empire used for every star system at Tier 1 or higher. Each world was a unique flickering light inside of chaotic space, and all of the star systems they lived in corresponded to each light that existed in chaotic space but in real space. Each location in chaotic space was random and always moving, which meant that it was possible for two worlds star systems that were next to each other in the <em>real</em> universes space to be vastly far away from each other in chaotic space. By taking advantage of that phenomenon, one could enter a world, then teleport through real space to a nearby Tiered star system, and exit from that world into chaotic space, and arrive at a vastly distant spot in the Empire.


    There were only four known locations in the Empire where the phenomenon urred, and each was treated as a transit hub for the rich. There were too many ces for the other worlds to lead to in chaotic space, and most newly settled star systems led to unknown locations of world clusters, making them useless for realspace crossings as the Great Powers entanglement of chaotic space worlds wasnt even within detection range of those distant ces.


    Teleporting through real space wasnt in and of itself difficult, but the massive distances involved between real space star systems made teleporting <em>ludicrously</em> expensive for the average citizen. Chaotic space wasparatively easy to break into, and was much more efficient since when worlds were a much closer distanceparatively. In chaotic space, when the light clusters that represented worlds were close to one another, they created tethers that the inteary teleportation tforms took advantage of, which greatly lessened the cost. That of connected worlds drifted through chaotic space together as a whole, which was how new worlds were colonized, and why the Great Powers never drifted apart. They were linked together through their interconnected borders and always expanding outward with any worlds that were worth linking to the main cluster. That usually meant connecting low Tier worlds as intermediary points between more valuable worlds but it made expansion far easier.


    But for anyone who had the wealth to purchase a ticket through the empty space between star systems, they could enter one world in the Empire, by ripping through to chaotic space the normal way then traveling through the empty space between star systems, and exiting on on the other side of the Empire by using that worlds connected chaotic space teleport tether. <em>Thats </em>what was referred to as a realspace crossing. It was expensive, and took massive amounts of mana, but they were always active. Matt found it interesting that even with the cost of a Tier 15 mana stone per person, people were still willing to pay for the ten teleports, just to avoid the longer and slower travel through Inteary chaotic space teleports.


    When he asked, he found out that part of the reason why it was so expensive was due to ack of essence, since there were nos with essence cores in the empty space between the star systems. It meant that there was no natural mana regeneration for the teleportation pads to take advantage of.


    After learning about realspace crossings, Matt asked if there were any other unique anomalies like that. April, who had joined them on the trip, told him that there were. The most famous of which was two separate universes that were exactly the same, and could be reached through chaotic space.


    Or at least, <em>almost</em> exactly the same.


    April went on to exin how there are twos in the Empire that were in seemingly identical, despite being situated in different universes. They were matching in every aspect, except that in the second universe, life must have started muchter on the, as it was only Tier 4 when it was found,pared to the other that was found at Tier 19.


    It made for an interesting study, as apparently, the rest of the observable universes were on the exact same timeline. Even meteors and asteroids were exactly the same in the two realities. When he looked into it more, those two mirrors even shared their ore deposits locations.


    It was an oddity as most worlds existed in their own universes where life began first and grew to the point they started to produce mana then that mana built up enough to turn into essence.


    No one knew exactly what to make of the phenomenon, but it was an interesting thing to study, and Matt put them on his list ofs to visit at some point, when he had time and more experience with chaotic space.


    But before he could do that, they needed to start their climb to Tier 11.


    Instead of finding a remote ce on the edge of a half-settled, they actually left the star systems main that was filled with life, and instead went to a that was farther away from the local star. It was much colder as a result, and was essentially a barren wastnd. It was a Tier 14, so it would eventually be settled for its higher Tier resources. But as the main of the star system was Tier 19, no one was in any particr rush, since they would need to restart the''s molten core without disrupting its essence core if they wanted to advance the. Luna said that it would take specialized earth and fire mages that were at least Tier 30 to manage the feat. And without the molten core, the was without protection from the sun''s radiation.


    If that was all it would be bad enough, but some disaster had happened on the a long time ago, and spread arge amount of Iron Rot, which ate away any exposed ferrous metals. The entire would need to be cleansed beforerge scale migration would be possible. It all added up to a that wasnt under any observation or active jurisdiction. There was officially a Viscountess who owned the barren, but she was currently trying to raise enough wealth to terraform it through lobbying and political maneuvering but that was a slow process.


    With theck of any prying eyes all but assured, they were able to make as many higher Tier rifts as they and their manager could ever want.


    The first thing Luna did was have Matt create a massive protection array, so the mortals had a ce to go outside without dying. While he was immune to the bacteria with [Cracked Phantom Armor], Liz was particrly susceptible to the Iron Rot, which meant that none of them could leave the clean area after he set it up. Even for normal cultivators, long term exposure to Iron Rot bacteria, if at a simr Tier, would mean chronic anemia and other blood based problems. At least until they left the area, and used their essence to rece all their blood.


    Thankfully, bacteria still started life as everything else did, at Tier 0, so it was easy for him to deal with.


    It wasnt hard to manage, but locking an entire valley down was expensive in mana, costing over a million mana a day. It was affordable to Matt, who just ate breakfast while charging the formation batteries for the day, but he understood why no one else bothered to do it.


    After that, Luna made him create a number of Tier 14 rifts for them to delve.


    There would be no more holding back and using half of their abilities. They were training to delve into what Luna called one of the most dangerous ces in the realm, and they needed to be ready.


    Their training wasn''t just limited to delving, but they honed their Concepts and skills further.


    Days turned into weeks, and then weeks turned into months.


    They were able to reach Tier 11 in only nine months of intense training, and started delving Tier 15 rifts. Luna also set them to the task of trying to master a Tier 16 rift, but they had little sess. They went through a different rift every day, trying toplete the high Tier rifts faster and faster. At first, it took them most of a day to clear a single Tier 15 rift, but eventually, they managed to get that down to just nine hours or so. Tier 15 rifts were massive, and even with them taking the most effective routes to the bosses, and killing as many sub-bosses as they could, it still took time. But with Matt''s unlimited mana, they were able to delve at a constant rate, well above their Tier.


    Before they knew it, the months turned into years, and their time to prepare quickly ran out.


    It was time for their Path to lead them to Minka.

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168


    Emmanuel arrived in Doronines real space to find two spiritual senses Datys, and a slightly weaker one he didn''t recognize lock onto him.


    He entered the atmosphere of the ecumenopolis without a ripple, despite how tempted he was to just punch out and st the apart. He could simply remove a rival before the inevitable war even started.


    But that wasnt how the game was yed, and no matter the impending disaster, he was unwilling to haphazardly ughter so many innocents. Besides, for as much as they despised the Empire, neither Datys nor Js profiles suggested they would do something so tant, so he would continue to y nice.


    Further, the Tier 47s, like this one, were the greatest treasures that each of the Great Powers had. They each had an out-sized impact on how quickly all of the others in the realm Tiered up. To destroy one would put the entire universe backwards. No one would allow even their bitterest rivals capital to take any permanent damage.


    J appeared right before him with a teleport skill. The first thing Emmanuel noticed was that she rippled with power, confirming the unknown spiritual sense he felt alongside Datys was her. She was sitting at the peak of Tier 49, and her spirit was packed full of essence, making her just one crunch of power away from achieving Tier 50.


    Smiling, Emmanuel waited for her to speak.


    J said nothing, but scanned Emmanuel up and down. As the silence stretched a full, tedious second, Emmanuel decided that any polite greeting protocols were clearly out of the picture. Instead, he brushed past her to head onto the Presidential Hill.


    J attempted to lock him down with her Aspect, but Emmanuel slipped through its control with one of his Tier 25 Talents. The woman hadnt reached Tier 50 yet, and thus, she didnt <em>understand</em>. He didnt hold it against her.


    As he was leaving, J finally deigned to speak, Unbelievable. Is that really how you treat your host?


    Emmanuel sighed. J was full of her own newfound power, both political and cultivation, and was already hostile towards himself and his Great Power.


    But he would be the bigger person. Madam President <em>Elect</em>, youre not my host for this event. Not yet. President Daty is.


    Brushing past her, he entered the area that was reserved for foreign Great Powers and found Head Elder Winter Ho, the Sect''s leader, sitting in the middle of the room. He was toying with a chess knight across from Chancellor Virgil, the Federation''s leader but they weren''t ying.


    Both were tantly hostile to the Empire, so he ignored them. Nothing he could say would ever sway their opinions, so he didnt bother.


    Off to the side sat both Managing Director JR and First Shepherd Toby, the leaders of the Corporations and Monsters Collective, respectively. JR was a mundane raven who had managed to start cultivating on his own, eventually gaining sapience before bing a crafter of great renown. Even in his bird form, he started making uniquely enchanted items that sold <em>very</em> well, and leveraged that into a massive business empire. It only grewrger andrger as his crafting and mercantile skills became more and more profound.


    His business acumen and crafting abilities kept him moving up in the capitalistic battlefield that was the Corporations, until eventually, he was able to buy enough support for his Ascension to Tier 50. ording to Harper, the intelligencemunity suspected that JR had also formed his own unique bloodline, but was obscuring it somehow to still appear as a Rank 1 bird. He had asked Aunt Helen to subtly dig into it thest time JR came to the border to, once again, propose to her, but she hadnt been able to confirm either way.


    Still, the raven was living proof that Mara was an idiot, not because she started life as a bird, but simply because she was an idiot. As usual, he stayed in his bird form, moving the chess pieces with his beak and talons. Unnecessary, but JR disdained using his Concept to move things in his bird form. If he really needed hands, he just shifted to his human form briefly.


    Toby was a World Turtle, or Zaratan as they were sometimes called. They had learned of the Rank 3 bloodline from one of the few people that had chosen to give up their lives in the higher realms and descend to theirs, if the half-broken [AI] data dumps were to be relied on. The scant shreds of data were the only information they had on Tobys kind in the entire realm.


    The body he was chatting in right now held a weight and pressure that only one of his species could possess,parable to the mass of arger brown dwarf star,st Emmanuel had heard but it was always growing so that information might be out of date. The back of his shell contained its very own super, and all the relevant necessities for life, includingndmasses, oceans, tides, weather patterns, and most importantly, rifts.


    Fortunately, despite his own Tier being 50, his portablendmass was only Tier 22, making it effectively irrelevant in the Great Power''s struggles.


    The World Turtle was one of the few Rank 3 beast bloodlines in the realm, and the only one with a publicly known Rank 3. Though, it was hard to hide when his true body went anywhere. It had been a matter of study for a while after Toby reached Rank 3, to see how the world on his shell managed to exist and function without issues, even while he was in human form, but they had only been able to chalk it up to beast bloodline shenanigans.


    Neither were hostile to the Empire, and Emmanuel nodded to them as he went and sat down next to Grandmaster Allister, his closest ally here and the leader of the Guilds. The man, as he usually did, had six metal balls orbiting behind his head.


    Allister had offered his Talent to Emmanuel when he reached Tier 50, as part of a set of trade deals, but he had politely declined to push for better terms elsewhere. Ultimately, the superior deals hed secured were worth far more than the mans Tier 50 Talent, as it wasrgely useless without the entire set and so didnt mesh well with Emmanuels mix and match Talent style. Still, with war on the horizon, it might not be a terrible idea to at least reconsider the idea. He could hardly afford to leave power on the table, not if he were likely to fight.


    Off to the side were Sword Saint Hastor and his own Tier 49 recement, Aoife. Thebination of the two was almostical, with Hastor''s slender six-and-a-half-foot frame and close-cut hair totally contrasting Aoifes five-foot even stature. She was nearly as wide as she was tall, and had more hair than head.


    The woman was a part of the ns royal bloodline, which consisted of the direct descendants of the founder of the ns. They were human, or at least technically so... Probably. It wasnt entirely clear how hed done it, but the founder of the ns had established his <em>own</em> bloodline, without a beast anywhere in his lineage.


    Theories abounded among those who cared, but what Emmanuel found most likely was a treasure rumored to be findable in Tier 47 rifts, which could give the user a bloodline of their choosing, or strengthen an existing one. There <em>were</em> no Human Bloodlines, but <em>something</em> must have happened. The feat had never been replicated previously, or since. An item from the border of a higher realm, meant for use on a beast, but applied to a human instead? It made sense to him, but no one could confirm something that happened so long ago. Even Aunt Helen was just a chick when the ns founder ascended let alone when he created his bloodline.


    Then again, perhaps it <em>was</em> just a Talent. Stranger examples certainly existed, and especially at higher tiers, it was almost easier to list the things that Talents <em>couldnt</em> do. Regardless, they were an utterly unique existence among the Great Powers.


    The dwarves, as they called themselves, were short at a maximum natural height of about 53. They sacrificed height for sturdy bodies that were far more physically resistant than a normal human body. Their bloodline abilities granted them greater durability, an innate understanding of metalworking, and some fairly interesting biology. Whether their metal skeletal structure actually assisted in them being better smiths was debatable, and no one could say if it was part of the bloodlines power. The only certainty was that the bloodline widely resulted in some of the best metalsmiths in the Realm.


    Technically, they were considered beasts, but as their beast form was a humanoid one that could still procreate with baseline humans, no one <em>truly</em> considered them as such. Not that the n royalty bred outside their own very often, but it did happen, if only when the baseline human married into the n. Even then the candidate would have to possess enough bloodline natural treasures to ensure that the half-blood children could reach Tier 15 and purge their human blood altogether.


    The dwarves technically had a distinct human form, as beasts did, but they were born in their dwarf beast forms, and never switched from them, even after Tier 15. They considered it a great shame to take human form, and at Tier 15, many went through a sacrifice to purge the ability altogether.


    Aoife was known to Emmanuel, and he had sampled her Talent. She was a monster in a small package.


    For her Tier 1 Talent, she was able to create and share a separate essence pool, which allowed one hundred others to link a small fraction of their allocated essence to a greater collective. Anyone of the collective could then tap into that power to give them a temporary boost, but Aoife could control the entire pool. If not actively used, the essence gave everyone a small, passive boost in power, but it was rtively minor whenpared to the active boost which added the entire pool to her own power.


    Then, her Tier 3 and Tier 25 followed the same patterns, but allowed her to promote her original one hundred followers to higher positions, and recruit another one hundred people into the same structure. Those recruited were then able to do the same, and could introduce a new level beneath them. She, as the originator, was able to tap into everyones essence pools for a short term but massive power bonuses.


    He expected her Tier 50 to continue down that path as well, and she would then have one hundred million people to share essence with. That would make her a tough opponent, but he had secured Hastors and her promise to not interfere with the uing wars, as long as the Empire promised to defend the ns if they were attacked during the same time period.


    No one had been willing to fight Hastor and his ridiculous power, and so the ns had expanded rapidly under his rule, but that earned them nearly as much ire as the Empire had for themselves.


    Almost.


    Aoife wasnt strictly an ally, but she was better than purely neutral.


    Emmanuel was happy to have her outside the uing fights, if for no other reason than the fact that she had secured the loyalty of the other royal families in the ns, thanks to her Talent. It made the ns a far more united front than most Great Powers could ever produce.


    Sadly, her Talent was like Allisters, a power set that only really worked well if each part of the whole was perpetually active. He did wonder what title it would lead her to choose when she took over.


    Every Tier 50 leader of the ns was awarded the title of Saint, but each new leader would dere what specifically they would be the ns Saint of. It was usually based on somebination of their Domain, Talent, specializes, achievements, and what they hoped their reign would represent for their people. Hastor became the Sword Saint for inly obvious reasons. With Aoifes Talent and contributions though, Emmanuel could see her taking the title in a few different directions.


    Left to their own devices, the leaders of the Great Powers chatted and hammered out deals. Mostly, this centered around JR from the Corporations, as they acted as a neutral trading hub among the Great Powers. However, closer allies like himself and Allister could and did make trade agreements on their own.


    Small-scale trading often urred between the border worlds, but high Tier, rare, and heavily demanded items were considered too valuable to leave in the hands of low Tier middlemen. For such cargo, the Corporations would happily act as a secure go-betweens, offering their own guarantees for a small percentage cut of the sale.


    That, if nothing else, earned them a steady stream of profit and connections. It also helped that no one was willing to attack the Corporations because they had some of the best mercenarypanies in the Realm.


    des for hire, they were willing to do damn near anything for the right price, including fighting in wars. They werent willing to throw their lives away, but they were willing to do anything short of suicide missions if the rewards were sufficient.


    Part of their existence was to act as a backup to the Corporation''s standing army. They were elite troops that saw morebat than most of the other Great Powers elite forces, and they fought like it. If the Corporations went to war, all of the mercenarypanies were recalled and ordered to fight for their cause.


    It was an interesting contradiction that a Great Power so centered around profit and corporate structures had fostered such a patriotic citizenry, but they had citizens that could give the Sects a run for their money in radical nationalism.


    If they werent the second smallest Great Power, only ahead of the recently cut down Federation, they would have been exterminated by a collective alliance of the other Great Powers long ago. But they knew their position, and kept their expansion in line with the other Great Powers, always ensuring that they were in the bottom half of all the Great Powers in terms of size.


    Still, they hit above their weight and were always willing to join wars if the price was right.


    Emmanuel half expected them to join the uing war with the Empire in one way or another.


    It wouldnt be malicious, but a simple cost-benefit analysis. The Corporations had turned being neutral middlemen into an artform. They were no ones allies yet everyones allies at the same time, depending on how valuable it would be. It meant they were never truly targeted, but neither could they be relied upon. ordingly, he hoped that hed be able to find something that theyd find worthwhile enough to sit out the uing wars. JR wouldnt stop mercenaries from hiring themselves out, but Emmanuel at least wanted to keep the Great Powers standing army out of the fray as well.


    A three versus two would be way more tenable than going against four factions.


    It just depended on what the other side had promised them.


    As they made their deals the entire ecumenopolis was celebrating Datys impending Ascension, and Js rise to Tier 50.


    Even the vastly different people and city structure didnt stop Emmanuel from enjoying the festivities.


    The whole ordeal reminded him of his fathers Ascension, and his own simultaneous rise to power.


    A good memory, that. Even after a thousand years, he still cherished it, despite now fully understanding why his father was so willing to leave the realm behind.


    The celebrations continued for over a year, with various special events sprinkled throughout. Most of the time, Emmanuel and the other Tier 50s were there as set pieces, and justzed around looking pretty for the cameras. All the while, their senses nketed the Republics nearest worlds, often poking around to ease their boredom.


    When the time came and J finally prepared to break through to Tier 50, all of them went on high alert, scouring the area for anyone trying to use the Ascension to illegally break through to Tier 47. Thankfully, no one around seemed intent on viting the old treaties, and they felt the weight of the world settle on her.


    Emmanuel smirked as his newest rival winced.


    Few people really understood what standing at the peak of this pyramid really meant.


    To reach Tier 50 was to be connected with the Realm itself. Literally. That was why each of them could sense the ripples of anyone breaking past Tier 45, from anywhere in the entire realm. Crossing the chasm between Tiers also granted a massive jump in power. To push oneself to the ceiling of Tier 49, and then smashing through to the other side, an oundish quantity of essence was required. When all of that potential coalesced and activated during the breakthrough, the metamorphosis shattered reality, even for people at their level.


    Everyone knew that the Tiers grew sharply steeper as you climbed, but Tier 50 loomed as a watershed that few could traverse, let alone stand against. His grandmother was a notable exception, but she was the exception that proved the rule. Tier 50s were an existence beyond what anyone else could even imagine. Even while smothering most of their own power to keep from identally, spontaneously ascending, they eachmanded more than enough power to squash any given Tier 49, even one at the peak.


    Such facts were why Emmanuel found Js early posturing so adorably amusing.


    The woman had posed <em>zero </em>threat... then.


    Now, she did, but she was also just as restrained and connected as each of her new peers.


    Though, he did wonder how her Talent may have expanded with thistest advancement.


    Poor old Daty had tried so very hard for so very long to conceal the woman from his reach. In the end though, the Republic had faltered just once, and one of his agents discovered her location. Within seconds of the notification, Emmanuel snatched whatever it was that led the Republics leader to value her so much.


    All it took was a quick and undetectable trespass through time and space, using a strange amalgamation of unique Talents, a few anomalous items, and a dementedly cracked Tier 44 skill. The ability needed to be used exceedingly sparingly due to the steep cost, some unavoidable penalties that bordered on extortion, and how badly the strain ravaged his spirit. Not to mention, the catastrophic political fallout that would ur if anyone ever found out that he could slip into their territory without them noticing.


    The entire mystery of her eye Talent unfolded before him with that quick, secret trespass, and they were all none the wiser.


    Js Tier 1 Talent created a tiny pocket world that she could send small objects into at will, andter retrieve.


    At Tier 1, nothing living could enter the small space which made it no better than a spatial ring. But then, three key things changed at Tier 3. First, she gained the ability to also safely send nts and non-sapient animals inside. Second, the volume of space started slowly growing and bing more malleable. Third, the passage of time within her private world could be flexed to pass either quicker, or slower than the outside.


    By Tier 24, she had created a small that even Turstal would envy. Yet, Tier 25 brought boons that vaulted her powerset up to a truly interesting and imposing level.


    Her nation immediately covered up her existence, and had arguably done an admirable job of doing so. But once the Guilds caught a lingering hint, and let him know what to look for, his intelligence department began finding traces of an exorbitant and sophisticated terraforming and colonization initiative. It all seemingly led not to a ce, but a person.


    In hindsight, the reason should have been obvious, but it seemed too ridiculous to seriously consider, given the sheer volume of resources at y.


    At Tier 25, her Talent had expanded explosively in size and scope. The minor pocket stretched enough to match any one of the Empires viscounties, and other sapient life was now no longer barred from entry. Clearly, the Republic had immediately began filling her Talent with the greatest designer star systems they could manage, along with a correspondingly elite popce.


    As far as he could tell, thes and heavenly bodies inside were limited to half of Js Tier. Like with Toby, it didnt give the Republic any massive advantage in high Tier worlds, so it didnt lead to any open hostilities. Unfortunately, there were clear signs that even before Tier 25, she had learned how to absorb any attacks that would hit her through her Talent.


    Her ability to do so was limited by her spiritual strength, but Daty had spared no expense to empower her. Any and every natural treasure that increased spiritual strength that they could find was purchased for her. Everything indicated that she should now be capable of absorbing most attacks up to her own Tier without issue. Paired with aary systems worth of resources and support staff being with her at all times, J would make for an interesting opponent.


    But having her Talent already, he knew precisely how it worked, and how best to beat it.


    Even a star system could only hold so many attacks before it started to stress the bounds of her Talent, and one just needed to overwhelm it. In particr, he would need to flood the space with things that an entire support popce in elerated time couldnt clear out faster than he could send in.


    He had more than a few Talentbinations ready and practiced, each built around cracking the womans Talent like an egg.


    Her Tier 50 Talent might change things in ways he couldnt easily predict, since she was now well past the Tier where he could steal her Talent without her knowing and resisting. But once she used her new Talent, he and his spies could analyze any changes to help identify the new factor. No matter what it was, at least one of his pre-prepared counters should still do the trick. And if none of them would well, he already had an eye on a few up anding Talent sets which might.


    Examining J, he watched as the Realm wrapped its bands of restrictions on her and tried to expel her. This lower Realm was not fond of being connected with Tier 50s. It wanted them <em>gone</em>.


    Her Aspect flicked out and shoved those restrictions away, preventing her from instantly Ascending.


    Nodding internally, he and all the other Tier 50s now turned their attention back to Daty. J was connected to the Realm and now it was Daty''s time to leave.


    There was always a risk of the old ruler trying to stick around, giving one nation two Tier 50s. Which is exactly why they all gathered for these events. No one was willing to allow one Great Power to hold twice as many trump cards.


    Too much power would shift. Ideally, the old ruler would Ascend first, to make it guaranteed, but no ruler was willing to Ascend before their heir first reached Tier 50, and could no longer be snuffed out like a candle with pure cultivation so this was how it was handled.


    Seeing that his recement was settled, Datys Aspect retracted, and the fabric of existence started to try and yank him up. The other leaders didnt even allow a pause for ast-minute goodbye. Not even a second of hesitation could be tolerated. If he paused for even a heartbeat, they would all collectively attack.


    Tier 50s were like a log trying to float to the top of a pool of water, but there was ayer of oil on top of that, and the Tier 50s naturally rested on that breakpoint. If they sshed around too much, they would slip through and ascend to the next Realm.


    That was why they resisted the bonds of the Realm, and never used all their power. It kept them far away from that barrier, and far from automatically ascending. And if they didnt want to die from abined attack of seven other Tier 50s, then they needed to allow themselves to be raised up forcefully.


    Daty started to float into the sky, and his clothes burned away as thebined power of the realms consumed anything not unshakably bound to his very spirit, typically only Tier 45 or higher growth items.


    Only his left bracer remained intact as he started to fade, and the barrier between this Realm and the next started to part for the former President of the Republic.


    Emmanuel felt the power and debated trying to steal Datys Talent mid-ascension. He only had the idea on his way over, while thinking about how he wanted both Datys and Hastors Talents. He wasnt even sure if it would work, but it was an interesting idea that he felt the need to try, now that he had the notion.


    It would be a provocation of the highest order, but he really wanted to risk it. He was half sure that if he timed it right, he could get the Talent set as they were being upgraded by the ascension process. And he doubted that the man would have his defenses ready for a heavy strike with his Talent.


    It might just work.


    Sadly, Daty would have enough time to send a message back if Emmanuel tried anything of the sort.


    In the end, Datys Talent wasntbat-oriented, so despite being useful it was not worth the risk of pissing off the other leaders. He never deliberately tried to take their Talents, and they didnt gang up on him for having too much versatility. An uneasy peace, like everything else about their rtionships.


    As Daty fully disappeared, a wash of essence and mana flooded Doronines surface, but it was a thimble trying to douse a wildfire inparison to thescking mana situation.


    That was why the Tier 50s preferred ascenders go to low Tier worlds, where they would instantly hoist them up a few Tiers, instead of wasting their Ascension on the capitals.


    Datys Ascension meant another round of celebrations and swearing of loyalties, but the other leaders werent needed for that.


    They would have normally left, but Hastor was going to ascend as soon as J finished her duties, so they waited around for the short two years that it took. Datys senators all went to various locations and ascended, leaving J her own fresh power structure that she had chosen.


    And just like that the changeover wasplete.


    Once they entered Westmorra, The ns capital, they settled on the onlyndmass on the that wasnt covered by a city or rift location. Therge ind was a perfect recreation of Killians birthce. It was full of mountains that had degraded to hills over billions of years, with verdant valleys that housed a scattering of herders.


    Emmanuel immediately noticed the young dwarves battling it out between two of the mock cities as they participated in their war games. The entire ind was limited to Tier 15 and under royal ns heirs, who were selected to participate in the war games, and the herders who honored Killians earliest profession.


    The Tier 45 cattle were a delicacy, hard to even buy for the top royalty in the ns, as only a few were allowed to be ughtered every year. Most of that allocation went to the highest Tier leaders of the ns.


    Technically, each n had its own herds, but in practice, the Tier 50 controlled the distribution of said beef.


    Emmanuel had been given some as a gift from Hastor at his father''s Ascension, and he had to admit, it was quite good. It melted on the tongue and could be eaten raw with no issue, if one wished, but traditionally it was cooked.


    The other oddity of Westmorra was its floating inds, and they passed through a few that were hovering around the capital ind. Emmanuel knew they were home to the ns whose youths were participating in the war games, as that was the only time the citadels were allowed to approach the ind capital.


    Each floating ind was a hilly region each n brought their promising youth to after a certain age. It was tradition to encourage a connection to their ancestors, and to escape the sprawling cities that most grew up in.


    When theynded, seventy-two dwarf ns and three human ns met them, and went to one knee to wee Hastor and Aoife. The three human ns were Killians concession to humanity, and their representation amongst the ns'' upper management.


    There were to be three ns of humans at all times by custom andw, because despite all of the ns royalty being of dwarven lineage, humanity still made up ny-eight percent of the ns'' poption. When one of the human ns finally married enough dwarves to be considered a proper n, a new family would be raised to prominence from the human poption to maintain the minimum human ns.


    When everyone stood, Emmanuel felt abnormally tall amongst the dwarves, and even humans. Thetter were all above Tier 15, and had shortened themselves to the legal minimum of 55, while most of the dwarves were at their natural heights, varying from 410 to 53. Emmanuel, at a natural 62, felt like a giant.


    Even Hastor was an unusual sight among the shorter humans and dwarves, as he had never chosen to shorten himself from his natural height, as it would have interfered with his swordsmanship. And no one would ask the man who had reached every Tier through inspiration to interrupt his growth for something as simple as how tall he was. But all the other humans had brought their height down to the legal limits, to better fit in with the Great Powers cultural standards for beauty and high social status.


    Hastor and Aoifes preparations were just as numerous as Daty and Js had been, and took another three years.


    The first year consisted of the final battle between the two remaining ns in the youth war, and surprisingly enough, the oldest human n was the victor.


    Emmanuel had to wonder if that was a concession to Hastor and his own humanity, but considering the human n had all married dwarves, and their children were dwarves, and said n was about to be a proper n, he doubted it. If they had wanted to make a statement, they would have made it so the newer human n with actual human descendants was the victor.


    When they won, their human n leader voluntarily stepped down with all the other remaining human ancestors of the n, and allowed the younger generation to take over. It was the final step for the human n to be a proper dwarf n, allowing Hastor to raise a new human n and bring the distribution to seventy-three and three.


    Emmanuel and Hastor eventually found a few moments to be alone, andpleted their deal.


    Emmanuel wanted to cheer, but contented himself with a whistle.


    The other leaders would hate him for it, but they knew it was inevitable for him to get someone elses Tier 50 Talent.


    And oh, was it a good thing. Hastor was a monster for his Tiering up with only inspirations, but he would have been strong without it. His Talent set wasn''t what set him apart.


    Emmanuel took the time to quantify it, and listed it out as the Empire Talents scanners did for his perusal. He was just more used to it that way, and his AI did it almost automatically at this point, for all new Talents he gathered.


    Tier 1 Talent: Instinctive understanding of swords and ded weapons.


    Tier 3 Talent: ded weapons you wield and any enchantments they have are empowered to match with an equivalent weapon of your Tier.


    Tier 25 Talent: You may pre-cast a skill into a de you wield for storage, and may freely cast itter. de-specific skills cast this way have strongly increased effect.


    Tier 50 Talent: You perfectly control what your sword cuts.


    Finally, seeing exactly what Hastors Talents did, he was more impressed with the older man. Everyone thought he had a Talent for inspirations, but Emmanuel was feeling the proof inside his own spirit.


    Hastor was just <em>that</em> good.


    The Tier 1 was something Emmanuel had a few dozen variations of, but he still equipped it to see if he learned anything new. Talents werent all the same, no matter how simr their effects. Hastor''s Tier 1 gave him no new knowledge though, and he moved on to the Tier 3.


    It was damn useful. Even he only had a Tier 48 weapon, and its enchantments were limited by its materials. If the Talent upgraded the weapon, he might be able to swap it out and keep the effects. Hed have to test with a lower Tier weapon, as Tier 48 weapons were rare, since the metals were only gathered from rare Tier 47 rift rewards. With the way the Talent felt in his spirit, it seemed like even the metal would be upgraded, which made for some interesting possibilities.


    Hed also need to see if he could swap out the Tier 25 and keep a skill stored in the weapon. That could make the Talent incredibly useful, but once again, he wasnt going to risk his own weapon on a test that could fail in a million ways.


    The Tier 50 was the real treasure. It was abat-oriented Tier 50 Talent, instead of his father''s past and future sight.


    Now that Emmanuel had this, he could fight without any loss against the other Tier 50s. Instead of always being on the defensive, he could go on the attack with builds that perfectly countered each of them.


    Hastor may be leaving, but Emmanuel became a lot more dangerous.


    It only cost him defending the ns if they were attacked. Not a small price, but one he was happy to pay.


    Before they left, Emmanuel asked Hastor a question that surprised the man. Laughing, he agreed. Hastor even said that hed make a distraction so the others didnt notice Emmanuel using his Talent.


    Two yearster, Hastor and Aoife took to the skies and they all watched as the young dwarven woman broke through to Tier 50.


    There was nothing unusual about that, but what shocked all of them all was that Hastor spoke.


    From my awakening to now, I surmounted every Tier with an Inspiration. Many have asked if I had one ready to reach Tier 51 for when I ascended, but I never answered them.


    Hastor smiled at the other Tier 50s, one by one. Each and every recipient felt a chill wash over them.


    Really, the question everyone should have asked is; <em>why would I wait</em>? Hastors smile widened. It wasnt overtly malicious, but Emmanuel and everyone else immediately had their weapons drawn at the ready.


    Hastor pointed his sword at the sky.


    <em>I am The Sword</em>.


    The world rumbled, and all the essence on the started to rush into Hastor. It wasnt enough, and the Realm opened up and started to spew essence into Hastor like a flood. But that wasn''t all. A power greater than an Aspect unfurled from Hastor.


    He had established his <em>Authority</em>.


    Everyone knew the basic requirements for a Domain.


    A Concept to reach Tier 5.


    An Intent to reach Tier 25.


    An Aspect to reach Tier 50.


    Known to far fewer, an Authority was needed to reach Tier 75, and Hastor had just created his in the lower Realm, at Tier 51. A stunning <em>twenty-four</em> Tiers early.


    His power was quite literally beyond this Realm, and crushed down on them like the pressure of standing on a sun.


    At the same time, precious little of the essence flowed into the around Hastor. He was like a bottomless whirlpool as he broke into Tier 51.


    When the torrent ended, the bounds of the Realm started zealously rejecting Hastors existence, and he began ascending automatically. Still, they could all feel that he didnt use his Authority to resist it. If he had, he might have lingered, which was a horrifying thought.


    As he faded away, he lowered and brandished his sword, sending a dark premonition through everyone''s spirits. Hastor was in position to unleash one final attack. His Authority hung over them like an executioners de.


    Hastorsst words shaved at their ears instead of his de, though.


    Youll always know that I had time for the final strike. That you were all <em>spared</em>.


    Hearing that, Emmanuel threw his Talent at Hastor''s fading figure over and over again, trying to catch his Talent as it was upgraded by the Ascension. This was the perfect time to test his theory that he could, in fact, pickpocket a Talent mid-Ascension. Hastor has said he would create a distraction for Emmanuel but he hadn''t expected something sorge.


    The first few times, his Talent grabbed nothing.


    He was writing it off as a failed experiment when just as Hastor''s nude form and de were nearly gone, his Talent gripped onto something. The copy of Hastors Talent inside his spirit resonated with its twin, and then morphed as an updated version slotted in ce.


    As everyone else stood horrified at Hastors naked threat, Emmanuel was reveling in the sessful execution of his n.


    A few microseconds passed in the time it took to understand the changes. When he conceptualized them, his face began shifting until he was grinning like Mara or Leon. Thest of his self-discipline was spent barely withholding a cackle from escaping his throat.


    Tier 1 Talent: Instinctive understanding of swords and ded weapons. <strong>Inherently understand the fighting style of opponents wielding ded weapons as well.</strong>


    Tier 3 Talent: ded weapons you wield, and any enchantments they have, are empowered to match with an equivalent weapon of your Tier. <strong>The effect lingers for hours equal to your Tier.</strong>


    Tier 25 Talent: You may pre-cast a skill into a de you wield for storage, and may freely cast itter. de-specific skills cast this way have increased effect. <strong>Stored skills grow stronger with time, based on how long the de is equipped.</strong>


    Tier 50 Talent: You perfectly control what your sword cuts. <strong>You may uncut what you have cut.</strong>


    As his own thoughts spun, Aoife hastily performed damage control with the other Tier 50s, who now took their recent panic out on her. With time for one decisive strike, a Tier of greater power, and an Authority, Hastor could have ughtered all of them. But he chose not to.


    That caused the invincible rulers of quadrillions to feel fear for the first time in who knew how long, and they didnt like it.


    Emmanuel couldn''t care less.


    He had taken an evolved Talent set from someone Ascending.


    One by one, he pondered the implications of his four new treasures.


    The Tier 1 and Tier 25 upgrades were strong, but not insane. He already had multiple Talents sets that could produce simr or better effects as needed.


    The Tier 50 upgrade was interesting, but of still limited use to Emmanuel. Instinctively, he also felt that the Talent still had a strict time limit on its uncutting, which stunted the applications further.


    Additionally, the Talent needed to be kept continuously active from the cut to the uncut for it to work. Though, seeing as he only possessed two Tier 50 Talents, he would not be swapping it out when inbat.


    The true prize, what he really wanted, was the Tier 3 evolution. For someone who swapped out their Talents, it was <em>perfect</em>. He could empower a sword before battle, and still reap the benefits of this Tier 3 Talent, even after he swapped it out. The intended purpose of the Talent was probably Hastor outfitting the people around him but it worked perfectly for Emmanuel and his own abilities.


    With enough creativity, almost every single one of his builds could potentially benefit. He would need to have a massive armory of swords crafted with enchantments specifically designed for each build or counter he could ever need. Since they could be low Tier weapons, the cost involved would be almost nonexistent.


    Everyone said that Ascension upgraded the body, which made them physically stronger than those born on a higher Realm. It would empower the spirit, which epassed Talents. And it would strengthen their Domains, their Concept, Intent, Aspect, and for Hastor, his Authority. But he hadnt realized how much stronger it would make each of them.


    If the Talent upgrade was anything to judge by, the benefit was substantial.


    He couldnt wait for his own Ascension, and was kicking himself for not trying this before with his own ascenders. Even just getting their Tier 1 through Tier 25 Talents upgraded would have been worth the trip, if they were all as strong as this.


    Emmanuel now had a Tier 50 sword for fifty hours at a time. Hed still need to do some testing, but he was sure it would work as he wanted now.


    As the other Tier 50s left Westmorra with simmering bellies full of anger, he left with a smile and a new n.


    War wasing.


    But <em>now</em> he was ready.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169


    Long Zhiyuan sat in meditation pose and felt the rising suns rays fall onto the pir that kept him suspended a dozen feet in the air. The dawn moved slowly over the horizon and warmed the dew-dampened robe adorning his lower half. The heat felt good on his bare upper chest.


    As the light reached his center, he focused on his inner self, where twelve unreal versions of himself were performing various tasks and exercises.


    His Talent bestowed him with the ability to create spiritual clones of himself. They could do anything he could, and any benefit was still gained with a one in ten transfer rate.


    The first version of himself was working out. That was all it ever did. All day, every day. Today, the training was focused upon his chest, and his clone was lying on a bench, repping away endlessly. His idle clones, as he called them, never grew tired, never ran out of mana, never grew bored, and could do whatever he directed them to.


    His Tier 3 Talent granted Long Zhiyuan a new clone each Tier, but the efficiency in transferring the fruits of theirbor to himself only improved by a tiny amount over each Tier up. At Tier 12, they were scarcely better than they had been at Tier 1. Regardless, as they could work even while he slept, their poor efficiency was an eptable trade-off. Though, he couldnt help but to long for a higher transfer rate to speed up his advancement. As the total number of clones grew, each new one represented a smaller rtive increase.


    Still they were incredibly useful even now.


    The clones could even transfer over muscle memories, which his second clone was taking advantage of. It was currently climbing over obstacle courses without the aid of Revtions, or techniques. Being able to dodge attacks and keep his bnce was always a useful skill.


    Long Zhiyuan never would admit it, but he had been terrified of heights as a child, and his second clone allowed him to gain the confidence to ovee that. Even if he was pushed over the edge of a cliff, he could catch himself without a technique or his First Revtion.


    He had tried it to be sure.


    Fears had to be faced and conquered.


    Long Zhiyuans third idle clone was practicing his martial arts in slow movements. That clone was more meditative than anything, but he kept it role constant, as it helped keep him calm and centered.


    His fourth clone was constantly being sted apart by various elements and dying. Long Zhiyuan had learned at a young age that pain was more mental than anything else.


    The fifth idle clone was using [Seven Demons Strike] over and over, gradually learning and expanding the technique to properly work with an open-handed raking strike, instead of a crude punch. The conversion was agonizingly slow, but that was thest of the four basic elemental strikes that he had yet to master, and it should be finished before the trip to Minka.


    Using a crude, unrefined technique directly from a technique shard, and without using any of the countless improvements outlined within the Sect manuals, would bring shame upon himself and his Sect. It was also thergest sign of someone who waszy in their advancement in the worst way. Rushing forward without solidifying their foundation.


    His sixth and seventh clones were fighting each other, as were his eighth and ninth, along with the tenth and eleventh. The sixth, eighth, and tenth clones were perfect copies of himself with various weapons, but their opponents changed after each fight.


    His first two clone opponents were some of the other Young Masters he had fought and killed, but even dead, they still worked for him. Every other day he changed it up, and made the copies of himself fight uneven battles to stress test his capabilities in disadvantageous positions. But currently, he was on a solo fight day which meant an even distribution.


    His eleventh clone was shifting between various monsters he had fought, trying to learn the best way to kill rift creatures that were stronger than him. People were more dangerous, but he still needed to delve rifts. And the better he could do that, the faster he would advance in his cultivation.


    Sadly, Long Zhiyuan needed to use [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] to properly gather enough data on his opponent, if he wanted to create a functioning copy. That technique, more than any of his others, was his greatest tool.


    That was what his final, twelfth clone was for. It endlessly used [Heavenly All Seeing Eye], growing the techniques structure to better gather data from people and monsters for him to fight.


    He hopped down from the pir when the sun reached his head, and his Servant, Godfrey, waited with a towel at the ready.


    As always, he had a pleasant smile stered on his face.


    The Servants were an institution as old as the Young Master system was. They stayed by the side of each Young Master to protect them from attacks above their Tier, and to assist them in their daily living.


    Each Servant wore the same purple and yellow robe, and they were notorious for being fastidiously neat and tidy. But Long Zhiyuan never forgot that under the endlessly friendly and servile appearanceid no loyalty to him. Godfrey had only stood by and watched as he beat the mans former Young Master, Ren Manni, to death in order to take over her position as the Soaring Clouds Sect''s Young Master.


    Godfrey simply looked on in silence without his smile ever slipping and Long Zhiyuan knew the man would do so again if he was ever killed.


    Long Zhiyuan had offered the girl a chance to surrender three times, but she refused each time. Ultimately, he had been forced to rip out her windpipe.


    Taking the cloth, he whipped his chest off. After handing the towel back to Godfrey, he asked, Have my gloves arrived yet?


    Godfreys smile stayed constant as he stowed the towel and slipped a box out from his baggy sleeves.


    It came in just this morning Young Master, but you were in your mediation, so I held onto it. Saying that, he presented the box with both hands and a slight bow.


    Godfreys voice was pleasant and subservient, which made it easy for some to forget that all the Servants were Tier 35s, hand trained by the Divine Fist Sect, the home of Grand Sect Elder Winter Ho.


    Long Zhiyuan had seen Godfrey interfere once, just once, when two cultivators were dueling in their flight path to the nearest city. They had refused to move, and in one wave of his sleeve, the two went flying <em>through</em> the nearest two mountains.


    Cracking opening the ornate box, he saw two gloves neatlyid out and withdrew the right handed one.


    Slipping it over his own hand, it was a perfect fit. The small and seemingly benign ws at the end were hardly noticeable against the ck leather.


    Flexing his hand, he found the thin glove to be a perfect match to his request.


    Tugging the other glove on, he curled his fingers into a fist to confirm that the nails wouldnt puncture the glove.


    eptable. What did they end up using for the materials? He had only asked for the gloves and provided the general specifications. Everything else had been left up to the Gorgeous Leather Workers Pavilion. The details hadnt been interesting before, but now, seeing the finished craft, he was intrigued.


    Godfrey spoke through his same smile, Once they heard that the gloves were for Young Master Blood Hand, the Gorgeous Leather Workers Pavilion made every effort, and used all of their resources to fulfill the Young Masters request. The materials used are all peak Tier 14. The craftsmen used the hide of an Abyssal Ogre for the leather, and tipped the gloves with the ws from a Wight that was nearing Tier 15 as the boss in a rift. The ws were then filed down and polished with petrified orchid petals. The result is a supple yet durable pair of covertly wed gloves. Runes for durability were added to the leather and runes of sharpness for the nails. The head craftsman stated that it should get through most Tier 14 light armor, and the properties of the Wights should allow it to more easily pierce magical armor. The effect is not perfect, since the Wights are dead, but it should prove sufficient for your trip to Minka.


    Long Zhiyuan cringed internally at his moniker, but kept it off his face. He hated the nickname, but w techniques were so unexpected that they made the perfect hidden weapon. Twice now, it had saved his life in the sh of Fates, the forced duels used to cull second-rate Young Masters.


    Walking out of those death matches with his hands covered with blood had earned him the title. As it went, Young Master Blood Hand wasn''t the worst pseudonym, but neither was it what he would have picked for himself.


    Still, it was a reminder of the Culling matches organized by the Sects involving Young Masters who wished to keep their position. After Tier 5, you were no longer an Initiate, and could no longer challenge a Young Master for their position. As an Initiate, you could still challenge a higher Tier Young Master, but that became more unlikely therger the gap became. Instead, you had to either wait for the Young Master to die, or challenge another Sect for their position, assuming they had an eligible Young Master closer to your Tier. If you won, their title would go to your own Sect.


    That was the only way to have more than a single Young Master in any Sect but it was also the easiest way for a Sect to grow stronger.


    The privileged position of Young Master brought honor and resources to both the Sect and individual. Thus, taking a Young Master position was a good way to deal a blow to apeting Sect as well as strengthen your own. After all, they would be unable to raise a new Young Master until you died, surrendered it, or reached Tier 8.


    If a Sect lost their Young Master positions too often, it was considered failed, and would eventually be cannibalized by rival sects. Once the failed Sects bones were picked clean, a new Sect would be raised in its ce.


    It was kill or be killed for anyone who stepped on the road of cultivation. That was the only truth the Realm offered after all.


    However, while Young Masters were given nearly unlimited resources, they needed to prove their worth against their peers at every other Tier after Tier 5.


    On specially prepareds, all the Young Masters in that region of the Sects were required to take part in the sh of Fates. Devices were set up that locked them on Tier specific battlefields full of monsters and opportunities, and only when half died were the restrictions lifted. Then, and only then, were they allowed to leave. But there were treasures hidden away, so most stayed to search for their good fortune, and to snatch resources from the others which increased the death rate well above one out of two.


    In thest Culling he had killed seven of the 261 Young Masters who had faced him, an aplishment which had earned him more resources and even greater respect. Four of those had found their own opportunities which had ended up further empowering himself.


    <em>The strong grew stronger. The weak fed the strong. As was right and proper</em>.


    As long as he continued to delve up three Tiers, he was secure in his position as one of the strongest Young Masters of his generation. But that wasn''t enough for him. Long Zhiyuan wanted to press his momentum, and delve deep into Minka to reap the best rewards.


    At the end of the day, power was the only thing that mattered.


    He was moving through a few practice swings with a random sword to get used to the new gloves, when Godfrey interrupted him. The Sect Master wants to see you, Young Master. At your convenience, of course.


    Long Zhiyuan stopped and nodded, putting away the de and going to see Shining Lc immediately.


    Sect Master Shining Lc sat in her pavilion with a calm demeanor, watching the youngest disciples going through their martial forms under the direction of Elder Han, but Long Zhiyuan knew the lie behind the mask.


    Ren Manni, the prideful woman who had refused to surrender had been the Sect Masters daughter, and he had killed her. The honor and resources he had earned for her and the Sect were the only things keeping him alive.


    He could see it in her eyes.


    The second he lost his value, she would be the first to tear him to pieces.


    He and the Sect Master had an understanding, and they mostly avoided each other, but Minka was too important, so with the uing trip he assumed the topic was urgent for her to call on him so suddenly.


    Knowing his predecessors lineage, Long Zhiyuan had tried to let her surrender, but she forced his hand with her refusal. To challenge a Young Master for their position only had two oues for the challenger.


    Victory or death.


    Challenging your betters had to carry risk, after all. The daggers carried by the Servants weren''t for show. Long Zhiyuan had only two ways for the fight to end and keep his life, have her surrender or kill her. Godfrey would have killed him for failing in the challenge if he let her live without her verbal surrender. Surrender was a benefit of the strong but they still needed to lower their heads and admit defeat.


    With Ren Manni refusing to surrender even after three offers by him he had been forced to kill her to save his own life and hadnt hesitated.


    From his understanding, Servants used to protect their Young Masters lives, but that had only created weak cultivators. The Grand Sect Elder of the era had stepped in and revamped the Servants role from that of protectors to what they were today.


    Now, every Sect, including those subsidiary to the Great Sects, held a position for a Young Master. It was why the Lower Tiers were the most brutal. There were many people fighting for the scarcely limited slots, constantlypeting to see who would live long enough to grow stronger and faster than their peers.


    He had been forced to kill Ren Manni to protect his own life, but Shining Lc didnt see it that way, and both of them knew it.


    As he stood to the side, waiting for her to acknowledge him, he remembered his own time with Elder Han. The man was Tier 18, and not a particrly strong cultivator, but he had a knack for knowing exactly how hard to push the pre-awakened ten-year-olds, and extract the best out of them without breaking them.


    Elder Han had ensured Long Zhiyuans own time in the outer Sect was productive, and even a little fun.


    Half of the games that the children yed were cleverly disguised training games which would prepare them forter battles training their small unit teamwork and tactics.


    Finally, as the children were ushered into a run to the stream two miles away, Shining Lc spoke, Young Master Blood Hand, are you prepared to go to Minka?


    Long Zhiyuan nodded to her back. I am. Do we have a final list of the disciples who areing with me?


    Shining Lc gestured with a finger, and a memory crystal flew to him. He had his [Spiritual Self] analyze it.


    More cultivators than he had expected had applied to apany him on this trip. Too many, honestly. Some of them were clearly unsuited to brave such dangers. Pushing yourself was always a good thing, but pushing yourself off a cliff when you had no chance of surviving was stupid. Some cultivators peakedter in life, and that was a perfectly valid path to advancement.


    Minka is a charnel house. Prepare your fellow disciples well, as I expect you to ensure some of them return. Long Zhiyuan resisted the urge to narrow his eyes. The Sect Masters tone suggested that he would be held responsible if not enough survived the trip, but she continued before he could think too deeply on the implication. Your fates will be tested in Minka, and not only against the other Sects, but also against the Foreign Powers. If you are not careful, even <em>your</em> prodigious powers will mean little. I wish you <em>the best of luck</em> in reaching the core.


    While her words were those of encouragement, Long Zhiyuan knew that she hoped he dove too deep and killed himself. No matter. He intended to reach the bottom no matter what. Though he knew not what awaited him, as the Sects believed that entering Minka blind made for better cultivators from those who exited, the journey would certainly not be in vain. Be it a heavens-shattering technique or earth-rendering weapon, the gains would be his.


    Any and everything was possible in Minka. The stories told of dozens of legends who weremon before testing their luck in its ruinous depths.


    Still her words about hoping some of her disciples returned was a fair assessment, though worrying. He had seen the numbers before. If one contender from a group of ten returned from Minka, it would be a bountiful year.


    Long Zhiyuan waited for another few minutes, but when Shining Lc said nothing else he dipped his head in a bow before he turned and left.


    Technically, as a Young Master, he was of equal social standing to the Sect Master and could do away with formalities, but it was a privilege he rarely exercised. He expected others to follow the formalities, so he followed them himself.


    Reviewing the list of names, he walked with purpose to seek out a few of the disciples that he knew were unsuitable.


    Talking with the weaker disciples, he convinced all but one of them to reconsider and stay in the Sect to grow their skills before venturing out.


    Han De refused, saying he had made up his mind to use Minka to transform himself.


    Death or glory.


    Long Zhiyuan disagreed, but said nothing. It wasnt his ce to do more than advise them.


    A short two dayster, his group boarded the Sect''s cloudship and flew to the regional capital of the.


    They were greeted by Provincial Governor Adam, who was an outer disciple of the Smithing Hands Sect. The Tier 47 Sect was responsible for overseeing this weak and all of the on Sects reported to them.


    Once all thirty-seven local Sects gathered, he asked, Are each of you prepared, body and spirit, for Minka?


    As the Young Master, Long Zhiyuan reported for his Sect and listened as each of the other Young Masters, or eldest disciples, did the same.


    Despite there being thirty-seven Sects represented, there were only nine Young Masters on this voyage.


    Five were Tier 13, three were Tier 14, and he was the sole one at Tier 12.


    The other Young Masters had all been killed during the Cullings, and their Sects hadnt raised up a Young Master in time to the proper Tier for Minka.


    Deep Sky Ravagers Sect was the only one with two Young Masters; two years ago it would have been three, but Long Zhiyuan had personally killed Shen Fung in thest culling, returning a Young Master position to Flowing Grass Sect.


    Their two Sects had an incredible enmity already, and he knew that he had to watch his back in Minkas halls. For their des, <em>and</em> the other Great Powers.


    Still he had practiced fighting both of them with his Talent many times, and was confident in his victory against both sides. Killing them would be harder, but he could defeat them without issue.


    Provincial Governor Adam was a charming host, and once they arrived on therge, chaotic ship, he gathered the Young Masters for an elegant dinner. Long Zhiyuan thought the event was a waste of time, but maintained a polite mask during the meal, as was expected of one of his position.


    Provincial Governor Adam had a strong backing, and despite their statuses as Young Masters, he had more power than them. However, status was a fickle thing, and the man was sucking up to them in case one of them made it past Tier 20 in the program. Though, they were guilty of the same in hopes of using him as a rmendation to join the higher ranking Sects.


    As Long Zhiyuan yed the game, the Servants who stood along the far wall never left his mind.


    All the men were exactly 511, and the women were 58. Each of them wore the same robes in the same way, and stood in the same position, hands sped in front of them. The only way to tell them apart was their facial features. But even then, that was muted, as they all had one of four hair cuts.


    Long and unbound, except for a single tail to keep hair off of the face, long and twisted into a bun at the nape of the neck, short and tidy with the hairbed and styled to precision, or cleanly shaven with not a hair in sight.


    That was it. No Servant had anything except those four styles.


    Most of them had their hair long, either in a bun or loose, but one of the women had a shaved head, and two of the men had the closer cut.


    It was unnerving to see so many people look so simr, but with small differences.


    His own Servant was the only one who never stopped smiling, but somehow, even that did not seem out of ce with the other Servants.


    It was <em>uncanny</em>.


    After the appropriate amount of time chatting, Long Zhiyuan made his excuses and rose to leave.


    Young Mistress Caring Jade joined him, and they silently walked through the ship''s spacious interiors until the paths to their destinations split apart.


    He thought she wouldn''t say anything, but she turned just as they were to separate and asked, Young Master Blood Hand, can I rely on you and your people to watch my own in Minka?


    Long Zhiyuan paused as he thought it over.


    Her Sect, Sleek des Sect, wasnt an ally of Soaring Clouds Sect, but it was neutral enough that he didnt suspect foul y in her suggestion.


    A full alliance was out of the question, but nonaggression was possible.


    On behalf of the Soaring Clouds Sect, he replied, I can agree on a pact of nonaggression within Minka.


    He noticed an almost imperceptible frown flit across Caring Jades face before she nodded back, epting his word. She turned without saying anything more, with her own Servant a silent shadow trailing behind her as they made their way to the Sleek des Sects quarters.


    Returning to his cabin, Long Zhiyuan started his own martial practices. His Talent let him practice at all times but doing it himself in conjunction with his idle clone sped up the progress, and he needed to be at his best for what wasing up.


    When they were halfway to Minka, he started bringing each disciple of the Soaring Clouds Sect to his cabin and offering his experience to help them with any issues. It was expected of a Young Master to be both a strong fighter and a leader.


    Long Zhiyuan didn''t care for that expectation, but he would do his job. Anything he did, he would do to the best of his abilities, so he didnt ck off, and offered whatever he could to his juniors. It wasn''t like any of them were a threat. If they were, they would have challenged him when he was Tier 5.


    None had.


    Few of the disciples had anythingrge to ask of him, and with those, he simply conversed and ensured that they knew what they were getting into. Those withrger hurdles, he spent more time with and helped them work through whatever individual obstacles they had in front of them.


    Most were simple, but Han De was having trouble with his [First Dawns Spiritual Might] technique, and the modifications towards closebat necessary for stronger punches ording to the Sects manuscript.


    He had messed something up in the techniques structure, and instead of strengthening his chest and core, it now focused most of its power into his legs. Han De wanted to discard the technique and try again, not wanting to be thought a coward only trying to run away. Instead of that, Long Zhiyuan convinced him to not be so hasty, and taught him a few new kicking techniques to take advantage of the techniques modification.


    If Han De got a kicking shin guard, he could turn that mistake into a devastating surprise attack.


    And if all else failed, <em>it would</em> make for a good escape technique.


    There was nothing wrong with running away from a fight you couldnt win. The Great Sects preached differently, but the sh of Fates taught him better.


    He didn''t say it, but he could see in Han Des eyes that he understood.


    The trip itself was mostly uneventful, though he was still unable to get [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] to peer past the surface and find out what techniques people were hiding. Long Zhiyuan believed he was close, but there was a bottleneck that he couldnt yet ovee. After his continued failures, he suspected that he couldn''t do it without a refinement sphere, and intended to buy one before they entered Minka proper.


    The only eventful thing to happen was when the Titans Fist Sect and Deep Miners Sect came to blows, and eleven of their disciples were in before they were reigned in by the other Sects.


    Those two Sects hated each other to the bone, so it wasnt surprising. The Sect Masters had a longstanding feud, and that had seeped into the younger generation.


    Long Zhiyuan just found it a waste of good bodies ready to enter Minka.


    They could have killed each other there, and at least served some purpose, after all.


    When they arrived at the Minka system, Long Zhiyuan knew his time to shine hade.


    ***


    Alexi watched as her team got ready.


    Their barracks room was clean and neat.


    Alpha team had been preparing for their Minka run for thest year, and each of them was at the peak of Tier 12.


    They were strong, and would dominate once inside.


    When they had been designated Alpha team in recognition of their exceptional advancement, everyone on the team had decided to take new names that started with As to honor Mother Virgil.


    She had saved them from a life of torment and given them power.


    They hadnt had names, and she had encouraged them to choose their own.


    Ashton, Arnold, Aaron, Ajay, Adam, April, Alyssa, na, Aurora, and herself, Alexi. It had been fun for the ten of them toe up with names, and their choices were mirrored by the other nine squads.


    She was still mad at them for stealing their idea to take names that started with the first letter of the squad designation, but each team imed to have had the idea first.


    Alexi knew that as a lie, as they hade up with the idea on their own, but each team had gone through their own naming scheme.


    A through I, each had kept the convention.


    Still, Alexi knew her team was the best. The friendly rivalry between the teams had turned heated in thest year as they prepared for Minka, but Mother Virgil had cautioned them against truly fighting each other, which kept tempers down to a reasonable degree.


    She still wanted her team to do the best.


    Mother Virgil had promised them great rewards if they managed to reach the core and reap the best prizes.


    That was all her team needed to hear to set that as their only eptable goal.


    If Mother Virgil wanted it, she would get it. She had saved them from a life worse than death, and had given them hope.


    Even as the runes carved into their very bones increased in power, and pushed their bodies to the limit with their corrupting presence, Mother Virgil always made sure toe and soothe them with her power.


    Alexi hadnt even needed to cajole her team into practicing harder after hearing Mother Virgil''s request.


    They had already been working hard, of course, but going at one hundred percent at all times was nearly impossible. Still, they had managed it with that goal. That was the power that Mother Virgil gave them.


    All of the teams took strength from their savior, and wanted to get strong enough to help protect her.


    They had all learned about the other Evil ces that had once ripped the glorious Federation apart in a jealous fit, and Mother Virgil had the arduous task of protecting the survivors of the Federation.


    She worked so hard to protect them, and took her limited and precious time to help their insignificant selves. She had helped them recover from being cruelly operated on by the other Powers, who thought they could do whatever they wanted in Federationnd and to their people.


    Alpha team would be the tip of Mother Virgils spear, and they were determined to keep the lead position firmly in their grasp.


    Their runes were the most temperamental, but it also gave them the greatest power. They worked hard to keep ahead of the evil that had been put into their bones, but they knew the only way to truly seed was to reach Tier 35, where they could reign supreme at the top of the mundane wars.


    It was more than perfect, since at that Tier, they could turn their weapons on the Evil Empire, who Mother Virgil believed were the ones to do this to them.


    Not content with their false monster of Duke Waters, who they propped up with lies and propaganda, they had entered the Federationsnds and tried to create strong people using wicked methods to fill the void.


    Alexi clenched her hand at the thought as she watched Aaron, Ajay, and April checking over everyone''s weapons and gear.


    They were their specialists in enchantments and crafting. Each member of the team knew their own gear, but after the initial checks, the specialists always looked it over.


    Adam, their healer, was moving through each of them and inspected them before stopping at her.


    Hey, boss. How are you holding up? He shed a smile and pressed two fingers to her neck, sending a wave of magic into her.


    Alexi didnt lie. Mother Virgil had exined that lying to seem stronger than they were was counterproductive. The power in their bones was growing each day, and if it grew too much, they needed to speak up and tell the official healers or herself, so they could cast a spell to slow their growth.


    The spells were painful in a different way, but at least they didnt threaten to tear their skin apart.


    Alexi, as the core focus of the runes that the Evil Empire had imnted in her squad, had it the worst.


    A trickle of the rest of the squad''s power always seeped into her, and threatened to rip her apart.


    Still, right now, it was under control. While the power had built up to an almost uncontroble limit that had threatened to kill all of them in thest few months, the head enchanter, Jecker, hade to them with a new bracelet that was better at suppressing the power of the runes.


    It was good timing, and she was sure that Mother Virgil, in her benevolence, had helped the mane up with it before their all-important delve into Minka.


    Alexi didnt know what she would have done if she still had to endure the power levels that the runes had been outputting in thest year for the Minka run.


    The pain had pushed them all to their limits, but now that it was gone, she and everyone felt light as a feather with their power under control.


    Adam gave her a clean bill of health and moved on to helping Ashton, and going over their provisions for the Minka run, as was his secondary role. They would need enough food and water for the entire run, and none of them wanted to risk running low on food again.


    During one of their training missions, the ration ship had exploded, and they had been forced to eat bugs to survive. It would have been ok, but the bugs had an acidic blood that made each one painful to eat.


    None of them wanted to go through that again.


    Receiving a message from Mother Virgil, Alexi popped to her feet and called out, Last checks. Mother Virgil is going to send us off in ten minutes.


    That sent everyone into overdrive, and they were ready and in formation in under three minutes. None of them were willing to make Mother Virgil wait around for <em>them</em>.


    While she never said so, they understood that she was busy, and every minute she spent with them was a minute she wasn''t holding back the Evil Empire. Even though they wished they could spend every moment in Mother Virgil''s gentle presence, they knew that her guiding hand couldn''t be everywhere.


    All the squads, A through I, vibrated as they stood in formation and waited.


    Their anticipation made the seven minutes feel more like seven hours, but Mother Virgil was perfectly on time, and they felt her warm andforting aura seep into their bones and repress the runes inside of them.


    Mother Virgil smiled at them, and Alexi was grateful for her position as the squad leader. It had been forced on her by the Evil Empire, as well as her role as the core of the formation, but it let her stand closer to Mother Virgil than the others in her squad.


    That made it all worth it.


    How are you all doing? Feeling ok? Do we need Jecker to look you over again before you go?


    Mother Virgil looked so concerned that Alexis heart twisted, but she put on her best smile and shook her head. Pain meant nothing whenpared to the weight Mother Virgil shouldered.


    Seeing they were okay, she continued. We are sending a number of other youths into Minka with you. You don''t need to protect them, as your mission is more important. Reach the core of Minka and reap the best rewards.


    Her face hardened, and Alexi grew angry that someone had upset Mother Virgil. As much as I don''t want to encourage you to violence, you will all need to do your best to kill the Empire scum and their doggish allies, the Guilders, to bring them to justice for their evil ways. If you see any of them, remove them.


    Alexi and the others all cried out that they would, and Mother Virgil smiled back at them. Violence is never the best option, but sometimes it''s the only option. Look at us. We, the Federation, have two allies because we are kind and don''tmit acts of evil. The Sects and Republic are our friends and allies, while the other Evil ces are content to inflict suffering on us for the slightest provocation.


    Brett, leader of the Bravo team, cried out, We must kill the filthy beasts and half-bloods as well, Mother Virgil! They can''t be allowed to exist after how they treated our kindness. Please let us put them down as well.


    Mother Virgil smiled sadly and sighed. It felt like a weightnded on her shoulder as she let out that breath. Very true. The beasts who think they are as good as us humans are scum. Right now, they are still wounded and obviously weaker than us. Eventually, they will be put back in their ce, but not now. There is no need for you to sully your hands with their unworthy blood at this time. No, we need to bring the Empire to its knees, and cut its head off. Killing their demonic youths who go to Minka is just the first step. Everything in its due time, children.


    Alexi wished she could help Mother Virgil more directly, but knew they needed to do their own small part.


    For the third time since they started training for Minka, Mother Virgil asked, Are you sure that you want to go to Minka? Its very dangerous. I cant be sure that you will alle back if you go, and it would break my heart if that happens. They used different types of runes on each of you. Jecker hasn''t figured out how to turn them off, but he has deduced that they are activating at different rates, and at different power levels, making it hard to know what will happen next. It will be dangerous for all of you.


    Alexi felt an overwhelming drive wash over her to go to Minka. It had been exined that Minka was the ce to reforge the body and mind.


    The Evil Empire had already stolen their past, and the ny of them had collectively agreed to be strong enough to take their futures away from the Empire.


    But to do that, they needed power.


    The best ce for them to get stronger right now was Minka. That made the decision easy. Mother Virgil wanted them to be safe, but they needed to be strong to protect her and the glorious Federation.


    Mother Virgil spent a few minutes going amongst each of them and speaking a few words, and giving each of them a small touch.


    Alexi earned herself a cheek caress, and she promised herself not to wash that check for the next month at least. A touch from Mother Virgil was too precious to wash away.


    To their dismay, they had to leave on a ship to Minka, but the squads knew that Mother Virgil was waving them away, sad to see them go.


    Minka was where they would make Mother Virgil proud.


    And they would do it with their enemy''s blood.


    ***


    Virgil watched the first batch of rune soldiers leave for Minka and wondered if half of them would return.


    Probably not.


    The first iteration of runed soldiers were good, but there were too many instabilities with the massive power they had given the kids. It was too early to see if they were truly yer quality this early into the testing.


    The brainwashing had worked wonders, however, and whenbined with her Talent, the kids were unshakably loyal. Now was a good time to test how the kids reacted while away from her Talent.


    Would any of them start to have their own independent, pesky thoughts? That data would be helpful forter batches.


    Lester and Jecker had already created another few iterations of the runes to make a second batch of kids. A more stable batch, which could see a more widespread usage in the special forces. She was quite happy with her decision to not kill Jecker, after all. Lester had been quite right when he decided to save the man. He was more than happy to slice open kids and do horrible things to them in the name of science.


    And she had more than enough bodies to throw at the tests. Ny pre-awakened kids were easy to source after all.


    She went back to her office and hoped at least one of the teams would get their power under control in Minka, so they might be useful.


    An expanded version of the rune soldier program had its uses for special elite troops in the army, but she needed someone to counter Duke Waters. Her gut told her that the answer wasnt in stable troops, but strong ones.


    The bright candle burned the fastest. And she only needed the candle to burn down one house.


    Who ever expected the candle to survive the inferno?

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170


    Matt sat with Liz as they waited for their table at the restaurant with anticipation. This was quite literally their first break in thest three years, and they were savoring every moment of it.


    They only got the break because April and Kurt both vetoed Luna''s suggestion ofst-minute training as they were approaching Minka proper. Apparently, the view on approach was unparalleled in all the realm, and missing it was a sin. Luna herself didnt even fight it too much, and agreed to cut them loose.


    Minka, unlike most worlds, didnt allow people to teleport into it directly, and forced people to fly in through chaotic space. Thanks to something thought to be tied to thes cycles, Minka sucked in all free mana and essence from the entire star system, making it impossible to build the kind of infrastructure that teleportation nodes required. The only exception was at distant space stations, like the one theyde from which need a ship to bring people in instead of the normal to teleportation.


    When they passed through some invisible point, Matt got firsthand experience with the phenomenon. It was like they had traveled through a wall that had been built. At one moment everything was normal, and at the next, there was quite literally no ambient mana at all. When he tested it, and released some mana into the air, it vanished seemingly into nothing, sucked away faster than Matts peak Tier 11 brain could process. Essence would probably yield the same result, but he couldn''t test that, so he had to take Kurts demonstration on it. His managers second inmand demonstrated an exposed essence stone being drained nearly instantly, with the contents being aggressively pulled towards the massive.


    Apparently, the essence couldnt be contained as well as mana could, which was the only reason that mana powered technologies still worked in Minkas influence at all.


    Ominously, he had written that, Minka is hungry and greedy, before silentlyughing.


    Still, it allowed for what was called a once in a lifetime view, and if it was enough for Luna to allow them to skip out on an evening of training, he wouldnt dare miss it.


    Aster hadnt waited, and immediately went to the beast-only deck of the luxury ship to find some bonds to y with.


    She called over her shoulder that she loved them, but needed some time alone as well, especially after theirst three years of being within arms reach of each other.


    That left him and Liz free to purchase the ludicrously expensive fine-dining experience for twenty Tier 16 mana stones. It was expensive, but they had been delving so far up, and so often, they didnt even feel the cost. Once they started delving Tier 15 rifts, they had the chance to get Tier 20 skills, and despite how rare of a reward they were, they had delved enough to get lucky a few times. Their only limiting factor was their own Tier, and the difference between their own and Tier 20 skills, which put a massive burden on their spirits to use them.


    They were eager to enjoy some luxury after their years of constant delving, and they both primped and preened beforehand to look their best. They had masks in the form of a bracelet that obscured their appearance for all but themselves, which was just fine for them. They only cared about looking their best for each other.


    And Liz looked as fine as ever. She was wearing what she referred to as a Torch outfit, preferring the aesthetic that came with being a fire mage over the patterns and colors that shed normally wear as a blood mage. Still, the Tier 12 fabric <em>shimmered</em> in oranges and reds, almost as if the garment was made of actual fire, as she walked. Her hair was let down for the first time in <em>quite</em> a while, and it spilled down her back like its own river of faux mes. She was still wearing her most critical items, of course. On her right hand, an engraved silver and copper-colored storage ring shone like so many diamonds, while her left hand bore a in, fingerless ck glove and a freshly polished but otherwise featureless silver ring.


    Matt had the silver rings twin on his own hand, next to a golden ring embedded with countless tiny mana stone shards gleaming with every color of the rainbow. On his other hand he had two paired, obsidian rings which held their portable house and spatial ring that his rewards from the tournament hade in. The rest of his outfit was primarily based around that color scheme, with a silver, sleeveless, tunic-like shirt over ck pants, and a golden band on each arm. His hair had been cut for the first time in three years, turning it from a blond rats nest back into a shortly-cropped and clean hairstyle.


    When they were led into the dining room by an impably dressed waiter, they saw a massive wall of ss that spanned fifty feet high, and stretched on for what seemed like a mile along the horizon.


    Matt whistled as it came into view. His spiritual sense said it was between Tier 20 and Tier 30 ss- a quick check on his AI confirmed that the ship was made of Tier 25 materials- and around ten feet thick. He was d of it, because any rogue asteroid wouldnt result in them struggling to breathe in a vacuum during their dinner.


    At Tier 11, it wouldn''t kill them for at least a few hours, but it wasnt something he wanted to deal with.


    As their waiter sat them down, they nodded to the other indistinct couples, who were also quickly seated in rapid session. The restaurant was supposed to time their visual arrival to Minka to right after dessert was finished, after all.


    Looking at the tabletop, Matt inspected the vase of flowers that had been ced there, and noticed that they were actually made from metal. Notably copper, bronze, and aluminum, with each petal polished to a sleek shine.


    Liz noticed he was observing the flowers and asked, Whats so special about them?


    Matt pointed at the arrangement and said, Each metal flower has obvious imperfections and scratches He pointed them out and traced the lines as he talked. Except, each has to be deliberate. They are perfect in their imperfection. Look here. Instead of clean welds where the connected metal should be indistinguishable on the join, there are small beads of metal that formed when the weld was created. That seems like a mistake, but when you look closer, you see each bead is exactly the same size and shape. Its like a master artisan was trying to recreate the work of an amateur. The little bits of steam that seem to being out of them isnt uniform, but theyre also perfectly ced to show off the flower''s beauty.


    It made for a unique aesthetic he had never seen before.


    Liz nodded along. It is pretty, I''ll admit that. The inanimate made to look alive.


    As they watched the sun grow brighter amongst the starry backdrop of the distant star systems in a stunning disy, they simply chatted. They had been together for decades, and thest three years had been brutal, even by their standards. But they had been together, which was what truly mattered. Even so, they always had something to talk about, and they continued to do so while admiring the view.


    In a rush, the first course of their meal came out to everyone all at once, and the waiter exined the intricacies of the dish before leaving them to enjoy.


    The meal was so good, Matt and Liz almost forgot about their final dessert until the ship announced, Minka will be visible in twenty minutes.


    They were still a bit far out, but when they Tiered up to Tier 11, more information became avable to them because of their higher status. Most of it was still locked away, and not freely essible until Tier 13, but Luna had drilled basically everything there was to know about the into their heads. It got to the point that Matt had once even heard Liz muttering Minkas exact diameter and mass in her sleep.


    As their dessert came out, they were able to see a small dot that grewrger by the second.


    Matt had only taken a few bites of the brownie confection when he started to be able to see it, and his jaw practically dropped. Sure, he knew the exact position, size, and appearance of each of the three hundred and sixty spires on Minka, but it was another thing to see<em></em>them for himself.


    Massive spires of bronze and copper towered above any height that the metals should have been able to support, let alone while moving massive cogs that were the size of mosts.


    Even through the vacuum of space, he felt like he could hear the clicking of gears and chains as they rattled and nked, interspersed with puffs of glowing steam that rose from smokestacks releasing their exhaust to space.


    Despite the sight, and though he had no real context for how the <em>normally</em> looked in-person, it seemed dull. The metal wasnt shiny, all of the mechanicalponents looked like they were moving lethargically, and the brass seemed darker than it should be.


    Logically, it made sense, as a new cycle was about to start, preparing to re-energize the entire. Yet it also struck Matt as somehow incorrect. It was like seeing a dragon sick and withered. It shed with the image he had created in his mind and resulted in a cognitive dissonance that just felt <em>wrong</em>.


    The feeling only became worse as the sheer size of the world became clear. It was almost <em>too</em> massive for what it had first appeared to be.


    Nobody really knew what Tier the was, just that it was above Tier 30. But grasping anything above that benchmark was impossible for the Tier 14 and below cultivators who could enter the ce. Even with all of his prior knowledge, Matt couldnt help but feel like the shouldn''t be able to exist. Metal beams that long couldnt support their own weight, let alone raise and lower boxes that wererger than moons.


    <em>At Tier 40, or even Tier 50, could something like that work</em>? Surely not even then, they didn''t have the strength to span those distances unsupported. But there they were, right before his eyes.


    The metal wasn''t the only oddity. The steam from the stacks shouldnt be pluming in a ce with no atmosphere, but there it was.


    Minka shouldn''t exist, <em>but it did</em>.


    It was beautiful.


    It was awe-inspiring.


    It was daunting.


    The longer Matt watched, the more unsettled he felt.


    He and Liz reached for each other''s hands at nearly the same time.


    Like most of the other diners, they sat around and watched a while longer. But eventually, they got up as other ships started to appear in their view. The various vessels began congregating as they approached one of the eight smaller, repurposeds that served as Minkas moons.


    Each of the Great Powers had their own satellite moon orbiting around Minka proper, and the pair joined the rest of the participants as they boarded smaller descent vessels departing for the Empires world-moon.


    As soon as theynded, they were in their armor and ready for a fight at any moment, despite how unlikely such a tant assault was. Once Matt wasfortable enough to rx just the slightest bit, he was struck by the absoluteck of essence on the moon.


    It made the world feel unreal, like it was made from cardboard and tissue paper. Matt felt like he could use a single finger to punch a hole through the without issue.


    He could tell that the man made structures were at least made of Tiered materials, but none were above Tier 7.


    Theynded with a swarm of othernding ships in an open-air tower that was hundreds of floors tall, allowing thousands of ships to stream in and out without impeding one another. Once inside, they found a dozen workers who directed the arrivals to a check-in station deeper inside the honeb-like building.


    He and Liz were in their Quill and Torch Masks, but neither was personifying the alternative identities. Thankfully only a few people stopped and asked for autographs and the like.


    They wouldn''t be using the personalities or skill sets when inside Minka; they were only donning the masks to conceal their identities. If they weren''t wearing them, they wouldve just used the same ones they had on at dinner, but going as Quill and Torch would raise fewer questions.


    The masks needed to be seen entering the moon, at the very least.


    Matt and Liz were both surprised by the volume of people waiting to enter Minka. With the Empire hiding so much information until Tier 11, they had expected fewer participants. But as ships disgorged their passengers to leave, and were instantly reced, the numbers began to add up. That most of them were Tier 13 or 14 made sense, he supposed, as it was when most of the valuable information actually became avable. It was probably intentional on the government''s part, if he was being honest.


    Aster got to skip all of this, as she was technically being smuggled onto the moon, and Minka itself, but the pair had to stand in line like everyone else.


    And the line was <em>long</em>. It took them nearly six hours to reach the front, where their identities were scanned and verified before they were allowed into a room with a number of others.


    When the seats were full, a grizzled-looking old man walked onto the stage and pointed a finger above him, where an image was projected.


    Minka. And of opportunity and hope. One can enter its steamy depths as a child and leave an adult. But it''s not all sunshine and rainbows. This isn''t a briefing of what different things you can expect if you enter Minka, what fantastic treasures lie within its depths. This is a plea for you not to enter.


    No one had expected the old man to say that. He seemed the type to shove them into the fire and tell them to figure it out. Instead, his words had an honest ring to them that all of them felt.


    Please turn away. If you leave now, the Empire will reimburse your travel expenses, and you can continue on living. If you change your mind at any point before you choose to enter Minka itself, that offer stands. Please take it. If you must, absolutely <em>must</em> go in,e back when youre at the peak of Tier 14, and between cycles. Even for the older people out there. Juste backter and take it slow.


    The old man paused and looked around, but when no one moved in the auditorium, he slumped, and the image above him changed to one highlighting andbeling each of the moons circling Minka.


    The image distorted Minka and each moon, making them seem more equal in size, but it served its purpose.


    If you are here, and dont know what Minka is, I implore you to please leave ande back once you do. You are far too under prepared if you know nothing this close to the cycle. We dont hide information if youre Tier 13 or above, but the Empire still encourages you to avoid this ce, even at that point. We and the other seven Great Powers each possess territory in this wastnd of death. Each of us send in our youth throughout the years, but between cycles, its not as dangerous. Do not misunderstand me, its still a deadly ce, with one in ten delvers never returning, but its far, far better than at the start of a new cycle. Yes, the best rewards can only be found at this time, because the and its now greater poption of monsters have been reinvigorated. But I can assure you <em>you will not leave with whatever spoils you recover</em>. Come between cycles, after the glory-seekers are done and the Sects, Republic and Federation have left. Youll get almost as much, if not more than youll get now, since youre each four times less likely to <em>die</em> trying if you wait. Yes, its true that once you go in ande out, you cant return, rejected just as surely as if youre over Tier 15. But, and I will say this time and time again Minka. Is. Not. Worth. Dying. For. For <em>most</em> of you, it doesnt matter if you enter once or one hundred times. Most of you will die in your one and only delve. If you heed my warning, and venture into the depths in-between cycles? Most of you will live. At least <em>more</em> of you will live.


    A smallvamp appeared over the image of Minka, and the man narrated what was happening. You could think of a cycle in Minka as being like avamp. After a while, theva inside gets out of sync, all of it falls to the heating rune to be warmed, and then it all rises up at once. Its not exactly what happens in Minka, but its close enough. We are currently about two months out from the next eruption, where all the floors will be filled and reset. When that happens, all of you poor souls will enter, and few will exit.


    The old man paused as if waiting for someone to leave, but once again, no one did.


    As I said, the other Great Powers all send in their young, but there are elite ranks from each that you must be wary of. The Young Masters from the Sects, the Heroes from the Guilds, the Alphas from the Monsters Collective, the yers from the Federation, the diators from the Republic, the Chosen from the Corporations, and the Knights from the ns, along with the Ascenders from the Empire. They are all the leading prodigies of each Great Power, woe unto any of you who encounter them. If you do chance upon one of these elites, run away and let them have whatever they want. It''s not worth getting in their way. And yes, even watch out for your fellow delvers from the Empire. You <em>shouldn''t</em> kill each other, but nobody above Tier 15 can enter, or even see into the. We cant stop you. <em>No one</em> can stop you. Just you, and whatever morality you have and hold onto. But the real danger for most of you will be the other average cultivators.


    When he said that even Ascenders would be dangerous to the other cultivators, he paused his gaze on on both Matt and Liz in their masks before tearing his eyes away.


    The image on the screen changed and transformed into a list.


    First, ourselves and our allies. The Conglomerate of Guilds. If you can avoid it, don''t fight them. They are our only true friends in arge, dark, and scary realm. We won''t pursue any deaths at all that happen inside Minka, but any asion of a fight between us and our friends would be... <em>Disappointing</em>. AI recordings dont work down there, so proof and belief will be minimal, thus you are free to behave however you wish. The Guilds will send in around fifty million people. Thats about the minimum that any Power sends in.


    The man paused and sighed, and went on a tangent. Remember, only people below Tier 14 can enter, and the average is Tier 13, as are most of you. If you see a Tier 13 or Tier 14, the smart thing is to run away. They are probably stronger than you, but you should be able to escape. If you see a Tier 12 or, worse yet, a Tier 11, <em>run faster</em> and hope you havent caught their attention. If they''re strong enough to go in at that low of a Tier, you will be throwing away your lives to fight them. Individuals at those Tiers are monsters that us ordinary people can''tpare with. Equate them to the very best Pathers you see on the news, who have a good shot at making it to Tier 20 or Tier 23 on The Path, or even possiblypleting it. Despite having a Tier advantage or two, you <em>can''t</em> beat them. If you see a Tier 11, you have <em>no chance </em>to beat them. They wouldnt be here if they were too egotistical to know their strength, which only means that they are a true monster expected toplete The Path. Do you dare to risk your life on beating Duke Waters if he were only two Tiers weaker than you? If you think you could, you are <em>wrong. </em>If you believe yourself fortunate, and that the Tier 11 in front of you is simply delusional <em>you will not be lucky</em>.


    The old man looked at them again, and Matt felt like he could see through them.


    He knew he couldn''t, as he could feel Luna personally enhancing their Masks privacy enchantments to make them look like they were Tier 12. But the old man didnt seem to need more than his eyes to see who they really were.


    We, the Empire, sadly send in around two hundred million youths, despite our best efforts. But our mortal poption is muchrger than that of the other Great Powers, so we send in a smaller percentage of our total poption. We have quadrillions of citizens, after all. The ns send in around one-fifty to two hundred million, depending on the cycle. Same with the Republic, The Monster Collective, and the Federation. The Corporations send about as many as the Guilds, around fifty million people. Sometimes moree, but the average stays pretty steady around that number. Finally, the Sects send in around four hundred million kids. That is a significant percentage of their youths in the proper Tier range, and each of them are ready and willing to cut your throats at first sight. Treat every interaction with the Sects as a life and death fight, as they don''t need a reason to want to kill you. Remember, for most of you the masses of the other Great Powers are who you need to worry about. Not the rare, strong participants. Minka isrge, but we are sending over a billion of you in at once, and the deeper you go, the less space there is, forcing you together.


    The image changed again. These are thest few things Ill be telling you. All of you should go to an information broker and get their full-day presentation and exnation package. The Empire even subsidizes them, so all you need to spend is your time. If you want to spend a bit of money, watch the one recording we have of the interior, courtesy of oness whose Talent let her bypass the normal restrictions on AI recordings a couple centuries ago. But my point is, Minka, at the start of a cycle, has seven floors packed full of death. In addition, each floor has a rewards arena and a breakthrough point. If youre lucky enough to get to one of them, take a good hard look at yourself and leave if you think you might not make it. Getting something is better than nothing, its not wasting your one shot. If youe out alive, let alone with even a minor prize, youve beaten the odds.


    Behind him, the Sects name erged and showed a ny percent fraction of a pie chart. The Sects will lose about ny percent of the people they send in. A horrific number. Most of them won''t die because they''re weak, but because they push too far, and get killed by a monster or enemy cultivator. But in the end, most of them won''te back. Dead is dead and it doesn''t matter how you end up that way. Ourselves, the Guilds, the Republic, and the ns all have about a forty percent return rate. Most of you will die for the same reasons as the kids from the Sects. The people with the best survival rating are the Corporations and the Federation, at around sixty percent. Historically speaking, they are more conservative in their delving, and have a much better survival rating because of it.


    Matt nodded while endless drills from Luna reyed in his head. Sixty, forty, ten. Dont push too fast, dont ovemit. <em>They </em>should be fine, but they still needed to not die as priority number one, and had been told in no uncertain terms that they were to push to Tier 12 if they were too overwhelmed. Though how they were supposed to do that without any ambient essence, he didnt know. Presumably, it was linked to thes rewards, being the one thing that they didnt know. Luna hadnt wanted to distract them from their preparations with idle dreams, but theyd spent thest <em>year</em> learning about every possible floor theme that they might encounter, every challenge that had ever been recorded, and even the sorts of puzzles that had historically gated off reward rooms.


    He wondered if theyd be pushed to get one of the one-day briefings, then figured that they probably would. Luna was obsessive at the best of times, but the preparation for Minka had been on another level. April probably had one scheduled for them already, and just hadnt informed them yet.


    The old man red at the crowd and growled. Be like them. The deeper you go, the better the rewards, yes, but the greater the danger. The monsters at the highestyers of Minka are only fresh Tier 14s, but the deeper you go, the stronger they are, until they get to the peak of Tier 14. Also, for any of you who are at the peak of Tier 14, and want to advance to Tier 15 to get an advantage in Minka. It won''t work. We even have what happens if you try recorded, because people never learn their lesson.


    The old man poked at the air interacting with his AI until a familiar video started to y behind him.


    A young man in Sect robesughed on the screen as he monologued about how at Tier 15, he could defeat all of them. Except mid-sentence, he exploded in a fine mist of blood and bone. It was gruesome, but not unfamiliar, as Luna had made them watch Wendys entire recording <em>eleven</em> times. With all the rewards edited out, of course, because Luna was still Luna.


    If you advance to Tier 15, you die. You arent ejected from the, like if you try to enter at Tier 15. You just <em>die.</em> Not a single person has ever circumvented that rule. We have lots of reportse in every year about a few attempting it because of their Talent, some cracked skill, or something else. It never works. Don''t even bother trying, you will not be the first to somehow survive. I dont care if your Talent is literally will not explode as a result of reaching Tier 15 on Minka. <em>It. Will. Not. Work</em>.


    The old man lowered his head from where it had been fixed on, as he stared at someone on the other side of the room for a few seconds before finishing up. Minka is dangerous. Killing each other is expected, and even encouraged by the. The deeper you go, the more likely you end up as someone''s prey. If you are Tier 13 and normally delve up to Tier 14, statistically speaking, you can get to the second floor without too much issue. If you are Tier 14 and delve Tier 15 rifts, you can probably make it to the third floor. At that point, just leave. Escape with the prizes you have, and don''t push further. Anything beyond the third floor cant be quantified with statistics, as so few make it back from that point. You only need to meet one elite ready to pick your corpse clean of any gathered treasure. The real Monsters in Minka are the other people. Its practically just luck to survive after the third floor, and you. Will. Not. Be. Lucky.


    He pointed to the screen, Dont be a part of that sixty percent death rate. Eighty percent of thates from pushing past the third floor. Be smart and leave.


    As he looked over all of them, he added. Let me remind you that you can change your mind at any time. Please, just turn back now and value your lives. Come back mid cycle and have a much safer time. Push to floor four, even five then. Youll get less rewards per floor, yes, but you can go deeper and still survive. Youll still get the deeper floor rewards. The people who go mid-cyclee back with more, ande back more often than those who try to go in at the <em>optimal</em> time. It''s only optimal if you are strong enough to survive. For the vast majority of you here, believe me when I say, you are not. You will be eaten by a monster, or serve as cannon fodder for the best and strongest.


    With that, the man left, and the doors opened to staff directing them to various locations.


    Matt and Liz shot each other a look through their masks. Luna had already exined this and more in their training. The old man''s speech just seemed to be a way to get people to turn back from entering Minka. It wasn''t anything they and everyone else didn''t already know. Really, it was just like a longer version of a briefing they had before boarding their shuttle. In the end, it didnt seem to work, and only a couple people returned through the doors they hade through.


    As they went through a few more in-process procedures, the number of arrivals started to overwhelm their sense of scale.


    It was a never-ending stream of lines that only grew longer as more and more ships arrived.


    It was so bad that staff walked around offering snacks to everyone waiting. There was even a service to hold one''s spot in line for trips to the bathroom, as long as you werent close to the front.


    It was frankly ridiculous.


    But once they were done, they exited the spaceport and were spat out onto a normal, if busy, city street.


    As they walked to their amodations, they saw that every shop was selling Tier 14 equipment and gear. Talismans and potions were abundant, along with survival gear and rift-made mana stones. It seemed that every shop sold some variation orbination of those goods, with others just specializing in one space.


    The other mostmon shops were those that sold armor and weapons. Half the shops were selling their own specialized gear at extortionist prices.


    Tier 14 armor should not sell for Tier 16 mana stones, no matter how much the proprietors extolled their goods abilities. Seeing the prices, Matt was happy that Luna had he and Aster regear with Tier 14 armor before they left the Empire proper.


    That had been expensive, especially the custom pieces, but not to these inted levels of prices.


    When they arrived at their lodging, Luna teleported them to a separate location where they exchanged their Quill and Torch masks for nk masks that wouldnt give anything away.


    With them on, Aster looked like a general medium-sized quadruped of unidentifiable species. Better equipped, they were able to wander the city together as they waited for their final member to arrive.


    It was interesting to see the city so packed, as normally the moon didnt hold that many people during the off cycles. But when a new cycle was happening, the city filled to bursting as it struggled to contain millions of people for a few months.


    It took Queen another week, but she had reportedly made a longer trip than they had. Still she still arrived with plenty of time to spare for group training.


    Minka was close to the eruption that would herald the new cycle, and as it neared, the time estimate got more and more urate. With a little less than two months left, they had the event timed down to the hour.


    Queen had to go through the same onboarding process they had, but hourster, she also was free.


    A few hours after that, they were finally able to meet up.


    In their Quill and Torch masks, Matt and Liz sat with Luna off to the side as they waited for Queen and her own manager to enter the heavily secure room in Lunas personal portable home, which hovered in a reserved space for those types of residences.


    Liz turned to Luna and asked before their guest arrived, And it''s a good idea to tell Queen everything about us?


    Matt rubbed his finger along the webbing of her hand. He appreciated her defensiveness, but they had been over this, and he did agree with Lunas reasoning. For all it stung that they hadnt even been allowed to tell the <em>Unbroken</em> everything, but were expected to tell aparative stranger. Still they needed full trust for what they were about to do.


    Its better for you to go in alone rather than hide something from a teammate in a ce as dangerous as Minka. But if you choose to not team up with her, youll almost certainly be forced to Tier up before you get the best rewards.


    Matt smiled under his mask. Liz was always worried for him, but they had been given preliminary psychological evaluations of Queen months before this. They had exchanged them after they reconfirmed their intentions to go to Minka together. Neither party had been particrly eager to share something so frank and personal as a psych-eval, but they sort of knew each other aftermunicating over thest three years.


    Everything said, Queen was trustworthy, and wouldn''t expose Matts Talent for no reason. Or for <em>any</em> reason, really. But it was still a scary thought.


    All that aside, Luna was right. Minka was dangerous for Tier 14s, let alone Tier 11s like them. The safety briefers speech still rang in his ears, as had a thousand and one simr speeches Luna had given them in private. She was confident that theyd be able to survive the ce at Tier 12, and that they would survive long enough at Tier 11 to <em>reach</em> Tier 12 if needed. But if they wanted the best of the still-unnamed rewards, they needed to go with Queen and stay Tier 11 the entire time.


    If Matt went in there hiding behind the separate identities of Quill or Matt, they wouldnt stand a chance. He needed to use his full kit, old and new skills alike, to even have a hope of reaching the core at Tier 11, and getting whatever reward awaited them.


    And Queen seemed trustworthy from everything they had learned of her. She had told them a little about her brother, who she had needed to practically raise herself after her parent''s divorce and mother''s death.


    As someone deprived of his parents, he sympathized with her about herck of a caring father and mother. It was cruel and wasteful of something precious and beautiful. Family shouldnt do that to each other.


    Matt also understood Liz and her own protectiveness of him.


    It was nice, but unnecessary at this point.


    Half an hourter, Queen walked through the door alongside a blonde with vibrant purple eyes and a teasing smile that kept trying to creep on her face.


    Queen waved at them as she sat down.


    The blonde was the first to speak. Im Carol. Manager extraordinaire.


    Luna raised her index finger while somehow looking bored and attentive at the same time. Luna. Manager.


    Carol exined. It''s customary to have the managers introduce themselves, first for the Pathers when doing something like this. Talents and real identities alike are closely hidden secrets. As managers, we are trusted to keep secrets, but if you want us to leave, we will. If either of you don''t agree to do your little tell all, now is thest chance to back out. Minka is dangerous, and we can''t have misgivings.


    Matt shrugged and looked at Liz. Even with masks on, they could read each other, and neither cared about the other manager. Luna had already exined that managers were under strict control on what they could and couldn''t say, and that they were trusted and well vetted. Beyond that, they were all under strict surveince in case one of them tried anything shifty.


    Privacy didnt exist for a manager.


    That was enough for them not to worry about Carol.


    It still felt weird to reveal everything, but Matt was the first to reach up and pull off his mask.


    Liz did the same a momentter, and Queen mirrored the motion heartbeatter. As soon as they did that, Aster burst into the room and scampered onto Mattsp as she introduced herself.


    Im Aster and also on the team, but Im not a part of the secret identities, so I needed to hide. It''s nice to meet you! You did really good at the tournament. I was rooting for you to do well, and you did!


    Queen looked overwhelmed by the sudden onught of the exuberant fox, but it gave Matt time to inspect the woman who had been under the mask.


    Her skin was dusky and her hair dark like the normalplexion of those in the Detrual section of the Empire. Her hair was surprisingly long for a melee fighter, and now unleashed from the mask, he could see it was kept in a tight bun on the back of her head.


    Her eyes were what caught Matt.


    They were steel gray, like Shen Ruogang, the woman he was trained by in the Legacy he earned during the Tier 10 tournament. Their eyes were simr in the fact that they looked sharp enough to cut through steel with a single nce.


    As Queen finally brought her attention from Aster, she looked from him to Liz before her eyes narrowed.


    Her first words were, So, which fighting style is the real one?


    Matt shrugged, Both. Im a demage. I was just holding back most of the mage as Matt, and most of the de as Quill.


    Queen mmed a fist down on the table. You cheated me out of a real challenge of des. I want a rematch. No bullshit this time.


    She turned to her manager and growled. And you! You said the teams that got managers early were limited, but you never said there was a real de fighter. I feel scammed.


    Matt couldnt help but smile. Her being upset that he had sandbagged in their first fight was not what he had been expecting. Not at all.


    It was so odd and honest, he could only admire it. Though now that he thought about their first interaction in the Masquerade lounge, where she ignored them when she found out they werent de wielders, it did make sense.


    Queen turned to Liz, and with hope shining in her eyes, she asked, You don''t happen to be a secret de user?


    When Lizughingly said no, Queen looked to Aster, who just looked at her paws. I don''t really have the thumbs for it...


    Queen looked dejected at the confirmation that they didnt use des, but then turned back to Matt and moved to stand up. Let''s have a real spar.


    Luna coughed. First, we need to go over Talents and how you can interact with each other. I have a more than extensive training regimen set up for our next seven weeks. You''ll get all the fighting you want then.


    Carol chimed in as well, And we need to go over how Minka works and the strategies. It''s random, but we have a lot of information, and you need to learn it all. No bullshit of hiding data at this point. You need to know everything we have, and you''ll learn it all. We won''t know what you''ll face in Minka, but we''ll prepare you as best we can.


    Matt nodded absently, shutting out the part of his brain that wanted to break into the spires of Minka song hede up with to memorize just that. He wasnt sure if Queen already <em>knew</em> everything, or if Carol was just starting to tell her now. He paused, now that he thought about it, Carol might be making sure that Luna hadnt hidden any information from <em>them</em>.


    Carols ever-present half grin bloomed into a true smile as she said, And best of all, we can n for the rewards you''ll aim for.


    Matt and Liz sat up in unison, looking at Luna. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Queen do the same with her manager, but he was mostly preupied with being <em>very</em> happy that Luna was nodding along with Carols words.


    Carol looked to Queen, and their fellow Pather started talking. Im Susanne. I''d rather you call me Sue or Queen rather than Ann or Annie if you <em>have</em> to shorten it. My Talent is about calligraphy, and not useful to my fighting style as of yet. But although I''m working on expanding what my Talent considers a writing utensil, I''m a far cry from getting it to work on my greatsword. I used my Legacy to get myself a bit of spatial power with my Concept. Its a greatsword Concept which I always keep active and on me. She raised her right hand where, on a bracelet like a little charm, hung a miniature greatsword.


    He inspected it with his spiritual sense and Concept, only to find it packed with power. Susanne might have miniaturized her signature weapon, but she hadn''t shrunk its power. My Concept is all about polishing out the imperfections with me and my sword. We are one and the same. A pair, but the same whole. I improve, and my sword improves. In less fancy terms, it benefits directly from my physical cultivation and self-buffing skills, as well as my willpower, which is itself rated as extraordinary in both control and strength. My Concept is strictly external, but the armor I got as my reward from the Tier 10 tournament gives me a lot of the same benefits that an internal Concept does, so long as Im using my actual Concept, which is always.


    Susanne tapped the table, thinking for a moment before saying, Im also very good at using a lot of general Concept powers, like flight, and most of my strategy is built around that fact. I also have a few skills that help me punch through really tough defenses and fight against multiple opponents. My Legacy gives me some spatial abilities which I use for offense and maneuvering around the battlefield, so ranged opponents find it very difficult to get away or <em>stay</em> away from me. Cant teleport myself with it yet, but Im working on that. Even without that, I have a speed oriented [Dash] that allows me to close the gap, but I havent had to use it that much since the tournament. Susanne chewed on her lip a little before nodding. That''s the basics, anyway. Anything else is better learned when we fight.


    Matt whistled to show his appreciation at Susanne. Honestly, he was beyond impressed that her skill was natural. It also reinvigorated his desire to learn from her.


    Fighting someone better than yourself was always a good way to improve.


    Aster hopped to her feet and introduced herself. Im Aster, and I used to be an ice fox, but I changed my bloodline to winter, which made me a lot stronger. Im generally support, but I can help out with a few new spells, and I have a few good debuffs to weaken and slow the enemies, which is helpful when attacking higher Tier rifts. I also can hit really hard if I have enough ice to manipte. Im super excited


    Matt missed what Aster said after that as he saw Carols eyes get almost imperceptibly wide before narrowing down to Aster.


    He was watching for any signs of hostility until she pulled her eyes away and winked at Matt.


    That was when he noticed that her irises werent just purple. Rather, they were like chiseled amethyst. As he looked closer, he swore that he could see facets in them.


    She smiled at him before turning her attention to Liz.


    Liz introduced herself and her own abilities, to which Queen nodded along. Im Elizabeth, but <em>definitely</em> just call me Liz or Torch if you want. Never Beth. Anyway, Im a blood mage, but primarily fight like a water mage. Ive got a Talent that converts most of my skills into blood-aspected versions, and an internal concept that empowers my blood, and theybine into giving me a broad range of concept-powered blood skills, but very little outside that. Overall, Im a close-to midrange mage, and while I can y the role of a melee warrior, its not where I shine.


    You can only use blood skills? Really? How did you do the whole Torch thing? Theres no way that was all blood. Susanne questioned Liz.


    Ive got a phoenix bloodline. Liz shrugged, And skills in my outer spirit arent transformed into blood variants. After that, its just a <em>lot</em> of practice with [Fire Maniption] and learning to work around the inefficiency. Um, what else? Oh yeah, my glove acts as a spatial storage for blood, so I dont need to cut myself open or bleed any enemies to get started.


    Liz paused, and Matt saw Queens eyes widen as the fact that Torch fought with only skills in her outer spirit really sank in. Oh yeah, and Im a bit of an amateur alchemist, so I can use my own blood to make boosting potions. I have variants for everyone else to use as well, but they aren''t quite as good as my [Blood Copy] versions. That''s really it I think.


    Finally, it was Matts turn. He took a deep breath and started.


    Im Matthew, but I usually go by Matt, and I have a Talent that changes the way my mana regenerates, so the closer I am to empty, the more mana I generate. At Tier 11, I have 2,560 mana, and when I have less than 25.6 current mana, I generate 2,560 mana per second. It only takes me about ten minutes to reach 256 mana, but beyond that, it''s days and years, so Ill never naturally reach full.


    Overall, I use a lot of channel skills. I have a [Cracked Phantom Armor] that works as a channel, [Endurance], [Mages Retreat], [Acrobats Finesse], [Barbarians Hide], and the other cultivation-enhancing channel skills. And because my Talent prevents me from putting any essence in my magical core I have a 100% essence distribution to my physical core. Theybine to give me a physique well above my own Tier, and I couple it with an [Endurance] modified for healing. [Lesser Regeneration] allows me to self heal easily without having to use [Ranged Heal]. If I need to use a skill that takes more than 25 mana, Ive got a set of rechargeable mana stones I drain and refill mid-fight.


    Outside ofbat, having lots of mana is great for crafting, but especially the talismans I use as Quill. Theyre not easier for me to make or anything, I just dont need to spend mana stones to have enough mana to make it work. But I do have a ring that lets me mimic mana types that Ive stored within it, which helps me make some enchantments which normally only guilds produce. If you have a crafting hobby that eats mana, I''m happy to assist while were together. The mana costs me nothing to make, and sometimes Ill throw a few hundred million mana at my AI to, for example, make a new type of rune. Which yeah, that was what I did at the tournament. I''m a pretty good enchanter, but not good enough to create a dozen new runes out of nowhere. But with enough mana to throw at the problem


    Having said that, Matt paused to see Susannes reaction, but she only seemed interested when he said that he had more physical fighting capabilities. She almostpletely ignored the mention of spells and enchantments.


    Carol''s eyes had widened to nearlyical sizes as he exined, only for her to narrow them and try to stare through his body.


    He didnt feel any new power press through Lunas own, and considering the caliber of the re the manager leveled at the void cat, he assumed she had failed.


    My Concept is a white hole, and it lets me give endless mana to anyone around me. It''s technically limited by my willpower, but I have a lot of it, and have learned to use it well. That lets me keep my team filled to the brim with mana during a fight, while I can use my Talent between fights to fill them up with rechargeable mana stones. Between fights, it gives us basically limitless mana to practice with, which means weve gotten more familiar with some of our more niche skills. Like with Liz and her [Fire Maniption], she has more practice with the skill then most non-immortal fire mages probably do.


    I recently managed to create a general white list for my Concept, which means I only include people I want to. It''s not perfect, and can be tricked by a skilled illusionist or other impersonator, but it generally works well enough that I''m able to keep my team going and not helping the enemy even during a fight. Other than that, it gives me the ability to repel attacks both magical and mundane, but that''s still hard for me, and drains my willpower to stop more than medium attacks.


    As he remembered he and Liz forgot about their teleportation rings he added, "Oh and Liz and I have a pair of bonded teleportation rings that let us swap ces and short range teleport."


    Matt thought it over and nodded. That''s the important part, at least. He looked from Susanne to Carol. I <em>very much</em> would appreciate my Talent not spreading. I hide it behind my cracked armor skill and the talismans, but I really don''t want others to know how much I can do. The Royals know, of course, and Im pretty sure the upper levels of Path management do as well, but the fewer people who know, the better.


    Once Matt was done, Luna pulled out a pile of papers. We need to get the four of youfortable fighting with each other. First, we will


    Susanne raised her hand and stopped Luna. Nope fuck that. I need to have a real fight with Matt. Then we can spar all together, but I was cheated out of a good fight in the Tier 10 tournament, and I won''t wait another minute.


    As she stood up, Matt did the same. He had been waiting just as long as she had for this fight.


    They both had thest three years to grow. It was only a question if Queen had closed the distance, and by how much.


    Matt remembered how much he grew with Lunas guidance in the early years, and Queen experiencing that same growth excited him.


    But this time, he had nothing to hide, and new skills to show.


    Ideally, he wanted to beat her without his trump cards as <em>Matt</em> from the tournament. Without the handicaps he had worked under, it might just be possible.


    That was his real goal for himself. Beating Queen in a battle of steel. Not magic.


    Now that they had spatial rings, they didnt even need to stop to put on their armor, and just summoned it on their bodies.


    It was time for a fight.

 Book 1 On Amazon - Links

    Book 1 On Amazon - Links


    Path of Ascension is officially avable on Kindle, KU, Print, Audible! While none of you NEED to read the new version that is appearing on Kindle, it has been thoroughly revised and edited to make it a much cleaner book without changing any actual content. Its a significantly smoother version of the story you know.


    The audiobook was performed by a narrator I hand-picked out of a substantial list of options, and he did an incredible job making the story a new experience.


    Amazon: https://mybook.to/pathofascension1


    Audible: /pd/The-Path-of-Ascension-Audiobook/B0B6CQFZZH


    <strong>What else can you do to help</strong>?


    If you have kindle unlimited already, even just a download apparently counts as a sale and can boost myunch rank. So, you dont have to spend any extra money to help, though if you want to feel free


    <strong>Also, on Amazon reviews and ratings are crucial</strong>. If you''ve been enjoying the story, I would respectfully ask you to consider leaving a review. <strong>You dont need to have purchased the book on kindle to leave a review, either</strong>, though if you download on KU before posting a review, ites up as verified which is weighted higher.


    Thank you for all the support!

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171


    Matt readied his sword and his buffs. [Mage''s Retreat] was the one he was most familiar with, having had outright decades to get used to the Tier 8 strength-boosting skill. It wasnt the only channeled physical-cultivation skill, but all the others were Tier 14. For a <em>normal</em> Tier 11 delver that would make them fairly rare, but hed been delving Tier 15 rifts for so long, he possessed Tier 14 skills by the bucketful.


    Matt hadnt gotten any of the others as drops himself, he had actually traded for them. Regardless, with the full suite of Tier 14 skills in his possession, his fights had be substantially moreplex.


    Gone were the days of throwing as much mana as possible into [Cracked Phantom Armor] for defense, a bit into [Endurance] for stamina, and the rest into [Mages Retreat] for strength Well, mostly. It was still his favorite way to fight, for all that Luna kept pushing for him to expand his horizons. But for this fight he wanted to beat Queen as Matt the swordsman not Matt the mage.


    Still, these days he needed to bnce [Acrobats Finesse] for proprioception, [Rangers Sight] for his visual perception, [Barbarians Hide] for durability, [Sharp Mind] for mental acumen and reaction time, [Willow in the Wind] for flexibility, and [Lesser Regeneration] for healing.


    All six scaled at the same basic rate as [Mages Retreat], but hed never truly re-mapped how much of a boost he got per second with his well modified skill. His old chart didnt ount for his mana concentration or the armor hed gotten that enhanced self-buffs, let alone all of the changes hed made to [Mages Retreat] to make it more efficient and powerful. But his estimates were urate enough for the newer skills that he hadnt been able to cycle into his core spirit and manipte.


    2 25%


    10 50%


    50 75%


    250 100%


    1250 125%


    These days, 50 MPS provided at least a 100% boost to his <em>new</em> skills thanks to his underarmor, let alone to the well-loved and well-modified [Mages Retreat], but the table still served as an excellent base while he figured out what tactics he wanted to use in any given fight. As he was fighting Queen, and wanted a good, fun, sword duel, he probably wouldnt push too far from his normal role of a strength-based juggernaut. At 50 MPS across seven skills, he was spending a baseline of 350 mana each second, which would drain most mages of his tierpletely dry two times over in less than a minute.


    But for Matt?


    He barely even noticed it next to the 2,560 mana that he <em>generated</em> every second.


    Still, even after experiencing it so many times, the rush of power that washed over him as he activated his baseline buff was like the best drug, hitting him almost like a Tier-up.


    Everything was so much clearer and sharper, and his body almost felt like it moved <em>before</em> he gave it a directive.


    When Queen dropped from her en garde position to a sh, he felt like he could see the mana build on her de before it spat out in a crescent wave.


    He slid to the side and dodged the first attack as he flooded his own de with mana to return the [Mana sh]. Queen didnt let him attack without responding, and shed her de upward, sending her own spell into his.


    Their skills exploded in a wave of energy.


    Susanne flew out of the mass of energy like a loosed arrow, and Matt readied to block her thrust, but he noticed the mana building in her de and activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] to block her [Mana Thrust]. Instantly, blue armor materialized and covered his entire body, with filigree building itself in seemingly-decorative swirls and patterns. In truth, they were carefully designed to concentrate the armors secondyer as much as possible, while still protecting his entire body. The more his original armor skill grew the simpler it became but at the same time the secondyer grew even more ornate.


    While the thin beam of energy that Queen shot at him didnt look like much, it hit as hard as some of the Tier 15 monsters hed gotten used to fighting. Still, he could and did dump a <em>lot</em> of his mana generation into his armor. Hed maxed the skills mana throughput with a bit above 2,400 MPS in total these days, half to the firstyer and half to the mutable secondyer, and it handled Queens attack without much trouble. It was second nature for him to flick his boosts down for a heart beat to take the hit, then increase his physical buffs once again.


    He still made sure to block her <em>actual</em> sword with his own, though. He was far less confident at taking the womans full Concept-powered attacks than her standard skills. Their first impact showed Matt what he expected; he was physically stronger than Susanne. Between directing all of his cultivation to the physical side, and getting an additional 75% boost on top of that, he didnt really expect anything else. Especially now that he knew for a fact that her Talent didnt help out in that regard. But it was impossible to truly know what other tricks she might have up her sleeve.


    He deflected her de to the side and was moving in to kick her knee when a second version of her weapon chopped out at his leg.


    Reflexively, Matt shifted all the filigree that made up [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer to reinforce the exact area that the attack was about to strike. Queen may have been fast, but hed been fighting faster foes than himself since even <em>before</em> he could double the potency of his perceptions onmand. Her attack rebounded off of 1,200 mana perfectly positioned to block it, though even then it very nearly broke through his primary defensive ability. In retaliation, Matt brought his own sword down on the smaller woman after stepping forward to close the distance.


    Queen slipped to the side as if the ground was ice while chopping upward at his extended arm.


    Matt was forced to retreat, cutting off his armors secondyer and redistributing its mana to [Mages Retreat] and [Sharp Mind] for maximum speed, and he didnt stop until he was out of her reach and had a moment to recuperate. [Lesser Regeneration] and [Endurance] both red up, relieving his physical strain and refreshing his mind, allowing him to consider his options.


    He cursed internally.


    Queen was<em> still</em> a better warrior than he was.


    But he wasn''t just a warrior.


    He was so, so much more.


    ***


    Susanne swore internally as Quill retreated.


    After hearing his Talent, she hadnt expected to beat him in a battle of strength, but she hadnt expected to be so substantially outmuscled, even with [Mana Strength] reserving a fair portion of her mana.


    Her AI did the math for her, and she realized she had to adjust her battle strategy to treat Quill like a Tier 13 swordsman.


    As he retreated, he started throwing [Mana sh]es as if they were going out of style. It reminded her of Quills endless fireballs when she was fighting him in the tournament.


    Knowing his Talent exined how the man was able to cast so many spells and make so many talismans, but the endless waves of attacks still stood out to her as just unfair.


    She blocked, dodged, or cut each of them apart as she raced after <em>Matt</em> trying to force him into a standing battle. But he kept retreating, and was just so stupidly fast<em>.</em> She had to bend space to just barely keep up with him, and even when she matched him using [Dash], he just sped up even further, forcing her to drop her skill to avoid draining all of her mana only a minute into the fight.


    She noted that he was very good with his Concept, able to hover just half an inch over the ground <em>and</em> speed himself up, even in retreat. Not a lot of people below Tier 15 could do that. While there was no technical restriction on moving in any direction with a Concept, humans natural instinct was to move slower in a direction that they normally couldn''t.


    But she was better, she could already tell. Matt used his body and mana well, but for all his skill, <em>she</em> had just spent thest three years learning all the tricks she could pull with <em>her</em> Concept from Carol.


    Shed been taught by the best, and it showed. And for this fight, shed need to go all-out.


    She used her Concept topress space and shortened the distance between Matt and herself, skipping and dodging the final few [Mana sh]es.


    Susanne brought her de down on Matt and tried to cut through his incredibly hard armor, but found that he had cast [Sword Doppelganger], and a mana version of his longsword blocked her attack.


    She remembered how the skill had felt three years ago, and was once again surprised, but this time by how much more solid and durable it was now. As she focused on making her manifestation sharper, she brought her main de around while creating a second copy to strike out at Matt''s true de as it descended.


    Before she had met Carol, creating the second copy of her de was all done on instinct, and difficult to keep active. But now, it was second nature, albeit only for a few seconds at a time. Her Concept was meant to empower a <em>single</em> sword that she always had active, so pushing it to create two des felt odd.


    She activated the enchantment on her bracer and a st of air surged out to strike Matt, sending him flying, but he was only knocked back a few feet before his Concept began halting his movement.


    She felt where his Concept tried to affect reality and struck out at it with her greatsword.


    Carol had exined it to her in simple terms when she asked why stabbing one of Adams illusions had hurt him, and it all came down to her Concept.


    Any weapon Concept could make a weapon manifestation, but in the end, they weren''t real des. That came with a few drawbacks, like the fact they couldn''t be enchanted or over-Tiered, but they had their own advantages.


    Concept manifestations weren''t <em>real</em>. That meant they could strike out at things that a normal de couldn''t hit.


    Like illusions.


    Or someone else''s Concept and its workings.


    When she cut the edge of his Concept as it was trying to stop his momentum, Matt was again sent flying as all the force he was resisting hit him at once.


    She was already closing the gap as he mmed into a wall, and she pushed her second sword to cast [Mana sh] in thest moment before it vanished again, while her main de cast [Wind Cutter]. The air spell was incredibly sharp, and was perfect for bypassing hard armors.


    Susanne was almost on him when her spiritual sense felt something wrong, and she retreated out of instinct.


    Matt was standing there with his blue sleek armor as if nothing was wrong, even without the more ornate portions that seemed to reinforce the skill.


    Instead, between them was a five-foot-wide and seven-foot tall wall of mana.


    Her AI recognized it before she did. [Bulwark].


    A <em>Tier 20</em> skill.


    After a moment, she caught herself. It synergized with his Talent well enough that it probably was one of his tournament rewards, if not one of the Cracked skills that hed likely gotten as a reward from King Frederic. Shed gotten two herself, after all. Still, that meant he potentially had one more Tier 20 skill on-call, though she was confident that he wouldnt have any more than that.


    After all, she had needed to put every mana stone that shed pulled out of her rifts into buying more delving slots and essence stones toplete Tier 11 in such a short time. <em>And</em> he had two other people to share essence with. They wouldve been incredibly lucky to find an extra Tier 20 skill on their own, let alone one that they could trade for Bulwark instead of selling it for rifts or essence stones.


    She had been fortunate beyond anything shed hoped for to get a second Tier 20 skill that perfectly fit her. It would be absurd for them to be so lucky as well.


    Quill stepped forward, and the shield of mana moved with him, brightening as more mana flooded the skill. As the skill was bing opaque thanks to the sheer amount of mana, he shed his longsword, and a [Mana sh] cut out at her through the shield.


    Susanne cut it in half, but while her return [Mana Thrust] made the shield dim a little, it quickly restored itself and grew even brighter.


    Shed been eyeing [Bulwark] for herself eventually, so she knew that it needed a set amount of mana to cast, which was what dictated the size and strength of the shield. But it needed mana channeled into it to work as anything more than a temporary block. Every attack thatnded on it drained some of the stored mana, and battering through it was normally a perfectly viable option.


    But when Quill used the skill, that weakness waspletely covered, thanks to whatever crazy cracked effect it possessed to make it even <em>better</em> for him.


    Still, she had to try.


    It wasnt in her nature to not batter through any obstacle in her way.


    Using her own new skill, Susanne sent mana into [Hypersonic Edge] before linking it with [Wind Cutter], then doubling it to cast with both her main and secondary de.


    Unleashing both empowered [Wind Cutter]s, her mana dipped noticeably, but she rushed forward to capitalize on the destruction of [Bulwark].


    [Hypersonic Edge] increased the cutting power of any weapon or skill that it was cast with, but if cast with another skill, it acted as a multiplier of the mana cost, which made it difficult to use too often.


    Still, its negative effect was well warranted as she saw [Bulwark] explode, and the skills continue onward to hit Matt.


    Susanne expected him to be heavily wounded, but exactly where the attacksnded, his armor instantly grew ornamentation.


    When the metaphorical dust settled, the ornamentation was gone, along with her attacks, but she had closed the distance, and started battering away at him with her sword skills.


    A small part of her was grateful that she was still better than him in de skills, and she kept on him to press that advantage.


    He was stronger than her, yes, but she fought opponents even <em>stronger</em> than him on a regr basis. His attacks were heavy, but they were still less than a Tier 15 wyvern or giants would be. Skill could close that gap.


    So many people only relied on magical skills, but neglected the mundane. She wanted both.


    Matt was better than most, and as they exchanged blows, she found herself enjoying the fight, but it was only his superior physical cultivation that allowed him to keep up with her.


    At one point in their fight, his entire style changed. He stopped smothering her with his heavy attacks and moved to a faster, more fluid style, but she was more than used to fighting faster opponents. A single, powerful blow countered Matts new tactic, pushing him back far enough for her to pick up her offensive. He seemed to give up on speed after that, returning to his normal, heavy attack style.


    He tried to gain distance between them more than once to presumably use more spells, but with her Concepts ability to warp space and careful applications of her mobility skills, she was more than able to keep up with him and force him into a melee, where she had the advantage.


    When she used her second sword, he always blocked it with [Sword Doppelganger], and as they settled into a stalemate, she decided to show some more of what her Concept could do.


    Instead of just creating a sword and arms, she created a full second version of herself.


    The other Susanne kicked at Matts knee while she pressed the attack.


    She could only get about a few feet away from her Concept self, but it was still on track to be her greatest trump card, though it was one she had only just started to get a handle on.


    Carol had said that Susanne was one of the few warriors she knew of who had been able to use that ability before Tier 15, especially without a Concept outright dedicated to the ability. It was truly an amazing achievement, worthy of a true Ascender. Her manager had sshed cold water on her exuberance when she told her that Duke Waters had managed the equivalent with a Water Concept, and in less than a year of her tutge. He was even able to make <em>three</em> doubles at the same time within five years. He <em>was</em> the benchmark they were striving for, after all.


    It was a fair rebuke, as Susanne had been getting arge head, but it stung a little to hear how far ahead of everyone the legend was, including her. At least it wasnt <em>quite</em> the same- the copies were apparently harder to manifest with a weapon Concept than with a magical one- but it was hardly three times as easy.


    Carol had promised her a meeting with the legendary Ascender when he was off the frontlines, but apparently, he was sent there as a punishment, and he just hadnt left once his time was over.


    Still, the ability was able to send Matt back with first blood drawn in the fight.


    Her de had punched through his magical and physical armor and came back red.


    She smiled.


    Susanne could win this.


    ***


    Carol looked at Luna and shot her the most fiendish smirk she could muster.


    Her charge had drawn first blood, and had managed to punch through Quills ridiculous armor skill.


    She corrected herself. Both of the skills. That [Bulwark] was just as incredible, and she couldnt help but wonder what exactly its crack did. She hadnt seen anything unusual about it, which was almost strange in and of itself, but King Frederics cracked skill collected was well known in higher Tier circles. If it was in his possession, the skill would have cracked effects so rare, they would be essentially unheard of. And with three people on their team, it was unlikely that they could afford to buy the skill unless they got incredibly lucky.


    Still, she had personally taught Queen the modifications to [Hypersonic Edge] so it was even stronger.


    The girl had cut through a Tier 15 Earth Rhino with that skill, but it hadnt managed to break through Matts skills.


    Luna ignored the smirk she had shot at her, so Carol spoke. Unlimited mana doesn''t mean much when the fight ends so quickly.


    Luna turned to her and smiled. Queen is exceptional for learning how to use that Concept ability so early, no doubt. But Matt has all the channeled Tier 14 physical cultivation skills, and [Endurance], which has been modified for healing. Even just [Lesser Regeneration] is a great boon, but when the two are paired unless she can cut off his head


    Luna let the statement speak for itself.


    Quill was a monster, that wasnt even a question in Carols mind. The boy would only get stronger with each Tier up, and his foundation was rock solid. But she still believed in Susanne.


    And she had barely used her Legacy''s spatial abilities yet, let alone touched the two cracked skills King Frederic had given her.


    Susanne had a fire under her ass <em>and</em> a goal she burned with desire to achieve.


    Carol thought she had a good chance at winning, but seeing the legendary manager so calm, she wasn''t so sure.


    Still, she wanted to make a bet.


    Winner gets to make the initial training n for the kids to get used to each other.


    Luna didnt take her eyes off the fight, but the smile that spread across her face reminded Carol that Luna never stopped being a cat.


    ***


    Mattshed out to block the side sweep attack and sighed internally.


    Hed wanted to beat Queen as a swordsman. Shed wanted a rematch against Matt, after all, not Quill, and Matt was very prideful about his skills as a swordsman. The problem was, while she was better with a sword than he was, she wasnt better <em>enough</em> to actually beat him. At the same time, each time they engaged, hed make a couple attempted attacks, Queen would block him and strike back, then hed pull back to recover and n out his next move. It was a strategy hed used many, many times before, and he knew how it would end. Eventually, shed tire out, and hed win by default, but theyd already been going back and forth for <em>ten minutes</em>.


    That was an eternity at their Tier, and he was getting bored. This was meant to be an entertaining spar, after all, but neither of them had done anything new in <em>ages</em>.


    So, it was time to change that.


    He called on [Cracked Mana Trap], setting it at his own feet before channeling mana through his ring, changing it to a particr brand of holding sub-aspected ice mana as it entered the trap.


    Using his <em>other</em> ring, he teleported a few feet back the same instant he armed the [Cracked Mana Trap]. Since he had cast it under their feet, it went off concurrently with his movement.


    He was prepared to immediately follow it up, and was already casting a [Mana sh] to catch Queen off guard.


    Even then, Queen re-materialized her secondary sword and positioned it between her chest and the trap explosion, while her main de blocked the [Mana sh]. Still, even with blocking the rune, the trap was able to freeze her long enough for his purposes. He rushed back in, cutting down at Queens frozen body as he pulled out another skill from his new-ish kit.


    Liz had been given three upgrade orbs as the first ce winner of the solo and team tournaments. Matt and Aster hadn''t wanted to take any of them, but she insisted on only using one, and Matt had used his on [Sword Twin], it being his strongest Tier 14 skill.


    As the skill was already at the Tier of the upgrade orb, it was less effective than he had hoped for, but it did let him aplish the one thing hed wanted out of it.He was now able to summon two copies of his de while one was already infused, though at a higher spiritual strain.


    Matt summoned a second twin, and then immediately absorbed it into his original de, empowering it.


    When he hit Queens second Concept manifestation sword, he shattered it and cut deep into her chest.


    Blood sttered, but Susanne seemed unfazed. Shended a hit on his hip that slipped through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor. He could feel that there was a skill at y, but he wasn''t sure exactly what skill it was.


    If he found a monster able to punch through Cracked Phantom armor in a rift, hed carry on as he had been doing, divesting most of his resources to defense while Liz and Aster dealt most of the damage. But he was fighting solo now and besides, he was fighting Queen for fun.


    May as well lean into it, and take the small damage to dish out even more in return.


    He kept his armor going, but siphoned most of its mana into his other ongoing boosts, bringing them all up to a full 250 MPS.


    Susanne looked up to him and started to glow a dangerous-feeling silver color, with the aura rolling off her and her sword like smoke.


    For the first time in the fight, Susanne spoke, Your rewards from the tournament are pretty great. But so are mine. Like this very special [Cracked Berserker''s Rage]. Her smile turned feral as sheunched herself forward. Careful, or this will end too quickly.


    Matt blocked the first attack, but the silver energy rolling off Queen felt like tiny swords that were cutting him all over.


    The longer the [Cracked Berserker''s Rage] effect was in contact with his armor, the greater the damage ramped up, forcing him to spend more and more mana on his armor to keep it from affecting him.


    Normal [Berserkers Rage] just increased strength, speed, and durability corresponding to how injured the person was, but this version seemed to have some kind of weird lingering effect that attacked him.


    Sensing how quickly the damage increased, he used his ring to teleport away again, but the silver aura lingered on his person fading showily. Queen blurred and seemed to cut through space to reach him in a single swing of her de.


    Blocking her second sword, he punched her in the already wounded chest with a spiked gauntlet of [Cracked Phantom Armor] after deflecting her greatsword. But wounding her further only created more of the silver aura, and it was stronger.


    Cursing, Matt parried two attacks with his sword and [Sword Twin], but took a blow in the corbone, with the attack effortlessly bypassing his already-strained armor and shattering the bone.


    In response, he moved most of his mana back from his physical boosts into [Lesser Regeneration] and [Endurance], fighting through the pain to use his Concept to set the bone in a well-practiced move.


    At the same time, he was forced to block with a one handed grip and nearly lost his de as Queen tried to disarm him. He hadnt divested enough mana from [Mages Retreat] to be weaker than her boosted state, however, so he was more than able to resist the forced bending of his wrist long enough to get his off hand back in action.


    Susanne seemed intent to finish the fight immediately, so he mentally shrugged. He still had <em>so</em> many tricks he could pull out, but if the fight was about to end, he may as well end it. With a twist of his left hand and a mental nudge, he unleashed his greatest trump card.


    A whopping 1,000 MPS of pure piercing power in the form of [Cracked Mana Spear]nced from Matts fingertips to Queens chest, faster than the woman could even react, causing her to vanish as one of their managers pulled her out of the fight. The spiritual bacsh of using the skill that was almost twice his Tier stung Matt as if hed been pped, but he was long since used to it. There was no <em>real</em> limit to how high a Tier skill you could use, but therger the gap, the more the spirit was strained. In theory, a Tier 1 could use a Tier 44 skill as said strain was well within the spirits normal limits, so if they had the mana for it was no issue. But using a high-Tier skill with an already strained spirit was like trying to fight with a broken arm. [Cracked Mana Spear] was especially egregious in that way, as it required his active focus to prevent it from destabilizing and put enough strain on his spirit to injure him.


    Still, with thest three years spent practicing and modifying the skill, not only was the spiritual strain from repeated use much more manageable, but he could also keep the beam going for about thirty seconds at his current rate before it destabilized. Though, that was hard on his spirit in its own way. But the important fact remained; they had yet to find a single thing from Tier 16 or below that could survive the full 2,500 that mana he could put into it, given enough time. And 1,000 MPS was more than enough to kill anything within a few Tiers of himself.


    Really, the limiter tended to be <em>hitting</em> a target long enough for the spear to break their defenses. Some of the faster Tier 15 monsters could move fast enough that he couldnt keep the beam trained on them for more than a fraction of a second, and by Tier 16, it was a toss-up whether or not he was able to hit them in the first ce. Let alone stay on target long enough to burn through their defenses. It made a fantastic finisher for once a target was immobilized, but they couldnt use it to solo rifts five tiers above them, not that they needed Luna to lecture them on why over-reliance on a single skill was a bad idea.


    Seeing Susanne off to the side of the ring, Matt dismissed his armor and cast [Bandage] on his wounds while sending all of his mana generation into [Lesser Regeneration]. It was better for actual healing whenpared to [Endurance], and if he had time, it created less of a healing cooldown than [Ranged Heal], so it was their preferred healing method for moderate wounds.


    Queen looked up to Matt and asked, What was that?


    Matt shrugged as Liz and Aster reached them. One of my skills from King Frederic. It''s a [Cracked Mana Spear] that turns it into a channel spell. Id hoped to beat you before needing to use it, but


    He ended with a shrug.


    Queen nodded, and her wounds vanished as though they had never been there.


    Susanne grunted seeing her now fine chest. Ugh. If you hadnt ended it so quickly, I might have pulled that off in the fight. I need to prepare it ahead of time, but its the cheapest healing skill I have, and getting it instantly is pretty useful.


    Matt and Liz nodded, Not bad at all. Cracked skill from King Frederic to pair with the [Cracked Berserker''s Rage]?


    Susanne nodded. Yes, [Cracked Second Wind], it restores health rather than stamina. Useful, but it requires me to figure out how badly Im probably getting hurt <em>before</em> I start a fight. Im just d I had enough in it for everything I just took, but it was closer than Id like.


    Matt could see how the skill would be useful for a solo melee fighter. Less potent over time than his constantly-running [Lesser Regeneration] and [Endurance], sure, but a way to instantly mend all wounds taken would be worth its weight in Tier 40 mana stones. Especially to anyone without a healer on their team. As Liz used her skills to bring the blood off both of them, Matt flexed his Concept and focused on Susanne, adding her to his mental whitelist.


    She jerked slightly before looking at him. You give that much mana? Hot damn!


    Mattughed at the reaction. His Concept currently gave around 40 MPS to anyone he chose, as long as he wasnt low on willpower or trying to feed more than six people.


    Queen, as a melee fighter at Tier 11, if she followed the normal distribution, would have around 4000 mana. In other words, hed be able to bring her to full in about one and a half minutes. It used to take him ten plus minutes to fill Liz, but his increasing proficiency had made his Concepts ability much stronger.


    It''s quite handy. Matt tried to be modest, but the look Liz shot him told him that he had failed.


    Aster wiggled out of Lizs arms and jumped into Matts before congratting him. That was so impressive! But didnt Luna say that you shouldn''t rely on that skill?


    Matt blew air into her face in retaliation.


    He could feel the mischievous feeling in her spirit as she tried to get him in trouble, but he allowed it. It would probably make Queen feel better about her loss, if she was feeling bitter about it.


    Thankfully, Susanne justughed. A win is a win. Rematch, though?


    Luna appeared next to them and gave Queen a narrow look. Do you know why you lost?


    Susanne seemed unphased by the other manager. Shouldn''t have dragged the fight out so long. If I had gone all out from the start, I might have won by taking him off guard.


    Luna nodded. That could have worked, but maybe not. What you need is to finish modifying your skills and get used to casting them. I also need you to integrate with the team, so we will start you on training scenarios.


    She looked to the side and Kurt appeared with his de at the ready. The four of you will start fighting Kurt. Do your best to kill him.


    Kurt must have seen something on Susanne''s face as he wrote, Worry not. Im Tier 35.


    Susanne hopped to her feet, and her sword sprang to her hand.


    She didnt rush into the fight, though, and instead looked at Matt and Liz, asking, Battle n?


    Matt smiled.


    This was going to work well.


    ***


    Luna watched as the children threw themselves at the wall that was Kurt.


    They had been fighting for two hours now, and had still not managed tond a single attack on the Trainer''s form.


    In the beginning, she could see Susanne starting to get frustrated at their inability to touch him, but the girl had quickly discarded that useless emotion, and focused on finding her ce in a team battle.


    Aster kept to the backline and near one of the others, usually Liz when she was acting as a mid-range mage, or Matt when he took his turn as spell support.


    Those three had long learned to read each other and react immediately, and while Susanne was a new addition, she was a good one who thrived in a fully offensive role.


    Luna found it interesting how quickly the girl adapted to Matt and his Concept, as it had only taken her a few rounds of Kurt knocking her around until she started using all of her skills as fast as she could.


    They finally were able to see some more of her skills, like [Sword Gale], which sent dozens of small wind des out from her attacks. It wasn''t a particrly strong skill, but it could do serious damage to weaker enemies, or otherwise serve as a distraction.


    Kurt''s skill blocked or dodged all of the attacks, but it was good to see Susanne had more in her arsenal than she showed.


    The girl had most of the skills she would have expected, and a few that she didnt, which was good. Well rounded kits were always important, even beyond Minka. They were the defining feature of Ascenders, and doubly so for solo ones.


    After fighting Kurt, Susanne took turns fighting each of her proteges, and while she still lost most of the time, struggling to keep up with the groups incredible array of skills and powerful items, still managed to eke out wins more and more regrly as she caught onto their tricks and favored tactics. In one particrly notable instance, shed learned to cut <em>through</em> Matts [Cracked Mana Spear] beam.


    At first, it was only for a fraction of a second, but a weekter, she was going for nearly ten whole seconds. Two weeks after that, it was twenty. A monthter, she wasnt quite able to go for thirty seconds, but with dedicated practice, she was getting better and better at resisting the beam with her Concept and parting the attack around her until her sword outright <em>broke</em> under the strain. It was the only time Luna ever saw the girl without her Manifestation, but it never seemed worse for wear whenever she re-summoned it afterwards, which meant that she had an impressive level of control and abundant willpower.


    Because of their bet, Carol was taking a back seat. But as the days passed, Luna let the other manager give a few Concept lessons to Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    They were learning well under her tutge, as sometimes an outside perspective could have unexpected benefits, and Carol was good at figuring out how each Concept worked and how to improve them. Matts flight had already sped up by three point two percent, and his whitelist ability was stronger. Lizs blood was six percent stronger when empowered, and Asters ice was a full four percent colder than before.


    The next few weeks, she spent time drilling the kids for fighting other cultivators before switching to simted monsters that had appeared in Minka in the past.


    For all that most people died to the other humans inside the Forge, the monsters and traps were still quite dangerous.


    Changing up the lessons ensured that they had no obvious weaknesses, and Luna was more and more confident as the time to enter Minka closed in.


    During the first two weeks, she pushed them hard before easing up and then forcing them to take some down time as a collective.


    That was the best way to ensure that they bonded well in the short amount of time.


    Luna looked up and to the that loomed over them.


    Minka seemed to be on track, but even her cultivation was unable to pass the barrier that surrounded the. If she tried to enter, she would just appear on the other side, as if it didnt exist.


    But the walls between them were easy to see through, and she could see the Minka tracking station and their readouts. Everything was right on time.


    Two weeks left.


    Next week, she would stop drilling the kids beyond two hours a day, and start beating all the rewards she had hidden from them so far into their heads. She would let that excitement drive them forward with their team-building exercises.


    She just hoped they would alle out alive.


    It would be even better if they came out at Tier 11.


    ***


    Susanne enjoyed her time with Matt, Liz, and especially Aster. They were good people, and were fun to be around.


    Having unlimited mana to spar withpetent fighters and practice her skills had also been a boon she had never expected.


    Thest few weeks would have been perfect <em>Would</em> have been.


    But the fact was, while she could fight Matt to a standstill in melee, and even win sometimes, she lost as soon as he transitioned to a mage style. She <em>did</em> win against his mage style sometimes, but her victories were few and far between. Each time it happened, she learned how to counter him just a little bit better, but it was irritating nheless.


    Liz, she fared better against. It still stung every time she lost, but the woman seemed to have a bag of tricks as deep as her ocean of blood, and couldnt be simply overpowered or ousted, which were the normal ways to beat mages.


    Beating Aster just felt like bullying with her more support oriented style, but the fox had caught her off guard and stolen a few wins against her. But that hardly counted, and didnt serve to bolster her mood at all.


    The three of them never rubbed it in, and were happy to help her learn how to counter their tricks, which was dramatically different from most of her training partners. But it still only showed the difference between them. It wasnt like they werent getting better against <em>her</em>, after all, and it felt almost like as soon as she made any progress, theyd move even further away.


    Currently, she was still trying to counter Matt when he used [Create Water] to flood the area, a talisman to sh freeze the ice, and finally [Ice Maniption] to entomb and crush her.


    Susannes spatial abilities had gotten a workout, but they weren''t a natural part of her Concept, so her growth in that area was slow, which forced her to think about other options.


    Nothing in life was fair, but with Matts Talent, they had earned themselves more items, <em>growth </em>items, and even skills for themselves and that helped keep them ahead of her.


    Thankfully, Carol and Luna both mentioned that Minka would be a blessing for her. At least they had indirectly hinted at it.


    They said if she really wanted to win, challenge the trio after Minka.


    So that was her goal.


    Minka.


    The Forge.


    <em>Her</em> forge.


    ***


    Matt kicked his feet up and watched as people rushed to and fro from his spot near the bay window in their portable house. Hed finished tidying up the ce already, and they had a nice view from Lunas front yard. Tomorrow, hed keep expanding the enchantments to enable hanging paintings on the walls with no fasteners, but right now, he just enjoyed some of the most enjoyable people-watching hed ever experienced.


    Liz was more interested in the pad she was reviewing news in, but Susanne was also watching the crowds along with himself and Aster.


    As if reading his mind, Aster said aloud what hed been thinking. So many old people...


    And she was right. Around fifteen percent of the cultivators who had arrived on the moon were <em>old</em>. White and gray hair abounded, all of them peak Tier 14 cultivators pushing to enter the.


    They had managed to overhear a conversation that Luna hadnt blocked, which gave them their only hint about a reward of Minka.


    If the old cultivators reached the fourth floor, they would almost certainly be able to form a Concept.


    A cultivator at the peak of Tier 14 was able to live for a little more than a thousand years, but after that, if they weren''t able to form their Concept and reach Tier 15, they would eventually die. Physical immortality only truly started at Tier 15, when the body was able to wholly run on essence, regardless of food, water, air, or age.


    But the problem was, the bottled Concepts which so many people used to reach Tier 5 and Tier 10, only existed at those Tiers. They were perfectly useful at that point in a cultivators life, but eventually, they would find themselvescking a T15 potion that just didn''t exist. So, the cultivators who hadnt formed their own Concepts beforehand had no other choice but to do it the hard way. Overly long-term reliance on the bottled versions tended to make that even harder than normal, but it bought them so much more time that it was generally a benefit. Still, there were always those that just couldn''t figure it out for themselves, no matter how much they worked.


    If they knew where an Ascension was going to happen, they could go and use that to kickstart their own Concept, but they were rare, and usually came with so little warning that most people couldn''t reach the in time.


    That left a sizable portion of cultivators just one step from reaching Tier 15, and Minka seemed to have its version of an Ascension buried in its depths.


    Considering that was the reward for floor <em>four</em> out of seven... Matt was giddy to learn exactly what was in store for them beyond that.


    Nothing they had done had gotten around the cat''s restrictions, but it didnt mean that they couldn''t do their own research on the other Great Powers''petitors.


    The Sects as always, tried to hype up each and every one of their Young Masters, but there were a few who were notable enough to reach the Empires ears, and the information brokers had gathered that information and sold it.


    They spent a lot of their break times looking at their greatestpetitors and trying to n out fights with them based on their reported skills.


    They had done it for all the other Great Powers when they realized their oversight.


    The four of them had effectively jumped generations, and all of the other Pathers who were going into Minka this time were from the Tier 10 tournament before theirs.


    It left them with a massive blind spot where their own side was considered, and they were taking this break to go over the past records of the Tier 10 tournament.


    Or rather, Liz was.


    She hadnt been happy with how the three of thempiled their parts of the information, and had taken over. Most of the information was bought from the various information brokers, but they all had different ways of rating everyone, and different criteria for said ratings.


    Liz was trying to aggregate it all and unify the formatting before organizing it herself, then briefing the rest of them on her findings.


    They had tried to help her, only to be turned down at first politely, then sternly.


    Once Liz set her mind on something, it was better to let her have the reins, so the others were left at odds.


    Liz raised her head and said, Ok, done. First, let''s grab


    Luna appeared next to them and interrupted her. You can do that at my ce. It''s time to learn just what youre trying to find.


    All of them hopped to their feet as Luna brought them to her living room.


    Carol and Kurt were there, and a screen was illuminated on the far wall with a title card reading, Bounty of the Forge: A Comprehensive List of Minkas Rewards.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172


    1/2


    Luna, Carol, and Kurt awaited them, thetter two with more serious expressions than Matt was used to seeing them with.


    Luna was the first to speak. First, a bit of recap, but but with a bit more context. The first new thing you need to know is where Minkaes from. There are a few different theories, but one in particr tends to hold more weight among the higher Tiers. Specifically, we have reason to believe that it may be a reward from a Tier 100 rift that was then assembled and sent into lower Realms.


    Matt jerked along with everyone else at the first bit of information, being a knowledge bomb.


    Liz asked the question they were all thinking. How do you know that?


    Luna shrugged a single shoulder. We can''t verify it to any real degree, but a Descender left us some clues in their dying AI data dump. They werent trying to teach us that in particr, but among the recoverable data were some details that are generally thought to be relevant. One document on high Tier rifts spoke of Tier 100 rewards, including some passages describing a divine puzzle box which offered a reward beyond understanding if, and only if, it could bepleted. The only other major clue to be pieced together was that it involves ten thousand ruins, gathered and assembled as keys. Descending from a higher realm bursts the spirit as a matter of course, so the AI dump was spotty at best, and thats all we were able to get as far as that particr lead goes. Those particr quotes are simply the most promising clues weve ever had. We dont strictly know that Minka, or anything like it, was what they were talking about, and it could have been referring to somethingpletely unrted for all we know. The idea that its from a higher realm is controversial at best, but it does provide an excellent exnation for some of thes power. If it is true there are two things in particr which this <em>does</em> pertain to.


    Luna pointed at the screen, and a cross section of Minka appeared with sevenyers in descending colors highlighted, with the firstyer blown up.


    The first is something you already know, namely that Minka is seemingly made up of inteced Ruins, not rifts. They butt up against each other and are randomly redistributed during each reset. When you enter, they will be packed full of monsters. More importantly though, things inside don''t work like they do in the rest of our Realm. The rules are different. That''s why I said we believe it''s a reward from a Tier 100 rift. A rift drop beyond understanding is pretty much the only thing that can exin everything that goes on inside.


    Matt nodded as he looked over the picture. The expanded firstyer seemed to have three smalleryers inside of it, while the secondyer had the same number of ruins stacked like interlocking bricks.


    Luna let them study the image for a few minutes before resuming. Now, you already know how the floors work, and all the proper strategies for bypassing or defeating the sublevel bosses, but the <em>rewards</em> also work differently and are why its so important to defeat as many challenges and monsters as possible. Fundamentally, theres four types of rewards that you can earn on Minka; challenge room rewards, monster drops, theme rewards, and exit rewards. All four of them are loosely tied together by


    The screen changed and said Genesis Energy.''


    Genesis Energy. Instead of getting essence from killing monsters, you get Genesis Energy. It acts a lot like essence, but is better in every way that we can measure. It only exists in Minka and can''t be taken out of it. And before you ask, no, from what we know of the higher Realms, it does <em>not</em> exist there. If it does, its rare. But while you can''t normally allocate it like essence, theres also no limit to how much you can store inside your spirit. Think of it like Minkas way of keeping track of how much you kill inside its depths.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that, but otherwise said nothing.


    That had some interesting implications and consequences. It might also exin why Minka was draining the surrounding star system of mana and essence. Creating some form of higher realm super-energy couldnt be free.


    The screen behind Luna changed to two people fighting, and unlike the edited version theyd previously seen, this time once one killed the other, they saw a golden light flow from the corpse to the victor. And yes. When you kill another sapient, you harvest about half their umted Genesis Energy by default, which means killing each other isn''t just a possibility, but actively encouraged. Like you should know by now, people are the true danger of Minka. Also, its easier to <em>sense</em> people with lots of Genesis Energy. Theyll light up to your spirit senses like a bonfire, even through Minkas suppression. You get enough, everyone on the may be able to sense your presence. There are technically ways to hide that, but theyre all rewards from inside the. One of the most notable is a brass ring with a gauge in it that allows for storage and retrieval of Genesis Energy. It will reduce the sensing efficiency by about half, so while not perfect it''s useful.


    The picture of Minka returned, but different things were expanded. Between the floors, there was a thin green line that was expanded. Next to that, a small area in the center of a Ruin brick was a different color and expanded as well.


    So with that in mind, when I say that the areas between Minkas floors are safe to rest areas, I mean both that there are no ruins or monsters there, but also that Genesis Energy isn''t transferred over on a kill. You still arent actually <em>prevented</em> from killing anyone, youre just not rewarded for it. Though given those are also the ces you can leave, running away is a very possible solution. That brass gauge ring I mentioned? Some enterprising souls try to set up shop, selling items they find- or bring- in exchange for Genesis Energy. Sometimes, they even seed without having everything extorted from them, but if youre going fast enough, youll be well ahead of all of them. And yes, the amount of Genesis Energy you have can also influence the rewards you get when leaving, but Ill cover that in due time.


    Behind her, the slide changed and showed a graph of monster densitypared with time on the other axis.


    One of the main things to keep in mind is because youre going in at the start of a cycle, the Genesis Energy has just reset, and youll be able to find plenty of treasures. But that doesnt keep you from wanting to go <em>fast</em>, so that you stay at the head of the waves of people delving and <em>keep</em> the advantages of going in right at the start. The earlier and further you progress, the better the Genesis Energy and monster drop rewards,rgely because youll have lesspetition and the most obvious locales wont have been plundered. If you fall behind, and the theme reward isnt absolutely incredible, <em>speed up</em>. Being one of the first on a new floor, if the theme is good, is <em>very</em> valuable. While there are no hard limits for how many people can get all the rewards, and you have the advantage of being Tier 11s, you still want to stay ahead of the curve and away from the soft cap limited by the avable monsters.


    As for the challenge rooms, you need to pay a Genesis Energy price before you can enter them, which is the risk I told you about. If you cantplete the challenge, you can remove yourself at any time, but there is no refund. If you beat the challenge, you are given on average about twice the Genesis Energy you spent to enter it, and may get a few other rewards as well.


    Matt nodded. He knew all the challenge rooms by heart- they were often some kind of incredibly strong monster that needed to be defeated, but there were also plenty of puzzles, disys of skill or strength, and even some more abstract challenges.


    Liz! How do you spot a challenge room? Luna quizzed.


    Liz sat up straight in her chair, reciting one of Lunas earliest lessons on Minka, Despite being technically hidden, on the higher floors its possible to find challenge rooms by the <emck</em> of anything, leaving huge and unnaturally nk spots in your spiritual sense.


    Matt nodded along. That was broadly true. They had trained enough that the practice areas certainly <em>felt</em> gaping at this point, but theyd still been tuned to Tier 14 spiritual senses. Luna, being Luna, had spent about six months hiding random stuff of theirs under what was supposedly a simrly strong cloak, until they <em>had</em> to know what to look for if they wanted to wear socks on a given day.


    It gets better-hidden as you progress down the floors, Liz continued, And not only will the nk spots be less obvious, or be better camouged with their surroundings, but the actual entrances be hidden as well.


    <em>That</em> had been an annoying month.


    Like everything else, the top floors are bottom Tier 14 in cultivation, and just like with the monsters and challenges themselves, it will scale up until the cloaking and camouge is peak Tier 14.


    When Liz paused, Luna slipped back into the conversation, Good. Now, you can generally get a feeling of the challenge type, and sometimes its reward, from the entrance. At least, once you break through the cloaking. But, the Genesis Energy you get from those challenge rooms are secondary to the rewards, which are some of the true treasures of the ce, second only to the theme rewards.


    Kurt raised his pad and interjected with his pen and paper. Genesis Energy also has its own advantages. It''s a higher form of energy, and can change items that are exposed to it into growth items. That''s why you were all supposed to get good armor with your rewards from the Tier 10 tournament. Sadly, only Liz got hers.


    Matt and Aster had been directed to buy the best armors they could, but they hadnt been told the why beyond the fact they were good armors, and would always be useful.


    The under armor he had bought boosted self buffs, which was amazing when paired with his new skills, but if that turned into a growth item?


    That would be incredible.


    Carol shrugged. You dont directly choose what items convert, and its possible, though <em>really</em> rare, to get two. The record I know of is four converting, but that asshole has more luck than even a fate-driven Talent could exin. Rolled sevens on everything in Minka despite having a six sided die, I swear. Regardless, one is pretty doable. Just use the items a lot. Generally speaking, the more you use an item, the more likely you are to bond with it. Keep it on your person a much as possible. There isn''t a strategy beyond that. Technically, even items shoved away in spatial storage can convert, but I only know one person thats ever happened to. If you encounter a challenge or floor reward that affects a growth item, but dont have any, whatever item is the closest to bonding will finish the process. Then youll get whatever other benefits you should get.


    There <em>is</em> actually a way to speed up how long it takes for an item to bond to you as a growth item, Luna added, but it doesnt give you any more control over <em>what</em> bonds. Essentially, manually spin your Genesis Energy like youre oveing an essence suppression band, particrly while using the item in question. If you do that, you stand a much better chance of getting two bonded items.


    While monsters in Minka dont give any essence, they are liable to drop essence stones, items, and skills in addition to the Genesis Energy youll get from them. Any monster drops you find are incredibly valuable and should be collected. The essence stones won''tst long before Minka reims them, as it does everything that dies in its depths, so pick them up and get them in a spatial bag or ring quickly. The first floor will only have Tier 8 skills, but past that, there will be Tier 14 skills, and by the time you reach the seventh floor, youll be finding lots of Tier 20 skills. Its the best likelihood for skills youll find anywhere in the realm, so grab everything you can. Well cover some more in detailter, but keep a particr eye out for Headhunters Nes, Muffle Cloaks, and Genesis Crystals. They all only function inside of Minka, and be mundane when removed, but they will be very useful for your delve.


    Hearing that even the monsters would be dropping items, essence stones, and skills, Matt was stoked and ready to go and Luna hadnt even started talking about the real rewards of the ce. The things she had mentioned were interesting but not so much that he believed she would drag them here. Not this early.


    The screen changed once again, and Luna exined what they were seeing. Just like how each of the possible floor themes that could appear get more challenging the deeper they are, so too do the rewards get stronger as you approach the core. These theme rewards are usually considered the greatest treasures of Minka, for all that its nigh impossible to know ahead of time which seven youll get, let alone what order theyll be in. Once youplete the floor, for a sizable amount of Genesis Energy, you can enter a special challenge to gain the corresponding reward. This is where most people reap thergest benefits.


    Luna nodded at the screen. Some theme rewards are more useful for you than others, but all are generally good. Manage your risks ordingly. Likewise, dont waste time and Genesis Energy onpleting any extra challenge for themes which dont help you.


    Kurt, interjected, his pen flying as he wrote. Technically, anything but the deepest theme and exit rewards are avable out here, even if they are incredibly rare and hard to find or time consuming to replicate.


    Luna nodded in agreement. That is technically true, but <em>incredibly rare</em> is an understatement. Minka is the only ce that produces such rewards at a consistent rate. But continuing on. Once you are inside Minka, your AI and your spiritual perception will be restricted in its range and effectiveness.


    She shot them a look, and Matt nodded, though he still felt that she was over correcting their training for what was fundamentally a one-time thing.


    Luna let out a sigh and looked at them like she knew they would disappoint her. While none of the theme rewards are <em>bad</em>, I will reiterate that you can still have good or poor luck that we just cant ount for. Theres always some who wait until reports return on what the themes are before venturing inside, but doing so cuts them off from the very best rewards. The easy sources have been picked over, most of the monsters have been culled, and even as Tier 11s, you would struggle to afford some of the deeper rewards, let alone the <em>really</em> good ones which always cost more. So, its something of a gamble that youll get good rewards, but one you cant <em>not</em> take.


    She pointed to the screen where an empty numbered list appeared.


    When youplete the deepest subyer of a floor, youll be presented with an opportunity to im a theme reward, but like the challenge rooms, theye with their own extra challenge toplete. Sometimes, just getting through the floor is the hardest challenge, and the end challenge is less difficult. But you still need to fight under the restrictions of the floor''s theme, so it''s never easy. The usual example given is the Folded Reflections floor. Matt?


    Folded Reflections? That was oh right, Folded Reflections is one of the few floors which doesnt carry some special rule to it, but instead has thergest variety of enemies. Namely, it involves fighting weaker and slightly different reflections of other people on the floor, including you. The final boss of the floor is a fight against <em>yourself</em>, exactly as you are. Thus, its seen as one of the most dangerous floors, especially early on. I dont know the bonus challenge though.


    He looked back to Luna, who nodded but said nothing. The four of them looked on expectantly for her to borate.


    I didnt teach it to you because the challenge is in some ways a reward itself. Now, its challenge is considered one of the least dangerous, but in some ways also one of the hardest and riskiest for you four in particr. Upon epting it, you will find yourself experiencing a number of lives equal to the depth of the floor. Each life will generally be vastly different from your own. They may start simrly and branch off in odd ways but they will always end up with you living a different life. Still, each life <em>is</em> different enough that you are guaranteed to have a new Concept in each. The challenge here is to ovee each life, figuring out what is happening and deliberately moving on. Should you fail to move on from one life, you will awaken afterwards with that lifes Concept having reced your own. Yes, even if you do not currently possess one. However, should you seed by moving on from each and every life, you will awaken with some version of <em>all</em> the Concepts added onto your own. At Tier 11, they will be a little under sixty percent the strength of your main Concept, and I trust you understand how useful that could be, particrly at the deeper floors.


    Aster let out a low whine at the statement.


    Luna did not, in fact, have to exin how strong that would be. Having a Concept that could do one other thing would be strong on its own, but being able to do that for <em>seven other</em> Concepts would be amazing.


    Susanne asked, Are there any side effects or downsides? Weakened willpower? Harder to grow your Concept? They can''t grow or something?


    Liz added her own question, Harder to form your Intent?


    Luna chopped with her hand. No to all of that. There are no side effects, and the additional effects can potentially grow right along with your base Concept, assuming you practice with them enough. You could think of them as an additional, if unusual, generic use of your Concept, like locking down space or flying. The closer the use is to something your Concept already does, the easier it is to use and expand. Theres a reason that Minka is called the ce of miracles. In fact, getting this reward will actually make forming your Intent a <em>little</em> easier, but thats usually attributed to living multiple lives, rather than any of the additional effects folded into a Concept. It even works with beasts, so having an inherited Concept wouldnt keep you from benefiting, Aster. In fact, some argue it''s better for beasts, as it makes expanding your existing Concept easier in the future. Its considered one of the best single floor rewards Minka has for a reason, and whenever it shows up as the first floor theres a lot of people who flood in, eager to try and get or change their Concept rtively easily.


    Carol nodded and said, They also scale with your Tier. If you''re Tier 11, everything works far better than at Tier 14. That sixty percent? If you were Tier 14, try ten percent. That holds true for all floors and their rewards. It''s either cheaper to take the rewards if you''re a lower Tier, or the rewards are better for lower Tiers. Sometimes both. In theory, a Tier 11 can just explore their way through the floors killing monsters and get every floor reward without killing anyone, but that''s only in theory. We have records of <em>tens </em>of Tier 11s who havepleted Minkas seven floors, so a lot of this is just spection. Better to have more Genesis Energy than you need for obvious reasons.


    Matt heard the unspokenment that they might need to kill people and should do so if they needed to.


    That was cold, but he understood. Others would be operating on the same logic, and the higher Tier people would be desperate for more Genesis Energy and might kill anyone they encountered.


    Luna continued, If you do encounter Folded Reflections, its important to remember that the other lives <em>arent real</em>. Its very, very convincing, but its basically just an borate illusion. Things can happen in them which arent possible, such as being born in a different Great Power, having a different Talent, having the Empire fall into anarchy, being born as royalty. It wont show you the future, and what other versions of you do does not reflect on who <em>you</em> are. Many people have gone mad, trying to find people they meet in their other lives or pining after something that never will and never could have happened. It''s nothing more than Minka spinning possibilities from your own memories and thoughts.


    Matt couldnt help but murmur, What the fuck?


    The thought of living other lives seemed both scary and enticing.


    It might just let him see his parents again. Live with them. See them healthy and whole.


    He had to ask, And its all fake? How can you know? If its from a higher realm, surely it can do more than were used to?


    Luna shrugged. Tests, mostly. Most of the lives will reuse materials such as names and faces. Dont be surprised if you encounter the same people in multiple lives, or see some who are strangely familiar in one way or another. Also things will tend to go either really well for you in a single life or <em>really bad.</em> It would be useless as a prize if the alternative lives were just you having changed what shirt you wore one day. Though I <em>have</em> heard of one person who did experience that, but that was quite an outlier and that life went quite differently even with such a small change.


    As he started to go into a rabbit hole of what ifs Matt squashed that thought process. It just wasnt productive for something so remote of a possibility.


    He could feel Aster was ufortable with the thought and could read Lizs face well enough to see she was also leery at the idea. Susanne, he didn''t know well enough to judge, but she didn''t look excited to go through that.


    Thankfully Luna moved them on quickly.


    Now, Aster, Unskilled?


    Oh, that one! The one where I cant use my Talent. Er, no. No skills at all. Not even Innate ones from a Talent. You just have to do stuff with your Concept and cultivation. And Talent, if it isnt a skill.


    Matt still had a difficult time properly grasping just what kind of insanity was required to suppress a <em>Talent</em>, but if it really was from a higher realm, it almost made sense. About as much sense as being able to let you live over a half-dozen other lives as a way to change your <em>Concept</em>.


    Yes, its quite notorious. But the rewards are equally great. On the first floor, you can level up a single Tier 8 skill for some Genesis Energy. If the theme shows up on floor two, you can upgrade two Tier 8 skills or one Tier 14 skill. Each deeper floor, you are able to upgrade more Tier 8 skills and or trade them up. But the scaling is better than a simple doubling. On floor one, you get one then its two, three, five, eight, eleven, and sixteen. Also, by using four Tier 8 upgrades, you can upgrade a Tier 20 skill. If that was it, it would be strong but not amazing, but you can spend a little extra Genesis Energy as a Tier 11 and get nearlyplete control over the upgrade. Want a [Fireball] spell that has no cooldown? Easy. Want that spell to have added lighting or void damage? Done. Want to have the [Fireball]s bounce on hitting an object? It''s a thought away. The possibilities are theoretically endless, and as Tier 11s you will have nighplete control while the higher Tiers have less and less. Tier 14 only gets standard upgrades like you can get out of any upgrade orb.


    Matt felt his mouth go dry as he thought of the possibilities.


    If he got that floor deep enough, he could upgrade his [Cracked Mana Spear] or [Cracked Phantom Armor] to their Tier 26 equivalents. Unique perfect versions of themselves to remove their weaknesses and bolster their beneficial qualities.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Cracked Mana Spear] both were Tier 20 skills as far as upgrading was concerned, and Tier 26 upgrade orbs were incredibly expensive due to their rarity and the demand. Getting<em> a better</em> version of that <em>for free</em>?


    He could hardly sit still at the thought.


    Luna dumped ice water on them. Once again, its impossible to predict which themes you will encounter, let alone which one will be at the seventh floor, but that''s what brings me to the final category of reward, the exit rewards. The only static rewards Minka offers. Sometimes called chaser rewards. You only get one of them, no matter how far you delve, and you only get it when you leave. What does change with how far you delve is what options you get. For beating floors one through six, the options presented are good but not amazing, but beating floor seven and having enough Genesis Energy you get what is perhaps the best reward of all.


    <em>Better than adding effects to my Concept? Better than perfectly upgraded skills?</em>


    Matt struggled to think what could qualify for that.


    The screen changed to an empty list of seven. Like everything else, they scale based on your Tier. The reward for exiting on floor one is a single Tier 8 skill. For Tier 14s, they have no control, and its all random what they get. Tier 13s can choose vague categories to narrow down the results, such as a buff, attack, defense, or utility skill. Tier 12s get a bit more control, and they can add more qualifiers like a self-buff skill or ranged attack. If you have a bit more Genesis Energy, you can narrow that down to something as specific as fire type ranged attack spell. For Tier 11s, they can describe to the littlest detail of a skill they want, and Minka will give it to them, within reason. Theres even some reports that it can make cracked skills, or at least pre-modify some skills to make them better match a request, but we just dont have enough Tier 11s who take a skill as their exit reward to really know for sure, they almost all die early or make it deep enough to get better options.


    Matt shook his head. That was absurd. And it was only the reward for getting through the first floor.


    The second-floor exit reward is better for those weaker. It will fix your essence allocation perfectly like an inspiration. For the Tier 14s, it only fixes it but adds nothing extra. For Tier 13s, it fixes your foundation and brings you to the peak of that Tier. For Tier 12s, it will fix your foundations and <em>also</em> bring you to the peak of Tier 13. Theoretically, Tier 11s will get the same benefit, but we dont know for sure. No Tier 11 from the Empire ever publicly stated they took this reward. Regardless, it''s a strong reward for anyone who made a mistake or used essence to power a skill, as it will fix said ws. For you, its not so great.


    Luna changed the screen, and the floor three''s exit reward appeared. It was simple, and a Tier 14 skill that followed the same rules as the Tier 8 skill on floor one did.


    It would be even more useful, but Matt wasn''t that interested in it for himself.


    Floor fours exit reward is what all the old geezers are going for. At Tier 14, they get the equivalent of a very general Concept that will allow them to reach Tier 15. It''s not great, but it will let them live, which is all they care about. At Tier 13, you get a more specialized Concept, but it''s still fairly generic. Tier 12s get a strong personalized Concept that is about on par with a decent self-made Concept. From what weve simted, we believe Tier 11s get a Concept on-par with yours, namely a very strong one which perfectly suits them. Anyone who already has a Concept and reaches that floor, they can choose to upgrade their existing Concept to that level. Though for the walking corpses its not <em>entirely</em> assured they will get a Concept. If a Tier 14 genuinely has not even the faintest idea as to what their Concept might be, they wont receive apleted one, but for most people its essentially being handed aplete Concept as long as they know their Phrase or Image.


    Matt didnt need that reward himself, but the implications of being able to form a Concept like that for people was staggering. It was the equivalent of a Shard of Reality being used on each person who exited there. And the Empire alone was sending in hundreds of millions of people.


    It was a staggering realization, but he understood why so many older cultivators were willing to throw themselves into Minka despite knowing the death rates.


    Matt also understood that those people would probably be the most rabid in wanting to reach the fourth floor and would be vicious to anyone they saw as an obstacle. The ones entering at the reset wouldnt be willing to wait for the rush to pass and take a slower path as in theory they might not be able to umte enough Genesis Energy.


    Floor five is a Tier 20 skill that follows the same rules as floors one and three. There have been some very rare skills that havee from here, but its not terribly remarkable. Floor six can merge skills. As Kurt mentioned earlier, this is entirely possible to do on your own, but Minka does it perfectly in moments, rather than centuries. Itll even keep whatever modifications youve already made, which as anyone whos tried to merge skills will tell you, is no mean feat.


    Matt knew of skill merging but only the basics. It was possible to merge two skills together, but it was about the hardest form of modification that could be done, and took hundreds, if not thousands of years to get better than a ten percent sess rate.


    Luna smiled as she said, The merger is wless and has no risk of failure, which is nice, but Minka takes it a step beyond. It can take two plus two and make it equal to seven instead of four. For a Tier 14 who reaches that floor, they can merge two Tier 8 skills they have in their spirit or on them, into a new,bined one. Even they, for a Genesis Energy cost, can control the direction of the merger and make something truly unique. Tier 13s canbine a single Tier 14 and a Tier 8 skill, Tier 12s canbine either two Tier 14 skills or three Tier 8 to make a single new skill. Finally, Tier 11s canbine a Tier 14 and a Tier 20 skill, or presumably multiple Tier 14 and Tier 8 skills, though nobodys ever tried. And once again, the lower your Tier, the more control you have over the final result.


    At this point, Matt was growing numb to the kinds of things which Minka could do. Why wouldnt it also be able to perfectlybine skills, a process which wasrgely regarded as taking centuries of practice to even approach middlingpetence at?


    He was going to ask, but Susanne spoke before he could. Can you take an exit reward even if you pass the floor? Like reaching the seventh-floor exit and taking the sixth-floor reward?


    She was quite literally rubbing her hands together in anticipation.


    Lunaughed, Tier 13 and Tier 14 delvers who reach the seventh floor usually do exactly that, but none of the Tier 11 or Tier 12s ever do. The exit reward for reaching floor seven is unique in the entire Realm, and why I want you all to go in at Tier 11.


    The dark-haired manager waited for them to all grow visibly agitated and for Aster to start to quietly yip before she spilled the beans. She was taking an unusual amount of pleasure in stringing them along, Matt couldnt help but note.


    Tier 14s whoplete the final floor upon exiting and with the condition they have enough Genesis Energy, which, by the way, is <em>a lot</em>, will have a Core skill slot opened in their spirit. They will have to designate a skill to go into that slot, and after that, they will never be able to move it, but it will be an additional slot which isn''t a minor benefit. Tier 13s get the same reward, but it''s a skill slot like any other and able to move skills in and out of it.


    At Tier 12, she continued, pausing for drama, You will get a single <em>Innate </em>skill slot. It, like for the Tier 14 reward, cannot be changed, but it can be any skill in your spirit.


    Matt blinked, trying to process what shed just said.


    An Innate skill slot.


    That was something only given by <em>Talents</em>. Or at least, so he had thought. Aster had Innate [Ice Maniption] as her first Tier talent, and it was her strongest skill by a wide margin.


    Innate skill slots had a whopping fifty percent increase in effectiveness, and modifying a skill inside there was reportedly as easy as breathing whenpared to Core skill slots.


    Beyond Aster he knew second-hand from Vinny, who had an Innate skill for a Tier 1 Talent like Aster. Even he said modifying the Core skills was dozens of times harder than his single Innate slot.


    But Matt came back around to the fifty percent increase in effectiveness that he could get out of a spell.


    His first instinct was to put [Cracked Phantom Armor] into that slot, but then remembered [Cracked Mana Spear]. That would also be amazing to quickly modify, let alone the advantage of having a massive increase in power.


    He was still mulling over whether offense or defense should be the best when he realized that Luna had kept talking.


    Should you reach the core while still at Tier 11, you get a single <em>flexible </em>Innate skill slot, which you can freely switch any skill you possess into, like any other skill slot.


    <em>A </em>flexible <em>Innate skill slot? That was a thing? How would that even work? Just how? Thats better than most Tier 1 Talents.</em>


    Matt couldnt even guess how Minka managed to do that for someone but he knew he wanted it.


    Well, if that were the case, hed hardly need to choose between offense or defense, he could swap them out practically at-will. Then another thought urred to him. Skill merging. Normally, it was impossible to merge a Talent-given Innate skill with anything else as the Innate slot couldnt be interacted with. If it was, it would make the process dozens of times easier. But if the slot were flexible? He could have something even better than most skill Talents gave.


    He was suddenly thankful Luna was willing to push them that hard and send them into Minka at Tier 11.


    Luna smiled as she looked at each of their faces. Yes, going in at Tier 12 is good, but Tier 11 gives you a level of versatility nothing can match. She nodded to Aster. No, it won''t convert your Talent given Innate skill slot to be moveable. People sometimes wonder, but it doesnt actually interact with your Talent at all. Talents are the one thing Minka seems to have no power over modifying. It can suppress them but not modify them.


    Carol spoke up, Dont get too far ahead of yourselves, though. Minka is dangerous. Very, very dangerous. And while the rewards are impressive, you need to keep in mind, what matters first and foremost is that you <em>survive</em>. Youll definitely be finding essence stones almost constantly, and if you find yourself pushed too far? <em>Use them</em>. Hitting the Core at Tier 11 is something of a dream, but dont make the mistake of thinking that itll be easy. It may not even be possible. Getting a flexible innate skill slot is perhaps the best reward you can get, but a static one is still <em>very</em> strong. We dont know who all will be in there, but theyll all have a full Tier on you or more. If you have to break through to Tier 12 to get to the Core, do it. We almost <em>expect </em>it. Getting deeper at a higher Tier is better than leaving early at Tier 11. It happens a lot, and its <em>not</em> required to actuallyplete the Path. Duke Waters didnt even enter Minka before Tier 12, and The Cosmos- L Worldwakers predecessors, that is- had to push to Tier 12 to survive thest few floors.


    Luna added after Carol finished. They made the right call, as should you. Dont mistake me being willing to send you in at Tier 11 as an expectation youll <emplete</em> Minka at that Tier, just that I expect you to <em>survive</em>. The deeper you can get before you have to advance to Tier 12, the better. This is the one time I will ept something less thanplete perfection, because I do not want you to die pushing yourselves too hard. The four of you together might actually manage to make it to the core working together.


    What about Light and Shadow? Did they do Minka at Tier 11? Matt asked.


    I dont know, Luna tly replied. Im not their manager, and I dont even know who <em>is</em>. If I had them, I would have sent them in at Tier 11, but whether theypleted Minka at that Tier, I dont know. Ive sent in many groups at Tier 11, very, <em>very</em> few hit the core without needing to break through to Tier 12.


    That put a bit of a wet nket on their enthusiasm, but Matt was still determined to seed. A part of him wondered how hard it could <em>really</em> be, as there was nothing of Tier 15 or higher inside, but that was the wrong way of thinking about it and he knew it. He was going to be fighting at a full Tier disadvantage against people as strong as anyone hed ever fought at his own Tier, and they would still be able to Tier up if <em>they</em> were pushed too far. He wouldnt be able to beat Queen if she were <em>two</em> Tiers above him, and his fights against Eric and Dena also came to mind.


    Minka would not be a walk in the park.

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173


    2/2


    Luna got everyone''s attention with a p. Okay, I won''t go over all the challenge rooms and their rewards right now, because theyre far too numerous to cover in time, and you get a good idea as to what theyll be when you approach the entrance, but the floor themes and their corresponding rewards are definitely worth memorizing.


    With that, the slide changed once again, showing a collection of diagrams and images depicting a series of corridors, paired with two main blocks of text.


    <strong>Essential Dysfunction:</strong> Turns natural essence powered attributes, like allocated strength or flexibility, into depletable resources. As you lifted things or ran around, strength would effectively de-Tier until the essence provided no benefit. Regenerating mana would slowly be less effective, and mana pools would shrink. All aspects of cultivation are affected by this and only once you finish the floor are your attributes returned to normal. This theme possesses the most direct traps, such as pits, spikes, and rolling boulders, with arge array of monsters.


    Reward: Mana and stamina regeneration is increased. On the first floor, this is about a five percent increase separate from essence, which slowly falls off with advancement. This scales until at the seventh floor, where its approximately a two times multiplier, cutting non-wound recovery time in half and has a noticeable increase forever.


    Wait, Matt frowned, Will that affect <em>my</em> mana regeneration?


    We dont know, Kurt wrote in response. We dont have any records of a Talent affecting regeneration quite like yours, let alone getting this theme on Minka. It doesnt work in the same way as the mana-concentration potions youve been taking, theres no actual essence involved. That means it might actually work even though your Talent directly overrides your normal mana regeneration and capacity. But at the same time, Minka doesnt change Talents, so its really anyones guess. Erwin spent a bit of time trying to simte it, but he didnte to any real conclusions. This could either be the very best floor for you to encounter or do functionally nothing for you, we dont know.


    Huh, Matt wrote a big question mark on his notes for that floor.


    Wait, who''s Erwin? Susanne asked.


    Hes a researcher weve worked with in the past, Liz exined, And I think the only researcher actually read in on Matts true talent.


    Ah, okay. She nodded back to Liz before they went back to the slideshow.


    The next slides illustrations predominantly featured a few vague sketches of treacherous walkways and sudden drop-offs.


    <strong>Eternal Darkness</strong>: All physical senses arepletely blocked, rendering everyone on the floor blind, deaf, and with physical touch and even proprioception sharply muted. The only sense that isnt blocked is spiritual perception. There are many dangerous areas on the floor, not hidden by anything more than the floors natural theme, and simply walking in a straight line can be dangerous. Monstersrgely favor ambush tactics, making it even harder to detect danger.


    Reward: Spiritual Perception is improved. On the first floor, it slightly increases resolution and adds faint additional feedback, such as color perception. By the seventh floor, it returns almost perfect, detailed feedback on everything within its range and is substantially better at bypassing any blocks.


    Doesnt spiritual sense already naturally increase with Tier? Wont this eventually be useless? Susanne asked.


    Yes and no. Most of the more ephemeral rewards Minka provides are eventually eclipsed in some form or another by simple advancement, Carol exined, But Eternal Darkness definitely scales quite well into the higher Tiers. Even at Tier 40, the spiritual senses of people who got a floor four or deeper Eternal Darkness on their Minka run are <em>notably</em> sharper.


    The next slide was unnerving. Strangely organic-looking metal banisters, water animated in ways that looked all wrong for elemental''s, and precariously bnced blocks of stone all loomed in ways that just looked <em>wrong</em>.


    <strong>The Hills Have Eyes</strong>: Everything is alive, aware, and trying to kill you. <em>Everything</em>. Anything not spiritually bound to you gains a faint motive spirit and begins trying to kill anything alive. Air will avoid lungs, stone will deliberately fall with the intent to crush, water actively attempts to drown. Its best to avoid having to eat or drink while on this floor.


    Reward: A growth item gains its own motive spirit. On the first floor, it bes able to automatically activate itself in ordance to some stimuli, akin to a <em>very</em> basic [AI], but by floor seven it is as intelligent as whoever its bonded to, and is even able to absorb and utilize skill shards of its own.


    Thats still oh so disturbing, Susanne noted, watching a simtion of living steam condensing itself inside a persons lungs before tearing its way out.


    How do the skill slots of the item work? Liz asked, clearly interested in a potential workaround to her Talent locking her into blood skills.


    Luna nodded to the question and said, On floor seven, it has roughly half as many skill slots of each type as a person of its Tier, and theyre independently absorbed by the item. It can also use any mana stored within the item, if there is any, or use whoever its bonded to, like it has those skills enchanted on it. The intelligence will always be loyal to you, as well, and may or may not actually express a distinct personality, so theres not really a meaningful distinction between using the skill yourself and having the item use it, other than a minuscule loss of efficiency. If you get that it would be an excellent work around to your Talents limitations Liz.


    Are there any limits to the kinds of skill that the item can absorb? Matt asked as he wrote that down.


    No, but there are some practical limits on the kinds of skills it can <em>use</em>. Any skills which must be channeled through an item, like [Mana sh] will only manifest through the item. That can have some weird results if its a ring, or armor. Theres a few more nuances, but they arent that important unless you actually get this theme on floor six or seven, and we can cover them afterwards if you do. Just dont have it absorb any skills until after you leave.


    The next slide was fairly generic, but featured a lot of monsters known for their powerful presence, like Warp-Spasms and their fear aura.


    <strong>Conceptual Lock</strong>: Concepts are affected as though by a very strong concept suppression, making them very difficult to utilize. Monsters lean strongly towards those with powerful Concepts or presence abilities of their own and have no suppression from the floor.


    Reward: Any ability which a Concept possessed prior to entering Minka be stronger and more resistant to being suppressed, scaling to twice as strong at floor seven.


    Now, the pre-existing abilities which this strengthens doesnt include any generic uses of a Concept, like flight or locking down space, its just the direct abilities which the Concepts visualization and phrase provides. So for you, Matt, that would be your mana-granting and repulsion. Liz and Aster, everything your Concept does for your elements would be enhanced, and Susanne, your sword would be about twice as tough and half as hard to maintain. Its called pre-existing because it doesnt interact with any other Concept-enhancing rewards you may find on Minka, like Folded Reflections.


    <em>That</em> sounded quite useful and Matt hoped they encountered it. Doubling the rate at which he could provide mana would make a huge difference in any fight, and making it more resistant to suppression was always wee. It wasnt nearly as fancy as some of the other rewards, but Matt knew firsthand just how valuable a t doubling to something could be.


    And if his repulsion effect grew twice as strong he had dozens of ideas for using it.


    The next slide was covered in abstract symbology, and depicted several groups of regal-looking humanoids in borate gear.


    <strong>Courtly Warfare</strong>: Instead of directly fighting monsters, find and join a faction known as a Court, and do whatever is required to ensure they win their floor-wide war. The Courts are unusually sapient for a rift or ruin monster, and centralize themselves around a seemingly-random theme, with a variable number of factions thematically rted to that theme. Previousmon appearances have featured the four seasons, the four level 1 elements, Day and Night, Mages and Warriors, Stars, Moon, and Sun, and more. Generally, the sooner the floor appears, the more sides there are, but it has also appeared on floor one as Ocean versus Land versus Sky and on floor six as a massive web of alliances with <em>every</em> known mana aspect having a representative court.


    Reward: A growth item gains a new effect. For the first floor, it mostly seems to elerate when the growth item would get new abilities. Instead of Tier 25 where a growth item would gain a new effect, now the effect is unlocked before then and shifts all the upgrades the item would get corresponding down by the same margin. By floor seven it adds apletely separate set of powers which grow at the same rate as the original growth power. In addition, Boons are avable to the winning side.


    The boons, Luna exined, Are something partway between a theme reward and a normal monster drop. Its always connected to the theme of the court, and how strong it is varies depending on how influential you were to the Courts victory. No, we dont know how its tracked, but its <em>very</em> urate and ounts for working in logistics, hunting other Court members, tactics, or any other role. Also note that unlike every other floor theme Minka has there is only one floor and not three sub-floors.


    I hope we get winter or ice! Aster yipped excitedly, Were going with winter if we find winter, right? You promised!


    Matt chuckled and stroked his bond, Yes, were going with winter or ice if we <em>somehow</em> have one of them as an option. <em>And</em> get this as a floor.


    Good, she put her nose up in her best haughty impersonation, Winter is the best.


    The next slide showed a metaphysical examination of the way essence interacted with skills, but there were a number of differences that led Matt to realize what it was an instant before he read the actual title.


    <strong>Genesis Cultivation</strong>: All spells cost Genesis Energy instead of mana or essence. The monsters on that floor drop more Genesis Energy per kill, but the floor remains heavily rooted in resource management.


    Reward: On floor one, the most recent Tier of essence thats been cultivated is converted to something simr to Genesis Energy, enhancing all aspects of cultivation, but particrly in the stacking bonus thates with cultivating the same areas for multiple Tiers. By floor seven, not only is <em>all</em> essence converted to Genesis Energy, but the effect lingers until Tier 16.


    Now that he knew about Genesis Energy, not only did the floors name make way more sense but so too did the restriction. The math behind the reward also promised some <em>serious</em> benefits, giving them essentially a full Tier boost in cultivation. It would probably be even <em>more</em> for Matt, as having all his essence in his physical body meant the stacking boost would be even more potent.


    The next slide showed a whole host of magical beasts, elemental animals predominantly.


    <strong>Blood is Thicker</strong>: Bloodlines, and other innate non-talent abilities, are drastically improved in strength. Most enemies on the floor will have bloodline equivalents.


    Reward: Change your mana aspect. On floor one, it''s a minor change from a level 1 element to a rted level 2 element, all the way up to floor seven when you can out and out have threeplete high-end aspects perfectly merged or separated in the mana pool perfectly. Or you can change your mana type to Arcane or Void.


    Matt wanted to find that floor for Liz and Aster as it would be great for their own ns. He didnt think hed take the mana aspecting unless they found the floor theme on floor seven where he could get Arcane mana. Now <em>that </em>would be incredibly useful for his enchanting and general boosting of his skills.


    As he was musing over the potential applications of Arcane endless mana, which would just be better in every way, he noticed Aster and Liz were engrossed reading something on their [AI]s.


    Whats up? he asked.


    Sorry, cant say, Liz apologized. It doesnt really affect you, though.


    Matt opened his mouth to push further when the slide changed again. He knew that meant it was bloodline rted and it was Lizs way of hinting as much as she could. That was how they had worked out her telling him without actually telling him anything about the bloodline stuff he wasnt allowed to know yet.


    Still, it was annoying.


    <strong>Mundane Life</strong>: No mana can be used on this floor. For anything.


    Reward: A growth item bes less dependent on whoever its bonded to, reducing the item requirements to Tier it up, reducing the spiritual strain it puts on the person, and makes it more mana-efficient. By the seventh floor, it requires only essence to Tier up, puts no spiritual strain on whoever is using it, and <em>produces</em> mana instead of requires it as well as serving as an external mana storage.


    How much mana does it make? Also, <em>no</em> spiritual strain? Could you bring it up to Tier 30 and have an incredibly strong magical item that way? Susanne nced Matt''s way along with her questions.


    It makes a decent amount of mana for anyone not used to being around Matt, and increases regeneration by about ten percent. Carol answered, And no, its not <em>strictly</em> zero spiritual strain, increasing the items Tier too far will still put strain on the bond like normal, but its close enough to nonexistent so long as youre roughly the same Tier. Also, the essence requirement alone scales fast enough that it would be challenging to raise it too far above your own Tier. Its very good with any particrly mana-hungry growth items, as even by the fifth floor its mana neutral.


    Matts mind went to his teleporting rings. Even with his insane mana regeneration, it still took a little while to charge up the swap for any appreciable distance, but if that were <em>free</em>, the power to teleport around the battlefield at will would be <em>insanely</em> powerful. And how might that work with his mana conversion ring? Would it count as an item that cost a variable amount of mana to produce a variable amount of mana? Would he be able to make free mana from his ring?


    If his spection was right that idea could have some possibilities. Very interesting possibilities.


    He was so engrossed in thought he almost missed the slide change to disy a very old friend of his, crowds of goblins.


    <strong>Back to Basics</strong>: Start off with no essence, nothing, at functionally Tier 0. Regain essence as you progress, and with a bit of effort, you can assign it to somewhere it wasnt before, allowing for a permanent reallocation of essence. Enemies are appropriately low-Tier, but scale quite fast.


    Reward: Concepts empowering the body be stronger, or if the Concept doesn''t do so, it begins to. On floor seven, it''s a full second very strong Concept, or the original is about three times as strong if it was able to empower the body before.


    Will that apply to my Concept? Liz tapped her finger on her notes, Or would it only work when Im empowering blood inside myself?


    It will likely empower the external use of your Concept, yes, Kurt wrote, Though likely not to the full strength as when using it internally.


    How would that interact with my armor? Susanne followed up, Its meant to make an external Concept also function as an internal one, but if my Concept begins to function as an internal one, would that make the enchantment less effective?


    Carol answered that question. Like everything else on Minka, it wont interfere with anything else. Most likely, the effects of your armor and using your Concept internally would directly add together.


    Oh, thats good. Very good. Susanne rubbed her hands together and grinned at the screen.


    <strong>Floating Inds</strong>: There is no floor, and flying items are weakened to the point of being unable to support additional weight. Falling far enough will result in a loop, though its unclear where exactly the lowest or highest point is, but it still requires falling a <em>long</em> way before a loop happens. The ruins are condensed in this theme to small floating inds and monsters, if not already capable of flying, gain wings or some other method of flight.


    Reward: Improved ability for internal concepts to fly and external ones to move space around them. On floor seven, it''s the equivalent of a dedicated, very strong Concept for it that is nearly impossible to ground the user without overwhelming force. If a Concept is already primed to help with flight/spatial maniption, it is strengthened instead.


    Some of the best Concept-fliers in the Empire got their start with a deep Floating Inds. Carol added, This is one of those abilities which everyone benefits from, but can be tricky to really take to the next level. Minka provides that opportunity, and will even help you pick up Concept telekinesis once thats a skill you decide to develop. Your nascent spatial abilities would get a massive boost from this Susanne.


    Liz, who was still struggling to do much in the way of flying with her Willpower, also took eager notes. Matt and Aster both had that skill nearly mastered so it was less beneficial for them, but it would still be useful.


    <strong>Unskilled</strong>: Skills arepletely blocked, including Innate skills granted by talents.


    Reward: Upgrade a Tier 8 skill at floor one. The number you may upgrade increases with each floor (for totals of 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 16). You may spend two Tier 8 equivalents to upgrade a Tier 14 or 4 Tier 8 to upgrade a Tier 20. These skills have more ability to be changed as the lower Tier you are, and elemental effects can be added at will.


    As I mentioned before, going in at Tier 11 will mean you have far more control over the end product. You could almost think of this as a Legacybined with an upgrade, for the amount itll allow you to improve any skills you put into it. Luna didnt linger on the topic as they had already discussed it and quickly changed the screen to the next slide.


    <strong>Mind over Matter</strong>: All physical existence fades, rendering everyone into spiritual beings. Physical cultivation does essentially nothing, and moving is hard without a skill or Concept to aid. Physical appearance also fades, and everything bes more like the abstract idea of itself or its Concept.


    Reward: Concepts be less willpower-intensive. By floor seven, any foundational uses of a Concept- that is, any things which the Concept itself does, not general uses of a Concept such as locking down space or flying- are functionally free to use, costing less Willpower than most people recover. The further from the primary use (or uses) of the Concept a use is, the less this benefit applies to it.


    Nothing? Like, actually nothing? Susanne seemed incredulous, And it will work for maintaining my manifestation?


    Yes to both, Carol affirmed, In addition, the decreased strain makes it substantially easier to explore and push your Concept further. But beyond additional practice, I expect youll be able to maintain two swords continuously if you get this as your fifth or deeper floor.


    It immediately shot up on Matts hopes for a lower floor. If it could make Concepts so easy to use, he might be able to use his Concepts repulsion mode more than in short bursts, maybe even <em>continuously</em> if it were easy enough. He had wanted his Concepts power to double but he felt this might be even more useful in practical circumstances.


    If that werent enough, ording to some of Carols further exnations about the floor, it <em>also</em> strongly applied to any additional abilities which <em>Minka</em> granted to their Concepts, provided they were close enough to some of the original abilities.


    The floor quickly joined Matt''s growing list of hopeful final few floors.


    <strong>All Paupers</strong>: Items dont work at all, for anything. Not only are wands just inert sticks, a sword will not cut, armor will not block. Potions act as no more than water, and even the most potent foods do nothing more than provide basic sustenance.


    Reward: A Growth Item lodges itself in your spirit. On floor one, this means you can instantly materialize/dematerialize it, and it bes impossible to permanently destroy. On floor seven, it practically serves as a second Talent and bes incredibly powerful, always staying at your Tier and developing new abilities as its modified akin to a skill. The exact abilities depend on the item, but the spiritual strain of the item likewise increases.


    So does it work like a skill? Or a Talent? Liz asked.


    Somewhere in the middle, Luna replied, As well as a bit like a Concept. It pairs <em>very</em> well with Mundane Life, I will say. The increased strain and willpower usage which the item requires is more than offset by making the item self-sufficient, and if you get those two floors at the sixth and seventh floors, regardless of the order, they tend to amplify the others effects quite nicely.


    <strong>Opposite Day</strong>: Mana aspects are flipped, bing the opposite of what they ought to be. Likewise, physical cultivation boosts mana, and magic cultivation boosts the body. This also applies to monsters.


    Reward: Gain the ability to rework a chunk of your cultivation, ranging from thest two Tiers on floor one all the way up to aplete, perfect redo with better than perfectpression on floor seven. Anything that is reworked is slightly more potent than usual, even if it''s remade to the exact same thing, like a partial conversion to Genesis Energy.


    Does that work with Genesis Cultivation if you get both themes? Aster asked.


    Kurt wrote a simple, Yes.


    Aster nodded at him as she yipped. Oh, that has some possibilities.


    <strong>Taxing Skills</strong>: Skills be more expensive with each usage, tracked on a per-skill basis. Channeled skills be more expensive to use at a continuous, ever-increasing rate. Monsters tend toe in huge groups.


    Reward: Gain bonus skill slots. On floor 1, this is two extra Inner skill slots and five extra Outer skill slots, effectively one Tiers worth in total. By floor seven, it grants an extra four Core skill slots, thirty Inner skill slots, and one hundred Outer skill slots, slightly more than doubling the current skill slots avable to a Tier 14.


    Now thats interesting. Matt tapped his chin in thought.


    What would you need that many skills for? Susanne asked incredulously, You already have plenty of Inner spirit skills for any kind of fighting. Besides, its hardly like <em>you</em> need to worry about mana efficiency so you can use Outer skill slots if needed.


    Maybe, but I can use a <em>lot</em> of skills at the same time, and just because I get my mana back doesnt mean I shouldnt use it efficiently. Im already tight on space, and thats not going to get any better as time goes on.


    That earned a nod from Luna.


    Well, good for you. Susannes smile cut any of the sting that thement could have generated, making it an obvious joke.


    Matt smirked and said in his best Quill voice, Stick with me kid, and youll see great and fabulous things.


    They quickly moved on to show a host of diagrams about shapeshifting.


    <strong>Self-Identity</strong>: Those entering the floor will find their appearance, cultivation, non-consumable items, body, and skills changed to another random person upon the floor, keeping only your Talents (consumable items vanish, but are not gained). Upon leaving the floor, the changes revert. Monsters are predominantly mimic and shapeshifter-types.


    Reward: Remake a part of your body. On floor one, this is recing your eye or a hand to be better than perfect, a bio-mechanical substance that grows, heals, and for all intents and purposes is <em>alive</em> despite also for all intents and purposes being artificial, with the remade body part functioning simrly to a growth item. On floor three and deeper, that body part can be enchanted in addition to generally being made of higher-quality stuff than your baseline body. By floor seven, the entire body was remade into the strange biomechanical substance as a perfected being.


    Wait, <em>what</em>? Liz blinked, Also, will my blood magic still work if Im artificial?


    Matt echoed the sentiment, and it looked like Aster and Queen were simrly trying to process it.


    It will. You will lose nothing, but your body will be made of metals rather than tissues, despite behaving almost the exact same. Minka''s rewards are never detrimental.


    Almost? Liz didnt seem content with that vague of an answer and neither did Matt on her behalf.


    Some of the organs which regte internal stasis are removed, and the digestive system functionspletely differently, but as far as youll be able to tell anywhere other than a healers table, youll bepletely normal, Luna confirmed, The remake will also make your healing cooldown lower as well as raising your baseline above even what the normally perfected body whiches after Tier 15 can provide. Thats without even touching the enchantments you can put on yourself. Self-repair is particrlymon among that group. Well, as far as anything could be said to bemon in a group that contains hundreds. It has a very high Genesis Energy cost, but <em>is</em> considered one of the best final floors. I dont believe there has yet been a fifth, sixth, and seventh floor of Opposite Day, Genesis Cultivation, and Self-Identity in that order, but its spected to be one of the strongest possiblebinations of thest three floors for physical fighters.


    <strong>New Growth</strong>: Only things which have been obtained on the current floor can be used. Skill shards and items can drop at an increased rate on this floor, and skill absorption is increased. Monsters usually have highly adaptive defenses, swiftly gaining resistances to attacks they are exposed to.


    Reward: Skills be quicker and easier to absorb, modify, and move. By floor seven, absorbing skills is instantaneous and modifying skills is roughly as easy as if it were one stage closer to the core.


    Matts mind immediately returned to his dream of having a modifiable Innate skill, but <em>even faster?</em> Unfortunately, Luna dashed his hopes almost immediately.


    The speed boost mostly only caps out at Core skill speed. Core skills do also get a boost in modification speed, especially withter floors, but Innate skills, so far as we can tell, dont benefit at all.


    What about instantly absorbing skills? Isnt that just a thing that higher Tiers can do normally? Liz pointed out, Or is this something that falls off as you get to higher Tiers?


    It sticks around. Even past Tier 40, it can still take a few fractions of a second to absorb a Tier 8 skill, and much longer for higher-Tier skills. With the seventh-floor reward, that bes functionally instant almost regardless of how high a Tier you or your skill are.


    Ive definitely seen Uncle Moon absorb a skill just by tapping it. Liz raised an eyebrow at the cat.


    I do believe that Harvest Moons party encountered New Growth on the fourth floor when they ventured into Minka, which was as deep as they went, and would cut skill absorption time in roughly a quarter. At his Tier and for a Tier 8 skill it would be functionally instant.


    The next slide turned into a man in a ss shop breaking everything as he turned around.


    <strong>World of Cardboard</strong>: All items be exceptionally fragile and can break under the slightest touch. This does not apply to magic, to which the area is highly resistant to. Monsters are frequently those which use the terrain to their advantage, and heavy on ambushes, in particr.


    Reward: Item-enhancing Concepts are enhanced at floor one, scaling up to a three times increase in strength by floor seven, and if the Concept didnt initially possess such an ability, it gains that usage, up until floor seven when it is as strong as the initial Concept.


    Matt looked over at Queen as Carol exined how it also applied to Manifested items. Their fellow Pather didnt say anything, but he knew it would work perfectly for her.


    Okay, so this one works the other way. Would this apply when Im using my Concept <em>internally</em>? Liz asked, I know it will be useful when I make weapons out of my blood, but will it help me when I reinforce my body?


    Just like with Back to Basics, it should apply even when youre using your Concept, just not as directly or strongly, and likely only help with strength and durability. Carol answered.


    Liz nodded and scribbled more notes down. Thats all Id be looking for from it. This one would push me even further.


    Liz shot Matt a look like she was eager to beat him up if they got that reward.


    He blew her a raspberry in return.


    <strong>Wastnd</strong>: No healing or regeneration. Monsters are numerous, weak, and frequently pack monsters, often willing to use suicide tactics to deal even the slightest injury.


    Reward: Concepts that aid in healing, regeneration, or repairing are enhanced, up to a three times empowerment by floor seven. Those which did not have an aspect along that theme have it added.


    Matt rubbed his arms. Wastnd was considered one of the most dangerous floors for a reason. Any wound would refuse to heal even slightly, but [Bandage] would almost certainly be invaluable on the floor as it didnt heal anything but paused the injury. Honestly, it was probably one of the best floors for them to encounter- Liz would absolutely adore a floor where even the smallest wound would <em>never</em> stop bleeding on its own


    He couldnt help but feel like the reward would be useful even for him. If his Concept incorporated healing aspects, it would likely work simrly to the way the mana generation functioned, namely acting as though the person regenerated it themselves. So, would that mean his theoretical Concept-healing might bypass cooldown, like how [Endurance] worked?


    Matt made a note next to Wastnd marking it as potentially one of the best floors to get. And if they did get it he had a lot of testing to do.


    <strong>Folded Reflections</strong>: Fight lots of mirror versions of yourself and other people, simr yet different in some way. It culminates in a fight against you as you are right now. Incredibly dangerous final fight.


    Reward: Experience a number of other lives equal to the floor depth, change your Concept to one of them, or fold their effects into your current Concept.


    Matt was still dumbfounded at the ability that Minka provided to see entire other <em>lives</em>. Illusion or not, that was still orders of magnitude moreplex than any other illusion-caster he knew of. But there wasnt much they hadnt already covered, so they moved on shortly thereafter Carol restated the fact that the lives weren''t real and not to get hung up on what happened in them.


    <strong>Spirit Journey</strong>: A psychedelic journey through your own mind, facing inner demons in the form of monsters. Perception matters as much as reality, and ghosts from the past are the greatest danger of all. It is extremely challenging to remain in groups, though technically possible for those who are exceptionally close.


    Reward: Gain a pseudo-bond spirit guide familiar. On floor one, it''s little more than a mote of light that points out things of interest. By floor three, it''s a small animal-like spirit that can be directed to do basic things. By floor five, it''s fully sapient and able to fight independently. By floor seven, it''s an extremely powerful apanying spirit on the level of a dragon that has its own Talents and skills. It remains fundamentally a part of the person and can turn immaterial to reside inside their spirit. If killed or destroyed it will reform given enough time.


    Kurt exined that even bonds could get that reward, but most people found the tiny little mote of light awarded at the first floor so annoying they actively <em>avoided</em> getting the reward if it appeared as an option. Though any time it was found on the <em>seventh</em> floor, a bloodbath ensued as the Genesis Energy needed to take that reward was insane, though no Tier 11 had ever gotten it to see how much of a discount they got. The problem was that it was almost impossible to have umted enough Genesis Energy just by killing monsters to earn it. You basically had to earn more by taking half of someone else''s Genesis Energy after killing them.


    Overall it was one of the strongest single rewards Minka had to offer, but it was still very, <em>very</em> rare for anyone to actually get it. Usually only one or two people any time it appeared as the seventh floor. Mostly because it meant everyone else was dead as a result of the final few gathering enough Genesis Energy.


    Matt was dumbstruck that Minka could do all of that and said so. This seems like too much. The rewards are too strong.


    Kurt answered him. Yes, and also no. Anything but the seventh-floor rewards and Innate skill slot are avable out here, even if they are rare enough to be little more than rumor or not found for many more Tiers. We theorize you could probably get the seventh floor rewards elsewhere, but the best epted guess is not until you are Tier 50 and in the higher Realms. The Concept enhancements are an excellent example, theyre entirely achievable by anyone, but outside of Minka its just not worth spending that much time expanding them in new ways instead of developing an Intent, or really doing anything else with your time. But yes, it''s incredible what Minka can offer. But the dangers are equal to the rewards. The lower the Tier you go in, the more danger you are in. The four of you will be targets because of your Tier. The other Great Powers know the same thing we do. Its generally assumed that any Tier 11s are future Ascenders, and they will do anything they can do to kill you if possible. That means you will also need to kill anyone who sees you use any unique skills that could identify you. If that happens, leave no survivors.


    That brought Matt and the others back to the real world and the dangers they would face.


    The rewards were sweet, but they would only get to eat them if they could reach an exit floor and escape. Seven of those floor themes would be what they faced in Minka''s depths and they would have no choice in the matter.


    Still, Matt wanted them. He wanted them all and wished he could enter Minka more than once and farm the ce for every unique final floor.


    But he couldn''t, no more than a Tier 15 could enter Minka. Once you were forged by the ce, once it had tempered you, that was it. There were no second chances.


    After asking more questions, Luna and the others started drilling them with the small details of the floor themes and their challenges. After confirming they understood what they were going into, they started on the floor challenges and what they could expect to face in them, whether it be monster types that were generally seen or puzzle types.


    Lastly, they went over every recorded challenge room and what the survivors reported facing inside.


    None of them minded the long days spent studying, reviewing, and of course practicing together. This was information that could prove useful to them but their teamwork would make or break them.


    Two weekster, the message came. The previous cycle had ended, teleporting thest few stragglers- as well as those paid to stay inside the specifically for that purpose- outside the. There was a mad scramble as everyone rushed to the mass transit tforms to take people into space so they could fall onto the, but the four of them bypassed the rush altogether.


    Luna took them out into space with her own flying house, out over the massive of copper and steam, and just past thes atmosphere where she parked them. There they waited, the tiniest specks right on the edge of the eternal vastness of space and what may well have been the mightiest thing in the realm.


    Exactly twelve hours after the previous cycle ended, a gentle golden glow blossomed from the heart of the, piercing metal and steam as if they weren''t there, before spilling outwards and refreshing the enormous machine in a wave. The once dull metal became shiny and new, the-sized gears ticked faster, smoother, and the entire world <em>radiated</em> with power.


    d in nondescript masks, the four of them joined hands and stepped off the tform. As soon as they left the enchantments holding them above the, gravity reasserted itself and began pulling them down to the surface of the grand world below.


    To Minka.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174


    Matt felt nothing.


    They had been miles and miles above the surface of Minka, with the wind rushing through their hair, when everything went <em>ck </em>as the moved them to the first floor.


    He couldn''t even hear his own breathing or taste the air around him. It was disconcerting for a long heartbeat; he couldn''t even feel his armor, the clothes on his body, or the weapon in his hand.


    It was like he was in the worst dream imaginable.


    That onlysted a second before Lunas training and preparatory work came to the fore of his mind, and he spread his spiritual perception out in a wave around himself, allowing Matt to see what was near them.


    The first and most obvious thing was that his friends were still standing around him, and each had readied their weapons.


    Matt spread his spiritual perception around his friends, but found that the area he could sense was less than a tenth of its usual distance. He should have been able to see everything within a few miles of himself, but he could barely sense anything past a thousand feet before his spiritual perception went blind.


    Linking his AI with his friends, he found the connection was also restricted in the same way his spiritual perception had been. It was incredibly muted, allowing for basicmunication but little more.


    Liz was the first to speak through their AI. Everyone ok?


    They all responded in the positive, and she continued, So we got Eternal Darkness as our first floor. Not great as a first-floor reward, but it''s not a super valuable one to getter, so it could have been worse. Definitely annoying to try and speed through, but at least we dont have to worry about getting the theme reward, so we dont need to be thorough. If we have enough Genesis Energy, great. But if not, its nothing to cry about. Matt, start the recon.


    Matt immediately cast [Air Maniption], spent 1,000 MPS to boost its range, and set his control of the air to searching everywhere around them. Unfortunately, it didnt end up being one of the rare times where Eternal Darkness allowed spell feedback, so he might have been putting mana into literally nothing, as far as he knew.


    Minka had locked down that version of a sense just as much as it had his sense of touch. Cycling through all of his other elemental maniptions, he found the same was true for each of them, even the more esoteric ones.


    Changing back to [Earth Maniption], Matt threw all 2,560 MPS into the skill and tried to manipte Minka itself, but he found that he could only interact with a foot or so of the surroundings before he hit a wall of material thatpletely ignored any of his control.


    Sadly. this was exactly as Luna said it would be, so he just reported, Nothing unexpected.


    He saw Liz nod through his spiritual perception and chew her lip for a second before she made her decision. Matt takes the lead with full armor up. These monsters should be well hidden here, but their offense should be dead average for Tier 14s.


    That meant it would still tear through him if he wasn''t careful, but with [Cracked Phantom Armor] taking 2,000 MPS between bothyers, he should be able to take a hit or two before being injured.


    Queen, take up the spot behind Matt and kill anything that attacks him. Aster, backpack time. Ill keep up a film of blood behind us to help prevent ambushes.


    Without saying anything else, they all started moving, and Matt fell into their formation as they had practiced. With both her Talent and Concept connecting her to her blood, Liz had substantially more feedback from her spells, making her something of the de facto scout. Now, substantially more feedback amounted to literally any feedback, but she was still the least-blind of them all.


    Using his spiritual sense, Matt narrowed it down from a sphere spanning as far as it could all around him, to just the hall they were in. He was able to discern more about their current surroundings with less background noise to filter through. The natural-looking cave was fairly straight, but had a few twists and turns that seemed to lead them nowhere.


    Every dozen or so steps, Matt used [Earth Maniption] and [Air Maniption], but found nothing out of the usual.


    The worst part of Eternal Darkness, he came to find, was walking. Without the feedback that his body usually gave him, each step had to be deliberate, and a portion of his spiritual perception needed to be allocated to his feet, as he could identally step farther than he meant to without feeling his foot hitting the ground.


    They were just about to start climbing up a slight incline when something flickered in Matt''s spiritual perception for a heartbeat. It was distinctly not human, and as soon as it stopped moving, it vanished from his senses once again.


    Something with camouge ahead. Right side of the tunnel. Marking in our AI map.


    Their AI had been making a map from what they sensed with their spiritual senses, but it was still crude, as they only had a single tunnel to base it off of.


    As they crept up to within striking distance of the hostile entity, Matt shed out with his sword after charging a [Mana sh]. He couldn''t feel the weight of his sword or the heft of his swing, but he had used his de for close to three decades, and was intimately familiar with it. He didnt need the proprioceptive feedback at this point.


    The crescent of mana forced the monster to move, and it became visible to their spiritual perception as a six-limbed humanoid. Two of the arms shed out at Matt, who sidestepped before bringing his de down on one of the monsters spindly arms


    He felt none of the feedback he should have, but he could sense that the first arm he hit snapped like a twig under his attack.


    Susanne wasn''t any slower, and a second [Mana sh] struck out where the monster was, and cut off one of its legs directly.


    Aster was ready with the finishing blow, and an [Ice Spear] mmed into the monster''s chest.


    As it died, there was a rush of what almost seemed like golden essence pouring into them. Genesis Energy. It swirled around in Matts core, and even without an essence distribution bracelet for the energy, it evenly split itself between the four of them.


    Genesis Energy felt like water whenpared to the mist that was essence, and slowly spun itself into a ball in his spirit where unallocated essence usually sat.


    After a second of inspection, Matt also noticed that he could feel the Genesis Energy that the others had gathered. They were like small pricks of light that called to his own reserve of the stuff.


    Aster, test please. Liz asked as soon as they had all settled themselves.


    Instantly, Aster responded, Already done! It swirls like essence does but is a bit easier to manage, and will rotate on its own for a second or five after you stop, so it takes very little attention to manipte.


    Matt kept his de at the ready as Liz and Susanne started their own test, and once Susanne moved up to rece him as the vanguard, he focused inward and started cycling the drops of Genesis Energy in his spirit.


    It responded to his lightest touch, and just like Aster had said, kept swirling for a few seconds each time, seemingly pulled along by his rotating cores. All that was required was a bit of a spiritual kick every so often, which was easy enough to maintain during all but the most strenuous ofbat.


    His fingers were clumsy, given he was only able to guide them by looking at them through his spiritual senses, but they found their way to his mana stone belt and traced over the first crystal therein. A few weeks back, hed been given thest portion of his Tournament rewards, a rush job because Luna had decided to send them into Minka a cycle early. A single rechargeable mana stone that minutely concentrated the mana stored within it, while keeping it attuned to him. From what hed gathered, it had been the result of a fair amount of research, and Talented crafters working on ways to concentrate mana outside of cultivation, which he <em>suspected</em> may have started because of him.


    With the knowledge of how Minka worked, it was apparent that it was intended to potentially bond to him as a growth item, and hopefully solve his mana concentration issues. Technically, the stone was already concentrating his mana, and he could use it for a minute increase to his concentration, but it didnt change what his spirit actually made. If it were a growth item, the hope was that once it was a part of his spirit, the result would be a permanent increase.


    At least, that was the idea.


    ordingly, he was cycling the full 2,000 mana it could hold in and out of it as fast as it could manage, trying to use it as much as possible. He wouldnt be able to do so much inbat or while exploring, but an hour or so a day dedicated to using it, and the passive usage that his armor got whenever they were fighting, would hopefully put those two items as prime candidates for bonding.


    Once they were all done with their prep work, they started their trek through the halls while watching out for more of the six-limbed monsters, which they encountered every few hundred feet. They were just settling into a rhythm when the tunnel ended, and there was a wide-open expanse that felt endless to their restricted senses.


    After carefully exploring the tunnel, they found themselves on a ledge near the top of a massive pit with sheer walls that sunk out of their view.


    Testing, Matt found that flying in all forms was restricted in this area.


    No flying, so do we go up or down? Matt asked the question while trying to send his perception down into the pit.


    Aster immediately voted, We explore the ceiling! Going the wrong way is how you find the best loot, after all.


    Liz waited for Susanne and Matt''s agreement before the four of them started climbing the craggy walls.


    Because this was Minka, and it seemed to actively restrict them where and however it wanted, they couldn''t even use [Earth Maniption] to create better handholds in the wall as they climbed.


    Still, they were all Tier 11s, and even having to hold their body weight with one finger was more than doable for them, so climbing was easy enough.


    Or it would have been, if they weren''t immediately attacked by a swarm of very hard-to-notice bat creatures.


    Matt cast [Hail] a few feet behind them and focused on climbing as Aster, who was still situated in the backpack, yipped as she used his created ice to ughter the weaker flying monsters.


    She had gotten very, very good at using Matts ice to deadly effect in their training, and these monsters, while being low Tier 14s, only seemed to have the body strength of a low Tier 12.


    Minka clearly meant for them to be more an annoyance than a danger for anyone with a few spells that they could cast behind them.


    Sadly the Genesis Energy they received confirmed that supposition, as even after Aster killed dozens of the bats, they got less Genesis Energy than a single hall monster.


    When they climbed the few hundred feet to the top of the tunnel they found nothing of importance, so they started to climb around in a circle before they all felt something moving at them.


    Its presence was generally hidden, but it was so big, it shattered Matts [Hail] spell just by flying through it. Wings and fangs were the only general perception that he was able to feel before itnded with a crash on the wall.


    Hanging onto a wall as it shook without the feedback from their senses was incredibly disconcerting, but they all managed, even as the monster tried to eat Susanne.


    A massive maw snapped forward at her, but she summoned her second manifestation and cut the monster in the mouth without even turning her real body away.


    She had to have used her [Hypersonic Edge], as the Tier 14 monster''s tongue and teeth were cleanly sliced through, which let Liz make her first move in Minka.


    The Tier 14 blood, instead of just falling, froze and started to climb up the monster''s jaws and face.


    As the blood started to cover its face, Matts spiritual perception was finally able to see that it was some mix of wyvern and bat, possessing a bat''s head but with scales covering its hide.


    As it tried to lunge again, Lizs control over the blood stopped it in its tracks as she summoned more blood out of her glove, creating sanguine spires to halt its advance.


    Normally, Liz would then use her blood to strangle or cut the monster''s throat, but this monster was smarter than most, and shook its head back and forth, breaking Lizs control over the blood and throwing itself away from them.


    Through their AI, Liz said, It has a spell for breaking active spells. I lost control over all the blood that was touching it. Careful. Matt, another [Hail] please.


    He did so and made it as wide as possible to create a that the monster would have to break through again. As he had that thought, he also cast [Air Maniption] to lock down the area around them.


    If the beast broke spells it passed through, hed know. Even if he couldn''t get feedback from the spell, he could still sense when it broke.


    They started climbing once again but found nothing along the top of the pit where it met the roof.


    Aster was disappointed that they didnt discover any good loot but her mood perked up as they started climbing back down.


    They were around halfway back to the ground on the other side of the pit when Liz called out. Hold up. My blood found something strange.


    Liz had been keeping a ring of blood near them, ready to fend off attackers after the bat monster''s attack, but even as Matt checked, he couldnt see what she had felt.


    He was about to cycle all of his maniption spells out of habit and hope, when a hole opened up next to her.


    Aster cheered, and he joined her mentally even as he climbed over and sent a st of fire into the hole.


    When no Genesis Energy rushed into their spirits, they passed through the new hole in the wall to find a small room that had been hidden. Inside, they could sense everything in the hole, which was just a single chest sitting alone along the back room.


    Liz used a tendril of blood to feel out the chest and open it, but nothing came out or attacked them, so they inspected the item her blood pulled out.


    It was a ribbon of cloth nearly two feet long and about six inches wide along its entire length. None of them were eager to touch it, as even normal rifts could have dangerous items, let alone ruins in Minka.


    Matt, as the enchanter, started to inspect it for any binding runes or dangerous effects, but found nothing on his first inspection. Not willing to risk it, he pulled out his enchanting set and started to do a more thorough check of the cloth.


    In the end, he only found a few runes he believed increased perception, but as they weren''t the Empire standard runes, he wasnt able to be entirely sure.


    I think it''s an item that boosts perception, but I can''t be sure how exactly it does that. Still, it should be safe enough to wear.


    Aster sent a shrugging fox picture as she said, Well, that''s boring on a floor that we cant see on.


    Liz was following his own thought process and said, Perception, not sight, though. This might help us see better through our spiritual perception.


    That caused them all to consider it, but just as Matt was thinking to offer to test it, Susanne reached down and picked it up.


    When nothing bad happened to her, she asked, Anyone mind if I try it on?


    None of them minded, and she tied the ribbon around her ring finger on her off-hand.


    Oh, yeah. My spiritual perception is a bit clearer after putting this on.


    She untied it, which Matt was grateful was possible. Items that bound to you and refused to let go werent unheard of, even if they were rare even in Minka.


    Susanne offered the ribbon up, and they each tried it on, and as she said, there was a small but noticeable increase in their spiritual perception.


    In the end, Liz kept the item as it also boosted her sensitivity with her blood, and her Talent seemed to get around a little of the restriction Minka imposed on all of them.


    With their new item wrapped around Lizs bicep, they started their climb down the shaft of the tunnel.


    They had climbed down the tunnel another few hundred feet when the bat monster once again attacked them, but this time, they were ready. Liz had aerosolized a bit of her blood and spread it out around them as a countermeasure to the monsters sneak attacks.


    It was an incredibly taxing method on both her mana and mental strain, but while it slowed them, it made sure that they were safe, and was the only reason they knew the bat-wyvern wasing back at them.


    Matt had a barrage of [Fireball]s ready to intercept it while he cast [Jolt] on cooldown.


    He now had three different versions of [Fireball] in his spirit. The first was his oldest, and was made to be as cheap as possible, but it was one he never used anymore. The second one, and the one he most often cast, was a version of the skill that he had increased the mana cost for in exchange for a lower cooldown. His third was a version of the spell meant to be as destructive as possible, and had quite arge cost in exchange.


    All versions of a skill that hadn''t been radically changed generally shared the same cooldown, which meant he could only use one at a time instead of just casting [Fireball] A then [Fireball] B to bypass the cooldown. Most of his spells were different enough that they didnt share much of a cooldown, but at times like these, he fell back on his [Fireball] that had been modified to have a cooldown of less than a second for double the original 10 mana cost.


    For anyone else, it would be a dumb move, but Matt didnt mind. His mana pool nearly never dipped below 25.6 mana unless he had his generation all sent into channeled spells.


    If he didnt, he could cast that 20 MPS [Fireball] forever.


    And he did.


    Over and over, he sent mana into the skill as he tracked its location through the information Lizs AI picked up from her connection with her blood and sent to them.


    Even a Tier 14 monster couldn''t easily take the rapid and urate barrage of [Fireball]s that Matt sent at it, and the bat-wyvern twisted and rolled in the air, trying to dodge the onught. But fast as it was, the four of them were used to fighting Tier 15 monsters that were faster, stronger, and more durable than this beast, so Matt had no trouble anticipating its flight path andnding most of his shots.


    Still, he was unable to actually kill it, and ended up just scaring it away, but that was fine for the time being.


    They climbed for another two hours in the seemingly endless pit, fending off attacks by both therge and small bat monsters that kept trying to kill them.


    When they sensed the bottom of the pit, Matt whistled even though it made no sound.


    The pit was carpeted with Void Obsidian stgmites.


    They were incredibly rare and expensive in the outside world, and at Tier 14, Void Obsidian would have sold for its weight in Tier 16 or 17 mana stones.


    It wasnt great for melee attacking, as any shearing pressure would shatter the Void Obsidian, but it was fantastic to make arrowheads out of. Its void properties meant that it would punch through magical and physical armor as if they weren''t there, and would be more than effective for a few Tiers up, even without enchantments.


    With enchantments Matt wanted to find out.


    He wondered what would happen if he made Liz a spearhead out of the stuff. It could make for some incredibly potent attacks.


    But first, they needed a way to get past the razor-sharp Void Obsidian and reach the exit in the middle of the hole.


    Just as they were discussing how to do it, the bat creature came back at them with a flock of the smaller bats.


    Matt cast [methrower] and then [Fire Maniption], taking his stream of fire and sending it out in arger wave to kill as many of the little monsters as he could before therge one reached them.


    It helped, but the monsters seemed unaware or unbothered by their brethren dying in droves and kept flying forward.


    With Liz, Aster, and Susanne taking therge bat''s attention, Matt focused on keeping the smaller ones off of them as they unleashed some of their strongest spells to kill therge bat without pushing into their actual trump cards.


    Susanne jumped to the side and shed out with her Concept de as she was mid-air, slicing off the monster''s wing before shended a few feet lower.


    Liz and Aster didnt let her attack go unanswered, and Liz sent a tendril of blood at the monster''s leg, trying to pull it down to the Void Obsidian below. The monster responded by gripping the wall with its talons, physically resisting long enough to use its spell breaking technique.


    It lunged at Liz, but Aster was ready and cast one of her new spells, [Snowbank]. It was the ice equivalent of [methrower], and sent out a slurry of snow at a rapid rate. Aster used her [Ice Maniption] topact and harden the ice until it was a pir traveling at incredible speeds.


    The pir of snow and ice hit the bat in the face hard enough to send it tumbling into the Void Obsidian, impaling it.


    Even that didn''t kill it, and it opened its mouth in a silent scream of agony, but Susanne''s [Mana sh] silenced the beast after just a moment.


    The rush of Genesis Energy was like a flowing river as it split four ways and rushed into them.


    It was more than ten times the amount they had earned so far in the entire delve.


    Liz was the first to ask, Sub-boss?


    Matt would have agreed if this was a normal rift or ruin, but this was Minka, so it was only a guess at best, albeit an educated one.


    Still, it was the only answer they had, so they worked under that assumption.


    It took another few minutes of Matt frying the small bats before the stream stopped, and they were able to proceed.


    Matt had Liz hold him with a tendril of blood, and he very carefully cut the Void Obsidian near them off at the bottom, handing the stgmites to Susanne, who put them in his spatial backpack.


    That backpack was thergest one they could buy that was made only of Tier 14 materials, and was especially created to store valuables they found in Minka.


    It was massive enough to easily hold a five-story building. If they wanted it bigger, they could have done so, but they reduced the size a bit to add on enchantments for preserving materials they gathered.


    Everything they gathered would go in there, or one of the five exact replicas sitting in their house where they were stored away.


    Liz had a special orb for storing alchemy ingredients that they had made for the same purpose, but so far, they hadnt found anything fitting the description.


    After cutting away several of the Void Obsidians, they had a ce to stand, but no path to the hole, as the monster''s impaled corpse was in their way. They paused when they noticed that the bat wyvern was starting to rapidly dissolve, and just watched as Minka reimed its monster.


    That made it easier on them, as they no longer had to cut a way through its hide, but before itpletely vanished, Liz managed to grab a tooth and a p of its skin, which they quickly put away. Curiously, looting the corpse halted the dissolution of the monster until they were done. Sadly they only earned a Tier 8 skill from the dissipated corpse.


    With their path clear, they neared the hole in the center of the pit and inspected it.


    Through their spiritual perception, they could feel something moving underneath them rapidly, and one testter with [Water Maniption], confirmed that there was moving water beneath them that was flowing rapidly.


    All of them had underwater breathing amulets crafted by Matt in thest few weeks, so they had no issue with throwing themselves into the raging waters after tying together their armor with Tier 14 spider silk.


    The water was unsurprisingly neither warm nor cold, which could be a problem. It was Tier 14 water, and if it was cold and they couldnt feel it, hypothermia could creep up on them quickly.


    Thankfully, Matts enchanted amulets worked as intended, and created a little bubble of air around their mouths and noses, feeding them fresh air while rejecting carbon dioxide in its sphere of influence.


    Ironically, Matt had the hardest time making the amulet work with [Cracked Phantom Armor], which kept trying to treat it as a foreign enchantment, and forced him to iterate the design a dozen times before he got one that worked. Eventually, he was able to find a configuration that worked with his spell.


    Thankfully, nothing attacked them as they were carried along in the watery tunnel, and with a little [Water Maniption] from Matt, they stopped themselves from bouncing around against the rock walls.


    Less than ten minutester, they found their exit in the form of a whirlpool that swirled them around a drain.


    Matt and Susanne pulled everyone together, and they huddled together as they were sucked out of the hole.


    When they exited the hole, their spiritual perceptions were able to see that they were in the middle of the air, falling rapidly from the faux-waterfall-drain-thing.


    This time, they were able to fly, and they caught themselves in the air before spreading their perception out getting a low detail scan of the area within a few miles of them.


    Above them, they found an un-maniptable ceiling of stone, but below them spread a jungle of towering trees that had massive foliage draped across their limbs with equallyrge vines climbing and linking them.


    The four of them were settling down into the forest when an ant the size of a horse climbed out of a hole in the ground and lumbered around before clicking its pincers together.


    As if it wasn''t affected by the floor theme, it headed right in their direction.


    All of them took to the air and watched the ant walk along an unseen path in the forest.


    They followed it to find that a beast corpse the size of arge hill was getting picked apart by a swarm of ants.


    Susanne turned slightly and asked Liz, Do we attack? That could be a lot of Genesis Energy.


    Matt interjected before Liz could speak. The real question is why the monster hasn''t dissolved yet. The bat thing dissolved in only a few minutes. I don''t expect that Minka will even allow monsters to harvest other monsters. This feels off.


    That caused all of them to look at the monster again, and they found that it was a monkey of some variety, judging by its tail and what was left of its flesh.


    They spent another five minutes watching the ants devour the monkey and bring its meat away, before deciding that they should try to pick off a straggler ant and see how much Genesis Energy came from killing it.


    If they got a lot, and decided that it might be worth fighting their way through to the nest.


    When a lone ant trundled its way under them, Matt and Susanne both struck out with [Mana sh]s, cutting the ant into three at the thorax.


    The rush of Genesis Energy wasrger than the small bats, but not asrge as the ones from the monsters they had fought in the tunnels.


    It was, after all, a single ant out of what had to be hundreds, if not thousands of ants.


    Returning to the corpse, they started ughtering all the ants which seemed scattered and tried to flee.


    Even with their senses restricted, they were able to finish off all the ants in short order, but they weren''t able to stop the ants from calling out for reinforcements, and what they dubbed soldier ants arrived.


    This ant type had thick armor ting as their chitin, and seemed more built for defense. Their exoskeletons resisted their initial attacks without effort.


    They were all surprised when, as if given a signal, the ants raised their heads and spat out a stream of liquid at them.


    Matt cast [Bulwark] to block the spray, but he could feel that something was wrong.


    Before he could identify what was off Liz said, The liquid is trying to eat away at his spell. Assume their spit is corrosive. Dont let itnd on you.


    After that, they stayed behind Matt, who focused on defense, while the other three peppered the soldier ants with attack after attack.


    It took them a few minutes, but they eventually managed to kill the ants without getting hit.


    The Genesis Energy they received was more than enough to put any question of avoiding the hive to rest. Each soldier gave nearly a quarter the Genesis Energy that therge bat had.


    Seeing that, they were forced to reconsider the designation of sub-boss that they had given it earlier.


    Genesis Energy was a new energy type, and they didnt know what was considered normal for a monster to give, but these ants gave enough that they didnt even consider leaving.


    Finding one of the tunnel''s entrances, Matt cast [methrower] into it and kept the spell going until the ground shifted and the mes started to wash back on them.


    Liz tisked over their AI. So they arent stupid. They closed the tunnel when we tried to burn them out.


    Matt shrugged, Well, worth a shot to try and drown them.


    That also didnt work, and after a minute of Matt using [Create Water], the ground shifted, and the water started to back up.


    The four of them were forced to scout around looking for a third entrance, but this time, they went inside instead of trying to flush the ants out.


    Sadly, the ground around them was like most of Minka, and only an inch or two of the surfaceyer earth was usable by [Earth Maniption], which meant that they couldn''t dig their own way through the ground.


    They encountered their first soldier ant in therge tunnel and it rushed them, taking their attacks on its armored head without flinching. It tried to chomp on Matt, who used his Concept''s repulsion effect as it tried to bite down, keeping the jaws at bay.


    It felt like he was trying to force back the pincers by hand, and after only a heartbeat, he knew it was a losing battle. But Matt still did his job long enough for Liz, Aster, and Susanne to attack the more vulnerable mouth of the monster.


    Susanne''s attack arrived first and cracked the chitin of the ant, which tried to reel back, but Matt flexed his Concept further, forcing the pincers open and past their normal breaking point.


    It was then that it tried to spit at him, but he had [Bulwark] ready, and it caught the corrosive liquid before it could touch him. Lizs and Asters attacksnded immediately afterwards, hitting the monster in its eyes. Aster''s icicle prated to its brain and ended the monsters struggle right then and there.


    Matt stepped back as Liz went to collect the monster''s spit in a special vial that was nonreactive to most corrosive liquids. After taking a sample, they proceeded down the tunnel, fighting when they had to, but thankfully, the tunnels were small enough that they didnt have to fight more than one of the ants at a time. As long as they took their time, they were easily able to kill them.


    There was only one mistake when an ant came out of a tunnel that was hidden from their spiritual perception.


    Seeing that, they inspected the wall around it and found another hidden tunnel. With their spiritual senses so restricted, and without any other senses to rely on, they missed what would have normally been blindingly obvious.


    Inside, a massive crystal jutted out of the ground and pulsed with Genesis Energy. As they approached, information flooded their minds.


    The idea of a fight was like a sirens call and warning mixed.


    A challenge room.

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175


    With the crystal sparkling ahead of them to their spiritual senses, they turned to inspect the rest of the room, but didnt find anything unusual. Matt approached the crystal and held his hand a couple inches from where he sensed it, probing the challenge with his spiritual sense and getting feedback about the contents within. It felt likefighting overwhelming odds, a single massive obstacle, cooperation and assistance from others, and a sense of proving you could do it on your own. The reward, in turn, carried the sensation of teamwork, even when alone.


    I think its Ants vs. Elephant, Matt decided. Its either that, Army vs. Dragon, Over the Mountain, or Abomination Civil War. Given the location, and the exact sense Im getting from the crystal, Im willing to bet its Ants vs Elephant.


    Ants vs. Elephant was definitely on the better end of challenge rooms they could face. Ostensibly, the goal was to take down a massive elephant, around peak Tier 15 in strength and Tier 16 in defense, with the aid of a massive carpet of giant ants. Doing so wouldplete the challenge and reward them a hefty amount of Genesis Energy, no matter the time ofpletion. And if they were fast enough, they would earn themselves a trinket or two as well.


    The normal strategy for Tier 11s, and even Tier 14s who couldn''t punch through Tier 16 defenses, was to help out the ants however possible. They wouldrgely wait for them to, through teamwork, whittle down the elephants defenses over the course of a few hours before delivering the final blow. Left entirely on their own, the ants would kill the elephant after about 12 hours, and taking that long was considered a failure by Minka. If the battle took six hours, it refunded the Genesis Energy bet on the challenge, but nothing else. Killing the elephant in ten minutes was considered a full win.


    For them, their goal would be to kill all the ants <em>and</em> the elephant, as doing so would give them an extra reward of some kind; the more ants killed the better. Except it wasnt that easy, killing the elephant would immediately end the challenge, so you needed to kill the elephant as fast as possible, not only without aid from the ants, but also while killing all of your supposed allies.


    The other challenges were simr. Soldiers vs. Dragon was as the name implied, and the main variation was that the reward was scaled based on how many soldiers <em>survived</em> the battle. Over the Mountain was about getting arge group of people across a huge natural hazard, be it a mountain, raging ravine, or perilous desert. Abomination Civil War involved fighting an enormous monster with a group of people, and after each monster was killed, half of the surviving allies, and <em>all of the dead ones</em>, would fuse together into a giant abomination that acted as the next monster to fight.


    In every case, there was a single big monster to take down, and likely a huge army of weaker monsters. In other words, it was just a normal rift delve for them, with the bonus of there potentially being a huge pool of blood for Liz to steal andmand.


    Liz asked, So were definitely doing it, right?


    Matt and Aster immediately answered yes, but were still slower than Susanne, who simply nodded.


    If we all agree, let''s try it. We have enough Genesis Energy to start the challenge, if just barely.


    Race to the kill? Liz winked at him. Their original strategy for the challenge had involved Matt upying the elephant and weakening it while Liz and Aster swept the army of ants, then Liz used the enormous ocean of blood umted from the ants extermination to [Blood Tidal Wave] the elephant and drown it. But the [AI] simtions theyd run once getting used to working with Queen had revealed another potential route to victory.


    Why exactly [AI]s were so restricted within Minka was a matter of debate, with some saying that it was to force people to rely on their own abilities. Others said that it was restricted in the same that way <em>all</em> Tier 26 and above skills were, with the unusual nature of the artificial pseudo-skill the only reason it worked at all. Regardless of the true reason, Matt <em>could</em> brute-force a simtion with enough mana, even inside the Forge, but he didnt need to here with their pre-entry prep.


    With Queen acting as support for him, as well as providing the first crack into the elephants armor, he projected that he could take down the elephant with about a minute straight of [Cracked Mana Spear] at full bore. But hed need someone to help keep the elephant upied while he attempted to drill through its skull. At full charge, his skill was a massive strain on his spirit, and hed need to cast it six times in a row to bnce the timers of the skill destabilizing and the spiritual strain from overwhelming him while casting at max channel. His best guess was six casts of ten seconds would be his sweet spot. Susanne could keep him safe during that process though, and if this all went well, they could clear the challenge in record time.


    Only if it actually <em>is</em> Ants vs. Elephants, he rified. Or Abomination Civil War. But it <em>is</em> likely to be AvE.


    Oh of course.


    Good. In that case, I wish you good luck stamping out a few bugs.


    With that settled, they gathered and put their hands and paw on the pir of crystal. When they did so it sucked most of the Genesis Energy out of their bodies and into itself, brightly illuminating the crystal for all that they couldnt see it themselves.


    As the Genesis Energy stopped flowing out of them, a feeling of vertigo hit Matt and he almost cked out, but he was able to resist the feeling.


    The first thing that Matt noticed when the world stopped spinning was the fact he could <em>see</em>.


    The floors restriction on their senses had been lifted, which after hours of sensory deprivation was a reprieve unlike any other, and Matt took a second or two to enjoy being able to see and feel. Not all challenge rooms abided by the floor''s rules, but whether they did or not was more random chance than any set pattern. It <em>did</em> mean that he was able to enjoy the smile stretching across Lizs mask, but he couldnt linger on any of the thoughts that came to mind, as they quickly sprang into action. Spiritual perception was good and all, but it wasn''t the same.


    Before them was an elephant the size of a warship, the tip of its head tall enough to scrape the nonexistent clouds, and a writhing ck carpet of human-sized ants that coated the forests floor.


    Exactly as they hoped.


    ***


    Liz leapt into the air, overseeing tens of thousands of ants as they charged at the massive elephant that Matt flew towards. In his wake, he left an enormous trail of blood and ice, spawned from his endless mana pushed through [Create Blood] and [Hail], filling the pocket space they found themselves in.


    Time was ticking, and they didnt want to waste any of it. After all, the faster they were, the better their rewards.


    From Matts right hand, a three hundred foot wide [Hail] rushed forward, guided by Aster into a massive wave of ice that slowed and froze the ants en masse, cracking their exoskeletons and leaving a slight trail of blood from each insect. From his left hand, hundreds of gallons of sanguine liquid from [Create Blood] flooded the battlefield for her to use.


    At the peak of her jump, Liz reached into her glove and withdrew just a bit of blood, with the growth item ensuring it was already perfectly primed to ept her skill. A quick flex of mana and willter, she sent off her first [Blood Sprite]. The red sparrow immediately dove into the river of blood that already upied the battlefield and started multiplying, <em>fast.</em> Within a second there were dozens. After a few seconds more, there were hundreds, and that was when Liz unleashed the bloody birds on the frozen ants.


    Asters prep work meant that the ants, with Tier 14 exoskeletons normally tough enough to block her skill, were brittle and lined with cracks and frost. They were oh so very vulnerable to their bodies being fully exsanguinated. Soon their internal fluids, close enough to blood for her Talent and skills to work on them, were hijacked by thousands, then <em>tens of thousands</em> of ferocious little sparrows who only desired to create more of their kind.


    By the time shended, her birds were already tearing through the ranks of frozen ants like a veritable swarm of locusts, and her spear mercilessly crushed the unfortunate ant that shended on, with [Bloody Cleave] activating and empowering her follow-up strikes with every drop spilled. The onught allowed her to cut through a good dozen of the Tier 14 monsters as if they were Tier 8. On top of the focus that maintaining her [Blood Sprite] took, Liz still kept herself busy as they rushed towards the elephant, looking for any stragglers which the rtively mindless sprites had missed. She handled any stragglers by breaking their exoskeletons with [Blood Bullet] and leaving them bleeding <em>just</em> enough for the next stage.


    [Hungering Darkness] had been one of the rewards shed gotten from the tournament, and when her Talent passed through it, it did not disappoint. The normal skill drained life-force directly, leaving its victims as dry, withered corpses while healing the caster. It was just very slow, and was limited by the requirement of the skills targets to not be in direct sunlight, in addition to not having that great of a healing conversion rate.


    [Hungering Blood] had none of those weaknesses, particrly when paired with [Blood Wind]. So long as her targets were already bleeding, it served as a massive AoE blood drain, siphoning off inordinate amounts of blood and delivering it straight to her, for use in her other skills. In that way, it worked simrly to [Blood Sprites], but was <em>far</em> less difficult to control, and started off at full speed. It may have been technically less powerful than [Cracked Blood Drain], but was definitely better against an army. The yellow-greenish ant blood cast everything in a very different hue than her normal red, but it responded just as well to hermands.


    Like a rising tide, Lizmanded the blood to rise, and so it did.


    The [Blood Sprites] had reached the end of Asters frozen ants, and were fruitlessly pecking at their still-healthy brethren in a vain attempt to break through the tough chitin. With them not really aplishing anything beyond scratching the chitin, she let the skillpse, and the birds copsed into a fresh river of blood that surrounded the ants. Aster dashed off to deal with her half of the surviving ants, while Liz concentrated on the other half, using the mana stored in her teleportation ring and throwing herself forward with [Blood Dash] to help her close the distance in the blink of an eye.


    With her connection to the flowing blood, she mentally closed the grip it had on the ants into a tight fist. The ants were too tough to be immediately crushed, but by concentrating, she was able to crack their exoskeletons well enough for [Hungering Blood] to do the rest of the job.


    A few ants managed to wriggle their way out of her grip before she could crack them, but a [Blood Chakram] took care of those. The deadly conversion of [Floating Disc] decapitated them with rtive ease. At the same time, Aster collected and brought down her mountain of ice, sending it mming into the ground and creating an avnche that ran right up to the edge of the pocket space.


    The ants didnt take their assault passively, of course, and those ants still in a state to actually attack raised their pincers and charged. Globs of acidic spit arced through the air, but Liz raised screens of blood to intercept each projectile in turn. Aster, by contrast, blew the projectiles aimed at her out of the way with [Air Maniption]. Since her bloodline change, she got about as much aid to air mana as she did ice mana, though admittedly without the benefit of her Talents.


    Liz eliminated each ant that got too uppity, whipping her blood across their backs and cracking them open like so many nuts. Above them, the elephant trumpeted angrily, the distant roar echoing throughout the pocket space as it kept trying and failing to squish the annoying insects that were Susanne and Matt as he started his own attack.


    Well then, she couldnt let them <em>win</em> their little race.


    Liz stretched out her spiritual control, letting the ocean of blood around her settle into her direct grasp. It was a bit less than she usually preferred, but she could make do.


    [Blood Tidal Wave] swept up all the blood around the elephants feet, pulling from the line of destruction that she and Aster had paved from where they entered. The wave surged forward, building momentum and crushing the ants in its wake like they were well, ants. Chitin was crushed, legs were shattered, and most of those strong enough to stay in one piece and survive the initial pass were simply swept up in the blood cataclysm, serving as little more than massive bludgeons to crush their fellow insects.


    Any ants which somehow made it past the [Blood Tidal Wave] had to deal with Liz herself. The Tier 20 skill strained her spirit and Concept alike to control, but it was manageable, and she was able to pick off any stragglers with empowered blows from her spear or her lesser skills.


    Those few ants didntst too long after bing victims to Lizs personal attention. The blood-soaked ground served as the perfect medium for [Bloodthorn Vine]. Formerly [Thorny Grasp], a nt-based skill that caused thorn-covered vines to spring up from the ground to grapple andcerate enemies, [Bloodthorn Vine] required a not insignificant amount of blood to form. But once it pierced the defenses of an enemy, it grew <em>into</em> their bloodstream, tearing at their internals. She typically used it on heavily armored foes, but with the amount of material she had to work with, the spell coated the ground with glistening, liquid vines that were veritably dripping with death. They turned any ants she missed into porcupines, with their own blood piercing the insects chitin from the inside and swiftly ending their lives.


    Behind her, Aster took care of her portion of the area by spreading andpacting her ice. She crushed anything in her path, including a few of the smaller trees, like they were little more than toothpicks.


    The ice moved like a facsimile of her [Blood Tidal Wave] which, while slower, had much more weight behind its movement.


    Still, Aster was only responsible for taking out a third of the area while Liz did the rest. Ice was harder to move than blood and Aster preferred more of a support role.


    [Blood Tidal Wave] was nearing the end of its strength, and to push it all the way to the finish line, she used [Blood Sacrifice] on her thorn field to refill her mana and dove the given power at the wave. It only took a thought to merge with the tidal wave and directed it to demolish the still surviving ants within its depths.


    Far overhead, Matt released [Cracked Mana Spear] and started another as Liz and Aster directed their respective waves together, creating an enormous crash that sent both elements flying into the sky.


    From there, the primary difficulty was simply <em>getting to</em> thest few ants in less time than it took for Matt to finish off the elephant.


    ***


    Susanne cursed as she pulled Matt along behind her while she cut and dodged the elephant''s swatting trunk and swaying tusks.


    Their rtive size was working to their advantage, as the monster was sorge, each of its attacks were generating enough wind pressure for her to be able to anticipate the attacks and avoid them.


    It was only a viable strategy because the elephant was designed to be a punching bag, and didnt have any spells to attack them with. But one mistake would mean being hit by its trunk, which must have weighed a few thousand tons and traveled at medium Tier 14 speeds.


    Matt was being carried in her left hand as she used her sword manifestation to unleash [Wind Cutter]es and [Mana sh]es one after the other, as fast as she could.


    They did little damage to the elephant, but it must have at least stung, as the beast always veered slightly when shended a good hit.


    Or, it could be because of the beam of death that Matt was firing.


    She preferred to take the credit.


    Mana normally didnt have heat unless it was used for a fire spell, but the unaspected beam of mana that Matt was casting was screaming through the air as if it had a personal grudge against the world itself. Part of the energy came off as waste heat as it tore through the air, and she could feel it through her armor, even as they were flying and dodging the swaying nose of the monster.


    Susanne was more than impressed by both Matt and [Cracked Mana Spear] after seeing him unleash it in their training, but that paled inparison to what he was doing now.


    What was usually a beam two fingers wide was now thicker than her wrist, and pulsed with overwhelming energy as he kept it aimed at the elephant''s eye.


    It had only taken seconds to ruin the eye and bore a hole through the soft flesh, but the skull behind it was far more reinforced, and took much longer to burn through. Matts first attack ended while barely leaving a mark, even after she had thrown her best armor-piercing skills his way to speed things along. His subsequent attacks had each ckened and fractured the skull a little more, bit by bit. Every so often, the beam would swiftly grow more frazzled, leaking more and more power into the surroundings, and warbling in its flight path until Matt cut it off, with the energyncing through the air and vanishing for an instant, until he started it up again. Hed gone through the cycle five times so far, and he was currently on his sixth iteration, with the beam growing ever more wild.


    At this point, Matt was forced into holding his right hand with his left, pushing his own Concept into stabilizing the attack and keeping it on-target. She joined with him, pushing her own Concept to add her willpower to his own as best she could, but her Domain was only tangentially rted <em>at best</em>. The fact that the base skill had been [Mana Spear] was the only reason she could do anything to help him at all and the different weapon time made it incredibly ineffective.


    Even with her aid, the beam wavered, growing less and less stable with every passing moment, even as the trunk of the elephant approached them at near-supersonic speeds.


    Seeing the approaching attack, she could tell that thetest blow would be incredibly close. Either Matt was going to kill the elephant in time, or they were going to have to take the hit.


    With most of her remaining mana, Susanne prepared two [Hypersonic Edge]s and [Wind Cutter]s to try and cut through the trunk that was over thirty feet in diameter. She wasnt entirely sure it would work, but Matt said to hold her ground, so she would do exactly that.


    Just as she was about to unleash her attack, the world went ck.


    ***


    Matt felt like vomiting as they were ejected from the challenge room, theplete sensory deprivation doing nothing to give him reprieve from the <em>spiritual</em> nausea he was dealing with.


    Using [Cracked Mana Spear] that many times in a row was <em>exhausting</em>, and the spiritual p it gave him grew from an annoying p to a fully debilitating blow in time. He could use it a maximum of ten times in a row at full mana before he straight-up <em>passed out</em>, and even six times in a row required him to use his Concept to stabilize not only his own spirit, but the beam itself.


    Otherwise, it tended to go wild once he couldnt keep directing it naturally. Normally, he could manage just fine- his mana maniption skills had been deemed adequate by Luna, which tranted to insanely good by anyone else- but as his spirit got more and more frazzled


    Hed practiced a <em>lot</em>, but it drained his willpower enough that essentially continuous use of the spear at full power was only practical as a finishing move, on what was <em>already</em> a skill predominantly used in that role. The result was that Matt felt like his spirit had been hit by a wyvern, and his body wasnt faring much better. At least Queen had been able to lend a bit of strength to the attack, which helped but it was far, far from enough.


    Channeling [Endurance] and [Lesser Regeneration], he stood and tried to readjust to the suppression of his senses. It felt even more oppressive now that he had just gotten his sight back, but the pir in front of him took most of his attention. Neither of the skills did anything for his spiritual strain, but they helped mute the physical side effects, which was all he could do until he had time to rest.


    He just wished that Eternal Darkness worked on spiritual strain.


    Liz asked him something, and he stared at the AI message for a good second before he properly was able to parse it.


    Think we got it?


    Ah, of course. She was asking whether or not theyd managed to kill all the ants before he finished off the elephant.


    I dont know, he responded. You tell me. I killed the big guy in time, so its whether you managed to clean up the ants in time.


    I <em>think</em> we did, but I dont know if we missed one or two there at the end. I was definitely squishing them all the way up to thest second.


    Would we even know if we missed any? Queen added.


    I have no clue, but we probably did well enough for something good. We killed it in way less than five minutes when the generally epted max time is ten. Matt shook his head, and added [Sharp Mind] to his roster of active recovery skills. He really should be running his buff spells more, and circting his Genesis Energy to try and get his armor bonded to him. That was a worry for another time though, as the challenge room finally seemed to settle on a reward.


    The Genesis Energy they had put into the crystal started to bubble and churn before it turned into a roiling mass, and then seemed to overflow the crystal and rush into them. More than double the Genesis Energy he put into it crashed into Matt, and he rejoiced as the energy inside the crystal kept swirling around and started to form items.


    As they got their reward, Matt calcted that the Genesis Energy he got back was roughly 220% what they had put in. A nice return, if not as high as he had hoped forpleting the challenge so quickly, but the energy in the crystal hadnt stopped churning, which meant that they had more rewardsing their way.


    After a second or two, four rings materialized on the surface of the crystal, but the Genesis Energy kept churning, signifying it had more rewards to give.


    The rings, each sized for them, were simple brass with little mechanical pressure gauges that would show how much Genesis Energy they had stored. It was an incrediblymon reward from Minka, and was used to help people trade their Genesis Energy and hide just how much they had collected, making it harder to detect by enemies.


    Now that they had gotten the reward, they wouldn''t get another during their trip in Minka unless they lost theirs, which was just one of the many oddities of the that no one had figured out. It implied that there was a degree of consciousness with the, unlike in rifts, but just <em>how</em> aware of things the mass of ruins was remained a mystery.


    Matt slipped his ring on next to his mana aspecting ring and helped Aster snap herrger one on her forearm like a bracelet.


    Just as the Genesis Energy in the crystal reached a boil once again, a single,rger bracelet popped out of the crystal. Matt picked it up and carefully inspected it without physically touching it, just in case it was a cursed item.


    Unlikely, given it was a challenge room reward, but it was always a possibility.


    After a few minutes of trying to read the runes, Matt gave his report. I think it''s a summoning bracelet of some kind. I can''t tell you what it summons, but it reserves a portion of mana to create something. It might be armor, or it might be a monster. I can''t be sure, but I don''t think it''s a trap. I''d guess you need to reserve four to five hundred mana for its effect.


    He was slightly sad about the fact it was a reserved item, as it meant that he couldn''t use it at all. Reserve skill took from his max mana pool and lowered his regeneration. When he had millions of mana, losing a few thousand MPS to reserve a skill would mean nothing, but for now, losing even five hundred mana each second would cripple his current fighting style.


    Liz ended up taking it. As a warrior, Susanne didnt focus on her mana cultivation, and she didnt have enough mana to reserve arge portion of it either, even with Matt keeping them full with his Concept.


    Aster would have been the best choice, but unlike the brass ring meant for holding Genesis Energy, Minka didnt see fit to have the item built around a non-human form, so she couldn''t wear it.


    That left Liz, who slipped it on and channeled mana into the metal.


    A shoulder-high mana elephant appeared and silently trumped its creation as it formed.


    At least, that was what Matt interpreted it opening its mouth and extending its trunk to mean.


    It had the same armored hide as the elephant in the challenge room, but was made entirely out of mana. Its armor tes were thick and seemed strong enough to turn away a blow or two.


    Well, I didnt expect this. Liz shrugged and tapped her helmeted chin. We might as well test it.


    While Matt focused on recovering from his overstrained spirit and empty willpower, Liz and Susanne tested the new elephant summon.


    They found it was just about as strong as they suspected it would be.


    Like the elephant they had fought in the challenge room, it possessed no skills, but had an incredible defensive ability that was formidable even for peak Tier 14s.


    Sadly, that was all it had, but it was still useful as a front liner to take damage for them. With it, they could scout out any paths they traversed with just a five-minute cooldown to resummon the monster after it was destroyed. It also had no healing ability, but with its great defenses, it either was killed outright or ignored most attacks, so that was a minor problem at worst.


    After half an hour of resting, Matt felt good enough to cast a few spells again, and they resumed their trek deeper into the tunnel, but with the elephant summon leading the way. Not long after they left the hidden room that had concealed the challenge room, they started encountering more ants and resumed killing their way through the nest.


    It took them nearly six hours to make their way into the queen''s chamber, where they were faced with thirty bulkier soldier ants and half as many of the ranged spitting ants.


    Liz summoned out a wall of blood from her glove and blocked the initial barrage as Matt, while functional, didnt want to strain his already overstressed spirit by using the Tier 20 [Bulwark], as he would have usually done.


    What he did do was cast [methrower] and use [Fire Maniption] to spread the mes around the side of the room that he was guarding, using the mes to fry the ranged ants.


    Aster used ice spells to do the same on the other side of the room, while Susanne kept right behind the elephant, who took the initial charge of ants on its mana tusks and armored hide.


    Standing to the side of it and taking the other side of the tunnel, sheshed out with her manifestation de swinging as if the wall to her side wasn''t an impediment, as it would be to a physical de.


    By the time the summoned elephant was starting to go down, Matt had taken care of the ranged opponents on his side, and smoothly stepped forward to take its spot. He fought off two of the soldier ants that tried to press into them as he cast [Sword Twin].


    As they were fighting, Aster turned and started attacking behind them, but she said that she had it handled, as there were only two of the soldier ants there, and she could take them down without any issues.


    Matt used all his physical buffs and grabbed one of the ants as its pincers that glowed with mana that tried totch onto his leg, and instead of forcing them apart, he let them close in open air and then kept pushing until he felt the snap of chitin, as the ant retreated.


    The other ant he was fighting tried to bite down on him as well, but he let his magical [Sword Twin] that had been distracting the monster retreat, and he nted his foot on the ant''s head then drove his real de through it with a heavy downward thrust.


    The chitin exploded, and ant blood flew as he hacked down on the next one that took its ce.


    They defended their tunnel for another ten minutes until the colony seemed to run out of ants, and no more reinforcements came to defend the queen ant, who just sat there guarding a nest full of eggs.


    Matt didnt feel even a twinge of remorse as Liz drowned the helpless queen and finished off the threat. The rush of Genesis Energy was like a tidal wave whenpared to the standard amount they got from killing the soldier ants.


    As the queen''s massive body disappeared, a dagger materialized in its ce, and each of the now crushed eggs dropped an essence stone. Even as they watched, they sensed Minka begin to drain the new essence stone, so they quickly scooped them up and stashed them in their rings. While they didnt need or really have a use for the dozen Tier 14 essence stones currently, they would be useful outside Minka, when they could Tier up. Or at the very least, they could be sold off for a hefty profit. They would be useful in an emergency as well, in case they needed to hit Tier 12 in desperation.


    To their surprise, that wasnt the leader of the ruin, and no exit appeared to take them to the next sub-level. It was, at best, a sub-boss of the ruin.


    After Matt repeated his examination of the dagger, he believed that it had a simple but powerful armor prative passive effect. Interestingly enough, the dagger wasnt enchanted; its power was a side effect of the material it was made of, whatever that may be.


    He suspected that it was a chitin based alloy, but couldn''t be sure until they could see with more than their spiritual perception.


    If his conjecture was correct, once he figured out a n to enchant the item, they would have a powerful backup weapon for any of the humans. They all kept daggers as backup weapons for close-range fights, but none of them relied on it as a main weapon, so it was really just a matter of who wanted it.


    Stowing the dagger with the other items they had gotten from Minka so far, they exited the ant tunnels and started moving through the jungle.


    After the challenge room and the ruin both produced the areas oversized ants, Matt was getting tired of the motif, but they pushed on, thankfully not encountering any more ants until they were well away from the old nest.


    Fifteen miles away, they started to find more ants, but they only killed the ones that they encountered, and didnt go delving into the tunnels once again.


    They needed to move fast, and while clearing the ants gave them Genesis Energy; they couldnt afford to kill the ant colonies that took so long to kill once again.


    The initial run through Minka, while not a full speedrun, couldn''t be slow either, or they would fall behind and find it difficult to catch up to the front runners who would start monopolizing drops and monsters. So, they refused to be sidetracked and pushed forward. If they felt like they needed more Genesis Energy they would rather move vertically on the third subfloor of the firstyer, instead of the first subfloor.


    Liz even gave him a little surprise- a Tier 14 basil nt, growing next to the exotic Grasping Vines that shed been harvesting. Well technically, shed transnted them both into her greenhouse herb garden orb, but it was still nice of her to grab the mundane herb for him. Minka was <em>full</em> of opportunities, and that apparently extended into the mundane. He had <em>no</em> clue how the domesticated nt was growing wild inside a lightless, oversized jungle within the mostly mechanical world, but he wasnt going toin about fresh herbs.


    After a few more hours of trekking through the jungle in their spiritual perception, they all noticed the trees ahead of them shaking. Seeing that, they threw themselves into the oversized brush next to the tree they were moving around and waited.


    A massive monkey, like the one they had seen being eaten by the ants earlier, swung by their hiding spot.


    It seemed like it wouldn''t notice them as it swung on the branch that extended over them and continued on, but it circled around, still in their limited spiritual perception. It was clearly looking for them. As it moved in a searching pattern through the area they were in, the four of them knew they were as good as found, and would be forced to fight the oversized ape.


    Not ones to run away from a challenge, no matter howrge the opponent, they exited their camouge and immediately unleashed their best attacks.


    Or, most of their best attacks. Matt didnt use [Cracked Mana Spear], but he did set up a few [Cracked Mana Trap]s while [Sword Twin] empowered his own de and produced a second copy floating around them.


    Susanne unleashed a [Wind Cutter] that he could see was empowered with [Hypersonic Edge], and he activated his Concept on his friends to keep them full.


    Liz and Aster used more normal attacks and peppered the twenty-foot-tall monkey as itnded near them and silently roared.


    Except, it wasnt a roar, and all of them felt a ball of mana form then rapidly grow in its expanded mouth. As they scattered and the ball hit a critical mass, it formed a beam of energy not dissimr to Matts [Cracked Mana Spear], and cut a deep furrow in the forest floor.


    Thankfully, the attack seemed to take a lot out of the monkey, as it fell to its hands and knees for a few seconds to ostensibly recover.


    That didntst long though, and even as they werending another round of attacks, the monkey was getting back to its feet. Once standing, it jumped to get into the air, but Susanneshed out and bent space to send a [Mana sh] right into its path. The impact caused a spray of blood to explode from its face, and instead of falling as it normally should, the blood turned into a and started to grapple with the monkey as the monster dropped back to the ground.


    An aura Matt knew to be chilling cold washed out from Aster, and Matt felt himself grow slightly stronger and faster. [Winters Harvest] was a support type skill they had gotten for Aster after her upgrade to her bloodline. It empowered anyone she considered friendly while slowing and draining power from anyone she considered hostile.


    It was a strong skill, but the boost in power wasnt multiplicative with Matts physical boosting skills, as they tried to do the same thing and boost his already allocated faux essence. Lizs potions, on the other hand, worked by empowering the physical body and worked wonders with Aster''s buff.


    Even as the monkey reached up and pulled the blood off its face, Matt and Susanne had closed the distance and were on it.


    Matt funneled mana into a [Mana Charge] and unleashed the stored power on the beast''s fur-covered leg, while his [Sword Twin] rose up and started to attack the monkey''s face.


    As he was forced to roll from a giant leg stomping down, he felt Susannes manifestation de vibrating as she channeled [Hypersonic Edge] and focused her Concept down.


    Even only able to see with his spiritual perception, he knew that the world around them was growing sharper and more real as she tookmand of reality.


    Just as Liz pped a blood-encased shard of ice into the monkey''s open mouth, Susanne cut clean through the beast''s leg where he destroyed its protective fur, sending it stumbling.


    Matt was ready, and as he came out of his roll, he threw out a Tier 14 explosion talisman where the monster''s head was going tond.


    Just as it hit the ground, the talisman went off, and the monster''s head vaporized.


    The rush of Genesis Energy they got from the kill was nearly as much as they had put into the challenge room pir, and told them that the monkey was dead and gone.


    As the monster vanished, a skill shard appeared in its ce, and they grabbed it before they left the area. While the floor theme Eternal Darkness was in ce, they couldn''t be sure and were unwilling to risk the monkeys having a way ofmunicating.


    After all, it <em>had</em> known their general location.


    When they were a good mile away, they stopped to scout their surroundings, finding a deep pit that sunk into the ground well past the distance their spiritual perception could reach under Minkas restrictions.


    Seeing it, Liz asked, Explore that once we have a break?


    At the unanimous agreement, they turned and started looking for a good ce to set up their portable house.


    Eventually, they settled on a dead toppled tree, and Matt hollowed out a hole in the root structure of a fallen tree to hide in. Deploying or recalling the house felt like a kick to the gut at the best of times, and Matts spirit, not recovered quite as well as he had thought, protested <em>mightily</em> at the treatment. It got to the point where Liz took pity on him, scooping him up and setting him in his favorite chair by the window.


    Matt kicked off his shoes, pressing a toe to one of the embedded mana-charging ports in the floor and sending even more mana to the houses reserves, giving them a chance to properly rx as some of thefort enchantments activated. Cool air washed over them even though they couldn''t feel it, and a very light healing field based off of Matts study of [Ranged Heal] helped ease their stressed bodies. He hadnt gotten the spirit-soothing enchantments working yet- those were Tier 16 for even the simplest versions- but a rxed body meant a rxed mind, and a rxed mind led to a rxed spirit.


    They didnt rx <empletely</em>, of course, but the house had barriers stronger than even Matts [Bulwark], and a few million mana to power it held in reserve. Even the beam attack from the monkey wouldnt make a noticeable dent in the reserves, if it even overcame Matts charging of the enchantment.


    Still, they weren''t crazy, and they kept up a watch even as they took turns showering and then napping. A part of Matt itched to start sketching out an integration for a cloaking enchantment into the houses defenses, but he put that off to the side, contenting himself with whipping up a small meal for the four of them during his watch instead.


    Working in and caring for the house just felt so <em>satisfying</em> to Matt. It was the first ce that hed really had that was properly <em>his</em>, and he relished being able to just work on things, and slowly make the house feel better to the three of them. Finding a problem and solving it, like he had with the kitchen, and getting it set up in just the right way just felt <em>right.</em> Tweaking the lighting enchantments to let them emit any color of light, helping Liz get her alchemy room adjusted for her blood alchemy extraction apparatus, and helping Aster get a cold water jacuzzi set up that empowered her winter abilities were all interesting problem solving activities he enjoyed the challenge of.


    It was just <em>fun</em> to work on their house.


    From the cleaning enchantments hed engraved into the knife-block, to the exact order of oil and vinegar bottles by the stove, it was all just the way <em>he</em> wanted it. His room at the orphanage hadnt been bad, but it also wasnt his. Same with his lodging at Bennys, or the yPen. Whenever they were delving, they either ended up camping or staying in someone elses ce. But their house, for all that it usually ended up being set up on Lunas frontwn, <em>was</em> his, and he loved it.


    The food turned out nd, even only able to cook with his spiritual perception Matt was an excellent cook who wouldnt let something as simple as apleteck of normal telltale signs ruin his food. Once the others woke up, they all sat around and enjoyed some nice, hot tomato-basil soup and fresh bread, perfect for soothing the soul- literally, in Matts case. If they could have tasted the meal it would have been better but it was nice to go through the motions nheless.


    With a full three hours of sleep and a small meal out of the way, they packed up, the houses recall only <em>slightly</em> more painful than normal, and set their sights on the hole in the ground.


    In Minka, deeper was always better.

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176


    Minka didnt try to restrict their flight as they descended into the hole, and Matt was grateful for it. Thest hole they found had a no flying restriction and spikes at the bottom, after all. Still as they descended they stayed near the wall just in case they needed to grab on in a hurry.


    The hole did send a mass of nearly invisible bats at them like a swarm of locusts, but Matt easily took care of them with [methrower] and [Fire Maniption]. The Genesis Energy he got was a pittance, but it seemed to be more of a check of their ability to sense the monsters rather than a concentrated attack from the hostile.


    When they reached the bottom of the hole, they found a pair of pyramids on the ceiling and floor, like a pair of stctites and stgmites. The tips of the pyramids seemed connected by two hands of Genesis Energy that gripped each other as if one of them was preventing the other from falling. The reason why became apparent as the top pyramid started to draw them in, with gravity warping and inverting before cing them at the foot of the pyramid.


    As they came to a halt, Matt found that his flight ability waspletely locked down once again.


    Liz sighed over their AIms. Well, we arent flying out of this ce. Let''s see what this cavern looks like. Aster, youre with Matt let''s circle the pyramid and see what we can find. Hopefully, some other way out.


    Aster scampered into Matts shoulder andid herself down, facing away from the pyramid and the empty space to their left. Without their eyes working because of the floor restriction, it didnt matter how she situated herself, but they had trained with her keeping her attention on their perimeter, and that was an easy habit to fall into.


    The trip around the pyramid told them exactly nothing. There were no entrances, and nothing that seemed to be interactable along its edge. All they could sense in the surroundings were the t rocks that made up the cavern''s ceiling, so they just moved along without stopping.


    Once theypleted their half of the trip, they waited about two minutes for Liz and Susanne to make their way around the corner.


    When they did, the four of them reconnected with their AI, and Aster was able to ask, What did you guys find?


    Liz, who just stepped into range of his spiritual perception, stopped at the corner and said, The entrance. Or what we believe is the entrance.


    Matt jogged over and followed them to where he could see a ck, seemingly endless hole in the bottom of therge stone that made up the pyramid.


    It felt ominous and wrong somehow, but he couldnt put a finger on exactly what the problem was. Minka was keeping him from looking beyond the surface, but that only indicated that it was hiding something. Something he wasn''t eager to find with his face.


    Susanne asked, You feel it as well, right?


    Matt and Aster nodded in unison. Yes, and I don''t like it. Do we try to bypass it?


    Liz looked from the hole and back to Matt. If we could. Go ahead and try to climb the stone.


    Aster remained in ce as he walked over the ten-foot-tall brick of stone, and in a small leap, jumped to the top of the firstyer.


    Except when his feetnded, they were on the ground once again.


    Matt looked to Aster, and while he couldn''t feel it, he could see her snuggle deeper into his neck. That had been unsettling.


    He had felt himself jump, but when his feet had been about to touch the stone, reality had warped around them so subtly, they hadnt noticed it initially, and it sent them back to their original position.


    Ok, so climbing is out of the question. I don''t like this door. Were clearly in a puzzle area, which means stepping into this first entrance would be suicide.


    Liz tapped her foot, but Susanne spoke up. First rule of puzzles in Minka is that our AIs will either be shut down or ineffective at solving said puzzles, if theyre even allowed. Since our AI still work as much as they ever do, it''s either not a puzzle, or our AI won''t help.


    Aster offered up her idea, What if we do ap together?


    They all agreed, but before they left, they stacked a series of stones to indicate where the entrance was. This ce was already warping space, so having a marker wouldnt hurt.


    What they found as they made anotherp around the pyramid was disconcerting. Where Matt had found nothing on his first walkaround, they now encountered a new entrance. Their little pile of stones was also noticeably absent.


    The entrance, while blocked off from this spiritual perception, was noticeably less dangerous than thest one, but all of them agreed that it was still noticeably off.


    When they returned to the spot where Lizs and Susannes entrance should have been, they once again found nothing but bare walls. No stacking of stones, and no entrance.


    Matt paused and looked around for a long second.


    He had realized something on his trip around the pyramid, and he didnt like the implications.


    Wanting to be proved wrong, he asked Susanne, When did we get married?


    As he asked, he projected the thought, Right before we came to Minka, in case something went wrong.


    It was something he and Liz had considered, but discarded. They wanted a proper wedding with all their friends in attendance. That wasnt even considering her parents, nor the fact that they would want to be there. But they were incredibly busy due to Emperor Emmanuel''s absence. As the Empires only two Tier 48s, they were his second inmand, and had their tes full with his attending of Sword Saint Hastor''s and Datys Ascensions.


    Daty had ascended not long ago, andst he heard, they were just arriving at the ns capital, but Sword Saint Hastor still hadn''tpleted his ascension yet.


    Susanne, as he expected, said what he feared. Are you ok, honey? We got married right before we entered here.


    Hearing that, Matt crushed the talisman he had in his fist and summoned his sword, just as ice appeared around him and Aster.


    He seemed to take the fake Liz and Susanne off guard, because his sword and Aster''s icicles took each of the fakes in the chest.


    A wash of Genesis Energy hit him and Aster, and he sighed, looking at his friends'' mutted corpses. Or at least, the copies that Minka had created.


    It took returning to Liz and Susanne''s location for him to realize the issue. If walking around the pyramid brought you to a new location each time you turned a corner, he should have never met up with Liz and Susanne.


    Either the rules hadnt happened to work for them, as they were separated, or the two of them were illusions. Thankfully, Minka couldnt read the past and didnt even try, so simple tricks like projecting thoughts about one falsehood was usually enough to expose its lies. It <em>was</em> worrying that Minka could so wlessly act as his friends,plete with their AIs. But if it was from the higher realms, even the most secure messages would be like childs y to intercept.


    The fake duo vanished in a second now that he had taken the Genesis Energy from them, leaving two-quarter circles of stone in their ces.


    Aster whined as he picked up the drops. That was scary. Can we go back to where we were?


    Matt nodded, and at his fastest boosted speed, sprinted around the pyramid to their originalnding spot. He was reassured by the fact that he encountered both false entrances and a stack of stones along his way.


    When he and Aster returned to where they split, they ended up waiting for nearly half an hour before Liz and Susanne came around the corner.


    Matt readed his sword and cast his strongest [Bulwark], keeping his mind as nk as possible as he demanded through their now established AI connection, Report?


    Liz and Susanne both handed their weapons at the ready, whichforted him, and even though Aster kept her summoned ice at the ready, they were both fairly sure that these were the originals.


    Encountered false yous that tried to lead us on a trip around the pyramid, which was creating new sides or something.


    Matt hunkered down as he asked, Did you get anything from the false copies? Two-quarters of a square?


    Lizs answer reassured him slightly. Half of a circle. When did you buy me the ring on your finger?


    Matt smiled as he answered the trick question. We earned it together.


    Their paired teleporting rings werent in fact earned by the both of them; he had earned them himself. But if Minka was creating copies, the lie would hopefully be easily noticed.


    A double lie about their rings was one of their preset answers that they had established before they entered Minka.


    Liz didnt approach at his lie and asked, What city did we meet at?


    This time Matt told the truth. A training hardly counts as a city.


    Liz lowered her weapon and approached cautiously. What is your favorite ice cream.


    Aster answered this one. Right now bananas and strawberries. No actually that wasst week. Right now I really want some apple fritters ice cream. Mmm that sounds good did I pack any of that away? Oh, of course I did!


    Liz was reassured at the rambling answer and approached.


    Dropping his guard, he and Aster met up with the real duo. Now that Minka had started to make copies, they would need to do this testing any time they left each other''s spiritual perception.


    Putting together their quarters of the stone circle, the pieces clicked into ce as they neared each other, then released a small pulse of energy. The wave revealed an entrance right on the face of the pyramid, mere feet from where theynded.


    This entrance didnt have the signature Minka veil over its depths, and they could clearly see a chamber room inside the gloom of the pyramid. At least, as clearly as the Eternal Darkness would allow for.


    Matt took the lead and was ready for any traps, but they found none.


    As they entered the interior of the pyramid, the stone circle fell apart and crumbled into dust before vanishing.


    The room around them was cluttered like a pack rat''s storage house, but there were three stone pirs standing in a triangle in the center of the room.


    None of them moved, and were careful to avoid touching anything.


    Matt reviewed his AI downloaded list of traps and puzzles, but found nothing simr to particr room they were in.


    The fact that the lists didnt have any leads to pull from wasnt very surprising, in and of itself. Minka seemed to have an endless list of puzzles to pull from, and it was rare for anyone to encounter a puzzle they previously were aware of. Even if they found one they recognized, it was all but assured that the would stop their AI from solving it.


    Matt stepped through the room and made ap around the pirs.


    There were no distinctive markings on any of them, and they seemed as identical as any rift-made item. The problem was that the Eternal Darkness floor theme rendered them totally blind. Even with their spiritual perception, they didnt have color sensitivity. The room''s challenge could be as easy as finding the items in the clutter that matched the pir''s color, but they couldnt know that with their limited perception.


    Still, that was a big if. Minka never had an impossible puzzle, even ounting for floor themes, but that didnt mean it wouldn''t make the puzzle a million times harder.


    It took them two and a half hours until they fished through each and every piece of clutter on the ground to find the matching junk that each pir wanted.


    When they finished, Matt was sure that the room had been a color puzzle. The Genesis Energy they received as a reward was quite a bit more than they had earned from killing any single monster besides the queen ant and giant monkey.


    The next room they encountered had an altar with bones and corpses scattered around it, along with another podium where the bodies had been sacrificed upon.


    Liz said, I feel blood, namely dried blood, caked on the pir. Anyone have an idea what this is except a ce to sacrifice one of us?


    Susanne answered, I don''t think that''s right. Look at the walls, they have murals carved into them.


    Matt joined her and saw what she meant. Along the wall, a tapestry of sacrifice had been carved in a progression, depicting a story.


    People gathered around the altar, sacrificed something, and were then rewarded.


    Small sacrifices meant that all the worshipers were killed, but if the rewards were high enough, riches and wealth were awarded to the acolytes.


    People always seemed to be at minimum a satisfactory reward, and not one out of the thousand carvings had a single one of those rewards rejected.


    None of them were willing to kill one of the others to progress, and it didnt even seem like they <em>needed</em> to. Not necessarily. The murals had a number of people offering personal items and being rewarded. Sometimes more so than the groups who offered an actual person up to the chopping block.


    Aster was horrified. Do I need to sacrifice my ice cream?


    She silently yowled into the sky in sadness as they discussed what they needed to do.


    Since none of them were willing to turn on each other, they reckoned they each needed to give up one of their more precious items.


    Aster was easy. She had a storage ring filled with ice cream, but despite that giving up even one of the cartons was hard for her. So had a limited supply for the foreseeable fortune after all.


    Mr pyramid, I hope you enjoy Apple Fritter ice cream. It''s one of my favorites. Aster lowered her head as she offered the ice cream. When she used her Concept to put the carton on the altar, it was immediately sucked into the pir.


    At the same time, a rush of Genesis Energy hit Aster as she was rewarded for her offering. Considering the reward was abundant, they were able to confirm the fact that the more precious of an item, the better their rewards.


    As the Genesis Energy stopped rushing into Aster, a door opened in the side of the wall, but everyone other than Aster was prevented from even crossing the threshold.


    Matt was considering what he would sacrifice when Susanne moved forward andid a strip of cloth on the altar.


    She was rewarded with a rush of Genesis Energy almost equal to Asters, but when they asked what she offered, she would only say, Something Ive carried for too long.


    Liz went up next and put a picture of her, Matt, and Aster at an amusement park. She didnt receive asrge a Genesis Energy reward as the others, but she did get one.


    Matt stood up and put one of Lizs mana concentration potions on the pir.


    It was a failed product, but he kept it anyway. She had tried to improve upon the form for months, sacrificing her little free time over theirst three years. She hadnt seeded, but he appreciated the thought, and had kept just one of the vials despite her protests.


    To anyone else, it was a standard vial of Tier 12 mana concentration potion, but to him, it was proof of her love.


    The altar still rewarded him somewhere between Lizs reward and Susannes, but he was on the lower end. Still, it was enough, and they were all able to progress after their sacrifices were epted.


    In the next room, they encountered a forge that Matt was sure was glowing with heat.


    [Fire Maniption] allowed him some minor control over the inside of the forge, at least.


    There were four pirs surrounding the forge, on which stood four small statues.


    When Liz approached one, she gasped through their AI. I think these take Genesis Energy. It tried to take a little, at least when I touched it.


    Matt thought it over before saying. Let me test it.


    He put all of his Genesis Energy into the ring with the pressure gauge before extracting a thimble full, then handing the ring off to Susanne.


    Then, he repeated Lizs action of putting his hand on the statue, and in front of his eyes, he was treated to a vision of the statue''s life.


    The statue was once a warrior who lived in, as far as Matt could tell, a mundane realm.


    The man was born as a smiths son, and he would have continued down that path, but his country was being invaded by its neighbors, and he was conscripted.


    While he was away, his vige was raided by the enemy scouts, and his family was captured as ves.


    The person whose life Matt was reliving didnt know that until he returned from his time on the battlefield, after the five-year campaign, to find a vige trying to rebuild itself.


    Filled with hate, he took his sword and rushed back into the enemynds.


    At first, he intended to buy his parents freedom, but he quickly learned that they were nowhere to be found.


    No one was willing to admit where they had been brought to. Matt simply watched as the man searched high and low, before eventually finding a ver who told him that his parents had been sent to the mines, and neither had lived.


    The man reacted with rage and killed the ver and his entire family before burning down arge portion of the city that he was in.


    After that, he moved around from vige to vige killing anyone native to the county that he could find.


    It was just him, his sword, and his grief as he ughtered hundreds.


    Finally, he was trapped and caught by that country''s government, and tried for murder. In the end, he was killed with his own sword in some form of poetic justice. Or at least, that''s how the locals thought of it.


    The vision onlysted an instant, but Matt exined what he saw, and all the others tried the same, watching the same life with no variation.


    After that, they found that the other pirs each had a unique weapon, and contained some version of a tragic, mundane life of struggle and blood.


    There was a sword, an axe, a hammer, and an odd, metal bow.


    Each statue was missing their unique weapon. After seeing the four lives, the forge made more sense, and Matt stepped up to the ze. Along with Susanne as his assistant, they began to forge a size-appropriate weapon for each of the statues.


    Susanne was only proficient in smithing to the point that she could do some general repairs to her armor, but she was a willing assistant to Matt. He wasnt as good a smith as he was an enchanter, but he had picked up more than a few of the tricks of the trade over the years.


    It took him a few hours, but Matt made, refined, and polished the small weapons until they were as close to the items in the visions as possible.


    He was sure that a dedicated smith could make something much better, but the veritable figurines were close enough for the task at hand.


    When they ced one of the weapons on the pir, the statue reached out and took it before testing it with a practice swing, or in the bows case, a draw.


    After the weapon was tested, the statue sunk into the ground and vanished.


    There was no Genesis Energy reward, but a door opened on the far side of the wall. They didnt know if that meant they only just passed the test or if there was something more to it. They looked around but found nothing so chose to move one.


    They didnt leave until after they took everything that wasnt nailed down, which meant a few dozen bars of Tier 14 metals and the tools. They needed some reward after all.


    Matt wanted to take the anvil, but it was rooted to the spot.


    In the next room, they encountered another puzzle, and their AIpletely shut down after the entrance door closed tight. They could onlymunicate with prepared hand gestures, which was annoying, but doable.


    Seven stone sticks were extending off the far wall that pulsed with Genesis Energy in a shing pattern. It only took a little trial and error for them to learn that they had to repeat the pattern back after it shed in its entirety.


    That would have been a simple and easy challenge, but they had to use their own Genesis Energy to light up the sticks. And while activating a single stick was easy, the patterns started at twenty lights, and only got longer with each stage passed.


    Matt cheated shamelessly.


    Using his channeled boosting skills along with his armor, he was able to increase his mental faculties and perceptions to a point that he could catch even the smallest flickers of Genesis Energy in the sticks, and with enough mana in [Mages Retreat], he was able to keep up with the patterns.


    He actually had fun, as it was reminiscent of his training with Luna in the early days, when she took them to the desert. He and The Unbroken were put through her own little version of bootcamp.


    Matt only messed up once, on his first attempt of the third pattern, which meant he didnt lose too much Genesis Energy. It was a worthwhile investment, though, as they learned that he needed to match the pace of the shing sticks. He couldn''t rush through it, or pause and take his time.


    If their AI worked as usual, it would have been as easy as following its prompts, but that wasnt an option. By the time Matt reached the point where the patterns were fifty shes long, with multiple sticks to light up at once, he had fallen into a near trance-like state.


    When he beat the pattern with two hundred shes, they were all rewarded with a flood of Genesis Energy.


    Nearly half of it went to Matt, but none got less energy than their reward from the Queen ant.


    The next room returned theirmunication, and with it, a sense of ease. Complete istion was hard on him, and it wasnt something he wanted to deal with very often.


    The next room had three stone gargoyles. When they entered, the stone mouths moved, but no sound came out, and after ten minutes, they were attacked.


    As fresh Tier 14s, they were easy enough to kill, but the four of themined endlessly.


    Minka had clearly given them a riddle challenge, but with the floor theme, they were unable to hear said riddle, which meant that they were attacked for failing the puzzle. To add insult to injury, they didnt even earn any Genesis Energy from the gargoyles.


    After searching, they found a number of pictures carved on the wall that they interpreted as the questions the gargoyles asked, but none of them were able to identify the question or guess the answer. The puzzle may have been theoretically possible but it might as well have been impossible.


    Eventually, they seeded and progressed on, spending another three days working through various puzzle rooms while climbing ever higher with eachpletion.


    If they werent earningrge amounts of Genesis Energy for each sessfulpletion, they might have resented the time loss.


    Still, they estimated that they were doing well in their collection of Genesis Energy, considering that they had only been on the for less than a week. Most people took months toplete a single floor, after all, though Pathers were expected to take less time. But a floor in this context meant the three suyers thatprised each true floor.


    Finally, after they solved aplicated puzzle room where they needed to direct a flow of water to a reservoir through a series of broken and blocked pipes, they were given an exit to the top of the pyramid.


    They hadnt been able to see it from the ground, but along the top, near the peak of the pyramid where the two hands seemed to sp each other, there was a little ledge for them to stand on.


    Liz pulled out a mana stone, and before it was drained by Minka, she tossed it into the sping hands. Once it passed the point where they met, instead of falling back to the ground at their feet, it fell onto the pyramid above them.


    Gravity had righted itself on the other side of the pyramid, it seemed.


    As the others discussed the best way to cross the ne of changing gravity with no ability to fly by either item or Concept, Matt was focused on the hands.


    Even with just his spiritual perception, they seemed too real.


    When they had been at the bottom of the pyramid, the hands looked as if they were made from Genesis Energy, and served as a connection.


    Matt got a feeling these hands, or rather the <em>gloves</em>, were the real reward of the pyramid, more so than the Genesis Energy they earned.


    Interjecting, he said, I think the gloves are the final puzzle, and if weplete said puzzle, we get the gloves.


    That caused the three of them to pause.


    Aster spoke first, That seems probable enough, but how do we get them? My Concept cant grab them at all.


    Liz asked, Should I test it with blood?


    Matt and Susanne easily agreed that it was worth a shot, but they found that Liz was entirely unable to get her blood to approach them. It was like she was trying to push two mas of the same prity together.


    No matter how hard she pushed, they refused to touch.


    Except, it was worse for her blood; it was unable to get closer than within five feet of the gloves.


    Susanne tried next with her manifested sword, but even its non-physical self could approach the gloves any closer than Liz. Her spatial abilities got it two feet closer, but that was all.


    Aster tried to use ice to encase the gloves, but her ice just shattered as she tried to approach.


    Matt went through all his maniption skills to the same result, and eventually, they decided it was better to just move on.


    They secured a rope to the stone pyramid before tossing it up and through the ne of gravity change, where it fell down and kept itself pulled up from their perspective.


    Liz tried to grab the gloves, but while her physical body could get closer, she was still repulsed by a few inches.


    Matt went next, and paused between the gravity changes that let him hover with only an arm wrapped around the rope to anchor him.


    His gut told him that there was a way to take the gloves, and he wanted them.


    If his suspicion was correct, this was their reward, and they just needed to figure out how to take it.


    When he got close, he could feel the Genesis Energy flowing from the pyramid they had exited and the one above him.


    The flows of energy felt distinctly different. The one from the pyramid they had solved felt somehowpleted.


    It didnt take a genius to suspect that they were supposed to enter the other pyramid,plete all of its puzzles, and then return here.


    That would have been the normal and eptable answer, but Matt refused to spend another three days doing inane puzzles for the gloves.


    On a hunch, he sent a little Genesis Energy into the gloves, but instead of being absorbed as he expected, it was just eaten by Minka.


    Next, Matt tried mana to the same effect.


    Cursing, he tried to reach the gloves once more, but he found that he was still repulsed.


    Sighing, he climbed down the rope and let Susanne and Aster make their own attempts, but neither had any sess.


    The problem they found was that the door that had let them out on the previous pyramid was entirely absent on this pyramid, and they would need to climb down the second pyramid''s outer steps to reach the bottom.


    Liz looked up at the gloves but shook her head. I don''t think it''s worth going through the pyramid again. We need to move deeper.


    Matt fully agreed.


    He was about to step down and follow the others when he turned around and grabbed the rope.


    Leaving the gloves was against everything he knew about Minka, and he asked, Give me five more minutes to do some tests.


    He climbed the rope to reach an equilibrium and spread his spiritual sense in a tight around the gloves, but found nothing new.


    Matt locked down space, and while it didnt let him fly, it gave him a bit of leverage, and he was able to get within inches of the gloves.


    As he strained to edge closer, he felt a repulsive force trying to shove him back, and he growled into the silence that Eternal Darkness put over him.


    As Matt neared, he felt that there was a challenge he was supposed to ovee, and the very world around him started to warp as he broke the rules of the test.


    Seeing that, Matt knew there was an answer, and used his Concepts repulsive effect to counter the power around the gloves.


    Doing that set something off with the defenses, and they grew a dozen times stronger, but with Matts own repulsive power, he was able to get within an inch of the gloves.


    At that point, he was at an impasse. He was giving everything he had, but Minka was pushing back just as hard.


    Minka wasnt going to make it easy for him to cheat.


    But he was so close.


    <em>I won''t give up</em>.


    Matt narrowed his useless eyes and flexed with everything he had, both magically and physically, trying to push past the restrictions.


    While locked in an intimate struggle with thes restrictions, he was able to get a better feel for the forces at work that prevented his progress. With every centimeter of ground gained, he could sense that there was a way to get the gloves.


    The first and most obvious was toplete both pyramids, but there was a second, hidden condition. What that condition was, he didnt know, but he could <em>feel</em> that it existed.


    That knowledge was more than enough to spur him on.


    Liz, Aster, and Susanne couldnt return to the top step, but they were able to send their Concepts to help him.


    That actually made the restrictions stronger, and his fingers that were only an inch away were pushed to a foot away.


    Through gritted teeth, he sent them a message to stop.


    With their interference removed, the resistance he encountered lessened, and slowly, his fingers neared the gloves once again.


    Whether it was the puzzle itself or Minka as a whole, Matt didnt know. But slowly, ever so slowly, he pushed through the restriction as he refused to give up.


    <em>I am Endless. I will not give up</em>.


    As Matt embodied his Concept, his fingers neared the gloves. He could feel that he was cheating in some way, and whatever mechanism Minka was using to make sure its puzzles were challenging was resisting his attempt.


    At first, Matt thought that he was overpowering the restriction, but that was a bit too egotistical, even for his own private thoughts.


    Minka was a ce where even Tier 50s were rebuffed. His little Tier 11 power meant nothing in the face of Intents and Aspects, but he felt that something was making way for him.


    It almost felt like Minka wanted to test him, but didnt necessarily care <em>how</em> he was tested.


    Digging deeper, his fingers crept forward, and the strain on his spirit and willpower started to force his consciousness to slip. Feeling himself fading, and still acutely aware that he was literally holding on to his spot in the equilibrium zone by a thread and could easily fall. He dug deeper pushing past his limits until he finally touched the gloves where they sped hands.


    Just like that, the resistance was broken, and Matt started swinging back and forth on the rope wildly. That stalematested for an instant before the restriction of flight and the gravity shenanigans vanished.


    It also meant the giant pyramid that was on the ceiling was now affected by normal gravity, and started to fall.


    On top of them.


    The four of them were powerful for their Tier, with quick reactions to match. Matts most of all, with all his stats boosted by his channels. He cranked his speed-enhancing buffs as high as they would go and grabbed Liz, using his Concept to fly the two of them in the wake of Queens space bending to clear the falling debris.


    They cleared the danger area easily and floated together near the ceiling, but not so close that anything could easily drop down and grab them.


    Liz looked at the pair of gloves in Matts hand and chuckled. Well, you got them alright. Are they worth it?


    Matt didnt know, but he wanted to find out.

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177


    Matt felt like the flight down the nearby tunnel to a safer area was excruciating, but waited until they were a safe distance away to set up the house. After three days of constant stress over the puzzles, and only being able to sleep in shifts, they all needed the break. He even cooked everyone a proper meal before he started inspecting the new gloves.


    Without his sight or a dedicated skill for it, the process was annoying, but he was able to confirm after a thorough examination that there was nothing dangerous around them.


    Once their safety was confirmed, everyone gathered in the living room to figure out what exactly they could do.


    Matt slipped them on and then sent a stream of mana into the gloves. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then a loose cup flew across the room at Matt. As he reached to grab it, it snapped into his hands as if it was maized.


    Maybe we should take this outside? Matt offered. He really didn''t want to ruin the house if what he suspected was true.


    Once they were all armored up, Matt moved away from the house and put a trickle of mana into the gloves once again. As soon as he did that, any and all loose rocks in the area started flying towards him.


    Even Aster was affected; she had to use her Concept to fight against the pull of the gauntlet.


    If he had his full senses, it wouldn''t have been so hard to control at first, but Matt was able to get a pretty good feel after varying the amount of mana he sent into the item.


    It also helped that the pyramids had been affected by the same force.


    They were gravity gauntlets.


    I think these make what seems to be a miniature gravity well. Let me get away from you guys and see what they can do with my full mana generation. Matt couldn''t suppress the excitement he knew was in his voice at the thought.


    Flying down the tunnel further, he put 100 MPS into [Cracked Phantom Armor] for protection.


    At just 5 MPS into the gauntlets, the attraction was generating enough pull to draw even fist-sized rocks towards him.


    Increasing the amount of mana he sent into them, he found that the gravity well grew stronger and stronger. Hed need to do some testing, but the scaling seemed better than linear.


    And that made sense. Not many people could use a channeled item if the requirements were too high.


    As he hit 20 MPS, Matt felt something shift in the gloves and affect the world around him. It felt like everything was locked down, and he was unable to move even a little.


    He felt like an impassable object, and that anything that came near him would be shredded apart.


    At this point, his spirit started to feel strained by the constant use of a Tier 14 item, but he had dealt with far worse from his skills.


    Taking the test to the next level, Matt increased the mana to just over 50 MPS over the course of a few seconds.


    The rocks weren''t the only things sucked into him. The ground near his feet was starting to be ripped up, and joined the other rocks that were already pressed on his gauntlets.


    As he hit 100 MPS, the items on his gauntlets started topress under the power of gravity, and enough of the material from the surroundings had wrapped around Matt that he had to use [Earth Maniption] to keep himself from getting crushed. He created a pocket for his body to reside in, pushing against the weight of his own mana with more of his own mana. He tried to channel even more into the gauntlets, to push beyond just a bare smidgen of his mana, but they seemed to be capped at 100 mana each second.


    Ending his test, Matt stepped down and paused for a moment to inspect the ground that he was unable to manipte, and his new gauntlets were unable to rip up either.


    Without his normal proprioception, he was only able to inspect them with his spiritual senses, but they had be quite sensitive over thest four days. Sill, the remaining ground just felt like normal stone, for all that he was unable to affect it.


    Returning to the group, Matt said, Well, they affect gravity, and theyre definitely strong.


    Liz scoffed over their AI and said, Yeah, except the fact you had to throw a hundred MPS at the problem. We can''t really use them as effectively, so you might as well keep them.


    Susanne nodded. And we have our outer armor that we cant exchange the gauntlets out for without breaking the item with enchantment. You only have under armor, which is a blouse and trousers.


    Well, they do have a limit of about a hundred mana per second he protested. It was actually a lot, he realized. Even if he sted Liz with his full Concept, she could only use them for a little under two minutes before she ran out. He, meanwhile, could use them <em>very</em> effectively.


    Aster wasnt bothered at all by the gauntlets, as she had no hands to use them, and jumped into Matts arms, starting to ask about what it felt like to use the item.


    Matt used that as an excuse to exin everything he had learned. The gauntlets have a gravity field that ramps up pretty fast, and is extremely effective. Well need to see if it brings in magical attacks along with mana and essence, as normal gravity does, but these brought in matter quite well, and even started topress it.


    Before he had left, he had gathered the bits of stone that hadpressed down to denser versions of themselves. He didnt have nearly enough power to perform actual atomic fusion, but he hadpressed the stone into something denser.


    Beyond that, I felt like I was a rock at the center of the universe. Everything would move before I did. I was immovable.


    Matt flexed his hand even though he couldn''t see anything, and inspected the gauntlets once again.


    They went nearly up to his elbows, and were made of a thin metal alloy that he wasnt able to identify without his sight and better tools.


    He was quite happy with what they could do, and felt like a kid on his birthday.


    The rest of the evening, he yed with his new item and tried to learn how they worked. As far as he could tell, he was unable to limit the directional force of the gravity, but he wasn''t sure if that was a limit of the item, or his understanding of said item.


    Normal gravity was omnidirectional, but he didnt think the item was so limited.


    Still, everyone got a good three hours of sleep before they moved on and traveled down the tunnel they had entered.


    When they had first entered, the path deeper had been over a hundred feet tall, but as they progressed further with not an enemy or trap in sight, the tunnel got smaller and smaller until they were walking single file.


    Just as they were scraping their shoulders on the walls, their spiritual perception found the exit, and they carefully crept up to it.


    They once again entered a massive cavern. Liz, with her more sensitive blood, sent out feelers and reported back. Something is eating at my skills. It''s not destroying the blood, but rather my mana inside of it.


    After a few more tests, they determined they had found a pool of Mana Leeches.


    The monsters were, as their name suggested, leeches that ate mana, not blood. If they were just able to drain people with direct contact, that would have been something easily countered. But they had an aura they exuded that was able to drain any mana that entered their sphere of influence.


    Liz was excited, and started nning their expedition into the cavernsgoons as soon as they suspected the Mana Leeches as the reason for her skills dissipation. Mana Leeches created environments where rare herbs and natural treasures existed inrge quantities.


    They ate the mana that the items would produce, and therefore hid them from casual inspection and location through spiritual senses, as theck of mana would make it harder to identify what was inside.


    Matt spent half an hour creating a formation to push back the Mana Leeches aura before they walked into the main cavern.


    He was in charge of the formation while Liz transnted the herbs that littered the edges of the pools to her garden, and Susanne protected them from anything trying to attack them, with Aster''s help.


    Matt ended up with the quickest and crudest method of keeping the Mana Leeches from draining them and their gear of mana. He simply created a bubble of mana and kept feeding it with more and more mana for the leeches to drain, protecting what was inside of the bubble from their influence. Minka made the process more difficult, but he was able to just spend more mana to counteract its draining effect as well.


    It only took 200 MPS to maintain, but that was more amentary of Matts enchanting style than what a normal, better designed item would be able to do.


    Ten minutes into their voyage, they found their first real monster. Or rather, it found them. A massive, crocodile-like reptile that was all but invisible to their spiritual senses had burst from the water, and they didnt even <em>notice</em> until Susanne vanished from sight, as she was swallowed whole by the monster. It didnt go well for the creature, as she cut through its mouth in a single, devastating blow, highlighting its existence as she killed it.


    Susanne ended up not being <em>too</em> worse for wear, as her [Cracked Second Wind] took care of her wounds. But they made sure that they were substantially more careful as they progressed, encountering several more of the crocodiles as they explored thework of tunnels and caverns. The next time, it was Matt swallowed whole, and he didnt notice he had been swallowed until hispanions vanished from his perceptions.


    His armor proved stronger than the bite, since the jaws were unable to pierce the skill before he exploded out of the creatures head in a gory, icy [Icicle]. He made his escape fast enough that the mana leech-repelling ward didnt so much as waver.


    By then, Liz had figured out the telltale signs of the predators, and when one came from her, she intercepted its ambush with a hail of [Blood Bullet]s, punching through its upper jaw and skull mid-bite. They didnt have that much trouble with the beasts all together, as they were only low Tier 14 and specialized for stealth, but they were <em>annoying</em>.


    Meanwhile, Liz led them through a zigzag pattern between the various pools and streams that littered the caverns as she collected several nts. Most weren''t all that valuable, but they did encounter a few notable natural treasures.


    Purple Heart Lotus was a natural treasure that, once eaten, would grow a membrane of purple mana around the eater''s heart, which would protect them from stabbings and generally help keep the heart pumping in spite of any injury.


    Sadly, the item wouldnt work after Tier 15, when biology took a back seat to essence and maniption of the spirit. At that point, the body and spirit produced enough essence on their own that the cultivators body was self-sustaining.


    Still, it was useful for them, and all of them ate a leaf before Liz stored the rest of the nt. It would sell for a rift on the outside world, and they weren''t going to pass that up.


    The next viable item they found was an odd one pine-apples. It was a pine tree that grew apples. They were rare and quite valuable, not because they were useful or had some special properties, but just because they were incredibly tasty.


    Liz had a difficult time transferring the entire tree to her alchemy garden because of its size, but they seeded in the end, and as long as they kept the item charged with mana, it would give them a slow but steady stream of the pine-apples.


    Her portable garden was a rare and expensive spatial item, built around being able to hold living things and keep them alive, but it had the downsides of being expensive to run, along with restrictions on what could enter.


    Still, it showed its value in times like these.


    The next item they found was a Grasping Vines Root, which was an item like Aster''s Heart of Winter. Once eaten, it gave the user an ability that would grow along with them, but wasn''t an actual skill.


    Susanne debated taking the natural treasure, but in the end, she decided not to. It would be useful, but she would need to remain rooted to a single spot, which wasnt how she liked to fight.


    For that same reason, they all passed up on it.


    They were nearing what they expected was the center of the cavework when the first Mana Leech attacked them.


    Susanne cut it in half before it neared their barrier without issue, but they were surprised by just how much Genesis Energy they got.


    It wasnt a ton, but it was more than any of them expected for a creature that had little in the way of offense or defense. They suspected it was because Matt was feeding them with mana at a crazy rate, which in turn created arge poption of small Genesis Energy generators.


    That discovery led them into a Mana Leech extermination mission, where they hunted down all of the parasites they could find.


    During that mission, they actually found another challenge room when a Mana Leech disappeared into a nk spot of anotherrgegoon. Once again, the sense-suppressing nature of Eternal Darkness had made them almostpletely miss what should have been blindingly obvious, but Matt felt that they were getting better at ounting for it.


    The pir of crystal stood on a small sandbar at the center of the body of water, and gave them a feeling of testing, building, and guidance. It wouldnt involvebat, they were sure, but the impressions it gave didnt really correspond with any mana leech or swamp-style challenge rooms that they knew of.


    Beyond that, they couldn''t get a better feeling for the challenge. Still, they decided to venture inside.


    After sending Genesis Energy into the pir, all of them were sucked into the challenge.


    Mattughed as he saw what their test was.


    It was a simtion environment, specifically Essential Civilization.


    Together, the four of them needed to raise a civilization out of a pre-essence age to as high as they could in one thousand years.


    Matt looked to where he felt Liz, Aster, and Susanne off to his sides. The floor theme was gone, but their bodies weren''t actually here either, and they were all just outlines of their normal shapes.


    Everyone knows the strategy for this one? Liz asked.


    Aster yipped, Yup! Push ''em early then in waves.


    And really, that was it. As the leaders of the simtions, they could speed up time or slow it down at their whim, which made this a fairly quick challenge room. Beyond that, they would have to spend Genesis Energy to spawn rifts and monster breaks throughout the at first, until it started to self propagate.


    Their only other way to influence the simtion was to spend Genesis Energy to change the reaction to some of the events that would ur through the process.


    There was no hard and firm strategy for this challenge room, but as Aster said, the general rule was to hit the simtion fairly hard, then send waves of monsters until they started to grow stronger.


    After they talked it over, they initialized the simtion, and a sprung up and started to spin rapidly. Life started to spark and grow. Humans evolved, and started to expand on the until they inhabited most of the five continents.


    Then, the simtion halted, and time froze for those in the world.


    The first thing they all did was check the technology level of the world.


    It wasn''t great, but it could have been worse and they didn''t feel the need to spend Genesis Energy to re-roll the starting civilization.


    The best was steel age civilization, before it advanced into the gunpowder or space age.


    Those more advanced eras suffered the most in the early stages, as they were so used to relying on their technology that there was a pushback on essence and the increase of physical powers. Most of the time, they spent at least a century trying to solve the essence issue, which for something like this was just wasted time.


    Eventually, they would realize the benefits of cultivation and start to lean into a more meleebat style, but it wasted valuable years as their score was based on how far the civilization progressed in a thousand simtion years. If the simtionsted longer, those more advanced civilizations with their greater poptions and technology would start to pull ahead. But with the limited time, wasting ten percent of the simtion time was a hard blow to recover from.


    By contrast, a society that had just entered the steel age effortlessly slipped into cultivation, being already used to smacking each other with metal weapons. ordingly, they tended to embrace the power of essence almost immediately. The real issue with those simtions was pushing too hard, and sending too many monsters or rifts at them, thus wiping out their smaller poption.


    Technically, the <em>absolute</em> best for the challenge were the rare societies that had already discovered cultivation independently, extracting it from the ambient essence and using highlyplex rituals to awaken themselves without killing rift monsters. But those basically never appeared in the simtions Minka made for this scenario.


    After reviewing everything, Liz gave them the rundown. Our simtion was just starting to enter the gunpowder age, which, while not great, isn''t bad. Well have the poption boom at the start of the technology boom, but there are still a few people and ces that have a martial tradition. She hmmed as she spun the in front of them. These are the four most advanced political entities. It says that they all hate each other, and will make alliances with each other only as a countermeasure to any of them looking to get ahead. They just got out of a ten-year war with one another, and are in the recovery phases.


    Liz tapped her chin as she thought.


    Matt offered up his idea. These are the most advanced civilizations on Simeyer, but they have a strong fighting tradition. From the records, most of their wars are for stupid reasons. I think if we set off a few rift breaks in the outskirts, we can minimize casualties while showing them that there is a new threat. Then, once the rulers know something is off, we start ramping up the rifts and monsters. Eventually, they will get the hint and turn their attention inward.


    Liz nodded, but said nothing as she flipped through pages of information.


    Susanne spoke next. We still need to worry about the other countries and their peoples. Cant leave them in the dustpletely, or we will create an imbnce.


    Liz kept nodding as Susanne talked and finally said, Very true. Susanne, are you offering to take the outskirts while we hit the centers of tech?


    Without saying anything else, Susanne assigned herself to the outer regions with the lowest technology levels in the areas, where civilization hadnt seemed to reach.


    Her goal there was to keep the people from dying out, but also push them forward. Not as easy feat with their limited technology and smaller, more spread out poptions.


    Liz turned to Matt. Want to take the middling countries that are mostly vassal states to the four big guys, while Aster and I take the main civilizations?


    Matt had no issue with that, and selected the regions Liz mentioned then waited.


    Once Liz and Aster were ready, the simtion started to progress.


    Immediately, Matt cordoned off his dozen countries by the superpower they were under the influence of, and then spawned a rift in all of them near each of their food production areas.


    That would get the royal''s attention faster than anything else. Part of their duties as a vassal state for the fourrger superpowers was to send food to keep their massive armies fed.


    If they didnt produce their quota of food, they would be the target of the next campaign.


    He spawned the rift early in the morning, and sent a small wave of goblins out in every direction.


    It took a little Genesis Energy, but he prevented the monsters from grouping up, as most of the farmers were small families, and simtion or no, he didnt like the idea of anyone dying to a rift break.


    They were ying the first few hours slowly, but once their monsters were all defeated, they sped up the simtion to the next day before repeating their actions.


    The farmers were able to fight off the first wave of monsters on their own, thinking they were little more than a new pest, but after the third day, they couldn''t help but notice their bodies were getting stronger and faster after the fights.


    That was the byproduct of undirected essence allocation spreading evenly between their cores, but it was enough to freak the farmers and their families out. A normal sixty year old man shouldn''t be feeling like he did in his twenties after all and a twenty year old woman shouldn''t be beating herrger brothers in contest of strength after killing one of the new pests.


    As the farmers started to flee their farms, Matt got his first pop-ups.


    Each country he oversaw had two options in how to react to the news that their farmers were fleeing their fields as new enemies appeared.


    The first option he had, which cost no Genesis Energy, was to have them react negatively, and force the farmer back to their fields, calling the monsters a simple nuisance.


    He could only think of the bad path that option would lead them down, and really didnt want to choose it.


    The second option, which took about a quarter of a single worker ant''s Genesis Energy, was to have them mobilize their own smaller armies and try to figure out what was going on.


    Matt spent the Genesis Energy to have all of the vassal states under his control react appropriately, despite it costing a dozen ant kills worth when each country was ounted for.


    They weren''t necessarily going to get more Genesis Energy out of this challenge than they put in if they went with the expensive options each time, but Matt felt that he needed to guide them early.


    That would set the foundation for theirter reactions, where he could hopefully take the cheaper options.


    As all of the vassal states sent out an army or two, he watched and then spawned in a new wave of rifts closer to their major cities.


    This time, there were casualties that he couldn''t prevent.


    Some people refused to believe that the little monsters approaching them were dangerous, and learned the hard way that even a Tier 1 monster that was only knee high was able to kill them with ease.


    Caravans and outlying viges got hit the worst, and that hurt Matt on a personal level.


    He knew that pain and wished it on no one. He felt for these simted people and the upheaval that they were encountering. Their world was changing around them as forces they didnt understand started to awaken.


    Still, there were bright spots.


    The interface showed him people who were advancing and pulling ahead of the pack.


    A young woman from an outlying vige near his initial rifts had been on a tryst with a lover when they were attacked.


    She was the only survivor, and armed with only a rock, bludgeoned the two kobolds to death. She returned to her vige and gathered them to find the monster''sir, then exterminate them.


    Except, they found the rift and didnt know what to do.


    Most of them were still Tier 0s, having not killed any monsters to absorb their essence and advance, so only the woman he named Abby was able to see the distortion in space.


    He was able to see her Talent which was a nifty feature of the simtion, and was interested in its simplicity. Her Tier 1 was the ability to notice details. Simple but effective, it served her well in spotting the rift distortion.


    Seeing the other vigers were debating to leave, he spent a tiny amount of Genesis Energy to set off another rift break right in front of the vigers. It was something they couldnt possibly miss.


    That earned Abby the vigers trust, and as they killed the monsters, they too started to advance and step onto the path of cultivation. While modern technology allowed a single monster to awaken a dozen children, this simtion had nothing of the sort, and they each needed to personallynd the killing blow for the essence contained


    Abby then demanded that they enter the rift to kill any of the monsters inside, but the vigers were squeamish of the unknown, and refused to enter.


    Seeing that, Abby went in on her own.


    Matt watched as she, now armed with a simple iron wrapped club, beat her way through the kobold rift. She was injured a number of times, and only just barely killed the final boss. Seeing that, Matt felt like he was back in his own first rift days. Looking back he honestly didnt know if he would be as good as her without his years of training and preparation.


    Seeing her do so well, Matt spent some more Genesis Energy to adjust her rewards.


    That was one thing he wished he could do in real life. As one of the controllers of the simtion, Matt could see and adjust the rewards each rift gave.


    This rift, he changed the permanent rewards to give a variety of decent steel armor and weapons. It was a Tier 1 rift, so he couldn''t set the permanent rewards to drop skills, but he did spend a little for Abby''s first victory.


    He gave her a healing potion, a Tier 5 longsword with a [Mana sh] enchantment, and finally a [Fireball] skill shard.


    The first was because he was afraid she was going to die before she got out of the rift. Guts and determination only could push a body so far before it failed. The sword was based on his own, and he was biased to that type of weapon, so she got a copy of his own sword at Tier 5.


    Finally, the skill shard was to show them what they could do with cultivation.


    Abby, who had just fought her way through three dozen kobolds, was exhausted and parched by the end of her ordeal, so she just drank the potion without question.


    Matt had expected her to question the mysterious bottle of clear liquid, but she didnt hesitate.


    Seeing her wounds close up, she wept.


    Now mostly healed and having collected the skill shard and weapon, she exited the rift like a conquering queen.


    Seeing her power increase and a new magical sword that could shoot light blue crescents out of its edge, the vigers were frightened, but soon wanted that same power. Human nature ensured that.


    Matt was proud of them, as through trial and testing, they learned of the rift instances and the need to send in people after the fifteen minute window. It took them longer still to learn how to deal with the enemies inside the rift without getting injured. After the first day, they discovered that if they delved the rift and killed the monsters inside its depths, they didn''t have rift breaks.


    It took time, but they learned.


    Abby was one of the first ten people on the to reach Tier 2, and the power difference was stark to anyone who knew her. Essence, even without the tenpressions Matt did between Tiers, and her not directing it consciously, was a force multiplier unlike any other.


    She was strong enough to be a god to the Tier 0s in the surrounding viges.


    That same strength was also what attracted the attention of the local nobility.


    The noble family had heard of the vige''s changes and power, and sought to suppress them. They called Abby to them under the guise of trying to fix the monsters, but intended to surround and kill her.


    Except, they werent ready for a woman armed with a Tier 5 sword that had enchanted skill, who could also shoot [Fireball]s out of her hands.


    It was a ughter, and only a few of the smart ones were able to run away.


    After that, Abby stood on a roof and shouted to everyone in the town who could hear her what she had learned about rifts and monsters.


    It was then that Matt got two new events. One was for Abby and the other for the town.


    The first one was about how the town would react to Abbys information. It was an easy decision for Matt to spend the tiny amount of Genesis Energy to have them react in a favorable way.


    He then set up a couple new rifts to spawn in the next few days, but that was second to Abbys own choice.


    It seemed that she was conflicted on what to do. Beyond her brave exterior, she was as confused and scared as anyone in her situation would be.


    Still, she saw the way the world was heading, and had the choice on whether to go to her country''s capital, or whether to stay and protect the people around her.


    Matt saw that neither option had a Genesis Energy cost and had to pause to reflect. Why would he be given the option to choose for her when it cost nothing. That wasnt how any of the other events had worked after all.


    He gamed out what each event would lead to, and eventually chose for her to remain behind. He didnt see how the rulers of the county would take an actual cultivator telling them how to do things. If the woman was Tier 5, he wouldn''t worry, but at Tier 2, enough Tier 0s could kill her, and he was growing attached to the determined woman.


    Matt felt responsible for her after interfering with her life.


    To his surprise, she ended up writing a letter to the rulers of the country, and sent it along with one of the local noble''s servants. Well, she had the letter written, as she was an illiterate peasant before the rift breaks, and a few days of monster killing hadnt changed that.


    Seeing that all was going well, he created a new Tier 2 rift with Horned Wolves and zoomed back out to watch therger picture.


    Over the first months of the simtion, the four of them were busy putting out and preventing metaphorical fires. Liz and Aster had it the hardest, as they had to corral the four super powers to keep them from attacking each other, their vassals, or exploding from civil war.


    Thankfully, the ever expanding threat of rifts and rift monsters was enough to force them to focus on their own problems.


    The first week turned into a month, then a year.


    Heroes had risen up, and they were the ones advancing the fastest. Abby was still among them, and as the was pushed to Tier 5, she was one of the five strongest people.


    In the simtion, the didnt take time to advance as they would in the real world. As soon as they spawned or upgraded ten or more rifts, the advanced to that Tier as well.


    It was a good thing for the people, and it was how the strongest of people quickly rose to prominence. They were mostly people with some of the more noticeable Talents. Things like Innate [Fire Maniption] or other immediately useful skills or abilities gave them enough of an advantage to shoot ahead of the pack.


    Still, there were no super crazy Talents from a with barely 50 million people.


    With theircking technology, they were limited by theirmunication, but the news of strong new rifts appearing with monsters even more powerful than before spread, and those who led the pack in advancement were the first to arrive and pacify the situation.


    They started to speed up the simtion as the first hour of real-time ended. Five minutes after that, they were through the first year, and the people in the simtion started to adapt and learn.


    With their help, the advanced. There were problems and events, but with their guidance, the people of Simeyer adapted to their new world.


    After the first decade, when they had advanced the to Tier 5 properly, things were mostly hands off. The poption had stabilized, and rifts now followed the same rules they did in the outside world.


    People started to learn about advancement and how to differentiate between a mage and a melee fighter. With that, they started to categorize and note rifts that dropped skills.


    It took a little longer for the crafts to catch up, but eventually, as the general citizenry started to learn how to advance by being carried through rifts or cultivating ambient essence, they started to discover how to work higher Tier metals. That led to the discovery of how to enchant weapons and gear, which was a game changer for the as a whole.


    The four of them were surprised that the people had learned that trick on their own, without an event or them spending the Genesis Energy to directly interfere. But that advancement helped tremendously, as they were able to advance the Tier of monsters and rifts with their increased power levels.


    As Tier 6 and Tier 7 rifts started appearing, things became dangerous, since the strongest people were only just advancing past Tier 5. At the same time the general popce had only reached Tier 1, but they still survived and even thrived, now they had an idea of what was happening.


    With more people awakening, they started to notice the difference between people and eventually learned that Talents were universal, rather than just fantastic powers only a few held. That discovery also taught them just how useful Talents could be to help people do new things.


    Without the technology of the Empire, they were unable to categorize the Talents, so it was mostly trial and error, but as more and more people advanced, strong people started to stand out.


    The real problem was the Tier 5 bottle neck. Anyone without a Concept, or as the people of the simtion called them, a Truth, was stuck at the peak of Tier 4. The simtion had no bottled Concept to allow them to push that necessity to a higher Tier.


    At that point, Matt shamelessly cheated.


    Anything they knew how to do they could recreate in the world below. It just cost Genesis Energy.


    Matt didnt hesitate to do so, and by spending a good fraction of his saved up Genesis Energy, he recreated a Tier 4 Aura rift. It took them some time, but they learned that with the Aura, they were able to create a False Truth, as each person who made their Concept from Aura called. Sadly they misunderstood why each person who used the Aura was limited to an earth type Concept andbeled it weaker. Still it allowed them to advance past the bottleneck, and the ind he spawned it on soon became an independent city-state, despite everyone trying to gain or retain control over the rift.


    The Aura rift did its job amazingly, and the percentage of the poption who advanced to Tier 5 and beyond exploded.


    As the first century of the simtion ended, people started to notice that the higher advanced people lived longer and were healthier, which created a drive to advance in a lot of people who had otherwise not bothered with cultivation.


    At first, the four of them were able to advance the a Tier once a decade, but soon, that slowed down as advancements took longer and became harder.


    If the four of them weren''t on a time limit, Matt would have loved to spend time observing the simtion and seeing just how everything worked inside with its slightly altered rules, but they didn''t have time.


    After the second century, they just sped the simtion to maximum speed and watched the countries grow and fall.


    None of the original ones were still standing a thousand yearster, but the as a whole had reached Tier 16 with its special rules.


    Before the end, Matt checked in on Abby. The woman who had started as little more than a peasant girl had grown into a respectable warrior, and remained one of the ten Tier 18s who had taken the role of guiding their''s advancement. He was proud of her for that and was sad to see her life fade to nothing with the end of the simtion.


    A Tier 16 and an average poption reaching Tier 7 was a very respectable final score, earning them more than triple the Genesis Energy they had all put in.


    Back in their bodies with six hours spent in the simtion, they watched as their rewards were created.


    Unlike the previous time, they only got a single item, but considering it was an endlessly refilling healing potion, they didnt care much. Sure, it took mana, time, and a touch of Genesis Energy, or presumably essence, though they werent able to check, but the chalice definitely helped ease the burden put on their normal potion stock. Of course, the fact that the potion couldnt be poured out of the chalice without being drank was a double-edged sword, as it meant they didnt have to worry about it spilling, but they also couldnt pour it on their wounds or into any of their empty potion bottles to stock up.


    They ended up giving it to Susanne, who didnt have the advantage of unlimited [Lesser Regeneration] or Lizs ability to make her own healing potions. Shed probably get five or six tiers of use out of it, before out-Tiering it to the point that it wasnt worth the increased healing cooldown that a lower Tier healing potion would impart.


    After that challenge room, they inspected the rest of the cavework, collecting anything they found useful before they continued on through the tunnels and found the exit of the sub-floor they were on.


    Even with their dampened spiritual perception, they could see the Ruin reward distortion off in the distance.


    When they exited the tunnel they were in, they found themselves in a shifting desert, and finally got a good feel for the distortion. It was a good distance away, but it shone like a light in the darkness that the floor imposed on them.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178


    The four of them trekked through the desert for half a mile before they were forced to stop.


    Eternal Darkness, as a floor theme, had many dangers to be aware of due to theck of senses. Before entering a typically hot and dry ce, they had Aster create a fist-sized orb of ice and float it next to them as a rudimentary temperature gauge, which was the only reason they realized that the environment was bing dangerous.


    Her ice ball melted in less than ten minutes.


    Aster, as a Tier 11 former ice fox, had a Concept revolving around making her ice colder, and thus less susceptible to melting. She also had decades of practice in refining and strengthening said ice.


    Still, it melted so quickly that they were forced to stop and dig themselves a hole in the side of a sand dune.


    [Earth Maniption] worked on sand, but was inefficient and barely effective. Fortunately for the group, Matt had gotten [Sand Maniption] alongside the other Tier 14 maniption skills. He didnt have <em>that</em> much practice shaping the level 2 mana type, so he defaulted to using [Earth Maniption].


    That in itself was a sign of the heat exhaustion that they were already suffering from. He only fell back on his Tier 8 maniption skills when he was mentally drained.


    Thankfully the sand wasnt impervious to maniption like most of the other ground surfaces that they had encountered, and he was able to shape a little cave for them bypressing the sand into pseudo-sandstone.


    There they all drank a lot of water before they started testing just how hot this ruin was.


    Matt and Liz had gotten an orb that produced a bit of shade and lowered ambient temperature when they were Tier 5, and had little use for it most days. It actually took him a few minutes to find it in one of their old spatial backpacks.


    The orb didnt do a thing to block the heat in their round of testing outside their little cave. Aster''s ice melted just as fast as it had during their walk.


    It was a Tier 5 item, but Matt still had hoped that it would work, as it would have saved them arge amount of time, but the item was useless. Even maxing out its mana capacity rate of 10 MPS did nothing to blunt the oppressive heat.


    Ultimately, Matt ended up needing to pull out their house, after building a good enough foundation for it to rest on. Once inside, he poured mana into the cottages mana storage, as it burned through an impressive amount while running the AC.


    The fact that even their orb wasn''t able to block the heat put it firmly outside the abilities of any of their prepared enchanted items. He would need to make something new.


    While everyone hydrated and rested, Matt started to sketch out a small portable formation on his workbench. He spent enough time at it that he had a mana node at his feet, so even as he worked he could keep their defenses against the heat running at full capacity. Not that it was likely to <em>run out</em>, but it wasnt like he was using his mana for anything else.


    It was a simple and dirty formation, as with his AI being limited by Minka, he was forced to make the array of enchantments by hand. A formation was simply that; a number of enchantments linked together like his talismans arrays, but not meant to be one-use items. Instead, they were usually carved into stone, metal, wood, or anything else more durable than parchment.


    By the base materials nature, they were more durable and longersting, but that came with its own limitations. Part of a talisman''s incredible power came from the fact that they weren''t expected to be multi-use items, and could therefore disregard longevity for immediate power. When making something more permanent, Matt needed to limit the enchantment''s power to a degree that the material could handle.


    That was no issue for him, though, except for the methodology. The actual enchanting was identical, and Matt had no problem making a talisman. After all, all enchanting used the same runes, so it wasn''t that hard for him to cobble something together as he had with the Mana Leeches in the marsh.


    It took a few iterations and five hours, but Matt was able to make a formation that kept Aster''s ice sphere unmelted in the open air outside for nearly an hour. If they weren''t in Minka and on a one-month timeline for exiting the floor, he would have made something more elegant than a few shadow runes and water creation runes stacked and linked inside a small air shield rune. It worked, but he wouldnt be winning any prizes for ingenuity or efficiency.


    Still, the formation would get the job done, and that was all that mattered.


    After that, he just had to miniaturize it onto something they could wear.


    If he had his proper vision, he would havee with something slimmer, like a thin steel band with proper sizing along with a hinge, so they could all wear them on their wrists. But with only his spiritual sense at his disposal, Matt went old school.


    Instead of etching the runes into the spirit of the item to firmly anchor the runes into the metal, he opted to physically carve the runes into the face of a small disk of metal that he had forged with his skills from some Tier 14 iron.


    He ruined more than a few of the disks while working blind, but they were well stocked, and hepensated by using his metal channel skills along with his proprioception skill to carve something good enough to work.


    After making two for each of them and ensuring that they worked, Matt strung the disks and created small nes with a holder for the formation disks.


    With that problem taken care of, they were able to continue their trek into the desert with less worry. They needed to pay the 10 mana a minute cost, but it was an easy ask with Matt there to use his Concept for a few seconds every once in a while to top them up.


    Not wanting to spend more time than they had to in the desert, they all withdrew their flying devices and flew close to the ground, moving much faster than walking on the soft sand would allow.


    A few dozen miles into the desert, they encountered their first enemy.


    A flock of griffins descended and tore at them with talons and wings that generated des of wind in front and alongside them in a sweeping arc. The attacks shined brightly in Matts spiritual perception from the sheer amount of power that the [Wind de]s had.


    The attack was so sudden and well timed that they only sensed it once the griffins were less than five hundred feet away from them.


    For Tier 14s, that was a distance they could cover in less than a blink.


    Still, the four of them were fast and well-trained by their respective coaches.


    Matt flew forward and cast [Bulwark], ramping up the mana he sent to [Cracked Phantom Armor] as he swung his de with a [Mana Charge] building up inside it.


    Unfortunately, he was too slow, and the lead griffin dodged his attack while using its [Wind de] to cut through his half formed [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Blood flew as he was cut in his side, but it never reached the ground. Liz grabbed it immediately and merged it with the blood from her glove that flowed out in a wave.


    Susanne, who had been the furthest from the attack, shed out with her sword and lopped off one of the griffin''s rear legs, but it was fast enough that she was unable to follow up with a lethal blow.


    Matt was forced to focus on the other half dozen griffins that were right on the heels of the first, but with just the extra second, he was able to fully form [Bulwark] and charge it with mana. He was able to block the next series of [Wind de]s with the skill, and none of the griffins were willing to ram the shield of mana.


    As they were flying away, Asterunched a [Ice Lance], and the arm-length frozen pir caught one of the trailing griffins right in the chest, sending it tumbling over a sand dune.


    That didnt deter the rest of the griffins at all; like all monsters, rage was a part of their natural makeup. The remaining five griffins disappeared out of his spiritual range, and the four delvers spread out and waited for them to appear once again.


    It took an agonizing few minutes for the griffins to circle around, but they eventually came in at an angle to hit both Susanne and Aster. Not willing to let the monsters do as they pleased, they shifted so Matt could take the front, with the others covering his side and rear.


    When the lead griffin tried to break through [Bulwark], it seemed surprised that it was unable to break through his shield. The moment of hesitation caused by the interruption of its attack left the monsterpletely open to a thousand-mana-strong [Mana Charge] from an angle it hadnt been expecting.


    Matt had already teleported back to safety by the time its head vanished under the st of mana as if it never existed, and the rush of Genesis Energy confirmed its demise.


    The rest of the flock stood in their charge and ran into the other three, who unleashed their own attacks just as the griffins shot off more [Wind de]s at the wall of mana that was [Bulwark].


    There was no third pass, and the four of them paused to collect any loot from the bodies, which came out to two Tier 8 skills, [Fireball] and [Earth Wall]. Thetter was actually fairly valuable due to its rarity.


    They suspected that the first monsters Aster killed dropped an essence stone, as there was a small trail in the sand from where the bodynded, but the fight hadsted almost a minute, long enough for Minka to reim any essence.


    Matt checked his injuries, but they werent that bad, and after casting [Bandage], he ran [Lesser Regeneration] and [Endurance] as his most cooldown-efficient methods of healing. He could have used [Ranged Heal], but that spell had arger healing cooldown to counter its range and instant healing abilities.


    Still, the wound wasnt anything significant, so he was able to travel along with the others.


    As they pushed deeper into the desert, they encounteredrger groups of griffins ranging from the small half dozen, to one particrlyrge flock of thirty.


    They learned the hard way that the flying lion-birds were incredibly annoying to fight. They didnt just have [Wind de]s that trailed along their wings and exited their wingspan No, their ws were their own incredibly dangerous weapon that rivaled any enchanted item.


    Each w was nearly invisible to their spiritual sense, and naturally imbued with armor pration enchantments, making them beyond dangerous in close range. They harvested a few of the griffins rear paws for study once they were past this floor.


    Liz took a particrly bad swipe from the ws, which really drove the lesson home. Thankfully, her armor had a repair enchantment that quickly had it back in top shape after they fed it a bar of Tier 14 steel.


    They were nearly upon the spot where they felt the exit to the ruin when they discovered that something was wrong.


    First of all, the ruin exit was underground, and there were at least two hundred griffins flying in a circle around something.


    When they were in range to see the griffins with their spiritual sense, the monsters could easily see them, but the entire flock ignored them to continue their circr path.


    Liz asked, Any idea what theyre doing?


    Aster offered, Maybe theyre like vultures, and theres something dead or dying under them?


    Matt wasnt sure if that checked out, as griffins typically weren''t scavengers, but you never knew with ruins and rifts.


    They kept close to the ground as they flew up the sand dune before they peered over the edge.


    Except, they found nothing.


    The hundreds of griffins were circling nothing.


    Or at least, seemingly nothing.


    They watched for another five minutes before something crawled out of the ground and stretched for the sky.


    As it shook off the sand, Matt cursed.


    It was an oversized sphinx. At least a hundred feet long from haunches to nose, it stretched up and screeched into the circle of griffins flying above. Or at least, that was what he interpreted it opening its mouth as.


    Seeing that, Matt hoped they would fight, but he had no such luck.


    As the sphinx presumably screeched, sand began to rise. At first, it was only a few particles, but over the course of a few seconds, there was a veritable sand storm.


    The sand beat at them until they were forced underground, where they retreated into a small hole that Matt quickly dug.


    The sphinxs sandstorm had a magicalponent, and each little impact cut through any exposed skin. Aster got the worst of it, with her much smaller armor that mostly only covered her back and sides, and she needed a few minutes of dedicated self-healing to recover.


    Even as she did that, they could feel the sand above their heads whipping itself into a raging fury, scouring anything on the surface to dust.


    Just as the wind was dying down, Matt jerked along with everyone else.


    The reward distortion of the ruin that they could feel, despite Minka and its floor themes restriction, vanished.


    Before he could descend into a full-blown panic, they all felt the exit appear far away and what they presumed was deeper into the ruin.


    Susanne kicked at the wall next to her, sending a crack up its length. It moves around? How is that fair?


    Matt agreed fully. A teleporting ruin just seemed unfair. It was also the first of its kind he knew about; he just wasnt sure if it was a thing that higher Realm ruins could do, or if it was a product of Minka.


    Either way, it added at least another day of travel to their prospects.


    When the remnants of the sand storm ended, the four of them crawled out of the sand to continue their trek through the desert.


    In the next six hours, they fought their way through the griffins, but as soon as they neared the ruin exit once again, the griffins flocked up and summoned the sphinx to create another sand storm that teleported the exit once again.


    It was at that, point the four of them were forced to stop and reevaluate their actions.


    I think the griffins are alerting the stupid cat. Aster yipped as they hunkered down for the second time.


    Matt backed her up. It would seem so. But what can we do about it?


    He was formting an idea when Liz asked, Remember that rift Gregor, the investigator sent us into? When we were there, there were birds that only attacked us when we flew. Maybe thats happening again.


    Matt nodded as she jogged his memory. It seemed likely enough, and they decided to try it.


    When the second sand storm ended, they started a much slower walk through the desert.


    Walking on sand was difficult at the best of times, but when you couldn''t see with your eyes, it was a million times worse. Each step was an entire mental thought process, and it quickly drained the four of them.


    Or rather, three of them. With the environment as hot as they knew it to be, they didnt want to risk Aster burning her paws on the hot sand, and she refused to put on her shoes, so they decided to backpack her. They would have liked to ride on Lizs elephant, but as badly as they were doing on the sand, it was <em>far</em> worse. The summon was simply not nimble enough to keep up with sand slides, and it tended to throw its rider off while trying to recover. After the third attempt, Liz just dismissed it.


    They had been hiking through the desert for nearly an hour, and were starting to believe that their n was actually working, when the sand started to quake from under their feet .


    Matt was ready to take to the air when a number of nearly invisible lizardmen crawled out of the sand with spears and shields.


    Matt responded with a [Mana sh] almost perfectly in sync with Susannes [Wind Cutter].


    Their attacks took two of the lizardmen out of the fight before they could even properly stand up, but there were at least a dozen others emerging from the sand.


    Liz and Aster took two out just a heartbeat after, but they were still surrounded. The opposing spears and shields were either enchanted, or the lizardmen had spear and shield skills, as each glowed with mana and felt dangerous.


    Matt pped away the first thrust and bent to dodge a second from the nearest lizardmanspatriot.


    A third attacker tried to jab at him, but Matt caught the weapons shaft and pulled hard.


    The lizardman tried toe with the blow and shield bash him with its glowing shield, but Matt drove the point of his de through the shield and the lizardman, yanking it out to the side in a spray of blood.


    Even as he did so, he was shocked at the amount of power he had needed to break through the shield. At the level of physical boost he was running, he should be able to cut through anything below Tier 15 with ease, but he barely managed to pierce the shield.


    Before he could analyze the situation more, a third and fourth lizardman charged at him, and their des punctured [Cracked Phantom Armor] but skittered off his under armor. Noting that he needed to use the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor], Matt kicked out at the nearest lizardman''s knee while casting [Jolt] with free hand. As he broke free of the encirclement and used his Concept to part the air around them, while also activating its repelling effect to deflect a spear thrust, he moved behind the group of monsters in a burst of speed.


    Chopping down with his de, he cut one, then two lizardmen down, hitting a third with another [Jolt] that sent it reeling back.


    Now that he was free of the encirclement, Matt had little issue swinging his de and slinging his spells to take out ten lizardmen that kept bubbling out of the sand like waves of locusts.


    The others had also taken care of their opponents, and when there were at least three dozen dead lizardmen, the waves of enemies stoppeding.


    They all needed healing after the ambush, but after looting more skills and two essence stones, they continued their march through the desert.


    As they trekked towards the ruin exit, they encountered ambush after ambush, but they persisted. Once they were ustomed to their enemies attack pattern, they only took only a few small wounds during each encounter.


    Still, they were met with a circling of griffins at the precipice of the ruin exit, along with a sphinx that created a sandstorm to teleport the exit away.


    Back in a hole in the ground, Matt thought about what they could do and offered, If walking and flying don''t work, there needs to be an answer. My question is, where are the lizardmening from?


    Liz asked, Dig down then?


    That''s my idea. Matt nodded.


    Cant hurt... Susanne shrugged as she leaned against the wall.


    Aster just gurgled from the ice bath she had created. Even if she couldnt directly feel the hot temperatures, the heat was getting to her and wearing her down.


    When the sand storm vanished they all continued on, but they stopped short of where they expected the next ambush toe from.


    Instead, Matt used [Sand Maniption] and dug them a staircase down. They had reached a half-mile underground when they finally found ayer of rock.


    Matt thought they had found the immovable floors of Minka at first, but with [Earth Maniption], he was able to open them up a doorway into the rock.


    None of them expected to find themselves inside abyrinth that was hidden below the sand.


    Once they were inside, they were forced to fight their way through seemingly random groups of lizardmen patrols, but there were no more teleports.


    It was also a great source of Genesis Energy.


    They had been underground for an entire day when Aster jerked after killing off a lizardman.


    Something happened. I now have enough Genesis Energy to purchase the exit reward.


    Matt looked to his bond and felt her for Genesis Energy, and yes, he could feel quite a bit built up inside her spirit.


    They sent some of their excess Genesis Energy into their Genesis Energy rings, but they had been fighting so many lizardmen in the halls that all of them had forgotten to do so, to greater or lesser degrees.


    The idea was to keep just enough Genesis Energy cycling to help their items convert into growth items, but they tried to keep their presence muted by adding excess Genesis Energy into the rings.


    Wanting to test what she said, Matt emptied his ring, and most of the way through his reserves, Matt felt a bit of knowledge seep into his mind. He somehow knew that if he were to reach the floor one exit that he could im its reward.


    All of them discovered the same thing, but it led to further testing. They all had a simr amount of Genesis Energy, and part of their agreement upon entering was that they would pool their Genesis Energy together, so they all transferred their excess Genesis Energy to Aster as a test.


    And as they expected, with three quarters of their total Genesis Energy, Aster got a second bit of information that she now had enough Genesis Energy for the floor reward, if she so chose to take that challenge.


    That gave them pause.


    It meant that they were well ahead of the curve in terms of Genesis Energy, but they were just over a week spent inside. Not that it was a bad thing, but it didnt mean they could afford to slow down. If anything, that just meant they should go <em>faster</em>, trying to get even farther ahead of the curve.


    Eternal Darkness on the first floor was not a super vital reward. They would take it, as they had earned enough Genesis Energy, but they wouldnt linger beyond that.


    They suspected that their faster-than-usual progress came down to two factors; their Tier, and the challenge rooms they had encountered andpleted. Being Tier 11s they got more Genesis Energy per kill, and needed less Genesis Energy for the rewards. They had also gotten the max reward for the Ants vs Elephants challenge, and a very respectable reward from the simtion.


    That, along with their ughter of the griffins and lizardmen, along with the massive discount from being Tier 11, put them ahead of most others.


    With that in mind and pushing them forward, they sped up their progress, trying to get through thebyrinth.


    It took them another day and a half, but they managed to push until they were nearly upon the ruin exit.


    When they exited the halls of thebyrinth, they found themselves in an open-air stadium that was sorge, it stretched past the range of their spiritual perception. Judging by the range of their senses, they could surmise that the stadium was at least three miles long.


    Even the massive sphinx lying in the center of the field seemed normal cat-sized in the massive room.


    Sand was piled up along the edges and swirled in little eddies as the griffins flew around in their seemingly normal whirlpool around the sphinx.


    Sensing their approach, the sphinx stood up and shook itself off. It stretched before opening its mouth in a silent growl.


    Before they were able to do anything, the griffins started to dive at them.


    Liz called out as she took to the air, Aster and I got the griffins, you guys kill the sphinx!


    Matt and Susanneunched themselves forward at their fastest speeds, and closed the distance with the massive sphinx.


    A pir of sand rose up and tried to m into Susanne, but Matt used his own [Sand Maniption] to halt the attack.


    The cat jerked back as if pped, but while that pir of sand fell, another dozen pirs formed and flew at them.


    Matt used his prodigious mana generation to throw power at the problem, and slowed the waves of sand just enough to allow them to approach the boss. Susanne used her second version of her Concept de tounch a ranged [Wind Cutter] that vibrated with the telltale sign of her casting it with [Hypersonic Edge]. The attack was able to block the sphinx wing that came crashing down on her while she used her main de to cut at the descending paw.


    Matt was half a second behind her, and as she pulled back, he brought his de around in a heavy blow with both [Mana sh] and [Mana Charge] charged to the max, letting them loose on contact with the beast''s shoulder.


    [Mana sh] worked best with range, but it had a prative power that [Mana Charge]cked, and he used thebo to blow a chunk of flesh off the beast, earning a silent roar.


    The sphinx hopped back and tried its sand attack trick, but Mattmanded the sand to stop, which slowed the attacks to the point of being useless.


    Seemingly giving up on that tactic, thepeting control over the sand vanished, and the giant cat flexed its wings to fly into the air.


    As Liz and Aster were permanently reducing the Griffin poption above them, Matt refused to let the monster take to the skies.


    Using his new gauntlets, he maxed out the mana throughput and pulled the sphinx out of the air. He had to use [Sand Maniption] to keep himself from getting crushed under a wave of loose sand, but he brought the beasts attention back to him and Susanne without letting it interfere with Liz and Aster''s battle.


    Even as the sphinx was being dragged to him and his gravity well, Susanne, who had driven her primary de into the ground to anchor herself, used her second sword copy tounch consecutive [Wind Cutter] and [Mana sh]es at the sphinx.


    The giant cat seemed to have enough, and all the sand in the room rushed in towards it through some sort of spell. Matt found that his [Sand Maniption] waspletely ineffective against the casting.


    Not wanting to be near the boss if this was some attack, Matt stopped controlling gravity and retreated with Susanne.


    As the sand finished rushing at the boss, they found that it was now d in sand armor.


    It seemed to have decided that its flight wasnt worth theck of defenses, and it happily pounced at them, bringing massive, stone-covered paws down at them. He and Susanne fled outward in opposite directions as the giant paw mmed the ground between them, shaking the entire arena.


    There was a st of wind from above them, and as Matt rolled from another strike, he sent his spiritual perception up above to where Liz and Aster were.


    A massive eagle had joined the fight in the skies, which made Matt wonder about the origins of this ruin and where the griffins hade from.


    Seeing that Liz and Aster were sessfully kiting the giant eagle, and that they didnt seem to be in any obvious danger, Matt refocused on his own problems.


    He used [Earth Maniption] to create a pir of stone to block the next paw swipe, then rose a number of additional pirs throughout the otherwise empty room, creating some cover for him and Susanne.


    The sphinx seemed to disagree, as it spun in a circle shattering most of the pirs, then turned to where Susanne was standing. She had justnded a [Wind Cutter] on its nk and cracked its armor, finally drawing blood.


    Matt was sending out a [Mana sh] as a follow-up when he caught its rear paw to the chest in a surprise kick, and was sent flying.


    He was able to catch himself with his Concept, but despite not being able to feel it he knew the injury was server where the lion paw ws had torn through his armor as if it wasnt there. That only reaffirmed his theory that the griffins were some mutant mix between the giant eagle and sphinx.


    Teleporting forward, Matt joined Susanne in the melee and exchanged a few blows with the boss.


    Their swords were able to pierce its armor, turning the fight into one of attrition.


    It was a perfectly fine ce for Matt to be. One on one fights thatsted a long time were where he shined. And if they had been alone, that would have been ok, but they weren''t. After all, Liz and Aster were dealing with the ruins'' second boss themselves.


    Those two had entered Lizs golem form and cast [Blood Crystal Armor], creating a giant, golden golem that was currently grappling with the eagle. From inside the behemoth, Matt could feel Asters presence as she was sending and directing attack after attack at the griffins that were trying tond and tear at their armor.


    Seeing that they needed some help, Matt cast [Hail] for a second so Aster had some more ice to work with.


    Susanne dodged a bite, and Matt used that as his chance to unleash a [Mana sh] at the cat''s open mouth.


    This time, a p of tongue fell out of the sphinxes mouth, and Matt tried to follow up as the cat retreated, spitting blood.


    Having retreated, the sphinx eyed Matt and Susanne as they spread apart and started approaching from both sides. While they were close, he used his Concept to help fill up his teammates dwindling mana pool.


    They hadnt worked together long, but they were bothpetent melee fighters, and their styles merged well.


    At the same time, they both raced forward and let loose attacks.


    Susanne used [Hypersonic Edge] and [Wind Cutter], while Matt used [Jolt] and [Earth Spear] to take the boss in the nk.


    The attacks pissed the sphinx off enough that it abandoned any subtlety and tried to pounce at Matt, so he dropped his sword and he reached out to grab the monsters arm-length canine teeth.


    Matt was only Tier 11, but after dropping [Cracked Phantom Armor]s protection to the minimum, he had 2000 MPS to spread between all of his physical cultivation skills. [Acrobats Finesse], [Rangers Sight], [Sharp Mind], [Willow in the Wind], and [Lesser Regeneration] were only used a little, to keep his general physical capabilities in line with [Barbarians Hide] and [Mages Retreat], which had respectively 300 MPS and 1500 MPS.


    With that much of a boost, Matt caught the sphinx biting attack and held it from edging any closer.


    The sphinx wasn''t stupid, and it tried to pull back from his grasp, digging its nails into the ground to do so. In return, Matt used his gauntlet''s gravity powers to stick the monster''s canines to his hands, while locking himself down with his Concept to prevent it from retreating.


    It wouldn''tst long, but with the sphinx unable to move, Matt grinned as Susanne closed the distance. Using both her swords and [Hypersonic Edge], she cut at the sphinxs neck from top and bottom.


    Like a pair of scissors, her des cut deep into the monster''s neck, but it wasn''t enough to decapitate it.


    Matt solved that issue by changing his anchoring grasp to a pulling force, while also pushing his repelling force onto the monster''s body.


    One tug and twistter, the boss''s head separated from the body, and the rush of Genesis Energy was like a wave that crashed over him and Susanne.


    Instead of celebrating, Matt flew up and joined Liz in her battle against the eagle.


    Except, he found that the eagle was already battered and bloodied, barely on its ownst legs. Instead, he cast [methrower] and [Fire Maniption] to fry or scare off all the remaining griffins.


    In less than a minute, Liz had their battle with the eagle wrapped up, smothering it with her blood to finish it off.


    After the rush of Genesis Energy, she stood up with an excited Aster as the remaining griffins fled.


    Liz sauntered over and asked, Who expected two bosses? I didnt. The assholended on me out of nowhere.


    Matt could see that she was still proud of herself and shot back, I decapitated a sphinx with just physical power. That''s far more impressive when you really look at it.


    Aster hopped out of her backpack and said to Susanne, And they forget about our contributions as soon as ites to bragging. How droll.


    She pranced over to the eagle and sphinx, casting [Heart of Power] to eat both of the bosses hearts for the chance at extra permanent power.


    As the skill had been upgraded from the start for her, it could permanently add to her cultivation, and had done so a few times over the years. She usually did so because she enjoyed eating hearts, more so than the very rare chance at getting the increase.


    Except this time, the sphinxs heart increased her mana pool cultivation.


    [Heart of Power] didnt force her to advance, but it allowed her to push further in her current cultivation.


    After getting the upgrade, Aster pranced around happily. That was a bit of Genesis Energy added to my core, not essence. I''m the best! We need an ice cream break! Ice cream for everyone!


    Matt stared in disbelief at his bond''s luck and cursed.


    Grumbling, the three humans ignored the excited fox as they moved over to the ruin reward. There they dispelled it, and out from its depths came a number of items.


    They pulled out their portable house and set it up to take a break before they moved to the next sub-floor and to inspect the items.


    The first and most obvious reward was a greatsword in the same form as Susannes.


    This one was razor thin, and enchanted with only sharpness enchantments. With a careful test, they discerned that it was able to easily cut through the sphinxs stone armor.


    Susanne sighed. I dont really use <em>real</em> des anymore, but that would be good to pull out in an emergency. Shame that itll break if I look at it sideways.


    The next item of note was a choker with a stylized snowke hanging off it.


    Aster took it and found that it boosted her ice powers, and created a better version of Matts shade formation disks.


    She loved it because it looked good, but it was a very potent find for the winter fox.


    There were also a number of alchemy ingredients that were rare Tier 14 herbs, and Liz happily transnted them into her garden.


    Matt didnt get anything so pointed in the reward, but was quite happy with the two dozen essence stones and a handful ofmon Tier 14 skills.


    After their three days in the heat of the ruin, everyone rxed and slept for a full six hours before they stepped into the distortion that would take them to the next sub-floor of Minka.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179


    Matt stood with his three teammates, staring at the reward distortion they hadnt yet opened as the nearly invisible bodies of the boss and its protectors faded away around them. Thest two weeks had been rough, and while Matt felt that his spiritual perception was sharper because of his forced reliance on it, he was d to have just killed the final boss of the third sub-level of the first floor. It was some strange octopus-like mimic creature that could be incorporeal, invisible to their spiritual senses, or take the form of nearly any item or <em>spell</em> it desired.


    It could also teleport and split apart into smaller clones of itself because why not. It dropped a handful of skill shards as well as a load of genesis energy, which got tossed into their storage rings forter study.


    For now, they examined the shimmering portal in front of them, which would allow them to reach the safe area between floors. They were able to choose between proceeding to the second floor, pausing and recovering somewhat, or even leaving- not that they nned to do so.


    Thest two weeks had been a hectic rush of delving and moving through Minka, gathering what resources they could, and stocking up on as much Genesis Energy as possible.


    Overall, things had been fairly standard, if not easy. Minka always pitted them against monsters and challenges that they had to be strong and quick-witted enough to ovee, but so far, nothing had been surprising. Though on the third subyer, where Minka really pushed its challengers, it wouldve been nice to avoid dealing with constant mimics, doppelgangers, ambush predators, and the spirit-like creatures that kept trying to <em>drain his mana</em>. Those were annoying even without their being almost invisible, let alone his endless font of mana constantly causing them to grow <em>strong</em>. They werent even fun fights; the bouts always turned into either endless back and forth until the monsters copsed from their wounds, or ambushes that were foiled in a single blow from either Queen or himself.


    Then the endless environmental hazards that constantly flipped from boiling hot to deathly cold, or impossibly windy to outright floods, only made things <em>worse.</em> And well, they were d to be finally moving on. Having to deal with those ever changing environments when they couldn''t feel what was going on was more than annoying.


    All that aside, they were still well ahead of their one-month-a-floor pace they set for themselves.


    All that was left was to decide was if they wanted to spend the Genesis Energy to get the Eternal Darkness floor theme reward, which would, as it was the first floor, give them a slight increase to their spiritual perception.


    The four of them were split, not with each other but with their managers.


    This was one of the floors they had been told to just blow past if they were behind, as its reward wasnt fantastic. However, they were well ahead of where they should be in both speed and Genesis Energy collection. As Tier 11s, they were expected to have gathered enough Genesis Energy to get the exit reward somewhere in thetter half of the second sub-level, and enough for the floor theme in the early parts of the third and final sub-level.


    They had reached those marks before they even left the first sub-level. Part of that was the circuitous route they had taken, along with the two challenge rooms they hadpleted with nearly max rewards both times. Together, that pushed them far enough ahead that they actually had a choice. The first challenge rooms they had done well in, but not so well that they had tripled their Genesis Energy once again.


    There was no reason for them to <em>not</em> take the floor theme reward, but all of them hesitated.


    As the bosses vanished and dropped a handful of essence stones and Tier 8 skill shards, Matt scooped them up with his Concept and pulled them into his bag without looking.


    Liz wiggled her hand back and forth and said, I think we should try it. We have enough Genesis Energy. Taking the reward isnt so bad.


    Aster paced around the distortion and asked, It''s not like we can get a bad thing, right? We know the reward right?


    Matt pushed agreement to his bond through their connection, but kept his mouth shut.


    Wanting to make a decision, he pulled out a thin disk of metal and flipped it. nk side, theyd take the theme reward, the side marked with a line theyd go to the next floor now.


    Itnded on the side with a line.


    He <em>really</em> didnt like that option, which was an answer in and of itself, so he said. Let''s just take it. It''s our delve, and we will earn more Genesis Energy on lower floors anyway. I want to take it all. Every reward, every prize.


    Aster silently yipped her agreement, and Susanne nodded, but Liz rubbed her face through her mask. Ugh. I can''t help but feel like we will want this Genesis Energyter, more than the spiritual perception boost... Fuck it. I want all the rewards as well.


    Susanne dispelled the reward distortion, and a half dozen items tumbled out, but they didnt stay to inspect them, and instead just threw them into their spatial rings to be sorted outter.


    Matt stepped forward with all of his friends, and as they were pulled into the distortion as they had been on the first and second sub-levels, he felt them vanish.


    Instead of appearing on the next floor after a second of nothingness, his Genesis Energy whispered a question to him.


    Did he want to im the theme reward, or bypass it and go straight to the safe area?


    Matt mentally projected that he wanted to face the final challenge, and take this floor''s increase in power for himself.


    As he thought that, nearly a third of his Genesis Energy drained out of him. Once that happened, he found himself standing in the ever-present darkness. But this time, there was nothing. It was like he was standing in empty space.


    After a little testing, he found that it wasnt exactly true. Unlike on the floors they had traversed before, his spiritual perception was locked down to just a dozen feet or so around him, which contributed to the feeling of emptiness.


    Honestly it felt like being a Tier 3 again, and Matt didn''t like it. He also didnt like that all his items and armor were gone, and his skills were all restricted.


    Out of the darkness, a butterfly of light appeared shining so brightly, he had to shut and then cover his eyes to ensure that he was truly seeing it with his spiritual perception.


    It felt like normal vision. Each color and detail were excruciatingly clear to his spiritual perception as if it were his eyesight.


    The butterfly pped its wings, and energy scattered off of them as it flew out of his range. Matt wanted to immediately give chase, but was still unable to move, his body was locked in ce.


    An almost teasing thought of catch me if you can appeared to whisper at him through his Genesis Energy.


    After a count of ten, he was finally let go, and Matt flew forward in the same direction that the butterfly went.


    Instead of a sphere, he sent his spiritual perception out in a line, which extended his range to thirty feet, but he still didnt see anything.


    Turning in ce, he scanned every detail of the forest that was in line with his perception.


    Above him, in the trees, he found a lingering energy that hovered in the air like dust, and threw himself at the trace of the butterfly.


    Once he had locked onto it, he found that it was a faint trail of where the butterfly had pped its wings during its escape.


    From the trees, he took to the air and followed the fading trail, traveling further and further until he found himself standing on a street. How the transition was so fast and seamless, he had no idea, and he honestly didnt care. The butterfly was now so close, he was almost able to reach out and touch it.


    But once again, his body was locked down, and he was unable to move even a finger.


    The butterfly fluttered over andnded on his nose for a second, before it fluttered off around a buildings corner and exited his spiritual perception.


    When he was released again, Matt rushed forward and more quickly found the trace of the butterfly.


    He almost stumbled as he realized that his range pushed further out, and the detail of his spatial perception had increased. It wasnt much, but after nearly a month of needing to rely on just that one sense, he had gotten quite adept at interpreting its sensory data.


    It felt like he wasnt just noticing more, but he was actually <em>seeing</em> more.


    The walls around him didnt appear as just concrete, like he expected. They were <em>colored</em> concrete, and he could even make out a swirling pattern on their surface.


    He hadnt noticed before, as there was no paint on the wall to show ayer of change, but this was more.


    Matt could <em>see </em>it.


    Understanding the game of tag that he was being forced to y, Matt locked onto the butterfly''s trail and ran, arms and legs pumping with every scrap of energy he had.


    His flight was restricted this time, so he was forced to run on foot through two dozen blocks of the city before the trail climbed the side of what he suspected was an apartment building.


    Matt didnt hesitate as he grabbed a window ledge and hoisted himself up.


    Like in the bat caves on the first sub floor, climbing as a Tier 11 was a simple task, and he was quickly a dozen stories above the ground. But just as he was passing a window, using it as an easy ledge to climb on, his gut screamed at him to move, so he took a leap.


    Throwing himself off the building, he noticed a hand with finger-long ws reach out through the shattered ss of the window with his spiritual sense, right at where his chest had been.


    He didnt need his AI to know that if he had been hit, his unarmored flesh would have been easily pierced.


    Mattnded on the ground with a grunt and started his climb once again. No monster was going to stop him from getting that butterfly.


    With half his attention scanning for his attacker, he tried to find the now vanished trail of the butterfly. Unable to pick it back up, he just climbed the building where he had seen itst. When he reached the roof, he found the butterfly flitting around a rooftop flower garden.


    Matt was tempted to rush forward, but hesitated and decided to slink forward with the most delicate approach.


    He couldnt be sure that the butterfly operated under the same restrictions that he was, with only his spiritual perception working.


    A dozen steps away, he noticed a man-like being crawling over the edge of the wall.


    Now that it wasnt inside a room and ambushing him, he could see it like a distorted nightmare version of a human, long and stretched out. If it wasnt hunched over, even climbing, it would have stood at least seven feet tall. But no, it seemed to be made out of a living shadow to his spiritual perception.


    Matt knew that letting it reach the butterfly meant the end of his little exercise, and he rushed forward, startling the butterfly up into the air.


    Still, Matt was a peak Tier 11 with all of his cultivation in his physical core, and he had the speed to match. Just as the butterfly was taking off, he reached out and almostnded a finger on its leg. The moment it slipped past the butterflys limb , his tiny guide vanished into nothing, and Matt once again found himself transferred to a new location.


    This time, he found himself in a snowy tundra, and despite not being able to feel it, Matt knew that he couldnt allow this round to linger without risking hypothermia. The butterfly againnded on Matts nose, lingering for a much longer time than before and letting him absorb more of its energy. Doing so caused his spiritual perception to be sharper once again.


    After a set amount of time, the butterfly fluttered away and ten secondster, Matt was set free. He was unable to catch the butterfly that time and earned a lesser amount of the spiritual perception increase, but he still got a boost.


    They repeated that game of tag two more times, with the shadow bing faster and sneakier each time.


    In the fourth round, Matt found the shadow trying to ambush him and pulled out the metal pole he had picked up, rushing forward to meet it. If he could end this threat, he was sure that he could catch the butterfly once again and earn the full reward of this challenge.


    Matt came around the corner and mmed his pole down on the shing w, swung through, and assumed that he broke its bone. He took a swipe along his leg, but felt nothing with the floor theme nketing all the pain.


    Kicking out, he caught thenky creature in the knee and knew it was broken as his kick traveled clean through the joint.


    As it tumbled down, the monster wrapped an arm around his chest and tried to grapple him, but that was something he had no fear of.


    On the ground, he was shorter but stronger, and he quickly had the monster in a choke hold and kept squeezing. Eventually, something broke and his fist touched his bicep.


    At that point, a wave of energy not unlike what the butterfly gave him washed over Matt.


    It wasnt exactly the same though; there were some differences.


    Matt found that while his increase in perception was noticeable, his danger sense also increased. His spiritual perception was able to tell him if something was a hazard in a more concrete way than it had before.


    And it was currently screaming that something around the corner was going to kill him.


    Scrambling to his feet, Matt fled through the streets as arger and bulkier version of thenky monster chased after him.


    Thankfully he seemed to be faster and was able to escape.


    After that experience, Matt focused on the butterfly and not the shadow monster.


    He fought and killed two more, but that was only when they attacked him.


    When he finally caught the butterfly, it happily flitted around on his palm and sent a constant stream of energy into his body that dissolved into countless smaller butterflies within his spirit. Each one bestowed slightly more information to his senses before fluttering outside of his spirit and into his surroundings. They seemed to cover every surface within his spiritual sense before simply melting away, with only the increased detail in his spiritual sense remaining.


    If he didnt know the scaling already, he would have thought that his spiritual perception had doubled or tripled in efficiency. It felt so much more than the twenty five-ish percent that he, as a Tier 11, should have expected from the theme appearing on the first floor.


    Matt could see colors just as Luna said he should be able to, but it felt more significant than she reported. That might have only been from him going from nothing to something, which made the increase feel more impactful than it was, but he felt like blind man given sight.


    After a minute of the butterfly flitting on his hand, it vanished, and he found himself sitting on the ground in a stone cavern with arge pir, not unlike the challenge room pirs extending from floor to ceiling.


    Aster was a few feet away, and a quick scan of the area showed him that no one else was there yet, making the cavern feel even more empty.


    Before he could start tending to his still bleeding wounds, Aster scampered over. Are you ok?


    She ruined any concern her words gave off by head-butting him and wiggling to get closer, so he picked her up and sat her on hisp. It was good to be able to see her once again, and he gave her the pets she had been missing in thest few weeks.


    She looked fine, and had no injuries as far as he could see, which was a good bit better than how he felt.


    What happened to you? How did a butterfly hurt you that much? Aster tilted an ear at him as she asked her question before going back to sniffing his wounds under the armor.


    Matt just channeled [Lesser Regeneration] after casting [Bandage] a few times on the worst of the injuries.


    You didnt have a shadow thing chasing you?


    Aster looked at him like he was crazy. No, I just yed with the butterfly. After catching it ten times, I got teleported out. What did you do?


    Matt was shocked and a little upset that he had only managed to catch the butterfly on hisst attempt. He had thought that that was what had ended the test. Not that he had run out of attempts.


    After he exined what he went though, Asterughed at him. You need to learn how to hunt better. It was easy!


    Matt stood up and tried to walk to the edge of the room so he could set up his house out of the way. He wanted to take a shower he could feel, and make a meal he could actually taste. But as he walked to the edge of the room, it expanded, keeping him far away from the wall. Looking back, he checked the seemingly central pir, and yes, the pir was getting smaller, but he couldnt get closer to the edge of the cavern.


    Shrugging, he set the house up in the middle of the floor and set himself up for a shower and Aster for a bath after charging the shields.


    He was enjoying his steaming hot shower that he could actually feel for the first time in nearly a month, and Aster was lounging in her ice bath, when his AI received a ping as Susanne reconnected to theirwork.


    Toweling off, he verified it was her before opening the shields and letting her in.


    She was as bloody as he was, and had a simr experience to him where a shadow monster was also hunting for the butterfly.


    They both confirmed that killing said monster increased their spiritual perception regarding danger, unlike catching the butterfly.


    She went and took her own shower while Matt waited for Liz. After another two hours, where he had cooked a full meal and repaired Susannes armor, Liz still hadnt returned, and he was starting to get worried when she appeared on the floor looking un-touched.


    She sauntered over and asked, What happened?


    Liz looked worried at the still healing wounds on his body, but he shrugged it off to ask his own question.


    Did you not face a shadow monster in there hunting the butterfly as well? His question caused Liz to look at him like he was crazy.


    By this time, Aster and Susanne came out and joined them.


    Liz shook her head, No but catching the butterfly was a pain in the ass. I did figure out the gimmick after a while though.


    The three of them looked at her like she was crazy. Aster was the first to ask. What gimmick?


    Liz looked at them and asked her own question as she stripped off her armor and walked into the shower.


    Using her AI, she continued the conversation. What did you guys face?


    Matt started to clean Lizs armor as Aster exined what she went through with her very easy and fun chase and capture of the butterfly.


    Then, Matt and Susanne exined how they encountered the shadow monster and killed it.


    Hearing that, Liz ahhed but waited until they finished to tell her story.


    She came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her hair and kissed Matt for taking care of her armor, before sitting down and taking the te he had set out for her.


    I had no obvious hunter or anything after me, but after the first floor where I didnt catch the butterfly, I worked to discover the gimmick of the ce. There were half a dozen exits for the butterfly, which were scattered around each floor. As long as you were fast enough and didnt get too close to the butterfly, which ended the round, you could get between the exit and the butterfly for an easy catch. Of course, it wasnt that easy, as there were multiple exits, but just getting between the butterfly and the exit was enough to send it to another one. So I ended up running around for a while, but I think my ability to sense passageways was improved for my efforts.


    She looked at Matt and Susanne, asking, Howe you guys had monsters to fight? I would have liked to get that reward as well. What gives?


    Matt looked to Susanne and reviewed her story but found nothing different.


    Offering up an idea, he said, Maybe its because we just charged right at the butterfly and didn''t try to think our way out of the problem?


    Susanne didnt look as bothered as he was about that prospect and nodded. Makes sense to me.


    Matt hoped that it wasn''t that simple, but feared that it was. He just hadnt thought to try and find some deeper meaning in a game of tag. It seemed too simple. It was also a good lesson that Minkas test were never what they seemed, and that they should be careful on the deeper floors, where the rewards were greater.


    After their talk, they rxed for another hour to nap, but decided to move onto the next floor instead of sleeping properly.


    Matt and Susanne weren''t fully healed, but they werent badly hurt in the first ce. That final test hadnt seemed to want to kill them.


    They approached the pir to go to the next floor when a man in Sect robes appeared on the other side of it. Instantly, all five of them had their guards up.


    Matt and Susanne stepped forward to block a rush, with Liz and Aster gathering their own powers in the rear.


    The man said nothing but rushed forward. Instead of attacking them, he quickly touched the pir and vanished as if he hadnt been there.


    Seeing that, they hurried to reach the pir themselves.


    They couldnt let someone else get ahead of them, especially someone from the Sects.


    Before they touched the pir, Matt asked, Anyone get a good feel for him? I felt a Tier 12.


    The other three agreed, and since he wasnt wearing a mask like they were, giving the impression of being a Tier higher, they suspected that it was his real cultivation.


    Touching the pir, Matt sensed that he could either exit or proceed deeper.


    When he thought to proceed deeper, he was given the option to group up with any of the people touching the pir. Choosing his friends, as they were the only people, he felt them agree, and together, they appeared on a grassy in.


    They had reached Minkas secondyer.


    All of them took up a defensive position, ready to attack or be attacked by anything.


    Liz called out, Aster, test please.


    Aster sat down between them and started testing.


    Eternal Darkness had been an obvious floor theme, but other floors were often less obvious.


    One by one Aster checked things.


    Mana doesn''t work. Testing.


    Matt already knew that because he hadnt been able to use [Cracked Phantom Armor] the second he entered the floor. Just because his most faithful skill refused to work didnt mean it was his job to figure out why though, he still fiddled with it a bit


    After a few seconds, she said, Genesis Cultivation confirmed. Genesis Energy needed and able to cast spells.


    Aster sighed at that, and Matt did his own little test. By directing Genesis Energy into [Cracked Phantom Armor], he found that the skill worked just like normal.


    After a little flexing of the skill, he nodded. If anything, it was stronger with the higher level energy powering it. His normally light blue armor was now a golden color, and for less Genesis Energy than he got for killing a single ant on the first floor, he was able to power the skill at full capacity for a second.


    It wasn''t great whenpared to his Talent, but it meant that Genesis Energy went farther than mana did. He had never cast a spell with essence to test that, but it felt like Genesis Energy might be better than essence, unit per unit. It <em>certainly</em> was stronger than mana.


    Still, they weren''t going to be wasteful, which meant they would resort to meleebat as much as they could.


    Matt was also happy that they had gotten it as a floor, even if he would have preferred encountering it deeper. The theme reward would mean a portion of their essence would be converted to Genesis Energy, giving them a stronger foundation and improving not only their current strength, but a small boost at every tier in the future.


    Foundations mattered, after all. You couldnt use the overwhelming amount of essence gained each tier topletely change your allocation, and expect to be just as strong as someone who had used that allocation their entire life.


    Essence allocated to a specific aspect of cultivation carried with it a small, butpounding bonus as essence was applied each Tier. It wasnt really noticeable at low Tiers, but by Tier 16, it would have a measurable impact on their strength. With a second-floor Genesis Cultivation, it would probably start to affect them as early as Tier 14. Leveraging your strengths was vital to stay on top of things, especially on the Path.


    That all tied in with the floor theme of Genesis Cultivation, it would convert their allocated essence into Genesis Energy. That conversion in the cultivators core increased the multiplier of anything built on top of it. As the multiplierpounded, the deeper the conversion became, and the better off the cultivator would be for it.


    The example Kurt had given was a Tier 11 cultivator who had only gotten one Tier converted. They got more out of that conversation than a Tier 14 who had their 13th and 14th Tiers of essence converted by Minka. The analogy Matt understood best was that of a rectangle whose area you want to maximize. You did so by adding to the short side, as it adds thergest area for the smallest increase.


    As a second floor reward and as Tier 11s, they could expect at least two of their Tiers to convert, which would be quite an added multiplier to their future cultivation.


    Minka didnt seem to care about the amount of essence converted, which was a shame, but lower Tiers still got the most out of the ce, with deeper conversions possible. It was another reason why entering Minka at Tier 11 was an advantage.


    Still, they had to get moving, and they started to walk through the grasnd after everyone practiced casting spells with a little Genesis Energy.


    There was no flying restriction, but none of them wanted to risk taking to the sky with their now limited casting abilities until they knew what roamed this ruin.


    Now that their eyes and other senses worked, they had no issues moving around and through the grassy fields. It also made for a much morefortable experience altogether; even the feel of his clothes wasforting after such an extendedck of stimtion.


    Matt still spread his spiritual perception out and enjoyed the increased feedback he got from the upgraded ability.


    While Minka still restricted their spiritual perceptions range without Eternal Darkness oppressive nature, Matt felt as free as a bird. His spiritual perception now stretched for a few miles without issue, enough that even after less than a mile of walking, he sensed danger and readied his de.


    Susanne seemed to notice it at the same time, and their different reward in thest theme challenge showed its usefulness.


    Liz and Aster had better range, and higher sensitivity to minute details over the expanded distance, but Matt and Susanne noticed the danger first with their specialized senses.


    A prairie dog suddenly appeared from out of the ground, and without warning, shot a st of lightning at Matt. Flicking on [Cracked Phantom Armor], he took the hit, but before he could cut at the rodent, Susanne had alreadyshed out with her de and cut it apart. Space itself stretched out her de to allow it to reach.


    The rush of Genesis Energy they received was more than three times what they got from even the sub bosses on the first floor, but it was hard to tell how much of it was because of the deeper floor, and how much of it was the theme giving extra Genesis Energy to allow for skill usage.


    They now knew one of the monsters to be on the lookout for going forward, but Aster was the first to notice their next attacker.


    Eagle from behind us. Hiding in the sun. She yipped.


    Aster, without the ability to effectively fight in the melee, was their dedicated scout. If they needed her to attack, she would be spending more Genesis Energy than the others would with their melee attacks.


    Matt turned and was shocked as he was finally able to see the eagle in his spiritual perception. It was massive, and had a wingspan of thirty feet, which powered a correspondingly gargantuan body through the skies.


    Liz called out, Spend spells for this one!


    Matt charged a [Mana sh] and sent out a golden arc of energy, but the eagle seemedpletely unbothered by the spell.


    Susannes spell was just as ineffective, even whenbined with [Hypersonic Edge].


    Their attacks did literally nothing. The bird didnt even have a feather out of ce from their spells.


    Lizs blood and Aster''s ice also had no effect, forcing Liz to call out, Get us underground! This isn''t normal...


    Hearing that, Matt used [Earth Maniption] to open up a tunnel into the ground, and then cover it back up. It cost him the same amount of Genesis Energy he had gotten from the prairie dog, but it kept them alive. As they felt the eaglend above them, it fortunately didnt seem interested in pecking the ground or otherwise digging.


    After a second of looking around, they watched it fly off with their spiritual perception.


    Seeing it was gone, Liz asked, Anyone know what this could be? It doesn''t feel like an illusion.


    Matt spent the Genesis Energy to activate his AI and had it check for anything they knew about it, but found nothing about an invulnerable eagle.


    When none of them found anything, they were forced to concede to the fact that they found something weird in Minka, which was to be expected. They just needed to adapt to the situation.


    No normal Tier 14 monsters could shrug off their attacks without even a feather getting bent. They were strong, and Genesis Energy empowered their spells even more than when they cast them with mana. That was why Liz thought the beast was an illusion, but it had left sizable indents in the ground when itnded, proving that to be a false assumption.


    After debating for a while longer, they decided to create some camouge out of the grass and try and slink their way through the prairie.


    The invulnerable giant eagle essentially meant that flying was off limits while they were in its rift.


    As they crept along the ground, they had to fight a few prairie dogs, but they never came in packs greater than five. They were easy for the four of them to take out, especially with Lizs elephant serving as a living bulwark. It may not have been as powerful as Matts skill, but even with Minka forcing Liz to activate it with Genesis Energy, it was by far their most efficient defense.


    Aster discovered that she really enjoyed the taste of the groundhogs, and Matt started gathering their bodies forter meals.If his bond liked it, they couldnt be bad to experiment with, and he was always on the lookout for new ingredients.


    It took them a full day, but eventually, through careful crawling and keeping a low profile, they reached the end of the grasnd, only being attacked by the eagle when they made too much of a racket.


    That told them the gimmick of the ruin was exactly that. They needed to keep a low profile, like the prairie dogs, and avoid the eagle circling overhead.


    When they reached the edge of the ruin, they had no doubt they found it. Like someone had forgotten to add any natural transition in nature, they found a volcanic area that bubbled withva that bordered the waving grasnds.


    They couldnt even feel the heat until after they crossed the invisible border.


    Pulling his hand back, Matt looked at the others and asked. Push through, or try to find something else?


    Liz shook her head, Fly through with our Concepts. But keep low. We don''t know if that eagle is restricted, and I don''t want to risk it.


    Matt took Liz with him, and they all disposed of their grass suits and flew over the bubblingva. The amulets he had made for the desert on the first floor worked well enough to help keep their temperature in check, and as they were an item, ran on mana instead of Genesis Energy.


    Some testing had shown that nonbat items functioned fine with mana, but any item designated forbat failed to manifest its function with mana. So as long as they didnt try to attack with the amulets, they would work fine.


    Even with that knowledge, Matt wished that he had a better way to block the heat, but was unwilling to spend Genesis Energy on [Cracked Phantom Armor] topletely block it out. Having a resource he didnt create endlessly was an annoying change of pace for him; he was so used to having an unending stream of spells at his disposal.


    If Luna hadnt trained them for this, he would have fared far worse in adapting to the new circumstances. The floor theme forced a change of mindset on Matt that Susanne didnt really have to adjust to, and Liz also had a far easier time adjusting than he did. She just enjoyed being able to have far, far more staying power than most mages, whereas his limitless mana was a cornerstone of his entire fighting style, and always had been. He either could barely cast the spell, or didnt have arge enough max mana to cover the initial cost. Hed simply never been in a situation where the casting of spells cost him anything valuable.


    Inside their current ruin, the oppressive heat pressed in at them from all sides, despite his amulets cutting the worse of its effects. The only good thing about this ruin was that the monsters seemed to be aquatic, or as aquatic as molten rock counted for. Lava turtles, while aggressive, didnt have any ranged attacks, meaning the four of them were able to sit in the air and attack with near impunity.


    Which is exactly what they did. Matt had a crossbow crafted for Minka, and finally pulled it out along with a bundle of bolts. Susanne and Liz both had more traditional bows that they withdrew as well. Aster was once again left to be their de facto scout, unable to shoot without thumbs or magic.


    With enchanted arrows and bolts, they massacred their way through the ruin, gathering Genesis Energy with every kill. Killing the turtles was annoying, but not hard. They simply needed tond an attack on the exposed heads while avoiding the ming backs of the turtles, which were hot enough to melt and burn their bolts and arrows.


    But with enough well ced attacks, they were able to kill theva turtles and carefully swept the area clean of any monsters. What was essentially free Genesis Energy couldn''t be passed up so easily.


    The only downside with the turtles was the fact that they couldnt get any of the items and skills they dropped before they were pulled under theva flows, ruining the drops.


    Liz did have them stop for a while to collect some Lava Dandelions, which grew in abundance along theva flows and seemed to be a snack that the turtles enjoyed. They were only useful as secondary ingredients in some fire type potions, but they were there and free for the taking, so she didnt leave a single one behind.


    Matt, upon inspecting them, wanted to try and make a chili out of the spicy ingredient.


    As Liz was collecting the flower, Aster noticed a challenge room hidden behind avafall.


    To enter the ce, they needed to have Matt part the falling molten rock with [Lava Maniption], but that cost was minuscule whenpared to the potential rewards. Thankfully, the challenge room crystal was standing far enough away from thevafall that they werent in danger of getting sshed.


    Any idea what this one is? I just get the idea that it''s not fighting. Liz asked after she inspected it.


    Matt shook his head as he spent the Genesis Energy to run his AI for a few seconds.


    Nothing came back with a match, but this challenge pir didnt really give them much to work with, unlike the others they had found.


    After talking it over, they decided to enter.


    An hourter, they re-materialized, staring numbly into the distance.


    I never want to see another penguin for as long as I live, Susanne grumbled.


    Aster whimpered agreement, as she dug through her storage ring, tossing several cartons of Marshmallow Fluff ice cream out on the ground, where they almost immediately melted upon contact with the hot stone of the ruin.


    Meanwhile, Liz nodded silently as she grabbed the pair of [Ice Maniption] skill shards they got as their reward while their spirits refilled with Genesis Energy, once her mouth was free from the taste of vomit.


    Matt pulled out their house, giving them all a much-needed break before they resumed theirva turtle genocide.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180


    Matt looked around and cursed as Liz washed up on shore, sputtering.


    They had finished the first sublevel of the second floor on Minka, and when they found themselves on a vast beach, they figured they just needed to head further ind to find an exit.


    However, they quickly figured out that they were on an ind and a small one at that. To make matters worse, wading into the water only resulted in being transported back to shore. If they were going to progress, swimming wasnt an option.


    Minka also deemed it fit to block flying away from the ind in all its various forms, through both equipment and Concept based means.


    Liz had even tried flying with her blood by spending Genesis Energy to empower the spell, but it had worked for only a few seconds. They got their hopes up, but were quickly disappointed once the spell failed and she was dumped into the water. Once fully submerged, she had been teleported back to the shallows.


    Cursing, Liz sat down and pulled off her now waterlogged boots, asking, How far did I make it? It felt pretty far, but I was having to fight the restrictions of Minka to do so.


    Matt broke that hope. About fifty feet.


    That''s it?! Fuck me sideways. It felt like at least a dozen times farther than that.


    Matt had to hold back a smirk at thatment while Liz stood back up and red at the gentle waves crashing on the sand. So we''re trapped? I don''t believe that... There''s always a way out.


    Susanne came back down the beach from the forested part of the ind with the trunk of a tree dragging behind her.


    Matt exined, When we saw you struggling, we decided to split up. Aster went to go hunt some of the rabbit things for us, and Susanne had an idea about this ruin''s test.


    Susanne nodded to Liz as she stopped next to the soaking wet woman with the log in tow. When we saw you struggle to fly, we knew something was up. We got dropped on a small ind with no monsters besides some rabbits, and we can''t swim out? She shrugged with one arm and continued, Either this is a wave scenario where we''ll get attacked every night, or we need to make a ship to leave with what we have.


    Matt added his own conjecture. So, we need to test with a log of wood. Would you mind doing the honors?


    Liz looked from the log to the two of them before asking, Why me?


    Susanne grinned, Youre already wet.


    Liz tisked but took the trunk of the tree and dragged it to the waters edge before shoving it in.


    With an easy jump, shended on the surface and took a few steps to counteract the rolling of the log.


    As she bobbed in the water, she turned to them and shrugged, I can''t really move like this without spending Genesis Energy and I''d rather not.


    Matt nodded and cut a thicker branch to give her a makeshift paddle.


    Taking it, Liz paddled her way out thirty feet, then fifty. Once she reached one hundred feet out, arge wave crested above her and crashed down, knocking her off the log.


    A secondter, she appeared back at the shoreline, soaked even more than before. Ok, so we need to make a raft or something. Matt, can you drop the house so I can shower and change?


    Matt did so and then turned to Susanne. You don''t happen to be a ship building expert?


    She looked at him with a t expression and offered, I can chop trees down, but thats about it. You''re the crafter.


    Matt shrugged helplessly. I never thought boat building would be a skill that Id need to acquire. How hard can it be to build a boat? As he started thinking through the logistics required to build a proper boat, he changed his question. How hard can it be to build a raft?


    Not willing to spend his Genesis Energy on his AI, and with the others AIs not trained on crafting, Matt started nning the old fashioned way. We need simrly sized logs and some rope. We have a few spools of various ropes in storage, so that''s easy.


    Susanne nodded to him but said nothing, turning to the forest. Together they picked out half a dozen trees, then cut and sized them. It was meant to be a rough test, so they quickly tied the logs together to give themselves a square-ish tform they could stand upon before cutting a smaller log into something that resembled a paddle.


    Matt volunteered for the newest test, but stripped down first. They were seemingly teleported to the shore when they fell into the water, so getting too far away wasn''t an issue. Besides, he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] at the ready if something attacked him.


    While they had spent a good bit of their Genesis Energy fighting the various monsters that were strong enough to require spells to defeat, they were still far ahead of their set goal for their current position, so they had some wiggle room.


    Bybining two of their Genesis Energies as a test, they had seen that they were individually close to reaching the amount needed to get the exit reward. Considering that most delvers didnt reach that level until they were leaving the second sublevel out of the three thatprised each floor, they knew they were doing well.


    Matt pushed out the raft, then jumped onto the logs and winced at the noticeable dip that his weight caused. Their bracing stick had broken when hended on the log.


    It was only the first test, but their construction skills needed some work.


    Still, Matt was able to paddle out to the one hundred foot mark without issue. He did notice that as he neared the ce where Liz fell, arger than normal wave was building, timed just right to hit him at nearly the same spot.


    With a better raft, he was able to crest the wave, only getting sshed from the impact, which was fine. One needed to actually fall into the water to be reset to shore.


    Paddling through it, Matt was able to travel another hundred feet out, where an evenrger wave smashed into his raft.


    It nearly sent him tumbling off, but he was light on his feet and kept his bnce long enough to crest the top of the swell.


    A second wave at a one hundred foot interval could have been a coincidence, but the third at the three hundred proved a pattern, and it sent Matt tumbling into the water as it broke the raft apart.


    An instantter, he felt the soft sand of the beach and crawled out.


    Liz was there and offered him a hand up. Well, that''s telling.


    Susanne let out a sigh. So it''s a raft building test? I hope the tests dont keeping that fast, or it doesnt keep scaling that hard. If so, we''ll be dealing with mile-high waves before we''re a mile out.


    Matt turned back around and spoke as he thought. No, something else is wrong. That was Tier 14 synthetic rope, and had a weight capacity of five tons. Theres no way that wave could have snapped it. We even triple-wrapped the logs. Its resistant to cutting and fraying. No way it broke from a wave that small. I think the ruin is cheating somehow.


    Liz chewed her lip and pulled out a length of the cord, and dipped it into the sea.


    After pulling it out, she found it weak and easily damaged.


    The water didnt affect their weapons and armor, which they were quick to check, which meant the ruin was forcing them to y by its own rules.


    Not knowing what to do, they decided to take a break as the sun was starting to set. Liz, with her AI not requiring her to spend Genesis Energy since it was a mana reserve type, sent Aster a message to return before the artificial sun had set. Susanne wasnt wrong. A wave-type challenge wasn''t unheard of in Minka, and they usually corresponded with the night.


    While floor themes were well documented and understood, the actual ruins that made up the floors were always random, and changed unpredictably. They were theorized to be finite, but they were <em>far</em> from all documented, let alone predictable. One ruin could be seen a dozen times in a row, and then vanish for multiple cycles.


    Aster scampered back with a half dozen rabbits, and Matt cooked them up for everyone. They were simple, Tier 0 beasts, but they served as a constant source of food, which helped justify both the build a raft challenge and the fight-off waves theory.


    That night, nothing attacked despite them keeping a watch and having the shields running at full power, dismissing their fears about the possibility of a monster wave challenge.


    As Matt cooked everyone a rabbit and egg breakfast, he asked, So what''s our n?


    Liz, who was tapping on a pad they had lying around, hmmed. Im trying to find <em>anything</em> about shipbuilding, but our records are severelycking in this department.


    Sadly, the pad she was using was the only thing they had that ran on mana and also had their information stored on it. It was packed full of useful Minka information for a situation like this, or any of the other floors where their AI wouldnt work properly. Sadly there was nothing on shipbuilding.


    Matt shook his head. While Luna hadnt taught them about shipbuilding in particr, she <em>had</em> prepared them, and they had massive repositories of information downloaded thanks to her guidance.


    Have you checked our backup drives? Maybe it''s on one of them? He was hoping it was just a case of bad data management, but suspected that they werent so lucky.


    Susanne shook her head as she looked up from her own pad. Dont bother. I had a video documentary series about a group of Tier 2s who needed to survive in various ces. In one of them, they were dropped on an abandoned ind. In that episode, they built a raft to escape, and it''s gone. Or at least blocked. Minka clearly doesn''t want us cheating.


    She used her fingers to air quote thest word.


    Matt tried to plumb his memory, but found nothing there about boats. He grew up near the coast and knew fishermen, but had never been on a boat more than a handful of times. Even then, they were modern constructs with mana engines and the like. They surely weren''t wooden constructs cobbled together out of trees.


    Liz tossed the pad to the side. Let''s explore the ind really thoroughly today. We can dedicate one full day to that before moving on. Id feel really stupid if we hit the edge of the ruin just to find out that we were meant to dig six inches down to find a trap door to the exit.


    After their breakfast, Matt cast [Earth Maniption] but found that the entire ind was outside of his control. Even the sand under his feet resisted its own elemental maniption skill.


    With that discovery and wasted Genesis Energy, they split off into twos. Matt went with Aster while Liz and Susanne explored in the opposite direction.


    Matt and Aster started by walking around the edge of the forest, keeping their spiritual perception on the beach around them as they walked. Any time they found something even slightly off, they stopped and dug it up.


    None of what they found was useful in the way of getting them off the ind, but it was mildly interesting. They found everything from chunks of refined iron to processed daggers, and even a few unenchanted pieces of jewelry.


    Either Minka nted that stuff as false leads, or it hadn''t been cleaned up from thest people tond on this ind.


    From what Matt understood, it shouldnt be thetter. Minkapletely expelled and recycled everything the people who entered its depths left behind.


    If that was true then why would random seeming junk be the exception?


    When they reached the others, theypared what they found, which honestly seemed like an entric collection from a lost and found box.


    Not knowing what else to do, they searched the forest. There were no dangerous monsters, merely the rabbits that scampered around. Aster only stopped a few times for a snack while they worked, but they never stopped trying to find an answer to thistest puzzle.


    They were giving up hope when they finally dug up a box of nails. Thousands of steel nails, perfectly preserved.


    That was telling, and Matt had Aster send a single message to Liz and Susanne informing them of their find.


    Not an hourter, the two of them found both a hammer and a saw buried in the ground.


    When they finished the indte that night, well after the sun had set, they looked over their haul.


    Liz gestured at their collection, Everything we need to build a boat. Saw, hammer, rope, nails, cloth for a sail. They even gave us an item that converts mana to a sent that can also dry wood. I''d say Minka wants us to build a boat.


    Aster cocked her head and asked, Sure, but what is this test? Are we just meant to escape, or something else? If we make it out a mile, will we findnd or find ourselves teleported out? There isn''t a boss in our perception. I feel like theres something more to this test. It almost seems like a challenge room.


    None of them had an answer to her question, so they started to n out their escape vessel.


    At first, their idea was to just make a better raft, but they discarded that after the worry that they might need to tackle more challenging waves, or possibly storms.


    After making a rough draft, Matt bit the bullet and spent the Genesis Energy to simte their design. Liz could technically do so with her AI that reserved rather than spending mana, and therefore Genesis Energy, but his had grown to do such testing much better than hers, so it fell on him.


    They could always get more Genesis Energy, after all.


    Sadly, their first design was a failure, as they had several stress points that they hadnt ounted for.


    After brainstorming some more, they ended up with a catamaran style for their boat. It was more stable in their testing, and Liz remembered that Duke Water''s family used a simr style of boat in their archipgo low Tier world.


    With two connected canoes for greater stability, they would have a tform for a ce to rest and weather the sun and any storms they might encounter.


    It was also going to be a lot easier to make a catamaran with their limited shipbuilding skills, rather than a more typical single-hull ship.


    After deciding on the style, they needed to decide on the size. The initial idea was to make it big enough to fit their house, but even without testing, the math didnt work. The house was solidly built and heavy. To make the catamaranrge enough to hold its weight, they would needrger trees than they had ess to.


    Discarding that idea, they decided to scale back their ns and reduce the size to something more manageable.


    After testing their n with Matts AI, they started construction.


    Matt and Susanne worked together to take down and strip trees while Liz and Aster worked on the framing work.


    By the end of the day, they had a half-decent pile of wood for them to work on tomorrow, and a half-finished frameid out.


    It was a nice evening as they spent the remaining daylight eating a nice spread of BBQ rabbit before turning in.


    Matt was woken up from his sleep when Liz called out for them. Were under attack!


    That jolted him awake, and in less than thirty seconds, Matt threw on his set of physical armor and readed his sword. Liz was already outside the house, and he followed secondster with Aster and Susanne on his heels.


    From the shore, frogmen were exiting the water in the dozens.


    Instead of attacking their house or them all, the monsters were heading directly at their boat.


    Liz, who was the fastest to wake,shed out at the nearest one and stabbed deep into its thick barrel chest. Blood flowed, but even as that single monster turned to her, the others kept attacking and tearing apart their boat.


    Matt reached the monsters and his sword took the first out in a sweeping attack that came up through its legs and then back down.


    The monster died in that single attack, but the Genesis Energy Matt got for the kill was minuscule. He couldn''t even cast a single [Fireball] with the amount he got.


    That didnt make sense with the rules of Genesis Cultivation, as it normally increased the reward per kill massively. If they only gave this much Genesis Energy, it implied that they would give nothing if this was a different floor.


    After Matt cut down another two frogmen, he slowed down and eventually stopped moving altogether. Like that, the monsters stopped targeting him altogether.


    Pulling back, he called out. Retreat. Let them have it. They''re trying to destroy the boat and only the boat. It''s half wrecked already. Let em have this one.


    After they pulled back, they had the pleasure of watching the frogmen pull their boat apart and drag the cut wood into the water, where they vanished.


    Left on an empty beach, Liz cursed. Fuck this ce. First, it drops us off in the middle of nowhere, then expects us to build a boat without any of our prepared information. Then it sends monsters to destroy our hard work.


    She turned and led the four of them back into the house, where they all went to sleep. They werent in danger here with these frogmen, so there was no reason to keep watch.


    Aster was the only one not to fall asleep immediately, as she had eaten one of the fallen monster''s hearts and regretted that decision. She spent ten minutes washing her mouth out, bemoaning the fact that food would never taste good again before finally settling in for the night.


    The next morning, the four of them set to work. Not gathering more wood or creating a boat No, they created defenses out of the sand and rocks as best they could. The monsters seemed to have no issue with their house or the rocks they used to make cradles yesterday, only targeting the cut wood.


    If they were going to defend their boat, they needed to have fortifications.


    They even discussed building the boat inside the house to use its shields to block the monsters, but feared that Minka would consider that cheating and force them to power the enchantments with Genesis Energy.


    If that happened, they would be screwed for the rest of the floor. They would be able to use the house defensively once, before they suspected the rules would take hold of it, and wasting that here would be the height of folly.


    It had already happened on the previous level. Halfway through, Minka decided that Matt''s talismans were too much of a ''cheat,'' and startedpletely preventing them from activating unless they fed Genesis Energy into them, and they didn''t want the house to undergo a simr fate.


    So, they built themselves a fortification with a single entrance that they hoped would funnel the frogmen into their des.


    It took so long that they only had a few dozen pieces of wood cut, stripped, and dried when night fell.


    Two hours after the sun fell, the first of the frogmen crawled their way out of the water, and like mindless zombies, they walked over to the wall they had built.


    To their relief, instead of climbing the wall, they started walking over to where Matt, Susanne, and Lizs elephant stood waiting.


    Susanne and the elephant stood about ten feet in front of the entrance, where they made a rock funnel while Matt defended the tunnel itself.


    She whipped her greatsword around in an arc that sliced through two of the frogmen before sidestepping one of the monster''s lunges. They were limited without spells, but both of them were strong and well versed in their favored weapons.


    It also helped that the monsters were about as smart as a mindless golem, just slowly closing the distance without any independent thought. They had no spells of their own, and werent particrly strong, so Susanne was able to cut the endless stream of monsters down for an hour without even breaking a sweat. It also helped that the elephant was swatting frogmen backwards with impunity. It didnt kill them, but its physical size helped keep Queen from being overwhelmed.


    At the end of her hour, she was starting to breathe heavily. Without their enchantments, spells, and general boosts, they were forced to fight with just their bodies. As Tier 11s, they could fight for hours without issue, but during their nning, they chose to only take the front position in hour-long increments to ensure that neither of them got too tired.


    Susanne was better off than Matt, as reserve spells didnt actually spend their Genesis Energy, only reserving it, while Matt only had the channel versions of those boosts at his disposal.


    When Susanne''s time came to an end, Matt smoothly stepped forward and took her ce.


    His longsword was shorter than her greatsword, but he wasrger, so he was able to cover about the same range, though he did rely on the elephant for help positioning and controlling the area much more than she had.


    Matt quickly fell into a groove as he cut down frogman after frogman. It was a good thing Minka reimed the bodies of its fallen monsters, as in just his single shift of an hour, he cut down over a thousand of the creatures.


    Over that time, he even earned a decent portion of Genesis Energy, which made a part of the night''s bloody and repetitive actions worth something.


    They switched on and off every hour until midnight, when a light appeared further ind.


    Liz, working in their shelter to cut the logs into shape, took off in that direction with Matt as Susanne kept her spot alongside the elephant, with Aster jumping in to assist.


    When they arrived at the spot, they found a chest slowly rising out of the ground.


    A voice that sounded like the woman drank broken ss with every meal said, A long time ago, I buried my treasure on this very ind when I was forced to escape from my mutinous crew. To those scurvy-ridden frogs, I cursed for all eternity to be worth nothing more than toads stepped on by those stronger than themselves. To those who find this, feel free to plunder this prize before taking your leave. I did worse yet to people in my time. I can''tin about someone returning the favor. But before ye do, I ask that ye hear me out. In me travels through the twelve oceans and four seas, I found a treasure map that led one to Misty Ind, which I have inscribed on the lid of this here chest. I ask that you take this treasure chest there before you open it. It be myst regret not making it to Misty Ind. But ye not need do it for charity. They said there be a treasure greater than any other awaits those who reach its shores and solve its mysteries. I had gathered everything the legends said I could possibly need, but I was betrayed just days before reaching its shores. Do what I never could. Please.


    Matt looked to Liz as the voice ended.


    It seemed Minka had a deeper meaning to this ruin. Most of the information was vor speech, but there had been bits of information he interpreted as truth.


    If his understanding was correct, they could open the treasure now and escape, or sail to the hidden ind for greater rewards.


    Liz reached down to grab the chest and pulled back her hand, surprised. I can''t pull it into my ring.


    Matt looked through the forest and sighed as he said, And of course, the frogmen captains vengefulness cursed them. Something tells me they want this prize just as much as they want our boat.


    Bending over, Matt grabbed both handles of the chest and flexed hard to lift the chest.


    He grunted as he pulled the chest off the ground. Even once it was free, it was astonishingly heavy, to the point where he suspected even Tier 14s would find it difficult to lift. Even with his entirely physical cultivation, he needed to cast [Mages Retreat] at a truly unsustainable rate to be able to walk faster than a waddle.


    The monsters wereing, after all.


    He tried to put it into his spatial ring now that he freed it, but like Liz said, it wasnt that convenient. In the end, it took thebined effort of himself and Liz- who enhanced her strength with her Concept and blood alchemy- to get it back before they were encircled by the frommen.


    Even then, it was just <em>barely</em> within theirbined strength to carry it without using any Genesis Energy. Almost suspiciously so, if he were being honest. He hadnt exhausted himself so much in <em>decades</em>, [Endurance] always more than able to relieve his sore muscles after each exercise, but nothing had ever felt so impossibly heavy while remaining just inside the possibility of carrying.


    Once back to their little camp, they had to fight through a mass of frogmen that were trying to use their very bodies as a way to overwhelm Susanne.


    Liz was forced to cast [Blood Sprites] to clear them a path. Thankfully, while the skill had a high initial cost, even in Genesis Energy, it was self-replicating with the surrounding blood, and quickly started to expand exponentially and swarm the monsters.


    As the bloody birds flew over the water and started to attack the frogmen that stepped out of the water, their numbers started to dwindle.


    They needed fresh blood to spawn more of themselves, and had a short lifespan without a constant influx. While the tide of frogmen was overwhelming, it couldnt keep up with the constantly-growing swarm of birds.


    Susanne looked to the chest bnced between Matt and Lizs shoulders and pointed at it with her chin, not saying anything directly.


    As Matt brought it into the shelter, Liz exined it to both Susanne and Aster.


    Matt reced Susanne now that the numbers of frogmen had been thinned to an easily manageable number, but was forced to dip into [Endurance] and [Lesser Regeneration] for a few seconds to keep himself from copsing on the ground.


    After hearing the story, Susanne agreed with their decision to keep the treasure chest.


    If it was as the woman said, and they would get rewards beyond their imagination, it was worth beating the test. Or at least attempting it.


    They only had to open the treasure to be transported out after all. Or, that was their spection.


    As the sun was about to rise, the frogmen stopped appearing, giving them a much-needed break. They all took an hour nap before focusing all their efforts on building a ship that could take them across the waves.


    The next two days repeated in the same way.


    During the daylight hours, they gathered materials from the forest and built what they could of the ship, while at night, Matt and Susanne fought off the seemingly endless waves of monsters. Even when Liz used [Blood Sprites] to give them breathing room, the monsters stayed hiding under the waves, meaning that while it would kill off everything on the beach, theyd have to deal with a <em>massive</em> wave of the monsters as soon as thest sparrow was gone.


    Thankfully they never grew stronger or changed their tactics in any way, so they only needed to continuously cut them down. That said, there were always enough to <em>almost</em> overwhelm them, and as they got better at fighting the monsters their numbers increased with every passing night. Minka seemed intent to slowly up the pressure until they broke or left.


    Matts day job was mainly enchanting. What they didnt know about shipbuilding they made up for with magic. While his talismans were locked, he could still power normal enchantments with mana without a problem, so he could freely go overboard metaphorically speaking.


    With Tier 14 trees being excellent enchanting material, having previously been alive, Matt was able to double, then triple up on the durability and repair runes. Liz even managed to find nts on the ind that she could use to brew strengthening and lightening treatments for the wood.


    The hard part was ensuring that the entire vessel was considered one item, and fed through a central point by the rudder where he would stand. Matt had never made an enchantment thisrge before, and he had to waste Genesis Energy a few times to check his work and ensure that he was correct in his rune cement and pairing.


    For all that his AI was a powerhouse, it had never needed to work on a limited budget before, and that cost him as he had it work out theplicated equations.


    It was on the third morning of construction when, after they napped, they pushed their catamaran off into the ocean.


    At nearly sixty feet long, the boat wasrge, with its two canoe hulls spanned by arge set of nks and a small house.


    The original design was half as big, but the damn treasure chest was too heavy, despite its small size. When they realized that, they were forced to expand the boat and create special reinforcements just to carry the weight properly without risking the boat copsing with a bad swell.


    None of them were experts, which was why they cheated and over-built so shamelessly. They did <em>not</em> want to have to do this a second time.


    As they passed the first couple crests that tried to capsize the boat, they raised the sail they made and activated the wind enchantment.


    It blew directly into the sail, which meant that they didnt have to worry about the direction or tacking in the wind. Which was a good thing. They knew it was something that could be done, but they had no idea how to actually pull off.


    Thankfully, the enchantment didnt require any Genesis Energy, only costing mana. And without even his skills to drain his regeneration, he had <em>more</em> than enough. So long as Minka didnt change the rules on them again, they were in the clear.


    They were an hour out from the ind when the treasure chest started to glow.


    Untying himself, Matt carefully moved to the treasure chest and found that apass had popped out from the lid.


    It glowed with a golden energy, not unlike Genesis Energy, but different enough that he couldnt interact with it. But Matt only needed to read it to follow the directions.


    Like the chest itself, he was unable to store it, so he tied a bit of string through the sp and made his way back to the others, where they had tied themselves to the deck.


    We have our heading, Matt called out as he adjusted the way the wind was blowing until they were following the glowing needle.


    As they traversed the water, the swells grewrger andrger. Thankfully, getting wet wasn''t enough to send them back to the ind, and their boat was well constructed. Or at least, constructed well enough.


    They were cresting a small one-hundred-foot swell when they got a glimpse of the storm they were sailing directly into.


    The clouds roiled ck thunder and sent out bolts of purple lightning.


    Seeing that, Matt whipped the water from his face and asked, Anyone fancy turning around?


    Aster was the first to answer, Please. My fur is wet and salty. I''m sure if we ask nicely, the frogmen will serve us margaritas and ice cream.


    Susanneughed, We made it this far. No turning back now. Full power ahead! The boat is solid and we have no time to waste.


    Liz sighed, I''m with Aster on the hair thing, but no. We made it this far. Worstes to worst, we end up back on the beach.


    Matt increased the power of the wind enchantment and followed the needle on thepass.


    We might end up back on the beach again, but this is exhrating! Matt called out.


    This would be a battle between nature and their crafting skills. His enchanting skills, Lizs alchemy, and Aster and Susannes hard work all being put to a final test.


    As they approached the storm, the waves grew more unpredictable and violent, but their boat persevered valiantly.


    When they crossed the border of the storm, a wave of water crashed down on them so hard it actually <em>hurt </em>when it hit his skin. If theyd been Tier 10 or lower, it probably would have broken bones. Liz and Aster actually <em>did </em>need healing, with hairline fractures along their bones and a massive bruise spreading across each of their bodies, but a pair of Genesis Energy-empowered [Ranged Heal]''s fixed them up nicely.


    Still, Matt stood where he was tied in by the rudder andughed as they crested the top of a wave, and gravity seemed to give out on his stomach for a second.


    As they crashed down, he felt the boat creak, and the draw on the durability and repair runes increased.


    He didnt lower the mast or slow them down.


    They had mana to spare, and were <em>so close</em> to their goal.


    Thepass in his hand was warm, and grew hotter the further they progressed.


    He knew that as long as they made it through, they would be fine.


    It took six hours of being beaten by the winds and a few million mana given to the built in enchantments, but out of nowhere, they left the roaring waves and entered an area of calm sea and winds.


    Looking up and the sun shining down on them, Matt let out augh of relief. The others weren''t at the helm, where he was feeding the enchantments, and so didnt have his feedback from the boat.


    He was pretty sure that his whispered pleas were the only thing holding the boat together.


    As they sailed deeper in the eye of the storm, Matt followed thepass to the center.


    At first, it appeared as if nothing was there, but as he had the catamaran circle the point thepass pointed to, they began to see it.


    Mist started to rise up out of the water, and with it, an ind. At first, it looked small, but it grewrger andrger until a mountain touched the clouds of the storm overhead.


    Not needing to check the now zingpass, Matt pushed the handle and directed them to a rocky shore.


    As soon as their boat touched the beach, they started to sink.


    Not just them or the boat, but the entire ind itself started to fall into the water. They and a few hundred feet of the surrounding water stayed at the same level, but they quickly found themselves in an underwater bubble as the water rose to encase them.


    Now, it was time to find out what that captain had said was hidden.


    The four of them untied themselves and moved over to the chest that was now glowing with Genesis Energy ready to open it up. Before they could do more than take a step forward, they all turned as they felt a presence rapidly approaching from further along the beach.


    They hadnt been there more than a dozen seconds before being attacked.


    Nothing unique for Minka.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 1

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 1


    Minka Chronicles Floor 1


    Sajan took a step forward and paused. The darkness around him was oppressive, and with only his spiritual sense able to give him any feedback, he was stumbling around like a blind man.


    That in and of itself would have been fine, but he was terrified, and despite not being able to feel it, he knew he was sweating through his armor.


    When his team entered Minka, they had been four close friends who, upon reaching the peak of Tier 13, wanted an opportunity to grow.


    As dwarves and members of n royalty, they should have lived lives of luxury and been able to idle their time away, but they were only branch members of their respective ns, and life wasn''t so easy for them. They werent treated <em>badly</em>; even Sajan couldn''t say that, but they were given none of the treatment that the n heirs were given.


    But the four of them wanted that treatment, and they knew that Minka was their best opportunity to turn their fates around.


    Except, they had gotten the worst floor possible for their skillsets.


    They were strong in a stand up fight, and while they had issues fighting with their senses blocked on the first level, they had no luck left on the second level.


    Ca had just vanished from their group, and none of them had seen her leave or a monster take her.


    One moment they were four, then they were three.


    It had caused them to race ahead, but it hadnt helped. Oh, it had gotten them away from whatever killed Ca, but they ran directly into the next ambush.


    Tselha went down in a spray of blood, but they never sensed what hit him or how it punctured his armor.


    Sajan and Yon Seung-Hee simply ran. Ran with everything they had to get away from the horror they were experiencing.


    When Yon Seung-Hee veered off, Sajan followed him, but was a few steps behind and, therefore, slower.


    Yon Seung-Hee had forgotten the number one rule of Minka, and it cost him his life.


    He had found a person. Another cultivator sent in from one of the other Great Powers.


    Before Yon Seung-Hee could get closer than twenty feet, the man in what Sajan now knew to be sect robes moved.


    Sajan was able to turn and flee, but with his spiritual sense, still had to watch as hisst friend ran directly into a spray of needles.


    The Sect cultivator didnt bother to chase Sajan down, seeming content to rob Yon Seung-Hee''s body.


    Sajan knew his time was almost up, but refused to just sit there.


    So he took a step. He looked around, trying to see if anything moved.


    Then he took a second step.


    Over and over, he slowly moved through the tunnel he found himself in, hoping he could find a ruin with a boss that someone else had already cleared. If he found it before any monsters respawned, he could get to the third level, get to the safe area, and leave this pit of nightmares.


    Sajan took another step forward and checked his surroundings.


    He was desperate to save himself from death, and was extra careful as he inspected what was all around him.


    Sajan only noticed the boulder next to him changing in his spiritual perception the instant before the turtle''s mouth snapped over his head.


    ***


    ude walked through the pitch-ck halls of Minka as if there was nothing wrong.


    And to him, there was nothing different from this floor and the rest of the realm.


    He had been born blind due to a gic defect, and while the local healers did their best, his condition wasnt life-threatening, so he was relegated to a lower priority list that the Tier 35 or higher healers would get to eventually.


    Gic defects were hard to heal, and needed both specialized training and high Tier skills.


    ude never med anyone for his condition. It was just a string of bad luck that struck him, and he never knew anything else, so he missed nothing.


    His parents and teachers always ensured that he was able to live a fun and fulfilling life, despite hisck of vision.


    He would have gone on to live an ordinary life, but during an assembly held by the local guild when he was just six years old, he was sitting off to the side, not able to y the more physical games they had set up. Suddenly, one of the organizers came over to ask why he wasnt participating.


    He tried to exin to the man that he was blind, and the games were too fast paced for someone unable to see.


    The man, heter learned, was named Sufyan, and was the vice leader of the Tier 22 guild that used the as a feeder location. He refused to ept udes blindness as a reason to sit out from the games.


    Abandoning his other duties, Sufyan spent the rest of the time with ude, walking him through the various games and exining how they worked. He watched over as ude practiced them over and over, until he got a feel for how they worked and how to use his hearing and touch to ovee hisck of sight.


    Others had done the same thing, making sure he was taken care of and able to participate, but somehow, Sufyan was different in both methods and execution. He expected ude to push himself, and settled for nothing less than udes best.


    When he managed to beat the high score of the ski ball table, Sufyan gave him an offer that changed his life.


    Entrance into the guilds Future Heroes program.


    He took that opportunity, despite his parents'' worry.


    There they trained in both body and mind, and ude was pushed.


    While the trainers made sure he understood how to defend himself and advance, giving him the chance to walk through things like obstacle courses before he was expected to run them, he was ultimately held to the same standards as everyone else.


    From three hundred kids, they whittled the numbers down by ten percent every year, until the small group of remaining Hero candidates underwent Awakening together.


    ude struggled, but through effort and perseverance, he managed to stay far enough ahead of the curve to keep his ce and earn one of the five sidekick positions the guild had.


    They didnt get to Awaken earlier than the general poption or anything, and there was no ceremony or fanfare, but it was one of his most treasured memories. He had earned his Awakening through sweet and blood.


    His Tier 1 Talent turned everything around.


    It allowed him to swap the perceptions of anyone he touched, himself included.


    It didn''t allow him to control their body, but he could see what they saw, feel what they felt, smell what they smelled.


    And they would have to deal with being blind.


    Even better, it worked on rift monsters.


    ude abused that ability and shot through the Tiers, reaching Tier 3 with his grappling melee style.


    His next Talent turned him from mere sidekick material to proper Hero quality.


    His sense of touch was expanded to a degree rtive to his Tier, as an extra sense he and he alone experienced at all times. As a Tier 3, he had been limited to only a few inches away from his skin, but at Tier 12, his range was measured in hundreds of feet.


    And even Minka couldn''t change that.


    The floor of ever present darkness was home to him. Every step he took allowed him to see from the monsters'' perspectives and blinded them.


    Not that most of them needed their sight, but it allowed him to see their position through long training, practice, and triangtion.


    A monster in the tree above him fell, trying tond on him, but its perception was switched with a monster three trees over, and its timing was all wrong.


    A chopping motion with his hand sent out a spell that bisected the monkey-like monster mid air.


    He was long used to seeing through others'' viewpoints, but for those without training, it was debilitating.


    His Talent touched someone creeping through the same forest as him, but he pulled back, seeing that they were human and seemingly in no danger.


    ude was a Hero. He wouldnt hunt down those weaker than himself in cold blood.


    He paused as his Talent touched someone else, stalking the first person, dagger drawn.


    It happened so fast, they didnt even notice him steal their perception, but it was more than enough for him to learn all about them.


    They could somehow <em>smell</em> through Minkas restrictions, and were using their Talent to hunt other cultivators down.


    ude had smelled the three sets of blood on the man''s armor.


    ude was a Hero. He wouldnt hunt down those weaker than himself in cold blood, nor would he allow someone else to abuse their Talent for murder and assassination.


    Running through the forest was easy, as ude stole the senses of monsters and bugs alike using them to <em>see</em> his path. With his Talent, it only took him seconds to reach the stalking assassin.


    The assassin reacted quickly, and spun to sh out with a dagger that a nearby slug sensed was infused with mana.


    ude stepped to the side as he threw his Talent at the assassin. The man tried to resist it, but his spirit wasn''t strong enough to block the swap of senses, and he wasnt kind or gentle in his application. Instead of just swapping the assassin''s senses with his own, he swapped the man''s senses with a nearby beetle.


    The assassin stumbled as his body and senses were no longer in sync, and ude grabbed the hand holding the dagger and twisted. Bone broke, but before the man could fully react and pull away, ude kicked the man in the knee, shattering the limb and causing the assassin to fall.


    Kicking out his boot took the killer in the temple, crushing armor and skull.


    When he felt the rush of Genesis Energy and felt how great it was, ude shook his head. The assassin had more Genesis Energy than was appropriate for this part of the floor. With this influx, he already had enough of the mystical energy to get the exit reward for this level.


    After looting the man, he checked on the previous target of the assassin, and after seeing that he was still creeping along, he turned to leave.


    ude strolled through Minkas first floor like it was home.


    The darkness was exactly that.


    Home.


    ***


    The Pack was strong. They would not fail.


    Xicual flew overhead, as while his gaze was impeded by this challenge of Eternal Darkness, his senses remained the sharpest of them all. All that was beneath him was included in his spiritual senses, and Minka dared not, or could not suppress the power that was his by birthright.


    Thus, it was trivial to notice the hidden, false lion about to pounce upon Vol Kiar. He sent his warning and unleashed a mighty thunderbolt upon the intruder, wounding it. Teria and Asloc finished off the lion, savaging it with fang and spell.


    He unleashed a triumphant cry despite there being no one able to hear its majesty, and continued scanning the terrain around his Packmates. With him watching out for them, nothing would fell them, and they would emerge victorious.


    Then, two things passed through his mind very quickly. The first was recognition of a brief flicker of movement from above him. The second was a pair of hardened talons.


    The feeling of flying, not under his own power, was thest thing he felt as he heard his packs questions of where he was through their [Mana Mind]s.


    ***


    Axel took deep, deliberate breaths as his team fell around him.


    They were exhausted from a brutal fight with the boss of the ruin, and while biologically oblivious to the exertion, they needed to rest.


    Not wanting to be caught off guard, he pulled out a few of his rechargeable mana stones and used them to partially refill his mana pool.


    Through AI, as that was the only way tomunicate, he asked his team leader, What did we get?


    Hallie was the only one standing and able to move. As a melee fighter, she hade out of the fight in better shape than the rest of them, who had to expend most of their mana to take the giant down.


    Dispelling the ruin reward, she jerked but said nothing.


    As they were all focusing on their spiritual perception, they all saw the circr orb fall to the ground.


    Axel almost didnt recognize the orb, but Hallies reaction was enough to tell him everything they needed to know.


    Skill orb.


    Skill orbs, like skill shards, enabled anyone who cycled essence through it to copy the skill to their spirit. Where they differed was in the fact they were <em>reusable</em>. Not forever, but enough. Even better, it was possible for higher Tier cultivators to modify the skill while it was still in the orb. At its most <em>basic</em> use, it could save literal centuries of work spent adjusting the skill in question for anyone lucky enough to get ess to the skill orb.


    Jacqueline, their archer, asked as she sat up, What skill?


    And <em>that</em> was the million credit question.


    If it was something cheap like [Cleanse], the skill orb would be useful and sell well, but if it was abat skill, the price would multiply beyond their belief.


    Hallie looked at the orb and didnt say anything, giving everyone else time to crowd around her.


    Their leader tapped her finger on the orb in a well known thinking habit.


    Axel could feel the nervous energy and had to ask, Anything yet?


    Despite not being able to see her do it, he could hear from his leader''s voice she was rolling her eyes. Nothing yet. Now shush for a minute.


    All four of them waited with bated breath, but finally, after what felt like an hour, Hallie said, Its not in my normal database. I need to use [Analyze] to check what it does.


    Axel clenched his fist. That was a good sign. It not being in the databases they purchased meant that it was rare, and rare always meant valuable.


    Another agonizingly long minuteter, Hallie finally spoke. [Analyze] is telling me that the skill inside stops involuntary movement, but I don''t know what it would be. It''s not in any of the corporation''s Tier 8 skill databases that we bought.


    Unexpectedly, it was Jacqueline who spoke up next. I bet it''s [Steady]! Its popr among archers because it pretty much stops any external effects, whether unsteady footing, biological motion, or most minor weather conditions from interfering with your aim. Ive wanted it, but the skill shard pretty much only appears in Federation territories, though theres a smaller supply that the Sects are reported to have.


    Rachel, their remaining teammate, poked Jacqueline and gestured for her to hurry up. Yeah, but is it valuable?


    Jacqueline nodded. Extremely. Or at least, that''s how Id rate the normal skill. I looked into getting the skill shard, and after import cost and tariffs, the Tier 8 skill costs tens of megacredits when its avable. I can''t even imagine what the skill orb version would go for.


    Axel leaned forward. How rare is it in the Federation? If we can figure that out, we ca


    Hallie chopped down her hand, cutting his sentence short. We can only specte, and it won''t be that urate. What really matters is if one of the big Corps wants it. And if it''s only found in Federation space, we can guarantee they want a nearly unlimited source of the skill, no matter what it is. That itsbat-relevant just makes it better.


    Her shoulders moved as she raised her hand. This has the possibility to have a value measured in gigas or teras, if not more. Do any of you think we can get better loot before the fourth floor?


    Axel shook his head. He suspected the evaluation she gave the skill was on the lower side, and that they could make more, but that made his decision easier. They never intended to delve past the fourth floor of Minka, and now they earned something that could ensure they had an easy road ahead of them if they just left now.


    There was the fact they couldnte back once they left, but getting out alive meant they got to enjoy their prize, after all.


    I vote we exit now. He spoke first.


    A few secondster, Jacqueline and Rachel agreed with him.


    Hallie, seeing that nodded firmly. Then we immediately change from a Genesis Energy gathering delve to a reach the safe area and leave delve.


    Having said that, the four of them turned their gaze to the distortion that would take them to the third level, and started looking for another ruin with a boss so they could leave.


    ***


    Xavier was worried.


    He and his team had managed to fight their way past the first guardian of Eternal Darkness, very grateful for the orientation package that theyd gotten while preparing for their time in Minka. But now, he wished that hed listened to the old man and spent a few more weeks learning about the peculiarities of each floor.


    Now, on the secondyer of Eternal Darkness, everything was too empty. He kept waiting for some monster to jump out of the tall grass they were walking through, or some great hidden hazard to unveil itself and kill them all, but there was nothing. So, they continued to walk aimlessly, desperately hoping that they werent going in circles, and that theyd find whatever horrible twist this challenge would eventually reveal.


    He almost felt vindicated when their scout, Kathy, copsed without warning, but that part of him was quickly quashed by panic for his friend and teammate. He and the rest of his team rushed to her side, and he summoned mes in preparation to strike at whatever invisible monster had finally revealed itself.


    I dont understand, Alex messaged. As the groups de facto healer, he was in charge of healing their fallen friend. Shes not wounded. I dont see what the problem is, she just copsed.


    As if on cue, Nathan copsed almost on top of Alex, and Xavier unleashed a st of mes where he had been standing, unafraid of setting the grasnds on fire thanks to his Talent.


    Its the same thing! Alex protested. No visible wounds oh. Oh no. Xavier! Drop the mes!


    What? he protested. Why?


    As his body suddenly copsed out from under him, Xavier was just barely able to process the final message.


    Its not an attack, its heatstroke!


    ***


    Sun Li waited.


    She had been told that Minka was a great hidden realm of treasure and rewards, capable of forging even the meanest of talents, such as herself, into the finest of des. Thus, she had been most eager when the time hade for her to im her destiny.


    She knew not what awaited her, for ording to the Sect elders, knowing of the challenge beforehand would lessen the tempering this forge would grant, and would therefore be a shameful disy of weakness. She was farmborn, she would not abandon this chance to prove herself worthy of the chance she was given. Unlike the spoiled Young Masters, who did not <em>truly</em> rely on their own strength, she would reforge herself and emerge radiant and victorious.


    That the first trial was one of patience that she had <em>not </em>been expecting, but in this strange space, where even her body did not exist, it was understandable. She had tried to walk around, yet nothing had happened. Even her spiritual sense returned nothing existing beyond her core, not even her body.


    She was at least most certainly capable of waiting. She had done so her entire life, after all, and this was not even the first time she had been tested in this manner. She had waited to be selected from her vige as one of the fortunate few to be elevated to a higher station in life, she had waited to be granted ess to the greatest meditation points, and she had waited for instruction on how to forge the Tempestuous Spears techniques from their undignified, <em>barbarous</em> original forms.


    It was that very practice she was exercising even now. When the only thing she could sense was her spirit, that meant she could meditate, and thus bring her techniques to the standard demanded of her.


    If Minka sought to test her patience, it would not find her wanting.


    Her final thought, as thest drops of blood dripped from her impaled body, was that of boredom.


    ***


    Han De brought his wrist around as he fed mana into [ming Descending Fist].


    The skill hit the monster, but didnt kill it as he hoped. It shook its head in what he hoped was pain, but instead, the beast opened its mouth back up and tried to bite him.


    Turning and activating [First Dawns Spiritual Might], he fled back into the swampy area.


    The technique was meant to empower his strikes, but he had messed up the flows somewhere, and had turned the technique into a fleeing one. Shameful, but it had kept him alive a number of times.


    He was turning around a bend in the solid ground when his foot slipped, sending him tumbling into the water of the swamp.


    In his panic, he swam downward as he tried to escape the sucking mud and water nts.


    As he was calming down and getting his bearings, he stopped moving altogether.


    There was something beneath him.


    An empty space where there should have been more mud and dirt to his spiritual sense.


    Swimming down, he dug through the mud and nearly sucked in a mouthful of sludge in his shock at the prize he had revealed.


    Hed heard of this! Hed overheard two Young Mistresses discussing these hidden crystals. Theyd called it a spiritual challenge. Great opportunities and rewards came from these for anyone who could ovee the risks.


    Clenching his fist, he pulled himself through the barrier that kept the water and mud at bay.


    This was his chance for greatness.


    If he could beat this challenge, he could turn from a coward into someone strong and respected.


    He just needed to be willing to spend the Genesis Energy he had umted to activate the pir of crystal.


    Han De hesitated as his hand was an inch away.


    If he did this, there was no going back, and he might not be able to run away from whatever challenge was inside the pir. He didnt know what awaited him, but the crystal whispered tales of grand foes and rewards gleaming with the power of the sun.


    He could die here.


    And that thought terrified him.


    He knew his sect brothers and sisters wouldnt have hesitated to put their lives on the line, but he was different. Han De wanted to live. He enjoyed safe delves in rifts of his own Tier or lower, when he knew each monster that would appear along with its strengths and weaknesses.


    It made things safe.


    Safe was good.


    He bit his cheek as the same cowardly thoughts overcame him once again.


    Han De wanted so badly to be different. To be strong. To embody the ideals of the Sect and make the Sect Master proud.


    Firming his will, he put his hand on the pir and felt his Genesis Energy leave his body like it was being sucked away.


    He expected to be pulled away, but nothing happened.


    It had taken his Genesis Energy and done nothing, like somemon street rat.


    For the first time since he came to Minka, an emotion other than fear filled his belly.


    Anger.


    It had cheated him!


    Taking a deep breath, Han De inspected the crystal before him. With his spiritual sense, he could see his Genesis Energy flowing around inside its crystal form. It looked pitifully small inside the pir, like a cup with just enough water to cover the bottom and make noise as it sloshed around.


    And that''s when he understood.


    He didnt have enough Genesis Energy to activate the pir.


    Looking to the Genesis Energy he had spent, he looked outside to the swamp where the monsters he couldn''t kill lingered.


    He was now stuck in a dilemma. Kill the monsters, or leave his precious Genesis Energy in the pir.


    Han De refused to be weak.


    With a firm heart, he exited the hidden area and swam back to the surface.


    He just needed to n and figure out how to kill the alligator-men that roamed the swamp.


    It took him a week and a half, but he eventually managed to find, track, then ambush one of the smaller monsters.


    The fight was brutal, but he prevailed with a heavy kick that shattered the monster''s teeth and long snout.


    He roared in victory as the Genesis Energy washed over him, and a precious technique shard fell to the ground.


    Picking it up, he had his [Spiritual Self] inspect the technique.


    [Spiritual Arrow] was only a Tier 8 skill, but it was a ranged technique that he didnt have yet. It wasn''t one in any of the Soaring Clouds Sect''s manuals, but he knew the Deep Sky Ravagers Sect used the skill in conjunction with a kick to impart devastating power at close range. However, he didnt know the proper modifications to make.


    That made it hard, but not impossible, to replicate the changes. He had seen the technique in action during an exchange of pointers between Young Master Long Zhiyuan and Young Master Deep Bite.


    Young Master Deep Bite had been angry that Young Master Long Zhiyuan killed his junior brother in the Culling, and wanted to humiliate Young Master Long Zhiyuan. Except in a reversal no one had expected, he had, in turn, been defeated soundly, bringing shame to his glorious Sect.


    But during that fight, Young Master Deep Bite used [Spiritual Arrow] three times, and Han De had seen each and every usage.


    He clenched his fist as he returned to the spiritual challenge. He had to try.


    Three weekster, he exited the hidden room and challenged another of the alligatormen. The fight was easier, but not easy by any means, and Han De took a cut to his forearm that would take days to heal if he didn''t want to waste a potion.


    Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. As the time passed, Han De killed more and more alligator-men, earning items and techniques, which he slowly incorporated into his fighting style. He arsenal was refined with each round of life and deathbat, until one day, he was pulled into the spiritual challenge.


    ***


    Winona ran, intellectually aware of her breathing heavily, but barely able to sense it for herself. Minka had been sold as some wonderful dreand, where wishes coulde true, skills lined the floors, and killing Imperials would grant her actual, inherent rewards. But from the moment she appeared inside to find herself all but blinded, it had been nothing but a nightmare.


    She was blind, couldnt hear anything, couldnt feel her hands, and even her spiritual sense had almost copsed. Had Minka permanently blinded her? Was she doomed to live the rest of her life as a cripple? What had caused her to suffer so?


    The rest of her team had appeared around her, and it seemed they might have suffered a simr fate? Without being able to talk, she had no clue what any of them, even darling Vale, were trying to say. Still, theyd been together for enough Tiers that even only being able to barely sense each others presence still meant that they could fight, though not as well.


    Bianca had fallen to a fireball from Vale, after hed mistaken her for a monster sneaking up on them. Vale and Noah had found some crystal in a hidden room that ate up all the energy theyd been rewarded from their hunting, then ate them as well.


    Now Winona was all alone, desperately trying to find her way out, wherever that may be. A flicker of movement underneath her was the only warning she got before she was suddenly engulfed in some kind of massive, living bag. She tried to cut her way out, but her ive was too unwieldy in the tight space, and not even being able to see her target meant her struggles were fruitless.


    With her dying breath, she cursed Minka and all its conspiracies against her and her friends.


    ***


    Alvin walked through Minka with his team, observing the surroundings as much as the darkness around himself.


    They were a group of strong Tier 14''s who never managed to create their Concepts and were reaching the end of their lifespan.


    He personally only had around a dozen years left before his body started to rapidly decline with the onught of age.


    This was his onest chance at life.


    His wife had already left him when she earned her own Concept centuries ago, and was able to keep advancing.


    His team had left him the same way.


    All because he couldntplete his Concept. He had long ago figured out his Image, a chair sitting in a ray of lighting through a window, but he was never able to figure out the apanying Phrase.


    Thatck had resulted in his floundering around at this Tier for thest thousand years.


    Still, that time stalled at the peak of Tier 14 didnt mean his skills had slipped. If anything, remaining at the peak of his Tier had allowed him to refine his fundamentals.


    A lot of people looked down on people like Alvin, but that was a mistake.


    None of the peak Tier 14''s willing to enter Minka as ast-ditch effort were weak. Training was the number one rmended way to discover your Concept outside an ascension, and they all trained until they bled.


    There was no better motivation than death''s cold hands wrapping around their throats, especially with the knowledge that taking just one step in their advancement meant they could live forever.


    Alvin had bled more than any of his former friends and family in his pursuit of power, but it was futile.


    The rest had died or advanced beyond him.


    Minka was his final chance to seed.


    He just needed to make it to floor four, and then kill everything and anything that tried to stop him from earning enough Genesis Energy for his exit reward. The rest was secondary.


    The theme rewards meant nothing to their group, and with the scaling cost of rewards and the scaling Genesis Energy rewards from killing monsters, they just needed to get to the fourth floor as soon as possible.


    Alvin didnt want to be like Frank.


    Even the thought made him shudder.


    Frank had nearly joined their team, but at thest minute, decided to enter Minka off-cycle and try his luck solo.


    Except, when he got to the fourth floor, there wasn''t enough Genesis Energy readily avable, as most of the monsters had been killed by the first wave of cultivators who entered Minka.


    He tried to fight others to take their Genesis Energy, but he failed and was, in turn, defeated.


    Normally that would mean death, but Frank was always good at running, and that trait preserved his life.


    His next gambit was to try his luck on a challenge room.


    By spending all of his umted Genesis Energy, he activated it, trying to double or triple his investment.


    But he failed.


    The next three years, he had tried desperately to gather the Genesis Energy he needed, but ultimately failed and was kicked out at the start of this cycle.


    Now, unless he could find an ascension and use that to finish his Concept, he was dead.


    And finding an ascension was more luck than anything else, unless you knew someone. Most of the Tier 45s who advanced didnt advertise, and the Empire was big. If you weren''t nearby, you would hear about their ascension as an event that already happened, instead of as an opportunity.


    Frank''s story, a clearly pre-written message hed gotten the moment Frank left the AI-blocking field of Minka, wasntmon. Alvin and the others all knew that, but it <em>happened</em>.


    Ascensions were luck. Minka off-cycle was luck. The only way for them to remove that as a factor was to enter with the first wave.


    Alvin brought his sword around and decapitated the spindly monster that pulled itself out of the tree.


    With age came a degree of wealth, and with wealth came skills. He had a full set of self-empowerment skills, and enough mana reserved in them to make him faster and stronger than all the monsters they faced by a massive degree.


    The forest they were in seemed endless, and they were wasting time, which grated on all of them.


    Finally growing tired of the dy, he growled into their AIlink. Bethany, what are you doing? How can you be this lost? Are you a tracker or not?


    The woman in question stiffened before turning around slowly. If you want to scout the path ahead, Ill walk behind you. Well behind, so I don''t get sshed with your blood as you fall into a trap.


    Despite knowing she could only see it with her spiritual sense, Alvin bared his teeth at her.


    The woman was a half-decent scout at <em>best</em>. If she was even mildlypetent, they would have been on the next and final level of this floor already.


    Ramzi, the team''s healer, raised a hand to try and calm them all down. He always yed peace maker. Shut the fuck up, both of you. If I hear another fuckingint from either of you, Ill let you both bleed out the next time you get injured.


    Alvin turned and inspected his area of the forest.


    He wasnt entirely sure that Ramzi was bluffing, and wasnt going to risk it.


    Their archer, Jimmie, loosed an arrow as they started walking, and a bird-crab-thing fell to the ground not far away from them.


    As the body dissolved into a skill shard, they moved on without picking it up. Tier 8 skills were quite literally beneath their notice. Essence stones and items were the only rewards they bothered to pick up on this floor.


    They walked for another two hours until they finally found a circr clearing in the woods with a single massive tree standing alone in the center.


    Irene, their nominal leader and the other frontline fighter with Alvin, stepped forward and said, Standard formation. Dont fuck this up, and watch out from shit dropping from above. <em>Dont</em> fuck this up.


    As she advanced with her shield at the ready, Alvin stepped out to the side and readed himself to deal damage to the boss.


    Bernard, their mage, loosed a volley of [Mana Bolt]s that took the mound of monster in the side when they were halfway across the distance.


    Bernard was the only one on the team Alvin actually liked, as he basically never talked and did his jobpetently, which was exactly what he wanted in a teammate for this delve.


    The monster stood, and Alvin cursed.


    The boss was thirty feet tall, and had the lower body of a lobster with the upper body of a minotaur.


    It also wielded a massive axe that screamed of an enhancement to his spiritual perception.


    Irene [Dash]ed forward and took the hit on her shield without flinching, and Alvin took the opportunity to thrust his sword forward, using the extension enchantment in his de to make it grow longer.


    Now equipped with an extra ten feet of de, he thrust forward and pierced a gap on the monster''s armor, just where the fur of the upper half met the shell of the lower half.


    Twisting, he opened the monster up, but was unable to finish it off. As he pulled his de back, Bethany appeared on its back and shed with her twin daggers before jumping away just as quickly as she appeared.


    The two sh marks gathered mana until they exploded, rendering the bottom half of the monster little more than dinner.


    As the monster fell, Jimmie shot one arrow, which took the monster in the eye.


    It was an easy fight, as those things went.


    All of them were seasoned delvers, and could delve Tier 15 rifts without much issue, so fighting at their own Tier was nothing to them.


    Things would get harder, but the first threeyers of Minka were just a warm up that could kill them at any minute.


    The real issue was the other delvers, and they all knew it, which was why none of them used more than their most rudimentary skills. You could never know if others were somehow hiding in Minka and observing you, just waiting for a chance to cut your throat and take everything you gathered.


    Bernard was walking over to the reward distortion when he paused.


    Alvin was about to ask him what he was doing when a burst of energy expanded out from the mage.


    Power oh so familiar.


    Power he craved to have for his own.


    The bastard had created his Concept.


    Alvin clenched his fist as anger and envy overcame him.


    Still, he didnt attack or do anything so stupid.


    He wanted what the man had, but attacking him would do them no good.


    Irene was the first to speak. Congrattions. Are you taking the first exit, or are you going to go deeper with the rest of us?


    Bernardughed easily, but Alvin thought he heard a note of worry in the noise. Still, that might have been his wishful thinking. Of course, Ill stick with you guys until the fourth floor. Im no ingrate after all.


    Alvin sneered upon hearing that. It was too polite and political. He had no doubt that the man would be exiting when the rest of them descended to the second floor. The fact that he couldnt even stop Bernard from doing so stung even more.


    Their team was carefully crafted to be a rounded unit with no weakness. Bernard was their mage and all around knowledge expert on enchantments and formation.


    Without him, things would only be more dangerous.


    Alvin cursed the man for his luck as they entered thest level of this floor.


    It should have been him.


    He deserved to create his Concept. Not the other useless waste of Genesis Energy.


    Alvin wished he could go on without them, but knew it was better to y nice for now.


    For now.


    ***


    Eara was lost.


    The first twoyers of Eternal Darkness had been fairly straightforward. Annoying, yes, but straightforward. Her team had spent centuries preparing for Minka, after all, and theyd put in the time preparing for Eternal Darkness just as surely as theyd prepared for all the other floors.


    And it had gone well. Theyd harvested Genesis Energy and amassed a veritable vault of skills, natural treasures, and items. Theyd killed monsters, navigated trickybyrinths,pleted challenge rooms, and made their way through twoyers of the floor.


    When they appeared in the thirdyer, they had arrived in a dense wood where space and distance seemed to fold in on themselves. Mists luded their already-limited senses, illusions sprung up, even the most innocuous of fallen logs revealed themselves to be mimics, and a thousand and one other strange tricks and traps conspired against them. Still, they had prevailed. Naya pushed back the fog with her magic, Brian dispelled the illusions with his arrows, and Eara killed the mimics with her axe.


    They were doing well, countering everything Minka could throw at them.


    But then, Eara had taken a wrong step, tripped and stumbled between two crossed trees, and now she couldnt sense any of her teammates. The mists crowded in on her, the trees loomed unsettlingly over her, and while she knew it was just her imagination, she could practically hear her team yelling for her help.


    At least the mimics and specters were easy enough to deal with, so she wasnt in immediate danger, but a simple fact remained.


    Eara was so, so lost.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181


    Matt knew he shouldn''t be surprised by a monster attacking them the second theynded, but he was still annoyed.


    When he actually got a glimpse of said monster, that annoyance turned into surprise.


    Where earlier they had been attacked by frogmen, this was a more human-looking Fishman.


    It was bipedal with generally human proportions, but the humanoid features ceased at its silhouette. It had scale-covered skin, webbed hands, and fins protruding from its elbows and knees. To top it off, its face looked like someone merged a shark''s head with a human one.


    The monster was a hundred feet away and sprinting at them when it started to shriek.


    The attack immediately popped Matt''s eardrums and nearly made him stagger to the ground from the pain and disorientation, but he remained on his feet and moved to intercept the monster.


    Susanne had blood running down her own neck and shoulders, but she stood next to him.


    A dozen feet away from them, the Fishman pushed out a hand and emitted a st of water that Matt suspected was [Water Jet], an equivalent of [methrower].


    He didnt want to spend the needed Genesis Energy to deflect or block the blow, so he sidestepped and circled the monster, trying to draw its attention so his team could attack it from behind.


    It <em>almost</em> seemed to work. His nking maneuver grabbed its attention, and the monster turned to face him, allowing Susanne to rush forward. Matt thought they would be able to kill the monster without spending any Genesis Energy, but just as Susanne was reaching de range, the Fishman jumped.


    Seeing that, Susanne started moving to intercept it where it wouldnd, but the Fishman kicked its legs and swam through the air as if it was water.


    It reached a height of fifty feet in an instant, then opened its mouth to scream again.


    This time, Matts spiritual sense screamed that he was in danger. Just a secondter, several fish came out of the barrier that protected them from the ocean water. Like the Fishman, they floated in the air as if it was water.


    Liz sent through their AIs, Aster, kill the Fishman. Everyone else, keep the fish away from him and buy her the time she needs.


    Matt was aghast at the six oversized fish swimming through the air.


    Two looked like a variation of tuna, but they each had a bright orange stripe down their nk, and their bodies flickered as if not entirely in reality.


    The next fish toe out was a shark of some kind, and its teeth and fins glowed with Genesis Energy in some reinforcing spell.


    The fourth, fifth, and sixth fish were minnow-looking creatures, but they were beyond fast, and Matt could only see them in the brief moments that they stopped before darting off again. Despite being smaller than the other fish that had answered the call of the Fishman, they were still as big as his hand.


    Matt was still confident in dealing with them, and was flying towards the shark when a shadow passed the barrier of water.


    Seeing the size of that monster, his mouth went dry.


    It only got worse when the monster broke through the water and entered the air.


    A one-hundred-foot long eel swimming through the air was a truly horrifying sight.


    Matt called over his AI. I''ll hold off the eel and try to keep the shark''s attention.


    Without hesitation, he activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] at a low setting, but was ready to re it at a moments notice. With his spiritual sense tuned to the slightest hint of danger, he bounded forward towards the shark.


    The instant before he reached it he cast [Mana sh], whichshed out in a golden arc and opened a gash in the shark''s rough flesh. Having hurt it, Matt became the focus of its attention, but that was exactly what he wanted.


    Pushing his Concept to the limit, he flew at the massive eel and repeated his actions.


    The Genesis Energy was nothing whenpared to their lives.


    Still, the attack that opened the shark''s side up left little more than a scratch on the eel''s nk. Matt wasnt disheartened by theck of damage and flew at the eel''s body, trying to impede its charge towards where Aster was trying to kill the Fishman.


    With his spiritual perception spread, Matt watched the shark dart at him from behind and waited until thest second to move backwards and towards the side, cutting out with his sword at its open mouth.


    The blownded with a satisfying impact and cut a grave wound in the shark''s mouth and nk.


    Blood flowed, but before he was able to capitalize, Matt was forced to activate [Willow In The Wind] to dodge the open mouth of the eel as it tried to bite him in half.


    As the body of the beast flew just feet past Matt, he activated his new gloves.


    Gravity came under his control, yet it did nothing to stop the massive beast or even change its direction.


    But that wasnt his goal.


    When the wound on its side passed him, he red the gravity, and flesh ripped as the eels weakened armor was attracted to his gloves.


    The eel screamed in pain, but even as it tried to swim away, it tore more of its flesh off its side.


    Before he could follow up, the shark returned, and he was forced to deactivate his gloves and fly away in an evasive maneuver.


    He was just gaining distance between himself and the shark when its tail began glowing with Genesis Energy, and its speed increased to a level that even his enhanced mind couldnt follow.


    Trusting decades of battle instincts, he put his de in a defensive position between his chest and the shark. It was a good thing, too, as the shark seemed to teleport at him with its jaws wide open, trying to shred him to pieces.


    His sword got caught in its mouth, preventing the monster fromnding the hit, but it seemed unbothered, biting down with everything its spell-enforced teeth could muster.


    Matt concentrated and cast [methrower] from his head. Casting a spell didnt have toe from the hands, but it was humanitys instinctive nature to do so. It just came more naturally to cast from there.


    But at the same time, <em>every</em> kid, deep down, wanted to be a dragon. Matt was no exception, and it had made Lunas lessons on casting from the rest of his body all the easier to grasp.


    He didnt need to actually exhale to breathe fire, but a torrent of golden fire flooded from his mouth into the sea creature''s open jaws that were still trying to bite through his sword.


    The shark tried to flinch away in pain, but Matt reactivated his gravity gauntlets and kept it from retreating.


    As the shark wiggled, sending them tumbling through the air, Matt cast [Firebolt]. The Tier 14 spell punched through the monster''s weakened mouth and carved a hole through its entire body.


    The shark fell as whatever spell that allowed it to fly in the air ended, along with its life. The rush of Genesis Energy was substantial, and more than paid for what he had spent in killing it.


    He turned to fight the eel, but Liz came in like a wrecking ball of blood in her golem form.


    Seeing that she had the eel well in hand, Matt turned to Aster and saw that she was currently tearing the Fishman apart with a volley of ice shards.


    Susanne seemed to be having the hardest time, as the minnows darted in near-instant movements.


    One of their bodiesy on the ground, cut in half, but the other two seem to have learned from theirpanions'' mistakes.


    Mattnded next to her and spent the Genesis Energy to message her, Ill block. You hit. They both still had busted eardrums, after all.


    She nodded her understanding, and he sent a strand of Genesis Energy into his gloves while staying ready to max out his energy throughput to his armor.


    The minnows paused and oriented themselves opposite of him, and then disappeared.


    Matt felt both impacts breaking [Cracked Phantom Armor] before he could register anything else. He didnt let that pain stop him, and he red his gauntlet''s power.


    That increase in gravity stopped the fish''s movements long enough for Susannas two swords to cut them apart.


    As the bodies fell to the ground, Matt was amazed by the fact they broke [Cracked Phantom Armor]. At first, he had thought they only broke the skill, but they had bored holes straight through his body.


    They hadnt hit anything vital, but he now needed to spend Genesis Energy on healing.


    He and Susanne flew over to where Liz fought the giant eel with Aster''s help. The two of them were there in an instant, and the four against one bout quickly spelled the end of the monster''s life.


    The Genesis Energy they got was like a wave, and easily reimbursed them for their troubles.


    Matt, with his channels, spent more than the others during each fight, but even he was able to earn back his investment.


    When theynded, he deactivated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and cast [Ranged Heal] to close up the wounds on his chest where the minnows had punched through his body.


    [Lesser Regeneration] was efficient, but to prevent himself from bleeding more, he''d need to spend Genesis Energy to keep either [Cracked Phantom Armor] going or cast [Bandage]. Either way, he needed to spend Genesis Energy, and preferred to heal.


    [Lesser Regeneration] was more efficient with a slow trickle of energy, so healing the external wounds put him ahead.


    It also helped heal his burst eardrums from the Fishman''s attack.


    Susanne walked over and picked up the minnow''s corpse and inspected it. He saw what she did almost immediately.


    Now that the fish werent flickering all over the ce, they could see a bone ridge that ran up their heads like a de. It exined how they were able to punch through both his magical and physical armor without seeming to even slow down.


    Matt wasnt sure that even the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] would have stopped the fish''s charge after inspecting the other two bodies.


    The monsters seemed built around the ability to punch through armor and thick skin, which was probably how they fed in the ocean.


    Liz came over with Aster, who had grabbed the two giant tuna with her Concept and gave Matt a pleading look.


    He knew exactly what she wanted, and rolled his eyes.


    They had nearly been fish food, and she wanted him to make her a tuna sandwich with the half-disappeared monsters.


    Still, some good food sounded nice, so Matt inspected the cuts that Liz had made, and after determining that the monsters flesh wasnt poisoned or anything, he filleted it before throwing it in his spatial ring. The ring wasn''t able topletely stop time like the higher Tier rings could, but the fish would keep for the few hours it would take them to find a safe ce to set down.


    They were all wounded, and needed a break sooner rather thanter.


    With the monsters dead and the Fishman also torn apart, they brought their chest of goods off the beach and onto the rocky area they could hide in.


    There wasn''t enough room for their house, but Matt was able to purify the fish for himself and Susanne so it was ptable to eat for their human bodies, before cooking everyone a small feast.


    Aster kept stealing bits of the tuna, so he tossed her a strip with a re.


    She knew better than to steal too many scraps from the chef. He had uses for them, after all.


    By the time they were munching on food, their ears were all healed thanks to abination of healing spells and potions, predominantly provided by Liz.


    Potions, unlike Matts talismans, seemed to be fine to Minka, as they continued to work like normal.


    It was a good thing, too, since they had each sustained injuries and needed to make up for nearly a week of inactivity that the first ind had forced upon them.


    With their ears healed, they started reviewing thest fight.


    I think it was a tamer, not a summoner. Liz said between mouthfuls of grilled fish.


    Matt didnt disagree, but he wasnt quite sure that it was the answer. I think it was a skill, yes, but notice that it wasnt able to actually control the fish. If it had been able to tame them, we wouldnt have been able to block them from defending the Fishman. Matt ran his fish through a sauce he had made before, saying, If it''s not a skill, but rather some innate ability, it''s probably much more limited than we would normally n around.


    Susanne and Aster said nothing as Liz and Matt tried to dissect the Fishmans ability, but that discussion onlysted so long.


    After they were mostly healed, Matt spent a few minutes to make a quick and dirty enchantment that he hoped would stop their eardrums from being ruptured any time they fought a Fishman. He suspected that the enchantment would only work once before they needed to fuel it with Genesis Energy, but it was simple enough, and could be fueled for hours on what they had decided was a single unit of Genesis Energy.


    With their bodies healed up, they started to n for going further up the ind.


    Before they left, they remembered the stupidly heavy chest they had lugged around, as well as the voice that had spoken to them when they had first discovered it.


    They opened it now they were on the ind, expecting another clue.


    As the lid creaked apart, they found an odd assortment of items inside its depths.


    Some of it seemed useful, like the enchantment detection wand that Matt intended to keep, and the mirror that had no reflection, but rather runes that he figured would break illusions.


    Along with those trinkets, there were some items that seemed little more than trash. What good a dried duck''s foot and peach stone were was a mystery to them.


    Storing everything, they were going to leave the chest when Susanne kicked it to release her irritation at having to carry the damn thing around for so long.


    Except, she nearly broke a toe when she kicked it. The chest hadnt be any lighter now that they had arrived.


    That caused them to give the chest another look.


    It still had engravings on its surface where thepass hade out of, but none of them seemed useful.


    Aster asked the question Matt was trying to avoid. Are we supposed to drag this thing up the mountain?


    Liz betrayed him as she nodded. I bet it''s one of those things where we canplete the ruin with just the items inside, but we need the chest itself for the greatest rewards.


    Im not going to be able to carry it the whole time, not without mana. Susanne, could I get a hand putting it on the elephant?


    Liz raised an eyebrow as they manhandled the chest onto her summon, but when Matt shot her a good-hearted re, sheughed and gave the two of them a hand in fastening the treasure to the pachyderms back. It didnt take that long in the end, but the summon wouldnt be helping them fight in this section at all. Hopefully, Minka would consider that enough of a cost, so it wouldnt add some Genesis Energy cost to the elephant beyond the reserve to summon it, or block the item from working altogether for bypassing the challenge of carrying the treasure chest.


    Theirpass pointed inward, which was a good enough direction for them to push forward.


    They were mildly shocked when they found a proper city at the base of the mountain after they climbed off the beach. But that surprise was nothing when they saw that the mountain wasnt a mountain at all.


    It was a pce.


    It was at least a hundred stories tall, and they lost the ability to count as the top levels of the pce were shrouded in mist at the top of the bubble.


    Spreading his spiritual perception through the city, Matt found a perfectly normal city, if a low-tech one. There were oddities that couldnt be easily exined.


    The houses had perfectly cut ss windows that were all identical, with fine metaltches, but those same houses had hand-carved wooden utensils and rough wooden furniture.


    That was only one of the oddities they discovered as they made their way through the seemingly empty city towards the mountain.


    They were around five blocks in when Liz halted; Matt and Susanne didnt need any more prompting to ready their weapons.


    Liz whispered. I sense a half dozen Fishmen tearing into an octopus thing. North-northwest.


    Matt stretched his spiritual perception and was just able to find it at the farthest edge of his vision.


    And Liz was right, not that he expected anything else.


    The Fishmen were tearing at the octopus like it was an all-you-can-eat buffet. It almost reminded Matt of zombies.


    He paused at that thought and shared it. They look like zombies. Look at the jerky movements and ravenous hunger. It''s like the Fishmen are possessed.


    Susanne shrugged. At least that''s the story the ruin is trying to tell. Theyre still rift monsters. She corrected herself quickly. Ruin monsters. But the point still stands. Theyre monsters.


    Matt nodded at her point. It was a valid one. These weren''t people they could save if they were strong enough, or anything of the sort.


    Aster flicked an ear as she offered. Let''s still skirt them. Something feels weird.


    No one had any issue with that. Still, no matter how careful they were, they were forced to fight another Fishman that seemed more under control of its movements, like the one on the beach.


    It started the fight by screaming, but with the enchantment Matt made, their eardrums were able to hold up under the stress, and all four of them rushed the Fishman in retaliation.


    This one raised its hand, but instead of casting [Water Jet], it cast [Water Bubble], and Susanne''s first attack bounced off the shield.


    Matt redirected his sh into a thrust, punching through and popping the shield.


    He was ready to block the monster''s next swipe, and sidestepped as Susanne came in for a second attack.


    The Fishman tried to take to the air, but a shard of ice nearly took its head off, and it fell back to the ground.


    Matt and Susanne attacked from different directions, but were blocked by another cast of [Water Bubble].


    Thankfully, Liz rushed forward and thrust her spear through the bubble, skewering the monster in the process.


    With her weapon in its chest, it was a sitting duck for Matt and Susanne''s des to scissor across its neck.


    As its body disappeared, causing a rush of Genesis Energy, a skill shard formed where its remains were.


    Matt picked it up and looked it over, before tossing it into his storage ring. Hed inspect itter.


    It took them another four hours to make their way up to the base of the pce. They only had to fight two more Fishmen, but only one dropped anything, an item that would allow them to breath water.


    Not an exactly useful item, as they had Matts enchantments, but it was a good backup if nothing else. It did look cool with its intricate design, but that was only desirable for a collector.


    At the wall of the pce, they attempted to fly over it, but discovered there was a barrier activated.


    Liz looked at Matt and asked, Do we break it?


    Matt walked over to the wall and sent his spiritual perception into it to inspect the runes inside.


    Luna had given them a year-long lesson about breaking and entering, but this was a ruin. It might or might not be something he could disable.


    After seeing the runes that made the barrier, he nodded. Yeah, I can take it down if you give me some time.


    Aster shook her head from where she was floating in the air at the top of the wall. Don''t bother. We attracted attention with our attempt.


    And she was right. With his spiritual perception pulled away from the wall, he could sense eight guards.


    These were well armored and armed, unlike the Fishmen they had fought through the city.


    They each had full te armor paired with weapons glowing with Genesis Energy. They kept their distance and maintained a loose formation; close enough to coordinate, but too far to wipe them all out at once.


    It was surprisingly well nned.


    Liz shook her head. Let''s retreat and try to find an entrance.


    They ended up finding a shuffling mass of Fishmen and followed them as they gathered more of their kind before rushing off.


    Following the horde, they were led to the front gate, where sixteen guards defended it.


    Seeing simr monsters fighting each other would have been interesting enough, but one of the Fishmen in the attacking horde cast [Water Jet] at the empty air.


    Except, the attack hit a floating octopus that had been previously invisible.


    Seeing it floating in the air was shocking, but the deactivated camouge revealed tentacles that stretched down and burrowed into the guards heads.


    The guards were being puppeted by the octopodes.


    As this particr octopus was injured it became visible, but it slowly started to fade back into invisibility.


    Matt looked to the others and saw that they agreed with him.


    The normal Fishmen were going to be beaten back, but they could change the game with a surprise attack.


    Matt took a deep breath and jumped to a nearby roof, and just as the wounded octopus was about to vanish, he cast [Cracked Mana Spear]. The octopus he could barely see was instantly punctured, and gore and brain matter leaked out of its deting head.


    He waved the beam of mana around and found the other octopus. It suffered a simr fate to its dead brethren, and fell down when his golden attack struck it.


    Seeing how easily the octopodes went down, he felt a twinge of pain at the wasted Genesis Energy, but it had been worth the cost to ensure that they were killed instantly.


    The guards were quickly set upon by the remaining Fishmen, torn apart, and eaten.


    Susanne stepped forward and cut the remaining Fishmen down, thus ending the fight.


    Matt walked over and inspected the carnage.


    He paused by Liz, who was looking at the underwater breathing ne they had gotten as a drop.


    Before, he had thought it was just an intricate design, but looking closer, the chain was made from a pair of octopus tentacles linking in the back.


    Seeing the fate of the guard Fishmen, Matt didnt want that thing anywhere near his body.


    It''s a good thing we have my enchantments. He tried to make a joke, but it wasnt funny, so he added, Ill make us a few more underwater breathing enchantments and something to prevent us from getting a tentacle shoved into our brains.


    Liz nodded, and then a stream of blood rose from the ground and formed an umbre over their heads and a few feet wider to the side.


    None of them med her for the possible waste of Genesis Energy.


    Matt would spend all the Genesis Energy they had gathered to save himself from the guards'' fate.


    Still, they needed to loot the bodies as they started to vanish.


    They found four skill shards and two essence stones, which was a good haul, but worryingly, both the octopodes dropped the underwater breathing nes.


    Not sure if they were cursed, they put them away and moved to one of the buildings in the city with an intact roof.


    Once inside, Matt burnt Genesis Energy to have his AI create an enchantment to protect them from possession.


    Thankfully, it was simple, and something already existed in the rune depository that he had.


    He even suspected it would work better with the Genesis Energy needed to power it.


    Matt paused at that thought.


    If it worked like other enchantments, it would run off mana until they tried to use it in a way that trivialized a challenge, usuallybat. If the enchantment suddenly changed to need Genesis Energy, they would know for a fact that one of the octopodes had tried to possess them.


    That actually gave Matt a sense offort.


    If this was a typical rift, he wouldn''t be too worried, as this kind of possession was so rare, he could only think of two times in history it had happened.


    It was almost instantly recognized by higher Tier cultivators, and the rifts were destroyed and people freed from the monster''s control.


    Just as items in rifts couldn''t be used by people, most possessions werent able to bridge that gap.


    Ruins didnt have either restriction, and Travis and Keith, Lizs brother and brother-inw, explored distant and unsettled worlds, so they encountered more than their fair share of the things. More than a few of their stories were about dangerous items and monsters that only worked because they were in a ruin, and not a proper rift.


    And Minka was made of thousands of ruins.


    Not rifts.


    It was entirely possible for them to be enthralled by one of the creatures inside its depths.


    Luna hadnt said anything about that, but then again, no one who was possessed would be able to leave.


    All of them were a little freaked out, and they only started to rx when Matt handed out the disks.


    They were a two-part enchantment. One was to detect anything approaching their heads that was alive, and a shield rune to activate if the first was triggered.


    Matt made each of them ten copies of the discs before feeling satisfied, and then created more underwater breathing enchantments.


    If the ruin tried to drown them and force them to use the possibly cursed items, it wouldnt be so easy now.


    They had backups to their backups.


    He even created a few sets of the enchantments with a different methodology, just in case the ruin could learn. It wouldnt stop <em>Minka</em> if it decided to break the enchantment, but if it actually <em>wanted</em> them dead, theyd just be dead.


    It took a few hours, but they were as prepared as they could be, and gathered their things to start pushing deeper into the pce.


    New guards had reced the fallen ones by the time they returned to the gate. Seeing that there were a total of sixteen guards, the four of them looked at each other, then to above the guards heads where they suspected the octopodes to be hiding.


    Now that they knew the monsters were practically defenseless, Susanne sent out two [Mana Thrust]s where they suspected the octopodes to be hiding, and scored direct hits.


    Knowing the monsters were connected by tentacles, their AI were able to calcte their positions fairly urately. Or rather, everyone but Matt could. Their AI <em>reserved</em> Genesis Energy, while he needed to spend the precious energy to get any information.


    The guards fell down, dazed with their puppet masters dead, making them easy pickings for the four of them.


    des descended, and blood flew.


    Soon afterwards, all of the monsters were dead, and they were able to enter the pce grounds.


    As Lizs elephant lumbered past him, the treasure chest heavy on its back, Matt couldn''t help but marvel at the inside of the pce.


    There was intricate topiary lining the path they traversed. He expected the bushes grown to look like animals to rise up and attack them, but they remained simple bushes.


    Aster halted them with her tail poofing up and warned them. Another set of guards areing this way.


    They quickly moved off the path and hid behind a shrub grown to look like a whale belly-flopping.


    The guards passed by without issue, but Matt was less worried about them and more about the octopodes that floated above them, invisible. His attention never left the threats, but he was hyper focused on his enchanted anti-possession formation that hung around his neck and under his armor.


    Nothing happened, but his nerves were still on high alert until the guards were well outside the mile range of his spiritual perception. They didnt want to risk the fact killing the guards would set off another rm like when they had tried to climb the outer wall.


    The pce entrance was a door fifty feet high and glowing with enchantments that Matt had no hope of breaking without bringing every guard towards their location. During his inspection of the runes, Liz herself found an oddity.


    Do you see this? Read the story of the mural. She pointed to the bottom where Fishmen were being harassed and eaten by the monsters of the sea, before the octopodes came and uplifted them.


    After their possession, they started to grow and prosper, but the mural grew dark and brutal.


    The Fishmen were nothing more than food and hands for the octopodes, if the carvings on the mural were to be believed. Them being sacrificed and eaten to satiate the octopodess hunger was a normal end for the Fishmen. The scene was repeated a dozen times before a Fishman rose up and with a horn, taking a prominent spot in the center of the mural.


    It blew that horn, and the octopodes exploded.


    The mural then told the story of how the Fishmen became more prosperous and took the things that the octopodes taught them and used them for their own advantage.


    The creation and raising of this ind was one of their crowning achievements.


    The mural finally ended with the Fishmen and their ind rising out of the ocean and into the sky, where it joined the clouds.


    It was an interesting story, but he wasnt sure what the ruin meant by it. Were the Fishmen possessed because of an event that happened after this door was made, or was it just using the history of this ce as a way to set the theme of the ruin?


    There was no way to know, but he still found it interesting. Wanting to potentially reference back to itter, he set his AI to record the mural. After a few seconds of waiting, Matt frowned, then closed his eyes in embarrassment. Right, Minka blocked AI recording. Still, while it was analyzing the mural, his AI had noticed something that hed missed in his studying. Inside the chest they had been carrying around, a portion of the carvings had started to gather Genesis Energy at some point.


    Checking thepass that had led them this far, Matt found it pointing at the pce doors, so stored it away before alerting the others to the change in the treasure chest.


    Hiding around a craggy part of the cliff-like pce wall, they inspected the chest to find that Matts AI was correct. The engraving of a key was starting to gather Genesis Energy.


    Susanne was the first to speak. Anyone want to take odds we need to feed this Genesis Energy?


    Liz scoffed. No way. That''s clearly what this is. Question is, do we go killing or give up what we have? It''s the same thing, after all.


    Matt looked at Aster and shrugged, not caring. Killing the octopodes and their puppets earned them a good deal of Genesis Energy.


    In the end, they decided to spend the Genesis Energy they had gathered. Or, at least a portion of it.


    They had gathered a lot but they also refused to go down to empty on what was essentially their mana.


    But as they poured their umted Genesis Energy into the chest, a key popped out almost instantly.


    Taking it near the door, the enchantments that caused the door to glow with power vanished as if they had never existed.


    Matt almost expected the door to open to a troop of octopus-controlled guards, but nothing of the like happened.


    As he and Susanne reced the chest on their elephant, following Liz and Aster into the chamber, the door closed behind them with a m.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182


    Luna watched Minka without blinking.


    Waiting.


    Carol and Kurt were like statues alongside her.


    None of them had said a word since the children left.


    There was nothing to say, after all.


    They had done everything they could, and now it was up to the children.


    All of them had gone through this a dozen or more times, but it never got easier.


    Not that they didnt do anything else during the time; even Luna used her AI to get work done. But their charges entering Minka was something to be respected, even if they couldnt do anything.


    After a month and a half inside, the kids should have been on the second floor of Minka by now, but the normal cultivators would start reaching the dividing line any day now and the anticipation of discovery hung in the air.


    When one of them came out, they would finally learn what the first floor effect had been.


    Another two days passed as the three of them watched the of copper and steam churn away. It was beautiful in an impossible way, and while Luna would never seek it out, she did appreciate the view when she was forced into the''s presence.


    Then, there was a fluctuation on the Federation''s moon.


    Every Tier 35 or higher in the star system teleported or ripped spaced apart at the same time, appearing over the moon in question.


    When a cultivator left Minka, they were allowed to teleport anywhere in the star system, and most chose their Great Power''s moon.


    With tens of thousands of Tier 35s hovering over the moon, they waited for the first news of Minka''syout this cycle. Everyone''s spiritual perception nketed the area that the man appeared in, not willing to miss even a single word he said. None of them tried to block the others, as they all wanted to know the same thing, and couldn''t risk being frozen out when the next floors were discovered.


    Tier 35 or higher fights weremon here, when tensions ran high, and they had no power to do anything about their charges. Minka always survived, but the moons orbiting it needed to be reced regrly, and asionally, the itself would move to a new star system as the surroundings if itstest position were utterly destroyed.


    The question was simple, what floor had Minka pushed to the top this time?


    It being their, the Federation Tier 45 was the fastest to collect the boy, but that didnt stop everyone else from catching a glimpse of what they were looking for.


    Normally, they needed to wait for the delver to <em>say</em> what floor they had encountered, but this time, it wasnt necessary.


    Hearing the boy weep and blubber at seeing the light was all they needed to know.


    A first-floor Eternal Darkness.


    Luna used her Aspect and ripped a hole back to her home, returning to her vigil over Minka.


    Returning to their previous positions, none of the managers said a word, but their minds raced.


    First floor Eternal Darkness. Not a bad floor, all things considered.


    The children were well prepared for it, which would give them a distinct advantage and help them pull ahead of the pack.


    Them gaining some ground meant a degree of safety that Luna could have only hoped for them. They were strong and would have no problems with the monsters of Minka, unless they got a bad floorbination.


    Now, as long as nothing slowed them down, they could take that lead andpound it, pulling further ahead and keeping out of the inter-delver fighting that would happen as people struggled to find monsters to kill onter floors.


    As the spun, Luna watched, not even blinking.


    Patience was second nature to a cat, and it hadnt even been two months.


    ***


    Matt gasped as he tried to draw in air through burning lungs.


    His hands were bloodied, and while most of it wasnt his, a good bit of it was.


    Standing up, he walked over to Liz and Aster.


    They stood over the corpse of a giant crab that they had taken out together.


    Susanne was stillying in the puddle of goo from the jellyfish she had been fighting.


    The start of their trip into the pce mountain had been uneventful, but when they finally figured out the maze-likeyout, they started getting attacked. Not by just one or two monsters, but by dozens of fish and other underwater creatures.


    At first, the fights were easy enough to win with a little care.


    Even with Lizs elephant summon being out of the fight, while still carrying the incredibly heavy treasure chest, they did fine.


    At first.


    By the fifth floor, the monsters started to outnumber them five to one, then by a dozen to one.


    Now on the eleventh floor, they were back to fighting single monsters. That should have made things easier, as the monsters were still early Tier 14s, and the four of them had more than enough experience fighting monsters stronger than themselves. The problem was that the monsters that started appearing were all specialized in one aspect ofbat.


    The Fishman that Matt had beaten to death had been a master of spells, and was, as far as they could tell, not directly controlled by one of the octopodes.


    Liz and Asters crab had a nearly imprable shell that easily fended off both Lizs blood attacks and Aster''s ice spells. Suzanne''s jellyfish should have been an easy fight, but her attacks simply sank into its body like it was a slime, doing no permanent damage. Ideally, they would have swapped opponents, but this fight had been an ambush.


    The monsters had one area they excelled at, which increased the difficulty of the engagements to a point where even they struggled.


    Susanne, who had crawled up and walked over to the three of them, sat down and said, We need to make a decision. She spat a bit of blood out before continuing. We''re earning Genesis Energy, but our fights are forcing us to spend nearly as much as we get.


    Matt winced internally. She didnt say it, but for thest three fights, Matt had used more Genesis Energy than he had earned from his single kills. He couldnt help it. His entire fighting style was built around throwing massive amounts of energy around, and his skills and their modifications reflected that methodology. That was fine when he had unlimited mana, but now that his skills cost Genesis Energy, he was faced with a problem he couldn''t easily solve.


    Susanne wasnt wrong, though. The others were having the same issues to smaller degrees. Aster was running neutral while Liz was slightly on the side of gathering Genesis Energy each fight. Susanne herself was doing the best with her greatsword being fueled by Willpower, meaning it was stronger for no cost. It didnt even have any enchantments, not that it needed them.


    Matt looked to Liz and sighed as he asked, What are your potion stores looking like?


    Liz pulled a dozen vials from her spatial ring. I have a dozen on me, and two hundred and thirty in storage in the house. At least of the ones Ive made. The store bought ones I haven''t touched.


    Matt nodded. That meant she had used only eight during their time in Minka.


    Her potions were a limited resource, and they had intended to use them sparingly. The store bought ones, not so much, but they were less effective and ast resort. Despite Liz being able to theoretically grow more in her portable garden, it only grew as fast as they would outside.


    Without any eleration, she had no way to increase production.


    Though they <em>had</em> nned around that.


    Liz had bought a number of the needed herbs before they entered Minka, so she could make new potions, but that number was also limited. She always used the herbs the day she got them, but the final shipment hade right before they entered, so she didnt have enough time to use them.


    Do we start using them? This floor is a hard counter to us. Matt grimaced and corrected himself. Me. The floor is a hard counter to me.


    Aster was going to say something, but Susanne spoke first. This floor sucks for all low Tier cultivators. We have to rely on spells to fight up Tiers, and thats just expensive now. You just got countered more than what would be normal for any warrior. Dont get in your own head.


    Standing up, she collected the skill shards that had dropped from the monster''s bodies.


    I know this one, its been on my list for a while now. [Counter]. Damn good skill. She then inspected the other two. [Fist st] and something earth-rted. Its not on my list, though.


    Matt pulled himself out of his funk and inspected the skill that Susanne didnt recognize.


    Burning a little Genesis Energy, he ran his own inspection and nodded.


    Her not recognizing the spell wasnt surprising after he identified it.


    It was a cracked spell.


    It''s a cracked [Tar Ball]. What the crack does, I don''t have a clue, though.


    Offering it to Liz then Aster, they had no better idea than he did.


    Liz yed with the skill and ran it through her fingers. The normal [Tar Ball] is a good skill to spread fire-based skills. Mind if I take this skill and try to absorb it? It might make for some interestingbinations with my Talent. ming blood could be really strong.


    Susanne had no issues with her taking the spell, and neither did Matt or Aster, so Liz started absorbing the skill. She had already absorbed [Water Bubble] and sessfully converted it into [Blood Bubble], which kept all of its defensive properties.


    Water skills had never failed her before, but it was always a good thing when her Talent worked and expanded her arsenal.


    Matt was less hopeful for [Tar Ball] converting sessfully, but it was worth a shot.


    Reaching out, Matt picked up the [Fist st]. Id like to try my hand with this spell. Its Rustys favorite for a reason, and once were off this floor, itll be a nice backup. Especially with the gravity gauntlets.


    Susanne took the remaining skill and started absorbing it herself. [Counter] is a good skill, but its quite expensive to buy on the outside, so dont mind if I do.


    With their skills being absorbed, the four of them started progressing through the pce once again.


    Matt and Susanne took the opportunity to down a strength potion from Lizs stash before they moved on.


    The next room had no monsters and only a single trap that they used their elephant summon to ruin.


    Three rooms and two fightster, they found a branching hall leading away from the main one they had been heading the entire time.


    After a quick chat, they decided to investigate.


    Almost immediately, they found a pair of guards whounched attacks at them at first sight.


    Matt rushed forward and used his sword to swat away the [Water Dart], and Susanne cut apart the [Water Net] that was flying at them. That didnt stop the guards from screeching and summoning another pair of monsters to their defense.


    Aster immediately jumped at the lobster and chewed at its eye stalks, causing the beast to try and beat at her armored and ice covered back. Splinters of ice flew, but that only let Aster spread her element over the monsters body faster. Its joints were the first targets, and Matt knew that the monster would soon fall.


    Liz was busy thrusting her spear at a floating shrimp that was trying to grab at her. Its shell deflected the first thrust, but it lost an arm when she sidestepped and leveraged her power.


    Matt stopped paying attention once he saw that they had the sh under control, and focused on his own iing fight.


    The leftmost guard raised a trident, and with swirls of water, the prongs glowed with a spell that Matts spirit whispered was dangerous.


    Blocking the first thrust, Matt ducked the next attack andshed out at the Fishman''s leg.


    The armor did little to stop Matts Tier 14 de as he red the sharpness and durability enchantments he had personally ced into the de before they entered Minka.


    With just the faintest trickle of Genesis Energy super powering it, flexing the enchantments proved to be the most efficient way to defeat the guards. They had an array of spells, but were slow in casting them, and their bodies were fragile for Tier 14 monsters.


    As his de was about tond, a [Water Bubble] appeared and blocked his sh. His de bounced back, but Matt flowed with the motion and punched out, activating [Cracked Phantom Armor] for a second.


    The spikes he shaped over his knuckles pierced the monster''s shield and caused the spell to shatter.


    The Fishman guard tried to thrust at him with its enchanted trident, but Matt had already slipped past the head of the weapon and brought his longsword around in an arc.


    This time, the Fishman wasnt fast enough and fell to the ground in two halves.


    Susanne had run her monster through and was turning to help Liz and Aster, but they too were done with their own kills. Aster stopped to eat the hearts, but grumbled as she didnt get <em>another </em>permanent stat increase from [Heart of Power].


    With the monsters dead and dissolved, they opened the next door and found an armory.


    Sending their summon through the door, Matt couldnt help but whistle. The ce was packed with weapons and armor. If this was a rift, the only value of the items would be as scrap. But in a ruin, each and every one of the the weapons and armor pieces had the possibility of being not only valuable, but also useful. In theory, they could have stripped the guards they had fought as well, but as part of the monster''s gear, it dissolved like the monsters themselves if not gathered quickly.


    Seeing that their elephant remained unmolested, they entered the armory and started looting everything.


    Hundreds of armor and weapons, many loaded with potent enchantments, were shoved into their spatial bags as they picked the shelves clean.


    The only things they kept for immediate use was a set of vambraces enchanted to create a [Water Bubble] around the caster. Susanne took them after Matt gave the item the all-clear.


    They were about to move on when Aster paused and started sniffing.


    I smell fruit. Aster sat back and breathed deeply a few times before shuffling around the wall.


    Matt walked over and inspected the wall with both his spiritual sense, his Concept, and his five mundane senses.


    Everyone inspected the floor and walls, but none of them found anything despite Asters insistence.


    Matt patted her back and offered some condolences. We still have some fresh fruit if you''re craving it. But I don''t think there is anything there, Aster. Not even our maniption skills can find anything but wall. I believe you smell something, but if we can''t find it, it might as well not exist.


    Aster whined at him after hearing his words. I can smell it! Its not my fault your stupid human noses are bad. I know what I smell!


    She paced around as Matt went back to testing the wall. He even went as far as to pull out a hammer and bash down the shelves and stone wall.


    There was nothing. Just the hard ground that was impossible to interact with.


    Aster inspected the wall before shaking her head and returning to her pacing.


    After a few minutes of that she paused and ran back to the elephant and the treasure chest, opening the lid with her Concept and withdrawing a mirror.


    Matt stiffened as he remembered what the mirror did.


    It revealed illusions.


    He really should have thought of that before when she was so instant about there being something hidden.


    Aster scampered back and reflected the wall that Matt had battered with the mirror.


    Instead of a wall, the mirror showed there was an inset stone pir and a cornucopia with fruits spilling out of it.


    Fresh fruits, just as Aster had smelled.


    Vindicated, Asters tail wagged as Matt pulled the cornucopia out of the now revealed hole and inspected it.


    If he was reading the runes right, it would take mana and essence to create fresh food.


    This seems wildly impractical to hide behind an illusion in an area that''s only essible to a group who carried this heavy-ass treasure chest around. Matt took a bite of an apple after he inspected it. The foods good but not that good.


    Susanne and Aster both inspected the cornucopia but found nothing else. Aster grabbed a bushel of grapes and started munching away while Susanne peeled an orange.


    Liz hadnt moved from her spot when Matt removed the cornucopia.


    Looking at her, he asked, What''s wrong, Liz?


    She shook her head, opened her mouth then closed it before raising a finger.


    I. Um. I think I know what that is. Liz licked her lips before swallowing.


    Matt looked at the apple he had bitten into and asked, Is it dangerous?


    Liz slowly shook her head. No. More stupid. We saw the Fishman bringing out a horn and scaring away the octopodes.


    When she said nothing else, Matt nodded, but Susanne asked, So?


    Liz pointed at the cornucopia. That''s a cornucopia.


    Aster finally gave up after the silence stretched as both sides waited for the other. I don''t get it. Am I supposed to get it?


    She looked from Matt to Susanne, but both of them were in the same boat as her.


    Liz finally sighed. I think the ruin pulled a fast one on us. What does the word cornucopia mean? Anyone?


    Matt wracked his memory before realization hit him. It means horn of plenty. Horn. The mural on the wall had the fishmen raising a cornucopia over its head, not an animal horn.


    He paused as that sunk in for everyone else. That''s so dumb, though. How can that be right? The magic item that fended off the Fishmens controllers, the octopodes, was a cornucopia. A horn of plenty. That makes fruit. What the fuck?


    Aster was even more aghast. Is that what the piratedy was talking about? The prize above all? A cornucopia that makes fresh fruit? I like smoothies as much as the next fox, but this feels like a scam.


    Susanne rummaged through the treasure chest before asking, Who has thepass? Check it.


    Matt withdrew it from his armor before sighing at the sight.


    Thepass pointed directly at the cornucopia.


    He moved around the room, but it pointed at the stupid item no matter where he went.


    That discovery pretty much ruined any of the goodwill and excitement they were feeling for the ruin and its wealth beyond their imagination, the treasure chest had promised them.


    They had fought their way through an ocean that wouldn''t let them fall into the water and sailed through a storm with hundred-foot waves, andnded on an ind that sank underwater. All of that for a cornucopia that made fresh fruit.


    In silence, they fought their way up through the floors until they reached the final encounter without saying a word. All the items and skills the fishmen dropped tasted like ash to them despite some valuable drops among them.


    It just felt so pointless.


    On the top floor, they found a throne room that looked out over all the sea floor in a magnificent disy.


    Or it would have been, if there hadnt been two toons of guards standing in front of the throne, where a Fishman sat with an octopus on her head like a crown.


    Sending the elephant in first, Matt and Susanne followed it up,shing out at the formation of guards.


    At the final showdown, none of them held back, but the Fishman on the throne never moved or raised a finger to help the fight.


    Matt sidestepped one thrust and spell and activated his gravity gauntlets, pulling everything in the room towards him for an instant.


    Spells, weapons, fishmen, all of them flew at him, but he flexed his Concept and pushed.


    Pushed at them and at the world itself.


    The sudden change in direction caused the air to crack as he enforced his own will.


    Matt felt drained at the expenditure, but grinned as half the Fishman writhed on the ground with broken bones and other injuries.


    Susanne, who had been ready for the attack, drove her main weapon manifestation into the stone floor to anchor herself, while her second sword flickered to life and cut apart any of the fishmen who flew past her.


    Seeing her guards dead or on their way to deaths domain, the Fishman on the throne raised a hand and pointed. Not at them or the sky, but somewhere in between.


    Matts anti-possession enchantment stopped draining mana and started pulling on his Genesis Energy reserves.


    A swipe of his sword took the monster''s limb that was trying to possess him off in a spray of blood, but he was too slow to stop the octopus from grabbing the bodies that surrounded him.


    He tried to cut out at the tentacles reaching down, but a possessed arm blocked the attack.


    Not wanting to get surrounded, Matt used his Concepts repelling ability and forced a way through the tentacles. The maneuver wasnt without cost, as the burning pain from his foot indicated.


    Susanne and Liz wereunching attacks at the octopodes surrounding the bodies, but it did nothing as [Water Bubble]s appeared around the molluscs, and each one brought a single body close to their heads.


    The once dead guards started to jerk as their bones realigned and snapped back together.


    Matt cast [Hail] to give Aster some ice to work with and rushed forward, drinking another bottle of Lizs potions. Stacking potions meant drawbacks when they wore off, but that was ok if they broke even on this fight.


    Susanne chopped down with her de empowered with a [Wind Cutter] bolstered by [Hypersonic Edge]. Her attack cut through one of the octopodes'' [Water Bubble] shield, but failed to kill the octopus before it had its possessed Fishmen reform the obstruction.


    An arm of ice reached up and grabbed one of the octopodes and its water shield, dragging it to the ground and freezing it solid.


    The rush of Genesis Energy that flowed out of the pile of ice told them everything they needed to know.


    Liz called out as she blocked a volley of spells with a wall of blood, Susanne, take out the leader! Matt, use it!


    Matt, who was blocking an attack that cut down on him, jumped into the air and unleashed [Cracked Mana Spear].


    The bar of condensed energy was again golden instead of blue, and despite Matt not maxing out the skill, it still punched through the magical shields of the octopodes.


    The bodies of the controlling monsters fell one by one, and in less than two seconds, the reanimated guards fell back down. Not dead, but stunned from their controllers'' deaths.


    It only cost a dozen kills to cast the spell.


    Seeing Liz and Aster finishing off the guards that stumbled while trying to get back to their feet, Matt raced forward and assisted her in her own fight. How they managed to stay alive after dying, being reanimated, and then having that reinmating force end he had no idea. But they were nothing more than wheat for the harvesting for the two mages.


    Aster cast a buffing skill that filled Matt with power and he rushed forward.


    The Fishman with the octopus crown was a full boss, and had the strength to match.


    It also had much more strength than Matt would have expected from a humanoid-shaped creature.


    The Fishman leader swung its trident in heavy arcs that had little in the way of melee abilities, but made up for thatck with speed and spells.


    The octopus on the boss''s head wasnt idle, and it cast spells with two of its tentacles, unlike itsrger brethren. [Water Dart]s came from its left tentacle, while well-timed [Water Bubble]s were cast with its right.


    Whenbined with the boss''s speed and strength, Susanne had a hard timending more than a ncing blow on her own.


    Mattnded and immediately threw himself at the boss, but had to retreat as it tried to hit him with a back swing from the butt of their trident.


    Settling into a holding pattern, Matt waited for Liz and Aster to finish the guards off so they could all focus on this single monster.


    Before he or Susanne couldnd a good hit themselves, the octopus raised itself up on the leader''s head and pointed its tentacles out towards its fallen brethrens'' corpses. As if it was a vacuum, it started to absorb the octopodes'' bodies, reinforcing itself and growingrger.


    When its main body was a foot tall, its skin had changed from a purple to a dark blue, and energy pulsed from it.


    With the increase in power, the Fishman leader grew from a normal human size to ten feet tall.


    Their gear and weapon improved, and with this contest promising to be a massive battle, Liz and Aster joined the fray with a crash.


    Liz, in her golem form and having cast [Blood Crystal Armor], was an equal-sized opponent, and matched the boss''s trident with a fist of frozen-over blood.


    With [Blood Crystal Armor] reinforcing her, she took the hit and returned it with a jab at the boss''s side that sent it stumbling back while spitting up blood.


    Matt and Susanne moved at the same time and split apart as they moved to nk the boss.


    Susanne sliced out at the octopus on the bosss head, forcing it to cast [Water Bubble] to block her [Wind Cutter], while Matt sent out his own [Mana sh] a secondter. As her attacknded and destabilized the defensive spell, his own mmed right through it, causing a spray of blood to arc into the air.


    That blow in and of itself wasnt fatal, but it gave Liz and Aster the chance they needed.


    The spray of blood condensed into a solid mass, and sh froze before reversing direction and piercing the octopus and bosss head, all while Liz held the tentacles at bay with tendrils of blood.


    Matt was shocked at the single burst of Genesis Energy, but knew that it meant one of the two hadnt died yet.


    As the boss started to shrink, it got free from Lizs grasp and tried to rush Matt, but he was ready and met its charge with his de.


    The boss fell to the ground with a gushing wound and tried to bite at his leg in onest desperate attempt to take one of them with it.


    A bloody boot to the face ended the bosss life, as the second burst of Genesis Energy confirmed the kill.


    Cursing, Matt inspected his foot to finally get a look at the injury he had taken while getting out of the first octopodes encirclement.


    His boot had been pierced, and he was now missing the second and third smallest toes on his left foot.


    Cursing, he withdrew a healing potion but hesitated to dump it on the wound. There was a chance to find his missing digits and reattach them.


    Can someone find my toes? He called out as he started to hobble over where he thought they would havended.


    The fight had moved a lot, and the reanimated guards didnt help things with their movements.


    Aster scampered over ahead of Liz and sniffed at his foot before sniffing around.


    She eventually stopped and circled a spot on the floor. Any empty spot.


    His bond looked from him to the floor before whining. I think Minka ate your toes. The smellnds here but doesn''t go any further.


    Matt felt his stomach tighten before cursing as he dumped the healing potion over his wounded foot.


    He had pushed through the pain during the fight, but it hurt, and he didnt have ess to his normal healing methods.


    Not that any of them would be able to regrow a lost appendage. [Lesser Regeneration] was good, but not as strong as [Regeneration] proper.


    Liz arrived and quickly pulled off his boot to inspect the wound. We need to clean this out, but they''re unimportant toes, at least.


    Matt grumbled as he popped a painkiller and handed her the canteen of water. I was very attached to those digits. Had them my whole life.


    Oh thats not even true, Liz said while swatting at his arm. You regrew that foot not twenty years ago.


    Wait, was that oh right, that was the jungle rift. He frowned at the mention of that rift. They had rushed him to a hospital for healing so quickly after clearing that rift, he had almost forgotten about it. Or rather forced it from his memory.


    Exactly. Its only been with you for a few decades. But if you want to count thest time it was separated from you, then its been a year? Two?


    One and a half, he grumbled in agreement while the wound scabbed over and bandaged by Liz. Once it was done, he pulled out a new pair of boots and socks. Liz took them and put them on for him despite his insistence that he could do it himself.


    Aster came over and sniffed, but he could feel that she was worried for him through their bond.


    Ruffling her fur, he said, It''s fine. Just a toe or two.


    Aster didnt feel reassured as she asked, But we can''t get it healed until we leave here? Right? Did you happen to get a new spell I don''t know about?


    Matt sighed. She was exactly right, and they all knew it.


    Wounds that the body couldn''t naturally heal were beyond undirected healing spells, which was all they had ess to without a dedicated healer.


    Susanne offered a suggestion. Maybe we can find a friendly healer and get them to regrow it?


    Matt scoffed as he stood up. It''s fine. Nothing lost except my pride.


    He couldn''t even me it on not using [Cracked Phantom Armor], the skill just hadnt been enough to block whatever had hit him, but he <em>had</em> been running it at about the lowest rate he could manage


    A few practice steps and Matt found he wasnt inconvenienced. Luna had trained them to fight with injuries, handicaps, and missing appendages. This was a minor one, all things considered.


    Liz looked more worried than he felt, and she stuck close to him as they inspected their rewards.


    The boss duo dropped a number of items, including a snowke tiara that Aster imed, as it matched the choker she had made to house her old flying ice cream cloud when they were Tier 6s.


    It also boosted any water or ice spells cast while she wore it, and would create a cloud of mist when activated, giving the fox some concealment if she needed to break a line of sight in a fight. All in all, it was a nice addition to her toolset, and she put it on her head immediately.


    They were cleaning up the misceneous skill shards, and item drops when Susanne called out, I think I found something.


    As they walked over to her they saw what she meant.


    Under the throne the boss had sat on was a cutout. A cutout that perfectly matched the treasure chest they had carried all this way.


    With the elephant destroyed and on its resummon cooldown, he and Susanne had to manually carry it to the throne from where it fell, but they only set it into the hole after they emptied it of the items it held.


    A petty part of Matt wanted to leave the cornucopia in it, but he wasnt going to pass on any loot, no matter how dumb it was. They could probably sell it to a restaurant or make a table center out of it. It would make a good party trick if nothing else.


    As it happened it was a good decision. Once they sent it down the treasure chest lit up and started to glow with a light that grew over a few seconds to a blinding intensity.


    From the throne, the voice of the old pirate echoed out. Ahh. The Misty Ind. I have finally arrived. I must thank ye. I never thought to make it to these shores, let alone make it to the throne room. I see ye have struggled and grown. But struggle is where we grow. And I see you have found the horn of plenty.


    As the woman spoke, the cornucopia floated over to the throne with the key that they used to open the front door, the mirror that broke illusions, and thepass that led them to the ind.


    The horn has powers beyond the norm. From its bounty, I empower the tools you used to get there. First the key. With its power, you may, for a cost, unlock any lock you encounter. Take everything not nailed down. Give nothing back. The voice cackled as it said thatst, and the key started to glow from an energy that came from the cornucopia.


    The mirror to show you the truth of things. Few things are as dangerous as seeing beyond the deceptions people put up for others to see. Break those illusions.


    The mirror then glowed with the same light that empowered the key before thepass started to glow.


    Apass to point you to a treasure already found is useless. With the power of the horn, it will now point where the greatest treasure in its vicinity is. It will cost you, but everything worthwhile does.


    With that, the cornucopia fell to the throne, and Matt picked up the items as he was the closest.


    This can''t be real. Right? Matt and everyone else was looking at thepass which rested on his palm.


    Liz shook her head. A seeker item? Ive only heard about them in stories. Legends really. If so, that''s more than worth the bullshit we dealt with, even if it only works for Tier 14 and under items. How''s it work? Try it. I want to see.


    Susanne nodded silently in ascent.


    Aster was the only one to look away as she asked the throne, Any chance I can get the cornucopia to make ice cream instead of fruit, Miss Treasure Chest?


    Seeing that it didnt respond, she lowered her ears and sulked.


    Matt tried to send mana into thepass, and to his surprise, it worked. Or at least, it took the energy, but nothing else happened.


    It took my mana but isn''t activating. Think we need to send Genesis Energy? He was afraid for that to be true, as it would mean that the item would only be useful in Minka, where they had ess to the energy.


    Liz shoved an essence stone at him. Try one of the stones.


    Doing so, Matt sighed in relief as thepass started to glow with a light blue light. Then from a simplepass, it expanded and rose up like a ball, and the pointer bent down and to the left, back inside the pce.


    Matt grinned as he looked at the others.


    They had hit the jackpot with this item.


    As the pirate had said. Take everything and give nothing back.


    Armed with apass and a key, they intended to do exactly that.

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183


    Matt looked around the empty space he found himself in for the second-floor theme challenge.


    Genesis Cultivations final test wasnt considered a hard one, but it took more thought and creativity than most other challenges.


    While Eternal Darkness challenge was a simple chase, Genesis Cultivation required them to create something. There were no rules or limitations, but they needed to give form to something on their own. The final test was to form their <em>own</em> genesis. The better their creation, the more efficient the conversion from essence to Genesis Energy would be. They wouldnt remember most of their work, most of their trials, or the details of their final submission, nothing <em>truly</em> actionable. Just what they finally managed to get working, and maybe some foggy recollection of a few of their failures.


    It wasnt very difficult to get <em>some</em> level of reward from the challenge. Pretty much any creation would result in a sess as far as Minka was concerned, but to truly push the quality of reward they could receive, theyd need to put everything they had into their attempt. Curiously, non-crafters actually had it somewhat easier, as Minka cared less about how objectively good your creation was- though that never hurt- and more about how much of a personal challenge it was.


    At least, that was the theory behind getting the minimum reward.


    If you created something grand and pushed yourself to new heights, Minka would reward your ingenuity. And Matt needed that reward. Even with theirpass leading them to prizes, they had just barely enough Genesis Energy to enter this challenge without having to delve sideways to kill more monsters. It was a chore they were d to avoid, considering the overall difficulty of the second floor. If they were to leave now, on floor two, they wouldnt be able to get the second-floor exit reward even if they <em>wanted</em> to.


    Walking around in the nothingness, Matt started with forming a copy of his crafting station that he had in his house.


    His tools and such appeared around him where he already knew they were.


    The workshop was more organized than it was in reality, but he knew that this one would be messier as he went.


    Pulling a metal b out of a vague supplies box, Matt started testing.


    Minka would let him test anything he liked, as much as he liked, before he submitted his final design. That in and of itself made it a crafter''s paradise, with the ability to endlessly test your creation with perfect real-world uracy. In that sense, it was as much of a reward as Folded Reflections mirrored lives were.


    Time was elerated in this test, so he didnt have to worry about the usual wait times that crafting could entail, which was a weight off his shoulders.


    Putting his carving pen to the metal, he started to create a circle, and once he finished, he hewed a second, then third one. Each one touched at the edge, but did not ovep.


    Then, he added a fourth circle in the center that ovepped its predecessors, connecting them into a single whole.


    Happy with his first test, Matt started to carve the runes that he believed were necessary.


    His AI still ran off Genesis Energy, but he didnt bother to try it. From his understanding, AI generally didnt work in this test at all.


    Letting an AI craft something for you would defeat the purpose, after all.


    When he had the outer shape of the formation created, he started to fill in the circles with runes to direct mana. They would absorb and direct any mana siphoned to them towards the bottom of the rune. It was a simple rune that was seen on all formations and productions that were powered by ambient mana.


    He repeated that rune over and over until he had directed all of the mana to condense at the center of the formation te.


    Testing the te, he pulled mana from his mana pool and directed it not to a spell, but the air.


    He couldn''t see it directly, but he watched the runes light up as they absorbed his mana.


    2,560 MPS drained from his body and was absorbed by the formation te, all being drawn in at the edges, then sent through each smaller circle, eventually coalescing at the center of his design.


    When they reached the center circle, the final rune pushed it up exactly five feet.


    And kept going.


    Cursing, Matt destroyed the te of metal with his mind and started on a new one. This one stopped the mana at the designated distance and held it there, as he intended.


    Watching as millions of mana poured into the formation, Matt smiled as he started to see visible mana condensing.


    It started as mist, but slowly solidified until it looked like a liquid.


    After what seemed like mere moments to him but was actually hours, a single, pinhead-sized drop of light blue mana was hovering in the air.


    Seeing that his test was a sess, Matt built a dozen more copies of the tes and a frame to hold them together in a rough sphere.


    After inspecting and reworking his design to make sure that the mana was always condensed at the same spot with each formation te, Matt moved on to creating talismans.


    Hundreds, then thousands of talismans, all with a single purpose.


    To hold as much mana as possible.


    Talismans could hold massive amounts of mana. More so than a refible mana stone of a simr Tier, but they couldnt be drained in a controlled manner afterwards.


    Each talisman needed to have its mana consumed through the use of a spell, and that spell needed to be cast all at once.


    Matt intended to use that w to his advantage.


    With his talismans created, he started to paste them all on the inside of his formation tes.


    Activating a few of them, he watched as his spherical formation was encased in a ball of blue light.


    The protective barrier wasn''t to feed the formation, but rather to iste it from the surroundings.


    After confirming that histest test worked, Matt started to drain his mana pool.


    He fed the air until it became heavy with mana, and the formation tes began absorbing and condensing it.


    Each te created a drop of mana that merged with all the others.


    As the mana started to escape the single drop, it began to activate the talismans he had created for this purpose, which in turn, acted as a barrier to prevent any mana from escaping.


    Matt watched with growing glee as the drop of mana grewrger andrger.


    When it was the size of a grain of rice, he started to notice instabilities, and rushed to reinforce his formation, but it was toote.


    The entire sphere exploded under the pressure. Minka protected him from harm, but he did need to start over.


    His next test got the mana to the size of a marble, but his formation and barrier talismans were again overwhelmed.


    Test after test, failure after failure, Matt kept trying until he finally had a head sized orb of dark blue mana that swirled and twisted in the center of his apparatus.


    This time, massive pirs of reinforced steel beams were anchored to the walls that he had created in his testing area.


    His current iteration was condensing octillions of mana into a single point.


    He had been blown up at this point in the test more than a thousand times, but he didnt give up.


    If this worked, he would have confirmed a truth of the realm.


    Everyone knew the saying. Life makes mana. Mana makes essence. Essence creates rifts. Rifts convert all three.


    He was trying to recreate that second step. Mana makes essence. An event that normally only happened inside the cores of the as mana was drawn in with their tremendous gravity to condense to a single point.


    If the saying was true, he would be able to create essence after subjecting his mana to enough pressure, over enough time.


    Matt smiled as the world started to rumble.


    From the center of his formation sphere, the head-sized orb of mana started to shrink.


    As it shrank, it darkened until it lost its color all at once and turned a nearly see-through white. The translucent, head-sized ball of liquid mana that took years to make condensed to a dust mote-sized speck of essence in an instant.


    Mattughed as he finally seeded.


    Pushing his awareness to Minka, he knew that he could submit this as his final test.


    It would be given a passing grade by the, and hed get his reward. His foundation of gathered essence would be inundated and reced with Genesis Energy, and he would know if not the <em>specifics</em> of what hed done, hed know for a fact that he could, someday, make Essence out of pure mana.


    But he hesitated.


    Matt had used two of the disciplines he knew from enchanting. Enchanting formations and talismans. But he was ignoring one final thing he knew and used on a daily basis.


    Aperology.


    Matt had spent a significant portion of his life using his mana to make rifts and do exactly what he had done in this test.


    Only in a more efficient form that took a million times less effort than the experiment he had just created.


    As an idea came over Matt, he started designing a part two to his test.


    An aura rift that would be pure mana.


    He and Erwin had tried to make it years ago, but now Matt could do all of the testing without worrying about danger, cost, or time.


    If it was possible, the idea was that they could create aura rifts that wouldn''t limit people into a singr elemental affinity, and would allow the cultivator to choose their own path for their Concept to grow into.


    If it was possible, everything about Bottled Concepts would be turned on its head.


    He just needed to test its feasibility.


    Genesis Cultivation was the perfect ce to do so. No test was too dangerous. No test was too expensive. No test was a waste of time.


    It was the perfect testing ground.


    Endless sub-aspected mana converted into essence, which was endless by nature, used to create a rift that made pure Aura.


    In theory, it was possible.


    He just had to put in the work and see if theory and reality aligned.


    And Matt was never afraid of hard work.


    ***


    Aster looked at her ice cream sundae.


    It was perfect.


    Larger than she was, it was a bnced blend of sweet and sour. Crunchy and soft. Warm and cold.


    It was <em>perfect</em>.


    Still, she scrapped it. She loved ice cream, but it wasnt what she wanted to make here.


    Taking a nibble of her treat, she started pulling the surroundings into the proper form.


    Aster was a winter fox. Once an ice fox.


    But winter wasn''t her goal.


    Even aurora wasn''t her end goal.


    Aster wanted to be a <em>Space</em> Ice fox.


    To that end, she created a field of ice.


    Basking in what she once was, she added wind, and the field of ice turned into a winter storm.


    Now, she was at her current self.


    With the easy part done, she started to add illusions and spatial energies. Slowly, the area converted to a field of ice and winter with aurora lights bathing its surface with energy.


    Then, Aster followed that same energy past the''s atmosphere and into space.


    In the void, matter started to slow and eventually stop.


    Everything grew cold.


    So cold, even the atoms of the universe came to a halt.


    Pulling at the strings of the world she created, she gathered all of itsponents and pulled them under her control.


    From the dead universe, she gathered it up and started to shape it and mold it into her image.


    From that death and stillness, Aster created life. Life of the cold and the end.


    Life under her control.


    Walking through the area she created, she explored where her bloodline would take her and smiled.


    She saw the heat death of a universe under her control, breeding its own type of unique life.


    Essence ensured that the end of a universe was an impossibility, as it started to fuel the reaction of stars with its endless energy, instead of the fusion of hydrogen into helium.


    Essence ensured that she was an impossibility.


    Through essence, Aster would create her own path to an end that was impossible.


    ***


    Susanne wrote a letter with her best handwriting.


    But instead of a pen or a quill, she was using her greatsword, and the canvas was the air around her.


    As she danced, the lines of ink spread from the tip of her de onto the air.


    Everything was smooth here. Her Talent worked as she wished it did in this strange in-between space of non reality, allowing her to use <em>anything</em> as a quill. But that wasn''t the purpose of Susannes dance.


    She needed to create, so she did.


    She wrote a letter to her past, detailing the hurt and pain her father had caused her family.


    She wrote a letter to her mother, wishing she had pushed through a bit longer so she could see her daughter strong, and supporting herself and her brother.


    She wrote a letter to her brother, who had been too young to really understand, but now worried for her.


    She wrote a letter to herself for finding her own path in life. A path she hadnt thought possible, but was enjoying more than she could have ever thought.


    Susanne felt herself settle as she expressed herself.


    Emotion flowed like ink and stained the world she was in like it was paper.


    Susanne smiled as she felt Minka ept her offering, and her cores started to convert into something greater than essence.


    Genesis Energy spread like ink in water as it reached deeper and deeper into her cores.


    Power flooded her cores like she never felt before as her dance came to an end.


    ***


    Liz cursed at the potion table.


    Despite what she had promised Matt, she had tried to create a potion that could concentrate his mana down multiple times in a single tier, but after what felt like a decade, she couldnt find an answer.


    She knew it had been a long shot, but she had wanted to <em>try</em>. Even though much of what they did specifically would be lost, forgotten once she left this room, if she had seeded her real self would still know that it was <em>possible</em>, and that something she had tried <em>had</em> worked.


    Liz had moved on, though.


    Her original idea had been to refine her blood alchemy into something greater, but the need for essence was still something she hadnt been able to sidestep through any of her testing.


    That wasnt an issue in this testing room, as she could summon essence stones with a thought, but it would limit her in the future, and she wanted to create something greater.


    Deciding to flip the script, Liz brought her arm around to clear her past attempts.


    Pulling out a new set of ingredients, she stared at them in contemtion.


    If her blood wasnt enough to make items without essence, she just needed to change what her blood was.


    She was blood, but blood was a lot of things. Her blood was life was rebirth but the rebirth didnt need to simply restore what was there before. It could turn into something different


    Something greater.


    Something more.


    ***


    Matt fell to the ground with the others right next to him. They were in the same formation they had been in when they had stepped through the third sub-level reward distortion of the second floor.


    In the safe area, they discovered a number of other people.


    Not a lot, but having anyone with them was more than they had seen in the first safe area.


    Matt had his sword out but his skills off. [Cracked Phantom Armor] was a little too conspicuous for their current hidden appearances.


    From their side, off a ways from the edge, an AI message came to them.


    Come over here. We have a safe area set out. Lets exchange information.


    The message would have been inconspicuous, except for the fact the AI signature wasnt an Empire identification but a Guild one.


    Turning, he saw two people sitting off to the side in a portable defensive formation array.


    It was good work, but Matt suspected it was a bought formation rather than one hand-made.


    The runes and lines were too clean, too standard, for a personally made enchantment.


    Walking over to what should be their only allies in the ce, the four of them kept their guards up.


    The duo were also wearing nk masks like their own, which was nothing surprising.


    They seemed to be Tier 12s, but Matt couldnt trust that. Their own cultivation would also seem Tier 12 to anyone casually inspecting them.


    As they entered the formation, Matt was finally able to see that the two Guild delvers were injured.


    Nothing seemed super serious, but blood covered their armor and showed holes where something had pierced their defenses.


    Liz was the first to speak, relying on their AI to trante. Are you guys in need of healing? We have spells and potions that we can offer.


    The man on the left shook his head. Thank you, but no, were good. The two of us are just waiting for our healing cooldown to lessen a little before we leave to go deeper. If you came a few hourster, you would have missed us.


    Matt nodded to their armor. Do you need a recement? We found a few sets of armor that, while not unique, is in good condition.


    The second man paused at that offer, his masked mouth pausing open before asking. What do you want for it?


    Susanne immediately answered with the most valuable thing in Minka. What do you know about the others?


    The first Guild man shook his head. We don''t know much, but would have offered it up anyway. We got some good rewards that we can trade for the armor. We have other sets, but having an extra backup is always valuable. Information for information. Items for items.


    After a little internal chat, the four of them decided to make the exchange.


    They had next to nothing to offer on the information department, having been so far ahead of the others. They had only seen one other person from the Sects on the first floor, but in return for that, they were let in on whatever information the duo had.


    None of them exchanged true names or anything so identifying, but the duo told them everything they knew. Or at least, all that they <em>said</em> they knew.


    One of the other Chosen identified as Young Master Lunar Fang. I assume you know what that means?


    All four of them nodded. They had information about all the top enemy Pather equivalents, and Young Master Lunar Fang was a known monster. At Tier 12, he had a reputation for using his Talent for moonlight attacks to y a well known Tier 16 after a dispute.


    That would have been impressive even if he had assassinated the Tier 16, but their information suggested that Young Master Lunar Fang had told the Tier 16 exactly how he was going to kill him before doing so.


    That had catapulted him from obscurity to fame in a single attack, earning him a ce on the Great Powers'' watch lists.


    After they digested that bit of information, the second guilder continued, We also personally encountered Silver Phoenix from your guys faction. He was finest we saw him, but warned us about a group of ten people running around as a team. He said they''re strong and coordinated, and told us to watch out if encountering them in the depths. They attacked him on sight.


    Under his mask, Matt furrowed his brows. Not at the news that Silver Phoenix was there or ahead of them, but the fact he had found a group of ten people in Minka.


    Larger groups might have more safety, but they struggled to keep up with smaller groups with their increased Genesis Energy needs. Silver Phoenix himself was the third ce contestant in the solo fights of the Tier 10 tournament before their own, and was said to have entered Minka at the peak of Tier 12.


    Luna even spoke to them about him, and expected him to do well as long as he wasnt killed.


    Silver Phoenix was named for his Talent, which gave him silver mes that he liked to shape into a bird form. Whether or not he had a bloodline was a matter of debate, but he was strong enough that a group of subpar fighters who needed to travel in a pack of ten shouldn''t have given him an issue.


    Which meant they were strong individually.


    That thought just brought Matt to the question of why they were delving together.


    After that bit of information, the duo started to inform them about the others who were in the room with them currently.


    Gabbys group was a Tier 12 team of three elites from the ns. They weren''t Knights, the Ascender equivalent of the ns, but they were a team of their local nobility.


    Matt took a few seconds to inspect the dwarf in person, but quickly realized that there was nothing to see. They just seemed like short and stocky humans, rather than anything else.


    Still, he didnt doubt the reports they had learned of from Luna and the information brokers. The team was strong, and despite being funded by their ns, were as formidable as any ascender team of equivalent Tier.


    The only obvious beast in the area was a wounded Seven Light Panther who had a gash on his nk. Gareth was a known beast with a strong bloodline and power. He was an Alpha contestant from the Monster Collective, but not much was known of him beyond the fact that his Talent was illusion based which was normal for the species.


    No one had seen him fight, or at least no one reported it to the media, and their spies had found nothing. Therge cat had decided not to participate in the Monster Collectives Tier 10 tournament equivalent, so hardly anything about his abilities was public or privileged knowledge.


    After going over the other few people in the room, Matt set up a formation to block peoples spiritual sense and sight while he brought out a number of the armor sets they had taken from the fishmen armory.


    The Guild duo, after seeing the armor, decided to buy two full sets apiece, and after some negotiating, traded Liz a number of rare herbs that they had found. Susanne also scored a bracelet that increased the efficiency of weapon manifestations.


    As the pair were about to leave, a new face appeared.


    A lone young man stood in an open area.


    That would have been unremarkable, save for the fact he was nude and <em>Tier 12</em>.


    He didnt even seem to have a spatial ring.


    As if nothing was wrong, he sauntered over to the pir in the center of the wall while whistling a jaunty tune.


    After the naked man vanished, Matt called out to the guild duo and asked, Did you recognize him? I don''t.


    They shook their heads, and the two of them walked over to the pir and descended to the next level of Minka, leaving the four of them to their own devices.


    Setting up a better formation for privacy was a matter of removing then empowering the formations Matt had prepared before they entered Minka.


    They didnt want to take out their house in front of so many people unnecessarily.


    After setting all of that up, Matt withdrew the mirror that the cornucopia had empowered to check on Gareth. It let them see through illusions, and had proven useful in the second floor.


    Matt nodded to the others as he saw that the Seven Light Panther was neither wounded, nor where he pretended to be. The healthy cat was sitting next to the dwarven team, spying on their conversation.


    Aster chortled softly through their AI. Silly kitty. Illusions are for foxes.


    Matt finally took the time to inspect his cultivation cores. Or rather, core.


    His mana core was as small as it always was.


    But his physical core was a different story. Where once had been a small sphere of white essence now resided a coating of golden Genesis Energy.


    The top threeyers of his essence had been converted, which he suspected was the maximum the reward on the second floor could give.


    Through their AI, Liz asked. How did you all do? I got two and a half Tiers converted in each of my cores.


    Aster yipped back. Same! I feel really strong. The Genesis Energy I got from [Heart of Power] even stacked a bit more with the conversion, and it feels like arger peak.


    Susanne agreed with Liz and Aster. About two Tiers but more in my physical side, personally. The power is noticeable. Sadly we are just keeping up with the rest of the best here, though. Once we leave, it will have a noticeable impact though and set us apart.


    Matt finally spoke. I guess my Talent helped me here. I got a full three Tiers converted to Genesis Energy in my physical core.


    Aster headbutted his leg. Ugh! That feels like cheating.


    While she said that, he could feel her happiness for him.


    Oh that''s great. I hadnt even thought of that. If we


    Liz was interrupted by Susanne. We have a kittying over.


    That shut them all up. While they were in a protected formation and Liz was speaking over AI, it was still better to not risk it. Gareth might have some way to overhear their conversation with a special Talent or skill.


    Gathering their things, they got up and left through the central pir.


    ***


    As the world settled, Matt felt himself fall to the ground. His armor was so heavy, he could barely move.


    Pulling it into his spatial ring, he gasped for breath.


    They didnt need to test anything to see that their third floor was Back to Basics.


    As a floor, it wasn''t a bad one, but it was a fantastic floor to get after Genesis Cultivation.


    Genesis Cultivation converted essence inside someone''s cores to Genesis Energy, but that reward was on the outermostyers unless you had it as one of the bottom floors. But Back to Basics removed your essence altogether.


    It reset you to a fresh Tier 1, and made you work all the way back to your previous peak.


    Getting Back to Basics after Genesis Cultivation pulled the Genesis Energy in your cores to the lowest Tiers, giving the cultivators who encountered these two floors the best scaling possible from the unique power.


    Activating his spells, Matt smiled.


    Back to Basics only removed his essence to lower his Tier, but seemed to have no power over his Talent. He had a full 2,560 mana in his mana pool to use.


    Standing back up, Matt saw his de sitting on the ground and couldnt even budge it. He tested it by activating [Mages Retreat]. Sadly, the skill did nothing, as he had no essence in his cores for it to multiply as a new Tier 1.


    Putting his de into his spatial ring, he was grateful that his spirit remained as strong as a peak Tier 11s. It at least allowed him to continue to use his advanced spatial items.


    Aster whined as she freed herself from the divot she found herself in. This sucks! I barely even remember being a Tier 1. At least it didnt lower my intelligence with the loss of power.


    Liz wiped the dust off herself and helped Susanne up. Matt, can you drop the house so we can get the Tier 1 items we prepared?


    Doing so, they entered and got the sets of Tier 1 items they had prepared in case they got this floor.


    Matt frowned at the replica of his de.


    It was made to the same shape as his growth de, but it just felt wrong.


    But considering he couldn''t use his Tier 14 growth weapon as a Tier 1, he was forced to use this one. His sword was far too heavy for him at his current power.


    Before they set off, he said, Minka wasnt able to restrict my Talent, so we can st past this floor relying on me.


    Liz and Aster nodded. It was the same for them. While their limited mana pools would normally be a problem Matts Concept made that a non issue.


    Susanneughed lightly as she swung her Concept manifestation. I''m weaker, but this doesn''t change my fighting style, really. Useless Talenting in handy here. Sadly I cant cheat with spells, though.


    They set off through the forest they found themselves in, and Matt kept his eyes, and spiritual perception spread out as far as possible.


    Not that it was far, but it was further than it had been when he was a proper Tier 1. He just wasn''t sure if that was from their Eternal Darkness reward, Minka not being able to <em>truly</em> remove Tiers from them, or simple practice from the intervening decades. Even a dozen feet was better than nothing, so he didnt look the gift horse in the mouth.


    They had only traveled a small distance when they heard rustling in the underbrush.


    Aster slinked off to the side behind Liz while Matt and Susanne took a forward position.


    They waited and found a pair of goblins walking down the forest trail in azy scouting formation.


    The one on the right was giving the grime under its nails more attention than the surroundings, which made their ambush easy.


    Stepping out of the foliage, Matt swung his de and cleaved the closest goblin in two. Or at least, he tried to. He killed the monster, but his de got caught on the ribs and failed to properly bisect the creature.


    Susanne had none of his issues with a weapon manifestation, and her goblin fell in twain.


    A wash of energy that felt like a facsimile of essence flowed into Matt and unlocked his previously allocated andpressed essence.


    Except, instead of the white of essence, it was the golden color of Genesis Energy.


    Following the trail, they continued to encounter goblin patrols, but as they killed and increased their own cultivation, they found the goblins provided less and less advancement in return.


    As they were nearing the middle of Tier 1, they discovered the goblin camp.


    At least a hundred goblins milled around therge camp in sloppy formations and with awful gear.


    Matt felt almost nostalgic, seeing the goblins as he had at Tier 1. But not enough to let the goblins live.


    Flexing his untouched mana pool, Matt cast a full power [Hail].


    The spell more than covered the goblin camp and stretched beyond its bounds.


    Even in his outer spirit, at 2,560 MPS the spell was nearly a solid wall of ice, and the weak bodies of the Tier 1 goblins were crushed under the weight.


    All of them instantly shot up to early Tier 2 from the kills.


    Mattughed. Minka had screwed him on thest floor theme, but now he got to break its test with his Talent.


    The others'' mana pools were linked to their mana cores, but this waspletely contained by his Talent. Even cultivation restricting items didnt work on him, and it seemed Minka wasnt able to close that loophole.


    Matt did take the time and redirect some of his Genesis Energy to different spots in his core.


    Before, he had changed his allocation a few times in his cultivation, but he had learned in recent years what he really needed. A mostly even spread between everything, but with peaks built in Senses, Mind, and Strength.


    Senses and Mind were in many ways the most important to him, as the faster he could notice what he needed, and thus <em>react</em> to his needs, the better. Strength wasnt quite as important, and so it didnt get quite as much extra as his mental faculties. But the more he had, the better his old friend [Mages Retreat] would work, so it was built up as well.


    Having more essence, or rather Genesis Energy, in that portion of his core only made the spell stronger.


    It allowed him to hit harder, move faster. Everything Matt needed to fight above his Tier with his de magebat style.


    Bringing his de up to his shoulder, Matt proimed, The Matt transport leaves immediately. All aboard for a speedrun of this floor.


    Aster jumped up onto his shoulder and yipped, Woohoo!

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184


    Matt walked up to the cavern and cocked his arm back.


    The boss of this ruin was a Tier 7 spider standing at least thirty feet tall, with thick armor covering its body.


    With their mid Tier 3 cultivation, the four of them should have been woefully too weak to take the boss down. That would have been the normal outlook on such a boss with their rtive cultivation.


    With the floor theme, Matt didnt even hesitate to approach the boss.


    As the spider started skittering at him in a charge, followed by hundreds of dog sized lesser spiders, Mattunched his fist.


    From his [Cracked Phantom Armor]s gauntlet, [Fist st]unched itself outward like a rocket.


    The spell copied both his magical and physical armors form for the attack, so it wasnt just a fist, but it also had the spikes he grew on his hands with the firstyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    As the skill left his hand, he started channeling his mana into his gravity gauntlets.


    Except, instead of the attractive force of gravity appearing at his hand, the force was generated from the fist form of [Fist st].


    All of the spiderlings were pulled towards the attack as it mmed into the boss.


    The [Fist st] mmed into the bosses armor, and a few drops of hemolymph flew out a few feet in all directions before being pulled into the gravity well that he kept channeled.


    With 100 MPS being fed into the artifact, some bosses in Minka <em>might</em> have been able to break free of its pull. The spider, at half the usual tier, stood no chance.


    Spiders screeched and cried as they were pulled into the ck hole that dug deeper and deeper into the boss''s body, but Matt wasn''t done yet.


    From his left hand, Matt cast [methrower] and mentally directed the stream of fire with [Fire Maniption]. Like a wave, it spread out and sought any spiders holding on to the ground or walls.


    A rush of Genesis Energy flooded into his core, and with a thought, he redirected his cultivation to his new ideal.


    Killing the boss and its underlings earned them a boost in strength which sent them to the peak of Tier 4 in an instant. He had already tried to double his mana when he returned to Tier 3, but his Talent didnt consider Minkas reducing his Tier as legitimate, nor his regaining the cultivation as Tiering up, so his mana pool refused to expand. It was unfortunate, but he was already so lucky with his Talent being unaffected that he couldntin too much.


    At least out loud.


    Heined internally every time he earned back some of his cultivation. If he had been able to double his mana pool eight more times, he would have been unstoppable inside Minka.


    Asterughed on his shoulder. That was great! I wonder what a spider heart tastes like?


    Jumping down from his shoulder, she moved over to the boss and activated [Heart of Power]. As they learned on thest sub-level, when she reached the peak of Tier 1, the essence added to her cultivation had settled down to her first Tier, making her first Tier even more efficient than the rest of them.


    Throughout the decades, she had gotten a dozen or so of permanent advancements to her cultivations as little bits and pieces that let her push past the normal limits of a Tier. But now, those improvements were all condensed to her first Tier.


    Sadly, where the advancementsnded waspletely out of her control, even with Minka resetting her cultivation.


    She didn''t get a permanent boost from the spider bosss vein-like hearts, but it still gave her a temporary bonus to her abilities, even if she didnt need them.


    Liz sauntered up with thepass, which was in its sphere form, and pointed to the side. Something beneath us to the right. Want to dig for it?


    Matt shrugged. He didnt mind, and they were making fantastic time with their pace on this floor due to the overwhelming advantage that his Talent provided, trivializing the weakened monsters.


    They had also been using theirpass at every opportunity, and their spatial storage was filling up with valuables at an impressive rate. That,bined with Matts Talent breaking the floors challenge, meant they had no issues finding and taking anything theirpass pointed to.


    With Susanne watching their rear, Matt used [Earth Maniption] to remove the floor where thepass indicated, finding them a fist sized mass of ore that pulsed in a rainbow of colors.


    Liz retrieved the ore and whistled. Milios Seven Colored Ore. Now that''s expensive.


    Susanne looked at it but shrugged. What''s so special about it? I don''t recognize it.


    Matt pointed at it. It serves as a recement for practically any metal required to upgrade a growth item. So while it isnt a perfect panacea, it''s beyond expensive. It also makes for some good enchanting materials if you want to use it that way. At Tier 14, I dont doubt it will sell for a good handful of Tier 17 or 18 mana stones. The stuff is always in high demand for people who cant find what their weapons and items need to advance.


    After storing the ore, they went and dispelled the first floor ruin reward distortion. They got a handful of skills, but nothing they wanted to immediately use, and a handful of essence stones. They treasured the essence stones in particr, now that theirpass was eating a stone with every attempt to find something.


    On the second floor, things changed.


    It seemed that Minka didn''t appreciate Matt abusing his Talent to decimate the monsters, and put them in the middle of a floor of crystal like beings that were resistant to magical attacks.


    It almost even worked.


    Almost.


    Matt countered anti-magic monsters with more magic.


    Just not his own.


    With a flex of [Create Blood], Liz washed away all the monsters they faced in an ocean of blood.


    The golems might be able to resist magical attacks, but they had no such counters to Liz squeezing their crystalline bodies until they cracked.


    On a tide of blood, they swept out of the cavern after harvesting anything that survived Lizs wave.


    They were a dozen feet out of the cavern when a [Fireball] and two arrows shed out at them.


    Matt cast [Bulwark], blocking the two arrows while Susanne cut the spell in half with her greatsword.


    Matt was about to cast his own return spell when a voice called out, Mistake! Mistake. We thought you were a monster.


    Pausing with his sword glowing Matt prepared himself for an ambush.


    Liz barked out a singlemanding word. Exin.


    A group of four like their own stepped forward slowly with their weapons at the ready, but not charged with any spells.


    A warrior to the left was the one to speak. We saw the blood and thought we were under attack again. We just escaped a ruin that has blood monsters and their attacks drain your energy and dont stop bleeding easily. An honest mistake, I promise.


    Matt looked at the man and his group and saw that what they said seemed reasonable.


    Their arms and legs were covered with gore. Holes were ripped in their armor showing wounds that still seeped blood.


    They were too far away to see anything more than that, but it gave credence to their story.


    Through their AI, Liz said, Let''s pump them for more information. I want that ruins location.


    Matt spoke up. We found a tick monster that was feeding on the other monsters. We got swept away when it popped, but there were no others like it.


    Before he could say more the archer leaned over and vomited.


    If you could give us some information about where that ruin is so we can avoid it, wed be grateful. Putting action to words, he pulled out a number of [Bandage] talismans and waved them. Two dozen Tier 14 [Bandage] talismans for the information seem fair?


    The leader immediately agreed. Deal.


    Healing supplies were worth their weight in Tier 50 mana stones in a ce like Minka, after all.


    Most people stocked up with more than they would need, but a lost storage bag or the team taking more injuries than predicted could mean burning through more of your supplies than anticipated.


    And with wounds that didn''t stop bleeding, but were otherwise not life threatening, using a proper healing potion or spell was wasteful in both supplies and healing cooldown.


    Setting the talismans down, Matt and his team of four immediately backed up to give the group more than enough room to grab the talismans without fear that they would be attacked.


    The leader inspected the talisman for a minute and used one on himself after the inspection.


    When the light blue mana fell over a wound in his leg he sighed and thanked them. We owe you guys one. The ruin is two caverns that way. He pointed the way they came and continued, But there''s a split. The left passage leads to a forest with odd blue leaves. If you see that you went the wrong way. Turn back. That forest butts up against the blood area.


    Matt nodded in thanks and the two groups moved past each other, their weapons at the ready. Now they were close, Matt was able to feel their cultivation.


    Tier 6s.


    While he could feel that their real cultivation was a higher Tier than most who delved this quickly, that could mean a number of things. They could have slowed down and allowed the next quickest wave to catch up, or this group was stronger than most of their peers, even if at the same Tier, and therefore got more of their cultivation back faster then most.


    Really, there was no way to know.


    Even their attack could have been a probe to see if the four of them were easy targets.


    In Minka, intentions were only as good as actions.


    Matt considered attacking them, but in the end, it was a challenge to evene up with a good reason to murder strangers just for their loot and Genesis Energy.


    When they were a good distance away they increased their pace to a mile eating jog.


    The forest only had one monster type attack them. It was merely a swarm of rats, and the path of destruction they cut through the forest spoke to the strength of the group they had passed.


    Even while limited in Tier, the group had done well enough to make an impact, and Matt made a note of the team and theirposition, just in case they had to fight them in the future.


    Just as the team said, they found and of blood in the ruin after the forest.


    The cavern''s pools were filled with blood that bubbled ominously, releasing a stench that clung to Matts nose. The blood Liz used still smelled like blood, which wasnt exactly pleasant, but this stuff <em>reeked</em>.


    Activating [Cracked Phantom Armor] solved that problem for him, but Aster and Susanne both suffered.


    Liz seemed at home, and with a gesture, the blood on the pool rose up and a tendril of it swirled over to her.


    Something is weird with this blood. Liz mumbled. Stand back. Somethings in it, I just need to figure out what.


    The pool of blood left the indentation it sat in, revealing the parasite sitting on the rock.


    It was massive, and looked more like a snake than a parasite.


    Seeing it, Susanne said, I think we found what''s wrong with the blood. I''d bet everything I own that this thing is infecting the blood with its kids spawn eggs. Whatever parasites the size of a snake give birth to. All I know is that its gross.


    Saying that, she attacked with a [Mana sh], killing the Tier 7 monster.


    Liz was still busy with the blood. You''re probably right, but I need to do some testing.


    She shot Matt a pleading look.


    Sighing, he removed their house after setting it up inside the forest ruin.


    Matt still grumbled about having to make a new spell to deep clean them for parasites.


    Undirected healing spells wouldnt do much for the pesky little things most of the time, and he doubted that the ones Minka cooked up with the ability to prevent blood clotting would be so easily taken care of.


    Liz disappeared into her alchemy room for half a day before exiting.


    Matt, Aster, and Susanne took turns sleeping while one of them stood watch. A team passed them by, but they returned not long after discovering the blood ruin''s effects.


    Liz worked like a machine the whole time, and kept pulling mana from the house''s storage.


    After eighteen hours, she came out and admitted defeat.


    I cant make the parasites a part of my blood. I either kill them while attempting to bring them under my control, or they just die when transnted into my blood. Their deaths are what makes the infected hosts bleed faster, which is interesting, and it also exins why the other group had a hard time stanching their bleeding. You need to thoroughly wash out the wound to remove them, or it takes hours for the bodies to stop leaking the anticoagnt.


    Matt looked at her aghast.


    She had put those things into her body? That seemed risky beyond belief.


    Seeing all of their looks, Liz waved her hand. In my blood in a vial. Not my body. I''m sure thetter would work, but I''m not testing that this early in my experiments. Far too risky.


    Matt asked, What did you do with the blood?


    Liz rolled her eyes. Burned it in a sealed container. But let''s go delve that ruin. I think with enough samples, I can bring this out to the real world and make something useful with them. I just need to domesticate the parasites like they do with rift monsters.


    Susanne pointed at Lizs baggy eyes. First, go to sleep. We''re all rested and you look dead on your feet.


    Liz didnt argue and simply went to sleep; taking the three hours she needed to feel fully rested.


    With them ready, they started to delve the ruin.


    Matt had expected the ruin to be a rough one, but it was far worse than he imagined.


    The monsters weren''t the parasites. No, they were a side effect.


    The monsters were a type of vampire. Or as close as the ruin could make.


    They were humanoid creatures with incredible strength and reflexes. Even at Tier 7, they were faster than most peak Tier 8s, and had razor sharp ws and fangs with which they delivered devastating blows.


    If that was all, it wouldnt have made the rift a particrly difficult one.


    The <em>real</em> problem was the monsters healing factor. It was a lesson they learned the hard way.


    Matt brought his fist down on the monster''s head twice, cracking its skull open and spilling out the brains. He expected that to end the fight, but the monster''s hand flew up at him as he turned away, trying to punch through his armor. It scrabbled against [Cracked Phantom Armor] uselessly, as it could protect him from Tier 13 and 14 monsters if he was using bothyers. A Tier 7 monster didnt have an iota of a chance of getting through his armor, but he watched in fascinated horror as the humanoid head reformed and inted while trying to bite his neck.


    Catching its jaw in his hand, Matt drove his spiked, gauntleted fists into its chest until he was sure that its heart was destroyed.


    Even then, it took a few seconds for the monster to finally die and the Genesis Energy to rush into him.


    Susanne was off to the side poking at a pile of vampire bits that kept trying to wiggle at her.


    Take out the heart, Matt told her.


    After Susane took his advice, the monster stopped moving and started to fade away.


    To Matts surprise, both of the monsters dropped skill shards.


    Picking them up and inspecting them, he hoping for Lizs sake that the skills were blood types, but he was disappointed. [w Strike] and [Chomp] were generally considered beast only skills. They were technically usable by humans, just less effective without natural sharp bits for the spell to build off of.


    Aster sauntered over and pawed at the chomp skill. I want that one. I could use some melee ability in case we get a floor that counters mages again.


    Slipping the skill shard into her cor Matt turned and looked to where Liz was inspecting the vampire she had bound with blood.


    Find something interesting? He asked as he came up to her side.


    Liz nodded several times. A lot. These guys have an active Concept that''s eating my blood to fuel their regeneration. Watch this.


    She cut the vampire in half and incinerated the legs and stump. This stopped the regenerative effect, and Matt promptly changed his tactics for fighting in this ruin.


    But when Liz directed a little blood into the vampire''s wound, the blood was absorbed and then new flesh started to grow at a visible rate.


    In less than ten seconds, the vampire had regrown its lower half.


    Liz redid her test , burning the monster''s lower half off, then feeding it blood through its mouth. Once more, it regrew its body in seconds.


    Susanne, who just walked over, asked, That seems simr to your Concept right? Rebirth through blood.


    Lizughed. A lesser version, but I can''t say Ive ever had to or wanted to test that portion of my Concept. I can feel a resonance between the two though, and it''s giving me ideas. Also, the vampires are utterly <em>stuffed</em> with parasites. Like thirty percent of their blood and muscles <em>is</em> the parasite.


    Matt shook his head at that thought.


    He really didnt want that parasite anywhere near himself or Aster. Really, he didnt want it near any of them, but assumed Liz would be fine.


    Susanne asked. Is there a way to ensure we don''t get infected? Or a dewormer?


    Liz snapped her finger and a me appeared. Heat. Anything hotter than body temperature will cook em. A hot shower should do you fine, or standing in a low-Tier fire for a while. I actually think they cant survive a Tier up. A bit of essence or Genesis Energy that hits them instantly kills them. The odd thing is that they still advance with essence, which makes outside essence killing them an oddity that''s nagging at me. I think there''s something there, but I need to study them more to really dive into it.


    Liz set the bloodsucker on fire, turning it to charcoal in moments.


    This one dropped a dagger with a ruby in the hilt.


    Picking it up with a rod, Matt looked at for a second beforeughing. I recognize this enchantment. It''s the same one on your original spear, Liz. It will keep cuts bleeding longer.


    Catching it, Liz spun it around. Not bad. Think you can convert it to a spear?


    Matt shook his head. While I might be able to, I''d literally be tying the knife to a stick. I think it would be better if we made a flying dagger out of it.


    Liz mulled over the idea before epting. That''s useful. What


    She was interrupted by Susanne jerking as a pulse of Genesis Energy washed out of her.


    They all looked at her in confusion until she looked down. My armor just became a growth item.


    Sheughed as she punched the air, removing the armor from her spatial ring. Fuck yeah! I was hoping for this.


    Matt threw out his spiritual sense and encased her armor, but paused at the oddity.


    The armor was Tier 14, and something inside was actively changing. He could feel the Genesis Energy in Susanne beginning to be absorbed into the item and cycled through on its own. As far as he could tell, none of the energy was being left behind, but it was changing something in the structure of the armor''s spirit.


    Matt hesitated to put words to the unknown, but it felt like the Genesis Energy was breathing life into the item''s spirit. That was the only way he could describe it.


    The items spirit was in six pieces, like the armor itself, but began fusing along the conjoined runic lines as the Genesis Energy built up inside it. He knew how to link items that needed to be physically separated with runes; it was a finicky enchantment that depended on the items being within a small range. But as he watched, the runes dissolved out of the armor''s spirit as if they were smoothed out like sand.


    At the same time, the enchantments that had been simple runes he knew inside and out started to morph.


    The change wasntrge, but it was noticeable. It was like the difference between block print and cursive. The words might be the same, but they looked different.


    And everything Matt knew about enchanting said that what he was witnessing was impossible.


    The shape of a rune needed to be <em>precise</em>. Any small deviation or imperfection in the shape of the rune meant that it wouldn''t work. The changes in the item should have broken the runes, but instead they empowered it.


    Matt thought things were ending when the Genesis Energy inside Susanne slowed down, but was proven wrong as new runes started to appear in the item''s spirit.


    Repair and durability runes first appeared, then fused together before seeming to vanish.


    Then, a set of runes he didnt recognize appeared and took their ce next to the runes that had once empowered Susannes Concept to enhance her body.


    After that, all the runes blended into the item''s spirit perfectly, making them nearly indistinguishable at an easy nce.


    With his AI unable to record, he quickly jotted down the runes he saw the armor create and absorb. He knew it wasnt one hundred percent, but he hoped his scratchings would be urate enough to reproduce themter.


    Susanne, still being Tier 4, was unable to lift her armor, and was forced to wiggle inside of it while it was on the ground.


    Once inside, and with her boots and gauntlets ced on with their help, she activated the armor.


    Matt could feel when her armor was fed with her willpower, as it started to radiate power like a beacon in the night.


    He was thinking it was a bad thing when Susanne started to get up.


    She was like a turtle on its back, but with their help, she managed to stand with armor a full ten Tiers higher than herself.


    That was impressive on its own, but when she lost her fight with gravity and bnce, she tipped forward and a barrier of mana appeared around her armor in a facsimile of Matts own [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Ok, I''m not strong enough yet to use the armor but I''m excited!


    Her muffled voice came out from the helmet as Aster sniffed her before sitting on her back.


    Can you help me up? Susanne asked.


    Aster yipped, But you make a great seat right now!


    Mattughed but scooped his bond off their friend, and while activating [Mages Retreat], helped her roll over.


    Metal got heavy as it Tiered up, and her standing up at all was an impressive feat that spoke to her armor''s powers.


    Once she was back in Tier appropriate, standard armor, Susanneughed. It''s perfect! Strength buff, physical defenses, and magical shielding all in one.


    Hearing her gush, Matt looked at the item that <em>he</em> was hoping was going to turn into a growth item. Neither his mana stone nor his armor were showing any signs of reacting to the Genesis Energy that hed been cycling through them during their downtime. He was about to ask when Liz did it for him. Did you feel anything before now? A sign that it was turning?


    Susanne denied it. Nothing. I was surprised it even happened, since it was in my spatial ring.


    Matt had already thought of that. Luna said that converting items in a spatial ring was rare but possible. So that doesnt really change anything. But you really felt nothing? No faster swirling of Genesis Energy, no tug on your Concept, not even a bit of a twinge as essence settled in?


    When Susanne denied it again, Matt sighed and gave it up.


    He could only be happy for her, getting the main item she wanted bound to her so soon.


    He wanted so many of his things to convert, it wasn''t even funny.


    His mana converting mana stone, his under armor that increased the effect of his channeled physical buffs, the gravity gauntlets which were quickly bing a favorite of his arsenal, and the seekerpass they had found in the fishman rift.


    All of them would make for fantastic growth items and he wanted them all. If Luna hadnt said that spending more time in Minka didnt necessarily guarantee more items converting, he would have nned to sit at the bottom floor for a year or two.


    The rest of the ruin was mostly the same, with more and more vampires attacking them at every turn, but with Matt gushing out more mana than they could shake a Tier 50 stick at, it was a total breeze.


    And the vampires were good sources of Genesis Energy, so they returned quite a bit of their cultivation.


    By the time they found a vampire in full ck te armor sitting on the throne, they were peak Tier 5s and feeling their power increase.


    The boss disabused them of that notion almost immediately.


    With long white hair flowing behind it, it created an afterimage as it sliced out at Matt and his [Bulwark].


    Matt had spent 1000 mana in the initial cast, and channeled another 1000 MPS to the skill, but the bosss red and ck de still sliced through it as if it wasnt there. As his mana shield shattered, he could feel that the de was imbued with Void mana specifically tuned to break through unaspected mana in defensive skills.


    Minka was annoyed at them again, it seemed.


    Still, Matt was fast enough to get his unenchanted Tier 6 longsword in between himself and the ck armored vampire knight, which was the only reason he was sent flying instead of being sliced in half.


    Still, his sword exploded under the impact as the durability rune was overloaded in the single strike.


    Liz flowed forward with a stream of blood ready to hammer down on the boss, but it raised its off hand and the blood stopped in its tracks.


    Susanne was already rushing forward, but even as the vampire boss battled with Liz in a fight of wills, it had no issues dueling Susanne to a standstill.


    Aster growled and ice started to appear as she used [Winters Harvest] and Winter''s Embrace.


    The buffing skill empowered Matt, but more importantly, it created frost on the boss''s ck armor and slowed its movements a hair.


    Getting back to his feet, Matt ran forward and raised his fist while putting all the mana he could into [Cracked Phantom Armor] and its secondyer. At the same time, Winter''s Embrace started to grow ice on everything, including the boss, trying to sap the energy from them to empower Aster.


    The boss, sensing danger, lowered the hand that it was blocking Lizs attack with, and as the blood hit it, the boss was encased.


    Just as Matt realized what it was doing, Liz cried out, It''s eating the blood!


    Aster raced forward, canceling Winter''s Embrace while the vampire boss started to absorb Lizs blood.


    From out of the freezing blood, the ck longsword shed out at Susanne, but Matt activated the gravity gauntlets and pulled the attack off-course slightly, giving her time to avoid most of the strike.


    Still, a line of red began to leak out of her leg wound and was drawn into the boss''s armor.


    Liz cried out, It''s trying to draw in all the blood from the entire ruin! Im holding it back, but this fucker is strong!


    Matt could see what she meant with his spiritual perception. Around them, all the blood raced forward like a wave, only to be stopped like it hit a wall as Liz fought back to prevent it from moving any closer.


    As the boss shed out at Matt, he cast [Fist st] and knocked the boss and its de away.


    He even left a small dent on the boss''s armor, but the blood from Susannes wound flew to the damage, washing it away.


    Take Aster and get back. Ill handle this guy, Matt growled out as he downed a bottle of Lizs strength potion. He threw all the mana that wasn''t defending him into his physical boosting skills, preparing for a strong counterattack.


    The bossshed out with his longsword, but Matt was nowhere close to the de, putting every drop of mana that he could manage into dodging it. He didnt trust his armor to be anything more than tissue paper against the item that was apparently <em>designed</em> to bypass his defenses.


    The boss was fast.


    But Matt was faster.


    He sidestepped the attack and darted in, teleporting through the vampires defenses andnding a [Fist st]-empowered right hook on its chest. He wasnt able to focus enough to grow any spikes over his knuckles in time, but he still managed to knock the monster off-bnce. He was <em>very</em> d hed picked up the skill, but he was constantly fighting the cooldown to actually <em>use</em> it.


    With no blood around, its healing factor was no better than normal, and Matt could do what he did best.


    Trade blows with someone.


    Even as he was forced to treat the longsword as an unblockable threat, he had more than enough mana running through his buffing skills and teleportation ring to dodge everyst strike. Ducking under a sh, teleporting eight inches to avoid a thrust,nding a counterattack, and slipping away from a chop were all steps in his dance with death. Only his treatment of the sword as an assured armor piercer meant that it was even <em>moderately</em> challenging, which he supposed was the entire point. Not that he minded.


    It was where he felt most alive.


    In a fight with risks.


    Matt dodged to the side, seeing the [Wind Cutter] from Susanne and an [Ice Spear] from Astering in at his back with his spiritual sense. Sadly, the boss only lost an arm, and even before the appendage hit the ground, strands of blood were reaching out from the cuts and trying to reattach the limb.


    Not everything was bad though. Jumping into grappling range, Matt grabbed the vampires de and twisted.


    The second the void weapon left his grip, the entire fight changed.


    The vampire was no longer able to hurt him, and Matt was free to beat it to death without a worry.


    However, the vampire was still able to quickly reattach its arm before Matt could get in close. Punching the now reformed armor of the boss, Matt sent it stumbling back and stepped sideways as it tried to go for its fallen de.


    With his change of position, the vampire no longer had a free path, and no matter its speed, it couldn''t teleport. Aster was already standing over the de and covering it in ice, so picking it up was no longer as easy as just escaping Matts grasp.


    Seeing the fight turning, Matt activated [methrower] and smiled as the boss let loose a screech.


    Except, the fire didnt seem to burn the monster like it had its weaker brethren.


    The armor turned red under the heat, but the vampire didnt go up like dry wood.


    Turning off the skill, Matt went back to his melee skills and threw a right hook into the ck armor. For a brief moment, he pushed every spare drop of mana he had solely into [Mages Retreat] while the punch was in flight.


    Metal met magical armor and cracked.


    The remaining trace amounts of blood around them were pulled in to heal the boss, but Matt didnt miss the fact that the boss was slower to heal without the outside source of blood.


    Hispanions didnt miss it either, and Susanne and Aster threw attack after attack when they had a clear shot, forcing the boss to waste blood healing.


    Matt swore he could see the frustration build in the boss''s movements as it tried to escape the wall he created with his very presence, struggling to get the blood that Liz was holding hostage.


    As it tried to [Dash] past Matt, he teleported and caught the vampire in the face with a [Fist st], arresting its momentum with a loud <em>ng</em>.


    Performing a second teleport, he appeared next to the boss and started swinging at its less protected nk.


    He caught a punch on the side, but let itnd to return one of his own.


    While the bosss attack merely skittered off [Cracked Phantom Armor], his fist shattered ck armor and exposed flesh.


    Seeing that he activated [methrower] once more.


    This time, the boss screamed in pain and used a spell disrupting skill. Matt had more than enough practice dealing with that style of attack, and the boss was still only a Tier 7.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [methrower] didn''t even flicker.


    As the boss tried to pull away, he held on and let the two of them tumble to the ground.


    As theynded, he felt the monster try to bite at his neck and smiled. That was what he was waiting for.


    Even a vampire couldn''t bite with a full helm on.


    Dropping then recasting [methrower] from his head, Matt held the boss close as it tried to pull away and iled around wildly.


    Matt didnt let go or stop [methrower] until he felt the Genesis Energy pour into him.


    Standing up, he was immediately knocked off his feet as the wall of blood Liz was holding back washed over him.


    Standing up for a second time, he shook the blood off himself as Susanne and Aster yelled at Liz.


    Susanne was more mad at the surprise literal blood bath, while Aster was pissed about her fur.


    Look at what you did to me! I look like a fire fox!. Aster let loose a mournful cry that would have seemed amusing if Matt couldn''t feel her real indignation at being drenched.


    Liz was apologetic and cleaned the two of them up with [Erase Blood], and the utility skill removed all the blood from their hair, skin, clothes, fingernails, eyelids, and even fur.


    Of all the skills that Liz had gotten for the tournament, the converted [Erase] was Asters favorite, as it meant she had to be stuck with red-stained fur <em>far</em> less than when they only had manual washing and [Cleanse] to rely on.


    Matt found the boss drops andughed. It had dropped its ck sword and a skill. If he hadnt personally thrown the original sword away he would have thought they were the same one. The only difference was that this one was Tier 14, and felt dangerous.


    Susanne sloshed over and inspected the sword. That''s a nice de. A little small for me, but damn it''s nice.


    Take it as a backup. Never know after all, and with it, you might finally have a shot at breaking my defenses when we duel, Matt teased.


    Without any kind of time pressure, Matt found enough time to properly study the skill drop, instead of guiltily throwing it into his spatial ring alongside a swiftly-growing pile of unknown skills. Still, he was quite happy with what he found, namely [Last me]. The Tier 14 [Last me] was a fairly niche channeled spell that set the area around the caster ame. If that was all, it would be only a decent skill, but it also made the caster nearly impervious to fire spells, like a pseudo [Fire Body]. It was why the skill had ended up as part of the list hed made sure to download onto his [AI] before they entered.


    He tossed it to Liz and said, Torch would probably appreciate this.


    Liz caught it, looked at it for a moment, and tossed it back. It''s a good general skill. Think youd be better off with it than her, though.


    Walking over to the reward distortion, they dispelled it and a massive, crystal blue club fell out, along with a half dozen essence stones and a vial of blood that Liz immediately teased a drop out of and started studying.


    Meanwhile, Matt picked up the club and was surprised at how light it was. It weighed almost nothing.


    He was sure that even as a Tier 1 he could swing it around like a willow branch.


    Inspecting its runes, he sent mana into it. As he expected, the weight proportionally increased with the mana channeled into it.


    Matt stopped channeling mana to it and the club immediately lightened once more.


    Susanne, who had been watching, whistled. That''s useful. Or it is if it''s durable.


    Matt walked a few feet away and tested it by mming it into the floor with his full power.


    The club didnt even get a scratch on its surface.


    Durable enough. Question is, how heavy does it get?


    As he quickly found out, <em>very</em>.


    After he fed about 1,000 mana into the club, the weapon stopped epting more mana, but by that point it was heavy enough to visibly crack the stone it was sitting on. It acted a bit like a reserve weapon, enabling him to call the mana back when he wanted to, and reducing its weight correspondingly.


    Matt wasnt going to change his entire fighting style around a new weapon, but it was useful. He could swing it and right before impact increase the weight of the weapon to a crazy degree, increasing his damage massively, or just use it as a bit of a mana crystal, not that he needed more of those.


    Overall, it was a practical and useful drop.


    Considering he couldn''t even lift his growth sword, he kept the club out as he walked over to Liz, still inspecting the vial of blood.


    It''s not the parasites. At least I dont think it is. The blood feels more like the vampires''. Liz cocked her head at the vial.


    Aster sniffed it and asked, Would that make you all fangy like them, or more healy like them?


    Liz shrugged. I have no idea. I would need to do wayyyy more testing to be sure, but I think it would be the second. Minka ruin rewards should never be dangerous, so it should act like a natural treasure, like my Blood Iron and your Winter''s Embrace.


    After they stored their new items away, Matt threw his new weapon over his shoulder as they descended to the final level of the floor.

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185


    Matt smiled as an armored troll charged at them the second they appeared on the third sub-level of the third floor.


    Its armor glimmered with runes that he expected would resist normal spells, so he didnt bother to cast an attack. Instead, he just raced forward with Susanne and brought his new club down in an overhead swing.


    The instant before his attack was going tond, he sent 1000 mana into the club and struggled to contain his grin as its weight increased a few million times. What was as light as a twig immediately became as heavy as a small building. And all of that weight came down on the troll''s shoulder and chest.


    The monster exploded.


    Bits of flesh and metal went flying as the club refused to be stopped by something as flimsy as armor.


    As his strike hit the ground, an explosion of dirt spread out.


    It was an impressive attack that would have killed any monster except a troll.


    Even with essentially only one leg left intact, the monster still wasn''t dead, and the body parts all wriggled as they tried to reform.


    A burst of fire from [methrower] was an easy solution to that problem. The second the me hit the now unarmored monster''s flesh, it shriveled and died, providing a burst of Genesis Energy as confirmation.


    Walking out of the ckened indentation that his club had left in the ground, Matt picked up the skill shard and inspected it.


    [ming Strike] was amon Tier 14 skill, but a useful one. It encased the users weapon in me and added a degree of elemental damage to any strike. It could also explode with fire if the caster chose. Doing so would make them recast the spell, but it still made for a strong skill.


    It wasnt a bad skill by any means, but it ultimately didnt do anything unique or especially useful for Matt. He already had enough backup skills, and it wasnt worth using one of his precious few remaining inner skill slots on.


    [ming Strike] would be better for one of the others to absorb if he was just going to chuck it into the outer area of his spirit.


    Picking it up, he was going to toss it to one of them when Liz pointed off the side.


    The seekerpass was pointing towards the direction she indicated,glowing brightly enough that they all knew some treasure was close at hand.


    That surprised Matt. Normally, they needed to walk around for thepass to do more than flicker when they firstnded on a new floor. This time, Minka seemed to ce them within feet of something valuable.


    They started walking but thepass started to flicker and jump around as it pointed up, then to the left and right.


    Matt scanned the area, but didnt see anything out of the ordinary in the forest they had been dropped in.


    Branches swayed in the light wind, sending an odd leaf or two falling from the tree limbs. The fake sky was even clear from what Matt could see of it.


    Even after spreading his spiritual sense to its limit, he couldn''t see anything out of the ordinary with his own senses, or his AI. He even had a reference from thepass, but still couldn''t find what the item was pointing towards.


    Aster yipped, There it is! By that branch! Look at the winged seed pod floating around the branch. It''s not falling down!


    Matt looked, and after Aster highlighted the seed in question, he saw what she meant.


    A seemingly ordinary winged seed floated in the air instead of spinning to the ground as it should naturally do.


    A Tria Seed.


    The natural treasure was quite rare on its own, and was infamously tricky to catch, adding an additionalyer ofplexity for anyone who found one. Furthermore, they hid in in sight, masking their essence from any casual observers, save for the tell-tale fact that they never touched the ground. The seeds would endlessly spin around on wind currents instead. Aster jumped off the ground and flew with her Concept, but even that slight movement sent the Tria Seed fluttering off in a random direction.


    Liz cried, Surround it! As she put words to action, running to try and get in front of the escaping natural treasure.


    Matt broke off and went to the side as Susanne mirrored him.


    He didnt even bother trying to use [Air Maniption]. Tria Seeds were one with the wind, and couldnt be so easily contained.


    With the four of them, they were able to slowly herd the Tria Seed into a small area where it was stable and didnt flitter away. Aster then grew a wall of ice around it, shrinking the area until it closed around the tiny wings that were the seed.


    Even fully encased in ice, the Tria Seed still vibrated, trying to flutter free.


    They all looked at it and then back to each other.


    It was a good item for all of them.


    Tria Seeds, when absorbed, allowed their consumer to call upon the winds to empower their movement. Whether through a swift breeze pushing them faster as they ran, or a cushion of air to soften a high fall. Even the strike of a weapon could be pushed along with the winds from the seed enhancing stamina cultivation. There were skills that had simr effects- [Air Maniption] itself being one of the most obvious- but Tria Seeds were invaluable for the fact that they required no magic to use.


    Ultimately, all four of them could use it, but it wasnt equal gains for all of them. Matt hardly needed a treasure that helped offset <em>mana</em> costs, not when he could replicate everything the seed could do with [Air Maniption]. Aster was arguably the mostpatible, as her Winter bloodline would make its effects all the more potent. Liz would get the most versatility from it, as she was almost fully cut off from air and wind-type skills. Susanne, meanwhile, was the one of them who most would benefit from thepleteck of mana costs associated with the ability.


    Matt shook his head. It would be nice, but really, I dont need it.


    The three girls all looked at each other. Susanne wasnt a permanent member of the team, after all, which made things moreplicated. No matter what happened, <em>one</em> of their groups would be deprived of a very valuable treasure.


    There <em>was</em> a protocol for what would happen if they all wanted the same item, and in the worst-case scenario. Their AIs could calcte who had already gotten the most value from treasures and drops so far, who had contributed the most, and thus who was most deserving of thetest find. But, they preferred to not rely on that if at all possible, as it tended to breed resentment no matter how ostensibly fair it was.


    Liz, unsurprisingly, backed out next. Same. Besides, I think Ill have my hands full with the blood for the next little while. It would be nice to get a bit more mobility, but hey, theres lots more floors to go, and if we end up with Floating Inds, itll be more than a bit redundant for me.


    Aster and Susanne stared at each other for a little while, not to intimidate the other, but mostly just deep in thought. Just as Matt was about to speak up, Aster broke the silence with a yip, You really want it?


    Susanne nodded. The extra speed will be quite useful in many situations, and Im a warrior. I dont have many chances to expand my bag of tricks, and Im not using my stamina for that much, really. Meanwhile my Willpower and mana are both in rtively short supply.


    With a bit of a whine, Aster rolled the seed over to the other Pather. Yeah and I suppose you wont always have Matt around to help you refill on mana. If we find another one though, I want it!


    Susanne chuckled as she reached out to grab the ice-encased seed before it managed to somehow escape, blinking it away to her storage ring. I can ept that.


    That ended the discussion, and Matt suggested they find somewhere to set up camp and work on identifying the spoils of the day. That was met with fairly unanimous agreement, and they set off.


    They hadnt gone very far before they stopped. Another troll was approaching, and they all raced towards the new threat.


    This troll, like the first one they found, was wearing armor that blocked all spells from approaching it.


    Or at least, most of them. Aster''s ice still mmed on the armor, but she was unable to control it within a foot of the armor. Lizs blood suffered a worse fate as, without her control, the blood was little more than water.


    That didnt stop Susanne and Matt from moving into melee range and quickly ending the troll''s life.


    That brief distraction only highlighted the fact they were all tired and needed a break, so the four of them decided to find a ce to rest and rx where they were not out in the open.


    It took them a few minutes of searching, but the forest they were in wasrge and not t, which gave them some room to create a hollow out of a hill and put their house in a concealed location.


    Susanne dropped onto a chair to start working on the Tria seed, Aster hopped up into herp to take a nap, and with a guilty nce at the everrger pile of unidentified skill shards in his spatial ring, Matt decided he wanted to spend more time with Liz. She was working on her own vial of blood, and helping her sounded <em>much</em> more appealing than identifying all of the skills from the previous floor and a half that hadnt been worked on yet.


    It was a little cramped in their workshops with two of them, but they had learned how to not get in each other''s way long ago.


    Can you hand me the vial of esethic concentrate?


    The what?


    The orange potion with the eyedropper in it. It''s clearlybeled.


    Matt passed the vial over, What is it?


    Liz never brought her eyes away from the drop of blood she had extracted from the vial. Natural treasures and their ilk are usually identifiable because of their unique properties. Take Tria Seeds for an example. They float around, never touching the ground and are hard to catch. That''s fairly obvious, but they don''t feel any different than a normal item, which makes them hard to find, but not identify. Then look at my Blood Iron. It generally looks like iron, but it''s full of essence. That makes it easy to find, but it''s hard to identify what the iron is. This vial is the best, or rather <em>worst</em>bination of both.


    She paused as she brought a ck light over the liquid and watched for a long minute, but eventually spoke back up when she removed the light.


    This was a reward from a ruin distortion, so I know it''s not <em>dangerous</em>. I just don''t know what it does. My instincts, gut, and Talent tell me it''s a natural treasure, but Ive looked up any and all treasures with blood properties, and nothing matches this item''s description. My testing is to determine whether or not it''s a natural treasure. Esethic concentrate is, to be a bit reductionist, concentrated deep sea fish oils that be fluorescent when mixed with apatible essence.


    She moved the ck light over the drop of blood she had mixed with the orange liquid and showed Matt.


    See, nothing happens. That means the blood absorbed all the natural properties of the fish oil. That tells me that the blood can grow in some way.


    Liz spun and started to dig through her spatially expanded draws and continued. So, I know the blood isnt dangerous because of where we got it. And I know the blood will grow with me if I absorb it.


    Pulling what looked like a cattle prod out of the draw she stood up.


    I also might have influenced this reward with the test we did on thest floor.


    Matt cocked an eyebrow at that statement. That''s not really possible from what we know of how Minka works. It can make things harder, but there havent been <em>any</em> reports of Minka adjusting rewards to help people like that.


    That was true. Or mostly true.


    Minka would adjust rewards for the individual, but it always entailed things like giving Susanne a sword that matched the one she used, or giving Aster items she could wear with her beast form.


    They had no reports of the ce creating a new natural treasure as a reward based on the Genesis Cultivation test.


    Liz nodded as she sent a crack of electricity through the blood and read the results. I would normally agree with you but She paused to shoot Matt a look, But both of my first two tests failed, while the third was a sess.


    Matt narrowed his eyes as he thought. They had nned the test that they would do if they got that floor. Minka wasn''t kind enough to ever give out a pure advantage, and would only allow the testee the memories of what they had tested and what had seeded. The stripped them of any of the memories of the actual process, leaving them with only the end result. Still, it was useful with some nning and creativity. If they knew what they wanted to test and stuck to that, they would know if any of the proceeding tests were failures.


    Except, Liz only had two tests she had nned for.


    Which meant


    Liz interrupted him. Yes, I tried to make a mana concentration potion for you, but got nowhere on that. She held up a hand to forestall any of hisints. I know we agreed that I wouldn''t, but I had to at least try. But it didnt work


    Matt interrupted her by kissing the top of her head. Not exactly a romantic ce, but she was wearing herb equipment and was covered in unknown chemicals.


    I get it. And thank you.


    He let it drop at that.


    She was worried for him, and he knew that he would be doing everything he could if their roles were reversed.


    He could tell her to pursue her own advantages during these challenges until he went blue in the face, but hed be a hypocrite if he expected her not to worry about him.


    Liz smiled at him. Well, it didnt work. And my original test about making blood alchemy into a potion creation without essence didnt work either. But I had an idea in the process of that testing.


    She shrugged. I don''t remember what the idea exactly was, but my submitted project was about making my blood something greater.


    Matts eyebrows nearly hit his hairline as he was surprised at the very concept.


    Blood was blood. How could it be something greater without losing what made it blood?


    I don''t remember <em>how</em> I did it, obviously, but I know my final product had my blood stronger, better, faster. <em>Greater</em>. I was like that vampire boss, but a dozen times stronger. If I had my blood from the test, I could have ripped the blood out of his body or spread myself out in the blood he was trying to pull in, and infect him from the inside. I would have converted the blood he was trying to use into something <em>more</em>. Something ipatible with him, but perfect for myself.


    Matt thought over the possibilities, but couldn''t resist a quip. So blood 2.0? Will we need to upgrade your wetware every few years to the newest version?


    Liz hip-checked him,ughing. Something like that, yes. My Talent makes me blood, or rather it makes my blood <em>more </em>of me. I need to look into this after we leave, but I need to make <em>me</em> better, and the easiest way is to make my blood better. My blood alchemy is something of a good start, but imagine if I could make that <em>permanent</em>. Unicorn blood washes away poison and disease affinity mana, and dragon blood has a dozen different uses without even <em>processing</em> it. Imagine if I could do something like that for my own blood.


    Lizs eyes began to sparkle the way they always did whenever she started dreaming big, and Matt chuckled, giving her another kiss on the forehead. It <em>was</em> an interesting idea, and he was already thinking about ways to assist her through enchantments and aperology.


    He was in his own thoughts when Liz asked, What about your tests? How did they go?


    Matt sighed. They seeded.


    Liz shot him a re. Then why the sigh? I was getting worried.


    Suppressing a smirk, heughed, It''s a good thing, but like you, I know I created a pure aura rift, but I have no idea how I did it. My gut tells me it wasnt easy, though.


    Liz rolled her eyes and handed him a beaker. Well while you mope away in sess, wash this.


    I know it seeded, sure, but this won''t be an easy step to take. If my gut is right, I won''t be able to sessfully test this for decades, or more likely, centuries. Matt handed her back the clean and dry beaker as he finished. At best, I can give it to Erwin, and with the knowledge it''s possible, he might be able to figure it out on his own. At worst, Ill just be like the millions of others who know something is possible because of Genesis Cultivations test, but never be able to figure out how I aplished it.


    Liz pulled off her gloves and threw them into the trash. Nothing we can do about that except move forward and progress. Try our best.


    Matt epted her peck on the cheek with a smile as he changed the topic. Did you figure out what that does?


    Lizughed as she picked up the vial and swirled the blood around like a fine wine. Not really. I can only tell that it''s a natural treasure of some kind. It passed all the tests I can perform to confirm that. But as for what it does: I don''t have a clue.


    They exited the alchemy room to see Aster still curled up on Susannesp.


    Matt looked at his bond, but she was engrossed in watching the screen, and only half noticed the exit.


    Susanne, on the other hand, still had the Tria Seed floating over her hand.


    Matt, seeing that, and judging how long it would take her to absorb the natural treasure, started cooking a nice steak that they had cut out of a bull monster a few floors ago. Susanne had more of a dessert tooth than him or Liz, but enjoyed more hearty fare for proper meals.


    And he was never one to say no to a steak.


    Neither was Aster, who upon smelling the meat cooking, came over and inspected the dish.


    The three of them chatted as he cooked, and just as he timed it, Susanne came out of her trance just as the steaks were resting on his cutting board, and the veggies he was frying in the fat were just finished.


    Dinner was fun, and everyone was in a good mood with the rewards and their progress.


    They had only been on the third floor for a week and two days, and had already pushed to the third sub-level, making up more than enough ground to reim all the time they had lost while building a raft and fighting their way through the sunken ind.


    After dinner, they set up a watch and got a good sleep before moving on.


    Before they stepped off, Liz decided to absorb the vial of blood.


    Unlike with Susanne, who had to slowly absorb the Tria Seed, Liz simply cut her bicep and absorbed the blood.


    They were about to leave after Liz said she didnt notice anything wrong or changing, when she dropped to the floor of their living room as if she was a puppet with her strings cut.


    Matt instantly panicked, but Liz sent a message through her AI. Lost control of my body, but I''m ok. The vial of blood is fighting with my body and Blood Iron. Things are changing, but its not dangerous.


    That didnt help his nerves at all as she started to shake.


    Matt held her head off the ground, but he was horrified as he watched Liz start to bleed.


    Dark blood came out of her pores and smelled reminiscent of when he ate the root of perfection, but worse.


    Throw me in the shower! I don''t want to have to clean this out of the carpet. Liz groused, and it was the first thing that made Matt feel better.


    If she had enough awareness to worry about the floor, she was fine. Spell to clean blood or not, it was still their carpet.


    Still, it took himself and Susanne to get her to the shower and strip her of her armor with her convulsing body fighting them.


    Curled up in the cramped space under an endless stream of warm water, they watched as she bled out of her pores.


    It was a slow oozing bleed that took almost an hour to stop, but when it did, Liz regained control over her body.


    Standing up on wobbly legs, she said, Well, it felt like ants were inside me and crawling around. Zero out of ten, do not rmend.


    Shuddering, she turned off the water and stepped out before pausing to say, Easier to clean up here, to be honest. She turned to Matt and expected a hand. de, please.


    Matt knew what she was going to test, but didnt like it. Still, he didn''t stop her. Going into battle without knowing what your powers did was stupid.


    Liz took the de and lightly cut her forearm. She barely broke the skin, but they watched as the blood bubbled out of the wound and started to flow like normal. That was, until it stopped and started to reverse its track. As it reached the incision, the blood slipped back into Lizs body and the wound slowly closed over a minute.


    Susanne was the first to speak. Did you happen to save some of that blood? I''d love the ability to heal like a vampire.


    Aster pretended to cower around Matt and asked, Are you craving blood? Fox blood? Oh no!


    Her tail gave the game away, and Liz grabbed the fox and gently bit her scruff before letting her run away.


    I don''t feel different, but my body feels stronger to a degree. Like Im more solid.


    Matt squeezed her arm but didnt notice any new or increased resistance to his touch.


    After a few more tests, Liz sighed. I need to test if my body will reattach a limb like the vampire.


    Matt kept his mouth shut, but got a healing spell ready in case the vial of blood wasnt as good as the vampire''s healing factor had been.


    Liz cut off the tip of her ring finger without a wince, and they all watched as she bled.


    It took longer than the other test she had done, but the bit of finger she lost didnt reattach on its own. In fact, it didnt reattach at all, but instead slowly regrew over the course of an hour.


    What Matt found interesting was that it actually converted Lizs blood into the flesh. It wasnt terribly efficient, but it was quite fascinating watching her blood clot at the end of her finger, fade into a fresh wound, and then have that wound scab over and regrow into flesh. The process repeated over and over until the injury was entirely gone. It was even more efficient when looking at just healing cooldowns. It was still considered <em>magical</em> healing, and not true metabolic healing, so it still had some amount of cooldown, but it was half what aparable healing spell would have been.


    Furthermore, it was a natural treasure that could grow, and that meant it would only be stronger as Liz advanced. It might even improve if they gave it new items to feed off of, like her Blood Iron. They wouldnt know until they were able to test things further.


    The next few days were spent on something of a ruin rush as Susanne adapted to her new Tria Seed. Liz also got a bit more practice with her wound healing than Matt would have liked, but that was just part of the territory, and a result of her pushing to fill the role of tank.


    The four of them had been moving from ruin to ruin, killing everything they encountered until their cultivation had returned to its former peak of Tier 11 prowess.


    They even encountered a challenge room. The pir of crystal had been hidden in the center of a swamp, but the challenge was a surprising one.


    I would put every mana stone I have on the fact it is an escort mission, Matt said.


    Liz sighed and agreed after feeling the intent that the pir gave off for herself.


    Susanne went up and pressed her hand to the pir and concurred. That''s the idea I get from it as well. Do we want to do this, though?


    Aster shrugged. This is a type that is always sped up, right? Why not take it?


    Matt didnt disagree, but these tests were always slogs.


    Still, they needed all the Genesis Energy they could get, and this had arge initial cost.


    If they beat the challenge, theyd be <em>really</em> close to having enough for the full theme reward, and from there, all theyd need to do was fight one more boss and theyd be ready to move on. In fact, they had even found two ruins with bosses, but had avoided fighting them until they had enough Genesis Energy.


    Matt slowly said, Taking this would mean leaving earlier. But this is going to suck.


    Liz agreed and pressed her hand on the pir. It''s a smart y. It''s just going to take forever.


    After they all pressed their hands to the pir and sent in a stream of Genesis Energy, they felt the world shift and appeared standing next to a caravan.


    A man shouted at them before they could even get their bearings. Are you guys the ones the adventurers'' guild sent over? Good. Hurry up and get on a horse. We need your team to guard the left nk.


    Matt was still dizzy from the transition, but Susanne must have felt better as she was able to ask. Where are we going again, and how long is the trip?


    The man on horseback spat to the side. Did you not even read the contract in the hall? I know the guild master wouldn''t allow them not to post it.


    Matt, who had gotten his bearings to a degree, gave the best and most ssic excuse he could with the information he had gleaned from the man''s words. We got a little too drunk and had an he paused for theatrics. <em>Altercation</em> in the pubst night, and this is how we''re paying off said damages.


    That earned him a chuckle from the man on horseback. Repentance through pain. Yeah, Ive been in your shoes before. Even learned to love it. So will you after this trip. We''re going all the way to Alefast. It''s a new city, and we''re bringing a newlymissioned ward stone to them. We have a six-month journey, if nothing has changed in thendscape. The first day or three of travel should be uneventful, as were under the wards of our city, so take this time to sober up. Dinner is an hour after we stop for the evening. Dont let us get eaten, or get eaten yourselves.


    Matt looked at the horse and blinked.


    He had no idea how to ride one of them, and a quick check showed that all of his normal armor and gear were gone. It was all reced by standard and low-quality gear. The only advantage he had was that his cultivation was back at its peak of Tier 11, and all his skills seemed to work.


    He already knew he would have to enchant their armor and weapons tonight, or they would be screwed in the first attack.


    The time conversion for the challenge room wasn''t bad, but it would still suck for them. Each month they spent in the challenge, the outside world would progress an hour. That was why these challenges were considered worth doing, but Matt didnt look forward to a subjective six months of time spent slowly escorting a caravan of people to a faraway ce.


    The normal rewards for these challenge rooms were usually good, with a generalpletion floor. As long as they got the item to the endpoint, it didnt matter if they carried it on their own and were the only survivors. But the more people they got to the finish line out of the people with them, the more Genesis Energy they would get as a reward.


    If the rewards were normal, and they got everyone to the city Alefast, they could expect ten times the Genesis Energy they gave to the pir.


    First, Matt just needed to learn to ride a horse.


    How hard could that be?

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186


    Heat and light provided, one monster at a time.


    As the wound on the monster healed and he retreated in a circle, Mattughed, seeing the small light rune he created glowing with a weak light.


    It flickered, but that told him everything he needed to know.


    His formation had worked. His copper runes, hand-wrought and scraped together over months, functioned as they should despite no chance to test them. Runes could be made out of physical items instead of being carved into the spirit of an item but without mana of his own to test them he had to hope his runes were urate enough to channel mana.


    His preparations <em>were</em> sufficient, and everything <em>worked.</em>


    Now, he just needed to whittle down the ice elemental and drain it of all the mana he could.


    It was a shame that he couldnt use the elemental as a battery, but that was ounted for.


    Thrusting his spear forward once more, the steel bit into its glowing body and more mana came out. Over and over, Matt thrust and dodged.


    It was a dance of life and death.


    If he got injured, he was dead. Either his wounds would be infected, or he wouldn''t be able to power his garden. If he failed to kill the ice elemental, and was killed in turn, he would be dead anyway, and it wouldn''t matter. If his runes werent working properly inside his house, he was also dead.


    Everything rested on this single moment, and Matt felt alive.


    His body was tired and weak from the rations he had been forcing it to endure, but despite that, his heart pumped with vigor and his muscles thrummed with energy.


    When the ice elemental fell for the final time, Matt thrust his spear through it in triumph.


    He paused, hoping for the rush of essence to enter his body and start him on the path of cultivation, but nothing happened.


    Nothing at all.


    Luna had said that he wouldnt get any cultivation no matter what, but he could still <em>dream</em>.


    Cursing Minka and its stupid tests and rules, he went inside and checked on his garden. The runes were emitting a slow glow as the mana in the copper cables were finally used up, but he had proven his n viable.


    He could survive this winter.


    ***


    Susanne trudged forward. Each step was excruciating, but she endured it all.


    She missed her sword, but she had grown attached to the spear.


    This far south, the ice wolves were weaker, but she wasnt able to eat them, which severely limited how long she couldst.


    The final few rabbits she had wouldn''tst her much longer, but she refused to give up despite her body failing her, even if her will was strong.


    She had just wanted to see what monster spring would bring, but now that was a forlorn hope.


    ***


    Lizughed through cracked lips as the hurricane bore down on her, sending a wave of water down on her house.


    The winter and its ice nts had been survivable with her hunkering down and avoiding their patrols, but the spring had broken her.


    Well, it had broken her shelter, which was more important.


    The Spring rains on their own would have been survivable, but the spring monsters were giant trees that acted like ravenous wolves, and hadnt stopped sniffing her out.


    That problem waspounded by the fact that the stronger winds had destroyed her retaining wall, and now her small surviving garden was flooded. With its destruction came the end of thest of her food.


    Still, she seeded in her mission, and that was all that mattered.


    Now it was just aboutsting as long as possible.


    ***


    Matt smiled as the snow finally began to abate.


    With his setup perfected as best he could, he wondered just how long he couldst.

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187


    Matt fell to the ground, the sudden disorientation of returning to his body overwhelming him as he was wrenched out of the theme challenge and found his limbs in all the wrong, or was it all the <em>right</em> ces. He fell to the ground with a thud, trying to recover his sense of self.


    It didnt take him very long to notice the ongoing fight, a pair of cultivators attacking the rest of his team, most of whom were likewise on the ground and desperately trying to avoid being skewered.


    Drawing on the mana in his belt and his Endless regeneration, something he had missed so very much these past few years, Matt brought up a [Bulwark] to give them a moment of reprise.


    The wall of glowing mana surprised the attackers, and though it forced them to slow down and change their angle of approach, it didn''t stop them.


    That was all the four of them needed, though.


    They were on their feet andunching attacks just a second after entering the safe room.


    Susanne, the closest to upright out of all of them, rolled to the side and shed out with her greatsword. It was only half the size it normally was, and growing, but that didnt affect the strength of her [Wind Cutter] in the least.


    Asters legs gave out from under her as she tried to jump into the air, but she didnt need to even be standing to conjure andunch a wall of ice spikes in the general direction of the man Susanne hadn''t attacked.


    Liz pulled herself up with a tendril of blood that then flicked out to intercept the nearest man, busy dodging Aster''s ice attack.


    Rage at the two attackers flooded Matt as he got a good look around the safe room.


    It was empty.


    If they had still been so far ahead of thepetition, that wouldn''t have been surprising. But with someone attacking them as soon as they appeared, the emptiness told a different story.


    These two had murdered anyone who came out after themselves.


    Matt gathered his Concept and pushed off the ground.


    Power flooded into his body in a new way, telling him Minka had already rewarded him for his struggle in thest challenge.


    A portion of it was dedicated to his body, but while it was noticeable, it wasn''t the majority.


    He had seeded in directing most of his reward to his mind and senses. The world went sharp, and details he hardly noticed before were clear as day, even without using his AI. It was like the sharpening of reality he always noticed when calling upon his Concept, but multiplied a thousandfold. He instantly readjusted to his body, and his vision broke down intoponents, and his mind automatically categorized and ssified everything within his awareness, painting a vivid story of their attackers.


    Blood spattered their attackers'' armor and des, which spoke of recent kills. He also saw that the rightmost attacker was a woman that was using her nk mask to change her body in a limited way. It spoke of cheaper masks and weaker enchantments, but with the limitations Minka put on items over Tier 14, that didn''t mean much.


    Matt activated his AI and felt the world further magnify.


    Even more so, minute details came to his attention.


    The man was using a rapier with a specific hilt design generally only seen in the Monster Collective. The womans left hand was held at an odd angle, as if it was hiding something.


    As more details flooded into Matt''s brain, and his Concept''s empowerment allowed him to parse and analyze all the information without getting overwhelmed, he felt something else.


    His willpower was trying to flow into his AI.


    Following his instincts, Matt allowed it, and with his spiritual perception, he watched as his head started to emit light as if a white hole was behind it.


    At the same time, his willpower fed into his AI, and it started running as smoothly as it did outside of Minka. It wasnt <em>just</em> because of his Concept, he realized. Minka seemed to be lessening its grip on the skill, perhaps recognizing that hed earned it.


    The rapier that the first man was using wasn''t his own. Or at least, it wasnt made for him. The weapon was heavier and the length of the thin de was longer than someone of his stature would generally findfortable.


    All of that information flooded into Matt in less time than it took Aster''s icicles to form,unch, and reach the attackers.


    That all came at a cost, though. Matt felt his willpower draining rapidly. It was neither a final floor reward nor a part of his Concept''s natural abilities; the internal boost was inefficient. Still, he believed that he could keep both his body and AI empowered for close to five minutes at full power, which was more than enough for this fight. His willpower would be close to totally exhausted afterwards, but that was nothing that a good nights sleep couldnt take care of.


    Seeing Susanne moving at a speed beyond what she normally could, he changed the trajectory of the [Mana sh] he was sending out. Instead ofnding where her opponent was going, he attacked behind them to cut off their path of retreat.


    Aster and Liz were even faster.


    Without hiding her blood abilities, she was able to quickly ensnare the man despite his shing and cutting at her tendrils. He tried to use what Matt believed was [Dash] to escape the encirclement, but Aster had already frozen the outeryer of Lizs blood to prevent that.


    Seeing that she had him well controlled, Matt activated his gravity gauntlets to help Susanne and prevent her attacker from leaving so quickly, who was trying to flee despite losing an arm.


    Except, when he activated the gauntlet, neither opponent moved under the sudden change in gravity.


    His AI churned through mana and scanned everything his six senses could pick up.


    From ten feet behind the two attackers, Matt saw two patches of dirt move.


    Footprints of people invisibly sliding through the loose ground of the safe area.


    Cursing their sneakiness, Matt called out through his AI, Sweeping!


    Murderers who ambushed people in the safe area got no sympathy from him, and he activated [Cracked Mana Spear] as his allies hit the floor.


    The beam of energynced out and cut through two bodies, but Matt didn''t stop there. He swept his attack across the entire safe area, looking for any more hidden attackers.


    He didn''t find any, but two bodies fell to the ground. They were identical to the people they had just been fighting, save that they weren''t damaged except where Matt cut them in half.


    They were both still alive, as he had bisected them across the gut, missing the heart or anything immediately lethal.


    The woman on the right pulled a throwing dagger out of a spatial ring and threw it at him, but Susannes greatsword knocked it out of the air without Matt even having to move.


    At the same time, the blood they were lying on rose up and drove into them, tearing their surviving limbs apart and rending their flesh into carrion.


    It''s what you fucks get for ambushing us. Liz spat as she directed their own blood to kill them, red thorns bursting from their skin.


    There was no rush of Genesis Energy or even essence, but there was no way the duo was alive after Liz put them through a blender.


    Matt ran over, putting all of his mana into [Cracked Phantom Armor]. They could never be too sure. He started pulling the armor and spatial items off the in assants as Minka started to dissolve them.


    Minka didnt give them extra time to loot delvers inside safe rooms.


    By the time they were gone, Matt was pretty sure he had gotten most of the rings and bags out safely, but he had to give up on their gear.


    He also noted they had been running away when he had attacked them. It seemed after their first attack failed, they tried to run away through the pir in the center of the room rather than fight.


    Susanne pointed her greatsword at Matts head. That''s new.


    Aster chimed in, It looks like you''re a cartoon thats having a bright idea. Did you figure something cool out?


    Matt stopped channeling his Concept into himself and kicked at the disappearing bloodstains. I was in a good mood, but these fucks ruined it with their ambush on us.


    He looked at the central pir. He had washed it with his strongest attack, but it wasnt even charred at the edges. Neither were the walls, but they were made out of that invite material the interior of the was made out of, so it wasn''t as surprising. The pirs in the safe rooms just looked like normal crystal.


    Liz was in an equally foul mood and nodded. I vote we drop the house and take a break with the shields up before we go to the nextyer. I need to recover from my adventure, and with the shields we have, no one should be able to surprise us.


    Matt nodded back. He had been dreaming of a bathtub and well-cooked food in thest few years.


    Matt dropped their house with a spiritual and physical <em>thud</em>, and the four of them trekked inside.


    The first issue came up immediately. They only had one shower, and it wasnt big enough for two of them, let alone all four of them.


    Sighing, Matt waved. I''ll showerst and get something cooking.


    Aster sent him a thought of him cleaning her in the sink to avoid the rush for the shower, and he epted dly.


    Liz and Susanne settled the issue with a round of rock paper scissors, which Susanne won with scissors, giving her the first shower.


    Matt was jealous at the thought of hot water. He didn''t actually have four years of grime on his body, but he sure as hell felt like he did.


    Filling the sink up with cool water, he scrubbed Aster down to her contentment as they shared their experiences inside thest test with Liz.


    I stuck to our n, but wasn''t able to push past the third summer. My backup base also got flooded after my first one got flooded, ran out of food and wasnt able to make the right potions to push past even with Minka giving me monsters I could use as reagents. I might have been getting close to fall, though. What about you two? Liz smiled despite that while watching Matt scrub Aster.


    Aster spoke through her AI since she waspletely submerged as Matt worked the shampoo through her fur.


    Having a human body was really fun! Her tail wagged, entuating her point and sshing Matt at the same time. Though I learned that I definitely want a body with fox ears and tail. Not having them was <em>awful</em>. Also, you humans smell so bad, but you hear even worse than I expected. Have either of you thought of growing fox ears when you reach Tier 15? You really should.


    Matt pulled his bond out of the soapy water and held her up while the sink drained into their gray water storage, before dunking her under cold water to get her suds free.


    Lizughed and responded, When I get Tier 15, Ill get my phoenix form, and then I''ll be able to see a lot better as well as smell better. Ill even smell better myself, assuming you like cinnamon.


    Matt repressed a chuckle as he snarked, Yeah, well, I''ll just be over here being all human and stuff. See these thumbs? Theyre why Im able to wash you and cook you food.


    Aster, with a quick pulse of [Water Maniption] on herself to dry her fur, pranced over to the ind table with her nose up, already getting herself dirty again by burying her snout in ice cream. Who needs thumbs when I can use my mind?


    The two of them started bickering good-naturedly while Matt started cooking.


    It was good to be back in his kitchen proper with all his tools and a well-stocked pantry.


    Spices. He''d conquer a for spices after hisst ordeal.


    With his sink clean of fox fur, he chopped an onion, a pepper, and some carrots before dumping them into a pan to start cooking down. Meanwhile, he pulled out one of the rabbits he brought along for Aster.


    They all deserved a special meal after that test and all their suffering.


    Throwing in garlic and a bit of wine, he had a nice ze reduction going by the time he put the rabbit in, which coincided with Lizing out of her own shower.


    Getting his food to a point where he could leave it, he went to take his shower.


    Standing under the stream of hot water, he sighed.


    He felt dirty after years of being in a civilization-free setting that only got worse and worse as time went on, illusion or no.


    The hot water was a salve to his mind, spirit, and body as they came back into sync.


    Even though he was basically clean, he still scrubbed himself down before getting out.


    Through his bond with Aster, he could tell that the rabbit needed to be flipped soon, and he didnt want to ruin their dinner. He had reached his limit with nd and badly cooked food in thest year, when he had no wood for fires and needed to eat the produce from his garden raw.


    Coming back out of the shower, Matt felt a lot better about his time inside the simtion. After all, he had aplished what few ever had, and he should have been able to enjoy that, but he was still irritated at the attack that followed it up.


    The duo had taken advantage of the disorientation of people''s minds returning to their own bodies to rob and kill people.


    As they ate, Aster was finally able to exin her own adventure inside the simtion. Isted until the third spring, but it was close. A stupid wolf took me when I was hunting it that winter. Snapped my leg at the knee, and I was forced to hide the rest of the season.


    Matt was proud that his bond did as well as she had. With a new body and no actual practice, she had been at a massive disadvantage. He had been confident that she would survive until the six-month mark, where she could give up or die without really being in danger and still receive a noticeable reward. That she managed the standard goal of two full years was great.


    Everyone looked at Matt next, and he smiled while trying not to seem arrogant. Crop domestication worked well enough for me that I made it to the third winter. From there, I managed to get the mana harness set up properly for the elementals, and while I <em>never</em> want to work with that low-tier of runic formations again, the Daedalus Formation did help me did get enough of an underground garden set up that I pushed through a full extra year, mostly bunkering underground, until what I think was the start of the fifth spring. He frowned at, tossing the rabbit leg onto his te. Then Minka decided I needed to deal with a massive, sudden sh flood made out of water elementals. Barely had a chance to fight them, and I ended up drowning between the new ones and the ones I did kill.


    Liz recounted her own adventure for Susanne. Made it a few days into the third summer, after the floods of that spring destroyed my main base. My backup base wasn''t as well stocked, and I think I must have messed something up with myst nutrition potion. I definitely wasnt in top shape when brewing it, and drinking it is thest thing I remember.


    Susanne finished. I made it most of the way through the second winter. Almost hit the third spring but just couldnt make it. The snows that year, along with the rains, triggered enough avnches that I just couldnt find enough food.


    Everyone turned back to Matt, and he exined what they wanted to know. Yes, I got an additional bonus for making it into the fourth year. That was the light bulb thing Aster saw me do. It allows me to spend willpower to supercharge my AI. It''s useful, but even more expensive than my repulsion ability by a long shot. Might have other effects too, but I havent found them yet.


    Matt turned to Susanne and asked what he wanted to know. So, how does your growth armor stack with the new bonus? Is it multiplicative, like the managers expected? I saw how fast you moved earlier.


    Their temporary teammate smiled around a mouthful of carrot. When her mouth was clear, she responded, It''s even better than that. Before, when I used my armor, I got an additive effect from my Concept, yes. And despite however Minka works its magic, my Concept still works with the armor, but its a multiplicative effect now that my Concept has an internal element and the armor and Concept multiply off each other giving me an even stronger effect.


    She scooped another mouthful of food up before chewing and adding, Im just happy we got this floor. Lower would have been better, but getting anything is more than enough for me to be content.


    Liz smiled and stretched out her finger, and from her glove, a drop of blood came out and hovered smugly. How a drop of blood could look smug, Matt wasnt entirely sure, <em>As</em> the only one with an internal Concept prior to this, I can confirm that its great. My blood regeneration definitely seems like its about three times as strong as it was before, which makes all that pain <em>so</em> worth it. The durability boost is making my blood that much denser and stronger, all for practically no extra willpower cost. But, if I want to, I can push just a bit harder to get the boost to my body as well, not just my blood.


    Aster huffed and froze the bit of floating blood. No need to brag. Matt was going to join her side in teasing Liz and agree when she continued, I deserve the bragging rights! I might not havested as long as all of you, but I had to do it in an unfamiliar body. Clearly, <em>thats</em> more impressive.


    Matt rolled his eyes and flicked her haunch. Yes, yes, were all very impressed that you managed to be apart from your fur for a few minutes. What''s your Concept do for you, dummy?


    Aster flicked her tail at him in retaliation but answered anyway, despite being muzzle-deep in her bowl of ice cream. My body is a bit stronger and more flexible. I wont see too much out of it until I get my human form, but then I''ll show you all!


    Ah, so then you <em>do</em> admit that human form is best, Matt shot back as she blundered.


    No!


    The four of them rxed as they chatted and talked amongst themselves, just enjoying thefort of having others in their presence for a change. They had all spent far too long alone, and craved the feelings that the others gave them. After four years apart, Matt had <em>seriously</em> missed holding Liz, and Aster was torn between her endless bowls of ice cream and Susannesp providing pets and scratches.


    They could press on, but Matts willpower was still a bit weak from pushing it to its limits with his new Concept ability, and all of them could really use a good nights sleep.


    Before bed, they decided to check the items they had scavenged from their attackers.


    There were four spatial rings that spoke of a number of people who had been wealthy and well-equipped before they had been killed, and when they looked inside, they were proven right.


    The first one had an assortment of armor and weapons that, while made from Tier 14 materials, were made with exquisite craftsmanship. Matt had seen Tier 35s produce gear that was made for Minka. Lizs armor from her winning spot in the Tier 10 Pathers tournament was one such piece, but even its craftsmanship paled inparison.


    The other three went through the armor and weapons while Matt started inspecting the enchantments on each piece of gear.


    While none of it was directly useful to them as more than a backup, in case their own armor or weapons were broken beyond repair, he was impressed. Each piece had obfuscation runes, so while he couldn''t see what runes the items were enchanted with, he could tell what they did.


    The armors all had a reflective property that would send any attacks back at the caster, and would absorb a portion of the reflected energy to fuel a shield spell that could be activated at will.


    The nes and other jewelry were enchanted with a variety of quality-of-life enchantments that would clear the wearer, keep them refreshed, or even remove the need to use the bathroom as much.


    Matt put a special note on thest one to see if he could figure out how to make a rune that did the same thing, as that would have been incredibly useful during their delves, and he wanted one for everyone.


    Susanne ended up taking the ne as her portion of the loot, but agreed to let Matt inspect it whenever he wanted.


    The next spatial ring had an assortment of tables and chairs, which was just odd. They werepletely mundane, with only enchantments to their durability and one to keep them polished.


    They had no idea who or why anyone would bring such useless items into Minka, but that entire ring''s contents went to their junk pile.


    The third ring surprised them.


    It was another portable house.


    They obviously didn''t take it out inside their own house, but they noted that it was smaller, though more opulent than their own.


    Susanne asked after she handed the ring to Aster to inspect. Who the fuck did they kill? All that shit they have is the best avable, if not custom-made. Some heir to a noble house or equivalent of from the other Great Powers?


    Liz, who had the ring after Aster inspected it, said, I agree, but don''t see anything that could be a family crest, Sect badge, or even amonpany logo, so its definitely not from the Guilds, Sects, or Corporation. But it''s exactly the stuff my parents would have sent me in with if they could.


    The final spatial ring was clearly someone else''s, as it had a camping set that was of a much lower quality, despite beingpletely serviceable. There was no armor or weapons, but if the attackers didnt loot them off the body, it would have been absorbed by Minka.


    The nine spatial bags were more of a mixed haul, with most items being survival based for a team or individual. Most were just quickly skimmed, but then they found the jackpot in the fourth bag.


    This one was absolutely full of natural treasures, herbs, ores, and other valuables looted out of Minka.


    Aster let out a slow whistle. Now that''s a haul. Who knew robbing and killing could be so valuable?


    Susanne nodded but said nothing, just digging through the items to pull out a chunk of familiar iron.


    Blood Iron.


    Matt whistled, seeing it once again. It looked like normal iron, but the energy it radiated was unmistakably the same thing Liz had once absorbed all those years ago.


    Liz asked Susanne, Thinking about using it?


    Susanne looked to Aster and Matt before putting the natural treasure down on the coffee table. Id really like it, but not if anyone else wants it. With my armor and new Concept boost, I think it may well keep me from bleeding altogether, like Duke Fury. Actually, can you use it to upgrade your own Blood Iron?


    Liz shook her head. I only need to absorb regr metals when I Tier up to get my body to create that Tier of iron.


    Matt passed on the Blood Iron. I don''t need it, but thank you.


    He pulled out a shiny white leaf and handed it to Aster before getting the prize he wanted. The needle was an inky purple and as long as his finger.


    A Sliver of Night''s True Sight. Once absorbed, it would allow anyone to see mana.


    While the blood iron was useful for a melee fighter, and he could use it without issue, he would rather have an item that could help him as both a mage and a melee fighter.


    It wasn''t perfect, as it had a limited effective range and rtively low resolution, but it would mean that he would almost never need an item to see mana again, and that would be useful for all sorts of things. In a fight, he could see his enemy casting spells, or find things that used mana that were hidden from spiritual perception. When he worked on enchanting, it would allow him to see where the flows went awry better than just relying on instruments or his spiritual perception. Hed still need extra instrumentation for anything <em>detailed</em>, but the treasure would expand his freehand enchantment capabilities a fair amount.


    A Sliver of Night''s True Sight was an extremely versatile natural treasure, and he wanted it far more than the Blood Iron, which would only help him be more durable.


    Liz pulled out a small marble that had a leaf inside, taking it for her own. He actually knew what it was on sight. It was a Distilled Essence of Nature, and consuming it would convert the persons mana to be nature-aspected. With a bit of processing, an alchemist could produce a liquid that would match the natural magical properties of any herb it was dripped on.


    It couldn''t create an endless amount of the copied herb''s properties, but it would give Liz a way to expand the amount she had of any number of rare materials already in herb. Aster was the easiest, and had already absorbed her Final Leaf of Winter. It was an ice natural treasure, but it was still good for her, as it added a faint clinging effect to any ice spells that she cast.


    When they were all done going over the items they wanted to take or use immediately, they tossed everything into their Vault of Holding, AKA the houses spatially expanded crawl space. Technically, the crawlspace only existed to serve <em>as</em> their loot vault, and had been one of the things theyd made sure to add when customizing their house. Theyde a long way from only filling <em>buckets</em> with skill shards.


    Unfortunately, whatever item the pair had that allowed them to go invisible and project illusions of themselves had been lost with the bodies. It wasnt a skill he recognized, and with both of them able to do it, it couldnt have been a Talent. It would have been a very useful tool in their arsenal, but it didnt seem like they were that lucky this time.


    With that, they bid one another good night. Aster summoned herself a miniature igloo in one corner of the living room, Susanne excused herself and went to her room, and Matt and Liz, after a couple more minutes of just holding each other on the couch, relocated to their bed to continue enjoying being reunited after the longest break in their rtionship that theyd yet had.


    Matt roused himself from sleep with a start, and blinked his confusion away as his surroundings were not, in fact, a shoddy y and wood hut holding a mat of woven reeds. Rather, he was in an extremelyfortable bed in a very nice room, next to an adorable redhead with hair syed out every which way that was clinging to his arm, still sound asleep.


    After a few more minutes of enjoying the presence of his girlfriend, Matt extricated himself from her grip by teleporting out of bed. She roused slightly, but a few gentle words for reassurances helped her settle back to sleep shortly thereafter.


    He got dressed and ventured into the living room. Susanne was already awake, drinking from a mug of tea and staring ahead with a faintly vacant expression. As physical-based cultivators, they naturally needed less sleep than their mage teammates, but that didnt really change whether or not they were morning people.


    There was something amusing to Matt about seeing the woman hed met as an imcable swordswoman, wearing a literal stony mask associated with betrayal and despair, sitting in his living room with messy hair and green pajamas.


    He nodded good morning, and started making breakfast.


    Pancakes seemed right. Warm and soft. Comforting.


    Aster was the next to wake up, and she emerged from her little ice-block nest, looked around, and promptly jumped up onto Susannesp for scratches. Matt finished making pancakes not long thereafter, and the three of them ate their food in silence.


    Not long after they finished, Liz stumbled out of their room, bleary-eyed and messy haired. She came over to Matt for a hug, and he pulled out a te of food for her to eat.


    It was a quiet morning, but those were the best kind.


    When they finally left their house, they found seven other teams resting or eating in the safe area, but none of them were from the Empire or the Guilds, so the four of them made their way to the central pir and descended to the next floor.


    As the world stopped spinning, Matt looked around to find the four of them in a medium sized room with four other people standing inside.


    Two pairs of men and women took in a line with the same cid expression on their faces.


    Matt thought they might be other delvers, but immediately discarded that notion as he noticed their attire and actual appearances beyond that they were humanoid.


    The men and women seemed to be twins in physical features, but their coloration was vastly different between the two.


    Matt cursed internally. He had just dealt with these assholes in their most exaggerated forms during thest floor''s test.


    They had a Courtly Warfare on the fourth floor, with the seasons as the factions.


    First in the line was a man with a dark brown body seemingly woven out of twigs, along with bright green dots like the years first growth slowly appearing all over his armor. Spring.


    Next in line was a woman dressed in green and vibrant leaves that seemed to grow directly out of her dusky skin. Summer.


    Third was the man''s twin, but with a twig body adorned with brown and red leaves on his foliage. Fall.


    Thest in line was Summers opposing twin. Skin that looked chiseled from ice, and the twigs that made up her body were bare and covered in ayer of frost. Winter.


    Matt could feel Aster''s excitement grow, and grow, and <em>grow</em> as she realized what was going on, but just as she was about to run over to Winter, Summer spoke. Wee, brave adventures. We seek your assistance. The seasons are locked in eternal struggle, all four seeking to stand tall above the others, their glory shining resplendent. Yet for us all, our power is but dawning, none shining brighter or duller than the others.


    Fall started speaking next. To those who lend their aid, we offer boons of power. Assist us in whatever manner you are capable, and your boon shall be as a bountiful harvest, plentiful and mighty. The greater your contribution, the greater your share.


    Winter followed up immediately, But should you fail to provide aid, the boon thus granted shall wither and die.


    Spring finished up the exnation. Once one season stands victorious, the gate shall open and you may proceed as heroes, standing proud with the rewards well earned. Should you leave when not standing triumphant, you will find your newfound power melted away, never to return.


    Matt nodded internally.


    All was as their managers exined. Courtly Warfare was a multi-sided war where only one side could be victorious at any given time, but aeback could happen, and those who managed it were well rewarded.


    At the same time, any of the delvers in Minka inside the floor at the time of any side''s victory could exit when one side had what the floor considered victory. Victory was usually determined by controlling the majority of the floor''s territory, but they wouldn''t know for sure until they chose a side and entered the floor.


    In theory, that meant any of the people to enter after the initial side had won could just enter and immediately skip the floor, but unlike the other floors, there were no open ruins or monsters to kill to gather Genesis Energy.


    Courtly Warfare could be one of the fastest floors if everyone was willing to skip its reward. If you wanted to take the reward from the floor which, considering it was the ability to have a growth item gain a new effect, they absolutely did you needed to fight to gain Genesis Energy. The same thing applied if you wanted the exit reward, which considering this was the fourth floor, meant <em>everyone</em> looking for a Concept would be strongly incentivized to get more Genesis Energy. And that usually led to the factions that had been defeated ganging up on the winning side, removing the victory condition of one group holding the majority of the floor, thereby closing the exit to the fifth floor.


    Courtly Warfare generally worked in cycles where one faction would win, most everyone would leave so they didnt fall behind, and then, the neers would defeat the now weakened side. This would seal the floor from more people entering Minkas deeper floors until one side managed to defeat the others.


    For them and the others, it was a disastrous floor, as it was incredibly unlikely that one side could gain control in just a few days or weeks, with other delvers trying to earn both Genesis Energy and increase the strength of their boon.


    For the people slower than them, it was a blessing, as it allowed them to catch up to the front runners.


    The advantage they had from a fast Eternal Darkness, an average Genesis Cultivation, and a speedrun of Back to Basics with Matt abusing his Talent, was going to be wiped away by this floor.


    Still, for all of the negatives, Matt was happy to see the floor. He really wanted either his gravity gauntlets, his mana concentration stone, or the seekerpass, to finish bonding to him and turn into a growth item so he could upgrade them with Courtly Warfares reward.


    The reward as a fourth floor should make their growth items gain a new ability right away instead of Tier 25 as was normal, and he could see an infinite amount of amazing possibilities for all of those items. It also scaled future power growth by a simr amount, so theyd get abilities normally obtained at Tier 50 at Tier 25 and the Tier 75 ability at Tier 32 or Tier 33. Halving the requirement for the item to get a new ability in half the normal time was just as strong as his doubling if not more.


    Even if none of thempleted the bonding process before they won the floor, he would happily upgrade his sword or one of his rings.


    That was before the boons, which were separate and depended on how much they assisted their side in victory.


    This floor had an amazing reward that they couldnt pass up.


    And neither could anyone else, which meant they would be in a life-and-death struggle with all the best delvers of the eight Great Powers who entered the floor at the same time as them.


    Matt cursed as he realized that they were on the fourth floor, which only made everything worse.


    All of the old cultivators would need to gather enough Genesis Energy to finish their Concepts here, which meant they would be fighting with their immortality as the stakes. They might not care about the boons, but they would be on the front lines killing anyone and everyone they could, whether they be the embodiments of the seasons or the other delvers.


    A fourth-floor Courtly Warfare might not be the worst theme to have on that floor, but Matt couldnt imagine anything worse at the moment.


    This promised to be a bloodbath of epic proportions.


    But that was where they excelled. Especially Liz.


    After five seconds of silence, Spring opened his mouth to speak. Your boons shall grow greatly as you advance and foster favor within our courts, yet from each of us we offer a seed, from which a mighty power can grow. Spring is the season of new growth, fresh energy, and recovering from a long winter. The season of setting up for the year ahead by sowing fresh seeds into the ground. Should you join me, your seed shall be that of the earth, and your spells of earth and wood shall strike harder, yet shall harm you less in turn.


    Summer spoke next. Summer is the season of action and passion, and my boon will attune you to the mes and light somon to both.


    Fall was next, and didnt hesitate. Autumn is the season of preparation and harvest, creating protections for the harsh winter ahead, celebrating the good year past and nning for the year ahead. My boon will render you more aligned with the harsh winds and decay of thete year.


    Winter finally spoke, and Matt felt Aster go rigid. Winter is the season for waiting and nning, for subtle and quiet actions during the long nights and ceaseless storms, yet also for enduring the cold to survive. My boon will bring you to be one with winter, the ice and darkness which apanies it. Furthermore, so long as you serve me, you shall not know the bite of frost.


    With Aster veritably whining behind them, it was an easy decision.

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188


    Matt felt Aster''s excitement bleed over their link like a rising tide as she tried to remain calm enough not to sprint forward ahead of them.


    She managed, but he could feel the great effort it took her.


    Walking over to Winter, the specter of a woman brought up one hand. Now that he was closer, Matt could see that she only had skin from the wrist down. The forearm was made of twigs and branches, not clothes or some coverings as he first thought.


    Dost thou choose my side in the eternal conflict?


    Matt and the others agreed, with Aster yipping her excited answer.


    Hearing that, Winter''s raised hand emanated a blue glow that shone down on all of them.


    Matt felt like a cup of cold honey was poured on his head, and it numbed him as it slowly crept down his body to reach his toes.


    When it finally settled on him, Matt could feel the boon.


    It was like his AI, in a way, except it had no interface and didn''t really actively <em>do</em> anything. But that was the bestparison he had for the feeling. With a thought, he could sense exactly what perks the boon provided.


    Currently, the feedback was simple. Your ice and shadow powers are strengthened, and you resist damage from the same elements.


    Brushing against the boon had the same effect a second, then a third time. On top of that, there was anotheryer which confirmed what the recruiter had said. They were immune to the cold so long as they were in service of Winter.


    After Winter distributed her boon, the four representatives of the seasons faded away until they vanished. In their collective ces, a portal appeared in the air that opened into a blustery snowstorm. The first thing they noticed was the sheer amount of <em>mana</em>. Unlike most of Minka, where the mana was sparse or entirely absent, outside of some areas containing active magic, this part of the floor was <em>flooded</em> with winter mana. Then again, it probably <em>was</em> an area of active magic, so maybe it wasnt that odd.


    Once they were alone, Aster jumped into the air in joy. Minka, I forgive you for not giving me a fox tail and ears. I got a winter court! Im the greatest winner ever! Minka was expressly made for meeeee!


    Matt grabbed her on the descent and tucked her under his arm as the rest of them walked through the portal.


    Coming out the other side, Matt was ready for a fight. But instead, he found himself on a busy street.


    It could have been any low-tech city that still used stone as the main building material, and was currently having a snowstorm. Everything seemed perfectly normal.


    Except the people around them.


    At first, they seemed human, but when Matt looked directly at them, that illusion vanished like Aster at the sight of a hot bath.


    The people walking by had general human proportions, with the same blue-white skin that Winter had, but without the body parts made of trees. Instead, everything else was slightly off.


    Their eyes were both toorge. The sclera and pupil were switched, with the center of their eyes being white while the outer edges were various colors.


    The differences didn''t end there. Their limbs were slightly too long, and their fingers were thin and gangly. It wasnt much, but his mind, enhanced by his Concept and AI alike, picked up on the differences. Once he saw them for himself, he couldnt unsee the somewhat disturbing oddities.


    When one smiled, he saw that their teeth all had sharp edges. They weren''t like shark teeth, but rather human teeth that someone had taken a file to, which somehow made it worse.


    It made for something almost human, and something deep inside Matt wanted to smash everyone until nothing remained.


    Before he could do more than look at them, what appeared to be a normal human walked over to their side. Matt inspected the man and saw he was in fact a fellow human, possessing none of the features that the monsters had.


    He spoke in the Corporationsnguage, and in a more friendly manner than their dialect typically disyed. Hey there. If you want to register with your faction''s leader, follow me.


    From what little Matt could read of his bodynguage, he seemed sincere, and they followed him. Still, they kept a decent distance between themselves and the neer, ready to react at a moments notice if he turned on them.


    The man seemed unbothered and started speaking, trusting them to hear him over the falling snow and noiseing from the monsters around them, which were doing eerily normal things, like buying and selling goods.


    The monsters around us are weird. But don''t fight them.


    Liz asked when the man deliberately didnt say more. Why not?


    They could hear the smile in his voice as he exined. First, some background information. He held out a hand behind himself. Matt rolled his eyes internally at the money-hungry mindset of that Great Power and its people, but pulled out a Tier 14 bar of steel and put it in his palm.


    After the man inspected it and it vanished into what Matt assumed was a spatial ring, he exined. Theyre Fae, or at least something approximating it. Associated with the seasons and <em>technically</em> human, but not really. <em>Mostly</em>, its in the contracts. Any agreement made is binding, no matter how in jest it may have been made. Treat any offer as serious, because they gain power when fulfilling an agreement, and they gain even <em>more</em> if its broken, assuming you even <em>can </em>break them. Always, <em>always</em> ask for the price and conditions when dealing with them. Theres one poor gal from the monster collective, some kind of mink, who was asked if she could help clean up and politely agreed. Last I heard, she was forced to clean up chamber pots with her own pelt and will be doing so for another two days. At the same time, dont <em>offend</em> them. Im pretty sure they all have some kind of internal code of honor that acts a bit like an agreement, because they can be <em>scary</em> if they feel their honor has been besmirched.


    Matt whistled. He knew the old legends a little, but not more than the basics that had been in a popr movie a decade ago. Fae hadnt been seen in a Courtly Warfare floor for at least a few thousand cycles.


    They would all need to be careful, and would have to watch themselves around these Fae.


    Aster flicked an ear and asked, Why not just leave?


    The man continued without asking for more money, which earned him a little respect from Matt.


    Like I said, once they enter into a contract with you, they be stronger with the magic to enforce it. Also, even if you manage to kill one on your side, you get no Genesis Energy. You also get cklisted, the Fae will be hostile to you, and you wont get any Favor, so your boon won''t grow. The only way to remove that is to pay off your bounty by killing the other seasons'' Fae, and then give up the Favor that you would have received.


    Matt pursed his lips, hearing that, and asked, Does that count if you kill one in an ident in a fight? Like wide area attacks?


    The man shook his head. Nope. Or at least, we don''t think so. It''s only happened once when a [Bolt] jumped to a wounded Fae. It killed the Fae, but none of the raiding party turned hostile, and his Favor still increased for the kill of the spring Fae. But I would be careful. This is still Minka, and it isn''t one to be nice.


    Before they could ask another question, the man pointed at the building in front of them.


    It, like all the others, was made from stone, but this one at least seemedrger and grander.


    When they entered inside, Matt noticed the illusion that had settled over them had vanished to a thin mist. It could be seen through now, even if it still blurred the finer details of everyone.


    Their guide led them through the lobby and through a maze of halls until he opened a door with eight desks set up.


    Each was manned, and as they walked in, the people sitting at them looked up at them hopefully.


    A man on the right side pumped his fist, seeing them. More Empire! Ha!


    Waving them over, he gestured them over to his desk and stuck out a hand. Wee.


    As he did so, Matt inspected the man. He was a dark-skinned man with bright orange eyes that Matt felt were manifestations, just like his own white hole eyes.


    Bradley. Call me Brad if you wish. Nice to meet you all. The smile he shot at them was hardly visible as the illusion started to creep back over his features, but Matt knew the man.


    He was on their list of Empire Pathers who entered Minka this cycle openly.


    Bradley was part of a team in thest cycle''s Tier 10 tournament. He and his wife hade in second ce in the team fights, and individually ranked in the top ten for the solo tournament. He was ava mage with a Talent for the element, but focused on a close-range melee style fighting. He relied on his innate resistance to heat to punish anyone who dared to get close.


    Rumor had it that he was changing the definition of what hisva was. From a mix of fire and earth, he was trying to rece the earth part of theva with metal. It would technically make him a molten metal mage, but what really mattered was if he could make the change with his Talent keeping its effect.


    Either way, he was strong and well known.


    His wife, Jill, was an archer. Unlike her more hybrid husband, she stuck to more traditional bows and bow spells as much as possible. When fighting in range, she mostly used her bow rather than resorting to magical effects.


    While archers normally had issues in close-rangebat, Jill had spent more than her fair share of training as a rogue, and was brutally effective with her dagger.


    Thatbo carried the duo through their own Tier 10 tournament without any hups.


    Seeing Bradley here and manning what could only be a recruiting desk gave Matt a degree of confidence in their entire setup.


    After shaking their hands, Bradley asked, What do you want to be called? I see the nk masks and won''t pry, but I need to call you something.


    They had codenames set up beforehand, and Liz easily answered. Blue, Silver, White, and Yellow.


    She pointed at each of them in turn. Aster was Blue, Susanne Silver, Matt White, and Liz Yellow.


    They went with the simple and expedient answer of going with their eye colors, so in the case that their masks failed, they could hopefully still hide most of their identities. There was no reason to paint a target on their backs by revealing their masked identities on a first meeting, after all.


    It was slightly problematic with Matt''s white hole manifestation in his eyes, but they hoped the code name of White, and not letting people look too long, could remove most suspicion and inquiries.


    Bradley took the code names in stride. Well, good to meet you. First things first, I have some exining to do. Dont fuck with our hosts.


    He then repeated nearly word-for-word what they had paid the man from the corporations for.


    Matt was only slightly annoyed at paying for free information; it had been simple Tier 14 steel, and nothing too expensive, but being scammed irked him.


    After the warning not to make agreements, he started talking about how their faction actually functioned.


    The Fae warriors are set into four categories. As far as we can tell, this stands true for all the factions. First, you have what we are calling privates. They are the rank and file of the troops, basically mid-Tier 14s with nothing besides decent armor and two skills. That skill depends on what they do, by the way, but it''s always simple. A melee fighter will have something like [Mana sh] or the like, while archers will have [Piercing Shot], and the mages have an [Ice Bolt] or something simr. If you reached this level this quickly, and you''re peak Tier 12s, you should be able to single handedly carve your way through dozens, if not hundreds of them with your eyes closed. They''re trash that takes up space, and little more.


    Bradley paused and hesitated for a second before asking, You <em>are</em> strong, right? I don''t want to assume and get you guys killed. He held up his hands in a cating gesture, and even nodded to everyone else in the room, who were all deliberately not looking over at them, but were certainly listening carefully.


    I''m not asking for the crowd to listen in, but generally, we like to know what Tier of rifts you guys delved on the outside, and how quickly you do so. It gives everyone else a decent expectation of your skills without giving away anything too important.


    Liz nodded and easily said, Tier 15, no issues. And we finish them quickly.


    She didn''t mention that with Susanne there, they could have reliably pushed into Tier 16 rifts, as that would have been giving away too much information.


    Bradley nodded at that, and Matt could feel everyone''s attention focusing on them more. Ok, so top Pather level. Good, good. That makes things easier. Yeah, the privates are trash to you guys, then. Theye inrge numbers, but get cut down inrge numbers. Above them are what we''re calling sergeants. They''re stronger, smarter, and better equipped. They also give four or five times the amount of Genesis Energy per kill than a private. Thates with an increase in danger, though. They all have at least five or six skills that round out their roles, and they''re well-equipped to boot. Dont underestimate them, but if you''re delving Tier 15 rifts without issue, you should be able to defeat the sergeants without issue as well. They''re prettymon, and at least one always seems to apany any group of five or more privates, no matter the mission.


    The older Pather paused for a second and added, Also, your Favor increases more for killing them as well Yeah that''s about it.


    He looked over to a woman in the seat next to him. Did I miss anything so far, Tiffany?


    The woman responded in the Guildnguage, which told them everything Matt needed to know, even if he didnt recognize her name as an important Guilder. That''s pretty much it for the first two ranks.


    Bradley nodded. After that, you have lieutenants. They fucking kick ass, and will make you earn each and every kill. So far, weve only fought and killed two of them. One was by a Feddy, and he nearly lost his life during the fight. The other was killed by my very own lovely wife, and even she struggled a little. They''re peak Tier 14s, all their armor is enchanted to the limit, and they''re specialists. If you fight a melee one, he''s going to be a fucking beast in close range. Same goes for whatever their specialty may be, mage, ranger, rogue, or whateverbination you can think of. The general consensus is that theyre around as strong as the average Tier 15 boss. But with only two data points, we really don''t know much about them beyond the fact that they''re strong and good. As we learn more, we try to share it. That''s the whole point of this room, after all. All informationes and goes here, so some people can''t hide anything.


    The woman in Sect robes spat on the floor at thement, which spoke volumes at who had tried to hide information.


    Beyond the lieutenants, there are generals. No one has seen one in action, or even seen them at all, but the Fae will happily talk about them. From what we''ve gathered, they seem to be boss-level humanoids with abat prowess of at least Tier 16 or Tier 17. We think theyre probably only meant to be taken down inrge groups, but like I said, we haven''t seen any of them, so it''s impossible to confirm.


    Bradley leaned back in his chair and sighed. That''s really all we know. Most of us have only been here for a day or three max, and we''re expecting this to drag on for months at a minimum. We have no idea howrge this ce is, and currently, scouting is our number one priority. If this floor isn''t doing anything weird with the space, we expect it to be at least the size of a normal. Since there aren''t three levels to this floor, we cant be sure Minka didnt increase the size of this battlefield topensate. It both has and has not happened historically, so it''s just a question of which scenario we fall into.


    The older Pather spent a few more minutes exining the housing situation and inter Great Power trading.


    They had a portion of the city set aside for portable houses, as well as barracks for anyone without such luxuries. And there was both a trading area for the Fae and one for the delvers. Fighting was strictly forbidden inside the city, and woulde with heavy penalties to their Favor if anyone tested the Fae on that rule.


    Before they left, he asked one final question. What are you guys good at? Any specialties? We cant really pay anything for special assignments, as we don''t have a central governing structure, but were trying to keep track of anyone who can contribute beyond killing. We might have need of your expertise, and Minka seems to heavily reward assistive help. Scouting, and sharing that information, is a great source of Favor right now.


    Matt looked around at the eight men and women sitting around, seemingly doing nothing. Is briefing the new guys also a good source?


    Bradleyughed at that question, but nodded. A fantastic one. The better we exin things to you guys, the more favor we get, and it''s not a little. Cant say Ill sit here forever, but before the fighting starts to happen, you won''t see me leaving too often.


    After a quick discussion through their AI, Liz answered the original question. Alchemy and enchanting. We''re good, but we arent Talented at it.


    The glowing eyes flicked between the four of them before seeming to give up, and he just nodded before writing that down, and adding the note into arger folder that was passed over to him from the corporation table.


    We doubt you''ll want to stay here, so feel free to explore our surroundings. There isn''t anything dangerous beyond the odd monster or two, but with our boons, they aren''t hostile. The Fae dont really like it when you kill the same season monsters, but you don''t lose Favor, and you <em>do</em> get Genesis Energy. From our scouting forays and repelling actions from the other seasons, we think they act as forward scouts and natural barriers to fast expansion because they are extremely hostile to anyone that isn''t on our side.


    Matt nodded to that. It was an interesting tidbit of information he intended to look into after they settled down.


    Liz asked a few questions about leadership and things of that nature, but so far, no one had been able to corral all the Great Powers into working together. Right now, they were all just relying on the fact that they were smart and knew what had to be done, but no one was iming overall strategic control.


    Bradley expected that when more people appeared, the pce in the center of the city would open, and Fae leadership would start to direct the battle strategies, as they could only direct sergeants so far, and even that was limited to things like sending out a scouting mission.


    Matt nodded to the Pather as they walked back out to the bustling city. The city was packed, and as they walked, he inspected the Fae around them. They seemed so normal and human in their actions.


    People carried goods and argued. They chatted and smiled.


    It felt far, far too real for hisfort.


    Rifts didnt have sapient life. That was a hard rule that everyone knew. Whether it was because Minka was from a higher realm, if that was truly the case, or the fact that it was made up of ruins, the monster''s around him seemed <em>too</em> normal. He heard offers of partnerships, merchants hawking wares, and even requests for aid, not that he paid them any mind.


    When they exited the city gates they wordlessly took to the air, and Matt only paused around a few hundred feet up as he realized something was wrong.


    Wheres the snowing from? He asked as he looked around them.


    There were no clouds, but there was a constant flutter of snow that gently fell down. Looking back to the city, he activated his Concept and used his AI to its full potential.


    It noticed things he hadn''t.


    The snow was literallying from nowhere, and it didnt seem to build up on anything. Not the streets, nor the ground outside the city. The level of snow stayed static.


    It was a striking oddity now that he was aware of it.


    Sharing his information with everyone else through his AI, he brought them up to speed.


    Susanne shrugged. This is Minka. Weird is normal.


    Aster ran around the air andughed. Who cares? It''s perfect! I can feel my mana cycling the winter mana in the air on its own. This feels like the home Ive never had.


    Matt grabbed his excited bond and probed their connection to see if Minka was influencing her, but even with a thorough inspection of her spirit, he found nothing wrong or unusual. She was just happy.


    Letting her run around again, Matt looked up and asked. How high do you think the roof of this ce is? If we can get high enough, we might be able to see the whole floor.


    Liz shrugged and got on the flying sword he pulled out of his spatial ring. I dont know. While Minka is a, courtly warfare isn''t always a sphere. Last time it showed up, it was a giant square surrounded by unbreakable walls.


    As everyone piled on Matts flying sword, he threw his entire mana generation into the de, and they flew off at a crazy speed.


    Up and up they went, but the ceiling of the fourth floor never seemed toe any closer.


    Even when they flew a thousand miles up, they didnt seem any closer to the ceiling, so Matt gave up.


    He would have pushed higher up, as they <em>were</em> getting farther from the ground, but two things stopped him.


    Once they hit the mile-high altitude, the ground underneath them started to be harder and harder to see, as a mist-likeyer started to form over the ground. At their current height, it was a wall they couldn''t prate at all.


    The second reason he stopped was the growing feeling that Minka was using the same space-expanding trick that it used in the safe room to make sure that no one could ever touch the walls on the ceiling above them.


    If that was true, it was literally impossible for them to reach the top, and with the veil over the ground, it was a pointless endeavor anyway. The entire point of them taking to the skies was to scout the surroundings.


    Still, it was useful to be so high.


    Pulling the mirror that broke illusions, they inspected their surroundings, but found no one spying on them.


    Matt opened up. "ns?


    Aster yipped before anyone else. Im going to start getting more Favor somehow. I might try to join a scouting party and start learning the surrounding area.


    Matt nodded at how seriously she was taking this. While she was overjoyed at getting the floor and theme she so badly wanted, she hadnt forgotten that this was Minka.


    Susanne nodded. I think Ill join you. That was my n anyway. I dont really craft anything useful unless we want to send mean letters with really nice handwriting to our enemies. What about you guys?


    Liz looked to Matt, and he exined what he wanted to do. I intend to abuse the ever-loving shit out of my Talent. We have time before the fighting starts, and I want to use that time to do some support work. My first thought is about scouting. We''re practically blind now that we cant just fly up and check out everything personally, but I have a few ideas about that. If they pan out, I can get us a dronework that will feed information back to the city, where we can aggregate and distribute it. If, and I stress <em>if</em>, it works as I envision, we will have an unparalleled defensive advantage.


    Susanne whistled in appreciation. You can do that? Damn. That seems reallyplicated, but Id love to have an eye in the sky telling me where and when to strike.


    Matt nodded. That''s the idea, at least. Well see if I can do it, and if I can, whether or not Minka will even allow something like that. But I''m hopeful.


    Liz smiled at him. I like the idea. I will probably join the scouts for a little while, but I also want to start using the herbs and ingredients we picked up along the way. See what I can do. This floor almost always takes months at minimum for a victor to win, so I have some time to experiment.


    With that settled, they headed back into the city and went their separate ways.


    While the others went to scout and see if they could stumble on enemies so close to their city, Matt went back to the human base building and talked to Bradley and the other representatives about his idea.


    They were noticeably excited at the idea of a way to see their surroundings, and promised to send him all the metal they had. They also showed him a workshop he could start working in.


    There was even a Sect woman who had said she was skilled in forging, who they promised to send his way once she returned from her own patrol.


    But first he went to the healers area and found someone who could regrow his missing toes.


    Once he did that Matt started doing what he always did when he had a new problem to solve through crafting.


    nning things on his own.


    With a rough outline of what he wanted, and how he thought it could be done, he <em>then</em> threw mana at the problem.


    With his new Concept application, he could push past Minkas normal restrictions on AIs, and whenbined with his 2,560 MPS to throw at the problem, he made progress quickly.


    His initial design was based on the golem harvesters he had studied two decades ago, when they dealt with their first ruin.


    The golems had small harvesting drones that were able to locate, identify, and collect various items in the area.


    He had taken a pair at the time and retrofitted them to work for them harvesting materials in rifts, but eventually, they had gotten stronger, and had ess to far more advanced harvesting drones.


    He even had a pair of drones that he could use in Minka, but they were incrediblyplicated, and nearly impossible to even repair, let alone make by the thousands.


    And Matt needed thousands, if not tens of thousands of drones for what he wanted.


    Which meant he needed to simplify the design.


    He had to enter their house and search their crawl space, but he eventually found their own golem drones off in a corner, buried with some of their older equipment that brought back fond memories.


    After reminiscing for longer than he should have, Matt went back to his workshop.


    Reactivating his AI, he inspected the old drone.


    If he had pulled it from a rift, it would have been impossible to read anything, but the golems had been a ruin, and he was able to see how they were built.


    Seeing how they worked, Matt shook his head.


    It was worse than he remembered, but in a good way.


    The drones were dead simple, with Tier 5 runes that used a few clever interactions instead of anything fancy. The issue was that the base design was too simple. He needed something greater than the basic enchantments that the harvester drone had for his ns. Their design worked, but the range was far too limited.


    But scaling something up was just a matter of iteration and testing for his AI.


    Exiting and putting his house away, Matt used the provided forge and started hammering out a rough drone of copper.


    It wasnt pretty, but in four hours, he had recreated the drone and started adding systems and formations as needed.


    The sensor was wholly inadequate, which was only to be expected from a Tier 5 item, but Matt had hoped for more. It could detect humans and materials, but the range was awful.


    The harvesting drones he currently used had sensors that detected various light types, and used manatronics that were cheaper to make than the Tier 15 plus runes that the more advanced harvesting and scouting drones used. Tier 15 runes were a million times moreplicated, and were nearly impossible for anyone below that Tier toprehend, let alone enchant.


    Using his AI and too much mana, Matt scaled up the sensor formation that the golem drone used.


    It was abysmal in both efficiency and range whenpared to both the Tier 15 runes and the manatronics, but without the Empire''s resources, he had no ess to the second method, and couldnt enchant the first.


    As he let his AI work on trying to make a better formation, Matt hammered out a rough body for the drone he wanted to produce.


    Unlike the golem harvester, which needed to hover and pick up material, Matt wanted scouts. They just needed to see and send what they saw back to them.


    In that vein, Matt scrapped the four repulsion runes the golem harvester and all othermonly known harvesters used, in favor of a more bird-like shape.


    He started his design with a basic glider temte. There was almost no hope of outmaneuvering someone dedicated to hunting the scouts down, so mana efficiency would be the main priority over speed and stealth.


    At first, he wanted to cut out the body altogether, as he didnt need a fusge. But he begrudgingly put it back into the design, as he realized he needed somewhere to store their power sources and somewhere for his transmitter.


    His next iteration a massive wing-to-body ratio for long-range efficiency, but he ended up quickly cutting that down, as a 41:1 aspect ratio was great for efficiency in static testing, but was awfully visible when he needed something that wouldnt stand out against the clear sky. He knew he couldn''t hide the drones but he didn''t need them sorge it was impossible to miss them.


    It took two revisions of his ideas before he ended up scrapping the overall body when he realized that he would be constrained in size by the internals more so than the wingspan.


    With that in mind, he started working on the fusge when a woman in Sect robes entered his forge.


    Matt could feel the distrust that radiated off her as she looked around even before she entered the ce.


    I''m White. What should I call you? Matt offered a hand, but the woman stayed back. It was <em>painfully</em> obvious that she was watching him for hostile movements.


    You may call me Young Mistress zing Hammer. He was going to say hello when she added. I do not wish to work with <em>imperial scum</em>, but I wish to win more than anything else. If your idea is unworthy, as I expect it to be, I will leave immediately.


    Matt sighed.


    This was going to be <em>fun</em>. He just knew it.

 Book 2: Chapter 31: EMP POV Epilogue

    Book 2: Chapter 31: EMP POV Epilogue


    Chapter 31


    Emmanuel let out a long breath, and he finished thest dozen forms and requests that needed his attention.


    It was an unending battle, but it had its high and low points. And at the moment, it was <em>distinctly</em> thetter.


    With his schedule cleared of one task earlier than anticipated, he had exactly eight hours to himself, and knew precisely how he wanted to spend them.


    Carissa, his wife, was currently in her sitting room, scratching away at a drawing of some beast he didnt recognize, meaning it was probably from one of the shows she watched without him.


    With a thought, he ripped through space to enter the hall outside her workshop.


    After a knock and her confirmation for him to enter, he strolled it.


    Honey, Im free. Eight glorious hours of no work. I need a martini.


    Carissa smirked as she pointed off to the side at a liquor cab. It''s right there. Do note that theres some assembly required. While youre there, get me one too. Please, and thank you.


    Emmanuelughed as he swept over. Carissas acerbic humor had been one of the things that initially drew him to her during his youth, when he was incognito on the Path. She had only refined her wit during their millennia together.


    After mixing the drinks, he handed one to her and watched her outline the painting for fifteen minutes, until she was in a good ce to stop. It was a nice, slow moment that they both enjoyed.


    Calm.


    Peaceful.


    Just the two of them doing something mundane.


    Using her Domains Concept to lift his ss, she cleared the way as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.


    So, how did you get out early? Burn the paperwork down?


    Emmanuel chuckled. Nothing so dramatic. Abination of a light day and working quickly. I need to leave to go deal with Duke Frederics little petition in the Assembly, but for now, we have a little time to ourselves.


    His wife smiled and leaned in. Oh, how rare! And we aren''t even absconding into a rift to abuse the time dtion. This is a treat.


    They were cozying up, and things were turning decidedly heated when Emmanuel felt a pulse ripped through the fabric of the realm.


    Someone was breaking through to Tier 47.


    Someone he hadnt authorized.


    Growling, he sent a brief message to his wife even as he tore through the fabric of reality and into chaotic space.


    The individual in question had broken through a dozens over, but he could feel them even after the breakthrough ended. They were moving away, trying to hide, but that was impossible.


    As a Tier 50, he was intimately connected with the realm, and could feel every entity over Tier 45.


    Tier 46s weremon enough, thanks to the cap imposed by the eight Great Powers to limit the amount of essence that left the realm with each ascension. They were usually mundane enough that he didnt really notice them. But when someone broke through to Tier 47, he was acutely aware of it.


    All of the Tier 50s would, and this would no doubt be used as proof of his beingx in his duties.


    Not that the others didnt have the same hups asionally, but it always looked terrible, and was sure to be used against them.


    Despite the individual fleeing and trying to veil their presence, it only took Emmanuel ten hours to cross the distance and corner them in chaotic space.


    He even recognized them. Gilbert Handel was an older man from his father''s generation, and should have known better than to try and hide like this, but Emmanuel was in no mood for an integration.


    Gilbert, ascend immediately, or I''m going to beat you until you do so.


    The man in question stopped fleeing and said, I thought being able to track higher Tiers was just a rumor that your father faked with his Talent, but it seems it''s true. That, or youre using his Talent the same way. Regardless, I might be slower than you, but I don''t think you can stop me from leaving. You''re too soft, Emmanuel. Im going to go kill that bastard tal, no matter what. I nned too much for this. I tried to be good and wait for them to leave Rustys capital, but they never left, so now I have no choice.


    Emmanuel just watched the man through the roiling mass of chaotic space, saying nothing.


    He was frankly disappointed.


    Gilbert was an old ally of his father, who had stayed behind when the previous Emperor and his loyalists ascended at the end of his reign. His official reasoning had been that he hadntpletely solidified his Aspect. But Emmanuel had always suspected that he wanted revenge on tal, another delver of his generation, for seducing his wife away from him.


    Without even blinking, Emmanuel waited as Gilbert cast his strongest spell, a heavily modified and upgraded [Fire Lance].


    The bar of fire was ten timesrger than he was, but he stood there, not even raising a shield.


    Gilbert, like so many others, didn''t <em>truly</em> understand the gap in Tiers. At lower Tiers, jumping one, or two, or even six Tiers was possible, but even by Tier 25, only Ascenders and their peers could do so reliably. By Tier 40, it was all but impossible to fight even a single Tier up. That was when cultivators started to measure their progress inside the same Tier, as in mid Tier 45 versus peak Tier 45, and those small stages mattered.


    A Tier 50 couldnt be hurt by even a strong Tier 47. Not even by a hundred of them.


    His grandmother had been the exception that proved the rule when she, as a Tier 49, killed the Tier 50 Emperor of the time and took the throne. But even that was only possible because the man was both personally weak, and a coward. He was a fool to not annihte his grandmother early, before she became a problem.


    When the st ended, Gilbert was far off, but still within spiritual sense range, and he stopped fleeing when he saw that Emmanuel was untouched.


    He knew it was over, but still turned and screamed, Im not resigned to this! He deserves to die! They both do, the traitor <em>and</em> the whore!


    Emmanuel flexed his entire Domain, his Concept, Intent, and Aspect, to reach the man in a blink, and punched out.


    His fist hit Gilbert squarely in the chest, but he was careful to not outright kill the man.


    Even without a melee set of Talents active, he broke most of the man''s ribs and pulverized his lungs and heart.


    Nothing lethal to one at Gilbert''s Tier, but it would force him to expend energy to keep his body going.


    If Emmanuel could avoid it, he really didnt want to kill the man. Being cheated on by your best friend was a hard blow to recover from, but he also couldnt allow the man to Tier up and go on a rampage.


    Gilbert. Ascend, so I don''t have to kill you. Please.


    He didnt like the idea but while Emmanuel could be patient, he wasnt <em>soft</em>.


    As Gilbert spluttered, Emmanuel sighed.


    It took seven more strikes before the man started to fade away as his control over his Domain started to slip, and he began to ascend.


    With a thought, Emmanuel removed the mans spatial rings and most of his other items. Without being over Tier 45 and bound to Gilberts spirit, they would just burn up in the ascension.


    He wasnt going to let good money go to waste, and after Gilbert ruined his free time, Emmanuel was going to take the man''s umted wealth and add it to the tax fund.


    Usually, he allowed higher Tiers to keep arge portion of their wealth in their family, guild, or corporation, but after this stunt, he wasnt going to be so lenient.


    As Gilbert was fading away, Emmanuel said, Use this as a fresh start, and try to move on from this.


    He could see that the man was raging internally, but it didnt mean anything now.


    Gilbert was ascended, and couldnte back down to this realm without immediately dying. Even if he was willing to give up his life to descend, he wouldnt be able to find and locate his hated foe before dying. Gathering power in the higher realm and then trying to descend for one final blow was pointless.


    The only thing Gilbert had done with his revenge plot was waste Emmanuels time and energy for a futile chance.


    Worse yet, he ruined his vacation with his wife, and had set Emmanuel days behind his schedule.


    At his best speed, Emmanuel went to go perform his <em>duty</em>.


    Duty, it always required something of him. His grandmother and father before him, and now even Emmanuel himself, had worked all too hard to make his Empire a ce of peace and prosperity. Countless lives were relying on his guidance. He could do nothing less than his best, and there was no rest at the top; no room for error nor sloth.


    Empires ran themselves in one direction.


    The ground.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189


    Matt had many things to say about Young Mistress zing Hammer. Some of them, he could even say around her.


    She was an excellent smith, and had a way to mixmon metals of different Tiers to make stronger alloys. She was a fast thinker, and coulde up with a dozen suggestions about how to improve upon his n.


    Those were the good parts.


    Still, Matt couldnt stop himself from contemting bashing her head in every time she opened her mouth.


    She was obstinate, contrary, and only deigned to speak when giving him negative feedback.


    If he suggested n A, she suggested n B. When he took some of her ideas from n B to make a better n, she then changed her suggestions to n C. It was beyond infuriating.


    While she never sabotaged the n, she was more of a hindrance than Matt would ever want for an assistant or partner.


    However, all of her suggestions, or rather criticisms, were good, which only made things worse.


    Things did get better when a man with an otter bloodline from the Republic came in on their second day of work.


    Isaac was an odd sort who seemed too soft and nice to have made it this far in Minka on his own. That alone was a ring warning that the adorable persona he put on was just a facade.


    The otter-man was apetent enchanter with a Talent that allowed him to bend some rules with anything he crafted, which helped them finalize their design.


    Originally, Matt had wanted a more typical drone design before changing to a ne shaped style, but that led to an issue regarding how to recharge the drones.


    They could have used a Tier 14 mana stone to power each scout ne, but that would have been far too wasteful, as each mana stone held 25,000 mana. To make matters worse, Minka didn''t drop any of the precious containers of mana, and none of the winter aligned delvers would have brought thousands of rechargeable mana stones for the delve into Minka. Let alone any of the other participants that had reached the courtly warfare floor. Matt had brought in two dozen between their various storage items, but that wasnt nearly enough, and he wasnt going to set himself on fire to keep others warm.


    Isaac, thankfully, had a solution. He was able to take normal materials and enchant them to hold some mana. After a bit of testing, rocks made of quartzite ended up being the bestpromise of avability vs mana storage ability.


    This solutionpletely relied on his Talent, and the conversion rate of stored mana was only fifteen percent, but it worked, which was all that mattered.


    Matt had initially wanted to use a moreplicated charging method of refueling that would allow the nes to recharge off the ambient mana, but with Isaacs faux-rechargeable mana stones awful recharge rate, it had ballooned the size and weight of the scout to an uneptable degree. They simply lost too much range and speed with the additional weight for those modifications to be worthwhile, so that idea had been scrapped.


    After a week of work between the three of them, they had a working design.


    The final scout looked a lot like a dragonfly, with two long pairs of wings, a long tail, and four legs reaching down under its fusge. The design was the culmination of theirpromise on how to solve the multiple design ws that they had encountered.


    With this new design, they could use a simple and well-bnced blueprint for a charging station with the appearance of a tree. The drone, while using its legs to dangle on a branch, could then use its tail to connect with one of the many charging points on the trees trunk. A traditional ne design couldn''t have done anything of the sort, and wouldve needed far more room tond.


    The legs of the scout ne acted like drone flyers, but they were only extended when the nended to refuel on the recharging tree. They were inefficient, but the ability to hover was worth the addedplexity to the design.


    Normally, the drone had its legs retracted, and it used a small propeller to push itself forward. Whenbined with the fantastic glide ratio, the drone had a range of about one hundred miles round trip.


    Matt had to admit that arge portion of that range was thanks to Young Mistress zing Hammers contributions. She knew a special mixture of bronze that could be spread paper thin and was as light as a leaf, which allowed them to reduce the weight of the dronesrge wings considerably.


    A few lesser modifications to the body of the frame reduced the weight further, but considering that they would need to make all of the drones themselves, the cranky craftswoman made a much simpler bronze instead. She was willing to share this iteration so others could do the mass production of the bodies while she worked solely on the wings.


    With the first prototypepleted, they went and tested it outside the city.


    He was sure that it would have beenical to anyone watching to see three humans flying next to a ne, but they needed to test their design, and the best ce to observe it was from right next to it in the sky.


    Things were both better and worse than they had hoped.


    The scout ne worked, and from their limited test, it would aplish its designated tasks well enough, but they ran into two problems.


    The enchantment that functioned as the drones eyes had no depth perception, so all of its readings came back as t images that took a lot ofputational power to piece together. Their only recourse was to have the ne make several passes over the same area to get a good topography of thend, which was entirely too inefficient.


    To make matters worse, there was another, more pressing problem.


    The transmission range of the scaled-up formation was only five miles.


    With a total flying range of a hundred miles, that was beyond uneptable.


    So, back they went to the drawing board.


    This time, it only took them a day to solve the issues.


    Instead of adding more sensors, they decided to have groups of three nes fly together and share data. That way, if an enemy attacked and took down any one of the nes, they could immediately start evasive maneuvers and fly back to the charging tree, where they could report the aggregated information.


    With the three drones flying in formation, they got much better images and details of the surroundings.


    They also decided to use the charging stations as massive ry stations, where once every hour, they could send a burst of information back to the city.


    Making and testing everything took another two days, but people were eager to help with the mass production so they could earn Favor, so things sped up after that initial test run.


    When their first tree went up, Matt felt like he got hit with a truck as the Favor washed over him.


    Young Mistress zing Hammer and Isaac got lesser amounts, but even that reduced amount was enough to send them into the top rankings of Favor.


    Matt checked his boon and raised an eyebrow as he felt what he had earned. Your ice powers are strengthened, and you resist damage from it. You can see the heat given off by any intruders inside Winters domain. You are immune to the cold while in Winters service.


    Looking around, Matt saw nothing different, but then again, he didnt expect anyone to be a spy this early on in the floor. There just hadnt been enough time for anyone from the other factions to get this far into Winter and disguise themselves.


    Back at the base, they set up the main ry station to the recruiting room. They didnt have the sophisticatedputers needed to run the mapping programs, so it fell on the eight men and women sitting around to use their limited AI to do the heavy lifting.


    Matt found it interesting that Minka allowed them to save and share their maps of the floor, as normally it stopped those sorts of functions, but Matt assumed that the second they left this floor, those recordings would vanish.


    Sadly, they needed thousands of the charging trees, so he and the dozens of others were locked away, smelting, forging, and enchanting each and every ne for their side.


    Even the massive Favor they earned for each deployment of a tower didnt change the fact it was boring, repetitive work.


    ***


    Susanne stalked through the snow and kept her bastard sword in a small dagger size.


    Something was near.


    She could sense it.


    Liz and Aster were spread out around her, but the Fae squad they were scouting with seemed oblivious to the sense of danger approaching.


    Susanne knew to trust the upgrade to her spiritual perception, and had warned her partners.


    Off to the left, she sensed something, and trusting her instincts, she fully expanded her greatsword and cast [Wind Cutter] and [Hypersonic Edge]


    The enhanced spell cut through two trees before cutting the Fall Fae that had been hiding behind the second one, in half.


    Their squads sergeant called out. Ambush! Ambush! Ambush! Defensive position on me!


    With that, the rest of the Winter Fae raised their shields and huddled around the sergeant.


    Susanne and the other two didnt bother with turtling up.


    Offense was the best defense.


    She caught a glimpse of Aster as the small fox raced through the snow and trees, and a wave of snow controlled by the fox rose up and crashed down on patch of forest. As itnded, she heard screams before the ice started to turn red.


    Liz was refraining from using obvious blood skills until they knew that there were no other delvers with the fall group, but a stream of fire came out of her hands and set two of the trees before them aze.


    Susanne smiled as she found what she had been looking for.


    The Fall sergeant.


    This Fae wasrger, and had better armor that spoke to her of power.


    She didnt hesitate as she sent a probing [Mana sh] out, but the Fae contemptuously blocked the strike with his shield that glowed with enchantments of its own.


    Her smile grew as she activated her Concept internally. Power flooded her limbs, but it kept climbing as her growth armor started to feed and reflect that same power over again. Her strength went through the roof, and with a single push off the ground, she rocketed forward.


    Snow exploded from around her, almost like she used the spatial portion of her Concept, and she seemed to teleport in front of the sergeant.


    Her greatsword came around directly at the still glowing shield, and she locked down the space around her so she could put all of her physical might into the blow.


    The air cracked as her sword broke through the shield as if it was little more than kindling.


    The arm, body, and armor behind the shield offered no more resistance than the shield had, and the sergeant was cleaved in half.


    Susanne looked down at the body as Genesis Energy and Favor rushed into her.


    That had been profoundly disappointing.


    Liz and Aster sauntered over to her, and the fox, in a more serious mood than usual, asked, Was he really that weak?


    Susanne bent down to scoop up the skill shard and nodded. They said that the sergeants were decently strong, but that was just disappointing. I didn''t even use [Mana Strength] or [Hypersonic Edge].


    She didnt recognize the skill after checking it, so she handed it to Liz and then Aster, but neither of them had the skill in their Tier 14 databases. There were just too many possible options for them to have every skill recording stored away.


    As Susanne stared at the skill shard, she let a part of her mind wander.


    She would have preferred to have a more challenging fight, but it was still early on in the floor''s life cycle, and she knew that shed just need to be patient.


    The scouting groups were small, and if what she had heard was true, the factions were always sending a stream of small squads to harass the other teams. Sadly, none of them ever came back, so they had no idea just how far away the other seasons territories were.


    They could all be a dozen miles away, or thousands.


    Susanne suspected that the truth was closer to the second option. This was Minka, and it was built around Tier 14s. A few thousand miles was nothing to anyone at their level.


    Still, she couldn''t wait until they encountered more than the weakest of groups.


    To that end, they needed to set up Matts not so little contraption. Once that was done, they could start setting out on more targeted missions.


    Missions that she intended to go on.


    Susanne wasnt a crafter like Liz or Matt.


    Her de was her instrument, and they were only useful when blood needed to be shed.


    Putting the unknown skill shard away, they continued their mission. When they reached a hill, the group of Fae started to spread out and cleared the trees from the top of the hill.


    At the same time, Susanne helped Liz set up the scouting tree.


    The thing was massive at twenty feet tall, and it housed dozens of drones that started to take off in teams of three, but they had to spend some of their personal mana to start the arrays that were built into the thing.


    She could actually feel the small movement of ambient mana as it was pulled into the tower.


    As the drones lifted off, she connected with the tower and started analyzing the map that the scouts began to draw. It started as an undetailed mess, but it slowly grew in rity as the sets of nes flew off in their designated patterns.


    Seeing that everything was working as it should, Susanne turned to Liz and asked, Ready for part two?


    Liz pulled out thepass andughed. Let''s see what we can find.


    Aster chortled and said, I''m going to be stuffed full of natural treasures by the end of this!


    ***


    Matt checked his notes as the third tower was dismantled and taken away by another team.


    There were fifteen of them now making the scout nes, and the information was streaming in.


    His AI was currently in charge of aggregating the information as the drones flew overhead.


    He hadnt done it intentionally, but his AI was the only one that could buck the shackles that Minka ced on AI, and tracking people took a lot more power than building terrain models.


    Tracking people and identifying whether or not they were hostile was much harder, so the active portion of their mapping was left up to him. As something of a minor bonus, it was trivial to notice the neers as they trickled in. They were the ones staring at the halo he perpetually had on. It had been a literal headache to figure out the right bnce between Concept-powering his AI and not draining his Willpower at an unsustainable rate, but fortunately, even a minor trickle was sufficient for Minka to retract most of its restrictions.


    He was working on making a program that his, or preferably someone else''s pad could run, even if it was weaker or slower, when Bradley and his wife Jill walked in.


    Bradley smiled and stuck out a hand. Hello, White. Nice to see that everythings working. Our end is loving the trickle of Favor from the map using our AI. It''s a small, but steady source.


    With his boon mostly retracted, Matt could see him grin. It got so good that I was ousted by a few others who wanted their turns at free Favor.


    Jill stuck out her hand and interrupted her husband. Yes, yes, you''re sooooo magnanimous, allowing the little people to earn some favor just as the amount given out is starting to dwindle.


    Bradleys grin turned rueful, but Jill didn''t pause. Beyond that, we wanted to talk to you. Mind if we take a walk?


    Matt considered that suggestion. They were from the Empire, but with no oversight, they might be trying to attack and kill him, and while he didnt get that vibe from either of them, that didnt mean much. While their records were squeaky clean from what Luna had been able to gather about them, it didnt mean they had good intentions.


    Still, he didnt think that this was a trap.


    With his mind made up, he readied himself to cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] if either made a move. Jill wasnt a primary assassin, but he didnt discount the possibility that she had swapped her proficiency for the public eye.


    As they walked through the crowded streets to a portion of the city that functioned as a frozen over park, Jill finally spoke once they seemed to be alone.


    We think you and your squad are good.


    It wasn''t a question, so he kept silent.


    Bradley filled in the growing silence. Let''s cut to the point. We are strong. Very strong. This floor is also a disaster for people like us. We had a massive lead against the others, but now, the top million or so will get bottled up here. While we might be able to pull back ahead, we''re going to have much stifferpetition going forward.


    Matt raised an eyebrow. Are you nning to team up?


    Jill snorted. No. Well, not really. We''re thinking about making a break for the enemy cities the second we get their locations. Try and get an alpha strike in on them before they gather too much power. With your drone set up, we think it''s possible to take and then hold a decisive lead.


    Bradley nodded along with his wife''s words before adding, After the third floor, all of us Tier 12s got our three bottom Tiers of cultivation converted as the floor interactions dropped the Genesis Energy down to the first Tiers. It essentially means that we have a <em>distinct</em> power advantage against all of the Tier 13s and Tier 14s, but their numbers will beat us back further and further. While theyve had only one or two Tiers of essence converted to Genesis Energy, they have more cultivation overall, which helps them get a bit more immediate power out of thebination of the floors.


    What they said tracked, but he was overstating the issue currently. Most of the higher Tiers who managed to get down here this fast did so by rushing through the floors, because the Concept reward from the fourth exit reward was all they cared about. That would change the longer the fighting went on, which underscored their need for winning quickly. Hearing that the higher Tiers got less than them was exactly what normally happened when those two floors came in the same cycle, and it perfectly fit with Minkas habit of rewarding lower Tiers more than higher Tiers. After all, if Minka converted some static percent of essence, Tier 14s would get much bigger rewards than lower tiers with their greater amounts of total essence, and Minka wasnt so kind. Liz, Aster, and Susanne each got Tiers 1 through 4 converted into Genesis Energy, but he had gotten Tiers 1-5 converted with his better reward from the Genesis Cultivation challenge.


    Interesting information, but back to the main point. You want to try and take over the floor quickly? That seems less than optimal. Id really like to get enough Genesis Energy to upgrade a growth item. As the fourth floor, it''s going to give it a new ability next Tier.


    Jill sighed, but agreed. Id love to get that reward, but with courtly warfare being the fourth floor, this is going to turn into a longstanding stall if we don''t do something. Honestly, the chances that we seed are minuscule, but neither of us are content with getting stalled like this.


    Matt fully agreed there. We worked hard to get this far ahead. Too far to get screwed like this. I agree. I just don''t see how it''s possible. I''m a strong demage, but I dont see how we can take the cities and im the floor that quickly. We just can''t move with that kind of precision. If history repeats itself, well have a few thousand miles to travel between cities.


    Jill withdrew a t disk and handed it to Matt. This is how. Don''t share it around, but we got this as a reward on the second floor. She shed a smaller copy of the disk that was hand-sized. We aren''t enchanters, but we think this will bring anyone with the smaller disk to therger one. Youre the best enchanter we have in Winter right now, and youre Empire, so were willing to show this to you.


    Matt took the disks and inspected them. As the archer said, they seemed to be linked and able to bring one to the other. He also noticed something immediately.


    It was a single-direction teleport, and would take a few seconds to work.


    If there were three or four of these, they might be able to do something special, but the range of the disk was less than a foot, meaning that it was meant to teleport a single person.


    Using his AI and Concept, Matt checked the formation and ran some simtions.


    I think I can expand the disks to take more people, but it will exponentially increase the cost and possibly reduce the range. It also might make the transition dangerous.


    Bradley sighed. What we feared. We hoped you might be able to do something more. We can still n around it, but we wanted to bring an army in close to the other seasons'' cities and take them by surprise. It would certainly beat having to march thousands of miles.


    Matt nodded. I get it, and appreciate the trust you showed in me. From one Pather to another, I won''t betray it.


    That earned him nods and lightened the mood. They had clearly suspected his origin as a Pather, but him telling them bridged the gap between them a little.


    They might be working with all the other Great Powers'' people, but fellow delvers from their own Great Power were more trustworthy than foreigners. Especially when he considered the uing war.


    As they walked back to the workshop, Matt started to make some changes to his ns.


    Even a single person teleporting to a single spot could be incredibly useful if they yed their cards right.


    If he appeared inside a city and unleashed a portion of his talismans?


    He could use Sword Rain, or his Firestorm, the talisman version of [Meteor Shower].


    He could do a lot of damage if they could get that other disk inside an important location. Imagine if they could find a way into highmand for the other Courts?


    He just needed to figure out a way to use it without confirming he was Quill to the other Pathers.


    They would know the talisman Pather was inside Minka this cycle, but they wouldnt know who he was, or if he had even reached this floor yet. But if he used either of those skills, he would confirm it to them. And while he might trust Bradley and Jill enough to confirm that he was a Pather, he didnt trust them enough to give away his hidden identity.


    It would inevitablye out, but he wanted to muddy the waters as much as possible before then.


    Matt needed to n and talk to the rest of the team as soon as they got back from theirtest scouting mission.


    If nothing else, he needed to increase the production rate of the scout nes. They needed to find their enemies before they could strike, after all.


    ***


    Aster pranced around the city.


    Everything was so pretty.


    A winter wondend.


    Her very being resonated with the ce.


    The mana weed her like a chilly embrace, and even the Fae that the others thought were odd seemed normal to her.


    It was a second home for her.


    And like anyone in a new home, she explored.


    It wasnt like she had anything better to do. Matt was busy with his work and making more scout nes. Liz was making potions out of the herbs and natural treasures that they found in the snow, while Susanne was working on expanding her Concept.


    So, she wandered the city on her own. But even that quickly grew old. More delvers appeared and filled the streets, but they rarely held her attention, and the Fae were only so interesting. Without anything to keep her fancy, she turned her attention to the pce.


    Something inside called to her.


    She wasnt sure what it was, but after sending a message to Matt, she jumped over the wall and started to explore the pce grounds.


    Exquisite trees made from the ice itself grew and sparkled in the sunlight.


    Aster sat and watched them for nearly ten minutes, which was enough time for Matt to arrive.


    She wasnt dumb enough to investigate a new ce without help, and he really needed the break.


    Seeing her bond, she jumped into his arms and headbutted his chin. Youre here now. Perfect! Let''s explore.


    She could feel his frustration, but he didnt let it affect him as he said, Aster, I am far too busy for this right now.


    Aster rolled her eyes.


    Matt still treated her like a child.


    She swished her tail a little at the thought. It was nice to be pampered, but he needed to trust her more. She may act childish, but she knew how to be an adult. She just didnt need or want to. Matt was always there to hold up the sky if it fell.


    Something is calling to me here. We need to explore. Trust me!


    She used her trump card, and it stopped any of hisints.


    Together, they explored the pce grounds before she confirmed that what was drawing her wasnt outside. It was inside.


    Once they entered an open balcony, she inspected the building.


    It might look like it was made out of stone and frozen wood, but her bloodline and mana told her the truth.


    The pce was made out of Winter. Capital w Winter.


    Matt didnt seem to notice anything wrong, but Aster could feel the building shifting around them, drawing them deeper.


    She told Matt, and he tensed up, but she soothed him. It''s ok. Something is weing us.


    Matt grumbled as he pulled out his new club. Weing us into its stomach.


    Aster rolled her eyes. This is our side. It won''t hurt us.


    She could feel it in the very mana around them. The world weed them. Or rather her.


    Matt wasnt unwee, but he was only being drawn in because he was with her. She got the impression that if she left his presence, he would quickly find himself outside the pce grounds.


    Before long, they appeared in a throne room, and Aster saw what was drawing them there.


    A woman of ice and beauty.


    She sat upon her throne with blue-white skin and hair like the freshly fallen snow. Even her eyes seemed like chiseled ice.


    The woman smiled upon seeing them and said with a voice like a half frozen stream, Wee, daughter of Winter. Present thyself so I may inspect you further.


    Aster jumped out of Matts arms after reassuring him that everything was ok, and scampered into the woman''sp.


    The second she sat down, the woman''s fingers ran through the illusion of the nk mask she wore and stroked her fur.


    It wasforting. Almost as good as Matt was to her when she was a kit, so confused about the world around her.


    The gentle fingers also sent power into her. It empowered both her boon and her bloodline.


    She was nearly asleep before the woman started speaking. I am the Queen of Winter. Would you like to be my first Titled? My Princess?


    Aster stretched a little to get into a morefortable spot and asked, What does that entail?


    She wasnt about to wash anything with her fur like the poor mink girl.


    Nothing so sinister, little fox. Any who obtain sufficient Favor with me will receive a Title, but you are special, for we share blood. I, as Queen, have the authority to bestow your Title upon you even now, hastening the growth of your Boon. It requires use of my power, yet for you, little fox, the mana I spend now I know will be repaid tenfold as the war proceeds.


    Aster perked her ears up hearing that. You need mana?


    The Queen of Winter looked down at her. It is the power your people bring with you. Each of those who pledge to my banner empower me with a fraction of your power. That allows me to expand Winter''s grasp. The more of you that are here, the more you will advance my territory. With more territory, I grow stronger. It is a cycle that reinforces itself until the gate opens.


    Matt finally spoke. What does that have to do with Aster?


    The Queen didnt even move her head from where she looked down at Aster, but she did answer. She is like us. Winter is in her blood. She is like a child returning to my embrace after being lost in a desert. Why would I not spend a little of my power to ensure that she lives well? I have no intention of binding her to me, of forcing her into my service for eternity. No, as a Princess, she would be unto my child, and what mother would not want her daughter to flourish, and to carry forth the splendor of her blood across thesends and beyond? What I may gain from binding such a bright young star to me is naught but a snowke in the wind whenpared to the honor of having such a mighty one carry my essence with her beyond this realm.


    Matt shook his head. That seems too good to be true.


    The Queen shrugged. Believe what you will. I only give my power to those who ept it. If it would assuage your conscience, your little star, being of winter herself, provides more mana for me to utilize, and that shall only increase once she has been made a Princess. You yourself have earned a portion of my power already. Not enough for a title quite yet, but more than most.


    Aster asked something she had started to piece together after feeling the woman''s power through the pets. You are Winter, aren''t you?


    Was that not apparent? I am the season and the season is me.


    The woman finally looked up before standing up. She easily transitioned Aster to a cradle carry and scratched her belly before pointing behind her throne, where a pir of what looked like ice revealed itself.


    That is the center of my power. If this body dies, winter can not grow, and will fall to ruin until I am reborn. It is the duty of my court, my Princes, Princesses, and all those who hold my Titles, to lead my armies and bring glory to Winter. They also protect me from the des of others.


    Matt ahhed. So you are vulnerable to the machinations of assassins and others who can do things off the battlefield.


    Aster rolled her eyes. This talk was boring. Make me a Princess!


    Winter smiled, and a finger glowed as she stroked it down between Aster''s eyes.


    Thest words she heard echoed in her spirit.


    I name thee the Princess of Frozen Stars.


    ***


    Matt nearly attacked the Queen on his side as she put a finger on Aster''s head, but the woman and the pir noticeably dimmed, which whenbined with his feeling of Aster growing stronger, stopped him.


    He still demanded. What did you do to her?


    The Queen of Winter sat back down with Aster on herp. I made her my Princess. Her Favor was insufficient, yet my power could bridge that. She shall be my vanguard and guard alike.


    But why? That was what Matt didnt understand.


    There was no reason for Minka to make the embodiment of a season empower Aster out of the blue.


    The ice woman smiled. She is of Winter.


    Matt grit his teeth but epted that, apparently, you could never escape nepotism. He let his enhanced mind churn over the other implications of her words.


    Why havent you appeared yet? Sent out generals?


    Winter shrugged one shoulder. I possess not the power to create one, your kind are simply insufficient in number as of yet.


    Matt paused as everything came to a screeching halt, his mind turning over her previous words.


    Mana lets you produce troops? He tried to keep his hopes in check as he asked, but they threatened to bubble over.


    At the Queens nod, he started to n.


    If he could get Winter to have a lead over the other seasons, they could possibly beat this floor in weeks instead of months.


    Except, he was worried for Aster.


    How long will it take for Aster to wake up? He couldn''t feel the inner workings of the process, so had to ask.


    A few hours.


    Hearing the answer, he smiled and flexed his mana pool. With a practiced motion, it fed into his ring and flowed out from it a stream of white-blue mana- <em>Asters</em><em>winter mana</em>- and let it flood the air around him. The ring didnt allow for a perfect conversion, but it still allowed him to convert his mana into a more suitable form.


    All 2,560 mana that he could generate every second flowed into the ring, and came out as nearly two thousand MPS of Aster''s winter mana.


    He took a perverse pleasure in seeing the embodiment of Winter raise her eyebrow at his actions when she realized that the stream of mana wasn''t ending.


    What can we do with this?


    When shall you tire?


    Matt smiled under his mask and let the nk item reflect that. Never.


    Her smile was ice cold as she returned his answer. Everything.

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190


    As soon as Matt saw the first squad of five privates and one sergeant walk out of the pir that sat behind Queen Winter''s throne, he immediately sent a call to Liz and Susanne.


    They needed to be here for this.


    In an ideal world, they would tell everyone about his Talent and what he was doing with it, but Matt very much wanted to avoid the box by all means.


    So it was up to the four of them toe up with a n to disguise what was going on.


    His current idea was to pretend it had nothing to do with him, and go off on a scouting expedition, but he wasn''t sure if that cover would withstand more than a cursory inspection.


    Still, he told the others where they could jump the wall unseen, and together they came through the winding halls.


    When they arrived, he quickly exined what he and Winter had talked about and its implications to their ns.


    They both agreed with Matts n, and joined him as they watched the nearly constant stream of low-ranking soldiers walking out of the pir.


    Liz turned and asked Winter, Why not make a lieutenant or a general.


    Winter smiled down from her elevated throne. A soldier with no enemies is worthless, so too is a leader with none to lead.


    Matt interpreted that to mean Minka forced her to create a number of lower-ranking fighters before the stronger ones, which made sense in the context of a constant, ever-lingering war.


    It took a few hours, but eventually, a lieutenant walked out of the pir with four squads of privates and sergeants. Even the normal soldiers they had seen exit the pir were different. Their armor was better, and their expressions seemed harder.


    Matt suspected that they were elite versions of the lower-ranking troops, and the feeling of a subtle threat that his spiritual perception sent him only confirmed the theory.


    Even the lieutenant on his own was dangerous.


    Matt was pretty sure that he could take the woman who wielded a sword and axe, but knew it would be a hard fight. Her armor and weapons were masterfully enchanted, but that wasnt the half of it. Every step she took caused the air to ripple with the force of her Concept.


    She was the lord of all she surveyed.


    The lieutenant and her elite team, unlike the lesser squads, stopped and bowed to the throne and the woman on top of it.


    What would youmand of me, your majesty?


    Winter smiled and pointed towards Matt. That is a question for my Princessspanion.


    Matt was surprised, but quickly asked, What can Imand you to do? What are your limitations?


    The lieutenant stood up when talking to him, which her men mirrored. We are warriors.


    That was so vague, it was nearly unhelpful, but Matt took it in stride. Start gathering the other squads and prepare for arger invasion.


    The lieutenant simply nodded her head and marched out of the throne room.


    Matt looked to Winter and asked, How long until we get a general?


    My general shall require an army, and shall have one within half a fortnight.


    Matt whistled. If they got a lieutenant in only a few hours, and they were that much stronger, he could only imagine what a general would be like.


    It also presented a problem.


    Multiple problems, really, but the major one was that Matt couldn''t sit around all day inside the pce without sending a million red gs to everyone in the Winter court.


    They might be on his side for this floor, but in the end, they were from seven other Great Powers, only one of which was friendly.


    Winter, I cant stay here to give you mana. Is there some way that I can give you mana from a distance?


    All of them looked to the Queen of Winter, and she nodded. Insofar as you remain within my seats of power, my city or my forts, the mana in the air is mine, and feeding it shall feed me.


    Liz decisively shook her head. Not possible. That would remove any secrecy, which is what we want.


    Winterughed. Child, I am winter. I am the bank of snow that you walk through that hides a ravine. I am the spies and assassins that stalk the halls of homes. <em>I am secrecy</em>. The hidden distilled. No one will see what I wish to hide inside my domain.


    None of them were one hundred percent sold on the idea, but Winter assured them it would be fine. They still intended to test the theory, but if it was as she said, there would be no issues.


    They were discussing their future ns when Aster woke up from the trance she had been put under.


    Oh no! Who spiked my ice cream? I feel awful. Aster warbled as she tried to stand up on unsteady paws.


    Matt scooped his bond up and checked her over.


    She felt he didnt actually know how to put it. She felt more cohesive, but the same.


    It was like someone had smoothed the internal working of a formation, but left both the shape and function of the array alone. <em>Polished </em>was a good word, perhaps.


    Aster stretched a little in his arm, and Matt felt the air wrap around her. Frost appeared on his armor and started to creep up further with just that seemingly unconscious control of her powers.


    Winter smiled down at the fox. She is adapting well to the changes. Allow her to sleep for the evening, and she shall awaken as unblemished as newly fallen snow.


    The embodiment of the season offered them onest piece of advice before they left.


    Even with your power, the other courts won''t be easy to fell. There are many tactics which we may call upon when threatened, which are unwise to perform yet powerful when utilized.


    That raised a question Matt hadnt thought about. What constitutes winning for the floor?


    Winter blinked at him like he was foolish for asking such a question. Reduce the court to exactly that. A court with nond is no court at all.


    Matt noted that down but had no idea what she actually meant. At face value, it meant taking over the other courts''nd, but how that actually happened was beyond him.


    Still, it was early in the floor''s lifetime, so they decided to leave and rest for a while.


    As Winter promised, when Matt dumped his, or rather Aster''s, winter mana into the air, no one else could sense it. Even Liz, who knew his and Aster''s mana as well as her own, couldnt feel a thing.


    With that problem solved, they went back to their house to rest and digest the changes that Matts Talent would wreak on this floor.


    The next day, Aster was feeling better and insisted on leaving with Susanne for a patrol.


    Now that there were lieutenants, the missions started to berger and roved farther.


    Bradley found Matt the next day as he helped the workshops create more scout nes.


    It was boring and repetitive work, but it earned them Favor. While he no longer needed that source, it would look too suspicious if he turned it down. It wasnt like he could admit that he was feeding the court itself over a hundred million mana every day, which earned him an incredible amount of Favor, in turn empowering his boon.


    That very increase was what Bradley came to talk to him about.


    As the de facto leader of the Empire contingent, he was sent to Matt. Dude, your Favor is fucking crazy right now. We can all feel it, and it''s got us worried.


    Matt shot the man a look, and even through the nk mask, it got his message through.


    Chuckling, Bradley corrected himself. Ok, you don''t have to say how you earned it, but it has most everyone intrigued. What is going on? We want in, if the rewards are that great, and knowing what we''re working for will help push people.


    Matt raised an eyebrow under his mask. Yeah, I''m not going to give out that much information. It would just be stupid to give away my advantage like that.


    Bradley shrugged as if unbothered. Was worth a shot. What can you tell us? We at least should get to know what we are working towards, right?


    Matt checked his boon and repeated what it told him. You grow closer to the might of winter, a nascent Title forming around you. Your ice powers are strengthened, and you resist damage from it. You can see the heat given off by any intruders inside winter. Constructs you make of Winter are strengthened. You are immune to the cold while in Winters service.


    Matt couldnt help but wonder if the Queen was nudging things in his favor just a bit more than normal, depending on if his Boon also applied to the soldiers his mana was being used to summon. At least it wasnt too damning of his contribution, most likely people would assume he was making some kind of ice-based enchantment on the side.


    Bradley scratched his growing beard and hmmed. A Title. Interesting. Let us know when that bes an actual thing. Id love to get more information about that.


    The older Pather smiled and punched Matts shoulder lightly. I wish I had your chops in enchanting. We were also throwing around the idea to use the ry towers as a way to extend our AIsmunication ranges. If you can work on that, our side would be at a decisive advantage.


    Through the brief physical connection, the man also sent an AI message. Watch your ass. The Sects and Federation are suspicious of your identity and are gathering as much information as possible. The Republic is doing the same, but they arent as obvious about it. Bethany, their rep, isn''t supporting them in espionage, which helps. Tiffany and I are doing what we can to help obfuscate things, but it aint easy.


    Matt nodded slightly and verbally said. Adding AImunication should be a simple enough adjustment. I''ll let everyone know if anything changes. After all, we''re all on the same side.


    After the other man left, Matt sent a series of encrypted and coded messages to the rest of his team. He wasnt too worried about anyone being able to intercept them with his Concept-powered AI removing Minka restrictions to further enhance the security.


    While Bradley didnt say anything directly, he implied through thisst message, as well as he and his wife reaching out to him privately about the teleportation disks, that they suspected he was a Pather with a strong enchanting foundation.


    Which meant Quill.


    Perfect.


    ***


    As Winter said, it took nearly a full week for the first general to exit the pir.


    Like the lieutenant, the general came out with an entourage, but this time, it was a dozen lieutenants that made the preceding ones look like children. Their armor and weapons were better, and their Concepts radiated with power that only well-honed Domains could hope to achieve.


    But they were like stars to the sun.


    The generals brilliance outshone them all.


    He was like a Tier 50 amongst Tier 0s despite only being a peak Tier 14.


    His very act of leaving the pce put a halt to everything inside the city.


    While the Fae all dropped to their knees in veneration, the delvers all felt as if a predator was in their midsts.


    There was something more about this man Matt was struggling to put his finger on, when Susanne identified it.


    He has his Intent! What the fuck?!


    Liz shook her head as she inspected the general. No, not quite. Hes like seventy-five percent of the way there, though. Think a Phrase without a clear Image, or vice versa. But I think he has both of those, or at least it feels like there is both, so I have no idea why it''s not a full Intent.


    Matt watched as the general led his troops out of the city, and turned to the other delvers who had gathered around to watch the man walk by.


    Before they could start discussing what they had seen, a faction-wide message came from the most unexpected sources.


    Winter had stepped out of her pce onto a balcony that overlooked the city. People of Winter. I wish cold winds and deep snow upon thee. To the foreigners in our midst. Wee to the war.


    She took a deep breath that she slowly let out. Power is upon us, and we are the first of the courts to produce a general. Power begets power, and we have an advantage. Press this as much as you can, for the other factions will increase their starting Boons to counter.


    There was a hiss of indrawn air from all the cultivators around Matt, but he only blinked.


    It seemed that Minka was once again ensuring that they didnt get an easy win. It felt arrogant to the extreme, but Matt was sure this was because of his supercharging his court upsetting the normal bnce that the tried to enact.


    If the four representatives above were able to change the boons to ensure things remained rtively stable, that alone would make things harder, but not impossible by any means.


    It was just <em>really</em> annoying.


    Still, Matt excelled at fighting in groups. Sieging cities was harder with a numbers disadvantage, but looking at the general, Matt wasnt sure that numbers would matter too much with a monster like that on the field.


    Winter kept speaking through his thoughts, and he concentrated on the Queen''s words.


    Still, that is nothing out of the ordinary. The weak always band together to counter the strong. But I am not afraid. Through your advancements and earning of Favor, <em>we</em> are stronger.


    She brought up a single hand and showed off an orb that roiled with snow, lightning, and darkness, seemingly contained by a thin pane of ss and nothing more.


    When you advance, I will activate a Great Working. The storms of winter shall apany you, and its passage shall raise the Deep Cold itself to conquer the other courts. Go forth, and expand ournds.


    With that as a finalmand, the avatar of Winter vanished into a passing breeze, leaving only arger than normal snowfall in her ce.


    The Great Working she mentioned hovered in its same ce, untouched by wind or snow.


    Before anyone could say anything, a message came through that told everyone toe to a designated area outside the city.


    There, all the representatives of the eight Great Powers awaited them.


    The motley crew of cultivators were in stark contrast to the army that had built up outside the city walls.


    Even from a dozen miles away, Matt could still feel the general and the danger he represented.


    Young Mistress Diamond Lotus was the first to speak as the representative of the Sects.


    She was a strong cultivator whose Concept manifestation was exactly as her title stated, and when she fought, she did so with her signature flower hovering behind her back and shielding her from harm.


    We have an advantage, but must press it. Gather what you need. We leave


    She was cut off by a outcry from the crowd of cultivators.


    Tiffany, the Guild representative, raised her hand and quieted the mass of people through sheer force of will.


    Young Mistress Diamond Lotus is a little ahead of herself, but she''s not wrong. We have a general, and we need to press that advantage.


    She flicked her fingers at the crowd and exined the map she sent everyone.


    Thanks to our scouting efforts, weve found the enemy''snds, and the situation ain''t great. Each is around five thousand miles away from this city. If you see smaller dots on the map, they are fortifications on our own side. We can expect our enemies to have simr fortifications, and we''ll need to st through them before we can push forward. Thankfully, we have the general.


    Someone from the crowd called out in the Monster Collectivesnguage. Yeah, about him. How the fuck are we supposed to fight someone like that? Ive fought Tier 17 bosses that felt weaker.


    That earned him a lot of ridicule. No one believed that he actually fought Tier 17 bosses on his own as a Tier 13, but he ignored thements about his trustworthiness.


    It was still a good question.


    Darrell, the representative for the Monster Collective, nodded and fielded it. If we encounter them, we''ll simply try to tie them up, and then hopefully whittle them down with a numbers advantage from range.


    No one liked that answer, as it glossed over the fact they would take serious losses if they needed to enact that n, but no one said anything either. It was a fact of cultivation that taking down a stronger opponent through sheer numbers demanded a sacrifice from the weaker side. And none of them wanted to be that sacrifice.


    Thankfully, the general was on their side, and could hopefully match any general that the enemies created, leaving the two powerhouses in a stalemate that the rest could take advantage of.


    William, the representative of the Corporations, was the next to speak up. We have a fifty-fifty option if our information is urate. Spring to our northwest, and the Fall court to the northeast. The representatives are equally split on which side we wish to attack, or if we want to split our forces and attack both.


    Half the crowd started speaking at once, making things impossible to hear, but William shut them up with a skillful application of [Air Maniption] to create a barrier around the crowd.


    The feedback quieted them quickly, and he kept speaking. We dont think it''s a good idea to attack both at the same time, but with the general, it <em>is</em> an option. Just not one we believe to be a good. Vote on what option you want, and we''ll take the mass consensus into consideration.


    Matt voted for attacking Spring along with the rest of his team. He had already seen the map and knew it by heart.


    While they didnt have much of a view of enemy territory yet, they were able to make assumptions based on what they did have, and from information regarding their own territory. It also came down to the boons that each side offered. Spring seemed to be the strongest counter to their own with its earth spells. Earth mages also made for the best fortification builders if given enough time to dig in. Matt would prefer to take them out fast rather than go for Fall.


    It only took a minute, but the votes came in, and Spring was the overwhelming winner with seventy percent of the votes, while Fall got twenty-eight percent of the votes, with a paltry two percent of people voting to split their attack.


    Who was so suicidal as to risk fighting a general without one of their own Matt didn''t know, but he was d they were so thoroughly outvoted.


    The representatives talked amongst themselves for a while before Tiffany spoke to the crowd. We leave in three days. Make your preparations, but know well be marching with the army, so expect it to take at least four days to cover the distance to the edge of our territory.


    And that was exactly what they did. The delvers prepared for a war and did so rapidly.


    As the army started their own mile-eating march, they flew or ran beside the troops. Contrary to everyone''s expectations, the army of Fae moved faster than the cultivators. Each of their steps allowed them to traverse a dozen feet with seemingly no effort, forcing the slower delvers to use a flying device or fly with their Concepts.


    It did have an advantage in the fact they covered the five thousand mile march in two quick days.


    When they came to the end of Winter''s area, they paused to stare.


    It was like someoneyered two pictures over each other. One of a forest in the depths of winter with snowden branches and snow over the ground, while Spring was exactly that, and of new growth and green.


    But as they watched, Winter marched on. Not the troops, but the very season crept forward as if the pictures were moving. Trees that had been covered in new growth withered as frost crept over their branches, and the green buds shriveled up and vanished as snow started to weigh down the branches.


    Matt now had a better understanding of what Winter had meant when she talked about the court''s influence. It was a literal representation of how strong the court was. They took over the other courts''nds and imposed their own season''s theme on the area.


    After they stood around for a few minutes, everyone started looking at the Fae troops, who had stopped their relentless march.


    Word came not longter of what was going on.


    The Winter Fae didnt want to enter the forest of Spring on their own. While it was possible, as proven by the scouting parties, if they entered Spring''s domain, they would be greatly weakened.


    It seemed like their idea of a quick assault was dead until a cultivator moved into Spring and a small area around them converted into Winter faster than the surroundings.


    Seeing that the representatives called out, Break the path forward for the Fae. Everyone move up front and start marching on the ground.


    Most of the area the cultivators converted were only a few feet wide, but when Matt crossed the boundary, an area of fifty feet quickly started to convert.


    At that same moment, he also felt his Favor condense his boon into something more solid.


    Mentally pinging his boon, he got his answer almost instantly. You are the Herald of Winter, let all those before you hear our call. You spread Winter''s influence faster and further, and can sense those not of Winter. Your magic is strengthened while within Winter, as is that of those around you. Should you desire it, magic you work seems to be of Winter and not your own. You are immune to the cold while in Winters service.


    Everyone turned to Matt as they felt his boon change, so he exined. At least partially.


    I got a Title, and it''s called the Herald of Winter. I spread Winter''s influence further than normal, and it empowers anyone inside that range. It also makes ice spells stronger. Putting words to action he cast [Hail] at its greatest range but only put a trickle of mana into the spell, limiting how much ice actually fell.


    As he suspected, that increased the area that he was able to convert into Winters domain. It was a good thing he had already started moving the spell as soon as they entered Winters side.


    It was sorge that he was able to cover most of the army''s path if they narrowed their formations to half-width. Even with Aster and her own boon, they couldn''t cover enough ground for the entire army to stay spread out.


    Bradley, who hadnded next to him along with the other representatives, clenched his fist. Fuck yeah! Let''s push on. Everyone follow White, our new Herald of Winter.


    It took a while, but they discovered that any leading elements were cut off from Winter, and would lose the effect if they moved too far ahead of the wave of ice and snow. But if their joint presence wasrge enough, they actually created a permanent indentation in thendscape that tried to grow on its own.


    While it meant that their outlying scouts were more vulnerable, the army was able to move without too much worry about having their influence cut if they moved too fast.


    At first, they thought it was because of Matts Title. But while he and Aster helped spread Winter''s influence faster, that same mechanic worked for them all. As long as there were enough of them, they had no issue moving forward with Winter.


    They reached the first fort only an hourter, and it turned into a short battle. In fact, the battle was over before the main army even arrived.


    There was an anti-flying formation, but it meant nothing to the wave of cultivators that rushed the small fort.


    Matt noted that it wasparable to the small forts he had dealt with in the vassal war between the Seven Suns and Alliance of Allied Queens.


    Unlike that practice war, there was no one to save the charging attackers or the defenders. This fort was much better defended, with the Spring Fae loosing magic and arrows at the attackers, but the closing five hundred cultivators rushed forward to earn what little Genesis Energy and Favor they could get from the kills.


    From his spot leading the slower progression of Winters influence, Matt noticed the older cultivators in the attacking crowd.


    They were like ravenous beasts as they released their spells and arrows first, trying to secure a kill on even a private who looked over the parapet.


    An earth mage in the attackers created a ramp right up to the walls, and despite the ramp shaking violently, it held long enough for the attackers to jump the remaining ten feet to get on the wall.


    By the time the army neared the fort, the front gates were already open, allowing two squads made up of ten privates and two sergeants to enter the fort.


    When they were inside, things changed. Where the fort had been giving off a wave of Spring, that influence quickly turned to spreading Winter.


    Even the wave of Winter that trailed a few miles behind them started speeding up to join with the new portion of Winter''s influence.


    With firsthand experience on how effective conquering a fort was, they split into smaller bands to look for forts, congregating to take them over whenever appropriate. Some overachievers didnt even bother calling for therger group, dominating the forts on their own or in a small squad. Liz and Susanne discovered firsthand how profitable that was, while Matt preferred to stay with the marching army to keep powering Winter as he slowly rearranged his spirit to prioritize ice and winter skills.


    It was effective, and allowed the army to speed up tremendously.


    Their progress was slower than their march through friendly territory had been, but that couldn''t be helped with the limitations of the Fae army.


    As they neared where they believed the Spring city would be, they started encounteringrger and stronger squads of patrols. Meanwhile, the forts were better defended, on top of beingrger and better armed.


    Each one now contained ten squads and at least one lieutenant, which greatly slowed down the Winter courts acquisition of forts.


    But it didnt stop their progress.


    Not at all.


    The Winter cultivators were eager for the fights, and threw themselves at the fortress walls relentlessly.


    With the enemy Fae being the primary source of Genesis Energy for this floor, the representatives needed to hold people back rather than drive them forward.


    It took one half-sized team of cultivators getting ambushed as they tried to take out a star fortress by a band of enemy delvers from Spring to finally reign them in.


    Dying wasnt worth it, and everyone prioritized their lives over the Genesis Energy they could gather. That, and people themselves were even <em>better</em> sources of Genesis Energy, though it took considerably more effort to obtain. Those two facts allowed the Great Power representatives to regain a portion of control over <em>most</em> of the eager delvers.


    It took another week to cover the final thousand miles to the Spring City. The whole time, there were more and more Spring Fae troops appearing and fighting them. There was even a Spring lieutenant that managed to kill three Tier 13 delvers who overestimated their own power before being taken down by a pair of Tier 14s.


    Winter moved forward with its Herald leading the march, but the speed slowed down considerably.


    Still, they didnt stop.


    Matt ensured that.


    He slowed down, but he always took another step, forcing the cultivators to clear the path.


    As they breached the thousand mile radius to the city, and some of their scouts had seen the muchrger walls by flying ahead, the troops that had hindered their progress vanished like leaves in the wind.


    It seemed that Spring was pulling back its forces to better defend the city, which was exactly what they <em>didn''t</em> want to see.


    They had extensively studied their own sides city, and knew it was a fortress in every sense.


    The walls were thick, tall, and enchanted to resist magical influence and resistant to damage.


    With the city''s walls in sight, everyone looked to the general.


    He finally acted, and fed mana into the Great Working that Winter had provided.


    Almost instantly, a strong wind picked up the surfaceyer of snow, and whipped it into a frenzy.


    At the same time, the skies darkened, and a heavy nket of snow started to fall, even as ice-blue lightning started to crack above them.


    From around them, the newly fallen snow started to rise in humanoid shapes.


    Matt rushed forward ahead of his friendly troops, both Fae and human, as he flexed [Hail], back in his inner spirit for the first time in years, and created more and more ice. Combined with the Great Working, his very passage raised groups of ice elementals and snow golems.


    Matt looked up to the city in front of him, with its walls topped with green banners rising defiantly high into the air.


    This might be Spring, but Winter hade.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 2

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 2


    Minka Chronicles Floor 2


    Cory cursed in half a dozennguages as his Genesis Energy ran low.


    He was a hybrid fighter and was used to fighting alone, but this floor was testing him.


    It pushed him to his limits with each encounter.


    His normal fighting style was built around casting spells to empower his body andnce, but he just didnt have enough Genesis Energy in his spirit to mimic his mana pool. It certainly didnt help that he couldnt rely on his normal tactic of waiting for his mana to recharge, slowly pushing through rifts all on his own.


    These tree monsters in particr were a problem for him to take on.


    While he could beat them without getting hurt, he spent more Genesis Energy than he earned from the kills, even with their increased rewards.


    Slowly but surely, he was running out of Genesis Energy, and once that happened, he would be a dead man.


    Cory refused to give up hope though, and continually fought to find himself an exit to this ce. As long as he found a different ruin where he earned Genesis Energy per kill, he could return to his normal pace. If anything, this floor would be <em>extra</em> fast for him, and not using his mana at all would set him up quite nicely for the third floor.


    Activating [Dash] and [Mana Reinforcement], Cory braced himself and charged into the tree monster that had uprooted itself.


    Hisnce stabbed deep into the wooden body of the monster, but it swung its branches right back, trying to both whip and entangle him.


    Cory cast [Mana Shield] to block the attacks as he channeled Genesis Energy into [Fire Weapon]. In seconds, hisnce was engulfed in mes that incinerated the tree monster.


    Under normal circumstances, [Fire Weapon] was one of his favorite skills, as the channeled nature of the skill meant that he could always spend <em>just</em> the right amount of mana on it. But here, hed found the corresponding cost in Genesis Energy to be outright <em>ruinous</em>, even when trying to limit it as much as possible.


    The spell did its job of burning the tree, but one strike wasnt enough on a monster thatrge, no matter how powerful and golden the Genesis Energy-empowered mes were. So, he was forced to keep the skill active as he cast [Rapid Thrust], and thrust his spear a few dozen times in rapid session with help from the spell.


    That left a dozen holes in the tree''s body, and a rush of Genesis Energy flowed into him. Like before, it was still not enough to cover the cost of his spells.


    He was cursing Minka for making such an annoying floor when he felt a sh of Genesis Energy in the distance. It only appeared for a second, but was like a firefly on a dark night.


    Unmistakable.


    Crouching down, he stalked through the woods like some kind of coward to see a group of two.


    A man and a woman fought against one of the tree creatures, and Cory smiled.


    If he was running out of Genesis Energy, why didnt he just take the walking delivery?


    As their fight was nearing its end, Cory cast [Dash] and [Mana Reinforcement].


    He took the man in the back and skewered him on hisnce. He didnt immediately die, but as he cast [Whirlwind], he spun in ce with hisnce creating a barrier as he twisted.


    Sadly, his human passenger was torn apart by the sudden speed change, and was sent flying in two halves.


    The woman screamed and threw a dagger at Cory, but he used [Dash] once again to both dodge the attack and impale the woman as well.


    After that, it only took seconds for him to finish off the tree monster they had already wounded.


    As he felt the rush of Genesis Energy, he smiled.


    For once, he earned more than he spent in a fight.


    And looking at the two humans on the ground, his smile only grewrger.


    There was more Genesis Energy to be harvested.


    ***


    Krip dodged a thrown de from the first wight, but cried out as a second and third came out of the ground and joined their brethren.


    He was low on Genesis Energy, and thought he could get an easy kill if he fought the zombies in this ruin.


    It had worked at first, but he had missed the wights that had been stalking him.


    If it had only been one of the monsters, he was sure that he could have defeated them, but with three, he was forced to spend more and more Genesis Energy with each passing second.


    He was near empty when he turned and ran, but the wights kept on his tail and didnt let up, forcing him away from retreating back the way he hade.


    He slowed down as he ran out of Genesis Energy, and five razor sharp ws punched through his chest and squeezed his heart.


    As he was dying, his final thought was if monsters collected Genesis Energy.


    If it did, it almost seemed poetic.


    Hed killed them to empower himself, and now he was, in turn, empowering them.


    ***


    Lucas cursed when he noticed that his mana didnt flow into his skills as they always had.


    As a mage, this was the worst possible floor for him.


    His husband, Roderick,ughed as he cut out with his sword, and a crescent of golden energy cut a nearby tree down.


    The brute was enjoying himself while Lucas struggled.


    He was a damage mage, and all of his spells were built around casting the biggest spells he could.


    This floor was a curse to him.


    Roderick smiled at him and winked. It''s ok, you can just hide behind my shield for this floor. I can both protect you and cut down our enemies.


    Lucas debated zapping the man with a [Jolt], but discarded the idea. Too wasteful.


    Remember that we still have a mission, you rogue. Lucas pulled out the transmission spike and threw it into the ground before covering the hole with his boot.


    The thing was beyond low tech, but it was also one of the Corporations greatest secrets.


    Long rangemunication inside the floors of Minka for their carry teams.


    Lucas and Roderick were highly trained by the Carnegie Corporation for this explicit mission. While the first floor''s theme blocked even these contraptions, they were able to set it up going forward.


    Then, the teams that came carrying influential offspring of the various boards of directors could ensure that they had both information and a safety if anyone attacked them inside Minka.


    It wasnt perfect, but it allowed the Carnegie Corporation to charge <em>tera</em>credits for other corporations to tap into thework.


    Lucas had inspected the spikes, but he was pretty sure that it was a Talent driven item, as it seemed like apletely mundane spike of tin.


    How someone got around Minkas restrictions while being outside the''s influence, he had no idea, but they were well-paid and trained for this expedition.


    Their job was to get to the third floor at minimum, and if possible, the fourth floor with their cache of spikes. If they wanted to push deeper, they were more than able, but their contract only demanded that they reach the third floor of Minka.


    The two of them spent decades training for this, but even for them, a first floor Eternal Darkness was rough. That wasn''t a floor that paid well to prospective clients, after all.


    But Genesis Cultivation. That paid well beyond the norm.


    Every business magnate would want to send their children or proteges in at Tier 12 or possibly 11 for this floor alone.


    While they would have higher Tier guards, which lowered the amount of Genesis Energy they earned per kill, it wouldn''t change the rewards they were given if they could meet the cost of the floor theme.


    As a Tier 13, Lucas could only imagine the advantages they would have, but he was content with his and Roderick''s lot. They would still get some of their essence converted, and would be rewarded with a fraction of the proceeds from everyone who came in after them.


    Roderick disappeared out of Lucas'' sight, and an explosion came from his right side at almost the same moment.


    He turned after checking their left and readied himself to cast a spell, but quickly saw that Roderick had cut down the bull with lightning arcing between its horns.


    Therger man wasughing like a child at the power his physical reserve skills gave him, and Lucas could only look on in envy.


    He was the one who usually protected the big oaf. Now that the shoe was on the other foot, he discovered that he didnt quite enjoy its fit.


    Still, it was nice to see therger man so alive. He hadnt handled Eternal Darkness well at all.


    But they needed to get a move on. Only once they left Minka could they rx.


    ***


    Vibia looked at the wall in front of her.


    She was old and nearing the end of her life, and entering Minka had been a fools errand. Ast ditch effort to stay alive.


    She had been content with her passing until her son reached his own immortality and stopped delving long enough to settle down.


    When she held her grandson in her arms, she realized that she would never be able to see him grow up if she allowed herself to sumb to old age.


    She had been at the peak of Tier 14 for centuries, but without her Concept, she was unable to advance any further.


    That had been ok. Her son had long since grown up, but now with a grandchild, she had a reason to live again.


    So, she entered Minka.


    Her son had begged her not to go, but she had insisted.


    It was her only chance, and she refused to let it slip by.


    But the wall in front of her was both literal and metaphorical.


    She had tried to fly over it, but as soon as she neared it, the flying leaf she had been riding on sent her tumbling into the ground as it failed.


    Climbing was also out of the question. The wall was slick as polished ss, and there wasn''t a handhold to be found. She had attempted to use [Earth Maniption] to create hand holes, or even create a pir of earth to lift her into the air, but both applications of the skill had failed.


    So, she was stuck at this obstacle, and she could feel herself giving up. It would be so easy to just turn away from a challenge and find an easier path forward.


    After all, it was what she had done for all her life.


    Take the path of least resistance. The easy way.


    It had served her well, giving her a longfortable life where she was able to experience so many things. Multiple lifetimes of experiences that she had be numb to after a thousand years.


    But with a grandson now in the picture, she refused to just give up.


    This wall had turned into a representation of her old self and old life.


    Minka had woken old instincts and shaken the rust off her joints, but she was still the same old woman.


    Vibia refused to back down from this challenge. It might only be the second floor, but she knew this was a pivotal point in her life. If she surpassed this obstacle, she could reforge herself anew.


    It took her a week, but she eventually built herself adder out of the trees from another nearby ruin.


    Slow and steady, she created herself a path forward with the materials she had around her.


    No wall was insurmountable as long as you had time, resources, and put in the effort.


    When she reached the top of the wall, she discovered a pir of crystal on the t top of what she now could see was a mountain so tall, it touched the sky.


    Touching it, she got a feel for the challenge.


    It almost surprised her to feel the idea of bnce, of waiting creep into her.


    She had done her research, and knew of this challenge room, nicknamed Time is Money.


    Anyone could enter the challenge room for any cost, but what was truly tested was their patience.


    The longer theysted, the more Genesis Energy they got out of the pir. If someonested a year or two, they coulde out with enough Genesis Energy to take the fourth floor exit reward, even on the first floor.


    But because this was Minka, it wasnt that simple.


    The time spent inside the pir wasnt elerated. Every minute inside was a minute outside, unlike most of its longersting challenges.


    Vibia smiled at the reflection of herself in the pir.


    The old her would have taken this challenge as a surefire way to safely ensure that she had enough Genesis Energy to exit Minka, but the trials and tribtions she had faced in thest few months had reforged her.


    She didnt need the easy way out.


    As she turned away, she found herself back on the floor with the wall to her back.


    She had already climbed that mountain, and there was no reason to look back at it.


    She needed to find new mountains to climb.


    ***


    Castorughed as his de came down on another scorpion.


    With Genesis Energy fueling his skills, he was like a god on this floor.


    Even the rest of his team, who were normally stronger than him with their reliance on spells, had been forced to acknowledge his prowess.


    And it felt good.


    Linsey, the stuck up mage, was now treating him with more respect than ever before.


    She had even brought him a water canteen during theirst break.


    For the woman who only had time for practicing her spells to be reduced to that level of humbling herself it made him smile.


    Once upon a time, the four of them had been friends, but Castor had seen how the others treated him as lesser because of his more simple fighting style.


    But who had thestugh now?


    That simple fighting style that had earned him so much ridicule was now the only thing keeping the rest of them alive.


    Castor liked his newfound power.


    He looked at the others and smiled at them.


    They were under his power, and showed him respect.


    Turning back to the front, he missed the smiles turning into sneers.


    If he had seen those looks, he might have anticipated the de that cut his throat as he defeated the final boss of the third level.


    ***


    ude punched the stumbling bear and cast [Shocking Touch]. The contact spell did much more damage than the typical Tier 8 spell, but the range restriction both limited it and empowered it.


    Still the Tier 14 bear only spasmed, so he punched it once more while also casting [Prating Fist]. The spell was a melee pugilist favorite, and allowed the force of a blow to be transferred beyond the initial strike, bypassing most armors and making it ideal for hitting weaker organs in armored foes.


    It worked just as well on the bear, and his fist ruptured its heart.


    Or at least, that was what ude assumed as he received a stream of Genesis Energy from the creature.


    He checked his reserves and frowned.


    While he had made a profit from thest fight, he felt like he could do better.


    The only reason the bear had been so easy to kill was the fact it was shocked from his first spell, allowing him tond a clean blow directly over its heart, but it meant using a second cast of his spell, which was ineffective.


    He could always throw his Talent at the monster, but that was less than ideal. His Talent wasnt foolproof, and over reliance on it would and could get him in trouble, so he preferred not to fall into the habit of using it directly on his opponents. He preferred to use it on insects and other animals that could neither resist his Talent nor make him overly reliant on their confusion.


    Moving up to the next bear, he punched it with a few mundane blows, dodging and weaving its paw swipes, lunges, and bites, but wasnt able to figure out a reliable way to kill the beast in a single hit. At least, not quickly enough for his liking without casting too many spells.


    ude was pondering the situation when an idea came to him.


    Backing up to a tree, he allowed the bear to charge him, and right before it hit him, he slipped around the tree while breaking line of sight.


    With one flex of his legs, he jumped and grabbed a branch above the monster, using it to redirect his momentum.


    The bear wasnt stupid, and was waiting with its maw open for him to fall, but ude hardened the air with his Concept for a brief instant to change the timing of his decent, causing its bite to close on empty air.


    His armored foot, on the other hand,nded directly on the monster''s forehead, and he used it to cast [Massage]. The spell loosened the bear''s muscles and it slumped as it fought against the rxing effects.


    Even that slight instant of paralysis was more than sufficient for ude to slide down its head tond on its shoulders and drive a dagger into its eye.


    Genesis Energy flowed into him and he smiled. One cheap spell and the bear was dead.


    Now <em>that</em> was much more like it.


    With an easy and cheap way to kill the monster of this ruin, ude sauntered through the woods looking for more of them.


    On this floor, he couldn''t pass up the opportunity to farm Genesis Energy like this.


    ***


    Torbjorn brought his ws down on the snake lunging at him, and the three des of his modified [Mana Strike] effortlessly sliced through the creatures scales. In return, he received another rush of Genesis Energy to refill what pittance he had just expended.


    This floor was <em>fantastic</em> for him.


    Usually, he had to very carefully bnce the amount of mana he had reserved in his skills and Talent with the mana he actually used to attack. But here, that was hardly an issue. He could use skills with impunity, and his Talent, seeing that not only was his mana pool full, but everyst drop of it was reserved by his Tier 3 Talent in particr, empowered his already-strengthened skills to a truly <em>unprecedented</em> degree.


    He reserved a lot of his new bounty of energy into his skills, and felt even more strength flow under his fur.


    Another giant snake pounced at him, but a twist of his body crushed it underpaw. Eternal Darkness was one thing, <em>he</em> was supposed to be the ambush predator, not bats.


    But here, on this floor <em>This</em> was his hunting ground.


    ***


    Han De panted as he punched the blob of slime in front of him.


    He didnt know what this floor was, but it tried to make him spend his precious Genesis Energy for casting spells, and that was uneptable.


    He had struggled for each and every mote of that energy. Nothing was going to take it away from him.


    On the first floor, he had learned how to be brave, and refined his techniques through a trial of blood, and eventually came out victorious. The spiritual challenge he had been pulled into had only further tempered him.


    Once inside it, he had been forced to join a grand army that was fighting back against a horde of monsters that the inhabitants had called demons. The red skinned and winged humanoids had been a struggle to fight at first, but the army sergeants had taken him under their wings and shown him how to fight.


    Even as the days turned into weeks in the spiritual challenge, he became stronger.


    There hadnt been proper techniques in the spiritual challenge, but the men and women of thatnd knew their way around martialbat, and he had absorbed all of their information like a sponge.


    When they finallyunched an assault against the demon king, it had been a final desperate measure to stem the tide of demons from crashing against the kingdom''s weakmoners.


    Han De hadnt cared about those useless people at first, but one of the new recruits who had joined the army with him had shown him something more.


    While he didnt really understand it, Yi Zhn had shown him something greater. Kindness had its powers as much as brute force.


    He had known that she was just a part of the spiritual challenge, but he had fallen in love with her despite that fact.


    She was both strong and kind to everyone around her.


    He had even believed that if he defeated the demons, he could somehow manage to take her out with him, but that hope had been dashed as she took a w strike meant to end his life in his stead.


    Han De had been angry before, but he had never known such rage was possible as he watched Yi Zhn be infected by the demon kings poisonous ws right in front of him.


    Using her fallen de, he cut the demon king''s head off, but it had done nothing to stop the creeping ckness from overtaking Yi Zhns body, despite all his pleas and begging.


    Nothing had been enough.


    Yi Zhn died, and the spiritual challenge had ended.


    Han De didnt remember the rest of the first floor; he was in such a daze from his loss.


    He had only started thinking clearly again once his techniques stopped working.


    It was then that he learned that he needed to use his precious Genesis Energy to cast techniques.


    That problem was onlypounded by the fact that the monsters were a variant of slime that seemed immune to physicalbat.


    No matter how he cut or crushed them, they always reformed.


    Eventually, he had discovered it was possible to kill them without spending Genesis Energy, but he was loath to do it.


    The spiritual challenge hadnt been all cruel.


    When he came out of his fuge, he realized that he had Yi Zhns de.


    It had seemingly bound to him, and was able to channel his fear and cowardice into tangible power.


    With it, he was able to dispatch the slimes, but he refused out of principle.


    Yi Zhns de was not somemon tool to be used and abused. She had cherished it, and so would he.


    So he used the monsters as a way to train.


    Refining his martial training with his much stronger body took some time, but eventually, he was even able to dodge the grasping tentacles of the slimes and avoid being enveloped.


    He might not be able to do any damage to them, but they were unable to injure him either.


    As he fought, he worked through his loss.


    Yi Zhn might be gone, but he would do his best to live up to her ideals.


    Power could be used to do more than lord over others.


    Power could be used to help others who were too weak to help themselves.


    At first, he thought they were heretical thoughts, but the more he dwelled on it, the more he realized that wasn''t true.


    After all, didn''t the Great Sects offer guidance and resources to those weaker than them?


    It seemed like a pointless thought, but he also realized something deeper.


    The Great Sects were only able to do so because they were the strongest entities in the realm.


    Those with power could do as they wish for good or ill, but those without power were nothing.


    They couldnt change anything because they were weak.


    That was why the Sect Master was so hard on them.


    She knew the truth.


    The weak were only able to be trampled on by the strong.


    And if Han De wanted to do more than avoid being trampled on, he needed to grow strong.


    So day after day, he fought the slimes.


    Nothing changed after a week.


    Nor after a month.


    But something finally changed after the fifth month of eroding the wall that was the slimes.


    Han De was fighting four of the monsters at the same time, and he felt something inside him click into ce.


    It wasnt his first revtion. That was like a nket settling over his body as it flooded him with its power.


    This was something different.


    As his boot kicked out, a slime exploded, but unlike before, it didnt reform.


    The sudden change surprised Han De so much, he was nearly tackled by one of the other slimes before heshed out again.


    He didnt expect the slime to also die in a single hit, but once again, it happened.


    Two more kicks ended the threat, and suddenly, he was alone in the cave.


    For months he had been fighting these same slimes, but now they were dead, and had given him a wealth of Genesis Energy.


    One of the slimes even dropped a pair of trousers that looked only slightly too big for him.


    As he mechanically picked up the items, he checked his body and spirit to see what had happened.


    It took a while, but he eventually discovered that there was a new technique inside his spirit.


    What it did or how he got it, he didn''t know, but it was there.


    Undeniable proof that he had created a technique.


    He couldn''t believe it.


    Even the greatest of Young Masters were said to not even attempt making their own technique until after they reached their immortality, but he had done it.


    Little, cowardly Han De had created a technique.


    It just seemed too unbelievable.


    He wasnt worthy of such an honor, and he hadnt even been trying to do so.


    Still in shock, he returned to his little camp in a high nook that the slimes couldn''t get to. He sat down and cried as he hugged Yi Zhns de.


    She would have been so proud of him, and would have celebrated this great aplishment alongside him.


    Yi Zhn was full of life and happiness.


    But she was dead.


    He cried even harder at the thought.


    He might have been able to create a technique, he might have been able to ovee the first floor of Minak in the dark, and he might have even been able to defeat the demon king. But deep down, Han De knew the truth He was a weak coward.


    As he finally got himself under control, Han De wiped his face before clearing his throat.


    He was shaming himself, his Sect, and Yi Zhn by acting weak.


    Han De needed to test what his new technique did, and then he needed to fight his way through this floor.


    Minka had been reshaping him step by step, but he had ovee this challenge.


    If he wanted to continue to grow, he needed to move on and find the next encounter.


    Looking off to the side, where more caverns of slimes jiggled around, he changed his mind slightly.


    First, he needed to clear out those pests.


    Genesis Energy was Genesis Energy after all.


    Waste not want not. And Han De was tired of wanting.


    ***


    Aubrey coughed out a mouth full of blood as the tusk of the oversized pig gored her.


    She had been so careful on this floor with her limited Genesis Energy reserves, but one mistake had cost her a chunk of flesh.


    How a pig that came up to her waist had been able to sneak up on her, she didnt know, but the damn thing had taken two [Fire Bolt]s to the head without even flinching.


    As she rolled out of the way of a charging rush by the monster, she cast [Jolt] at its underbelly.


    That finally earned her a response as the lightning shocked the monster, sending its muscles into convulsing spasms.


    Julian cut out at the monster, but even his de was ineffective against the monster''s thick flesh, doing little more than shaving some hair.


    From her position on the ground, she was able tond another [Fire Bolt] on the thinner skinned underside of the pig, and this time, the smell of fried pork was apparent.


    Smiling with the knowledge that they could beat this beast, Aubrey was caught off guard as she was readying another cast of [Jolt]. She saw Julian turn and run.


    It was such a shocking thing that she was frozen in ce mid cast.


    She was jolted out of her shock when she heard it.


    Dozens of hooves striking the ground at once.


    As the waist-high beast chased after Jullian, she watched as its litter of children came through the grass, charging right at her.


    Cursing Jullian for his cowardice and herself for her awful luck, she cast [Jolt] once again.


    It struck and took down the first piglet, but the second and third got closer and closer as she cast spell after spell as fast as she could.


    On the eighth piglet, she was too slow, and it drove its smaller tusks into her chest and started shaking.


    ***


    Hailey cursed as Nikj took a hit in the side from the chomping abomination; a mix of naked mole rats and nightmare horrors.


    The second level of the second floor had dumped them into this nightmare, and they were taking all kinds of damage damage.


    Without her usual AI scans of her teammate''s bodies, it was harder to know exactly how badly he was hurt. Still, it didnt look like an immediately dangerous wound, so she ignored it. It wasnt nice, but she needed to save her limited Genesis Energy reserves. This damn floor theme was a horror on a caster like her.


    Even poor Jeremiah was next to useless now that he had run out of Genesis Energy. Their resident mage had used everything he had in reserves to take down the shark boss they had encountered. Sadly, that left him little better than a weak melee fighter hastily armed with a sword.


    Still, he stayed by her side and protected her the best he could, even though he wasnt the melee fighter that Nikj, Modwen, and Zoey were.


    Modwen fell back with her arm only half connected by a strand of muscle, and Hailey cursed.


    She was a proper healer, and could both reattach and regrow the limb, but that would take time, and it was Modwens off hand.


    Therge woman really didnt need it that badly, and she needed her Genesis Energy to cast her buffing skills like [Transferred Might] on Nikj and [Transferred Proprioception] on Zoey.


    The damn mole rats were ambush attackers, which demanded the front liners be fast and strong. And the two of them were respectively weaker and slower than where they had to be to effectively fight the monsters, so she <em>had</em> to prioritize boosting their powers up. Countering specialization was what a support did, after all.


    Still, Modwens nearly missing arm was a problem, just not an immediate one, so Hailey cut it off and pped a [Bandage] talisman on the wound while dousing the stump with part of a healing potion.


    It would both stop the bleeding and numb the pain, but it would make it that much harder for Hailey to reattach the limbter.


    Thankfully, the limb was no longer a living entity, so she chucked it into her spatial bag and moved on.


    The team struggled as they moved through the tunnels, but they learned how the mole rat horrors fought and attacked, and were able to counter them ordingly.


    At first, they seemed toe from nowhere, but they learned that their theory wasnt exactly true. Or rather, not <empletely</em> true. The mole rats came out of the ground, yes, but they couldn''t do it everywhere.


    The patches of oddly colored darkness werent just odd colorations of the tunnels that Minka created, but rather indications that the mole rats were about to break through. With that realization, their team was able to anticipate the mole rats and their mouths filled with needle sharp teeth, ready to take a chunk out of her friends.


    Once they learned that little trick, Nikj and Zoey were able to pin one of the little terrors down so Jeremiah could stick it with his sword.


    That earned them all some breathing room. Jeremiah had been rated top of their ss for a reason. He was a fantastic mage who excelled at all four of the basic elemental aspects, Earth, Fire, Water, Air. He could control and manipte all of them at his whim. Using [Earth Sense] he was able to track the enemies around them, which lessened the danger tremendously.


    He still needed to be fed Genesis Energy from their kills every few encounters, but they were able to use his extended senses to find and exit the ruin in short order.


    It was like a weight had been lifted off all of their shoulders as they entered a clearing with both sunlight and water readily avable.


    They werent dumb enough to rest without checking the clearing, but they found nothing wrong with the ce, so they decided to settle down.


    For the rest of them, it was a break, but for Hailey, it meant she needed to get to work.


    Genesis Energy, as they learned, was both a substitute for mana and so much more. It empowered skills cast with it at least twofold, but didnt adjust the price of spells, which made for an interesting cost-benefit analysis. If you had a weaker spell that you normally had to cast twice to kill something, using Genesis Energy to cast it was perfect, as it saved you a cast and therefore time. But if you only had a strong skill that cost more mana, but did enough damage to kill the enemy in one hit, you were now vastly overspending a very limited resource.


    Sadly, healing fell into that second category.


    You needed the same amount of Genesis Energy for the initial cast of the spell as you did mana, and while 100 mana for a directed healing spell wasnt much, that was only a fraction of the actual cost of undirected healing. A healer then needed to feed more mana into an undirected healing spell, which ballooned the cost into the thousands normally.


    But they had no option other than to pay the price.


    The problem was that Hailey didnt have enough Genesis Energy topletely reattach Modwens arm. There was no escaping that issue.


    She had what she estimated to be a thousand Genesis Energy, when she would need at least four thousand to perform the operation.


    Thankfully, she was able to get the rest of the team back into tip top shape.


    Now, they just needed to go back into the tunnel of horrors and allow her to farm enough Genesis Energy to restore their friend''s body.


    Slow and steady might not win them any races, but it would keep them all alive, and that was what really mattered.


    ***


    Natalie looked at the dreamscape before her and cracked her knuckles. Minka hadnt been <em>easy</em>, not by any stretch of the imagination. But the challenge rooms, and even the first floors floor reward had been trivial, and she expected this to be no different. It wasnt that she was supernaturally gifted in every area, but her Talent set her up uniquely well to profit off of Minka and its restrictions.


    She could make any test on her return any result she wanted. It was a bit of an odd, niche Talent, but it made her an absolutely ster undercover operative. And while anything with a spirit could resist it, whatever vague intelligence governed Minka clearly didnt count. Though it <em>did</em> correctly recognize her as a true Tier 13, rather thanpletely unawakened.


    <em>Ah well, I cant have everything</em>.


    Her time in the infamous forge had consistedrgely of darting from challenge room to challenge room, then informing Minka that she had done absolutely <em>ster</em> in each instance.


    It didnt matter that her attempts at herding sheep were better never spoken of again. As far as Minka was concerned, shed killed every predator within the simtion, then personally picked up and moved every sheep to its destination, while <em>also</em> training them to follow her everymand, and shed done it all in half a second.


    The Genesis Energy shed earned from that had allowed her to pay for her skills through the rest of the floor, and while her actual infiltration of a fortress was top-notch in the next challenge room, Minka saw her as being <em>impossibly</em> good.


    Now, she was at the theme challenge, and she took a few seconds to scribble out a crude drawing of a dog. It was barely recognizable as an animal, but she handed it to Minka along with the idea that it was the most incredible thing Minka had ever seen throughout its entire existence. She convinced the that it was an invention so utterly phenomenal, it would revolutionize life in every realm, and was deeply personal to her, while being intensely beautiful and elegant.


    The whiteness took her, and she smiled.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191


    Matt stood at the front of the Fae army and watched as the Spring city walls were flooded with defenders.


    Tens of thousands of Fae rushed to the citys defense, but most were privates and sergeants, which meant they might as well not even be there. What <em>did</em> catch Matts attention was the several well equipped Fae that could only be the lieutenants of Spring. Those would be much more stalwart opponents,, but ultimately, not a problem.


    Thankfully he didn''t see, or rather feel, anyone with the nascent Intent which would signify a general in their midst.


    With their increased production, they had a massive advantage, and their attack came as a surprise to the Spring court.


    Even with a week to prepare, they were caught tfooted.


    Oh, they had built defensive structures, and he could see what looked like ballistae, catapults, and even a few mana cannons lining the wall, but they were clearly rush jobs.


    He assumed that the mana cannons were made by the delvers that were interspersed with the Fae on the walls.


    They would be the true defenders of the city.


    Each and every one of them would be strong and well-trained if they had reached Minkas fourth floor this early in the cycle. Yes, this floor was a dam, but still, they were barely at the thirteenth-week mark for the current cycle.


    A lot of teams would still be on the first or second floors, judging by historical data. Anyone already on the fourth floor so early on was guaranteed to be both strong and incredibly determined to delve as deep into Minka as possible.


    Matt noticed the older faces and changed his opinion slightly.


    He forgot to consider the old and desperate Tier 14s who had rushed to the fourth floor before anyone else, just to ensure that they would have enough Genesis Energy to create their Concept. They wouldnt have slowed down to try and collect anything in the previous floors, which meant they could progress much faster byparison.


    But he didnt make the mistake of considering any of his opponents as weak. Even if they were run of the mill Tier 14s, each of them would still havebat prowess to put them roughly on par with his team. They simply had the cultivation advantage to make up for their generally weakerbat abilities.


    Even still, some of the old delvers amongst springs ranks could be monsters in their own right. With a thousand years of practice and training, even a coward could be quite the formidable opponent.


    Things were moving along, but the advance was generally slow as the Winter Fae crept forward to surround the city, which left the delvers standing around.


    Matt was amused that the self appointed leadership had gathered around him, where he was constantly casting [Hail] to create more ice elementals, which then immediately rushed the city walls.


    Others might consider it a waste, but it wasnt like he was going to run out of mana anytime soon.


    They mostly stood there in silence until the Fae general came up, and Bethany asked, So what do we call you? We cant just call you Fae General.


    The Fae general gave her a nk look. I am the first of Winters generals, yet have done nothing. I have not yet earned a name.


    Bethany looked to the others before offering, May we call you Primus then?


    The general, or rather Primus, nodded silently.


    Young Mistress Diamond Lotus hardly hesitated for the man to respond before she asked, What is your n then, General Primus?


    Primus looked at Matt and nodded. It is up to the Titled One. That is their purpose, and the Princess has already declined to give her input.


    Matt smiled under his mask as all eight representatives looked at him with gazes that ranged from happy to angry.


    Bradley and Tiffany, as representatives of his own Power and an ally respectively, looked pleased. But the Sects'' representative, Young Mistress Diamond Lotus, looked like she just swallowed a bug, and her expression was actually more muted than the Federation representative Dexter, who spat on the ground before speaking.


    I will not be following any n hees up with, and neither will my people. He had a self-righteous expression on his face as the Sects, and Republican representatives backed him up.


    Matt shrugged one shoulder, acting nonchnt, but prepared to cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] at the slightest provocation.


    If you dont want any of the Genesis Energy we''re going to earn, that''s more than fine with me. Just stay out of our way.


    While they didnt say anything, Matt could see them all give up on their position as their rigid postures slipped.


    William, the representative of the Corporations, yed peacemaker. What is your n? Have you ever led an army or, more practically, a siege?


    Matt rolled his eyes at that. The question was anything but simple. William was fishing for information about who Matt was, and to see if anyone in his databases matched what he said.


    So he ignored thement and asked everyone, The n is still to turn on Fall after this, right?


    At the eight representatives nods, he cracked his neck. Then we cant have this siege take long. Matt repeated himself as he thought out loud. We need to take the city quickly. General Primus, how long will it take your men to surround the city?


    The Fae didnt even blink as he answered, Two hours for a rudimentary fortification. A day and a half for something more defensible.


    Matt looked to the representatives, who all saw the immediate problem. That was going to take far, far too long.


    Hearing that, Matt had a better understanding of why this floor usually took so long to have a decisive victor.


    The delvers wouldnt be so willing to throw their lives into the breaches, and would let the Fae do the heavy lifting.


    It was the safe option, but not the right y in this situation.


    Matt looked back to the eight. I suggest we start bombarding the walls in two hours when the first defensive line is up. Let''s also get the crafters to start work on our own cannons.


    He was about to say something else when a star came thundering down onto them.


    ***


    Ronald stood with the other delvers and watched in horror as the army of Winter stood outside their gates.


    It had been less than a month inside this floor, and they were already on the offensive.


    That would have normally indicated that they were both bold and blind to the greater situation, but all of them could feel the monster standing outside their gates.


    The whispers of the Fae around them told them the nature of the monstrous pressure standing outside the gates, spewing out ice elementals like a broken sink.


    A <em>General</em>.


    How Winter created a general, they had no idea, but everyone agreed that they needed to kill it immediately.


    Thankfully, they had the perfect answer.


    Tobias wasnt on any of the Path of Ascensions equivalents, but the Monster Collective man was a mage of noted renown despite that.


    His signature attack was summoning a handful of sma and throwing it at someone, like a souped-up [Fireball].


    It was a cracked skill, not that anyone knew which skill it had originally been. But that hardly mattered. It was incredibly dangerous, even if it came with a multi-day cooldown.


    They had intended to save the man as a surprise to take down one of the other cities, but now, they needed to kill the general no matter the cost.


    His nascent Intent was like a wet nket covering their mouths, slowly smothering them.


    As Tobias charged up his attack, Ronald was forced to cover his face with a hand, as closing his eyes wasnt enough to block out the piercing light.


    The attack flew out, and Ronald watched its flight with his spiritual sense.


    Tobias'' aim was true, and as the general stood there unmoving, Ronalds hopes grew.


    As the attacknded, he clenched his fist in celebration, but it was too soon.


    The Winter general raised his hand, and an enormous icy barrier appeared topletely bock the attack. Even as the sma lingered on the shield like glue, it didnt seem to melt the shield at all.


    As Tobias dropped to the ground, panting, everyone else looked on in horror as the scorched ground was slowly covered in snow and more ice elementals started to spawn.


    They were so screwed.


    ***


    Matt cursed as the fire spell burnt along his shielding. He had been forced to use two [Mana Barrier] talismans to block enough of the initial attack for [Bulwark] to survive it.


    He would have rather run, like the other representatives had, but Primus had stayed right where he had been standing the whole time, which forced Matts hand. He could only hope that the representatives running had put enough distance between them that they didnt feel him pull out and use his talismans. While that didnt instantly reveal that he was Quill, he hadnt decided if he wanted to draw attention to his real identity quite yet.


    That first attack provoked an immediate reaction from their side, and spell after spellshed out.


    Unlike thest time he was in a siege, even the basic [Fireball]s covered the mile plus distance between the attackers and the defenders walls.


    But that was where the differences ended.


    Waves of spellsnced out, immediately turning the ground between the factions into a cratered wastnd. The value in prepared defenses immediately showed itself, as the Winter delvers often had to hide behind their Fae when the hastily built barricades were breached.


    On the other hand, Springs walls held firm, though a few particrly strong spells managed to leave marks on the weathered stone. When anyone attempted to aim above the walls and hit the people in the city, Matt saw shes of mana as a formation unwove the spells mid-flight, and physical projectiles were sniped out of the air at a terrifying speed or the attacks were just blocked by a city wide shield.


    Matt had expected that, but it was still annoying, as it meant they would have to drain or break through the defensive formations.


    Unlike when he was Tier 6, he had a much better understanding of formations, enchanting, and using both sciences to build fortifications.


    If this was a simple city, they might have a small reserve of mana stones to feed the enchantments, or a rechargeable mana battery that they could draw on if the city was expected to handle a siege.


    Or at least, that was how it worked outside Minka.


    He suspected that the wall was directly tied to Spring and the people inside defending its walls, which meant that they needed to take or breach said walls before they would be able to disrupt the barrier over the city.


    As the eight representatives came back over, Matt let his mask smile. I guess the siege is starting now. I suggest we pick four ces, two Great Powers to each, and then start attacking the city walls on rotation. We need to take down the walls before we can disrupt the city''s defensive barrier. If we concentrate on one location, the Fae can start their own bombardment on the areas we aren''t attacking, forcing the defenders to spread themselves out.


    None of them had any issue with the n; it was simple, and kept any of the Great Powers that had issues working together out of each other''s hair.


    Matt had more nning in the idea than he let on, as it would indirectly force each of the teams to give it their all. If another side got inside the city first, they would undoubtedly reap thergest harvest of Fae and delvers.


    That directly tranted to Genesis Energy and Favor, the only two things that mattered beyond their lives.


    As soon as the Great Powers representatives agreed to the n, they split off into their respective groups, with Primus directing his lieutenants to prepare four holes in the formation for the delvers to set up in.


    While they hadnt been on the floor long, there were already a million cultivators in Winter''s faction, so they needed a decent bit of room.


    Bradley and Tiffany split off without even looking at the others, and Matt joined them, but he kept his spiritual perception on the other representatives to see how they moved.


    Matt was surprised at the breakdown at first nce. The ns and Corporations kept together, while the Republic and Federation teamed up. Finally, the Sects and Monsters Collective teamed, leaving the Empire paired with the Guilds.


    He had expected the Corporations and Monsters Collective to team up, as they were pretty close, but when he thought about it, it made sense. The representatives had to bnce the animosity between Great Powers. Like the Empire and the Sects, rtions between the Federation and Monster Collective were irreconcble, and they would sooner fight each other to the death before they fought next to each other.


    While the total number of people who entered Minka was different for each Great Power, at this point, everyone had roughly even numbers, and the amount of elites for each was rtively stable.


    When they got to their position, Matt let Bradley and Tiffany do the leading. They both seemed leery of him after he took the hit from whatever was shot at them earlier.


    He suspected that they were afraid he was going to try and take directmand, and therefore take the small but steady supply of Favor that they were earning for himself.


    Matt had no intention to do that to Bradley, and wasnt even a little positive that the Guilders would let him supnt their own leader, even with the two Great Powers positive rtionship.


    Either way, they tried to keep their distance, and Matt let them.


    He was more busy trying to find his bond, who had disappeared and wouldn''t tell him where she was. Oh, she responded to his messages, but she was ying a game of hide and seek with him unable to follow her.


    Whatever her boon had done had made her invisible and undetectable through their link.


    When they were about to get ready for their first attack, Susanne and Liz came back and joined him.


    Together, the two hundred and fifty thousand members of the Empire and Guild rushed the walls of the city.


    Earth mages started raising ramps while the defenders tried to crumble those very structures. With their range advantage, they were able to keep the ramps growing, but more than a few people ended up running off the edge of a suddenly halted ramp.


    Matt didnt have that issue, as he was the one casting [Earth Maniption] to pull the earth up for his group. He might not have the finesse of a true earth mage, but he more than made up for that in pure power.


    Still, as they moved forward, it started to get harder and harder to advance. As they neared the wall, the defending earth mages had the distance closed, which made it easier to grapple for control of the ground that he was working with, but that was ok.


    They were also being peppered by attacks both magical and mundane.


    Still, they were fine. His group was just the distraction.


    From right behind the front line of attackers, Bradleyunched himself forward, and molten metal started flowing from his body


    And kept growing.


    Before hended on the magically reinforced wall, he was a thirty foot tall golem of metallic magma that mmed its red-hot iron fist into the stone walls.


    Spells and magic peppered the back and head of his golem form, but they had little effect against the golem''s size and heat.


    Still, the defenders morale held, and they wisely began casting [Create Water] over Bradleys head. Under the onught of dozens of delvers casting the same spell, the golem quickly turned dark.


    Exactly as they expected.


    Before he waspletely encased in the cooled metal, Bradley slumped onto the stone wall and created a ramp. It wasnt much, but it covered half the distance of the fifty foot walls.


    More than high enough for the rest of them to be able to jump the distance.


    At least, for most the melee fighters amongst them and the Tier 13 mages.


    Matt cast [Bulwark] as he ran up Bradleys iron ramp, providing cover for the rest of the Empire and Guild frontline fighters that had joined him on the first charge.


    The defenders cast spell after spell, but with [Mages Retreat], Lizs strength potions, and Asters buffs all empowering him, Matt was able to make the jump to the top of the wall along with the other melee fighters.


    As soon as hended, he was beset by a dozen spells that slipped around his [Bulwark], but they crashed on [Cracked Phantom Armor] to minimal effect.


    The lower ranked Fae werent exactly the strongest fighters he had encountered in Minka, and it was reflected in the quality of their spells.


    However, the spells from the Spring cultivators were different. They stressed or even broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor] andnded on his physical armor.


    As more and more people made the jump, Matt turned to the right and used [Bulwark]''s massive size to block most of the defenders from pushing them back off the walls.


    It worked for the Fae, but not the cultivators, who simply jumped over or flew around his barrier.


    The first attacker Matt had to deal with was a woman armed with sword and shield, but he had the perfect answer for that. A halberd appeared in his hands from his spatial ring, and he swung the weapon to meet the woman mid-stride. Her shield glowed and her body flickered with skill usage, but that didnt matter to Matt. He activated the halberd and the axe de grew to a <em>massive</em> size, knocking the woman off the wall in a single [Mana Charge].


    Halberds werent his favorite weapon, or even his second or third, but two main factors contributed to him using one now. The first was that the weapon was in <em>no</em> way associated with Matt, unlike his <em>bonded growth</em><em>sword</em>, and the second was that this particr halberd was <em>fantastic</em>. Hed pulled it off one of the safe room hunters, and between the natural treasures that it was made of, and the enchanting work done by at least a Tier 35, it was the nicest item Matt had ever been able to examine, let alone <em>use</em>.


    A [Mana Bolt] hit Matt in the chest, breaking his armors and introspection alike, but Matt ignored the pain as he prepared to hold his ground.


    All around him was a swarm of enemies as the left side nk was driven back, due to a concentrated push by the Fae and cultivators in conjunction. Seeing that they were being pushed back, Matt made the call to retreat.


    He still had twost gifts for the defenders.


    Throwing out one of Lizs potions, he momentarily swapped his halberd for his club, charged it to a full thousand mana, and mmed it into the stone walls'' parapets as its weight skyrocketed.


    The wall that took a hit from Bradley without cracking now fractured under the force of his blow. Visually, little changed, but from the way that mana was now leaking into the air, he could tell that he had broken some of the enchantments used to fortify the wall and block ranged skills.


    It would make their next attack even easier.


    Matt threw himself off the wall just in time to see Bradleys iron golem being absorbed into the ground, as his final present exploded in a ball of fire that sent even more stone flying.


    This time, Matt even felt three identical rushes of Genesis Energy and Favor hit him. His stunt had killed three Fae, it seemed.


    When they got back, they did a head count of his assault group and found that no one had died. Only one Empire delver had taken a spear through the chest; he would need extensive healing before he would bebat capable again.


    As the Fae started their own bombardment of the walls, Matt listened as reports came in.


    They had done well, but not as well as the ns and Corporations had.


    That group had also managed to take the wall, but held their position for nearly fifteen minutes before being pushed off, which was a much better showing than their own whopping two minutes.


    ***


    It was three full days before they finally took Springs wall, with a concentrated push finally establishing a solid hold despite all the efforts of the defenders.


    Normally, that would have meant a slow and steady bombardment of the inner city to weaken the defenders, which <em>was</em> the original n, but someone from the n and Corporation group threw themselves off the wall and into the city in a stream of fire.


    That set everyone off, and there was a rush to start hunting down the survivors.


    In thest three days, Matt and his group had earned their fair share of Genesis Energy and Favor by attacking the walls, but everyone knew that <em>this</em> was the true harvest.


    Matt, Liz, Susanne, and a recently-returned Aster took to the hunt with fervor.


    Aster indicated to the left where a number of Fae were retreating under the protection of a lieutenant.


    Matt threw himself forward, but was slower than Lizs whips of fire and Susannes [Mana de]. Fortunately, those attacks only cleared the path for him to attack the lieutenant, who tried to meet his charge with their shield raised.


    Like so many others in thest few days, the Fae didnt survive the strike.


    Bone and blood flew as the Spring lieutenant was crushed into the nearest building.


    In seconds, the squad was down, and the four of them pushed forward as they started hunting down anybatants they could find.


    As they raced forward, Matt found it interesting how even the city that had been a bastion of Spring was slowly gathering snow as the Winter Courts influence started to take hold.


    Snow golems started lumbering around and attacking Fae privates and sergeants, but the delvers were hunting bigger game.


    And an explosion off to the side told them exactly where their prey was holed up.


    They turned the corner to find at least two dozen cultivators fighting five or six Winter delvers. Despite the fact that Winter had taken the city, there were still more defenders than attackers. At least, when only the number of delvers was taken into ount. As the Queen of Winter had said, the other Courts had started offeringrger initial boons to counter Winter''s advantage.


    Matt ran forward and brought his club down, but was blocked by a wall of air hardened in the middle of his swing, and with no mana in his weapon, it had no extra weight for him to throw around.


    At the same time, a woman with daggers flickered into existence on his nk, trying to stab glowing knives into his side, but a stream of ice punched her in the side.


    Aster, who had taken to the Winter boons, appeared out of the ever growing snow banks and attacked the woman.


    She tried to get away using the same spell or Talent she had used to appear, but Susannes [Wind Cutter] was faster, and took her head off.


    Liz brought a blue stream of blood down on the back of their attackers. [Disguise Blood] made blood skills harder to control, and effectively limited the amount of blood she could use at any one time, but <em>did</em> allow her to change it from a deep red to a light blue. It obviously wasnt normal water, which would have been clear, but it kept people from figuring out that she was using blood with just a casual nce.


    Matt threw himself forward as Aster yipped repeatedly.


    At first, it appeared as if it wasing from a different direction every time, but with each yip, the sound seemed to distort and change in both direction and pitch, causing confusion amongst the defenders.


    At the same time as they started to lose themselves, Aster ran around and started casting [Ice Spear] at the people most affected.


    As the Princess of Frozen Stars, Asters ice had not only gotten much colder from her boon, but she had also gotten a healthy dose of illusion magic at her disposal. It wasnt all-powerful of course, and anyone with a strong enough spirit or strong Concept could resist it.


    But those were the ones who Matt focused on.


    Matts halberd carried with it some of the strongest armor pration hed ever seen, strong enough to break [Cracked Phantom Armor] with a tap, but that didnt help him against someone who <em>dodged</em> it. His current opponent was surprisingly nimble for one in such restrictive-looking robes, but then again, hed never understand Sect fashion.


    Still, the man made the mistake of trying to <em>grab</em> the halberd, and Matt was happy to give the man a lesson as to why that was a bad idea. A pulse of mana activated the weapons second enchantment, and pitch-dark mes ck enough to look two-dimensional quickly spread across the weapons head, along with the mans body.


    Even before the void-infused mes could finish immting the first man, Matt felt a line of fire pierce his chest ande out the other side. Reactivating [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [methrower], he trapped the rapier that was inside him and twisted, disarming his attacker and sending a torrent of <em>mundane </em>mes at the responsible party.


    The man dropped his weapon and rolled out of the initial wave of fire, but Matt used [Fire Maniption] to redirect the stream of energy at the man.


    His screams were littlefort as Matt pulled the weapon out his chest. It had only hit a lung, but that was still a dangerous wound in the middle of a fight.


    His breaths wereing in short, but he red [Lesser Regeneration], allowing the wound to begin repairing itself.


    Still, he was in the middle of arge scale battle, and was hardly able to give the wounds the true attention they deserved.


    He dodged a hail of fist-sized rocks, but took an arrow in the head, with the projectile bouncing off his reinforced [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    ring his Concept internally, Matt threw his AI at the question of where the archer was.


    It went through all the information that his overloaded spiritual sense was taking in, and parsed it into nice and readable bits of information.


    As it worked on that, Matt cast a rapid series of [Fireball]s at the man who was charging Aster while she finished thest of the weaker cultivators.


    Some surrendered and crawled out of the direct fighting, so they were ignored by both sides.


    The human cultivators had alreadye to an agreement to allow anyone to surrender and keep their lives.


    Having garnered the man''s attention, Matt watched out for the mage archer as he marveled at fighting someone who didnt have a working AI with a working one of his own.


    Normally, the AIs countered each other, but with Minkas interference, that wasnt the case.


    His AI was able to judge and counter each and every one of the man''s moves, as it didnt have to second guess what his enemys AI would be telling him to do.


    In three moves, Matt blocked the sword thrust, red his gravity gauntlets, and then drove a spiked fist into and through his opponents armored chest as he was pulled into the blow.


    In the meantime, the archer decided to go after Susanne, who sensed the iing arrow and sliced the projectile in half, even as she tried to make it past the guard of a ive-wielder.


    Fortunately, that loosed arrow was more than enough for Matt to locate the archer.


    Throwing himself onto the roofs, Matt broke stone tiles as he pushed off the building andnded on another four houses away.


    A cloak dropping into an alley was all that Matt saw of their attacker as he jumped once again.


    This time, the roof wasnt strong enough to take his weight and it crumbled, cutting most of his power and giving the archer time to get away.


    Dropping his spells, Matt threw most of his mana into his AI to try and figure out where the archer would have gone, but in the end, there were too many possibilities, and he didnt have time to y hide and seek with a rogue.


    He simply sent a message to Bradley''s wife, Jill. The woman was an archer rogue in her own right, and was very, very good at what she did. Rogues were best fought by other rogues, after all, and marking her general location was more than enough for the other half of their team to start their hunt.


    Knowing that the woman would soon be too busy to pester his team, Matt threw himself back into the fight.


    His AI was telling him that another group of Spring cultivators had joined their brethren against his team.


    ***


    Susanne cut down and sidestepped the [Mana Bolt] flying at her face, using her second copy of her manifestation to block a thrust that was aimed at her back.


    Spinning, she flexed her Concept to twist space and extended her de out a little further than normal, feeling it impact metal and then cut through both armor and flesh.


    A spray of red covered the snow spattered streets, only to be trampled by thebatants shuffling feet.


    Aster sent a st of cold, slowing the Spring defenders, and Susanne took advantage of the opening it gave her.


    Using [Dash], she slipped through the encirclement she had been forced into and started cutting as she focused her Concept inside her.


    Power flooded her body for three seconds, but that was more than enough time for a half dozen critical strikes with her two des.


    She only aimed to kill one man who had already tried to backstab Liz, and instead went for debilitating blows for everyone else.


    Favor and Genesis Energy rushed into her from the man who she took in the chest. Even a cultivator couldn''t survive without a heart. At least not before Tier 15.


    The others all lost a limb, or in one woman''s case, two. She would live though. Probably.


    Part of their attack was to take as many people alive as possible.


    Someone in the Sects had had the idea, and once voiced, it had spread.


    Killing the enemies onlyted them half the Genesis Energy they had if they were taken alive, and the winners could, on pain of death, force the loser to give up all of their Genesis Energy. Thanks to the pressure gauge rings Minka gave out, sparing their enemies lives was the more prudent thing to do.


    The idea had even been shouted to and agreed upon by the defenders of Spring.


    It was, at least in theory, a way to keep deaths down, but only time would tell if anyone actually kept their word.


    Susanne knew that her side had, at least officially, decided to honor the agreement. Not because they were nice, but because it would allow them to avoid desperate enemies fighting to the death if surrender was an option.


    Their advantage would onlyst as long as they were able to quickly push the enemies, and opposing delvers surrendering and living through the ordeal would ensure that they got to advance faster.


    Besides, if those who surrendered broke free after they left, who cared? It was a good thing, in some ways. If they retook one of their cities, they would close the gate behind the first wave of people.


    As she finished off the final remaining woman, Liz did the same with her [Disguised Blood], while Matt finished braining two mages who had tried to run.


    They were about to move on when a message came through their AI, Enemy broke through our lines in the east.


    Susanne cursed.


    Their prey was getting away.


    She was going to run over there, but Aster yipped out, There is enough winter. Get close to me.


    Trusting her teammate, Susanne moved to the foxs side and watched as the snow around them started to rush into their group before encasing them in a snowstorm.


    It passed just secondster, but they were outside the city, and she saw what had happened with her own eyes.


    At least half a million cultivators had rushed out the east gate, and were in the process of overrunning the defensive lines the Winter Fae had created.


    The Fae were fighting valiantly to hold the line, but with that many cultivators who could fight up at least one Tier, they didntst a heartbeat.


    That was, except for the general.


    Primus rushed the nk of the mass like a shark sensing blood.


    His short sword cut three dozen cultivators in half with the first mundane swing, and his shield exploded another two who tried to attack his offside.


    Susanne and the others ran forward, but Aster was clearly exhausted from her transportation, and got in Matts backpack.


    With her off the ground, they sped up and cut into the side of the fleeing mass.


    Susanne was attacking as much as she could, but before she could get more than a few limbs added to her harvest, she saw Liz explode in a flood of blue blood.


    In seconds, she had hundreds of cultivators trapped and was gathering more by the second.


    Still, it was a drop in the bucket, with at least half the Spring cultivators fleeing into the forest, after escaping through the gap they created.


    Reports of more cultivators escaping through other exits, as well as the wall breaches created during their assault on the city, caused Susanne to curse slightly at the lost Genesis Energy. But seeing the struggling mass of people that Liz brought forward, she smiled.


    Their harvest wasn''t bad.


    Not bad at all.

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192


    Luna watched the spin below her, not blinking.


    It had been too long since thest of the people who exited had done so from a new floor.


    The first half of the cycle was about as promising as she could have dared to hope.


    Eternal Darkness as a first floor was a good floor to get the children''s feet wet, and allow them to pull ahead of the pack.


    Genesis Cultivation was a counter to Matt and Aster, but Liz and especially Susanne would do fine on that floor, ensuring that the two more mana dependent fighters wouldnt get screwed over. It also had a fantastic reward that would catapult her children into powerhouses with four Tiers of essence converted into Genesis Energy, even if they were only average before this floor. And they were anything but average.


    Then came Back to Basics. Other than Opposite Day, it was simply the best floor to get after Genesis Cultivation.


    It would shift however many Tiers of Genesis Energy they had earned down to the first Tiers of cultivation, making them fifteen percent stronger than their same Tier peers who only got Genesis Cultivation and thirty percent than people who got neither.


    The theme reward theyd earn was certainly useful as well, giving them an excellent practical application of her lessons on internalizing an external Concept.


    Liz and Matt each had promising strategies to draw upon, with Matt using the Daedalus Gambitmon to people with enchanting experience, and Liz aiming more for a Fruits of Labor approach. That she didnt want Mind cultivation made it <em>much</em> harder to actually utilize her alchemy to the full extent allowed by Minka, but Liz knew what she was doing.


    With an already Internal concept, shed get the most out of the theme reward amongst the four of her charges.


    While it was the second half of Minka that was truly impactful, this cycle had the potential to be <em>most</em> excellent. This cycle would see lots of people flooding just for those first three floors alone.


    But after that floor, no one hade out after having reached the fourth floor.


    The walking fossils were usually the first toe out, and then throw themselves a party of the ages.


    There were even businesses that catered to their exuberant whims upon getting their Concepts and breaking through to Tier 15.


    Parties, orgies, feasts, and general extravagance were the name of the game, and they paid for it.


    At least half of the Tier 14s who got their Concept on the fourth floor blew every mana stone they had saved up and earned in Minka upon exiting, just wanting to enjoy their immortality.


    It usually meant that at least one team was usually out of that floor just a week or two after entering. Someone always got a lucky challenge room, a lucky boss fight, or even killed some otherpetitors that earned them enough Genesis Energy to leave the floor with the exit reward.


    But not a single team had exited from the fourth floor in thest month and a half.


    Not getting an answer was an answer in its own right, most of the time.


    There was only one floor that outright prevented people from leaving like this.


    Courtly Warfare.


    It wasn''t one of the floors Luna would have chosen for the children. The reward was fantastic, there was no denying that, but the timing of the floor was awful.


    A fourth-floor Courtly Warfare would serve as a dam, allowing all the chaff to catch up to her charges and remove any advantage that their speed had earned them.


    It wasnt a <em>problem</em>. She knew that the kids would be fine, but not everyone else was so calm about the situation.


    Z Cortez, a Tier 39 from the ns, had already blown her top at a Federation man that Luna didnt know, simply for a snidement. They were currently destroying arge portion of a small gas giant in the outer reaches of the star system.


    Honestly, this ce was a dump. All the majors were cracked, if not outright destroyed, and the asteroid belt was scattered like flung sand in the outer system.


    Luna suspected that Minka would be jumping to a new star system in the next dozen cycles or so, judging by the state of everything.


    Letting her mind wander, Luna wondered what version of the courts they got. There were thousands of variations, with the courts and their outward appearances changing. Human courts were the best, as theycked most of the magical abilities and advantages some of the more exotic factions had. Trying to make them hold a city when the monsters of the floor were earth golems was an exercise in futility, and could stall them for a year or more.


    On the other end of the extreme, the elves were annoyingly urate archers, and their moving cities could take months to track down as they migrated around the area that Minka created.


    But still, it was the challenge that had beenid before them. The observers could do nothing but watch, and Luna could feel tempers running hot amongst the highest echelon of the Great Powers.


    It was just a question of how long it took for one side to win, which at least meant as soon as anyone came out of Minka on the fourth floor, they would know that someone had won.


    Luna blinked once as she refocused on Minka after checking someone who came out on the Sects. Third floor useless to her.


    Personally, she hated this part of a Minka run.


    All her power, and nothing to do with it.


    <em>Infuriating</em>.


    ***


    Matt watched as the now defeated cultivators of Spring were brought out of the city and then separated.


    He and the other people who had earned hundreds of captives were sitting around and motioning for their victims to be brought to their own areas.


    It wasnt a perfect system, and a few of the people that his team had defeated were imed by other teams, but it worked well enough that no oneined about a little loss in Genesis Energy.


    Thinking of Genesis Energy, Matt looked to where Susanne was trying to get one of the captives to release their own reserves of Genesis Energy. The man had put a quarter of his Genesis Energy into the ring, but then refused to give the rest of it.


    Susanne had an <em>interesting</em> method of persuasion. She just repeatedly tapped the man on the head with her greatsword in a slow but steady rhythm.


    It wasnt an attack, but it also wasn''t a pleasant massage on a sunny beach.


    The cultivator in question was old, and was clearly at the peak of Tier 14, meaning they didnt have their own Concept to protect them from her Concept battering their spirit directly.


    Matt was content to watch the man, if only to see how long he could hold out, but Bradley lost his patience and walked over, slinging an arm over Susannes shoulder and guiding her away.


    Silver, you need more finesse in things like this. Watch how I do it.


    Turning back, Bradley sat down on the snow-covered ground and shot the man a friendly smile.


    Hey, there, friend. Got yourself into a pickle? As the man just red at him, Bradley nodded as if he had responded verbally. A shit show if ever there is one, but buddy, you are looking at this the wrong way. You didnt lose. You won! And you won big.


    Hearing that, everyone within a few dozen feet turned to shoot the man incredulous looks that ranged from hostile to bewildered.


    Bradleyughed with a cocky grin stered on his face. I''m serious. You don''t believe me, but let me exin. Pointing at the older man, he said, You don''t want to give up your Genesis Energy because you need it to form your Concept on the way out of this floor.


    His eyes swept the rest of the captives and added, Most of you are in this situation. Or, at least half of you. But believe me, this is perfect for everyone. A win-win. This is the fourth floor, and it''s Courtly Warfare. You geriatrics should be thanking the Tier 50s for your luck.


    There was some grumbling, but Bradley spoke over it. Really, you should. Think about it for a second. The Fae courts will endlessly make new soldiers, meaning, once we leave, you can resume the war and not have to deal with all us frontrunners. At that point, you can fight in the battles that happen and easily earn enough Genesis Energy to leave here with your Concepts. We don''t want to have to kill you. Some of you are Empire and Guilders. Id love to give you all special treatment, but you chose Spring, and we beat Spring. There <em>is</em> a cost to losing, after all. Let''s not make that cost death.


    As the captives started to rx, Bradley stood up and pped. See, this is a good thing for you guys! A little Genesis Energy lost today, but when we leave, youll have the run of the ce.


    Having said that, his face went nk, and his eyes started to glow brighter, like fresh molten metal had broken through the cooling surface to show the ire of a forge.


    But if you fuck with our victory, all of the representatives have agreed to execute the lot of you. We can''t be having people trying to slow us down. y nice until we leave, and do what you want after that.


    Despite the coldness of Winter that the captives were feeling, they all started to sweat as Bradley flexed his Concept.


    Tuning back to Susanne, he smiled. See? <em>That''s</em> how you deal with people.


    Susanne looked to the cowed people and then back to Bradley before saying, Why say so many words when only a few will do?


    Bradley looked stumped on how to respond to that, but ended up chuckling and speaking to them directly through AI. Queen, you are an odd duck, that''s for sure.


    They shifted, preparing forbat, only stayed by thepleteck of concern Bradley disyed.


    With a head nod, he gestured to the side and spoke with them away from the prisoners.


    Everyone pretty much knows. Only so many assholes with great-fuck-off-swords made from their Concepts running around. Kinda makes it obvious who you are.


    Jill, his wife, walked up to their group and added while nodding at Matt. And youd be Quill, right? Youre just too good at rune stuff, and with you making some kind of special Winter construct in the background some kind of soldier spawner? Dont know how you do it, but yeah. Probably wouldnt have <em>quite</em> put it together without Queen though. Lots of enchanters running around, you know


    Personally, <em>I</em> dont think youre Quill. My wife just really wants to be working with <em>two</em> or even more celebrities, with Yellow really being Torch and Blue as Queens secret bond, Bradley picked up smoothly where Jill trailed off, earning himself a yful swat. The other representatives have already spread that info and will one hundred percent try to take advantage of it on the lower floors. I dont think anyone was expecting you this cycle, and it was only word of mouth on the moon that led us to even suspect that youre her, so you shouldnt have to deal with any specially-trained death squadsing after you. But a good number may well change their targets or go after you once they <em>do</em> finish their assignment.


    He looked to Matt, Liz, and Aster. Careful out there. Queen has an Ascender sized target painted on her back. I don''t think anyone will attack you on this floor, but just about everyone not from the Guilds or Empire will probably be after you as soon as we move on.


    Matt nodded back to the couple and was turning away when Jill spoke up. If you want, you can join us for some extra protection, but I don''t know how much it will help. We know theres at least one hunter-killer team with our name on it. Our manager told us that the Empire got wind of the Sects training up some Tier 14s to counter us. You might get caught up in that if you stick with us, fair warning.


    Matt turned back to quickly consult with his team, and then said, We appreciate the offer, but well stick to going at it alone, though if you fall into trouble, we dont mind helping. Any hit squad will find us a little harder to counter directly.


    Bradley winked at Matt with a smile. Thanks, White. Back at you, but at minimum, I suggest youe to the fifth floor with us as a group. If someone gets lucky andnds near you, you might get screwed.


    Liz epted that for them. We can agree to that. Too many people would just slow us all down after all.


    With that, they parted to continue extorting Genesis Energy from their prisoners of war.


    While they waited, Matt dipped into the rumor mill of particrly powerful Spring groups. Apparently, there was one team of ten Tier 12s who had killed their way out of an encirclement of fifty before vanishing into the forest.


    It took most of a day, but they were finally able to move on. That is, until they hit a snag.


    Or rather, two snags.


    The first was the human factions disagreeing on if they should pursue Fall or Summer next. Those advocating for Summer, including Aster, argued that they were much closer to their capital, and the forces of Winter would be able to hit them before theyd be ready. Those who wanted them to pursue Fall, including Matt, argued that letting Fall have more time to prepare, and potentially strike at Winters capital city and supply lines while they were on the far side of the floor, was just begging for problems.


    The second and more pressing problem was the fact that Primus tly refused to leave Spring until the remaining Spring forces were taken care of, which meant that they would have to push out on their own without the Fae army if they wanted to leave anytime soon.


    When they asked him exactly what they were waiting for, he would only say the upying force and not borate, leaving them unable to make concrete ns.


    But they were still unwilling to move on without the support of the army, nor were they willing to justnguish and do nothing for the week it would take the upying force to arrive.


    It took nearly a day of arguing for the representatives toe to an agreement, but eventually, the Fall advocates won out on the basis that they would <em>already</em> lose much of their momentum thanks to the Fae refusing to move on. So, roughly half of the cultivators would range ahead to take out some of their closer forts, hopefully speeding up their future advance.


    To ensure an actual split of their forces, anyone who wanted to leave needed to find someone willing to stay on their behalf. In the end, Matt and Susanne decided to stay in the city while Liz and Aster went out ahead. The hope was that Aster, with her Title, would help spread Winter at a fast enough pace that the two of them could go solo, allowing Liz to not hold back and earn a Title of her own.


    With half the humans gone, Matt mostly rxed, unleashing absurd amounts of mana into the air to further empower Winter. He also got back to making more scouting towers to act as information gathering hubs, as well as ways to pass messages across longer ranges.


    In the end, they sat on their hands for nearly a week until the upying force came.


    Out of the forest, a troop of soldiers led by a dozen lieutenants came out, guarding a number of Fae civilians.


    As they got closer and Matt was able to see them, he realized who they were. Fae nobles. Or whatever their equivalents were. Dressed in finer clothes, they walked through the snowy forest as if it belonged to them.


    They radiated arrogance and superiority even from a few miles away.


    Matt made a note to not interact with them at all during their stay, but had to resist augh as Bradley cursed, seeing what he was going to have to deal with.


    Even his own wife ribbed him on the way out. Dont sell yourself into Fae servitude. I won''t be able to bail you out of that one.


    His raised finger was his only response.


    ***


    Liz smiled as she looked upon the fortification in the distance. With Asters Title, just the two of them could spread Winter at an appreciable rate, and so, theyd served as their own group. Without multiplepeting interests, they could be far more decisive and fast-moving than most of therger bands, and it was paying off nicely.


    She still hadnt gotten a Title, but she was hopeful that she might receive one by the time they attacked the next city. At the very minimum, she wanted some kind of bonus power like Aster and Matt had.


    Being solo had its own advantages, namely that she could shamelessly cheat. Such as with theirpass, which ate an essence stone and began unerringly pointing to the most valuable thing nearby.


    It ended up being a Glimmering Snow Lily, which Aster snapped up to help her bloodline cultivation. The <em>next</em> most valuable thing, however, turned out to be exactly what she wanted.


    A Fall fort.


    Asters presence ended up being a bit of a hindrance there, as they needed to keep moving to avoid their presence being given away too soon, but after an hour of scouting, she believed that she understood the makeup of the fort. There were three lieutenants, fifteen sergeants, and seventy five privates with no apparent cultivators to her eyes. There was always the possibility that they were in hiding, but she doubted it. That was too passive a y for anyone who made it this deep into Minka this quickly.


    It would be inconvenient to sneak up slowly, especially with no clear approaches to use.


    Besides, that would be boring.


    Arrows and rays of decaying magic flew from the wall as she began her attack, but the former were blown off-course by Aster, and thetter were given orbs of blood to waste their energy on. A single arrow managed to get blown back <em>on</em> course, but it struck her outer armor, prating far enough that she could tell it had hit her secondyer of defenses. Then, blood flowed, rearranging itself and spitting the arrow back out as the wound healed.


    [Blood Crystal Armor] was already in some ways an improvement over its base form, with her ability to dismiss and reconjure sections rather than the full thing, but its upgrade meant that it would automatically repair itself from her blood. With her glove, she had <em>more</em> than enough material to work with. Most spatial storages would sever the connection she had to her blood, but the growth item provided a <em>swimming pool</em> full of blood for her armor to keep itself in top form.


    She couldnt <em>wait</em> to upgrade the glove at the end of this floor, and find out what else it had in store for her.


    As she approached the wall, she pulled on her blood once again, forcing it into a specific, familiar form with the help of [Blood Copy], and a fewponents held against her skin by an internal band of ingredients. Windleaf and whipcord vine, bonded by shrinking violets. It was rudimentary, but she couldnt do anything tooplex on the fly, and this served just fine as a long-jump potion.


    Strength flooded her limbs, and the air buoyed her up, letting her easily clear the thirty-foot outer walls.


    Shed had to move [Blood Whip] into her outer spirit, making it impractical as an actual weapon, but it was still strong enough to grab a crion and swing into the wall. Theyd tried to stop her, of course, but using her Concept on her blood meant trying to dispel her control over the skill was a taller order than the mere footsoldiers manning the wall could manage. It wasnt quiteparable to trying to directly attack the blood that was inside her body, but it was close.


    A sudden gust of wind nearly sent her tumbling in the moments before she touched down, but Aster pushed back, freezing the mage responsible and pushing her back to the right spot. It still caused her tond harder than she would have liked, and only an emergency push with [Blood Maniption] kept her from falling prone. That blood was quickly put to good use,shing out and knocking off a half-dozen Fae footsoldiers to the ground below. Theyd be back soon enough, but getting rid of them allowed her to focus on the sergeant that was currently attacking her.


    A [Blood Bubble] deflected his opening blow, and her responding [Blood Bullet] was blocked by the Fae sergeants raised shield.


    He closed the distance with a [Mana Charge], which Aster slowed down to a veritable crawl, allowing Liz to easily dodge the skill and follow up on the opening with a [Blood Slowing Shot].


    The Fae stopped, freezing long enough for Liz to use her blood iron to morph her spear into a serrated ive and strike out, calling on her glove to unleash a supercharged [Blood Cleave]. Even her glove didnt have enough for a tidal wave on its own, but the blood-empowered de effortlessly chopped the soldier in half, adding its blood to her attack and carrying on down the wall, ying a whole row of Fae and sending their Genesis Energy to her.


    She pulled her [Bloody Cleave] back, reiming the blood and ttening a portion of it into a thin sheet for Aster to freeze. She didnt resist the sh freeze, and instead leaned into it as much as she could, helping Aster freeze then [Shatter] the ne of blood. It sent a spray of frozen blood shards into the faces of the Fae behind them, and Aster pulled the red ice into a blender-like blizzard.


    The rest of Lizs blood was recalled, forming a pulsating ring of red that surrounded her and provided her plenty of material. The new Fae blood needed to be filtered through her Talent before it counted as hers, and her Concept could work on it, but that was hardly an issue when her glove could act as an easy medium. As soon as she had enough, a pair of [Blood Chakram]s spun themselves into existence, followed by a few [Blood Sprites] to feast on the remains.


    She checked her mana. Seventy percent was good enough. Once it hit fifty, shed [Blood Sacrifice] it back up to nearly full.


    Little sparrows made from blood began to multiply and flock, darting from corpse to corpse. Her armor intercepted another arrow, spitting it out after a moment had passed, and Liz turned to see the source of the shot. Another Fae sergeant, this one an archer, was shooting at her from the courtyard below.


    Leaving Aster to finish clearing out the wall, Liz crashed down into the main fortress like an avenging, bloodyet. A [Blood Chakram] materialized above each of her hands, and the unstoppable, spinning disks of destruction began carving bloody paths through the Fae too slow to dodge, forcing the rest to try and avoid them. Her sparrows feasted well, turning what would have otherwise been survivable wounds into inevitable death.


    The archer was still shooting at her, taking chunks out of her armor with each shot, but as she closed the distance between them, she recalled a steady stream of [Blood Sprites] to repair it.


    Then, he was close, and a [Blood Chakram] forced the Fae archer to stop shooting as he dodged her construct, putting him in the path of a just conjured [Blood Spear]. That broke the sergeant spirit, and she finished him off with a [Cracked Blood Drain], leaving behind a desated corpse within seconds.


    The burst of strength and blood she earned from that was amplified with a [Blood Charge], rushing her forward and at a more traditionally-armed Fae lieutenant. He met her attack with his own, burning through most of her strength boost in a single, overpowering strike. The impact forced her to reflexively use [Blood Ragdoll] to avoid whish as her charge was met, blocked, and reversed in a single blow.


    [Ragdoll] normally worked by preventing any motion from the caster and tranting any force or attack on them into movement, rendering them <em>very</em> difficult to harm, but the skill also didnt wear off until a substantial amount of time had passed after thest intercepted attack. [Blood Ragdoll] worked simrly, but instead of preventing her entire body from moving, it sent her blood into chaos, with everything bouncing around with very little regard to how fluids were <em>supposed</em> to flow. At Tier 11, that chaos wouldnt be lethal for a good few minutes, and even then, she could use [Blood Maniption] to prolong it all the more.


    It <em>did</em> make a lot of her blood skills, namely any which used <em>her</em> blood, borderline unusable, but she could manage.


    A [Water Whip] shot from her outstretched hand, connecting to the Fae lieutenant, and in the instant before it broke from his resistance, she reversed course and flew towards his head once more, spear-first.


    <em>That</em> broke through its armor, and as the first drops of blood flew, she seized them and the opening her strike provided to [Cracked Blood Drain] the Fae to death.


    It made for such a nice finishing move, it was a pity that it was only a single target.


    Shended on the ground and immediately bounced off of it, with [Blood Ragdoll] still in full effect. A quick AI message to Aster took care of that though, and the fox sent a few gusts of wind her way to guide Liz back to the wall. Aster had turned the Fae soldiers to popsicles and was slowly draining their life, spreading Winter as she did so. Already, snow was beginning to fall right outside the forts walls.


    With Aster covering her, it only took Liz a few seconds to steady her blood, running [Blood Endurance] and [Bloody Lesser Regeneration] to end the [Blood Ragdoll] effect, and then she was back into the fray. The [Blood Sprites] had served their purpose, and she allowed the spell to copse, instead focusing on calling every drop of blood that she had ess to and wasnt otherwise needed in her body. A massive [Blood Tidal Wave] rushed out, eliminating the chaff and staggering the other lieutenant still in the fight, a Fae armed with a pair of daggers like a rogue.


    Daggers could be <em>deadly</em> with the right skills, and the Fae almost certainly had the full package. Still, there was only so much they could do to a giant elemental, and as [Hungering Blood] and her returned blood wave fed into her golem armor, she recast [Blood Crystal Armor], allowing the crystals to propagate to the muchrger mass of blood surrounding her.


    Like so many rogue-types, the lieutenant was fast but lightly armored. It took three tries to grab it with [Blood Maniption], but once she had it in her grasp, crushing the lieutenant in her empowered golem ws was trivial. The rush of Genesis Energy and Favor served as a surefire signal of sess.


    There was a lot <em>more</em> energy around her than she had anticipated, particrlying from Aster. It took her a moment to recognize the pattern of energy, and realize that it meant one of her items was turning into a growth item.


    Normally, Liz would be ecstatic about that, but it happening in the middle of a fight was awful timing, so she rushed over to assist the fox.


    As it turned out, her assistance wasnt needed.


    It looked like Asters old pendant, which had previously only made an ice cream-vored flying cloud, had gained the ability to create an extra pair of oversized snowkes, eachrger than Aster herself. They werent just decorative either.


    Liz didnt know what she expected, but the snowkes flying out and cutting two sergeants in half like oversized shuriken wasnt it.


    Seeing Aster had things well in hand, she turned and crushed the final lieutenant before taking out the final few Fae.


    Aster was sitting down when Liz rushed back over, and her tail was swishing the falling snow around her as her excitement bled over.


    When Liz got close, she jumped up andnded on her flying cloud, which promptly sagged down to the ground.


    It converted! I''m the luckiest fox alive! Endless ice cream vor at my Tier!


    Liz looked at the small snowke shaped pendant that the fox proudly disyed.


    Comparing the small snowke to the giant des of death they had turned into was a disorienting contrast, but Liz rolled with it. She had seen weirder growth items.


    Holding out an arm, Liz said, Hop on and let''s go take over the core of this ce.


    Together, they walked inside the keep to find the orb that powered the entire fortress. When they put hand and paw on it, their Favor flowed out of them before tainting the yellow orb a blue white.


    More Favor than they put inside of it came back out, and Liz shivered as she felt her boon grow into something greater.


    Mentally probing her boon, she understood the changes. You are capable of controlling frozen blood with [Blood Maniption], which functions as both blood and ice. Any ice and shadow powers are strengthened, and you resist damage from them. You are immune to the cold while in Winters service.


    Liz nodded appreciatively as she flexed her powers.


    The boon felt like a cloak wrapping her Concept and spirit, less close than a natural treasure, but closer than an item. It was <em>hers</em>, but not truly a <em>part</em> of her


    Not yet, at least.


    When they left this floor, they could take the boons with them as long as they were on the winning side, at the cost of some Genesis Energy, as nothing was free from Minka. Still, as her first new ability, the ability to control frozen blood was <em>quite</em> nice.


    Aster swooped down on her cloud, expanding the tform enough for Liz to fit. With the fort under their control, the anti-flying wards no longer impeded them, and they quickly soared into the sky.


    Liz looked at the cloud beneath them and frowned. It feels weird being on a Tier 11 item.


    Aster flicked her ears. Yeah, I need to try to upgrade it to Tier 14. I needed to put a bunch of ice into the snowkes for them to actually cut anything.


    When we get out of here, well figure out what we need to upgrade it. Those snowke des seem pretty good.


    Aster yipped. Yup! Do you think we might have some upgrade materials in the crawlspace? Minka was too cheap in only upgrading it to my Tier.


    Liz shrugged. We didnt pack any, but we have gotten a lot of loot recently. She let an evil smile creep over her mask. And we have lots of prisoners we can tap for items. Those Tier 14s must have plenty of materials for us to test.


    Asterughed, but before she could say something, a [Mana Bolt] tore through the cloud they were flying on and sent them tumbling. Aster caught them just in time, and started jerking them around to dodge the barrage of attacks.


    Liz didnt hesitate and emptied her glove, shaping it into a massive spear and using it as abined shield and weapon as they plummeted from the sky. Aster poured mana into the construct, freezing it into a single mass of blood-ice to form a countermeasure to the ambush.


    Tens of thousands of gallons of frozen blood hit the ground.


    The resulting collision was overwhelming even to Tier 11 senses, but Liz could feel it as her frozen blood broke and shattered when it struck the ground, sending a shockwave of half-frozen ground in every direction. Apanying it was a thousand fragments of frozen blood, ranging from needle-sized to asrge as Liz herself.


    The cloud of debris may have luded everything to her sight, but she felt several spirits to their right, and the rush of Genesis Energy that came with killing cultivators from that direction.


    Controlling frozen blood felt <em>different</em> from normal. Easier. Usually, she had to keep track of hundreds to thousands of individual blobs of blood, direct them all individually or in groups, and control what shape they had. It required a good amount of blood reserved for [Blood Cunning], just to keep <em>track</em> of anythingplex, let alone direct it. With ice, there was none of that. There were just chunks of ice, and all she needed to do to move one was to move the entire chunk.


    It was freeing.


    A person-sized block of ice broke itself on an enemy, and Liz forced a few of the fragments into her enemys eyes. The rest, she whipped around like cannonballs, mming them into her opponents and either sending them flying or just <em>breaking</em> them. She could feel Aster doing something simr, but more focused on the smaller splinters. Liz relinquished control of those, redoubling her attention onto the ice bludgeons until she was certain that everyone she could sense was at least <em>wounded</em>.


    [Hungering Blood] <em>loved</em> those wounds. Plenty of small holes for blood to escape.


    She recalled the frozen blood she was working with, interspersing it with the small tide of new blood that shed just earned.


    For the first time, she got a solid look at her opponents.


    There werent many of them still upright. What had started as a group of twenty or thirty Fall cultivators had diminished to half a dozen still standing, all Tier 14 and none with Concepts.


    The closest one to Liz was an older woman armed with two swords, mid-pounce. Despite the Tier difference, Liz felt no concern. Without a Concept, the woman had little protection from Lizs [Bloodthorn Vine], and delivered a cut on her upper arm.


    It still took a good push of willpower to break the womans spirit, but it was doable, and the womans eyes widened as her blood vessels ruptured into barbed wire, slicing through vitals and skin alike.


    By the time she hit the ground, she looked more like a crimson thornbush than a woman. Without breaking stride, Liz exsanguinated her corpse and used [Blood Slowing Shot] on a hail of [Blood Bullets] to close the distance between herself and the surviving cultivators.


    She was, s, toote. Asters snowkes had beaten her there, and had already decapitated the next two she had chosen as targets. The final three attackers looked like they were starting to run, but they werent even hard to kill.


    That was just what they got for shooting them down as they flew off.


    Liz stretched as the Genesis Energy flooded into her spirit, recalling her blood. Annoyingly, her glove would only ept <em>liquid</em> blood, so she was contemting how best to melt the frozen chunks as she started going through the motions of looting the fresh corpses. She popped her garden orb out of her general purpose spatial ring to store a bundle of Ironthorn Vines, then noticed how her Genesis energy started to swirl and churn.


    When itnded on her portable garden orb, she paused for a second. It wouldnt be her first, second, or even third choice, but she wasnt unhappy with it. Her spirit reached out and connected to the orb, probing for what it might be able to do.


    After a moment, it clicked as the connection between her and the item solidified.


    The first thing she noticed wasnt an official power of the orb, but that her new spiritual connection to it allowed her to use [Blood Copy] with any nt inside it, so long as she wasnt <em>too</em> far from the orb.


    Convenient, but that wasnt the main event, though.


    Where once it had been able to hold and grow any herbs she harvested, it now allowed her to advance time inside slightly for a small, but constant stream of mana.


    She was mulling that information over when even more came to her. She would also be able to separate areas, to grow things under more specific conditions, which was quite the useful effect. Together, it meant she could have a theoretically unlimited source of herbs and could experiment with them.


    While neither effect was unique, they were useful and sought after, especially the time dtion effect. It was theoretically possible to do the same with a high Tier spatial ring, but it would be far, far more expensive, as everything the nts needed would have to be created by spells, whereas her orb handled it automatically.


    It was why farming was done inside rifts and not erged spaces. It was too expensive to do inside a ring.


    So, next fort?


    After we finish looting these guys! And after you tell me what your new item does!


    Liz surveyed the bloody battleground surrounding them, with its slowly-melting chunks of blood ice and the mangled corpses of the fools who tried to attack them. Well, their mistake turned into her new growth item.


    Who knew, maybe the nextrge battle would bring with it another upgrade to her boon or her gear.


    She certainly had a lot of thoseing soon.

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193


    Matt cursed as he was brought out of his workshop not long after Bradley had gone off to talk to the Fae nobles. Seeing that all eight representatives were with him only made him more wary of the situation.


    Thankfully, Bradley didnt mince words. We have a problem. None of the Fae will talk to us because we arent Titled.


    Matt counted to five in his head before agreeing. Lead on.


    There wasnt much else he could do, being the only Titled person left in the camp.


    As much as he wanted to tell them to deal with the situation themselves, he knew that they wouldnt havee to him if they hadnt exhausted all other possibilities of getting around the restrictions.


    When they reached the city, he was led to arge building that he <em>knew</em> wasnt there when they besieged the city. It looked like a miniature version of Winters pce, and was directly across the street from Springs pce, which had been ransacked in the siege.


    Matt wasnt sure if that was the doing of the Fae around them or the cultivators on their side, but the pce was a mere shadow of its former glory, withrge holes peppering the exterior walls. The few rooms he could see into were in a simr state of disrepair.


    When he entered the smaller but much more pristine Winter pce, he was quickly identified by what he could onlybel as a functionary, with the woman''s obsequious but stillmanding attitude.


    Herald, pleasee with me. Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow has been awaiting your presence.


    If she had a clipboard, Matt was sure that she would have flipped a page with how clipped she spoke that final line.


    He also had no idea what the title the Fae had been given was, but assumed it was some equivalent of the Empire''s system of Emperor, King, Prince, Duke, Marquess, Count, Viscount, and Baron. It was just a question of where on that scale the Fae noble fell.


    The man they were brought to seemed normal for the Fae, considering their oundish features, but what caught Matt off guard was the power of Favor he radiated. It was like standing next to a roaring furnace aftering in from the cold.


    The Fae, Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow gestured to the seat and said, Its a pleasure to finally meet you, Herald. I have heard so much about you. You''re Winter''s champion, spreading her will across the seasons. The man smiled, but it seemed hollow. But we must get down to important business. The upation of Spring is a serious matter that we need to discuss.


    Matt didnt take a seat immediately, and looked to the eight representatives who had been blocked in the hall before asking, Can I delegate that to them?


    Eth-ere-akual Stardust Iceglow''s smile turned genuine. Of course not. Where would the fun be in that?


    ***


    It took Matt nearly a week of tedious negotiations and arguments, but eventually, he got the noble faction of Winter settled in.


    To his surprise, it wasnt the Winter Fae that took most of his time dealing with, but rather the Spring Fae.


    There were apparently a lot of things that the Fae started offering to Titled, and that extended to a captured city.


    There were perks like vendors who traded in Favor or rare items and materials, item identification, boon adjustments, or having items custom-made by the Fae crafters. All of which needed to be taken into ount and then negotiated with the Spring Court. All of the rewards, Matt learned, were possible for the non-Titled, but they would each then enact a bargain. As they had all learned, any bargains with the Fae were dangerous. For the Titled, it was just a rtively safe transaction of Favor.


    It brought up an interesting point that Matt hadnt considered. By boosting Winter with his mana, he was disrupting the normal state of affairs. By the time a faction had ordinarily taken a city, they would have dozens or even hundreds of Titled, not just a whopping two.


    Susanne even managed to get a steady stream of Favor from the whole affair; her Talent helping her calligraphy meant that she could write out a dozen letters in the time it would take anyone else to write one, and with <em>substantially</em> better handwriting. Thatst part was apparently very important to the Fae, judging by the Favor that providing beautiful documents earned her.


    As the upier of any city must do, the Winter Fae, and by extension Matt, had to negotiate with their captives and find a middle ground to which all parties could agree.


    Eventually, they hammered things out, and the Fae army and remaining half of the cultivators were able to move on, with one tenth of their numbers remaining behind to guard the city from both within and without.


    One thing Matt tried to check was the new recruits of Spring, along with their current locations and movements. As far as he could find out, they appeared outside the city somewhere, but nothing more than that. It at least proved that Spring was still recruiting, which was all the more reason for them to leave a portion of their ever growing army inside the city.


    It would be beyond irritating if they beat the other two factions, only to have their first conquest reimed for Spring before they were actually able to leave. If it happened right after Matt and his team got out of this floor he wouldntin, but if anyone stopped them


    Towards that end, they wanted to quickly take the final two cities, and the army moved at its mile eating speed.


    The work their forward operators did was immediately noticeable, as they were able to get deep into Fall territory before they found their first undefeated fort, and the line where Fall and Winter''s influences met.


    Just like before, it was strange to see the seasons shift in real-time, but going from Fall to Winter was a much more natural progression than Spring to Winter. Vibrant orange and yellow leaves quickly faded to brown and fell, turning into snow as they drifted to the ground and serving as the first dusting of snow before more fell from the sky.


    Not wanting to waste any time that could be spent moving, the representatives had assembled a mobile war council tform, floating along at a steady rate. It was fairly barebones as such things went, just a thin wooden room with basic winter-themed furniture.


    Despite his best efforts, Matt had found himself firmly embroiled in the politics and power ys of the court. It was inevitable really, as the only one with a Title and all that it implied, his word held a <em>lot</em> of sway with the Fae. Even so, his recently-attempted break from the politics game was alreadying back to bite him.


    I saw it with my <em>own eyes</em>, Lotus!


    You will address me as Young Mistress Diamond Lotus, <em>peasant</em>.


    I will not, not until you show my people the respect they deserve! <em>You</em> are responsible for ensuring that the Sect members behave, and I saw Radiant Spring break Corins leg with my own eyes. You <em>will</em> get a handle on your people or you <em>will</em> be reced! Bradley growled out as his eyes red red.


    Really, you dont have that authority, Olivia, the new Republican representative, drawled. I dont see much point in putting that much weight on hearsay. Its pretty clear what happened. Some whining little Imperial dog tripped and broke their leg and decided to me it on the man who he quarreled with the previous night. I mean, weve all seen how with thesest few forts the Empire has been so woefully under performing. It was only inevitable that they would start to try and me the rest of us for their ipetence. At thest meeting I predicted as much would happen, did I not? Regardless, even if such ims <em>did</em> have merit, I have no problems with Young Mistress Diamond Lotus serving as the voice of the Sects, and you, <em>Bradley</em>, dont control the rest of us. If anything, <em>you</em> should be reced again, given how many Empire wannabes keep interfering with the rest of <em>our</em> battles. Really, you should let them know that the <em>Fae</em> are supposed to be the ones sacrificing themselves futilely, all theyre doing is disrupting <em>our</em> ns.


    We really ought to be focusing on the <em>actual battle ns</em>, William pulled them back on track. With a wave of his hand, the Corporations representative pulled the illusionary battle map they were using from a wide-view into just focusing on the fort they were approaching.


    I agree, Diamond Lotus smiled, steel in her voice and eyes locked on Bradley, I suggest that, given how even the smallest tasks seem to be beyond them, we should keep the Empire and Guild forces in reserve. Instead, we can have the Corporations reinforce where the Republicans were previously picking up the ck for our under performing allies.


    Not a terrible suggestion, William conceded.


    The other representatives, other than Bradley and the new Guild representative murmured agreement as well. Of course, Bradley and his counterpart in the Guilds protested loudly, but there was only so much that could be done.


    It was a decently well-executed n, Matt conceded. The Federation, Republic, and Sects all cooperated to sabotage and hinder the Empire, and the Guilds, in their assault efforts. Then, they kept using theirckluster performance to lobby cutting back the amount that the Empire was supposed to contribute in the attacks in the first ce, giving it to themselves and the neutral factions as a bribe of sorts.


    The Empire and Guild delvers didnt <em>listen</em>, of course. Bradley had even temporarily lost his representative position, but his recement had been murdered within a day, and <em>her</em> recement had utterly failed at getting the Empire any more favorable terms. So, Bradley had managed to return by organizing his own attack n separate from what the master battle n was. Of course, without the cooperation of the other factions, they had skyrocketing casualties.


    The Empire was suffering <em>twice</em> the casualties of the Guilds, who in turn had five times the average casualty rate. It only reinforced the numerical superiority that the other factions had over them, and pushed them even further into this death-spiral. At some point, the neutral factions would stop turning a blind eye, and would allow the Empire to make a slow recovery, but only once other factions had their own Titled and the floor was likely to already be won.


    Of course, there was something they werent considering. Matt was done listening.


    No, Matt spoke.


    His voice cut through the arguments.


    No? Olivia scoffed, You dont have any more authority than the rest of us, less than your useless counterpart.


    No. The Empire and Guilds will be given equal part in the battle. He said in a steady voice.


    Youre being preposterous! Olivia countered him, Your people-


    If you prefer, we could have the Empire solo take on this side, then the Guilds and Corporations here, the ns and Collective on this wall, and the Sects, Federation, and Republic here. But, I dont think you do. Or maybe, we pull all three of your factions out into the reserve altogether and dont let any of you get the rewards from our attack. But, I prefer to be <em>fair</em>, unlike some people here.


    Diamond Lotus started to say something, but Matt cut her off, See, what all of you are forgetting is that <em>I</em> am the one you need, not the other way around. The Fae listen to <em>me</em>, not to you. I could easily get all of the lieutenants to only support Empire delvers, even if wepletely break from this war council. And dont forget <em>why</em> that is, <em>how</em> I earned that power. Its by making Winter <em>utterly crush</em> all of the other factions, and I can undo what Ive done any time that I want. I can go to some distant corner of this floor and wait for it to all end, and Ill know that none of you get <em>ahead</em> of me.


    He let a nk look show on his nk mask giving them nothing to read. I could even go to Summer, right here and right now, and do for them what Ive done for <em>us</em>. Would I get Favor? No. Do I care? Also no. If Winter loses this floor, I can still move onto the next floor, and the next, and the next. I might not get the Boon, but I already have enough Genesis Energy for what I want, and that just returns me to the one in four chance that we all <em>thought</em> we had at winning this floor before I did what I do best. I single-handedly brought us to where we are now, about halfway to <emplete and total victory</em>, within four months of this cycle starting. All of you stand to get incredible rewards and Favor, probably even earning full Titles by the end of all this. Thats far more than you ever stood to get <em>without</em> me, and youll get more than you thought you would at the start of this floor, even if you let <em>my</em> people <em>do their part without being murdered</em> in battles.


    Matt took a deep breath for both theatrics and to give everyone a moment to really digest what he was threatening. And so, Im just asking for a fair distribution. Im not talking to the Empires enemies, but to those of you who have watched and stood by as they keep trying to sabotage us... Are the little scraps they keep handing you <em>really</em> worth potentially losing the war? All I want is <em>fair treatment</em>. But this stops now, or I burn this entire farce down.


    That seemed to settle it, and tipped first the ns, then Corporations, and finally the Collective into supporting a more equal distribution of forces.


    They would kill him for this, Matt knew. As soon as the floor was done, every single person from the Federation, Sects, and Republic would be aimed directly at him and his team.


    <em>But they would be doing that anyway</em>.


    Resentment might push them a <em>bit</em> harder<em></em>than otherwise, but not to any major degree.


    They were in a unique position on this floor, able to win and win <em>fast</em>. The longer the other factions had the chance to build out their defenses, the harder the fight would be, and <em>nobody</em> wanted to face a Fae general on the battlefield. Not after having seen and felt Primus decimate the Spring cultivators who retreated out of the city, and when their victories were giving them such massive hauls of Genesis Energy.


    Simply being part of the army that took a city provided <em>so much</em> Genesis Energy that once they took Summer, everyone expected all of the old Tier 14s on this side to get their Concepts, <em>and</em> be able to afford the Genesis Energy cost of taking the theme challenge. With the insane prices that Tier 14s faced in Minka, that was nearly unheard of, but <em>crushing</em> opposition was something that the Forge loved to reward.


    Matt enforcing fairness, instead of pressing his advantage, should at least prevent the neutral factions from <em>also</em> going after him, or taking their chances with the existing lead.


    Now, they had a fort to take.


    They were interrupted from their further nning by a rain of arrows from their left, peppering the army of Fae and cultivators alike. Screams nketed the air and sent everyone on high alert as they turned to face the ambush.


    But that wasnt all. Of course it wasnt.


    From their right rear, a wave of spells and arrows mmed into the army''s less protected nk.


    From his position with the representatives in the center, Matt was rtively untouched, but he was able to see exactly what was going on with his better view.


    The attacks from the left were done by a small army of Fae in radiant gold armor that emanated the life and greenery of nature in full Summer.


    There were at least five thousand archers and mages positioned on the top of a hill, defended by twice that many melee fighters moving into position in front of the ranged attackers. A smaller number of Fae privates were furiously digging into the hill to create defensive trenches and barricades that would turn any frontal assault from just their own Fae into a bloodbath, a cost that Winter could hardly afford if they were to maintain their momentum. Nevertheless, the strong positioning forced Winter to take the hill. Otherwise, they could be harassed from the rear and have their supply lines cut out from under them.


    And from their other nk was a seemingly small contingent of Spring cultivators hiding in the trees.


    Matt didnt trust the weak seeming force on that side, and suspected that they were trying to lure them into the trees, where they probably had a number of traps and ambushes set up.


    He had no idea how both sides had set this ambush up without their forward scouts detecting it, but that was a question forter.


    Now, it was time for a fight.


    The representatives seemed to split themselves up evenly in a wordless exchange of looks in just a second, and Matt didnt argue with their decision.


    With a flurry of AI messages, most of the Empire, Guilds, Corporations, and Monsters Collective soldiers who were closer to that side all turned left and charged for the Summer Fae hill, with Matt alongside them.


    As he and the others rushed the hill, Matt took to the air and was instantly the target of at least a dozen Fae archers, all shooting various types of magically empowered arrows at him. [Bulwark] took care of most of those arrows, but one that he suspected was from a lieutenant punched through his firstyer of defensive spells and was caught on an exquisitely crafted shield that Matt had taken from the delvers who had attacked his party after the previous floor.


    The closer he got to flying over the melee defenders, the more the ranged Fae started to attack him, but that was exactly what Matt wanted.


    Throwing a bit of mana into his gravity gauntlet, he allowed the world to warp around him and started to pull all of the attacks towards his gauntlets center of gravity, so they didnt fall onto his teammates.


    With the reduced pressure, his side was able to get their first wave of troops into melee range with the frontline Summer Fae.


    Matt was still moving forward, trying to gather more and more attacks from the Fae, but they suddenly stopped attacking him and returned to peppering the still grounded troops.


    Maybe they thought he was only a defensive fighter that wouldn''t be able to hurt them, and so he wouldnt be willing to actually attack them directly. Regardless, he decided to call their bluff and plummeted down into the mass of archers.


    In midair, he summoned one of his backup weapons- a massive warhammer- to his hand, throwing mana into its [Impact] enchantment even as he parted the air below him with his Concept and [Air Maniption]. He <em>mmed</em> into the ground and the enchantment sent a shockwave of dirt and stone out in every direction. He magnified the st with judicious use of [Hail], and a wall of ice and snow rolled out and washed over everyone unfortunate enough to be in his general vicinity.


    He stashed his hammer and rushed to the nearest bank of archers, even as they peppered him with arrows.


    Now that he was inside their ranks, he wasnt just taking a portion of their attacks. All of the archers around him wereunching attacks as fast as they could work their bows. His first impression was that they didnt care at all that their missed shots would impact their own forces, but he had apparently underestimated their capabilities. Any arrow that flew past him dispersed into nothing more than a passing breeze before it could hit anything solid that was aligned with their forces.The ground under his feet started to ripple, but he put a stop to that with a flex of [Earth Maniption] as he activated his physical boosts to a small degree.


    He rushed forward and swung his halberd as he took the archers arrows, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] started getting breached by the arrows hitting him so rapidly in session. His upraised shield could only cover so much of him, and he even redirected the secondyer of his armor to cover his head and organs in case the skill was broken under the rain of arrows. Even a few seconds of taking the focus off his allied forces could make a difference, but he was paying for that distraction.


    Recasting [Bulwark] to act as a rear shield, Matt swept a plume of mes forward to keep the archers off him for a few seconds.


    And a single second was all he needed to cast [Cracked Mana Trap] with Aster''s Winter mana all around him.


    The Fae <em>immediately</em> set off the traps, and were met with massive Boon-empowered explosions of ice and snow, covering all of them with ayer of ice. The Summer Fae almost immediately started melting through their imprisonment, but a half-dozen [Mana sh]es smashed them to pieces. Before he could push his advantage further, a Fae in better armor rushed forward and started loosing arrows at him. Instead of a single arrow, a stream of ten shot towards him and bent through the air to follow him, even as he threw himself out of the way.


    Running forward and to the side, he forced the arrows toe at him from an angle, and his Concepts repulsion effect was able to ensure they didnt actually hit him. Still, that single use of his Concept took nearly a tenth of his will power, and the archer lieutenant already had their bow notched with another arrow.


    As the lieutenant jumped back and glided along the air, their bow started to glow with mana as abination of spells took effect.


    Matt recognized [Charging Retreat], [Empowering Shot], [Air Slide], and [Entangle], all in that single move.


    The first spell was an archer specific one that empowered their next shot, as long as they were moving away from their target, which paired well with [Air Slide]. That skill allowed the user to move without actually needing to walk, while also giving them a speed increase while channeled.


    The final two skills were mostly self-exnatory, but were just as effective. [Empowering Shot] allowed one to charge mana into their bow and arrow to empower their next shot, and [Entangle] would raise roots from the ground to wrap around his legs and keep him from moving.


    Not willing to stand there and take the hit like a fool, Matt threw mana into [Mages Retreat] and ran forward towards the Fae.


    The roots of [Entangle] tried to hinder his steps, but he was stronger than their magically empowered forms, and they tore around him as he raced ahead. It didnt slow him though, as he teleported out of their grasp, cast [Bulwark] to give him a foothold, andunched himself at the Fae lieutenant, bringing his erged halberd down on the archers head, and activating the voidmes for good measure.


    As its head exploded into ck fire, he looked up and saw the Summer Fae archers in disarray as others had copied his tactics and flew over the melee defenders. That lessened the enemy forces attention on him, and he started to gather the ice he had been creating with [Hail] during the entire fight with [Ice Maniption],manding it to rise.


    He was going to end this ambush right here and now.


    ***


    Susanne cursed as she dodged a Tier 14 man wielding a magical staff that he had wrapped a mana construct around so the weapon would look and act like a glowing, oversized sword.


    If she was fighting him alone, she would have been fine, but the cultivators of Spring were ganging up on her, and the cultivators of the Sects, Republic, and Federation were actively ignoring her plight. To make matters worse, a few of the n ranged fighters were at least attacking the cultivators attacking her, but they seemed perfectly willing to hit her as much as the enemies, as the arrow sticking out of her forearm attested to.


    If she was any less of a fighter, she would have already fallen to the five men who tried to take her down. At this point, she was pretty sure that they were a hit squad that had either been assigned to attack her, or just took the opportunity to do so now that she had been identified.


    The squad was made up of the mage who wielded a magical de, a melee fighter with a massive shield and a mace that glowed with void mana, a dagger wielder who seemed to blend into the very air, a crossbowman shooting bolts that punched through even her growth armor without issue, and finally a healer who kept back and acted as a support and buffer.


    They were all peak Tier 14s, and fought much better than even that would have implied. They were strong, coordinated in their moves, and always had a follow up to best take advantage of their party members'' attacks.


    It seemed the cultivators of the Great Powers around her had decided that she was better off dead, but she was going to disappoint them.


    She might have been on the wrong side of the army when the ambush started, but she wasnt so easy to take down just because she was separated from people who would actually help her. She had been alone her entire time as a Pather. This was just a return to the norm for her.


    After blocking a swing of the glowing mace with her manifestation, she cast a quick [Entangle] on its owner, then swung her greatsword and flexed her concept to cut the space between her and the healer in half, closing on him much more quickly than he had anticipated.


    She didnt go all the way to him, but stopped the spatial maniption short and created a full second version of herself to cut down at the back of the crossbowman, who had shot at where they expected her to appear next to their healer.


    Both her des came at the man from opposite directions, and like an oversized set of scissors, she cut the man in half at the waist.


    But cutting someone in half was only a job half done.


    She brought her des back around and cut the man''s falling torso in half, even as a healing spellnded on him to try to keep him alive.


    Susanne wanted to slice through him one more time, to be thorough, but both the shield wielder and the mage turned on her and forced her to jump out of the way of their strikes.


    That still didnt save the man, as she and her clone cast [Wind Cutter] with [Hypersonic Edge] to cleave through the falling crossbowmans head.


    Both the healer and the shield wielder tried to block the attacks, but they were too slow, and her first attacker''s head was sliced into pieces.


    There was no one on Minka who could save someone at that point, and she felt the rush of Genesis Energy and Favor that confirmed the kill. It sent the team into a rage, and all of them tried to rush her, but she capitalized on their anger.


    As the dagger wielder tried to close in, the stealth skill that had been concealing them dropped, allowing Susanne to identify her as a woman. Wanting to take advantage of the womans grief at seeing the death of her ally, Susanne sent out a [Wind Cutter] at her head.


    The woman dodged it with [Dash] and closed the distance, so Susanne cast her own [Dash] to keep the woman from getting close. She needed to drop her clone thanks to the distance and willpower requirements, but she didnt let that hold her back. The fact that the skill brought her closer to the hit squads demage was only to her benefit, and her greatsword came down on his leg.


    Blood flew, and through her spiritual sense, she saw a [Mana Bolt] heading directly at her, but she pushed herself out of the way with a gust of wind. The attack passed by her harmlessly, and as the dagger-wielder was forced to dodge it as well, she let loose with a pair of [Mana sh]es herself, scoring a deep wound in the woman''s side.


    Before she could properly follow up and take the woman''s life the shield wielder attacked her alongside the now healed mage, and a [Shield Bash] came at her with astonishing speed, hitting her in the face and cracking a tooth. Before she could regain herposure, a [Fire Spear] from the mage scored a burning gash on her shoulder.


    After adjusting her footing, she cast [Cracked Berserker''s Rage] before she put every bit of power that her Concept now gave her into her body, and she shed out at the glowing shield while casting [Hypersonic Edge].


    The stacking power and damage over time mist that the skill createdpounded with all the small injuries she had taken from both the enemies and <em>allies, </em>allowing her to boost her power to new heights. Minkas rewards truly showed their benefits here, as she would have been hard pressed to fight even two of these people before entering. As Tier 14s, they would have had to rush past most of the rewards of the first three floors in order to get here so quickly, while Susanne was free to reap Minkas bountiful harvest.


    And what a crop it was.


    As her de hit the shield, she felt the enchantment try to repulse her de and then try to suck away her momentum, but she hardened her willpower and reinforced her greatsword manifestation.


    She was the de, and the de was her.


    At the end of the day, she didnt need allies that would let her die, or who epted hitting her as part of the price of killing the enemy.


    <em>A Sword is Reliable</em>.


    Her Concept''s phrase resonated with her, and she embraced its meaning.


    Allies could turn on her. Friends could leave. Her mana could falter and run out. Even her body could be injured and fail. But <em>she</em> would prevail, her will would never break, and her sword would always be by her side.


    A shield was only as strong as its wielder, and her de was no exception to that rule.


    Her greatsword cut into the shield, into the mans Concept, into his corbone, into his armor, and finally through the other side of his body.


    The look of confusion was thest thing on the man''s face as she created a second manifestation to cut his descending head in half.


    Still, her decisive attack had its cost, and the mage cast a sickly green ray at her, but her armor blocked the entire thing between its physical presence and new shielding enchantment. A followup [Fire Spear] was deflected to the side by her sword, where it hit the dagger wielding woman in the knee to dy her for another few seconds.


    She would have liked to use the armors shield more often, but the damn thing cost 300 mana per cast, and that was too expensive to use repeatedly, unless she was fighting directly next to Matt and benefiting from his Concept.


    The shield was still useful at times like this, and she allowed the damage she had taken to spread across the silver mist, watching as it ate into the mage''s body despite his armor and magical shield.


    Sending a [Wind Cutter] at the man, she ducked under his swipe with the odd mana de, and had to quickly cast [Dash] again as the dagger wielder was able to close the distance from behind after being healed.


    Except this time, she was followed by the womans [Dash] and took a dagger to her hip, sending both pain and heat racing through her body.


    She could feel the poison on the de coursing through her immediately, so she cast [Cracked Second Wind], using the skill to force out the arrow in her arm and the poison in her blood alike.


    That removed most of her power from [Cracked Berserker''s Rage], so she dropped that skill and used the freed up power to increase the mana she had reserved in [Mana Strength].


    The boost was smaller, but still substantial, and she used it to gain more ground between herself and the dagger wielder, using her weapons greater range to keep the woman on the defensive.


    Susanne was about to trap her when the healer cast some sort of buff on the woman, increasing her speed and allowing her to dodge the sh that would have taken off her legs.


    Not letting the missed chance bother her, Susanne cut the air and used her spatial Concept powers tond next to the mage. Instead of using her greatsword to sh out at the man, she appeared close enough to m her back up dagger into his neck, wrenching the de out as she rolled around the man to dodge the follow-up attack from the squads rogue.


    The healer tried to cast a heal at his team''s demage, but Susanne was faster, and cut his extended arm off with a [Mana sh]. That stopped the man from healing his teammate long enough for Susanne to create a second manifestation of her Concept and bring it across the mage''s head.


    His helmet didnt stop her de from cutting his head in half at eye level.


    With the fight down to a temporary one-on-one, the dagger wielder tried to run, but Susanne slowed her down by aiming an undercast [Sword Gale] at her legs. She closed the distance with another [Dash], a brief use of her Tria Seeds wind powers, and by shing through space with her Concept.


    The second shended next to the woman, she cut her in half, sending blood and entrails everywhere. She didnt hesitate in bringing her des back around to cut the woman''s head off, ensuring her death.


    Turning back to the healer, she saw him reattaching his removed arm and offered surrender. Drop everything and surrender, and Ill allow you to live.


    He nodded and kept trying to heal his arm, but as she went to mark him, he threw a dagger at her head.


    Having expected the sneak attack, she easily blocked the blow and cut the man''s head off.


    Turning, she let her nk mask re at her <em>allies</em>. She had already noted them in case they encountered each other on the next floor, and was tempted to just kill them <em>now</em> and save her the troubleter. The main thing that stayed her hand was the fact she would lose Favor for killing people on Winters side, and she could feel that she was close to bing a Titled. Before she could give into impulse, she spotted Bradley and Matt fighting a squad of Tier 14s who seemed ready to counter each and every attack that theva mage sent at them.


    They were less prepared for Matt, and she could see how they struggled with his odd assortment of attacks. They no doubt thought that he had a prodigious degree of different elemental attacks, but no, he was just making them directly from the appropriate maniption skills.


    With a flex of her Concept, she collected the bodies spatial items and stored them in a normal bag on her hip.


    Normally, she wouldn''t bother and just collect the lootter, but with the way her allies treated her, she was sure that the items would have mysteriously vanished by the time she came back.


    Eaten by Minka. That would be their excuse, she was sure.


    Jumping after Matt and Bradley, she went to help take out the second death squad.


    Susanne had formed a grudge with the practice after herst fight, and wasnt going to stand and watch them attack someone on her side. She was better than the trash around her.


    But first, she needed to identify their healer. She didnt want to deal with one of them extending the fight over and over yet again. Once had been <em>more</em> than enough.


    ***


    Matt blocked one ice st aimed at Bradley with a [Bulwark], then deflected the second to the side with [Ice Maniption] and his Concept, nudging it just enough to keep it from hitting hisrade.


    He knew he shouldnt have been surprised by the ambush, but the attacking out of nowhere after they finished off the Summer Fae had caught them both off guard, and Bradley took an ice spike through his chest.


    If that had been all, it would have been annoying but mostly harmless. Instead, it spread like a corruption, turning Bradleys body to ice. The cold itself may not affect him, likely thanks to Winters boon, but it clearly didnt stop whatever this was.


    Matt was faster, and ripped first the ice spike and then the creeping ice off and <em>out of</em> Bradleys body with [Ice Maniption]. If he had more time, he probably could have removed it all with no damage, but the amount of blood and flesh hed torn out in his haste only served to make the initial wound worse. At this point, the other Pather was a bloody mess, and was only able to fight thanks to a trick very simr to one Liz was fond of.


    While he couldnt heal the cut spine in a few seconds, he could use [Lava Maniption] to control his transformed limbs like Liz did with [Blood Maniption].


    The assassins had expected that and rushed the older Pather, but Matt blocked them with his halberd; the weapon was excellently suited for keeping people away, and gave Bradley enough time to reorient himself.


    Roaring, the man transformed into a mass of molten metal and sent a stream of the liquid at their attackers, but they were prepared, and threw up a barrier of a watery, jelly-like substance that absorbed the attack with little more than a ripple.


    Bradley immediately changed tack, casting with wind spells that caught the attackers off guard and allowed him to get a few injuries in.


    Matt took advantage of that to grab the ice around them and create a barrier between themselves and the hit squad, allowing the two of them to run back to friendly lines.


    Unexpectedly, the attackers charged them despite the entire faction of Empire and Guilders turning to support them.


    In an impressive disy of skill, the Tier 14s dodged most of the Winter forces attacks and kept chasing down their targets. Matt wanted to stop and fight there, so the others could assist them, but Bradley was too injured, and their pursuers were too close for that to have even a remote chance of working.


    Bradley must have been feeling better as he sent Matt a message. You want to know why I went with Winter? This is it. Stupid starting boon, protecting me from frostbite but not <em>this</em>.


    Matt ignored thement and asked, Status? And your wife?


    Shes fine and on her way now. They didnt hit her, but that was probably because she was hidden and taking out the Spring fucks who attacked our other side. And I have a giant fucking hole in my chest that punctured both of my lungs, and I cant feel my legs. Im doing pretty well, all things considered.


    As they passed the central area into the forested right side of the path they were following, Matt caught a glimpse of Primus cutting a swath through the Spring cultivators despite the nearly fifty people surrounding him.


    Realizing that his first idea wouldnt work, he sped up and grabbed Bradley from behind. The man flinched, but he rxed seeing that it was Matt, allowing him to dump one of Lizs healing potions on the man''s lungs. He also cast [Ranged Heal] and [Bandage] twice to cover the hole in the man''s chest, so when the spell and potion actually repaired his lungs, the fragments of bone wouldn''t easily puncture them again.


    Bradley brought out two talismans and pped one on himself and the other on Matt.


    Feeling the strength in his legs increase, Matt carried them further into the trees, earning them a few more seconds of healing for Bradley.


    Sadly, their reprieve didntst very long. A massive spiders web of mana appeared behind them and rapidly caught up with them. Not knowing what it was, and not willing to be caught inside it, Matt pulled Bradley close and used his ring to teleport to the side by a few feet.


    That got them out of the range of the attack, but slowed them down enough that a [Water Jet] hit his rear facing [Bulwark] and destroyed the skill.


    Turning, Matt cast [methrower] and used [Fire Maniption] to spread the mes in a cloud, hoping to obscure their senses more so than to do any damage. If they came prepared to fight Bradley, they would be as fire proof as possible Tier 14 items. No, he just wanted to buy himself a second to cast [Create Water], and he dropped a bag of salt into his construct before throwing the ball of salt water towards the direction of thetest attacks.


    When his ball of water hit the attackers as they came through the wall of fire, he then hit them with [Jolt], relying on the salt to bypass most of their armor.


    That caught the attackers off guard, and he used [Earth Maniption] to create a wall around them, but that was quickly dismantled. Matt was fine with that, as each second he dyed them was another second for the healing potion and spell to work their magic.


    Turning to run again, they were able to stay away from the attackers and started to circle around back to their side where they could get reinforcements. But seemingly from out of nowhere, Susanne cut one of their attackers down from their blind spot.


    Neither he nor Bradley needed to be told to attack, and they both threw themselves at the Tier 14s.


    Matt abandoned his magic and concentrated on his physical boosts to close the distance before Bradley, and brought his halberd in a downward chop at the man with a great shield.


    The de bit deeply into the shield, but failed to break through. Hard-stopping a full-power, full-size blow wasnt without its cost, though. The man had sunk into the ground up to his knees, and Matts enhanced senses registered that both of his shoulders were at least cracked, if not broken outright.


    He didnt hesitate to press his advantage, and he kicked out at the man''s lower leg, feeling bones break on impact.


    Bradley finished him with a club of solidified iron that grew directly from his arm, in a near mirror image of Matt''s first attack.


    The ice mage took that chance to attack Bradley once again, but Matt cast [Bulwark] in front of the spike of ice, not knowing if it could do the same odd converting thing as the one before.


    As the first Empire cultivators arrived, the death squad tried to disengage, but Matt refused to allow this threat to escape and linger in the background. Activating his gravity gauntlets at their max power, he paired it with [Earth Maniption] to prevent the ground from hitting him.


    Trees and snow still flew, but it also pulled two out of the three unprepared assassins off their feet and towards him. His halberd, wreathed in ck mes, met their bodies, and his magical armor was instantly covered in a fine dusting of ash as it was attracted to his gloves.


    A panting Bradley dropped to his knees and wheezed out, I owe you guys one.


    As the final assassin was killed by the Empire cultivators who followed them, Matt was surprised by Jill appearing.


    She looked to be in worse shape than them, with half her face melted to the bone and most of her right arm just gone.


    But she was upright and walking.


    Before they could ask, she exined, Someone thought they could attack me on my way to help you. Well, they won''t be doing that again, but I paid a price to end the fight quickly.


    Matt used his AI to call over some of the Empire healers on a top priority as he cast [Bandage] on her, and finally took the time to inspect his own injuries.


    He had four arrows still inside his chest that hurt something fierce when they pushed against his lungs, or he moved his hip.


    The arrows that pierced his armor he expected were all from the sergeants and the lieutenant, but despite his armor and the speed at which he cut them down, they still managed to inflict considerable injuries.


    It had only been the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] that protected his heart from their arrows during his descent.


    He needed more mana to throw around.


    It was a greedy thought, but another doubling of his mana would have allowed him to run bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and avoid most of those wounds.


    With Susanne''s help, they cut the heads off the arrows and pulled them through as he channeled [Lesser Regeneration] and cast a few [Bandage]s.


    While he wasnt quite over the healing limit, he could feel his body starting to resist further attempts to mend it.


    This floor had injured him more than any other, and it was starting to build up, faster than he could shunt it away with [Endurance].


    While Susanne was close, he used his Concept to start refilling her mana pool. She wasnt injured, ording to her AI, but she had blown through most of her mana pool in herst fight, which was unusual for her. Matt didnt want them to be caught off guard with her still low on mana.


    That might spell a disaster.


    Sighing, he looked down at Bradley and Jill, who were now being healed by a proper healer, and asked through a private AI channel, Were they the hit squad you expected?


    Jill answered instead of Bradley. Probably not. As much as I hate to say it, they didnt match the description of the Sect death squad that was trained to take us down. I think they were Federation, but that''s a wild-ass guess.


    Bradley wrapped an arm around his wife''s waist and added, Joy for us. But seriously, thank you, White. I dont know what that ice spike was, but it was converting my flesh and blood to ice while also restricting myva. If you hadnt ripped it out when you did, I don''t know what I would have done.


    Matt just nodded as Bradley turned to Susanne. And thank you for the ambush. It was beautiful. Your skills have only gotten better since the tournament.


    Susannes response surprised Matt. Pretty sure I already dealt with one of their ilk. Peak Tier 14 team, five really coordinated individuals who were more determined than desperate Tier 14s should have been to kill me. They were also good, and at least one already had abat Concept. Each fought to the death, including their healer. But I cant be sure they were an actual death squad. Lets just say I take hit squads'' existences personally now.


    Matt inspected his teammate and had to re-evaluate her. Killing five peak Tier 14s who could have been specially trained to take down strong cultivators was no small feat. Even if they <em>didnt</em> have training and items to directly counter her, that was a bad situation to be in.


    It was also a warning that when people linked him to Quill, he would start earning the same treatment.


    Before too long, the couple of older Pathers were fully healed, but they were told that they were both well over the healing cooldown and any new injuries sustained wouldnt be cured through magical healing.


    Bradley and Jill had a private moment where they just held hands, and Matt and Susanne gave them as much privacy as they could. After making sure the area was secure, they returned to see that the two had stood up to talk.


    Well, this has been fun. Bradley actually sounded amused as he poked his chest where his armor had a giant hole in it.


    Jill looked to the side and got back to business. We should help Winter clean up the Spring cultivators.


    Matt snorted. I don''t know if there will be any left. Last I saw, Primus was cutting them down by the dozens. He still moved with the other three, though.


    There was no reason to leave Genesis Energy for others to collect.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194


    After the failed ambush, the army resumed its siege of the Fall fort, which quickly fell under the pressure from Winters superior numbers. Meanwhile, the Fae army gathered itself under Primus leadership and was ready for the march by the time the fort fell, allowing them to continue their march once more.


    Matt and the representatives, on the other hand, were already in their mobile meeting room, discussing the previous ambush and what it actually meant for their attack on Fall.


    While they plotted their next move, the other cultivators of Winter analyzed their losses, which, all things told, weren''t bad. Most of their casualties were walking wounded that just needed a few minutes with a healer to be in fighting condition. A few hundred people had ultimately died, but considering that theyd just fought through a two-pronged ambush, that number was quite light.


    As it turned out, their forward scouts were part of the dead. The cultivator army had positioned and then hid themselves in a way that allowed them to take advantage of their forward position, which was what allowed them to pull off the ambush.


    That meant they needed to both double up the scouts and pull them in. This would limit their range and slow them down, which was probably the Fall army''s intention with the move.


    It put them in a bind. The cultivators who had made it out of Spring had already proven that their other opponents were watching, so if the second the army moved without the proper precautions, they would be ambushed once more. On the other hand, if they moved too slowly, theyd be giving Fall and Summer more time to reinforce themselves.


    Shamus, the representative of the ns, thought the Spring contingent would be doubling back to try and reim their city, but Matt and the other representatives doubted it.


    Their city was well garrisoned, and without their own Fae troops to soften the defenders up, few would be willing to siege down those city walls. Their lives were too valuable when they could simply hide in the forest and ambush the Winter army, whittling away their opponents and slowly retaking their territory.


    And most importantly, they wanted to get to Fall before they were able to produce their own General.


    Even with nobody directly attacking him, thetest estimate for Primus kill count in thest battle was in the five to six hundred range. <em>Nobody</em> wanted to fight a General after that.


    They all had already epted that there was no chance they could take down Summer before they spawned a General, but by then, they hoped to have two Generals to oppose Summers first.


    Matt had done the math, and they should have <em>already</em> spawned a second General, but he had no idea why Queen Winter had chosen not to create a second. He suspected that she was reinforcing her position by creating more lieutenants and below, as reports had said that arge number of Fae hade out and reinforced both cities. Though, he couldn''t be sure of that unless he went all the way back to the city and asked her himself. It wasnt like he could just use their ry system and ask her, but it made sense from her perspective, as her focus was warring against the seasons rather than racing to open the gate.


    All of the Winter cultivators would have preferred the second, but they weren''t the ones in charge of making Fae.


    From their estimations, they should begin receiving reinforcements once they settle in and initiate their siege, but that only brought them back to the initial problem.


    They needed to start besieging the city sooner rather thanter.


    As they discussed various ns, Matt noticed Dexter, the Federation representative, looking at Bradley and the now reinstated Tiffany multiple times.


    Eventually, Matt called him on it.


    Dexter, you seem interested in Bradley. Hes already married, so I dont think he''s looking for anything casual.


    Dexter just smirked at Matt before saying, Oh, nothing much. Im just wondering how two sides as weak as the Empire and the Guilds are still standing after your pitiful disy this afternoon. Frankly, it''s embarrassing to be on the same side as you. I even hear your teammate got ambushed and nearly lost her life. What a shame.


    Matt could tell from the wry smile on his face that Dexter considered Susannes survival of the ambush the <em>true</em> shame, rather than her being attacked.


    Under the mask, Matt just stared at the man.


    He was tired of the bullshit and backstabbing games that the representatives were ying with each other. They should be focused on winning this floor as quickly as possible and moving on, but they would rather put knives in each other''s back instead of focusing outward.


    Matt knew it was unrealistic to expect the cultivators of the eight Great Powers to work together perfectly, but he had hoped for better.


    But after seeing Dexter reveling in their misfortune, Matt was tempted to teleport over the table and squeeze his smug face until it was deformed and destroyed from his anger. The only thing that stopped him was his awareness of the futility of the action.


    Dexter wasnt the strongest person in his faction, and killing him wouldnt bring the others in line, which was the only reason why Matt didnt give into his impulses and kill the man. Instead, the others would use his actions to further iste the Empire and its people, and the neutral factions that he had just wrangled into an actually neutral position would be pushed away.


    <em>The next floor</em>.


    If he could get through this, he could find Dexter on the next floor and show him how he <em>really</em> felt.


    Young Mistress Diamond Lotus, the Sects representative, joined Dexter in his provoking. One representative was nearly killed, and one <em>was</em> killed. Now his predecessor, who was already removed, again stands back in his ce. It''s a miracle your factions still stand.


    Bradley didnt get angry as Matt expected, or he hid it better than Matt thought the usually expressive man would. Yes, and you have room to talk, DL


    You will adre


    Yeah, go fuck yourself, DL. It takes too long to say your pretentious title, and I only go out of my way for people I''m at least cordial with. I just think it''s interesting no one had seen you during the fight. Everyone here was confirmed to be <em>somewhere</em> in the fight, except, strangely, <em>you</em>. His smile was condescending as he finished. If you fear a fight, DL, there is no reason to hide it. The weak can be protected. The Empire is kind enough to shelter someone with your tendencies without reproach.


    Young Mistress Diamond Lotus started turning red as Bradley spoke, and actually started to vibrate as he finished, an illusion of a lotus threatening to shimmer into existence. She tried to repress whatever she was thinking, but she was like a vessel under pressure and about to explode.


    Before she could, Matt turned to Shamus, the ns representative. And wrangle your people better. If youre too tall for the task, we can find someone shorter who might be able to handle the weight.


    That caused the human man to immediately explode, as Matt knew it would. Part of their preparatory training had been cultural, and he <em>knew</em> how much it must mean to Shamus to be a human in a position of power over Dwarves.


    Implying he was both ipetent and too tall were the worst insults Matt could hit the man with, and he ignored the man''s subsequent tirade before saying to the rest of the representatives. Do we <em>really</em> want to set a precedent that attacking the enemies without worry for our allies is eptable? If we do, were happy to y along. Just say the word. Id <em>love</em> to stop worrying about friendly fire.


    That got the rest of them to distance themselves from Shamus, and even his outburst sizzled away like water poured on a fire.


    If that happened, there would be more deaths from their own side than the enemies, which would paralyze the army as a whole. No one would risk their own gains for something so stupid, as it would only take one Great Power to unleash their attacks without care to inflict crippling injuries.


    William, the representative of the Corporations, nodded and agreed for everyone. That''s sensible, and no one wants to tread down that path. At the same time, I hope that any revenge will wait until after this floor?


    Matt let his mask smile. Oh, worry not. The scales will be bnced once we leave this floor. None of us are friends, but we all want to move on as quickly as possible. We cant stand such tantly self-harming actions. If ites down to that, we should probably just ept the infighting and ughter anyone who we don''t agree with.


    And he meant it. No one else at the table knew what Matt knew that with his mana fueling Winter, he could win this floor all on his own. These people were nothing but a way to make the floor go faster.


    Shamus still looked angry, but smartly kept his mouth shut, and the meeting was able to continue on towards settling the final details about their attack on Fall.


    ***


    Matt looked at the city of Fall and sighed in relief.


    As it turned out, they <em>hadnt</em> been too slow.


    It was a close thing, though.


    Half the city had a small berm, with the other half having a thirty foot tall barrier still under construction, with both Fae and cultivators abandoning the walls to fall back to the city.


    As the army started to spread out and begin their encirclement, orders came down to proceed slowly and watch out for mines or other trapsid in wait for them.


    Matt ryed the information to Primus and the Fae before moving over to where the mages were beginning to destroy the half built walls.


    None of them were willing to trust something the enemy built. If Matt had been in their position, he would have rigged every square inch with traps the moment he realized that theyd lose it, and then set the structure itself to either explode or copse. And that wasnt even ounting for any Talents which could be put to the task. This early in the cycle, they didnt have any idiots present, so there was a silent consensus that the construction just <em>wasnt</em> worth it, and definitely needed to be destroyed.


    It turned out to be the unquestionably right decision.


    When the first earth mage tried to sink the raised wall back into the ground, it exploded, sending stones flying in all directions.


    A few people were wounded, but that didnt stop their approach.


    Seeing that the first trap was triggered, Matt sent his [Earth Maniption] deep into the ground. Unlike the other floors of Minka, Courtly Warfare had miles of earth beneath them before they reached the untouchable shell of the.


    While he didnt find anything, he knew that if he was the one to set up such an ambush, he would have hidden something extra beyond the obvious.


    It turned out he was right, but he was looking in the wrong direction.


    The ambush came from the air.


    A thousand cultivators on various flying devices used the unreachable ceiling to their advantage to fly high and then drop bombs on the advancing army.


    It was a good n it almost even worked.


    After the first wave of explosives went off, Primus unleashed the Great Working.


    A fell breeze whipped across the ground, carrying with it a dusting of snow as it snaked through the ranks of Winter, and a chill more spiritual than physical.


    Not harmful, but distinct.


    Then, the wind blew harder, picking up speed and generating more ice and snow until it was a full gale, racing across the ground and spreading Winter wherever it touched.


    Then the winds took to the skies and the dropped munitions were storm-tossed away from the army of Winter. Some flew back up into the sky, detonating among the flying forces of Fall, and others were blown to either side of the army. But <em>most</em> were tossed at the city itself, apanied by whatever else the wind picked up. Hail. Snow. Sleet. Trees. Anything that wasnt bound firmly to the ground was pulled up and whipped around.


    Winter Fae and cultivator alike took to the skies, untouched by the nascent blizzard, and began to engage their Fall counterparts. The enhanced wind affinity of that faction proved insufficient to weather the Winter storm, and the Fall cultivators began plummeting to the ground shortly thereafter, leaving the airspace clear.


    A few made it back to the city, but the winds fought them there as well. They would have no reprieve anywhere within the icy reach of Winter.


    Within two hours of encircling the city, Winter began its counterattack. Mana cannons, functionally invisible within the blizzard, fired in a constant rhythm. Trebuchets loaded with enchanted projectiles, ice elementals, and snow golems let loose at and beyond the city walls. Cultivators and Fae turned the eye of the storm into a battleground, pushing Falls influence back, steadily herding them closer and closer to their city walls.


    Nobody involved was truly <em>weak</em>, yet even here, there were still strata of power. Matt and the other elites mostly stood in reserve, as many of the weaker cultivators spent their mana at the vanguard. They were eager to get the first ims on Genesis Energy and Favor, but just as many cultivators were content to wait until the first wave were forced to rotate out. In the meantime, they served as the rearguard, intercepting ambushes from Spring before they could strike.


    As the siege progressed, Fall seemed to settle in for a protracted siege, but Winter had other ns.


    On the second day, they brought out their trump card.


    The first step was just ramping up the power of the Great Working, until the whiteout extended to very nearly the walls themselves, well past where Winter technically controlled and into the anti-flying zone. Past their territory, Primus couldnt directly control the winds, but at the same time, those winds wouldnt just <em>stop</em>. They were powerful and wild, yes, but they were consistently strong and surprisingly smooth, making for strangely good flying weather.


    Or, in this case, <em>gliding</em> weather. The anti-flight effect didnt extend to mundane methods, and with the storm and nighttime, masking their approach, the Winter forces wouldnt be spotted until they were practically on top of the walls themselves.


    Someone from the Monster Collective hade up with the n, and all of the representatives Well, all the representatives except Dexter anyway, had agreed to it fairly readily. So, as darkness crept across thend, Matt and one hundred thousand others of Winters strongest cultivators took to the skies with the howling winds gently aiding their ascent and approach.


    They were out of Winters airspace quickly, and within seconds, the rm was raised. Arrows and spells began bombarding the aerial assault, but the response was staggered and slow.


    Of course, the defenders swiftly found themselves dealing with a ground assault as well, and the ensuing chaos only further threw the Fall forces into disarray. But even while uncoordinated, the defenders powerful spells forged trails of light as they sought to pick off the unwieldy gliders.


    Matt intercepted a swarm of buzzing projectiles with a carefully angled [Bulwark], protecting him and his team, but not everyone was so capable of defending themselves. Their gliders, in particr, were especially vulnerable. The constructions were quite fragile as such things went, and it didnt take much to send their riders plummeting to the ground, thousands of feet below.


    The falls were unlikely to be lethal, but they certainly wouldnt be enjoyable for anyone whonded awkwardly.


    As they passed over the walls themselves, Matt smiled as he saw the rest of their forces engage the defenders directly, pulling away much of the pressure that the air strike was facing. Odds were good that at least <em>one</em> of the two assaults would work, and he was hopeful that they might both break through.


    Then, he turned his attention to the city itself, and immediately got the sense that something was wrong.


    It took him a few moments to pinpoint the exact problem, but as soon as he did, his stomach dropped to the ground oh so far beneath them.


    There were far, far too few Fae soldiers inside the city. From their estimations, there should be at least half a million Fae to defend the city, with at least twice that many cultivators.


    But once they had a better view, he saw that there were only enough Fae to fill the wall and give the <em>illusion</em> that the city was well defended by the receable troops.


    At first, Matt feared that the majority of the army was outside, but the number of cultivators seemed correct and then he felt it.


    Fall had forsaken creating troops for the army in favor of creating a single General.


    Matt barely had enough time to send out a warning message to <em>everyone</em> before the General showed himself.


    The winds stilled and began to blow in the opposite direction. The steady gusts theyd been riding on began to fight them, and a solitary figure stepped forth from the pce. He was unnaturally tall, with yellow-orange and impably smooth skin the color of dead leaves. He carried a massively oversized scythe in one muscled arm, and was clothed in an outfit that wouldnt look out of ce on a farmer, if not for the <em>exceptional</em> quality. His garments gleamed in the dim light of the moon, even from this distance.


    He swung his scythe, and the de reaped its first victim. The foremost glider waspletely bisected by a de made of winds, with the General having no heed for petty, mortal things such as <em>contact</em>.


    His own teams glider was vacated a secondter, with its former upants falling to the city below, not willing to be anywhere near therge target.


    They crashed through a roof to break their fall, and jumped out of the resulting hole to survey the situation. They were just in time to watch night turn to day as a massive fireball took to the sky, illuminating the city in defiance of the dark and ominous storm still raging all around them.


    Liz and Susanne took point as Matt spent a bit of willpower to scan everyones status with his AI. Aster had a splinter in her paw, but she was already taking care of it.


    Do we retreat or fight? Liz asked the question on all of their minds. All across the city, Fall cultivators converged on the invading forces of Winter, wherever they had dropped into the city.


    Even as that happened, the General stalked forward in the distance, each swipe of his scythe sending out another deadly de of winds.


    If they ran now, they had a better than even chance of escaping.


    Susanne was the first to cast her lot. Fight. The longer we wait, the worse this will be for us.


    Matt nodded agreement.


    Aster, on the other hand, asked a pertinent question. Can we even beat him?


    I think so, Matt replied, with his eyes fixed on the distant Fae. We have about as good a chance as anyone, and if were keeping him busy, hes not crushing any of the invasion forces. At the very least, we should be able to keep him upied until Primus can match him. Dont know how long that might take, but all we need to do is not die.


    Liz didnt officially vote, but her preference was made clear as she led them deeper into the city, towards the sound of explosions and spellfire.


    The Fall General awaited, the first true obstacle to Winter.


    At least it had been the stronger cultivators involved in the aerial assault, and that included a bit more than half the representatives. Dexter, William, Bethany, Lotus, and Bradley were all among the strongest of their respective factions, and had all jumped at the opportunity provided for Favor and Genesis Energy. Meanwhile, the representatives from the Guilds, ns, and Collective were more so chosen for their political and tactical acumen, and had stayed behind to direct the ground assault.


    A cultivator team tried to attack them, a [Mana sh] sent flying at Liz, but Matt intercepted the attack and responded with [methrower], manipting the torrent of me into a snake of fire. It didnt kill the offending team, but it cleared their path enough for them to get past the minor ambush. Once the attacking cultivators realized that they were heading to the General, they abandoned their pursuit.


    By the time the four of them reached the General, a good three city blocks had already been leveled. Rapidly dissolving corpses were scattered haphazardly throughout the razed area of the city. They were in enough pieces that it was hard to recognize them, let alone count their number, but Matt ignored the carnage.


    Dexter was already on the scene. The Federation cultivator was unleashing his signature barrage of crystalline daggers, but none even came close to the General. The Faes defensive swipes of its scythe intercepted each projectile and detonated them early.


    Matt didnt even pause in his stride, having already withdrawn his halberd from his storage ring mid-step, and swung the glowing weapon at the Generals head.


    The General barely even paused, spinning smoothly to bisect an unfortunate neer to the fight in the same motion it used to block, before deflecting the halberd with the butt of the weapon.


    Matts weapon crashed into the gstones, cracking the damaged ground and sending rubble flying.


    The General continued his imcable sweep, cutting apart a blue [Blood Spear] even as it sought to reap Matt, and Susanne moved to block the massive attack, glimmering with what Matt recognized as [Counter].


    Susanne went flying in one direction, and half of her sword went flying in another, dissipating into motes of energy before it could strike anything else.


    Matt poured as much power as he could spare into an angled [Bulwark], and that <em>finally</em> sent the attack on a trajectory other than directly at him. However, wherever the scythe directly contacted the shield, Matt could see and sense a sickly, muddy green energy lingering on his spell, trying to rot it from the inside out.


    He dismissed the shield and took advantage of the General casting some wind spell at the newly-arrived Bradley to unleash a full-strength [Mana Charge] directly at the monstrosity before him.


    Matt hoped that the attack, channeled through such high-quality equipment, would do some notable damage. He <em>expected</em> to at least leave a minor wound. He certainly <em>wasnt</em> prepared for armor to manifest over the General and grow a tangled knot of wood that intercepted the halberd without so much as leaving a scratch.


    Liz crashed into the fight proper with a wave of blue blood that prompted the Fae to move directly into the path of Asters [Frost], and even as Liz twisted her blood into a massive tether, an arrownced in from outside of Matts attention.


    All three attacks seemed like theyd connect at the same time, but the Faeunched himself into the air, leaving behind a torrent of wind strong enough to scatter Lizs blood, even as its scythe cut both the arrow and Asters spell in half.


    Matt stabbed up at the airborne General as it came back down to earth, pairing his strike with a [Fire Bolt] for good measure, but both attacks were blocked by the Faes wooden armor. Neither de nor magic left so much as a mark, even without any growths of the Generals living protection intercepting.


    Throwing caution to the wind, Mattunched himself forward and brought the halberd down as the Faended, activating the weapons voidme enchantment. ck mes erupted from where Matt hit the scythe, bathing the General and Matt alike in corrosive, all-consuming fire.


    Matt repaired [Cracked Phantom Armor] in the next instant, then cut his mana for the spell in half to escape the inevitable counterattack. The mes hadnt done <em>nearly</em> as much as he had hoped, but it left scorch marks all along the formerly-shiny scythe and armor.


    It wasnt much, but it proved that the Fae wasnt <empletely</em> invincible, and the attacking cultivators took the morale boost to heart.


    Matt paid the expected price for drawing first blood, and he backpedaled as fast as he could. It was all he could do to keep the Fae at halberds length as each blow from the scythe cut chips from the weapon, and the rot it carried threatened his own weapons integrity all the more.


    Matt wasnt about to let himself even be <em>nicked</em> by that scythe. Not only was it chipping into the insanely durable halberd like it was green wood, the effects from the decay mana were <em>nasty</em>. Hed caught a glimpse of what they did to a person, and didnt particrly fancy the idea of the mana eating and rotting his limbs while he was still using them. [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer <em>might</em> be able to block it, but that was assuming it wasnt already broken from the scythe itself.


    Naturally, the General wasnt so considerate as to not attack him, and it took every ounce of spare mana that Matt could muster into his channeled buffs to stay barely ahead of the questing weapon. Matt silently wept as the halberd took itsst blow, cut in half and crumbling to dust in the wind as its magic was broken. He withdrew a greatsword, unwilling to use any smaller of a weapon than he needed, and channeled his Concept to further push him away from the vengeful warrior.


    His salvation finally came in the form of a ive attack that managed to slip through the Faes otherwise impable guard. It broke through the Faes armor, scoring the first <em>true</em> wound and earning the cultivator responsible, the honor of being the Generals new primary target. She didnt survive much longer, but the Fae found himself suddenly onset by a half-dozen cultivators all working together to keep the scythe upied. Matt was pretty sure that he caught a glimpse of Young Mistress Diamond Lotus using a pair of bright blue, ribbon-like [Water Whip]s to hold back the imcable weapon long enough for Bradley to st the General in the face with a mass ofva.


    Like a speeding arrow, Susanne rejoined the fight, her reformed de glowing with every skill she could apply to it, and mmed her weapon into the Faes chest. Blinded and restrained, the General was powerless to block her, and Susannes attack cut through the wooden defenses that sprang up from the Generals armor, leaving a deep gash in the pseudo te. Two more attacks hit the exact same spot in the same second, and golden blood began to seep out from the resulting wound.


    Around the General, other strikers were finding simr sess. Matt saw a [Fire Bolt] burning bright enough that Matt couldnt look at it directly, a swarm of metal fragments flying like a flock of birds, a massive bolt of green lightning, an exploding crystalline dagger, and a hail of arrows all flying towards the Fae. Not all managed to draw blood, but for the first time since they started, they were <em>connecting</em>.


    Matt took the opportunity at hand and jumped backwards, consuming a strength potion and pping a general boosting talisman on his chest.


    Power flooded through him, but he didnt immediately run back into the fight. Instead, he cast [Sword Twin], absorbing one of the copies into his sword and moving the other ahead of him to block an arrow from hitting Susanne. Three more arrows flew from somewhere else in the city, each aimed at some of the key fighters. One killed the mage responsible for the swarm of metal fragments, another on a trajectory to take Diamond Lotus was deflected by her Concept to strike her shoulder instead, and the third was shot out of the air by another arrow an instant before it would have hit Bradley.


    Diamond Lotus controlled her response to the wound admirably, but it was enough of a disruption to her focus for the General to free his weapon from her grip. That was all the Fae needed to break free of all of the other spells attempting to restrain it in short order. Matt thought he caught a glimpse of Liz wincing as some of her blood was forcefully severed from its connection to her, but he couldnt be sure. Newly unrestricted, the General shattered the cooling metal encasing his head, and moved on the cultivators with deadly intent.


    Even fully boosted, Matt was barely able to match the Generals speed, and he used every bit of it to withdraw, alongside most of the other cultivators engaging the Fae. Some werent fast enough, and he saw Dexter lose a leg to a [Wind Cutter] just as a set of Dwarf twins were bisected.


    Meanwhile, Matt found himself engaged with a more chaotic melee happening just beyond the reach of the General, past the outer ring of ranged attackers. Here, there were plenty of Winter forces working to hold back Falls own cultivators. Jill seemed to be engaged in some kind of intense hit-and-run archery battle with an unseen sniper, intercepting arrows with her own shots and asionally knifing opponents when she had a moment to spare. William was locked in a mass-scale [Earth Maniption] battle against a stone mage, fighting to keep the ground under their feet stable.


    Aster was also running around, leaving ice sculptures in her wake and yipping directions to a squad of Fae lieutenants.


    Satisfied that he could shift his focus back to the General, Matt steeled himself to re-engange. His efforts would be wasted paying attention to anything else.


    He linked up with Susanne, and the two of them, armed with their respective greatswords, lunged together with their Concepts pushing them forward as swiftly as they could muster. They struck just about the same point at the same time, sneaking through as the Fae was overwhelmed by dozens of simr simultaneous attacks, and pushed into the armor, trying to draw blood


    But they hit a wall.


    The Faes nascent Intent pushed back, unyielding and imcable. While not fully formed, and therefore a fraction of the power of a true Intent, it felt focused on the internals, and was more than strong enough to stop everyone in their tracks.


    But they kept pushing. Inch by inch, desperately trying to overpower the imcable force.


    He and Susanne, further supported by Bradley and Liz, Diamond Lotus, and <em>everyone </em>else<em>,</em> pushed with all of their being.


    And the immovable object yielded.


    Bradley, in full [Lava Body] form, worked to restrain the scythe. The blight affected his limbs, but it was less effective, and he easily shunted it first away from himself, then discarded it altogether before it could take hold. Liz and Diamond Lotus summoned vaguely matching blue whips to try and tie down the Generals other arm, and while he was restrained, Matt and Susanne chopped at the Fae like he was little more than a dead tree.


    Other attacks flew hard and fast. Even missing a leg, Dexter didnt let up on his assault. Jill managed to sneak a couple of arrows their way, a [Wind Lance] empowered [Ice Spear] cracked the air as it flew past, courtesy of Aster, and even more came in an unending barrage of ranged weapons and skills.The hopelessly restrained General had little choice but to take them all, leaving his face half rimed with frost, half soot-stained, and covered in myriad scratches and cuts.


    With a wave of power, the General broke free from their bindings and rose into the air upon a column of wind. The gusts were so powerful, Matt needed to use his Concept to just stay stationary.


    In a voice like the end of life, the General spoke.


    I am Fall. <em>You</em> are my harvest.


    He raised his scythe above his head, and with a slow swipe through the air, spread a green dust across the battlefield that began slowly drifting to the ground. Beneath and behind him, an illusion of a tree in full, glorious fall coloring faded into existence, radiating power and pressure.


    Matt reached out with [Air Maniption] to try and blow the dust away, but found the air stiff and unresponsive. His Concept was met with a simr fate; the Generals presence prevented him from repulsing anything at all. The other delvers all encountered simr results, and the area around the General was evacuated in seconds. No one wanted to find out what the dust did through experience.


    It seemed like the powder was rendered inert once it hit the ground, but the General managed to recover in the time that it took to drift to the ground, leaving his armor fully intact and shining. He kept a few of his wounds, but all of them had been massively healed.


    Matt took the forced breather to assess the situation around them. People had cycled in and out of the chaotic melee surrounding them, with skills still flying in every direction as Fall fought to assist their General, and Winter fought to keep them off of their elites. Off in the distance, Matt thought he caught a glimpse of Primus engaged in his own battle, but it was too far away for him to make out details. With luck, their General would arrive soon and turn the tide, but Matt was worried that it would take too long. If he were Fall, he would do everything he could to prevent the other General from engaging their own.


    Further away, Matt could see portions of the wall flying Winters metaphorical banner, and it definitely looked like they were winning the overall siege.


    <em>Their</em> fight, on the other hand, wasnt going nearly as well.


    Matt could sense that their morale had taken a hefty blow with the Generals recovery, but the cloud of dust hadnt stopped the barrage of ranged attacks. Though, without anyone in melee distance to run interference, the imcable scythe blocked and cut each spell in turn.


    As the literal dust settled, some cultivator Matt didnt recognize was the first back into the fray, wielding a pair of swords as they engaged in an intricate dance with the reaper. As everyone else closed in, they were met with a different presence, and Matt noticed Aster using [Ice Body] and standing tall on top of one of her ice sculptures. Behind her, cold stars winked into existence, casting the battlefield into a fell light.


    From where she stood, a wave of snow and ice crashed into the melee, glittering with starlight and pushing back the imposing presence of the Fae General. The battle turned into a winter wondend, hiding the dismembered and rotting bodies that were scattered around under a carpet of snow. Even the mighty tree at the Generals back lost some of its luster, its leaves withering and falling as the Faes presence waned.


    Matt could already feel how much the effort was straining Aster, but she didnt stop there. As the wave of winter crashed down, a blue-white orb of light manifested behind her. It glowed brightly, yet no matter how Matt looked at it, it didnt burn or twinkle. Even moving his head from side to side didnt change the starburst pattern it left on his eyes.


    It waspletely still.


    <em>Frozen</em>.


    Then, the star began to die. It remained fully static, but its light steadily dimmed until it appeared to be just a cold, dead ball of iron.The re remained, and it still cast its frozen light on the battlefield, pushing thest few leaves off of the Generals tree, leaving it barren. A [Fireball] struck the iron star, but it didnt so much as waver, and Matt noticed a spear of blue blood deal with the outside attacker. Despite the Fall cultivators failure, others were still motivated to try and attack the iron star.


    If one attack didnt break it, a hundred just might.


    Matt found his own limbs shaking slightly as some of Asters strain bled through their bond, but he didnt allow it to stop him as he joined the assault upon the suppressed General. He pulled a staff from his ring as he advanced, brandishing it alongside his sword.


    Susannended a blow on the Faes hand,ing away slick with blood, and a hail of arrows struck the side of the Generals head. The next stream of attacks carried a torrent of dart-shaped [Water Bullets], which dented and cracked the reapers armor. Matt channeled a [Cracked Mana Spear] through his staff, careful to not overload the skill and turn it into a beam, andunched the single spear of mana towards the General, scoring a solid blow on its chest.


    For the next few minutes the fight settled into a stalemate while Matt took the brunt of the Generals attack opening the monster up to thebined attacks of the others.


    He was <em>Endless</em> and used that portion of his Concept to take and then keep the Generals attention.


    While they scored blow after blow the General never seemed truly wounded despite all of them attacking andnding hits. Either the attack did no damage or the damage was healed secondster.


    When Aster trembled under the General''s counter strike, he made a snap decision.


    He was already a target, and being outed as Quill wouldnt make much of an impact in that respect.


    With just a thought, a wave of parchment, crystal, and metal fragments swept out from Matts storage ring and swirled around him. The talisman array was the mostplex that he had, to the point that he was only able to make three of them before they entered Minka. Each represented millions of mana, all focused on a single effect, and no less than <em>six </em>talismans in the array were needed just to control it.


    He called it Aurora Lance.


    With a flex of his hand, the talismans crumbled to dust as their magic flowed from one to the next, empowering a few key nodes before focusing the power into a single, overwhelming beam of iridescent ck ice.


    The General, upied by a dozen other attacks, didnt have the chance to block the ray-likence of ice mana. Instead, for the first time in the entire fight, the Fae twisted, allowing the leading spike of ice to strike and coat its forearm with frost, but dodging the nigh-instantaneous remaining portion of the attack.


    While the Fae''s arm disintegrated and then reformed allowing everyone tond more attacks, Matts final trump card carried on uselessly, obliterating a distant Fall cultivator too slow to move out of the way, and coating those in its wake in a thickyer of ice. After the initial projectilended, it exploded and obliterated a swath of buildings, recing them with a looming mountain of ck ice.


    Then Aster faltered, and her star began winking out as she copsed under the strain of holding back the Generals Intent. In the next instant, the winter wondend was reced with a thick carpet of leaves as the General drew back his scythe and spoke once more.


    <em>I reap </em>what <em>you sow</em>.


    The Faes Concept shook the world, with its winds carrying deadly, invisible des of air that mmed into them all. Two of the wind des hit him, one shattering his greatsword, and the other breaking [Cracked Phantom Armor] to leave a deep gash in his upper arm.


    Even then the winds didnt relent, and the pressure of the Generals Concept washed over them like an unstoppable force. Diamond Lotus was swept away in the wind, tossed beyond the battlefield, followed shortly thereafter by Aster. Bradleysva body nearly turned to solid metal under the sheer power of the chill wind. Matt threw his Concept out to resist, supported by many of hisrades, but they were brushed aside like so much chaff.


    To his left, someone unleashed a pulse of power, and green lightning crashed into the General,pletely swallowing the Fae and leaving much of him smoking when it subsided. A dragon made of mes swooped from the sky, grabbing onto the General and unleashing a torrent of fire breath hot enough that Matt could feel it from inside his armor.


    But the General remained undeterred. Without Aster to keep him in check, the great and terrible tree rose once again. With a single swipe, he dispelled the fire dragon as easily as the Fae drew his scythe back and swept it forward.


    Everyone retreated, now used to the limits of this attack, but they hadnt been expecting the leaves drifting down from the tree above. The decaying foliage suddenly turn into their own miniature scythes, just as sharp as the original.


    <em>Nobody</em> was safe, and while most of the survivors were fast enough to dodge, a few were tired enough that the leaf scythes found their marks. The lucky ones were killed instantly, while the rest found cuts turning ck and rotting their flesh in front of their very eyes. Screams filled the air, and Matt saw Dexter unleashing a shining, exceptionally potent dagger at the General, with a look of intense concentration on the mans face.


    The General was already moving to block the blow, and Matt couldnt allow that.


    With a sh of [Bulwark], Matt managed to dy the scythe just long enough for Dexters final attack to strike the Faes head.


    The resulting explosion knocked back those closest to the General, including Susanne, and threw a cloud of leaves into the air, but Matt could sense that the General remained standing.


    He wasnt unharmed; the blood coursing down his face attested to that. But solid blows like the one Dexter had achieved were <em>far</em> too rare in this fight. Matt tried to stash his staff in favor of his club, but found that the General was locking down space <em>hard</em>, stopping him from essing his storage and preventing Susanne from cutting her way back to the front.


    Liz came out of nowhere, charging up to the Fae and striking it with her spear and drawing a drop of blood. She then kicked off the General and somersaulted backwards, quickly escaping the decaying scythes reach. Another cultivator copied her stunt with a pair of daggers, leaving two deep gashes in the Generals armor, but the third cultivator to attempt the stunt found himself headless before his attack could evennd.


    Matt reflexively tried to grab for a set of talismans, but when they failed to materialize, he mentally kicked himself and instead sent off a pulse of [Cracked Mana Spear], darting in toy a [Cracked Mana Trap] at the Generals feet before withdrawing.


    The Fae set off the trap as it cut some Monster Collective beast in half, and the ensuing waves of force knocked it off bnce enough that it was momentarily unable to block the constant hail of arrows pelting it. Two, then four, then a dozen arrows lodged themselves in the tree-like armor, then a st of ice hit the General squarely. The resulting chain reaction made half of the arrows explode into giant chunks of ice, further restricting the General and sapping its lifeforce.


    Bradley was back in fighting shape, andva caked itself on the Generals scythe, taking off some of the deadly edge and turning it into a massive club instead.


    The metal began to crack and rust almost immediately, but blunting the weapon was already paying off, as three cultivators who would have otherwise been cut in half instead merely found themselves thrown into the air. No doubt most of their skeletons had been shattered, but they were alive and uninfected.


    Matt could feel energy from the tree above them being sucked in to heal the General in both body and equipment, but he was too otherwise preupied to really pay attention.


    He was watching and studying. His AI was running at full tilt as he diverted almost half his mana generation and a considerable amount of willpower towards running it, looking for some kind of opening.


    Then, he spotted it. Weirdly, the Generals constant dance to intercept most of the attacks headed its way made it predictable, and as the de came down to slice into a blue [Blood Chakram], shattering the construct into ckened, rotting liquid, Matt saw his chance.


    He charged in, grabbed the haft of the scythe, and <em>pulled</em>. As soon as he touched the wood, he felt his armor start to degrade, so he moved the entirety of his armors secondyer to coat his hands, pushing as much mana as he could into the skill. That slowed down the degradation to a rate he wasfortable with, and allowed him to push most of his remaining mana into his gauntlets. When he felt himself lock into ce thanks to their influence, he maxed out the items mana capacity, bing the center of the universe.


    The Fae locked eyes with him, and struggled to reim his weapon. But his gauntlets were absolute, and the Generals own spatial lock paradoxically felt like it <em>reinforced</em> Matts own grip.


    Matt smiled despite everything. The Fae was just as unwilling to lose its de as he expected.


    With his hands utterly unable to move from the scythe, Matt pushed against the General with his Concept, focusing on repulsing the Fae with all his might. It didnt work, as the Faes own Concept overpowered Mattsparatively pitiful willpower.


    From behind him, Matt could see most of the surviving fighters preparing to unleash their own strongest moves, even as Bradley sought to permanently secure the scythe to the ground beside Matt.


    From just feet away, Matt watched the Faes eyes track the iing attacks and make a choice.


    Before he realized what was happening, the General released his scythe and brought his leg up for a kick to cave Matts chest in. He reactively tried to teleport away, but the double spatial lock held him firmly in ce as the foot came to end his life. Every drop of mana he had went first into Bulwark, then when that shattered, into his armor and [Barbarians Hide].


    Now that he was no longer fixed in space, Matt became aware of an insistent tug, and felt himself being pulled back by a darkness-shrouded tether wrapped around his arm. It didnt pull him out of the way, but it <em>did</em>paratively slow down the impact of the Generals boot on his chest.


    Matts world still imploded into white pain as the Fae connected, and it was only thanks to inhuman amounts of reflexive training that allowed him to redirect his mana from [Cracked Phantom Armor] into his durability boosts as the former shattered. His chest caved in, and he didnt need his AI to tell him that most of his ribs were broken and that both of his lungs were punctured.


    He was hurtling through the air, and eventually divested a bit of mana from his buffs to use [Blood Maniption] and [Air Maniption] to slow his flight, and he eventually skidded to a stop against a non-destroyed building half way across the city from the Generals fight.


    Matt limply called a healing potion to hand, but his arms were non-responsive, so he had to use [Earth Maniption] just to get the bottle right above himself, where he then shattered the ss. He couldnt even take a deep breath thanks to the damage to his lungs, so he was forced to use [Air Maniption] just to get them to <em>inte</em>, violently inhaling the potion.


    Because potions worked best when applied directly to the damaged area, Luna had insisted that he and Aster practice breathing in healing potions for this very kind of situation, but it was still one of the most thoroughly unpleasant experiences hed ever had.


    As soon as his lungs were functional again, he found himself hacking up bloody mucus, and as he ran his regenerative skills at full st, he slowly recovered enough to stand up on unsteady legs, then immediately copsed again.


    That was enough to attract attention, and even lying on the ground, Matt found himself beset by Fall cultivators eager to finish him off.


    Typical.


    ***


    Liz cursed as Matt went flying. She wished that she had been able to pull him more out of the way from the Generals kick, but he had just <em>barely</em> been within [Blood Whip]s range, and before she could pull him into effective [Blood Maniption] range, the attack hadnded and her boyfriend was literally kicked out of the fight.


    Newly divested of his weapon, a few attacksnded on the Fae before he simply reached into the tree Manifestation and plucked a branch from a lower bough. The stick immediately transformed into a recement scythe, and the old one- stuck in a mound of incandescent metal nearly as big as the General itself was, instantly burst into mes as it reverted to a normal stick.


    Newly rearmed, the General resumed his harvest of Winters cultivators, and their forces continued to be slowly whittled down. At least most of the Fall cultivators that had been trying to interfere with the fight had either been persuaded to leave, or ended up dead themselves, but there was this <em>one</em> archer that-


    Liz snatched an arrow out of its flight path with a glob of blood.


    There was one Fall archer that just refused to leave them alone.


    Liz leaped forward, bringing her spear around in a powerful blow, striking the Generals side where his armor had been weakened under thetest barrage. Her attack broke through, and she twisted the barbed weapon and pulled out, giving her a bit more of the insanely potent blood for her use. With space still locked down, she couldnt filter it through her glove to allow her Concept to apply itself. Still, the Tier 14 substance carried <em>quite</em> the punch, thanks to being at the same Tier as the rest of the Fae.


    The General didnt leave her attack unanswered, and after chopping one of Bradleysva limbs off again, it turned its newly-formed de at her. Before it could connect, Aster made her second appearance as the Princess of Frozen Stars, slowing down the renewed scythe while giving a much-needed boost to the forces of Winter.


    It even unlocked space, allowing her to process the mass of the blood around her.


    Unfortunately, the Frozen Star couldntst long, and already its effects were starting to wane as the tree regrew its imposing leaves. Susanne fought side by side with an earth mage, upying the General at least slightly. Diamond Lotus had made it back into the fight, and her water ribbons had taken on an edge, cutting into the General wherever they connected. Jill shot another arrow out of the sky, with her second shot sinking into the Faes armor and further wounding it.


    But they were still losing ground.


    More often than not, the General killed <em>someone </em>with a swipe of its scythe. Usually, it was some neer to the fight, unprepared to deal with the weapon and the instant death it carried, but thetest she she saw was Ember, the Pather mage responsible for the fire dragon from earlier. He lost his arm thanks to a counter strike from the General, and Asters Star was the only thing preventing him from rotting to pieces.


    Each strike with the demonic weapon cut deep rents into armor, shattered weapons, cut spells in twain.


    Liz yelled as she saw the Fall General bat aside Susannes greatsword like it was a childs stick, and bring his de down to bisect her from head to toe, which he followed up by hewing through yet another cultivators mace and arm. She only realized what had actually happened a secondter, as Susannes two halves faded into motes of light, and then the <em>real</em> Susanne staggered back out from behind the Generals huge frame, clearly shaken by the sudden loss of connection to her Concept clone.


    William was too slow and lost a leg and then half of his off arm as the follow up strike nearly took his life, but a bar of ice slowed the scythe just long enough to save his life. Even then, he didnt retreat, and cut out with a [Crystal de] that removed arge portion of the Faes armor.


    Liz could see Aster straining to hold the Frozen Star. Her ice sculpture-like body was turning cloudy with cracks, visible even past her Mask, but the fox refused to allow even her fracturing body to interfere with her support.


    Someone dropped a massive boulder on the General, forcing the Fae into a stagger. Liz and the Sect mage took the opening, each using their whips to ensnare the Generals feet, and <em>pulled.</em> The Fae fell to the ground and attacks rained down on it, but there were too few of them remaining. Lots of people had, like Matt, simply been thrown out of the arena or otherwise retreated, but far more still didnt even <em>have</em> bodies anymore, between the rot and Minka reiming their corpses.


    The Frozen Star finally faded, and the great tree returned to full glory for a single instant, shattering the boulder that the General had been pinned under. As he stood up, he screamed so intensely, it was a physical blow that knocked everyone back and sent them flying.


    When Liz got a good look at the Fae once more, she gaped at the sight.


    The formerly pristine and immacte Fae General was now a wretched thing that only vaguely seemed humanoid.


    His once smooth skin was now oozing green puss that bubbled and burst in waves that rippled down his body. The Faes armor that once seemed as strong as a mighty tree fell off him like dead skin being shed to make way for something new.


    Even his scythe darkened and started to glow with an ominous green light.


    As the Fae finished its transformation, Liz took the opportunity to surreptitiously gather blood from around her, siphoning it through her glove to strengthen her connection to it. The steady stream of Favor shed been earning throughout the fight had coalesced into a new ability- The dark nights of Winter obscures blood youmand- and it was <em>so</em> very nice not needing to use [Blood Camouge] constantly.


    She once more scanned the battlefield as she did so, trying to assess how they were faring anding to the conclusion, not great. There were perhaps a dozen cultivators still engaging the General, though a good number more were still fending off Falls forces beyond that. Off in the distance, Primus could be seen in his own battle against the Fall elites, and while he was winning and moving closer to their own fight, it would still take quite some time for him to reach them. Fall seemed more intent on slowing Primus than killing him, and they were definitely seeding in that endeavor.


    So the question was, should she retreat? Lots of people had, as the General continued his rampage, and they probably didnt strictly need to fight him at this point. If they scattered, the General wouldnt be able to kill them nearly so fast, and if they went to assist Primus, they could let the two Generals battle it out like they were no doubt meant to.


    Shed be safe. Even as she watched, someone in Guild clothing seemed toe to the same conclusion, slinking off into the chaotic melee across the city.


    But at the same time, they were <em>so close</em>. Shed been earning floods of Favor just from <em>fighting</em> the General. If she was part of the team that actually killed it, she could barely imagine the rewards. A Title for sure, maybe even more. Shed be able to keep up with Matt, and Aster, and she could do it <em>her </em>way.


    She could bleed for her goals. She did it every day.


    Liz made up her mind as the Faes scream finally faded.


    The General wielded its now-glowing scythe with deadly intent, but stopped imposing his Concept over the entire area. As the weapon arced towards an exhausted and cracked Aster, Liz intercepted the attack with a shield of frozen blood, but it and [Blood Bubble] alike barely even slowed the assault. While the attack nearly ended up taking her hand off, she was able to use [Blood Maniption] to move Aster out of the way. The maneuver cost her a lot of her remaining blood, as every time that stupid scythe connected with her attacks, whatever blood was involved rotted away to uselessness. But it was well worth the sacrifice.


    Susanne timed her next attack with an axe-wielding cultivator, each aiming for the same leg from different angles.


    Blood and corrosive fluids flew as both their attacksnded, the former of which Liz dly added to her slowly-regrowing blood collection.


    While she was slightly surprised that the attacks did damage, it didn''tst. The Faes corrupted flesh mended with unnatural speed, and his leg regrew.


    As the General shed out with his scythe, a dozen green [Mana sh]es cut out, forcing everyone to dodge. Liz tried to turn the dodge into an attack, flipping over the energy to deliver a spear to the Faes face. Instead of blocking or dodging the attack like she had expected, the General merely raised his other hand and shot a spell at her head.


    The sickly green [Mana Bolt] was gleaming with the same Decay mana the Fae had been using the entire fight, and it crossed the negligible distance between them before she could even consciously process what was happening. She reflexively teleported to the side, but that just resulted in a <em>second</em> bolt shot at her as soon as she materialized.


    In desperation, she pulled on her blood to block it, first drawing from her nearly empty glove, and then from the many wounds across her body in an effort to just <em>stop</em> the bolt at all. In ast ditch effort, she raised her hand and tried to bend backwards to dodge.


    The spell collided with her streams of blood, and Liz could instantly tell shed messed up <em>badly </em>as it reached her hand.


    The Decay effect greedily consumed the mana in her blood, then turned to her for more. She could <em>feel</em> it as it flowed along the unbroken stream of blood, traveling from her Manipted blood into her actual body. In panic, she activated [Bloody Lesser Regeneration], but that was worse than useless, as it pulled the Decay further and further into her body.


    As each second passed her veins were turning ck, and her Talents and Concept were fighting the magic, but she was losing ground.


    After a few fumbled attempted to stop the corruption she was able to keep the rot contained to her blood, which was a small plus, but no matter what she did, no matter what spells she cast, the Decay <em>just kept spreading</em>.


    She desperately cast [Blood Crystal Armor] hoping to block the spread of decay, and while it prevented more of the mana from slipping into her body, it did nothing to stop what had already breached its defenses.


    Then, her control slipped for a moment, and the Decay nearly surged into her body, her own blood had turned against her and left her with a single choice.


    Liz mped down on everyst drop of blood in her body, and shoved it <em>away</em>. She wasnt nearly wounded enough to bleed out naturally, but her Talent made exsanguinating herself quick. A torrent of ck, vile blood erupted from her punctured left hand, headed in no particr direction other than <em>away</em>. Even that wasnt fast enough, and she watched in horror as first her hand, then her arm began to crumble away into ck dust.


    Her vision began to grow dim, and she felt lightheaded. Despite that she grit her teeth and forced her body to continue through sheer force of will.


    Even as she did so, embers kindled in her chest. It wasnt much, but it helped chase away enough of the encroaching darkness that she could think clearly.


    She was dying, but so what. She had been closer to death than this before.


    The only difference was, there was no healer nearby and pouring mana into her, which caused her Bloodline to try and ignite, but it wasnt strong enough. Not yet, not before Tier 15.


    Which meant shed have to do this herself.


    [Bloody Lesser Regeneration] and [Blood Endurance] burned through her mana, restoring blood to her veins and strength to her remaining limbs. She pushed at her Concept, using the regenerative powers it had picked up, thanks to thest floors reward, to stoke the embers of life within her heart into a proper me. Her heart wasnt responding properly, so she used [Blood Maniption] to push blood through her body instead, trying to get her body to keep working.


    Her mana was nearly empty when her heart resumed a steady rhythm.


    Liz gasped, air flooding back into her lungs, and her Concept sang out through her spirit.


    <em>Rebirth Through Blood</em>.


    It was like a promation made only for her, and she felt herself filled with strength. Her heart rang out, strong and steady, and what little blood she had running through her veins turned <em>golden </em>like the setting sun.


    She reached out, feeling for blood to empower herself, and her surroundings answered. There had been a lot of blood shed, and while much of it was useless to her because of the Decay mana, there was still plenty that came to her aid. It rushed to her, first in a trickle, and as she used [Lesser Blood Sacrifice] to strengthen herself, it came as a stream. Blood to mana, mana to blood. And each step of the way, her Talent and Concept were there to help her, pushing her back from the brink.


    She tried to push herself to her feet, but her arm refused to work; there just wasnt any feedback.


    She opened her eyes, blinking away dried blood. Her left arm had almostpletely rotted away, leaving a ck and gold ragged stump at her shoulder, where her Concept and [Blood Crystal Armor] had halted the decays advance. She grit her teeth as the pain suddenly struck her, and called upon the blood to help her where her flesh had failed.


    Liz rose to her feet as the blood on her body lifted her up. Shednded some distance away from the main fight, and had spent thest minute?


    Minutes? Seconds? She didnt know how long shed been consumed in her internal battle, but the General was no longer paying her any mind, its attention wholly upied with thest three fighters. Susanne, Bradley, and Diamond Lotus were engaged in a desperatest stand


    Aster was at her side, paws on Lizs leg and eyes wide with glee, surrounded by empty healing potions, That was a close one. I thought you were going to die! she messaged, But you didnt!


    Liz bent down to give her a pat in thanks for dumping potions on her to assist her healing, but stopped when she realized she was still missing the limb in question. Relief at being alive, and even the bone-deep agony she found herself in, were washed away by a single emotion.


    Rage.


    That bastard broke my glove she murmured, Hes gonna wish he <em>had</em> killed me.


    Her glove had been one of her favorite items. Even beyond its incredible utility, it had been a gift from Matt and Aster made just for <em>her</em>, and she almost never took it off. And now it was just <em>gone</em>, rotted to dust alongside her arm and leaving a gaping hole in her spirit where it once had been connected. Her teleportation ring was also gone, but where that could be remade, the glove couldnt.


    Someone was going to <em>die</em> for this.


    Her spear had been flung away from her, but she could still sense the blood inside of it, and she recalled it to her hand with a snap. Her Concept was still hard at work, producing blood at a truly incredible rate, and it was all pouring out of what used to be her arm. A part of it she used [Blood Sacrifice] on, refilling her mana, but the rest of it wrapped around her body, covering her in golden [Blood Crystal Armor].


    The General loomed over the few remaining fighters, turned away from her and seemingly oblivious or dismissive to her approach, until she mmed into him, spear-first. He was a hollow shell of the imposing figure hed been so very long ago, and her [Blood Dash] <em>staggered</em> the Fae.


    Her spear found its mark, biting deep into the General, and he was knocked off bnce. More than that, his <em>spirit</em> was knocked off-bnce.


    His Concept and Intent were still there, but they were spent, shallow. [Cracked Blood Drain] picked up the ck as her own willpower faltered, empowering her to new heights. [Blood Rage] flooded her limbs, turning her own wounds into strength. A [Blood Chakram] spun into being inches from the Fae and began its bloody work, slowly carving into the General.


    But he wasnt dead yet. The scythe began a slow swing, but Susanne was in the way, keeping it in check with a broken sword. The Fae tried to run, but Bradley weighed its feet down withva. Diamond Lotus restrained the Generals chest, all while Liz began to extend her control <em>inside</em> the Fae himself.


    His nascent Intent and Concept fought her, but they were hollow and frail reflections of what they once were. The Generals Domain was nowhere near the towering might it once had been, and the resistance it offered was far from enough to keep her from shredding the its internals, tearing even the Faes heart asunder.


    When she had gained control over half the Faes body, she caught it.


    The Fae was already dead. Had probably been dead since his transformation.


    He had sacrificed himself to give birth to a seed that had been puppeting his body.


    As she surrounded the seed that tried to flit around in the body, she changed her stance.


    The Fae General was probably created around this seed in the first ce, and the body was just a meat suit it piloted.


    As she took control of the Faes flesh, she trapped the seed, and with all her anger, squeezed.


    It shattered, and a wash of Favor and Genesis Energy hit her like she took a blow from a Tier 50.


    The General had Fallen.

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195


    When Matt finally got back to the fight, it was over.


    Given the number of cultivators hed had to fight on his way, and just <em>how long</em> it took him to get back on his feet, he wasnt terribly surprised. It had been perhaps five minutes since hed been thrown several blocks away from the fights epicenter, and fights of this level rarelysted longer. The massive wave of Genesis Energy and Favor hed gotten a minute or so ago was also something of a dead giveaway.


    But back in the zone of destruction, he surveyed the aftermath of the fight. Crumbled and broken buildings, the aftermath of <em>countless</em> skills, and many half-reimed bodies all spoke to a truly lethal encounter. Still, all that mattered was his AI informing him that his team had all <em>survived</em>, though they werent unharmed.


    Liz in particr looked <em>rough</em>. She was covered in blood, missing half her arm, and struggling to stand, even supported by her spear. Matt knelt by her, put one arm around her shoulder, and picked her up so she could at least stand on her own feet.


    Liz nced at him with a pale, blood-streaked face, but still managed a smile.


    Got the fucker.


    It came out as little more than a whisper, but then she looked guilty as she looked down at her missing arm.


    He also She paused to cough up a clot of blood before clearing her throat and finishing, His attack also destroyed both my ring and glove. Sorry.


    Matt pulled her into a hug and used the opportunity to both reassure her and cast [Bandage] on her arm. There was no way he could heal her, and she wasnt in any immediate danger.


    Hey, its okay. You did great.. Once she was steady enough to not need his full attention, Matt cast his gaze for his other teammates. Susanne seemed to be intact, but was on her knees either hyperventting or dry heaving. He couldn''t quite tell.


    Aster scampered over, whined how happy she was to see him, and promptly passed out. Shed been running on sheer willpower for at least half the fight, and not needing to do so anymore was clearly a relief for her.


    And she was right. The fight <em>was</em> also over.


    It seemed that with the fall of their General, the Fall cultivators decided retreat and escape was the better part of valor. Even the annoying archer who kept peppering them with shots during the fight had stopped their incessant attacks.


    Matt scooped up Aster before dropping her into Lizs good arm and moved to Susanne.


    Patting her armored back, he asked, What''s the damage?


    Physically, she seemed uninjured, and his AI reported the same thing, but she was <em>clearly</em> not fine.


    As she clenched her fist around a rock that burst under her strength, she croaked out, I cant summon my sword. My Concept is just he <em>broke</em> it. Like swatting a fly. Fighting even after that did <em>not</em> help, and now I wont even be able to <em>think</em> without a headache for a few days.


    Matt shuffled through his ring before finding a Tier 14 painkiller and handing it to her.


    She shook her head, then joined Liz where she was sitting on the ground Already took one. Kinda helps, but I dont want to overdo it. .


    Matt stood up to see Bradley limping over, carrying a surprisingly still alive Dexter.


    The man was little more than a head and part of a torso, but Matt could still see the life in his eyes, and slow pulses of his exposed heart. Like cockroaches, enemies always survived.


    Bradley gestured with his head, Can you cast [Bandage] on his ass?


    Matt really wanted to reject and let the asshole Feddy die, but the man had fought valiantly and until the end, not running away like so many others had. He would happily kill the man on the next floor, but it felt wrong to do so now.


    Looking at Bradley, it seemed he had a simr thought process to Matt, as otherwise, he wouldnt have brought him over after seeing him cast [Bandage].


    It might be dumb, but Matt cast the spell the half dozen times it was needed to prevent the man from dying.


    Seeing that, Bradley dropped Dexter and said, You''re lucky I was looking for your spatial ring to loot. Or you wouldnt have made it.


    He then proved that false when he dropped a simple silver band onto the man''s chest.


    As Bradley walked away, he tossed out, Dont worry. I took my payment. That Deep Plum Ale you were bragging about will cover the cost. Worry not!


    Mattughed as Dexter managed to go even paler. He paused for a moment, seeing if the man would actually croak, as he could then loot the man himself. But of course, the bastard didnt, so Matt walked away.


    Seeing a Sect healer climb over a wall of rubble, he pointed at Dexter. Might want to start on him first. Hes about a sneeze away from dying, and I don''t think there are any Sect cultivators here for you to heal.


    Matt didnt care to watch the woman and see if she healed the representative, as most of his attention was on the battle for the city.


    Primus had entered the city from the front gate that was opened, and then proceeded to ughter anyone he encountered, which at this point was just stubborn Fall lieutenants still fighting for their city.


    Having just fought one of his kind, Matt knew that the power the Fae was showing wasnt even a tenth of his actual abilities. It was a frightening thought.


    Still, the battle was won, and the only thing that was left was the clean up.


    And that was a job for someone else.


    Matt and his team needed to rest.


    They had earned it.


    As he was helping Bradley find the few other survivors, they stopped for a second over Tiffany, the Guild representative''s body.


    She had not survived a [Mana Bolt] thatnded on her chest. It had eaten her heart, leaving her with only a vacant expression.


    Bradley covered her eyes with a strip of cloth and sighed. Tiff, you did your best. Thank you.


    Having said that, he removed her spatial ring and put the woman''s body inside.


    Turning to Matt, he said, I''m going to try and get this back to her family. She doesnt deserve to be absorbed by the. He worked his jaw before asking. If I die, and you can get my body, can you do the same?


    Matt nodded slowly. I doubt it wille to that, but yes.


    Bradley shrugged as he looked out to the dark city interspersed with shes of spells. You never know. We signed up for this, but it''s disconcerting to see someone I was just talking with now dead. Just makes you think.


    Together, they just stood for a long minute before Jill came walking out of a shadow with a head in her hands.


    The man''s face looked terrified and angry, but her expression wasnt any better.


    Got the fucker who liked to shoot arrows at us. Her words surprised Matt. He had figured that the man had retreated once the battle turned, not that Jill had run the man down and decapitated him.


    Well fuck that guy. They all turned to Liz as she stood up with an unconscious Aster in her remaining arm, with Susanne using the stump to steady herself.


    Seeing them all look at her, she asked. What? That guy was a dick.


    Jill shook her head, but Bradleyughed out. No, I just figured wed be finding your body next. d youre enough of a beast to be up and walking already after that hit.


    Jill turned to Matt and asked, Im nearly as surprised to see you up and moving, White. That kick looked vicious.


    Matt shrugged. Broke nearly every bone in my chest and shredded my lungs. I had to inhale a healing potion, which wasnt pleasant. Plus I''m sure Im well over my healing cooldown, and my ribs still need a professional healer. So I didnt get off that lightly.


    Jill inspected him, but said nothing, just shaking her head.


    Bradley ended up being the one to speak first. Well, I got a Title, so that''s nice. Lord of Fallen Trees has a certain ring to it.


    Jill turned to her husband and shook her head. Later. We need to get out of the city and rest. Then we can look at our loot. For now, I just want to fall over. Let the clean up crew deal with the loot too. I''m not waiting around for it to get inspected we''ll get the report tomorrow.


    As she turned away, Matt saw that she hadnte out of the battle unscathed. Her chest te had arge rend in the back, showing that a portion of her flesh had melted away, leaving bone exposed.


    Seeing it, he cast a [Bandage], which caused her to pause to look back at him and nod.


    Saying nothing more, their teams trekked through the war zone that was the city.


    They didnt even need to leave the city to find a healer station. One had been set up inside the city walls, but after seeing they were overrun with critical cases, they moved on and tried to find a less busy healing station.


    That failed, as they were in the middle of a battle, and no matter their status or aplishments, they didnt have a greater priority than those who were on death''s door.


    Matts spirit wasn''t more strained than usual, so he was able to drop their house inside the Fae encampment without issue, where the four of them promptly fell asleep in the living room.


    None of them wanted to be alone, and they were all too tired to do anything like shower and change clothes.


    ***


    Matt woke up hourster as a beam of sun moved across his face.


    He was sore and hurt all over.


    And the weight on his still mostly broken ribs didnt help.


    Seeing it was Aster, he sighed.


    Everyone else was still asleep, so he got up and slipped into the shower after transferring the fox to Susanne.


    He felt gross and was in a considerable amount of pain, but as much as he hurt, he wanted to be clean more than anything else.


    It took him nearly ten minutes of scrubbing, but he finally felt good enough to exit, where he found Susanne waiting for her own turn.


    Swapping ces, he let her shower and took the time as he changed to feed the house''s reserves.


    They had left the shields on all night, and that left their mana central stone considerably drained.


    By the time Susanne was finished, Liz had woken up, which finally roused Aster. So, while Matt helped Liz strip and shower, Susanne ran a cold bath for the fox in the kitchen sink.


    When they came out, Aster was a mass of floating fur with just her nose sticking out of the water.


    No one said a word despite there being so many things to say. Too many.


    That was the issue, or at least what Matt thought was going on. At least, he didnt know how to broach the topics they needed to talk about.


    That trend continued, even after a hearty meal.


    Matt was slightly disappointed with his cooking, but the others didn''t even seem to notice the slightly undercooked parts of the bacon and the rubbery edges of the eggs.


    In silence, they finished eating and silently left the house to find a healing station for Liz and Matt.


    There was a minor bit of excitement when a small group of Federation Winter cultivators tried to ambush them en route, shouting fanatically and with skills zing, but a half-dozen [Cracked Mana Spear] pulses took care of them.


    Matt was in <em>no</em> mood to mess around.


    Thankfully as they were attacked first there was no loss of Favor so it ended up being little more than an interruption on their journey.


    Susanne and Asters wounds, other than a few lightly broken bones, were mostly from repeated spiritual suppression and broken Concepts, which was both better and worse than more traditional harm.


    Back when hed first learned about how Concepts worked and met Aunt Helen, he thought that breaking his Concept would be a death sentence. In truth, it was far rarer for a broken Concept <em>to</em> be fatal. In normal fights, breaking the opponents Concept was just like inflicting any other wound, and could rtively easily recovered from. It resulted in headaches, bloodshot eyes, difficulty concentrating, and made it dramatically harder to <em>use</em> the broken Concept for anything. Eleven repeated breaks, like what Aster and Susanne went through, only worsened both the symptoms and the recovery time.


    By contrast, a <em>shattered</em> Concept, like what Aunt Helen had gone through when her definition of family had been destroyed, was nearly impossible to recover from. It meant that the person had their understanding of the universe fundamentally broken, and the general advice for how to proceed was to just restart with a different Concept.


    Fortunately it was <em>nearly</em> impossible to have a concept shattered by an offensive force. Someone with a Concept like I am Invincible might be rather prone to it, but otherwise, it took a truly staggering amount of power. The General <em>shouldnt</em> have been that powerful, but Matt didnt know the details behind Susannes A Sword is Reliable Concept. It was theoretically possible that not having it on-hand could be doing less recoverable damage to her Domain, but Matt trusted that Susanne had it under control, since she wasnt worried.


    Matt stopped distracting himself as they arrived at the healing station.


    Things were not ideal.


    The official healers had badges or armbands denoting such, and even though they differed in the exact form between Great Powers, they were close enough to be recognizable, but that wasnt what caught his attention.


    No, it was the healers themselves.


    They looked awful. Haggard and dispirited were the kindest things Matt could describe them as.


    Frankly, they looked like they had been fighting a war themselves.


    And it was clear why.


    The line at the healers tent was thirty people deep, and only growing.


    Matt watched as a man with a missing leg floating on a flying sword wrote down a few people''s issues before floating back towards the healing tent.


    When it was their turn, they finally understood.


    Whats wrong, and can it wait? He was tired and curt, but Matt didnt take it personally.


    Liz wiggled her missing arm, which hardly seemed to draw the man''s attention.


    Matt instead answered. Missing arm, a few broken bones, shattered ribs, torn lungs that were healed with a healing potion, and a general checkup for repeated Concept breaking.


    The man wrote that down as he said, Ill report it to the healer but expect to be sent back after they make sure there is nothing wrong with your lungs. If you are healed enough not to die, we have more important things to deal with. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at them and then at the missing stump of Lizs arm. Wait, were those wounds taken from the General?


    At Matt''s nod, he shouted, Code Greed! Code Greed! Code Greed!


    Hearing the repeated shout, a team of healers rushed out of the healing tent with a stretcher and rushed over towards them.


    As the healing team reached them, the man pointed at Liz. Lost arm! Check the entire team.


    Despite Lizs protesting, she wasid down on the stretcher, and the rest of them led inside, bypassing the line behind her.


    Matt asked the healer in the back, who seemed unable to get to Liz and help. Whats wrong?


    She shrugged his hand off her shoulder but still answered, The Generals attacks were filled with Decay mana. We learned that after that Federation representative guy rpsed three times and we couldn''t figure out why. Eventually, we learned the mana infects the cells and then starts to spread after it eats enough of the body to have regained its strength. We need to decontaminate your friend and then check all of you.


    She turned, and Matt was forced to stop walking or run her down. She looked at him with misty eyes. Broken ribs? At his nod, she asked, How?


    He kicked me halfway across the city.


    She touched his chest, and Matt felt a spell slip into his body and start feeling around.


    After a second, she nodded. No signs of infection, and the healing took surprisingly well. You said your lungs were punctured?


    [Lesser Regeneration] and I inhaled a Tier 14 healing potion.


    That earned him a wide eyed stare and a nod of approval. After that, the woman turned to Susanne and Aster and, after inspecting them as well, gave them the all clear.


    Liz took longer, but eventually, they determined that she was fine. She had managed to rid herself of the Decay mana thoroughly enough that they didnt actually need to worry or do any extra healing.


    While they were there, the healers took the time to regrow Lizs arm and finish healing Matts ribs, which he was grateful for, as it relieved most of the pain he was feeling.


    Before they left, they donated their mana to the collection spot.


    Part of Matt wanted to fill it up to remove the suffering of everyone around him, but that wouldve been beyond stupid. Instead, he gave only as much as a normal melee fighter had.


    When they left, they returned to their silence, and it only grew as they returned to the house.


    Lizs arm was less than perfect, but it at least worked, despite its waxy appearance and less than ster motor control. That was less a hit on the healer and rather proof of their skill. Liz had been perilously close to the healing cooldown limit before seeing the healer, and the ability to regrow an arm before her body began to reject the limb was impressive.


    Fortunately, Liz had a number of stacking effects that aided her regeneration, so he didnt expect her to fully be out of action for all that long. She likely would have regrown her armpletely without a healers help before they had to move on from the floor. The new blood she had gotten from the vampire ruin would have seen to that. But that was a liability that no one had been willing to stomach. The psychological effects, though, couldnt be so easily dealt with.


    Seeing that no one was going to say what needed to be said, Matt started them out.


    We need to discuss Tiering up to Tier 12. That fight proved that were in danger, and can be killed at any time.


    Aster let out a whine. I dont want to. We beat the stupid decaying tree, didnt we? I really want that flexible Innate skill slot.


    Liz rubbed the fox, who draped herself over all three of theirps.


    Susanne was the next to speak, though. It''s something we still need to think about. Id love to say that we won''t deal with something like that again, but we still need to take down Summer, and they will surely have a General as well.


    Liz continued as Susanne paused. We should have another General by that time, right? Winter should have been able to make four by now, but shes just pumping her lower ranks. Were due for another general by now. That should make the fight much easier.


    Matt saw they were getting off-topic and returned to them Tiering up. If we decide to do it, we should do so now. Notter.


    Liz looked at him and said, I dont know about that. Its dangerous, yes, but every floor we push through as Tier 11s means we get better rewards for cheaper, and that can close the gap between us and the other delvers. Not needing to hunt around for Genesis Energy to pay for the rewards also saves us from a lot of fighting, which isnt a small benefit. Also, we dont <em>all</em> need to tier up at once. I, for one, would probably just keep [Blood Maniption] in my innate skill slot, and while I wont <em>literally</em> double mybat prowess like Matt would, I could get us through a number of the more difficult floors with a lot less issue.


    She wasnt angry or disappointed, but questioning. Trying to see where he was and where his inclinationsy.


    Matt bobbed his head back and forth a little. I don''t want to, but I won''t risk us getting killed for the rewards. Even Luna doesnt expect us toe out as Tier 11s. We need to honestly reflect and see if it''s something we need to do.


    That made them all pause for a while, and while Matt had more that he wanted to say, it wasnt something he wanted to discuss in front of Susanne. But at the same time, he wasn''t willing to grab Aster and Liz to escape into their own room to talk about Liz nearly dying like he wanted to.


    Susanne was a friend, and he was both unwilling to abandon her when she also needed help, and unwilling to designate her as an outsider. That action would show more than anything he could say.


    Even thinking that, he still found it hard to open his mouth and get the words out.


    Liz, you almost died. You ripped out every drop of blood from your body, lost your arm, and both of yourbat growth items. You cant teleport until we regrow your ring from mine, and the glove is gone until we can get some recement, if we even <em>can</em>. Neither ising back while were in Minka. Thats a serious hit to yourbat capabilities. Not to mention your armor is fucked six ways from Sunday, and I dont know if I can repair it. So that drops you to your backup armor None of this is ideal.


    Liz nodded. Susanne was staring off into the distance, slightly wide-eyed, seemingly in deep thought.


    Aster, meanwhile, spoke up. As much as I hate to think about it, we also have the problem of everyone else. This floor bottled us up tight, and now, when we get to the next floor, we won''t have a lead over them.


    Nobody particrly wanted to carry on with that train of thought, and Liz spared them all by pping her hands together and shifting them to a brighter topic. At least we got good rewards for it. You may now address me as the Lady of Red Snow, peasants. Herald, announce my presence.


    Be mindful how you speak to your Princess, Aster shot back. Herald, announce <em>my</em> presence. I am superior to a mere <em>Lady</em>.


    Well excuse me Princess, but you shouldnt bbor our poor Herald with such requests. He has better things to do with his time. Susanne defended Matt, then promptly backstabbed him. Like announcing the presence of the Duchess of Days Cut Short.


    What if I just want to announce my own presence? I still have more Favor than <em>any </em>of you.


    That set off a small round of bickering that eventually settled into quiet self-reflection.


    After about ten minutes of contemtion, Susanne broke the silence. I got my Concept clone cut in half. Thats the closest Ive been to dying in at least twenty years, and the first time it wasnt me messing up somehow. I was cutting it pretty close for the rest of the fight too, and I saw plenty of people die because they were a hair too slow. To see someone exactly equivalent to you get cut through like so much firewood? To realize that the only reason youre still walking is that you never warranted his full attention, and a single bad roll of the dice could have sent you to the healers table with half your limbs gone? Its not a small thing. She extended her hand, and while it was steady, Matt could see she was concentrating on making it so.


    Liz nodded, staring off into the distance. I know what you mean. I nearly <em>died</em> back there, or at least I came close enough that my bloodline tried to resurrect me. It couldnt, though Id hoped it would. Normally, its Tier 15 before bloodline resurrection really kicks in, but some people have pulled that down a few Tiers if their Concept helps out. Mine didnt. It <em>did</em> help me get back up after I almost died, and I think the closer to death I get, the stronger the Concept triggers. But it was well, it was scary. Im not <em>actually</em> ready to die, not really. All of my preparations, it was just <em>nothing</em>. I got overconfident, pushed too far, and paid the price. Its well its terrifying.


    Susanne agreed. That General having an Intent, or whatever it had of one, and being so strong was more than a little disconcerting. Then I think about how we are going to need to fight at least one more


    She paused, and they all gave her the time to gather her thoughts. Part of me is terrified, but arger part is excited. I want to see how it goes. I learned a lot during that fight. But She grimaced. Tiering up will be the safe and easy move. With the rest of the power of Tier 11, actualizing that fight would have been much easier. With the essence stones, we picked up along the way, we can up our next Tier easily. I think at peak Tier 12


    Susanne paused as she grinned a little. I was going to say at peak Tier 12, the fight would have been easy, but that''s bullshit, and even I know it. But the fight would have been a lot easier. Death was right there in a way like it never has been before. My skills and abilities have always been enough to pull me through before. Id rather lose out on the best rewards than die.


    Liz reached over and squeezed Susanne''s hand, and Matt leaned over her to pat her leg while Aster imed the swordswomansp.


    She brought up good points, and he felt a lot of the same things.


    Aster slowly asked, We all already have Titles, and we have all earned more than enough Genesis Energy to take our boons out and get the floor reward. Why don''t we just hang back in the next fight? There isnt any reason we need to throw ourselves into a battle with a General. Call it conceited, but I don''t think there are any teams of ascenders who can beat us. As long as we avoid the big guys, we can stay safe. So I think Tiering up now is premature. Let''s wait until we see how the siege goes before we do anything we can''t undo.


    Matt nodded and ruffled her fur.


    I think that''s a good idea. Ill also cut off my mana supply, which should slow down the production of troops and give us a little extra time before we start the siege of Summer. Then, we rush through floor five and hopefully put a bit of room between us and whoeveres after us.


    He forced out a fake smile. Hopefully, Summer will put up a good fight and give us enough time topletely remove our healing cooldown as well.


    ***


    So we are surrendering then? Everyone agrees?


    Long Zhiyuan nodded.


    Surrender wasnt the honorable or proper move, but it was the smart one.


    Even Young Mistress Meteor Fall didnt object, which was all that mattered to Long Zhiyuan.


    He might also be a Young Master, but she was the Young Mistress of a Tier 39 Sect that was as old as time itself.


    She was not only powerful, but held an exalted position amongst the Sect cultivators in Summer. He thought he had a better than even chance of defeating her, but her background could crush him without hesitation. Not that they would do so until after he failed to keep up with a Young Masters expectations, but the second he failed, he would find himself having an ident if he needlessly challenged her.


    He had been afraid that he would need to before thest reports came in, but seeing her agree, he knew that the situation was salvaged. She had been obstinate in fighting it out with Winter before this, despite the situation turning for the worse day by day.


    For the honor of the Sects, she said. But really, she liked the boon Summer had given her and wanted to take it with her as she left the floor.


    All of them had. But facing down Winter was an impossibility.


    What had prompted this change was the report that had juste in from their scouts, he was sure.


    Even a Daughter of the Heavens, who never needed to treat anyone as her equal couldnt deny reality when it smacked them in the face.


    Winter had somehow managed to take over Spring in a surprise attack, which shocked everyone, but no one expected them to immediately turn and take down Fall less than two weekster.


    At that point, everyone thought they were an arrow at the end of its flight, and would be easy to roll over, but Long Zhiyuan thought differently.


    The reports of Spring and Falls defeats said that their General had yet to take action in any meaningful way yet. After the reports, he wasnt sure that even with their prodigious lineup of Young Master equivalents that they could handle the General named Primus.


    Everyone else seemed to miss the fact that the Fae grew stronger. They saw them all as faceless monsters, only to be used as sacrificial pawns, but Long Zhiyuan had seen them grow.


    Once a private killed five other Fae privates, he was promoted to sergeant. Everyone knew that. The same applied to sergeants, and he supposed lieutenants too, despite not seeing it for himself yet.


    Everyone else seemed to think the jumps in power were reflective of their kills.


    Long Zhiyuan believed differently. He had used his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] to fight those Fae who defeated other Fae, and he could see the differences in their martial prowess even before they gained a new rank. They grew stronger with each kill, and their promotion was a reflection of that increase, rather than how they got the increase. The better equipment and new skills just obfuscated the power change. And General Primus had already won two sieges and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators.


    Long Zhiyuan wanted nothing less than to have to fight the monster that an experienced Fae General would be.


    Young Mistress Meteor Fall had been pushing for them to directly attack the army as it was recovering from its taking of Fall, and she had a number of supporters from all eight Great Powers before this. At least, she did amongst the strongest of cultivators, and it wasnt like the weaker ones'' opinions mattered for matters of grand strategy.


    But thetest scouting report changed all of that.


    Whatever oddities were going on with Winter that allowed them to take the initial lead had only magnified in the recent month. And now, outside Winters capital city, there was a second army. It was evenrger than the initial one, and was led by another General.


    And it wasnt even the second General. No, it was the third.


    Winter had apparently created a General, but kept it to defend her city walls rather than immediately send them to the front.


    Now they would have to contend with two armies, <em>and</em> two Generals, with only one of their own.


    In theory, Summer should have been at a strict advantage. Nearly all of the strongest delvers had found that the boon it offered improved power with Light and Fire. And that was to speak nothing of the defensive advantages it offered as well. Certainly, the boons were a tempting prize. Their reports indicated that each of the seasons had perhaps a dozen, maybe even two dozen truly top-caliber warriors within their ranks.


    Summer imed at least three hundred, and more joined them with every passing day.


    Yet whatever strange twist of fortune Winter had experiencedpletely upended that advantage. Each person within this room could take down a hundred, perhaps even a thousand of the weakest Fae with ease. But the armies of Winter would <em>still</em> press them to their limits in numbers alone, discounting the generals, their powerful magics, or any other tricks they may have held by simple virtue of not needing to have <em>shown</em> them yet.


    They could almost certainly protect their city. Two generals attacking it was a daunting proposition, yet perhaps not insurmountable. But to <em>win</em>? That was folly. Winters forces grew at a rate truly iparable to any of the other seasons. It was entirely possible they would be physically incapable of <em>killing</em> the Fae faster than they were born.


    Winter hade, and fighting it was fruitless. Many of those who mattered had already collected sufficient Genesis Energy to undertake the themes Tribtion by attacking and taking their neighboring seasons'' forts, and with no hope of victory, there was no benefit in Favor.


    Anyone who disagreed or possessed insufficient Genesis Energy for either the Tribtion or exit prize could happily sit back and fight Winter after they left, but the strongest weren''t going to struggle needlessly.


    Once everyone epted the fact that they would, indeed, be retreating, they broke the news to the weaker cultivators, which didnt go over well. Mostly because they made it clear that they expected them to vacate the city, and not interfere with Winter taking it until they were able to leave.


    If they weren''t able to leave because of their actions, Long Zhiyuan didnt mind killing them if they slowed his progress.


    This alliance was a farce, and would be dispensed with as soon as they left this floor, so what did it matter if he lost his little Favor? He couldnt take it with him anyway.


    So, after gathering everything, they exited the city, and those who wanted to leave started marching through thest vestiges of Summer, and into the swirling winternds that had taken over most of the floor.


    At the intersection point between the four seasonal cities, therey four pirs that reached towards the untouchable sky.


    Their exit.


    Three of the four pirs were frozen over, but thest one of Summer stood strong and green.


    So Long Zhiyuan and the others settled in to wait.


    It shouldn''t be long now, and once Summer fell, they could be the first people to leave.


    Deeper into Minka.


    Where the <em>real</em> prizesy.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 3

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 3


    Minka Chronicles Floor 3


    Vibia took a deep breath as she entered the third floor and smiled.


    She felt good.


    Despite her losing all of her cultivation, she felt fantastic. Better than she had in centuries.


    Everything looked interesting and new, from a weaker perspective, and she had never felt so alive. Or at least, not since she reached Tier 14.


    She had learned a lot about herself in thest few weeks. Not everything she reflected on was nice, but she still had grown from the experience.


    Vibia was just an adrenaline junky. Well some form of it anyway.


    Once she reached Tier 14 and stalled in her advancement, she no longer went out to explore and delve like she had used to. At first, she had still explored new rifts for the excitement, but when she realized that she had no idea what her Concept was, that slowly faded. Eventually, she got to the point that she only delved for profit, and soon afterwards, it devolved into only seeking rifts when she really needed the money, like so many other peak Tier 14s.


    But that had been her downfall.


    Vibia craved that excitement and the chasing of new experiences. Like most others who were experiencing the slow end of their long lives, she had sampled every pleasure and vice, but none had excited her or roused her old self like exploring Minka had.


    She liked to find the unknown.


    Keeping her feet moving was important. She was like a shark. When she stopped moving, she stopped breathing.


    <em>One foot after the other</em>.


    Vibia felt something click in her very being, like a puzzle piece that she never knew was missing.


    Her Concept slipped into ce, and while it was a monumental discovery on its own, it was apanied by a strange resonance within her spirit as it flexed and expanded.


    She thought it was a side effect from her Concept slotting into ce, but when essence started to appear from nowhere and rush into her she realized the truth.


    All of her previous excitement vanished, and was reced with terror.


    Inspirations from forming a Concept werent rare, especially not among people like her, but the timing couldnt have been worse. Shed seen the recording of what happened to those who hit Tier 15 in Minka, and she had no desire to explode, not when shed <em>just</em> escaped death.


    But her spirit was mid-Inspiration, and she couldnt stop it. Essence was pouring into her spirit, and the only reason she wasnt dead already was the fact that Minka was eating almost<em> all</em> of the essence being generated through her resonance with the realm. Her cultivation being temporarily reset by entering Back to Basics also helped, as it made the inspiration work harder to recover what was taken away by Minka.


    Vibia even tried to shunt the essence as if she didnt want the reward from a kill, but found thatpletely impossible.


    She was already Tier 2, nearly Tier 3. If she didnt manage to clear all three levels of the floor and escape the at the safe room before her Inspiration finished, shed never be able to enjoy her new Tier 15 immortality.


    As her legs pumped, she realized that her Concept was currently true.


    If she stopped moving, she was dead.


    ***


    Fred walked through the forest that used to be full of ogres and decided to rest before he entered the boss distortion to exit this floor.


    He had already killed the boss, but he knew that the next challenge would be difficult, and he wanted to enjoy some luxuries before he had to suffer for months.


    He had trained for the challenge, but he still liked his creatureforts.


    Pulling out his tent, he set it up next to the smallke and just enjoyed the sound of the bubbling water.


    The peaceful moments between the blood and gore were what got him through the days of fighting.


    Breaks were vital for a healthy mind.


    Using his bedroll as a pillow, he watched the false sun of this floor slowly set before climbing into the tent.


    His mother had made it for him, and despite only being a Tier 12 herself, she poured her heart and soul into it.


    It wasnt the best item he could have afforded, but it meant so much more to him than anything store bought could have.


    It was his own little slice of home that he could take with him everywhere he went.


    ***


    ude watched on as a team of ten people fought their way through a herd of buffalo monsters. Lightning zapped from their horns and they attacked viciously, even against the team that was far toorge for Minka.


    Taking over one of the bulls vision, he watched as the team systematically cut down the monsters, but took the time to take note of each of them.


    Their appearance and skills were slowly revealed to him as he watched from a safe distance and stole the perceptions of the monsters they fought, and he didnt like what he saw.


    A team of ten people should have split into two and separated, to prevent them from splitting the Genesis Energy so many ways, but they seemed unconcerned by the added time it took them to range about while looking for more monsters.


    Even then, it hadnt impacted them much. They were currently Tier 9, and were taking down the Tier 12 monsters like it was child''s y.


    They also had some of the best gear he had ever seen, which told him that they weren''t Heroes or their other Great Powers equivalents.


    It painted a picture he didnt like.


    Death squads.


    He had been briefed on them, and was taught how to counter the tactics and recognize them. He had made enough of an impression for the Guild leadership to suspect that he would be targeted during the delve, so he was trained to deal with them.


    Except, this group wasnt quite what he expected so he followed them.


    A death squad relied on their greater cultivation to kill the cultivators with potential from the other Great Powers before they could grow. A death squad should be strong enough that being in such arge team was unwarranted.


    Using the fading hearing of a dying bull, he finally heard them talk as one gave an order in the Federationnguage, allowing him to make some inferences.


    As he watched, they came upon a Monsters Collective cultivator, and without hesitation, attacked and killed the woman.


    That was enough for ude to take action.


    They might not be a normal death squad, but they were close enough that he was unwilling to allow them to return to their former Power and start killing others.


    He wasnt sure if he could fight them ten to one if they returned to their peak Tier 14 power levels, but they had so many people in their group that they had yet to pass Tier 9 on the third level.


    ude, on the other hand, was alone, and was back to his peak power.


    That didnt mean he was going to rush in stupidly. He was anything but reckless.


    When they were entangled in a fight with the bull boss, he struck.


    Stealing the senses of the woman serving as their primary front liner for a fraction of a second, he dyed her response by just enough to allow the bosss attack to strike her in the gut, goring her through her armor.


    He frowned. She had been in a lot more pain than most people usually were.


    Surprisingly, she didnt die immediately, and continued to struggle even as she was flung into the distance.


    ude rushed over to where shended while keeping most of his attention on the boss.


    As he reached the woman, she was already sitting up and pouring a potion on her wounds with one hand, while stuffing the intestines back into her abdomen with the other.


    He didnt give her a chance to heal, and kicked her head with his armored boot as hard as he could.


    He expected her skull to shatter, but he had to twist and stomp down since he didnt feel the rush of Genesis Energy that would have signified her death.


    He used the ground for leverage through his second stomp to prevent any lost energy, then he finally ttened her helmet and skull, eliciting the appropriate rush of energy.


    Still, his mistake allowed her to send out a message warning the others.


    Dodging to the side, he avoided the arrow that sliced through the air at him.


    With his peak Tier 12 speed, he ran low to the ground as half of the team disengaged from the boss and turned to face him.


    Stealing the sense of touch from the archer right before he shot, he caused her attack to miss and fly off into the distance.


    The four that were keeping the boss contained werent able to help attack him, but he still stole their senses any time he could to make that fight harder, causing them to take injuries.


    As the other five closed on his position, he [Dash]ed forward and intercepted a downward sh by hitting the man''s wrist and casting [Shocking Touch].


    Using the moment of disruption, he uppercut the man and slipped to the side, allowing the mans sword to pass between himself and the man he hit. Disengaging with the two of them, he swapped their perceptions with each other and used that disorientation to kick out and break the first man''s knee. But once again, he was surprised at how hard the bones of this team were.


    His kicks were devastating, and that blow should have broken bone rather than just snap cartge.


    Even as he turned away from the duo, the man he identified as a healer was quick to do his job.


    Though, ude was just as quick to throw a throwing knife into his eye, thus ending his life.


    No matter how hard their bones were, their brains were still vulnerable.


    A man and a woman tried to tackle him, one going high and one going low, but ude switched their perceptions, causing them to stumble as their bodies stopped reacting correctly.


    That earned him enough time to punch the falling woman, but in return, he took an arrow in the shoulder.


    It pierced through the flesh and bone as if they werent there, and caused his blow to only daze instead of killing the woman.


    Turning, he was forced to roll out of the way of another arrow, but this wasnt his first time fighting a ranged opponent.


    Faking a jump, he dived and grappled the man with the just healed knee, and entangled them before squirming to get the man''s back. Once he was in position, he drew the back of his gauntlet across the man''s throat.


    The sharpened ridge of his gauntlet opened the mans carotid artery, but despite that, he kept trying to elbow ude in the ribs.


    The blows were like hammers and broke several of his lower ribs, but ude ignored it and pulled the two of them up.


    As the man bled out, his blows weakened, and ude used his body to rush the archer.


    To his surprise, the archer didnt even hesitate, and shot an arrow right at her teammate that he was using as a shield.


    She didnt aim for anything vital, but didnt seem overly concerned about hitting him either.


    Even as the glowing projectile bounced off the man''s stronger shoulder pauldrons, ude closed enough of the distance.


    Stopping his forward rush, he threw the man at the archer and spun, grabbing the other man who was trying to run him through from behind with a sword.


    ude grabbed the man''s wrist and twisted, forcing the man over his own shoulder with a hip check, and then brought the hand down with a wrenching movement. Once more, the bones didnt break as he expected, and he was forced to roll the man over his shoulder in a throw before driving a finger through the man''s eye and into his brain.


    That ended the man''s life, but it seemed that the team decided that he needed to die, and the others who had been fighting the boss ignored it and ran at him.


    An arrow nearly took ude in the head, but he was faster than the Tier 9, and moved to the side just in time.


    Closing the distance, he took a glowing arrow through his chest, but he ignored the wound and tackled the woman, using his gauntlet to cut her face before he was able to grab both of her hands on one of his own. She quickly broke free, but it gave him enough time to use his already wounded arm to drive a dagger into her eye.


    Raising his head, he watched the remaining four Federation death squad fighters with his Talent and grinned.


    As a mage cast a spell, he threw the body at his feet to block the spell, and moved to finish the fight.


    Even as they fought, the boss came in and started attacking all of them, but ude was faster, and any time the monster tried to attack him, he stole its vision, forcing it to target the others.


    With his inadvertent helper, they made short work of the rest of the death squad.


    He then had to finish off the boss bull, but that wasnt so hard.


    Before he fell to the ground and started to heal, he looked at the already dissolving corpses of the death squad.


    If his instructors were correct, they would have fantastic gear that he could use himself.


    As he looted them, he shook his head.


    It was a waste. If they hadnt been evil, they could have avoided this situation, but instead of being righteous, they chose to attack those weaker than themselves.


    They would not be missed. Of that, he was sure.


    ***


    Xavier burned away the Tier 5 monster in front of his team and they were all on high alert.


    Their scout Kathy reported, Last one I sensed. Careful though.


    Careful was the anthem they lived by after their near deaths on the first floor. Alex, their healer, had only just barely managed to save their lives by digging a hole into the ground and then casting [Create Water]. With the resulting cool mud, he was able to start nursing them back from the brink of heat stroke.


    After that incident, they hadnt dared to be anything but careful. Even if the other floors couldnt kill them with environments they couldn''t sense, they took the lesson to heart.


    There was no reason for them to let their guards down for even a second.


    They almost didnt continue past the first floor, but they all decided to press on to the fourth floor as they originally intended. The only difference was that their team was far, far more alert.


    It had slowed them down, but they had found and avoided a number of traps on the second floor. That same caution had even prevented them from being attacked by an ambushing team of cultivators from the Empire.


    They hadnt been able to defeat their opponents, but they retreated with only minimal injuries.


    Now, they were traversing a watery in that seemed to extend forever.


    This challenge room was odd in the fact that it seemed to be an endless expanse of water. But instead of having to swim or anything, the water was only a finger width deep before they hit a barrier they couldnt pass.


    Monsters, on the other hand, could pass it without issue.


    Most of Xaviers spells were useless, with the fire magic not being able to prate the water, but he still provided what assistance he could.


    As they walked on, they looked around and only found more of the same endless blue water and sky.


    Kathy finally stopped them. Something is weird here. Let me investigate.


    Nathan, their melee fighter, kept a close guard on Kathy, and everyone else''s eyes were darting around, searching for the slightest indication of a threat.


    Alex shook his head. I feel like were missing the point of this challenge room. It felt so simr to A Watery Voyage, I swore it was. But this isn''t that test. I have no idea how it changed.


    Xavier kept his mouth shut.


    He wasnt sure if there was a point to this test.


    They simply walked around in a vast empty in.


    Even the sky and the water seemed to blend together in the distance like a heat mirage .


    That thought caused him to pause and consider.


    Unable toe up with an answer, he looked over to where Kathy was kneeling in the water.


    Voicing his observation, Alex smacked his head as he eximed, Ugh! We are so stupid. This isn''t A Watery Voyage, it''s A Pail Expectation. Fall into the water, guys, with the expectation of leaving.


    Saying that, he closed his eyes and then slowly tilted forward until he fell. Except when he sshed into the water, he vanished.


    Xavier closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that if he just believed hard enough, he would fall into the water and not smack into the barrier they were walking on.


    It was scarier than it should have been, but when he sshed into the water, he found himself back in the real world and out of the pir of crystal.


    A secondter, Nathen and Kathy came out, and they joined Alex in watching the pir create their items.


    Not long after, a thumb-sized orb of silver covered in pulsing streaks of ck popped out.


    An upgrade orb.


    It was probably only Tier 14, but all of them salivated at the chance to use it.


    Xavier kept his mouth shut, but he really wanted it for himself.


    He was the only one with an innate skill, and upgrading [me st] was a dream of his. Still, he didnt feel it was right to use that fact and practically bully his friends.


    But in the end, it didnt matter. After their initial excitement, they unanimously voted to give him the upgrade orb.


    It warmed his heart more than his mes ever could.


    ***


    Han De looked down upon the mass of lightning elementals from his cliff in the adjacent ruin.


    Monsters were scarce on the third floor, and especially so on this third level. Being behind the pack leaders had its own advantages, but it also meant that there might not be any challenges left for him to face.


    He had wandered through half a dozen ruins, finding only a handful of monsters that had either been missed in the initial sweep or that had respawned, until he finally stumbled on this ruin.


    Immediately upon finding it, he understood why it was skipped and abandoned by everyone else.


    Lightning elementals were incorporeal, and therefore hard to damage. They also had incredible attack power by virtue of their element.


    If Han De was his old self, he would have retreated, moving on to find an easier set of monsters to earn his Genesis Energy from, but he wasnt his old self. He was new and strong. Reborn from fire and mes.


    Armed with Yi Zhns sword, he dropped down the cliff and moved forward, his powerful leg technique making each step cover twice the distance it should have normally.


    His sword descended and cut the first flickering elemental in half, but didnt destroy it.


    As it started to glow brighter, preparing to cast some lightning technique, he reversed the direction of his de and brought it around, cutting the still rejoining halves into quarters, finally eliminating the monster.


    Sliding to the right, he brought his de around, caught the next elemental off guard, and blocked its lightning attack. The discharge of energy made Yi Zhns sword tingle in his grip, but the weapon was stronger than anything that a meager Tier 11 elemental could damage.


    Even only having returned to Tier 9 himself, Han De had no issues beating these monsters. Before his transformation, he would have struggled and feared facing opponents stronger than himself, but no longer.


    He understood.


    Fear was the real killer. It froze the mind and prevented necessary actions, and hesitation would inevitably lead to death.


    As he blocked the next lightning strike, he brought his de around in the same motion and slew two more elementals clearing this area from the monsters.


    Genesis Energy sat in his spirit like afortable weight.


    Definitive proof of his power.


    He stalked forward towards the next cave.


    He was almost done killing the monsters in that rift, and had just rebroken through to Tier 11. He only had two Tiers left before he could leave this floor, but he suddenly felt a presencee towards him from the side.


    They had Genesis Energy, but his spiritual perception said they were only Tier 10, so they had killed fewer monsters than he had.


    He was surprised when he realized that he knew the people.


    Senior Brothers Qin Dong, Pan Meng, Xuan Heng, and Senior Sisters Yi Chun, and Duan Jian. The five of them were from his own Soaring Clouds Sect.


    It felt like a lifetime since he saw themst, but from their readied weapons, they were wary of him.


    Han De only realized what was going on when Senior Brother Xuan Heng shouted out. We have nothing valuable for your Excellency to take. Please just leave us be. We will immediately leave your Excellency''s hunting ground.


    Saying that, they backed up, keeping formation, and only once they had the wall between them they turned around and ran.


    They hadnt recognized him.


    Inspecting himself as an outsider would, he paused.


    Han De almost couldn''t recognize himself. It shouldnt have been surprising, but he was shocked regardless.


    His clothes were in tatters, but his spirit was strong. Bright like Yi Zhns sword, which satfortably in his hand like it had always been there.


    Clean steel. Hard and flexible.


    Hammered into shape and reinforced through each blow it underwent during the forging process, he was no longer recognizable as the fearful Tier 13 who entered the''s copper depths.


    If the old him saw his current appearance, he would have also apologized and ran at the first moment. The strong didnt need a reason to attack in a ce like this, and they would have feared he would do the same as some Young Master.


    Han De paused at that thought.


    Others were afraid of him. <em>Of him</em>. The thought should have brought him great pleasure, but he felt sickened.


    He wanted to be strong, but he had never considered others would fear him for it.


    That just felt so wrong.


    For a few minutes, he felt the old fearful Han De return, but he crushed it.


    His Sect mates had banded together and therefore forsaken the true test of Minka.


    Theirbined strength and general cowardice ensured that they werent pushed far enough to grow.


    He was no longer like them.


    If they wished to fear him, that was on them.


    He was no Young Master to throw his weight around but, he now had an inkling on how it felt to be one.


    He just wasnt sure he liked it.


    ***


    Eara had paused at the safe area between the first floor and second floor for a week, but never saw her friends appear. She had eventually pushed forward, wanting to catch back up with them, but even upon waiting at the safe area between the second and third floors, she still couldnt find them.


    It was disconcerting. She had been lost on the first floor for a week, but she eventually fought her way out of the forest of illusions and then found the exit. Her friends should have been waiting for her there. They had agreed to wait for two weeks if any of them got separated, but they never showed.


    It wasnt like there were multiple safe rooms in Minka. No, there was only one ever-expanding space.


    They should have waited if anything happened to her.


    So, she pushed deeper, and despite the challenge of delving alone, she pushed through the awful theme floor and reached the next floor in a record setting two weeks.


    The sheer speed had caused her to almost lose her life half a dozen times, but she had survived, and waited for her friends yet again.


    Once again, she couldnt find them.


    She thought it was unlikely they had died, but it was always a possibility. They were a strong team, and that shouldnt have happened. So she decided to delve into the third floor before calling it quits.


    That was where they originally nned to exit the, and despite losing her, they should have proceeded on. Hopefully she would catch up to them there.


    So, she just needed to get to that floor and wait for them.


    Eventually, they would appear. She was sure of it.


    ***


    Alvin watched his team as they butchered the rat boss.


    The monster had an incredibly strong defense with its golden fur, but that same fur seemed to have no way to block magical attacks, which left him standing guard.


    Like some peasant.


    He was so anxious, it was hard to control himself.


    This boss, a monster he had no good way to hurt, was the final obstacle between him and the fourth floor, where he could finally earn his Concept.


    This fight would have been a million times easier with Bernard, the cowardly mage who immediately left them as they moved to enter the second floor, once hed gotten his Concept. Without him, they had significantly less ranged damage, leaving them in their current lurch.


    Alvin had a few ranged spells, but not as many as the others, and his spells weren''t nearly as potent, meaning he would just waste mana if he used them.


    He would have preferred to find another boss, but the others wanted to get to the fourth floor as fast as possible. After all, it wasnt impossible to kill this boss, and they just needed to advance.


    All of them wanted to move on as quickly as possible.


    Their immortality was just around the corner.


    When the boss finally fell, they ignored the loot and rushed through the distortion to the third floor safe area, and directly to the central pir.


    Seeing the seasons and hearing their offers of boons, they decided most of the strongest people would be choosing Summer, and decided to choose the same.


    As long as they got enough Genesis Energy, who cared if they had to ride on other people''s coattails.


    Alvin sure didnt.


    How they won didnt matter. Only that they did. After all, losers wouldnt be able to gather Genesis Energy. And more importantly, they would probably be dead.


    ***


    Natalie froze, eyes locked on the cultivators staring back at her. They couldnt <em>see </em>her, courtesy of her invisibility cloak, but one of them must have had some particr skill with perception that her Talent couldnt fool. A pair of detection skills swept over her, but she told them that there was nobody here, no odd protrusions of magic, nothing.


    That seemed to settle their internal quarrels, and they moved on to their hunt. While her newly empowered cultivation had been marvelous- nearly <em>all</em> of her essence had converted into Genesis Energy after thest floors challenge- being immediately thrown into Back to Basics was quite jarring. That she got this floor was something of a mixed blessing. Lower cultivation meant her Talent had a bit more sway over thinking creatures, but the themes challenge was an unknown. She <em>should</em> be alright; even if she died on day two, the borate illusion involved in the survival challenge was definitely something that her Talent could fool. But she didnt know if true death within the first six months was an automatic byproduct of the testing setup, or an artificial penalty enforced by Minka. Just in case it was the former, shed have to <em>legitimately</em> survive the full six months, which would be annoying.


    The group had moved on well enough by now that Natalie felt confident in iming hertest finding- another challenge room. This one was


    She wrinkled her nose. It spoke of singlebat against a great foe. That wouldnt do. Anything that put her intobat directly, with no secondarypletion category- or a failure state other than death- wasnt something she could really use her Talent on. <em>If</em> she beat the boss eventually, it would be fine, but she wasnt actually a good fighter, no matter what her certifications said. A strong boss would quite possibly just kill her, and she couldnt cheat her way out of that.


    Well, there were plenty of other challenges to be found.

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196


    Matt and his friends were sitting around the living room ying a board game. Well, technically Susanne and Aster still were. He and Liz had been defeated already, and Aster was shamelessly cheating, but somehow <em>still</em> losing to Susanne.


    As Aster''s defeat became even more apparent, Liz tried once again to get them to switch to poker. Come on guys, pokers fun, and I dont cheat at it. You guys have a chance.


    No one even acknowledged her saying that, and she fell back, huffing. Liz didnt need to cheat to always win at poker, and no one was willing to y with her after experiencing it first hand.


    Losing could be fun, but the absolute thrashing that Liz always handed out wasnt.


    Just as Aster was losing herst territory, their AI beeped as someone tried to enter their house. It wasnt an attack, but rather the equivalent of someone knocking on the front door.


    Matt spread his spiritual sense, and seeing that it was Bradley and Jill, let them in.


    Any thought that this was a social call was dashed when they saw the pair''s faces. Bradley looked happy, but Jill was disgruntled.


    Bradley rubbed his hands together as he plopped down on the arm of the couch. Guess what!?


    Aster, still in a sour mood from her loss, groused, Jill found someone better than you?


    That earned a smirk from Jill and a wink from Bradley. Now that''s just impossible. I''m the best there is. The older Pather waved that off, though. But thats not why were here.


    His grin only spread as he left them, questioning his purpose for showing up.


    Jill spoke up before he could leave them hanging too long. We got a report from Summer. Or rather, Summers cultivators. Theyre surrendering, and have already moved all of their top assets to the center of the floor. No fighting. They and everyone else just want to leave the floor as quickly as possible at this time. They even managed to force the people who want to stay out of the city, and made them agree to hold off from retaking the city for at least a week.


    Matt leaned forward, interested, but Bradley snorted.


    It appears they found out about Secundus and Tertius, and decided that they didnt want to fight two Fae generals at the same time. Cant say I me them, though. Once was more than enough for me.


    Hearing that Summer found out about the two new Generals surprised Matt, but not all that much. They themselves just found out three days ago, and the second army was still a day out from reaching their position at Falls city. Whether Summer had spies in Winter, Winters people were passing information, or they had their own version of a dronework, Matt didnt know. Frankly, he didnt care either.


    If Summer wanted to give up without a fight, he wasnt going toin that much. He was more than happy to let the Fae fight it out over thest city while he waited at the exit, though losing out on the extra recovery time did sting somewhat.


    Standing up, he asked. When are we moving?


    Bradleyughed. Tomorrow morning. We are going to pass the information out in the next half hour or so, but theres no rush to get to the center. The gate isn''t open yet, after all.


    Matt nodded, but Liz stood up and wiggled her still healing arm. In thest week, it had lost some of its waxy appearance as she coaxed it to be more a part of her true body, speeding along the healing cooldown. I''m going to get checked over by an Empire healer before the information goes out. Anyone want to join me?


    All of them ended up doing so. While they had been on the same side during this floor, all of that cooperation would vanish like smoke once news went out that the exit was about to open. While healers, especially officially trained Empire healers, should be above such petty concerns like who they were healing, none of them were going to risk it.


    Even Jill and Bradley tagged along and got checked out. All of them were given a clean bill of health, with the caveat that they were still near or over the healing cooldown. They were told that they would need more time without injuries for their bodies to fully limate to the prior healing that they had received. Until then, their wounds were liable to re-open.


    It was a good thing they got checked out, too. As they were walking back to their house, the news spread, and the cultivator camp exploded. Cheers and shouts sounded from everywhere as people came out of their tents and houses and started celebrating.


    Everyone had been mentally prepared to siege down one final city, and now they would achieve their final victory without having to risk their lives.


    The Tier 14s were even more exuberant. They all had earned enough Genesis Energy to take the exit reward and the floor reward, even with the higher costs for their Tier. Some of the more proactive ones even had enough Genesis Energy to keep the powers of their boons upon leaving, though without enough Favor for a full Title, their effective benefits were low.


    It was still more than any of them had ever expected to take out.


    The celebrations didnt slow at all after they started moving.


    It took them almost a full day of flying, but they eventually arrived at the center of the floor and found fourrge pirs, three of which were covered in frost and snow. The fourth one, however, remained upright and untouched by the cold air around it.


    Around the pirs, each season''s cultivators gathered and sectioned off into their own little portions of the pie.


    At least they were unlikely to be ambushed. Those who wished to leave the floor at this time were mostly the strongest cultivators who wished to progress further into Minkas depths, along with the rare non-Winter Tier 14s who managed to gather enough Genesis Energy to get the exit reward of a Concept and leave. Essentially, the number of Winter cultivators massively outnumbered the other sides.


    Nearly all of Winter''s troops had enough Genesis Energy for their needs, and they were taking the opportunity to leave.


    As they settled down, Matt and the other top fighters moved to the front, where they could reach the exit first, while the Tier 14s lingered in the back, willing to wait the few seconds it would take for them to leave.


    Still, there was almost nothing to do with each side keeping to their own, and Matt and his team eventually retreated to their house for privacy and to upy their time.


    Susanne had been spending a number of days negotiating for their teams cut of the rewards that the Fall General had left behind when he died, and discussions had finallye to a close by the time they reached the central pirs of the floor. It was the first time Matt had ever heard of a monster dropping a <em>spatial bag</em> nearly stuffed with valuables of every description. The stand out item of the bunch was a replica of the Generals scythe, a Tier 14<em></em>growth item that seriously enhanced any wind or decay aspected skills cast through it, had 3 different Tier 14 skills in it, and finally drained and converted a in foes mana into the wielders aspect. It was, to put it lightly, worth a fortune, doubly so right before they finished out Courtly Warfare.


    After all the scheming and wrangling for shares after their contribution was calcted, the scythe had gone to William, the Corporations representative after he bought out enough of the others shares.


    They hadnte away with nothing, of course. Matt had gotten [Crescent Sweep], a Tier 14 skill that let the user throw their sword in an arc in front of them, spinning and shing at everything in its path, before returning to the wielders hand. It was the closest thing to [Animate Weapon] Matt was likely to see for quite a while, and paired nicely with any number of other weapon skills. His spirit was too full at the moment to absorb it, but once he Tiered up a time or two, hed take it alongside a [Wind Cutter] and [Shield Shatter] hed gotten, thetter of which would let him batter down most defenses with his sword. Hed also gotten a decent amount of cooking items and skills which he was currently working on absorbing into his outer spirit.


    Hed even gotten a minor natural treasure, namely a Striped decone. It had hurt a lot going down but the sharpened sense of taste and smell made it worthwhile.


    Aster received a scattering of air skills like [Wind sh] and [Tornado], and a much coveted [Mana Cunning]. She had also been lucky to get <em>another</em> growth item seemingly out of the blue, her tiara bonding to her as she was eating ice cream one day. None of them could figure out what finally triggered it, but it gained the ability for her to cast an Ice or Winter skill through it to animate the spell into a pseudo-elemental. It could only maintain a single summon at a time, but Aster was hopeful that function would grow with Tier and from what little Matt could gleam from the odd runes the item grew he believed it would.


    Liz was quite happy with [Hungering Weapon] and [Summon Mana Monster]. To top it off, she got one of the copies of the Generals armor, which could shut down most offensive air skills nearby and shoot off leaves that could block some iing projectiles. It went a long way to recing her tournament reward armor, which was out ofmission for the foreseeable future.


    Susannes rewards were somewhat simpler. Most notably, she got her own copy of [Crescent Sweep], [Phantom Armor], and [Momentum Overcharge]. Matt was naturally quite familiar with [Phantom Armor], but thetter wasnt something he had memorized. As it turned out, it was almost abination of the Tier 8, [Momentum Charge] and [Momentum Strike] skills, siphoning off kic energy the user produced, and storing it for a massive burst of speed and power. As it didnt enhance perceptions, it wasnt usable as a constant physical empowerment, but did make for a potent trump card if used carefully.


    To keep themselves busy, they were going through their various bags and rings and attempting to organize all of the valuables they had received from Minka thus far. The pile of skills was <em>daunting</em>, and everyone had picked out a few that they intended to use once they were out of Minka and had the opportunity to train with them. Unfortunately, they werent able to fill up their Inner Spirits because of how bad that would make a potential New Growth floor. There, they couldnt use any of their current skills, but as soon as that threat was lifted, they would have plenty of new toys to y around with.


    Liz had picked out a few spear skills to use in the future. Luna had warned Matt a number of times about relying too much on any single skill, and had given Liz even more lectures about how detrimental it could be to rely on a single item, a lesson which was rearing its ugly head now. The loss of her glove represented arge change to her fighting style, because she no longer started each fight with thousands of gallons of her own blood to use for her skills. In the long run, those problems were mostly solvable, but they didnt have the time or resources to do anything about it now. For the meantime, she would be relying more on her spear to start fights. Historically, a number of spear skills had simply broken when her Talent tried to convert them. [Cracked Tar Ball] was thetest skill that had failed to convert, but Liz was hopeful about a few of the spear skills.


    Susanne was hiding it well, but Matt could tell that she was quite excited about the skills she now had ess to. She had never been able to even sniff the breadth and quantity of skills that Matt had grown ustomed to, as she had to sell the majority of her earnings from rifts just to afford more delving slots. Minka could produce skills from anywhere in the realm, which meant that they now had a sizable number of skills that were essentially inessible within the Empire. Aside from selling <em>exceptionally</em> well on the outside, using the skills themselves could give them an edge in future fights, and Susanne was a big fan of edges.


    But for Matt, thergest find was an [Analyze] skill shard. The skill would grant his AI greater analytical capabilities for items, monsters, people, traps, and pretty much anything else. The skill was both rare and highly valued, since every crafter worth their name wanted it. It waned in value for higher Tiers, who had more specialized skills for information gathering, but Matt could leave Minka with no other skills and be happy with his haul.


    Most people did the same thing as they were, but they got word about and checked out a merchant who was plying his trade between the seasons.


    Jullian, a Corporation''s delver, was fearless as he moved from location to location and bought and sold seemingly everything, but his main trade was Genesis Energy to the Tier 14s who lingered around the edges of the formations. He was specifically targeting those who didnt quite have enough of the unique energy to take the exit reward.


    He was primarily buying from the Tier 14s who had more than they needed, or the other cultivators who wanted to make a quick buck before they moved to deeper floors.


    From what Matt had seen of his wares and prices, it was tant extortion, but nobody else wanted to take on the risk.


    Healing potions, talismans, weapons, armor, skills, natural treasures, even mana stones; everything was for sale. Though, the only thing he took in trade was Genesis Energy, which he then sold to the Tier 14s for contracts regarding their future.


    As far as he could tell, the contracts were tightly worded, with strict penalties for breaking them. At the same time, they werent that bad. In return for his giving the cultivator enough Genesis Energy to take the floor reward, they had to delve at least once a month in a Tier 15 rift and send Jullian the equivalent of half of their rift rewards for two centuries.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure how Jullian enforced those contracts without AI verification, but the man seemed certain that no one would be able to slip out of those deals, and no one who signed them talked.


    It took another two and a half weeks for Winter''s army of Fae to finally take Summer''s city, and for thest few hours, everyone was waiting with anticipation.


    Before they left the army, the Titled had given orders for Primus and the new general Tertius to assault and take over Summer. It was what they were going to do anyway, but it still needed to be done.


    In the end, three weeks to the day after Fall fell, Summers frost-edged pir transformed into a full pir of ice and snow.


    As the ice fully took over, there was a resonance between the four pirs, and then a distortion appeared in the air.


    Like moths to the me, everyone rushed forward.


    When Matt crossed the barrier, he found himself standing in front of Winter.


    How wonderful to see you once more, my Herald.


    Her icy smile was both happy and cold enough to send a shiver down his spine. He felt like a naughty child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, which was frankly ridiculous. He had bought those cookies. He could eat as many as he wanted.


    I thank thee for your contributions to the war. Truly, you have been my greatest servant. While perhaps not my Herald anymore, I charge thee to go forth and spread our season forevermore.


    Having said that, she reached out and pressed a finger to his forehead, and he felt his boon settle down and condense, like loose snowpacting into ice. It was lesser, but it was also <em>solid</em> in a new way, connected to him intimately like a new limb.


    Before he was able to investigate, he found himself asked a simple question, with a simple answer. He epted, and found himself in arge, circr room, standing on top of a strange, metallic tform.


    All he needed to do was to find someone able to upgrade one of his growth items, and get them to upgrade it. It wasnt dangerous, just a bit time-consuming. At floor four, any new effects that a growth item got would be fundamentally tied to their current abilities, but their choices in the challenge would influence what <em>exactly</em> they got, and its strength.


    It meant that Matt couldnt just go to the first cksmith he found and persuade them to just hit his weapon a few times, then expect to get the same result as if he found some hidden, immortal, legendary, master cksmith and got <em>them</em> to refine his weapon.


    At the same time, going to a cksmith was stupid if he wanted to get one of his rings upgraded. The profession needed to match the item, or even the best crafter wouldnt get a good result.


    Or whatever the equivalent here was. Matt found a quiet corner of the busy transportation hub and assessed his surroundings.


    The first thing he noticed was that all of his skills werent exactly <em>gone</em>, but they werent exactly in their normal ce, either. A lot of his maniption skills felt like they were locked away, while many of his attack spells felt like they were tied to the strangelyplex and chromed gun that his sword had turned into. His defensive and buffing skills were meanwhile tied to a suit of power armor he was wearing, and his crafting skills to various tools were integrated into that armor. All of it was powered by a glowing reactor at the center of his chest.


    <em>Okay, so less direct magic, more technology</em>.


    He could handle that.


    Luna had given them overviews on some of the differences they may notice between reality and the cities they encountered, but Minka liked putting people into civilization types that they knew very little about.


    With a bit more context in mind, he looked around at his surroundings more. There was lots of metal and ss, and a giant tform that was obviously meant to be some kind of teleportation station. Albeit, one that didnt look anything like the sorts that Matt was used to. What really caught his attention was the incredible variety in the people. They all looked basically human, but various skin colors and additional features abounded. Many of them were equipped for war, but the flow of traffic was definitely leading into the city proper, and following them brought Matt to a giant space station encased in an enormous force field. Stars shone unwaveringly against the infinite void, while ships docked and surrounded the city.


    It took Matt a bit of time to get acquainted with the, well <em>everything</em>, but he eventually found a shop where he could get the teleportation pack that his first ring had turned into appraised.


    The purple-skinned and horned woman there shook her head. I could probably remake the paired pack if you want, but Id just be copying this. Actually, upgrading it while its pair is broken is beyond my abilities. Even if it wasnt broken, I dont know that anyone could do anything better than strengthening their bond somewhat. Its not a single piece of gear which we can tinker with, its a pair.


    Matt thanked the woman for her time and took back his teleporter, going for a walk down the street. He needed to think, and walking helped with that.


    He currently had three growth items.


    His first and oldest item was the teleport ring he had gotten during the training and then given to Liz, cementing their teaming up and partnership. But if he understood the woman correctly, he would have to spend his upgrade by just repairing it, and even if it were fully repaired, hed only get half the normal benefit aspared to if it were a singr item. Liz would also have to upgrade her ring for them to get the normal level of upgrade, and she didnt have it at the moment.


    That had been his first choice to upgrade, as they hoped the shared mana pool that the rings had, allowing Liz to take from the pool instead of just giving her own mana. If that was possible, it could have let them share mana across distances like her brother Travis ring did with his husband.


    With that out of the way, he had two remaining options.


    His sword, his second growth item that had manifested as a gun, or his other ring that allowed him to store and convert to other people''s mana types were the other options. And as far as he could tell, the ring was represented by the housing of his power reactor as an energy processor.


    His initial instinct was to upgrade the sword, but he didnt want to discount the other ring if it could be useful enough.


    Whistling, he started walking around the city, getting a feel for itsyout.


    After that, he started talking, and more importantly, listening.


    Most everyone in the city was talking about which shops theyd gotten their gear at, or who did good maintenance, or who was great at modifying generic gear to better suit the user.


    It took him a week, but he eventually found the person he thought was the best energy technician in the city.


    They didnt work at any of the high end, shiny storefronts near the top of the city. Instead, she worked near the spaceship docks, where grime had started to build but hadnt quite hit the level that the slums were at.


    Still, Arissa Silver was apparently <em>the</em> person to talk to whenever there were power flow issues in gear or vehicles alike.


    Even the best custom workers at nearly the top of the city paled inparison to her skill.


    Armed with a carton of hot tea and a tter of donuts, Matt knocked on her door at six AM.


    To his bewilderment, the woman opened the door, took his offerings, and then shoved a leash with a small dog at him.


    The second the dog cleared the door, it mmed, leaving them outside.


    Shrugging, Matt picked the dog up and checked its cor. Well Maxinna. Lets go for a walk.


    Half an hourter, Matt returned to find the garage open and Arissa Silver working on something in her workshop.


    A craftsman himself, Matt appreciated her tools, even if he couldnt quite map their functions to what he was used to.


    As soon as the dog got back inside the fence, she ran forward, straining at the leash.


    That brought the craftswoman out of her work, and she spent nearly half an hour giving her pet attention before finally deigning to address Matt.


    I thought you would have left by now.


    Her look wasnt hostile, but Matt read that she really didnt want to help him.


    What can you do with this? He pulled out the reactor casing and handed it over to the grease-covered woman.


    She studied it for a few minutes. Interesting. Hmm, I think I could probably swap out some of the capacitors and tighten up a few of the connections, that would give enough room for a modtor to fit in here. Right now, it lets you alter the kind of energy your reactor feeds, yeah? I think I could up the efficiency and allow for more variation, and let you output mixes of energy instead of just a rotator switch like youve got now. Interested?


    Matt thought it over for a second. Being able to output multiple types of mana at the same time wasnt <em>great</em>, but it wasnt useless either. It definitely wasnt something he needed desperately, and when the time came for the ring to naturally unlock its next power, he wouldnt be heartbroken if it was something different.


    He thanked the woman for her time and reinstalled the reactor casing into his armor. His next stop was a teleporter mechanic who informed him that he <em>could</em> upgrade Matts teleporter pack to be more powerful, but doing so would involve removing the pair-bond, which Matt wasnt interested in. It would prevent Liz from getting her own ring back, and depriving her of half her remaining growth items would be enormously selfish of him.


    Next on his list was a weapons mechanic hed learned about after hed helped just some random person on the street with a broken levitation tform. Their shop was nearly at the very top of the city, well inside the restricted-ess streets, and Matt only got through the checkpoint after name-dropping the man whod rmended he look for Jeffrey.


    Currently, the old man was studying Matts gun, stroking a scaled chin.


    Good, custom work. Lots of room for modifications. Hmm... Well cared-for.


    As Jeffrey ran scarred and burned hands over the gun, and he inspected it and the modifications that Matts enchantments had manifested as.


    When he looked up at Matt, he asked, Triple toughness and piercing mod packs, two auto-regen packs Aye, you have to know youre on diminishing returns, boy. Where are the special shots? Extra ammo packs? Anything unique or special? Youve got to have the skill for it, jamming so many of the same mods in here.


    Matt shrugged. I go after big prey, and I get most of my versatility from special ammo types or other special tools. My armors got a decent amount of versatility that it provides on its own.


    That earned a nod from Jeffrey, who went back to inspecting his gun.


    Hmm. Howsabout this, I think I can reroute some of the internals to make the gun only have a single modpack slot, but recessed more and with the ability to pull it off whenever you want. But, to keep all your mods currently there functional, Ill give you an adapter that connects all those mods into a single slot.


    Matt frowned, trying to trante the mans ims into enchantments, but Jeffery saw his confusion and rified.


    Yell be able to have a couple of pre-made modpack loadouts and swap them out whenever you want. Ill even throw in a revised design for the modpacks so you can fit somethin <em>interesting</em> in, along with all your normal stuff. Dont want nobody to see Jeffreys work and think he makes shoddy, uninspired weapons. No siree, that would not do. Not at all.


    Matts eyebrows skyrocketed. He had not expected his des upgrade to be so practical. Being able to store two sets of enchantments had a lot of possibilities, and if he started with two full sets, that would be one of the items new Growth features, giving him more enchantment presets as he advanced in Tier. Additional enchantment capacity was a nice bonus too, though that was mostly just an upgrade to the items base growth ability.


    Unlike with the ring, which would only incidentally help out, hed benefit from having more enchantments to swap between right away, making it an easy choice.


    Ill take it.


    The old man smiled and motioned Matt to follow him into his workshop. Matt didnt understand what half the giant tools did, but Jeffrey worked with them like they were second nature. Sparks flew, energy coalesced, and the gun was disassembled and reassembled a half-dozen times. By the end of it, it was sleek and practically glowing with potential, with two modpack loadouts able to be swapped out at will.


    Now that''s some of my better work, even if I didnt make the original. Enjoy it, and put it to good use.


    Matt smiled as he felt the world start to fade around him.


    I will.


    ***


    My first Princess. Investing in you was my smartest choice.


    Aster hopped up into Winter''sp and leaned into the scratches.


    I dont know how this works, but could you help me control <em>all</em> the ice? Not just winter, but all ice. Anything thats icy or cold, anything I can grow ice into, all of it.


    Winter looked down at her and Aster rolled her eyes.


    I''m not crazy. I swearrrrr. I already changed my Rank 1 bloodline from Ice to Winter, but I want Ster Ice. The ice of the cold dead void after every fire has been extinguished.


    Seeing Winter was listening, Aster spoke on. The Queen was a construct of Minka, and she hoped if she spilled her ns, it would give her a final floor Blood is Thicker.


    The floors upgrade allowed for beasts to change their Rank 1 bloodlines or pave the way for their Rank 2 bloodlines if they were like Aster, and not of a Rank 2 species to begin with.


    After hearing about that, Aster had asked herself why she was going to use her Rank 2 bloodline to bring in aurora mana into herself, then use the Rank 3 to get her ster ice mana.


    She was better than that.


    She could do it at Rank 1.


    A new breed of Foxes. Ster Ice Foxes.


    She liked the sound of that.


    As a Rank 1 bloodline, they would have the coldest ice powers imaginable, and that idea called to the vain part of her. It would be the best fox bloodline ever, and she would be the matriarch.


    And if Minka cooperated, she could get to the next step right here and now.


    Hmm, perhaps. Aster swore she almost saw the woman smile but it might have been her hoping a little too hard. Go forth, my child, and freeze the stars themselves.


    Aster started walking around the city that she suddenly found herself in, admiring the incredible amount of magic woven into every inch of the glowing trees that the Bevers buildings were built on and in, looking for the best crafters.


    She had two items that she now needed to decide between for her upgrade. Both her pendant choker and tiara were so pretty and useful, but now she had to choose.


    Each crafter seemed to be able to do something slightly different in terms of upgrades, but none of them really caught her attention until the craftsman she found hidden beneath one of the trees roots.


    He would allow her to re-cast the same spell that her tiaras elemental was made of into the crowns center gem, either healing or strengthening the summon.


    That was better than her ice cream cloud being able to change vors, which a small part of her wanted to pick, but that would be a waste, so she went with the practical upgrade.


    With Matt, she would be able to make the elemental <em>so strong</em>, it would be amazing.


    She could always buy more ice cream after all.


    With her tail swishing side to side, the world faded away.


    ***


    Winter looked at Susanne and smiled. My Duchess of Days Cut Short, how lovely it is to see you once more. Or should I say, Queen? Amusing that we share a moniker. Wanderer yet not lost, rooted past snow and turmoil, remaker of the broken de. Thou art a poem in the making.


    Seeing her confusion, the manifestation of Winter exined. Thou hast scouted my woods without getting lost. Remained steady despite being betrayed by her own faction. Remade your de during your fight with Falls General. And thou art a Queen yourself, thoughcking an appropriate crown. May you cut forth all that which may be cut, and a little more besides, forever shortening the days of your enemies.


    With a wave, Susanne felt her Favor crystallize in her spirit, and the world blinked.


    Before she knew what happened, she found herself standing in a city gleaming with brass and filled with the constant hissing of steam. Giant balloon-lifted ships crowded the skies, while her immediate surroundings were filled with crowds of people leaving a shining train.


    The test of this floor.


    Carol had prepared her for this, and she knew better than to go to the first shop and agree to their upgrade.


    Susanne had it easy. Or at least, easier than Matt, who had three growth items.


    With only one growth item, she immediately started shopping around for armorers and seeing what they could do for her.


    What she decided on wasnt perfect, but after a month and a half of searching, she liked what she found. Derrick was a seemingly normal smith''s apprentice, but she found out that he made most of the armor for the illegal underground death matches. His practical experiences and superb talents let him rise to be a hidden master of armor, while officially, he was nothing more than an apprentice trying to reach Journeyman status.


    The upgrade he imparted, if she understood Minka correctly, would either reflect damage she took from ranged attackers back at the caster, or impair their vision. But she was <em>pretty</em> sure it was the former. Either way, it helped cover one of her weak points as a melee fighter so she took it.


    She was growing stronger.


    Minka had taught her many lessons, and she could feel herself closing the gap between herself and her new friends with each floor.


    Four down, and three to go.


    ***


    Liz sat across from Winter as the Queen spoke. My Lady of Red Snow, you have truly excelled. The blood of your enemies flows forth and shapes thendscape, now and forevermore. I thank you for your service.


    Winter''s frozen finger touched Lizs forehead, and she found herself in a sprawling city of stone and steel. There was magic here, she could feel it. But it was locked away, hidden. The towers around her were shortpared to what she was used to, but impressive if there truly was no magic in them. She also felt different, her rtionship to blood had changed in some ephemeral way but still strongly <em>there</em>.


    It took her a few seconds, but then it clicked. She was a vampire here, wasnt she?


    That could be interesting.


    Originally she had wanted to upgrade the ring Matt had given her, but now that was impossible, and the fact <em>really</em> irritated her.


    They had hoped that if they both upgraded the rings, they could get two upgrades on the same item, further improving it, but the Fall general had ruined that idea.


    Her backup n of upgrading her blood storage glove was also shattered, destroyed by the same General.


    That left her with her little portable garden that had recently bound itself to her. It wouldnt have been anywhere on her list if she had a choice, but she didnt.


    Still, she wasnt going to just find the first crafter and have them upgrade it just because she didnt want to upgrade it.


    It was still a useful item that had originally allowed her to hold and grow any herbs she collected. When it turned into a growth item, it allowed her to advance time inside slightly for a small but constant stream of mana, and she was able to create new areas to grow things under more specific conditions.


    Its ability to use [Blood Copy] with any nt inside it gave her an inkling of an idea for how to use it in the future, <em>if</em> she could find the best enchantment.


    It was apparently a small terrarium in this simtion, but one that still had a faint ring of magic.


    Her infiltration training with Luna paid off well, because she quickly learned that the average person didnt know magic existed. Eventually, she learned the tells for the few scattered, hidden magical enves throughout the city. Vampires were the top of the literal and metaphorical food chain, which was nice, but a few other smaller magics still existed, with some hidden shops scattered amongst the mundane in the massive city. The first ce she visited wasnt nearly as fruitful as she had hoped it would be, however.


    Apologies, elder mistress, but this one does not know so much as where to start with something like this. But this one does rmend Ernests. They work on odds and ends and have a penchant for curiosities such as this.


    Thanking him, Liz followed his directions to find Ernests store, hidden behind an illusion of a brick wall.


    There, she found the man in question, a human magician, but his possible upgrade was less than ideal.


    All the man would be able to do was add the ability to automatically harvest and rent herbs inside.


    It was a useful effect, but one she could do without.


    Seeing she was unhappy with his upgrade, he sent her to a Mr. Vistraina, a vampire who specialized in making support and nonbat items.


    From there, she was sent to Walter''s Emporium, but even he had nothing she really wanted.


    That trend continued for two weeks, until she visited every shop the in the city that had even a small rtion to nonbat items.


    The final woman, Ga, shook her head. If youve already spoken to all of them, you have no one left. Standing up, she started to walk away, but paused. Though, you look like a high society girl. You can try Theophania; shes the best artificer in the city, but getting her to agree to amission is nearly impossible. She hasnt taken any in decades. She would rather drink and fuck than work, even ying with the <em>mundanes</em>, if you can believe it. But if you want the best, she''s it.


    Liz pursed her lips.


    This Theophania seemed ideal, if not for her personality, but Liz gathered her courage.


    She could do it.


    She just didnt want to.


    Finding a rental store, she got a nice evening gown and then crashed the party that Theophania was said to be hosting.


    And that she was.


    Theophania was a fish in water in the high society party. She talked, she drank, she fucked. She was everything Ga said she was. The only thing Liz didnt see her do during the evening was work.


    Oh she bragged endlessly, but she never actually <em>did anything</em>, preferring to hang on whoever was pretty and close.


    Sighing, Liz gathered her courage and entered the fray.


    Smiling and chatting, she mingled and declined endless invitations to head to one of the back rooms for a quick tumble.


    She didnt mind most political meetings or more somber parties, but this was too close to her younger days as a young princess to enjoy. While the parties had still been tame at her age, this was exactly what they turned into, and she had no desire to join in.


    Two hourster, she finally arrived at the table that Theophania was holding court at, and after mingling for a while, slipped in the request. She was sure to slip in the right codes to guarantee that the vampire knew she was magical.


    Theophania promptly shut Liz down. I only work when I want to. Psh. If that is all you want, leave.


    Liz expected this reaction, and didnt get upset. If she had more time, she could have set something more borate up, but she didnt care about her reputation or social standing here.


    So she went in with a wrecking ball. Ga said as much. You arent a has-been. Youre a never-was. Just coasting on your familys reputation, never actually doing the work.


    With the very unoriginal gauntlet thrown, Liz let the drama y out.


    There were a few scandalized gasps as some of the hangers-ons began teasing their posse leader. Some of them, Liz could tell, were in on magic, and those were the ones who really were leaning into giving thedy the most trouble.


    Eventually, Theophania held up a hand, silencing the nearby chatter, and her eyes glimmered red as she locked a predatory gaze upon Liz. Dont think I dont see what youre doing there, youngdy. Im not so base a target, but I suppose I am not so base as to truly deny a sister in blood such a heartfelt desire?


    She bared a fanged smile. Youve got good blood. Mingle a little, get a good drink, and afterwards well talk. Sample some of the mortals if you like. We have them so stuffed full of stimnts it can even affect us.


    Deal.


    Now, all Liz needed to do was survive a high-society party for a while. It wasnt <em>ideal</em>, but she had enough elegance and practice to not make a fool of herself.


    Eventually, the celebration wound down, and she returned to Theophania, with a young man hanging off her arm as they navigated to a backroom.


    Well, a bargain struck is a bargain struck. Ill take a look at your little project, but you need to do a few things for <em>me</em> first.


    Liz sighed, And they are?


    Oh, just a couple rivals who need elimination. Nothing a strong-bloodedss like yourself cant handle.


    And what can you do for this? Liz held out the terrarium, steadfastly doing her best to ignore the ever-decreasing amounts of clothing that the vampire and hertest victim were wearing.


    Hmm, well yes, I can work with this. I think I think I can make the nts inside grow more magical the longer theyre in there, assuming you have the magic to fuel them anyway. Almost like an afterthought, the woman added, Also, I think I can make it carry even more nts.


    Trantion, nts in the terrarium would Tier up, to a maximum of her Tier, at least while they were growing. On top of that, the ntable space would grow with each Tier, more than it already was.


    That was actually pretty good, Liz decided after some thought. There werent many ways to get some rarer nts at higher Tiers, so having her own private supply of at-Tier ingredients was certainly wee.


    Not bad.


    Not bad? Darling, Im the <em>best</em>.


    Liz raised an eyebrow at the woman, but didnt challenge her. Im sure you are, but I want to make sure that youlle through on your end of the bargain. Ill go off and n out my assassinations while you work on this. She patted the terrarium and continued, And when Ie back, see that its done, and only <em>then</em> will I do your actual dirty work.


    Hmm. Very well, just leave it here and Ill get it done in the next couple of days. Dont forget your part of the deal now.


    Just tell me who to kill.


    Of course, darling, the naked vampire drawled, scribbling out some notes on a nearby sheet of paper, then thrust it at Liz all without interrupting her other business. I shall see you in a few days.


    About two days after that meeting, Liz found the world fade around her, and she smiled. Theophania had finished the upgrade, it seemed, and that concluded the challenge.


    The race was on now.


    <em>Floor five, here wee.</em>

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197


    Matts spiritual sense didnt even have enough time to properly register what was in the safe room before he rolled to the right. At the same time, Susannes and Aster''s AI linked with his own, giving him a wealth of information.


    He came out of his initial dodge and kept sprinting to the right while arrows and spells peppered his newly-resummoned [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    He appeared next to the ns gathering point, so while the attacks werent absent, they werent full-on either.


    Thankfully, once he neared the Empires portion of the safe area, he was able to slow to a walk and join his Powers side.


    This wasnt a surprise, and it was exactly why they set up this contingency before they left.


    The first people into the safe room would be those that weren''t going for the theme reward. While that poption predominantly featured Tier 14s, it also included a fair number of Tier 12s and 13s from the other seasons that just wanted <em>out</em>, whether or not they had enough for the exit reward.


    With the exception of the Sects, each Great Power had managed to convince enough of the people that were exiting to stick around for three hours in their own territory. If only to give additional protection to those taking the theme challenge as they reoriented themselves to their real bodies.


    There would be no repeats of the previous floors safe room if Matt could help it.


    Three hours, tranting to three months in-challenge, should be plenty for most people to get their upgrades and move on.


    Anyone who took longer than that was on their own.


    Matt noted that Liz wasnt here yet, which implied that she ran into some difficulty, but he wasnt overly worried.


    Jill wasnt out yet either, while Bradley was chatting with the first-ce solo winner of his own Tier 10 tournament, Statue.


    The woman was a metal mage as well, but had gotten a [Metal Body] ability far earlier than Bradley, and had used the impressive amount of control she had over the nigh-invincible state to great effect.


    Statue saw Matt appear, and after inspecting him and nodding, she turned her attention back to the surrounding Great Powers.


    Aster exuded smugness at her growth items upgrade, but as they had decided to lean into the idea that she was Susannes bond, didnt jump into his arms.


    All of them wanted to show off their new abilities, of course, but by prior agreement, they would hold off until all four of them were together.


    He did feel out the Boon settled into his spirit, familiarizing himself with it. It felt like well, like a new limb. Something that hadnt been there before but was wholly one with him.


    Its effects surprised him though. He had gotten a far stronger reward than what they had recorded. Hed expected a better than average reward but something this good was beyond his expectations even after single-handedly powering the faction to victory but there were harsh diminishing returns on the favor to final Boon conversion so he hadnt expected anything quite so impactful.


    Matt had heard that very rarely, an upgraded [Maniption] skill could gain a truly incredible amount of finesse and feedback while bing almost free to use, and he was reminded of that as he tried out his new abilities.


    [Ice Maniption], [Air Maniption], and [Shadow Maniption] still cost the normal amount to use, but they were responsive in a way hed never felt before.


    As a quick test to check the changes he could fell, he made himself an finger sized ice sculpture of a songbird, and found that not only was he able to effortlessly imbue it with detailing on each feather, but he could make the ice flex and flow in a way that it could p its wings and fly like a real bird without cracking and shattering like normal ice.


    There was more to it as well, but before he could experiment and find out how else the Boon had impacted his skills, Liz appeared right outside the Federations territory and was bombarded by attacks. Fortunately, when people were put into the spatially expandable safe area, it was a good distance away from other people, so no one would appear inside anyone''s formations. Thanks to the degree of separation, Liz was easily able to escape the attacks and join the Empires group. With her there, the four of them wasted no time in racing to the pir leading them to the next floor, and were quickly whisked away in a swirl of motion.


    ***


    Luna was watching a woman celebrate exiting Minka after an inspiration to Tier 15 when she felt the ripples of space fluctuate around all eight Great Powers moons, and ripped a hole through reality at the same time.


    She and every other high Tier were caught off guard at the sudden influx that implied that the fourth floor had been conquered. Normally, that took at least six months when there were only <em>two</em> courts. A two-court fourth floor was unlikely. And even then, it had only been three months.


    Something had happened, and she had a good inkling of what exactly it was.


    She and Carol moved, appearing in the midst of a small crowd of iing cultivators and diverting more teams to the space she had chosen, until she had about a hundred in total. She gave her chosen mouthpieces a few moments to orient themselves to being outside of Minka before she <em>spoke</em>, with her Domain leaving no room for misinterpretation or dy.


    Exin exactly what happened. All at once and leave nothing out. To ensure there wouldn''t be anyints, she pulled a Tier 20 mana stone out of one of her spatial rings for each of them, and ced her bribe in front of each respective volunteer.


    It only took a second for all of them to start rambling over each other.


    At Tier 43, she had no issues hearing and dissecting each and every one of the delvers stammering, cutting out the wasteful information, and gathering the pertinent bits she wanted.


    She felt a smile creep over her face as she got a jist of the situation.


    The children had gotten a four seasons theme for Courtly Warfare, beyond perfect for Aster.


    As more people chattered, she started to paint a better picture.


    Seemingly out of nowhere, Winter had attacked Spring and took the city in a surprise ambush.


    They thought it was a fluke, but the season had a general before anyone else, and then turned and attacked Fall.


    While it had been a harder fight, they had defeated a General in a great battle that wrecked a sizable portion of the city.


    That information caught her attention, and an eyebrow rose as she heard of the General''s prowess.


    The pinnacle fighters having most of an Intent was stronger than usual, but nothing she hadnt seen before in a Courtly Warfare floor. Minka never made any monster stronger than Tier 14, which meant if it wanted to make a real challenge, it was limited in its ability to do so.


    It also couldnt, or at least had never, made a monster with a full Intent, but making monsters with somebination of Phrase, Image, and Anchor wasnt unusual. Though a monster of that ilk appearing at floor four was rare indeed and a monster with a <em>strong</em> pseudo Intent was unheard of on the fourth floor.


    Still, from the babbling of the cultivators who exited, she was able to determine that her charges were part of the team that defeated the General, and that they hadnt taken any casualties.


    Susanne and her Queen identity had been identified and targeted, but she was alive and well. While unfortunate, her cover beingpromised was entirely expected. She wouldve been hard pressed to kill <em>everyone</em> who saw her Concept manifestation.


    She kept an ear out for anyone talking about a blood mage, but no one mentioned it, which meant that Liz had managed to remain hidden thus far, which was good.


    It wouldve been better if she had stuck to fire skills, but with the talk of a water mage fighting the general, she suspected that the girl needed to bring out her real skills, even if hidden. Though she couldn''t be certain of that as water mages were all toomon of an archetype to identify one of them as Liz from the third or fourth hand descriptions.


    There were rumors that Quill had been in the fight as a massive ice spell she recognized was used to battle the General but that seemed more rumor than fact and she had fully expected the children to be pegged for their masked identities.


    That was their purpose after all.


    With her curiosity sated, she provided each of them with their promised mana stone and allowed them to go on their way. They could now go Tier up and enjoy their immortality. The smart ones would buckle down and progress as fast as possible, but that wasnt any of her concern.


    The children were.


    And things were going well on that front. Now they just needed to see what thetter half of Minka would throw at them.


    She chuckled as she thought of the fact that Kurt and April might miss theming out because of the incredibly fast fourth floor.


    With a flex of her Domain, she returned to her house and her vigil, Carol joining her a momentter.


    This time, she was in a much better mood. Her little monsters were growing up and showing their fangs.


    Killing a peak Tier 14 with most of an Intent?


    Winning Courtly Warfare in a fraction of the normal time?


    Her smile only grew as she thought over the debrief she would get when they came out.


    She could <em>not</em> be more pleased.


    ***


    When theynded, Matt cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Bulwark], preparing for any attacks, but none came.


    He noticed what was wrong at the same time as everyone else.


    Their skills were slowly, but noticeably bing more expensive.


    Dropping his active skills, Matt cursed, but Aster said it first with a sad whine. Taxing Skills confirmed.


    That reminded him to drop his AI and he knew he wouldnt be able to understand his bond for the foreseeable future.


    Taxing Skills would increase the cost of their skills the more they used them, and Minka had the habit of throwing huge groups of monsters at people to force skill usage. Fortunately, none of them werepletely dependent on skills, like a pure mage would be, though Aster was the worst off. Bloodlines and Concepts werent affected, which, in their case, just lowered the burden that Aster and Liz would need to put on their mana for their skills.


    Still, the reward would be <em>very</em> useful. Especially for Matt.


    At this depth and Tier, Matt expected to get three extra Core skill slots, fifteen Inner ones, and forty Outer slots from the reward, and not a second too soon. Constantly delving fully-charged rifts meant that they were flush with skills, and Luna expected him in particr to be proficient with <em>so</em> many of them. Most of his Maniption skills were in his Outer Spirit, and if he could just bring a handful of those into his Inner Spirit, hed already be much better off.


    There were only a few other floors that Matt would rather have gotten over Taxing Skills for its reward. Its floor restriction on the other hand was going to pose a serious challenge.


    Liz tapped her leg and asked, Chances Minka shuts down our talismans again?


    Matt thought for a moment as he scanned their surroundings. Not sure. I think a total shutdown is unlikely, but they might get less effective if we overuse the same ones.


    They were in a narrow corridor with brass walls covered in tubing boxing them in on each side, but it was open to a dull, violet sky above. Matt flexed his Concept, trying to get airborne, but his feet stayed nted on the ground.


    Cant fly with my Concept. Cover me as I try a flying device.


    As Matt spoke, the other three changed positions to cover him, but it turned out to be useless.


    The instant he brought his flying sword out, it ttered to the ground.


    Liz looked back and cursed. Abyrinth? Fuck me sideways. Well, this is quite the pickle.


    Matt couldnt help but agree. Labyrinth rifts and ruins were annoying at the best of times, let alone in Minka, when time was of the essence.


    Susanne shrugged. It could be worse. At minimum, we shouldnt need too many skills for a maze, and at best, we might be able to totally bypass it.


    Liz was already one step ahead of them, feeding an essence stone into their seekerpass and waiting for it to settle. Matt, meanwhile, pulled out the key theyd found at the same time, seeing if it had any resonance with their surroundings. It didnt, so it returned to his ring a momentter.


    Aster pointed out the problem with theirpass even though Liz had to trante, How much could it really help? Pointing to the most valuable thing may almost be <em>bad</em>, because of how many treasures would be in the middle of this ce. And even then, it wont tell us the correct path.


    Liz sighed as she put down thepass and asked, Well, how did everyone do with their upgrades and Boons? Everyone get something good?


    As they went around and exined their upgrades, Matt inspected his own sword. As the old man Jeffrey said, he was able to change his weapon''s enchantments with a thought. Or rather, it was like the de in his hand had two different spirits that he could swap out at will.


    It was something like flipping a switch, and when he did, the melee-focused abilities that he had enchanted the de with vanished to show his longsword clean and pristine.


    A little poking around the weapons enchantment capacity also revealed that he had more room to enchant his weapon than he had before, even if it was rtively minor inparison to the ability to swap enchantment sets all together.


    Im going to need a little bit of time to enchant my weapon once more. I can store two forms now, but the second one is nk. I got more room with the upgrade too, so Ill need to re-enchant the first form anyway.


    Liz looked around at the gleaming walls. How long do you need?


    Matt thought for a second before saying, Give me five hours. I want to fix the de up half decently, since it can help counter spells getting more expensive. But I dont want to take the half a day that it would normally take to really n everything out correctly. Thinking about it some more, he changed his mind. Actually, I dont want to change the current enchantments with the floor theme. So, for now, Ill just add spells to the other side.


    Before he got too far into it, he pulled out a stack of talismans and handed them out, saying, Attack talismans. He pulled out some of the items he had prepared for Minka in case they got this floor and continued, And attack items. The bracelets have simple [Mana Bolt] enchantments, but if we y it slow, it should be enough to not rely on our skills at all. I have staves with more varied skills. Let me know if you want them instead.


    Liz mirrored his action with a few potions. She didnt have that many universally applicable ones, but not many still wasnt none, and they could use all the versatility they could get.


    He wasnt willing to use his AI on this when it could be such a decisive advantage against other delvers in the very near future, but Luna had seen to it that he could make something worthwhile without it. A few additional spells added to his suite could help out immensely here, and it wasnt like they hadnt prepared for this floor beforehand.


    For the time being, Matt applied a few temporary enchantments to his de, free handing the runes required by copying them straight off of a spare staff. They werent his best work, not by a long shot, but theyd serve him well enough for the time being as a backup, just in case they ran into any more spatial locks.


    His first choice was [Fireball]. It was a simple spell that had endless uses, and he actually knew the rune form of the skill without the assistance of his AI, since he used it more than a few times with his talismans.


    His other choice was [Mana Barrier]. It wasnt a shy spell, but he wanted a defensive spell in case Minka decided that his use of talismans was cheating once more. As far as he knew, items were never hit with the same restrictions as consumables, and were the main way people dealt with the floor.


    Matt finished up with a bit of a grimace. It was <em>far</em> from his best work, and half the runework had a decent shot of blowing out, even if Minka <em>didnt</em> impose any restrictions on them. But he didnt want to hold them up any longer. His crafting skills were already taking up a truly <em>obscene</em> amount of mana with each cast as Minka began exacting its toll. The others had spent the time familiarizing themselves with their Boons and new growth item features as well, but none of them could <em>really</em> afford to waste skill casts at the moment.


    Further unfortunately, none of them had gotten any Boons or growth item upgrades that would help them in this situation. Lizs Boon gave her skills something of a mental effect which made it harder for people to notice they were bleeding or feel the wounds that her blood inflicted on them, Aster got the ability to affect more kinds of ice with [Ice Maniption] in a way that Matt didnt fully understand but was assured was quite important, and Susanne gained the ability to cut light with her Concept sword, making herself invisible for brief periods of time.


    Matt still hadnt figured out what his Boon did beyond the upgrades to his Maniption skills but he could feel it was there.


    Still, they would make do. It was a slow trek, asbyrinths and traps were nearly synonymous, and none of them were crazy enough to walk forward without checking for danger.


    Liz took point, using her elephant summon to lead the way in the hopes it would trigger any weight-based traps. Matt, meanwhile, used a fifteen-foot pole to probe suspicious-looking spots while Susanne and Aster watched their rear, keeping an eye out for illusions.


    It didnt take them long to encounter their first trap.


    As the elephant walked over a seemingly normal spot of floor, there was a loud crack in the air as a flurry of spikes appeared embedded in the wall, causing a few metal chips to ping against Matts armor and causing the elephant to dissipate in a burst of mana. The holes they had flown out of definitely hadnt been there a second ago.


    Considering that Matt couldnt even scratch the wall with [Metal Maniption], those spikes werent normal, and neither was the trap.


    Carefully, he tried to use the holes they created to get a grip on the walls of thebyrinth, but once more, his spell slipped off as if it wasnt metal at all.


    Susanne whistled. Well fuck that. How quick was that attack? A millionth of a second? No way to react to that at our Tier.


    Matt shrugged; he simply didnt have an answer for her. None of them kept their AI running, as even reserve AI would slowly increase in cost, so wasting that build up time would be stupid this early.


    After checking the area for even more traps, they found nothing, and they stopped to look at the trap''s mechanism.


    Even after checking the holes in the wall with a mirror and seeing they were empty, Matt felt incredibly ufortable being in front of them. Thankfully, they werent attacked when they removed the spikes or when they passed the holes in the wall.


    To their surprise, when they passed the danger zone, they actually felt a small stream of Genesis Energy flow into them from the walls of thebyrinth.


    Being rewarded for passing the trap sessfully wasnt unheard of, but it was surprising.


    It also caused their wariness to increase a hundredfold. The mirror that had broken every illusion they encountered beforehand didnt even react, which meant that the traps werent hidden with magic. Either that, or they were simply <em>stronger</em> than the mirror. Matt added on a possibility after a little thought; Minka could just be suppressing the mirror to ensure that its challenge waspleted without their bypassing the true nature of the test.


    Matt shifted his grip on his stick and moved forward, checking each step until they had walked hundreds of feet forward in the in, concrete hall.


    It felt like an eternity, but they eventually found themselves at a crossroad as the path they were walking ended suddenly, prompting Aster to hop up and make a mark on the wall with a bit of chalk.


    Everyone looked at Liz as she consulted her sphericalpass. Its pointing in a sort of right direction.


    She hadnt sent her elephant more than half a dozen feet down the new corridor when a stream of me came out from the floor, scorching and burning the elephant half to death before it managed to escape.


    They shared a nce as Liz dismissed and re-conjured her summon, and Matt tapped the newly-revealed rune with his pole, prompting another plume of fire.


    Liz retrieved a few handfuls of dirt from her spatial garden and tossed it onto the ground. With a pulse of his Concept, Matt sent the loose soil skittering across the ground, unveiling a checkered pattern of runes across the floor.


    Liz took the lead, with her phoenix bloodline giving her the best chance of skill-less fire resistance. She tiptoed across the safe zones with a [Water Bubble] talisman clenched in her hand, reaching the other side after only a few hair-raising moments.


    Before the others followed, they double-checked that the runes hadnt moved, which, they were happy to see, had not. With Matt and Susannes superior physical cultivation, jumping between safe zones was eminently doable.


    Once they had reached the far side, Aster whined and tapped her paw twice on the floor, indicating that she had something she wanted to say. Susanne pulsed her AI on to receive the message, and smiled as she tranted, All this stress is bad for my fur. Can we go back to killing monsters?


    Matt fully agreed. He was decidedly <em>not</em> having fun with this ruin.


    It seemed that Aster had jinxed them, as not long after she said that, a horde of Tier 14 kobolds came bursting out of the wall and attacked them.


    Seeing them, Matt cursed the other portion of this floor theme and how it changed their encounters. Monsters woulde in packs to push them towards using spells in their engagements.


    Matt cast three [Fireball]s with his sword before he swapped the form over into his old melee enchantments.


    Cutting down, he cursed the fact he hadnt left either [Mana sh] or [Mana Charge] in the melee form, as he was reduced to using his sword as a mundane de while casting [Mana Bolt]s with the bracelet on his left wrist.


    Thankfully, he and Susanne were able to fight the monsters with assistance from Liz and Aster as they cast basic spells from behind.


    The kobolds did have spells of their own, but Matt and Susanne both had plenty of experience fighting the little monsters. Despite them being Tier 14 inside Minka, they didnt have any new tricks; just their normal arsenal of [Mana w], [Bite], and [Fire Breath]. With that small collection of spells, as long as they were on their toes and ready to dodge, they were able to retreat and avoid every attack.


    Which was exactly how they handled the two dozen little monsters. With Liz and Aster watching their retreat to prevent ambushes, and keeping them out of the me runes, they were as safe as possible while also not using any spells that would increase in cost.


    Matt did use his gauntlets twice to prevent attacks fromnding on Susanne, and his own repulsive field once when he was too slow in dodging, but they still made it out of the fight without taking a single hit, which he considered a win.


    As they cleaned up the battlefield, Matt smiled as they got four essence stones, two items, specifically a spear and a ring, and a skill. For being nearly swarm level, the monsters were generous with their deaths.


    Aster chortled as she used the mirror to inspect the area the monsters hade from, where a hissing, mechanical room expanded from thebyrinth''s normal tight corridors, and a decentlyrge metal box sat conspicuously in the center.


    Inside sat a greataxe enchanted with [Mana sh] and [Acrobats Finesse], which Liz tossed into her ring alongside what the kobolds themselves dropped, forter depositing into their loot vault.


    After about a day of maze-hunting, Liz called their attention to herpass, which was flickering between two different directions as though it couldnt decide which was more valuable.


    Matt wasnt surprised that theyd run into another group- floor 5 was <em>small</em>, usually about the size of an average moon- but that they had both appeared in the same ruin as them was a bit unusual.


    Carefully, they crept up to the intersection and checked for traps, not wanting to use the elephant in the hopes of not giving away their presence.


    They didnt find any, but Matt used a small mirror to check around the corner. A few hundred feet down the corridor, there was a team of Monster Collective delvers.


    Two were beasts, a very obvious lion and a deer, while the two humans with them were basic, as those things went.


    Pulling back, they had a whispered conversation and decided to announce themselves in the hope of avoiding a fight, which was likely to happen if they kept quite this close to the other team.


    Liz directed her elephant to audibly approach the intersection, its footfalls preceding its entry to the intersection of the two corridors. Once it actually entered into the open space, a voice called out in the beastnguage, Who is there?


    Liz responded in the Empire standard, Empire delvers.


    There was a long silence, but eventually, the same voice called out and Liz tranted for them, We don''t want a fight. Who moves first?


    You can go ahead, and we''ll move back into our corridor further so theres no suspicion, Liz called back, directing her elephant to return to them.


    It took a few seconds, but the other voice called out, Ok, that works.


    After the lion checked that they had in fact moved back with a quick peek around the corner, the team moved across the hall after checking the ground for traps.


    The four of them waited until they couldnt hear the group moving forward anymore.


    Matt used his pole to stretch the mirror around the corner, where they met eyes with the four delvers who had decided to wait in ambush.


    With their trap exposed, Matt opened the fight with a pair of talismans, bathing the corridor in mes as he cast [Fireball] through his sword. The deers antlers sucked in the fire and came alive, flickering like they themselves were red-gold tongues of me.


    Then, the fire rebounded, and a wall of red-gold fire flew down the corridor at them.


    Matt gritted his teeth and cast [Bulwark], blocking the attack in exchange for functionally weakening the skill for the rest of the floor.


    Then, he let the barrier fall, and he and Susanne rushed forward, using their physical boosts to close the distance. Susanne pushed past him with a burst of wind, her sword aimed at the lion. It dodged the attack and pounced on Matt with a single movement, ws glowing, but Matt sidestepped the attack with a flickered teleport and brought his sword down on the lions head.


    Flesh and bone split under his blow even as he flicked bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] for half a second, blocking the knife the second human was driving into his ribs.The secondyer of his spell blocked the attack, and his gauntleted fist hit the man in the face, crumpling his helmet and sending him tumbling into the wall.


    Susanne engaged the deer, blocking a pair of attacks before swinging her sword in an odd way that seemed to obscure Matts view of her, vanishing into thin air.


    A [Blood Bullet] from Liz whizzed by him and struck the deer on the nk. It didnt react, preupied as it was with looking for Susanne and bathing everything in front of it with golden mes, but it still met its end a momentter as she appeared behind it, grabbed a hind leg, and hacked it in half with a few brutal chops with her sword.


    The final man tried to run, but Matt made a quick calction and shot him with a [Cracked Mana Spear].


    There was no retreat after trying to kill his people.


    After the man fell, he got back up to his knees, but a [Mana Bolt] from Aster caught him in the heart and through his spine, ending his life.


    Kicking the lion''s body, Matt asked, Why be greedy? We were nicer than most. Fucking idiots.


    He knew why, but he was still angry.


    The Monster Collective wasnt hostile to the Empire, which didnt even give them the excuse that the Republic, Sects, or Federation cultivators had. They were just greedy, and confident in theirbat prowess.


    Too confident, as it turned out.


    Grabbing the lion''s body, he felt around the mane and looked for the spatial item that he assumed was there.


    It was a ne, as he suspected, and he sent a thought into it to find a rtively normal assortment of items for beasts, along with a number of natural treasures and other items from Minka.


    Aster ripped a simr ne from the deer as Liz came back with the ring and gear of the man who he shot.


    Can you help me? The antlers have some special metal on them, and it seems like I cant just pull it off.


    Matt wasnt happy with mutting a sapient''s body for their items, but he still brought out a small hand saw and cut the antlers at the skull. If they didnt take it, Minka would just eat the items, and he really wanted to know if the antlers and their fire absorbent properties were a natural treasure, or something more ephemeral.


    He continued his search for whatever thepass had been pointing for, and found a loaded skill shard holster. His curiosity got the better of him, and he pulsed his AI to try and identify it. Annoyingly, it took a few seconds before his AI returned any results, pulling up a secondary data pack that Kurt had passed him in preparation for Minka.


    [Kartan Greets his Foes] was an air-aspected area debuff skill, usually only found in the Monster Collective, but had been picked out as especially good for Aster. It was like the opposite of [Tailwind], inhibiting the motion of enemies even if they tried to use their Concept to part the air in front of them.


    He happily tossed the shard to Aster as he continued his search, eventuallying on to a small ruby containing an even smaller me within. None of them recognized it, but it was packed with enough essence to warrantter inspection.


    The humans didnt have anything so impressive on them, so the four of them continued their trek into thebyrinth.


    After another day of spotting and avoiding traps, fighting monsters, and navigating the maze, theirpass suddenly started spinning like it couldnt figure out where it ought to point. It took about an hour, but they eventually uncovered a hidden trapdoor set into the floor below them, opened by turning a nearby pipe knob three and a half times exactly.


    It swung open, revealing a lush, green room containing a single,rger bush sitting atop a small hill. It bore a single ckberry streaked with a lighter purple.


    Liz was the first to say something, though from Asters whines, she probably had recognized it about the same time. Oh! A void ckberry! Thats a nice find.


    A what now? Susanne poked her head in.


    A void ckberry, Liz repeated with a smile, before relenting and borating. It helps with internal void resistance. Lots of people with void-aspected bloodlines or who otherwise have void affinity can suffer from health problems, but void ckberries help mitigate them a lot, actually. Its also key in a lot of potions and enchantments that utilize void mana, makes them more resilient and less likely to corrode. <em>Really</em> good alchemists can even brew void resistance potions from them. So yeah, its nice and valuable.


    Matt quipped, Also, the vor is apparently divine. Im almost tempted to take a nibble just to find out what all the fuss is about. It wouldnt lose much from one single drupelet missing Id bet.


    Liz whirled on him. Dont you dare!


    Heughed, Im kidding, Im kidding. None of us would do that. That means you, Aster.


    He nudged the fox away from the trapdoor before her drool could drip down onto the bush below, and she tapped twice on the ground while yipping. Liz tranted her message this time, It smells like cold and sharpness and ice and nothingness and ice cream and


    Liz dropped down into the room below, carefully coaxing the bush into her garden orb. In the instant before it vanished into the expanded greenhouse, it dropped its fruit into Lizs hand. He couldnt tell if the bush itself had survived- natural treasures were notoriously difficult to transnt and grow- but he hoped it had. Maybe Liz would be able to crossbreed it with normal ckberries, preserving the vor if not the magical effects.


    He was <em>really</em> curious about what made it taste so good.


    Reaching down he gave Liz a hand back into the mainbyrinth, and they carried on their quest for the exit.

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198


    Matt walked through an alley and shied away from the shadows that reached out to try and touch him. It was just an instinct, but something told him that if he allowed the shadows to touch him, hed never be able to leave.


    At first, it was easy to casually walk along, but with each step he took, it became harder and harder to progress. Soon, he was jumping and flipping, using every bit of his Tier 1000 bodys prowess to avoid the grasping shadows.


    Just as the shadows were about to finally entrap him, he felt someone push him from the side, and he woke up with a start.


    Liz had her face buried into her pillow and murmured, Bad dream. Tossing and turning.


    Matt kissed her forearm draped across his chest, then slipped out from under it and into the living room.


    There, he found Aster standing guard. Which meant she was curled around a carton of ice cream and using her spiritual perception to watch their surroundings.


    With their shielding, their house was nearly impervious from attacks, but <em>nearly </em>impervious wasnt enough this deep in Minka.


    Aster felt him arrive then whined in what he interpreted as a question, and he quietly exined, Weird nightmare. I was super strong but trapped in an alley, and shadows were trying to trap me forever. So yeah, Ill give you somepany for a bit until I settle down.


    His bond picked up her ice cream and settled into hisp, where he brushed her fur while she ate her treat.


    While he sat there, he contemted his dream and the implications it carried, and what they said about himself.


    If his fading memories of the dream were right, he had been something like Tier 1000, and impossibly strong. But despite all that power, he had still been cornered and captured like a mundane human, in the end.


    He interpreted the dream as his brain trying to reconcile the danger of Minka and the realization that eventually, the Emperor and other high Tier people like Luna wouldnt be able to protect him. Soon, he would be in danger everywhere he went, in every waking moment.


    Minka was the first time since he had gotten a manager that his life was in immediate danger, and there was no one who could pull him out of the fire if it got too hot.


    The idea of death had never been far, but Matt and his team had been seriously wounded, and now, they were on a floor where they could actually run out of mana for their skills if they weren''t careful.


    Even his Talent couldn''t fix the issue when the cost of a skill became more than an entire mana pool.


    This floor had the possibility of being a hard stop for them, if they weren''t careful.


    It was a degree of danger that Matt had known about but hadn''t really conceptualized as he should have.


    But while they were in Minka, there was nothing they could do but push through. So, after he mulled over the feelings he was left with, he did his best to push them out of his mind.


    Without his AI to trante Asters yips, he was forced to rely on their bond, but they didnt really need any more than that. She wasforting him, and wanted him to know that it was just a bad dream, which was quite appreciated. The follow up thoughts of her wanting a warm brownie with her ice cream were also meant tofort him, he was sure.


    Aster didnt have a selfish bone in her body after all. Not a single one.


    They were watching a movie when Susanne came out to take over the guard shift, and Matt took the opportunity to go back to sleep himself.


    After brewing Susanne some coffee, he slipped back into bed with Liz and the leg cooler that was Aster.


    When he woke up the second time, after a dreamless nap, they set off quickly after a small bite to eat.


    The second level of this floor was better than the maze they had been stuck in, but the waves of rats that they were up against had forced them to dip into their spell usage, despite their trying to rely mostly on items.


    It could have been worse, admittedly. The rats were swarm monsters, and were quite weak individually, meaning Liz could just cast [Blood Sprites] and allow the multiplying nature of the spell to wipe out most of the horde.


    Even then, they had to deal with the next wave as they pushed forward, which quickly made the tactic untenable. Though, after clearing an area of the rats, they were able to slowly bait the rest into the room and finish them off in smaller numbers that they could safely handle.


    Susanne got to test out [Crescent Sweep] for the first time, and she seemed to deeply enjoy the ability to make her sword spin through dozens of rats at a time. The ability to summon a second copy of her manifestation and use <em>that</em> for a potent short ranged attack, while also attacking normally, would catch a lot of people off guard.


    After they finished thebyrinth ruin and entered a forest, they decided to retreat and take a break for a few hours to get some sleep.


    Without their buffing spells, they were spending more energy with each fight, and without [Endurance], they were unable to magically purge the exhaustion from their bodies either.


    They could use potions to help, but that would burn through their limited supply, and even potions couldnt be used one after another without side effects.


    So they went without.


    It slowed them down a little, but everyone should have nearly the same problems and restrictions.


    As they moved into the forest, Matt gripped his sword with one hand, and his staff in his off-hand, prepared to cast spells the second something attacked them.


    Except, there was nothing.


    As they sped up slightly, they discovered the aftermath of battle in the form of trampled trees and shrubbery, but it had been long enough ago that Minka already reimed everything.


    At nearly the same time, they felt a bright beacon of Genesis Energy ahead of them, like a shining star to their spiritual sense, as soon as they came into range. It felt like one single person, but they couldnt be too sure.


    It took the four of them nearly half an hour, but eventually, they encountered the nude man that they had seen in the second floor''s safe room, fighting a swarm of monkeys with various colored fur.


    Not wanting to seem like they were going to attack him, they stopped and watched. As they did so, Matt whistled.


    The man was a fantastic fighter, which he would have to be without any weapons or armor.


    Each attack missed him by inches; the man was just a bit faster than all of his opponents, and somehow was able to keep track of the entire troop during the skirmish.


    After dodging the dozen or so monkeys'' attacks for roughly fifteen seconds, he finallyunched his own counter attack, and his fistshed out like a falling meteor that sought to wipe out all life on the.


    As his fistnded, all of the monkeys exploded at the same time in a disy of gore.


    Even before the bodies hit the ground, he spun and faced them.


    In the corporationnguage, he asked something, but seeing their non reaction, he changed to the Republicansnguage. Seeing their nk stares, he finally asked in perfect Empire, Is there something I can help you with?


    Once more, Matt was surprised. The mans Empire was textbook perfect, despite the man not using an AI to trante, which was impressive. Even Luna hadnt bothered to teach them the other Great Powersnguages beyond a few key words, having considered it a waste of their limited time.


    The man seemed to be avoiding confrontation by denying anyone the ability to determine where he was from, which was an interesting strategy. Few people would be willing to attack members of their own nation; national loyalty ran strong in many cultivators, so usible deniability on his origin would at the least give people pause. Just like what was happening now.


    Matt assumed that the man must have a spatial storage imnted in his body somewhere, as there would be no way that anyone would be willing to go through Minka without the ability to carry items around. In addition to being a waste of loot, all of the growth item floors wouldnt do anything if one didnt have an item to use them on.


    Liz shook her head. We were just looking for monsters to fight, and stumbled upon your battle.


    The man nodded and pointed to their right. From your direction, I assume you came from the rat caves? At Lizs nod, he continued, Theres a Horse-Lizard ruin that way, if you wish. Or if you would rather fight for this ruin, I will wee your challenge.


    Liz shook her head. Not necessary. Well take our leave then.


    Having said that, the four of them turned and started walking in the indicated direction, while keeping a portion of their spiritual sense on the nude man. He didnt make any aggressive moves, and after they passed through the treeline, he simrly turned around and moved deeper into the ruin.


    As they moved in the direction he had indicated, they were attacked by a few of the monkeys that hadn''t been defeated by the naked man, and they slowly killed their way forward.


    Upon reaching the dividing line between ruins, the surroundings went from a lush forest to a grassy in, where they found a herd of horses with scales and long, thick tails.


    Matt shot a [Mana Bolt] at the nearest one, and the entire herd of twenty turned on them and started charging. If it had been a normal rush forward, that would have been fine, but they all used [Charge] to elerate their mad dash. They seemed to be <em>pouring</em> mana into the skill, because they continued to run even faster as they came closer, each step carrying them further than thest.


    Matt and the others simply took to the sky, and used the height advantage to kill the monsters that tried to curve upward with their Concepts. While [Charge] was a dangerous move, it had the weakness of making it hard to change one''s direction, and they ruthlessly took advantage of that fact.


    Sadly, the horse lizards werent mindless beasts. Seeing that their first collective charge only yield aerial counterattacks, they canceled their spells and turned in various directions before trying once more to use [Charge] and attack them. Being in the air and having three different attack vectors to worry about increased the threat of the horses advance, but Matt and his team didnt have any issues in dodging the monsters, even without their AI tracking them.


    There were a few close calls, but they finished the horses off and started to loot the items they dropped, when all four of them felt the new arrivals with their spiritual senses. A group of ten people came out from the forest and immediately started casting spells directed at them.


    Matt didnt hesitate to cast [Bulwark], relying on the spell to defend his allies. Even still, he was staggered by the damage that the spells did to his own. Their attackers werent holding anything back in their initial bombardment.


    Aster immediately cast [Hail] and used the ice as a screen to cover the follow up attacks, while gathering the ice on the ground and sending it forward at the their attackers in a small wave.


    Their attackers split at the sight of the wave, and in two groups of five, tried to nk and pincer them. But Matt and Aster broke off to face one group, while Liz and Susanne held off the other.


    A five versus two wasnt impossible, but it would be a hard fight, and Matt disregarded any concept of rationing his spells usage during the engagement.


    As he closed in on the group, an arrow glowing with silver mana raced towards him, but he summoned a shield from his spatial ring and used it to block the attack. He was forced to toss the shield away with his Concept, as he felt a sense of danger from the arrow. Before it did anything, he quickly pushed it into the group of enemy cultivators. Half a secondter, it exploded in a blinding sh, which unfortunately didnt seem to harm the other group.


    That forced them to scatter, and he charged at the closest attacker, a woman who was blocking for her team with a massive tower shield.


    Matt wasnt willing to deal with these people, and quickly pped a talisman on the shield before deflecting their retaliatory attack with his sword. Spinning, he rushed to where two of the attackers were trying to overwhelm Aster.


    The fox in question was darting around the battlefield, keeping a number of their enemies tied up in fending off her [Snowblind] afterimages, which were empowered by a fog of snowing from her tiara.


    Using that slight distraction to his advantage, Matt drove his sword forward in a lunge that skittered off the armor of the shortsword wielder.


    The other woman tried to rush Aster, but was met with a snowke the size of her chest that appeared and impaled her, then started to spin and cut through the woman like a saw de.


    That seemed to earn the group''s ire, and while a healer went to see to their mutted teammate, two of the others tried to attack Aster in retaliation.


    Seeing the womans body start to pull itself together, Mattshed out at the healer with a [Mana sh], but one of the men attacking Aster threw themselves in front of the crescent of mana, trying to protect their healer.


    Seeing his attack blocked, Matt started casting [Shield Shatter], and allowed a few hundred mana to flow into the spell before he brought the de down on the man''s shield.


    The resulting explosion sent the man flying, gravely injured, but he wasnt dead. To make matters worse, the healer had already repaired most of the obvious damage for the first woman who Aster nearly killed.


    The same woman punched out at Matt and broke one of his ribs with the strike, despite the protection from [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor.


    Caught by surprise, Matt dodged the next attack, and was about to bring his longsword around at the woman when he caught an arrow in his arm that interrupted his swing.


    Cursing, he pulled back and tossed a half dozen [Fireball] talismans out of his spatial ring and activated them with a thought.


    The streams of fire went in nearly every direction, and seemed like a chaotic and uncoordinated attack that would miss each of the attackers. But Matt used [Fire Maniption], and at thest second, caused all of the spells to turn and m into them.


    That earned him a second of reprieve, and gave Aster a second to cast [Ice Spear] at the healer, who was recoiling from the ball of fire that had just hit her in the chest.


    The shard of ice exploded inside her from Asters [Shatter], and Matt ensured that the woman was dead with a swipe of his de. Unfortunately, he had had to take a [Shield Bash] to the arm in order to secure the kill.


    The woman who Aster nearly killed with her giant snowke tried to punch Matt in the side again, but he kicked out and tried to break her overextended knee, only to find her body was made out of what felt like concrete.


    With his failed attack, he caught a punch to the face and felt his jaw pop out of ce, spitting out a tooth a momentter.


    Despite that, he didnt allow the pain to overwhelm him, and quickly brought his longsword up and around, cutting the woman''s arm off at the elbow.


    The precisely aimed strike ignored the womans stronger than usual bones, and earned him some breathing room, which he used to twist and swing his sword around at the man who was rushing his rear.


    His [Mana sh] was cast at thest second, and he used its resulting explosion to tackle his remaining assant with a burst of [Mages Retreat]. With the extra boost, he was able to overpower the woman. He had to send more mana into the spell than he expected, as the woman was far stronger than he had initially thought.


    She felt like a Tier 14, despite only being a Tier 12, and when Matt felt her strength increase as she activated her own spell, he sent mana into his gravity gauntlets while morphing the firstyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor]s gauntlets into spikes.


    His fistnded on her like a falling star, brutalizing her face and shoving her nose into her brain, hopefully bypassing her abnormally tough bones. Quickly turning his gauntlets off, he repelled her head with his concept, then reversed the prity of the force tond a second blow that should have liquefied her brain. The finishing strike left him absolutely <em>covered</em> in blood and gore.


    Before he could revel in his victory, he had to deflect a glowing shield that sought to decapitate him, diverting it with his sword tond on the neck of the woman he had just killed.


    He had been taught well to never let a good blow go to waste.


    At the same time, he felt a burst of happiness from Aster, and an apanying burst of Genesis Energy, which told him that she had finally seeded in taking out the archer who had been peppering them.


    Regaining his footing and sliding back, Matt took a sh on his leg in order tosh out with a heavy chop that carved a furrow through the opposing mans breastte.


    With a moment of reprieve, Matt cast [Cracked Mana Trap] without any additional mana in order to dy the man for a few seconds while histest assants ally closed in on him.


    Even with that, he was forced to drop his de as the remaining woman tried to impale him with a short sword. Using both his Concepts repulsion effect and his forearm, he deflected the de upward and punched with everything he had.


    Matt felt a bone in his own fist break with the impact, but followed through with the attack properly, and felt the woman''s ribs give under his blow.


    Fighting defensively, he exchanged a few more attacks, buying Aster enough time toe back and change the fight from a two on one to a two on two. With her assistance, it only took them a few seconds to overwhelm their attackers and finish them off.


    Picking up his sword, Matt and Aster rushed over to help Liz and Susanne finish off their two remaining opponents.


    After a few bloody minutes, the final attackers fell, but they didnt go down without leaving a few injuries on the four of them.


    Aster had an arrow through her left rear leg, Liz had a set of needles that peppered her front like she had a run-in with a pin cushion, and Susanne was holding in her intestines in with her hand. She had nearly been gutted in the initial exchange, when a woman she cut didnt go down as expected.


    Matt had to gesture at his jaw to get Lizs assistance in setting the bone back in ce with a pop.


    He was just about to thank her when a group of five rushed out of the forest at them. They had likely been waiting for the fighting to finish so that they could finish off the weakened survivors.


    Nope, fuck this, and fuck you. Matt apanied his words with a short burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] that cut through the five charging people. They threw up their defensive abilitiesmendably quickly, but Matt was out of patience for half measures and narrow wins. An [Earth Wall] cracked like it was made of flint, a [Water Bubble] popped almost as soon as it formed, and thest mans tower shield managed to hold Matt off for nearly a quarter second before it too buckled.


    Liz clearly agreed, as their blood crawled out of their bodies and started stabbing them. A few bursts of Genesis Energy told them the group had finally died.


    Despite their injuries, they took a few seconds to loot the slowly fading bodies of their gear and items.


    Dropping their house, Matt staggered inside and started charging the reserves to counteract the shielding he had going at full power, even as Liz cleaned off his ind in the kitchen, where she helped Susanney down.


    Instead of cutting away her armor, she simply retracted it into her spatial ring, allowing Liz to get to work and Matt to act as an assistant.


    They werent by any means professional healers, but they needed to do more than dump a healing potion on a gut wound. While the risk of sepsis and its rted infections wasnt high for someone of their Tier, they still needed to flush her abdomen before they started properly healing her.


    As they worked, Aster limped over and nuzzled Susanne, who scratched the fox.


    Matt only kept half an ear out as Susanne talked to Aster, despite not being able to understand her yips and chortles.


    The only good thing about Susanne''s injury was that it wasrge, and gave the two amateur healers more than enough room to reattach and heal the cut intestines. The gaping wound made it a little easier to wash the waste that had leaked out away from her abdomen.


    Once they double and then triple checked that Susanne didnt have any remaining waste, they dumped a healing potion in her and stapled the wound closed before pouring a second healing potion on a bandage, and wrapping her stomach.


    After that, a sore Susanne helped him pull out the hundreds of tiny needles that had perforated Lizs body with tweezers. While it was slow and tedious work, none of the needles were in her face, which would have been a real cause for concern. They had seemingly gone through her armor as if it wasnt there, though they didnt seem to have done much damage to her flesh. It took them quite a while to find each and every one of the tiny needles, but the work itself wasnt all that demanding, which at least allowed them to chat.


    I agree. That group was way too strong, Liz murmured as Aster yipped something.


    Susanne agreed. Yeahhhh, I dont think Ive ever seen a group that strong at Tier 12. Im assuming that their armor must be enchanted to the brim.


    Matt shook his head. No, that''s not it. It was their bodies that were strong, not their gear. I only checked it out a little before putting it away. I got a good enough look to prove that it''s not that. While it''s top of the line, it''s not enough to exin their durability.


    Aster whined, and Liz tranted, Aster asked if maybe they were someone''s rich kids or the like?


    Matt mulled that over, but disagreed. That doesn''t make sense. Why would some group geared to the teeth ambush us outright, and then not even try to flee when the tide of the fight turned away from them. Even if they were super confident in their gear, they should have tried to run once their healer dropped.


    Liz threw out her own idea despite Matt pulling needles from her neck. Maybe they were a low Tier hit squad.


    Susanne made a noise of disagreement, which Aster seemed to back up, but Liz defended her idea. Think about it. Most death squads are strong Tier 14 teams who are then kitted out after being trained to counter a few Pather equivalents. But what if the team was extra strong, and you wanted them to kill people and also get good rewards? Why not send them in as Tier 12s? It would even get them underestimated by the majority of people who would be incredibly suspicious of any higher Tier team.


    Matt didnt think she was right, but he also didnt have a better exnation, so he left it at that.


    Anything more they could learn would be from the group''s belongings, and they needed to finish healing before they started going through loot.


    After Lizs needles were pulled out, they pulled the arrows out of Aster and Matt.


    His broken rib was left to its own devices after he drank a healing potion.


    They could have used spells or even talismans, but they all suspected that their talismans would be nerfed in some way soon, and their spells were meant for emergencies until they left this floor.


    This was only the second level of this floor, and they had already encountered four teams, three of which attacked them on sight.


    It wasnt aforting trend, as it only promised to get worse as they slowed down and ventured deeper, where everyone was pushed further together.


    As Matty down on the floor, he concentrated on keeping the mana in their reserves topped up while working his still sore jaw.


    Liz started going through the first group''s gear, but it was indistinct and didnt have any telltale signs from any of the Great Powers. But like Matt had said earlier, it was well crafted gear, about as good as Minka would allow.


    Thankfully, Tier 14 materials and enchantments could only be so strong within the restrictions of the, which prevented teams like this froming in with Tier 20 disposable weapons, and just killing everyone they encountered with wealth.


    The second team that attacked them, and had been killed by Matts [Cracked Mana Spear], were a different story altogether.


    They, unlike the first group, were very obviously Republican delvers, judging by their gear and items. As far as Matt could tell from the quality of their gear, the team had been on the Republican equivalent of the Path, though they werent notable enough to have been included in any of the briefings that Matt had received. Unfortunately for them, they were a case study in the dangers of delving too deep and too greedily; all their years of hard work were wasted because of a single bad decision.


    Matt was just about to take a nap when he felt a ripple of Genesis Energy flow through his spirit, and it traveled with the mana he was sending into the house.


    He jerked up, despite the pain, and started concentrating as much as he could on the sensation of the house bing a growth item.


    As his Genesis Energy flowed out of his spirit, he was able to follow it as it spread like an infection through the house. It wasnt a perfect description, but it was the best way he could describe the change.


    The Genesis Energy from his spirit spread through the houses physical material and the apanying spirit, but where it passed through, the material was changed. The spirit and materials of the items were strengthened and reinforced, while also binding to him like his other growth items. From their rtively ordinary house, things shifted and twisted as the Genesis Energy worked its magic.


    Matt could feel as the unique energypleted its first pass and epassed the physical house, before it started making leaps.


    First, it jumped to his kitchen and started flowing through his range, and then to his fridge, and then to his spatially expanded cabs. Even as he watched, the enchantments he had personallyid out morphed and changed. The changes werentrge, and as far as he could tell, the function of the runes didnt change. Just like he observed with Susannes armor binding, it was like print letters being changed to cursive.


    After his kitchen was absorbed into the collective whole that was the house, both his and Lizs work stations started to be absorbed at the same time.


    He tried to concentrate on both, but focused most of his attention on his own room. What he found interesting was that he could feel his workstation itself bind to the room, and then to the house as a whole. It was like a nested binding that made absolutely no sense when he considered what he knew about linking enchantments, but the Genesis Energy seemed to easily aplish the task anyways.


    At the same time, as they were bound, he noticed that his workstation did what he could only call settling in. It was like they became unified and singr, despite remaining distinct items. With a thought, Matt knew that he could merge the two tables that made up an L shaped desk into a seamless whole, and then break them apart once again, but he wasnt so limited as to just return them into the original shapes. No, he was able to break off just a foot of the greater whole to create a smaller table that he could move around.


    His tools also seemed to melt away into the workshop, and he knew that he could summon a carving pen at a whim, as long as he was inside the room.


    As far as he could tell, Lizs workshop had the same things happen to it, but he wasnt nearly as familiar with it as he was his own, and he wasnt able to really investigate the changes there before both of the bedrooms started transforming.


    The changes were smaller, but like the workshops, the furniture merged into one with the room as the Genesis Energy passed through.


    As it hit the bathroom, he paused to inspect the changes a little more thoroughly, but found nothing new there either.


    Watching the living room, and finally, the mana storage room change, Matt tried tomit the changes and how they happened to his memory, so he could try and replicate them eventually.


    He paid extra attention to the house as a whole as he felt the Genesis Energy finishing its job.


    Like with every item Minka converted to a growth item, they all got something extra added, and he wanted to see how that happened.


    From the runes and enchantments he knew so well, he felt something extra taking form, like a whale rising from the depths and pushing the water above it away. That was the best way he could describe the way runes seemed to appear out of the Genesis Energy that had infiltrated the house''s spirit.


    Then as the new runes appeared, the Genesis Energy retreated back into his spirit, signaling that the conversion was over, and weighed down on his spirit like a lead nket.


    As it ended, Matt started making notes on a pad of paper he pulled out of his spatial ring and jotted down everything he could while it was still fresh in his memory.


    The instant his pen stopped, Aster yipped, and Liz asked, What did the house get?


    Matt blinked at them before shrugging. Don''t know. Haven''t checked yet. I was trying to note down what I felt first.


    Liz rolled her eyes so hard she fell back into the couch while Aster flopped into her.


    Susanne tried to suppress herughter at seeing their exasperation, as her barely healed abdomen would have madeughing quite painful, and he took the opportunity to inspect the house and the feeling it gave him.


    He twitched slightly as he realized what the house actually did.


    As he tried to speak, he ended up stammering, What kind of growth item needs stuff like this? That''s stupid. How does that even count?


    Seeing the two other humans'' amused expressions and feeling his bond, Matt scooped up and blew a raspberry on her head. The house eats other houses to upgrade itself and expand. I also sense that we can upgrade individual parts, like our workshops, by buying a new one and letting the house absorb it. Frankly, I''m disappointed to the extreme. Well need to buy new houses anyway, so why bind as a growth item? We could have just used the new house. It feels pointless.


    Liz rubbed his shoulder and stoppedughing long enough to ask, Would you really want a new house anyway? You love this one so much.


    Matt tsked at her point as he couldnt deny it. I like it because its <em>mine</em>. Future houses would also be mine but you arent wrong, I <em>do</em> like this one. I just wish it had a better ability..


    Aster, on the other hand, squirmed free of his grasp and into their storage area before returning with a ring in her mouth.


    As Matt grabbed it, he realized that she had brought the house they had found in the third-floor safe rooms area.


    It was worth a test, and they all piled out of the house to drop the other house next to their original one.


    The other house was smaller than their own, but even more opulent and well crafted.


    Matt turned to Susanne, as she also had a stake in this house, so he couldn''t just let his own house absorb it without her approval.


    He didnt even need to say anything before she gestured for him to continue.


    With her go ahead, he thought of their house absorbing the new house, and it did exactly that.


    Their houses seemed to stretch slightly before its edge merged with the smaller house, and then it started to absorb the smaller house like a slime eating its prey.


    It was slightly horrifying to watch, but Matt was more upied with the feedback that the house was giving him.


    He found it interesting that he could expand the individual rooms of the house, or add entirely new rooms with the additional material from the house being consumed, but he immediately rejected that option.


    Their house was already asrge as it could be with their current spatial ring, and if it got anyrger, they wouldn''t be able to take it with them, but thankfully, he was able to guide the upgrade.


    Instead of erging the house itself, he was able to send the materials into their own house and improve various functions.


    Their old shower and bathroom was reced with the smaller house''s full tub and better enchantment suite, even though he was forced to expand the room slightly into their bedroom closet. They really didnt need the closet space anymore, because they had more spatial rings than they knew what to do with. He likely would have moved the walls around anyways, after getting out of Minka, so doing it now with no effort was a minor but wee boon.


    After inspecting the kitchen, he kept his own appliances. The other house had much better appliances, but they werent built to the same standard sizing as he was used to. He would have had to spend a lot of effort to directly incorporate them to his original house, while also giving up some countertop space. Instead, he was able to direct his house to improve the existing kitchen with the cannibalized materials of the other house, adding in better self cleaning functions and spots on the countertop that would keep tes ced on them warm. All of the appliances were improved to varying degrees and effects. Though, he always thought it was a bit of a waste every time he saw that something became more mana efficient.


    Matt then felt prompted to make a decision about the emptied armory in the smaller house, but as he couldn''t just add the room to their house, he was forced to sacrifice it as well.


    That turned out to be the right decision, as he felt his houses shield generators be more efficient and adaptive to outside attacks. There was some slight feeling from consuming the armory that the house would be able to attack back, if fed a few more simr houses.


    Even better, he felt their mana storage crystal absorb the other houses, letting it store even more mana in the same volume.


    That, more than anything else, was a boon sent by Minka itself. It nearly ensured that he would never have an issue with finding ways to increase his own mana pool as he Tiered up, if his read on how much additional capacity it had gained was right.


    It wouldnt have been his first option to convert into a growth item, but Matt was content with how things turned out. He did love his house, and knew himself well enough that he would have pushed them to continue living in it long after they could have afforded something better.


    But this was a good solution, even if he would have preferred to bond with well, pretty much any of his othermonly-used items over it.


    He just wished they weren''t constrained by spatial ring size, and that he could add more rooms. Some of the other teams they had killed and looted had also had houses that they could absorb, if only their rings had the space to hold the upgrades.


    As they entered back into the house, Matt started showing off the new abilities, and even learned that he could grant people permission to change things like he could.


    He seemed to have greater rights, and could lock things down so others couldn''t change it, but it made it convenient for Liz so she could change her workshop, and allowed Susanne to rearrange her room with a thought.


    They spent half a day recovering before they finally put the house away and continued their ughter of the horse lizards.


    Even injured and limited on spells, the Tier 14 monsters were no direct threat to them as long as they were careful, and didnt pull too many teams at once.


    As fun as the new items were, they needed to try and pull as far ahead as they could to avoid having to fight over Genesis Energy with other teams.

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199


    Slipping to the side, Matt avoided the rake of a lizard monster''s w and punched the air, casting [Fist st] with his short jab.


    While too weak to do serious damage, it was enough to knock the lizardman off bnce, causing its follow-up tail swipe to narrowly miss him. With the opening, Matt chopped down with his longsword and cut a deep furrow into the lizard''s shoulder.


    The creature tried to scuttle away, but he pinned it to the ground with his Tier 14 sword''s weight and hacked its head off with a few brutal strikes.


    This floor had turned into a slog, and even fighting the normal monsters was bing a struggle, as they were slowly forced to use their skills more and more. Minka had finally decided that they had used his talismans enough to discount the challenge, and weakened their effects to the point of near-uselessness. That, in turn, forced them to rely on their own skills more than they would have preferred, which only increased their mana costs after repeated usage.


    Many of his skills were too expensive to cast outright, and after thetest fight, [Fist st] joined their ranks. He was storing and retrieving mana from his mana stones dozens of times per engagement, but even that didnt help once the skills started costing more than 2,500 mana.


    [Fist st] had carried him through thest three ruins, but using it had been a deliberate choice, as it was one of his newest skills. Therefore, that made it one of the most expendable he had. Being in his outer spirit, it was already expensive and fairly weak, but hed faced worse odds before. Hed taken to pulsing his physical buffs instead of running them at full st at all times, but even that was starting to add up.


    Rushing to assist Liz, they finished off her lizard before helping Susanne and Aster.


    They were cleaning up the battlefield when Susanne said, Team ahead!


    Scanning forward with his spiritual sense, Matt found the team in question and was going to dismiss the encounter, as the other team didnt seem inclined to bother them, until she continued with her observations.


    That''s one of the n teams who attacked me during the fight with the death squad.


    Matt took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.


    He would really prefer to avoid a fight with other delvers right now, but he also understood Susanne''s anger and desire for revenge. If he had been attacked like she had, he would also be chomping at the bit to get some payback, and he wasnt going to let her go alone.


    He just really wished that they could do it on another floor.


    Aster yipped and tapped the floor twice, letting Liz trante. Aster said that we should make it quick. And frankly, I agree.


    Susanne shrugged, seeming unconcerned. They didnt have any special skills when they were identally attacking me, but I wasnt intending to go up and challenge them openly. Gesturing with her greatsword, she poked the air as if it was a dagger. I was thinking more of a stabby stabby from behind approach.


    With everyone''s agreement, they made their way through the tunnels of their current ruin while also keeping as low of a profile as possible.


    Chances were, the other team had already seen them in their spiritual perception, but rushing forward recklessly would have been just as dumb.


    They were a few hundred feet from the other team when they turned and started casting spells and loosing arrows at them.


    Matt sidestepped a glowing arrow and was going to charge forward, when he caught a flicker of movement from behind himself. Instead of charging with the others, he twisted and shed out with his sword.


    A man in subdued Sect robes ducked his sh and racked out with his hand in a w-like motion, while mes gathered around his nails and burnt the air with their passing.


    Stepping back, Matt called out, Attack from the rear! I got it.


    Matt tried to keep his opponent at a decent range, where he could use his weapons length to his advantage, but the surprise attack meant that he was already too close.


    How the man had so perfectly hidden his presence from spiritual perception was a mystery that Matt didnt have time to ponder.


    In the second exchange, he took a shing attack on his quadriceps. His physical armor was cut clean through as if it didnt exist, and he felt the fire as it burnt into him.


    Growling, Matt pulled his longsword into his spatial ring and punched his attacker in the face.


    A magical armor appeared for a brief second and formed a helmet that blocked the blow, while his attacker racked their ws at his wrist, trying to disable him.


    Matt flexed his Concepts repulsion effect and used its power to push the attack away slightly, then used the space it gave him to m his fist onto the man''s chest.


    This blownded, and even with the magical armor ring up, he was sent stumbling back.


    Using that to his advantage, Matt withdrew his sword and cut down at the man. He avoided the attack with an unnaturally fast side-step, then summoned a sword and shield pair that radiated power.


    The Sect fighter thrust out with his shield, and a mana copy of the weapon appeared and mmed onto Matts de, sending it off course, while he cut out with his physical de at Matt''s already wounded leg.


    Matt pulsed [Cracked Phantom Armor] to block it, letting the attack bounce off the concentrated secondyer.


    Unlike normal spells, channel spells got more expensive for every second used, which for Matts toolkit, mostly meant they functionally just got weaker over time.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] had avoided most of that fate thanks to Matt not using it. But even having only used it twice on this floor for short bursts, Matt could already feel the difference in its defensive power.


    But it was still more than strong enough to block the blow, and Matt used that to his advantage.


    Stepping forward, he chopped down at the mans body, forcing him to block with the shield. As the blownded, he sent mana into the [Mana sh] that hed ultimately imbued into his sword, letting the resulting explosion obscure the man''s vision for a brief instant.


    Taking a step back, Matt chopped down at the man again, sending another [Mana sh] out, but the man intercepted the crescent of mana with a [Mana sh] of his own.


    With a little distance between them, Matt shifted his focus onto the other three and their fight with the n team.


    Things were going far better for them, it seemed, as there was already a foreign body on the ground, and the other three n delvers were trying to retreat.


    Happy to let the other fight finish, so they could then turn this fight into a one versus four, Matt changed his style into a defensive one. To his surprise, his attacker didnt retreat, and kept on with his attack, pressing Matt hard and casting spell after spell, as if he didnt feel the increased cost of this floor.


    Taking each attack in, Matt guessed that most of the skills being used were enchanted into the weapon, and his armor had a physical boosting enchantment, allowing the man to fight at a breakneck pace for so long without worry.


    Just as his team was finishing off the group from the ns and rushing to join him, <em>another</em> team came out of an adjoining tunnel and immediately peppered them with attacks.


    Spells and arrows rained down on Susanne, Aster, and Liz, while Matt and the Sect man were rtively unbothered, being slightly outside the range of the other fight.


    The man that Matt was fighting stopped his advance and said something in the Sectsnguage that Matt couldnt fully understand without his AI, but it generally tranted as mocking or gloating.


    Matt cut low as the man charged with his shield held high, but the man jumped up and dodged the strike, then jumped again with a ripple appearing under his feet. [Puddle Jumper] was a rare skill to be seen in actualbat, and Matt waspletely caught off guard, taking a cutting blow on his back that thankfully didnt bypass a burst of [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Wanting to end this fight as quickly as possible, he red [Mages Retreat] at max power for an instant, then rushed forward and swung his de at where the man would jump next if he decided to cast [Puddle Jumper] again.


    His guess was correct, and Matt caught him on his leg, drawing blood from the Sects delver for the first time.


    As the Sect fighter tumbled to the ground, Matt lunged forward and chopped down, but his blow was caught by the glowing shield, and he took a counter strike to the knee where the man kicked out.


    Matt wasnt sure if his opponent had expected his leg to break from the blow, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] didnt react as if it was anything but a normal blow, and the failed attack allowed him to cut down twice more at his assant.


    Neither blownded on anything but the man''s shield, but he was able to cutrge gouges into it until, finally, the third blow disrupted a rune in the item. In response, the shield started to glow brighter and brighter.


    Knowing what was about to happen, Matt backed up rapidly and had to roll to dodge the shield as the Sect fighter threw it at him.


    As he came out of the roll, he nearly impaled the man, but apparently, his ws werent just for the offensive, as he was able to grab Matts de and twist it out of his grasp.


    Seeing that it was a futile cause, he let the de go and entered into a grapple with his opponent.


    They twisted and vied for the top position for a few moments, but Matt was able to gain the advantage.


    The other man was a good ground fighter, but Matt was stronger, and after getting the mount, he startedunching punch after punch on the man''s face and upper chest.


    His opponent seemed happy to trade blows while he relied on his magical armor, trying to cut through Matts [Cracked Phantom Armor] with his ws that were glowing with me once again.


    Matt was growling in anger, as he had to direct all of the spell''s secondyer into his abdomen to prevent himself from being disemboweled.


    He could feel [Cracked Phantom Armor]s mana cost slowly increasing with each blow, and used the anger to fuel his attacks. The man''s w swipes did more damage than they should have, and it was forcing him to spend more and more mana on the spell.


    Finally, something broke, and the stalemate ended.


    Matts punch broke the Sect man''s armor enchantment, and his face exploded in a wash of blood as Matt drove a second, then a third blow down on the man.


    He was going to finish him off when the man''s w finally broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor], sending a wash of agony through his chest.


    Rolling free, Matt grabbed his nearby sword and cut out at the man, but before they could properly reengage, another team came out of a nearby ruin and attacked both of them.


    Matt took a crossbow bolt in his already wounded leg, even through both his magical and physical armor, and felt it hit but not break the bone.


    Seeing that now a second team had been attracted by the fighting, and hoping to get an easy cleanup, he cursed.


    Striking out twice with [Mana sh], he used the proper skill in his spirit this time, causing the skill to berger and faster. Matt cut a massive [Fireball] in half and sent the team scurrying in two directions to dodge his strike.


    Rushing the others just as the Sect man mirrored his action, Matt cast [Bulwark] to block a massive, glowing crossbow bolt that exploded on impact and destroyed his skill. Matt thrust his longsword forward, and right before the blow was about to be blocked by an upraised shield, he cast [Acrobats Finesse] and [Willow in the Wind], using the increased proprioception and flexibility to twist his de and change its point of impact.


    Instead of being blocked by the woman''s shield, his de slithered past her shield and punched straight through her shoulder armor.


    The crossbowman took the charge andunched a second bolt at Matt, and this time, it punched right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor. It was only stopped because he red [Barbarians Hide] at thest second.


    The bolt was lodged in his chest when it exploded, sending Matt stumbling back.


    With his threeyers of defenses, the bolt was only half an inch inside him, and most of the explosion was outside of his body, thus washing over his armor harmlessly.


    It still enraged Matt, and as he pulled his de back into his hand with his Concept, he cast [Sword Twin] and allowed the two magical des to dance out and harass his attackers. He had been saving a number of his strongest skills for these tougher fights against fellow delvers, as he assumed most people did.


    While the shield woman blocked one of the des, the crossbowman took the opportunity to shoot another bolt at Matt, but he was already moving.


    For a brief second, he red all of his channeled self buffs, giving him physical cultivationparable to a Tier 14.


    He was much faster than the man expected, cing the mans teammate between Matt and the crossbow, and denying him a clear shot.


    As Matt drove his de through the woman''s less armored armpit, he raised his other hand and cast [Fireball] right past her head at the crossbowman.


    Even as his teammate was impaled, the crossbow man dodged Matts magical projectile and sent his own in return.


    Matt knew that the man wanted to quickly finish him off so his teammate could be helped and possibly saved, but he didnt hesitate in casting [Mana Charge] while his de was inside the woman.


    The explosion of blood and gore didnt even cause the crossbowman to pause for a second, and he shot at Matt once more while rolling away from his return [Jolt].


    While he was absorbing the Genesis Energy from the kill, Matt cast [Mana sh] once more and shed out, causing the man to roll again, but he predicted it and cast [Earth Spear] at where he wouldnd.


    His second attack pinned the man through the leg, but before he could finish him off, the Sect man from before jumped at him with extended ws glowing.


    Side-stepping, Matt was about to cut out at the Sect man, but he saw that the real target was the pinned crossbowman.


    The crossbowman cried out a name Matt recognized, though he was speaking the Republicannguage. Blood Hand. Dying apparently didnt stop the mansmitment to shooting Matt, as he fired a final bolt even as Blood Hand was tearing into his abdomen.


    He said something else even as he died, but Matt didnt know thenguage well. He did recognize the name as one of the Sects up anding Young Masters.


    Long Zhiyuan was known for his brutal, bare handed fighting style, giving him the name Blood Hand. It exined the man''s penchant for w attacks and their efficiency.


    Matt should have put that together before, but the man was strong enough that he had little room to think, let alone go through the hundreds of Sect fighters that he had memorized before entering Minka. His pulling out a sword and shield was a surprise that hadnt been noted in the dossier on Long Zhiyuansmonly used weapons. Most people were bringing out backup weapons and skills though, since it wouldnt take all that long on this floor before Inner Spirit skills matched the cost of Outer Spirit ones.


    Now that he had a name, Matt activated his AI for a second while ring his Concept to nullify Minkas suppression, and get whatever information he had about Young Master Blood Hand.


    The information was short and sweet, but it told him what he needed to know.


    The man was incredibly powerful, despiteing from a low Tier Sect, and the Empire spection said that he was going to make a ssh in the future if he wasnt killed.


    Knowing the man was going to be an issue if left alone, Matt grit his teeth and cast a single [Cracked Mana Spear] at him, wanting to finish him off quickly. However, a portion of his robes stitching lifted up, manifesting a spherical shield that blocked the spear pulse.


    Long Zhiyuan gave him a surprised look at the fact that he made the defensive barrier appear.


    Matt assumed that it was a life saving measure given to the man by the Sects to help counter a solo melee fighter''s greatest weakness.


    Seeing that ranged attacks would be futile, he cast [Cracked Mana Trap] at Long Zhiyuans feet, hoping to bypass the shield, and armed it with fire mana. The resulting explosion engulfed both of them in billowing mes.


    Matt rushed forward and nearly caught a spear in his chest, but managed to deflect it with the t of his de, only allowing the spear point to skitter along his physical armor.


    Long Zhiyuan sidestepped Matts cast of [Jolt] while trying to stab him, but ran into the wall that was Matts longsword.


    Other than his longsword, Matt knew spear techniques better than anything else. Beyond Luna and Kurt''s training, he spent decades training with Liz, who used the weapon as her primary.


    Long Zhiyuan was good with the weapon, but not anywhere close to Liz, allowing Matt to easily dance around the thrusting point of metal.


    Seeing that it was ineffective, Long Zhiyuan retreated slightly, which allowed Matt to cast [Fireball] three times in rapid session. He also noted the man''s robe didnt protect him from the projectiles which he filed away.


    With the small break, he inspected their battlefield and saw that they had attracted half a dozen teams over with their battle, and that theirs was just a small portion of what had be aplete free for all.


    Liz, Susanne, and Aster were carving their way through the multiway battle with the help of a team from the Empire and one from the Guild; the three teams had joined together to defend themselves against the others.


    Seeing that they were fine, and even starting to win their battles, Matt focused on his own.


    A [Mana Spear] caught him in the chest and cracked his physical armor, but the only real damage was a flesh wound from the metal puncturing his under armor so he ignored it.


    Matt and Long Zhiyuan were beset by a third team, and even as they turned on the neers, they didnt stop attacking each other.


    A mage tried to cast a debuff spell on Matt, but he dodged the projectile, and after spending most of his remaining mana cost of [Earth Maniption], he grabbed the mage''s ankle and pulled his leg under the ground.


    He wasnt able to kill him, as the mage immediately fought the spell with his own version, but it gave Matt enough time to cut their melee fighter''s leg off.


    On the other side, Long Zhiyuan drove his wed hand through one woman''s throat, and after ripping her windpipe out, jumped over a de swipe with [Puddle Jumper].


    Matt didnt pass up the opportunity and cast [Mana Bolt] at the man, but the sphere under his robe rose up and blocked the attack once more confirming the robe was purpose built to counter neutral mana spells.


    With a [Mana sh], Matt cut down the third party mage and finished off their melee fighter that he had just delegged, but took a cut to his forearm in return for the final blow.


    He hurt all over, but he knew that he wouldnt have time to drink a healing potion before being forced back into the fray. Just as predicted, Long Zhiyuan finished ripping out the final melee fighters heart, then turned and picked up one of the fallen delvers to use as a human shield. It was an unconventional tactic, and it allowed Blood Hand to get within grappling range of Matt, with only a few shallow cuts to show for it.


    As they fell to the ground, Long Zhiyuan took the advantageous top position, and despite Matts best efforts to block, he took a raking blow empowered with an air spell across the face. As soon as the strike connected, his face was set afire with pain and blood. Matt could tell that the man had been taught well, as he was locking space down with extreme force, preventing Matt from teleporting away. Though that must have been a particr focus for someone who excelled in short rangebat.


    In an effort to get Blood Hand to back away, Matt brought out a handful of sand from one of his spatial bags, then pulsed [Sand Maniption] with as much mana as he could afford. Unfortunately, Blood Hand didnt attempt to contest the skill with the less efficient [Earth Maniption], and instead recalled another shield to block the force of the blow. He let himself be pushed away, putting the backup shield away a secondter.


    Wishing he could still cast [Hail] and [Ice Maniption] was a futile hope but Matt knew there wasnt much else he could do to slow the Sect man down.


    Swapping his de over to his other enchantment configuration for a second, Matt blocked a [Mana Bolt] with [Mana Barrier] and returned the attack with a [Fireball] cast from the tip of his weapon.


    The change in casting position caused Long Zhiyuan to react too slowly, and he caught the spell in the face.


    Even Long Zhiyuans robes couldn''t block all of the spell, and half of his hair was set aze before he cast [Create Water].


    For the first time in the fight, the two of them paused and just stared at each other.


    Long Zhiyuan said something that Matt could only piece together as an acknowledgement of some kind, with his limited understanding of thenguage, and then he lunged at Matt once more.


    Their fight was interrupted by an explosion that came from the main battle, and they both paused as they saw what looked like a sun being born in the center of the fight.


    A ball of fire appeared and exploded, before suckingall of the expelled energy back into its center of gravity and reforming into an evenrger mass.


    The second explosion wasrger than the first, and it caused anyone still able to retreat to do just that.


    Matt and Long Zhiyuan separated as they scrambled to get away.


    Even as he did so, Matt inspected the area for Liz and Aster, and found them running in the opposite direction along with Susanne, mostly unharmed.


    The fifth explosion of the sun was seemingly thest, but while Matt stuck around, Long Zhiyuan and most others seemed to fully retreat.


    Calling out to the retreating figure with what little of the Sectnguage he knew he said, Run you chicken noodle soup.


    Or at least that was what he hoped he had said.


    Once more entering the now ckened cave, Matt saw his team doing the same with a few others.


    Everyone who stayed was Empire, Guild, or Corporations, and they immediately started looting the battlefield.


    After collecting the spatial items and undamaged weapons and armor from the bodies that he and Long Zhiyuan had killed, Matt hobbled over to his team.


    Pulling a healing potion out of his spatial ring, Matt downed it, but could feel that it wasnt as effective as it could be. He was at the healing cooldown once more, and he needed time for his body to recover. Time to rest and recover was something he didnt have though, nor did he expect to get much any time soon. He would need to hang back and avoid as many fights with other cultivators as he could.


    Pulling off his helm, he poured another healing potion over his still-bleeding face and held the ps of skin in ce even as Liz came over to him.


    What was that? He asked, as she started wrapping his forehead with apress.


    Aster yipped something, but Susanne answered, Some item. A Monsters Collective guy cracked it with hisst breath. I dont know where he got it, but it created that weird ass sun thing.


    Before they were able to say anything else, a man walked over to them before dropping off a pile of loot.


    Here are items not devoured from the people you killed.


    Liz thanked him and introduced him to Matt, dipping in and out of the Guilds mainnguage. Thanks ude. White, ude. Guild Hero, and good guy who helped us out in the melee there. Had our back when another team tried to ambush us.


    Matt, who now had his head wrapped, proffered a hand, which the man took.


    To his surprise, ude spoke the Empirenguage, even if it was a little hard to understand everything with his ent and poor grammar. Nice to meet you. I not stand and watch ambush on allies. You interesting fight guy side.


    Matt scoffed. You could call it that. Long Zhiyuan, better known as Young Master Blood Hand. He ambushed us as we were attacking the first n team. I didnt realize who he was until another team called his name out as he killed them.


    Liz sat down and pulled up her shirt so Matt could start applying a disinfectant to the hole that had been punched through her abdomen.


    It looked like an arrow had gone through cleanly, but it was always better to be careful, so he took his time to ensure that her internal organs werent punctured.


    Liz said as he worked, Is that what happened? We were wondering when you got attacked.


    Im not sure if he was ambushing the n team or us, but he has a way to hide from spiritual sense scans, and has most of his Genesis Energy in a ring. Or I assume so, as when he killed people, he got their Genesis Energy like normal. Either way, he''s a strong fighter and excels in close rangebat, just like the information said.


    ude paused for a second before asking, You start this?


    Susanne took that one. Yeah, that was on me. That n team were on Winter''s side with us on thest floor, and they didnt put much effort in aiming their attacks while I was getting attacked by a Death Squad.


    Her tone was challenging, and ude clearly caught it as he nodded to her. Fair. Just surprise. Most us avoiding attacking other teams The Guilder paused for a minute while clearly searching for the word he wanted. Seeming to give up, he finished with, Fear of this happening.


    Matt nodded as he pet Aster before starting to pull out the two crossbow bolts still inside his chest and leg. Liz was busy helping Susanne pull an arrow from her back, so he dealt with the easier injuries himself.


    ude lingered with them until the other teams left and then said, AI. Please.


    Matt looked to the others, who nodded, and Matt activated his AI and tranted for ude as he said in the Guilds speech, Watch out for the Federation. They have a few death squad teams of ten, and they are incredibly strong. I fought one on the third floor, where they were only Tier 9 while I was Tier 12 on Back to Basics, and I still struggled to kill them. They kill without hesitation or negotiation. I know of at least two teams running around, one of which is even more fearsome than the group I took care of personally or so the report of the lone survivor indicates.


    Matt met his team''s eyes and they saw the same surprise in their eyes.


    Susanne said, We encountered the same thing. Ten assholes who were more than happy to attack us on sight. They were strong, but we were able to kill them off easily enough.


    ude shrugged. Maybe it was the same group, but with all respect, I dont think you would be walking right now if you had encountered the stronger group. Seeing two groups like that implies more, and they cant all be so proficient. I handled a group on my own, but I had a three Tier advantage, and they were weakened and distracted. Just a warning.


    With that said, he nodded and walked out through the nearest cave entrance.


    Matt took a little longer to get back on his feet, with the wounds he took during the fight taking more potions than normal to heal.


    Now that they were alone, Liz took the opportunity to inspect Matts mask.


    Thankfully, despite the cuts to his face, the enchantment was still intact, and with the helm, no one would have been able to see more than blood.


    They still swapped out the mask for one of the backups they brought. Thest thing they needed was someone to discover that they were Tier 11, let alone this deep in Minka, with everyone so packed in together.


    When they were walking through the tunnels, Susanne said, Thanks, guys. I know we didnt expect it to snowball like that, but thank you for not pulling out or anything. I couldn''t have med you guys for not wanting to go for the initial fight, or not sticking around once it turned bad. She paused before shaking her head. Just thanks. Means a lot.


    Matt, limping alongside her, could see her difort in opening up, and took the opportunity to change the subject. What did you guys get for loot?


    He hadnt seen what ude brought over, but they were a lot closer to the explosion, and he didnt expect much to have survived.


    Susanne, who had gone through it, shrugged. Nothing stood out to me but a few houses. A lot of items, weapons, and other stuff. A few things might be natural treasures, but I can''t be sure with the quick look I gave it.


    Matt quickly parsed through what he was able to while on the move, and agreed that there was nothing too noteworthy, though a full assessment would have to wait.


    Going through his own loot, he found something <em>quite</em> interesting.


    A single bottle of green liquid. Green liquid he had seen before.


    It was a bottle of decay mana from the Fall General.


    Pulling it out, he shook it. Well what do you know? It may take a while, but our rightful earnings always find their way back to us.


    Liz grabbed it and inspected it. Nice. And they didnt even open it. I might be able to make a poison potion out of this. I wasnt going to pay the cost for this thing, but now that it fell into myp, I wont say no.


    They chatted until they found a way out of the area in a jungle ruin that still had monsters, and then dropped their house and took a break to recover from their wounds before pressing deeper.


    As they sat around, Matt once more contemted the idea that they might need to Tier up before they exited this floor.


    It would make all of these fights easier, and it would also slow them down as they would need more Genesis Energy to take the rewards.


    But they would be safer.


    Much safer.


    Looking at all of them, Matt couldnt help but notice their growing collection of injuries. Injuries that might force their hands.


    Tiering up wouldnt remove or even reduce their healing cooldown, but it would help them take less wounds.


    He remembered Luna talking about Minka and his own attitude.


    Matt didnt think he was arrogant, but he had been confident before this, despite everything.


    He now knew how much of a delusion that was.


    Minka was dangerous, and a Tier disadvantage made that all the more apparent.


    The monsters were one thing, and if it was just them, they would be fine, but the other delvers proved to be the real threat.


    They, more than the itself, might prove what forced his group to Tier up.


    He would rather Tier up than have his friends in danger.


    That could be avoided if they could regain their lead on the pack which is what they were trying to do and being Tier 11 they gathered Genesis Energy far faster than theirpetitors. That was an advantage he was loath to lose.


    That was hisst thought as the painkillers finally kicked in and he fell asleep.

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200


    Matt rushed forward and punched the moose creature in the face, even as it tried to bite him in retaliation.


    Dodging the monsters maw, he stabbed down at its eye with a dagger he summoned, and after finishing it off, he turned to see how his team was handling the rest of the smaller creatures that the boss had summoned.


    Seeing they had everything under control, Matt was about to turn and dispel the reward distortion, when he noticed a team standing in the tunnel they hade down to find this boss.


    This new team wanting to leave through an already open exit wasnt in and of itself surprising, but their stances,ck of Genesis Energy fluctuations, and general demeanor told Matt that they had less than honorable intentions.


    As he watched them watch him, he saw the moment that they decided Matts team were easy targets and made their move.


    All six people rushed out of the tunnel as Matt yelled, Another one!


    That was all the others needed to hear, and they started slinging spells.


    The fight was short, not because the team was weak, but because as soon as they put up a resistance with strong spells, the other team decided to pull back.


    On any other floor, Matt might have chased them down or used [Cracked Mana Spear] to finish them off, but the increasing cost of his spells meant that his strongest channeled spells were now only as strong as a stiff breeze after being on the floor for so long.


    The other team backed off, not wanting to get into a life-and-death battle right before they could leave the floor.


    If they had been spent from their boss fight, the other team wouldnt have hesitated to push the attack, Matt was sure. But without easy kills, they decided to move on. It wouldnt be the first, or even tenth team that had tried to ambush them, hoping they were weak from prolonged skill usage on this floor.


    How the team got this far with so little Genesis Energy was a mystery, and Matt didnt get the feeling that they were hiding most of their Genesis Energy in rings, as his team was.


    Getting stuck on the third level with no Genesis Energy was a hard ce to find oneself in, being faced with the choice of facing down the iing waves of slower delvers, or skipping out on a valuable reward. Though, the thought urred to him that maybe they actually <em>had</em> been lucky, and someone let them surrender at the cost of all of their Genesis Energy, which was why they were now so desperate.


    Matts team had left other Empire delvers alone, but maybe some people took a middle ground between killing their fellow citizens and mutual ceasefire.


    They, on the other hand, were flush with Genesis Energy after their battle on the second level of this floor, and had been able to get ahead of most of the pack with that boost.


    As Aster looted the dissolving boss, Matt and Liz guarded their rear as the four of them walked into the distortion and were finally able to leave the floor.


    When Minka saw that he had more than enough Genesis Energy to take the floor theme challenge and offered it to him, Matt agreed with a lethargic sigh.


    The floor itself was a slog, and its challenge was no different.


    For this test, they needed to fight their way through waves of monsters. That, in and of itself, wasnt a difficult challenge, and wouldn''t have been up to Minkas standards. But, like always, there was a catch.


    During the test, they were put into false bodies, and they would need to kill monsters for extremely breakable gear and talisman-like spells, color-coded for quality. As this was the fifth floor, he would need to clear the twenty-fifth wave to maximize his reward for this challenge, and get the full reward of three skill slots in his Core spirit, fifteen Inner slots, and forty Outer skill slots.


    Gaining control of his body, Matt moved his arms and legs to test the new body and found that this one was generally the same as his own, at least physically. He was a bit slower and weaker than normal, and his Talent and mana pool seemed to be wholly gone, but he knew that it was all just part of the challenge.


    Inspecting his surroundings, Matt found himself inside a valley with steep walls that he knew would be impassable, but what caught his attention were the five towers lit with what looked like small fires at their peaks. One piece of gold-quality loot per boss wave, as expected.


    Even as a mental countdown appeared in his mind, telling him he had five minutes until the first wave of enemies, he ran forward and started looking for monsters to kill.


    The waves would start small, but grow over time, and he knew there would be random, lone monsters he could kill for equipment that would be wandering around the area. If he could find and kill any of them, he would be in a much better position for the first wave.


    Thankfully his luck was good, and a lone kobold was standing around a smoldering firece, as if in a daze.


    Scooping up a rock, Matt bashed the small monster on the head once, then twice, but as his weapon impacted the monster for the second time, it shattered in an explosion of motes of light. The item''s destruction wasn''t dangerous or a surprise, but it was inconvenient, as the monster wasnt quite dead yet.


    Even as the kobold swiped at him, Matt stepped backwards, keeping out of its range, before stomping down at the monsters over extended leg. Bone snapped and the monster was sent stumbling backwards, which allowed Matt to grab arger, head-sized rock and awkwardly drop it on the monster''s head.


    As it died, its body faded away and was reced with a pair of gloves that had spikes on the knuckles.


    The instant Matt touched them, they appeared on his hand, and he took off running towards the nearest tower. He frantically searched for more monsters to kill before the waves of monsters started spawning.


    He was able to find and stomp another kobold to death quickly, and this one dropped an iron-ted, leather chest piece. Fortunately, putting armor on quickly wasnt a part of the challenge, and the chest piece appeared on his body with not a second to spare before the countdown hit zero.


    Not bothering to run anymore, Matt stayed in the clearing and listened to the sounds around him.


    All he heard was normal birds chirping and the rustling of the forest as branches moved from the wind.


    Nothing out of the ordinary.


    At least, not until he heard the sounds of crashing from his left.


    Turning that way, he found half a dozen goblins appearing out of nowhere from inside the nearby trees.


    They seemed to phase into reality as if walking through water or a heat haze.


    That wasnt an ideal way for the first wave to start, but it was random, and his luck couldn''t always be good. But still, he would much rather have had the monsters appear out of noisy portals, or from burrowing out of the ground.


    Not having time toin any further, Matt ran to the left, stretching the line of monsters out to give him time to analyze their equipment.


    Three out of the six were armed with only small daggers, while the remaining three had a bow and two short spears, possibly for throwing.


    Thankfully, the archer was less than skilled, and Matt could read where they were going to fire well ahead of time. He ducked the first shot while punching the first waist-high goblin in the face with his spiked gauntlets.


    The monster''s face exploded in a shower of gore, and even before the monster hit the floor, it was already dissolving into a mass of light.


    Seeing how strong the weapons actually were, Matt held his ground and killed the next two goblins with two more fast, straight jabs.


    Before he was able to pick up their loot, he was forced to sidestep yet another arrow as it almost hit him.


    The two spear wielders tried to use their range advantage, but Matt was twice their height, and was easily able to grab their spears behind the sharpened des and disarm them.


    To his disappointment, the spears vanished as soon as he tried to use them, but with no weapons of their own, he was easily able to punch one of the goblins to death, and then use the second one as a shield as he ran down the archer.


    Despite the archer''s best efforts, he still managed to pulverize its head in a single blow, which then retriggered the mental countdown of five minutes.


    Matt also had the idea that he was now able to leave the challenge at any point, as long as he wasnt in a fight.


    He firmly rejected that idea, and instead grabbed the items that dropped from the goblins.


    Not every monster had a drop, but half of them did, and he was grateful that the archer was one of the goblins that dropped something.


    He was less excited when it appeared to be a bow with a dozen arrows, as he was barely a decent archer at the best of times, but he still epted the bow with a mentalmand.


    The other two drops were more useful, at least to him. The first was a dagger that seemed to be made of decent steel, and the second was a pair of chainmail trousers that felt more durable than the chest te he had recovered earlier.


    As he took off towards the tower once more, he inspected his spiked gloves.


    They had obvious cracks on their surface that made them seem ready to break in a few more blows. He suspected three to five, but he couldn''t be sure without actually punching something, which he wasnt willing to test on anything but a monster.


    The second wave came out before he was able to reach the tower, but he was able to repeat his earlier tactic of leading the goblins away from their spawn area to kill them one by one.


    There were twice as many goblins this time, and the two archers made things difficult, but he was able to dodge most of their shots while killing the melee monsters.


    As it turned out, the gloves had four more uses in them before they shattered into motes of light, which forced him to use the dagger to finish off the final two goblins armed with simr weapons.


    The spear wielders were a more difficult problem now that there were four of them, as they tried to surround him anytime they got close. A good strategy on their part, as it forced Matt to stand and take three blows to his back while dealing with the main group of goblins.


    Thankfully, his armor held up nicely and blocked the weapons from injuring him.


    Quickly dispatching the two remaining goblins, he ran down the archers and finished them off, despite taking an arrow to the chest that made the cracks on his armor visible and concerning.


    With the final monster dead and with five minutes left to recover, he ran back to where he killed the first goblins and collected the items they dropped.


    Another chest armor simr to the one he was wearing appeared in his mind, but vanished into whatever holding mechanic the test had, and another dagger easily went away as well. What gave him pause was the item, or rather the skill, that one of the spear wielding goblins dropped.


    Mentally inspecting it gave him a description, and it seemed to be a simple lightning spell. It wasnt quite [Jolt], [Bolt], or even [Arc], but something in between. He also knew that he''d get exactly three uses out of the spell before it too fell apart.


    Continuing to run towards the tower, Matt quickly climbed the winding stairs to reach the top, where he gratefully picked up a shining, golden ball of light.


    As the item inside appeared in his mind, Matt nodded. A shield wasnt his ideal choice, but he wasnt going toin.


    Gold-quality loot, though even more random than most of the drops the monsters gave, were substantially more durable than anything else and was enchanted as well, making them invaluable for doing well on the test.


    A quick inspection told Matt that this shield had the ability to reflect projectiles back at the attacker, which woulde in handy with the growing number of archers that this set of waves was sending his way.


    Equipping the shield, he exited the slowly fading tower and waited for the next wave as the final few seconds ticked by. He didnt bother to set off towards the monsters, since he was in a nice open field with dense trees nearby, offering good cover if he needed it.


    The third wave consisted of the same amount of goblins as thest wave, thankfully, but they were instead better equipped than their previous counterparts.


    However, with his own upgrades, Matt had no problems in killing them, though both his current armor and dagger fragmented into motes of light in the process. His armor had been reced instantly by the other set hed picked up, and fortunately the dagger didnt break until he was finishing off the final archer.


    As he picked over the loot, Matt found and instantly equipped a spear to match with his shield, and was pleasantly surprised to find an archery skill in the drops. It would increase the prative power of six shots, which was useful with the monsters now appearing with armor.


    He was almost to the second tower when the fifth wave came out of the water like barrier.


    Every five waves was a much harder wave, and Matt expected to spend most of his spells and gear taking this one down.


    At first, two dozen goblins came out of the water like apparitions, and instead of trying to fight them one by one, Matt activated the lightning spell he had received. A bolt of lightning as thick as his armnced from his arm, bouncing between the armored goblins like they were lightning rods.


    The spell started out strong enough to instantly kill the first six goblins, but it only wounded the final six. Even then, Matt was quite happy with the result. He didnt recast the spell, but instead rushed forward with his shield raised high, killing the goblins still standing with his spear.


    He was nearly done with the goblins when the boss appeared. A ten foot ogre emerged from thin air and instantly sprinted at him. Disengaging from the goblins he was fighting, Matt turned and ran as fast as he could, wanting to get as much distance as possible.


    Seeing the monster crossing the distance a little too fast for his liking, Matt cast his lightning spell once more at the unarmored monster.


    The spell still bounced from the ogre to the goblins, but it didnt kill the ogre, only angering it instead.


    Once Matt got far enough away, he summoned his bow and cast his empowering shot spell while pulling back his arrow.


    If he were a better archer, he would have gone for a headshot, but with his mediocre skills, he only aimed for center mass. And the ogre helped by being a massive target.


    His first arrow sted a hole the size of his fist right through its lower abdomen, while the second hit something vital in its upper chest, ending its life.


    A silver drop appeared in the ce of its body, but Matt wasnt able to pick it up, as the small horde of goblins werent too far behind them.


    Swapping back to his spear and shield, he was able to kill the remaining monsters, but destroyed his spear on the second tost goblin, which forced him to end the final archer''s life with a dagger.


    With ten minutes between this wave and the next, Matt collected the gear and sorted it.


    He got two new spears made out of better materials, a full set of armor made from ited leather, a helmet, and a pair of boots that the ogre dropped, which increased his running speed by half at the cost of constant degradation.


    As for spells, two of the goblins dropped a mana weapon spell, which would cover his weapons in mana, increasing the damage they dealt for ten blows while strengthening them against harm. Sadly these spells were single cast, but he had received two of them, which made up for it.


    Finally, he got a fairly standard [Fireball]-like spell that could be cast five times before crumbling.


    Needing to test the boots, he equipped them and found that his entire lower body seemed faster than before, without throwing off his sense of timing or bnce.


    Putting the boots away, he ran towards the tower and imed his reward.


    Laughing, he equipped the helmet that would create a burst of mes anytime he killed an opponent.


    Not the longsword he hoped for, but quite a strong item.


    The sixth wave came out of the air like before, but instead of goblins, a half dozen flying imps appeared and started dropping small, bomb-like vials of liquid that exploded in noxious green gas wherever theynded.


    Matt, with his less than ster skill with archery, would have had a hard time with the flying enemies. They seemed to only have a single bomb each, however, and could only engage him in melee afterwards. Though the bombs were a threat, each imp was a pitiful challenge when he could directly strike it. A lucky shot finished the first wave of imps early by hitting one in the air, causing its bomb to kill its nearby friend.


    As Matt looted them, he found that they dropped interesting items.


    One dropped a cloak that would allow him to hover in the air for a few seconds, and a second dropped a spell simr to their bombs, that would create an explosion and small area of dangerous gas. With only two uses, Matt put it away in his metaphorical pocket and kept moving to the next tower.


    He was able to get the next golden drop before the ninth wave.


    Finally, a gold-quality spell.


    The spell was simr to [Cracked Mana Trap], in that it created a mine-like area that would explode when an enemy stepped on it. But unlike the other spells, it didnt have a set number of uses. Rather, it could only be used once per wave.


    Still, it was incredibly useful for Matt, who had taken to kiting the monsters around.


    As the tenth wave came out with a mix of flying imps and goblins, Matt saved his new spell and relied on the imp spell to kill the first few goblins, and created an area of gas that caused the survivors to choke and sputter.


    The ogre that came out shortly after was better equipped with a club and hide armor, but that wasnt what caught his attention.


    No, that was the werewolf-like creature that rushed out of the area like an arrow directly at him.


    Casting the trap spell, Matt retreated and allowed the monster to run over it. The werewolf was sent flying, but as it got to its feet, with fur singed and one arm missing, Matt raised his shield and cast the weapon enchantment on his spear while he rushed the monster.


    Even his golden shield started to show signs of cracking as it blocked the werewolfs blows, but Matt was able to finish it off before the remaining monsters recovered from the gas, which he killed with thest of his bow shots.


    The next wave consisted of goblins, imps, and a new monster that resembled something like a floating banana that shot various spells at him. As Matt avoided a stream of attacks, he realized that he now possessed a disgustingbination of items.


    The trap spell didnt always kill the enemies it hit, except for smaller and weaker ones, like the goblins. Those kills then activated the helmet enchantment, whose detonation took out more of the monsters, and more often than not, set off a chain explosion that killed most of the weaker monsters for him.


    And without the cannon fodder, he was easily able to kill the stragglers and the asional ogre or werewolf that survived both attacks.


    His fourth golden loot was a throwing axe which he could recall, while his fifth was a nket that made him hard to detect.


    That final one never got used, as Matt was more than happy to kill his way through the waves as fast as possible.


    With his method perfected, he used his extra spells to finish off any of the survivors.


    As the twenty fifth wave ended with his standing victorious over a giants body, he was booted out of the challenge and into the safe room between floors.


    There, he found hundreds of teams scattered around the area, which massively increased the space of the safe room. Though, it still didnt hold a candle to the size of the fourth floor safe room.


    Thankfully, it seemed like he was the first one to exit, which he considered a good sign. With his trap spell, he had expected nothing less.


    He had beaten the challenge perfectly and rtively quickly, with his abuse of his golden drops, which meant that the others should be able to earn the top reward as well.


    Matt worried for Aster a little, but knew that she would be fine, as they had practiced for this floor. Even with her body being small and not ideal forbat, she would seed as long as she got a spell or two early and took her time.


    After he scanned the area for anyone he knew to check in with, but finding no one, he set his house down in an out-of-the-way location and inspected his own spirit.


    He had been warned about what wasing, and knew it wasnt going to be pleasant.


    Once he started inspecting the portion of his spirit where his skills sat, he found a small bubble of Genesis Energy nestled next to his Core skills, waiting for him to activate it.


    Sticking a mouth guard between his teeth, he touched it and felt his spirit stretch and grow like a balloon, rapidly filling with air.


    As he bit down and screamed, he involuntarily flexed his muscles so hard, he felt his bones creak and fingers pop.


    It wasnt like any kind of pain he had experienced before. His spirit was expanding, but it felt like his very person was being ripped apart and torn to shreds, before being reassembled and stretched back out in a vicious cycle of pain.


    When it finally ended, he found only two minutes had gone by. It felt like an eternity, but the reward had done its job.


    His spirit wasrger than before, and he could see where he had space for three new Core skill slots, along with fifteen Inner slots and forty Outer.


    With the harvest of skills they had earned in Minka so far, Matt was excited to start absorbing new skills. Waiting could also be good practice for if the next floor was New Growth, but it could just as easily backfire if it was World of Cardboard. The needle overall tipped <em>slightly</em> towards it being better to absorb skills ahead of time, but hed need to wait until his spirit settled down in any case. The strain was so bad, he felt physically cold and couldn''t stop his limbs from shaking.


    This strain felt worse than it had when he pushed [Cracked Mana Spear] too hard multiple times in a row.


    Susanne came out fifteen minutes after Matt did, and found him nursing a cup of tea as he ran his freshly-usable healing spells.


    Seeing him curled around the cup in his hands, she asked, Its that bad?


    Worse than Luna said it would be.


    She plopped down next to him without a word, and he could feel her spirit expand and contract repeatedly for a few minutes.


    Feeling slightly better, he boiled water and made her a cup of coffee, which she gratefully curled around in a mirror of what he did not moments ago.


    Through chattering teeth, she said, Fuck that. I''d rather go another ten rounds with the troll.


    Together, they suffered in silence until Liz came in and joined them in their misery.


    Aster was thest toe out, a full two hours after Matt had, but she was in high spirits until she saw the three of them still recovering.


    Her tail drooped as she said, You know what? Maybe Ill wait to take this reward for a couple years. I have plenty of skill slots anyway.


    Matt scooped her up, and after wrapping her in a nket tofort her when she experienced the spirit strain, said, It makes you feel super cold. Like spiritually cold. Id bet you won''t even feel it.


    Burrito Aster tried to wag her tail as she readily agreed. Oh that sounds great! I had so much fun in that challenge. I was in a city, and between rounds, I was able to raid a bunch of ice cream stands, it was <em>so good</em>. I Aster twitched a few times until it turned into a vibration. This feels awful. I should have waited.


    Matt felt for his bond, but just kept her in the nket, even as he felt the fibers start to freeze over. Though, he put her down when he started to get chills as well.


    Aster, at least, wasnt bothered by the coldness the spiritual strain gave her. Apparently, she actually liked the feeling despite it being ufortable. She thought she might be able to replicate it when her control over ice was stronger.


    The four of them spent the rest of the day recovering from their spiritual strain by abusing Matt and his unlimited mana to recover from their physical injuries as much as possible. Not being able to run [Endurance] at a high rate almost constantly made fights truly exhausting, especially when they wereing on as quickly and often as they had in the previous floor. It may not have done too much, but using his self healing spells did work to lower his healing cooldown a degree, and every bit counted.


    While they had some downtime in a rtively secure area, they took the time to look through the growing pile of loot they had rued. It was an unfortunate fact that many of the best skills and natural treasures got used shortly after being found, so the items taken from other delvers were typically worse than what could be found from Minka directly. But quantity had a quality all its own.


    Not everyone had a <em>need</em> for any given valuable item at the moment they picked it up. A fire mage wouldnt absorb even the best water skill or natural treasure if they could trade it for something that better fit their existing abilities once they left Minka.


    After the fifth floor, upgrade orbs were one of the most valuable things that one could find with some regrity in Minka, but they were also useful for pretty much anyone. Luna had even told them that if they did find an upgrade orb, they were to use it as soon as possible. The improvedbat ability from even a single upgraded skill would outweigh any opportunity cost of using itter, if they could leverage it to get deeper into Minka before Tiering up. At this point, it was quite possible that a few of the people that Matts team had killed found an upgrade orb earlier in their delve, and used it on themselves.


    In terms of more direct mary rewards, Matt was getting somewhat numb to it all. The three shards of [Directed Heal] would be worth a substantial amount when sold, alongside the twenty or so shards of undirected healing spells, and suite of Tier 14 Maniption skills. As a joke, Matt started making tiny buckets for each <em>type</em> of skill that they had, with a full fifty five [Fireball] shards in the most full bucket, followed closely by [Create Water]. The normal buckets for sses of Tier 14 skills they had no n on using were less full, but more than respectable.


    That was all in addition to the items, materials, natural treasures, houses, and innumerable other odds and ends that their liaison April would be identifying and selling for them after leaving Minka. While Matt and his friends were fighting their own battles, April was preparing for war at one of the inter-Power auctions that urred periodically through each of Minkas cycles. That phrasing was apparently not entirely figurative; people did die on asion.


    Susanne elected to fill out her maniption skills somewhat, though not nearly to the same degree as Matt, because she previously only had [Air Maniption]. The maniption skills for fire, water, earth, and metal would give her a greater degree of flexibility once she had some practice with them, and they had endless mundane uses that really couldnt be overstated. She also finally relented on taking [Ice Maniption] and [Create Ice] for herself, after Asters manyments on the subject.


    Matt, on the other hand, chose [Fire Weapon] as another skill that he would be adding to his spirit in short order. Liz had used the skill in her Torch persona, but had a hard time justifying the mana cost when fighting up four Tiers. Channeling mana to encase his weapon in fire was a simple and effective way of improving his damage potential, though he was hoping for one of the more potent variants in the same family of skills, one that would work with his Courtly Warfare boon more. [Air Weapon] was somewhat redundant with [Sword Twin]s enhanced sharpness abilities, though hed have to give it careful consideration before absorbing it nheless. Even with a newly-expanded spirit, Matt could <em>benefit</em> from thousands more skills than he could ever fit in his spirit.


    He also picked out a [Mage Hand] shard, recalling Harpers advice about learning telekinesis, but he likely wouldnt absorb it until after they left Minka. It was intensely useful, but required a fair bit of practice before it could be used effectively inbat, and Matt needed to prioritize not dying at the moment. Or, more realistically he needed to prioritize not being forced to Tier up, but the steps lined up well enough.


    Liz ended up with a pair of very fetching boots enchanted with [Air Slide], letting her slide around t terrain like she was on ice. It gave her a level of unpredictability in a fight, simr to Concept flight, with much less ability to be disrupted.


    From the moose boss itself, Liz got the Tier 20 skill [Skewer], which paired extremely nicely with a [Return Weapon] she had been holding onto. [Skewer] was a straightforward spear or javelin skill which let the userunch their weapon at a positively enormous speed, with a degree of added homing and durability for the weapon to survive the impact. Matt hadnt been too impressed until he watched a video of a Tier 20 blow a hole as wide as Matts torso through a same Tier dragon from thirty miles away. <em>After</em> breaking through twoyers of shielding. It was a railgun of a skill, if a bit too slow and predictable at close range, and the hope was it would make it through Lizs skill conversion without changing too much.


    [Return Weapon] was a mainstay of archers everywhere. Reserving some mana would tag a weapon, and teleport it back to the caster when the mana was unreserved, with the cost scaling with estimated distance to teleport. Archers needed to modify the skill to better apply to multiple smaller weapons, but Liz could use it straight away, and wasbat-usable even in her outer spirit. She would likely be using some of their many looted spears for ranged battle until it had settled in her spirit. Matt wanted the skill as backup for his sword, but [Crescent Sweep] was better suited for killing monsters than people anyways, and they didnt typically try to steal weapons.


    Aster found [Brittle Cold], a debuff skill that sapped durability from a person''s skills, making their skills easier to break, along with making Concept powers slightly more vulnerable. The second portion wasnt quite as strong as the skill portion, but in a close fight, it could quite easily make the difference. Shed also ended up with the singr [Side Slide] skill shard theyd found, which Matt had initially tried to im for himself. However, shed eventually won that argument on the basis that he already <em>had</em> a way to teleport himself, whereas she had nothing.


    Entering the next floor, they found themselves in a fog-covered field with limited visibility and spiritual range, but almost immediately recognized the people they were standing across from.


    Themselves.


    Wispy versions of the four of them stood in the mist and almost immediately attacked them.


    A sixth floor Folded Reflections.


    Matt couldnt be happier.

 Chapter 201

    Chapter 201


    Matts copy shot out a [Mana sh] immediately upon seeing them, while Asters cast [Ice Spear] at the same time.


    It might have been threatening, but the two spells were half-formed at best; they were so weak, they only fizzled out in their flight.


    The copies Minka started with were bad; Matt knew that from all the reports they had seen. But this was beyond his expectations.


    As the first two spells crossed the halfway mark, the copies of Susanne and Liz made their moves, with Susannes casting a sloppy [Wind Cutter] while Lizs attempted control over a stream of blood was so bad that the glob of fluid wobbled.


    Despite that, they all took the fights seriously, and split off to deal with their copies.


    The deeper they were on this floor, the better the copies would be, which meant they needed to learn to fight themselves while there was a smaller risk of death, rather than rushing headlong into danger.


    Fighting an exact copy of yourself would, in theory, result in a fifty-fifty chance of victory or death, but Minka wasnt so evil. Instead, the copies it created were based on the version of you that had entered the floor, giving you time to get used to fighting yourself, along with many chances to grow stronger.


    After a whole floor without being able to <em>truly</em> use his skills, Matt brought his de down with all the force he could muster. His copy was weaker, and it almost immediately gave way, just barely surviving by blocking his attack with [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Just for fun, he flexed his boon as he called up his own suit of armor, manifesting it as an icy blue and giving it a few winter-themed features. It didnt affect the skill beyond making it look cool, but it was a new toy for him to y with, and quite a fun one at that.


    The copys skill flickered, but he didnt press his advantage, pulling back instead and allowing his copy to recover. The experience hed get fighting himself would be invaluable for the end of the floor, after all.


    His copy tapped into his own boosts, and Matt echoed in kind. Each of their reflections, until the final boss on the floor, were <em>lesser</em> in some way. Some only had a fragment of their total skills, somecked Concepts, and very few had a full grasp of strategy and were capable of improvisation. This one, however, seemed like it was slightly weaker overall in every way, but it was an excellent introduction to the floor..


    As Matt blocked a thrust and a point nk [Mana sh], he learned about his ownbat style, and tried to dissect it like an opponent would.


    He was fast, nimble, and defensive, never ovemitting while also trying to bait opponents into overextending themselves. If that failed, he would just wear them down into dust. Compared to the opponents that Matt was used to fighting, his initial copy wasughably slow and weak, more like a turtle than a predator.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, Matt was substantially more than just a defense-specialized melee fighter, and that apparently carried over to his reflection as well, since it unleashed a barrage of [Fireball]s at him. Matt dodged most of them, but cut one in half as he closed the distance between them once again.


    It was really fortunate that the copies would be lesser versions of him until the end of the floor, and that Minka didnt raise them to Tier 14. The additional speed and strength alone would be a pain, but mostly, the idea of fighting himself after he got a couple more tier-ups and doubled his mana a few more times filled him with a bit of dread.


    Matt had no confidence in fighting a version of himself that had 20,480 mana, versus his current 2,560 mana. It might not technically be suicide, but it would only be one step removed from it.


    Even with no more than his current spell arsenal, being able to spend eight times more mana on every spell would mean his [Cracked Phantom Armor] was impossible to break through, while his physical buffing spells would be substantially more potent.


    Still, it <em>did</em> give him a rtively easy way to be assured of a win against his reflections for the entire floor. If he broke through to Tier 12, his mana generation would double, and his copies just wouldnt be able to keep up.


    He and this current copy traded a few more blows, with Matt steadily gaining an advantage before it tried to turn the tables with a st of [Hail], shooting it at him sideways rather than raining down from above. That proved to be a mistake, as Matt reached out with [Ice Maniption], seizing control of the icy deluge around him. His copy fruitlessly tried to reimmand of the spell, but Matts grip was absolute inparison to this first reflection.


    Matt could feel his Winter boon blossom into full effect. Thanks to the limits on skill usage on floor five, it had taken a while to fully piece together, but hed eventually nailed down two main effects. The first was a substantial boost to his precision and control when using winter-rted elements. It was most obvious with the corresponding Maniption skills, but was present even in [Hail], as evidenced by his reflection turning it into a headlong ranged attack instead of mere hailstones falling from the sky. Secondly, any ice skills he used grew in power the longer he controlled them, and the more mana he put into them.


    All around him, the ice crystals produced by [Hail] grewrger and sharper with each passing second, swirling around the pair of them like they were in the eye of a hurricane. His copy never stopped trying to break his control, until, with a passing thought, Matt directed the entire storm at his reflection. A stream of razor-sharp ice and wind punched through a subpar [Bulwark] and [Cracked Phantom Armor], bursting out the far side of his reflections chest and shattering it into a thousand rapidly-dissolving pieces.


    Minka might recreate their items for their copies to use, but all their equipment, items, and even consumables were fundamentally tied to the copy, and couldnt be extracted through any means.


    Though, he paused to see if his copy would drop any of his skills.


    While it was only a remote possibility, getting a second [Cracked Phantom Armor] would be fantastic, so he could modify the second skill for different threats.


    He was disappointed when his copy simply dropped an essence stone, but he still picked it up and put it away.


    He joined Susanne off to the side, who had already finished her own fight, while he watched Liz and Aster testing their copies. Like him, neither seemed terribly concerned about killing their opponents quickly, instead getting used to the idea of fighting <em>themselves</em>. Liz was testing out the limits of overpowering someones control of their own blood, mirroring his own bouts of shing against her with [Blood Maniption], but it was clear that she was dominating the entire time.


    As Aster killed her copy with a quick [Chomp] to rip out its throat, Liz turned the tendrils of blood swirling around her into spears, skewering her copy a dozen times over. The body and a substantial amount of the surrounding blood soon dissolved into nothing.


    There werent any terribly notablendmarks around them, with the ruin being a simple forest-type. After a quick survey of their surroundings, Liz stashed a small amount of her blood in a spatially-expanded canteen, brushed off her hands, and consulted herpass to get a heading.


    It continued to point to the right as they followed it to a small scattering of other delvers'' copies.


    They took their time to fight them, as it was important intel on their possible opponents, but it had itsplications.


    Or at least, it was in theory. Minka didnt always use reflections of delvers on the current floor as temtes. Anyone who had ever entered its depths could appear, so far as anyone knew, but it preferred those who had entered the this cycle. Particrly those who had reached the floor. Frankly, the sheer breadth of possible people who could appear was good for Matt, since it would help obscure his own identity and trump cards. So long as whoever fought one of his reflections didnt see an attack that was uniquely and identifiably <em>his</em>, no matter how much mana it used, it wouldnt be a concern.


    He had carefully hidden [Cracked Mana Spear], and from his single encounter with his copy, he assumed that the spell would be hidden until thest moment as well. It was an assumption, yes, but he felt that it was a good one. If the copy had used it immediately, it would have fared much better in their battle.


    And while the spell might be incredibly strong, if anyone got attacked with it and survived, they would know one of his most important hidden trump cards, which was less than ideal.


    It also meant that anyone who fought his copy would get a good look at his sword, which was one of the things he tried to avoid, as it was the single piece of equipment that could link Quill with his real identity of Matt. He had already failed on that front when fighting Young Master Blood Hand on the previous floor, and it was one reason of many that he so desperately wanted to tie up that loose end.


    Knowing there was nothing he could do about that, he just hoped that anyone who fought a copy of himself got sted to bits by a beam of pure mana.


    When they reached the edge of the ruin, they all paused.


    The forest ended like it normally did, in a sharp line, but the ruin next to them was out of Matts expectation.


    It was space.


    Or at least, what looked like empty space was sitting next to their standard forest. Vast and devoid of any and everything, it looked like it went on forever, but theirpass pointed in that direction without fail.


    Liz shrugged. So, do we follow thepass and enter space? Seems kinda risky.


    Matt extended [Air Maniption] into the next rift and confirmed. Yeah, no actual air in there. I can bring in a lot of air, but I don''t have [Create Air], so it will eventually run out. They did have the skill somewhere in their numerous bags, but they had barely even spared it a thought, given how niche of a skill it was.


    Aster yipped a question. Can we use a spatial ring to bring in more air? It''spressible, so it should be possible, no?


    While they talked and discussed possibilities, Susanne squinted and watched something in the distance before speaking up. Is that an asteroid?


    Everyone peered into the distance until Liz brought out a pair of binocrs. Yup, that''s an asteroid, and it definitely has air.


    After she handed off the binocrs to Matt, he saw what she meant.


    The asteroid had nts and water on its surface, despite not being muchrger than their house.


    After helping Aster see the asteroid, Matt started doing the math on how much air he could control, and whether or not it would be enough to get them to their next destination.


    The answer came out as a confident yes, even without ounting for his Boon.


    With half of his mana generation, he would be able to grab and hold enough air for them to breathe confidently.


    With that settled, they tied themselves together with a bit of rope and jumped into the void.


    Entering the empty space was odd.


    Matt could feel the strain of having to simte the natural air pressure around his bubble of air, ensuring that it didnt escape into the surrounding vacuum. Without gravity warping their trajectory, all they did was wait as they floated towards the asteroid.


    All of them seemed to have the same thought at the same time, and they twisted to get a look at the ruin behind them.


    Like a strip of light in the darkness, there was a band of reality that seemed starkly out of ce as light leaked out of the adjoining ruin into the empty space. Oddly enough, it seemed like the ruin they were currently in stretched out beyond their previous ruin as well.


    As they drifted out into the distance, Matt started to ponder.


    He had a space rted Concept, but he had never actually been to space, as odd as that seemed.


    Oh, he had traveled <em>through</em> space, but he had never experienced it directly.


    That seemed weird to him.


    He hadnt thought about it at all, and even Luna hadnt suggested anything of the sort. She might have been waiting until he was Tier 15, and didnt have pesky needs like breathing, but Matt felt connected to the new ruin around him in a way.


    Through their bond, he knew Aster felt the same way.


    She had aspirations of making space ice, and he could feel her fascination with the surroundings as they drifted through the emptiness.


    After a few seconds of drifting, Liz started pushing herself along with [Blood Maniption], dragging the rest of them to the asteroid that was floating along ahead of them.


    As they neared the asteroid, they were attracted to the small oval of rock to a degree that was unnatural, but they didntin, as it gave them fresh air and a ce to stand.


    Once theynded, Matt looked to his bond, who felt what he wanted to do, and she immediately jumped into his arms. Together, they lept back off the asteroid and into the vacuum.


    Holding their breath, they relied on their high Tier bodies to prevent their lungs from exploding in the vacuum.


    They both wanted to experience the true vacuum of space.


    Instantaneously, Matts eyes went dry, so he shut them and experienced the emptiness with his spiritual sense and body.


    There was nothing and <em>everything</em> around him.


    Space was the home of everything in reality.


    Empty, but not.


    He could feel the small random bits of rock and debris drifting along, but he treated them as the inconsequential bits they were.


    Matt followed his instincts and flexed his Concept, discovering that his repulsion powers were a touch more responsive.


    A white hole might not be real, but it was a celestial body. Space was its home, and he had been remiss in not experiencing this before now.


    Next to him, Asters manifestation of the dead star appeared and flickered as it started to grow colder. Even though she wasnt targeting him, Matt felt a chill enter his body and spirit, as her connection to the cold became stronger and stronger with each passing moment.


    Eventually, she also stopped and looked up at him, and he flew with his Concept back to the ground, where they took grateful breaths of air together.


    Liz was ring at them when theynded. What if your eyes had exploded? Then what would you two do?


    Aster rolled said eyes. We arent mortals. Were stronger than that. And I got a lot out of our experiment.


    Matt nodded along. I feel a well, a sort of connection to my Concept Im not quite used to. It didnt do much, but it feels like a door was just cracked open, ever so slightly. Its hard to describe, but Hmm. No, I dont think I can exin it, but that little test was definitely worth it. Once Im Tier 15, Ill see about doing it more, I think.


    Liz didntin anymore, and the four of them explored their little ind in space.


    It was small, but the gravity was aary normal, giving them a good foothold despite the asteroid being smaller than arge house.


    Liz checked thepass, and it pointed slightly to their left and up, which forced them to use theirbined Concepts to change the direction of their asteroid base.


    It was hard, but they had just seeded in steering the rock in the proper direction when they saw another asteroid traveling on a near collision course with their own.


    Seeing that it was so simr to the one they were standing on, Liz said, Anyone want to test why these asteroids have air and such?


    Susanne shook her head. Not on my asteroid. Im quite good, thank you.


    Matt smirked, but prepared with Aster to catch their next passerby and crack it open.


    It took nearly an hour, but eventually, another asteroid drifted past, and the two of them sprung into action.


    Behind Aster, a dead star appeared, and the asteroid slowed noticeably while Matt grabbed it with [Earth Maniption], pulling it into an orbit with their own.


    When it was close, they flexed their powers and shattered the rock, and even Liz whistled as the center of the asteroid was revealed.


    Heavy Iron wasnt named for its properties upon Tiering up. No, while metals almost always got heavier as they tiered up, Heavy Iron was a natural treasure that could increase the weight and durability of any item it was merged with. And the chunk they just got was big enough to be split into at least two portions.


    Susanne whistled as they brought the fist sized rock down to their own asteroid. Okay, I take back what I said. Let''s crack open every asteroid we see like pinatas. I could use the increase in durability for my armor.


    Liz shamelessly added, Im so d I told you two to break that asteroid.


    That started their great collecting expedition, and over the next six hours, they harvested a dozen fist-sized chunks of the natural treasure. Some of the asteroids had copies of delvers on them, but they were easily dealt with, as Matt shattered the ground under their feet and left them floating in the emptiness of space, where they were easy pickings for the rest of his team.


    Matt used thergest one on his sword, at the insistence of the others, as he had no issue with its weight, even with one of its growth aspects being higher than normal weight and the item being Tier 14.


    After his weapon absorbed the Heavy Iron, he nodded at the greater heft and took a while to practice with the weapon, so he could get used to its increased weight. It ended up being heavy enough that Matt needed to run [Mages Retreat] at a low level tofortably use it, but he <em>could</em> still swing the de without the skill, it just took a lot out of him.


    Susanne used it for her armor, and Liz absorbed the Heavy Iron with her Blood Iron, giving her body and blood some additional weight and durability. The added momentum would help with breaking through armor, and additional body weight helped with melee weapon fighting to a degree, as everyone past Tier 6 or so had the strength to spare.


    After seeing that Liz had no major side effects from the absorption, and she wasnt slowed down too much, Susanne did the same, and the two women started practicing and sharing tips on how they were each dealing with the additional weight. Liz mostly utilized her internal hemokinesis, while Susanne relied on her Concept more for the time being. While they did so, Matt stashed the eight remaining chunks of Heavy Iron in their storage, idly wondering if he could get his house to absorb any of them.


    While scouting for more loot, Matt saw five strangely symmetrical asteroids, roughly arranged in a K-shape around a barely noticeable, distorted ring of light. He might not have even noticed them if his Concept didnt increasingly signal that the world was <em>wrong</em> in that direction. What started as an equivalent to slight white noise became a rather insistent spiritual tinnitus, before finally turning into someone raking their nails on a chalkboard as they got closer.


    He was forced to look away and think about it for a few seconds, but then it clicked. The lensing effect was familiar to Matt, and he would have recognized it earlier, but the bright retion disk usually associated with this object was missing.


    Is that a ck hole?


    Aster jumped onto his shoulder, and after some inspecting, nodded. Sure is.


    And were drifting directly at it?


    Yup!


    Matt and everyone else panicked. It also exined why they had to push their asteroid so hard to go to the most valuable thing in the ruin. They had been effectively stalling their rotational momentum, which sent them plummeting right towards the ck hole.


    Liz immediately suggested, We need to change our direction and slingshot around this thing.


    Matt and Aster both shook their heads, and he responded, Nope, can''t do that. Thats the prize, I''m sure of it. Haven''t you heard of the Heart of a ck Hole?


    Liz and Susanne shook their heads while Matt exined. It''s the cultivation core of the ck hole, and its incredibly valuable, mostly for its use as a crafting material. Even a low Tier core of a normal can make Tier 20 items stronger. Seeing both Liz and Susanne look unimpressed, he added, We could even absorb its cultivation to speed up our own progress, but that would be a waste. It''s better to make an amazing item out of it.


    Liz shook her head. I also know that only higher Tier people can get the cores ofs and such. On top of that, it happens to be illegal. She paused for a second before adding, Well, illegal in the Empire, which we aren''t in, but my point still stands. How can we get it out? As far as I know, it takes a Tier 40 to take the core out of a Tier 25 sun because of how hard it is to even reach.


    Matt shrugged. I have no idea, but it''s got to be possible.


    Susanne shook her head. Not necessarily. Thepass points to something valuable, not something valuable that we can <em>get</em>.


    Matt nodded at the distinction, as it was a valid one he had overlooked in his excitement, and the four of them pushed their asteroid into as close an orbit as they deemed safe.


    After that, they inspected and thought of a way to destroy the ck hole without destroying its cultivation core.


    He and Aster chatted about everything they knew about ck holes and their cores, but neither of them had an answer beyond throwing the weight of their Concepts against it until it broke.


    In real space, that would have been impossible, as even the smallest ck hole was far stronger than any Tier 11, but they were in Minka, where everything was a challenge to ovee for a Tier 14, and they both had Concepts that were counters to a ck hole.


    Matt was the inverse of a ck hole, while Aster''s Concept embodied the <em>true</em> death of the universe, when even ck holes had died.


    From their little asteroid, they threw their Concepts against the Tier 14 ck hole and were immediately rebuffed.


    Rubbing his head, Matt said, Ok, let''s try and slowly grind it away. Going up against it directly wasnt the best decision.


    With that lesson learned, they summoned their Concepts and slowly edged them into the ck hole''s space.


    Aster was manifesting her Concept behind her as she focused on breaking down the ck hole. With his spiritual sense, Matt could see his eyes glowing more brightly over time as he focused too, which was decidedly less dramatic.


    Almost instantly, Matt understood that they werentpleting whatever challenge Minka had designed for this ruin. It was the same feeling as when he stole the gloves from the first floor, but as they were challenging <em>themselves</em>, Minka didnt deem it necessary to intervene.


    It didnt mean that what they were doing was particrly easy. Not by any means.


    If Matt had connected with his Concept during his little excursion into space with Aster, he was now honing and refining his Concept as he held it against the grinding wheel that was the ck hole in front of him.


    In a battle of pure strength, his Concept was far, far weaker, but his Concept was also alive and growing in a way that the ck holes wasn''t. When his white hole took damage, he was there to repair it and make it grow stronger, while the ck hole was slowly whittled away and began dissipating under theirbined pressure.


    Little by little, Aster and Matt slowly ground the seemingly imcable ck hole down, until it was little more than a pinprick of a deeper ckness in the emptiness of space.


    During the battle of wills, Matt noticed that when his Concept reformed, it grew stronger with each encounter, as did Aster''s. It wasnt just them attacking a greater entity than themselves, but rather them engaging with and oveing something that their Concepts didnt align with.


    The back and forth felt as long as weeks and as short as seconds at the same time, but eventually, the ck hole copsed in on itself, and a single, grape-sized orb of darkness floated in the void. All the asteroids started flying off in straight lines once the gravity well holding them in orbit vanished.


    Matt fell to his knees, and Aster passed out entirely.


    Susanne thankfully reacted in time, and used her Concept to cut space in order to appear next to the orb, grab it, and quickly return to their asteroid.


    Aster woke up quickly, and other than a splitting headache, she was fine.


    With the core in hand, the four of them inspected it while they drifted towards a small strip of light that more than likely signified an adjoining ruin.


    The core was tiny, radiated power like an insanely powerful natural treasure, and was clearly more valuable than that would imply. Matt could tell that it was <em>stuffed</em> with essence from how it felt to his spiritual sense. Considering that the item was literally the essence core of the ck hole, it wasn''t all that surprising.


    It was weird to see it physically there, as living entities didnt create physical cores, but had them exist entirely in their spirits. It weighed almost nothing, despite being spiritually heavy, as if it was still the ck hole it had once inhabited, which exined why it was so useful in crafting. With just that effect, Matt could think of a dozen enchantments he couldyer upon the core without actively integrating it, as well as expending it to enhance an existing item to give even stronger effects


    That gave him an idea, and he looked down at his gloves.


    If they didnt bind to him as a growth item which he doubted they would, now that the house had he thought of a few ways he could increase the gloves'' gravity prowess with the Heart of the ck Hole. Or, he could at least take the Heart and the gloves and use them as the core and blueprint to create something stronger.


    A Tier 14 core of a ck hole would be useful for a dozen Tiers above its own, at a minimum.


    Liz hadnt been wrong about it being illegal to harvest a core of a, or some other celestial body, in the Empire and the rest of the Great Powers, but it did happen on asion. It was legal if the system was being abandoned for some reason, which was beyond rare. The other exception was if someone personally raised the celestial body themselves, from Tier 0 to the desired Tier.


    That was such an expensive and time-consuming process, it was only done by a single guild, and they only brought the bodies to Tier 10, or possibly Tier 15, upon request. Even then, they only created a single sun to harvest every ten thousand years or so.


    Matt hadnt done much research beyond that, but he had asked Erwin why they didnt use higher Tier rifts to elerate the process. The older scientist exined that in rifts, no matter howrge theary body inside it was, the body would never form a core. Instead, their essence was spread through their material evenly. If brought outside of the rift, that essence could condense and form a core, but it was so inefficient, a moon from a Tier 47 rift would only create a Tier 1 moon when brought out.


    As for why that happened, no one was sure. But it was one of the main reasons why any space-themed, gxy-sized, higher Tier rifts weren''t able to be harvested for thousands of higher Tiers.


    While the others had started doing their own thing, Matt made a small wand and created a containing rune that encased the Heart in the wand. Then, with a release function, he was able to make it increase gravity in a small area where he pointed the tip of the wand.


    It wasnt an elegant use of the core, but it was quick, useful, and wasnt permanent. Considering it only took a trickle of mana to activate the enchantment, it only served to redirect the power of the core, rather than consume it.


    They were nearly at the next ruin, which they could see was a desert of some kind, when Liz noticed that thepass was pointing above the ruin, so they shifted their trajectory to avoid it. After a little flying, they found a pitch ck asteroid that had beenpletely hidden from their spiritual perception, and housed a small cave in its side. Inside the cave, they found arge, concealed pir of crystal.


    A challenge room.


    Everyone got off, and in a bubble of air, inspected the pir.


    Matt frowned as he tried to get a feeling of the challenge inside. It didnt feel likebat, but it also wasnt a puzzle either.


    It felt more testy.


    Liz identified it before he did.


    I bet it''s Careful What You Wish For.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure she was right, but it was better than any of his guesses.


    The test was simple, if difficult to pass. It usually could be found <em>somewhere</em> in Folded Reflections, Mind over Matter, and Spiritual Journey, if any of them appeared in a cycle.


    Minka found your deepest desires and then put you in a situation where you got to enjoy them. Whether it be carnal pleasure, food,vish living, or the power to crush your foes, it gave it all to you, and would keep you there forever if you allowed it.


    Beating the test required one to reject the contents of the illusion. In some cases, that came from love slowly turning to hate or apathy, as too much of a good thing became unbearable. In others, that was more straightforwardly resisting your desires and pushing yourself out.


    Ultimately, the quality of the reward came down to how quickly they could extract themselves, though some considered the reward to be more so the experience itself.


    Of course, if the testee wasnt able or willing to wake themselves up, theyd stay in the room forever.


    Aster immediately perked up and jumped for joy. Me, me, me. Let me do the challenge. I want ice cream bunnies! I want it soooooo bad. Pleasssssse!? Ill only say for six hours real time, I promise!


    In the end, they all decided to participate in the test, and were brought into a holding room where Aster immediately vanished.


    Unusually, the room allowed them to watch. Matt guessed that part of her desire was explicitly that they could all <em>see</em> as Aster was ced in a psychedeld of candy, with bunnies made from ice cream that covered thendscape.


    Instead of resisting, she dug in and tore the rabbit apart in a spray of ice cream and raspberry syrup while chowing down.


    None of them expected anything else, and Matt chuckled at his bond''s enthusiasm.


    What he didnt expect was that once she was done eating the first rabbit, she immediately pounced on the second, then third. None of them resisted, and they all seemed unfazed, even as their neighbors were eviscerated in sprays of fudge, caramel, and various fruity syrups.


    He had thought she would control herself, but she seemingly had no intention to do so and started going wild, tearing into and devouring each and every rabbit she encountered.


    Matt facepalmed as he realized she was going to eat her heart out.


    And she did exactly that.


    Well, perhaps she had the right idea. It <em>had</em> been a stressful few months- or even years, if the third floor challenge room counted. Perhaps a vacation of sorts was just what he needed as well.


    Knowing and trusting his bond to pull herself out of the dream, Matt willed himself into his own test.


    ***


    Matt wasnt the Emperor. He was beyond him, and every other Tier 50 in the realm. He had somehow ascended to Tier 51, but was still present in their ne of existence. Stronger than everyone else.


    Finally free.


    He wasnt just at the peak of power.


    He was beyond it, and beyond risk.


    No one could challenge him.


    No one could shove him in a box.


    Matt was finally <em>free</em>.


    As the strongest existence in the realm, no one could <em>dream </em>of challenging him, and he had people to turn his simplest desire into amand that could shake the realm. He wasnt alone, of course. That would be dull, monotonous.


    But nor did he have peers, for that implied equality.


    He was above all.


    He was the lifeblood of the entire realm, giving life with his every whim as his supplicants extolled the virtues of their causes, pleading with him to aid them. They knew <em>he</em> was the Superior One, and others threw grand treasures at him in the hopes he would hear their cause and act to solve it.


    asionally, he would even listen. He ended wars, terraformed entires, funded great libraries, and ushered in a new wave of truly unbound, truly free research for all. It was a paradise, a utopia for those who pleased him. Those who disrespected him or his values, those who sought to prey upon those weaker than themselves, or those who sought to exploit, even in the abundance of all, were harshly dealt with. Erased from existence and history.


    None were his equal. Every man, woman, and child, every beast and human, and every mortal and immortal all looked to him for guidance and protection.


    <em>He was above all</em>.


    He had conquered every foe.


    Righted every wrong.


    Everything was perfect.


    There was nothing for him to do.


    No challenge to ovee.


    No one stronger than him that posed a threat to either his freedom or his life.


    He couldn''t even enchant anything over Tier 50, because the instant he made the object, it ascended, unlike him. None dared question him, no one opposed him.


    There was nothing <em>new</em> for him to do.


    Absolute safety was boring.


    It made life dull.


    And the illusion broke around him.


    ***


    Liz walked down the street in perfect anonymity. With the power to change her face and her spirit as she pleased, it was impossible for anyone to recognize her. She hadplete and total freedom. No fans staring in shock at Torch, the future Ascender. No sycophants crowding around Elizabeth, the Princess of Fire. No whispers about a quenched phoenix <em>nothing</em>. Not even stares due to her red hair and sculpted figure, for even those were gone.


    Someone crashed into her, a random drunk who wasnt watching his path, and she shoved him off of her. That would show him, all right. No perfect princess here, and no more thousands of reporters waiting to pounce on the slightest misstep.


    He crashed to the ground, and Liz smirked in satisfaction as she stepped over him and carried on her way. She reached home not long after, and Matt greeted her from the kitchen as he whipped up another wonderful meal. He alone <em>knew</em> her, and she loved him all the more for it. Hed even received the same blessing as her, allowing them both to vanish into the distance without a single care, without a single worry of anyone tracking them here, so far from her home. Nobody would know his secret; she was all his and <em>he</em> was all <em>hers</em>.


    With a shiver of delight, she cast aside herst face and returned to a much more familiar one, specifically, Matts favorite. His little gasp of appreciation always brought a smile to her, and she winked at him, beckoning him to her.


    A whispered question and an eager response was all it took for Liz to wake up the next morning arm-in-arm with Matt, surrounded by the evidence of their escapades of the previous night. It would be the scandal of the year- to say nothing of how her mother would preen and make such a tremendous fuss about it all- if Princess Elizabeth were found in such apromising position, yet she hadnt been and <em>wouldnt</em> be.


    She got drunk in bars, walked arm-in-arm with Matt down the street totally naked, joined an underground fighting ring as a pyromancer known for blood-red mes, and did anything else that came to her fancy. And best of all, Matt was side by side with her for it all, his participation and unconditional approval of her everyst whim making it all <em>meaningful</em>, in this world of fleeting faces and no consequences.


    Anonymity came with its downsides, of course. If she wanted to receive preferential treatment in restaurants, she needed to spend time establishing a persona deserving of the treatment beforehand. People didnt defer to her in the street, and if she wanted that annoying guy in the bar to <em>stop pawing her</em>, she<em></em>needed to<em> burn him alive.</em>


    Wait, what?


    Liz came back to herself and looked in horror at the spectacle in front of her. The man, previously a bastion of bravado and charm, was a charred mess. His hair was gone and his skin was ck, burning coals where his eyes once had been. mes licked across what was left of his skin, though it was more charcoal than living flesh. He would be whimpering in pain if his throat would work, but he was kept alive by the nurturing fires running through his veins.


    <em>This isnt who I am</em>, Liz thought, her mind wavering. <em>This isnt me.</em>


    She let her victim drop as the illusion broke around her.


    She appeared back in the waiting area and started to shiver.


    Liz hadnt expected the test to be nice, but she hadnt expected it to show her as some unbridled sociopath either.


    She got angry at people, yes. But she didnt think it was any more than the next person.


    She was a nice person. She helped people. She was kind. She was polite, even to the rudest strangers. She never got <em>mad</em> at them, she never would <em>hurt</em> them unless they outright attacked her.


    <em>But do I </em>want <em>to</em>?


    That thought frightened her.


    Was she only this way because she wanted the approval of others? Was she a monster, deep down, hidden beneath the oceans of blood she had shed, held in check only by the expectations of people around her?


    It was a terrifying thought.


    To distract herself, she turned to Asters test, where she was still eating ice cream bunnies one after another. Matt and Susanne were still gone, but their fantasies, like hers, werent visible from the outside, which she was very grateful for.


    <em>That isnt who I am</em>, she told herself. But there was a small corner of her mind that refused to be quiet.


    <em>Or is it</em>?


    ***


    Susanne stood in front of the indistinct figure for what felt like both hours and seconds. His offer was genuine, she knew, though shed only learn of his identity after epting.


    And what an offer it was.


    Money? As much as she could ever want. Power? He had more than enough of that. Revenge? Well, all she would need to do was say the word, and her deadbeat father would be left humiliated and broken for the entirety of his smugly immortal life.


    There was just one thing causing her to hesitate.


    But what do you want? What do <em>you</em> get out of it? she couldnt help but ask her would-be benefactor.


    Nothing more than to make you happy. I just want whats best for you. You thriving is reward enough for me.


    He meant it, too. She could tell. Everything she had ever wanted, handed to her on a silver tter. All it would take was epting, and the world was hers.


    The illusion shattered around her.


    No. She would never, <em>never</em> be forced to rely on someone so <em>utterly</em>.


    She was Susanne Vr.


    She was <em>Queen</em>.


    And she would never be so reliant on another ever again.


    ***


    Matt appeared and saw Liz and Susanne sitting alone on their own corners of the waiting area, with Aster still in her fantasy.


    Liz looked <em>deeply</em> unsettled, but when he approached her, she just shook her head and gently pushed him away, saying, Im fine. The challenge just caught me off-guard is all. Ill be ok soon. I just need to process it a bit.


    Matt knew her well enough to know that she decidedly <em>wasnt</em> fine, but he still wanted to respect her wishes. He tried asking a couple more times, but was gently rebuffed each time. Well, he wasnt about to let his girlfriend work through whatever shed had to give up, or was repulsed bypletely alone, but neither did he want to push too hard about something she clearly didnt want to discuss.


    So, he settled for sitting down next to her, pulling her into hisp, and holding her. She tensed for a while, but eventually rxed, melting into his arms and asionally burying her face in his shoulder.


    They sat in silence for hours as an elerated Aster ate ice cream rabbit after ice cream rabbit.


    After just under six hours of real time, or something like a year and a half inside the challenge, she finally stopped and broke the illusion with a swish of her tail, exiting the challenge with a plop.


    Aster didnt care at all as shey there with an extended belly.


    One burpter, she promptly fell asleep.

 Book 2 On Amazon - Links

    Book 2 On Amazon - Links


    Path of Ascension <strong>Book 2</strong> is officially avable on Kindle, KU, Print, Audible! While none of you NEED to read the new version that is appearing on Kindle, it has been thoroughly revised and edited to make it a much cleaner book without changing any actual content. Its a significantly smoother version of the story you know.


    The audiobook was performed by a narrator I hand-picked out of a substantial list of options, and he did an incredible job making the story a new experience.


    Amazon: https://a.co/d/cJHyhAv


    Audible: /pd/The-Path-of-Ascension-2-Audiobook/B0BTZB2RXY


    <strong>What else can you do to help</strong>?


    If you have kindle unlimited already, even just a download apparently counts as a sale and can boost myunch rank. So, you dont have to spend any extra money to help, though if you want to feel free


    <strong>Also, on Amazon reviews and ratings are crucial</strong>. If you''ve been enjoying the story, I would respectfully ask you to consider leaving a review. <strong>You dont need to have purchased the book on kindle to leave a review, either</strong>, though if you download on KU before posting a review, ites up as verified which is weighted higher.


    Thank you for all the support!

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 4

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 4


    Minka Chronicles Floor 4


    Kristan breathed slowly through the snow and blinked as quietly as she could, trying to see what was going on around her without giving away that she was still alive.


    Letting her eyes unfocus, she checked her surroundings as best she could without using her spiritual perception, which might be felt by the others.


    Spring had fallen, or at least, was in the process of falling, but she didnt want to get captured.


    During the defense, she had earned quite a bit of Genesis Energy, and she didn''t want to lose her spoils.


    When the Winter Fae moved over her, she sprung into action, clutching her abdomen where a sword had been thrust through her.


    Without hesitation, she threw herself off the wall and down to the ground, relying on her Concept to control her fall enough that she wouldnt break anything when shended.


    Arrows started to pepper her from the Fae near the wall, but she was able to dodge most of them with ateral movement.


    The second shended, she took off in a sprint into the distant woods.


    A mile had never seemed so far until she had to run through a hostile army.


    As her feet pounded in counterpoint to her beating heart, she made it into the woods and started looking for any areas that werent dominated by snow.


    She needed to find a healer for her wound, sooner rather thanter. The healing potion she had downed wasnt going to cut it.


    Thankfully, she had traded for some [Bandage] talismans before entering Minka, and after putting one on each side of her abdomen, she felt ready to continue.


    She started nning as she moved. Spring might have lost, but there were opportunities even in defeat, if she could gather enough of the survivors and organize a resistance.


    Winter might hold a temporary advantage, but she was sure that the remnants of Spring could start harassing them, and eventually take them out at the knees.


    It would just take time, preparation, and nning. All things she excelled at.


    ***


    Leo had always thought he was a pretty good fighter.


    His parents had spared no expense when raising him, and the incredible amounts of money that two Tier 38s could muster had proven their worth. His Talent wasnt that crazy, sure, but it wasbat-relevant and hed gotten his Concept at Tier 6. Hede in first ce in several global tournaments hosted by the local Guilds, beating even their Hero candidates. He could consistently delve up a Tier or two in rifts, even on his own.


    Andpared to the other Winter cultivators, locked in an intense showdown with the Fall General, he felt like he was a child. They were a <em>tenth</em> his age and a Tier below him, and yet the water mage from the Sects was wielding two ribbons of water like they were extensions of her arm, dancing gracefully with the floating streams like they <em>hadnt</em> just shorn through solid stone not a second prior.


    Some man from the Corporations had cauterized what was left of his arm to keep from bleeding out, but being down a limb <em>and a half</em> hadnt so much as made him skip a beat. White, the de facto leader of Winter, was locked in some kind of grappling contest with the seemingly-unstoppable monster, seemingly holding on with sheer grit against a creature two Tiers above him and with a Domain strong enough to shatter Leos with its mere presence.


    Leo flinched as an arrow seemed to materialize out of thin air, only noticing it thanks to the second arrow that had <em>shot it from the air</em>. His opponent took the chance to try and sneak in a [Fireball], but Leo froze the mes into a solid mass and knocked them back at his foe with a solid <em>thwack</em> of his staff. She tried to block, but her shield was hasty after a failed attempt to use [Fire Maniption] on the projectile and broke under the strain. Leo took advantage of her stumble by leaping into the air, bringing an icicle spear down on the disoriented woman.


    She went down, like a <em>normal</em> person should when speared through the chest.


    White, meanwhile, went flying, and Leo was forced to duck out of the way or risk having his head taken off. He could already see the mana building up around the Herald of Winter signaling the man wasnt dead despite having just taken a presumably <em>direct hit</em> from the General.


    Leo shook his head. Well, at least opportunities for mere <em>mortals</em> like him still abounded.


    ***


    Natalie felt <em>powerful</em>. Her time in the third floors challenge had paid off in a major way, and she could now push her Concept to empower <em>anything</em> in her body to a truly incredible degree. She could sharpen her eyes to see impossibly far one second, then empower her muscles enough for her to outrun the wind, step across des of grass, and even crash through stone.


    It was <em>incredibly</em> taxing to her willpower, but that was a small price to pay for such power. And she had the perfect opportunity to flex her new strength right in front of her.


    When presented with the options for Courtly Warfare, she had chosen Fall. The spokesbeings had said that Spring had already fallen, and Winter was winning, limiting how much Genesis Energy she could feasibly earn from either. Summer wasnt really appealing to her as a spy, but better wind magic wasnt half bad.


    And so, she stood on the wall of Falls capital, watching as Winters army descended upon them. Gliders soared across the night sky, shot down by ranged attacks and sending their riders plummeting to the ground below. The Fae attacked from the ground, unending waves of fodder supported by Winters Cultivators and that absolute <em>monster</em> of a General, and Natalie was waiting for them.


    She wasnt foolish enough to actually try and <em>fight</em> the Winter General. Doing so would be outright suicide, but there were more than enough Liutenants for her to take down. Between her Genesis Energy cultivation and Concept, she was perhaps the baseline strongest mortal fighter on the battlefield, but overwhelming strength didnt make her a fighter. So, she stayed invisible as much as possible, striking out with a dagger whenever an opportunity presented itself. One strike, one kill.


    She wasnt sure if it was doing anything, but she made sure that her Talent determined that every attack she made was incredibly impactful. That each strike was <em>the</em> kill that would turn the tides of battle, and even the war itself. Each kill brought with it a wave of Genesis Energy and Favor alike, and she felt her Boon rise up within her, morphing and settling into new abilities. Not a Title quite yet, but shed have one by the end of this battle, she was certain.


    ***


    Winters First General stalked the battlefield. There had been whispers of shame among the nobility, that he had not yet imed a Name for himself. However, he had a lofty goal:plete dominance, utter victory. Spring fell before him, so too should Autumn. But once Summer fell, and Winter was triumphant, then and only then would he ept theurels of his victory. But first, this battle must be won.


    Autumn had raised a champion of its own, a pale reflection of himself, yet a worthy foe nheless. He yearned to face his peer, to pit their courts against one another and show himself superior, yet he could not. Others were managing to contain the General, reducing the danger he posed to the war.


    Thus, he sought after a different target. Winters winds whispered to him of a warrior of surpassing skill, whose presence threatened the battle and war alike. They spoke of mighty blows removing key Lieutenants and Neers alike, and clearing massive portions of Winters attackers single handedly. This warrior would be the next to fall to his de, and only then could he engage the other General.


    It was odd. He would have expected the presence of such a warrior to be utterly unmistakable, a bastion of carnage as they harvested the weak and indelibly changed the tide of battle around them. Yet he simply <em>could not</em> find them. He was in the right area, yet no candidates were apparent. Some attempted to attack him, yet their efforts were impotent, and none revealed themselves as his true target.


    Atst, he found her. He did not believe his eyes at first. The woman was invisible and well-hidden, but that was no hindrance to him. No, what he could notprehend was theplete <emck</em> of impact she was having upon the battle. She struck true, yes, but it was always opportunistic against wounded or straggling targets, not the key figures Winter insisted she was fighting. He was thorough in checking for what mistake he must be making, what underlying pattern he must be missing yet nothing became apparent.


    She was trivially easy to kill, and as she died, Winter was satisfied that he had removed thest obstacle to their victory.


    He did not understand, but spared it no further thought.


    ***


    Get a move on already! Chuck called out to the front of the line, not that the one holding everyone up could hear him. He was waiting in a column of other people to get into the challenge room crystal, which someone had found a few weeks ago. Challenge rooms were a little different on Courtly Warfare, since sharing information between people was easy, and whenever one was found away from the front lines, off duty people lined up to try them out. It was typically an easy way to get Favor and Genesis Energy, and asionally some cool new toys.


    Today was the Empires turn, and he had secured a ce near the front through a carefully sabotaged flying sword. Riding on top of his lightning tiger, who he named Richard, he was a good six feet above anyone else, which gave him an excellent view of the current source of his ire.


    Challenge rooms multiplied the Genesis Energy put into them if their challenge was beaten, and while it was only possible to do them once, that was tracked per person rather than per party. It was a concept which Minka only asionally recognized. If multiple people in a party thought they could do the challenge alone, they could potentially get an enormous payout by transferring all of their Genesis Energy to one person, then get their wager multiplied bypleting the challenge. The group could then repeat the process for each member of the party, though of course Minka didnt allow anything too egregious, and limited the total amount of Genesis Energy someone could get from a single challenge room. Theoretically, the chain could continue across parties for enormous gains, but trust between parties broke down well before any payoffs became too ridiculous.


    Swathes of broken trees surrounding this room testified to that fact.


    The other downside, from Chucks perspective, was that the silly birds took too long doing the challenge, since only one group could be in a challenge room at a time.


    After what felt like ages, Chuck saw the glowing crystal go dark, which signified that the challenge was done, but no one popped out. Well, that could only mean one thing, and the girl standing near the front, waiting for her boyfriend or whatever toe back out, broke down into sobs once she put together what had happened.


    Finally! Come on, hurry it up, I dont got all day! Lookdy, if your hubby had to be a little weakling, couldnt he have done us all a favor and been through with it a bit quicker? Im dying of old age out here! Chuck called out,ughing at his own joke. He winked at the woman behind him in line, trying to get a smile out of her, but she only red daggers at him.


    <em>Whatever, dumb bitch.</em>


    At least he could have a good time by himself.


    As he approached the mouth of the cave, after a few more people had gone through the challenge, he got off his [Summon Mana Monster] mount. His father had expertly modified the skill to make singrly powerful lightning summons. He brought out his lightning ive and started going through forms, limbering up before he needed to fight the thorn-wolves that this challenge offered. The crackle from electricity dancing off his de mostly covered up the whoosh noises he made with his mouth as he swung it around he was pretty sure.


    It wasnt all that long before the person ahead of Chuck finished the challenge, and came out of the crystal to a lightshow of Genesis Energy pouring out for him, along with a few skill shards. Not a bad haul, really.


    As Chuck was finishing up his forms, his shaft clipped the still crying woman who was kneeling by the big crystal, and that was when he was done being polite.


    Could you move out of the way, girl? Some of us have things to do. Go cry in a corner or something, so long as we dont have to see you there ruining your makeup. He apanied this by leaning against the crystal with one hand, resting his weapon on the opposite shoulder.


    It took her a few seconds, but eventually, she gathered herself together enough to respond. What kind of-. But before she could get any further in her little rant, Chuck pushed his Genesis Energy into the crystal and disappeared into the challenge.


    At least for a little while, all he had to deal with were the snapping jaws of thorn-wolves, which he mostly found preferable to thepany outside. There was no rush, really. All that mattered here was how thoroughly he eradicated the wolves. With a small pop, he resummoned Richard, who gave a thunderous roar as the wolves circled.


    ***


    Alvin cursed as the order from the Tier 12s came down.


    They were retreating. It was his worst fear, and it caused him to burn with indignation.


    He didnt care if the precious little geniuses were leaving. No, that didnt bother him at all. He cared about the fact they were <em>ordered</em> to leave the city, and leave it undefended against the assault from Winter, just so those at the top could leave a little sooner.


    It was Genesis Energy they were leaving on the table, just out of reach.


    Even if they only fought in some skirmishes, they could have earned themselves a tidy sum of it. Not enough to take the exit reward, but enough to get them close.


    He was angry, but there was nothing he could do.


    In fact, all the Tier 13s and Tier 14s who were staying on the floor were angry, but there was nothing he, nor anyone else could do against a collective group of the strongest people on this floor.


    Alvin was good, and so was his team, but they werent <em>that </em>good.


    Which was how they and the tens of thousands of others found themselves outside, in the cold, waiting for at least a week after the city fell to ensure that everyone was able to leave.


    He wasnt so angry that he couldn''t see the upside to the top people leaving. It would, in turn, allow the remaining Tier 14s to be the strongest people on the floor, and give them an unprecedented level of safety.


    After a week of waiting that felt more like a year, they were finally given the all-clear, and together, went and stormed their own city.


    Winter fae were on the walls, and they ughtered them by the thousands.


    Genesis Energy flowed like a river, but despite there being so many of them, it wasnt enough for Alvin and his team to earn themselves their exit reward.


    But they were getting closer.


    ***


    Cassie walked up to the Fae behind the counter and said the dreaded words. I want to make a deal.


    That got the creepy monster''s attention, and it sat up with its golden hair and pitch ck eyes staring at her like it could see her deepest thoughts.


    What do you desire, petitioner? And what do you offer?


    The smile it gave her might have been friendly, if she didnt know exactly how strong these deals were.


    Cassie knew this was a bad idea, but opened her mouth anyway. I want to trade my vision for one hundred years after I leave this floor, in exchange for thergest possible increase in my vision for the duration of this floor.


    The Faes smile grewrger. Wider. Almost feral.


    Still, it didn''t speak for an unnervingly long time.


    Finally, after it inspected her and the bow on her back, it said, The deal is struck.


    As soon as the words passed its lips, she felt a searing pain assault her eyes, but even as she fell to the ground in agony, she could tell her eyes were <em>better</em> than before.


    Even with her eyes closed, she could see every vein in her eyelids, and could even see through both them and her hand, at least to a degree.


    Struggling to her feet, she knew that she would pay for this ability, but as an archer, she could stomach such a loss for the abilities it would offer her on this floor.


    It was better than being sucked into one of the Corporations deals.


    The Fae were monsters, but at least they kept to the letter of their bond.


    The Corpies always tried to extend the deal in some way.


    No, shed rather Minka take her sight for a while. Even if she wasnt sure how that worked once she left, she knew from historical documentation that the effect would end exactly at the agreed-upon time.


    And if she got her Concept, she was immortal.


    What was one hundred years to someone who could live forever?


    ***


    As he packed his bags, Jullian thought about himself.


    Jullian Escgo was a businessman.


    His father was a businessman, his mother was a businessman, both of their parents were businessmen.


    It ran in the blood.


    And he was <em>good </em>at it.


    From the moment he had been able to walk, he had been immersed in the family''s various enterprises, learning everything there was to know about the lifeblood of civilization.


    Money.


    By age ten, he had already orchestrated a hostile takeover of his elementary school''s simted city.


    By age twelve, he had campaigned his way onto the student council, despite being younger than any other council member.


    By age fourteen, he had ckmailed the previous CEO of the council out of the position, and smoothly stepped in as the youngest ever CEO of Etranas number 1 private academy.


    At age sixteen, he had created apany that helped students better optimize their social media ounts and gain more followers. A saturated market, yes, but a profitable one, if you could muscle into the cutthroat world.


    By age neen, he had sold thatpany to a megacorp for seventy Giga credits and an internship at one of their branchpanies. During his time working for them, he discovered that the CEO of the branch was fabricating sales by repackaging returned merchandise. After a year of nning and maneuvering himself into the shipping department, he broke the news. As expected, thepany burned to the ground, while he and his parents''panies snatched up the best assets from the corpse, along with a treasure trove of goods he had squirreled away during his time as one of the shipping clerks.


    By age thirty, he had taken his parentspany out of their Tier 7 world, and fought his way into the neighboring Tier 11''s industry.


    By age thirty six, he had funded a new research design that allowed for cheaper air transportation for items smaller than a human head. Which, in turn, allowed them to dominate the local market for small parcel transportation, along with the food delivery markets.


    By age forty five, he had earned his first Tera Credit, and was published as the number one uing star by one of the Tier 45 newsletters.


    By age seventy, he had branched out hispanies into a dozen fields across a hundreds, but he had finally hit a wall.


    Tier 15.


    Immortality.


    The battlefields of mortals were childrens ygrounds whenpared to the battlefields that the immortals inhabited.


    Not only was there a substantial earning gap between the two worlds, he was also forced to contend with people who had been ying the game since before his grandparents were born.


    As long as he stayed in the kiddie pools, the big boys didnt touch him or squabble over the scraps he imed, but once he reached Tier 15, he would be fair game.


    Except, Jullian refused to be like the other 99.992% of businessmen who were bought out or swallowed up when they reached immortality.


    So, he decided toe to Minka.


    Not a new idea by any means, but he had more ambition than most of his peers.


    The general strategy was to gather money from the Tier 14s who exited the fourth floor, near the end of the cycle, and sell them excess Genesis Energy that the merchants had bought from earlier delvers that would have otherwise gone to waste.


    The aspiring merchants would then turn those bargains into steady ie for the next two centuries, and use that to ease their transition into the battlefield of immortals.


    Half of the ie of a few thousand people wasnt an insubstantial revenue stream, and it would allow both more aggressive undercutting of his rivals, and the funding of at least two teams of mercenaries. The protection they provided from the literal spears and swords of hispetitors would be key for hispany.


    At least, that was the normal tradition.


    A fourth-floor Courtly Warfare had very much thrown a wrench into his ns.


    It was a floor with theoretically unlimited Genesis Energy, which meant less people would be willing to buy Genesis Energy from him.


    Or so he had thought.


    With Winter''s absolute domination of the floor, things had changed, offering him a chance to enact his most ambitious n yet.


    There was a reason he hade into Minka as a Tier 12. A new Innate skill slot wasnt that useful for most people in his profession.


    He didnt have a Talent forbat, crafting, or even an elusive social Talent that would have allowed him to make better sales. Therefore, he rarely relied on skills at all. When he delved, he did so while being carried by a team of respected mercenaries that had a reputation for running people like him through rifts with zero risk.


    But there was one skill every businessman relied on. [Assistative Intelligence].


    Whether it be an F-series like he currently had, or the proper Tier 26 version, everyone used it. And if he moved his artificial version into his Innate skill slot, Jullian would be able to merge the real version with the false one in the future, giving him an advantage over hispetitors.


    An edge.


    Everyone needed one, and an Innate [AI] would be his.


    Well, that was his n, anyway.


    If he could gather enough Genesis Energy on the fourth floor, he had the chance to then go straight to the deepest floor of Minka in a final mad dash, to hopefully make it big with minimal risk.


    The Genesis Energy scaling made what he wanted to do almost an impossibility, but he had routinely done the <em>almost</em> impossible. And the risk would be lower, as the other delvers would have already killed most of the monsters.


    A fourth floor Courtly Warfare was generally a bad thing, but with Winter''s dominance over the floor, he once more had a glimmer of hope.


    The initial outflow of Winter delvers had earned him a fortune of Genesis Energy, even with the natural treasures, items, and deals he had made to collect it. That had all been easily made up for by the Tier 14s of the other seasons, who had only wanted to leave the floor as fast as possible.


    But any of the ones who had stayed realized the folly of that choice. No one wanted to stay on this floor with the death god that was the newly-named Hypernike, the Winter General that stalked the frozennds.


    The Fae had already killed four other generals one by one, and had ughtered thousands of cultivators who had thrown themselves at him in an attempt to break Winter''s hold over the floor.


    Normally, when a faction won, the delvers who made such a victory possible left their faction, which was in turn quickly routed. But that hadnt happened with Winter.


    No, that would have been too typical, and nothing had been typical on this floor during this cycle.


    While Summer had quickly retaken their city, they discovered their attempt at meeting Winter''s soldiers in an open battle was pointless.


    The first Summer army had been decimated, and the cultivators were sent running back into the small area that their court still held around their capital.


    Then, Spring had risen up with their own General, but Hypernike had cut the other Fae down before entombing the city in ice, left only stronger for his victory.


    That had forced the floor to a grinding halt.


    Everyone from three Seasons, Fae and cultivator alike, had banded together and struck back at the overlord of the floor.


    The massive battle that urred had rocked the floor, and while the other two Generals of Winter had died, Hypernike had cut his way through the other Generals, and then ughtered the survivors of the other three factions.


    At that point, people had started turning to him.


    No one wanted to fight the immortal ice General if they could help it, but that also meant they werent earning Genesis Energy.


    So, Jullian happily sold it to them.


    More than a few were very unhappy with the anti-theft measures he took, but in the end, they really couldn''tin about a small transmitter embedded into their skulls.


    It kept everyone honest.


    When they left Minka, the Corporations moon would be notified of the deal they struck in its entirety. The amount of time they had to delve, the frequency, and most importantly, the person they were indebted to.


    While it was possible to pull the transmitter out without the proper tool, it was both dangerous and risky while inside Minka, so few took the risk.


    It was a spider-like device that would wrap around their brain stem, after all, and it wouldnt unwrap until it had gotten the proper receipt message. That message would only be transmitted by the Corporations'' moon once they left Minkas depths.


    And with Hypernike running rampant, along with the Tier 14s wanting to get out of his way, Jullian made every deal he could.


    It was a loss of Genesis Energy, which would slow his n to delve deeper, but that would be ok.


    After all, he would eventually earn even more Genesis Energy than he spent now, from those that had and would fight the armies of Winter, and then amongst themselves.


    It was just a question of if he could skim enough off the top to reach the bottom floor.


    If he was the only merchant, he would be more sessful, but there were currently seven others trying to ply the same trade. Of course, he had never been afraid ofpetition from his peers.


    He had already broken Samantha''s reputation by exposing one of her more predatory deals, and he was undercutting everyone but Avery to ensure that most of the Genesis Energy was flowing into his rings. But most importantly, he was traveling where the others didnt dare risk their lives. Outside the cities.


    Jullian had done the math. It was possible for him to have enough Genesis Energy after monopolizing most of this floor''s profits.


    He would just have to wait and see.


    And with another battle on the horizon, he needed to get into position sooner rather thanter.


    ***


    Xares moment was at hand. He hadnt understood his Talent when he had first gotten it, but his parents had exined the value of it in time. He had spent centuries preparing for Minka, ready to take advantage of his one and only advantage in life.


    <em>You will not die as a result of reaching Tier 15 in Minka.</em>


    An oddly specific Talent, and one that promised such grand prizes for the only person to ever be immortal within The Forge and <em>survive</em> the process. Not even Mighty Minka could override or affect Talents, he knew he was safe.


    And if he was not, well, he would never amount to anything else, not with such an otherwise useless Talent.


    And now, it was time for his life to be fulfilled. A squad of Summer cultivators stood before him, advancing and trusting in their superior numbers to eliminate him. But numbers were fruitless against the might of an Immortal, and he would show them! He would show them all!


    You have signed your death warrants! he cried, and gave his spirit thest <em>push</em> it needed to trigger his fifteenth Tier.


    Essence rushed into his cores, redoubling, tripling, <em>quadrupling</em> his might. Genesis Energy even mixed itself into his onrush of essence, providing the most potent increase in strength that he had ever experienced. Augh ripped its way past his throat, and he reached out to grasp and crush the skull of his closest attacker.


    Then, the pressure started. It felt like the sudden realization he had caught the attention of something vast and <em>so powerful</em>, it could shatter his spirit and crush him like a fly. His Talent may seem absolute, but next to the absolute might of the <em>presence</em> around him, it may as well have been dust in the wind.


    The pressure built, and built, and built


    <em>Pop!</em>


    Xares world became a jumble of colors and chaos, and he felt himself <em>pushed</em> in an insistent and sudden pressure that left the battlefield behind, and deposited him


    Right outside of Minka.


    ***


    Adam pulled his de out of a Winter Fae and blocked the arrow he felting at him, just in time to dodge the ice de that almost took off his leg.


    In a great melee like this battle between Winter and the other three seasons, space was at a premium, and he was proud of his well honed skills that allowed him to avoid so much damage.


    But, as it turned out, dodging that blow was a mistake.


    A de from behind cut deep into his neck as he got in the way of someone else''s swing.


    ***


    Belinda cursed as the man in front of her jumped backward without checking his rear.


    This was a battle with nearly a million people fighting in it, and the idiot was jumping around like he was alone.


    It was a good thing he was from Spring, as she really didnt want to lose any Favor because of one idiots actions.


    She was so close to earning herself a boon, so she didnt want anything getting in her way.


    Belinda thrust forward and caught a Fae in the chest. Ripping her de out sideways, she felt the rush of Genesis Energy that confirmed its death flow into her, and she smiled.


    She hadnt been fast enough to this floor to leave with the floor reward when the gate was open, but she didnt mind. She might have been a little slower than the front runners, but she only wanted the sixth exit reward anyway, so she didnt need that much Genesis Energy.


    As she went to lunge forward once again, she slipped in some of the blood that had turned even the icy ground to mud.


    She curled up and tried not to get stomped, but it didnt help.


    Boot after boot pressed on her as her ownrades marched forward.


    ***


    Calvin felt a burst of Genesis Energy and Favor as he released his bow and smiled.


    Hisst arrow must havended.


    It was hard to know exactly if his blows werending in the ever changing battle, and he wished he could fly topensate, but the air was currently a battlefield for the Generals.


    Winters General fought three on one and was finally losing, but he was putting up a good, retreating defense that kept the others from taking him out.


    Drawing and releasing his bow, he channeled [Arrow Rain] into the projectile and let it loose.


    As the arrow reached its zenith, it split and came crashing down on the backlines of the Winter Fae.


    Genesis Energy trickled in as some of the privates died, and he smiled.


    This was why he was an archer. He could do devastating damage from the rear, where it was safe.


    It was perfect.


    As amotion off to the side caught his attention, he sent his spiritual perception over there and frowned.


    A Winter cultivator was running from a half dozen mixed cultivators and charging through their lines like they were nothing but paper walls.


    Wanting to get out of the man''s way before he was caught up in the fight, Calvin jumped backwards and retreated.


    As the man ran through the opening, Calvin saw him drop something that fluttered, and he instantly reacted, throwing himself to the ground just before the talisman exploded.


    He coughed as he felt something burning hit him in the chest, and he looked down at the hole that appeared right over his heart.


    Twisting, he saw a fragment of someone''s sword behind him, stuck into the ground and covered with blood.


    His blood.


    ***


    Daisy jumped through the air and used the explosion of her talismans to push her forward and over the front lines of the fight.


    She had never regretted anything more than choosing Winter in her entire life.


    She thought that she would be able to quickly gather enough Genesis Energy with her side dominating, but she had learned her mistake quickly, when she discovered that Winter was losing its dominant position instead of holding strong.


    Still, she was strong herself, and with her stash of talismans, she was able to make a difference with her hit and run tactics on the enemy back lines.


    Daisy had justnded when the Generals above seemed to explode.


    A wave of power came out of seemingly nowhere, and vaporized the surroundings.


    ***


    Alvin coughed out blood as the explosion rocked thendscape.


    At least half of his ribs were broken and he was seriously wounded. His AI, even limited as it was, shed report after report, but he could do nothing more thany there.


    He tried to reach up and bring a healing potion to his lips, but he was unable to.


    His broken body refused to move.


    His team had been more fortunate than him and were only knocked away. But his spiritual perception saw them move to retrieve him for only a moment before they turned and ran.


    It took him a moment of sweeping the area to understand what they saw. It was a mass of Spring cultivatorsing out from the woods and attacking the Summer and Fall factions.


    As he coughed up some more blood, a Fall man came over and held a healing potion over his mouth.


    Transfer all of your Genesis Energy over to me, and I''ll heal you.


    Alvin almost died right there in anger, but managed to keep it together long enough to burble out a curse.


    He had finally earned enough Genesis Energy to get his exit reward, and now this.


    Despite his rage, he still transferred over his Genesis Energy. He couldn''t die. Not here. Not so close to his victory. His immortality.


    Anything but that.


    ***


    Pedro whistled at the sess of their battle.


    They had cleanly swept aside all three of the other sides, thanks to Kristans n of squirreling away some of their people in the forest, far away from the fighting.


    The n had been rejected once, but after thest failed attempt at beating Winter, her n had been given a shot.


    And it worked.


    In an hour, Pedro earned more Genesis Energy from the wounded than he had earned in months of brutal fighting and struggling.


    They were rich.


    After they cleaned up the battlefield, they immediately turned on Spring and Fall, causing massive casualties, while their other teams were sabotaging the other factions'' main cities.


    It took them four months of brutal fighting, but they managed to take over the other two factions'' cities, leaving them only with Winter.


    Despite the loss of their main General, they had created another one. This time, it was a mage who harassed their armies right up to the hill before their walls.


    Pedro was just pondering the oddity of a random hill ced directly in front of a city, when the hill stood up and revealed itself as a three hundred foot tall pr bear.


    As it breathed in, ice started to gather at its maw before it unleashed a devastating beam of ice carved a line through their army.


    Pedro turned and ran at the sight, not willing to fight such a monstrosity.


    ***


    Jullian smiled as he collected more and more Genesis Energy from the Spring cultivators.


    It had taken them almost a year and a half, but they had finally won, and they were flush with Genesis Energy.


    At the floor exit, he bought every bit off them he could.


    Healing potions, natural treasures, weapons, armor. Anything that could be exchanged, he bought and sold.


    All the while, he put aside a portion of the Genesis Energy for his own uses. He was sacrificing a little short-term gain for his own advancement, which he hoped would prove more valuable.


    ***


    When Han De stepped into the fourth floor, he found himself surrounded by cold and ice.


    He had chosen Winter on a whim, even though their representatives spokebeing thing described them as a fallen faction.


    He was cold inside, and the bitter chill of Winter fit his heart.


    He almost hadnt entered this floor, but he had heard one of his fellow sect mates talking about the reward for the sixth floor, and its ability to merge skills.


    That had tempted him, and he decided to push deeper.


    What he hadnt expected was a floor-wide war.


    Even after everything he had seen in thest year, that surprised him.


    Really, the sect master should have warned them of this possibility.


    As he appeared outside in the woods, he started scouting around. To his surprise, he wasnt cold, and even the snow underfoot feltforting instead of chilling.


    He was bemused by the forest around him turning into winter as he walked around, but he found nothing else of note.


    Just forest in the midst of fall, with the snows of Winter closer at hand.


    Nearly a weekter, he found a group of others who also created their own little bubbles of winter, and he joined up with them, creating a team and learning of what was going on.


    Winter had lost their city, so they appeared outside in the forest.


    With a few hundred of them, they banded together and set out to retake the city.


    Han De led the charge, and despite arrows and spells nearly taking his life a dozen times, he led the cultivators around him to strike at the fallen city.


    That started his conquest, but it didnt end there. From that city, they moved ahead, and with nearly ten thousand cultivators at his side, they stormed Fall, then Spring, taking each city one by one.


    Han De knew that most of the delvers who had entered Minka had either left or died, leaving little resistance, but he was still proud, as his de carved a kingdom out for himself.


    Battle by battle, he led people who wouldnt have paid him a second nce before to victory.


    Each floor of Minka had changed him, and he wondered what thetter floors would offer him.

 Chapter 202

    Chapter 202


    Reactions were mixed as they left the challenge room. All of them except Aster had gotten far more Genesis Energy than theyd put in, who only got close to fifty percent extra, and a tea set that allowed everyone drinking from the five cups to share their perceptions of taste. The tea pot itself could store different pots full of tea by twisting the top, which was a fun effect to y around with.


    A handful of skill shards also appeared after a few seconds of the crystal pulsing out Genesis Energy, almost like it was reluctant to give them anything more. Susanne identified one as [Broken Ground, Broken Core], a Sect skill which destabilized the earth below a targets feet.


    Liz picked up [Pike Block], a spear skill that made multiple floating mana copies of the users weapon that could act in concert for a potent defensive ability. It apparently had some history to it that Liz said she would exinter.


    Finally, there was a Tier 20 light aspected skill that no one recognized. It was their second Tier 20 skill drop from Minka, about as expected from getting to the sixth floor. Any skill of that Tier would sell well, and if it wasnt in any of their databases, it had a good chance of being <em>quite</em> valuable.


    Matt was slightly unnerved, though more rested than he had felt in weeks. Unending boredom wasnt <em>pleasant</em>, but it certainly wasnt that bad. Nowhere close to the vacation he had somewhat hoped for, but it was at least a wee relief from the tension and soreness he had been feeling.


    Susanne was mad about <em>something</em> that she wasnt talking about, and while Liz definitely looked better, Matt could tell she was still a little shaken about whatever her trial had been. Though, if he hadnt seen her earlier, he might not be able to tell.


    Aster, of course, was ecstatic, having lived out her grandest dream for over a year, but she was at least courteous enough to keep her excitement to herself mostly. When they exited the now disordered space ruin, they found themselves in the desert, and were immediately attacked by scorpions that burrowed out of the sand.


    Matt brought his sword down on the carapace of the first one, and with its newly increased weight, it shattered the hard chitin and cut cleanly through the monster before itsrge stinger could descend on him.


    Susanne appeared next to one of the others and removed its stinger off before slicing through its body in seconds.


    Liz, who had finished off two more of the monsters, said, First actual monsters of the floor. Should mean this ruin is mostly normal, but still, watch out for copies of others.


    She ended up being correct, as the ruin was a standard kill monsters collect loot affair.


    Though, the boss was a little new.


    It was some hybrid of a scorpion and man, with the upper humanoid half seemingly welded onto a scorpion''s body.


    Armed with a long spear, the boss used its weapon along with pincers to try and pin them down. It also had the ability to control time around it, allowing it to dodge most ranged attacks through abination of slowing the projectiles down and speeding itself up.


    If any of the four of them were alone, they might have struggled, but with their varied skill sets, they were able to take the boss out without much fanfare. And its loot turned out to be quite interesting.


    It was a small hourss that created an area of elerated time at the cost of spiritual strain for everyone inside it, along with a boatload of mana. Considering Matt, thetter cost might as well not exist, but the former was a fairly harsh condition.


    The hourss only sped up time by a factor of two, so they couldnt abuse it andpletely remove their healing cooldowns, but it did let them restpletely in just an hour of real time, allowing the rest of them to recover mentally, albeit not spiritually, from the challenge they just cleared.


    As it turned out, that was a good thing, because just minutes after entering the second level of the sixth floor, they felt a familiar someone else ring with Genesis Energy not far away.


    Despite the signal almost instantly vanishing from their Genesis Energy perception, they were close enough to easily catch up to the lone fighter.


    Long Zhiyuan looked almost as surprised to see them as Matt was to see him.


    Given their previous enmity, Matt didnt hesitate to send a burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] at his fleeing back. But just like before, his robes rose up and blocked the neutral mana attack.


    Not willing to let such a strong enemy Young Master live if they could help it, the four of them chased him down.


    It immediately became obvious that he had already fought his way through this portion of the ruin, as there were no monsters present. He was seemingly intimately familiar with theyout of the ruin and was able to run, fly, and dodge his way through the rocky cavern leading them on a chase to a portion of the ruin he hadnt cleared trying to lose them on the copies of other delvers still lurking in the forest.


    They chased him to the neighboring ruin which turned out to be a winter one, which Long Zhiyuan smartly refused to enter, and forced him to take a [Wind Cutter] to the leg from Susanne after she cut her way closer, reappearing in a different spot while already invisible tond the blow. Blood flew, and the Young Master pulled back for a moment, interposing a physical shield between himself and Susanne. She instantly broke the shield with her next attack, and the man lost what looked like half of his left hand.


    He tried to use his Concept to fly away, but Matt threw his own Concept against Long Zhiyuans, shattering the working and sending him tumbling to the ground. Aster hit him with [Kartan Greets His Foes], which only resisted his movement for a moment before he smartly spent arge chunk of mana on a [Cleanse Corruption] to remove the effect. Before too long, his mana would be exhausted, and he would be easily crushed.


    Liz was the closest, andshed out with [Blood Whip], but Long Zhiyuan sprang back at her with a skill enhanced lunge and shed out with his trademark ming ws, catching Liz in the face despite her attempted dodge.


    Her helmet crumpled in, and Matt winced as he saw the double break on her jawbone. It was heble, but Liz would be in pain whenever she ate for at least the next week.


    Long Zhiyuan took advantage of Liz staggering back to continue his retreat, but Matt cut him off with a [Crescent Sweep]bined with a quick [Mana Charge], throwing the sword with everything he had.


    It spun through an arc to blow through thetest shield that Long Zhiyuan had thrown up before biting deeply into his back.


    As Matts depleted its arc and returned to him, he caught it and raced forward.


    In theory, he could use the skill while moving, but it was his first time casting the skill in truebat, and he didnt have that level of control yet, forcing him to pause.


    Still, Aster was right there and picked up the ck, catching Long Zhiyuan in his good leg with a burst of [Snowbank] to cover him in clinging frost.


    Susanne reappeared from <em>somewhere,</em> with her sword inches away from bisecting the Young Master when lightning shed around the man. He teleported just out of range, and he narrowly avoided falling on his face as he redoubled his speed.


    Liz was already back on her feet, and threw her spear at his fleeing form, guiding it with [Blood Maniption].


    Long Zhiyuan proved he was a top-tier Young Master as he dodged the attack at his back, and in his roll, sent out an erged w strike empowered with earth mana at Aster. Matt retrieved and triggered a talisman to block the strike without breaking stride, allowing Aster tond an [Ice Spear] on the Young Masters chest.


    Aster jumped on Susanne''s shoulder and started pulling ice and snow from the adjoining ruin, throwing it at the fleeing man and encasing him utterly, literally freezing him in ce. It didnt hold for very long, as Long Zhiyuan erupted from captivity in a burst of mes, using the explosion to boost his speed and further the distance between them. He looked fairly singed and still had some ice clinging to him, but wind and fire whipped around him, lengthening his stride tenfold.


    Matt redirected most of his mana to thebination of buffs that boosted his physical speed, sent the rest to [Air Maniption], and took off after the Young Master. Just as he got close enough for an attack, ten new points of Genesis Energy appeared in the distance.


    With the newfound urgency of needing to kill Long Zhiyuan before they entered into arger melee, Matt swung a glowing sword at the Young Masters neck, only to have it blocked as he raised his left arm between the de and his head.


    Whatever skills and equipment the man had was enough to stop the strike cold, but given the way his arm fell afterwards, it was at least broken. A good wound, and the man shouted in pain and annoyance as his defensive robe was torn. Then the new team of ten reached them, and Matt lost the opportunity to finish off his opponent.


    Between their gear and the way theyposed themselves, Matt recognized them as akin to the team of ten theyd encountered in the previous floor. Perhaps they were part of the same training regiment, or some Guild was trying to optimize their participation. In either case, Matt wasnt too concerned about the risk they posed as they struck.


    He was wrong.


    Very wrong.


    They focused on him, since he was somewhat isted from his team, but didnt seem worried about hitting Long Zhiyuan in the crossfire. The Young Master used the opportunity to retreat to the portion of the ruin he had already cleared, scrambling on three limbs- and cradling his mangled arm- to escape.


    Matt brought up a [Bulwark] to block the first pair of attacks- a white spear and a tiny fireball that his spiritual sense veritably screamed was dangerous.


    The white spear partially prated [Bulwark] without breaking the spell, but got stuck before it could pass all the way through. The fireball wasnt even slowed down by the shield, passing through it as though it were a mirage. It didnt strike- Matt had already shifted to dodge it- but as it detonated against part of the scenery behind him, it felt less like a [Fireball] and more like a miniature sun flickering into existence.


    He responded with a flurry of [Fireball]s himself, like so many glittering stars, but one of the teams mages deflected them upwards with a dismissive wave of their hand. Given just <em>how</em> quickly theyd been wrenched from his grasp, Matt assessed that mage as a dedicated pyromancer, and a good one at that. They may not have had quite the same finesse that Liz did- Torch could steal a fireball from him without him even noticing- but they had the power to more than make up for it.


    He sent his assessment to the rest of his team and started pouring willpower into his AI. Minka lifted its restrictions on it, and it sped up ordingly, swiftly creating, discarding, and improving battle ns about as quickly as he could think.


    Both attacks showed substantial armor pration capabilities and were about as strong as hed seen at his Tier. All of their gear was high quality, but not <em>mastercrafted</em>, and definitely seemed to prioritize some level of visual conformity, favoring a particr shade of royal blue that Matt didnt recognize as associated with any major factions. However, there were definite concessions made to individual functionality. Four had enchantments that were more mage-like in nature, five were more geared towards physical defense, with heavy armor tes that more than likely indicated warriorbat styles, and the tenth Matt couldnt quite pin down. His outfit was decorated with more silver buttons than his peers, while the fabric itself shone and shimmered in a way he couldnt quite follow. Their gear was simrly mismatched- two carried swords, one was unarmed, one had only a shield, one wore spiked gauntlets, and the final attacker carried a ive with a handle that doubled as a potent staff. The mages also had their own gear- two staves, one wand, and one crystal orb that floated at head height.


    Their gear was exceptionally well-maintained in a way that spoke to the degree of reverence they held for their tools, but Matt could pick out the faint traces of blood left on some of their weapons that spun tales of a <em>lot</em> of bloodshed, not that he expected anything else.


    He dropped [Bulwark] as he started to fall back to the rest of his team, and the white spear embedded in it vanished in a flurry of sparks, reappearing as a bolt of lightning in the hands of the unarmed warrior, who promptly threw it once more.


    Lightning crackled along its length and shot out from the sides, connecting the projectile with its surroundings and its thrower, with each tiny bolt elerating it more and more. His AI warned him that it was starting to bend mid-flight, but pointed out several safe zones he could escape to, and Matt quickly positioned himself into one of them. True to his AIs prediction, the spear bent towards him, but it couldnt redirect itself as much as it needed to strike him, and it obliterated a tree nearby instead.


    He had enough of a head start to make it back to the rest of his group before the squad of ten first caught up with him, but as he took the final step to rejoin the circle, Matt found himself going in the wrong direction. He suddenly became very, <em>very</em> disoriented, and crashed to the ground.


    He broke out of the dizzy spell in less than a second, but the first thing he could process was a foot mere inches from his face. It smashed into his mouth, and while [Cracked Phantom Armor] stayed firm, the kicks energy passed straight through it and his mask alike, shattering and caving in several of his teeth.


    Matt spat blood and teeth onto the ground, then rolled over to block a punch aimed at his head with [Bulwark]. The spell held firm, but the impact sent reverberations vibrating through his <em>magic</em>, disrupting the spell and giving Matt an odd sort of headache.


    Not wanting to take the second hit from the next man thrusting out with his sword, Matt cast [Icicle] at his crotch, causing the man to flinch back.


    With that opening, Matt was able to stand and cast [Sword Twin] twice by draining most of his mana stone reserves, and with two copies of his de floating out and giving him some cover, he cast [Wind Cutter] at the man with the armor bypassing ability.


    The man dodged the sh of wind, but before Matt could follow up, one of the swordswomen rushed forward, intercepted one of his de copies with her shield, and cut out at Matt with her own de while the other man shed out with a fire spell.


    Matt twisted, dodging and blocking the two attacks, but opened himself up to a rib punch from the gauntleted man, sending painful vibrations through his entire body and disorienting him enough that his counterattack was easily dodged. A high-powered pulse of [Endurance] cleared his head, just in time to take a [Shield Bash] to the face.


    It broke [Cracked Phantom Armor] but was stopped by his helm, which still painfully aggravated his unusually empty mouth, knocking his head backwards even as his primary armor reformed around him.


    With a re of his gravity gauntlets, he pulled the man into a pommel strike that should have broken bones, but his attack bounced off with a dull ring and earned him a kick to the knee for his trouble. It didnt shatter the bone outright, but Matt felt fractures spread across it.


    He jumped back, favoring his uninjured knee, and threw out a [Mana sh] to intercept a dangerous [Fireball] he felt shooting towards his back. It detonated in a way <em>not</em>mon to the skill, with a lingering miasmic cloud of violet mes expanding out, connecting with [Cracked Phantom Armor] and setting the skill on fire.


    It dealt hefty damage to the defensive skill, but not enough to burn through Matts outeryer. [Analyze] revealed that the attack was something optimized for burning out enchantments and skills in part through mana exhaustion, which didnt bother him.


    The spell still clung to him like tar, but he was able to functionally ignore the mes while dealing with the swordswoman, who sent a series of tight cuts at him from behind her shield.


    With little exposed to his angle, Matt sent one of his [Sword Twin] copies at the woman while he sent the other at the pugilist, countering hisck of weapon.


    It worked. Sort of.


    The brawler took a small cut to his shoulder, but retaliated with a punch that shattered the spell. They withdrew to the wanded mage, who started healing them, but that still left Matt in a two versus one, and a quick nce through his AI confirmed that the others werent doing much better. As the brawler was reced by the shield-only fighter, Matt made a decision, one echoed almost immediately by Liz. Retreat! Were not winning this fight.


    A [Cracked Mana Spear] pierced the swordswomans chest and heart, but the healer, having just finished mending their brawler, had a spell already working on her wound, and theck of Genesis Energy confirmed that the attack failed.


    He recast the spell, but the shield wielder intercepted it, reflecting the beam back at Matt and nearly hitting him in the face, all the while sticking close and preventing him from casting the spell once more.


    Matt cursed and struck out at the shield-wielder. They blocked, naturally, but he took the momentary distraction as an opportunity to flee. A teleport brought him above the group, and he used [Air Maniption] to grab at the winds around him and blow himself away, just behind the rest of his team.


    His spiritual perception warned him to dodge as the white spear screamed through where he had been right before his teleportation, and he responded with a [Wind Cutter] at the line of attackers who were already chasing them down.


    The fire mage unleashed a river of me at them, wider than Matt was tall and burning everything in its path to a cinder. As it approached, the heating off it felt like standing in front of a st furnace, and he started summoning some water to protect himself as he used his own fire skills to contest control of the attack. With a wave of her hand, Liz threw half her remaining mana pool to [Fire Maniption], seizing control over just enough of the onrushing inferno to divert it around them, like water passing around a rock. It had the benefit of concealing their exact position, but the move forced all four of them into tight proximity.


    As the mes died down, a small barrage of magical arrows fell from the sky. Aster was able to blow most of the projectiles off-course with [Cross Wind], with Queen cutting down the few that made it through without so much as breaking stride.


    A few thousand feetter, the spear shot through their midst with a crack of thunder, but this time, its wielder teleported to it instead, appearing next to Susanne and Aster while trying to skewer the former. The strike connected, and Susanne stumbled and nearly tripped over her own feet. Aster, riding on her shoulder, went flying, but still retaliated with an [Ice Spear] while Matt scooped up Susanne with his [Air Maniption] until she could regain her footing. By his AIs reading, shed used her [Cracked Second Wind] to recover from the injury, and he let her resume her run.


    Liz hadnt been idle, and had simply tripped the spear warrior with a [Blood Whip], making them stumble enough to fall behind their retreat. Matt contributed with an overloaded [Cracked Mana Spear], and while the shield-user reflected much of the attack, he did hit two of the group located more towards the edge of their formation.


    That was enough to get their pursuers to slow down as they grabbed their wounded and tightened up ranks against further attacks, but Matt still felt an arrow break both [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor, leaving a graze against his nk, but otherwise left him no worse for wear. He started pulling out talismans and dumping huge quantities of mana into skills to slow the pursuers down. He produced thousands and thousands of gallons of water appearing in a flood behind him, hail rained down in sheets to block their sight and movement, and the earth heaved itself up to create barricades and pitfalls. Aster sent a [Tornado] into their ranks, which they elected to scatter around rather than directly contest, and a [Wind Lance] knocked one cultivator out of the sky who was trying to fly over Matts obstructions.


    At the same time, Susanne used [Mana de] to lengthen her sword, then felled clusters of trees for Matt to throw at the group chasing them.


    Their pursuers proved their prowess by dodging, leaping over, or sting through everything his team could throw in their way. Against anyone else, he would appreciate the skill they disyed, nearly doing an obstacle course at a dead sprint. But at the moment, all he wanted was for them to find someone easier to chase after.


    The next arrow was aimed at Liz, prompting Matt to block the shot with a massive [Bulwark] behind them. His shield virtually exploded as it stopped the blinding arrow from getting any closer to his team, and he heard the splinters of the arrow ping harmlessly off his armor. The skill was thoroughly shattered in his spirit, more than he had felt in years, and it would take a few minutes for it to reform enough to be usable. Minutes which he didnt have.


    The four of them passed through a narrower portion of the ruin withrge stone walls that they had chased Long Zhiyuan through not a dozen minutes before. Matt used [Earth Maniption] to copse the walls, but that barely slowed their pursuers, who simply blew through the barriers and sent rubble flying.


    Of course, that meant they hadnt seen the minefield of talismans that Matt had dropped when they barreled ahead with the force of a rampaging dragon.


    Elemental explosions triggered all around them- clouds of acid, mountains of stone and ice, hurricane-force winds, raw kic force, chains of lightning, and shbangs that rapidly alternated between casting darkness and light. Hed been forced to use nearly all of his remaining proximity-triggered talismans in the maneuver, but it managed to further the gap between them all the more. Most of the group was stopped, and only two of them- the spear warrior and the fire mage- kept pace.


    Liz dropped a [Blood Chakram] behind her, paired with a small barrage of [Blood Bullets].


    A burst of me evaporated most of the projectiles, but it critically slowed them down.


    Before they were able to capitalize on it, the spear wielder once more threw and then teleported to his weapon, despite Matt and Asters spatial lockdown. But this time, he arrived next to Matt, who met the man''s thrust with a re of his repulsion field and a burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] directed at his face.


    The man vanished before the attack couldnd, but Matt didnt pause in his desperate sprint.


    He left a few more [Cracked Mana Trap]s in his wake, and was forced to sweep [Cracked Mana Spear] a couple more times to preserve their lead, but they eventually managed to make it to the blizzard ruin. Susanne fell to her knees and Liz moved to check on her, but Matt and Aster couldnt afford the luxury of pausing. The two of them worked to create a massive dome of ice around themselves,pacting it and strengthening it as much as possible.


    It took what felt like forever for the team to reappear, with all ten having regrouped and unerringly following his own team. Matt tried to resist as the fire mage <em>burned</em> through their icy shelter, but lost the battle within seconds.


    Still, that wasnt his main aim. Hed directed enough mana into the ever-raging blizzard around them that each snowke was more like a sharpened needle, and they dug at and picked into the groups skin and eyes.


    They staggered back, trying to defend against a hundred thousand insect-sized attackers, and Liz finally managed to drape Susannes arm over her shoulders, the two of them continuing the flight deeper into the blizzard ruin.


    Matt didnt relent, instead redoubling the amount of effort he was putting into attacking the team of ten. They struck out at him, but he was never where they expected. He was the Herald of Winter, and that <em>meant</em> something. From needles to mana stones, then mana stones to daggers, the shards of ice kept growing and getting stronger. Aster threw in her own contributions, directing actual skill attacks and her own Concept to further empower the ruin itself.


    Eventually, between the ruins natural blizzard, Matt and Aster making it so much worse, and a group of reflections that attacked them, the ten broke off their pursuit. After waiting for a few moments to ensure that it wasnt just a trick, Matt and Aster took off to rejoin the others


    Thankfully, they were able to quickly find where thedies had wound up, and used [Ice Maniption] to avoid any reflections that might have attacked them.


    It took them a little while, but they eventually found their way out of the wintery area, and after running through another two ruins, they found a safe cave to hide in. As an extra precaution, Matt covered the entrance over with [Earth Maniption].


    Dropping their house, Matt and the others could finally rx, and they all collectively dropped.


    Aster looked absolutely awful. Half of her fur had been burned off, and her tail had been fully incinerated, but she was still the first to speak. What was that team? Were they secretly Tier 14s?


    No one had an answer, but Matt crawled to his knees and over to Susanne, who his AI said was in the worst shape. She wasnt <em>dying</em>, but it seemed like shed spent most of her [Cracked Second Wind] healing trying to get her back into running shape. The skill could return her to prime health if she had enough mana reserved in it, and the wounds shed taken had clearly outstripped it by arge margin.


    Most critically, her armor had been damaged enough that it was tearing into her body with every movement. Beyond that, half of her face had been burned off. Her eye was in surprisingly good condition- probably restored by [Cracked Second Wind]- but her ear was a charred, shriveled lump of flesh, most of her hair was gone, and her mask was flickering and nearly failing. It looked like shed taken a [methrower] to her face while Aster had been on her shoulder. Still, while the burn was perhaps the most <em>visual</em> injury, the fragments of metal cutting into Susannes body with every passing second were higher priority.


    Not bothering to get her onto the table, Matt started pulling off her armor and said. Bwe beed bo


    Pausing as he ran his tongue over his now shattered teeth, he concentrated and carefully enunciated. We need. To. Get the metal. Out of her wound. Every. Time. Shaeeah- she moves, it ish mahking it worse.


    Despite having a broken jaw and hand, as well as missing massive strips of skin from her forearm, which were temporarily patched up with [Bandage], Liz crawled over and assisted him. In just half an hour of frantic work, they had Susanne closed back up.


    He couldn''t do much more than dump a healing potion over the charred portions of her head and neck, but it wouldnt be hard to keep them from getting infected. And with that taken care of, the rest of her burns were fairly superficial.


    Aster had gotten it <em>much</em> worse. The only reason shed been able to keep fighting was a newer use of her Concept that she had developed, which let her freeze her sense of pain. It didnt provide any healing, but it <em>did</em> make cleaning out her newly-textured hide less painful for the both of them. Once she was rxing in a sink full of ice water after the worst of her burns had been cleaned out, they dug through their supplies for salves to heal burns and delicately applied them to the ravaged skin. Only after she had been properly treated and medicated did Aster release her hold on her Concept, and Matt felt a dull wave of pain through their bond.


    With the worst of the injuries taken care of, he turned to Liz and helped her remove her helm and then carefully examined her jaw.


    Long Zhiyuan had done a number on her, and had shattered her jaw in two ces.


    It wasnt pleasant, but he helped Liz set the bone before casting [Ranged Heal] and [Bandage] on the wound, allowing her to work her own magic with rtive ease.


    Her hand and arm werent quite so bad, but it <em>was</em> unfortunately her left arm, which was still on healing cooldown from when it was regrown just a few weeks earlier. They couldnt do much more than wrap and splint it to keep it from getting any worse, but Matt was no healer, and he felt like he might have aggravated the entire limb with his clumsy efforts with [Ranged Heal]. Liz was also burning some of her blood to regrow the skin shed lost, but she simply didnt have enough to spare to do much more than encourage it to scab over.


    After helping her, Matt returned to Aster, who had curled up underwater, licking the stump where her tail once was.


    She looked up to him with watery eyes and asked, Are you ok?


    That caused Matt to choke up, and he forced out a smile- realizing a momentter that the gesture may not have been reassuring- and said, Ahm fine. How abo you?


    Hed adjust to the missing teeth soon, but talking would feel <em>weird</em> until they left the and he got them regrown.


    Aster shook her head. They burnt my fur and killed my tail.


    Through their connection, Matt could feel how devastated she really was, and despite her trying to put up a brave front, he could tell this was getting to her. She had been burnt before, with damage worse than this, but they were always near a healer, where they could fix the damage and then Liz could pour a hair growth potion on her to get her good as new.


    But inside Minka, using a potion like that was both frivolous and dangerous. A hair growth potion was technically a healing potion, and would add some healing cooldown to her already stressed body.


    Essentially, Aster was going to have to stay like this.


    He reached out to pet her, but she flinched away and said, Im not pretty enough to pet.


    Matt ignored her as he scratched the top of her head, careful not to disturb her burns, and pulled her out of the sink to work more healing lotion into her leathery and charred flesh.


    While he worked he murmured words offort to her, which eventually put her to sleep.


    With her taken care of, he got to his feet and stumbled to the bathroom, and proceeded to pull out the remaining lumps of enamel that remained from his front teeth.


    It was excruciatingly painful, but he suffered in silence. The others were all passed out and needed their rest.


    After downing a healing potion and casting [Bandage] on his ribs, he put his armor back on and stood guard while the others rested.


    As he sat there, he meditated on the disastrous fight. Without his AI able to record, he couldnt review it directly, but Tier 11 memory was essentially wless for short-term situations.


    Long Zhiyuan likely hadnt meant to lead him into an ambush, but it wasnt impossible. Meanwhile, the ten were definitely connected to the ones theyd fought earlier and that ude had warned them about, but they were still <em>substantially</em> superior to the previous group. Any two of them were easily a match for anyone on Matts team. In an even fight, Matt felt like his team probably would have a slight edge, but they were outnumbered more than two to one, so they never really stood a chance.


    Their coordination and teamwork had been exceptional as well. Not wless, but for such arge team to perfectly weave spells and attacks without ever once interfering with ns or blocking lines of attack was <em>extraordinary</em>, to say nothing of the gear theyd been using. Their bodies were tougher, their magic was extraordinarily powerful, and they almost seemed to move as a single unit.


    He wasnt sure if it was a new type of death squad, but he shuddered to think of what they could have done if they were Tier 14 instead of alleged Tier 12s.


    The four of them would have almost certainly died if that had been the case.


    Again, he thought about Tiering up, but he shied away from the idea.


    Had theye this far just to fail and Tier up at thest possible moment?


    Matt rejected that notion.


    It had just been one bad fight, after a long string of victories through Minka. There had been setbacks of various degrees, less than total wins, but they had conquered everything set before them until now, and profited enormously from it.


    Except that was how it almost always was, wasnt it? There was no gradual increase in challenge until someone found their limit, with the option to leave before they got overwhelmed. For fighting other delvers, most people fared just fine, one way or another, until they ran into one of the big fish in this small pond, and were promptly eaten. Matt had personally ended the lives of dozens without giving them any chance to retreat when it became obvious he would overpower them, to speak nothing of the people who had died near instantly to his more powerful abilities.


    They had lost this fight, convincingly, and they hade close to losing much more than that. He could prepare, make items or ns to help counter the group, but they could do the same against him. The biggest change in rtive power that might ur in the near future was for members of the opposing group to fail their Folded Reflections challenge, and have their Concepts reced with ones that were worse and unfamiliar to them.


    It was something of a distant hope, but always possible.


    Better skills and items for escape were feasible though, and that was something he could definitely work on before any more encounters.


    Even if it meant they would just run away faster next time, instead of standing their ground. Long Zhiuyan had proved the efficacy of <em>that</em> strategy, and it was something theyd outright practiced for. Minka was eminently survivable, so long as you were careful to not overextend. It was a hard thing to bnce, since he didnt want to <em>escape</em> from his fight against his copy at the end of the floor. He needed to win, and without serious injury.


    Still, Matt was worried.


    They had taken serious injuries during this fight that would take weeks, if not months, to recover from. At least for the injuries they <em>could</em> heal.


    Asters tail wouldn''t be regrowing until they got her to a proper healer, and while Lizs enhanced healing meant that shed have basically full functionality within a few days, he wouldnt be surprised if it would be sore for months, or effectively the entire rest of the time they were in Minka. His own teeth were gone as well, but that felt less important for the time they had.


    Thinking of time, he pulled out the hourss from their earlier delve and sent mana into it.


    The spiritual strain was instantly noticeable, but he pushed through it and focused on meditating through the growing ufortableness. The others would be dealing with the same strain, but he was the only one with a skill that seriously stressed his spirit, which limited how much he could use the item right now.


    He wouldnt be able to keep it up for long, but it allowed his team to recover that bit faster, which might mean the difference between life and death in the next encounter.


    Pain was nothing new to Matt.


    Difort was an old friend.


    Seeing his friends so badly hurt was uneptable.


    He was durable and hard to kill; he should have been the one to take those blows.


    Despite knowing how unrealistic it was, he wanted to be the center of the battlefield. If everyone was focused on him, they wouldnt be attacking Liz and Aster.


    He hadnt even <em>seen</em> the attack that had so badly burned Susanne and Aster, and that ate at him.


    Matt didnt have an easy answer, but he was used to working through problems and started figuring out ways to draw all the attention, and therefore attacks, to himself.


    His gravity gauntlets were a good start, and with the cultivation core of the ck hole, he had a few ideas sparking. He also <em>really</em> needed to improve the second set of enchantments on his sword, and seeing Long Zhiyuans armor in action today had given him some interesting prospects.


    While the others slept, he started tinkering.

 Chapter 203

    Chapter 203


    Matt roused with a groan as Liz gently shook him awake.


    Everything hurt, so he immediately channeled [Endurance] to help alleviate the aches and pains.


    But where the skill normally washed away soreness like this, it did little more than mute the injuries thanks to the healing cooldown his body was ruing.


    It didnt do anything for the spiritual strain he was feeling either, and after pushing the time elerator, he was feeling like a worn dish rag.


    Getting up, he found Susanne eating a small breakfast of savory oatmeal with a battered-looking Aster. Bowls for himself and Liz were already set out.


    Sitting down with Liz, they quietly ate until Aster finished and asked, What did you do to your gloves?


    Matt didnt need to look down to see what everyone else was looking at. And he couldnt really argue that it was an odd sight to behold.


    Embedded into a spare set of armor, he had carved a hole in the center of the chest to ce the cultivation core of the ck hole.


    It was then linked to his gravity gauntlets through a bundle of conduit running down his arms. Considering the work was both rushed and intentionally temporary for both the gauntlets and the core, it looked sloppy.


    But it worked, and that was all that really mattered.


    Bah linging dhegmn By linking. The Heart. Of the ck Hole. Wish da With the gravity gauntlets. I wash able to ingereashe Ingresh <em>whuckin</em> Boosht Forcing himself to slow down, he carefully continued, <em>Boost </em>the power of the gauntlets an selectively change where da <em>the </em>center of the pull is. It''s not perfect. But It works, and itshould be pre pretty strong. Still locks me down when Im using them. Becaushe when ites down to it. All Im <em>really</em> doing is using a rune. Modeled off [Throw Voice] to shift the origin point. But hey, its a thing.


    Hed gotten the idea thanks to Liz, actually. [Throw Voice] was predominantly used by entertainers and infiltrators, but it had been one of the skills shed gotten for her tournament rewards. Apparently, the skill worked via a variant of object teleportation, and Lizs [Throw Bleed] allowed her to teleport small masses of blood short distances. She didnt use it much, but it worked wonders whenever they faced an enemy with apletely sealed bubble shield.


    He started to exin as much in more technical details, but Susanne waved him off, saying it was too early in the morning for her to learn enchanting, especially with Matts speech being the way it was. The other three wholeheartedly agreed. Still, it got everyone talking, and while Aster and Liz eventually split off to focus on how to counter the team from before, Susanne turned to Matt and asked, I saw that you worked on my armor. Thank you for that, by the way, but what''s the prognosis?


    Hearing that, he shook his head. Not great. You <em>could</em> shtill still use it, but that hole was just the start of it. Itsh covered in fractures, past what I can fix, and any hit it might take to save your life is liable to break it past the point of repair. My advishe Advishe My <em>shuggeshtion </em>is, pull out a backup set of armor and don risk the growth item.


    Susanne sighed, an action that cracked the charred skin along her neck and chin, leaving it oozing pus. She ignored it totally, giving him a shallow nod. Not what I wanted to hear, but good to know.


    They loitered around the house a little longer, but before long, they left the house and got moving, not wanting to lose any more of their lead than they already had.


    It was unusual, not charging headlong into fights and taking everything down with extreme prejudice, but none of them wanted to risk a fight with another delver at the moment. So, they picked their targets carefully, taking out ruins that their skill sets countered and rarely attacking any of the monsters or delver copies directly. Instead, they crept around and engaged only when they were confident in a quick victory.


    From Lunas reports of this floor, that wasn''t exactly an oundish strategy; most other teams were doing the same thing. Everyone wanted to be in their best shape for the final fight of the floor.


    Fighting their duplicates alwaysplicated that, but at least those were good practice. Never mind that Matt nearly lost half his hand when taking down one of Susannes reflections, and Asters burned ear was shot the rest of the way off by Matts reflection. They still <em>won</em>, and that was what mattered. They even scored an extra [Blood Maniption] from one of Lizs reflections, not that any of them needed it.


    They were getting <em>tired</em>, but at least Matts presence meant that none of them needed to worry about running low on mana stones, and they were able to practice their newest skills <em>extensively</em>, further enhancing their chances when fighting themselves from the time they entered the floor.


    They also ended up fighting several other delvers, though fortunately, none of them were anywhere close to as strong as the squad of ten that had almost killed them. They were all <em>exceptionally</em> grateful that being Tier 11 meant they needed a fraction of the Genesis Energy that even Tier 12s would require, and that they were able to get enough for the theme challenge halfway through the secondyer. With no small amount of cheer, they redoubled their efforts and made a speedrun for the end of the floor. Any treasures they might find paled inparison to getting <em>out</em> before they needed to Tier up, after all.


    If they could leave quickly, they could, in theory, have an almost free final floor as everyone else rested and recovered their strength from the previous fights. No one was unscathed this deep into Minka, and most teams were stuck waiting for healing, healing cooldowns, or absorbing skills to give themselves an advantage over their final fight copy.


    After what felt like nowhere close to long enough and far too long at the same time, they made it to the end of the floor, finding an out-of-the-way ruin with stone that Matt could actually shape, so they could dig out a cavern for themselves. Being at the end of the floor meant that once they decided to challenge the final boss, they could do so refreshed and ready. The reflections that attacked them were predominantly their own, and were close enough to full strength that they could get good practice.


    And so, they prepared.


    Matt dropped his house and charged the shields as far as he could manage, and the four of them got to work. Folded Reflections wasnt like a lot of other floors, where the bosses were static and obvious. Rushing through the floor would be a death sentence if they hadnt <em>improved</em> adequately, and that required work.


    Liz brewed potions, Matt tinkered with his sword and other equipment, Susanne spent time meditating on her sword, and Aster got practice with her Boon and new spells. All of them absorbed at least a few new skills and spent time working on tactics that their clones wouldnt anticipate.


    Most importantly, they <em>rested</em>.


    Taxing Skills had been exhausting for them, and theyd only had a day of rest between it and Folded Reflections. Since then, theyd been run all the more ragged, but a week was about the best bnce they could strike between resting and preparing, and not letting the rest of the delvers catch up. Floor 7 was small enough, and the costs intense enough, that if any of them needed to Tier up to beat their copy, they stood a strong chance of struggling to get enough Genesis Energy to afford both the theme challenge and exit reward. Especially if they weren''t the first ones to the floor.


    None of them managed to <em>fully</em> heal over the week. Lizs arm still was waxy, and Susannes face was still a mess of scabs and half-healed burns. Asters burns were hardly any better, and Matt still had holes in his chest that threatened to tear back open if he took another hit because of his healing cooldown. However, none of their wounds would slow them down at this point, and that would hopefully be enough along with their final cheat.


    Talismans and potions.


    Matt divvied up most of his no-skill talismans between his teammates. Much of his arsenal as Quill had been made with <em>him</em> in mind, but there were still enough talismans usable by the others that would make a difference. And when paired with Lizs potions, they would be able to buff themselves to the limit of what a Tier 11 could handle.


    If worse came to worst, they could Tier up and just hope they still had enough Genesis Energy to take the theme challenge.


    After they were freshly rested from a good nights sleep, they set out to the boss room. If you knew what to look for, it was just as obvious as the ones with an enormous troll waiting in the center. The rooms consisted of crystal cavernsprised of gems that reflected everything, blindingly bright lights that turned everything into a white haze, and thick banks of fog nketing winding mazes of tunnels that would force people to separate.


    The one they found was set in a cavern ruin littered with drooping vines and a number of stgmites and stctites. Minka didnt recognize teams so much, but this room was perfect for them all, thanks to the silver fog enveloping the area. They all knew what would happen once they entered.


    Matt downed his potions, activated his talismans, and drew his swords. To his left and right, the others made their own preparations, with him helping Aster. He took a long look at each of his teammates, then nodded farewell as he stepped into the mists. No sooner had he lost sight of the others than a new figure emerged from the fog across from him.


    Their surroundings cleared, giving Matt a clear look at himself.


    They were almost identical. The identical part went without saying, but the <em>almost</em> was only because Matt felt way more tired than his duplicate looked, in a way that [Endurance] couldnt touch.


    Neither of them moved quite yet, preferring to stare in silent contemtion. Matt couldnt help but wonder what the other was thinking.


    Was it aware that it was just a copy of himself?


    He had thought of the question before, but Luna didnt have an answer.


    From what he had seen, the copies so far werent rage fueled monsters like the beasts found in ruins and rifts, but neither did they talk or act like real people. They seemed intelligent, or at least enough to present a facsimile, but not truly sapient. But this final copy was different. Nobody knew just <em>how</em> different, but Matt felt his double with his spiritual sense. Its spirit feltplete, not like a shallow shell stretched over Matts body.


    It left Matt and everyone else who cared to think about it with a massive question mark of what Minka was actually doing on this floor.


    If people hadn''t been verifiably killed in this fight by never exiting the mists, he''d wonder if they were simply reced if they happened to lose.Even as seconds turned to minutes, neither of them stopped inspecting each other. Or rather, he inspected the copy while it stood there. He still had no idea what, if anything, was running through its mind.


    Its armor had the same scratches and dents as his own had when he first entered the floor, but it was missing the damage that had been done during his encounters thus far. But that also meant itcked the repairs and modifications he had done to it as well.


    Thankfully, Matt wasnt the same Matt he had been two weeks ago.


    Each fight had changed him and forced him to grow.


    Through victories and losses, he had improved. He was tired, yes, but he was <em>experienced</em> against fighting himself now. Hed strategized, prepared, and dug out a very particr set of gear from the bottom of the loot pile. Hed picked out and exploited his own weaknesses relentlessly, blocked [Cracked Mana Spear] with his own sword, ande to grips with his new skills and Boon in a way that the Matt in front of him simply never could.


    Never would.


    He was ready.


    A sound like a thousand books being flipped through echoed throughout the arena, and Matt was surrounded by a veritable storm of talismans. A good quarter of them unleashed their payload simultaneously, and a hail of elemental attacks barreled down on his copy. He felt the copy ripple through space, bringing up a matching set of defensive talismans that caused an explosion as the spells collided. When the air cleared, Matts clone was standing unharmed, ten feet away from where hed started and with a shimmering [Bulwark] slowly fading as the parchment of its talismans started to burn away.


    Honestly, Matt was d that he couldnt be taken down so easily. To prevent retaliation in kind, he flexed his Concept to lock space down, and felt with some amusement as his reflection did the same. Neither of them wanted to deal with talismans at the moment. Fair enough, he supposed.


    They mirrored each other, raising their swords in a faux salute before blurring into motion.


    Except, the swords they raised were vastly different.


    Matt didn''t wield his growth weapon.


    While he loved that de, it was currently in his left hand, ready to be attached to a mount on his back while he wielded the void sword, that the vampire boss had dropped, as his primary weapon in this fight.


    Minka had seemingly created it specifically to counter [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Matt wasnt going to pass that advantage up when fighting a copy of himself.


    Matt knew it was a good thing that they had chucked it inside the house after getting it, which meant his copy wouldnt have ess to it. It wasnt like Matt would allow his mirror to drop the house and rummage around inside for one of the only weapons they had that could reliably cut through his armor.


    Twin charged twin, with magic ring around them identically as their body and minds were empowered. Magic red around their swords, turning two into four, and four into six, but with that, the mirror broke.


    Matts de first split into two copies of the fighter set of enchantments, then he switched it to his new mage set, while its copy simply made two copies of the fighter set. Then, while his double left both [Twin]s floating as nking partners, Matt reabsorbed the <em>fighter </em>de into his main sword, superimposing a portion of its associated enchantments with the mage set. He wasnt entirely sure <em>why</em> it worked, but it meant that he was able to lightly split the difference between his enchantment suites.


    Dual wielding with two simr sized weapons that wererger than a short sword was nearly impossible. Matt wasnt intending on using both at the same time.


    He had made a modification to his armor just for this.


    With a flick of his wrist, the void sword snapped to his back as he swung his growth de and sent a pair of [Mana sh]es arcing out, just as his double cast three with its extra floating twin. Two sets detonated as they collided in midair, and Matt quickly swapped swords and sliced through the spare crescent of mana with his void sword before quickly returning it to his back.


    He brought [Cracked Phantom Armor] up as he crossed des with his twin, but while his copy gave the skill a wintry appearance, Matt left his in its normal form. The extra sword his copy had was met by a small dagger that he pulled off his waist with his offhand.


    The resulting explosion of the dagger overloading had worked as he hoped. It destroyed the extra sword twin, and his reinforced left arm blocked most of the damage from the explosion caused by the daggercking a repair rune to support its durability runes.


    That gave him a lead, and he pressed it.


    In theory, he and his clone should be perfectly matched. After all, they had identical cultivation and buffs, and Matt didnt even have the option of spending more mana than his duplicate to burn hotter and shorter.


    And yet, everywhere they met, Matts clone gave way.


    Strength rushed through his veins as potions empowered his body while talismans strengthened his mind and spirit.


    His growth sword bore down on that of his clones, with the extra weight from the Heavy Iron weighing it down. The clone slowly gave way, but his twin taking the fight slowly was a trap, and he knew it.


    His potions and talismans would wear off eventually, and with them, so would his main advantage over his duplicate.


    The problem was that Matt, and by extension, his mirror copy, was really, <em>really</em> good at dragging things into endurance contests.


    Matt easily had mana to spare as he pushed his clone back, and he dedicated it to his gloves. The ck hole pulsed in his chest and his enchantments red. His copy wasnt prepared, and it stumbled backwards as Matt struck forth with a full-power blow, ring [Mages Retreat] to the peak of its strength.


    His sword crashed into a [Bulwark], but that just locked up the skills use, so Matt quickly put his growth de away on his back while pulling and stabbing out with his void de in his off-hand.


    Its ck and purple point sought blood as it pierced through [Bulwark] and [Cracked Phantom Armor]. At the same time, he separated the growth sword on his back into its constituent [Sword Twin]s, sending all three des to close in on his copy.


    Reacting with admirable speed, it dropped [Bulwark] and spun to the side, dodging most of the void de. Despite that, Matt pressed his advantage with the confidence of knowing exactly how his copy would react probably.


    Hed practiced against the lesser copies earlier in the floor, but there was no guarantee that this reflection would act the <em>exact </em>same way.


    Still it was a gamble that he knew he needed to take.


    Just as Matt had hoped, his copy cast [methrower] and directed the torrent of fire at Matts head.


    Matt could have diverted the oing rush of me with [Fire Maniption], overpowering his copys own use of the spell, but his instincts said there would be a trick there that he couldnt recognize from his previous fights with his clones. Thankfully, he didnt intend to engage in a battle of [Fire Maniption] with his twin. Instead of doing the predictable thing, he cast [Hail] while using his boon to direct it into something like an icy mirror of the fire spell.


    It didnt put out the mes, but it did allow him to use [Ice Maniption] and the empowerment from his boon to cut at his copy with a rain of icy arrows.


    <em>That</em> forced his copy to drop the fire, but Matt instantly found himself in a struggle to maintain control over his own [Hail], a reversed situation that saw him at a disadvantage when the ice got nearer to the clone than himself.


    If he hadnt anticipated exactly that, he might have been in trouble. Instead, he pulsed his Concept and [Ice Maniption] to spread what snow had umted over the entire foggy battlefield.


    His clone wasnt prepared for Matts instant abandonment over the skill, and that gave him enough of an opportunity to throw an off-hand [Crescent Sweep] arcing towards his copy. The copy performed admirably, with a brief halo illuminating its head before it took a quarter-step to the left, taking it just barely out of reach of the void de that would have cut it in half.


    However, the maneuver took the clone directly into the barrage of [Fireball]s that was hiding in the wake of [Crescent Sweep]. Most of them were stopped by pinpoint secondyer defenses of [Cracked Phantom Armor], but a single one managed to detonate on aparatively undefended portion of the armor.


    Only to do absolutely nothing against the imcable defense, of course. It still distracted his copy enough for the void sword toe back and cut right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] in its entirety, leaving arge, jagged cut along his copys upper arm.


    On anyone else, it would have cut their arm clean off at <em>least</em>, but Matt was a <em>touch</em> more durable than the average Tier 11.


    Fighting yourself was a <em>pain</em>.


    It wasnt like he <em>enjoyed</em> utilizing suchplex chains of skills just tond a solid hit on a single target, but at the same time, it was about the only strategy he wouldnt expect himself to use, because hed onlye up with it while fighting himself recently.


    <em>Thinking</em> about fighting yourself was <em>also</em> a pain.


    Taking advantage of his copy finally being wounded, Matt channeled a [Wind Cutter] through his growth sword after catching and returning the void sword to his back, allowing his new enchantments to shine. The past weeks had been spent fruitfully, and with a full set of skills to work with, Matt had added three new features to his sword.


    The first was a boost in cast speed to wind spells. It was sloppy, and far, <em>far</em> from his best work, but the four percent extra speed, and three percent extra power it gave was that much more of a boost that his copy wouldnt have, and wouldnt expect. It would also give Matt an edge any time they shed with [Air Maniption], which he suspected he would seriously need.


    Though three percent extra power wasnt enough to break through his copys [Bulwark]. Before he could enact his next n, Matts eyes went wide as mana red around his copys arm in a very familiar pattern.


    He didnt <em>usually</em> cast [Cracked Mana Spear] this early in a fight, but perhaps his copy didnt want to wait until Matt ground him down, incremental improvement by incremental improvement.


    Of course, his copy couldnt know that Matt had prepared for that exact eventuality. <em>He</em> certainly wouldnt have any idea how to reliably stop his strongest trump card, if not for that fateful second encounter with Long Zhiyuan.


    He and his AI had spent a couple of sleepless nights dissecting Matts haphazard battlefield [Analyze] of the Young Masters lifesaving robe, and his hard work had paid off. The robe had an unusual form of elemental resistance, if neutral mana could be called an element.


    It blocked skills like [Mana sh], [Mana Bolt], and [Mana Spear], making it uniquely good against Matt. It was also <em>insanely</em> mana-intensive to run, but while that meant Matt now knew how to overwhelm Long Zhiyuan the next time they fought, it was good news for him, as massive amounts of mana were Matts forte.


    His version was imperfect. Not quite so shoddy as his wind enchantments, but shoddy nheless. Still, he was confident in his ability to block enough of [Cracked Mana Spear] to take any remaining on his armor directly. Now that he thought about it, the enchantment might also be a good way to break through his clones [Cracked Phantom Armor], simr to the vampires former sword. The tradeoff for it was that he inherently couldnt <em>use</em> any neutral-mana attacks channeled through his sword while the enchantment was active, but that was workable.


    [Cracked Mana Spear] screamed through the air, the raw power of it making the hairs on the back of Matts neck rise up, and was met by Matts sword. The beam parted around his de, fragmenting into a diffused beam of energy that sshed harmlessly against his armor.


    He wasnt about to just stand and take the attack like an idiot. He ducked and weaved as he drew closer, keeping his sword interposed with the beam as he tried to dodge it. Matt was far slower than most of the enemies he fought, and his copy had no issues keeping the attack trained on him, even as it danced out of Matts reach, keeping the armor-piercing sword far away from his armor.


    Before his copy hit its spiritual strain limit, it cut the spell off and cast its own flurry of [Fireball]s at him.


    Recasting [Bulwark] and rushing forward while swapping weapons, Matt tanked the spells and got in close.


    Once there, he cast [Fire Weapon] on the void sword and activated his gravity gauntlets.


    He quickly diverted as much power as possible to the item, pushing past their previous limits with his added enchantment, and focused it all through his Heart of the ck Hole.


    From the center of his chest, a wave of gravitational force started attracting everything except himself with far more power than the gauntlets themselves could normally put out. He even enhanced the effect with several force-based talismans that hed integrated with his glove-enhancement creation for this very purpose.


    Sloppy work, but it would increase the pulling force of his gauntlets for a short while.


    His copy tried to block the power with its Concept repulsion, but Matt threw his own Concept at the mirrors.


    While the boost hed gotten to his Concepts strength from being in space and facing down a ck hole was minor, his copy needed to fight not only Matts Concept, but the enhanced gravity gauntlets as well. When coupled with the strain from using [Cracked Mana Spear] so early, enough minor differences made a major one.


    His copys Concept working shattered, and Matt took advantage of the suddenly-unlocked space to pull a set of talismans from his storage. He stopped his repulsion and channeled more power through his gauntlets, meeting his copy with the tips of his de and void de, along with a half-dozen talismans aimed at the center of its chest.


    His sword met [Cracked Phantom Armor], and the void mana from the vampire longsword and talismans came together into a devastatingly strong attack. Combined, his mirrors armor never stood a chance, and it shattered. The sessful strike left the copy with one seriously bleeding gash along its thigh, and a dozen smaller wounds from the spells thatnded.


    His copy was blown backwards with the force of the talismans, and Matt nearly lost his grip on his sword as it reverberated with the explosion. His reflection, meanwhile, broke through Matts spatial lock even as he flew backwards, activating a talisman array of his own and several self-buffing talismans to match Matts own preparations.


    A familiar pattern of swords began to rain from the sky as space was locked once more.


    The twin jumped forward, and Matt was forced to redirect his mana to his self-buffs to escape. He danced to the side, slipping through a small gap in the swords around him to avoid a [Mana Charge] from his copy, and followed up with a [Fire Bolt]. The copy grabbed one of the falling swords and jerked it into the path of the skill, weakening the projectile enough that it sshed harmlessly off of its targets armor.


    By the way the reflection was acting, Matt could tell that it was directing a fair bit of mana to regeneration, trying to recover from the wounds hed inflicted.


    He <em>wanted</em> to pull out his Aurora Lance and st his clone to bits, and he was certain that his reflection had the same thought. However, <em>that</em> particr attack was firmly not an option for this battle. There were too many ways its activation could go <em>catastrophically</em> wrong for the caster, and while unlikely to happen over the course of a normal battle, both Matt and his copy intimately knew <em>all</em> of the ways it could fail, and how exactly to trigger them.


    He was fortunate, really, that his copy wasnt willing to sacrifice itself just to kill him.


    Matt shot a carefully-timed [Cracked Mana Spear] at his reflection, forcing it to dodge directly into the path of a sword as it fell from the sky. It nged off of the copys armor, but still threw the reflection off of its rhythm, which Matt eagerly capitalized on with his void sword. He concentrated his gravity gauntlets and Concept entirely in the de to make it truly inescapable.


    Mana red as his copy brought up a [Bulwark] <em>lengthwise</em>, deflecting the de to the side. Matt dropped the sword, then shifted his gravity to his glove, and what started as a sword slice ended as a punch. The reflections head cracked back, and Matt imbnced his Concept and gravity to apply a powerful rotation to his copy. It practically backflipped, recovering with a bit of wobbly [Air Maniption] to lift itself into the air, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] grew even more ornate as mirror Matt put a solid two-thirds of his regeneration into the skill. The [Sword Rain] wasnt quite done yet, but his copy was able to reinforce its armor wherever thest few des were striking, just as Matt was able to.


    Matt wrenched control over the air his copy was using to fly, throwing most of his regeneration into the skill, and <em>pulled</em>. He watched as his copy was forced to redirect nearly all of its mana to not being tossed around like a ragdoll, while [Cracked Phantom Armor] instantly lost its decoration and dimmed in a way only Matt could spot, which told him the copy had dropped the secondyer of the spell.


    His copy had two things working against it as they struggled for the winds. The first was that Matt had more practice with his boon-enhanced [Air Maniption], and knew if not <em>all</em>, then at least <em>more</em> ways he could leverage its added finesse to great effect. The second was the three percent extra power provided from his enchantments.


    Three percent, in all honesty, wasnt much. But even when dealing with thousands of mana per second, sixty mana a second <em>was</em> a lot. Enough to tip the scales for anyone.


    Even as Matts copy grounded itself and diverted more mana to controlling the air around him, Matt responded with his own [Cracked Mana Spear].


    The copy tried to move and tried to block, but taking mana from [Air Maniption] meant that Matt would buffet him around, and the reflection wasnt able to block with Matts Concept bearing down on him. In the end, he abandoned defense in favor of offense, and responded with a [Cracked Mana Spear] of his own.


    Matts own beam struck his copy in its wounded shoulder, and the return attacknced through Matts calf with a bolt of pain. His AI helpfully informed him that his leg was now missing most of its muscle tissue, and was practically useless.


    There were no <em>good</em> injuries, but fighting yourself was basically about damage control, and he would take the exchange of his copys right arm for a little mobility.


    The copy silently withdrew, shifted its longsword to his left hand, and started slinging spells.


    A smart move.


    While Matt had trained to be able to use his sword in his off hand, he wasnt ambidextrous by any means, and the copy clearly knew that.


    Still, Matt wasnt afraid of a fight with spells.


    While [Cracked Mana Spear] was strong, it had its limitations. Namely its spiritual strain. And with the condition his spirit had been in when they first entered the floor, Matt suspected that his copy had about fifteen to twenty more seconds of spell usage left.


    Matt smiled as he cast [Ice Maniption] to grab the nearby ice and send it back at his copy.


    Minka might be a forge, but he was good, tempered steel thanks to Lunas decades of training.


    Despite the danger, he was having fun.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 5

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 5


    Minka Chronicles Floor 5


    Alvin looked at the cluster of buffalo with various elemental horns and contemted how he could kill them.


    Things had <em>changed</em>.


    His team had earned enough Genesis Energy on the fourth floor, but with his repeated injuries and captures, he had been stuck in a rut. If not for those sted extortionists taking all of his Genesis Energy for a single potion, he could have left with them, but no.


    They had left him.


    If that had been the only problem, it wouldn''t have been an impossible rut to get himself out of, but when his team up and vanished one day, that rut became more of a canyon.


    So, he decided to risk it and head deeper into Minka.


    It was always a risk to head further in, where the got smaller and the people were closer together, but the monsters gave more Genesis Energy per kill as well. Thatbined with the exit reward not scaling meant he could, in theory, get away with a few dozen kills. Then, hed just have to find cleared areas to push through the three levels of the next floor and exit without too much fighting.


    Except, he once again had awful luck.


    Taxing Skills was never a good floor, but considering he had been robbed of most of his belongings besides his weapons and armor, he was faced with an issue.


    How was he supposed to kill monsters this tough and durable?


    If this was a rift, he would simply attack one of them at the edge and kite around them until he could whittle it down. But this was Minka, and things were never that easy. The monsters here weren''t necessarily different, but these were herd creatures, and the first time he had tried to split the group, the entire pack had chased him down.


    He had been forced to exit into the adjoining ruin to get them to break off the chase.


    That tendency to group up and attack also exined why those monsters, in particr, werent killed like everything else on this floor.


    Despite this floor being the antithesis torge scale magic, Alvin couldnt walk ten feet without seeing the signs of battle.


    Large swaths of forests were burned or uprooted, deep pits littered thendscape, slowly filling with water, and in one particrly noteworthy area, arge portion of a desert was ssed.


    Whatever fire mage thought it was worthwhile to spend that much mana on a floor that made skills more expensive with each cast was either desperate, or dumb.


    Either way, Alvin avoided that ruin in case the monsters that would eventually respawn were stronger than the average.


    So, he pushed on and eventually found the ruin with the buffalo.


    As far as he could tell, it was the only ruin without most of its monsters killed off.


    And he didnt know if he would be able to find enough monsters to satisfy his Genesis Energy needs without killing at least some of the buffalo.


    He estimated that he was about eighty percent of the way to his goal, after a long, <em>long</em> time spent killing Fae, but the creatures here were so few and far between, hed be hard-pressed to close the gap.


    Sighing, he decided against trying to fight the buffalo, and instead decided to look around for the few monsters that would have respawned in the meantime.


    While Minka would boot him out at the end of the cycle, he had, at minimum, four more years before the earliest time the cycle could end, so he had time.


    As someone over a thousand years old, he could be patient.


    Even when he didnt want to be.


    It took him almost six weeks, but he found an out-of-the-way ruin only essible by a single entrance, next to ava-filled ruin which few people were likely to stumble upon by ident.


    Better yet, the monsters in the ruin were a physically strong, but magically weak type of zombie, which meant he could fight them without resorting to skills. After more than a year of slow farming as the monsters respawned, he slowly gathered up Genesis Energy to the point where he was halfway to his goal.


    If he ventured out of the undead ruin, he could have gathered more Genesis Energy faster, but he knew he still needed to leave the floor, and might need to cast spells during that time to beat some of the bosses on each level, so chose the slower-but-safer method.


    Even with nobody around to hear him, heined to the thin air about the slow respawn rate, averaging just under a single monster per day.


    Still, it was safer than remaining on the fourth floor and risking getting captured once again.


    Three years after he entered the fifth floor, he finally felt the Genesis Energy in his spirit reach the point he could take the fourth floor exit reward. It actually surprised him, as the information jolted him from the stupor he had fallen into in thest few years.


    Packing up his things, he pulled out his flying sword and immediately flew out of the ruin and through the nearest two, to find a boss rift he had found cleared when he was exploring.


    Thankfully, the distortion was still there, and he entered it without hesitating.


    He didnt care about rewards or skills. He just wanted his Concept to break through to Tier 15.


    When he reached the third level of the floor, he found a team battling a ghost like boss and waited a respectful distance as they finished the boss off. When he was sure they had gone through the distortion, he followed up and walked into the distortion as well.


    He wasnt even given the opportunity to take the floor challenge, as he didnt have enough Genesis Energy, but he didnt care.


    The instant he appeared in the safe room, he readied his shield for an attack that never came.


    Spreading out his spiritual sense and looking with eyes, he saw that most everyone was keeping to themselves, and was either wounded and recovering, or bartering with the trader who had set up shop.


    Ignoring it all, he ran at the crystal pir in the center of the room.


    Alvin almost didnt believe it when his fingered touched the pir, and he was given the option to exit or head deeper.


    He had expected someone to attack him or try and rob him, despite no one being near enough to do so.


    As he disappeared, he felt a list of his passed floor rewards being offered and let out a breath, seeing he both had ess to and could afford the floor four reward.


    Mentally selecting it, he felt the Genesis Energy he had painstakingly gathered rush and swirl into his cultivation cores, filling and then shattering the bottled Concept he had used to break through to Tier 10 so many years ago.


    Even as the Genesis Energy settled into ce, he was given the option to choose his exit destination, and with a feeling of relief he never knew he could feel, selected the Empires moon.


    Appearing on a random street, he knelt down and let out a sound that was somewhere between a cry and scream, venting thest thousand years of frustration.


    With a thought, he pulled out an essence stone and absorbed the energy to his spirit and immediately crunched with it, breaking through to Tier 15.


    Even as his AI was inundated with offers from celebration halls, he just took a moment to take everything in.


    He was immortal.


    He had all the time in the world.


    Looking at his hand that had started to show the signs of wrinkles and age he was keenly aware of despite his gauntlets, he threw his head back and started tough.


    ***


    Valerie clenched her armor-covered fist and punched the orc in the face.


    Metal met flesh, and the flesh of the creature exploded.


    Taxing Skills was one of the five most annoying floors for a Pdin candidate, thanks to the block on [AI] usage, but she knew what was important, and it wasn''t rushing ahead and killing everything for Genesis Energy.


    Oh, the Genesis Energy was important; vital, even. But she wasnt gathering it for the rewards, even though she took each one from the floors she passed.


    As a Tier 12, they weren''t so expensive and were quite useful.


    But her entire purpose of entering Minka was to have the set of armor protecting her bind to her as a growth item, which had thankfully been forced by the fourth floor reward.


    The Pdins were one of the most elite forces the Corporations had to offer. While the Chosen were their answer to the Sects Young Masters and the Monster Collectives Alphas, the Pdins were an entirely separate military unit that were based on two extremely valuable resources.


    The first and most obvious of the two was the hyper-advanced magitech power armor she wore almost like a second skin. It was a wonder of modern engineering, handcrafted by entire teams of the greatest crafters the Corporations had and formed entirely from natural treasures, Talent-made materials and fused into a single, beautiful and cohesive whole.


    The second resource were the remnants of a Talented crafter who Ascended ages ago that could create rechargeable custom mana stones, with each able to hold an insane amount of mana for their size. They were integral to the function of the armors at higher Tiers, when they could burn upwards of <em>millions</em> of mana every second.


    She didnt have any of those crystals with her, of course. Not only were they worth far more than everything else in the suit <embined</em>, which already cost exa-credits to produce, but they failed the single most important requirement for the entire suit.


    Everything had to be below Tier 15.


    The goal of the armor, after all, was to bind to someone and turn into a growth item.


    And as it was a single item by design, if it did bind, it would bind as a whole.


    Valerie had trained for nearly five hundred years before getting this chance, and she wasnt going to squander it.


    Her power armor had been into Minka twice before her entrance, and was generally considered unlucky, if not outright cursed. But Valerie had been the one to bind with it. Even if she hadnt gotten a floor that automatically bound it to her, she was sure it would have happened anyway.


    From the moment she was encased in the seven foot tall armor system, she knew they were destined to work together.


    Using her shield, she blocked the next blow and drove her vibro knife through the orc''s armor.


    Stepping out and down, she shattered another''s leg before firing her mana cannons at the remaining two creatures.


    She could have killed all the orcs from a distance, but meleebat had shown a small but historically noticeable tendency to increase the chance of binding to the power armor.


    When the final orc fell and started to dissolve, she checked her readout and saw that she only had seven percent mana left, and signaled the team behind her to retreat.


    Her handlers.


    Her <em>power armors </em>protectors.


    They would watch her kill herself inbat, but the second she died, they would immediately move in and im the power armor.


    It was far too valuable to allow Minka to absorb it, after all.


    She was disposable.


    Or at least, she was until she had bound with the armor.


    Now that that had happened, she had be one of the elite Pdins, and that was a status few could match.


    Even knowing that and experiencing it for the first three floors, she wouldnt have wanted them to step in and save her.


    More than one of the Pdins had their armor bind right at their moment of crisis, and she had been willing to take that risk as well.


    If she had exited Minka without the armor binding, she would be kicked out of the Pdin Cadets, which might as well be death for someone like her.


    As she retreated to her handlers, she opened her chest and took the straw in her mouth, then started takingrge gulps of the protein smoothie. The suit was built with the idea of an immortal and didnt carry anything so mundane as food for the pilot, and frankly Kepler made pretty good blends of the stuff.


    At the same time, the mechanics in the group started inspecting the suit, to make sure its self-repair functions were still working and integrated well after its bonding.


    Valerie herself had nothing on her; she couldnt if they wanted to increase the odds of the armor binding. And despite the armor already bing a growth item, they didnt change their ns mid delve.


    Looking at Darren, the Tier 14 leader of the team, she asked, How are things looking?


    Not ncing up from his pad, the man nodded slightly. Good. Things seem to be stabilizing. Your integration with the armor has risen to seventy three percent.


    Hearing that, Valerie clenched her fist. Fucking finally.


    Darren looked up and shot her an evil smirk. Dont get too excited. That''s dead average for someone who is bound with an item because of a floor reward. Good, but youll need to work harder to fully integrate. You still have potential to grow, dont squander your time.


    Im aware of the statistics, but it feels way higher than the seventy percent mark.


    Pausing, she watched the other mechanics start to channel the tens of thousands of mana to refill her armors reserves and asked, Whats up ahead?


    Giant birds. Lightning and fire mostly.


    Despite that being a less than idealbination, Valerie nodded. Im going to fight them.


    Darren looked up, and she could see the sigh he restrained. That is not rmended. It''s a non optimal match up with the floor theme.


    Valerie disagreed. We can do it.


    Darren didnt argue further.


    Valerie was already a full member of the Pdins, which meant she was officially inmand.


    While he was technically a higher rank than her, his responsibility and authority started and ended with her power armor. As long as she wasnt deliberately risking her power armors recoverability, she had the authority to pick and choose her engagements. And even that small technicality of control over her vanished now that she was no longer a cadet, and was bound to the armor system.


    Despite the readings only indicating a small increase in synchronization, she felt it in her bones.


    The two of them were merging.


    Bing one entity.


    Binding in more than just in spirit.


    Im taking the fight.


    And that was the end of that discussion.


    Our reports indicate the monsters are faster than average, but have slightly weaker bodies inpensation. Also, their elemental attacks are mostly based around their wings and ws. You are being officially warned to retreat at thirty percent mana remaining, at a minimum, to ensure damage stays within repairable parameters.


    Thatst bit was said in his official capacity, and she responded in an equally official manner. Understood. Thirty percent.


    As the mechanics finished their work, she shut her opening and readied herself to engage with her new enemies.


    Darren then said the same thing he had hundreds of times before. Bind or die, cadet.


    Not bothering to send the response back through her AI, she said to herself. I chose to bind.


    The call and response were as old as the Pdins themselves, and was another part of the superstitions regarding the process. Just because she had already bound to the armor didnt mean she was finished. She needed additional growth item floors if she wanted to reach the heights she was aiming for.


    Better to not jinx it.


    With a full charge of mana, she activated her thrusters and flying enchantments, taking off with a burst of speed.


    She could fly with just her Concept, but she felt that it wasnt the right course of action when she was trying to deepen her tie with the armor.


    Valerie did use her Concept to part the air before her as her speed quickly passed the sound barrier while she flew into the next ruin.


    It was a in with waving grass and a ceiling she couldnt see or sense with her sensor suite or spiritual sense.


    More of Minkas spatial shenanigans, she was sure.


    She did see the two dozen person-sized eagles banking to attack her, and noted them as they appeared on her screens.


    The normal Heads Up Disy from the power armor was integrated with her AI, but it did have redundant backup screens just in case her AI was suppressed, in Minka or elsewhere.


    For a less experienced pilot, she might not be used to fighting blind, but Valerie and every other cadet had practiced for this a million times.


    Their training was long and brutal.


    But she hade out of it victorious.


    Now, it was just time to synchronize with the armor and hope that she got another floor with a growth item reward.


    She was in a better position than the gray Pdins, who bound to the armor by themselves, but got no floors rted to growth items. A fourth floor Courtly Warfare meant she was already on track to be a Green Pdin, but reaching the ranks of Blue or Indigo would only make her victory all the sweeter.


    Unless they were <em>both</em> relevant, she wouldnt be a Rainbow Pdin, and bing the semi mythical Pearlescent Pdin was already dashed when her entire run wasnt made up of growth item floors.


    Still, it was only a starting point. Size-changing was a ssic Pdin power, but shed also gotten the ability to manipte her suits force fields, and that opened up a whole new set of options for her.


    Her synchronization andbat skills were more important for her long term growth, which was why she threw herself into battle time after time.


    As the first eagle approached her, she relied on her shield to block the wings set aze while she shed out at the eagle with her integrated de, wrapped in a cutting-edge force field just for good measure .


    It was decidedly overkill- the de was already some of the finest enchanting work around- but the force field took it to the next level, allowing her to slice through the monster like it wasnt even there.


    Spinning and falling, she dodged the talon trying to grab at her and fired her mana cannons at the second eagles underbelly, smiling as the two streams of Genesis Energy rushed into her.


    Valerie was ready to take on the world.


    ***


    Chuck dropped his invisibility at the same time he activated his ives lightning, scything through the Sect healer in a single blow.


    <em>Always kill the healer first,</em> his father would say, which was the first of many lessons Chuck had taken to heart over the years. He had tried doing it the other way a few floors ago, just to see what would happen, and it took so much longer to actually finish the fight. Also, there was nothing more demoralizing than taking down a partys nursemaid, which was an edge that he wasnt eager to ignore a second time.


    He sent a followup beam of lightning through the healers head with a snap of his fingers as her body fell to the ground in pieces. Chuck locked eyes with the partys presumed leader as he did it, just to really drive home the message of who was in charge here.


    <em>The Realm is vast and contains many tricks. Do not simply assume that someone is dead. Ensure it.</em>


    That was lesson number two. Another good one. Or two, technically. The first part was worth being a lesson on its own.


    There was no burst of Genesis Energy when she died, which would normally have been suspicious, very few people collected exactly enough to buy the floor rewards with nothing left over, but he thought he knew the cause in this case. There was that Corporations trader from thest floor who had been buying and trading Genesis Energy, and they must have sold off exactly enough to ensure they still got the floor reward. It was frankly pathetic that they had been on this floor for four days and still not managed to kill anything, but he could believe it.


    He pulled the girls bags to himself with a crackle of his Concept andtched them to his belt. Probably nothing spectacr, but you never knew.


    Ill give you a fair shot, since Ive been itching for a real fight for ages. For every hit yound on me, Ill let one of you live. I think thats fair, but if you barbarians want something else, Im sure we cane to terms. Chuck challenged them while casually holding his ive out to the side.


    Honestly he was pissed, though he thought he was handling it well. Summer should have been a sure thing; it should have been the easy win and boon for the first cycle of Courtly Warfare.


    He <em>deserved </em>that win. But now it was gone, and he was stuck on a mediocre fifth floor with these ingrates.


    Maybe their corpses would have something to make it worth his time.


    The party charged at him without even acknowledging what he had said. There was one guy with a spear that looked decent enough, the leader with the tower shield and short sword, and a mage of unknown ability, though she struck him as a mud mage. She had that slimy, grovely feel to her those types often had.


    Like necromancers but less interesting.


    From the Sects he expected better of Tier 12s, this group was hardly enough to give him a warm up. Fighting at Tier opponents was easy for someone like him.


    The leader came first, at least doing the bare minimum as a tank after failing to protect his backline. He tried to go slow, let his team get into position, but slow and steady had never been Chucks <em>thing</em>. A short feint at the head made the oaf duck behind his shield, then Chucktched onto the top of the shield with the hook on his ive, pulled the shield down, and made a quick stab to the throat.


    Hed be down for at least a bit before Chuck could make the rounds and finish him off. Besides, the tank living meant that his gear wouldnt decay. A tad risky, maybe, but so was this whole thing.


    The others fell in short order. A good spear fight was always a nice way to greet the day, but the spearman was sadly not up to snuff. Three exchanges were enough to prove that and leave the other man dying on the ground, even with some support magic from the girl. He actually got a little excited when the girl showed that she <em>was </em>a mud mage. She shot a st of mud at him, which he simply teleported around. He actually waited a second just to see what she did next; he so rarely got to see what his opposite element could do.


    Sadly, she just made a boring wall of mud between the two of them. Chuck did need to care about efficiency on this floor, at least a little, so he elected to smash the wall with his ive rather than overpower it with lightning. The new growth effect on it was <em>nice</em>, and he wanted to utilize the armor breaking as much as possible. He cut the girls hands off to neuter her as a threat; it might be amusing to keep her around for a few more minutes, just so she could grovel at his feet before he needed to move on.


    He missed all the groveling from his fathers servants. It had seemed like hundreds of years since he had some good groveling.


    After that, he went around to kill the men and relieve them of their presumably hard earned items, but when he got back to the mud girl, she was weeping over the body of her healer friend, which was really killing his buzz.


    Whats the matter, girlie, cant you try to hit me with [Cresting Dragon Waves of the Overwrought Metaphor]? No [Lashing Vines Hidden Beneath Summer Nights Harvest]? Some other overly pompous description of your impotent magic? She was still crying, sobbing into her missing hands. Your magic is weak. Your <em>people</em> are weak, and they will not survive theing war. I hope that youve learned a valuable lesson on attempting to exist in the hunting grounds of your betters, and the most valuable thing you can do with your life is take this message back to your sniveling Sects. For their sake, I hope you make it.


    With his mood appropriately brightened, he stood up to see if there was anything else of interest nearby, and started walking in the direction of the closest uncleared ruin. The girl could figure out what to do on her own, or she could die. Either way, it wasnt really his concern.


    <em>Force the Realm to remember your passing.</em>


    Lesson forty-seven. A ssic.


    ***


    Long Zhiyuan watched the team from the ns and was about to move when he felt four sources of Genesis Energy start approaching with a hostile speed.


    Backing up into the shadows, he sent more mana into his obscuring cloak and let it hide his presence from spiritual perception.


    That,bined with having most of his Genesis Energy in a ring, meant he was nearly undetectable.


    Once the attacking team passed his hiding spot, he rushed forward with his ws ready to rip out thest man''s throat.


    His hand was just inches away from flesh when the man turned and cut out at him.


    Dodging, Long Zhiyuan barely avoided catching the de in the face, and seeing he wouldnt get his clean kill, activated [Heavenly All Seeing Eye].


    The technique started parsing the information, and he immediately set two of his clones to fighting the man''s copies.


    It wouldn''t be a perfect copy of the man, but his technique was now upgraded and had a better measure of people it epassed.


    Withdrawing a sword and shield, he stored his cloak so as to not damage it and engaged the man with more traditional weapons.


    He nearly caught the man, but he was good with his de, and almost caught Long Zhiyuan a number of times as well.


    A rare urrence, as people who could match his training efforts were hard to find.


    And Talented.


    That was always a possibility he couldn''t discount.


    Still, [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] would eventually gather all the information he needed, and then he would learn how to beat anyone.


    He was just settling into the brutal rhythm of a life and death battle with an equal when they were attacked by another party.


    That wouldnt do.


    After taking care of the trash, Long Zhiyuan jumped back at the man, but to his surprise, he shot out a weapon that activated hisst measure defensive artifact.


    Despite the Sect leader not liking him, Soaring Clouds Sect knew how to take care of its most valuable resource, andmissioned him a set of embroidery for his robes that would protect him from neutral mana spells.


    It cost a Tier 14 mana stone every second of activation, but its defensive power had the strength to match.


    And he came in with a spatial ring full of the power sources for the embroidery.


    In the second he had to attack, he used his off hand to replenish the pocket where the mana stones were kept, in case the man could cast that same spell again.


    At the same time, he cast [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] once more, wanting to get more information about his opponent.


    He cataloged the information to his [Spiritual Self]. Stronger than the average Tier 12. Faster than average. A higher defense than average. A higher attack than average. Average regeneration. The armor that flicked in and out of existence was rated as exceptional, with a potential weakness to either the floor theme or innate duration. The skill suspected the man in front of him had done exceptionally well on Genesis Cultivation and Back to Basics, which would exin most of his physical abilities.


    As he updated his copies of the man to fight, he started nning his retreat.


    He could see that the tide was turning in therger battle that was happening next to them.


    When an explosion went off and knocked everyone around, he was already ready to run for it.


    Hede back once he had a better understanding of the man''s abilities and how to counter them.


    As far as he had seen in a purely one versus one, he had a good chance of beating the man, but with the rest of his team, that was a long shot at best.


    And this wasnt the time to take a fight for pride.


    He could always kill the man deeper into Minka, when he had a more perfect model.


    Even as he picked up the equipment from two of the bodies that were blown this way, he wondered just what techniques the man used to be that strong at Tier 12. That raw physical strength was hard to match for a long time, and could make any prolonged battle a challenge.


    With that information, Long Zhiyuan let the two clones fight each other.


    He needed to hurry up and get ahead of the pack.


    This whole getting third partied thing was growing old quickly.


    <em>He</em> was supposed to be the one interrupting fights to take advantage of both sides.


    Finding an untouched ruin, he found a lone sheep monster and carefully fought it while gathering its information with [Heavenly All Seeing Eye].


    Once he had enough information, he set two sets of clones to fight it. When he knew everything about the monster, he started a one sided ughter.


    Deeper into Minka. That was where he needed to go.


    But first, he needed Genesis Energy, and if he couldn''t properly ambush people without dozens more teamsing in to scavenge, he needed to focus on monsters.


    ***


    Jasper jumped to the side as a bolt of mana swiped past his nk, while his bond darted from under his bulk and sent out a lightning bolt of her own.


    As an Earth Armadillo, his outer shell was harder than most and was reinforced by his mana, even without an active spell. Which was very good for this floor, as the cost of his defense never increased.


    Thankfully, Amsond was a Ground Gopher with a penchant for lightning spells, despite what her Talent would like to force her into.


    As good as the bound pair was, they had been forced to fight their way through a number of ruins that were less than ideal for an earth mage, and she could pick up the ck.


    As his bond chittered at him, Jasper sent a pulse of mana through his feet and felt for any more monsters nearby. Thankfully, nothing came back to his senses, and he was able to let out a sigh of relief.


    Amsond climbed onto his outer shell and pointed off into the distance. Oh! I see a lightning-struck tree. Head that way, and we can see if there is anything good.


    Not particrly caring about where they went as long as he could minimize spell usage, Jaster sauntered over towards the charcoal tree and started digging through it.


    Instead of a natural treasure, they found a pir of crystal.


    A challenge room.


    Want to do it?


    His bond rubbed her paws together as she thought before shaking her head. No reason to risk it. We have enough Genesis Energy to take the floor reward as soon as we find an exit.


    Agreeing with her, he started to walk forward once again. Can you scratch that scab where the crab thing pinched me? My armor is rubbing there.


    He could feel as Amsond rolled her eyes but helped him out.


    Letting out a sigh of relief, he moved the two of them forward.


    ***


    Han De jumped to the next tree and grabbed the squirrel like monster, and drove a dagger he had found on a defeated foe into its brain.


    To say this floor was not good for him would be the understatement of his life, but it was forcing him to learn.


    This was one giant training ground where one needed to get rid of the crutches they once relied on, and it seemed he relied too much on his techniques, as they had been growing ever weaker while he fought.


    He noticed the difference quickly, and had been fighting with just his body for a while now, but his real issue was theck of monsters.


    It seemed that being behind the others was finally making things hard for him. On the other floors, he had been able to find untouched ruins with a little effort, but now he couldnt find a ruin with even a dozen monsters in it.


    That,bined with his techniques being limited, had led to him gathering a few new wounds, but thankfully, nothing debilitating.


    Gathering his resolve, he looked off to the distance, where he could feel the newly respawned boss of this ruin.


    With pumping legs, he charged at the purple and silver man-sized squirrel and slid along the ground, cutting at its front leg.


    Before his de couldnd, it jumped into the air and tried to drive its ws into his body, but Han De was just as fast as it was.


    Rolling to the side, he brought his de around and shed out at the w.


    Sparks flew as Yi Zhns sword impacted with the ws.


    The purple squirrel seemed to have a mana type that actively ate away at Yi Zhns sword, and seeing that, he changed his tactics to avoid using the sword so much. He didnt want to risk it in a fight. It wouldn''t be the first or even the tenth item he had gone through in Minka, but that one was special to him, <em>bonded</em> to him even.


    But as they fought, Han De was forced to use skill after skill to defend himself, and felt the skills he had previously hoarded start to get more expensive, until finally, he couldn''t cast them any more.


    Close to ten minutester, a bloodied Han De looked at the squirrel and shifted his grip on Yi Zhns sword.


    He could feel this would be the final exchange.


    One of them would die here.


    With a heart like iron, he knew it wouldnt be him.


    Rushing forward, he met the monster''s attack with Yi Zhns sword, and steel met w. His chest may have been on fire and his vision may be turning ck, but w gave way, and the de sank deep into the monsters hide as it erupted with lightning.


    Yi Zhn was with him always, even to the bitter end.

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204


    Susanne looked at the copy of herself and knew this would be a brutal fight. Not that fighting against a reflection of yourself was ever easy.


    As she sized herself up, she pulled off her mask and her reflection did the same. They looked into each others eyes, a burned and scarred gaze meeting unblemished skin, and both of them knew that they could win. She wasnt fighting <em>Queen</em> here, she was fighting <em>Susanne</em>, and there would be no tricks to hide that truth. If she couldnt face this reality, if she couldnt best her past, she didnt deserve to be here.


    Liz and Matt had doubts when Susanne refused any extra potions beyond the initial dose and all of the talismans, but Aster seemed to understand, at least a bit. This ce was less personal to them. It was a ce to find treasure, gather new skills, and grow stronger. Nothing more.


    Susanne briefly nced down at their respective armors. Her reflection still had the functioning growth armor, while she was stuck with some looted armor from a few floors ago that <em>mostly</em> fit her thanks to Matts efforts. The growth armor was potent, and her own was somewhat more geared towards defending against ranged attacks, but that ultimately didnt matter.


    The strength of her convictions and mastery of her de would decide this fight, not some fancy suit of armor.


    She had been hoping for Folded Reflections since she had heard about it. The reward was incredible, obviously, but that was the least important part. Susanne needed to prove to everyone, most importantly herself, that she would forge herself anew with each challenge conquered, each skill mastered, and each enemy in. That she could wade through a filled with death and walk out the other end unbroken, at a Tier few others had. There was nothing more direct to prove that than fighting your own past, literally for the challenge, and oveing it for the reward.


    She was here to test her mettle and her metal, to prove that she would alwayse back stronger and batter down any threat or challenge. To prove that she wouldnt let her past define her, that she would never back down, and that <em>she would never falter.</em>


    Her manifestation was escting in power as she focused, and as it reached new heights, both she and her clone activated [Iron Skin] at the same time, with the metal racing out from her steel gray eyes to cover her body.


    The final fight of its life had begun.


    Her clone opened with the same move it almost always did- sh its de to turn invisible and cut through space. It was odd learning that she was <em>predictable</em>, but shed been able to adjust from thest half-dozen times that she had fought her reflections, whereas this copy hadnt.


    She swung out with her own sword, aiming at the spot she predicted her copy would make an appearance.


    Her de impacted with something, and she knew she had been correct.


    The copy reappeared as [Cracked Second Wind] knit its flesh back together, and lunged at her, this time fully visible.


    She backed up and blocked the blow to savor the feeling of her Concept manifestation shing with another.


    It wasnt like the feeling of a de hitting another de. Instead, it was simr to when she battered down someone elses Concept, though not quite identical. A manifestation was more solid than that.


    A tiny bit more real.


    She had fought others with weapon manifestations a couple of times at Carols behest, but they were all at a much greater Tier than her, and she hadnt been able to feel this unique sensation then. Her previous reflections had given her a simr experience, but none of them had <em>quite</em> so solid a Manifestation.


    Each time she experienced the sh, she was able to refine her de, feeling its weaknesses like never before through her reflection.


    Two inches from the top of her de on the left side, there was a spot that had stung like a sore tooth during the impact.


    Taking that knowledge, she polished her manifestation to remove that weakness, even as she threw herself at her Minka copy.


    At first, they fought with purely their mundane de skills, but that onlysted until she forced her copy back through her potion enhanced strength, and it decided to cast [Wind Cutter] at her.


    Susanne cut the attack in half with a single swing of her de, then followed up with [Dash] and used the boost in speed to close the gap between herself and her copy.


    As she brought her de around in a heavy swing, she smiled as her copy back stepped just enough to dodge the de while preparing to rush back in. But instead, Susanne cast [Mana de] to extend her weapon an extra foot.


    Her reflection seemed surprised by the move, but it summoned a second copy of her Concept manifestation and blocked the nowrger descending de. Meanwhile, the fake Susannes main de lunged forward, trying to impale her original.


    Using her own Concept to create a second version of her de as well, Susanne blocked the lunge and cast [Counter]. The spell repelled the de with explosive force, and Susanne used her main de to cut out in retaliation, but her reflection used its own [Counter] to block the blow.


    Not wanting the skirmish to fall into a stalemate of [Counters] until one of them ran out of mana, Susanne cast [Fire Burst] and allowed the explosion of mes to wash over her copy.


    While it worked, the reflection had its own defenses, even if it didnt have [Fire Maniption], so it was only singed by the st.


    Her reflection cast [Dash] and [Hypersonic Edge] as the mes washed away.


    [Fleet Feet] enhanced her footwork, and she sidestepped and then ducked under the swipe of her copys weapon while lunging forward and casting [Mana Thrust].


    She nearly cut the reflection in half with the attack, but it managed to block her blow, so they fell back into a stalemate.


    Susanne retreated a few steps and cast [Momentum Overcharge], allowing the spell to steal some of her speed, and when it had a good bit of energy stored up, she cast [Dash] to close the gap once again.


    As her de came around, she unleashed [Momentum Overcharge], and when her de impacted her copys, she overpowered the upraised sword and smashed both of their des into the copys chest.


    She was sure that it was going to kill the copy, but [Phantom Armor] sprung up and took the brunt of the blow, to her irritation. Susanne definitely hadnt had the skill active when they entered the floor, which meant it must have cast it sometime during this very fight. But that told her that the mirror was lower on mana than she was.


    That was useful information.


    Rushing forward, she brought her sword down in a massive, overhand swing, but her mirror was able to roll out of the way and cut space to dodge the blow, despite Susanne trying to lock the battleground down with her Concept.


    Still, she hadpounded her few advantages into a distinct lead as she took off after her copy and started chasing it down.


    She just needed one more blow tond in order to finish it off, and could see its end drawing near.


    It felt right.


    de fights were brutal and short.


    Decided in a single blow.


    Just how she liked it.


    ***


    Aster growled at her copy.


    She was not a happy fox.


    She had fought. She had been hurt. She had been injured.


    But never like this before.


    And it made her angry.


    Matt had been hurt.


    Liz had been hurt.


    Susanne had been hurt.


    And she hadnt been able to turn the tide.


    Normally, she was more than happy to y the spoiled princess when she could, even if it was mostly in jest.


    After their brutal loss, she intended to change that.


    No more miss nice fox.


    They started off with an [Ice Spear] each, which collided in midair to create a thin cloud of snow between them. A dual [Wind Lance] collision blew that away, leaving them in the same position as before. Elemental mages of the same type often stalemated each other, as the increase in control and power of said element got better the closer it was to the other mage, making defense much easier than offense. That basic dynamic was doubly true for support mages like Aster, who had far more ways to deflect, avoid, or block damage than deal it out.


    Fighting against a <em>copy</em> of yourself made that problem so much worse, as there were hardly any tricks or spells that one side could exploit for an advantage. Aster had improved over her time on this floor; they all had, but it was quite difficult to ovee the inherent disadvantages she needed to contend with in order to wound her copy.


    Her frozen earth elemental, courtesy of her Boon, allowed her to make unusual types of ice. With her tiara turning [Create Ice] into a minion, the creation lumbered forward as she summoned it into being. Matt had helped her cast the spell a dozen times to strengthen it to the maximum before they took on the boss fight, and she hoped it would help turn the tide.


    Her copy threw a barrage of [Ice Spear]s at it, but her minion just absorbed them all without so much as a crack appearing on its surface.


    She growled and threw out a flurry of [Wind sh]es, which her copy was able to dodge and dispel even as it was predominantly upied with the elemental. She battered at her copys Concept with her own, though even with her improved strength in that area, she was still so much better at keeping things from changing than she was at directly hurting someone. Her copy eventually summoned a [Wind Lance] elemental to challenge her elemental, and the two beings began their sh.


    Hers was far stronger than her copys, as it had been reinforced as much as the tiara would support before she entered, but it was kept busy with blocking its spindly and agile counterpart from reaching her. How long their fight would take, Aster wasnt sure, but her summon would definitely win in the end.


    Still she intended to help it.


    With a thought, she sent a touch of mana into the carpet of talismans that Matt had made for her and attached to her armor before this fight.


    Spells shot out in all directions before curving around and targeting her mirror self.


    As the spellsnded, Aster took painful smattering of [Hail] on her wounded skin, but she scored a single good hit with [Ice Bullet] on her copys front leg as it tried to frantically dodge the rain of spells.


    If she hadnt been angry before, a reminder that her copy still had intact fur and an actual tail drove her over the edge.


    She rushed her copy with wind lengthening her stride, and they both traded spells ever more quickly as the distance closed. Ice and air collided rmingly close to her face, but she was focused on her target and her n. A single [Ice Spear] scored a line down her nk, and that was all she needed to end this fight for good.


    Aster froze up quickly and started focusing on dodging as best as she was able while fighting against her copys Concept. Standing barely five feet from her clone meant that she had to be absolutely perfect to avoid each strike, but dodging was a skill she had honed for decades.


    Sadly, so had her copy, meaning neither of them was actually able to hit the other.


    An [Ice Bullet] flew through where she had been a heartbeat before as she dodged <em>left</em>. At nearly the same instant as her paws left the ground, she teleported to the <em>right</em>, just beyond where her copy would see or expect, and lunged at her copys neck with [Chomp].


    The [Ice Spear] from her copy flew harmlessly through the space Aster would have been upying if she hadnt teleported through all the ice and snow they had created around them.


    Anger infused her and powered her jaws.


    Rage at her helplessness.


    No more.


    Shaking her head back and forth as hard as she could, she felt bones snap in her copy but she didn''t let up for even a moment. Aster, strengthened by Matts talismans and Lizs potions, was substantially stronger than her duplicate.


    Her old self.


    She, and therefore it, was tougher than that, and refused to die so easily. Aster responded by throwing its wounded body to the side, and directed her elemental, as it rejoined their battle, to crush it to a pulp.


    Repeatedly.


    Until she felt Genesis Energy rush into her as the reward for her victory.


    Proof it was dead.


    Aster was already a step away when she noticed a skill shard forming on the ground where her copy had been.


    She snapped it up and stored it away as she slinked over to the edge of the cavern while she waited for the others to finish their own fights. Once she settled into afortable spot, she pulled out a few healing potions and [Bandage] talismans.


    While she hadplete confidence in the others and their abilities, she wanted to be able to pounce in and help out if they emerged from their battles wounded or vulnerable.


    No one would hurt her friends any more. Not if she could help it.


    ***


    Liz thrust her spear out and took her copy in the side, but was unable to draw blood from the single hit.


    She pulled her spear back as the copy thrust forward with its own spear, and used the haft of her weapon to block the blow.


    She had already learned the futility of using blood spells against herself.


    Before either of them were able to get the spell tond, the target would be close enough to easily wrest control of the opposing spell with their own [Blood Maniption], rendering it useless. Liz <em>did</em> have an advantage over her reflection in that she knew a few more tricks about controlling an opposing blood mages spells. It wasnt <em>that</em> different from stealing control over fire skills, which shed had plenty of practice with as Torch.


    It was a good thing they all came into the boss fight prepared with a handful of Matts offensive talismans. With them, she was able to gain an advantage by cutting deep into her mirror selfs side.


    But Liz was hardly one to go down from a single wound, and neither was her reflection.


    She was almost impressed with herself, if she was being honest.


    Elizabeth Moore was a hard woman to kill.


    Without spells, that left the mirror images deadlocked in a melee fight.


    Liz had the advantage there, having drank several of her strongest safe potions before the fight, as well as benefiting from Matts boosting talismans. But she, and therefore her copy, was far too used to fighting stronger opponents for those boosts to be a decisive factor. To make matters worse, the longer they went on, the stronger her copy got as it mixed and consumed blood potions. And it was able to utilize even <em>stronger</em> potions than she could.


    A sizable amount of her internal arsenal was actively harmful to Liz, where the energy of the potion was too intense for the body to handle, or could result in long-term health problems if left untreated. Normally, she was able to use them in moderation, but with her body constantly at the edge of the healing cooldown at the moment, she couldnt treat herself properly afterwards.


    Meanwhile, her copy had less of an active healing cooldown than she did, and was apparently less concerned about its long-term health, allowing it to push itself further than she was willing. It wasnt suicidal, but the reflection fought as if Luna was there with a medical team ready to undo anything it did to itself in the name of victory.


    Knowing she needed to change the paradigm of their fight, Liz thrust forward once more with a [Fire Weapon] and [Water Bullet] pair.


    The water spell hit her copy in the shoulder, but its armor blocked most of the attack while she used her now ming weapon to push back the copy.


    It worked for a moment, but her mirror countered with [Fire Maniption] and tried to push the weapon away from itself using the fire on the de as leverage.


    Instead of fighting that force, Liz let the copy push the tip of the spear away and used that momentum to spin her weapon around and bring the butt into the copys left arm.


    She felt the crack where her weapon hit the armor, but didnt think it was enough to break the arm. If the positions were reversed, it probably <em>would</em> have broken her arm, but her healing cooldown had been mostly <em>over</em> when she entered the floor, and it was only the fights here that had aggravated the regrown limb to its current state.


    The copy formed its spear into a halberd with blood iron, then started building [Blood Charge] on it. Liz responded with a quick [Blood Spear], but the copy sidestepped it and dashed towards Liz with power that burned through its mana and potions.


    She tried to retreat and let her copy expend resources while she defended, but it started pouring even more power into catching up to her, leading into a horizontal sweep with the halberd. It was an enormous expenditure for one blow, and Liz knew she couldnt take it head on.


    Quickly summoning [Blood Polearm Block], six floating blood copies of her spear appeared next to her. She formed her own spearhead into a partisan, with all of the blood copies getting in formation to block the approaching de.


    The halberds head virtually exploded with blood as [Blood Charge] went off, destroying three of the six copies of her weapon and damaging the head of her material spear.


    Hitting her with the halberd wasnt the goal, however, as her copy dropped the weapon almost immediately. It took advantage of Lizs spear being out of position by drawing a dagger and charging her directly, seeking to stab her in the neck.


    Liz blocked with both of her hands they tumbled to the ground, where she and her copy struggled in a power enhanced stalemate for a moment, until she wrapped her leg around her mirrors and twisted with all her might.


    That sent them rolling just far enough for Liz to get on top and send the dagger flying.


    As she was about to extricate herself, her copy interlocked their arms and tried to twist Liz back to the ground.


    Painced up her left arm in an arc of fire as her far-over-cooldown arm protested the treatment, giving her copy the opening it needed to put her in a headlock and pin her to the ground.


    Liz iled with her good right hand, trying to punch the copy even as it was behind her. She summoned blood, but was countered because of how close they were. She cast [Blood Ragdoll] to no avail, and in the time where her blood was out of control, her copy took advantage of the weakness to transition from the headlock to pinning her to the ground. The copy had apparently noticed the weakness in her left arm, and had grabbed it with both hands, shoving her to the ground underfoot as it attempted to tear her arm off at the shoulder.


    Her arm screamed in pain, but Liz resisted the urge to make any more than a pained grunt as she struggled to escape. Her every action only worsened the pain, and slowly and steadily, her copy began ripping her arm off. She needed to think,e up with something, but the pain was <em>debilitating</em>. She mentally reached towards her core to Tier up, damn the power loss.


    Then, her mind settled on another option, and she went for it.


    Her arm gave way halfway up the forearm, tearing a ragged stump up to the point where it had been regrown not a month earlier, and Lizs resolve to not scream in pain was broken. Though, she retained enough presence of mind to carry out her n.


    In the instant before her arm tore, she wretched herself away, tearing it early, and in her right hand, she summoned a dagger of her own.


    Lunging forward at her mirror as it was still reeling backwards, she drove the de through a gap in her armor, and into her copys neck.


    It wasnt an instant kill, of course, but it did free Liz to roll out of the way, ignoring the knives of pain that apanied her arm-stump brushing against <em>anything</em>, and recall her spear to hand.


    Her copy was busy knitting itself back together, actively holding blood in. The lone evidence of it having been nearly decapitated was a small blood stter. Liz brought her spear forward, leveraging her single arm in conjunction with [Blood Maniption] on the blood in its haft to press her mirror self while it struggled not to bleed out.


    Its skin began to turn red with the telltale signs of [Blood Rage], but Liz ignored it. That single spell wouldnt save it from [Hungering Weapon] draining its strength and blood at a rapid rate. She could feel the stolen strength course through her, and leveraged that to drive her weapon deeper into the clones body, tearing apart its internal organs in the process.


    Liz felt the dying embers of her Concept re up, but she crushed them <em>utterly</em> as she burned through her mana, wrenching control of all of her reflections blood in a single instant. If not for her <em>very recent</em> experience with her personal brand of resurrection, coupled with a day of meditation preparing for this very fight, she wouldnt have been able to stop it. But her brushes with death had pointed out all the ways in which she was still oh so very mortal.


    The mes guttered out, and Genesis Energy rushed into her, signifying the end of the fight.


    She took to her feet and used the newly-unfettered [Blood Maniption] to staunch the bleeding of her ragged stump, casting [Bandage] to try and reattach the limb.


    The spell didnt take, instead simply capping off her left arm. She wasnt surprised, her arm had been so far over cooldown that it barely even counted as <em>hers,</em> so far as her buff spells went. That it had been ripped off only would have exacerbated the issue.


    With a flick of her powers, she stored the limb inside her spatial ring.


    She would hopefully be able to get it reattached when they left. If not, shed just get it regrown.


    But it would present a serious problem for the rest of her time in Minka.


    Aster was waiting for her as the mists faded, and ran up to her while asking if she was alright. Liz wasnt, but she had already triaged herself, so she just nodded.


    She was down an arm, but shed live. It hurt, but shed <em>probably</em> had worse? At the very least, her missing hand wasnt hurting, as [Bandage] kept her stump from aching <em>too</em> much.


    For now, all they could do was wait for Matt and Susanne to finish. Liz suspected that Susanne would be done first, as Matt had too much of his style predicated around long, drawn-out contests of endurance for anything else.


    ***


    Susanne [Dash]ed forward and cut through the [Earth Wall] that appeared in front of her and cast [Sword Gale] the instant she was through. This fight hadsted far longer than she intended, but she had learned something about herself.


    She was pretty good at running away when she needed to, and didnt have enough direct chasing or binding methods to prevent it. At least, not against herself.


    Flurries of sharp ribbons of air whipped around her, only to be blocked by the copys [Shadow Armor], but Susanne hadnt cast [Sword Gale] for the direct damage.


    Instead, she reached out with her new [Earth Maniption] and sent the particles of dirt that her attack on the wall had created at her mirror self in a stream.


    For an instant, her copy flinched back as the surprise attack hit her in the eyes, and that was when Susanne moved.


    Cutting the distance between her and her copy, she appeared next to it, but instead of directly attacking, she cut the air once more and used her boon to vanish for a moment.


    Stepping more directly in front of her copy, she avoided the two shes it cut out with, and then miniaturized her greatsword to something closer to a longsword. With the extra bit of speed it afforded her, she thrust forward and through her copy''s chest, twisting and <em>pushing</em> at her Concept to make the attack even more lethal. Everyst drop of mana she had went towards empowering the strike, and it cut through her reflection with a ragged, messy tear.


    It wasnt without its cost, though.


    While her Concept clone blocked one attack from the reflections clone, that left her open to a second blow from the mirror''s main de.


    Even with [Phantom Armor] to block most of the blows power, it was still fueled with [Hypersonic Edge], and cut into her current armor and deep into her left side.


    Despite that final blow, her copy died, and out of its body dropped a material version of her greatsword.


    That almost seemed insulting in some weird way. Minka must be taunting her with a weapon shed never use.


    Picking it up, she ced it into her storage ring and hobbled over to where Liz and Aster waited. She dropped to the ground next to them, and stared at the bank of mist that was undoubtedly where Matt remained locked in his fight.


    Any idea how long this is going to take? she asked.


    Liz and Aster shared a nce. Two defense-focused tanks with no mana constraints?


    Susanne sighed and started wrapping her wound.


    They should have had Matt leave the house out before they fought. She might have been able to get a nap in.


    ***


    The explosion sent Matts copy flying, but it caught itself in midair by utilizing a wobbly Concept, and dove back towards Matt while unleashing a barrage of fireballs. Matt raised a [Bulwark] inches in front of his copy, tanking the [Fireball]s against his armor as the reflection narrowly avoided mming into the immovable barrier by teleporting to the other side of it.


    Matt greeted it with a column of lightning almost as thick as his arm, but the copy raised its own [Bulwark] and blocked the talismans effect.


    The buffs Matt had applied to himself at the start had worn off a long, <em>long</em> time ago, and he was even almost out of talismans entirely. Amusingly, he now had more talismans in his two Aurora Lance arrays than he did across all his other talismans and arraysbined.


    He judged his copy wasnt much better off, and was perhaps even down part of an Aurora Lance, using some of the feeder talismans as makeshift, lesser attacks. Matts left arm hung limply, suffering from both a sprain <em>and</em> a dislocation he hadnt had the chance to fix, and missing half the fingers on its hand besides. His own copy seemed hellbent on finishing what Susannes reflection earlier in the floor had started. It had also disarmed him of his two growth rings, but he could retrieve themter.


    If not for [Endurance], he and his mirror copy would have copsed from simple exhaustion minutes hours days ago? He had no idea how long this had been going on, but hed long since exhausted every trick he had prepared for his clone, and it had simply turned into a slugging match.


    Nearly all of them had <em>worked</em>, but it just <em>wouldnt stay down</em>. Theyd both ended up getting a <em>lot</em> of practice with usurping elemental maniptions, and there wasnt even a square inch of t ground to stand on, thanks to all their attacks tearing it up.


    If Matt was being poetic, it was a reflection of the two of them. Once pristine ground now broken. Hills and valleys carved out of it where they had used the floor itself as a weapon, but still there. Still functional.


    Or, at least Matt was.


    His Folded Reflection mirror was finally checkmated.


    With ast ditch burst of strength, Matt swept past the reflection with [Air Maniption] wrapped around him, then threw his Concept at his clone beneath him, shoving it to the ground and pinning him.


    Matt followed closely behind, mming feet-first into his prone reflection, then activating his gloves to lock himself in space. His clone struggled underfoot while throwing spells at him, but Matt was unyielding. It teleported out from the trap, pushing through Matts spatial lock, but Matt called his void sword to hand and swung where he knew the copy would appear.


    The clone materialized in the path of his attack, de at his neck and enhanced with everything Matt had left in him.


    The reflection finally broke as his copy was decapitated, and the fog around him faded.


    Matt groaned in relief, staggered over to the lump of flesh that had formerly served him as three of the fingers on his left hand, and dug out his rings from the bloody mess.


    Matt cursed as he saw the result of his copys attack. The in silver band that served as a teleportation focus was cut nearly in half, and he could only find one half of it. His mana aspecting ring, meanwhile, had several of its crystals broken, and the metal itself was bent out of shape.


    It was <em>fixable</em>, as the connection his spirit shared with them attested to, and because he still had the physical objects, or at least parts of them. If they ran into a growth item-based reward on floor 7, he could still empower them if he so chose. However, it effectively removed both teleportation and the ability to make new talismans from his suite of options for the rest of Minka.


    Aster broke him out of his musings as she sauntered over to him with a questioning thought, and he gave her a few head pats in return for her concern with his good arm.


    Seeing that his copy didnt drop anything, he staggered over to his friends and made sure that most of them were ok. He was relieved by his findings until he noticed that Liz was missing her left arm once again.


    Ahh you ok?


    Almost before he finished asking, she nodded. Fine. Well not <em>fine</em> fine, but I needed to sacrifice it to give my copy a big enough wound that it couldnt just [Blood Ragdoll] any attacks I made. Besides, the arm was only half functioning anyway, so its not <em>that</em> bad. Weve got a spare prosthetic anyway, I should be able to manage until we leave.


    With that said, they dispelled the reward distortion. Everyone wanted to leave the floor as quickly as possible.


    Out tumbled half a dozen skills, along with a longsword simr to his own, a horse plume helmet, and six upgrade orbs.


    Catching the items, everyone agreed it would be best to sort it after their test.


    If worse came to worst, one of them might need the increased power if they were unable to wake up from the dreams that the floor challenge would give them.


    They stepped through the distortion, and with a mental nod, Matts mind was whisked away.


    ***


    Matt opened his eyes to a living room. It wasnt any particr living room, but rather a mishmash of his own, Lunas guest living room, and even Travis and Keiths. The coffee table was undeniably his, though. Six cups rested on it, each in their own unique vessel and their own unique teas.


    A fairly in earthenware mug had a honey sweetened ck tea in it, amon breakfast tea in most parts of the Empire which Matt was pretty sure he had a few ounces of left in his house.


    The porcin tea cup with gold filigree had a strongly spiced ck tea in it, though there didnt seem to be any milk avable for it to be served traditionally. A simrly decorative bowl sat next to that one, with blue ents the same shade as his mana rather than gold, and it held a strongly caffeinated dark green tea that Matt had never particrly enjoyed, though Liz liked it enough that they usually kept some around.


    Next was a white tea served in a ceramic mug that seemed to have a sharpened lip. He was fairly confident that the particr variety had gone extinct a few hundred years ago when the rift that produced it had been destroyed, though he didnt recall what had caused that.


    The final two cups were a normal ss cup with a cold brewed pale green tea that normally had some additional vorings added, and a strange iridescent bubbling jasmine tea served in an ornate cup and saucer.


    As he scanned each cup and tried to unsessfully puzzle out what each of their lives might be he gave up.


    With a shrug, he brought the first earthenware mug to his lips, and sipped.

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205


    Matt was sick.


    He didnt know exactly what was wrong, but when his rm went off for school, he barely heard it.


    Sometime after that, his mother came into his room to see why he wasnt awake yet, but he couldnt make out her words.


    He felt her shake him gently, but that just made him hurt even more, and he groaned.


    As if trying to torture him, she turned on the lights, sending agonizing pain into his eyes.


    He tried to burrow into the nkets to get away from the light, but his mother started screaming for his father, who was getting ready for work.


    Matt could feel each of the booted footfalls in his bones, and knew that his father would be in trouble for walking in the house with his boots on.


    Thankfully, his mother seemed to catch on that the light was hurting him, and the main light went off, so he was finally able to rest.


    He was just about to fall back asleep when his father pulled him out of bed and pulled him into his arms, before they went running down the stairs while his father told him he needed to stay awake.


    Before he knew it, they were outside, and he was enjoying the cool morning air when the shing lights hit his eyes and seemed to set off every other pain in his body.


    Trying to wiggle deeper into his father''s embrace to get away from the lights, he groaned as he was pulled away andid out on something.


    Above him, people were talking, but he was too tired and hurt too much to really understand it. Before he knew it, someone was shining a light in his eyes despite him trying to pull away.


    I know it''s ufortable, buddy, but I need you to hold still for me. The voice was an authoritative man''s voice that seemed to cut right through the pain Matt was feeling, and he forced himself to stay still, even as another light was shined into his eyes.


    Once more, it felt like someone was driving nails into his eyes, and his vision seemed to split into a thousand facets, like the view from a fractured mirror.


    Thankfully, it onlysted a few seconds, and then the light went out, and they were quickly in what Matt suspected was an ambnce.


    Almost immediately, the overhead light was turned off, which helped alleviate most of his headache, but the lighting in from the open doors didn''t help.


    As he heard his parents'' worried voices, a sharp pain in his arm was quickly followed up by a cool sensation that almost instantly knocked him out.


    When he woke up, it was to the quiet whispering of rapid firements that he recognized as his parents arguing.


    While they didnt argue often, Matt knew better than to interrupt them. It would only mean that the argument was postponed untilter, and then he would have to deal with the two of them pretending everything was normal.


    It was better to just let them argue it out most of the time, but if they knew he was nearby, they would instantly stop.


    re, I didn''t pick up anything or go anywhere strange. I told you a dozen times. Don''t try and me this on me.


    His mother''s voice was tight and sounded hoarse, like she had been crying, which almost made Matt open his eyes. Well, I havent been anywhere except for home and the bank, so I couldnt have picked anything up. I work in a cubicle, not a graveyard.


    re, I haven''t been anywhere but the construction site and home. I didnt even go to the barst Friday cause your parents were in town. Dont me me. I would never hurt our son.


    Before their argument could circle back around, a quiet knock on the door stopped them, and a secondter, the door opened. Matt heard a new voice say, Matts vital signs are indicating that hell wake up in a few minutes. Do you mind if I sit here with you two while we wait?


    Matt almost smiled as he heard the tone of the doctor''s voice. It was masculine, but held a tinge of humor when he said that Matt would be waking up soon.


    It seemed his secret was out of the bag, at least for the doctor.


    If his parents knew he had been listening to them argue, hed get scolded for listening to adult things, but he was curious.


    His mom was the first to speak. Wonderful. Has there been any other news?


    The still unnamed doctor said, Not yet. But Id rather only go over this once when Matthew wakes up, if that''s alright with you.


    His father immediately responded, That''s fine. Thank you.


    After counting to one hundred, Matt groaned and started to wake up.


    Almost instantly, his parents were on him, and he felt exploring hands grasp his own. His mother kissed his forehead twice before the doctor coughed quietly and they backed up, giving the mystery man room to inspect Matt.


    As his parents retreated, Matt got a good look at the doctor, who was a middle aged man that winked at him from the side his parents couldn''t see.


    Matt was barely able to repress his own smirk at their shared secret, but managed it with a herculean effort.


    My name is Healer Cox. C, O, X. Not quite as funny when it''s spelled that way, is it?


    Matt didnt understand, but his dad snorted, which seemed to be the reaction the Healer wanted.


    OK basic questions first. Just to see if youre all there. What is your name?


    Matt


    How old are you?


    Seven and a half


    What year is it?


    1747


    Who is your elementary school teacher?


    Miss Aberdeen.


    Count back from 100 by 7s.


    100, 93, 86, 79, 73,...


    72, but thats close enough. What is 7 times 9?


    63.


    Smart for your age, arent you? Im going to show you a list of letters. I want you to point out each letter A.


    This went on for a good while, until finally


    List all the animals that start with the letter B.


    Bee, Bear, Buffalo, Bison, Blue Whale, Beaver, Ba..


    OK, thats enough. Not sure if I should count Blue Whale. Im going to show a picture of an animal and you tell me what it is.


    Thats a fox. A white one!


    Yep, cute little bugger. Well Mr. Matt, congrattions, you''re neurologically intact.


    After that, the healer inspected his throat by pressing down on Matts tongue, but he didnt seem to see anything noteworthy.


    Once he was free, Matt asked, Whats the difference between a Doctor and Healer?


    Healer Cox smiled. Now, <em>that</em> is a good question. The main difference is that a doctor generally works with mundane medicine. Healers can do all of that, but we also have a little magic to help us as well.


    As the Healer said that, he raised a finger, and it started to glow slightly with light blue luminances.


    Matt couldnt help but gasp. Wow! A real spell!


    Healer Cox smiled and winked at him. Work hard, and you could do the same thing one day. Then he pressed his glowing finger to Matts abdomen and stared off into space for a while.


    When the man blinked back to the real world, he smiled at Matt. Well you look nice and healthy now. The treatment was aplete sess. Ill cast [Healing Touch] so you can recover more easily from being bed bound thesest few days.


    Matt shivered as what felt like goosebumps traveled from the healers touch all the way to his head and toes. It wasnt pleasant, but Matt felt the need to rub the raised hairs back down on his forearms.


    Before they could say anything else, there was another knock on the door.


    Unlike Healer Cox, who had knocked softly, this knock was assertive and crisp.


    Healer Cox rolled his eyes at the knock and said, Well, you might as welle in. If you knock that hard, people might think yourepensating for something.


    The woman who walked through the door looked like she was cut out from every military movie Matt had ever seen. She had a ramrod straight back with square shoulders, and the woman had a no-nonsense air about her that immediately shifted the atmosphere in the room.


    She nodded to the Healer and his parents before looking at Matt with piercing silver eyes.


    Matt swallowed like he had done something wrong, but knew he hadn''t.


    Mr. Alexander, I need to interview you about your recent history. I am Imperial Investigator Reba Ignite, Tier 16, and under the jurisdiction of Count Away. Do you have any questions?


    Matt blinked. A lot. Whats going on?


    Healer Cox didnt seem amused, and in a much harsher tone than he used with Matt, said, Some of us understand bedside manner, and try to give our patients time to limate and adjust before badgering them.


    Investigator Ignite didnt look amused; she just stared at Healer Cox while they seemed to have a silent conversation.


    Eventually, Healer Cox turned to Matt and said, What happened, Matt, is that you were infected with a disease we only see from undead rifts. Which is concerning on its own, but that same disease has infected six other people. As far as we can tell, you were one of the first to be infected, so we need to get as much information as possible about who you talked to before you got sick. The others are still asleep so you are our only source of information.


    Investigator Ignite stepped in as Healer Cox took a breath. Could you walk me through <em>everything</em> that happened the day before you fell ill?


    Matt nodded slowly, but couldn''t think of anything odd. He had never been near a rift, though. Everyone knew they couldn''t spawn in the five mile strip between the coast andnd, and their city was built entirely inside that safe area.


    Seeing the Investigator not taking her eyes off him, he shook his head. Nothing really strange happened that day.


    Investigator Ignite seemed unhappy with that and said, Matt, this is important. While we already found and destroyed the rift that had undead in it, we don''t know how the disease got inside the city limits. What do you remember about that day? Start from the beginning. Every detail you can remember, I need you to tell me. We know you should have been infected the day before, so I just need you to think really hard about that day. But don''t make anything up. If you don''t know, just say so.


    Matt looked to his parents, who nodded, and he started reviewing his day.


    I woke up and got ready for the morning like usual


    Investigator Ignite shook her head, interrupting him. Matt, I need every little detail. Please, it''s important.


    Trying to add every little detail he could remember, he restarted. When he mentioned his clothes, Investigator Ignite, who had been nodding along, asked. Were the clothes clean?


    At his mother''s outraged huff of air, the Investigator just shrugged a shoulder. If they were old, it might change our time table.


    His mother nearly growled. They were clean, thank you very much. I had just doneundry the day before, and I know his clothes very well.


    Investigator Ignite nodded for him to continue, so Matt did so.


    After she once more reminded him to give more detail he added, he repeated and spelled out the entire list of words he had his mother had gone over this morning trying to annoy her but it didnt seem to work.


    Rough, grudge, stunt, thumb, once, another, does, trouble, cousin, began.


    After describing how he went to school and the path they took, Matt shrugged. There were a lot of people going in. I only knew Christie Miller and Rodric Sales, though. After I went to my ssroom, Miss Aberdeen taught us math before giving us our spelling test.


    Matt went on to list everything else they went through that day, along with who he sat by during each period.


    It was when he said he went to the bathroom that Investigator Ignite asked for more information.


    Did you see anyone in the hall when you walked there? Smell anything worse than usual? Did the water taste funny?


    Matt was going to shake his head, but paused as he remembered seeing a teacher talking to someone at one of the doors.


    Miss Harrowfall was talking to someone at the end of the hallway. They kissed before she shut the door, but the wind was blowing, and it didnt smell good. Like old trash.


    Investigator Ignites eyes narrowed, and she asked, Which door, and can you describe the man in question?


    Matt nodded. The green door at the end of the E hallway. The one that goes out to the back entrance next to the yground, but where we aren''t supposed to go, since its where they bring in the food.


    And what did he look like?


    Matt thought about it and tried to rey the moment, but nothing really came to him besides the smell until he remembered the jacket that the man was wearing.


    The man was wearing a thick jacket with sleeves that were torn up. I remember thinking Mom would never let Dad leave the house with such a torn jacket. It was orange and brown, I think. He also had a bushy beard and had an earring in his left ear. Matt smiled as more information came to him.


    He was about to continue when Investigator Ignite''s eyes narrowed to slits as she nodded once slowly.


    Do you think you can identify the man if you see him again?


    Matt chewed his lip, but nodded after a few seconds.


    The image seemed pretty clear in his memory, now that he had thought about it.


    Once he said that, Investigator Ignite turned to his parents and got their permission, seemed to pull a pad out of nowhere, and asked. Can you read this outloud to me, please?


    I hereby swear what I will say is the truth, to the best of my knowledge. If I Matt looked up at his parents seeing the next word, as he didnt recognize it.


    His mother read it out loud for him. Deliberately, honey. It means on purpose.


    If I deliberately lie, I can be charged with


    He looked up once more, but this time Investigator Ignite answered. Perjury. It means lying after swearing to tell the truth.


    If I deliberately lie, I can be charged with perjury.


    Investigator Ignite nodded once he finished. If you don''t know, just say so, and you won''t be in any trouble, so don''t worry. But if you recognize the man you saw, please just say so.


    Handing him the pad, Matt saw a man with brown hair and a beard, but the man''s skin was more ruddy than the man he saw before, and the earring was the wrong shape.


    Matt swiped through half a dozen people, not seeing anyone who matched the man in his memory, but Investigator Ignite didnt seem worried, and just gave him another twelve people to look at.


    This time, Matt stopped at person number four.


    They weren''t a perfect match, with the beard shorter and better groomed, but the earring was the same, and the look in the man''s eyes was enough to make Matt certain he had the right man.


    It''s this guy. I''m sure.


    Investigator Ignite caught his eyes and asked, How sure are you Matt? This is important. Don''t lie to make any of us happy.


    That made Matt question himself for a moment, but looking again, he was even more sure. It''s him.


    Investigator Ignite looked to Healer Cox, who nodded, but Matt wasnt sure why he was important. She wasnt asking him questions, after all.


    After that, Investigator Ignite and he went through the rest of his day, but she was less picky about the small details that she had agonized over earlier.


    Once he ended his recount of the day with his going to bed, she thanked him before leaving so quickly, he was pretty sure she had teleported, like from the movies.


    Healer Cox patted Matts shoulder and said, Well done, Matt. You did good work today. Im sure you helped out a lot.


    Matt looked up between his parents and Healer Coxs and asked, Does the Investigator think it was that man who got me sick?


    Healer Cox looked to his parents, but eventually answered, That would be my guess. Orange and brown are the Junipers colors, and the jacket sounds like their Deep County workers uniform, so he would have been outside the safe zone. As for anything beyond that, we''ll have to wait for her investigation to be finished. If he dide in contact with an undead rift, and both didnt report it and infected half a dozen people, he''ll be in trouble, though.


    After Healer Cox checked a few more things, a nurse brought in food, which Matt hungrily scarfed down. Or tried to.


    As the pasta hit his tongue and his brain registered the taste, he spit it back up immediately.


    His parents were worried that something was wrong, but Healer Cox sighed and said. This is unfortunate, but not unexpected. It''s a side effect from one of the medicines we use to prevent the spreading of the disease. About ten percent of the recipients have an incredibly heightened sense of taste and smell for a while after. Nothing to worry about, though. It will fade in another three days or so. Well get some more nd food sent in.


    The Healer sent the nurse off with a flick of his finger and winked at Matt, who was trying to wipe the lingering taste off his tongue. Sorry, kid, but if we warn you, youre almost guaranteed to get the bad reaction.


    Matt shot him a re but didnt say anything.


    That hadnt been nice at all.


    After Healer Cox left, Matt could hear his tone change, and he started yelling for others to start doing things, but the door shut before he could listen in. He was yelling at a door or somebody named door which Matt just found odd.


    Now that they were alone, Matts parents rushed in close, each taking a side of the bed, and they started fussing over him.


    No matter how many times Matt insisted he was fine, they kept adjusting his nkets or, in his mother''s case,bing his hair.


    Oh honey, we were so worried about you. His mother said as she pulled him into a hug.


    His father looked at him with a shaky grin as he added, I knew you would pull through, champ.


    That caused his mother to snort, but she didnt say anything out loud despite having a smirk flirting around her lips.


    Seeing that moment, things seemed to crystallize for Matt. In that moment, while things seemed so perfect, everything felt so wrong, and it was almost like he was a stranger inhabiting his body. Thankfully, the feeling passed as soon as the nurse came with the promised porridge.


    With an effort of will bolstered by his parents'' urging, he managed to choke down the nd food, but even that was a struggle, as the oats seemed overwhelming to his amplified senses.


    Still, he managed it and quickly fell asleep with a full belly.


    When he woke up, his parents were asleep on the couch and cuddling together, his father''s arms wrapped around his mother.


    Once more, that odd feeling of wrongness overwhelmed Matt, but it passed quickly as he shook it off.


    He was stuck in the hospital for another two days as they observed him, but they finally let him go home on the third day of his being awake.


    Things returned to normal for the three of them for the next two weeks, once his parents finally stopped worrying about him so much, and he was able to return to his normal routine of after school activities.


    The sense of normalcysted until two weeks after the incident of the undead rift.


    A massive news broadcast went out as Investigator Ignite made an announcement.


    She had found in her investigation of the undead rift that the local Baron family, the Junipers, had their personnel creating rifts recklessly close to the inhabited cities. This had led to two cities being outright attacked before the undead sickness had alerted Imperial authorities.


    The Junipers had both covered up the earlier incidents and done nothing to rectify the problem, which led to their house head being arrested publicly, while their family was stripped of their noble title.


    It shocked the entire city, but Matts family in particr, as they had met the woman personally.


    Not long after that, they were brought in with a collectivewsuit against the noble house and the Empire itself.


    Matt found it weird that the Empire had represented them and everyone else with a Tier 25wyer to sue themselves, but when his parents tried to exin it to him, it just went over his head.


    It took nearly five months, but eventually, the verdict was ruled that they and everyone else affected was eligible for both financialpensation and a public apology. Thetter of which was given to them personally by Duke Fulton, who had been the Junipers many times removed liege.


    Matt hated the entire thing, as his parents had forced him into a suit, and he had been forced to stand around all day during the ceremony, but they insisted he needed to be there with them.


    After that, things seemed to return to normal. Matt went back to school and was about to enter the fourth grade when his parents sat him down, and his father asked. Matt, how would you feel about a little brother or sister?


    Matt shrugged and looked at the door. He had hoped to join the other kids from his old ss in a game of tag, but his parents were asking him weird questions instead.


    There was that odd feeling of something not being right, but since this was the third time he had experienced it, it was easy to push away. He quickly said. Its fine, I guess. Can I go y with everyone else now?


    His mother put her hand over his fathers and said, Sure, buddy. Just be careful and remember to be back before four. That means you need to leave at three forty five. Set your watch to it. You might not realize this now, but things will change.


    Doing so, and showing his parents he had done so, he ran out and went about his day.


    ***


    Seven monthster, just as his parents warned him, things did indeed change.


    He was sitting in the waiting room with his grandparents, who hade in from the neighboring in the waiting room, while trying to get rid of the feeling that he didnt know them.


    It was odd because he <em>did</em> know them. He had only met them three times, but that was more than enough for him to remember them. He couldn''t shake the feeling they werent supposed to be there though and should have died years before this.


    That feeling was dispelled when his father came out and said. All done and no issues. We have a baby girl!


    He seemed tired but excited, and Matt thought about what he said.


    He now had a baby sister.


    It seemed so odd, and that odd distorted feeling came back stronger than ever. It seemed like the world would copse if he pushed that feeling.


    That feeling remained until his father led the three of them to the room where his mother had been moved to, and in his mother''s arms, he saw her.


    All he could see on therge head was the wispy white hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to shock his soul as his mother presented the baby to everyone.


    Everyone, we''d like to introduce you to Aster Alexander. The newest member of our family.


    Once more, Matt felt the world seem to go out of sync, and this all seemed wrong, but he shoved that feeling away.


    This was <em>perfect</em>.


    And how could something so perfect be wrong? It couldnt, <em>obviously</em>.


    From his earlier indifference, Matt was suddenly infatuated with his little sister, and they were inseparable.


    Deep inside himself, he knew he was her protector and shield. Nothing could hurt her because he would be there for her.


    At the same time, he also started to help out around the house more.


    With a newborn, things became hectic as they both finished their move to arger apartment and settled in with Aster as their new addition.


    Matt was pretty sure his parents didnt sleep for more than a few hours a night, given how much Aster howled. It was like she was a fox rather than a human with how her wails could pierce everyone''s eardrums. Being both high pitched and loud wasnt a fairbination for anyone around her.


    That phase onlysted a few weeks, thankfully, but as Matts father went back to work the following month, things got a little harder.


    Matt asked why they didnt just use the money they had gotten from thewsuit to live off of as the stipend seemed like a lot, but his mother instantly shut that down, saying it was his money.


    He tried to say they should use it as he didnt need money, but his mother snapped at him that it wasnt for him to decide.


    He slunk away after being yelled at, to which she apologized for saying she was tired and didnt mean to yell at him.


    Wanting to help, he asked. Why don''t you take a nap. I can watch Aster while you do. And she''s napping, so it''s not like it''s hard.


    Are you sure, sweety?


    Yeah mom. I have my homework to do, and she can sit on the table. If anything happens, Ill wake you up, I promise.


    It seemed like a weight was lifted off her as she thanked him and then promptly fell asleep. Shutting the door, Matt went back out to the kitchen and did his homework until his father came home a few hourster.


    His father looked surprised when Matt shushed him as he entered, but as his father looked around, Matt whispered, Mom needed a nap, so I''m watching Aster. I even did my homework. See!


    Kissing Matt on the top of his head, he said, Thanks, buddy. Your mom is working hard taking care of Aster.


    He leaned in and kissed Aster on the head as well as he picked her out of the carrier and sniffed her diaper.


    At least you didnt make a stinky. What a good girl.


    Aster giggled at their father, and then as if right on cue, sheughed and let out a loud fart.


    Mattughed at their father''s surprised face, then ran away as the smell hit him.


    I swear there is an undead rift inside you sweetie. That is rank.


    When she was cleaned up and the smell gone, he returned to the living room, where his father was on the floor ying with Aster and a kids show yed quietly on the screen behind them.


    His father patted the ground next to Matt and asked, What do you want to do for dinner, buddy? I figured we can do something fun to surprise your mother.


    Matt perked up. After he had recovered from the awful medicine hed been given for his illness, hed found himself appreciating cooking and the food he ate far more than before.


    Something he had never given a second thought to had be a hobby of his.


    We should make stuffed peppers. That''s one of mom''s favorites. She always says it takes too much work to make, and there are tomatoes we can make for me and you. We can do it for her!


    Matts fatherughed and said. Thats a good idea. Can you get started, or do you need help?


    Matt jumped up and raced to the kitchen, not wanting to let his father do everything.


    It took him a little bit, but he had the rice cooking and all the ingredients out when his father walked in with Aster in her standing toy thing.


    You ready for my help now, buddy?


    Matt nodded, and his father helped him cut the onion and other ingredients while browning the ground beef, while Aster watched from the table where she had been ced in the stand up bouncer.


    They were finishing up putting the stuffed peppers in the oven when his mother came out and asked, What happened here? Surely Im dreaming if we''re eating stuffed peppers and <em>I </em>didnt make them.


    Matt stuck out his tongue at his mother and said, Dad and I made stuffed tomatoes for ourselves.


    His mother ruffled his hair as she kissed his father and wrinkled her nose. Someone didnt shower when they got home. And while I appreciate you not waking me up, everyone now needs to get out of the kitchen, and <em>some</em> of you need to shower.


    With a pointed look at his father, his mother started to clean up the few dishes they hadnt yet gotten to.


    When Matt tried to help, he was shooed away. You cooked, so Ill clean up. Dont look at me like that, Matthew.


    Matt pouted his way to the living room with his mother and Astersughter following him out.


    From that day forward, he started to help with the cooking more and more as he grew older, and his parents slowly let him use more of the kitchen appliances and utensils without supervision.


    It all came to a head, though, when he was thirteen, and his mother asked. What''s our ETA on dinner, Matt?


    Matt shook his head. I need to recut the onions. They were too uneven for the


    He was interrupted as his mother cut in after looking at his cutting board. Matt, I know all the chefs on the show stress that, but we are simple people who need simple food. The onions are good enough. We just want to eat some time before dark.


    Matt froze as her words seemed to strike a chord with him.


    Seeing his expression, his mother apologized, Im sorry, Matt, that was harsh, but if you want to take over cooking, we need to eat at a normal time. If you need some help, Im


    Matt shook his head. No, that''s not it. You are right. Home cooking is home cooking.


    What he didnt say was he now had the beginnings of a n stewing in his mind.


    As they were finishing his dinner, he said, Id like to get a part time job as a cook. There is a part time gig being offered at this ce called Bennys that I could work at a little bit. It would look really good for when I try to get into a culinary school.


    What he didnt say was that the ce was on the outskirts of the city near the forest, where rifts might start appearing. That would end the argument right then and there because of the danger.


    His mother shook her head vehemently. Absolutely not. Youre only thirteen, Matt. And you don''t need money.


    Aster also interjected. No bwig browther. We y on the weekends!


    Matt rubbed the still white hair of his little sister and said, Even if I get a job, that won''t change. And if I get a job as a chef, I can bring you all kinds of good food.


    Hearing that, Aster immediately changed her tune. Bwig browther should get a job!


    His mother mock red at him and his sister, which sent them into a giggling fit before turning to his father, looking for backup that she didnt get.


    Tell him he''s too young, ke.


    His father shook his head. I think it''s a good idea, actually. Not the job part, but the experience part. He clearly has the passion and drive to be a great chef. Why dont we let him try it out?


    That seemed to surprise his mother, and her face turned from a mock re to a real one as she said, Kids, go y in the living room.


    Aster giggled as she slipped out of her chair. Daddys in trouble!


    As she pattered out of the room, Matt tried to stay. I thin


    Matthew! Out. Now.


    Hearing the tone of warning in his mother''s voice, he went out and threw himself into the couch, where Aster then jumped on his legs, trying to get him to y.


    Instead, he tried to listen in to his parents conversation, but one of them had turned on the water as they cleaned the dishes. That,bined with the nking of the tes and utensils, made it impossible to hear what they were saying, but it turned out he didnt need to.


    After everything was clean, his parents called him into the kitchen, and he could see the defeated look on his mother''s face.


    Your Father and I have decided to allow you to take an apprenticeship with a reputable restaurant that isnt a shit hole at the edge of town.


    Those words seemed to be dragged out of his mother, and the re she shot him told him she had looked up Bennys.


    His father seemed much more at ease as he said, You will awaken in a year, so it''s not too early for a part time job, and we know someone. Do you remember your Mothers coworker, J? Her father lives here and has a small restaurant. I think he once owned a restaurant on a higher Tier. We talked to them, and hes willing to give you a shot as a part time helper on the weekends.


    Hearing that, Matt jumped up and hugged his parents before racing around the kitchen.


    That weekend couldn''te fast enough, and he eagerly awaited the next Saturday, where his parents woke him up and took the bus with him to the far side of town.


    The restaurant was clearly new and called Antonios. Matt felt excitement as a short man opened the door and shook his parents hands before looking Matt up and down.


    They said you are thirteen? What kind of thirteen year old is that damn tall?


    Matt froze as he had no idea how to respond, but the manughed and stuck out his hand. Antonio, like the giant sign outside says. And you must be Matthew.


    Returning the hand shake, Matt was surprised at how firm the man''s hand was. It was like his hand was made out of steel rather than flesh and blood. Matt also understood that if the man squeezed, his hand wouldnt have survived, so he was d he hadnt tried to out squeeze the other man like some of his ssmates liked to do.


    Antonio led them back to the kitchen, where he threw Matt an apron and gave his parents and Aster a tour before politely yet firmly kicking them out.


    Once they were alone, the man pulled a sack of potatoes out of a storage room and dropped them next to Matt.


    First, we start with cutting. Tonight, I''m serving roasted potatoes as a side to a tenderloin. That means we have more than a few potatoes to cook, and we need to prep them. Prep happens every morning before we cook. Do you understand?


    Matt nodded, to which Antonio sighed. Kid, do you want to be a home cook who whips things together for themselves and a few guests, or do you want to be a proper cook?


    Matt shook his head. I want to be a chef. A real one. Own my own restaurant someday.


    Antonio nodded. Then you need to understand. Most of this you would learn in culinary school or, like here, working for a professional. Im old andid back nowadays, but in a proper kitchen in a big city on a high Tier, youd get tossed out on your ear for not responding Yes, Chef. It might sound weird and military, but a good kitchen <em>is</em> like a military unit. Ive seen and worked in restaurants where the hands were forced to stand at parade rest when not actively working. I''m not that strict, but I do expect a level of discipline in anyone working for me, and especially from someone who wants to make it. Do you understand?


    Matt wasnt sure he actually understood everything, but nodded and said, Yes, chef.


    That earned him a wink, and Antonio started showing him how to cut the potatoes into cubes the right size, and what to do with the leftovers that would be turned into mashed potatoes for tomorrow''s dinner.


    When Matt had a basic understanding of how to properly cube a potato, Antonio left Matt to practice while he started doing his own prep work. Matt had to stop and stare when he saw the man work. His hands were like something out of a movie as they blurred with his speed.


    Even as his hands worked without pause, Antonio looked up and grinned. With that expression, I assume youve never seen a Tier 10 work? If you think this is impressive, let me tell you. It ain''t nothing. I worked for a Tier 30 chef on Old Rubarthan, and they would have all the prep done in about fifteen seconds. My paltry strength is nothing inparison. And don''t worry. A lot of this speed is from repetition. You do this long enough, and one day youll look back and wonder how you could ever be so slow.


    He paused his blurring de and said, Heres some advice I once got that meant a lot to me. Going fast isn''t about speed. It''s about consistency. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. So if you want to be fast, you need to slow down.


    Matt mulled that over for a moment and nodded. It made sense, and he concentrated on his pile of potatoes, making each cut as perfect as possible, not worrying about trying to keep up.


    As he deliberately slowed down, Matt found each cut a little easier, and before long, he fell into a rhythm.


    For the rest of the morning and afternoon, he was shown how to prepare each ingredient for that night''s dinner with Antonio. Around two, the rest of the small staff filtered in, and Matt met them all and was paired with the potager chef Martinez, who made the soups for Antonios.


    Thankfully, the man was only Tier 3, and Matt could follow and actually help him with his job that evening.


    It was nearly ten when they finished up thest order; Matt was wiped out like never before, but he felt good.


    Even as he almost fell asleep on the bus home, he couldn''t wait to do it again.


    ***


    Matt waited outside the school and looked for a dot of white hair in the crowd of children.


    The kids had been steaming out for a few minutes now, and his sister was still not out causing him to get annoyed.


    He wasnt worried, as he knew Aster''s ssroom was on the far side of the school, and it would take her a while to walk through the twisting halls of the building. No, he was <em>annoyed,</em> as he knew his sister all to well and she was probably chatting with some of her friends instead of walking.


    <em>Minutes</em>ter, he was proven right as a bob of white hair walked out of the school surrounded by five other kids.


    Asters little pack of friends finally separated to their respective bus or guardian, and he saw the moment Aster noticed he was there picking her up instead of one of their parents.


    Normally, it was their mother, as her job at the bank gave her a bit more flexibility, but his father always picked her up once a week. Though, his day was always random depending on what they were doing that week in the construction of the new skyscraper.


    She rushed over and mmed into his leg before grabbing onto his hand that was reaching to ruffle her hair.


    Holding his hand, she jumped up and down. Oh! Why are you picking me up today? Can we go get ice cream?


    He saw the moment the thought came to her as she blurted out. Aren''t you supposed to be at work? Did you get fired for flirting with Leah again?


    Seeing the little monster was more concerned with getting ice cream rather than seeing him, he pushed past her futile defense and ruffled her hair.


    No, short stack. Mom and dad had to leave the city quickly, as Aunt Katya went intobor early. And unless you want to get on a six hour train and then spend the next two or more days helping them get settled in, I figured you might want to stay back.


    Aunt Katya was one of their mother''s friends from the bank, and she had moved to the neighboring city for a promotion a few years ago. Despite that, she remained close with their mother.


    She had gotten married and pregnant in short order, but herbor wasnt supposed to happen for another week at the earliest, and her husband was on the neighboring, bringing his parents over.


    Bad timing on the teleportation tforms meant there was no way he was getting back to be there for Katya, so his parents had called out of work earlier that afternoon and headed over to assist her as much as anyone that wasnt a medical professional could.


    Aster looked up at him as she started swinging their hands before observing. I think <em>you</em> didnt want to go, and used me as an excuse.


    Matt shamelessly nodded. Yup! But at the same time, I know <em>you </em>didnt want to go either. So really, were helping each other out here.


    Aster nodded back at that before saying with an evil grin, Sure, but you owe me ice cream.


    Matt rolled his eyes. Were going to Marks Market, but we are <em>not</em> buying ice cream.


    Aster immediately went limp and started dragging her feet in protest.


    Matt, now Tier 2, rolled his eyes and picked her off the ground where she dangled.


    Aster giggled before pulling herself up and biting his hand.


    It hurt.


    Despite that, he pretended it didnt and teased, I dont feel a thing with my higher Tier.


    That caused her to bite down harder and he had to hide a wince.


    It worked.


    In fact it worked too well, as Aster changed from biting his hand to licking it and he jerked to get her off him.


    Landing on the ground with a giggle, the little terrorughed as Matt looked at the small half circle of teeth marks on his hand.


    Wiping the saliva and indentations off, he groused, I swear you got reced at the hospital with a dog.


    Aster giggled even harder even as she dodged a patch of water on the sidewalk.


    I''m not a dog, I''d be a wolf!


    She growled for effect while Matt ignored her.


    As I was <em>trying </em>to say before you so rudely bit me, we aren''t <em>buying </em>ice cream. Were going to <em>make</em> it.


    Aster, who had started to pout once more, perked up and grabbed his hand, trying to race ahead.


    Sadly for her, she was a little girl, and Matt was a six foot tall Tier 2.


    Come on! Hurry up, you slime! I dont want to wait any longer.


    Matt pulled the little monster back to his side so they didnt run over an older man and said, First, were going to make dinner, which you need to eat all of if you want dessert.


    Aster wilted a little but peered up at him with puppy eyes. What are we having?


    Matt grinned. I thought it be fun to make stuffed shells together.


    Aster seemed to mull that offer over before nodding. Ok but I want to pick out the ice cream vors.


    Seeing Aster being all cute and trying to get her way, he jabbed her. Hey, maybe seeing Aunt Katya having a kid will inspire mom and dad to get pregnant again.


    Aster shouted as if the idea was personally offensive. No way! They cant do that. If they do, Ill be the middle child! And Ive seen enough movies to know how that goes. Ill be neglected and forgotten about!


    Seeing he had gotten back at her a little, Matt eased off the teasing and reassured her that they would always love her, even if they did eventually get a younger sibling.


    What followed was a disaster of epic proportions, as the two of them trashed their tiny kitchen, making dinner and ice cream with two dozen different vors ranging from various fruits to candy bars crushed in.


    His little sister had somehow managed to get some of the fruit ice cream in her hair, which had dyed the usually white hair a motley assortment of the rainbow.


    Burping, she rubbed her extended tummy and said, Ok, maybe I can have enough ice cream in one night. I cant tell if I need to fart or vomit.


    Knowing that meant it was time for them to finish up, he extended a hand to his sister who wasying on the tile floor.


    Ok, time to get up and in the shower.


    Aster pouted. I can''t move.


    Youll feel better with a nice warm shower.


    The cold tiles feel better than a warm shower.


    Matt rolled his eyes. Ok short stack, you cany on the floor all you want, but Im going to mop the floor whether youre on it or not.


    That got her up and he escorted her to the bathroom in case of any idents, and once he heard her turn on the shower, he started to put dishes into the dishwasher.


    Normally, he would have cleaned as he went, but he had been more concerned with letting Aster have a fun time, which meant he had at least three loads of dishes to do.


    He wasnt even done getting the first sinkfull ready for the next cycle when he heard the shower turn off.


    As a now clean Aster came out, he washed his hands and joined her on the couch for a little time to watch something together.


    It was well past her bedtime, but the two of them rarely got to spend time together alone like this, so he was willing to push it a bit.


    And it was a Friday, so she didnt even have school tomorrow and could sleep in.


    Even then she was nodding off before the firstmercial break so Matt prodded her into brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed.


    After brushing their teeth together, Matt sent the tuckered out Aster to bed as he cleaned the apartment from top to bottom as best he could without running the vacuum.


    His parents werent exactly on a vacation, and thest thing he would want toe home to was a messy house.


    Just as he was dozing off on the couch with a cooking show rerun ying quietly, his pad pinged and he rubbed his eyes to clear them to find his mothers profile calling him.


    Yawning, he answered but sent the volume to next to nothing.


    Hey mom, how is it going with Aunt Katya?


    His mother looked tired but smiled. Shes still inbor, but we wanted to check in on the two of you. How is your sister?


    Despite being tired, Matt didnt fall for the trap. Aster is already asleep. If you really want I can wake her up


    No, no that''s fine. His mother said, but he knew she was happy he had her settled in before ten.


    Cracking open her door, Matt turned the camera on the pad to show Aster sprawled across her bed, clutching one of the stuffed animals that was nearly her size.


    Quietly closing the door, Matt saw his father was now on the screen and said hello.


    Hey kiddo, thanks for looking after your sister. We really do appreciate it. We know you had that date nned for tonight.


    Matt dropped back into the couch and waved his father off. I enjoy spending time with Aster. We made stuffed shells and then made some ice cream. It was fun.


    Matt could hear both his parents sigh and knew their pain. The kid would live off ice cream if no one made her eat normal food.


    Don''t worry, I made her eat two stuffed shells and three scoops of mixed veggies before we even touched the ice cream. Really we spent more time making a mess of the kitchen than eating.


    Without being asked, he raised the pad so they could see the now clean kitchen and finished up. Were fine here. What about you two and Aunt Katya? I assume everything is ok? Isnt ten hours ofbor, like, long?


    Matt''s mother snorted and shook her head. It''s not that long for a first time mother, but she''s mostly fine, just tired and wanting it to be over. We just wanted to check in and say thank you.


    Rolling his eyes, Matt said, It''s not like she''s in diapers. Well be fine. Antonio gave me the weekend off, and if you guys aren''t back by Monday, he said hell make sure Im out of there in time to pick up Aster from school. Im thinking well go to the new water park tomorrow or something fun. You guys worry about everything up there and we''ll send pictures of our ns.


    Matts father yawned over his mothers shoulder, and that set Matt off, which then set his mother off. Once all three of them finished yawning, Matt waved them off.


    You two have fun and update me when everything is over. Take your time on our ount.


    Saying their goodbyes, Matt flopped into his bed after showering himself and heard something crack underneath him.


    Rolling away, he heard a crinkle and sighed.


    Aster must have been drawing on his bed, again, and once he pulled back the covers, he saw the snapped colored pencils and crumpled sheets of paper.


    Too tired to get mad, he scooped it all up and dropped it to the floor to deal with in the morning.


    Really, Aster needed to learn to leave his bedroom alone. He didnt care that it had better light for drawing after school, and that he had been spending more nights at Leahs apartment, that didnt mean it wasnt his room still.


    He also knew that breaking her colored pencils, intentional or not, would go over like a punch to the nose tomorrow.


    Rolling over, he decided that was a problem for tomorrow Matt.


    And screw that guy.


    ***


    Matt ducked as Chef Abdul threw a pot across the kitchen.


    Carlos, if you ruin the scallions one more time tonight I swear by the Emperor''s balls I will cut your fingers off. Test me!


    Matt looked to Eleanor Eskar, his good friend and sort of rival, and they both shared the same expression.


    Chef Abdul wasnt a bad man or boss. In fact, he was normally easy going and rxed, but word hade in that there were Phoenix Hearth inspectors on the, and he was killing himself with stress.


    And to be fair, it was a massive event for Chef Abdul.


    It was the first time he was the owner and head chef of a restaurant that both rated a Red Feather, and had the possibility of actually getting one. If he did seed in getting his first Red Feather, he would be one of the youngest chefs to earn the honor, and it would catapult him into instant stardom.


    That turned the normally easy going chef into a monster. Some people just didnt handle stress well, and Chef Abdul was one of them.


    Matt kept that thought to himself and kept his spoon moving as he stirred the sauce in front of him, pouring in his Talent in a slow but steady stream.


    Right as the sauce started to turn golden, he pulled it off the fire and slid it down to Sous Chef Annabelle.


    She scooped the pan up and carefully drizzled the sauce over the te in front of her, before ting the fish in a careful pyramid.


    She then slid that down to Chef Abdul, who inspected it and then put it on the tray and said to the waiter standing by, Third course for table seventeen.


    At the same time, another waiter, Alex, came into the kitchen and said, Order for twodies at table fifteen. They would like the fish and duckbo, no pepper in the ze, extra pepper in the fry. Two orders of duck withrd instead of butter, one for each.


    The fact that Alex had read the order out said two things. One, the guests were suspicious, and might be Phoenix Hearth inspectors, and two, they had done at least one test the inspector group was known for, such as putting a utensil on the floor or tipping over a mostly empty ss of wine to test the front end service.


    Everyone froze for a moment, but not for long, as Chef Abdul read the ticket back out to them and they all repeated their stations orders.


    Personally, Matt was cursing inside, as one of those modifications was on his ze.


    The ze wasnt anything crazy, but with his Talent, he could bring the most out of the vors, and freshly ground ck pepper was one of those core ingredients.


    Eleanor, his friend, was also panicking. As she was the chef rotisseur, she now needed to cook their duck inrd instead of butter, which wouldpletely change the cooking temperature and time needed for the bird. That on its own would be hard, but when added with the fact that the guests were suspected to be Phoenix Hearth inspectors, it drove everyone''s nerves to eleven.


    Everyone but Sous Chef Annabelle, who was cool as she had beenst month, before the rumors of Phoenix Hearth inspectors drove everyone else mad. She had good reason at least, as she had worked for a two time Red Feather recipient, and had worked through the inspection the second time.


    Matt breathed out twice as he listened to Chef Abduls proposed modifications for the ze to work without the ck pepper, and got to work.


    He was finishing up and had a lull in his orders when Eleanor started to get overwhelmed, and he stepped in to take over her less important dishes.


    Not that any order would leave without being perfect, but most of her attention was and needed to be on the two custom orders. And Matt, while not a chef rotisseur, had enough experience in the position to fill in during a pinch.


    He was just returning to his own station when his AI pinged half a dozen times from his sister.


    Brushing the messages aside for the time being, he buckled down and focused on his work.


    Phoenix Hearth inspectors didnt just look at their own dishes. After all, their habits were known and well recorded, which meant they judged a restaurant by all the dishes that came out of the door through some stealthy uses of [Remote Taste]. More than one Phoenix Hearth inspectors had been served a perfect meal, only to deny the Red Feather because the other dishes that night came out sub par.


    A Red Feather was a status symbol known across the Empire, and wasnt given out lighty. Helen of Helens Hearth had rescinded more than one Red Feather if the standards of the head chef or restaurant slipped from excellence.


    Finally Chef Abdul said the magic words. Thest ticket is closed. The kitchen is done for the night. He took a breath before slowly letting it out as everyone else slumped or otherwise rxed. Thanks for all the hard work everyone. Whether we get the Red Feather or not, I''m proud of each and every one of the dishes that left our hands tonight.


    Matt slumped to the floor and was joined by Eleanor. Im so fucking beat tonight. Carry me home Matt.


    Matt didnt open his eyes and stretched out his legs. You''re two Tiers higher than me. Im going to have you carry <em>me</em> home tonight.


    Eleanor chuckled and pped his arm. Thanks for the cover earlier. I was going under there for a minute.


    All good. All good.


    As he finally rxed, Matt remembered the messages from his sister that hade through.


    Jerking to his feet, he mmed his head onto the table and dropped to the ground, clutching his head.


    That also had everyone''s attention firmly on him, and Marco, the entremetier, asked, Whats the bigmotion? I don''t have the energy to be that excited.


    Matt tried to wave him off, but he had already gathered everyone''s attention, and Sous Chef Annabelle said, Well now you have to share.


    Shrugging, as it was good news, Matt said. My sister just signed an art deal with a Tier 40 children''s channel on King Rustys capital. Shes getting to write two seasons of a new show, due to some of the art that she has done. They are even basing it off one of her characters.


    That took everyone aback, and even Chef Abdul pulled out an expensive bottle of Tier 15 wine and opened it up for the crew in celebration.


    Ecstatic for his sister, Matt sent her a picture of the entire team congratting her and paid the extra fee to have it sent express.


    She had worked so hard, and it finally paid off.


    Now it was just time for his own pay off.


    ***


    Matts knife was a blur as he cut nearly a hundred onions into perfect cubes when the door opened. He expected sous chef Amanda or chef Jacque, but instead, a woman in a business suit walked in.


    Stopping his de mid-stroke, Matt said, Ma''am I don''t think you should be back here. The kitchen isnt open for another three hours. The hotel staff will be more than happy to get you something from the buffet kitchen if you can''t wait, but you cant be back here.


    The woman smiled slightly and stuck out her hand. I don''t think Jacque will mind if Ie in. I own the ce, after all.


    Matt straightened up and apologized, and he checked her appearance with his AI. Sorry Maam I didnt realize you were Ms. Telkia.


    Whipping his hands off on a nearby rag, he shook the proffered hand and noted that the woman was definitely a Tier 38. Even as a Tier 12, his hand felt like soft puddy whenpared to her own.


    No worries. It''s good that you can stand up to any nosey guest who thinks <em>they</em> own the ce. I just got out of my delve and saw that Jacque hired a new employee.


    She must have seen something in his face as she waved a hand. Im not questioning his hiring of you, but I like to meet all my staff. Normally we would have met during the interview process, but I was probably elbow deep in a monster at the time.


    Ms. Telkia led Matt out to the dining room and to a table that was off to the side, but well lit by the window, where she pulled out a ck leather binder of all things.


    Your resume is impressive, Mr. Alexander, I must say. Top of your ss at a respectable Tier 15 culinary school, and you came in second ce at a Young Chef contest not long after that.


    She flipped one of the pages and showed a picture of himself and his friend Eleanor, who had taken the first ce prize of that same tournament.


    You and Miss Eskar seem to have a rivalry. You bothpeted in the same tournament and seem to have a nearly equal chance of beating the other.


    As she paused and looked at him, Matt exined, Eleanor and I are good friends and push each other. We like to keep each other on our toes, but its all in good fun. Were even roommates whenever were on the same.


    Ms. Telkia nodded. Yes, so my reports say. Having a friendly rival is a good thing, and it exins some of your achievements. Only one hundred and seventy years old with an impressive record behind you, and glowing rmendations from all your previous employers. Working for Chef Abdul when he earned his Feather says a lot about you as well. Can I ask why you chose to work for Jacque? We are a high Tier restaurant with a prodigious reputation, but after yourst win, I see Bus was courting you for a poissonier with a fast track to sous chef.


    Matt smiled his most charming smile to cover his awkwardness. My Concept. I felt Chef Jacque resonated best with my Concept. My Phrase Good Food Takes Time allows me to enhance the effects of ingredients. An example would be anything that increases Strength will be more effective at doing so. Chef Jacques entire reputation is built around making he made air quotes ''simple recipes and elevating them to something exquisite. And I felt that my Concept and Talent are well suited to that mindset. Hes also been a massive help with my professional progress, and has me floating around positions to get a feel for his style and all the positions of the kitchen, so I can step into sous chef sooner rather thanter.


    Ms. Telkia nodded and changed the subject to something he expected earlier. I hear you have a Talent for making things taste better. Can you demonstrate that for me please?


    Matt nodded and asked, I can go get something whipped up in just a few minutes, if you like.


    Ms. Telkia shook her head. I hear you can do it with anything. Can you demonstrate with this?


    With a wave of her hand, a store bought bar of chocte appeared on the table.


    Scooping the bar up, Matt snapped off two squares of chocte and handed one to Ms. Telkia without doing anything. If you could try this? At risk of overexining, my Talent allows me to imbue mana into food to enhance its properties, most notably taste.


    Sending 20 mana into the square of chocte, he handed it to Ms. Telkia, who sniffed it with her eyes closed before gently biting off the corner.


    As she worked her jaw, he continued, It has <em>seriously</em> diminishing returns past a certain point ten thousand mana is only about twice as effective as one thousand mana. Also the mana I put in fades over time and faster if put into a more processed product. So, that means the more involved I am in the process, or earlier in the process, the better the overall result for less mana. That''s why I do all the prep for the kitchen. I can do lots of more interesting things, like making essence from monster meat easier to digest.


    Ms. Telkia ran her tongue over her teeth as he finished, before taking another bite of the square he hadnt used his Talent on.


    She didnt frown, but she did pull out a bottle of water and took arge swig before nibbling on the other square once more.


    Seeing she enjoyed the effect of his Talent, he enhanced the rest of the bar and slid it to her with a grin.


    Everything is properly licensed, and I have the certifications verifying my Talent is an <em>alchemy</em> talent, not a mental one. Its an actual, physical change that works simrly to an innate [Enhance Reagent] or [Enhance Reaction] skill, but more efficient at a lower mana cost, though more specialized. It only works on <em>food</em>, for example. Im not an alchemist, just a cook, maam.


    Ms. Telkia opened her eyes after finishing off the single square, waving away the rest of the bar.


    That is a useful Talent, Mr. Alexander. She turned to the side, and Matt followed her gaze to see Chef Jacque walking out of the kitchen.


    Ahh it is good to see you, Ms. Telkia. It has been too long with yourst delve. How have you been.


    For the first time, Ms. Telkia dropped some of her business persona and seemed genuinely happy to see Chef Jacque.


    I''m good. Better than good, now that Ive met our newest employee. I saw business was up seven percent, but even his little demonstration with a bar of chocte has me sold.


    Chef Jacqueughed and patted Matt on the shoulder before sliding into the chair next to him, forming a triangle with Matt and Ms. Telkia.


    Ms. Telkia looked to Chef Jacque and said, I hadnt intended to eat in tonight, but after that demonstration, I simply must. Can you fit me in?


    Chef Jacqueughed. I already told Alison to prepare for your party when I heard you were out. We have the private room set aside for you, and we can easily work a dozen extra tickets in.


    Wonderful news Jacque, wonderful news. As Ms. Telkia said that, she looked to Matt, When is the next Young Chef tournament being held?


    Chef Jacque waved his hand. Matt has outgrown them. Im instead thinking we send him to represent us in the Tier 15petition that the Duke holds every decade.


    Matt was startled, as that was the first he had heard of it, but Ms. Telkia nodded as if it made perfect sense.


    That''s a good idea. It gives us more prep time, and we can abuse his Talent more.


    She looked to Matt as she exined, The Tier 15petition is different. While you cook there, you can bring your own ingredients. If I''m right, Jacque ns to use your Talent on growing every ingredient you would use to maximize its use. She paused. It will be expensive, but worth it if you can do well.


    As if out of nowhere, she changed the topic and asked, Are your parents still alive?


    It took Matt a moment to register the sudden shift in conversation, but he nodded. Yes, they are Tier 14. Mom has her Concept, but hasnt advanced, as shes waiting for Dad. I have a little sister, Aster, who is a sessful artist-mage and got them carried to Tier 14. Wanting to show off his sister a little he added. She writes for a Tier 40 children''s channel on King Rustys capital.


    Ms. Telkia nodded as if what he said was within her expectations.


    If you win thepetition or even do well, there is a Shard of Reality in the Duke''s personal vault. You said your father doesn''t have a Concept yet, and this can solve that problem. Are you interested?


    Matt''s mouth went dry, but he swallowed and nodded. Very. But it seems expensive. I can''t afford the cost to do what you said about growing the crops and such.


    Ms. Telkia waved her hand. You wear my logo on your uniform when youpete, and thats all thepensation I need. At my level of business, that kind of publicity is worth its weight in Tier 50 mana stones.


    After hashing out a few more details, they shook on it, and Matt walked back into the kitchen to finish prepping the food the kitchen would use that night.


    Right as he was about to enter the swinging door, Ms. Telkia called out, Also, I heard a rumor that Helen of Helen''s Hearth will be there, if you need another reason to try for first.


    Hearing that, Matt froze as the world tilted on its side.


    He had he had <em>met</em> Helen. He should be calling her <em>Aunt</em> Helen. But that didnt make sense, she was a legend. Hed never met her before. But


    He hadnt experienced that since he was a child, but this time, he wasnt a child, and knew this was something to explore. His Concept was still nascent, but hed been taught the exercises. His Willpower flooded out from him, powerful and Endless.


    The world around him didnt seem to notice, but Matt the chef was no more. Or perhaps, Matt the chef was <em>far</em> more, far more than hed ever dreamed of, and had given way to Matt the Ascender.


    His body didnt seem to notice, though, and carried on talking and preparing food, unaware of the Folded Reflection-reality it was inhabiting.


    Matt pushed himself into the controlling seat of the body, and using the AI, sent a message to his parents about how much he loved them and wished they would be at thepetition he would take part in.


    Then, before he could dwell on them being alive anymore than he was, he let himself drift back into the Folded Reflection life. Now that he had broken free, there was no risk of him losing his Concept, but he wanted to live his life as far as Minka would allow him.


    Five yearster, he went to thepetition and won using his Talent and skills, and as Ms. Telkia had theorized, received the attention of the Duke. After a long ceremony, he was handed the Shard of Reality, which Matt was able to utilize to give his father a Concept.


    Seeing his parents in person while he was in control felt It felt like everything.


    Matt had to go to the bathroom twice and cry his eyes out. Once when he was able to hug the two of them, and another time when he parents just gazed into each other''s eyes and said how now that they were both Tier 15, they had eternity together.


    It was just too perfect of a moment, and he wasnt able to control himself.


    Aster even caused him to cry a few times.


    While she was and always would be part of his family in the real world, it felt extra special to have her been born as his literal sister.


    He would be able to see her in the real world, so this life ending wasnt such a devastating moment for him as losing his parents was, it just felt all too real to have her in this life as his sister.


    It had been perfect. And would continue to be so until he hit Tier 15.


    Now that he was in control, he could dy the life a little by prolonging the time until he hit Tier 15, but Matt didnt choose to do so. Nor did he choose to rush to Tier 15 and end the life either.


    Instead, he took a back seat during the remaining two hundred years while Chef Matt lived his life.


    The only times he took over and interfered directly was when he talked to his parents.


    Those moments were just too precious for him to pass up, and he ensured that Chef Matt met up with them at least once a year, just so he could bask in their presence just a moment longer.


    Eventually, it came to an end, as all good things did.


    Chef Matt was going to make Tiering up to Tier 15 a small affair of little note, but Matt took control and hosted a party with his friends and family so he could have onest moment with them before Folded Reflection life ended.


    After saying goodbye onest time, he Tiered up to Tier 15 and felt the world starting to fade away.


    Just as he felt the life ending, he pulled his parents and sister into onest hug as they faded away, wanting to savor the feel of them for even a moment longer.


    ***


    Matt sat in the living room and looked at the empty tea cup in his hands, and started to cry uncontrobly.


    His parents had been alive, and it had been fantastic.


    Aster had even been his actual sister.


    He just sat there and processed the life and its repercussions while it started to fade.


    He could remember everything just as well as when he had been in the life, but now that he was out, it was like a dream he could remember. Clear, but obviously not real.


    But he wished it was.


    How he <em>wished</em> it was.


    It had been a good life. Everything he could have ever asked for.


    Idyllic.


    Cleaning himself up, Matt sat and processed everything he had been through.


    He couldnt say hed trade lives, but seeing his parents alive and well had been fantastic. If they were alive now, he knew they would be just as proud of him and his aplishments as they had been in the Folded Reflection life.


    It wasnt perfect, but it was <em>enough</em>.


    Seeing them happy together, even in a Minka alternative life, healed something deep inside him.


    With a smile, he contemted which tea to drink next.

 Chapter 206

    Chapter 206


    Aster found herself sitting in a room simr to their living room, but there was one subtle difference.


    Someone had forgotten to turn off the air conditioner, and everything was covered with ayer of frost.


    Frankly, she needed to try that herself, but what really caught her attention were the six perfect scoops of ice cream sitting on the table.


    One vani, one strawberry, one grape vored, one mint with chocte, one that smelled like spring, and finally, a scoop that seemed to change vor every time she looked at it.


    After sniffing each of them once more, she decided to start with the strawberry ice cream. She was pretty sure she knew what this one tranted to as her reflection of life, and she wanted to get it out of the way sooner rather thanter.


    ***


    A young fox hatched from her egg and shook herself on wobbly legs. A niceforting warmth came out of her and seemed to heat up the air around her nicely.


    Through her bond, she felt someone panicking a little and looked up to see her human.


    Green eyes and blond hair met her own, and she felt an instant connection between herself and the other person.


    It was her human!


    In her excitement, her tail wagged, and she felt the area around her heat up even more, which felt really good, so she pushed that metaphorical muscle a little harder, yipping at the mes that came out of her fur.


    Her human patted her with something red on his hand, which she curled into before falling over onto the ground, which she only now noticed was soft and springy.


    Rolling over, she yed a little on the crinkly-but-soft thing for a while, trying to understand it before her tummy rumbled, and she realized something was wrong.


    She was hungry.


    On instinct, she crawled over to her shell and quickly ate the red pieces of her former home, but it wasnt enough, and she looked to her human for help.


    Somehow, she knew he had an answer, and she whined to him.


    Thankfully, she was right, and he had something that smelled <em>really</em> good in a bowl just for her.


    With her hunger driving her, she dove in and started munching away at the small balls of crunchiness.


    As she crunched away, she hummed in contentment.


    It tasted so good! And every time the bowl got empty, her human somehow made more of the food appear.


    Her human was the best!


    Before she knew it, though, her stomach was full, and her mes were sputtering as she got sleepy.


    Thankfully, her human picked her up and set her on his chest, where she curled and was able to hear the sound of his heartbeat thumping a luby to her as she fell asleep.


    The next morning, everything was a whirlwind as her human brought her to explore her new surroundings between her naps.


    It was great!


    She got to burn down all sorts of stuff. Leaves, grass, a twig, his shirt, part of his pants, part of his bed that didnt have the crunchy no-burn stuff on it, and best of all, a bug that tried to eat her. Its wings furiously trying to cut her up, but she put a stop to that with her mes!


    She was a fearsome predator, and everyone knew it. That was why they always came and gave her scratches.


    Clearly, because she was the bestest of foxes ever.


    Things seemed to blur together for a while, as each day passed without much changes. But then, one day, everything changed as they went into a rift with giant bugs.


    That was simply the best thing that had ever happened to her, as Aster was able to burn them to her heart''s content, and her human once more showed his perfectness with his ability to recharge her mana.


    With her new special backpack, she got to ride around and burn all of her enemies for her human.


    It was the best!


    The next few months were more of the same, and Aster enjoyed herself, but soon, everything changed when they were in the food ce.


    There was something warm and spicy served that day, and after watching her human eat a few mouthfuls, she waited for him to turn to his other food and lunged.


    She got her entire muzzle into it and startedpping away, even as Matt tried to pull her from her prey, but she was in her happy ce. She savored the soft mushy bits along with the tingling spice. Once he pulled her away, she pushed that feeling of perfection to her bond, trying to convince him to let her have some more.


    Instead, he held her back while tapping away at his glowly pad for a while, but eventually, he proved why he was the best human ever, and let her eat the rest of the chilly. An odd name for something so hot and spicy, but that didnt take away from the foods delight.


    That started her lifelong love of the food, and it was a good thing, too, as the next ce they went to fight monsters was full of evil ice wolves. They had far too much ice about them for anyone trying to live a healthy life.


    So, she burned their entire forest down!


    While it might be a little harder to get a fire started, the trees burn like any other once they got going.


    Sadly, shortly after that, they left their home. It was a fun home, but they had to move on to another ce that was far too cold for her liking, and someone got blood all over her fur, which was just rude.


    Thankfully, she then washed Aster off, which made everything better.


    That was how she met her new best friend, Liz!


    Things got even better, if that was possible, when they met a bird woman who gave her the best chili in the world, along with some blood.


    The bird womans blood mixed with the dragon''s blood that they had found, and the fire running through it fed into the fire <em>already</em> in her blood, which was very nice of thedy.


    Better yet, they went to meet Lizs brother, who happened to be staying where an ascension would be taking ce, which was where Aster was able to refine her own Concept.


    Fire was hot, and if she got it hot enough, she could burn everything.


    As her Concept settled into ce, Aster felt something go weird with the world, so she poked at that feeling.


    Like a hole was opened in her head, the real Aster took over and groused, Come on Minka, a life as a fire fox? How unoriginal.


    Still, she wasnt upset. Despite her reflection life being the antithesis of her real self, she enjoyed getting to watch how life had been when she wasnt smart yet. That was fun and different enough that she was able to ignore the elephant on fire in the room.


    Fire was not her element of choice, but she hoped that when Minka tranted this lifes Concept to her own, it would be something useful, like being able to directly freeze fire. That could be a really nice surprise to any fire mages she did have to fight.


    While she let herself fade into the background and let the life live on, she started noticing more and more deviation with the life, and actually started enjoying her other self''s life a little. She even learned a few subtle weaknesses of fire mages that she hadnt known before, and intended to put them to good use. Eventually, the fire version of herself reached Tier 15, and the life faded away and was like a dream she could enter and relive at any time.


    But it wasnt <em>her </em>and she wouldn''t miss being a fire fox.


    ***


    Liz looked at the table before her and the six cups of wine it held. She nearly sighed when she saw them.


    <em>How original, Minka, </em>she thought as she rolled her eyes<em>.</em>


    Nobody had <em>ever</em> associated wine with blood before- but at least they werent all red wine.


    The first cup that caught her eye smelled like a holiday blend. There were hints of cinnamon and spice, and the concoction was heated and bubbling. A fire life if she had ever seen one.


    Not a bad life, but as she checked the other cups, she frowned. The leftmost was a dark red wine in an borate chalice that she could only associate with blood and bad vampire movies. Not a pleasing choice at all, but maybe not the worst possible life either.


    The next was a white wine that smelled like liquid sugar. Not a pleasant wine by smell, but hopefully the taste and life would be more ptable.


    Next was a ros wine that smelled like grass in the spring and had a slight green tinge when the light hit it just right, but she wasn''t sure if that was the ss or the wine at first nce.


    The purple cup smelled like fresh-picked grapes, and was no more enticing to her senses despite being normal for a wine. It was so normal, it stood out amongst the variety of odd wine choices.


    The final cup was a white wine with a buttery scent, which was a mystery to her.


    Wanting to get the worst over with, she grabbed the goblet of blood red wine and drank it down without trying to taste it.


    A mistake, as it turned out, as a pleasant vor was thest thing she remembered as she started to fall asleep.


    ***


    The first thing Lizs parents taught her was to hide.


    Hiding was how to stay alive with the roving bands of higher Divinities who came through their little, ruthlessly killing anyone and sometimes everyone they encountered.


    So, they stuck to the ces without monster spawners and rarely, if ever, entered a town or vige.


    Not that those cessted long.


    Liz remembered half a dozen ces that had once been thriving cities with thousands of people, but were now little more than holes in the ground at best, and poisonous remains that corrupted thend around them at worst.


    She was nine when she asked why this was happening, and twelve when her parents actually answered her.


    They called it Armageddon. The end of times.


    The Immortal Ever Generous And Benevolent God King had been killed by the traitors, while the Ministers had revolted and the Great Wars had started.


    Her father said that the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity was eating itself alive as factions rose up and fought for power.


    The few other small groups they interacted with had a much simpler name for it.


    The Shattering.


    The shattering of their way of life. The shattering of everything they knew. The shattering of the stability they once had.


    Liz felt the name was apt, even if she was too young to remember the few years of life she had lived before the God King''s death.


    All she knew was fear, hiding, and the threat of death being ever present.


    When she was thirteen, her parents brought her to a monster spawner and took her inside.


    There, they subdued the first monster and had her drive a de into its chest.


    It was a bloody event, as she missed the heart and the deer with metal antlers struggled furiously.


    Liz thought it was her fear at first, but quickly came to realize that she had a connection with the blood seeping from the monster before her. With a thought, it rushed into her, and she felt bloated like the one time she ate an entire rabbit on her own.


    Except, this came with a rush of power, rather than sleepiness.


    It took some trial and error with her parents'' help, but they learned she had the ability to absorb blood to empower herself, sacrificing the lifeblood of her foes for strength.


    With that, she was able to kill beasts that were two full Mortal Realms higher than herself.


    When she reached the 3rd Mortal Shedding, they learned what her second Blessing was.


    Blood sacrificed to her was stronger andsted longer.


    Life seemed to settle down for a period of time, but then <em>they</em> came.


    The invaders.


    They called themselves the Liberators of the Fallen, but Liz and the other inhabitants of their homeworld knew them for what they really were.


    Monsters in human flesh.


    They took whatever they wanted, be it people for pleasure, the little food that they managed to gather, or the very clothes off their backs.


    They also monopolized the monster spawners, allowing no one who hadnt submitted to them to enter their depths.


    Lizs parents and a few others had a n. They decided enough was enough, and intended to enter a monster spawner and nevere out. They would set up a new life away from everything else.


    It was a decision that they knew would doom them, which is why they hadnt wanted to do so before. They had held out hope that things would get better, but now, they saw the truth. Nothing would get better. Only worse.


    So, as the sentiment grew and spread through the scattered remains of the survivors, they decided to gather what supplies they could and then enter the monster spawner.


    The decision of which monster spawner to enter was not something easily decided, and everyone had an opinion, but in the end, one was chosen that they felt could sustain them for at least two hundred years.


    A long time for those in the lower Mortal Realm, but nothing for those above the 8th Shedding.


    Their next challenge was gathering up what remaining domesticated livestock they had that wasn''t under the control of the invaders.


    Things seemed to be going well with their nning, and before long, they had five thousand families ready to move.


    Liz and everyone else expected disaster to strike, and they were right.


    The Liberators of the Fallen had gotten wind of their ns, and ambushed them right as they were going to enter the monster spawner.


    Liz and her family were in the rear, as some of the stronger fighters, and they fought with everything they had.


    It wouldn''t have been enough if the Liberators of the Fallen hadn''t been both arrogant and conceited in their abilities.


    Instead of attacking them with their 1st Immortals, they sent their Junior Liberators, conscripts from the few viges and cities which hadsted to this point, and were firmly under their control.


    Even as Liz battled with tendrils of blood and with her obsidian horn de, she saw the Immortalsughing and jeering at their attempts at resistance.


    Still, they fought and retreated into the monster spawner, and it must have been thest blessing of The Immortal Ever Generous And Benevolent God King because, against all odds, they made it.


    Most of them did, at least.


    There was only so much time before a monster spawner changed its world. Everyone knew that, and they had nned around that very scenario and practiced moving quickly through narrow gaps while avoiding clogging the entrance.


    But things changed when they were forced into a fighting retreat.


    Liz liked to think that they had done well. When thest three dozen of them entered the monster spawner, they were met with emptiness.


    The forest was as they expected, but their friends and family were gone. Separated by the rules of the monster spawner and its separate worlds.


    Liz and the other Low Mortals fell into depression for a time, but that didntst.


    It couldn''t.


    They were still in a monster spawner six Sheddings stronger than themselves, and only seven out of their numbers had their First Understanding.


    They wanted to leave the monster spawner, but knew that leaving so soon would only mean their death when they encountered the Liberators of the Fallen troops.


    So, they fought the monsters, because what other choice was there?


    It was there that for the first time, Liz learned just how useful blood could be, and the many ways her Blessing could be used.


    Blood was life.


    It was death.


    It was healing and decay.


    It was the bonds betweenrades in arms.


    It was the ties between brothers and sisters.


    <em>Blood was her</em>.


    Her first Understanding was born of the blood of monsters and herpanions.


    Nine months.


    It took them nine months to clear the monster spawner of anything dangerous, nine months filled with blood and danger, but they learned and grew during that span.


    Liz wasnt entirely sure how it happened, but with her First Understanding, she became their group''s hub, despite not being their strongest fighter. She wanted to reject it, but she knew they needed her.


    So, they gave her blood to empower herself, and with her Understanding, she fed that power back to them. She healed them with their blood and used their blood to take out monsters.


    But it wasn''t perfect.


    Nothing was.


    They lost people during their campaign against the monsters.


    They lost people to the demons inside them.


    Each loss was uneptable, but eventually, those who remained were hard like iron, and they were angry.


    Angry at the Liberators of the Fallen who wouldn''t just let them leave. Angry at the The Immortal Ever Generous And Benevolent God King and the ministers of the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity, who decided their own political ambitions were more important than the welfare of the little people.


    So they hatched a n.


    At first, Liz was against it, but others showed her the truth.


    She had the ability, so she needed to use that ability to take back their world.


    So, two years after they entered the monster spawner, they left.


    They had prepared for a fight with the Liberators of the Fallen, but no one challenged them.


    That allowed the seventeen of them then moved like wraiths through the night and enter a city.


    From there, it was easy.


    One by one, they joined the Liberators of the Fallen.


    At first, they didnt do anything out of line, but once they were past the initial training and had earned a measure of trust of their leaders, they enacted their n.


    Liz and her sixteen Apostles of Blood.


    They made up the core of their new faction, and were the pirs of their ts.


    Liz had refused to test it on her friends, but during their time in the monster spawner, she learned that her empowerment of blood could have more effects, even if they were subtle.


    Like the Glyphs of Power, she could use her blood to make her own glyphs, and she used them to control the converts they recruited.


    They gave her blood, and she gave them power in return.


    What they didnt know was that the social brainwashing that those recruits received was backed by Glyphs of Power.


    It took nearly a decade, but they infected the Liberators of the Fallen from the inside out, until they were finally able to decapitate the local leadership and dere themselves a regional power standing on their own.


    Liz led the battle, and as a Mortal in the 13th Shedding along with her Apostles, killed an Immortal at the 2nd Shedding through her believers'' empowerment. That, more than any other act, had cemented her rule.


    While some people found the sharing of blood distasteful, she and her Apostles spread their influence gently. At least for the civilians.


    The former members of the Liberators of the Fallen werent given such liberties. They had two options. Be a member and ept a Glyph of Power carved into their skull, or be a sacrifice to empower the Apostles and Blood Queen.


    Liz didnt care about their fate. They were monsters, one and all, and she was determined to see them useful in life or death.


    Things were never that easy, though.


    Liberators of the Fallen were an operation that spanned seven different worlds, and they hadn''t taken the loss of one of their worlds quietly.


    They sent warships filled with conscripts and tried to rain down on her world and her people.


    Liz used those same ships to rain blood down on their headquarters on the others.


    One by one, they took over each of the Liberators of the Fallen, and saved all of them from tyranny.


    There was always a cost, though. Seven of the Apostles had fallen during those battles with Immortals, but Liz knew them, and knew they gave their lives willingly.


    They had learned the most important lesson early.


    Change could only be enacted through bloodshed.


    As Liz stood on her new capital at the 14th Mortal Shedding, she overlooked her people and watched as they each cut a small line on their forearms.


    Their offering to her was absorbed and empowered her body and soul.


    A drop of water might not be able to topple a dam, but a million could destroy even the mightiest of barriers.


    Power flooded into her, and she looked out to her people. We do not seek out to recreate the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity. I do not see myself as The Immortal Ever Generous And Benevolent God King reborn. I am your Queen. The Queen of Blood. Of binding! Of life! Of brotherhood! Of shared suffering, and shared loss!


    She took a breath and kept going reiterating her doctrines of Blood while her Apostles stood behind her, with seven notably empty spots.


    When the event ended, they moved to the treasury. Not for their own wealth, but they needed to fix the economy that the Liberators of the Fallen had ruined with their ruthless exploitation.


    Most everything was normal, but one thing caught Lizs eye.


    It was an old book she almost overlooked, but something caught her attention about it, and she flipped through the pages.


    It was a book on old magic.


    It spoke about the ways to control magic that didnt necessarily need Glyphs of Power or Abilities from monsters spawners to function.


    She almost dismissed it as irrelevant, as it was no secret that old magic was weaker, slower, and more expensive than Abilities or Glyphs of Power. That was until she saw the note about how blood and souls could be used to empower the old magic effects.


    That caused her to stop her progression into Immortality, and she and the Apostles started delving into the old magic, or as they started calling it, unstructured magic.


    It wasnt the same as her using blood to boost the Glyphs of Power but instead, it was about harnessing the powers of the world with the soul.


    Blood and sacrifice just made it that much stronger.


    After they learned the tentative rules of this unstructured magic, the first thing they did was empty their dungeons of the remaining Liberators of the Fallen loyalists to create the strongest armor ever created for her Apostles.


    Ten thousand bodies drained. Ten thousand souls captured. Ten million sacrifices of blood willingly given.


    Together, they made twelve of the strongest sets of armor ever created.


    They hoped to never need to use it.


    That hope onlysted two years.


    As Liz donned her blood-red helm, she looked up to see the Everte Republic ships in space above their.


    Hearing she, the Blood Queen, was still a mortal, the other local powers had been circling like wolves, and the Everte Republic was simply the first to move.


    She would show them the folly of their choice with the spear in her hand.


    That thought caused Liz to pause. She had never wielded a spear before, and wasnt now. She was a support mage who boosted her allies capabilities, not someone who fought on the front line.


    She looked down to check, and for a second, a spear seemed to superimpose over her shield, and then her mind seemed to shatter as information flooded in.


    Liz, the <em>real</em> Liz, took a deep breath.


    This life had been scarily close to reaching Tier 15, and only hovered at the peak of Tier 14 for reasons she could only exin away by Minka ensuring she had more than a century to break out of the illusion.


    Now that she knew what it felt like, she hoped it would be easier next time, but she was still shaken.


    In only her first Reflection, and she almost lost herself.


    The Blood Queen carried on with her war in the midst of the Shattering. An interesting time period, Liz felt, and not one she would have expected. Most interesting was her alternate self. Their Talents and Concepts werent <em>that</em> different, but the ways in which they each approached their magic was interesting.


    It bore consideration, if nothing else.


    She wasnt sure if using blood to empower runes would work in the <em>real</em> world, but it wouldnt hurt her to try. And she knew just the person to help her experiment with runes.


    <em>How convenient</em>.


    For now, it was just time to see what Blood Queen Elizabeth could aplish.


    ***


    Susanne looked around at the house and paused for a moment.


    It looked more like Matt, Liz, and Aster''s reward house than her own, which was disconcerting.


    Had she set down such ties with them in thest six months? She hadnt thought so, but now that she thought about it, they were her closest friends.


    Her initial reaction was to say that they were second to only her brother, but while he would always be family, he had never understood her drive and determination to make it on The Path. The reasons <em>why</em> she fought and bled day in and day out just to rush up the Tiers with a self enforced handicap.


    Her brother was her only family, but he didnt understand.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster <em>did</em>.


    She once heard the saying that friends were the family you choose before, but today was the first time she actually realized it was both true, and could sneak up on you without really realizing it.


    While she still fully intended to once more strike out on her own when they left Minka, she was now thinking that she would at least stay in correspondence with them.


    The idea of not talking to them at all once they separated didnt sit right with her.


    Maybe shed even visit Aster when she was sent off to the beast boarding school thing at Tier 15. The fox had told her how much she was worried about being separated from Matt and Liz, and maybe a visit could help.


    <em>Was that even possible</em>?


    She honestly had no idea, but intended to ask Carol about that once she left.


    Returning to her mission at hand, she looked at the coffees.


    They smelled fantastic. Each was a different roast and blend, and she rubbed her hands in anticipation.


    The first she immediately recognized, and it made her pause. It was her parents'' favorite blend. A simple, local blend from their home, but not something widely distributed. She wasnt surprised that Minka had pulled it out of her mind, but was rather intrigued by its implication.


    She knew herself well enough to know she wasnt a puzzle solver and preferred a direct approach, but in her introspective mood, she wondered how that coffee corresponded to the life Minka would create for her.


    The other coffees were more normal, though not <em>normal</em>.


    Two were rare blends she thought she recognized but couldn''t be sure, but the third coffee was strange. Something closer to an espresso, but not quite. It was smaller than normal, little more than a thimble, but her spiritual perception said it went on endlessly.


    Odd, but what in Minka hadnt been odd so far?


    Deciding to keep things simple, she grabbed the first cup shed seen and took a drink.


    ***


    Susanne lived a happy life.


    Everything was perfect.


    Her mother was the ever-doting housewife and mother to her and her brother, while her father ran a delver training program.


    When he came home, dinner was always on the table, and the kids sat down with them to all eat as a family.


    It was the best part of her day.


    Her father regaled her and her brother with stories of the delvers he trained. As a Tier 15, he was immortal, and always seemed to have something exciting happen while he was at work, so Susanne was endlessly fascinated.


    Her brother, not so much. He would rather read one of the millions of books he always seemed to have or paint something, but Susanne was hooked on her father''s words and wanted to be the one in the stories.


    That brought them closer together, and while her father always tried to bring her brother into their shared time, he nearly always refused.


    Susanne put in endless hours of training with her father''s encouragement, but what she didnt notice was the rift it was creating with her brother and her parents.


    Even her mother, prone to her own desire for solitude, worried for her brother. He would retreat into his own quiet activities despite their every attempt to engage him.


    They tried therapy. They tried joining in on the activities he enjoyed. They tried signing him up for any of the after school activities he showed even the slightest interest in.


    Nothing worked.


    Susanne grew tired of it.


    She didnt hate him. Really, she didnt. He was still her brother, but he was <em>ruining everything</em>. Her parents argued more and more as the days went by, ming each other for how withdrawn he became, but that just caused him to retreat into himself even further.


    Until one day, he snapped at her when she called him down for dinner and demanded to just be left alone.


    Susanne was so tired of it that she instantly agreed and mmed the door as she stomped down and out of the house.


    If only she didnt leave.


    If only her father didnt chase after her.


    If only her mother was higher than Tier 5, and had stronger spiritual perception.


    If only.


    If any one of those things hadnt happened, they might have been able to notice as her brother hung himself in his room.


    <em>If only</em>.


    That destroyed their family.


    Her mother had to be checked into long term care, as she had tried to kill herself three times in as many days after her brother''s suicide and was now catatonic.


    Her father held it together for all of a week before he just vanished.


    No one knew where he went.


    There were no records of him entering a rift, no records of him leaving the through a teleporter. Not even a record of anyone exiting the through flight during the period he could have left.


    He just up and vanished one day.


    Gone.


    Like everyone else.


    That started the end of Susannes bad days. Not that things became better. No, things went from bad to downright awful.


    As she was thirteen, Susanne took the offer of early emancipation, but her Talent turned out to be less than useful.


    The ability to write prettily.


    Useless.


    But she wouldn''t be.


    Taking the offer of training from one of her father''s old friends at his academy, she lived on the training fields for two years, honing her skills living off the family''s savings.


    Thankfully, as a Tier 15, her father''s bank ounts were more than enough for her to live on, as long as she wasnt buying dozens of skills.


    At fifteen, she stepped into her first rift and ughtered her way through it. It was a brutal fight, and she lost herself to the massacre for a while, but came out a calmer woman.


    She couldn''t change the past, but she could change the future.


    Marcus, her father''s friend, gave her two things when she came out of the rift that day.


    A not so subtle eviction from the closet she had been living in at the academy, and a multitool.


    The first was justified, and a long timeing, but the second stumped her.


    She had always intended to follow in her father''s footsteps and use a broadsword as her weapon of choice.


    Marcus disagreed. Theres a tool for every asion, and it''s up to you to find it. Yourck of abat Talent frees you from the constraints of the rest of us. Take that, and never let yourself be limited.


    Those words struck her as profound, even if he probably didnt mean it that way, and she left the academy and just started walking.


    She walked for hours that night, though the city until her feet carried her to the teleportation tform.


    It turned out to be good timing, as the teleporter was cycling a set of passengers in little under an hour.


    Fortuitous.


    With only a stop to use one of the local recharging stations, she sent Marcus a message that she was leaving the and just left, not looking back. What did she have to keep her there? A mother who couldnt recognize her even on the good days, and was so heavily medicated on the bad ones? No, her mother was all but dead in spirit, even if not physically.


    She didnt see Marcus standing in the station as she left, or she would have been able to get onest look at the man who had been watching over her thest two years before he teleported across the.


    If she had seen that, Susanne could havemiserated with him about wanting to get away from a ce with so many memories.


    If she had been able to see into the hotel room, she would have been able to see the mans face slowly shifting into a familiar one.


    Her father. Alive and well.


    Just a coward, unable to face reality, but in a different way than her mother.


    Susanne never spent more than a month in a single ce. Sometimes she moved from to, and sometimes she simply moved from one hotel to another if she found a particr reason to stay, like a good trainer.


    Otherwise, she moved.


    She learned.


    Every weapon she picked up she attempted to master.


    It wasnt a fast process, but by the time she saw the end of her first century, she waspetent in nearly every weapon that existed. She was no master, but she was versatile, and good enough to practice on her own.


    If she needed to fight a golem, she knew both heavy and light blunt weapon tactics. If she fought a slime, she knew the best way to wield enchanted weapons to maximize her kills per unit of mana spent.


    Her proudest aplishment came when she entered a Tier 10 Concept-less tournament and fought her way to first ce.


    She wasnt the best fighter there, not by a wide margin. People had been training for centuries for it, but she would not be denied her prize. She knew the weaknesses of each of her opponents because she had fought like them, and she knew what they would struggle with. Her versatility brought victory, and victory brought her to a room holding a Shard of Reality.


    As Susanne sat there in front of the forearm-long sliver of reality, she thought back to her life.


    There were a million things she would change.


    But that was impossible.


    However, she could widen her arsenal.


    Some days, she didnt even know why she fought so hard, but she just refused to stop.


    Some part of her refused to stop putting one foot forward.


    She felt like she would die if she stopped, so she moved.


    She progressed.


    She grew.


    She became more.


    And it was that simple wasnt it?


    She was trying to outgrow her past.


    If her father had been better, smarter, faster, none of the bad things would have happened.


    The same went for her mother.


    If her brother had just opened up


    If she hadnt thought her irritation was more important than the obvious stress her brother was going through.


    She was the real reason things had gone bad.


    The linchpin of the entire situation.


    The world didnt revolve around her, but if she just had the right tool, she might have been able to solve the problem.


    Susanne was versatile because, if she wasnt, she couldn''t keep herself together.


    <em>I am what the world made me</em>.


    As she felt around with that Concept, she disregarded it.


    It was close but not <em>right</em>.


    <em>I am what </em>I<em> made me</em>.


    That clicked into ce, and she felt something wash over her.


    Except, even as that clicked into ce, she felt something was wrong, and probed it like a sore tooth.


    Susanne, the ascender, woke up and cursed the life Minka had just made her live.


    It was like thest bitter dregs of her coffee, but without the enjoyment of the rest of the cup.


    Her fist closed around nothing. No sword appeared, and she tensed. She didnt have her sword, and she had to fight against the panic that apanied it. But no, there was no reason to panic, and she needed to <em>rx.</em>


    This was just a dream. A figment of Minkas imagination of what her life could have been like.


    Even repeating it like a mantra unnerved her, and she wanted this life to <em>end</em>.


    How much worse could the other lives get, when she had caused the death of her entire family?


    ***


    Once Matt was sufficiently recovered from his emotional first life, he picked up the cup with blue filigree and caffeinated tea, and sipped it.


    For a tea he knew he wasn''t a fan of, it seemed better than he remembered, but he wasnt able to appreciate it for more than a moment as he felt the world fading.


    ***


    Matt looked at the result blinking on the screen in front of him. It was unbelievable, uneptable.


    Unchangeable.


    He had done everything right. Followed every instruction. Pushed himself until the instructors forced him to rest. When his group of orphans turned nine, and the physical conditioning and rift training tests began, he never cked off or skipped lessons.


    The world seemed hollow and empty as he stumbled over to Miles, the head recruiter of Gavles Good Guilders, who stared at him with rm.


    Ascenders balls, Matt! Whats going on? I just got a notification saying your Talent isnt up to recruitment standards. Miles head swiveled around, and he whispered, Get over here. He reached out and snagged Matts arm and pulled him into a vacant conference room behind the recruiting stands.


    What happened? I can''t see the exact details, but your application was just booted back by our AI with


    Miles held up the pad currently disying Matt''s conditional contract into GGG. He scrolled all the way down to show a shing red box with the words applicant does not meet minimum requirements.


    Is it <em>really </em>that bad?


    Matt looked at the contract while he debated what to tell Miles. Currently everything felt like a bad dream he was living again and again.


    Swallowing Matt squeaked out, Cant cultivate mana at all.


    Without looking, he somehow knew Miles had frozen even before he said.


    Fuck.


    <em>Fuck</em>.


    <em><strong>Fuck</strong></em>.


    Miles pressed his hands together in front of his face and started pacing again. Clearly deep in thought, he said, There''s not much I can do without getting both of us into trouble. If I show too much favoritism, other guilds might think I''m trying to create a spy to infiltrate another guild for us.


    Matt saw his world crumbling and tried one more time. Is there nothing anyone can do?


    Saying that, he almost stopped listening, as he seemed to know the script of how this would y out. Miles would say no, and he would be out on the street.


    Miles paced and seemed in deep thought before he finally threw out a lifeline to Matt. There isn''t much <em>I</em> can do. But there is still a chance!


    Walking over to the still shell shocked Matt, he shook him. When Matt didnt respond he shook him harder.


    Get your shit together Matt. Seeing he wasnt paying attention, he said Matts name a few more times until Matt focused on him with a burning ember of hope reignited in his chest.


    The vice guild leader came over with us for a business meeting with the Junipers about getting rights to some of the ind rifts. If you can impress him, there is a chance you can still join the guild. Hes a melee fighter himself, and has brought in a few kids who had shown nothing more than skill with a de before. It was ast minute decision for Connor toe over and I almost forgot. This is your shot Matt.


    As Matt brimmed with eagerness, Miles patted his shoulder. Stay here and get yourself together. Hell be back in a few hours, and Ill get you in front of him. That''s your chance, and I think it''s a good one. Ive seen you fight, and you''re good with a de.


    Miles then led Matt to a small sparring room in the awakening facility and told Matt to prepare.


    It felt like yearster when Connor Daniels walked through the door and Matt jumped to his feet.


    Miles followed therge man into the room and widened his eyes at Matt, who jumped forward and stuck out his hand.


    Im Matt, sir. I, um, uh, got a bad Talent, but I think Id still be useful to the guild. Im good with my de, and even without spells, I can be useful.


    Feeling like he fumbled the introduction, Matt swallowed and hoped things wouldnt go badly because of it.


    Connor didnt seem to mind, as he silently took Matts hand and shook it before, in his left hand, a longsword appeared from nowhere.


    He gently tossed it to Matt, who quickly disengaged from their handshake to catch the de and step back.


    It was a good thing, as it turned out, because it gave him enough time to block the deing at him from his offside.


    Connor swung the de slowly, like someone swinging a willow branch, but the impact jarred Matts hands.


    That broke Matt out of his funk, and he blocked the next two strikes andshed out after countering the third strike,nding a blow on the man''s left hand.


    Matt jerked back in surprise and horror as he stammered, Im so sorry. I didnt


    Connor didnt pause in his next attack, but showed Matt his palm even as he attacked.


    Matt ducked, but nearly stumbled as he saw the uninjured palm and realized his mistake.


    Connor was obviously a high Tier, as he was the vice guild leader of GGG. That was a Tier 10 guild, and he knew ve was Tier 15, so the vice guild leader had to be at least Tier 10. He shouldnt have been surprised that he couldn''t hurt the man so casually.


    With that dilemma settled, Matt was able to focus entirely on fighting the other man, and felt like he gave a good showing of his abilities.


    Connor spent five minutes allowing Matt to attack and then pushing him back on the defensive to test both of his abilities. They had fought around the small training room several times before Connor stepped back and his sword vanished.


    You''re pretty good with that de, kid. Consider your contract epted with the old conditions. No new restrictions or reduction in recruitment bonuses. Dont let your Talent define you.


    With that, he gestured to Miles and then vanished out of the nearby door.


    Matt was about to ask what he should do with the de that the other man had handed him, when Connors voice came through the still closing door like it was carried on the breeze. Consider the de an appreciation gift for your skill with it.


    Miles seemed as relieved as Matt was, and the older man smiled and reached out to shake Matts hand, but he pulled the recruiter into a hug as all the stress and worry fled from him.


    Matt felt an odd sensation and probed it like a sore tooth, and the real Matt woke up.


    He was joining a guild.


    That was so odd, he couldn''t really adjust to the idea, but he was excited to see how this life yed out, and let the life continue with him watching as things sped by.


    Holding back tears, Matt got out, Thanks, Miles. You saved my life.


    Miles patted his back twice before they pulled back at the same time, and Miles pped his arm. I knew you could do it. It was all your skill and a bit of luck that Vice Leader Connor was here. I couldnt make the same decision even if I wanted to.


    Still, you could have just sent me on my way and not asked Vice Leader Connor to test me at all.


    Miles waved that off and brought out his pad with the contract on it. Alright, Matt, let''s go over your contract now. Miles looked up and around to the training room before adding. Actually, let''s go back to the meeting room where we can sit down like civilized people.


    It took them close to two hours to go over all of the documentation and signing everything, and what felt like an eternityter, Matt had signed the next ten years of his life away to the guild.


    It wasn''t that he couldnt leave before that, but if he did, he would need to pay back all the guilds bonuses and a small penalty, depending on how much they had spent versus how much he took from them over the time he was with him.


    As he had no intention to leave them, Matt wasnt worried.


    He knew how lucky he had been in the guild epting him, and wasnt going to be an ingrate for that.


    Breakfast the next morning got a little weird, and vice guild leader Connor gave everyone an offer to join the guild in establishing a new base deeper inside the continent. Anyone who didnt wish to go with the set up group was given the opportunity to head to the headquarters, but only three people chose to go back to Nardak, where the guilds main base was, while everyone else decided to stay.


    Three dayster, they were joined by a dozen new faces who all felt strong, who Vice Leader Connor introduced as their new trainers and guards.


    With them, they boarded a bus that, to everyone''s shock, took off from the ground and flew.


    The flight took them hours, but they eventually arrived in a forest that looked like any other, but higher in elevation.


    Matt and all of the other newly awakened were shocked by the sight of magic building being their new housing, but it also served to drive them to help furnish their new buildings with excitement instead of drudgery.


    As the sun was setting, they gathered around the open area in the middle of the houses and started a fire, where they ate dinner and listened to the higher Tiers talk about the rifts they had delved.


    It felt homey andfortable.


    Being a part of arger group of friends andrades felt natural.


    It took another two days, but the Tier 10s started splitting them into teams and training them based on the rifts that were around them, and they would be delving.


    It was real, tangible progress, and everyone worked hard. When they were finished with their duties, they yed hard too.


    A monthter, they started delving, and even though the supervision of one of the Tier 10s meant they got little to no essence, that was ok. All of them made mistakes in the first delve that would have cost them injuries from the kobolds they faced.


    Matt leaned into his role as a frontliner, and despite not loving having to use a shield and smaller sword, knew it was his best choice, so he didntin.


    He was walking away from the food line when he overheard vice guild leader Connor saying they needed the next shipment of mana stones sooner rather thanter, when an idea came to Matt.


    While he had disregarded his Talent after reading the cant cultivate mana, he had been able to rethink things as he calmed and was surrounded by his new friends.


    Even 1 mana a second wasnt nothing. It wasnt muchpared to a normal mage in a single instant, but no Tier 1 mage could keep that output going for even two minutes.


    And Matt could do it forever.


    At least in theory.


    He had never tried it beyond charging his pad.


    Shuffling his feet, he felt awkward interrupting the vice guild leader, but didnt need to, as Connor looked up almost instantly and asked. Is there something I can help you with, Matt?


    Matt felt like he really shouldn''t be telling anything this for some odd reason, but ignored that feeling to say, I, um... Can I talk to you privately, please?


    Connor shoved the pad he was typing at and stood up, and led Matt to the guild officer''s rooms, where he gestured for Matt to sit down at one of the tables in themon room.


    Is someone bullying you or something, Matt?


    That question took Matt aback, and wondered where that came from, but then understood Connor thought this was Matt trying toin.


    No, nothing like that, sir. I heard you saying you needed the next set of mana stones sooner thanter, and I thought I could help.


    Vice guild leader Connor looked at him strangely and asked, I thought you couldn''t cultivate mana at all? 100 mana isn''t nothing, but it''s useful for you as well.


    Matt shook his head. I only have 1 mana, but my mana regeneration is different from others. When my mana is nearly empty, I regenerate my maximum mana per second. So, I, um regenerate 1 mana a second now.


    Connor went from looking dismissive to leaning forward, and he brought out a rechargeable mana stone and charging device before asking, Can you fill this then?


    Matt took them and sent his mana into it over the course of three minutes, the stone filled up, where Matt handed it back to the man who looked like a kobold who had been run through.


    He looked from the stone and then to Matt and back down a few times before asking. Youve had this Talent the whole time? And you only said you couldn''t cultivate mana?


    Matt shrugged awkwardly. That seemed more important, as it was why it was a detrimental rating.


    Connor closed his eyes before he reached out and pped Matt on the back of his head. It didnt hurt, but it surprised Matt, and he looked at Connor, who had his eyes still closed.


    Matt, you might be the dumbest smart person I have ever heard of. Taking a deep breath, he continued, Would you let me see the actual readout your Talent had? I think that will be easier than us talking around it.


    Matt sent the vice guild leader the information while the real Matt watched and waited to see his reaction as an observer.


    Connor sighed. Kid, if you had said the second portion of your Talent at the recruitment center, you would have been recruited by every guild with an incredible bonus. That, or you would have been kidnapped and stuffed into a box.


    Matt felt a jolt of fear, but seeing Connors rxed attitude while he was exining things, Matt felt the fear pass quickly.


    I wish you had said something earlier, as it''s now our top priority to get you to Tier 3 as quickly as possible. You might not know about detrimental Talents, but I do. Most, or at least a good portion, are fixed at Tier 3, or possibly Tier 25. If your Tier 3 allows you to expand your mana pool, think about how much mana you could make a day? If you wanted to just sit on your ass, you could be richer than the guild leader in a few months. If you wanted to delve, you could be one of the strongest mages ever.


    Matt felt excitement at the idea even as Connor continued, Though, without armor skills, it will be hard to keep you safe. If you want my two cents, I think you would make an incredibly strong support mage. Your melee skills would keep you safe from anything attacking you, but you would be able to cast spells and buff the other fighters around you. It would make you the leader of your team. At least, thats my idea. How does that sound to you?


    The vice guild leader let that offer sink in, and Matt thought it over.


    He liked the idea.


    He had never thought he could be both a mage and a leader, but it sounded really nice.


    Power to help others and himself.


    And if his Talent fixed itself, he might be able to be a mage properly.


    I''ll do it.


    Things seemed to move quickly after that.


    Matt was changed to another team who carried him through Tier 3 rifts twice a day until he was Tier 3 just monthster.


    When his Tier 3 Talent did, in fact, fix his cultivation issue, Matt decided to lean into the fact he was a perfect backline mage.


    Instead of returning to his former team, he joined other Tier 3 teams as a floater and temporary leader, both boosting their damage and increasing the speed in which they could delve as he kept everyone full of mana.


    Before long, more and more resources were being poured into him as they started using him to refill the rifts they used to delve, allowing even the higher Tiers to advance faster.


    When he reached Tier 10 himself, he was promoted to third inmand as a vice guild leader, after he stated his intentions to stick with ves Good Guilders instead of jumping to a higher Tier guild, or striking off on his own.


    GGG was his family, and he wanted to see them be the strongest guild in the Empire. And with his Talent, it was possible.


    First, they Tiered up their own rifts on Nardak and delved to advance their Tier 10s, before striking it out to a newly settled Tier 17 to establish a new guild headquarters, after converting the old ones to independent feeder guilds.


    There, they advanced as a whole, powered by Matts endless mana.


    At Tier 12, hepleted his Concept, which gave him some ability to pass off both his physical cultivation to others, along with a small portion of his mana regeneration.


    That further boosted their delving capabilities, and soon, they were delving up two Tiers once a week, not having to wait for their mana stores to recharge. They could have delved faster, but they still had to manage the guild and see to its smooth growth.


    They were currently discussing their ideas on their ns on expanding the guild after Matt reached Tier 15, and were looking at possibles they could move to while at his Tiering up dinner, where he would reach Tier 15.


    While they were excited for the future that another doubling of mana would bring them, Matt the real Matt knew it meant the end of this life.


    The entire idea seemed almost anathema to his current self, and he was surprised that he hadnt been captured or forced into leaving the guild for a stronger power. They weren''t subtle at all about his Talent in this life, and he strongly suspected that Minka had been pulling the strings to ensure things came out this way.


    That, or the Emperor was taking a hands off but protective approach to him.


    It was also a nice glimpse into what was possible with his mana once he created his own guild, and some of the pitfalls to avoid that the growing guild had run into.


    The Concept was useful, and he could only hope that it transferred over to his real self in a simr way. The transferring of mana wasnt anything new, but the ability to share his strength would be useful to boost Liz, Susanne, and even Aster in basically every fight. Even more so when he had more mana than he could reasonably use in a fight.


    Even as the life ended with him Tiering up, he was still surprised things had gone so smoothly.

 Chapter 207: (1/2)

    Chapter 207: (1/2)


    (1/2)


    Aster stretched out across the floor, nose tucked between her front paws as she thought. Being a human was still an unusual situation, but now she was trying to readjust to her fox body and take a few minutes to process.


    Shed certainly never seen herself as that much of an artist, but she also couldnt deny the enjoyment shed felt being an animator, and Matts little sister besides. It had been peaceful. In many ways, it had been dreadfully boring, and certainly wouldnt be a life shed want for herself out in the real world, but as a vacation and a way to destress, well... She was beginning to understand the immortals who would spend a thousand years pursuing some odd and mostly-useless skill.


    Her Concept in that life was a prime example. There was little <em>real</em> use to her ability to freeze a moment in her memory, then apply it to her art; not when an AI could do all that and then some. But it was fun and neat to y with.


    Eventually, Aster scrambled to a standing position and meandered over to her ice cream bowls. Perhaps the life that smelled like spring? Hopefully it wouldnt be quite so slow as herst one.


    ***


    Aster stretched as her pack leader growled and stared at her, ignoring themand to get moving.


    Frankly, she didnt care what he thought.


    Hard Tooth was an asshole, and only remained inmand of the pack because his father was a Tier 25 of the neighboring pack.


    Honestly, Aster was getting tired of the pack as a whole. and was thinking about entering human society early. It was almost taboo in the Winter Wolf society, but the nearest city was already mostly popted by the various beasts that lived on this, so it wouldnt even be that hard.


    She even had a Concept which she had practiced manipting objects with. While she wasnt as good as a human with hands, she had managed to carve out a few letters in the snow that were mostly legible.


    As she thought about it, the more she liked the idea.


    While she loved the pack, she didnt love this current iteration of it. As an orphan, she had been well taken care of, but once Hard Tooth took over and tried to woo her, things had taken a turn for the worse. Especially when shed let those advances fall on a cold shoulder.


    And the Winter Wolves had a level of distance to human civilization that she never fully agreed with. Yes, they should stay connected to their heritage, but was there really a good reason that they had to forgo the convenience of having an AI? Or for not getting any more than the minimum Empire-mandated education?


    The Pack leaders said yes, but she thought differently.


    And at Tier 12, she believed that she had the right to choose for herself.


    Personally, she thought they were all hypocrites about it anyway. After all, they dly used the bottled Concept to advance past Tier 5 while banning nearly everything else.


    Others now avoided her, just in case Hard Tooth took their attention for interest, and that istion made her decision easy.


    Stretching, she walked away from the group to use the bathroom, but once she finished, she just kept walking. Even as her paws moved, and she plowed her way through the snow banks, she kept moving. Slowly, enough so that she didnt even really feel the difference, her walk turned into a lope and then full blown run.


    As the wild winds ruffled her fur, she took in deep breaths, enjoying the familiar, but now somehow different smells of her home.


    It was the same windswept hills as always, but now that she had decided to break with the pack, it felt new and different.


    The mundane had turned exciting.


    With her mana mostly full, she threw some at her Innate [Winter Maniption] and kicked the swirling eddies of snow into a proper snowstorm, then barreled her way through it, enjoying the feeling of the ice trying to bite at her.


    It took her most of the day, but eventually, she started to smell it. The city was right up ahead.


    Normally, if they were close enough to smell the city, the pack leader would immediately turn them away, but this time, she ran directly toward it.


    She was both nervous and excited as she padded into the citys outer limits and looked around.


    She was hardly the only wolf, but she immediately noticed the difference between herself and the others.


    The city wolves were still Winter Wolves, but she understood why most of the True Wolves called them dogs. Their fur was sleeker, their nails were cut back where hers made soft clicking sounds as she walked, and their eyes less wary of everything around them.


    There were also humans.


    She had only seen a few of them before, on the rare asion, some of them got permission to enter one of their Winter rifts. But here, there were so <em>many.</em>


    Aster was standing off to the side of the road, basking in the new stimulus, when an older looking human with a white tail and ears walked over to her.


    Before he reached her, he shifted and morphed into a Winter Wolf, like herself.


    He was well groomed, but there was a scar on his nk and a glint to his eyes that told her he wasnt born in the city.


    She growled a greeting at him, and he returned it and allowed her to sniff him.


    The first thing she got from him was that he was strong. Tier 30 at a minimum, but possibly higher.


    She also got the scent that he was older than his appearance suggested.


    After she finished, she looked at him and in her politest-but-not-submissive tone, asked, Can I help you? I don''t think I know you after all.


    The older wolf chuffed at that. No, you don''t know me, but I know you. Or, I know your type. Got tired of the pack and decided toe into the city. He turned, and she was forced to dodge his tail as he did.


    That should have been rude, but it reminded her of the elders and how they never seemed to watch their tails when she was just a cub.


    A good if distant memory, and that same thing set her at ease.


    Call me Harold. Im what you might call a liaison of the Marquese that owns this. I also work with the city governor to help limate kids like yourself who get tired of the old ways, and ease your transition into Empire society.


    They walked through the city for a little bit while he asked her about herself, and she answered.


    Before too long, though, they arrived at a building where the doors opened automatically. She felt slightly confined in the halls that were only two wolves abreast, but she didnt smell any hostility from Harold, and was relieved when he led her to arge, open area filled with snow and trees.


    She was looking up to see how they managed to fit trees inside when she smelled it.


    Cooked meat. Bison, if her nose was correct.


    Harold snorted and indicated with his snout. Go ahead and eat up. It''s free. Room and board are free for the next year if you need. You shouldnt need it too long as a Tier 12, but it''s here for your use, even after the year. Though, you will need to pay a Tier 5 mana stone per week.


    Aster might be from the wilds, but she understood money and knew that was cheap. Very cheap.


    Seeing her look of hesitation, Harold exined, We have found that if we offer a safety, less of you idiot kids will turn to crime the first time you have a bad delve, or whatever the case may be, and lose a lot of money.


    Nodding to that, she started eating the b of bison that had been ced in front of her by a helpful human woman.


    After chuffing a sound of thanks, she started digging in while Harold sighed. Ugh. I forgot they dont even give out AI anymore. In my day, we got them so we could learn to understand Empiremon at least. If you only know the beastnguage, were going to need to get you one sooner rather thanter.


    Aster didnt stop eating, but flicked her tail to indicate her understanding.


    Once she was done with the te of goodness, she got up and stretched before the two of them padded their way to a building a few doors down, where there was a helpful foxdy in human form who exined what the AI chip was and how it would help her.


    Hearing it would allow her to talk to baseline humans who couldn''t naturally understand the beastnguage, she readily agreed to the procedure, even though it meant they had to shave a tiny portion of her fur to make the incision, and it wouldn''t really work for three days.


    She didnt have enough skills to even fill her Core spirit, so there was no need to move them around to make room for the AI.


    After that, she was quickly brought up to speed and taught everything she needed to know to live a life in the city.


    Harold even helped her get a job watching over children who were learning how to delve. Or, she considered them children. What else would you call someone who needed an escort through a rift, no matter their age?


    It only paid a Tier 7 mana stone per run, but she was a good fighter, and was easily able to take three groups through the rift a day.


    That allowed her to get her own ce and afford her own things, which she found satisfying. It was nice to have a ce to call her own.


    Better yet, she had made friends, and been rmended to a team who needed a mage and melee fighter.


    It was when she met the woman of the team, a red haired front liner specializing in metal magic who introduced herself as Elizabeth, that she froze.


    That wasnt right, was it?


    Liz was a blood mage.


    A blood mage?


    Aster had never even heard of a mage that controlled blood, but the thought lingered, and as she tried to chase it down, she felt her mind expand.


    Aster, the fox, was startled as she woke up.


    She hadnt expected to be a wolf, let alone a Winter Wolf, though she did find life in the beast kingdom fascinating.


    Luna had told her things were catered to beasts and their myriad of forms, but she found it really cool how different things were.


    It also gave her the idea that she really needed to bring Matt and Liz to a ce like this, even if just to explore.


    If they did it post Tier 15, Liz could even join her in beast form!


    Settling back into the reflection, Aster waited for her wolf self to reach Tier 15 and end the life.


    ***


    The cup shattered in her hand as Liz awoke from hertest reflection, sending what remained of the spiced wine across the ground, still dancing with the remnants of faint me. A few fragments were trapped in her fist, and she ground them into powder before throwing the dust across the false room. She grabbed the goblet her Blood Queen life had been in and threw that across the room as well, before sitting herself down on the ground and screaming into her remaining hand.


    It was okay.


    Everything was fine.


    That life that life <em>wasnt real</em>. It was little more than a dream. <em>It wasnt real</em>.


    She was Elizabeth Moore. A future Ascender. She had a loving boyfriend and practically a little sister in Aster, always by her side. She was <em>Torch</em>.


    Yes! She was Torch! She still was the best damn pyromancer of her generation <em>and</em> a blood mage. Shed burned her way to where she was now, and nothing could ever take <em>that</em> away from her.


    Slowly, she calmed herself, wiping away a few tears and grateful nobody was around to see her reaction. She thought shed be better about it, but Seeing what her life might have been if her Talent was fire based hurt. even if it was just a figment of Minkas imagination.


    With a shaky hand, Liz snatched a random cup and downed it.


    Hmm, grass tasted better than she would have guessed.


    ***


    Liz was a princess.


    That was her life, and she epted it.


    Born from two of the Empires royals, she had an elevated status few others could match.


    It was a little lonely, but that was fine. She didnt need friends. She learned to love the solitude, and gravitated to the Empires science and arts.


    Her Awakening as a blood mage managed to focus that gravitation onto a specific target: bloodline powers.


    It was only natural, really. She had among the strongest bloodlines in the entire Empire, and her Talent and Concept only made it easier for her to explore the branch of cultivation it unlocked for her. Despite so, so much research, they were shrouded in mystery.


    Common sense dictated that research on bloodlines should wait until after Tier 15, but Elizabeth Moore was a <em>scientist</em>. She had eternity to live once she was immortal, but she was uniquely qualified to provide a mortal perspective on bloodlines until then.


    It was generally epted that beasts born in human form could only transform after Tier 15, because theycked the spiritual control required for the transformation before then. But was that a <em>hard</em> limit? Was it <em>really</em> just a coincidence that it happened at the same time the body became immortal, or were they connected on a deeper level?


    Simrly, were bloodline powers harder to control before Tier 15 <em>because</em> the beast form was absent, or was it just ack of essence and practice? Clearly, it wasntpletely cut off, as her bloodline had enabled her to utilize rudimentary fire magic before her Awakening.


    There were so many questions. Why did bloodline powersst <em>exactly</em> three generations without maintenance? Why were pure humanspletely unable to utilize bloodline cultivation? What was really happening when a beast absorbed another bloodline? How did they borrow a <em>different</em> set of powers?


    So, so many questions, all of which nobody could answer.


    It was only right that she, the Beast Princess, should seek to answer them. Few people felt that Talents represented fate or destiny, but what other exnation was there for her to get a Talent that so clearly showed what she should devote her time and energy to? Her parents were more than happy to help her, providing funding for the most sophisticated sub-Tier 15 bloodline research center the Empire had ever seen.


    Some people may have found it weird, to be Tier 10 yet bossing around Tier 30s a hundred times her age, but she didnt find it that strange. This was her project, <em>she</em> was the most determined to find the answers.


    And learn she did.


    For phoenixes specifically, their rebirth was tied to their beast form, and the molting/burning they regrly underwent. As a human, she couldnt molt, and thus her resurrection wouldnt work. Some other Rank 2 bloodlines, like dragons, didnt have the same restrictions, even though it was hard to confirm that, as most dragons with two draconic parents were born in dragon form. But there were a few born of alternative unions that she had been able to find and test.


    Meanwhile, some Rank 1 bloodlines <em>did</em> depend on the beast form for their sole power.


    She felt like she was getting close to some new breakthrough, some aspect she was missing. After all, once she reached Tier 15, she wouldnt need to be in bird form to resurrect. There was clearly <em>something</em> going on that wasnt fully tied to just what body she had. The math in some areas just wasnt adding up, but she just didnt have the data to figure out <em>what</em> was happening.


    Hertest volunteer padded through theb doorway. An oddly familiar ice fox named Liz consulted her notes Little Star?


    She froze.


    No, that wasnt right.


    That fox should <em>not</em> be named Little Star. Aster. She was supposed to be Aster.


    With that, Liz, the blood mage on The Path of Ascension, awoke and almost instantly faded back, allowing the dream to take back over.


    It was interesting to see the results of her efforts into studying her bloodline. It had always been something of a passing interest of hers, but never something she <em>truly</em> devoted time to.


    Liz shook her head as she felt some off putting thoughtse to her, then she almost seemed to forget them as she worked with Little Star, who described her bloodline powers and how she was transforming them into a Winter bloodline.


    The real Liz couldnt help but chuckle at Minkas clearly prepared script, meant to jar her to wakefulness, if Little Stars mere presence hadnt already. Meanwhile, her alternate life reached out with her Concept.


    Power Through Blood was focused on bloodlines in particr, and could <em>seriously</em> boost the bloodline of her and any willing participants close to her. The dependence on the existence of a phoenix body prevented her from fully using her Rank 2 power, but her pyromancy was second to only Talented pyromancers when she used it on her Rank 1 power.


    In this case, she would be helping the fake Aster undergo the change from Ice to Winter. An interesting use of her Concept, but one which would provide invaluable data.


    And with that data, Liz managed her breakthrough. That phoenixes could only resurrect themselves a certain number of times before they molted was well-known, but <em>molting</em> wasnt really what reset their extra lives. It was aplex interaction with their Rank 2 power which molting triggered.


    And she could trigger it with her Concept as well.


    Shed already done so, though it had taken her nearly a year of solid meditation. She was Tier 14 now; shed devoted <em>far</em> more essence than any phoenix before her to her bloodline powers. Shed worked and massaged her Concept until it was as strong as it would ever get.


    She was old, and on the cusp of immortality, but she needed to prove that it was <em>possible</em>.


    She was in the middle of an operating room, with her parents and siblings watching nervously. No healing could be used or it wouldnt work; her life was truly on the line. But this <em>would</em> work.


    She was sure of it.


    Her fellow researchers adjusted their measurement devices as Liz raised her dagger. Her hand shook a little, but as she settled her resolve, it steadied out as she plunged the de into her heart.


    The world quickly went dark, and Liz pushed her Concept to its breaking point, straining her willpower as she spun her Bloodline into overdrive.


    And Elizabeth Moore <em>died</em>.


    Then Elizabeth Moore <em>lived</em>.


    Golden mes engulfed her body, spilling out of her chest and consuming her body. It crumbled away to ash before that ash revealed her, unblemished and unharmed.


    Aplete sess.


    ***


    Susanne woke up from her third life and took a slow breath.


    Thest life hadnt been bad.


    Not as bad as the first, at least. Though, that was hardly saying anything.


    They had been rtively simple lives. The second life, she lived in the Sects and became a Young Mistress of a low Tier Sect, fighting her way to prominence with a de that could stretch and shrink in any way she chose.


    She hadnt minded that life, as it was so different from her own that once she woke up, she felt detached.


    The third life had been one where she had a wind hyena bloodline, and used the speed that came with it to dual wield daggers to deadly effect. She even had a Concept to boost the power of des around her as well.


    Not a bad life, all things considered.


    Still, she had three more lives, and her instincts told her that her luck had run out, and Minka was going to y with her family once more.


    Despite that misgiving, she brought the fourth cup to her lips.


    Fear was just an emotion to ovee.


    Acknowledgement wasnt a show of weakness, but rather the first step to dealing with it.


    ***


    Susanne pulled her little brother along with her to the testing station.


    He was a year younger than her. Almost. <em>Technically</em>. But with their birthdays so close, by dying her own awakening and urging him to get his a little early, she was able to maneuver things so they could get awakened together.


    And what more could they ask for?


    Susanne, the real Susanne, had already woken up in this dream, and simply watched as the reflection lived its life.


    This life was remarkably simr to her actual life. Her asshole father had left when her mother started to age, and had thrown himself a party to celebrate as her health declined.


    While Minka prevented lives from being too derailed, it was distinctly possible to make fairly small changes. She couldnt say things her simtion didnt know, or go somewhere that her other self didnt know existed or had no reason to go to. But she could help make choices that her simtion was already considering. Like what shirt to wear, how much time she spent with her mother, or push harder when trying to convince her mother to take them all to therapy.


    That small change had saved her mother''s life, and while she was depressed, she was getting better with each day that passed, and that was all that mattered to Susanne.


    For everything else, she just watched.


    It was interesting to be the observer and the observed at the same time, but it taught her a lot about herself. She took everything with a pound of salt, but she soaked in this version of her younger self, so full of vibrance and joy.


    Not needing to shoulder her family''s burdens had allowed her to be more carefree and act like an actual child.


    Susanne suspected some of that was because her brother was only one year younger than herself, and with that change, they were much closer.


    The analytical part of her found it interesting that Minka didnt change much of her brother''s core personality, despite it being impossible for him to be exactly the same with such a change, but she weed it.


    It was nice to spend time with her brother.


    Not a recement for the real thing, but they were too old to try and shove mulch down each other''s shirts now.


    Some things could only be done as children.


    But she enjoyed them nheless.


    Still, while this version of her brother also loved the arts, he wasnt as driven to <em>create</em> as he had been before. He was pulled more towards being a mage.


    It made her wonder if Minka would give him a new, morebat oriented Talent.


    As they were awoken, she learned that the answer was a resounding yes.


    Her Talent remained unchanged, but while her brother had gotten one simr to her own before, now he got one that reduced the cost of a skill the more recently hed used it. It reminded her of Matts Talent, really.


    But unlike Matt, her brother was just as vulnerable as any mage. She wouldnt let him get hurt. She <em>couldnt</em>.


    The swell of pride her simtion felt made it easy to nudge things just a little, and this was a situation wherein they were in full agreement. Her brother needed to be protected, and she would be his shield.


    When the opportunity to join the Path presented itself, Susanne jumped on it eagerly, hand in hand with her brother. In her real life, shed been pushed to rely on herself and herself alone. It had driven her to seed, to master the de and always, <em>always</em> rely on herself.


    Her reflection was still quite self-reliant, but she carried the weight of both her and her brother everywhere she went. She eschewed the de in this life; that was the one thing she didnt need. <em>He</em> was her de.


    And she was his shield.


    With her focus and determination, the real Susanne could only smile as she developed her Concept right as she broke through Tier 5, giving her a shield every bit as reliable as her sword had been. Her brother took a bit longer, but the two of them made for a phenomenal team. She protected him, while he unleashed endless waves of attacks.


    Torch and Quill werent at their Tier 10 Pather tournament, and so the two of them faced almost no resistance as they barrelled over theirpetition. Carol was her manager again, but they didnt enter Minka until Tier 12. There was no Folded Reflection floor this time, there never was in these lives, and they were a bit less bold than Susanne had been with Matt, Liz, and Aster. But the delve in this life was still a resounding sess.


    When she reached Tier 14 and was nearing the peak of Tier 15, she once more took over her reflection.


    There was one more thing she had to do before this life ended.


    Tracking down her father was easy. The man had a new family with a new mortal wife that he hid his immortality from, along with two kids. Same thing he always seemed to do.


    She found him walking down the street, arm-in-arm with a low Tier woman, back to the same old tricks.


    Hi, dad.


    He took an embarrassingly long time to remember her, sputtering denials to his new wife. She didnt listen to his excuses, and just waited until recognition dawned in his eyes.


    Once it did, she punched him in the face as hard as she could. He flew backwards to the horrified scream of his new wife. Cheating husband or not, she clearly wasnt happy that a Tier 14 had just murdered him. Her scream of horror sputtered out as he stood back up, little worse for wear, and Susanne could sense her putting the pieces together.


    Good. In the real world, she nned to spite her father in the best way she could, exposing his tactics and hiring someone to warn everyone he ever tried to date about his history. Here, though, shed settle for just punching the man down the street. She wasnt a monster, even in this life she wouldnt mutte or kill him out of spite.


    But the punch had been <em>everything</em> shed wanted it to be.


    With that, she spun around and left.


    She promised her brother she wouldnt Tier up without him, after all.


    ***


    Waking up in the living room, Matt thought about thest life, its chill still lingering on his lips where the tea slowly faded.


    Things had been fairly standard, with him joining the path and getting Aster as a drop, but when they went to the training, they went to a new location and never met Liz.


    Without her, they continued on their own, with Matt leaning into more of a tank while Aster went for more of a damage mage build.


    Oddly enough, they even entered the Tier 10 tournament, and Matt did well enough to get himself a manager.


    Kurt.


    That was what had woken him up, and with Kurt''s silent help, he created his Concept. An Internal Concept that boosted his body to incredible heights.


    Then Kurt left, and Matt only interacted with his liaison, Julio.


    Oddly enough, he even entered Minka, though it was during the cycle after the one he was currently in.


    He was doing well, as he reached Tier 15 still going strong on The Path.


    As far as he knew and once he gained control over the life, he did check Liz just never existed in that life at all. That, or she never joined the Path. Information on Royals was hard to get at times, and doubly so when his alternate self didnt care as much as him about finding the answer making it hard to pry too hard.


    Still in thought, Matts questing fingers retrieved the gold-lined teacup and brought it to his mouth for a sip, letting the world around him vanish.


    ***


    Matt walked out of the awakening center and started looking up jobs. Sadly, the only thing he found that might work, an inn called Bennys, rejected him when he messaged them about their open position.


    That left Matt adrift, and he wandered around the city until he found a cheap hotel and spent some of his credits for a week''s lodging.


    He tried walking about to various shops, but no one was hiring anyone as inexperienced as him for a wage that would do more than get him a few credits saved up each week, which was wholly uneptable if he wanted to earn enough to buy himself a delve slot before he was forty.


    He was contemting heading off into the wilderness, trekking deeper ind to find a rift on his own that he wouldn''t have to pay for, despite knowing it was asking for death, when he overheard the waitress talking to one of her coworkers.


    Beth, are you joining me to stop off at The Vault after our shift? I''m almost full on mana, and could use some credits to spend this weekend.


    Hearing she was going to spend mana for credits and the name of thepany, he immediately pulled out his pad and looked up The Vault on the CityNet.


    It was a ce he had never heard of before, but they bought people''s excess mana for credits.


    Seeing the rate, he understood why he had never heard of the ce before during any of his training.


    The exchange rate was awful. For every ten mana given, they would pay 1 credit. For a typical Tier 1 who just awakened, their entire mana pool was only 100 mana, which would earn them ten credits. That would pay for two meals, but not much else.


    Even his crappy motel cost him 100 credits a week, which meant that for a normal person, selling their mana wouldnt even earn them enough credits for rent.


    But for Matt, it was perfect.


    He could sit there for two hours and give 7200 mana, which would get him 720 credits. He could sit there for a day and earn enough for rent for that week.


    Even better was the rift slot in Glesie, the next city over. It only cost 10,000 credits, and he could earn that in


    Doing some quick math, Matt checked then double checked his answer. In thirty hours, he could make 108,000 mana, which would convert into 10,000 credits.


    He could knock that out in a <em>week</em>.


    Screw getting a job, he would be able to earn enough for him to buy himself a slot in a rift next week.


    If he took two weeks, he could even ensure he was able to get a decent set of armor before delving.


    Feeling as if he had the cheat code to life, he got on a bus and went to The Vault.


    Once he arrived, he found a regurgitation desk and signed up before being directed into a room with just a seat andrge mana crystal connected to the wall with a cable.


    It took him a few moments to get the hang of sending his mana into the crystal, but once he felt the mana leaving his mana pool, he settled in, watching his pad to see how much mana was being sent to The Vault.


    As the mana ticked to 10 in the leftmost column, the second column changed to 1 credit.


    Money in his True Vault ount and ready to be withdrawn at any time.


    Matt watched the number tick up for another minute, but then grew bored.


    Seeing money appear in his ount was nice, yes, but it was also as boring as watching water boil.


    Wanting to stay for at least two hours, which was when the ce would close, Matt sprawled out on the bench and found a movie on sale for a single credit and bought it.


    Staying for ten extra seconds would be more than worth the distraction it would offer.


    Two hourster, when his pad beeped warning that they were closing, Matt left and went back to his hotel. Sprawling across his bed, letting the happiness wash over him Matt thought about how lucky he had just be.


    He had earned more money today than he would have at months of a normal job.


    And that was only for two hours.


    Tomorrow, he intended to stay from the time they opened till they closed. A full eight hours. That would earn him 2,880 credits.


    Almost 3,000 credits in a single day.


    An unbelievable amount of money.


    Excited for tomorrow, Matt had trouble falling asleep, but after ordering arge but cheap meal, he fell asleep.


    The next day, he brought a pillow from the hotel and spent the entire day watching movies, along with his bank ount ticking up for every ten mana he sent into it.


    Ten collective hours done, and only twenty left.


    Next week this time, he would be in Glesie.


    Away from this awful city and with a de in his hand.


    He wasing back from his third full day of selling his mana, and was sitting on the bus for hismute, when the world went ck just as there was a loud explosion.


    Matt tried to struggle, but all he felt was a suffocating ckness that weighed down on him like a nket, and he couldn''t feel his limbs responding to hismands. He wondered if there was another rift break, and he was attacked and knocked unconscious on the bus.


    He hoped someone would find him sooner rather thanter, but couldn''t do anything to speed it up.


    It seemed like hours or dayster when the ckness was lifted, and an attractive but stern woman was standing over him.


    Matt thought he was saved, but when he tried to get up, he felt the restraints that shackled him down to the bed.


    The woman watched the horror trace itself over his face with a nk look.


    Let me go! He tried to keep his voice stern, but the crack in his voice ruined that. Not that he thought the woman cared.


    She seemed indifferent.


    You have a useful Talent. A lot of mana. One could even say an endless amount. How interesting.


    She pointed off to the side at a screen that resembled the disy on his pad when he sold mana at The Vault.


    36,000 mana a day. If you don''t meet that quota, you will lose privileges. If you cooperate, you will even be given ess to local stations and movies. If you decide you would like to not give us the mana we want...


    Matt felt a jolt of pain like he was struck by lightning hitting him from inside his skull.


    We imnted a pain device into your skull. It won''t kill you. It literally can''t. It only stimtes your nervous system. It''s also well calibrated to not wear out your nerves. If you decide not to give us 36,000 a day, you will get pulses of that until the mana quota is reached.


    The woman paused and let Matt take all of that in. If you cooperate, things will be quitefortable for you. If not, pain will be your onlypany.


    With that, she vanished, and Matt felt the restraints disengage from his limbs and sink into the bed.


    He immediately jumped up and started pounding the walls as he didnt see any windows screaming for help.


    No help came. As far as he could tell, the walls were solid, and he only hurt his hands.


    Giving up a hopeless effort, he looked around the room.


    It was simple, with a nice, small bed he knew hid restraints, along with a toilet and shower in the corner, not even behind a wall.


    Beyond that, there was only the pad that was connected to a bendable arm he could move around to see it from any view.


    And the cable connected to a mana stone that could reach anywhere in the room.


    Sudden anger raged through him, and he tried to destroy the cable, but he couldn''t even scratch the surface of the mana stone, despite smashing it against the wall. He even tried jabbing it into the screen, but it did absolutely nothing to either object.


    Without anything else to do, he started trying to disassemble the bed, but he found it was seemingly one singr unit.


    Seeing nothing else he could do, he sat down and nned.


    Not that he had any good ideas, but before he knew it, the pad started to beep quietly.


    Idly checking it, he saw a message and countdown indicating he needed to start charging the mana stone to meet his quota in time for the next reset.


    Ignoring it, the beeping stopped after five minutes, but the red blinking didn''t.


    Matt refused to cooperate with these kidnappers, and held firm for the entire ten hours.


    In every movie he had seen, the hero refused to cooperate and then broke out of captivity before getting his revenge.


    He would be just like them.


    Strong and defiant.


    He thought he was ready when the pulses of pain started, but after only a minute, when the pain stopped, he was on the ground sweating and panting, having urinated on himself during the shocks.


    Matt had understated the shocks, thinking the earlier ones were as strong as they could be.


    He had been wrong. Oh, so wrong.


    These shocks were thousands of times stronger, and seemed to be trying to break something inside of him.


    After another minute, the shocks started again, and Matt once more resisted, just telling himself he needed to resist, and the kidnappers would eventually stop once he called their bluff.


    An hourter, his will broke. Sobbing, he crawled to the mana stone and sent his mana into it, just begging the shocking to stop.


    He had even tried knocking himself out, but found the shocks woke him up even after he choked himself.


    After that, he had just tried to power through, but he quickly found even his will power had limits, and once it became clear he wouldnt be given even a small respite, he gave in.


    He just wanted the pain to stop.


    Anything to make the pain stop.


    Except it didn''t.


    Like the woman said, the shocks would continue until he had caught back up on his charging.


    The only saving grace was that they went fromsting a minute to being a short jolt once every ten.


    Like stubbing a toe, it hurt, but wasnt enough to do more than jolt him.


    Clutching the mana stone like it was his safety, he sent all the mana into it as if his life depended on it.


    Ten painful hourster, he saw the pad blink blue before resetting and showing another countdown with 14 hours and zero mana given.


    Seeing that, he cried some more, but at least the shocks had stopped.


    It was also confirmation that his captors werent joking about the ten hours of mana per day.


    If he skipped like that, he wouldn''t be pushing back the total, but rather sending himself into debt.


    He tried to stay awake and keep the mana flowing, but after a few minutes of not feeling the pain, he passed out.


    He woke up to a beep and looked up in horror, seeing he was once more being warned that if he didnt start sending his mana, the shocks would start again.


    Matt thought about resisting again, but even the memory of the hours of shocks almost sent him into tears.


    Even as he sent his mana into the stone he called out, begging them to stop this until he was hoarse, but no one seemed to be able to hear him. Or, if they were able to, they couldnt care less.


    Once he finished his ten hours of mana, a tray of food appeared right before his eyes.


    He almost didnt believe it was real, but after poking it, he found that it was the genuine article


    The food wasnt appealing, being a gray porridge, but it was something to fill his empty stomach, and he slurped it down, just wanting to feel full.


    Seeing there wasnt anything else and noticing that his thirst was now awakened, he went to the shower where he washed himself and drank his fill.


    The water at least seemed clean and filled him.


    After that, with nothing else to do, he fell asleep.


    When he woke up, his soiled clothes were gone and reced with a chest of simple clothes in a pile, along with a stic cup and towels.


    Matt checked the pad that loomed over him and saw he had seventeen hours till his deadline, and started filling the mana stone.


    He still wanted to fight back, but knew the obvious method wouldnt work.


    So, heplied.


    Days went by, and slowly he was given slightly nicer things, along with better food as well as shows and movies to watch on the screen.


    That all came to a head one day when he fell asleep through the beeps and missed his deadline by twenty minutes.


    As the shocks started, all of his luxuries vanished and he was left in the once more sparsely furnished room.


    The message was clear.


    They could give him nice things, but they could just as quickly take them away.


    They were training him like a dog, but there was nothing Matt could do.


    No escape.


    It seemed like months or possibly yearster when something changed.


    An older man appeared in the room.


    Matt thought help hade to rescue him, but the man''s first words broke that hope. I do hope you will be as obedient for me as you were for The Vault.


    Seeing the shock on Matts face, the man cruellyughed. Oh yes. They are the ones who captured you. Blowing up the bus and putting a simr body in your seat was a good distraction, but they couldn''t hide it from my noble family''s eyes. Took us a while to find you, though.


    With that, they vanished, and Matt found himself in a simr room but noticeably different. This one at least had a door that was open and had a bathroom inside it.


    The man smiled at Matt as he looked around. Same rules apply here as they did there, but there is one more.


    A white, pearlescent stone appeared in the man''s hand. You will absorb and cultivate the essence in the essence stone as well, or the shocks wille. The Junipers arent content with only 36,000 mana a day. No, we suspect you can do much more than that after you reach Tier 3.


    Hearing this was the Junipers, and the local noble family, something in Matt broke.


    He might have been able to escape from apany, but a noble family had far more resources.


    When Matt reached Tier 3 and his second Talent was awakened, things got worse and better.


    They still expected him to give ten hours of mana generation a day, but the amount increased. They also started giving him slightly better things if he gave them more than ten hours of mana a day.


    And why not.


    He might as well make his prison asfortable as possible.


    That continued until he was Tier 5, and someone else came and took over from the Junipers.


    That same pattern repeated for three more capturers, but eventually, someone much stronger than the rest of them appeared.


    The man seemed older, and was built like a fighter.


    It took a moment for his mind to wake up.


    It was Emperor Georgios.


    The man just looked at Matt for a while before shaking his head and speaking to the two people Matt now saw were behind him.


    I don''t agree with what''s been done to him, but hes only full of hatred now. Or at least, he is when he feels anything at all. In every timeline, he turned against us the instant he got any degree of freedom. Nothing for it but to keep him locked up and working for the good of the Empire.


    The other man shook his head. This isnt right, father. No one should be locked up and sucked of their mana for the good of the Empire. If the Empire needs its people in chains to function, we don''t deserve to be a Great Power.


    The woman shook her head. The sacrifice of one can improve the lives of quadrillions, eventually. That is a choice that is hard to make, but one that must be done. If it''s not done, we only have an angry enemy. If he hadnt been captured, it would be better to create bonds of trust, but now that he has, we might as well continue with the draining of his mana.


    The other man shook his head, and Matt felt like he had met him before, despite not knowing the Royal children.


    Once, he had known them, but like most everything else, it had faded away in the endless boredom and monotony.


    Before the two could argue more, Emperor Georgios raised his hand, whichmanded silence. While not as ideal as other methods, it''s what we have, so we must reinforce our control even further. But first, we need him to create his Concept. If he cant create that, he''s of limited use to us.


    A hand length crystal that seemed to have a picture inside of it appeared and then shattered, releasing an energy into the air.


    With a voice that bricked no rejection, the man said, Absorb this energy and create a Concept.


    The Emperor and the woman vanished, but the man stayed behind. I am sorry for everything youve gone through. Truly. I just wanted to introduce myself to you, Matt. My name is Emmanuel, and while I cant help you right now I will. If I be Emperor, I will free you. If you hate me, I will not me you. If you attack me, I will not kill you. If you want to be left alone, you will be left alone. If you desire riches, they shall be given. I will do everything in my power to free you, and to make amends for what my father, and all those who have imprisoned you before, have done to you. I dont expect you to believe me, but this is my solemn vow. Nobody, <em>nobody</em> should have to suffer what you have suffered.


    The promise broke something in him, mind and spirit. As the Matt of the reflection broke down weeping, reality shattered around Matt the Ascender.


    It was the worst case scenario about revealing his Talent. If the Emperor werent so amodating- or in this case, if Matt had been alive in the reign of Emperor Georgios, Emmanuels father, this would be his life.


    Emperor Georgios was like Luna had told him, a hard man who would happily sacrifice one person for the sake of the whole. At the same time, it was heartwarming that Emmanuel was still steadfast in his belief that no one single person should set themselves on fire to keep the Empire warm.


    Matt wasnt sure if that was just because he himself didnt believe that Emmanuel would do any different, or that Minka couldn''t create a believable world where Emmanuel would choose differently.


    That didnt change the fact that this life was horrific.


    Not wanting to interfere with his reflections creation of its Concept, Matt watched as it absorbed the energy of Ascension from the Shard of Reality.


    He was interested in what this copy of himself would create with itsck of stimulus and such a negative experience.


    Seeing where the reflections mind went, he raised a mental eyebrow.


    It wanted its mana back.


    The reflectiontched onto that desire, and grew a seed within it. That seed grew and flourished, until it finally awoke.


    <em>Its my Mana.</em>


    Like a sink with its plug pulled, all the mana in the room siphoned into his reflection, leaving behind aplete void.


    Matt had uses for that.


    Still, he felt sick at what even a fake him had gone through to get such a Concept.


    This life couldnt end soon enough.

 Chapter 207: (2/2)

    Chapter 207: (2/2)


    (2/2)


    Aster came out of her reflection and spat. The ice cream had been fine, but the fourth and fifth lives theyd brought her to were less than ster.


    In one, Matt had died, leaving her all alone, which had been frankly awful. And while the Concept had changed and been about making her as strong as possible, turning her fur to literal ice and using it as a way for her Talent to leverage its might against her own flesh, she hadnt liked living in a world with Matt dead in it.


    No, that had not been fun.


    In her next life, she had never gotten the fruit of perfection, and had, for some reason, gone almost feral, which was frankly insulting of Minka to suggest. Even without the fruit, she had been a perfectdy, even if she had chewed on a shoe or three.


    With one ice cream left, she hoped it would be a good one.


    ***


    Aster flicked her tails and sent a stream of fox fire at the target that tried to run away and snickered at Frank, who dodged all the illusionary fires and ran directly into the real one.


    She didnt let the fire burn too long, but did allow him to get singed before she flicked her tail and dispelled the illusion that they were training in.


    Frank whined, Miss Aster, why can''t we practice longer?


    Flicking him with one of her tails, she berated him. You started out well, but by the end of the training, you spent more time trying to look at my butt rather than watching my tails. Distractions like that will kill you in a real fight if you aren''t careful.


    The boy blushed down to his neck, but she ignored it.


    He was young, and hormones were raging through him like a tempest.


    She could forgive that.


    She couldnt so easily forgive the sloppiness of his technique.


    Stopping him at the door, she caught his eyes and said with her best teacher voice, Work on your sword forms. Especially seventeen, eleven, and forty three. Do each of them two hundred and fifty times, instead of the normal two hundred each. I can tell from your <emck</em> of progress that you were cking on those.


    He tried to interrupt, But Miss Aster, I


    She cut him off with a stern voice and a dismissive flick of her tails. No buts, mister. If you want to graduate, you need to work harder. As a third year, it''s frankly embarrassing how little youve progressed thisst semester. Even the second years are starting to catch up to you.


    Softening her tone, she poked him between the eyes with her long finger. I know you have a lot going on at home, but if you don''t focus up and buckle down, you won''t be able to change anything.


    Seeing his eyes shift down to the ground rather than her butt, she asked. How are things at home? Last I heard, your father was stable and just waiting on a higher Tier healer.


    Frank sighed. Yeah, but mom is getting worse by the day. She barely eats, and she hasnt gone to work in thest week. And He paused and looked around nervously. And people areing around looking for money. Ive had to get a part time job to cover the expenses.


    Aster narrowed her eyes at that.


    She knew Frank''s father had gotten hit by a curse and was in aa, and that his mother was taking things badly, but she also knew that she and the headmaster had ensured that all of their bills were being deferred until his father was able to get back to delving.


    There shouldn''t be anyone sniffing around Frank and his mother for money. No one legitimate, at least.


    Smacking Frank with one of her tails, she asked, Why didnt you say so earlier? You were there when the headmaster got your mothers bills deferred. I know, because I was there as well. So why are you paying anyone anything?


    They said that it was different, and my father owed them. And if we didnt make at least some payment, they would have to take our things in repayment, and you couldn''t do anything about it as it was a personal debt.


    Aster looked up and counted to fifteen, going through all ten fingers and then her five tails.


    She begged anyone to give her patience.


    Frank was a good kid, but clearly too naive.


    You should havee to me sooner, rather than taking things into your own hands. I could have brought this to the headmaster and he would have squashed this before it started.


    Dragging him to the headmasters, she had him exin everything, and the older man picked up his cane and asked Frank to lead the way to where he was told to deliver the money he earned.


    As she and the headmaster suspected, it was just a local gang of wanna-be street toughs who thought they could take advantage of their strength and rob a down-on-their-luck family.


    Almost instantly, a fight broke out, but with a flick of her tails, she was able to send most of the lower Tier gang members into a stupor, which allowed the headmaster to more easily subdued the ring leaders.


    She, as a Tier 14, could have done the same, but with the Tier 20 as back up, they ensured there were no senseless casualties.


    Looking to Frank, she gestured with one of her tails as her arms were crossed. See. We could have handled this if you had said something earlier. The Corporations dont tolerate such gangs doing as they please, and our Academy even less so.


    Frank looked both happy and crestfallen, so she tapped him on the head. Now, I expect you to practice harder without such distractions. Three hundred of each form, as we have ground to make up.


    He tried toin, but she threatened to increase it to three hundred and fifty, which finally shut him up.


    She was leading him out of the building when she caught one of the guards flying in from the sky and jerked as she recognized the armor.


    She knew that armor. A passive version of [Phantom Armor]. A cracked version.


    Something about that seemed wrong, and she poked at that idea and felt a spike go through her brain.


    After that moment of pain, Aster felt like her mind expanded as memories rushed in.


    Aster, the fox, immediately took over Aster, the kitsune''s body.


    She had tails!


    And fox ears.


    That was fun, and she immediately knew she would be adding them both to her body from her life as Matts sister.


    Though, maybe only one tail. It was better to have one perfect tail rather than a bunch of subpar ones. Really, this Aster needed to take better care of her tails, having illusions didnt mean one could forget about proper fur maintenance.


    She also found it interesting that she was living in the Corporations for this life, of all ces.


    Her Concept of this life was also interesting, as it was rted to illusions.


    She was impressed with herself in this life. Tier 14 by one hundred years old without huge amounts of assistance was quite impressive, but her kitsune life had managed it easily. By the same token, that had been incredibly dangerous, and she shuddered slightly with the realization of how close she had been to losing herself to the life, but the important thing was that she hadnt.


    Not wanting to have this life end just yet, she dove back into the reflection with the thought of not Tiering up to Tier 15 quite yet.


    She wanted to incorporate illusions into her own ice eventually, and this was a perfect chance to learn about them.


    ***


    Liz crushed <em>yet another cup</em> in her hand, letting it fall to the ground to apany its broken brethren. The ss cut into her hand, but she dismissed the wound and the dreamscape healed her. That made two lives in a row she never wanted to think about ever again.


    That white wine had betrayed her.


    It was supposed to be easy going and pair well with everything, not <em>that</em>.


    <em>That wasnt her</em>. It never <em>would</em> be her. It never had <em>been</em> her. That was someone else altogether.


    It. Wasnt. Her.


    It was just a nightmare, of sorts.


    A traitorous voice in the back of her head spoke up, asking if this was how she reacted to seeing herself in the mirror. It was a reflection, that meant it was her, right?


    But no. Minka was a liar. The lives it showed were lies. Luna had even said they werent indicative of how she actually was. Probably warning her of exactly the things she had seen in thest two lives.


    An image of a man half-burned, but kept alive by healing mes shed through her mind, but Liz shook her head to clear it.


    She just wanted to hug Matt and cry. To talk to her therapist, to just <em>anything</em>, to get two <em>vile</em> lives out of her head.


    But she couldnt. Not yet.


    With shaking hands, she raised the final cup to her lips, and drank of thest ss of wine, bracing herself for something awful.


    ***


    Liz was a noble. Nothing so noble as a princess, but a Viscountess through her parents'' hard work.


    Not that she was a Viscountess <em>yet</em>. She would need to reach Tier 20 to take over their title, and she was only Tier 11.


    But she would be one day, and as everyone knew, foundations were set early.


    Though her Talent may have been decidedly average, and her <em>blood</em> at that, Liz was never one to squander an opportunity presented to her.


    Uselessness was merely a symptom of insufficient creativity.


    Blood had its uses. Notably in contracts.


    Contracts bound in Blood, Talent, and Concept were nigh impossible to break, and for those that managed it, they suffered.


    Contracts werent one-sided, of course. There was a give and take to such things, after all. A contract was an exchange, and a willing exchange always left each party better off than before.


    Of course, what she had in abundance were often the very same things which others were desperate for.


    Commoners in particr desired equallymon things; wealth, skills, connections They could be so pathetically short-sighted, too, signing away decades, centuries, some few even an eternity for one of the countless skills within her vault.


    A pittance.


    They worked for <em>her</em>. If they were better at their jobs, that meant they were more valuable to her. That they were ever-so-willing to work for her <em>more</em> in exchange for the ability to do their jobs <em>better</em> proved the value of her philosophy.


    Soft power was far superior to hard power.


    Combat power.


    So what, if she was embarrassingly bad at fighting? She hadnt needed to raise so much as a finger in self-defense in decades. She had a few trainers helping her improve, but what did it matter if she could punch hard? What did it matter if her Talent made nearly all skills useless for her? She wasyered in defensive spells and armor, and surrounded by the greatest defense of all: her <em>minions</em>, bound to loyalty and all the more empowered by her might.


    No one could hurt her, even if they wanted to.


    When Liz heard about a strong woman who had a Talent for the de and an armor Talent, she quickly moved in to snatch them up.


    As she was sitting in the hovel that the womans family called a home, she smiled as the woman signed away ten years of her life for the sum of ten mana stones, two Tiers above her own, per year.


    Practically nothing for her.


    And the woman was <em>happy</em> about it.


    It was wonderful.


    She was watching a news report on her AI when an alert shed to her about a new and uing chef.


    Young and Talented, being rated as a once-in-a-decade prodigy.


    Someone she absolutely needed to have for herself.


    She was looking at a picture of them when she noticed the person next to them.


    A bodyguard.


    She studied him, trying to figure out why she was drawn to him, but couldn''t figure it out.


    Attractive, yes, but no more so than her endless flock of paramours.


    He seemed almost familiar, but a quick search revealed he had never been in a movie or tv show, though the one video she did find of him fighting hit her like a jolt of lightning.


    The man was the son of the Beast King rgon.


    But wasnt the beast kingdom ruler Queen Mara?


    Wasnt Mara her mother?


    Liz awoke and studied her life.


    It wasnt ideal, butpared to herst two lives, this Elizabeth may as well have been a saint.


    Still, she wasnt sad to wake up from it, and she pulled herself back out of the life so it could pass as quickly as possible. A little trick she had learned two lives ago. It helped distance herself from the dream, like memories of the reflection lives, and kept her from having to directly experience anything her other selves did.


    Six new Concept powers. She should be happy, but she wasn''t.


    The lives werent her. She knew what Luna and Kurt had said, but these were still reflections of <em>her</em>.


    The lives <em>shouldnt </em>be her.


    But what if they <em>were</em>?


    ***


    Susanne took a deep breath, calming herself as some of her reflections irritation carried over.


    Being the sword she wielded was interesting, yes, but she had to deal with so many bad pick up lines about being a sword sheath, even the real her almost snapped at the young men who learned about her Concept.


    Castrating one of them hadnt been her real self''s idea, but she hadnt stopped the reflection either.


    The week in jail and fine had been worth it, as it got the word out she wouldnt tolerate such jokes any more. Shed considered breaking her Concept just to escape the teasing, but eventually settled on a never tell policy.


    Susanne took a few minutes to process thest life, but after reviewing and packing it up forter exploration, she picked up herst coffee and drank it down.


    It tasted like a library smelled.


    A good smell, but not a good taste, if she was honest.


    It would have made a better tea.


    ***


    Susanne was a scribe.


    That was her life.


    While her brother struggled to be an artist in an oversaturated field, she wrote. It didnt pay much, but it paid the bills and kept the both of them fed and clothed on a Duchess Tier 31 world, where they could cultivate the ambient essence and advance without delving into rifts.


    That was far, far too dangerous for two academics like them.


    Entering into the little room in the library, she set out her supplies and cursed as she realized the book she had stashed under the booth yesterday was gone.


    Meredith.


    The woman was <em>infuriating</em>.


    Attractive.


    Attentive.


    Astute.


    Brave.


    Shrewd.


    But most of all, a stickler for the rules.


    Susanne could deal with all of the other characteristics, but an unbending desire to follow every rule was a step too far.


    Did Susanne take over the little private room to work in every day? Yes.


    Was that against the rules? No.


    Was she supposed to leave things in the room overnight even though she had the room reserved? Also no.


    But still. No one used the out of the way room, yet Meredith insisted she clean it out <em>properly </em>every night before she went home. And she did. Susanne never left even a scrap of pencil or ink stain in the room, but she saw no reason to put away the assuredly heavy book every day. She was just going to get it back out the next day.


    And even that wouldnt be so bad, except its index ced it in the farthest section of the seventeen story library. Even as a Tier 7, it would take her twenty minutes to cross the distance with her best speed, but she couldn''t even move that fast, as it would be both rude and dangerous to the books around her.


    Trying not to stomp, she arrived at the ce her book should have been close to an hourter because of a school trip taking up most of the stairwell.


    Except, when she arrived at the ce where her book of flourishes and calligraphy strokes should have been, there was only a single wooden marker that stated the book in question was no longer in cirction.


    That took Susanne aback.


    Had someone other than Meredith taken her book?


    That sent a bolt of horror through her, and she ran to the front desk a little faster than was strictly necessary. She had developed a fine sheen of perspiration that she tried to wipe off before she waited in line.


    There were seven people in front of her and two people working at the front desk. Susanne didnt see Meredith and wondered if she had been right about someone else taking the book.


    Meredith normally put it away in its proper ce, and would simply chide Susanne a little when she came to drag her away for lunch.


    Just as she was going to get helped by Spencer, Meredith sauntered out of the back room with a familiar shaped bundle wrapped in brown paper.


    Susanne didnt wait until properly called to the front desk and stepped in front of Meredith, reaching for the book, but the woman''s mock cleared her throat and pulled the book back slightly.


    Patrons are supposed to wait until called to approach the desk, Miss Vr.


    Susanne rolled her eyes and smoothed her shirt before asking the most important question. Why did you take my book?


    Meredith just looked at her with those piercing eyes, letting the question speak for itself.


    They both knew the answer, but Susanne wasnt asking what she had spoken aloud. She was asking why the change in routine.


    Just as she thought Meredith was going to make her ask properly, the librarian spoke. I believe we have gone through this song and dance long enough, so I decided to end it.


    Terror shot through Susanne at the thought she was being banned from the library, and she swallowed through her suddenly very dry throat. If she couldnt work in the library, she would need to rent a ce out, and that would be beyond expensive in the city.


    She was already struggling to make ends meet while supporting her brother.


    She was opening her mouth to speak when Meredith pushed the wrapped book forward. Despite myck of understanding as to why you still need this book, as you are beyond proficient, I have given up. If you feel the book helps in some way, you might as well make it your property properly. That way, you can take it with you when you go home, and won''t need to leave it behind anymore. Consider it a gift.


    Susanne froze as the unexpected news caught her off guard.


    The book wasnt just a book. It was the book that had taught her how to use her Talent for more than fancy lettering. It had been her lifeline as a poor young adult trying to figure out how to support herself and her brother on an expensive, high Tier.


    It had been her only friend when she went hungry.


    It had been there when she made her firstmission, and finally was able to start repaying their debt.


    It had been there when she first met Meredith, and the woman forced herself into her life.


    It had been there when she formed her Concept, and her quill had risen on its own for the first time.


    She had always wanted to buy it, but it was also an incredibly old book that went for two dozen Tier 32 mana stones. A price she could never afford. She could have bought a cheaper reprint, but that wouldnt have been the same.


    You couldn''t rece a friend with a copy just because they were expensive. It was the experiences they shared that made them friends. Not the contents of the book.


    And the generosity. That just <em>wasnt done</em>. Some part of Susannes spirit rebelled at the gift, shouting at her that no, this wasnt right, this wasnt normal, she couldnt rely on anyone else ever for something like this.


    <em>A </em>sword<em> is reliable</em>.


    But she had never held a sword.


    The Concept broke through the illusion Susanne found herself in, and she rxed.


    She could deal with generosity in a dream. She didnt quite understand the womans gift, but it seemed like Minka was trying to do <em>something </em>with it.


    As she watched and waited for skills and personal developments of value, Susanne contemted the value of her life as a calligrapher.


    An animated pen definitely seemed like it would trante to an animated sword back in reality. It was either that, or gaining the ability to manifest a quill with her Talent, but that seemed less likely.


    She settled in for the ride and watched as her other self bumbled through awkward thanks. It didnt seem like it would be all that interesting of a life, but who knew? Maybe shed get some insight into her Talent to help her with the slow process of expansion. A professional calligrapher <em>sounded</em> boring, and she remembered it being fairly dull, but she would stay optimistic.


    These lives were worth more than just their Concepts after all. Each could teach her something, and could act as a reference for skills she might not have gathered during her real life, even after they faded to little more than memories.


    These lives were the pieces of experience that could help her create her Intent.


    Minka was a forge after all.


    And she was her best hammer.


    ***


    <em>Five lives down, one to go.</em>


    Matt tapped his recently-drained teacup against the saucer it had rested on, contemting life. Specifically, a life that seemed smarter than his own. His alternate self had never gotten [Cracked Phantom Armor], the bar fight which had ended up with him snatching the skill for himself simply never happened. Hed still been able to join the path of Ascension, but without a skill, hed just relied on his physical prowess for delving.


    That meant a slower rate of progress overall, as injuries were moremon, but it also meant hed turned around and left the rift when it presented him with a rift challenge. Without Aster, he stayed a solo climber, never teaming up with Liz and bing more and more self-reliant.


    What had <em>really</em> interested Matt was how his other life had eventually expanded his capabilities. Notably, he used Talismans far, <em>far</em> earlier than Matt ever had, starting at Tier 5. It was like watching <em>Quill</em>, not Matt, clear rifts.


    Where Matts strengths had alwaysy in ousting and oveing tough opponents through attrition, that life had focused on incredible amounts of preparation followed by a few brief moments of overwhelming power, perfectly tuned to fell targets.


    It was inspiring, really. Hed managed to develop a true Concept at Tier six, all on his own and without the help of an ascension like the real Matt had gotten. Always Preparing, yed a dual purpose of allowing Matt to change the aspect of his enchantments and even <em>move</em> mana between talismans hed made.


    Hed won his tournament by the skin of his teeth, fighting Queen for the top spot, and had gotten <em>Erwin</em> as a manager, though filling a role as a ssical enchanter rather than a researcher. He wasnt even aware the man was a manager, though he likely wasnt in reality.


    Overall, it was interesting. And gave him a few ideas for new talismans for once he was out of Minka.


    Well, nothing else to it.


    Matt grabbed hisst cup, the ceramic mug with a sharpened lip, and poured the contents into his mouth.


    ***


    Matt mmed his sledgehammer into the rock twice more, and once it shattered, wiped his face.


    Construction was hard work.


    He knew that. His father had worked in it as a supervisor, but this wasnt even that kind of construction.


    This was using cheap humanbor to work where the bots couldnt get as easily.


    Still, it was a job, but it was the best paying one Matt could find that might someday get him to his goal of being a delver.


    500 credits a month wasnt much after he paid for housing, but it was enough to let him save a little. It would just take three years of hard work.


    He had already been doing this for six months, but now that he had fallen into a rhythm, things were at least passing by monotonously, if slowly.


    As he checked the time on his watch, he and most others started walking to the end of the construction site.


    Calvin shouted, Hey, Matt! Why don''t you join us at the bar tonight?


    Matt shook his head. I can''t afford it, Calvin. You <em>know</em> that.


    Calvin grabbed Matts arm. Come on, the first ones on me, and no need to drink another. It is nice to have you with us.


    Matt debated declining, but ended up agreeing when the others on the team pestered him.


    The bar was as run down as they were, but it at least had cool beer, and Matt sipped at it slowly as he listened to the others talking.


    As was usual, the conversation turned to the rift break, and Matt spat, Fucking Junipers. Useless bastards.


    A man at the nearby table raised his ss to that. Fucking truer words have never been spoken.


    As their table raised their sses in toast, they went back to their drinks just a little more somber.


    Going to the bar became a regr thing for Matt. Or rather, the others dragged him along once a week and paid for him to have one beer.


    Matt even became familiar with the man who had toasted to the Junipers shittiness the first time.


    Tom was a simple man like the rest of them, but after getting to know that Matt wanted to be a delver, he became closer to him.


    He had apparently been a delver before the incident, but gave it up when his family died.


    That was a feeling Matt understood, even if he didnt agree with giving up.


    Things came to a head after another year.


    The Junipers were fined for their allowing rift breaks, but they werent given any more punishment as they managed to foist the me off on their low Tier workers.


    As Matt and everyone in the bar were fuming about the weak punishment, Tom came over to Matt.


    Do you want to take revenge too?


    Matt nodded, and Tom didnt say anything else, just nodding and drinking next to him.


    Matt thought that was the end of it when, a weekter, a new man joined Tom at his table and shook Matts hand.


    My name is John. Im a lot like you. Lost my mother and sister to something just like what happened here. There was a pause before he added, I want to do something about it. Wanna help?


    Matt knew he should say no, but he nodded. He <em>was </em>angry. The Junipers were just a symptom of the evil that were the nobles. Above the rules andwless.


    We intend to graffiti the town hall tonight, and could use another hand.


    Matt hesitated, but it wasnt too dangerous. Even if they were caught meh. What was a few more months of work in exchange for spiting the people whod ruined everything?


    That night, the three of them and six others painted Cowards and Our Lives Lost Dont Warrant Punishment on the stone face of the building before running away, even as the police came to investigate.


    Thankfully, John had a contact in the police department, and they warned them in time so they could get away.


    That started Matt''s time with the Resistance.


    They started small, but as the weeks passed, they escted.


    They did bad things, but they were the good guys.


    Burning down the town hall was met with satisfaction of the masses, even while the local papers tried to vilify them. They knew the truth. They talked to their fellow citizens, who were just as angry as them.


    A yearter, they were in contact with a dozen more groups like theirs, and they had a n for an even bigger score.


    They wanted to burn down one of the Junipers supply depots.


    It took some nning, but they managed it without any of them getting caught.


    That was only possible because of John.


    Far from the simple man he pretended to be, he was actually a Tier 15 who hade back to Lilly when his family was killed.


    With his help, they grew stronger as he took them deep into the continent and taught them how to fight.


    When Matt reached Tier 3, they grabbed onto his Talent and the possibilities it provided.


    Mana was both money and power.


    With it, they got better gear and hit harder targets.


    First was an outpost of the Junipers that housed their guards, who had been responsible for putting their mana stones too close to the cities.


    They executed each and every one of thezy, corrupt bastards and sent the video to the news stations.


    They called them terrorists, but Matt and everyone else knew the truth.


    They were liberators.


    Saviors of their fellowmoners.


    Once they got a taste for blood, they hit more outposts and hit them harder.


    With John, no matter how strong the defenders that the Junipers tried to hide in themon guards were, they were always dealt with easily, and they punished all the traitors the only way they could.


    Things continued like that for another two years before they had an opportunity.


    A prestigious ypen for the rich and elite had a vulnerability in their primary ward.


    They took advantage of it.


    The nobles and ilk had taken away their parents, so the Resistance would take away their children.


    A few explosives filled with tens of thousands of mana detonated while they were at lunch, and killed eighty percent of the little monsters.


    As John said, If the problem wasnt taken care of at the root, it would just regrow.


    That was their first big victory.


    It was also when the stove got too hot, and they needed to move.


    With thatst mission done, they left Lilly and moved to a nearby with its own corrupt noble.


    There, they gathered more support before striking out once more.


    They even started iming their attacks as, The Wrath of the Commoners.


    They used Matts mana and got themselves support from the locals while striking out at the nobility and upper ss as much as possible.


    They spilled themon man''s blood without thought, and The Wrath of the Commoners spilled theirs back.


    One time, they even ambushed and killed a Tier 15.


    That was their greatest victory.


    A victory so great, they needed toy low for a while.


    That was when Matt created his Concept.


    <em>Detonation.</em>


    He could constrain his mana in the area around him, building it up andpressing it with his will. Then, once he was ready, he could unleash it in a massive detonation that not only could destroy just about anything of his Tier, but melted even higher-tier runes and enchantments in a wide area.


    That enabled them to attack evenrger targets.


    It culminated in an attack on a prep school for noble children.


    It took a year of infiltrating the staff, but eventually, they got their bombs in ce, and during an assembly for some stuck-up award, they intended to detonate them.


    Better yet, the fish they hooked was the biggest one yet.


    Some Elizabeth Moore was present to give the award for some little noble brat being more noble than the others.


    As the bombs went off, sending broken bodies flying every which way, Matt felt triumph, but that feeling quickly yielded to confusion.


    That shouldnt have worked. How had that worked? There was <em>no way</em> that should have worked.


    Liz was a royals daughter. She had Tier 35 guards.


    They should have stopped the bombs.


    But they hadn''t.


    A bodynded near him, and Matt smirked as he saw their target lying broken on the stones before him.


    Wait.


    Liz was dead?


    <em>Liz was dead</em>?


    Matt felt an overwhelming sense of nausea, but he shook it aside. As he looked at the body of the girl in front of him, it returned in force, and Matt broke.


    He had killed Liz.


    The love of his life.


    For some reason, that more than any of the other heinous crimes this reflection hadmitted hurt him.


    Liz should have been safe.


    And the thought that Liz mattered more than the others hurt even more.


    Liz was only one person, but to him, she mattered more than all the others.


    In horror, Matt watched as his reflection recovered and celebrated the death of the nobles.


    They ran, as cowards always did, but Matt knew what wasing, even as his reflection thought hed escaped.


    Mara and Leon descended on the like angry gods.


    Matts only warning was a tremor sweeping through the atmosphere like a sonic boom, then he was <em>elsewhere</em>, alongside every other member of The Wrath of Commoners.


    Matt expected them to kill them instantly, but they didnt. They didnt even torture them, even though Matt wouldn''t have med them. Honestly their little band of terrorist shouldn''t have even gotten that far after hitting the targets they did without a Tier 45ing down on them but he was sure Minka had kept them away until Matt and his team killed Liz.


    Instead, they simply handed them over to Imperial authorities, who tried them for their terrorist actions.


    All of them were guilty and pronounced so, despite their pitiful excuses.


    Matt felt sick watching his other self casually dismiss the lives of everyone they killed because of who their parents were.


    It was a side of himself he never thought he could be.


    He was d they were being killed. His entire group deserved far worse than the quick executions they were going to be given.


    A part of him wanted to tell Mara and Leon this was just a Minka reflection, and he loved Liz more than his life, but couldn''t bring himself to do so.


    He was a coward to think about what they would say.


    In front of a gathering of their victims'' loved ones, his reflection fell over, dead alongside his entire band of terrorists.


    ***


    Matt fell to the ground, on his hands and knees.


    It was done.


    His spirit felt tumultuous, though whether that was his Concept assimting its new abilities or something more akin to nausea from his experiences, Matt didnt know.


    There were a few other houses scattered across the safe zone, and a few individuals in varying states of recovery. Fortunately, Liz, Aster, and Susanne all appeared alongside him with spirits seemingly intact.


    They didnt need to say anything, Matt simply pulled out his house and the four of them filed inside. In silence, he made tea and passed out the mugs for everyone, hiding a small tremor in his hand as he handed Liz hers.


    Matt was just starting his second mug when Aster finally spoke up. Did everyone seed?


    Nods all around gave the answer.


    Aster then continued, Great! What did everyone get? I had ice cream lives, which was cool. There was one where I was a human artist and Matts little sister, which was the best! One where I was a winter wolf, one where I was a fire fox That one was ok at best, but I like my cold much better. That dumb fox liked chili. There was another where I was a kitsune, one where I wasnt nearly as pretty or smart, and one where Matt died early, and I had to live on my own.


    Asters low whine as she sent thest life was a heart-wrenching thing, and Matt reached over to where the little fox was sitting to pull her onto hisp infort. She snuggled up close to him, stealing all his warmth with a deliberate burst of cold.


    The cheeky little fox.


    Susanne chuckled at Matts involuntary shiver before speaking up herself. I had coffee, not that it really matters. Um, anyway. I had one life where I served as a dedicated defender for my brother, focusing on shields especially. One where I mastered lots of weapons rather than just my sword, one where I was a scribe she frowned at that before continuing. There was one where I was an agility warrior, specializing in daggers and using a Concept to empower others des, interestingly enough. I had one life in the Sects with the power to resize weapons I wielded, and one life where I could hide swords inside my body to benefit from their enchantments. I swear if I hear <em>one more joke</em> about being a sword sheath, I <em>will</em> hurt someone.


    Matt smirked but kept his mouth shut. He had learned his lesson about bad jokes decades ago.


    Their other lives were sort of abstract memories at this point, he didnt need to worry about getting confused in regards to what was real or not, but habits and preferences <em>were</em> known to bleed through. Theyd be sorting out whether or not a bit of irritation was genuine or a phantom impression for months, maybe even years toe. Theyd have a dedicated debrief with Luna and their psychiatrists once this was all over, unpacking the six other lives theyd all lived, but for now, they needed to focus on what was immediately relevant. Namely, the general forms that their new abilities might havee in.


    Liz still seemed interested in staring at her still-full mug of tea. He reached over and gave her a small squeeze on her shoulder, which broke her out of her contemtion and earned Matt a smile. Oh, am I going next?


    Matt shook his head. I was going to, unless you really want to? You just looked deep in thought.


    Yeah Yeah. But Im fine, she shrugged. Just thinking.


    If youre sure.


    I am, she smiled, but he could see it was forced. Matt, are you dying?


    Matt just rolled his eyes and counted off on his fingers. My lives involved me being a professional cook, then there was one where I was imprisoned for my mana generation. There was a life where I never teamed up with you, and mainly worked as a mage-warrior duo with Aster, one where I never even <em>got</em> Aster, and moved into using talismans way earlier, and a quiet life where I joined a guild and acted as a support mage. Thest was a life where I was a well, a terrorist, with a Concept meant to meant <em>to</em> make things explode.


    Susanne shrugged. Yeah, I cant say Im happy with my behavior in the Sects, but they-


    They arent real. I know. He took a breath and nodded to Susanne before looking to thest one. Liz?


    A life where I was a researcher. A life where I had a fire Talent instead of a blood Talent, a life where I used blood sacrifice to be a queen during the Shattering, a life where I pushed people to sign unbreakable blood oaths with me, a life where you and Aster both died and I went hard on being a blood warrior rather than a mage, and a life where I killed a fews via bloodborne illness, rot, and decay.


    Thatst life caught him speechless. That was a step beyond even his terrorist life. Are are you sure youre okay?


    Liz nodded, Absolutely. They werent <em>me</em>.


    The private AI message Matt got as she said so told a different story, however. I need to talk to you. Alone.


    He acknowledged the message, not letting his face show any reaction, and spoke up. Well. I dont know about the rest of you, but I <em>really</em> need a good nights sleep as <em>me.</em> Bedtime for now, get a good nights sleep. Well divvy up loot in the morning and cross our fingers thest psychotic floor isnt Wastnd.


    There was a bit of murmuring in agreement as Aster and Susanne got up to go to bed, and Liz just nodded silently as they went to their respective beds.


    No sooner had the door clicked behind Matt and Liz as they entered their bedroom, with the privacy enchantments graven into the walls clicking and humming into action, did Lizunch herself at Matt, wrapping him in a one and a half-armed hug, sobbing.


    Matt scooped up his girlfriend into his arms and sat the two of them on their bed, where she sat crying into his shoulder for a substantial length of time. He just held her and gave the best hug he could while she vented her emotions into him.


    Eventually, her sobbing rxed into a mere sniffle, and after she blew her nose on the handkerchief Matt provided her, she looked him straight in the eyes. Its well past time I told you about my Awakening.

 Chapter 208

    Chapter 208


    Liz looked at Matt, red-eyed and with sadness dripping from her voice. I loved fire growing up. Still do, really the flicker of the me, like a tiny life of its own. Mom would always y with me using her fires, theyd be there when I scraped my knee, or if I was tired or bored. mes of all colors, warm to the touch but never burning. My siblings, when they visited, always showed off too. Whenever they both were around at the same time, Alice and Erin wouldpete to see who could burn the best picture directly into a block of wood.


    A smile flitted across her lips. Erin would sometimes do somewhat more <em>risque </em>pictures of her lovers. Those were always fun, and Dads reaction to her burning them when I was around was always hrious. I think I still have some of those actually, in some old forgotten closet back home. Some of my ssmates were afraid of fire, meanwhile I had nkets that were <em>literally</em> solid me. Mmm I loved those nkets. I wonder where Mom put them; I know she didnt throw them out.


    Shaking her head, she continued, But fire was in my <em>blood</em>, literally. How could I be afraid of it? Working magic when youre not awakened is hard, but hey, that didnt stop me, Liz chuckled. You know, looking back, I was <em>really</em> good at fire magic. One of those things you dont really appreciate when youre a kid, I guess. But I could fire-dance on my own, spin ribbons of me, and even create little puppets made out of fire. Id always send them dancing around the room to put on a show for anyone there. Even just myself some days.


    To illustrate her point, Liz sparked a small fire between her fingers, shaped it into a hummingbird, and sent it buzzing through the air. She fell silent, and Matt just hugged her tightly.


    When she next spoke, her voice was nearly breaking. I <em>loved</em> fire. I knew exactly who I was, and exactly what I would be. I would be a pyromancer unlike anyone had ever seen before. mes had birthed me, mes would be mypanion, and Id live forever basking in fire. I had my <em>Concept</em> all but made. I knew <em>exactly</em> what my image was, <em>exactly</em> what my phrase was, and the only reason I wasnt on the first step of my Domain was because its physically impossible before the peak of Tier 4.


    I had my <em>Concept</em>, Matt. Her voice broke, and she started crying quietly into his shoulder. She kept talking, only slightly muffled by Matts shirt after a few moments. At age <em>nine</em>. That was younger than <em>Uncle Aiden</em> was. Ascenders, some people spend a thousand years trying to figure out what their Concept was, and there I was, a precocious little girl not even a decade old, and I had it all but done!


    Matt rested his lips against her forehead, and Liz rxed into the kiss, releasing her death grip on his arm. And then and <em>then</em>? The day of my fifteenth birthday came around. All my siblings, Uncle Aiden, Aunt Helen, even Uncle Manny were there, all ready to celebrate with me as I awoke my first Talent and took my first steps as a pyromancer.


    Between her wavering voice and just knowing how the story went, Matt could guess what wasing, and hugged Liz tightly, pulling her as close as he could manage without hurting her. She took a deep, shuddering breath and continued, I absorbed essence no problem, it settled into my spirit, and <em>everything went wrong</em>.


    Have you ever had your mana forcibly aspected? Rhetorical question, I know. Mana carries a sort of <em>sense</em> to it, and my bloodline meant I naturally had fire-aspected mana. I never realized the warmth it carried for me until it was <em>gone</em>. Everything went cold, my spirit shook, I started bleeding from the eyes, and <em>everything went wrong</em>. All butpletely unable to use fire skills! I <em>lost</em> my ability to connect to fire. To <em>feel</em> fire. Not the heat, but the <em>fire</em>.


    My life it didnt go well for me, those first few weeks. My Concept shattered and I hid in my room, looking up every blood mage on the EmpireNet. Niall Erlian, the blood researcher, he killed four million people through his experiments. There was Kell the Impaler, they had a habit of drowning people in their own blood after, go figure, impaling them. The Red gues, were a series of pandemics that wiped out three low-tier worlds, perpetrated by a cabal of blood mages. Another was Duke Sanguine, infamous for his blood-haze spells that could drive armies into self-destructive frenzies. Countless cases of blood sacrifices, disease, hical experimentation, I saw it <em>all.</em> Was that going to be my legacy? Was I just going to be a young spark snuffed out by the real world, not even able to take any steps to <em>real</em> power?


    And oh, there were rumors. My Awakening was private of course, but people talked. Ohh, did people ever <em>talk</em>. They didnt know what happened, but they saw that I wasnt around dazzling everyone with an even better mastery of fire magic, and they came to conclusions. The Extinguished Phoenix, they said, the Cinder Sparrow. Oh did they ever talk, did they ever <em>revel</em> in their rumors. They thought I might be unable to use magic altogether, that I got some Talent so detrimental even my parents were hiding me away, never mind that theyd <em>never</em> do that.


    A small smile crossed her face as Liz continued, But what they did do, was spend every single one of my waking moments trying to help me feel better. They brought in a blood mage from a local hospital to talk about all the good that blood magic could do in healing. It just wasnt as shy, so it didn''t make the EmpireNet headlines. They told me they didnt care what my magic was like, and they reassured me in every way they possibly could that they still loved me and always would. What finally got me, in the end, was them saying that I could be just like Uncle Aiden and my dad. After all, what was blood but just red water? I could use blood like it was water, and that wasnt so bad, was it?


    Liz wormed her way out of Matts hug, sprawling across the bed and putting her hand under her head as she stared at the ceiling. And you know what? It wasnt. I had already been nning to join the Path before my awakening, and there wasnt much need to change that n just because my Bloodline wasrgely cut off from me until- until I got stronger. My mana aspect was all wrong, my Concept was shattered, and I had to learn an entirely new form of elemental magic from scratch. No, no reason at all. Dad gave me a [Water Maniption], and after a few days of practice with it at home, he officially sponsored me to join the Path and I was on my way to the yPen. I said my goodbyes, and well that was that. The only time I saw them before Tier 10 was after I graduated the yPen and headed off-world, though, while I was local, we stillmunicated via AI. But Im sure they watched me the whole time.


    They stayed quiet for a long moment before she spoke again.


    I moved on, or at least, you know, I thought I did. Stupid Minka, she grumbled.


    Ive talked to my psychiatrist about it, talked with Mom and Dad about it during the tournament, and even talked with Uncle Manny about it. Even by the time we met, I was mostly over it. Still prickled a little, but I was fine. Torch really was the crowning achievement that finally put everything to rest. I managed to fight my own Talent and <em>win</em>. First ce as a pyromancer with a Talent actively working against my own magic. I was beginning to really embrace blood magic, and I always consoled myself knowing that even if I hit a major roadblock in my path, it was my own grit and willpower that got me here. If Id gotten the fire Talent I always dreamed about, I wouldnt have been forced to push myself so hard, so fast, and I wouldnt be where I am today.


    Liz scowled, and her face contorted with the clear desire to kill <em>something</em> before fading back to normal. Then <em>Minka</em> happened.


    She looked off to the side before pulling one of their pillows to her and grabbing it in a one-handed hug. My first life, like I said, I was a blood queen. I used the blood of my enemies and my allies for my own strength. It was weirdly <em>honest</em> for a sacrifice-based skillset, but I guess thats just all the more proof that evil is in the mage, not the magic. Still though, it was disturbing, and it <em>did</em> give me a few ideas as to how I could use blood in some novel ways. It doesnt particrly matter at the moment, but Ill probably want your help implementing them at some point.


    Of course, <em>Your Majesty</em>, Matt gently needled his girlfriend, earning himself a good-natured swat.


    Brat. But yeah, a nice clean life. Then, I decided to go for some spiced wine, very clearly a fire mage life. I thought to myself, may as well get it out of the way, could be fun, might be nice to reminisce and feel good about myself and what Ive aplished, Liz looked up to him and caught his eyes, taking a deep breath. Remember what I said about how I always consoled myself that I pushed myself harder and faster as a blood mage than I would have as a fire mage? Well, at least as far as Minka thinks, nah. Just, nah. All that meant was my drive to excel on my own merits, to push myself out of the shadow of my parents and siblings was all the stronger. I pushed myself just as hard as I ever did in real life, and boy did it pay off. It took me <em>years</em> to be half-decent at blood magic, but after a few years as a fire mage, I was the best, no question! We met up and teamed up, but I matched you as easily as breathing. You pushed yourself harder to keep up with me, with both of us excelling and feeding off each other. Once we met Luna, my drive didn''t even matter!


    A tear slipped out of her eye and slid down her face as she continued, Best pyromancer shed ever seen, ording to her. From fucking <em>Luna</em>. We <em>sted</em> through the Pather tournament, barely breaking a sweat. Wepleted Minka at Tier 11 with barely a scratch! <em>She</em> never lost her arm fighting the General. <em>She</em> hardly even got hurt! That tree Concept backed by most of an Intent? She burned the tree to the <em>fucking ground</em> and the General right behind it, because <em>thats just how strong she was.</em> Oh but her mes werent just destruction, they were healing and light, beauty and life, and it was <em>perfect</em>, Matt.<em> I</em> was perfect!


    Matt stroked her head as Lizy silently, staring up at the ceiling for almost ten minutes. I got a bit of a break then. Life as a researcher, using my Talent to explore my bloodline. I wasnt evil, but I certainly wouldnt call myself <em>good</em>. I was too obsessed for that, if nothing else. Then, Minka decides to kick me while Im down. Straight from my dream life to one of my <em>literal nightmares</em> in the days and weeks following my awakening. Filth and disease, my blood spreading across the world and infecting everything. I dont get manyments these days, pretty much everyone of our Tier has gotten the concept of good or bad mana aspects soundly beaten out of them, and Ive gotten better at controlling my blood when it matters to make it less intimidating. But early on... Ascenders, early on? I got a few badments about being a filthy blood mage at the yPen, but I was already so deep in self-loathing, Ide out the other side, and my parents support kept me stable. In my fourth life, thements were so much worse, and on top of that, my parents had managed to die in a rift. I think they werent full Royals, or something nonsensical so Minka could kill them off, but all that loathing just kept bottling up while they hated me for something I couldnt control. And so, I killed them. Slowly, painfully, and somehow tracelessly. I turned their own blood against them, infected them with incurable diseases, and fed on their dying gasps, relishing in their suffering and the baffled attempts of the healers called in to fix them. Then, I ran away and kept preying on the weak, impoverished, the poorly protected, and went even heavier into sacrifices than even my blood queen life did. No greater cause, no morals, no guiding I think I killed fives before being forced into hiding.


    Liz looked up to Matt, but he didnt revile her. It hadnt been her, and he wasnt a hypocrite. And I don''t mean I killed all the people, but I sacrificed thes themselves. Eating the essence out of their cores to power my rituals. I turned my blood into a self-replicating infection that spread from to, consuming everything it passed to grow stronger. It wasnt pretty. Oh, but I loved it. <em>She</em> loved it. Whatever. Ascenders, is there even really a difference? At some point, does it matter whether I was the one in control or not? Because the <em>memories</em> are still there, and those definitely arent going away.


    The dying heartbeats of my victims, bodies sometimes forcibly fed life so that theyd keep on living while I drained them for everything they could give, feeding on their pain and misery just as much as their blood, mana, and essence. There were <em>billions</em> of people on each of thes I killed, and I want to say I remember each one, except I just <em>cant</em>. Too many men, women, children, beasts. Young and old. Sometimes Id slowly kill children in front of their parents just for the delight of it, but usually, I wouldnt bother and would just move on. The screams and the sobs of the dying, mothers begging to save their children, husbands begging to save their wives, or the other way around, parents trying to give me their children to save them, or to take their spouse and leave <em>them</em> alive, I saw it all. I saw the absolute worst that humanity has to offer, and I <em>caused it all.</em>


    Matt pulled her into a hug, and she sobbed into his shoulder before clearing her voice to a calm, if unsteady tone. My next life went basically the same as my real life. At least, until you died in one of our early rifts, bitten in half by that giant feathered serpent. And Aster died shortly thereafter, crushed by a stone golem. I teamed up with Conor, Annie, and Emily, and they all died too. Im not really sure what I truly snapped at, or if there even was a single instance where I went from sane to unhinged. That Liz kept some level of morals; she didnt go around eatings or killing babies, but I definitely wasnt right in the head. Shed kill people for the slightest provocation, cause bloodshed wherever possible, and <em>literally</em> bathe in the blood of her enemies to strengthen her blood. Then of course, just to top it all off, there was a life where I was a control freak, binding people to me with contracts signed in blood. I barely even <em>tried</em> to excel personally there, she just wrote off skills as a lost cause and got other people to do the work for her.


    Her voice fell to barely above a whisper as she continued. I just what if Minka is trying to tell me something? All of my other selves, they all truly used blood magic in ways I never have, nor ever wanted to. But is it saying that Im a monster, and would do those things? Is it saying that I need to <em>be</em> a monster to truly realize my full potential? Or that using my Talent to its full potential would corrupt me, and <em>make</em> me a monster?


    Matt just pulled her closer, giving her a peck on her cheek. Hey. I love you.


    Liz smiled and muttered something that sounded like agreement as she melted into his arms. Liz didnt need his reassurance. She already knew he had her back and would stop her from going too far. She just needed him to hold her as she processed things.


    After they had sat there for over an hour, he spoke up, stroking her head as ity on hisp. My firsht life was one where my parents never died. I was a chef and had Aster as a little sister. It was perfect. Everything I could have wanted. I think they would have liked you.


    Lizs single arm gripped him tightly for a moment, and he patted her back to show he was with her and not lost in his mind.


    Things only went downhill from there. The next few lives werent that bad, but thest two were awful. The second tost one, I got locked in a box, treated like nothing more than a mana stone.


    Trying to inject some levity, he added, At least our Emperor was his same old self. That life happened back before he was even heir-apparent, and old Emperor Gregorios had no problems keeping me locked away once I had been rescued from thest group trying to control me. That life was bad, but in the next one, I became a terrorist.


    Matt swallowed hard twice before he could speak again. I killed a lot of people, and I know I should feel bad about them, and I do, but what really eatsh at me was how eashy it was for me to slip into that life. Each decision seemed like one that I could see myself making at the moment. Taking a breath, he let it out slowly. I didnt wake up until I killed <em>you</em>, and even then, it was only because my alternate self thought it was too easy. It was a relief when that life ended, I couldnt stand seeing your parents hating me as my trial went on, wanting me dead but refusing to do it themselves.


    Liz didnt try to justify his actions orfort him, just as he hadnt for her, she just pulled him close and kissed him before cuddling into him.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure how long it was before they fell asleep, but when they finally did it was while holding one another.


    When he woke up, the first thing he saw was Liz grinning at him, inches from his face. You have my only arm pinned, I really have to pee, and I cant teleport.


    Getting up, he exited out of their room to see Susanne and Aster sitting in the living room.


    After Liz came back, he used the bathroom himself and started making everyone breakfast.


    He paused as he looked at his knife block and then swapped two knives. Chef Matt had his block arranged that way, and Matt felt his hand reach for that configuration instinctively.


    It wasnt quite muscle memory, but it was a firm habit.


    Reviewing that life, he decided on a breakfast he had cooked at one of the restaurants he worked at. It was more fancy than he was used to making out in the real world, but he wanted to try.


    So Matt, Aster joined him by jumping up onto a bar stool on the far side of the counter, settling into a position where her tail would have been wrapped around her legs, if it wasnt a charred stump. I had a life where you were my big brother.


    Matts eyebrows raised as he chopped an onion. It wouldn happen to have been tha life where you were an artist, was it? Because when I was a chef, <em>you</em> were <em>my</em> little sister.


    Yes, it was! And yeah! You were a super awesome cook!


    Now, now. Wash I a <em>cook</em>, or a <em>chef</em>? Im a cook right now, but a chef works in a restaurant.


    Aster rolled her eyes and shook her body. Fine, you were a <em>chef</em>. So, do you think we had the same life?


    Luna said that linked lives were impossible, he reminded the overeager fox as he moved to cutting up peppers. But I dont see why we couldnt have separately had the same kind of life, even if they werent <em>literally</em> shared.


    Aster preened, I choose to believe they were shared, no matter what anyone says!


    Then she wilted, with her body slumping onto her stool as she met his gaze. I miss them too.


    That made Matt instantly lose it, and he pulled his bond into a hug as the two of them cried on the kitchen floor.


    Kissing the top of her head, he said, You are always a part of my family, and mom and dad would agree. Im d you got to meet them and have them as your parents officially.


    Aster let out a long, slow whine as they grieved for what was lost.


    When they got up, they deliberately lightened the conversation by talking about the funny moments in the life they seemingly shared.


    Matt didnt care about the little details that seemed different, like when a family friend had a different nickname in the other''s life. Those could simply be a byproduct of imperfect memory, and the main points were nearly identical besides. Really Matt was just d he could share something that special with Aster.


    As they were winding down from talking about their shared experience, Aster pulled out a skill shard from her cor and said, I wanted to give you this. I got it from my final clone, and its really only right to share this with my bond, even aside from how I dont need it.


    Matt plucked the skill from the air as Aster released her hold on it, and cast [Analyze] on the skill shard, before his eyes went wide.


    It was [Ice Maniption].


    <em>Asters</em> [Ice Maniption], with her upgrade, and years worth of Asters own modifications to it. Combined with his boon from Courtly Warfare, it would near instantly be one of his strongest skills. He really couldnt ask for anything more fitting, and wrapped the little fox in a hug all over again before scratching the spot she liked right next to her ear.


    When they served breakfast, Matt saw the wet spots on Susanne''s face, but didnt ask. Emotions were running high this morning, and if Liz was able to help her while he and Aster had their little moment, that was good.


    Breakfast was a quiet affair. When they finished, they fitted Lizs prosthetic arm over her stump. It wasnt much, as it had essentially no tactile feedback, and its fingers could only really be used to hold onto or release a single object.


    To make up for the weakness, Liz went searching through their loot vault and eventually came out with a round shield enchanted to be basically immovable for anyone but the wielder, for whom it was all but weightless. It had a makers mark that Matt identified as being from the Guilds, but the design on the front- a stylized leaf surrounded by ripples of water- wasnt something that any of them recognized.


    While she was doing that, Matt and the others were busy experimenting with their new abilities. Fortunately, for the most part, it wasnt terribly hard to figure out how to <em>activate</em> them, but figuring out what they did wasnt always quite so simple.


    By pushing Willpower into his Concepts repulsion ability, Matt felt two new slots branching out in his spirit, one going inside and the other going outside. With a bit of experimentation he determined that the new development was associated with his life with just him and Aster, and his life as a terrorist.


    When he activated the inside ability, he felt the weak repulsion field around him drawing in, far closer to him and his body, and made a sort of second skin around his body and armor, even with [Cracked Phantom Armor] when he activated that. Overall, it acted as a potent defensive ability, and though Susanne was able to ovee it without too much difficulty, that wasnt necessarily a fair assessment.


    The repulsion-armor also seemed to help with Matts lifting strength, but that would be more trouble than it was worth to try and measure at the moment. He could also feel that if he worked with it, he could send it into his sword for an explosive addition to his de, but he had a hard time getting the power to get further than the pommel.


    Overall, it promised to be a decent addition to his defensive arsenal once he got some more practice with it. Since it wasnt a traditional form of armor, it wasnt quite as vulnerable to standard armor-piercing attacks. It had its limits, sure, but <em>Queen</em> was hardly a good benchmark for its defense.


    The next power was <em>different</em>.


    Normally, his repulsion worked by pushing solid objects and spells away from him with a solid, gentle force, up to a certain range. After which, the object could keep moving if it had enough momentum.


    Motion in its purest form.


    The ability hed gotten from his life as a terrorist, meanwhile, wasnt nearly so gentle.


    He could bottle up his repulsion in a particr way, building up force at a rate only matched by his Willpower expenditure, then release it as a massive shockwave that traveled well, a good ways. Hed tested that ability outside the houses shield, and so far as he could tell, it hit the edges of the safe room before being absorbed away by Minka.


    Even with his warning to the others in the safe area, that stunt earned him some very unwee attention- fair enough though. He <em>did</em> basically attack the other two teams unprovoked. That hed given them a warning that something would happen didnt seem to mollify them, but in the end, it didnt matter, as nobody tried to follow him through the houses shields, contenting themselves with just yelling at him.


    If he didnt want to bottle up the explosion, Matt could also push his Willpower at it in a constant stream, creating a rapid-fire, continuous explosion as his Concept created dozens of weaker shockwaves a second, rippling out from him in a low roar.


    Both uses were quite destructive and <em>incredibly</em> satisfying, but taxing enough on his Willpower that hed gotten a nosebleed from Concept overusage for the first time in a very, <em>very</em> long while. He meditated to recover while passively helping Susanne explore her new abilities.


    Most of hers were fairly quick to master, being abilities shed already been using for a while, in some form or another. She could manifest a shield as well as a sword now, and make either of them animate itself and dance around her.


    She could also freely manipte the size of any of her Manifestations, even while they were active, and absorb them inside of her body in a way that was somewhat nauseating to watch. Her arm peeling open to ept a miniaturized sword nested between her radius and ulna was unsettling. Doing <em>that</em> made her arm Concept-reinforced, and about as unbreakable as her sword normally was.


    During their final test, she even managed to <em>halt</em> a low-powered [Cracked Mana Spear] with her palm, then dispel it by cutting the energy in half with the tip of her sword poking out of her hand.


    That almost wiped out her willpower, but it was still impressive.


    Herst two abilities were frustrating her, though. She described it as trying to reach for a power that just wasnt in reach, despite knowing very clearly where it <em>should</em> be.


    While she ruminated on her own investigation, Matt returned to his own experimentation, this time with Aster.


    His mana-granting ability wasnt quite so easy to figure out, despite only one obvious new mode to it. When he used that mode, he could feel the mana around him drain away and into him in a way that he instantly recognized as associated with his life stuck as a mana stone. He wasnt able to test if it worked on ambient mana, as there just <em>wasnt</em> any for him to experiment with, but he wasnt able to target individual spells, like he suspected his alternate life would have been able to if presented the opportunity.


    He <em>was</em> able to determine that it worked on people, but that meant he needed to ovee their spiritual defenses. Even when Aster intentionally tried to let it affect her, she couldnt <em>truly</em>, as she described it as a deeply unpleasant feeling she couldnt help but flinch away from. The most Matt was able to drain from her was about twenty mana a second, which wasnt much over the scale of a fight, but considering it was aplete <em>reversal</em> of his Concepts normal effect, he was still content with its power. He was pretty sure hed be able to absorb ambient mana with some training, but Minka, with no ambient mana, wasnt the ce for practice.


    The only way they found to really use it was when he got in melee range, where if he was able to get through someone''s spirit, it took considerable effort for them to break the connection.


    Two of Asters new abilities just focused on making her ice even better- specifically, harder and more defense-piercing. Her ice-based debuff spells were the most obviously affected by thetter, as Matts passive spiritual defense was barely able to keep her out. He needed to actively focus on not allowing the creeping cold at the edge of his perception inside him to block it, and her [Ice Spear]s definitely put more strain on [Bulwark] when it was active, though not enough to actually break through the defense in a single cast.


    Shed also gotten the ability to create an illusory duplicate of herself, an ability she promptly swore off using until her fur was healed, and an expansion to her normal sheer cold Concept to enable better interaction with wind and Winter abilities. Her Concept-empowered gusts of wind cut nigh to the bone with their chill, actively stealing heat from whatever they touched.


    Her experimentation with that ability, in fact, led her to discover the ability shed gotten for being a fire fox, namely the ability to invert fire and make it burn icy blue and cold, sucking in heat from their surroundings to sustain themselves. Even skills werent immune to the effect, though they were harder for her to affect than the candles she predominantly practiced on. She was naturally thrilled and enthusiastically thanked Minka, apologizing for ever doubting its wisdom of making her live with <em>fire</em> for an entire lifetime.


    Matts main takeaway from her celebrations, though, was that he should make her heart chili at some point, just to mess with her. See whether her hatred of the spicy food or love of hearts woulde out on top.


    Liz joined him, pulling him into a hug as they watched Aster dance around the room. Her new arm was cold metal, barebones, and certainly not mistakable for flesh and blood. Those prosthetics were far too expensive to warrant keeping in their first-aid kit, but while Matts heart ached to see her so injured, he didnt bring it up, instead focusing on her own Concept discoveries.


    Liz had found that her blood had gained a simr effect to Asters defense-piercing, but even more focused on subtle usurpation of spiritual defenses. When paired with her permanent Lady of Red Snow ability, it allowed her to make bloody wounds unnoticeable to the wounded. With some practice, they theorized Liz very well might be able to tear someone apart from the inside with [Bloodthorn Vines] without them even <em>realizing</em> they were under attack.


    A terrifying proposition.


    Shed also gotten the ability to infuse her weapons with her own blood and make them drink blood from wounds they inflicted. Theyd only tested with rtively small amounts of blood, but if the trends held true, the more blood they drank, the more she was able to directly empower her attacks with her Concept. It was practically assured that there was more to it than that, but their healing cooldowns limited the amount of self-getion they could do in the name of information.


    What <em>was</em> easier to test was her ability to empower her own bloodline, and correspondingly her already-impressive fire affinity. Furthermore, she could make blood she controlled burst into mes at will, and could direct the mes she controlled to burn things to <em>blood</em> instead of ash. It made for a fairly nasty loop if the ability worked the way they hoped.


    She also had two abilities she hadnt been able to test, but was fairly certain she understood in broad strokes. One allowed her to use the blood of the recently-deceased for something. Some form of personal empowerment, specifically. The other was an ability to establish a <em>permanent</em> blood oath between herself and another person, giving both of them benefits in exchange. That sounded fairly worrying to Matt and Liz alike, and they agreed that they needed to talk to Luna before even <em>thinking</em> about potential uses, though they had a few.


    Even with roughly half her new abilities mostly untested, Liz was quite pleased that she at least had an <em>avenue</em> for direct weapon empowerment with her Concept. Only time would tell how effective it would be <em>exactly</em>, but they were all fairly optimistic. Liz would be <em>terrifying</em> if it even worked out minorly.


    Aster, meanwhile, had finished her own experimentation, and found that herst ability enabled her to freeze things, or even spells, in space and seemingly time.


    When caught by her Concept, they hung in ce, perfectly still until disturbed. It took most of Asters focus on a single object, but as a starting point, it was quite promising. It also covered one of the typical weaknesses of defensive air magic spells, namelyrge singr attacks, which was quite the upgrade to a previous weak spot.


    Asters description of her discovery sparked Matts own mind, and he quickly discovered another one of his Concept uses when he took his mana regeneration enhancement and focused it onto a single person. When he did so, not only was the mana regeneration he could provide nearly doubled, but so too did his champion experience a substantial boost to their physical cultivation in a way that perfectly matched up with Matts own cultivation. The boost was, split- a focus on Mind and Senses, then a bit more Strength than the rest.


    When paired with [Mages Retreat], it became a powerful addition to his arsenal.


    It also gave them the idea that they might be able to make a feedback loop of Matts ability to transfer physical strength and Lizs contract power, to empower both of them more than they could do on their own.


    If he focused on a single <em>item</em>, Matt found he could imbue it with mana to enhance it. With food, that meant stronger reactions, including taste, in a very familiar way, but he could also saturate his crafting materials with mana for a simr effect. Most true enchanting-work didnt <em>require</em> mana-heavy materials, but it definitely made things easier. He could also focus onto a mana crystal to fill it with mana at range, or if he switched to mana draining mode, <em>withdraw</em> from it at range as well.


    If he focused on an enchantment, however, he could fill it up directly with mana, an ability which extended to <em>talismans</em>. Having just lived a life with a simr Concept power, Matt already knew a ton of ways to take advantage of being able to charge his armory after creating it.


    Normally, creating a talisman was like painting a steady line. You had to have the right amount of paint on your brush the entire time, and know exactly how much paint you were going to use in total from the very start. Any deviations could ruin everything. Of course, with a talisman, it was mana instead of paint, and failures could be literally quite explosive.


    If he could charge talismans <em>after</em> they were made, however, he could do the equivalent of scratch a quick thin line on paper, and only <emter</em> decide how much mana he wanted in it. It would also drastically speed up his talisman production, both because he wouldnt need to be so worried about things blowing up in his face, but also because he could spend less time at the workbench limited by his mana regeneration.


    Actually, it would also help him make <em>stronger</em> talismans, too, because he could spend several days powering up a single talisman until it held millions of mana. Before, hed have to use an array of talismans to hold that much mana, simply because he was unable to spend literal days only making a single object with no interruptions even if he had higher Tier materials that could naturally hold that much mana.


    He still had to be a bit careful to prevent burning out the runes, but on further reflection, he realized that just meant he could probably cause some <em>weapons</em> to burn out, if they werent properly designed to handle excess mana.


    With a bit of practice, he could probably ruin any enchantments that his enemies had on their weapons before they knew what happened.


    While he was busy celebrating his newfound ease of enchantment, Susanne finally figured out herst two abilities. The first required her to hand her sword off to someone else, where it would dissolve in their hands. Then, for an ongoing Willpower cost, she could use her Concept to empower <em>their</em> sword. It only worked with swords, and was limited to a single person at a time, but like all Folded Reflection abilities, it was only a starting point.


    With a little practice, she was even able to boost herself by making a Concept copy of herself, then empowering each other for a short burst of strength.


    She eventually figured out that for herst ability, her Concept wanted her to absorb other swords into itself, and when she did so, she could choose to Manifest a copy of the absorbed sword instead of her normal de. She could even keep the absorbed swords enchantments, albeit at only about half strength.


    Considering one of the main weaknesses of Concept-manifested swords was their inability to be enchanted, Susanne was appropriately thrilled. She couldnt tell how many swords she could absorb into her Concept, or if there even <em>was</em> a limit, but even the three she already had to switch between- one with armor-piercing enchantments, one with a me enchant, and one with an imbued [Mana sh]- were already a great boon.


    Watching her absorb a new sword was really neat as well- she held a sword in her hand, then manifested her normal sword over it, then dismissed the Manifestation, which took the formerly-real sword with it into her Concept.


    They were in something of a rush to get going, but they had one thing left to decide upon before moving to the final floor. Six upgrade orbs between four people werent terribly easy to split up equitably, but after a few minutes of discussion, they came to a deal. They would each get one upgrade orb to use immediately, and keep the two spares forter, either for the final loot split after Minka, or to use when they got another two orbs so that everyone could have a second.


    After that was hashed out, the upgrading went quickly, since everyone had picked out the first skill they would want upgraded ages ago. Matt upgraded [Sharp Mind], which typically enhanced his mental cultivation, but now also greatly improved his resistance to outside mental effects of all kinds. The disorientation skill hed been hit by in the fight against the team of ten from thest floor had left an impression, but if they ran into that group again, he should be able to resist it. There were a few smaller improvements as well, such as better mental focus and a slight efficiency boost, but without pumping his entire mana regeneration into the skill, he would have been hard pressed to notice the practical differences.


    Aster upgraded [Winters Harvest], which she was excited about. The base skill drained strength from designated enemies and used that to boost allies, but the conversion efficiency was typically somewhat weak. In addition to improving that aspect of the skill, the skill started to affect the mental and regeneration aspects of cultivation, inducing a mental torpor onto foes while hampering most healing they might attempt to do, and improving those same attributes on allies in turn. Whenbined with Matts new championing concept ability, he and Aster would be able to turn Liz into a positive wrecking ball in a fight, though most people would already consider her one.


    Liz herself upgraded [Hungering Weapon], which Matt was a little unclear on until she exined. Most of Lizs skills were heavily changed by her talent, and because of that, she didnt actually know what most of them would <em>do</em> once upgraded, which happened to be especially true for her better skills. She hadnt had [Hungering Weapon] for long, but it wasrgely unchanged from the normal skill, and going from draining strength and blood to also preventing all but the strongest healing skills was quite potent. There were other skills that might have given better returns, but this one was less of a gamble.


    Finally, Susanne upgraded her [Mana Strength], which allowed her to focus the increased strength to different areas of their body, shifting where they were strongest nearly at will. It couldnt mimic the sheer numbers of the upgrade for [Mages Retreat], but it could improve the strength of a weapon strike at one moment and then let the user leap much further in the next.


    With that taken care of, the four of them stood in front of the pir and touched it.


    Onest floor.


    Then they could rest.


    ***


    Matt looked down and paused as his mind tried to process what he was seeing.


    His body was gone.


    Kinda.


    His body looked like [Cracked Phantom Armor], glowing, blue, and ornate full-body armor that was leaking wisps of white light from where the joints would be on a normal suit of armor.


    He looked up and saw the others.


    Susanne had the most extreme change as a <em>literal</em> shadow of herself, mostly just a silhouette of a human woman that was missing half her head and holding a <em>very real</em> greatsword. So real, in fact, it made everything around it look unreal byparison, such as the fox standing next to her.


    Aster looked like a fox-sized hole in the universe, with distant stars peeking out from the cutaway, each slowly dying. She had a tail again- a fact which she seemed <em>immensely</em> happy about- but it was wispy and insubstantial, like a memory of a tail rather than the tail itself.


    Liz looked like a perfect copy of herself, but made of glistening blood. Even her individual strands of hair looked like tiny veins of blood, but her left arm was still mostly missing, awork of blood vessels tracing out where it <em>should</em> have been. The prosthetic was a shimmering cover that seemed to exist in the same ce but not interfere with her arm.


    Only two floors included such a drastic change to reality, Spirit Journey and Mind Over Matter. But given their surroundings bore more of a resemnce to a watercolor leaking pigment into the air instead of a psychedelic nightmare, and the fact they were all together from the start


    Asters message came through at the same time Matt came to the conclusion on his own.


    Mind Over Matter confirmed.

 Chapter 209

    Chapter 209


    Luna watched the of copper and gears floating in front of her and waited.


    It took a deliberate effort to not allow her perception of time to slip into a timeframe rtive to her Tier. That would just make it take subjectively longer for the children to get out. Great for when she needed to sneak in a cat nap, but less than ideal now.


    It was a symptom of the increasing stress that was affecting everyone.


    As the final floors of Minka were revealed, everyone stuck outside started to fray at the edges.


    Even now, two idiots, one from the Monster Collective and the other a Feddy, were fighting it out. While she hadnt paid attention to the situation, observing the high Tier chats with her AI told her everything she needed to know.


    The two had personal stakes in some of the children who had gone in this cycle, and the kids from the Federation had killed the Monster Collective kids. If that was all, it wouldnt have been thatrge of a matter, but the Feddy had then gloated to the Badger woman.


    That set the woman off, and she and the Feddy had been fighting for thest few hours.


    Turning her head, Luna looked out at where the two were throwing spells at each other and narrowed her eyes as their battle moved in her general direction.


    With a thought, she sent them both a message. Fight somewhere else.


    They ignored her, and their battle nearly washed over her house.


    Nearly, because two paws appeared and batted the two idiots in the direction of the sun.


    Two extrarge sr res showed where they skipped off the surface of the celestial body. She had controlled her strength to ensure the hit or impact wasnt lethal. She didnt need to set off an inter-Great Power incident by killing anyone, but a little p into the sun never hurt anyone.


    Luna caught the smirk Carol gave her that signaled that she had pulled herself out of her AI long enough to watch the show. The other manager wasnt able to stay as idle as Luna, no matter how much she wanted to. Not with half a dozen other teams she needed to direct.


    She also knew that the woman would be preparing to break away from directly teaching Susanne for a decade or two, after they spent a few years digesting the girl''s gains from Minka.


    She was once more wondering what the sixth floor would be when two figures appeared out of the Federations and Monster Collectives moons, and teleported over to above her house.


    You attacked down at our juniors. Care to exin yourself? The Federation woman was Tier 40s and strong, judging by the fluctuations of her spirit, but Luna wasnt afraid.


    More surprised.


    The woman didnt recognize her. And from the re from the Monster Collective man with wolf ears was giving her, he didnt recognize her either.


    Clearly, she had been out of the game for too long if they hadnt scurried away with their tails tucked upon seeing her.


    Giving them a chance to leave, she turned back to the above her. I warned them to take their fight elsewhere. They declined to listen. Ill give you the same warning. Leave now, or Ill attack outright. Im busy.


    The wolfman opened his mouth even as his limbs started to transform, signifying a partial shift into his beast form.


    Luna smiled even as the two spells came down at her.


    A heavily modified [Lightning st] and a [Poisonous Spore] hidden inside a [Mana Bomb].


    <em>Adorable</em>.


    Void mana washed out in the shape of her paws and targeted the weak parts of each spell, dismantling them before mming into the two idiots chests.


    Holes appeared where their hearts once were, and started to grow as her mana started to eat at their very beings.


    She started ignoring them the moment she saw the realization hit them of who they provoked.


    Or, more likely, their AI told them.


    Same thing, really.


    Luna wasnt that good abatant, all told. She never considered herself a fighter, but training untold generations of top-tier fighters and listening in on <em>all</em> of their lessons still meant she had a trick or two of her own. Besides, most spells were sloppy enough it was trivial to dismantle them in midair, and void mana was meant for destruction.


    Granted, if they had been prepared for a void user, they wouldnt have suffered so much, but that was their own fault.


    Like their juniors before, she batted the two of them into the sun, but to ount for their higher Tiers, she aimed for the center of the ster body instead of the edge.


    A great wave of sr fire blossomed out, but with a thought, she prevented it from washing out more than a few dozen miles from the surface.


    She certainly didnt want a sr storm interfering with her vigil, and there was no need to take even a slight risk of a supernova when she could so easily prevent it.


    Days turned into weeks, with all of the higher Tiers checking each new person who exited for someone who had left during the sixth floor.


    A first floor Eternal Darkness, a second floor Genesis Cultivation, a third floor Back to Basics, a fourth floor Courtly Warfare, a fifth floor Taxing Skills.


    What would the sixth floor be?


    So far, this cycle of Minka had been better than average, but Taxing Skills wasnt a deep floor that she would have chosen for her group.


    They could use it, but it wasnt ideal. The fact that they would have an odd number of Inner skill slots would itch at her, even if it wasnt a problem objectively.


    When half of a woman appeared on the Sect moon, Luna only paid enough attention to see if she would say something useful.


    That fraction of her attention turned to all of it, along with everyone else, when she started crying about how it was gone.


    Even as the healers picked her up and started closing her wounds, she kept flexing her Concept. Or rather, her willpower was being spent, but there wasnt an effect, like she didnt know how to use her own Concept.


    She would be fine, in time.


    If she truly didnt like her new Concept, breaking it after Tier 15 and remaking her previous one was a quick, century-long endeavor; far easier than making a brand new one or reforging a legitimately shattered Concept.


    Luna caught Carols eyes and smiled.


    A sixth floor Folded Reflections.


    Perhaps it was slightly deeper than was optimal, but the extra life experience it would provide was already invaluable. She held particr hope for Liz, that perhaps her other lives would be more used to utilizing more esoteric forms of blood magic. Using blood like an entry-level water mage was a waste of her potential, but Luna simply didnt <em>know</em> the other ways in which blood magic could work. Ideas, yes, but she would not ept presenting mere <em>spection</em> as genuine training methods, and the few blood mages that April had reached out to had all rebuffed her, were executed for their misdeeds, or some version of a healer. Minka told many lies, but it often carried a seed of truth. It was simply her job to find those seeds and ce them in fertile soil.


    She silently allocated a bit of their recovery time to have their therapists help them deal with the inevitable trauma Folded Reflections inflicted. Nobody escaped from living full lives unscathed, be they their wildest fantasies or a living nightmare. Both carried psychological damage.


    Now it was just a question of what the final floor was, but she suspected that she wouldnt get that answer until she was talking to her charges.


    ***


    Their gear had mostly faded. The actual items were useless at the moment, as were any enchantments focused on empowering the material it was made of, such as hardness and sharpness runes, leaving only their more directly magical abilities.


    Heck yeah! Matt pumped his fist in celebration, a smile spreading across his face. He couldnt <em>really</em> say what final floor he <em>most</em> wanted, unlike the rest of his team, but Mind Over Matter had been on his list of candidates from the very start. Being able to use his repulsion endlessly was already a solid reward, but a sixth floor Folded Reflections- or <em>any</em> Concept-rted reward- made it even better.


    I think top five to ten, at this point, Aster decided. Double Concept final floors is <em>great!</em>


    Susanne was even more pleased. Top four for me. The discount it gives applies to Folded Reflections, right?


    Liz nodded, studying her arm as she responded. Yeah, well Depending on how simr it is to your base abilities, your Concept could be almost unaffected, or made almost as free as your base abilities. Ill probably end up maybe with a one quarter to one third reduction on most of my new abilities? Matt will be better off there. Anyway, top five here, I think.


    Queen nodded, but before she could say anything else- if she nned to say anything at all - Aster spoke up, and Matts head instantly whipped around. He actually <em>heard</em> her speak instead of just reading an AI message. Liz, can you move your arm? I got my tail back, but I can''t move it.


    Liz shook her head, still inspecting the veins that made up her left hand. Nope. Not really, at least. I can open or close my fist, but the spiritual concept of my hand is missing at the moment. Pretty normal for Mind Over Matter, but it makes my prosthetic mostly useless. Ill have to figure out another way to use my shield.


    Matt looked at his own left hand. The fingers hed lost in his reflection fight looked more like the wisps of white light leaking from his joints than the armor they should have been. And while they opened and closed with the rest of his hand, he couldnt move them on their own, and his right hand could pass through them as if they werent even there.


    Unsettling.


    Liz called his attention back to what mattered. So, floor seven Mind Over Matter. Great result for all of us. The only problem is, this is an expensive floor reward. We might have a bit of an advantage from being Tier 11, but we need to press our lead. Pointing off to the side with her good arm, she added, Let''s get moving.


    With that said, they immediately started scouting their surroundings, trying to find both monsters and an exit.


    Mind over Matter changed the floor and themselves to a spirit form, includingndscapes and monsters, and that was readily apparent.


    Everything looked like a painting dipped in water, with the edges bleeding out into the air before fading away.


    That also brought up the second issue.


    They didnt have physical bodies, and moving wasnt quite so easy.


    Instead of just walking forward, they had to think about moving forward. It was almost like flying with a Concept or flying device, but slightly different, making it a frustrating skill to master.


    Thankfully, there didnt seem to be any monsters around the area where Minka had dumped them, so they had some time to adjust to the new mode of lotion.


    Just as they reached the wall of the ruin they were in, they encountered their first monster.


    Matt had never seen anything like it before.


    It was eight feet tall, and it looked like someone had stuck a half-dozen different creatures into a single body. It had three arms on the right and six on the left, and each limb seemed to be from a different monster. It screamed the instant it saw them andunched a beam of white mes at them.


    Matt cast [Bulwark], but called on his Concept to reinforce the skill. Normally, that wouldnt be possible, but the entire floor was <em>literally</em> about enforcing your will on reality in ways it wouldnt normally work.


    Hed had practice, of a sort, protecting Aster with a very simr Concept in the life where it had just been the two of them. His Will infused [Bulwark] and turned an attack likely to seriously damage or outright break the skill into a harmless ssh.


    Aster yowled, and the zing mes burned away the heat, leaving only a dead chill.


    Almost at the same time, Liz and Susanne attacked.


    Fighting was a bit odd without their bodies, but their spirits knew what to do.


    Susanne lifted off the ground, her sword dancing like [Phantom Sword] or [Sword Doppelganger], save for the fact that her indistinct form came along for the ride. It flew towards the monster, with Susannes outline trailing behind as it severed one of the abominations arms.


    Liz had her shield, held by a [Blood Whip] tentacle extending from her left arm, raised to block an attack that never came as she struck the monster with a blood spear. Wherever she hit, spots of dark, rotting necrosis followed. It slowly spread across the monsters flesh, thanks to Lizs insistence that the monster was unable to do anything <em>but</em> die, contested by the monsters peak Tier 14 spirit.


    Matt joined the assault with a flurry of [Mana sh]es. His swords steel may have been worthless on this floor, but it was still a useful spell focus.


    The first of several attacks mmed into the abominations spirit, carving outcerations in its body and forcing it to split its attention between him and his teammates. Liz took advantage of the opening to push harder on her rot, and the ckness spread. Matts final crescent of mana struck the rotting flesh that Liz had created and cut deep. Matt pushed it farther with his Concept, forcing it through the weakened flesh and clean out its back, causing the upper half to fall to the ground.


    Theck of Genesis Energy told him it wasnt quite dead, and the arms each pulling away from the body corroborated his theory.


    It was more of a chimera instead of just an amalgamation of random monster parts. It was <em>literally </em>multiple monsters smooshed into the same body.


    As the monsters came out and returned to their normal forms, Matt sted a wave of me at one of them while Aster used her Concept to make the fire burn cold, and used the resulting ice to entomb the nearest lion.


    Two of the beasts tried to attack Susanne in a melee, but even without a real body, she was no easy target, and she was barely restricted by the floors rules.


    Her de had never been anything more than her Concept and willpower given form. On a floor where the mind ruled, it was even <em>stronger</em> than normal.


    And she used it well, a single slice caused the two animals that attacked her to fall apart into tiny cubes.


    Liz blocked one leaping at her with her shield then mmed it against the ground, crushing it entirely, and Aster turned one into a <em>literal</em> ice sculpture. Matt finished off the final bear that tried to run him down with a [Fire Bolt].


    When thest monster finally fell, a rush of Genesis Energy hit them like a truck.


    A single kill here was worth at least a dozen kills on the sixth floor.


    Aster walked over to the deer closest to her, and he felt her activate a skill, even though nothing happened.


    Aww, I cant eat their hearts. Now that''s just unfair.


    Even saying that, Aster floated back towards the rest of them, and they started moving onward once more.


    After they had killed their third monster, Matt had to speak up. So, I have an idea.


    Everyone looked at him, and he continued. I think this is how Minka makes the monsters. It needs to make a peak Tier 14 monster for the final floor, right? At the nods, he gestured to the dissolving corpse. So maybe it just sticks half a dozen low Tier 14 monsters together to get the power it needs. But on normal floors, it''s only got one body. Here, theres no actual body. Just their minds.


    Gesturing once more, he let the visual speak for itself.


    Aster shrugged, which looked weird as her blob of dying stars crunched up. Does it matter?


    Matt frowned. Not while were inside, but it could be a really cool academic subject of study. Though, Im sure Erwin already knows the answer. I cant be the first person to theorize this.


    Susanne started floating forward. That''s a nope from me, then. Theyre monsters, who cares how they get as strong as they do?


    Liz blew him a kiss as she passed by, but Matt really wished Erwin was with him so they could dissect this mystery. The act of researching was half the fun, and this could prove to be an interesting case study of monsters.


    The next monster finally dropped a skill that he was going to toss into the bucket, when Susanne reminded him, We''re on the seventh floor, so the skill might be a Tier 20 skill. Check it.


    Matt hit it with [Analyze] to see what it was after his AI didnt recognize it as one of the Tier 20 skills from his admittedly sparse database.


    Seems like a bow skill. I dont know what it is beyond that.


    Tossing it into the pile of other skills they didnt immediately need, they moved on.


    The ruin didnt seem to have a boss, so after they killed the monsters, they moved on to the next ruin, where there were slimes with various other monsters dissolving inside.


    Killing them also spawned more monsters, which seemed to confirm Matts idea, but when they encountered a ruin with normal-looking orangutans, the others thought he was wrong. To Matt, though, it only reinforced his theory.


    The ce was made out of tens of thousands of ruins, so it made sense that some of them would be peak Tier 14 ruins, and have correspondingly strong monsters inside.


    They had just burned down most of a wispy forest to kill a ruin of mosquitoes when Matt felt the first people they encountered approaching them at a run.


    He had hoped they had been far enough ahead to avoid other people on this floor, considering how quickly they attacked and killed their final boss mirror selves on the sixth floor.


    A pair of indistinct figures rushed around the corner, one being carried by the other, with their spirits obscured behind powerful enchantments. It gave them the appearance of dull, gray humanoids, and their bodies blurred as though out of focus.


    Matt raised his sword to meet their attackers, intercepting a wave of molten metal from the one being carried. He quickly swapped to blocking with a [Bulwark] and sent out an AI pulse towards both his team and the neers.


    Start running, Bradley responded, as he swept his prepared attack back behind them. Nine assholes ambushed using out of a challenge room.


    Looking at his team, Matt knew exactly who that was. Or at least, suspected he did.


    They were one of the teams of ten who were running around killing anyone they encountered from the Empire and Guilds, and Matt started reaching for an Aurora Lance array.


    Putting words to action while he set up the array, he said, Pretend to run and get ready to duck. Ive got another one of the arrays I used on the General, and Ive been itching to use it.


    You know what, Quill, I think I missed you, Jill added, redoubling her speed as Bradley shifted to be more firmly in her arms. Matt and his team followed at about the same speed, though ready to turn and fire at a moments notice.


    Thankfully, it worked, and a squad of nine people bursted out from the adjoining ruin in tight formation. They appeared translucent bodies over glowing skeletons, with a shield bearer leading their charge with a shield manifestation not unlike Susanne''s.


    It didnt do them any good.


    The spell that forced the general with most of an Intent to dodge wasnt so easy to block, and as it fired, Aster threw her own mana and Concept at the array, strengthening it even further.


    What happened proved too fast to even <em>see</em>, but the entire passage between ruins was suddenly reced with blue ice as the world went still. The sheer <em>presence</em> of the millions of mana blown in a single instant even proved almost contagious to the only-mostly-real Mind Over Matter, and some of the passages walls even transmuted from metal into massive sheets of ice.


    Even before the spell exploded, Matt felt nine streams of Genesis Energy rushing into his body, signifying the death of the entire squad.


    Matt stood there and cast [Bulwark] to protect himself and his team as the mountain of ice exploded and tore holes through everything that wasn''t the imprable walls of Minka.


    When the debris stopped falling, Bradley poked his molten head out of the hole he and Jill had created.


    Fuck me with a polearm, that was awesome!


    Jill looked less than pleased as she said, You couldn''t tone it down a little? No way any of their gear is intact after that. And those fuckers owe me a bowstring.


    Matt gestured off to the side, seeing the couple''s injuries. Need some healing?


    Jill shook her head. Were already pushing the healing cooldown, so it wouldnt do much for us.


    Hearing that, Matt tossed them half their remaining [Bandage] talismans before casting the spell on them a few times.


    Now that they knew the final floor, they had no worries about needing the talismanster on. They had already gone through Taxing Skills, after all.


    Bradley gave him an indistinct thumbs up before rubbing his side.


    Fancy seeing you guys here.


    Liz snorted as she pointed at the icy hole in the ground with her spear. How did you guys get on their bad side?


    Bradley shrugged. I wouldn''t say we got on their bad side, so much as we got unlucky about timing. They caught using out of a challenge room, and they decided to attack. We ran. You killed them all. That about sums it up.


    Jill was busy trying to restring a bow that very clearly still had a string, albeit one that was more theoretical than actual. The sight sparked something in Matts memory, and he started mentally rummaging through his spatial ring for a bow theyd found earlier.


    Not finding it, he dropped their house and managed to track it down in the loot pile therein after mere moments of searching, it being in <em>literally</em> the first ce he looked.


    Mind Over Matter. Convenient.


    Tossing it over to Jill as he put the house away, he said, Bow of reflections. It will split any arrows shot with it into six copies, including enchantments and spells, but the range won''t go out past three hundred feet.


    Jill took the bow and started fiddling with it before thanking him. This would havee in handy five minutes ago, but betterte than never. We have a few Tier 20 skills if you want, in exchange.


    With that, she sent over a list, and almost immediately, Liz jumped on a skill. Oh, [Lesser Mana Clone]? Ive had my eye on that one for a little while. I know its on the pricier side, anything else we can toss in for the trade? .


    Bradley threw- the action was all wrong, but there was no better way to describe it- a skill shard at Liz, Call it even with the save and talismans.


    Aster floated over and said hello. What challenge room did you guys find? Also, how did you even find one this deep? It''s way harder to find them here.


    Jill answered even as she fired a few arrows at a nearby fallen tree with her new bow. There was a circr patch of mushrooms that looked super suspicious. Took me about an hour, but I figured out if you hop on your left foot through the mushrooms, you find a challenge room pir. And the challenge was What Doesn''t Kill You. Which was less than fun, but profitable.


    Matt winced along with everyone but Susanne, so he exined, That''s the one where you need to sit there and let monsters eat you. The longer you can refrain from attacking, the more reward, but the pain you feel amplifies as time goes on. No lingering damage, fortunately.


    Oh, we should do that one.


    Despite it sounding like an awful time, Matt agreed.


    They were doing well with Genesis Energy, and getting a challenge room where they knew the challenge, and knew they could beat it, would only amplify that advantage.


    After ensuring the duo were safely settled into a hidden alcove to recover some, the four of them headed to where the ring of mushroomsy.


    It was a good thing Jill figured the secret out, as Matt was sure he never would have thought of it, and it wasnt one of the puzzles hed memorized. Though it was funny to see Aster trying to use her mental body to hop on her left paws.


    Without having done that before, she stumbled a few times,nding on her face.


    When they finally all made it into the hidden space, they found the pir of crystal, just as Bradley and Jill said there would be.


    Touching the pir and sending all of his Genesis Energy into it, Matt found himself standing alone, surrounded by a field of monsters who looked at him hungrily.


    Taking a deep breath, Matt calmed himself as the monsters started tearing into his body with ws and fangs.


    The pain was indescribable, as the challenge magnified it a thousand fold, but Matt blocked it out as best he could.


    It wasnt real, and he had trained to withstand pain like this with Luna a number of times before. He was Endless. This was temporary. He was Endless. He was eternal. He could withstand pain. The image of a white hole flooded his mind, and he tried to detach from his body, even as it screamed at him to <em>defend himself</em>. He would not yield. He would not give way. Pain was an illusion.


    Breathe in, breathe out. Even if his body didnt properly exist, the action was meaningful. If he couldst for a breath, he couldst for a lifetime. A moment was eternity, and eternity was a moment.


    The skin on his skull was being peeled back, and what felt like boiling salt was being poured on the open wound, nearly causing him to break. But he kept his reaction to just a flinch and forced himself to unclench his fingers.


    He wasnt sure how long hested, but it felt like decades when he finally broke. As a monster tore into his wrist, dragging its w along the length of his arm, fileting him alive, Matt couldnt mp down on his arm. It only took a single smack from his palm, but it counted as an attack, and the trial ended..


    When he appeared, the rest of his team were waiting for him. Aster yipped an approval, Three minutes more than Liz and me, about a minute more than Susanne.


    As Matt rubbed his nonexistent arms to settle the goosebumps from the all-too-recent pain of them being ripped open, the pir started to spit out their rewards.


    At this stage, the main thing they wanted was Genesis Energy, but any skills or items they could get would still be useful.


    While they hadnt had anyone stay outside to get a full ounting of the time they spent inside from the rush of Genesis Energy, they could specte that theysted at least fifteen minutes, as they all got more than triple the energy they put in.


    Even then, the pir also spat out a number of items.


    Minka was a of miracles, and the final floor was a source of incredible wealth, if you could survive long enough to im it. While they were in a rtively secure ce, and in order to take his mind off the trauma he had just inflicted on himself, he picked through some of his unidentified skills he had picked up on this floor.


    Many of them were only useful for selling on the outside, like [Consistency Check], a favorite of writers across the realm. [Telescope] sold well to archers, artillery mages, and scouts for its ability to pick out details at incredible range, though sadly there wasnt a copy of [Light Sensor] that could turn the skill into a real analytical workhorse. Generally, it was better in rifts with long sight lines, like space rifts, rather than the more typicals with curvature. [Electrote], [Locate Ore], [Desalinate], and [Mend Bone] were the next skills he found. Thest one alone would them a tidy sum, considering how in demand healing skills perennially were for healers all across the Empire.


    [Antenna] was an interesting skill, formerly used in long-rangemunication, but the advent of the modern [AI] pseudoskill made it almost entirely redundant.


    Most of the rest of the skills he didnt even recognize, which was to be expected at this point in a Minka run, but he did manage to get a few that could be of use to his team.


    [Snowpack] went to Aster, who could benefit from a strong frontal defense spell to benefit from her new ice strengthening Concept effect. In many ways it was simr to [Bulwark], defining an area with the initial mana then channeling more in to strengthen it, though it did so by summoning real snow that then becamepacted by the spell. Fantastic for creating strong barriers, though slower and only a fraction as maneuverable as Matts own spell. The bread and butter support skill, [Lifeline], would allow her to yank an ally to her with a glowing force tether, which Aster solemnly swore not to abuse in training.


    Liz was more than content with [Octopus Assault], which would hopefully be an upgrade to [Blood Whip] in almost every way. At least, if the skill didnt break. It was an incredibly versatile mid-range spell, and eightshing tendrils of blood could strike fear into the heart of anyone. It was technically a mid power Tier 20 skill, but it sold better than most. Not because of its incredible damage, but because of the ability to mimic Duke Waters assault on the Sons of the Seven Skies. The movie that had been made around that fight still sold out copies to this day because of the iconic scene. She also imed an [Analyze Water], which she expected would help her with her blood alchemy.


    [Mass Deflect] was imed by Susanne, a fairly utilitarian sword skill that summoned short lived copies of the users de to deflectrge numbers of weak projectiles. The bottle of Mercurys Might would let her aspect her mana to metal, though without instruction on how to properly split her pool, she would need to wait until they were out of the in order to use it.


    [Double Tap] was the most obvious skill for him, a general purpose yet expensive spell that boosted any non-channeled skill that was cast twice in a row, though it would be a few Tiers before he could cast it with no setup. The primary drawback was how it could make him predictable, but it would help his non-channeled skills keep up in power with his channels as he got more and more mana. Additionally, [Extend Arms] was a <em>ssic </em>spell that he couldnt pass up, and he was eager to experience the lowest Tier of body morphing skills. Hed seen both Luna and Aunt Helen use it on asion, and if it was good enough for both of them, it was good enough for him. It was a notoriously tricky spell to integrate into real fighting, but it offered a lot of fun and utility off the battlefield, and Aunt Helen swore by its ability to give better hugs.


    With their Genesis Energy reserves ahead of the game, they just needed to push ahead and get to the second level of this floor before anyone else.


    Speed was their greatest defense at this time, and they intended to push their lead ahead as much as possible before everyone elsended on this floor.


    With that in mind, they moved back to where they left Bradley and Jill to send them a message that they were moving ahead, and then started killing their way through the nearest ruins at their fastest speed. The monsters were tough. He was used to killing stronger things than Tier 14s, of course, but that was with his body. Without his cultivation and channeled buffs, he was left as just a mage. A <em>very good</em> mage, who could still [Cracked Mana Spear] just about anything they encountered to oblivion, but it still felt wrong in some undefinable way. Everything was just slightly <em>off</em>, without his body.


    They didnt have the time to get ustomed to their new reality, either, and they could scarcely delve two ruins without being interrupted by <em>someone</em>, so the endless battles were slowly starting to take their toll. Matt lost half his foot to a delver with an oversized axe, which somehow slightly interfered with his ability to <em>fly</em>. It was manageable, but still mildly annoying. Liz had a chunk blown out of her shoulder courtesy of a [Fire Bolt] and a misaligned shield. Aster took a cut lengthwise across her nk from a [Mana sh] and broke two ribs when a giant troll clubbed her halfway across the battlefield. Susanne had taken an Aster to the face, further aggravating her already-injured head and interfering with her spiritual perceptions as a result.


    They thought they had found a boss ruin from the energy fluctuations, but when they approached, they found a stick-like person wielding a familiar scythe fighting off four other people.


    William, who had taken the scythe from the Fall General.


    There was nopelling reason for them to engage with the man, so they hid as best as they were able to, and watched him for a short time. Susanne eventually recognized the opposing team as the Dauntless, a strong group of masked diators from the Republic who had ced highly in their version of the Pather tournament.


    It was obvious that William was dominating them, entirely alone, and would win the fight in short order. The most surprising thing was that William hadnt <em>been</em> an air or decay mage when he had taken the scythe, or at least, hadnt used the spells much. Hed focused more on earth magic from what Matt had seen, but now he barely used it in favor of the scythes specialities.


    Aster criticized his air magic a number of times, as the man was clearly still adapting to the new fighting style, but the results were undeniable. An enormously overcharged [Guillotine] from the front liners axe was stopped dead in its tracks against the haft of the scythe, without so much as a scratch. The responding [Wind Lance] from William tore through the mans [Bulwark] and body like they were made of paper.


    As William finished off the remains of the Dauntless, Matt and his team made a stealthy retreat. There was no assurance that theyd be able to win against him, between his Tier advantage and the new scythe. Matt was also opposed to initiating fights against people who had yet to directly antagonize him, and an opening [Skewer], [Cracked Mana Spear] or Aurora Lance against an unsuspecting William would be the only moderately safe methods of fighting him.


    The only thing they wanted to do was gather enough Genesis Energy before everyone else.


    And they were close.


    As Tier 11s, their advantage in price reduction and more Genesis Energy per kill was showing itself. After they evened out their Genesis Energy, all of them had enough to take the exit reward, but not enough to take the floor challenge, and this was the first time they needed to be able to afford both.


    While Mind Over Matter wasnt as expensive as Spirit Journey, it was still quite costly.


    With a little more searching, they found what they were looking for.


    A ruin with a boss.


    Second level. They were ready.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 6

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 6


    Minka Chronicles Floor 6


    Eraxs ran.


    He ran for his life.


    Draxs, Craxs, Braxs, and Araxs were all already dead, and he didnt want to end up like them.


    Folded Reflections was a floor of mystery, and in Minka, mystery tranted into danger.


    Anyone who had ever gotten the floor could appear as a reflection. That was a well-known fact, and was taken as just another one of the many dangers that Minka possessed. And normally, that was fine. Over the many, many cycles the floor had appeared in, trillions of people had entered its depths. And most of those people were, by definition, average.


    But there were always the exceptions.


    The Hastors, Duke Waters, Unyielding Anvils, Evorn and Gideons, and Ateleos of the realm.


    Dangerous people that no one had a chance of beating.


    The odds of them being chosen by Minka to operate in the floor were just as high as anyone else''s which meant one in trillions and the odds of running into the particr reflection was even lower.


    But they had run into just such a person.


    At first, it seemed like the man in in armor was a simple Tier 12 delver, like anyone else wielding a longsword.


    It had started as a standard fight, with Draxs and Braxs going forward to entangle him in a melee while Craxs and Araxs shot spells and arrows at him to whittle him down.


    For the first few moments, things seemed to be going well, but then, the reflection exploded with power and strength.


    Draxs chest had been caved in with a single punch, and Braxs had his shield shattered as the reflections de descended with the weight of a mountain.


    Seeing his brothers fall, Eraxs had immediately cast [Area Heal], trying to keep them alive as Craxs cast his [Bolt] at the reflection''s head.


    That spell had killed Tier 14 bosses, but the reflection simply poured more power into their armor, turning it more ornate, and it blocked the spell even as he raised his hand to send a flurry of [Fireball]s at Craxs.


    Even as Craxs dodged the spells flying at him, Braxs tried to tackle the man to the ground, but it was like he hit an invisible wall as he was unable to get in contact with the reflection.


    Araxs took that chance to shoot a metal mana arrow at the reflection, but it was blocked by a [Bulwark].


    Draxs, who had managed to partially heal, had gotten to his feet and drove his short sword at the reflection''s face, but its gauntlets started to glow with a ck light, and everything was pulled towards the reflections armored hand, where the enchanted de was caught by the spell armor encased hand.


    Araxs made some space and unleashed his [Charged Shot] to destroy the [Bulwark], but instead of shattering the spell, it simply cracked the mana construct, and before their very eyes, it started to repair itself.


    But that cost mana, and that meant they could wear him down. They just needed to survive until then.


    Eraxs cast a buffing spell on Draxs and Braxs as they swung their des both high and low at the reflection, intending to attack two ces at the same time so he couldn''t reinforce both strike points. Araxs even had an enhanced arrow arcing over the [Bulwark] tond on the reflections head. From the nk, Craxs cast [Mana Spear].


    Four perfectly timed attacks.


    Abo that nothing should have been able to survive.


    Except, the reflection created ornate patches where each attack wouldnd, dropping its other spells, but blocking each attack perfectly.


    Then, its retaliation started.


    Eraxs, who thought the earlier flurry of [Fireball]s was impressive, had a rude awakening as the reflection summoned a copy of its sword andshed out with [Mana sh] half a dozen times, cutting Draxs into pieces.


    Braxs tried to retreat, but the suction power appeared once more and pulled him directly into the reflection''s hand. Eraxs brothersted three seconds in the reflection''s grasp before he fell to the ground, a burnt husk of a corpse.


    Craxs went down next as a circle of talismans appeared andunched an oversized bolt of lightning at their mage.


    At first, it looked like Craxs had dodged, but the attack curved mid-air andnded anyway.


    Eraxs and Araxs ran in different directions, but through his spiritual perception, he was forced to watch as his brother was chased down and cut into pieces in mere seconds.


    Eraxs continued to run, cursing their luck. They had been careful. They had done everything right. It wasnt fair.


    As he was contemting how he would tell his parents how his brothers died, he saw the reflection raise a single finger and point at him with his spiritual perception.


    He was ready for any number of spells, but he wasnt ready for a beam spell that instantly punched through his chest, seeming to ignore his armor.


    As he tried to regrow his destroyed heart, Eraxs had to watch the reflection close the distance and then loom over him.


    He was paralyzed on the ground as its foot went up.


    Eraxs cursed their luck. How could they have been so unlucky and stumbled upon a monster like this?


    The foot came down.


    And Eraxs died.


    ***


    Three more men died by William''s hand, and the day was just getting started.


    It was taking some <em>creative</em> spell work to fend off both the monsters and the copies of the enemy delvers, but he didnt get to where he was today by being a slouch in a fight. On top of the normal difficulty of the sixth floor, William was additionally attempting to rapidly be proficient as an air mage, rather than relying on his more familiar earth magic.


    Hed had some courses, naturally, and he was a deft hand with manipting the air manually, but that was a far cry from relying on the more specialized skills in realbat.


    Courtly Warfare had been less than an ideal floor four, but hed made out with a fabulous reward, even if it had cost him an arm and both legs to get it.


    Almost literally.


    The Generals scythe was a Chosen ss weapon if hed ever seen one, and it had been a hard but ultimately clear decision to sell everything he could in order to im it. On top of its ability to radically improve the potency of air and decay magic, drain mana from fallen foes for his own use, and having its own imbued skills, the floor reward had granted the scythe the ability to sap the mana from nearby spells to fuel his own.


    Thus, while he was a rtively novice air mage, at least by his own standards, Minka was providing him an excellent degree of practice by throwing so many bodies at him.


    Better yet, his streak of good luck had continued unabated.


    Under typical circumstances, shifting around the skills in his spirit would have taken months of work to incorporate air skills, but the reward for Taxing Skills had allowed him a much easier transition while in Minka itself. While many would consider it a substandard floor at this depth, William knew he could capitalize on its effects well enough to keep up with the frontrunners, despite his rapid shift in fighting style. Not to mention how it would allow for a substantially easier final fight at the end of Folded Reflections.


    He spun his scythe while utilizing its installed [Area Dispel AI14-EM] to dissipate the slurry of ice that was being slung at him, with the skill protecting him from harm as he hammered at his opponents with sts of hardened air. The bursts of Genesis Energy and mana in his core told him that he had passed the tipping point, and this fight was all but over. A single delver copy and the remaining members of the bone pangolins were all that were left of this ruin before he could move on to the boss.


    As he collected the skills and other valuables dropped by the fallen enemies, he considered his scythe for what felt like the hundredth time since he bought it.


    Its form factor was <em>ridiculous</em>. And not in a good way.


    It wasnt even a proper war scythe, it was a <em>farming tool</em> that happened to have the most potent magic he had ever felt stuffed into it.


    The fact that the General had used it as a melee weapon showed the potency of his strength and magic more than how well a farming implement could be used in a true fight. At least, there was nopelling reason for him to use its de as anything more than ornamentation. With a bit of luck, the final floor would be All Paupers, and he could utilize it to morph the items shape into something more ptable.


    Twenty minutes and seven valuable skillster, he walked out of the ruin into the adjacent one, where one of his biggest regrets was sitting there waiting for him.


    Quill.


    William hadpletely fumbled his interaction with Quill on the fourth floor, and lost out on the opportunity to form a connection with one of the rising stars of the Empire. Instead, he hadrgely spent his time getting in the good graces of Dexter and Tiffany. Thetter had gone and <em>died</em>, wasting all the time he had spent cultivating her favor, and Dexter was essentially out of the running for getting deep in Minka due to the dy caused by his extensive injuries.


    Then, Quill had shut himself in his house for the remainder of the floor, cutting off any chance for William to try for a business rtionship. Number one reason why people shouldn''t use a secondyer of false identities. How could people butter them up if no one knew who they were?


    Though, the revtion that Silver was Quill should have been obvious; that was hindsight speaking.


    He had tried to talk with Queen, but she was less than conversational.


    The reflection of Quill rushed towards him, and Williamshed out with boon-sharpened des of air. Quill had the footwork and speed of a fighter, he had to give him that, but William had little reason to hold back on mana for this fight, and there was no dodging every de. Two cut deeply into the mans armor, and where William had thought that might end the fight, as it had so many others, Quill seemed surprised that his armor hadnt been breached at all.


    Apparently deciding to reconsider fighting in melee, the battle soon transitioned into trading spells at a rapid pace. William was sure to lock down space with his Concept, to prevent any talisman use, but that apparently didnt hinder Quill from throwing out powerful spells as fast as William could counter them.


    The reflection even forced William to conjure some crystalline barriers when his current air magic wasnt suited for the task.


    From the feedback William was getting from the scythe, specifically in its spell draining effect, Quill was burning mana at an utterly unsustainable rate, especially his armor. And yet, he didnt seem to be slowing down, even as his injuries rued and William became more and more assured of a hard-won victory.


    Curious.


    How very curious.


    ***


    Long Zhiyuan was killing his way through a ruin when four blips in his spiritual perception appeared nearly on top of him.


    He immediately sent all of his collected Genesis Energy into his ring and activated his cloak that would hide him from spiritual perception as he decided to disappear into the forest before attacking. He would reveal himself only if he believed there was a good chance at killing the team.


    But counter to his expectations, the other team started to run him down, and he saw why momentster.


    It was the team he had fought on the fifth floor.


    So he started running for real, instead of just trying to disengage.


    A four versus one was never ideal, especially not when one of the members was strong enough to fight him to a standstill.


    Activating [Heavenly All Seeing Eye], he picked up where hed left off, gathering all the information he could about the four of them.


    Without Minka restricting the amount of mana he could use, he was able to gather a lot more information, and immediately changed all of his Talent copies to fighting versions of the four of them.


    As spells started flying, he felt things starting to get frantic as the woman seemed to teleport next to him invisibly, and cut off two of his fingers from his left hand.


    Getting desperate, he tried to use his Concept to fly away, but it was instantly shattered just as his feet were off the ground, sending him stumbling.


    As the second woman got close, her use of blood magic shook his predictions. Hed thought she was a fire mage, but her fighting style was simr enough to that of a water mages he wondered if that was <em>truly</em> her speciality, and the blood was anotheryer of misdirection. What didnt change was her physical abilities, and with the practice he had from fighting her copy, he wove a w through her guard and cut through her helmet and mask.


    He thought that opened up enough of a gap in their wall, but before he was more than a dozen feet away, he was forced to block therge man''s sword as it swept out with a technique empowered blow that he recognized as a crude, barbaric [Grass Sways But Returns To Its Roots].


    Despite putting a shield between himself and the de, Long Zhiyuan felt the de bite deep into his back.


    As a wave of snow froze his leg, Long Zhiyuans instincts, long-honed from many fights within his spirit, told him to move, and he trusted them.


    Crushing a Bottled Lightning, he vanished to reappear a dozen feet ahead and started to run.


    Still, the team chasing him didnt give up, and as he was forced to dodge a spear, he sent out a [w From the Beyond] at the small wolf, but his attack was blocked by a talisman, and he took a shard of ice to the chest in retaliation.


    Feeling the ice growing and trying to slow him down, he shattered a gem on his belt, sending a wave of fire washing out and over him.


    At the same time, he activated [mes And Wind Of The Dancing Stars] to enhance his speed a dozen fold, and used his lengthened strides to put more of a distance between himself and his pursuers.


    Feeling ten spots in his spiritual perception, Long Zhiyuan raced ahead, wanting to get the two teams entangled, and just as he got himself free, he was forced to use one of the natural treasures he found on someone he killed to block the sword that tried to lop off his head.


    The Spine of the Earth was spent to reinforce his arm for a brief moment, instead of permanently strengthening his bones, but it was a small price to pay for his life, even if his arm still broke under the blow.


    Shouting in anger, he used the new team''s arrival to slip away, and didn''t stop running until his mana started to run low.


    Once he found a tree withrge roots, he absorbed a few mana stones worth of mana with his fast converting stone to cast [One With The Earth] and create a hole under the tree.


    There, he started to inspect himself.


    His left hand was missing the smallest two fingers, and his glove was nearly ruined. His right arm was broken in four different ces, and he had a cut that traveled from his left shoulder down towards his right hip.


    After taking stock of his wounds, Long Zhiyuan didnt start healing himself immediately, and instead breathed in and out until his heart was slow and steady.


    This wasnt his first time being wounded so badly, but it was one of the worst beatings he had taken. That, he couldn''t deny. He had experienced almost dying, but he believed he had grown from the experience.


    [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] had seen everything, and his Talent now had much better copies of the four of them.


    While he didnt think he would be able to fight some of his peers in a four versus one, he knew that if he had to fight any of them alone, he would have a much better chance at beating them.


    And in a week, he would know each of their weaknesses and strengths, how to capitalize on any openings and avoid every dangerous attack they could throw at him.


    But first, he needed to heal.


    After refilling his mana, Long Zhiyuan cast [The Healing Stream Which Washes Wounds Away].


    He was no official healer, but for someone who could practice on themselves limitlessly, the spell was better than [Radiant Touch of the Benevolent], or its ranged counterpart, [The Spring Breeze of New Life].


    Stitching his skin and muscles on his back together, Long Zhiyuan then straightened his broken arm, one shattered fragment of bone at a time.


    It took a while, and when he got to his mangled hand, he was running on fumes.


    While he could regrow the digits, he didnt bother, deciding to just grow skin over the stumps and call it a day.


    Falling asleep, he changed his clones to start fighting himself.


    He knew little of Minka, for to know of a test was to lessen its purity, but he had learned much from his time here, and he was capable of seeing the shape of things toe. The end of this floor would be another battle against himself, he was certain, but not the imperfect clones that hed been facing so far. Hed be fighting against <em>himself</em>, and that meant he needed some perfect counter against his own strategy, which was no menial feat to undertake.


    After all, he knew himself better than anyone else.


    Once he woke up, he reviewed his clones and knew what he had to do.


    It wouldnt be an easy fight, but he had a strategy. He would need to absorb a few new techniques, which was less than ideal, as he preferred to create a cohesive fighting style with merged techniques, but he couldn''t stall for long.


    Going through all of the techniques and spatial items he had gathered so far, he found exactly what he believed would be able to counter himself.


    [The Rippling Reflection Beneath the Still Pond] could create a copy of himself, and while it was only made of mana, it could look real and fight for a few brief moments, though it required his utmost concentration to utilize.


    With its help, he believed that he had an answer to fighting himself.


    His lesser copy would be disposable, and whilecking much in the way of his personal strength, it would serve for a single blow.


    He continued to fight himself within his spirit, finding an appropriate n.


    If he cast the technique right as he began his fight, he could then give the technique copy a bomb and wound his reflection with its life.


    Hed learned a few things from facing off against the inferior copies Minka had sent after him. None of them incorporated any of the new tricks he had learned since entering the floor. They were all static in skill and technique, and he could only hope that the final fight would be the same.


    For then, he could utilize his greatest weapon of all.


    Preparation and nning.


    When he finally crawled out from under the tree''s roots, Long Zhiyuan started hunting anyone he saw that he believed he could kill.


    What good was a cloak that hid your spiritual presence if you didnt use it?


    And he might just get a new item that could help him kill himself.


    ***


    Gabby woke up in an opulent living room, very confused.


    Hadnt she just drunk one of the energy drinks? Why would she be back here already?


    As the realization dawned on her she instantly started to panic.


    Reaching inside her mind, she hurriedly checked where the other lives sat like neat little packages, ready to be opened and inspected at her leisure. But where she remembered four, she found an extra one. When she delved into it, she realized what had happened.


    She had failed that life.


    Her Flowing Winds Concept was gone.


    In a panic, she exited the challenge and then sprinted to the pir.


    Someone had to fix this.


    ***


    Mason saw a lone figure appear in front of him and readied his de.


    Magical armor with a sword.


    A de mage was one of his favorite archetypes to fight.


    Using his bloodline, he wrapped the earth around himself and charged with momentum, even if his speed wasnt impressive itself.


    Deep Stone Elephants werent known for their sprints, but rather their unstoppable momentum.


    The arrogant reflection simply raised its hand as if it wanted to stop him with its puny strength, and seeing that, Mason smiled.


    As he raised his fist and cast [Shattering Blow of Atrun], he expected a shield to appear.


    And one did.


    [Alkuis Stops Their Assault]. He had broken many of them in his days, and one more would be added to his belt today.


    And the spell broke, but it wasn''t so easy; the shield actually broke most of his momentum.


    Raising an earth covered arm, he blocked the first sh of his opponents de, but staggered back as he felt his earthen armor sundered in two.


    If his bones werent harder than normal, he would have lost his arm there.


    He began to channel [Hide of the Ancestors] as he activated the secondary bloodline he had absorbed before entering this floor.


    As he burned, the bloodline mes washed out from his body like a floodgate being opened up.


    me Worms weren''t a powerful bloodline, but the ability to excrete fire was a useful secondary power.


    If it weren''t for his family''s deep pockets, he never would have been able to afford a dozen vials of me Worm blood for his delve, but it was moments like these where he was d to have their wealth at his disposal.


    Casting [Horn of Piercing Charges], abination skill of [The Mystic Dash] and [Aurus Phantom Tusk], Mason rocketed forward and let his glowing hornnd on the reflection.


    He expected with his mes weakening the armor, his skill would pierce right through it, but the armor held firm, and a suction power from the reflection''s hands caused his next punch to go awry.


    The punch he took in return rocked him back, and he was pretty sure that even with his armor, one of his teeth was knocked loose after that blow. Mason pulled back tosh out once more with his earthen fist.


    His fist met the de, and while his defenses held, he wasnt ready for the explosion of mana that washed out from the de, sting apart most of his earthen armor and extinguishing the mes around them.


    Mason was gathering more earth while he wasying on the ground, but it didnt do any good, as the reflection seemed unharmed by the explosion and raced forward with its sword leading the charge.


    He tried to raise an earthen barrier in time, but the earth responded sluggishly to his orders as the reflection grabbedrge portions of it andmanded it to remain still.


    As the de entered his chest, Mason couldnt believe it.


    He had worked so hard.


    Practiced all of his skills.


    Minka was supposed to be his ce to shine.


    How could he die here?


    With onest burst of energy, he tried to pry the de free, but found it an immovable object that started to glow.


    How could it cast another explosion like that?


    He hadn''t seen it recharge its mana at all.


    de mages <em>were not </em>supposed to be able to do that.


    As the mana detonated, he still wasnt sure where he went wrong.


    ***


    Marvin felt what seemed to be a massive battle raging through a nearby ruin, and seeing its intensity, decided to poke his head inside.


    If one side just barely lost, he might be able to makeout with all the spoils.


    Better yet, it felt like a water mage fighting, which he had a million counters for.


    Instead, he found something out of a bad horror movie.


    Blood flowed like rivers as two teams tried to fight against a thirty foot tall, crystalized blood golem.


    Quickly retreating, Marvin felt it was better not to get involved.


    ***


    Alexi and her team waited in the safe area of floor five with Bravo team, Charlie team, and Delta team, though thest two had each lost one of their members.


    After waiting a full hour beyond the specified time, she shook her head.


    Anyone else was dead or entangled with something, and wasnt keeping pace.


    Ok, what does everyone have to report? She asked.


    Brett spoke up first. We have killed seven Empire teams, five Monster teams, and two Guild teams on the fifth floor.


    Charlie and Dixie had simr numbers to report, which is when Alexi started going through the collective information.


    That puts us at a good number, but only if Ethan and his crew are still alive and killing. But, I suspect they are preupied or dead, and we will proceed assuming thetter. Im giving the order. Take only fights you know you can handle, disengage immediately if things look even or worse. Mother will not be pleased if any more of us fall inside this dump.


    They were strong, but this ce had taught her that even the runes so cruelly engraved onto their bones werent an all powerful tool. At least, not yet. Minka restricted their power just as it did everything else.


    Getting nods of approval from the other teams, she turned to the most important factor. What is the status of everyone''s runes?


    That got her a round of grimaces, and she understood. The third floor and its reset of their power was rough on all of them. When they and the runes were Tier 1, the runes burned so much worse than with their full power pushing back on them, creating a feedback loop of pain.


    Damn Empire and their wicked test.


    But with that in mind, she needed to check up on everyone and see if their runes were unstable.


    Frankly, the instability of the runes was what she believed had dyed or taken out Ethan and his team.


    After their brief and a joint check over by the healers among them, each of them gathered and left towards the pir in the center of the room.


    Alexi smiled internally as she saw the way people shied away from them.


    Power.


    They were afraid of their power, and that made her feel good. Really good.


    The first level of Folded Reflections was nothing interesting, with them being able to kill three teams, but they had barely gotten their footing on the second level when they found a team chasing someone.


    From the spells they felt, April believed the group was an Empire team that they had put on their internal cklist for being the ones who had helped win the war on the fourth floor.


    Ashton, Arnold, and Aaron closed in with the man suspected to be Quill, even as she split off to attack the woman with the sword, Queen.


    Alexi was slightly shocked as her first blow did not instantly blow through the woman''s defenses. So far, most of the Empire delvers had been little more than bugs to be stepped on, but she understood that this might very well be the real Queen if she was that strong.


    As they exchanged blows, it galled her to admit it, but Alexi wasnt Queen''s match in a one on one. If na wasnt there, she would have been disarmed and killed after the first five blows.


    But that was why they were teams of ten.


    Backing off slightly, she started charging fire in her left hand, wanting to take out Queen with a surprise spell.


    A small wolf jumped up and started defending Queen with bursts of ice and bitter cold wind, but Alexi didnt let that change her idea. Queen and the winter wolf could burn. Burn like everyone in the Empire should.


    When Queen went in for a lunge, Alexi let loose her mes and smiled at the result.


    Just after she had burned half the woman and wolf''s faces off, Alexi was shocked when the man surrounded by Ashton, Arnold, and Aaron had not only broken free, but hurt Ashton and Arnold so badly that Adam was forced to concentrate all of his healing on them.


    That set off an internal battle as the other team disengaged and tried to run away.


    This other team was probably stronger, one for one, than anyone on her team. That fact ate at her, but she wouldnt lie to herself. Mother demanded better of her.


    In truth, they were outnumbered and wounded.


    Knowing it was a risky y, shemanded, Forward! Chase down these dogs and kill them if you can!


    Except, it was all for naught.


    The Empire team reached a snowy ruin, and it would be the height of folly to chase them into it with a winter wolf at their side.


    Stop the chase and see to the wounded. Her order was curt as she tried to repress her anger.


    They had been so close, but now, they were wounded for nothing.


    When they met up with Adam, she asked how Ashton and Arnold were as Ajay, Aurora, and na got healing for the wounds they suffered during their chase.


    Ashton and Arnold will live, but those attacks pushed them close to their healing limits. With our fights against ourselvesing up, I do not think they can risk another engagement. That armored asshole hurt them pretty badly. If I had not been able to heal them, they might have died there and then. And Aaron is not any better. Our limbs may be harder to cut, but once theyre severed, theyre harder to reattach. I need at least two days to ensure the healing takes.


    Alexi heard the anger in his report, and it matched the anger in her heart.


    We pull back then. Heal up on the second level and punch towards the third level in one shot. The non-wounded of us will go out and farm Genesis Energy.


    With that decided, they moved to lick their wounds.


    Uneptable.


    Alexi let the anger wash over her and remembered it.


    They were failing Mother''s expectations.


    The woman who saved them from eternal torment and protected them from the runes on their bones.


    They owed her everything, and were failing to pay her back in even the smallest way.


    That fact was undeniable, and it tormented her.


    One day, she would make the entire Empire feel this level of despair.


    ***


    Chuck stared into the eyes of one of the greatest dangers that had ever stepped foot in Minka. A man who had cut through Minkas denizens like they were wheat to the scythe, who would have legends sung about him for eons toe. A man that struck fear and envy into the hearts of all who saw him, and had carved his way through Sect lowlifes as if they were newborn babes.


    Himself.


    He had been prepared for this, naturally. There were few problems in this realm that money couldnt solve, and this wasnt one of them. While the poors generally had to make do with finding or utilizing something new in Minkas depths, leading to horrifically high mortality rates when the first wave of people found Folded Reflections early, Chuck had been given a potion and an unknown skill shard as part of the preparation for his delve.


    Once he had entered Folded Reflections, chugging the potion and absorbing the skill had allowed him to settle it into his newly expanded spirit within hours, and from there, he just needed to practice with it well enough to gain some proficiency.


    He didnt even know anything about the skill beforehand, except that it would be useful. His father had prepared it for him for the possibility of having to fight himself, so not knowing made it all the better; his clone wouldnt have any possibility of being prepared for it. From his testing against his lesser reflections, it seemed to be highly specialized in letting his ive pierce lightning based defenses, which would let him break through his own magic and kill his copys version of Richard.


    His own lightning tiger stood by his side, ready to get through this floor and reap the reward. Without any real need to slow down and prepare for the final fight of this floor, Chuck could be one of the first people on the final floor, passing all but the absolute fastest people, and he would have nearly free reign to gather the resources that were just <em>waiting</em> for him deeper in. Self Identity would be his ideal choice, but there were very few floors that wouldnt offer <em>something</em> worthwhile. All that was left was to finish off this poor, inferior clone.


    Chuck raised his de and charged.


    Beating himself was the easy part, living six new lives would be the real challenge.


    Half an hour of real timeter, and after centuries of subjective experience, Chuck was teleported into the safe room and promptly fell on his butt, his wounds reopening and spilling blood onto the floor. He had blown through nearly every healing item he had in the fight against himself and used nearly every talisman, and he had still only barely made it.


    As it turned out, he was just as excellent as he thought, which made the final fight a brutal one.


    Folded Reflections had given him time to think on his mistake. It was amon one that nearly everyone made when they saw him, and one he had witnessed countless times in the six lives he had conquered.


    He had underestimated himself.


    A single skill couldnt best him, and no measly trick would put him down. That corepetency had been carried over to his final clone, and made it a wildly dangerous opponent. Chuck was just <em>too good</em> at everything, and it had nearly cost him his life when he forgot that.


    His wounds made further progress all but impossible, and Wastnd would surely kill him in his current state. Not worth the risk. Sadly, he would have to abandon his Minka run here.


    The only question remaining in his mind was whether anyone else on the floor would be able to handle the lesser versions of himself that were surely running around right now. He supposed he would never hear about it, since there were unlikely to be any survivors.


    Still, he was walking away with a sizable reward from this floor. Most important of all, the Forge had tempered him, brought impurities to the surface, and scoured them away.


    He would walk out a new man, with hisst imperfections left behind.


    ***


    Perci panted as she ran.


    The reflection behind her was a monster, more so than the monsters she usually dealt with.


    Despite showing a cultivation of Tier 12, it was faster than most Tier 13s, and never seemed to run out of mana, which was frankly unfair.


    Perci was no slouch as a solo mage, but she also knew when to pick her fights and when to run away.


    Finding a lone wandering reflection, she understood instantly and ran.


    That initial decision had saved her life, but it hadnt stopped the reflection from chasing her down.


    Reflections were only created when someone neared them, and they would normally be killed like any other monsters, but if the reflection killed the team that spawned it, it would start to wander.


    And Perci knew herself well enough to know she wasnt a match for a reflection that had killed another team.


    As a storm of ice fell from the sky, she activated [Close Teleport SP14-TA] to escape from the area, but that didnt stop a flurry of [Ranged Explosion FI8-AL] from chasing her.


    Each time she grabbed another mana stone from her pouch and drained it through her Mana Conversion Stone (Type Rapid), she cursed.


    She had refilled her mana pool three times, and no one wielding a de thatrge in one hand should be able to utilize so many skills, that many times in a row. Minka had clearly broken this reflection.


    Seeing another team ahead of her, she debated using them to lose the reflection, but decided not to be an asshole when she had a chance to get away.


    Changing directions slightly, she used her [Assistive Intelligence], ME26-MI-FLX5, of course, to warn the team in front of her and once more activated [Close Teleport SP14-TA] in quick session, dodging the earth that tried to swallow her.


    To her surprise, the team behind her responded that they knew another nearby team, and would attack from the rear with their help.


    Perci doubted it would work, but agreed to try and lead the reflection around the ruin she was in.


    It took three groups and two hours, but eventually, the reflection died under their constant bombardment, dropping a [Ranged Explosion FI8-AL] module as a result, but Perci didnt feel aplished by their victory.


    Instead, she rethought her life choices.


    How were some people <em>that</em> strong?


    She had a good sponsor and nearly five hundred years of experience, but she couldnt do a fraction of what that reflection had done.


    Even as she defeated her own reflection, she had to wonder at the difference between people.


    Who was that man? What was his name?


    Had he been the king of his era when he was alive, and ruled over everyone?


    If he hadnt died early, she could believe it.


    But history was long, and even immortals died, making memory short.


    Perci made sure to write down everything she could about the reflection, and intended to start looking through the history books for such a person.


    She was sure their story would be amazing.


    ***


    As George trudged through the snow of the ruin, he looked around and absorbed the traces of the miniature war that seemed to have taken ce here. He was cold and alone, but the furthest thing from miserable.


    He hadnte out the gate with a good starting hand, growing up. His parents were poor, and his own Talents were paltry. Perfect memory sounded like a decent ability, until you realized that everyone decent essentially got that anyways, at about Tier 15. Not quite as absolute, but that almost never mattered. His Tier 3 Talent to boost his mind cultivation was just enough to let him scrape over the finish line and get to the Tier 10 Path tournament, but he had fallen off immediately after. Constant delving just wasnt his forte.


    His first Talent even caused him some minor issues at the tournament, when Ciceron had said it was a national security risk for him to get a list of the Legacies. The normal methods of ensuring secrecy would be unable to remove the information from his mind, and he had to have a wood magic Legacy chosen for him instead of picking one out himself.


    That was centuries ago, and he was a new man now. He had refined himself, shored up his abilities, and eventually managed to gather a party to delve into Minka.


    This cycle was exactly what he wanted. Normally, a person couldnt remember anything but the bare basics of what they had done in the Genesis Cultivation challenge. With some nning, it was a valuable theme reward, but not anything particrly special in the context of Minkas wonders.


    For <em>him</em>, it was a miracle floor. His memories couldnt be removed, not even by Minka. The dreamlike state that prevented insanity had still applied to him, but he could remember <em>all</em> of it. He had spent millennia training with unlimited resources, perfecting his prowess with all his skills, with every variety of weapon he had ever thought to master, and in every field of crafting he had taken an interest in. In most respects, he was now better than a Tier 20 in their chosen field.


    His party was gone now, back to safety. He had contracted them to get him through the second floor, and they had even stuck with him through the fourth floor, but now he was alone. He had trudged on deeper, in hopes of exactly where he was now.


    His talent wouldnt radically change the reward from Folded Reflections, but what it <em>would</em> do is assure his sess in oveing the lives. Challenges got harder on deeper floors, and Folded Reflections didnt offer partial rewards. Either you overcame all the lives, or you had your Concept reced, nothing in between. The downside of getting this floor deep was the increased odds of outright failure, which had extinguished many a rising star.


    But not for him. It would certainly be novel for a child to have all the memories of an adult man, and it ensured his total sess in noticing the wrongness of the lives. Six new Concept abilities, and then he would leave the, to a glorious immortality.


    The only real challenges remaining were getting to the bottom of the floor, and beating his reflection. Nothing insurmountable, really, not with his crafting expertise.


    He smiled under his helmet as the snow continued to blow.


    It couldnt stop him.


    Nothing could.


    ***


    Charlie looked at Cecil in the safe area with dawning horror that this wasn''t a bad joke.


    Im just saying that we might not have the entire truth. In every alternative life I had, Virgil also had rune soldiers, even then. And she publicly stated that they were her creation along with Jecker. He has a Talent for lowering the Tier of runes. Thats how they did this to us. Everything about the Empire doing it was a lie.


    Charlie swallowed, seeing Cecils manic face. He understood, even if he didnt like it.


    Cecil had been corrupted by this.


    Looking around to the rest of his team, Charlie saw expressions of horror to match his own.


    It was not an easy thought, but he knew what he had to do.


    Cecil, I think you need to calm down and think about what you are saying. If Mother finds out about this, she will be very disappointed. I even had a false life like that as well, but that is the nature of this ce. It tries to confuse you Make you believe what is not real.


    Carlos chimed in, Yeah, Cec, why would you believe those lies? Mother is the one who takes care of us. I had a simr life, but I know it for the lies that it is.


    As the others chimed in, Charlie saw Cecil growing more and more flustered.


    Can you not see? Minka was not lying to us, but showing us the truth! How else can you exin all of us having the same thing happen in those lives.


    Charlie nced at Chase and Conan, and they stood up and moved to block Cecil from leaving.


    He had gone rogue, and there was only one ending for that.


    Cecil tried to run, but they knew him all too well. After all, they lived and trained together for decades. How could they not know every move he would make.


    Charlie smiled through bitter tears that threatened to fall. Cecil, I hope we can be brothers in the next life. I wish you had not gone crazy.


    And with one quick thrust of his knife, he freed Cecil.


    Gather his things and leave the body for Minka. Let us remember him as he was before he lost his mind.


    They had a moment of silence before walking away so Minka could absorb their old friend.


    Charlie hated this almost as much as he hated the Empire.


    But they had a mission to fulfill, and they needed to be strong.


    When Alpha and Bravo teams came into the safe room and asked what happened to Cecil, they just said he died to his reflection.


    And it was true.


    He lost his mind to the and became someone other than himself.


    No one else needed to know his shame and ramblings after that.


    It wasnt the real Cecil, after all.


    Their brother had died when he took the challenge.

 Chapter 210

    Chapter 210


    Matt panted despite not having a physical body.


    Thest fight wasnt hard, in and of itself; fighting even peak Tier 14 monsters wasn''t anything new for the four of them. The difficulty came from the fact that they were rushing headlong into every pack of monsters they could find.


    On the second level of the seventh floor, they were practically bumping elbows with what seemed to be the entire''s poption, and each of them was trying to push deeper faster than theirpetitors.


    Even with their spiritual perception restricted, they could cover about the three nearest ruins, and the floor was small enough that just within that range, they could feel two other teams fighting to get ahead of them. Or rather, a team of three and then a solo delver who felt like a summoner of some type.


    And they had already been attacked by other teams on three separate asions, with each of them retreating once they saw that the four of them werent easy prey.


    They were starting to fatigue while pushing as hard as they could to stay ahead of theirpetitors, so their lead was nowhere near as secure as theyd like. Though they had finally gotten used to moving without a physical form.


    A walking pace was sustainable with their mental bodies, but trying to run or <em>fight</em> with them grew exponentially harder. And being at the head of the pack, for better and worse, meant they were constantly facing monsters. Half the time, the monsters needed to be killed <em>twice</em> to get their Genesis Energy, leaving the team on constant alert.


    Matt led the charge with Aster on his shoulder. His bond kept up a low-grade [Kar''tan Greets his Foes] to slow the monsters ahead of them, with Matt taking advantage of the sluggish targets by empowering a constant stream of [methrower] and [Fire Maniption]. Ribbons of fire danced through the nearly-frozen creatures, charring and burning the strong, jellyfish-like monsters they were scorching their way through.


    Once they popped into groups of multiple lesser monsters, Liz took over his mes, burning the remnants to blood. Susanne took care of any stragglers, giving them a steady stream of Genesis Energy.


    Their cooperation wasnt perfect, but it was still the fastest method they coulde up with to kill most of the monsters, albeit at <em>serious</em> willpower cost.


    Still, they formed a four man squad of death and cut their way through the floor, searching for any ruin with a boss.


    The floor was the size of a tera-city, and there just wasnt enough Genesis Energy to go around. Even hunting their fellow delvers was unlikely to get them enough energy before the next wave of cultivators killed their own reflections, and made everything on this floor that much worse. They just needed to find the next level, maybe ambush their pursuers, and get to the final level of the floor.


    They were close.


    So close to getting out of this nightmare.


    They had grown stronger, but they had also been worn down to their limits and beyond, in ways that mere training couldnt replicate.


    As they reached a passage to another ruin, the four of them paused to send their spiritual perception into it, hoping for a boss.


    The ruin was odd, to say the least.


    Three feet tall humanoid mice ran around in packs of dozens, centered around a stone replica of a garden with oversized trees and rocks that led far into the spatially expanded ruin.


    As they paused to inspect the ruin, Liz said, Im pretty sure I can feel a boss in there. At the least, theres something big and dangerous.


    Susanne shrugged before gesturing at the mice. That''s great and all, but what about the monsters? Humanoid mice? That''s a new one.


    Ill check it out.


    As he said that, Matt put words to action and moved forward while casting [Bulwark], readying himself to activate his defensive Concept.


    [Hail] and his new upgraded [Ice Maniption] made a brutalbination of torso-sized hailstones, forming themselves in the blink of an eye before crushing the nearest and smallest group of the mice monsters.


    Surprisingly, they were utterly crushed. If not for the stream of Genesis Energy they provided, Matt would have suspected an illusion, but their weakness was partially exined by the pitiful reward they each gave. Around him, the hailstorm continued to whip itself into a frenzy, pulled into a cyclone with the four of them at the center.


    He could feel his Boon feeding into the working, hardening and sharpening the ice into incredibly durable flying razors.


    With Liz and Susanne keeping close, Aster floated onto his shoulder and started assisting him in empowering the ice closest to them, which prompted Matt to cycle the ice outwards from the center, before bringing it back in.


    Once Matt fell into a rhythm he felt he could handle, he stopped channeling [Hail] and started floating forward.


    As they passed into the rift, the monsters started charging at them in swarms.


    The outer wall of ice was immediately dyed red as the monsters were torn to shreds, which was when Liz started controlling and gathering up the blood along the edges of the ice, empowering the already sharpened des of ice.


    Matt could feel the strain of theplex control that spinning the ice required, but grinned as he kept pushing.


    The more he used it, the more the Boon started mimicking what he was doing and taking over the heavy lifting.


    Despite each individual monster not giving a lot of Genesis Energy, there were thousands rushing at them every moment, which sent a steady stream into Matts spirit.


    The others got a portion of it, but as he was the original caster of both damaging spells, he was allocated the majority of the reward.


    Susanne, feeling left out, created a second copy of her sword and threw it into the ice, and held it steady and locked in ce in the swirling winds. For the monsters that didnt immediately die, and instead got sucked into the winds and were crushed by the colliding ice, it acted as a quicker end.


    With the four of them working together, Matt started to speed up, and the monsters reciprocated in kind as they neared a building.


    It was some odd mix of a temple andmercial building that gave off uncanny valley vibes, but they didnt hesitate as they entered one of the oversized entrances.


    Inside, there were massive structures onrge but rtively thin metal legs.


    With his spiritual perception stretched to its limit, Matt noticed that they were oversized and distorted games with odd imagery.


    Thankfully, the space wasrge enough that Matt was still able to move his whirlwind of ice around the few obstacles.


    Even then, they were starting to slow down. The mice had gradually gottenrger during their journey into the building; they were now close to human sized, and were correspondingly tougher.


    That didnt stop the mice from throwing themselves into the ice blender they had created, but the four of them needed to slow their forward progress so the monsters didnt overwhelm them.


    Concentrating on his Boon more to reinforce the ice and sharpen it, Matt activated his AI and [Sharp Mind]. The newly upgraded skill allowed him to concentrate on the vortex, and he mentally created finger width bands of frost in the storm, then started changing their speeds.


    That increased the load on his mind, but with the upgraded skill and his AI helping to quickly notice and identify spots that needed his attention, he was able to increase the lethality of his attack a dozen fold. Even therger mice were unable to push past the frozen cyclone as it now stood.


    Liz and Susanne helped by sending waves of blood and swords out of the ice dome, which started killing some of the mice before they got close, relieving even more of the pressure on Matt.


    When they were close to halfway through the first room, Matt felt a jolt in his spirit as the Genesis Energy he gathered told him that he now had enough for the exit reward.


    Exit reward achieved. Nothing about the challenge reward yet.


    Aster yipped a happy noise as she redoubled her efforts to earn more Genesis Energy, and Matt noticed Liz and Susanne do the same with their efforts on killing the monsters before they reached Matt.


    Seeing they were challenging him and Aster, Matt cast [Hail] in their path and started assimting all of the ice that fell down, with Aster''s help.


    As they took back the lead on killing, Matt activated his Concept to refill both Susanne and Liz, but added his Championing effect to Susanne, who was lower on mana.


    Using both effects wasnt quite a doubling of the normal mana refilling, but rather an additive effect. Still, Susanne had a smaller mana pool than Liz, so the boost was more significant for her.


    Matt knew he couldnt keep that level of drain up for long, but he wasnt using his will power to shape the cyclone thanks to Aster''s assistance, so he had some to spare.


    They paused in the center of the room, as thousands of eight foot tall mice men rushed them and died.


    As more fell, Liz started casting [Blood Tidal Wave] and then [Blood Sprites] on the remnants.


    That signified the end of their troubles, as the self-replicating birds had oceans of blood to feed on, and did so before swarming out to devour all of the nearby mice.


    Even though it took dozens of blood sparrows to kill even a single monster, they feasted off the body before splitting and moving on in a red wave of sparrows.


    Dropping the now unneeded icebination, Matt walked forward even as Asterined to Liz, You stole all of my kills! [Blood Sprites] are cheating.


    Liz snorted. It''s definitely not. You could argue it was before, when I could just summon out all the blood I needed from my glove, but now I need to <em>earn</em> every kill so I have enough blood to cast it and [Blood Tidal Wave].


    As the two of them carried on with their good-natured bickering, Matt and Susanne took out the few stragglers with [Mana sh]es, but Liz hadnt left many for them. They were just about to rx when a presence appeared behind Liz.


    A nearly-invisible mantis-like monster emerged from thin air, slicing its arms like a scissor around Lizs neck, biting deep into her armor.


    Blood flew, and Matts heart leapt into his throat before her AI confirmed she was still alive, but one of the des had made it through her armor and cut into her neck. Mana pulsed in her neck and Liz wrapped herself in a cocoon of blood, clutching her head andshing out blindly with an array of blood tendrils.


    Even as the monster faded out of sight and from his spiritual perception, Matt threw some [Fire Bolt]s through the area where the monster had been.


    Not feeling any feedback from his attack, Matt reinforced [Cracked Phantom Armor], locked down space, and started feeling his surroundings with [Air Maniption] as he prepared to block another sneak attack. Susanne stood at his back, sword and shield ready to block the next assault.


    A spike of danger alerted both of them to the next attack, and as Susanne swung at where the warning originated from, the mantis reappeared as it twisted in midair, turning a deadly execution into a merely devastating attack at her lower half.


    Susanne moved her shield a hair toote, and with no physical armor to stop it, one de surrounded with thick tangles of mana cut through her [Shadow Armor] and halfway through her knee. The monster yanked on its de, and it went the rest of the way through before withdrawing.


    Despite losing half a leg, with the severed limb falling and vanishing in a thin cloud of smoke and leaving an even wispier copy of itself attached to Susanne, she managed to cut one of the monster''s de limbs off. But before her sword could kill the monster, it pulled back and started to vanish like mist in the sun.


    Before Matt could really get a good look at it, it was gone, and they were left in an awkward stalemate as Matt dropped on top of Susanne and cast [Bulwark] t over her, creating a small dome for her to start healing in.


    During that time, Aster and Liz had covered the area in blood and ice, but even the wide area attacks seemed to do nothing, implying the mantis had a level of intangibility, which was a scary thought.


    Thankfully, Aster was thinking one step ahead and retrieved their illusion-piercing mirror from her spatial cor, and immediately swept its view across the room.


    The second it hit the mantis hiding spot, Mattnced out with [Cracked Mana Spear], and Susannes sword followed in its wake a secondter. Space began to blur around the monster as it tried to twist around Matts attack, but Susanne and Matt <em>both</em> shut it down hard with focused spatial blocking, a move even more effective on this floor than normal.


    The moment the mana beam struck the suddenly-stationary monster, it vanished in a puff of mana, and tellingly, no Genesis Energy.


    I think it was a fucking summoned monster, Matt swore.


    Susanne straightened up, absently rubbing her leg. Oh that fucker wants to y games. Let''s see who gets to the safe room first. Im more than happy to fucking cut their head off.


    Liz emerged from her cocoon and studied the faint outline of Susannes lower leg and foot. Ugh, you ok?


    Lizs voice was mildly garbled, but a look of concentration crossed her face. Better? Better.


    Susanne shrugged, but replied with her AI, Could still be listeners. I don''t really need the leg here, so it''s not that big of a deal. Aster used a [Bandage] on it, but I don''t even think it bleeds.


    Liz? Are you


    She ran a finger over her throat, Its kind of weird thinking about nearly being <em>decapitated</em> as not too bad a wound, but I was able to keep the blood flowing just fine and my spirit counts as close enough to blood that I was able to manually reattach the severed arteries. And now the cut seems to be <em>gone</em>? Still not entirely sure about that, but Im definitely pumping my own blood for a little while just to be safe. Thankfully, [Blood Crystal Armor] took most of the hit.


    Mind Over Matter made things weird, but Matt was just happy they were ok, and made it his personal mission to kill the summoner, if they found whoever they were.


    He had no idea how long the monster had been following them, and didnt like that it seemed impossible to sense with both mundane and magical senses.


    Aster shivered slightly before freezing the mirror to her cor. I think Im going to keep this on me for the rest of the floor. I don''t think Id survive the sneak attack.


    That put them all on high alert, even as they pushed through the rest of the ruin.


    Thankfully, their entrance and then Lizs follow up seemed to have killed most of the mice, and they were able to press into the next room quickly.


    There they found small groups of ten foot tall mice men that were noticeably more muscr, and actually started casting spells.


    Each of these monsters were substantially tougher than their lesser brethren, making conventional tactics a faster approach than the winter storm that Matt had been using before.


    Matt opened with a flurry of [Mana sh]es at one of the monsters, while Liz drove a spear of blood into its shoulder and drained the mouse dry. It didnt have <em>blood</em> exactly, but whatever it did have was close enough for her new blood-drinking Concept power, and it greedily consumed the monster over the course of a few seconds.


    Susanne was substantially slower than she had been before she lost her leg, but<strong></strong>she was still able to direct her second sword with full agility, keeping her future targets at bay as she allowed one at a time to approach her and die on her main de.


    Aster served argely support role, slowing down the monsters enough that the rest of them werent overwhelmed. She kept Lizs targets particrly restrained, and buffeted Susannes future victims, leaving them disoriented and ready for execution, all while keeping an eye on her mirror, ready to preempt the next assassination attempt.


    A defensive measure that turned out well, as while Matt was embroiled with two fifteen foot tall mice men, Astershed out with a short but violent storm of ice as she reported, "Five of them!


    Matt growled and used a short burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] to finish off all the remaining monsters of this room. A couple of them tried to jerk out of the way, but Matt finished them off before they could escape.


    Driving his sword into the wispy ground, he growled, So the asshole isnt content to just try once.


    Liz interjected, Do we need to go finish him off?


    Matt paused as he thought about it, even as Susanne growled, Im all for it.


    Matt shook his head as he analyzed the situation. That wouldnt be a smart use of our time. It''s better to just keep our attention on our rear but push forward. He can''t do shit if we get to the next level before him.


    Despite arguing otherwise, Matt waited for anyone else to have a good reason to go kill the man, but none of them did, so they carried on deeper into the ruin.


    As they turned, Liz adjusted her grip on the spear and growled, Fucking summoner. Maybe we should wait around for a few hours to see if he appears in the safe room? Id love to give him a little surprise.


    Susanne nodded. I only need a second. It''s one thing to attack people, but invisible, impossible-to-sense monsters just feel unfair.


    Matt offered up an exnation of his own, I think it''s the floor theme thats making them so dangerous. My guess is that outside of Minka, theyre probably normal assassin mantises with the ability to vanish from spiritual perception. Here, though, they dont have a physical body hindering them- theyre more like a mental projection by the summoner. Because of that, theyre already not fully here to begin with, and some kind of ability their master has to force them to vanish from everything, theyre able to avoid attacks not specifically directed at them. Maybe its some sort of Concept ability


    What makes you say that?


    Matt pointed to where the assassins had been lurking. Of those five, only one felt as slippery as the first one we fought. I think the summoner may have picked up a new ability from Folded Reflections, and can only focus it on one creature at a time. By what Im sure wasnt coincidence, it was also the only one trying to use a skill.


    Aster shook like she was wet, which was a disorienting sight with her star body. Even so, it''s a bad match up. Imagine if we didn''t have the mirror?


    But thankfully, we do. Let''s just kill the boss and get out of here. As a thought came to him, Matt added, Actually, let''s even out our Genesis Energy after testing how much we need to get the floor reward.


    As he and Liz consolidated their Genesis Energy through the gauge rings they had gotten on the first floor, they cringed.


    Both of them individually had enough Genesis Energy to take the exit reward, which was the flexible innate skill slot, but it was only together that they had enough for the floor challenge. There was a bit to spare, and once Aster and Susanne added theirs to the mix, they found they had <em>just</em> shy of enough Genesis Energy for two of them to afford both the challenge and exit reward, though all of them could afford the exit reward, even then.


    It wasnt great, but it wasnt awful. They were about two-thirds of the way there, and depending on how much Genesis Energy they got from the level boss, it might end up being enough. If not, well That was just a few more ruins that theyd need to clear on the next level.


    Or, they could kill a few delvers.


    Even at half-rate, theyd get a <em>lot</em> of Genesis Energy at this stage, and if they all got half of their current amount again, it <em>would</em> be enough for them all to get out with full rewards.


    Matt could only shudder at the cost of a final floor Spirit Journey if Mind Over Matter was this expensive for <em>Tier 11s</em>. Luna saying only one or two people ever got that reward when it was the final floor made a lot more sense. Everyone would be waiting on the final level, trying to kill each other to gather an entire Minka runs worth of Genesis Energy.


    And with how Genesis Energy became more obvious to everyone the more one gathered, anyone ahead of the average would turn into public enemy number one.


    Thinking about the possibility, Matt was grateful they had gotten Mind Over Matter instead.


    After redistributing the Genesis Energy back out to everyone, they pushed forward, killing the mice monsters as they grewrger andrger. By the time they entered what seemed to be a nightmare version of an industrial kitchen, the monsters were close to thirty feet tall, and were growing difficult to take down. The good thing was, they also grew rarer, allowing them to focus their entirebat prowess on killing one.


    With Aster watching their back, they cut through the final monsters until they found the management room, where they found the exit distortion and the ruin''s boss.


    Which was a literal boss.


    Or, the mouse version of an office manager.


    With a set of armor that looked more like business clothes, the boss wielded a clipboard as a shield and threw pens like massive darts.


    Matt raced forward and cast [Hail] at the sixty-foot-tall monster, and directed the ice at its face while it was busy blocking a [Mana sh] from Susanne.


    The monster threw a retaliatory pen back at him.


    That would have been fine, but either through an insidious mind or bad aim, the monster''s attack was headed straight for Aster, who was keeping watch for more assassins.


    Cursing, Matt flew into the way of the projectile and cast [Bulwark], and activated his defensive Concept to empower the skill.


    He was sent flying in the resulting explosion, but he had stopped the pen dart in its tracks, which surprised him.


    That was an attack from a boss monster that was three Tiers stronger than himself, and he didnt even need to use [Cracked Phantom Armor] to block any of it.


    With more confidence, Matt cast [Cracked Mana Spear] at the boss, which was trying to swat the annoying fly that was Liz, who flew faster than normal with her boots of wind.


    As the beam of mananded on its facete, the monster immediately turned to smack at Matt with its clipboard.


    Therger monsters clipboard froze in the air for a moment before it overpowered Asters Concept, but Matt had already floated out of range and kept the beam on the monster, cutting deep lines into and through its armor.


    He couldnt strain his spirit too much quite yet, so the moment his beam opened a legitimate hole in the creatures armor, he switched to unleashing a torrent of [Fireball]s. The boss managed to block several of them with its clipboard, but more struck its face, keeping its attention firmly on <em>him</em>.


    Thus freed from the bosss attacks, Liz and Susanne closed in on the monster itself. Liz drove her spear into the beasts ankle andunched herself up with the assistance of her wind boots.


    Susanne flitted forward like a shadow being chased by the light, pulled along by her sword as she raced up the left side of the monster, aiming for the gaping hole in its business suit armor.


    Liz reached the pinnacle of her leap, and pulled herself above the boss with a blood tendril. She summoned the blood around her into a giant spear, and dropped down into a stabbing attack. Her shield and spear glimmered in the not-light, and her Spirit red as her Concept poured into her attack,


    Even as it tried to p Susanne, the monster took the blow from Liz on the face, and the helmet cracked like an egg and shattered.


    As the boss screamed and went to smack Susanne, Matt let himself fall to the ground as he channeled [Wood Maniption] and [Metal Maniption].


    With the two spells, he grabbed the oversized clipboard and pulled.


    The weapon was protected by the monster''s spirit, which made the maniption hard, but Matt had the mana to spare as he sent nearly all his mana into the spells.


    Even as the massive boss tried to pull against the force, Matt held firm and grinned as the shield was sent flying under thebined and opposite forces.


    That moment of hesitation was more than enough for Susanne to reach the monster''s face and drive her de deep into its eye.


    The monster pped itself in the face, trying to kill what was hurting it, but that only helped drive the de deeper into its body, and it went stiff right before Lizs blood spear drove into the other eye and started spinning.


    As the boss slumped over, Matt felt the rush of Genesis Energy that signified it was truly dead, and sighed in relief before catching himself and looking to Aster, who was still watching their rear with the mirror.


    It would be the perfect time for the summoner to try and ambush them, after all.


    As the boss vanished, it dropped a number of items and natural treasures, which Matt added to the other pile that fell out of the reward distortion, somewhat forlorn that they werent in a good position to look into whatever Tier 20 skills and other valuables they happened to get. They simply didnt have the time for an unnecessary pause.


    Hed nearly signaled for them to move on when the former clipboard caught his eye. Matt took a closer look at some of the runes along its edge and was somewhat surprised by what he saw. On top of a frankly ludicrously strong durability enchantment, it had an <em>impressive</em> shape changing rune array built into it, enabling it to shrink or grow over the course of about a minute from the dimensions of a thick piece of paper all the way up to a square forty feet on a side and four feet thick. That included the ability to grow divots or edges, self-repair, and self-clean with a bit of mana. He could even change the finish, color and grain of the wood to any natural pattern that he desired. For anyone who wanted a ridiculously over-engineered base for a t shield, it would be a great find.


    Hed use it as a cutting board.


    Aster didn''t see anything trying to sneak up on them, leading Matt to assume that the summoner had decided it wasnt worth the mana to create more monsters to send at them. That, or he understood they had a counter to the monster type.


    When they appeared on the third level of the final floor, Matt immediately cast [Bulwark], sensing an attack from their rear.


    A Tier 13 and two Tier 12s were within a hundred feet of them, and had seemingly been in the middle of clearing the ruin when they appeared right behind them.


    As the Tier 13 finished off the alligator monster, one of the other two turned and started casting [Fireball]s at them while the final member shot magical arrows out of a bow.


    [Bulwark] blocked each and every attack, and Matt called out, We don''t mean any harm! and sent the same message through his AI.


    The other team didnt respond to either message, and Matt returned his own [Fireball] as they started to batter down his [Bulwark].


    Seeing they weren''t going to stop attacking, Matt settled on killing them.


    He hadnt chosen to appear right next to another team, but he also wasnt going to walk away after the misunderstanding was perpetuated.


    A single attack out of surprise was one thing, but a continued assault was another.


    As a burst of me came from Liz, not having any blood to wield, he cast [Earth Maniption] and brought two bs of ground mming towards the team.


    The mage of the team created a bubble of hardened air with a spell, but Matt broke that working with a flex of [Air Maniption].


    The other mage reacted quickly, even with only a moment before the b of earthnded on them, and used [Earth Swim] to enter and pull the archer into and through the ground.


    For cultivators of their Tier, one hundred feet was nothing, and that made all the difference. If they werent deposited right on top of the other team, they might have had some chance at running or even getting off an attack, but they hadnt been.


    Susanne had already started moving towards the Tier 13, who clearly didn''t expect a melee engagement with the floor theme, and tried to block with a magical shield. Susannes de didn''t even slow as it cut the man in half.


    Seeing one of their teammates die, both the remaining people immediately Tiered up to Tier 13, but Matt didnt give them time to do anything more.


    With a stream of fire from [methrower], he wrapped them up and punched through their [Water Shield] that attempted to keep the mes away with [Fire Maniption]. As two more bursts of Genesis Energy rushed out of them, Matt rxed slightly.


    Fucking idiots. He nearly spat the words out.


    Aster flicked her ears. Their loss is our gain, though. That was a good bit of Genesis Energy. Were close, very close, to having enough to leave.


    Sadly, things were never that easy, as they felt another team rushing at them from a distance. A full team of Tier 14s.


    Their fight wasnt even the only fight in this ruin, let alone this floor.


    Everywhere his spiritual perception stretched over was filled with fighting, as teams tried to reach boss ruins and Tier 14 kill squads used this level as a final bottleneck to finish their missions.


    The end was in sight.


    Now, they just needed to get there.

 Chapter 211

    Chapter 211


    Matts AI spun up as he poured both mana and willpower into its activation, hoping to process everything going on in the chaotic melee around them.


    There were several factors that made this task substantially simpler than trying it elsewhere.


    First of all, his AI didn''t need to ount for each person''s own AI and then try to predict whatbat solutions it would put out, thus creating counters ad nauseam. Though, that was a Minka benefit and restriction as a whole, rather than being floor specific. With it blocking most of the others'' AI, Matts only needed to predict what each person would do on their own, which helped simplify things a great deal.


    Mind Over Matter also changed things in its own way, making things at least slightly easier. Mages dominated on the floor, as theck of physical bodies or weapons meant that fighters had a hard time aplishing much without prohibitive mana or willpower expenditure. Anyone with a weapon Concept would be able to strengthen their incorporeal weapons into something usable, and making a weapon manifestation was even achievable for a normal person on the floor. But Susanne would likely be one of the most capable fighters on the whole floor, given her Concept specialization.


    Three seconds after his AI started processing with nearly his full mana generation, Matt sent out the results.


    Their best option? Punch through all the opposition and kill the boss as soon as possible.


    Not exactly something they needed an AI to tell them, but it dide with some helpful information and the framework of an actualbat n.


    Acting on the information, the four of them floated to the right, where there were two Empire kill squads trying to take down an equal number of Federation fighters.


    Ideally, they could assist the kill squads and then exit through the boss ruin nearby, relying on the kill squad to hold off anyone and everyone who would want to prevent someone from leaving the floor.


    Easy.


    Except they needed to not give away their Matt, Liz, and Aster identities any more than they already had.


    Harder.


    And they needed to do all of that while not being forced to Tier up.


    Difficult.


    As they got close to the ruin in question, they were surprised by a team teleporting right next to them.


    Spinning, Susanne cut one of the team in half before they even fully materialized, and a burst of me scorched another who created an earthen shield a second toote, trapping the heat inside with him rather than blocking it.


    Matt shed out with a [Wind Cutter] that sank deep into the hasty shield of emerald mes that a melee-looking woman had raised. The next moment saw her try to rush him with a newly-manifested sword made <em>from</em> emerald mes, but he forced her to parry his barrage of [Fireball]s long enough for Susanne to cut her down in two swings.


    With a pulse of will, Matt sucked their looted gear into his ring, then noted the amount of Genesis Energy they had gathered and calcted that into their projections.


    They were about three teams away from having enough for the exit reward, by his estimation, and theyd likely get that while en route.


    Casting [Bulwark], he led the charge and blocked a stream of exploding arrows that mmed into his shield the moment they came around the corner and into the line of sight for the next ruin.


    Before the shield fully fell, Matt reinforced it with his defensive Concept and kept moving forward, even as his vision was obstructed by the series of explosions from the dozens of arrows that were lodged in his [Bulwark]. With his spiritual perception spread out, he didnt even need his sight and was hardly hindered by the attacks, but he pinged Aster to keep a watch out with the mirror, just in case the arrows were a diversion.


    A good measure, as the attacks were only meant to block their vision while a melee fighter moved in close with a mace manifestation. They were invisible to the group''s spiritual perception, but were perfectly visible to the mirror''s illusion piercing abilities.


    Susanne moved forward and took a position right by the right nk of the [Bulwark]. The moment the man came around with a [Dash] infused lunge, she was ready to meet him de to mace.


    If he was just fighting a single Susanne, he might have been fine. But when the second copy of Susanne peeled away from the main body, he was unprepared, and lost his off-hand trying to block the unexpected strike.


    Seeing the man''s shock, horror, and surprise at seeing Susanne create a duplicate with her manifestation, Matt was reminded that most non-immortals couldnt do what Susanne did with her Concept. Though, Mind Over Matter certainly helped out those who were close.


    Still, he wasnt weak, and managed to preserve his life long enough to disengage and try to retreat.


    Try and fail.


    A flower of me blossomed behind him, rippling with cold as the air around him froze.


    A spatial fluctuation started to ripple out from his armor, but Matt threw his Concept at the space around the man andmanded the world to hold itself together, which prevented the fluctuations from breaking space and teleporting the man out.


    That was all the time Susanne needed for herself and her copy to flit out from the cover of the [Bulwark] shield and cut the man down.


    Grabbing the body, she pulled it behind the wall that was Matts shield and started stripping the man, looking for the spatial item. As it turned out, it was a ne with a small gemstone that pulsed rhythmically to an unseen beat.


    They were able to close a quarter of the distance before Matt stopped moving forward and started injecting more mana into his [Bulwark] to reinforce it, on top of activating the [Mana Shield] spell he enchanted on his de. As he strengthened his defenses a mage pointed a glowing white staff at them that screamed danger to his senses.


    A lightning bolt the width of a tree cracked out with a sound, as if the world itself was splitting in half.


    Even with his reinforcements, [Bulwark] exploded on impact, and Matt had to empower [Cracked Phantom Armor] as much as he could to block the spell, as well as activating his newly-developed Concept armor. Despite taking the brunt of the blow, Matts armor still shattered, and it left the front of his body scorched and broken to match.


    How exactly that would trante to his physical body, he had no idea, but it wasnt registering as fatal to his AI, so he ignored the pain as he cast [Fireball] as fast as the spell could reform in his spirit.


    As the stream of seemingly weak spells flew across the distance, Matt started using [Fire Maniption] to change their trajectory mid-flight, ording to the path his AI predicted would be the least expected.


    Liz wasnt sitting still, and Matt felt her Concept flex in an unfamiliar way. He suspected that it was her bloodline empowerment Concept ability. He was proven correct as a pair of [Fire Bolt] talismans red with more power than usual, then immediately raced forward and targeted the melee fighter that was closing in on the Empire Tier 14 squad.


    The other team wasnt sitting idle while he was piecing together [Bulwark]s skill structure in his spirit , thanks to it being forcefully destroyed by the lightning spell,, and another rain of arrows started streaking at the four of them.


    Matt and Aster deflected those projectiles with [Air Maniption] and Asters [Cross Wind], and he noted how they also exploded off in the distance, which told Matt that was probably the only enchantment on the opposing weapon, and the only way it could be used on this floor.


    With that bit of information, his mid-fight analysis changed, and he sent the new information out to his team. In response, Susanne flicked out to the side before speeding forward like a fish after just entering water.


    Knowing she could handle herself, Matt started casting [methrower] and allowed Liz to take a portion of the mes for her own use, while also casting his own [Fire Bolt]s through the obscuring mes.


    Using his model to predict everyone''s movements, Matt kept most of his spiritual perception focused behind them in case of another ambush.


    Thankfully, nothing happened, and they quickly got into melee range despite only a few of them being able to use melee attacks, thanks to their weapon Concepts.


    That would have been foolhardy, if not for the fact that Liz could use her blood to subtly reinforce her spear and use the deception to her advantage.


    Susanne was a whirlwind of steel as her de changed shape and form through her Concept weapon swaps. She disyed the various weapons she had absorbed, and used their respective enchantments to great effect as she quickly battered down the archer''s defenses. That was in spite of the opposing archer''s team rushing in to try and free their teammate, but the Empire death squads were already en route to intercept.


    Once Aster was close enough, she cast [Winter''s Harvest], and an aura of frost appeared as the enemies'' strength, mind, and regeneration cultivation were restricted and used to boost everyone she considered allies.


    If that wasnt enough, she doubled up with [Kar''tan Greets his Foes] to restrict their movement, along with her natural treasure, Heart of Winter, which drained power from everyone to empower herself.


    The instant boost to her allies and weakening of their enemies changed the pace of the battle, and the ten of them quickly cut down the enemy death squads.


    Even as Genesis Energy rushed into his spirit, and they had a clear shot into the next ruin, Matt knew things wouldnt be so simple.


    Because everyone else on the floor had seen that they were now unencumbered with a boss ruin behind them, and like crabs in a bucket, no one would allow anyone else to leave if they weren''t on their side.


    Just like that, they had be public enemy number one.


    Good thing they still needed a little more Genesis Energy, because they were going to gather it in spades.


    The first wave consisted of three teams. Two obviously from the Sects and one from either the Republic or the Federation; their spirits didnt give anything away.


    Knowing he had to go all out, Matt cast [Hail] in front of them with its maximum range and then sent the max mana the spell could handle, creating a near wall of ice which he and Aster immediately grabbed and started throwing at the enemies.


    Sadly, what had been an amazing tactic against monsters was less effective against humans. Burst of mes melted the ice in front of one of the Sect teams, while a wall of earth grew out of the ground and into a tunnel to protect the opposing team. Meanwhile, the final Sect team seemed to just ignore the ice as it passed around them, despite his and Aster''s best efforts.


    Dropping a portion of his power over [Ice Maniption], Matt used [Earth Maniption] to squeeze down on the team who was trying to tunnel under their ice storm.


    He only felt one burst of Genesis Energy from the team as the other earth mage pulsed his power and pushed Matts own maniption skill back, but Matt didnt contest the man in a struggle.


    Instead, he redirected a stream of ice into the mound of earth and let it build up, hoping to slow the group down as much as possible.


    At the same time, Aster was throwing more and more ice at the fire mage team, which was effective at slowing them down, but didnt stop their advance.


    That didnt prevent the third team from running through the ice storm like it wasnt there.


    Honing in on them, Matt didnt have an answer to exactly how they were preventing the ice from hitting them. They weren''t intangible, they werent redirecting the ice, and they werent illusions.


    It was as if all the ice was just by them, despite Matt and Asters efforts to redirect it, which screamed some kind of luck or probability Talent or Concept.


    And the easiest counter to those abilities was removing any chance for escape for the Talent to effect.


    With only a quick message to Aster, he gathered arge amount of hail and brought it towards the team in a tight mass, while holding everything on a steady trajectory, only letting go the instant that Aster cast [Shatter] on the mass of ice.


    Instead of a single chunk of ice or arge amount of medium sized ice chunks, the team now had to deal with millions of razor sharp fragments of empowered ice rocketing at them like an icy cone of death.


    A [Water Bubble] appeared to wrap the team up, but it was a poor choice.


    Aster took advantage of her control over ice and winter to sh freeze the ball of ice, and then expanded the ice until they were encased in a pseudo mountain. None of them died, despite Matt trying to squeeze the ball of ice down to nothing, as the water mage inside seemed to have a degree of control over ice as well, and with their range advantage, they were able to defend properly.


    But that left them with one team to defend against. The fire mage Sect team.


    Except, instead of it being a three versus three, it was a one versus three, as two other Empire teams assisted them.


    Spells raced back and forth, but seeing that they were winning, Matt turned his attention back to the earth mage team, which was trying to burrow deeper underground.


    A mix of [Earth Maniption] and [Create Water] overrode the ground beneath him, turning it first into a slurry of conceptual water and earth, then into outright mud. With his own [Mud Maniption], Matt was able to gain an advantage against the earth mages efforts, locking them beneath the floor and forcing them to struggle to use <em>any</em> earth spells.


    Then, using the gap he created to reach them with the mud, he cast [methrower] at the ground and started melting the earth intova, which he sent at the team who was just dealing with the mud. Normally, dirt or mud couldnt melt intova, but the floors semi-physical nature helped him out and made the interaction work.


    Once he had them surrounded, it took him nearly a minute of squeezing to ovee the earth mages'' defensive advantage and wipe out the entire team.


    He was turning to attack the water mage team when, seemingly out of nowhere, a forest started to grow out of the ground and tried to entangle everyone from the Empire side.


    Using [Wood Maniption], he tried to halt the spell. That bought enough time for him to cast [methrower] and spread the mes around with Lizs assistance.


    Except, while the wood charred, it didnt burn like it should have, and kept growing new shoots instead.


    Checking his AI and seeing it had the same analysis of the situation as he did, he cast [Cracked Mana Trap]s and filled them with lightning mana. When they exploded, the traps stunted the wood spells growth long enough for the Empire fighters to pull back into the boss ruin.


    Yellow, Silver, and team two, start killing through the ruin while we protect the rear. We should earn enough Genesis Energy by fighting through. We just need to get out of here.


    With half of their manpower leaving the front line, even as more teams came at them, Matt still didnt hesitate to send Liz and Susanne to the monster front and start killing.


    His reasoning was twofold.


    First, Lizs fire was more useful against monsters who tended to have weaknesses that Torchs precision-based pyromancy could exploit. Second, Susanne, while useful for the ability to attack in melee range, needed to get close, and things were devolving into a spell slinging match.


    While <em>that</em> was a situation Matt excelled at, he still needed space.


    This was a mages floor, and a mages battle.


    His approach was much the opposite of Torchs, if he was being honest. Not much finesse, but when it came to sheer mana <em>spent</em>, none could match him.


    Pausing for a moment as he filled then drained his mana stone reserves to recast [Bulwark] at its maximum size, Matt backed up into the cleared portion of the ruins while Aster summoned a [Snowpack] golem to add a new body to their efforts.


    Like its original spell, the golem was an impressive defensive wall, an immobile semi-humanoid save for its ability to gather itself into a ball and roll forward. Still, it was absolutely massive, and was more than capable as an animated defender, giving them momentary breathing room.


    Not one to let such an opportunity slide, Aster cast [Frost] to empower ice skills and then [Snowbank] at her golem, giving it more and more material to build its body with, while infusing it with her Concept to further empower the living spell.


    The twenty feet tall ice golem intercepted a team containing a man with an appearance halfway between an earth golem and a dryad, and Matt suspected that he was responsible for the trees around them. Seeing that their own ice golem would keep the man upied for a while, Matt turned his attention to the fire mage team that Liz had been previously engaging.


    He didnt directly attack their barriers, but he did send a [Wind Cutter] their way as a feint, following it up with an [Earth Spear].


    The spellbo wasnt nearly as effective as he had hoped, and while one of the Sect mages went down, they got right back up with only a hole in their chest that seemed to slowly close as a healing spell hit them.


    Trying an alternative tactic, he cast [Jolt] twice in rapid session, which pierced through the wall of mes but didnt do more than injure the fire mage, who was also quickly healed.


    But that distraction stopped them long enough for Matt to cast a series of [Cracked Mana Trap]s that he hid behind a wave of earth created by [Earth Maniption].


    Casting another useless series of [Wind Cutter]s at the approaching team, he smiled as the lead melee fighter stepped on the first mana trap.


    As it went off, the metal mana he had infused the spell with ripped out in ribbons of cutting fury, like a high tension cable that snapped under too much pressure, and ripped through both the fire mage and healer.


    It didnt kill either of them outright, but it did stop the roaring mes for a brief moment, and that was all Aster needed to send a wave of hail at them, which shredded and pulverized the team before they could recover.


    Genesis Energy flowed to them like the confirmation of a job well done, but they didn''t have time for congrattions.


    Even as they killed one team, another four appeared at the edge of the ruin, trying to prevent them from exiting.


    Seeing that, Matt simply retreated slowly while settling into a holding pattern.


    Between himself, Aster, and the Tier 14 team, they managed to throw enough spells at the enemies to make rushing them down nearly impossible. To facilitate their retreat, he focused on Susanne and used his championing Concept to send her a portion of his abilities.


    While most of the boost was ineffective on this floor, it did help empower her mind and senses enough to take riskier openings in her fight.


    Thus empowered, she was the tip of the spear that punched through the winged rhino monsters in the ruin.


    Liz was keeping busy, and was using a short, controlled burst of mes to protect Susanne''s nk to cover her blood spells, secretly killing any monster Susanne left alive in her wake. Ideally, they wouldnt expose her as a blood mage after having worked so hard to kill almost everyone who saw her use blood spells in the earlier floors, but Matt knew she was ready to burst out with all her power if needed.


    Most shouldnt notice it as too out of ce, but a small portion of the monster''s blood was clinging to her, and Susanne was giving Liz a small but ready supply of material to work with.


    Turning back to the front line, Matt threw up a wall of earth with [Earth Maniption] before recasting [Hail] once more to give Aster and himself more material of their own to work with.


    As they were dealing with five teams at once, he didnt concentrate on killing, but rather slowing them down as much as possible while taking any opportunities to wound them that he could.


    With [Bulwark] as their frontal shield and seeing how reliable it was, the Tier 14 team stopped focusing on defense and started moving onto the offense, unleashing their own spells and trusting Matt to keep them protected.


    Despite all of that, the distance between them and their attackers slowly started to shrink, until the point spells were hardly formed before crashing into defenseyers. But Matt kept their retreat as slow and as steady as possible while also preventing any team from nking them.


    Just as they were crossing into a rtively untouched portion of the ruin, Mattunched his own counter attack.


    A dozen [Cracked Mana Traps] filled with earth mana, which detonated into an impromptu stone wall within a fairly narrow part of the ruin.


    It worked, and for a few brief moments, the seven of them were able to rest and catch their breath.


    Before the Tier 14s had even finished refilling their mana, Matt felt the battering of his wall of earth and knew that it wouldn''tst.


    Checking in on his AI, Matt noted what it thought he should do and paused. It said that he should once more cast [Hail] and have him and Aster use the ice to slow down and weaken the enemies, but he had another n.


    Running it through a few test scenarios, he felt there was a decent chance of histest n working as he wanted, and he decided to roll the dice.


    Without most items bolstering their defenses, the teams were wholly reliant on spells or Concepts for protection, and that had a fatal weakness.


    Mana.


    A set of armor would also have some degree of protection by the nature of its physical durability, even if it was just an enchanted robe.


    But spells were different.


    The moment his wall came crashing down, Matt activated his mana draining Concept and threw his willpower against the leading two melee fighters who had shield spells protecting them.


    He initially wanted to dig into their spirits, but found, even with his rtivelyrge reserves of willpower, that it would be an uphill battle.


    So, he switched tactics and tried to drain their spells instead. Hed slightly hoped that Mind Over Matter may have empowered his drain enough for it to work, but the only thing it aplished was to distract the melee fighters attacking him as they noticed his attempt.


    Seizing the opportunity provided, he used [Earth Maniption] to entomb them in the rubble of the former wall.


    Their side''s mages tried to fight his power, but both sides were so close, there was practically no range advantage, and he was able to use his raw mana output to crush the two melee fighters.


    That seemed to give the attack some pause, as they hesitated in rushing through the debris.


    One team of dwarves from the ns didnt seem bothered, though, and rushed forward, gathering the rubble together and throwing it at Matt.


    Instead of fighting them directly, Matt deflected the rocks to the side and retaliated with a Concept-based explosion of force, following it up with a st of repulsion.


    The team was sent flying backwards, mming them against broken rubble and impaling two of them on particrly jagged protrusions. As the Genesis Energy flooded in, Matt smiled.


    They had finally reached the amount of Genesis Energy they needed to exit Minka with both the floor reward and the innate skill slot. The distribution wasnt <em>perfectly</em> even, but they all had enough for the floor reward, and they could even out the rest once they were in the safe room. That shifted their goal firmly to get out as fast as possible, and they summoned their final reserves of strength for the final sprint.


    Matt and Aster both held their ground for a few moments as he once more cast [Hail], and used the massive amount of ice created to batter down their enemies, who struggled to push through the onught of enhanced ice.


    All of Aster''s new Concept powers empowered the ice, and Matts boon from the fourth floorbined to turn a generally harmless [Hail] spell into a powerhouse of destruction.


    And time was all they needed.


    Led by Susanne and Liz, the team of Tier 14s were nearing the boss of the ruin.


    The exit.


    Their goal.


    Using his AI, he asked the team they were with, Are you leaving with us or staying?


    His answer was immediate. Staying if possible, but if theres no way out, we arent going to stand around and die.


    It wasnt a surprise, and he fed the confirmation into his calctions. His headache from running his AI on willpower for so long was rapidly growing beyond what he could stand, but he was <em>so close</em>. He could hold on a bit longer.


    Currently, there were only two exits to the ruin before the boss chamber, and after calcting the odds he offered them their out.


    Both of you should leave at this next exit. We can take the rest of this ourselves.


    As Tier 14 death squads, they would need a lot of Genesis Energy to leave with the floor theme, even if they had no intention to take the floor seven exit reward, and choose something like the floor six one, and he didnt want to punish them for helping their group.


    And besides, he still had two final trump cards.


    [Cracked Mana Spear] wasnt linked to his real identity, after all, and his spirit, while not absent of spiritual strain, was in good <em>enough</em> shape he could sustain about thirteen seconds or so of a full-power attack before he outright copsed.


    Thirteen seconds of a beam spell powered by 2,560 mana every second.


    More than enough to take out one final boss.


    After exining his idea to the rest of their team, Matt swapped ces with Susanne and Liz and called for cover.


    They were still a distance away from the boss and that area was full of monsters, but he thankfully had the perfect spell to clear out huge waves of monsters.


    His final [Aurora Lance] array was going to clear the path for them.


    Spells and the asional arrow flew around and at him, but not a single onended thanks to thebined efforts of the Tier 14 teams and his friends.


    Thirty agonizing secondster, he had the array ready and activated it.


    The spell went off and seemed to freeze the world itself for a moment before, almost as an afterthought, the passage of the projectile sh froze everything in front of Matt towards the direction of the exit.


    Statues of ice were all that remained of the monsters that had formerly barred their way, and the two Tier 14 teams that had assisted them split off, vanishing into the adjoining ruins as they crashed through the brittle bodies of what had once been a horde of enemies.


    None of their pursuers followed them, as they were the lowest priority targets, but that left all the burden of a now desperate coalition of teams to the three of his teammates.


    Susanne almost seemed like a wood chipper as her new spell [Mass Deflect] shredded hundreds of arrows and other wooden projectiles, Aster moved walls of ice around to block, and Liz pushed and pulled all of them with bits of blood while spending fire spells at their attacker, buying room for Matt to close in on the boss.


    Their final obstacle was <em>massive</em>.


    Fifty feet tall, thirty feet wide, and a hundred feet long, the scariest rhino Matt had ever seen loomed over him, making him seem like a mere speck of dust inparison. Its hide gleamed like dull metal, with some portions being outright metal tes, and its horns shone ck and gold, wickedly sharp and covered in runes so far away that they blended together into a single pattern. Aurora Lance had just barely grazed it, from what Matt could tell, given its frostbitten front leg.


    As he approached, crimson light flickered along the base of itsrger horn, and energy began pouring towards the top as the boss turned to look at the tiny ant that had disturbed its sanctuary.


    But Matt had been an ant before. And even an ant could bite. Some bites were just bigger than others.


    The world flexed to his will, and heunched himself into the air with an explosion of willpower, riding his own shockwave and flying straight at a crack in the rhinos armor, where frostbitten flesh met a titanic te of armor, just barely exposing the beasts more vulnerable insides.


    His mana red and split into four streams.


    The first went to his AI, keeping him informed as to the status of his teammates. Liz had taken a sword blow to her arm, but she was mostly fine and using her mes to great effect. Aster was low on mana, but was using what she had left to assist Liz and Susanne. Susanne was living up to her namesake of Queen, dancing like a monarch as she cut down every spell that flew at them.


    The second went to [Cracked Phantom Armor], protecting him from the debris he was about to generate.


    The third went to his gravity gauntlets, still empowered by the Heart of a ck Hole installed in his armor, and would keep him locked to the rhino even as it tried to shake him off.


    The fourth, and by <em>far</em> thergest, was 2,400 MPS directed straight into [Cracked Mana Spear].


    Mattnded on-target, and his world became blue light.


    <em>One second</em>.


    The air thrummed with power, and his mana spear burrowed into the rhinos shoulder, tunneling upwards towards the beasts brain. A ragged and burned hole opened in the beasts flesh, and Matt followed it, restricting his repulsion until it barely covered his armor, and he absolutely <em>devastated</em> the odd mental flesh and innards of the boss as he passed, tearing it apart from the inside.


    His AI informed him that his teammates were starting to run low on mana, with only Liz, fueled by [Lesser Blood Sacrifice] and what was presumably a mountain of corpses, still in good shape.


    <em>Three seconds</em>.


    Gravity pulled in on the rhino around him and his repulsion kept it at bay pulling and pushing at its weakest parts. It bellowed, and its call rumbled through the fleshy prison that Matt found himself in seeming to shake the world.


    Five seconds.


    He could barely sense the world outside of the rhino while its spirit was still intact. Even his AI was getting some spotty results as it tried to connect to the rest of his teams.


    <em>Seven seconds</em>.


    Matt found the creatures spine and he slipped along it, finding an entry into the creatures impossibly massive and tough skull. Its brain wasnt quite physical, but instead was an energy field of pinks, blues, and reds that absolutely recoiled at the arm-thicknce of mana that was disintegrating it.


    <em>Nine seconds</em>.


    Matt felt a <em>massive</em> wash of Genesis Energy flood through him as the rhino shuddered and died. With its spirit weakening, Matt burst out of the creatures head, allowing the titanic boss to crumble to the ground seemingly in slow motion.


    He didnt wait for it, and flew to the ground at high speed, firing [Cracked Mana Spear] up once again, this time aimed at the flood of death squads that his team was still holding back.


    <em>Ten seconds</em>.


    If he wasnt trying desperately to hold the spell structure together in his spirit, he might have been able to enjoy the sight of their panicked faces as they tried to raise defenses against his attack.


    <em>Eleven seconds</em>.


    Unprepared for his sudden appearance, several teams fell to his imcable beam.


    <em>Twelve seconds</em>.


    A desperate attack swept out from a team as the spear swept towards them in a massivebination of six skills, forming into an axe that flew like lightning and was as tall as Matt. He tried to dodge, but the attack unerringly curved and took out his right leg, carving out a section of his hip as it did so. He stayed standing, but his AI warned him that the damage would be extensive once he had his body back.


    <em>Thirteen seconds</em>.


    Matt saw and felt two more people die under his mana beam''s sweeping attack, and felt his spirit starting to buckle as the spiritual strain built itself to an unsustainable level, but he pushed further.


    <em>Fourteen seconds</em>.


    The world started to blur as the strain built up.


    Liz swept in and grabbed the still-forming loot from the rhino boss, and with one hand, grabbed him and pulled him to the reward distortion that Susanne and Aster were already dispelling.


    <em>Fifteen seconds</em>.


    As [Cracked Mana Spear] faltered, Matt watched as the other teams startedunchingst minute attacks on them as they neared the exit.


    The ground around them tried to raise up and create walls, but they were a step ahead.


    st of winds tried to knock them back, but Astermanded the world to stand still, and it did.


    Arrowsnced out at them, but Susanne created a copy of herself that flitted around and cut the arrows down.


    A ball of me tried to descend on them, but Liz threw it back at their attackers with a hawk-like cry.


    And then, they were in the distortion, and Minka was asking Matt if he wished to take the challenge for Mind Over Matter.


    Matt didnt hesitate as he agreed and felt himself being taken into the challenge.


    It didnt do anything for his aching spirit, but he knew time was the only real remedy for that, and he had the challenge toplete.


    He had heard that the challenge had been given a few nicknames over the millennia. Face Your Fear, Whetstone, and The Twisted Mirror were just a few, but they all meant the same thing.


    Minka would attempt to break your Concept by showing its failings, its opposite, its anathema. To win, you needed to withstand the pressure as it sought to crush you.


    Matt found himself in a starscape, a of blue and green under his feet, and he saw <em>himself</em>. He lived his life, and then he died. The world went on without him, and his goals in life fell short, the people he helped fell backwards without him supporting them.


    <em>You are finite,</em> Minka told him.


    <em>You are not endless.</em>


    <em>You are limited, your days are numbered, even you will fall short.</em>


    <em>When you die, you will cease to give.</em>


    <em>You are not endless, you cannot help forever, your contributions will be a fleeting moment in time, then passed over and forgotten</em>


    <em>In the blink of an eye, what you im to be endless will be swept away like a mote of dust.</em>


    And the life began anew, this time showing Matt trying desperately to leave some kind ofsting legacy, only for it to be rendered pointless in the end.


    <em>What you can do, who </em>you<em> are, is not endless.</em>


    Even he would run out of mana someday. Not during his lifetime, but <em>eventually</em>.


    As long as he drew breath, he would have mana, but when he drew hisst breath, he would cease to be.


    <em>He was not eternal</em>.


    But he made no grand ims to true immortality.


    He was <em>not</em> Eternal.


    <em>He was Endless</em>.


    Even if he ceased to be one day, that did not deny that simple fact. If he died, he would no longer exist. But so long as he lived, he would never falter, never break, never run dry.


    And he would prove it, here and now.


    <em>I am Endless</em>.


    He refused to yield. No matter how long this took.


    After all, <em>he was endless</em>.


    ***


    Susanne was in a world with her sword in her hand.


    She needed her sword.


    It was as much a part of her as breath was.


    And while she had it in hand, it was useless. It bent and flopped around like it was made from foam.


    Her sword was distinctly <em>not</em> reliable.


    As she was forced time after time to kill monsters with her hands, she came to understand that more and more, but her spirit rebelled against the idea. Her sword was always at hand, especially now as she faced down a horde of enemies.


    But no. Her sword was <em>reliable</em>. It would always be there for her, it would always be at hand when she needed it.


    Except now, it wasnt.


    Closing her eyes, Susanne struck out with her sword.


    It didnt matter that Minka had made it useless. She trusted in her sword.


    It was always there for her and she was ready to wield it.


    Two halves of the same whole.


    She never questioned the fact that the monster in front of her died as she danced with her eyes closed.


    After all, her sword was <em>reliable</em>.


    She could trust in it to be there for her when she needed it, just as she would always be there to wield it.


    Blood flew as she danced, writing a song of trust and death.


    Of blood and bone.


    Shattered and spilled.


    No matter what Minka tried to convince her of, she knew the truth.


    Her sword was <em>reliable</em>.


    ***


    Liz looked at the challenge before her with a scoff.


    Rebirth Through Blood, her Concept imed.


    And Minka presented her with what it judged to be its opposite- diseased, rotting blood. The lifeblood of countless victims seeping across the ground, causing her every step to squelch in sanguine viscera.


    It was carnage of nearly-unmatched proportions, on a scale that any sane person would recoil from- that <em>Liz</em> would have recoiled from not even a month ago.


    But Minka had already forced her through this trial of fire. The fields of disease and death stretched as far as she could see, but shed now experienced worse.


    Shed <em>done </em>worse.


    Now, all she could feel was numbness as she saw aplete rejection of her very being, perhaps what her future was doomed to be.


    Mindless, purposeless bloodshed, untold loss of life, and andscape which reeked with the miasma of death.


    Was that really her lot in life?


    Liz fought back tears.


    No.


    <em>No.</em>


    The story was iplete.


    Her Concept didnt forbid the existence of death. She didnt im that blood was eternal life.


    No.


    She imed that blood enabled <em>rebirth</em>.


    People reborn in the forge of battle, through the blood of their enemies.


    Life would return in the wake of unimaginable death, just as shed seen Melinda ept with her own Concept.


    And she was a phoenix. Returning to life from naught but ashes was <em>in</em><em>her blood</em>.


    Death was the first step.


    Now it would be <em>reborn</em>.


    Golden mes engulfed thendscape, and life was born anew.


    ***


    Aster was forced to watch as gravity pulled the universe back together just before the end, heating up in fire as everything became denser and denser.


    Then, it expanded outward in a massive explosion. Once more creating life.


    But that was all wrong.


    At the end, everything was meant to be cold. Still. Not condense back in on itself before expanding once more.


    Everything had its end, and that end shouldnt be the beginning of itself once more.


    The end was cold and still.


    Peaceful.


    Where not even the atoms had energy to move.


    That was where the next stage of life could finally exist.


    The cold at the end of a universe.


    Stillness.


    Not a ball of fire once more exploding out to begin life anew.


    That was <em>wrong</em>.


    Aster opened her eyes and watched as the ever growing universes slowed in their expansion, before slowly starting to dim as she imposed her will on the y in front of her


    She wasnt strong enough to stop this cycle, but she found power in extending the contraction of the dying stars. Prolonging the cold.


    Her only little niche in a world built to oppose her.


    That was so much better.


    Even as the challenge faded away with the stars themselves, she relished in the feeling.


    ***


    Matt dropped to his knee and felt the pain return, as his chest was letting him know the damage hed taken to his spirit body wasnt just magically gone. It had been transferred over, even if not all the way.


    Where he shouldnt have lungs anymore, he just felt like his flesh was on fire.


    Most of his wounds were ultimately superficial, though he was <em>well</em> past the healing cooldown, even at his best. He couldnt see out of one of his eyes, but that was just because blood had dried over the eyelid, sealing it closed. He had at least two bones broken in his arm, given the angle it was at, but it wasnt <em>that</em> bad.


    His leg and hip were a different story. He was missing a sizable chunk of his pelvis and his entire right leg. A quick [Bandage] stopped the bleeding, and hey on the floor in utter agony. His spirit was rebelling at the use of magic, but he forced it to cooperate for just a few moments.


    His teammates were already around him, either already on the ground or about ready to copse onto it. Liz got a [Bandage] around her neck, to make up for any potential consequences for her cut throat, but she seemed to be fine. She looked <em>remarkably</em> cleanpared to the rest of them, but that was simply because she wasn''t so wasteful with blood as to leave it <em>on</em> her. She stowed her spear and shield, and just dropped to the floor in utter exhaustion, almost hyperventting as her body calmed down.


    What was left of Asters fur was an ugly shade of clotted red-brown instead of white, and her chest was still bleeding slightly. He could even see a bit of bone sticking out on the side. She was hobbling around on three legs, thest clearly in too much pain to use. She got three different [Bandage]s to keep her going, but none of her wounds seemed to be critical.


    Susanne was missing half her leg and half her face, the burns inflicted by the ten-man squad on floor six almost being hidden by the raw flesh currently exposed, where the char fell away. Her nose was gone, and her eye waspletely ruined, to the point Matt could see bone around her eye socket. Her sword was outright <em>missing</em>, at least for a moment.


    After a minute to catch their breath and get used to their bodies once again, Liz staggered to her feet and offered her hand to help Susanne up. The warrior closed her eye in concentration and made herself a peg leg, her sword materializing half-inside of her stump and helping her stay upright.


    Hey handsome, Liz chuckled as she reached him, bending down to lift Matt upright with her sole arm.


    He groaned as he met her hand to pull himself upright, wincing as he was forced to stand. Thanksh.


    Anytime, she pecked him on the cheek, somehow finding a bit of skin not covered in dried blood as she maneuvered herself to take most of his weight, and the two of them staggered towards the exit, when Asters message interrupted them.


    What is that?


    She still had her anti-illusion mirror frozen to her cor, and she was looking at it in confusion. In the reflection, Matt saw the room they were in, and the pir at its heart.


    Except, instead of a smooth, multifaceted crystal, it now had a keyhole in each facet. Each different, but somehow the same, cheating a mind bending illusion that made the pir seem to swim through his eyes, brain, and reality itself.


    To say they rushed forward would be substantially overstating the speed of their approach. Susanne lurched forward, he and Liz were literally limping over, and Aster was practically crawling.


    Still, as they studied the crystal, Liz fumbled around in her storage ring for a key. When she pulled out the key they had found alongside Asters mirror, all the way back on the second floor, a key that could unlock anything.


    It fit in with a snick.


    Matt almost didnt expect it to unlock when Liz turned the key, a small tendril of blood wrapped around her hand, steadying it, but with a soft click, a small panel opened up and he saw the impossible.


    The core of Minka.


    A torrent of Genesis Energy rushed out of the crystal as it swung open, revealing the impossible at its center.


    The item that powered an entire to do the impossible.


    A white hole.


    A <em>real </em>white hole.


    A part of Matts Concept <em>sang</em> in vindication, seeing the white hole powering all of Minka. He wanted to stay there and just bask in the feeling but as the asked them if theyd like to leave, the rest of his body could only give a resigned but wholehearted agreement.


    The door snapped shut and with it the torrent of Genesis Energy and they vanished.


    His spirit twisted to open up a new innate skill slot within his core, then expanded as Minka converted his excess Genesis Energy to Essence and pushed him up to Tier 12. Then there was a moment where he became keenly aware of a massive amount of space surrounding Minka. On autopilot he chose his destination, and allowed himself to be swept away to the Empires moon.


    But Mattsst thought, as the world twisted, was that of the white hole powering the entire.


    <em>It was real</em>.

 PoA: Minkalla Chronicles Floor 7

    PoA: Minka Chronicles Floor 7


    Minka Chronicles Floor 7


    Sergio dodged an arc of green des that tried to m into him as he fought off a rival team from the Sects before returning their attack with a [Mana sh] of his own.


    His de was physically useless, which was annoying, but he had spent five hundred years honing his skills for this moment, and Mind Over Matter was a floor they trained and prepared for.


    His squad leader Cody called out just as he was forcing the Sect fighter back. Empire team iing! Prepare to protect them!


    Sergio resisted the urge to curse.


    He had joined the military cadets and proven himself for over a hundred years before getting this opportunity.


    Instead of Tiering up to Tier 15 and joining the military, like everyone else in his cohort, he had been offered the opportunity to pause at Tier 14 and instead enter Minka. He would be given the best training, skills, and items the Forge would allow, but the corresponding price was to protect the Empire Pathers and other Elites on the final floors, while also trying to kill any of the enemy Pathers he could. Or, whatever they were called; they were all Pathers to him.


    He had almost declined, but eventually decided to do it when he realized that participating in a Minka run was the fastest way to enter the special forces of the army.


    The Tier 15 Ghost Sturgeons were the premiere special forces unit at Tier 15, and specialized in the lowest rungs of the wars, aplishing the high risk objectives that couldnt be left to any other unit. Their prestigious reputation meant they were equally as hard to get into, it was generally by offer only, and you needed to serve in the regr army for at least a thousand years before you were even a blip on their radar. And all the while, you couldnt advance past Tier 15, or you would be stronger than they allowed.


    Minka runs were the sole exception.


    Anyone who went in and performed well was almost guaranteed an invitation to join their ranks, and that was Sergios greatest dream.


    His grandfather had been a squad leader in the Ghost Sturgeons, and those stories were some of his greatest memories growing up. At the same time, he didnt want his grandfather''s legacy overshadowing his application. Even if it would help, which it wouldnt, that would mean he wasn''t good enough on his own.


    And Sergio was anything but average.


    He had fought a dozen other Tier 14s for this opportunity. He was even offered a captain position if he wanted to wait another dozen cycles, but he was too impatient for an otherwise empty title.


    Protecting the Tier 12 Elites was half of their job description for a Minka run. The other half was killing enemy Elites, but the defensive was to be prioritized over the offensive. That didnt change the fact that they were already in a disadvantageous fight, and needed to kill their opponents before they could easily help the neers.


    Except, as it turned out, the approaching team wasnt a group of run of the mill fighters. From the way they obliterated the Tier 14 who tried to attack them, he knew they were some of the best in their generation.


    Even with all of his military-provided training and equipment, he wasnt sure he could kill a fellow Tier 14 as quickly. No one here was pedestrian; safe to assume that no one would have an overwhelming advantage.


    No one except the <em>Tier 12</em> Elites.


    Two Tiers weaker than him, but with higherbat prowess.


    This delve into Minka was the first time he had really interacted with Pathers, and it was only now that he understood his instructors'' warnings and stories. He thought a degree of the mystique was propaganda and exaggeration, but those thoughts were washed away after seeing the Pathers in person.


    Most were just slightly better than he was at Tier 12, but a few were monsters in the truest sense.


    As the buffing spells washed over his team, they were able to easily finish off their Sect counterparts, and Sergio was thanking his lucky stars that they had made it through unscathed.


    The fourth floor Courtly Warfare had created a worst-case scenario, bunching everyone up, and this final floor was more popted than their instructors had prepared them for.


    In this scenario, the manual suggested holding up and gathering more reinforcements before approaching a floor boss, and he was already searching for a defensible position when he got an order from one of the women. We''re pushing to the exit.


    Sergio felt his stomach drop to his boots, even as Cody responded in the positive along with J, who readied up for her team.


    Kay, their healer, asked in their joint teams channel, Is this a good idea? Should we persuade them to hold back?


    Johnathan, the strategist from J''s team, chimed in with his agreement. This is going to make us public enemy number one. I r


    He stopped his warning as it was already apparent what would happen. Every non-Empire team within the three nearest ruins stopped their fights and turned towards them and the team of four.


    Sergio cursed and epted that he was going to die.


    He just wished they hadnt gotten this floor. Mind Over Matter was not ideal for a melee fighter like himself.


    Not that it was bad, as it helped him create a manifestation of his short sword, but he was missing his recently-bonded shield and needed to rely on spells, which wasn''t his preferred style.


    As they retreated, he came to realize that this team of fighters fit into the description of well, <em>monsters</em>.


    The shadow woman with a greatsword cut through enemies like they were training dummies rather than ravening demons seeking bloodshed, and the woman who wielded a spear controlled mes with more finesse than even the best mages hed seen in training.


    But all of that paled inparison to the armored figure that unleashed spell after spell. Through his spiritual perception, he was able to watch Js team, who held the rear with the only man of the group, and what he guessed was a small wolf.


    From the sword the man wielded and the magical armor he wore like a second skin, Sergio learned what it was to be a true de mage. Spells came to the man as naturally as breathing, and while he had no proof, he suspected the man was just as good with his de.


    As he and his team fought through the waves of rhinos, he started to believe that he would live through this, and when the armored man suggested they split off, he was d to hear it.


    Their mission was to help Elites like this, but ideally, they would be able to help more than one team. Their final merits would depend on how many people they helped, and the points he earned for this mission would see him set for at least a decade.


    As Sergio held up the rear, blocking a few spells that were thrown their way, he nearly dropped his sword when more mana than he had ever felt in one ce before gathered up at once. It was like a storm that set the metaphorical hairs on the back of his spiritual neck on end, and it unleashed what could only be described as a cataclysm.


    It was pitch-ck and glimmered with the colors of an aurora, yet the storm cast an icy blue light over its surroundings for a full <em>two miles</em> as it seemingly materialized in a single instant, fading away to an icy wondend in the moments thereafter. The horde of monsters that had previously been an obstacle werepletely gone, reced by an extensive garden of ice sculptures. Even the boss, at the far end of the attack, seemed wounded.


    There was so much Genesis Energy flowing into the man, it was visible as a golden hue, like the sunset on an ice between the glimmering bodies of the monsters and the frozen over ruin. The talisman array seemed so strong, Sergio saw the very ground start converting into ice like a creeping poison seeping into the itself.


    Even without a body, he felt his mouth go dry at the sight.


    What the fuck?!? Js exmation through the open chat woke them up, and they retreated further from the fight while keeping the exit within their spiritual perceptions.


    Once they were far enough away, Kay asked, How are they going to kill the boss? Another array?


    Travis shook his head. No way. They''re too close for another one of those.


    As Cynthia countered that they had an ice mage and could be fine, they got their answer.


    The armored man raced ahead of the rest of the team and used a channel beam spell to punch a hole into the rhino, before following the hole to tear the monster apart from the inside out.


    Cody rubbed his hand across his face at that and gestured with his staff. I wish he could have done that earlier... Wouldve saved us a lot of effort.


    That piqued everyone''s interest, and the two team leaders looked to each other at the realization.


    If they moved in now, they could clean up the attacking teams when the living armor man came out of the monster.


    Move forward to engage. Cody spoke first, but J''s team was already keeping pace with the rest of them.


    Cody turned out to be right. At least, partially. When the man came out of the monster''s body, he swept his beam across the teams who had chased them, injuring all of them and outright killing a few of the ones with worse defensive spells, though not without taking a few final blows.


    As the Empire team vanished, Sergio and his squad engaged with the survivors. Two of the teams were in good enough shape to retreat, but the eight of them were able to kill twelve others and gather their loot.


    They didnt linger, though. Tier 12 teams who had seen a boss defeated and one team leave started rushing forward to take down some of the remaining bosses before they were all killed.


    The final floor was small, and there was only so much Genesis Energy avable to those who didnt want to kill the other teams.


    Cody and J quickly found a group of their cohorts assisting a Guild team who were trying to stop a ns cultivator from exiting, and they moved to assist them. Their job wasnt done yet, and they needed to stick around for as long as possible, but Sergio was now far more confident in their chances. With each team that they took out, they tilted the odds into their favor.


    It also earned him more contribution points, and looked better for his applications to the Ghost Sturgeons.


    ***


    Long Zhiyuan breathed out as he stepped into the distortion that would take him to the final level of this floor.


    Armed with his six new abilities stemming from his First Revtion, he felt like a new man.


    Fighting his copy, while proving that he was finally learning how this trial world worked, hadnt been an easy task. But he persevered with only a few injuries that were no longer a concern now that he had reached this floor.


    Flexing his hands, or rather his <em>ws</em>, he smiled.


    Onest hunt.


    He appeared in a ruin that seemed to be a winter forest, but he didn''t worry, as he felt the teams around him.


    Once he identified the nearest teams, he moved.


    This would have been easier with his cloak, but he could do without its concealment.


    Gliding over the snow, he came up to a team of Tier 14s from the Monster Collective that were fighting a team of Tier 12s from the Federation, and he didnt hesitate to rip out the Monster Collective healers throat.


    Instead of fighting with his ws, he started casting techniques. [Grasp of the Storm-Tiger] paired exceptionally well with [w From the Beyond], which sent fingers of lightning out to strike at both opposing teams.


    His follow up attack surprised the Federation team and burnt a hole through a ghostly looking man.


    He cast [Tribtion of the First Heaven] and danced inside the falling mes while his lightning took out the others with shes of his ws.


    After picking up their loot and looking for the rings that stored Genesis Energy, Long Zhiyuan moved to find another few teams to kill for the final bits necessary for the exit challenge, when he saw a message go out through the Sects'' [Spiritual Self].


    A call for assistance by Young Mistress Meteor Fall to any and all Sect cultivators on this floor.


    Long Zhiyuan had no intentions to help the arrogant Young Mistress, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Holding back and not responding to the summons, he waited and watched as she made a dash for a ruins boss.


    Instead of fighting for a position with her, he joined her protectors, wielding a staff and pretending to be an average mage from a low Tier Sect. While they fought their way through a blockade of the other Great Powers, he focused on blending into the background as much as possible.


    With most of his Genesis Energy in his ring, he was just a facelessckey among the dozens she had gathered.


    As he pretended to help, he put all of his clones into ast minute fight against the Young Mistress, while his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] watched and picked up as much information as he could from her battle.


    Being so close, he was able to gather a lot of information about her that he had otherwise missed, and even deduced a few possible finishing moves she might have used based on what he knew of her Sects techniques and her current fighting styles.


    The closer they got, the more resistance they encountered until Young Mistress Meteor Fall cast her Sect''s signature technique, summoning a rain of fire and earth onto her enemies.


    That broke them, and most that survived the initial bombardment retreated, but Young Mistress Meteor Fall simply ordered herckeys forward to finish killing the monsters and boss of the ruin.


    She pretended to be out of mana, but [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] noticed the potion she was drinking was nothing more than colored water. It had no essence.


    A sneaky trap, but someone still fell for it and tried to ambush her from the rear.


    A summoner seemed to appear in the distance for a moment, inside one of his monsters. He materialized just long enough for a hidden monster to sh out at the Young Mistress. It might have worked, but she had a white-hot ball of fire ready for such an urrence, and obliterated the ambushers'' summons before quickly sending a flurry of thumb-sized fireballs at the man''sst known position.


    Keeping up his act, Long Zhiyuan joined with everyone else who attacked the same area, but there was no rush of Genesis Energy, signifying the ambusher wasnt dead yet.


    [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] hadnt gotten much time to analyze the man, but Long Zhiyuan believed that the summoner wouldn''t stick around. He understood ambush predators better than anyone, and they rarely tried twice when there was easier prey around.


    At least, he wouldnt stick around.


    Young Mistress Meteor Fall must not have believed he would try again either, as she ordered theckeys to push forward, and Long Zhiyuan kept up his [Heavenly All Seeing Eye] and his ruse.


    Right when the giant darkness crow boss was about to die, Young Mistress Meteor Fall stepped in and finished it off, taking the Genesis Energy for herself.


    While that was her right as a Young Mistress, it angered the others, who murmured in distress. Meteor Fall had more than enough Genesis Energy, and it would have been the political y to share the final boss''s reward.


    At least, it would have been if she intended to let any of them live, which she did not.


    As she once more cast her Sect''s inheritance technique, Long Zhiyuan fell and pretended to die along with everyone else.


    He knew Young Masters and Mistresses enough to know few would share glory during such a moment so he was prepared for the possibility. As some subtle shifts in her mana indicated her betrayal slightly ahead of time he positioned himself next to arger woman who he had been able to use as cover from the bombardment.


    Using [The Healing Stream Which Washes Wounds Away] with just a trickle of mana to stop his heart from pumping any blood in his false mind-body, he camouged himself among the other bodies, waiting for his opportunity .


    Using a skill was a risk, but he suspected Young Mistress Meteor Fall had her own copy of [Heavenly All Seeing Eye], and it might notice any irregrities in his mental body.


    When she came over to start gathering their items, Long Zhiyuan struck one devastating blow.


    As his w reached out, he was already casting [mes And Wind Of The Dancing Stars] to speed himself up, and he sacrificed his left hand to grab her fist as it began to glow white with mes.


    She tried to summon something out of her spiritual ring, but with a flex of his First Revtion, he demanded the world stay as it was, preventing her from opening the connection to the pocket space.


    Young Mistress Meteor Fall didnt seem surprised, and from her mouth, another ball of mes appeared and grew, but Long Zhiyuan was already moving.


    His right hand, which he had feinted towards her more vulnerable neck, mmed into her jaw. As the technique went off, her head vanished in an explosion of heat and colors.


    Genesis Energy rushed into Long Zhiyuan, and he only paused to im treasures from Young Mistress Meteor Fall and all the cultivators she had killed, but not yet looted.


    Stepping into the final distortion, Long Zhiyuan smiled.


    A sessful Minka run.


    He had been forged anew.


    The Long Zhiyuan who had entered would be nothing but a bug to be stepped on to his current self.


    And he had even managed to kill Young Mistress Meteor Fall, taking all the riches of a Heavens chosen. Even just a brief glimpse showed her spatial ring was packed with natural treasures, potions, talismans, technique shards, technique manuals from dozens of Sects, and finally, beautifully crafted weapons and armor.


    He just needed to leverage these new gains into power, but he had no question in his ability to do so.


    His First Revtion abounded with new power, and whatever reward this final floor may be, he would master it just as surely as all else he had imed within this ce. It would take time to consolidate his might, but his clones would aid him immensely in that matter.


    As he started the final test, his mind was on his future.


    There were so many things he needed to do.


    ***


    ude slunk through the shadows of this floor to the best of his abilities.


    Mind Over Matter was weird at the best of times, but the body he manifested was especially odd.


    He had six arms, and his entire body was covered with eyes.


    Not that they did anything, but it looked eerie when he opened them. They certainly were an odd representation of his Talent, for that was the only thing it could be. It sure wasnt from his life of seeing with his eyes.


    But this floor wasnt one he was looking for a fight on.


    He had found a challenge room hidden at the top of a waterfall on the second level of this floor, and subsequently had all the Genesis Energy he needed to exit Minka with the innate skill slot and to ept the floor challenge.


    Know Yourself wasn''t a fun challenge, but self reflection had never been a difficulty for ude.


    While he could fight his way through this floor, he would rather avoid the fights and sneak his way through an empty ruin. From everything he saw, there were two ruins that had already been cleared, but in front of each one, there was a collection of teams from each Great Power that insisted on defending them.


    He didnt need to take those paths, so he instead floated at his best speed to a ruin with an Empire and Guild team.


    A quick message to them got them to hold off the others long enough for him to slip through. Those two teams quickly were chased off, and a Sect team along with a Federation team tried to chase him down, but he was already ahead of them. A few quick uses of his Talent ensured that they got in each other''s way more than his own.


    It was almost anticlimactic as he passed into the ruin''s distortion and began his final challenge.


    He had expected something to go wrong, or someone to ambush him at thest minute.


    ude just took it as proof that good deeds were repaid in kind by the realm.


    ***


    Carlos followed his team as they inspected the icy ground where they found what remained of Delta team. Or, what they believed was Delta team. The nine bodies were gone, eaten by the, but they had found some telltale signs of Diana''s Talent in the twisted foliage that littered the ground in the prodding ruins.


    Breaking the ice was not easy. It seemed like it had turned into a part of the itself, and they only did so to see if anything was left of theirpanions, but they found nothing.


    No one said anything while they worked by mutual unspoken agreement.


    Charlie was in an awful mood, and had almoste to blows with Brett in thest safe room, only being held back by Alexi.


    They were all angry at having to kill Cecil, and Carlos wondered if the others felt the same way he did.


    Mother had warned them of the dangers of the False Truths challenge, where Minka would seek to sway them from their course with lies and nder. But some portion of what he had experienced within the lives rang true, though distorted. In the wake of Cecils death, Carlos had reflected upon a faint nagging feeling he had be aware of sometime during this trial. Thoughts which had never urred to him before came just a bit too freely, though it certainly had not <em>felt</em> akin to an external force attempting to poison his mind.


    It was more like a stiff breeze was stirring up dust and debris, returning long-forgotten and neglected thoughts to swirl around his mind. Little actions which their Loving Mother had taken, that at the time had seemed so loving, now were less clear. He had a life within the Conglomerate of Guilds, and had possessed loving parents who acted in <em>no</em> way akin to Mother. They were softer, more present, and his mind had felt clear and free in a way he wasnt used to, but he did recognize it as simr to what he felt within the depths of this metal monstrosity.


    <em>Lies.</em>


    The word echoed through his mind. There was a lie <em>somewhere</em>, he knew. There was some falsehood existing within him, but he couldnt simply ask Mother what the truth was. Life was simple, it was enjoyable when he could simply ask and receive Truth. But Mother had told them that Minka hated them, that it would try to rip them from her, that it was a tool of the Evil Empire meant to ruin them and their own citizens, simply because they hated everyone. But Minka seemed so indifferent. Why would it grant them such gifts if it hated them?


    It seemed more <em>indifferent</em> than malicious, and why would it lie?


    And if Minka was not lying, there was only one other option.


    <em>But why would Mother lie?</em>


    He did not know the answer to that. Mother had told them that they couldnt trust what Minka said because it would lie, and she would know. She knew everything. He would need to ask her, once they had left. She certainly had not lied, and if she <em>had</em> lied, then there was a good reason for it. Some truth that they werent ready to hear yet.


    Mother was safe Mother could be trusted.


    The entire Realm sought to rip them from her grasp, just like she had warned, but she would always be there for them. So then, why did <em>Charlie</em> act to rip one of Mothers children from her?


    Was it truly so awful to doubt?


    Seeing what happened to Cecil, he had his answer.


    Yes, yes it was.


    Doubt was how lies seeped in. Lies could poison them all, if they had infiltrated their hearts. And that was deadly.


    But his heart was <em>full</em> of doubt, especially doubt in <em>Mother</em>. That wasnt natural; it had to be some kind of poison but he didnt want to die. Or perhaps, it would be for the best?


    To die in faith was better than to live in doubt, but what if he died in doubt? Why had Charlie consigned Cecil to death, to die <em>in doubt</em>? They should have brought him out to be treated by Mother, instead of silencing him before anyone else could hear about his questions. But given the effects his few words were having on Carlos, perhaps that <em>was</em> for the best?


    Carlos could not voice his doubt, because to do so would be suicide, and death while in doubt was the worst way to die. Worse, it might cause some of <em>his</em> brothers and sisters to doubt, and consign them to the same, terrible fate he would suffer. Could he truly stand before Mother with such doubt in his heart, and watch her face fall as she saw him shrouded in such darkness?


    But! If he settled his doubt <em>before</em> he saw Mother again, then she would wee him once more.


    That was what allowed his traitorous mind to wander into dangerous territory. All he needed to do was to investigate his doubt, learn of its falsehood, then his faith would be strong once more. Mother may be disappointed to learn that he needed to see the truth with his own eyes, but she would understand.


    She was <em>Mother</em>.


    She was <em>reliable</em>.


    She was <em>safe</em>.


    When he returned to her, she would wee him once again. Minka had shown him a paradise in the Guilds, and once he saw the lies that the carried for himself, he could be firm in his heart once again.


    He had not wanted to doubt, but the life he had seen had forced him to.


    From the false life, Carlos now knew there were no Castes that one would be sorted into upon Awakening within the Guilds, but Mothers teaching always described it as awful and purposelessly chaotic.


    He believed that before the alternate life, but now He was not so sure. From what he had seen, it was a ce for True Heroes to rise, to literally soar above the streets as an example for all, paragons of virtue and hope that defended themon man from those Viins who would prey upon them.


    To be a Hero or a Viin was the prerogative of the individual, which made no sense, and a small part of him wished to see it for himself. Even after living through it, he was not sure if he understood how it worked. With no assortment upon Awakening, surely the individuals Talent would go to waste?


    <em>None of it made any sense</em>.


    A Talent was the truest expression of the self, surely life would be chaotic beyond all belief without a ce in which to utilize it, certainly beyond the form of the beautiful, self-woven tapestry Minka had soothingly whispered to him. He would see it for himself, then find some way to return to the Federations loving order, or he would die.


    His siblings would never understand, though. If they heard that he wished to see the Guilds, they would see it as a firmer betrayal than anything Cecil had done, and he had no wish to die in doubt.


    If he died upon seeing the truth, and knowing with certainty that Mother was right, he would rest easy. If he was killed within seconds of appearing within the Guilds, he would die in peace, he would die in <em>faith</em>, and that was better than dying in doubt.


    So he said nothing, as they tore their way through the final floor.


    Carlos fought as hard as he could as they beat their way through one of the final ruins that still had a boss with the other teams.


    As the three teams entered the safe room, Carlos felt his heart racing. He would likely die here, but at least it would be in faith upon confirming Mothers wisdom, and to serve Mother, he would happily die. She would be sad that she lost another child, and that she would never know the true depths of his devotion. Would she weep, that doubt in him had led to his demise? Or would she hold it within her heart and be strong for his siblings? His mental finger shook, not because of the pain of his runes or his chosen skill settling deep within his spirit, but because he still wished that he did not have to die.


    His decision settled itself as his mental finger fell seemingly on its own ord.


    Better death than doubt, to look Mother in the eye with so much as a shred of disbelief in his heart.


    As he appeared on a street of the Guild moon, he awaited death.


    It felt like an eternity, but was less than a heartbeat before he vanished from the street and into an office.


    A woman in blue and white armor and matching cape that contrasted with her dark skin sat across from him, and gazed at him with piercing golden eyes that sat behind a small mask shaped like two diamonds stuck together.


    He he <em>knew </em>her.


    That shouldnt be possible with Minkas lies of other lives.


    But maybe Minka had not lied?


    <em>He knew her</em>.


    Madam Skyfist. Her Guild, the Pirs, were a Tier 35 guild with the motto, We will hold up the sky because of their dedication to the Guilds and their protection of the citizens under them if Minka had been telling the truth.


    Why are you here, little Feddy? Did your finger slip? She spoke in the Guild''snguage, but he understood most of it, despite the life only being a reflection.


    I I wish to see the truth. Mother told me of the evils of the Realm, but in a moment of weakness, I doubted her. I do not wish to die with doubt in my heart, so all that I ask of you is that before you kill me, I may see the truth. Let me see your lies.


    He expected to be denied, and that he would fail, having his doubt remain even as he was snuffed out, but instead Madam Skyfists face softened.


    What is your name, child?


    Carlos. I, I Before he could finish what he was about to say, Madam Skyfist interrupted him.


    It is a pleasure to meet you, Carlos. I am Skyfist, and I will show you the truth you so crave. You are not the first to havee from the Federation, nor do I expect you to be thest. I will warn you, you will be kept under surveince, but you will see whatever you wish to see. We have some of your formerpatriots here on this moon who defected in previous cycles, they will be happy to answer every question you have so that you may indeed learn the truth. Well even return you to the Federation if you so desire, within reason. We dont permit spies, but we <em>do </em>believe in choice.


    Carlos felt confused. This was this was <em>exactly</em> how he would have expected her to act from Minkas lies. Were were they <em>not</em> lies?


    A spasm of pain shot through him, and he copsed to the ground. Madam Skyfist seemed to teleport to his side, andid her hand on his shoulder. She frowned, but for the first time Carlos could remember, his bones <em>stopped hurting</em>.


    Well now, she mused. This is interesting.


    Carlos breath caught in his throat. Was she about to kill him? Was she going to


    Child. We need to get you to a hospital.


    ***


    Jullian entered the final level of the final floor and strolled through the destroyedndscapes, taking it all in.


    While others had fought desperately, he had a clean path ready to walk.


    As he floated through the passages, he contemted that idea.


    Merchants werent meant to fight directly, but they could benefit from war. At least, if they were still alive to take advantage of the situation, and hadn''t been robbed of all their possessions by someone with a stronger fist.


    He had traded goods for Genesis Energy on each floor''s safe area on his journey to the seventh floor, and he had a new appreciation of what the fighters went through to make it this far.


    Jullian knew he couldn''t have fought his way through these monster infested halls. His battlefields were clean, well-lit rooms,rge offices, and meetings full of fake smiles.


    When he entered the final distortion, he once more denied the in its prompt to take its challenge and walked straight to the central pir.


    Touching its smooth surface, he felt the ask him which exit reward he wanted, and without hesitating, he chose the seventh floor reward and had his AI moved into his newly opened skill slot. It hurt beyond words, but he only screamed for a little while, and hadposed himself when he chose to exit onto the Corporations'' moon. The auctions were another ce he could make a killing, and he still needed to check in on all the Tier 14s he had helped on the proceeding floors.


    Each would need a personal message congratting them for their sessful reaching of Tier 15, which would serve as a reminder they needed to start paying him.


    So much work to do, and so little time.

 Chapter 212

    Chapter 212


    Emmanuel sighed in relief as he arrived back to the capital and saw everything was still in one piece.


    After getting away with Hastors upgraded Talents, hed had a looming sense that something bad had happened to the Empire while he was gone, and that feeling of dread only intensified as he got closer to his capital.


    He had half expected to see the burning rubble of his Tier 47 world, but everything was fine.


    As his spiritual perception invaded the''s real space, he swept it across the entire star system and felt around for everything and anything.


    There were a few bands of criminals noteworthy enough for him to notify localw enforcement, a few cases of domestic abuse, and a single instance of someone attacking down Tiers. Everything was normal.


    Letting out the breath he had been holding, he swapped his Talents and performed a series of quick teleports to reach the bright light that was the Tier 47 system in chaotic space.


    He chose to enter real space in his private pce, and spent a few moments with his wife before they headed off to the meeting that he had arranged on his way back.


    He needed reports from his Royals and to share his own findings; both his new Talent set and the possibilities it presented for gaining Talents mid-ascension, as well as what hed learned from just visiting the Republics capital. That Hastor had reached Tier 51 and formed his Authority was interesting from a theoretical point of view- Aiden would likely take the mere suggestion of someone developing their Domain so far as a personal challenge- but <em>thankfully, </em>it was irrelevant to the uing wars.


    Emmanuel had some reports, but relying on foreign ry systems was just <em>begging</em> for messages to be intercepted, so he refrained from transmitting anything that wasnt public knowledge.


    Entering the meeting room, he found his Royals chatting amongst themselves.


    Leon was trying to reignite a poker game, if his mirrored sunsses were any indication, while Frederic looked disgruntled and was refusing outright. A strong indication that Leon had swindled him out of something by creating fake reflections on the sses.


    Everyone fell for that at least once. Usually more than once.


    Even once the trick was known, Leon sometimes let the real reflections through and other times changed them, meaning no one could tell when he was showing his true cards, or when he was baiting someone into a trap.


    Mara was chatting with Harper and Rusty while Tur''stal was off to the side, silently waiting with a bottle of wine still mostly full.


    As Emmanuel and Carissa entered the room, everyone stopped their conversations and turned to him with varying levels of inquiring looks.


    Taking the head seat, he gestured to everyone else to sit down and said, Im back. How much of the Empire burned down while I was away?


    It was half a joke, but his question was still serious.


    Carissa rolled her eyes and interjected, Let''s at least order our food now, so we can get an intermission in the debrief.


    Emmanuel wasnt particrly hungry, but agreed nheless, as these meetings did tend to drag on, and a break in the middle would be good for general morale.


    After everyone had ced their orders with the head chef, Emmanuel turned to Mara and Leon. What is the general state of the Empire since I left?


    Mara shook her head slightly. Nothing major has changed. The same general political squabbles, but nothing that breached a Duke level alert.


    Hearing that, Emmanuel took a deep breath and let out most of the stress he had been holding in.


    If nothing else, that single bit of news meant the rest of the meeting would be eptable.


    Looking to Leon, the storm mage nodded as he added. On the outward focus of the Empire, there have been new expansion requests submitted by an Earl Kale Liko and Viscountess Nicolosia de Fiorino, respectively, to sectors seventy nine and three hundred sixteen, to start their own vassal kingdoms. I gave them tentative approval for the moves, as neither has any major skeletons in their closets.


    Getting Emmanuel''s nod that he understood, Leon continued. On the topic of expansion, the integration of The Alliance of Allied Queens has begun, and they are cooperating with all of the new changes in the integration process without a fuss. The head of state, Queen Diana, has indicated she wishes to step down along with most of her cohort, and allow another generation to take over the integrated High Dukedom. As that isn''t an unusual request, it was approved with the understanding the integration doesnt run into any major roadblocks. The Wisemar Kingdom has also officially finished its integration, and the rewards were sent out to Vespian in ordance with his Kingdom''s progress and size. Noints or hidden dangers were found in the Kingdom from internal or external sources.


    Emmanuel nodded and mentally noted that he needed to find some time to go tour the newest duchy in the Empire, as a weing gesture, in the next dozen or so years. It would help solidify the people''s image as being truly part of the Empire proper, and help smooth any ruffles that might crop up in theing generations.


    Nothing Leon said surprised him, though, and he turned to Rusty, who started telling him about the situation with the Empires military.


    As you ordered before you left, we have increased recruitment of Tier 15 through Tier 25s by one percent, bringing in another fifty million recruits. We have also increased the militia forces in case of hostile takeovers of inhabiteds by five percent along the borders. Speaking of the outers, the battlefields out in the deeper parts of those systems have all been reinforced or otherwise built up in preparations for the uing war.


    Rusty looked up, catching Emmanuel''s eye as he continued. That has put a strain on the military budget, and we will need an influx of funds if you wish to carry out the rest of the ns we talked about. While our predictions were generally urate, there has been an uptick in the price of military goods with the threat of war looming, pushing out the budget higher than anticipated sooner than we allocated for.


    Emmanuel narrowed his eyes for a moment and swapped to his fathers Tier 50 Talent, quickly rifling through time, checking for any outside interference.


    It was easy to spot.


    Entire swaths of the history in regards to civilian arms and armor providers had included purchase orders from higher Tier groups and individuals who were nothing more than frontmen for the other Great Powers.


    He generally was able to predict such moves on the side of the enemy, but being so far away for so long, they were able to n and enact such tactics before he could prevent them as usual.


    Before he burned through a third of his mana pool checking the past, he had his AI list out the actors who had been pawns and thepanies that had been taken advantage of before sending all of that to Harper and Rusty.


    The former would look into the covert sides of the purchase order and see what information they could ferret out, along with looking into thepanies not approached. They could be loyalists, and thus not to be approached, or they might be deep cover agents. To figure out where theyy, everyone needed to be looked into.


    His fathers Talent was good, but it wasnt perfect, and it burned through more mana the more it tried to predict, or the higher the Tier of the target.


    It was also good training for Harpers agents, which was a plus.


    Rusty, on the other hand, could use this information and intercept some of the goods that would be sent out and eventually leave the Empire''s borders. There was no reason to arm their enemies, after all.


    Getting the packet of information, Rusty continued. Otherwise, ourbat capabilities are excellent in the Tier 26 through Tier 35 range. With Duke Waters acting as the tip of the spear, he has managed to decimate a number of Sect and Republic military instations along the border during his current Rusty paused as he searched for a word. Meander.


    Hearing that Duke Waters was still out and about, Emmanuel frowned. He had told Rusty to rein him in before he left, but apparently, the battle junkie was ignoring orders to extend his little vacation to the battlefield.


    Ascenders were a special breed, and he now understood his father''sints about L. They were your greatest asset, but by their very nature had minds and wills of their own, even if they didnt outright do as they pleased.


    They were less soldiers to be ordered about, and more cats to be herded.


    Sending a personal message to the Duke, he ordered him back, and to sweeten the pot, he hinted at the fact hed learned some things about the stage of Domains beyond the Aspect.


    That, if nothing else, would get the man running back.


    If it <em>didnt</em> work, he would go get the man himself before sticking Waters on terraforming duty, specifically in making worlds with shallow seas. Emmanuel personally liked terraforming, it was good, honest work, but Waters hated it, and preventing him from making oceans deeper than a mile would irritate him like nothing else.


    Ive handled the Duke. He should be heading back once he gets my message. What else do you have to report?


    Beyond the normal? Only one thing of note. Lieutenant Colonel Darrow has indicated his desire to move beyond the Tier 15 battlefields. He has stated he is willing to stay at that Tier for the uing war, but wants to progress both in Tier and rank once the war is over.


    That caused Emmanuel to pause as he considered the implications.


    Lieutenant Colonel Darrow was a prodigy by any measure and, better yet, unquestionably loyal to the Empire.


    The man had started as a Tier 10 cadet, and had proven himself an better than averagebatant, a genius tactician, and formidable leader, culminating in a battle wherein his battalion was cut off from reinforcements during a pincer maneuver in thest war.


    After a second, devastating battle where most of the senior leadership was lost or seriously wounded, the then-sergeant Darrow led the men deeper into Federationnd before escaping detection and vanishing. That was until the battalion attacked the rear of the Tier 15 siege of a Tier 9 transit world that would have opened avenues deeper into the Empire.


    When the war ended, Sergeant Darrow had requested and been granted a transition to the special forces, where he only honed his skills and leadership abilities as he decided to be an officer instead of staying enlisted.


    Once he had reached the rank of Captain and the limit of growth he could reasonably see in the special forces, he requested a transfer back to the regr troops along with a promotion to Major.


    Now, as a Lieutenant Colonel, he was the single best battlefieldmander in the low Tier bracket of the wars, with a particr gift for leveraging even mundane talent to its utmost. He preferred small-unitmand, but could certainly leadrger groups. He just would reassign troops in his squads until each one had a given speciality when possible, giving him a wide array of specialized tools to call upon.


    He hadnt progressed in Tier, but his experience meant he was an easy solution to any battlefield in the Tier 15 through Tier 20 range.


    Darrow had been content with his Tier for longer than average, and had more than earned his Tier up to 35 if he so wished, but Emmanuel had another idea.


    In the end, he wouldnt force the man if he wished to walk another path.


    Has the good Lieutenant Colonel indicated which rank he wishes to advance to?


    Rusty immediately answered, He requested to Tier up to at least Tier 20, but from the reports of Brigadier General Greene sent up, she believes he had his eye on the leadership of Tier 25 Corpse Harvesters.


    Digesting that, Emmanuel ran the simtions with a set of Talents and his AI. Nothing came out that seemed wrong, so he tapped the table.


    Colonel Jackson will be transferring out of the Corpse Harvesters in a decade, in preparation for the war. Let Lieutenant Colonel Darrow know the position is his, along with the apanying promotion if he so wishes. But


    Emmanuel thought over his idea once more before mentally shrugging.


    Team Zero could use amander, and I think hell be capable of filling the role. Read him in as needed and offer him the position.


    Rusty nodded, Project Breach it is, then. I...


    The attention of the room shifted to Carissa.


    Emmanuel did not like that look, and red at his wife. She wasnt a Royal, but he had wanted to take the Path out of the hands of the military and bring it under his more direct control, so he had given her a position where the Tribunal reported directly to her.


    Everyone looking at her meant that there was something wrong with his Path.


    There <em>may </em>have been a few surprises that havee up since you left. Would you like to hear about them, honey dearest who I love so much?


    <em>Clearly</em>, there is something I need to know, <em>so yes</em>.


    Carissa just smiled, as though surprises were ever a good thing.


    Light and Shadow reached Tier 24 ahead of our estimations, and both have epted orders to not progress before we give the go ahead. With Intents, they are ready toplete the Path in as little as a decade.


    Emmanuel took in the report and tried not to brace for the bad news. The two of them were progressing better than expected, but that wouldnt be why Rusty looked at Carissa.


    Good. Hold them there and rotate them back on counter-espionage duty for the next five years or so. I want to postpone their finishing the Path a little. That will be the casus belli the other Great Powers will use. We can''t push it back too far, or theyll dere anyway, but Id like to squeeze an extra decade or two out of them if we can.


    Carissa continued, Stick and Stone stepped off The Path as predicted, and are still adapting to full support. I hear theyre taking to their preparatory training like a leviathan to water, but thats more Rustys thing. Supports that strong are rare, after all.


    At Rustys confirming nod, Carissa moved on. Other Pathers are acting within our predictions, there were a couple of promising Tier 5s who crossed my desk, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Bloom stepped off before reaching Tier 22, but declined all offered positions.


    She then paused and tapped her fingers on her leg in a way that caused Emmanuel''s blood pressure to skyrocket. It meant she was contemting, and there should be nothing to think about in this situation.


    Oh yes. I almost forgot. The only other thing of note to report is that Quill, Torch, their bond, and Queen have emerged from Minka as Tier 11s after a full run.


    Emmanuel slowly closed his fist as he resisted the urge to p the table in front of him to disy his anger.


    It would be an unbing disy for an Emperor, even if he was only in the presence of people he considered friends, and it would also destroy the table, which would be annoying. Their dinner wasing soon.


    Looking across all of his Royals, he asked with a t voice, Exin.


    Mara was the first to speak up. Luna said they had a good chance of making it through at Tier 11, and at worst, they would have to Tier up to Tier 12. With Queen assisting them, their odds went up to eighty two percent.


    Leon added with a tap on the table, And they seeded in proving her correct and showing that they are the best of the uing generation. You know you would have approved the decision with that information.


    They were right, of course. He would <em>certainly</em> be having words with the meddling cat, but he knew that he would have agreed. And even if he hadnt, he wouldnt <em>truly</em> have ever stopped them from entering The Forge. They would absolutely crave the rewards it could provide, and he wouldnt deny them their request.


    He was <em>not</em> a tyrant, and would never be one.


    Minka was simply an aggravating entity beyond even <em>his </em>reach, no matter what Talents he tried to use. But even if knowing of their entry would bring nothing but anxiety, he would at least be forewarned, which was better than learning about it after the fact.


    Emmanuel cooled his simmering anger. He trusted his wife and his friends to make the right decision, but <em>sometimes</em> letting go of control like that could be hard. To help take his mind off of it, he checked what cycle theyd gotten for their effort.


    A starting Eternal Darkness, then Genesis Cultivation, Back to Basics, Courtly Warfare, Taxing Skills, then finishing out with Folded Reflections and Mind Over Matter.


    It was certainly a good set, Genesis Cultivation and Back to Basics in particr caught his eye, and two Concept-rted floors at the end provided a solid basis for their future development.


    Besides, he couldnt truly be too hard on them for attempting Minka at Tier 11, not without being a hypocrite. But that was how he <em>knew exactly</em> how dangerous it was to do so


    Releasing his breath, Emmanuel listened as Carissa broke down the highlights of the two teams merged delve.


    Honestly, he was impressed with what they aplished, and filed away the information about a secret way to gather Genesis Energy in the final floor.


    That had several uses, most notably giving a team a massive boost into their next Tier, but his wife and The Seven knew their job well enough that he didnt need to tell them how to leverage that information in the future.


    Very well. That is fantastic news. I wish I could have been informed, but it would have presented a security risk and would have been impractical besides. If nothing else, Emmanuel could admit when others had made the right call.


    As Carissa continued talking about the rest of the Pathers they were watching, Emmanuel swapped to his split mind Talent to best keep track of their longer reaching ns.


    She eventually finished her report, and Emmanuel turned back to Rusty. Back to Lieutenant Colonel Darrow. Do you believe hell eptmand of Team Zero?


    Rusty snorted. The mans a brilliant tactician, loves leveraging unique resources to their fullest potential, and is hoping to expand the scope of his work. We so much as <em>mention</em> Project Breach to him, and even you couldnt pry the offer from his cold, dead hands.


    Emmanuel mentally jotted that worry off his checklist. Lieutenant Colonel Darrow would do fine, and they just needed to ensure he had the people toplete their missions.


    He was moving on to Harper when Rusty kept speaking, To continue with the good news, Project Ironvine has had a major breakthrough recently.


    Emmanuel felt his mood sour slightly once more.


    Project Ironvine was a disaster he had inherited from his father.


    He would have never allowed such a project to be greenlit in the first ce, but it was close to showing sess every time he was going to order funding halted towards it.


    The idea was simple. Recreate a growth item that they could give to anyone.


    In practice, their creations were more akin to a parasite. Modeled loosely off of nt-virus hybrids that popted a few rifts, they would infect and bind to a hosts body and spirit, growing with and <em>theoretically</em> strengthening their symbiote. In practice, most of the early iterations inflicted madness not dissimr to that which rift monsters experienced, and those few which didnt left their hosts more crippled than strengthened.


    We had a breakthrough using Razorback Ankylosaurus as the base. Theres some interaction with the host that we dont fully understand, which limits the normal side effects to something manageable without a decrease in power. To make a long story short, the team is requesting to move to full human testing within the next twenty years, and I believe it''s the right call.


    Emmanuel didnt like it, but a new breakthrough was what they needed to deal with the uing wars.


    At his nod, Rusty continued, We even have a volunteer. Corporal Evelyn Nore. Corporal Nores Talents inflict physical harm in ce of using mana, butpensates with an increased effectiveness of healing cast upon her, including a lessened cooldown. We believe she would be the best test subject. She is used to dealing with immense amounts of pain and heals better than most. In the worst case, we believe she can survive the forceful removal of the parasite.


    Ensure Corporal Nore knows <em>all</em> risks involved before testing, but otherwise, you have approval to move ahead. Keep me informed with all news about the project going forward.


    At Rustys confirmation, Emmanuel turned to Harper. How are our spies doing, and what are the other Great Powers doing?


    We have caught a swell in anti-monarchy sentiments along with a number of terrorist cells being funded by the other Great Powers. So far, we have managed to catch a number of them, but Im sure some have slipped through. For now though, everything is stable internally. Externally, I have been able to nt a few teams of spies in the Sects and turn a few others. Our real victory was your talk with First Shepherd Toby. Weve had a few inquiries about the Dragon blood, and talks about an official defensive pact are looking promising for after the war. If we are more generous, I believe we might be able to sway the Monster Collective to join the war, but the price they are asking for that is exorbitant at best. I think it would be better to ensure their neutrality in the uing war, and then tie us together with more benefits once we have shown we are able to weather the storm. But before the war we suspect will happen after this one.


    Emmanuel thought over what Harper said and finally asked, What about the Corporations? Managing Director JR seemed open to a trade when I mentioned it.


    Harper shrugged one shoulder. So far, all of my inquiries have been like throwing a stone into a well. I suspect the other side has upped the benefits to a degree he simply can''t say no to. I suggest that we save the blood to either get them out of the war early if we are losing, or use it to tie them to us going forward once we win.


    After Harper went over a few reports about various other spies and information that their people gathered, Emmanuel moved on to Frederic.


    Anything interesting in the academies?


    Frederic shook his head, Not since you left.


    Hearing that he nodded and moved on. And how is the economy?


    His newest royal was more formal as he reported this time. Your majesty, we have had an upsurge in economic spending, but our budget is tight with the war looming over us. Once we start diverting more resources to the front lines, the economy will take a downward turn, and I don''t see how we can afford to keep up a number of the social services we provide, such as Tiering ups to Tier 5. That is thergest expense that we can cut without too much pushback, as long as it is couched as a temporary war measure. There are a number of other things we could cut, but their cost benefit ratio isn''t nearly as high as that particr case.


    After they discussed a few other matters, Frederic looked to Harper, who asked, There is also another topic that I would like to bring up, your Majesty. What of the [Bandage] rifts? We have been approached by all of the other Great Powers with the desire to buy sets of five hundred [Bandage] skill shards for their own attempts at making a rift that produces it on their own. The concessions they are offering are generous to say the least. Frederic and I believe there are some good political and economical maneuvers possible through brokering some agreements.


    Emmanuel thought that over before answering, I had a few ideas in mind, but nothing quite serious yet. I was going to give the green light to create a few more spread throughout the Empire. Id like to keep those to ourselves for the meantime, though.


    As he paused to think, Frederic had a response ready. It seems like a wise decision, your Majesty. We could always open up trades <em>after</em> the war.


    Emmanuel simply nodded. He knew the situation of the economy better than anyone, and what Frederic said fell in line with what he knew and had nned before.


    While he suspected the man had ideas to remove more of what he would call ''frivolous spending'', his mind went in another direction.


    I have other ideas about trade, but first, Id like to hear from Tur''stal. How is the home front?


    Tur''stal tapped her wine ss. Well, all things considered. We have added another eight point two trillion people to the Empire in thest decade, along with forty two Tier 5 and belows. Most of that poption boom has been in low Tiers, but weve also caught and settled two Tier 20 or highers in various kingdoms. People are flocking towards the frontiers with the benefits and tax breaks we have been offering, but we need to be careful that we don''t have any splinter cultures popping up. I suggest we slow the benefits to a degree, using the war as our reasoning, and focus on digesting what we have gained for the next thousand years or so. That will ensure our expansion doesnt be a hidden danger, with so many mortals being born away from firmer central governance.


    Emmanuel was about to agree when their dinner came in, and they put a pause on the work talk for the duration.


    Conversations that avoided work topics were easy with Mara and Leon there, even more so thanks to their being prouder than peacocks about their childrens achievements in Minka. If someone was only listening to this conversation, they would have believed Mara and Leon had been the ones delving into Minka with how they retold the stories. Or rather, restating their stories as they started to create illusions to y out the more dramatic moments.


    Eventually, once the conversation reached the end of their delve and the tes were cleared, they returned to business.


    Tur''stal, get me a n with your suggestions for consolidating our recent gains and ensuring no splinter cultures appear in the meantime, while also dealing with the war. We cant allow it to distract us from our internals.


    Taking a deep breath, he mentioned his biggest gamble.


    How is the Farm?


    Tur''stal jerked slightly at the unexpected question, along with everyone else in the room, including his wife.


    Carissa, like usual, understood him best, and had immediately seen where his mind went with just the one question if her widening eyes were any indication.


    The rest were only moments slower in realizing what he wanted to do. As he watched the horror dawn over their faces, he took a perverse pleasure in the moment. It was so rare that he managed to surprise any of them.


    Tur''stal answered like each word would be the trigger that brought a trap down on her. The next batch of Tier 40s will be ready for harvesting within a decade, and we already have the next set ofs ready to be seeded as they be the newest generation of the Farm.


    Tur''stal looked at him like he was crazy, as she carefully didnt mention what he wanted to do.


    Emmanuel understood and felt the same way. Even the idea was taboo, but he believed it was both the best and the smartest move.


    The Farm was where almost a third of the Empires revenue went. With the scaling of the Tiers, a Tier 47 rift alone just wasn''t enough to reach Tier 50 in any reasonable time frame. Definitely not in a short thirty thousand years.


    But they still did it.


    And the Farm was the answer.


    They took a fews and started Tiering them up as fast as possible. Once they started growing, they repeated the process with a new batch ofs every millennia or so.


    It still took ages for a to go up a single Tier, even with the frankly absurd amount of resources dumped on them, but as long as the farm was well tended every century, they would have a few Tier 40s ready for harvesting by the end of the cycle.


    Harvesting the essence core of a was highly illegal for anyone but the Emperor themselves, or their direct representative, for whom it was a necessity. Without a stockpile and steady stream of cores, they could never raise up a new Tier 50 in short order. Combined with delves from the rifts, they would always be able to get a Tier 50, but the price paid would be heavy.


    He had eaten quite a few cores while delving to reach Tier 50, and it was his duty to ensure his many-time descendants hads to harvest for their own race to Tier 50.


    Or, that was what his father had impressed into him.


    But that was only an issue because they didnt have any Tier 50 rifts. A single Tier 50 rift would mean they had no need of the hundreds ofs sucking down resources.


    His idea the idea the others understood was simple.


    Cut off the resources to the Farm and redirect them to the rest of the Empire. The war effort gets first priority, but spread the rest out.


    Leon was the first to speak. Is this a good idea, your majesty? It''s a massive gamble.


    Emmanuel wanted to scoff. He knew that better than anyone, but they needed mana to spend, and that was a massive drain on their resources that was ted to be useless with Matthew and his unlimited mana.


    He had considered the idea before he left for the ascensions, but not seriously.


    With the information that Matt had already entered Minka and exited safely, he had no more reservations.


    It was time to roll the dice.


    I''m sure. We need to n for the True War. If we win, we don''t need the Farm, and if we lose, it won''t be as simple as being defeated. We will either be victorious or a footnote in history. Those resources can bolster our highest Tier fighters along with the retirees. Better to start spending that budget now, rather thanter.


    Rusty was the first to break the solemn atmosphere. I like it. All or nothing. No one will expect us to have that much excess funding. He looked to Frederic. Can we hide that much mana?


    Frederic pursed his lips. Give me a year to work on a n, but I believe we can obfuscate most of it. Be aware, we cant hide it. Its just too much mana and other resources to be hidden. The other Great Powers will definitely wonder what is happening, but I dont think any of them would even suspect we pulled the funding of the Farm. It''s madness. We could even make it semi-public, and watch the spies run around madly trying to figure out what <em>thats</em> a cover for.


    Maraughed. It''s madness unless you know someone who makes way too much mana. With Quill safely out of Minka, hes guaranteed to reach Tier 24 within a century.


    That set everyone else off into a discussion where Emmanuel mostly listened to what his experts had to say and suggest.


    Once the initial shock of the idea wore off, he could see the excitement of the decision get to them. The sheer excess of funds could be utilized in a million or so ways, and it was of utmost necessity that it remained a secret that was used efficiently.


    Two dayster, they had the framework of an idea hammered out, and he finally moved to more traditionally interesting topics, namely Hastors Ascension and apanying Authority.


    That caused quite the stir, with plenty of spection as to what was required to form it, but Emmanuel had no new insights into the process.


    When they settled down, he smirked. I also learned a few interesting things about Hastors Talent. The first was what they <em>are</em>, but thetter is how they improved with <em>Ascension</em>.


    It took a moment for the import of his statement to dawn on those present, but while most of the room had their eyes go wide, Carissas narrowed.


    Wait a moment. You said Hastor had an inspiration when he created his Authority. He ascended as a Tier 51. Not a Tier 50. Can you even use the Tier 3?


    Emmanuel and everyone else froze for a moment before he realized what she meant.


    And she was right. He always had the ability to take people''s Talents if they were stronger than him, even if it was limited to five Tiers up which is when the difference between his spirit and the one he was trying to copy became toorge. It had just been <em>millennia</em> since he had needed to concern himself with the spiritual weight of something stronger than himself. Hastors Talent as a whole wouldnt have that issue being within his eptable range, but the Tier 3 carried its ownplication.


    With a thought, he found a low Tier weapon shop and grabbed half a dozen swords out of their inventory, and dropped them on the table.


    Picking one up, he swapped to Hastors Tier 3 Talent, and the sword rippled as it Tiered up, growing from Tier 7 to Tier 50, then Tier 51 in mere fractions of a second. Already, Emmanuel could feel the realm trying to rip the de from his hand as it rejected its existence. He could probably resist it for a moment, but with a sigh he allowed the de to vanish in a sh of light, leaving an awkward silence in its wake.


    Talents he stole were copies of the original, and therefore it would make a Tier 51 weapon, as that was Hastors Tier.


    The silence was promptly broken by his wifesughter. Goodness, dear! A mere thousand years of ying Emperor and you forget you arent all-powerful. Stabbed yourself in the hip there, losing out on a Tier 50 weapon of your own.


    On the contrary, my dear, he countered, I now have unlimited Tier <em>51</em> weapons, each of which I can use for a single <em>devastating</em> strike.


    His wife smirked at him and called his bluff. You just thought of that. Dont lie.


    Emmanuel shrugged his most indifferent shrug. I nned it all. I know everything, always. You know that.


    Her snort told him exactly how much she believed it.


    Leon thankfully saved him. How long can you resist the ascension?


    That sent them into a round of testing, but as they discovered, it seemed impossible for a Tier 51 material tost in the realm for more than a moment.


    Still, a moment was all he needed if he changed his Talent at thest second. A disposable Tier 51 weapon that could be made from lower Tier weapons? Hed take that trade any day of the week, even if he hadnt intended or expected it.


    After some more testing, everyone split off to their respective kingdoms while he ignored some paperwork to spend some time with Carissa.


    It was good to be home.

 Chapter 213

    Chapter 213


    Seasadh MacMhunna walked down the hall with all the other scions of the noble families and tried to repress her exuberance.


    She had fought for this opportunity amongst the peers of her lineage and hade out on top after all of the tests and challenges. They didnt look just forbat prowess when selecting the candidates, though that was certainly part of it. Puzzle and problem-solving skills, personality, athleticism, test scores, and a dozen other things she couldnt quite im to understand were all evaluated as part of the process.


    But now it was <em>here</em>, and she could hardly wait.


    The Founders Armory was an <em>ancient</em> creation, from the early days of the ns themselves, and had been the handiwork of the Founders firstborn and one of her races <em>progenitors</em>.


    It was a ce of legends, and the birthce of countless more. Every year, the best dwarven children from across the entire realm- or close enough, anyway- were allowed entry into the armory, where they were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.


    Even the halls they walked through on their way to the Armory itself were magnificent, far grander than her n leaders'' descriptions had led her to believe. He said they were grand and impressive, conjuring thoughts of gems and precious metals, but how wrong she was.


    The halls were seemingly simple affairs of stone, metal, and wood, but the craftsmanship was exquisite. Materials blended together so seamlessly, she couldnt quite tell where the stone turned into wood until it was already blending into the metal further down the hall.


    And that was only the backdrop.


    On the walls, a little higher than head height, were the murals.


    She recognized each from her history lessons.


    The first was the story of The Founder giving life to the Dwarves.


    The Second Sun was also pictured, repairing their central star by recing it with his personal forge after a battle during the Shattering had destroyed the first one.


    Another depicted Vercatus single-handedly holding back an army of indistinct enemies while missing an arm, then the next mural pictured him again, forging his Goldhand from the grandest natural treasures.


    The next showed Reg sacrificing herself to take down a dragon who had tried to burn a city.


    On and on, her ancestors were represented in the murals, and she was astounded at their proud legacy.


    The legacy of a people who forged themselves out ofmon metals and into something greater.


    Seasadh had always known Dwarves were special, but today was the first day that she truly felt it.


    Felt it in her metal bones.


    When the older woman leading them through the twisting halls reached a recess in the wall where a room tucked away, Seasadh almost walked right past the entrance in her trance.


    At the slight clearing of a throat, she came to herself, and while trying to hide her blushing, rushed into the room with the other heirs.


    Once everyone was sitting down, the old woman spoke.


    Good evening, children. You have proven yourselves, the five hundred best of your peers from across the ns this year, standing unmoving before all yourpatriots. The grandest fighters, the cleverest schrs, the most dedicated to your studies. You have all distinguished yourselves, and that is worthy of celebration. Pausing, she started looking around the room with a small smile that implied everyone she was looking at was special in some way.


    Then, the woman turned, and an image appeared, projected on the fall wall.


    You may call me the Curator. It is both my title and position. A position I have earned through blood, sweat, and tears, and a position I have held for centuries. I have seen many of your parents, grandparents, and beyond walk through these doors, and I have no doubt that I shall someday see <em>your</em> children and grandchildren pass through my care.


    Now, Im certain that all of you cant wait for me to shut up and let you get on with this most exciting day of your lives, but I made your great-great grandparents wait while this old woman had her fun, and now its your turn. The Founders Armory is open to you today and today alone, the greatest treasure passed down from the Founders firstborn himself. Each weapon within is a masterwork unlike any the Realm has seen since. Somepare them to Growth items, but the Artifacts within are far more than a mere <em>riftcraft</em> could ever hope to be. No, these Artifacts are partners, not tools. They grow alongside you, yes, and <em>should you be chosen</em>, should you prove worthy, you will be Awoken and bonded to the Artifact. Your Talents will grow toplement your Artifact, even as it grows toplement you."


    Now, I speak of you being chosen. It is not I who will choose the wielder for each Artifact, but the Artifact themselves. They cannot be negotiated with, nor bargained for. Their bond is absolute and forever, their judgment final, and they are very, <em>very</em> picky with their choices. It has been twelve hundred years since thest time a Wielder has been chosen, though we usually expect one every seven hundred to a thousand years. If you are not chosen, if no Artifact deems you worthy, then you shall simply be awakened at the end of the day."


    For you have a single day within the Armory, and during that time, you may do as you see fit with any of the weapons within, but do not harm one another. The Artifacts do not approve of such things, nor do <em>I</em>, and to raise a de against one of your fellow candidates is to be instantly removed from the Armory. I will be watching, and I will see."


    Now, should you be chosen, should an Artifact deem you worthy, the Mountains shall pour out upon you. Your strength will in time be second only to the Grand Knights themselves, and you shall forever have the strength to defend your ancestral halls, your home, and your nation. For it <em>is</em> a boon to be chosen, and your power shall be manifold."


    There was more, but Seasadh started to ze over, seeing the projected image behind the Curator.


    She wasnt particrly drawn to the items inside, but rather the hall itself.


    It was majestic.


    Seasadh wanted to inspect the pirs that seemed to stretch up to the sky. She wanted to check her reflection in the almost <em>mirror-like</em> floor.


    It seemed to take an eternity, but when she atst entered the Armory, she nearly fell to her knees.


    Being inside was an experience she would never forget, though she was certain she wouldnt be chosen. Luck was never on her side, and even that wouldnt be enough for her here.


    While the others rushed and started picking up weapons or pieces of armor, she just wandered, paying more attention to the tables than to the items on them.


    The craftsmanship was beyond her vocabry, so she didnt even try to put words to her feelings.


    When she was miles away from the entrance, she started paying attention to some of the items in the Founders Armory; they were also important items, and she wanted to see what made them special.


    Seasadh quickly learned that not all the Artifacts were equal.


    Each was treated with reverence, and each had its own ce, but the weapons and ces were far from equal. A rusty saber sat upon a velvet cushion, propped up like it was the most valuable thing in the room, while a golden axe studded with gems sat haphazardly upon a in stone table next to it. A spear with a haft of ice bnced precariously upon its point, resting in a matching divot on the floor, while a in longsword in a scabbard hung from a simple coat hanger.


    It was all fastidiously clean, though there were a few ces here and there where an Artifact had obviously been removed sometime in the past. A de-sized hole in a stone, an amulet-shaped divot in a silk chest, a mannequin with nothing on it.


    Checking her watch, Seasadh sighed as she realized she only had fourteen hours left. She wanted to spend the rest of her life here.


    She wandered for another hour before she started toe down from her high and decided toy down next to a ss case containing a jeweled scepter. The way it reflected the light was pretty, and she wanted to enjoy it for a moment.


    Before she knew what was going on, she was already asleep.


    If she had been awake, she might have seen The Curator and another woman hovering just feet behind her.


    Curator, you said she was going to bind, but I don''t see it. Shes just walking around, which is different from the others, but she doesn''t seem drawn to anything.


    Sovereign Saint Aoife, I have been doing this for close to sixty thousand years. I know one who will bind. She wanders without a path, but she is not lost. There are millions of items here, but she keeps walking. She could pause at any time but she does not. Her Artifact is calling her.


    It had been many, <em>many</em> long years since Aoife had first been in the Founders Armory, but it had never fully left her memory. What <em>exactly</em> the powerful artifacts within its walls were looking for was a matter of furious debate.


    Worthiness of some metric was amon rumor, but the Custodian believed- and Aoife was inclined to trust- that perhaps the single most important factor was apatibletent Talent, though just <em>how</em> much an Artifact could change a Talent was wholly unknown. Just as Ascension inexplicably improved the strength and Talents of those Awakened in its wake, so too were Artifact-bonded Talents substantially stronger than their peers. Though at the cost of usually being <em>entirely</em> focused upon their Artifact.


    There were no Talents which merely provided Innate [Fire Maniption]. Instead it would be the ability to use [Fire Maniption] while bearing their staff, but with double the potency of normal [Fire Maniption]. Those Chosen nearly always developed their Domain around their Artifact, and whenbined with the resources the n showered upon them, there were very, <em>very</em> few who could be said to be anything less than excellent.


    The first year following her coronation, she had spent the entire Choosing day watching the various candidates, hoping that one may have bonded with an Artifact and thus joined the ranks of the ns elite warriors. None had, and the duties of her new office were <em>countless</em>, but just a few yearster, the Custodian had sent a message saying there was a promising candidate in this years Choosing.


    So, Aoife waited silently until the girl woke up.


    These hallowed halls were impressive, and she understood the girl''s fascination. They truly <em>were</em> some of the grandest under all the mountains.


    Seasadh woke up after only an hour and kept wandering, but Aoife noted that the Curator was correct. The girl always moved in a specific direction, even if she thought it was simply wandering.


    Seasadh frowned as she noticed a morningstar with a thickyer of dust on its handle. Clearly, the Curator wasnt doing her job if a weapon was so dirty.


    The weapon was rather ordinary, a simple leather wrapped metal shaft bearing a ball of steel covered in spikes.


    She went to wipe the dust off, but as the dust came off, so too did the weapons <em>steel</em>, revealing underneath a burning star. Then, like dust, the metal shuddered and fell off, reced by the burning radiance of the <em>star</em> that had just been born.


    Seasadh was locked in a trance as the weapon bound itself to her, Awakening both the dwarf girl and its own power.


    Above the girl, Aoife was stunned. That weapon had <em>not </em>had dust on it before the girl got close. She knew for a fact. When she first entered the Founders Armory, she had inspected every inch of it and every weapon inside of it.


    That morningstar hadn''t had dust on it, until it suddenly <em>did</em>.


    Even she hadnt caught the transition.


    Looking to the Curator, the Tier 50 saw the woman''s smile. There was a trace of smugness, but Aoife could admit the woman earned it. The Curator had been correct even when she herself doubted.


    Aoife finally broke herself out of her amazement with a snort. It''s a little on the nose, isn''t it? A morningstar being made from the core of a star?


    The Curator just shrugged. Perhaps. I sometimes wonder if the Artifacts change themselves to be morepatible with their Chosen, just as they change those they choose. The Founder and The Smith are beyond myprehension.


    Aoife turned to follow as the Curator teleported the girl out. Talent shenanigans were always weird, but while beautiful, this ce was odd, to say the least.


    A living armory filled with weapons that chose their owners from the unawakened.


    Frankly, her ancestors could have made things easier for her. But then, if Artifacts were simple, one of the many attempts to create more would have seeded by now, and the armory would not be slowly getting emptier over the millenia.


    Being able to produce Elites was never easy, by its very nature. The Chosen Bearers of Artifacts were at least a <em>marginally</em> steady source of elite warriors, and they at least were set apart <em>at awakening</em>, meaning they could focus substantially more resources on them, without wasting time on candidates who ultimately fell short.


    In another room, Seasadh slowly recovered from her stupor, and the reality of her situation began to set in.


    <em>She had been Chosen</em>.


    It was beyond her wildest dreams, and she sat in a stupor for what felt like hours before she properly realized where she was.


    A Talent scanner.


    Armed with her new weapon, she waded into the pool of not-water and let its findings form themselves upon the reflective surface of the scrying pool


    <em><strong>Tier 1 Talent determined.</strong></em>


    Light and Fire spells and enchantments are 50% more effective when channeled through Stjolna.


    Secondary effect: Light and Fire spells and enchantments are 25% less effective when not channeled through Stjolna.


    Stjolna. That was the name of her Artifact. Herpanion.


    The Realm would have to make way for the two of them from now on.


    ***


    Kelsey Tur swallowed as she looked up at the Headmaster of Barstock Academy. The man was impably dressed as he looked down at the students seated below him.


    My name is Leonard, and you are the newest students of Barstock Academy. That means you are better than your peers. We take the best of the unawakened nobles and craft you into the perfect ruler. We will teach you how to <em>fight</em>. We will teach you how to <em>learn</em>. We will teach you how to <em>lead</em>. As the offspring of nobility, you have a great burden. Even if you don''t inherit your parents'' fiefs, you will be expected to be an example of your noble lineage. Seed, and opportunities will be opened to you. If you keep seeding, the entire Empire will open to you. Many of our top graduates are among the strongest in the entire Empire, second only to those rare few Ascenders. Fail, and you will still be far better-equipped than any of your peers.


    At the murmur that ran through the crowd, Headmaster Leonard red at them. That is two demerits for all of you. Remaining quiet when being spoken to is a matter of simple manners. For those of you who didnt speak, you should have silenced your neighbors.


    Kelsey grit her teeth. Two demerits meant more work in theing weeks, and she was sure she would be earning more from the idiots around her.


    Before she couldin more, Headmaster Leonard continued. Now, if you feel under your chair, you should find a packet of information. It is <em>not</em> your own. Your first mission is to find your correct packet. You all have five minutes.


    Just as everyone was about to explode, he added, Oh, yes. For every time someone speaks out loud, everyone gets one demerit.


    As if to punctuate his words, the massive clock behind him chimed its warning of the new hour.


    Kelsey and everyone else earned seven demerits trying to finish their tasks in the short time they were given, but thankfully, people listened when a boy stood up and gestured for them to get into two lines where they could walk past each other quickly.


    It was a good idea, and she wished she had stood out first, as he earned an approving nod from a woman next to Headmaster Leonard in the teachers area.


    Being noticed was a good thing.


    If not for the idiots among them who eximed when they found their packets, they would have made out perfectly.


    Kelsey sat down with everyone else as Headmaster Leonard resumed his ce at the podium. eptable, but not perfect. You will learn. Of that, I am sure. If you open your packets to the first page, you will find your room assignment. That is the one ce where you will not be tested. Be warned and informed. Everything outside the door frame of your quarters can and will be a test, but inside your room, you will never find a test or an instructor unless our AI reports you are in danger. That is your single ce of solitude. For the first time, Headmaster Leonard smiled. I rmend you not spend too much time there. Safety is a trap, and tests as much as danger.


    Kelsey had already memorized her information when her eye was caught by a slight change in the weave of the paper.


    Shed always had something of a <em>knack</em> for noticing things, and that served her well here. She split her attention between listening to Headmaster Leonard exining more of the rules and inspecting her paper, trying to figure out what it said. By turning it and angling it correctly, Kelsey found a second message on the paper. At midnight,e to the Albatross quad. By the third bush, you will find the next hint revealed by the moonlight - The Circle.


    Seeing that, Kelsey thought hard. Everyone was meant to be in their rooms by ten at night, and being caught outside was risking worse than demerits, but like the Headmaster said, everything was a test. From what she knew, The Circle was a group of advanced students who acted like a shadow student council.


    If she could join them, she would be able to secure herself an even better position in the school.


    While they didnt publicize their members, The Circle was rumored to never have had a member not make it to a Tier 15 academy.


    Kelsey wanted to be even better than that. To do so, she needed their resources.


    She just needed to n everything perfectly so as to not get caught.


    Risk and reward.


    As they walked through the halls, she noted all the wards and security measures. They were surprisinglyx, which she supposed made sense. This school was a test, after all.


    That night, when she was supposed to be asleep, she slunk out of her room and stalked down the halls, covering her face with one of her shirts.


    Not exactly a foolproof measure to conceal her identity, but the best she could do on short notice.


    It turned out to be a good choice, because she saw three others sneaking through the halls in different directions.


    She wasnt the only one to see a hidden test, but each seemed different enough that no one was on her path to the quads.


    Right before midnight, she was hidden inside the shadow of a bush when she saw it.


    In a topiary of a man holding an orb, she found a thin panel of what she thought was ss, but seeing the liquid dripping off the leaves, learned it was ice.


    As the clock struck midnight and the moon shone through it, she found a second message written in the shadows spread across the grass field.


    Right, left, right, left, back, back, forward, forward.


    Seeing nothing else, Kelsey furrowed her brows. But hearing steps behind her, she ran into the nearby hedge maze.


    Following the pattern, she found herself not in the center, but a dead end.


    As panic started to set in, she saw a root that seemed slightly different than the others.


    Throwing caution to the wind, she bent down and pulled it and almost cried out as the ground dropped out from under her feet.


    Landing on her butt, she looked up to see the sliver of sky disappear as the trap door shut.


    Then, as if onmand, the room lit up with torches.


    Standing around her in a Circle were six people with dark robes and masks covering the top of their faces.


    Kelsey Tur. We, The Circle, invite you into our hidden society. The strongest weapons are the ones you don''t show. Mystery and our minds are our strongest weapons. Would you like to make them yours?


    Kelsey stood up and brushed her dirt covered hands on her outer coat before looking around the circle of people.


    Having gathered herself, she calmly answered.


    She didnt have to think about it after all.


    The answer was obvious.


    Yes.


    ***


    Serhan Tasci sat in the ssroom and poured over the fragile pages of parchment.


    Not that they were old, despite trying to appear ancient.


    They were forgeries made for this exercise; the ink still had a smell that gave the game away. If they were as old as they appeared, they wouldnt have such a metallic scent.


    Serhan was in the middle of his Tier 15 practical exam in one of the Republic''s best academies.


    He didnt even know exactly which academy he was testing for, but the initial Tier 15 academies numbered only a dozen. All of them were good, and if he graduated from any of them he would qualify for admittance into Evermore Academy, the <em>highest</em> of education.


    If he failed to discover the answer to which school''s test he was taking, his academic career would end here, like ny five percent of his schoolmates.


    The weeding out of students, first as they Tiered up, then through decades of academic rigor, was how the Republic found the best of the best to nurture.


    The academies were aprehensive learning environment, and anyone who made it as far as he did was considered truly elite. Anypany or political movement would salivate at the thought of roping his ssmates in, but Serhan had bigger dreams.


    He wanted to graduate from Evermore. Even qualifying for Evermore was sufficient to have ones career prospects set for life, but once a millennium, someone would <em>graduate</em> and be a living legend.


    The Evermore Elites. Stronger, smarter, <em>better</em>. Only diators were broadly considered superior, but there hadnt been a <em>true</em> diator in ages. To be an Evermore was to be a national hero, beloved by all and given everything they ever needed or wanted.


    And Serhan <em>wanted</em>.


    He studied harder than his ssmates, practiced when they goofed off, challenged himself when they epted mediocrity.


    Serhans Talent made every one of his skills more powerful, and had set him apart ever since he first Awakened. The resources he earned through his academies had only pushed him further ahead of his peers.


    That was the point, after all.


    Round after round of culling the students meant those who kept improving would be able to move to higher Tier academies, where the training got better with more, higher Tier resources.


    He just needed to figure out this test.


    It took him nearly a week and three false starts, but he eventually found a permutation cipher hidden in the whitespace of the document, and after running it through a trantor to convert it into Republic standard, he got his message.


    A simple date and time set for one month from when he got the task and a name. Blue Stone Academy.


    He had his ticket and knew his destination.


    Or, at least the name.


    The Tier 15 academies werent public in their locations. Even their names were little more than rumors, but he had at least heard of Blue Stone Academy. If said rumors were correct, he was epted into the third ranked academy of this bracket.


    Not as good as he wished, but better than he hoped.


    He had started at one of the worst Tier 1 academies in the Republic and wed his way up thedder, until the third out of fifteen offered him a position.


    When Serhan entered Evermore, they would then know their blunder. The schadenfreude he would taste would be sweeter than any victory champagne.


    ***


    Tian Hai sat in the pressure room and endured.


    He had dealt with far worse during his training to be a Dao Child.


    When the pressure let up, he looked at the army leader in front of him, who panted.


    Dao Child, we can''t continue. Our willpower is insufficient for your needs.


    Tian Hai frowned but got up. We resume tomorrow. The Drowner is supposed to be heading this way, and I need to be able to resist his powers. You are weak, but still good to have as training.


    As Tian Hai swept away, he clenched his fist.


    He had been given everything from a young age, and that bill wasing due soon with Duke Waters'' approach.


    Despite his exquisite Silver Carp bloodline, his Talent, his Revtions, and his training, he had no expectations that he would be able to survive a battle with The Drowner.


    Dao Children were the <em>true</em> Elites of the Sects, inheritors of their full might. Carefully-maintained Bloodlines, the best Talents, the grandest natural treasures, millions of years of carefully-umted knowledge, the very best trainers, and more besides. The perfect weapons, forged from those who had fought the Realm and won. They were the strong whom the weak should aspire to match, the Old Masters and defenders of their homnd.


    Yet so many of his peers had been swatted like flies in the mere wake of The Drowner.


    Tian Hai flew into space around the moon and tore a small hole through the veil, trying to see if the Drowner was nearing.


    Seeing nothing, he let the hole in reality close, returning peace to the moon where he crossed his legs and started to meditate.


    He needed to be in peak condition for this fight to even have a chance.


    Before he settled into a good mediation, a soldier flew up and shouted, Dao Child Tian Hai, good news! The Drowner was just reported as back in the Empire, hes left!


    Tian Hai almost sighed out loud, but stopped before showing he was relieved.


    He might be <em>willing</em> to die, but he did not <em>want</em> to die. Still, there was no reason to reveal weakness to the soldiers.


    Gather the men. We push out to reim the other bases in two hours.


    As the soldier flew back, Tian Hai looked up into the stars and wondered which of them was an ancestor looking down on him.


    ***


    Etienne looked down at his arm, now repaired.


    A Corp mercenary had blown it off in thest fight, but he had taken the man''s head; a fair trade.


    While recing your flesh was less than pleasant without Minka, there were ways. Ones at which the CyberForce excelled at, though they were more painful.


    Still, the power was tangible.


    As his [AI] beeped, he shot to his feet and ran.


    With his mechanical legs and Talent boosting his speed, he crossed the mile and a half to the perimeter wall in less than a thousandth of a second.


    He was the only member of CyberForce here, and it was his duty to prevent the base from being raided. This was a break assignment for his efforts in thest century. A break for his good deeds.


    Normally, it would be an easy task, but a Corp mercenary team had set up shop while raiding their military instations in this area, which turned a mission that was meant to be a minor vacation into a dangerous assignment.


    With two hundred Tier 25s, they outnumbered his own Tier 25 assets three to one, and that was a gap he couldnt cover himself.


    If he wanted, he could kill most of them in a single engagement, but that would mean massive casualties for the men protecting this base.


    Uneptable.


    He was no true Hero, but he wasnt a callous asshole, either. Each normal soldier had their own life they valued as much as he valued his. All of which meant he needed to beat down this mercenary team slowly.


    And they were here again.


    Activating hismand channel, he said, Prepare to repel boarders once again.


    The moon they were on didnt have an atmosphere, but that only helped him and increased his top speed without needing to use his Domain.


    As the soldiers started casting spells and firing their defensive weapons, Etienne flexed his legs andunched himself into the air as he started running.


    Using his Concept as a ground, his Talent started increasing his speed to levels even a Tier 29 would struggle to keep up with as he weaved between projectiles, cutting out at the mercenaries while he ran forward.


    This was the third raid, and he had a n.


    As their ship spat out another volley of attacks, he increased his speed to his limit and dashed inside the port before the weapons hatch closed.


    Now that he was inside the ship, he started doing what he did best.


    Killing people.


    His integrated [AI] kept track of everyones position even as his shoulder rockets unleashed a barrage of [Firest]s.


    He dodged a de and projected an [Energy Sword] from his wrist, bisecting the woman guarding the hatch.


    Two kickster, the door fell, and he was free to run once more.


    In the close quarters of the ship''s halls, he took mostly cosmetic damage to his cybeics, and in a short two minutes, he had entered the helm and had the captain held up by the neck.


    Call off the raids or die.


    The man smiled.


    Id like to discuss <em>your </em>surrender. We have the helm rigged with explosives. We knew you would do this, <em>Quicksilver</em>. You were our target from the start.


    Etienne wasnt surprised, and smiled as liquid metal started to seep out of his pores.


    Crushing the captain''s neck, thest thing he saw was the man''s surprised expression as the ship exploded.


    Thankfully, his liquid metal module was more than enough to protect him from an explosion of this Tier.


    With their leader exploding, the rest of the mercenaries tore through real space into chaotic space, but Etienne followed. He kept up a steady harassment until they were well away from the flickering light that was his, but not beyond.


    He was only Tier 25, and couldn''t entirely protect himself from the degradation of chaotic space with his own power, but seeing the mercenary group leave, he knew his job waspleted.


    Now, there woulde the paperwork and funerals.


    Etienne needed a break from this break.


    ***


    Kar''Tan stalked the halls of hisboratory, a vial clutched in his paw. Around him, tubes filled with all manner of liquids slowly bubbled, the tiny, misshapen creatures within them pulsing like they were alive.


    For they were. Mostly, at least.


    The Chimera Program had, in the days of the Federation, been one of the countless abominations their hated envers had subjected them to. They were, however, far less interested in actual <em>results</em> than simply stitching flesh and bone together in the most painful ways imaginable. Their attempts to add bloodlines to humans, to add bloodlines to <em>beasts</em>, to create new bloodlines they all failed, save for a single instance.


    Kar''Tan himself.


    His parents, if he could call the gic donors spliced together in a test tube and grown within an incubator parents, had been a Golden Eagle and a Sr Lion, but he was no griffin. He was a winged lion instead, a carnivorous mockery of a pegasus, yet a vicious predator with two mighty bloodlines nheless.


    Many of hispatriots from the war had sought to distance themselves from those running the Federation and anything they worked on as much as they possibly could, which he understood. He had done the same for the first few thousand years of their independence, but they soon learned.


    Independence wasn''t so easy to maintain with all of the other Great Powers breathing down their necks.


    After a devastating loss twenty thousand years after their independence, Kar''Tan had seen the value within himself, so when the Monster Collective higher ups started making inquiries about restarting the program, he had been the first to offer his services.


    He had been party to the true horrors of the old Project Chimera, and thus was trusted to not stray too far into the abject depravity that haunted the programs past.


    That he actually produced <em>results</em>, rather than creatively spliced corpses, certainly helped.


    Kar''Tan stopped in front of an incubation tube slightlyrger than his already-impressive size, injecting the serum he had recently concocted into the intake membrane at the devices base. The crimson fluid stood out in stark contrast to the faintly-green liquid currently surrounding a feathered dragon in embryo, yet sought out its target like so many snakes, diving into theb-grown creature.


    Failures were frequent and catastrophic.


    It had taken him almost a millennia to produce the first proper chimera, a splice between a Water Otter and an Ice Martin, yet even that one had only survived for a few days outside of its birthing pod. It took millennia more before he had a subject survive until Awakening, but Awakening turned a bright, cheery little raven-fox into a vering, insane monster akin to those within a rift.


    With the serum having taken, Kar''Tan began his return to the other section of hisboratory. His long strides were soundless against the metal grates that acted as the floor, leaving only the faint hums of enchantment and circting nutrient fluid from the dozens of tanks around him.


    Even now, failures outnumbered sesses a hundred to one, <em>but they were improving</em>. Chimeras <em>were</em> being born, they <em>were</em> surviving to Awakening, they <em>werent</em> going mad.


    At least, asionally.


    It was hundreds of years between each <em>true</em> sess, and even though <em>most</em> chimeras proved willing to join the army once they were grown, <em>most</em> was not <em>all, </em>and they never forced it. The fraction who were suitable to the rigors of Elite military duty were slimmer still, but having nearly the full prowess of two bloodlines was a potent one, in the rare instances that it all <em>worked</em>.


    Potent enough for Project Chimera to retain its generous funding.


    With a p of his wings, Kar''Tan brought himself to the catwalk overlooking the growing chamber, then a few steps were all that was needed to return him to the <em>far</em> busier portion of the building.


    His colleagues, a mixture of humans and beasts, worked in an interestingbination of utter chaos andplete order, as requests and cries to make way! and Behind! turned the floor into a chaotic stew of researchers and assistants taking notes, studying magical patterns, and developing strategies for the next batch of chimeras.


    War wasing.


    They needed to be prepared.


    ***


    Valerie stood her ground with her bonded armor as Violet Pdin Ortiz gave his wee speech to a dozen Tier 10s. Five hundred years ago, <em>she</em> had been on the receiving end of this speech, but the new perspective brought with it no small amount of pride.


    You all fought for this position. You are some of the best fighters in your generation. Not all of you will be Pdins, but it''s possible. Green Pdin Valerie is our newest member, having stood where you are now just five hundred years ago. Now, out of Minka and bonded to her armor, she represents who youpete to be.


    As Pdin Ortiz said that, she saw the desire in their eyes. It was familiar.


    Green Pdin Valerie, please give us a demonstration. Violet Pdin Ortiz said it with a smile, and Valerie had to resist grinning.


    Her job here was to be serious and knock some sense into the recruits. Having been on the other side of this, she was more than ready to knock some heads together. If they were half as arrogant as she was, they needed it.


    Green Pdin Valerie will be fighting all of you in your training armors. Worry not that she will just overpower you with her better power armor. Her power armor is better, but she won''t use even a tenth of its strength. Your training armor is stronger than hers.


    Valerie smiled as her helmet sealed her in, and she merged with her armor more fully. Having emerged from Minka, she had been granted a full [Assistive Intelligence ME26-MI], and the original skill <em>truly</em> made the armor feel like a secondyer of skin. With the module active, she moved into the center of the recruits.


    A Pdins powered armor was made through incredible craftsmanship, using only the best natural treasures, Minka to turn the powered armor into a growth armor, and a whole lot of training created a perfect pilot for the armor.


    They protected the Corporation as the finest fighting force that existed, and were given the best of everything, but that came with responsibility.


    Valerie knew each of the recruits thought they were sure to be the one to bind with a Pdin armor, but out of the close to fifty recruits, if more than two of them got the right to enter Minka, she would be shocked.


    Earning that shot wasnt easy, and the biggest obstacle was the recruits'' own pride. Well, the suits of armor that took <em>centuries</em> to build certainly didnt make things any easier. There were far, <em>far</em> more candidates than avable armors after all, but that was why they weeded out the recruits even after the rigorous preselection.


    As the first de tried to descend on her back, Valerie spun. She was slower than she was used to, but the recruits were sluggish, despite all their hours of holographic training sims.


    The real power armors were different, no matter how good the program.


    They were more robotic than their suits ounted for.


    Dipping low, she kicked the de out of the first recruit''s hand before nting her hands on the ground and spinning, tripping another two recruits.


    Bouncing to her feet with a strong push, she jumped once more and kneed the closest one in the helmet.


    As he fell back, she rode him down and broke the encirclement.


    This was so much fun.


    When thest of the recruits dropped to their butts, she stepped back to Violet Pdin Ortiz, who winked at her.


    He knew what wasing next, and was looking forward to it as much as she was.


    Recruits, your armors seem a little damaged. Your first task is to fix them. Pointing off to the side, he showed them the mechanics.


    All of them had hard expressions, but it was all an act Valerie knew. The mechanics were some of the most passionate people in the Pdins, but they served a less highlighted role for all that it was just as valuable. A lesson the recruits needed to learn. If they couldn''t respect the people who maintained their armor, they had no ce among the Pdins.


    Most of them came from pampered backgrounds, and were used to being given everything by teams of hired help, but that wasnt how the Pdins worked, and those who couldnt grasp that fact invariably failed. An operator was only one half of a Pdin team. Even after turning into a growth item and bing able to repair itself, no operator wanted their armor to be running at anything other than its best. Which was where the mechanics came in.


    Only one of the recruits, a man who she clotheslined in a bit of fun, moved at first. He moved to the closest team and demanded them to repair his armor.


    The mechanics refused.


    The man looked gobsmacked and stood there as he tried to process what to do.


    Ordering the mechanics was the second worst way to try and get them to help. The only way that was worse was using violence, and <em>that</em> option was why Pdin Ortiz and she herself stayed around. Well, they also wanted to watch the show, but they were ready to move and protect the mechanics.


    Pdin Ortiz hadnt lied when he said that she was only using a fraction of her armor''s power. With two growth powers on her now Tier 15 armor, she could cross the distance faster than they could throw a punch. Pdin Ortiz could be there before the recruit even flexed if he was so needed.


    As the first man started shouting, she smiled.


    The show was starting.


    ***


    Yusef grunted as hepleted his push up.


    Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu spoke his mantra, You are the Warrior caste. Your old caste is in the past. Some of your parents were Makers, who created our weapons and armors, our barracks and ships. An honorable life, filled with the knowledge that their efforts serve the Warriors. Be grateful you are not them, for if you were, you would only bloody your hands by proxy.


    Everyone screamed back, We are Warriors!


    A Training Instructor neared the woman next to Yusef and started screaming at her for letting her body sag from the perfectly t ne that they were meant to maintain.


    Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu didnt stop his mantra, but did raise his voice as he passed through their orderly ranks.


    You are the Warrior caste. Your old caste is in the past. Some of your parents were of the Community, making your food and your clothes, maintaining our homes and our ships. Respect them, for they are the ones who allow you to <em>be</em> warriors, and spare you from worrying if you will have food or clothes that fit. Be grateful you are not them, for if you were, you would only support the war, not be in it.


    Everyone screamed back, We are Warriors!


    Exercise Instructor Almante called for them to start doing high knees, and everyone jumped to their feet. Yusef was just grateful, as his arms were starting to tire, so the change of exercise was wee.


    Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu never stopped speaking. You are the Warrior caste. Your old caste is in the past. Some of your parents were Leaders. They guide us with their wisdom and Talents, bringing forth order from chaos and purpose to the aimless. Be grateful you are not them, for you would never protect our home yourselves.


    Everyone screamed back, We are Warriors!


    From the corner of his vision, Yusef saw Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu raise a trainees hands to be higher and therefore raise the contact point for their high knees. The man had been cking with his exercise and gotten caught.


    Never a good thing.


    While Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu was gentle in his correction, the swarm of Training Instructors who started screaming at the trainee were anything but.


    You are the Warrior caste. Your old caste is in the past. Some of your parents were Warriors. It is <em>them</em> who you follow, <em>those</em> are the few you should seek to emte. To try and reach, and even surpass. Treat your fellows with respect, for you share amon goal. Be grateful you are them, for the blood of our enemies will be spilled by <em>your hands</em>.


    Everyone screamed back with even more fervor than the other replies, We are Warriors!


    You are the Warrior caste. You are the <em>archwarriors </em>of the Warrior caste, your Talents and abilities beyond all those who you once thought of peers. It is your duty to surpass all others, and be the tip of the ive as we pierce the throats of our enemies.


    Yusef wanted to smile at that reminder. He would be one of the best in the future. Before he could daydream about the time where he could lead normal Warriors into battle, Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu then reminded them why they fought.


    We are the strongest Great Power. The others fear us, they cower in their homes, posturing and seeking to intimidate us with shameful tricks. They will not seed, we will fight them all and win. It took all seven of them to equal our brilliance, but today, we shine brighter than all of them.


    Yusef missed what Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu said next, as a Training Instructor saw his eye twitch to the side to follow the Lead Instructor.


    Did the Lead Instructor tell you to look at him, trainee? Do you rate to look at the Lead Instructor?


    No, sir! Yusef screamed back at the top of his lungs while doing his high knees even faster.


    The Training Instructor then told him to switch between burpees and bicycle kicks as hemanded him to go faster with every breath.


    When someone else caught the Training Instructor''s eyes and left Yusef alone, Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu was cursing the beasts that pretended to be human.


    What are the imposters who wear our flesh and pretend to be like us?


    Yusef and everyone screamed with spit flying, Monsters pretending to be human! Nothing better than monsters from the rifts, who pretend to be like us!


    Their exercisested until the sun was high in the sky, when they were eventually passed food by the Community members who had the privilege of working on the base.


    A Trainee near Yusef spent too much time looking at one of the helpers, and the Training Instructors fell on her. Do you think you rate to look at a member of the Community, trainee?


    As he watched through his peripheral vision, Yusef quickly ate the meal provided.


    It was his favorite time of the day.


    Potions of Strength were passed around, and when they drank them, Yusef could feel his sore muscles vanish as they loosened and twitched.


    Flexing, he could feel the increase in his strength.


    Once their potions were drank, Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu called for them to turn and start running.


    Today was obstacle course day.


    At the obstacle course, you will simte the attacks of the enemies as you weave through the rubble of their defenses, and seek to take their lives. Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu exined the same thing as he always did, but Yusef was grateful for it, as it gave them time to catch their breath and settle their racing hearts.


    As they broke into teams, with half of them moving through the obstacle course, Lead Instructor Ha Hyonu once more exined their purpose.


    You are the Warrior caste. Your old caste is in the past. Some of your parents were Makers who created our weapons and armors, our barracks and ships. An honorable life, filled with the knowledge that their efforts serve the Warriors. Be grateful you are not them, for if you were, you would only bloody your hands by proxy.


    Everyone screamed back, We are Warriors!

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214


    Luna felt a ripple in space, and like everyone else, narrowed her spiritual perception into the ns'' moon to inspect the group who came out.


    Tier 13s, and with the overly full feeling that came with a sessful Folded Reflections reward. Seeing that, everyones attention retreated off the now thoroughly scanned team and spread back across each of the eight moons.


    The nerves across the highest Tiers were palpable, and tranted to the various spiritual senses trying to shove the others away from their area of influence. But with so many spiritual perceptionsyering, it was like trying to shove the ocean away with one''s hands.


    It just flowed back in, but the exercise was more about demonstrating displeasure than actually aplishing anything.


    In the Empire at least, it was outright <em>illegal</em> for higher Tiers to spread their perceptions so widely on a regr basis, as well as being rude, but Minka paid no heed to decency at the <em>best</em> of times.


    Thirty secondster, when another spatial ripple appeared on the Federation moon, everyone repeated their swarming, to see that it was only a pair of Tier 14s leaving from the fourth floor with new Concepts. Luna and everyone else returned to a more neutral stance before four quick exits to various moons from floors five and six raised their hackles. None of the entrances gave them anything of consequence, and she quickly remembered why she hated Minka.


    She was half tempted to bring out her tail, just so she had something to flick.


    The waiting for the final floors reveal and the unknown fate of her children were like two sore spots that were also rubbing her fur the wrong way.


    Normally, things werent quite so bad, but with the fourth floor Courtly Warfare, she knew the various groups would be preventing anyone from fighting a boss undisturbed. It would help them better finish off thest of their kill missions, which would form a bottleneck on the final level of the seventh floor.


    As tensions rose like boiling water trying to escape the pot, a fight broke out between two Republican and Corporation Tier 40s. They at least had the manners to fight each other in the outer system and keep their attacks limited in scale, but the gas giant that was already on itsst leg was obliterated by a stray attack, creating a pretty swirl of gasses trailing perpendicr to the rest of the system.


    The fight at least provided some entertainment that was more exciting than counting the spires of the <em>again,</em> during the lulls between teleports.


    Luna was just getting ready to start scratching something when another ripple appeared on the moon under her.


    As her spiritual perception swept over them, she instantly teleported next to her charges and brought them all to the hospital, with her heart racing. They were well into Tier 12, which made her wonder when they had been forced to Tier up. More importantly, she could feel the spiritual damage that always apanied a new Innate skill slot. Skills were not yet ced inside them, but that didnt directly tell her anything surprising.


    Even with her acting to shield her charges, everyone over Tier 25 in the system was already hovering over the moon, demanding answers to the most important question.


    What was the final floor?


    She used all of her spiritual sense to wrap up her children, but she could feel others, notably the Tier 45s from each Great Power, ripping her shielding away and trying to inspect the four of them.


    Minka was a neutral ground by treaty, but each Great Power had the ability to staff their with one Tier 45, and theirrgest job was to learn about the newest up anders each Great Power had sent through the Forge.


    Watcher Eru, the Empire Tier 45 representative, was doing his best, but even with his help, their efforts were shaky.


    As they materialized, Luna finally had the opportunity to inspect her charges, and she didnt like what she saw.


    Liz was ostensibly the best-off out of all of them. She was missing an arm, yes, but was otherwise limited to an array of small injuries and a not-quite-healed scar on her throat. However, while the injuries that she still had were minor, the fact that <em>Liz</em>, with as much focus as shed given to her self-healing and regeneration enhancements, hadnt healed through them all passively meant that she must have been several times over normal healing limits.


    That Aster, with a shattered ribcage, shredded and torn foreleg, missing tail, and skin covered in third-degree burns, was the <em>next</em> best-off spoke to the degree which Lizs healing had already carried her. Still, at least most of the foxs wounds were superficial, save for a bit of internal bleeding that wouldnt prove life-threatening for a few more days.


    Susanne was missing a leg and an eye, with raw <em>fourth</em> degree burns rendering half her head a charred and burned mess, down to the bone. Several of her limbs were covered in fractures, and there was basically no part of her body that wasnt bruised. Shed broken three fingers, cracked her corbone, and a portion of her exposed skull had a chip of bone missing. As she was doubtlessly <em>far</em> over her healing cooldown, that could prove an issue.


    Matt was unsurprisingly even worse off. He was the physically toughest of the four by a substantial margin, but that just meant he tended to throw himself into harmful situations with even less regard for his physical well-being than the others. His hands were slightly ckened and had so much nerve damage, she wondered if he could even properly hold his sword. He was missing half his hip and right leg, had a broken left foot, a shattered arm, half a missing hand, and a fractured jaw with half his teeth missing and only a single one fully intact. To top it all off, his chest was a mess of puncture wounds, one of which had torn one of his lungs to bits and caused some worrying damage to his heart. That his entire body was an off-color purple from a forming bruise was almost an afterthought.


    It would be <em>inconvenient</em> to fix, but he had [Bandage]s covering the worst of his wounds, and he could be stabilized well enough to make a full <em>physical</em> recovery. What worried her more was his vacant, unfocused and catatonic expression, as well as the way he was limply hanging off of Liz.


    That was not a good sign, and her ws were out in worry at the worst possibilities.


    Luna refused to allow herself to panic, however. His spirit was intact, and his Concept felt <em>very</em> healthy. He hadnt failed Folded Reflections, that much was certain, so she had a chance at fixing whatever was wrong.


    Looking to Liz, who seemed to be at least mostly conscious, she was about to ask when her [AI] received an update from the girl. At the speeds Luna was processing, that was faster than her speaking. It was a good sign too, as it showed she remembered their exit procedures.


    The message was thankfully short and to the point. Final floor Mind Over Matter.


    She passed the information on to the waiting horde of watchers faster than she could even allow herself to properly appreciate a double-Concept final two floors.


    That satiated most of their curiosity, and most left, but the Tier 45s spiritual perceptions kept sweeping her charges, trying to catch any hint of whether they had reached Minkas core at Tier 11. The masks they wore were in no way strong enough to hide their real cultivation from such a Tier difference.


    It was also a question she wanted answered.


    Both Tier 12 and Tier 11 delvers could gain an Innate slot, but it wasnt <em>required</em> to fill the slot immediately. Some did, but others left it open to absorb a skill after they left. It was tricky, as the Innate slot <em>wanted</em> to be filled, and even an errant nudge of a core skill could push it into the Innate slot, but no amount of upgraded [Analyze] studying would reveal that particr tidbit. It would be even worse for the other Great Power watchers, as they had to contend with Watcher Eru fighting their scrutiny to protect their <em>proper</em> identities.


    Instead, they were looking at how far along into Tier 12 the kids were.


    It was also what Luna was investigating.


    They were a little more than a third of the way through Tier 12, which nearly guaranteed the fact they had to Tier up early which was expected if disappointing. That meant it was just a question of when they Tiered up and what the Tier 45s were trying to sense, but that wasnt so easy a task.


    Before a full second passed from their exit, the spiritual perceptions vanished, and Watcher Eru appeared next to her, using his range advantage to help keep anyone from easily intercepting AI messages.


    What''s wrong with Matt? That was her first question and most pressing concern.


    Even as healers rushed in and started casting [Bandage] on their wounds, since actual healing would need to wait, Luna didnt have the luxury of time if something serious was wrong.


    Some matters of the mind could be time sensitive.


    Liz paused for an agonizingly long two seconds as she clearly mulled over how to say what happened without giving too much away to anyone who might be tapping in. A <em>hefty</em> amount of spiritual overstrain, and then He saw his Image in person.


    Luna paused hearing that, as her mind ground to a halt.


    They had found a white hole?


    That seemed impossible, but they were talking about Minka, after all. Anything was possible, and if the really came from the higher realms, the fact it might have something that didnt exist in the lower realms shouldn''t be surprising.


    As she processed that information, Luna inspected Matt a bit more closely and had a moment of realization at just what that meant for him. She just needed a single piece of information to know if it was a bad thing.


    Liz, sitrep? Quickly! Luna was counting the milliseconds as they ticked by at a cial pace.


    Situation three-N. Liz responded, and her mouth began to twitch into a smile, which would have been well earned in any other situation.


    Situation three-N meant they finished Minka at Tier 11, and Tiered up on their exit. How they had umted enough Genesis Energy to get so far into Tier 12 was something she would find out in due time, but the implications for Matt settled into ce immediately.


    Matt hadnt doubled his mana yet.


    And he was undergoing an <em>Inspiration</em>.


    Luna finally allowed herself to panic as she threw her Domain at Matt.


    ***


    Matt couldnt believe it.


    A white hole existed.


    <em>It was real</em>.


    That fact seemed like a mantra resounding through his mind.


    It made him feel like he had found his ce in the universe, despite not knowing he was adrift before.


    The epiphany felt like he was in a pool of water that perfectly matched his body temperature, allowing him to forget that anything else existed.


    He felt at peace, despite being in serious physical pain.


    Almost without his control, he felt his spirit start to seemingly expand and merge with the world around him. It was trying to do something, and he wasnt in the right frame of mind to analyze or question it, he was just able to experience it.


    <em><strong>Wake up.</strong></em>


    Matts mind jolted into awareness, as a <em>presence</em> far beyond his own mmed into his spirit and mind. His cultivation was utterly <em>crushed</em>, his cores slowed to an utter standstill, but the sheer <em>bliss</em> he felt seemed to fight it, pushing against the suppression and even making some headway.


    His head was stuffed full of cotton, and he could barely understand what was being said Or not said, messaged. His AI was alerting him to several Highest Priority messages from Luna?


    With no cultivation, even his thoughts felt agonizingly slow as he epted it.


    Wake up. You need to use your Talent.


    His Talent? But that was automatic. The messages kepting though.


    Youre undergoing an Inspiration. Im stalling it, you need to fight it, you <em>need to use your Talent</em>.


    Panic fought through Matts clouded mind, even though he wasnt sure why.


    A <em>voice</em> cut through the fog.


    <em><strong>You are about to Tier up twice in quick session.</strong></em>


    Oh. <em>OH!</em>


    Matts panic finally fought through his brain. His maximum mana doubled with every Tier, but none of them knew what would happen if he <em>didnt</em> double his maximum on a given Tier, whether he would be able to quadruple his mana, or would miss out on his Talents greatest power. He tried to mimic what Luna was doing, suppressing his own cultivation, but his Inspiration had already started, and there was <em>no</em> stopping it now.


    He needed to double his mana <em>now</em>, and the fastest way to do that, he sent a message in response, House. Drop house.


    Hed barely even sent it when Matt suddenly found himself inside Lunas house where he dropped his own house immediately. Then before he could realize the transition they were next to his mana crystal.


    Even before his house had bonded to him as a growth item, the mana crystal it ran on was already perfectly matched to his own, and the millions of mana it currently held were more than enough to fill his pool a dozen times over.


    Liquid poured down his throat, even though his mouth was closed. As it was absorbed into his stomach and began to concentrate his mana, his spiritual sense finally was able to perceive Luna properly.


    His manager usually had a wild air about her pale skin and dark hair, but today, it looked like she had gone through a week long bender, with bloodshot eyes and sallow skin. If that wasnt enough, right before his eyes, he watched as the blood vessels in her eyes burst, and her nose started leaking blood like an artery had been cut.


    Seeing her assistance was in no way easy or free, Matt tried to hurry along the process of the mana concentration potion, and redoubled his efforts to slow down his spirits expansion.


    Both were futile.


    His spirit seemed to be already on the final stages of expansion, and the potion was beyond his control. Luna seemed to notice the same thing, and her skin turned translucent as her presence redoubled.


    His inspiration seemed to halt for a moment, but that was when he saw Carol, Susannes manager, appear next to Luna before she almost instantly copsed. Whatever she had done had earned Luna a moment of reprieve, and together, they resisted his spirits expansion for the few seconds needed for the mana potion to take effect and to attain his Tier 12 maximum mana again.


    At first, he almost didnt believe it when Lunas power vanished, and his expanded spirit seemed to find harmony with the realm around him. It was like he was a part of the realm itself for a moment, like he was connected to everything.


    That was when he understood.


    <em>White holes were real, and he was one of them</em>.


    During that moment of understanding, he felt everything snap into ce. It was the heart of Minka. A ce of impossible gifts, something which the Realm shaped itself around, the sort of thing which wars were fought over, a form of matter that could do the impossible and shaped the unthinkable.


    And it was <em>him</em>.


    <em>He </em>was <em>it</em>.


    Words didnt do it justice, it was just himself and the Realm and everything was at peace. He couldnt even properly process what he was experiencing, what he was thinking nothing mattered, only the feeling that everything was profoundly <em>right</em>.


    Then, the moment passed, and darkness imed him once again.


    ***


    Liz was dead on her feet, a very chaotic scene unfolding before her. Luna had vanished to ces unknown along with Carol and Matt, leaving her, Susanne, and Aster unsteadily standing under the attention of <em>countless</em> high-Tier individuals, with only the resolute Tier 45 man standing next to them providing any form of solidarity.


    She started opening her mouth to ask what was going on, then, their surroundings were different.


    They were in the entryway to a hospital. A flicker of movementter, Matt was lying next to them on the floor.


    Luna was floating next to him, and she looked almost worse off than <em>them</em>, with blood pouring from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and with semi-translucent skin <em>dripping</em> off her face. Liz couldnt even properly process what she was seeing before they were elsewhere once again.


    They were in a private room with four beds. Aster wasically small for her bed, Susanne was just bewildered, and Matt was firmly unconscious in the bed next to hers. A healer in white robes was hooking him up to a series of tubes and wires connected to his bed and a rack of monitoring projections next to him, and Carol appeared in the middle of the four of them with drying streaks of blood running from her nose.


    Luna is fine. Recover first, well talk in a day or two. You can trust the healers.


    With that, she vanished once more.


    The healer finished connecting Matt to his bed and moved over to Liz. Im going to be casting some spells on you. Would you mind removing your mask? This room is well-warded and I need urate readings.


    Liz hesitated for a moment, but with Carol already vouching for him, she reached up and started removing the amulet that shielded her spirit from inspection. It got caught in her hair and on her ears, and with only a single arm, she was struggling just to get it <em>that</em> far. Fortunately, the healer caught on and assisted her with gently pulling the chain over her.


    A couple of spellster, he nodded and scratched down some observations on his notepad.


    You need rest. Im going to cast a sleep spell on you, if youre alright with that.


    She gave a jerky nod, the healer waved his wand, and she knew no more.


    ***


    Matt groaned as he woke up, a paradoxicalbination of intense pain, clouded thoughts, and incredible rity and strength. He struggled to sit up, prompting a healer to appear in their room and consult a bank of machines next to his bed. The rest of his team was in the room with him, but only Aster and Liz were awake. Susanne was sleeping peacefully, for all that her face looked quite ghoulish. Most of the dried blood was gone from her face and his, giving Matt a clear but <em>very</em> unpleasant view of just how much of her skull was visible.


    Thest few seconds of consciousness hed experienced came back to him, and a grin spread across his face.


    Liz spoke up, mirroring his thoughts. So, you think its fair you just get to skip Tier 12?


    Aster inspected his spirit through their bond and whined at him slightly in question, so Matt answered through shattered teeth, You chnow ith. Bu I''m more confushed about what happened to Luna. She tyied to dy the inshpirathion, why is she in shuch bad shape?


    The healer next to his bed provided an answer, tapping through a screen disying Matts vitals.Inspirations are a merging between someone and the realm itself. The person undergoing the inspiration can slow it down or dy it on their side, but outsiders need to fight against the <em>realm</em> in order to interfere, which can lead to straining or even broken Domains in extreme cases.


    Matt was feeling guilty at hearing that and asked, Is she allright?


    The healer shook his head. Im not allowed to speak about patients, but if you have any further questions about general medical knowledge, I will be happy to provide what I can.


    Matt tried topare the nosebleed he got when he pushed his Concept too far to the dismal state Luna pushed herself to before he lost consciousness, and shuddered as he realized how far his manager had pushed herself to ensure he didnt ruin his future because of the inspiration. If she had simply stopped helping him when he had doubled his mana, that would have been more than anyone could have asked, but instead, she pushed herself beyond reason to give him time to take the mana concentration potion.


    He had never considered Luna a friend or even a particrly good person, but he had respected her ability to train them. Now he had to face the fact she put her money where her mouth was in her pursuit of ensuring he had the best foundation possible.


    All he could do was hope shed be alright.


    Matt was too far over his healing cooldown for <em>any</em> proper healing spells to be applied to him, but his wounds had been cleaned while he was unconscious and bandaged with semi-mundane techniques. They couldnt even give him proper prosthetics, thanks to just how fragile his condition was, and it would be a couple weeks before he was ready for them.


    The machines he was connected to were also acting as life support in addition to monitors,pensating for his half-functional heart. That was the one surgery he <em>did</em> have, as everything else needed to wait until magic would work on him again.


    His arm was ced in a basic sling, and he had been told in a rather serious tone that he would have <em>problems</em> if he tried to use his arm for anything at all. By the healers ounting, moving his fingers did count, and they <em>would</em> be able to tell.


    His leg and hip were measured for a prosthetic leg for once it could be installed, as his condition was too fragile for even the basic connection enchantments to actually work on him. In the meantime, Matt would be in an AI-controlled wheelchair, and even that hurt when he shifted his weight.


    Teeth werent exactly crucial to his physical health, but it was a rtively simple procedure to have his mouth scanned, and ceramic recements sh-printed and glued into ce. It would allow him to talk normally, though he wouldnt be using the teeth for anything else for at least a month. He and the rest of his team were on an all-soup diet for the time being.


    Matt had been in and out of consciousness the entire time, and trying to catch up on reading his mail while bed bound and waiting for treatment. He happened to catch a few snippets of conversation from the nurses and asional healers while being wheeled between hospital rooms. Medically inadvisable was perhaps the most polite description they had for what he had been doing in Minka, but it sounded like an oldint rather than anything unique to him.


    In the end, the only thing that didnt hurt anymore was his spirit. Apparently, it had been healed as a part of his Inspiration. All of the spiritual strain he rued during the final battle and the subsequent spiritual expansion from the new innate slot was gone, though there were still asional aches when he tried to use skills. The healers diagnosed it as phantom pain, and assured him that it would pass in time, but to limit skill usage as much as possible, and to utilize only his [AI]. Even that was to be sparingly for the next week, and only then could he slowly work back up to full magic use.


    After the instation of his false teeth, Matt wheeled into the group convalescence room, just as Aster whined at her dessert. Jello, it seemed, wasnt an eptable recement for food, let alone a good snack.


    Hey guys. I can speak now!


    He grinned to show his new teeth and snorted at Lizs snort of, Finally.


    Hows everyone doing? None of them looked very <em>good</em>. They were all in their own wheelchairs, just as covered in bandages and [Bandage]s as he was, but this was the first time in the past few days that theyd all been properly awake and in the same room.


    Liz smiled as Aster flicked her ears to express her happiness, still missing her tail.


    Were good. Lizs first words were sweet, and matched her honest and relieved smile at seeing him, but the smile quickly turned teasing as she continued. Just, you know,ining about how you skipped all of Tier 12.


    Matt gave a one shoulder shrug as he gestured towards his missing leg and sling. It cost me an arm and a leg, so I feel like I paid my dues for it.


    Aster snorted. If it worked that way, my missing tail would get me all the way to Tier 50. It''s clearly more important than the limbs you lose twice a year.


    Susanne snorted. It''s good to see you up and about. You seemed out of it there, after the end.


    Being cagey about the hidden exit reward wasnt quite necessary at this point, as Carol or Watcher Eru were protecting them, but after months in Minka it was a hard habit to unlearn. Neither of them alone had the power to fully stop prying eyes from outside their moon, but it was far easier to <em>detect</em> such an intrusion and stop anyone from speaking further, along with wiping the sound from the air in the room. It was probably just Carol though, as Watcher Eru had likely moved on to other, more important assignments. Matt had to think that Carol was wondering what Susanne was talking about, as they had yet to talk about what had happened in their Minka run.


    Aster yipped her agreement. Yeah, tell us about it. What <em>is</em> an inspiration like?


    It wasnt exactly a secret that hed undergone an inspiration, it had happened when literally every eye in the system had been on him, after all. It was weird. At first, I didnt even realize what was going on. It just feltfortable. Like I was floating in a warm bath before my spirit started to leave my body. It Matt paused as he considered how to exin it. Saying I became one with the realm is urate, but it doesn''t exin it. It was a really nice feeling without it being addicting or anything. The best way I can exin it is that for a moment there, the edges of where I ended and the realm began seemed to blur, which is when the Tier up happened. My spirit seemed to reach Tier 13 without the essence it would normally take to advance. After that happened, all the essence rushed in and started to make my essence core match by Tier.


    Liz tisked. I wish it could always be that easy. Sounds really nice.


    Matt thought about Lunas sunken visage and shook his head. Without Lunas help there, I would have, you know.


    He wasnt about to say anything about doubling his mana with each Tier here, but the others understood his point without him needing to say it directly.


    They all stayed silent for a long moment before Matt asked, Any news?


    Susanne nodded. Word from Carol, which boiled down to sit tight and wait for another few days as we- and Luna- heal.


    Their Manager hadnt had her Domain break, but it <em>had</em> been seriously strained. I still cant believe she was actually <em>hurt</em>, let alone so badly, Matt mused, to general agreement from the others.


    The woman had always seemed like an imcable mountain. Untouchable and unbreakable.


    With orders to stay inside the hospital, the four of them rxed.


    Even as Tier 12 to 13s, they were still exhausted after nearly a full year of <em>constant </em>fighting, in addition to the insane pace theyd set beforehand to prepare for it, and the rest was absolute bliss.


    Matt wasnt sure about the others, but he spent at least fourteen hours a day asleep for the first week, waking up only long enough to wheel to the bathroom and then back to his bed. Fortunately, his Concept was in good <em>enough</em> shape, thanks to the Inspiration, that he could handle moving between his bed, wheelchair, and bed without assistance.


    The only notable news they got was that Bradley and Jill, theva mage and his archer wife they met inside, made it out of Minka with both the floor and exit reward at Tier 12. The now Tier 13s were more than happy with their progress inside the Forge, and invited the four of them to a dinner once everyone was out of the hospital, though their conflicting schedules threatened to force the date back some. All four of them easily agreed, but did let the pair know that they were so badly injured, they probably wouldn''t be released for a while. At worse they would see them in the Empire proper at some point.


    The days seemed to pass quickly as they recovered, and by the start of the second week, Matt and the others were conscious enough to start getting news from the moon base around them.


    The news reports had no right to be as interesting as they did, but they mainly listened to the interviews with the Tier 14s who hadnt been able to create their own Concept, and needed to rely on Minka for the process.


    Some of the stories were long, others short, but it gave Matt a new appreciation about how easily he had created his own Concept. Even without Aunt Helen pointing the three of them to Lizs brother''s house to experience the Ascension, he had already had his phrase and a decent idea about his image. In theory, he could have made a Concept at any point, so hearing about the other side of the coin, he gained some insight on what many people had to go through.


    How it felt to spend centuries searching for how you fit into the realm as a whole without the certainty Matt had felt since he was fifteen.


    Part of it was the pure emotion that the people in question had during their interviews, but Matt and the others found it entrancing, and had the station on nearly constantly in the room.


    After nearly two weeks of their recovery, Matt was growing irritated after being unable to get any of the hospital staff or Carol to tell him how Luna was doing, beyond just recovering. He was about to start demanding to see Carol in person to get some answers in a way she couldnt just ignore, when a ck cat walked in through the door opened by one of the nurses.


    Even knowing their manager was a cat, it took Matts brain a long moment to put the human manager who haunted a good number of his dreams to the normal sized ck housecat. The only simrities were cat Lunas fur was the same ink-ck shade as human Lunas hair, and the identical purple eyes.


    As the cat jumped to the wheeled table the healers used for their tools, she spoke. While this was dyed, its time we debriefed the four of you.


    Matt was about to ask how she was doing, but Aster was faster with her AI to send the message.


    How can you speak humannguage in your animal form? I want to be able to do that!


    Cat Luna just red at Aster, or rather cat Luna looked at Aster, but with how cats always looked like they were ring, he couldnt read her expression to be sure which she was doing.


    After a deep sigh that didn''t fit her form at all, Luna answered, There are a few different methods, but Im vibrating the air manually with [Air Maniption]. Yes, it''s quite convenient, but not the topic I wish to speak on at any length, as you tly can''t do it yet. Once you have a few centuries to spare, we can revisit the subject.


    Matt took the opportunity to interject. Are you ok? You looked, um, rough.


    Luna turned her re onto him, but getting the full brunt of it, Matt suspected she was just tired. Her eyes, while almost luminescent, had a slight sheen to them, like cataracts were starting to form.


    If I said I was fine, Id be lying, but Ill live. My human body is little more than a pile of flesh, and holding it together is more effort than it''s worth, so you get to deal with my beast side, which is smaller and easier to manage.


    As she looked like she was going to continue, Matt spoke first. Thank you, Luna. Just thank you. I would have been screwed if you didnt wake me up. Beyond that, thank you for giving me enough time to get the mana concentration potion down. If I can repay you somehow in the future I will.


    Luna just blinked at him before yawning. He noticed the teeth seemed sharp enough to cut even the lightnding on them, but it didnt seem hostile at all.


    Matt, the only thing I desire from any of my students is their best, and I ept nothing less from them or myself. I am doing what I see as my job, nothing more and nothing less. And besides, it''s really not that bad. I didnt even crack my Domain. Just exhausted myself.


    Matt wasnt sure her body falling apart could be described as not that bad by anyone but Luna, but he felt he understood.


    Standing up and stretching, she jumped down onto the floor before padding over to a table, where she picked up a cup with her mouth and jumped over to the sink, where she put it down and filled it.


    Matt didnt miss the fact she didnt use her Domain to just lift or manipte the object, just her mouth and paws, and knew how bad that meant things were.


    Once she had taken a drink, she continued. Now that Im mobile, well be departing soon. We need to get out of this system. Somewhere the entire Realm wont be watching.


    Luna narrowed her eyes as she red at all of them, and this time, Matt knew it was a re without a doubt.


    You have questions to answer.

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215


    As if waiting for the cue, Carol walked through the door with a bag slung over her shoulder.


    Is everyone ready?


    Matt looked at Susanne''s manager and then down to his bed and wheelchair, wondering exactly what he was going to take with them.


    As Luna nodded and jumped to the other manager''s shoulder, he got his answer.


    Nothing.


    His oh-so-convenient wheelchair and bed were both left behind as Carol teleported them to Lunas house. On instinct, he tried to catch himself with his Concept, but Carol was already lifting them along as Luna unlocked her front door and went inside. Matt, meanwhile, noticed his house on Lunaswn where he normally set it. He probably shouldnt have been surprised, but he <em>had</em> been halfatose when Luna had set it up, and hadnt left the hospital since.


    Gather your house Matt, were getting out of this system as soon as possible.


    As Matt collected his house, a much easier task now that he was Tier 13, Luna recalled her own home from inside, leaving a barren patch of earth that Carol set her ship on. With a casual wave of her hand, the four of them floated through the hatch and into the lounge, while she and Luna went to the cockpit and took off. Below them, the moon and then Minka itself shrank away, leaving behind all the wonders and nightmares it brought.


    It took them a little while to get out of the mana-draining field that Minka exuded, but once they had, Matt practically gasped in relief. It wasnt truly noticeable on its own, but the sudden shock from leaving it felt like a breath of fresh air. Shortly after, he felt the <em>twist</em> that apanied breaking through to chaotic space, and Luna returned, tail held high, to check in on them and get them more situated.


    After about a day of travel, they returned to realspace, dropping in above a Tier 1 Matt had never seen before, then jetted out to the distant reaches of its sr system. Only then did Carol return from the pilots seat and join them in the lounge.


    Luna stretched from her catnap, licking a small tuft of fur back into ce, and settled into a sitting position even as she said. I am aware from Liz that you managed to reach the core at Tier 11. Wee to the one hundred.


    At the groups questioning look, she further borated, In the Empires recorded history, there have been less than a hundred people that havepleted Minka and exited with the Tier 11 reward. Even Duke Waters didnt manage to do it. Admittedly, he didnt even enter Minka at Tier 11, but the point still stands. For that, congrattions are earned and due.


    Matt smiled at that. They had pushed themselves to the limit to try and get through the hurdles Minka and their fellow delvers put in their way, but in the end, they had seeded.


    Hearing Luna acknowledge that felt really good, and put him in a contemtive mood as Liz started to describe their delve.


    ***


    Liz, by some silent agreement, spoke first, and Lunas ears flicked as the children began recounting their delve.


    Floor one was Eternal Darkness, and honestly, everything went along with your predictions and training. The fights, while slightly more difficult because of the floor theme, weren''t anything unexpected.


    Luna resisted the urge to sigh. She had tried to beat into the childrens heads that Minka was dangerous, but the way they described their early encounters in Minka, it didnt seem like that particr lesson took. Saying as much now would do them no favors though, and the condition their bodies were still in indicated that they had gotten the message <em>eventually</em>.


    Eternal Darkness was one of the most dangerous starting floors, as evidenced by the below-average survival rate from this cycle, but the kids clearly considered the floor <em>practice</em>. A little jaunt in a ruin with a fun twist. It spoke to their ability that it could be so simple, but she would have preferred they learn the painful lessons that would teach caution at the start.


    Still, she nodded along, taking everything in until Liz mentioned that Matt had shortcut a rift by overpowering the binding on the end prize.


    Luna shot Carol a look and the other manager understood.


    As Liz was actively specting, Minkas tests often had multiple ways toplete them. There was always an intended way, but the often included ways to outwit, circumvent, or in this case, brute force its challenges. Other times it would <em>insist</em> on ying by the rules, but it seemed that this time, it was content with Matts physical struggle.


    To demonstrate, Matt pulled out the reward hed gotten from it, a pair of gauntlets connected to a tiny ck orb. As she realized what she was looking at, her ears drew back in surprise.


    The core of a Tier 14 ck hole.


    That was.


    Impressive.


    And useful for someone with a opposing Concept.


    She began to say something, then thought better of it, dispelling the sound waves shed generated with a flick of her ears.


    Was the core a part of the original item? Carol asked, to Lunas approval.


    Matt shook his head. No, we got it on floor six, right?


    Fascinating, Luna cut off Carols next question. I look forward to hearing about that once you get there. That looks removable, yes?


    Matt nodded.


    Well done. A resource like that has many uses. Dont permanently integrate it into anything without consulting Kurt or I first, and certainly dont sell it.


    Matt nodded, and Liz took that as a cue to continue.


    Given the subtle shifts Aster and Susanne gave when Liz described their encounter with Essential Civilizations and its rift development as interesting, she assumed what truly happened was Matt found something that sparked his interest during the civilization, and promptly talked about it until only Liz could bear to listen. She made a note to message Erwin. The man was involved in some project for the Emperor, but at his Tier he would be a nonessential assistant at best and would probably jump at the chance to work with Matt again.


    Her team would need new rifts, and Aperology would be an excellent way to keep them all busy with new delves.


    She would need a few years to recuperate, after all, and keeping them busy and close in some isted area would be ideal.


    Liz carried on, describing their respective floor challenges, and Luna nodded at the Chaser approach Matt and Susanne took, as well as Lizs Seeker tactic. Fittingly, albeit irritatingly, the challenge was best entered blind to the various ways one could modify your approach for the most fitting reward.


    The ruin they had found themselves in midway through Genesis Cultivation was unusual, and its rewards matched the rarity. Their seekerpass was certainly one in a trillion, but not all that interesting in its functionality. It had a substantial range of items that it could point to- anything below Tier 14 that the user didnt already consider to be theirs in some sense- but it wasnt terribly useful to any of them, save perhaps Susanne but even she would quickly out Tier it. The Seekers guild tended to offer a premium on such items besides, so it was unlikely theyd keep it.


    The mirror and key were simr. The mirror sounded strong for its Tier, but they hadnt tested it against a dedicated illusionist to know how it trulypared. The key, meanwhile, needed an actual keyhole to work, and that cut its utility drastically.


    The three items were still incredibly strong inside Minka, and would probably be bought by the Empire to send in with future teams. Then, either they would lead to better rewards, or would possibly bind to someone and potentially be incredibly useful.


    Their cornucopia showed no signs of being anything more than just a food-creation item, leading Luna to exin that Minka asionally handed out simr rewards, a token prize and an enhancement of previous rewards, as an indication that a given challenge wasplete.


    Matts domination of the floor challenge made Luna proud, though she didnt show it. Experimentally proving that essence <em>could</em> be made from pure mana was novel, albeit of limited practicality. The same thing went for making pure Aura. Interesting but not directly useful for his training. She hadnt heard of anyone attempting it previously, but shed have to ask Erwin about it when they met up with him again. Hed certainly know of any simr test if they were public record, and she was sure he would want to pick Matts mind over what little he could remember about the test.


    Back to Basics was treated even more dismissively than Eternal Darkness, though even she had to privately admit that Matt having his full mana <em>would</em> make the floor trivial for them. Susannes Tria Seed would be useful, as would Lizs vampiric blood. Though she would ensure that their next hospital ran some tests on Liz to ensure there werent any long-termplications from the blood they ought to be aware of.


    Lizs voice was starting to sound rather hoarse by the time she finished exining their strategies for the floor challenge, and Matts awarded AI enhancement left her feeling rather conflicted. She really didnt like over-reliance on the damn things, but she would need to fully explore his new ability and see how best it could be utilized without bing a crutch. Liz waved off talking any more in favor of a warm cup of tea, leaving Matt to tell of their expedient trip through Courtly Warfare.


    First, our idea was to create an autonomous reconnaissance system which we did with a number of others on Winter''s side.


    Luna nodded. It was an intelligent use of resources while not revealing too much as to his true capabilities.


    Her eyes shifted to Aster as the fox took over the story, exining how and why she entered Winter''s castle. I felt something familiar and decided to explore, and Matt was the only one free, so he came with me. Winter was nice enough, and she gave me a boon almost immediately, which helped settle my bloodline a bit. Her AI-created voice turned bitter as she continued. When we left the floor, I asked her for a final floor Blood is Thicker, but she ked on me. Though, all I really did was explore the ce, which led to Matt meeting Winter.


    The fox could be flighty at times, but she had good instincts. Winter must have weed her, but her request to Minka was pointless. Floors were set at the start of the cycle, which she knew, but the young were ever wistful.


    Matt sighed, filling in the details she skipped. While Aster was passed out, Winter and I had a chat. That was when we learned the Fae forces were created with mana. I started feeding the court, with Winter concealing the output. We then used the increased production to rush down Spring and then Fall.


    As he continued telling of their time in Winter, Luna''s mind raced. Minka lied often, yes, but it could be very honest at times, particrly in its promises in Courtly Warfare. If it said that it was hiding Matts contributions, to enable him to better contribute, it was likely doing just that.


    Still, discretion was the better part of valor for such things, and between his approach in Courtly Warfare and him being forced to double his mana in an all-too-public manner, it would be best to ensure that no rumors about his capabilities were circting. The only good thing was that the four of them had rigorously tested if his mana was obvious, so she would have to go off the assumption that they were correct, and no one had noticed.


    And in the end, they had proven the decision to make more foot troops was the correct one, as they were able to get out of that floor before even more people caught up with them.


    Liz and Susanne spoke up from time to time to detail their individual outings, but it remained primarily Matt who told of their conquest first of Spring, and then of Fall. Their decision to attack the general <em>was</em> foolish, and borne of the overconfidence theyd carried through their entire delve until that point. But they all survived, and that was what mattered.


    That Liz had her glove destroyed <em>was</em> something of a painful loss for the girl, but she was confident that Liz would be able to ovee it. The girls Concept only effectively applied to blood <em>inside</em> her own body, or previously the glove, it being bound to her spirit so closely.


    Once removed from her body, it required active focus and Willpower to maintain the connection. Thus, external storage devices of the formmonly employed by water mages would be insufficient for the blood mage. Lizs Talent enabled her to quickly assimte external blood as hers, but whenpared to the millions of gallons of blood the glove could store for her, it would take her an impossibly long time to gain control over aparable amount of blood.


    She would still be able to <em>utilize</em> [Blood Tidal Wave] and its ilk, of course, but losing the ability to reliably apply her Concept to them was a substantial loss in power for Lizs Blood kinesis spells. Once they were off the Path, custom enchantments from Talented crafters could easily return her oceans of blood to her, but in the meantime, it would present a substantial obstacle to the girl.


    Still, as a loss which taught them the danger of Minka, it was far superior to one of their lives.


    It also served as a firsthand reminder of the danger of overreliance upon any one strategy. There existed a counter to every tactic, and redundancy in toolkits was essential for any Ascender. Tools <em>were</em> vital for any cultivator, just as surely as Domains and skills were, but the loss of a single tool shouldnt cripple a cultivator any more than a countered skill, missing limb, or broken Domain.


    Luna wasnt happy the item was gone, but she also wouldnt mourn its passing. It had served its purpose in both life and death, which was more than most growth items could say.


    Susanne spoke up for the Generals true defeat, and while Luna wasnt <em>pleased</em> that Liz had utilized her offensive blood magic in such an external and public way, Courtly Warfare proved its value once again as they spoke of how obscured the blood was in its use.


    Their choice of attacking was still not something Luna was particrly proud of, but they at least had the sense to stay and finish the fight, rather than run. Hopeless battles should be fled, close ones should not, if they were to be true Ascenders. They had won, and that carried a certain level of justification for their actions. Even Liz using her blood magic. Shed rather the children be alive and needing some of their messes cleaned up rather than dead, after all.


    Even from their retelling, Luna would be having words with all of them- such as Matt not anticipating an intelligent foe to <em>dodge</em> an attack- but their overall performance was admirable.


    Even better, they all received high-quality upgrades for their growth items, new and old.


    Taxing Skills slowed them, and as she had expected, they were constantly facing other delvers, having all been reset to the same stage courtesy of Courtly Warfare.


    Folded Reflections slowed them down again, as was normal, and the smaller floor meant they were starting to <em>really</em> learn why other delvers were the true danger of Minkas depths. Minka was a test bed for proto-Elites, and it was hardly a surprise that when outnumbered and out-Tiered, they would struggle. A group of ten was lessmon, but all that truly meant was that one of the Great Powers had a full squad of promising recruits they decided to send into Minka together.


    The one fight took nearly two hours of back-and-forth, given how effectively their opponents had separated them, and Luna would be spending a substantial amount of time ensuring theyd know exactly how to proceed in a simr situation in the future. Being outnumbered by people slightly weaker than them would be amon urrence, and they needed to learn the tactics to fight in such situations.


    Matt and Lizs voices were getting raw, so they took a break for food, then resumed to discuss the lives they each had experienced. True to form, Minkas illusions were traumatic even at the best of times, and she used the opportunity to mention that shed already coordinated a series of visits with their therapist in theing weeks, while they were still recuperating.


    Matts lives were interesting, but ultimately nothing unexpected. She hoped that living a full life with his family alive and Aster as his sister would help settle some of those issues once and for all, but that was ultimately a good life that shouldnt cause any lingering issues. The other lives got progressively worse, and she knew he would need to properly process those lives before too long.


    That one of them had shown him as a terrorist was surprising, but the life where he was locked in a room to provide mana had the potential to be an <em>issue</em>. She was grateful that Emmanuel hadnt been ced in the role of Emperor for that life, as that could have turned into something very delicate. It was everything he feared, and that whole life had the potential for creating deep seated mental instabilities.


    Asters lives were varied and useful for their effects, but Luna had no worries about them bing problematic in the future. Beast bonds as a whole were a bit more resilient to those lives because of their connection to said bond.


    Liz, on the other hand, was another situation altogether. From the start, Luna had some hope that her lives wouldnt be too traumatizing, but she was quickly proven wrong, as each one seemed to strike at another facet of the womans fears.


    Eventually, Luna had to interject after Lizs life as a serial killer gue mage. Liz was putting up a decent front, but shed had <em>far</em> too many millennia of experience to be fooled by someone who was only slightly over forty.


    Liz, while I understand those lives werent pleasant, don''t push them away. I havent been able to train you in the usage of your blood beyond fighting like, as you put it, a red water mage, not because I don''t want to, but because the resources are basically non-existent in the Empire. Either blood mages go into healing, where they are incredibly helpful, or they do reprehensible things and are executed for their crimes. Second hand documents and reports are valid resources, but are not nearly as valuable as first hand experience.


    You think I dont know that? Liz snapped, her voice raw. Matt reached out to grab her hand, and she clenched it tightly enough that her hand went white.


    I am <em>well aware</em> of what blood mages do. Im not a healer, and dont want to be one, but <em>everything Ive read</em> has shown that its either being a healer or being a reprehensible, utterly horrid <em>monster</em> that history books will at best describe as unstable. That''s why I never even wanted to delve too deep into actual blood magic in the first ce, now that I think about it. Because apparently, doing so is basically an assured way to go crazy and murder entires! I am <em>all too aware</em> of what blood mages do, I see what they do <em>every night</em> in my dreams. What <em>I</em> did.


    Luna opened her mouth, but Liz charged ahead without stopping. And dont say that that wasnt me. I <em>know</em> that it wasnt <em>actually</em> me. But tell me, at what point does it even matter if it was me or someone whose head I lived in for nearly a thousand years, watching them do everything and feeling every little bit? If I start following in their footsteps-


    Liz cut herself off mid-sentence with a sharp breath and looked away, giving Matts hand a final squeeze and taking a deep breath. Sorry, that was uncalled for. My next life was


    In addition to therapy, Luna added a possible detour to see some of Lizs family to their uing itinerary. Liz was broadly stable, and more than capable of oveing her trauma once again, but Luna had made a rare misjudgment as to what Minka had done to the girl. It was less that shed had an unfortunate life than it was a long-healed scar ripped up, then rubbed with salt. Multiple times at that.


    She could only hope that once Liz started to use the skills she learned in those lives, she could fully put to rest the misgivings she had about them. It wasnt <em>untrue</em> that blood mages often did truly reprehensible things, but there was no evidence that an elemental aspect did <em>anything </em>to impact personality. There were just less of them than other mana types and therefore the outliers tended to stand out more so than when a fire mage went bad.


    Susannes lives were interesting enough, but nothing Luna particrly honed in on. She was Carols charge after all, and beyond some little bits of help, it was rude to interject on someone else''s Pather.


    Once they finished with the lives, they moved onto the final floor and the rush they went through to get out of the free for all that the final floor turned into.


    Luna saw the smirk Carol gave Susanne and rolled her eyes. The woman had reason to be proud, as the girl was good, but vendettas had a time and a ce to be settled. That was not one of them.


    Overall, she was both surprised and happy with her teams showing in Minka, and was even more pleased knowing they had gotten through the Forge at Tier 11. Even Matts little incident with having an inspiration would be a good thing in the long run, though she would have preferred it to happen sometime else.


    It had nearly killed her to ensure he got to double his Talent-granted mana pool, but that was temporary.


    These kids were going to be monsters when she was done with them.


    Oh, she had so, so many ns.


    ***


    When they finished their recounting, Luna had them remove all of the items they had gotten through their delve, and after seeing it all in one ce, Matt had to admit It was impressive.


    While they had kept pretty good track of their items throughout the first four floors, once they entered the fifth floor and the fighting became hectic, most things had just gotten chucked into the house forter perusal.


    Their final pile of loot was beyond massive, and once the various spatial items were emptied,rger than their house. And that wasnt even considering the fifteen houses they had gathered from other delvers.


    The houses were numerous and of varied quality. None of them were bad, per se, as the rings needed to hold a house that was also below Tier 15 were in no way cheap. But some were obviously made to a higher standard than others.


    After seeing just how much they had gotten, Luna and Carol both agreed it would be dealt with once their team''s respective liaisons got back.


    As it turned out, once they had started to suspect that the cycle had a Courtly Warfare, the two managers had sent their helpers out to prepare for when they came out of Minka in an expected year or longer, instead of the almost year they were inside.


    A three month Courtly Warfare wasnt a record, but it was close, and it had turned all of their time tables on their heads.


    Theyd returned to chaotic space after their initial debrief, and spent the time predominantly recuperating and rxing. Carols ship wasnt exactly the most luxurious ce theyd ever stayed, but it still had more than enoughforts to keep themselves upied, even if half of it wasnt usable in their current state.


    They had quite a good time, and simply being able to rx and sleep in was <em>wonderful</em>. There were several days when Matt and Liz just never got out of bed, as often as not just spent holding one another and talking. Their Folded Reflection lives, their battles hard-won and fun, ns for the future They just talked and enjoyed each other''spany without the risk of death looming over them.


    Shes definitely helping me with the memories, thats for sure. Liz sighed, her head resting on Mattsp. Even traveling through Chaotic Space, Luna had gotten them some virtual therapy sessions set up, with in-person meetings loosely set up next time they were in a suitable location.


    Well, thats good. Progress, right? Matt remembered the nightmares hed used to have about his parents death, overridden by monsters, and Lizs own lives had been worse, many times over. Considering the guilt he still felt about killing Liz in one life, Matt felt he had a faint picture of what she was struggling with. He ran his fingers lightly over her forehead, providing whatfort he could.


    Yeah, yeah. But then, with what Luna said


    Thats still bothering you?


    Not <em>one</em>, Matt. She couldnt find a single blood mage trainer for me that wasnt just a healer who barely even touched the field beyond tranting healing magic techniques into body magic. <em>Luna</em> couldnt find a trainer. Out of quadrillions of people in the Empire, Im the <em>only</em> blood mage whos willing to use it offensively and isnt worthy of summary execution.


    Some just didnt want to share, Matt pointed out.


    Liz waved her arm-stump. That just means theyre doing ethically shady stuff on the side, and dont want the scrutiny that woulde with training a Pather. Better at hiding their crimes than the ones who were executed, sure, but they most definitely are not great people.


    You dont know that, he countered. There are <em>lots</em> of reasons someone might decline to be a teacher, and its not like <em>any</em> kind ofbat magic makes people crazy. Im sure there are just as many fire mages who decided to burn everything down as there are blood mages who went all blood-sacrifice-crazy.


    Are there though? Theres <em>millions</em> of fire mages who were great and noble and moral and went down in history, but there just arent any equivalents for blood mages. When they <em>do</em> show up in the history books, its always because of the awful stuff they did. And when I look at the lives I lived in Minka


    Well, theres how many billions of fire mages for every one blood mage? Most of them never get any notoriety good or bad. But your lives, they were all stronger than you, yes.


    <em>Exactly</em>. Well, maybe not my researcher life, but in every one Id done far more impressive things than I have in reality. Minka lies, yes, she cut off Matts next statement, But history <em>doesnt</em>. Blood mages are either mediocre or horrible, or <em>both</em>. Theres no way Im somehow the first blood mage with morals and a drive to seed. So here I am, a second-rate water mage, does that sentence me to mediocrity? Im barely dipping into the pool of blood magic, that much is clear, but what if dipping in deeper is going to make me crazy?


    Theres nothing wrong with being a red water mage, youve done more with less.


    Yes! Im a second-rate fire mage too! And guess what, Im <em>damn good</em> at it. Im a <em>damn good</em> second-rate water mage <em>and</em> fire mage. But Im <em>not</em> a blood mage. Its just She sighed and covered her face with her hand, slightly muffling her voice, Veritas says whatever I do, I should decide andmit to it wholly. Do I want to be a knockoff elementalist? Or do I want to be a <em>blood</em> mage? If I canmand fire the way I do, and Ive got the practice of being a red water mage, do I focus more on those? Just stick to the physical maniption abilities and work around my Talent as much as possible while hopelessly trying to stick it to the Realm for trying to ruin my life?


    Or, do I stick it to the Realm and <em>legitimately</em> go the blood mage route, with blood curses, sacrifices, gues, and all? Do I want to find out what drove <em>all</em> of my predecessors to either abandon the field or go insane? I want to say that Im better than that, that my other lives have prepared me, but did they <em>really?</em> Every one of my predecessors shared the same fate, am I really better than <em>all</em> of them? Im good at this Matt, almost <em>too</em> good. What happens if an almost-Ascender or even outright <em>Ascender</em> quality blood mage goes crazy? Is that something I want to risk? Is that blood I want on my hands?


    Well, Matt pecked her on the lips. Whatever you do, Im sure youll do great.


    Mmm. Thats almost the problem, she mumbled back, pulling him in close once again with a smile.


    Still, difficult conversations aside, Matt couldnt remember thest time theyd had such a stress-free time together. It was entirely possible they simply <em>hadnt</em> since they started dating. Perhaps the Pather War, but even then, they still had <em>something </em>they needed to do, as opposed to being consigned to bed rest and movies. It had been <em>decades</em> since Matt had watched some of his favorite movie series as a child, but he had to admit that Lizs runningmentary about all the things they got wrong about Duke Waters in the movies about him certainly changed the viewing experience. Whether it was better or worse, he couldnt tell, but he enjoyed it nheless.


    Their break eventually came to an end when Susannes liaison, Jeremiah, April, and Kurt met them at their next stop in realspace.


    It was nice to see the silent man once more, and better yet, to get an update on The Unbroken, his friends from his time at the yPen and fellows from his home Lilly. They were doing well, and were trying to decide if they wanted to do their own run through Minka.


    That gave Matt some mixed feelings. Melindas Talent may have granted her Overhealth, providing perfect healing with no cooldown, but hed <em>been</em> inside Minka, and wasnt sure if that alone would be enough to get them through the, especially if it started singling her out like it had with him.


    And that didnt even consider the fact that other delvers were just as dangerous, if not more so. Let alone the possibility of the six of them getting a floor theme that stopped her from using her skills altogether.


    After making a note he needed to visit them in the next year or two, Matt and the others turned to their loot.


    April looked torn between dismayed and delighted at the literal pile of work they had brought out of Minka.


    Before they even separated the loot between teams, she and Jeremiah needed to go through all of it and give things at least a tentative value, which took three full days.


    Once they had a rough estimate of the total value of the loot, the hard part started.


    Divvying it up between the two teams.


    Not because they fought over the loot, but because Matt, Liz, and Aster kept trying to give away too much of their loot to Susanne.


    The three of them never had money issues since they figured out he could charge rifts, which was a luxury Susanne didnt have.


    But things were never that easy, they couldn''t weigh things too far in her favor without breaking the rules of the Path, and there <em>were</em> rewards they wanted.


    In the end, the lesser spoils were divided in an equal half and set aside to be sold off in the general exchange between Great Powers, if only to buy more needed items and useful things like natural treasures.


    Though, they had an abundance of Natural Treasures in their own right.


    They werent sure who they had killed, but one of their victims had dozens of different natural treasures along with many duplicates in his spatial ring, tucked away and untouched.


    Some were simple natural treasures like Eternal Embers, only good for recing firewood in their natural state, but others were much, much rarer.


    Susanne ended up taking, at Carol''s insistence, a natural treasure that would help her split her mana pool and a leaf from a Sicklebranch bush, which an alchemist could process into a potion that would both aspect one half of her mana to air, and even help with sharpening her air spells into honed des. Combined with the bottle of Mercurys Might from the challenge room on the seventh floor, she would have a split metal and air mana pool, which would give her plenty of flexibility in the future. The natural treasure shed be using to split her mana pool would also make it somewhat easier to integrate additional mana types in the future, or develop existing mana types into higher-order ones, which made Matt wonder a bit about what they were nning on doing.


    It was unlikely to be Void though the attack power it provided was undeniable, since there were practically no natural treasures that granted the affinity. Those which did exist only tended to show up once every few dozen millennia, and nobody had figured out the right mix of lower-level elements to make the ultimate Nothingness, if it even existed. A seventh floor Blood is Thicker was the only way hed ever heard of doing so reliably.


    Matt already had the Sliver of True Night''s Sight, so he passed on a simr natural treasure that Liz took. He took some Ironsight Salt for himself, which when dissolved into water and dripped into his eyes enhanced his vision by a fair margin, mostly in his ability to track moving targets and notice fine details. It was exactly the kind of thing he was aiming for with his focus in sense cultivation, and would help with bothbat and enchanting. Ordinarily, the natural treasure would turn his pupils gray, somewhat like Susanne, but his Concept overpowered the effect, leaving him with his white, swirling pupils that bled into his green iris.


    Aster ended up grabbing a Feather of Falling, a natural treasure that gave the person who took it the ability to better control themselves while they were falling. She didnt need it for that effect, but it was one of the core ingredients in a wind potion that would strengthen her control over air mana.


    The next big-ticket items were the houses. Some of them were quite nice, and Susanne and Aster each decided to take one of them. Aster took one so she had somewhere to call home herself when she was separated from them, once she reached Tier 15 and went off to the beast academy. Susanne took the other because the house was simply better than the one she had gotten from the Tier 10 Pather tournament.


    Luna tried to tell Aster she would have little need of the house, but she set her mind on it and refused to budge, so they let her have it. The rest of the houses were set to either be absorbed by Matts growth house once he reached Tier 15, and could use arger spatial ring, or were to be sold outright for other helpful items.


    Most of the swords went to Susanne so she could absorb them into her Concept, even the void longsword Matt had used to defeat his reflection during the final fight of the sixth floor. While a void weapon was handy, it wasnt a growth item, and he would have little use for it as a Tier 13 that would be delving in at least Tier 15 rifts. Void was strong, but changing his entire style for a weapon that would ultimately only be useful for a few Tiers was pointless when Susanne could get much more use out of it, once they confirmed it would be safe to shove inside her spirit.


    The rest of the arms and armors were divvied up to be sold en masse at the Corporations moon orbiting Minka, which hosted one of thergest inter-Great Power markets in the realm. April informed them that some of it would be shipped away back to the Great Powers proper, but most would end up back inside the one way or another, which gave Matt an odd feeling.


    Skills were the next biggest debate. They had nearly a thousand Tier 8 skills, <em>twice</em> that in Tier 14 skills, and nearly one hundred and thirty Tier 20 skill shards. It was a staggering amount of wealth, far too much for them to properly assess in a reasonable amount of time without help.


    After looking through the piles of skills, they took the few they wanted and then gave the rest to the liaisons to sell and barter off in exchange for aundry list of skills that Carol and Luna wanted their respective teams to take. The first was [Arcane Powershot], which was mostmonly found in the Corporations, ns, and Sects under the names of [Conjured Weapon NM20-AR], [Skypiercing Bow], and [The Divine Arrows of Distant Vengeance] respectively. It was a skill that summoned a magical bow, then allowed for channeling mana into a single magic arrow that was fired off at incredible speeds. With a base effective range of fifty miles, it was considered an extreme range skill, far better than what even [Cracked Mana Spear] could aplish, but that wasnt what made it special.


    While the mana arrow was being reinforced, the skill also allowed <em>other</em> bow skills to be applied, giving a widetitude of additional effects with the appropriate setup. There were some drawbacks, however. When releasing the arrow, it kicked like a mule, and the spell itself anchored the caster in order to prevent them from being flung backwards. Effectively, he couldnt move while firing. Additionally, the mana control requirements for making the arrow andyering effects on top of it could be quite high. Normal mages had trouble when using half their mana pool per shot, and Matt expected to use several times that amount.


    With that in mind, Matt collected a few skills that would bolster his new ability, putting his Taxing Skills reward to good use. He had the mana and outer skill slots to spare, and there was nopelling reason to <em>not</em> use a few skills supporting his new ability and corresponding new strategy. [Telescope] would help him see his targets past the normal limits of his sight, [Piercing Shot] would add some basic armor piercing to his arrows, [Illusory Arrow] would project an illusion of the arrow following a slightly different arc as it flew, and [Pinned Shadow] would stick a person in ce when their shadow was struck by the arrow.


    Aside from the bow skills, he also found [Hypersonic Edge], which he had seen the utility of firsthand. It wasnt quite as good for him as it was for Susanne, but it would boost a substantial part of his arsenal.


    Susanne took [Searing Weapon], a Tier 20 version of [Fire Weapon] which focused more on heat rather than mes, and could get hot enough to burn through metal armor, given a few strikes. Typically, this heat could damage the users weapon if too much mana was used at once, but weapon Manifestations didnt have that problem. She also grabbed [Bulwark], which they had in their pile of skills. She wouldnt be able to abuse the skill as much as Matt did, but it remained a staple skill for melee fighters for a reason, and she would likely be able to infuse it into her shield Manifestation with some practice.


    Additionally, April identified the light skill they had found from their challenge crystal on Folded Reflections as [Corunthican Defense], a skill not usually found in the Empire which reactively shot down iing magic with focused rays of light, disrupting their structure and typically causing them to detonate harmlessly. It had its limitations, mostly against veryrge attacks, but it provided a strong and cheap counter to tactics like Matt throwing out [Fireball]s as fast as he could cast them. Susanne took that skill with a grin, remarking that Matt hardly needed a dedicated defense against being whittled down.


    Liz wasn''t left out of the new skill splurge. [Heartpiercer] was a spear skill meant for piercing both magical and mundane armor by making the spear heavier and heavier as mana was channeled in, culminating in a shaped explosion when the spearhead struck the target.


    Despite the name, [Shadow Sword] worked nearly as well on spears as it did swords. It paired well with a number of other skills, especially [Rapid Thrust]. Unfortunately, that skill had broken when Liz brought it into her spirit, but [Illusory Feint] still had potential. Shed absorbed it during Folded Reflections, but the illusions hadnt be real blood as shed hoped they would, instead bing illusions <em>of</em> blood spears. It was on the list of skills Liz was nning on moving to her outer spirit or outright ejecting from her spirit altogether, but she hopedbining the attack with [Shadow Sword] would be just as effective as it was normally.


    Ideally, thebination of the two skills would make three insubstantial blood copies of her weapon, and one very real one. It wasnt an entirely original trick, as illusionists had whole books filled with simr misdirections, but some things were ssics for a reason. Her Courtly Warfare boon would throw even more mud in the water, making any opponents who she <em>did</em> hit fail to notice their wounds, and conclude that theyd only been struck by an illusion. Once her spirit was in good enough shape, she was looking forward to trying out her preemptively-christened [Pulmonary Echo].


    Aster took her own share of skills to round herself out. [Ice Skin] was a Tier 14 skill that few took prior to Tier 15, as it could kill the user through hypothermia, but it otherwise provided some strong defense by hardening the skin and making many attacks slip off the user, at the cost of slowing the person down some. Aster had ns for it, though, and using one of her Folded Reflections lives as a basis, she nned to modify the skill to turn her <em>fur</em> into ice instead of her skin. In addition to negating the movement speed drawback, it would let her fur act as ative armor that could be regrown far more easily than her skin could.


    Matt was pretty sure she was at least partially motivated by the burns she had received, but she insisted that wasnt the main reason though she admitted it was <em>a</em> reason.


    A Tier 20 version of [Hail], [Absolute White] summoned a cloud of snow and fog which slowed people, objects, and even spells which entered its radius, in addition to the more ordinary concealment it offered. Ambitiously, Aster wanted to modify it to not make its own fog, but instead apply the slowing effect to any <em>other</em> concealing mist, such as what her growth tiara could make, which was precisely the kind of advantage a flexible innate slot could offer.


    Doubling up on area denial skills, [Cutting Hurricane] summoned gale force winds that also cut at targets inside its huge area. Against most strong targets, it wouldnt do all that much, but it was great for clearing chaff and contesting flying targets who couldnt brace against the ground.


    The upgrade orbs were pulled out of their loot piles to be used after April came back, in case she got a Tier 8 or 14 skill that needed an upgrade.


    After they settled that, it was left to their liaisons to beg, barter, and steal any other skills on their list. When Luna told April exactly that, Jeremiahughed, seeming to be thinking that the cat was joking, but at her re, quickly shut his mouth.


    Despite the insane amount of wealth they had given her, the list of items Luna wanted in return was just as daunting, and Matt said a silent apology to their liaison for what she was about to have to deal with.


    April though, seemedpletely unbothered, saying she would handle it within three months, which made Luna grin.


    In cat form, the grin was probably a little more threatening than otherwise intended, but it felt like April had passed a test just as much as they hading out of Minka.


    Once April and Jeremiah were set with their loot, the rest of them immediately left the system.


    Even while recovering, none of them truly <em>stopped</em> training, but their training was substantially more rxed, averaging about four hours a day, and focused on things which wouldnt aggravate their wounds.


    Carol focused primarily on light Concept usage, taking advantage of theparative non-stress that Mind Over Matter had left their Concepts with, and got them to explore and grow used to their new Folded Reflection abilities, with more focus on Matt due to his healed spirit. All of them got training in how to best utilize their enhanced spiritual senses from Eternal Darkness, though.


    Luna, for her part, gave more lessons on how to stimte their cultivation to guide their bodies to lessening the healing cooldown, usage and integration with their new growth items, and some light Skill modification lessons. Matt wasnt sure if it was more disorienting to be receiving lessons from a cat, or for Luna to not be pushing them to their very limits.


    Thetter at least made sense. All of them were well past the healing cooldown and usually spent at least seven hours a day sleeping several times longer than what someone of their Tier would normally need. While they were recovering, they were still being healed. Luna kept a close eye on the progress of their healing, but left physical therapy in the hands of the healers.


    Granted, things like limbs and such were a minor concern to the healers, who focused on healing their internals first.


    Matt earned himself a raised eyebrow and shake of the head from the Healer who inspected his heart and lungs, before finishing the healing that he had received at Minka.


    But at longst, he was whole once again.


    Even if half his limbs were artificial.

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216


    April arrived back in the Minka system with a sigh.


    It wasnt that she disliked the ce. No, she rather liked the atmosphere that permeated the carved out section of space, popted with all of the entrants of Minka that returned. Mostly old Tier 14s who had just gotten their Concept and were now Tier 15 and immortal. There were also teams of Pathers who went in at Tier 12 and came out with more items, skills, and abilities than they knew what to do with. The members of the military who went in to hunt down enemybatants and protect their own sides people were also peppered in. And finally, the scions of the rich and famous who went into Minka for the thrill of adventure without their immortal minders watching over them made up the remainder of the gathering.


    Anyone who came out contributed to the atmosphere of celebration and joy. Anyone who wasnt so lucky was in no position to sour the mood.


    All in all, the ce was bustling and fric, two things April enjoyed.


    She just wasnt excited for her <em>actual</em> job.


    Luna had saddled her with a rather hefty list of goods and items she wanted procured for the team. In and of itself, that wasnt unusual, but the manager had also left arge amount of the items to Aprils own discretion, which screamed test.


    And passing Lunas test was vital to April''s career as a liaison, trainer, and manager in her own right.


    Luna was known in the Pather manager circles, and April already had three pending offers from other managers once she finished with Matt, Liz, and Aster, all as a fairly senior liaison or as a trainers assistant. Considering she was rtively new to the liaison position itself, that was an incredible step forward for her career.


    But that all hinged on her sessfulpletion of this assignment.


    Which meant the free reign Luna had given her was just as much rope from which she could hang herself.


    Many of the items were fairly standard. Skills of various stripes, a few natural treasures, some utility gear, maybe a backup weapon or two. She was instructed to get beneficial cracks when possible, and to keep an eye out for anything which would be particrly impactful,


    It was thatst part which really was the issue. There was a truly <em>unlimited</em> number of possible items which had the potential to help her team, and just as many which would <em>look</em> useful, but in truth would not suit them for some subtle reason.


    Just about anything could help Matt, but at the same time, there was nothing that would be a <em>perfect</em> fit for the boy. Aster was a fairly typical ice mage, but was trying to branch out into some spatial and illusion capabilities for her nned evolution into an Aurora fox and beyond. ordingly, treasures to help the girl develop her bloodline wouldnt go amiss, but were nigh impossible to find. If there were ever a time to gain an aurora-aspect natural treasure, though, now was the time.


    Liz, though, was the trickiest. She was a blood warrior and mage hybrid, boasting a 50/50 essence split thanks to Back to Basics, but wasnt content as just that. Blood magic, at a minimum, was too distinctive for her to use in public, and that led to her utilizing water-colored blood, or even just fire whenever she was trying to hide her identity. Honestly, the girl was an utterly <em>fantastic</em> kicist. Her fire magic as a <em>secondary </em>element, one which her mana aspect and Talent actively penalized, was better than many pyromancers fifty times her age. Shed also recently lost her primary source of kinesis material, with her spatial storage glove having been destroyed in Minka.


    Fortunately, Minka served as one of thergest hubs of inter-Power trade in the entire Realm. Desperate Tier 14s spending all their wealth on gear to assist their delves into Minka, and sessful delvers flush with treasure from the all had money and treasure to burn. Hearing that wealth begging to be spent, the Corporations answered.


    Massivepanies within the Great Power had dedicated their entire existence to catering to those entering and leaving Minka, with piles of skill shards and natural treasures being shipped in weekly alongside custom-ordered gear and even growth items. That drew even non-delvers that were in search of raremodities to the Corporations moon, and they were, in turn, catered to with additional valuable goods from the traders wares.


    It was a massive, mostly-peaceful, thriving hub of trade that drew people from even the furthest reaches of the Great Powers. Tariffs and import treaties prevented it from being outright overrun by guilds and internalpanies, but for delvers and their managers, it was a functionally bottomless well of valuable resources.


    April and Jeremiah stepped out of their ship onto the Empires moon, with the massive, clockwork hovering ominously in the sky. The eternal parties of newly-minted Tier 15s raged on in the background, with their choruses carried on distant winds over the din of the spaceport. Delvers jubnt and somber alike loaded onto the ship theyd just left, not wasting a single second in transporting <em>as many as possible</em> in and out of the mana-starved system.


    Registering their presence was trivial, and from there, they loaded onto a Corporations shuttle branded with the <em>MinKouriers</em> logo, and flew to the other Great Powers moon.


    It wasnt a proper moon in the truest sense. It was no drawn from a high-Tier rift, or even a coreless world from one of their systems. Instead, it was an utterly <em>massive</em> space station, artificial from its core to its surface, and held together through unimaginable amounts of engineering and artifice. The entire structure catered around it being made of Tier 0 materials, so it was never degraded by Minkas habit of eating the essence out of its surroundings. The simple scope of it was difficult to properly visualize, but it held party venues, skill exchanges, auction houses, ship ports, and life habitats that a mortal could spend their entire life in and never see everything.


    Their transport ship nestled into a massive missing chunk of the station facing away from the moon, and they joined a line of other visitors seeking much the same as them. The line moved swiftly, as the Corporations knew the value of even an immortals time all too keenly, and their procedures were simple and orderly. An AI-backed deration of presence, affiliation, and intentions, a quick donning of the Empires insignia, and they were in. The guards, decked in shining power armor and wielding the glowing rifles that mages in the Corporations favored in ce of staves, barely even gave them a nce as they passed, instead constantly vignt for anyone foolish enough to try something, or missing their insignia.


    Everyone was required to wear some form of signifier to their affiliation, be it a badge, medal, armband, coat, or as one dwarf in ssic te armor had chosen, full heraldry. Off to the side, an array of stalls and storefronts sold a number of premade items for all the Great Powers, all boasting low prices and quick custom work.


    Both she and Jeremiah had known what wasing, of course, and donned their respective signifiers. April used a simple ck and white armband with the Empire''s emblem emzoned on it. Simple, effective, and not too shy, but more than enough to meet the requirement.


    Jeremiah, on the other hand, went with a half cape with the insignia on his back. She considered it a bit too much, but said nothing. The other liaison had been incredibly helpful during their short time together, so as much as she disagreed with his fashion choice, she kept it to herself.


    They followed the hallway and the flow of people deep into the bowels of the station. Spatial expansion this close to Minka would be <em>exorbitant</em> to try and maintain, with the greedy constantly seeking to drain the mana from everyst rune. Eventually, the expansive tunnel, lit as much by the gleaming, illusionary advertisements for vendors as by the overhead lights, gave way to a truly <em>massive</em> exchange floor. From above, it looked like a hive of so many ants, teeming with skill traders moving from station to station, buying and selling skills in a bid to earn consistent profit.


    As an outside agent, April didnt much care about all the endless deals and methods that traders used to try and leverage the simple exchange of goods into wealth. All she cared about was turning her rings full of Minkan loot into Corporation Credits, and those credits into gear for her charges.


    It was here that she and Jeremiah split off, melding into the human mixing pot of the Great Skill Exchange.


    Nearly every skill in existence of Tier 32 or below could be bought and sold here, though April needed a constant stream of trantions from her [AI] to understand what was going on. She was certain that [Channeled Projectile FI14-RN] and [Channeled Element OZ14-EL] were perfectly informative to those used to them, but they just werent memorable in the same way [methrower] or [Mud Maniption] were.


    They sold just the same, though.


    Mostbat-relevant Tier 8 skills went for a few Corporation kilocredits, the Tier 14 skills about three to five times that, and the Tier 20 skills three to five times <em>that</em>.


    For anything beyond that, prices tended to skyrocket, as various militaries tended to monopolize the majority of skill sales, but they could still <em>be</em> purchased. [Regeneration], or [Self Heal HE32-RG] may be on sale, but it would cost her 25.3401 megacredits to actually buy. The exact price kept fluctuating, but it was stable enough with its low volume.


    The reverse was also true: there were high-Tier skills that were so obsolete, they were cheaper than even some Tier 8 skills. [Inventory] was one such skill, a Tier 20 skill which had been on par with [AI] for must-have skills until storage rings were invented, which allowed for nearly all the uses of the skill with none of the exorbitant reserved mana costs.


    In contrast, [Bandage]manded a price just shy of two megacredits, but the price history of the skill showed it was on a steady if slow decline. That told her more of the skills were leaking out of the Empire, but that was both inevitable as people resold for a profit and spies collected them. In the end, it wasn''t her job to stop Realm-wide trade of new and exclusive skills. She just noted that she had a way to earn some more money for the kids if she needed to with the few [Bandage] skill shards they still had.


    No matter the odd Tier-agnostic pricing that was everywhere, it made selling off her mountain of skills easy and fairly lucrative. A trip to the nearest exchange broker, a long time next to a skill scanner, and all of her basic skills were tranted into 39.65 megacredits.


    Next on the list were the endless piles of non-skill gear that theyd found in Minka. Fifteen sets of armor with a water-resist enchantment, seven swords enchanted with [Fire Weapon], thirty-nine wands with spell uracy arrays, nine hundred and forty-two swords enchanted with sharpness and durability runes the list went on. Much of it was ruin-made and while not worthless, wouldntmand a premium price. Others, like the boots imbued with the ability to walk on any surface, or the throwing knife that would teleport back to the throwers hand, were custom-made gear and were where most of the real money was to be made.


    There were plenty of low-level auctions going on at all times for just that sort of thing, and plenty of auctioneers ready to take on hermission for a small fee. She ended up finding a middleman who promised results with a refund guarantee that also possessed several prestigious certifications, and unloaded much of the bulk loot on her. The middleman would run around and sell her payload for a 5% fee. April knew shed lose far more than that if she tried to navigate the treacherous floors herself, and this way, she could attend the auctions that actually showed promise as a <em>buyer</em>, not a seller.


    After that, she stopped by a different middleman to offload most of the houses and spatial items the children had obtained. The houses would take a bit of time to get appraised and sold off at auction, but it would be arge source of credits to trante into more directly usable items. Fortunately, the more numerous spatial items had more static prices per unit of usable space, and it was very nearly painless to sell them to the half-metal spider behind the counter. Spatial rings usable by low Tiers were <em>quite</em> difficult to make, so the rings taken from fallen delvers formed a considerable portion of the final credit tally.


    With a mostly-emptied spatial ring and no particrly promising auctions in the near future, April made her way to the skill exchange, now as a buyer. The price of individual skills may have been universal, but the fees associated with getting them werent. If she could find a vendor with a given skill in stock, there were far fewer transfer fees involved, and if she could find several of the skills she was looking for as part of a single transaction, so much the better. She may not havee with a massive set of skills that she was tasked to get, but every centi-credit she could save was that much more shed have for the auctions that she had her eye on.


    [Shadowstrike], or [Weapon Empowerment DK14-SE] was the first skill she found a good deal on. The vendor shed tracked down had just gotten a couple from another delver, and so was willing to sell to her for nearly market rate. It created a semi-real illusion of a lengthened de limned in darkness that could actually cut, and most importantly, carried the enchantments of the underlying de. Granted, both the copying and the cutting power was lessened due to the quasi-real nature of the projection, but that could be taken care of with some modifications. And if April understood the nature of Matts Courtly Warfare boon correctly, he could probably leverage it into projecting the illusion at an angle from the main de, giving him extra flexibility with the skill.


    Her next stop was getting medical skills for the team.


    [Directed Heal] was technically on her list, but wasnt actually something she needed to buy thankfully as the damn skill was far, far too expensive. The team had found three shards of it within Minka, and while one went to Susanne the other two were earmarked for Liz, one for her inner spirit and one for her outer spirit. Shed passed on them during their initial picking-over of loot, but Matts abysmal mana control made him ill-suited to be a healer, whereas Lizs blood magic would make her an excellent one. So, she was just keeping the two skill shards unsold, and would be presented to the girl along with a pair of other healing skills to get her started as the teams dedicated healer. Luna was probably nning on literally <em>beating</em> sense into the girl if she kept refusing on principle, but hopefully it wouldnte to that.


    The first supplementary healing skill for the girl was [Rehydrate], with the hope it would convert to some kind of [Blood Transfusion]. [Medical Scan], meanwhile, was to be her you <em>will</em> be a healer now skill, and would help Liz be apetent one in years rather than decades. Though by Lunas standards, it would probably be centuries until she was passable. But April knew this would make things faster and easier, which justified its insane cost. Especially in the other Great Powers where healing wasnt free, the skills were always in demand making them sell for a premium at the best of times.


    She then got lucky and found a vendor specializing in ice-aspected skills. <em>Why</em> someone would specialize in a specific element for <em>selling</em>, let alone selling said skills for below-market rate, escaped her. But she intended to capitalize on her find. Thanks to the oddly-dressed person d in full arctic gear that also had ice clinging to its edges, [cial Spear], [Meadows of Rime], [Floating Snow], [Pr Beam], [cial Strike] and [Sheer Cold] all came off her list. And though thest of those wasnt strictly on Lunas list for Aster, it was too perfect a skill to not get for Matt. If it was <em>too</em> perfect for Luna to allow him to use, well, she could live with that; it was a damn good skill not usually seen in the Empire.


    Like [Breach], a skill she knew Matt had been eying, [Sheer Cold] was sometimes called a channeled-charge skill, where after an initial cast it could ept more and more mana to strengthen the eventual effect. In [Sheer Cold]s case, the initial cast created a sphere of ice over the caster, and channeling mana into it caused it to get colder. Once released, it would snap-freeze a wide area, with the initial casting cost determining howrge of an area it affected, and the amount of mana channeled in afterwards increasing just how cold it got.


    [cial Spear] wasrgely a supersized [Ice Spear], and while its exceptionally long cast time made it impractical to utilize on anything but massive or especially tough targets, it would make an excellent finisher for Aster. Even unmodified, it summoned train-sized chunks of ice and mmed them onto its targets, crushing them and freezing them if its jagged tip didnt impale them from the start.


    [Meadows of Rime] was usually only found in the ns, Federation, and Republic, but it was still for sale here. The skill wasnt a terribly popr one due to itsck of protection for allies, but for as long as it was sustained, it would spread a creeping frost centered on the caster, slowing down anyone in the area and freezing the ground and air into razor-sharp points that would cut any inside of it. The slowing effect <em>could</em> be modified to exclude certain targets, but the cutting edges couldnt. Its resultingck of poprity <em>mostly</em> bnced out the premium inherent to any n-locked skill.


    The same couldnt be said for [Self Movement IC20-TX], also known as [Snowdash] or [Floating Snow On A Windy Frozen Night]. [Floating Snow], as the Empire had named it- which got the idea across just as well in far fewer words, in Aprils opinion- was an excellent escape skill. It turned the caster into a flurry of snowkes, allowing them to drift to a nearby spot before reconstituting back into themselves. The only real downside was the inability to cast any other skills during the five-second transformation, but it was still an invaluable protection against many physical attacks.


    [Pr Beam], [Freeze Ray], or [Ranged Attack IC14-EB] was a favorite in both the Corporations and Guilds, with a price to match. The attack bore a few simrities with [Ice Spear], but it didnt use a physical projectile. Instead, it was a freezing ray that froze a single target solid. Most conventional armor did nothing against the ray, and only those which specifically protected the wearer against cold could stop the attack.


    [cial Strike] was thest ice skill on her list, an ice meta-skill that would coat the target of whatever skill it was cast alongside with a coat of ice, weighing and slowing them down substantially.


    As she was wandering through the crowds, a notification pinged her AI that a set of fire-based natural treasures had sold at auction, helping her recoup some of her losses with the ice skills. She noticed a caped Guild man yelling at a bored-looking teen about skill exchange rates as she wove through an open spot in the crowd, but didnt stay to watch the debacle, as a pair of armored guards were already on their way to break up the altercation.


    Most likely, the brightly-d man would get a fine and either a warning or an ejection from the trade hall that mightst for a few weeks at minimum. The Corporations had <em>very</em> little tolerance for abuse of any sort from either side, <em>especially</em> when it made them look bad, as this currentmotion did.


    She made it to the first auction that held any promise just as a leaf-ded growth dagger was sold to a Federation woman with silver lines tracing her cheekbones, and just before the bidding for a ring with a massive diamond set on it began. ording to the itinerary and the announcer, the Tier 5 item could store a single spell from either the wearer or another person and release itter. Shed considered it for Liz, but her mild interest quickly fell off as the price rose beyond her discretionary budget for the moment.


    That same discretionary budget rose as a notification informed her the kids Dew of the Last Dawn natural treasure sold at a separate auction room, but the ring still wasnt worth the price tag as it swiftly rose through the megacredits. Two Empire shoppers were locked in a bidding war, and it didnt look like either were about to back down as the price rose beyond anything reasonable.


    Eventually, it sold for a truly ridiculous sum, and a pair of wed gloves with an armor-piercing effect were up next. Again, it was potentially decent for Liz, but not worth joining the bidding war between a bearded sect man in their ridiculously baggy robes, and an anthropomorphic fox only wearing a kilt that confirmed their allegiance to the Monsters Collective.


    As a void ckberry sold in the interim, April set out once again on her quest for new skills. The auctions were ongoing and she had the itinerary up on her [AI], so she could see if anything that might be useful for her team came up.


    [Mist Maniption] and [Steam Maniption] were some of the final Tier 14 elemental maniptions that Matt didnt have yet, and they were about as expensive as April had expected. Still, she was a bit annoyed that shed gotten the former when she did, as the skill dropped a whole two kilocredits in price just a day after her purchase.


    She did manage to intercept an ongoing trade between a Federation man with vividly green eyes and a skill vendor, after she overheard the former list [Weapon Empowerment NM14-ES] as one of the shards he was trying to sell. [Heart-Piercing Stab], as she knew it, was a slight improvement to a simple [Mana Thrust], in that it could be directed in other directions after it was cast. And as a skill without an innate mana aspect, it stood a decent chance of surviving the conversion to Lizs inner spirit. In any case, she managed to buy the skill off the Federation man at market rate, making it a better deal for both of them.


    [Like A Reed In Spring] was harder to find a good deal for, and she eventually had to settle for buying it from a skill merchant who didnt even have it in stock, and had to order up a shard from the grand exchange. Still, the ability to make a polearm shaft flexible was too high on her list to pass up just because she had to pay normal rates. A simr fate befell [Scatter Shot], which was basically an earth-aspected volley of [Fireball]s, but at least the Tier 14 skill wasnt too expensive to begin with.


    A bracer capable of summoning a mana-construct elephant finished its auction for a bit less than shed hoped as she settled into an auction room, but it was still enough to stretch the budget for a couple of natural treasures.


    A Mirage Shadow was a treasure earmarked for Aster, and the shimmery, ethereal substance would act as a second mind of sorts when controlling illusions, giving it the benefit of her full attention while requiring no concentration on her part. April got it fairly cheaply after the Corporations woman bidding against her suddenly ran out of the room in a small panic.


    A Cinder Heart was for Liz, which would enable her to store andter release mes from her own body. She might not have <em>much</em> use for her Torch persona, but little was not none, and while absorbed, it would provide her with additional defense against ice and cold besides, giving her a bit more of a buffer from the backssh from Asters wide-scale spells.


    The Profound Snowke, which would help Aster in splitting her attention between ice skills, was a harder fight than April had expected, but shed won out against a Federation woman in red. She lost the first Shimmering Bloodcrystal to a ns spearman. The crystal would provide a wave of healing proportional to the amount of blood stored within, so she felt fortunate that two more were on the docket. She was able to get the second one, letting another Empire shopper acquire the final one.


    The Dewdrop Jadechip would turn Matts thumbnail green until he reached Tier 15 and could suppress it, but it would aid him in any mana maniptions involving physical contact with the digit. Unfortunately, The Last Gleam of Sunset went out of her allotted budget after two Guild shoppers, a man and a woman in white and ck respectively, got into a bidding war. Each of them seemingly was more interested in ensuring the other <em>wouldnt</em> get it than actually winning the item for themselves. The woman won in the end, and she outright <em>cackled</em> in victory, imed her winning, then dashed out of the room with the man in hot pursuit.


    The Golden Apple of Abador didnt go over her budget, fortunately, and she happily imed the fruit and its ability to enhance self-cast healing spells for Liz.


    Stygian Gossamer did go a <em>little</em> over budget, but the Monster Collective humanoid bird shed been facing had bowed out right as she ced herst bid. It would render any part of the body it was draped over and fused with practically invincible, or it could be processed for a universal durability boost. Which way Matt went with was up to him.


    The Infinite Diamond was more straightforward in its use, simply boosting the power of neutral-mana skills used by whoever consumed it. Fortunately, it could be ground up into a powder and drunk with water, though missing even a single speck of dust would render the entire treasure useless.


    The Crimson Dawnme was for Liz, a treasure well-known for its use in aiding the bloodline growth and cultivation of phoenixes. While the crestfallen look that appeared on the Monster Collective phoenix she was bidding against each time she raised her own bid nearly persuaded April to just let the poor creature have it, she hardened her heart with the reminder that Luna had sent her to get gear for the kids at <em>any</em> cost. The bird was escorted out after a heart-wrenching cry apanying its loss for attempted emotional maniption, but that just caused April to want to deck the arrogant Empire man whoughed at its misfortune. She knew she might be being yed but it seemed like honest desire and loss from the bird and she could only hope another Dawnme came up for auction soon so it might get the treasure.


    April restrained herself after shooting the man a re well enough to get Aster her Breath of Boreas, which would help the fox further develop her own winter affinity, and she nearly cheered when a Fragment of the Rainbow Bridge appeared in an auction itinerary and that she was able to <em>afford </em>it, her only other contenders being a Corporations man in a whiteb coat and a Federation woman wearing an iridescent set of armor.


    Unfortunately, it still finished off her natural treasure budget, and she moved on as one of her <em>own</em> items, a nugget of heavy iron, came out onto the auction table. She had more skills to buy.


    She found a hologram store selling illusion skills, and picked up [Illusion Maniption], [Cast Illusion], and [Afterimage] for Matt and Aster. The first two were a basic part of any illusionists kit, enabling them to create and then control illusions, while the third was a Tier 20 version of [Mirror Image] that created an entire series of illusory duplicates in the wake of swift movement. But with [Illusion Maniption], they could be manipted into running in different directions and generally causing a ruckus. Aster also got [Illusory Summons], [False Skill], and [Solid Image], letting her create illusions of monsters or cast skills, then provide actual substance to the illusions. They wouldnt do <em>much</em> damage, but any opponent that didnt realize they were dealing with illusions could still be knocked around.


    One of the masterwork suits of armor went through on its auction, giving April a new influx of cash as she tracked down a good vendor for [Diffusion Shield], a defensive skill which was meant to be cast in conjunction with other defensive spells as it spread out the prative power of an iing skill over arger area. The skill would make it easier for self-regenerating shields, like all of Matts defenses, to take on armor-piercing skills. A few modifications would also make it work with <em>outgoing</em> skills too, and make it even easier for Matt to utterly annihte weaker enemies. It might not be on Lunas list, but she bought it nheless.


    She bought [Illusory Fang] from the same vendor, after a bit of consideration. Someone must have just sold an absolute <em>mountain</em> of the skill somewhere, because the price crashed while she was watching, and she was able to get it for less than a single kilocredit. It was an illusion skill, which made it decent for Aster, and made a single bite illusionary, dealing no damage in the process. It instead inflicted a fear effect that mostly just discouraged those afflicted from attacking the caster. Not a truly useful skill, but one they expected Aster would get good use out of for practice, if nothing else.


    The Iron Bamboo she had up for auction ended up paying out <em>far</em> more than she had anticipated, and with some of the surplus credits, she got Liz [Create Blueprint] and [Whirling Charge]. The former would help with the blood mages internal alchemy, letting her conjure up an entire set of ingredients for a potion using her [Blood Copy], without having the real ingredient on hand. If she could get [Library,] that would be even better to pair with the other two, but that was unlikely. The Tier 32 skill was for sale, but it was in such high demand by organizations and immortals with eons worth of data to efficiently store and categorize that the price was well out of her range.


    [Whirling Charge], meanwhile, was a short-range dash that shot out a de of air right ahead of the caster with enough power to either push back or outright cut through some weaker foes, and she seriously hoped that Lizs Talent would properly convert the skill. A razor-sharp arc of blood leading a rapid charge would leave quite the impression on anyone foolish enough to get in range of the blood mage.


    Simrly on the list of skills that they hoped would survive the transition was [Will of the Millennium Oak], whose ns-exclusive status and generally desirable effect of rooting the caster to the ground in exchange for enhanced vitality, durability, and mana regeneration made it her most expensive skill purchase yet. It was to the point where she wondered if Luna was betting <em>too</em> much on it surviving the conversion, and if the manager should refund Liz if it ended up breaking.


    April was more confident in her next two purchases, [Inventory] and [Hypertension], as ways that Liz might be able to partially offset the loss of her glove. The former was a reserved skill that would ideally enable Liz to keep a mass of blood in a dimensional storage space that would hopefully still count as a part of her, as the glove once did. Thetter was already a Tier 26 blood skill- with a price tag to match- whichpressed more blood into the same space. Most people used it to give them additional energy and resistance to bleeding out, but Liz would be able to leverage it into more blood for her reserved blood skills, her alchemy, and more.


    As far as movement skills went, April barely made it to the auction for a [Cracked Air Slide] that sacrificed cost for better speed and cooldown. Matt wouldnt care at all about the mostly nominal increase in mana cost, but <em>would</em> be interested in skating across the ground with the wind at his back at high speeds in the middle of a fight.


    She ended up in a bidding war with a young Corporations man who looked like hed quite recentlye out of Minka himself over the skill. But she had credits to spare thanks to a bulk sale of lightning-enchanted spears that had just gone through, and once it reached neen percent over market value, he backed out. He was a lot more insistent about the subsequent [Tailwind] that empowered all wind spells cast in the area, in addition to its normal effects, albeit for a double mana price. April eventually let him have that one at two and a half times the normal sale price of the skill.


    An array of cracked skills that she didnt care for were up next- a [Cracked Shadow Dagger] that both had a decreased mana cost and could be applied torger des without losing potency, a [Cracked Puddle Jumper] that worked on water instead of air for a single-digit mana cost, a [Cracked Rain of Fire] that lingered for hours post-casting, a [Cracked Venom Strike] which transferred lost coordination to the caster, a [Cracked Firebolt] that was more of a siege-ss spell than anything practical for delving


    Eventually, [Cracked Shatter], the skill she had her eye on, came up for bidding. This version of the ice-aspected skill, instead of simply breaking ice, <em>detonated</em> it, creating a frozen fragmentary grenade of whatever it targeted. She actually got into a <em>three</em> way bid for that, but she eventually outbid both the n man in yellow and Republic woman in a ck coat, securing it for herself. Either Aster or Matt could use that skill, and she knew it was worth the sky high price she paid for it.


    After leaving the auction, she picked up a non-cracked [Tailwind] topensate for the cracked variant she didnt purchase, and from the same vendor- an eager evolved wolf quite willing to make small talk- a [Dispelling Wind], two [Air Body]s and a [Water Body].


    That left a single skill remaining on her list- [Dispelling Edge], a simple skill that helped the user cut through a skill and dispel it harmlessly instead of, for example, detonating a fireball. She sent a message to Jeremiah asking if hed found a good seller, but he replied that hed gotten a Cracked variant earlier in the week. As such, he hadnt bothered looking for a good source for the skill. He did send her a list of weapon skill vendors, and April eventually settled on the third person in the list, after the first two stated they were saving their supplies for a projected price increase. She couldnt imagine why, as the skill was already the second most-expensive one shed bought this trip. Did they really need to wait for a few more kilocredits?


    After she had checked off most of thebat items she had on her list, April made her way over to the crafting and utility item vendor sections. The items they sold may have been less directlybative, though that seemingly didnt reflect in the attitudes of the people buying there. From what she could see, there didnt seem to be any actual fighting, but a dwarf woman was screaming at a man until she was red in the face over what seemed to be a substandard grade of copper, and a pair of armadillo men were arguing furiously about some minutia of enchanting that nobody else seemed to care about.


    Not wanting to engage with that at the moment, April stepped into a small venue for home goods, and quickly parsed through what was on offer with her [AI]. Three copies of the homemaker bundle went into her virtual shopping basket, a collection of skills aimed at making domestic life easy. They were made up of a handful of skills for cleaning, massaging, and generally tranting small amounts of mana into a basic but useful task, all for a fairly reasonable price. They had been pushing themselves hard for years now, and they all deserved a taste of the finer things in life.


    Also, if she had to watch Matt manually manipting water and soap to clean the floors one more time, she would drag him to the nearest skill vendor herself so he could get the proper tool for the job. They had too much money <em>not </em>to pay for small luxuries. With that in mind, she put some wheels of good cheese, wine, tea, and coffee into her basket before finalizing the purchase and moving to the next area, casting only a brief nce at two Sect men, one in pure white robes and the other in a red and gold outfit, locked in a shouting match about their honor and respective families.


    In the enchanting area, the number of databases for sale was staggering, covering fields as disparate as civil engineering and veterinary care. She added a number of Tier 15 and under rune catalogs to her te of things to get for Matt, but her attention was drawn to some of the Sect modification scrolls that somehow hadnt been bought out by the Sects themselves. That was <em>quite</em> the find, and she homed in on a scroll for modifying [Analyze] before bringing it up to the merchant with the cybeic eyes.


    April listened patiently as the woman talked about how the scroll would describe how to modify [Analyze] into an enchanting workhorse, giving incredible detail on the mana flows within an object, but she had to prevent herself from cackling as the merchant continued on to say how the first stage of the modification would drastically increase the maximum cost to nearly nine thousand mana per use. Yes, for a normal enchanter, that was quite the drawback, but she happened to know someone who wouldnt mind that tradeoff. Keeping her face steady, she haggled the woman down to throwing in a few enchanting skills at a discounted price to make up for the shorings of the skill modification, before finalizing the deal and walking out feeling like a bandit.


    Her next few stops were uneventful, and she was able to trante a portion of her remaining credits into a variety of skills and tools for potions, cooking, and resource collection. Nothing terribly exciting, but the suite of skills would give them a better basis for taking their crafts to the next level.


    With that taken care of, April made her way to the <em>main</em> auction room. Unlike most of the auxiliary auction rooms, which shed been visiting throughout her time at the moon, this one was reserved for the biggest-ticket items, was held once every three months, and <em>always</em> had the best stuff. Fortunately, most of her auctioned items had either already sold or were ted to appear during <em>this</em> auction.


    Thattter data point earned a smile from her, and she opened up the Review Me page of the auctioneer shed hired and gave him a five-pointed star. She had plenty of money, and most of her shopping was already done.


    If there was anything <em>excellent</em> for her charges, shed be able to afford it.


    She settled into the auction floor, finding a booth towards the middle of the rows of chairs. Strolling onto the stage was a man wearing a shiny silver bodysuit with the <em>MinkallAuctions</em> logo on each arm and on his chest, like some kind of parody of the Guild woman seated next to her.


    Goooood evening,dies and gentlemen, noble beasts and mighty dwarves! I am Erik Voltax, and I will be your presenter and auctioneer for this auction, brought you by MinkallAuctions: your one stop shop for the grandest treasures the Forge has to offer! We have a wonderful selection of items for you this month, courtesy of the first waves of delvers emerging victorious from the depths of Minka! If you havent already been able to download the bulletin for todays auction, please see an attendant! They will be happy to help you with any problems you may have. As always, we ask that you restrict your sphere of awareness to just your booths. A full, detailed breakdown for every item on sale is linked through your bulletin, and if you have any concerns about the veracity of the items you purchase here today, please contact the customer support line, whose contact information may also be found in the bulletin. And just as a reminder, all bids <em>are</em> final and you will be expected to settle your bill before leaving. As a courtesy notice, our lovely neighbors are often surprised at the conversion rates we offer for foreign currency, and we encourage you to check them and ensure you possess sufficient Corporation Credits <em>before</em> cing your bid. For more details, see our customer disimer which can, once again, be found linked to the auction bulletin.


    With a p, the lights around them cut off- pure showmanship, as anyone here and with the funds to buy anything would be able to see in the dark as though it were bright sunlight- and spotlights illuminated the stage as a podium rose from the ground.


    We will begin our auction tonight with a Tier 14 void bracer, capable of sending out a Void Bubble Shield, currently cataloged as [Bubble Shield NM8-FF-CVZ1079]. Its mana hungry, but serves as a nigh-imprable shield around the caster. Bidding will begin at one megacredit. Perfect if you have a loved one thinking about heading into Minka in the near future.


    It wasnt useful to her, so April leaned back and watched the opening bids fly. Nothing appealed to her <em>that</em> much in this first wave of items, as they were all Tier 14 items primarily aimed at iing teams trying to get the best gear they could before entering Minka, but it was still useful to gauge the mood of the crowd.


    It didnt take long before her first item for sale here appeared onstage, a Tier 14 mace with an extension enchantment on the haft that could extend out to a full seven meters, and an enchantment that empowered any metal-aspected skills cast through the weapon by thirty percent, or twice that if they were also delivered by the weapon.


    She had other items that came through and were sold, each adding a tidy sum to her credit ount, but it wasnt until the natural treasures starteding out that she really started paying attention again. The first item on the docket was certainly starting off strong, and sent murmurs through the crowd despite the muffling enchantments liberally lining the booths.


    A Leaf of Eternity.


    The natural treasure was one that could grant the digester an extra two thousand years of lifespan, and represented a chance for many of the Desperates to avoid Minka altogether by outright tripling their lifespan.


    The bids eventually settled on a truly astronomical number, well beyond her total proceeds thus far. Her own natural treasures didnt sell for <em>nearly</em> as much when they came up, though the Deep Prismatic Agate was a clear forerunner in that respect. It single handedly managed to cover the cost of any two or even three of the natural treasures shed bought earlier.


    Eventually, the growth items took the stage. There were a couple clearly from Minka, sitting at Tier 14 already, but most were imports from outside the system, as seen by their lower starting Tiers. They were ready for bonding to either rich delvers who just exited, or rich delvers who wanted to ce a finger on the scales of fate, and choose at least one item they could take into the depths with them.


    The first promising item was a chain mail shirt that increased the power of all elemental transformation skills- [Body], [Form], and [Spirit]- and while the price swiftly grew past what April was willing to pay, now she was on the <em>hunt</em>.


    A growth shield that could be mentally controlled as though affected by an animation spell caught Aprils eye, and she put in a few eager bids before calming herself. Liz had used a shield towards the end of Minka, yes, but that was inrge part due to her missing arm, and April didnt want to affect the girls fighting style in such a dramatic way as to introduce an entirely <em>new</em> tool to her arsenal. Fortunately, she was quickly outbid by a green-bearded dwarf and so didnt need to deal with Lunas displeasure at bringing back an ill-suited growth item.


    She could have justified the item at the bargain bin price, but not anything above that.


    A torch that could freeze fire spells cast through it to form the head of a mace caught her eye, as did an icicle-wand which drastically increased the control the caster had of a skill post-usage. A growth pendant which improved all bloodline powers sparked an <em>incredibly</em> fierce bidding war, until it was eventually won by a dragon five rows in front of April after he tripled thetest bid alongside a show of force.


    Hed red his presence for a brief moment, showing off his Tier 40 status as he raised his bid, tantly breaking the rules of the auction. Despite Erik giving an extra-long opportunity for anyone to outbid the dragon, none took up the offer, and the dragon won his prize, much to the obvious displeasure of the crowd. April could practically <em>feel</em> the smug aura the dragon was exuding, even as a pair of Tier 42 guards showed up to escort him out. Hed received the item, but April couldnt help but wonder if hed still be smiling after he paid whatever fines were levied against him, and hed learned how long the ban from the Corporations wouldst.


    Judging by his attitude, he might not even care.


    That had led to some discontented muttering from the crowd as well, leaving a bit of a darkened mood across the auction hall. It also prompted a couple other high Tier 30s and low Tier 40s to try their luck as well, but they made the mistake of not <em>also</em> raising the bid by an incredible amount, and wound up being escorted out the moment the bid was raised again. In one notable instance, they didnt even wait for the bid to be re-raised, instead force-marching the loudlyining Guild man out the door, ignoring his shouts about how they hadnt seen thest of Doctor Impossible (the second)!


    That raised everyones mood a couple notches.


    Then, she saw her prize. It was a staff, long andrgely unadorned, made of some unidentified dark wood.It enabled the caster to control any of the four level one elements- Fire, Water, Earth, and Air- with <em>any</em> maniption skill the caster had, even those of higher-level elements. It would be rtively easy to get a Talented crafter to affix a spearhead to it, and while the spearhead wouldnt be growth, the staffs effect <em>would.</em>


    Even some kinesis skills would work if the original and resulting elements were simr enough. The example given was utilizing metal skills with earth affinity, but April already knew what it would be perfect for. It would allow Liz to control water or even air with all of her blood skills, utilizing her masterful kinesis abilities on a substantially more abundant element: something very important now that shed lost her glove and apanying blood reservoir.


    On top of that, it would empower Torch a truly incredible amount, giving Liz a substantial boostpared to using [Fire Maniption] in her outer spirit. Granted, between theck of the young phoenixs bloodline not properly applying to [Blood Maniption], even if it was controlling fire, and the inherent inefficiency to the staff, it would only be more of a two to three times multiplier all told. But it was still an incredible boost to her versatility. Even if she <em>didnt</em> want it, and chose to delve exclusively into blood magic, Aster and even Matt could benefit from the incredible versatility the staff offered. It would transform an elemental specialist into an <em>omnielemental</em> specialist, and that was no mean feat, particrly as they began building their Intents.


    Bidding was fierce, as she expected, but April had money to spare, as the mountain of loot her kids had brought out of Minka tranted into pure credits. Even as the price rose, and rose, and <em>rose</em>, she matched and outbid every other contender. The Sect woman in multicolored robes, the red dragon in golden n armor, the stern-looking woman in Federation military garb, they all challenged her and <em>lost</em>.


    It might have been the kids'' money she was spending, but she felt invigorated by her victory.


    Still, it took nearly everything she had left, with only enough for a Tier 20 skill and two Tier 8 skills with her spare change, to be exchanged on the Empire market for contribution points, but she had won.


    Now, she just needed to return to Luna and see if she had passed this test.

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217


    Matt slowly flexed, carefully controlling his motion as he pushed the weight off his chest. The fairly substantial difference in proprioception and strength between Tier 11 and Tier 13 was in full disy, both allowing him to lift substantially more weight and feel each individual muscle fiber twitch and tense. The effect was almost meditative, and aided him in rxing.


    He wasnt lifting anything heavy for his new cultivation or even trying to get a good workout. Rather, he was just trying to stretch his unused muscles a little before his date with Liz.


    The two of them were now mobile, and with their newfound freedom, had decided to do something nice for themselves.


    The they were convalescing on was only Tier 15, but that was high enough to have a wealth of activities to keep them upied for a single day, as long as they stood in the main travel-hub city.


    Being a Tier 15, it had a burgeoning poption through both growth and immigration, but as the was rtively new, thergest city only housed a few dozen million people. The entire was Awakened, of course, assuming they were at least teenagers, and nearly half were in the Tier 12 to 15 range, like them.


    Once Matt finished his set, he wiped off the bench he was using, waved goodbye to Susanne as she stretched for her own warm up, and then left to shower.


    His prosthetic leg made a clicking sound as he walked through the halls of Lunas house, which reminded him that he still had at least another week with the false appendage. Honestly, he didnt even mind it that much after his AI had learned to properly integrate its assistive controls with his normal walking gait; the relevant software simply wasntpatible with his barebones researcher AI. His pseudo-skill had developed in a mannerpletely alien to the established programs, so there was an adjustment period. Nearly stumbling every time he took a step had not been a fun learning process, especially with Asterughing at him with every pace.


    Liz was still getting ready after he put on one of his nicer sets of clothes, so he went to bother Aster. His bond was doing what she had been for thest three hours or so, ying with her newest ice cream maker.


    The thing was gargantuan and took up an entire room in her new house. A house which Matt now suspected she had only wanted in order to keep all of her ice cream making equipment set up permanently.


    Not that Matt minded her using it in their shared home, of course. But unless she wanted to make her igloo in the living room her permanent abode, it was just too small for something like her ice cream maker to not be put away after each use.


    As he walked in, her ears flicked to tell him he was noticed, but she didnt turn her full attention away from the small ss viewing port. Aster had originally been annoyed when Luna said it wasnt worth it for her to get a prosthetic tail, but fervent arguing had changed almost instantly to wholehearted agreement after shed seen the tails on offer. Matt had jokingly suggested they tape a feather duster to her hindquarters, which had only gotten him a sniff and ament that at least it would be fluffy.


    Scratching her ears, he leaned down and looked inside to try and see what the vor of ice cream would be. It looked like a dark purple mess, which told him very little.


    What''s this one?


    Aster wilted slightly. Test four of my Berry Surprise. The vors are getting too mixed, but I want it to be more unique than just vani ice cream with chunks of berry inside. I just haven''t been able to get the vors to stay distinct.


    Checking the fridge, he found the other three test bowls and stole a bite from each. Yeah, two was the best, but it''s more that the chaos it made tasted good than anything else. It''s definitely not what youre going for.


    As her next concoction pushed itself out of the mixing chamber and into a bowl, Matt stole a spoonful and let the ice cream melt in his mouth.


    Peaches? Doesn''t seem to fit the berry theme. It''s good though.


    Aster shrugged as she licked up her own taste test. I thought it might help bnce things out.


    While Matt liked the ice cream, it still didnt quite scream berry surprise, so he wasnt exactly shocked that she put it away. Instead of letting her return to her ice cream science, he asked one more time, Want anything from when Liz and I are out?


    Aster rolled her eyes. No, nothing food rted willst long enough, and Susanne and I are going to go see a movie in a few hours.


    That was a new n he hadnt heard about, so he asked, Which one?


    Aster squinted at him. The scary one you didnt want to see.


    I like scary movies. I like sher movies. I <em>dont</em><em>like</em> suspense movies. Theres a difference. Im not <em>scared</em> of a movie.


    Aster rolled her eyes yet again. Sure there is, scaredy-rabbit.


    The two of them bickered until Liz came in, and they caught a cab to the train station.


    The hospital they were at was more of a long term care facility aimed at dealing with delvers injuries and other patients with long healing cooldowns, so it was on the outskirts of the city. There was plenty of room for everyone to put down their own portable house or rent one of the essibility made apartments. The hospital was still technically in the city, though, and the train stopped six times an hour on its loop through the outer boroughs from their stop. Afterwards, they could transfer to the tram that would take them downtown.


    Frankly, with their cultivation, the two of them could have flown or even run to the city faster than the train could take them there, but they had been warned against that decades ago by Travis and Keith, and then every other member of Lizs family. Part of it was so they didnt fall into the habit of expecting everyone else to move at high Tier speeds, but another part of it was so they could enjoy the little moments together.


    Matt hadnt really understood that until after they had exited Minka. They had spent a year with people of a simr or higher Tier fighting, moving, talking, and thinking at those high Tier speeds, only to stop by a Tier 2 where practically no one was stronger than Tier 3.


    It had taken a considerable effort for Matt to control his perception of time, and furthermore, his expectations of others. Watching a Tier 1 woman pouring him some tea had taken so long, he had been tempted to do it for her, which caught him off guard enough to snap him out of it.


    Talking to Luna, he had only gotten an eye roll in return. How do you think I feel with you kids? I could take naps with how slowly you talk. Just suppress your mind and sense cultivation a little. You don''t need to suppress it too much, even a bit will help cut the edge off. Eventually, youll be able to automatically adjust it on the fly, depending on who youre talking to. If you dont, youll lose your mind talking to people of a significantly lower Tier than you. How you distribute your cultivation is also exacerbating the problem slightly, and your rapid advancement makes it even more obvious.


    A slow blink told Matt everything he needed to know. Luna was dealing with arger differential with him than he was dealing with a Tier 1, and if he was going toin about that, she was going toin about <em>him</em>.


    That conversation had sent Matt on an information gathering spree, and after reading the ounts of others, he realized that he wasnt alone, and that Lunas advice was the only practical answer.


    One person had proposed high Tier only cities and such, but that was just being Tierist with a different coat of paint. After seeing how the Seven Suns Vassal state had treated their low Tiers, it wasnt something Matt ever wanted to be a part of.


    That also had him realizing the advice of enjoying each other''spany and the slow moments that everyone in Lizs family had given them wasnt just about enjoying the time where he and Liz just lounged around together or did something inconsequential together. No, it was also telling them to literally slow down and act like mortals. There was no reason they needed toplete a date in fifteen minutes, just because they could. They may not have been immortal <em>yet</em>, but it was only a matter of time. They had eternity, why would they rush?


    Even Mara and Leon, at Tier 48, had eaten together at mortal speeds when they were just dining by themselves.


    So the two of them went about their date like mortals riding a train, instead of just speeding through the boring bits. In doing so, Matt had to agree it was nice to just sit with Liz and watch the city slowly draw closer as theymented on their surroundings.


    I like that park. The light features must look spectacr at night.


    Matt agreed with Lizsments. We should stop by on our way home. Could be fun. I havent been to a light garden in forever. Well, actually


    Liz interrupted him with a snort. No, the rift with light monsters and trees doesnt count.


    Matt gasped in mock horror. It most certainly does! It had trees and lights together. That''s the ingredients for a light garden!


    Light gardens don''t try to eat you.


    Only the boring ones. Ah, what if it''s a <em>haunted </em>light garden. Then eating you <em>would</em> be part of the fun.


    No way. That definitely doesn''t count. Oh, an ice skating rink. Now that sounds different. We should get Aster and Susanne toe with us to a rink in the next few days. That could be really fun.


    Matt snorted. I wonder if Aster still remembers that time she flooded the hotel bathroom trying to make herself an ice rink after she found out what they were.


    I bet she <em>does</em>, but she denies it wholeheartedly.


    I am not taking that bet.


    Oh <em>really</em>, Liz assessed him, then tapped her lip with her fingers, Even if the stakes are


    She pulled him close and whispered in his ear.


    You know what, I think I <em>will</em> take that bet, he shot back. He was pretty sure he could force the truth out of his bond one way or another.


    Liz winked at him. Hmm. Oh, I wonder if we can get Susanne to try and do her sword peg-leg while on the ice rink?


    What? Matt cocked his head as he asked, feeling like Aster.


    Well remember at the end of ourst delve? When she reced her lower leg with her sword?


    Where are you going with this?


    Well, I wonder if she can change the angle of the de she sticks out of her. Think she could make herself Concept ice-skates?


    As Matt thought about it he asked, Would that even work with her prosthetic?


    Hmmm. Well, if it doesnt, that just means she needs to take it off for a few minutes.


    Liz, that will definitely get us kicked out. He paused before he grinned and added, We have to get her to do it right before we leave.


    Their conversation flowed from one topic to the next until they reached the city center and entered the bustling heart of the city. Matt knew he shouldnt be, but he was always surprised at how cities could look so different, but feel so simr.


    The city he grew up in had the same atmosphere as this one did, hundreds ofs away, several Tiers lower, a different architectural style, and decades newer. Despite all those differences, it felt the same.


    Liz leaned in and whispered, You know, I almost feel bad for this. It''s not a rough Tier to be at, but with its location


    Matt agreed.


    Normally, a Tier 15 would be packed to the brim with people wanting to break through to immortality, and by all ounts, this one should have been the same way. It almost had been as well. This region of the Empire was fairly new, having only been settled a few thousand years ago, and this had been the highest Tier one found in the expansion. But right as the ce was starting to be settled, another Tier 18 had been found and tethered to this one, rendering it a forgotten backwater to the much more desirable neighbor.


    That didnt mean the wasnt good or desirable. After all, it had dozens of times more people than his homeworld Lilly had,st he checked, but it was clearly outshone and nearly forgotten.


    For all those faults, it was an idyllic for mortals who weren''t in a rush to advance, which resulted in all three transport cities being as built up as any other city. Higher Tiers had a rtive abundance of wealth and no need to spend it on anything but what they <em>truly</em> wanted, which inevitably brought in the mortals looking for opportunities and advantages.


    After walking through the city, they stopped at a jewelry store to look around, where Liz ended up getting a new pair of earrings that she felt fit better with her dress.


    As she did so, Matt looked over the exchange gifts. Rings, bracelets, earrings, daggers, and more lined the shelves in every color, metal, and shape imaginable.


    There were as many customs in the Empire as there weres, but most modern weddings involved the exchange of <em>something</em> between spouses, or multiple things. Daggers had beening back into favor over the past few centuries, but many couples who did so also included some form of shared mark to signify their bond that was less likely to be lost than weapons. Besides, mundane weapons would be out-Tiered eventually, and an insignia would be worn more often than a dagger. A matching lock of hair, tattoos, birthmarks, rings, nes, even eye colors had all been used as a way to signify ones marital status.


    Matt was inspecting the design of a silver, gold, and tinum weave ring when Liz came up to him and butt bumped him.


    See anything you like?


    Her smirk told him she knew what he was looking at, but he wasnt embarrassed. It wasnt like theyd <em>avoided</em> the topic of marriage, and this was all part of the process.


    I did, in fact, see something I liked, he pulled her in for a kiss. You.


    She returned the kiss, then pulled away. Okay, but seriously.


    Well, those earrings look good on you. They do match your dress.


    Liz tucked a lock of her hair behind an ear and struck a pose for a moment beforeughing and heading for the door.


    Weve talked a lot about getting married, but we never really discussed getting a wearable for it.


    Liz looked at her hand, its slightly flushed hue the only sign it had been regrown just a few days prior, and sighed. Speaking of which, we need to get my ring regrown sooner rather thanter, which means a trip to the nearby.


    Matt hooked her arm and only nodded. They had already tried to see if they could find the item their paired rings needed to regrow from the chipped bits of his own, to no avail. Hed already repaired his mana-aspecting ring and upgraded it to Tier 12, thanks to a higher Tier Liquid Obsidian Drop a local auction house had in stock, which had helped put a part of his mind to rest.


    Liz continued, Ive been thinking about that anyway. I think our rings are perfect for our daily wear and act as a good set of engagement rings. I already know the dagger Im getting you. Her smile was evil and made Matt start to wonder. He personally had no idea on what to give her for a dagger. Its shape wasnt a problem, but the material most certainly was.


    He didn''t even know what Liz would be getting for himself, let alone have an idea for her.


    I don''t have a clue. Everything seems too cliche or impractical.


    Oh you dont? Liz mock gasped and leaned back as if she was swooning. Im heartbroken and devastated. How ever shall I recover?


    Matt smirked and offered, A box seat to see The Bird?


    Liz popped back upright andughed. All better! Oh, did you get the charcuterie board package? I know we mentioned it, but I don''t remember if you got it or not.


    Of course I got it. I wanted to try it as well. They said they even have a few imported wines from East Flower itself.


    The two of them then hurried to the opera house, where they were led to their seats and they settled in to watch the performance. They spent the next three hoursughing along with the routine until the end, where the titr bird finally was able to escape and return to its forest home.


    Matt made a note to see what Mara had to say about the y when he saw her next. If he didnt know better, he might have thought the whimsical bird <em>was</em> Mara, but the story was far, far older than she was, so it didn''t check out.


    Beyond that, he was more than impressed with the cast and crew''s ability to weave their spells into the y without damaging anything. They all very obviously had better control over their maniption skills than he did before his rapid doubling of his mana pool, even rivaling Liz in their me-dances.


    Floating lights illuminated the park surrounding the theater, bringing light to the pathways as they wound around, over, and under fish-filled streams and ponds. They found their way to a higher-Tier establishment, allowing them to let their cultivation loose and dance without worrying they might hurt someone who wandered a bit too close, or identally crash through the wall when sitting down.


    They ordered avish, nine-course meal at a Tier 13 restaurant behind a waterfall, with Matt only getting a <em>little</em> distracted by the enchantments keeping the roaring water silenced and away from the patrons. The food was delicious, far beyond anything Matt could make in this life, and left them stuffed and tipsy by the end of it.


    Careful bncing of their cultivation suppression kept them functional enough to stumble into a hailed cab, though they giggled the entire flight home and during subsequent scramble to their bed, only stopping when they fell asleep in one anothers arms.


    ***


    Domains are one of your most important tools as cultivators, Carol began. Theyre the most flexible tool in your arsenal, and can do damn near anything. Not everything, of course, but <em>anything</em>. What you can do can be expanded by training, and while the further you push your Domain the less effective it is, there are a few things which <em>any</em> Domain can do, even if you only have a Concept. Flight, for example, can be aplished with even an internal Concept, though most people wait until they have an Intent. It just requires a slightly different frame of mind. And this kinda stuff is what I excel at teaching.


    The blonde manager then picked up a ball and dropped it from one hand to the other.


    Space, and by that I mean real space and chaotic space, can be visualized like a fabric. Everything is moving along it like an image on a 2d ne.


    Saying that, she brought out a sheet embossed with a grid, then dropped the ball in front of it.


    Everything moves through each square as it normally should.


    Matt nodded, as it made sense and fit with everything he knew of physics and such.


    Carol then said, But a Domain is <em>your</em> bit of the realm, and you can tell it to do whatever you want. Its the ce where you hold ultimate dominion, and the only thing stopping you is how much you can twist and bend reality to your whim.


    She pointed to Matt and Susanne. How do you two move faster than the air around you, <em>without</em> causing a sonic boom?


    Matt nodded to Susanne, letting her speak first. I cut through the air with my Concept like it''s my sword. It''s a smooth de that isn''t affected by wind resistance.


    At Carol''s nod, Matt exined, I zipper the air around me, making a bubble of no air resistance around me.


    Those are twomon methods, with Matts method being the mostmon, thanks to how general it is. If you can do it to air, why can''t you do it to space?


    After checking their expressions, Carol continued, There are a few ways to think about this, but they all have basically the same effect, in practice. The first is to choose a point over <em>there</em>, and to pull it over <em>here, </em>then release.


    Carol demonstrated by dropping her ball again, but this time, it simply appeared at the bottom of the sheet rather than falling the intervening distance.


    The second way is by taking the <em>intervening</em> space andpressing it. Think of it as making a tunnel through space, which is shorter than going the long way.


    This time, when she dropped the ball, it still fell the intervening distance, but it did so <em>much</em> faster than the first time. It warped light and the nkets grid around it, but had an even slower speed at the end of the fall. She nodded to Susanne. The third way is to visualize cutting the intervening space out, where you strike at a point out of your reach with a weapon, then insist that you <em>were</em> in reach for your strike. Its a bit harder to visualize with a ball, but Ill do my best.


    This time, the ball itself seemed to stretch out as she dropped it, with the front of the sphere falling at a much faster rate than normal, until it hit the ground, at which point it was instantly a perfect sphere again.


    That leads us to the fourth method. Essentially, it involves visualizing yourself as the center of the universe,pletely unmoving. Where you are, is where the universe is. Now, the universe also exists somewhere else, but because you are where the universe exists, you must be over there as well.


    This time, when the ball dropped, for a split-second Matt could see the ball both falling through the air and resting on the ground, before it settled on the ground.


    As you can probably guess, this technique can also be utilized when learning how to create Concept clones.


    The fifth method, and thest one Im going to cover for now, is by dissociating yourself from your body, and instead saying you are your Domain. Thus, wherever your Domain is is a ce where you already are, and all you need to do is choose where in your Domain you manifest.


    When she dropped the ball this time, it seemed to expand into an image of vague ball-ness, inting past any physical existence and passing through the space in front of the nket as it grew and then shrank, now on the floor.


    Now, all of these methods- and a thousand and one other ways to think about it- all have fundamentally the same effect. Youpress space between yourself and some other ce, whether partially or until they fully ovep. Then, you release your control and simply stay in your new location.


    Carol gestured at Liz. Methods four and five will also help you with learning to fly without picking yourself up by your blood. Your Domain is internal, so its very tied to your presence. By establishing yourself as the center of the universe, you can decree that the center of the universe ought to be in the air. Or, you can decide that your Domain, and thus <em>you</em>, manifests itself unbound by gravity. Theres as many ways to do it as there are cultivators, but those two are some of the most consistent starting points.


    Carol then went on to have each of them try to do one of the methods she previously exined, with Luna appearing from nowhere to add her own advice.


    Susanne was familiar with the lecture, having received a full course on Concept usage between the tournament and Minka, and was the most skilled of the four of them by far. However, that just meant Carol had her practicing without using her sword, and that was proving to be an incredible obstacle for the swordswoman, unable to warp space by so much as an inch.


    Aster struggled with the entire idea of shrinking space, as she was so used to using her ice and icey thoughts to lock down space that it took her almost an hour to even get her Concept to <em>grip</em> space.


    Oddly enough, once she did get that initial grasp over space, she had the first actual use of her Concept to shorten space.


    Sort of.


    Aster called it ice skating, and was able to speed herself up by believing the world was slippery like wet ice, but she wasnt able to do anything more than elerate.


    Liz, on the other hand, was on step zero, and was working with Luna to try and figure out how to fly with just her Concept.


    With the mental image that the world itself was shifting around her, she was able to almost hover for a few moments, but she struggled to take it beyond that.


    Carol praised her efforts, but Luna only huffed that it was to be expected, which made Matt smile.


    That was Luna.


    Even when she first introduced herself and was teaching them how to control skills after casting without maniption spells, she expected nothing but the best from them, which meant they only ever really got praised for their efforts rather than results.


    At first, Matt thought that was mean of her, but with hindsight and age, he appreciated that she didnt really care how good they were at any specific thing, as long as they were actively improving themselves.


    Closing his eyes and meditating, Matt tried to feel the space around him like he did air.


    When he learned to zipper the air around him, he first needed to be slowed down from moving too quickly by the air resistance. Once he had a good feeling of that resistance, it had been fairly easy to learn to stop that same feeling.


    The visual of parting the air in front of him while mending it behind hade from his early attempts, where he created gale force winds in his wake by not controlling the turbulence his passage generated.


    At first, having to close the air back up to a still form had made his work dozens of times more difficult, but as he got used to it, even that had be second nature.


    He felt like this just needed something simr.


    With his eyes still closed, he waved his hand through the space in front of him, relying on his proprioception to feel his hand moving through the distance in front of him.


    It moved in a steady arc, not skipping any of the intervening distance.


    After a few more failed attempts, he opened his eyes to see amethyst-like purple eyes staring at him with their noses almost touching.


    Jerking back, Matt yelped as Carolughed and pulled away.


    I was wondering how long you would sit there for.


    Matt scrambled to his feet and looked around, seeing the sun was almost set and everyone else was gone.


    Carol exined, Everyone else went inside an hour or so ago. Started to get headaches, and we don''t want you guys pushing too hard, but your little nap wasnt hurting yourself, so we left you to it.


    Matt brushed himself off and ignored Carolsment about taking a nap to ask her a question of his own.


    How do you <em>feel</em> space? When I started zippering the air, it was because the air was slowing me down. Resisting that seemed natural, easy a normal extension of my powers.


    Carol nodded and slung an arm around Matts shoulder.


    He thought she was being friendly, but soon realized she was trying to give him an example as she guided him around the smallwn. Her arm was like a vice he couldn''t escape from, while her spirit was like a nket smothering him and making it hard to breathe.


    He could still walk, in fact he <em>had to</em> walk as Carol guided him, but like a man desperate for air, her guiding wasnt what he needed. He needed to break free and threw his Concept at her and her own Domain.


    He felt like a single ant trying to move a tree, but as she backed her Domain off him, he felt like he might have understood something.


    As she let him stumble free, he spun on his prosthetic leg to bnce himself.


    After taking a deep breath, he thanked her. I think that helped. Im not entirely sure, but I think I felt something there.


    Carolughed. When you manage it, you can buy me a drink. Until then, don''t get your hopes up. Ill reiterate the speech I gave the others when they finished up. We are teaching you this not because you are ready to learn it, but because your bodies are still healing, and theres no reason to let you stay too idle. This is good to learn, but no one expects you to learn it today, or even this decade. If you figure it out before you get off the Path, Ill be surprised. Also note its something that bing higher-tier <em>wont</em> help you with, not these initial steps at least.


    Matt nodded and went inside to join the other three for dinner and a conversation about what they learned today, but couldnt help shake the feeling that he really had felt something.


    A weekter, when he was getting his prosthetic leg removed and his own regrown, he felt like he understood the sensation, and when the surgery was over, he rushed over to Carol and Luna so he could try his process out.


    It took him a few attempts to fall into the mindset he had had in the hospital, but when he did, he waved his hand in front of himself, felt his conception with his Domain, and <em>pushed</em>.


    Except instead of speeding up as his Concept shortened the space around his hand, it slowed down and seemed to travel more distance than was actually there.


    Luna rubbed her face with her paw while Carol outrightughed and said, Well, now you just need to learn how to do the opposite of that. I was almost ready to call you a genius. d you proved me wrong.

 Chapter 218

    Chapter 218


    Matt and Luna stood in the Tier 10 rift as he flexed his 5,120 mana pool all on [Earth Maniption].


    The ground seemed to flow as he pushed the skill to do as hemanded, and more like water than stone and dirt, thendscape around them rose up and rushed forward.


    Observing the damage and destruction with his spiritual sense, Matt whistled even as he shunted the essence that rushed into him from the many, many monsters he had killed back into the air for the rift to reabsorb it.


    He didnt want or need Tier 10 essence mingling in with his cultivation core, and that wasnt their purpose here anyway.


    Luna, in her cat form, jumped up to his shoulder and said, Your range has improved, but that''s just from the doubling of mana and the Tier up. It''s 8.3% less than it should be, and it shows how the inefficiency is hurting you.


    She nodded and flicked the back of his head with her tail. It actually stung like someone had flicked him with their finger. All in all, it was a reminder that she was at least Tier 40 with power well beyond hisprehension.


    And really, it wasnt his fault. He was so used to Aster riding in his backpack that reaching up and scratching something fluffy on his shoulder was second nature. Luna really didnt need to knock him t for that one mistake.


    Aster had, of course, found it funny, but Matt was plotting his vengeance. One day hed be stronger than Luna, and would then ruffle the woman''s fur in revenge.


    Sadly, that day was far, far off, as demonstrated by the casual wave of her paw that sent all of the earth he had manipted back to what it had originally been like. She even recreated the hills and valleys perfectly, down to the scattering of rocks and small stones, to a degree that his AI wasnt able to see the difference.


    The only indication of their presence was the absence of trees and grasses nearby, which were destroyed by his earlier maniption.


    Do it again, but go through the control exercise. Matt turned to observe Luna, who, despite speaking, was currently grooming herself, making his brain hurt at the dissonance of her actions.


    When Aster talked and did something with her mouth, it was one thing, but she talked with her AI. When Luna did it, she was using [Air Maniption] to recreate her human voice, and it sounded all too urate, painting the picture of his manager in human form.


    Shaking his head, he took a deep breath before going through one of the exercises Luna had first taught him as a Tier 6.


    The ground around him rippled as he sent his mana through [Earth Maniption] and then told the ground within his range to tten.


    It only took a moment, but all the hills and valleys Luna created were gone, and he created a surface with a deviation of less than a sixteenth of an inch from its highest point to its lowest.


    Luna rumbled, Better. Only a 5.9% deviationrger than expected. Continue.


    Getting the go ahead, Matt flexed his mana once more, this time focusing on destroying every stonerger than a pea into smaller fragments, then focused on grinding down even those peas of gravel into the smallest pieces he could manage.


    He felt Lunas purr-like rumble through his shoulder as she said, Step one was a little sloppy, but step two was much better with a 2.3%rger decrease in size than expected.


    Matt''s mouth twisted into a self mocking sneer after hearing that. It wasnt bad by any means, but he had felt his own maniption, and wasnt happy with the results. Arge portion of that final effort had beenpleted by his increased mana regeneration rate, rather than skill.


    He knew that mana control would be an issue with his Talent, but it irked him to see the effects in the flesh, and knew it would only get worse in the future every time he doubled his mana.


    This test waspleted in stages that each evaluated a different application of [Earth Maniption].


    The first test focused on his maximum range, while the second tested his long range control and sensory feedback from the skill itself in trying to level the ground as much as possible. The third test was meant to see his control over the ground and his ability to process information; he first needed to crushrger rocks to specific dimensions without going too small, and then he ground it all to the smallest level he could to test his raw power.


    It shouldn''t be a surprise that he didnt have an issue with raw power and its application.


    Flexing his mana once more, he moved onto the fourth step, where he took all the loose ground andpacted it into a pseudo-sandstone-like material as hemanded the ground to fuse into a solid mass.


    As he stopped, Lunas tail swished. 1.9% increase in material hardness greater than we expected from the increase in mana. That could be from increased familiarity with the skill or the boost to your spirit. I wish we had been able to test this before you had your Inspiration. It would have made for a good baseline. The best we have is the test from right before you entered Minka.


    I used [Earth Maniption] quite a lot in Minka to control the terrain, so I did get good practice with it.


    Luna pondered his words before telling him to continue.


    With that order, he began the final part of this test.


    It was also his least favorite, as it was the one test he never performed as well as he would have liked on it.


    Commanding the solid ground to rise, he created intricate concentric rings of square stones, exactly five feet on a side, to form in set distances that varied in each ring as they stretched outward to the farthest distances of his control.


    Once the firstyer waspleted, he created a stone cube on top of hisst one exactly half the first one''s size, and he repeated that until the cubes were smaller than dice, where he was no longer able to keep them perfectly square.


    It was irritating, but he had expected this test to be bad and continued on after pausing long enough for Luna to give him a critical grunt.


    With a mentalmand, he transformed the stacked cubes into a more uniform pyramid, trying to sharpen the edges and tten the nes as much as possible. If he had been able to focus all of his concentration on one pyramid, he could have easily made a mirror smooth structure, but that wasnt the purpose of this test. It was meant to test his split control and concentration.


    After Luna once more indicated for him to continue, he then shaped the pyramids into spirals that reached for the sky with strands of stone that thinned out as they rose. Once he felt he could no longer shape the stone any thinner while still keeping it stable, he stopped and then started to etch a tessetion of a triangr weave as small as he could manage while keeping the lines clear.


    The lines werent nearly as clean as he would have preferred, but not as bad as he feared. Small detailed work like this had never been his forte, and it looked even worse whenpared to the masterful details that Liz and Aster could craft with their elements of choice.


    Together they walked through the rows of spiral columns and Luna pointed out details. Most of them were imperfections, and more importantly, variations on the columns. For this test, having a mistake repeated in the pattern was better than variation, as it showed apse in his split control.


    9.2% more variation than before, but only 1.1% more mistakes in the general pattern.


    Having said that, the pirs sunk back into the ground before bing mirror smooth under Lunas expert control, after which, she had him run through a simr test with the other three level 1 mana types, water, wind, and fire.


    The results were simr to his [Earth Maniption], with his power increasing but his control decreasing across the board.


    Then they deliberately made things worse.


    Using two Tier 14 mana stones, he once more doubled his mana from 5,120 to 10,240 using his slow mana converter. It was inefficient and wasteful, but they had been delving Tier 14 rifts before they had even entered Minka, and had a surplus. And this way, he didnt have to leave the instance they were in. Waiting in line for this rift again would be more annoying than spending the mana stones to convert to his mana. Liz was currently using the house for an alchemy experiment, which meant he couldn''t just take it from under her, forcing him to his back up.


    After his mana was once more doubled, they repeated their test to abysmal results.


    Matt could feel the decrease in his control over his mana the instant he activated [Earth Maniption], and that decline was proven through all the subsequent tests.


    His results were, on average, twenty percent lower than they had been when he had 5,000 mana, and even worse in the fine control tests.


    When he finished and let thest spell drop, Luna swatted him gently, this time.


    Get out of your own head, kid. We expected this, and were using this as a benchmark to test how bad the doubles will affect youter on, when youre adding billions of mana. It''s a trainable skill, so once you reach Tier 25, and you don''t have a fire under your ass to advance, youll have all the time in the world to train between Tiers.


    Together, they left the rift and went back to where they had rented a plot ofnd to plop down their houses.


    There, he tested his mana patty skills, and saw an even greater reduction of his hard won abilities. From needing only 850 mana to control the skill, he now needed 1300 just to prevent mana from leaking, showing just how far his control fell. He wasnt even able to move the ball of raw mana without the entire construct falling apart once more, making him feel even worse. Sure, Liz and Aster could only just barely move the balls at 1000 mana, but they could move them. The balls broke after a few exchanges, sure, but he couldn''t do that at all.


    The only one worse than him at the skill was Susanne, but she had never really practiced the technique, even if she had heard about it from Jeremiah.


    Now that they were healed, they moved closer to the city for convenience of ess to its shops and rifts while they waited for April and Jeremiah toe back from Minka with their skills.


    It should be soon, but they were healed, and Luna had started all of their training once more.


    Carol was preparing to leave after having given all of them training ns for their Concepts and the new Concept powers they had gotten inside Minka. Both how to strengthen their current powers and how to grow them for the future. That wasnt all she taught though, she spent some one on one time with Matt, Liz, and Aster, giving them various tips and tricks even as Kurt and Luna gave Susanne some focused training in return.


    But even all of that training only dyed Carol''s eventual departure. She, unlike Luna, was responsible for a number of Pathers, and mostly relied on her team''s liaison and half a dozen trainers, like Kurt, to cycle in and train the teams under her.


    ording to her, most of her time was spent traveling from team to team to periodically check up on them when she would then give more one on one training and coaching, all while being updated and tweaking the training ns for her other teams from the information her charges sent her along with the trainers and liaisons.


    Other than when she first took a new Pather team, or had a particrly promising one in Minka, she rarely spent more than a month out of every few years with any of her teams. She just didnt have the time to do what Luna and Kurt generally did for Matts team, spending all day every day helping them.


    From what Carol and Kurt said, Luna only got away with it because of her ster track record of improving even the most mediocre teams into powerhouses. If the tribunal could, they would love to give each Pather their own management team, but with howrge the Path was, that just wasnt feasible.


    Luna even grinned slightly as Kurt wrote about how the tribunal had tried to demand she take more teams once she decided on focusing on just one.


    There was a joke about herding cats there, with her circumvention of their authority, but Matt just wasnt brave enough to make it.


    Fortunately, Aster <em>was </em>brave enough, so she had to deal with all of her bath water turning hot every time she went to clean for three full days before Luna relented.


    She insisted it was worth it, though.


    It was just a little more than three months from when the liaisons left that they came back bearing gifts.


    Or rather, the fruits from their efforts in the Minka system''s auction houses.


    Matt whistled as he saw the spread of skill shards, natural treasures, and one single item.


    A staff that Luna immediately started inspecting.


    She rolled it around before sniffing it a few times. Then, with a flick of her paw, the staff flew at Liz, and April exined the functions of it.


    So it''s not perfect, but I think it''s a damn good growth item. If you dont want it, Aster could use it once shes got hands, or you could sell it on the Empire Market to afford almost anything else. But, I think its good for you.


    Liz caught the staff and gave it an experimental, though gentle, twirl. After a quick examination, she set the Tier 5 item down gingerly on the table in front of them.


    We can find a crafter who specializes in riftcraft items to install a spearhead, by my reckoning, and while the spearhead wouldnt benefit from any growth item benefits, it wouldnt damage the staff either. A good enough crafter may even be able to set it up so that Matt could upgrade the spearhead each Tier. April waited for Liz to nod before exining further. As for the enchantment on it it will let you utilize <em>any</em> level 1 mana maniption spell with any other elemental maniption spell. Theres a bit more to it, of course, but thats the gist of it.


    Matt raised an eyebrow. For most people, it represented a substantial boost to their versatility, functionally quadrupling the number of skills they had ess to in their inner and core spirit. Whether elemental Talents and Concepts would apply to the end result depended on the specifics of the staff and the person, but <em>generally,</em> theyd benefit from any effects that happened at-cast. A mana discount or power boost were two easy examples, but anything that required ongoing connection would be lost, such as Concept reinforcement. For <em>Liz</em>, it would be even better. As she was forced to leave any non-blood skills in her outer spirit at all times, they were incredibly slow to modify, and extremely expensive and slow to cast. That shed made it through the Tier 10 tournament predominantly using outer spirit skills was a testament to just <em>how</em> good she was.


    Lizs face lit up alongside him, but then almost immediately, she wilted slightly as she looked at Luna. Is this a step in the wrong direction?


    Luna cocked her head at Liz but said nothing, which prompted Liz to continue. Weve been going over what I learned in my reflection lives, and have been nning how to allow me to not be just a red water mage. This almost feels like a step backward from that n.


    Matt swore he saw Luna smirk as she lifted a rear paw and started to groom herself. What are the pros and cons?


    Liz took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Okay, pros first. I can use it to control fire with my [Blood Maniption], upgraded and acting as my innate skill. Its a <em>substantial</em> boost in powerpared to my existing fire magic. I


    April interrupted. Remember, the staff is currently Tier 5 and has been appraised to have an effective fifty percent conversion rate. By Tier 25, when it gains a new ability, its projected to be around a hundred percent efficient. When we bring it up to Tier 12 or so, itll probably be seventy five percent efficient.


    Liz nodded to show she heard and understood April as she continued. Regardless, in addition to <em>just</em> the benefit to Torch, it will give me a substantial versatility bonus. Expanding my blood skills to air, earth, fire, and water will help me with some wider scale powers- a pseudo [Earth Tidal Wave] would be great, if I can throw enough stone around. Then, even though it wouldnt be as efficient, I can get some level of control over elements likeva by manipting the earth part. Then, more practice with [Blood Maniption] controlling different elements will give me more varied practice with that skill, helping my natural modifications and skill and continuing out to everything I use it for.


    Liz gestured with her free hand as she continued. On the other hand, I still dont know how much I want to be a <em>blood</em> mage, or how much I want to just be a red water mage, but this staff is very much a tool for thetter. And I dont know if this would push me to being nothing more than that. Im not happy with my other selves, nor the blood mages before me, but do I want to ignore such a massive pool of power for me to draw on? This staff, it would be so useful, but would it just be a crutch?


    Luna walked through the air as if she was still on the table and then around Liz, inspecting her.


    My my my, who are you, and what have you done with Liz? Her voice dripped sarcasm like honey. But I''m d you recognize the issue.


    Matt and judging from her expression, Liz thought Luna would tell her to sell the staff, but her next words surprised them both.


    My advice? Keep the staff, sell off some of your extra houses and other things you kept, maybe make a few rifts, and sell another few buckets of skills on the empire market. Find a growth item you like on it, buy that, and bond to it if you three can''t manage to make a growth item rift to rece the glove. Four growth items should be safe enough for you. Because yes, this <em>is</em> a very good item for you. Just like you shouldnt ignore the rest of your blood magic, you shouldnt ignore your pyromancy. Not just because of Torch, but because it ys to your strengths and will provide, if nothing else, tremendous benefit to your ability to fight off other elemental specialists. It will also enable you to better utilize water magic directly, and getting some additional practice with wind certainly wont go awry as a phoenix. The defensive capabilities of earth magic are nothing to scoff at either. Tools shouldnt be crutches but they are power amplifiers nheless and should be used as such.


    Aster, on the other hand, didnt seem surprised in the slightest, and just seemed smug through their bond.


    Kurts pen rose up and started writing, catching all of their attention. Im no appraiser, but I''ve seen a wand with a nearly identical growth effect when I was in the army. When the wielder increased it to Tier 25, it became further capable of controlling level 2 elements. If this one follows the same trend, it would further increase the element of surprise, but even if it doesn''t, I doubt it''s a bad choice for you.


    Liz nodded, clearly thinking of possible items she could use. It was a fairly expensive gamble, but it was hardly like they couldnt afford it. There were only so many more skills that they could even use, only so many natural treasures worth hunting for.


    Then her nod became a bit shakier, and she snatched Matts hand, squeezing as hard as she could. Matt gave an encouraging squeeze back, and Lizs breath became slightly ragged. Her eyes were fixed on the dark wooden rod in front of them, and the magic subtly coiling around it.


    Matt wasnt certain what exactly was going on in her head, but he had a few guesses. Then, quick as a snake, Liz snatched the staff in front of her so quickly and with such force, the wood began to splinter in her grip. With a pulse of essence, the mana flowing around the staff began to intertwine with Lizs own, and she let out a shuddering sigh.


    Matt gave his girlfriend a side-hug, and after a moment fixated on her new staff, she nodded and set it to the side, ensuring she kept the splinters broken off in her exuberance close by. It would fix itself in time and as a natural part of tiering up, but if they had all the pieces, it would be easier. With the growth item thus taken care of, they started going through everything else April had gotten for them.


    Asters kit was the most expanded overall, with a number of new support skills and treasures that not only gave her tools for direct attacks, but buffs, debuffs, and illusions. Thetter was especially relevant as she meditated with her Fragment of the Rainbow Bridge. The treasure didnt do much beyond serving as a mana-dense shard of crystal filled with Aurora mana, but that was enough, as Aster was working to develop her bloodline in that direction.


    Matts own set was about enhancing what he was already good at, and between his Stygian Gossamer rendering his left hand practically unbreakable, and the Infinite Diamond empowering his [Cracked Phantom Armor], his defenses would be enough to actually stop stronger attacks in the rifts they delved. The choice on where to actually use the Stygian Gossamer had been heated, with Liz wanting him to protect his face or neck, but Matt felt he could still do that with a nigh indestructible hand.


    Besides, he wasnt about to start intentionally blocking attacks with his face anytime soon, invulnerable or not.


    The Sect scroll of modifications was interesting. Where most of the scrolls he had seen seemed less than practical, a more expensive [Analyze] wouldnt really hinder him most of the time. He could make the relevant modifications gradually, increasing both the cost and the skills power as his mana pool grew. His innate skill slot would help there, cutting down the modification time needed each Tier from months to days.


    If the more useful Sect skill modification scrolls were like this he understood where a portion of theirbat prowess came from. If you could never know what a fighter''s skills would do it was easy to fall into a trap.


    Between his new Concept powers and the Dewdrop Jadechip, his enchanting also became <em>substantially</em> easier. Tier 11 to Tier 13 enchantments <em>were</em> a bit of a jump, but his new tools helped bridge the gap.


    Liz found herself with a strong showing of new skills, and while only time would tell how many of them broke or converted to a dud form, as her Talent had its way with them, they were hopeful. Luna was fairly familiar with Lizs Talent at this point, and shed picked out the skills she thought would synergize well.


    Newly kitted out, the four of them debated just what they wanted to use their eight upgrade orbs on, having gotten six more on the final floor. Given most of their new skills were Tier 20, they didnt need to ount for all of their new toys when figuring out just what they needed to improve.


    Aster was the lone exception, as her first choice was her new [Cracked Shatter]. The increased power of the Tier 8 skill didnt disappoint, as not only was the power of the explosion itself increased, turning even a fist-sized hailstone into a legitimate threat, but so too did it gain an elemental ice effect that acted almost as an icy [Fireball] on top of its kic force.


    She also upgraded [KarTan Greets His Foes], or as Liz had taken to calling it, [Headwind]. From a simple aura of still air, slowing down hostiles passively, the upgrade made winds actively <em>fight</em> the progress of designated targets, with an effect quite reminiscent of Winters Great Working. On top of it all, the effect grew stronger with the mana she put into it. Taking a step or running invited sudden gusts of wind to try and knock the targets over, and in addition to Concept flying being suppressed, enemies who did get airborne would have to fight ferocious gales seeking to swat them from the sky.


    Matt chose [Mages Retreat] and [Rangers Sight] for himself. While their power boost was fairly minor, all things considered, it extended their effective lifespan substantially. Because of the way that his channeling enhanced the effectiveness of essence, there came a point in the high teens for [Mages Retreat] and the mid-twenties for its Tier 14 counterparts, when the non-upgraded skills simply wouldnt be able to have any appreciable effect on his cultivation. It would empower billions of essence, but he would have quadrillions empowering him passively. Even then, the price would rise, but by then hed be well able to afford it.


    There were, of course, higher-tier versions of the skills, culminating with the Tier 44 [Archmages Presence], but simply upgrading the skills was also enough to make them useful until hepleted the Path at least. There was even a Tier 14 skill for strength that he could take. Well, technically there were two. [Strongmans Buff] and [Sudden Sprint] both existed, but hed need to use both of them to get the same boost as from [Mages Retreat], and hed need to start modifying them again from scratch. Their buffs didnt even stack, so it was pointless for him to try and double up on them.


    Of course, it wasnt <em>just</em> because of an overabundance of nning that he chose them. [Mages Retreat] gained an absolutely <em>massive</em> boost to his running speed, easily making him somewhere between two and ten times faster than he had been before, depending on how much mana he put into it, and putting the final nail in [Sudden Sprint]s coffin. [Rangers Sight], byparison, gave him the ability to sense past minor obstructions, such as seeing through foliage, fog, annoying helmet visors, and even hair in front of his face. Hed be able to hear a specific voice in a massive crowd, or pick out a specific scent in aplex aroma. It had a simr effect on his spiritual perception, but that was more focused on seeing <em>inside</em> things, such as counting the rings inside a tree.


    Lizs first choice was easy, upgrading [Lesser Blood Sacrifice] to not only make the mana recovery more efficient, but also make the cultivation boost it providedst longer and be stronger.


    Her second choice was substantially harder, until shed narrowed it down to [Blood Dash] and [Hungering Blood]. [Dash], which the former had been derived from while retaining nearly full functionality, had its upgrade provide an incredibly powerful leap, letting its users fly through the air even faster than the base skill let them run. With Matts upgraded [Mages Retreat], she was uncertain how well she could literally keep up with him, but ultimately decided against it after her [Whirling Charge] was absorbed and converted to [Bloodrush], taking care of her additional movement-skill needs.


    Upgraded [Hungering Darkness], the skill [Hungering Blood] had derived itself from, gained something of a feedback loop, as part of the life drained from its victims went to empowering the skill itself, making it both harder to break out of and spread across arger area. Lizs version couldnt reinforce itself, but it <em>could</em> feed any blood it drained into another blood skill directly, strengthening it past its normal limits.


    [Bloodrush] was actually one skill which held substantial synergy with it, as the skill would slowly umte a stream of blood trailing after Liz as she ran. The faster and longer she ran, the more blood umted, and the more blood she had following her, the faster she could run. Once she stopped, the umted blood would m into whatever she stopped in front of. But, whenbined with [Hungering Blood], Liz umted blood <em>much</em> faster than normal, substantially enhancing her feedback loop.


    Susanne took a fairly straightforward pair for herself, with [Iron Skin] and [Counter]. The former gave a semi-straightforward defensive buff in that any metal, such as her growth armor, she was in close proximity to and in active contact with would benefit from the skills reinforcement, and even some of her cultivated durability.


    [Counter]s upgrade, meanwhile, added a minor shockwave to its sh, knocking nearby people off-bnce. With a bit of practice timing her new [Retaliate] skill, she could magnify the effect and inflict reflected damage on everyone nearby instead of just whoever she countered, making it a great skill for fighting off hordes of weaker monsters.


    While Matt and Susanne both wanted to have onest spar, onest fight before they parted ways, it simply wasnt possible. While they <em>were</em> whole again, all four limbs intact and <em>mostly</em> functional, they were still on medical watch, and could very easily fall back into a fairly nasty healing cooldown if they werent careful. That they were less than halfway done assimting their new skills, and that Matt was a full Tier ahead of Susanne were also factors, but fairly minor ones all told.


    They both would have had fun.


    Still, because they were all whole once again, and past the point of unexpected, suddenplications from their healing, it was time for them to get moving once again. After several heartfelt goodbyes, and promises to keep in touch and fight once again when they had the chance, Carol and Susanne boarded their ship, lifted into the air with a hum from the engines, and vanished into the sky.


    Kurt stood beside Matt, Liz, and Aster as they looked after the swiftly-retreating vessel as it broke through the atmosphere and shimmered into Chaotic Space, leaving a smear of quickly-fading color in its wake.


    Having seen their silent trainer interact with Carol a fair amount, Matt felt fairly confident that he knew why his eyes lingered on where the other manager had vanished for so long. Carol was a bit crazy from what hed seen, but who knew? Maybe Kurt was into that.


    They couldnt stare for too long, of course. There were skills to be absorbed, magic control exercises to be mastered, bodies to be exercised, rifts to be delved, and progress to be made, none of which was going to happen on this world.

 Chapter 219

    Chapter 219


    Their trip to the nearby Tier 18 took all of five minutes in Kurts ship, simply lifting off from their idyllic Tier 15 world. After a brief trip through chaotic space, they set down in a new spaceport on a new world.


    From the nearly empty they were just on, the change was dramatic.


    Even just leaving the spaceport, the difference was obvious. Where the Tier 15 had a few dozen people walking around the streets and a few more flying through the air, the Tier 18 had thousands of people in the air and hundreds on the ground. It was absolutely bustling, with a mosh of people constantly traveling to wherever they needed to go.


    Luna, riding on Kurt''s shoulder, pointed with a paw and said, Let''s check into our lodgings for the evening, and once we do, you three are free to do as you wish. The train to our rift leaves tomorrow morning. As long as youre there on time, I don''t care what you do.


    Matt grinned and felt Aster''s own excitement through their bond. They had requested a little time to explore the city before moving on to the guild they would be staying at for the next few years.


    As Aster stood on Matts shoulder and head to get a better view of the massive building, made of what looked like solidified light mana, Matt felt a presence barge into his spiritual perception.


    If hed been acting as though he were in a rift, with his perception spread over miles, that would hardly be notable. But for politeness, he was keeping his awareness to just within a few feet of himself, Liz, and Aster, and even that registered a fair amount of the crowd casually passing through the area. <em>This</em> presence was different, though, and wasnt simply passing through. Instead, they were on a clear trajectory towards Liz.


    Or, more specifically, her spatial backpack.


    Matts hand shot out, intercepting the hand as it attempted to grab the backpack, and he pulled on [Mages Retreat] to yank the intruder away.


    Though clearly Tier 15, his target was nobatant, as even the simple tug was enough to make them lose their bnce. As Matt continued to pull down, Liz spun and brought her knee up and into the would-be thiefs face with a crunching sound, breaking cartge and possibly even bone with the strike.


    Aster teleported onto the back of the thief, weighing down the thiefs body and clothes with a restrainingyer of ice.


    The attempted thief was a young-looking woman with blue hair and bright pink skin, an only marginally rarebination in their current city. Matt couldnt say he thought the pairing looked particrly <em>good</em>, but hed seen worse local customs.


    Off to the side, he noticed Kurt giving him a thumbs-up, carefully bncing a napping Luna in his other arm. No doubt, theyd address a dozen different ways they could have done better on their next train ride.


    Kurts pen floated up and started writing even as he took a step back. Guards areing, how do you want to handle this?


    Before he could think about the implications of that statement, and why they would need to exin anything, two guards floated down, a man and a woman.


    The City AI noticed there was a spell usage here. Exin. The man barked without looking directly at any of them, instead staring at the fading patch of ice on the ground with the woman still locked down.


    It was only Lunas extensive training that prevented him from rolling his eyes at the guard''s words. Yes, the citys AI would have noted the skill usage, but that same AI would have recorded the attempt at theft, and the guard would know that.


    The guard was trying to shift the narrative, and Matt wasnt about to let that happen.


    Officer, excellent timing. Id like to report a higher Tier attacking down and attempted theft from a lower Tier.


    Having said the magic words of attacking down, he grinned internally as the woman visibly flinched, and the man stiffened.


    The male guard only barely uttered out a questioning, Oh? before Matt continued.


    Yes. That is so. We would be happy to go down to the station with you if you wish to take our statements and won''t believe our AI recordings.


    The woman finally spoke up. We, of course, believe you, but without anything actually being taken, we can''t guarantee charges will be filed.


    The male guard quickly added, Why don''t we just let this go. Easier for everyone involved.


    Liz smiled up at the still-hovering duo with an expression that said butter wouldnt melt in her mouth as she dropped the final bomb on them.


    We reacted instinctively to a direct assault, and the thief was apparently not prepared for a full-force response from Pathers. Now, I find it quite interesting that apparently, the local prosecutor couldnt charge someone for attempted theft, considering Imperial Law states that it very specifically <em>is</em>.


    As Liz referred to them as Pathers, both of the guards stiffened like someone hit them with a lightning spell, and quickly turned far more professional in their conduct.


    The internal smirk Matt had vanished almost instantly as he realized their little issue with the thief would have been swept under the rug if they didnt have such a backing, and that irritated him even more than the attempted theft did.


    After five minutes of questioning and reviewing their AI recordings, the duo quickly took off to the sky and vanished amongst the flying crowds, with the thief hanging limply between the two of them.


    Kurt winked at them as his pen wrote out a quick, Well done.


    Matt started looking up more information about the local as they wove their way through the crowds to their destination a few dozen blocks away.


    He hadnt looked into the beyond the guild they were going to visit, which proved to be a mistake. Once he did, he was able to quickly find the information he was looking for.


    The blue-haired and pink-skinned individuals were a product of the local nobility, the Adair family. When they won their bid to take over this, when it was first brought into the Empire, they had brought their very extensive family with them, including all the side branches and retainers. All of whom had taken on the pink skin and blue hair either through changing their bodies post Tier 15 to show their allegiance, or being with the features thanks to their status as direct descendants of those from the first category.


    The hair and skin color werent any kind of get out of jail free card, but whenbined with a generalckadaisical attitude to petty crime on foreigners, it told Matt all he needed to know.


    Nothing was written down about the enforcement ofws against foreigners of course, and even the information packet he quickly read only hinted at the existence of the situation with vague phrases like guards may be limited in their resources. Even then, when anything important happened to or from one of them, they were always punished, but all the reports he read indicated that if something could be swept under the rug and forgotten about, it would be.


    Turning to Luna, he asked, Am I being naive, or is this bullshit?


    Kurt was the one to respond, his pad floating in front of Matt as they walked. It is bullshit, but if you think people won''t take care of their own this far from central imperial authority, you <em>are</em> naive. They know the limits and wont push them. Anything public or noisy won''t get covered up, but small stuff like petty pickpockets hitting the Tier 14sing out of the teleport station will get forgotten as much as is feasibly possible. From what I understand, the Emperor has been pushing for independent auditors in the hereditary noble factionsnds to cut this exact thing. But theres a lot of push back from nearly all sides; none of them want any more imperial control, even if it''s for minor things.


    Matt shook his head but didnt say anything.


    Knowing that it was mostly petty crime that was ignored didnt really make him feel better, but he understood the Emperor and the Royals couldn''t be everywhere at once.


    Local leadership needed to be able to function on its own, and in the grand scheme of things, petty crimes being forgotten about wasnt the worst thing that could happen. And it wasnt like petty thievery was on anyone''s list of crimes to crack down on. Even he could understand that there were bigger fish to fry at any given time.


    He tended to believe that corruption was a sign of deeper underlying issues which eventually led to things like uncontrolled rift breaks, but from everything he read, this was well managed and had fantastic reviews by the Tier 14 groups who wanted to get a Tier 15 delve slot on the.


    It didnt mean he had to like it, though.


    When they arrived at their hotel, Matt, Liz, and Aster all freshened up before getting ready to go enjoy themselves.


    Despite their earlier run in with a bad actor, they intended to have fun in this city.


    It was the highest Tier world in this region of the Empire and catered to immortals, which meant it was Matt and Aster''s first time being on such a world when they could explore and have fun. It was also Lizs first time being a high enough Tier to actually participate in a lot of the activities.


    The city was a hub with one of the''s teleporters located in it, along with a spaceport on the outskirts, and was one of thergest on the already popted. But it was famous for one attraction above all.


    The Immortal Arcade.


    An entire amusement park built for immortals and others down to Tier 12.


    And best of all, it was built on a pseudo flying ind.


    In actuality, the entire park was held up by the fourrgest skyscrapers, but it gave the illusion that the entire venue was floating. Having seen the price tag for a flying house, Matt knew all too well that a flying amusement park was a pipe dream. No one would pay for a floating ind thatrge, and if they did buy it, they could never afford to keep it afloat while catering to Tier 15s.


    Only the wealthiest of Dukes could have one for good reason.


    As they were brought up on the exterior elevator, they got a good look at the city and surroundingnds, which Matt was slightly surprised to see werent entirely built up. There wererge swaths of forest and rolling hills that were riddled with a type of grain, ording to [Telescope], which made him reconsider the poption numbers he had seen.


    The boasted a whopping 1.2 billion people, with a majority of them being mortal, but a sizable poption was made up of the transient Tier 14 through Tier 17s who came for the easy ess to delve slots of those Tiers.


    But even a billion people wasn''t enough to fill a like he had seen on East Flower, Tur''stal, where the entire was covered in onerge, interconnecting city. East Flower housed trillions of people, which was many magnitudes greater than thiss measly popce.


    The amusement park was everything he had hoped it would be from the reviews.


    The rides were fast and non-human friendly, so even Aster could ride on them without issue, and nearly caused all of them to lose their lunches more than once.


    Matt almost got Aster to vomit on the spinning cups ride as he spun them faster and faster. She had at first demanded he spin them faster, but once she started feeling queasy, she begged him to stop, leading to her threatening him in various ways. He only acquiesced when she promised to freeze all of his underwear before he put them on if he didnt stop.


    After they recovered, they wandered to the games of skill, where they tested their reflexes and aim with the various games to collect a number of small plushies, along with a beaver almost asrge as Aster that she won for winning a ring toss game. She had it floating next to her the rest of the trip, wanting to show off.


    The best was hands down the bumper balls.


    There were a hundred of them in bubbles of protective ss that sped up when you ran inside them, all arranged in a single cage that made for a great time. Everyone was shing into each other and falling down before being sent flying as they got hit by someone else.


    At one time, Matt was even ganged up on by Aster and Liz, who coordinated together to send him flying off the wall and back at them half a dozen times.


    All the previous negative interactions were washed away as they lounged on a boat floating in a pond while they were served dinner before the fireworks show.


    Matt was almost asleep on his feet as they walked back to their hotel, and Aster had passed out, having to be carried back by Liz.


    The next morning they were chipper as Luna and Kurt joined them for the hotel''s breakfast.


    Did you three have funst night?


    Matt nodded with the others around a mouthful of pancake.


    The chef was excellent, and the bread was fluffy without being airy, making it the perfect vessel for the butter and syrup hethered it with.


    Luna, having already finished an entire five-course breakfast, waved a paw at them.


    Good. So tell me what we are doing here and why I chose this ce over any other.


    Aster spoke with her AI even as she devoured what was left of her own waffle. Were going to be delving into guild territory. Audrey''s Apples territory to be specific, which let me state for the record is a dumb guild name, as their guild leader isn''t even Audrey anymore. But they just won a guild war for some contested territory, and both participants took some casualties and will be out of fighting shape for a while. Theyre a smaller guild than the ce they took over can amodate, so they have some room to spare.


    Liz, with a freshly-cleaned face, finished for Aster. That means they have rift slots avable <em>and</em> they need low Tier rifts for their new recruits.


    Liz nodded to Matt, and he finished, Both of which we can use. We can help provide some normal Tier 1 through Tier 14 rifts with the enchantment formations without blowing our cover.


    Returning Lizs nod with a gesture with his fork, he added, And this gives us the perfect cover to try and make Liz another glove. As long as the Tier 5 rift just happens to be a blood rift, we can easily get first dibs on any growth item that maye out of it.


    Aperology wasnt a widely explored field, but for Tier 1 through 5, there were a few individuals, corporations, and guilds that specialized in it enough that they weren''t too unusual for having the ability to make targeted rifts.


    Not that Matt would be using the strategies he had created with Erwin. No, he had gotten a pack of information from Luna that he suspected she stole from a high Tier guild, based on some of the wording.


    It was a detailed breakdown of how they created their low Tier training rifts to have the best chance at making a rift with a chance to drop a growth item, ten percent of the time.


    The only exception to that rule was going to be the rift he made for Liz, since it would just so <em>happen</em> to be blood aspected.


    It hadnt been that hard to make her glove the first time, and they hoped with a guild full of new recruits funneling through the rift, they could recreate their early sess.


    Liz took back over as he shoved thest piece of pancake in his mouth. And we can get ess to their Tier 14 through Tier 16 rifts to train on while were there. We can also make new rifts, as long as theyre considered our private rifts, without anyone being the wiser.


    And we don''t have to go to some remote, uninhabited that leaves us all alone. Aster quickly tacked on.


    Luna nodded before standing up and jumping from chair to chair. Yes, but one thing you all are overlooking is that that guild is both new and has the brother of a Pather at the helm. That means theyre less likely to pry into our information, which is always good. Remember to look past the first degree of data.


    Everyone nodded to that as they finished up their food and moved to the train station, preparing for a two day trip to the nearby continent where the guild was located. After that, they needed to fly fifty miles from the nearest city to the guild''snd.


    The guild was located at the foot of a mountainous region that was both windswept and arid, but wasn''t quite a desert. It seemed to either be undergoing desertification, or being brought back from said state.


    From what he could see, there were only a few buildings that seemed recently constructed, along with a few people working to dig out what he suspected would be a smallke.


    As they approached, half a dozen people took to the air, so they politely slowed to a stop in order to introduce themselves.


    A man with dark skin and silver hair, like Lizs Jules identity, handled introductions. Im Arthur, Guild leader of Audrey''s Apples. I assume you are Peter, Liv, and Paige?


    Those were the false identities they had donned for their time on this, with Liz being Liv and Aster being Paige.


    Seeing their nods, Arthur introduced the four people behind him. These are my right hands. Eric and Erin are the twins, and then we have Andre and Abdul. The first two are who you guys will be dealing with mostly, as they are the ones taking charge of the new recruits and their training. Andre and Abdul are helping me revitalize thend here, along with the guild''s defenses.


    After they introduced themselves and shook hands, they split off with the twins.


    Erin spoke for both of them as they flew a few miles away beforending. So this is where we want to create the rifts for the trainees. From what we read, lower Tier rifts should be fine to be ced near each other on a higher Tier world like this, correct?


    Matt nodded as he threw his AI into analyzing the ground and surroundings. After getting some surface readings, he pulsed [Earth Maniption] to get a feel for the underground and fed that information into his AI.


    It''s fine. Honestly, on a Tier 18 world like this, it will be harder to keep the rifts from Tiering up rather than dissipating.


    Eric snorted at that, and Matt thought the man might disagree with him, but he waved Matt off. Sorry, sorry. It''s just weird to hear someone say a rift doesn''t need constant babying and mana fed to it so it doesn''t fall apart. He nodded to his sister. We were raised on a Tier 2 world, so we had to be incredibly careful growing up.


    Matt nodded to the man, but didnt volunteer any information about himself. That would have built rapport with him, but these identities didnt have any such background and wouldn''t be able to rte.


    Well, don''t worry. Even with minimal maintenance, the arrays Im gonna set up should easilyst twenty years. Once it''s up and running, you shouldn''t have anything to worry about.


    Saying that, he sent over the ns his AI had made. Most of it was based on the standard model. Lunas Aperology book had contained ns for single cell rooms that were fifteen foot squares, set in rows however long the customer wanted. Here, they would then be set in rows ten long from Tier 1 to Tier 14, which was where the guild had asked for it to be stopped.


    ording to the growth models the guild was going for, they wanted five rows of rifts from Tier 1 through 5 and then one row of ten for rifts Tier 6 through Tier 14 so they could nurture a new crop of recruits.


    It reminded Matt of one of his Folded Reflections lives, but these guys were far more wealthy than his guild had been, with a Tier 30 guild leader at the helm and a higher Tier world to call home.


    As he walked them through theyout he wanted, Matt used his AI to simte everything andid out the false walls that the guilds own AI showed them, disying all the security measures he would be adding.


    Their guild leader would be the one doing most of the structural work. As a Tier 30, he could create higher Tier materials that would be safer in case a rift break did happen. In that event, better materials would give the people inside more time to evacuate to safety.


    Matt, on the other hand, had to design andy out all of the safety measures that would both keep the rifts from absorbing too much mana and Tiering up, and also kill any monsters that mighte on an unnned Tier up.


    The guild leader had everyone build to Matts specifications in just two days as he worked with the others to create ake.


    He found it gratifying that the guild leader wasnt just creating theke himself, even though his cultivation and mastery over [Earth Maniption] would have easily allowed him to. Instead, he was working with the guild members, new and old, to manually dig out and create portions of thekes underwater features together.


    They were building something together, and Matt could see the happiness on everyone''s faces after they finished a ce for smaller fish to hide when it was filled up with water.


    Once he had the building built, Matt quickly started making the formations the rooms needed with the materials provided, which were all of the highest quality, allowing him to quickly work through the thousands of required tes.


    Two weekster, Matt had created over three hundred rifts in the building, set in neat little rows, whichpleted his side of the deal. He hadnt used his own mana for the enchanting or creating of the rifts, but even that expensive bill hadnt bothered the guild leader. Arthur seemed ecstatic to have a way to train his newest recruits, and invited them to join theke filling ceremony they were holding that night.


    They ended up going and having a good time as the guild all together put mana into a water condenser that would symbolize their creation and addition to theke. Matt knew most of the water from theke would being from a nearby Tier 16 rift with its ownke, just for the sake of efficiency.


    The next morning, he was proven right as theke now housed billions of gallons of water, though Matt knew they would be refilling it often as water seeped into the soil around it. It was an intentional design choice to revitalize thend, but it was one that would demand a certain amount of maintenance.


    Once their portion of the deal was done, the guild set aside a bit ofnd at the farthest reaches of their territory, where they were able to set up shop and create a number of Tier 14 through 16 rifts.


    Luna then put them through a rigorous training regimen. They started delving the random Tier 14 rifts Matt made with no restrictions so she could watch, but before long, Luna had them working separately. Liz and Aster ran Tier 15 rifts together or Tier 14 rifts apart, while Matt either worked on his mana control or worked on strengthening his Concept with the ck hole core he had pulled out of Minka.


    As it turned out, Luna had a device to amplify its aura until it felt like the original ck hole, allowing Matt to throw his Concept at it and grind away at his Domain, strengthening his willpower and honing his skills.


    But that wasnt all. Once a week, the three of them would take to delving the Tier 16 rift.


    With their cultivation and numerous prizes from Minka, they were able to clear the Tier 16 rifts together with enough ease that Luna started having Matt create more and moreplicated rifts, hoping to make a counter to them, but their skill pools had widened so much recently that it was a difficult task.


    Matt almost expected her to start limiting their skills in the Tier 16 rift, but she never did. At least, not in that rift. In the Tier 15 rifts, their restrictions went up and up until they were delving with one skill each.


    Days started to blend together into weeks and months as they worked on improving themselves.


    With nearly every waking moment spent doing something productive, they fell into the grind to make themselves better, and the results showed.


    Liz, after some struggles, finally started seeing results with her blood magic being used in rituals. Going off the information from her blood queen life, she was able to create runes that, when powered by blood, granted stronger or additional effects.


    It turned into a fun project between the two of them where they could mix their specialties into a greater whole. Matt was designing and creating a number of runes, and Liz was empowering them with blood from the numerous monsters they killed daily.


    Aster, on the other hand, worked on strengthening her Concept and its various powers from Minka, along with working on spatial abilities. Something none of them had any luck with, even if she was the closest.


    Liz still wasnt at the flight stage yet, and Matt couldn''t stop expanding space no matter how much he tried to reverse what he was feeling. Fortunately, their other Concept practice went far better than their attempts at spatial maniption. Matts two enchanting abilities worked fantastically together, and they allowed him to pack enormous amounts of power into everything he made.


    Their weapon skills didnt sit idle either. Liz, in particr, had taken the opportunity sparked by her new spear to branch out with her fighting style. With some guidance from Kurt, she ultimately settled on making the shield shed picked up in Minka more of a permanent part of her kit. The shorter nature of her new spear actually helped with that, and while she still frequently fell into old habits, she was only dreadful at it ording to Lunas standards, which put her well above the average spear and shield fighter.


    Matt also trained with Kurt as a demage, but even he could admit his improvement there was minimal. He had already mastered the basics to a degree that most of his gains were from simple practice incorporating his new skills.


    Aster even got training with Kurt, as she was adamant she wanted to learn to fight when she got a human body, and wanted to get a head start on that. Most of her training was watching Kurt exin things, but she seemed to enjoy it, even if she couldn''t do most of it herself yet.


    One of the mostmon refrains in their training, which Aster and Liz did while Matt was practicing enchanting, was summoning practice. Liz had taken [Lesser Blood Clone] into her core, and also had [Summon Blood Monster], whichbined to give her a breadth of options in a fight, especially when acting as a mage. The summoned monsters from Asters tiara were innately more powerful than Lizs summons, but much more difficult to directly control.


    Naturally, Luna did not take something being difficult as an excuse. For hours at a time, Liz and Aster would have their summons fight each other, or run through obstacle courses, which also inteced with Concept practice by empowering the summons in various ways.


    Any time they had free time beyond that, which was rare, April took to training them under Lunas supervision. The lessons ranged from simple things they already knew about pertaining to their Concepts, to Great Power politics, and even the militarymand structures for all eight Great Powers and how they varied, along with their strengths and weaknesses.


    Before they knew it, three years had passed, and Liz and Aster were almost at the peak of Tier 12, and Matt was only slightly deeper into Tier 13, having diverted nearly all of his share of essence to his teammates.


    The n to get Liz a new growth item hadnt panned out, as nothing the rift created was useful for her, either being too niche or not blood rted at all.


    Liz had also been able to work through most of her issues with being a blood mage with the help of a local therapist and a few exchanges with her parents who helped to reassure her that everything would be fine and she wouldn''t go crazy just for using a new power. Liz didn''t magically get over her reticence over night but it did put her on a stable footing going forward.


    It seemed like any other normal day when their and everyone else''s AI pinged them.


    One of the members of the tribunal, Yellow, was ascending in five years on their homeworld, one of the lower Tiers in Rustys capital system.


    With half a decade of lead time, everyone who could go started nning their trip to the system, and the three of them werent any different. An Ascension was good for creating a Concept, yes, but it was also helpful for anyone trying to create an Intent or Aspect. Though it was rtively less helpful for those higher levels of domains.


    Still, they wanted to be there. It would be a waste to pass it up.


    Matt expected Luna to get them to hunker down and focus on their advancement, and she proved them right.


    It''s time you three actually finished a Tier 18 rift.

 Chapter 220

    Chapter 220


    Matt looked at the distortion in the fabric of reality with a sense of trepidation, irritation, and hesitation.


    He could read Liz and Aster well enough to know they felt the same way.


    This was one of their final attempts at beating the pinnacle of challenge Luna had set for them once Liz and Aster had reached Tier 13, and beat a peak Tier 17 rift.


    A Tier 18 rift.


    For three average mid Tier 13 cultivators, that was an impossible leap even in their dreams, but they were anything but average.


    After digesting their gains from Minka, the three of them had had a substantial increase in theirbat prowess, and with Lunas direct teachings, they had been forced to push themselves every step of the way.


    Matt was 80% sure that if they had been able to enter an old Tier 18 rift with a knownyout and with easily avable guides, they could have cleared it, but that would have never counted in Lunas books.


    Or even his books, really.


    Matt didnt really expect to ever go into a fight knowing everything about an enemy, and understood how that false security dulled the adaptability of a cultivator. At the same time, it made their few forays at Tier 18 rifts far more difficult. Theyd been randomly created right before they went in, and as such, they had no idea what they would face. It made Matt jumpy.


    Their most recent attempt at a Tier 18 rift was three weeks ago, when he had his leg twisted into a pretzel, after which they needed to retreat.


    Swamp trees were an unfairbination of elements and monster type. Trees should be burnable, everyone agreed on that. However, that particr rift had proven that trees who wielded mud and water were less than susceptible to their ancient foe.


    Luna paced in front of the rift while still in her cat form, something none of them had missed. She had implied that she would be fine in just a few years, but it had been almost five years since their manager had been in her human form, showing just how badly she had been hurt from dying Matts inspiration.


    She didnt say anything, but April, standing to the side, did. Are you three ready? Are your exit ns in ce?


    Matt nodded as Liz went over their exit ns for their liaison.


    Luna had been pushing her into a mixture of Kurts and her own role over thest few years, and this had be routine before all of their delves.


    When they were done, Luna jumped into the air to hover behind him out of the way. Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and all of his channeled physical cultivation buffs, stepping through the distortion in reality with Liz and Aster close on his heels.


    Once he was through the distortion, Matt instantly sent [Earth Maniption], [Air Maniption], and his spiritual sense outward as far and as fast as he could, taking in all the information at once and letting his AI process everything with the help of his Minka reward.


    While inside the copper, the reward had been magnified as the restrictions ced on the pseudoskill had beenrgely lifted. But even after leaving, he retained the ability to supercharge the skill for short periods of time.


    s, his willpower wasnt quite as Endless as the rest of him, at least when pushing his Concept this far from its basic abilities. If he wanted to stay at full capacity for the rest of the delve, he couldnt use his AI empowerment for very long, no matter how useful it was.


    In less than a tenth of a second, Matt had apleteyout of the surrounding three miles of the rift entrance, with a resolution that would put most Tier 15 scanners to shame.


    This rift was odd, to say the least, and the more he saw, the more Matts guard went up.


    If he didnt know better, hed say they wereing in after another team had already cleared the rift. The nearby forest had giant holes in it, withrge swaths of the forest toppled as though Aster had fought in it.


    Behind him, at the maximum range of his skills, he was detecting a mountain range that seemed peppered with craters, which only became more clear as his AI processed the information.


    Even as he took a step forward, Matt looked upward.


    The sky of this rift was in a semi twilight, with just the inkling of a sun peeking over what Matt suspected was a false horizon.


    A Tier 18 rift wasrge, massive even. But they had limits, and generally maxed out at one-third the size of a standard habitable. The giant moon hovering in the sky, with tentacles of pulsing and twisting flesh that had burrowed through its surface, told Matt that the moon itself was also in y for the rift, meaning this area couldn''t be a true.


    Aster, who had entered and was already looking up, asked, What the fuck is that, and why is it eating that moon. I know it''s not made of cheese, and who wants to eat rocks?


    Liz brandished her spear and settled in behind her shield, looking outward. I sense something out there. Thousands of signatures.


    Matt nced over, catching the faint red haze surrounding Lizs left hand, signifying her use of blood magic to find potential targets.


    It was, to date, the only bit of unstructured blood magic she was capable of performing. It was intensely difficult, time-consuming, and took tremendous preparation to pull off. In short, it was nowhere close tobat viable, and was vastly inferior to her [Blood Sense] skill in almost every way, but it represented a massive step in the right direction. Minka may have shown her some of the possibilities of blood magic, but all the skills that shed picked up in its false lives were <em>just</em> wrong enough that she had to functionally start from step one.


    Essentially, she needed to establish a connection to other blood around her, either to draw power from it or direct a curse to it. Or, in this case, to detect it. Camouged enemies. Be careful of ambushes.


    With Liz trying to decipher more information from her spell and Aster scanning the air, Matt took the ground and sent out a ripple with [Earth Maniption], looking for anything which didnt heed hismand.


    While he didnt <em>directly</em> find anything but stone, it did indirectly reveal the rift monsters as they erupted from the ground in a rage.


    Masses of tentacles burrowed out of the ground in rapid, but short, jerking movements that made it seem like they could move in any direction, whichpletely broke his AIs movement predictions.


    A [Bulwark] held back some of the monsters as his AI predicted their attacks with tentacles that grew needle-like protrusions. In response, the monsters whipped their appendages to send the needles as projectiles whistling through the air.


    Matt dashed forward, with [Mages Retreat] and [Air Slide]bining with Asters already-established [Tailwind] to let him cross the distance in the blink of an eye. His [Sword Twin] was already established, and the mage-focused enchantments turned a simple [Bolt] into an arm-thick bar of lightning that arced from the tip of his de to the closest monster.


    It twitched, trying to dodge, but Asters [Headwind] fought its progress long enough for the lightning to strike. The first monster hit by his attack exploded in a wash of silver gore, but the second and third monsters his lightning bolt hit went rigid before seemingly turning to stone as they froze.


    Liz arrived by his side with fire announcing her presence and blood following in her wake. As she buried the metal portion of her spear inside the creatures body and began to drink in silver blood, the trails of blood from her [Bloodrush] whipped out to cut through the tentacles of another frozen monster. She then continued to burn and corrode the body of her victim.


    [Corrosive Blood] had been one of her <em>tournament</em> rewards, but it had taken her literal years to modify it to the point where it would only function on blood outside of her body. The acidic blood proved quite the potent weapon, and as a burst of willpower and essence signified Lizs [Hungering Weapon] had finished its first target, she ripped the spear from its tentacled housing, ready for her next victim.


    She spun her spear like a staff, gathering a vortex of me around it to ward off some questing tentacles moving fast enough that <em>Matt</em> could barely keep up with them. She singed then with the maneuver and left dark streaks of ashen blood in her wake. As soon as she was able to see her actual target, blood coalesced around her spear and [Bloody Cleave] took off the remaining threatening appendages. Silver blood flowed through the air from the wounds and into Lizs body.


    While Matts attempts at making spatially expanded storage areas for Liz went nowhere, and some minormissions didnt hold up well inside her body while also not affecting her health, he had managed to craft a tiny metal insert for the back of her wrist that could either allow blood to pass through or not as she desired.


    It had been decades since Liz had needed to cut herself to ess her blood, and Matt didnt want her to be forced to resume the habit. [Hypertension] and [Blood Storage] helped with her volume issues, but only sparingly. The former drastically increased the density of blood in her body, which was most useful for skills which reserved blood, such as [Blood Storage].


    [Inventory]s conversion wasnt nearly as useful as theyd hoped; instead of spatially storing blood, it allowed Liz to reserve some blood to transform another object <em>into</em> blood. It took up less volume than the original item had, but unfortunately, it didnt yet work on blood that was already hers. Still, Lizs Tier 3 Talent allowed her to <em>very</em> rapidly refill on blood duringbat, so she was rarely short on her primary element, even if she had to scale back the size of her workings.


    Once they were off the Path, theyd figure out some form of solution, but if Liz could figure out a way to properly store her own blood inside itself, she wouldnt need to worry about it.


    Aster arrived borne upon a [Tailwind] elemental steed, flitting around the battlefield at high speeds as [Meadows of Rime] and [Absolute White] slowed theshing tentacles to a speed that was best described as only very fast, which they were more than equipped to handle.


    Unfortunately, the monsters didnt seem to be particrly affected by the cold that Aster passively created as a byproduct of her skills, likely indicating a resistance to the element.


    It wasnt a great resistance to encounter, but at least they werent <em>immune</em>. Not that there was such a thing as true immunity. If something wouldnt burn, that just meant your me wasnt strong enough. The same applied with cold.


    True to form, Aster yipped in triumph as her Concept took hold of the monsters, allowing ice and frost to creep along their tentacles.


    The armor and spiritual defense piercing effect she had received from Folded Reflections had been focused and practiced with more than any of the others, at Lunas insistence. It benefited from a substantial reduction in cost thanks to Mind Over Matter, and prevented Aster from ever being truly deprived of her greatest tool.


    Matt finished frying his third monster and switched his sword to its melee form, allowing the wind to catch him and whip him up into the sky and leaving a trail of [Afterimage]s in his wake. The illusions did their job, and several were destroyed as the monster took vengeance for its fallenrades. At the peak, he reversed direction and sped downwards, draining mana from the mana stones sewn into the inner lining of his sleeve to fuel a rapid session of [Wind Cutter], [Double Tap], and [Wind Cutter] again, this time further strengthened by [Hypersonic Edge].


    The spellbo would be pricey for a normal warrior, but for him, the drained mana stones were refilled in a fraction of a second. [Double Tap] doubled the power of his second [Wind Cutter], and between that and the modifications the skill had undergone in the past years, it was evenrger than Susannes had been with her greatsword. It was now a massive crescent de of wind that stretched out to a thirty-foot arc before finally carving a massive furrow in the ground, leaving five dead monsters in its wake. With his boon from Winter, Matt was able to guide the cutting edge somewhat, striking weak points and chasing down any who attempted to dodge, while also fighting off another monster who had gotten close.


    From behind, a nearly-invisible projectile mmed into Matt, piercing [Cracked Phantom Armor] and embedding itself in the underside of his arm, only stopping on a [Barbarians Hide]-reinforced bone.


    He sent a quick message to Liz and Aster warning them to reinforce their defenses, then did so for himself.


    The years it had spent in his innate skill slot had been good for Matts oldest skill, and it had reached the point where it was impractical to put as much mana as he possibly could into [Cracked Phantom Armor] at all times. His secondyer now took enough mana to manifest entire <em>tes</em> of armor over him, and he focused those tes primarily on his head and chest, giving himself a blue breastte and helmet over his normal armor. Hed already seen that he could take an attack to the arm and be fine, after all.


    A [Mages Hand] yanked the spine from his limb, and he crashed into the ground at full force, mming into the monster. It tried to entrap and snare him with its tentacle-like limbs, but Matt unleashed a Concept shockwave and sted it to pieces from the inside.


    As he started to charge the explosion once more, he let the wind catch him, blowing him out of the way of a descending tentacle. A pair of gustster, Matt had cleaved the offending appendage in half and was unleashing a massive [methrower] to scorch and burn its stoney skin.


    Liz grabbed his extraneous me for one of her own attacks, burning the monsters until they were nothing more than puddles of blood to keep the whirlwind going.


    The monsters werent especially tough for Tier 18 enemies, clearly not dedicated to defense. While their movements were odd and jerky, they were trivially easy to predict with their respective AIs once they learned the movement style. They barely even cast any spells, which was somewhat unusual for such high-tier monsters, but he wouldntin about good fortune.


    A barrage of spines flew at his back, wreathed in silver light, and Matt was forced to take them as he was locked inbat with another three of the creatures. He reinforced the spots where they were going to hit slightly, but didnt need to bother, as his armors secondyer blocked the attacks admirably.


    Liz bathed in the blood of her enemies, silver glinting in the wake of her passage as she ranps around the monsters. She managed to make the tentacles, a full five tiers above her, look <em>clumsy</em> as she danced an intricate dance of death. A good deal of it was thanks to Asters aid, of course, but it still looked impressive as [Hungering Blood] fed back into her [Bloodrush], making her fast and faster as she picked her foes to pieces.


    Aster stood proud atop an icy spire serving as the crowning piece of a garden made of frozen nts. Rift monsters rabidly attacked her, only to be sliced open by [Meadows of Rime], frozen into ce, and drained of life by Winters Embrace.


    Another nigh-invisible spine nearly struck Matt in the leg, but he teleported out of the way, spun, and sent a return [Cracked Mana Spear] in the direction of the offending monster, wherever it was.


    A [Bulwark] intercepted another one of the spines, this one aimed at Aster, but between the two spines, Matt was able to figure out where the culprit was, namely half-buried in the rock and taking shots of opportunity. He was able toyer enough [Cracked Mana Trap]s on top of it that the next time the monster tried to emerge, it was instantly reduced to twitching piles of flesh.


    They fought for somewhere between five and ten minutes. Liz was able to fuel her spells well enough with [Lesser Blood Sacrifice] and even [Lesser Sacrifice] that she needed only asional assistance from Matts Concept to keep up, but Aster required his Concepts full focus to keep functional. Fortunately, the single-target championing mode of his Concept was close enough to its base mana-granting ability that he could keep it up for hours before hed need to take a break.


    Aster detonated a portion of her ice garden with [Cracked Shatter], the explosion killing another dozen of the monsters, and Liz mmed into the final morass of monsters with a veritable wall of silver. Her blood turned her shield bash into a wall of destruction, vaporizing thest of their enemies. After, it spiraled into Lizs spear, with the ck steel hungrily drinking gallons of blood until it gleamed like a sunset.


    Matt sent out another pulse of [Earth Maniption] to find more hidden enemies, but saw nothing. Even the fallen bodies in front of him simply didnt register as existing, or taking up any space.


    Liz joined him, bringing with her an unconsumed sphere of blood.


    The only reason it''s not turning into stone at the moment is because Im connected to it with my Talent. This <em>blood</em> Matt almost smiled as Liz stressed the word. Is hardly blood. Its liquid stone the same way mercury is liquid metal.


    Aster flicked an armored ear in question. So its stone thats just liquid at room temperature?


    Basically. Theres some magic involved, but the blood will transform to stone at the slightest opportunity, once it stops moving. I can get it going again afterwards, but Im pretty sure theyre more elemental or golem-like than their well, everything else would suggest. If they arent moving, I need to actually treat it like its stone to control it at all.


    Aster nodded. So some kind of hibernation?


    Liz nodded. Thats my guess. Theyve also got really good camouge of some kind, which is why [Earth Maniption] isnt finding them.


    Aster grinned right back at him. Only one way to tell.


    Matt slipped his arm under Liz and willed them into the air. Liz was technically able to fly with her Concept these days, but it was slow, unwieldy, and was in practice more akin to hovering. So, she and Matt still tended to fly together any time when speed was important or when willpower was in short demand as it was so much cheaper for him to use [Air Maniption].


    His boon from Winter, and the ability to drop the skill into an innate slot for a few weeks at a time, had led Luna to teach him a particr usage of the skill that mimicked the Tier 26 [Windsurfing]. The effect was that he could treat himself, and any passengers, as though they were weightless, and thus able to be freely blown through the air on even a slight breeze. It was <em>certainly</em> easier than his earlier method of freezing the air around him, faster, and far more agile.


    Plus, it was fun, and the novelty hadnt worn off yet.


    Below them, he and Liz each took hold of the ground. It was tricky, intecing their control of the dirt and stone, as each of their respective magics wanted to take full control of the area, but theyd practiced this, and could manage it just fine.


    Once their grips were adequately solid, they both twisted the ground in opposite directions as hard as they could.


    There was a distinctck of a reaction, prompting Matt to worry for a few moments until the essence started rushing up from the ground.


    At first, Matt was pleased by the result, but then, on second thought, frowned. Liz voiced his thought an instant before he could.


    Swarm?


    Aster cocked her head, then nodded. They were too easy. Tier 17 strength at most.


    Even Tier 13 monsters tended to have at least three spells, and the monsters theyd fought so far had one, maybe two, depending on how their camouge and quills worked. Only extremely physical-focused monsters wouldnt have <em>something</em> at this point, and the monsters certainly werent tough enough to be focused on their bodies.


    And of course, a Tier 18 monster shouldnt be weaker than a Tier 17 monster.


    Was it possible? Yes.


    Would Luna have kicked them out of the rift the moment she saw the rift wasnt as strong as a proper Tier 18 rift should be? Also yes.


    Which meant there was an issue.


    Matt released Liz, allowing her to float to the ground on her own power, and let an updraft carry him further into the sky. He passed a substantial amount of mana to [Rangers Sight], allowing the vision enhancement to aid his scan of a massive portion of the rift.


    He thought about using his spiritual sense, but that could be felt by monsters, and he didn''t think that alerting the real monsters of the rift was a good idea quite yet.


    After a few minutes, he had nothing new andnded.


    Ive got nothing. Shrugging, Matt looked up to the abused moon hovering over them. I don''t think we should go up there until we understand what is going on down here, though.


    In preparation, they took turns applying their life-support systems to their armor. It was niche enough that most suits of armor didnt include protection from hazardous environments that wasnt cold or hot, but when blind delving rifts it was an invaluable investment.


    As they carried on and with no reason not to, they advanced through the rift, with Matt and Liz killing off swathes of the horde with carefully-positioned [Earth Maniption]s.


    They had been in the rift for close to an hour when they all saw the light change. They looked up to see the tentacles in the moon glowing and writhing, flicking its tentacles at them in a way uneasily reminiscent of the swarm-monsters flung projectiles.


    With no desire to stick around for whatever moon-scale assault was headed their way, Matt and Liz grabbed the earth around them, digging down as far and as fast as they could, making a bubble of stone for the three of them. As their now-unleashed spiritual perceptions picked up the first iing projectiles, Matt halted and reinforced the roof above them with [Bulwark], joining Asters [Snowpack] in keeping the stone from copsing.


    The earth shook as dozens of skyscraper-sized pirs of stone mmed into the ground and monsters flooded out, veritably blotting out the sky as they flit and jerked through the air like mosquitoes. For each spire, a dozenrger, golden monsters emerged that his spiritual perception tagged as far more of a threat than their lesser brethren. They were likely the next stage of the rift monsters, tougher and more important than the disposable pawns theyd been dealing with.


    Matt nced at Liz. His girlfriend wasnt acting concerned, and while her helmet was as imcable as ever, with his spiritual sense he could see her wide smile, tongue pressed against a canine in anticipation.


    You know, I was worried there for a moment, that wed have to deal with the bosses <em>after</em> all my buffs had run out. She turned to Matt and asked, Spot me?


    Always.


    The grin grew wider as she responded, Love you.


    Liz closed her eyes and began muttering mnemonics under her breath, forming and using potions directly in her bloodstream as Matt moved their earth bubble up and up, flying through the ground as they neared the surface.


    They erupted from the ground in an explosion of wind and fire with Lizunching herself up to the closest monster, her spear glowing with an ominous red light as she stabbed it. It tried to fight back, but with Asters contributions, it was having a hard enough time simply staying airborne. It was only a matter of time before Liz finished it off, and as the monster plummeted to the ground, [Hungering Blood] drained it dry, and Liz leaped to the next-closest monster.


    She couldnt kill the monsters with a single blow, but she <em>could</em> make them bleed, and that was all she needed. Silver blood streamed from open wounds as Liz ran alongshing tentacles, building up speed from [Bloodrush] and feeding through her weapon into strengthening its attacks and her own cultivation. [Lesser Blood Sacrifice], [Hungering Weapon], and her own Concept all reveled in the bloodbath as wounds refused to close and bled profusely thanks to [Blood Wind], and it all fed into making her an unstoppable gold and silver juggernaut.


    Soon, Liz was killing a member of the swarm with every strike, diving <em>through</em> the jerking masses of tentacles and adding their blood to an ever-growing wave following her. It quickly got to the point where she was simply incapable of controlling the sheer volume of semi-earth blood around her, and it erupted in a congration so massive, Matt could feel it from where he was.


    He wasntpletely idle, of course. While Liz enjoyed letting loose, he was keeping an eye on anything that could serve as an interruption to her enthusiasm. That necessitated being in the sky, and the monsters werent about to let that happen. Theyd been attacking him, but he was staying within range of Asters [Headwind] and [Tailwind], rendering the monsters slow y enough that he could avoid the swarm without difficulty. He couldnt afford to get hit, of course, but Asters efforts made that a fairly minor concern. Instead, he spent most of his time funneling 5,000 mana each second into [Sheer Cold] and unleashing it periodically.


    While 10,000 mana made for a very sizable area of effect, the monsters were resistant enough to ice that it took several seconds of charging between each cast if he didnt want to just waste his mana. The spell wasnt that efficient in a purely mana to damage ratio, but with his ability to throw mana at the problem, even the Tier 18, cold resistant monsters were overwhelmed and killed off by the thousands. At least, the lesser variants were. The gold monsters seemed to be able to shake off his quick burst of [Sheer Cold], but it wasnt his job to kill them.


    The other half of his mana, of course, was being spent on all of his buffs, defenses, mobility, and asional [Arcane Powershot] or burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] intercepting a monster attempting to sneak in an attack on Liz.


    Even as he watched, a [Blood Whip] snagged the passing tentacle of one of the golden elite monsters, and Lizunched herself into the air above it, kicked off another monster, and dove at the elite. It summoned a stone-gray barrier that shattered like ss under Lizs attack, and while her attack failed to kill it, it tore off one of the monsters tentacles and sent the creature into a death spiral. [Headwind] refused to allow the beast to regain its bnce and sent it plummeting to the ground below.


    Aster finished off the monster with a titanic [cial Spear], the mountain of ice only made slightly less impressive by the dozen monstrous spires of ck stone dotting thendscape.


    An AI message came, and Liz responded by igniting her tide of blood, creating a new sun on the surface of the rift. Red and gold mes washed out as her ammunition ignited, a massive cascade of mes immting much of the remaining swarm. Matt flew to meet her, catching her by the hand and jetting them to the ground, sheltering behind a [Bulwark] as Aster detonated her [cial Spear] with a [Cracked Shatter].


    The resulting explosion shook thendscape and sent nearly all the remaining swarm monsters tumbling to the ground, frozen solid. Even some of the elites fell from the sky, either caught in the st radius or bludgeoned by their in brethren. Aster was merciless with any of the monsters who stumbled for even a moment, her winds casting them to the ground like oversized pebbles.


    Matt gave Lizs hand a quick squeeze, dropped his [Bulwark], and sted them back into the sky, some fragments of tentacle monsters caught in the updraft and joining their madcap pursuit of the elites.


    Aster joined them en route, perched on a flying cloud and locking down the air around them for any of their enemies. Their first enemy glowed with a reddish-gold light and shot a [Mana Bolt]-like projectile that tracked them even as Matt sought to dodge. The st broke through his initial [Bulwark] and was only stopped by abination of [Diffusion Shield] and [Bulwark].


    Once they reached it, the first elite barely even slowed them down, between Lizs still-empowered spear and Matts apanying [Cracked Mana Spear]. It exploded into rubble and essence, instantly filling up Matts spirit twice over as he directed most of the iing essence directly into his core, and the rest into [Lesser Sacrifice]. It had taken lots of practice to properly allocate essence on the fly, but hed had practice material to spare.


    He spun in the air,unching Liz at the next elite like a discus while diving towards a second one in tandem with Aster. [methrower] billowed out, engulfing the both of them in light-blue mes as he allowed Aster to convert the fire to ice-aspect and use it for fuelling her own skills. Wind and snow cracked the golden hide of the monster and ice umted on its skin courtesy of [cial Strike]. By the time he was within melee range of the monster, teleporting past a bright red shield it tried to raise, the ice was thick enough that he could cast [Cracked Mana Trap] on it.


    The detonation sted a hole in the side of the elite, and Matt finished it off with his sword burying his de into the beast up to the hilt and channeling a [Bolt] through it, then ripping it to pieces as he centered his Concepts repulsion on his sword. The fragments of stone fell to the ground far below, and Matt used [Air Body] to quickly reposition himself near a pair of Liz-shaped beings of blood. One vanished and the other manifested itself as his girlfriend bathed in the blood of her former enemy, ending both her [Lesser Blood Clone] and [Blood Body].


    [Lesser Mana Clone] was a difficult skill to control, normally requiring full concentration to manage, and [Lesser Blood Clone] was no different. However, Liz had learned that while in [Blood Body] form, she could have her clone either duplicate or mirror her actions withparative ease. Anything else was still impractical, though they hoped once she got the hang of Concept duplication, she could manage more autonomy for less focus.


    Hand in hand, they dove once more into the fray.


    It took them nearly a week to clear off all the monstersndside, as the moon had sent out a new wave of enemies in the skyscraper-sized ships once a day. Even approaching immortality, they werent quite able to go indefinitely without sleep, particrly with such exhaustingbat, but they were able to get some rest between monster waves. It mostly reset Lizs momentum, her buffs fueled by the deaths of enemies all needing to be constantly fed or wither away, but she also appreciated the amount of practice they provided her. If anything, each day was <em>easier</em> as the rift sent half as many spires with each barrage.


    They werent quite untouched, of course. Matt had a few minor flesh wounds and a fairly nasty gash across his abdomen that would have needed a professional healer had Liz not been able to tend to it quickly with her [Lifeblood Maniption]. Aster had a few broken bones that would take a couple weeks to heal without further medical attention, and Lizs intestines were lightly perforated after shed taken a barrage of quills to the gut at one point. But her own healing was more than enough to keep her upright and fighting.


    Once no more pirs fell from the sky and they had killed all the monsters hidden in the ground, the three of them were forced to look up at the moon.


    Flying up thankfully didnt trigger the monster to throw more pirs of stone at them, but it did start to wave some of the smaller tentacles around thergest crack at them, throwing train car-sized stone pirs at them like the drone monsters did.


    Thankfully, they had enough control over their flight to dodge everything, but it still left them with a serious issue.


    How do we kill that thing? Matt asked through their AI.


    He was currently sharing his vision of the boss with his AI, having enhanced his sight with [Telescope] and [Ranger''s Sight]. The two of thembined to let the trio see the boss even from their distant perspective.


    The boss was thankfully not the entire moon monster but rather seemed to be the exposed heart of the moon, visible and reachable through the crack in the outermostyer of the satellite. It pulsed and wriggled even as the canyon leading down towards it wriggled with the stone tentacles.


    Aster ventured her opinion. Frankly, I don''t want to kill it. It can have space, and we can have the ground. It''s a victory in my books.


    Her tone said she was only half joking, but Matt considered it even as they floated to the side to dodge an iing pir of stone.


    Liz shook her head. I hate to admit it, but you might be right. I don''t see how we can fight tentacles that big. Even if the biggest ones that sent the ships out don''t swing at us, the <em>smaller</em> ones guarding the canyon are hundreds of feet long and thick as a building. I just don''t know if we can st through that much stone.


    Matt was still thinking things over when both women looked at him.


    Offering up his idea, he asked. Which do we want to try first? [Skewer], or [Arcane Powershot]?


    [Arcane Powershot], Liz answered. Im not risking my spear against that thing.


    Aster flicked her tail and huffed out a breath of air that vanished into the void. Hell need to stand still for so long, and we definitely cant block any more of those spires if youre tied up aiming.


    Well, well have warning, Matt pointed out. The minimum charge time isnt longer than the travel time for the pirs, if we see an attack iing I can just shoot off a weaker arrow and reposition.


    Liz shrugged, Its better than getting <em>closer</em>. Lets see if we can make this work.


    ***


    Luna watched as her charges nned how to protect Matt long enough for his [Arcane Powershot] to gather enough mana to do enough damage to deal with thergest tentacles and then slowly move in.


    She knew the n would work because she had already inspected the moon creature when they first entered the rift. It was big and looked scary, but thoserger tentacles were mostly mana constructs, and wouldnt be able to stand up to a single fully charged [Arcane Powershot].


    Once they learned that, they would easily be able to clear out the remaining tentacles and then waltz in and kill the writhing mess of stone and silvery blood that was the boss of this rift.


    Even though she was separating herself and Kurt from the rift in a bubble, so it didnt affect their rewards, she still controlled her [Air Maniption] so only he could hear.


    A Tier 18 rift at Tier 13. Not the hardest Tier 18 rift, but they went in blind and wille out alive.


    Kurt silently sighed before writing. Im impressed. Where do we go from here?


    Luna knew what he was asking, and it was only long experience that gave her that answer.


    The normal answer for pushing a team was to make them delve higher, or delve with restrictions, but her team was at the point where they constantly ran the risk of being killed by a single blow, and already used their best spells with discretion.


    It was only true Ascender teams who pushed a manager this far, and while Kurt was her protege, he had only started working with her after L, herst Ascender, so he hadn''t learned her methods.


    Weve forged their de, Kurt, now we just need to sharpen it.

 Chapter 221

    Chapter 221


    Matt sat at the table of their house and stretched while waiting for Aster to finish getting ready.


    Luna had given them a full three days off after their Tier 18 rift delve as she and Kurt set up their next phase of testing.


    April, on the other hand, nned to apany them to the city and help them set up their transport to The Citadel, Rustys capital, where an Ascension would be taking ce in another three years.


    Even as disconnected as they had been, the news that Yellow would be ascending had reached even their ears, both through the guild members they talked to and in the nearby town.


    With five years of warning, Yellow had created an Empire-wide rush to The Citadel for those who were stuck at Tier 14 without their Concept, and those like them who wanted an advantage to creating their Intents. The former were desperate for any reason not to have to enter Minka, and everyone else was happy to get some additional progress on furthering their Domains.


    At the same time, the Empire was massive, and it would take a full decade to reach The Citadel if they were to only travel through teleporters, but that wasnt the only way to travel in the Empire.


    Nearly the same day the news reached them, the local noble from the Adair family notified everyone that he wasmissioning a transport vessel to take himself and anyone else who wanted to join the journey to The Citadel.


    The optimistic portion of Matt saw it as a nice way for the noble to ensure everyone else was able to reach The Citadel in time, but his cynical side said it was either a way to reduce his own cost, or he was getting a kickback from each ticket sale.


    That same side said it could be, and probably was, both.


    Information about chaotic ships wasn''t hidden, but they were both expensive to buy and expensive to run. The ship that would be stopping to get them was a Tier 25 cargo ship that took shipments of higher Tier foodstuffs between outer Empire worlds and the more populous inner Empire worlds normally, but had willingly allowed their contract to be bought out and redirected to The Citadel.


    Matt was sure they would even be able to sell off their foodstuffs to the plethora of vendors in the six system that would soon be flooded with people even if they we some of the more exotic food stuffs that usually went to capital worlds.


    Immortals might not need to eat, but few chose to neglect their food intake. It was a good way to keep your body running smoothly, helped with biological processes such as recovering from healing cooldown, could serve as a cultivation aid when prepared by a professional chef, and ultimately just tasted good.


    As one of the few Tier 45s, there was a sizable immortal poption in the The Citadel system at all times. With an ascension given so much lead time, there would be even more, but Yellow had timed his ascension to coincide with the end of the Tier 10 Pather tournament, which would have already drawn in arge number of people.


    They would be cramped even in the enormous cargo ship they would be aboard, and the ticket price wouldnt be cheap.


    Aster had asked why Luna couldn''t just fly them with her own ship, or if she wasnt healed enough by Kurt, but that had been disregarded. She only said that they needed to pay their own way on The Path, which made sense, even if it would be annoying.


    As Aster finished getting ready to visit thergest city on this, the three of them prepared to spend a full two days rxing.


    April was waiting for them, and the first thing they noticed was that her once golden blonde hair now had a silvery sheen to it, and was cut much shorter.


    Decided to change things up? His question was met with a grin.


    Exactly. Ive been blonde for nearly twenty years, and it was time to move on. It''s kinda fun, and I''m not nning to have kids any time soon, so Im free to go wild.


    Aster asked the question on all of their minds. Kids? Why would that matter?


    April gestured to her hair. Hair color, eye color, skin color, and general size arent controlled factors in the Empire, but it''s rmended to choose one of the epted forms if you are deliberately trying for a child, if only for the kids'' sake. There is also a social custom where, if you settle down for an extended time, you change your form to match the locals if you are on a low enough Tier world for that to be a thing. Better to blend in and all.


    April contented to exin some of the social exceptions of higher Tier which Matt thought over as they flew up and nearly past the atmosphere, where they could fly as fast as his full mana output could take them.


    It seemed to make sense, and it exined the gic diversity that he saw on a higher Tier like this, as opposed to his home having everyone be some shade of tan to pale, while the next over had people of a much darker skin tone.


    It just wasnt something he ever really thought of. Immortals, with their ability to change their gics, would pass down any of a million variations of skin, hair, and eye color to any children.


    It also exined why the general poptions didn''t vary so much. Mortals had more kids, and those kids would marry amongst themselves, quickly outnumbering any single variation that an immortal might breed into a local poption. When that wasbined with the fact most people never left the city they were born in let alone the continent or poptions started too look homogeneous inparison to the more popted systems.


    Matt wasnt able to ponder the idea for too long as they quickly arrived at the city, and the first thing they did was stop by a governmental building to register for a spot to The Citadel.


    It was annoying that they needed to do it in person, but it was the rule the Adair family had set up. Their reason was enhanced security, but that was bullshit, and everyone knew it. He was sure it was <em>truly</em> to drive more traffic to the city and its amenities more than anything else. AI signatures could be faked, but it was hard enough that almost no one bothered for small things like this.


    When they finally got to the front of the line, Matt nearly swore at the man sitting behind the desk.


    Standard fare for a Tier 15 in the vacuum of a cargo hold is a Tier 16 mana stone. A ce with a breathable atmosphere will cost a Tier 17 mana stone per person. A bunk in a room with five other people is a Tier 18 mana stone, and finally, a private room is a Tier 25 mana stone. No exceptions. No negotiations.


    The mans bored tone suggested he had both exined this and dealt with the expected reactions for days, and a probe at his cultivation showed he was Tier 16, and very well could have been working here since the news was spread.


    Despite their wealth in items, they didnt have any Tier 19 mana stones, though they did have seven Tier 18 stones from their sessful delve of the rift yesterday. So while they could afford it, things would be cramped and ufortable.


    Liz opened her mouth to speak, but the man behind the desk flicked a finger at them, and their AIs notified them of a packet of information being sent their way. As Matt scanned it, he was half tempted to find the noble of this ce and punch them in the nose.


    They were offering credit to anyone who couldnt afford the initial cost of the ticket for the small fee of thirty five percent interestpounded every decade from when they left for The Citadel. For the slow, methodical delving rate of most Tier 14 teams struggling to reach Tier 15, or even those who had reached Tier 15 or higher, this was a serious debt that they would struggle to pay back in a reasonable time frame.


    Matt almostughed in anger as he realized that it was even worse for those under Tier 15 who still needed to do mortal things, like breathe, as they would need to pay for the much more expensive tickets.


    This was pure, shameless extortion.


    Flipping through his lessons with Luna, Kurt, and April, he understood the reasoning the Adair''s were using to get away with such a high initial cost and high percentage on the loan. The transfer to The Citadel wasntpulsory, and they also had the option of using the teleporters, buying their own ship, or even renting space in someone else''s ship.


    All things Matt noticed were avable with a quick AI search of theNet.


    The prices for the non-noble backed ships were cheaper, in some cases suspiciously cheap, but there was a variable of risk there. While the transfer would be registered by the local AIs, there wasnt anything stopping someone from robbing you in chaotic space and simply saying there were bandits or something that intercepted them, no matter how unlikely that was.


    After a brief conversation, they decided they would pay for the bunks in a shared room.


    The man almost tried to charge them for a bunk for Aster, but seeing her small size and understanding she could share a bunk with Liz without issue, he relented and only charged them for an atmosphere ticket for her, saving them a bit of money.


    April hadnt interfered with the purchase, and Liz asked as soon as they left the building, Should we have bargained harder? Gone somewhere else? Punched him in the face?


    Thestment earned a snort from April. Thest would have been a bad idea no matter how good it would have felt, and for the rest, it''s up to you. It might have been worth your time to shop around and talk to the others with ships. This system has a lot of traffic that will most likely be moving towards The Citadel in the next few years, but those choices would have either gotten you there a year or more early, or cut it so close you wouldn''t have wanted to risk it. And there is always the risk of bandits, even if it''s very rare. With so many ships moving towards The Citadel, it''s easier than ever to pick off a smaller ship or two.


    April shrugged as she finished. I think it was a fine choice to take the Adair ship.


    Matt pursed his lips, wanting to find some way to refute her, but ended uping up empty. While he was pretty sure the Adair family and the ship were acting as pirates themselves, clearly taking advantage of everyone, he couldnt discount the fact that they might not be making as much money as he believed.


    He had no idea of the actual margins of shipping high Tier foodstuffs over long distances, but knew from his Folded Reflections life as both a guild leader and chef that high Tier food was expensive to buy, and even more to sell. As a chef, he had seen the paper thin margins most restaurants operated at for most of their meals.


    Thinking back to the prices, he still doubted it.


    Unless the foodstuffs were being thrown away, they could be sold at their destination to make up most of the cost. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Matt decided to ignore it and hope too many people didnt take the Adairs extortionist loans, though he knew some would be forced to do so.


    Once they finished up there, April left them to do her own thing after dropping them off at the hotel they had rented. They splurged and bought a nicer room, but not a suite, as they didnt intend to spend too much time in their room on this trip.


    Instead, they immediately went to an art gallery they had been looking at that promised a psychedelic adventure through color and sound. It was put together by a local Tier 17 artist with a modicum of fame.


    Matt felt the world spinning as he stumbled out of the end of the hallway while Lizughed.


    Dont be a baby. It wasn''t that bad.


    Aster, who was covering her eyes with her paws, groaned, That was awful. How can you enjoy that?


    Matt nodded, even if he knew it wasnt an entirely fairint. Part of the issue was that both he and Aster had an adverse reaction, and through their bond, that reaction had fed off the others, and they hadnt recognized it as such until it was toote.


    Liz looked like she had just taken a stimnt and bounced on her feet. Come on! Next up is the motion statues exhibit, and it seems less mind bendy.


    Matt and Aster were both grateful that it was much easier on their stomachs, and all three of them were able to enjoy their walkthrough of the varied statues that told stories through their slow movements.


    But undeniably, their favorite was the Exhibit of Rift Monsters, which was amusing to walk through and read thements given by the artist.


    Aster snickered. Ah yes, the shadow ape. A formidable opponent only to be challenged by those a Tier up or with a direct counter.


    She snorted at the end, and Matt had to bite his lip to resistughing though Liz joined his bond without hesitation.


    I don''t think weve fought anything in here at the rmended Tiers or with the strategies suggested. Are we bad delvers?


    She dramatically gasped, which made Matt lose it, and he joined in on theughing.


    It wasnt actually funny, but more so absurd how different their point of views were from the average person''s when it came to delving.


    After they left the art gallery they moved towards another immortal attraction. While open to anyone with at least an AI imnt, the game centers main clientele were immortals. This was inrge part thanks to theirpleteck of true biological needs allowing them to do year- or even decade-long gaming sessions with no adverse health effects.


    While Matt had never actually yed any game that even featured full-dive capabilities, he knew they existed. SSEs, or Single Server Experiences, were some of thergest games in the realm, allowing countless individuals to share a massive virtual world, and some of thergest had an entire dedicated to a single immensely popr game. There were even some <em>multary</em> games, which from what Matt knew of, inter-worldmunications had to be the result of one or more Talents supporting the connection.


    Still, by the time hed really learned about them, Matt had been far too busy with the Path to get into them, and the few games that his AI waspatible with that he had tried out had always felt wasteful. He didnt need to worry about saving his mana, after all, and he could always benefit from practicing his maniption skills instead. Hed heard that the Unbroken had used a simr setup for training, but Matt could just practice <em>in reality</em> for free, and had never felt the draw.


    There was actually a <em>lot</em> of really impressive enchanting-work that went into the simtions, Matt found as he looked into the technology. Servers were always built around the proper [Artificial Intelligence] Tier 26 skill, but they rarely used just that. [Library] for storage, [Simte Item], [Simte Building], [Simte Motion], and [Simte Water] were just the absolute tip of the spear for the utter gauntlet of simtion skills involved, and while it was possible to interface with many games with just [Artificial Intelligence], [Heads-Up Disy] and [Imagined Reality] could supplement or outright rece the enchanted interface pods if Tier 20 or 32 skills were in the budget.


    But he tried to not get too sucked into the inner workings of what he was quickly learning was involved in <em>all</em> city AI setups. They were, after all, intentionally trying to waste time, and Liz and Aster both wanted to try out a proper game, so they rented a set of pods and rented a local multiyer game they could try out for a few hours as they grew ustomed to the technology. The game they chose was a nonbat production style game, where the three of them needed to work in a stylized restaurant and take ever moreplex orders while food literally flew through the air.


    It started easy enough, but eventually, they were overwhelmed by the chaos, and they failed the level and started over with a few buffs they had earned from theirst run. They yed that game for a while before moving onto a tower defense game, where one of them took turns defending against the others, who sent wave after wave against the defender.


    It was dark when they left the still brightly glowing gaming center and went to find something to eat. Instead of trying to find some fancy restaurant, they decided to try and find the lowest Tier restaurants they could, and then use their greater cultivation to quickly process the food before moving on.


    They hit seven restaurants before Aster finally tapped out, saying she was stuffed.


    Feeling quite full himself, Matt also bowed out, even as Liz put down two more bowls of noodles at their final restaurant. After that, they wandered the city for another hour as they let their stomachs settle and went back to their rooms to sleep in.


    The next day, Matt woke up to a cold chest as Aster decided she needed to curl up on him. Wrapping her up in a nket, he was about to use [Fire Maniption] to grab some heat from the air and bring it around his chest to warm him up, when he heard the shower was on.


    Aster was too damn cold for her own good, but Liz clearly knew she had done that, and simply left him to his fate. A decision she would soon regret.


    Slipping into the bathroom, he grabbed Liz and hugged her to his frozen chest despite her squeals and squirming.


    Let me go, you asshole! Youre freezing, and I just warmed up.


    Matt tucked his head into her neck as heughed. This is vengeance for letting me get that cold.


    After they both warmed up, Matt and Liz found Aster flopped on the couch with a show ying on the screen mounted to the wall.


    Matt flicked her tail as he went to sit down. Any ns before our massages?


    Aster let out a long groan. Im not moving from here until the massages. I want to be pampered. Ive got this knot in my left leg thats killing me.


    Matt patted her through her fluff in agreement.


    He was most certainly looking forward to a few hours of pampering.


    Like all good things, their vacation came to an end as they returned to Luna and Kurt, who weed them back into the grind of delving.


    Or at least, that was what they expected.


    Instead of throwing them into a rift, Luna sat them down outside and paced in the air as she talked.


    You three have reached a point in an Ascender''s training that only those who make it reach. As Tier 13s, you havepleted a low Tier 18 delve, which is about as high as anyone can delve up. Even sending you into a mid Tier 18 rift would mean a single mistake was fatal, and Id need to save you, which is a pointless level of risk. So instead of pushing you to delve higher, we will start more detailed training.


    She jumped to the ground and then asked, If I send a [Fireball] at you, what is your reaction?


    At the same time, a small marble sized me appeared over her tail, which gently swished back and forth.


    Knowing his manager, Matt immediately rolled backwards off the chair he was sitting on and then to the side, all the while watching her with his spiritual perception.


    Seeing she wasnt actually attacking them, all three of them stopped and Luna continued. Dodging is the preferred defense, but what do you do if you can''t dodge? If you are surrounded?


    Matt got up, and after brushing himself off, said, Block?


    Luna arched an eyebrow at him, even in cat form. Is that a question or a statement, Matt?


    Smiling, he said, Yes.


    That earned him a flick of the tail and apanying [Fireball]. Dropping to the ground, he was able to dodge it and swore he heard a chuff of amusement, even as Luna spoke using [Air Maniption].


    Dodging is a valuable tool, as it takes minimal energy and costs nearly nothing to avoid damage. Most people consider blocking to be the second, but why?


    Liz spoke up this time. Blocking costs energy, but if you were going to get hit, it''s better to spend the mana to use a spell to block it.


    Luna nodded but sat back on her rear legs before shrugging. That''s all true, but I''d consider you all to be missing an obvious answer.


    She looked at Matt and said. [Fireball] me.


    Doing as instructed, he cast a [Fireball] at Luna.


    Anyone observing this from the outside would have seen arge man trying to murder a small ck cat, but Matt knew the small cat was the most dangerous person on this by arge margin, and didnt hold back in the slightest.


    He wasnt sure what he expected, but his spell just fell apart like a paper ball hitting water, with bands of fire king off as the ball traveled until it was gone, less than a foot away from Luna.


    Matt felt like Aster as they both cocked their heads at the sight.


    Instead of blocking when you can''t dodge, it''s sometimes better to dissipate an enemy''s spells. This will be our first lesson of your advanced training.


    Kurt interjected with a raised finger as his pen flicked back and forth, writing, This is one of those things that''s hard to start and harder to master. Practically every spell you encounter will need to be deconstructed differently, and people can reinforce their spells to counter this, though rift monsters basically never do.


    His pen hesitated for a moment, but Luna seemed to say what he was thinking. This is typically a thing only taught to Tier 25s and higher in the army because it takes a degree of spiritual awareness, Domain strength, and a whole lot of practice. Its my specialty, and I don''t normally teach it until Tier 18 or so, but you three need something to challenge yourselves with.


    After that, Luna went over how to actually dismantle a spell.


    The first step is identifying the skill, something which is a lot easier when you have a copy of the spell in your own spirit.


    Aster didnt have a copy of the spell, but Luna simply had her feel the spell she had hovering over her tail.


    Now send mana into the spell, but don''t unleash it. Seeing they all did as instructed, she continued. Good. Now, look at how the skill is constructed in the air. Try and find the weak points. The nexuses and crossroads. Break enough of them, or the right one, and the spell will fall apart.


    All three of them easily dissipated their spells, and Luna grinned at them, white teeth shining.


    Now all you need to do is dissipate my [Fireball]s.


    Saying that, Luna conjured three [Fireball]s above her tail and started throwing them at the three of them.


    While the fireballs didnt harm them upon impact, they did leave a burning sensation painful enough that they quickly learned they needed to dodge.


    Matt slipped around a lick of me as he pulsed his Concept, trying to drain mana from his surroundings, but Luna immediately suppressed his Domain with her own.


    Dont try to run before you can walk, Matthew.


    Thusly rebuked, he returned to studying the skill structure and sending a stream of mana to unravel the spell. He failed utterly, and was rewarded with a fireball to the face.


    Aster seemed to have the right idea, he concluded, in trying to run away to get more time to analyze and attack the skill structure. He dodged another fireball and tried running past it, studying the spell for weaknesses.


    When that didnt yield results, he pulled out his sword and started using [Dispelling Edge],paring that skills effect to Lunas new method. From what he could tell, it worked simrly, cutting through the threads of the spell''s structure.


    Where it differed, however, was in specificity. Though <em>far</em> more efficient than anything Matt could even dream of aplishing at the moment, it cut through the entire spell rather than just the important parts, like destroying a building by cutting the entire thing in half, rather than taking out the supports. The advantage, of course, was in not needing to know where those supports were for each different building.


    Once he saw that, Matt put away his de and started to change his strategy.


    If there was one thing Matt had in spades, it was raw mana, and after getting some distance from Liz and Aster, he directed most of his mana pool to freely flow into the air, and using his mana control, he directed his mana towards the [Fireball]s Luna sent at him.


    Instead of attacking the weak points of the spell mid-flight, Matt just threw thousands of mana at the spell, hoping to break anything.


    And it worked.


    He almost didnt expect it, but the spell unraveled like a ball of ming yarn and he had to resist cheering. He most certainly wasnt doing it the way Luna wanted, but now that he had a feel for it, he was able to start making more directed attacks at the spell''s structure.


    Matt then ran into his arch-enemy. His mana control. To do what Luna wanted, he needed to be able to feel a moving spell''s structure, identify the weak points of said skill, and then finally pick those weak points apart with as little mana as possible.


    His spiritual sense was good enough that he was able to identify the skill structures without too much issue, but when it came to picking the spell apart, he ran into a wall.


    He had oven mitts on and a chainsaw, where everyone else was working with a scalpel.


    Even with years of training, his mana control was still behind where the others were. Though he had made up ground, the others werent stagnant, and had pulled ahead while increasing their own mana control as well.


    After the others got the hang of the new skill through a few weeks of training, he was starting tog behind unless he just threw mana at the problem. Liz in particr was doing quite well; her expertise with stealing spells from her opponents tranted admirably to their current task.


    He eventually started closing in on thedies sess, and while his method was far less efficient than either of theirs, he <em>was</em> seeding.


    Once they were dispelling the spells with some regrity, Luna stopped them. Now that you have the first step down, it''s time to work on a skill I havent deliberately made easier to dispel.


    ***


    After several months of explosive training, Luna directed them back at the rifts. Now I want you to delve Tier 13 rift while only using two offensive spells, and either dodging or dispelling all the attacks. No armor spells at all.


    The first rift Matt got was one with swarms of mice, and Luna had him destroy it before making a new one. The next one had centaur-like monsters that cast half a dozen projectile spells, which was exactly what Luna wanted.


    In a real fight, Matt managed to dispel exactly zero spells and was forced to dodge everything, but he felt he was growing used to the training. Though. he knew every attempt at dispelling a spell cost him far more mana than [Cracked Phantom Armor] would have used to block a same Tier spell.


    Once they got used to dispelling attacks, Luna changed their training once more. She had them delving Tier 15 rifts with a single spell as a group, but never allowed them to use a synergistic spell, or even one of their more frequently used spells.


    When she told him he was allowed to use [Cracked Mana Spear], Matt suspected something was wrong, and had that confirmed as he entered the rift and found himself in a small tunnel system.


    The training was brutal, as all of Lunas training was with her perfectionist tendencies, but Matt knew there was a method to the madness, and tried his best to internalize the lessons she was teaching them.


    Once they became proficient with even their oddest spells, Lunas training shifted once more to delving with simted injuries.


    Fighting Tier 15 monsters with both his legs broken was both annoying and dangerous. Matt actually had his right arm broken in that delve, and had to rely on more spells than he would have liked, but he also grew a new appreciation for his ability to fly with his Concept after that delve.


    Liz was even forced to spend some time at the local hospital under the tutge of a Tier 20 healer. Her tuition was an eye watering fifty Tier 17 mana stones, but they paid it at Lunas insistence.


    While Liz still wasnt <em>pleased</em> about being a healer, she kept most of herints to bedtime chats, and even then, it was primarily centered around how she was expected to treat even the absolute idiots who injured themselves doing something stupid with care and kindness.


    His question if shed had to deal with any kids who tried to fly using bedsheets for wings cost him dearly, but was <em>so</em> very worthwhile.


    The training still paid dividends, though. Liz had outpaced undirected healing spells for efficiency quite some time ago, but she was still improving, and was nearly able to reattach limbs already. Shed never be as good as a trained healer, let alone Melinda, but Matt was proud that she was delving into <em>all</em> aspects of blood magic, even the non-morous ones.


    It felt like only weekster when Luna had Kurt dispel all the rifts they had been using and told them to get ready to travel to Yellows Ascension.


    The fact they would also be getting their second Legacies was only icing on the cake.

 Chapter 222

    Chapter 222


    Matt looked into the sky, using [Telescope] to inspect the food hauler.


    It was <em>huge</em>.


    No, it was <em>massive</em>.


    At a mile from bow to stern and almost a third of that from port to starboard, the ship waspletely unable to enter a''s atmosphere. But then again, it didnt need to, with dozens of shuttles purpose-built to do exactly that.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster were with all the other lower Tiers waiting for the atmospheric shuttles just outside the city limits.


    All the Tier 15s and above who didnt need to breathe were able to directly fly to the massive rectangle floating above the, which Matt wished he could do instead of sitting around waiting in line. He was entirely confident that he could carry enough air with just [Air Maniption] to take them a couple hundred miles to reach therge ship, which would allow them to skip the predicament altogether.


    Despite hisining, their line moved fast enough. The moment one shuttle lifted off one of the five designatednding pads, another was quick to settle into the stop.


    As they got to the front of the line, Matt finally was able to get a good look at one of the shuttles and was mildly impressed.


    There were two models on disy. One was obviously part of the ships contingent, as everything but the frontal end was blocky, to maximize storage space and make it aerodynamic enough to get through an atmosphere and into space where it could dock.


    The other model was sleek, painted white with silver trimmings and the local nobilities heraldry on the side facing them. Despite being physically smaller, just as many people were funneled into the ship as the grain hauler, which spoke of a very impressive spatial expansion on the interior of the ship. It wasnt surprising, considering those few vessels were personally owned by the Adairs.


    Sadly, he wasnt able to inspect the nicer ship as their line was funneled into the more utilitarian ship next to it. With Aster draped across his shoulder, the three of them and close to a hundred others were herded into the ship by a local guard, and the moment the doors closed, their shuttle took off.


    With his spiritual perception stretched out past the hull of the ship, he was able to watch as they slowly threaded their way through the dozens of other ships taking off and arriving at the station, before reaching a clear stretch of sky where their speed rapidly increased.


    With a few minutes before they reached orbit and the hauler waiting there, Matt took the time to inspect the ship''s interior.


    It was very clearly a working vessel, with every surface equipped with recessed hooks and anchor points to attach to what could be a variety of containers. There were even a few pieces of grain still stuck in a few ces, along with what he believed were carrot leaves deteriorating in a corner.


    Liz was jostled into him as the turbulence of them cutting through the atmosphere vanished all at once, and things settled down. Someone bumped into Matt, and Aster growled at them, earning him a modicum of personal space back.


    Almost ten minutester, when they were nearing therger ship, Matt was finally able to sense the ship itself and was able to get a feeling just how big it was.


    Even as they approached, it felt like they were a fly trying tond on a building. At least, that was the feeling Matt had as they slowed down and entered the ship through a hangar bay covered in ayer of what he suspected was mana. It was supported by various enchantments to keep the air inside the ship.


    As their shuttlended and the doors opened, everyone quickly filed out and into the loading bay, where they were immediately directed to the side. There, a man wearing a uniform that Matts AI identified as belonging to the shippingpany that owned this ship addressed them.


    Wee to the FTS Lydia. We, as our designation implies, are generally a food transport ship. That frankly doesn''t mean too much to you all, but there is one thing you need to understand as individuals below Tier 15.


    Pausing, he red his cultivation, showing he was a Tier 19 to gather everyone''s attention. While Matt, Liz, Aster, and arge portion of the others were unbothered by the disy, some less than lucky others had a variety of reactions, not limited to slinking back or even shuddering.


    Parts of the ship are not filled with air. If you see a hatch with a red trim, do not go inside. If the door has a blue trimming, it is safe. Please stay in your respective areas. There is a map avable to download to assist you, but if you find yourself in a vacuum area even with all of those precautions in ce, you can contact the ship''s AI, which will notify a rescue team. I warn you now, do <em>not</em> wander around the Lydia. She is arge ship and is easy to get lost in. Our voyage will take a little more than three months, so settle in for a short trip.


    As he finished his speech, a woman entered through a door and stood just behind him.


    Please follow my associate as we direct you to your lodging. If you purchased the single room amodation or bunking area, please go with mypatriots. If you are in the general berthing, please follow me.


    About a tenth of the crowd went alongside Matt and Liz to the private rooms, and the woman taking them led them out of the main bay. They found themselves in a long, t hall that Matt suspected usually had automated transports running along its length. There were no signs of those now, though, just the levitation runework that they usually ran along.


    An iing message pinged at his AI, and Matt let it through.


    Your lodgings are in one of the cleared holds that has been pressurized and retrofitted for temporary habitation. There you will find both a chow hall andvatories. Please note that our supplies are limited, so don''t expect anything luxurious.


    They walked through the halls for close to ten minutes before they reached a door that closed the hall off.


    Their guide took that opportunity to speak once more. This is a lock. It does as you might expect and prevents air from escaping in the case of a hull breach or if someone opens the wrong door. Note the blue trimming that signifies the other side of this door is also pressurized.


    After a winding path through the ship, they eventually stopped in a tiny hallway barelyrge enough for two people to walk past each other, but stretched hundreds of feet up with doors ced in a regr grid across the wall.


    Find your room and settle in for the trip.


    With that, the woman flew over their heads and back to the airlock they had just entered through before vanishing.


    Matt grabbed Liz with his Concept and pulled them up to just two rows from the top, where their amodations were.


    The three of them stepped through the door, after checking to ensure it was the right one, to reveal an incredibly cramped room. Matts hair was nearly brushing against the ceiling, yet the bunks on either side of the door each contained three mesh cots jammed together. They, as people with Concepts, had been put near the top so those without were actually able to get into their rooms without difficulty.


    What was more interesting were the two people who had made it into the room before them, a man and a woman currently setting out sleeping bags on two of the cots. Both were either Tier 15 or disguised as such, with dark brown skin and blue hair. With how rare higher Tiers were, Matt assumed the shippingpany had put simr Tiered people together, which made sense.


    They exchanged nods, then Matt and Liz got to work setting up their own cots, taking the top and middle bunks opposite the other couple.


    Looking at the tiny space, Matt groused, I won''t even be able to roll over in there.


    Asterughed at him and started to make a joke about his size, but before they could do more than set their things out, their door opened up once more.


    A burly man walked through the door and immediately narrowed in on Matt, Liz, and Aster. A quick inspection told Matt he was Tier 15, but if Matt was correct, the man had only recently gotten his Concept. Possibly even from Minka, from just how vague it felt.


    Matt was content to ignore him, but the man grinned when he noted their apparent rtive weakness. As he sauntered forward, he grinned and said, It seems like you two are in need of some protection. For a small fee, I c


    Liz was closest, and didnt even let him finish before she spun around and punched the man in the chest, sending him staggering back and wheezing as the air was forcibly removed from his lungs. Matt didnt even bother stopping himself from smiling, and ensured the neer could see it.


    If anyone tries to bully you, friend, juste tell us, and we can make sure they leave you alone. We don''t even charge. Liz reassured the man, her voice dripping with false sincerity as he looked up at her, bewildered.


    While amusing, Matt found the reaction of the other couple far more interesting. The woman had pulled out a pair of weighted gloves, and the man had mana swirl around his fingertips as the neer started to intimidate them, but the gloves and magic had vanished just as fast when Lizid him out.


    He hadnt expected someone to stand up for them, and it intrigued him. After sending a quick message to Liz and Aster on his observation, he nodded in thanks to the couple.


    The man proffered a hand. Im Marcus, and shes Olivia. Nice to meet you two. He cocked his head at the door and asked, We were going to explore whatever counts for a lounge in this ce, and figured you might want toe along.


    After introducing themselves with their cover names, they left their room and the still-recovering man to follow the couple out of the room.


    Once they were through the airlock, the man, Marcus,ughed. Oh, the look of surprise on his face was to <em>die</em> for.


    The woman, Olivia, smiled and added, And here I thought you three would need help. How surprising that I was wrong.


    Her tone indicated she was actually caught off guard, and not probing for information, so Liz responded in kind,ughing and downying her own ability.


    When they arrived at the lounge, all five of them paused as the wave of sound hit them like an attack the moment the airlock opened.


    The lounge was beyond packed, with barely a free space open.


    Matt was going to brave his way to the bar when Marcus caught his arm and pulled him back to the airlock, where they left the way they came.


    Fuck that. Id like to rx, not deal with that mess.


    Aster, who had taken her ce on Lizs shoulder, asked, Do you want to sit in the room or something, then?


    Olivia chuckled. Nothing so boring. Im sure there is a crew-only bar or something simr for the passengers who bought their own rooms. We are going to go hang out there instead.


    Matt raised an eyebrow, which Marcus caught and answered, Perks of being away from the inner regions of the Empire. Rules are a bit more loose out here. Shaking a cupped fist, he made the hand gesture for mana stones and continued, A few Tier 16 or 17 mana stones will open doors, I''m sure. Pocket change for a lot of the higher Tier members of the ship, but as long as we follow the rules, that''s more than enough.


    Aster swished her much less bushy tail and asked, Rules? I''m confused?


    Olivia raised an eyebrow in return and asked, I take it you three are young and from a more central part of the Empire?


    When none of them confirmed it, she waved them off. Not that I expected you to answer, but it''s obvious you haven''t spent a lot of time on the frontier. Like Marcus said, the rules are a bit more flexible here, but at the same time, when you <em>are</em> breaking the rules, you need to be smart. Were going to bribe our way into a better lounge. While there, it''s understood that if things start getting crowded like the other ce, we should leave. We also need to behave ourselves and not get drunk or anything. Also, never admit it''s a bribe, that''s bad form.


    Marcus smiled back at them as they entered another airlock. It''s a reason why we generally stick to the frontier. Less rules, and we like it that way.


    He flexed before cupping his hand once more. Muscle or money. Both are far more effective. Shrugging and dropping the theatrics as the doors cycled around them, he added, As you get older and stronger, youll learn more about it. The only reason were going back to the Empire proper is to work on our Intents. A fucking hurdle and a half that, and after our delve into Minka for our Concepts, well take the easy way out for once.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at them. You two went into Minka? The way you flew made it seem like your Concepts were better than the ones normal Tier 14s get.


    Olivia grinned at him. Now that''s telling. We did, but once we were Tier 15 and immortal, we broke those shitty Concepts and took our time figuring out just what we wanted our Domains to be. Took us a few thousand years, but we got there in the end. I take it you guys didnt have such an issue?


    Liz wiggled her hand. We had Concepts already when we entered, but we ducked out after a floor 4 Courtly Warfare, where some frontrunner managed to conquer nearly the entire floor in like a month and a half. They left behind a faction <em>far</em> too powerful to clear out easily. A few close callster, when the doors finally opened, we decided to leave well enough alone and cut our losses.


    That was their official story for these identities that they had worked out beforehand with Luna, and they had actually been part of that cycle, so they could convincingly tell almost anything about it without seeming like they were lying.


    They chatted the rest of the way to another lounge with a door guard who let them pass after Marcus shook the woman''s hand.


    Inside, they found the lounge which, while smaller, was almost empty, with tables recessed and hidden in shadowy alcoves. The bar was the only brightly lit ce, and a quiet melody wasing out of speakers hidden somewhere in the room,pleting the ambiance nicely.


    Together, they took a table and ced their orders for drinks, and started chatting with their new travelingpanions.


    Matt wasnt sure how he felt about the duo, but it was mixed.


    They were friendly and open to taking three younglings under their metaphorical wings and showing them the ropes of how to bribe and weasel their ways into hidden lounges. That in and of itself would have been fine, Luna had had them practice far more devious espionage skills. But the way the duo openly talked about how they liked living in ces where nobles like the Adairs ruled was a new experience to Matt.


    Matt had almost thought them revolutionaries, but the twoughed at the very notion of the other Great Powers. They liked, even loved, living in the Empire, and even talked about how they dly paid their taxes to fund the public works.


    They just didnt like living under the firm rules the Emperor was pushing for.


    It was a new viewpoint for Matt. He hated nobles like the Adairs, who allowed even low-level corruption to run rampant. Marcus argued that it made things run smoother, but Matt disagreed mentally.


    The rules applied to everyone, not just those who couldnt afford the bribes.


    Despite that, he found himself liking the duo, and the three of them spent most of their time with the pair.


    With the ship packed as tight as it was, there was little they could do without arousing unwanted attention. Small elemental maniptions, skill modification, and reading for their respective crafting specialties made up a fair portion of the time they dedicated to real training. Long hours of meditation helped with Concept development, but the cramped ship was hardly an ideal location for it. Mostly, they tried to rx, watch movies, and listen to music.


    At first, it was nice, but by the end of the first month, Matt was going stir-crazy from theck of activity, as the ship didnt even have a proper sparring room. When they finally reentered real space at The Citadels system, Matt was just happy to get off the ship with the others, who would be taking alternative transportation out of the system.


    Marcus and Olivia would be returning with the Lydia to the outer reaches of the Empire once the Ascension ended, and therefore didnt exit the ship.


    While not being on the same would mean a slight reduction of efficiency from the Ascension, just being in the same system was generally good enough for most people, especially those like themselves, who already had a Concept.


    Ascensions for an Intent or Aspect were useful, but it was like a cup of water being sshed into a pond. It might make some ripples, but one wouldnt fill it, so they didnt mind going to the Tier 44 capital world in The Citadels system.


    Matt almost kissed the ground when theynded, but did allow himself a sigh in relief.


    Luna, Kurt, and April appeared next to them as they exited the space port, and Luna asked, How was your trip? Anything to report?


    Matt was pretty confident that her or Kurt had been there with them the entire time, but didnt say anything. Along withLiz and Aster, he reported everything they did on the three month journey.


    Good. We still have three months until the start of the Ascension, and Ciceron should be here in a few weeks to set up for the next Tier 10 tournament.


    Liz smiled and asked, Can we rent a rift then? Somewhere to let off some steam until then?


    Luna flicked her tail. I don''t care what you do until then. Your parents areing, aren''t they?


    Liz nodded. Family dinner with everyone. Ive missed a <em>bunch</em>, but they usually try for at least one a decade, or once every couple months when I was growing up.


    After getting the ok from Luna, the three of them took a teleporter to the city that housed the local Feathered Nestled Inn, the Moore family hotel chain. The two of them had both given them permission to use the familys room, or use a set aside room they had for all the kids.


    The lobby had another one of Maras giant feathers floating overhead, and Matt could only shake his head. The feather was massive, and served as a reminder that Mara wasnt to be trifled with despite her generally goofy demeanor.


    The suite was a carbon copy of the one on East Flower, Tur''stal''s capital, and they quickly put their belongings away before immediately turning around and leaving once more to find themselves a rift they could let loose in.


    Thankfully, it wasnt that hard.


    Rustys capital, like Tur''stal''s, was home to trillions of people, and had every amenity one could think of, which included rifts.


    As they walked around in the crowds, they looked up rifts in the Tier 14 through Tier 16 range that they could immediately buy out, and eventually settled on a nearby guild rift that was being offered at a reasonable rate. For the small price of a Tier 16 mana stone, they were able to enter the <em>Tier 14</em> rift, which was an insane rip off, but they only wanted to let off steam. Which they dly did as they massacred the monsters inside.


    When they left the rift a few short hourster, they decided to explore some more, which was interesting. It was only Matts second time on a capital, but he found it amusing that this capital also reflected its owners personality.


    East Flower, despite being a city, had a vibrant ecosystem that could be seen in the nts and trees seen everywhere, while Rustys capital was more utilitarian, despite the city blocks dedicated to having green spaces for people to have ess to.


    Still, this particr had a martial atmosphere that pervaded everywhere they walked. The lower Tier guilds stylized themselves as martial halls instead of normal guilds, and in almost every park, they saw people working out or sparring with mundane melee skills, both unarmed and armed.


    There were even beasts who fought each other in their own special rings.


    Fighting was everywhere, even if controlled and orderly.


    The only ce they didnt see people fighting was the old childs yground, and even then, some of the roughhousing might have been considered martial practice.


    The three of them, seeing that, found a park that catered to Tier 13s and joined in on the fun, sparring a few rounds with others and having a st.


    A little sweaty, they found a Tier 15 bar and settled in.


    Mattughed as Aster, three drinks in, finally caved and publicly asked for spicy food.


    I want the curry extra hot.


    Matt ribbed her. What happened to not liking spicy things because a stupid fire fox liked it?


    Aster snorted. This is my first time eating it.


    Matt rolled his eyes and sent her an image of the curry take-out container he had found in his trash.


    Aster wasnt even phased. I said <em>chili</em> is gross. And it is! Curry is much better. Stupid fire fox doesn''t even know good food.


    Matt was taken aback by the spice wafting off the dish, and looked on with horror as Aster destroyed the curry that was burning his nose from feet away. Even the man next to them at the bar slid down someughing as he waved his hand in front of his nose.


    As Liz and he ineffectually heckled Aster, he paused as a woman came up to him and ced her hand on his forearm.


    Leaning forward, she asked over the music, Can I buy you a drink?


    She paired the question with a wiggle that brought attention to herself and smiled.


    Matt tried to be polite and wiggled his hand with his teleport ring. Happily taken, but thank you.


    The woman looked Liz up and down before ncing at Aster then snorting, I don''t see anypetition here.


    Matt smiled as Liz leaned back in surprise.


    While they were wearing masks, neither of them were unattractive, and the woman was being far too pushy for politepany.


    The alcohol that wafted off her spoke to the reason why Liz didnt immediately explode, but instead said in a clear and firm voice, When I was in my twenties, I would haveughed this off, butdy, you are drunk and barking up an owned tree. Leave before I remove you myself.


    Matt smiled at her ferocity, but frowned as his spiritual perception caught a man moving up to the bar and bringing his hand over the drink of the man next to him.


    It was an innocent enough action, but Matt felt the liquid in the drink shift slightly, and while that could be exined away with the ice settling, his spiritual perception instantly started identifying it as a threat, bringing Matts full attention to the ss.


    Before he was able to say anything, the man took a sip of the drink, and nothing happened.


    Figuring that his intuition was wrong, Matt went back to the argument between Liz and the woman. Thatsted only a moment, as the man crunched into an ice cube and his mouth, throat, and upper chest began to melt as though coated in a potent acid.


    With a quick [Bandage], Matt threw himself past the woman and at the assassin currently trying to vanish into the shifting crowd.


    Not wanting to show off his more identifiable spells, like [Cracked Phantom Armor], Matt rushed forward, and with some assistance from [Mages Retreat], grabbed the man who had waved his hand over the ss.


    As his hand grabbed the man''s upper arm, the assassin turned and spat at Matt''s shoulder. Matt could see decay mana swirl around the spit, and his spiritual sense instantly assessed it as a potent acid, just like what the assassins target was dealing with.


    Considering the man went for a nonlethal strike, Matt chose not to put a [Cracked Mana Spear] through his head, and instead twisted to dodge the spittle thatnded on someone else''s back and started to burn.


    Matt tugged the man back towards himself and hit him with a vicious left hook.


    The man''s eyes went wide as his head bobbled, and Matt wondered if the assassin would go down that easily, but it was never quite so simple.


    With a mouthful of blood, the man seemed like he was going to spit at Matt once more, so he did the one thing the man never expected.


    Covered his mouth with his hand.


    Matt smirked as the man seemed confused as to why his hand was fine with what was surely acidic blood, but with the Stygian Gossamer having transformed his hand into a near invulnerable form, he wasnt concerned by the tests of a Tier 15. His hand had been able to block the lightning st of a Tier 18 golem without an issue, and that monster hit far harder than the Tier 15 could ever wish to.


    The assassin tried to run away, but Matt had already slipped a foot around his ankle and pulled hard, sending them both tumbling to the ground. As they hit the ground, Matt twisted to get the man''s back and flexed, pushing the man''s face away from him and into the floor.


    The floor was made from higher Tier materials and resisted the bubbling spit and blood that threatened to eat through any flesh.


    Matt drove a hard punch into the man''s temple, which caused the man to go limp.


    Not believing it, Matt didnt rx, but was still sent into the air as the man used a skill to increase his strength explosively for a moment.


    If Matt was alone, the man might have been able to get away right then and there, but he ran headlong into a wall of ice Aster had created.


    Before he was able to do anything else, the ice grew around him,pletely encasing the man.


    Matt was able to tell when the assassin tried converting the ice entrapping him into frozen acid, aiming to interfere with Asters control. Against most ice mages, it would have worked, but his bond was no ordinary ice mage.


    As Aster loved to say, anything frozen was ice.


    Matt didn''t have nearly that level of flexibility, but he didnt need to. He had Aster.


    Once the man saw his escape was helpless, he sent an AI message acknowledging his capture.


    What Matt found interesting was the man''s credentials, which clearly stated he was a registered assassin with one of the local assassin guilds.


    Kurt had taught them about assassin guilds, and so Matt knew that he had no obligation to let the man go, nor would he face reprisal from the guild for interfering as he had.


    While assassin guilds werent well liked, they were legal entities that had to follow the rules of the Empire. When Matt had asked Kurt why the Empire allowed such things, his trainer had simply shrugged and asked him why wouldnt they.


    Assassin guilds would always exist, and it was better to legalize it and make the rules clear for everyone, rather than dealing with endless startup organizations or frencers who might not respect the rules of the Empire.


    That had prompted Matt to ask what the guilds got out of it. In return for following the rules of not attacking down or attacking Pathers, the guilds didnt get razed to the ground and have their members hauled away. The guilds also got a safe ce where they could operate semi-openly that the local guards wouldn''t raid. The members also got lesser punishments in the event they were caught in the act of an assassination.


    Luna had then exined that the assassin guilds were given such freedoms because, during times of war, they were all contracted by the Empire.


    Instead of sending their own people to kill spies, infiltrators, terrorists, and defectors to the other Great Powers, the Empire handed out missions to the local assassin guilds and would reward those same assassins for jobspleted.


    Matt had found it a little too mercenary for his taste, but had to admit that it at least <em>sounded</em> like a workable solution to a tricky problem.


    Turning his attention to the target of this assassination attempt, Matt found Liz with blood covering her front, sitting back on her heels.


    The man was clearly dead, despite having been Tier 15.


    Either he hadnt been able to control his cultivation well enough to keep his brain functional without blood, or the acid had made its way to his brain somehow.


    Then, almost as if they had always been there, guards and healers rushed into the bar and started controlling the situation, cuffing the assassin the moment he was loose with cultivation-suppressing enchantments.


    Those who had been injured were healed, and everyone started getting questioned, Matt, Liz, and Aster especially.


    The guards seemed familiar with the acid man and said he had been operating in this system for a while, but had always managed to get away before his acid dissolved enough to be lethal.


    Thankfully, there were a plethora of [AI]s, and after they gave their statements, they were allowed to leave, where they immediately encountered a ck cat seemingly being ignored by the walking crowds.


    An eventful evening.


    Matt didnt hear any scorn or judgment in her voice, which told him they had done well enough to not get berated. That didn''t mean they wouldn''t go over the fight once they got back to their home, but it would at least be a conversation, rather than them getting yelled at.


    Liz shrugged. Damn, that acid was nasty. Followed the spine like a fucking straw into his brain.


    Matt winced at that visual, but Luna seemed unconcerned. You did your best. Now let''s take a walk and see someone not doing their best.


    Invisible, the four of them walked out of the building where they were, just in time to see the assassin being led to the sidewalk, where he was grabbed by two guards and lifted by each arm.


    Matt was scanning to see what Luna had meant, and only saw it when two des the length of his forearm shed from the ground at the two guards. Or rather, the assassin in their clutches.


    The des easily cut through the man''s arms and therefore removed the cuffs that suppressed his cultivation.


    Like a fish in water, the suddenly-armless assassin flew and vanished around a corner and down the street, quickly leaving Matts spiritual perception range.


    Luna swished her tail. The woman was a distraction and his helper. She was trying to start a fight with you, Liz. A decent n, but the target liked to chew his ice, which screwed up their timing.


    Turning to them, she asked, How would you have done the assassination differently?


    Matt sighed, as he realized this would actually be a long night.


    At least they were off that damn ship.

 Chapter 223

    Chapter 223


    Matt was sitting at the table in Mara and Leon''s suite while eating breakfast with Aster, when Luna appeared from nowhere to sit on their table, startling both of them.


    Get ready. Ciceron just arrived, and I want to get the three of you in sooner rather thanter.


    Liz, in the middle of shuffling to the table in her pajamas, rushed over and shoveled the food Matt had made for her down in seconds, before spinning back to their room right after Matt and Aster.


    While the two humans changed, Aster brushed her tail out with her Concept, stiff wind split into fibers and replicating a brush.


    Less than a minuteter, they were ready, and Luna opened a portal that led them to an ordinary sitting room. On the other side, a familiar gray-haired man lowered glowing hands in favor of a deep re at Luna as he started shouting at their manager. I literally just arrived in the system three minutes ago, and youre already inside my house! Do you know how rude that is?


    Luna flicked her tail in dismissal. Youll be flooded with applications from other managers, and I dislike waiting in line.


    Ciceron paused and shook his head. How did you even get in here? I know Ive changed the codes at least three times since we were dating.


    While Matt was processing the fact their manager had dated anyone, let alone the keeper of the legacies, Luna snapped right back at the other man.


    Well then, change more than thest few numbers. If there is anything to use an AI for, its making passwords a three-year-old can''t solve.


    Ciceron worked his jaw and growled right back, It''s two hundred digits! Damn it! Ugh. You know theres a process for this, right?


    Luna flicked her tail as she started licking a paw. Yes, which would mean youd need to reject a <em>lot</em> of applications before you got to us. Just put them in now and make it easy for everyone.


    Aster finally lost her patience and asked, Are you sure you aren''t still dating? You two bicker like you are.


    Ciceron snapped. No!


    Luna just shrugged. Were on a thousand year break.


    Hearing that, Matt had to ask, A <em>thousand-year</em> break? Is that a break or breaking up?


    Luna shrugged. I needed a good nap, and rtionships need work, so it was easier to hit pause on it.


    Ciceron jerked back like he had been struck as he said, You said it was about the casserole!


    Luna nodded right back. Yes, after you burnt the casserole, I needed a break. I''d still be napping if these three hadnt popped up on my radar.


    The look she shot them didnt hide the fact shed rather still be napping.


    As much as Id like to reminisce about old times, the children don''t need to know our past.


    The older man looked like he wanted to argue more, but Luna cut him off. Matt, I imagine Ciceron would be interested in hearing about the white hole you found in Minka.


    Ciceron blinked twice, then flickered for a moment, returning to their speed seated at a long table that hadnt been there before, and setting down a giant tome covered in magically-flowing text.


    Tell me everything, and Ill let you skip the line.


    Matt didnt miss the smug look on Lunas face even as she walked deeper into the house, leaving the three of them to the inquisitive legacy curator.


    So, Matthew Alexander, you found a white hole during your delve into Minka, cycle 479 AE. Would you kindly recount the full story? You are being recorded.


    Matt nced at Liz and Aster, and they shared a shrug as they took a seat and began their tale, beginning with the challenge that had first led them to finding the required materials.


    While Ciceron allowed them to recount the entire story without interruptions, he immediately started pelting them with questions, perfectly ordered in chronological order corresponding to when Matt had mentioned it in his speech.


    It was almost funny seeing how simr his questioning waspared to Lunas, while also being wildly different. Luna cared about their actions and decisions, while Ciceron wanted them to identify the exact shade of bronze the treasure chest had been when they pulled it out, going as far as to create illusions forparison. He was even worse than Erwin, something Matt wouldnt quite have thought possible before now.


    After they had been forced to sample types of sand to find the right consistency, Matt finally had enough, pulled out their house, and dug through the loot closet until he found what he was looking for. He pulled the mirror from the keep pile, the key andpass from the find a good buyer pile, and even grabbed the cornucopia that had been so involved in finding the other three that was sitting on their kitchen counter.


    Ciceron spent close to ten minutes inspecting them, and when he finally went to start recording them, Liz suggested, Ciceron, while you look at these, can we get our legacies?


    Ciceron looked at them with a bewildered face that <em>strongly</em> reminded Matt of all the times Erwin hadpletely forgotten something important. Yes, you are right. I can ply Luna for any missing information when you guys are under. Good idea. Ill need some time to see if these items are special in any way. The other Great Powers certainly know of this, and hundreds of keyholes implies hundreds of keys Ill need to check some old records to try and find some hints.


    Matt nodded. Yeah, I figured the Empire would know about something like this. Its so old, after all.


    Ciceron smirked at him. The Empire may be old, but the Sophron dynasty is young, only three generations, and there was a lot of knowledge lost when Agatha took the throne. Its hard to interrogate the dead or read destroyed records, after all.


    Brushing himself off, the older man looked between the three of them and pointed at Matt.


    You first, kid. Youre getting the choice of one legacy, so we can skip the memory maniption.


    Matt raised a finger even as he followed. Only one choice?


    Order from up high. You can always refuse, but


    Luna appeared from around a corner and cut the archivist off. It is certainly the best overall legacy for you, and I had to get special permission to even request it. Nominally, it shouldnt be in cirction until its creator has ascended, but an exception was made. If you have something specific in mind, we can go over some of the mage, sword, or enchanting legacies, but you would be better served by my choice overall.


    Matt shrugged. After nearly half a century under her tutge, he trusted that Luna knew what he would benefit from most, and it wasnt like he had a single skill that he <em>especially</em> wanted to be developed at the moment. That he could skip the memory modification was a bonus, as was finding out just whose Legacy hed been approved to use.


    What skill should I put in my innate? he asked. He usually kept [Cracked Phantom Armor] in his innermost skill slot, but he could switch it with any of his other core skills in short order with the help of Lizs potion.


    Leave your armor there, Luna flicked her tail, Though in truth it doesnt matter too much. Now, Aster


    As the ck cat started discussing options with his teammates, Ciceron waved for Matt to follow him to a side room. Going inside, he found an obelisk of ck obsidian and arge beanbag chair waiting for him.


    He settled into the pile of cushions andid his hand upon the cool ck stone, allowing his surroundings to shift into a nk white room with a familiar face awaiting him.


    ***


    Aster felt as Matts mind slipped into something of a trance through their bond, leaving her thrumming with excitement.


    Shed be getting a Legacy, and with the knowledge of how much Liz and Matt had gotten from theirs, she couldnt wait. This second chance at Legacies was usually reserved for Pathers who were expected to make it past Tier 20, or people that were simrly promising for one reason or another. But even then, not everyone was epted.


    Even aside from her status as Matts bond and apanying advancement speed, Luna said that her having made it through Minka at Tier 11 would have been enough to guarantee a Legacy. Still, Aster didnt really care how she got the spot, and was just excited to see what all the hype was about. The whole oath-swearing was a pain, but once she was done with that, she and Liz were led to a closed-off room and directed to put on helmets. Asters pinched her ears horribly, but she could ignore it well enough to read through the massive book in front of her. At the other end of the table, Liz was discussing some of the options she had with Luna.


    Ciceron, meanwhile, was helping her. To make things easier, and on Lunas rmendation, I assembled the legacies of debuff mages, ice mages, and winter mages. Theres several, but one in particr you may find interesting is Harkens Mallows.


    With a flick of his fingers, the book in front of her flipped open, and Aster read the description provided. Harkens Mallow, ording to this, was an Aurora assassin from the Federation who utilized the colors and illusions of aurora to confuse, iste, and disorientate her targets to set them up for the kill. An unusualbination for certain, but it was usually spected that she had a Talent for the element.


    Her Legacy was geared towards making illusions that didnt seem <em>real</em> so much as simply intense, making them difficult to ignore even with the knowledge that they werent real. There were also some small-des skills listed, but Aster ignored them.


    [Afterimage] was one of the examples given, and with the assassins help, Aster could use her skill to make all of the created duplicates either vibrantly aurora-colored, or mere streaks of light. They would bepletely different from Asters actual appearance, but they would gain the ability to overload and overwhelm even spiritual senses in the same way that exceptionally loud sounds made it harder to focus on a whisper.


    Looking up at Ciceron, she asked, Nothing else Aurora based? Really?


    He shrugged. Aurora is an umon element, especially in the Empire. The only reason we even have this one is thanks to some war reparations in the wake of Duke Waters Pathpletion and subsequent war. Whether or not its a <em>good</em> legacy for you I cannot say, simply that it bears some merit.


    Eventually, she narrowed her options down to about a dozen Legacies, and Ciceron pulled the corresponding pages out cleanly from his book so she could decide as he gave the book to Liz and started discussing what <em>her</em> options were. With Lunas help, Aster eventually narrowed twelve options down to three, each with a distinct role.


    Harkens Mallow, the aurora assassin, Aaron Dell, the offensive ice mage, and Aspen Erhulz, the winter wolf.


    If she went with Harkens, Aster nned to try to make [Absolute White] into an aurora-aspected skill, ideally turning the concealment and slowing mist into a riot of color capable of stunning, freezing, and disorienting only her enemies while concealing her allies.


    It was tempting, but nothing else he had on offer was useful for her.


    She was a mage, and if she ever got in a fight with someone in her league who specialized in meleebat, she had exactly one good option.


    Run to Matt or Liz before they hit her.


    She didnt have anywhere close to enough strength to wrestle a melee fighter and never would, which made the practical training of that legacy useless.


    Aaron Dell was an ice mage who had eschewed the moremon restraining and battlefield control aspects of the element for raw burst damage, unleashing icy destruction in as few skills as possible.


    While Aster was primarily a support, she was also the bond to a future Ascender, and that meant shed be expected to carry her own weight <em>somewhat</em>. [Cracked Shatter] and [cial Spear] certainly worked to give her a <em>lot</em> of icepower when the situation suited it. Death is the strongest debuff was a saying among debuff mages for a reason. Matts power came primarily from his incredible endurance, but that resulted in him having very few powerful opening moves beyond his talismans. Liz was unstoppable once she got going, but against single, powerful foes she could sometimes struggle to build up momentum.


    If Aster focused a few of her skills into being a powerful opening move, she could cover for a few rtive weaknesses, and what else was a support mage for?


    [Cracked Shatter] would be a good candidate, she felt. While her skill, or even the non-cracked version, werent listed on the page, she felt she had a fairly decent grasp on what Aaron would be able to help her grow it into. Currently, it almost turned her [Ice Spear] into an ice-aspected [Fireball], but she expected that she could make the detonation directional, turning an omnidirectional explosion into a torrent of jagged fragments of extremely hard and sharp ice, apanied by a st of freezing magic. If she was <em>really</em> lucky it might even be cascading, where anything frozen by the secondary st of magic would explode as well, unleashing a continuous hail of razor-sharp ice,cerating everything in their path.


    It wasnt <em>quite</em> a straight-up opening move, but it was close. At minimum, Aaron could make her [Cracked Shatter] more potent with less setup, and that was promising.


    Ciceron even said that legacy wouldnt reduce her spells'' abilities to slow, as the mage had never forsaken that portion of the mana type, even in herter years.


    Herst option was Aspen Erhulz, a fairly traditional winter wolf from the ns. His approach was the closest to Asters current setup, meaning she had the most options for developing either a single skill or generally improving her entire arsenal.


    [Dispelling Wind] could be developed out such that it would slowly strip away mana from attacks it was countering, and even feed into itself, creating a very nice, if minor, feedback loop. [Absolute White] could be enhanced such that practically anything without a spirit of its own in its area of effect would be frozen in space. [Air Body] could be developed into a winter-aspected skill and allow Aster to slow and freeze opponents simply by passing through them. [cial Strike] could gain a transmutation effect, making enemies <em>transform</em> into ice rather than simply bing coated in a thickyer of it.


    Or, she could spread out her efforts between all of them and more besides, getting less of an individually powerful skill but instead learning general techniques for winter skill modification.


    Letting out a low whine, Aster looked to Luna and asked, What do you suggest?


    The cat simply shook her head and licked a paw. This is a decision you must make for yourself, Aster. I will continue to help you as a discussion partner, but the final decision is yours. Though, you should n for the future and not right now. Your skills until Tier 25 will be valuable, yes, but you are already nning for some very impressive bloodline development into the future, and you would be remiss to not keep that in mind as you consider what role you shall y in the wars toe.


    Aster nodded before mulling that over.


    How did she see herself in the future? After an agonizingly long decision, she settled on Aspen. Covering for Matt and Liz while they were building up momentum in a fight might not be as dramatic as turning someone into an ice sculpture, but the core role of a support was to enable and cover for their team. Whatever else she might be, she was supportive of her family.


    ***


    Liz twirled the pen Ciceron had been writing with as she thought about the fact Luna had dated someone. That fact shouldnt have been surprising, but it made their manager seem all too normal for the woman she knew.


    Aster was still hogging the Book of Legacies- apparently there was only one, and it was the <em>same</em> book in all cases, regardless of what kind of legacy was being chosen- and she and Luna had already exhausted their non-specific discussions about what she could want.


    Even suppressing her cultivation as much as possible to make the time pass faster, it was still taking a long while for Aster to settle on a concrete option as she endlessly flipped between the handful of choices shed narrowed down.


    She had been shopping with Aster enough times to know the girl had the decision making abilities of a spoiled child who wanted to buy everything, and avoid making a hard choice.


    Before she was really able to get into that train of thought, Ciceron removed a dozen pages from his book with great care, set them down in front of Aster, and walked over to her


    Now, unlikest time you were here, I can actually give you a wider range of ess to our legacies. We actually have one blood mage legacy, but it''s for a healer.


    Liz grumbled internally at being pigeonholed, but looked at the first page.


    Kelly Lively wasnt a name she recognized, but hed apparently been a blood mage of some prominence for his ability to do extensive internal work even on people <em>far</em> past the conventional healing limit. It was a skill shed tried experimenting with her [Lifeblood Maniption], but it was almost embarrassing just how inadequate she waspared to a conventional healer.


    Even if she wasnt inclined to try and out-perform the professionals at their own specialty, there would undoubtedly be a fair amount of knowledge present on more freeform blood connection, practice that would be invaluable for her own forays into the wider realm of blood magic.


    It instantly went to the top of her list. And the bottom. It <em>was</em> a list of one, after all.


    There were, as expected, lots of possible water mage legacies which might be promising. One, amusingly, was even about making certain water spells work <em>on</em> blood, giving water mages the ability to manipte their own blood inside of them.


    She was almost tempted by a water mage that could turn [Water Maniption] into something that could nearly as easily control ice, steam, and mist, if for no other reason just how much it would help her in mastering all the elements that her spear gave her ess to.


    In truth, though, the only one which really called to her was one who managed to make mana spent on [Water Whip] <em>cumtive</em>, gradually building up power as long as the skill was maintained. It fit her fighting style well enough, but she ultimately discarded the idea. She was reaching for more these days, and her [Blood Whip] simply wasnt her path forward.


    An idle thought about using the same legacy as before, and expanding her [Blood Tidal Wave] all the more was appealing in a certain way, but Oppas obelisk wasnt even listed as an option for her.


    So, no water mage legacies. There were some generically good maniption-focused legacies that her spear would help her utilize to their fullest potential, but they still werent what she was looking for.


    One legacy made her stop and stare. King Legion, a one-man-army from many generations ago, had a surviving obelisk with a massive focus on [Clone]-type spells. With his Legacy, Liz could directly make her [Lesser Blood Clone] mostly autonomous, only requiring a minor amount of attention to direct, and while it still wouldnt have ess to her Skills or Domain, would in many ways double her directbat prowess.


    Unfortunately, there were no legacies about binding Oaths, which was a pity. She and Luna had discussed how perfect the pocket-dreamscape was for trying out thest of her Folded Reflections powers, but it wasnt to be.


    Her Concept <em>was</em> a strong contender for what she wanted to work on. Minka and subsequent training had drastically expanded what her Domain could aplish, and there were some very interesting possibilities. A bone mage who could help her master flight, a pyromancer who could teach her to store me inside her body, and a metal mage who might be able to enable her to enhance her spear with her Concept.


    It was thetter who she was currently studying. Kess Vitan was a metal mage with an internal Concept who had, through use of Blood Iron, extended control to his blood, and from his blood, to his sword. With his sword, he could then replicate a lot of the tricks of an external Concept, such as utilizing his sword as a flying sword, and performing Susannes cutting through space trick.


    Given Liz already had two of the steps done, and was able to drink the blood of enemies she killed to empower her weapon thanks to Minka, pushing that part of her kit further could be quite promising. Helping her Concept reach outside of her body would help immensely with a lot of her current projects, even her unstructured blood magic. Allowing her spear to be boosted by all of the things which enhanced her blood sounded <em>quite</em> appealing, though it wasnt certain how much she would be able to do right out of the gate.


    The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. Rather than a single ability or skill that shed be growing, by pushing her Concept to be more external, she could use that as a stepping-stone to <em>countless</em> other abilities.


    With a final nod, she made her choice and signaled Ciceron. Im ready.


    ***


    Matt looked at the nearly-familiar face of the Emperor and just stared.


    The face was the same, but this Emmanuel seemed open and easy going, with a smile flirting with the edges of his mouth as if he was trying to repress the urge to crack a joke.


    It was like seeing someone you didnt know wearing the face of someone you did.


    Emmanuel sauntered over and extended a hand. Name''s Emmanuel, call me Manny.


    The grin turned into a full on smile as heughed. Ok I need to know. What can you tell me about the Empire? This is my first time being a legacy, and I have no idea how long it''s been. That youre here means Ive ascended, right? Was I a good Emperor? Are the people happy? Are we in any crises? Is my wife happy? Or no, she would havee with me, right?


    Emmanuelughed and backed up, letting go of Matts hand. Sorry. There are just too many things I want to know, and half of them Id bet you have no idea on.


    Matt returned the easy smile and felt instantly at ease with this Emmanuel.


    The name''s Matt, and I can actually answer most of those questions. We are about two thousand years into your reign, and Id like to think things are going really well.


    Manny let out a sigh and sagged back into a lounge chair that appeared along with an entire living room.


    That''s good to hear. But I need you to tell me everything, please. Im dying to know what I''ve been up to. Frankly, I didnt expect you to being in so soon. Usually, we wait to make a legacy until the person is about to ascend so as to make the legacy asplete as possible, but I was too excited, and didnt want to wait.


    Matt had to resist the urge to smile imagining the man''s face after he told him his Talent.


    Well, I was apparently rmended for this legacy by someone who I suspect to be yourself. And it''s probably because of my Talent.


    Manny leaned forward, and the light hearted joy hardened on his face, which made him a dead ringer to the Emmanuel Matt knew in the real world.


    Oh? Im interested. Dont hold out on me.


    Matt let his smile grow. It''s nothing much, but as a Tier 13, I regenerate more mana than a typical Tier 50 mage.


    Manny didnt move for a long moment before blinking and looking down, then pping his hand on his thigh. I can''t do that in here. Shit! Ummm. Ok you have my attention, but I''m dying of curiosity. Tell me everything.


    As Matt finished exining his Talent, Manny leaned back and sighed. Im so jealous of my other self. Id love to get my hands on your Talent. There are so many things I could do with that much mana.


    Matt was about to say something when Manny leaned forward with a serious expression on his face. The me on the outside is taking care of you, right? If hes not, tell him I said he needs to remember what we wanted to do before we took the throne. We wanted to make the Empire a better ce. We are better than our dad.


    Mattughed. Hes taking good care of me. Or, <em>you</em> are taking good care of me? Shrugging, Matt brushed over the issue of talking to a legacy of someone. Either way, Im well taken care of. I will say, Im d that you are the Emperor rather than your father. While it might not be fair topare the two when I was in the Folded Reflection, your dad was the Emperor and happily kept me locked in a box to make mana.


    Manny sighed. Sorry. Id like to say Minka lied, but dad was always a big picture guy. If one person had to suffer to make everyone else''s lives better, hed happily make that choice for them.


    Shaking himself like a dog, Manny continued. But you went into Minka. Tell me all about that! Let''s see if your run was as good as mine.


    With the easy smile, Matt understood how Emmanuel had be the heir to the Empire. Even without his Talent, the man was charismatic and knew how to get people to open up.


    Well, Liz and my bond Aster went in with another solo Pather named Susanne, and we came out as Tier 11s, so Id think we did pretty good.


    Manny smiled then smirked. I also went in as a solo Tier 11 and got the flexible innate skill slot. I love that thing. Fantastic ability, don''t you think? As Matt agreed, Manny grinned. So whos Liz? Is she your girlfriend?


    Mattughed. Shes also your niece. That''s how I met you outside.


    Manny almost fell out of the chair as he clutched his heart. I have a niece, and I never met her. I''m devastated. Who had the kid? I cant think of anyone who was nning to use Liz as a name.


    Elizabeth, but yeah. Shes Mara and Leons youngest daughter. Matt paused and thought back to what Alice had said about Erin being born when the couple were already Royals.


    Shes their seventh child now also. Sam, Leah, Alice, Daniel, Erin, Travis, and finally, Liz.


    Manny recoiled like he had been struck on the nose. Seven kids? What are they eating over there? Carissa and I tried for close to a decade after we reached Tier 40 before giving up on it happening without an elixir or something.


    Matt was about to say something when Manny shook his head. Seven though. Man, thats so many. Side eying Matt, he said, Im surprised, but not too surprised. Mara was a me Sparrow, and that bloodline is known to be more fertile than most, same as most other prey bloodlines. Wouldnt have thought that persisted once she was a phoenix. Still, three kids in less than seven thousand years is probably some kind of record post Tier 35.


    Manny continued mouthing the word seven even as Matt told him about their Minka run, to which the Emperor was a rapt listener, responding in all the best ways. He bothpared it to his run andmiserated with their low points, and even cheered the high points, like killing the Fall General.


    They chatted for what felt like an entire day, exchanging stories and jokes as Matt filled Manny in on what his self outside had been doing in the recent years. While Matt couldn''t answer too many high level things, Manny seemed happy to get any information.


    When Matt told him about Duke Waters and his legendary status, he nearly jumped out of his chair.


    From my grandmother''s time, we believed that giving themoners more breathing room and freedoms would lead to a poption boom and subsequent increase in general power. It cost so much to do it, the other Great Powers never bothered. And after seeing the Empire''s budget, Im not surprised, honestly. To do even the conservative increase in social services my father pushed through, we needed to increase tax revenue by almost ten percent.


    Looking at Matt, he sighed once more. Im so d we found you. Im sure most of my free time will be using your Talent to try and fix our deficit.


    Matt nodded. There are ns set in ce, as I agree. My Talent can do a lot of good, and I don''t intend to hide my mana forever.


    Manny growled. The other Great Powers. Yeah, they would be an issue.


    Hopping to his feet, he said, While I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me and catch me up to speed, we need to keep you out of any boxes, and the best way to do that is to make you too hard to cage.


    As he stood, he continued, I understand why I sent you to this legacy after hearing your story. My Talent is about taking and usingplementary Talents to make myself a scary mother fucker.


    Letting that sink in, the Emperor asked, What do you think my Domain is about?


    Matt shrugged. Well, you told me when I first met you that it was about self-sacrifice, but if you had asked me before that, I would have guessed flexibility, or being in the right ce at the right time, or something.


    Manny grinned. No, it''s the obvious choice and a viable one. Making yourself better at many things is super useful, I won''t deny, but I had a different train of thought.


    He spread his arms and said, I wanted to be Emperor to protect people. My Talent already lets me fill whatever role I need, so with my Concept, I made sure that I would never be without the power to help. And, with a strong enough defense, you dont need to worry about yourself; you can just focus on your enemy or your allies. You can take the [Firebolt] so that others dont have to. That is my legacy. So, lets see what you have. Show me your best defenses, and well see what we can do.


    Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his repulsion armor before he readied himself in a boxing position.


    Manny rushed him with an explosive leap, which Matt met with a [Cracked Mana Spear] to the face. He dodged to the side, directly into where Matt had sent a [Wind Cutter], which cut right through him.


    Only for Matts sword to bounce off Mannys real body, that had invisibly dodged in a different direction.


    Mannyughed even as he faded into visibility with ayer of translucent scales over his body. Good. Luna was said to make monsters, and I can see that was true. But let''s test how good that armor is.


    A mace appeared in the Emperor''s hand and he swung it down on Matts sword. Unlike what he expected, the mace shattered his sword, overpowered his repulsion armor, and crushed through bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor], only toe to a dead stop a fraction of an inch above his skin. Matt got the message.


    Rolling his shoulder, Matt nodded. Was that a Talent?


    Yep. Well, three technically. One which deals additional damage to items, one which improves armor-piercing, and a third to make anything I strike far more brittle. I have a counter for everything, and if you want to resist me, youll need to put some real effort into it.


    Ducking, Matt red his Concepts repulsion and armor power while casting [Bulwark], trying to integrate them into a cohesive whole.


    Despite those efforts, the mace came down and passed right through all of hisyers of armor and dissipated the legacy body.


    Instead of throwing himself into the fight immediately, they took a step back and Manny started teaching him exactly how to use his Concept to block. The training epassed how to integrate both his repulsion effects to skills, and just generally reinforce skills with his Concept.


    As they settled in, Matt felt as the world around him started to fade away in that oh so familiar way that indicated he was falling into the training.


    Being able to better infuse his repulsion Concept into his shield spells would be incredibly useful, like Manny had said. Without having to worry about your defenses, you could go on what would otherwise be a reckless charge to punish your enemies.


    When they finally started fighting after five years of more academic training, Matt learned that fighting Manny was like fighting an altered reflection of himself. As long as he kept his defenses reinforced, they were able to have incredible showdowns Matt had only really seen in movies and games. The two of them were both incredibly hard to hurt and had a plethora of skills, which meant no two exchanges were the same.


    When he threw [Earth Spear]s at Manny, his spell wasnt just dodged, but would turn on him mid air as his opponent changed his Talents to better manipte earth, turning it into a battle of mana control and how forceful they could be with their respective maniption skills. A battle Matt lost most of the time.


    While Matt had unlimited mana to throw at their contests, so too did Manny in this false reality, and Matt stood no chance against someone with three Talents always perfectly suited to the situation. Manny had an innate skill for manipting every element, a growth talent dedicated to enhancing that element, and Tier 25 talents to shut Matt out from controlling them, or preventing mana usage. Thebination made maniption skills functionally free, or more besides. As a result, Matt lost almost every one of their engagements.


    But <em>almost</em> every engagement wasnt <em>every</em> engagement.


    Through a series of quickly swapped maniption duels of various elements, Matt managed to catch Manny reacting with the wrong Talent set, and he was able to pummel the Emperor with the metal orbs, sending him stumbling back, which was his one victory before Manny increased his strength.


    Finding his Concept not integrated sufficiently to block this level of attacks, Matt found himself respawning a number of times before he was finally able to go back on the offensive.


    Time passed in a blur as the fights became increasinglyplex, with both of them using multiple elemental maniptions at the same time. Matt hadnt even heard of a Talent that gave increased control with multiple elements, but Manny justughed and said he wasnt boasting when he said he had a Talent for every situation.


    At first, he had only managed tobine his repulsion armor with his skill armor, but soon after, he was able to reinforce [Bulwark] with the same effect, strengthening the already powerful spell. ring his repulsion through [Bulwark] rather than his own body took even more work, but it was well worth the effort. After they got to that point, Matt started making minor improvements to all of his defensive skills, trying to make them innately stronger to resist the varied methods the Emperor had at his disposal to break and or dispel his armor.


    By the three quarters mark, Matt had mastered the mental flexibility to use two maniption skills at once effectively, and had improved all of his defensive spells to various degrees, but none so much as [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Bulwark], which could now resist even the Emperors best strikes without immediately falling apart.


    Without even knowing it, Matt felt himself being pulled out of the legacy. Not wanting to break the Emperor''s legacy, he didnt resist.


    Noticing his leaving, Manny waved. Good luck, kid, and when you see the other me, tell him to remember what Carissa said when we told her we were chosen to be the heir. Thanks for letting me learn about the real world. I can rest easy knowing we have people like you to help hold up the sky.


    Matt nodded. We all need to lift as much as we can. We are in it together, after all. Thank you for the training. Ill make sure to put it to good use.


    ***


    Hit me.


    Liz took in the appearance of the thin, gray haired man in front of her. She squinted a bit. It looked like his hair actually was metal, not just gray. A style that had fallen out of favor a while ago.


    Um, hello. My names Elizabeth, but you


    I didnt ask your name, and you doubtlessly know mine. I <em>told</em> you to hit me. Which you have yet to do. Once you manage that, then we might start with the niceties. He seemed calm despite the venom in his voice.


    Liz sighed. Why did she have the <em>worst</em> luck with trainers?

 Chapter 224

    Chapter 224


    Matt awoke from his legacy-induced slumber to see the ck monolith standing in front of him, pristine as the day that it was made. It might have lost a <em>bit</em> of luster, but even Matts senses couldnt tell if he was just imagining a small dimming. He sighed and stretched, extracting himself from the pillow circle and exiting the isted space that had been established around the Legacy.


    Ciceron walked over, clearly distracted by his AI, and murmured, Follow me, and Ill take you to pick your legacy.


    As Matt stared at him, Ciceron blinked himself back into reality and corrected himself. Follow me, and Ill lead you out of this formation. How was the legacy?


    Matt thought over his experiences and grinned. Eventful, interesting, and best of all, <em>useful</em>.


    As they arrived back in the familiar part of the house, Matt saw Luna sitting on a table with a steaming cup of tea in front of her while she pawed through a book.


    Without looking up, she gestured with her tail at the couch and said, The other two still have a few hours maybe a day or so until they wake up. How was it?


    Matt nodded. Incredibly useful. I have a much better grasp of my maniption skills and some of my defenses. Of I guess extending my Concept into things which dont <em>technically</em> match it? Yeah, thats probably the best way to describe it.


    Luna leaned down top at the tea but spoke despite that. Good. Theres a reason I picked that legacy for you. Your styles are simr, despite you two using two different methods to get to that point. As we said before you went in, legacies aren''t usually made avable until after the person has ascended. Its ufortable to know you could have told something confidential to someone without actually being the one to tell them.


    As they waited for the rest of his team to finish their legacies, Matt discussed some of the challenges and advancements he had made. His mana control had <em>definitely</em> taken a sharp climb, but that was just a byproduct of a semi-decade of training, rather than an explicit side effect of the treasure.


    Luna had him demonstrate a few small movements with a pile of sand, which he was happy to do, and was able to make fairly intricate designs in the pir of sand.


    Luna nodded and left her book behind for the first time as she padded around the pir. This is good. Youll need more practice in adversarial conditions, of course, but take heart that you will be able to ovee your control issues with sufficient practice.


    Out of nowhere, a whirlwind formed into a needle and raced directly at his heart, but Matt easily used [Air Maniption] to infiltrate the skill and break the skill structure before he took it over and dissipated it harmlessly.


    Luna looked up at him and chuffed. Did he teach you that, or did you put it together yourself?


    I figured it out on my own. Happened almost by ident when I needed to weaken an [Air Lance] and was already using [Air Maniption]. We didn''t focus on it or anything, but it''s a nice development. He said he was surprised that you hadnt already taught us it, and that its what most people start with.


    I hadnt expected you to figure this out so soon, but didnt ount for the Legacy. Yes, most people learn that way, but that makes it too easy, and the skills you learn with one mana type don''t always transfer to others. If you learn how to dissipate spells with raw mana, you can transfer those skills to any mana type easily.


    Matt agreed, as Manny had thoroughly taught him that lesson during their time training when he had tried to rely on dispelling attacks rather than tanking the hits.


    When a small ball of mes flew at him, he didnt dissipate it this time, and instead used [Cracked Phantom Armor] to let her see that he hadnt been cking off on the main training.


    The ball of fire tried to eat through his defenses, but as he red his Concept, he grabbed the ball of fire from off his chest and held it in his hand, then squeezed down and made the [Fireball] explode. His control over his armor and Concept was good enough that not even a wisp of smoke escaped his grasp.


    Good. A little more brute force than Id rmend, but that was much better than when you went in. Saying that, she sighed. Legacies are so very useful, but sadly, they are limited in supply and frequency of use.


    Matt nodded and rubbed his chest. His spirit was strained just likest time, but unlike his first Legacy, he had more experience with spiritual strain, and could say what Legacies did to him was vastly different than a skill.


    A skill''s spiritual strain was like cracks in the foundation of a house. Large and obvious. The Legacys spiritual strain was more like a dishrag being used until it was see-through. The damage was more subtle, but far more thorough.


    Matt busied himself with some mana practice until Liz emerged from her room. She flopped onto the couch next to Matt, draping herself over him with a groan.


    Lunas tail curled as she and Matt waited for Liz to speak. After a few seconds, Liz extricated her face from Matts shoulder and pulled herself into a more normal sitting position.


    It worked, but damn, was that hard and annoying. Hes a worse trainer than you, Luna. Liz grinned as she said that, but continued almost immediately. Well, more that his training sucked. There is only so much just feel the difference'' a girl can take before she needs concrete guidance. I figured it out, but I feel like I could have done better with a good teacher. I cant imagine how bad of a trainer he was in real life, if he was that bad even with the legacys help.


    Liz took her spear out of spatial storage with a twirl, then held it bnced on her palm as she slowly encased it in blood. The blood then seeped into the spear, turning the dark wood a shade of deep red, and from a brief and painful pulse of [Metal Maniption], Matt could tell she had managed to include Blood Iron into it as well. She then went through a brief demonstration, making a series of blood spikes erupt from the tip of the spear, turning the tip green with caustic blood mana to eat through defenses, and igniting it in a brief but intense burst of me.


    Theres more, but I cant disy all of it now. Definitely need a nap first, and then some monsters to really demonstrate on. Suffice it to say that I could drop a building on it without so much as a crack, and I can make it repair itself, even then. Matt, Id like tomission a flying spear, when youre feeling up to it. Practical Concept flight is still a bit beyond me, but its closer than ever.


    Luna sounded quite pleased as she said, Excellent, excellent. We can go over the specificster, and see how well you can leverage this for your other pursuits. Blood alchemy is the next step, and well need to see about hiring someone with a spear Concept to train you with flight. Making an approximation of a weapon Concept must have been quite the task, but its nothing less than Ivee to expect from you.


    As she and Luna chatted, Matt focused on Aster, who he felt waking up. When she appeared, she was limping and obviously in pain from the Legacy.


    That was less than fun. Ill take training the normal way from now on.


    Reaching them, Aster sniffed at the tea. Oh that smells <em>really</em> good. What is it?


    Luna shook her head. A Tier 40 tea that you physically can''t appreciate yet. How was your Legacy?


    Aster shrugged even as she hopped onto the couch between Matt and Liz. Productive. I focused primarily on [Dispelling Wind], but pushed more towards making it arge-area disruption. I was first thinking about making it a feedback loop, of using the mana of whatever it disrupted to strengthen the dispelling, but Aspen made me realize Im better off just weakening <em>every</em> spell instead of eliminating one.


    Saying that, Aster stretched until her legs trembled. I need a massage, though. I hurt all over.


    Luna swished her tail as she stood from her book, which along with her tea, vanished. Back to the hotel, then. Were a month out from the Ascension and tournament start, and while that may help your spiritual strain some, youll need to be in good shape if youre to get the most use out of it.


    As a portal opened in the air, Matt looked to Liz, who met his gaze and spoke up. Arent you going to say goodbye to Ciceron?


    Aster then jerked. Oh yeah, that reminds me. I got our stuff back from Ciceron. Said thanks for the opportunity to study them, but hed gotten what he needed from them.


    Luna flicked her tail in what Matt could only read as dismissal. Ciceron is quite busy with his research and wont miss us. Hes got his new toys and theyll keep him busy until he cant ignore other legacy requests any more. The best thing we can do for him is to leave him to it.


    Matt shrugged but followed their manager through the [Portal]. It wasnt his ce to meddle in their rtionship, but he couldnt help but feel that telling someone the best thing they could do was be left alone was very much a cat thing.


    As they reentered the suite, they were surprised to feel Travis and Keith sitting on the couch, watching a movie together. They seemed just as surprised, jumping up and rushing over to give them hugs.


    As they sat down, Travis looked over the three of them and shook his head. I cant believe it, but damn! Baby sis, you arent even fifty yet and are already Tier 13. This hurts


    Keith grinned as he scratched Aster''s chin. Were not even all the way through Tier 17, after thirty years. Youre getting close to catching up with us.


    Aster, who was leaning into the scratches, yipped, Thats ''cause we are the best! Perking up, she spun around and said, Oh we didnt get to tell you about our Minka run in person! We were so impressive!


    That brought them to a long rendition of their time in Minka while they rxed together before going out to a restaurant that catered to Tier 15s to continue their conversation.


    A few bottles of wer, the five of them tipsily sauntered back to the shared room, where they intended to settle down for a night of watching bad movies and eating snacks, just to be surprised by Sam and his wife, Annie, who they hadnt met yet.


    Sam threw his hands up as they walked in the door. You go out for dinner and don''t even leave a note of where you went? His smile cut any sting that might have apanied the rebuke as they all sat down together in the living room.


    Sam was at least nice enough to introduce his wife Annie to Matt and Aster, who were the only ones to have not met her yet, as she was busy during thest time they met up.


    Sam punched Lizs shoulder as they sat down. Happy almost fiftieth birthday Liz. Sighing, he grinned and continued, I remember when I turned fifty. I was Tier 8, maybe Tier 9, at the time, and thought I was hot shit. But look at you! A good portion of the way through Tier 13 and well ahead of where you need to be on The Path.


    As Liz preened under the praise, Annieughed and asked, So, any ns for when you three finish?


    Matt looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as he didnt quite know what she was implying. It''s not like they really had a choice in what they did once they finished The Path.


    Sam fell back with a groan. No work talk.


    His wife ignored him. You most certainly won''t get a choice at Tier 25, but when you reach Tier 35, youll have some flexibility in your assignment, and that''s where Im in charge of special forces. I have a few units that you would fit perfectly in.


    Before she could go on, Sam lunged and covered her mouth before quickly jerking his hand away and wiping it on his pants with a grumbled, No need to lick...


    Annie shook her head. As much as I want to abuse your abilities, it''s a long way out, and we have no actual expectation you will be ced under mymand. There are two other special forces generals that you could get shuffled under.


    With shop talk pushed aside, the growing group of them spent most of the evening chatting before the mortals amongst them crawled into bed, tired from the long day after getting their spirits strained to their limits.


    When they woke up in the morning, the house was surprisingly empty, which allowed them a quiet moment as they made breakfast.


    Though, even that wasn''t without drama. Just as they were sitting down, the front door was kicked in with enough force to shake the room.


    Spinning, Matt feared they were under attack, only to rx as Leon marched into the apartment with exaggerated steps, all while Mara was trying to squeeze around him but was getting stuck on the door frame.


    That changed once the couple saw they were sitting at the table.


    Mara shouted, Oh, youre here! before knocking Leon to the floor, where he bounced like a ball back to his feet before grabbing her leg and being pulled to the three of them. There, the two royals pulled the three of them into group hugs, only possible by copies of them appearing.


    It''s good to see you three! How are you doing?


    The Leon who was hugging Matt licked his thumb and scrubbed at Matts forehead. You have a mark right there.


    Matt flinched back at the sudden pain, reaching up to touch the bruise. How did I get a bruise on my forehead?


    While he pondered that question, the three of them were let go, and the Maras and Leons merged back into one before sitting down at the table with them.


    Matt got up and brought up the still-warm tes of eggs, pancakes, and various meats to serve them tes of food, Mara looked from therge amount of food to the three of them. Why did you cook so much? Did you know we wereing?


    Liz immediately understood and threw her siblings into the train''s path. Sam, Annie, Travis, and Keith are all here, but theyre hiding from you two.


    Maras feathers stood on its ends before she and Leon vanished for a fraction of a second.


    When they reappeared, the absent siblings were each held in one of their hands like naughty children. Even Annie and Keith, as those who married into the family, weren''t spared, and dangled there like kittens.


    As Matt enjoyed their mopey expressions, Sam surprised him. The fact you can overpower us as [Clone]s is just unfair.


    Aster asked the question he was thinking. You guys are clones?


    Mara nodded as Leon exined. We dont have enough time toe to everything in person, unfortunately. Emmanuel and Rusty are the only Royalty here in person. But well still remember everything when we rejoin with our originals.


    Matt frowned, then shrugged. Well, they were close enough to Mara and Leon. He was curious about one thing, though. How useful is [Clone] in a fight? I know lesser and normal [Mana Clone] have their tricks, but whats the final version like?


    That was apparently amusing to Keith, who chuckled and whispered something too quiet for Matt to hear to Travis, the two men sharing a private joke of some form.


    Annie was the one to answer, her mouth temporarily free of food. Its got its uses. By default, they are by definition as good as the original body at almost everything. But at the same time, no [Clone]-type skill includes mana regeneration, so while [Clone] can actually use the skills of the original, its limited to whatever mana is included in its original casting. They <em>technically</em> cant use Domains, but in practice, most people enhance them like theyre a Domain clone when close by, so that limit only really applies when acting solo, like they are right now.


    Then lets see some Talents dont transfer over, though by [Clone] it can be tricky to predict which, and I think thats its limits. Vulnerability to attacks that you usually resist with your Domain means theyre not the best fighters, but they do make excellent scouts, given they have all your skills and your exact thoughts about everything. Even if they die and cant return back everything they learned, you can tell because the reserved mana for the skill suddenly bes freed up.


    Matt nodded along and asked a few more questions, even as the conversations splintered around the table.


    Almost an hourter, when everyone was done eating and they had finished their conversations, they were all dragged along to the various activities Mara and Leon nned for them.


    Over the next week, the as a whole became notably more crowded and excited, with the uing start of the Tier 10 tournament, and more importantly, the Ascension.


    The Tier 10 tournament, while interesting for the locals, was something they had just hostedst time, and while it brought in a boom to the local economy, it wasnt nearly as important as the Ascension for most of the visitors. The majority of the influx of visitors were just there for the chance to advance their Domains.


    Matt thought it was interesting that Rusty would be hosting the Tournament twice in a row, but Leon exined that it was a fairly standard practice when someone wanted to ascend on one of the capital worlds.


    While the Empire would prefer to have people ascend in low Tier systems, they never forced anything, and ascending in the capital systems had the advantage of being useful for far more people, as the local poptions were more numerous and they had the infrastructure to deal with the massive influx of people.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the extended family came in, which included Leah, Alice and her husband, Daniel, and finally, Erin with four of her lovers. The entire time, the suite felt bustling but never crowded, with the rooms expanding to amodate therger crowd so smoothly, Matt barely even realized what was going on at first.


    That was a trick Matt tried to figure out, but when he actually found one of the runes hidden in the walls, he was knocked on his ass for half a day, as the headache was both thorough and all-epassing. He should have known such a variable rune would be high Tier and well beyond hisprehension, but he could really use a version of that for their house. Especially now that it was a growth item.


    Aliceughed at him for nearly ten minutes when he exined why he had been looking at the runes, but eventually gave him some information.


    Variable spatial expansion runes were at a minimum Tier 30, and were both hard to enchant and harder to make function as one wanted without an entire array dedicated to it. If he wanted his house to eat such a rune to gain the ability, he needed to wait until his spirit could handle it, or find another rift-made house that already had that ability innately.


    That sent the two of them, apanied by Be, one of Erins lovers, on a tangent for the rest of the afternoon as they browsed the Empire Market for suitable houses. Matt hadnt expected there to actually be any like that for sale, but there were more than a dozen. The issue, as Alice said, was that the houses were all Tier 25 and above, and the Talent-made variable expansion often had some quirks to it.


    Looking through the historical listings, there had been houses sold as low as Tier 15 with some limited form of variable sizing, but none had been sold for a few centuries.


    Still, the three of them had a good time just trawling through the millions of listings.


    That eventually came to a head when Liz plopped down on the couch with them and groaned. Ugh, change the channel and don''t remind me. I still need to buy another growth item.


    Be shrugged. You know you dont <em>need</em> to, right? Most people dont have any, and youre at what, three?


    Liz nodded and pulled out a bag of snacks. I cant pass up the power they can provide, not while Im on the Path. But I want something good, not just some random pair of growth slippers.


    Be shook her head. I sure wouldnt have been able to afford <em>two</em> growth items at your Tier. Hell, I dont think I could afford that <em>now, </em>and youre talking about getting a powerful growth item as your <em>fourth</em>. Isnt the Path of Ascension supposed to be about making do with limited resources?


    My resoufes are very limithed, Ill have you know, Liz shot back with a mouth full of chips, then swallowed. Theyre just limited to Tier 18 rifts.


    What was that about Tier 18 rifts? Keith asked, as he and Leah strolled in from the balcony, forcing Liz to recap the conversation so far.


    Leah shrugged. Well, what have you been looking at?


    Liz changed the screen to a view of the Empire Market. Ive been peeking in every so often for thest few weeks, but nothing is catching my eye. Ive already got a weapon, so unless we find some kind of growth <em>spearhead</em>, theres no need to look there. Growth armor is tricky enough to find something thatll fit, and getting it adjusted would be a pain and a half. It was bad enough just finding a crafter who could drill a hole in a wooden rod without breaking it, Im not going with full te.


    What about just one piece? Alice asked, conjuring an illusion of a helmet that looked practically crafter-made over the table, This one has an integrated HUD thats projected to outperform the corresponding skill, and you could really use the information boost, little sis.


    Liz shook her head. I dont need a better [HUD]. My AI is doing a fine enough job there.


    Alice chuckled. Thats what I said too until I got the skill. You really cant know what youre missing out on. Same with all supplementary skills to [AI].


    Sure, sure. But more importantly, that shes with my style <em>so</em> much. It would never work!


    That got augh, then Keith took over the screen projection. Left-handed gauntlet that can absorb blood to boost physical cultivation?


    Liz shook her head, No, I did see that one. But Im not trying to <em>directly</em> rece my glove, and I already have enough demands on my blood, I dont want yet another drain on it.


    Oh heres something! Chain mail! Leah cast an illusion of a shirt of chain mail made of long strings of <em>actual</em> chains, letting them drape down around the arms and base of the armor. Gives control over chains youre in contact with, and the shirt itself can unravel somewhat to give you a <em>lot</em> of chain to work with.


    Liz frowned. Did you pull that up <em>just</em> to make that pun?


    Leah shrugged, earning herself a pillow to the face.


    Oh wow, [Force Armor], Mattmented, and Liz looked over at him. A bracelet thats got proper [Force Armor] attached.


    [Force Armor] was a defensive skill on par with, or if Matt was being honest with himself, far better than [Cracked Phantom Armor], with a simr effect of a full-body suit of nigh-unbreakable armor. The main differences were that [Force Armor] was much, <em>much</em> higher Tier, a reserve skill, and was primarily focused on strictly physical, motion-based attacks, or elemental attacks that had mass. His own armor, at least with the amount of love that he had put into it, also protected against temperature extremes, could filter out toxic gasses, and could be repaired much more easily even <em>not</em> counting the secondyer.


    Was he being overly defensive of his oldest skill? Perhaps. But it had earned it.


    The mana cost hurts though, he noted, sending the entry to his girlfriend. She wrinkled her nose and nodded.


    Agreed. I cant say I want to blow half my mana on a single ability for a single fight. How would a Tier 5 even afford that much?


    Pre-charging, Leah shrugged, Didnt you two have to do that with your teleportation rings? If anything, youre the best to use it outside of some elite military units with basically unlimited mana budgets.


    I suppose. But anyway, at the level were going at, how effective would it even be? Its like having a single good skill, without any other reinforcement, and if it doesnt protect me much from the punishment Ill be taking then I just wasted a bunch of money.


    Well what about a shield? This one can turn you invisible. Leah asked.


    Why would you need a shield that can turn you invisible? If I were to go with a shield, Id want something thats at least specialized in blocking attacks, so I can actually use it as a shield. The one I got in Minka is great for that, its taken direct hits from Tier 18 monsters without even budging.


    They went back and forth for a few hours, continuing the conversation through dinner and breakfast. Practically everyone in the suite weighed in with their opinion at one point or another, looking at rings and breasttes, sandals and boots, cloaks and wands, ritual daggers and shields, amulets, and bracelets. Thousands upon thousands of items were considered and discarded, though a few of them were bought by some of Lizs extended family.


    In the end, they did find something for Liz, though debates were fierce towards the end.


    The final item was a round shield, a full three feet in diameter and slightly convex, with the most potent defensive enchantment on the entire market. Practically anything which came into contact with the shields face would be nullified by a special void mana enchantment. Raw mana, force, and even unspirited matter were all either swallowed up or brought to a standstill. Then, depending on what was nullified, the shield empowered its wielder in different ways.


    Mana created a force field around the welder''s body that could be expanded into a full sphere if desired, force provided a speed buff, and material was consumed to increase her inertia to reduce knockback or help with shield charges. All of the effects would fall off quickly if the shield wasnt fed, but in the midst ofbat, it would serve to turn Liz into an unstoppable juggernaut.


    The only problem with the shield was that it was <em>insanely</em> expensive, one of the most expensive items currently being sold on the entire market, and they had to move quickly before someone else decided to buy it. Still, while it took some scrambling and a hasty deal hammered out with the Seekers Guild to sell thepass theyd gotten in Minka, Torch was now the proud owner of a void shield. Or at least, she would be as soon as it arrived.


    The next morning, the three of them were waiting near one of the dozen space ports for Melinda and her team to arrive in The Citadel system, their ship having arrived just two weekste because of a pirate attack on a convoy in front of them. Thankfully, all of them were fine, but they had been dyed while their convoy rendered aid to the survivors of the battle.


    Chaotic space, for all its conveniences in travel, was extraordinarily dangerous to basically everyone. Technically a Tier 15 could survive the destructive energy, but that survival time was rated in minutes, where before that it was just a death sentence. Materials without a living spirit fared even worse without arrays to bolster their resistance, though Tier helped like it did with everything else.


    A Tier 25 could survive for weeks, if not months, but unreinforced Tier 25 materials would only survive a few hours. So an attack in chaotic space was dangerous for everyone involved, as even the victors could find themselves stranded and waiting for a slow death if their ship was damaged in the wrong way. There were even generous rewards established by the Empire for rescue operations. Of course, some pirates would try to destroy a ship and then rescue everyone they endangered. It never worked, but there was always <em>someone</em> who would try.


    The Unbroken were at least not in any danger during the almost week long operation as they tried to save thepartments with mortals, which apparently wasnt easy for their lower Tier transport.


    Thankfully, they had been able to save nearly all of the survivors and get them to safety.


    As the tired group of six walked out of the spaceport, they were almost surprised to see Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    Matt was hugging Vinnie and Tara when Melinda grabbed his left hand.


    What did you do to yourself? Your hand is so weird. I


    She paused trying to think of the words, but Baxter appeared next to her and exined before Matt could. Stygian Gossamer, I''d recognize it anywhere. Good luck trying to replicate the effect, no one even really understands how it works. Before vanishing once more.


    Mathew hugged Matt around his wife, even as Melinda examined Matts hand.


    Samantha and Kyle were forced to get half hugs as Matts hand was still being held by Melinda.


    What does it do?


    As Melinda looked up at him, Matt asked his own question. What do you see?


    Melinda pursed her lips as she thought for a minute. The spirit of your left hand is well, its like the difference between a Tier 1 and a Tier 15, but even more extreme. Its like golden and shiny, is the best description, despite being awful. It''s odd as all get out, and I cant see a reason for why its like that. There seems to be no cause, just an effect. And that''s weird, even for a natural treasure.


    Well it makes my hand nearly invulnerable. I had a Tier 18 monster try to eat me, and my hand only got scratched.


    Melinda made an appreciative sound even as she kept twisting his hand and fingers.


    She even tried to bend his finger back, which would have broken it, at Matts insistence, but she couldnt hurt the hand even when Matt suppressed his cultivation.


    As she examined his hand, Matt and Lizs attention was brought to Tara, who was so nervous she wasn''t able to sit still for more than a minute.


    Liz finally asked as she kicked at Taras knee, What is your problem?


    Samatha groaned. Shes love sick.


    I am not. Tara immediately snapped back before groaning and lowering her head. Ok I am.


    Seeing their confused looks, she grabbed Aster and pulled her into a cuddle to the foxs enjoyment. So you guys know how Emily and I kinda sort of started dating at the tournament?


    At their nods, she continued to exin. We may or may not have agreed to keep things casual as we were going to be separating. Thatsted all of a week of separation, and we agreed to try the long distance thing. We both expected it to notst, but it has. That isn''t to say it''s been easy, but both of us really like each other, and this is the first time well see each other in person since our own Tier 10 Tournament, and Im a little nervous.


    Mathew snorted, A little is an underestimate. I''m pretty sure theres a circle in our room on the ship that has a hole worn through the carpet from her pacing.


    Matt, seeing an opportunity for gossip and romance, leaned forward, wanting to get the rest of the scoop. When do they arrive? Weve kept in touch, but we never got their exact schedule.


    Tara looked like she might vomit as she said, Late tonight, early tomorrow.


    Matt retrieved his left hand from Melinda, who had started trying to dig into his palm with her now third scalpel, and patted Tara before having his hand reimed by the healer. Between Ciceron, Erwin, and now Melinda, Matt was starting to wonder if there was something about higher Tiers in general that made thempulsively curious, or if he just had luck in attracting them to him.


    They stopped at the Feathered Nestled Inn, where the group was staying. Matt was pretty sure Mara or Leon had pulled strings, as two adjoining rooms to their own rented room had magically opened up when Melinda and Emilys respective teams had started looking for rooms.


    While they weren''t actually sleeping in that room, they had rented it out, and it made for an easy way for the three teams to meet up and hang out without getting underfoot, so Matt didnt ask too many questions.


    Marcus and Olivia weren''t wrong. A little corruption, if it could be called that, was useful, and sure was convenient when it was working for you.


    When they arrived at The Unbroken''s room, they found Luna waiting with Baxter, who gestured at Luna.


    Hit her with a healing spell, please, Melinda.


    Melinda did so without question, and Matt got to watch as Luna cast her own healing skill to reinforce the healers spell and sweep through the cats entire body. His mentor stretched, and was suddenly reced by her human self.


    Luna rolled her shoulders. Thank you, Melinda. That would have taken me another two decades without your assistance.


    She and Baxter vanished as Melinda opened her mouth to ask a question, leaving his friend to spin around and start to formte a question.


    Matt grinned and shrugged, cutting her off. So I may have had an Inspirationing out of Minka, and Luna may have had to stop it for me.

 Chapter 225

    Chapter 225


    Matt watched the other team as Aster finished recounting the official end of their adventures on the fourth floor of Minka. As his bond described in great detail how they fought dozens of other teams under the attacks of the Fae, he was able to see how his friends had changed over the years.


    Mostly, it was subtle things.


    Mathew clenched his fist at the mention of Liz targeting an enemy healer and shifting to be just a little closer to his wife. Kyle, in awe as Aster described her and Liz taking out forts on their own, Vinnie asking about how Minkas restrictions actually felt, and endless questions about the itself. Tara was disappointed she wasnt able to pick up any secondhand ideas from their interactions with Jill, the archer pair of the husband and wife team who they had made friends with in Minka. Samantha, at rapt attention when they described the magic the general was working. And Melinda, mouth thin as she asked about their tactics and injuries taken in the fourth floor, when they finally started facing other cultivators.


    They seemed to soak in the information in preparation for their own delve into Minka in theing years.


    As they drifted on to other topics, Matt was quite interested to hear about what kinds of delves theyd been getting into. Unfortunately, they didnt have many interesting stories to tell, and Matt hadnt seen most of the movies Mathew and Melinda had been watching, or even heard of ReForge before Vinnie and Samantha started talking about the game at length. It made it difficult to really rte, as the games crafting system was so different from reality Matt simply had nothing to offer. Aster was fine with it, though, and the traitor seemed quite interested in learning how enchanting worked when it was someone <em>other</em> than Matt exining it.


    Tara was at least easier to talk to, as she was looking for some advice on starting to do some basic enchanting-work with her own arrows. Quality ammunition was expensive, after all, and while she didnt have a crafting Talent or Domain, she was interested in being able to do some of her own repairs and maintenance, a topic Matt was more than happy to help with. Her growth quiver was good but not unlimited or perfect.


    Liz had settled into a simr conversation with Kyle, discussing the respective alchemy theyd done on their blood. Oxygen became something less of a concern as you rose in Tiers, but Kyle had taken his third Tier Talent and used it as a baseline to hold more than just oxygen. So far, hed managed to extend it to carrying other gasses, but from the sounds of it, he was hoping to get a blood iron of his own and be capable of carrying around several times his own body weight in solid steel.


    When the conversation finally ended and Matt described his Inspiration in greater detail, they finally broke up the impromptu party, with Matt following Kyle out onto the attached balcony.


    They stood in the predawn chill for a few minutes, listening to the city underneath them that didnt seem to sleep with people walking or flying around.


    Kyle finally broke the silence. I want to enter Minka, but I dont think it''s going to happen.


    Matt was taken aback. No? I mean, with Melinda you wouldnt have to worry about the healing cooldown, youll be fresh the entire time. I mean sure, youll need to load up on mana stones beforehand, but thats not too bad. And the rewards are pretty good, most cycles dont have someone clogging up the fourth floor and throwing everything into chaos.


    Kyle just shook his head, We wouldnt make it far enough for the rewards to really matter. <em>You</em> three only made it halfway, what chance do we have? Besides, you saw the others. Melinda was terrified at the thought of facing an entire full of <em>yous</em>, Vinnie doesnt want to go anywhere near that that could cut him off from his [Earth Maniption], Mat doesnt want to go anywhere that Melinda could be in any kind of harm, where her status as a healer doesnt mean shell be protected, but actively aimed at. Theres no backup, nothing.


    He sighed, I could get Tara to go, but really whats the point? The two of us definitely wouldnt make it past where you three cut your losses, and floor 5 is where the rewards start to be <em>really</em> good. Weve all got our Concepts, we dont really need more skills, and none of us really need to worry about being able to bench an extra three pounds or getting more growth items, weve got plenty between us already. Maybe just the two of us could get to the third floor,e out with a pile of skills to sell, but Melinda may well have a heart attack from stress if we tried.


    Matt didnt really know what to say to that, and just stood there with him in what was hopefully apanionable, rather than awkward, silence.


    He didnt want to push them further than they were capable of, and Minka <em>was</em> dangerous. Sure, Melinda obviated a big part of that, but there were still floors where her healing would be negated, cut off from skills or mana.


    He knew they were better at not relying on Melindas Talent now, especially whenpared to when they were kids. But they still always had the knowledge Melinda could bring them back from damn near anything.


    If they went into Minka and got a bad floor, some or all of them might note out, which would make Kyle pushing the team into Minka for his own sake beyond selfish. He also didnt want to push Kyle and Tara to try and brave the Forge on their own. They were part of a team and <em>used</em> to being part of a team, they just didnt have the habits needed to manage that difficult of a delve as just a duo.


    It was a hard pill to swallow that the team you had been with since you lost your family, the people who had be your new family, were now slowing you down and preventing you from doing something potentially beneficial for your own future growth.


    I don''t have a good answer. Minka is called a ughterhouse for a reason. I dont regret going in, but we were almost forced to Tier up a few times, and our lives were at risk the whole time. I wish I had an answer for you but I dont.


    Kyle didnt say anything, which eventually led to another few minutes of silence when Kyle started talking about his discontentment with them not going into Minka. He clearly didnt want answers, and just wanted to vent, which Matt let him do for almost fifteen minutes.


    After standing around for close to half an hour, Kyle shrugged and sped Matts shoulder. Thanks, man.


    When they went back into the room, the rest were watching a movie, and Melinda pulled Kyle into the spot next to her and quietly talked to him, even as the movie yed in the background.


    The next day was a blur as the twins Annie and Emily arrived with Conor, who joined their team after the Pather war so many years ago.


    Emily and Tara seemed incredibly out of sorts for the first fifteen minutes or so, but as the awkwardness faded, they seemed to just <em>click</em> with each other. Matt quickly understood how their rtionship had survived nearly a decade apart.


    Seeing two of his friends so happy together brought Matt a sense of happiness, and he couldnt help but start pestering the others in Melindas team who were still single, prying for any hints of a rtionship.


    He was firmly put in his ce and told to buzz off, but he didnt let it get to him.


    Eventually, he, Liz, and Aster left to reunite with Lizs family and give the others some time to settle in.


    They wereing back from a mini golf excursion with Daniel and Erin when Travis and Keith came out of their rooms in full armor.


    Seeing them, they imminently beelined and grabbed Matt, Liz, and Aster, guiding them to their room. Get ready. We want to spar, and the three of you are the closest to ourbat prowess.


    Matt didnt need to hear anything else, and quickly changed into his under armor and then summoned his armor to his body with his spiritual ring.


    Aster was just as fast as him, but Liz hesitated. I don''t know if this is a good idea. If we beat you two, will you two be ok?


    Leah appeared from her room. Im the highest Tier, and I can ref!


    Mara and Leon came out of their room wearing clothes proiming their belief that Travis and Keith would win, but before Matt could make a joke at the corny shirts, another pair of Mara and Leon came out wearing even cringier shirts rooting for the three of them.


    Travis poked Liz on the arm and grinned. You can give up at any point, little sister.


    Liz narrowed her eyes and returned the grin. Any stakes?


    Keith groaned, and Matt picked up Aster, already seeing that the two would get into an argument about what they should bet.


    Fifteen minutester, all the siblings were aware and shouting their suggestions for more and more ridiculous bets. Eventually, Liz and Travis settled on an agreement.


    The losers would have to wear the pair of shirts Mara and Leon were wearing to cheer on the winners for a week anytime they went out. Matt and Keith shared a nce, but they both knew that theyd hardly be able to change the siblings'' minds. They might even end up with their significant others wearing shirts with their <em>own</em> faces on them.


    Considering how much worse that would be, neither of them said a thing.


    They entered thebat room to see Kurt, Luna, and both sets of Mara and Leon waiting for them. Thetter of which were, of course, in a fierce argument about which team would win.


    Matt took his position standing across from Keith, with his warhammer and shieldbo, and shifted his grip on his sword to take his stance, ready to strike at a moments notice.


    Liz was slightly behind him, and had her shield and spear at the ready to join the melee or engage in a magical fight with Travis, who, like Aster, was well behind his frontliner.


    Leah had been relegated to the stands, Kurt having taken her ce as referee. He wasnt entirely sure why, but he didnt allow himself the distraction as the silent man counted down.


    The moment the fight started, Matt lunged at Keith with his longsword, [Shadowstrike] lengthening the de and preparing him for any counterattacks.


    He had never fought Keith before, but he knew the strategy of fighting warhammer wielders and wanted to keep just out of the hammer''s range while utilizing his own reach advantage.


    Keith was no amateur, though, and immediately twisted to intercept the blow with his shield, letting the tip of Matts de skitter along the shield.


    He immediately followed it up with a hammer blow zing through the air, fast enough that Asters [Headwind] preventing the parting of air in front of it was actually relevant. A skill started to spark on the head of the weapon, but Asters area [Dispelling Wind] ripped the magic to shreds before it could properly form. He stepped back with a pulse of [Air Slide], then reversed course as Aster swapped from hindering to helping the weapons strike, and the sudden change in momentum threw Keith off-bnce. Matt took the opportunity to strike at the mans neck with a heavy blow.


    With the speed borne of a four Tier advantage, Keith twisted, but Matt was just fast enough tond a ncing blow on the older mans shoulder. It wasnt a decisive blow, but Matt excelled at dragging out fights.


    Keith was near the peak of Tier 17, after all, and had his own buffs. Fortunately, he also had to fight Asters area debuffs, and Matts physical enhancement suite was substantially stronger, but even still Matt was at best just keeping up with him. It was like fighting a mage-type monster, but one with better skills and <em>far</em> more experience than rift monsters usually had.


    While they felt each other out, Liz pushed forward and tried to rush down her brother.


    In a fight of more equal Tiers, a three versus two would make all the difference, but Travis wasnt the son of a phoenix for nothing.


    The moment the fight started, he burst into mes and [me Body], bing a vaguely bird-shaped being of blue mes. Every p of the phoenixs wings sent waves of blue me through the air, and Matt could feel the increase in ambient heat even through [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    Liz thrust with her spear, a second copy of the weapon materializing for a moment before mes swallowed it, leaving no trace. The wave of mes met Lizs new shield, recently arrived and raised to Tier 14, and broke against the ck metal.


    From Asters tail, a light blue ray shot towards Travis. While he was in his elemental form he was especially vulnerable to other elemental attacks, especially ones of counter elements, but he didnt even move as a wall of fire rose and destroyed the [Pr Ray].


    Matt teleported in front of Aster to block a massive attack with [Bulwark], then cast [Sword Twin] to fight off Keith attempting to circle him, meeting hammer with sword once again.


    Their fightsted almost half an hour, but eventually, their numbers advantage wasn''t enough to let them win and they went down after Matt took a hit from Travis he wasnt able to fully block.


    After that, they reset, but having learned more about each other, the next fight turned into a brutal slug fest. Matt went after Travis and had to deal with his Concept-powered blue mes, strong enough to eat through even max-MPS [Cracked Phantom Armor] if he didnt reinforce the spell with his Concept.


    A me mage going for pure damage wasnt anything unusual or new, but Travis had the bloodline of his mothers form and the resulting Talent that increased his fire capabilities. From what Matt remembered of Traviss Talent, it wasnt even that crazy, with just a t increase in control over mes for his Tier 1, and a small but growing increase in fire damage from his Tier 3.


    Even as Matt ran the mage down with [Bulwark] and [Cracked Phantom Armor] taking the brunt of the damage, he was mentally aghast at the beating his armor was taking. Without a Talent or dedicated fire defense effect, most people near their Tier would find themselves burnt to a crisp under Travis''s mes in short order.


    The second fight once more went to the older couple, after they managed to eliminate Aster early on. Without her assistance in closing the power gap, Matt and Liz quickly found themselves overwhelmed.


    The final fight <em>almost</em> went to the older couple when Travis transformed into his phoenix form fully, but Matt and Aster teamed up to freeze the bird in ce, battered in high winds and unable to use any skills, long enough for Matt to grab Travis w and m him into the ground like an oversized pillow. After he was pulled from the fight, Keith put up a valiant effort but ultimately stood no chance.


    By then, Travis and Keith were exhausted, both magically and physically, and declined a fourth round. Matt and Liz, meanwhile, were ready to go after just a few minutes to recover, especially after they tracked down Melinda to Overheal their bruises away, and that led to an entirely new set of spars with the Unbroken and the other half of Team Bucket.


    They even tried fighting with suppressed cultivation, and Matt grew a newfound respect for how difficult it was to <em>truly</em> act as though he were a lower Tier. He couldnt even imagine what it would be like, trying topensate for an Intent or Tier 25 talent, it was hard enough limiting himself to a half or quarter of his current mana regeneration. Hed shifted his tactics to ount for the higher MPS, after all, and his skills didnt rearrange themselves, or lower their expanded but less efficient throughput, to amodate a temporarily lowered power source.


    Travis and Keith even took it upon themselves to spar with the others though they were more practice dummies that pushed their opponents weak points than proper opponents.


    Hourster, when everyone was sore, Luna sat everyone down in the sparring room and started talking about Domains. Even Keith and Travis joined them, as they hadnt fully created their own Intents even after all this time.


    Domains are our connection with reality. Concepts, as the first step, serve to establish your rtionship with the realm, your ce in existence. An Intent, meanwhile, is the deration of how you will <em>affect</em> reality. Just as with a Concept, you will need a phrase for direction and an image of where you fit into reality, but so too will you need an anchor to connect your domain to material existence.


    Lunas hand stretched out, and a small, scalpel-like de appeared in it. To all of Matts senses, it lookedpletely ordinary and mundane, despite the fact that the damage across its dark, wooden handle and gleaming silver de should have left it in fragments. This is a penknife, and it is my Intents anchor. It is utilized to trim quill nibs to ensure they stay perfectly sharp, and I pulled it into my Domain countless years ago, she exined. Much as Concepts have internal and external variants, Intents are what we refer to as either imed or created. imed intents utilize an anchor that was once a fully real, fully physical object. Created intents, meanwhile, are the result of taking a portion of the domain and permanently manifesting it as a part of reality. Both forms of anchors result in approximately the same output, an item which is fully real and yetprised wholly of willpower. This is why my penknife appears so damaged at the moment, it is a reflection of my as-of-yet unhealed Domain. It retains full functionality, however; the damage is merely a cosmetic reflection of said damage.


    Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the penknife vanished, leaving no trace it had ever existed.


    Created intents are usually focused more upon the created item itself as a tool for enacting ones Intent upon the realm, whereas imed Intents serve as more of a lens into reality, and more easily have an impact upon reality <em>other</em> than the anchor. In this way, some draw a parallel between created Intents and internal Concepts, and imed Intents and external Concepts. Yet any trick which either internal or external Concepts are capable of managing may be aplished with any form of Intent the most obvious of which is flight.


    What happens to a imed item? Aster asked. Does it stay at your Tier, or does it stay at the Tier it was at when you first created it? And what happens if it breakster?


    Luna nodded. The answer is somewhere in the middle. The material itself grows in strength corresponding to your willpower, in such a way as to keep approximately on-pace with Tier advancement, but any enchantments will not grow. There are many a Tier 40 or above whose Intent anchor is a functionally-mundane weapon, as the material grew in strength but the enchantments faded into irrelevancy. And no, most imed anchors are no better at serving as a skill channel than any other object.


    Matt winced lightly. At higher Tiers, enchantments grew all the more important forbat relevancy, and having a wholly mundane weapon that didnt have the skill magnification abilities of a Concept manifestation would be about as useful as a pool noodle against properly-enchanted armor.


    However, you do not need to worry about them breaking, the penknife reappeared and Luna snapped it in half, tossing the two parts off to each side. They vanished from midair, and there was suddenly an identical penknife within Lunas grasp once again. While they are fully real, they also only exist at your will, and you may recreate them as easily as simply desiring it to be so. Many people <em>do</em> utilize growth items as their anchors, providing resiliency scarcely seen outside of Minkas rewards.


    Matt frowned. If enchantments didnt scale then why-


    Luna answered his question before he could even formte it. Growth items are the only true exception to the guideline against utilizing enchanted objects, as their enchantments grow organically, so long as they are fed the appropriate materials. Once again, the anchor is fully <em>real</em>, and as such retains all physical properties it had before it was taken into the domain.


    Lunas purple eyes pierced each of them in turn. Any questions, before I move on to the <em>creation</em> of the Intent?


    Excellent. Now, Melinda. You believed you had your image and phrase for your Intent since you were Tier 6, is that correct? Have you attempted to form your Intent since that time, and if so, what did it feel like? Please, do not attempt to do so now. Simply answer the question.


    Melinda jerked in her seat slightly, thought for a moment, then shrugged. I have, once or twice, but Kurt warned me against pushing for it. When I did try, it felt like I was pushing against the entire realm while being wrong about something. Which, I suppose must have been the fact that I was missing my anchor, but I always thought that I had my phrase or image wrong.


    Both can be possible. But, that resistance you felt? Thats important there. You all remember when you were first forming your Concept, yes? And how if you came close but not quite exactly to your phrase or image, you would forget immediately afterwards? Good. The resistance to forming an Intent is simr to that, but much stronger. For your Intent, if you get too close to forming a portion of your Intent and you <em>fail</em>, you could literally die. Your Domain could be overtaxed, your spirit torn to shreds, and your body would literally fall apart around you.


    Now, there are a few ways to mitigate this risk. If your essence has been fully converted by your Concept, it is easier to form your Intent and thus reduces the chance of bacsh. If you focus upon learning <em>about</em> your Intent, rather than trying to create a portion of it, it bes more likely that you will seed once you <em>do</em> attempt to form it. Lastly, increasing in Tier will reduce the bacsh immeasurably. By the time you are approximately Tier 19, even a spectacr failure in forming your Intent will not be instantly fatal, though may still require a healers intervention. By Tier 21, it is wholly safe, and by Tier 24, a failure is unlikely to result in anything worse than a headache and perhaps a nosebleed.


    Emily raised a finger, and Luna nodded for her to proceed. What about Aspects? Shouldnt you be teaching us about those, so we can prepare for them? Also, what Tier is it safe to develop <em>them?</em>


    Ah, Aspects. Do not worry about them for now. In fact, it is best to not consider them whatsoever while attempting to form your Intent, as attempting to establish your Intent as a mere stepping-stone not only leads to the Intent being harder to form, but also the Aspect. There was one boy a few thousand years ago who, in the infinite wisdom of a child, decided that he wanted an Aspect reaching and covering all weapons. He seeded at creating a Concept for ded weapons, then created an Intent covering all melee weapons after substantial difficulty, but found himself incapable of developing his Domain any further as a result. He is still attempting to break through, to the best of my knowledge, but I do not anticipate him to seed for a very, very long time, if he ever does. Once you form your Intents, you will be presented with what is required for an Aspect, but for now, leave them from your mind. An Intent is a key part of your Domain, not a mere waypoint to your Aspect.


    As for when it will be safe to attempt to form your Aspect, it is usually epted that Tier 40 is when all butplete and utter ipetence will not be fatal, though the risk is manageable as early as Tier 35, due inrge part to many generations of efforts to support those still able to participate in wars. Now, it is well-known that Duke Waters formed his Intent at Tier 17 and his Aspect at Tier 23. This is, shall we say, <em>not advisable</em>. The man should be dead half a dozen times over from attempting that stunt, and it resulted in many a sleepless night from those in the know at the time. Yet, he managed the equivalent of pinning a fly to a wall with an arrow from hundreds of miles away on his first attempt, multiple times in a row, having never touched a bow before. Attempting to mimic his aplishment would be just as fatal as attempting to delve a Tier 25 rift at Tier 1.


    Matt took a deep breath. Hed heard that what Duke Waters had done was impressive, sure, but he hadnt quite realized the sheer <em>scope</em> of what his predecessor had aplished.


    Luna looked around and pointed at Melinda once more. Now, in terms of preparing you to maximize the use of this ascension, well cover essence conversion. Melindas Concept manifested wholly organically, with hering into it without even attempting to create it, which means her speed of conversion wasnt just fast, but almost instant inparison to the rest of you. All of you can check how far your Domain has changed your essence by looking into your cores and feeling your Concept. It should feel like it''s grown out of the very center, and is seeping into the rest of your essence.


    Matt did as he was told and looked at the center of his cultivation cores where his Concept was, and then looked at the essence at the center of his core. Or rather, the Genesis Energy at the center of his core, thanks to Minka. He could see that, like Luna said, his Concept was like paint dispersing through water all the way to his eleventh Tier of cultivation.


    As long as your most recent Domain is at least halfway through your cultivation, you are fine to start trying to make your next step, but the farther along it is, the easier it is. The same applies for when you are trying to make your Aspect.


    When everyone was paying attention to her once more, Luna continued. All of you are at that point, which is why this Ascension will be so useful for you. Now, even if you were high enough Tier to genuinely attempt it, a single Ascensionpleting or getting close topleting your Intent is so unlikely, you''d be more likely to see another Duke Waters rise this decade. While it''s just as useful, the amount of energy needed to make an Intent is miles beyond what is needed to make a Concept. An ascension is like a cup of water. A cup of water which is more than enough to fill another cup and very useful to make a Concept, but that''s only until it''spared to the ocean you need to make an Intent. It''s even worse for an Aspect, which is, to continue the metaphor, like needing a sun''s worth of water, and still only getting a single cup''s worth from an Ascension.


    Hearing that, Matt had to ask, So what makes all of this so worthwhile, if we wont be able to make any substantial strides towards our Intents, and in fact we shouldnt even try? I thought it would be far more useful than it sounds.


    Kurt stepped in and wrote, It is useful, in particr at the very start and very end of the process. Because your Intent is all about beginning to connect your Domain to the realm directly, being able to interact with the increased malleability of reality during and in the wake of an Ascension gives it first practice, thenter it will make it easier to manifest your final Intent. For now, just focus on trying to feel where your Domain is trying to lead.


    Luna stepped back in the moment his pen stopped. As I mentioned, for now, just attempt to feel out where your Intent is leading you. Most people tend to start with either their phrase or image, as theyre familiar with that from their Concept, but dont let that constrain you. If you begin meditating on it now, youll be in a good position for when the Ascension actually happens.


    After that, Luna answered some questions from everyone before leaving them to the training room.


    The rest of the family came in, and Leah, Sam, and the others who had already created their own Intents gave some more advice about the reasons for the directions they took their own Domains.


    Through all of it, Matt wasnt sure he had an answer that really suited him, and continued to feel that way despite meditating on it.


    With less than a month to the actual Ascension, Matt felt like he was at a crossroads, but with no directions.


    He wanted to protect himself and his friends, but he also knew that wasnt all that he was.


    Him being endless seemed so easy and obvious, considering his Talent in the early days. But now, at almost forty nine years old, he didnt have the surety of youth that he had back then. He had lived so for so long and done so much in those years, he felt things had be muddled.


    Though, he was already halfway through Tier 13 at his current age, where The Path only demanded someone <em>reach</em> Tier 13 by age fifty-five.


    With their progress, they could reach Tier 14 before they were fifty three. Though with Lunas ns, it was probably more reasonable to expect them to reach it by fifty five.


    Staring at his hands, Matt sighed.


    He had done so much, but had he lost himself in the intervening years? He didnt know.


    He didnt have an easy answer, which seemed to be something of a theme considering hisck of headway in making an Intent.


    Two weeks before the start of the Tier 10 tournament and Ascension, tworge events were happening that helped him take most of his mind off the issue.


    The first was Aunt Helen arriving in the Citadel system, and the second was Lizs fiftieth birthday, which they were celebrating early.


    Thankfully, both of those events were rted to each other, as Liz had already made it clear she wanted a simple family and friends event for the birthday party.


    Having known this, Mattpleted most of the nning with Mara and Leon when they first arrived. After checking in with them onest time about another matter, he went to visit Aunt Helen at <em>her</em> request.


    He didnt know why, but he expected her to be older than when he hadst seen her, despite knowing she was immortal and hadnt aged in millions of years.


    As he entered her floating house, he was met with one of the clone-like butlers who silently took his coat before showing him where he could store his shoes.


    Following the sound of chopping and clinking, he found Aunt Helen in her kitchen and moved to join her, seeing that she already had an apron waiting for him.


    Seeing there was a massive pile of peppers that still needed to be cut up, Matt silently pulled out his cooking knife and got to work.


    They worked for almost fifteen minutes when he finally asked, How did you know I needed to talk to someone?


    Aunt Helen smiled. Everyone asks that, and Ill give you the same answer I give them. Spend a few million years rebuilding your Concept and spending all that time outside rifts and amongst people. You get a sense for these things after a while.


    Matt chewed on a pepper piece that had a bit of ck on it and nodded at its vor. I spent a life as a chef. My family was alive, and even Aster was my little sister, being born shortly after the incident Minka cooked up to stop the rift break. I got really into cooking in that life Matt continued to tell Aunt Helen about his first Minka Folded Reflections life until he got to the moment when he woke up from the dream. I actually woke up when I heard you would be at apetition I was going to.


    Aunt Helen reached out and ruffled his hair, despite him being nearly a foot taller than her. Im honored to have been able to help. You said you worked for Chef Abdul. You know he actually got a Red Feather from me about five years before you went into Minka?


    Matt hadnt known that and was intrigued. Oh? So Minka didnt make him uppletely?


    Aunt Helen shook her head, feathers bouncing. Minka lies, and lies often, but most of its lies carry some grain of truth. Some say its to be more cruel, but I believe its because even Minka finds it easier to borrow from whats real and change it than to invent something wholesale. That''s how even the best illusionist do it as well after all.


    They continued to talk until the soup Aunt Helen had been making was set to simmer.


    Matt looked at the older woman and frowned.


    Seeing that, sheughed. Spit it out, Matthew. Im sure it''s nothing I haven''t heard before.


    Matt shrugged helplessly. It feels almost cruel toin about me not being able to make my Intent to a woman who is rebuilding her Concept.


    Aunt Helen looked surprised for the first time all evening andughed. Oh honey, you''re sweet, but you don''t need to worry about that. Tell me your problem, and let''s see if getting it out in the open can help. I thought you were having some other issue. Intents are easy.


    Saying that, Aunt Helen smiled. What do you want your Intent to be?


    Matt opened his mouth, but Aunt Helen shook her head. No, no, no. Im not asking what you think your Domain will turn into but what you <em>want it to be</em>. Disregard your Concept and your Aspect. Disregard everything that you think is limiting you. What do you <em>want</em> your Domain to be? What do you <em>need </em>it to be?


    Matt mulled that idea over, opening and closing his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say but, in the end, came up with nothing.


    I dont know. If Im Matt cut himself off and asked a different question. Can you see what my Tier 25 Talent is going to be? Is it any more clear?


    Aunt Helen pressed a hand to his navel and then his back before shaking her head. It''s not in your mana pool. I can tell you that. I can''t really tell you more than that, but it won''t solve your mana concentration issue.


    Matt jabbed his finger at the table. That''s it. If I have one thing I want, I want to be able to solve my mana concentration problem myself. I know the Emperor is working on something, and Im grateful hes spending resources that I cant even imagine, but I dont want to be beholden to someone else. I want to be able to stand on my own. Be able to protect my friends and do good, yes, but I want to be self-sufficient. I want to be a sword fighter and a mage. I want... I want too much.


    Aunt Helenughed. It''s that easy, Matt. You say you had too much choice and couldn''t make an Intent as easily as your Concept, but Matthew... Catching his attention, she flicked him in the forehead hard enough to send him jerking back. Listen when people tell you an Intent is not a Concept. Matt, you''re not finding your ce in the realm any more. You already found it when you made your Concept. It''s called an Intent because it''s about dering where you want to go. You say being older means you are too muddled to have such a clear idea about yourself, but I say you have the experience to deduce what you want to be. You decide your own Path. Not me, not Luna, not Emmanuel, not Liz. Not even Aster. Those are people who can help you, but they aren''t <em>you</em>. Set your own goal and go for it, my dear. Almost anything can be realized with a flexible enough mind.


    Matt mulled that over and stood up to give Aunt Helen a warm hug, which she returned.


    Thank you. You were right. I was getting in my own head. I chose my Path. I just need to figure out how to get there.

 Chapter 226

    Chapter 226


    After clearing his head through his talk with Aunt Helen, Matt threw himself into both the final preparations for Lizs birthday celebration and creating at least some of his Intent.


    The former was fun and easy as he tried to hide from both Liz and Aster, who were simrly nning small gifts and surprises for him and each other as well. Matt shouldnt have been surprised when the family unterally decided to make it a joint celebration, but he was still deeply touched by the gesture.


    It also led to some good fun.


    Liz walking into their room with a massive covered object had to be bait or a distraction, and Matt couldnt be convinced otherwise, no matter what Aster thought. There was no good reason for Liz not to keep an actual present inside her spatial ring or even give it to one of her siblings for safe keeping if it wasnt a trap.


    But boy, was it a good trap, as both Matt and Aster were unable to control their curiosity and tried to peek at the covered object anytime Liz wasn''t in the room.


    Matt had wanted to make the meal for the party, but Aunt Helen had rejected his assistance for anything more than making the cake they would share. Deciding to go in a slightly less traditional approach, he decided to go with a variety of cupcakes instead of a singrlyrge cake. That way, he was able to ensure everyone would find something they liked, and best of all, he was able to make a few special cakes for Liz and Aster.


    Beyond that, he was kept from all kitchen activities as per Aunt Helen''s orders, who seemed more than delighted to take up the task herself, and he wasn''t going to turn down the chance to taste her cooking.


    His Intent, however, was <em>substantially</em> more troublesome.


    Everyone he spoke to said that he was making it far harder for himself by trying to ensure it would impact his mana concentration <em>somehow</em>, but harder wasnt impossible. And even if it were impossible, he did impossible things all the time.


    Regardless, most of the people he spoke to said there was no such thing as a perfect Intent. The Intent was about the meeting of the spirit and reality, and that always required some level of adjustment. It was a journey, not a state of being, and as a result, it was more possible to guide the result. <em>More</em> possible didnt mean easy, and other people <em>did</em> view it as impossible, that the journey of discovering the Intent was simply manifesting choices that had already been made, rather than making choices for the future.


    But, he wouldnt let that discourage him. He meditated for hours each day as they approached the Ascension, imagining different ways his Domain <em>might </em>grow. It was one thing to imagine some of the literally infinite possibilities, but it was a level beyond that to actually tell if they would be valid images, phrases, or anchors.


    He couldnt just, for example, go around waving his hand over everything and seeing which item resonated with his Domain that might make a good Anchor. He needed to build out his spirit, prepare for it to manifest in reality, and interpret vague and seemingly-contradictory impulses to figure out what <em>might</em> work as an Anchor. He couldnt actually attempt to form a connection, and thus check if he was right, unless actually trying to form an anchor. Then, if he didnt have the right kind of item on hand, or in some cases the <em>exactly</em> right item altogether, the attempt would fail, and if he were under Tier 20, his Domain would violently break and tear his body apart.


    The Image and Phrase were no easier, and made him almost long for the days of his spirit rejecting any memories of him tapping upon the concept of Endlessness before he could safely handle it.


    Just a week before the Ascension, they celebrated their collective fiftieth birthdays, even though none of them were actually fifty, which Matt found amusing and Aster slightly insulting.


    Im always happy to have a party, but Im almost fifteen years away from being fifty! Im youngpared to you old farts.


    Matt agreed with her. Yeah, I dont think it''s fair we share the limelight with you. Best to keep it all to ourselves.


    Aster tried to y it cool and pretend she didnt care, but thatsted all of two minutes before she caved and stopped calling them old.


    The banquet hall they were having the party in was fairly small, justrge enough to hold a few dozen peoplefortably, and wasden with tables with food that smelled divine.


    Aunt Helen had clearly outdone herself, and everyone spent the first ten or so minutes just digging into the food. That included all of the royals, who Matt noticed, despite being clones, were all given their own special dishes that he suspected were closer to their Tiers. He wasnt entirely sure how Aunt Helen, as a Tier 24, handled higher Tier ingredients without removing their special effects, but he also wasnt sure she <em>was</em> keeping said effects.


    As Matt bit into his Tier 10 Castoria Lamb, he sighed at the incredible taste. Themb was imported from the Castoria region of the Empire and was quite literally worth its weight in higher Tier mana stones. It also had the effect of enhancing proprioception when prepared properly.


    It was paired with a particr imported variety of rice nearly twice the size of normal grains, and with a subtle set of vors that had been carefully cultivated by its home for generations. Itplemented the rest of the dish perfectly without ever upstaging it, and even itsck of cultivation enhancement seemed like a minor potential loss inparison to the sheer <em>incredible</em> taste it provided.


    That was beyond apparent as he looked up the price and almost choked seeing the rice was actually avable in the Citadel system, but even half a pound of Tier 10 rice sold for Tier 16 prices. Granted, part of that was from the influx of people to the system, as the price had gone up another Tier, which put its normal price at Tier 15.


    Seeing that, he better understood how and why things like the food hauler existed. Buying at local prices and transferring such items to the capital systems would definitely turn some level of profit.


    The violet tomatoes, though, were probably his favorite ingredient in the dish. They had a slight tang and stimting property that could either be used to enhance his sense of taste or as a direct boost of energy. They were a popr breakfast food, and were grown on mosts. He sent a note to Liz to try and buy some of the seeds from a local gardening center and try to raise them in her garden orb. He may not be able to afford a herd of Castoriambs, but hed take what he could get.


    As tes were emptied, conversation began. A substantial number of people were using the opportunity to catch up with people they hadnt seen in a decade or two, but Matt, Liz, and Aster found themselves surrounded by their elders talking about their first century of life and the shenanigans theyd gotten up to.


    It was still difficult for Matt to not be more than a little awestruck whenever he was reminded about just <em>who</em> was in attendance. Lizs casual nature was a double-edged sword there, helping him rx by following her lead, but also making him freeze up whenever she acted casually around one of her aunts or uncles that countless people would cheerfully murder to so much as be on the same <em </em>with.


    That none of them seemed to take the event terribly seriously <em>helped</em>, such as Empress Consort Carissa recanting a story about Emmanual- the two of whom were actually in-person, and not just [Clone]s- hiding his identity as a kid on the Path. Even Liz apparently hadnt heard this exact story before, though she was a fair bit more reserved than Matt and Aster were during the telling.


    So a bunch of us are getting shaken down by a local Tier 10, and Im quaking in my boots. Im a little Tier 5 who just came out of a rift, and I and my entire team are all butpletely out of mana. We were just trying to get back to a city after entering an unsettled continent, and this asshole pops up out of nowhere and starts demanding a protection fee to get us back to the city safely. None of us really want to pay for it, but what else can you really do at a time like that?


    Emmanuel sighed at that point, and Matt couldn''t help but smile as he thought of the Manny he interacted with inside the Legacy.


    And this twerpy little Tier 4 steps out and says, You cant just shake us down like this. Im shocked, like everyone else, as none of us expected the lowest Tier person in the group to stand out first. That was just asking to get your ass beat after all.


    Matt was expecting to hear about how Manny had pummeled the Tier 10 for being sowless despite the massive Tier gap, but that wasnt what happened.


    And I was right. He got punched right in the face before he could even react.


    Emmanuel rubbed his chin with a grin even as Carissaughed heartily. That at least got the rest of us to react, and the Tier 10 retreated. Shaking us down is one thing, after all, and actually beating up a bunch of lower Tiers would get himnded in jail. Even back in those days, when the lower Tier protection rules were still new. So we grab the stupid Tier 4 and run back to the city. Someone had to take care of his stupid ass, and I volunteered to watch over him at the hospital. I was the first thing he saw when he woke up, and he instantly fell in love.


    Emmanuel snorted at Carissas final statement. Hardly love at first sight. It was more iration that turned to begrudging eptance of your presence as you kept trying to stop me from leaving. Really there was no reason for me to be kept overnight. I just couldn''t exin to you or the doctors that I could change out my Talent to one that let me recover faster once I was alone.


    Carissa barked augh back at him. Yeah, right. The hospital staff were sure you had brain damage if you were stupid enough to stand up to a Tier 10 as a Tier 4, and Im not sure they werent wrong.


    Matt tried to restrain hisughter, but Aster had no such inclination and yipped out her own. I expected you to win that fight, but you got knocked out immediately. Oh, that''s amazing!


    Carissa nodded in agreement. Hes always thought he was invincible, and seems shocked whenever something doesn''t work out for him.


    Manny shrugged. To be fair, it usually does.


    Like when I broke up with you when you told me who your parents were?


    Even as Carissaughed, Keith nodded vigorously, adding, Its like they expect to drop such a bomb on us and for us to not react. It''s insanity.


    The Emperor''s wife pointed at Keith. Exactly! I broke up with him for a good while. I didnt expect him to tell me from day one, but to drop it on me <em>on the way</em> to meet his parents for the first time was not ok. I was pissed!


    As Keith and Carissa started their own conversation, Matts attention was stolen by Rusty, who once more tried to get him to spar before they left, but Matt tly refused, seeing the gleam in the man''s eyes as he kept winking to Melinda as he mentioned fighting.


    He wasnt exactly wrong, Melinda <em>would</em> be able to bring him back even if he was literally pasted against the wall, and maybe if they had Rusty start off with Tier 13 cultivation then


    Dont do it.


    Matt stared at the AI message hed gotten from Sam. How had he


    Youre talking to Rusty and not immediately refusing. Say no now, before its toote.


    Matt beganposing a response, when a message from Liz popped up. Seriously, dont do it. If you need incentive, then the message continued and Matt made up his mind.


    Matt shrugged and said, Sorry Rusty, youre getting out-peer pressured.


    Maybe next time?


    <em>Maybe</em> next time.


    Matt dropped into a couch, leaning back and enjoying seeing all his friends and family in one ce.


    Annie was pestering Tur''stal about her Concept and its growth, Vinnie was talking with Leah about elemental maniption spells and how to best use them. Liz and Melinda were swapping stories and venting about bad patients.


    Everyone was chatting and enjoying themselves, and that was beautiful to him.


    When they finally got around to opening presents, things got rowdy.


    With the restrictions of the Path, they weren''t able to get valuable gifts, which turned almost everything into a gag gift or something simr.


    Mara and Leon got them matching towels, a nice and thoughtful gift, at least until they realized theyd been coated with ayer of soap that made them hard as a rock. Travis and Keith got them toothbrushes that automatically excreted toothpaste on the bristles, but were prefilled with a spicy toothpaste. Erin got them mugs that would keep whatever was inside at the desired temperature, but were also literally enchanted to leak. Alice and Daniel got them a joint gift of socks and pajamas to wear around the house, but Matt and Lizs made them ice cold, while Asters would make her hot.


    That theme was present for all the gifts, which made each one a fun and silly surprise.


    Eventually, the party wound down to a close after one all-too-short day, as the Royals present needed to make their preparations for the imminent Ascension and tournament. It still seemed a little odd to Matt that the Emperor hade in person, and perhaps a little prideful of him to assume that it was because he wanted an updated copy of his and Melindas talents, but he couldnt really think of any other reason for it. Then again, perhaps it was just on the way to some other task. His talent wasnt <em>that</em> realm-changing yet.


    It was nearly dawn when they finally left the banquet hall, and Matt and Liz meandered up to a beautiful but secluded garden set up on the top of the Feathered Nestled Inn skyscraper.


    The stars far above them twinkled beautifully, and some of the flowers around them reflected that splendor. But Matt only had eyes for Liz.


    She was so beautiful, he never tired of looking at her, even after all their time together.


    She took after Mara, of course, while Lizs mother was <em>impossibly</em> attractive in the way only an immortal could be, Matt preferred the features that differed on Liz. That her freckles were slightly heavier on the left side of her face, how her lips twitched as she tried to suppress a smile, how her hair was slightly messy from the breeze and her eyes reflected the light of the cloudless sky above.


    But that was just the physical.


    She was just as enthralling when they were both more casts and bandages than flesh, like during their recovery after Minka.


    Her determination to shoot for the sky and get there herself, and infallible drive to improve herself rather than define herself by her failures, and her endless patience when he would ramble about runes. Their running debate about if cooking is alchemy, cuddling on the couch with hot chocte while they watched a show to unwind. A thousand and one little things he couldnt put into words, and the rest of their shared moments from the past three decades were all treasured. It drew him in and kept himing back time and time again, like a spring of purest water. She was his stability and driver, the person he wanted to be better <em>for</em>.


    She was who he wanted to spend eternity with, who he wanted to build a family with.


    Liz felt his gaze and looked over at him, making eye contact and slowly smiling. What''s up? You seem distracted.


    Matt grinned. Thanks to you.


    Liz returned the grin and teleported in front of him to give him a kiss. He returned, but pulled away before they got carried away.


    You know I had so many ns and ideas, but I thought this was best.


    Liz raised an eyebrow in question even as she settled on the handrail of the building. Oh?


    That simple utterance had a pound of question in its tone, but he ignored it.


    Matt shrugged as he mirrored her rxed pose, despite his heart beating so loudly that he was positive Liz could hear it. I kept thinking about having some big presentation or spectacle, some kind of callback to when we first met, but it always felt wrong. Its just that our rtionship isnt built on the highlights or our delving, though I wouldnt trade those away for anything. But whats really important are the parts between all that, when were just talking or sitting on the couch with each other. Eating dinner together even as Aster tries to steal something off our tes. I don''t remember every rift we have cleared together, but I remember sitting on the cliff face of that one rift as we watched the sunset. Im pretty sure I was missing half my leg, but I couldn''t tell you which one, I just remember the feeling of holding your hand.


    Matt reached out and took her hands in his. He reached out with his Domain, lifting the two of them a few feet into the air, then <em>pushed</em> the rest of the world away. Next, he filled the expanded space with a bubble of silence around them to make the sounds of the city fade away. Shadows wrapped around them, bringing them into their own private world. Points of light broke through the darkness to illuminate them, first one, then two, then dozens and hundreds as an illusory starscape blossomed around them.


    Liz was getting a bit moist around the eyes, and Matt found himself wracked with nervousness. He didnt want to mess this up. It took his AI ring his prepared words directly into his head to keep him on track.


    Im happy with you, Elizabeth Moore. Im not content because that implies we settled, and I don''t think you could ever be described as settling. I chose you as I hope you chose me. I chose you yesterday, I chose you today, and I-


    His hands shook as he stared into the pools of gold that were Lizs eyes, and Matts voice failed him utterly. The empty sheath for a dagger tugged itself free from its hiding spot on Matts back and floated to the space right between them, facing the most beautiful girl Matt had ever seen.


    El, Matt tried to speak, but couldnt muster the sound. He didnt want to speak, to break this moment. Theyd remember this forever, he wanted to make sure it went <em>well</em>, but his throat refused to cooperate.


    Elizab, Matt swallowed the lump in his throat once more, Elizabeth Moore, will will you marry me? Wi


    Before he could finish, Liz smothered him with a kiss as she pulled him into a hug, her hands cradling his head to pull him all the closer. She broke away after a moment, practically vibrating. The first noises she made were just squeaks, but they resolved into actual words quickly enough. Yes. Yes. Yes. A million times, yes.


    Matt tried tough but could only manage a smile. He went to hand Liz her dagger, realized it was awkwardly stuck between their bodies, and carefully pulled away from his <em>fiances </em>body to extricate the weapon. He didnt let go entirely, and held her tight with his other hand even as Liz took the sheath from his hands.


    The sheath was a work of art. Incredibly fine silver filigree adorned every inch of thecquered wood, each representing one of his favorite memories. Liz working at her alchemy station, Liz sitting on the couch. A precious moment Matt had of Liz and Aster passed out on the couch after a rough delve. Both of them were battered and bruised, but that made it all the more precious to him. Liz failing at flipping an egg in the pan and sttering them in egg yolk, and dozens more all disyed in intricate line art that almost glimmered in the false starlight.


    Her fingers traced the sheath as she sighed. It''s beautiful.


    Matts face was stuck in a permanent grin, but it grew wider as his voice returned. I didnt make it myself, but I did design it. I tried a few times, but the silver wire never- mmmh!


    Liz pulled away from her sudden kiss and returned to holding Matts hand at more of arms length, slipping the dagger into a pocket as she did so. Her face was affixed in a smile that <em>almost</em> rivaled Matts own, and with a flip of a wrist her free hand was suddenly holding apis-blue dagger sheath. Now, Matthew Alexander, you might have struck before I could, but I love you. I love when you ramble about runes and cooking, I love the adorable face you make when you try something new and it blows up on you, when you talk to me when you think Im asleep.


    She managed a casual-seeming wink, but Matt still had her in his arms and she couldnt hide how much she was trembling from him. I love your endless optimism and generosity and all those times you just stare off into space thinking about a new talisman or some plot hole whatever stupid show we just watched. I love it, and I love you. I love these decades spent where you <em>always</em> have my back, both inside and outside of our delves.


    Liz was putting up a valiant effort, but Matt could see how she was relying on her blood magic to keep her heart beating at a steady pace and her voice <em>mostly</em> even.You chose me, and I choose you. Matthew Alexander, will <em>you</em> spend the rest of forever with me, that we follow our path into realms unknown and unimaginable together, side by side? Ma- Lizs voice finally failed her, and the final words came out in a whisper, Matthew Alexander, will you marry me?


    Matt pulled her into another kiss, breathing the only answer he could give. Yes.


    They held their kiss for either hours or minutes, floating in an infinite realm of stars. When they finally needed air, Matt gently lowered them to the ground and inspected what Liz had given him.


    It was mostly a single piece of blue stone, save for the obsidian sps at the tip and base. The stone itself looked simple at first nce, but a bit of inspection revealed that the texture was hiding an impossible number of incredibly intricate runes across the surface. Powering them caused them to light up with a white glow decidedly reminiscent of his white hole. A secondter, a dozen images and short videos started ying in the air around it.


    Like him, most of the memories were of them just living together, but thergest and longest image was of him standing there washing the surroundings with mana, longsword pointing forward, glowing with power.


    I love it.


    They held each other for a few more moments before they got up and went down to inform the rest of the family.


    Not that it would be a secret. Matt had asked Mara and Leon for their blessing before even talking to Aunt Helenst month. They had, of course, agreed, and had been so excited he wasnt sure they would be able to keep the secret this long, seeing how giddy they were.


    When they entered the shared apartment, everyone was there and ready to congratte them on their uing nuptials.


    Aster reached them first and barreled into them, asking a million questions a minute.


    Who got to ask first? I bet it was Matt. Do you know how hard it was to hide this secret from both of you? Neither of you should have told me, so I didnt have to hide it. Actually, no, the surprise would have been worse. When are you going to have the ceremony? Can I be the flower fox and a bridesmaid? Where are you going to get married? Ohhh, I want to help n it! We need this to be the best wedding ever!


    Matt kissed Asters head even as she squirmed like a ferret back and forth between his and Lizs arms.


    Her exuberance was second only to Mara and Leons, who seemed ecstatic to be officially gaining a new son inw and have their youngest get married in general.


    The two of them vibrated like cartoons even as the others moved on to make their own congrattions.


    The party that had seemed on the verge of dying down was once more alive and well.


    Emmanuel and Carissa even popped in, giving their congrattions in person before vanishing once again. Susanne even managed to stop in, but only had a few minutes free before she was whisked away by Jeremiah to her appointment with Ciceron.


    Matt and Liz were inundated by well-wishings and suggestions and hints by everyone, but the simple congrattions from Luna and Kurt almost felt more impactful. They seemed generally happy for him and Liz, and while he knew their future training would be just as brutal, it was nice knowing the two managers approved of his and Lizs choice to get married.


    It was shortly past noon when they finally went to bed, and they were both so exhausted they slept for a full two hours.


    nning the wedding was fun, even if they werent able to do much without a firm date or location, but that didnt stop everyone from chipping in their own suggestions and things they had learned from their own weddings.


    Seeing Leon and Alice argue about what type of centerpieces worked better was surprisingly informative, while also being hrious, as both seemed to have half a dozen samples in their storage rings. Though, from the loudints of the other siblings, they seemingly had been stolen from their own weddings.


    In the end, they settled on very little, but the process was fun.


    What they <em>did</em> settle on was that theyd wait until the very peak of Tier 14 for the event, allowing Aster to participate in the ceremony with no worries about the beast college conflicting.


    Mara hinted that no matter what they did it wouldnt be an issue, but Matt wanted to avoid her needing to pull strings as much as possible.


    Finally, the day of the Ascension and start of the Tier 10 tournament approached, which put everything else on hold. Matt, along with everyone else in the system, were watching the opening moments of the tournament with eager anticipation.


    Rusty came on stage and waved to the audience, starting with an exaggerated wink. I feel like we just did this not five years ago, but at least we have a good reason to repeat our performances. On a more serious note, let us thank Yellow for their service.


    At the mention of one of the seven members of the tribunal, Yellow stepped forward. Despite the name Madam Terror, the yellow mask of the tribunal was clearly a man.


    Waving, they took their ce next to Rusty and addressed the crowd. Im sure most of you can''t wait for me to bugger off and Ascend, but let me say a few words first. Ten thousand years. Ive been in this position for ten thousand years. Some days it feels like weeks, and other times it feels like it''s been a <em>million</em> years. I pushed for this position because I thought The Path was a good idea implemented badly.


    That hadnt been what Matt thought someone who ran the Path would say, but as Yellow reached up and took off the mask, revealing his face, Matt understood as his AI registered the mans identity and spat out a quick report.


    Jebediah Tallow was from the hereditary noble faction, and had been a strong voice who objected to Emperor Georgios proposed expansions of The Path, saying it was a waste of resources that could be better used elsewhere.


    After being publicly rebuked in open court, the man had vanished from public life, and most suspected Georgios had had the man killed for openly questioning him.


    Jebediah grinned. Most of you are probably surprised Im not dead, but Georgios didnt execute me for daring to question him. No, he challenged me to prevent the frivolous waste we were starting to see in The Path with its rapid expansion. I like to believe that I seeded in preventing what I feared, and made it better than I could have hoped. It hasnt been easy. Its been brutal work, full of hard choices, where even with all the proposed increases in revenue, we frankly havent had enough resources to cover all that deserve it. Still, I like to think we have made the best of what we had.


    Gesturing to the crowd of Tier 10 Pathers standing around him, he continued. You are living proof that we seeded in making somethingsting. Each generation is getting stronger and stronger, forever pushing yourselves in a cycle that surpasses thest. Id love to stay around for another ten thousand years, but its time I moved on. My husband has been acting as a nigh-widower for too long, and it''s time we Ascend to the next step of our lives. And for that I give you all onest gift. As much as Id love to watch one more Tier 10 tournament, I want to help you all one more time. Most of you have your Concepts, but not all. Take this chance and give the best showing you possibly can.


    Looking up to the cameras, Jebediah addressed the Empire as a whole. To everyone else in the Empire, I wish you all the best as you head into a golden age, but I offer it with a warning. The others fear us for good reason, but our strength is made up of the collective efforts of everyone. If you disagree with something, dont justin, but campaign to fix it. Join your local political spheres and fight for what you believe in, but don''t forget that you can always still learn, and might not always be right.


    As he said that, another figure walked up on the stage and took a position right behind Jebediah.


    Caressing the yellow mask, Jebediah handed it to the newest member of the tribunal. Who you are behind the mask doesn''t matter. From today on, you are Madam Terror, Yellow mask of the tribunal. I wish you luck in guiding the best and brightest of the Empire. It''s not an easy job, or even one with recognition, but it''s one with the greatest rewards.


    His final words spoken, Jebediah floated into the sky alongside another man, and the two of them linked hands and faded from reality.


    It was all over in a blink, a sh of light and wave of energy apanying a ripple through reality. Matt closed his eyes, and reached out with Intent.

 Chapter 227

    Chapter 227


    Reality rippled around Matt as the Ascension flooded the with energy and he delved into the depths of his spirit. He dove past his cores and Talents, yet intertwined with them, following the meditation and practice Luna had guided them in. His awareness expanded into a white hole, unleashing an Endless amount of mana into his surroundings.


    Knowing he was limited on time, Matt started to get to work.


    Concept, Intent, Aspect.


    The three portions of a Domain, and he was inside his Concept, wanting to build his Intent. There were a number of ways to actually do so, and Matt considered his ns as he began.


    Technically, he could start with any portion of the Intent, his Phrase, Image, or Anchor, but he always considered himself a visual person. And frankly, he had no idea what his Phrase was. So, he decided to try and figure out his Image, or possibly Anchor, though thetter was a long shot. He had <em>ideas</em>, of course. His sword, his mana-concentrating mana stone, his heart of the ck hole, his <em>house</em> the list was endless.


    But that would be easier to test after Tier 20, when trying the wrong item wouldnt kill him. For now, he just wanted to get a vague idea of his image. Something that might work. And considering his end goal of solving his mana concentration issue, the obvious idea was a ck hole.


    He wouldnt be able to <em>really</em> try to form it, and to be safe, he was going to step back as soon as he felt any level of willpower overuse, but he could still get some information by figuring out if his spirit resonated with or rejected the image.


    With that in mind, Matt imagined a massive ck hole, the other side of his white hole, eternally pulling in all of its surroundings, pulling in mana and crunching it down into a single point. Endlessly absorbing, endlessly condensing.


    And. nothing.


    It wasnt a rejection, which was good, but Luna had warned him that something like this might happen. Hed hoped that it might actually be <em>easy</em> for once, but logic told him that making an Intent that was the absolute antithesis of your Concept would outright fail. It simply would not be a possible next step to ones Domain. But if he could frame it as aplimentary-yet-opposite next step, it <em>was</em> certainly possible.


    It would just be hard.


    And, from the looks of it, hed need to establish more resonance with his spirit while utilizing his anchor and phrase if he wanted to try and make a ck hole his image.


    Still, he didnt want to give up quite yet, so he instead tried imagining the moment after a supernova, thergest explosions in the universe Well, thergest <em>natural</em> explosions in the universe, when unimaginable amounts of mass and energy were copsing, pressing in on themselves to fall into a singrly infinitely dense point.


    He imagined his spirit wavering slightly, but with a sigh, he released the attempt. Even with the energy of the Ascension suffusing his very being, the image simply refused to materialize.


    Not wishing to waste the opportunity hed been given, he started cycling through different possible images from his list, testing for any level ofpatibility.


    The unimaginable pressure of a''s core, boundless physical strength, an unbreaking bulwark for his friends, an eternal sentinel, an unstoppable force, an eternal cry that he was more than simply his mana, a liquid drop of mana falling through the sky, mana sparking and bing essence, a beam of light piercing the boundless sky, his mana flooding out and powering the world, an endless arsenal of talismans, eternal rivers of fire and lightning and ice and storms, the Empire growing andsting forever, his house, countless stars in the sky, a white hole creating <em>matter</em>, a star burning forever with essence at its core, a never-dying me, Minka and its ever-shifting tests, an evesting winter, eternal night, evesting day, a never-ceasing storm, an impossibly deep ocean, the infinity of space, the evesting circle of life, him with a halo, forming his armor around himself, handing out mana stones to those around him, forming a rift within the palm of his hand


    On and on it went. Some fit well, others were immediately rejected, and slowly, Matt built up an idea of possible ways that he might be able to take his Intent.


    It all depended on the rest of his Intent, of course. Lowpatibility images could click into ce with the right phrase and anchor, and even the most promising images may not work with phrases and anchors of his choice. And even something that felt promising could fail when truly put to the test, but he wouldnt be able to know that until he attempted to form his Intent with purpose. Considering he would be risking death to push that far at Tier 13, he had no inclination of doing so now.


    Travis and Keith had what they suspected were good and likelypatible Intent portions already, and were utilizing this Ascension to feel out theirpatibility as a unit. Matt had a much easier job in that he was simply feeling out a single portion, but he wanted to try and make as much progress on that portion as was safe.


    Matt picked one of his images that had resonated with him the most, albeit the most ambitious one, and sank into deep concentration. It was a nigh-impossible idea, but he would be an Ascender, doing the impossible was his entire purpose.


    All Domains had some level of throughline. Most either narrowed to a single point or expanded their scope and intention in some way, while others meandered like a river or <em>literally</em> built upon one another. It was thatst type that Matt was aiming for here and now.


    After all, his Concept was a white hole, and he knew of exactly one white hole in the entire realm: at the heart of Minka, powering the entire world. And so, he would attempt to make Minka itself.


    Of course, attempting to recreate the ever-changing in its entirety would, even if it <em>did</em> work, would simply result in a muddled and unfocused Intent that would theoretically be an excellent base to develop into any number of potent abilities, but would, in practice, simply be so generic as to be useless. Simr fates had befallen people who attempted to create reality Domains or magic Domains. Attempting to do everything was the same as attempting to do nothing, and even less effective.


    But, the <em>framework</em> of Minka, what it represented, was perfect for Matt.


    It was a ce of improvement, an entity which could never be truly predicted. Seven floors and seven abilities was probably a bit <em>too</em> ambitious, but the core idea could work.


    After all, his Talent allowed him to do practically anything, which meant he was spoiled for choice most of the time. But even then, he still had his preferred styles that he liked to use.


    If he could establish some form of mode-shifting within his Intent, where with meditation he could change the abilities he had ess to, he coulde into each situation with a new set of powers. Modr Domains <em>were</em> a known phenomenon, if rare, and while usually associated with an armory or library of some kind, there was no reason he couldnt be as Limitless as Minka if he set it as his goal.


    Of course, Intents were as limitless as Concepts, in theory, and while the abilities they granted tended to be much more potent andprehensive than their predecessors, it was as hard, if not <em>harder,</em> to expand their abilities into something unrted to their initial gifts.


    A flexible, modr Intent, meanwhile, would make him much more capable of doing anything. Perhaps not all at once, but he could live with that.


    He needed mana Concentration? That could be one of his powers. Would he need to make his skills able to handle more mana? Another setting of his Intent. Making his armor as resilient as possible? Just develop a new floor and activate it.


    His main struggle would be the incredible difficulty with establishing a modr domain. Everyone wanted one, but few possessed thepatibility or right framework to do it. Matt was, in his own estimation, in a perfect situation to deal with both of the problems.


    That didnt mean hed seed, but he wanted to give it a shot with the Ascension to assist him.


    There was no reason <em>not</em> to shoot for the stars, after all.


    He might just hit them.


    Using his Concept and its white hole as the metaphorical core, he started to recreate Minka in his own Image.


    First was the white hole itself. That was simple enough, only requiring his Concept as a base. From there, a pir of indestructible crystal stretched out from the center, which he thought of as a channel for the Intent''s power.


    Next, he started building the rest of the around the idea that there were multiple distinct floors that could be changed or put away at a whim. As he tried to solidify that idea, the entire structure of the Intent''s Image fell apart, and he was forced to start over.


    This time. he pondered what Minka actually did with the floors it wasnt using.


    He had seen the as it changed cycles. and knew that it absorbed the floors, but that didnt exin what it did with that much mass.


    It took him a few minutes, but he realized his understanding was probably wrong. Minka wasnt pulling floors out of nowhere. It wasnt even made of floors, not how he thought of them, at least.


    Inside Minka, everything felt like a solid entity, but it wasnt. That was an illusion built by the floor <em>themes</em> and interconnected ruins. A floor of Minka was a theme ced over the floor that changed the rules of that floor. He didnt need the floors of his Intent to change out like pieces of a puzzle, but rather he needed them to be able to ept any theme he ced over them.


    Starting over, he started to sketch the outline of a surrounding his Concept and filled it in with floors that could channel power through theiryouts. The deeper the floor, the more dense the power, and therefore, more potent, letting him recreate a facsimile of Minka and its increasing rewards for deeper floors.


    He struggled on actually making the idea of floors that channeled power, but eventually had the idea to make the floors shifting containers, not unlike the ruins in Minka. But instead of ruin filled monsters, he made each ruin a rune.


    Between talismans and general enchanting, Matt hade to both appreciate runecraft and love its possibilities. Making each floor a densework of runes both fit him and worked on a more practical level. Denser clusters of runes were generally more powerful than widespread runic structures, which gave him the framework to build the idea that the deeper the floor he put an Intent power on, the more powerful it would be.


    Still, he wasnt having any luck getting his spirit to ept or reject anything beyond the pir of indestructible crystal encasing his Concept, but there was enough stirring to indicate that there was <em>something</em> there for him.


    But given how little energy was remaining in his spirit, the Ascension wasing to an end. Some other time, hed give his phrase and anchor some effort, but before he finished, there was just <em>one</em> idea he wanted to test.


    Hed had the humorous idea that he could just take Minka itself as his Anchor, but that would be a bad idea, even if it were possible. Whatever he chose would have to have a weaker and smaller spirit than he did, which the massive certainly didnt.


    It didnt matter, though, as even meditating on the idea of making Minka his anchor, even a Created simcrum, was firmly rejected by his spirit. Even if it was possible, it seemed that it wouldnt be a good fit for him.


    As he woke up, he found himself still sitting on the couch with Liz and Aster next to him and curled on hisp respectively. Keith was next to him on the other side, with Erin and Daniel farther down on the couch.


    Spreading his spiritual sense, he found the others who had clearly finished up sitting in the kitchen chatting. He couldn''t hear anything, but figured they had sent up a soundproofing barrier to give the rest of them their privacy.


    Checking the time, he found that close to a day had passed, but despite that, Matt felt good.


    Joining the others, Matt was almost immediately given a te of food from Leah, who asked, How did it go?


    Matt nodded even as he shoveled a forkful of potatoes into his face. Good. I managed to find a resonant image, and while I was only able to get the very start of it established, I have a fairly decent idea about potential ways my Image could go. No luck with a phrase or anchor though.


    Mara pouted as she stored a pile of food back into her spatial ring, while Leon just pushed a ss of lemonade to Matt. Care to share?


    After he swallowed his next mouthful, he exined his thought process with his Intent''s Image.


    While impressed with his ambition, their primary reaction matched that of Lunas, reiterating that he needed to be <em>extremely</em> careful until at least Tier 20. Matt assured them that yes, he wasnt interested in killing himself, and turned the question around, asking if theyd had any luck with their own Domains. He was met with predominantly shaking heads.


    Leah sensed she was close to finishing her Aspect, and just needed to find a suitable phrase. She hadpatible pieces of everything else required, but hadnt hit upon the right phrase to make everything resonate with the otherponents.


    She didnt seem worried, and neither did anyone else, which matched with Matts recollection that a <em>lot</em> of Tier 45 and 46 individuals were working on getting their Aspect, so they could safely ascend and keep advancing.


    Aster woke up not muchter, joining the group at the table, and was immediately served a dish courtesy of Leon.


    Ive got good direction for my phrase, something like The Bitter Cold, and a few other backups in case it isntpatible with the other parts.


    They got about halfway through the recap of how everyones Ascension had gone when Keith woke up and joined them, prompting a restart of the conversation.


    Travis congratted him with a hug and kiss before shoving a te of food in front of him, which caused Maras feather hair to stand on its end while her face went red, her own te of food just inches away from being ced down.


    Ive got a few solidlypatible phrases and images, but still nothing good for the anchor.


    Travis speared a piece of asparagus and groaned. Tell me about it. I still have no idea about my Phrase. Thatst one was tly wrong. With a shrug, he added, Well, nothing really worth worrying about until were Tier 20. And by then, I expect that well be the lowest Tier in the family again. Weve got time.


    Keith nodded along and joined the conversation going on that didnt involve Domains. Or, the one that didnt involve <em>their</em> Domains. They, or rather, Mara, Leon, Sam, Annie, and Leah, were talking about the drama about the Ascension and Jebediah being Yellow for so many years.


    It was apparently a minor scandal for their age group, as everyone had honestly believed that he had been quietly killed off by Georgios, and his revival had made everyone start to look into past events with a little more scrutiny.


    Georgios, for all that Matt didnt like his possible attitude to someone with his kind of Talent, was a well regarded Emperor.


    He had led the Empire in two wars, expanded the Empire''snd by close to thirty percent, massively expanded social services for low Tiers, enacted the mortal protectionws, and had a hand in a number of other initiatives that had helped the Empire as a whole.


    That said, he was also ruthless to anyone who was acting against what he considered the Empires best interest. So while things were better for the masses, there were a number of individuals who were crushed under the man''s iron fist.


    People like Jebediah Tallow.


    Except, it turned out Jebediah wasnt dead, and instead co-opted to make the Empire better, which made everyone look at incidents like his with new eyes.


    Leon and Mara were quite sure that a few of the names bandied around were well and truly dead. Not because they knew as Royals, but because they had met Georgios and were sure that he was perfectly willing to vanish people who stood in his way without losing even a moment of sleep over it. During his rule, it was understood that either you got in line, or got crushed underfoot as he marched forward.


    The entire idea was so odd to Matt. First of all, he directly benefited from Georgios expansions of both territory and social services, even if his family had been killed because ofzy nobles. The second was that being firm in one''s convictions was great when those convictions were noble, but what if Georgios had been a bad ruler with selfish motives?


    That same determination and ruthlessness would look very differently if used for other means.


    He had read an opinion piece a few years ago that came to mind as he thought over the implications of a ruler with so much power.


    The article pointed out that most of the Empire''s recent growth and expansion was directly because of the rulers having so much power whenpared to the other Great Powers. Despite also being led by Tier 50s, they were more constrained by thews, and more importantly, historical checks to their powers firmly established in the wake of the shattering.


    The Empire had always imposed less fetters on its rulers, which was why after taking the throne, Agatha had been able to so rapidly change the direction of the Empire.


    A double edged sword if Matt had ever seen one.


    One bad ruler, and everything could fall apart.


    Picking a sessor was not a task he envied.


    Hed happily do his part powering the Empire until he Ascended, but Matt never intended to sit around this realm forever to be the battery for everyone else.


    His musings were interrupted by Liz waking up and sauntering over.


    Before she was able to sit down, Mara vibrated and lunged at her youngest daughter, shoving a te of food into her hands. Preening, she walked back to her seat, leaving Liz thankful but confused.


    When she had gotten the first mouthful of food down, Travis asked, What did you get figured out, little sis?


    Liz blushed and looked away, but then a grin blossomed over her face. Well, Im <em>quite</em> confident I know what my final anchor will be.


    In lieu of exnation, she took a giant bite ofsagna and slowly chewed it.


    Once she swallowed, the smile returned alongside a shrug. My blood, obviously. I tried a few different phrases and images to pair with it, and while nothing felt <em>quite</em> right, Ive got a few promising leads that all had some pretty good resonance with my blood as an anchor.


    Overall, none of them had made <em>that</em> much progress, but that much was expected. He, Liz, and Aster in particr were starting so far ahead of the curve, it was slightly incredible they even managed as much as they did, all told though all of their progress could be outright wrong in the end.


    Once Liz finished eating, they went to join their friends who were in their ownparative rooms, but what they found was two somber groups of people.


    Kyle spoke first, seeing them.


    You three missed the drama. The Unbroken have broken.


    Matt looked around and saw everyone was alive, but everyone but Kyle and Tara on that team still seemed shocked.


    Tara exined, seeing their confusion. Kyle and I decided to go to Minka with Annie, Emily, and Conor. We were given the option to jump teams She paused as she worked her jaw as if searching for words.


    Annie shrugged and continued, They only agreed because none of us are expected toplete the Path, and our managers agreed. With the joining of teams, we agreed to step off at Tier 22 at thetest.


    Conor smirked and finished for his girlfriend. If we make it that far.


    His tone told Matt that it wasnt their own words, but probably their managers or rather, their managers words through their liaisons mouth.


    Aster brushed past his and Lizs still forms and jumped onto one of the tables. This seems like a good thing! You dont need to stay on the same team to be friends and family. We all have our own journeys.


    Samantha, who was closest, ruffled Asters ears, to her contentment. You are right, but we are still sad. We''ve been together for so long, it feels wrong to separate.


    Matt couldnt say he was surprised at the splintering of The Unbroken, but he was surprised that Kyle and Tara had been given permission to join another team.


    It was fairly rare that any teampositions were permitted to change after Tier 5, and it only got rarer the higher up the Path one got, even adjusting for the lower numbers at those tiers. The Path administration had to personally approve changes on a case-by-case basis, and while Matt didnt know the specifics, he knew it was to try and prevent anyone from being carried by a stronger team.


    The news, while good for everyone, had put a damper on the mood, which led the three teams of friends to a more somber evening than the celebration they had nned.


    Still, they forced themselves to enjoy their time together as they were quickly running out of time as a group.


    After all, the Ascension was over, and everyone had things to do.


    Emily''s nowrger team had to learn how to work together in preparation for Minka, while Melindas team was officially stepping off The Path of Ascension. Melinda had said her mentor, or Baxter, had already told her she was getting carried to Tier 20 in the fastest possible time frame, so she could start working on her Intent properly. All while getting a crash course on wartime healing.


    Matt couldnt help but feel that things were changing. Changing so quickly, he almost felt lost. He had never imagined his friends would be stepping off The Path voluntarily, let alone at Tier 12.


    It just seemed so contrary to the ideas they had back at the yPen. But that was almost forty years ago, and things changed.


    Lives moved forward and diverged.


    Looking to Liz and Aster, he hoped that wouldnt happen to them, but knew in his heart it would.


    Eventually.


    Eventually, they wouldplete The Path and enter the army, then fight to protect the Empire, and that could be a separation. If that wasnt a separation, one of them could die fighting. If that didnt happen, they would eventually leave the army and start progressing to Tier 45, where they would ascend to a higher realm.


    Somewhere on that timeline, they would no longer be connected at the hip.


    He just needed to make sure they continued to be a family when that inevitably happened.


    Something far easier said than done.


    ***


    Allie stretched as she pushed her chair to the limit of tipping.


    Just as it was going to fall backwards, she shifted her leg and mmed her chair back down with a loud ng.


    Twisting, she brought the chair up to one leg and spun like a top, using quick touches of her feet to make her spin faster and faster.


    When a beep happened on the console in front of her, she came to an immediate halt to view the readout, hoping for something interesting but seeing it was just a sighting of Frederic Macheteuil, and very obviously a clone at that.


    Hoping that <em>where</em> he was would be interesting, she sighed at the disappointment.


    He had just entered a mana bank. The man had been selling shares of thosepanies for thest few years, which made this nothing new. She was sure hed be selling whatever portion of control he or his noble house had of thatpany before leaving, never to return.


    An utterly boring event he had repeated a few times. Even then, he hadnt even sold out of any significant portion of his controlling interests of mana <em>reserves</em>.


    Allie generally left such spection to the professionals, but had to wonder if he was selling the shares for a reason, or if it was a diversion. She had offered the idea that he wanted out of the entire business, but Zack and the other analysts had disregarded that idea, as Frederic wasnt selling enough to indicate such.


    He had close to eight percent of his family''s wealth in mana storage centers due to his fathers, and his own, efforts in buying small interests in almost everypany with mana storage capabilities. To directly undo that work himself seemed contradictory to his own motives, and the leading theory was that he was getting out of specific mana storage centers, not all of them.


    Allie wanted to dig into the situation and see if they found anything juicy, like an affair, child, or corruption. If they found that kind of dirt, things could get interesting.


    Not that she''d actually get to do the ckmailing, but it would still be fun to be a part of it.


    Anything interesting? Zack joined her, but from the way his eyes were flicking, she was confident that he was already reviewing their logs.


    Nothing. The entire city went quiet for most of a day, and then the higher Tiers woke up faster than everyone else. Everything is normal.


    Zack flicked a finger and set a recording of two higher Tiers breaking into a shop and pilfering a load of weapons and armor. This isn''t interesting to you?


    Allie shrugged. Not really. It''s clearly an inside job. Insurance fraud, I''d bet, but really could be anything. If not insurance fraud, it''s the owner''s kid doing the robbing. Look at how quickly they hit the ce and leave, but also manage to avoid the bait gear. I reported it as possible ckmail material, but otherwise, it''s meh.


    Zack eventually agreed, but then brought up a ship orbiting in space. Like so many others in the system, it was a repurposed food hauler meant to move mid to high Tier foodstuffs from the outskirts of the Empire inward, where the poptions gathered.


    Did you see that this hauler continued moving operations while the ascension was underway? His question was a good one, as the event had been an oddity, but one she had looked over.


    Nothing there. Captain of the boat just formed her Intentst week and decided to work while everyone else was conked out. She cleared it with local space and air control, with the promise shed personally be piloting each carrier remotely. She got a fat bonus for the timely drop off by thepany, and dropped off the smuggled goods easily. Before he could ask what smuggled goods the captain had brought in, she flicked a finger bringing up the relevant file. She was smuggling a number of those [Flexibility] skill shards from the ns. Nothing really interesting.


    Zack settled back and sighed with her.


    Well, at least we get to watch the kids again. It was fun,st time, and we never know if there will be someone interestinging up the Path.


    Allie groaned. Ugh. Speak for yourself. I just want this whole tour to be done, or at the <em>very least</em> give us something interesting. Maybe something in the Federation, or the Sects? Its just not the same without the thrill of death.


    Zack shrugged. We will return to more thrilling assignments in time, you know why management is keeping us here.


    Allie summoned her dagger and flicked it into a set-up target. Yeah, and Im sick of being stuck on information gathering. <em>Low-level</em> information gathering, at that.


    With an effort of will, she ripped the dagger out of the target and called it back to her hand before throwing it once more.


    Yes, well, once the war starts well be plenty busy.


    Allie tipped her chair and let herself fall all the way back to the floor, where shey just looking at the ceiling.


    She hated it when Zack was right.


    Yeah. Yeah, we will. And I certainly dont want it toe <em>faster</em>, but


    Zack interrupted her. Did you see the report that Mara and Leons youngest is getting married?


    Allie perked up and jumped to her feet. She had <em>not</em> seen that, and it seemed like prime gossip.


    Shes already Tier 15? Allie was pretty sure that wasn''t the case, as she had seen the girl just ten or so years ago at the Tier 10 Pather Tournament they had spied on. There was no way the girl was Tier 15 already, and noble families, even the non-hereditary types, adhered to the Tier 15 marriage age. So either the girl was bucking tradition, or had a serious red g.


    Both seemed promising.


    No, shes mid Tier 13, though the wedding isnt going to be for a few decades. Apparently, her and her now-fiance went into Minka two cycles ago, probably either at peak eleven or mid twelve. Either way, they got their faces heartily kicked in and ducked out after the fourth floor.


    Ah, that would do it. Bit of a brush with mortality, wanted to tie the knot quickly?


    That, and her partner has a bond. Ice fox, smart for her Tier by all reports. Theyll be stepping off the Path at Tier 15 when she goes off to the Academy, and my guess is theyll be getting married right before then.


    Oooh, that <em>was</em> a brutal Minka cycle. The Sword Chick, PenBoy, and Spicy Whatever Her Name Is, no wonder they got out early.


    Her partner had been in charge of that information gathering, and she was now curious.


    Queen, Quill, and Torch, yes. First, anything actionable about Elizabeth? Zack prodded her.


    Hmm. Oh, thats odd.


    Zack raised an eyebrow, and she borated, Theres a pretty straightforward paper trail following them for most of their careers on the Path, though a little messy, and they participated in a lot of low-Tier training events. But after they took part in a training war in one of the vassal kingdoms, the number of events with any records drops dramatically.


    You think it might be fabricated?


    If it is, its <em>beautifully</em> done. There are even just enough missing records as to be believable, and not in any kind of pattern either. They just have far, <em>far</em> fewer confirmed public events since then just the tournament. Any records of them actually going into Minka?


    Zack shook his head. No leaks of entry records in the past century. Its only a bit of family gossip that indicates that they were in Minka, not that thats much of a surprise.


    Still. Its interesting. They dont have a manager, so a quiet trip to Minka is a bit unusual. Well, it might be worth passing word along to a team to sniff them out. Corruption on the Path could certainly be an interesting tidbit to pass along, especially after that inspiring speech by Tallow. <em>Now</em> can we talk about the Mightier?


    The Mightier?


    Well you know, the pen is mightier than the sword, and a torch that burns twice as bright burns for half as long and royals are strong? And theyre all really strong. It checks out!


    Zack massaged his temples, You didnt think that through at all, did you?


    She had, actually. And it had worked perfectly. Noment. Have there been any other sightings of our little threesome?


    Not since Queensst tournament, no. <em>Presumably</em>, theyll be on the somewhere for the Ascension. Assuming it was Quill who had an inspiration afterpleting Minka-


    It <em>totally</em> was. You saw the reports. Luna herself, blocking the inspiration? She retired centuries ago, who else would they have dragged her out for if not for scalding letters?


    <em>Assuming it was Quill</em> who had an inspiration while leaving Minka, we would expect them to be about peak Tier 13, if trying to push their advantage, or mid Tier 13 if stalling.


    And let me guess, nobody matches that description on the?


    Zack just raised an eyebrow. Do you hear yourself? There are six billion, four hundred and seventeen million, nine hundred Tier 13''s here currently. I


    Okay! I get it, theres too many people they could be. Bleh. Not that it would actually help, all of these sightings are basically just gossip fodder, not


    Not what you expected youd be doing when you agreed to this post?


    Exactly!


    Torch, Quill, and Queen were high on their, and everyone else''s, priority to dig up information. Two separate elite teams who entered Minka together at Tier 11 and emerged a substantial way into Tier 12, <em>probably</em>, but the Empire had done a remarkable job at keeping their whereabouts quiet in the aftermath. If there were any records of them leaving the Minka system, they werent anywhere that they had ess to. Even in her most recent tournament, Queen had withheld enough of her capabilities while utterly dominating herpetition that nobody could tell when she had Tiered up inside the Forge.


    Strength of extra Concept powers was a great indicator, but only until they started to strengthen said Concepts themselves.


    She personally suspected they had gotten to the seventh floor before having to Tier up. Everything their information channels said the final floors of that cycle were a dumpster fire of teams killing each other, after being bottled up on a fourth floor Courtly Warfare.


    Before she could get lost in her daydream, Zack pulled her back to work.


    Help me go through the information about the Tier 10 Pathers. Our scanners got a lot of good passive body scans, which we can use to try and match with other information.


    Trying to avoid the unfun part of the job, she made an attempt at distraction. Want me to go get us something to drink?


    Zack pointed his finger and summoned a pitcher of energy drink. Outsmarted but content, she poured herself a cup of the colorful liquid and sighed at the intense vors.


    Flipping through the information, she started creating profiles for each of the Pathers and thenpared those profiles to what Zack made, then added theirbined profiles to their spies profiles.


    Sadly, no one in this batch of Pathers even seemed interesting, which put a damper on her excitement.


    At least theirst Pather mission had had three standouts.


    Still, work was work, and Allie was good at her job.


    She just couldnt wait until it got fun again.

 Book 3 On Amazon - Links

    Book 3 On Amazon - Links


    Path of Ascension is officially avable on Kindle, KU, Print, Audible! While none of you NEED to read the new version that is appearing on Kindle, it has been thoroughly revised and edited to make it a much cleaner book without changing any actual content. Its a significantly smoother version of the story you know. The audiobook was performed by a narrator I hand-picked out of a substantial list of options, and he did an incredible job making the story a new experience. Amazon: https://a.co/d/hSztbc6


    Audible: /pd/The-Path-of-Ascension-3-Audiobook/B0C37WLDGX? What else can you do to help? If you have kindle unlimited already, even just a download apparently counts as a sale and can boost myunch rank. So, you dont have to spend any extra money to help, though if you want to feel free Also, on Amazon reviews and ratings are crucial. If you''ve been enjoying the story, I would respectfully ask you to consider leaving a review. You dont need to have purchased the book on kindle to leave a review, either, though if you download on KU before posting a review, ites up as verified which is weighted higher. Thank you for all the support!

 Chapter 228

    Chapter 228


    The day after the ascension ended, things changed fromckadaisical and rxed to bustling and frantic, and not just for the locals who were hosting the Tier 10 Tournament for the second time. Rather, it was the out of towners who wanted to leave the cramped and overpriced hearnd of the Empire as soon as possible. The mad dash was jacking up prices to extremes, especially for modes of transport like teleporters, as everyone wanted to beat the rush.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster weren''t any different in their desire, but were limited in their capabilities. All the other siblings either hitched a ride with Leah, or left on their own chaotic space capable ships, like Keith and Travis.


    They had wanted to slip out on a ship as well, but Luna hit the three of them with a bit of news they had expected, but hoped to avoid.


    People are looking into the three of you. Looking at Matt, she continued, Especially you, Matthew, and not just for the announcement that you are marrying Liz. People are looking at your recent exploits, and that''s not what we want. While we had fakes running around pretending to be you thest few years, nothing will stand up to scrutiny when Talents get involved. Prepare yourselves, as your identities as Quill and Torch can and very well might be dug up.


    Matt nodded as he mulled over the implications and asked, So what is our countermeasure?


    Luna grinned, and while her teeth were no longer the ivory daggers they had been in her cat form, Matt felt the same menacing energy. We hopefully bait out an assassination attempt and let you get as injured as you should be with your public persona. That wont really prove anything to someone sniffing around, but it will muddy the waters enough to buy you enough time to reach Tier 15, get married, and step off The Path. That is really our end goal. While Aster is away, we can set half a dozen false trails without too much effort before having you fade away to do young noble things with Liz somewhere remote.


    Liz raised a finger in question. What was that about baiting out attacks? That seems risky, and its a good way to actually get kicked off The Path. I dont really follow the logic there.


    Luna waved that concern off with a nod. The idea is that you continue with our normal goings on until someone loses patience and sends a subordinate to provoke you in some way. The easiest way is to send an assassin, though, with your background and connection to Liz, that''s unlikely. Other times, they might use a local to try and fight you. The idea is to see if youre dumb enough to disy power beyond what you should have for your identities. Our hope is to just throw any peering eyes off your trail enough to buy us time for you to step off. Thankfully, a man and woman pair on The Path is hardly a rarebination, which limits our ovep on identities.


    Having said that, Luna''s eyes narrowed as she looked at Matt. Speaking of which, your little stunt of selling your mana to that guild on the training has be a pain in the ass. It''s a massive g, even if weve covered most of it up. It was hard enough hiding all of your sales before your audit, and we were able to act immediately there.


    Matt shrugged. While hed change that choice if he had the power to go back in time, he didnt, and felt he had good reasons to do so back then.


    Thinking of giving him mana, Matt raised a question. Can we visit Amelia and Kelley? Id like to check in with their progress. Ive given them a ton of mana over thest few years since we left Minka, and I think the decision to visit a friend makes sense for an official reason to go there.


    Kelley was a crafter he had befriended during the Pather war in the vassal kingdom, so many years ago, and they had kept in touch. That had led Kelley to introducing them to Amelia Galley, the crafter who had shocked the Empire with her double inspiration Tier up a few years ago. If she had only two inspirations, that would have been one thing. In fact, the most recent inspiration had been her <em>ninth</em> regarding crafting, making her a leading figure in the field.


    Matt had been so impressed with her, he had set up a long standing contract where he supplied her with mana in return for future help with his guild, and making the research she did with his mana public information. He also earned a bit of money that was kept in escrow until he left The Path, but the money meant practically nothing to someone like Matt.


    Rather, he wanted to see what Amelia had been up to in thest few years, and possibly get a few upgrades to their armament, which they were owed. Or rather, Matt wanted to get Melinda and the rest of her team a few sets of gear that they could use for their time after they reached Tier 15, now that they were off The Path.


    Good, Talent made, Tier 17 gear should be far better than anything they could get their hands on themselves.


    If they were to follow that n, theyd have a fairly short trek through a dozen systems, where theyd be able to take advantage of a realspace crossings to get to Harper''s Kingdom and out of Rustys Kingdom in short order.


    The realspace crossings were in high demand, but that actually lowered the cost of a ticket, as they had more than enough people to split the mana cost for a dozen teleport swaps between the neighboring star systems, meaning they didnt need to cover arger than normal cost.


    Matt had to wonder why the Empire didnt move the star systems closer to reduce costs, but when he idly asked April, who had finally rejoined them, sheughed and said the royals had more important things to do with their time. Safely moving a star system in real space was actually harder than moving one though chaotic space. While both methods required moving the entire weight of a star and its surroundingary bodies, they didnt need to worry about putting too much pressure on one and shattering it to dust, or identally crushing the sun when in chaotic space. To aplish it, one needed enough strength to ensure a most gentle trip, which was something even a Tier 45 couldn''t guarantee.


    When Matt pointed out they could easily get a few Tier 45s to join together, Aprilughed and showed him a high Tier job listing for that exact job. A Tier 47 could move the system in a few short days, but the Tier 45s needed to be more careful, which meant moving slower. The issue was that the job paid next to nothing to a Tier 45, and they would be stuck doing it for ages, leaving few who would agree to take the job.


    That said, the royals usually did step in when a realspace crossing was found or created, but that help was limited to giving the star system in question a shove in the right direction, and then making sure their sessor came back in a few million years.


    And Matt had to admit, even a dozen teleports on asteroids really wasnt that bad of a price to pay for the convenience of cutting off close to a year of travel, if using the more conventional method of inteary teleports that most people below Tier 20 used.


    It also made Matt start looking into chaotic spaceships, as once they reached Tier 15, they could actually <em>pilot</em> them.


    The prices made him raise an eyebrow, but they weren''t so bad that he waspletely unwilling or unable to pay it. The cheapest shuttles were fairly limited in their capabilities, most notably the distance they could safely travel, but if one was only using them to travel along the already established tethers between worlds, they were more than capable.


    One of thergest drawbacks of the cheaper ships was just how mana-hungry the shielding enchantments that prevented the ship from dissolving into nothingness in Chaotic Space were.


    For Matt, that was practically a non-issue.


    Still, they would be able to afford Tier 17 or 18 ships by the time they could actually use them, and the increased Tier resulted in more features and higher capabilities. They were all a bit beyond his discretionary budget at the moment, but he did find a few ship models that he was interested in and saved them forter.


    Then, because he was having fun, also looked for ships that Liz and Aster might like if he wasnt with them. When looking for the generically best high-teens ships, there were undeniably right answers at each price point, depending on what was being prioritized. Maneuverability and top speed in real or chaotic space, weapon systems,fort, somebination of the others


    In the end, hed need to talk more with the girls to see what theyd want, and in reality, they would just pick what they wanted themselves.


    Personally, Matt couldnt wait for his own ship, as traveling through the Empire by would be interesting, and it would let him see some interesting ces over the next few decades. But it was slow, especially when they needed to wait on a teleporter to cycle for sometimes days, and he had a dozen other things he could be spending his time on.


    Not that Luna, Kurt, or even April let them sit idly when they could be working on something.


    Matt could happily spend a three day train ride working on small scale elemental maniption skills that could be safely done inside, or work on small safe enchanting projects, but they werent perfect substitutions for therge scale fighting he usually did.


    In the end, their travel didnt take too long, and they arrived to where Amelia Galley had moved her moon, along with the substantial number of new factories dotting its surface.


    Matt and the others spent a few minutes walking around the popted areas before heading into a familiar building where Amelia actually worked.


    Following the manager who led them deeper into the facility, Matt stopped in front of a sealed room with a dozen other people, all in suits that protected them from thepound they were spraying on a number of animal hides, working on various points in the process of turning hide into leather.


    With his spiritual sense, Matt inspected the room and the liquid in particr, and was surprised to find that it was highly corrosive to anything spiritual. Retracting his now slightly injured spirit, he looked over to Amelia, who had appeared next to them as if she was already there.


    Instead of speaking, she inspected him head to toe and back again.


    Are you Matt? You seem to have grown up. You look so much less naive.


    Matt returned the inspection. but was more subtle. and simply looked her in the eyes. She was a Tier 22, but he felt no fear.


    Not that he thought he could fight her, but he had seen so much in thest few decades, and the childish Matt she had met before and made a deal with was long gone.


    So, two hundred billion mana. Its been three decades, and Im very curious what youve done with all of that. Care to enlighten me?


    While a measly twenty years werent much in the time frame of immortals, Amelia had not put out a single new product in the meantime, and Matt found that both unbelievable and suspicious. That question was one of the main reasons he had wanted toe here in the first ce. Once he had noticed the discrepancy, he started digging through public records and realized that Amelia had almost vanished off the face of the EmpireNet after her double Inspiration Tier up, which was why he had asked Luna toe here.


    Amelia''s eyes narrowed as the humorous air she had when arrived vanished. Are you using me of something, Mr. Alexander?


    Matt looked back into the facility where the others were currently working and said nothing for a few long moments. It''s slightly more than the equivalent of a Tier 35 mana stone, and with no strings attached. No investors to pay back, no board of directors to exin where it went to. No restrictions to what it should be used on. But the mana has seemingly vanished. It makes one wonder.


    Amelia worked her jaw like she wanted to say something, but ended up sighing. Im not stealing the mana. two hundred billion <em>is</em> a lot, but it''s practically nothing to the high Tier guilds, who can drop a single Tier 45 mana stone and get five hundred trillion mana to work with. And despite the local noble''s assurance that hed go to bat for me, I have had a number of higher Tier guilds interrupting things, like supply lines and such. They don''t want me publishing secrets, and are using every trick in the book they can get away with to slow me down. And frankly, it''s working.


    Matt scanned the crafter once more and tried to see if she had any signs of lying. In the end, he didnt find anything, but that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, especially for an immortal with full control over their body.


    And you have nothing? That''s the part I find unbelievable. Nothing new to publish in thest three decades? Not even a new way to stitch patterns into armor? I thought you said you wanted to share information. Was that all bullshit? He didnt want to believe it, but it wouldn''t be the first time a seemingly noble person had decided their values werent as firm as they led others to believe.


    Amelia shook her head. No, weve had new inventions, or rather new innovations, but Ive been hit with recently filed patents and cease and desist letters any time I go to publish anything. And when I show that we independently developed


    They try to slow down the court process and waste everyone''s time, eating any fines and ensuing penalties. Matt didnt like it, but everything she said was both feasible and exactly what his training said the more established guilds and corporations would try to do to protect their agreed upon secrecy of higher Tier crafting strategies.


    If you think you are the first backer Ive hade to try and chew my ass out in thest decade. you are sorely mistaken. I told all of them we would have to deal with this from day one, but now that they arent seeing the returns they would like, Im getting push back.


    Liz stood forward for the first time and asked, Are the guilds putting pressure on them to pull out? Try and bankrupt you by forcing buyouts?


    Amelia shrugged. As far as I know, not yet, but that''s most certainly their next move. I have my own strategies and counters. They just take time.


    Saying that, she nodded at the clean room. One of my Talented crafters had an idea to create a liquid that can temporarily suppress the spirit of an item, which would hopefully make it easier to enchant, but it makes the material weaker when the potion wears off. It doesnt de-Tier the object or anything, but it makes the enchantments more fragile once it returns to its normal level. That said, I don''t believe weve hit a wall, and were still making progress. Even a weaker enchantment could still have its uses.


    Amelia then proceeded to lead Matt around to a dozen more facilities where she showed them everything they were working on, and then took them to an area where they had two inventions they had recreated or discovered, depending on who asked.


    They were a method of enchanting the stitching of a fabric to further increase a single attribute of the item, and a method of more easily merging the spirit of metal inserts into leather items. While thetter didnt increase the spiritual capacity, so the item couldn''t handle more runes, it was a desirable oue, as even shaving a few days or weeks off aplicated procedure like merging spirits was always valuable.


    Sadly, as Amelia had said earlier, both of those patents had been held up in court, and wouldnguish there until a decision was finalized.


    Frankly, Matt wasnt happy with the progress Amelia had made, but he also realized that was less ament about her, and more of an indictment on his expectations.


    After all, even minor improvements could lead to substantial increases in profit margins for the mass production industries, which is where most guilds and organizations focused their efforts. Single one off items were great, but far more expensive. And for the average delver, it was easier and cheaper to buy a standardized and enchanted de, rather than something custom.


    Seeing all of this, and the reality of pushing back at the established and entrenched powers that be, made Matt drop his anger. Amelia was just going through the same issues he knew he would be facing once he created his own guild in the future.


    The only difference would be scale.


    While Amelia was poking holes at the leather and fabrics industry, Matt intended to tackle every industry. A lofty goal, but a necessary one. Or so he felt.


    Why should a method of saving potentially weeks of time or tons of mana waiting for two materials spirits to merge be restricted? Just so a guild could keep a local monopoly on cheaper steel reinforced tes? Matt found that uneptable.


    Amelia was being mired down through legal avenues, and her good work stifled, but Matt didnt have a magic answer except keep pushing through. A guild would happily tie her up in legal battles for decades or centuries if possible, as that would let them keep their technique secret, hoping she would run out of funding without new inventions to license and earn off of. But Matt wasnt going to make it so easy.


    His contribution of a billion mana a month wasnt single handedly keeping Amelia afloat, but it was damn useful in stretching her resources further, and allowing her to keep her research and development going without any new products.


    Once they finished going over the situation, the four of them had a much more cordial dinner where Amelia went over the newest ideas they were testing.


    Some seemed impractical or downright impossible without a dedicated Talent, but others had Matts interest.


    After visiting Kelley and spending a few days with him toplete their cover story, the four of them moved on.


    Still, in their real identities, they found a Tier 18 and started delving Tier 15 rifts. As Tier 13s going up two Tiers was to be expected, and while that was all they did officially, they were delving a nearby Tier 17 rift under masks and the restrictions Luna set out for them.


    Day by day, time passed, and before a year had psed, just as Luna said, someone came to test them.


    A man started openly hitting on Liz while they were out, which turned into idental meetings at the restaurant they frequented, the gym they worked out at, and the sparring field they went to. Generally each encounter consisted of him trying to get Matt to respond with violence of some kind but the methods were rough at best. Being able to look at it from an observer''s perspective, it was so obviously a set up, they had to use Lunas training to not outrightugh at the man''s antics. His orders were clearly to feel out Matt and not antagonize Liz, as whenever Liz intervened, the man wilted like a depressed flower until he could target Matt alone once more.


    All of that led up to the moment a man directly picked a fight with Matt.


    Nothing serious, as he was simrly a Tier 13, though a peak Tier 13 versus Matts high Tier 13 but a fight nheless.


    On his own and before his training, Matt might have thrown the fight, but with Lunas decades of tutge, he knew that would be almost as bad as pulling out a talisman and hitting the pest with a Quill special.


    No that would be dumb, Matt just needed to act normal. Fight hard, limit his skill usage and personal buffing, dont show too much in the way of talent, and look like he was pushing himself as hard as he could, while in truth feeling like he was in a pillow fight. Not the easiest thing to do but he had more than enough experience and at the very least there was no second attempt.


    After that incident, and another couple of challenges directed at Liz, which followed the same general vein of pushing her bottom line before trying to fight her. They moved to a border area next to the Republic and started delving once more, trying to advance as quickly as possible.


    Another year, another Tier, and shortly after their breakthrough to Tier 14, Aster got her notification that Red Feather Academy would be expecting her once she reached Tier 15, and she should start the sign up process sooner rather thanter, as attendance was mandatory for all bonds.


    While everything was cordial and merry in the initial letter, there was the implied threat that should its information be disregarded, they would send someone to bring Aster themselves, though that was theirst resort.


    Thankfully, they had no intention of dying their advancement to Tier 15 or Aster''s own time away. That was more than enough for Red Feather Academy, who simply asked for their best estimated time to reach Tier 15 so they could arrange amodations and travel ns for her.


    The fox in question, while sad to leave, was excited to spend time in the beast kingdom with other bonds and those humans with bloodlines, but it still marked their separation with a date for the first time.


    With their lead on their ages and Path requirements, they expected to only be separated from their sixtieth birthdays to their seventieth, which kept them well ahead of The Path requirements of reaching Tier 15 by sixty <em>nine </em>years old, but it wasnt a good feeling.


    That didnt mean Luna wasnt pushing their training as hard as she could over the next several years on their way to Tier 15. Their training was as never ending as it was thorough, but they had good reason for that. After Tier 15 on the Path, teams who were expected toplete the Path started getting missions and assignments as sort of a real life training method, simr butrger in scope to what Luna had them doing right after the Pather war.


    But all of that had to wait.


    First, they needed to get married.


    ***


    Darok waited in his office, watching Ha Eun walk through the halls of thepound. The Sect representative kept a calm but distant demeanor towards Gaven, his secretary. Considering the normal mannerisms of the Sects, he could only assume that Ha Eun had either been warned or perceived that Gaven was one of the more dangerous men in thepound.


    That trick rarely worked, but sometimes, the other Great Powers treated anyone in a menial position as disposable or stupid, and might say something they regret. Not that it happened often, but it still would have been nice in this situation.


    He ran his fingers over the butt of his rifle, contemting if he was truly making the right call for perhaps the millionth time.


    The war wasing, everyone knew that. Most Corporation Hired toons were ecstatic for this, as it meant an influx of contracts, both frontline and homnd protection, but Darok had always kept his ear to the ground and had been hearing rumors.


    Rumors he didnt like.


    Rumors like the Corporations as a whole might be moving out. Rumors like the Federation intended to push this war far beyond what was usually eptable. Rumors like the Empire having a few more Elites they were hiding beyond Light and Shadow. Rumors that the Guilds wouldnt sit by and just protect their borders, and were fully willing to go on the offensive. Rumors that said the Emperor was insane, and had refused the peace talks that could have prevented this war for some small concessions about restricting their growth for the next few thousand years.


    Rumors he believed, at least in part.


    Most of it had little to do with a Tier 25 hired toon like his own Vasy Company, but had far-reaching implications. He and his people were more than willing to fight in a war, but they werent willing to throw their lives away fighting for or against fanatics.


    That never ended well.


    But in the end, the remunerations the Sects offered were too good to turn them down outright, which was why he was entertaining this meeting.


    When Ha Eun entered the meeting room, Darok stood up and returned the small polite bow along with his second inmand, Emily, and their supply officer Walter.


    In perfect Corporationmon, Ha Eun said, It is good to meet with your outfit, and I thank you for taking the time to hear my offer. The small smile she revealed showed glistening teeth that Daroks reports believed were connected to her Domain in some way, having been used to chew her way out of an abusive marriage.


    Nodding, Darok introduced everyone on his side before they settled into a small round of polite exchanges, but quickly pulled them around to the topic at hand.


    Exactly what terms are you looking for, Representative Ha Eun? We offer a number of standard contracts, but you indicated you wished for something more flexible.


    Yes. I represent an alliance of Tier 35 sects with a number of Tier 25 assets. We have been given the glorious honor of forming a special Tier 25 team to both counter Light and Shadow, and to perform a variety of other prative strikes deep into the Empire. We want to contract your operation to both handle our logistics and fight beside us. Your reputation is sterling among your peers, and your record ofpleted missions is impressive. In particr, the loss of only seventeen members following your strike against a Monster Collective regional capital represents the exact form of determination were looking for. Best of all, the team will even be led by Dao Child Maven.


    The small grin she had held the entire time grew at that promation, and Darok had to admit he was surprised.


    Dao Child Maven had been touted as the counter to Light and Shadow, and while he might not believe all the hype the Sects were spreading about her, she was undeniably one of the best of her generation.


    And what do you want us to actually do beyond logistics? What level ofmitment? What level of deployment?


    Representative Ha Eun reined her smile in as they started to talk about the brass tacks.


    I want everything. I want your support personnel, and more importantly, I want all threebat outfits, including your unarmored men.


    Darok shook his head even as Emily spoke. We can provide you with Skirmish Squadron, but our Cavalry and Juggernaut divisions are still recovering from ourst contract. Repairs to armor donte cheap, and <em>fast </em>repairs in particr. What you are offering is not sufficient to cover the increased cost of repairs if you desire our armored squadrons to be battle-ready before the war begins.


    Darok nodded as Ha Eun looked to him in confirmation. Money is of little issue. The contract we have drawn up states we will take over the cost of repair and outfitting you once you are under ourmand. That would naturally mean we can and will provide the materials for your teams to get back in their armor.


    Walters AI pinged his with a confirmation that with adequate resources, they would be able to redeploy within the next few years.


    Darok narrowed his eyes at the documents presented, with [Analyze Information DV26-SI] aiding hisprehension. What they were asking for was substantial, particrly if they were to engage with Chosen-level threats, yet the remuneration was in theory equal to the task. That they would be under the fullmand of the Sects was to be expected, though their boilerte limits onmand were epted wholesale.


    So while they couldnt be used as cannon fodder or left behind, they would be expected to fight along the Sect forces under themand of Dao Child Maven with the express purpose to counter the newest pair of Chosen in the Realm, and perform incredibly risky operations deep inside Empire territory.


    It was risky.


    Beyond risky.


    But that was where the money was.


    If they took this contract, they would be able to afford a full rise to Tier 36.


    That was the dream of everyone in his outfit.


    But those dreams were hard to realize when you were dead. Darok knew that better than anyone. Those seventeen men and women who were touted as his sess still weighed on his mind. They had died so the thousand others of thepany had been able to escape encirclement, but that was hardly the victory everyone else called it.


    Not that they weren''t ready to die, but no one <em>wanted</em> to, and this mission seemed far more risky than thest war they had fought in.


    With just a scant thirty-one additional addendums and rifications for the contract, Darok signed.


    Vasy Company was once more going to war.


    Only time would tell how many of them would return.


    ***


    Invar groaned from his hangover and blinked as the blinking notification in his [Assistive Intelligence] woke him up. It took him a few attempts to read the information, but when he did, he almost vomited.


    He had been contracted to fight <em>with</em> the Feddys?


    He much rather take jobs against the wackjobs, but a contract was a contract, and his bank ount was nearly empty.


    It was either ept the contract, or get a normal job and as a lone contractor, and he preferred therge paydays from doing one of the two things he was good at.


    Killing.


    That let him do the second thing he was good at, drinking.


    Looking once more at the bank ounts bnce, he sighed and powered [Self Empowerment HE8-EN] to clear the alcohol still in his system.


    Stretching, he felt a number of things pop in his back as he summoned his cloak to cover him, and exited his rented room, blending into the shadows. The passersby were none the wiser that one of the best Tier 25 assassins in the Corporation was in their midst.


    At least the contract for Light and Shadow would pay well.


    Even for an attempt, hed be able to drink for at least a century, and that was good enough for him.


    ***


    re of the Indomitable Reavers watched as the Republican representative left her office as she thought over the contract they had epted.


    A team led by one of their little brainchildren specifically to counter Light and Shadow? A team meant to split behind enemy lines and wreak havoc?


    She liked it.


    Grinning, she sent a message to the entire Company. Prepare for war!

 Chapter 229

    Chapter 229


    Rusty looked over his star system and just watched thes, suns, and moons traverse through space in their natural celestial dance.


    It was beautiful.


    One of his favorite distractions, but a distraction nheless.


    When the now Tier 17 Brigadier General Darrow entered his office, Rusty turned around and indicated the chair to the saluting man.


    At ease, General. We have a lot to discuss. Firstly, how have you been as ofte?


    The dark-skinned man smiled and nodded as he took the proffered seat.


    Good, sir.


    Rusty coughed at the address. He was no longer in the chain ofmand, and technically no longer rated to be called sir. At least, not how the man clearly meant it.


    Noticing the rebuff, Darrow shrugged. You earned your rank both on the battlefield and off it, sir. Being promoted out of the military doesn''t change that. In public, I will, of course, adhere to all proper edicts, but in private


    Rusty suspected part of thement was meant to tickle his ego, but he didnt care. He missed the days when he was an activebatant in the military.


    Remember that. Moving on, how is the new rank and increase in Tier?


    Darrow nodded. Quite nice, sir. Its pleasing to be growing once again. I have some of my phrases and anchors confirmed aspatible pairs, and I believe I have an inclination for the form my image may take. Once I am strong enough, I will attempt to form it. I have also absorbed the full suite of cryptography skills required for my station. Regarding my new rank, things are quite well, sir. The other Generals have been weing and have even aided me with some tips for my Intent.


    Rusty tranted thatst bit as he wasnt being frozen out of the top levelmand conversations, which was good. While not officially endorsed, not everyone the Royal Court decided to promote to the star ranks was weed by the other officers, and those who were rejected for whatever reason were frozen out of the meetings and information channels they needed to do their jobs.


    With such a distinguished reputation, he hadnt expected Darrow to meet such a fate, but he was in the rtive minority of generals in that he did not possess a leadership Talent.


    Despite that, the man lived and breathed the military, which was ultimately more important than being Talented.


    Rusty pulled out a small booklet from his ring and passed it over the desk to Darrow. Good to hear. Now, more to the point, this dossier is your official read-in to Project Breach. Team Zero will be your primary focus, of course, and correspondingly, the first five pages document Light and Shadows unmasked capabilities and preferred tactics. The next thirteen detail the other current members of Team Zero, in addition to candidates for the remaining positions.


    We have our rmendations, of course, but the finalposition of Team Zero will be done ording to your judgment. However, anyone not selected for Team Zero itself will still be made avable to you through the broader Project Breach infrastructure. Now, this booklet is keyed to you alone, but still will not leave this room. Look through it, and begin to familiarize yourself with the individuals you will be working with.


    Rusty watched, as the man grew progressively more incredulous at the briefings. The best reaction, though, came when he reached Wellsprings entry. At <em>that</em>, a glowing purple and blue eye shot open on his forehead, then blinked several times before closing once again.


    Sir, this can''t be urate. Its


    Rusty grinned. It wasnt an exaggeration when I said that the Empires <em>very best</em> would be a part of this program. The other Great Powers wish to see what we can aplish, and we will certainly oblige them, and it is your job to push them to excel beyond imagination.


    I would like to request time to work with each of them, to assess them in person.


    Rusty nodded. Good man. Not all of them will be avable yet, but well ensure you are able to meet them as they have time. Now, the EMV Skybreaker is loading up in the main hangar. Report there, and assemble your initial drafts for teamposition. Any questions?


    No, your Majesty.


    Rusty grinned as he stood and proffered a hand.


    Have fun.


    Darrow''s smile stretched across his face. I most certainly will.


    Rusty watched the Empire''s newest General walk through the halls as he idly did paperwork, with half a mind about how he missed the days when he was fighting on the front lines.


    Thinking about Matt and how he would most certainly spark a real war, Rusty grinned. That was almost better.


    He couldnt wait to punch a Tier 50 in the face.


    There were even a few Tier 50 mages amongst the rulers, and mages always made the best expressions when he punched them in the face.


    Until then, he needed to do his job and ensure that they won this uing war, and that would not be an easy task.


    Activating his [AI], he sent a message to his assistant. Sharleen, do we have thetest report from the Armory? Im only seeingst year''s report in my ring.


    It hasn''t arrived yet, your Majesty. Ive already sent a message asking for a status update, but they are dying.


    Rubbing his eyes, Rusty wished he could punch his own people.


    I assume you sent the message with my seal?


    Of course, your Majesty.


    Rusty sighed. If they don''t get the report in by night standard time, let me know, so I can knock heads together. I don''t fucking care if they are behind on production. I care that they arent telling me sooner.


    I will, your Majesty.


    At least he would get a break when he went to Matt and Lizs wedding. He wondered if he could sneak a spar in with the duo. Melinda would be there, so no risk of injury, and weddings always gave people jitters that they needed to work off.


    A good spar always cleared the head.


    ***


    Harper looked through the crowd of seemingly average people and inspected each of them one by one, seeing what ticks and tells each of them gave off.


    The new batch of spies, infiltrators, and assassins.


    Each of them had a different style, but some stood out more than others.


    The young man that flinched anytime someone got too close to him was interesting, but his phobia was obviously faked from how he flinched the same way every time. It was a good start, however, someone so obviously nervous often was more capable of bypassing scrutiny than even an airtight backstory.


    A woman with biological heterochromia used her stunning eyes as a way to hit everyone who looked at her with a subtle illusion and charm spellbo that her records said was self created.


    Harper found it impressive, but not nearly subtle enough.


    A blurry man with a shaved head and massive beard that screamed dangerous was probably Harper''s favorite of the current cohort.


    The man was a mass of contradictions. He was formerly a therapist who had tired of the simple life and joined an assassin guild, before leaving the guild to start doing corporate infiltration and espionage.


    When the man had been caught by one of Harper''s agents, they had asked why he went down the path, and his answer was perfect.


    He liked the challenge, and felt free fitting into other roles.


    Simple and definitive.


    The perfect person who wouldn''t mind pretending to be someone else for years, if not decades, before activating and doing whatever it was that was needed of him. He had proven he was capable of wet work and the more subtle espionage, which gave him a plethora of skills that Harpers people could hone into a razor''s edge.


    Then, there were the others.


    The spies.


    The thieves.


    The assassins.


    All eptable, except these were trying to infiltrate <em>their</em> organization, and that was unforgivable.


    Emmanuel thankfully agreed with them, and used his father''s Tier 50 Talent to check the applicants backgrounds more thoroughly than anyone could hide, and it was thanks to him that Harper knew the nts in their midst.


    Some of them didnt even know they werepromised, but that wouldnt prevent Harper from acting.


    From amongst the crowd, Harper stepped into the air and gathered everyone''s attention. Wee to the only meeting where you will ever be in the same room together. We only do this together for one reason. It makes it easier to prove a point and clean out the spies from the other Great Powers.


    With a dramatic raise of their hand, Harper grabbed each and every mole and spy before levitating them above everyone else.


    With a closing of their hand, the dozen people exploded in a shower of blood that stopped right above the heads of everyone else.


    Let this be a lesson to you all. Spies, when caught, get one of two endings. Death if you are lucky, or long and brutal torture to make an example of you, if you are not so fortunate. Most likely, you will be subject to more mind altering spells and Talents than you knew existed, and they will pry every memory out of your head.


    With a thought, the blood gathered into a ball before Harper destroyed it with their Domain.


    I would tell you that this is yourst chance to leave the organization, but that chance was when you left your amodations this morning. The next time you leave this facility, you will be going out on your first assignment.


    Walking through the air on pads of [Telekinesis], Harper continued, I will be personally overseeing the initial portions of your training, and the next year will be one of the worst of your lives. It will also be the year that keeps you alive for the rest of it. Do remember that even with my lessons, there is always the risk you will stumble upon someone with an ability that breaks your cover, and that''s where most of you will die.


    Smiling under the mask, Harper remembered the indoctrination speech they had gotten so many years ago, and ended theirs the same way.


    For those that survive, you will have no glory, but you will have rewards. Leave the glory to those in the light. We are those who lurk in the shadows. Pausing for the dramatic effect, they added, And the shadows around here cover a multitude of dangers.


    Sadly, Harper wouldn''t be able to see the ending of their training.


    Matthew and Elizabeth were getting married soon, and they werent going to miss it. It was thergest political event of the century, and they needed to ensure that no one learned anything they shouldn''t from being so close to the kids.


    ***


    King Frederic Macheteuil stood in front of the statue and inspected it from head to toe.


    Carved from the finest Tier 45-Star Marble, it served as a replica of his parents.


    It was perfect by every metric, yet he still hated it.


    Looking at the sculpture, he nodded. Wonderful work Albert. It surpasses even your previous achievements.


    A factually true statement, but that wouldnt stop him from wishing he didnt need a replica of his parents. They were gone.


    Not dead, unless they had run into something unfortunate in the higher Realms, but functionally, they were dead to him due to that level of separation.


    His parents had never been what one could call perfect, but they had tried their best to bnce duty and obligation with raising him. He respected that challenge now, after raising his own children, even as heir apparent. The demands on his time had been never ending, even with him officially taking fifteen years off to actually be with his children. But while they might remove themselves from the world, the world still moved on, whether they liked it or not.


    Regardless, his parents were still gone, and all he had of them were a series of statues.


    An expensive hobby, but one he enjoyed.


    Turning away from the newest statue, he walked Albert out and told him he would have anothermission for him in a few decades. When this statue stopped hurting, it would be time to get another.


    Returning to his office, he went back to the task of obfuscating the resources that were being redirected from the Farm. Not an easy task, but one that had its own rewards. While Emmanuel had to and would approve each of his ideas before they were implemented, he could still ensure that the hereditary noble factions got their fair share.


    Sadly he couldnt just rely on his [AI] to do it as good as those skills were, sometimes they were predictable in their methods so he needed to review and tweak every suggestion.


    Just when he was getting into a groove, he got a high priority message from one of his research teams.


    They had a breakthrough on his mana concentration solution for young Matthew.


    Ripping his way through reality to enter chaotic space, he reentered real space on the other side of his star system, on the Tier 20''s second moon base where his high Tier research center was located. After letting his [AI] pair with the local defenses and verify that he wasn''t an imposter, he entered.


    Most of it was Talent-driven tech, and thus impossible to reproduce, but it was all the stronger for it. It was an unfortunate consequence of the way the world worked that a single Talent could outperform tens of thousands of years of development and practice, yet there was nothing to be done save to utilize such opportunities when they presented themselves.


    It wasnt fair, it wasnt just, but the world cared little for such notions.


    Once he was fully scanned and able to safely pass the defensive measures, he entered and was once more scanned by a team of security guards. They werepletely professional and treated him like any other visitor, which told him they werent cking on their training. Some of his people had started trying to give him special ess through things like security checkpoints after his promotion, which was stupid to anyone who spent more than ten seconds thinking about it.


    Thankfully, he didnt need to get a new security team.


    Once he was verified to be who he said he was, he quickly entered and moved through the halls until he reached his ninth special research room. The one working to make a mana concentration alternative to solve Matthews little issue.


    Entering, he saw half a dozen crafters and researchers looming around what looked like a shard of metal.


    Observing it told him little. ck, darker than iron and pitted from age, the remnants of runes were visible as carved recession on the t rim, and the circr edge of the tform suggested it was just a fragment of arger circle.


    All in all, it was an unremarkable piece of metal, save for the fact he recognized it immediately.


    It was part of his collection of relics from the pre-shattering era, and he had no idea it had been taken out of his collection or that his team was researching it.


    As he neared it, he realized he was actually wrong. It wasnt the one in his personal collection. It was something incredibly simr, however. Or rather, his mother had bought it and put it in her collection that Frederic had inherited. He had seen it only once or twice.


    That was his mother''s hobby, not his.


    His head researcher, Reba, was the first to speak. Sir, as my report indicated, we made a breakthrough, at least theoretically. We <em>do </em>have solid proof that this method has worked in the past, which is better than the other avenues weve looked into. It''s just


    As she trailed off, she looked to a younger-looking man Frederic needed his [AI] to identify.


    Oliver Jenkins, a Tier 25 researcher with a specialty in pre-shattering relics, and a long history of working as an appraiser for teams who brought said relics back to the Empire from the lost worlds that wandered through chaotic space.


    The fact he was here now told Frederic quite a lot. He let the man speak. Good day, your Majesty. I was contacted by the team and brought along after I bought this relic from a team of delvers who found an old penal colony from the pre-shattering Empire. They found a moon that had been broken open and inside was the colony. Most everything was destroyed from what we can only surmise was the convicts escaping, but this fragment of a formation was preserved.


    The mans hand shook slightly as he pointed. Its Swallowing, he interrupted himself. Your Majesty, have you ever heard of what the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity rulers did to their fallen political rivals?


    Shaking his head, Frederic indicated his answer even as he pinged the LocalNet for that very information. The EmpireNet and all other esses were strictly controlled, as this was a secret bunker after all.


    He came back with nothing, but Oliver exined, They didnt just imprison or kill them. They considered that too lenient. They wanted their fallen foes to suffer as they watched their ruler, um, rule. But they couldnt keep other Tier 47s around without being a massive security risk, so they devised a tool that they imed would forcibly condense the mana in the mana pool, causing massive spiritual damage and a horrific amount of pain while reducing their mana to basically nothing. Less-than-one nothing, at that. Normally, this would be attributed to simple Talent impact, but these devices were in use for millions of years, indicating that at minimum their lingering effects couldnt be too reliant on a specific Talent interaction. Otherwise, any malfunction in the wake of their original creator ascending would be irreparable. Were hopeful that we can reestablish functionality and focus more on the <em>concentration</em> effect.


    Swallowing, Oliver straightened his back, and Frederic could see him wanting confirmation that they didnt intend to revive that practice on anyone. Frederics moral side agreed. His practical side, for both Matt and potential enemies, did not waver, and was far stronger.


    Still, he suspected he would need this man''s loyalty, and so told him what he safely could. A promising possibility. I assume you are also attempting to make it less traumatic? We have no desire to use this as a <em>punishment</em>, after all.


    Thatst bit wasnt entirely true, as there were a few people he would take great pleasure in using such a device on, but his words were enough to mollify Oliver.


    Now, I believe Ive seen something simr. Is this something that will assist you in your work? He quickly recalled a record he had of a simr-looking relic and sent it to Oliver and Reba.


    His hopes were immediately dashed as Oliver shook his head.


    No, your Majesty. Ive seen that formation before. Thats just a relic of one of their intra-system teleporters. Over here, this section acts as input modtion, and theyre ced in a way that indicates its specifying a <em>location</em>, rather than simple settings. In fact, you can see here where your piece slots into this reconstruction of aplete teleportation formation. Weve tested this design, before you ask, and its inferior to modern designs in every way. So while interesting, it''s of little value.


    Frederic nodded, that sounded exactly like the sort of thing his mother would have collected.


    Very well. Back to the concentration relic. Is there anything you need to further your study? A salvage team to try and recover the rest of the formation? Archivists to look for other pieces in the records?


    Oliver shook his head.


    No, your Majesty, Im afraid not. There were only eight such tforms ever built, and five of them were jettisoned into the depths of chaotic space alongside the penals they were built on, never to be seen again, and two others were lost to history. This fragment was from the final one, and has been passing between private collections for close to three million years now. I managed to obtain it about ten thousand years ago and wrote a paper on it, setting it into my personal collection and mostly forgetting about it until I was contacted by your team.


    Reba stepped in, preempting Frederics next question. We already have Belle on it, but because of just <em>how old</em> the relic is and in how bad of a condition its in, plus the that fact were pretty sure it was at least based on Talent tech to begin with, progress is fairly slow. Not <em>too</em> slow, however, so were looking at somewhere between two to twenty thousand years before we see a working prototype, if just trying to recreate the machine. Were also working on trying to <em>understand</em> it, but simple recreation is likely to be much faster. Also, though, the testing will break a dozen Empirews every time, which


    Frederic waved her to stop there. This is a project being developed jointly by ourselves and the Emperor. We will have nock of funding or restrictions to hinder us. If nothing else, initial testing can be done on rift monsters.


    Letting his perception slip to its Tier 46 state he ran through the possibilities, probabilities, and opportunities.


    Ultimately, he decided this was enough to go to Emmanuel with.


    It was still something of a long shot, but the sheer scope of Talents the Emperor had could possibly enable some unique breakthrough that could shrink research from millennium to centuries, or even decades. Furthermore, he wanted to make the report before one of Emmanuels personal teams came to the same finding.


    If that happened, hed lose the bargaining chip he worked so hard for and spent so many resources looking for.


    If his faction was to get through Emmanuel''s rule with Matt funding his projects intact, they needed to prove their value before that value was negated.


    After exiting the moon''s base, he returned to his home and sent a message requesting a call with the highest priority he had ess to.


    In less than a second, a series of tiny teleporters flickered, sending a single data packet from to through a dozen channels until it reached the capital.


    Two seconds after his message was sent, the Emperor''s reply came through, and an illusion of the man materialized in front of him. Frederick didnt know what Talent or set of Talents the man was using to project himself this far across the Empire, but that was irrelevant for now.


    They didnt truly <em>speak</em>, because sound was far too slow for even a Tier 47, let alone a Tier 50, but their conversation progressed swiftly. Frederic took a small amount of pleasure from Emmaunels reaction to his findings, and while he agreed it <em>was</em> something of a long shot, there was enough evidence for him to provide some aid. Even a small amount would be enough to let him know if he even <em>could</em> be useful, and if the Emperor himself was able to lend aid to their research project, they could potentiallye to a workable device before the end of their next war.


    This was, of course, just thetest attempt out of many, but eventually, they would find something capable of aiding Matt. Even if the machine was horribly inefficient, to the point where it would bepletely and utterly crippling to anyone who tried to use it, that wouldnt matter to the young man they were pinning so many of their hopes on.


    And who cared about anyone else.


    Emmanuels return message was all that Frederic cared about. Well done. Start working on the prototypes and send teams to look for any other remnants of that formation. Im not sure how it will interact with their Talent but it''s better than nothing.


    As themunications ry broke off, he leaned back and smiled while he sent an order for the team to go on lock down and start working on the research.


    Step one was done, and with a team with even some experience, he was sure he could leverage them as the main workforce going forward on the project.


    In its current form, it was less than ideal even for Matthew to use, but their technological base was better than the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperitys was, even at the peak of their power. The Empire and all the other Great Powers were built off their remains, after all, and it wasnt like everything was lost.


    While he didnt expect they would get the technology viable for anyone without a Talent based mana pool, he was sure they could reduce the spiritual strain at least to some degree. That,bined with even a small increase to the efficiency, would equal a nigh perfect solution to one of Emmanuel''s most pressing issues.


    All solved by his faction.


    Instead of returning to his work, he started drafting other messages.


    This leverage needed to be properly ced if they wanted to maximize its effect, and that meant coordination and nning.


    At least he had good news for Matthew as a wedding present.


    ***


    Tur''stal looked at the farm system below her and couldnt believe that she wasnt here to tend to thes growth once again. She had done so once a decade since she took up her position, but this time, she administered thest of the resources theses would ever see.


    Instead of the usual tons of mana stones or specific natural treasures that would let the grow faster, she was directing the''s rapid growth to something more sustainable.


    Today, she was here for a single purpose, and hopefully, thest one for a long time, if not forever.


    Her target was one withparatively little biodiversity, a desert with two suns. The creatures she retrieved en masse, and while finding everyst Tier 30 desert mouse wasnt feasible, she did her best to ensure that every species had its representation, from the meanest gnat to the great sandworms lurking within thes endless dune seas. She would relocate them to another world once she found one, where they would hopefully be able to thrive.


    They didnt deserve to die because they needed to cannibalize their homes.


    The monsters that had broken free from their rifts were not given such gentle treatment and were directly eliminated instead.


    Once that was done, she flew into the molten outer core of her chosen until she found its inner core.


    Physically a ball of molten iron, she drove through its depths, and at the exact center where the gravity well pulled everything in, she found the physical umtion of the''s <em>true </em>core.


    It was beautiful.


    It was powerful.


    It was <em>valuable</em>.


    Removing it meant the death of the, but that was her job.


    She was a gardener, and that included the harvest.


    Just because she didnt enjoy it didnt mean it wasnt necessary. This fruit would be part of the payment and materials a certain Talented alchemist required for uing services. She certainly <em>hoped</em> that Matts Intent would solve his concentration problems, because this simply wasnt sustainable.


    That small measure of distraction reminded her, and her eyes flicked back to the handwritten invitation she had received not long ago. Her niece was getting married, and marriage was always a reason to celebrate. She just hoped Mara and Leon could keep themselves from losing their minds and stealing the.


    That was one of <em>her</em>s, and they had agreed they were only allowed to take the ind the kids got married on, which had already needed an argument. They wanted to take the entire continental te the ind was connected to, but she tly refused. That was a resort that half of her kingdoms nobles got married on.


    A continent could not go missing just because the duo were hoarders.


    Thinking about the shenanigans her fellow royals could get up to if unattended when it came to their children''s nuptials, she decided she needed to arrive sooner thanter.


    ***


    Aiden looked at the small paper and looked around in confusion, finally catching the eyes of his wife. Liz is getting married? How? Shes like <em>twenty</em>?


    Madea rolled her eyes but avoided his gaze. If someone wasnt forgetting their duties back home, they would know she''s almost sixty, and about to reach Tier 15.


    Duke Waters grinned as he pulled his wife into a kiss. I said I was sorry, but I had to take my opportunity to fight. I was going crazy sitting around for so long, but I feel like I wasnt gone for forty years. Like five at best.


    Oh? So you were bored spending time with me?


    Realizing he had been caught in a verbal trap, Aiden grinned as he waded in deeper. Im sure I can make it up to you?


    A tentacle wrapped around his leg dragging him down into the depths of his home. "Oh, you will."

 Chapter 230

    Chapter 230


    With a sigh, Matt looked out over the pristine beach just a mile away from their vis sprawling, immactewn that gave a nice contrast to the stunning ocean view. The perfect scene wasplemented by perfect weather; it was warm, but not too hot thanks to the slight breeze that gently rustled the curtains every few minutes.


    It was a level of luxury that he just wasnt used to, but it was wonderful.


    It was also absurdly picturesque, and the technology around was so advanced, it was an active struggle to not think about all of the borderline miraculous materials and enchantments that pervaded his spiritual sense. He was only able to contain himself because Liz had assured him that her parents house had just as much and more, and if he got distracted by the <em>windows</em> every time he walked past one, she would not be happy.


    Overall, Matt couldnt think of a better ce for their wedding anywhere in the Empire.


    Matt stretched and returned to the vi careful to not think about the windows as he did so and slipped behind Liz, giving her a hug from behind. His fiancee was in her bathing suit as well, something he could appreciate for several reasons, and had just finished blending fruit for a pair of cocktails.


    Matt released Liz from his hug and grabbed his sour melon drink, taking a deep sip.


    He smacked his lips together as the vor hit. It was awful in the best way.


    Lizughed. Just as gross as promised. Its a fun tradition, at least.


    I mean, the individual vors arent that bad, Matt mused. Its just too sour. Maybe if it were cut with some talsaneris sugar, the grapefruit would y better with the icemelon? I should see if we have any, or if the kitchens have some.


    Liz hooked her arm through his and walked him to the beach, where a number of umbres and lounge chairs were set up and waiting for them.


    We can go to the kitchenster, she finally cut him off. Its a local treat, and one that definitely fits the theme of the continent. We had to have at least one as-is.


    Matt clinked sses with her at thatment. Liz was right. They needed to rx, enjoy themselves, and do all the normal things that people did when the parents of the bride bought out an entire ind for their wedding on one of the most expensive resorts in the Empire.


    It was fun.


    Once Matt had finished the cocktail, he pulled out a cooler from his spatial ring that had a number of prepared drinks ready for the two of them.


    Grinning, he showed Liz the projected spinning wheel on the lid. Want the first spin?


    Liz grinned back as she stored her ss away and spun to sit up with him. You said you only made a few of these. What are the rest?


    Matt grinned and shrugged. Your guess is as good as mine. I ordered half a dozen alcohol tasting bundles and dumped them in the cooler. The ones I made are our favorites, though.


    Liz rubbed her hands together before flicking the little projected wheel. Fuzzy Buzzy Bottle? I''ve never heard of this brand before.


    Matt waited for the cooler to whirl and make noises until the lid opened on its own and shot out two cans. When he caught them, he had tough. The drinks, as the name implied, had a false peach fuzz on the bottle, which was itself slightly pliable. Tossing the matching pair to Liz, they opened it up by peeling off the skin at the neck of the bottle, and each took a swig.


    Liz recoiled even as sheughed. Oh, it''s awful. That''s outright bad.


    Matt went back for a second sip and agreed wholeheartedly.


    Liz started poking the air as she said, Im ordering us some finger food, at least to go with this.


    They sat and soaked in the heat for a few minutes until a box of snacks, specially prepared by the inds chefs, teleported onto the table closest to them.


    They enjoyed themselves for a while before cooling off in the ocean, sshing around on the surface as well as on the seafloor, holding their breath as they watched the sea life dart around them. Matt wasnt sure <em>how</em> they managed to restrict the wildlife to only be Tier 15 and under, and Lizs warning nce told him he shouldnt think about it too deeply. So, he simply appreciated that they didnt need to worry about a passing Tier 17 juvenile shark getting too curious while he and Liz were preupied with each other.


    They also had absolutely <em>none</em> of their gear with them, save for their paired teleportation rings, so it was nice to know that the assurances ofplete and total safety were true.


    The second time they needed toe up for air, they returned to the sandy shores and the apanying food and drink.


    Eventually, the sun began to set, and they got a notification that dinner would be ready in an hour. A single confirmation was all that was needed for their leftovers to be teleported away, and they gathered up their things to head back inside. After a quick shower, and a mild scolding from Liz when he got distracted partway through, they got ready for dinner and flew to the resorts primary restaurant. Neither of them cared <em>that</em> much about their appearance at the moment, but Matt still made an effort to ensure the winds they flew in didnt mess up Lizs hair too much.


    Aster met them there, the pampered little fox looking every inch the part after a full day at the spa. While he knew that part of it was for privacy, he knew it was just as, if not more, motivated by the spas ability to amodate any kind of biology and mana aspect. She would have spent the entire day bathed in ice, winter, and even aurora mana and potions if the brochure was even half true.


    Given how fluffy Aster was, and how she somehow <em>smelled </em>of the aurora borealis, he guessed it was urate. Her eyes were almost zed over from overt pleasure, and her fur was literally iridescent.


    Their simple proximity was making <em>Matt</em> zone out slightly, just from the residual pleasure he felt through their bond.


    His attention was recaptured as the first dish of their nine course meal came out of the kitchen. Matt sighed in bliss as cheese melted, then coated the inside of his mouth even as the cracker bnced the hors d''oeuvre out perfectly.


    Then came the soups, appetizers, sds, fish, main courses, pte cleansers, desserts, and finally, the mignardise to round things out.


    After thanking the waitstaff, the three of them trundled into themon area, where they watched a movie together and enjoyed thest few hours of quiet time they would have.


    The next day, the guests would start arriving, and Matt knew that would prove to be hectic no matter how much they nned and prepared.


    And oh, was he right.


    The moment they finished breakfast, he could hear the screeching of Mara and Leon off in the distance, presumably right as the atmosphere grew dense enough to let the sound carry.


    Their sounds of excitement were so loud that most of the must have been hearing their yells, prompting Matt to smile while Liz covered her face.


    I cant believe they won''t grow up.


    Mattughed. It''s fun!


    Mara arrived slightly before Leon, both showing up well before their cheers subsided, and created a pair of clones to sweep each of them into a personal hug simultaneously as she agreed. It keeps us young, and you three will find what quirks you end up with only when someone else calls you on them. Embrace it. Embrace me! I need hugs.


    Matt obeyed, embracing his soon-to-be mother inw, only to be pulled away by Leon a momentter.


    How are you guys enjoying the ind? Everything all ready? The amenities ok? Staff treating you well?


    Mattughed. Yes, yes, and yes. Whoever you reced the normal staff with has been doing an excellent job.


    Leon coughed awkwardly. Didnt think you''d catch onto that so soon. How did you like the beach?


    Matt rolled his eyes even as Leon tried to change the topic. He had known from the moment they chose the venue the staff would be reced with people the royals could trust.


    After all, there was no way the''s normal staff were going to serve the entire upper echelon of the Empire, or even future ascenders. That was just too much of a risk for anyone to take when the solution was as easy as bringing in trusted people. If he couldnt figure that out on his own, he didnt deserve to be Lunas pupil.


    Hed also asked, which had confirmed that it was quite normal in events like this. Everyone liked it, from the normal waitstaff who got very well-paying time off, to the temporary staff who got a form of vacation in exotic and luxurious locales once their duties were finished, all while being paid a premium for their troubles.


    Before they could settle down too much, the next guests started to arrive. Mostly, it was Lizs family, with Leah, Erin, and their spouses arriving together at almost the same time, followed by Travis and Keith shortly after.


    Then their friends started to arrive, which really started to fill out the vi.


    Melindas whole team were reunited for the first time since the group that split off sessfully exited Minka after their own run as Tier 12s.


    Matt had heard about the rest of the Unbroken getting carried to Tier 15, but was still surprised when meeting them in person for the first time in almost a decade, and seeing most of them were actually a Tier higher than the three of them.


    Melinda was still only Tier 14, as while she would eventually be raised all the way to Tier 25 for some ssified military project, her Tier 3 Talent grew with time in addition to Tier, so rushing up thedder would do more harm than good in the long run.


    While it was good to see them, Matt honed in on Melinda and her changes.


    She seemed no older or more mature, but <em>different</em> in some way. He had a hard time putting it into words. In the end, the best he coulde up with was confidence. She had gained a level of surety that radiated off of her.


    He didnt pry, but concluded that her training over thest decade had been good for her.


    Mathew also had his own changes, despite remaining a Tier 15. He had bulked up slightly, which he swore was all natural and not him using his new control over his body, and attributed it to his new job. He and Vinnie had opened up a training school on Lilly, where they taught lower Tier teams tactics on how to fill one''s role in a team against various monster types. They also worked with younger children that were still unawakened, teaching them the melee and magical skills they might need if they wanted to pursue a career as a delver.


    While they could have opened up or joined with a much more prestigious training school elsewhere in the Empire, thanks to their impressive resume of making it to Tier 12 on the Path, they imed to enjoy using the skills theyd picked up over the past half-century to give back to their home. They didnt charge much, even after adjusting for Tier, but they really didnt need much.


    While Tier 15s werent rare, not thatrge of a percentage of them had the desire, the skills, or the temperaments to properly teach younger children or lower Tiers, and that served to make them one of the most in-demand schools on the. Training from immortals was also well out of the price range for normal civilians, as few immortals were willing to spend their time and energy teaching children in exchange for pocket change.


    The main focus of their conversation was their first full graduates in the form of a brother and sister pair. The twins had started attending their school at five years old, when it first opened, and had Awakened one month before Mathew and Vinnie had left on their annual vacation. In celebration, theyd sponsored the pair to join the Path and were happily following along with the duos adventures.


    Overall, Matt wasnt sure hed enjoy doing something like that long term, butmended the both of them for doing something so noble and selfless.


    Samantha, meanwhile, had joined a luxury therapeutics center that focused on low Tier celebrities and other rich people''s skin care. Her Talent to control the effect of poisons and venoms was in high demand in that profession, as most of the more invasive treatments used things that were toxic in nature, and therefore were close enough to a poison for her Talent to work on.


    It was interesting that all of them kept working. After finding out that the four of them werent motivated to keep going on the Path, he half expected to hear that they were taking a few centuries off, like Matt and Liz would be doing, but they hadnt even stopped delving.


    It was far, far slower than what any of them were used to, as Mathew and Vinnies tie to mortal timescales meant they could only leave their school for one month out of the year, and with travel times being the way they were, that left them just a handful of delves together a year. They took them slow, never risking anything, but it kept the three of them in contact while earning some extra money on the side. Overall, they found it far more enjoyable than delving full-time, and Matt was happy for them, even if he did find their decisions a little odd.


    Kyle and Tara, now with the rest of Team Bucket, were Tier 14 as well, having remained on The Path and entered Minka. That decision slowed them down a fair bit, since they needed to wait several years for the next cycle to start. Thankfully, the resources they came out of Minka with had more than made up for the dy in entry, and they, like Liz and Aster, had been able to use their umted essence stones to rapidly advance their cultivation.


    Best of all, the five of them had settled into being a well rounded and fairly strong team. They held their own rather well in the light sparring that Matts team did with the renamed Team Bucket Reforged.


    They barely had time to settle in before the rest of Lizs immediate family arrived, then some of her extended family. Susanne even came, albeit as Queen, and under the guise ofing to meet Duke Waters and get a bit of mentoring from him. Of course, that didnt stop them from happily chatting across their AIs and stealing a few quick hugs under one of Maras illusions.


    Without a need to slow down for the sake of her cover identity, shed already broken through to Tier 15. Susanne was also taking advantage of essence stones to advance, even when fighting in tournaments or traveling between rifts. Hearing tell of her troubles winning, finding, and trading for rift slots made Matt d he was <em>often</em> able to skip the hassle, though as they advanced and the paper trails they left became increasingly important, that was growing lessmon.


    Then, a new presence arrived.


    Aiden and Madea alAegir. Duke Waters and his wife.


    While Liz kept trying to reassure him that Uncle Aiden was no big deal, the man was beyond a superstar, beyond a living legend, and something more altogether. For all that Matt had somehow managed to grow used to being around the royals and the Emperor himself, meeting the true, active Ascender in the flesh was like nothing else he had experienced.


    His skin was a deep olive, and stood as a stark contrast to his medium-length, blue hair that floated around him as if he was underwater. The man simply carried a <em>weight</em> to him that Matt couldnt describe. Merely being in his presence caused the sounds of the ocean to magnify, and it made Matt acutely aware that the ind they were on was just a tiny, tiny piece of drynd, sticking out of an unfathomablyrge and deep ocean.


    Madea wasnt quite as imposing, despite being a full foot taller than him with dusky gray skin that presumably matched her leviathan body. He didnt see any tentacles, but that didnt mean they werent <em>present</em>. Just like birds often had feathers entwined with or in ce of hair, or foxes kept their ears and tails, many octopodes, krakens, and simr creatures tended to hold onto their additional appendages, and leviathans were no exception. Liz had told him that Madea did have them, but they were usually hidden away in cleverly-designed and spatially-expanded clothing.


    As the pair walked into the vi, they beelined for Liz and Matt, with <em>Duke Waters </em>hugging Liz before pushing her to arm''s length and saying, I feel like it was just a few weeks ago when you were going to the yPen after being awakened. You have no idea how shocked I was to get your invitation.


    As Madea moved in to rece Aiden, the living legend himself turned to Matt and grinned. It''s okay, you can get it out of the way now. Im used to it.


    Seeing the man''s grin that was bordering on cocky, Matt swallowed his nervousness, raised an eyebrow, and asked, Im sorry, what? Liz didnt manage to do proper introductions. Im Matthew. Call me Matt, though.


    Seeing Duke Waters freeze for half a second before realizing Matt was messing with him made the joke more than worth it, even as Aiden narrowed his eyes as he fought to hold back a grin.


    Oh, is that how were ying this? Okay, okay. Im Aiden, a perfectly normal guy. Nice to meet you.


    Matt let his grin slip out and put out his hand. Nice to meet you outside of a recording where you ask us to do you a favor.


    Aiden sighed deeply and nodded. Cammie. Yeah, I do appreciate you three looking after her.


    A cough from behind him caught both their attention, and Matt spread his spiritual sense and leaned over to see Cami and her rabbit friend, Hazel, standing right behind the Duke.


    After throwing a re at Aiden, Cami moved around him to shake both his and Lizs hand while allowing Hazel to do the same.


    As they returned to the vi, Duke Waters said, So I hear youre chasing after my shadow?


    Is that a joke about Light and Shadow? Matt quipped right back.


    Matt was a little worried he may be joking a little too much, as hed only ever seen movies of the man and heard Lizsments about him, but he was doing his best to not trip over his own feet, and the Ascender justughed. Ha! No, thats their own fault for choosing such generic names. Matt raised an eyebrow, and Aiden waved his hand. Hey, they chose their names. I didnt get to choose my title.


    Sure you didnt. Matt checked his AI to ensure that someone- Leon, currently- was disguising their conversation before continuing. But yes, we are going toplete the Path.


    Liz pulled Madea over by the arm as she joined their conversation. Is the dick measuring over? Not waiting for a response, she continued, Now that everyoneing today is here, were moving to the yard.


    Matt nodded and tried to separate himself from Aiden to inform everyone who had moved to their rooms about that, but the older Pather followed him.


    He was half expecting a threatening mention about how he better not hurt Liz, but Aiden simply chatted about his own wedding and the jitters he had beforehand, which Matt found rtable.


    Analyzing himself, Matt realized he was on edge near the man. It took him a moment to figure it out, but he eventually pinned it on the man''s presence.


    Duke Waters walked around like the world was made of thin ss, and he was steel. Every gesture, every look, every word, everyugh had a weight to them he hadnt really felt with anyone else before. He didnt feel <em>danger</em>, he just felt with absolute certainty that Duke Waters was <em>the</em> highest power, the apex predator present.


    He sort of felt it with Emmanuel and the other royals, but that feeling was muffled near them, which he could only attribute to Duke Waters having less practice restraining himself, or having never bothered to learn the trick. Even after noticing what it was, he was still instinctively on edge, a sentiment seemingly mirrored by the others near him.


    Of course, they could have just been starstruck.


    It faded in time, as Aiden chatted with him and everyone else as they picked those who were still settling in up. Matt also noticed that he happily answered the normal starstruck questions he must get any time he met new people, and handled it with aplomb. At least his friends were good about it, and after asking a question or two about some event that made it into a movie or the like, they treated Aiden like anyone else, which seemed to please the man.


    Once they exited the vi, they found that most everyone else had already taken their ces on thewn, and they joined the various groups that formed as people chatted and mingled.


    As Aiden arrived, thergest crowd formed around him as people inquired about what he had been up to in the recent years.


    Matt took the opportunity to slip away and grab a drink, where Madea silently joined him and watched until he finished gathering a te of finger food.


    Good first impression. Most everyone acts starstruck, and while Aiden doesnt mind and has gotten used to it, he prefers to be treated like anyone else.


    As he turned to her, she stuck out a hand and reached out to shake his once more. Our earlier introduction was brief, but Ive heard a lot of good things about you from Liz and her parents.


    Tapping the te twice to make it hover in the air, Matt returned the gesture and thanked her. Kind of you to say, but Im just me and doing my best. I wouldn''t be here if I didnt love Liz after all.


    Madeaughed heartily at hearing that. Oh, how right you are. For all of their silliness, Mara and Leon are protective. If they thought you were a coat rider, they would have pushed you away even if Liz didnt see it.


    Matt was about to say something when the leviathan shook her head. Im not saying that as a threat. Its a warning for if, or rather <em>when</em>, you and Liz have kids. There will be a number of people who decide marrying someone important or their kid will them an easy life. Im the daughter of a Marquess, so Ive seen it a lot. People who marry into power or grow into it rapidly, like yourself and Aiden, can sometimes miss stuff like that.


    Hearing what sounded like an earnest and honest warning, Matt nodded and thanked her. I do appreciate it. While we don''t intend to have kids anytime soon, it''s good to keep in mind.


    Grinning as she finished her drink and handed it to a staff member who arrived just in time, she asked, Want to see something fun?


    When Matt raised an eyebrow, she sauntered over to where Aiden was and punched her husband, sending him flying through the air and into the nearby ocean. She followed his arc through the air, unfolding into a seven hundred foot leviathan halfway along. The skies darkened from the tentacles stretching off of her body where a dragon''s wings might have been. The species was somewhere between a whale, snake, and dragon, and had a mix of the characteristics.


    She was far too big to do anything graceful, but nheless managed to dive into the exact spot Aiden had sshed into the ocean, vanishing beneath the waves with only a small tidal wave that quickly vanished before it reached the shore.


    Everyone else seemed to take that as the cue to enter the water, where they started to y.


    Matt quickly learned that ying, when it involved higher Tiers, was not anything like what he did growing up, and more resembled training with Luna.


    Duke Waters proved why he earned that title, as he yed catch with people inside a bubble of water with his wife, still in her leviathan form. They easily tossed people a dozen miles back and forth like they were juggling, while not even jostling those inside, which made for an amazing trip.


    Madea even encouraged them to use her long tail like a slide, and would fling them into the clouds with small flicks right as they reached the bottom, before letting them crash into the water.


    Between their Tier and the protection of the higher Tiers present, what would have easily been lethal turned into pure glee.


    After they got tired of that, Duke Waters even took them deep into the ocean, past the continental shelf the ind was on and down where the light didnt shine, to show them some of the things humans rarely bothered to look at.


    It was there where he understood why there were horror stories of leviathans and their ilk, as seeing Madea approach them out of the inky ck water where his vision couldn''t prate gave Matt the shivers.


    She wasnt an actual monster, but most of the things hed fought inside rifts were <em>far</em> less scary than her. She was pure nightmare fuel on an instinctive level he couldn''t easily shake.


    Once they finished ying, they dried off before heading in for the evening to enjoy another incrediblyvish and sumptuous meal made by the ind''s staff.


    The next day, things were rxed with everyone enjoying some time off in the beautiful location, and they all took the opportunities to do what interested them. Some of them sat around and watched movies or yed games, while others went for hikes and excursions into the forests.


    Matt joined a fairlyrge group on an excursion into some caves on the far side of the ind, while Liz took her own spa day with a number of the others.


    On the third day, their final guests arrived, namely the rest of the royals and Aunt Helen.


    Seeing them once more, Matt was surprised at how much he enjoyed spending time with them. When they werent in business mode, they were fun to be around and livened up the ce.


    Seeing everyone interacting was a ton of fun, but what caught his eye was those who had bloodlines.


    Luna taking a nap in cat form, lounging on a beach chair even as she kept a head-sized Mara tethered nearby as a heatmp. Madea slithering around like a snake, chomping away at Aster and Hazel, who had taken to the older woman like old friends. All of Lizs siblings were in their bird forms, dive-bombing Liz and teasing her about not being Tier 15 yet.


    Matt wasnt jealous, and just thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle they put on, but like most things, it came to an end as the sun started to set.


    That was when Matt and Liz had their bachelor and bachelorette parties.


    They had considered doing separate parties, but they didnt exactly <em>have</em> separate friend groups, so they decided to just make arger, joint party and keep everyone involved.


    If they were mortals, that might have meant a small party, but with their guests, it was anything but.


    Everyone drew lots to pick a side and then separated to one side or the other as directed by Aster, who had nned the event. With a burst of ice, she carved a line in the sand and announced, The first game is to get the other sides espoused to cross the line, and whoever is the first to do so is the winner! The winners get cool flower hats, and the losers have to take a drink out of the Cauldron of Doom!


    With a loud m, a massive wrought iron cauldron mmed into the beach, to Asters delight.


    I had the kitchen staff make this by mixing the grossest alcohols they could get their hands on. And dont worry! Three other cauldrons mmed down nearby, Theres one for every Tier group!


    Jumping down from her spot in the air, Aster had everyone draw lots, which was a game of its own, with Emmanuel being repeatedly skipped as his eyes glowed golden for a moment, peering into the future before being disappointed as Aster turned her tail up at his attempts at sneaking a grab.


    Once their sides were set, the games began.


    Matt felt like he had a stacked deck, not because he had most of the royals, but because he had Vinnie, who simply dove into the sandy soil and grabbed Liz by the ankle before dragging her across the lines, even as their side was trying to make ns.


    As Liz spat out some sand and shook her head, she red at her team as she pointed at the Cauldron of Doom. You guys deserve two drinks for that debacle. How embarrassing of a way to fail.


    Tisking at them, she watched as her side gagged down a cup of the alcohol. Matt was d he was exempt upon smelling it, as Aster hadnt lied. It smelled <em>awful</em>,<em></em>and he could imagine how badly it tasted just from that alone. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.


    As the games changed and teams started to break down to alcohol based shenanigans, exactly what Matt feared would happen, happened.


    Rusty stood out and called out for any challengers.


    Matt looked to Liz, who was sitting next to him, and immediately said, Bet Su-Queen agrees first.


    Liz looked at the drunk crowd and nodded. Deal.


    Just as she said that, the woman in question had stood up and was about to ept, when Kyle stumbled out first.


    As Susanne slumped down to the ground, Matt cursed her alcohol slowed reactions, even as Kyle was thoroughly beaten up by the older royal.


    When that proved not interesting enough for him, he invited Susanne to join the fun, and then everyone else who wanted in to join, which turned it into a free for all, as no one was sober enough to really respect the rules.


    As Susanne had her greatsword caught mid swing and then used it like a pendulum to throw her into the ocean, Mattughed and said, I sure hope he''s forgotten about me agreeing to spar with him.


    Aiden, who dropped next to them, shook his head as he looked up to the sky. Not a chance. That man lives for the fight. I made the mistake of agreeing to fight him at my Tier 10 tournament and thoroughly got my ass kicked. That was <em>not</em> fun.


    Matt was about to agree on the soundness of that idea when Aiden raised his fist and said, One day, I will be able to bully him!


    He then burped and started snoring.


    Liz immediately took the opportunity to start kicking sand all over him, which got both Hazel and Aster interested, who helped bury the legend.


    When the sun started to rise, everyone cleaned themselves off, ate the breakfast that was prepared for them, and then proceeded to take a nap.


    Matt and Liz were no exception, as they had a big day in front of them.


    At noon, they were getting married.

 Chapter 231

    Chapter 231


    When his eyes opened, Matt felt his entire body go mmy as the nerves immediately set in and ramped up to a solid three out of ten before he squashed them.


    He was nervous, which everyone said he would be, but he was a professional, and had handled far worse with higher stakes on a weekly basis. Today was the big day, and beyond that, he had less than five hours until the actual ceremony, and he didnt really want to spend it worrying.


    Slipping out of bed, he went and took a shower, allowing the boiling water to wash over him as he finished settling his mind and pushed away thoughts of what could go wrong, instead focusing on what he could control.


    Which, as he thought about it, was damn near nothing.


    Everything had been set up in advance, through their extensive nning and preparation, and Leon and Mara were paying for everything. Combined, it meant nothing would be missing at the start of the ceremony, and given that the entire leadership structure of the Empire was attending, even if the sky literally fell it wouldn''t so much as ruffle the tablecloths.


    Feeling much better, he stepped out of the shower to see Liz brushing her teeth like they had personally offended her, which only got worse as she saw him drying off.


    Using her free hand, she tried to cover his reflection and her face all at once and groaned out, Dont look at me yet. Im not put together.


    Mattughed, and after snagging his own toothbrush, went in to kiss Liz, but she fled into the now empty shower before he could so much as lean down.


    Shrugging, he got dressed and was sitting down for breakfast when Keith came in with Duke Waters, and they both immediately sat ufortably close to him, giving him no room for his elbows.


    Murmuring around a mouth full of eggs, he asked, Can I help you two?


    Duke Waters cackled while Keith used his words like a normal person. We are just making sure you don''t make an ill-advised break for it.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that statement and shrugged. I feel nopulsion to run away. Did either of you?


    Aiden nodded as he snagged a piece of toast off Matts te. I tried twice.


    Keith also nodded. I was looking at the windows wondering if there was still time to run, but it passed when I saw Travis.


    Why are you the two to bodyguard me then if you tried to run? Aren''t you the people who would try and help me escape?


    Keith chuckled. Not a chance. We know best of all how it''s just wedding nerves and nothing to be worried about.


    Matt ran his remaining slice of toast around his te before it vanished, and popped thest bit of his breakfast into his mouth as he stood up. Well, I''m going to go watch a movie with Aster.


    Aiden immediately poured water on that idea. Shes on Liz guard duty.


    Mathew, Kyle, and the rest of the gangs? He questioned.


    On setup.


    Hearing Keith''s remark, Matt cursed under his breath. Is there anyone free to watch a movie with? Or anything else? Can I help with setting up?


    At the t expressions his bodyguards shot him, Matt shrugged and went with hisst idea. I guess Ill watch movies with you two.


    "Oh, I have some ideas! Keith spoke up. Which one do we want? Wave Goodbye III, Revengeamancer of the Deepest Oceans 2, or Duke Waters: Tsunami Boogaloo, <em>extended edition</em>?"


    Aiden looked apoplectic, but Matt, using his rights as groom, shouted down his protests with enthusiastic support for Revengeamancer.


    Duke Waters hated the movie more than anyone else and spent the entire time heckling it with far more uracy than Matt could ever hope to do.


    I didnt stop there and monologue like a fucking idiot. I ripped the sweat out of that guy''s clothes and choked him out. We never even got into a proper fight! Dude might have been three Tiers higher than me, but he couldn''t fight worth a shit.


    He slumped back into his chair and took a deep drink- of water, admittedly- but he yed it up like he was drowning his sorrows in something stronger.


    When they got to the scene where Duke Waters bravely saved his wife from the clutches of the evil corporation, he got the runningmentary about that too.


    While Matt had seen and read the reviews about this movie, he had never really focused on Medea and her capture. Thebat here was at least entertaining, even if it was over the top, but having met the woman, he knew all too well that anyone capable of locking her up in a desert would be so strong, Duke Waters would never be able to best the man in a bout of singlebat.


    Medea was scary in her own right as a Tier 35, and as his former liaison, would have been the one saving Duke Waters at Tier 15, so her being the rescue target was beyond stupid.


    Matt at least learned the real story, which was far more simple. The corporation was targeted by the Empire for some crimes it thought it had hidden better than was the case, and he was sent in to take it out as part of his training on the Path.


    While more boring, it made a lot more sense, and Matt recognized it as simr to the missions Luna had them doing when they were Tier 9, and was preparing them to do after their honeymoon.


    That led to a long debate about the best way to tackle various situations they had been put in, between Aiden and Matt, while Keith put on Tsunami Boogaloo to distract them. By the time that movie was ending, Matt finally needed to get ready and took another shower, which wasnt as easy as it should have been.


    Duke <em>Waters </em>thought it would be funny if he kept pulling the falling water away from Matt from the other room, forcing him to use [Water Maniption] to keep the water falling normally. Except, Matt didnt have an ice creams chance near a hungry Aster to beat the undisputed best water mage in the Realm in that fight, which left him trying to jump into the water so he could clean up.


    Once he eventually managed to get clean, he got dressed, thankfully without incidents, and moved into the waiting room set up for him.


    Keith jokingly floated up by the window so Matt couldn''t escape through it, but Matt felt surprisingly good. The duo''s distraction had been great for removing what little stress he had, and he was just ready for the main event.


    He fidgeted with his outfit that was several degrees fancier than what he was ustomed to. His outermostyer was a deep, midnight blue long coat, but instead of sleeves, the outfit had something of a waterfall of darkness spilling from his shoulders, clinging to his arms like water until it cascaded to the ground below, fading away before it could do so. Under the coat, he wore a white, high-cored shirt and white trousers, and over the entire ensemble was a belt made of Woven Midnight, from which hung the sheath Liz had given him for their engagement.


    The entire outfit, from head to the toes of his polished, jet-ck boots, was patterned both subtly and overtly to entuate his figure and in traditional manners that Matt only vaguely understood. It was quite the spiffy get up, but once he had it on and was ready to exit the vi and walk to his ce on the manicuredwn, the nerves started to creep up his back like a chill. The music swelled, and he stepped out into the open in unison with Liz.


    The moment he saw her, his nerves spiked before he tamped them down and just took her in.


    She took his breath away.


    He didnt know it was possible for anyone to be that beautiful, but Liz somehow pulled it off.


    She was in a blue dress that could only have been held up by magic, as it left her shoulders and corbones bare, instead clinging to her torso in an impossibly alluring, yet still modest way. Her sleeves were connected to the front by a strip of thin purple fabric, and draped all the way from her forearm to the ground, where it faded away into what could only be described as a fogbank made out of light fabric. She was surrounded by the haze, and Matt could see where it coalesced into ivory mes running up the sides of her dress, dancing as though they were alive.


    The light patterning on the fabric itself was an artfulbination of the symbols for Leon and Maras kingdoms, entwined so naturally and subtly that without knowing what they were beforehand, Matt would have never guessed.


    Her hair was substantially longer than it had been the day before, and cascaded down her bare back in artful curls that shimmered with gold,plimenting the silver circlet on her brow wonderfully. It wove in and out of her hair in natural-looking patterns, holding a solitary, iridescent sapphire right at the crest of her forehead that brought out the red flecks in her eyes.


    As he set his eyes upon his bride, Matt feltplete and total calm settle upon him until he registered the <em>thousands</em> of guests who had arrived for the ceremony.


    He had been warned that this would be an official Royal Wedding, and to expect arge number of various people from all the Empire''s kingdoms to be there, but there was a difference between knowing howrge the wedding would be and actually <em>seeing</em> how many guests there were.


    The first two rows were all the faces he knew, friends and family of Liz and himself, but past that, the crowd swiftly became less recognizable. He broadly knew who most of them were- Duke level vassals from Mara and Leons kingdoms, notable dignitaries from the other kingdoms, celebrities, even a few representatives from other Great Powers- but that was of little use here and now.


    In total, it was a veritable sea of people, and he promptly ignored them all.


    It was easy enough, as the mist around Liz didnt obscure his bride in the slightest, making her stand out from the rest of the world behind its veil.


    As the music seamlessly shifted to amodate their entrance, the both of them began their steady walk towards one another, eyes locked and unwavering. Aster anointed their pathway with snowkes, then returned to her ce alongside the rest of the bridesmaids, functionally all of their female friends.


    Behind Matt, Keith had taken his ce among the groomsmen, while Aiden was in the front row, standing at attention next to Queen.


    Moments after Aster had resumed her ce of honor, Matt and Liz finished thest of their steps to meet in the center of the venue. Now with less than a foot between them, Liz broke into a smile and gave him a subtle wink. Then, the two of them interlocked arms and turned away from the <em>veryrge</em> crowd, taking two steps up a raised tform to meet Emmanuel.


    The Emperor greeted them with a grin, and in a quiet voice that didnt carry, he said, Congrattions, you two.


    His next words were spoken with <em>weight</em>, ensuring that everyone in attendance heard him perfectly. We gather here today to witness Elizabeth Moore and Matthew Alexander joining their fates and lives officially, for all to see. They do so to proim to the world that they, who were once two, are now one. A single, stronger unit than they were separately. While they may have met by chance, fighting over a rift


    Matts mind wandered to that first meeting as Manny narrated some of the highlights of their first encounter and beyond.


    Those were good memories, and he caught Lizs eye when Manny talked about their first fight against innumerable odds, when they had fought the pyramid rift, and he had lost an arm.


    While Manny kept to the official story, and didnt linger on any specific details, Matt enjoyed the small summary of their time together. The highs and the lows, the good times and the bad. It was amusing hearing the slight boasting involved in them delving up a full two Tiers as Tier 14s, as he was certain much of the audience would consider it to be aggrandized at best, not a grave <em>understatement</em> of their true capabilities.


    And so, today marks perhaps the single most impactful day they shall ever experience as a couple, a conflux of three pivotal events in their lives. They shall be married, and hand in hand, they step off the Path of Ascension into true immortality. They have fought long and hard to reach where they are today. That, none will deny. With blood and steel, they have cut their own Path, striking down all opposition, and now, they y the final bonds which mortality holds upon them.


    From behind himself, Manny pulled out a pair of pillows, eachden with a special dagger.


    His was a straight-edged, double-ded dagger made from an artificial mana crystal and enchanted with sharpness and toughness. While most people would likely think it was simply a shallow look at his propensity to give away mana to others, the two of them knew what it really meant. An impossibly valuable substance forged into an equally keen weapon.


    Her dagger, meanwhile, had a bone handle and a de of ck iron, tempered such that it would always shine red, but inplex patterns that would take Tier 40 perceptions to fully study. It was elegant, practical, and had endless hidden depths.


    It was perfect.


    As Manny levitated the two pillows in front of them, Matt and Liz drew their daggers.


    It was time for their vows.


    Matt had won their bet to go first, and holding Lizs dagger, he said, We met by chance. A lucky ident that could have gone a dozen different ways. But we became friends, and that was great. We quickly learned we worked together well, and our rtionship started, which made everything all the better. Day by day, week by week, we worked. But all of that work is work well spent. Time building and confirming our rtionship, sometimes through taking a hit for the others in a rift, guarding a blind spot. Other times through ensuring the other has stopped to eat when we go headlong into a crafting session. My life has undoubtedly been better for having you in it. You make not only my life better, but Asters as well. And it''s those things that I promise to continue to do. I promise to love you, cherish you, support you, and be by your side. From the weakest world, to the highest realm, we walk the same Path. The two of us together. Forever. Elizabeth Moore, I love you and want to spend the rest of our immortal lives together.


    Liz swallowed as she tried to start speaking twice, before finally getting words toe out. I was super nervous this morning, but as things got closer, I calmed down more and more. When I finally saw you, things settled into ce. I was pretty isted growing up, but when I joined the Path and made some friends, it wasnt until I met you that I realized I found my other half. You keep me grounded in the best way possible and remind me every day that we can always be that little bit better. Matthew Alexander, I love you so so much, and shall do so until the essence of the realm burns out.


    As both of them were smiling at each other, Manny finished his part of the wedding. Matthew Alexander, do you take Elizabeth Moore to be yourwfully wedded wife?


    I do.


    Saying that, he sheathed the dagger he was holding in the sheath on her belt.


    Seeing that, Manny continued. Elizabeth Moore, do you take Matthew Alexander to be yourwfully wedded husband?


    I do.


    As he felt the dagger click into ce, Matt was already leaning in to kiss Liz even as Manny said the words.


    Then kiss, and may you step into eternity as one.


    The cheers and apuse was almost deafening as Matt and Liz turned to wave at the crowds.


    Once again, Matt had to marvel at all the people he had never met before.


    Before he could dwell too much, Aster jumped into his and Lizs adjoined arms as they, all together, Tiered up to Tier 15.


    As Matt used the little bit of free essence in his spirit to crunch his core, he smiled as he felt the others do the same.


    The sensation was odd, to say the least.


    He could feel his cultivation cores give off tiny amounts of essence that floated into his spirit, before being absorbed by his body. It was almost automatic, but now he knew that if he so chose, he could use that essence to fuel his body''s natural processes.


    Air for his lungs? A small bit of essence could cover that.


    Blood fueling his brain? Essence.


    His bones producing more blood? Essence could take over all of that.


    Alongside that, he knew he could direct his essence to fuel a body that just wasnt <em>quite</em> what he had, and his body would change ordingly. It was a difference unlike anything he had ever felt, and for the first time, it truly sank in that he was immortal. He would genuinely live <em>forever.</em>


    Unless someone cut off his head when Melinda wasnt around, he would never die.


    At that moment, he understood why so many people simply stopped advancing at Tier 15. After all, why not? There was so little to gain, when he already had eternity.


    Thankfully, he couldn''t think about it too long. They were still at their wedding, and had a number of guests to thank for their attendance.


    Things quickly turned into a blur as everyone moved to the spatially expanded reception hall, where they took their seats while Matt, Liz, and Aster made their rounds to meet and greet all the movers and shakers who appeared.


    Most were interested in Liz as the daughter of Mara and Leon, but a number were interested in Matt himself, which he used to his advantage.


    When a woman named Brandy from a prestigious tournament hosting organization chatted with him about his time in the Tier 10 Pather tournament, and asked if he wanted to hit any of the other tournaments her organization hosted, he turned the question around. Instead of participating in a tournament, Matt wanted to host one.


    He had already cleared this with Luna, Leon, Mara, and Baroness Margaret Thresh, who he indicated to Brandy with a nod as she was sitting at another table, but this was one of the things they intended to use to cement his cover as having stepped off the Path, and disguise his actions as Quill.


    Mara and Leon are willing to sponsor an unawakened and below Tier 3 tournament on my home world of Lilly, and Baroness Thresh and myself could use some assistance in all of that. Simple prizes like Tier 8 skills and some training with somepetent fighters. All paid for by Mara and Leon of course, so Id like to get better people than no name fighters


    Letting the quick pitch trail off, he watched as Brandys mind raced. She was well known in the tournament hosting business, and her organization took care of most of these logistics and had awork Matt could only dream off, which made things that were hard for someone like himself or a newly appointed Baroness, incredibly easy. While she hadnt only been invited for this reason, Matt wasnt going to let such an opportunity pass him by. Not when it cemented his cover story and helped out his home.


    Baroness Thresh had already told him when he came to her with the idea that she had done simr things, but they had all been small, local affairs with strict budgetary constraints, as even the smaller tournament hosting organizations considered her and Lilly beneath their time.


    Matt, and more importantly his inws, changed that equation to the point Brandy immediately agreed to link up with Baroness Thresh. They were aiming for a tournament early next year, to coordinate a tournament for almost immediately after his and Lizs honeymoon would end.


    Moving onto another table, Matt went back to thanking the various people foring and their well wishes until, what felt like dayster, they were able to return to their seats for the dinner.


    It was fantastic, as all of Aunt Helen''s meals were. Matt had tried to argue she should take the event off and just enjoy herself, but Aunt Helen justughed at him and said she cooked for those she considered family, and that was that.


    If he argued beyond that, hed be saying the older phoenix wasnt family, which she most certainly was.


    The centerpiece dish was a twelve foot long roast pigeon, surrounded by dozens of different soups, sds, and other sides. Liz steered him away from the worm sd, though he did sneak a bite of it from her te when they had sat down. Matt didnt see the appeal, despite the obvious skill that had gone into the dish, but it also wasnt bad. He was still more than content to stick with his mutton curry over golden rice after that, and the braised boar shoulder was heavenly.


    Mara made a show of swallowing a whole stuffed salmon, at which Liz muttered something about being raised in the woods and not fit for politepany.


    Matt almost felt sorry for the vast majority of the attendees who had to settle for the normal fare, which by all ounts was still utterly fantastic, but he also couldnt bring himself to truly care. Aunt Helen''s cooking was just that good. Regardless, things lightened up after the food, when everyone started to dance and mingle in a more natural way.


    Matt wasnt able to spend as much time as he wanted with his friends, but that was precisely why they arrived before everyone else, and they got their celebrations out early.


    The reception itself was a veritable whirlwind as everyone wished to greet them, offer them best wishes, and in a few cases, offer them jobs. There was even one man who insinuated that Liz was wasting herself on such a pedestrian, valueless peasant.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure where Aiden hade from, or how long he had been listening, but the Ascender appeared from nowhere, punched the offending minor noble clear into the ocean, paused just long enough to toast Matt and Liz, and vanished once again. He hadnt even spilled his drink. No one even blinked as who was going to question Duke Water''s if the royals didn''t?


    In total, the partysted for a full day and a half, which was almost a shock to Matt. He wasnt tired in the slightest, but considering hed never need to sleep again unless he wanted to, perhaps that shouldnt have been a surprise.


    Before they could rest, however, they had an unexpectedst piece of business to attend to. Matt was carrying Liz to their room, and upon opening the door, he found the Emperor sitting on their bed and sipping from a ss of swirling, crimson wine. Only once Matt had set Liz down did Emmanuel look up at them.


    Your Majesty. How may we help you? Matt said. They had exchanged some brief words during the reception, but he hadnt mentioned any need for a private conversation and from his general demeanor this felt official.


    Emmanuel smiled as he said, Its nothing urgent, I just needed a brief moment to talk. Youve earned your immortality now, which ismendable in its own right. Doing so while on The Path is even more so, andes with due rewards. At that, he opened his hand to reveal two spatial rings, which floated onto their awaiting palms.


    I rmend waiting on opening it. I would have given this to youter, but Im leaving soon, and wanted to do this in person. Its your wedding, and soon honeymoon. You will have plenty of time to focus on work in the near future, but for now, you should rx and enjoy the festivities as much as youre able. He gave a smallugh. And for as long as Luna can stand the thought of spending time away from training. Well be relying on you in the near future, both of you, so this is a small token of our appreciation, paid in advance.


    Matt was hungry to see what he had been given for their Path milestone reward, but knew it would be rude to check after the Emperor himself had said to wait. Concentration potions were assured to be included, but more than likely, there was going to be something else on top of that.


    Apparently, Emmanuel wasnt finished.


    There is one additional gift, of a more personal nature. Normally, I should include this with the rest of your wedding presents, but one of the perks of power is that I can give the best gifts, and see the reactions first hand. Its a highly underrated aspect of being one of the strongest people in the Realm. So, without further ceremony, I present to you: wedding photos.


    Matt looked to Emmanuels hand, where a data cube was offered up, which he took gingerly. He was highly confused as to how pictures of his own wedding would be considered a gift, which he was sure was evident on his face.


    Emmanuel just grinned.


    With more than a bit of hesitation expecting a prank of some kind, Matt connected to the cube with his AI to download the contents, at which point everything became clear.


    They werent <em>his</em> wedding photos. It was the photos of his <em>parents</em> wedding, along with <em>so</em> much more. A video of the night his father proposed, photos of his mother with her college friends, his father meeting Matts maternal grandparents, thousands of photos and videos along the same theme of important moments in the life of his parents. There was some ovep with the information packet Matt had received from the city after the rift break, but many of them were previously lost, or likely not recorded in the first ce.


    In addition, there were recordings of important moments in Matts life. He had his own recordings of most of them, naturally, but they were from his own perspective, and didnt have the detail or artistry that Emmanuel had seemingly put into these recordings. Meeting Eric and Dena, the rift challenge, Asters birth, meeting Liz, important rifts they had run together. It was a significant amount of material to go through, and he would be looking over it all in more detail in years toe.


    He wasnt sure how much time and effort it had taken for Emmanuel to use his Talent to peer back in time and record everything, but Matt was eternally grateful for the preservation of those moments.


    By the time Matt came back to his senses in the present, Emmanuel was gone, and Liz was out of the shower. After muttering a sincere, Thank you. into the air, Matt wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and headed for his own shower, before joining Liz in bed where they went over some of the pictures.


    While sleep may not have been needed, it was still <em>nice</em>, and he and Liz took a quick nap in each others arms. The half an hour itsted was more than enough to rejuvenate thempletely, and they rejoined their friends and family for breakfast, substantially more energized and chipper than Matt had ever felt before.


    Immortality felt <em>good</em>.


    As if sensing his thoughts, and wishing to disprove them, Luna swept in as they finished their food. She zeroed in on Aster and Liz and said, Before the two of you leave my care, I want to discuss your alternate forms.


    Liz immediately popped out of her chair, even as all of her siblings tried to hide gleeful expressions, and Mara looked ready to self immte at the thought of her being able to teach Liz how to fly. A topic she had been talking about for thest week, endlessly.


    Aster, meanwhile, was literally vibrating with excitement at the thought of gaining a human form.


    Can Ie? Matt asked. When he received a nod, he gave a couple of hasty farewells, downed hisst bite of breakfast, and scrambled after the threedies.


    The first step in learning to change your form is to learn how to change your current body. Conveniently, youre well-equipped to do so already. Many of the self-control exercises youve practiced can be extended from controlling mostly-autonomous tasks, to manipting your body in ways your biology would prefer you not. Stop your hearts from beating, please.


    Though he didnt have a beast form that he was trying to unlock, Matt still followed along the directions, as it sounded like there was ovep between transformations and reshaping his body.


    In his chest, his heart came to a standstill, and from there, Luna guided them in following that feeling along their essence, to where they could sense their physical form as it was reflected in their spirit. Matt got it slightly after Liz and well before Aster, thanks to his Concept manifestation already connecting his Domain to his body in a tangible way.


    While Matt worked on suppressing his glowing white pupils for himself, Luna taught Liz and Aster how to look for the same sensation of their spiritual body as they delved inside their spirit, from their physical cultivation core to their bloodline core.


    Im sorry, their <em>what</em> now? Did you say they have an additional core in their spirits?


    They do, yes. Now that youre Tier 15, you are permitted to learn more of the function of bloodlines, but that is less relevant at the moment.


    But why cant I sense the core?


    In theory, you can, but for a multitude of reasons, including the different structure the core has and its slightly different behavior within the spirit, you probably wont notice it unless you possess one yourself. or vastly out Tier someone with one.


    Something clicked for Matt and he asked, Is that how people with bloodlines are able to sense one another?


    It is rted, but there is more to it. Now, once youve found your beast form within your bloodline, do you feel how its connected to your outer self? Try to find the connection between your bloodline and physical form. Aster, this will either be very difficult or very easy for you, as the connection is sorge and obvious as to make the two forms seem practically the same. Once youve found it, you need to either push or pull the two forms in opposite directions, whichever feels more natural, until they are wholly distinct entities. Liz, that part should be fairly easy for you.


    It took a fair amount of time, with Aster finding her other form fairly quickly. but struggling to separate it from her current body, and Liz having difficulty finding her beast form. Once she did find it and isted it from her current body, Luna had her do some kind of twisting and pulling that Matt presumed made sense, given what she was experiencing, but he couldnt follow.


    Then, there was a pop.


    Across Lizs entire body, reddish-orange cracks formed in the blink of an eye, glowing as though Liz was simply ayer of skin over top of a molten core.


    Then, his wife fell apart. Unlike the instantaneous and painless transformations hed seen before of beasts changing forms, Liz broke into several charred pieces of flesh and bone, the former pieces of her body igniting into a tremendous pyre that stretched a dozen feet into the sky and filled the air with the smell of roasted cinnamon. Lizs family appeared as though they had been waiting for just this. Upon further reflection, Matt realized they probably <em>had</em> been.


    Several minutester, the fire receded to reveal Liz once again.


    Her new body was beautiful.


    Dancing mes puffed out from between her feathers, giving her the appearance of something like a bird of paradise, with wings and a tail that swept out like a river of fire, a living firework giving off a few errant sparks. But beneath that initial exterior was a bird that was all predator.


    Yellow eyes tinged with mes stared unblinkingly at all of the watchers, a ferociously curved beak gleamed a reddish-bronze color, and ws the color of molten steel came to a wickedly sharp point. Beneath the mes disguising themselves as puffy plumage, her actual feathers were streamlined to the point of being an airborne missile, a two-foot-tall creature of pure muscle and danger.


    She chirped, then flinched at the sound of her own voice in an adorable disy of confusion, her head cocking back and forth.


    Using her AI, Liz projected. I can''t speak?


    Luna just looked at her before saying, Some birds'' vocal cords are close enough to manage it with training, but phoenixes are not.


    As Mara started vibrating in excitement, Luna turned to Aster, who had watched Liz transform in horror.


    You next.


    Aster wilted. Actually, I think I''m good in my fox form.


    Youll be fine. Yours wont be nearly so dramatic, its just good to familiarize yourself with how to transform before you start making your human form.


    It took a bit more work for Aster, but eventually, ayer of snow formed on her, obscuring her body for a moment. The fox promptly sneezed, sending the snow drifting to the ground and revealing Aster. She looked around at her unchanged body and then looked up at Luna in confusion.


    Did it work?


    Everyones ensuingughter made Matt realize that while they may have <em>ostensibly</em> been around to watch Liz take flight, most of what they were actually waiting for was this.


    Luna borated with a small grin. You did indeed transform. You are, just like Liz, now in your beast form, or technically your bloodline form. The body youve been in for your entire life can be thought of as your human form, though its also called the true form, birth form, or malleable form. Now that youve properly separated your true form and bloodline form, changes made to either your bloodline or body wont be reflected in your other form. For example, if you were to change your bloodline from winter to fire, your human form would now remain unchanged as a fox with white fur, while your bloodline form, which you are currently in, would be a fire fox with red fur. With enough training, even most wounds wont be carried between forms, whereas as of now they would be.


    However, your original form is not called the malleable form for nothing. That is the body which born beasts will shape into their human form. While your bloodline form will only ever be a reflection of your bloodline, and must stay within certain bounds without changing your bloodline, you can reshape your birth form to be whatever you please, such as a human.


    Liz squawked in indignation at that. But I needed to explode, and she didn''t? How is that fair? That <em>hurt</em>!


    Luna opened her mouth to respond when Mara was momentarily engulfed in mes, residing a momentter to reveal Matts mother inw in bird form. She looked simr to Liz, of course, but her plumage was sculpted into a more regal form, a crown of feathers atop her head, and was also twenty times asrge. She scooped up a protesting Liz in one w, and all of her siblings in the other, then took to the sky in a p of her wings strong enough that the wind nearly knocked Matt to the ground.


    Her departure made Matt momentarily chilly, as the building-sized living bonfire left, but Lunas voice pulled him back from staring at the rapidly-retreating raptor of me.


    Luna sighed before saying, She can exin the rest to Liz while she learns how to fly. As for you, Aster, you can stay in either form as you like for now. Do either of you have any questions?


    Aster yipped her own indignation. It feels unfair that I need to make my human body from scratch.


    Luna shot thatint down immediately. Life isnt fair. The Academy will teach you all you need to know about making your new body however you choose, but if it makes you feel better, both Matt and Liz will bepletely <em>re</em>making their bodies in the meantime as well.


    Matt reached down and patted her and noticed something. Huh, your fur isnt as soft in this form.


    He realized that was the wrong thing to say, as Aster pulled out her brush set and begged him to fix that for her while she tried to mope. An unsessful venture, due to the fact they had front row seats to their ownedy show


    Liz trying to learn how to fly.


    To put it nicely, she was not good.


    To put it bluntly, Matt had to wonder if she would make a better fish than a bird, as she spent more time in the water than in the air. Every time she sshed down, though, one of her siblings would swoop in and scoop her out, drying her off and reigniting her natural mes a momentter with a spark of their own.


    It took a few hours, but Liz did start to get the hang of it, and was able to fly around in a circle without losing control and plummeting to the water below.


    Landing was less sessful, and she stumbled in a feathered heap, much to Aster and Matts enjoyment, when she finally called it enough practice for one day.


    Her transformation back to human form was both much less grotesque and much faster, taking only about a minute of her trying before mes billowed out and resolved into her human body, nowpletely naked. She didnt miss a beat, sweeping the lingering mes from her transformation into a short dress of fire before she ran off to the vi to change with an excited gait.


    She returned a few secondster once redressed, and Matt handed her back her teleportation ring, having retrieved it from the pyre of her first transformation. He was met with an enthusiastic hug, and subsequently was treated to quite a bit of gushing about how excited she was to fly genuinely <em>on her own</em>, no skills, items, or even Domain needed.


    Luna took a few moments to exin that if she stored some clothes in the ring she could, with some practice, put the clothes away before her transformation destroyed them and resummon them quickly enough she didnt need to worry about being naked in public. That was a task easier done with a special spatial ring that could transform with her, but they would need to buy one of those on their own in theing years, due to the higher price for the specialized enchantment.


    Then they spent onest day with their family and friends before heading off for a three, two month long honeymoon where they could rx and enjoy themselves before they got back to work.


    It also marked the asion where Aster needed to leave for Red Feather Academy.


    Matt and Liz made sure to go over all of her spatial rings and the belongings in her house to make sure she wasnt missing anything, but he still felt like she was forgetting something as she boarded the shuttle.


    Even promising to keep in touch felt hollow with the restrictions in ce for the first year or so for bonds.


    Aster had been by his side from almost the moment his journey on the Path started, and her going away was a hard pill to swallow. She tried to keep up a brave front, but they were still bound spirit to spirit, and he could feel her sadness as the shuttle rose into the sky.


    Adjusting to Aster being fully gone wasnt <em>easy</em>, but Matt and Liz kept busy enough, and the exotic locales they were touring were interesting enough that theck of their cold-nosedpanion didnt bother them <em>too</em> much.


    They also sorted through their wedding presents.


    Of the mountain of gifts, most were assuming that they were leaving the Path, and so were beyond what they were actually allowed to ept. They all went into a pile for Luna to determine a fair method of earning them. Those privy to the fact Matt and Liz werent, in fact, actually off the Path tended to choose presents that would be much easier for them to earn. A new formation for riftmaking from Erwin, a flying sword from Travis and Keith, some skills from Mara, a book on winged flight from Leah, a set of recordings about Domains from Duke Waters, it just seemed never-ending.


    Others were fine for them to use on ount of being functionally useless. Landscapes of tropical beaches, spatially expanded terrariums filled with miniaturendscapes, a miniature phoenix made out of fire in a shell of ss, a potted ssleaf tree, and more. Those were used mostly as intended, save for an animated drawing Erin had given them. Liz snatched <em>that </em>out of Matts hands the moment she realized who it was from.


    He hadnt seen it since despite looking.


    There was a bit of ovep in the middle, like a new blender and tea set from Aunt Helen, but those usually went in the first pile. The one exception was a new mattress courtesy of Leon that <em>literally</em> felt like sleeping on a cloud, and they shamelessly nned to use, in multiple ways, until they were told they werent allowed to.


    All good things came to an end, of course, and their honeymoon was no exception.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 1

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 1


    As Aster sat in the waiting room of the shuttle bay, she couldnt help but perk her head up at everyone''s entrance, hoping it was Matt who had somehow figured out a way toe with her. She was disappointed when it was just one of the workers escorting someone else into the lounge.


    She was going through her collection of movies, trying to find something to distract her when the door opened again, but this time she stood up on the chairpletely, seeing a small yellow and blue streaked songbird being led in on a floating tform.


    A beast.


    A bond!


    Asters tail wagged as she watched the bird finally notice her and squawk in the beastnguage, Oh, hello! Are you going to Red Feather Academy as well?


    The woman escorting the bird brought her to take a spot next to Aster, where they were able to easily talk.


    My name is Aster. What is yours? And yeah, Im going to Red Feather Academy as well.


    The bird fluttered her wings and bobbed up and down as she answered in a twitter, My name is Kelly. It''s nice to meet someone else going there. I was kinda nervous


    When Aster heard Kelly say that, Aster nodded. Me too. I know there is nothing to worry about, but Ive never been away from my humans this long. Weve spent a few days away from each other before, but not years.


    Kelly fluttered to the door on her bird cage and exited as it opened for her and flew ap around Aster.


    Im d to hear I''m not the only one. What are you, Aster? An ice fox?


    Close! Im a Winter Fox. I <em>was</em> an Ice Fox back when I hatched.


    Kelly fluttered to a stop on top of her cage and asked in a surprised voice, You changed your bloodline already? Wow! Im a Lightning Finch, and never really thought to change my bloodline. I hear its painful!


    Aster shook a little. Yeahhh, it wasnt fun, but the results are great! Having ess to wind as well as ice is useful. And lightning sounds cool. I bet you can zap all the monsters!


    Kelly preened at thepliment and nodded. I sure do. My human, Alexa, by the way, is a melee fighter, and Im her mage.


    Aster nodded rapidly at their simrities. Same! My humans name is Matt, and hes a melee fighter as well. When I was just a kit, I rode in a backpack and killed things with my ice. It was great!


    Surprisingly, thinking of Matt didnt hurt this time with Kelly here.


    In a much better mood, Aster gestured at the birdcage. Howe you have a birdcage with you?


    Kelly chirped even as she fixed the position of a feather. Im too small, and people have the habit of almost sitting on me if they arent paying attention. At least with it, I stand out more. Or, they think Im just a normal bird, but that only really happens when Im around low Tiers.


    Aster nodded along as it made sense. I see, I see. Want to go explore? I wasnt in the mood before, but with you here, it sounds fun.


    Kelly shuddered and flew a circle. That does sound fun! Where should we go?


    Aster looked at theyout of the shuttle waiting area and its various shops, and when she didnt see anything that stood out to her shrugged. Why dont we just walk around?


    At Kelly''s agreement, they started moving through the shops, which was when Aster saw the problem of Kellys small form and fast flying speed. She needed to fly circles around Aster and everyone else just to keep pace with them.


    Going with the easy solution, Aster offered to let Kelly ride on her head, to which the bird happily agreed.


    There was a slight shock when Kellynded, but she quickly apologized. Sorry! I built up a little static flying.


    Aster tried to look up and couldn''t see her, but felt her settling in with her spiritual perception, using her own Concept to anchor herself without digging into Aster''s fur or skin, which was very considerate of her.


    Together, they wandered the various shops, trying bits of food here and there and looking at the overpriced things the vendors were trying to sell until it was time to board their shuttle that would take them to the first leg of their journey.


    Bonds going to Red Feather Academy was a regr urrence, and Red Feather Academy used normal passenger ships while it gathered all of the bonds to their own shipping line that traversed the Empire. They had two stops where they would transfer to other passenger liners before they got to their final destination.


    Thankfully, they had each other to keep them entertained during the flight.


    While Aster couldnt say they were best friends, they had gotten closer during the flight.


    When theynded and deboarded for their first transfer, they met two other bonds who were also going to Red Feather Academy.


    Juan was a Stone Elephant and was wearing a specially made enchanted item that helped him fit into normal space on his tusk. His natural form at Tier 15 was close to twenty feet tall, which made it impractical for him to fit inside buildings. His stoney hide was surprisingly soft when he wasnt fighting, thanks to his skincare regime, which Aster understood.


    She took care of her fur and he took care of his skin. Same thing, really; everyone should look their best, after all.


    Their final passenger was Roody, a Wind Lion whose mane was always fluttering in the breeze like a show off.


    While Juan was fun to talk to, Roody spent more time hitting on both Aster and Kelly, which made him slightly annoying. Especially when he made it clear from the get go that he intended to have a pride of women all to himself.


    Thankfully, once they made it clear they had no interest in joining his dream harem, he calmed down and started to interact with them like people instead of conquests, which lightened the mood significantly.


    The four of them chatted and discussed their lives and what they thought Red Feather Academy would be like, and even their hopes and fears.


    Roody, as it turned out, was more lonely than anything, having grown up with his human who had five wives who all treated him like a little brother and pampered him endlessly. He was really trying to recreate that feeling of home.


    Aster was the only one out of the three who was less than a hundred years old, as her human was the only one who was on The Path of Ascension and rushing through the Tiers.


    Her training also forced her to evaluate all three of them as potential hostiles, which was fairly easy. Even as a support mage, she was one hundred percent confident she could take all of them on. Kelly talked about struggling in a rift one Tier up with her humans team, while Juan readily admitted they had actually delved down a Tier. Roody was the only one whose team delved up two Tiers, while he was personally capable of delving up a Tier in a solo run.


    Aster didnt say it, but she did find it amusing, as an easy day under Lunas tutge involved delving three Tiers uppletely solo. If the cat was feeling generous, Aster would even be permitted to use all of her skills while doing so. She didnt say anything so as to not seem like a show off, and just nodded along with the conversation as it flowed from topic to topic.


    Beyond that, none of them showed any signs of nefarious intentions, or if they had any, they had better skills than she did, as she noticed nothing out of the ordinary in their behavior or the questions they asked.


    That let her settle down and just enjoy having three new friends who were going through the same thing as her, which helped with her nerves.


    When they transferred over to Red Feather Academys personal shuttlepany, they were quickly overwhelmed by the absolute hordes of other bonds all still in their beast forms roaming the halls and rooms of the chaotic space ship.


    At a quick count, there were nearly a thousand, and they all seemed to cover the gamut of every possible animal and bloodlinebination.


    Illusion Zebras, Shadow Snakes, Fire Anteaters, all conceivable types of horses, birds, wolves, cats, and Aster even spotted a few other foxes, including a pair of ice foxes.


    Juan thankfully offered his back for them to climb on so they could more easily move around the crowded bay of people.


    When Aster saw Roody, she snickered, and after whispering to Kelly, jumped on his back while Kelly sat on her back, creating a stack of them for a perfect picture opportunity.


    Roody was startled, but settled down when he saw the small drone float around the four of them and posed in what she assumed he thought was a dignified manner, but rather looked like he had a hairball and was trying not to cough it out.


    She and Kelly, on the other hand, looked adorable on top of the silly cat, while Juan looked stoic as he tried not to step on anyone and still look at the camera.


    After jumping down from Roody, she got the best few pictures and sent them to each of the others so they had something to send their humans. While nothing would go through until the end of the first year probation, Aster intended to scrapbook her time at Red Feather Academy by utilizing the dy system.


    Juan tooted a small thanks when he got the message. Thanks, Aster. I think Mindy will love this.


    Roody sauntered over closer to Juan''s head and nodded. I look quite dashing. I always do, of course, but I look better than ever in those pictures.


    Kelly tweeted her agreement. I also look fetching. Great idea Aster. Thank you!


    When Juan finally found a clear enough area, he gentlyid down and sighed. I cant wait until I learn how to shrink my size down some. First thing Im doing.


    Aster started to nod but stretched out her paws. I want thumbs! It would be great to be able to pick things up without having to use my Concept.


    That earned her a nod from nearly everyone around, even those not of their group.


    A short yellow monkey sauntered over as if he was trying to give Roody a run for most arrogant person, and showed his hands. A step I don''t have to take. Golden Fur Monkeys are clearly the best


    Arge pink vulturended right next to the monkey and <em>identally</em> clipped the arrogant fellow with a wing, sending him stumbling, but they controlled their power well enough that it didnt hurt the monkey.


    My name is Kazal, nice to meet all of you. He nodded to Kelly after they introduced themselves and continued. Id like to invite you, Kelly, toe to introduce yourself to the little roost we are setting up.


    Seeing Kelly look at the rest of them, Kazal quickly continued, We wont keep you too long if you want to return to your friends, but we wanted to let most of the flyers meet each other before we arrive at Red Feather Academy.


    After looking between them and Kazal once more, Kelly agreed to go say hello.


    That seemed to set off some signal, and arge cat Aster couldnt identify by sight came over to invite Roody to do the same, and an Air Fox came over to invite Aster.


    His name was Oskar, and he seemed nice enough. It was nice to see and meet five other foxes. One was a fire type fox, but Aster simply ignored him as he did her.


    After chatting a bit, she went back to her group to talk to Juan, who seemed a little lonely where he was sitting.


    Thankfully, that wasnt the case, and the two other elephant bonds were actually talking to him through their AIs, due to the massive number of others thergest mammals needed to be careful of.


    Together, they sat and chatted about everything they noticed about the other bonds and their behaviors.


    Before too long, Kelly came back and fluttered around them while she apologized for taking so much time. Apparently, she knew one of the other birds, and they had gotten into a lengthy chat.


    Roody came back a little whileter, prancing like a show dog.


    Aster thought about making that joke, but held her tongue, not sure he would take it well.


    She did record the image with her AI, so if they did be good enough friends, she could make the joketer. It was just too good to pass up. He even bounced up and down.


    When Kelly asked him why he was so happy, he exined, I met a very attractive pair of twin lionesses. Soon they will fall under my majestic sway. Im sure they are watching me leave as we speak.


    Aster stretched upward a little but didnt see any other big cats, let alone two pretty twin lionesses, but didnt burst his bubble. Also, hearing about bond twins got her attention, as she had never heard about it before. But thankfully, Roody exined.


    It''s rare, but sometimes a bond egg has two animals inside, just like a natural born person can have twins. Though, in a bond''s case, it''s apparently always identical twins, and not fraternal.


    Aster quickly searched for the relevant information, which agreed with what Roody said, but what he hadnt said was how rare it was. Instead of one in two hundred and fifty, it was closer to one in ten thousand for a bond egg to have twins.


    Juan swished his trunk as he asked, If they are pretty and twins, doesn''t that mean all the other lions are trying to date them as well?


    Aster looked at Roody, wanting to hear the answer as well.


    Roodys answer was to simply shrug slightly. Im sure they are, but look at me. Im gorgeous, smart, powerful


    Humble. Kelly interjected.


    Roody simply nodded as he continued. Humble, respectful, courteous, trustworthy, and fair, which is far more than those other bozos can say.


    Aster grinned as Roodyplimented himself.


    The more she talked with this guy, the more she liked him. He seemingly had a sense of humor.


    The four of them settled in to chat for the remainder of the exceptionally quick flight, that onlysted a day and a half, to finish the remaining trip to the Red Feather Academy was located on. It was aptly named, The Nest.


    Aster had looked it up, and Mara had renamed the the same way she had renamed the academy itself, which was something not every royal did. Knowing the bird in question, she wasnt at all surprised. Mara was fun like that, and Aster knew full well that she would rename things to fit her if she ever became a ruler.


    After an absurdly long time, they exited their shuttle onto the''s surface with a dozen other groups of people, and Aster was astounded at the sight.


    They hadnded on arge grassy field with clear strips cut in the long, wavy grass that danced as if inviting all of them to run and frolic in. She was sure rabbits would live inside that grassy sea, and she had to lick her chops a few times to get rid of the building saliva that threatened to drip on Juans back. She could even see a river meandering through the field leading off into the distance.


    Once she was able to wrench herself away from the grasnds, she looked around and noticed a dozen other shuttles, each bearing a different insignia of a stylized animal profile on its side, though each was only in one of three colors. Red, blue, or green. She wasnt able to piece together the actual meaning of them, and the LocalNet was locked down beyond calls for help.


    Not that she was <em>worried</em>. Aster had spent enough time being watched by Luna and Kurt that she could feel the eyes hiding in the sky, watching their every move.


    From Juans back, the four of them walked through a massive archway of flowering trees of some kind, and Juan expanded to his twenty foot tall form as he stretched his trunk to grab one of the flowers, which smelled amazing.


    As he shoved it in his mouth, he stopped for a brief moment and reached back up. These are fantastic. You guys have to try.


    Aster had eaten her fair share of sds, but the leaf looked a little too herbivorous for her taste. Still, after Kellys noises of enjoyment, she had to take a nibble, and found it tasted as good as Juan said it did.


    Even Roody enjoyed it after he got over eating ''prey food'', proving just how good it was, and he finished it off even as their vantage point slowly shrunk back down to Juans shorter, more indoor convenient height.


    As they followed the mass of others, they eventually entered a massive, open air stadium like they used for sports, and Aster gawked at the half filled stands as she counted just how many bonds there were.


    The academy had a new ss every year, and there were close to three thousand bonds if her AIs best guess was close, and it predicted that number to balloon to four thousand as the final beasts wandered in from the still descending shuttles.


    Kelly took to the air and talked to another few groups of birds, who informed them that they just simply needed to wait for the headmaster to make his appearance after everyone arrived.


    Thankfully, that didnt take too long, as a few humans with obvious animal parts led the rear in a spiffy star-like uniform.


    Once more, before she could really dig into the uniform, an older looking man with gray hair walked to the stand set up in the middle of the field, followed by a group of teachers in the same red, blue, green colors she had seen on the shuttles.


    Good afternoon, students. My name is Headmaster Payne, and I wee you to our revered halls.


    There was a rumble as the thousands of beasts made their own sounds of wee, which Headmaster Payne allowed to continue for a few moments before raising a hand, which silenced the area as his Domain stopped sound from traveling.


    There are a few things Id like to exin to you before we get too far ahead of ourselves. First, the houses. Land, Air, and Sea. The three ces you can find a bonds natural habitats. Once upon a time, we separated you all to the house you biologically fit in, but we no longer do so. That was outdated even two hundred thousand years ago, when we stopped that. Instead, they represent your house and your collective efforts. Each housepetes for prizes and privileges, which I encourage you all to participate in. It will both increaseradery and ease your time away from your bonds.


    Having said that, he twisted, and in his ce, a beaver stood there and continued as if not interrupted. Of which, I am one like all your instructors. Its notfortable to be separated for even a few weeks from your bond, but this really is for your own good. Here, you will learn many things, one of which is independence.


    Twisting once more, the human headmaster continued, Moving on to something more pleasant, let me remind you that Red Feather Academy isrger than its bond department, and houses the best of the Empire''s families with bloodlines. Both nobility and those still unded. They are not allowed on the Bond College''s grounds, and you, as first years, are not allowed to leave. Once you are finished with your first year, you will have free run of the Academy and its sses, but before that, you need not worry about such matters.


    Aster sighed, as she had wanted to meet Alyssa and say hi to a familiar face. Even if they werent friends, they could be friendly.


    Now, about the houses and how you will be sorted if we no longer do so by something as easy as biological sorting. And the answer is easy. Random, unbiased chance.


    Aster got a ping upon Headmaster Payne saying that, and found herself in the Air house.


    She was worried about her new friends, but Headmaster Payne answered the question before she could voice it.


    Those that you traveled with will be sorted together as a room, or as we like to call them, pods. The four of you may have met by chance and a little of our meddling, but sometimes, the best bonds are like that. You will spend the next ten years together, so if you have some interpersonal issues, start learning conflict resolution.


    As he chuckled, Aster yipped her pleasure. Kelly and Juan were great, and even Roody was growing on her, despite the abysmal first impression. It would be nice to be able to spend the next few years with them.


    Now that you are all sorted, you should be able to piece together the colors with the houses and the uniforms of the Deans behind me. Dean Corbyn is in charge of Land. Dean Wright is in charge of Sea. And finally, Dean Yates is in charge of Air.


    Aster looked at the Dean Yates she would be sorted under and the nice green uniform she was wearing. She liked it, and thought it would match well with her white hair when she made her human body.


    Headmaster Payne let everyone chatter for a minute before raising his hand once more and silencing them. There are two things Id like to say. First, all of you should do your best in each of your sses, and listen to the teacher from all houses, not just your own. Second, I''d like to introduce the student council. They are unique in that they make up the Star House. They do, in fact, have limited authority over students, and they should be the first line of contact for most of your issues.


    Taking a deep breath, Headmaster Payne paused before finishing, Please follow your respective Deans, and I wish you all a productive and enjoyable next ten years.


    As Juan carefully walked the four of them to stand around Dean Yates, Aster looked at her fellow students, and for the first time, noticed that the ground had channels filled with water that ran across the fields.


    Dean Yates pped to get everyone''s attention, even as the surrounding sounds quieted to a murmur. Good day children. I know this can be a scary time, but I encourage you all to rely on your roommates and help others who are in need. The first thing Id like to mention, to get it out of the way, is the limited LocalNet. While a bit more of it will be avable to you over the next few days, it will remain incredibly limited until you finish your first year, and you wont get full EmpireNet ess until your sixth year. This is done to teach you all how to rely on yourself, and not just look up information. AI and the Nets are useful, but they can also be crutches. Now if you would all follow me, we will first show you to your rooms, where you can settle down for a little bit before dinner.


    Looking at Juan and a few otherrger animals, she added, While most of you follow Prefect Camren, I will settle ourrger students.


    As Aster and the others jumped off his back, Juan was given a new enchanted item that shrunk him down from a six foot tall form, to a much smaller three foot tall form.


    Dean Yates gave him a gentle smile before she moved on. Dont worry, you won''t have to use it for too long. The first thing we teach is the ability to control your size, as it''s the first step of more freeform transformations.


    Oh, thank you! This feels like someone stuffed me in a shirt two sizes too small. Juan grumbled under his breath.


    Dean Yates reassured him that that feeling wouldn''tst too long, and he would get used to it, before moving through the crowd and helping the others who were a bitrger than was convenient.


    The building they entered immediately proimed its allegiance to Air, with the spatially expanded halls and false skies that seemed to stretch on for miles. There were also water paths that Aster saw quite a few fellows swimming through to reach their own rooms.


    Prefect Camren, as she learned from Roody, was a year five student who was in charge of keeping the first years''mon rooms under control, and would act as local authority figure for them to interface with. It was an interesting idea, and she liked the cut of his uniform, which was subtly different from the other students who had taken human form and were walking the halls.


    When they entered theirmon room, Prefect Camren announced, Here is where youll be spending the next ten years. The housing buildings stay with you as you advance, and the new students take the empty rooms that the graduating students have vacated. I will inform you that the Roc wing has somerge shoes for you all to fill, and I wish you all the best of luck in doing so.


    Once he showed them how to locate their rooms, Aster followed Roody, who had taken the lead after crawling up half a dozen sets of stairs, as Juan had never gotten the hang of flying with his Domain. That,bined with his size, meant flying devices needed too much power to be economical for his human and him to afford, but they eventually arrived.


    Their room opened into a small sitting area attached to an even smaller kitchen, with four doors leading into their private rooms. Each was alreadybeled with their respective names, and investigating her door allowed a pleasantly frigid gust of wind to sweep into themon area. Aster quickly went inside and closed the door behind her, so as to not disturb the others.


    Inside, a bed and igloo sat along one wall, with another holding a desk and enough room for her miniature ice cream machine, and the final wall had a pair of doors leading to a walk-in closet and bathroom.


    Aster hopped up to her desk and filled out her information packet, then did some basic unpacking before returning to themon area while waiting for the others.


    Kelly was the next out, and she flew around Asters head, chirping excitedly for Aster to see her rooms decoration.


    Theyout was the same as Asters room, save for a small nest on a pedestal in ce of Asters igloo, but while Asters was pleasantly cool, the finchs air was quite humid, and carried a slight charge in the air.


    The most notable decoration of the room was a collection of shiny rocks set out on the desk, which Kelly exined were mementos of her and her humans adventures.


    As the boys were still in their rooms, Aster showed Kelly her own room, but the poor bird was quickly too cold to stay for long. Thankfully, it didnt take much more time for the boys to return to the sitting room.


    Once they were all together, they re-entered themon room, where they found more and more people gathering around Prefect Camren, who led them to dinner with the other houses.


    Air had the leftmost table, which let Aster sit with her back to the wall and watch as the others filed in.


    The food was ok, but not nearly as good as Aunt Helens. It was an unfairparison, but it also wasnt as good as what Matt made. At least to Asters tastes the others found the food amazing, but they at least seemed to be sympathetic when she bemoaned that the zed rabbit just wasnt as good as what Matt made.


    Once everyone had eaten their fill, the three houses were given their schedules and first days assignment: Find your sses.


    Their pod all had the first ss, which was Introduction to Bloodlines, but after that, their schedules diverged, with each of them going to their respective body types Transformation of the Body sses. After that, they all had an exercise ss, but that was split between mages and melee fighters, which meant Roody, Kelly, and herself were together, while Juan went to the melee fighters ss.


    Lunch filled the middle of their day, along with a self-study session, but they ended their day with an ominously named ss: Tooth, w, and Paw, which sounded like a fighting ss.


    Theyd keep this schedule for three months, after which their malleable forms were expected to be at least mostly humanoid, and then things would change.


    Once Juan had finished his meal of leaves and a sugar cane for dessert, the four of them went looking for their ssrooms as instructed. There was a bit of aplication, with their AIs not able to download a map, but they made their own by tracking down all of their ssrooms, library, dining hall, andmon areas. It was neat, seeing all the grand hallways, and Aster concluded that was probably the point of forcing them to explore like that.


    That night, as Asterid in her igloo resisting the urge to yawn, the air nice and chilly, she smiled.


    Despite everything, Aster was excited, and couldn''t wait for tomorrow and sses to start.


    This seemed Kinda fun.

 Chapter 232

    Chapter 232


    After their honeymoon, Matt and Liz were hardly able toze around. First, they needed to go to Lilly and show they were well and truly off The Path by spending lots and lots of money. It would hopefully allow them to then fade into a decadent lifestyle, mostly away from the public''s eye.


    Once that was settled, they would be almost exclusively living as Quill and Torch until they finished The Path, which now seemed so close and so far away to Matt.


    They may have been Tier 15, and as such, nominally more than halfway through the Path, but in practice, they were barely over a fourth of the way to being Ascenders.


    Of course, Tier 15 had countless advantages of its own, beyond what he had anticipated.


    The first was simply the utter wealth of information avable to him. There simply <em>was</em> no more Tier-gated information, he could learn anything he wanted. Even how to make an Aspect was essible, but was buried behind a series of disimers and warnings about how learning about Aspect instruction could interfere with Intent formation. Seeing that, he decided to not look too deeply into it before getting the go ahead from Luna.


    There was also information about Chaotic Space, and more importantly, how to use it to travel. Now that he was Tier 15, he could finally survive a trip to Chaotic Space. Granted, he would die within a few seconds, thanks to his low Tier, but it was a massive upgrade to instantly dying. There were plenty of guides on different methods to traverse Chaotic Space without a ship, though the general consensus was to attempt it after Tier 25, where one had an Intent.


    What he was most interested in was, of course, bloodlines. After what Luna had said while teaching Liz how to transform, he was more than a little curious about what was <em>really</em> going on.


    After some research, he concluded that what was generally considered the best work on the subject was a book called <em>The Essential Guide to Bloodlines,</em> by one Gosiah Ithr. The first few chapters were getting everyone up to speed on the basics of what bloodlines <em>were</em>, and was mostly stuff he already knew, but even those had their own little tidbits. By the time he finished the entire thing, he had learned a <em>lot</em> of new stuff.


    At the core of everything was the bloodline. It was a unique, impossible-to-replicate <em>part</em> of the spirit that had no clear analogue in a bloodline-less spirit. It was also generally odd, as most things were in advanced spiritual theory. The exnation which Matt found most helpful was one that Luna had introduced him to, the idea that a bloodline was a third part of cultivation; an additional core residing in the spirit.


    Most life didnt have a proper bloodline, whether human or animal. That was actually the difference, as it turned out, between proper Beasts and simple high-Tier animals. Just like a human couldnt turn into an animal without a bloodline, or some other magic, an animal couldnt transform into a human unless <em>they</em> had a bloodline. Simrly, without a bloodline, they didnt be more intelligent or grow in sapience the way Aster had, and instead just stayed as animals, getting stronger and more powerful, but nothing further.


    In very rare cases, what should have been a simple, mundane creature could instead have a bloodline, and in doing so, develop in much the same way a bond would. Even nts could sometimes experience that phenomenon, and would be dryads.


    There were a few different theories for why this was the case. Some people believed that it was possible for anyone to awaken a bloodline, and those animals had simply been lucky enough for it to happen to them. Others imed that there was some kind of dormant bloodline, which could asionally re up in a number of different theoretical ways. The list went on, from the possibility that all creatures could create their own bloodlines, but that only some animals were enlightened enough to manage it, to the idea that beasts in their bloodline form were responsible, simply never fessing up to the fact theyd had children with a mundane animal.


    All of the theories had serious problems, and didnt align with the way bloodlines worked with humans, and the author ultimately said that it was simply an unsolved problem. But the most likely theory was that something about the animal form kept the bloodline from fading away <empletely</em>, the way it did in humans. Instead, it would exist in an intensely atrophied state that could sometimes be strengthened from either birth or circumstance, and allow for sapience to form.


    Reading that, Matt thought of Alyssa, his opponent from the vassal war. Despite the incredibly weak bloodlines her parents had, her bloodline was strong enough for her to earn a ce at Red Feather Academy.


    Thoughts of the academy brought Matts mind back to thinking of Aster, and how much he missed his bond. He wondered if she was okay, if she was making friends, or if she was stuck as an outsider. The little fox was quite the fighter, but hopefully she was doing well emotionally too.


    He did his best to distract himself with the rest of the book, to limited sess. Still, it was interesting.


    The bloodline core, unlike the magical and physical cores, wasnt fully static. Instead, a cultivator could grow it with the aid of bloodline energy, such as could be found in some natural treasures, or essence. As they did so, the bloodline became more developed and could ept essence in new ways, to give new abilities. Each new way was considered a rank, and such ranks were considered the main method of determining the strength of a bloodline.


    Rank 0 bloodlines were most often mundane animals, and had no additional powers that they granted outside of their beast form. Rank 1 bloodlines usually granted an elemental affinity, and were the mostmon type. Aster was rank 1, or at least, was born rank 1. Hed have to ask her or Liz if his bonds development from ice affinity to winter affinity had been aplished by advancing in rank, which seemed to be amon method of advancement.


    ordingly, rank 2 bloodlines granted an extra ability. This could sometimes simply be a more advanced or additional mana affinity, but was moremonly some kind of unique power associated with the bloodline, such as phoenixes and their rebirth. Most high-Tier bloodline holders were rank 2 if they were serious about their bloodline.


    Rank 3 bloodlines were apparently possible in theory, but the author didnt know of any rank 3 individuals currently alive. Apparently, they were quite rare because instead of rank 3 bloodlinessting 3 generations before they faded, they onlysted a single one.


    The entire time, the book emphasized again and again that it wasnt possible for humans without a bloodline to gain one. You were either born with one, or you werent. A rank 0 bloodline holder could theoretically reach all the way to rank 3, with enough dedication, but Matt was simply unable to ever gain a proper beast form or additional bloodline powers of his own.


    It was a bit of a shame, but at least those with bloodlines werent <em>categorically</em> stronger than those without. Just like with the physical and magical cores, the bloodline core needed essence to function. Ten percent was the oft-cited guideline for how much essence should go towards ones bloodline, and that meant they were ten percent weaker in their other cultivation. It wasnt much, but it was something. Besides, he had his hands full with Lunas body modification training.


    Matt knew that simply gaining Tiers would slowly rework his body into a more perfect state, simply as a side-effect of cultivation, and that it would gradually slow down ande to a pinnacle at Tier 14. His Root of Perfection had sped that process up substantially, and while he hadnt assumed that would mean his body was <em>perfect</em> in an immortal sense, he had thought it would at least give him some level of benefit when it came to reshaping his body.


    After two agonizing weeks of rebuilding his entire skeletal system from the ground up, Matt could safely say he was too optimistic. Hed simply misunderstood what exactly separated bodily perfection from Lunas standards. Before modifications, his body was the pinnacle of what a human could be like. Now, his hips and legs were redone to optimize power and flexibility while walking and running, hed moved his ribs around and added an extra pair for better protection of his lungs, and his skull was thicker in several areas. Nearly all of his joints had at least an additional twenty degrees of flexibility, and his spinal column was <empletely</em> reworked, among countless other optimizations to every bone in his body.


    Later on, hed be changing theposition of his bones to transcend the mere calcium carbonate currently making them up, and replicating the bones other functions through specialized organs, which hed be making room for with other optimizations of his squishier parts. He had an entire stack of military-grade handbooks on body modifications, and Luna was working with him to ensure that he was optimizing his new body to work for <em>him</em>. He gained a lot less from optimizing for stamina, when he could just throw a few thousand mana at [Lesser Regeneration] to keep him at a full-on sprint for hours, and his skeleton needed to prioritize physical strength over the ability to deform and squeeze through tight gaps.


    In theory, the entire process could be done painlessly if he did a couple of tiny changes each day or week, then allowed his body to limate to the changes before moving on. Alternatively, if he had better control over his spirit, he could make changes even faster, with less pain, by tweaking all of the systems around his primary change to ept that particr change. Of course, hed then need to make changes to everything <em>that</em> connected to, and that connected to that


    In any case, he didnt have the time or inclination to slow down, and there was no better way to get better at manipting his body than simple practice. He wished he could skip immediately to his muscles, but that was foolish. All the parts of his body were connected, and he needed to ensure that he was rebuilding himself from the ground up, so all of the supplementary systems needed toe before the exciting parts. No sooner had he finished thest of his skeletal changes, before he started modifying his vascr system.


    It was already hurting much less, thanks to his improved control, but that didnt stop him from shocking himself with excruciating amounts of pain. But it was nothing that a bit of [Lifeblood Maniption] couldnt fix, so it didnt slow him down much. Liz had skipped a fair number of the skeletal changes, on ount of having inherited some of them from her parents, but had spent the time focusing all the more on her blood. Her Talents and the natural treasures shed used meant that she could be extra-aggressive with some of her modifications, while also being extra-careful to not interfere with the delicate bnce of effects present within her blood.


    She wouldnt be done any time soon.


    The results of all his pain was more than worth it, both the minor benefits he was already experiencing, and the promise of better effects in the future. At least, he kept telling himself that. But getting more power from every pound of muscle, more durability from every inch of bone, and more nutrients from every drop of blood, was all vital. The simple fact of the matter was, anyone hed be fighting worth a spare thought would have undergone everything he just had and <em>then</em> some, and hed fall behind without it. Even when fighting rift monsters, the gaps were gettingrge enough that he needed the additional performance to keep pace with the increased essence in his prey. After all, essence acted as a multiplier to what was there, so increasing his base capabilities meant his actual strength jumped substantially.


    Even going as fast as he could, he hadnt even finished remaking his blood vessels by the time they reached Lilly, and Matt had to grin and bear it once theynded so he didnt look like a fool to the massive amount of reporters and news outlets who had arrived for the event.


    There simply werent enough hours in the day for everything, nevermind that he didnt need to sleep at all any more. He had managed to look over his Path rewards for reaching Tier 15, which unsurprisingly consisted mostly of mana concentration potions. The ring they came in was a proper Tier 15 spatial ring, and with the storage capacity of a living room, it was a substantial improvement over his previous versions.


    What he was most excited about was a solitary skill shard, ced like the crowning jewel above the ss bottles. [Artificial Intelligence], <em>the</em> single most-useful Tier 26 skill in possibly all of existence. It also came with a booklet on how to merge the true skill with the pseudoskill, to maintain continuity between the two, with a cheerful note from Leon and Mara tucked into the front cover.


    When Luna saw the skill, and the note indicating who it was from, she didnt react at all, in a way that made it clear she was consciously <em>not</em> reacting. She stood perfectly still, staring at a nk patch of the wall with deadly focus.


    Matt knew the older couple respected their own trainer, but also liked to pull her whiskers as much as possible now that they were stronger than her, and this seemed to be one of those moments. After a few seconds Luna simply let out a long breath and told him to use it.


    [Artificial Intelligence], as his inws note exined, was a fairlymon Tier 15 Path reward, especially for crafters. Much like the inferior version Matt had been using constantly for the past forty years, it acted as a processing hub for generalputation,munications, and interpreting the senses. None of that was unique, though the true skill could aplish it far more efficiently than what Matts AI required to perform the same processes.


    No, what made the true skill valuable was the way it could interact with other skills and senses in the spirit. Instead of directly controlling how much mana went into each of his buffing skills, Matt could simply tell the [AI] to increase his strength and speed, and let it figure out the most optimal bnce of mana spent to maximize those attributes, or even direct it to specific benchmarks of different cultivation attributes. If he wanted to dash, it could activate [Cracked Air Slide] and [Mages Retreat] in conjunction with minimal input from Matt, automatically bncing the skills such that neither overpowered the other. But that was only the <em>start</em> of what the skill could do.


    If he wanted to look at something far off with [Telescope] and then make an illusion of what he saw, for others to see? Trivial. If he wanted to use [Illusion Maniption] to make each mirror self created by [Afterimage] to act as their own individual Matt, he barely even needed to think about what he wanted each to do. He could have it control his [Air Maniption] to help him fly, set it to [Bandage] any injury he took the instant he took it, or raise a [Bulwark] to intercept any attack aimed at him. He could automatically reinforce his [Cracked Phantom Armor] when he was about to take an attack, or rapidly swap between preset secondyer configurations for any number of reasons.


    He could set it up to cycle between all of his maniptions, pulsing each for a fraction of a second, and could disy the locations and prevalence of every element he could control, what his spiritual sense could perceive, and process the resulting feedback into a map. He could even store previous results to highlight what had changed. The [AI] skill, much like the pseudo skill based on it, wasnt creative and instead needed to be trained on specific methods of using any given skill rather thaning up with novel approaches on its own.But beyond that fairly minor inconvenience, the sheer <em>scope</em> ofplex, but oft-repeated tasks that it could take care of was utterly breathtaking.


    And Matt was <em>woefully</em> unprepared to utilize the [AI] to its utmost potential. There were entire sses of skills that could empower the skill to better simte, like the exact way water would flow through an area, how a potion would turn out, the ways massive crowds would move through an area, how a fighter would attack, to predict the weather, to predict airflow It was all things that the skill <em>could</em> do on its own, in theory, but a dedicated supplementary skill could turn a calction which even Matts regeneration couldnt cover into something that even warriors would manage with their passive regeneration.


    There were people who made their entire careers with an [Artificial Intelligence] as the cornerstone to their entire build, and it almost made Matt feel a bit bad that all he could really bring to the skill was absolute <emloads</em> of mana, and a Domain capable of strengthening it directly.


    The Domain was the one major thing that an [AI] was incapable of controlling directly, as even the users body was capable of being directed via a [Self Control] skill if so desired. It also generally capped out at only being as good as the users skills, and was usually a bit worse than manual control without dedicated training. Matt wouldnt be able to use his [AI] to bypass his mana control issues, unfortunately, unless his Concept strengthening the skill did something weird.


    It had taken the entire time he spent modifying his skeleton for Matt to absorb the skill, during which time he didnt hear a single whisper about it from Luna, and he marveled at the new ability to directly modify the skill rather than rely on configuring the software of the pseudo skill. Unfortunately, the booklet on how to merge his [AI]s wasnt especially useful, as his old AI was a more basic researcher model, and as such, didnt have any of the fancier features of the more well-developed versions. It was rarely an issue, as he could always just throw mana at it until it came up with a workaround, but in this case, that meant its structure hadnt been carefully modified to slot in perfectly and immediately mesh with the true skill. Hed have to manually direct the process, but with his new [Artificial Intelligence] in his innate slot, he was optimistic it would only take a few months.


    There was little chance of critical failure thanks to the pseudo skill being built to be absorbed by the proper skill. In theory the [AI] skill could take over the process itself, given enough time and mana, but he wasnt going to pass up this opportunity to get a bit of practice with skill merging.


    Thankfully, being on Lilly was a distraction, and seeing his home once more was nice. Sadly, most everyone he knew had moved on by now, like Griff and his family, or Miles from ves Good Guilders, but that didnt distract him from taking enjoyment in seeing the city and so prosperous.


    Overally, he couldnt help but be delighted with the tour he took of the.


    Baroness Margaret Threshsbat prowess was undeniable, from simply reaching Tier 15 on the Path, but she had also proven herself a capable administrator, as was apparent by the poption boom Lilly had undergone in the recent years. That increase in poption had finally reached the point where small towns had set up in locations outside the rift free, five mile area along the coast, which Matt was gratified to see.


    All of the higher Tiers he had been to possessed full cities in those regions, due to theirrger poptions forcing people away from the safe areas. While it might seem odd to want to live closer to the monster infested rifts, cities or even small towns being built outside those areas meant the rifts nearby could no longer satisfy the poption near the coast. That meant more rifts were getting regrly delved and there was practically no chance of rift breaks. And more rifts being delved meant more money, rift made items, natural resources like metals, and even skills circting in the economy, which all added together to make Lilly truly blossom


    More so than it was when he had left a little more than half a century ago, and the same went with his visit close to twenty years ago, when Baroness Thresh had first taken over. The was finally recovering from the disastrous rule of the Junipers.


    That didnt mean things were perfect.


    Not by a long shot. Even from his quick flyby, Matt saw a half a dozen fights, muggings, and even one stabbing, which he did intervene in. Matt dropped the victim off at the hospital after a quick [Bandage] to keep him in good shape, and the assant at the local guard. Both were left very confused in the wake of his passage, and it served as hisst stop before meeting back up with Liz.


    Luna gave him a t look that told him she had seen everything, but he couldn''t tell if she approved or disapproved. Unlike her, he couldn''t sit by and watch someone die in front of him. Maybe when he was a few thousand years old he might be more jaded, but for now, he was happy with himself and his actions.


    Once he finished his little flyby, they quickly flew over to the new capital city of Lilly, located notably deep inside thergest continent. It was nestled right on the edge of a massive mountain range and by arge river that brought snowmelt from the mountains to hundreds of miles of grasnd between them, as well as the forests near the coast.


    Seeing the location, Matt understood why Margaret had selected it. It had plenty of water, and plenty of space for the city to sprawl without any need for costly spatial expansions. If they were so inclined, the grasnds could be converted to extra-rift farnd to even better support the poption.


    At least, if she could keep the area free of monsters.


    It would be a difficult task if the half dozen packs of monsters were anything to go by.


    Not that he thought Baroness Thresh was doing a bad job, as he saw an equal number of teams of Tier 4s who were actively tracking and hunting said monsters. A quick probe with his AI showed him the CityNet had open bounties for any monsters killed in the vicinity, which ensured there were always teams willing to spend their free time culling any roaming beasts.


    He was happily surprised when he noticed there were actually a half dozen Tier 5 rifts near the capital city as well, which showed that Baroness Thresh was actually using her tax funds to increase the''s Tier as fast as possible.


    When they flew into the city, Matt took note and had his AI record each and every building under construction to analyze the methods they were using on a hunch, which turned out to be true. Baroness Thresh had clearly obtained patents for one of the more advanced building methods, given the amount of enchanted concrete present. Not only would the magical structures be substantially stronger, and thus capable of supporting taller, safer buildings, but would also drastically cut down on the expense of full-building enchantments. Nobles who didn''t see much direct value in raising their''s Tier beyond Tier 5 often avoided the extra cost, but doing so meant they would have to tear down the oldest cities once building-wide enchantments becamemon and expected, once the was in the Tier 6-10 range. After Tier 10, the buildings would be so old that they''d need to be torn down anyway, but that was still a few thousand years away. As a result, this choice reduced disruptions to the people living there.


    Thinking about a few thousand years being a minimum timeframe took a little getting used to, but it was a realistic estimate for Lilly reaching Tier 10, even with a plethora of resources being diverted to it. At least, if proper precautions were taken when advancing the.


    Still, things were early.


    The city seemed to be under a perpetual state of fabrication, whether it being a building getting its foundation set, or a building getting its roof worked on, it seemed like everything was under constant construction.


    But Matt liked it.


    Seeing the people working and seemingly content, he was happy for them.


    When they neared the Baroness estate, Matt saw a number ofpleted individual houses,mercial buildings, and even a skyscraper that a quick scan with his spiritual sense revealed was furnished and had people living inside.


    He didnt pry, but the few people and belongings he saw indicated it was mostly popted by the construction workers, which was a bittersweet thought. His father had been one of those workers a long time ago.


    Liz must have sensed he was thinking about his parents because she took and squeezed his hand, bringing him back to reality just as they reached the front entrance of the noble estate. As the guards scanned them, Matt examined the protective formations surrounding the estate and was taken aback by just how <em>bad</em> they were. From what he could tell, either Baroness Threshcked an enchanter on her staff altogether, or the one she had was subpar and undeserving of the title. The formation itself wasn''t inherently poor; it was a standard design without many ring weaknesses. But, it was also basic enough that any professional formation breaker could easily bypass thema level of vulnerability that might theoretically be eptable for something as mundane as a perimeter wall.


    What truly grabbed his attention was just how <em>badly</em> the formation was installed. It seemed like someone with their first enchanting lesson decided to do the work freehand. Runes were carved wrong, in incorrect spots, or were t out not working properly.


    When Matt stopped, he attracted the attention of the guards, but after spreading his spiritual sense through the entire wall that surrounded the estate, he found things were only worse the farther away from the gates.


    Baroness Thresh met them just inside the foyer and made some polite chatter, but Matt immediately went back to the array problem.


    Do you have an enchanter on staff? At her confused look, he continued, Are you aware the formation array protecting your estate is about as secure as a wet paper bag?


    Baroness Thresh paused for a moment and blinked at him. Excuse me? What?


    It took him a moment, and a bit of back-and-forth between his two AIs, but Matt quickly sent her a report of all the ws and exploits hed picked out just from passing through the area. The Baronesss eyes went wide, then narrowed.


    I hired someone to set up the formation, and they said they had a Talent for it, and that was supposedly why it felt weird, even to me. I dont know the craft, but the example seemed to show no ws.


    Matt shook his head. Id test it thoroughly and independently. Maybe Im wrong, and it really is a Talent making the normal rules not apply, but it looks like crap work. Get some wardbreakers to check it, and if it''s not secretly brilliant, Id immediately tear the wall down and get a reputable professional to do the work.


    Baroness Thresh looked to Matt with hope in her eyes, but he immediately shot her down. I cant help you. It''s a Tier 15 formation built with Tier 15 material. I just advanced into the immortal Tiers, and haven''t had the chance to learn about the differences in runes. They are far moreplex after all. It truly is just that bad.


    That wasnt entirely true, but it was the amount of crafting experience Matt had. He had actually already started to grasp the intricacies of Tier 15 runes, but even then, he wasnt ready to make any Tier 15 runes as Quill, even with his [AI]s help, for at least another year or two. They truly were far moreplex, and no one made the jump from Tier 14 to Tier 15 runes in less than a year without a Talent for it.


    Baroness Thresh worked her jaw for a silent moment, but nodded. Thank you anyway. Better to know about this before or <em>if </em>it bes an issue.


    Matt nodded and returned to the pleasantries.


    He and Liz talked to Baroness Thresh for the rest of the evening before meeting up with Vinnie and Mathew, who were already in the city for the tournament. They were, in fact, part of the prize pool. Anyone in the top hundred but below the top twenty-five of the unawakened tournament would get three months of lessons at their martial hall for free as part of their rewards. They joked they were part of the constion prize, but Matt could see they were actually prideful about the fact. They were a fairly new martial training hall, but had already shown their experience and expertise, which was reflected by their being just under the immortals with centuries of experience that Brandy had roped in to bing temporary coaches to the top contestants of the tournament.


    Those same people were the ones who took up most of his and especially Lizs time over the next few days, in a seemingly never ending banquet held by the Baroness.


    Brandy hadnt been able to rope Tier 25s in with the idea of giving back to the Empire, but rather had used Lizs name and parentage to draw them in. While Liz and Matt had no official titles or power, they were still the youngest children of Mara and Leon. And that was a connection everyone wanted to form, even if it was indistinct and once removed.


    Matt didnt me them. Most were respectful and made no mention of favors or the like. They simply ensured their names and faces were learned by Matt and Liz, wanting to chat about this or that delving experience before letting them move on to the next guest.


    He did find it interesting that an equal number of people preferred to chat him up rather than Liz. He was, after all, just a son-inw, and that should have put him in a lesser position. At least, that was what anyone not familiar with Leon and Mara would think. Anyone who knew the couple understood they made no distinction between son and son-inw, which let Matt peg those individuals as better informed, or just lucky.


    Then, there were the really smart ones. <em>They </em>talked to Vinnie and Mathew without treating them as lessers because of their Tier or birth, which was a distinction he saw in some people he talked to. A minority, to be sure, but there nheless.


    While most hid it, he could see the disdain in their actions when they talked to him. The information packets he got from his AI showed why. Almost all of them were from noble backgrounds, and the majority of them were from hereditary noble families, and spent most of their time chatting with Liz.


    Those were the dumb ones. Liz could smell their ilk from before she was awakened, and with half a century of experience and Lunas training, she could spot them a mile away.


    Matt just tried to remember that it was a distinct minority of even the hereditary nobles present who acted like that. It even mostly worked.


    Two dayster, when the banquet ended, they and everyone else moved to the newly built stadium and watched as the unawakened kids fought in a fairly simple bracket tournament, evenplete with a losers bracket. Most of the fights were frankly bad, but Matt enjoyed it and got into each sh.


    The des were real steel but blunted, and the false wands and staves for aspiring mages were fueled by mana stones to simte attacks, but despite all of that, the kids fought their hearts out, and Matt respected that.


    Determination would take them farther than an amazing Talent every day of the week, and for those who got both, even the sky wasnt a limit.


    The unawakened bracket ended after three days, which was when all the immortals descended on thepetitors and made small talk, gave advice, and general encouragement. The kids ate it up and had such hopeful and worshipful faces, Matt felt ufortable in receiving such adoration.


    He did keep his eyes out on the nobles he had noticed being standoffish, but to his surprise, every single one was both polite, respectful, and encouraging to the children. As for why they treated them well and snubbed Matt, he only had guesses, but frankly didnt care. He could take the jabs, but wouldnt tolerate it directed at the kids.


    Which, when he thought about it, Brandy must have known or at least suspected. Or possibly, she knew Liz wouldn''t tolerate it, which amounted to the same thing.


    The unawakened children''s prizes were surprisingly good, at least to Matt. The top one hundred each earned one skill for when they awakened out of the moremon skills like [Fireball], [Mana sh], [Mana Strength], and other skills almost anyone could use that were also rtively cheap. Matt and Liz had ostensibly provided those skills with Mara and Leon''s help, but they had actually just dug them out of their bucket of Tier 8 skills they had lying around. The few rarer skills they provided, like [Endurance], <em>were</em> actually provided by Mara and Leon, due to the high demand of the skills, but those kids who knew they had earned themselves something so valuable were ecstatic.


    Matt was sure the three [Endurance]s would be gone first, due to the top five spots all being upied by melee fighters, but there were even a few rarer skills for mages like [Jolt], [Ice Spear], and [Earth Spear].


    Matt had wanted to include a few copies of the four basic maniption skills, but Luna had dissuaded him from that course of action, reminding him those skills were basically useless at the lowest Tiers. Their limited mana pools andck of a way to get elements to manipte, like fire, without a skill like [Fireball]. Those who wanted to go in that direction could do so using the more structured skill to earn money and get valuable experience.


    Not one to ignore good advice, Matt and Liz decided to give Baroness Thresh the remainder of their bucket of Tier 8 skills, which included a few maniption skills for her to hold smaller local tournaments for the skills in the next few decades. Lilly being a Tier 4 meant there weren''t any rifts with guaranteed skill drops, which forced her to import most of them. It was expensive on aary scale, but hopefully the donation would help.


    The Tier 3 awakened tournament was actually much more interesting to Matt.


    While the unawakened kids had guts and drive, they hadnt seen any actualbat, where the Tier 3s had been delving for some time. Some of them had even been delving for a decade or longer, which Matt didnt disregard like some of the others did. They might be slow in their advancement, but most of them had solid grasps on tactics and strategy, beating most of the younger opponents by leveraging those advantages.


    That didnt mean all the younger kids in question were bad or knocked out immediately.


    Some were actually pretty good, especially as the rewards on offer had tempted a few contestants from nearby systems toe to <em>Lilly</em> for the opportunities it presented.


    Liz took a liking to a young woman with what they <em>hoped</em> was an alchemy Talent, and who wasnt boratelymitting medium-term suicide by drinking vtile potions like so many energy drinks. She probably would have sponsored the girl if she wasnt already on the Path, but settled for cing a few bets on her doing well in the cement.


    The tournament ended up being fairly interesting, after Emma, the favorite to win, lost to a young man a quarter her age. He surprised everyone by casting a [Fireball] from his mouth at melee range. The single attack wasnt the finishing blow, but the detonation against the womans helmet left her open for a fatal strike, ending the fight.


    With a new dark horse showing himself capable and one of the oldest contestants in the losers bracket, the crowd went wild and created an infectious air as the young man, Ivor, won time and time again. None of his matches were clean, but despite everything, he managed toe out on top again and again, giving the crowd a show every time.


    In the end, a climactic final battle ensued between Ivor and Emma once again, an epic showdown involving a grand total of three different skills on disy. The victor was ultimately decided when Ivorsst trick was countered and, poetically, a fireball exploding in <em>his</em> face.


    Still, it was a rousing disy, and Ivor seemed more than content with his second ce prize.


    The Tier 3 tournament had much greater rewards, with most of them actually provided by Leon and Mara, as Matt and Liz would have been hard pressed to be able to afford the assortment of Tier 3 to Tier 5 natural treasures they bought and sent over. While nothing was amazing in the same vein as what theyd be ustomed to, the gifted prizes were truly treasures to those otherwise normal delvers.


    Things like Trolls Liver, Oak Limb, Crystal Eye, Snakes Eye, Idmonian Spinnerets, and Gecko Grips were more than the contestants could have hoped for and were the least of their prizes.


    Everyone in the top one hundred got a Tier 8 skill of their choice, with the top twenty five being able to choose even Tier 14 skills. Matt was sure a few of those people who chose Tier 14 skills that synergized with their build or Talent would explode in power in theing years, which made him happy to see.


    Theirst reward was bittersweet, at least, it was to Matt.


    Everyone in the top one hundred were given multiple rift slots in Tier 3 and Tier 4 rifts on Lilly for the decade after their training with the immortals ended. But after that, Baroness Thresh had personally bought them tickets to the nearest Tier 8, where Tier 4 and Tier 5 rifts would be abundant, so they could continue their own path without getting stuck on a low Tier like Lilly.


    After all, no one could stay home forever, and everyone had to leave the nest at some point, but Matt was sad to know those that seeded would grow out of Lilly. And he knew that only those who made an effort, like Baroness Thresh, Mathew, or Vinnie woulde back to improve their low Tier homeworld.


    He thought about making ament to that effect, but ended up holding his tongue. It wasnt his ce to tell impressionable children and lower Tiers how to live their lives. He just hoped they saw his and the others examples, and decided to give back when they could.


    Once the after parties ended, he and Liz left Lilly once more, but this time, it was to do their own jobs.


    Matt and Liz''s fun had ended, and it was time for Torch and Quill to have their turn


    They had missions waiting for them. Not training missions, but real-world problems they were expected to solve by using the things Luna had taught them.


    Matt was sure blood would be spilt, but he at least hoped they wouldn''t get too many bad movies made in their next few years.


    Luna dropped a packet of information on the table of her ship. A full report of what Quill and Torch have been doing for the past two years. Memorize it, then give it back to me for destruction. Do what you need to prepare to leave Matt and Liz the moment the little tournament you set up is over, and I hope you enjoyed your time off, because we have a <em>lot</em> of work ahead of us.

 Chapter 233

    Chapter 233


    Matt and Liz picked through the packets Luna had provided them, absorbing the information therein.


    They started with data regarding a guild that was suspected to be using low Tier transients that were moving through the Tier 9 world as test subjects for a suspected mutation and domination effect. Matt also noted the bit that said if they didnt move to handle this event within a month, it would be passed on to other teams.


    The second was a packet of information that pointed at a Tier 15 guild, suggesting that it was either a nt from, or was infiltrated by another Great Power. Supposedly, it was actively feeding information back to their handlers. This was marked as a low priority target, and instead of just smashing their way through the front door and killing those responsible, the Empire wanted information on who and what they were sending out.


    Matt suspected that this mission was more of a test. Most likely, they already had that information, and wanted to see how Quill and Torch would handle such a situation.


    The third assignment was downright odd.


    A Tier 3 charity constructionpany was about to go under due to an unexpected find of a gold mine where they didnt have mineral rights as it was a man made and shouldn''t have substantial mineral veins, tying up most of their assets. That put them in a precarious position, as their previously liquid assets became frozen, preventing new work to pay off their loans. Quill and Torch were expected to solve the issue without anyone realizing they were even there, and without overtly changing the situation.


    Matt frankly had no idea why this was an issue that two possible Ascenders needed to take care of, or needed to know <em>how</em> to take care of. While he knew Ascenders were sometimes used as the rulers of upieds in a war, it was both rare and not something he suspected that he or Liz would be chosen for.


    Still, it was an assignment, and he gave it the proper consideration it deserved.


    Once Matt and Liz finished looking over the packets of information, they looked to Luna, who immediately shook her head.


    No help from me with this. Im only here to act as your chaperone, not your manager. Decide on your own how you want to handle these missions, which order you want toplete them in, or if you want to do them at all.


    Matt chewed on the inside of his cheek as he mulled over the situation.


    The first mission had an obvious answer, both of them go investigate and then capture or kill everyone involved. The other two had more wiggle room in their execution and time frame.


    Liz spoke before he could. Hit the first one together and split up to handle the other two?


    Matt nodded slowly. Agreed, but how do we split the other two?


    Liz pulled the third document to herself and pushed the second to him. Im better with the legal stuff, so I can take this one.


    Hearing that offer, he wanted to agree, but knew that wasnt what was expected of him. He also knew that Liz knew the same thing and just didnt care, and wanted to do the thing he was worse at.


    I think I should take it. It <em>is</em> outside myfort zone, and I think that''s a good thing. These are meant to be training missions, and so if I fuck up and just start punching people, its not the end of the world.


    Liz gave him a t look when he talked about punching people. Dont turn into Rusty. Please, no.


    Matt grinned and shot her his best exaggerated, saucy wink. Mage. Punch. Face. Good. At her t look, he continued, Ok, seriously. I think I need to push myself, and this is a good opportunity to do that. And honestly, it sounds kinda fun? Gold on a where there shouldn''t be? I bet someone is doing something illegal.


    His questioning tone didnt go unmissed, but it did go unquestioned, as Liz didnt call him on the obvious lie.


    They chatted about the logistics of their travels before settling on a n of action, and turning to their manager.


    Luna nodded in approval and vanished their booklets in a sh of void. Behind her, the ships engines hummed into action, bringing them to their first mission. Afterwards, theyd need to take care of their own transports, but Matt would be lying if he said he wasnt excited to put his new chaotic spaceship to good use.


    Theirs may have been slower, but it was <em>theirs</em>.


    True freedom of movement was now in their grasp, untethered from the schedules of trains and teleporters, and enabling even their low-tier models to traverse the Empire at speeds most people could only dream of. Even if they were mostly tied to following the teleportation lines, it was still an enormous step forward.


    Three weeks of cramps and itchingter, courtesy of their muscle modifications, they arrived at Galvos. While only a Tier 9, it was <em>ancient</em>, and had a poption of seven hundred and fifty million as a result despite being otherwise uninteresting.


    When theynded and kicked off Lunas ship, they were in masks, yes, but they were in civilian masks, which made them appear both as a lower Tier and a bit more out of shape.


    They might have gone with a different disguise, but they weren''t trying to act as bait themselves. No, they were simply trying to blend in and remain anonymous while scouting out the guild in question.


    Utrechts Utopia was, at least on the surface, a perfectly ordinary Tier 10 guild, operating in a more remote region of the secondrgest continent. From all outward appearances and records, they were a bog standard guild just focused on trying to get enough members to Tier 15, where they could push for a higher Tier guild base and advance further as a whole.


    Except, they wouldnt be there if the guild was only what it seemed on the surface.


    Quill wasnt entirely sure the provided information was urate, but had nothing to base the suspicion off of besides his gut feeling. While he was sure the information provided was what the Empire''s information sources had seen and found, both he and Torch felt the situation was more convoluted. Something about the sloppiness of the abductions and mutted bodies just didnt sit right.


    Following a time honored tradition, they went to a bar and just listened to the surrounding gossip. They didnt need to wait long, as everyone in the bar seemed to be talking about the guild. Utrechts Utopia had had a good reputation in the past, but apparently all of their staff started acting standoffish in thest few years, and more recently, they had been shutting themselves offpletely.


    While this <em>was</em> a local bar, the fact that it was the gossip of the town sent both of them on edge, and they left once the topics started to repeat, wanting to see things for themselves.


    Once they paid their tab and left the bar, they separated and started walking around the town, making circles around the guildpound.


    From the attitude of the civilians, they were either unaware of the kidnapped people or uncaring about the losses. Considering the report said that no locals had been found missing, Quill found that usible, but strange. Any kind of alleged murders or found corpses should have rmed people.


    With his AI still merging with the proper [AI] skill, he needed to spend a bit more mana than usual, but he was able to quickly peruse and sort the information he had recorded and locate everyone who had arge amount of contact with the guild.


    Thankfully, after his recent Tier up and doubling of his mana, it was the one thing he never needed to worry about any more. He had officially blown normal mages out of the water with 40,960 mana maximum in his pool. But a mana pool two and a half timesrger than most mages his Tier was <em>nothing</em> inparison to the fact he could spend that <em>every single second</em>. Leaving aside the fact that he could spam any skill with a 400 initial mana cost without having to tap into the rechargeable mana stone array on the inside of his armor, he had 40,960 MPS to use across all of his skills in any fight.


    His nonbat utility had also increased to an absurd level. Now that he didnt need to sleep, he could fully utilize his mana generation, and if he decided to spend an entire day making mana, he could make three and a half billion mana a day. Comparing that to a Tier 29 mana stone, which only had a measly<em> two </em>and a half billion mana<em></em>stored inside, it really put things into perspective.


    It only was even more mind boggling when he considered that when he was a Tier 10, he would have only made one hundred and ten million mana in a full day, and as a Tier 20, he would generate one hundred thirteen billion mana in a single day.


    Even still, his current 40,960 MPS was absurd and gave him power few could hope topete with. It even made his half-functional AI better than it had been before he Tiered up and started absorbing [AI].


    Within a minute, he had found the people he wanted to, and damn near everything else about them, including everything it could pull off the and CityNets. Secondster, he had their public history, which included their other jobs, where they lived, and all recent news about them presented to him in a nice packet of information.


    Scanning the list manually, he found what he felt to be the best first target. A middle aged man who lived with his daughter and worked as an assistant in the guilds city recruitment building. The notes also indicated that he sometimes filled in as a janitor when the cleaning bot was down or missed something, which was a position that Quill knew from working at Bennys could make you invisible, making him the perfect person to gather information.


    Best of all, he hadnt been to work in thest week, but had been seen out and about.


    After a few quick pings to the CityNet and then verifications of his identity as Quill, clearance, authorization, and a request form, he had a pinpoint location of one Zane Bard.


    When his location came back at a cafe, Quill didnt rush over. Instead, he simply followed the low Tier crowds of people as they walked through the city until he reached the cafe in question, then used his spiritual sense to scan for Zane.


    Seeing the man in person almost made Quill pause, and it was only Lunas training that let him keep walking with the crowd as if nothing happened. The Zane in his record looked to be middle aged but in good shape, while the Zane sitting in the cafe looked like an entirely different person with sunken eyes, more gray hairs at his temples, and a skittish demeanor that had him flinching whenever someone moved too close to him. He also watched everyone in the crowds as if someone was specifically out to get him.


    That was interesting for a number of reasons, but Quill kept moving to his next targets.


    What he found was less than ideal. About a third of his targets were skittish in the same way, while the rest seemed to be going about their normal lives. When he shared his findings with Torch, he learned that she had observed a few people entering and leaving the guild, but all seemed perfectly normal, which changed Quills focus from those acting skittish to those acting normal. But despite following three of them with his spiritual sense, he couldnt find anything obviously out of the norm.


    There were no additional unusual behaviors he could identify after the first day of observing, so he traded with Torch while she tracked down some of their suspicious individuals.


    Watching the guild, Quill found, was far more interesting than he thought it would be, mostly because everything seemed perfectly normal. But the more he watched, the more he felt creeped out.


    He couldnt quite put a finger on it, but <em>something </em>seemed wrong.


    While everyone seemed to go about their daily lives, he noticed that everyone inside the guildspound seemed ready for an attack at all times. It might be indicative of the guild doing something illegal, but could also be a sign of someone who was worried they were being framed.


    Using his AI and his ess to the CityNet, he had each and every person who entered or left thepound tagged and tracked. It made a fuss with the CityNet, which needed three levels of overrides to do that, but Quill was one hundred percent certain that something strange was happening inside the guildpound.


    Except, even with their surveince, everyone seemed to be going along their normal days in a very set routine, which led them to their first actionable evidence.


    An apple cart had hit a grain truck and through an unlucky coincidence of bad timing, a weak seam, and a swerve into a wall, causing a massive mess that forced the road to be closed right when most people were walking to work. Ny nine percent of people simply bypassed the closed road, but some either tried to walk through the barriers set up, or simply waited at the barriers, staring off into space. While that could have been chalked up to either impatient people or those with too much time, the trackers they had ced told a different story.


    Those who tried to push through were all Utrechts Utopia guild members withbat roles, and those that waited were guild members who were logistics personnel or the like.


    Every.


    Single.


    One.


    Seeing that Quill had to mp down on his panic response. The symptoms were too close to countless horror movies, and what hed seen training under Kurt, for it to be anything but mind control. That was <em>so</em> far beyond what he was qualified for. Theyd need specialized seekers and mind mages of their own in order to sort through everything, to say nothing of the danger inherent to <em>them</em> falling under sway of whatever effect was infecting the city.


    Just as he prepared to send the entire city into lockdown and call for reinforcements, Luna materialized next to him. No need to sound the rm. I already did so when we first arrived. but you are right, this isnt an invasion or rift break of some kind. Continue on as normal, Quill and Torch can handle this on their own.


    She was gone before he let out his breath, and he updated Torch with his discovery.


    Even through theirms, Quill could feel Torch pausing as she went over the implications.


    Do we still value the mission? If not, we can just burst in there and start subduing people. You made the restraining talismans, right?


    Quill thought that over but shook his head, even as he confirmed what Torch said. I have them, yes, but if Luna wanted us to go in loud, she wouldn''t have stopped me from calling in reinforcements. Thinking that over once more, he corrected himself. Ok, maybe not, but she said we can handle this ourselves, and to me, that implies that this won''t spread or be anything sinister. Its probably best to take whatever this is out quietly, to prevent the popce from going into a panic.


    Torch took a moment before replying, I generally agree, but I also think we should move in tonight. Scout the area and see if we see anything obvious. We still have transformed bodies appearing after all, which isn''t really exined by mind control.


    Quill didnt have an answer there, and after ensuring Torch had initiated their anti-mind control measures, he did the same.


    The procedures were not simple.


    Their masks deafened them, closed off their airways, and projected an illusion of eyes while blocking external light, negating the mostmon avenues of control. They would need to rely on their more magical senses, butpared to their first month in Minka, it was barely an afterthought. He also diverted a good half of his mana regeneration to [Sharp Mind], with the upgrade increasing his resistance to mental attacks of any kind just in case.


    Without knowing exactly how the mind control happened, they needed to take every precaution, which was annoying. At least they were Tier 15, and as such, didnt need to deal with the hassle of rebreather masks allowing them to keep breathing recycled air. It was much simpler, and more pleasant, to just not breathe.


    As Torch went to thoroughly inspect people on their list, Quill went underground and got as close as he could to the guildspound walls before inspecting them for their runic formations.


    The formations were sadly Tier 15, which he was still learning, but in the travel time to Galvos, he had been able to familiarize himself with some of the moremon Tier 15 runes and their twisting, four dimensional shapes. So, while he needed to spend a few hundred million mana for his AI to brute force a path into the formation, he was done before nightfall, which was when he and Torch prepared to search thepound.


    The first thing they did was to fully don their Quill and Torch regalia before entering into the guild by disrupting an improperly set rune in the corner of the wall. Once inside, Quill used [Shadow Maniption] to help cover their passage by blinding any cameras and keeping them hidden from the Tier 5 patrolling guards.


    While killing might have been on the table if the guild was full of evil psychopaths, they were expected to minimize casualties as much as possible, even if it was just so those guilty could face a trial. If they were in any danger, they would, of course, not hesitate to defend themselves. But with the utterly insurmountable Tier gap between them, it would be all but impossible for them to be so much as scratched. With mind control in the mix, any deaths would be even worse, as they were dealing with little more than meat puppets controlled by someone else.


    That forced them to move slowly through the outer perimeter until they located an utched and unguarded window, which they were able to use to get into the building without bypassing any more security. Once inside, they quietly crept through the halls until they found the guild leader''s office, where they wanted to get information about their recent activity, but what they saw made them pause.


    The entire office was covered in a thickyer of dust.


    Quill cocked his head at Torch and shed her a hand sign questioning the oddity, but she grabbed his hand and used the touch connection to send a brief AI message. No one has seen the Tier 15 guild leader or her husband since shortly after things got weird.


    Inspecting the dust once more, Quill sent, It seems like they haven''t been here either.


    Separating, they started inspecting the room while not touching anything that might trigger an rm or trap. Still, they didnt find anything of note, even after half an hour of looking through the desk. They gave up after going through a few other guild officers'' rooms that had also seemingly vanished from public sight in thest year.


    The only useful information they discovered was that anyone Tier 10 and above had vanished, seemingly at the same time. Probably captured, but they couldnt discount the fact they might be dead.


    Spending another two hours walking through the mostly quiet guild house, they inspected everything from the luscious garden to the armory, where the crafters work was stored before being given out.


    In that entire time, the only hint of the method of mind control was the thick dust, but they werent equipped to analyze it with any depth. For all they knew, someone had dropped an unrted potion ingredient then never cleaned it up.


    The only ce they didnt go was the guild vault, as it was guarded by two Tier 9 cultivators, and they had no reliable methods of getting past them without a confrontation. The two of them could easily subdue the guards, but that would undoubtedly alert the guilds local AI through the AI noticing they were no longer conscious. After all, guards weren''t very useful if you could just knock the humans out before they reported in.


    That didnt mean they didnt have options.


    They couldn''t sense inside the vault due to the shielding, but Quill was able to sense the formations that were meant to protect the vault from being essed by apetent earth mage, and while there was no obvious fatal w, he had another way.


    Sometimes, breaking a formation was much easier than bypassing one.


    Sinking into the wall, he moved right to the edge of the formation and dumped his entire mana generation into the formation all at once.


    It was a Tier 15 formation meant to block attacks and alert the central AI to anyone touching it, but it was not built to handle 40,000 MPS hitting it all at once and then not stopping. Mana surges were a rare, but known method of attack, and though most runes could handle a few seconds of massive mana fluctuations, few were built to handle a constant stream of that much mana.


    After three seconds, the formation started to flicker. After eleven seconds, the formation nearest him started to glow on the visible spectrum, due to the waste energy being shed as light. Twenty secondster, the runes started to fizzle out, as they could no longer handle the mana throughput and they had their entrance.


    While this would be reported to thepounds AI, it generally wouldnt trigger the same alerts that a forceful breach would. A non mind controlled human would immediately notice the secondary alert, but as they had seen earlier that day, the mind controlled people seemed to be running on autopilot, and Quill hoped that meant they would be slow to react to such an event.


    With Torch holding onto his free hand, Quill burrowed through the vault floor with his best control of [Metal Maniption], creating a tiny hole in the floor which would let their spiritual perception through.


    Blinking, Quill froze for an instant before continuing to widen the hole.


    The good news was he had found the missing guild leaders.


    They were inside a shoddily made cell at the far side of the vault, and while the immortal couple seemed perfectly fine, the mortals looked ragged. Their cells were a mess with feces and urine caked on the ground.


    When they entered through the floor, they roused everyone, but Quill sent a quick burst of information to everyone through his AI.


    It did not work, and they called out for help while others wept.


    Quill then noticed the cultivation suppression bands on their wrists, which exined why they werent using their AI.


    Sitrep.


    His request for information was quick and sharp while he and Torch inspected the rest of the vault for any traps or guards. There were none, which was the first good news of the night.


    The guild leader, Frankie, was the first to speak.


    Captured by my guild members. Probable mind control. Source unknown, but suspected tree. Condition, a little malnutrition in the mortals, but alive.


    Quill nodded before he tossed out a light talisman, which hovered in the air and gave some warm,forting light to the room and was met with sighs and thanks from everyone.


    Torch moved forward, and with a few chops of her spear, cut through the cultivation suppression manacles, freeing their prisoners. With their cultivation returned, the two Tier 15s easily bent the metal bars and freed themselves and their guildmates from the confinement, where Quill started inspecting the feet of the mortals.


    They had been standing in waste for the better part of a year and a half at least, and that was a situation ripe for infection, but their higher Tier physiques had resisted being cut and allowing a method of entry for any bacteria.


    Torch asked the pertinent question. What happened?


    Frankies husband Ennis spoke up as she used [Create Water] to help wash the wounded.


    We woke up one dayst year being handcuffed by our fellow guildmates, before being marched here, where they had built this prison. If we resisted immediately, we might have been able to free ourselves, but we were so confused, and didnt want to kill our own people. Once we were locked in here, we only had the food they brought us once a week. We do have a suspect, however.


    Seeing both masked faces turn to him, Ennis sighed. We suspect the Tier 6 Adryian Flesious tree we were raising in the garden has gained sentience, and is on the way to sapience. They have the ability to emit pollen that is incredibly rxing in small doses. Inrger ones, it can be mind numbing and


    Quill finished for him, Amon dryad Talent for it is the ability to adjust what emotion it affects. Its conceivable that it received a Talent for mind control rather than emotional control, I suppose. The two effects <em>are</em> fairly closely rted. A Tier 6 being able to control Tier 9s is about the limit as well, which tracks as to why all of you were dumped down here.


    Frankie, who had finished cleaning up her people, summoned a mace and went to stand and walk to the door, but Torch stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.


    Frankie did not take that well. Im going to smash that fucking tree into toothpicks, and you cant stop me.


    Torchs armored hand didnt move, but as Frankie tried to shake free, her grip tightened. No.


    Quill smiled under his mask but kept it out of his voice. A pre-sapient isnt responsible for their actions in cases like this. While it''s unfortunate a few people have died at Tier 6, a tree would barely understand what is going on and is running off instinct. Empire policy states individuals in those situations are to be captured and moved to a location where they cant harm others, until they understand what they did was wrong, where they will be reintegrated into society. You can not simply kill the tree. I get why you might want to, but we can''t allow it.


    Frankie growled, and magical armor red around her for a brief instant, but Torchs gauntlet-covered fist was already driving forward like a piston, and both cracked the armor and sent the guild leader to her knees as the air was driven out of her lungs. She might not need to breathe anymore but without practiced control over your body but a gut punch could still be disorientating.


    Stay.


    Quill smirked at the single line from Torch, but backed her up. As Torch said. Stay down. This is outside your jurisdiction. We will have the situation handled in the next few minutes.


    Not that Quill was sure <em>he</em> would have the situation handled, but he was sure Luna had the appropriate teams on standby for just this moment where they identified the problem.


    With a touch of the internal release, the vault door opened, and Quill tossed out two talismans that wrapped the Tier 9s on guard with tendrils of water, even as Torch was running down the hall, mes lingering in her wake.


    Together, they quickly moved through the already awakeningpound to the tree in question.


    Its dark purple leaves made a nice contrast to the small white flowers on its branches, but Quill didnt stand around and appreciate its beauty. Instead, he tossed out an [Earth Barrier] talisman which promptly sealed the tree and any dangerous pollen it might be giving off.


    Right when he was about to cast a muchrger bubble to encircle thepound to prevent any further possible contamination, a mana shield appeared to do the job for him.


    Luna also appeared next to them, nodding.


    Well done. This was an unusual case, but you two handled it well and in a timely manner. Dryads are hard to spot in the Tier 5 through Tier 7 range, as they are more sentient than sapient; it can be hard to notice if you aren''t specifically looking for it.


    Quill shook his head. That still doesn''t exin the hybrid monster bodies they found.


    Luna sighed. An unfortunate young woman who took themands of protect the tree and don''t get found out to mean using her Talent of merging rift monsters together and started using random passersby. The Talent actually worked on the physical transformation which is surprising, but the mix of human and monster, or human and human, minds made them unstable, and they quickly died.


    Sighing, Quill hoped the type of mind control would repress such memories, but he doubted it. Not because he had any proof, but because things were rarely that nice, and some extra trauma to someone seemed in line with how life worked.


    With his spiritual sense, Quill watched as Empire healers moved in and asked, How will they cover this up?


    Luna shrugged one shoulder even as she turned. Thankfully, I dont have to deal with this directly, but there are procedures in ce. Psychiatrists wille to visit for a year or two to ensure recovery, and in time, people will move on. Many of the civilians will be reassured simply by knowing they werent, in fact, overly paranoid.


    Torch sighed. What could <em>they</em> have done differently? I dont really know anything about dryads, but could they have known?


    Luna shook her head. Not at their Tier. Try and feel the tree. Its spirit isn''t active enough to really stand out from every other tree. Combine that with the changes being gradual, and they never had a chance. Not even the Empire can check every tree on every for burgeoning sapience. Just bad luck for all involved.


    Turning, Luna opened a [Portal] in the air and added, Well done though. I frankly expected it to take you two a little longer to figure this out due to the rarity of the event. Now we have to see how you two handle the next missions.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 2

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 2


    Waking up on her second day at Red Feather Academy, Aster felt surprisingly good. She missed Matt and Liz something fierce, but she had things to do and new friends to do them with.


    Padding out of her room, she noticed that Roody was the only one out in themon room, and nodded to his yawning self, which made her pause.


    He shouldnt be tired. She shouldnt have even needed to sleep, but a quick search with her AI on the LocalNet gave her her answer.


    The academy put a mild sedative in their rooms the first few nights. While she questioned the ethics of such an action, sleeping had settled her in quite nicely, and she could opt out of the effects at any time when they were active.


    When the others came out of their rooms, she mentioned the sedative to them, but they all agreed that it had been nice to actually sleep, and it had helped settle their minds. They all agreed that if they had had nothing to do, they might have worried needlessly.


    With a few hours until their first ss, they went as a group to go get breakfast, which they noticed wasnt nearly as full asst night''s dinner had been. Theck of people also gave them the opportunity to try some new foods that they ordinarily wouldnt order, thanks to the buffet style options.


    Aster tried a few dishes she had never seen or tried before. She found most of them ok, but really liked the egg filled dumplings. They were the right mix of doughy, crisp, and savory, and really hit the spot. She even ended up going back for a second helping.


    For the first time, a pang of homesickness hit her as Aster realized how much she really missed Matts cooking. It finally sunk in that she wasnt going to be able to eat it for another decade at least and that was a <em>really</em> saddening thought.


    With some time to spare before they were to be in their seats in ss, Kelly had the idea to explore one of the outside areas of the academy grounds, which upied a good two hours as they got lost in a hedge maze. They only got out in time thanks to Roodys surprisingly good sense of direction. They could have flown out, but that would have defeated the purpose of the distraction.


    As Aster and her roommates sat down in their first ss of the day, she sized everything up out of habit. While it was listed as a ssroom, it was more urately described as an auditorium that was spatially expanded to an insane ratio, considering everyone in their year was able tofortably fit inside. She knew Matt would have loved to inspect the enchantments, but her attention was taken by people watching.


    There seemed to be endless variation of beasts and mana types, which gave her endless sources of intrigue.


    Not that she just sat quietly and observed.


    She chatted with her roommates and their neighbors about everything and anything that came to mind.


    The group to their left had explored a sea based area that went out a few miles into the nearby waters, where they had found a few of the older students rehabilitating an ecosystem that was destroyedst year in a fight. While the older students hadnt been able to exin much, the group was fascinated by the disy and had learned a few useful tidbits.


    The schools various libraries werent simr to one another, and they were encouraged to visit each one if they wanted to take better advantage of all the avable knowledge. Besides, the academy rewarded those who explored.


    Exactly what was meant by thatst piece of advice was a hotly debated topic in their little circle of pods, but all agreed that it was worth using some of their free time to explore the academy. So far, they had only seen a tiny fraction of what the sprawling campus had to offer.


    Eddy, a Dunes Lizard, had seen a map of the entire beast side of the academy when he had talked to one of the Prefects, and showed them the recording he had taken, which proved that the buildings they had already walked around in were only a tiny portion of the allocated area for the bond academy.


    After all, the entire was dedicated to the Red Feather Academy, lending credence to the idea there were ces to explore away from the central buildings.


    Before they coulde to any actual conclusion, the professor walked in through a side door and Aster took note of her cat tail and ears, as they looked quite fetching on her.


    Good morning, students. My name is Professor Sa''dan. I want to wee you all to Red Feather Academy, and to the Bond college in particr. Many of you would have preferred to note here, but I believe you will all understand why the Beast Kingdom mandates such measures in theing years. Grinning, Professor Sa''dan shrugged. Or you won''t, but most do.


    Aster chortled quietly at the small joke, even as Kelly covered her face with a wing, trying to stifle her own twitter.


    Moving on, I want to take part of our ss time to answer any questions you might have after spending some time in the academy. Things can be confusing. I know when I was in your seats, I had a million questions. Use the LocalNet to register your questions, and Ill ask the top few before we start ss.


    After thinking for a minute, Aster registered her questions to see that two of the three were already in the top five, and swished her tail in excitement, which caused Juan to toot a chortle as it tickled his side.


    Professor Sa''danughed when she read the topment. You all think you are clever. But Ill answer. First question. What do you, Professor Sa''dan, think we need to know? Thats an easy question to answer. Have fun, explore, get into a little trouble, try some electives that don''t sound interesting. This is meant to be a ce for you to explore and find yourselves and what you enjoy in a safe environment. Try to push yourselves out of yourfort zones. I would never have learned that I really enjoyed magical chess if I didnt join the club in school. Speaking of which, I am the resident Professor who runs the magical chess club, so if any of you are interested, Ill see you after this year ends.


    Aster had heard of the game, but never had any inclination to join, but that was probably Professor Sa''dans point. She had ten years, if she didnt try new things, shed get bored in the first <em>two</em> years.


    Second question What do I think of the restrictions on bonds? First of all, you need to know that the Professors are all bonds, and have their own stories. Most of youe from loving bonds, but not all of us are so lucky. Some of my fellow Professors were only made a bond so they could be controlled in some way, and chose to break that bond aftering here. My bond is my best friend, but even then, being separated for a little and making our own ways has only solidified our friendship. So, even if you don''t have a bad bond, this is a good opportunity for everyone involved. Its important to be your own person outside of just your bond, which is something weve all struggled with.


    The next three questions followed the same vein, and Aster took note of not just what Professor Sa''dan said, but how she said it. While most of the answers felt honest, a few had the voring of official answers, or at least, that was what Aster sniffed out.


    Once that was taken care of, and Professor Sa''dan promised to answer five more questions tomorrow, they moved on to the actual lessons about bloodlines.


    There was nothing that Aster didnt already know, as she had been trained by one of the best Pather Managers in the Empire for arge portion of her life. Despite that, the information proved useful to those like Kelly, Juan, and Roody, who had simply lived their lives without ever worrying too much about how their bloodline worked. It was instinctive for all of them after all.


    That said, she paid attention and was able to answer her friends'' questions most of the time. When they discovered that she knew most of it already, Aster couldnt help but preen a little under their thanks.


    Once that ss ended, they immediately separated and everyone went to their bloodline specific sses.


    Aster''s vulpine lineage group was on the smaller end, with only sixteen types of various foxes. She was disappointed to see four variations of fire or heat-aligned foxes, but tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, they hadnt chosen their mana type, even if it was objectively the worst.


    Even as she shot her me based cousins funny faces, a very handsome wind fox walked through the Professors door.


    Good morning children. My name is Professor X, and I will be the individual who walks you through the process of making your own humanoid form.


    As he spoke, Professor X quickly changed forms, first to a humanoid fox on two legs, but still distinctly a <em>fox</em>, then just as quickly to a human man with a tail and ears. Finally, he shifted into apletely unremarkable human with sandy-gray hair.


    The first thing to realize is that you have a <em>choice</em>. While it has long, long been a tradition in the Empire and beyond to have a firmly <em>bloodline</em> form and a firmly <em>human</em> form, the rise of the Monster Collective has prompted a third path, a simple anthropomorphistic variant of our bloodline forms. After all, many with bloodlines are prone to keeping some level of our heritage present in our human form, so why not extend that even further? Some even go so far as to eschew a humanoid form at all, but I do not advise this.


    Aster and everyone else yipped in surprise, but Professor X spoke over them. There are many advantages to a human form, let alone a humanoid one. Clothes, weapons, armor, even tools, all of these have been made first and foremost for use by <em>humans</em>, and that will always be the case. There exist adaptations for those without hands to utilize much of our modern technology, but they remain <em>adaptations</em>. It can be quite inconvenient to live your life without hands, or to purchase clothing for a shape unlike that which most tailors work in, or what most stores sell. With that said, I encourage all of you to do what isfortable. You are all immortals, should youter change your mind, you are free to do so. In fact, some constantly change their shape, trying on different forms as easily as our bonds might purchase a new outfit. It is all eptable.


    A link popped up on her AI and Aster flicked an ear with everyone else who had clearly received the same message.


    Inside the message I sent you, there is a link to a service that can take pictures of your humans family, and then simte what you would look like as a sibling, child, cousin, or any other rtion of theirs. If that is your dynamic, feel free to use it as a way to get a baseline appearance. Otherwise, over the course of this ss, I will be teaching you first how to attain a fully human state, and from there, guiding you back into whatever form you prefer.


    At the raised tails, Professor X shook his head. There is a reason we go to a full human first. Mostly, it''s to make it easier to standardize your internal organs on a gic level. One of the greatest benefits of a malleable form is the ability to have children with people outside our immediate species. That''s only possible when everyone agrees on a baseline and that baseline is human.


    Aster lowered her tail with everyone else as her question was answered. That was interesting and made sense, so while it seemed like more work, she didnt mind that.


    Take a few minutes to either y with the simtor, or pull up one of the random generators, then send me what your ideal form will look like. If you have already done so in the past, feel free to send that.


    Aster had, in fact, made dozens of bodies for herself, but all of them had gone to the wayside when she spent a life as Matts little sister in Folded Reflections.


    Wanting to see how close it got, Aster used the link and was pleasantly surprised when the proposed form was pretty close to what she had lived as. It was a touch more clean and pretty than her Folded Reflections body had been, but that was to be expected.


    How would software ount for her breaking her nose and not bothering to remove the small bump that remained, or even the small scar near her eye from when she opened a package too forcefully and a chip cut her. How could it get the small smattering of sunspots she had gotten as a child living on a low Tier world to low Tier parents?


    It couldnt, and the form it proposed was without those little ws, but was otherwise close enough to surprise her with its uracy.


    She still submitted her Folded Reflections body with all its little imperfections to Professor X, who didnt seem surprised in the least that she didnt make something more perfect.


    After they waited for almost five minutes for Ploom to finish her form, Professor X started them on mana control exercises.


    I want to see what level of mana control you have, as that is generally a good indicator of your control over your spirit, and how long it will take you to unlock the ability to switch between your malleable and bloodline forms.


    Aster could have gone through the small exercise of moving a small ball through an obstacle course in her sleep, while inbat, or even both at the same time, but she didnt show off. She simplypleted the task that was asked of her without fanfare or sandbagging. She was surprised to learn that none of the others had been able to shapeshift from their human form to their bloodline forms before arriving, and while it wasnt necessary to do so to take a human form, Professor X told them it was a good way to practice their control over their spirits. He assured them It would be nice to have something familiar to transform into when they were in the weird middle stages of forming their transformations.


    Only one of the younger wood foxes had any real issues, but Professor X assured him that the difficulties wouldnt hamper him in any way. He would just need to go a little slower to make sure he wasnt hurt in the process which was good as Aster wouldnt want to see even the fire foxes hurt themselves let alone the wood fox.


    Once everyone was settled back in, Professor X exined how to control the spirit and use it to slowly change their physical forms, which Aster found fascinating. The fact that at Tier 15, they had enough control over their spirit that they could change it, and those chances would be reflected onto their physical bodies just seemed amazing.


    That first day, all they did was get used to feeling their spirit, but Professor X assured them they would be standing on two legs before the end of the month.


    He also mentioned that as those with smaller base forms, they would need to eat quite a lot of food in theing days to get the calories, and more importantly, mass to increase their size quickly. Essence could rece the need for that, but it was a more advanced technique not taught to fresh immortals when they could simply eat a little more.


    After ss, everyone had some free time and collectively agreed to spend some time getting to know the other foxes. Aster even got to know the fire foxes, and while their elemental differences made being near them like being dumped in a hot bath, she put up with it long enough to learn their names and where they were staying.


    Mana types aside, they all needed to look out for each other.


    Foxes were one of the smaller poptions in the academy, and if they didnt want to get pushed aside by some of therger groups, they needed to have each other''s backs.


    Their next ss, the mage exercise ss, was less about physically working out and more about being in a controlled area where they could move around freely after their body modification sses. The goal was to get used to any changes without needing to worry about running into walls or other people.


    With none of them having gone through any changes, the ss was mostly a social hour where everyone talked about what bodies they wanted to go for.


    Roody projected a dashing looking humanoid form with a beard and hairbo that was reminiscent of his lion''s mane, while Kelly created herself a body and form more reminiscent of Mara and the other phoenixes she knew, but with electric blue feathers recing her hair.


    After sheplimented both of them on their desired forms, she showed her own form, to their praise. But what surprised them most of all was that she had already learned how to switch between her bloodline form and malleable form.


    Aster didnt really think it was hard, and tried to walk them through it, but neither figured it out in the two hour window they had for the ss.


    Up next was a ss that Aster was looking forward to.


    Tooth, w, and Paw was exactly what she had expected. A fighting ss.


    A burly woman who was some kind of bear stood next to a smaller man who reminded Aster of the mages she knew were their professors, or Coaches as they wanted to be called.


    Coach Magdalene was the bear bloodline melee fighter, while Coach Theodore had a snake bloodline and was a practiced mage.


    Coach Magdalene walked forward like a force of nature after she introduced herself. This ss is to teach you all how to fight in both your bloodline and human forms. Being able to quickly adjust to the different styles the two will have will make you a more dangerous fighter, which will keep you safe inside a rift.


    Coach Theodore stepped forward and Aster noticed his rosy cheeks that seemed unusual in a snake bloodline. For us mages, it''s a little different, but the same thing applies in general terms. Youd be surprised just how different magic can feel in a different body. Now, any of you who were on the Path of Ascension with your human all the way until Tier 15, please step forward.


    Aster looked around, but when she saw no one else stepping forward, she jumped into the air and floated down to where Coach Theodore stood.


    Tail raised high, she sauntered forward even as the Coaches looked surprised. Coach Magdalene seemed bewildered as she said, Well, thats unusual. Usually we may have one or two who made it to Tier 10, but there havent been any who made it all the way in a while. Whats your name, role, and how far up could you delve?


    Aster sat down primly and introduced herself. My name is Aster, and I am a debuff support-type winter mage. The rest of my team was my human and his wife, both hybrid fighters, and we managed to delve peak Tier 16 rifts at Tier 14.


    She made certain to stick with strictly the official story, but Coach Theodore still looked impressed before continuing on. Now, did any of you make it to or past Tier 10 on the Path? Come down if you have.


    This time, two more people came down. A sleek tiger whose muscles rippled under his skin with each step, and a horse with mes around its hooves and mane.


    The tiger introduced himself first, having reached the ground before the horse. My name is Gawain, and my team and I got to Tier 13 on The Path before stepping off voluntarily. My role was a frontline fighter, and wearing heavy armor, I protected my human and her friend, acting as an archer and mage respectively. We were able to delve up two Tiers as well, until we reached Tier 13 and needed to go down to one.


    The horse introduced herself with a bob of her head. My name is La, and I got to Tier 12 before we fell off. My human and I acted as cavalry hybrid fighters, and we could consistently delve up one tier, or two if it suited us well.


    Coach Theodore pped his hands. Marvelous! Even better, we have one mage, one warrior, and one hybrid. These three will serve as our assistants for this year, and ensure that all of you are capable of at least defending yourselves. Part of your graduation requirements will be that you can clear a Tier 15 rift in a team of five, and that is often one of the harder aspects for many of our students. These three have been taught by some of the best teachers in the Empire in the form of their managers, and can pass along some tips you may find helpful.


    Coach Magdalene gestured to the right, where a set of targets appeared made from small enchanted monster forms with obvious protrusions where attacks woulde out of.


    The lesson for today is to simply retaliate when you are being attacked. Aster, you first. Show us what you can do.


    At Coach Magdalenes encouragement, Aster walked over to the indicated location and immediately sidestepped the green sticky liquid the monster shot out, andunched an [Ice Spear] at the construct in retaliation. Her attack was blocked by a mana shield, but a light appeared on the construct. When it attacked for a second time, the attack was faster and more urate.


    Aster still easily dodged and retaliated half a dozen times until all the lights were lit up, and the monster was attacking in a seemingly endless stream of strikes, trying to get her fur dirty.


    Once she had dodged the seemingly maxed setting for a full minute, Coach Magdalene coughed and called her out.


    Well done, Aster. Can you exin how you did that to the rest of the ss?


    Aster nodded even as she scampered back to a more central position. Its a fairly straightforward target. It doesnt move much, and doesnt utilize any form of skill to make its projectile harder to dodge. Its like a low-tier spitter monster, and the attack is small enough that its easy to dodge. If you can prepare an attack ahead of time, do that. But otherwise, just go with a fast skill and utilize either your Concept or a Maniption to nudge it on-track if its off target, or if your opponent moves.


    Aster blinked as Coach Magdalene shook her head with a grin.


    I don''t expect most of you to be able to so urately lead the constructs attacks and keep the area mostly clean. We simply want you to not get hit by the projectiles and return at least one attack before the next one. As you saw with Aster, the more you sessfully do so, the faster and more urate the projectiles will get. If you can get to the third level in the next year, Ill be ecstatic. The sixth level signifies you are fighting a ranged opponent two Tiers higher than yourself which is beyond what we expect of you currently. The first light signifies a Tier 14, and most of you should be able to get used to that fairly quickly. In our future sses, we will expand the types of training we do with a variety of constructs, but dodging and retaliating will be core skills that keep you alive inside almost any rift.


    As Coach Theodore had Gawain go through a simr melee style thing Coach Magdalene looked to Aster and La. Can you two go around and help those who are struggling? If you can''t help them, ping our [AI], and we will make our way to them, but there are a lot of students, and not a lot of us.


    Aster nodded with La and was about to turn to leave when Coach Magdalene asked her a question. Judging by your performance your team could have stayed on the Path, couldn''t they?


    Looking back, Aster nodded as she mostly told the truth. My humans felt going on without me would be wrong, so they stepped off.


    Coach Magdalene tsked before waving them away.


    La whinnied a noise of surprise. You are really strong! I''m not sure I could have done as well...


    Trying to not be arrogant, Aster bobbed her head. It''s really just a lot of practice. Our trainers had us doing simr things all the time when we werent inside a rift. It''s kinda fun after a while.


    La agreed. Same, but Im not sure we ever got as good as you. The three of us should make a team to delve. I heard the academy has a number of rifts they let the second years and above delve in, and with the Coachs permission, we can delve early. I bet with the three of us teaming up, we can get permission early.


    Aster wasnt entirely happy with the idea of having to delve with a real fire mage, but La seemed nice, and from Gawains disy in the melee fighter test, she could tell he was quitepetent as a front liner.


    Still, she agreed. That sounds fun, and Id love to be able to delve and make new friends.


    With that settled, she walked through the lines and offered help to those poor unfortunates who were hit with the sticky green goop. Though, she stayed far away and kept a barrier made from her Concept around her to keep the gross stuff off her fur while trying to give guidance.


    Not that a single suggestion could immediately make someone a master, but most of the people she stopped to help learned something new, and were able to dodge a little more frequently when she left. And that was really all it was about, which she made sure to remind those who seemed dispirited at their failures.


    I failed at tasks like this for months before even starting to get the hang of it. Dont worry, and just try and improve a little today and a little tomorrow. By the end of the year, you won''t even know how you found it hard.


    When she reached the area where Kelly and Roody were in twoically different sized safe areas, they immediately started questioning her on why she hadnt told them she was a Pather.


    Shrugging, she tried to brush it off. Delving is only one part of my life, and Id much rather talk about my ice cream tests than delving.


    Roody whimpered as he caught a face full of goop and fell to the ground, trying to wipe it out of his eyes. Aster noticed that he had been on the third level before failing, which was a lot better than everyone else was doing.


    Yes, but then I wouldnt have bragged about delving two up with my team! Roodysint made her chortle.


    No, you wouldn''t have. And it is impressive. Ive had some of the best training in the Empire to get as good as I am today. You not having that and doing so well is worthy of bragging. See, you even keep getting to the third level. Try smaller fakeouts and see if that helps you.


    On Roodys next attempt, he was able to dodge the third-level attack, but his own retaliation missed, which forced him to repeat the level. It was still an improvement as he at least was able to keep any more gross liquid out of his fur.


    A task which Kelly was failing miserably at.


    The poor bird had a smaller safe area, and was constantly getting hit and knocked to the ground, where she got covered in more of the goop.


    Aster, you need to save me! Pleeeeeeease!


    Aster backed away, seeing the frantic look in Kellys eyes as she pleaded for help. The poor bird seemed at the end of her ropes.


    Activating her AI, she called for one of the Coaches to help her friend and skittered away to help someone who didnt look like they wanted to share their goop. Sharing was great and all, but her fur was hard enough to keep pristine without green sticky liquids getting in it.


    No thank you.


    They spent a little more than three hours predicting the exercise before the Coaches dismissed all of them, which was when a blur of wings started chasing Aster.


    You wont get away from me! You will be goopy too if I have anything to say about it!


    Aster immediately activated her buffs and ran back to their room, all the while being chased by Kelly who insisted on trying tond on her.


    An hourter, the two of them chatted as the boys came out of their rooms, finally clean. Aster was serving her penance, helping dry Kellys feathers with small gusts of wind, which they both found fun, even if Kellyined about the air being chilly. Though, Aster tried to exin that hot air was awful for the fur and feathers but Kelly was hearing none of it.


    The four of them bickered good-naturedly as they went to dinner, and Aster was grateful that after giving her a little bit of a hard time, they didnt treat her any differently after learning she was a good fighter.


    Juan even wanted to try helping with her ice cream experiments, having a bit of a sweet tooth himself.


    As the second day of her time at the academy closed out, Aster felt like she had carved out a little bit of home for herself.

 Chapter 234

    Chapter 234


    Matt really didnt want to say goodbye to Liz so soon after saying goodbye to Aster, but he understood the necessity ofpleting missions on their own.


    They gave it a week after the first counselors arrived to ensure people were settling into a routine for treatment, and that the nascent dryad was getting the care it needed in the form of a specialist carefully transnting it to a hidden grove. Once they were satisfied, the two of them flew to space, withdrew their spaceships from their respective storages, and shared onest kiss goodbye.


    Matts spaceship was substantiallyrger and nicer than Lizs, simply because he could power far more than the others could. That tranted to a two-section ship rated for mortal upants, as it was split between a cockpit with four distinct seats, and a storage bayrge enough to hold a few full-sized crates. It also had an absolutely <em>tiny</em> galley installed in one wall. It wouldnt be <emfortable</em> for four people to live in it, of course, but each of the four seats could be raised into the ceiling for a small measure of personal space, with the seat doubling as a mattress.


    Lizs ship didnt even have that, and was only a two-man fighter with no concessions made for people who couldnt go indefinitely without eating, sleeping, using the bathroom, or really even <em>breathing</em>. The only ess point was through the cockpit windshield, which could be raised or even removed if needed. The ship had an atmospheric support system, so technically anyone above Tier 10 that was capable of surviving the half-hour required for the cabin to regenerate its air could utilize it, but was still missing basically everything mortals would need to survive. In a pinch, both of them plus Aster could fit in the fighter, but would require either Liz or Aster to be in their beast forms.


    Matt ran through his pre-flight checklist, ensuring he didnt miss any important steps in his first <em>real</em> flight using the ship. Lights blinked on and off as they should, both of his AIs were coordinating with the ships onboard system, and enchantments hummed as the mana crystal powered up each system in turn.


    April was Mattspanion and supervisor for this trip, and Matt swiveled back around to look at the green-haired woman. Thats thest of it. Ready to go?


    His liaison shot back a couple of questions about his startup, clearly meant to trip him up, but he handled them in stride. When she finally gave him a nod, he turned back to face the stars and engaged the warp drive.


    Mana levels dropped, a surge of magic rolled out across the ship, and Matts senses <em>twisted</em> as he broke through to chaotic space.


    Matt barely noticed as the shields kicked on, pushing back the corrosive reality of chaotic space, with the amount of mana it required soughably below his mana generation that he needed to trust his monitoring devices to believe it even took any at all. Then, he turned his attention to the outside and felt the battering winds of the otherworld with his own spirit. Below him, or perhaps in front of him, the firefly that represented the world hed juste from glittered and shone with golden light, with the glimmering strings connecting it to nearbys stretching off into the distance.


    The range of his senses was odd. Dimensions were unusual in Chaotic Space, and while his spiritual sense could stretch for miles, it didnt <em>seem</em> like it tranted in the same way to this reality. It was pulled along and twisted, swept along in higher-dimensional eddies and currents that he couldnt quite perceive properly.


    Lizs ship appeared next to his, and he sent her a quick message before they started to pull away. He received a response instantly, and smiled. She must have had it queued up, ready to reply the moment she entered Chaotic Space, and Matt set a reminder for him to look at itter.


    Lizs ship blurred as she pulled away, following one of the strings to her next mission, just as Matt did the same.


    The Great Powers were in many ways one unified entity, a massivework of worlds and routes mostly locked in ce, drifting like a cast overboard on a vast ocean. Only hard work kept them moored to one another. Namely, the full suite of enchantments which facilitated the teleportwork that ensured the linked worlds stayed locked together. That wasnt all they did though, they also acted as a beacon for ships to follow, and stabilized chaotic space <em>just enough</em> that travelers wouldnt be swept away by the currents and winds as they went about their daily business.


    Of course, they werent truly currents, just ripples in space which could pull you off course or cause backtracking lead you to apletely different ce than where you came from. Venturing too far from the great raft that was the Great Powers was a sure-fire way for even a Tier 35 to be swept away, never to be seen again. There wasnt any data for Tiers above that, but it seemed likely that it was only a matter of distance as well.


    In the shallows of chaotic space, near knowns and their well-maintained pathways, the currents were weak enough that sufficiently high-tier ships and individuals could navigate the twisting space, resisting their pull and take shortcuts between worlds, but Matt was nowhere close to that level yet, and if he tried venturing into the unknowable, hed be swept away in an instant.


    Unlike most people who met such a fate, Matt wouldnt be doomed if that happened to him. Beyond April being able to pull him out, assuming she reacted quickly enough, his shielding enchantments ran off of his own endless mana, and he could legitimatelyst the decades, centuries, or even millennia it may take before he was blown back into known space. Regardless, he stayed very firmly next the well-maintained and well-lit path, following the pearlescent white guideline demarcating the safety of the teleport tethers.


    It took about three hours to reach the next world, passing a handful of ships on his way, and from there, he navigated around the world and the ships spawning and vanishing near it to his next tether, carefully following the paths to new worlds.


    Quill watched for almost a full day before starting to do maniption exercises that didnt need much room as a way to help recover his mana control. Thest doubling had been as rough as expected, but he had started to learn the best ways to recover his mana dexterity faster.


    While he did so, Quill went through the dossier of the mission.


    As the brief said, he needed to help the low Tier charity constructionpany avoid bankruptcy, caused by the discovery of a mineral vein that prevented them from building while the mining rights were being negotiated.


    Aloys Construction was a simple charity organization that had the mission statement of creating low-cost housing on news for low Tiers to move into. It was a noble cause, but was generally not needed, which made Quill start digging deeper into the issue.


    Generally, the local noble family would fund such projects to make their more desirable for said mortals, butpanies like this werent unheard of either. They were just usually for-profit entities that charged those same nobles for their work, who then gave the houses out in the same way as if they had built them themselves.


    It took Quill almost an hour of digging through records, but he eventually found the reason for thepany, and what he believed to be the actual underlying issue.


    The owner of the charitypany came from noble stock, but had been disinherited after his awakening, where they discovered he had a construction Talent. That in and of itself would have been fine, but the young noble scion, Michel Silvestre, had gotten a taste for constructing buildings, and found that he liked the actual construction more than making money. That was apparently uneptable to his family, who wanted to leverage his Talent to open their own constructionpany, develop their holdings, and make a profit.


    When his family threatened to disinherit him for his obstinance, he had threatened to call their bluff and the family backed down slightly, offering him a deal. They would give him a small payout equal to what he would have received as his inheritance to use for setting up apany where he could do as he pleased. The condition was, if his idea of charity work failed and the business went under, he needed to return to the fold and work for the family.


    Quill shook his head at the family struggles, but understood the logic on both sides, at least from what he was able to source from the EmpireNet. Michel felt his Talent was best used to help others directly, and wanted to skip the noble families who might decide to charge mortals more than was reasonable. It was a possibility if he was a for-profit business, but would be out of the question if he operated as a charity. His family, on the other hand, felt that charity work was putting them and him at the whims of donors, let alone while working in a business where margins were already thin. A charity couldn''t run forever at a deficit, after all, and that would slowly drain the family coffers, slowly ruining the family. From the reports, the family didnt even want him to price gouge people, just charge enough to make a small profit. It would then be on the local noble families to give those houses away for cheap.


    While both were looking at the situation from pessimistic extremes, Quill personally felt the young Michel had the right idea. Not every noble family gave those houses away on the cheap, which is why he chose the area he did to start his firstrge scale construction operation.


    Joyful Meadows, the crown jewel of that sector of Empire space.


    The system was a Tier 15 world which had had a number of resources funneled into it by the Nazwari noble family, who owned it. The benefits included terraforming and bringing the formerly smaller world into a better orbit nearer to the star, and increasing its size massively, but even that hadnt been enough for their ambitions. It being the only world over Tier 10 in the vicinity, they had a plethora of immigrants, and twos werent nearly enough. No, they had gone ahead and built an entirely new from scratch in the system, if only to further increase the areas value.


    That third was Michels target. It was mostly regted to a project, where only those too poor to live on the more established worlds or those ying the long game set up their homes or operations due to its low Tier. Eventually, it would Tier up due to the excess essence produced by the two higher Tiers in the system. But for now, the images he had were more reminiscent of Lilly when he was growing up, rather than other high Tier systems, with only a few scattered cities built along the coast.


    Being a purpose built, they should have never run into a gold mine near the coast, but they had, and even thepany who built the was confused about its appearance.


    If the Silvestre and Nazwari hadnt been from opposite political spectrums, despite both being hereditary noble families, he would have suspected that they had colluded to hamper the young Michel and his ambitions.


    While the unexined gold mine was intriguing, Quill didnt necessarily need to bother with it. His mission goal was to ensure Michelspany didnt go under while creating as little interruptions as possible.


    His first idea was to pretend to be awyer and represent Michel, but he quickly dismissed that, as Michel already had a seemingly decentwyer, and Quill would just get in the way.


    If he was allowed to go in loud, he would just disguise himself and steal the ore vein to remove the problem, but that was disruptive, and would raise all kinds of red gs. Even low Tier gold was still valuable due to its properties in enchanting and manatronics, but it wasnt so expensive that a Tier 15 would covet it, which would only raise more questions if he made a move.


    While nning, Quill bounced his ideas off April, who helped him consider the pros and cons of each idea, and he eventually came to the decision of going undercover as an Imperial Investigator.


    Imperial Investigators were, like most imperial organizations, limited in their scope and ability to interfere directly, but they had a few useful abilities that Quill thought might prove useful. Their entire purpose was to watch immortals who operated on mostly mortal worlds, and while they ostensibly only worked in Tier 10 and belows, they had the governance oversight to limit immortals for nearly any reason.


    And that suited what Quill needed to do to a T.


    Michel and, by extension, hispany was only a Tier 5 entity, while thepany under the Nazwari noble family was, by extension, a Tier 20 organization. That gave Quill a usible reason to interfere in the matter, even if it was flimsy at best.


    After all, the Imperial Investigators were meant to limit corporations from muscling into local low Tiers, undercutting thepetition, and then jacking up the prices once they had a monopoly on the, not to interfere in a local noble''s operations. The only reason he had half a leg to stand on was the fact that the Nazwari family had publicly distanced themselves from the issue, saying it was all in the hands of their buildingpany.


    And interfering in the business between an immortal ledpany and a mortal ledpany was precisely the reason the Imperial Investigators were set up.


    Once he finalized his idea, Aprils grin told him that it was a good one, even if that wasnt the intended method to solve this issue.


    April did redirect their travel to a Tier 25 after Quills idea, though, as she exined that if Quill wanted to y the part, he needed to get at least some training. They had a week or so of wiggle room to make it work, due to how quickly they had solved the dryad mission.


    Quill arrived at Illeria, the Tier 25, and took a fast shuttle from the spaceport to the Imperial Investigators local headquarters. Walking through even a portion of a city municipal building masked felt weird, but Quill ignored it as he found the lead Imperial Investigators office and walked in the open door.


    As he shut the door and let his Quill mask appear, the slightly overweight man chuckled. Either Im about to die, or you need some help, young Pather.


    Quill turned and looked at the man and let his mask smile in return. Im good, but Im not that good. Fighting a Tier 27 is beyond even me.


    He also let his AI verify his masked identity so the man would know he wasnt an impostor.


    The mans smile settled into something more natural as he gestured, and the chair against the far wall slid into a more central location, then he indicated for Quill to sit.


    Well, well, well. I honestly thought you were a fake, but the EmpireNet verifies you. What can I do for one of the Empires most promising teams? Or at least half of the team. Names Alec, Head Imperial Investigator for this Duchy.


    Quill quickly told Alec a little about his mission and his idea to go undercover as an Imperial Investigator, which earned him a thoughtful nod. He had been told by April before they arrived that Alec was a trusted agent of Harpers, and the meek appearance was nothing more than an act to lower people''s guard. While April didnt know if the man was an information gathering specialist or something more active, like an assassin, he was trusted and in the perfect position for their needs.


    It''s not a bad idea, and its a good way to use resources. Change your mask and walk with me as I exin how Imperial Investigators actually work.


    Doing as he was instructed, Quill followed Alec out of the building and to a nearby local taco shop, right across from an Empire wide chain food store, Golden Pots.


    Seeing Quill look at the neighboring building, Alec nodded. That''s part of what I want you to see. Golden Pots serves mediocre fast food for decently low prices. You can quite literally find one on every in the Empire, and that''s not an ident. What you won''t find is one in every city. Arge part of an Imperial Investigators job is to stop mega corporations from eating the little mortals job opportunities. Take this ce, for example. Family owned for six generations of mortals, and the undisputed best tacos in this city.


    They were interrupted by a waiter who came and took their order, which Alec gave for both of them, getting a small pile of food between the two of them.


    Now, this ce is still named after the original owner, Bethany, but imagine they want to be a I don''t know a burger business? Since they became the fad of the decade. Not that they should, because the tacos are fantastic, but you follow me so far?


    At Quills nod, Alec continued. Now, this is a mortal owned and run establishment, and therefore falls under the mortal bureaucracy. They put in a request to change their menu and branding, and within a month, they can start churning out burgers. Now, imagine an immortal-run or owned taco business sees that burgers are all the rage, and wants to capitalize on that trend as well. They need to go through us, and Imperial Investigators are very, very busy. That application might take anywhere from a year to a decade to get approved. Thank you, Ma.


    Their food came, briefly interrupting Alecs exnation, and they spent a few minutes digging in. Having tasted the food, Quill could understand the Imperial Investigators assertion that Bethanys tacos were the best in the city.


    Now, we dont just dy the immortal''s business because its funny to fuck with them, but because they operate at scales the mortals cant even imagine, let alonepete with. Same reason we limitrger corps to one business per. If someone really wants to eat their grub, they can travel for it, and that''s the same reason they stick to the teleporter cities.


    Quill was going to ask a question, but Alec headed him off with a wave of a taco. Now for your little issue. You are right that an Imperial Investigator is in a position to stick their nose into that but you need to be careful. I see a few entry points, but if this is a mission of yours, I won''t mention that. I will give one piece of advice I give all my new investigators. Dont meet force with force. Always put pressure on another avenue, and use that as leverage to get them to do what you want. What leverage that is, I cant really tell you, but you cant be stupid to have gotten this far.


    After he mulled that over, Quill thanked Alec, and they chatted about inconsequential topics until their meal was finished. Afterwards, they went their separate ways, with Quill having a full false identity of a semi-junior Imperial Investigator ready for him to slip into.


    Donning the mask of one Julius Alto, Quill finished his trip to Joyful Meadows and flew to the third. Before he moved to interfere with anything between the twopanies, Quill first went and investigated thes themselves. He wanted to solve the quandary of where an entire gold mine came from on a custom-built.


    After all, metals were cheap, and few people who ordereds sprung for extra metals to be added to the makeup when there were abundant resources from rifts and the star system''s asteroid belts. So the fact that a gold vein appeared on the new was an interesting wrinkle that Quill wanted to dig into further.


    While he didnt have the spells which would make this convenient, like [Sense Metal] or [Locate Ore], he did have [Earth Maniption] and [Metal Maniption], which he could cast with 40,000 MPS, giving him an insane rangepared to other Tier 15 mages.


    As he flew around the continents, he found no unexpected ore deposits in his quick sweeps, but he wasnt about to give up that easily. After a quick scan of each continent, he went back to one of the unsettled continents and performed a thorough scan of each and every square foot of the ce.


    Still, he found absolutely nothing.


    Hovering in the sky, he looked up to the moon, and on a hunch, inspected the smaller celestial body.


    Still, there were no unexpected metal deposits, leaving him stumped.


    Standing on the moon, he watched as the slowly spun underneath him.


    As he asked himself why there would be a metal deposit on an otherwise ordinary low Tier, he came to one answer. Like those that ordered metals in artificially createds, they wanted them to slowly Tier up through ambient essence until they were higher Tier and therefore valuable. For the rtively low cost low Tier metals, the local nobles could have a near guaranteed return on their investment as the Tiered up.


    While rifts created an unlimited number of metals, they could sometimes get unlucky, and not have rifts that produced a specific metal at the quantities they needed, and those rifts would get changed every time the Tiered up. There was only a fifty percent chance that a rift would stay as it was at itsst Tier, after all, and with some bad luck, a''s ore production could vanish overnight. If that became the case, thenobles would have to break and reform rifts, which was disruptive and expensive.


    Or, they could just bank off the ores they had seeded the with, and use that to tide them over until they had enough time to break and rebuild said rifts.


    Still, Quill wasnt entirely sure why one would deliberately hide an ore vein.


    Was it thepany who made the who messed up? Quill thought that unlikely, but theoretically possible.


    Was it the noble family who asked for it, for whatever reason? Quill figured that was much more likely, but wasnt sure why they would bother. Low Tier metals were practically worthless on the scale of wealth higher Tiers had. At least, the unprocessed metals were, but processed metals like steel alloys carried at least marginal value.


    Seeing arge stretch of ocean pass over him, Quill cocked his head and flew back to the and into the ocean.


    Once he was deep inside the depths, he activated [Earth Maniption] and [Metal Maniption], searching for any feedback of any kind of metals.


    And oh, did he get feedback from [Metal Maniption].


    It seemed like the entire bottom of the ocean was stuffed with various metals, just far enough below ayer of dirt and stone to not interfere with the local aquatic life.


    Flying around in zigzag patterns, Quill found ore vein after ore vein all the way till he neared a coastline. He suspected the out of ce gold mine was from a shift in a tectonic te orst minute change in the desired coastline, but couldnt prove anything.


    He still wasnt sure why they had deliberately ordered the with such massive amounts of hidden metal reserves, but now he had the perfect method to apply leverage on thepany. Heading back into the sea, he found a rtively rich vein of aluminum and carved his way through the ground towards the metal.


    Even within arms reach, he couldn''t see anything unique about the metals and decided to harvest some.


    With a flex of [Metal Maniption] he carved himself a chunk of the Tier 5 aluminum out and froze the moment he saw what he actually pulled out.


    It wasnt aluminum, or rather it was aluminum, infused aluminum which was far more rare and far more expensive.


    Even a Tier 5 infused metal was worth its weight in Tier 15 mana stones, no matter the type. That was mostly due to the fact the metal couldnt be mass produced or pulled from rifts, and needed to be harvested froms that had been left alone in a high mana concentration area for long enough that the metals started to change.


    All infused metals were useful, and their applications varied, but most of its uses revolved around enchanting. An ounce of infused copper or gold could be added to an enchantment that used one of those materials to both strengthen the enchantment and make it more efficient. There was one notable example of a man creating a weapon out of infused steel, which allowed that sword to rival a weapon five Tiers above its own.


    Quill had never even seen infused metals, let alone in the massive quantities that this had to have, especially if all the ores in the oceans were infused metals encased in their normal variants.


    Testing a theory, he checked a few more ces and found there were no depleted metals which would have formed if the metals were naturally located there, proving this was some kind of smuggling, moneyundering, or tax evasion method by the Nazwari house proving the infused metals were not natural in origin and being deliberately hidden inside their normal variants.


    Exiting the ocean, Quill flexed his Concept to repel the water clinging to him and went to go find thepany under the Nazwari family.


    Flying into the one settled city, Quill walked around inspecting the people and how they fared. For all that he was expecting another copy of Lilly and the ipetence of the Junipers, the Nazwari noble house seemed far morepetent.


    Even though the city was using mostly the low Tier equivalents, they had all the modern amenities that he had seen on the two higher Tiers. Things like early warning detection drones flew around the perimeter of the cities, watching for any rift monsters. The entire city edge even had cleverly concealed formations which would create defensive barriers if they were attacked. While those things didnt prove they were good rulers, it was a good indication, and made Quill more confused as to why they were trying to hide such mineral wealth.


    Once he had gotten his fill of the city, Quill made his way to the Nazwari familypany in charge of the local construction, and asked to speak to someone in charge.


    The receptionist tried to deflect him, but Quill just grinned and shed his Imperial Investigator badge. Then suddenly, the manager, Wi Stonewall, had her schedule freed up as if by magic.


    Quill used his AI and Imperial Investigator credentials to get some quick information on the woman and liked what he saw. Her younger sister had married the third son of the Nazwaris current matriarch, making her an iw to the noble family, which was how she had gotten this otherwise cushy position.


    Her bright smile was a little fragile as she asked, How can I help you, Investigator?


    Quill returned her smile, letting his mask stretch it out a hair more than normal, giving it a slightly unfriendly feeling. Julius Alto, Imperial Investigator out of the Illeria system. Badge number I15794BT66. Im here to have a little chat with you about yourpany''s interference in a mortal charitys day to day operations. Do you have a minute or ten to chat?


    Wis smile nearly slipped as she led him to her office, but he didnt miss the receptionists frantic tapping at his pad the moment they were around the corner.


    Perfect.


    That meant someone with actual decision making power would be here as fast as they could travel the intervening distance betweens.


    Wi deliberately kept the conversation from going anywhere important, and Quill didnt push, knowing she wasnt anyone actually important.


    Despite that, he carefully watched her physiological reactions to his questions and determined that she had no idea why he was actually here, and was simply afraid that the gravy train woulde to an stop with his presence.


    It took almost half an hour, but eventually, the third son, Dejene, arrived with a bright smile. Good day Investigator Alto. Im sorry you needed toe out here. Thats a failing on our families'' part. What can we do to assist you in rectifying the issue?


    Quill returned his smile and handshake. Really, this isn''t anything important. Frankly, it''s not even an official matter yet. I was just nearby and heard about the issue through the rumor mill, and felt it was worth a stop. Best to head things off before they be official. Im sure youd agree.


    Dejenes smile widened when he heard Quill wasnt here on official business, as that would be a ck mark on his family no matter how the issue was resolved. If this was just an information seeking trip, they could either bribe Quill off the issue, or fix the issue before it became an official problem.


    Gesturing for them to take a walk, Quill and Dejene walked to the edge of the city where the gold deposit was, and Quill indicated it and exined the issue he and the Bureau of Imperial Investigators had with a mortal charitypany being hamstrung by such an incident.


    Dejene tried to y it apologetic, like he was sorry it was an issue in the first ce, but continued on the fact that an unexined gold deposit had to be carefully handled, which took time.


    Quill smiled right back and agreed.


    Then, he abruptly changed the topic.


    You know, Dejene, this has some beautiful oceans. I grew up on an archipgo, and I love deep sea diving. It''s my favorite pastime. I do it whenever I have any time to spare. Have you ever been diving?


    Quill had to hold back augh as Dejene tried not to react. Sadly, his heart escaped his control for a moment and started rapidly beating, even as his smile stayed stered on his face.


    I cant say I have. Ive always been more interested in the stars myself.


    Quill continued with the fabricated tale of his adventures of deep sea diving, and let the conversation drift back to more neutral territory, until they got back to the city building that housed their local branch.


    Once they separated, Quill indicated he would stay around for another week or two and see if he could figure things out. If he couldnt solve the issue, hed be forced to open an investigation. Which was exactly the threat they both knew it to be.


    Quill knew the issue would be corrected for Michels charity within a few hours, but he would stick around, just to let the threat linger a little.


    While he was interested in <em>why</em> the Nazwaris were trying to hide that much infused metal, he also didnt care that they <em>were</em>. It was probably to evade some taxws, but he simply didnt care. Tax evasion, or what he now suspected was inheritance tax bypassing, was a natural product of having taxes, and he couldnt fix that, even by reporting them. Besides, if he reported them now, the tax hit would beparatively tinypared to when the was a few Tiers higher.


    With that thought causing a grin to stretch across his face, Quill decided to go rent a boat and see if he could figure out how to sail. From the way Aiden talked about it, it seemed like a great pastime.

 Chapter 235

    Chapter 235


    Liz turned her head to look at the curled-up cat in the seat behind her and took the silent invitation for what it was.


    Reaching deep inside herself, she found her bloodline and pulled.


    With what felt like a silent <em>pop</em>, Liz went through the unusual sensation of being inverted until she was suddenly two feet tall and <em>very</em> on fire. She had enough practice with the change at this point to reign in her mes with [Fire Maniption] immediately, preventing any more scorch marks from joining the collection on her seat.


    Liz spread her wings and pped, hopping up to her seatback and using it as a perch to look down at her manager. Luna returned her stare with a blink, slitted eyes meeting the predatory gaze of a phoenix.


    A bloodline is just as much a part of you as your hand or foot, and needs to be exercised ordingly. Fire is a part of your blood, so push out and feel your connection to it, flex it like you would anything else.


    As Luna ran through her little mantra, Liz tried to settle herself mentally and physically.


    She needed to rx; that much was apparent even to her, but knowing it and doing it were two different things. The entire issue hade up in a rift a few months back, when she surprised both herself and Luna. After she transformed into her phoenix form, she found her me powers to be somewhatcking. She was wholly unable to reach the level of power she expected. She had still managed to kill the enormous Redwood Anaconda, but it had revealed a ring weakness.


    Her mes were weaker than her upper limit should be.


    A weakness she needed to correct immediately.


    That had prompted Luna to start training her on the issue during their transit between worlds.


    She even did so in beast form after they found that Lizs bloodline resonated with the older cats. Whether that was just due to their close proximity after training together for years, or just because she trusted Luna, neither of them were sure, but it helped Liz settle down and connect with her own bloodline.


    Lunas presence also helped prevent her from burning a hole in the ship that was keeping her safe from the corrosive energies of chaotic space, which would be a stupid way to die.


    Liz slowly raised the power of her mes until she felt them reaching their limit.


    As they continued to practice for a few more hours, Liz felt her control over her bloodline and its fire powers settle down an inch or so more. As they approached their destination, she hopped back into her seat and pecked at the controls to guide their reentry into realspace. She could have transformed back, or just used her AI to bypass the issue altogether, but she wanted to get some level of practice doing mundane tasks as a bird. If she ended up stuck as a phoenix for a while, like when she would need to molt after resurrecting, she didnt want to learn everything from scratch at thest minute.


    Liz did turn back into her human body to guide the ship down tond, dressing herself and donning both sets of masks as well as her Torch armor, only possible in the tight quarters of her ship thanks to the spatial rings on her fingers.


    That was still irritating almost a year after getting her beast form.


    The strongest storage rings, those made by Talented crafters, could hold other storage rings within them. Weaker storage rings, like those holding houses, could do so thanks to the enchantments on the houses themselves. However, they cut off the contents from being essible without first dropping an entire building, and then rummaging through the closet. But most of the time, spatial rings took up space equivalent to their storage capacity when stored within a separate storage device, so a ring that held twenty cubic feet could never be stored within a ring that could only hold five cubic feet of space.


    <em>Normally</em>, that wasnt a problem, but spatial items that were capable of adapting between bloodline forms were annoyingly expensive, and were invariably smaller in size than their normal counterparts. So even if she <em>did</em> get one, she couldnt actually keep her main ring inside of it. Most beasts didnt even bother getting one, and instead attached their rings to a cor or other essory.


    That was something she couldnt really do as a two-foot-tall bird. She was tall for small birds, but small for her bloodline, and beyond that, birds weren''t well equipped to wear something like a cor or the like, at least not without it getting in the way of flying.


    She had tried, and ended up using a small circlet around one of her legs. But while that worked itself, it was less than ideal, as it made for an easy to target item on her body since she needed to throw it up mid transformation and then catch the ring in her w. It was a slow process at best, and one that just <em>begged</em> for someone to steal the ring and disarm her of any potions, talismans, armor, weapons, or even clothes.


    That in and of itself would have been ok if she didnt already have a specially made ring sitting in her wedding presents from her sister, Alice, that she couldn''t use. That ring would perfectly transfer from her fingers in human form to a tiny, unobtrusive bracelet on her ankle when she was in bird form, and back again.


    The issue was that even with its limited storage size, it was valued in the Tier 23 range, forcing her to wait until she was at least Tier 19 or so to be able to buy it back.


    Until then, she just had to suffer.


    At least she had a stopgap in the form of a pair of [Gossamer Outfit] skills from Erin and Leah. It was amon enough skill that could summon illusory armor in the form of clothes, albeit exceptionally fragile ones. They had substance, but even the slightest damage would dispel the illusion. Given the modification manuals they had provided with the skill shard, she knew <em>exactly</em> what they each expected her to use them for. Leahs was a fairly straightforward catalog of good outfits for a range of asions, notes on how to hide other clothes with the illusion, and how to make the fabric a little more resilient. <em>Erins</em> well, it offered excellent advice on how to make outfits in multiple parts, if nothing else.


    For all that Erin liked to act outwardly reserved, at heart, she was just as bad or even worse than their parents.


    Liz snorted at the thought. Who was she kidding, she was <em>absolutely</em> looking forward to trying out Erins modifications and outfits. Not that she nned on ignoring Leahs handbook, and there was something to be said forbining both sets of modifications. Shed also see if anything interesting came of converting the spare shard to blood. It would likely just end up as another form of [Blood Armor], inferior to her [Blood Crystal Armor], but there was always a chance it would end up as something interesting.


    She only had hernding port for a few minutes, so Torch hopped out of her ship and pulled it back into its ring, clearing the way for the next arrival or departure. Luna was sitting nearby, licking a paw, and Torch knew from experience that only she was currently capable of perceiving the manager. Her AI connected to the localNet and began pulling in a steady stream of information to help her get her bearings.


    This was a rtively newly settled world, but that only meant it was a few thousand years old. Being a Tier 4 system further relegated it to the equivalent of backwater status. It was the sort of where only low Tiers settled, as it was needed to bridge the gap to higher Tier worlds. Or, that <em>was</em> the case until a passing Tier 45 entered the system and investigated the entire ce with their spiritual perception.


    Generally, uninhabitables were of little interest unless they were high Tier, where they would be terraformed and moved into more reasonable orbits, ands past the local asteroid belts were usually gas giants or something so small as to also be useless. That same concept held true in this system, but the passing Tier 45 had noticed something.


    One of the moons circling the small gas giant wasnt a moon, but rather a spatially expanded vault hidden away and filled with a number of Tier 20 goods.


    Being a Tier 45, he couldn''t care less about such goods, and simply reported it on theNet, where it made a ssh. Vaults like this popped up every now and then, when someone had created a secure storage area for all their worldly goods, then died without telling anyone its location. It had taken some time, but some investigative work had found the creator of the vault, who didnt have any living next of kin, ultimately transferring it into the possession of the local Duke.


    Looking to give one his nieces a chance to prove her mettle, the Duke had invoked an old Imperialw, opening the contents of the vault to anyone Tier 20 and below strong enough to im them, while concurrently and temporarily suspending the normal prohibitions against murder and robbery, along with most other Imperialws. Even punching down Tiers was allowed to a limited extent while inside the vault, but the higher Tier was expected to let anyone weaker than them live rather than kill wantonly.


    The announcement had caused a stir in the local sector, with a slew of far flung noble families sending eligible representatives to either im a portion of the valuables, or in the hopes of killing someone from a rival faction. All while disregarding the traveling Tier 15s who, while not numerous in a region without a Tier 15 system, flocked to the site of the news in recent months and wanted their own piece of the pie.


    Liz wouldnt have cared for the treasures at stake, but <em>Torch</em> was just a fews away when the news had broken, and was looking to make a name for herself. Luna had approved, and now she was here.


    A hidden, high Tier vault disguised as a moon in a low Tier area seemed like something out of a movie, and Torch wanted to get in on that action. Luna had made her draft the n of action and do most of the recon herself, but when her efforts passed muster, they headed over.


    With a flick of her wrist, she withdrew her flying spear. and after double-checking that her heading was right, set off into space. Unlike Quill, Torchs ship didnt have especially powerful realspace engines, so it was both faster and cheaper on her mana to utilize the smaller and more maneuverable personal flying device. She could even use her Concept to reinforce the spear, and it only needed a tiny drop of blood to refresh the attunement to herself from when she had used itst.


    It still took two days for her to reach the gas giant and its attendant moon. Flying was <em>genuinely</em> fun, even as a human, and while theck of atmosphere and gravity meant she could fly blindingly fast across the sr system, space was still <em>massive</em>. In the end, she was still a baby immortal, and simply was not capable of just crossing a star system in the blink of an eye.


    Mindful of how she presented herself, as she neared the moon, she substituted her flying spear with herbat spear and summoned a mass of mes around her, making her appear as though she were a minget flying towards the awaiting crowd. Her sshy appearance garnered a number of looks ranging from hostile to inquisitive, and a few even seemed to recognize her. The rest were just assessing her, from her heavy armor to the mes spilling out from every joint.


    Without gravity, they were a little more spherical than usual, and while Torch could have fixed that, it was just a little more vain than she wanted to present.


    Still, no one approached her or tried to talk to her, and Torch preferred it that way. None of these people were her friends, after all, and they were about to fight over treasures. Death was a very real possibility for some of these people.


    Luna padded around the crowd, visible only to her, while undoubtedly drafting a critique about how they were floating, but she said nothing and Torch returned the favor. Instead, she kept working on some minor body and skill modifications during the week-long wait. Eventually, the Dukes Tier 25 representative stood up from his meditation and flew closer to the moon.


    With a wave of his hand, the rock and dirt disguising the entrance sted off into space, revealing a massive vault door covered in runes. While Quill would no doubt be fascinated by the endless enchantments present in the metal, Torch only recognized a few pieces to an anti-notice enchantment that had been disrupted when the stone covering it had been removed. She also noticed that he threw out a truly massive te that stuck to the bottom of the like a ma.


    The Tier 25 sent a message once the door was located. All of you agreed to the rules of this expedition, so don''tin if someone inside shakes you down. Once you exit the door, you are considered to be out of the exploration, and normal Empirews apply. That includes taxws on your earnings. Rest assured that the reach of the Emperor is long, and he will collect his due. The man looked at Torch and added, Well, other than you, Torch. You or your liaison will need to report what you pulled out, along with its value, so the parties involved can bepensated.


    Torch mentally narrowed her eyes at the man, but didnt let her mask or bodynguage show she was irritated. She damn well knew the Path tax code better than he did. She was even sure he knew that, but had chosen to speak out anyway, which could only mean one thing.


    He wanted everyone to know that she was the real Torch, and not some impostor, before they went into the vault. The only question was if he was doing that out of a misguided attempt at trying to protect her, by publicizing her background, or trying to paint a target on her back with that same information.


    Without turning, she focused on where Luna sat licking her paw, invisible to all others. Torch had to wonder if Luna had put the man up to that in an attempt to increase herpetition, but frankly, she wasnt sure. Her experience with the older cat said it was entirely possible, but that same experience also told her that Luna would have told her that was the n, which made the entire situation all the more murky.


    From the gazes locked onto her, Torch knew she was in for a fight. The Tier 20s wouldnt be entering for a while, which was for the best, as while she was confident she could escape from Tier 19s, and at least drive off Tier 18s, fighting four up at her Tier was hard enough, even when she <em>wasnt</em> Torch.


    When the door swung open, Torch and the other Tier 15s darted inside first, with Torch just a body length behind the first delver.


    Landing inside, she realized there was a noticeable artificial gravity, but suspected that was a function of the te the Tier 25 had put on the more than anything else. Adjusting to that, she gracefullynded in the branching corridor that led in five different directions.


    She chose the second from the left, and charged down it with her new shield held out to intercept anything that came from the front. The growth item was <em>amazing</em>, and had proven itself worth every priceless treasure theyd sold to afford it.


    Torch wasnt entirely certain <em>how</em> the Path administration had figured out what materials would be needed to upgrade her growth items through Tier 20, but they hade through, and provided them all to her as part of her Tier 15 rewards. Her spirit could only healthily handle the strain of her shield and staff at Tier 17, but the power boost they provided was undeniable.


    The first room she came across was filled with potions and vials that Torch didnt have time to identify, but that didnt stop her from grabbing the lot with fire-wrapped [Air Maniption], reaching out with so many tendrils and yanking them all directly into a spatial bag. Bags were less convenient, between the size, fragility, andck of instant ess to their contents, but they could hold far more stuff, and she needed all the room she could get. She just needed to make sure it didnt break in a fight.


    Fights that were sure toe.


    A man in heavy armor had followed her down the same hall, and instead of splitting off to a separate part of the room and grabbing his own loot, the man decided to lunge at her back, sword leading the charge.


    Torch spun, taking a defensive stance and intercepting the glowing sword with her shield.


    Her attacker probably expected the skill that she suspected was a modified [Mana Charge] to explode and send her stumbling back, but the magic and momentum alike sank into her shield. The only evidence they had ever existed was the buffs that the absorbed skill provided her.


    The man tried to pull back, but wouldnt have been fast enough, even without his strike making Torch faster. As it was, he was utterly helpless as Torch speared his hip, piercing straight through the joint and drawing a drop of blood.


    The small attack almost didnt seem to register as he reset his footing and tried to cut a backhanded strike at her spear, but before his swordpleted his strike, the spells she had cast had taken effect.


    [Embolism] was one of her favorite spells from her Path rewards. After rapidly infusing air into blood, she could then detonate it at will. Through her boon and one of her Concept effects, she was able to slip the miniature bomb past her opponents spiritual defenses and into his bloodstream without him even noticing.


    Ideally, she would wait for the pocket of air to make its way through to their heart, but while this guy seemed greedy, he didnt seem <em>that</em> malicious, and she detonated the air almost immediately, blowing up his upper leg and hip area instead of his chest or head.


    Even as the man fell screaming, she cast [Fever Dream], an illusion curse-type skill that made people disorientated and manic for up to an hour, if they couldn''t break free themselves. She had been trying to modify or supplement the spell with her skill-less magic, to no avail, but even on its own, the Tier 20 skill packed a punch to those already dazed and confused like her attacker.


    She hadnt paused in looting the room either, but judged the few vials remaining as not worth the effort needed to grab them, and ran to the next section.


    The nearest two doors were already open and had people inside, so she ignored them and ran to the fourth door in the hall, skittering to a stop upon seeing the massive overgrown herb garden that was sitting there, utterly untouched.


    Weeds had taken over a lot of the area, but Torch ignored that and pulled out her garden orb growth item, pulling the entire field into it before rushing out the door and trying to find another area free of others. That was growing harder, as a Tier 20 blurred past her into the depths of the vault, where presumably the best items were kept, which handily informed her that everyone was now in the vault.


    Not wanting to get caught up in too much fighting, Torch ran past another three rooms to find a room full of sets of armor in an older style, all being picked over by two Tier 16s. Entering, she tried to head for a far corner and not get in their way, but the duo immediately pounced at her, prompting Torch to retaliate with a wave of mes.


    That forced one of them back, but the second fighter barreled right through the magical mes with a bubble of water protecting them.


    Torch didnt mind getting into a melee, and cast another one of her new spells, [Adrenaline Rush]. Using her control over her blood, she directed most of the power of the skill to her back, waist, legs, and right arm, which she used to drive her spear through the water fighter''s chest.


    She deliberately aimed low so she didnt hit his heart, but even as his eyes went wide, she kicked him off her spear and shot a re at hispanion, who stopped fighting to tend to their friend.


    Grabbing the rest of the loot from that room, Torch quickly entered the next, only to be greeted by a team of two, who on seeing her, stopped looting and immediately ran deeper into the vault. While they had looted most of the goods in this room already, she happily grabbed the rest of the items and shoved them into her bag before rushing down the hall, deeper into the depths.


    In the next two rooms she tried to enter, she was met with stiff resistance from the upying teams. Seeing that, she quickly cut her losses to avoid getting into a long, drawn out fight for such little loot when it was easily avoidable.


    She was clearing a room of portable formations when a group of five entered and tried to pin her down, aiming to take her already stuffed spatial bags full of loot.


    Torch found the Tier 16s displeasing, and expressed her discontent by resisting with prejudice.


    Instead of them leaving with her umted loot, she ended up walking away with most of their bags of plundered items, which she consolidated into one bag. Sadly, one of the group had managed to get away, but Torch didnt really mind not getting the entirety of their spoils.


    There were still plenty of chances for more, after all.


    Seeing that the next room she wanted to enter was a warzone, as two teams fought over what felt like a Tier 15 growth item chalice, Torch kept moving, not caring too much about a single item. At her next stop, she found a gallery full of paintings which had so far been untouched.


    Torch debated passing the room of paintings but dedicated herself to grabbing them anyway. While art wasnt as useful asbat or crafting-rted items, Torch knew it could be even more valuable at the same Tier, and decided to risk it.


    Unlike potions or armor, she couldn''t just use [Air Maniption] to grab everything, and had to manually grab each one, which cost her precious minutes.


    Once the room was empty, she ran deeper in and past a dozen or so open and empty rooms, before getting pushed back out of a room with two teams working together inside. Heading into the adjacent room, she found a team of Tier 17s she recognized from outside who had shot her hostile res, looting what seemed to be another room full of formation.


    Deciding to liberate them of their gains, Torch rushed into the room with a spear and shield at the ready. Most of the other rooms seemed upied, and she felt confident she could handle a few Tier 17s, even while fighting alone.


    She blocked two [Firebolt]s and an [Ice Lance] with her shield, letting them recharge her personal armor and provide a slight speed boost. She wrapped herself in a fire [Bloodrush], leaving a trail of mes in her wake as she dodged an [Earth Spear] and somersaulted over a [Mana Bolt] to get in close.


    Before she evennded, she unleashed fire from her armor and [Bloodrush] alike, weaving the mes to blind and disorient the group as she struck out with her spear and shield.


    A mage caught the lip of the shield to his face as he tried to create some distance and get away from her mes. It wouldnt have even taken him out of the fight if not for the fact he was knocked into the path of a skill aimed at Torchs head, but he slumped to the floor, spasming. As they had moved to lethal attacks first, Torch responded in kind with an [Adrenaline Rush] and [Lesser Blood Sacrifice]-empowered fire [Blood Charge] as she ducked around the glowing axe flying towards her skull, striking out at its wielder.


    As blood flew, Torch had to wrestle back the urge to grab it and finish the fight then and there. Instead, she withdrew a talisman Quill had made for the explicit goal of making a <em>lot</em> of fire. It was only tier 14, but that didnt matter at the moment. The world turned orange, and she <em>moved</em>.


    Her next attack was further enhanced with [Heartpiercer], and punched straight through the breastte of the woman in heavy armor and out the back. The wound provided Torch an excellent opportunity to grab control of the womans blood, crushing her brain and killing her instantly.


    The final two members of the team apparently decided enough was enough, and moved to turn and run, but Torch was well beyond allowing that.


    With a wave of her spear, she solidified the air and then pulled the wall of air back towards herself.


    One of the duo was knocked back, as expected, but the other wasnt quite so lucky.


    Focusing on the one almost near the door, Torch cast her final Tier 15 reward that had sessfully converted. [Ischemic Harpoon] was what she decided to name her Talent changed version of [Harpoon], a skill which used water to create chains that linked to a spear and allowed for the weapon to stick into its target and be recalled at great lengths with a ton of power.


    [Ischemic Harpoon] had all of those same benefits, but instead of being fueled with or attracted to water, it was fueled and attracted by blood. She had also extensively practiced wrapping the entire skill with mes so she could use the skill when pretending to be Torch. That also made people assume it was a fire spell, and try to counter it with a water spell, which wouldn''t do much to the blood underneath.


    When her spear skewered the man almost by the door, she felt him trying to tear free of the skill, but even with his spirit weakening the spell inside of him, she was stronger thanks to her Internal Concept that was bridging the distance through the chains of blood. Unless he could leave all the blood inside his body behind, there was no way he was escaping.


    With a massive wrench, she pulled him back deeper into the room, where she finished him and his finalpanion off.


    It was a pity that [Extract Ore] had broken on convert, as she''d been hopeful it might have been able to rip iron from the blood of targets. Unfortunately, [Anemia] instead joined the truly enormous pile of skills that were not to be, though it would have made this fight even easier.


    Stopping only to loot them, she had to marvel at the weakness of these groups.


    Apparently, her method ofparison was a little out of whack after fighting other elites in Minka, and then delving up several Tiers for so long. These average Tier 17s hadnt even put up a good fight, which made her question the earlier hostile gazes and immediate deathly attacks. It seemed crazy for them to be so aggressive if they couldnt back it up.


    Just as she was exiting the now empty room, Torch felt the entire vault rock and knew that signified her cue to exit. There was no reason for her to stick around when the Tier 20s started fighting over the items deeper inside the vault, and she immediately turned tail and ran back out to the space around the gas giant.


    The Tier 25 didnt seem surprised to see her, but she didnt stick around to get her loot examined, and immediately moved far enough to withdraw her chaotic space ship and boarded it, initiating the jump to chaotic space.


    Once they left the system, three full spatial bags richer, Luna nodded to Liz as she indicated the bags.


    A good haul worthy of the effort you put in. Do you want to keep that loot, exchange it for something off your wedding gifts list, or exchange it for training with a bondsman?


    Liz was about to say she wanted to exchange the variety of stuff for some of the goodies of their wedding gift list, but hearing Luna mention the bondsman, she paused. When the four of them had first exited Minka, and Luna had heard about her additional Concept power, she had briefly mentioned getting Liz a lesson with a bondsman. That conversation hadnt gone anywhere due to the fact that proper bondsmen and their contract powers were both rare and valuablemodities, usually tied to noble families, as she had been in one life, or tied to the Empire.


    While not illegal in the Empire, any Talent, Domain, or skill that enforced or supported magically binding agreements were subject to intense scrutiny and supervision. Having lived a life with that power, Liz fully understood why, but that didnt make it any more convenient for her to hire one to train her before she exited The Path.


    One of them finally had an opening? Liz perked up. They were understandably <em>intensely</em> busy, andst shed heard Luna was still trying to find an opening in their schedules sometime before she would be off the Path entirely.


    Indeed. Cabel Waters, Domain Bondsman with an emphasis on longsting, mutually beneficial rtionships. Hes also taken on students in the past, has a good track record of teaching, and he finally has about six months free in roughly three years. Its not quitest-minute, but hell understand if you cant make it, but I dont know when the next opening would be.


    Well then, Liz tossed the bags of loot shed just won at her trainer. Sounds like an easy choice to me.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 3

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 3


    Aster looked at herself in the mirror and twisted her head back and forth before dropping the fist full of white hair to her shoulders. An updo just didn''t feel right for today, but apletely down style seemed too informal for what she wanted.


    Twisting her hair, she created a small crown, but dropped that option as well for being too formal.


    It did look good with her fox ears, though.


    Pouting, she called Kelly for help. Kelly, I need help picking my hairstyle!


    The sound of her neighbor''s door opening up told Aster that her call for aid had been heard, and her shorter roommate came in, bundled up in a puffy winter coat.


    Even after countless times seeing it, Aster still needed to resist the urge tough at the girls mocha face surrounded by fur.


    Aster, it''s stupid cold in here. Cant we do this in my room? She pleaded.


    Aster ruthlessly crushed that hope. Your room makes my ice highlights take forever to set. Just help me for five minutes.


    Grumbling, Kelly waddled in deeper to where Aster had her vanity and popped up behind her.


    Mittened hands grabbed a handful of her hair, and together, they decided on a half-up and half-rxed style, with one lock of hair going around her brow, matched by a deep purple ribbon weaved through her tail.


    As Aster got the hair set and used a bit of magic to put in some cosmetic icicles, she went to Kellys room and helped her do her hair. A much easier task with her feathers, but together, they managed to fluff them out in just the right way to entuate her face.


    With that done they chatted and talked about thetest happenings in the academy until Juan knocked and asked what color shirt he should pair with his skin tone, currently an earthy pink. He changed skin tones like Aster changed hairstyles, and still hadn''t found something he really liked. While usually he was happy to just wear whatever today was a big day, after all, and everyone wanted to look their best.


    Even Roody was trimming his beard and hair, if the sound of the clippers was to be trusted. Or at least, Aster hoped it was his hair and beard being tended to.


    Today would be the first day their AI was unblocked and they were able to send messages to the outside world, and Aster couldnt wait to talk to Matt and Liz again. So much had happened in thest year, and she needed to share<em> all of it</em>.


    After she and Kelly were convinced the juniper-colored shirt matched best, they finished essorizing Kellys feathers before waiting on Roody, who finally came out of his room, where all three of them immediately pulled him back in.


    You put a dent in your beard, you idiot. Why didnt you ask for help?


    Aster pulled on his ear even as Kelly fluffed his beard back out so they could see the damage.


    Juan helpfully held the struggling lion firmly in his chair despite his protests. It''s not a dent. It''s an illusion of the light. Really. Nooooooooo! Dont cut my beard any shorter! I worked hard on it.


    After his beard was symmetrical, though slightly shorter, the four of them exited their room to enter the bustlingmon room.


    Everyone had a frantic energy as they rushed around, preparing for the final assembly before the information embargo was lifted, and none of them could wait.


    Aster thought back on thest year and sighed.


    Things had been pretty good, but not perfect. Despite how easily shed picked up switching forms, she had struggled actually modifying her body into human form. She was barely above average, if she was being honest, and it didnt feel great.


    Beyond that slight blemish, things were great. She had excelled in all of her sses as the undisputed best fox in the realm, but that was only to be expected.


    The headmasters speech was painfully boring, and the irritation from everyone was palpable. Theyd waited <em>so long</em> to get ess to the, and they wanted to hear from their humans, not the stuffy old administrator!


    Though Aster had <em>mostly</em> gotten over her homesickness after a few weeks, she still dearly missed Matt and Liz. No matter how good of friends she had made, they werent <em>family</em>.


    Within an instant of the headmaster saying his final words- which Aster didnt even hear- her AI was instantly bombarded by messages from basically everyone she knew. Matt and Liz were the most frequent senders, but Susanne, Melinda, Mathew, Sam, Vinnie, Kyle, Tara, Conor, Emily, Annie, Mara and Leon, all of Lizs siblings, Dena and Eric, Luna, Kurt, and April had all sent her messages, and she had to use a touch of wind magic to dry her eyes as she started to tear up.


    Quickly skimming through the ones Matt and Liz sent, she caught up on their official lives and tried to read between the lines of what Quill and Torch were doing, or rather, how they were faring in the masks almost full time.


    Things seemed to be going well for them, but apparently, there was news of a Quill movie on the horizon, and Matt was not happy about it.


    Their first movie!


    She hoped it would be as bad as the worst Duke Waters movies, and couldn''t wait to see it.


    Liz, on the other hand, had even found a vault of goods, which seemed frankly unfair. Aster wanted to explore old vaults and loot them. She could really use the adventure after having to spend most of her time in sses.


    After skimming everyone else''s messages for anything that needed her direct attention, Aster immediately used a nearby camera booth to take a video of herself in human form to send to Matt and Liz.


    She had a speech nned out, and had even practiced it, but all of that went out the window the moment she started speaking. She rambled for close to ten minutes about her life and new friends before catching herself and focusing on the important bits.


    Things are really nice here. Im very much enjoying myself. I cant wait to be able to talk to you guys again.


    Turning to her friends, she found all of them still chattering away, and used that time to start watching the videos Matt and Liz had sent her.


    She was only able to get through a few of them before her friends came out of their AI fugues and returned to the real world. All of them were brimming with excitement as they agreed to find somewhere a touch more secluded, where they could view the messages they had received and send their own in peace, rather than in a stadium with a few thousand others.


    Taking to the air, the four of them went to one of their collective favorite spots, a small meadow a few miles ind, but still well inside the bond side of the academy''s ground. There was another team already there, but they easily settled on the other side of the sunny area, and after Aster and Roody set out a nice nket, they started going over their messages in a more sedate manner.


    Aster tried to send another message to Matt and Liz, but was interrupted as Kelly pulled her into her own message to Alexa, which prompted them to grab the boys into their messages. It quickly turned their messages into one big introduction of the pod, whichsted almost fifteen minutes.


    Juan even pulled out a number of sandwiches he had grabbed from the dining hall and they had a nice lunch while reviewing a year''s worth of messages.


    Feeling a ton better, Aster and the others headed back to the academy grounds and started deciding on the sses they would be taking in theing six months.


    Three were mandatory for everyone. ounting, Crafting for Beginners, even if they were already a crafter of some type, and Social Norms and Expectations. That one was to ensure that they all were able to integrate into the Empire as a whole while not losing their connection to their roots.


    Beyond that, they needed to choose two core sses, at least two electives, and join at least one club.


    Her electives were easy. Melee Fighting for Mages was a group she had already looked into, as they trained their members to fight with melee weapons as a form of entertainment and self expression, rather than as a martially useful pursuit.She had always wanted to learn how to use a weapon, having seen Matt and Liz training with them for so long, and this was a perfect opportunity to learn.


    Confection and Pastry was a ss dedicated to all kinds of sweet desserts, and one that Juan joined her in selecting. Aster wanted to bring her dessert game to the next level, even if the majority of her game currently consisted of ice cream. She hade to appreciate other desserts in the past year, and wanted to be able to better help Matt when he cooked those fancy meals.


    Her club wasnt quite as easy, but it wasnt that hard of a choice either. In the end, she had to decide between the very fun sounding Ice Sculpting and Hand Drawing clubs. She wanted to take both of them, but they were smaller groups, and met at the same time. In the end, she chose the drawing ss, as she wanted to see if she could transfer some of the skills she had learned from her life as Matts sister into the real world.


    She doubted shed get her works epted by a children''s channel again, and didnt even n to try. But, she had thoroughly enjoyed the creative process in that life, and wanted to see if she had the same knack in the real world now that she had more free time.


    Her two extra core sses were the hardest yet. The easy answer would be to take two delving sses and then just coast through their requirements on her years of experience. But while she intended to delve now that the rifts were open to her, she didnt really need any training the academy offered. The professors were skilled, there was no doubt about that, but they were mostly focused on bringing the weakest of students up to par, so they could survive on their own once they left the academy. Besides, Aster had already noted that they had little to teach her after decades of Lunas tutge.


    It also went against one of the core motivations for the academy. She had spent her entire life fighting and training to fight. The academy was intended as a way for bonds to branch out from potentially restrictive home environments, and to spend her time here doing even more fighting would be a wasted opportunity.


    So while that would be the easy answer, she didnt entirely like it.


    Her first core ss was one of the most popr ones, Intermediate Body Modification. It was an invaluable skill for all facets of life, and she wasnt satisfied with her current abilities in the field. Luna was no doubt teaching Matt and Liz everything they needed to know about optimizing their bodies forbat, and in the interest of not falling too far behind them, she wanted to grow her meager skills in the field. Plus, there were a whole <em>host</em> of things not directlybat-rted, and that was something she just wouldnt have the time to learn about once she was back with Luna. . Simrly, she chose Advanced Domain Usage for her second core ss, both to progress on some abilities she already had, and to learn about the kinds of things she might use her Domain for that Luna hadnt taught her.


    With that settled, she helped Kelly and Roody struggle with picking their final electives. The problem wasnt that they hadnt picked out enough sses to fill their schedules; in fact,, they had overfilled them three times over with everything they wanted to try.


    The next morning, after they all got some breakfast, they went to explore the other half of Red Feather Academy, which was located on the other side of the continent. One quick teleportter, the four of them arrived at the main campus of the academy and took in the sight.


    Aster had known that Red Feather Academy upied the entire, but knowing that and seeing that first hand were two wildly different things.


    The city that supported the main campus was massive, and covered almost three thousand square miles on its own. But it was dwarfed by its neighbor, the main campus itself, which stretched out close to fifty thousand square miles.


    It wasnt justrge; it was <em>ginormous</em>.


    While they could explore the main campus at their leisure, none of them wanted to actually explore the campus grounds, and were more interested in the city itself.


    This was the only ce civilians were allowed on The Nest, and that was a rule strictly enforced, meaning this was the only ce for the students to have fun outside academy activities.


    Except, as they walked around, the four of them came to realize even that wasnt the full picture.


    From what they could see, most of the businesses and stores were all operated by fellow students, though predominantly humans born with a bloodline rather than bonds. That said, there were a few Tier 15s who Aster suspected were bonds like them, but Juan pointed out that they might be the graduate students who were pushing to Tier 20 under the academys umbre.


    But it was then that they ran into a problem. While the city was massive and had enough entertainment for them to spend the next decade doing something new without running out of new experiences, they were severely limited due to their absence of funds.


    Red Feather City was deeply entwined with the school system, extending to their currency, which Mara had uncreatively renamed as Feathers. Now that they had reached their second year at the academy, they would receive a small stipend of Feathers, and could earn more through various jobs or at a teachers discretion. Apparently, it was to prevent bonds from noble families from having toorge an influence, but for Aster and everyone she knew, it meant that they were all but dead broke. They had to sell some of their mana just to afford lunch.


    The next day, they didnt bother to return to Red Feather City, knowing they had practically no money to spend, and instead enjoyed a day off for rxing.


    Monday kicked everyone back into high gear as their sses restarted, and Aster was no exception, being quite curious what her new sses had to offer. As she sat down in a seat in the fairlyrge ssroom, she pulled out a brush and ran it through her tail a few times before putting it away and waiting attentively for the ss to start.


    Before Professor Kilrin entered, someone sat next to her, bringing with them a wave of heat.


    Turning, Aster saw a woman with dark gray hair that had a few flecks of yellow near the tips, and eventually faded to a deep orange near the roots, sitting next to her with a smile.


    Aster returned the polite smile, even though she wished a fire bloodline would have had the good sense to sit farther away from the Winter Fox. Her poor icicles were going to melt if she lost concentration for even a minute now.


    Still, that was no reason to be impolite, so she greeted the woman. Aster, Winter Fox. How about yourself?


    Cameron, Magma Otter. Nice to meet you. Are you excited for Intermediate Body Modification? Im the only member of my pod in it, and I think theyre missing out. Yes, yes, its not <em>vital- </em>She rolled her eyes as she seemingly mimicked the voice of one of her podmates, -but presentation is <em>important. </em>Id like to be able to present myself fully andpletely, with a touch of fervor, if youll excuse the pun.


    Aster perked up at hearing that. I tooootally get that. Well, we can agree to disagree on the fire part, but I spent so, sooo so long getting my human form just the way I wanted it. And then I go back and forth between feeling ashamed and entirely justified on how much time and money I spend on hair care. Id love to be able to turn my eyes into ice, or make my fur iridescent. She was nearly shocked that the magma bond was not only being polite, but even making some good points. Maybe the fire mana hadnt reached her brain yet, and hadnt infected her with nightmares of warm fires and hot coffee.


    Cameron gave a politeugh. That sounds lovely, I hope you can see it through. Its so great meeting someone who has her priorities in order. No disservice to my pod, theyre good people, but sometimes I feel like Im living on another from them. Theyre <em>total</em>bat junkies, can barely go a sentence without talking about loot tables or theoretically optimal equipment loadouts, and sometimes I just want to <em>scream</em>. Delving is important, yes, but Id much rather pay someone to do it for me while I rx in a hot spring with some smoked tea, getting my nails done. Maybe its just the feeling you give off, but do you ever feel the same way?


    Aster was going to agree when Professor Kilrin entered and silenced them with a flick of his tail.


    Good morning, students. I hope you are all doing well. Professor Kilrin paused for long enough for everyone to reply to his greetings before continuing. Now, please raise your hand or appropriate appendage if you have a question about the ss. Good, everyone has something they want to know? Im happy to inform you that I can answer all your questions at once in a single sentence: Its in the sybus. If you have any questions <em>not</em> answered in the sybus, I advise you to check the appendix, where you will certainly be satisfied. Any future course questions can be answered during my office hours, which are conveniently listed in the sybus as well. As ast point of order, if any of you are here for gaining or changing your Rank one bloodline, thats the room down the hall on the left, and the ss for changing your <em>bloodline</em> form is in the next door. This ss is for alteration of the <em>malleable form</em>. Now, on to the important things.


    The professor conjured an illusion of a whiteboard and marker, rapidly writing out diagrams and equations that presumably Aster would have to learn in theing days. Cameron was writing down everything at a fiery pace, but Aster focused mostly on the professors narration. We will begin the course as you did your own transformations, on the topic of size, but first, some theory. Essence is utilized to supplement or rece many aspects of biology, but the act of said recement always has a singr cost: attention. While forgoing breathing may only require a tiny sliver of your mind and essence production to maintain, making a body that is fundamentally not possible through biological rules requires constant, perfect maintenance of the self, and may result in severe injury or even death if said maintenance is not upheld. I dont want to see any of you die because you didnt follow this advice. Knowledge of anatomy and biology may allow one to stretch what can be done, but always stay within the limits we will set down in this ss.


    Twisting, he gestured to the ss. Naturally, not all biologically unstable forms are equally dangerous. If you require essence to breathe, you will be capable of surviving for days before you must regain control of your essence. If your brain is only sustained through essence, you will have minutes at best, during which time you must regain control of your essence without <em>using</em> your brain. Perhaps this does not frighten you overmuch, and for those of you uninterested in delving or other forms ofbat, perhaps this is manageable. However, now imagine what may happen if your spirit is suppressed by a rift boss, or if you overextend your domain, and lose control of your essence for even a few moments midbat. Should your muscles suddenly cease functioning, you would almost certainly not survive long enough to regain control of your essence.


    Circling back around to size, making your body toorge or small introduces numerous problems that an inexperienced individual may not be prepared to deal with. Essence of the physical core may bolster your physicality, making you stronger as you increase your muscle mass, but not as quickly as the increased mass slows you down. This is one of many reasons why most humanoid malleable forms stay approximately human-sized. If you do harbor dreams of eatings someday, I advise altering your bloodline and bloodline form instead. Increasing its size is substantially easier for a multitude of reasons we will addresster in the ss, particrly for creatures such as dragons, leviathans, and elephants whose bloodline form is alreadyrge.


    The professor seemed like he intended to utilize every second of their allotted time for the ss filling them in on the proper fundamentals of body modification, which earned him a measure of admiration in Asters mind. Cameron was still sitting beside her, writing up a storm, as Aster worked solely on absorbing the information the professor was teaching.


    Aster was then shocked that Cameron was able to answer the first of the professors questions to the ss about altering the malleable form while in the bloodline form, while still writing, and earned herself a tenth of a Feather for the correct answer. The girl had never even looked up while she raised her hand, which felt like cheating to Aster.


    When the second question came around, asking about the differences between sapient and monster biology, Aster thought she was about to earn her own portion of a Feather, but Cameron was somehow even faster, answering the question in half the words Aster had nned.


    Promising herself she would be faster than her deskmate on the next question, she paid rapt attention to Professor Kilrins lecture, but was still too slow to get her hand up in time to answer any of the questions. As a result, she didnt earn even a fraction of a Feather. While not every question was answered by Cameron, the majority were, and that irritated Aster as she was being defeated by a heat-based bloodline. That simply could not be allowed.


    Ice was better than fire, and therefore, she needed to be better than all the fire users to prove that point.


    Was it a slightly childish desire? Yes.


    But it was also a fun little internal motivator that kept herpetitive and added some variety to her sses.


    When the lecture ended, Cameron waved goodbye as they went their separate ways, not knowing Aster had already decided to bury the women in a metaphorical hunk of snow.


    Crafting for Beginners was actually a lot of fun, as instead of being told to do one type of crafting for the day, they were given free rein inside a giant room that contained every kind of crafting imaginable and was staffed by a few of the professors or their clones. The formal sses would apparently start in a few days, when everyone had at least one ss they were willing to sit through for six months.


    Aster, like most others, bounced around from one craft to another, trying to see if she resonated with any of them. Smithing was too hot and repetitive, while leather making felt more like busy work than something shed enjoy; enchanting and alchemy both were discarded, as she had seen Matt and Liz do those respectively, and neither looked appealing.


    Eventually, she found and settled on pottery.


    It was fun seeing things take the shape she desired, and it was artistic enough that she rather enjoyed it. Sure, the professor behind the desk talked about how it could be mixed with enchantments and alchemy to further refine the craft into something more profitable, but Aster was happy to just squish her fingers in the soft y.


    Aster liked the downtime of a nonbat hobby, and happily put her name down for the pottery lessons.


    Her final ss of the day almost seemed like a good one. Social Norms and Expectations seemed like an interesting look into beast and human behavior, but the presence of a smiling Magma Otter proved to test her patience.


    Cameron, as in Intermediate Body Modification, was ruthless in umting all the Feathers she possibly could, but this time, it wasnt such a one-sided fight, with Aster earning two-tenths of a Feather more than the otter by the end of the ss.


    Her life in Minka helped a ton, as it gave her close to six thousand more years of experience than the otter, but that had the side effect of setting their rivalry in stone.


    Cameron, it seemed, had a backbone, and was perfectly willing to throw down with Aster in their battle of knowledge. It led to them having a titanic battle of wits while Professor Peach served as their pseudo referee, giving Feathers to the winner of each bout.


    Parting once more, Aster went to her first elective, Confection and Pastry, with Juan, who joined her in their ss''s first attempt on making a fluffy pastry. Theirs were only slightly better than the others, not burnt or having copsed in on itself, but they still had fun in making and then sharing the delectable treat, which made the entire ss worth it.


    Getting to eat your experiments was the best reward, even if they werent perfect.


    Melee Fighting for Mages was another surprisingly fun ss, as all of them were Tier 15, and when using blunted Tier 13 weapons, they were unable to truly get hurt. The ss eventually devolved into everyone trying out the moves they had seen their humans do, or ones seen in movies.


    Some of them even pulled off some impressive stunts until the professor called everyone to order.


    After that, Professor Latar had them go through each weapon to see what felt best for them, as that would be their main weapon going forward, barring anyst second desired changes.


    Aster first went for a longsword, like Matt, but quickly found that despite making herself tall and graceful, she didnt really like swinging around thatrge of a sword. Next, she tried a spear, but also found it not to her taste, then proceeded to go through almost every other weapon in the armory until she settled on a cuss.


    A slightly shorter and curved weapon, she found the sweeping patterns that it took to properly use the de both enticing and enchanting. It was almost like the de made its own illusion, and she found that an irresistible idea.


    While Professor Latar gave each weapon type their own little exercises to get used to the weapon they had chosen, Aster paid attention properly, and carefully made the correct gestures, knowing how important repetition and bing natural with a de was from being around Matt for so long.


    She didn''t end the ss as a master swordswoman, but she did end the ss using some of her Feathers to purchase a customized cuss for herself going forward, on the rmendation of Professor Latar.


    After having dinner with her friends and shooting a re at Cameron, who was in the objective worst house, the bathtub house, Aster went to her club, Hand Drawing.


    It being an official club, there was still a professor, but they were more rxed, and most of the actual work was handled by the older students who were also part of the club. Those same students took Asters and others'' pestering questions in a good-natured manner at least, and even managed to answer most of them.


    One of which stood out to Aster.


    Nononono, the <em>best</em> job is to be a janitor, nya? See, most of em, they trick you into enjoying just sitting at a desk for a few hours or whatever, but being a janitor is so much better, nya. Your job is just to keep a certain section clean, nya, and after a week or two youll be good enough that itll take ya like twenty minutes to get the whole thing done, and then youre just <em>done!</em> So much better than sitting in the library for hours, nya the girls white cat ears fell t against her head towards the end, but they sprang back up again as the conversation moved on.


    Aster wouldnt have thought cleaning would be a coveted task, but put it on her list of possible jobs, alongside delver chaperone, mage private lesson coach, and ice trainer. Thetter three were rmended by the Coaches due to her exceptionalbat prowess. While she wasn''t as good of a trainer as Luna or Kurt, she was still pretty good at passing on to others the trips and tricks she had learned over the decades under their tutge. And they paid well.


    Returning to her dormsmon room, Aster flopped onto the couch,ying across Roody and Kelly, who were already there, just to be shoved to the floor by both of them.


    Go shower first, smelly pants. Kelly was not nice with her words, and Aster pouted as she went to her room''s bathroom.


    She didnt even work up a sweat today. She was sure of that. In fact, it was almost impossible to work up a sweat being a Winter Fox. She was perpetually cold, so clearly Kelly was just being mean.


    Seeing Juan exiting the room, she asked him if she smelled, to which he shook his head, proving they were just being jerks.


    Still, a shower felt nice, and with her ice cold feet jammed into Kellys side, she settled in with a bag of treats as arge portion of the Roc house settled in to watch a recording of a y she hadnt seen before.


    Things were looking up.

 Chapter 236

    Chapter 236


    Matt opened the door of their house, allowing Liz to enter, drop two spatial bags packed with stuff on the floor, and dramatically fall into his hug with a sigh.


    Ugh, it''s good to see you again, and even better to be home. Liz teased, pulling him tighter into her arms.


    With a parting kiss, Liz grabbed his hand as she took in the newly-expanded house. Finally ate some other houses? Wait, dont tell me... Bigger living room, bigger bedroom, ooh, is that a soaking tub? I need that <em>so much</em> right now. Catch me up on what else when Im out.


    Liz darted off to the bathroom, leaving her clothes slowly falling through the air in her wake. Mattughed, ducking around her shirt to see his wife dive dramatically into the empty tub, feet kicking the air. She started feeling around for a tap, thennded on the right button to instantly conjure scalding water over her. Bubbles followed momentster, and Lizs red hair was swiftly lost in the mass of soap suds spilling over the edge.


    Half an hourter, Liz emerged from the bathroom with a look of utter bliss on her face, dropping onto the couch next to him.


    Matt set down the talisman he was working on. Stopping now would ruin it, but that didnt matter. Feel better?


    Liz melted onto him, pressing her face into his shoulder. So, <em>so</em> much better! Oh, you have no idea. Can I just stay here?


    Matt shrugged and started running his fingers through her hair and down her back. If you want. Youre taller, by the way. Dont think I didnt notice. It looks good on you, stately.


    Ive been nning it for a while. Most of my life, actually. Its really nice that were bringing in so much money, because Im going to need <em>so</em> many new clothes. She turned to look at him with a dangerous level of focus. You <em>will </em>be there. I dont have any friends within a few months of travel, and <em>somebody</em> needs to tell me how good I look in a new skirt. It didnt take long before she grew restless, and pulled herself into a proper sitting position. Tubs <em>amazing </em>by the way. So d you added it. How did that end up working, in the end?


    About how we expected it to. It can eat materials at or under its current Tier, and it doesnt <em>have</em> to be a house, but it helps. But we could, for example, change up the cabs by feeding it the appropriate kind of wood, in sufficient quantities. Speaking of which, I think I want to change the countertops, but thats another discussion. Houses work best, especially for general improvements. I fed it two houses with massive amounts of mana storage and improved our own by a substantial amount, for only a bit more crystal volume. Then a third for a bathroom, and a fourth for the living room.


    At Lizs raised eyebrow, he exined what he had gone through. So, I learned that the house really doesn''t seem to care about the conditions of the houses it eats, and I can shunt mass off of it if I want, but that takes a while. Grinning, he continued, So I went to a recycling yard where they were stripping old houses of anything useful before dumping them in a rift for disposal. There, I was able to find houses for really cheap. After buying them, I shoved a nice bathroom set and a nice living room set into one of each and then had the house eat them. When that worked, I did that a few times with the rechargeable mana stones too.


    Liz nodded. Not bad. What if you fed it a rift mana stone? Or another growth item?


    Matt sighed. Tried it, but it didnt work. Or rather, the house ate it, but it didn''t increase the mana stone we already had. It just wanted to add a rift mana stone somewhere, but I managed to just dump the mana into the enchantments to keep it from going to waste. The stovetop growth item was absorbed, but its entirely gone, no effect. Maybe if I was bound to it, it could work, but then, theres no reason to add it to the house, and I cant bind anything new anyway.


    Liz tsked in sadness as she pulled the houses storage ring off of Matts finger to inspect it. How much room do we have left?


    Matt patted her leg. About two square inches.


    Liz quickly sat up. What? That little? This is a Tier 17 ring already, which means we can''t really upgrade the ring again without Tiering up ourselves.


    Matt nodded and shrugged. Yes, but really, did we need more space? The living room and bedroom are the ces we spend the most time. Our crafting rooms are a little cramped, but we dont really need to expand there. We just need to buy new equipment and swap it out or absorb it.


    Liz flicked his side as shey back across the couch. I wish you would have saved some space for my input. I got a bunch of good loot on my missions.


    Matt paused, thought, and nodded. Yeah, thats fair. I should have asked you first, its your house as much as mine.


    They shared a kiss, then Matt pulled away. Though, if theres something you really want, I can always shunt off some of whats already here. And basic upgrades wont make it take up more space.


    We can discuss thatter. How were your missions?


    Matt yfully red at his wife. Hey, no fair. I was going to ask that!


    Liz just wiggled her eyebrows. Too slow. Youre first. Serenade me with fanciful tales of adventure and strife.


    He retaliated with a brief bout of tickling which led to a further distraction but when they settled back into cuddle as they recapped their adventures. Theyd both had fun, and he was a bit jealous of her chance to delve into a mysterious vault, while she was jealous of the sheer <em>quantity</em> of low-level Republic spies he had caught along the border. Between their missions, theyd earned enough credit for a bunch of things from their wedding present pile.


    In this, at least, he had waited for Liz to return before choosing anything.


    That brought them around to Lizs uing training with a Bondsman, and Matt had a moment of disorientation when he realized that hed started thinking about three years in the future as soon. But that was how things went. Shed have to leave about a year in advance to make it on time, but Matt was d that they were back together for the moment.


    Which naturally brought them back onto the reason why theyd reunited, instead of carrying on with their solo missions.


    Aster''s time at Red Feather Academy was approaching the end of the first year, and they wanted to be together to see just how she was doing.


    They had even moved into Maras kingdom, and were just a dozen jumps away from the system containing The Nest, so they could get her messages as fast as possible.


    Matt had wanted to get even closer, but Liz had rightly pointed out that if they got too close, hed find it hard to resist visiting Aster, which was neither allowed nor good for her growing into her own person.


    With that limitation, they sat on an otherwise normal Tier 3, waiting not so patiently.


    Matt watched the countdown of the local time for Aster to get ess to the EmpireNet and then watched a second countdown on the expected time for messages to arrive.


    The twenty minutes felt like an eternity as the messages were transmitted through the Empire''s informationworks one teleport at a time. That was the reason they were on this. While not the closest system they would have been allowed to enter, it was the closest one that had a series of teleports that would lead back to Red Feather Academy when ounting for the teleportation cycles of each world.


    When the first message arrived, Matt smiled, seeing Asters foxy grin as she yipped and chatted to the recording device about her first day.


    Hearing that she had made not just one friend who she was rooming with, but three, took a weight off Matts chest. He happily listened along as Aster described the shenanigans she and her bird friend, Kelly, had gotten up to in the first few days.


    The stories quickly branched out to include the other two roommates, Roody, a lion, and Juan, an elephant, in the adventures they got into.


    Matt had to resist the urge to facepalm as Aster told him about them getting in trouble when they tried to break into a higher years library. Theyd all been caught before they got tail, feather, or trunk into the library, and as a punishment, had to clean the dishes for a week. Not for the fact they broke in, so much as they got caught, which made Matt roll his eyes at how simr it was to Luna and her methods.


    Still, despite that, she was more excited than anything else. Though that didntst too long, as during what seemed like the second week being at the Academy, Aster appeared to have a rough day and strong bout of homesickness as she sent her daily video. Thankfully, it didntst too long, and the shared environments with her roommates and thousands of other bonds going through the same things bolstered her.


    Then, the video updates started to change as Aster learned how to morph her body and adjust it into a more human shape.


    Aster endlesslyined about the difficulty of the procedure and seemed disappointed that it took her almost a full two weeks to get the technique,pared to some of the other bonds.


    It was almost as unsettling as him having to watch her appearance slowly change and be more and more human in slow increments over the course of three months.


    Aster would always be adorable, but there were times when her appearance was a little too uncanny for politepany in the process.


    When she was done though, Matt knew in the deepest part of himself that they had shared that life as siblings in Minka, no matter what Luna or any of the other experts said.


    Her body was exactly like it had been when she was born human as his little sister. Sure, this Aster had fox ears and arge bushy tail that she took pride in keeping well floofed, and fell into the habit of weaving ribbons of colors into. But that didn''t change the fact she had the same cluster of three freckles right next to the ear lobe that she had had in the Folded Reflection life, or that she had the slight bump where she had fallen out of bed and broke her nose as a kid, which had never quite healed right.


    She also just looked like his parents, and that caused Matt to tear up as it opened old wounds, but he had longe to terms with his, no <em>their</em>, parents'' deaths.


    Once she got her human form, Matt and Liz got tough at all the things Asterined about. Apparently, human noses were awful, and now that she had created the baseline human form, she would be upgrading her nose back to fox levels of olfactory senses. Then, not a weekter, sheined that half the other bonds couldnt tell when they hadnt properly washed, and then lowered her sense of smell into something of a middle ground.


    Matt also found it interesting that while Aster made her human form reflect her life in Minka, all of her roommates spent more time tweaking and changing their bodies. Or at least, that was how it seemed in the short snippets he saw them in, when Aster grabbed one to say hi.


    Kelly, the lightning bird, experimented with her hair, or rather feathers, for what seemed like two months before settling on a shorter configuration of feathers, while Roody the lion seemed to be trying to recreate the mane he had as a lion with a beard. But none of thatpared to Juan. The elephant seemed to treat his body and skin as a canvas, and experimented with all kinds of colors, patterns, and shapes.


    Aster and Kellyined endlessly about that fact because, in their words, He never matched his colors properly. That argument seemed to only end when the two of them had bought him a shirt and pants in everybination of color and shade imaginable, and he and Liz had to admit that Juan did look more put together when his clothes matched his coloration. There were even some really pleasingbinations that Matt and Liz found interesting.


    While they wouldnt transform their entire bodies as Juan did, they had masks that could do nearly the same thing when they were disguising themselves, and they decided to try a few out.


    Matt and Liz were still reviewing Aster''s stream of messages from her first year at Red Feather Academy together when Luna came in and informed them it was time to get to work.


    Taking a few minutes to send her a video of their reactions to her messages, both of them spent a minute to shift mental gears from happy siblings to serious soldiers.


    Fortunately, they were close enough to Queen Turstals queendom that their next trip wouldnt take unduly long.


    They were about to participate in an age-old tradition of the Academies. Academy Storming was ostensibly a challenge of prestige and honor of the individual academies in things like martial prowess, and could be expanded to other academic strengths. Or, that was how it had started. In today''s day and age, it was mostmonly used as a recruiting tool for the Academies in question, and a way to push their pupils into challenging themselves with an external enemy.


    Pathers werent officially a part of those challenges, but historically, the Path was restricted to noble families who were the main backers of the various Academies. They used their Pather children as strong arms in the battles between Academies, which created a loophole. So while Quill and Torch werent members of an Academy, the historical precedent allowed them to participate in the open challenges and receive the same rewards.


    Essence stones were part of the general rewards given out to the victors, along with things like priority ess to their rifts and possibly skills and unique skill modifications. Those rewards made it so most Pathers at the Tier 15 to 20 range participated in the Academy Storming just as they did with local tournaments.


    Frederic and Tur''stal had both wanted them to target a few academies in particr, as they had managed to earn their royal ire, but not to the degree that they would officially step in and punish them. And getting their pride crushed in a very public challenge by a duo of Pathers in public was the remedy that the royals ordered.


    Matt didnt really care, having not had any real interaction with the Academies. But Liz <em>did</em> have that experience, and had even added a few targets to their list, wanting to settle a few old insults and snide remarks directed at her in her youth from members of said Academies. A few of them had tried to goad the young Liz into joining their ranks by insinuating that she couldnt make it on her own, which was a lesson she wanted to make them eat now that she was on The Path and strong in her own right. To not raise any suspicion for any spies watching, those Academies were sprinkled throughout the itinerary, and some were outright skipped forter.


    For one year every decade, the Academies all opened their doors to challenges, and they intended to hit more than a few before taking them for everything they were worth.


    The first Academy they went to was the ck Rock Academy in Tur''stals kingdom, right next to the border of Maras kingdom, but not too close to the Nest that they might get linked to the bond Academy. It was an Academy known for their earth and stone-hardened meleebat styles that served to make them impervious to most elemental or melee attacks.


    Quill sauntered out of the portal with his signature swagger as Torch stalked behind him, and they came to a stop in front of the elegant stone wall and the two guards standing watch. After a moment, the guards confirmed their identities and the gates swung open, allowing them to stride inside the opening courtyard.


    When students saw them, they immediately jerked in surprise. Some ran off, while others clearly spoke to their AI, while Quill whistled and waved to everyone he saw.


    Before they got to the front hall, a group of Tier 15s moved to intercept them, but Torch moved in a single burst of fire and sent them to the ground with bumps and bruises already forming. Now that she was Tier 15 and had awakened her entire bloodline, she had enough control over her mes that she didnt even singe their clothes.


    Quill paused long enough to snark at the fallen students. Sorry, kids, this isn''t something Tier 15s can get involved in. Leave it to the big boys and girls, and just enjoy your nap.


    He conveniently ignored the fact that they were, in fact, Tier 15s as well, and turned on a heel while tossing out a few [Bandage] talismans.


    They weren''t even his own creation, at least not anymore. Instead of spending the mana to upgrade the runic formation to Tier 17, he had used one of the publicly avable Tier 17 [Bandage] talisman formations.


    After his little show at his Tier 10 tournament, the fad of creating variations of [Bandage] hadnt faded, but instead turned into a point of pride, with almost every independent enchanter making their own variation and publishing it for free. Some were more or less specialized, but there were a number that were perfectly average and good at everything, which were the ones that Quill took note of for his own uses.


    The copious travel time since his wedding had given him plenty of time to study enchanting, as he had little else he could do while cooped up inside his ship, feeding it all the mana he could. He had a passable understanding of Tier 15 runes now, at least the most relevantbat ones, and his newly merged [AI] had been able to find appropriatebinations of Tier 18 runes to update his signature talismans. But he still needed to learn how to enchant them himself before he would be entirelyfortable with using them frequently.


    They could delve up three Tiers, but they were so busy with their missions that they only had a few dozen Tier 18 talismans; instead they had a more reasonable number of Tier 17 talismans for use inbat.


    That was the curse and benefit of a talisman fighter. They could use higher Tier talismans than themselves, but they need either outside help, or needed to be able to delve up to that Tier and kill monsters to process into parchment. If that delving cost them more than they gained, they were screwed. But for Quill, at least he could delve with his full power set and not use a single talisman when he was gathering materials. Or, at least gathering materials for parchment. The talisman ink he needed to draw the enchantments was bing increasingly difficult to make due to the more specialized inks needed for each enchantment, but he had been able to buy most of what he needed through the leftovers of his delving resources.


    Tier 17 unprocessed metals werent worth a ton, but they were still in demand, and even a few tons of them could earn him a decent amount of money to spend on the ingredients he needed for inks.


    That reminded him of something, and he made a note to ask Liz if she could use a bit of her growth garden orb to grow some herbs that weremonly used in those inks.


    Refocusing on their uing fight, Quillughed as Torch punched her way through two more groups of Tier 15s before a Tier 19 student came out.


    Leave them alone and let them enter the sparring ground.


    Torch nodded in thanks while Quill made a flourish. How considerate of you, my dear host. I wouldnt wish for Torch to dirty her fist so soon.


    Quill had to resist a snort as the Tier 19s face twitched at hisment.


    Matt smiled. He had almost forgotten how fun it was to be a little bit of an asshole. It would grow old fairly quickly, but for now, he relished it.


    Once they entered the hall, they found a number of Tier 16 through 18 students surrounding arge burly woman, Christiana, who was the founder of this Academy.


    So the two newest Patherse to my humble Academy. I would have thought you two were too busy getting your movie events nned out toe to bother us.


    Internally, Quill growled at the reminder of their duos first movie, The Scribbling, and its awful take on his making the [Bandage] talisman.


    The movies have never been something Ive concerned myself about. What I <em>am</em> concerned about is the genuinely shameful disy your students have put on thus far. Is this truly the state of the Empires youth these days? I was hoping for a challenge, but Ive had more trouble knocking down houses of cards than this lot.


    Christiana grinned right back at him. How far are you challenging and at what age?


    Quillughed, I think we should at least start with your Tier 17s, given the shameful disy everyone else has put on thus far, maybe we''ll even push to the Tier 18s. And we''ll take any fighters under a thousand years old at those Tiers, please and thank you.


    That earned him a small nod of what he interpreted as respect from Christiana, as they dered their challenge would only beplete if they beat all the Tier 17s of her Academy.


    If the worst happened, and Christianas ck Rock Academy lost, they could chalk it up to them simply not being as good as possible Ascenders, as the news started calling Quill and Torch. If Christianas academy won, they could then use that fact as leverage to increase recruitment and bolster their publicity, and the two of them could just say their opponents were strong for their Tier and congratte the academy.


    At the same time, if they won the challenge, ck Rock Academy would owe them essence stones equal to half the number of challengers they defeated at the challengers Tier. So in this case, Tier 17 essence stones.


    It led to an interesting bncing act of pushing as high as possible, but not failing and then bing in debt to the Academy as theybored under the same restrictions.


    Quill was pretty sure that if they had chosen Tier 15 or Tier 16 fighters, Christiana would have suddenlye up with an excuse to withdraw, but with them wanting to fight up two full Tiers, she was confident enough to agree to the challenge.


    The first man came into the fighting tform and turned into an onyx mass of rock and muscle that towered over Torch and Quill.


    Let''s see if you can be the first one to burn through my armor.


    Thements caused cheers from the man''s fellow students, but that didntst long.


    Torch proved that seemingly impervious rock forms were only <em>seemingly impervious</em>. A st of heat fueled by a number of concealed runes in her armor and thrown out by Quill engulfed the battlefield before Torch drove her spear through the man''s nk and sent him stumbling back.


    To his credit, the man was good to continue the fight despite taking that hit head on, but as he fought in close range with the ball of fire that was Torch, his onyx form started to show signs of stress.


    Quill nearly paused halfway through throwing a talisman, wondering how well Torch could handle the man alone. Between her potions, skills, her Concept, and his Concept, she was certainly strong, and could probably win given enough time, but it would be close.


    This man wasnt like the random Tier 17s she had been able to wipe the floor with in the vault. Hed been trained in a Tier 20 Academy, and had the skills and money to make him a dangerous opponent. Of course, with Quill assisting her, it was only a matter of time before they won, and overwhelming force was what they were here to mete out.


    When the man ducked a massive [Mana Spear], Torchs knee was positioned to catch him in the ribs. When he dodged Torchs spear thrust, he could only move into the path of Quills [Ice Lance] array.


    No matter what he did, the two of them were always in sync and had every exit covered. Even then, it still took them almost five full minutes to batter the Tier 17s defenses down to a level that the mes started to melt his onyx armor.


    That set the tone for the rest of the battles, as they faced predominantly solo fighters, but there were a few duos and even a few full groups. Those were harder fights, but for those, their opponents had to face a seemingly unlimited number of Tier 17 talismans of every type. Eventually, they too gave up or were outright defeated.


    Christiana wasnt happy after they worked their way through more than a dozen Tier 17s, but paid them and sent them off with a quip to nevere back. From the way she immediately started exining to her students how they could have better used the strength differences to their advantage, he knew there was no actual grudge formed between the two groups.


    With ck Rock Academy defeated, they moved from one academy to another, garnering a reputation for fighting up two Tiers and never even being touched. A few academies even outright closed their gates in a shameful disy when word arrived that they were in the area, but that served to humiliate them even more thoroughly than fighting it out and epting their loss with grace would have done.


    They were taking a break between academies and unwinding together when Luna materialized in their room, wordlessly dropping two folders on the table.


    Matt and Liz broke apart, an illusory outfit shimmering into existence around Liz as Matt pulled on a shirt. While they were both aware Luna was always <em>watching</em>, it was rare that she actually interrupted their private time together, which meant it was something urgent. The moment they were presentable, they grabbed the folders and began to read.


    The first thing both of them noticed was the target. A Tier 19 noble house, House Gerble.


    Liz immediately looked up and asked Luna, A Tier 19 noble house? Can we even handle this? That means, at a minimum, one Tier 19. Thats a hard proposition without Aster, and in our personas.


    Luna pointed down at the paper, and Liz returned to reading, but Matt was far ahead of her, and she moved to the deeper portions of the file where he knew the reports on House Gerblesbat power, resources, and contingencies would be.


    Matt started with the finances.


    From doing a mission in the Empire for thest year, he had learned most stories coulde down to one of two things. Control and power. Both were only possible through money, and by following the money, you could tease out most hidden schemes. That was why he started with the tax reports, and his hunch was proven correct almost immediately. Most of the reports in the file were tax reports from the Imperial Auditors Bureau, going back a little more then five hundred years, and the apanying notes and reference numbers where he could get more information if he so desired.


    The first reports noted that the Gerble family was selling more essence stones than normal, but also noted that they were paying their taxes on the sold stones, and the rate they were selling them was consistent with the normal patterns of arge noble family generating some more liquid assets. The only reason the agent had noted the oddity was that they were selling low Tier essence stones with only a smattering of higher Tier stones.


    That pattern continued in small waves for the next dozen years, with more or fewer essence stones being sold by the Gerble family, and it was mostly ignored by the IAB until someone noticed the median Tier of the essence stones being sold by the family had risen from Tier 2 to 6.


    That prompted a further investigation into the issue, but the Gerble noble house had their ducks in a row, and were able to show they had opened a now long-dead family member''s storage ring, and were liquidating the plethora of essence stones they had found. The given reason for their slow-selling was so they didnt flood the local market, and kept the value of the essence stones high. That exnation had passed muster, and the Empire had left them alone for the next three hundred years, but once more, someone had noticed the average essence stones they sold had risen all the way to Tier 14.


    With the issue now escted to a much higher authority, the IAB secretly reopened the investigation and dug much, much deeper, spending almost a decade building their case, which was noted to be suspected of collusion with a foreign Great Power or the like. After all, they had to be getting the seemingly endless stream of essence stones from somewhere.


    It was during that time the investigators noticed that the Gerble family had boughtrge numbers of essence stones close to five hundred years ago through a number of ck markets, but they had been a smattering of all Tiers.


    Cross-referencing the information they had with the reported tax records, they discovered if they removed the bought stones, the Gerble noble house had been selling mostly essence stones of a single Tier, raising up one step at a time.


    Matt felt his mouth go dry, and he came to the same conclusion that the IAB hade to.


    They had someone with a Talent to create essence stones and were keeping them hidden.


    That in and of itself wasnt illegal, but if such a Talent was being used by them officially, they would have simply reported the essence stones were of a Talented nature to exin the sales, but instead, they hid them through a dozenyers of subterfuge.


    Thest straw was when the IAB found five hundred year old records of a recently awakened Justinian Miller going missing after delving into a local rift alone and unguarded with his newly purchased skills.


    A Justinian Miller whose official Talent rating had been <em>Exceptional</em>.


    A Justinian Miller who records showed had sold three Tier 1 essence stones to a local broker one week before his disappearance.


    A corporation that House Gerble had a majority share in.


    Everything pointed to House Gerble having kidnapped someone with a valuable Talent and ck bagging them for more than five hundred years.


    Matt felt his body heat up even as Liz confirmed that the head of the house was a strong Tier 19 fighter, and suggested they might not be able to handle this mission on just the pure difference inbat prowess alone.


    He didnt care if she was a Tier 19 or a Tier 50. He would not let someone rot in the same conditions he had been subjected to in the Folded Reflections.


    Liz, check the tax records. Looking to Luna, he continued, Is your conclusion the same as I think it is?


    Luna tossed the cover sheets to the desk, and just as he suspected, the Empire hade to the same conclusion.


    House Gerble had kidnapped Justinian Miller and was using his Talent to enrich themselves.


    Matt had to rest, letting out a growl even as Liz sucked in a breath.


    When are we leaving?


    Luna raised an eyebrow and caught his eyes. Do you think you two can handle this mission?


    Matt shook his head. It isnt a question of if, but how quickly.


    Liz poured water on his rising anger and asked. Why us? This seems both out of our reach and personal.


    Luna just looked to Matt, and he answered for her.


    Luna wants to push us and show how seriously the Empire takes these matters.


    Luna nodded. Mostly correct. This mission was going to go to the army, but I intercepted it. The Empire and the Emperors eyes are on this mission, and nothing is allowed to go wrong, which means there is a risk of us taking it. That said, I believe that you need to see what can happen in real life to those who aren''t strong enough to protect themselves. Beyond that, I think personally freeing someone in your worst-case scenario will give you some closure on the entire issue. After all, if you are strong enough, no one can box you, and you can make sure no one else is caged in the future.


    Pausing, she looked between the two of them. Do you ept this mission?


    Matt grabbed Lizs hand even as she opened her mouth. When do we leave?


    Now.

 Chapter 237

    Chapter 237


    Matt was ready to spring to his feet and leave to assault the noble''s estate <em>right now</em>, but Lizs firm grip on his hand kept him steady as they boarded Luna''s ship. As much as he wanted to rush there immediately, that was impossible, and the fric energy that demanded he do something was counterproductive. Liz kept him grounded enough to n out their next steps beyond saving the target. He wasnt Duke Waters who could just rush in and crush everything without a n.


    Though Luna was technically a fallback, ensuring that they wouldnt fail <em>too</em> badly on a mission of this magnitude, the cat was absolutely not above allowing their sess or failure to determine who lived and who died. It was unlikely that Justinian would actually die, if he were valuable enough for the Gerble family to keep imprisoned this long Luna probably wouldnt watch him die, but Matt certainly wouldn''t allow the mans freedom to bepromised any longer. If they failed utterly, the worst that would happen was that he would need to wait for higher-Tier enforcers to free him.


    Matt frowned. Actually, there was a distinct possibility that if they failed this, the nobles would simply kill Justinian to remove the prime witness and evidence against them, and Luna certainly wouldnt save him just for them. If they didnt do this perfectly, it really <em>was</em> the mans life on the line.


    Meanwhile, Liz was requesting official dossiers about the Gerbles assets in far greater detail than the basic mission brief. Luna had clearly prepared for this, as instead of waiting for the full back and forth of authorizations, clearances, and warrants that was usually present in such cases, their AIs were suddenly granted permission to everyst record, official spection, and lightly ssified document they asked for. Liz directed them towards his AI, and Matt pushed his willpower and mana alike for categorization and analysis.


    Matt wanted to be impressed by just how thoroughly the Empire watched its noble families, as it was far more than they usually got for guilds or corporations, but instead, he was just grateful they could n with a nearlyplete picture in mind.


    Fewer variables meant fewer chances for things to go sideways.


    And Matt <em>refused</em> to let this mission fail.


    Hed been in Justinians position, after all. Even if it were just an borate illusion courtesy of Minka, he had <em>felt</em> the emptiness of being confined to a box, reduced to little more than a machine, then subjected to continuous agony until you capitted, and how it could render you into an insane and hollow shell of your former self.


    It wasnt a fate he would wish on <em>anyone</em>.


    Because they were taking Lunas ship, Matt was able to divert practically all of his mana to his [AI], simting everything he could about a possible rescue operation. Unfortunately, there were few useful results from all hisputation. While the nobles themselves had been meticulously watched, their estate hadnt been analyzed in any depth for over seven hundred years, and the next official inspection was nearly two centuries away. Given that they had a new source of ie and arge desire for secrecy, the error margins on Matts assessment of the estate were wide enough to run a train through.


    <em>Sideways</em>.


    Compounding the issue, the Gerbles obviously had no reservations about subverting thew, which opened the door to any variety of otherwise illegal or restricted enchantments. As a final issue, Matt had no clue what Justinian might require to produce essence stones. If Justinian could merely guarantee that a rift reward distortion produced essence stones, then the mana requirements to fuel that rift would impact the warding scheme, as hiding a rift was difficult, but not impossible. If his power created essence stones from something like raw mana, his captors would need a way to easily ess the prisoner. If he created the stones out of thin air that wasnt an issue, but he was still presumably mortal, and needed food. The possibilities they needed to n around were, literally, endless.


    Instead, he and Liz turned to Linda Gerble, the current matriarch, and tried to figure out how to best counter a Tier 19 with their current abilities.


    That in and of itself was a monumental task. Even using their real identities and with Aster''s help, Matt wasnt sure they could take even an average Tier 19 on in a head-on fight. That difference in cultivation was generally unsurmountable, but they had a few advantages.


    Namely the entire Quill identity. As a talisman fighter, his style revolved around nning for and countering his opponents, and with Matt''s ability to supply each rune with a few million mana, they had a chance of making runes strong enough to affect a Tier 19. Talismans and their corresponding runes were ideally used on targets of their own Tier, if not lower. But that wasnt a hard rule if you were a Talented talisman crafter, or had enough mana to make a few thousand talismans to make up the gap in power.


    That was their only real chance of fighting a Tier 19 who had earned her fiefdom throughbat as a Tier 15, almost five thousand years ago. Matt figured he should be surprised that a noble who had fought their way to power from themon masses was not more empathetic to the average person''s plight, and would partake in such nefarious deeds. But he had seen enough of the human heart to know that those who felt they had risen above their station could be even more protective of that position than those born to it. After all, they couldn''t have too many others like themselves around, or else they would no longer be special.


    Together, they started parsing through the umted analysis of her public fights, registered skills, items, and habits for more than a week. The primary takeaway Matt was able to form was that the woman was intensely interested in secrecy. Not only did she advance to Tier 15 while only publicly purchasing two skills, indicating she earned the rest of her skill set directly from rifts, she had also seemingly learned enchanting purely to ensure that she was able to make her own weapons and armor without any record of their capabilities.


    When she did fight where other people could see and record her, she was a quintessential melee fighter who relied on a generic sword and shieldbo to close in and stick close to her enemies, like a leech. She always requested limited-skill duels whenever she had to fight, and only ever used her publicly purchased [Shadow Armor] and [Mana sh], in addition to whatever skills she had enchanted into her items. Afterwards, she made a point of never using that item again, and bringing in a new gear set to the next fight.


    The most incredible note on Linda Gerbles file was that, starting at the age of twenty, every single one of her delves took precisely the average clear time for that rift, down to the minute, regardless of any noted difficulties, mana aspect, or quirks in terrain or enemy type. She was obviously waiting at the entrance after havingpleted the rift quickly, but it meant that there were no visible tendencies, specialties, or weaknesses in her delving style.


    Naturally, all this secrecy caused people to get curious, and <em>some</em> information hade to light. A spy had snuck into one of her delves and recorded a scant number of her skills, various people she had fought testified to her abilities and provided recordings, and in all the circumstances where disclosing a Talent was mandatory, she had never registered anything relevant.


    Although Linda primarily relied on generic Concept abilities in her fights, as Matt hade to expect from the secretive woman, spending nearly seven billion mana on analyzing her every waking moment finally revealed something unknown even to the Empires analysts. Look at this clip right here. Howard Metma is reinforcing his mana shield with a spell-disrupting Concept, but Linda doesnt know that. Her sword does more damage than it physically should, which cant be exined with mana. Cross referencing that with a minorpetition when she was Tier 8 which didnt register any effect that would help her batter down barriers, we can almost conclusively say that she has an armor piercing Concept.


    Matt was feeling almost giddy as he spun in his chair and narrated to Liz. He got up to make himself a hot chocte as a reward, since it had been three solid days of watching her fights, and finally finding something tactically useful was exhrating.


    Great work, thats a fantastic find. If that''s true though we still have nothing on her Talents. The most likely conclusion is that she simply doesnt have anything relevant, or theyre so minor that she can hide them easily. She hasnt delved in a century, despite having the opportunity, and hertest tax records put her at thirty seven point two percent of the way through Tier 19, verified by an auditor. Liz stopped watching the looping clip of Lindas sword and went to reference some of her notes. Preliminarybat analysis is that shell start the fight like in her duels using minimal skills, and only use her more secret skills once she realizes she cant kill you quickly. She looked up from her notebook in order to stare Matt in the eyes. Id rmend you dont get hit by her sword. Allegedly, it hurts.


    Matt wasnt entirely sure he could block a Tier 19s armor piercing Domain, even with the training Manny had given him in the legacy, but he was d he had that training either way. Without it, he was confident that he would be cut into ribbons even with [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Though, if he used Matts signature skill, they wouldnt be able to take the noble alive, and that defeated one of the main purposes of this mission.


    Out of the two months it took to reach Cysora, they spent almost all of it nning how to counter each and every one of the members of the Gerble noble family itself, along with their security detail, their guards, and even some of the local notable figures who might decide to interfere.


    Most of them could be outright ignored, as they were below Tier 14 and would add a negligiblebat prowess to the overall defenses, but there were nine people of interest other than the Tier 19 mountain that was Linda Gerble.


    The first was the Tier 18 head of security, and Lindas rumored lover, Seymour York. Despite the known stereotypes of the profession, he was a wind mage of some renown. Matt would have preferred to have Aster with them to counter the man, but that was true with all of their opponents. Aster was a vital part of their team, and her loss was felt, even if it was temporary.


    Not that he didnt miss her all the time, but he was at least able to watch her messages to sate his normal longing for his bond. That didnt really help when they needed to punch someone.


    The next person they needed to worry about was Lindas son, Hardy, a Tier 15 who was by all ounts an unremarkable,yabout, noble heir. At least on the surface, the Empires information agents had noticed he was running an underground smuggling operation between the Empire and the ns, transferring a number of rare resources, mostly skills, between the two Great Powers. That illicit activity added ayer of danger to an otherwise unremarkable figure that they would need to n and ount for. You might be able to start a smuggling ring if you just had a backing, but you didn''t run a sessful smuggling ring by being a pushover,zy second-generation noble.


    The next five were the team of Tier 15 delvers that Linda had hired close to two hundred years ago as an auxiliary add-on to her security staff. They generally acted as quick responders to any emergencies instead of standing post or anything so routine. They were a variable that was at least well known, as they had sold their services for close to a thousand years, and had been in many a fight that was recorded during that time.


    J, their leader, was a healer with an ability that let her transfer wounds to her opponents. She was reportedly a good shot-caller and directed her team with the precision of an elite making her a prime target to take out first if necessary.


    Their front liner was one of a pair of twins, Marcus, who went for a simple dual shieldbo with heavy te armor to either protect his team from attacks, or get in close to enemy melee fighters and overwhelm them in raw strength. His brother Ruthis went the melee damage route, and wielded a mace with immense strength, though his propensity to wear light armor made him an easier target for most.


    Their mage, Brianna, focused on mist-based debuffs, giving her a toolkit quite simr to Aster. Disorientation, lockdown, and battlefield control were her areas of expertise, but she still had an array of spells to utilize as either finishers or extra sources of damage.


    Thest member of the team was the most dangerous, at least to them. Keppra was nominally the team''s archer, but his Talent was to destroy anything made of mana that his arrows hit. While that meant he was limited in his offensive spells, he could destroy a lot of Matts talismans if he was given even a second of breathing room in the fight.


    The final two people they were worried about were the local magistrate, and a friend of Lindas. The magistrate was Tier 18, but not a fighter, and had connections to the local Dukedom. It could be a problem if he tried to report an attack was happening and left out key bits of information, such as they were Empire agents acting in an official capacity. While they could and would neutralize him at the start of the mission with an Imperial gag order, he still posed a risk to the operation. The friend was reportedly very loyal, and would most certainly try to aid Linda, but they were fairly confident they could either attack when he wasnt on the, or stonewall him before he entered the fight. For all that he was purportedly loyal, he had never engaged in any illegal activities, and showing him a warrant for the arrest of Linda might prevent his intervention entirely.


    In an ideal world, all but Linda would be cowed by the warrant, but Matt and Liz seriously doubted that was possible.


    Linda had had five hundred years to prepare for this possibility, and they were sure her hired team of delvers would fight along with herself, her son, and her security agent, even if they had an official warrant. She would im they were impostors while trying to stall for time to destroy the evidence. Namely, Justinian Miller.


    That was a possibility they needed to prevent at all costs. Not because of the case, but because Justinian deserved a better fate than being sacrificed due to their shoddy nning.


    Matt wasnt sure Luna would step in to save the man if they failed. After all, Matt had seen her stand by passively as an assassin killed someone right next to them, then allowed them to escape custody not minutester.


    No, they needed to do this <em>properly</em>.


    They couldnt just knock on the front gate and say they had a warrant to search the estate; they needed to rescue Justinian before doing anything else. So, theyd need to sneak inside, somehow find where he was being kept, and then bypass the plethora of security measures that Justinians cell would be kept under.


    Looking at the officialyout of the estate, they noted down a few of the most likely possibilities of where to hide a cell. Thankfully, the fact they were only selling Tier 14 essence stones strongly implied Justinian was still Tier 14, so they needed to feed him and provide things like fresh air. If he was an immortal, they might have been able to shove him in a coffin and bury him somewhere deep, so long as Linda or her representative could get the essence stones from Justinian. A small [Portal] could easilyplete that feat, and while that was a higher Tier skill, her son was a skilled smuggler that could have gotten his hands on it, making their job that much harder.


    They could at least narrow down the location of where Justinians cell <em>could</em> be located by cross-referencing the areas where spiritual perception wouldnt be expected to be restricted. The room would be blocked to casual spying, of course, but people would ask questions about a garden shed being shielded from viewing in a way they wouldnt about bedrooms, bathrooms, and more private areas.


    Of course, that was only something of a backup n. Simplemon sense dictated that the Gerbles most valuable asset would be kept in the most secure location avable to them, the vault.


    Every noble family had one. Meant to lock away money, any number of valuable resources, keep prying eyes away from sensitive family documents, and for more military-minded nobles, a final stronghold when they were under attack, it was a ck hole of spiritual perception. For many reasons, it was illegal to keep living people within a family vault for extended periods of time, but that was mostly unenforceable, given the extreme protections afforded to noble vaults.


    That they suspected they knew where he was being held didnt make their nned rescue any easier, though.


    A vault was still a vault, and they werent dealing with mind-controlled guards, but rather well-trained ones who would notice almost every possible attempt at breaching the walls of said vault through the outside.


    Essentially, they needed to get in through the front door, but that wouldnt be any easier of a task, thanks to those same security measures.


    Knowing there was only so much they could do without seeing the location, they moved on to prepping for the fights.


    Matt began with making talismans out of the materials they had on hand, simply to restrain the low Tier guards and such. More importantly, they needed to n counters around each and every one of their possible threats, and to best do that, they stopped by a Tier 22 and delved into a single Tier 19 rift.


    Asters absence was keenly felt as they delved up four Tiers, but by taking it slowly, they were able to clear out the entrance of the rift and start harvesting the hide of the minotaurs. It was an exhausting month, not only because of therge Tier difference and theirck of a third member of their team, but also because they needed to kill as many of the monsters as possible without damaging their hides excessively.


    With their massive size, Matt was able to use some of his crafting skills, primarily [Field Dress] and [Treat Hide], to makerge quantities of quality leather, mostly for rapid testing of putting the most powerful runes he could onto the leather. Through some quick and dirty testing, they found that Matt could increase the power he put into a Tier 18 rune, the limit of what his tools could work with, by almost twenty percent just by using the higher Tier base material.


    When that wasbined with his Folded Reflection power from his life as a solo delver, he could then overcharge the talisman right before using it to increase the base power again by another twenty percent, closing the gap between a Tier 18 talisman and a Tier 19 fighter even more. He actually needed to be careful when doing that, as his now greatly increased mana generation created so much energy that he could easily burn out the runes he inscribed into the parchment.


    That led them to stage two of their testing.


    While most talisman makers didnt bother, there were a number of expensive treatments one could do to the parchment before, during, and after it was cured to allow the material to hold more runes or more mana.


    With Lizs help, the two of them recreated some of the more public variations of methods by abusing her portable garden orb and stocks of herbs they had purchased beforehand.


    In the end, they went with a more simple method. Instead of just casting [Treat Hide], they soaked the hide in a mildly acidic solution, which when injected with mana, would increase the amount of mana the final product could hold. Once the hide was saturated, they proceeded to treat the hide through normal methods to turn it into parchment, and they rubbed a herb paste on the resulting product. When cured with more mana, it would increase the spiritual capacity of the parchment even more.


    Their final change to the normal pattern was to create individual inks for each talisman instead of using one of the more generic ones. They weren''t able to make more efficient versions of the talisman ink, even though they knew they existed, due to their limited time and resources. But all said, the processed talismans were about seventy percent as strong as a normal Tier 19 talisman, making them good enough for tying down one Linda Gerble.


    Going through the process, Matt better understood why most talismans crafters never bothered with the extra steps. Each only imparted a minimal increase in effect while more than quadrupling the total cost in material, let alone the millions of mana Matt used to saturate the parchment in each step.


    It just wasnt worth it for most people, most of the time.


    While they intended not to have to fight Linda at all, they focused on making talismans and talisman arrays which could slow her down, rather than outright kill her. Not because they didnt want to kill her, though Matt would rather Justinian be able to see justice served to her in a court ofw officially. It was a matter of practicality.


    Not only would there be hefty legalplications that arose from killing a noble in their own house, but if they were fighting Linda, they were either escaping with Justinian and would need to protect him, or they were breaking in, and would need to prevent her from activating any kind of methods to kill him. Matt personally doubted that anything would be remotely activated, as it led to too many security concerns, but it was possible <em>enough</em> that they needed talismans to blockmunication magic in all forms. After they finished clearing the rift for more leather and essence, the two of them returned to Lunas ship, where they made the final jump to Cysora.


    For all that Quill felt like it should be an evil, somehow always cast in shadow or having perpetual rain storms, Cysora was a beautiful and young world, only settled a few thousand years ago. As it was only Tier 4, their Concepts were slightly easier to call upon, but that didnt matter for their ns.


    While Torch and Quill knew their Domains were quite advancedpared to anyone else in their age or Tier group, they werent in the business of only fighting people their same Tier and age.


    And frankly, they couldnt afford to be cocky.


    Once they were on Cysora properly, the two of them immediately split up while pretending to be normal mortals moving to the. They each picked houses close, but not too close to the Gerble estate before settling down to watch everything that happened.


    Matt watched as the gates opened and a pair of Tier 10 guards inspected the service truck, and noted how thorough of a job they did. They weren''tzy, which would have made their lives easier, and instead did a thorough sweep with both their own senses and a pair of wands that Matt recognized as more advanced versions of the mana-sensing wands he had seen used at his orphanage and Bennys.


    Using his [AI], Matt found the exact model and tried to see if there were any ws in its design that they could exploit, but found nothing useful.


    Matt did take note that the truck wasnt inspected on its way out, and pinged Liz that he was going to investigate it.


    Getting within spiritual range of the truck without being in visual range wasnt an issue for the Tier 15 Matt, but he still kept a dozen streets between himself and the truck before methodically checking every inch of it over.


    There was nothing of note to be found, unsurprisingly. The Gerbles hadnt made it this long by being sloppy, but that didnt mean they could just ignore potential sources of information just because they suspected there wouldnt be any threat.


    Returning to his apartment, Matt focused his attention on the perimeter wall of the estate and frowned. As expected, the enchantments on the wall werent the same as on their previous inspection, but the secrecy runes were so potent that he could only barely make sense of the underlying functions.


    While the wall physically looked the same, Matt was able to see a little more of what was happening at the gate with his mana sight, as well as some other detection wards that had been hidden from his spiritual sense. They were obviously expensively done, draining the local ambient mana to power themselves, and likely using internal reserves of mana as well. But for someone with an essence stone hen in the basement, mana would be of little concern.


    With that new development, Matt and Liz took two full days to scout and record the new perimeter formation before having his [AI]e up with the best way of bypassing it.


    The answer it came up with was surprising and unhelpful. They simply couldn''t bypass the perimeter wall with their current capabilities. The defenses checked a full mile into the ground, creating a hemisphere around the air space of the estate, and anything that crossed either barrier would alert the watching security teams. Even Liz in bird form wouldnt be able to get past, without her Tier 15 spirit setting off every rm from the moment she crossed the border.


    They would either need to kick the metaphysical doors down, or slip in through the front gate, which wasnt nearly as impossible as it seemed.


    Frankly, that was the case for most instances of breaking and entering, as the only way to have perfect security was to never let anyone close, but that just wasnt possible on a multi-mile estate that had dozens of peopleing and going on a daily basis.


    That was the how and why of their initial n.


    Matt would get a job as one of the local couriers at the shippingpany that handled deliveries to the estate, and after working there a few weeks, would position himself to take over for the regr guy who would win a sweepstakes of some kind that would take him off for a small while.


    They would need to pay for all of that themselves, but a single teleport and an all expenses paid vacation for a mortal didnt even add up to a rounding error on the value they could earn from selling a single Tier 15 mana stone.


    They were still working on how to get Liz inside the gate, but she had a few ideas she was working on, having spent most of their time on the locked away in the alchemyb. Everything hinged on Matt being able to get inside the gate himself, but there were a few different options Liz was working on to get herself in with him, some more ptable than others.


    Once she was inside the estate, Liz would try to locate and extract Justinian, while Matt went to make a distraction to draw everyone''s attention. Launching an assault on Hardys smuggling drop off point in the outer sr system was sure to cause enough of an rm to draw out the majority of theirbat forces.


    That, more than anything, should get at least Hardy and Js team to appear, where he could easily subdue them. Even a dozen Tier 15s posed little threat to Quill and his more limited fighting style, though if the n went off properly, he wouldnt even <em>need</em> to fight them.


    That would hopefully draw out Linda, and possibly, Seymour.


    Matt didnt entirely like the idea of taking even an asshole like Lindas son hostage, but he was willing to do it, as it was the best chance they had of getting Justinian out of the ce safely, which was all that mattered.


    He was also pretty sure that Hardy was fully aware of Justinian''s plight, thanks to a number of gifts the man had given out in the past. Essence stones, as it turned out, worked as wonderful bribes to get people to look the other way when you smuggled goods into the system.


    After almost a month on Cysora, and a month longer than Matt had wanted to wait, they presented Luna with their n, who okayed it with just one change.


    She wanted them to call up the military garrison of the neighboring system to ensure that no one tried to interfere. They hadnt wanted to do anything involving the military, as while local nobles had no <em>official </em>control over the garrisons stationed in their territory, those on duty in a local system often visited the inhabited for local leave, and ties could be made there.


    Luna pulling the neighboring garrison nicely sidestepped that issue, but needed a level of authority they didnt have yet. Ideally, they wouldn''t have to use the army until they had iron d proof, because it would muddy the whole situation. The Empire had very very oldws about higher Tiers finding evidence on lower Tier nobles, which dated back from the founding of the Empire as a way to curb the Emperor''s official power. While Matt might agree checks and bnces to a sovereigns power were great in theory, it made any situation where Luna or the army needed to step in very iffy. The charges would probably still stick due to the evidence the Empire had already gathered, but it was best to avoid that altogether, which was why they needed to get Justinian out themselves.


    With the green light, Matt started working at his new job, and Liz finished up her refresher course on breaking and entering.


    They had a captive to rescue.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 4

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 4


    Aster padded through the dimly lit hallway on her tippy toes while trying to control her tail. It kept trying to swish back and forth, but even the slightest change in air current could get her caught.


    Pausing as she heard her target''s gait change, she waited around the corner, not wanting to get caught with something as simple as her target walking backward.


    At least, not this time.


    After all of Lunas training, the fact that she had fallen for that trick even once was embarrassing enough tost a lifetime, and she was sure the cranky cat had a notebook somewhere full of critiques.


    Taking a deep but slow breath, Aster let the smells slide over her senses, and after determining the target had exited the room, she walked forward and around the corner. The shim that she had picked up at the start of this event was extended to prevent the door fromtching. After waiting a few more moments, she carefully opened the door and let it close naturally once more.


    The moment the door clicked, Professor Adams called out, Time, thirteen minutes fifteen seconds. No sightings or captures on the second attempt. Well done, Aster, that puts you firmly in first ce for the mundane category. If you wish to take your third attempt, you are wee to at any time before the night ends.


    Pumping her fist, Aster made a little dance as Kelly handed her back her slushie. A slushie that was noticeably lower than when Aster had left it with the bird. Seeing the neon yellow stain on her friend''s lips, Aster pouted. Piece of cake, nyaaaand you drank my slushie.


    Kelly nodded with zero shame. And it was good! Lemon Zing was a nicebination. I almost regret getting the Red Berry Razler after trying it.


    With a thought, Aster rechilled her drink while doing the same to Kellys, but she was deliberately a little loose with her control over her cold and sent a st slithering up Kellys arm, causing the other girl to jerk in surprise.


    That was cold! Not nice. Not nice at all. It was just a sip tax. I


    Aster interrupted with her tail raised to show her indignation. Sip? No way was that a sip! That was like ten percent of my drink.


    Kelly tried to suppress a grin but failed as it slipped through. I never said how many sips were in the tax. Hey! It was really tasty, okay?


    As they linked arms and sauntered around the rest of the fairgrounds, Aster kept eyeballing the student council members in the star pattern uniforms. They looked really slick, and she was sure they would look great with her white hair and tail. The hats they wore even had a variant with cutouts for ears on top of the head, which she appreciated.


    While they would be third years in a few days, they werent yet, so they couldnt run for a position. But even then, Aster wasnt sure she wanted to.


    The student council did a lot of work, and that sounded less than fun. Sure, they got to put on the fun events like this end-of-year fair, but they also dealt with overseeing all the student-run clubs, handling small disputes between students, nning the orientation for the newest students, overseeing housing for the iing students, proctoring other clubs events that were open to the wider school, and so many other things. The only thing they didnt handle, as far as she could tell, was the cafeteria menu, which was a real shame because Aster did have some suggestions there.


    With Kellys help, they found Juan, who was busy painting a really odd tree, and Roody, who was trying to chat up the lioness twins. Aster and Kellymandeered both of the boys to help them register a new club each.


    To officially start a club, they needed at least four core members, and Aster wanted a club dedicated purely to making the best ice creams. Kelly, on the other hand, was trying to restart an older movie-making club that had died a few years ago, when itsst members graduated. While Aster had zero interest in movies, Kelly did, and she would support her friend.


    After handing in their forms to a cute-looking scaled boy, Kelly and Juan split off to go y in the water-themed part of the park, which was an area that the two with tails were loath to enter. Their fur took too much work to keep looking clean and fluffy in her case, and smooth and sleek in his case, for casual dips into a water park mid-day. That was very much an end-of-day activity.


    Instead, the two of them went and enjoyed some of the more aggressivebat simtors the fair had to offer. Together, the two of them made the games look casual and fed off each others showing off. Aster didnt even need to push herself. For all that Roody loved to boast about delving two Tiers up, and had improved notably since they started the academy, he still wasnt <em>that</em> good. She was pretty sure he usually delved one Tier up at most, and maybe had delved two Tiers up at some point, probably in a rift his team perfectly countered, then lived high on the aplishment ever since.


    He noticeably increased the speed as he was batting the lights back, and Aster spun around to check the crowd. As she suspected, she saw a familiar pair of twin lionesses and waved at them despite Roody growling at her to pay attention.


    Instead of doing that, she decided to help, and instead of dodging she finished the set with just her tail while facing the crowd.


    When their turn was down and they had a fist full of tickets, she dragged him to the lionesses and stuck out her hand.


    Nya! Im Aster, Roodys roommate. Ive heard all too much about you from the love-sick kitty.


    Leia and Lauren smiled. We know about you, but not from Roody. We actually wanted to talk to you about the Path of Ascension. Are you mad thating here knocked your team off?


    While Lauren was a bit more direct than most people, Aster was well-used to the question. After it hade out that her bond was the son-inw to two of the Empires royals, and <em>Princess Elizabeth</em> was their final team member, shed gotten just so many people bugging her about it. A lot of people had questions about the Path in one form or another, which she didnt mind, but others were just trying to use her to get an in with Queen Mara.


    <em>Those</em> she had frozen into ice cubes.


    She had taken the fines and punishment work of assisting the year eight students in cleaning up their alchemybs for a month in good graces. She knew that it was the school''s way of showing she wasnt above the rules, but acknowledging she could have easily gone farther than gently creating ice <em>around</em> the pests.


    Aster smiled back at the twins. The Path served its purpose, and we got what we wanted and needed out of it. Liz proved that she wasnt solely reliant on her parents for her aplishments, and Matt was really only on it to get off his low Tier, mismanaged. Now, we are immortal and free. I appreciate them treating me like a true part of the team from the beginning, and they won''t move without me.


    That wasnt strictly true, they were likely doing a <em>bit</em> of delving between their appearances as Torch and Quill that filtered through the Empir from time to time, but so was she! There would be some catchup once she rejoined, for sure, but that wasnt really a concern. Matts ability to freely charge rifts needed to be used sparingly, but was <em>great</em> at giving them additional flexibility for maintaining their covers. Leia nodded as the three of them turned and started walking away, leaving a tongue-tied Roody to follow behind. That makes sense. On a more fun topic, the rumor mill said you and your pod were starting a film club?


    The small nce at Roody told Aster the lioness didnt really care about the film club, and was actually interested in Roody, so she happily pped the idiot with her tail as he tried to butt in. We did! Kelly is the one who headed the project, but she got the rest of us to join. I even got them to start an ice cream-making club. A fun little side project.


    Both twins'' tails quivered as they shook their heads. Too cold.


    Laughing, Aster nodded and didnt push the issue. They were nature aligned, and that type either abhorred cold or loved it, with no inbetween.


    Together, the four of them walked around, and Aster kept Roody from making a fool of himself until they were rejoined by a dripping-wet Juan and Kelly.


    Both tried to hug her, and Aster had to threaten ice cube status if they dared get her soaked.


    They promptly ignored her and pulled her into a sandwiched embrace anyway.


    She intentionally overyed her reaction for the amusement of Leia and Lauren, pressing her ears t against her head and pouting at her roommates.


    They met up with the twins individual pods, and the newly-erged group grabbed dinner before watching the evening skill showcase, with the stars serving as a wonderful backdrop to the blossoms of magic and color.


    The next day of sses was fairly standard, with Aster learning about how the Second Skin worked in rtion to their malleable form in her Advanced Shapeshifting ss. But at dinner, Juan surprised them all with his decision for the next semester.


    I think Im going to take Concepts And The Real Us, he announced.


    His words shocked everyone, but especially Aster.


    <em>Concepts and the Real Us</em> was a course meant to guide students into either breaking or otherwisepletely reforming their Concepts, which meant Juan nned to get rid of his earth-based strength and protection Concept.


    Kelly chirped the question they were all asking. Is everything ok? That''s a big step.


    Juan nodded. I want to move beyond just being an earthen wall. Ivee to appreciate being a frontliner in a fight sinceing here, but Ive talked it over with my human. We dont have some grand ambition to quickly delve through the Tiers, and we never really did that to begin with. If we need to take a few decades or centuries for me to getfortable with a new Concept, were fine with that. It just doesnt feel <em>right</em> when I use my domain for anything these days. I need to change it, and pushing it off isn''t working. I thought the therapy would help, but it has only let me realize that I need to take this step more than ever.


    Aster could only shake her head. Just be careful, alright? When I changed my bloodline, it cracked my Concept just a <em>tiny</em> bit, but that still felt like my spirit was on fire. It was manageable, sure, but it wasnt fun. I couldnt think straight for at least a month afterwards.


    Roody punched Juan on the shoulder as he reprimanded him. You should have said it was getting that bad before now. We knew you were struggling, but we cant help if we don''t know.


    At Aster and Kellys agreement, Juan blushed and rubbed his head. I was trying to handle it on my own. At their protest, he raised his hands and continued, I know thats exactly what the professors tell us <em>not</em> to do, but I didnt want to be a burden. Now that I decided to make the plunge, it seems really dumb to keep it from you, so sorry.


    They ribbed their friend a little more before agreeing with him that breaking his Concept and starting over seemed like the right choice in his case. It also seemed to help that his human was onboard with the idea, and had encouraged him to do whatever he needed to do, delving be damned.


    Aster, on the other hand, went to her first ss and prepared to encounter her nemesis, Cameron the Magma Otter.


    Seeing that the otter girl hadnt arrived yet, Aster took over a pair of seats in the second row and put her bag in the second to show it was reserved.


    Not long after she sat down, Cameron arrived and dropped her bag on the table. Your junk is in my seat, Ice Pop.


    Aster rolled her eyes right back. If someone arrived on time, I wouldnt have to make sure you had a seat that wasnt in the boonies. Youre wee. After all, I, unlike some unnamed others, arrive on time.


    Cameron sighed as she fell into her seat. Ah, but unlike you, I have responsibilities. I took up the student helper position for the Practical Uses of Innate Fire club. We, unlike some others, have the advantage of being useful for society beyond keeping drinks cold, and this is a great first step for me running for Student Council in our fifth year. I intend to be president in my ninth and tenth years, breaking normal traditions and serving a term as vice president in my eighth, and for that, I need to manage my time wisely. Seeing she forgot to add a barb into thest statement, the ottermely added. Unlike others who use cat affectation drivel.


    Aster blinked and swished her tail as she thought that over, ignoring thement about the nya she had picked up from her friends, the Ice Cats. It was cool, and no one could tell her otherwise. She knew Cameron wanted to join the Student Council, but she hadnt known the girl was so ambitious in her goal. There were only a handful of examples in thest few thousand years where someone had been president for two years, instead of the position being held by the previous ninth-year vice president.


    Not knowing what to say, she quipped back, If only your use to society didnt involve setting the Student Council seats on fire.


    That led to an argument as to whether the Student Council would have mmable seats or not, until the professor entered and their ss began.


    After the ss, the two split up to go to their elective sses, which for Aster was another Melee for Mages ss. She hadnt intended to enjoy the ss as much as she had, but she really did enjoy the flow and dance of melee fighting.


    It was simr to being a mage, but instead of just dodging and reacting, she got to almost y chess with her opponents. Each made a move while the other countered and struck back move after move.


    Her opponent today was a tall man she recognized as a fifth-year, and she grinned back at him as he stood across from her.


    I hear you were a Pather. Let me test your mettle!


    Aster felt his opening statement was a little too neutral, and he should have been a little more cutting, but met his energy with something simr.


    Youre a fifth year? Make sure you dont break your nose when you fall on your face, nya?


    Obligatory trash talk was done. The two of them lunged at each other when the ref made a noise.


    Asters cuss cut through the air with a satisfying swish, even as her opponent''s rapier struck out.


    Letting her de hit and deflect the lighter weapon, she danced to the side to avoid the man''s faster recovery and followed up with thrust, cutting at his hip with her second attack.


    While hisrger stature and longer weapon meant he had the range advantage, Aster had dealt with far bigger and far worse than him. While they werent able to actually use spells to distract, she had a giant fluffy tail with a purple ribbon threaded through it, and it was very distracting when used right.


    <em>Without moving, I think</em>.


    She swished her tail as though she was preparing to dodge right, tensed, and stood absolutely still. Her opponent thrust at where he predicted shed be, not recognizing the feint until shended a solid blow on his chest, ending the round.


    She winked and bowed deeply. And theres one of two. This could be even easier than I thought, if I dont even need to move!


    Her opponent''s second line was much better. An opponent worthy of my full attention is rare. Prepare to face the might of a fifth year.


    The second bout, she set herself the goal of winning while physically above her opponent, which she did handily. Her tail <em>was</em> nicked as it drifted a bit too slowly past her opponents de mid-somersault, but otherwise, it went no different than the first. It was great fun, though, and the two of them spent the rest of the ss sparring with one another, with Aster exining some of the tells she had used to predict his actions.


    The fights were <em>kinda</em> fun, but usually too easy. Even as a nominal support-only mage, the fights she was used to were simply so far <em>above</em> the difficulty any of her peers could provide, the only challenging parts of any fight were the goals she set for herself. She didnt always win, but regardless, the most fun part was picking up tips and tricks from her peers.


    Not that there were that many she didnt already know, but some were so insanely impractical, they circled back around to being situationally useful. One day, she would beat someone by kicking her sword in such a way that its trajectory circled back around and struck them in the back of the head.


    One day.


    After ss, she changed into the light armor that served as her job uniform. Acting as a guardian for safe rift delves wasnt that fun or entertaining, but Luna, Kurt, and April had to feel much the same way. So, to channel her mentors, she always did her best to provide feedback to the teams and analyze what they could have done better. She wasnt nearly as good as Luna, but apparently, she was good enough to have a waitlist several months long for teams requesting <em>her</em> over the other student watchers.


    It wasnt like the other guides <em>didnt</em> provide feedback, that was half their job after all, she was just able to draw on lessons from some of the best trainers in the Empire. They were getting better, as they were all working on improving their personal styles either on their own or by asking her for tips, but they still had tendencies to push ill-fitting tactics onto groups, sound too condescending in their advice, or just prioritize the wrong things, addressing symptoms instead of causes.


    Gawain, a former Pather bond from her year, was already in the guides lounge as she arrived.


    Nya, Gawain. New stripes, I see. Whats it this thyme?


    The tiger just rolled his eyes. Shed been using the joke ever since hed changed his stripes to a pattern that bore a distinct resemnce to the herb, and she wasnt tired of it yet. Really, that wasnt something you lived down quickly, and everyone gave him a hard time for it.


    I was able to schedule some consulting with a formation master, and with her help, I finally got the enchantments to work. He pulled off his shirt, letting Aster see the pattern emzoned on his skin as the ck stripes took on an iridescent sheen.


    Aster blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to focus. You know what, I take it back. Thats impressive. Does it work with armor?


    As of yesterday, yes. Its a lot weaker when covered up, but were still working on it. Do you want her contact? I think you could do some pretty impressive things with aurora, get set up for your change. True to form, as Gawain pulled his shirt back on, the effect lessened. She still had some trouble focusing on him until he deactivated the stealth enchantment, but it was substantially weaker.


    Aster nodded. You know what? Sure. Not sure if Ill go for the stripey look, but it never hurts, nya? Im a long way from actually making the change to Aurora though. Mainly, its my bond who likes formations.


    Asters AI dinged as Gawain sent over the information, and she nodded in thanks as the two entered the waiting room to grab their scheduled teams.


    No matter how many were employed, guides were always in short supply. Given thatpleting a Tier 15 rift in a group of 5 or less was a graduation requirement, her role was somewhere between exam proctor, coach, and guardian angel. A truly shocking number of bonds had literally <em>never</em> delved before without being hard-carried, and many of those who had delved before didnt delve <em>often</em>.


    They always needed <em>lots</em> of saving, hand-holding, and advice before they were ready to fight anything head-on. It was actually a perfect fit for Aster, as her debuffs let her functionally dial back the difficulty of fights they werent ready for until even the most inexperienced person could score a kill.


    At least the rifts at her station were short, and they didnt have to perform a full clear. She straight-up wouldnt have time for the job if it took a week each time, even if she only attended all of her sses via her AI. Matt would probably be super interested in how they made the rifts so short. but she couldnt care less.


    Her team today was, thankfully, an easy one. Shed worked with them before, and they were nearly to the point of attempting apletely unassisted delve. That wouldnt be today, unless they surprised her, but it could be next month. They were decently fast, too.


    Nya, guys. Today well be running C7B11, so I hope you brought your goggles!


    Bannie groaned. The sand one? I hate the sand. It''s coarse and gets everywhere.


    Kadmey agreed. It''s also rough and irritating on my skin. Can we skip this one, Aster? I think I have a cough.


    Aster let a gust of wind spin the mouse around, turning her faux run toward the exit into a stumble towards the entrance. Not a chance. If my tail needs to be de-gritted after we delve, you can deal with a bit more lotion.


    Kadmey keptining, but it was all in good fun as they prepared for their delve.


    Unsurprisingly, the team did just fine, and showed their improvement by holding formation even when a sandworm ambushed them, instead of scattering. Last time something simr had happened, they had just opened themselves up to being picked off one by one, but theyd clearly taken her instruction to heart.


    Their boss fight wasnt as clean, as they were caught off-guard by the boss using wind magic to whip up a storm. They got blown around a little bit, took a few wounds that would have been worse without Asters aid, but mostly, they handled it admirably once they got their feet under them.


    Just shy of 13 hours after starting, Aster finally clocked out and returned to her room.


    Much to her surprise, she found Juan chatting with a timid-looking woman in their sitting room.


    She flinched and jumped at the door opening, which startled Aster, and she looked to Juan, who shot her a re, and a new message appeared on her AI.


    Reading it, and the messages shed missed on ount of being at work, caught her up on what was going on.


    Katherine was someone Juan met at the new Concept ss, and he felt she needed a friend and so he brought her over. His initial message asked them to be quiet, as loud noises startled her, but Aster hadpletely missed the message, being as tired and mentally exhausted as she was.


    Sorry about that. Im Aster; nice to meet you. Aster waved as she added. I''d shake your hand, but I''m still covered in sand from my job.


    The woman smiled slightly, then nced away. Curiously, she was fairly nondescript-looking. Considering most beasts who just got their human bodies went absolutely <em>wild</em>, making themselves incredibly pretty at minimum, it was unusual and set her apart. Cats in particr tended to like keeping their ears and tails akin to how Aster had. Luna and now Katherine were the only two shed met with neither, which stood out to her.


    There was most certainly a story there, but Aster wasnt going to pry.


    Aster took a nice, rxing, ice-cold shower, taking the time to wash out all the sand that had permeated her hair and fur so thoroughly. For a moment, she was jealous of Kellys shorter hairstyle and how much less work it took to keep clean. But it just didnt look right with her fox ears, and getting rid of her long hair would be like getting rid of her tail. It just wasnt how <em>she</em> wanted to look.


    A hair-cleaning skill <em>did</em> move a couple ces up her to-get list, though. [cial Scrub] and [Aerated Hair] were her two primary contenders, but there was just so much going on, she never really got around to <em>truly</em> trying to get one of them. Also a cleaning skill that worked on sand. She had [Bathe], which worked great for things aligned with elemental mud or ckwater, mostly dirt and oils, but sand wasnt quite close enough to count.


    When she exited the room, the others were already waiting for her to go to her ice cream studio before going to Kellys movie club. She didnt miss the fact that Katherine came along, and while she didnt say much, she seemed eager to help them set up and be a part of their little enterprise.


    Her ice cream maker was already set up fromst week, when shed had a few spare minutes, so she was able to help the others get their stations all up and running before Juan demanded they make some actual ice cream.


    Not one to pass the opportunity to show off, Aster quickly whipped up a citrus chocte ice cream for everyone and delighted in their appreciative noises. Even Katherine spoke up and said how good it was.


    She finally showed off a bit of her feline side by unveiling a milk tooth strong enough to devour half therge bowl in practically the blink of an eye. The shy girl seemed embarrassed, but when Aster offered to make another bowl of ice cream in whatever vor she wanted, the girl didnt say no, which Aster took as a good sign.


    Dessert was truly the most important meal of the day.


    After making a few small batches in different vors to show everyone how it worked, they spent another two hours designing flyers they could put up in themon rooms to get more people into the club before heading to Kellys movie club.


    There they found Leia and Lauren already waiting for them, which was exactly when Roody forgot how to speak and turned into a bumbling buffoon.


    This club needed a lot more setup work, and they mostly focused the first two hours on getting the room ready for more active filming by setting up the backdrop array. Then they spent close to an hour as Kelly directed them to set up a number of lights of various colors, intensities, and positions.


    Aster had no idea what any of it was really for, but Kelly was excited, and she was happy to help a friend.


    She did that even more by keeping Roody busy and away from the twins, whose mere presence seemed to shut off his brain.


    Katherine appeared less captivated by the movie-rted topics, yet she eagerly offered her assistance. Aster caught the twins exchanging nces before ambushing Katherine as if she were a mischievous kitten in need of guidance from older, wiser cats. Katherine was temporarily bewildered by the attention, but after the twins whispered a few words beyond her earshot, she readily fell into ce.


    While cats and lions werent exactly the same, they were cousins of a sort; Katherine seemed much morefortable with them around and actually seemed to settle down.


    Aster didnt miss the fact that she followed all three of therge cats'' tails when they got to swishing back and forth with desire, which only made her ownck of said parts all the more puzzling.


    The story behind the girl was looking more and more bleak, which made Juans intentions to befriend the girl all the more important, and Aster made a note to check up on her going forward as well.


    Three hours after they finished setting up most of the equipment they would need, Kelly brought out a data cube.


    Guess what I have!


    Everyone looked at the shorter woman, and she almost bounced in excitement. I was talking to one of the off-worlders, and they had a copy of an advanced screening of The Scribbling! Im so excited! The first movie is about a possible pair of new Ascenders. I hear there are two more moviesing out about them too. The second is a bigger budget team-up film with Queen and her Giant de delving into a hidden realm, and the third is them taking down a cabal of evil nobles who were capturing people to steal their Talents from.


    Possible Ascenders, my butt. The main news channels have predicted ten thousand of thest two Ascenders. Theyre just trying to drum up sales for the movies. I mean look at them, <em>talismans</em>? You couldnt pick a worse style for the long haul of sting through higher Tier rifts, even if the ass did do well in the tournament. Lauren said as she plopped down onto the couch, then grunted a bit as her sisternded on herp at maximum force.


    As her friend vibrated, Aster had to bite her lip so as not to correct her about those missions. That said, she was equally excited to see The Scribbling. The movie had the same dramatic feel that Duke Waters and Light and Shadows movies had before the rights to other missions were given to lower-budget and more campy production studios.


    This would be the first and quite possibly the <em>best</em> movie shed see made about them, and she couldnt <em>wait</em> to see just how bad it would get.


    The teasing would be oh so sweet.

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238


    Quill looked around at the empty space and admitted that Hardys little smuggling operation was surprisingly well put together. The piece of empty space in front of him seemed perfectly normal, and he would have passed it by without a second thought if he hadnt personally watched one of Hardys assistants, helpers, goons, or whatever he called them, drop a train car-sized asteroid in orbit around the sun near agrange point.


    It was far enough away from the inhabited inner system that no one would easily travel to this location, and far enough away from the military outpost in the outer system that its patrols wouldn''t stumble upon it.


    Not that Matt trusted the local branch of the military. He had no proof or anything even hinting that anyone on the base wasplicit in either the kidnapping of Justinian Miller or the smuggling operation, but he simply couldnt write off the possibility. People would sell their morals for surprisingly little if they thought they could get away with it, or it had little risk to themselves.


    After confirming the drop <em>did</em> have the cloaked asteroid, Matt sent off his infopacket to a mercenarypany in the neighboring system, pushing enough mana into his transmitter to handle the transmission distance back to the.


    While the Empire didnt have the robust, formalized system of mercenaries that the Corporations had cultivated, there were more than a few teams of delvers who were willing to do extra work on the side to increase their ie. One such team had been hired by the neighboring baron with the express purpose of cracking down on smuggling, particrly drug running.


    Theyd nearly managed to catch Hardy in the act a couple of times before, but hed burned the relevant caches before anything came of it.


    The team had still found evidence of his misdeeds, but not anything close enough to prove he was connected to the smuggling operation. That hardly pleased the Baron, nor the mercenary team, as that was the first imperfection on an otherwise ster record of service. They had caught most of the smugglers, which proved they werepetent. Letting even one of the major yers go, even if they weren''t suspected to be in the drug trade, didnt look good.


    Wanting to rectify that blemish, they put out word they would pay generously for anyone who could give them even a hint of actionable evidence on Hardy.


    Quill knew the recording of one of Hardys known associates bringing a stealth asteroid into agrange point would bring them running.


    And that meant he wouldnt have to fight the Gerble house directly, while still tying up their assets.


    Returning to the Cysora, Matt changed into his delivery uniform pants andid down on the stic sheeting Liz had put down.


    You ready?


    Sighing, he answered truthfully. I said I wee you into my heart, but I never thought it would be so literal one day.


    Liz grinned as she waggled her eyebrows and knife in counterpoint. Oh, don''t be a big baby. I promise, I won''t wiggle too much.


    Matt stopped his heart and breathing, allowing essence topensate for each. It would be <em>highly</em> ufortable, but for a few hours, he could manage.


    With a quick cut, Liz sliced into his chest, just under his bottom rib. His ribs were too strong for her to easily break, so she utilized her blood to reach past them and into his organs. He didnt resist which helped things along but it still felt incredibly ufortable to feel Liz controlling the blood inside his body.


    The organs were still a bit of a mess at the moment, as he was still working on remaking them, but that didnt matter for this. A bit of impromptu surgeryter, Liz was pulling his [Blood Storage]d organs out of his chest and feeding them into a medical stasis chest where she reformed them.


    Liberal use of [Bandage] patched up Matts insides, keeping the severed tissue alive and in good shape for when his organs were returned. Sure, he could regrow them, but at their Tier, that would mean several weeks of difort until his heart was back in ce. Far easier to just return them when they were done.


    The initial idea hade from Liz wanting to hide in his veins using [Blood Body], but there were a few problems with that. The first was simply volume- Lizs entire body wasrger than Matts circtory system, so she wouldnt fit. There were ways around that, but they were inessible at their present Tier.


    The <em>second</em> problem was that all skills would be stripped away in a dispelling pulse as part of standard security checks. Even if they resisted the pulse, which they weren''t sure they could do, it would still set off an rm as the spell met unexpected resistance where it shouldn''t. And of course, the final problem was that two spiritual signatures in the same body would be detected almost immediately.


    Thus, it was aplete non-starter. But, from that theyd eventuallye up with something workable.


    Kill Liz.


    Shed get better.


    If they poisoned Liz with a toxin that drastically weakened the spirit, then had her hide in his chest cavity in bird form, they could bypass the skill dispersal. The [Bandage]s on his chest would be dispelled, but Matt could survive that, and Liz could recast it from the inside. Most importantly Lizs spiritual presence would, with just a bit of work, look like a part of Matts and trick the security scanners.


    Once inside, she would find a quiet corner of the estate to drink a potion that would offset some of the symptoms and buy her about an extra twelve hours of life, while Matt walked out of the estate with nobody the wiser.


    It was the best option, and he could at least say with certainty he wasnt the worse off of the two of them. He wasnt the one <em>dying</em> after all.


    It was still damn unpleasant having his organs removed.


    It was even more unpleasant when Liz transformed first into a bird in a burst of ash, then into an amorphous blob of blood, flowing between his ribs and into his chest. There she returned to bird form, and healed his chest from the inside. The mes cascading off of her body were a bit warm on his insides, but she wasnt actively trying to burn him, so they were nothing he couldnt handle.


    He cleared his throat, which felt <em>weird</em> without his lungs, and prompted his [AI] to start mimicking his lung with [Air Maniption]. With Liz sitting in his chest, he could smell a touch of cinnamon with every exhtion.


    Testing, one, two, three, five, seven. I hate this. Test, test, test.


    He also had a speaker shoved up his throat that he could activate with his [AI] in case he needed to speak while unable to cast skills. Technically, his [AI] would be dispelled as well if the security did a <em>thorough</em> anti-skill formation, but those were rare, specifically to avoid interfering with [AI] and oaths kept track of through it. Still, he could use the now-merged skill unless specifically countered.


    He felt Liz peck at one of his ribs as he twisted to crack his back and grimaced. He could even feel her feathers touching the inside of his chest when she braced herself during his twist.


    It was not pleasant.


    He would most certainly be having nightmares about this part of the mission, he was sure.


    Not letting any difort show, Matt went to work like normal, and acted surprised when he was told he was filling in for the regr to deliver a package to the Gerble estate. Mark, the normal delivery man, had won a sweepstake for a trip with his family to a resort for two weeks, and would be gone for the rest of the month. Matt would be filling in for the secondary, as the normal second took over the primary responsibilities and he took over theirs thanks to a few well ced suggestions to the shift manager.


    Said shift manager had warned him that this was an important client, and to not fuck anything up, which reminded him of working for Benny all those years ago before he joined the Path. His younger self would have never guessed he''d be walking around with his organs removed and with a bird in their ce but it all seemed so normal now.


    He was loading a box when he tried to scream as what felt like a red-hot coalnded inside his pelvis, but with no lungs, he was able to pass it off as just a cough.


    Torch immediately apologized. Sorry! You moved unexpectedly and my tail brushed your tailbone. Im sorry! Im sorry.


    Thankfully, there were no other hups, and they made their rounds without any issues until thest stop of the day, which was the Gerble estate.


    Together he and the primary delivery man got out of the van and were scanned while the van itself underwent a thorough inspection.


    Quill made small talk with the guards, pretending to be nervous and asking all the inane questions a normal new person would ask, which put them at ease. The skill disruption worked as theyd expected, stripping away his internal [Bandage]s and prompting Liz to reapply them all.


    Once they got the all-clear, Quill let out an internal sigh of relief while he felt Torch actually sigh if the puff of hot air that hit his inner chest was any indication.


    After driving up to the front of the manor, they unloaded the boxes, and being thest one inside the van, Quill made a small cut below his sternum, allowing Torch to spill out of his torso in blood form, and into the grass. She was barely visible in all honesty, as she used a suite of skills to be as unobtrusive as possible.


    Knowing he had done everything he could for her, and that he had his own role to y, Quill returned to the hub and checked out while joking around with the others while they swept the floor free of any debris before going home.


    Instead of actually going home, Quill went to the armys hidden base, where there was a surgery room prepared and waiting for him. Once inside they quickly returned his organs to where they should be.


    Feeling his heartbeat through his chest had never felt so good before, but he wasnt able to enjoy it for long. They got news that the teleporter had just activated and the mercenary team had entered the before immediately flying into space.


    Knowing he needed to trail them, Quill also took to space and kept a few thousand miles away from the group, and well outside of their spiritual range, but close enough that he could intervene if it was necessary.


    Settling in, he waited.


    Now it was up to Torch to locate and free Justinian Miller before Linda noticed something was amiss.


    He sent a ping that he was in position to the headquarters of the battalion they had brought in from nearby systems, and told them that they should be ready to react to Torchs movements while he waited for the team to capture Hardy.


    If everything went to n, nothing would beplicated and they could end this without a fight.


    ***


    Torch felt <em>awful</em>.


    The poison theyd chosen was the least painful of all spirit-dampening, moderately fast-acting poisons, but being the <em>least</em> painful was only a small constion right now. Her blood felt sluggish and slow, her inner me was down to embers, and she had a headache as bad as any from Concept overuse. If she wasnt in her [Blood Body], she was sure it would be even worse.


    She was far enough underground now, and she pulled herself together, blood flowing through permeable soil until she was all in one piece. Then, she released her [Blood Body]. The Tier 4 soil around her easily gave way as she returned first to bird form, then to human form. Her body felt even worse than shed expected, but with the secondary potion she drank, the poison wouldnt kill her for another few days yet. That meant she got to agonize for the next few hours until shepleted her mission.


    <em>Oh joy</em>.


    It took her some time, as the official ns were indeed <em>woefully</em> outdated, but after finding a servant''s bathroom that didnt seem used often, Torch burbled out of the sink and then spilled out onto the floor. Once her entire body was out of the sink, she reformed into her real body and locked the door.


    Taking a deep breath, she pulled some blood through her skin and drew a number of runes in the air.


    While unstructured magic was <em>fiendishly </em>hard, shed gotten a lot better at what she was calling Blood Seeking over the past two decades. Those improvements were mostly on the reliability and time fronts, as unstructured magic was affected by <em>everything</em>. What time of day it was, what the weather was, what Tier of she was on, when shedst eaten, the cadence her <em>heart</em> was beating at, even how full her mana pool was. She had to make a thousand tiny adjustments on the fly to make the magic do what she wanted it to do, and by now, she could reliably do it in less than a minute and on her first try. She could even cast a few minor skill-less-spells, but they werent useful here, which was good, as she wasnt nearly as proficient with them.


    Her blood resonated, and the blood in her surroundings resonated back. The resonance wasnt strong enough yet for her to use magic through the connection, but that was fine. All Torch cared about at the moment was that shed just gotten a very firm idea as to where everyone in thepound was, and where they were moving. It could even pierce a number of basic or lower-Tier privacy wards, but it wasnt foolproof.


    Shed tried a few times to get a skill version of Blood Seeking, but to no avail. [Tracking], [Farsight], and [Seek] just broke. [Earthsense] just became [Bloodsense] and let her extend tactile sensation through blood, which wasnt what she wanted. [Mark] became [Smell Blood], a strict downgrade from the original because it required her to injure someone as she cast it, and if they healed themselves, the magical scent would go away.


    So, she made do. As people moved about the estate, Liz ryed the information to her AI to slowly build out a three dimensional map of thepound. After three hours, she had a few points of interest.


    The first was where they suspected the vault to be. She couldnt sense anything inside of it, naturally, but she <em>had</em> felt some level of interference from its wards when people passed nearby, and there were as expected two guards stationed near there at all times. Or rather, she suspected there were two, as there had been what she figured was a shift change, and two connections of blood had entered the vault''s disruptive range while two different ones had left.


    The second was Lindas room. There was someone who hadnt moved from that general area at all in the same amount of time, despite a number of othersing and going. It could possibly be a lover, but it could also be that Linda wanted to keep Justinian close, and had boxed him somewhere nearby her person.


    The third possible location was an otherwise nk location on her map; she just couldnt figure out what it was. Her magic told her there were two people there, but literally nothing else, not even foot traffic.


    That was odd to say the least.


    The only thing Torch could think of was that Justinian was being kept with someone forpany. Maybe a fellow captive or nted lover to keep him cated? It was under one of the gardens, which would be an unusual ce to keep him, but perhaps that was the idea. She would never think to look there without the resonance of her blood.


    Wanting to hit the easiest to check ces first, Torch cast [Water Body] once more and slithered her way through the pipes until she reached the kitchens, and then through a sprinkler and into the garden.


    Seeping through the soil, she eventually found a cer packed with foodstuffs and a pair of workers using the out-of-the-way location to take a nap from a long day''s work. Silentlymending them on their ability to vanish for over three hours without being noticed, she left them to their devices and noted that she could alert the staff to their presence if she needed to create a distraction, as neither seemed like they would be awake any time soon.


    She resolidified on the far end of the gardens, making herself a tiny cavern to hole up in, and recast her tracking magic, following the routine for another hour to see if anything had changed.


    The couple had finally finished their nap, but she could only guess based on the fact that they had been joined by a third and fourth person, having presumably caught them snoozing.


    Now, all that was left was for Hardy to be captured by the mercenaries, and Linda to be called out to space. She needed to move three more times between various locations to ensure she stayed <em>well</em> out of range of any of the guards, but in time, Hardy left with a few of his men.


    A few hourster, a powerful presence red to life, then rocketed into the sky.


    Knowing Linda was gone, Torch slipped into her bathroom through the shower drain and carefully scanned the area to find a fit-looking man lounging on the bed, eating a snack while watching the screen on the far wall. That at least exined the blood connection that didnt move all day.


    She wasnt surprised to see Linda had a consort. It was fairlymon among rulers, and for an <em>unmarried</em> ruler, she was almost surprised Linda had just the one.


    That left just one location left.


    The vault.


    Knowing she needed to hurry, Liz recast [Water Body] once more to quickly reach the final area that was the suspected vault.


    This, unlike the other locations, wasnt something that she could sneak into, which meant she needed to go in loud.


    That would, in turn, bring Linda back quickly, so she needed to only act once the Tier 19 had enough time to reach the outer system. Even then, she would have far less time than she would have liked. Her problem was that areas leading to the vault werepletely isted from the main water systems, and she needed to carefully navigate the intervening space without triggering any rms, or her entire rescue operation would be spoiled before she even started.


    Getting as close as possible, Torch checked the area with her blood magic. There were two guards present, just as she suspected.


    The vault was well designed to prevent exactly what she wanted to do. The guards were stationed at the end of a long corridor with no protrusions or the like to break up sightlines or give an enemy a ce to hide. Their positions were also fortified with high Tier enchanted ss made up of a plethora of runes she couldn''t see, but were standard for the position and would protect them from most ranged attacks. She was also sure their AIs were connected to the estate''s AI to watch for dips in their mental activities or heartbeats.


    While she would be able to take out the Tier 10 guards before they could so much as blink, there would <em>definitely</em> be some kind of rm that would result from her going in skills zing. That would start the timer, which she didnt want. Ideally, the first warning would be the guards copsing.


    That would earn her precious seconds, which might mean the difference between Justinians life, death, or sessful rescue.


    If shed just been better at her freeform magic, she could do all sorts of things. Immersing the guards in a hallucination of an empty hallway would be a good tactic, but it just wasnt an option. Looking through her stash of talismans, she mentally cursed. The few ones she had for harmlessly transfixing guards were too strong to use here. Quill was great at making talismans, but thatrgely resulted in very strong ones, and rendering the Tier 10 guards near-unconscious was nearly as good as killing them as far as setting off an rm went.


    Instead, she decided to go with a riskier potion idea.


    There was an even chance this tripped the rms as well, but Quill and she had concocted this potion to hopefully not trip any of the sensors that the hallway would be fitted with.


    ording to Quill, most defensive measures looked for things like an increase in humidity to notice phenomena like a gas being blown in to knock out the guards, but that wasnt even close to foolproof. They had decided to go with a powder to hopefully slip through the detection wards. While it wasnt a new idea, powders were harder to detect in small quantities, and she was hoping to use that fact to hit the guards with a very fine, high Tier powder.


    It was a hallucinogenic that would make them see things that weren''t there, which risked them sounding the rms, but in a low dose, Torch just hoped to dull their reactions for a few brief seconds. They might beplicit in the capture and holding of Justinian, but that was for the courts to decide, not her.


    A small gust from [Air Maniption] carried a small handful of the powder down the hall. She gave it to the count of five, and took off from a standing sprint.


    She crossed the thirty yards in less than a second, to find the two guards wobbling on their feet.


    Grabbing both of them, Torch threw them behind her and down the hall even as she pped a circle of talismans on the vault door.


    With a small expenditure of mana, she activated the formation and watched as the runes started to glow. This was the make-or-break-it moment. If she couldnt get inside the vault, she was screwed, they would have to call off their portion of the operation, and Luna and the army would have to step in.


    Torch just wondered how Quill was doing.


    ***


    Quill looked on the scene unfolding before him in bewilderment that slowly turned to well controlled rage. The mercenarypany had arrived just on schedule, but instead of fighting the Gerbles, they were just standing around joking with each other.


    Their righteous anger about being outsmarted seemed to be nothing more than a joke. Or possibly a way to ferret out who was trying to go against the Gerble family, but frankly, he didnt really care.


    He was, however, slightly irritated that he had effectively brought five morebatants into the fight when he didnt need to. He could have just waited here and captured the noble son himself, and saved a little effort.


    With a thought and the purely theatrical pushing of a button on his sleeve, Quill activated the first talisman he had ced, and a glowing barrier of mana appeared around the asteroid with the smuggled goods. He had initially set the barrier of talismans up to contain Linda and her armor-piercing Domain, but he had expected to be simply watching as the two sides fought it out.


    Knowing there was nothing he could do at this point, Quill sent a message to Linda, showing a brief recording of her son picking up the asteroid and attached a brief message. If you dont give me one thousand Tier 19 mana stones in an hour, Im going to start killing them, but not before sending the information that your son is a smuggler to every noble in the sector.


    He didnt get a reply, so he pulled out a [Mana Spear] talisman and cast it through the barrier the group was still trying to futilely break through. Dozens of Tier 15sbined didnt have a chance to break it, let alone a measly eleven of them.


    His shot hit two of them, severing limbs and causing their blood to spray in the vacuum. Quill sent along another message to Linda with that particr update. He still didnt <em>strictly</em> hear back, but he was informed by the army watchers that the Tier 19 had taken off from her estate at top speed.


    Quill wished he could message Torch about the situation, but any and allmunications going into the estate would be monitored, and he wasnt sure about her situation and couldnt risk blowing her cover if she was still in the process of going slow. He trusted her to be able to adapt, and that was all that mattered.


    Three more [Mana Spear] talismans and three more messagester, Quill could finally see Linda Gerble.


    She was riding a flying sword clearly designed for pure speed, and while her physical presence wasnt nearly so imposing as his, Quill knew her Tier made her the strongest person here by a substantial margin.


    She slowed to a stop right outside what a Tier 15s normal range would have covered, looking at him in confusion. Presumably, she was trying to figure out what his deal was, a sole Tier 15 standing unflinching and unafraid against someone four Tiers above him.


    Or, it could have been the chair. But there was no better way to convey impatience than to be sitting with legs crossed and fingers steepled while sitting on a chair. That there was no ground beneath him was no obstacle to the theatrics.


    Despite his carefree demeanor, he was seething under his illusory face. This was a woman who had destroyed the life of an adolescent, taken so much from him, purely for her own greed.


    It went against what the Empire stood for, and it went against what <em>he</em> stood for. If he didnt have the military and Liz helping him with this mission, he would have tried to do it on his own, even if it might have taken far longer and been much riskier and possibly exposed his own unique Talent. [Cracked Mana Spear] hadnt justnguished in his innate spell slot for years after all and he was pretty sure he could kill even a Tier 19 given a few minutes by relying on the skill.


    But that didnt mean the current risk wasnt substantial. He had fought plenty of Tier 19 monsters, but monsters were, on the whole, predictable. Their power fell within a narrow band based on their Tier and biology. They were dangerous, yes but they rarely did anything truly surprising. Even the most cunning of rift monsters were far less intelligent than a human, and didnt prepare their abilities for different scenarios. A person, especially one with significant training and wealth, was always far scarier.


    Despite that, Quill wasnt afraid. He couldnt be afraid when he was this angry. The only things he had on his mind were battle ns, anger, and a dash of theatrics.


    Fear had no ce in a fight or it would get you killed.


    There was still risk though.


    Failure here would get him kicked off the Path, devastate his ns for the future, but it would still be worth it. For Justinian, and all the people like him, this fight was worth the risk. It was the job he had signed up for.


    If he had to stand before a thousand people like Linda, he would still choose to do it. If it meant that the powerless could live without fear of exploitation, he would stand dauntless against the weight of a world crashing down on him.


    He could take it.


    If the sky fell hed do his best to shoulder it. For his friends, for his family, for the people who hed never meet but would be able to use their gifts without fear.


    Now, arent you a greedy bastard. Trying to frame my family <em>and</em> make a power y at the same time? Overconfident, too. Well, youll regret that.


    Quill smiled as she tried to take control of the narrative, but clearly had no <em>clue</em> what story was being told.


    Overconfidence is only for people who lose. Im precisely as confident as I need to be, and not an iota more. If its just me, I thought youd have a sporting chance, which is all Im willing to give you.


    She rushed forward, and Quill used that moment to trigger his talismans, all of his physical buffs, and his [AI] with the rudimentarybat model it had built around Linda. They wouldntst forever, of course, but they <em>should</em>st long enough for Torch to rescue Justinian Miller.


    Then, and only then could they bring in the army to subdue the situation.


    To buy her time, he just needed to fight someone four Tiers higher than himself.


    Easy.


    Except, not at all.


    While he had reviewed all the information about Linda Gerble and prepared counters, her significant effort spent hiding her abilities was paying dividends. She was faster than expected, more efficient with her Concept boosted flight, and her [Shadow Armor] looked far sturdier than in any recording he had ess to. That was all before she even truly started fighting, and Quill was sure she had some surprises up her sleeve.


    While Linda tried to close the distance, Quill threw out a series of seemingly uncoordinated talismans meant to test her and her skills. [Fireball], [Fire Bolt], [Earth Spear], [Ice Spear], [Bolt], [Wind de], and more as he probed her defenses, buying him fractions of moments at a time as she dodged or tanked the hits.


    Linda shrugged aside the first barrage with no effort, and attempted to do the same with the second barrage. Unfortunately, the <em>second</em> barrage consisted of pseudo Tier 19 talismans, with millions of mana powering them apiece. From all the recordings Quill couldnt say Linda was arrogant but she was incredibly self confident and the first barrage of skills would have shown him as a simple Tier 15 talismans fighter.


    That assumption was a mistake.


    The first [Ice Lance] knocked her back, the first [Fireball] disoriented her, the second [Earth Spear] nearly knocked her sword out of her hand. The first two [Bolt]s struck her head simultaneously, only to be blocked by a reactive shield that red from her helmet.


    Good. That meant his attacks were lethal, or at least debilitating.


    Linda realized that as well, and ignited a silver and gold aura, turning aside the rest of his bombardment. His [AI] raced as it tried to identify the spell but came up with no good matches throwing a massive question mark into their fight. If Quill wasnt used to fighting up Tiers her increased speed and defenses would have caught him off guard but he was better than that.


    Linda started throwing out [Mana sh]es at a speed that reminded him of his own fighting. From his mana sight, he could tell that each was impably crafted, directed with fantastic mana control, and more than likely enhanced with her Concept. It was really no wonder that she rarely ever needed more than this in her recordings. Not many people would have the experience to dodge or block such an attack.


    Only those who spent all their time fighting.


    A [Bulwark] appeared in front of Quills body just before the iing wave of attacksnded, and he reinforced it with his Concept as much as he could, throwing out a [Diffusion Shield] in front for good measure. If thetter spell had any effect, he couldnt tell, as her strikesnded on [Bulwark] undisturbed. Each one felt like a goliath hammering down on his shield,ing close to breaking at a few points, but he held firm unharmed beneath the onught thanks to him reinforcing the spell with his Concept.


    Quill attempted to [Snare] her, but her Domain red and broke it like it was made of wet paper before the spell could take hold and really slow her down.


    She cast [Blink], which he responded to with [Lock Down]. Linda then tried to cast [de Flurry], a spell which shot out a dozen light des in a fan, but he had been expecting that having watched some of her delving, and had a [Dark Wall] talisman ready to intercept the attack.


    The fact that she was revealing so much this early was both gratifying and dangerous. She took him as a real threat, yes, but it also meant she wasmitted to leaving no witnesses.


    Noticing that he was well prepared for fighting a melee fighter at range, Linda decided to forgo most of her usual tactics and charged directly at him, wanting to use her Tier 19 strength to batter him down.


    It was her best y and one he hoped she wouldnt use so quickly.


    Even as his [AI] started throwing up counter measures he kept retreating and while doing so he threw out two more formations that would hopefully stall her. One was an overcharged [Arcane Powershot] and the second was abined [Create Water] and [Sheer Cold] charged with over five hundred thousand mana.


    The resulting explosion filled the intervening space with ice fragments, but Linda seemed unaffected beyond her slightly wispy [Shadow Armor] which returned to its former stability after only a few seconds. She only paused in her charge to spin and block the [Arcane Powershot] that nearly caught her in the side.


    Manually casting [Shatter Shot] at a rapid pace, he aimed to get some shrapnel behind her shield and through the gaps in her armor. Every second spell was enhanced with [Double Tap], which Linda quickly picked up on as she began throwing out small and fast [Mana sh]es to intercept and prematurely detonate his own projectiles, scoring a few small wounds on Quills side. As she neared, the streaks of blood on her armor told him he had scored some hits on her, even as she bashed and smashed any of the stone grenades which got near her. Quill tried to throw up a [Hypersonic Edge] [Wind Cutter] array, but Linda was too close, and responded with a [Mana sh] of her own sent to hit him but also tearing through the array before it could fully unleash its power.


    The spell moved so quickly that even despite his dodge and all of his buffs, Quill wasnt able topletely avoid the crescent of mana, and lost the lower portion of his left leg to the strike. [Barbarian''s Hide], even buffed by his Concept and after Manny''s training, did little more than slow the attack down. However, it <em>had</em> mitigated the resulting injury, which he counted as a sess. Losing his leg was better than having his entire lower body get blown off.


    Pulling out his talisman robe, Quill noticed the moment Linda realized she was dealing with someone prepared for <em>her</em> every move, and not just someone ready to fight a normal melee fighter. If he wasnt hiding his Quill mask, he was sure she would have already cut her losses and tried to escape to another region of the Empire, where she could take a new name and pretend to be someone else. She just hadnt realized how deep the conspiracy went yet which was what they were counting on.


    It was something he had already predicted and nned for, which was why they had brought the army in to surround this world. There were already three toons surrounding the world in chaotic space, and the moment Linda left her estate, they had secured the teleporters to prevent anyone from escaping using that method.


    Linda closed the gap, and Quill used two talismans on his cloak to cast [Earth Armor], hoping to block the next blow. Wanting to be extra careful, he also cast [Bulwark] while triggering a false talisman from his cloak.


    [Bulwark] shattered under the strike, but absorbed enough of her attack to allow for [Earth Armor] to block the rest of the blow, and he slipped out from melee range with only a shallow cut on his hip.


    Linda on the other hand was sent careening backwards from the momentum of her own strike, and Quill snapped his fingers to activate his prepared talisman field.


    The section of space he had just been transformed into a ball of pale blue light as upwards of a million mana detonated in unison.


    He still cast a set of [Cracked Mana Trap]s, disguising them as talisman byproducts just in case she came out of that trap in fighting condition.


    Linda ran right through them, ignoring the resulting explosions of various mana types to close the distance once more. He wanted to curse the woman but saw she wasnt nearly as damaged by the double traps as he had hoped.


    Quill readied a counter, knowing he wasnt going to be able to slip through the gaps once more, and the moment she struck out at him with her [Light de], he punched forward, activating two talismans to respond with [Piercing Punch]. The attack wasnt his strongest option, but it was fast enough and carried enough armor pration that even Linda would at least need to be wary of it.


    His own years of experience told him what she was trying to do and his [AI] model backed his assumptions up with the raw data. Her initial blow aimed for his chest, very nearly a feint, just one that would still do damage, but it set her up to decapitate him on the backswing which would catch someone less versed in melee fights unaware. He avoided it with a small sidewards teleport and flying towards her, pushing her to retreat.


    He didnt stop his attack like he was sure she would have predicted and hoped that would be enough to force her to change the trajectory of her attack. If she didnt dodge he would most certainly hit her head directly which could very well be lethal without some additional mitigation.


    Instead of dodging, Linda just took the attack on her helmeted head and cut through his lower waist in one clean blow. He could feel her Concept as it sheared through his armor, and while not the most sophisticated Domain she had the raw power topensate. That his magical and physical armor had both been devastated didnt matter, it was an expected loss.


    His [Piercing Punch] hadnded, and even through her helmet, carved a furrow through her skin, exposing her skull. But sadly, he wasnt able to expose her brain to the vacuum of space like he had intended. A sudden drop in pressure like that would render most people unconscious, if they werent prepared.


    Growling, Quill reached out, red [Mages Retreat] and anchored both of them in space with his Concept as he grabbed her shield and twisted. Bone cracked, and he saw her good eye go wide at his surprising strength. Even with nearly 30,000 mana fueling the spell, it wasnt enough for him to directly match a Tier 19 warrior in strength. But it was certainly enough to catch her by surprise, for an apparent Tier 15 mage to even be a fraction of his current strength.


    She seemed to realize something was wrong right as half a dozen talismans on his cloak red to life, trapping her in melee range for a [Bolt] array.


    He was ready for it, using [Barbarians Hide] and [Lightning Maniption] to blunt the worst of it for himself, but Linda seized as the mana ripped through her armor and into her body.


    Quill''s left hand was blown off, which destroyed a few dummy rings and cracked his teleport ring. Unfortunate, as he would be out of teleports for the rest of the fight, but easily recoverable in the near future when he got his hand back.


    Lindas mangled shield arm glowed with magical healing, and Quill retreated to begin casting more spells. He couldn''t get far enough to escape the Tier 19, and endured a few more blows before Lindas head snapped to the side.


    She fledward, with Torch clearly having seeded in the first part of her mission. Of course, Quill couldnt just let her <em>leave</em>. Some optimizations had gone through with his [AI]s model of Linda and he used that to his advantage as he activated a three talisman force array that was aimed for her neck and would cover her three most likely ces to dodge.


    The blow would have cut right through her if she didnt turn and block it with her shield which was good enough.


    Another volley of spells forced her back into the fight properly.


    He didnt need to kill her. Just keep her from returning to the.


    She couldnt fly away at maximum speed without opening herself up to attack. She couldnt fight someone who nearly matched her while also trying to flee.


    He knew it.


    She knew it.


    Now backed into a corner, she turned towards him with determination, and murder in her eyes.


    Quill was sure he was about to find out what other spells she had been keeping in reserve the hard way.


    He just hoped Torch would finish her part quickly.


    ***


    Torch counted down the seconds as the vault door, oh so slowly, deformed. Their preferred method of getting into a vault was to st or melt through a door, but that idea was impossible when they needed to rescue someone who would have no skills to protect themselves from the st. They didnt know how close Justinian would be to the vault door, and they couldn''t risk killing him but that cost her time.


    So, they needed to rip the door apart in a way with as little damage to the inside as possible, which was where Quill''s talismans came into y. They were designed after [Filter] and [Ore Separator], which could, in their own ways, separate items at a minute level. And nearly all vault doors were metallic mixtures meant to give the door strength and keep spiritual perception out, which meant at least two metals.


    The talisman just separated those metals.


    In theory a very easy task.


    In practice a very, very hard one.


    Most vault makers included specific countermeasures for metal-separation attacks, but the nice thing was that they couldntpletely block it so long as the door was actually made of metal. It just meant the attack needed to be that much more powerful and mana was never something theycked.


    Seymour, the head of security, rushed at her back with his mace raised high and glowing a sickly green. Torch barely even needed to turn, blocking the attack with her shield and attacking his thigh in turn with her spear.


    Her de didnt pierce the armor, but the Tier 18 was forced backward, and Torch used that opportunity to activate her strength boosting potions and spells, throwing her spear at him hard enough to tear some of her muscles. He threw his glowing mace with [Crescent Sweep], but Torch red her shields mana shield into a full bubble, blocking Seymours attack before he was expecting it and enabling her tond her throw on his chest that dented his armor and pushed him back.


    From there, she swept out his legs from underneath him, utilizing her Concept to reinforce the action. Once he was falling, she locked some [Gravity Manacle] talismans onto his limbs, pinning him to the ground.


    She only needed to dy him for a few seconds longer, with the hole in the door nearlyrge enough for her to pass through, and it seemed as though Seymour wouldnt free himself in time. She did activate a set of fire talismans to flood the hallway with mes helped along with her bloodline to st back the onrushing guards. At only Tier 15 and 16, she barely even needed to pay them any mind but she didnt want to kill them if she didnt have to.


    And then, a hole in the vault opened. It was only a finger''s width wide but that was all she needed. Torch instantly turned into water and flooded through the gap, rematerializing on the other side.


    Once inside, she ignored all the precious items and instead spread her spiritual perception out, looking for anywhere that might hold a captive and, to her horror, found nothing immediately obvious.


    Dragging her focus back on track, Torch analyzed what she felt and noticed one wall was significantly shorter than the other. Seeing that and hoping it was what she thought it was she immediately ran to the wall and drove her spear into it.


    Thankfully, the metal was chosen and reinforced to block spiritual perceptions, not for structural strength, so after only a few moments of work, she had created a crack in the wall. Digging her fingers inside, she pulled with a burst of potion-enhanced strength and sighed, seeing a thin, dirty, scared man in one corner of a room too small for him.


    She analyzed the room and shook her head even as she kept ripping the wall apart. The section he was locked in was cramped enough to prevent him fromying down properly but beyond the ss partition which made his room so small was a luxurious room that put to shame her room she had growing up.


    Not caring about being noticed, shemanded her AI to call in the army, but then noticed that the entire estate was locked down and blocking AI signals both in and out.


    Using her spiritual sense to look out to the guards now rushing down the hall, she mentally shrugged.


    If that was how they wanted to y it, she would oblige them.


    Im here to save you, Mr. Miller.


    She saw him sob at the confirmation and unsessfully tried to help her widen the hole so he could scrabble out just a little faster. He cut himself a few times, but even as a Tier 14 mage, he wouldnt be in danger from those wounds, so she ignored them in favor of watching the guards get closer.


    Stay behind me, and I''ll get you out of here.


    He stared at her in bewilderment, and Torch repeated her statement at a speed even a Tier 5 could follow.


    This time he responded with fervor. Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok.


    Hearing that Justinian was babbling, she ignored him and summoned her spear back to her hands and created a dense wall of fire like an umbre in front of her.


    If anyone survives breaching these mes I will kill them without hesitation. House Gerble has been found to be holding captive a civilian against their will to exploit their Talent. Surrender to Imperial investigators or suffer the consequences of trying to stop me.


    Seymour immediately called out, Shes lying and nting evidence! Kill her!


    Torch considered that eptance.


    Still boosted by her skills and potions, Torch ran forward and let her mes unkindly scorch Seymour, but made sure not to actually kill the wounded man. After that littlement, she was sure he knew what was going on, and wanted him to stand trial for his crimes.


    It was the average security shed rather not kill, but from the way they were throwing spells at her, she was rather limited in her options. She wasnt worried about her safety, but if a stray spell hit Justinian


    She unleashed her full spiritual perception, assessing the area, and promptly flooded the area with fire to obscure her next actions.


    There were almost twenty feet of reinforced concrete above her, but she had dealt with worse. Her Tier 3 talent still reduced the cost of her blood skills, even if they ended up controlling stone, and great chunks of stone began crumbling from the ceiling above as she bored a holerge enough for the two of them to fit through.


    A tendril of water formed a harness around Justinian, and Liz rode her spear up through the still-widening hole until they burst into the main floor of the estate. As the majority of the structure was only Tier 4, she didnt even slow down as she crashed through floors and walls on her way to the sky.


    <em>Target acquired</em>.


    Her message had barely left her AI when a spaceship thudded into existence smashing through the defensive barriers around the estate like they were made of wet tissue paper. The in-atmosphere change from chaotic space into realspace discing enough air to let her <em>feel</em> it like a punch to the gut, and Tier 15 soldiers swarmed out to secure the estate.


    She was about to take Justinian away when Luna appeared next to her. Well done, but this isn''t over yet. Lets g


    Torch was about to say something else when Lunas eyes narrowed. The next moment, the cat vanished with only an angry hiss marking her passage.


    ***


    Quill was missing his entire lower half, the remainder of his left arm along with his growth ring which was floating around somewhere in the debris of their fight, his chest was trailing his cut-up organs, but he had managed to keep away from Linda for thest five minutes, and even inflicted a few more wounds on her. Some were even serious enough to hamper her in the fight which was how he had been able to keep his cover so long.


    Biologically, he was dying, but one of the perks of immortality was that he could rece the need for biology with fury and determination. It worked nearly as well for a short time. Still, he was wondering if he was going to need to use [Cracked Mana Spear] or [Cracked Phantom Armor] to protect his life when warships arrived on the scene, disgorging two dozen Tier 15s and a single Tier 19 soldier.


    Torch had seeded.


    Quill began applying [Bandage]s to himself, running [Lesser Regeneration] with most of his mana, when three figures suddenly <em>appeared</em>. The first was an unfamiliar man with one hand locked in ce inches from the back of Lindas head and the other hand already dissolved into purple motes of void mana. The second was Luna, holding back the man from his attack.


    The third figure was Frederic, floating next to Luna with a scowl writrge on his face.


    It seemed things had beplicated.

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239


    Quill coughed out a mouthful of blood, tracking down another section of internal bleeding and stopping it with a [Bandage]. Calling his injuries wounds was a bit of an understatement, as they were better described as horrific damage. His left hand was gone, floating a few miles away after one of Lindas attacks. Everything below his waist was also cut off and floating in space as gobbets norger than a mana stone. He was pretty sure thergest bit had once been a part of one of his boots.


    If he wasnt a Tier 15, able to ignore merely debilitating damage with enough concentration and effort, hed have already died.


    As the anger and rage that had been fueling him slowly drained away, Quill blinked his eyes back into focus as he focused on the drama unfolding right in front of him.


    Frederics spirit bore a distinct resemnce to a volcano about to erupt, and Lunas incisors had sharpened into full cat fangs peeking through her lips.


    Frederic silently snapped, the sound vanishing into the inky ckness of space, and the entire group reappeared in the skies above the Gerble estate. Matts barrier around Hardy and his goons were gone, but in exchange, theyd been ced right in front of the soldiers assigned to apprehend them, and were led off to a spaceship hovering nearby. His left hand floated in front of him and he stored it away so he couldter reattach it.


    Below them, the noble estate bore a distinct resemnce to a toppled anthill, with army personnel swarming the ce.


    A few of those army personnel in healers garb rushed over to Quill and immediately moved to start healing him, but he waved them off. He was more interested in the events unfolding in front of him than the healers stitching his wounds closed. After all, he wasnt getting half his body regrown anywhere but a hospital.


    Part of him wished Melinda was nearby, but then he remembered that she had stepped off the Path. There simply was no market price for her healing, and so, he could no longer benefit from her healing while he remained on the Path so even if she was near he couldn''t get healed by her.


    Torch joined them, bringing with her a scraggly-looking man, and Quill frowned. Justinian Miller, for that was the only person it could be, looked rough. Actually, rough was putting it nicely; he looked like Matt had in the beginning of his Folded Reflection life, when he resisted his captors and was subsequently punished. That had bad implications, with him being a peak Tier 14 and having been held captive for five hundred years.


    Frederic red at the man in Lunas grip, his words carrying a hint of a growl as he spoke. I knew House Gerble wasnt acting alone, but I hadnt thought it was you, Ilkor.


    Quills AI handily provided an EmpireNet bio of Ilkor Hastings, the local duke. He was from an old noble line, an old rival of Frederics family from back when that faction of inherited nobility settled the area that now made up Frederics kingdom. The major thing Quill noted was that they didnt have any major scandals, at least before now.


    Luna released the man and drifted backwards, pulling Linda away from the two nobles. Quill was a bit sad he wasnt about to see her be crushed in an argument, but he mostly wanted her to stand trial, which she couldnt do as a mushed corpse.


    Illkor blurred, a glowing hand recing where Luna had taken his old one, speaking without making noise. Then, he reeled back as though struck, red at Frederic, and spoke at Tier 12 speeds, I was merely removing scum from the Empire, as are all our duties. If I had known you were there to intercede on our young heroes'' behalf, I wouldnt have bothered. Ill pay the fine for excessive force and interfering without argument.


    He nodded to Quill, and he needed to resist the urge to give him a rude gesture. It was clearly bullshit, and he was trying to cover the fact he had been trying to kill a key witness in a horrific crime.


    The question was, how was Frederic going to handle it? Let him off? Punish him?


    Frederic simply responded with a slow shake of his head. This wont be that simple, Ilkor. The Emperor himself has a personal interest in seeing this case resolved. After all, Mr. Miller was abducted before he appointed me as overseer of this sector, and that means it was his responsibility. Regardless, if you think I would allow you to be free of this with a simple fine, you dont understand what my role is. You were attempting to kill a key witness in an Imperial Crime, and if I find out that you wereplicit in even the slightest way for Mr. Millers captivity, you will face full andplete penalties for all misdeeds.


    Ilkor sneered at Frederic, So you get raised to a king, and you throw your own kind away to suckle at the Emperor''s teat? How embarrassing.


    Frederics spirit radiated such genuine anger that Quill nearly took a step back, but the sensation passed as the king fixed his eyes on the duke. Ilkor Hastings. Do you treat the rest of your duties with the sameck of care as your words? Our mandate is to act as stewards and protectors of themon man. We are nobles, and our bearing <em>must </em>reflect that. There is a right and proper way to undertake this action, through contracts and bonds of service. We are not thugs, stealing men away from their homes in the dead of night, we are <em>nobles</em>, we are <em>rulers</em>, and our tools arew and order. Power, tempered with wisdom, not reaching beyond its means to aplish what it wishes. Sheppards of our flock, strengthening them so they empower us just as we cultivate ours to grow stronger. I will stand against you should you overreach, just as surely as I oppose the Emperor attempting to do the same. That is <em>my job</em>, <em>my duty</em>, Ilkor.


    Frederic turned away, but kept speaking. Ilkor, do not leave this until further notice. You are officially a suspect in the case of Mr. Miller, and your actions now have established sufficient cause for a full Royal audit. Fleeing will only make things worse for you.


    With that, Frederic turned away from the duke and towards Justinian. The newly-rescued man quivered like a rabbit as he hid behind Torch, but Quills partner gently reassured and guided him to face the king better.


    Good day, Mr. Miller. My name is Frederic Macheteuil, and I am, as of a few decades ago, the King of this sector. I am genuinely sorry for all that you have undergone, and will do all within my power to ensure you are made whole in the wake of this ordeal. Should you need me for anything or have any concerns, contact me day or night, regardless of your location. I will pay for all inteary messaging costs. Having said that, Frederic proffered the man a pad which Quill was sure had a personal line to the royal. It wasnt like the former captive would have been given an AI.


    Except, Justinian didnt take it. He didnt even reach out, but instead just looked between the offered pad and Torch. After a moment, she reached out and grabbed the pad before offering it to Justinian herself. That was enough for the man, who took it from her and clutched it to his chest.


    With a shallow bow in goodbye, Frederic floated up into the sky, meeting a massive floating ind and estate as it appeared from chaotic space.


    Quill had seen such floating estates before, but thest one he hade across was Duke Ignites from when they first entered the Vassal kingdom of the Seven Suns. It hadnt been half asrge, and he hadnt been able to sense the ripple from the estate tearing its way through space to arrive back then.


    It felt like a sledgehammer hitting him as his sense of reality warped, and with his pre-existing injuries, Quill wanted to vomit.


    Thankfully, the moment quickly passed, and he was better in seconds.


    Ilkor was already gone the next time Quill looked his way. Considering the Duke was forbidden from leaving the, he couldnt care less where the noble went. Quill was sure there was a trash heap about to be sent into a rift that the man could call home for his stay. The noble was almost certainly in cahoots with Linda, and would be going down with her. But from what he had seen, Ilkor wasnt as strong as Luna, let alone Frederic, which was all that mattered. He wouldnt be escaping even if he tried.


    Quill almost hoped Ilkor <em>would</em> try. Currently, they had nothing substantial enough to charge a Duke with, as everything was circumstantial. But defying a direct order from an appointed King was more than enough to be thrown into a prison cell.


    He was also d Frederic seemed honestly angry at the situation. It could all be an act put on for his benefit, but there was a level of sincerity to the man''s words and actions that made him believe it.


    Seeing the army personnel who moved in to look over Torch and Justinian, Quill went to do the same, but hesitated in seeing how Justinian could barely control himself from flinching back from everyone but Torch. The man had clearly imprinted on Torch as his savior, and Quill couldnt me him in the least. For all Justinian knew, anyone could beplicit in the crimes against him or want to capture him themselves.


    Everyone except Torch.


    And while even that logic wasnt entirely sound, as even she could have only saved him to keep him locked up, Quill understood emotions werent always logical.


    He was just d to see the man alive and free. Everything else could be slowly fixed, but seeing their rescue effort had seeded made all the injuries he had sustained more than worth it.


    He and Torch exchanged a quick pair of AI messages, and Torch floated the two of them over to him. Justinian, this is my partner Quill. He was the one who got me inside the estate and then fought Linda so we had time to escape.


    Justinian swallowed, looking at Quills mangled body, so he proffered his single remaining hand, which still held his invulnerable left hand, and wiggled the severed limb. Good to meet you, and don''t worry about this. Ill be healed in no time. Speaking of which, why dont we both get checked out?


    Thank you. I. I. I I just. I


    Quill waved him down, making sure to keep the movement slow.


    Ive had worse, believe me. I just want to make sure youre okay. He wanted to say he understood what the man was going through, and had sort of gone through something simr, but that would both give away his identity and Talent. He was going to ask Luna if he could tell Justinian about the part of the Folded Reflection lifeter, as they could just say he had gotten a different Talent, and that might help the man. But he wasnt going to do so out in the open.


    Still, his reassurance seemed to settle Justinian down, and the three of them flew over to the nearest hospital, which had a few rooms taken over by the army for their use, where they were immediately looked over.


    The hospital staff, seeing Justinian was physically fine, wanted to pull Quill into a separate room to start regrowing his body. But with how Justinian was resisting being separated from Quill or Torch, he told them to just start the healing.


    That got some grumbles from the healers about the proper procedure, but needs must, and Justiniansfort took priority currently.


    With Torch sitting in a chair against the wall, Quill had most of his body regrown while a local therapist talked to Justinian. Like before, they had tried to get Justinian to do this alone in a separate room, but he tly refused to leave, and no one pushed him too hard.


    Quill had spent his fair share of time with therapists, and while not one himself, he knew a thing or two about the science. From what he was hearing from Justinian, things had been very, very rough in thest few decades, but they hadnt always been that bad.


    Like in his own false life, Justinian had been given strict deadlines and harsh punishment if he didnt provide in that time frame. While he didnt exin how his Talent worked, he mentioned how if he didnt give them an essence stone quickly enough, they would take awayforts and possibly inflict pain. They hadnt had to punish him in a long time, as he had long since given up, epting his fate as a captive and having been given quite a nice room.


    That ended when he failed to create his Concept with a Shard of Reality. After his first failure, they hadnt been too harsh, or so he said. But after the third, where they realized he wasnt just failing to create his Concept, but actively resisting it so he would remain mortal and could eventually just die, things had taken a turn for the worse.


    They partitioned the room and put me behind a ss wall so I could see the nice bed, but I had to sleep on the concrete floor. So I could see the shower but never had enough water to drink, let alone clean myself with. So I could see the food they put out for me, but I couldn''t eat anything other than tasteless gruel.


    Torch sent him a short recording her AI had taken of the cell that Justinian had been in, and it was as he said, if not worse. The small area behind the ss where he was forced to live had been tiny and too small for him to eveny down all the way in, and was otherwise utterly bare. Not a toilet, not a sink, no food.


    <em>Nothing</em>.


    It was torture in the truest sense whenpared to the opulence just feet away.


    Justinian looked off into the distance as he recounted to the therapist. It was awful. I knew that if I just gave back up, I could get all of the nice things back, but I didnt want to. I had already given up once, but I had never been able to escape. I just wanted <em>an</em> escape. So what if I needed to spend a thousand years ufortable before I died? There was still an escape at the end of it that they couldnt heal away. I just wanted out. I wanted out. I wanted out. I wanted out.


    As his repeated words started to blur into a mess, he started to scream and il about so badly that the therapist authorized a strong sedative skill being used on him, finally putting Justinian to sleep.


    Quill looked to Torch, and even through their masks, he could tell she was as shaken as everyone else by the disy. He wasnt surprised at all having lived through something simr, and just hoped they could get the man the help he needed.


    Once the healing waspleted, he and Liz moved to a nearby room where Luna waited without saying a word. Matt was sure she would have seen and heard everything, and while they might have physically freed Justinian, he was still a deeply broken man whose issues couldnt be solved with a few months of nning and a few hours of hard work.


    There was a very real possibility that Justinian could never really recover from his trauma, and all of them knew it.


    After Luna looked over Matts newly regrown body, Liz stripped out of her armor and mask, sitting on a portioned-off section of the room. She looked awful, her skin a sickly pale streaked with gray. Her eyes were dull and listless, and her breathing wasbored. Her tough front had been exactly that, a front for the watching eyes.


    The potion they had used to simte her death had real side effects that werent easily sidestepped, and would prove fatal in just a few days. With the medical staff they had, they could probably save her life, but with the damage her spirit was suffering, it would take years for Liz to fully recover. Years they could avoid, thanks to her bloodline.


    Liz closed her eyes and killed herself.


    From within, her skin began to glow, pulsing and flickering. It started at her chest, but in moments spread out to her limbs until her entire body was radiating reddish-gold light. mes burst from her skin, consuming his wife as she stared straight ahead, mouth locked in a silent scream. mes and embers burst forth from her skin as she self-immted, then copsed into a pile of ashes.


    Even knowing that shed be fine, watching Lizs spirit shrivel away into nothing was a harrowing experience. Fortunately, less than a momentter, the ashes began to burn again, with the mes running backwards in some ces and normally in others. That went on for a long moment before erupting into a pyre of fire that subsided into a much healthier-looking and practically radiant Liz, albeit covered in fading ash.


    She immediately broke into a coughing fit, ash spewing from her mouth. Matt handed her a bottle of water, which she downed gratefully.


    That wasnt as bad as I expected. Sure, dying sucked, but I feel so much better now. she pulled a few drops of golden blood through her skin. My Concept feels wonderful. Its refilling my mana, strengthening my magic, and enhancing my body. And its not even stressing my willpower. Wow. I think I need to experiment with this.


    She wrinkled her nose and continued, My bloodline, on the other hand, feels like someone buried a sponge in a desert, though. Ill need to molt in the next few days.


    Matt pulled Liz into a hug and sat with her in silence for a long moment, just processing everything.


    Things weren''t settled, but they had seeded.


    He wasnt surprised that shed need to molt soon. Even Mara could allegedly only be reborn seven times before shed need to spend some time allowing her bloodline to rest and recharge, though Liz said she was pretty sure that she could do at least eight or nine in a row. After all of their rebirths were used up, a phoenix would need to molt their entire body by turning portions of it to ash and shedding it over the course of a few weeks to months before they could use the ability again.


    How it was different from the rebirth they could use mid-battle was a subject of contention, as the outward process was almost identical, just slower, but all phoenixes said it was different. Sleep and aa might look outwardly the same, but they were very different things after all, and their molts were how their bloodline recharged itself.


    Matt still didnt understand a lot of how bloodlines worked, but as far as he was concerned, it just meant Liz was out ofmission for a little while. Which at least worked out well enough.


    While his body was whole again, he was also very much on healing cooldown, and wouldnt be fighting for a while yet. At least his higher Tier had also increased the amount of healing he could take in one go, or else he might be dealing with prosthetics again, which he was d to avoid.


    When he and Liz stood up and got her redressed in her Torch outfit, Luna finally spoke. Well done. There are she cut herself off with a shake of the head. Well talkter. Just well done. Matt, you can tell Mr. Miller about your life in Minka if you wish. Just say you had a Talent for copying skills. It''s close enough to Quills Talent that no one will really question it. I and King Frederic will be protecting your conversations. Speaking of which, hes going to want to talk to you two in the next day or so. Officially, as Ascenders.


    With that, she vanished, leaving the two of them to return to the room they had moved Justinian to. Neither of them felt it was good for him to wake up alone in a room after being locked inside for so long.


    To that end, Matt had simply shaped a hole in the hospital wall, letting in both wind and sun, with the light rain being kept at bay with a few hastily scrawled low Tier runes. The door was also removed at Matts insistence, and the hospital only balked a little. If Justinian really wanted those things back, they could easily return them, but he was confident that thest thing the former captive wanted to see was a door or lock of any kind.


    Privacy would be a distant second thought to someone who had been caged as he had been.


    As they expected, Justinian woke up groggy, but quickly pushed himself up off the bed and tried to stumble out of it.


    Liz caught him and said, Easy there, Justinian. It''s not a dream. Look. There is the outside.


    He looked at her Torch mask for a moment as if reassuring himself before he nodded. Despite that, he still crawled out of the bed and moved to the open hole. His hand stretched to where there would be a wall and hovered as if he was afraid to touch it.


    I dreamed of this so many times, but every time I would wake up, and there would be a wall. I know it''s real, but I cant reach out and test it. What if it''s fake? What if trying to touch it wakes me up, and Im still locked away.


    As he started shaking, Matt saw as Liz was going to speak, but held up a hand. It''s awful. The fear that you are powerless but useful. Trapped for an intrinsic part of yourself and never even given the ability to free yourself. The captors arent stupid; they don''t let you get skills. They wont let you exercise. They wont let you take the steps you need to save yourself. Its not like the movies, where the hero eventually frees himself through ingenuity and smarts. Few people in real life are dumb enough to leave an obvious escape method avable. They treat you well once you break and start to cooperate, but that only makes it worse. You feel less than a pet. Less than a tool. Just an obedient ve to be wrung dry of every bit of value you possibly have to offer.


    Justinians hand started to shake violently as he slowly turned to Matt with the question written all over his face.


    Exining, Matt gestured to the open wall and to the sky. Far away from here, there is a ce called Minka. It''s essentially a hidden realm, filled with trials and tests. One of those tests makes you live out different lives, and you need to wake up. In one of my lives, I had a really good Talent, where I could just wave my hand and make a skill shard appear in it. I grew up poor and sold a few to buy a rift slot. I was about to leave the city when the bus I was on got into a crash. I woke up, and they had imnted a device into my brain that hurt me anytime I tried to resist their orders. It was awful, and I quickly gave in. I wasnt strong enough to resist the pain. I wasnt strong enough to break out. I was simply a captive until I woke up.


    Seeing Justinian''s hand still hovering right next to the ce where the wall would be, Quill continued, That life was ultimately a false one that faded away like a dream. I cant say Ive been through the same thing you have, but I can say that I get it. At least a little. More than anyone else here. Nodding to the wall, he didnt rush Justinian. Test it when you want to. Not before. I can tell you it''s not a dream a million times, but until you start to believe it, it won''t matter.


    Hand still hovering, Justinian asked, Would you check?


    Matt shook his head. If you are asking Quill, the Pather, I''d say yes. If you are asking Quill, the kid locked in a box for doing nothing more than existing, no. Hed rather live in the illusion than wake up.


    Justinian seemed shocked that Matt admitted that, but Matt just walked to the edge of the wall and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out into the silence.


    They all stood there for a long while until a knock on the doorframe got their attention.


    It was the therapist. Gdftn. he paused, noted their confusion, and adjusted down to their Tier 12 processing speed. I apologize. Good afternoon Mr. Miller. Im Doctor Hernandez, and Id like to talk to you a little more.


    Justinian flinched, clearly not using his spiritual perception to watch his back. Having lived in a spiritual perception-proof box, that wasnt surprising, but his flinching so near an open wall made the therapist flinch as well.


    Matt didnt bother to reach out and steady him. They were only on the third floor, and even if hended on his head, he wouldnt get more than a bruise.


    Justinian didnt look at the doctor, but instead looked at Matt, who stood next to him.


    I don''t want to wake up, but I cant live in a dream.


    His hand moving the final few inches, Justinian crossed the threshold and into the outside.


    He stared at his hand, sttered by a few drops of rain.


    Hisugh wasnt entirely steady or even particrly sane, but seeing him willing to test his prison walls made Matt at least a little confident that he could recover.


    Justinian was strong, despite everything he had been through.


    While Justinian still refused to be alone without Matt and Liz, he seemed to settle down quite a bit after doing his little test. In fact, he actually refused to stay inside the hospital and marched his way outside, just to sit in the drizzle. Being a Tier 14, it wasnt like a little summer rain would hurt him, but the hospital staff worked with him and actually let him stay outside while administering their tests and treatment.


    Justinian, as it turned out, had been an avid outdoorsman in his childhood. He had always loved exploring and reading about delvers'' adventures in unique and exotic rifts. Matt hadnt read any of the stories Justinian grew up with, being hundreds of years younger than the man, but did recognize a few of them that had been adapted into movies in the intervening time, which shocked Justinian. He, like Matt in the false life, had been given ess to small bits and pieces of media and content to keep him sane, but it had all been well curated to ensure he remained docile and not get any ideas about escape. Adventure movies were most certainly not on the approved list, and the three of them spent part of each night under the stars watching a movie or two.


    Despite his efforts to re-limate himself to society through Quill and Torch, Justinian wasnt even close to being better in just a few days. He was socially inept at the best of times, having forgotten most of the small things people did in polite society, and while the therapist, Doctor Hernandez, worked with him on that, it was clear he would need a specialist to give him more individual lessons.


    One thing the doctors rmended for Justinian to get a sense of freedom was to learn a skill or craft that he would have never been able to do inside the box he had been locked up in. Matt was pretty sure that they expected him to pick something like art, music, or evenbat; the hospital staff seemed a little baffled by Justinian''s choice of hiking.


    That wasnt to say he didnt at least try those things, but none seemed to catch his interest as much as being able to just walk in any direction he chose when he chose.


    It was on one of those hikes that Quill finally learned the Talent set that had caused Justinian so much pain. His Tier 1 Talent allowed him to condense nearby essence into essence stones of his Tier. His second was an odd one that extended the range at which he could absorb essence to condense, with the down side of making essence stones used on himself increasingly inefficient.


    Detrimental growth Talents were even more rare than detrimental Tier 1 Talents, and it was an interesting inversion of Matts own early situation. Where Matts first Talent had been awful for him overall, and his second had fixed his problems and set himself up for greatness, Justinian instead received an amazing starting hand, then got a Talent which crippled the speed he could have otherwise progressed at without it.


    To hear him tell it, the Gerbles had been <em>furious</em> when they learned that Justinian wouldnt be able to be boosted up to Tier 14 in short order, and then Tier 24 soon after. Between the low Tier world and the absolute secrecy requirements, getting him to advance had been quite the slow process, involving his captors killing monsters in front of him and having him take the essence through a bracelet.


    Not that things were easy now that he found a hobby.


    For the first few days, Justinian seemed to be almost perfectly normal, if a little unaware, but once he seemed to really realize that he had been freed from captivity, he started to rpse pretty hard. A few times, he went fully catatonic, and other times, he got violent and tried to break out of whatever area he was in, whether it be the bathroom, a hall, or even the outdoors. Those times were dangerous, as while his captives had made him allocate most of his essence as a mage, Justinian was still a peak Tier 14 mage. Even with dangerously upressed essence that put him more on par with a Tier 12 in strength, that was more than enough to be hazardous to the low Tier staff, forcing Matt and Liz to pull them out of harm''s way a number of times.


    No one med the man, but it was clear that there was a long road to recovery for Justinian.


    For those responsible, things were far, far less clear.


    Despite Frederic saying things would be solved in a few days, it took over a week just toe back with the initial reports so they could start the court procedures. Even the scum of the Empire was entitled to their own council, and House Gerbleswyers were trying to throw every obstacle, real or imagined, at Frederic to slow down proceedings.


    The worst part was, it worked.


    Matt was nowyer, but he knew thew to a basic level. Enough to know that while Frederic could enact some rights as a Royal and efficiently sidestep thew to punish the Gerbles, due to the damning evidence the two of them had found and provided. Namely, Mr. Miller himself. If he did so, he would be making it seem like the case they had against the Gerbles wasnt as solid as the newspapers were iming, and more importantly, let Ilkor get away with whatever level of involvement he actually had. That meant every i needed to be dotted and every t needed to be crossed before the actual trial began, which involved scrutinizing everyones actions and their reasons for said actions.


    And doing that to a Duke wasnt easy, slowing things down further.


    Quill and Torch, despite being on The Path, were not immune. In fact, they were the main targets of the defense in the early days.


    Luna had actually prepared them for times when they would be called to testify, but even the pretrial questioning was enough to make Matt want to kill the slimywyer defending Linda. He understood the man was simply doing his job to protect his clients interests, but the man seemed to take enjoyment out of questioning him and trying to poke holes in his story.


    Thankfully, their case had been well documented by both Luna, the army, the IAB, and themselves, which immediately shut down most of the avenues of attack thewyer tried to use.


    Matt wasnt even sure why they bothered with trying to deflect me, but Frederic exined to them one night over a meal that the man was simply trying to create enough doubt that he could get the death penalty off the table.


    Whether it would actually work would onlye clear at the trial, unfortunately.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 5

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 5


    Aster was looking around her new office when she heard a light screaminging from somewhere nearby. She had only been the student council treasurer for a week, and had just started actuallying in to work officially, so while she wasnt familiar with everything in the office, this seemed particrly out of ce.


    She considered that it might be some of the others on the council ying a prank on her, but she felt that was a little beneath them as upperssmen. They had all seemed very prim and proper when she and Cameron had met them after winning the Treasurer and Secretary positions, respectively.


    The two of them ran for titled positions rather than positions as generic council members, which was the normal first step for someone wanting to join the student council for the first time. Instead of acting as liaisons from the student body to the council and paying their dues, they wanted to skip a step.


    To that effect, the two of them used their yful rivalry and frenemy status to riff off each other and push their way into the greater student bodys collective consciousness.


    While Aster had initially only wanted to join the student council to thumb her nose at Cameron, she had changed her mind when the full story of Katherines background came to light in their fourth year.


    The fully humanoid woman, despite growing in intelligence as she advanced in cultivation, was still treated like a pet by her bond. She had assumed that getting a fully human form would help her establish herself in the rtionship as a full partner, but even that hadnt worked. In their few interactions over the AI, her human still treated her as a mere subordinate, which was a devastating realization for the bond.


    Aster couldnt imagine Matt doing something like that to her. He treated her like a little sister, and let her get away with things like yful childishness, but he never treated her like an animal or a pet. Seeing that and the damage it did to one of her friends, she looked into what she could do to help, and found that looking out for cases like that was one of the main responsibilities of the student council. Along with the professors, they acted as the first line of mandatory reporters for these kinds of incidents.


    Katherine had been helped by the student council when she had first arrived, and had been checked up on regrly until she joined Asters growing friend group in their third year. She had only intended to change her Concept as the first step in establishing independence from her bond. And, if nothing changed, she would be breaking said bond. It was an agonizing decision, but shed resigned herself to it after four years of continued infantilization.


    The cat girl was still holding out hope that her bond would wise up and put in the work to treat her like a person, but nobody familiar with the situation found that likely.


    That touched something in Aster, and after looking into it more, she wanted to help in whatever way she could.


    With Cameron already intending to join the student council, they had put aside their friendly rivalry long enough to n a joint method of attack so they could get their names out there. It helped that they didnt <em>actually</em> dislike each other, and Aster would begrudgingly call the otter a friend if pressed. Their rtionship was just based on pushing and teasing the other.


    Cameron was <em>far</em> too uptight and pushy, insistent on taking everything seriously, even to the detriment of making friends. The otter had sometimes gotten after Aster for using <em>contractions</em>, as though those werent a perfectly valid form ofmunication. Aster, of course, took everything with the exactly right amount of seriousness it deserved, and informalmunication just wasnt that.


    Between their public rivalry, Asters reputation as an excellent teacher during delves, and Camerons meticulously-organized clubs, theyd managed to cause a bit of a stir when they undertook a fairly aggressive joint campaign based on their respective strengths.


    To everyones surprise, they had won.


    Aster ended up as the Student Council Treasurer and Cameron as the Student Council Secretary.


    It felt <em>odd</em> to have an office as a fifth-year, but while she was still getting used to the ebb and flow of the council building, she was quite certain that whatever she was hearing wasnt part of it. Even a bit of magic to enhance her ears couldnt quite pinpoint what it was or where it wasing from.


    The sound grew louder and louder, and Aster stood up and flooded the room with ice and cold as she prepared to defend herself. Then, her ears finally picked up on the joyful scream for what it was. Coupled with the way her room just kept getting warmer despite her best efforts, she realized what was going on just in time for a fiery bird to materialize in her office and dive into a hug.


    Mara! How are you doing? Im so d to see you!


    Aster! Hows my favorite winter fox doing?


    They both stopped, giving the other a chance to speak without talking over each other, and Aster answered first. Im doing good! Got a spot on the Student Council, which was surprising. But you can see that. Ive made some friends, learned some stuff. Its been good! I miss Matt and Liz though.


    Mara ruffled her feathers as she settled down on a chair, not returning to human form. Good, good. I really enjoyed my time here as well. Its why I made sure to change all the names to something <em>good</em>. Can you believe that they used to call this ce the Drakes Academy, and they used <em>scales</em> as the currency? So unoriginal. The Nest is so much better.


    Aster narrowed her eyes. If she didnt know Mara better, shed assume the bird was being entirely serious.


    A part of her mind wondered what she could call the academy and its currency, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. Even if she wanted to be the next Queen of the Beast kingdom, that would be twenty thousand years away at a minimum.


    In a shower of sparks, Mara fluttered to the couch and returned to her human form, beaming at Aster.


    I like the body. How are you feeling? Really feeling.


    Aster flopped next to her sort of mother-inw once removed and took the offer of an eager ear.


    Things are pretty good. Ive spent some time just goofing around and having fun, but as you see, I decided to stop that. I even bought a very nice suit. Im a professional. Most of my time with Matt and Liz was just spent delving, learning how to fight, or missions, and while I don''t regret that, I like doing stuff outside of them and delving, nya?


    Not wanting Mara to think she wasnt going to return to Matt and Lizs side, she continued, It''s a nice break and change of scenery, to be honest, but not something Id like forever. I still want to rejoin Matt and Liz, but Ill be doing so as a full member of the team and not the little sister.


    Oh, there seems to be a story there? Maras question cut to the center of the issue, and Aster exined Katherines issues and her resolution, to which Mara nodded sadly.


    That''s why we do it. I think you figured it out, but that''s why we have the academy. Bonds need a little time away. Most of our bonds are amazing, but it''s easy to fall into roles and ept things that might not always be for the best. Being a little sister is probably going to be your role because you and Matt enjoy it, but you are correct that shouldn''t supersede your position as a fully-fledged member of the team. Seeing Aster''s questioning expression, she exined, Thats an issue that teams made of mortal families always run into. Protective, usually older siblings, remain overbearing and smother their younger siblings leading to team issues. I mention it because being the younger sister isn''t a bad thing, but if you don''t have time to break free of that mold, you might struggle to assert yourself in the team dynamic.


    Mara gestured around the room, but Aster was sure she meant the Academy as a whole. That''s mostly how the bond portion of the Academy came to be. We bonds realized that being so close and connected to someone since the moment we were born had drawbacks, and a little separation could do a lot of good and prevent some of the worst cases like with your friend.


    Aster nodded before asking, So they created the Academy?


    Mara made a nomittal gesture. Not quite. The academy proper was already there to ensure those children with bloodlines had a ce to learn without any issues. As in the early days, most academies in the Empire didnt allow those with bloodlines to join their ranks due to the power difference. At that time, most of the hereditary nobility didnt have bloodlines, of course, but as families once more realized how powerful an inherited powerset could be, they started bringing in those with bloodlines until today, where almost seventy percent of the hereditary nobility have a bloodline of some sort. But before then, those with bloodlines didnt have anywhere to go. The Academy was set up to cater to them.


    Mara sighed. When us bonds decided to do something about the status quo, we simply co-opted the existing faculties to make our own little academy. Your wanting to take on greater responsibility is great, Aster, but I think it''s important to understand that cases like your friend Katherine''s are the easiest cases. I get reports about all cases that might require breaking a bond, even if the possibility is remote. She is one of several, and frankly, she has the least severe case.


    Not all humans wait for a bond to get a human form before they start their sexual pursuit of one of us. Others are physically abused in other ways, or merely exploited for their ability to make money, but it''s all awful. I, like every other ruler of the beast kingdom, have gotten pushback about the expenses of monitoring the bonds, but the amounts we see spent on the academy are nothing whenpared to the damages and deaths we see when a bond snaps and kills their human. Or when they break their bond after being treated as less than human. Or the therapy costs when someone finally realizes they arent happy in their current arrangement. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the cost of bringing you all here for a decade and letting you run a little wild is far outweighed by the financial cost of just one bond destroying a city as they snap. That''s ignoring the other plethora of benefits that even the well-treated bonds get. Now that you''re on the Student Council, you''re taking part of that weight on your own shoulders.


    Aster widened her eyes. Is that why you came? To tell me that?


    Mara widened her own eyes. What, no? I just got distracted when I saw you here and wanted to make sure you understood the responsibility of the Student Council. I actually came to tell you that you''re going to start getting marriage proposals. I told everyone if they sent you a marriage proposal before your fifth year, I would roast them alive until <em>I</em> got tired. Same rules as all the othermon-born students. They like to pretend I don''t see the offers they sneak through to the younger ones, but I do. I just thought you deserved a fair warning from me in person. You are free to do as you wish regarding them, but feel no worry in rejecting them. If they try to force you, Ill eat them or something. They know better than to try and force any of the non-noble kids into marriages and the like. In this, Im treating you like all the othermon-born students. They can make their offers, but they cant apply pressure. If you like someone, feel free to ept the offer or start dating, but don''t sign anything without awyer present and looking over the contract.


    Aster blinked as she realized what Mara was warning her of and looked at her AI, which was filling up with requests to meet with her.


    You need to save me!


    Mara squawked before she turned into a chicken-shaped phoenix. Im a bird. I can''t do anything!


    Aster growled and lunged for the beach ball-sized Mara, but the other bond was already gone, and she crashed onto the couch.


    Her AI showed that she had a message of Mara blowing her a kiss and telling her to have fun.


    Hearing a knock on her door, Aster panicked. How had they arrived already?


    Sending her spiritual sense outside the door, she let out a sigh of relief as she saw it was just Cameron.


    Opening her door, she grabbed the woman''s cor and pulled her inside.


    Hey, ar Cameron yelped as she was dragged into the room that Aster firmly closed.


    <em>What</em> is your problem, Ice Pop?


    Aster shushed her. Quiet! Im trying to hide.


    Cameron blinked as she looked around the empty room. Im very confused. What is going on?


    Aster quickly exined, Fifth years are apparently eligible to receive marriage contracts from the various noble families from both sides of the Academy.


    Cameron gave her a face that showed she wasnt following. Yes? We know that. It was part of the Sexuality and You ss we had as first years. Did you forget somehow? I told you all that cold is not good for your brain.


    Aster ignored the barb and spat back. Of course, I remember the ss. Do you remember who my bond is?


    Yeah, some guy named Matt. He is married to Oh. Yes, I suppose that would be a problem.


    Aster was gratified that Cameron had remembered her bonds name, but that was beaten back by the hundreds of messages her AI was receiving every second.


    Cameron looked around before grabbing Aster and opening the door. Well, we cant simply hide in your office forever. If nothing else, that will be the first ce everyone will look for you.


    Going down the hall, they passed the Vice President''s office, where they popped in to exin the situation. Jullian was a tall snake bond, and took the news with a calm expression. If anyonees here chasing you, Ill send them away, but I agree that it would be best for you to avoid your office for now.


    Aster gave a quick squeak of thanks as Cameron pulled her out of the room.


    The messages still hadnt stopped; if anything, they had sped up. She put a notification block on any IDs that she didnt recognize, but that wouldnt help forever.


    Even in the scant moments it took them to reach Camerons office, the sounds of discussions and arguments were already growing, but thankfully faded as they activated the privacy formation in the room. Aster fell against the door in relief, while Cameron made two cups of coffee. One was already boiling, while Aster took the other and chilled it to just shy of outright freezing it.


    Clinking her rim to Camerons, she let out a sigh. Thanks, Cameron.


    The Magma Otter simply nodded.


    Aster looked at the fires burning throughout Camerons office with a bit of a skeptical eye. She did <em>not</em> have the energy to get into a back-and-forth with the magma otter, but made a note toment on how tacky they looked. Well, some of them anyway. On the whole, the setup looked well put-together.


    What are you going to do?


    The question was obvious, but that didnt mean Aster had an answer.


    I don''t have a fucking clue. I figured Id get like five offers when it was mentioned in the ss, but never this many.


    Ive got half a dozen from various fire and magma based families. Camerons offers didnt surprise her. That was roughly normal, and what Aster had expected. Sexuality and You was one of the first-year sses, scheduled for about the same time most of them were getting their human forms. Part of it was about recognizing and preventing abuse, part of it was helping them tune their sex drives how theyd want. After all, human mating instincts were quite different from that of most animals, and deciding if theyd keep their natural drives, match that of humans, or do somethingpletely different was an important step in finding ones identity.


    Aster had personally chosen to stick with her natural fox instincts of monogamy, as she saw what Matt and Liz had together and wanted that for herself. She <em>had</em> drastically cut down on the degree to which physical factors would y in attraction, as anyone shed be interested in would be at least Tier 15, and the details of the flesh just didnt matter at that point.


    And the final part of the ss was to prepare them for exactly this. As first-generation beasts, their bloodlines were some of the purest around, and could be used to reinforce a bloodline that was growing weak in a lineage. There was a good chance they would be contacted by noble families who wanted to offer them contracts to marry into their family, or at least have a child with one of their heirs.


    Aster had been ok with that. She had no intention to ept, but she could deal with a dozen or so rejections.


    There were even a few senior students with winter wolf bloodlines who had introduced themselves to her upon seeing her bloodline, but they had simply been interested in bringing her into the fold. They hadnt even known she was Maras son-inw''s bond, they had simply been interested in her bloodline.


    Aster had felt that was a little shallow at the time, but now she knew what shallow <em>really</em> was. Shallow was every noble in the Empire sending her a marriage offer so they could get even a little closer to two of the Empires royals.


    Aster wasnt even interested in <em>dating</em>, but now she had half the Empire crawling up one leg to get close to Mara, and the other half crawling up the other leg to get close to Leon.


    <em>That </em>was uneptably shallow.


    Part of her wanted to just reject all of them en masse, but she knew that wasnt the smart move. No, it would be far smarter to ignore all of the requisitions for meetings for a few days so the fervor could die down a little. Then, and only then, she would give each message a semi-personalized but polite rejection to show she wasnt interested in marriage at this time, and simply wanted to finish her time at the Academy.


    Once she finished her ten years here, she would be rejoining Matt and Liz, delving into finishing the path, and could effectively vanish until they revealed themselves at Tier 25. Bing an Ascender would stop some people, and possibly attract far greater swarms, but at least then she could probably get a secretary to screen her messages.


    The very thought of having kids and then leaving them to be raised by the noble family felt far too cold and clinical for Aster. She had been raised by Matt, and that upbringing had been filled with love. So had the one she experienced in Minka with their parents. That was how she wanted to raise a family, with love and affection.


    That answered at least one of her questions, as she did like the idea of having children, but she was far too young to make that decision.


    Sipping at her coffee, she let out a deep sigh, which Cameron copied.


    Looking at her partner in crime, she raised an eyebrow.


    Once you did not respond, I started getting more and more messages. I am up to eighty-seven currently. You might want to message the rest of your friends, as I feel this is not unique to me.


    Cameron was right. After Aster proved unreachable, everyone she spent even a little time with was contacted and bombarded with messages and requests for marriage.


    Letting her head hit the door behind her, she groaned.


    This is awful.


    Yeah.


    I don''t know what to do.


    Cameron snorted. Yes, you do.


    Yeah. I do. I just don''t want to do it.


    They sat in silence for a long minute before Cameron shoved her, almost spilling her coffee.


    What was that for?


    I just noticed what you are wearing! We went shopping for <em>me</em>! How dare you get the same suit I wanted!? I even said I liked it. You backstabbing icey fox.


    Aster internally smiled, having brought the suit for this exact reaction, but let exaggerated outrage y out across her face.


    You said you couldnt pay for it, and therefore lost all dibs on the outfit.


    Cameron spluttered as she tried to react, but the heating up of her hair told Aster her little prank had worked. I cant believe you. I should shove you out of my office and let you get eaten by the sharks out there.


    You know what? Might almost be worth it. Then I wouldnt have to deal with all of these tacky braziers all over the ce. Ill grant you the one on your desk, the volcano <em>is</em> cool, but this is just <em>overkill</em>.


    Bickering with Cameron served as an excellent distraction, and it was nice of her to not kick her out of the office in the hopes it would make the iing messages lessen slightly.


    Still, not everything was easy.


    While all of her acquaintances had been bombarded, most of them pulled away from her after a few days, sending her messages that they needed some space so they would stop being harassed. She understood it, but it still stung. Her core friends had also been harassed, but they instead pulled in together and spent most of their free time hiding out with her in their clubs. Clubs that had to close to new admissions for the foreseeable future.


    Asters ice cream club had grown to fifteen people in thest few years, but it couldn''t handle the full two thousand who tried to join. The same thing happened to Kellys film club, and the bird girl had to shout from the closed door that no one else was allowed inside the first time they met after the start of the new year.


    Katherine took the added attention the hardest, but when Aster told her she would understand if she needed to distance herself, Katherine simply shook her head. You helped me when I was trying to get my feet under me. I wont run away just because of a little harassment. It should hopefully end soon anyway.


    That touched Aster, as the girl was still painfully shy most of the time and didnt likerge, boisterous crowds. But she still put up with it for Aster''s sake, which meant a lot.


    Meanwhile, the lioness twins, Leia and Lauren, had a st pitting the families who tried to court them against each other. Theyd made it a personal goal to milk every concession they could from them before firmly rejecting them. If the families werent so annoying in their numbers, Aster might have felt they were cruel, but their games were some of the only entertainment they got out of the situation, which made it better.


    Roody simply shrugged it off, even reveling in the attempts of people attempting to court him.


    Kelly was overwhelmed almost instantly by the bombardment as Asters closest friend, and Aster had needed to petition the student council to reprimand the families who insisted on contacting her friend after the rejections.


    That was when she learned that Mara wasnt joking. With sufficient evidence, even the Student Council had the authority to banish any egregiously annoying families from the Nest for a full decade.


    Juan, on the other hand, got screwed by the whole situation in a way Aster hadnt even considered.


    He had actually intended to vet some of the offers from noble families, but that idea was crushed as he couldn''t be sure which, if any, of the offers were genuine, and which were just using him to get closer to Aster. He hadnt entirely decided if he wanted to go through with it, but having the opportunity poisoned from the outset was a blow to him. That pissed Aster off and further ruined her mood, which was why her return messages were a little more clipped than she had first nned.


    Compounding the problem was that her sses and jobs hadnt paused just because she was fending off hundreds of advances a day. She had expected that her duties as Treasurer would be difficult and would involve a lot of math, but she hadn''t expected the job to be so hard on her emotions. The Treasurer position needed her to bnce the budget for the Student Council itself, which was surprisinglyrge on its own, to cover their operating costs. But she also needed to allocate funds to each of the clubs that were run by the students and staff.


    The official stance was to prioritize thergest and most popr clubs, but in practice, if she simply gave those clubs the budget they requested, there wouldn''t be smaller clubs like her ice cream club and Kellys movie club. That forced her to make hard decisions on who got what and how much of what they wanted.


    Almost none of the clubs got their full requested budgets, but a few surprising ones did. Not because she was biased, but because they only asked for such small amounts of Feathers that she was able to fulfill those requests without much thought. The two thousand-person chess club didnt need new boards for everyone, no matter how much they insisted they did. If she were to grant that request, shed single handedly blow through a third of her total budget, which was impossible. That said, with so many people and so much use to the equipment, they still needed new stuff, so allocating them nothing was impossible. She knew shed be making a surprise inspection of their inventory in theing days to see just what they really needed.


    On the other hand, the seven-person topiary club simply requested a plot of unusednd and a few dozen Feathers to buy timed watering equipment and fertilizer, which was a much easier eptance.


    Despite trying to be conservative, she still didnt have enough Feathers to go around, and was left with two dozen clubs who would be getting no budget, and another two dozen who were going to be getting next to nothing. Hers and Kellys clubs were in the former categories, as she couldnt put them ahead of others simply due to favoritism.


    After spending two days pulling out her hair, she finally decided to cut everyone''s budgets a little further, and then use most of her own funds to cover the difference needed. She wasnt bankrupting herself, as her job as a delve leader paid exceptionally well, but she wouldnt be able to be as frivolous with her spending as she usually was, which would hurt.


    Still, with that sacrifice, she was able to ensure all the clubs got most of what they needed.


    When she turned her proposed budget to the Student Council, she saw a number of shocked faces before she asked what was wrong.


    Vice President Jullian looked at her with his slitted eyes. We are just surprised that you arent requesting extra funds. Usually, we need to give the club''s budget at least one extension.


    Aster was at a loss for words as she realized she didnt have to spend her own money.


    Weakly, she asked, Can I see that real quick?


    Jullian shook his head as the President, Wexter, stamped the budget epted before she could remove her own additions.


    Cursing their heartlessness and her own soft-heartedness, Aster red at Cameron, who chuckled even as she took minutes of the meeting with one hand typing at a pad.


    That just wasnt fair.


    A lesson learned on her part. She should have been less focused on making everyone happy, and instead, she should have asked if she could get more funds.


    She suddenly understood how Mara and Leon felt when they said all their delving rewards went straight into the Empire''s coffers.


    Taxes sucked.


    Self-imposed taxes sucked even more.

 Chapter 240

    Chapter 240


    While Matt and Liz were mostly kept near the hospital as anchors for Justinian, they weren''t able to stay there forever, and they all knew it. Matt could see in Justinians eyes how he wanted to beg them to stay, but he never did. Matt wasnt sure if he just knew it was impossible, or if he feared that asking would shatter the illusion, but they started spending some more time away each day.


    The next week was hectic.


    While they spent most of their time with Justinian, they were brought up to the floating ind to talk to Frederic, who kept up his polite face in front of them even though they knew he was beyond angry at the general circumstances.


    He exined what was needed of them, which didnt go over very well.


    We will need you three to each individually give a testimony in theing days. Thats all that will be required from you, per your request to not attend the actual trial, but note that this will be exhaustive, with both sides attorneys being given a chance to question you.


    Justinian took that news exactly as Matt expected.


    In seconds, he started to drift into his own mind, where the horrors still had a hold of him.


    No. No. Nononono.


    As he started to go catatonic, Frederic gestured, and Justinian vanished, returning to the hospital and its attendants.


    Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Frederic sighed. I really hate that. We need the entire story, and it simply forces the victims to relive those horrors once more, but if we wait until they are in a better mental ce, it canplicate all attendant investigations and allow aplices to cover their tracks better.


    Matt looked at Liz, and she shook her head slightly. Taking her lead, he waited until Frederic spoke on his own.


    On to other things. You both are going to bemended for your work here once everything is settled. That means official military rewards and the like. The Emperor was watching this fiasco, and while we havent talked, word from the court is that he is quite happy with the conclusion of this mission.


    Hearing that, Matt had to ask, Cant he just circumvent this entire trial by winding back the clock and seeing whos guilty and who isn''t? Seeing Frederic open his mouth, Matt continued, I know the imperial bws, but Justinian cant handle something like this so soon.


    Frederic waved off into the distance. Beyond the fact not even the Emperors word alone is sufficient to convict someone, let alone a noble, his time is valuable, Quill. To make a trip all the way out here and spend the effort to look back five hundred years is more than even I can ask of him, not with war looming on the horizon. What few post-cognition abilities I have ess to will be leveraged, but they are far from infallible. Mr. Millers testimony is crucial for a speedy trial. He stated when he was lucid that he wanted to get this over as quickly as possible, and while we will make all possible allowances for him, we will proceed with his initial request.


    Matt just nodded. He didnt like it, but he couldn''t force Justinian to change his mind.


    Liz asked, How do you think this is going to y out?


    I know exactly how this will y out, sadly. I want this over and done with as well, but we must go through the motions. Linda is seemingly going to fall on her sword and plead guilty, while stating that she was one of the only ones who knew the full truth. That will mostly keep her son out of the crossfire. He''s still being charged with smuggling, but the death penalty isn''t on the table for that, which is all she really cares about. The entire family will lose the title andnd, but that''s small reparations to pay. The real issue is Ilkor. Linda is insisting that he personally knew everything and was taking a cut to not intervene. Hes stating that he was simply taking bribes to not look too closely at her.


    Frederic sighed, and Matt saw how weary he looked. Which, sadly, is in character for Ilkor. Hes always been willing to turn a blind eye as long as things arent pushing the line too far. If I can find evidence that he was involved, Im going to hang him out to dry and strip him of his titles andnds, but it seems unlikely.


    They chatted for a little while longer, but in the end, none of them could change the uing events.


    The questioning was, as stated, thorough and exhausting.


    Quill was asked a million questions about the event. From why they didnt just ask to enter the estate, to why he punched down when attacking the trapped Tier 15s when drawing out Linda.


    That one was at least an easy response. Combat proficiency had no bearing upon whether or not a given incident counted as punching down, legally speaking. Quill wasnt entirely certain <em>how</em>bat prowess could be measured outside of Tiers, and asked just that, but thewyer just changed the topic instead of answering.


    After a while, thewyer did return to addressing hisbat strength, but this time by insinuating that Quill either wasnt truly a Tier 15, or had the backing of someone high Tier enough to supply his talismans.


    Quill had to keep himself fromughing in the mans face. He was a Pather with a manager, arguably <em>the</em> manager. The idea that he was capable of subverting the rules of the Path directly underneath Lunas nose went clear past absurd and into utterlyughable. He didnt even need to say it, as the opposingwyer beat him to it.


    Despite that, he was still questioned relentlessly.


    Not all of the pointed questions were from Lindaswyers. Some were from Ilkors, and others were from the prosecution. Thetter were even more exhaustive in their questioning than everyone else, as they were trying to cover all of their bases before they let him go, but they were at least gentler in how they framed their questions.


    Torchs own questioning went about the same way, but Justinians was much rougher from what Quill could tell as he watched the recordings they were provided.


    Despite thewyers on all sides being far kinder in their questioning, the absence of his therapist and apanying calm he provided simply was too much. Justinian broke down on multiple asions, and needed several recesses before they could continue. Sometimes, it was when they were asking him to recount the worst of the times, like when they took away all of the amenities he had earned and tortured him with the sight of his revoked privileges through the confines of a ss cage . He broke another time when he was being questioned about the first few years of his captivity, and yet again when he described a time when they wouldnt give him mashed potatoes without gravy. Despite behaving for years by that point, refraining from giving them any trouble and them treating him generally well in return, they kept failing on that simple request. Even just the memory enraged him and sent him spiraling.


    One of the attorneys on the prosecution side had to be asked to leave after she identally let slip that Justinians parents had died several hundred years ago, which dyed everything by a full day, as he was immediately teleported to the therapist. Justinian had apparently been told by the Gerbles that his parents had died, but he was fully aware that they were willing to lie to him in order to punish him.


    In general, his education seemed shoddy, not that Matt was too involved in exploring the particrs. Naturally, the Gerbles had never informed him that it was possible for any cultivator tomit suicide by detonating their cores, and that the immortality of a Tier 15 wasnt mandatory, but despite that, he seemed in no rush to figure out his Concept.


    While all thewyers kept up their t expressions during the questioning, Matt and Liz hung around just outside to give Justinian some much-needed moral support during his breaks. None of thewyers seemed pleased with the stories they were hearing, but they maintained a truly impressive level of professionalism throughout it all.


    It took almost a week of questioning to get through the five hundred years of captivity, and Justinian was a wreck for another two weeks afterwards. He seemed to have held himself together as best as he could through sheer force of will, but when it was done, he copsed in on himself. The emotional toll of recounting everything having hit him all at once.


    Thankfully the Empire, or rather Frederic, had an expensive therapist avable full-time for Justinian, and the fatherly, older-looking man seemed to be a beacon for him.


    Matt and Liz stuck around for another week after that, but Justinian was in good hands, and had ns to travel throughout the Empire for a couple of years with his therapist. Justinian felt that he needed to get away, and exploration was all he had thought about in his captivity. The therapist agreed it could be good for him, and was willing to travel with him as a friendly ear and protector, as Matt suspected. There was no way the man wasn''t at least a Tier 35, no matter how he presented himself as a run of the mill older gentleman.


    Both of them gave Justinian a way to contact them, and made sure he understood that while they might not be in a position to respond right away, they would get back to him. That seemed to settle him a little, but Matt still worried for the man. He knew he couldn''t babysit him forever, but he really hoped that Justinian would recover fully in due time. He had been through enough.


    They, meanwhile, needed to physically recover, and Luna wouldn''t let them just do anything while on a healing cooldown.


    You did well in that mission, especially in how you didn''t break the masks. Looking at Matt, she nodded. I half expected you to do so when Linda went all out. Your nning and preparation weren''t perfect, but you two did well for running the operation essentially solo. Stuffing Liz in your chest was a smart y, but not needed if you had better analyzed the wards. There was a gap in the wards on the North-western side that Liz could have slipped through, using the tools you had at hand. Though in fairness, it might have taken an unduly long time to find it. Your use of unstructured blood magic was good, Liz, but you should have moved your position more often. You stayed stationary too long several times, and would have struggled to get hidden quickly enough if things had gone a little different. I would have done the mission by


    Their debriefingsted almost a full day as they flew in Matts chaotic spaceship to an otherwise undisclosed location.


    Along the way, Liz began to molt. Shed assembled a nest made of coals for herself, transformed into her phoenix form, and spread herself over the glowing cinders. She looked rightly miserable, though she reassured Matt that she was fine, coughing up clouds of cinders as her mes slowly died down and her body began to turn gray.


    Liz slept most of the rest of the way to the, but was mostly awake when they arrived. In her brief moments of wakefulness she was more like a wet and grumpy cat than a bird, which he thought was adorable, but he was smart enough to keep that observation to himself until she was feeling better. He had kept a close eye on her during their trip, fascinated by the molting process. He watched as various parts of her plumage, and then limbs, turned into ash and ked away, revealing healthy flesh beneath.


    When they arrived at the new, Matt had expected Luna to send them into low Tier rifts, but instead, they arrived in an uninhabited low Tier system, leaving both of them confused.


    Once they orbited around the Luna gestured below them. This is your project for while you recover.


    Matt looked down at the sized brown ball of dirt and shot Luna a raised eyebrow.


    This world is fated to be a new training, and it is your duty to perform some of the base terraforming. Once you leave, more people wille in to finish it, but I want you to use this time to practice yourrge-scale magic. Mass-area maniption flexes your skills in different ways, and this is one of the few activities outside ofbat where you could feasibly utilize all of your mana on a single task. You are to create a single earth aura rift, hidden somewhere appropriate, and establish other rifts to match whatever you wish, but ideally in a naturalistic-seeming way. You have two years.


    Liz raised a finger in question. Can we absorb the essence stones we won from the academies?


    At Lunas agreement, they moved on to what terraforming actually entailed, and how best to tackle the project they were given, which wasnt as easy as it seemed. Thankfully, Matt wouldnt be working alone; Luna expected Liz to help and get her own practice withrge-scale maniptions, even if she was more limited in mana reserves than Matt.


    That forced them to take a crash course on terraforming. While most new worlds were low-Tiers found drifting through chaotic space, some were made more or less from scratch, especially when there was a specific goal in mind. The general process, from what Matt understood, was:


    Step 1: Get a ball of rock by finding a in the outer reaches of the system, condensing an asteroid belt, pulling a from a Tier 40 rift or higher, or simply making a using the relevant [Create] spells.


    Step 2: Jump start the molten core.


    Diverting ster radiation through enchantments was oftentimes done for worlds in systems higher Tier than themselves, but wherever possible, a real molten core was preferred due to the lower ongoing mana costs.


    There were even a number of formations that could slowly heat and spin up the core, which Matt found interesting and made a note to look atter for inspiration.


    Step 3: Create the essence core.


    That was mostly a natural process, but it could be kick-started by seeding the with approximately ten trillion mana, typically from a Tier 40 mana stone. Less total mana could be used by either adding essence directly or letting the process take longer, but when most people ordered a, they werent willing to wait a million years, so more mana was better.


    Matt was slightly shocked when he realized that he could personally finish that step as a Tier 15 in a little under eight years, or in a second at Tier 43. That felt astounding, but the essence core for this was already forming, so he wouldnt be needed here.


    Steps 4 and 5: Make an atmosphere and oceans.


    These were the steps Matt was involved in, as they were some of the most power-hungry outside of the actual core formation itself. Whenever possible, the appropriate material was taken from the nearby sr system and dropped onto the, but this one was rtively barren of anything useful. There was the nearby Tier 3 that held the tether to the wider Empire, an ice giant in the outer system, but it was outside of Matts current skill to harvest from. There would also be some isted bodies even further out, but the system hadnt been scouted enough to find any worthwhile ones. Hed be making the water and air himself, which was more than fine with him.


    Rifts and enchantments were asionally used for creating matter, but they had their downsides. Taking matter from rifts simply wasnt efficient on either time or mana,pared to paying a half-decent mage of the appropriate specialty. Mostly, it was done for small scale operations where apany didnt want to scout someonepetent for a job that might take a year. Enchantments could do the job even less efficiently than a rift, with the upside of being nearly entirely automated. For the quantities of water involved in fillingkes and oceans, people were the clear solution.


    At least Matt was starting from a nk te. Recing a whole atmosphere would have taken even more work, and adjusting an ocean to the right state would need skills he didnt have.


    Step 6: Seed the with life.


    Given the effort involved with the whole process, letting bacteria, algae, and other basic forms of life do the work for you was preferred. Once those things had a foothold and had done their work, other life forms were added to the in stages, moving up the food chain. In one of the final but optional steps, wood and other relevant mages woulde in and shape the ecosystems to the desired form, but it was unlikely that Matt would ever be too involved in that. It was a highly skilled job that didnt benefit as much from his ability to push huge quantities of material around.


    Step 7: Rifts.


    Rifts werent <em>really</em> their own step, but it was easier to think of them that way. Rather, they tended to form naturally as the essence core formed, or as life took hold across the. But the relevant point was selection of rifts for ideal habitability. Under Tier 15, that meant most underwater rifts were destroyed, so when the created new rifts to fill that void, some portion would be formed on the surface. Theyd just have to rinse and repeat until at least 95% of the rifts were above the waterline.


    Matt was almost surprised at how easy the steps made it seem, but Liz dragged him back to reality just by pointing out the handbooks on details for each of those steps, and reminded him that the estimated timeline of terraforming a from scratch was three thousand years minimum. It could be ten times that before it was properly established and a ce that people would want to call home permanently. Exorbitant mana expenditure could speed that up, but even Matt couldnt afford the cost of time-elerating the entire to allow the natural ecosystems to establish themselves, and didnt have the multitasking capability to run [Grand Evolution] on the entire world the way Turstal was said to do.


    Still, the first few stages <em>could</em> be feasibly done in just a few years, and that was why he was here.


    There were other challenges, depending on the starting conditions and the end goal. Settling a higher Tier world taken from chaotic space would often require clearing legions of monsters from past rift breaks. Some people wanted ice caps, some people wanted ice caps to be <em>removed</em>, some wanted specific moons or special weather patterns, world-swallowing oceans, deserts that covered everything in sand, onerge continent, many small continents, more or fewer inds the list was endless. But, making a training from bare rock was about as simple as it ever got.


    Together, they flew down to the, and Matt sighed into the void.


    Standing on the felt very, very strange. He had visited dozens of worlds, but none had been so lifeless. With no blue or green in sight, it felt more like standing on a moon or an asteroid than a.


    Craning his neck to look at Liz on his shoulder, he asked her through his [AI]. What do you want to do?


    Liz hopped down, then nearly copsed on the ground. Id really like it if I could just stay in my warm bed for the next few weeks. That sounds nice. Maybe you could make me a cup of hot chocte? Ill be your best friend if you do.


    He just looked down at Liz with a bit of pity. You didnt pick a line of work you can call in sick for. I do have an idea for somece warm though. Here, climb back into your backpack.


    Liz justid on the ground.


    Matt shook his head. With exaggerated difficulty, he picked up the bird that he had married, and put her into his backpack. He even dumped in a few lit coals for good measure.


    It reminded him of Aster so long ago, just warmer.


    Matt flew upwards, following his [AI]s instructions to where the orbital supply cache, outfitted for any active terraformers, waited. At three miles across, it held everything a crew would need to transform the barren hunk of rock into somewhere properly livable, including samples of the life the would one day hold. More pertinently were the living quarters, with apartments set up for anyone without their own portable house. They werent <em>that</em>mon outside of professional delvers or other migrants, and while Matt nned on using his own house set up in what was nominally amon area, it was neat if eerie to see the habitation pods sitting there unupied.


    Liz at least pretended to sleep during his tour of the station, but once his initial curiosity was satisfied and all of his mmable goods were offloaded, he dropped back to the surface of the.


    The rock beneath his feet parted like water at the barest touch of his magic, and Matt dove down, and down, and down. Mile after mile, Matt burrowed through solid rock until it started picking up heat, then past that and to the semi molten, slowly swirling metal making up the core.


    He couldnt help but admire the sight.


    To his spiritual sense, it was an enormous wall of incrediblypressed, impossibly hot metal, stretching out for as far as he could see. It took him a minute, but he eventually spotted one of the heating bs off in the distance.


    The bs were highly effective, if intentionally crude and cheap. Simply put, they were massive amounts of radioactive metals held sub-critical via enchantments, but once activated that inhibition was reversed. The metals would heat up on their own, and in turn heat up the metal they were embedded in. They had been spread out every few miles by a previous work crew, and Matt swam to each in turn. After some tests to ensure everything was working as it should, and swapping out a damaged one with a spare, Matt retreated to the core of the world, where the heat and pressure was at its most intense.


    With a nominal flex of willpower, his Concept pushed out against the surrounding rock and stone. While barely Tier 1 at the most, the sheer weight of the above him meant he could only sustain about twenty feet of space.


    His wife felt cold, and that couldnt stand.


    Also he wanted to see just how hot he could really get when he went all out.


    Contracting his bubble slightly, he ttened the bottom, then hit it with [methrower], starting to melt the rock. He kept it up for a few minutes, to really create a magma pool fit to swim in.


    Crouching down, he dipped his left hand in the pool, which felt only scalding. Then, feeling slightly foolish, he dipped his non-invulnerable right hand into it, and was relieved it felt the same. With no essence backing their existence, neither the molten stone nor the radioactive core just a few hundred feet away held any danger for them.


    Setting Liz down into the magma, he slowlydled it over her until she was mostly submerged, and then used a trickle of magic to make sure she didnt float out.


    Oh. Ohhhhhh. Ahhhhh, we need to do thister. Its like a massage and coffee and a nice bath allllll rolled into one. Liz snuggled into the magma, tucking her beak under her wing.


    Matt pushed himself into the molten rock, twisting his repulsion in an interesting way to actually reach the stone, and found himself agreeing. It reminded him of a really intense hot mud bath.


    They stayed there for an hour, just enjoying the novelty of rxing in a magma pool miles below the surface of a world, while Liz warmed up and he helped melt more of the crust.


    Once they were back on the surface, Liz seemed reinvigorated, though not quite ready to return to being a human. Matt took a quick shower, then went back out to start with the rest of the work.


    The first order of business was to create the air and water theyd be using for raw materials. They wouldnt be making the <em>entire</em> atmosphere yet, or possibly at all, but they did need some to get things going.


    To start, Matt made himself a small biodome on the surface of the. Beyond the additionalfort having a basic atmosphere would provide, it was much easier to create a habitable atmosphere when he had an active example around him, and it would be far easier to reference several of his wedding gifts when not in the vacuum of space. Turstal had given him a small bookshelfs worth of textbooks on terraforming, along with a variety of relevant skills, so before he got past the basics, he wanted to hit the books and ensure he had a solid educational foundation. He cracked open <em>Worldbuilding: An Introduction </em>as he started absorbing a [Create Air] shard, and stuck his hand out of his enchanted barrier to start pouring his mana into [Create Water]. Once outside the biodome, it immediately exploded into steam and snow, but so long as the water was being made, it didnt matter much what form it was in.


    Luna had advised him on the trip here to clear out some space in his spirit, and a little less then two dayster, he had absorbed [Create Air] into his inner spirit around the same time he had finished his first pass of the introductory textbook, and moved onto <em>Moving Mountains: Large Scale Earth Magic for the Aspiring Terraformer</em>. The snow had piled up around his circle of protection, and with his air skill now avable, he started to make huge volumes of air, sting the snow away and revealing the still-barrenndscape. With a small sigh, he dove into the dense textbook, digesting everything he wanted to know about theposition ofs, and how to bend them to his will.


    Ahem, Luna said from behind him.


    Matt startled a bit, as she was directly out of his sight, staring into the back of his head.


    I believe youre forgetting something.


    With that reminder, he finally got it. Matt was using all his mana for making air, and his brain for learning, but that was leaving resources untapped. Briefly considering his options, he chose to flex his Concepts repulsion, working to shape it so that it wasnt simply omnidirectional. Before Minka, it had simply been too taxing on his will to get much real progress, but with the Mind Over Matter reward, it was entirely achievable to practice his repulsion nearly constantly.


    Better, but youre forgetting one more thing. Luna crossed her arms and tapped her foot.


    A small sigh escaped him as he started modifying his new [Create Air] to better suit his needs, and continued moving [Create Water] closer to his core.


    There you go. Now, Ill be with Liz for a while. She needs some instruction on asteroidposition and how to extract the valuables before sending the remainsward. Keep doing what youre doing. Work on your situational awareness though, I was behind you for a full hour before I said something. With a small pop, his manager disappeared to go terrorize his wife on the mineralposition of inteary rocks.


    Now that he was maximally using his resources, Matt turned back to his book. Even offloading making air onto his [AI], multitasking like this slowed down his reading. It was faster training overall, certainly, just more mentally taxing.


    That was Luna, though. She could smell inefficient training from a million miles away.


    ***


    Two monthster, there a whisper-thin atmosphere was finally beginning to umte near Matts biosphere, though as it slowly dispersed across the it would be even more intangible. He was reaching the limits of what he could feasibly learn from just running [Create Air] at full tilt, and hade across an interesting enchanting project that was still within the scope of his current job, even if it was slightly unorthodox in this scenario.


    There were a decent number of asteroids in the system, probably the remnants of some ancient moon, but very few were of any appreciable size. Liz had been working on some of the bigger ones, mostly in using [Earth Maniption] to extract specificpounds from the rock for their uses in alchemy, but she had also purified some appreciable amounts of metals. The problem was, she didnt have a great method of moving masses of metal and rock the size of a small mountain. At least, not quickly.


    Hed had his curiosity piqued by the enchanting involved in terraforming mover drones, long distance haulers that used gravity enchantments to move huge quantities of ice, stone, or other materials around a sr system. It was usually for when a moon had to be broken up into raw materials and added to a, but they would function perfectly well for him here, as well as give him a new angle to learn on this job. Also, there <em>may</em> have been a slight ulterior motive involved.


    The next time Liz, finally back to human form, returned to the, he filled her in on his idea, and she agreed. It seems like youll need some additional supplies for this. There are some big rechargeable mana stones in the orbiting supply cache, but most of the rest isnt on hand. I could grab some from the Ryaga system, it looks like. Two weeks round trip, and I can even restock our food. Stupid cat, not telling us that we wouldnt be able to refill our eggs. Or milk. Is there anything else we need?


    Chocte. Matt resisted letting his smile slip out as he said it.


    Hey, you said it, not me. But Ill add it to the list. I need to let the asteroids do their thing for a couple weeks anyway. Ill head out tomorrow, restock our pantry for the next year, and maybe grab you a pastry or two. Ryagas supposed to have some good bakeries..


    Sounds like a n. While youre gone Ill try to twiddle my thumbs slightly less than I usually do, and fruitlessly yearn for you toe back. He turned to look at Luna, lounging in a sunbeam in her cat form. Luna will miss you terribly, too. She just doesnt show it as well.


    While he waited for his supplies, Matt changed up his work by mulching rocks with [Earth Maniption], flying over swathes ofnd and turning massive, monotonous ins of rock into valleys and hills, into boulders, sand, and dust. Once the atmosphere was in better shape, the next crew would be seeding bacteria and lichen to get the soil-making process started, and having a bit of variety helped there.


    He agreed with the Emperor, it was good, honest work. Best of all, it helped with his mana control.


    Luna only moved to stay in her sunbeam and out of the dust clouds that floated around.


    When Liz got back, Luna lifted her head to briefly nce at her. As Matt was hugging her, a small, gutted fish floated out of Lizs bag and towards Luna. A sh of movement was all they got, as their manager ate the fish in a single bite and returned to her nap.


    Though inefficient, Matt set his AI to abination of [Create Air] and [Air Maniption] to direct a torrent of wind outside of his biosphere as he set up his enchanting bench. The mana loss of running it through his AI was, naturally far more than offset by the enchanting gains hed get from being able to work with his full attention on his project.


    After that, he went to work.


    Though his grasp ofbat-rted Tier 15 runes was slowly solidifying, gravity-maniption runes were not in his limited library. Like all runes of his Tier, calling any enchantment a single rune was a severe oversimplification. It was more apletenguage dedicated to a single effect, with its own unique interactions and syntax, interactions, and points of interference. It took him a solid week before he even had a trivial enchantment created, after burning through a lot of his raw materials, and that was by all metrics <em>fast</em>. His mana budget, orck thereof, helped there, but he was still hoping he could have gotten something useful faster.


    With a basic understanding of gravity runes achieved, Matt diverted about a thousand mana per second to his AI to trante the schematics and formations he had ess to into something workable at his current skill level. It took a few iterations, but after about a month hed gotten a design that he could make, would serve his objectives, and could be made with his remaining materials.


    What he settled on ended up looking something like a beetle, with a glossy ck main body the size of a taxi, and with six appendages for detail work and directing the gravity fields for thrust. Not his finest work, and he had messed up his first two attempts so badly that they werent salvageable. But after a months worth of prototypes, he had a squadron of six drones ready to do his bidding.


    He had toplete the assembly in orbit, though. Ironically for a device made to manipte gravity, making them outside of freefall would cause several of the runes to malfunction and generally make the physical construction of the devices much finickier. It did make installing the power cores a lot easier, at least, as the ten-million mana stones he was utilizing for a battery were stored in the orbital terraforming cache.


    As thest of the hauler beetles hummed into action, Matt almost felt a bit mncholic. Gravity magic was fun, and while <em>intensely</em> irritating at first, the intery between each rune in the entire formation had grown on him over time. He almost wished he could justify another project utilizing them at the moment, but he simply didnt have any other experiments to tinker with now.


    The hauler drones took off to the outer sr system, with most of them heading to the ice giantsgrange points, and Matt watched them go until they faded from sight. His drones would be moving asteroids into orbit around the for the next few months, and for the first hour, he was obsessively checking in on them to make sure everything was working as intended. Most of that was thanks to the logic cores he had just copied from the avable sources, or hed have spent decades working out bugs.


    Just as he was turning to head back down to the, he saw Luna floating alongside him. Not quite what I expected, though its good, worthwhile work. Still a little rough around the edges, but you were improving your technique with each iteration. Im d to see you branching out a little into areas where throwing mana at the problem doesnt give you asrge of an edge.


    I already have a few ideas for how to improve them. I could squeeze another seven percent efficiency out of the propulsion alone. Matt sighed, checking the readout his [AI] had given him.


    Thats the bane of craftsmen everywhere, Matt. If you get to the end of a big project and find that youre totally happy with the final product, then you didnt learn anything along the way and it''s time to move on.


    Turning back to the, he pinged his wife and saw that she was carving out paths for rivers. It seemed fun enough, and he needed something to do while asteroids were herded around the sr system. And if he could work on the range of his Concept, all the better.


    They took their time with it and had fun carving little valleys and nooks where streams could flow and animals could retreat into. They created caves that would be hidden if the giantke beds they created worked as intended to form hidden waterfalls. They even created an entire tunnel system under a pre-existing mountain range for the fun of it. It would remain to be seen how much would survive the rest of their terraforming, but it was good practice and good fun if nothing else.


    Four monthster, Matt was hovering in a gorge he had made, letting a veritable river of water and air stream from his hands.


    It was meditation week, and he hadnt moved a muscle in four days.


    Luna had probably known from the start, but there was a resonance between his Concept and the task of letting his endless mana flow into the creation of what would eventually be a life-bearing world. Focusing on that feeling helped with Concept development, and he needed all the development he could get in preparation for his Intent, letting himself sink into daydreams and rabbit holes as his mind meandered.


    In the area where he was spewing out air, the air pressure was high enough that the water actually remained liquid until it hit the ground, giving him a nice low rumble to help him focus.


    It was infinitely better than pure silence, which always seemed to turn oppressive.


    A ping from the satellites interrupted him, but it was worth it. Slowly unwinding from his meditation position, he brought out his flying sword and started heading to where Liz and their house were.


    He found her sitting with her eyes closed, concentrating over a cauldron of blood which she would asionally bring out a dash of some ingredient or other to throw in. Matt decided it wasnt a big priority to get going right now, so he went to make a pot of tea, then sat in a chair to the side of her crafting room to watch Liz work.


    Matts knowledge of potions was decent, for someone who didnt specialize in the field, but Liz was actually <em>good</em> at it by all ounts, and it was slightly mesmerizing to watch her work. The blood in the cauldron would boil for a second after she threw in a pinch of aluminum powder, and go briefly clear when she pulled out some leaf from her garden orb and tossed it in. Then she would use [Pressurize] to let some sort of reaction happen under high pressure, all the while she was casting her analysis spells to measure whatever changes she was making. Once the blood had settled down and turned an off shade of red, she levitated it out of the cauldron and fed it into the bracelet Matt had made to give her easy ess to her veins without cutting her skin.


    Potions were a core part of Lizs melee fighting, and it took serious work to not only continue to advance while under Path time constraints, but to do so while utilizing a branch of potioncraft that wasnt well established with millions of years of information backing it.


    After letting her spend a few minutes to check whether hertest experiment had worked, Liz pulled out a notebook, wrote something down, and opened her eyes. The moment she did so, Matt thrust a mug of hot tea into her hands, which she happily epted, and he finally got to talk about the thing he hade here for.


    Want to go throw rocks at the ground?


    Soon after, they were in orbit, with Matt on his flying sword and Liz sitting side saddle on her flying spear. Hed been back up here a few times since his drones had set out, just to refill them on mana between trips, but now, he actually got to reap the fruits of hisbor.


    The goal: throw asteroids at the to sculpt thendscape, and do it without ruining any of their previous work.


    Throwing asteroids at the could allow them to make huge divots on the surface of the world with very little effort, and would be quite a bit more funpared to doing so manually.


    For the next three days, Matt and Liz had a st flying between the clusters of asteroids that Matts drones had deposited in orbit, then slowing them down enough that they would fall and create enormous craters on impact, but not crack the. They limited themselves to mile-wide asteroids at a time, as they didnt want to st too much of the water and air they had made into space, but it was great fun to watch the huge rocks fall and createkes ofva and huge clouds of debris.


    Most of the time, they made a game of it by trying to aim the asteroids manually, with no AI assistance, and still hit their targets. Matt had an easier time eyeballing the trajectories and actually moving the asteroids, but Liz had better mana control, so in the end, he only barely edged her out on the scoring system they hade up with.


    After they ran out of asteroids to use, they just sat there while the rotated beneath them, watching the glowingkes of coolingva spin past them. The work was far from done, they wouldnt even see most of it, but they had made their mark on the. Matt just imagined what the new ind sea would look like once the craters were filled with water and life.


    Matt collected his drones, returned the rechargeable mana stones to the supply cache, then went down to meet Liz at the edge of the nearestvake to their house.


    Together, they set up a little pic spot where they could breathe and talk normally, and ate a light lunch that they roasted over the edge of theva patch. Sausages, toasted bread, and a dessert of smores browned to perfection.


    For the next week, they went around to the craters, smoothing out patches where they werent quite as precise on their impact cement as they had wished, and shaping the ground while it was still hot enough to move easily under their magic.


    Once things were mostly settled, as much as they could do in the first ten months, they started working on what <em>Matt</em> had been waiting for.


    Aperology.

 Chapter 241

    Chapter 241


    Aperology on a without an essence core was not as easy as just pping down a boundary formation and adding mana, but that was why Matt was looking forward to it. Without both ambient mana and essence, things became far moreplicated.


    Given he had essentially free reign to make whatever rifts he wanted, all at a fairly low Tier, Matt seriously wanted to test a number of theories hed developed since his time with Erwin. The past decades had resulted in a lot of thoughts piling up, and the only times hed worked with rifts since then werent <em>real</em> aperology; just following some guides for making the ideal rifts for new delvers.


    Not that he nned to <em>avoid</em> making those kinds of rifts, but with his mana generation, he could test all his theories and have time to spare for the basics.


    Matt looked up, watching Liz reading a book, and twisted to bite her on the hip. She flinched and thwacked him on the top of his head with said book, but Matt didnt let go.


    Stop, you beast!


    Matt growled in return, giving Liz a small dog-like shake of the head.


    Two thwackster, Matt licked her, which caused her angry shouts to turn into involuntary giggles.


    Stop; I need to pee!


    Letting her go, Mattughed as Liz ran to the bathroom and came out of it, pouting and rubbing her hip.


    That hurt.


    Matt smiled. I can kiss it and make it better?


    His proposition simply earned him another thwack with the book. Down, boy. Didnt you want to start making rifts soon?


    Matt theatrically sighed. Yes, back to the mines. Another hard day''s work is ahead of me. Whatever shall I do?


    Liz poked him as she got dressed, tossing her book on the bed. Yeah, right. Woe is me, my ass. You begged me to help you with the rifts.


    Matt grinned as he spun to his feet. I know, I''m excited. Let''s go get started! Theres no time to waste.


    With Liz tagging along, he exined the differences between aperology on a normal with essence and somewhere without. Mostly, he was touching on already well-established theories that weren''t even hidden, due to how obvious they were. And while Matt would love to test those theories and see if they were as sound as they were presented, he only had a year to work with, and knew he could easily spend a decade just recreating the documented tests.


    Still, some of them just sounded so interesting.


    In a ce without essence, you could form a rift using just an essence stone if it was broken in a small enough contained space. The rift would form out of the pure essence and start creating mana instead of the usual other way around.


    He had a million and one questions about what kind of rifts would form, and if he could control the process at all as he could when making rifts out of various mana types.


    He wasnt sure it would be possible, but he had bought a literal spatial ring full of Tier 1 essence stones, so he had more than enough to go wild in testing even his most inane theories.


    Liz had agreed to assist him with his aperology, but getting her excited had been an effort in futility, though he was pretty sure that once she saw the results, she would get into it. Their efforts would help generations of future delvers, and if they could make rtively safe rifts, they could change lives.


    Throwing down one of the thousands of barrier formations, Matt stepped inside and activated it with a burst of mana. The barrier glowed a light blue at the edges as it filtered out all the ambient mana and essence, but was nice and clear for the rest of the formation, showing the improvement of his enchantment skills.


    Ok, so first, I want to test a few very basic rifts. Things Erwin and I already established. Looking to Liz, he asked. Kobolds or goblins?


    Liz chewed her lip for a second before saying, Kobolds. It''s a ssic first rift.


    Even as he started pouring in the appropriate mana ratios for a kobold rift into the air, he countered, Factually untrue. Goblin rifts are superior due to their simrity to humans and propensity to use tools.


    What? No! That logic would mean an orc rift is the best beginner rift. Kobold rifts are best, as they only really have their ws and teeth to attack with at low tiers. Besides, goblins are so short, the height difference means it''s nothing like fighting a human.


    Yeah, but kobolds are generally seven percent faster than a goblin of the same Tier due to their essence distributions. Speed is dangerous. Small slower humanoids are clearly safer.


    Matt could feel Liz roll her eyes. The difference at that Tier is minor at best. And if they really wanted slow creatures, youd see more slime rifts.


    Both of them shuddered at the mention of one of the most irritating low Tier monsters. Slimes were notoriously hard for non-mages to fight, and rifts containing them had the tendency to be broken immediately when appearing at a low Tier. The only ces Matt knew of which had intentional slime rifts were mage training schools, which used them primarily as tools to help teach mana management.


    The rift monster was not well received for good reason, which made her counter even dumber.


    He was going to retort when the rift snapped into reality in front of them. Monsters were trying to flow out, but Matt waved his hand and cut them to pieces with shadows before they could tell what type of monster they were.


    Gesturing at the distortion in space, Matt said, After you, mdy.


    Liz shot him a rude gesture as she entered the rift.


    Following on her heels, Matt screeched to a halt, almost hitting Liz.


    They were most certainly not in the standard kobold rift he had tried to create.


    How is thereva? I barely used fire mana. Theres no way it just spontaneously managed to perfectlybine with natural earth mana to makeva mana. What the fuck?


    Together they walked into the first room lit by theva that ran along the walls, and Matt frowned.


    A Kobold.


    One single, perfectly normal kobold.


    Liz pointed at the rabid monster and asked, Seems perfectly normal to me.


    Liz gestured with a hand and pulled the Tier 1 monster to them. It tried to resist, but without a domain and being more than ten Tiers below her, it was futile. When it reached them, Liz flicked her wrist and pulled apart the unfortunate creature into what was essentially a medical diagram.


    They both studied the monsters'' internals, but everything was normal. The only oddity was theva illuminating the rift.


    Liz asked after they inspected another few monsters, Isva really that big of a deal? Sure, it''s not what you were aiming for, but it''s making things a little nicer than usual. My kobold rift only had shitty little torches to illuminate the ce. Id have killed for this much light.


    Matt paused as he tested the air temperature andpared it to what it had been when they first entered. Half a degree higher over half an hour.


    Are you asking if I need to thoroughly explore this and see what is going on, or if this is a big deal for potential delvers?


    Both?


    Matt shrugged. It seems like a decent rift, all things considered. Theva is heating the ce up slightly, but at a degree per hour, there isn''t really much reason for concern there. I just don''t know what I did wrong. This is exciting!


    Lizpletely understood as an alchemist, and was more than happy to act as his assistant as they killed everything in the rift and started exploring thoroughly.


    He had to be careful, as the one time he pushed [Earth Maniption] a little too hard, he nearly copsed the rift around them as he ran into its spatial boundary wall. He had forgotten just how small Tier 1 rifts were. The wall was only two feet thick, which was nothing to the current him. He was sure if he pushed a little too hard, he could easily destroy the rift and cause it to copse, which would be a disaster.


    He needed this rift to study.


    Was it unique with theva? Was that a product of the mana types he had used? Was it the? He had so many questions, and couldn''t let this baby rift die so easily.


    For amusement, they opened the rift distortion, and Matt cocked his head at the puff of dust that was produced.


    Liz snorted. Now that was just rude.


    Matt agreed, but took the hint and left the rift through the exit.


    Moving a few feet away, he set up another formation, but after activating it, he didnt immediately create a rift. Instead, he let all of his senses spread and checked the formation for anything inside that might change theposition of the next rift. Finding nothing that seemed out of ce, he tried to find any kind of gap or problem in his formation.


    Coming up nk again, he turned back to the first rift but couldnt find anything out of the ordinary there.


    Returning to the second formation, he recreated the same rift once more, only to again findva inside.


    Exiting the rift, he was incredibly confused and tried to recreate a catfish rift he had made by ident. The rift once more hadva at the bottom of the water, causing a number of bubbles and steam to rise up.


    Lizughed, seeing the monsters slowly getting cooked. You might be out of a job with this rift Matt. It can cook the monsters for everyone, no fighting needed.


    Matt rolled his eyes. It''s not edible, and you know that! The monsters arent cleansed of their guts, and the monsters need to be purified before mortals can eat it.


    After leaving the rift, Matt sat down and thought in the vacuum of the for long enough that Liz grew bored and started bouncing rocks off his head.


    Matt finally looked down at Liz after what seemed like an eternity.


    Are those the clothes that you were wearing when we were throwing asteroids around?


    At Liz''s nod, he asked her to wait outside while he made the fourth rift, which came out perfectly normal.


    Liz cursed at the realization. I washed these clothes, I swear! Hey, don''t look at me like that.


    Matt was indeed ring at Liz, albeit in focus rather than annoyance, as he studied the mana flows around her.


    Lift your boot.


    Laughing, he nodded at the offending boot. There we go! Right there, youve still got some contamination fromva mana. That would do it.


    Liz stomped her feet and started twisting. And you thought I didnt wash my clothes.


    Matt tried to defend himself, as he had most certainly never said that, but Liz kept going. Who cleans their boots when they aren''t covered in blood? No one! That''s who.


    Liz made a quick detour back to their house to properly cleanse her boots, then returned as Matt was setting up his next formation.


    It''s fine, he reassured her. Honestly, this was a learning experience, but controlling for variables is important. Honestly we should be doing this in clean suits for this very reason.


    Getting back to work, Matt started testing a few of his theories.


    Ideally, hed be able to create rifts without monsters to be used as farm locations, but he knew that was a pipe dream. He still intended to try, though.


    Starting with a mixture of all four level one mana types, he checked one of the most elementally bnced rifts he could think of and checked the result. The result was a very normal rift with boars that charged at them almost immediately, pouring out from a very sparse forest that seemed topose the majority of the rift.


    It only took them seconds to clear the entire rift, but Matt didnt keep this one.


    Instead, he slightly altered the ratios.


    Less fire, the same amount of earth, slightly more air and water. The resulting rift from thatbination contained a morning or evening sun, which wasnt ideal, but it did have a nice, open grasnd with a meandering river running near its furthest edge.


    The little snake that was dangling off his leg as it tried to sink its teeth into him was less than ideal. Its venom would kill a Tier 1 in half an hour if his [AI] was correct, which meant the rift was a dud, even for training.


    Crushing the monster, Matt exited the rift and tossed the corpse to Liz. Pretty toxic for a Tier 1. Figured you might be interested.


    Oh, nice. Im no Sam, but I can always see if it does anything unique with its venom.


    His next attempt with a simr mixture resulted in a full daylight rift with boars and a stream.


    Perfect for farming once the monsters were killed.


    Not that anyone would really use it for farming. Low Tiers, even those in a capital system, rarelycked space or low Tier, mundane fare. Rifts excelled at making such things, and the capitals, even with their trillions of citizens, never had a food shortage. Part of that was Empire policy keeping supply prices down, and part of it was the richer citizens avoiding mundane cuisine with no benefit when they could have more exotic food possessing special advantages.


    It wasnt that rifts couldnt grow those specialized versions of foods, but it tended to be a crap shoot at best, as they usually needed incredibly specific environments to grow properly, which made it nearly impossible to mass produce them. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, as it kept the outlyings valuable and maintained a near-unique export that the capital systems demanded.


    Matt could hardly im to understand the economy, but it seemed to him that it would be fairly disruptive if thoses lost one of their main exports. The core worlds of the Empire were already overcrowded, and it seemed to him that enabling them to make <em>even more</em> of their own stuff would only exacerbate the problem.


    Not that his little rift was some miracle of fertility that could grow exotic crops. No, it was dead average, and would only be able to handle two or three rotations of crops before the soil degraded into uselessness. Though, that wasn''t much of an issue with rifts, as they would just recycle everything into essence once thest of the farming bots left.


    After noting thetest form as a possible farm candidate, Matt and Liz checked a dozen or so subsequent forms for anything unique while trying to create nice and easy rifts for beginner delvers to practice on.


    Rifts with finger-sized venomous snakes were not good for fresh Tier 1s. Or really anyone below Tier 8, where they could reliably get magical armors that offered moreprehensive coverage. Rifts with hummingbirds that darted in and out of range while trying to peck out someone''s eyes didnt fit the bill either. Rifts that had thirty goblins in the second room in half their instances were both odd and immediately destroyed. Rifts with boars that used skills were also rifts not suited for beginners, but Matt didnt destroy that one.


    The roast pork was pretty good, and they liked the added variety to their dinners.


    It was low Tier, which meant it didnt really provide the nutrients their Tier 15 bodies needed, but it was better than feeling hungry and fueling their bodies with essence.


    He also wanted to see if he could iste the variable that gave the Tier 1 monsters ess to a skill. If he could do that he felt he might be able to make a breakthrough of some sort.


    They were working on creating a few good rifts near a prospective coastline when Luna approached them one day.


    Good morning, children. How is your little break?


    Matt felt the trap in those words, and flexed his Concept almost in unison with Liz.


    The Luna in front of them shattered into motes of light, revealing the real Luna standing slightly off to the right, arms crossed.


    Good. I was going to make you break illusions for a month if you fell for that.


    Uncrossing her arms, she walked over to the rift he had just created, and with a tap of her foot, dissipated the formation that kept the mana and essence locked inside.


    As she did so, the rift flickered as the mana supporting its existence fled and it tried to fill the void. The same thing happened with the essence a momentter, which caused the rift to fall apart like a fading heat haze.


    Luna gestured at the now-empty formation and asked, What did I just do?


    Liz stated the obvious. Dissipate the rift.


    Luna nodded. Correct. How would you do the same thing?


    Matt paused as he thought over the idea. In the first rift, I almost broke through by punching a hole through the spatial barrier.


    A possible method, but a damn hard one as you Tier up. But very much a viable option.


    Liz offered up her own idea next. Damage it with our Domains. Not sure I can do that with my Internal Domain, but that''s how I could see a rift being destroyed.


    Matt was about to say run the rift until it ran out of mana, but Luna surprised him.


    That''s not exactly true, Liz. You have the right idea, but only if you are trying to destroy a rift from the outside. If you, with an Internal Concept, enter the rift in question, you can easily break it apart. You are your own realm, and a rift just can''t handle that sort of pressure well from the inside.


    Looking at Matt, he gave his answer about running the rift, to which she nodded.


    Note that as Tier 15s, you can dispel a mid-Tier 7 rift without too many issues, but attempting to break a Tier 8 rift in the same way would be substantially more troublesome. I want you to make a few dozen rifts and practice all of those methods. Once you get the hang of that, I can then show you how to identify a rift instance and enter it once it has closed. That''s even harder, and takes a level of control few can master, but with a Tier 1 rift, I think you two can manage it.


    Matt opened his mouth, but Luna spoke over him. Cloaking yourself from a rift is a generic ability of Intents, and will be impossible for you until you have one.


    Matt shrugged as Luna showed them each method of destroying a rift.


    Doing so with his Concept, Matt understood what she meant about learning how to destroy a rift before learning how to find a rift instance. The rifts with active instances felt like a pastry with manyyers. Thin, parallel, and hard to notice individually at a macro level, but when you crunched through one, it was much easier to distinguish theyers.


    To practice, he and Liz switched off being inside a rift. The other tried to enter, but it was slow going, and Luna let them return to the terraforming before too long, with them happily practicing on their own.


    Liz ended up figuring it out first, but Matt wasnt too far behind. And while it still took them an hour or two to be able to identify a particr instance out of the mess that was a rift''s foldedyers of reality, they were eventually able to tear a hole into a desired instance.


    Though getting the desired result was the tricky part neither of them could actually do quite right.


    They could rip a hole in the rift''s fabric, but they couldnt do so and enter without destroying the entire rift wholesale.


    Luna insisted it was possible for them to do, but both of them believed she was blowing smoke up their asses with something theoretically possible, but not something anyone without an Intent ever managed.


    The rift work itself didnt yield any new results, but Matt wasn''t that upset. He really hadnt expected to discover anything new, so he instead started trying to create rifts with purely essence stones.


    The results were explosive.


    A barrier made of mana to keep everything inside was, surprisingly enough, still mana, and gave the essence enough to condense and form a rift, blowing his containment field up and sending him to his butt.


    Liz, who was nearby,ughed until she choked on floating dust, but Matt wasnt even that mad.


    This was an interesting problem that he had to solve, and that was half the fun of science.


    Making a barrier out of pure essence was possible. Matt knew that, but it wasnt the answer he sought out. He didnt make essence by the bucket load, and preferred an answer that could use his mana generation, which is when he came up with the idea of using something simr to his Concept''s repulsion effect.


    That was easier said than done, as he couldnt use mana in making the effect, but rather it had to power the effect. It was the difference between mana being used to make a breeze by pushing it around, and using it to force air to move by turning a fan. Mana was moving in the first example, but wasnt necessarily in the second as long as there was no ambient mana.


    It took him almost a week, but eventually, he figured out how to make a rudimentary repulsion rune that was powered by mana. The rune didnt create any barriers or waves, but instead worked through vibrations. He was pretty sure this rune existed, as he had taken the idea from a report he only sort of remembered reading as a Tier 13, but it worked, and that was all that mattered.


    With that settled, he created his first rift made purely from essence.


    The result was quite possibly the most average rift he had ever seen before.


    Twenty-four rooms with perfectly average goblins increased by one per room before being reset every sixth, where the goblins got better armed, until the final room containing a hobgoblin boss.


    It was exactly the rift he had delved as a Tier 1 at the yPen on Lilly.


    That was hard enough to believe that he called for Luna to see if she had any more information on how the yPens did aperology, but she had nothing. Matt debated putting in a request for that information, but pushed it off. He was cut off from the EmpireNet, and leaving to enter a that was connected would take more time than it was worth, and he felt like he was onto something.


    A dozen more essences only rifts, and he found his idea held true.


    Rifts made from purely an essence stone and no mana were far more simr than any other rift he had made before.


    Not that that meant all the rifts were the same. No, the rifts had a natural variation on the monster type, mana type the monsters preferred, and terrain. But when he eventually created a second goblin rift, it was almost identical to the first one. Twenty-four rooms, resetting numbers every sixth room then a hobgoblin boss.


    In the second goblin rift, the goblins were all left-handed, and the rock shivs they used as weapons in the first set of rooms were a few hairs longer but more narrow. The angles that the rooms connected at were slightly different as well. The boss''s variations were the same, but the tactics the variations used were slightly different. The first rifts boss usually preferred to fight solo while the minions just rushed them, but the second bosss minions kept a formation around it most of the time.


    Matt and Liz had no idea what to make of it, but they had a storage ring full of Tier 1 essence stones and intended to find out.


    Lizs yPen had had a Kobold rift, and it was a nigh perfect copy of the rift they made on this with pure essence stones. It wasnt exactly the same, but it followed the same outline just as the goblin rift had some slight variation.


    In just under a week, they covered most of what would be a sea with rifts and only stopped because they ran out of formation tes.


    While there could always be some kind of Talent involved in the process of making rifts for yPens, he and Liz doubted it. There was just no way that someone made each rift for a yPen when it only cost a low Tier essence stone. That might be expensive formoners due to their rarity but even a Tier 15 like them could buy them by the storage ring full with a little nning so the Empire most certainly could do the same on arger scale.


    Interestingly enough, not all the essence stone rifts were good for beginners. Some were downright awful, but that extended to all essence rifts of that monster type.


    The Tier 1 boar rift had the entrance dump the delvers right between two packs of boars, and fighting either pack drew the attention of the other, making it far too dangerous for fresh Tier 1s. Matt estimated it would take a team of fairly experienced Tier 1s to safely clear that rift if no one had skills.


    That rift paled inparison to the honey badger rift. Those little shits were fearless, aggressive, and came in packs. Tier 1 monsters should not attack Tier 15s who werent hiding their power, but they charged at them en masse. That revtion exined why he had never seen a low Tier honey badger rift before, they were most likely immediately destroyed, like undead rifts.


    The Tier 1 undead rift was also bad enough that Matt wasnt surprised that they had never encountered one themselves.


    The skeletons inside werent bad opponents, as they were fairly slow and clumsy, but with their near immunity to slicing damage and general tankiness, they werent easy prey either. What made them truly dangerous were the traps the undead rifts were littered with. Pitfall traps with bone spikes at the bottom that were scattered around the rooms containing skeletons were hardly beginner friendly.


    The rabbit rift was one that made for a decent yPen rift, and Liz believed she had heard of a yPen with them. The rabbits were more aggressive than normal, though not to the level of the honey badgers, but they didnt have skills. Besides, rabbit teeth werent that dangerous. Thergest danger in that rift was the pit traps that would dump a delver into an underground warren of rabbits that would try and headbutt the victim to death.


    Even a skill-less Tier 1 could fight their way out of that, though they would get covered with mud and poop.


    Embarrassing, but not immediately lethal.


    Those rifts gave Matt inspiration for his own Tier 1 rifts, and he tried his best to recreate theiryouts with just mana.


    He didnt figure out any special mana percentages, but he did learn something interesting. The essence he used from a single essence stone had a slight tendency to create rifts of a certain type. Or rather, his [AI] noticed the pattern, which he would refuse to admit to Luna, but the sample was so small, it was only possible to recognize the pattern inrger samples.


    When creating rifts with mana as the base, he didnt need much essence and didnt want to waste an entire essence stone. So instead, he just pulled a tiny bit of essence out of it and then directed it into a formation where it acted as the catalyst where the rift would form. A single Tier 1 essence stone had enough essence for him to create a hundred rifts from it, which was when he noticed a full nine percent of the rifts were pigeon rifts.


    The next mostmon monster formed from that essence stone was only five percent, and when they tested that idea further, it seemed to hold true around sixty percent of the time.


    Matt and Liz couldn''t identify why some essence stones seemed to favor a specific type of monster. They chalked it up to the essence stone dropping from that rift originally but couldn''t confirm it. They also couldnt make heads or tails of the rifts that didnt have any preference beyond chalking it up to chance, a bad ratio of manas used for the monster in question, or local conditions.


    Sadly Matt wasnt able to iste the variables that made a rift safer, no matter his ying with the mana ratios.


    A rift made from pure fire mana should not be a simpler rift than a rift made mainly from air and water mana. The first had nice simple encounters, while the second had mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds that came in the dozens. A fire mage might love that rift, but no Tier 1 melee fighter would ever step foot into that rift if they had a choice.


    Though the was still barren when they left, Matt felt like he had still aplished a lot. Nothing groundbreaking, but that had been the break he needed after the Justinian disaster.


    That had hit a little too close to home, and even though they had saved him, Matt felt like things wouldnt be really better until Justinian made a full recovery.


    But first, they needed to go to their lessons.


    Bondsman training for Liz and telekinesis for beginners for Matt and a few billion others who would be attending Harper''s open lecture.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 6

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 6


    Aster sighed as she waited at the far end of the hall.


    The Beginner''s Shapeshifting ss should have been done ten minutes ago, but she needed to follow up on her hunch before anything else. She had a million things on her workload as an eighth year, but some things were just more important than work.


    She also felt that she needed to do this one personally due to their mana types''patibility.


    Deep Snow Leopards were a fairly rare bond, and Michael had all the signs that the professors and student council members were taught to look for.


    Grooming a bond was fairly hard to notice on its own, but when certain criteria were matched with enough red gs, things became sadly predictable. Toplicate things further, there were no rules against a bond pair having a rtionship, as that happened almost twenty percent of the time across bonds that matched the other''s sexual preference. Not to mention the cases where the bond itself would affect their sexual preferences if they didnt<em> match.</em> The issue was that Michael was showing signs of being raised to expect a rtionship with his human.


    Aster hadnt been aware of him until she overheard him chatting to his podmates about how he and his bond had already designed his human body. Not that making your human form with help was a bad thing; she had picked Matts and Lizs brains before Minka a number of times. But working <em>directly</em> with their bond, before they even arrived at the academy, was enough of a g to warrant a follow-up.


    First, she looked at the message board the mandatory reporters had ess to. Other professors had noted Michael bore special attention due to some of his previousments, but there had been nothing concrete until now.


    Aster wasnt sure if Michael just wasn''t aware of her presence or didnt know the student council were also mandatory reporters of bond grooming, but his little slip-up gave her all the information she needed to open an official investigation.


    What she found was <em>not</em> ideal.


    Michael Lapet was bound to one Charlotte Lapet, and from what information they had avable to them, she had gotten his egg as a drop just two days before her own seventieth birthday, which put their birthdays on the same day.


    Not a red g by itself, but the notes said that Charlotte was single, and apparently took the idea that bond eggs drop for their fated partner <em>very</em> seriously. Seriously enough that the bond pair who had been friends with Charlotte reported her reaction to getting a bond in such an auspicious way.


    That put Charlotte on a watch list, but as far as anyone could tell, she was the ideal bond partner and ensured that Michael had other bond friends and didnt advance too quickly.


    Tiering up rapidly was actually one of the signs that a bond was being groomed, and after seeing that they considered reaching Tier 10 in two hundred years to be rather quick, Aster was sure that she was on another list that she just couldn''t see.


    It wasnt until Michael hade to the Red Feather Academy that other signs appeared.


    The first was his incredible homesickness thatsted almost a month, and saw him despondent through most of it. Homesickness was normal; everyone experienced it in some way or another. But from what she read, the general logic was that leaving a lover was hard, and that leaving a bond was just as difficult. Leaving someone who held both titles and had their feelings amplified by the intimate connection between each others spirits was exponentially worse.


    Michael sadly hit all the smaller signs for that situation on the head, and whenbined with the observations of his teachers, it was determined that someone needed to have a chat with him.


    Aster, being the one who had the most concrete evidence and the one who opened the report, had the right to take the case. But she also <em>wanted</em> to do it, as they shared a mana affinity. Deep Snow Leopards werent a winter bloodline, but they had an affinity with both ice and shadow, which was simr.


    She hoped that familiarity would help her bridge the gap and form a connection, which she could use to check up on him.


    Finally, the ssroom opened up and mostly humanoid figures came rushing out of the room while she started walking along the hall.


    Catching up to a thin man who hadnt quitepleted the digitigrade to ntigrade transition wasnt hard with his awkward gait, and when she did, she asked, Michael Lapet?


    At his confused nod, she stuck out a piece of paper. My name is Aster, and Im running an ice mana control course for any bonds with simr capabilities in their first three years. You were rmended for the ss. If you want to attend, be there tomorrow after dinner.


    With that, she turned and walked away, hiking the books she carried up before turning the corner in a direction his next ss wouldn''t take him. Once she was out of sight, she stored the books in her storage ring and sped up to go deliver thest of her paper slips.


    This was actually the second year she had run such a ss, and adding Michael was both easy and rmended by the Coaches. He apparently was quite skilled when using his ice-shadowbo, and had indicated that he wanted to get better at fighting.


    While she didnt invite all the ice types to her sses, she generally did get most of thebat-inclined bonds, and the sses had turned into aworking hangout for any cold manabat types by the middle of the year.


    The rarer mana types tended to stick together at least a little, and as the undoubtedly strongest cold mana user at the academy, she needed to corral the rest of them.


    She was happily nning her next meeting when Frank rounded the corner, and she resisted the urge to headbutt the nearest wall.


    Frank was frankly annoying.


    As one of the few Winter Wolf bonds, he had been told by the pack''s leadership to try and win Aster over. His initial attempt had been just like everyone elses, and he immediately tried to propose to her. But unlike the others, who had backed off thanks to Maras warning, Frank had taken a different approach.


    He joined the Student Council and then tried to impress her with how well the Winter Wolf pack treated their members, and how they could offer her opportunities to enhance her bloodline. The initial offer had included the stiption of Aster converting her bloodline to that of a Winter Wolf proper, and when he tried to insist that a wolf was better than a fox, she had frozen him into a block of ice.


    She might or might not have then carried his block of ice around for a week so he couldnt free himself, and the professors might or might not have had to intervene when she dered shed keep him on ice until they graduated.


    That was at least thest time he had even suggested bing anything other than a fox.


    It hadnt stopped his other advances.


    He kept trying to get her to date him, get her to stay with Winter mana instead of changing to Aurora, or just get her to agree to join the Winter Wolf counsel. He had learned his lesson about being pushy and was at least respectful now, but that didnt make her like-like him any more.


    If he wasnt actually a fun person to be around when he wasnt pushing his pack''s agenda, she would have taken steps to remove him from her presencest year.


    Hello, Aster. How are you doing this fine morning?


    Aster rolled her eyes. Since when is six PM, the morning?


    He grinned. My day only really starts when I see you.


    Aster rolled her eyes <em>again</em>. Now that was just bad. Do you have the paperwork ready?


    Getting more serious, he nodded. Got it. Do you think this is going to work? I really can''t see the main school agreeing to a thousand-year lease to half of the Fuxy mountain range.


    Aster pulled out her own binder and tapped it. They can either agree to the lease or pay for the damages to fix our mountain range. I don''t care which. We did the projections and the price is fair either way.


    As student council Vice President, it was her job to get this pushed through, and she had to or else. Cameron and she had run as a pair for president and vice president, and were the lowest-year students duo in each position for close to four hundred years. The Otter took the job <em>very </em>seriously.


    Aster was more than willing to simply make it a student project to fix the Alkor mountain range, and just get the massive crater and hole in the mountain filled in slowly over time. But Cameron said anything less would make their side of the school look weak, and they couldn''t allow that.


    She didnt agree with that statement, but she also couldnt prove it wrong either, so she went along with the n.


    They went to the teleport tform to find Cameron already waiting for them, foot tapping a rhythm of impatience, but when the otter tried to re at Aster, she just put up her hands.


    The kid''s ss got outte. This isn''t on me.


    Cameron knew well what she was talking about, and so did Frank, but the others waiting to use the tform didnt need to know about Michaels situation.


    Frank gestured for both of them to go first as he gave the operator the nonstandard destination ticket.


    It took a few seconds, but when the teleporter cycled they weren''t at the main city, but were instead inside a massive garden that spanned a mile on all sides.


    Aster rolled her eyes at the sight.


    That was <em>pretentious. </em>No, it wasnt just pretentious. It was an obnoxious attempt to awe them and put them on their heels, even before the negotiations began. They had been sent to the front door so they would experience the long walk through majestic halls and opulence.


    Cameron was about to start walking when Aster grabbed her arm. Nope, we arent going to y their game.


    The otter turned to her and raised an eyebrow, and Aster walked back to the teleporter and synched her AI into the automation function.


    She was technically hacking the device, but it was at such a rudimentary level that it wasnt even real hacking. She wasnt nearly good enough for something like that. Instead of doing anything crazy, she simply found the office teleporter code in the directory and started spamming request pings by bypassing the normal cooldown.


    Now, no one would be able to use the teleporter to go to that location until she stopped. If the Red Feather Academy Student Council hadnt all arrived by now, they had no possibility of doing so using the teleporter. And if they were trying to y power games, there was no way they would walk, just as they were trying to make Aster and herpanions do.


    The fact that this exact exploit wasnt patched had surprised her, but looking into things, the first level of security of nearly every system at Red Feather Academy was incrediblyx, as if they <em>wanted</em> the students to dig into it.


    Aster had simply found a few easy andmon exploits and never looked further like most students.


    Really, the week''s meal n shouldnt be hidden.


    Aster tapped her foot as she waited. And waited.


    After almost five minutes, a request for their pad to teleport to the Student Council inner teleporter appeared, and she happily epted the transfer after checking that they hadnt spoofed the location identification number.


    When they appeared the second time, they were inside a grand marble hall with a vaulted ceiling that let the light in carefully nned locations.


    A familiar woman was standing there, and upon seeing her, Aster cocked her head as she tried to remember just who she was. In the end, she had to resort to her AI, who matched her picture to her recorded memories. After reviewing her pre-sapient memories for a quick update, she knew who this was.


    The Rainbow Peafowl, Alyssa, from the Seven Suns vassal state.


    Alyssa clearly didnt recognize her as she rolled her eyes. Spamming the ping function? How childish.


    Aster swished her tail as Cameron heated up. I was simply ensuring you were aware you identally sent us to the wrong teleporter.


    Alyssa shrugged. We simply wanted to let you take in the grandeur of this side of the Academy.


    Aster nodded along as if she agreed. Quite fancy it is. Really it''s a little <em>too</em> fancy, don''t you think, Frankie?


    Frank ignored her name-calling and simply nodded, following along. As the newest treasurer of the bond student council, he knew what she meant. I wonder how they afford something like that. I know Id need to embezzle a load of money to get something this grand. Maybe it''s fake?


    Aster grinned at Alyssas frown. That was why she put up with Frank; he always picked up on little things like that, and he hit the peahen right where it hurt.


    Alyssa was still Tier 13, not yet immortal, without a beast form, and unable to change her human form away from its in appearance. Brown hair, brown eyes, lightly tanned skin, all perfectly emblematic of her bloodline.


    Perfectly average.


    She was still quite attractive, she just was missing the vibrant colors the males of her bloodline disyed. And from what Aster knew of her, it was a point of personal irritation just how muted her color palette was.


    Calling the building a facade of beauty hit Alyssa a little too close to home, if the grinding of her teeth was any indicator.


    Follow me, and I can direct you to see the Council President.


    Aster raised an eyebrow at the omitted word in that title, which all three of them caught.


    Interesting.


    Wanting to get some extra information, Aster sidled up and asked Alyssa, So what is your role here? Hired help? Maid? Concubine? When the peahen didnt deign to answer her, Aster brought out her trump card. What, you can take a drunk girl to bed but can''t bear to look at her in the morning?


    Alyssa tried to twist to look at Aster''s shock written on her face, but she was so flustered, her foot caught her heel, and she mmed into the ground.


    Aster had to resist smiling at the dibobted look on Alyssa''s face as she tried to ce her.


    Wanting to push a little harder, Aster asked, So you do this so much you dont even remember me?


    Alyssa flushed a delightful shade of red, and Aster wiggled her fox tail and ears, drawing attention to them.


    She watched as realization dawned on Alyssas face. Standing up with the flush deepening, Alyssa straightened her jacket and raised her chin.


    Aster. How lovely to see you. You know you could have said hello <em>normally</em>. How are Matt and Liz?


    Seeing Alyssa was out of the loop, she sent her a picture with the married couple, with her in their arms looking fabulous, nked by all the Empire''s nobility.


    Pretty good. They got married, but who didnt see thating?


    Alyssa almost tripped a second time but managed to catch herself. So she had noticed who the others were.


    <em>This was fun</em>!


    Alyssa managed to stutter out, How interesting. A few more words tried to get out of her mouth, but in the end, she shook her head and asked, What were you here for again?


    Cameron stepped in and rescued the poor girl. About the Fuxy mountain incident.


    Alyssa shook herself free of wherever her mind had taken her with the reminder and nodded. Yes, sorry. Right this way.


    Once they reached the room, they met up with President David. The man was a Tier 15 and seemed to ooze a suave air that Aster couldnt help but wrinkle her nose at.


    As it turned out, Alyssa was there to take minutes of the official meeting, and sat in the corner while the three of them argued with David about the destruction caused by one of the Academy''s graduate students to a mountain on their continent.


    No, getting drunk and falling there was not an eptable excuse. Neither was waking up in a hole and destroying an entire mountain to get out of said hole.


    David tried to waffle, but when they brought out the estimated cost projections, he agreed to allow their side of the academy''s students to use the Fuxy mountain until theirs was rebuilt. He was less happy when Cameron closed the trap down around his feet when she then exined that they needed to vacate the entire mountain, as per the rules of the Bond Academy, first-year students couldnt interact with the normal academy students. To keep inpliance, they would need to vacate the entire mountain range and keep guard along the foothills.


    After all, this was their fault.


    David tried to push back on that and was sessful, at least in part. Instead of their students having to stand guard, they agreed to set up an automated warning system for any students who tried to enter the mountain.


    He also wiggled out of paying for the actual restoration of the mountain. Cameron fought hard for that, but he dug his heels in and said they either got to use the Fuxy range or get their mountain rebuilt. And they wanted the mountain range, as it had a number of rifts they could use.


    Cameron even brought up the opulence of the building they were in, which was when they learned that it was donated to the academy by an alumni. Aster felt it was a little unfair that they had to work out of an office building while the other student council got a friggin castle, but said nothing.


    She did get a chance to chat with Alyssa, who had recovered and was surprisingly willing to talk to her. They walked the long way out to the front teleporter pad and actually took in the scenery now that it wasnt a power y, and Aster had to admit that it was grand.


    Alyssa even talked about her time at the academy and bragged about how well she had done for herself. Advancement in the Academy proper had to be earned, with rift slots costing Feathers, and you also needed to pay to advance through the grades, which correspond to their Tiers. It seemed very different from the bond side of things, where things seemed way more rxed. Theyd even had an entire ss on <em>not</em> taking all their sses seriously. That one had been annoying.


    Alyssa almost choked when Aster told her that she was hosting sses of her own, and for free. That students could pick any ss they wanted on that side of the was met by even more surprise on Alyssas part.


    They agreed to keep in contact with each other going forward and nned a little shopping trip to the city in a couple weeks to catch up properly. Alyssa had very little free time with her job on the student council, even if she was just a scribe. Apparently, Alyssa was running a scheme and was willing to cut Aster in on it for a little help. Being more than a little bored, Aster was willing to at least hear her out.


    Returning to their side of the academy, Aster had to exin her connection to the woman to the two nosey bonds following her, but they found it just as funny as she did that Alyssa had foxnapped her when they were both drunk.


    Her teaching lesson at the end of the day was less pleasant than catching up with old friends.


    Michael must have felt like he was in a safe environment, because he constantly talked about his bond and how great she was to anyone who stayed close to him for more than five minutes.


    That inevitably pushed others away, but he wasnt dumb, just enthusiastic, and toned it down quite a bit after the first hour. Finally, he started making a few friends, and Aster made sure not to hover, but she did chat with him for a few minutes.


    Eventually, over the next few months, she would try and gain his trust before talking to him about his bond in a frank manner, but it wasnt an issue that could be solved overnight.


    At least Katherine was doing better. After seven long years of trying to get her bond to treat her like a human, telling him she was going to break the bond finally woke him up. He still had a long way to go to earn her forgiveness, but things were at least moving in the right direction.


    Katherine hadnt taken on any animal features, but she had talked about growing a tail out, which their friend group had encouraged. She wanted to merge some of her features, but was just afraid it would cause a backslide with her bond.


    Aster personally thought that was inevitable regardless, but after ensuring that Katherine wasnt going to go back running to him, she let it go. People could change, but when they only did so after the threat of aplete break, she was leery at best. Katherine at least was fully aware of it and wasnt nning on returning to her bond immediately after they graduated either way so Aster wasnt too worried about her friend.


    Maybe the threat truly was the wake-up call he needed, but she doubted it.


    Michael was in a less pleasant situation.


    When his bond hade up in one of their conversations, hed happily talked her ear off about how she was the most perfect person ever and how he absolutely was working towards bing the perfect lover for her.


    Aster expressed wariness at the idea, trying not to push on him <em>too</em> hard to the point where hed get defensive, but her concerns just slid off the leopard like water off a duck. Still, she passed along the information to her superiors, and was shortly thereafter contacted by one Professor Adams.


    Professor Adams was a dour man most of the time, but she had learned long ago that he had a sharp touch backed up by his down right evil sense of humor.


    Anyone who took one of his sses very quickly learned to choose their words carefully, or find themselves doing something they hadnt intended when he held them to their literal word.


    He exined hed been in a simr situation, that his bond had been a romance novelist whod bought a bond to raise into a perfect little muse for her future works. Hed even pined for her for the first few years of the academy. But, thanks to help he received while there and what he saw of other beasts interacting with their bonds, he managed to break free.


    As Aster finished exining all of what shed observed with Micheal, the professor pped her on the shoulder, Youve done good. Dont feel discouraged that he didnt suddenly flip his ns just because you expressed discontentment with them. This sort of thing takes time, and oftentimes therapy. Ill take over from here, and well get the boy some help, okay?


    Think it will work, Professor Adams?


    He nodded, His is a fairly straightforward case. From what I can tell, it doesnt seem like his bond specifically prepared anything to counteract therapy, which we see sometimes, and weve dealt with far worse even just in the past couple of years. But you dont need to worry about that, you can befriend him or never speak with him again, whichever you prefer. Weve got the help he needs ready for him, and thats all there is to it.


    Thankfully, after that, her schedule settled down, and for the whole next month, nothing unexpected happened.


    No new incidents, no new trauma causes for her to look out for, no new house-wide brawls she needed to stop, no new anything. Things were nice and simple.


    Until they werent.


    Aster was leading a new group through a delve when things went <em>wrong</em>. They were supposed to enter a ze ape rift, but instead of the seven-foot-tall monsters, her group was almost killed when an ape the size of a building crashed down from the canopy that was a dozen timesrger than normal.


    A rift challenge.


    Casting [Winter''s Harvest], she immediately followed it up with [Headwind], causing the monsters attack to slow down considerably.


    Still, her inexperienced team was too slow on the uptake, and were attacking instead of running away like they should have been.


    Needing to save them, she cast [Snowpack] to summon arge wall of ice to dy the ape for a handful of seconds. That stopped the first swing of the ape''s fist, but she still needed to cast [Lifeline] on Amber, who was too slow to dodge a beam attack that the monster spat out.


    A rift challenge increased the difficulty of a rift by at least one Tier, if not two. But from the initial attacks, she pegged this monster as a fresh Tier 17. She could normally handle a Tier 17 rift solo, but if she was to protect the team, she needed to kill this monster as quickly as possible.


    [Cutting Hurricane] served to distract the monster even as she started sending mana into [cial Spear], which created a massive ice projectile, and [cial Strike], which was a support skill that helped the skill it was paired with stick to the target like a mouse trap.


    The spike punched through the ape''s abdomen, and when it went to rip the projectile out, it learned that the ice was sticking to its guts and hand.


    Seeing the time was right, Aster cast her upgraded [Cracked Shatter]. She put a good portion of her mana pool into the spell, and the explosion leveled an area fifty feet wide. It would have done far more damage, but she was using her Innate [Ice Maniption] to contain it.


    She still needed to protect the others.


    Her charges were looking at her like she had grown a second head, and Asterughed. Hey, you guys got your first rift challenge. That means the rift is a little low on mana, and thought we were an easy team to bully if it just put in a little more work. Seeing that she hadnt reassured them in the least, she continued to speak as she led them to the rift entrance. You know, this is how I was found. A rift challenge. My bond soloed one! It was only a Tier 1 rift, but that''s still really impressive.


    When she was about to kick the kids out, the nominal leader asked, Arent youing out?


    Aster cocked her head in confusion beforeughing. No way! I want to solo this baby. Think of the rewards. Dont worry. I''ll take it slow, so tell the coaches not to worry. Also, tell Cameron she can do all my paperwork while Im busy.


    Seeing a confused look still on his face, Aster gave him a good shove and sent him out of the rift.


    In theory, the coaches could still disrupt her delve by destroying the rift so shed be forced out, but she really doubted they would do something so drastic. She was known to be a very strong Pather bond.


    Pulling out a number of mana stones and her rapid mana converter, Aster grinned as she got ready to let loose for the first time in a while.


    She imagined a grumpy ck cat sitting over her shoulder and critiquing every move she made and let that guide her.


    You shouldn''t need two debuffing skills on a single Tier 17 monster Aster! Im a stinky cat! You need to read the battle and predict the best ce to be. Im a grumpy cat! You need tond each spell, or you are wasting mana. I want my belly rubbed, but I''m too proud to ask for it! Dont let yourself get surrounded or backed into a corner; always have a path of retreat avable.


    Aster could admit that she had gotten a little rusty in the eight years she was away with no challenging delves, but she had grown in that same time, and just needed to relearn how to integrate those skills into her fighting style.


    Her main improvement was in her time spent honing her maniption skills.


    She felt like a new fox when she cast her ice skills, with each one seeming to respond to her very thoughts. Even her wind spells felt easier to manage, proving that she had deepened her bloodline. She wasnt remotely close to changing her bloodline into a Level 4 mana type with Aurora, but she was getting closer to finishing the step of building out her first Winter bloodline.


    Only once she had squeezed every possible ounce of power out of her current bloodline would she switch.


    The cat in her head might only be a phantom of her yful side, but it was still spouting good advice.


    When she finally killed the mountain-sized ape boss, she dispelled the distortion to find the reward.


    Seeing it, she froze.


    A crown seemingly made of the clearest ice.


    It wasnt an item. She could feel that immediately.


    It was some kind of consumable that neither she nor her AI recognized, but she could feel it was useful to her.


    Picking it up, she walked out of the rift to see two of the coaches and a healer waiting for her.


    Fancy seeing you three here! Anything I can help you with?


    After they scanned her up and down twice, the three instructors seemed to let out a sigh and started lecturing her.


    Yes, she was very sorry for making everyone worry.


    Yes, she was very sorry for not leaving immediately.


    Yes, yes, yes.


    Aster was pretty sure she was apologizing for things she hadnt done by the end of the lecture, but she really didnt mind.


    Once they finished, she pulled out the crown and asked them what it was.


    None of them recognized it, nor did the apprentice appraiser they took it to next, but the senior appraiser mentoring the dragon took a few measurements and said that while he didnt know if it had a name, it was functionally a natural treasure that better connected a Domain to reality, making Concept manifestations easier to produce, and paved the way for obtaining an Anchor.


    Hearing that, Aster happily plopped the crown on her head, where it seemed to melt into her and produced a wonderful chilly feeling. She felt it settle into her spirit easily, and with a mental shove she formed a staff of ice and willpower in her hand.


    It nearly fell apart under its own weight as she held it, but it was incredible for a first attempt. Trying to cast a spell through it broke it entirely, though she had a sneaking suspicion that Luna could help her train the ability.


    Tail shaking with excitement, she hurried back to her room so she could message Matt and Liz about her new loot and brag about her delve.

 Chapter 242

    Chapter 242


    With the healing cooldown mostly dissipated, Matt, Liz, and Luna left the system in Matts ship. With three full-sized adults, things were a little more cramped than Matt was ustomed to, but it wasnt actually that bad, even with everyone in human form.


    Instead of critiquing their Aperology attempts, Luna only touched on their methods of breaking into rifts and offered a few ways for them to improve. Nothing was groundbreaking or even all that immediately helpful, but Matt chalked it up to Luna not really caring about things they would never really get to use on The Path.


    Mostly, she focused on their usage of wide-area magic, namely their maniption skills. There, she was as helpful as she always was, and Matt was already thinking of the different ways he could implement her tips the next time he got to shove mountains of material around.


    Granted, it was unlikely that hed need to do so anytime soon, but there was always the possibility hed need to level a mountain in one of their uing rifts. Or maybe he would get seriously injured again, and need to spend more downtime on some barren rock, trying to make it livable. Terraforming budgets typically got shed during wartime, and there were few other ways he could discreetly utilize his mana regeneration.


    The trip to Harpers capital didnt take that long, all told, and from there, Liz bade them farewell as she set off to meet the Bondsman. Neither of them liked how much they had to separate <em>just</em> after theyd gotten married, but Liz needed to learn how to utilize her final Minka reward safely.


    Besides, Matt, or rather Quill, was in for an interesting few months, so he wouldnt feel too bad.


    Harper had said way back during his Tier 10 tournament that they would find a way to give him some personalized training with telekinesis skills, but he hadnt expected their method to be so obvious.


    Instead of setting up personalized lessons, which Quill was sure would break five Pather restrictions and quite possibly a dozen others, they had organized a mass lesson that anyone with an interest in force magic could attend, free of charge.


    [Mage Hand] was the first spell in the [Telekinesis] skill family, the same way [Side Slide]pared to [Teleport], or [Fireball] to [Meteor Swarm]. While [Telekinesis] was a broad-scale, high-range continuum of applied force in just about any way that the caster could visualize, [Mage Hand] was limited to a single object within a fairly short area, with far lower power and fidelity.


    It still had its uses, even outside of simply being an entry-level force skill. When upgraded a few times, it was more mana-efficient than [Telekinesis] was on single objects, and could be manipted either fully autonomously ording to basic directions, or act in perfect sync with the caster, effectively giving them a third arm with far more reach than usual.


    Granted, not many people did upgrade it, not when [Telekinesis] existed, and [Mage Hand], while useful to those who did specialize in it, was typically cast aside in favor of [Watchmakers Fingers], [Hundred Hands], or [Telekinesis] as they became avable.


    This wasnt the first workshop that Harper had given, as they usually had them once every few centuries. But every time, the turnout was in the millions, ranging from Tier 3s strutting around in Academy uniforms to Tier 45s whose mere presence nearly took Quills breath away as he passed them in the overcrowded spaceport.


    Silverheath was oddly normal for a capital, at least in Quills experience. While East Flower was teeming with nt life entwined with every aspect of life, and the Citadel practically revolved around martial discipline and physical perfection, Harpers world just looked like any other developed system in the Empire, albeit perhaps a bit more technological than most. Floating bridges and buildings abounded, with massive metal tforms that functioned as barges ferrying people between inds, or even between different levels of the same building.


    As he waited in line for his tform to his hotel, Quill took the opportunity that being reconnected to the EmpireNet afforded him to check in on the progress of Justinians trial.


    Linda had fallen on her sword, of course, but it was looking like Seymour, her head of security, might also be headed for the death penalty. While he and his defense were saying he was just an unwitting participant, there was evidence suggesting that he had been the one to personally abduct Justinian all those years ago. The evidence was an AI recording from a third party postcognitor which Quill assumed was the Emperor. It still needed additional corroboration, but things seemed promising.


    Lindas son hadnt been able to be linked to any crimes rted to Justinian beyond his frivolous spending of essence stones, but even for that, he and his mother simply stated she had given them to him without exining where she got them.


    Quill didnt believe that for a second, but there wasnt any evidence proving otherwise, not even from the third party postcognitor. Perhaps it wasnt the Emperor, then.


    On the other hand, Hardys publkadaisical attitude yed in his favor in this instance, he <em>had</em> pled guilty to smuggling charges, and would spend the next eight hundred years on a penal crew after paying most of his personal worth in various fines.


    Under the mask, Quill scowled. He felt the punishment was toox, but he didnt me Frederic for that. All the reports that had be public during the trial showed that, at least for the most part, Linda really had acted alone when interacting with Justinian.


    What made him happiest was the news about Ilkor Hastings. He had been deposed as the Duke of House Hastings, stripped of his personal assets, and would be spending a century on a penal crew for dereliction of duty, attacking down, epting bribes, and trying to cover up his involvement in an Imperial investigation.


    Ilkor hadnt been tied to the actual kidnapping, which fit with Frederics prediction, but that was still quite the list of charges leveled at a sitting duke; far too many to allow him to remain a noble.


    House Hastings didnt get off scot-free either. They had to pay <em>astronomical</em> fines out of the coffers of the house, and the new house head, Ilkors cousin Irene, had publicly spoken against her cousin''s actions and promised to keep a much tighter watch on her vassals. But there was a coldness to her bearing that Quill didnt like, especially when paired with one of the few times he was personally mentioned outside of the trial itself.


    I want to thank Quill and Torch specifically for their initiative in this investigation, and their crucial role in bringing the guilty to justice. My family and I wish them all the best in the trials and tribtions they have ahead of them, as theirs is a Path that few are able to see to the end.


    It was innocuous enough but Quill suspected she was mad that their house had been implicated in Ilkors deeds, but he doubted she was mad at Ilkor. From the short time he had spent with Ilkor, Quill was sure the entire family believed everything was owed to them. Her behavior, and statements, indicated that she wasnt going to let this go so easily.


    There was less media attention on the trial than Quill would have liked, but at least they were mostly in support of Justinian. Some seemed to think that the entire trial was a sham, and was just the result of some uppity kid trying to get out of a contract they regretted, but they hadparatively little traction.


    It <em>did</em> lead him down the rabbit hole of seeing what the public opinion of himself and Torch was, and it was almost depressing just how much more media attention the AI recordings that had been submitted as evidence were getting than the trial itself.


    Quill fighting a Tier 19 got most of the air time, but not all. Torch punching her way through the vault and saving an anonymous-looking Justinian was a featured clip, but his fight was scrutinized within an inch of its life. Quill had expected the step to nk out Justinian would be taken, but making the man look as nd as possible only helped to hide him from those who could do the exact same to him again.


    Plenty of stations were calling them the Next Light and Shadow, just like they had done with Queen a few months prior, and Bob and Weave a decade before her. Of course, not all voices were positive, though it was almostughable hearing them talk.


    How a Tier 35 <em>expert</em> expected him to not get hit by a melee fighter four Tiers higher than himself was beyond his understanding, but it was almost as bad as the station who called his nned counters to Lindas few well-known abilities genius. By then, his tform had arrived, and Quill just washed his hands of the whole farce.


    He still felt just a bit unnerved with all the extra attention, and practically pulled his hotel room apart looking for any spy gear. Sure, it was proper protocol for whenever he would be wearing his Mask, but he was just a bit more paranoid than was helpful. It didnt rule out anything particrly esoteric or high Tier, but there was almost nothing that he could realistically do about that type of surveince.


    Well, he could go to dinner. Harper had mentioned there was an up-anding restaurant called Circes Ectarin Feast in the Nikita region of Silverheath, and hed booked his hotel ordingly.


    He did umte a few reporters on his way there, with varying degrees of professionalism, and by the time hed reached Circes, the tiny restaurant was practically overflowing with columnists following Quill like so many baby birds.


    He ignored the chatter of the aspiring interviewers filling most of the building as he ced his order, following Harpers rmendations for what was particrly good, and finally deigned to acknowledge his flock of chattering ducklings.


    We <em>are</em> in a restaurant, in case you hadnt managed to notice yet. Typically, when within one, people utilize their mouths to eat, instead of talk. I would advise you to do so, but mind that I will not be paying for you.


    A few of them sheepishly ordered food, but most just ignored his hint and redoubled their questions.


    Once the waiter had left, Quill answered the questions of those who had ordered food right up until his own meal came out, whereupon he promptly returned to ignoring them in favor of his dinner.


    Through his spiritual senses, he watched as those who ordered food first picked at it and then started digging in more seriously. Harper hadnt given him any instructions to ensure that Circes <em>stayed</em> hidden, so he was perfectly fine giving the Tier 13 restaurant some attention.


    One woman even stood up from her seat and went to go interview the waiter and possibly chef, if her entering the back of the restaurant was any indication. He took note of her after that; she was a woman to watch out for if she could realize the bigger prize.


    She must have realized that at best shed be one of a dozen people recounting his answers, or she could pivot entirely and get an exclusive on an up anding restaurant.


    After he answered most of the questions and enjoyed his food, he paid and left to go hit a few of the exclusive Tier 15 bars and lounges, where he mingled and dealt with wanna-be sycophants who tried to attach themselves to his service. He also had to fend off dozens of advances from some very attractive people, some of whom merely wanted the notoriety of sleeping with a celebrity and others who insinuated they were looking for something more permanent.


    There were also arge number of noble sons and daughters who met up with him, trying to either earn his friendship through forced disys or promises of gifts once he was off the Path. He was fairly surprised at that; after his encounter with the Hastings, he figured the nobles would peg him as someone who hated their ilk, but they happily sent their children to rub shoulders with him.


    Thankfully, Quill had timed his arrival such that there were only a few days before Harpers lessons started, so his forays into Silverheaths social circles were limited.


    Things calmed down there, as Quill joined the Introductory Force Magic section of the seminar, by far thergest group of the entire lesson. It was so popr in fact, it had to be split into multiple distinct groups, each hosted by their own clone of Harper. Quill was in the group containing the other Pathers and Academy members, but he paid them no mind as the Royal began to speak.


    Telekinesis and its rted spells are deeply <em>un</em>intuitive, especially those used to more conventional maniption skills. Instead of directing the position or even motion of an object, one must control the <em>force</em> applied to said object. It is simr to the way in which air mages move objects other than air, by manipting the wind upon the object rather than the object itself.


    Most pertinently, this means that when contesting control of a material, one cannotmand it to remain motionless; any action taken by an opponent must be manually countered such that the force remains null. Furtherplicating this factor is that just as force magic is nigh-invisible to the spiritual senses of observers, so too is it nigh-invisible to the caster as well. Relying purely on the feedback provided by the spell is surpassingly frustrating and difficult, and often results in prospective users relying on brutish applications of the magic. Nevertheless, for those dedicated enough to try, it is well worth the investment. Also those who show the best promise will get a few one on one lessons after this is done.


    A dagger floated out of Harper''s sleeve and then twirled around them. All of you feel free to try and disrupt this. I am using a freshly absorbed [Mage Hand] and just my years of experience to move this de around.


    Quill joined in with everyone else, and even with him throwing a full 10,000 MPS into [Air Maniption], the de never wavered. Even a few more obvious skills were cast, but the greatest response any of them got was for the dagger to spin and cut one skill in half.


    Alright. Next to your seats, you should find a number of balls and fabrics. The fabrics are lighter, but some of you might struggle to pick something up that is so malleable. If you have that issue, try with the lightest of the balls. If anyone has questions, just get my attention, and Ill try to help.


    Quill picked up the balls, tested their weights before doing the same with the cloth.


    Activating [Mage Hand], he focused on the thin linen square.


    Nothing happened.


    Trying to picture a translucent hand lifting the square of fabric up, nothing happened once again.


    Concentrating his focus, he tried to picture the air lifting the cloth, but even that didnt work.


    Eventually, he justmanded the cloth to lift, which finally worked.


    Like a leaf in the wind, the cloth jumped and vibrated but slowly lifted off hisp and into the air, where it hovered.


    With how it bounced around, calling it hovering might be a generous word, but he had figured it out.


    Force magic was truly different from the rest of his skills, and he could see why most didnt delve into the finer applications of the magical branch.


    There seemed to be almost zero crossover from his elemental maniption skills, and there was only a tangential crossover from his raw mana control skills. The entire line of telekinesis skills seemed to be their own beast.


    The rest of the day was spent with the Harper clone moving through their block and offering suggestions and new challenges to work on for those pulling ahead.


    What Quill found both interesting and frustrating was how getting good at picking an object up with [Mage Hand] seemed to have zero cross-over with, say, pushing something. The idea of a magical hand just picking things up and moving them around waspletely wrong. It was more like a single application of freeform telekinesis.


    Still, he learned, and with the ability to throw millions of mana at the problem, he quickly got better. By the end of the third week, he even had a half-decentmand of the skill. He wouldn''t be faking any of the elemental maniption skills anytime soon, but he was pretty sure he could use [Mage Hand] to disrupt his opponents in a fight.


    As Quill was heading back to his room after that day''s lessons, he was walking through a crowd of people and felt someone watching him.


    They didnt seem directly hostile, but their gaze lingered a little too long for it to just be a casual investigation of his identity. There was a purpose to their gaze that his spiritual perception noticed, and it set him on edge.


    Pathers werent invincible, and he had made plenty of enemies in recent days, with the Hastings house being only one of them and the closest in immediate proximity.


    After all, if news stations were picking apart what was avable of his fight with Linda, the other Great Powers most certainly had also taken notice of him as well.


    He made it all the way to the hotel without any incident, but the moment he stepped out of the elevator and entered the hall leading to his room, he felt the air shift as a formation was activated.


    He withdrew a talisman and sent a bit of mana into it immediately, but instead of covering him in ayer of wind to act as a shield, the talisman just sputtered uselessly.


    Spreading his spiritual sense through the restrictions, Quill found out what was wrong; the formation was an anti-spell formation. Meant to replicate higher Tier skills, the method of attack was fairly simple. It would disrupt any mana formation in the area, making it difficult to control spells and keep them stable. While it was generally a minor obstacle to most mages, and would simply reduce how many separate effects they could maintain at once, the effect on talismans was more pronounced, as they wouldnt have his mana control or Concept behind them.


    Melee fighters with mostly internal buffing skills were almost entirely unaffected, which was why he wasnt at all surprised when the nearest door to him opened up, and a masked man charged at him with a short dagger in each hand.


    Matt wasnt a mage, and could easily fight under such restrictions, but he suspected this was as much a test as it was a serious assassination attempt. This hallway had a dozen cameras, and he was sure there were a number of hidden ones as well for the backers of this contract killer to pick up and reviewter.


    Luna or Harper could destroy them if they wanted to remove such devices, but if either was going to act, they would have prevented the attack outright, which told him this assassin was, at least on the surface, ying by the rules.


    And he could take a Tier 15 on as Quill, even with a field that restricted his main arsenal. Quill was still a mage, and Luna had ensured that he could fight well under conditions designed to counter him.


    Activating [Mages Retreat] at a low level, Quill dodged the first series of thrusts and backed to the far wall. He wanted to use that as a barrier to defend his back, but felt there was something wrong with how the attacker wasnt following through as he should.


    With an instinct honed by long hours spent fighting for his life, Quill jumped to the ceiling and pushed off to the side, deeper into the hall, just as the wall behind him exploded. A second man burst through the crumbling wood and ster and tried to grab where Quill would have been had he put his back to the wall.


    Withdrawing a number of throwing knives, Quill threw them out at the floor, wanting to trigger any traps that might be there. Nothing happened, but he still noted the area as a ce to avoid.


    Two-on-one wasnt ideal, but he could feel that they were only Tier 15, which gave him a chance to win this fight and keep his cover intact.


    Landing, Quill threw off his cloak and twisted on his feet as he said, Come now, dont be so rude to the building. Someone will need to fix that wall, you know. If you wished to give me a workout, you should have invited me to the gym.


    The assassins hadnt even paused as they rushed at him, so Quill summoned a pair of gauntlets to his hands and then theatrically drew a pair of daggers that were patterned to look like bird feathers. The weapons were functional despite their outward appearance, and he flicked one out as he dodged therger man''s grab, cutting his forearm.


    Metal met metal, but he had expected that, and kicked out at the man''s thigh with the tip of his boot.


    The small de he had extended from his boot on his twisting punctured the assassin''s thigh, causing him to yelp. Before Quill was able to follow up, the second assant closed in and tried to stab him with a thrust to the neck and one under the rib.


    Quill was immediately put on the defensive as he dodged the first blow and tried to retreat, as the man was clearly empowering himself with something like [Mana Strength]. The assassin also had more experience with the dual dagger fighting style, as he quickly trapped Quill''s off-hand de and sent it flying with a long cut to his forearm.


    Quill kept retreating and smiled as he let his second de get ripped from his hands.


    Jumping back and letting both attackers pass the des, he activated his gauntlets while spreading his hands wide, letting the ck hole gauntlets from Minka draw everything towards them.


    Even the walls cracked under the power, but most importantly, the assassins were pulled off bnce and weren''t able to dodge the daggers that tried to return to Quill''s hands.


    Therger man had a hole punched through his chest as the de ripped through his soft flesh and he fell to the ground, gasping even as his body was pulled towards Quill.


    The second dagger-wielding assassin managed to dodge the projectile, but suffered a long cut to his arm that had pierced right through his armor.


    Quill waggled the des as he said, The quill is mightier than the sword, and all of that. However, I believe limiting myself to one or the other at a time is unduly constricting. Now, are we to genuinely settle this, or not?


    The still-standing assassin seethed and attacked in a fury, forcing Quill to dodge a series of thrusts. As he flicked out his des to block the follow up thrust, he chuckled as the de had a notable chip in the edge. Honestly, <em>I</em> can do better than this. Tier 18 materials may be a pain to enchant, but surely you could get some help with that?


    [Mages Retreat] flickered back into y, with Quill being careful to not utilize too much mana upon it. That he had the skill and had clearly upgraded it would be slightly odd, but it was used by enough mages who couldnt afford a teleport that it would still be considered mostly normal for an Ascender candidate.


    Using the speed buff from the skill, he closed the gap with the dagger-wielding man. I prefer to finish a fight before it even starts, its true, but perhaps in your next life you wont make the mistake of thinking I <em>cannot</em> cast spells.


    Using his speed advantage, Quill took a cut to his chest to plunge his dagger into the man''s throat and, with a twist, decapitated the assassin. They only needed one alive to question, after all.


    With the death of the first assant and the second thoroughly incapacitated, the attack was over, and Luna appeared next to Harper, whose faceless mask was staring at the downed man. Guards appeared a momentter through a [Portal] and started securing the scene.


    Quill looked to Luna and gestured with his chin to the decapitated man. Is he a local?


    Harper answered instead of his manager. Yes, but they''re frencers. I doubt they even know who hired them, but we can always try to find that out. The royal looked at him and shook their head. You should have used [Mage Hand] in the fight. It could have done the same trick as the gauntlets but without giving away the item''s existence.


    Quill shrugged. Im not nearly good enough with the skill to use it in a mana disruption field.


    Luna backed up the royal, eyes narrowed. You wont get better until you try. This would have been a good scenario to get some real world practice in.


    Harper crouched down to inspect the corpse of the assassin. Ive heard youve been progressing well, it would have been worth an attempt. They made a show of looking up and inspecting the walls. It would have limited coteral damage as well. You gave a young woman a few rooms down a broken wrist.


    Quill took a moment to digest that. Im sorry, you heard about my progress? Havent you been the one instructing us?


    Harper gave a smallugh at that. Ah, no. In the past Ive made more of a show of hiding it, but my Talent restricts me to [Telekinesis] alone. The lectures were done by my secretary, Lyre, who fills in for me when Im unavable or not equipped for a particr task. She acts as my face to the wider world, and over the years weve be inseparable. I hear you are doing well in the training and we should get our one on one lesson if you continue as you have been.


    As a healer came to inspect the cut on his chest, Quill ripped the shirt wider so they could ess the wound. He kept an eye on them in case they were an assassin who had infiltrated the guards, but doubted it. Even if Luna and Harper were hiding their existence to everyone like he suspected, attempting a hit with all the guards around was asking to be caught.


    The healer tested his blood, which he had stopped circting in case the de was poisoned, and then cast some skills on the dagger to find there were no toxins on the de.


    He would purge his blood anyways, as there was little reason for an assassin to not use a poison. It was a great way to ensure that even if you only cut someone, the job still had a reasonable chance to seed. Most fresh immortals didnt have nearly the level of control to stop their circtory system for long periods of time, and would eventually let the technique slip, giving a slow-acting poison a chance to get to the brain.


    After the body was cleaned up, the still gurgling man was healed and taken away with a cultivation suppression cor. That settled, he and Luna went back to a new room where she went over what he could have done better in the attack.


    Most of the critiques were minor, as he was well versed in what he could and could not show in his Quill mask. Rather, she focused on the three watchers that had been tracking his movements that he <em>hadnt</em> noticed.


    That was a sobering thought, but in the end, the attempt had been doomed to fail the moment the assassins decided to treat him like a hyper-specialized mage.


    He realized that was probably the reason so much of his fight against Linda had been made public. He had only shown the abilities of a mage, and that confirmed to everyone watching that that was all he was. And those who had that confirmed acted on that information when trying to murder him.


    A mana disruption field was a challenge to a normal mage, but it was debilitating to a talisman fighter. The current conjecture was that his Talent was to make talismans stronger, and that fed into the proof. Even though this fight would show he was more capable, it didnt give away any significant information about his abilities.


    A mage with an upgraded [Mages Retreat] wasnt that surprising, and while his gauntlets were fancy, they were still only Tier 14 items that werent even bonded to him, so he would outgrow them soon enough.


    All in all, it was sessful misdirection for anyone who got to watch the fight.


    And, when the security camera footage was quietly released to a Path-focused news station, anyone turned into everyone who cared.


    In the end, Quill decided to schedule an interview with the woman who had shifted her focus to Circes staff.


    She was at least smart enough to know the real scoop, and their interview consisted mostly of them watching the fight while she asked questions. Quill just trash-talked the two assassins and their methods, saying things like, Any talisman fighter countered by not being able to use talismans is a failure, or, I fight Tier 18 monsters; Tier 15 humans, no matter how good, are little more than fodder.''


    While he yed down the attack, it really hadnt been a serious attempt in his opinion. Really, it was just a probing strike to see how many of his true capabilities they could bait out.


    Part of that was why they released the recordings. If they had hidden them, those behind the attack would assume some part of the attack worked, and would keep trying. By showing him crushing the two attackers with ease, it would hopefully cut down on how many attacks hed have to deal with.


    The question of who was behind it was the question of the hour, but even Quill had no firm ideas.


    The contract had been anonymous, but he believed it was a noble house, either the Hastings themselves, or someone like them. He had infringed on their honor and had been in one public ce for close to a month before the hit happened. That was enough time for them to secretly contact someone to kill him.


    Still, he wasnt entirely sure if that was true. The Hastings were the number one suspect and everyone was looking at them. Though, it was such an obvious oue that he doubted they were stupid enough to take a hit just months after the trial.


    Of course, that didnt limit the nobility who wouldsh out at him for daring to be an aplice to shaming a noble. Some of them were petty enough to level at least this much malice or more his way, just for having done so, and then let the Hastings take the fall as the obvious suspect.


    Or at least, that was what his cynical side said. There was no actual proof it was them at all. Most Pathers who reached Tier 15, let alone those who made a ssh like fighting a Tier 19 and living to tell the tale, got attacked by the other Great Powers, so even Luna couldnt give him a definitive answer as to who made a poor, probing attempt on his life.


    Thankfully, the telekinesis lessons were almost over, and he was soon able to slip away and out of the Quill identity, which clearly had a target painted on its back. Best of all, he was on his way to meet back up with Liz.

 Chapter 243

    Chapter 243


    After doing the rounds to show Quill was fine and invincible, Matt quickly left the area, wanting to get as much distance between himself and the heavily popted capital system as possible.


    There were just too many people, too many hidden des, and too many agendas battling for supremacy for him to be able to rx. Especially considering such a recent attack on his life.


    Luna seemed all too happy for him to be jumping at shadows, but even the few days spent on the after the attack were enough to fray his nerves.


    He had been attacked before, but never in such a nned manner. Assassinations were by definition sneak attacks, and the smart ones could and would strike where he least expected it. It meant he always needed to be on high alert, and that was draining.


    To counteract that, he spent five months delving a few rift slots he bought out. It would be a nice break until he needed to meet up with Liz, who was almost done with her training.


    Happily vegging out on his ship, Matt flew through chaotic space while idly practicing [Mage Hand] by trying to eat using only the skill, when his AI suddenly pinged.


    Getting a message in a chaotic space wasntmon, as someone needed to specially ry information out of the physical world, and that involved quite a lot of effort and time.


    After reading it, he realized why he had gotten the ping and why it had been sent to him in a chaotic space.


    There was a kid with a Tier 1 detrimental Talent that theary AI had picked up and deemed worthy of manual evaluation, and he was supposedly the most conveniently-ced qualified investigator.


    He didnt have to take the job, but he couldnt pass up the opportunity. If Dena and Eric had said no, he wouldnt have been able to join the Path and his life would have gone in a very different direction. The Path wasnt perfect by any means, but even just making it to Tier 5 while on it presented nigh-limitless opportunities, and he didnt want to prevent or even dy that for anyone.


    He epted and started scanning the information packet hed received, directing his ship on a slight detour to the in question.


    His target was one Eleanor Mallick, and even just skimming some videos of her made it obvious what her Talent did. Each time she swung a sword, tried to cut meat with a knife, or even activating a light rune, an illusory twenty-sided die would appear at the start of the action, roll while she was acting, and finallynd on a number that strongly influenced the oue.


    He watched as Eleanor struck a training dummy five times in rapid session, with a die materializing at the hilt with each swing. As each blow connected, the dice struck the dummy just above it. The first hit was a three, and barely left a scratch.


    The next two strikesnded on a six and a nine, respectively, with each doing more damage and the nine dealing slightly less damage than what he calcted her true output should be.


    The fourth attacknded on a seventeen, and the cut was so deep, it prated the training dummys protectiveyer and hit its more resilient core. The strike was hard enough that he ced it at the level of a peak Tier 1 melee fighter''s full-out attack and she hadnt struck nearly that hard.


    The fifth and final attacknded on a one, and her de not only shattered, but Eleanor slipped and stumbled back as the dummy''s counternded hard on her hip and seriously bruised her. Matt was slightly taken aback, as the dummys counter attack should not have been possible with its built-in restrictions.


    Other highlights included a light fixture overloading with a <em>bang</em> as she rolled a 1 for turning it on, and her steak falling into a set of perfectly bite-sized pieces as her attempted cut ended up rolling a 20.


    It wasnt a life-ending Talent, that much was clear, though certainly one prone to coteral damage, and the fact it pervaded basically every aspect of her life meant it would make it hard for her to ever have true stability. And it <em>definitely</em> limited her ability to partake in her ns steps as traveling entertainers.


    ns like that were fairly rare, but there were a few thousand still roaming the Empire; they were mostly holdovers of the Shattering, when families took to chaotic space to avoid the dangers and instability of the wars. As things settled down, they were some of the few people with chaotic spaceships and immortals to guide them and became some of the first inteary merchants.


    As the realm had healed, and other factions began returning to Chaotic Space or set up teleportationworks, they tended to either settle down and be full nobility, be absorbed into the new merchant guilds, or keep wandering as entertainers.


    The Mallick n was one of thetter, and they seemed to hold spreading whimsy as core to their very purpose in life. They still did some trading, but mostly they held grand exhibitions of skill and wonder for the locals of worlds they passed through, favoring low-Tier worlds.


    With a quick dive into the EmpireNet, he was able to watch a few recordings of the Mallick n putting on performances that impressed even him, with their Tier 15s battling it out in a rendition of one of L WorldWalker''s more famous battles. With them using illusionary skills or maniptions, the crowds felt like part of the battle as bits of sand and water pelted them and attacks passed overhead.


    For low Tier worlds and their poptions, it was an unforgettable and once in a lifetime experience.


    Happily getting sidetracked to learn more about a part of the Empire he had never run into before, he looked into the roving ns and whistled.


    From what he could glean of their tax reports, despite charging just a few credits for the mortals they admitted to their shows, the Mallicks were doing quite well for themselves. Some of it was the higher prices theymanded on higher-Tier worlds, especially when they visited the immortal party worlds, some of it was subsidies from the Empire itself for their low-Tier performances, but most of it came from their role as merchants. Apparently their enormous ships and meandering route throughout the entire Empire allowed them to pick up several trading routes that simply werent practical for dedicated merchantpanies.


    If he was being fair, it wasnt <em>that</em> lucrative of a business model. They managed to keep their costs low inrge part because they functioned as a family, and could leverage massive amounts ofbor out of higher-Tier members that a more profit-oriented organization simply could never engender. It was basically volunteer work for most of them, but they certainly broke even on expenses, and nearly all of their profit, including most of the nominal sry of the n-members, went back into improving their show in some way.


    Eleanor Mallick and her older cousin Ethan were two of the youngest generation of the Mallick n, and had grown up expecting to join the family business. Born to two Tier 6s, she was fairly low on the n''s hierarchy, but Eleanor had been expected to, and from everything Matt could see, wanted to join the smaller exhibition disys where they could entertain smaller amounts of people in a more close up manner.


    It was a demanding role, requiring exacting effort and countless hours of practice to truly fit into the performance, a well-run machine of utter perfection.


    Which meant Eleanor waspletely incapable of taking part.


    Those ys were choreographed down to the sweat patterns the fighters would leave on the stage, and simply avoiding endangering her and her opponent would be an endeavor unto itself.


    Now, that in and of itself wouldnt earn her a Path candidacy. She had a detrimental Talent, yes, but plenty of people got those and werent invited to join the Path. Now that Matt was on the other side of the data packet, he could see just what the recruiters were supposed to look for in these cases.


    The most important factor was desire. If the person was very clearly content to remain a Tier 1 for their entire life, living out a mundane existence and perhaps cultivating ambient essence for misceneous health benefits, they wouldnt fit on the Path.


    Next was attitude. Plenty of people who awoke detrimental Talents grew bitter or depressed, oftentimes utilizing their poor luck as an excuse to themselves and to others to eithersh out or waste away upon the charity others attempted to provide. Those kinds of personalities rarely turned out well, and the Path simply wanted no part of them.


    Finally, the person had to have at least a nominal interest in the Path. That requirement ovepped fairly heavily with desire, but it was important that they didnt simply want to Tier up simply because it was familial expectation, or because they wanted to be an artist or chef.


    Eleanor fit all three. She certainly had the right desire and attitude, as shed spent the months since her Awakening testing out her Talent for ways she might be able to get around it or use it for herself, feeling out what its limits were and thinking about all the ways it might get better with her next Talent. She was weakest on desire to join the Path itself, as shed only expressed a desire to fix her Talent to try and be a part of the family business, but she hadnt rejected the idea either.


    Amusingly her <em>cousin</em> was fairly interested in the Path, having sent out a few applications to sponsors, but had been rejected. Given how close the two were, Matt agreed with the AIs assessment that Eleanor would likely ept a Path offering so long as Ethan was included in the invitation.


    While they were technically cousins, they were the only two of the n born at the same time, and were raised as practically siblings, being born just days apart. Ethan''s parents were Tier 15s, and his mother had paused the pregnancy in the early stages for two months to ensure he wasnt born alone.


    It was fairly normal practice for immortals, for whom even practically simultaneous pregnancies could in fact be decades apart. While aplete cessation of biological functions was inconvenient at the lower Tiers of immortality, most appropriate hospitals had healers trained in ensuring it was as painless as possible. Liz was in the minority, in that Mara hadnt wanted to dy however many decades or centuries it would be before she had a peer, but Matt couldnt really me the phoenix either. When doing so the mother was unable to shapeshift or risk hurting the fetus and as a Royal Mara couldnt take a few centuries off like that.


    The rest of the metrics Eleanor was judged by were less important, but she scored well enough that she rated someone looking in on her.


    From all the information, Matt knew hed most likely ept Eleanor as his first sponsee, and would let her form a team with her cousin. While Matt didnt have ess to his information, Ethan didnt seem like a bad kid, though if his Talent was useful it wasnt apparent.


    The real question would be if Eleanor would leave her n. While the Mallick n couldnt and wouldnt prevent one of their own from leaving the nomadic lifestyle by Empirew, the ns were known for raising their children to not want to leave the greater collective. Even those who were driven by advancement still tended to visit regrly, and donate much of their delving proceeds to the family coffers. Ascensions from within the family were even rarer, with the Mallicks only having a single person recorded as having reached the next realm since their founding.


    Still, he would give it a shot.


    Eleanor deserved a ce where she could advance quickly, if for no other reason than to get to Tier 3, where she could hopefully get some way to hedge the bets of her Talent. He was no Aunt Helen, but that seemed like an obvious next step for the Talent.


    While both children would likely be raised in Tier by their n, their publicly-avable itinerary didnt have them passing through a Tier 6 or higher world, where theyd be able to cheaply reach Tier 3, for another seven years, and they wouldnt be returning to their Tier 16 home system for another <em>fifty</em> years.


    No single n owned their shared home system, and through a deal with the Empire long ago, there wasnt even a noble house that had control over it. Theirs was one of the very few systems governed without a noble house being involved. Their governing body was a collective counsel that rotated between five of the nomadic ns who were responsible for the''s upkeep and oversight. It was all quite fascinating, and Matt fully intended to spend a lot more time reading up on it during the course of his assignment.


    After he informed Luna that he was taking a detour and sent a message to Liz that she should meet up with him if her training ended early, or she was wee to try and get some more time out of her teacher.


    Luna actually seemed interested in his little foray, and he wasnt sure if that was because he was dealing with the Path, and that was something she lived for, or if she was simply testing him and his approach to this situation.


    Matt knew he could just walk in and give them a rmendation if he so chose, but he wanted to do more than that. This was the Path and possible Pathers; the situation deserved at least as much attention as Dena and Eric had given him.


    With that in mind, he nned to spend at least a month on the where the Mallick n had set down for the foreseeable future.


    He wanted to have a good alibi and record in case the n decided to investigate him, which, from everything he read about the nomadic families, he was sure they would. Once he offered some of their people a ticket to the Path he''d need an alibi so he decided toe in with his Quill identity. That had some risks, but he wouldnt be going out in public at all in said mask, and would obviously not be using his real face, which minimized the risk to an eptable level.


    That, and Quill would have far more sway than any other false Pather identity he could whip up on the fly. Those false identities might technically provide him with all the authority hed need and pass casual inspection, but when it came to the resources of what was essentially a noble family with a Tier 24 at the helm, it was better to be safe rather than ruin the children''s chances. Or, in the worst case scenario, need Luna to salvage the situation.


    Hed never live that down.


    Entering the world''s real space, he switched to atmospheric controls and let himself coast slowly into the inhabited''s orbit, making sure to keep away from the five massive ships that the Mallick n owned and operated. Each ship was nearly asrge as the freight carrier he had boarded when he traveled to the Citadel for the Ascension of Yellow.


    Checking the ship''s identifications, he noted that three of them were actually shipping containers, but the other two held the thousands of nsmen. Not that they needed two ships for so few people, but he agreed with the additional space that the extra ship provided them.


    While he didnt have ess to this exact ship''s exactyouts, the EmpireNet had some schematics of simr vessels avable for his perusal. Most had massive open spaces and areas dedicated to recreating things like parks and nature preserves, which prevented the inhabitants from going stir-crazy.


    He also took note of the massive mana cannons that lined the ships. They would usually be hidden by the outer hull, but using [Telescope], he was able to see the masked and unmasked people performing maintenance on the cannons.


    Noting all the unmasked Tier 15s, he mentally tallied the n''s strength and judged them to be at least as strong as a powerful Earldom or a weak March, which was impressive for a people without any subjects to earn taxes from.


    Then again, perhaps he was thinking about it the wrong way again. Despite what their taxes said, they were a family, not apany, not a noble house. They were self-sustaining, and the mana cost needed to travel through Chaotic Space would be offset by the familys own mana regeneration topping up their ships as they docked at a.


    Nearing the atmosphere, Matt exited his ship and pulled it into his spatial ring before letting himself fall to the''s surface, using his Concept to cut the air and keep his clothes neat. Catching himself with a flex of his Concept, he registered his false identity of Howard with the local teleportation hub, as there was no spaceport to report to, and he wanted to make sure he was reported.


    Technically, that was all that was needed. He could drop his house in a remote corner of the and register that as his home base, then fly to and from the capital any time he wanted to visit, or just wander around without sleeping the entire time. But, he was nning on going undercover as a Tier 4, and he did <em>not</em> want to deal with Luna lecturing him about half-assing his cover story. It didnt matter that he was officially here as Quill, it <em>did</em> matter that he wasnt acting like a Tier 4 at all times when he was iming to be Tier 4.


    Using his [AI], he searched for any rooms near the outskirts of the city where the Mallick n had set up, but found that everything was bought out. Upping the amount of mana his [AI] had ess to, he started searching all of the inns, hotels, and rental properties'' systems, looking for free rooms, but found very little.


    Half the hade to the capital city for the Mallick n''s performances, and they had booked up everything in the entire metropolis except one luxury suite that didnt work for his n, let alone a hotel near the area of the performances. It also wasnt like he could just put down his house and pretend to be anything but an immortal with it.


    Finding nothing, he instead looked to the condos and housing market. Finding a few things for sale there, he immediately directed his [AI] to find him a couple who wanted to live in the city, but were currently staying in a hotel. Even in a Tier 5 world, there was always a plethora of people who wanted to live in the capital, and the variety of public profiles gave his [AI] more than enough information to locate a thousand couples who met his criteria.


    Skimming through the information his AI had found, he stopped on a couple who had good jobs in one of the smaller cities that could be done remotely, so moving wouldnt hurt their financial situation. He was swayed towards picking the couple because they were looking to adopt, but werementing to friends and family that they were currently unable to buy a house. They wanted to provide the child with the kind of lifestyle that they didnt growing up.


    Also, they had a prime hotel room right next to the outskirts of the city.


    Letting his mask morph into a more average appearance, Matt moved to Mark and Felixs apartment. It was perfect.


    Slightly older and on the lower side of prosperous, but decently taken care of, it reminded him of Bennys, and he felt that it was the best ce to talk to Eleanor and Ethan from. He was pulling from his experience as a kid, his spy training, and his instincts, but he felt it was best to appear as an average person to get the most honest impression of the kids he could.


    Matt needed to see the true version of Eleanor and Ethan. If the cousin was going to be sponsored onto the Path by him, he wasnt going to get any easier treatment than the one with a detrimental Talent.


    Except when he went to go through with his n theary AI immediately shot him down for interfering with the mortal poptions. He tried to reason with the AI but he was tly rejected every time. He wasnt allowed to build a house outside the city and give it to them. He couldnt buy a house in a new development and give it to them. He couldnt sponsor the building of a house in a new area and give them a massive discount. He couldnt fund a contractor to build an entire suburb and offer discounted prices to the two of them. He couldnt even fund a contractor to build an entire suburb and <em>not</em> give discounted prices without going through a whole book of paperwork with the local baron.


    By the time he reached his wits end, he <em>desperately </em>wanted to punch someone.


    Helping people shouldnt have so much red tape but such was the consequence of blocking immortals from interfering with the mortals in bad ways.


    In the meantime, hed need some temporary amodations. That it would be the royal suite at the best hotel was, genuinely, just a coincidence.


    Despite being a Tier 15 and spending time in luxurious amodations, Matt had no issues with shitty hotels with small rooms and leaky toilets. He didnt even need to use the toilets after all.


    After checking in with a flustered group of staff who struggled to be polite and amodating to someone who told them to leave him alone, Matt watched the city from the top floor tub with a ss of expensive brandy. It was a wedding present from someone he didnt care to remember. One of the nobles, he was pretty sure, but there had been so many.


    Liz hadnt liked the taste, but he found it delicious, and ordered a case of it.


    Just because he could deal with the shitty things in life didnt mean he couldnt enjoy the nicer things.


    Using [Mage Hand], he carefully lifted the ss and toasted the air.


    Luna appeared next to him and snatched the bottle off the table before pouring herself a ss and vanishing after returning the toast.


    He took a small half-hour nap, as he wasnt truly tired but it helped clear his frustration. After he woke up he spent most of the night researching the city, the local nobles, and more importantly, the local yPen.


    Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, he exited the hotel and went to a number of thrift shops and second-hand stores, buying low Tier and slightly worn clothes. Anyone with eyes could see that his current clothes were well made, which meant expensive, and that wasn''t the impression he wanted to give to the kids. Not that he deliberately bought expensive clothes, but as a rule, by the time you were Tier 15 it was usually easier to get handcrafted, custom-made clothes than anything pre-made, and oftentimes cheaper as well. It just resulted in a sense of perfection that was hard to be rid of, but that was what he needed.


    Once that was done, he started the annoying process of absorbing his spatial rings into his forearm where he could still use them, but they wouldnt draw any attention to themselves.


    With that finished, he took to the air and flew to the nearest coast and sea, where he paused to look at the teardrop-shaped ind that would house the yPen. It gave him pause, as he hadnt been back to one since he visited Lilly before his own Tier 10 tournament.


    It was so simr, but oh so different.


    The kids he could see partying on the beach nearest the hotels he knew the young Pathers would be housed in seemed like actual children instead of the young adults he knew they officially were. The buildings were identical to the administration and training buildings he had spent so much time in, down to the small opening in the trees that he knew signified the road leading to the few dozen rifts in the center of the ind.


    Sighing, he flew forward just to be stopped by a presence that rushed at him from the ind.


    They were Tier 20, but very obviously had recently regrown their left arm judging by the healing mana awkwardly hanging off of it.


    If he was correct, this would be the head of the yPen, as that position was always staffed by a Tier 20, so he stopped and waited for the man to introduce himself.


    The first words out of the man''s mouth werent so polite. Who the fuck are you?


    The frankness stole augh out of Matt. Quill. And who the fuck are you?


    The man''s eyes widened before narrowing into slits, and Matt didnt miss the shifting of his hand as he prepared to summon a weapon and attack.


    Now, that''s a bold im I dont believe for a second. Onest chance. Who are you? Trespassing into a yPen as an immortal is a Imperial crime, and willnd you on a work detail for a decade, assuming you can even pay the fine.


    Matt smiled as he heard that. The man had a backbone despite his injury and wasnt backing down. He liked that.


    Sending the man a ping with his [AI] that confirmed everything he said and his reason for being there, he watched as the man rxed.


    Fuck, man. You almost gave me a heart attack approaching so fast. Damnit, if you had told me you wereing, I would have told you to bring bagels from the capital.


    Mattughed outright at that. What, no bluster now?


    The man blew air out of his lips. If I was in top shape, Id smack you around nice enough, but Im not even on myst leg. I got no legs left, and Im just a nugget floating around to look pretty.


    Putting that to a lie, the man waved. Come on. Names Tally. What name are you using at the moment?


    Howard. Guessing the arm is new?


    Tally nodded. Yeah, the arm was just regrown, and it wasnt a perfect job.


    Getting closer, Matt scanned the man with his spiritual sense and Domain and whistled. His Domain was like a piece of ss, once shattered, now put back together. What, did you fail to make your Intent?


    Normally, he wouldnt ask something so rude to a stranger, but Tally seemed like the type not to care.


    Yeah. Blew myself up in the process as well. I was sure I had everything right, but my Image was wrong, and my Domain nearly shattered. Waitlist for the right spiritual healer to put me back together was a couple fucking thousand years, but I got on the priority list if I took this job as Path staff and even then its still more a century before my first visit. Bunch of bull shit but what else can you do?


    Matt nodded. That''s unfortunate.


    Tally sighed with real feeling behind it this time. Yeah, but whatever. I was already off the Path, so it really wasnt that bad. Made it to Tier 16 a few centuries ago. Fucking slog that was. Not as easy as you make it look. I got a shit load of money on you making it to at least Tier 20, by the way, so Id owe you a drink if you at least make it that far. Thanks in advance.


    Matt half expected to hear some rancor in Tallys voice about his failure, but the man seemed unbothered by falling off.


    Everyone''s Path is a challenge, and the only real end of it is death. But Ill take you up on that drink.


    Tally toasted an invisible ss as they neared the ind.


    So youing to check the state of the ind before you send the girl here?


    Probably her cousin as well. They seem to be a package deal, Matt answered as he spread his spiritual sense over the housing, noting that they were in good condition with no obvious defects.


    Feel free to check. The woman I took over for wasntx in her work, and my Tier 15 second isnt a moron. That said, the ind isnt running as smoothly as Id like. We have ack of qualified trainers and don''t have any mace, axe, greatsword, halberd, grappling, or archery trainers beyond standardpound bows. Dont even ask me about mages. My second is filling in for damn near every element, despite him only being a de mage.


    Matt winced. That was a fairlyrge area to not have covered, but it wasnt exactly Tallys fault. It just meant people with those specialties werent taking positions as trainers currently in the area. Still, it wasnt a great look for the yPen as a whole.


    Tally nodded, seeing the wince. Fucking trash. I don''t know what yPen you came up with, but my yPen had at least one type of melee fighter and a decent coverage of elemental mages.


    Matt agreed without giving too much away. While I cant say I know the whole roster of trainers, we had sses avable for damn near any kind of fighting I could want.


    That wasnt exactly true, but it was close enough.


    Tally shrugged as they toured the crafter''s area. It''s not too bad. I can fill in for a number of those melee expertise, but Im a spear fighter by trade. Speaking of spears, where is Torch? Id love to get in a few rounds with her.


    Matt smiled. Busy with some training of her own, but she might very well be meeting up with me here, depending on how long my observationsts. Im not going to rush into rmending someone after all.


    Tally nodded. Good. Letting in trash will weaken the Path as a whole if they dont die outright. Dying isnt the worst, but dying unnecessarily is just unnecessary.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that weird phrasing, but agreed with the sentiment.


    As they passed by the store, Matt chuckled as he saw a young woman holding two pairs of mage gloves and looking between them like they had personally wronged her.


    Tally filled him in with a roll of his eyes. Abigail, an innate lightning mage who keeps burning her hands due to shitty control and not having the time to train the skill to appear farther away from her hands. Weve been telling her to buy a damn glove for weeks now. Shes been waffling between the two for days. Fucking kids, I swear they''re brain-dead, but I know I was even worse, so I cant really be mad. Shes spending more time and money on healing than the gloves would have cost her if she bought them when she arrived. Idiot. Maybe you can give her some advice as a mage, cause she''s ignoring all of us. Thinks we dont know our asses from our elbows since we aren''t mages ourselves.


    Matt snorted as hended and walked into the store, waving away the helper who moved to assist him.


    As he entered the aisle, the girl moved forward to make room for him to pass, but he stopped near her and looked at the mage''s gloves.


    Some were better than others, and some had specific elements they were good against. That was where the price came into consideration, and Abigail was trying to decide between a set that was built to resist lighting but was unarmored and expensive, or a much better pair of gloves that were strong enough to resist her lightning while also being armored.


    The price was ten thousand credits versus twelve thousand, which wasnt even a rounding error to his current wealth, but he still remembered being a Tier 1 and worrying about every credit.


    It might seem like a hard choice to Abigail, but she, as a low Tier mage, would get more value out of the armored gloves in case one of the Tier 1 imps got too close to her.


    Standing there in silence, he picked through a few of the gloves beforending on the armored ones Abigail was holding. Bouncing the gloves like he was debating purchasing them as well, he turned to her and asked. Which are you thinking of?


    Abigail saw right through him and rolled her eyes. Im not dumb. You and everyone else want me to buy the more expensive ones, but I cant afford it. Im trying to save up for a set of armor before I leave here. I cant afford to spend even a credit more than necessary. I also need to buy rechargeable mana stones, which aren''t cheap. By the way, I dont need your help. I stand alone on my Path!


    Thest bit was said with conviction, and whenbined with how she turned to show him her back, Matt couldnt help butugh.


    And I thought I would be dealing with only one stubborn child here. Kid, you''re being moronic.


    That caught the girl off guard, and her back stiffened. Before she could say anything, he refuted her point. The Path of Ascension ultimately demands you stand on your own in a fight, but that''s it. Before the fight even begins, I work with a team who makes sure I know what Im doing. Im the furthest thing from alone. Learning from others, taking advice, and adding lessons to our own repertoire is what furthers our Paths. The only time were truly alone is when were in a rift. Why would you choose to reinvent the wheel when there are others to pull from? That''s just dumb. Giving the girl a moment to process that, he morphed his mask into his Quill mask and added, Also, indecision is the worst trait for a fighter.


    Seeing her muscles tense, he waited until she was mostly turned around and got just a bit of the view of his mask. Just when her eyes started to dte and widen as she registered who she was talking to, he cranked his perception and abilities up to his Tier 15 levels and left the store.


    It would look like he had teleported to Abigail, but that was what he wanted.


    Rejoining Tally, they watched as the girl looked around, and seeing he was gone, finally went back to looking at the gloves. Matt was afraid she was going to go back to her indecision, but after closing her eyes, she put the cheaper gloves away and marched up to the checkout.


    Tally snarked as they watched, I said the same fucking thing. I guess Im not famous enough.


    Mattughed. That girl just needed to hear it from a mage. Being a famous one just helped.


    Drifting off, he decided he wanted to spend a little more time before starting his mission on the yPen. It felt likeing to a second home, and he didnt want to leave so soon. The mission with Eleanor and Ethan needed to wait until he got the apartment anyway, so he had a few days.


    Also, Tally was an interesting character.


    Turning to Tally, he asked what he was sure would be a dumb question. Do you drink brandy? I got a good bottle I just cracked open.


    Tally rolled his eyes. Is the Emperor fucking a Tier 50? Hearing his own words, he corrected himself. Well, no, he isnt, probably. Is the Emperor <em>a</em> fucking Tier 50? Mixed up some letters there. Words. Whatever they are. Man, just pull out the brandy.


    Hearing that rambling disy, Mattughed.


    This could be fun. His new friend cursed a lot, but seemed like a good guy. Best of all, Matt could pick his mind about the creation of his Intent. Sometimes a failure was better to learn from than a sess.


    Besides, he had a week to kill before he set his n into motion.

 PoA: Asters Adventures Chapter 7

    PoA: Aster''s Adventures Chapter 7


    Aster rocked on her heels with anticipation as she watched the stream of young bonds.


    Fens bonds were arriving in this batch, which was understandable but made her sad, as she wouldnt get to spend much time with them before she graduated at the end of the year.


    Still, she understood them wanting to wait for Azure to reach Tier 8, so they could go to the academy without having to worry about her and the two other youngest bonds Fen had acquired in the meantime. Though, understanding didnt mean she was happy with only having a year to interact with them, as they were some of her oldest friends.


    When she heard a crash of thunder, she knew her targets had arrived, and she was proven right when Bow and Arrow pushed their way to the edge of the crowd and started scanning for her.


    Aster jumped forward, ignoring Cameron''s re digging into her back.


    Really, the Otter should have expected this when she warned everyone she was going to say hello.


    Fen had stepped off the Path immediately after reaching Tier 15, and along with him, the rest of his bonds. Aster most regrly talked with Arrow, who described the struggle they had in advancing at Path rates with such arge group, and how Fen had barely made it to immortality on the Path, only three months before his birthday. It was a little sad to hear that there was one less group on the Path with them, but they had little expectation of making it any further, especially with the bondsing to the academy for a decade. Still, from the messages she received from Bow and Arrow, none of them were upset with the decision. Best of all it gave Fen more time to care for Azure and his other young bonds, letting them have a more traditional childhood.


    She wished she could have seen the young dragon, but getting to see the others was still nice.


    Seeing the wolves, golden mouse, porcupine, and oversized earthworm, Aster waved. Hey, guys. It''s so good to see you. I cant linger, but we can talk in theing months. You can take any seats you like, but Id rmend you stick with the people who you met up with along the way.


    As she pointed to near where she and her pod had sat, she had a pang of sadness at the memories.


    This was herst year at the Academy and thest year with her friends.


    Not letting that get to her, she gave a few quick hugs to the group of bonds before returning to her ce in line with the Student Council members.


    Cameron ticked at her. That was unprofessional, Aster.


    Aster waved her off with her tail as she straightened her uniform. I know them, just like I said. I cant say we''re besties, but I spent a good amount of time with the wolves before we were sapient, and we''ve kept in touch. At our Tier 10 tournament, they got Azure, a baby dragon. I spent a good while with her when she was with the other bonds who weren''t fighting. They are my closest beast friends from when I was young. I was going to say hi.


    Cameron just gave her a nk look at her exnation. Everything you said is an excuse. And not even a good one. Stay in line so we don''t give the Student Council a bad name. We are the example they should strive for.


    Aster set her face in a more neutral expression but sent Cameron a quick message with her blowing a raspberry.


    She zoned out for the long speech by the Headmaster that shed had to sit through for five years now, and only woke up when the students got assigned their rooms.


    She had hoped all of Fen''s bonds would get put together, but knew that was an impossibility. Like the lioness twins, Leia and Lauren, if a human had more than one, they were always separated as much as possible to foster more independence.


    Bow and Arrow were sent to the water and air houses, respectively. Ga, the porcupine, was sent to the earth house. Ruby, the earthworm, went to the water house, and Kenny got the air house.


    Seeing that two of them would be in her house, Aster made a note to slip into their dorm area and say hello. She was Roc house but they were Eagle, and right next door, so it wouldnt even be too hard.


    After the Deans and the Prefects led the new students away, Aster quickly slipped away before the Headmaster could corner her. With the look in his eyes, she was sure shed be getting a stern talking-to and would rather not.


    Instead of that, she decided shed rather get some of her actual work done.


    As tenth years on the Student Council, they had more than their fair share of work on their tes. She also needed to finish up her little bargain with Alyssa in the next few months if she wanted to get a cut of the profits. Together, they had bought out a number of businesses in high-traffic locations through the Nest. Aster owned fifty-one percent of the shares, but as she wasnt remaining here and couldnt manage the businesses, Alyssa needed help keeping everyone in line.


    Her own reputation for being willing to ice cube Frank had spread far and wide with a little push of the rumor mill, and no one pushed back against her orders. That, and her connection to Mara, but Aster liked to think it was just the ice cubing that kept them in line. Alyssa, who was a simple Tier 13, and originally from a vassal kingdom, wasn''t treated with nearly as much respect.


    And Aster wasnt willing to let her portion of the Feathers that those businesses earned slip out of her fingers with creative ounting. The Feathers could be converted to goods, but that wasnt why she wanted them. No, she wanted to establish her ice cream business in a location with limitedpetition.


    In thest two years, she had created over a hundred unique vors of ice cream centered around bonds and those with a bloodline''s unique tastes. The samples she and her now muchrger ice cream club gave out were always in high demand, but Aster wasnt in it for the money, and was selling at a loss just so more people could enjoy the deliciousness. That was why she couldnt let even a single feather go.


    Alyssa had the original idea to buy a business in the Nest and was willing to run it if Aster put up the capital, but Aster had wanted to be more aggressive, so they ended up buying a dozen shops. The peahen would be doing most of the work of running the day-to-day businesses, so Aster couldn''t just let her get run roughshod over.


    That didnt mean she had a magic answer, though.


    After she finished her paperwork, she went to her ice magic club to enjoy herself and chat with the others. Thankfully, Michael showed up despite looking like a kicked puppy, but Aster and Professor Adams were quite happy with that result.


    It had taken him two years of therapy to even get a glimpse of what was wrong with his bond and their rtionship, and he was taking it hard. Thankfully, those who knew him were rallying around him without any prompting from her or the others.


    She had been told about the fallout by a weepy Michael, who had struggled with his bond''s reaction to his suggestion that she join him for some joint therapy. Charlotte hadnt seen the need for therapy, and when Michael hadnt acquiesced to her rejection, she had sent him a message filled with vitriol about how she knew the academy would poison him against her.


    Aster wanted to go and wring the woman''s neck even just hearing the story secondhand, but that wasnt necessary. The Academy was more than capable of handling such people, and pped her with a five restraining order that also included a number of restrictions on any messages.


    They wouldnt force Michael to break his bond, but Aster hoped he would do it on his own. That woman didnt deserve him, but she also knew how hard that kind of decision could be. Losing Matt in one of her Folded Reflection lives, she knew the pain and emptiness that a broken bond could create and wished it on no one.


    Still, she believed that that would be better than being tied to such a wicked person.


    Beyond looking out for Michael, she watched Cynthia, who had started to take over for her in this little informal club of theirs. She would be a good recement for guiding the newer bonds on elemental maniption, but beyond that, she was a deft hand at interpersonal rtionships. It gave her hope this club couldst for a few centuries, if not longer.


    Picking a good recement was harder than she had ever considered, but she was happy with her choice.


    She just hoped that the recement for Vice President would be as good.


    Personally, she wanted Damien, the current Scribe, to take over for Cameron, as he was the only lower-ssman who had a good head on his shoulders. But she didnt trust any of the others who werent graduating with them to take over her position.


    Still, that wasn''t her job. She couldnt interfere in the elections despite knowing things would be rough if Tress was elected Vice President.


    If the woman did make it, Aster knew she wouldnt be elected for a second year, but it still galled her to have her mantle taken up by such ayabout.


    But goodbyes were the name of the year.


    After getting off work, she went to her ice cream club, where she got tearful at seeing the two dozen bonds goofing off and making truly awful ice creams. It was even better to try each one together. Whether theyughed or gagged at the taste, it was fun.


    Bound by their love of sweets, the club had grown into something she wouldnt have thought possible when it was just her pod that started it.


    Once her club ended, she hurried to the movie club, where she was really hit with a bat of emotions.


    Kelly had reallye into her own as a director and had made a few short films that had gotten some traction in the nearbys. She wasnt making anything that would reach a movie theater yet, but Aster was sure she would get there eventually.


    Her bird friend had an eye for artistic shots and had a way of captivating the viewer.


    She wasnt Talented in the craft, which hurt her mass market appeal, but Aster knew she could watch her films for hours without getting bored.


    In fact, she was intending to open up her own studio with her human Alexa, who would be moving to help in her venture. Alexa was a delver by trade, but that was admittedly more a product of them not being able to advance without fighting than desire. She had already taken courses in business management so she could help run Kellys little studio, which Kelly was ecstatic about.


    Juan and his human were both movie buffs, and the elephant had taken to being in front of a camera like it was a mud bath. While his bond, Adam, wasnt asfortable in performing, he had found his calling in cinematography, and would be joining the others. With four Tier 15s, even if Juan and Adam werent the best delvers, they had a surplus of money to give it a fair shot, and Aster was excited as to what they would produce.


    She had already made inquiries about getting them the rights to one of the awful Quill and Torch movies that would be made in theing years, but she was informed that they needed a significant track record, and far more people, in order to even have a chance at producing such a high value movie.


    Roody, Leia, and Lauren were the friends who surprised her the most. The three of them intended to continue their rtionship after graduation and wanted to advance to Tier 25 in the next two or three thousand years, which was quite the rush for most people. Still, they made a good team, and the twins bond was apparently willing to move to be closer to Roody''s bond''s harem as it was a t18 world and they could more easily advance there.


    Aster still found it funny how the lionesses had so thoroughly tamed Roody. From a wanna-be yboy who talked about having a dozen women in his pride, he had settled into domestic life quite nicely. Beyond some teasing, everyone agreed it was a good look on him, and the three of them were an adorable throuple.


    Katherine, on the other hand, was a partial sess whenpared to Michael. Her bond really had seemed to shape up in thest few years, and he was even willing to go to a therapist of his own to work through his own issues.


    That said, they both agreed they needed more time apart, and Katherine wanted to have a career beyond delving, so she was going to secondary school to be a therapist, specializing in bonds and those with bloodlines. Aster was proud of her foring through her ordeal so much stronger, but was also relieved that her human was truly changing for the better.


    Being treated like a pet was not nice.


    But seeing Katherineugh with one of the younger club members with a tail and cat ears was like a sess story of its own.


    Though, it was still more change.


    Cameron, who had joined the club as sort of an unofficial memberst year, came over to her and bumped her side. Why do you look like an ice pop left out in the sun?


    Aster sighed and gave the other woman a half-hearted re. It just hit me today that everyone is leaving at the end of the year, and we won''t be able to just hang out like we do today. It makes me sad. We all agreed to keep in contact, but that''s easy to say and hard to do.


    Camerons usually bright hair dimmed a little as she nodded. Agreed. It hit me a few weeks ago when I was trying to sleep. It will be nice to see my human again, but Ive made some good friends here. Im going to be sad to say goodbye.


    Aster nodded. Her magma otter frenemy hadnt lost any of her ambition just because she was going to graduate. No, she had been taking extra sses on leadership and politics and intended to return to her hometown to run for its mayor position. Not that the ce was badly run, but Cameron had a knack for making each mana stone go a little further and getting everyone what they needed, even if not all of what they wanted. She intended to run for a governorship after proving herself before getting epted into a noble family as a retainer, where she would fight to get her own noble title.


    For most, it was a long shot where they needed to beat the odds a dozen times, but Aster never doubted that Cameron could do it.


    Cameron must have said something to the others, as that weekend, everyone got together and they went on a pic in the woods. Once there, they transformed into their bloodline forms and just let loose.


    Cameron burned down a dozen trees, Juan crushed a dozen more with hisrge body, and Kelly flew around everyone like a hummingbird. The three lions mostlyzed about until Roody made ament about the women hunting for him, where they promptly jumped him and turned him into a pillow.


    From the stupid grin on his face, that was his intention all along, and everyone knew it.


    Aster stretched her legs before chasing Frank around with some spikes of ice and ying a sort of tag with him.


    By the time the sun set, they had settled in and watched a small fire die down after they had eaten far too many smores.


    It had been a good day, and it reinforced to Aster that just because they were going to separate physically, they didnt have to lose their friendships. Not if they put in the work to keep each other involved.


    And they had forever.


    So what if they fell out of contact for a decade or two? It wouldnt be ideal, but their friendships could survive that.


    Once things got back into the grind, Asters mncholy faded to a tolerable state, helped along by being able to talk to Fens bonds after the six-month mark.


    It was fun being able to see their new bodies and new names. Apparently, his bad naming sense had already faded to the point they were going by new unofficial names, even in beast form.


    Fen had taken their choice to rename themselves with grace, which Aster was happy with. Having met the man and forming a good impression of him, she would have been disappointed if he had shown any red gs.


    Bow and Arrow had officially chosen the names Boh and Arya, respectively, and Ga had gone with Gavin. Ruby and Kenny on the other hand both chose to keep their original names.


    She did get to hear about the adventures, or rather misadventures, that Azure, June, and Barry got up to as the youngest bonds in Fen''s little pack. June and Barry were a Shadow Sparrow and a Light Butterfly, respectively, and their shing elements put them at friendly odds all the time, forcing Azure to act as referee. Aster had needed to ask if Boh and Arya meant Azure stopped their bickering and fights, but no, Azure decided the winner of each bout, game, or prank that one pulled on the other.


    She was a little jealous after hearing about the things they got into thanks to having so many other bonds near their age around.


    It sounded fun.


    Boh and Arya, just like their younger siblings, were quite the handful, as they caused heartbreak anywhere they went with their propensity for flirting with everyone. The Student Council had to break up five fights in as many months because one of the wolves seduced someone who was in a rtionship already. On the plus side, they had seemingly taken another Lightning Wolf named Lydia under their wing, a girl who wore her trauma on her sleeve and had trouble making friends. Unfortunately, part of their improvised therapy included getting her to step out of herfort zone which manifested as her choosing to ask out anyone who caught her eye. A decision that caused more than a few issues when she didnt show up to the date, or would teleport out halfway through.


    That was starting to be a pattern, and Aster wished the professors good luck in corralling the wolves in theing years. That was exacerbated by the fact everyone and their mother wanted to court Azure. Some people were apparently ying the long game, and attempting to establish ties to Fens family long before Azure was ready to enter immortal society. There were a thousand and one noble families that had no bloodline, but would love to add one of the strongest Rank 2 bloodlines to their family. Not to mention the million and one families who were willing to add a bit of dragon''s blood into their own mix.


    While the union between two bloodlines usually resulted in one or the other being the singr bloodline, there was an infinitesimal chance that the bloodlines would find harmony and be their own stable bloodline. Dragon Turtles were one of the more famous examples, where they got most of the strengths of both bloodlines. Though the Dragon Turtles didnt get the natural Talent set about bloodlines that dragons got, they did get the increased essence needed to Tier up, which made them slightly stronger than average. Also, their bloodline Talent set was about defensive shields and reinforcement, making them stupidly tough.


    Thanks to the Dragon Turtles, everyone wanted the chance to be the founders of a new bloodline that was part dragon. As the days passed, she felt the pangs of sadnesse back.


    Thankfully, seniors had an abundance of free time, and despite her duties on the Student Council, she had carved out time to spend with her pod.


    She had wanted to just go wander the city and do some shopping with Kelly, and the bird was always down to shop, which made it an easy go to activity for them.


    Im going to miss you, Aster. Are you sure you cant convince Matt and Liz toe join us in the movie business? It will be fun. That''s our goal after all. Not to make money, but to have fun.


    Aster sighed. In other times she would have kept a more happy appearance. but she just wasnt up to it today. I wish. but we have other responsibilities.


    <em>Finishing The Path</em>.


    With Matt marrying into royalty and Liz being part of <em>the</em> royalty, there are now a bunch of things that she wasnt doing while she was on The Path that we need to catch up on. And I can''t just leave them to do it alone. You know how it is.


    Kelly ruffled through some clothes with a little more force than was necessary. I know, but Im going to miss you.


    Aster pulled the shorter girl into a hug from behind to earn a light elbow to the side. You are too damn tall, Aster. Why is a fox six feet tall?! Damn gics.


    Asterughed as she blew a raspberry into Kellys feathers and got a light shock for her trouble.


    Pulling away, Aster ruffled through a few more clothes and found one that she thought would match Kellys usual style.


    Look at this one. A nice blue jean dress with jumpers. It''s cute and fits the munchkin thing you have going on.


    Munchkin thing?


    Aster ignored the dangerous lilt to Kellys question. Yeah, being all of five foot nothing and all. It fits.


    Kelly reached up and pulled Asters hair, causing her to yelp and hip bump the smaller girl into a rack of clothes where they started y fighting andughing until the attendant cleared her throat.


    Separating, Aster shoved the dress she had picked out back onto the rack, just to have Kelly pull it right back off with a humph.


    It went onto the pile and they moved around until they each had two new outfits to get tailored to their exact sizes by the shop. The nice thing was that the dresses would make their way to their rooms within a week, so they didnt even need toe back. Being Tier 15 helped there, as their sizes could be scanned by their AI, and they would be able to skip the need to meet with the tailor to get the clothes altered.


    They ended their evening watching an up anding chef put on a show at a decent restaurant before heading home with some nice ice cream.


    It was a nice time and it reaffirmed their friendship, but it didnt solve therger issue.


    Their time was running out.


    All the tenth years seemed to have a perpetual cloud of sadness around them as the year neared its finale.


    As the elections came in, Aster knew the Vice President position was doomed, but couldn''t do anything more than shrug. Her time was over, and if the current students wanted an idiot to represent them, she had no control over that.


    Kelly, Juan, Roody, and herself all made an effort to spend a lot of time together, which was like a balm to her spirit. They talked about their ns and tried to workshop their ideas and point out pitfalls in each one, but they had done this for years, and it was simply old familiar ground. That didnt mean they didnt enjoy it.


    Aster was sad she had to lie to them, but knew they wouldnt hold it against her. Officially, she was joining Matt and Liz in being royalyabouts, but in reality, she had a Path toplete, and with Luna, she knew rxation would be thest thing possible.


    That said, she wanted to show them how much she had grown and see how much they grew.


    Despite all their attempts, time still passed. Even immortals couldnt stop time, and even through all their efforts to keep things the same, their final day at the academy came. Aster stood with all the other bonds of her year in human forms in their formal robes in the greeting hall they had arrived in ten years ago.


    She had to use her Concept to clear her watery eyes a half dozen times during the ceremony, just from standing with the rest of her year, even before the Headmaster came out.


    Ahh. It feels like yesterday when I remember you all standing in front of me in your beast forms. Now you are in your human forms and far more independent. You have had some fun in an environment built for that, but you have transitioned into self-reliant adults who I am sure will go on to do great things.


    Aster lost control over her tears but didnt really mind; everyone else was crying, so why shouldnt she join them?


    Do not be sad. You may be scattered through the Empire, but as immortals, you have all the time in the world. Travel. Delve. Get an office job. The Empire is your oyster, and you are now prepared to do whatever you want. But no matter what happens, I trust that you all will be sessful. I know most of you are looking forward to returning to your humans, and I will not hold you up. Just remember that you are graduates of the Red Feather Bond Academy, and to do your best. I hereby pronounce you all graduates!


    With that, everyone threw their caps into the air with a shout.


    Aster grabbed one that fell into her hands and tucked it away like everyone else after reading the name. Wexter Harrow. She had never met him, but knew his name and of him. He had been active in a lot of the physical sports the Academy offered and was a cougar of some kind.


    She wondered who had gotten her cap, but didnt have to look long as she felt a pair of familiar eyes bore a hole into her back. Cameron stamped over to her in a huff.


    Really? Out of everyone''s caps, I get yours? Cant you just not interfere in my life once, Ice Pop?


    Aster sniffled at Cameron''s pout, but was happy her cap went to her friend.


    She tried to speak, but choked up and just pulled the dumb otter into a hug whichsted long enough that Juan, Roody, Kelly, the twins, and Katherine joined in.


    Once they had a good cry, everyone changed out of their robes, and after a round of promises to keep in touch, they all boarded the shuttles that would take them to the space station where they would all take connecting flights back to wherever they called home. She even had a small bag of rewards from graduation to look over on her trip back.


    Aster looked out over the twinkling stars andmented the passing of what was, but looked forward to what would be.


    She would be able to join Matt and Liz on The Path, where they would all be able to advance to Tier 16, and before long, Tier 25.


    War was on the horizon, even if everyone tried to ignore it or pretend it had nothing to do with them.


    Light and Shadow were said to be almost at the peak of Tier 24, and the ambassadors of the other Great Powers would be dering war the moment they finished The Path.


    Scary times were ahead, but Aster hardened her heart to it.


    If she wanted the friends she had made at the Academy to be safe, she needed to do her part and keep them safe. And to do that, she needed to be the best fox she could be.


    As the ship she was on warped into chaotic space, she smiled at her reflection.


    She was ok with that.


    For all that she had loved her time away, her ce was still with Matt and Liz. Pushing themselves every step of the way so when they joined the war, they could make a difference.


    A journey was more than its starting or ending point.


    It was a Path that was tread one step at a time.


    Just like life.


    It lived one step at a time.


    She was just on her next step.


    A step she couldn''t wait for.

 Chapter 244

    Chapter 244


    Liz arrived just three days into his little vacation with Tally, which Matt found endlessly entertaining as Tally immediately challenged her to a duel and was promptly pped around.


    Tally was quite good with his spear, having made it to Tier 16 on the Path with it, but Liz was simply on another level with the weapon. Most of their initial bouts ended within four exchanges, and it wasnt until Tally was allowed to increase his cultivation to Tier 17 and use his core skills that he won once against Liz.


    When they brought all their spells into the mix, Tally started off strong and won three matches in a row, but within an hour, Liz was countering every trick he had. sts of sand melted on contact with her mes, illusions were ignored, and Liz punched through Tallys [Bulwark] with her corrosive tipped spear. Tally had wisely refrained from using any fire spells, but when he did finally decide to try a [Fire Lance], it traveled all of ten feet before it reversed course, reformed into a pillow, and started smacking the man upside the head.


    Though a week of messing around with Tally and giving a few lessons to some of the younger Pather, Matt and Liz had to get back to their actual job and see if Eleanor Mallick was worthy of joining the Path of Ascension. If nothing else, their time at the local yPen showed him that the staff who worked there were bothmitted to their jobs and tried their best with the kids.


    He also got a few glimpses into how the yPens worked.


    Most of the day-to-day staff was hired from the local popce, but things like the healers and trainers were all contracted to the yPen for half-decade-long tenures at a minimum. Some, like Tally, were just there for priority healing, while others were after the rare treasures or general generouspensation which the Empire provided for those willing to train the young.


    It reminded Matt of his own time at a yPen, which was why he tried to pass on some of the easier lessons to the mages. He was careful not to pull a Luna and expect the kids to do the impossible, but he still pushed them. Abigail the lightning mage was a bit of a surprise, as she came to every one of his sses. As far as he could tell, she hadnt spoken a word to anyone about his showing her his Quill mask, which was a mark in her favor. With that in mind, he tried to give her some extra tips and points that were valuable to a solo mage and were usually only learned through blood and tears.


    Most of it was stuff she didnt want to hear, but needed to learn. Getting her to agree to take sses on how to fight in melee range was like pulling teeth from a hungry crocodile. He eventually convinced her by exining to her that learning how to fight as a melee fighter would help her predict the flow of a fight better. It ran contrary tomon opinion, which had mages simply filling their role and only learning the flow of battle from that position, but that kind of hands-off approach was ipatible with the Path. It was what set the novices apart from the truly sessful, and shoving a spearhead on the end of a staff was one step of many involved in staying safe in rifts.


    Others just needed some tips on the best way to handle specific encounters that they would deal with in rifts, which forced him to enter the local rifts and scout them out. He wanted to fill them up after surveying them, but he restrained himself from acting on the impulse. That was far too risky, and would draw too much attention to himself. Instead, he just donated a handful of the lower Tier mana stones he had rattling around in his storage rings, with a re at theary AI, daring it to intervene.


    Tally thanked him, expressing how he wished he could help out. But, for as long as he was on the post he couldnt even leave the ind, let alone delve.


    Matt was fairly surprised that he was literally <em>unable</em> to leave, but he supposed it did exin a few questions hed had about the rift breaks on his homeworld. The entire yPen arrangement was built upon the foundation that <em>only</em> the yPen was ceded to the Empire as a whole, and the nobles who had first established the agreement had been very adamant that they werent epting a spy into their own midst.


    Legally speaking, the Tier 20 stationed there wasnt so much as allowed to look outside of their ind, or hear what was going on, as though the entire rest of the was private property. Whether or not they actually saw or heard what was going on was irrelevant, they had to pretend that they saw nothing, heard nothing. So much as acknowledging anything happening outside of the ind was strictly illegal, no matter what. Someone could be murdered half an inch past the inds border, and Tally would be forced to ignore it. If he did <em>anything</em>, even tell a Pather inside to go take care of it, that could be taken as an action viting the Emperors treaty and possibly lead to the unraveling of the Path of Ascensions first steps. Intervening to stop a rift break, or passing along a hint about the abysmal state of as nobility would be taken as a direct vition by the nobles, and would decidedly not go well.


    Even the Tier 15 second inmands in the yPens were strictly limited, only allowed to leave the ind to receive new Pathers and with proper notice given to the ruling nobles that they would be leaving the ind. Simr practices were in ce for all external staff, though usually with a day of shore leave each month.


    In retrospect, it neatly exined why his first day as a Pather had been upied by Griff dragging him along to shop for his then-newborn. It was him and someone else.


    Thinking back, Matt tried to remember who he hade with but came up nk. He remembered the young man had dark hair, but he couldnt put a name to the fuzzy face. He couldnt even rely on his [AI]s memory, as he didnt so much as have the pseudoskill at the time.


    Making a note to look into itter, he entered the suite he had rented and changed into the second-hand clothes he bought. Hed even had to adjust his masks body to keep the boots from pinching. If he wasnt careful, hed break through them and cause a scene.


    Liz, however, had found clothes that fit her masked persona perfectly, and he was a little jealous.


    Walking through a few puddles, he made sure to get some dirt on himself and joined the long lines to enter the fairgrounds.


    It was kinda fun to listen to people chat and just people-watch. Their problems and joys seemed too mundane, but he found that beautiful. In front of him, a couplesrgest problem was which direction they wanted to circle the fairgrounds. There was a single mother behind him with two kids who was nervously checking her bank ount on her pad, clearly wondering how she would cover the bills this month while forcing a smile for her kids barely restrained joy at the fair in front of them. A man who was already munching on a pretzel had gotten some condiments on his shirt, and was trying to hide the mark as a cute Tier 5 Mallick n member offered snacks to those in line.


    If Matt wanted to be unkind, he could say it was all pointless, but he knew this struggle and knew that it was everything for those involved. His being a high Tier might put him above most of those problems, but it didnt make those problems less significant.


    He could solve most of their worries with a thought but chose not to. It wouldnt even cost him a rounding error of his worth to pay the mother''s rent, or more than a thought to clean the stain off the man''s shirt with a burst of [Wash]. He could tell the couple they should definitely go counterclockwise as there were fewer people in that direction.


    But he didnt.


    It wasnt his ce.


    And, no matter how annoyed he was at theary AI for ruining his ns he agreed.


    Solving people''s problems for them at best babied them unfairly and created a dependency that would be hard to break. At worst, trying to solve peoples lives for them was dehumanizing and led to all manner of atrocities.


    Immortals needed to stay in theirne.


    He cursed himself as he paid for his ticket, struggling to let the single mother struggle more than necessary when she was clearly trying her best to do right by her children. He was also unwilling to single her out, and so paid for the next fifty people''s tickets. That was small enough, and affordable enough by even the Tier 4 his mask said he was, that the AI allowed it with only a small fee.


    As Matt argued with thes omnipresent guardian, the teller tried to make a fuss about it and let everyone know, but Matt told her to justp those behind him who needed it and keep it quiet.


    She gave him an odd look, but smiled and marked the back of his and Lizs hands with a small smiley face, letting them know it was a VIP pass they could use to skip the lines of any rides or attractions they wanted.


    To keep in character, he and Liz thanked the girl and then slipped through the barrier and kept up their act as happy mortals to escape the scrutiny of the Tier 15 acting as a guard. And acting was the proper word. The mortals who passed by the clown doing a tumbling act as entertainment would never think he was strong enough to crush them all with a thought.


    Matt ogled the disy and pretended he couldnt see the hyper-fast movements being made between each roll across the stage, and couldnt sense the spiritual probe testing his veil and mask making him seem like any other Tier 4.


    After a few moments, when the tumbler turned their focus back towards the rest of the crowd, Matt knew they were in the clear, but they kept watching as if they were impressed. It wasnt even that hard, practically everything absolutely radiated care and attention. The stalls were carved from exotic woods and were sometimes painted with vivid colors, other times iid with shining metals and glowing rocks, with even the magic around the stalls flowing in pleasing and impressive ways. It didnt seem to matter that none of the guests would be able to see mana, or that theyd never be able to see the intricate carvings hidden behind curtains or on the other side of the counter. It didnt matter that even <em>Matt </em>strained to see some of the hidden details within some of the paintings with his full perception, that even a Tier 15 couldnt spot all of the carefully-painted expressions on the animals feasting beneath a tree, let alone the mortals wandering around awestruck. The details were there anyway, and it was all the greater for it.


    Even the tumbler, who Matt had assumed was performing Tier 15-level movements as a way to try and catch them out as secretly being immortal, actually appeared to be undertaking a wholly separate performance <em>while</em> entertaining the mortals, pushing himself to undertake feats even Matt didnt know he could replicate.


    Only once the routine started to repeat did they move on with the rest of the crowd and start bouncing around to find their target. Or rather, targets, as Liz found Eleanor and Ethan working together at a game where the contestants needed to knock down weighted cups with sandbags.


    The two of them seemed oh so young to Matt, but he respected how they effortlessly worked the crowd together and egged people on to give it one more try, creating hype and excitement for the watchers and yers both.


    shing his little stamp, Matt earned himself a raised eyebrow from Ethan, but the boy never stopped his stream of words.


    And here we have a Mr. VIP! Whats your Tier, Mr. VIP? We wouldnt want to make this too easy for you, you see?!


    Ethan paused just long enough for the crowd tough before spinning an oversized dial, designed to control how heavy the cups and beanbag were, and identally set it to Tier 1000.


    Eleanor threw her hands up in exaggerated exasperation, and threw a feather at her cousin. Matt noted a tiny illusionary dice appeared at the end of the feather, rolling down the quills gentle curve until it and the tip of the feather <em>pinged</em> into the floor with a fifteen, still leaving no mark.


    Eleanor and Ethan ignored the Talent even as she yelled at him. No! Stop spinning the dial that hard. <em>Nobody</em> is a Tier 1000, nobodys even Tier 100!


    The crowdughed at Ethan''s sheepish expression, so Matt answered them. Tier 4 melee fighter.


    As the crowd oohed, Matt hefted the sandbag and pretended to gauge its weight while Liz backed off a little.


    Ethan pretended not to be impressed as Eleanor fell over herself in awe. Guess Mr. VIP is stronger than I thought! But well get him before too much longer. We do go all the way to Tier 1,000 after all.


    Laughing maniacally, he struck a pose as Eleanor picked up his line. I believe in you, Mr. VIP! You just need to believe in yourself. You do well enough, maybe Ms. VIP will believe in <em>you</em>ter on, eh?


    A few yips, and one whistle from the crowd made Mattugh as he decided to y along.


    Tossing the bag around a few times, Matt pretended to wind up like he was about to throw a heavy ball. He carefully lobbed the bag, aiming for and hitting just above the middle of the pyramid of cups.


    While he knocked over the top two rows, the crowd behind him ahhed and Eleanor made a fart sound. Ethan said, First throw only took out the easiest cups. Guess the grandest prizes arent to be, Mr VIP. But maybe you can still get something a bit less impressive?


    Eleanor worked the crowd and waved for them to cheer. Come on, lets give him some help! We dont want to disappoint Ms. VIP, after all. Maybe a loud enough yell will scare the cups into falling over?


    It was then that Matt realized a good half of the crowd were young kids, many of whom were around awakening age and staring at the young cousins.


    With a hidden smile, he realized the Mallick n was quite exotic for the locals, and they were crushing <em>hard</em>. This was fairly standard, with fairly tan skin and dark hair, whereas the Mallicks were very pale, with dark purple hair streaked with silver, and graceful swirls along their skin reminiscent of stars and gxies.


    Matt was used to the background appearance of capital systems, or even just immortals in general, and the Mallick nsmen just werent <em>that</em> unique by those standards. It did exin some portion of the crowds, though.


    His next throw only knocked three of the four remaining cups off, and Ethan y mocked him by covering up the middle row of prizes, leaving only the smallest ones.


    Aw, Mr. VIP, guess you just cant beat it, and now youre down to just the smallest treats.


    Ethans hesitance was barely noticeable at normal speeds, but Matts higher-Tier perceptions let him witness a momentary back-and-forth interaction between the two cousins told entirely through bodynguage. It mostly amounted to just an exasperated Really? from Eleanor, and resigned agreement from Ethan.


    Yeah, I had such high hopes for you, Mr. VIP, but now its just sad. And Im sure Ms. VIP is too, isnt she? Eleanor prompted, and Liz turned away from Matt, to the crowdsughter.


    Eleanor closed her fingers to show he was that close to making it, and one of the young men in the crowd yelled. Its not the size of the prize, its how you use it!


    Eleanor and Ethan bothughed with the crowd, and Eleanor waggled her eyebrows. Im sure you know best.


    The young man suddenly seemed to lose all ability to talk, much to the delight of his friends as they started ribbing him.


    Thankfully Matt didnt have to resistughing and used that as an excuse to miss his final throw.


    Eleanor, knowing how to y the crowd, picked up the sandbag and tossed it back to Matt. Mr. VIP, you can get a second shot. Unlike some people.


    The young man in question had regained hisposure <em>slightly</em>, but his face was still quite red as he squeaked out, A second shot is a second shot, which is all that matters.


    By now, even some of the adults wereughing, and Matt decided to y with the situation a little.


    Mattnded his throw and imed the physically smallest of the first row of prizes, a small wrapped caramel. He walked over to the embarrassed young man and passed along the candy, I think youre going to need that second shot more than I will.


    The crowd roared with approval, and the young man was pushed to the front by his friends for his own attempt, made somewhat more difficult by the fact he refused to look at either Ethan or Eleanor.


    Leaving the area, Matt and Liz kept their attention on the duo as they worked the crowd and kept them entertained as they pretended to y a number of games and ride the rides.


    It was genuinely fun, and impressive to see the sheer amount of attention given to absolutely everything. Even the prizes. Most of the minor rewards were various candies or exotic fruits themed in some way corresponding to the game they could be won at, with medium rewards as stuffed plushies or carved knicknacks, and the grandest prizes as often as not having some minor enchantment upon them to either make the wooden eagles circle above the tabletop and follow bits of food held out in front of it, or the lockboxes only open at the touch of a specific person, or enable the tops to spin on the wall or the ceiling. There was nothing <em>truly</em> major there, but it was all whimsical and just <em>fun</em>.


    Matt did wish that Aster was along to share the experience, and missing her dampened everything slightly, but he and Liz turned it into something of a date so it was far from a strictly work-rted evening.


    But most importantly, he didnt see anything from Eleanor or Ethan that would suggest they wouldnt be good Pathers.


    That didnt mean they were going to approach them immediately. He had worked at Bennys, and knew that all the waitstaff were as sweet as sugar when the customers were around, but could have a million and one different personalities when away from them.


    Fortunately, he and Liz had an observational warrant for the pair, and more than enough range on their spiritual sense to keep an eye on their candidates for the rest of the evening, even all the way back from the royal suite if they were so inclined.


    The fireworks and mock battle of Duke Waters fighting against Unyielding Anvil were a little over the top, with some flourishes he knew wouldnt have happened in a real fight. But the crowd ate it up, and even Matt could admit it was well done.


    He of course didnt miss Eleanor and Ethans responses to the show, as theyy on top of their booth staring up at the sky.


    Ethans desire was patently obvious as he imagined himself as Duke Waters, even twitching in time with some of the Ascenders attacks, but Eleanors desire was a bit harder to put into words. Wistful was perhaps the most urate, with a mixture of sadness and hope as she yed with a pebble in her pocket.


    Leaving with everyone else, he and Liz returned to his royal suite, where he watched something local on the screen while watching the duo clean up their stall and then pick up the few pieces of trash that were left on the ground nearby.


    He only half paid attention as one of the Tier 15s talked to everyone about the evening''s activities, but did note that he called the youngest pair of Mallicks out for their good job, which seemed to please the kids.


    Mortals could often be overlooked, but it seemed to him the n had a handle on that. Then again, they did have a few thousand mortals in their ranks, so they had a lot of practice so it wasnt that much of a surprise.


    The next few days, Matt and Liz wandered the city during the day and watched as the duo did the same for the first few hours of the afternoon before the fair would start back up.


    He watched as they interacted with normal people, wait staff, and higher Tiers alike. For the most part, he liked what he saw.


    They were polite to everyone, and Eleanor even had the amusing habit of thanking the automated taxis for driving them around. Someone who was nice at work when they had to be, but then an asshole to others when they could let loose wasnt someone he would sponsor. Sure, that was a behavior that they could grow out of, but considering they worked in customer-facing jobs already, if they treated others as they hated to be treated, he wouldnt waste his time with them.


    No, that was all fine. What he and Liz didnt like was how they treated the obvious immortals. They were a touch too skittish around them, which made Matt wonder if they had a bad experience with someone, or if, contrary to what he sawst night, the immortals of the n were abusive.


    It wasnt anywhere close to a dealbreaker, more just a point of interest than anything truly bad, but they still kept a closer eye upon the rest of the n as they continued their observation.


    Matt had the most experience here, as Liz had been recruited the normal way, so he intended to recreate a scenario simr to what Dena and Eric set up with him. While he had thought their n with him was a simple customers who need a sparring partner interaction, he now knew better. Here, he wanted to do something simr, as he could see the multitude of information such interactions gave.


    A great idea in theory, but a lot harder in practice.


    He was pretty sure that the kids and even the lower Tiers of the n were unaware, but there was a Tier 18 Mallick watching everyone who went into the city at all times. So, he couldnt just bump into the kids without causing a stir and making things even harder than necessary.


    He also wanted to spend a good amount of time with the pair, and Liz circumvented hisplicated ns with a much easier one.


    Eleanor and Ethan both stopped by a number of fighting halls and clearly wanted to practice, but Eleanors Talent made that almost impossible. One out of ten rolls had the possibility of breaking either her weapon or the training dummy, and no one would be happy with their equipment being damaged like that.


    Sighing that he didnt want to do it this way, but saw no other option, Matt flexed his Domain in a very obvious way, then took to the air alongside Liz to meet with the Tier 18 watcher.


    The woman tried to pressure them to leave her alone, but despite her higher Tier, he could feel that she wasnt a fighter. At least, not in the same way that he was. She had clearly delved and knew how to fight, but she didnt live battle and bloodshed, which made her disy a little hollow.


    When she saw their credentials as Quill and Torch, the woman froze and called for backup. He could already feel the Tier 20s moving to close in on their location, but he didnt make any aggressive moves.


    We''re not here for trouble.


    Then why are the two of you here?


    Matt looked up to the side at the first arrival, a grandfatherly-looking man with gray hair but a strong physique befitting his status as an immortal. Call me Howard and her Willow for now. We are here so you can facilitate our mission.


    The older man''s eyes narrowed, and he nodded slightly. My name is Everett Mallick, and we will serve the Empire as is our duty and to the best of our abilities.


    Matt smiled, as they clearly thought they were here to ruin another noble''s day, and he found the idea amusing. It was tempting to let Everett sweat a little under the misunderstanding, but he shook his head as Liz spoke.


    No, we are here as recruiters.


    That was clearly the wrong thing to say, as all seven of the Mallicks immortals stiffened as though Liz had struck them with lightning.


    That was less than ideal, and Matt readied himself for pushback as he felt Liz do the same next to him.


    Everett was choosing his words carefully, but Matt didnt let his expression change. None of our children are worthy of such attention. Please leave.


    Matt sighed, No. The Path of Ascension is for any willing to struggle against impossible odds, those who seek to fight fate. And in that, you<em> do</em> possess someone worthy of our notice.


    Everett locked eyes with him, narrowing his gaze and controlling his voice as he spoke, Eleanor.


    Matt inclined his head, It is the right of all adults, even when newly awakened, to make their own choices apart from the pressure of higher tiers. If Eleanor wishes to reject my offer, that is her decision, but it is <em>her</em> decision to make, not yours.


    The woman shook her head before Everett could. No, its too dangerous. Her Talent will fix itself at Tier 3, were certain of it. Theres no need to throw her into that butchers house. If youre concerned about how long it will take, we can even do so now.


    A couple who arrivedte, who Matt identified as Ethan''s parents, also shook their heads. Ethan will not be joining the Path either. Hes young and wants adventure, but he doesn''t understand the dangers therein.


    Matt looked between the assembled crowd. They werent wrong, the Path <em>was</em> dangerous. It wasnt an ident that nearly everyone who joined didnt have normal backers of their own, from lower-Tier worlds and lower-Tier families, and wanted a chance at greatness. <em>He</em> had been one of those reckless fools, after all. The people like Liz, who joined it because they had something to prove, were in the minority.


    After all, there was realistically nothing that the Path could offer Ethan and Eleanor. Their families, while mid-Tiered at most, were capable of providing rift slots, gear, even skills in abundance. They would be gaining little and risking much by joining the Path.


    You are not incorrect, Matt agreed, and everyone around him rxed. Everett was preparing to send him away, when he continued, But it remains not your choice to make. I am fully aware of what the Path of Ascension means. It is dangerous, yes, but for someone like Eleanor? It could mean the world. The opportunity to stand with the entire realm arrayed against you, with nothing but your wits and your skills. To prove that she is more than simply a poor reading upon a Talent assessment, that being a danger to her and others does not mean she is incapable, does not mean she is lesser, does not mean she cannot help <em>herself</em>.


    That earned a flinch from some of the assembled group, and Liz spoke next. This is simply a courtesy for you, that we are going to approach Ethan and Eleanor. We will offer them the chance to train, the chance to learn as we assess them. Should we deem them as likely to seed, we will offer them a ce upon the Path of Ascension, and that is something you cannot prevent. Even if you decide to leave the altogether, we will follow and we will offer. It is not your ce to prevent their decision. <em>This is simply a courtesy</em>, informing you of our intentions. We would appreciate it if you did not seek to obstruct us, and that you would wait to try and persuade the two of them until after we have made our offer.


    Ethan''s parents'' fists were clenched, but they said nothing as Everett tried onest time. We can take care of them. We


    You can. And you are free to persuade <em>them</em> of that, as well. Persuade them that they never need to struggle, never need to strive and prove themselves outside of the n. You could seed, you can even try to scare them off. But do not make the decision for them. Perhaps all that shalle of this meeting is some training and testing of your childrens abilities. But, perhaps not. We will not force them to join the Path, just as surely as you are not to force them to stay.


    It continued past that, but nothing more of substance was said until Liz and Matt managed to ept a begrudging agreement that Eleanor and Ethan would be trained for a little, and that they shouldnt seek to dissuade them from the Path before it was offered as a choice.


    It was trivial to set up an encounter with Eleanor and Ethan, and Matt felt nostalgic for his sparring with Dena as the kids entered the training hall Matt was based out of. An Illusory short sword in his left hand, he walked out of a training room like he was tired and acted surprised to see the two.


    Hey kids. Long time no see. What are you doing here?


    Ethan recognized him first andughed. Oh, Mr. VIP! Hey, it''s a small city. We''re just here to look around. It''s fun to see people fight, and we want to get better. Where is Mrs. VIP?


    Matt yed it dumb. Willows still inside. But training? All those fights at the stage, dont they have training, why do youe out here?


    Eleanor casually shrugged, Eh, my Talent is a bit dangerous, and <em>really</em> hard on our training equipment, so its better toe out here for now until they get the chance to set something up. It doesnt really matter. she lied.


    Matt nodded, Makes sense. Danger isnt great, but you cant avoid it forever. But hard on training equipment, what happens?


    Eleanor perked up like a flower given water, her smile revealing a recently-healed tooth. Yes! That''s what I say. But my Talent. If Im unlucky, Ill just shatter any weapon I try to train with.


    Matt nodded and used [Cast Illusion] to create another short sword. It was partially transparent and obviously not real, and he saw the kid''s eyes go wide as they realized what he was implying.


    If you can get your n''s permission, I might be able to help with that. I can always dissipate the sword if needed, even though Im not sure it would actually be able to hurt you.


    Eleanor shook her head. There''s no way they''ll agree. Thank


    Ethan wasnt taking no for an answer and cut his cousin off. Im calling Eve and seeing if she''ll go for it. Shes on duty, and she likes us.


    Matt smiled as Eve pretended to waffle and then called him on the false identification number he provided them. They pretended to chat while she threatened him with every kind of torture if the kids were hurt.


    He didnt mind. He was d the kids had such a support system. Even if they didnt join the Path, he was sure they would be in good hands.


    He was fairly certain theyd do well on the Path. The drive to aplish the impossible was a major part of it, and while statistically they wouldnt make it to Tier 10, if they <em>could</em> manage it and were able to get themselves a good manager? Well, hed love to see what they could do when pushed to their limits.


    He waved them into a training room, joining Liz just as finished smacking a training dummy around with a staff. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a pair of illusory swords and told them to attack the dummy themselves.


    Eleanor was a little too free with her Talent as she happily exined everything about it with only a little prompting, but he could tell she was trying to show off.


    He was happy about that. Her Talent wasnt stopping her.


    It <em>was</em> just as bad as the recording suggested, though.


    After a few blows, Eleanor''s attacknded on one, and Matt felt an outside force trying to dissipate his spell. It was woefully too weak for that, and he expected the Talent to fade when he didnt allow it to take effect on his spell. Instead, it seemed to slide off the spell like water, and a secondter the girls right calf muscle twisted painfully.


    Eleanor fell to the ground with a yelp, and Matt whistled internally as Liz helped to fix the sprain. It was nothing that a light touch of [Directed Heal] couldnt fix with practically no healing cooldown to speak of, as they wouldnt let the girl suffer for their curiosity, but it certainly represented one of the first times hed actively seen a Talent try to hurt its owner.


    See. My Talent is dangerous. I want to delve and get stronger, but I know that Ill just get myself killed.


    Matt nodded as he tapped his fingers. Honestly, I think you would make a better mage.


    Liz offered her own suggestion from the floor next to Eleanor. Or a ranged fighter.


    He fished around in his bag until his fingers closed on a wand. It was something hed enchanted that morning, certainly nothing too impressive, Try this. Its just a weak mana bolt, mainly used for target practice. It wont hurt anything.


    Eleanor eagerly grabbed the wand as she scrabbled to her feet and cast an attack at the dummy, while Ethan stepped back from her. Matt smirked at him as he covered his eyes with a hand and peeked through the cracks of his fingers. Items tend to blow up around her.


    Eleanor sent the second bolt at his foot, forcing him to jump and dodge with a curse. Watch it there, El!


    Matt smiled and threw up a recording of the bolt Liz had taken with her AI on the screen that the training room provided. The wand had rolled its own die as the enchantment cast the spell, but the projectile itself also rolled a die, manifested over top of the bolt, as it flew towards its target.


    I think that is your opportunity, Eleanor. Ranged attacks don''t shatter like a weapon might. And you can always n ahead. Looking at Ethan, he continued, Get help from your cousin. We should definitely check ranged weapons like bow and arrows, but that said, magic seems to be safer. I very much doubt that your spirit will explode like an item will if you get a bad roll. Some Talents are dangerous, but I cant imagine yours would make your spirit actually <em>explode</em>.


    Ethan nodded eagerly. That makes sense. And I want to be a de mage so I can protect her if she''s behind me. Magic and steel. It''s the perfectbination, and Im all aboutbining things. Or rather, I will be.


    Matt raised his eyebrow, and Ethan exined a little too freely. My Talent isnt harmful, but theres just only so much I can do when merging items together when Im limited to Tier 1 stuff


    Eleanor waggled the wand before handing it back to him. Thanks for the test, but Id rather not use any of your items. They might explode if I keep using it. Id rather stick to the illusions. Speaking of which, aren''t they a high Tier spell?


    Matt took the wand and threw it into his gym bag. I got a good Talent.


    The kids bitched a little about that, but Matt just let it slide. Not that he minded, and he was happy they werefortable enough to snark to a Tier 4 like him to his face.


    It meant they had a backbone.


    Or, they were just used to relying on their n, but it was the same thing in his eyes.


    Liz pped as she started their next test. We can''t really give you a spell, but we can test ranged weapons. Already prepared for this, Matt summoned a bow and arrow. Try the bow Howard made.


    Ethan snorted and murmured under his breath just loud enough for them to hear with a cheeky grin, Mr. VIP is a better name.


    Eleanor, on the other hand, gleefully grabbed the bow and bundle of arrows Matt had created.


    Just shoot until you roll a one so we can test what happens to the bow. Im hoping that just the arrow breaks. he exined.


    Eleanor happily plunked arrows at the far wall and Liz snorted as she poked his side. She''s a better shot than you were.


    Look, there was absolutely a Desert Viper there. Just because you couldnt sense it when it was burrowing, and only saw the Barn Owl, doesnt mean that I missed.


    Sadly, when one of Eleanors attacks rolled a one, the arrow itself shattered into splinters and the bow cracked as well. It was only Matts control that kept the spell intact.


    Eleanor looked dejected but Liz ruffled her hair. Chin up. Your family is a big traveling circus. Do you know how to throw knives?


    Ethan nodded for the both of them. We got some lessons when we were eight, but we arent really good at it.


    Matt made them both a dozen false throwing des, and the two cousins had to see who could hit more of the moving targets that Liz had the room create.


    This time when Eleanors attack rolled a one, they all cheered. The de had twisted in air tond on its side and shattered, but there was no bacsh on Eleanor.


    Oh this is amazing! Thanks Mr. VIP! Thanks Willow!


    Matt threw up his hands at his name recement, but was happy the kids were thatfortable with Liz and himself to tease them.


    Yeah yeah yeah. Now, we learned something here. Throwing knives arent exactly the best weapons, but theyre cheap enough that you should be able to afford losing a lot of them in every rift. Id rmend taking some forging sses, if youre only paying for the raw materials then thats even more profit per delve, though its arge time sink. Being a mage might be the best in the long term, but thrown weapons should work well enough to get you to your second Talent at least, and theres a good chance that will help out. The real issue is the strength required to use throwing knives effectively.


    Ethan nodded as he rubbed his chin, trying to think of an answer as Eleanor rocked on her heels.


    After a minute of silence, when it was clear the kids had no ideas, Liz spoke up. What about an atl?


    Ethan mouthed the word while Matt could almost see the question marks appearing over Eleanors head. The kids were so used to emoting for their jobs, it was beyond easy to read their expressions.


    Summoning arge stick with a notch cut out of it, Matt spun it to show the kids. A super simple stick of wood cut so it can hold a javelin orrge arrow. Unlike a bow that needs preparation to make and is expensive, an atl can be made in a few minutes. If it breaks, who cares?


    Eleanor took a few tries to get used to the extra lever she needed to throw with, but she eventually got a hang of it, and even when she rolled a one, the atl didnt immediately break. It cracked, yes, but it was just a chunk of wood that worked perfectly fine until she rolled another one and it broke.


    But like Matt said, an atl was dead simple to make and she could easily carry a dozen into a rift with her along with the javelins it threw.


    With a light at the end of her Talents dark tunnel, both of the cousins were on cloud nine by the time they had to leave to go to work. Liz made an offer to train them for the next few weeks, which they dly took them up on after seeing how helpful the two of them were.


    Over those few weeks of interactions, he was sure the kids would take their offer to join the Path, so he made the offer a little earlier than he otherwise would have, with a little more than a week left before he had to leave. After all, they weren''t trying to ambush them or their parents, and they couldn''t decide on their own like he had been able to.


    Liz was a good insight there, as she had sat down with her parents and discussed joining the Path with them so many years ago, where Matt had just had to pack and catch a train. Together, they met up with Eleanor and her parents and exined the Path to them. They didnt diminish its dangers or rewards, and could see the eagerness in Eleanors eyes and the fear in her parents.


    They tried to temper both sides of the family, but knew that was impossible.


    Mara and Leon fully admitted they always worried for their children, even Sam and Leah, who were both old and established, and nothing would change that.


    As they said, it was what parents did.


    He and Liz were even introduced to the n meeting, where the higher-ups offered to give the kids all the assistance they could want after they arrived at the next on their trip, where they could buy the kids a few rift slots. It was a tempting offer, as it broke the normal tradition of waiting for the n to return to their training system, but it didnt tempt the kids. All of them could see the duo didnt want to wait.


    The two of them personally took the duo to the dock where Tallys second-inmand met them.


    He had wanted to give Eleanor a skill, but when he checked with the Pather AI weight system, he was rejected and found the conditions which justified giving a new Pather a skill. They didnt apply to Eleanor, even if it would have made her safer.


    With nothing else he could do, he waved them off with the duo''s parents and a few n elders.


    It was an emotional goodbye, and he hadnt even spent a full month with the kids.


    He wanted to do more, but knew there was nothing else he could do.


    Despite their intention to leave the kids after dropping them off, they ended up watching their first week at the yPen and made sure they settled in properly, but then they really did need to leave.


    Eleanor and Ethan had stepped on their Path to Ascension, and he and Liz needed to continue theirs.

 Chapter 245

    Chapter 245


    Once they were back in chaotic space, Matt and Liz took great relief in finally removing their masks and chatting about Eleanors Talent. While both of them had mixed feelings about their own Talents, they were quite content not having to deal with the endless dice rolls themselves. Her Tier 3 might make things better, and definitely could improve things massively for the girl, but it was likely to always be a little annoying.


    You know, maybe she could fix most of it with an AI, Liz suggested. Like, that light rune she blew out? If she were using an AI to interact with it instead of actually activating the light herself, sure her AI might need to be rebooted, but the light shouldnt explode or anything.


    Matt was less certain. I mean its possible, sure. But it could count as two separate activations, like when she was using a wand. Dice roll for the wand casting the spell, dice roll for the attack. How sure are you that she wouldnt get separate rolls for both her AI and the light?


    Luna nodded, having joined them at some point. It <em>is</em> an interesting situation, and I look forward to seeing the interaction. It is not the most unique Talent Ive seen, but its quite an interesting mixture of specificity and broad-scale impact. I know several of my coworkers would be quite interested in working with her, should she reach Tier 10 upon the Path.


    Liz raised an eyebrow at their manager as she continued, All managers have their specialities, and there are a handful whose focus is in fortune. Depending upon the nature of her Tier 3, they may work on attempting to shrink the range of her Talent, or move it in a less harmful direction. After all, with the impact of her Talent scaling directly upon the power of the basic action, she could quite possibly kill herself after rolling a one on a particrly strong attack.


    Now, your training. I saw Kurts report, of course, but thats not the same as hearing it from you. You have a good grasp on your ability now?


    Liz nodded and slipped out of Matts arms to face both of them. Yep. He helped me get a good grasp on how it works, and had some really useful skills and abilities for some safe testing And Im very d I waited.


    Matt felt Lizs Concept flex and try totch on to him. Not resisting, he felt like Liz was speaking inside his head as she continued speaking.


    I offer a deal. A temporary binding of two into one,sting one hour. I trade my Domain for yours. Do you ept?


    Matt mentally reached out with his own Domain to connect with Lizs. Through the connection, he also felt a warm energy flowing to his body, like hotter blood was mixing with his cool blood. The feeling settled after a few minutes but it was incredibly ufortable while itsted.


    Matt reached out to feel the new power that sat next to his Domain like an addition to a house. Where his Concept had a feeling of endlessness, this addition felt far more bloody.


    Poking a hole in his forearm he let some blood seep out, and with a thought, activated that new addition to his power, causing Liz to flinch slightly.


    Oh that feels odd. Are you trying to harden the blood? I can feel it. It''s hard to put it into words but it''s kinda sloppy. Is this how you normally use your Concept?


    Matt shook his head. I was just testing what the new addition to my Domain did.


    Liz nodded. Well long story short, my oath ability is more limited than it was in the Folded Reflection life, but possibly more useful if we use it right. I can allow us to trade our Domains, or specific effects, and In my training. Ive gotten kinda good at using others Domains. In normal times, or rather with normal people who didnt go through Folded Reflection or expand their Concept through training, you only get the base effects of the Concept . Stronger blood for me; giving mana and repulsion for you.


    Matt felt his repulsion weaken slightly as Liz started to push everything away from her. He tried to do the same, but felt that hed need to relinquish the bond if he wanted to do so.


    But I cant use it when you are using it?


    Liz shook her head. Not that we were able to figure out.


    Both of them looked to Luna, hearing that, and the older woman pursed her lips, clearly deep in thought. I very much doubt that you will be able to change that, but nothing is impossible. What we need to do now is to start training you two with the others abilities. Liz, you need to see if you can turn Matts mana granting into a self directed buff when you use it, you also need to get used to using his armor enhancements. Well start with those two for now. Mana draining might be useful for you, but thats going to be a hard skill to learn, given how difficult a time Matt has had using it for more than area denial.


    What about my AI empowerment? That could be useful. His question didnt earn him the re he was expecting, and Luna turned to Liz.


    Can you even tap into that power?


    Liz closed her eyes for a minute before her head started to glow, but itsted only a second.


    Is it that expensive for you Matt? How do you even power that thing? Id be drained in a minute, two max. I know theres an extra willpower cost with this sharing, but this is ridiculous.


    Matt shrugged with one shoulder. It was really draining for me too, at the start. It takes some practice.


    Liz shot him a dirty look that he returned with a blown kiss. That earned him a grin, but Luna turned to him and said, Matt, I dont expect you to be able to use many of Lizs abilities to all that much effect, not with the inefficiency of the oath. We can test out whats good for you, and what works better on you than on her. Especially for your alter egos, trading specific abilities could prove useful.


    With new abilities, Luna spent over a month beating various uses of the new techniques into them, and while they werent ready to use those shared abilities in a fight, they were getting a base level of understanding with them.


    That said, they were eager to test themselves and went looking for rifts with established reputations for being hard. They even found one nearby that was listed on some EmpireNet top one thousand list. It was a notorious Tier 17 rift that was known for being brutal and dangerous, which was exactly what they wanted.


    A goblin rift.


    Given enough essence, anything would be a threat, and goblins were one of the most extreme examples of exactly that.


    While incredibly weak between Tiers 1 and 5 and excellent for training, at Tier 6 and beyond, the goblins saw a sharp uptick in intelligence, cunning, and deadliness. The little menaces developed a vicious kind of teamwork and coordination, setting ambushes and traps, utilizing suicide attacks and poisons to slowly whittle away at attackers, and pitting their high numbers against the delvers individual strength.


    That said, not all rifts were created equal, and the rift they had picked out was one known for killing dozens of teams that tried to conquer it every decade. It didnt even offer anything special in terms of rewards for those that seeded, except for some herbs that were a bit rare locally. Most people who tried it just did it for the prestige of having done it.


    A group which now included Torch and Quill.


    Luna approved of their decision, so they bought an uing slot before spending the next two years doing missions.


    Rift slots on higher Tier worlds still had a fifteen-minute cycle time, but they simply didnt have the mana to allow people to delve so often. Matt could, of course, fix that with his Talent or even just pay the mana stone fee to insert a delve, but that would draw more attention than they wanted to themselves. Besides, they werent in any rush.


    Thankfully, the missions Luna sent them on werent that hard, and best of all, they were able to do together. It was a nice change of pace after being separated for so long, and it acted as a small continuation of their honeymoon.


    During that time, Matt and Liz kept track of Eleanor and Ethans progress at the yPen.


    The two of them struggled with the Tier 1 imp rift but, just before their first year was up, they made it to Tier 2. He was grateful that they yed it smart, and was pleased to see Eleanors continued usage of improvised throwing weapons, usually the atl. They reportedly made a cutting tool which could turn a piece of cheap construction lumber into a atl in a minute, and bought arrows from the local store instead of making them themselves. Arrows broke often enough already that Eleanors talent didnt add too much to their expenses, so Matt approved.


    They took some scrapes and bruises, even losing an arm in a delve gone wrong due to a badly timed low roll, but they survived by working together and dove right back into the rift once they were cleared. Best of all, they were on track to reach Tier 3 just before the curve, and Matt and Liz were both proud of the hard work that must have taken.


    After checking the timing, they decided to recreate the scene that Dena and Eric had when they messaged him after breaking through to Tier 5, where they would exin about Concepts and hopefully set them up to not need to use a bottled Concept by Tier 10.


    They also sent a small message that gave Eleanor a heads-up about getting the AI pseudo-skill before they left the yPen and lost the discount. Not everyone bought it, as they would rather have better armor or a spatial bag, but they didnt want the girl to have to rely on Ethan to open doors and use magical items for longer than necessary.


    Matt was irked by the warning that their AIs sent both of them when they recorded the first message to be sent to them at Tier 3. Yes, he understood that too much interference would be a detriment to the kids, but a simple congrattions and small rmendation shouldnt have counted.


    Still, it did, and he was sure theyd get yelled at when they sent a video showing them having killed a ton of goblins as well. They would back off on the messages afterwards though. The early portion of the path was meant to test their resolve and resilience, and too much guidance could negate a lot of those early issues, which would dilute the test.


    Matt better understood Griff and his irritation at The Path itself now. Some early guidance could prevent a lot of deaths, but the Empire had a lot ofpeting priorities, with funding chief among them. The timeline for the Path was dictated by international treaties, and the numbers of teachers required to get teenagers through the early stages safely simply werent avable without significantly more money. A difficult beginning also helped to find the true diamonds in the rough, like Light and Shadow.


    He knew Emmanuel cared about each and every citizen in the Empire, and wouldnt have kept things the way they were unless it was the lesser of many evils. After all, if the Empire wasnt making powerhouses, they would have been attacked even earlier to slow their growth.


    Mara and Leon had both stated a number of times that Light and Shadow reaching Tier 25 was just a convenient excuse, and Matt didnt doubt them.


    He just wished everyone could get along. A childish wish, but one that could make everything so much easier. Sadly as Luna had said oh so long ago, people were just too greedy for that to ever really work. Even just a few people being assholes to get ahead would cause such a utopia to fail, as everyone else started to scrabble to avoid being at the bottom.


    He also better understood Leon and Maras reticence to let Liz join the Path, as Eleanor and Ethan weren''t even his kids, but he worried for them.


    Instead of wallowing in his mind, he and Liz did something a lot more fun.


    Murder.


    When they entered the goblin rift, the first thing they noticed was that they were in a cave system.


    Not unexpected, but with howrge Tier 17 rifts were, Matt doubted this was all this rift had to offer.


    They <em>could</em> have bought the rift guides, and even taken a couple lessons on the rifts variations to get themselves as prepared as possible, but that would defeat the point. Future enemies wouldnte with convenient guides on how to beat them with minimum effort and risk. This was supposed to be a fun challenge, not something they could do in their sleep.


    Letting his senses spread out, Matt shed out with his sword and felt his de hit a shadow that was just a little too solid. Sparks flew from the connection of des, but before the goblin could return to the protection of the darkness, Lizs spear took it in the side. With a twist, she bisected the monster and readied her weapons.


    Matt watched the mana flows as they eddied back and forth, looking for another attack. When a portion of shadow mana started to creep towards them, he lunged forward and skewered the closest goblin, using [Dispelling Edge] to cut through the elemental body and letting the essence flow into [Lesser Sacrifice] instead of his core, where it boosted his physical stats by a good margin.


    That seemed to be the signal, as the rest of the goblins rushed them.


    Liz lowered her stance a little and used her shield to block her side while thrusting out with her spear, using a few [Heart Piercing Stab]s to lengthen her weapon, but was quickly forced to take a few steps around the rift distortion as she was pushed back.


    Matt twisted as he shed out but failed to immediately kill one of the goblins that bounded forward at him. It clutched a dagger that glowed painfully brightly with enchantments and skills and stabbed at his calf. His armor stopped the brunt of the blow, with the secondyer exploding away from where the dagger touched it. But even with his reinforcement, the goblin managed to knick his skin with the very tip of the dagger.


    A twist and a stomp crushed the monster''s head, even as he red [Lesser Regeneration] to counter the burning feeling he felt traveling up his leg.


    Suicide rushers, just the kind of thing that could spell the end of an unwary group. A real person would never use their whole mana pool for a single attack, nobody made it to the high Tiers with that kind of survival instinct, but some of the smarter monster species had them.


    Liz, who had finished her fighting retreat, helped him finish off the final two goblins and stood with him as he started to investigate the monsters. She poked one of the goblins that was mostly intact with her spear, as she said, An ambush right at the entrance is quite pleasant.


    Matt agreed with a grunt, even as he bent over and started inspecting the body of the goblin to find its de. They needed to find out exactly what poison they had on them, as that might mean an immediate retreat.


    He found the dagger quickly, and after a little testing, they found it had both an obvious, burning poison, in addition to a much more subtle paralytic. A less observant person would neutralize the painful poison, and then hourster find themselves halfway through a rift with muscles that suddenly stopped working. Matt had to stop for a minute to purge his current blood and fill up from their backup supply, and have Liz triple check with her healing spells that he was fine.


    It was a lovely start to a delve.


    With that taken care of, he started inspecting the body of the monster andpared it to the goblins he knew from the low Tier rifts.


    It was still a small humanoid, but the knobby elbows and knees were gone from the goblins that he had dealt with in the Tier 1 rift. They were also well-muscled with almost no body fat. Rifts didnt necessarily need to follow biological trends, but having that little fat would kill a mundane human, and rifts rarely went that far.


    All of that was dwarfed by the discoveries he found when he stripped the goblin of its armor.


    The first was that the armor had ayer of aluminum inside with a ton of runes engraved on it. That was paired with tattoo-like runes slithering across the goblin''s skin. He could feel them trying to reach out and connect with the runes on the armor the moment he separated the two.


    Liz, look at this. The goblins'' bodies are covered with runic tattoos, but they''re way more flexible than the tattoos Ive seen. They slither and try to connect to the armor.


    Liz shook her head. I can''t see it. My mana sight isn''t as good as yours.


    Matt took a recording of what he was sensing and sent it to Liz. Ok, that <em>is</em> interesting. Let''s bag a few of the goblins for testingter. I have a few ideas which might help my blood alchemy. One of my Minka lives used runes in a simr way to this.


    After testing whether storing the goblins in a spatial item would ruin the runes or not, the two of them headed deeper into the caves while fighting off ambush teams made of at least a dozen goblins.


    This time they were more careful and kept to the edges of the ambush, but even that didnt stop Liz taking an arrow to the thigh as the goblin that shot her melted into the darkness with [Shadow Body].


    Matt cast [Bolt] the moment two of the goblins tried to dart at him from the shadows, which locked them up long enough for his de to cut through their bodies. Now that he knew what to look for, he even saw the rune tattoos trying to pull the bodies together, but a thought and repulsion field quickly solved that by crushing their heads.


    He was in a readied position, prepared to dodge an arrow when he blinked at the retreating form of the team''s archer.


    Highlighting it for Liz, her spear raced forward and skewered the monster, but he was surprised that any rift monster had tried to retreat.


    Good catch. I dont think letting the monster get away would have ended well for us. Liz looked at the monster still impaled on her spear before checking the arrows. These also have the same paralytic.


    Matt nodded. That''s good to know. Let''s make sure none of them get away from now on.


    As Liz bent down to whisk the goblin away into spatial storage, Matt saw the magic tattoos slither dangerously and convulse with mana. Reacting quickly, he threw his mana into his armor and activated the rarely used swapping ability of their teleportation rings.


    A fraction of a secondter, the goblin exploded into gore and shrapnel, knocking him back but ultimately causing him no harm, with Liz safely outside of the st radius.


    Matt picked himself up slowly, wondering what they had thrown themselves into with this rift. Post death bombers. The first goblins die and show you that the armor is valuable, the next group explode when you try to grab the corpses. I kinda like it.


    They fought their way through another five squads in the tunnels without too much issue after that, but the darkness and tight corridors made each fight risky when dealing with monsters who could dissolve into the shadows around them.


    The obvious answer was to use spells to light the ce up, but neither of them suggested it. They half expected light activated traps in the tunnel, or something equally ridiculous, but the stealth advantage alone paid some dividends.


    Matt was getting a good workout with his de, which he hadn''t been able to do in a while due to being Quill most of the time. There was just something therapeutic about cutting down monsters with his de that a spell didnt quite offer.


    Before too long, they came up on a giant cavern covered in luminescent blue moss that gave just enough light for the two of them to see with their normal vision.


    Liz whistled through their chat. <em>That</em> is a big ass spider.


    Matt nodded. Big ass <em>crystal</em> spider. Id bet every mana stone I have its near immune to magic.


    Im not taking that bet. I don''t have a record of it, but it''s close to crystal elementals and theyre highly resistant to raw magic. How do we want to hit this group? Im seeing ten toons of soldiers, a mixedposition of shield bearers, pikemen, and archers. We shouldnt discount the possibility of scouts hidden in the surrounding area too.


    Matt highlighted five other goblins. That''s not all. Look here, there are shamans. Theyre going to be an issue. Think you can assassinate them?


    Liz spun her spear as she thought. One most certainly, but all five? Not a chance. They are too far from each other.


    Matt pondered as he let his [AI] chew through the possibilities, but disregarded most of its more radical options.I think it''s best if we start with artillery and sniping, try to take out the shamans, and hopefully cripple some toons before they move in too close. After that, Ill tie them down while you mop up stragglers, then we can turn and burn.


    With the idea set up, Matt used [Earth Maniption] to create some obstructions in front of the cave entrance, while Liz took out the talisman-javelins Matt had made for her and started calcting angles.


    Once they were in position and ready to start the fight, Matt started charging mana into [Arcane Powershot]. The spell quickly turned from a thin bow that was only two feet long into a massive, six foot tall bow that grew thicker before all the excess energy went into the arrow. Matt copsed the wall right before letting his arrow fly, and Lizunched her [Skewer] shot with a crack of thunder. His magic arrow curved to follow the shaman that tried to dodge out the way, and sessfully blew its armored torso away from the rest of its limbs and head. Lizs javelin couldnt curve quite so quickly, not at this rtively short ten mile range, but she was close enough for it to count. The javelin struck the ground a few feet away from the shaman like an orbital strike, obliterating the goblin and seriously wounding a few members of the nearby toon in a burst of fire.


    He started ring his mana granting immediately, as Liz had used over a quarter of her mana pool on that one spell, and they both started preparing another strike. As they anticipated, a scout appeared from the shadows near them, but Liz had her [Lesser Blood Clone] intercept it before it could interrupt them. Matt hit the third shaman, this time with an added [Piercing Shot] to break through the ball of shadow it had thrown up to block him, and Liz cored a toon like an apple with her javelin, just before they could raise their shields against it.


    Dispatching the scout with a casual rip of her spear, Liz paired up with her clone, a flock of newly summoned [Blood Sprites], and bloodmpreys created by [Summon Blood Monster]. Together, they surged in the direction of the crippled toon, asionally diverting to execute a nearby scout that broke stealth. Matt continued peppering the shamans and foot soldiers with [Arcane Powershot] and the asional [Bolt], but they were prepared for him now and he only did minimal damage.


    Seeing theirrade die despite its protection, the remaining two shamans retreated to the giant spider, and with beams of shadow, pulled themselves into the monster where they were encased by its crystal form.


    Shooting forward on [Cracked Air Slide], he unleashed a torrent of energy through [Cracked Mana Spear] at the nearest wall of shields. The beam was as thick as his arm now, and broke through goblin shields with a deeply satisfying thrum of raw power. Once the shields fell, a hail of [Bolt]s and [Shatter Shot]s tore through the goblins behind, scattering them, and he finished the group off with [methrower].


    In the distance, he saw Liz fighting in the thick of the toon she had crippled, her spear darting like a snake to spill blood and further empower her. He had a chance to watch her as he hunkered behind a wall of earth, waiting for the arrow storm around him to end. Secondster, Liz had dispatched the majority of the melee fighters, and was now hunting down the archers that tried to run, with [Blood Chakram]s and various other vors of blood explosions taking them out piecemeal.


    Once the arrows had abated, Matt shot forward again and unleashed another [Cracked Mana Spear], but this time he was disappointed. The toons were enshrouded in a dark mist that sought to unweave his spell, and their shields overflowed with shadow to distribute the damage across the whole shield wall. Between the two effects, he wasnt aplishing much with his spell, and it wasnt worth the spiritual strain.


    Knowing mage time was over, Matt ran forward with a grin on his face, even as he was being rushed by hundreds of monsters.


    This was where he felt most alive.


    As the center of the fight, drawing everyone''s attention.


    Forcing everything to revolve around him.


    That allowed Liz to flit around the edges and take out the stragglers who had broken formation, or the stray archers who tried to pepper him with arrows.


    Dodging a spear thrust, Matt caught a sword de wreathed in mes with his left hand, pulling on it and forcing the wielder off his feet. He used that opening to spin and cleave three of the monsters in half, then darted into the opening he had made as a shaman hidden among the archers created a beam of darkness and carved a line through the floor where he had been.


    Not wanting to take that attack head on, Matt dodged a coordinated attack by three of the goblins who threw themselves on him, but one still managed to grab his left arm and started trying to bite him.


    Matt grabbed the goblin by its throat, squeezed hard enough to break its jaw, then threw the monster at the shaman, knocking them both down and giving Matt some room to breathe.


    Still, that slight pause caused him to take three attacks on his back, disturbing his next strike. He cut through the three goblins who had struck him, but three dozen more were ready to take their ce.


    As he finished off the rest of that group, he found himself surrounded by a wall of raised shields glowing with shadow mana.


    Bands of shadow tried to grab his legs and slow him down, but Matt flexed his repulsion to keep them off him. The shamans were throwing a lot of mana into the spell and it was chipping away at his Concept.


    Matt twisted using his physical strength to crack the ground under him and then dove forward like a thrown spear, letting his left hand collide with the shields that tried to eat away at him.


    Gripping the shield, Matt pulled one of the goblins out of line and caved away at the second line of troops with a [Mana sh].


    Entirely sick of being surrounded, Matt cast [methrower] and shot it directly at the closest goblins, who recoiled like they had met their greatest foe. To his surprise, the goblins that caught fire exploded in a burst of shadow particles that attacked the fire, trying to extinguish it.


    Dropping the me spell, Matt cast [Bulwark] behind him to cover his back as he felt another bolt of darkness racing to cut him in half. Not willing to trust just the spell to defend him, he added [Diffusion Shield] as well. That weakened the spell enough that [Bulwark] was able to block the darkness spell as it sshed on his blue shield like water.


    [Dispelling Edge] gave his de a blue glow as he cut deep into the goblin formation and massacred his way through to their backline.


    They tried to fix their formation, but Liz had finished with her own task and started hammering the backline of the toon from the rear with her clone and summons, tearing through archers like she had a grudge. Within moments, she had cleared out the surrounding goblins and exploded the annoying shamans head with [Embolism], before draining the fallen of their blood and diverting it to her summons.


    With the two of them together, they skirted the crystal spider that was still trying to catch up, darting between toons and dismantling them with prejudice. Minutester, they had the clear space to take the spider on, Liz dashing between its legs to unbnce it, and Matt hammering it with earth magic.


    The rush of essence they received when they finally downed it made everything worthwhile.


    They both had a few wounds they needed to take care of, but after half an hour, they were ready to head back into the tunnels to find another cave.


    The test would then be to take their newest foes out faster, with less injuries.


    Improve themselves.


    And that was the name of the game.


    Improvement. Pushing themselves to the limit to find what else they could really do when under pressure.


    Make themselves into monsters.


    It took them almost a week to clear out thework of tunnels, but they managed it, and their reward was a bag of valuable herbs used for refining the bloodline of Magma Carp, which they threw in their pile of loot to sell.


    After their goblin rift, the two of them went back to missions. Some of it was just busy work, like when the two of them filled in for a local official without letting anyone know.


    They even got an update from Eleanor and Ethan, whose Tier 3 Talents were better than he and Liz expected. Eleanor got an additional die every other Tier, with the result of her attacks being decided by the highest roll, drastically improving her safety. Ethan, on the other hand, got a better feel for the things his Talent could merge and their oue. There was a slight increase in his merging chances, and while it was still low, they had earned a good bit of money with his Talent. The profits allowed the kids to buy a [Fireball] for Eleanor, which the girl was loving. Shed only had it blow up in her face once.


    Other missions were of more importance, like theirtest one where they needed to punish those who believed themselves above thew. But as the decade of their separation with Aster neared its end, the two of them moved to their rendezvous point a little early, filled with excitement to finally get the team back together.


    Matt couldn''t wait, and periodically entered chaotic space to check how weak the connection with Aster was. He was gratified every time that it was just that little bit closer.


    He and Liz were sitting at a tea shop that catered to immortals and long waits when he felt her arrive.


    Aster was finally back with them.


    Their family was whole once more.

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246


    Allie whistled a slightly forced, if jaunty tune as she and Zack sat in a cafe, waiting for their appointment. For such an important moment, they could have arrived early instead of biding their time, but neither of them actually wanted to do that.


    There was a special vor in the anticipation and build-up that they both relished.


    Even she, for all her impatience, knew that this would only happen once, and she wanted to savor the moment.


    Besides, theyd spent countless hours at cafes just like this one. They were all unique, but shared the same quiet atmosphere that shed grown to love, and this would be thest time she could enjoy that as herself.


    A distraction arrived just before she thought to check the time.


    Korun, Emma, and Marcus walked up to them in formal clothes.


    Allie shook the proffered hands without her usual antics and just waited to hear what the trio would say.


    Korun spoke first. It was good working with you kids. Well... youre not kids anymore, but to me, youll always be the two little shits stealing rift slots. Youvee a long way.


    Allie grinned and opened her mouth, but Emma cut her off. I swear by all the royals if you say or do something dumb, Allie, I will beat your ass ck and blue. So help me.


    Allie grinned. Just a little interruption of the proceedings?


    Emmas re hardened and Allie raised her hands. Im kidding, Im kidding. I wont do anything I shouldnt.


    Marcus just grinned. Thanks for the promotion, guys.


    Zack snorted and Allieughed.


    Back when theyd first met, Marcus had been pissed that he had been saddled with, in his own words, the troubled kids, and therefore couldnt show his prowess properly. Allie had responded by confidently stating hed be getting a promotion once he was done with them.


    Really though, after over a century and a half putting up with her, he deserved it. And a break.


    Zack regained hisposure and gave a shallow bow from where he was sitting. Thank you all for your guidance and mentorship. We wouldnt be who we are today without your assistance.


    Allie said it in a less formal way, We done did good. See you on the flip side.


    With that, the trio made their goodbyes, setting off to get into position early, and left the two of them to their own devices once again. After three more cups of coffee for her, and one refill of tea for him, Allie decided enough was enough.


    She needed to move.


    That was the nerves speaking.


    Or possibly the coffee.


    Checking her [AI] again, she decided it was close enough to their time that it wouldnt be an issue to arrive. Peeking at Zacks cup of tea, she noticed he only had a few sips left, but seeing her attention, he drank the rest of it in a single gulp.


    He let out a long sigh that she felt in her bones.


    Want to just fuck off? It''s ourst shot.


    Zack smiled back. Never. Not after everything, after all our work, all weve fought for and struggled to get? Weve stared into the abyss, I wont flinch at this, no matter how final it may be.


    Allie shrugged. We could die. That''s pretty damn final.


    Zack returned her shrug. That is always a possibility. He opened his mouth to continue, but shut it with a click.


    Taking that for the eptance to leave, Allie dropped a few mana stones on the table and stood up.


    They took a meandering route through the city, gradually heading in the right direction as they steeled their nerves, taking their time to reminisce. Well, it was mostly Allie doing the talking. She just had too many nerves to stay quiet.


    Zack shook his head, chuckling as they remembered one particr misadventure, then grew serious, signaling for her to slow down before their walk came to an end. Allie. Thank you. Through everything, no matter how much I have frustrated you, youve always been there for me. That means a lot. But please, shut the fuck up.


    Allie smiled back at him. An honest smile. Not a mocking one. Not a teasing one. Just an honest smile. You too, big guy. Its been a heck of a ride, hasnt it? You and those stupid little sses, and your books, and She took a deep breath and finished, I wouldnt choose anyone else.


    Their rtionship wasplicated. She still wasnt sure if shed call them friends, but they were close, closer than most lovers. Certainly closer than shed ever been with someone. They may not have spent much time together outside of missions, but if Zack told her she needed to drive a spike through her head, she wouldnt so much as flinch, and he would return the favor.


    It wasnt an exaggeration to say that she trusted him more than she trusted herself, and she knew the reverse was true for him. They were just very different people at the end of the day.


    Im d it was you.


    Me too.


    Despite everything they were about to go through, she knew that hed have her back. And that was enough.


    When they entered their final destination, Allie was disappointed in how simple things were. Oh, things were high Tier, but they werent as gaudy as she expected, which was a slight disappointment.


    As they walked through miles of halls, she noticed that Zacks''s fingers were twitching, which meant he was trying to plot out theing conversation.


    A sign of nerves.


    She smacked his arm and he rxed a little just as they reached the final door. A door just like any other, but one that hid one of the most influential people in the realm behind it.


    Zack raised a fist to knock, but before he could do so, the door opened on its own.


    The man inside never even looked up from the document he was writing.


    It took Allie aback that he was physically writing. On paper. With a pen.


    Together, they entered as he waggled his fingers and the door closed behind them, just as silently as it had opened. Are you two ready? Her boss boss boss boss spoke without raising his head from the slow and steady strokes of his pen.


    Zack answered before Allie could make a quip, Yes, sir.


    At least his voice didnt quaver.


    The man hmmed without looking up. It''s a littlete, but I can still get you out of this. Fake your death. Let you two start over.


    Allie snorted this time. Toote for that. We both know it. The ball is rolling, and theres no stopping it. Besides, I want to see which houses we bounce into on the way down.


    Finally, the man raised his gaze to meet theirs, and Allie felt a chill run down her spine as her body instinctively reacted toing face-to-face with a much more dangerous predator. It was exhrating.


    One day, she wanted to be that predator.


    He had been somewhat casual before, perhaps his own way of dealing with nerves, but when he next spoke, it was with the full weight of his office. And it has thus been settled. Zack Varon and Allison Spein. I, Emperor Emmanual Sophron, bid you rise as Ascenders Light and Shadow, to defend the people of this nation from all threats, be they internal or external. From now until eternity, may you serve as a beacon of stability and hope for all who would look to you, and may your enemies tremble in your wake. It is my duty and privilege to bestow upon you the rewards and responsibilities attendant to your new role. May you stand strong beneath their weight.


    Allie crunched her cores down, reaching Tier 25 and finishing the Path of Ascension, and felt an upwelling of energy within her spirit. As she stood, her previous outfit was whisked away in an instant and reced with the ceremonial robes she had been fitted for weeks ago, an ornate outfit that managed to make her look good in purple. Beside her, Zack was in a matching set, albeit in yellow.


    Emperor Emmanuels eyes shed gold as he smiled. I cannot begin to express my congrattions, though you will soon see that I have tried my best. Within hours, we will start the public ceremony. I hope you have memorized your roles, and taken ast chance for a moment of peace.


    His glowing eyes grew hard as he finished. After that, we have work to do.


    ***


    Emmanuel waved, teleporting the duo out of his office before blinking down at the pair of documents in front of him as he put the final flourishes on them. Two new Dukes were being raised today, and their writs of nobility needed to be extra special.


    With a thought, he checked in on his seneschal, squaring away thest few details for the ceremony today. All those that had been orbiting his pce for thest few years were rushing into the throne room at the fastest speed they could get away with without looking foolish and causing a scene.


    A few were absent, and he would be looking in on their reasons whyter, but it was a scant few, and most of them had already pleaded their absence in advance. Still, he had given the order, and their excuses had better be good ones if they wanted to miss this moment.


    The moment the word went out, it only took two hours for the imperial throne room to be packed with over a million waiting people in its spatially expanded walls.


    Waiting for him.


    As he donned his ceremonial outfit, he couldnt help but wonder once again if he was doing the right thing. After today there was no going back. The bridge would be burnt beyond repair.


    He wondered if the Empire could survive. If it did survive, how would he be remembered? Would the history books call him Emmanuel The Mad, who single handedly ruined the Empire?


    Emmanuel hoped not. Not because he cared about what others thought of him, but because that would prove he had failed to live up to his father and grandmother''s expectations. To his people''s expectations.


    Expectations that felt like the sky weighing on his shoulders.


    Still, he could hold up the sky. That was why he had been chosen to rece his father. He was strong enough to manage.


    Or at least, he hoped so.


    Oh, how he hoped so.


    When his seneschal messaged him that everyone had entered, he stepped through the side entrance in full regalia. Carissa was dressed to match, and with slow and steady steps, they walked to his throne as his seneschal called the nobles to order.


    After seating his wife on a smaller throne next to his own, he sat down. That was the signal for his royals to sit in their own, slightly smaller thrones that were one step below his on the dais that elevated them all above those watching.


    Emmanuel said nothing, and just let the murmurs turn into a silence that crept through the throne room as he watched everyone''s expressions.


    His wife and royals had stoic expressions that befitted their stations and gave nothing away to the watchers, which acted as a mirror to his own t expression.


    That was good.


    His attention next went to the dukes of the realm as the royals each took their turn to give their speeches, now that the music had faded to a quiet background murmur. It was almost a shame, as it had been a new symphony he had been enjoying. The borate light show also died down, but he had seen that before. And while it was interesting, even a group of Tier 45s couldnt weave something he couldnt easily see through.


    The dukes were far more interesting for him to observe while he had nothing to do but sit there.


    The dukes who fell under the two kingdoms he personally controlled were clustered in their own little bunches, but the one that caught his eye was the one around Duchess Uveil, which he took note of, but said nothing and didnt let any expression show on his face. He wasnt exactly surprised that Duchess Uveil hade out on top of the political infighting that happened in his second kingdom, but she had had the lowest chance to seed thest time he had peered into the future.


    A development that bore looking into.


    Had she beenpromised? Another Great Power turning her against him for backing her fight to lead her faction? Unlikely, but it had happened before, and he couldnt let any such possibilities go unchecked in these trying times.


    Emmanuel let his gaze travel to the other dukes from the other kingdoms and inspected them one by one, letting each of them feel the weight of his gaze before moving on.


    Some shivered. Some slunk back. Some met his gaze. Some looked anywhere other than his eyes. Others stood tall.


    His Empire in one location.


    Or at least, the representatives of it.


    He pondered for a moment at the sight that his grandmother, Agatha, had witnessed when she ascended to the throne after wresting it for herself through strength of arms. The Empire was barely half this size sixty thousand years ago, but the sight must have been eerily simr to what he saw now.


    It was a sobering reminder that everything he was reaping now wasnt from his own hard work, but the umted efforts of his Father and Grandmother. They had turned the field and sowed the seeds, and it was his time to harvest the bounty of their effort while fending off the vermin that woulde to ruin it.


    As his gaze moved to the middle of the throne room and the multitudes of nobles lower than Dukes, he smiled slightly.


    The dukes would perceive that as a slight, which it very much was. He was still angry that Ilkor had let such perversions go on under his nose. What few would understand was that attitude was directed at himself as much as them. That entire situation had been his fault just as much as it was Ilkors. There was a reason that he only controlled two kingdoms, as any more than that, and he couldnt be as attentive as he liked. When his attention waned, people started taking liberties


    Still, that small rebuke would ensure that most of the nobles kept themselves in line for theing decades just as well as shouting would have. His father had taught them that lesson well.


    The news reporters were near the back and sides, mostly due to jockeying for the best view rather than any slight against them.


    Finally, his gaze went to the envoys from the other seven Great Powers that had their own little raised box, keeping them separated from his nobles.


    The Federation, Sects, and Republic envoys already had rolled up scrolls in hand, and he resisted the urge to smirk at them and simply make an announcement before dismissing everyone. They were presumptuous, and rebuking them like that would feel good. But it would be pointless theatrics.


    No, it was time.


    With a wave of his scepter, everyone created a path from the doors to himself as a purple carpet unraveled. Everyone looked to the doors, but they didnt open, and his seneschal didnt announce the final members of this show.


    Once the attention and news recording equipment turned to focus on him, Emmanuel finally spoke. The Empire is made up of individuals. Of people. Some strong, some weak. Each and every one important. But together, weprise one whole, proving that we are not alone in this realm. Though, there are others who have different beliefs and aims. If we can not protect ourselves against this opposition, we will be swallowed up. How can we safeguard thousands of worlds and quadrillions of people? Its quite a challenge, but we manage through the struggles of the many. Some of those struggles are more notable, but nations can only run with the effort of a million unsung heroes. Even the strongest person in the realm cant be everywhere all at once. That is why we have The Path of Ascension. It lets us sift through the ambitious, through the masses, through the overlooked, and through the forgotten.. And sometimes, those rare few people with more drive than their peers are found. The ones who stand above the rest and can do what few others can. Sometimes they are exceptional crafters, but usually, they are fighters. They destroy because that is the best way to protect ourselves and ensure that others wont dare to test us.


    He didnt look at the envoys, but a number of his nobles did, and some of the news cameras panned over. The Federation envoys hand tightened ever so slightly on the scroll he held, but Emmanuel didnt miss it with his perception bathing the area.


    Today, I have the great honor of introducing to the realm two new people who have wed their way through mountains of bodies. They stepped over their peers and left them far behind. They caught up to generations older than them and proved once more that they were a cut above. They did so time after time, aplishing the nigh impossible. They reached Tier 25 in less than two hundred years.


    As the crowd started to murmur, Emmanuel called out, I summon Light and Shadow to the throne room!


    The door opened, and there the two stood in their worn armor, wearing their iconic masks.


    They paused for a brief moment as everyone in the realm stared at them.


    Without looking anywhere but at him, the two of them started walking down the mile-long hall in lockstep.


    The soft purple carpet that ate up the sounds of their steps created a space that was just for them.


    Few knew the true nature of that stupid carpet, but it was, in truth, one of the Empires few Tier 48 defensive items. If anyone attempted to assault their new Ascenders while they stood upon its surface, they would be firmly rebuffed. Nobody would test it, not with him there, but the utmost of caution was required in such cases.


    Emmanuel let a soft and gentle smile spread across his face as they walked through the throne room.


    As they neared his dais, Emmanuel stood, which was mirrored by all his royals and wife.


    At the same time, Light and Shadows masks melted away, revealing the true identity of the Ascenders. There were millions of bets that had just been concluded, and Emmanuel knew for a fact that none of the gambling houses had guessed the duo''s true identities.


    The cameras shed and everyone took into the two.


    Zack Varon was arge, well built man who Emmanuel knew would be more at home in a library than standing in front of a crowd. Though, he carried himself with a demeanor that made it look like he had nned every turn of his head a month in advance. It lent an air ofmand and control to him. Allison Spein was in many ways the precise opposite, drawing attention to herself through her striking, inky skin, body art, and unique hair coloration. A woman who was certainly chafing under the requirement to act with absolute decorum for the duration of the ceremony.


    With a flourish, two scrolls appeared in his hand, and Emmanuel waited for the two to reach their designated locations.


    Once they hit the mark, he started walking down his dais and met them at the bottom of the stairs, where they each went to one knee with their right arms crossing their left knees.


    With my authority as the leader of the Empire, I validate that these two members of my Great Powerpleted The Empires Path of Ascension with no undue interference or assistance, following all rules as set by the Articles of the Shattering and the Empires sub uses.


    His [AI] blipped as it verified the achievement with Light and Shadows [AI]s, and then once more with the envoys, before being shared with the nobles and news stations.


    As the information of their Path and everything they had received was verified and epted as below the set thresholds, Emmanuel withdrew a sword and ced it on both their right shoulders at once.


    His Domain clone was a perfect copy of himself, and together they spoke in unison. I, Emmanuel Sophron, third of my line, announce to the Empire and the Realm that the Ascenders Light and Shadow have been found worthy. To reward their aplishment and my trust in them, I decree the two of you shall be raised as Dukes of thend to receive titles as befit your new status. The de transferred from their right shoulder to the left before he withdrew it. Rise.


    When the two of them stood, he presented the two of them with the scrolls he had made earlier.


    Each was more than a writ of nobility. They were items made with the power only a Tier 50 held. The connection to the Realm itself. With these writs, they could channel a little bit of his own authority and majesty, showing anyone that they were who they said they were.


    It was also a literal writ of their nobility and documented their powers and titles.


    Ascenders, to attention.


    Light and Shadow slowly proceeded to the side of the stage, settling into position alongside Ascender Waters, in his own ocean-blue robes. The senior Ascender winked and blew a kiss at the envoys, much to the consternation of the Sects representative. Emmanuel ignored it, and turned his attention back to the crowd before him, giving a light p.


    Please wee the Empire''s two newest Ascenders and Dukes.


    His nobles apuded with far more enthusiasm than he and the royals, but Emmanuel just smiled through it all.


    Then came the less-than-pleasant part of these proceedings.


    The Vermining for his harvest.


    The Guild envoy came first and nodded deeply to him and then Light and Shadow. The Overseer sends his regards, and wishes to reinforce our Great Powers bonds of friendship through theing days.


    Emmanuel nodded back, if more shallowly than the envoy. And I wish to make my stance of friendship clear as well. Please convey my thanks.


    The ns envoy gave less effusive congrattions, along with the Monster Collective and the Corporations. Which left the three rats.


    Emmanuel wanted to wave them out of existence, but killing envoys was a bad precedent to set no matter how good it might feel.


    If Aiden could restrain himself, Emmanuel could do it as well, even knowing how much bloodshed their promations would bring. The other Tier 50s might see the wars as simple games that ultimately saved lives, with the restrictions it put on war. Emmanuel saw it as a waste of his people.


    The Republic envoy stood forward, and after nodding the proper amount, stood back up and opened his scroll, which gave off the unique aura of a Tier 50 before he started reading off.


    In my capacity as envoy, I speak for Madam President J Olga. The Empire has threatened our interests and future with its unchecked expansion. With a second set of Ascenders, we can no longer sit idly by, and will dere war if the Empire does not halt all outward expansion and pay a number of resources as reparations. If you can not ept these terms as listed by this document, as is, we have no choice but to dere war.


    The envoy paused, but Emmanuel just blinked at him before looking to the next in line.


    The Sect envoy repeated the same thing, with only a few minor differences in the choice of words. The Federation envoy, on the other hand, surprised Emmanuel.


    His speech started out simr enough to the Republic envoy, but at the end, he added. If the Empire is willing to return the territory stolen from us when we were unjustly attacked, and give a guarantee to dere war on the unrecognized entity called the Monster Collective for our lostnd when we go to war with them, we are willing to sit out of this war.


    Emmanuel smiled at the attempt to drive a wedge between himself and the Monster Collective. They didnt want to sit the war out, but they wanted to stir up trouble with his people in the future.


    He was sure that when the war was at its worst, their spies and nts would bring up this moment as a way to hurt the morale of his popce.


    We will not betray our former reasons for dering war on the Federation. The bloodline humans and evolved beasts were being treated unjustly, and that war was fought for righteous reasons. We will not backtrack on those decisions. We ept all three of your derations of war.


    The envoys let their scrolls roll back up and then nodded in unison. The Republic envoy spoke for all of them as he said, Then we formally dere war, with the casus belli of unchecked expansion leading to aggression and threatening our interests, and with the surrender condition of full reparations.


    The Guild envoy, who had taken a stance to the side, stepped forward and summoned his own scroll that carried Allisters aura. As stated by Allister, the Overseer of the Guilds. We, the Conglomerate of Guilds, will honor our alliance to the Empire and join in on their defensive war.


    Finally, as if everyone had been waiting for that moment, the nobles let loose a collective murmur that was unrecognizable by the time it reached Emmanuel.


    Some of them were happy with the derations. Some were upset. But there was at least a sense of unity and anger at the Republican, Sect, and Federation envoys, which was a good sign. For at least the first portion of the war, they would have the moral high ground and would have the support of the popce.


    Dismissing the envoys, Emmanuel turned back to his nobles.


    We are at war. Prepare yourselves, yournds, and your people for the uing dangers.


    While he would have preferred to have the envoys make their derationter, they had expected and nned for this.


    Once he turned to exit out of the rear door, his royals and Ascenders followed him.


    Not turning back, he spoke to Duke Waters. Follow our initial ns, but expect them to change in theing days. Light, you will be reporting to General Darrow. Shadow, we are going to take a round trip through the Empire.


    The rest of his royals knew what to do, and only waited long enough to make sure he didnt have additional instructions for them before vanishing to their respective jobs.


    Even before he reached his office, he was already getting notifications of battles starting along his borders.


    War was truly here.


    It was now only a question of if he could see the Empire through these troubled times.


    He hoped so.


    Oh, how he hoped so.

 Book 4 Emp Chapter/ Book 5 Pov Chapter.

    Book 4 Emp Chapter/ Book 5 Pov Chapter.


    Emmanuel watched the presentation his Generals hadid out for the first line of defense of the Empire and let his mind run through the counters he expected the others to use in the war.


    Once the war started, he would need to stay out of it like all assets over Tier 36, but he could direct his defenses in peace time.


    Rusty nodded to him as he pointed out a weak point in a sector by the Sects. We are hoping a slightly weaker area will draw more attention, but we cant make it too obvious.


    Hearing that, Emmanuel flexed his fathers Tier 50 Talent and checked the possible futures of that world.


    Sixty percent chance the n worked.


    Not ideal, but good enough.


    Forwarding the pertinent information to Rusty so they could refine the n he continued to listen to the generals.


    The meeting ended a few dayster with Emmanuel feeling slightly better with the uing war.


    Sadly, even a Talent to peer into the future wasnt perfect. Any action taken by the other Tier 50s wouldnt be predictable and wouldnt be ounted for by the Talent. Even with that restriction, it took almost a billion mana for him to check most of the possibilities for the important sectors and chokepoints with the Talent.


    With Rusty leading the Generals to make the necessary changes, Emmanuel went to his throne room to hold the monthly open court.


    Thousands of nobles from the lowest barons to the highest dukes attended, but they had nothing of import or relevance to report to him. Most just wanted him to solve petty disputes or give them tax breaks.


    The thought of giving someone a tax break wasughable, but people still requested them nonstop. The Empire simply couldnt afford a tax break and would quite possibly need to raise taxes on certain luxury goods in theing thousand years. It would slow down the economy a little but the war was already going to do that so it would just be another thing to weigh down his people.


    Not that the mortals would feel the effect, but his immortal factions would be up in arms. Of that, he was sure.


    Wanting to mitigate as much of that as possible, he knew what he needed to do. Win the war as quickly as possible. Or at least keep the war away from the centers of production. If those systems were captured by the enemies, their output would be theirs by treaty, and he couldnt afford that loss.


    Thankfully, he had a meeting with Allister, the Overseer of the Guilds, to better coordinate their defenses.


    They met in an unmarked and unremarkable spot in chaotic space to ensure their meeting was private but, even then, they both kept their spiritual perception scanning for any watchers.


    How are your preparations Allister?


    Allister nodded. We are ready for the war. Are you? You will be taking the brunt of the attacks.


    Emmanuel nodded despite not being so certain. We must, so we shall. Its that simple. But Im confident in our preparations. We can hold for a few centuries without issue. Its if the war drags on for longer than five hundred years when things will get dicey.


    Allister returned his nod with one of his own. Thats our assessment as well. But we also predict the Sects and Republic wont want to push the war much longer than that with us, which means we can go on the offensive if needed. We haverge borders, and they cant keep both of us on the defensive. There is just too muchnd, and any opening will let us counterattack any upations they hold.


    Emmanuel agreed. They will try to get concessions out of me. But I have ns of my own that areing into fruition which will make that difficult.


    Allister seemed interested but Emmanuel shook his head. Nothing is so certain that Im willing to share. If things change you will be the first to know.


    They chatted for a while longer, sharing andparing deployments of their troops before going their own ways. Both of them as Tier 50s were far, far too busy to idle chit chat. At least chit chat in person.


    But some things couldnt be trusted withmunications, and war preparation was one of them.


    Returning to the Empire, Emmanuel learned that one of his Earls had defaulted on their debt and had caused a local recession.


    Sighing, he started moving around budgets while trying to solve thetest issue the Empire faced.


    ***


    Turstal nodded as she listened to the reports from her various ministers, nobles, and important figures from her Flowers.


    Even though the Tier 10 Pather Tournament was going to happen on a specially prepared, all hers would see an influx of visitors, and her people needed to get ready to bear the brunt of such an influx.


    Everyone had issues, some real, some imagined, all apparently very important for her to deal with. Still, that was part of her duties as a queen, and she needed to at least hear out her petitioners in open court or there would be no reason for the venue.


    It was still annoying.


    As a weaselly looking man came up to her and exined how he needed his entire towns sewage system reced for the influx of visitors, Turstal checked her own records and agreed with him. His town only housed a few million of her lowest Tier citizens, but that would make it a prime target for people trying to find cheap amodation for the event.


    Approving him for ess to the funds she had set aside for this, she gestured for the next petitioner toe forward. This woman was clearly just trying to line her own pocket with funds by offering her cousins construction crew for assistance with the uing work. She was politely declined and sent away just to be reced by a dozen other petitioners who either exaggerated their problems to try and skip the normal improvements queues or were trying to line their own pockets before the tournament even happened.


    Two dayster, she saw thest of the petitioners and, after changing into something morefortable, listened to her own staffs reports about the status of hers.


    Most of the issues had already been addressed with the open court, but her people had noticed a hotelpanypsing on their maintenance. Clearly, they were trying to save money to increase their profit margins for the tournament when housing would be at a premium.


    Making a note that they needed a surprise inspection, she finally turned her attention to thest-minute preparation for the tournament itself.


    Everything looked good. The reserves were full of mana to fuel rapid delving of the rifts, the safety procedures were working and had been thoroughly tested by her own security teams, the guards she allocated to the event had passed all the checks and tests, and the more standard rewards were already gathered and ready to be given out even with the changes they were making this year.


    Everything looked <em>perfect</em>.


    And it needed to be, considering that the Emperor wasing to this event in person and called for all the other royals to arrive as well. Not that she would have cked if he was onlying as a [Clone]. Rather, she simply wanted her to give the best first impression to all the young Pathers who would one day step off and might decide to settle down on her Flowers after seeing how nice they were.


    Turstal looked out at her capital and smiled.


    This would hopefully be a tournament to remember.

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247


    Sergeant Ballor flew through real space around the farthest in the Hwah system while tending to his assigned patrol with his squad.


    Everyone was on edge, and Lance Corporal Alvarez had almost let loose a dozen different spells at eddies of space dust, but Sergeant Ballor neither reprimanded nor med him. Word from higher-ups was that Light and Shadow were almost done with The Path of Ascension, and everyone with half a working brain knew that meant war was looming over them.


    As a garrison bordering the Federation, and especially as one stationed near a gateway to a five link nexus system, they would be on the front lines.


    This region was registered as a Tier 23 battlefield, restricting anyone above that from participating. Ballor himself was only Tier 22, but he was d that only a small minority of the people here had Intents.


    While he didn''t understand the history behind the treaties, he well understood the effects. The agreements segregated battlefields by Tier, putting a <em>legal cap</em> on the Tier of the participants, and a <em>practical floor</em> on who would participate, while also limiting fights to taking ce in the outer systems on specially-made fortresss, like the one his squad patrolled around. Whichever Great Power controlled the fortress controlled the system, but they werent allowed to interfere with its poption beyond collecting a reasonable, set number of taxes. They would only permanently change rulers in the negotiations at the conclusion of the war, which was infinitely far away as far as most of the mortals were concerned.


    Ten generations of mortals coulde and go before a war ended.


    Sergeant Ballor had thought it was an odd way to wage war when he was a low Tier, but now, as a Tier 22, he was grateful for those rules. When he was a child, he hadnt even known that the he was on was upied by the Republic, as life had been basically the same as usual under the upation. It did exin why his parents were so worried at the time, but there had been no blown-up cities or anything of the like.


    Civilized fighting was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.


    Once upon a time, hed thought that Tier 15 would have the weakest battles, but that had changed after actually experiencing it. It had thergest battlefields by <em>far</em>, with up to millions of people involved in a single engagement. Those areas were home to some truly old monsters who had spent tens or even hundreds of thousands of years honing their techniques, wringing every scrap of power they could from their limited essence and the mere two Talents they had to work with and contend against. He much preferred the low 20s. A rare few people stuck around even if they had developed an Intent, but the fact that there could be more than one on a battlefield managed to make them less dangerous overall, as they checked one another while everyone else fought around them. It basically created two battlefields in one, and a victory in either would usually result in the other half surrendering, cutting down on casualties.


    Getting ransomed back was humiliating, but it was better than being dead.


    Sergeant Ballor was scanning a suspicious-looking meteor when Corporal Vetta held up a hand and everyone froze, getting ready to fight.


    I felt a ripple in space.


    Her words caused Sergeant Ballor to immediately call back into headquarters, and he found the channel inundated by reports of a simr nature.


    Waiting for a moment, he got the order he wanted.


    All patrol squads return to base.


    Calling out through his squad''s channel, he ryed the order and they all turned and fled back to the super massive fortress of stone and enchantments.


    It was beautiful, and normally a site that he loved to gaze at, but with his position protecting the rear, Sergeant Ballor kept most of his attention behind him. The spatial ripples were now so apparent, his spiritual sense could feel something in chaotic space trying to tear a hole open into reality.


    They were halfway there when the message reached them as a system-wide broadcast.


    Light and Shadow have reached Tier 25, and war has been dered by the Republic, Sects, and Federation.


    Sergeant Ballor felt his stomach sink, and with his best speed, he grabbed half his squad while Corporal Vetta copied his actions. They had a Tier and speed on the Lance Corporals, and speed was what clearly mattered.


    They almost made it.


    Behind them, Sergeant Ballor cursed as seven hundred and fifty-two ships ripped their way out of chaotic space like a tear in a fabric.


    The ships seemed slow as they drifted through, but Sergeant Ballor knew that was for good reason. Before they fully materialized in realspace, their cannons fired with a pulse of mana, sending a torrent of projectiles in their direction.


    Sergeant Ballor cast [Bulwark] behind himself and didnt bother to dodge. Corporal Vetta fell into his pile of troops, and they all grabbed onto each other and him.


    The first salvo passed them by, and most of the shots sshed on the''s shields harmlessly.


    The salvo of point defense shots were directed at the returning scouts, but that was what Sergeant Ballor wanted. They took the hit and were sent flying to the even faster.


    Sergeant Ballors nascent Intent was strained, but he had protected his squad, and with the additional boost of speed given to them by the attack, they passed through the shields and flew to the indicated rendezvous position.


    Healers flew to his team and inspected them and their light mana burns, but after they were okayed for duty, they got their first assignment.


    Their squad and entire toon was being used to reinforce the defensive battalion.


    Sergeant Ballor sighed in relief. That was exactly what they had prepared for, and it indicated that things werent going too badly.


    The sky shed overhead as more shipboard cannons fired hundreds of thousands of mana with each shot, but theirary shields would hold for quite some time. His squad had just reached their position and rejoined with the other scout squads of his toon, when the seemed to shake as the anti-ship cannons fired.


    The beams of mana were as wide across as an elephant, and with his spiritual sense, Sergeant Ballor was able to watch as eleven ships shields failed and were blown into glowing bits of molten metal.


    Eleven wasnt a bad first salvo, but it was a drop in the bucket whenpared to the hundreds of ships disgorging their troops as fast as possible.


    The ships stopped their bombardment as they increased the power of their shields, trying to protect their troops, but another two dozen ships were blown up as the''s cannons focused on them.


    Then, all at once, the cannons stopped firing and returned to their shielded positions


    Sergeant Ballor sighed. Squad, get ready to repel the assault. We are here to reinforce any teams that look like they are struggling. Follow me and watch your asses.


    With the ships defending their troops, the mana cannons werent cost effective anymore, and they would need all the mana they had to weather the storm surge of the war.


    It took almost an hour for the Federation ships to empty themselves and form a defensive line that could act as their own base of operation, as well as a shield against any additional mana cannon shots.


    Sergeant Ballor watched the Federation squads form into toons, then watched the toons formed into intopanies, and finally, thepanies into battalions.


    He counted almost fifty thousand troops and cursed. That put them at almost three-to-one odds, which would be a problem, as it looked like these were some of the Federations elite soldiers. The Empire was used to outnumbering their opponents, so even with a fortress behind them, their chances were less than ideal. He wouldnt bet on them keeping the, but it wasnt a guaranteed loss either.


    The first probing attack came down at another section of the, so Sergeant Ballor and his squad had to sit there and watch as spell and de flew back and forth.


    A giant fire elemental appeared and started killing Federation members, which let him know Lieutenant Por was there defending the position.


    When the losses started to rack up, the Feddies pulled back with their wounded carried between the ambtory members of that toon.


    Another dozen probing attacks tested the''s various sectors before their section came under attack.


    Sergeant Ballor kept his cool despite watching well over a hundred Feddies falling on their location. He wanted to let loose his attacks, but that wasnt his job, and the defenders instead opened up with coordinated bursts of fire, targeting the weakest sections of the formation.


    The Feddies deployed shields, both magical and physical, but they still lost almost a dozen of their members that were caught on a bad angle or had their shields bypassed in various ways. Still, they pushed through the spells and arrows to close with the defenders.


    Defenders took to the air to engage with their sectors assants, which kicked off the full fledged melee.


    Spells and des shed back and forth, causing blood from both sides to flow, but Sergeant Ballor just kept watch.


    When he noticed that one of the teams was taking more serious injuries, he called out. Mark, Corporal Vetta, Attack.


    Aye.


    Her single-word response was punctuated with a shining blue bolt of mana that punched through the chest of one of the attacking Feddy Tier 23 leaders. He wasnt dead, but he reeled back, blood spraying even as the defenders pressed the advantage.


    Sadly, his subordinates were able to protect him long enough for them to retreat into a mass of theirrades.


    Their squad only asionally intervened in the fight with a handful of precisely aimed strikes, which led the Feddies to cut their losses and run before too long. Eight dead Imperialspared to thirty-two dead or captured Federation soldiers was a win for this particr fight, though not every front had such good luck. Before too long, Ballors squad was put directly on the wall.


    It took the Feddies almost a week to test each sector at least once, and in that time, their side had started taking serious casualties. After the probes, they settled into the real siege.


    Sergeant Ballor knew this would be a slow whittling down of their defenders while the Feddies tried to keep their troops as intact as possible. Eventually, they would go for one final push.


    The might fall in a week or a decade, but it would fall.


    The Feddies were the only ones getting reinforcements here, making it a simple game of math. They just needed to survive.


    ***


    Lucius tried to control his breathing, but exhaled out a little too heavily, prompting a coughing fit that seemed to clear the lung that was full of blood. Spitting to clear his mouth, he took a deep breath as the healer came up to him and repeated the healing for the hole in his chest.


    He was well over his healing limit, but their side was so close to victory, and he wanted to earn as many merits as he could before the end of the first battle. He was so close topleting his Aspect that with just a little time with a master, he could be a true powerhouse.


    With his body mostly intact, he rushed back to the fortress and rejoined his team in trying to break into thest bunkers of the Empire, still holding onto the with their fingernails. Hed rather kill them all after the friends he had lost in this siege, but capture was the order of the day.


    They had spent almost seventy thousand lives to take this Tier 35 fortress down in a record six months, and they were so close, he could taste it.


    There were only seven bunkers still standing, and his Cohort had the honor of taking one of them down. Just as he was gathering his mana to help burn through the reinforced bunker, he felt a small ripple in the space right outside their base in orbit of the.


    One person stepped out.


    Lucius initial reaction was tough at the ridiculousness of the''s reinforcement being one person, but when he saw the blue hair waving like it was underwater, he knew they were all dead.


    Duke Waters had arrived.


    No matter the humiliation, their army scattered like so many bugs dispersing after a rock was lifted.


    Lucius tried to tear through space, but he felt Duke Waters'' powermanding space to stay still. He hade in through a door then shut and locked it behind him.


    It was utter madness for anyone, but Duke Waters was crazy enough to do it.


    Lucius waited for the order to surrender, but it never came. Two hundred Tier 35s from their reserves swept in, unleashing lightning bolts which could crack mountains, fireballs that could burn away the oceans, beams of light blinding to even look at, and orbs of darkness swarming like flies. All a deluge of attacks falling upon the lone figure.


    None of it even came close.


    The air around the diator rippled like a pond with a stone tossed inside, and it swallowed the first spell, then the second, and the third. Attacks dimmed and sank away, as effective as an unawakened seeking to attack the ocean itself with pebbles.


    The arrogant asshole spoke far too slowly, his every word stretched out as he mocked them with his inferior cultivation, but his voice and smile alike echoed as it reached each of them. That''s not nearly enough. Where are your elites? Where are your generals? Heck, wheres Maya? I havent been able to p her aroundtely, Id love to catch up.


    The way he spoke of Grand Shaper Maya was disrespectful, but Lucius would have cursed her ancestors to her face if someone said it would get their diator to arrive.


    She was the only chance any of them had to survive this encounter.


    He cast his mind back to one of the speeches their generals had granted for morale, saying that Duke Waters would be focusing upon the Sects and Federation. He wouldnt stop the <em>Republic</em>, with Grand Shaper Maya aiding their overall assault.


    Oh, how wrong he was.


    The generals were rushing forward at Duke Waters, and Lucius hoped that the seven of them could take, or more realistically, dy or distract the mage long enough for the rest of them to flee into chaotic space. That still wasnt entirely safe for them, but Lucius was confident that most of them could follow the teleporter connections back to the Republic and reenter real space before their Domains and spirits were too weakened.


    Lucius cursed hisck of an Aspect once again, as it would almost entirely shield him from the aquatic demons ravages, but he could still manage.


    As their dwindling reinforcements attacked Duke Waters once more, Lucius threw his Domain at the fabric of reality and could feel the others near him doing the same, but it did nothing. Horror overcame him as he realized his life was at the mercy of the man ughtering the strongest members of their army with his arms crossed above the fortress.


    The fear started to make it hard to breathe, and Lucius struggled against it, but the horror turned to terror as he realized he shouldnt need to breathe.


    He tried to use his essence to cover that biological need, but found it was already doing so.


    His body demanded air.


    His body demanded he <em>breathe</em>.


    Lucius started to panic as he felt his vision going ck, as his brain started to starve.


    He tried to urge his essence into providing for his body, but it seemed useless.


    He needed to <em>breathe</em>.


    The air seemed like a distant memory, but that could have been the fading grip he had on his consciousness.


    It seemed almost like an unimportant afterthought, but his [AI] blipped out a message that he knew he needed to read.


    With thest bit of his consciousness, he read that the seven generals were dead, andmand had been passed onto one of the colonels, who thankfully initiated a surrender vote for the army.


    Lucius never got to see the end of the vote as he passed out.


    He woke up a secondter as the power demanding he couldnt breathe vanished like the tide drawing back.


    He and his entire cohort coughed and sputtered as they tried to orient themselves. Lucius coughed so hard he felt his recently healed lung tear once more, and forced his body to stop breathing despite the instinctual horror that had held him. It told him he needed every breath of fresh air in case Duke Waters decided to change the rules of reality once more.


    The monster himself snorted and waved. Bah, I should have stuck with the Sects.


    Lucius twitched as he repressed a shudder.


    It wasnt cowardice to know when you faced an opponent stronger than you could handle. And when a solitary Tier 31 could repress tens of thousands of Tier 35s, they were officially a monster.


    Put down your arms and allow yourselves to be taken into captivity. Yada, yada, yada. Im sure you know the drill. Try to fuck around, and youll find out.


    Luciusughed.


    Tens of thousands of dead for what? The Empire troops were freeing themselves from where they were captives in the Republic''s base prisons, crawling out of their armored holes.


    They had been on the brink of defeat, but they had still won.


    <em>Against all odds and reason, they had won</em>.


    Just because one man had shown up.


    The only good thing was that Duke Waters couldnt be everywhere at once, and if he was here watching them surrender, he wasnt at other locations relieving their sieges.


    As an Empire soldier with half their face burnt to the skull grabbed Lucius hands and cuffed them with a cultivation suppression manacle, Lucius let himself get led to a cleared-out area that they were all sitting in. Healers from both sides moved among the worst of the wounded, stabilizing them, and when one came to check on him, Lucius shook his head. He couldnt get more healing if he wanted to.


    They might have lost this battle, but he was just d to be alive.


    So many others werent so lucky.


    ***


    Su Yuughed as his fist surpassed the pitiful flesh of the Empires cultivator, vanquishing their arm in a single strike.


    His [Thousand Fists of Heaven] once again proved its utmost superiority as his Sects greatest technique bypassed shields, slipped past armor, and annihted the flesh of all those it struck.


    A fighter sought to exploit a perceived weakness, striking from the side with a spear crackling with blue lightning.


    But Su Yu was no novice; he had cast aside all of his foes within this chaotic melee, and had in fact withheld much of his aggression in anticipation for this very maneuver.


    He gracefully spun,shing forth with a kick carrying a perfected [What Was Once Complex Returns To Simplicity]. Mana rippled and sshed as though it were water from a cupped palm, and while the Empires cultivator sought to dodge and attempted to interpose her shield, trying to sacrifice a portion of her body to survive, it was for naught.


    He had been personally mentored in his creation of this technique by Lady Yun Me, as a reward for exemry service in a previous border skirmish.


    It was his grandest aplishment, standing proud above all else, and he hoped to live up to his previous legacy this day. [What Was Once Complex Returns To Simplicity] was an adaptation of Lady Yun Mes own metal specialty. The Unyielding Anvil was a master of defense, armor, and protection, having forged five wondrous techniques of her own which she would only bestow upon those who proved themselves worthy through blood.


    Three defensive techniques wrought to stop a mountain and two offensive techniques to tten one.


    Su Yu knew the simple truth, that to survive was meager when contrasted with the glory of victory. He had chosen his reward to enhance his capabilities of tearing the life from the meager barbarians, where he was close enough to feel the spray of their blood upon his jade like skin.


    Even then, [A Finger To Tear A Hole In The Sky] had been truly difficult to decline. The Unyielding Anvil was truly set to be one of their most venerated Elders, such was her might and her wisdom.


    With nothing remaining of the interloper but a dispersing cloud of essence, Su Yu returned to vanquish the man still recovering from his suddenly-missing arm, closing the distance with a smile. For each barbarian he slew upon this battlefield, the closer he grew to earning yet another personal lesson from the Lady, and the honor that such an achievement would bring him.


    The glory it would bring his Sect.


    With two lessons from Lady Yun Me herself, his petitions to his sect to permit him to ascend to Tier 25 would surely be met, and with his third Talent, he would bring them and himself honor and glory upon those hallowed battlefields.


    For all that he may have been no Young Master or Dao Child, Su Yu had glimpsed the truth beyond that.


    He followed the path of the Unyielding Anvil. The titles of the young meant nothing. The resources dedicated to those who were believed to be worthy were nothing more than a shortcut to power that he could reach through hard work and time. And power earned by one''s self bestowed the greatest honor upon its bearer. Then, those around him would be forced to give him face.


    Seven blowster, the Empire cultivator died with a grievance on his lips as he tried to surrender.


    Su Yu couldn''t allow that.


    He needed to collect as many heads as possible before his Sectmates decimated this fortress enough for the Empire''s cowardly leaders to surrender. For once that order was given, even he would not dare draw the ire of the Elders and Watchers.


    Still, there was a silver lining to the Empire cowards being used to surrendering. Theughable wretches expected him to <em>allow</em> them to surrender, which provided the perfect amount of time to dart in and finish them off.


    Fools, all of them.


    The only way to fight was to remove the option of victory without the death of your opponent. It bred cowardice and weakness in cultivators that might have otherwise won the fight, or at least taken their opponent with them.


    Su Yu was fortunate enough to kill two more foes before the general surrender was called for. Sadly, both of those kills had their merits shared with others, but he had gotten the lion''s share, as was his right. The Flowing Hammers Sect warriors had been too weak to finish off their opponents themselves, and their failure stood as a blemish upon their honor.


    His Sect brothers and sisters would have never needed help to kill weak Empire cultivators.


    Returning to their mobile base, he was called into Senior Sister Song Zexiansmand tent, where he was bestowed the des and rewards he had earned. To his satisfaction, such rewards included a Natural Treasure to enhance his bodys strength.


    The strong got stronger, as was their right.


    To consolidate his gains, he returned to his quarters and began to meditate.


    Five breaths in, three out. Two breaths in, four out. Su Yu repeated the same pattern until his heart and mind were calm, and he was able to reflect on the battles he had fought in thest year.


    He could have finished off the dozen Tier 23s who ambushed him much more cleanly if he had held back a little. The scar on his abdomen was a reminder of his mistake, and why he had requested it be left. The fight with the ambushing Tier 24 had been as clean as could be, but he needed to be careful of letting future ambushers get that close.


    The Empire was weak, but the Drowner proved even the most pathetic could possess hidden strength. It would not do to underestimate them.


    Once he had settled his mind and body, Su Yu started to absorb the treasure.


    They would be fighting once more before too long.


    Of that, he was sure.


    And he needed to be at his peak.


    ***


    Darok sighed as they flew through chaotic space away from the teleporter tethers that linked the Great Powers.


    Flying away from the establishednes was rarely done for good reason, and he felt the terror of being lost to the known realm to wander the emptiness of chaotic space, until they either went mad or found a through sheer time and chance.


    He had seen the reports of such survivors, and he had no wish to be one of them.


    Still, this was their mission.


    That didnt mean he liked it.


    Shoving his lunch away from him, he went to the hangar where his crew was working on their armor.


    The Cavalry and Juggernaut division''s armor that had been devastated in theirst mission were now fully repaired, and they werent sore thumbs whenpared to the Skirmish Squadron.


    As he walked through, his men returned his nods, and the ones not actively working on their armor called out greetings. He could tell the men werent exactly happy with this mission, but none of them had balked. Mercenaries were rarely picky, though. Darok liked to think his men just had more of a conscience.


    It was good they were in top shape physically and mentally, as this mission had one way it could go right, but a million ways it could go wrong.


    Still, the rewards were just too damn good to pass up.


    On the far side of the hangar, he looked at the small squad of Sect cultivators slowly moving throughbat poses. It looked almost meditative with how slow the movements were, but there was more to it than that. Even Dao Child Maven did those sets of movements daily without fail.


    The woman had walked out of a meeting halfway through without so much as a word when it had runte, simply to join the others in their stretches, he supposed.


    He had seen some weird things from Sect fighters in his time, but this one took the cake for the most oundish.


    After checking in with his supply officer, Walter, Darok went to his meeting with Dao Child Maven.


    The woman, with her snow-white skin and ink-dark hair, was objectively attractive. Contrary to most Sect stereotypes, she was a flirt too. Every woman on board who was even remotely interested in the same sex had been hit on. That could have caused problems, but Dao Child Maven took both polite and direct refusals with good grace and aplomb, which he was grateful for. Some other Sect cultivators wouldnt have.


    Thankfully, Maven had set her sights on his second inmand, Emily, which was about as good of an ending as Darok could hope for. Emily wasnt necessarily a lesbian, as Dao Child Maven seemed to be, but she identified as horny and would sleep with anyone who caught her interest. She was also a consummate professional, and wouldnt do anything more than flirt with anyone when on a mission, but the degree to which they were circling around one another kept them both upied.


    And that was all Darok could ask of his people. What they did in their personal time was none of his concern; what they did while under contract was.


    Meeting up with Emily, he found her checking in with their squad leaders and waited outside the door for her to finish. It wouldnt do to step on her toes after all.


    When she exited the meeting to go to their meeting with Dao Child Maven, Darok asked. Any new problems?


    Emily nodded. Alliva and Miguel got into a fight, but their squad leaders handled it appropriately.


    Darok nodded. If it was officially reported to him, he would need to act as the mercenarypany leader and punish them officially, but Emily wasnt so tightly bound by the rules. That was by design, of course, as it allowed them to y good cop bad cop, and a number of things could be handled before bingrger issues.


    A fight amongst thepany was hardly unique, and half thepany would happily break a ss over someone else''s head while off duty. Fighting when they were underway, though, was another matter, and hed have strung the two of them up if necessary.


    The feud of the few couldnt endanger everyone else.


    Emily knew that, and if she said it was handled, he could trust that it was.


    Changing the subject, he asked, What do you think of the mission Dao Child Maven had outlined?


    Emily shook her head. It''s fucked. Capital F. I dont like it, but no one is asking us.


    Darok nodded his head. Emily was right, or at least, she shared his viewpoint on the mission.


    They werent technically breaking the setws of war, but they were skirting damn close. Too close for his liking, even with the historical precedent backing them up.


    Closing his eyes for a moment, he promised himself hed retire when this mission was over.


    This job was just too damn stressful.


    When they reached the meeting room, they found Dao Child Maven waiting with a stack of paper in front of her. Her second inmand, Yuan Chu, might have been a muscled wall for how he stood behind her without moving.


    Good day, Captain Darok, Lieutenant Emily. The Elders have finalized their designs for our approach, and desire that our first strike be as impactful as possible, to redirect attention from the primary engagements. This one trusts that you will keep a firm grasp upon your men, as wee ever closer to overstepping our proper bounds, and a single hair out of ce will result in our unbinding from the rules of war, deep within enemy territory. Her mouth worked for a moment before she gave a sardonic smile. None of us will survive that, and I dont intend to die so young.


    Darok nodded along with Emily. They were both worried about the same thing. Even then, one rogue Tier 36 could squash them all, even if they didnt technically break the rules. Grief and loss were more than enough to push even the most sane of cultivators over the edge.


    That was why they simply wouldnt get caught.


    A million ways to go wrong.


    One way to go right.


    I have assembled a full list of contacts and reports, review it and inform me of any concerns you notice. This one has been as thorough as possible for it, but possesses not the experience the two of you have in such situations.


    Darok looked down at the packet of information Dao Child Maven slid over to him, and that Emily hadbeled Operation Ventillyria.


    They were so going to die.

 Chapter 248

    Chapter 248


    Matt and Liz rushed forward to go and meet up with Aster, who he could feel approaching them. She had most certainly skipped the lines and identity checks given the speed she was moving, which would result in a number of fines, but he really didnt care about that right now.


    Aster was home, and that was all that mattered.


    It took them almost a minute to weave through the walking people, but eventually, Matt saw the head of white hair with fox ears bobbing and weaving through the crowd, and he knew they had found her.


    As the crowd parted, Aster sped up and threw herself into his and Lizs waiting embrace.


    They held each other for a few long moments before they all pushed back and got a good look at each other.


    Matt was slightly emotional seeing the amalgamation of his Folded Reflection sister in this Aster, but it was in the best way possible. It was his little sister with a few additional parts.


    Namely, the ears and tail that hadnt stopped wagging.


    Im so d to be back together with you guys! Oh, it felt like forever! Where are we staying? Did you just drop the house or rent somewhere?


    Mattughed as Liz shot a re at him. Matt didnt want to rent, and the lots ofnd here are booked for a while. So weve been bumming it at a tea house for the past two days.


    Asterughed as Matt shrugged. I figured wed be immediately leaving once you arrived. Luna has had us running missions like madmen for thest few years, but shes been absent thest few days.


    They all looked around, as whenments like this were usually said, Luna would appear andment how she was always watching, but nothing happened to that effect.


    Aster''s fox ears twitched and swiveled. I hope shes ok Could she have gotten sick?


    As if summoned, Luna appeared but looked both worried and haggard. Im not sick, just incredibly busy. Lets get moving. I can give three of you two days off to enjoy your reunion, but then we leave. We need to get all of you to Tier 16 sooner rather thanter, at least if the three of you still intend to push forward. At this point in training, managers generally back off so your personalities can shine through. Instead, I push even harder, so long as youremitted to going the distance.


    Hearing the implied question, none of them agreed to step off and Aster even perked up and pulled out a small notebook and pen. Matt half figured she was pulling a prank on Luna, but she honestly looked ready to take notes.


    Luna didnt seem insulted, but she also looked so distracted that Matt wasnt sure she had even noticed. Ventillyria is our destination. It''s a good Tier 22 world that we can more easily get rift ess in.


    Liz opened her mouth to speak, but Lunas eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. Stick to this city and keep your masks on. Im keeping you three covered but don''t do anything stupid.


    With a parting nce at the three of them, their manager vanished as suddenly as she had arrived. Matt took the opportunity to look at Aster''s notebook, which had actual notes about Ventillyria and a few doodles drawn on the edges.


    Flipping it shut, Aster grumbled just loud enough for them to hear, Stupid cat probably has a hairball or something.


    Matt smirked, and Liz raised an eyebrow as she linked arms with Aster as she turned to leave. Someone knows about that, do they?


    Aster mock gasped. I would never! Im dignified, enlightened, and an elected official. I would never vomit in someone''s smelly boots.


    Matt smirked at the memory. You really hated those boots.


    Asters tail started smacking his and Lizs thighs as she let her excitement get the better of her.


    Oh, it''s <em>so </em>good to be back with you guys!


    Matt slipped out of the arm lock and pulled Aster into a one-armed hug. It''s been rough without you.


    When they were out of the crowded spaceport, Liz pushed Aster to arm''s length. I like the dress. It''s cute. Are you going with dresses mostly?


    Aster twirled, and the flowy sundress-like thing spun with her. Not normally. The tail is great to have, but gets in the way of anything that isn''t low-waisted or made with it in mind. So I''m usually rocking pants for the ease of use.


    Liz nodded, but Matt asked about armor. Did you get armor made?


    Asterughed. I did. And it''s quite good. A Tier 17 set of ted leather. It even protects my tail.


    I can look it over if youd like. I havent had as much time to learn higher Tier runes as I''d like, but Im passable.


    Liz tsked. Hes being modest. Hes actually gotten really good. In a false whisper, she rified, Or rather, his [AI] is good. Mom and Dad got him the real skill, and with his stupid mana generation, hes been putting it to use.


    Asterughed again. Oh, I can''t wait to hear about how mad thats made Luna. I bet she was ten kinds of pissed.


    They continued to chat until they reached a hotel Matt had found with a vacancy and got a suite of rooms. Matt expected they would end up waiting around for Aster to get settled in, but after changing into a nicer set of clothes, she was ready to go right back out the door.


    Let''s grab dinner! I want you to cook me a rabbit dish when we settle down, Matt. Yours is the best, and believe me, Ive tried half the businesses that serve rabbit on The Nest.


    I think thats mostly the taste of nostalgia, Aster. Im decent at best, but Ill happily cook for you. So tell us about what you have been up to. We got and watched all your messages, but it''s not the same as hearing it in person.


    With his agreement, Aster seemed happy enough to chatter about her friends and adventures in the Beast Academy.


    Liz was extra interested when Aster mentioned Alyssa and how she was doing.


    Liz flicked a rib onto her discard te with a sigh. I should have known that she would rise to the top of that sewer.


    Matt had a mouthful of cornbread, and Aster had taken the pause in her narration to shove an entire husk of corn into her face, so he took the hint and grunted out a questioning noise.


    Liz thankfully understood and borated. Well, shit floats, so of course she would rise to the top.


    Aster choked on the rib she now was gnawing on, and Matt couldn''t help but cough so hard his eyes watered from the unexpected answer.


    Liz was unrepentant. Im telling you guys. The entire beast academy side is full of elitist assholes. Liz nodded to Aster and continued, The bond side sounds a million times better, but the other side is all about who can kiss ass more. Who can earn more Feathers? Who can suck up to Mom by being nice to me? Alyssa would fit right in.


    Aster, who finished her ss of beer, nodded. They tried to make us walk like a dozen miles when we had a meeting. I just kept spam pinging their side until they initiated a teleport. Did you know their pce is huge and made of high Tier materials, while the bond side has to deal with a friggin office building? It''s unfair, I tell you!


    Liz cocked her head in confusion. Didnt they repair the building yet?


    What? Aster looked genuinely confused, which prompted Liz to exin.


    Mom said when she was at the academy, she burnt the nice ce they had down, so the student council had to move into a temporary office building. You would have thought they would have built a new building by now.


    Aster twitched several times before reaching out like she was going to strangle someone. Im going to roast that chicken someday. That building sucked! It had a perpetually drafty window that always leaked. I built a wall of ice in front of the window, and it still managed to leak.


    Matt looked at the barbecue chicken leg he had been eating and pondered out loud, How would you cook a phoenix?


    That earned him an interested look from Aster and a disgusted look from Liz. What? Dont look at me like that. I know how to cook other firebirds, but it''s damn hard, as their flesh is obviously resistant to me, so you need a shit load of heat. The problem is, once you reach a certain heat, the meat will quickly burn. Phoenixes are even more resistant to mes and have regeneration. It seems like it would be really hard to cook one of them Im just saying.


    Liz shook her head slowly. Thinking about how to cook your wife. That''s messed up on so many levels.


    Aster tapped a finger on her lip before cleaning it off. What if you froze the meat first? I know that''s how you cook me halibut. It''s got something to do with breaking the resistance to heat.


    Matt nodded. That might work, but youd need to be careful extinguishing it. That would ruin it and you might as well just eat a normal bird.


    Seeing she was being ignored, Liz dug into their table of food until the conversation naturally drifted back to one of their missions.


    I was so impressed you fought a Tier 19, Matt. I wanted to brag to my friends so badly. One of the lion twins hates Quill, by the way, so we definitely need to set up a meeting between you two before we go public. It will twist the knife so much deeper.


    Mattughed at the idea. Yeah, Quill gets annoying to y, let alone deal with, so I agree with her. It''s fun for, like, the first week. But after that, it''s awful.


    Luna had said she would protect them from eavesdroppers during this dinner, so they were more free with their words than usual.


    Aster turned to Liz and waggled her ears and eyebrows. Also, Kelly loves Torch. Shes a super huge fan. Has like ten Torch shirts. Her heart only burns for Torch.


    Liz went to facepalm, but seeing how dirty her hands were, she just went back for another helping of food. I swear, when we go public, Im going to publicly drench a Torch shirt in blood to kill that stupid trend.


    Aster shook her head. No way, you cant do that. It would be a collectible at that point. Actually, you should do it; then we can auction it off for a ton of money.


    That suggestion almost turned Liz into a fireball right then and there, and the two bickered back and forth until another round of food came in. Their conversation eventually turned into familiar territory, and they just chatted about what they wanted to do in the next two days.


    Aster wanted to hit a spa as a human, and the two of them happily agreed, so they booked themselves a joint massage and body work treatment for the next morning.


    They all chose to actually sleep a little, and when they woke up, they found Aster back in beast form, flipping through the channels on the suite''s screen.


    Liz seemed to take that as an invitation, and turned into her bird form before jump-flying over to Aster. The fox seemed surprised when the mass of hot bird fell onto her as she started to wiggle.


    Noooo! Not the heat! Not the ash! I just cleaned my fur! Matt, help! An evil being is trying to melt me!


    Liz squawked, Take it back! Im super cute.


    Aster, who had freed herself after a few failed wiggles, shook like she was trying to get water out of her fur. Nuh-uh. Look at me; Im cold and pretty. Clearly, foxes are better.


    When her tail yfully smacked Liz in the wing, Liz reared up and started smacking Aster with her wings.


    Phoenixes are clearly the better bird.


    Yeah, but who wants to be a bird when you can be a fox?


    As the two argued, Matt tuned them out and went to pour himself a bowl of cereal. He was only three mouthfuls in when two disheveled beasts arrived at the table.


    They just stood there looking at him.


    Looking at his cereal and back to the silent duo, he sighed before pouring them each their own bowl.


    You two could have done this yourselves.


    Aster looked at her paws, and Liz looked at her wings at the same time. How?


    Matt just rolled his eyes. Clearly, it''s impossible. I apologize profusely for my idioticment.


    That earned him a snort from Aster which he took as a victory.


    When he was getting up, Aster transformed back into her human form before racing off. Im taking a shower first.


    Sighing, Matt went to take Aster''s emptied spot in front of the screen, where Liz flew over to join him still in bird form.


    An hourter, Aster had just exited the shower that Matt didnt miss was covered in ayer of rapidly melting ice.


    He was going to take his own shower when Liz flew in before him. Dropping back to the couch, Matt started flicking through channels until he found a movie he liked and watched thest half hour. When it ended, he returned to flicking through the channels, eventuallynding on a local news station that had an urgent red banner rolling as the anchors talked quietly amongst themselves.


    The banner just said standby, and he was going to change the channel when Luna appeared right behind him.


    Stay on it. Liz, Aster,e out here now.


    Matt was just as confused as the others, but when they all sat on the couch, he felt an ominous feeling washing over him.


    Luna sighed. Word just got sent out through military channels that Light and Shadow arepleting the Path.


    Matt felt like he had been hit with a poleaxe as he whistled.


    Aster said what he was feeling. Oh, shit. Already? That means they finished The Path in what? A hundred and eighty years?


    Luna nodded. We knew this day wasing soon, but I wasnt informed as to precisely when. This changes some of my ns, but I suppose I just have to deal with it. It''s also why Ive been so frazzled thest few days, this was a surprise to everyone.


    As the news anchors bantered lightly, Aster brought out a small bucket of skills and assorted valuables. Oh, and I got some cool stuff from graduating from the Academy. Its mostly utility skills, nothing super fancy, but the amount of thought put into it is really nice. Lets see, theres [Create Mud] with a booklet on how to modify it to make y for pottery practice. Theres [Damp Hands], though Im not sure Ill take that one, and a few more skills for pottery. Ooh [Layers] is a great drawing skill, too... Matt had raised an eyebrow at that one. It lets you draw on different magicalyers, shifting, merging, or erasing them, before you release the spell and your sketches are finalized on your paper. [Mechanical Motion] is another good one, great for drawing the same thing over and over. You have that for enchanting, right Matt?


    At his nod, Aster continued, Theres a few of the cheaper sword skills-.


    Aster, youre not going to use a sword. Not in a real fight. Ive been to the academy. I know the sparring club you were in and while it can be fun and can teach good skills, you don''t have the cultivation to actually use any of those skills in a real battle. Luna chided.


    No no, I get that. But some of the skills look so cool, especially the impractical ones. And I have plenty of slots in my outer spirit, so whats the harm? Anyways, here is the shining jewel of the bunch, worth more than all the othersbined. Aster held up a pair of skill shards that had actually been polished.


    From the theatrics, Matt assumed this would be some of the cracked skills from King Frederic. Possibly some unbelievably great ice skill for Aster. Maybe even a powerful winter ability.


    [Toucans Tongue], which enhances the taste of fruit and berries! I got one for each of you. It''s a really nice skill, Aster eximed, even as she shoved the skills into their hands.


    Luna rolled her eyes as Liz and Mattughed, and Aster continued, It looks like I got my skills from Fred-.


    King Frederic, Luna said.


    From Fred. [ck Ice] and [Cracked Ice Canopy], the first is a real aurora spell that makes my ice, air, and winter spells harder to notice through exotic senses. The second is a good support skill, summoning an ice aspected mana barrier around a target, with the crack letting it work on summoned entities too. Both of the skills were very thoughtful, Ive already sent him a thank you card and a fruit basket.


    They talked about Asters new things for a while as the reporters went over theings and goings of celebrities and politicians. While Matt was inspecting a nice air magic wand from Asters graduation gifts, a breaking news banner appeared over the screen.


    Word is that Light and Shadow have just finished the ceremony toplete The Path of Ascension, and we should be receiving the transmission packet any moment now.


    It took a few minutes of building tension, but then, the male anchor started narrating as a highlight reel started showing parts of the ceremony.


    Light and Shadow walked down an aisle in the throne room in ornate outfits while the Emperor and all the Royals watched on. Then the video jumped forward slightly until their masks melted away and revealed their real faces.


    The news anchors had something to say there, but Matt had missed it as he studied the two.


    Light, or Zack Varon, as was apparently his real name, was an ordinary man who could have been a run of the mill mortal on half the Empire worlds. He had lightly tan skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. The man was utterly unremarkable.


    Shadow, or Allison Spein, had gone a little too far on the body modifications, though Matt couldnt be sure if they were part of a mask or her real body. Her eyes were swirling pools of violet and blue, and her skin was practically jet-ck and covered with white freckles in the shape of famous constetions from all over the Empire. Even her hair, as short as it was cut, was a riot of grays, silvers, and cks. And with each step that she took, her hair bounced and created a tapestry of shifting shadows.


    She had <em>really</em> leaned into the shadow motif.


    Now that he had seen them, Matt would bet every penny he had that Light and Shadow had swapped personalities when under the mask, like he and Liz modified theirs. There was no way someone as deliberately and intentionally nd as Zack hade up with half the colorful things he had been quoted saying in the past. His spirit was far too no-nonsense for that.


    Allison, even with a carefully-schooled expression on her face during the entire ceremony, positively <em>radiated</em> fun and mischief.


    Together, the four of them sat in silence as the news anchors cheered and pped.


    Matt knew what wasing next, and figured the two immortal news anchors did as well, but they seemed carefully reserved.


    Light and Shadowpleting the Path meant that war was upon them.


    The video reyed the envoys dering war and the female anchor nodded. As we feared, but predicted. Everyone please remain calm. The Empire has known this would happen and is well prepared. Our is far from the borders, but dont worry, even if you have family there. These conflicts canst hundreds of years, and no one will interfere with the mortal poptions. If you want more information about the war, we will have twice daily updates morning and evening. But if you follow our sister channel, they will be dedicating themselves to the war coverage day and night.


    When there was a pause, Aster sighed. Damn it. Why did it have to happen so soon?


    Liz nodded along. Theyre also so casual about it. Sure, this is far away from the frontlines, but there is no reason for them to brush it off.


    Luna raised an eyebrow. If you think that was casual, look at the Tier 35 plus channels.


    The screen in front of them changed and another pair of reporters were on the screen. They seemed to be watching the highlights as well, but when the video turned to the envoys dering war, the anchorsughed.


    Well, it''s about time. We havent had a good war in a while, and our boys and girls deserve to get their hands bloody. Push back the invaders and earn unmatched glory and honor! When I was Tier 25, I killed dozens of those Republic weaklings. Anyone who dies before <em>them</em> is worthless.


    The male anchor nodded as his counterpart spoke and then touched his ear, interrupting her. We are getting reports from the Watchers about the first engagements. Viewer discretion is advised for the content going forward, its going to be fucking awesome.


    After a pause for people to turn away, the screen changed to show a smaller that was turned into a giant fortress. It looked all so peaceful until the ships appeared out of nowhere and started opening fire.


    Mana cannons fired bolts the size of buildings just to ssh on the''s shields. The anchors cheered, but Matt just felt sick.


    That was an enormous amount of resources being spent as both sides started firing upon each other.


    Ships were blown into chunks of nothingness, and many people died, but the anchorsughed and cheered those who scored kills on the Sect attackers. They, or rather the Watchers, were keeping score of each attack and its result, and the news anchorsmented on the rising and falling of merit earned.


    When the battle settled into simple probing attacks, the anchors returned with beaming smiles. There you have it, people. The first attacks of the new war. Subscribe to stay tuned for all the war-rted information on our sister channel, Ribble 2. They will have dedicated themselves to the war until its final attack, so get ready for more blood and glory. Betting channels are also opening up as we speak. I already have a bet on how soon until we see Light and Shadow, so join me in adding a little excitement for this fight.


    Matt felt sick at how they treated the fights. Inparison, the Tier 15work they had first seen treated things with great solemnity.


    Liz asked the question he wanted an answer to. Is there an information source we can get that doesnt treat this like a game, or like it doesn''t matter?


    Luna shook her head. Mostly the lower-Tierworks, particrly mortal ones, treat the war more seriously. I dont advise relying on them, though. Remember that for most intents and purposes, this <em>is</em> a game. There are rules, and the destruction is kept outside of inhabited areas. Ascenders are half soldiers and half celebrities. The stakes are real, but they arent dire stakes for the Great Powers as a whole. Mortals dont fight, and anyone who is fighting for the Empire is there willingly. At the end of the wars, whoever wins, whoever does best, will be paid and rewarded, just like any otherpetition, and so too are the wars broadcasted like them. I daresay that tournaments and the like will be far less frequented for the next few centuries while theres true battles to follow.


    Aster shook her head. It feels so callous how the higher Tiers were treating deaths.


    Luna shook her head. Is it truly? Consider the alternatives, should the Great Powers not utilize their armies as champions to settle disputes. Without a strict structure in ce, inhabited worlds would pay the price, and everyone would suffer. But that is not to diminish the importance of these wars. When the Monster Collective broke from the Federation, the proposed reparations from the Tier 35 war were so immense that the fighting expanded fully to Tier 43 out of desperation. That fate, wing them from the strongest Great Power to one who just barely managed to escape a death spiral, is what we fight to prevent.


    After that revtion, none of them felt like sitting around, so the four of them left the and boarded Matts shuttle. With four full-size adults, it was cramped, but that was helped when Luna turned into her cat form and curled up on top of a cab.


    Liz copied the idea and turned it into her bird form, taking a perch on Mattsp where they cuddled at the helm. Aster shot Liz a re for taking her traditional spot, but took Lizs chair in retribution, making a show of changing all the adjustments.


    Activating the chaotic space engines, Matt waited for the ship to sessfully tear through the fabric of reality and started following the set route to Ventillyria.


    With the in mind, Matt looked up to Luna and asked, What''s so special about Ventillyria? Couldn''t we just go to any of the other Tier 22 worlds?


    Luna held up a paw without looking up, three ws sticking out. Three reasons. The first is that its near the Sect border, and will give you the opportunity to feel a bit of the wars impact without actually participating in a battle. Simrly, the area will be flooded with spies and I want to give you a chance to engage in some light counterespionage. Thirdly, I like the system. It was a favorite for Pathers quite some time ago, but fell out of favor as the native poption grew. Ive spent many years there, and know the rifts well.


    Matt nodded and started going through the information he had downloaded on the.


    He wanted to know the basics by the time they arrived.


    Before he could get toofortable, Luna spoke once more.


    While we have downtime, I want all of you to start practicing your mana control with mana patty. Aster, you stick to human form, and Liz, stick to bird form. Your control still needs work, and I need to see exactly how far you have slipped, Aster. There was a lot of time you could have been honing your skills at the bond academy. Like that rift challenge. It was atrocious. Ive seen children handle themselves better than you did.


    Aster stiffened as she squeaked. You saw that? How? What did you hear?


    Did you think I wouldnt be keeping an eye on you? I peeked in when I was close enough to send a [Clone], but I actually heard about it from Mara sending me a recording from your guide uniform. Imagine my surprise when I found out what you were saying. Now, lets see how many debuffing skills you need to stop a Tier 18 monster, shall we?


    Aster started nervouslyughing, but there was a thread of actual fear that Matt could feel through their bond.


    Not really caring that Luna was there, Matt asked, What did you say? You mentioned the rift but not what you said inside. How bad could it have been?


    Astersugh got more nervous as she tried to deflect, but Liz squawked at her too.


    I was giving myself a running pep talk. Talking like how Luna talks when she''s critiquing us. Her words of wisdom. And I may have added a few of my own.


    Like what?


    Im not going to say it again and get myself in more trouble!


    Come on, she already heard. Theres no reason to keep us in the dark.


    You guys are crazy!


    Dont be a coward.


    Shes ring at me right now!


    Cats are always ring. Just tell us.


    ***


    Allie followed the Emperor as they finished the first leg of their trip around the Empire. The man hadnt been lying when he said that, but she hadnt been expecting him to literally take her on a trip around arge portion of the Empires border regions to stop at important ces.


    But it made sense when she found out exactly what her Tier 25 Talent could do.


    Tier 1: Innate free [Teleport].


    Tier 3: Control space. Distance and control grows with Tier.


    Tier 25: You may [Teleport] to ces you are familiar with.


    Unfortunately, it wasnt so simple as the ability to teleport anywhere she had ever seen. It was more about her spirit, and Talent, learning where a given location was so she could then teleport there whenever she wanted. It would happen automatically over the course of a couple months, or she could force it to learn a single ce with active effort. She could even teleport back to where shed just left from, but only for about half an hour before her spirit forgot where it was.


    Zipping across the Empire and leaving waypoints, as she thought of them, at strategic locations was leaving her spirit feeling like a wrung-out washcloth from the strain. But it was pretty much entirely worthwhile.


    Shed been able to visit some pretty great coffee shops during this little trip, and now she could visit them <em>whenever she wanted</em>. She could get coffee from a different every day. Multiple times per day. Whenever she wanted. <em>In the middle of a fight, even</em>.


    Now that was a good Talent. She just hoped the Emperor didn''t want to turn her into a taxi.


    Wanna hop back to Relco and get a scone? I could really use a scone about now.


    The Emperor was surprisingly easy to talk to, shed found, and shed learned a lot about higher-level Talent theory during their trip. Apparently, her new Talent worked by actually engraving the locations of her waypoints within her spirit, and because he copied her Talent as-is, he couldnt add new waypoints to their now-shared itinerary. Conversely, her temporary waypoints were permanent for him, at least until he refreshed his copy of her Talents.


    She chose to interpret the twitch of his lips as a smile and continued, Man, when Im delving next, its gonna be <em>great</em>. Instead of being trapped in a rift for months and eating packaged food, I can just pop out and get something good. That would be amazing. A steak. Chicken marinade. Even a bagel. Ahhh.


    As Allie trailed off, she paused as the Emperor froze mid step, an actual grin spreading across his face.


    If that works


    Before she could ask what he meant, Allie felt her own Talent coiling around her, whisking them both away. They materialized for a split second, then space twisted under the weight of the Emperors Domain and they were suddenly in front of a Tier 35 rift.


    The guard flinched and readied his weapon before he saw who it was and stammered his apology.


    No worries. When was thest delve? Has the instance cycled?


    Last week, sir, we can get more mana if you ne


    The Emperor interrupted him. No, it''s fine. I can handle it myself.


    Allie whistled as she felt millions of mana pour out of the Tier 50 and into the rift.


    Once the rift had enough mana to support another instance, the Emperor swept in, with Allie trailing close behind.


    She hadnt even gotten her bearings when she realized everything in her spiritual range was dead. She had been less than a heartbeat behind the Emperor, and he had wiped out an entire Tier 35 rift.


    Insead of gawking, she knew what to do, and blipped out of the rift instance. She waved at the very confused-looking guard, and fixed her eyes on the rift. She could feel the chaotic thrum of folded and fractured space deterring any attempts to reach inside of it. With a deep breath, shemanded her Talent to bring her back to where she just was.


    Allie was taken aback when it actually <em>worked</em>, and set her down right next to the Emperor, where shed been not a moment before.


    She was just getting excited when the Emperor shook his head. Dont get carried away yet. We dont know if itll still work after the instance cycles, and thats what would be useful. Most talents which can ess an existing rift instance need close proximity, and even most of those can only ess rifts up to their Tier.


    At nearly an eight-to-one time dtion between the inside of the rift and the external world, fifteen minutes turned into two hours, and Allie used all of that time pestering the Emperor with questions as she established a new waypoint.


    He even answered some of them.


    When their wait was up, he looked at her, and Allie pulled herself to the beacon she had set up next to one of her favorite scone shops.


    Buying two, she reached for her newest waypoint and pulled herself to it.


    She braced herself for the sensation of mming into a wall, or being flung into chaotic space should her blip fail, but much to her surprise, she appeared next to the Emperor. Seeing that it worked, she proffered him a scone.


    It works! Her words were only a little muffled as she chewed her scone.


    The Emperor''s grin turned a little feral as he said, It did indeed. Slight change of ns, as I believe weve set enough waypoints on the warfront for the time being. We should get you reunited with Light, and properly introduced to Team Zero. I think theyll be <em>quite</em> pleased to meet you.


    Allie no longer had a bad feeling that shed be ying taxi in the near future. Now she knew it for sure.


    <em>Shit</em>.

 Chapter 249

    Chapter 249


    Matts first glimpse of Ventillyria was not what he expected. The way Luna had described the, he had expected a only semi-settled world, but the Tier 22 world was teaming with humanity to a degree that rivaled any other well-established world.


    He was doubly surprised with how many people in sect robes he saw. At least one out of a thousand were imitating the other Great Power''s culture to an rming degree.


    Matt looked at Luna, but she just blinked back at him, as he now suspected her three reasons foring here were either utter bullshit, or secondary to this. With that in mind, he started digging through the recent news. What he found <em>didnt</em> surprise him; the Sects had apparently spent a great deal of effort to spread their influence to this region of space in the recent decades. If they were trying to create a fifth column inside the Empire, it seemed a futile effort. The defending garrison wasposed of Tier 27 fighters, and few if any locals could be of use in that case.


    Besides, most of the sympathizers seemed to be young and low Tier. The strongest person he felt in sect-style robes was only a Tier 9, and while his sample was small, he doubted many of the older cultivators were as impressionable as the youth were.


    Or at least, he hoped so.


    He didnt know what would happen to a that voluntarily chose to defect to another Great Power, but he found it unlikely to work in practice. He really doubted that the Empire would just give away a if some of the poption said they wanted to defect. It was more likely those wanna-be defectors would be sent on a one-way transport to the border before being told to have fun.


    That bitter reality made the current social movement of the populous seem odd and well, essentially useless. The Sects had to be throwing resources at this small opposition faction, but for what end?


    To better nt spies? He thought that unlikely, as this world was the first ce anyone would look for them.


    To fund a terrorist cell? That was possible, but Matt knew from his Folded Reflection life that it was much harder to make a terrorist than a sympathizer. The Empire generally provided for their citizens well and ensured that no one could reach rock bottom, which prevented people from getting too desperate. That left any terrorist cell trying to find the people who had slipped through the cracks, which, to be fair, wasnt impossible. Matt had recruited a few of them in his Folded Reflection life, but it was hard, even on a popted like this.


    More likely, Matt figured the motive behind their meddling was to create sympathizers who would one day grow up and possibly take positions of power throughout the Empire, and would be a little more lenient on the Sects or their maneuvers.


    Even that seemed unlikely, but Matt had no better exnation for their actions.


    His browsing did show him why the Sects had chosen this world. The local noble had been badly injured in a rift and died shortly after an unsessful healing, just a few decades ago. His two oldest children were squabbling over who would get the throne while their aunt upied the seat of power and was trying to cement her im as the rightful heir. She was currently uncontested, as she was the only Tier 30 in the house, rendering the childrens ims fruitless and without true merit. For now.


    As a result of the infighting, local security was at an all-time low despite none of them deliberately interfering.


    That left this location uniquely targetable, and with its high Tier manufacturing capabilities, this was home to a number of high Tier crafters who helped fuel the local war effort. Most of that was centered on repairs, but this location <em>was</em> capable of producing new equipment on asion, in addition to functioning as a local supply depot.


    He could see why the Sects would want to target Ventillyria, and wondered if the Marquess death had something to do with them.


    The military reports he had ess to clearly showed that the local crafters production rates had been slowing by at least five percent since all of the Sect propaganda had be entrenched.


    Officially, it was med on the sympathizers who held up shipments of raw resources and goods, but Matt couldnt prove that true or false from what little information he had. The crafters could very well be chafing under the Empire''s rule, and could deliberately be slowing down production.


    It was just impossible to know from simply reading the reports.


    They were nearing the outskirts of the city when Matt watched a group of Tier 4 men in Sect robes harass a younger Tier 3 man for some perceived slight.


    He wanted to interfere, but knew it wasnt a good idea. They werent doing anything physical, and he knew that if he did do something, they would most definitely report it to their superiors. Even if they thought that he was justining, Matt didnt want the sympathizers to know they were there yet.


    While <em>he</em> had good control, Aster didnt, and was about to march over there and yell at them, but Matt held her back.


    The missions he had done in thest decade had shown him that it was sometimes better to be more circumspect than he wished, but it was usually safer.


    Not now, Aster. They arent pushing the rules.


    Aster shrugged off his hand but didnt approach. That doesn''t mean it''s not bullshit.


    Liz nodded. I agree, but strong words dont give us a reason to interfere. She then turned to Luna, who had been walking silently behind them. Is this what you expected? You said there were spies, but this seems a step beyond.


    Luna didnt speak until they reached the edge of the city and set down their house in one of the set-aside spots. I had seen the reports, but it was a slight surprise to me as well. This ce is a powder keg that could go off at any moment.


    Matt looked to Liz and then Aster. How do we want to handle this? Aster, you havent been with us on the missions thest few years, so feel free to chime in if you have questions or suggestions.


    Aster nodded and pulled out her pocket notebook, which Luna smirked at.


    Liz started out with their usual questions. Do we keep it low-key, or start breaking noses?


    Low key. This ce seems too vtile, and the Sect factions are too established to just start punching answers out of them.


    I agree. Best to move carefully. Let''s get an identity or three going, and well try renting out a few Tier 17 or Tier 18 rifts around here. That should get us in touch with the delver poption, which should help us interact with some wanna-be Sect people.


    Aster raised her pen, and Liz nodded to her. How are we going to handle my identity when were using the Quill and Torch masks? I assume that will be our final covers?


    They all turned to Luna, who shrugged. We will do what all teams do, and try to hide you as best as possible, which generally means having you not appear in public. Youre perfectly able to do tasks unrted to Quill and Torch, if you wish, though its not precisely my role to find such jobs for you. If someone does notice your involvement in the official Path missions, then it will be known that Quill and Torch have an ally with an ice bloodline, as Queen is suspected to have, but it is hardly the end of the world.


    Aster sneered, but Matt could feel that she was already adjusting her tail to be more wolf-like through their bond, along with making her coloring more gray instead of white.


    Ok, good to know. I can use my full abilities?


    Yes. Theres no reason to hide what you can do. Remember, the masks are to protect you and allow you to go out and live a normal life during breaks. They arent vital, so if someone sees through it, so be it.


    Matt turned to Luna and asked, While we are buying rift slots, are there any you think we should get? You said you knew the rifts here.


    Luna waved her hand, and the screen on their living room wall showed a number of Tier 17 and 18 rifts. There are a few excellent rifts for training on the list, and if you buy these, we can have you delve every three days in a one-month repeating cycle.


    Aster noticed it before he and Liz. Some of these rifts are in the ocean. Does that mean the rifts themselves will be underwater delves?


    Luna grinned. For the most part. This is, after all, a Tier 22, and anyone here to delve is immortal. Underwater rifts are unique in their challenges and rewards. They arent popr, but there are people who swear by them.


    Aster snorted. It counters all of us, you mean. I delved into an underwater rift a few times as a guide, and I hate them.


    Matt grinned. Rifts that spawned underwater were usually rifts devoid of air andnd to stand on, which meant a drastic change to one''s fighting style if you wanted to sessfully delve them. Melee fighters had their attacks slowed, and mages who relied on energy spells had their attacks weakened in range and power. Mages who used more physical elements, like Aster, suffered less, but their attacks were still slowed to a noticeable degree.


    Water was practically ipressible, so it was much more taxing to zipper through water than through air, and he expected he would be getting a lot of practice shortly.Liz, on the other hand, would need to keep her blood wholly separated from the water. If too much mixed with her blood, it would stop being blood, and shed lose control over it.


    Aster would need to part the water in front of her faster attacks, like Matt, or she would need to get used to drastically slowed and shorter range spells.


    Matt was looking forward to it.


    Scanning the other rifts Luna had indicated, Matt thought there were interesting choices, and even a few he thought might be easy rifts. Luna wanted them to get used to fighting as a group together once more.


    After all, Aster had a human form now, and that drastically changed how she would fight with them.


    They discussed what they were going to do for a little longer before Aster took a few minutes to get settled down in her old room. Once she had put away her things, they all used their masks to change into disposable identities.


    Armed with them, they went around to local guilds, corporations, and government sites, where they inquired about the rifts on Lunas list.


    They were able to get most of them, but a few were backordered for decades, and even throwing around loads of money wasnt enough to buy out a single teams slot. They could have used their Pather privileges to skip the line, but that would only get them a spot if one opened up directly. If a team sold their slot, that privilege meant nothing, so they didnt bother, as it might draw unwanted attention to them.


    When they went to register for the underwater rifts, Matt got to experience a new side of the Empire. The underwater rifts were, well underwater. Most people liked to be close at hand to the rifts they delved, which caused underwater cities to spring up on the ocean floor.


    It took them a while to take a train down through the ocean, but after a little while, they arrived in the city. It was simr to the underwater auction site that he had been to on the vassal war, but this one was a dozen timesrger and had outside areas cleared of water through formations that created bubbles of air.


    A young woman in formal clothes at the information desk nodded to them before asking, How can I help you three? We currently have a dozen free rooms avable in a number of configurations. We also have an auction happening in four days if that is better suited to your interests. If you are here for leisure, we have a number of well-respected spas and other such amenities.


    Aster walked forward and asked, What about rifts? Who manages them around here?


    Im sorry, but while there are two rifts owned by the Relsor, the rest are owned and managed by the local guilds. I can get you their contact information if that is what you wish.


    Oh, I would love that. Speaking of the guilds, is the Vibrant Banners one of them? We are new here, but Ive heard of their guild leader, Ulrade the Beast. Hes quite impressive.


    After Aster had gotten all she could out of the woman, they entered deeper into the city, and once inside the walls, they took their time to explore the numerous shops and stalls set up. There was even an open market where delvers hadid out their goods for perusal while they lounged back, eating and drinking to their hearts'' content.


    Matt paused when he saw a very interestingly enchanted item. It wasnt a rift item, but rather something Talent made. At least, that was what he suspected judging from the mana flows radiating around it.


    After picking it up and analyzing it, he looked to the group selling it. Where did you get this? Its very interesting.


    A woman who looked to be in her early thirties waved a single finger. I made it, and you have a good eye. It''s a breaker talisman. Single-use, but it can blow through damn near any armor. We use them and sell them to anyone who delves rift A7B14. Iron crab at the end of the rift, and he''s a bitch to kill if you can''t break through his shell. I sell them in bulk if you are interested.


    Matt shook his head. Not really. Im interested in your methods. Using Ahwhen piercing rune and a Gerald sticking rune is an interestingbination. Sure, you get a touch more power out of thebination, but the Ahwhen piercing runes damage falls off almost immediately if they arent directly touching the target. Id have gone with a more standard Wendy''s piercing rune and a Balder sticking rune. It''s a touch less damage, but itll work no matter how itnds on the target. That is, unless the odd mana flows have something to do with a Talent?


    The woman leaned forward and waved the three of them into their little circle. A fellow practitioner! Im impressed. Most people don''t notice the issues, and I dont tell them. You are partially right about the Talent, but it''s mostly a difference in design. That one is a disy model. She waved her hand and an identical stick appeared. This is the real one.


    As she handed it to him, her two teammates watched on with interest, clearly waiting for something.


    Matt looked at it before whistling in appreciation. He wasnt even faking it. Now that''s interesting. Youre using part of its shell as a homing function. Thats not a runic Talent, its an archery Talent. Something with tracking and or homing in on a target, but you learned to imbue it into your runes.


    The womanughed and seemed genuinely surprised that Matt had figured it out. Good deduction, and correct! I obviously won''t go into detail, but yes, that is the crux of it. The names Beverly; that''s Shane, and that''s Yosef.


    The other two nodded at their introductions, and Matt returned the introductions. My name is Ken; that is my wife Tulip and little sister Kelly.


    Shane winked at Aster, who returned the gesture, but before they could start flirting, Yosef asked a question. So, are you guys here for a rift?


    Liz nodded. That''s our intention, at least. We talked to the woman by the entrance, but she basically said the rifts are all bought up, and no one is looking to sell.


    Beverly finished off her drink and agreed with Lizs statement. That''s generally true, but not exactly correct. What kind of time frame are you looking at? What kind of rift? What kind of limitations do you have? Weve been here for close to a century, and know damn near everyone actively delving this area.


    Matt smiled and thanked her. We are looking for a short-term delve, and we are flexible on the rift slots and rift types. We arent looking to push ourselves much. Just get our feet wet, pun intended, with underwater rifts. We realized that we had been immortal for a while, but have never really traveled from Apples Harvest, so we wanted to travel around and see more of the Empire. Try new rifts and all.


    Shane perked up at the mention of one of Tur''stals more famouss. I grew up right next door to good old Harvest. Great ce, but I get why you wanted to leave. It might be a Tier 16 world, but everyone is taking life in the slowne there.


    It was a good thing they had actually visited Apples Harvest in their early travels, so the three of them were able to banter their way through pretending to be locals.


    In the end, Beverly''s group was able to help them secure a rift slot from a team who had just taken a bad injury, and were looking to rent the slot out for a year and a half to both offset their medical bills, and ensure they didn''t lose the rift slot through inaction. Rifts needed to be delved to prevent monster breaks, so any team who missed too many of their scheduled delves would lose said slot. It led to incapacitated teams doing precisely what this one was doing, or just outright selling the slot and waiting for something else to open up.


    The three of them also made ns to meet up with Beverlys team, who offered to act as local guides in theing weeks. They had, after all, been on Ventillyria for a hundred years, and knew the local haunts better than they did.


    It would also be useful to see what the other team knew about the Sects'' growing influence in the area, which was a topic on all their minds.


    Before any of that happened, they first had to change identities into Tier 18s and start delving.


    Matt was as excited as Aster was, and their excitement fed off one anothers until the two of them were giddy and couldnt sit still. Thankfully, there was no line for the standard Fire Bull Tier 17 rift they had purchased.


    When they entered, Luna simply stood to the side and said, Clear the first bit as you would, and well go from there. I need to see how you interact in an actual fight.


    Matt took the forward position, with Liz holding a middle position between himself and Aster.


    After they were all buffed and ready to take on Tier 17 monsters, Matt rushed forward and stabbed the first lone monster in the shoulder with a clean lunge, using just his physical strength to close the distance in a blink.


    The bull screamed in rage as it tried to gore him with its horns, but Matt was already spinning. Anchoring himself with his Concept and using his de as a lever, he threw the monster to the ground where Liz pounced on it, driving her spear into its neck.


    Even as it bled out, its blood started to form spikes that were driven back into its body.


    Aster stood there with a spike of ice, ready tounch.


    Matt winced, as he already knew they had failed the first test. They hadnt acted with Aster in mind, and immediately fell back into the habit of it just being the two of them.


    He sent her apologetic feelings through their bond, but Liz outright stated it. Sorry, Aster. We didnt even n for your assistance.


    Aster shook her head as her icicle fell into powdered snow. No, that''s on me as well. I should have started debuffing the monster, but I got ready to save you guys like you were one of my students to protect. Falling into a routine we''ve been out of sorts with won''t be easy.


    The next encounter on the ashy in was a herd of a dozen bulls, and this time, Aster started the fight with a [Dispelling Wind] that caused the bulls mes to dim and flicker.


    [Meadows of Rime] almost immediately followed that up, but with the general mes and monster element, the skill was less effective at creating des on the ground, and had its range limited.


    It was still useful, as Liz used the blood she had gathered to aid her in her attacks, but refrained from using it to cast with. Meanwhile, Matt tried to limit his spell usage to what a normal melee fighter would have ess to. A Tier 17 rift wasnt really enough to push them to their limits anymore, and they could manage it pretty easily with some general restrictions that Luna had set down for them over thest few years. Those limitations, more than anything else, helped them realize and shave away any ws they had in theirbat styles.


    Matts imposed mana limit on external spells forced him to hone his de work. Liz was limited to [Blood Maniption] as much as possible so she was forced to pick and choose the uses of her blood, as Luna wanted her to fight with as little blood umtion as possible as practice for future fights where she might not have ess to a storage item.


    Aster was at an elemental disadvantage with the rift type, but she proved her worth when Matt was going to take a hit from the side, courtesy of a bull that cast [Bull Rush] and elerated wildly. It wouldnt have killed him, but it might have broken a bone or two with the ming horns enhancing its armor pration. Aster had been able to pull him out of danger with a well-timed [Lifeline], preventing any issues altogether.


    Now out of the way, he lunged forward to skewer the bull in the heart as it rushed past, and Aster cast [Cutting Hurricane] at the same time. A move which gathered the attention of the rest of the herd, which immediately charged Aster in unison, sensing that she was the biggest threat.


    Things had officially gone sideways with the support being charged by all the monsters.


    Matt cursed as he cast [Mana sh] twice in quick session before changing his de to its mage form, where he used its bolstering effect on his wind spells to send out two [Wind Cutter]s backed by [Hypersonic Edge]. Three of the bulls fell to the ground with grievous injuries to their rear legs, but there were still more charging at Aster.


    Three versions of Aster appeared and darted off in different directions but while that caused a few of the monsters to chase the illusions it wasnt enough to get Aster out of danger.


    Seeing that Liz used some of the blood that she had umted on the ground to cast [Bloodthorn Vine], creating a patch of vines that entangled the monsters just enough to slow them down. Her [Blood Clone] then appeared under the monsters and stabbed two of them in their softer undersides before being trampled.


    Between the two of them, there were only two bulls remaining, but Aster still needed to leap into the air to dodge their glowing horns that shot out gouts of me. Just as she was going tond, one of the bulls spun and kicked the ground, sending out a [Magma Spear] right where Aster was going tond and forcing her to throw herself higher into the air with her Concept. Before it could even get back to all fours and make a run at Asters newnding spot, Liz had thrust her spear through its eye, killing it instantly.


    At the same time, Matt redirected the attack into the ground with [Lava Maniption], even as Aster cast [cial Spear] and obliterated the final bull that had charged her.


    Seeing the monsters were all dead, they all turned to Luna, who simply blinked at them.


    Her silence seemed worse than anything she could have said, as she just watched them, and all of them felt the tension build.


    Matt shrugged with a sigh. Let''s take out the swarm of bats, then go hit another group of bulls.


    He hadnt missed the harmattan-like bats that had formed out of the floating ash that their fighting had created just as Aster jumped into the air. But they were still coalescing, and the few that had already formed hadnt charged yet.


    Aster cast [Cutting Hurricane] the instant thest of the bats formed, scattering their bodies, but the monsters werent so easy to kill. They instantly started reforming before shooting fire and wind spells at them, kicking up more ash and adding to the group''s numbers. No matter what they hit the monsters with, they seemed to just scatter and reform momentster. They were starting to be more of a problem than a nuisance as they unleashed attack after attack.


    Liz ended up finding the way to kill them when she hit one with arger than normal glob of blood that wasnt hardened into a cutting edge. The monster finally died when it waspletely drenched and no longer able to reform. With the method to kill the bats discovered, Matt used [Create Water] for a few seconds, and the three of them used [Water Maniption] to capture the monsters out of the air with giant sheets of water before burying them in a hole that Matt dug with [Earth Maniption].


    They all looked to Luna, expecting her to say something, but she was stoic as ever, so they continued to the next pack of fire bulls.


    They were more careful when fighting the monsters, so as to not send ash into the sky or fly themselves. But while relying on their [AI] to shot-call, they worked together and started slipping back into old habits. It wasnt exactly the same with Aster''s human body; she was arger target, but she was also now better defended. With her armor, she could take hits that would have been devastating to her in fox form and with hands she could use more traditional weapons that had been impossible for her to wield as a fox.


    On their third pack, things started to actually feel good. When Matt dove into the herd of bulls, he used [Diffusion Shield]bined with a low-powered [Dispelling Wind] from Aster to weaken the fire projectiles that the monsters attacked him with, letting [Cracked Phantom Armor] take the mes without worry and greatly reducing his burdens as the tank of the group.


    With the monsters'' attention firmly on him, Matt cast three quick [Bolt]s, letting the lightning arc between the monsters and stunning them for a few brief moments. That small dy in their response was all the time Liz needed to ram into the nk of the group, bolstered by a [Swift Strides] cast by Aster. With the boosted speed, Liz was able to weave in and out of the fight long enough to deal damage and kill one of the bulls before retreating. The buff helped her ensure that she never caused enough damage to get the pack to turn on her, letting the monsters focus on Matt.


    She had to block a few times, but that was exactly why she had the shield. Each time she did so, it once more proved itself worth every credit they spent on it, as it easily blocked the physical charges of the bullsbined with their magical mes. All without letting an ounce of heat or force affect Liz at all.


    By the time the final monster fell and they finished absorbing the essence, Matt was feeling a lot better about their teamwork, but that was when Luna poured a bucket of cold water on his head.


    That was pitiful. We can do better than that. Aster, damage is important, but you need to trust Liz and Matt to do that. You dont have enough damage to outweigh your contributions by just using debuff spells. Weakening [Dispelling Wind] to not kick up ash was a good idea, but why didnt you just create a barrier above the ground to prevent any ash from rising in the first ce? That goes for all of you. You all have [Air Maniption] and could have done the same. Additionally, you could have used your ice spells and intentionally let them melt, getting you water to use in a simr manner. Matt, youre in the center of the fight, but you arent a tank. You can act as one, but you should have been able to deal more damage, even with the limitations I put on your usage of spells. There was no reason for you not to be using [Hypersonic Edge] during the fight to cut through their thick hide. It might not be an actual armor piercing spell, but it''s close enough that it would have helped you. Liz, why werent you more aggressive? Ive seen you dive into harder packs of monsters justst month. Just because Aster is back, you don''t need to hold back waiting for Aster to cast on you. Trust her to get the boosts onto you before you reach the monsters. She''s the support; she needs to conform to your actions just as much as you do to hers.


    Luna pointed off to the side, where another pack of monsters roamed a mile or so away. Keep what I said in mind and go take on that pack. Aster, I want you to fully focus on supporting Matt and Liz until you are morefortable in that role. Then, and only then, do I want you to work on adding damage to the fight.


    With that resounding critique of their fight, they once more threw themselves into battle, just to have more ws pointed out by Luna.


    By the time they killed the boss two dayster, they werent quite back to the level of synchronization as before Aster left for college, but they were doing much better. They were actually anticipating each other''s movements after delving just this single rift, which helped theirbat capabilities a ton.


    Whenbined with the skills Aster had picked up during her time away, they would be a much more dangerous team if they could stop tripping over each other''s feet.


    Despite all the issues, Matt was happy with their progress. It was nice to have Aster back, and they were returning to their peak form quickly. By the end of the month, he hoped they could be back to where they were before she left, if not better than that.


    The only good thing was that they were only 70 years old, and halfway through Tier 15. With 8 more years to reach Tier 16, they didnt have to rush to advance and could hone their basics a little more.


    He had almost forgotten Ventillyria and its Sect issue, but seeing the robes on one of the guards reminded him of their other duties.


    There was always something else to do, but that was what kept life interesting.

 Chapter 250

    Chapter 250


    As much as Matt wanted to keep delving back to back, he knew that wasnt possible. Ventillyria had a serious problem with the Sect influence creeping into the local culture.


    While they were still waiting for their newly purchased delve slots to open up, the three of them started to look into what the Sects were doing.


    Under twoyers of disguises, just in case anyone was actively protecting the known Sect sympathizer''s locations, the three of them went to snoop around. Matt didnt think there would be any Sect agents holding down obvious strongholds, as that was just asking for trouble, but there was always a chance that they were betting on someone thinking that. The agents could be using that assumption to blindside anyone checking them out. It was all they really could do, as double think of that sort just led one to a spiraling pit of madness, second-guessing every decision and wondering if your enemy was one step ahead of you. They chose to prepare against Sect spies, but going by that logic, they didnt expect to find any.


    Through historical information gathered and sifted through by Matts [AI], thenpared to and confirmed with the Empire''s own informationworks, they found that the initial Sect influence had spread from a martial hall run by one Ian Yestara.


    The Sect Master, as Ian had started styling himself, had been a fairly unknown Tier 15 until his change in style, when he invented a few easy-to-grasp modifications tomon skills like [Fireball], [Mana sh], and [Mana Strength] after a failed venture into an exploration of worlds that drifted by in chaotic space.


    All of his inventions were fairlymon Sect skill modifications, but it was enough to create a small ssh in the city he was stationed in, and no one really saw any harm in it. It wasnt like modifying skills was anything new. The Empire did the same, and even had Madam Del''vir''s guide, which focused on Tier 8 skills and wasmonly avable. They just didnt have the cultural heritage that said every dropped skill needed to be modified before use.


    Matt inwardly groaned as he read over the reports that hade out in the wake of Ians inventions. Yes, those modifications were usually improvements, but they were also limited in ways that a lot of people who just looked at the raw damage of a skill could overlook. The [Mana sh] was a perfect example, as it had more damage per cast, almost double the basic skill, but its mana cost also ballooned to two and a half times the initial cost and the cast time was slightly slower.


    Ian waved away criticism by saying that a fighter should only need one use of the <em>technique</em> to win a battle, and that spamming the attack was for those who weren''t good with their de.


    On the surface, that might seem like sound logic, as use spells effectively was basicmon sense anyone could agree with, but his modifications had practical ws like mana inefficiency and excessive force. Anyone who tried to point out the practical ws was called inadequate for not being able to see the techniques improvement, and weak for needing to rely on numbers to overwhelm their opponents.


    Matt took note of the news stations that supported Ians ideas and the reporters who wrote the articles as people to look into, but continued focusing on the instigator of this entire fiasco.


    After a year or so of gatherings from Ian''s new ''Sect'', increasingly obvious changes happened, practically screaming, ''Sect influence''.


    First, Ians sect had had three disciples join from off the world, and those three Tier 5s were suspiciously good atbat, proven when they swept thepetition in a local tournament while only using the three techniques that his sect was teaching.


    Second, Ian himself had a very public inspiration which he imed to be from epting the truth about fighting, which garnered him and his Sect a lot of attention both locally and off the world.


    Third, the Marquess'' healing failed just after, sending the local politicalndscape into ruin, with none of the three candidates able to get an upper hand for a suspiciously long time.


    Matt was pretty sure the Sects were happily rotating their support between candidates to ensure none of them took full control over the throne, but that was pure spection on his end.


    Finally, a wave of new recruits joined Ians sect, and three more sects opened up in quick session after seeing how well he did.


    Without a doubt, the Sects were throwing money and resources at the little uprising.


    Aster looked up from her pad and bit her lip. I think I know what they want from this whole charade.


    Liz pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across her face as Aster continued.


    Look at this ce on the Empire map. It''s a nexus point between six other worlds and is essentially a choke point to the frontlines. We are eight jumps away from the frontlines, but this is the most direct path from this duchys capital to She quickly traced her finger along the frontline, Fifteen worlds. If they can hold this area, they can starve out those worlds and prevent them from getting any logistic resupplies between attacks.


    Liz nodded once Aster stopped speaking and gestured to the screen on the wall to disy another view. I agree, but I dont think thats all. This is a logistics depot as well. They carry tons of military equipment ranging from Tier 15 to Tier 30 for the battlefields around here. That''s a tempting target. With the support they are drumming up, they can and probably have infiltrated the depot, and when they take over, I bet a lot of gear doesn''t get destroyed per standard procedure.


    Matt flicked his finger and reced the information Liz had thrown on the wall. Also, look at this. I was going through the history of the Sects'' infiltration of Ventillyria, and the stuff with Ian is both obvious and a


    Aster raised her pen, interrupting Matt, and she asked a question he hadnt thought of. I saw him as well. What are the odds that he is who he says he is.


    Liz perked up. You think they killed and reced him?


    Maybe. I know it''s damn hard to do, but it''s not impossible. If, when he was venturing off to new worlds, he got captured and they cracked open his AI, they could faithfully recreate most unique identifiers that theNets look for. Like I said, it''s stupidly hard, but it''s not impossible. In fact, it just happened four thousand years ago, when Baroness Opal got captured by the Federation. They were able to rece her with a spy for close to five hundred years before the person ying her slipped up and was questioned.


    Even Luna, who had been silently watching them, gave Aster an odd look, so Matt asked what they were all thinking. How do you know that, Aster?


    Aster smiled, and Matt felt the pride through their bond. Kelly wanted to make a movie about the situation, so we spent a few weeks looking up information about the case. It was a really fun movie! I got to y the torturer''s assistant in it and had a really fun monologue before Baroness Opal broke free and killed me.


    Mattughed at her antics and demanded to get a copy of the movie before Liz brought them back onto topic. It''s possible, as Ian was gone for almost thirty years, but it''s damn hard to pull off, and Im not sure it''s worth the effort in this case. Ian owned a failing martial hall, and Baroness Opal was, well, a baroness. The effort for position doesn''t seem worth it when just getting him to turn to their side is way easier.


    Matt mulled it over and brought their attention back to the screen. It''s an interesting idea, and when my [AI] stops cross-referencing false identities, Ill set it on looking for actionable personality changes. Though that will be hard, considering he did change personality when he came back, so I doubt anything will be conclusive. But that leads me back to my earlier point. Ian is the obvious entry point, but look just three years after his return to right after the Sect infiltrators won those tournaments. That''s more useful information for us. Over ten thousand people joined his martial hall, and security from the surrounding areas shows a ton of increased traffic. On the surface, its all good and legit, but that traffic falls off almost the moment the locals start joining his martial hall. When you look at the other martial halls, or rather sects, that opened up almost immediately after that, you see almost ten thousand people join those sects in the first few weeks.


    Liz whistled. And then once the locals start to join, they fade back. Fuck, I wouldn''t have caught that.


    Aster chewed on the back of her pen as she thought. Does that mean we have ten thousand agents working here? We are good, but I dont know if were that good.


    Matt shook his head as he denied that. I very much doubt that. Those were fighters with dubious identities. My [AI] is currently trying topare the body shapes and sizes of those who joined the various sects with the limitations of known masks. From everything I can see, those ten thousand really were Tier 3 through 5, so they cant have mastered shapeshifting. It''s more likely the sect behind this operation just shipped in a bunch of their younger members and had them drum up attention. Once that was done, there was no reason to leave them in ce, and it would have been more risky to do so. Tier 3s mean the people they sent were at max thirty, and I really doubt that kids like that could have kept such a secret for thest few decades without a single one slipping. In fact, I dont even think it was a full ten thousand people. It was probably closer to one thousand, and they just had each of them y multiple people. The identities are all incredibly suspicious once you start digging into them. All from far away baronies in other Kingdoms that changed over rulers recently, making digging into local records harder than usual.


    Throwing up another few projections and graphs on the screen, Matt showed the three of them where his mind was going.


    This all culminates into the question. How did they get here? And I think I have my answer. Warrens Whalers is a shippingpany that, surprise surprise, smuggles goods. It''s not unreasonable to expect them to have been used as the muscle to move a few people around. In fact, Im almost certain, thanks to the shipping records showing them havingrge shipments arriving right before Ian got his influx of students and when those students vanished.


    Liz pulled his information up on her AI, and her eyes twitched as she started skimming through it.


    Aster did the same but spoke around her pen. Are they just dirty shippers, or are theypromised? The first isn''t surprising, but the second could have an Inspirations worth of information for us.


    That''s what I havent been able to figure out yet. I think we need to infiltrate them and find out.


    The moment he stopped speaking, Liz raised a finger and asked them to wait. It took her almost a minute, but she finally exined. I knew Warrens Whalers sounded familiar; look here. Almost a century ago, they were getting harassed by theirpetitors, and it was spected that some espionage and piracy were going on, though it was never proven. But then all of a sudden, they started getting really lucrative deals. Deals that all originated from Ventillyria.


    Aster pointed out thergest w in that argument before Matt could. Sure, but the timeline doesn''t add up. Warrens Whalers troubles ended almost a decade before Ian left for chaotic space. Oh damn, do you think they already had a spy team here before that, and either followed him or had already turned him?


    Liz shrugged. No clue, but it''s not like it''s surprising that the Sects might have teams embedded this close to the border. Id bet everything I own we do the same in their territories. It''s just a question of if we can find out who the original moles are or not. If you look, there are a dozen others with lesser but simr levels of Sect influence along the border.


    Matt asked his own question. Does that even matter? Like, Id love to solve that question for my own curiosity, but does it really mean anything if we do? Sure, we might get some merits and Empire Points for the solution, but the real issue here is that the culture is kind of fucked. Really, does any of it mean anything? Even if we pull out the spies and show the that they were being manipted, will it fix the problem? I dont see how.


    Aster shook her head. It might not solve anything, but it''s not like we can sit here and ignore the problem. Firstly, we have a duty to help where we can, and second, the cultural drift will shift back after a few decades if we can solve the root of the issue. It''s like an infection. If you can get rid of the source, the body can usually solve the rest on its own. Luna, what do you think? You have probably solved this whole situation already, right?


    Luna red at all of them. I think they are following the letter of the agreed-upon rules of war, and I cant interfere in any way, shape, or form as a higher Tier.


    None of them were too happy with that answer, but it did tell them that they were on their own.


    Eventually, they decided Aster was right, and they needed to do their part, which included ripping out the source of the infection, the spies and infiltrators.


    That was a tricky bit of work, but it was always possible. The real issue would be finding the source. They could capture a dozen lesser spies, but if the mastermind was left free, more people would be turned to their side or brought in from the Sects. If they were able to take out the mastermind, they could either root out the remaining spies through interrogation of the leader, or the spies would naturally go to ground where they couldnt do any real damage until the sects managed to reestablish a presence.


    Thetter wasnt ideal, but it was good enough for them. Without instigators, Ventillyria could heal itself.


    With a goal defined, they moved out to investigate everyone they found suspicious in their overview of the situation.


    Matt felt that Ian would end up being nothing more than a nt by the Sects. He still went and used his spiritual sense to scope out the area of the sect but quickly had to retreat when he felt a spiritual perceptionparable to his.


    That put Ian further up on their list of suspects, and instead, they turned to investigate the shippingpany. That turned out to be a much easier prospect, and after a day of scouting the location, they feltfortable enough to break in and download all the information off the internal servers. Or rather, they cloned the servers and used copies of the copies as practice for his [AI].


    His [AI] was in no way specialized for that kind of work, but he had millions of mana to throw at the problem, and an unlimited amount of cloned servers to test his luck on. It took almost an entire night, but that was less ament on his [AI]s skills, and more ament on how bad the security of Warrens Whalers was.


    They didnt find anything obviously incriminating on the documents, but they were able to nearly confirm that the Warrens <em>had</em> moved the Sect cultivators Matt had noticed. Their records noted a shipment of perishable foodstuffs that, for an unexined reason, had needed to use their animal hauler. While they had described it as an unfortunate incident due to the normal ship being out ofmission, a few shady-sourced payments happened once a year for the next decade, indicating it was much more than that.


    Matt put Warren on his list to talk to if they ran into a dead end, as he was sure the man would know more, but he was off-world, and had been for close to a decade. He was the head of arge shipping conglomerate and moved a lot, but his location was at least known, and they could get to him if needed.


    Wanting to check more locations, they took Beverly, Shane, and Yosef up on their offer to show them around the.


    They socialized and visited a few of the more hidden locations that catered to high Tiers and their needs as a cover while they expanded their investigation. As they suspected, there were no people unting their sect loyalties. When they finally did see a pair of people in sect during a visit to a local bar, Matt knew it was safe to ask the three of them for their view on the situation when Shane nearly spat upon seeing them.


    It could have been a trap to see where their loyaltiesy, but there was a level of vitriol in his expression that Matt didnt think was false.


    Beverly grabbed him by the arm and said, Dont start anything. Not again. We cant afford the fines.


    Shane wretched his arm free but sat down with them. Fucking assholes deserve to get their asses beat every time I see one. Traitors, the lot of them.


    Yosef exined as Shane red at the group in sect robes. His mother was in the military and was killed in thest border skirmish with the Sects. With the increase in Sect sympathy, he hasnt taken it well.


    Shane turned his re to Yosef, who just raised his hands, showing he wasnt trying to start a fight.


    We should have started shipping them out to the border the moment they started sympathizing with those maniacs. What good are traitors? Nothing. We lose nothing of value with them gone. Mark my words; nothing good cane from allowing this farce to y out.


    Aster patted his arm and asked, How did this even start? You could say it was a bit of a shock when we arrived. Thought our teleporter might have dropped us off at the wrong.


    Beverly exined after she thanked the waiter who delivered their drinks. Oh, I dont know exactly, thirty years ago? Maybe forty. Whatever the number is, it doesn''t really matter, but the point is that some asshole started showing off sect skills or whatever, saying they were better than what we use.


    She went on to repeat what they already knew, but Matt filed away the little bits of more personal information that the three of their guides spoke on. For instance, Yosef waved away the idea of the Sects using the people as a fifth column, and instead gave the theory that they were simply aiming for the local weapons depot.


    Apparently, there were a number of failed attacks that never reached the news, but had circted through the local rumor mills.


    It was the bits of information that only a local would know that Matt was happy to get. It gave them a better picture of the overall situation and some nuance that they might have missed otherwise.


    That, and Beverly, Shane, and Yosef seemed like genuinely good people, even if a little distant from the overall situation, as immortals who could easily leave before the war arrived.


    With the new information, the three of them moved to investigate the army depot.


    Located on Ventillyrias moon, it was an ostensibly secure location and was considered a restricted airspace while still being close enough to the and the local nobility. Matt had asked Luna why it wasnt part of the actual fortress, and she pointed out that a supply depot that was part of the fortress would be vulnerable to attack, which would risk the crafters.


    And no one wanted to put the Crafters at risk


    He looked into some rules of the war and learned that while official orders said all items were to be destroyed if it looked like the world would fall, that was taking advantage of a gray area in the rules of war that all parties abused enough to avoid closing the loophole.


    That said, the moon was a hive of activity.


    Close to ten thousand craftsmen between Tier 15 and Tier 30 were responsible for repairing all broken items in this duchy''s war effort.


    When not in an active war setting, they acted as a repair point and as a new item creation point when they had free time. But in a war environment, they had their hands full fixing the arms and armor that were broken by waves of attackers. Currently, only twos in this duchy had fallen, but the rest had repelled attackers, and that came at the cost of items and people. The people could be reced by reserves, but the items needed to be repaired before being sent back out to arm the fortresss and cultivators who defended it.


    All of that meant the moon was incredibly well defended, but it notably wasnt staffed by the army, and was instead supported by the local Marquess guards to ensure they werepliant with thews of war.


    That introduced a number of possible ws and ins for the spies to infiltrate, but it wouldnt have been easy. That said, the spies had close to a century at least to infiltrate those systems.


    They gamed out how they would break in, but all of their efforts came to naught, as they just couldn''t do so on their own and had no idea what level of equipment the spies might have or where they might be positioned.


    If the spy was the captain of the guard or had turned him, the way they infiltrated the depot would be different than if their mole was an ordinary craftsman. Despite the uncertainty, Matts [AI] churned through billions of mana as he tried to process all the possible information, looking for ws in any of the information avable to them.


    For all that work, they still came up with nothing, and their only remaining lead was Ian and his sect.


    So, they decided to once more attempt to scout the premise.


    Unlikest time, when Matt simply skirted around the edges, they decided to go in a little more directly.


    Using their masked identities, they openly walked through the front door. Academy Storming wasn''t technically applicable to martial halls, but it was close enough to the inner Sect battles that if Ianined, it would ruin his image.


    It was also a risk to show their masked identities on Ventillyria, but they were out of options, and there was an air that the three of them didnt like. The mortal poptions had started shying away from those in robes who started acting more and more unbound. So far, no one had crossed any legal lines, but it was quickly moving in that direction. Matt suspected that if the Sects kept pushing their agenda, there would be civilian casualties in the next decade.


    They needed to, if nothing else, show the Sects that the Empire was watching, aware of them, and wasnt sitting back idly.


    Hopefully, their identities as Pathers would do that.


    Or at least put some fear into the spies.


    To that end, Quill sauntered in as Torch kicked one of therge, ornate doors down. It hadnt even been locked, but if they were going to create a scene, they were going to hurt Ians sect''s pride as much as possible. That, if nothing else, might force out a reaction. After all, their entire theory of superiority was reliant on them being stronger than everyone else. If that aura was broken, arge amount of their support might vanish.


    A few Tier 7s who had been doing stretches in the garden looked at them with shock written on their face and Quill gave them a rude gesture.


    Where are your seniors? We are here to kick ass and take names. We arrived and looked at what we saw. Wanna be sect members. That''s just not a good look.


    Pulling a broom out of his spatial ring, Quill swatted the two kids. It was pure theatrics, meant for the two dozen Tier 15 spiritual perceptions that had locked onto them the moment they kicked the door down.


    Torch, dont you think it''s a little too green around here? I feel like they could use some redecorating.


    Torch raised her spear and said a single word. Burn.


    The moment the syble left her lips, the garden and outer walls caught me.


    Wanting to add to the drama, Quill threw out a few talismans that created flowers of mes, which Torch spun into small tornadoes of fire that tore their way through the rest of the green spaces.


    All the mes carefully avoided the low Tier students, but their job waspleted when the doors opened with a m.


    Who dares intrude on my sect? Ian was a physically imposing man standing at almost seven feet tall and well muscled, but being a Tier 15, it was less impressive, as anyone could get the same with a few months of dedicated shaping.


    Torch raised a fist, and when she clenched it, the mes extinguished.


    Quillughed. Ahh, the puppet arrives.


    He let his mask smirk at Ians face twitch, but inside, he was cold and watching the rest of the disciples'' actions.


    The seven people standing around Ian were all Tier 15s, and Quill''s spirit told him they were dangerous. Not dangerous enough to make him retreat, but enough to know they were a cut above normal Tier 15s. These were Tier 15s who had fought their way to their Tier.


    Torch cracked her neck as Ian snorted, putting up a strong front. I demand you apologize; Promising Pathers or not, you cant just go anywhere you wish.


    Quillughed. Let''s test that. Let''s see what happens when we pull away that veneer of Sect talk from you. Torch, if you would.


    At hismand, Torch exploded in a burst of mes andunched herself forward. She was currently boosted by the physical cultivation portion of Matts buffing Concept ability, her own potions, and her spells. All of which made her Tier 15 even split of magical and physical cultivation as strong as a melee Tier 17.


    Two of the Tier 15s rushed down the stairs but were defeated by Torch in a single exchange. When they reached her, their fists raised with mana coiling around them, Torch twisted in the air as she kicked the one on the left in the gut, hard enough to make him instantly vomit a mixture of blood and bile, while the other caught an elbow to the face that ripped his jaw off his head.


    That caused the others to all rush down, but they were all quickly disseminated and left bleeding by Torch before she stopped at the foot of the stairs, mes billowing around her armored form and following the pattern of her slow and even breathing.


    Quill walked over the broken bodies of the spies and made sure to step onto each of their bodies. He was sure most would think that it was a simple method of humiliation, and he yed that up by stomping on one man who tried to stand up, but he was really imprinting weak runes onto their bodies. The runes would fade in a few days, but it would let him track them until then, and if they went to a secret base, he would be able to find it.


    Ian tried to regain control of the situation, but Quill cut him off. You might want to move, Puppet Ian. Torch?


    mes ring, Torch rushed up the stairs past Ian and into the building, where she started burning everything. As people ran out, Matt smiled as he felt the other dozen Tier 15s fleeing through the back of the building.


    The array that Aster was manning would hopefully mark them the same way that he had marked the Tier 15s on the floor.


    How dare you do this? This is against thew! I will


    Quill punched Ian in the face, interrupting him. He hit hard enough to make the punch be felt but not hard enough that it risked killing him. Despite that Ian gasped as his nose was broken.


    No one gives a shit, puppet. We are here for your master. The one pulling your strings. Are you going to be a good boy and tell me who that is?


    Ian spat on Quill, but a flex of his Concept froze the bloody phlegm in the air. That wasnt very nice.


    A talisman red to life on his glove as Matt punched Ian far harder in the gut.


    As the Tier 15 dropped to the ground, he got a message from Torch. Ive gotten scans of half the building. Buy me two more minutes.


    Quill let his mask smile as the building started to burn around him and he grabbed Ian by the hair, dragging him down the stairs and towards the gathering crowd. Does everyone have a good view? This is what your undefeatable Sect Master is like. Cowering the moment someone stronger than him appears. Saying it''s against thew. But that''s an Empirew. The Sects encourage what I just did. They want conflict between sects. If this was the Sects, I could kill him and all of you, and I wouldnt be in trouble. Id be apuded. Maybe all of you should think carefully about what youre supporting and the tangential consequences.


    Shaking Ian, he dropped him on the pile of beaten Tier 15s.


    Then, Torch came out of the now inferno behind him, and he slowly walked down the stairs as the building started to copse behind them.


    Torch.


    Hearing her name, Torch raised a fist, and the mes that danced around the building turned into a massive flower before finishing in a puff of smoke.


    Once they were past the spectators, they went through a few crowded areas and changed identities a dozen times before meeting back up with Aster after ensuring they werent being followed to check on their runes.


    Two more sects, and the bait would be set. Then they just needed to see what they would catch.

 Chapter 251

    Chapter 251


    Once they had hit the four oldest sects and marked the Tier 15s inside with tracking runes, Matt had expected the spies to lead them to bases or meet up with someone inmand, but he was disappointed.


    The Tier 15s went to their registered homes and called local healers, who were clean as far as Matt, Liz, and Aster could tell, and then did nothing. They just sat there recovering without meeting anyone, going to any secret bases, or calling anyone on their AI. They couldnt scrounge up a single lead.


    With their big n failing to aplish anything of note, Luna started lecturing them about normal spy operations and typical fallback procedures. Taking that in mind, they were able to go and refresh some of their markers, which did take them to a rarely used warehouse where two of the Tier 15s from each sect met up.


    As much as Matt wanted to get close, Liz properly pointed out that it was very obviously a trap, and the area was probably littered with tracking spells waiting for them to set foot inside their range and be marked themselves.


    Matt knew the real world didnt operate on movie logic, but he hadnt really expected to run into a wall after their first step. During his past missions, he was able to identify and capture spies in short order, but the situations were vastly different, and he had to admit that beforeing up with a new n. Spies who had been there for at least a few decades were going to be well ingrained in the local popce, and would know better than to rush back to their secretir after a pair of wanna-be Ascenders came kicking down their door.


    Adjusting their mentality to a longer-term operation, they set up simple spying formations around the apartments of Tier 15s to see who visited them and if there were any repeat or connected persons. They were clearly not going to solve this situation in a weekend, and needed to get into the proper mindset.


    A mindset that involved massive fines for their destruction of private property and a harsh warning that if their antics near low Tiers injured one of them, their punishment would be far stricter than simple financial penalties.


    Settling in for the long haul had one benefit at least; they were able to hang out with Beverly, Shane, and Yosef a little and meet a number of other local immortals and integrate themselves better.


    That, and their first delve into an underwater rift came up. Beverly was as good as her word, and had gotten the recently injured team to loan them the slot while they recovered for the low price of five Tier 17 mana stones. Normally Matt wouldnt care about saving money, but with the fines they had had to pay, their official ounts were dangerously low.


    Unlike most who would worry obsessively about delving three Tiers up, they were looking forward to the Tier 18 rift and the challenges they would experience. Not everything was a surprise, like they would have preferred, as the team who sold it to them wanted to make sure they werent going to kill themselves. But the rift seemed really interesting, and they needed something stimting to do after their failure with the sects.


    When they entered the rift, Matt let his spiritual perception spread out and whistled. Or rather, he tried to whistle but just blew bubbles.


    They knew from the questions that there would be a portion of the rift that was based in a city, but the city they found was visually impressive. A fully underwater civilization must have been the inspiration, as each building had entrances every few floors, instead of just at the bottomyer. Theyout of the buildings was also less grid-like than cities in the Empire, and the buildings themselves seemed to be more freeform with their design, with some buildings starting out thin at the base before blooming into wide canopies that covered other buildings.


    The city streets were equally as disheveled as the buildings seemed, littered with statues of something vaguely humanoid that held a crown in its left hand and a key in its right. If there was only one statue, it wouldnt have been that odd, but there were dozens on each visible street.


    He looked over to Liz and Aster, who floated next to him, taking in the sight. With Tier 18 rifts being sorge, the city was correspondingly massive, but while his spiritual perception couldn''t see beyond it, he could do so with his [Telescope] enhanced eyes. And in the distance, he could see three other cities separated by a seaweed and kelp in that he was sure was full of monsters.


    Floating away from the others, Matt tested shing with his sword, trying to adapt to being underwater. They had spent an evening doing this in one of Ventillyrias seas, but they all wanted to ensure that nothing was different in the rift. Thankfully, the conditions were the same, or close enough that he could fight almost as well as he could onnd. At least with his melee style. His spells took a noticeable hit, as he had never really needed to practice parting the air for them like Aster and Liz had to.


    If he needed a spell to move faster in the air, he just used more mana to cast it, whereas thedies had been forced to learn how to do it with their Concepts.


    Even though he couldnt see her, he could feel Lunas eyes burning a hole into his back.


    Ignoring their manager, Matt floated over to Liz and Aster, who had finished their own tests, and they floated over to the first city.


    Matt took the lead with bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] running at full mana, ready to take any surprise hits.


    The team who had sold them the rift slot had asked if they could take armor-prating attacks, and Matt would rather not get chewed on today.


    It was a good thing he was prepared, because out of an optical illusion created by the light filtering down from the false top of the water, amprey lunged at Matt from his blind spot.


    The monster was only six or so feet long and as thick as his thigh, but it was fast, and its teeth glowed with at least two spells that gave Matt the shivers.


    Twisting, he shed at the monster even as a coating of ice slowed it down.


    Instead of trying to dodge, the monster bit his sword, and Matt could feel the strengthening and repair enchantments he had put on the de drawing more mana as they tried to keep the monster from biting through the sword. Cursing mentally, Matt cast [Mana Charge] and [Mana sh], which blew part of the monster''s head off. To his surprise, it didnt outright kill it, and the monster tried to swim away, but Liz was ready, and her spear finished the job.


    Blood swirled and umted around Liz as she grabbed it before it could diffuse too much. She could concentrate diffuse blood from the surroundings, of course, but it generally wasnt worth the effort whenpared to keeping it under control after a new creature died.


    Aster also noticed something interesting about themprey''s hiding spot.


    It''s a light-based illusion. Let me see if I can spot them with [Illusion Maniption].


    As it turned out, she could spot the illusions, but that didnt mean they could find everymprey. The monsters, instead of casting the spells themselves, seemed to just take advantage of naturally urring illusions that the rift produced.


    That was an interesting bit of information, and they slowed down their approach towards the city so Aster could check all of the illusions. A decision that paid off when they found a small chunk of crystalized light that their AI recognized as a pseudo-natural treasure that was possible to find in the rift. The small, solidified light was useful to any light or illusion mages, as the item could capture a scene and then rey it all on its own, acting as a backup to their arsenal. Crafters, on the other hand, used the item as the core of illusion-based items and could do some interesting things with its copying abilities, but that was all beyond Matts level of skill.


    It was still a fantastic find, and would help recoup their fines, so they spent a good hour trying to find another one in the light illusions scattered throughout the rifts depths.


    Sadly, it was an hour wasted, as they only found ravenousmpreys intent on eating them.


    Realizing it was a lost cause, they headed into the city, where the water got cold enough to force Liz to activate temperature enchantments on her gear. If this wasnt a rift filled with high Tier water, it would have been ice instead of liquid. Aster, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the cold and teased Liz for needing protection from the frigid temperatures.


    Their first encounter was with a fish only the size of Matts hand that darted in to try and slice Matts throat. It even prated the firstyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor], but its small size didnt provide enough force to push through Matts various reinforcements.


    Killing monsters by looking down really hard felt a little anticlimactic, but the rush of essence was a nice reward for almost getting a new hole in his neck.


    Pulling the monster out of his neck, Matt looked at the razor-sharp fin on the monster''s back. This rift seems to have a theme, and I don''t like it.


    With his lungs full of water, he didnt even bother to try and talk and just used his [AI] to transmit his thoughts.


    Liz agreed, even as she collected the blood from the fish. Lots of armor piercing. Not really fun for anyone. I think Ill copy Aster.


    Blood coalesced around Liz, solidifying into full [Blood Crystal Armor] and broadly matching Asters tactic of encasing herself in a block of ice.


    While it stopped the fish, they were left rtively defenseless as squid darted from the darkness and sprayed them with sticky, obscuring ink. While Matt was able to repulse the ink with his Concept, thedies werent as fortunate, as they were unable to dodge the squids crushing tentacles.


    They escaped easily enough before they were actually injured, but were forced to shed their outeryers of armor for the required speed. Matt and Liz coordinated to flush away the squids ink with a joint [Water Maniption], and Aster turned their surroundings into an icy slush as she targeted the squids with a number of debuffing spells.


    Matt made sure to attract most of the monster''s attention with a few well ced [Mana sh]es, and then focused on protecting himself with his numerous defensive skills. Liz used the change in the battle''s momentum to block a tentacle with her shield and slice another off with her spear, before using the spilled blood to stab another squid in the eye as it slipped around her defenses and sought to break her arm.


    The Tier 18 monster didnt die, but its appendages were wracked with tremors from the nerve damage. Liz quickly escaped its clutches and finished it off, letting its death empower her as she went after the next closest monster.


    Aster handled the ambush differently, leading the squids after her on a chase while she froze their tentacles and nudged the monsters in each others way, letting them shatter one anothers tentacles, leaving them defenseless for Matt or Liz to finish off. Unfortunately, the squid kept filling the surroundings with their ink, making it all but impossible for any of them to perceive what was going on. While they could mitigate the issue via [Water Maniption] to both clear away the ink and give them a sense for where the squids were, it was a losing battle, and the tactic forced them to relocate and regroup.


    ***


    Aster watched the battlefield from the rear while not forgetting to watch her back for any of the small fish that had tried to dart in at Matt.


    Liz was finishing off three final squid, so Aster dyed an iing pod by conjuring a [Headwind] elemental, the white ribbons snaking through the water and restraining the monsters long enough for Liz to give them her full attention. A twist of her bloodline, enhanced by Lizs concept, was enough to turn the waters around them to an icy slush. It further slowed them and their ink from spreading, and Liz tore into the new monsters with gusto.


    With Liz stable for the time being, she turned back to Matt as he held off a half-dozen of the monsters. His left leg was in the grasp of a severed tentacle, but as the creature it hade from was long dead, she ignored it. Instead, she formed a barrier of ice around him with [Snowpack] and detonated it a secondter to push back a squid trying to hit him from behind.


    While Matt was holding his own against the flood of monsters, he wasnt making enough headway to deal with his current group before a new wave appeared. [Meadows of Rime] turned the tide as the shards of ice in the area scored countless minor wounds against the monsters, giving Matt the opening he needed to truly start finishing them off.


    Even as he was fighting, Matt kept rotating his position to attract most of the monsters swarming them from Liz and herself. As her attention was pulled out of fighting in a support role, she noticed a squad of squidsing at her from the rear.


    She instantly split into an even dozen, illusions of herself springing into existence as she redirected her [Headwind] to ensnare and entangle the creatures after her. [Frost] and [Pr Ray] partially entrapped them in ice as [Absolute White] slowed their feeble escape attempts to a crawl. Liz was able to finish them off no problem, with a blood-d projectile smashing through the squids eyes and shattering their frozen arms.


    Aster was once more covered in ink, but ignored that besides making a note that she was going to suggest they finish their city off by range once they got a moment to breathe. She was tired of getting covered in monster fluids.


    ***


    Aster grumbled as she stroked her tail, slowly working out some of the ink staining it. Ok, can we just kill the sub-boss of the area and hope the next city doesn''t have squids? Because if it does, Im going to be pissed. Im going to spend hours getting the ink out of my tail.


    Not wanting to deal with the ambushers anymore than they had to, the three of them circled the city, looking for the sub-boss they suspected to be residing inside. Sadly, they couldn''t find it, and were forced to go back into the city and start clearing it street by street. It would have taken them weeks to clear the whole city, but this wasnt a popted city on thes surface. Instead of being careful with the buildings, Matt just hit each building with a few [Arcane Powershot]s until they fell down. Sometimes, that killed the monsters hiding inside, but most of the time, they crawled out of the rubble to get sted by all of their long-range attacks.


    It created a mess, and after getting fined for burning just a few buildings, it was kind of stress relieving to level a city without consequences.


    Their antics did bring out the sub-boss, which, contrary to their expectations, wasnt the giant statue in the city center, and was rather an oversized squid who started the fight by inking what felt like the entire city. Matt used [Water Maniption] to keep out most of the ink, but when the giant squid with a silver eye rushed them with tentacles the size of a train car, he was pushed hard just to avoid dropping the spell and get them covered in ink.


    Unfortunately, his concentration was broken when he took a bad swat by the giant squid after one of its tentacles shifted trajectories before he could react. The hit shattered [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Matt was only just able to reform it before he mmed into the ocean floor. With a few cracked ribs and a little internal bleeding, Matt stood back up and threw most of his mana into [Arcane Powershot].


    Liz and Aster had closed in with therge boss, and by using their positions and triangting their position with his own, he was able to narrow the location of the boss to a reasonable degree.


    His first shot caused a scream that blew out Liz and Asters eardrums. The second missed, but the third brought the beast''s attention fully on Matt.


    Even without his spiritual perception, Matt could feel the water rush at him as the squid tried to crush then eat him. Instead of running away, Matt cast [Bulwark] and then threw his remaining mana into [Arcane Powershot].


    The fourth shot blew off arge portion of the monster''s mouth, but he wasnt able to get the fifth shot off, as Liz and Aster hit the enraged monster from the rear and killed the sub-boss right before it reached Matt. Matt sighed in relief at the rush of essence that confirmed the monster was dead, even as he cycled it into his spirit just as fast as it came in.


    With Matt needing to recover and with them all needing to get the ink off themselves so they could use their spiritual sense, Matt took a few minutes to be introspective.


    He had taken the direct hit of a sub-boss three Tiers higher them himself and walked away with only a few broken ribs. That was something his younger self would have never even dreamed of.


    When he had dreamed of his future, he was more like the quintessential hero who destroyed the enemies, and who only ever really got hurt when he defeated the final viin in a climactic showdown.


    The reality was different.


    For all that he could dish out a ton of damage with a de and spell, Matt was a proverbial brick wall, and he liked it that way.


    When the monsters were striking him, they werent attacking his team. He went back to what Legacy Manny had said. With a strong enough defense, you dont need to worry about yourself; you can just focus on your enemy or your allies. You can take the [Firebolt] so that others dont have to. That is my legacy.


    Matt didnt think he was quite as focused on the defense as Manny, but there seemed to be a nugget of truth for his own style.


    He and the Emperor were hyper-flexible. They could do anything, and even if they couldnt quite match a dedicated specialist in that particr field, they wouldn''t be far off. When they had that much flexibility, they could be a menace in a fight, and in thatst fight, Matt thought he might have seen part of his future.


    He could deal so much damage with his attacks that he would almost always be the focus of whatever monster or enemy they were fighting. If he could survive their attacks, he didnt just be a thorn in their side, but an impossible conundrum.


    Were they supposed to focus on him and the incredibly dangerous spells he was casting, or should they attack Liz and Aster?


    If they went after him, they opened themselves up to Liz and Aster attacking from the rear, and if they chose to ignore him, he could continue to bombard them with a nigh unlimited amount of spells.


    But that was all predicated on him being dangerous enough to force the enemy into that situation, and being strong enough to take the punishment.


    Matt just wasn''t sure if he wanted a tank Intent, or how that would even work. He just didnt feel any real resonance with the idea of being a shield. Most of the time he acted as a melee bruiser who had tank level defenses, but he currentlycked most of the tools a dedicated tank would have, especially forbat against real people. He was just really hard to kill, and was able to deal out a lot of damage at the same time, putting enemies in an awkward position.


    By the time they were ready to leave, Matt had no great answers, but did message Luna with a recap of his ponderings, which she said they would talk about when they were out of the rift.


    They had done that before, and Matt was pretty sure that if Luna wasnt Luna, she would make a good therapist, as she always had a knack for forcing him to look at himself differently. That was a very useful skill for when the three of them were trying to create their Intents.


    With one city cleared of monsters, they went to the next, which, while not a hard task, was an annoying one. They were forced to deal with themprey that liked to hide in the rift''s natural illusions. If they had only needed to cross a dozen or so miles, it wouldnt have been too bad. But with close to five thousand miles between each city, they were forced to deal with near-constant ambushes, which limited their speed. The only good thing was the fact they found another crystalized light fragment.


    The second city was much easier to clean than the first one, thanks to the fact the monsters inside were crabs that had incredibly hard shells paired with strong ws. The crabs would have been easy to kill from a distance if not for their movement spell, which could turn them into bubbles and allow them to reposition at will. Even with that advantage, the three of them cleaned the city in less than half the time it had taken them to clear the first, thanks to not being slowed by the blinding ink.


    When they reached the third city, they paused as Liz pointed out the obvious incongruity. Rifts are weird. No one can deny that, but what''s with the statues?


    Matt inspected the city a few miles in front of them, and just like in all the others, the city was littered with statues. The first city had statues holding a crown and key, while the second city''s statues had been holding a sword and key, and the third city''s statues held a key and a shield.


    Aster cocked her head and asked, Does that shield kinda sort of look like the crab shell of thest citys sub-boss?


    Liz shrugged. I don''t see it.


    Turn more sideways. Look, if you squint a bit, it actually looks like it.


    Matt did as he was instructed and sort of saw it.


    Liz still couldn''t see anything resembling the crab shell, but when Matt agreed with Aster, Liz acquiesced that they might be onto something. Even if his [AI] didnt find it to be a match.


    With that in mind, they cleared the remaining five cities until all that remained was the most central city, which, like all the others, was popted by statues.


    Matt was almost ready to ignore them, when oneshed out with a mace that nearly took off his head. He was able to duck quickly enough to avoid the swing and deliver a heavy punch to its stone rib, which shattered the monster.


    The essence proved he was correct in his assumption that this was actually a monster, so the three of them started cutting down the statues with extreme prejudice. With the monsters acting like true statues and standing perfectly still, the three of them were easily able to kill them from a distance, but stopped when they reached the city center. There they found a giant statue, standing tall among the surrounding buildings.


    Unlike the other cities, this statue had a dozen arms with its hands empty, and it actively followed their movements but never took a step forward off its pedestal.


    Liz pointed at the statue and said, Look at that. Empty hands. What do you want to bet that we can power up the boss by giving it the items? See, I told you that the thing''s shield didnt look like a crab shell. We just need to get all the items, and maybe well get something special.


    Aster agreed readily. Let''s go! I want to see what we get. Secret bosses and areas usually lead to way better rewards.


    It took them almost a full day to fly through the water to retread their steps to each city, where they took the items out of the city center statues, but Liz was proven right when the items they were hauling behind them pulled themselves free of the rope and flew to the boss''s hands.


    Once the boss was fully armed, it stepped off the pedestal it was on, pointed the wand it was holding, and shot an arc of lightning at them.


    With them being underwater, the lightning spread and hit all of them, but their defenses were enough to block the attack with only moderate damage prating.


    Matt flew forward and, using [Bulwark], blocked the fifty-foot statue''s sword swing.


    ring his Concept and [Water Maniption], he braced himself to stop the swing in its tracks, which created a massive collision that sent out ripples of water and destroyed the surrounding buildings as if they were made from cardboard.


    If the monster had only had a sword, Matt was confident he could have held it up for the entire fight, but the monster had a dozen arms, and he was forced to dodge to the side as a mace, a book, and a gem tried to smash him.


    The book started to glow with the gem even as the statue kept chasing Matt down, which gave him an ominous feeling, and he prepared both [Diffusion Shield] and [Bulwark] to block the iing spells.


    Aster kept to the side, but she aided his defense by casting [Dispelling Wind], [Meadows of Rime], and [Brittle Cold], thetter of which weakened the statue''s Concept, which was restricting space and preventing any teleports or spatial items from working.


    When the glowing items finally attacked, Matt braced himself as two oversized [Mana Bolt]s crashed down on him and sent him flying through a dozen buildings.


    He hurt everywhere, but stood back up even as he flexed his Concept''s repulsion to throw the debris off him and pointed with his sword in mage form as he cast [Cracked Mana Spear] at the boss.


    The spell created a wave of bubbles as it vaporized all the water in its way before carving a line in the boss''s stone side.


    That once more brought the monster''s attention firmly on him, and Matt smiled as he settled into a rhythm with the battle, blocking another series of attacks.


    Liz came in low with her spear at the ready and drove a needle of blood into the monster''s leg, before growing and solidifying the blood to the ground.


    With the boss unable to move one of its feet, he and Aster had free reign to open up all their attacks, as they knew Liz couldnt keep that going for long underwater.


    Matt immediately rushed directly under the monster and started building up his Concept explosion and channeling [Sheer Cold] until he started hitting the diminishing returns of the spell.


    Just as Lizs blood leash fell apart, Matt cast [Sheer Cold], and the explosion of cold and frost turned all the water around them into ice in a mile-wide radius, which included the boss and arge portion of the city.


    The boss wasnt dead, but its stone hide was littered with cracks, and Matt switched all his mana regeneration into [Ice Maniption] thenmanded all the ice to stay as far away as possible from himself. Aster conjured her staff of ice and will, readying herself for a finishing blow.


    The moment he was ready, Aster cast [Cracked Shatter] on all the ice, and Matt unleashed his own detonation.


    The explosion seemed to rock the very rift itself, and despite his counter-explosion and spellwork, he was still hit with an uncountable number of razor-sharp shards of ice.


    Liz crawled out of the ground and shook her head. Fuck me sideways. That is a little too strong underwater. Im d I went extra deep because the ice still reached me.


    She twisted her shield, which had divots of white where ice had hit it.


    Matt coughed up water and blood even as Aster happily swam over. That was fucking awesome! Look at what it did to the boss. It''s not even in pieces. It''s in whatevers smaller than dust! Damn, we are good.


    Matt nodded even as he pulled the shard of ice from his chest. It''s great and all, but Im not going to be doing it again. Being in the center of the explosion is a little too dangerous for my taste. Damn, that hurt.


    Aster smacked him on the arm. Dont be a baby. I think we did more damage than your [Cracked Mana Spear] with that attack. Think about it. A Tier 18 boss that was juiced to the gills in one fucking shot! How is that not worth a hole in a lung? You don''t even need lungs.


    Matt flicked Asters tail but didnt disagree. That had been an impressive amount of damage, and was something he wasnt sure they could recreate outside of an underwater rift. At least, not without a stupid amount of prep work.


    [Sheer Cold] could create some ice in a normal rift, but it couldnt create a mile-wide block of ice without a corresponding amount of humidity, limiting the damage that [Cracked Shatter] could deal.


    Wanting to see their prize, they went over to the pedestal and saw a hidden workshop or scienceb hidden inside.


    On guard, they were ready for an ambush but found nothing dangerous in the nonsensicalb of pipes that led nowhere, nor in the beakers filled with bubbling ice. Eventually, they found a pedestal that had a pair of mechanical arms that seemed able to stick to armor.


    Matt nodded, seeing it. So that''s where they get them. Ive seen these for sale on Ventillyria and wondered where they were from. They can attach to any armor and can act as a second pair of arms. Theyre decent for physical fighting, but crafters usually snap them up before anyone can get their hands on them, though once attached to the armor, they are paired with it forever. They sell for a Tier 20 mana stone minimum, so this is a nice windfall.


    Aster nodded appreciatively. That''s cool. I''d be half tempted to use them myself, but I don''t really need a second pair of arms. They look awesome, though.


    Liz agreed. Same. Id need to run them by an appraiser first, see if theyre even worth using for fights of our level. Theck of blood in them isnt an encouraging sign, and Id hate to deprive a craftsman of a tool that I might only use for a few short years.


    Clearing the reward distortion, Matt collected the disappointing reward of a block of silver, and they exited back into more water.


    It was weird, but Matt wanted a bath after all this salt water. He was pruney in the worst way and wanted to check on the sects. He had a bad feeling about their actions in thest few weeks and despite a nice respite in a rift, returning to the real world only brought those concerns back to the fore.

 Chapter 252

    Chapter 252


    Matt was browsing possible ways to infiltrate the local Sect strongholds with Liz when the entire seemed to rock. He initially thought it was an earthquake and nothing to really worry about, but that notion was ruthlessly crushed when theNet erupted with rapid-fire warnings about a possible rift break.


    Just when the first rift break was confirmed, a dozen more warnings appeared on his [AI]. In seconds it went from dozens, to hundreds, and then thousands as rifts all over the seemed to break all at once.


    What had been a budding sense of horror turned into terror as he looked at Liz, and they both had the same thought:


    The Sects had made their move.


    Aster sprung up from her spot on the couch a moment before Matt and Liz burst out of their chairs. They only paused long enough to change into their Quill and Torch personas while Aster got into a more neutral mask; they were tentatively calling it Snowke until they came up with something better for her.


    Not willing to take the extra time to exit the building the normal way, Quill punched through the high-Tier ss and made a new exit for them.


    Lunas message reached them as they were falling, and Quill quickly realized by her tone that Luna was talking to every Tier 15 or higher on the.


    Protect the civilians. Im destroying monsters as fast as I can, but my first priority is getting civilians out of danger. Move quickly and do your best, but be careful. I repeat, protect the civilians.


    Hearing Luna use an AI any other time would have been a shock, but that was nothing whenpared to seeing the city below him start to fall to chaos.


    On a well-developed like this, rifts were integrated into cities just like everything else, but that integration meant monitoring and defenses. Rifts near popted areas needed to be in secure buildings that were meant to slow any rift break monsters escape, while also guarded by people of an equal Tier, which mitigated the severity and chance of a rift break.


    While he was still only getting scattered reports, those defenses had clearly failed or were sabotaged, if the explosions were any indicator.


    The anger that Matt had under control instantly red as he saw a massive praying mantis ripping into a bus full of low Tier civilians. Blood and body parts flew, but whenever someone was in danger, they vanished right before their life was taken from them.


    Most were saved.


    However, even in the initial moments, Quill saw a dozen people die. He didnt know if Luna just couldnt save them in time, or hadnt seen their danger, but the toll on the civilians was increasing rapidly.


    It didnt help that this was a Tier 22 world, and the monsters attacking everyone ranged from Tier 15 to Tier 22. The area their hotel was in had an artificially weakened Tier 15 rift, so the monsters it produced were less of a problem than in other areas, but to Tier 5 civilians, a Tier 15 or Tier 50 didnt have any meaningful difference to their survival rate.


    The only good thing was that this was a Tier 22 with arge number of equal-Tier delvers who all sprung into action. Just from their building, there were hundreds of cultivators flying to the worst-hit areas to help as best they could.


    Hundreds to stop the <em>millions</em> of monsters.


    Hundreds to protect the <em>billions</em> of civilians.


    Quill just hoped it would be enough. Hoped they could buy Luna enough time to start killing the monsters that had used the initial few seconds of chaos to spread out through miles of the city.


    The moment Quillnded in the street, he cast [Bulwark] via a talisman over a taxi with a family inside, even as he brought the halberd he had been using as an alternative weapon down on a rampaging insect of some kind.


    Even as the Tier 15 monster exploded under the force of his attack, he started processing the broadcasts from theNet, digesting the information that came in as quickly as possible.


    The situation was, as Luna had said, not great. While therger picture was still being figured out, a base level analysis of their predicament was readily apparent.


    The terrorists had first sabotaged a number of rifts by entering them with enough mana to cause rift breaks in hundreds of rifts all across the world. Just as he suspected, they had also targeted the rifts security, and had blown holes through the outer walls while attacking the guards, thus buying the rift monsters enough leeway to spread through the cities like a gue.


    They hadnt even spared the smaller cities; the outlying settlements had also been overloaded, which caused hundreds of thousands of monsters to start rampaging and seeking out the nearest sources of non-rift life, after running rampant through the less dense poption centers.


    From the initial reports, that was where Luna seemed to be focusing her attention, as there were few immortals there to take the brunt of the damage.


    Quills mind was surprisingly calm despite the simrities to what happened to his own hometown all those years ago, calcting exactly what he needed to do in this situation as he drove the halberd through two more Tier 16 monsters. But as soon as the thought that this was a deliberate attack, Matts anger started to leak through again.


    Still, while anger had its uses, blind rage wasnt good in a battle where a stray strike could kill dozens, if not hundreds of people. That wasnt something Quill was willing to see happen, so he tamped those feelings down.


    There was enough death going on that he didnt need to add to it. At least, not until he found those responsible.


    Sending a stream of mana into [Fire Maniption], Quill grabbed the mes from a nearby burning building and sent them at a small horde of monsters that were trying to breach the walls of the buildings neighbor. It took precious moments for him to burn through the high Tier monsters, and each moment cost lives.


    Lives Luna wasnt able to save.


    Lives he wasnt able to save.


    While the first building he had stolen the fire from was empty of people, with only a few corpses inside to speak of the former upants, the second was filled with people who had seemingly taken shelter inside. They had apparently used a variety of earth spells to block and seal the windows and doors on the lowest two floors. A great idea that had undoubtedly saved lives; Quill couldnt fault them for that. The issue wasnt their n, but the fact the monsters could sense the people inside, and were digging through the false walls faster than the mages inside could repair the damage. The moment the monsters got inside, those walls would turn into both prison and coffin.


    Quill couldnt save everyone, but he could at least stop that froming to fruition.


    Even as he washed the building in mes, Quill ensured that he didnt let too much heat transfer over into the building, as cooking the very people he wanted to save would be an incredibly stupid move. There were unawakened children and building materials that couldnt handle the level of heat required to kill the Tier 16 monsters.


    Torch, who was also grabbing mes and earth using her staff as a medium, started crushing the rampaging monsters that were attacking another building, while Snowke started creating massive ice fields to both put out the fires and slow the approaching monsters.


    Feeling Torch pull at the mes he was controlling, he relinquished control of them and focused on [Earth Maniption], sculpting a wave ofpacted earth around the inhabited buildings that circled the intersection they were fighting in, just to buy everyone more time.


    In doing so, he realized two things.


    The first was that people were vanishing more and more slowly, and the second was that there were small monsters in some of the buildings already tearing their way through the inhabitants. It was those inhabitants who were vanishing. While they were <em>usually</em> pulled out before a monster could get to them, from the bodies Luna hadnt bothered to remove, it was clearly a losing proposition.


    ring his AI enhancement for a brief moment, Quill located each and every monster inside the nearby ripped-open building with his spiritual sense, before tearing them all apart with a rapid series of localized gales created with [Air Maniption].


    Blood and guts flew, but it was all monster parts. It was a close thing, though, as he did send a shard of wood into a woman''s leg when he was tearing apart the kobold that was trying to kill her and her two children. That injury wasnt life-threatening enough to immediately kill her, as evidenced by the fact she wasnt teleported away, but it reminded him that he needed to be more careful.


    Thankfully, the local bureaucracy was getting a handle on the situation, and the information being sent out through theNet was making things easier.


    Those who could fight the monsters should do so.


    Those who couldn''t fight should hunker down inside an enclosed room until the danger had passed.


    Those who couldnt fight but were in danger would be prioritized by the higher Tiers who would teleport them out of danger.


    Quill hoped the pluralization of high Tiers meant Luna wasnt the only one saving people, but he feared that she was.


    The massive explosions that were happening outside the city limits, like a rapid-fire stato, told Quill that the worst of the fighting wasnt happening within the city. Now that he had a moment to focus on it, he sensed squads of delvers killing most of the monsters before they ever reached the city in wide area attacks they could easily maintain, letting Luna focus on the delicate Domain work of pulling civilians out of immediate danger.


    It just wasnt enough, as evidenced by the dozens of attacked cities and millions of people put in danger every second.


    That was where people like Quill, Torch, and Snowke came into y.


    Like Luna had said when she broadcast to the entire world, their job was simple. Protect the civilians by killing the monsters and relieve the pressure off the higher Tiers as much as possible.


    Simple in concept, but far from easy in reality.


    Even just the portion of the city they were in had tens of thousands of monsters crawling around, trying to attack any living beings they could find with extreme prejudice.


    Launching himself forward and away from Torch and Snowke, Quill drove his halberd through a bear-like creature with glowing, oversized paws that were tearing into the side of a skyscraper. The bottom few floors were mostly shops and were rapidly emptying out, even as Quill approached. He still needed to stop the creature, as it was big enough to possibly weaken the structure of the building if it caught a support pir. And if the building came down, thousands would die, since like most buildings in the city, it had apartments on the higher floors.


    To make matters worse, smaller creatures like kobolds and insects were using the opening as a means of entry where the much thinner inner walls might as well not exist in their efforts to find the humans.


    The bear was a peak Tier 19, and it would be a struggle for him to beat in a rift full of them, but as a lone monster, Quill went with the easy route.


    Overwhelming damage delivered in a single attack.


    [Hypersonic Edge] to deal with the physical armor, [Dispelling Edge] to deal with the magical armor he could see as ayer of mana under its skin, and [Cracked Air Slide]bined to give Quill an armor-piercing attack backed with a massive amount of physical force. With it, he drove the halberd through the hide in one fell swoop.


    Sadly, his weapon did not survive the impact and splintered inside the monster, where it detonated as the durability runes were overloaded, causing even more damage to the monster.


    Unfortunately, the blow didnt outright kill the bear, and even as it started to bleed out, it turned to him with mana gathering at its maw in preparation for either a beam attack or a breath weapon of some sort.


    Quill didn''t intend to find out, as he already had a dozen [Fire Bolt]s cast from Tier 19 talismans flying at the monster''s mouth, thanks to his [AI] anticipating the move.


    Even as the monster fell and essence rushed into him, Quill was already rushing deeper inside the building while he grabbed earth from the rubble and ground to cover the gap in the outer wall in an ugly patch job.


    Withdrawing a hammer he had delved with a few months ago, he started swinging through a number of monsters trying to force themselves through a hole in the ceiling. His appearance thankfully caught most of their attention, and they turned on him, trying to bite and tear through his flesh.


    Without [Cracked Phantom Armor], he wasparatively defenseless, but he had other skills to make up for it.


    [Barbarian''s Hide] empowered his flesh and skin while ayer of [Earth Maniption]-controlled gravel gave him an extrayer of defense that the monsters needed to dig through, and he red his repulsion effect at its highest power to push all attacks off course. While none of that was as good as his signature skill on their own, together, they earned him enough time to crush most of the monsters that had turned to attack him.


    The hammer and its war spike made short work of the goblins and insects, despite their own innate armor and theck of offensive enchantments on the weapon, but that was more a product of Quills own skills, both magical and mundane.


    Even so, charging into the center of a dozen different monsters without his main defensive skill wasnt without its risks, and he took half a dozen small wounds all over his body from where attacks punched through his defenses.


    After all, monsters had their own Domains, even if they rarely used them beyond the most basic applications, and dozens of them were enough to punch through his repulsion.


    Needing to move on quickly, Quill tossed out a dozen talismans, activating them and using the appropriate maniption skill to direct the attacks into the monsters without breaking the stride of his melee ughter, killing most of the horde still trying to get to him.


    With the death of thest monster attacking him, he red [Lesser Regeneration] and threw himself into the room above while pulling a scimitar out of his storage ring and using it to sh down half a dozen stragglers who managed to get through the opening in the floor.


    Monsters died, but that didnt stop them from taking out two young men who were trying to hide behind a table.


    Unable to stop and mourn their loss, Quill ran through the nearest wall as his spiritual sense found the next family that was in the most immediate danger.


    A father and his daughter were caught mid-stride sprinting for cover, a man-sized centipede menacing them and beginning to spit a green acidic liquid at them. Some scraps of clothing behind the centipede, slowly sizzling with the same liquid, suggested that there had previously been another running in the same direction, but Quill had no time to contemte it.


    [Air Maniption] intercepted the acid before it could im another victim, sting it to the side, an [Earth Spear] knocked the insect on its back, and a [Hypersonic Edge] coupled with a [Wind Cutter] kept it from recovering and sent its head spinning through the air.


    The [Wind Cutter] carried on, and while Quill was able to deflect it to the side, the trailing edge of the projectile was just close enough to cleanly bisect the man right above the waist, and leave a scar on the floor beyond him.


    Quill cursed. He didnt have the few hours hed need to stitch the man together properly, but [Air Maniption] kept the top and bottom half of the body together, [Ranged Heal] got the healing started, and [Bandage] ensured that he would at least live long enough to make it to a healer who would finish healing the man''s legs.


    That was all he could do, but it was good enoughit had to be for now.


    He didnt even stop his sprint, but made sure to send an AI message to the father exining what had happened. He probably hadnt even noticed the centipede.


    For two of the families, he swept the monsters threatening them outside and impaled them with flying debris using only [Air Maniption], but he needed to personally kill the other monsters to avoid doing damage that would bring down the entire building.


    Wanting to endanger the civilians as little as possible Matt switched to maining using [Water Maniption] thanks to waters abundance and inability to cause coteral damage.


    As he let his spirit spread throughout the city once more, he found Snowke and Torch had separated, with Torch inside the buildings trying to clear the monsters out, and Snowke running interference on monsters in the streets, throwing up [Snowpack] walls and [Cracked Ice Canopy] barriers to protect the civilians.


    Thankfully, the influx of monsters had seemed to stop, so while there were still a number of monsters running around, there were less and less of them for those fighting. At least on the streets.


    The buildings were turning into the battlefields, as the fighters on the streets slowly tipped the scales on the bigger and more threatening monsters. The corpse of an enormous anglerfish blocked off one street, providing some cover as several squads of fighters protected the entrance to arge apartment block.


    They were still outnumbered by the influx of monsters that needed killing and the civilians that needed protecting.


    Things seemed like they were turning around for the better when a new sun seemed to be born in the sky.


    Quill paused just long enough to see that the moon had been cracked like a pebble, and debris was ejecting from the celestial body. Hundreds of miles ofva ran down the face of the moon in jagged fissures, radiating from a single point near the northern pole even as more debris ejected from the impact site.


    It didnt take a genius to understand Ventillyrias supply depot was just attacked, but that was a battlefield for the Tier 27s, not Tier 15s like him. If the attack was focused on just the base, Luna wouldnt be able to interfere, but it made Quill wonder just how the attack hadnt broken the rules of war. If the attackers had any connection to the terrorists, Luna should have been able to crush them like so many ants beneath her feet for breaking the articles of war, but he wasnt able to ponder that for more than a second before he was forced to refocus on the besieged city around him.


    Quill passed by two buildings on fire, and then a third already being cleared out by a pair of Tier 15s, before he threw himself into the air and through a wall. He crashed into an apartment just in time to catch a dagger with his invulnerable left hand that a Tier 19 goblin was trying to drive through a woman''s back, the monsters moving at a speed slow enough for the low Tier woman to know the horror she was being subjected to. Her calves and tendons were already sliced to ribbons, and the monster was preparing for thest strike when Quill burst through the wall.


    While holding the monsters de with his left hand, he put a [Fire Bolt] talisman on the creatures head, which caused a small explosion of gore but ensured that the woman wasnt put at risk.


    Now that Quill was inside, he threw arge portion of his mana generation into [Create Water] and then sent the water through the nearest walls in tendrils reminiscent of Liz. With them, he captured each of the monsters and crushed them with all the force he could muster.


    Having cleared out thatplex, Quill threw himself into another building, repeating his actions again and again. He was willing to kill with melee when he had to, but by relying on his [Water Maniption] and [Create Water], he was able to take out most of the monsters quickly with minimal coteral damage to the inhabitants.


    A few people had their sinks and dishwashers explode as he stole the water from there, but he considered property damage a small price to pay for people''s lives, and he didnt stick around to hear anyints.


    Quill was just entering his tenth building when the world vibrated for an instant, and every monster in his perception exploded into purple motes of darkness. Soon afterwards, the alerts from the CityNet andNet changed their reports.


    The higher Tiers Luna, it seemed, though her name wasnt included in the message had gotten a handle on the situation, and together had earned themselves enough time to stop teleporting people and target the remaining monsters. Those who were wounded would still be teleported to hospitals, but there was no more risk of attacks. Civilians were asked to report to theNet with their situation, location, and physical status before doing anything else, so they could ensure they had records of those who made it through alive and could start making arrangements for those who had passed and left loved ones behind.


    Those that were able were asked to start assisting local officials with whatever they could do. Healers were directed to hospitals and trauma centers that had been rapidly set up in a grasnd, as it was adjacent to the dumping ground that civilians had been teleported to.


    Not that the reported dumping ground was <em>nice</em>. Luna had apparently decided the dumping ground needed to be sterilized, and had done so with an attack that had removed any creatures and leveled the area to a mirror finish before putting anyone there. That had created a nice safe area, but now they were in a crater in the middle of what was once a nature preserve, and werecking a lot of critical infrastructure.


    Infrastructure which, ording to the reports, was being brought in as quickly as possible but was ultimately insufficient. Hospitals all over the tried to absorb the influx of patients as fast as they could, though they were already using everything they had avable with little to spare.


    Calls for healers seemed to be the most demanding, and Quill headed to the local healer''s station. It wasnt even a proper hospital, but rather a clinic for the neighborhood that was overrun with casualties, as it was the designated healing area for this portion of the city.


    As he floated in, a worker scanned him before dismissing him as she tried to stop a woman from bleeding out from a severed leg using only mundane tools. Seeing the arterial spraying, Quill cast [Bandage] on the wound, which startled the worker, who looked up to where he was standing and gasped. Oh, thank the Emperor. Over there, people I didnt think I could save. I have no healing spells. Please help them.


    Following the woman''s finger, Quill found four people who seemed to have been pulled directly out of a monster''s mouth, if the wounds he saw lined up with his experience.


    A dozen quick casts of [Bandage] covered the worst of their wounds, and Quill hesitated to cast an actual healing spell. He was no healer, and undirected healing spells werent nearly as efficient at patching up wounds as a directed healing spell. But after a second inspection, he wasnt sure if they could make it with just [Bandage] until a healer got to them anyway.


    Making up his mind, he cast [Ranged Heal] on them. They needed to be prevented from dying in the near future, full healing could wait until the people who were bleeding out could be treated.


    An AI notification from Snowke told him she was helping to shuttle the wounded and that she was almost upon them, just before a sled of ice slid around a corner to them.


    The still unnamed worker helped Quill get the people off the ice sled, while Snowke immediately moved to go rescue more trapped and injured people who were inside copsed or copsing buildings. Torch was doing the same, but she was helping another district, having gotten farther away from him in her effort to save civilians.


    Snowke was just the first of many to bring in casualties. Before long, dozens of higher Tier fighters were bringing people into the healing station in whatever manner they could before heading back into the city. Everyone was wounded, but those higher Tiers ignored their wounds long enough for Quill and the hospital worker to stabilize the low Tier civilians. Despite that, they were still overwhelmed.


    Quill was just about to ask Torch to send one of the official healers at her proper hospital to them, when an influx of teleports happened and set his teeth on edge, thinking it was another attack.


    Thankfully it wasnt.


    With the attacks under control and seemingly no follow-up attacks targeting first responders, the nearby and untargeteds had sent over most of their healers to assist them, along with a shockingly dyed response by the border guards and their healing teams. The reports Quill was getting indicated that this wasn''t an isted incident, and the garrison had been attacked in conjunction with the moon depot and terrorist attacks, which exined their dy.


    As a man and two women appeared in hospital robes, they immediately assessed the situation before they started to bark orders while rushing to the most injured.


    The apparent leader, a Tier 22 woman, called out, [Bandage] caster on me! even as she started stuffing the intestines back into a womans abdomen.


    As Quill appeared, she seemed surprised he was the one with the skill and asked, Do you just have the talisman, or have you gotten the skill?


    Both.


    The woman let out a slightly relieved sigh and ordered, Cast on her lower abdomen. Shes pregnant, and we need to try to save the fetus. The shock from healing will render it non-viable if we aren''t careful, but if you can protect it, I can save both of them with an extra [Bandage].


    Quill did as he was instructed and then cast the skill two more times on the patient, who seemed more in shock about the pregnancy than about being shed apart, but Quill didnt have time to listen to her confused babbling.


    The other two healers, seeing he had [Bandage], had him casting it as fast as possible. Quill kept up appearances by absorbing Tier 10 mana stones into the bandolier of rechargeable mana stones on his belt, just like the healers who were doing something simr with their own mana stone racks. They were just as fast as Quills rechargeable mana stone, but much more efficient.


    None of them could afford to run out of mana at a time like this. Eventually, they had to fall back on his [Bandage] talismans, but that was theirst resort, as the talisman was less controble than the skill.


    Thankfully, things started to stabilize after the first three hours. Those that were saveable were brought from death''s door, and those who could wait for healing were given what triage they could be before being forced to wait until they were able to afford the mana cost of non-vital things, like limbs being reattached.


    With so few healers to go around, there was little else they could really do.


    Quill and the otherbatants who had undirected healing spells offered their use but were generally refused as that would just prolong a patient''s injured status. [Bandage] was more useful, as it gave the healers some much-needed time.


    [Bandage] was so useful, Quill was actually directed to a few of the more remote healing centers to assist them as much as he could. Thankfully, he wasnt the only one with the spell; it had been close to thirty years since the spell was discovered. There were a few thousand of them able to cast the spell who werent dedicated healers, mostly among the support staff teleported from the neighborings.


    The next two days were a blur as everyone worked at a frantic rate, but eventually, things stabilized.


    Quill and Torch were able to stop casting [Bandage] on the needy, and Snowke was able to stop reinforcing damaged buildings with her ice constructs. Though that had onlysted the first few hours, and his bond had spent most of her time as a [Bandage] caster too.


    Disaster had struck, and it had struck hard.


    Out of a poption of twenty-two billion, there were two hundred and twenty-seven million wounded, and fifteen million dead. A shockinglyrge number, but a rtively small portion of the''s total poption. That was less an indicator of the terrorist''s bad nning and more an indication of the rapid response by the high Tiers, as the entire situation had been handled in less than ten minutes.


    Luna, when she finally returned, was clearly in pain, with even the violet eyes of her cat form bloodshot and lightly crusted with dried blood, as if she had been crying tears of blood. Their usually taciturn manager had clearly pushed her still recovering Domain to the limit to assist. While most of the civilians didnt know of her assistance, it being attributed to high Tiers in general, Matt did know, and kept it in mind whenever he wanted to get mad at her for not stopping the attack outright. With her destroying monsters left and right, she had prevented the situation from getting worse. Matt knew few others could, region by region, wipe out individual monsters that were killing civilians without also killing millions of those same civilians in the process.


    Just two days after the attack, the acting Marchioness gave a speech about how they would rebuild stronger than ever and punish those responsible, going as far as to show the speedy preliminary trials of the terrorists who had been captured. Only a few dozen, but that was more than enough for the people to fixate onespecially when the involvement of the Sects was confirmed by those captured.


    The attack on the moon was being dismissed as part of the terrorist attack, but Matt heard from the military channels that nearly seventy percent of the supplies had been looted by one Dao Child Maven, who had personally cracked the moon open and led the attack.


    When they were finally able to sleep, Matt had one name on his mind.


    For the first time in his life, he truly hated someone.


    Dao Child Maven.


    Someone who was willing to collude with terrorists toplete her mission of crashing the supply depot. He made sure to memorize the information the news stations broadcast about her and her supposed ability to counter Light and Shadow. He didnt care about any of that. If Light and Shadow could kill her, that was great, but he promised himself if she was still alive by the time they finished the Path, he was going to kill her himself.

 Chapter 253

    Chapter 253


    Maven smiled as she entered Ventillyrias realspace, right at the very edge of the parent stars gravity well in a small, single-man vessel.


    Once she confirmed she was well away from the outermost that was the Empires local fortress, she looked down to the spherical artifact she had been given for this mission. As the result of secret forme from a Talented crafter, it was made to connect two people across vast distances in a way that was nearly impossible to intercept, unlike [Spiritual Self]munications. The only limitation for the tech was the two devices needed to be in the same universe to function, meaning themunications couldnt cross over to worlds that were nearby in chaotic space, but whoses were not in the same universe.


    Calming herself, she sent her spirit into the artifact and waited patiently in the illusionary realm that the device created. It was quite nice, with a seating area near a waterfall hidden inside a verdant valley, nicely contrasting the perfect baby blue sky. There was even a small pond filled with fish that came up to investigate the new person in their home, which added a touch of liveliness to the surroundings. If she didnt know better, she would think this was a real-world miniaturized inside the orb.


    Finding a tea set, she made herself a pot and then settled in for the wait while enjoying the scenery. It took almost a week for them to arrive, which was three days past the agreed-upon time, but finally, the local spymaster appeared in the illusion, and she got her first glimpse at them.


    Normally, Maven would be respectful to someone so dedicated to the Sects, and her own sect in particr, but she was irritated at the woman''s tardiness.


    An attitude the nondescript woman immediately picked up on. Do not seek to question me, Dao Child. Things are not as they were before you entered Chaotic Space. The Empires Elder Luna has arrived with her newest charges.


    Maven required a moment to properly recognize the name, but her eyes narrowed once she had. The Empire had few Elders worth remembering, but the Elder specializing in training Young Masters certainly had. Her legacy extended across multiple dynasties, and she had no less than <em>four</em> Masters and dozens of elites listed among her sesses. Shed supposedly retired, but had returned to train another one of the Empires whelps, undoubtedly coaxed from her rest as a means of implying they had another group of potential Masters. A ploy that would work should their boast not be so utterly impossible.


    Her presenceplicated things, for certain. Theirtest intelligence had the Elder at Tier 43, and as such, capable of foiling their entire n should she decide to meddle. It was unseemly for a Dao Child to show distress, so her face was unmoved even as she realized just how close they were to disaster at every waking moment. Should their sleeves so much as cross the rules of war by a hairs width, the Elder would end their lives before they could so much as think. Their requirement of explicitly following every letter of thew was never more important than it was now.


    Furthermore, while the Elder was not a warrior, she did not need to be one to foil their ns. It did excuse the womans tardiness, at least. As a spy, she was not covered by the wartime treaties, and no doubt had to perform impressive legal wrangling to ensure Luna did not capture or kill her with a spare thought.


    What has she done? Maven asked, as she was quite afraid that arge part of their mission was now ruined.


    The spymasters fists clenched. Nothing, yet. I do not know if she fully knows the scope of our n, but she is aware of something. I know she suspects me, but I have been careful and there is nothing that she can do, in ordance with the Empires ownws. Not that there is much she even can do, before we make our move. Have you brought the final payment?


    I did. Do we need to report this to the sect elders? If she chooses to interfere, our mission is impossible.


    The spymaster shook her head. It matters not, everything is already set. The attacks schedule has remain unchanged, with most of the rifts already nted using the mana we were able to smuggle in beforehand. Whenbined with our Heart Of An Elder Tree still serving as a prime distraction for all others above Tier 35, we can simply hope that she prioritizes protecting her own proteges over interfering with our n.


    Maven nodded, then had a thought strike her. Indeed. In fact, I believe she may not be as much of a threat as we initially feared. When her students emerged from Minka, it was reported that she nearly broke her Revtions attempting to suppress an inspiration from one of them. It has only been a few decades since, not nearly enough for her spirit to recover, or possibly even her body.


    As you say, Dao Child.


    Yes, this could still work. There were not many cultivators over Tier 35 present upon Ventillyria, simply a few parents who had not left alongside their children. And the prize they were leaving for them would serve as more than an adequate distraction. It was, after all, partially why the world had been chosen.


    The spymaster flicked a finger and a file appeared on the table next to Maven, but she didnt read it until she had finished her tea. The spymaster might have let her mannerisms skew to the Empire, but Maven was a Dao Child, and that meant being proper.


    When she was ready, she adjusted herself to sit at the table appropriately and read the packet of information about the supply depot.


    It took Maven a few minutes to digest everything, but when she finished the information, she let her gaze harden.


    The elders said you have cleared most of the obstacles. Why is there a new team of mercenaries stationed at the depot? This is an uneptable deviation from the n.


    The spymaster waved her concern off. It''s a wrinkle, but better than it could have been had I not interfered. It was only possible thanks to the spies I seeded throughout various sectors in the surrounding worlds. The only thing the three idiots vying for the throne agree on is digging me out, and they initially wanted to hire another three teams. Thankfully, I got advance word and activated a few other contingencies to pull the teams away. Now it is only one team of above-average Tier 27 Empire delvers. You should have no issue in neutralizing them.


    Dao Child Maven allowed the authority that she had cultivated during her training to shine through her normal persona. This is still an uneptable level of deviation. I will report it to the elders with the rmendation that your performance be more carefully scrutinized. Spy work is hard, yes, but I see the dates. This team was hired two years before the war deration, so there is no reason it shouldnt have been in your other reports. Do not expect me to clean up your messes.


    Standing, Maven looked out to the distance, deliberately not looking at the spymaster. Watch carefully to ensure that nothing goes awry. Especially with Lunas charges. I and my people will not be near them, let alone interact with them. That would be a grant vition of the treaties, and I will not throw my life away on a fool''s errand. I hope there are no more surprises, or your head will roll.


    Calling attacking someone under the care of a Tier 43 a fool''s errand was an understatement, but she needed to make her stance clear as this spymaster seemed all too willing to force her into precarious situations.


    Yes, she could handle a team of Tier 27s. She was a Dao Child, after all. Her blood, spirit, and Revtions had elevated her to greatness, and she had forged them into an unassable weapon through her own determination and the hand of fate.


    She might not be able to go toe to toe with someone like Master Waters, but even the Senior Elder had never seen such might in his immeasurably long life. Normal delvers, even with a small Tier advantage, were of no consequence. She was confident that she could at least match Light and Shadow, no matter what abilities they had withheld. She had prepared counters for all of their disyed capabilities, and counters for many things which <em>could</em> be in their arsenal. She was no mere footsoldier to be tricked by withheld information; she was a Dao Child, and was the embodiment of all that the title entailed.


    The spymaster looked like she wanted to say something, but eventually, she lowered her head. As is yourmand, Dao Child.


    With that taken care of, Maven broke the connection and returned to her body.


    Once she was there, she immediately spoke out, I apologize for any brashness or rudeness of mine, Elder Luna. I hope that we might interact in ordance with the guidance of our elders, following their agreements and treaties to the <em>letter</em>.


    Normally she would never have been willing to remind a Tier 43 like that, but she felt it was worth the risk, as an angry Elder was something she couldnt handle. An irritated one, she believed she could deal with.


    She waited a polite minute before getting no response, then activated the necessary formations to tear through the veil of reality and return her to the main ship.


    There she quickly rendezvoused with Captain Darok and Lieutenant Emily, where she filled them in on theplications.


    Their reactions were as she expected, and while they might have emoted more than she would, they were expressing her own feelings.


    When Captain Darok finished cursing, he looked through their ns and brought up one of the issues she had already seen.


    The team is sitting directly on the vault of the moon. That''s dead center. Our original n was to infiltrate it quietly and then blow the vault free when the rifts start to break. That''s no longer possible with the team guarding the vault. Do we have any ideas?


    Maven had a few ideas, but she wasnt entirely set on any of them as they were uncertain at best. The spymaster wasntpletely ipetent, and had been able to get an inventory of the vault''s contents, which were more plentiful than the elders'' predictions.


    Lieutenant Emily, on the other hand, had one readily avable. What if you simply crack the moon? That should be within your described capabilities, and while going in loud is risky, we dont have many other options. Besides, being quiet is already shot since Luna would have quietly warned the security teams to be on guard after arriving on the moon. The only question is if we cross the line. Speaking of which, I suggest that I take over the exchange of goods and do it alone. Well need to dump the ship, as I can''t move that many items myself, but it''s safer than risking anyone else crossing a line. Its unlikely, but still too risky for my taste.


    Maven nodded with Captain Darok even though she could see the hesitation in his eyes. He didnt want to send his second inmand into that level of risk, and from the profile she had on him, she was sure he wanted to do it himself. He had always been one to volunteer to ept the riskiest missions, but as the captain, he was no longer able to do so.


    Taking the risky missions was Lieutenant Emilys job now.


    Maven knew the woman didnt need the reminder, but spoke up anyway. Remember, you are simply buying the keys to bypass the security codes from the Empire citizens. You need to be careful and not interact with any localw enforcement.


    If Lieutenant Emily did interact with the local officials, she was dead, but that was why they were doing the exchange deep in space. Getting the payment back to Ventillyria was the spymaster''s and her local stooges job, not theirs.


    For all the woman''s apparentpses, Maven knew she wouldnt dare let the spatially expanded storage chests full of Tier 35 mana stones get intercepted.


    That was the line they were walking. They were paying a terroristwork for critical information, but that was within the letter of thew, even if it was a known and epted gray area. All the Great Powers used spies and local dissidents to funnel information, which was why they could pay the locals for the codes without breaking any of the non-interference rules that forbade activebatants from acting on inhabiteds during the war.


    They just needed to be careful to not engage with the spy in a way that could be proven, so they could still im those protections. Paying for items and goods was the loophole to supply the spies and underground organizations, but if they interacted with the spy, they would be crushed by Elder Luna. Yes it was risky, but Maven knew the sect elders didnt intend for the operatives they had built up in Ventillyria tost after this.


    They only needed them long enough to take out the supply depot so the border regions would fall faster, which was why they were going out with a bang. The n to take the supply depot was important, yes, but it was the best way the elders had to get Light and Shadow to the frontlines before they were ready. That would be the perfect time to try and capture them, even if the chance was remote. If that failed, they would still be able to take this entire region of space faster than predicted, and could hopefully use that advantage to snowball their lead.


    Thankfully, Lieutenant Emily was able toplete the exchange of goods that got them the security codes to bypass the defenses around the moon. In the original n, these codes would have allowed them to impersonate a shipment of raw materials and get them into the moon, but now they just needed to get close. Lieutenant Emily had brought up a good idea. It would be messy, but Maven was confident she could crack a Tier 12 moon in a single hit with a little preparation.


    The two months it took for the spymaster''s operatives to get the mana stone loads into the selected rifts was agonizing, but thankfully, nothing happened to derail the n. Lunas two proteges crashed a few of their local strongholds, but the spymaster simply let them act with impunity and didnt retaliate. They didnt need those strongholds anymore, and it wasnt worth showing their hand to protect assets that would soon be burned. A few sect members they had nted next to their local operatives would get burned in the operation, but that was the fate of being too weak, and they weren''t even important pawns that the spy master had been able to nt in other worlds. They would be uncovered no matter what after theing attacks, so little was lost with their failure.


    Maven was just happy that Luna didnt seem to be directing the kids or interfering. She wasnt sure she would be able to follow the Empire''s stifling rules in Lunas ce, but she was grateful the woman wasnt impulsive. Those even remotely rted to terrorists could and should be called traitors, which should allow Luna to capture and kill them all, but the woman seemed too soft to go that far. It was a failing of the Empire as a whole. She knew that she would have rounded them up and use torture to find out who was guilty and who wasnt, but maybe the woman knew or suspected the attack was already a forgone conclusion.


    In her introspections, she wondered if those who brought thetest bags of mana stones into the rifts would realize what they had done afterward. They only had a select number of Tier 17 local loyalists who were willing to enter the rifts and knowingly deposit the bag with a very precise mechanical timer. In the past decade, the spy master had been using the true loyalists to seed rifts, but with thest shipment being sorge, they would need to use less trustworthy assets to fill the remaining rifts. She hoped none of those extras would think too hard about what was in the bags and back out. The items were disguised and shielded from casual probing, but there werent many uses outside of causing a rift break for a device designed to vent the entire contents of a mana stone into a rift at a very precise time.


    Greed could be a powerful motivator, but she hoped none of them got too smart. Fifty thousand rifts needed to be seeded in total, and it wasnt an easy feat when each one that failed would mean one less rift for Luna to stop.


    Contrary to her expectations, nothing seemed to go awry, and she was stationed with Lieutenant Emily and half the Cavalry division. The other half and the Juggernauts were with Captain Darok and were ready to attack the fortress to keep them penned in, splitting their forces between the fortress and the chaos below, and rendering them wholly incapable of reinforcing the supply depot.


    Dao Child Maven stood in the hangar as they neared the moon, wishing she hadnt ordered the shield deactivated so she had an atmosphere to sigh in. Sighing in a vacuum just wasn''t the same, and she loved moons. Part of it was her bloodline resonance, but they took her breath away.


    Power welled within her blood as the Lunar Rabbit within her spirit bounded forth, sending shivers through her body and Revtions alike. She loosed her power, and light shone around her as her Anchor manifested, turning her into a living eclipse.


    From there, three of the half-dozen techniques she had derived from [Awaken The Beast Within] activated, resonating with her Talent and First Revtion to empower her and transform her into a hybrid beast of unmatched ferocity, even as she threw herself at the lunar body below.


    Most of her body was from a Steel Bull, empowering her strength and granting her their [The Unstoppable Charge of a Rampaging Bull] technique, perfect for elerating her and growing her momentum. That momentum was further enhanced by the Grasnds Bears [I Am More Real Than Reality], enhancing her already-metal body and making it even more dense than it had been before.


    Lastly, the Greater Firmament Tortoise not only made her metal body nigh-indestructible, but even a fraction of its damage reflection abilities would aid her immeasurably.


    Her Second Revtion ensured that there was no fantastic crash when she struck the surface of the moon, and instead she simply passed through it into its mantle. Then, she released her intangibility and returned to reality. Pressure sought to crush her, and she pushed back. The moon was <em>her</em> birthright, and she would brook no disagreement.


    It yielded to her will, and the moon cracked down the center, a fissure opening upon her and letting a ray of light strike her face.


    Using [The Caress of the Fanged Moon], she shoved the tworgest pieces of the moon apart, opening arger hole even as the crafters and support personnel were trying to run from the unexpected attack.


    They werent her target, so she didnt seek them out, but when five Tier 25 cultivators rushed her, she didnt hesitate to eviscerate them, her unbreakable ws rending them into pieces after just a few strikes.


    Lieutenant Emily and the Cavalry division were close on her heels, and their rifles spat out concentrated spell projectiles at all the depot guards who tried to close in on them. It was a good thing that the guards were mostly reserves, and not the best fighters of their Tier, as it allowed her free reign.


    Maven led the charge, allowing her unstoppable body to serve as the ultimate bulwark for her supporting troops.


    For better mobility, she cast [To Race The Far Winds And Emerge Victorious], allowing the spell, in conjunction with her Tier 25 Talent, to lengthen her strides and turn her body from a lumbering bear into a bounding and unstoppable predator. Her shell and silver fur effortlessly shrugged off the surviving defensive formations embedded within the base, reflecting them back to where they came from.


    A cloud of smoke temporarily clouded her vision, but she charged through. Fire and lightningshed out, but in this form, she may as well have been invincible. Average Tier 27 attacks couldn''t do anything to her unless she stood there without using any techniques while they attacked en masse.


    With her enhancements, she was able to quickly reach the first group of guards, who seemed to have a level of cohesion, and once more cursed the spymaster who had failed to do her job properly. She should have been able to bypass all of this, but instead, she was forced to slow down and deal with the new obstacle.


    Techniques flew, but she relied on her armored merged form to get in close and unleashed her own techniques. [Striking ws of the Crescent Moon], her favored melee attack, lengthened her ws and lined them with ethereal light. Where they struck, blood ran, and the glittering motes of light they left matched the dust in the air, forming a wondrous tapestry of scarlet and silver.


    She merely dispatched the guards, as confirming their deaths would be too costly in time, and she wished to reach the next group of guards before they finished forming up.


    Lieutenant Emily and the Cavalry division kept up with her and broke through another two formations of guards, but in front of her was a nearly intact defensive station. In lieu of tearing it down, she transformed into a thunderbird, became intangible, and tore through the meager defenses against incorporeal enemies as though they were gossamer. She never fully re-manifested into reality, relying wholly on her ws and techniques as she tore the defenders apart.


    Just as Lieutenant Emily and the Cavalry division arrived, Maven deactivated the shields and they progressed deeper into the moon, where they could finally see their prize. A massive vault the size of a small warship, defended by a dozen teams of guards in defensive positions, reinforced by a team of more elite fighters.


    Maven transformed once more, primarily bing an Earth Dragon with just a hint of Void Sparrow. The void would exact its toll, but the price was well spent empowering her ws and wings.


    She crashed into their defenses, allowing her dragonscale to protect her from the mere Tier 27 foot soldiers until the real fighters joined the fray.


    Three of their attacks allnded on the same spot of her armor, and one of them had a Revtion that tried to tear apart her defensive techniques. She responded with a flurry of void-enhanced feathers, her [Ten Thousand Feathers Which Are Mightier Than The Sword] enabling her to utilize her own wings as true weapons and ensure that the stone feathers cut through flesh and armor alike.


    [The Hand Which Grasps Fire Fears No Spear] reinforced her wings and head as a second barrage of attacks struck her, and as she received covering fire from Lieutenant Emily and the Cavalry, she struck out once again. The armor of the Corporations truly was impressive, she had to admit to herself, and she mentally decided to investigate the feasibility of obtaining some for herself.


    Captain Daroks band were elites, and even while outnumbered and out-Tiered, half the Cavalry division led by Lieutenant Emily cut through hundreds of Empire-reserved troops in just minutes.


    The more elite team, on the other hand, was her problem. And even with her superior bloodline and techniques, it took her an unbearable amount of time before thest one fell.


    Once the fighting ceased, Maven called out through her [Spiritual Self]. Let''s get the vault free.


    Letting her transformation fade, she joined the mercenaries in digging the vault out and then attaching it to cables that led back to the ship.


    Maven and everyone else held on as their ship turned and ripped the vault out of the moon. Guards tried to chase them, but with the vault as cover, they were able to unleash a wave of techniques which prevented the guards from getting too close.


    Maven took the opportunity to check her [Spiritual Self] and see the situation on Ventillyria.


    She clenched her fist when she saw that in ten minutes, Luna had already cleared up the situation, and from the reports she was intercepting, the Elder had prevented <em>thirty thousand</em> rifts from even breaking. Or rather, she had simply vaporized most of the monsters around the thirty thousand rifts, leaving only twenty thousand to spew their monsters across the cities and create chaos. Even then, the woman had been able to annihte every monster that had been rampaging in the cities in just <em>ten minutes</em>. She hadnt even had to destroy a city or two to do it, which Maven had hoped for. A high Tier obliterating civilians for any reason, no matter how justified, would have made for great propaganda, but they haven''t even gotten that out of this attack.


    Maven shook her head in abination of shock and awe.


    The attacks had still served their purpose, and allowed them toplete their mission, but she had wished the monsters had longer to rampage. It would have sent a better message.


    Captain Darok reported not long after that he was disengaging, having dealt considerable damage to the garrison, which wouldnt be easy to repair without their supply depot. That would allow the sects attacking in this region to quickly sweep through the border and up to Ventillyria before using it as a staging ground.


    It hadnt been a perfect mission, but they had done their job with only a few casualties on their side, meaning they were stillbat capable for the next mission.


    Maven and Lieutenant Emily had just put the vault in the ship''s cargo bay and returned to themand station to meet up with Captain Darok. They were ready to celebrate a sessful mission when she realized that Captain Darok was frozen next to the table.


    Her spatial perception found nothing, but when she took a step to the left, she also froze, her body going stiff after seeing the woman standing in the room.


    Luna stood there. In her ship.


    At less than six feet tall, the woman had to look up to all of them, but Maven didnt feel like she towered over Luna. No, she felt like she was standing in front of a mountain, and it was ring back at her.


    She wanted to say something, but the hostility that radiated off the dark-haired woman was stifling.


    Her rational mind wanted to say that this was clearly just her intimidating them, but Maven felt <em>hostility</em>. Actual killing intent. But that wasnt quite right; she realized this was more hollow than that, and if Luna had wanted to kill them, they would just be dead.


    Her bloodline gave her another possible exnation.


    Luna was a cat, and she had seen cats casually killing small animals before. It might be for food, but it also might just be because they were <em>bored</em>.


    The Tier 43s spirit radiated something between the two, and it paralyzed her.


    Her only hope was that when their ship ripped its way into Chaotic Space, the Luna in front of them would just be created with a First or Second Revtion. They weren''t able to leave the universe the main body was in, but her hopes were dashed the moment she felt them tear through reality.


    Luna was still there, which meant this was either a clone created by her Third Revtion, or her main body. Regardless, she could trivially kill everyone inside without leaving a trace, which made her wonder if Luna really was just a house cat toying with her prey before killing it.


    It felt like hours, but her [Spiritual Self] told her it was only minutes when Luna finally spoke. I was tempted to just obliterate you all. Millions are dead because of your <em>distraction</em>. If you had stepped out of line, I would have, but you were careful. Maven was letting the breath she had been holding out, when Lunas next words caused it to stick halfway out. Im still tempted. There may be punishments for attacking you, but my patience has worn <em>thin</em>. But I wont. Stay alive when Light and Shadowe after you, because I want to watch you die when my chargese for their revenge. I wont take that from them. <em>That</em> is the only reason you are alive. Treasure your remaining time, for it won''t be long.


    Maven was sure that she should stay as an implied threat, but the Luna in front of her started to dissolve into purple motes of light from the feet up, moments after her final word was uttered. Thest thing to vanish was her slitted eyes.


    Eyes that contained barely restrained anger.


    Eyes that Maven was sure would haunt her dreams for weeks toe.

 Chapter 254

    Chapter 254


    When Matt woke up a few hours after his nap, he stealthily slipped out of Liz and Asters embrace, quietly padding into the kitchen, where he spent almost ten minutes looking out of their living room window at the world beyond.


    It was far too reminiscent of Lilly for his liking, with still-smoking craters and ruined buildings waiting for demolition, but that was a sentiment he was sure would be present until they left this. This was just far too close to his own past trauma for him to ever feelfortable, but seeing it, he was determined to do what he could.


    After running through some calctions, he settled on two, possibly three weeks before they needed to move on. He wanted to stay and protect Ventillyria and its people, but as much as he hated to admit it, the three of them werent really needed here. Matt, Liz, and Aster weren''t construction crews, nor were they therapists They were soldiers. Just soldiers who had been too weak to actually change things.


    That was why they needed to leave.


    Matt was conflicted. He knew that he should be happy as he had deliberately contributed to making the disaster just a tiny bit better, something he had always wanted to be able to do from his time as a kid on Lilly. But when he thought of Luna and her ughtering a of monsters in minutes, even with a still crippled Domain, he wanted that kind of power. That level of power seemed like a distant dream, but looking up to the ce where the moon had been shattered by Dao Child Maven showed him a far more possible goal.


    Tier 25. He could do that.


    Matt corrected himself with a shake; they could do that.


    <em>He wasnt alone</em>.


    Looking up at the predawn sky, Matt reaffirmed his vow to himself. He was going to kill Dao Child Maven with his bare hands. The selfish part of him hoped Light and Shadow never caught up to her, as he wanted to wring her neck himself, but he would be happy as long as she died. Preferably slowly, but that was something for the movies that rarely happened in real life. An immortal of her caliber could easily escape given even half a chance, meaning any fight would either end with her dead or fleeing. And the second wasn''t an option he could ept.


    As much as he hated to admit it, this was a reminder of the truth of the world. Those who were weak were at the mercy of the strong. Civilization was a veneer allowed to exist because those at the top of the pyramid wanted it, and the only way to free yourself from the game was to be strong enough to stand on top as well. But Matt wasnt really sure that was freeing yourself. That just seemed like another way to shackle yourself to the power structure of the world, but he also didnt <em>care</em>. He needed to get stronger because in the end, only being able to kill a few dozen monsters and save a few hundred civilians, maybe a few thousand, wasnt enough.


    If he was a Tier 25, he could have saved far more people, lessening the burden Luna had dealt with. And more importantly, he could have chased after Dao Child Maven.


    Sensing he was starting to spiral, Matt wrenched himself away from the window and went to start making breakfast for everyone.


    If Luna didnt show up, he intended to go and help with the reconstruction any way he could. He wasnt a construction worker, but he also didnt need to be; entire city blocks would need to be demolished, and the materials carted off to rifts to make way for new construction. They would need people to throw up temporary amodations to house everyone, they would need social services and people to help distribute food, and they would need people to help watch the orphans.


    Matt clenched his fist and crushed his stirring spoon into splinters at the thought. He knew how scared they would be, left to sleep in an unfamiliar ce, the adults not willing to tell them anything. The lucky ones would find at least one parent alive, just receiving medical attention. The others would concoct dozens of increasingly imusible scenarios to exin their parents absence, despite knowing that with each minute that passed the likelihood of them being found alive diminished.


    He couldnt fix it; no one could, but he could be there. They wouldnt see it as helpful, but he knew that in theing years, the presence of an adult who had been through it could help. Or at least, he hoped it would.


    Tossing the eggs littered with splinters in the trash, Matt restarted breakfast just in time for Liz and Aster to crawl out of bed at the smells.


    They didnt say anything for a few long moments before Liz asked, Was it this bad for you?


    Matt wanted to speak, but the words got caught in his throat. Aster, thankfully, had a connection to his spirit. It was worse for him. Or rather, it felt that way as a kid.


    Matt nodded in agreement. I''m on the other side now, but there is a level of destruction where things are just awful. This is on arger scale, but if you iste a single city, this is exactly what happened to Lilly and me. It''s still the same pain, same trauma, same tragedy, just on a muchrger scale. For the individuals who lived through it, it''s the same thing. I get what they are going through, and worst of all, I know no matter what we do, it''s a drop in the bucket. I just wish we could have prevented this. I Stopping himself, Matt shook his head. It''s all awful, but its not apetition.


    Liz didnt say anything until breakfast was served, but she did hold his hand the moment he sat down. Talk to us if you need to. Dont hold it in.


    Matt nodded even as he shoved arge piece of French toast into his mouth, chewing silently, letting his mind race.


    The moment Matt put down his fork, Luna appeared. She was back to looking human, and her body was in one piece, but she still looked utterly exhausted. How are you?


    She looked at all of them but focused on Matt. He knew she was worried about his mental state.


    Matt shook his head to answer her silent question. Im not going to fall apart. Im just angry; I want to kill Maven, I want to scream at my weakness, I want to help however I can. That earned him a nod from his manager, but before she could speak, Matt asked his own question. How are you? You looked like shit yesterday.


    Luna just blinked at him, and he thought she wasnt going to answer him, but eventually, she did. If I am lucky, my Domain will be fully recovered by the time you finish the Path, but that is more than eptable. I know you have questions, and I must assure you I did all that I could within my confines.


    Legally speaking, I could not act until the attack was underway. I had no legal proof of any attack beforehand without the spy in hand, and mere suspicions are insufficient for a warrant for additional investigation. Youre, of course, already aware of the basics, but the Empire has stringentws to protect the privacy of those who could never detect, let alone block, the gaze of anyone sufficiently stronger than them. I also did not realize the full scale of the attack until then, as portions of it must have been set up for months, if not years, before our arrival. Spying into an active rift instance is far from trivial, even at this Tier difference, and forcing my way inside of one to remove one of the mana bombs would be quite challenging, even if I was at my best. They are also both highly illegal, and I would risk execution had I attempted it. Eliminating the terrorist leaders would have aplished precisely nothing and <em>guaranteed</em> execution for me without the spy to link them to the Sects directly.


    So, I waited for the attack to ur. I did not know precisely when it would be, nor technically even that there <em>would</em> be one. I had alerted my superiors to my suspicions of a potential internal terrorist attack, but they are still approximately a week out from arriving. So, I acted in the ways I could best. In the end there were far more rifts than I had feared, and I could only hold back a little more than half of them from spewing their monsters out. I simply was not strong enough to stop the entire attack, as I had hoped.


    Matt felt himself nch at the fact Luna had prevented even more rifts from extruding their monsters into the world. The thought that there could have been twice the amount of monsters was horrifying.


    With that in mind, Matt looked at his manager with redoubled appreciation. She had stemmed the tide of monsters across a vast swath of territory, then obliterated millions of monsters worldwide in mere minutes. And on top of all that, shed done it with a heavily strained Domain. A Domain she had stressed so he could drink a mana concentration potion. If he could turn back the clock, he would rip the potion out of his younger selfs hands and pour it down his own throat, but knew that was impossible.


    Who would have guessed the Sects would stage a terrorist attack to help them raid a supply depot? Luna should have never been forced to act in a real war, but this sneaky attack bypassed logic and nning.


    How was this not against the rules? I thought the whole <em>point</em> of the war rules was to prevent exactly all of this, Matt vented. It just doesnt I dont understand.


    The Sects were very careful, Luna replied, her voice perfectly level. Not once did they stray over what can be easily proven as an overstep. The decision for when the attack would ur, as well as the <em>nature</em> of the attack, was all orchestrated by Empire citizens. The Sects likely <em>influenced</em> that decision, but no Sect members directly made any relevant decisions. At least, not that I could prove. I''m sure there is a spy running around here, but they are careful, and even I haven''t been able to catch them. Perhaps with a full inquisition we might be able to track down some level of undue influence from a Sect member, but even that is rtively unlikely. Sowing dissent <em>is</em> allowable within the war, though the Sects likely pushed decorum as much as possible in that regard. From what I can gather, all that any inquisitions would likely find would be that the Sects were sowing dissent among the popce to find and recruit Empire-born informants that they could pay for information. It is, legally, not the Sects fault that those who they bought information from utilized the mana crystals they paid them with to bankroll a massive terrorist strike. Nor is it their fault that they attacked at a time when a terrorist strike urred. Explicitly so.


    Explicitly? Oh wait, that was the Catial Resolution, wasnt it? Liz asked.


    Caiatal Resolution, but yes. Once upon a time, there was aw within the war rules that should a disaster befall a civilized world, any ongoing battles within the system must be paused and both sides of the army ought to mitigate the disaster. It was promptly repealed after the Empire, in the days of the previous dynasty, arranged for terrorist attacks and natural disasters to ur any time they began to lose a defensive battle, to give reinforcements time to arrive.


    Matt was taken aback. How could one do that to their own citizens? That was awful.


    But there was one thing that stood out in Lunas exnation. You said thew was repealed? Does that mean the war rules can be changed? Could we make it so that <em>this</em> isnt allowed again?


    Perhaps, Luna nodded. Theres not a single clear rule which could be changed to ensure nothing like this ever happens again, but it is entirely possible that there could be rules regarding influence and nning around known internal strife that could be established. But such things would only be created at the <em>end</em> of the war. Theres never modifications mid-war, that always leads to trouble. Now, there is one thing you can do to make it more likely that rule is made.


    What? Matt asked. He would do <em>whatever</em> it took to stop this from happening again, even if he needed to bring the entire Realm to heel.


    Win. The Great Powers respect strength, and the victor always has the most influence in the post-war councils. If the Empire wins, if <em>you</em> win, they will listen to you. If you cant get it changed after this war, then try after the next, or the one after that. Earn enough favor and fame and anything is possible.


    Matt nodded, eyes hard as he internalized her words.


    Liz spoke up after a moment, I presume this was more involved than just an attempt to kill Empire citizens. Whats going on outside of here?


    Luna sighed and seemed to dete a little. The Sects are already redoubling their assault on the border worlds that relied on Ventillyria for resupply. Best-case scenario, theyll likely push up to Ventillyria within a decade. Probably sooner, the loss of the supply depot means the loss of thousands of arms and armor needed for the defenders of those intervenings. What should have taken them decades to take will fall in less than one. It''s unfortunate, but the Sects wouldnt dare to treat the civilians in upied worlds badly. Theyve tried that before, but while they might not care about mortals, the rules for captured worlds are <em>incredibly</em> strict. Its possible that they would be capable of orchestrating a second mass rift break should they control the, but doing so would be seen as being done in <em>incredibly</em> poor taste, abuse of control, and a thousand other vitions. The reparations they would have to pay should the rift breaks be mere negligence would be immense. To put it bluntly, heads will roll, and a lot of them.


    Aster reached out and, to everyones surprise, pulled Luna into a hug. Thank you, Luna. I know you dont care about public recognition, and the media is giving credit to a number of anonymous people, but thank you. You pushed yourself, and while the civilians might not know, we do.


    Matt stood up with Liz and joined Aster in the hug for a long moment until Luna started to shift. Pulling back, he saw her face was carefully nk.


    Yes, well, we must all do what we can. You have a month before we are leaving. I heard you all say you want to get stronger, but we can spare a month. I have priority ess to off-world therapists if the three of you need to talk, so don''t worry about taking the spot of someone local. You need to be in control of yourself, even if you are hungry for vengeance.


    Matt nodded but was slightly surprised to hear Aster immediately ask for the therapist''s number and Liz ask for her own a momentter.


    He knew he should talk to someone, but Matt honestly didnt feel like he needed to. He had been through this; he had been through the talks. It was old ground he didnt feel the need to retread. When this was over, hed probably need to talk to someone about helping Ventillyrias citizens, but currently, he just wanted <em>to</em> help.


    Im <em>fine</em>. At least for now. There is nothing new I can really talk about. Id rather be helping where i can. When we leave, I''ll check in, but for now, Im fine.


    No one pushed him, but Matt felt Asters concern through their bond and Lizs through her grip on his hand.


    Once they were done with breakfast, they went out to the city. Despite the sun just peaking over the horizon, there were teams of people already working. Some of the teams stopped when they saw Quill and Torch, but those remaining active were mostly immortals and didnt really care about them being minor celebrities.


    They quickly arrived at a makeshift camp and registered themselves for work.


    The first priority was healing, and since they all had undirected healing and [Bandage] spells, they were quickly epted to help in various makeshift hospitals. Quill flew a few blocks to one of the harder-hit neighborhoods; he could see the former guildhall that was now little more than a smoking hole in the ground where the rifts had broken. From the reports, the vice guild leader, the only higher-up at the guild when the rifts broke, had fought off eighty percent of the monsters that appeared, but the twenty percent had been more than enough to level the low Tier area in minutes.


    Flying down to the makeshift building acting as a healing station, Quill immediately used [Earth Maniption] to reinforce the structure. Whoever had created it had left several ws where they connected the quickly built building to the existing foundations, which were showing signs of cracking. It wouldnt do for the building to copse on the patients, so he quickly fixed it.


    His actions were noticed by a man in dirty healer robes pressing an ice pack to his eyes. You shouldnt have, it wouldnt have copsed in the short term, and mana is scarce now.


    Quill just nodded, despite that not being an issue for him. You''re right; what can I do then? I have [Ranged Heal] and [Bandage] in both skill and talisman form, though I gave most of my stock of the talismans to the ce I was at yesterday.


    The man nodded without removing his ice pack. Im pretty sure we got some of your talismans; they have been handing them out so we can stabilize those past the healing cooldown. How are you with [Ranged Heal]?


    Quill shook his head at the question. Not great. Or at least, not at the level of a trained healer. I can use it, but it''s probably better for me to act as a nurse.


    That got the man to remove his ice pack, and he inspected Quill before nodding. Its good you know your limits. My break is about done, so let''s get you inside and dressed up. You can act as my nurse.


    When the man stood, a burst of magic cleaned his robes back to a pristine state, and they entered the building to start treating those still injured. Almost two days after the incident, most of the critical injuries were taken care of, but they still had massive backlogs of people waiting for necessary healing.


    Quill assisted Healer Todd and found the man a workhorse of a healer. Together, they went through a dozen patients in half an hour, and while the man was fast, he was also able to connect with his patients in the few brief minutes he spent with them. His gentle reassurances seemed to go a long way to helping them, even if Quill knew they would be leaving the healing station to a ruined city. The lucky ones would have a home to return to with their families intact, but the unlucky ones would just find more trauma.


    They would at least be able to face it with intact bodies.


    Quill took notes on the mans bedside manner. For all that Torch had made incredible strides in medical magic in the past decades, her ability to console a patient was sorelycking. Not an issue for just the two of them in a rift, but it had caused a few minor incidents when she was taking a shift at a hospital.


    Sadly, Luna was uniquely unqualified to instruct her on how to improve.


    Five hours after he arrived, a swarm of new patients came as the rescue teams were finally able to dig out a number of survivors from a toppled skyscraper nearby. They were sending the injured all over the city to lessen the workload to any individual healing station. None of them were at death''s door, but several had wounds that needed to be tended to, and Quill was ordered to use [Ranged Heal] to help triage the patients.


    It was an undirected healing spell, and Quill wasnt able to do the intricate healing the professionals were able to do, but even with that limitation, he was able to fix two mangled arms and reattach some muscles that had ripped in a womans leg.


    When the rush ended, Todd joined back up with Quill and inspected his patient. When they were a few steps away, he got a message requisition from the healers AI and epted it.


    Todd raised an eyebrow at Quill. You said your healing isn''t very good? Is that when using it on you and your team? At Quill''s nod, he snorted. We are healing Tier 5s and below here, Quill. Even a casual healing spell by you should be more than enough for them to get up and moving. That''s all we really need currently. Once things settle down, we can worry about the smaller things. That''s on me for not realizing your perception would be warped. Your healing is more than enough for you to act as a full healer, in this instance. It will save a lot of effort if we only need to check your work and have an extra hand around here to get through the backlog.


    Quill wanted to object, but knew Todd wouldnt risk any of his patients, so he epted the man''s decision. Working with the other healers, the next six hours passed in a blur of healing spells and pretending to absorb mana stones.


    It took until almost sunset before the healers had the chance to breathe, and one nodded towards him. Quill. Youre an enchanter, right? I know your whole thing is talismans and stuff, which by the way, <em>thank you</em> for the [Bandage] one. But do you think you could try and get a couple of our healing arrays working? Weve got a couple of dmissioned ones in storage, and were going to need as many as we can get our hands on now that the worst has passed.


    Quill shrugged. I can give it a try.


    He was familiar enough with healing arrays, having spent more than enough time inside them, but had never really delved too much into trying to replicate them. The ability to speed up healing for light injuries forrge groups of people simply wasnt that applicable for a small delving group that had someone proficient with directed healing.


    Like all healing equipment, it was fiendishlyplicated, but his [AI] was already parsing through some relevant books and giving him a summary. Do you have the schematics for what youve got at the moment anywhere?


    The healer frowned and replied, Probably. One moment.


    A few secondster, Quill received a ping from the hospitals AI with the full user manual and repair sheets for three different healing arrays. While even the most advanced was only Tier 15, the runes themselves were far beyond any of even his mostplicated talisman arrays, where the hardest thing he needed to do was make sure they didnt tear themselves apart on use.


    His AI seemed to have a decent idea what was going on, however, so Qull nodded. Ill see what I can do.


    Great! So its just down here


    It took a bit of time before they found all of the scrapped healing arrays, but once they had, Quill relocated to a crafters workstation with a ring-load of not-quite-functional medical tech. While all around him, other enchanters ranging from Tier 5 to 25 worked on shelters and temporary housing, transportation tech, medical tools, construction equipment, and more besides, he was slowly diagnosing why his half-dozen arrays werent working and how he could <em>fix</em> them.


    Enchanting at Tier 15 wasplicated. While the tools and machines he had avable to him were a massive help, he would have beenpletely incapable of making any progress on the array without them. When it came to actually carving out new runes in an object, it had to be done by hand as he leveraged his own spirit and mana into engraving a four-dimensional structure into a three-dimensional material, and practically <em>anything</em> could make a mess of the process.


    After one particr hour of aggravated testing, Quill realized that the reason one of his test enchantments kept failing its checks was because someone had sneezed while he was working on it. It wasnt that the sneeze had somehow messed <em>him</em> up, it was the simple <em>presence</em> of the sneeze interfering with the formation of the enchantments healing temte, and ran the risk of giving anyone who spent too much time exposed to it a permanent sneeze.


    Seeing that, he knew he needed to scrap that particr sample and start anew. It was a risk of enchanting in an open area like this, and to stop that from happening a second time, he set up an istion field around his workstation. Not exactly ideal conditions for fixing medical equipment, but he had worked with worse.


    The two days he took getting the first healing array running gave him a newfound appreciation for the work required to keep a hospital running. The healing array didnt provide undirected healing, as he would have initially assumed, but instead used a sort of indiscriminate-directed healing pulse. Within its enchantments was a truly dizzying array of checks and bnces to ensure that the energy would find any wounds and focus on them, while also having an actual runic reference to how the human body was supposed to work. There were even overrides to detect when a non-human, or an immortal human with extensive body modifications, entered the array to exclude them from the human-specific optimizations.


    It was absolutely dizzying and Quill <em>still</em> didnt understand at best half of it. But his AI had gotten him there in the end. He wasnt able to test everything himself, as his personal body modifications made him an invalid test subject, but the basic functionality absolutely <em>was</em> a go. Quill watched as mana was drawn from a crystal, fed through the arches and runes, slowly turning a pleasing shade of green-gold, and permeated the arrays entire volume. When he intentionally cut his finger, Quill was able to watch as mana gathered around the fingertip, sent out a pulse to the grander structure, and was sealed up by several pulsating strands of gentle healing mana.


    One of the healers he didnt know that well, Healer Iris, ran through her own sets of tests once she arrived, utilizing abination of enchanted items, skills, and even a few Concept pulses. She turned to him and said, Thank you Quill. This will help quite a bit. Itll need a bit of calibration once its on-site, but everything is working as Id expect for this old model.


    Quill nodded. Im happy to be of assistance however I can be. Hopefully, I can get the others running a bit faster, now that I know what Im doing more.


    Every bit helps, she thanked him, gging down a passing warrior to help her carry the bulky array off, while Quill got back to work.


    The second array, Quill was happy to report, only took him one day, most of which was spent getting the array running <em>smoothly</em>, rather than the sporadic and halting pulses hed initially gotten. The third array took him another two days, as it was a different model, but the final three were all the same Tier 10 model, which, thanks to abination of personal practice and his [AI] having more than enough time to preemptively diagnose the repairs needed, only took him ten hours to get two of the three up and running.


    The final array was damaged beyond repair, unfortunately, at least at his skill level. It wasnt a matter of Tier, all of the individual runes were absolutely within his grasp, but he simply didnt have the skill or skills needed to create a brand new runic core from scratch. He could broadly see how it <em>might</em> be done, but he would need a few more centuries of enchanting experience before he could match the dense, interwoven runic structure, even with the best tools.


    With the repaired arrays deployed, Quill was suddenly left in the same situation as Torch and Snowke. Most of their skill sets were destructive in nature, and their usefulness was limited once the healers didnt need an endless stream of [Bandage]s.


    Quill ended up joining the other two demolition crews, who took apart the fallen buildings and shoved the chunks of concrete into rifts after stripping the metal from the buildings. The metal would be reforged and used to rebuild when the construction crews came through. Those crews were already on the, and Quill was thoroughly impressed at their skills.


    He watched as a six-man team threw up a twelve-story building in two hours. If it had just been the physical structure, that wouldn''t have been <em>that</em> impressive, but they also managed to get the building ready for enchanters toe through and add all the little features people expected in their homes. Even without those features, all the building needed was furniture, and they were fully livable and had people moving in the moment the building was inspected.


    It was almost cathartic to see the empty plots ofnd when they were finished cleaning them up and knowing that in a few weeks or months at most, there would be buildings there.


    But that was the only glimmer of hope Quill, Torch, and Snowke had. With the deconstruction in hand, they moved to other jobs. Harder jobs.


    Helping the survivors.


    Snowke spent arge portion of her time as a small dog and spent time with the youngest of the orphans acting as an unjudging pet they could swarm. A lot of them previously had pets of various types, and seeing her, they turned to her as a safe harbor in the storm. There was just something healing about something fluffy to hug that drew the kids.


    Matt knew it was taking an incredible toll on her psyche, but Aster pushed through, always ying the cheerful animal for the kids. They never knew she cried herself to sleep in Matts arms each time they were forced to take a break, having acted as a rock for the kids to pour out their emotions during the day.


    He suggested she take a break, but she refused, saying that she could handle it but just needed to get the pent-up emotions out of her.


    Liz wasnt any better. Torch was a silent protector, but the woman underneath was an incredibly caring woman and took the sight of the orphans hard. Between serving meals at the food banks, one of the uses of her mes she could get away with, Torch spent time with the orphans doing what she could, but in private, Liz broke down asking if things were this bad for Matt when he was a kid.


    He wanted to lie and tell her that things hadnt been this bad but, knew that wouldnt help her, so he admitted it had been just as bad, if not worse. For all that Ventillyria had arger attack and tragedy, the local nobles were at least actively working to make things better and getting help from the surrounding worlds. His city had had no such help, and it had been weeks before his group of kids had even moved out of the ballroom they had sheltered in.


    That information seemed to break something inside of both Liz and Aster, who wept through seeing what he had been through, but Matt felt nothing. He was numb to it all. Objectively, he knew that wasnt healthy, but he just didnt have the emotional capacity left over to feel anything. He knew they meant well, but seeing the thousands of orphans, he had mmed up, wanting to just get through this for the kids. When he was on the other side, he could process things, and he only had a month to make things better.


    And it was hard.


    Probably the hardest thing he had ever done.


    Quill spent most of his time in the final two weeks with various groups of kids. He didnt tell anyone, but he couldn''t help seeing the faces of those kids he had been in the orphanage with,yering over the faces of these kids. He wasnt sure if the faces were even correct with it being so long, but they were the faces that haunted his quiet moments, which was close enough to the same thing to not make a difference.


    Still, he did his part. Quill, like all celebrity Pathers, was popr with the kids thanks to the Empires propaganda, and he leveraged every bit of charisma and charm he had to interact with them. He toned down the more ragged edges of Quills personality, but kept things cheery for them despite the pain it caused him.


    Some kids just wanted to be close to him, some used him as an adult to vent to, and others used him as a punching bag. All of them cut him to ribbons, but he did his best to push through and be the rock they so desperately needed. Soon, the repeated emotional injuries left him sore and angry. He wasnt angry at the kids, who did exactly as he did andshed out, but angry at Maven.


    He tried to avoid it, but Matt still found himself growing attached to a small group of kids. A young girl, only seven, reminded him of himself at that age. She was angry but kept it bottled up. She put on a polite, even cheerful front to the others, but she couldnt hide from his spiritual perception. He watched as she punched the wall of the bathroom, screaming into her balled up shirt until her knuckles cracked, her skin split open, and she was out of energy.


    He took her aside and gave her a few words of wisdom that had helped him in the aftermath of his own orphaning. Pain is a constant, suffering is optional. It wasnt some magical cure to her anger and pain, but it seemed to help her contextualize the situation a little. At least from what he could see when she got alone time, she stopped the self harm, which was at least a step in the right direction.


    As much as he didnt want to spy on the kids, it was very necessary; suicide attempts were far toomonce despite the healers and therapists making their best efforts. Matt just hoped that in theing weeks and months, the kids could push through those dark thoughts. Even high Tiers couldnt be perfectly vignt, and if the kids tried enough, it was possible they would seed.


    Though the kids he watched werent in the high risk category. While the odds were astronomical, almost fifty thousand kids under the normal age of majority had awakened. Without the awakening chamber, the kid needed to be within a foot, possibly two at the outer limit, of a monster being killed, which could earn them a portion of the in monster''s essence. Those newly awakened children were dangerous not just to others, but to themselves. A three year old throwing innate [Fireball]s when having a tantrum was dangerous to their lower Tier handlers, but especially themselves, so immortal caretakers had to be allocated for the highest risk groups.


    Despite all the horror, Ventillyria came together. Those families who managed to escape unscathed opened their doors to get people off the streets, and the helpfulness from strangers was at an all-time high while the crime was at an all-time low. There were bad actors, of course, but even the criminal poption seemed to have no stomach for petty crime, and anyone who tried to steal from the relief centers found themselves turned in by the fences they tried to sell their goods to.


    On the other hand, crime still happened, just a type of crime that was different than what Matt had considered likely.


    A week after the initial attacks, when he was deep in his enchanting work, there was a run of murders. Those former sect sympathizers hadnt been ignored or forgotten by the general popce just because they took off their robes. Matt was sure most were innocent civilians who had simply been caught up in the new fad, but after the first attacks, any surviving members of the local sects quickly realized they were prime targets for being murdered in retribution by angry survivors.


    That led the sect members turning themselves in to the marchioness, who put them under watch. Matt was sure most would be released in theing weeks or months, as there was no way that many people had much to do with the attacks, but it was still safer for them to remain in custody rather than at the mercy of angry civilians who wanted to strike back at anyone they could reach.


    Thankfully, by the end of the month, the orphanages were established, but Matt didnt expect them tost long. Families were opening their doors, fostering kids as they could, and adults who had lost their own families were acting as foster parents and caretakers, watching over as many kids as they could.


    That even included the immortals. Beverly, Shane, and Yosef were among them, which made Matt proud to have befriended them. They had been in the underwater city when the attacks happened, and after defending that location, they had rushed to thend and done what they could, but the fighting had been over at that point. Afterwards, they, like Matt, Liz, and Aster, had helped the rebuilding efforts before volunteering to take care of as many kids as they could.


    In any other situation, it would have been amusing as they called the three of them out for being Quill, Torch, and Snowke, but they weren''t trying to out their identities. Instead, they just gave their thanks for their efforts. Shane, in particr, begged them to get retribution for the loss, which they easily agreed to. The man had hated the Sects before this incident, and now just wanted to see them destroyed, a sentiment Matt wholeheartedly agreed with.


    They didnt talk long, but the three of them made their intentions to join the army reserves after the kids they were looking after grew up clear, and hoped to see Quill, Torch, and Snowke in the army by then.


    Matt wished he could say things were all the better after just one month, but Ventillyria needed a lot longer to heal; he was at least sure it <em>would</em> heal, but their part in that healing was over.


    Now, they needed to get strong enough to ensure that it couldnt happen again.

 Chapter 255

    Chapter 255


    Zack allowed the tapestry of mana to swirl around him, pushing with his Talent as he pulled from the array beneath his feet. Hed always had to be so cautious with his mana usage and how much he could truly experiment, but now he had a higher mana budget than hed ever thought possible. He still waspelled that he <em>Waste Not</em>, of course, but now, time was the far more precious resource avable to him, and that required certain sacrifices.


    His spellbook, Codex, shed silver, fluttering its pages until it settled upon a half-finished page filled with diagrams andplex rtional charts as words filled the margins, as though penned by an unseen hand.


    <em>The loss is higher than the reverse, even after ounting for the increased time dy. Might there be contamination from the ambient mana? It could support lightning natively.</em> It asked.


    Zack began to shake his head, then paused. Maybe. I suppose if the peaks regrly experience foul weather, there might be some traces of storm and lightning mana. If that is the case, it would suggest attempting to map out a full matrix of ideal aspect swaps could be impossible. Frustrating, but good for ensuring that I would not growcent. They make it easy enough.


    Codex didnt respond directly, but fluttered with happiness at its newly-refurbished cover and the spell knowledge stuffing its pages.


    Yes, you are getting spoiled.


    <em>Im fine with this, </em>it responded.


    Of course you are. Onest test, then are you ready to head back?


    The words faded, reced with a caricature of a book giving a thumbs-up as it returned to its normal ce at his side.


    With a deep breath, Zack refilled his mana pool, grasped his staff, and unleashed a torrent of raw eldritch energy. At the moment, he was content to allow his Tier 1 Talent to transform the [Meteor Shower] into a bombardment of arcane mana, striking with more physicality than fire ever could. He could have utilized his Tier 3 Talents influence to change it from arcane to nearly any mana aspect he was familiar with, but presently, he was simply testing his newest Talent.


    As the orbs of energy hurtled down the mountainside, Zack traced the connection he still held to the mana and <em>pulled</em>, changing the attacks aspect right as it exploded to lightning and unleashing a true tribtion on the natural creatures below. Thunder boomed, arcs of blue energy crashed into the mountainside, and then Zack pulled once again to earth.


    The lightning bolts froze, literally petrified as the sma within them was turned to solid rock, and forming an odd form of sculpture across the stony cliffs, interwoven with the scars of a half-dozen simr tests.


    He didnt even need to consult his book to feel the increased drain on his mana involved in the transformation, but for the sake of practice, he changed the stone to wind and allowed his control topse, relinquishing the spare mana to the rift around him.


    The opportunities afforded by his Tier 25 talent were immense, and if hed had a thousand years to experiment, he felt as though he wouldnt evene close to unlocking its true potential. He was ustomed to choosing a single aspect, or a blend of aspects, for each spell he cast. Oftentimes that was simple, such as altering [Fireball] to ice mana when fighting against a fire-based creature. Other times, it was moreplex, such as choosing whether stone, ice, or abination of wood and metal would best defend against an iing attack. He gained new tools as his mastery over the elements grew, yes, but they were <em>manageable</em>.


    But this? The ability to alter a spell after it had been cast? That was simply too massive. Not only was he mastering a number of new elements that he simply wasnt sure he had the proper finesse to create even a half-century ago, he now had to bnce what kind of element would be the best start for each spell, what he could change it to afterwards for maximum effect, <em>when</em> he ought to make that change, whether he ought to change it multiple times, or even if he ought to change it at all or allow it to continue as-is, saving that small measure of mana? Each and every scrap of mana was precious, and he prided himself on not wasting even a point more than was needed in any given situation.


    It was uneptable that he possessed such an unrealized tool and could not devote the proper time needed to mastering it. But such was the tyranny of time, no matter how strong one became, they would never be free of its grasp.


    After a bit more time discussing the results of histest test with Codex, Zack wrapped the winds around him and flew back to the main base.


    He was only a few hundred miles away from the base, having imed the nearest mountain range as his private area, so the trip took practically no time. Far below him, the bare skeleton of what promised to be a truly massive undertaking was already forming, an endeavor that promised to stretch over a substantial amount of the sr system-sized Tier 35 rift they were in. It was all one continuous mass, albeit one that stretched across a huge variety of mundane and magical climates. All the better to utilize Allies Tier 25 Talent, after all.


    Military undertakings in rifts were nothing new, of course. On the grand scale of a Great Power, there were plenty of Talents that would enable ess into an existing rift instance, but they typically required physical ess to the rift in question, rather than simply being able to appear and disappear from one at-will. It was nigh impossible to move between the battlefield frontiers and the Tier 37 subsidiary world in the capital system like his partner could.


    There were even other projects going on in other instances of this very rift, though Zack wasnt privy to what they were. There was a small crew dedicated to directly entering and exiting those projects so Allie wasnt spending her entire day just ferrying people and gear in and out. There was even talk of setting up a semi-permanent portal, but whether its benefits would outweigh the risks was still hotly debated.


    It was, of course, all in service of utilizing the eightfold time dtion the rift naturally provided, orders of magnitude superior to anything manmade for the utterly negligible mana cost. Here, they could train, adapt to their new Talents and new gear, and grow ustomed to working as a team.


    Ascenders, by their very nature, were solitary. They were the utmost pinnacle within the art of violence. Companions were ephemeral, utilized for single missions either in a situation where their unique capabilities would be useful, or as arger plot or as a favor to another. Project Breach, and in particr Team Zero, was something novel, something only made possible by the utter absurdity that was two or even <em>three</em> teams managing toplete the Path within the span of a bit more than a century. They still had a bit less than a century and a half before their team would beplete, but General Darrow was consistently having them run training drills with a number of candidates to see who they worked best with, and who might be a strong contender for the final Team Zeroposition.


    He touched down on the temporary Team Scry headquarters, a wizards tower stretching nigh a mile into the sky, and entered without so much as a word.


    There were no active identity or security checks, even for entering ssified areas such as this one, but their position inside of a cycled rift meant that there were very, <em>very</em> few people who could get in without permission. The rift they were in was inside of the <em>main operating base</em> for the entirety of the Empires military,plete with countless guards on-hand, the tightest security perhaps anywhere in the entire Empire, and several Tier 46 strategists. The Tier 46s may have been forbidden frommenting upon any war-capable infiltrators, but they ensured that not even being high Tier would be sufficient to infiltrate this ce.


    Zack knew that the apparentck of defenses wasnt wholly true, and some areas were off-limits even for him, but theck of any visual indicator took a mental load off. An important consideration for a base theyd be spending centuries or more inside of.


    He passed Wellspring and her bodyguard as he entered, the former practically frozen midstep at the speeds he was operating at. It was unusual to see the pair of them outside of the Kudzuplex, but Scry was the next mostmon locale for them, as the blonde womans mana and Talent was studied as a general assignment. At Tier 15, the healer was one of the weakest people involved in Project Breach, and it was up to Corporal Blossom, once one Corporal Evelyn Nore, or Evie as she preferred to be called when out of uniform, to keep her safe in simple everyday activities. The bodyguard saluted to him as he passed, and he returned the greeting, senses fixated upon the twitching in the womans lower jaw.


    Corporal Nore always made him a bit nervous. The bio-metallic parasite empowering her body carried with it a distinct risk that it would one day render its host into an insane, life-hating entity like any other rift monster. <em>Why</em> theyd paired a potentially unstable experiment with the most Talented healer in the Empire, Zack did not fully understand, outside the potential hope that Wellsprings continued healing would keep the parasites madness at bay and its host alive.


    Should the need arise, Zack had dozens of protocols and prepared spells ready to eliminate Corporal Blossom. The treatment she had undergone made her incredibly resilient and even harder to kill, capable of regenerating from even the smallest bit of missed flesh into a whole being once again. That was without ounting for the dozens of enchanted items and natural treasures shed consumed to enhance her body and its passenger, the womans own Talents and Domains, and any number of other tricks he didnt know of the project might have given her.


    Nervousness was no excuse for impolite behavior, of course, and it wasnt as though Corporal Blossom was the only person he had rehearsed killing should the need arise. She was simply among the more annoying to fully vanquish, though some of his newer skills and gear would aid in that. By contrast, Wellspring would be trivial to eliminate, even if they were the same Tier. Her healing was not instantaneous, nor was her judgment, and the woman wasnt much of abatant. Simply removing her head with a healing-blocking skill would be sufficient for the time being, though her Talent was actively being grown to ovee the admittedly basic methods he had avable to him at the moment.


    The most assured method of killing her would be to destroy her head and then outpace whatever slow healing she had active on herself until the spells expended their duration. It would be messy and inefficient, but from what he knew of her abilities, it would always work on her or anyone she had healed.


    Crafting a more robust method of execution was something he spent nearly seventeen seconds per day working on.


    He left the duo behind as he navigated further into the tower, until he eventually reached Researcher Karlsboratory. The man was quite scatterbrained, but no worse than Allie was. At least he was always getting distracted by other equally valid avenues of discovery, rather than Zacks partners fairly tant desire to <em>avoid</em> work. He wasnt much of a threat, discounting the mans Tier.


    While Researcher Erwin Karl was a fairly proficientbat alchemist, the man hadnt seen truebat for at least a few millennia, and most of the mans Domain and skills were more geared towards knowledge. He would be unpredictable, with a deep bag of tricks, but Zack had fought tricksters before, and could do it again. Limit their mobility and visibility, then strike with overwhelming force. Bait out their instinctive defenses, then adjust ordingly.


    Simple opponents when you knew the proper steps to take.


    When he entered the room Researcher Karl was facing away from him, a faint blur of color working on an illusionary diagram. That didnt stop the man from noticing Zacks appearance, and he settled into a slower pace as Zack took a seat.


    Oh! Ascender Light! Sorry, I got carried away. How was your practice?


    It was productive. I believe that environmental mana may influence the efficacy of my conversions, and at some point I feel it might be prudent to investigate whether there may be some form of corresponding effect upon my at-cast alterations.


    Hmm, yeah. That could


    Researcher, Zack warned the man before he could get sidetracked, Did you find anything promising?


    Yes! Faster mana types. I believe there exists a possible blend of lightning, air, and illusion that I think you could utilize to decent effect. I wanted to use light instead of illusion, but none of the calctions checked out. Im going to keep looking though, once we try this one. Do you want to give it a try?


    In addition to, or perhaps because of, Researcher Karls experience as an alchemist, the man was also remarkably skilled at helping break down mana aspects, or rbining them for specific goals. As Zack mastered higher-level mana types, andbinations thereof, he grew to desire mana blends with exceptionally specific properties. For all his mastery of level 1 and 2 mana types, and his fairly solid grasp upon a substantial number of level 3 mana types, he was only barely capable of pushing his spells to a full level 4, let alone level 5.


    Expanding that capability was among his highest priorities, and that desire was only magnified by his ability to only utilize a hyper-specialized aspect when it would be useful. For example, making a projectile travel as fast as possible before changing it to something far more dangerous the moment before impact.


    Zacks [AI] beeped with Researcher Karls new theory, and Codex fluttered open to a page where it was broken down into pieces. I suppose we may as well. Is the testing room ready?


    The alchemist nced over his shoulder, blurred into motion, then settled back into Tier 25 speeds. Yes.


    The testing room was heavily reinforced and embedded with countless sensors. Codex fluttered to its pedestal, where it would monitor the proceedings, while Zack took a seat on his chair and cast a floating light orb within a nigh-indestructible Tier 35 box. While the odds of them finding a manabination destructive enough that simple testing would result in substantial damage to them or the room were low, discretion was the better part of valor, and they never knew when a seemingly innocuous mana blend could be dangerous.


    Zack reached within himself and altered the mana in his floating light to Researcher Karls proposedbination. It fizzled out, dissolving into spare motes of disparate mana.


    Well, no matter. That was why they tested. Aspects were notoriously difficult to get to cooperate, immensely unstable unless properly synthesized into a new aspect. Discovering new, proper aspects was beyond the scope of their goal for the moment, but in time, there was always the possibility of it happening.


    It took several more attempts, with a few other members of Scrying through to offer their expertise on the matter, before they finally settled on a ratio for the three aspects that wouldnt instantly disassociate when Zack attempted to utilize it. It still required concentration on behalf of Zack to keep it together while in use, but it was one step along a muchrger journey. It was usable in a fight, albeit just barely, and that was their current goalpleted. In time, perhaps their experiments would yield something truly impressive, an element which he could utilize for faster-than-lightning spell attacks to hasten himself and others. There would be countless more uses that always apanied such broadly versatile abilities as more speed. His goal aplished, he took a detour to the Cloudpound for a meal.


    With the size of the operation they were acting on, there were several families present. No children, but many of the spouses, siblings, or in a few cases teams were still living within the rift. Many of those were employed as aides, either in the group most closely associated with their speciality, or barring that, as an aide in Group Cloud.


    The food was as high-quality as everything else, with two Red Feather redited chefs working together, and Aunt Helen herself had made Zacks wee meal when hed first arrived at the garrison, back when it was located on a hidden a few systems away from the Citadel. He didnt know if Allie had gotten one of her own, but the fact he <em>didnt</em> know meant she probably hadnt, as she would have boasted to the sky about it. That meal had been utterly divine. This food was still quite excellent. Better in some ways, lesser in some others, but overall an inferior experience.


    Unfortunately, he was unable to finish it before his [AI] alerted him to an emergency meeting.


    He might not have quite determined what mana aspect was pure speed, but he could still be <em>quite</em> fast, and he arrived at the Chess building mere momentster, lightning trailing in his wake. General Darrow and Allie were already present, but the rest of Team Zero was still absent. A couple of the other team leads were present, and there was a general aura of unease permeating the room. Even Allie looked concerned, which instantly ratcheted up the possible degree of problem they were facing in his mind.


    His partner noticed his unease and filled him in, Terrorist attack, courtesy of the Sects.


    A sessful one? Zack was taken aback. Terrorism was discouraged in the strongest possible terms, and that another Great Power would be willing to grantly break the rules this early in the war did not bode well.


    Details wille momentarily, Ascender Light, General Darrow said. But suffice to say, the situation isplicated.


    It didnt take long for everyone to assemble. Well, not <em>everyone</em>. It was only him, Allie, some members of Groups River, Chess, and Chatter, and the leaders of Teams Zero through Five. Team Six was deployed and thus absent, but all of the relevant figures for a potential emergency situation were gathered.


    No sooner had theirst member- Voi Kanakas, the Kanakas who strongly favored their left side in all things physical, resulting in a permanent limp- arrived, that General Darrow began. Two hours ago, a near-border named Ventillyria was struck by a terrorist attack indirectly bankrolled by the Sects. While the damages were strongly limited by Manager Luna, who happened to be on the at the time, it still served as a distraction for an assault upon the supply depot within that system by one Dao Child Maven and a team of Corporation Mercenaries. They crippled the local transportwork and plundered a substantial fraction of the supplies present, and are heading back into Sect-upied space. But to do that, they are moving through seven other Empire-held systems.


    Allie snorted, Now thats a trap if I ever saw one.


    Colonel Wexler, leader of Group River, and a man with exceptional enough senses that a shbang would be devastating, stood as the projection changed. Indeed. Maven has been repeatedly emphasized as the intended counter to yourself and Ascender Light. We believe that she, the mercenaries she is working with, and possibly additional hidden reinforcements, are all stationed and ready to intercept you once you engage. They are moving substantially slower than their estimated top speed, seemingly at a rate calcted to ensure that were we based from the Citadel, we would have plenty of time to intercept.


    And we n to walk directly into the trap? Zack confirmed, earning himself a snakelike grin from the Kanakas present.


    Of course we are. Theyve spent all this time attempting to bait you out, and making it patently obvious thats what theyre after, we cant allow that to go unanswered.


    General Almora, the leader of the entire operation and distinctlycking in terms of defenses against sound magic, finished the thought. The best part of having an Ascender on hand is that we can send you directly into obvious traps and know that it is the trap which will give way. Its the same reason you no longer need to hide your true abilities, because when they develop countermeasures for your tactics, we will have already devised a way to ovee those countermeasures.


    Allie let out a low cheer, Fuck yeah! Lets break some faces!


    Your first priority for this mission, Ascender Shadow, is to neutralize the Dao Child. Do not expect her to truly fall, however. This is no doubt as much an opportunity for her to ascertain your true abilities. If presented with a way to kill her, take that opportunity, but expect her to survive. For all that the Sects like to boast of their desire for victory or death alone, their elites are just as well-protected as any of ours. Your secondary goal is to inflict maximum casualties upon any support personnel present.


    Zack nodded, then paused. No prisoners? I recognize that we are facing the Sects, but you mentioned that Corporation mercenaries are also present. Should we not seek to capture them?


    Not in this instance. If they wish to push the bounds of decorum, then so shall we. Anything else? Very well, dismissed.


    Allie teleported them directly to the armory, where the rest of the provisional Team Zero was already loading up Drifters ship. With the exception of Corporals Stick and Stone, they nominally possessed a single member from each of the other five conventional teams, as General Darrow gauged their synergy and interpersonal dynamics for inclusion upon the teams finalposition.


    Stick and Stone drew most of their strength from one another, Bolt would need to be subjected to an exceptionally powerful dispel, and Bulwark would require healing blocking much like Wellspring would. Origami needed to be eliminated fast before she could get anything deployed, Torment would either require a powerful emotional stimnt or suppressant, and Drifter would be helpless once he got inside her ship. All immensely powerful individuals in their own right, and when assembled, they were powerful enough to take on the best of any of the other Great Powers.


    Between the nine of them, they were all but fully loaded by the time General Darrow arrived with his own kit in tow. Origami was the final straggler, weighing the benefits of her artillery tform versus an additional shield generator, but as their battlefieldmander arrived, she loaded the artillery inside the ships hull and stood at attention.


    Once dismissed, they filed in, took their seats, and Zack felt as Allie stretched her control of space over their entire ship, pulled them momentarily inside her pocket dimension, and teleported. They reappeared in a military hangar hidden within the Citadels sr system, Allie copsed to her seat in exhaustion, and Drifter brought them into chaotic space.


    Drifter was a very, <em>very</em> good pilot. While not the best in the entire Realm, or even the entire Empire, she was indisputably the best pilot under Tier 30 on raw technical ability, and had the fastest ship Zack had ever heard of for their Tier range. Between that and Drifters ability to navigate into the oddities of Chaotic Space safely, they intercepted Dao Child Mavens group within five days of deployment. New intelligence had confirmed there were some additional forces lying in wait, but the ten of them were more than prepared for anything. Theyd undergone extensive discussions and briefings, so they knew what they were getting into.


    Then, the convoy appeared on their forward scanners and they sprang into action.


    Bulwark, Stick, and Stone began casting their spells, buffing themselves and the rest of them. Bolt and Origami opened the war chest from Group Cornucopia, distributing potions and talismans, and Light snapped Codex closed while Shadow donned Gerald, the violet cloak settling around her shoulders. General Darrow opened his third eye and manifested a war map in his hands, consulting the icons upon it.


    As they drew closer, Darrow was the first to deploy, breaking off into a smallmand shuttle Origami had provided so that he would be close enough for his abilities to affect them, but not close enough as to potentially end up in the line of fire.


    General Darrows voice spoke into their minds, The Dao Child has been located, nked by somewhere between one and six cloaked troop carrier ships. Drifter will close the distance on the count of five. Once you get in range, Shadow, I want you to gate in Torment and Origami above them. Then, take yourself, Light, Stick, Stone, and Bulwark from the bottom. Bolt, remain on the ship, focus on support for Torment and Origami.


    Domains red and began to meld. Stick and Stones were of course already naturally synergistic, while General Darrows own abilities ensured that the rest of them would cooperate rather thanpete as they attempted to utilize their own control, meshing their powers into a cohesive whole. Simultaneously, an awareness of all the members of Team Zero filled Zacks mind, forming a tapestry of senses and status.


    Fortunately, Darrow had managed to properly calibrate the emotional sensitivity such that Torment no longer overwhelmed the rest of them. The first time they had undergone full-scale practice drills, Zack had nearly been driven catatonic from the mans emotional feedback, and none of the others had fared any better. Now that it was dialed way back, it was far more manageable.


    In preparation, Zack opened Codex to a very particr page and began feeling the arcane energies contained within begin to roil in anticipation.


    As the mark was given, Shadow stretched open a sparkling portal, and Torments rage boiled over, a massive demonic figure tearing its way out of his body and through the portal with a roar. Origami tossed out a metallic device as it unfolded into a mobile weapons tform, hopping on it a secondter alongside Torment.


    The shimmering portal closed right behind them with a <em>pop</em>, Shadow clearly enjoying no longer needing to pretend all of her abilities were shadow-rted.


    Light could feel as the convoy they were attacking opened fire upon the tform, then Shadow reached out with her Talent, and with another <em>pop,</em> they were below the ships. Light grasped his staff, and power flowed from Codex into him and from him through his staff and into the void around them. Shadow grabbed the attack and teleported it past the shields, enabling Lights attack direct ess to the ships hull.


    Arcane energy burst forth, and Lights [Arcane Surge], carrying tens of thousands of mana, crashed into the ships hull. Like the [Wave] it was based on, it brought with it a flood, but this was one which overwhelmed enchantments and burned out runic structures, damaging but not crippling the ship. No doubt, there were mechanics prepared for power surges, and they had contained Lights attack admirably. They would have full functionality restored in minutes at the most.


    But then, in a move L Worldwaker herself would approve of, Light changed the lingering mana to decay. His predecessor had been famous for turning the water in someone''s body to sand, and he had taken a note out of her ybook. The excess energy the ship had imed and directed across the entire vessel, shoving some to mana storage and utilizing others in their weapons, hull reinforcements, and more besides, suddenly became worse than useless.


    His mana dropped precipitously, but he refilled it with his new ring, and watched as giant portions of the hull ckened and turned to ash, the shields sputtered and stopped, and the regr thrum of cannons died away. Above them, Torment and Origami closed the distance with their army of summons and golems, but two troop transports shimmered out of cloaking. The first was instantly met by cover fire from Drifter and Bolt, explosions peppering its surface as theparatively tiny craft flew circles around all return fire, deftly maneuvering between shots and performing stunts that should have been impossible to close the distance between it and the reinforcements.


    Dao Child Maven, in the form of some kind of metallic bear-turtle hybrid d in light emitting armor, charged towards them through the void, and was met by Stone. While the armored man was able to slow her, the Dao Child slipped from his grasp a secondter. Much of her momentum was spent, but she was still a formidable force as her limbs elongated, seeking to carve Light in half.


    Light didnt so much as blink, knowing that Shadow would block the attack, and his partner didnt disappoint, blocking the w with a seemingly ship-sized dagger while a needle-sized one was driven into Mavens eye. But instead of gouging a hole into the womans skull, it passed straight through as Maven became intangible. She slid past Shadow, but Shadow refused to let her go. Gentle light bloomed from a massive silver moon Maven had summoned, dispelling every shadow in the area as a potent spatial and temporal lock descended upon the area. An anti-water and anti-illusion ward was established, a sandstorm began, and a deep hum filled the emptiness of space, with the sound reverberating despite theck of an atmosphere.


    Shadow flickered, no doubt as the spatial lock interfered with her trick of hiding inside her own pocket dimension, but she brought her own Intent to bear and space cracked around her, just enough for her to slip through and stab Maven in the back. The shapeshifter turned into a hissing snake, trying to slice Shadow in half with a ded tail, but Shadow was already on the other side of the Dao Child, grabbing her neck.


    Maven detonated into a cloud of shadowy birds, closing in on Shadow from all sides, but Light interfered with an arcane [Chain Lightning], devastating the flock. His next attack was a force [Meteor Swarm] that Shadow slipped around Mavens attempts to block, then twisted the explosion along cracks in shattered space, such that the recovering shapeshifter took the full force from every angle of the detonation.


    Maven teleported away from Shadow and struck at him with a potent w attack, but Light allowed Shadow to push the attack to the side, allowing its energy to dissipate when it couldnt find a target. Before it did, however, he grabbed the spell with his Intent and Talent.


    Maven was prepared for that, seemingly, and the spell detonated before he could properly get control over it, pushing against his Domain and inflicting some kind of enforced cooldown for his skills. Light frowned. It was some sort of curse, preventing him from casting too many spells at one time, ording to Codex.


    Curious.


    Codex hadnt managed to determine an optimal way to dispel the curse, but heunched himself towards Bulwark as Shadow kept Maven busy.


    Bulwark already knew what to do, and with a touch, the healer fought back the curse. It wasnt removed, that would require more effort, but it was suppressed long enough that Light could finish this fight. Bulwark acknowledged the pulse of gratitude Light sent towards him, then hefted his polearm and returned to fighting back the onught of other fighters pouring from the ships, his spectral griffin steed screeching a silent warcry paired with a me breath.


    Light returned to the fight with Maven just as Shadow took a powerful blow from a void-empowered mantis w, scoring a deep line into her armor and body. Light cast a quick healing spell upon her, knitting her flesh back together in the blink of an eye, and pushed against the spatial lockdown with his Intent and his mana. A dark blue crossbow bolt flew past his ear and detonated in front of him, giving him a sudden glut of spatial mana. With that, he joined with Shadows efforts to gain control of the space, but couldnt manage to do much more than lock it down for Maven as well.


    For all his strength, there were limits to what he could properly manage with a mana type as tricky as spatial, and he was matched by quite high-quality artifice and centuries of experience. Given enough time, or perhaps some additional equipment of his own, he could no doubt seize control of the enchantments empowering Maven, suborning them or tearing them apart at his leisure, but the gains did not justify the effort required.


    After all, Shadow was only somewhat hindered by the spatial lock, her Intent still allowing her to teleport within its area, albeit not out and back in. It let her remain mostly untouchable as she fought the shapeshifter, but was having just as much difficultynding a truly decisive blow upon Maven. She had a truly impressive grasp upon her shapeshifting, dodging powerful attacks as small creatures and fast attacks with formidable defenses.


    Light experienced simr difficulties, but fared somewhat better as he filled the battlefield with magic, raising stone and metal walls, waves ofva and water, and sending torrents of sand, lightning, and wood at the Dao Child, testing her defenses. Each spell was perfectly calibrated to the sub-mana level to not waste a single iota, be it a harmless strike to gauge resistance or an attempt to follow up with something more substantial. It was impressive the degree to which she could urately tell the aspect of genuinely harmful spells he was casting, changing her form to something either immune to the attack or generally quite resistant, even when he attempted to disguise it.


    What injuries they did inflict were simply discarded as the Dao Child changed to a new form.


    Overall, they were winning. Just not as fast as he would have liked. One of the ambushing ships was disabled in the wake of abined assault from Origami, Drifter, and Bolt, and many of the footsoldiers were dead or maimed in the wake of Stick, Stone, Bulwark, or Torment passing through. Though, those four were slowly losing ground, unable to hold back the tide of armored opponents.


    Then, he saw his opening. Maven had overextended herself in an attempt to strike at Shadow. His partner had managed topress space just enough that when it returned to normal, Maven was out of position. A powerful dispel perfectly tuned to Mavens particr brand of moon mana threw the shapeshifter back into her base form. He locked her into ce with [Frozen Moment] altered tova, then cooled with [Orb of Water], and then followed it up with a life-draining decay effect. When he fired hisst attack, Allie was able to perfectly guide it into the Dao Childs chest.


    She tried to shapeshift out of the way, but Light was able to, if not quite <em>counter</em> the spell, dy its activation long enough. She turned intangible, but that didnt matter to the roiling, chaotic mass of pure void that ended the fight.


    Light had always had a singr element fully beyond his grasp, and while much of his custom gear was still under construction in the hands of Group Firmament, hed gotten a wand capable of aspecting any spell cast through it to void. Overuse would cause the wand to break, and there was no assurance hed be able to find a recement, but for a dramatic finisher, there was no contest.


    That was why he saved it for this final attack.


    However, the instant the void scoured away her armor, and began to sink into too-white flesh, an artifact detonated, sending a powerful st of static through Lights spatial lock and destroying it. When the explosion passed, Dao Child Maven was gone.


    Damnit! Shadow frowned and continued, Was that really only Tier 25? It felt like trying to grab a mote of dust as it escaped.


    Shes truly gone then?


    Shadow nodded. There was a teleport in there, I think some kind of two-part link. Felt like it was headed to Sect territory, but theres too much turbulence to tell for sure.


    With Maven quite thoroughly routed for the time being, Light turned his attention to the soldiers around him, preparing for their secondary objective. Beside him, Shadows Domain and Talent rippled, and everything beyond just a few miles out seemed to vanish in favor of turning back in on itself, no lines of escape left open for their opponents unfortunate enough to still be trapped in with them, merely a hundred strong per member of Team Zero present.


    Stick appeared next to Light, and their Domains and mana meshed. Power was shared, control split, and capabilities divided as appropriate within their two-person ritual. Around them, a storm blossomed. High winds whipped through their arena, lightning overloaded or disrupted enchantments, and conjured hail battered and bloodied those not within protective armor. Yet for all the maelstrom unleashed upon their foes, no hail fell upon his allies. Lightning struck alongside their attacks, and the winds carried them to where they wished to go.


    The Sect and Corporation enemies fell upon them with all the force of a gentle breeze. Light very nearly ended up mana <em>positive</em> by the end of it, if he included Codex and his staff. Spells were dispelled or stolen, turned back on their casters, siphoned into his staffs enchantments, or stored within Codex to cast at ater date. One particr Sect woman held his attention for quite some time, as she proudly upied him with an inadvisable number of her personal [Seven Suns Vanquishing the Darkness of Night] modification of [Meteor Swarm].


    It was quite a curious spell, though Light didnt allow himself to ck on his other support duties as he and Codex studied its magic. Unfortunately, it was simply a modification to utilize armageddon mana in ce of volcano mana. While Zack had a tenuous grasp of thetter, he certainly couldnt utilize the former yet. Regardless, it was not a modification or spell worthy of copying into Codex, and once Light was certain of his assessment, he detonated the next casting of the spell right as it manifested by her palm, killing the woman with her own spell.


    Didya find something neat? Shadow popped in.


    Not worthy of any true consideration. While you are here, twelve-A, if you please.


    Shadow shot a mock salute, forming a pair of portals right next to Lights hands. Abination of gravity and crystal magics utilized the pair of portals as an endless tube for eleration, creating a form of resonance that Light utilized to decimate an entire column of Corporation attackers, piercing white light searing itself into the spirits of those struck by it. Even those not hit would find themselves with something of a blindspot in their spiritual perception for a short while if they had it spread out and the attack passed through their area of perception.


    From above, Bulwark swooped down upon his mount, healing magic coursing through the mans body as he hacked a personal spacecraft into pieces with a brutal strike, then kicked arger fragment hard enough that it caved in the chest of a Sect man who was rushing him. Stone was locked in a power armor battle with one of what seemed to be the Corporationsmanders, facing down the much more experienced operator of the advanced suits with abination of Team Zeros buffs, his own ludicrous strength cultivation, and simple superior enchanting-work.


    Light still cut the battle short by disabling the Corporations supplementary arm motor, allowing Stone to crumple the man into a ball mere momentster.


    Shadow allowed Torment and Origami to join in the melee at some point, and Light was more than pleased to see the formers fear, taking the form of a hooded figure with skeletal fingers and no visible face, grow everrger as it reaped strength from those it killed. The fiery silhouette of rage burning hotter and hotter as enemies sought to avenge their fallenrades and fell to its wrath. Origami had deployed a fully automatic mana turret, unleashing a nigh-endless spray of cover fire against another column of soldiers.


    There was no quarter asked. There was no quarter given.


    A simr scene happened not an hourter when they went and routed the besieging Sect army, giving the military base a breath of fresh air. They would no doubt be attacked once more in a few weeks or months, but Team Zero had bought them some time to rest and recover.


    As they were leaving, Light watched as a few vultures and pirates were already beginning to raid the bodies of the fallen and the wreckage that was once a proud, if small, fleet of ships. They would know to steer clear of the fortress, but that wasnt his concern. He just watched their surroundings as Drifter retrieved him in a ship that should rightly be falling apart were it not for her Talents dictating otherwise.


    Despite everything, he felt a little pride zing through him as they boarded the ship. They had aplished their goal, walking directly into a trap and walking out again unscathed.


    No doubt, the next time would be harder. The entire Realm now knew of their capabilities, or at least loosely what they could expect, and they could train to perfectly counter his and Allies techniques, avoid the weaknesses they were most capable of exploiting, and generally hyper-specialize to fight them <em>specifically</em>. Meanwhile, he and Allie would be expected to fight against enemies with unknown capabilities, as often as they could physically manage, and do it all without showing a hint of weakness.


    He was looking forward to it.


    Once they were away from prying eyes, Allie teleported them back to home base, where Kudzu looked over them for any lingering wounds. Zack had his curse fully removed, Allies hastily-healed gash was properly mended, Torment underwent standard mental screening, Drifter was treated for full-body bruising and crushed organs, while everyone else underwent a thousand and one other minor checks to ensure they were in prime condition for the next fight.


    Alongside it all was Wellspring, assisting and learning from the healers a hundred times her senior. It slowed the entire process to a crawl, but Zack took the opportunity to meditate and discuss magic with Researcher Karl over his [AI], instead of simply suppressing his mental cultivation. If nothing else, Wellspings Talent made all the healing she was a part of much faster and lower effort, which made her a resource to be catered to.


    Removing a healing cooldown and reducing the strain to heal was a valuable Talent, and even Zack wasnt sure just how strong her Talent would grow given a few centuries and a dozen Tiers, so he approved of catering to her when she was young, as time permitted.


    It was something of a pity they couldnt operate with full efficiency, with Allie carrying them around the Empire in the blink of an eye and Wellspring wiping away whatever injuries they did take, but such was the cost of those secrets which they still needed to maintain. Logistical secrets had to remain a secret, for those were the only things which<em> genuinely</em> influenced the strength of the Great Powers, in truth. It didnt matter that Zack could utilize any form of magic he desired at any time, or that Allie could bend space in a massive area. Those were relevant on the micro-scale, within the scope of a single battle.


    But Wellspring enabling Ascenders to fight with no regards for most wounds? Allie allowing for instantaneous deployment of strategic assets anywhere in the blink of an eye? That the Emperor himself possessed those capabilities? Those were the sorts of things which told the story of how well the Empire could genuinely weather the attack, and <em>nobody</em> wished to give the slightest hint of their true strengths.


    As for strengths


    Zack needed to work a lot more upon mastering level three and four mana types.


    <em>He </em>would be the one unleashing armageddon the next time he faced the Sects.

 Chapter 256

    Chapter 256


    Matt floated in the void of space and blinked at the ck hole in front of him. It bore down on his Concept like it was trying to remove its pr opposite from the realm. Which it sort of was. A true ck hole wasnt the weak construct that Minka had made as a test, beatable by any Tier 14s. This was a proper, natural ck hole, and a Tier 7 one at that.


    Despite its low Tier, the ck hole held a truly enormous amount of essence in its core that Matt could feel from well outside its event horizon. All celestial bodies took enormous amounts of essence to advance, but evenpared to the suns Matt had visited in his quest for inspiration with his Intent, the ck hole was a rtively endless pit.


    And that was why he was here.


    The ck hole was his Concepts pr opposite, and through its pressure and resistance, he was able to better understand his Concept, and through that, his Intent. At Tier 17, it was getting safer to push a bit further at the pieces of his Intent, attempting to gauge the level ofpatibility he had with them. It wasnt wholly reliable- many people had ended up with an Intent they initially had rejected, or found that what they thought was a perfect match waspletely rejected by their spirit in practice. But it was a <em>start</em>. His attempts at a Minka-based Image was still his favored idea out of a dozen others.


    Hed still test other Images once it was safe to do so, but he didnt have the luxury of waiting until then to determine a new potential Image. Hence, revisiting the ck hole idea.


    Using the Heart of the ck Hole from Minka had been great training, but as he got stronger and grew more attuned to his Concept, the pressure the item put on him had dropped to zero, which was why he had sought out the true version of his Concepts nemesis.


    With the pressure of the ck hole pressing down on him, Matt calmed himself before entering the very center of his essence cores, where his Domain resided. Inside, he found his Concept at the center of his being, where it radiated out endless energy. That was the core of who he was, and seeing that, Matt understood Aunt Helens earlierments about Domains and their natures. His Concept was the core of himself, and everything else was built off that.


    Mentally pulling back a little, Matt retreated slightly to leave the sphere of influence of his Concept where his Intent would eventually surround it. It was empty at the moment, holding only the vague echoes of Minka resonating with his spirit, and now bending under the pressure of the ck hole before him.


    His Phrase and Anchor were in simr states, and Matt gently pushed some of his ideas to the forefront of his spirit, seeing how they resisted and interacted with the <em>very real</em> ck hole before him. Because his spirit was aligned with a white hole, anything originating from his Domain would be naturally fought by the ck hole. If the idea had particr resonance with his spirit, then it would be able to resist the ck holes presence because <em>he</em> could resist the ck hole. If it wasnt able to resist the pressure, that meant his spirit wasnt empowering the idea and likely meant it was ill-suited to be a part of his Domain.


    Others could go to ces that synergized with their Concepts to see what resonated with them, but as he was the only essible white hole in the realm, he didnt have that luxury. It wasnt a foolproof method by any stretch of the imagination, but it was one piece of the puzzle. Today, he was working on his Phrase. Another time, hed return for his Image and Anchor.


    He had, if anything, <em>too many</em> ideas for his Anchor. A massive, ever expanding mana crystal, a talisman, an enchanters scribe, a mana concentration potion, a constetion, a suit of armor, even the heart of a ck hole He still held out some hope that he could utilize his sword as his anchor, but while it felt lightlypatible with his image of Minka, <em>he</em> didnt feel any particr resonance with it. It was iplete, somehow. The same went for his house and ring, which could have fit with the idea of a modr Intent.


    He still wanted to try, but he knew attempting to chase specific interactions and initial abilities was something of a fools errand. Maybe he could brute-force it, but doing so would result in something far weaker that might possibly need to be outright reced, if it truly wascking in resonance.


    Luna had suggested that his sword might not be appropriate as his Anchor because it didnt properly represent the way he interacted with the world around him. It was one tool among many, but his spirit was unconvinced that it wished to define itself around such a narrow scope. Matt wasnt sure if that truly was his problem, but he set those concerns aside.


    For now, he was attempting to find a Phrase.


    At the moment, his top contender was I Am Resolute.


    It felt loose, not quite appropriate, and certainly not modal in the way he had hoped, but it still had some resistance to the ck hole before him. Fittingly, intent mattered when it came to interpreting Phrases, and it was possible he simply hadnt found the right angle to consider the phrase yet, which would give him that eureka moment.


    My Will Is Resolute felt somewhat better, and seemed to hold resonance with the idea that he was capable of aplishing anything should he be determined enough. It meshed with Minka and rejected the ck hole, which seemed like a good start for a Phrase, which Matt felt fairly pleased with.


    I Am Dauntless was another contender, oddly enough this one <em>resonated</em> fairly well with the ck hole when he tested it, instead of rejecting his Concepts opposite. But the sense of immovability it brought seemed to be much the opposite of the modal effects he was aiming for, so it was discarded.


    I Am Unstoppable, Forging Untold Worlds, Creating The Impossible, Vanquisher Of The Wicked, Defender Of The Weak, I Am Flexible, I Am Modal, I Ovee All, I Am Unaffected, all were tried and considered.


    I Am Limitless held a distant echo of promise, and certainly <em>could</em> work. It promised a good degree of flexibility, and he was in many ways limitless in that his mana could enable him to fill any role. He could be a tank with his armor skills, or buff himself and be a powerful striker. He could be a support for Liz and Aster, or a ster.


    With the pressure of the ck hole bearing down upon him, trying to pull him every which way, Matt floated in ce and focused upon the infinite options before him.


    ***


    Liz twisted slightly as she blocked the spear thrust at her with her shield and returned her own thrust to her opponent.


    The Liz across from her was made from blood, but reacted the same way she had to its own attack, with a slight dodge to change the cement of the hit and block the rest with her shield.


    At almost the same time, they jumped to their right and threw a burst of blood at each other. Liz blocked the attack with her shield, and when she lowered it, saw her blood clone had done the same thing.


    Stopping her fight, Liz cursed.


    She and the clone had fallen into the habit of mirroring each other once again.


    Luna nodded. Good, you noticed it faster. You alsosted longer before the two of you synched up. It''s an improvement.


    Liz sighed. By a fraction of a percent. This would be a million times easier if I had a spell more sophisticated than [Lesser Mana Clone] for the base skill.


    Luna nodded once more. That would most currently help, yes. But that isn''t our goal. If you can get this down with the worst of the clone spells, you will be able to handle a dozen times more copies of yourself than someone who skipped this step. Turning, Luna called out to Aster, who was floating in a shimmering crystal of ice and wind. Aster,e to help Liz spar with herself.


    It took almost a full minute for Asters eyes to start blinking, but when she did, she quickly dissipated her Concept and spells.


    What?


    The fox woman''s ears twitched as she questioned the interruption.


    Come help Liz.


    Hearing Lunas order, Aster skipped over and summoned her staff, twirling it like a baton.


    Even then, the staff seemed innocuous and harmless, but Liz knew damn well that was a tant lie.


    Aster had spent a substantial amount of time working on the manifestation, and it was every bit as potent a channel for her magic as Susannes sword alloted her, and then some. While it only affected spells her Concept already worked on, those spells tended to bypass armor entirely, freezing the metal it struck to the cloth and flesh underneath. Ice resistance enchantments <em>helped</em>, but Aster had spent a lot more effort developing her ability to ovee ice resistance than Liz had spent on improving it.


    The fox was also proving annoyingly adept at illusions for someone who had disdained bing a kitsune. Any given attack may or may not have actually been real, and those which were real could often appear harmless but be nigh-lethal, appear lethal only to be harmless, or be some kind of debilitating debuff. It worked well enough on rift monsters, as she could manipte how threatening her spells appeared to be, but her deception really showed its worth against sentient opponents.


    Liz summoned a copy of herself and did her best to banish all thoughts of controlling it to the back of her mind. She could already control it quite adeptly if she thought about it consciously, but attempting to control two wholly different bodies to do different things at the same time wasplex, and keeping the two distinct streams of thought separate usually didntst long.


    Saying that her current goal was to run her clone entirely on <em>instinct</em> was incorrect, as instinct had to be tempered with strategy, but she wanted to be able to simply think <em>about</em> what she wanted her clone to do and have it act, instead of thinking about <em>how</em> it would act. The long-term goal was to make that almost fully subconscious, her training allowing her to steer around an entirely separate copy of her just as easily as she could recall her spear to hand. She was aiming to have someone more in sync with her than a counterpart with their own mind could ever be.


    It looked to Aster and winked before asking, You ready, Scoop?


    Aster smirked. You''re damn right! Also, this still feels weird, interacting with two of you. By the way do you and Matt do a little extra freaky stuff with the blood clones?


    Both Lizes snorted and ignored thest question.


    Liz wasnt her parents, who had spent more than a little bit of effort trying to get the clone series of skills ssified as sex skills rather than general-utility skills, and who had gone several hundred years with the ability to use clones before they ever <em>fought</em> using them.


    No, she and Matt had perfectly normal rtions, even while utilizing their clones. Nothing particrly over the top, even by mortal standards. Though the blood certainly made things <em>different</em> at times.


    Seeing she wasnt going to get an answer, Aster waved her staff, and a giant spear of ice shot out at Liz while her blood clone rushed forward, ready to block any attacks.


    Liz was careful not to use her spiritual sense, as that still had the side effect of sending her into a feedback loop of her clone copying her movements, but she didnt trust that Aster wouldnt open up with a dangerous attack so she couldnt just block the spell.


    It was a good thing she dodged, as when the spell hit the wall of their house''s training room, it impacted with a loud crash that shook the walls.


    Liz cursed as her blood clone thrust its spear into her shield, throwing her back a few steps.


    [Lesser Blood Clone] was an incredibly versatile skill, and had been the main source of Lizs improvement in thest few years after she had run into a roadblock with her spell-less blood magic.


    The blood magic was useful and she was learning new things, but getting more effects out of the ability without a source of living people was proving difficult to say the least. Rift monsters were a decent substitute, but there were ces where they differed from normal life, and that meant the skills she learned in a rift couldn''t be applied to humans without changes. Changes she couldnt test without killing a lot of people. And she wasnt training to be a good delver, but an Ascender able to fight other humans and evolved beasts.


    Deflecting a bolt of ice that numbed her arm even through her shield, Liz flooded her arm with blood and manually moved it into position to block her clone''s spear thrust.


    Shifting left slightly so the clone was between her and Aster, Liz stomped on the clone''s foot and shoved, but the clone allowed herself to fall over and grabbed Lizs shield to pull her down with her. Aster had been ready, and a flurry of snow swept over them and slowed Lizs perception and reaction speed. Knowing she needed to get out of the area of effect spell, Liz created a bubble of blood between herself and the clone''s shields and detonated it, sending her flying.


    She caught herself mid-air and shot a blob of blood at Aster, but the fox just waved as the blood went right through the illusion of her.


    Twisting midair, Liz kicked out in case Aster came close behind her but connected with nothing.


    That slight change in momentum allowed the clone Liz to send a copy of her spear at her back. The clones one major weakness was the same as the original spells; it didnt have its own mana pool. Where [Lesser Mana Clone] used the very mana that the construct was made out of to fuel any movement or spells, [Lesser Blood Clone] used its own blood as its fuel. Which was quite the boon, as the clone could fuel itself from the bodies of its in foes. And in a rift, or a battlefield, the blood was endless.


    It was also endless when she was near Matt, but that wasnt the point. She just needed to make controlling other bodies so automatic, she could single handedly act as a small squadron, most of which were utterly expendable.


    Summoned monsters were a ssic way to fill the battlefield, but when it came down to it, a monster just wasnt better than she was at fighting. Oh sure, was a fairly potent tactic for plenty of people. Some utterlyckedbat skill, and so the raw instinct the monster could run on was an <em>improvement</em>, not to mention the fact that summoner types had supplementary skills, Talents, or even a Domain dedicated to empowering their thralls. But Liz had devoted all of that effort into improving herself, and even without any skills, she knew that any same-Tier monster would die to her, regardless of its masters buffs.


    If she used [Mana Clone] or [Clone] itself, this would be trivial. At that point, her duplicates would have minds of their own, and be able to act as their own copies of Liz on the battlefield, no special coordination or control needed. But doing so would mean they wouldnt have the uncanny degree of coordination that woulde from them all being directed by a single mind. Theyd all fight quite well, though likely after an adjustment period to keep them from all going at the same target, in the same way, at the same time. Shed be teammates with herself, not one warrior utilizing multiple bodies as weapons.


    By training now, the idea was that she could incorporate a lot more of herself in her future squads. If she mastered steering one body, two bodies, even <em>three</em> bodies- themonly-epted upper limit of [Lesser Mana Clone]- she could control five, maybe even ten times that many with its higher Tier versions.


    Hell, at that point her limiter would just be how fast she could expand [Mana Clone] to allow for multiple simultaneous clones. <em>That</em> would be delightful.


    This fightsted for another ten minutes before Lizs concentration broke, and her clone began mimicking her exactly again, despite Asters assistance.


    Liz turned to Luna, who nodded. That was good. And enough for today. It''s time we grab Matt and head back to Gettra so we don''t miss our transit.


    Liz agreed, and they left their house together with Aster, which floated in space a good distance from Matts location, which was far too close to the event horizon of the ck hole for Lizs liking.


    Flying next to him, Liz ran her hands through his hair, lightly scratching until he woke up from his trance.


    He smiled at her before pulling her into a kiss. Once they broke apart, he ruffled Aster''s hair, and through their AI, asked, I assume Luna said were leaving?


    Aster nodded. Yup. Liz was getting beat up, and Luna decided to have mercy on her.


    Liz grumbled but didnt defend herself. Instead, she cast [Lesser Blood Clone] and transformed into her phoenix form. Letting the human clone fly next to them, she hopped on its shoulder and did her best to adjust for the altered morphology.


    It was another form of training Luna had given her, and was much harder than fighting herself. When her bodies werent physically in sync, simply using [Lesser Blood Clone] was more difficult, and her practice was simply making her clone interact with Matt and Aster. She at least didnt have to worry about syncing up her movements between her bodies, as it was hard enough to get her <em>legs</em> moving instead ofically pping her arms in an attempt to move.


    Or waddling. That had truly been embarrassing, and she never wanted to live through that ribbing again.


    ***


    After Matt reached their home, he found Luna standing next to it, and he took the hint while absorbing the now muchrger house into the Tier 20 spatial ring they had bought for the purpose.


    It had taken a considerable chunk of their profits from delving, but expanding the house had been the right call.


    Instead of it just being two rooms, a connected living room and kitchen, and their smallbs, the house had grown.


    They had expanded both of their rooms into full suites with their own private bathrooms, and put a guest bathroom next to the living room, which was also expanded to a morefortable size. Thergest changes were in theirbs, which had both expanded to full-sized rooms, along with aparable room for Aster and her own ice cream-making process.


    They had also added a spatially expanded training room that cost them <em>both</em> an arm and a leg. They were delving Tier 21 rifts, but the model they had gotten needed to be able to handle their power, which meant at least a Tier 23 version, and the cheapest version was still selling for Tier 25 mana stones.


    They even dedicated some of the rings'' avable space to better shields, both defensive and private, so they didnt always need to rely on Luna to keep their privacy.


    Still, it had been a worthwhile investment, as it allowed them to safely practice their various skills when settled in on a.


    With a thought, Matt pulled out theirtest expensive upgrade. Their own cramped, chaotic spaceship was long gone, and the new model was far more impressive. It had a full suite of rooms for five, much better engines for both chaotic space and real space, and actual armaments in case anyone decided to attack them.


    The ship was actually a refitted exploration ship they bought secondhand, and was nice enough that Travis and Keith had good-naturedlyined that the ship was much morefortable than the one they used.


    It wasntparable to Lunas ship, but it was fast enough that they were able to do things like jump to nearby star systems without too much effort. It allowed Matt to work on his Intent while they traveled to a new where they could settle in for long delves. They had outgrown thest world they had traveled to after leaving Ventillyria almost a decade ago. That,bined with their approaching the peak of Tier 17 and Tier 21 rifts losing the veneer of their consistent near death challenges, meant they needed to relocate.


    To that end, they were going to Wandering Fallows, an old, old world that could trace its history well into thest era of Great Powers, located near the capital system. As a Tier 25, it was well popted, but that was an issue they were running into everywhere they went.


    Unlike lower Tiers, which were in abundance, Tier 25 and highers were scarce. Even some marquees didnt have such valuables to their name. Normally, Pathers went to the border regions to find higher Tiers with fewer people fighting over the same rifts, but with those areas under attack and full of spies, they needed to head deeper into the Empire.


    The only good thing toe of it was that they were crossing paths with Bradley and Jill, their friends they had made in Minka. They had fallen off the Path and were at loose ends, so when Matt, Liz, and Aster realized their paths would cross, they suggested the meetup.


    April took the opportunity to guest-lecture at a local academy, at Lunas behest. Path management was strongly encouraged to share their knowledge with people other than just Pathers, and while liaisons usually only did so when they didnt have an active team, Matt knew Luna well enough that the cat didnt want Aprils first lecture to happen <em>after</em> theyd parted ways.


    The more well-known managers, such as Luna herself, would speak on their speciality at some of the most prestigious Academies in the empire, with their lessons being recorded and broadcast to other Academies in the years thereafter. Even after Luna had retired, shed still continued giving her lectures on eliminating all points of possible weakness, but Matt was fairly certain that was because she enjoyed terrorizing the students more than anything.


    Matt had no idea why they would hate Lunas specialty of destroying spells cast at you with the smallest effort possible. He had no idea. None at all.


    April wasnt anywhere <em>close</em> to the level of fame that Luna, or even Kurt, were at, with Academies constantly sending her requests for her to lecture for them. But, her Tier made her more than qualified for the local Tier 5 academy, and after discussing her options with Luna and the academys leadership, decided to give a lecture on identifying monster weaknesses.


    She practiced her speech extensively with the three of them, and Matt did his best to imitate a Tier 1 just starting out on his journey, eager and hopelessly naive. Over the course of the practice, he learned that low Tier academies like that often broke their low Tier rifts to reform them with a new monster type, so their pupils didn''t getcent delving into the same rifts.


    Matt wanted to be upset at the very thought, knowing damn well how expensive such practices were even on a higher Tier, but epted it as just how the world worked. Academies were very much catered to the elite and the wealthy who wanted their children to be the most well-rounded individuals they could be. That meant more lessons about business, beginner crafting skills, leadership, and nonstandard delving. Most of the children who graduated would then go on to act as normal part-time delvers, getting full guides to the local rifts they delved, but the better foundation would still help them should they ever need to step out of theirfort zones.


    He just wished everyone could get such a level of education.


    When he mentioned that thought to Aster, sheughed in his face.


    She brought up her time at the beast academy as a counter-example; most people simply didnt want to undergo such training. Living his life as a delver who mostly interacted with other delvers and was rushing through the Tiers had tainted his view on what themon person wanted with their life. A simple education, a good job that allowed them some luxuries, and a safe environment to raise kids in was more than enough for them.


    They were simple people with simple desires. The ones who did want more than that went to the Path or the guilds.


    Matt wanted to rebut that, but knew she was right, as the three of them had spent a full month in a lower Tier portion of the city they were living in to reacquaint themselves with the desires of the normal citizens. Or rather, he and Liz did; Aster had proven herself to have a much better finger on the pulse of normal life.


    Part of that definitely came from her time at the academy, but a portion of it also came from keeping in touch with her friends from the Bond Academy. While Aster was rapidly delving to advance, they had gotten jobs and were living more normal lives while sharing their experiences with her through their many chats.


    Matt and Liz made a note that if they had some extra time at the end of their journey on The Path of Ascension, they should visit Asters friends before they went public. It would be nice to meet her friends before they gathered too much attention.


    When they arrived at the nearest inhabited, Matt and Liz met up with Bradley and Jill at a more upscale Tier 20 restaurant, letting Aster have free reign over the house for the night. They all would have preferred that she could have joined them, but the security concerns involved with <em>confirming</em> that Torch and Quill had a quadrupedal ice bond, even in just a private-ish setting, were too high.


    Bradley and Jill looked good; Matt had to admit that Bradley had bulked up since he had seen him at Tier 12, and Jill had grown out her hair and looked more open than the quiet woman who wandered through Minka as a dangerous archer.


    They obviously didnt recognize the two of them out of their masks, and now, even out of the Quill and Torch masks, they still hid their identities, but they at least had normal faces.


    When Matt nodded, Bradleyughed with a knowing grin on his face after scanning the crowd .


    There you guys are. We almost didnt recognize you.


    Jill snorted as she stood to greet them, then broke into a beaming smile. It''s good to see you guys. Weve heard a lot about your exploits. And Torch, I heard you two got married? Congrattions!


    Liz returned the smile, and the four of them spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up while sharing stories of their adventures in recent years.


    Bradley and Jill wanted to hear about the rescue of Justinian and the attack on Ventillyria. The three of them happily shared the more light-hearted adventures while trying to brush over the worst bits.


    Matt didnt talk about the emotional numbness thatsted for almost a full two years after the attacks, and then therapy to help him after. They didnt talk about how Justinian was still a nervous wreck.


    Instead, they shared the more humorous moments, like when Justinianined about the remakes of some of his favorite movies, or when they got trapped for a full week in a rift maze because he and Liz didnt believe Asters solution of just believing they were out. She had been free the entire time while they walked in ce, believing they were in a maze, the two of them too stubborn to believe something that was so obviously not true.


    Matt took <em>great</em> delight in filling Asters role of teasing Liz, rying Lizs protestations about thepulsion to believe what they saw to his bond over [AI] and repeating what his sister responded with. The protestations just made everything funnier, and even Liz was chuckling by the end.


    Bradley and Jill, in turn, told them of their own adventures, like when Bradley got a little too rxed inside a magma flow, drifted downstream, and bubbled up in someone''s yard. Or the time Jill shot Bradley in the butt inside ava rift, mistaking his diving for a new monster type in the rift.


    When even their tea tes were cleared away, their conversation turned to what the duo were going to do in the future. Pathers who made it to Tier 17 on the Path before falling off were in high demand, and the two of them had thousands of recruitment offers from noble families, corporations, and guilds.


    Bradley yed with his fork as he exined, We have so many offers, we don''t know what to do. A lot of them are <em>really</em> good too. Our manager is willing to help us with that before she leaves, but even she admits we have so many choices, it''s hard to pick.


    Matt nodded while Liz leaned forward and asked, But what do you want to do? We have some other friends who fell off at Tier 12, and after reaching Tier 15, they decided to open a local delving school, while another went into business using her Talent. Have you guys thought of something like that? There is no reason you need to choose one of the offers when you can do damn near anything with your powers. Or do you want to just take a break? I know that''s amon one.


    Jill, who was running a finger along the rim of her ss, agreed. We thought of that. My parents are Tier 15 merchants, and they would be more than happy to have us join the family business. We just don''t find any of the ideas appealing. Currently, we are thinking of joining the army, but the problem there is a little stupid.


    Bradley snorted as he finished for his wife. Neither of us just wants to be part of a normal unit doing normal things. Call us conceited, but we feel we can do more than that. We aren''t better than the positions, but we want to do something useful.


    Liz raised an eyebrow as she shrugged. As Tier 17 Pathers, you shouldn''t have an issue there.


    Jill grinned. That''s our problem. We dont want special treatment because we feel like we haven''t really earned it. So you see the issue.


    Mattughed with the rest of them, but alsomiserated with them and their plethora of choices. It was almost easier to have fewer choices than they did. He had no questions about his future after The Path; hed join the army and then the war as an Ascender. Once the war was won, hed start his guild small as a part-time thing, and try to invent things to help the lower Tiers with like-minded people. He knew what his future held, and that seemed so much easier than having to guess and plot the unknown.


    After parting from the pair, they attended April''s lesson and watched from the rear with Luna, who, like usual, took copious notes, but Matt felt April did a great job. She kept things simple enough that the fourteen-year-olds didnt get overwhelmed, but was detailed enough to be useful.


    He was sure Luna would tear her performance to shreds, but he happily admitted to her that he wished he had been able to get a lesson like that from an expert as a kid. He had gotten something simr, but the lesson was mostly a slide show taught by one of the orphanage staff who, while doing their best, wasnt a delver, and didn''t have the experience to really make the lesson personal.


    With that done, they were off to Wandering Fallows, where they put their noses back to the grindstone and pushed to Tier 18.


    When they broke through at the ripe old age of 87 years old, a full eleven years earlier than The Path required, they got word of a new mission for them.


    They were to go undercover into the younger generations of the noble elite at the capital. Matt thought it sounded interesting until he saw the information about their false identities.


    They would be themselves.


    They would be pretending to still be Tier 15, but they needed to schmooze with the noble elite, or at least the younger generation of the noble elite. Liz had been Tier 15 for almost two decades, and she needed to attend her official Induction to high society. While the spies covering for them could do most things in their ce, if they took her position for the Induction, it would not be received well once the truth was revealed in the wake of them finishing the Path.


    While Matt and Aster had been more or less looking forward to it since theyd learned it would be happening a few decades ago, Liz had been dreading it, and now that it was actually time, she joked about declining the mission.


    Conveniently, Wandering Fallows was only one jump away from the capital, so they could continue delving with no one the wiser, though at a slightly reduced rate.


    Best of all, Matt would get to see what it was like to live on Mara and Leons capital estates.


    He hadnt seen his inws in over a decade, and he was happy to know they would be spending time in the capital.

 Chapter 257

    Chapter 257


    Matt stretched as he left the teleport hubspaceship travel around the Capital was regted enough that it was faster and easier to make the jump from Wandering Fallows through the regr teleports than to sort out the paperworkand looked up into the sky.


    Far above him, an enormous ring stretched across the southern sky, glimmering with every color Matts eyes could see and reflecting countless lights from its position above the equator. Matt and Aster drifted to a stop at the sight, prompting a bit of grumbling as the crowd parted around him, but they were too transfixed to care.


    Hed seen the ring in movies, of course, but being there <em>in person</em> was just apletely different experience. It practically took his breath away, even as all of the sights and sounds and smells struck him all at once. At Tier 18, Matts senses were impressive, but he couldnt detect a single off-note from anywhere. It smelled faintly floral, with the musky undertones of enchantment-work, and the cacophony of the city seemed to strike his ear more like a symphony rather than a chaotic mess of people yelling, enchantments whirring, and mechanical devices nking.


    Liz tugged at his sleeve, a small smile on her lips. Cmon dear, stop gawking.


    Matt began to protest, but Liz cut him off with a quick kiss as they kept moving andughed. Im d its a full ring right now. When its a proper moon, its still pretty, but this is just so much <em>better</em>, you know?


    Matt nodded in agreement. While the Capital technically its name was The Sophron Imperium Maginex, but no one actually called it that may not have been the only with a ring, the Empire often encouraged the formation of an actual moon to help with weather pattern stability. But on the Capital, there was a group of incredibly dedicated Tier 40s through Tier 46s who volunteered themselves to not only maintaining the weather patterns across the, but also dismantling and reconstructing the moon itself every few years.


    It was an utterly <em>ludicrous</em> feat, but the Keepers of the Great Circle Above had been filling their role for hundreds of thousands of years, and nobody really had a solid reason to actually <em>stop</em> them. On the other side, the magnificence of their moon itself undergoing such a metamorphosis gave plenty of reasons to let them keep going.


    While all of the high-Tier worlds Matt had visited were unique in their own way, the phases of the moon corresponding to the different <em>kinds</em> of moons was a new experience for him. So was all of the paperwork theyd had to do, because entering the as immortals meant having to <em>personally</em> read and understand thews as they applied to him. Sure, plenty of worlds had their own legal quirks, but they usually were given as a summary dumped to his AI. Only the capital required that he sign a legally binding document with him acknowledging that he was aware of how thesws impacted his ability to travel.


    It outlined the details behind the different Tier zones for traveling, specifying the maximum and minimum speeds allowed in each. Unlike in the Seven Suns Kingdom that hed visited so long ago, the Capital didnt utilize heavy metal doors to keep low-Tiers out of areas they were too weak to be allowed in. The only public ces off-limits to mortals were high-speed, high-Tier travelnes which were usually in the air anyway. Thanks to some clever architecture and nning, there were <em>very</em> few ces which a mortal couldnt reach if they were determined, though it wasnt always the most convenient.


    In practice, of course, it wasnt nearly so rosy, and plenty of businesses simply didnt properly cater to lower Tiers. Training halls, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venuesthe list went on. A Tier 1 was <em>allowed</em> to enter even a Tier 43 training hall, but if they provided anything at all, the offerings for low-Tiers would be a pittance inparison to that which high-Tiers could ess.


    Realistically, there simply wasnt much to be done. Plenty of what made the higher-Tier amenities so much better were things which mortals couldnt even survive. A botanical gardens flowers which merely smelled nice to Tier 20s could drive Tier 5s into a catatonic stupor, spicy food served in a Tier 30 restaurant would cause a Tier 10 who so much as touched it to burst into mes, and ys put on for Tier 40s would simultaneously be utterly iprehensible to Tier 20s, and wouldst longer than a Tier 5 could go without food.


    Considering it was the highest-Tier in the Empire, there were those who pushed for that fact to actually be <em>utilized</em>, and not require even the strongest in the Empire to travel no faster than a mortals walking speed in the lobbies of every establishment. They argued that even trying to cater to mortals was seriously hampering the ability of immortals to properly <em>enjoy</em> the one ce in the entire Empire where they should have been allowed to not worry about their strength, and that mortal-oriented activities should be relegated to the other half-dozens within the system.


    There was something of an equilibrium in ce, Matt knew, but just <em>how</em> much the Capital made itself essible to mortals ebbed and flowed over the decades. He wasnt sure where it was at the moment, but the few pieces catering to mortals were still <em>leagues</em> better than anything hed seen on mosts, let alone Lilly. The one thing that was constant, and immediately obvious, was just how much <em>more</em> the Capital waspared to any of the other local capitals hed visited.


    Silverheath, Harpers capital, was perhaps the closestparison, a rtively normal Empire city stretched out beyond all reason, but the Capital took that several steps further. If there was anything approaching a normal ground, Matt saw no sign of it. Walkways hovered in midair, nked by hovering tforms going up, down and to the sides. Those tforms allowed easy ess to not only the other walkways below and presumably above them, but also to the floating buildings on every side, equally untethered to anything beyond their own bulk.


    Skyscrapers raced as far down as they stretched into the heavens, perfectly cuboidal halls admitted people straight through their ss surfaces, mesh metal spheres jetted through the flightnes carrying untold amounts of cargo without a pilot to be seen, and buildings outright <em>vanished</em> as his angle of view changed. It made him wonder just how many buildings should have obscured the view of the ring above him were it not for invisibility enchantmentsor spatial enchantments, Matt realized. The closest of those buildings only took up an eighth of the city block, but held a shopping center that stretched for <em>miles</em> thanks to a truly insane level of spatial expansion he had never seen before. Frankly he wasn''t even sure how the space hadn''t destabilized with it stretched so much.


    Then, there were the <em>people</em>. While hed been long since inured to the unusual colors and body types of immortals, there was just such <em>incredible</em> variety on disy, he couldnt help but double-take at the sights. A cactus dryad who couldnt have been older than eight tottled along next to a twelve-foot, red-skinned man rippling with muscle and with a beard that nearly reached his waist. An effervescent slip of a woman with almost translucent silver skin and eyes that glowed with pink and violet light hovered a few inches above the ground, passing by someone who just <em>had</em> to be a dragon in a humanoid form, covered in scales and with a draconic head.


    Curiously, practically all the adults Matt could sense were at least Tier 5. While plenty of high-Tiers had ambient essence high enough to let the average adult bring themselves to the peak of Tier 4 on their own, that was where most stopped. Developing your own Concept was hard, especially for the kind of person who cultivated almost exclusively for health benefits. And using aura to help make your own Concept, or purchasing false-Concept potions to bypass the issue were so expensive, few Tier 4s could manage it.


    The price clearly wasnt much of a hindrance here, and while he wasnt allowed to pry too deeply into the Domains of people ten Tiers below him, he got the sense that most had utilized bottled Concepts. That wages were high enough on the Capital for the average citizen to get ahold of a potion which only a skilled craftsman with an Intent could make was <em>impressive</em>.


    Of course, there was almost certainly some level of generational pass-along going on, where higher-Tier parents could purchase their kids, grandkids, or even great-grandkids the potions needed to give them a chance to reach a higher Tier. That,bined with the incredible number of alchemists who would live on the Capital and would be able to make bottled Concepts, no doubt lowered the average price.


    While he couldnt buy a potion for the price that a Tier 4 would have to pay, he was able to look it up. As a Tier 18, he could buy one for just a couple Tier 18 mana stones, which seemed incredibly low. He checked the price that a Tier 4 would have to pay, and saw that it was only a few dozen Tier 4 mana stones. While he hadnt needed one, he did remember the Unbrokenining just how pricey theyd been for them, and theyd been professional delvers on the Path. They could absolutely afford a handful of same-Tier mana stones without trouble, particrly since Path discounts would have made them even <em>cheaper</em>.


    Matt stuffed the part of him that wanted to tear into the minutiae of the local economy to the back of his mind and turned his attention back to the marvels of engineering all around him. There was, as he expected, not a scrap of environmental mana to be foundit was all siphoned away by mana collectors. Essence, however, <em>abounded</em>. Hed heard that it was technically less abundant than at the other local capitals, but he couldnt tell the difference at his Tier.


    He could, however, feel just how <em>solid</em> the reality was, with his Concept unable to find any purchase to enable him to fly. Even an Intent wouldnt solve that issue; only an Aspect would enable someone to take to the Capitals skies without a skill or enchanted item. For Matt, with no need or particr desire to save his mana, that wasnt an issue, but the limitation led to a truly unbelievable number of high-Tiers walking alongside mortals and even unawakened children. They walked together, talked together, lived together, and visited parks together.


    Watching a man who was at least Tier 30 nod along as a young boy chattered away at him about all the local interesting bits during a lull of traffic was a new experience. The Tier 30 would have heard everything the kid was saying a thousand times over, but he kept the boy engaged in polite conversation, despite the child''s mother looking mortified.


    She wasnt scared or upset. Just embarrassed her kid was trapping someone with his energetic ramblings.


    The capital was <em>different</em>.


    Matt may not have known what the surface of the was like, if it even truly had one, but the surface wasnt needed to visit natural greenery. Spatial expansion was used and abused to such an incredible extent that a building only a few times bigger than his house on the outside contained an entire <em>ecosystem</em> inside, with all manner of low-Tier vegetation growing for the residents to enjoy. There were even some animals, something the outside was distinctlycking, which were prevented from Tiering up thanks to impressive essence-blocking filters on the buildings exterior. A second look informed him that it was even more impressive than hed initially thoughtmultiple distinct parks oveid the exact same space, each adjusted for a different Tier bracket through some spatial shenanigans he couldn''t follow.


    He watched as a group of kids, in what was clearly a Tier 5 meadow, flew kites in a wholly interior breeze. The cloth and string contraptions soared hundreds of feet in the air, rising less than halfway to the ceiling of the fifteen-foot park. When he looked again at the same spot, a group of Tier 15s watched as a pack of wolves chased down a fleeing deer. Looking again revealed a few shes of what looked to be some kind of Tier 25 or higher bird as it flew around the base of a waterfall before he passed the building. There had been at least a half-dozen other biomes present of varying Tier ranges, making the single, objectively small park an incredibly dense haven of life.


    Liz seemed jaded to the sights, but Matt caught her sneaking nces at his and Asters open awe with a bit of a smirk ying across her lips. He didnt care, and just kept trying to take in <em>all </em>of their surroundings.


    Hed never experience this for the first time again, and wanted to take it in without reservation.


    They passed by a hollowed-out boulder that advertised itself as a restaurant, which despite the exterior appearance, was clearly quite a popr ce. Floating right next to the walkway was a waiting area of sorts, a wardrobe-sized teardrop of stone and metal holding hundreds of patrons waiting for a tform to take them to the restaurant, which was packed with attendees.


    That ce smells good, Astermented as they passed. Did you ever eat there, growing up?


    No, Liz shrugged. Ive never even heard of it. Growing up, I didnt wander the greater Capital much; I mainly just stayed in Heartsword. Other than family outings, everything I needed was in there.


    You never left the <em>building</em> you grew up in?


    Not <em>never</em>, she defended herself. But look around. The buildings here are basically entire cities, and yeah, if I wasnt going on vacation, I tended to stay put. It had everything Id want. Parks, restaurants, theaters, school, my family, everything. Why <em>would</em> I leave, just generally speaking? Other than for vacations, anyway, and those were usually off-world. I mean, think about it, how often did you leave your home city growing up?


    Matt frowned. I dont think that Im a good example there. I think my orphanage took a tour into the countryside twice? Well, one of those was to the beach, so I dont know if that counts, as it was still within city limits.


    So your family just lived in Heartsword? All of you? For your entire childhood? Aster seemed stuck on that fact, but Matt broadly followed, thanks inrge part to he and Liz having discussed their childhoods before.


    Liz shrugged. I mean, yeah. Heartsword is amon enough ce for nobles and general high-Tiers to raise kids, especially those who want to give their kids something of a more normal childhood in a mixed-Tier environment. Its got a bunch of apartments and estates set up to rent for a couple decades when you or a family member are about to have a kid. Its about the only way you <em>can</em> have sibling bonds when theyre all centuries older. After Leah was born, my parents just bought a house there and made it their primary residence on the Capital. They use it often enough.


    That got Matt curious enough to look into just what was for rent in Heartsword. It was, as Liz had told him, a true multi-Tier housing development. There were tiny rooms at the bottom of the superstructure priced such that even a Tier 1 could afford one with a well-paying job, and it ranged all the way up to noble estates expensive enough that even most Tier 46s wouldnt be able to afford one.


    That led him to looking at real estate on the Capital in a more general way.


    Some ces were for sale, but most ces rented out anything from single rooms to entire mansions with varying levels of provided amenities. Some were as full-featured as any hotel, while others expected the renter to pay for everything, even repairs. Other Tier 15 and above rentals were no more than a walk-in closet with a meditation pad, some of which were fitted for long-term full-immersion gaming marathons. Many of those were inessible for massive periods of time, rotating through pods of immortals as though they were nothing more than stacked firewood slowly being cycled to the entrances.


    It was a side of immortal life Matt only had marginal experience with, but he could loosely see why having a single room to sit in istion for decades or centuries could be appealing to some people. They could work on portions of their Domain, cultivate ambient essence, modify their skills, wait for a delve slot, or just whittle away a portion of eternity consuming media via their AI while selling off their mana generation.


    The variousmunal crafting halls helped with otherwise cramped spaces. Rather than residents having personal kitchens or crafting areas, there were scattered halls where people could rent out a station to do all their cooking, woodworking, enchanting, or other work, all with surrounding markets catering to the profession. With their abundant spatial storage, an immortal might rent a kitchen area for three days and make all the food they would want to eat for the next few years.


    It still seemed <em>insane</em> to him, but there was undeniably some benefit to be had in training on the highest-Tier in the Empire, and most people didnt want to pay for any more space than what they needed for that.


    Between him and Aster getting distracted by all the sights of the and the speeds they restricted themselves to on the walkway, it took well over an hour to traverse the distance between their teleport station and the transport hub that was their current destination. From there, it was two flying trains and one hired cab to reach Heartsword. Despite them actually crossing through thes crust during one leg of their journey, Matt wasnt able to sate his curiosity about what the Capitals surface looked like. Their travel was hastened when they entered a spatiallypressed metal tube designed to shorten their actual travel distance, and didnt see anything beyond gray walls until they emerged practically on the other side of the.


    The cab dropped them off at a weirdly <em>empty</em> walkway near the top of Heartsword, and Matt had to adjust from the hustle and bustle of the Capitals public mass-transit streets to the beautiful, virtually deserted private neighborhood for the nobles and obscenely wealthy. When they saw other people on their walk, a group of Tier 15s flying by on a party yacht, they didnt get so much as a passing nce, which was odd. Despite their arrival, nobody seemed to notice their passage, which Matt suspected was Lunas doing, but he couldn''t be sure.


    As the estates grewrger andrger, Matt had to resist checking his [AI] for a map, but after what felt like a decade of walking through a building that, if he didnt know better, could be mistaken for a normal''s surface, they arrived at an estate with its front gates already open for them.


    It took them another half an hour to walk down the entry path of the spatially-expanded estate, through the immacte gardens that filled the grounds. With his spiritual senses, Matt could tell that most of the wildlife of the area was Tier 15, but that actually decreased as they neared the buildings themselves, until they came to somepletely untiered animals right next to the house.


    One particrly curious Tier 10 hummingbird darted onto the pathway as they passed, wings tracing out a path that Matt found endlessly fascinating, its iridescent blue and green feathers sparkling in a beautiful pattern. It must have decided it liked Liz, as it calmly perched on her shoulder, much to Matt and Asters amusement.


    As they approached the main mansion, they were greeted by the front doors being flung open. It allowed a truly <em>awful</em> racket of out of tune, disharmonious, and out of tempo music to wash over them and chase away Lizs hummingbird friend. Mara and Leon strolled out a secondter, beaming as they continued the audial assault with a half-dozen instruments both in their arms and floating around them.


    Matt tuned out his inws antics as he moved to give them a hug. To his left and right, Liz and Aster did the same, and the duo each split into three to give them weing embraces. The instruments retreated into the house behind them, and the Royals pulled back and re-merged into a single body.


    Leon ruffled Matts hair. It''s good to see you guys! You look great, Matt. How have you been?


    Mara puffed her cheeks, having clearly intended to ask the same question, but Matt justughed. Im good. You Matt cocked his head as he inspected the two. Something about them was <em>off</em>. Something is weird with you two.


    Mara clutched her chest as a dagger appeared out of nowhere and seemed to be stabbing her in the heart while Leon started fading into rain clouds.


    Mara started to gasp as she fell to the floor. Betrayed by our own son. Oh, the humanity! Whatever shall we do? However shall we recover?


    Leons cloud started to weep rain as he cried. I cant believe it. I really cant


    Aster poked the rain cloud as it drifted around her. No, I think he''s right, she agreed. Something is off, but I can''t tell what.


    Liz waved her hand, dispersing what clouds were bumping her. Theyre just [Clone]s. You must be busy, then?


    Leon pulled himself back together before saying, Were delving at the moment. But yes, the war is keeping us pretty upied, even considering theres little we can really <em>do</em>; but once were out well be back to watching the battlefields and encouraging military recruitment. Im sad you found us out so fast though! It was so much fun when you were just a little girl, keeping you guessing which was the real us.


    Matt began to formte a response, but was distracted by Aster pouncing on Mara, shifting into her fox form mid-leap. Mara responded by turning into a ming chicken, and was desperately running away from the marauding canid. Aster was undeterred, and used an auditory illusion to scold Matts mother-inw.


    How dare you burn down the student council building and not rece it. That ce was drafty, and boring, and in, and dumb! We could have had something nice and fancy, but you ruined it and didnt even rece it.


    Mara just responded by repeatedly yelling, Squawk! in her normal speaking voice as she and Aster ran in circles around their group.


    Leonughed. Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. That was funny. You know they tried to send me the bill when that happened? I promptly threw it out. Maybe that is why it never got fixed. Afterughing at his own joke Leon exined as he saw Aster''s deadpan expression. Ok, fine. While that would be funny, no, the student council building was rebuilt after Maras little escapade. It waster burnt down again by someone else. Then rebuilt. I think the most recent destruction was caused by a botched enchantment, but that might have been the one beforest. The student council isnt always very popr, and leveling a building is just good natured fun in some peoples eyes. After a while, they stopped making it fancy so it was easier to rebuild.


    Aster made faces at Mara before turning back into a human and pointing her nose at the sky.


    As Mara returned to her human form, Leon led them through what Matt had thought was the front door. As it turned out, that was simply the front gates, and they were only entering an entry courtyard. All of the gardens Matt had seen outside were <em>nothing</em> inparison to the cobblestone courtyard theyd just entered. The ground was covered in dark gray pavers connected by golden mortar, and in the center burned a massive me in the shape of a crowned phoenix. It wasnt Maras form exactly, but it was reminiscent of her in a stylized way. It pped its wings and sent golden sparks trailing to the ground with each p. Wherever theynded, the golden mortar glowed briefly, illuminating the stones from below in an almost haunting disy.


    Above them, lightning crackled and roiled, giving off just enough noise to not make the sight jarring, even as it shifted between a dozen different geometric and artful patterns like a living thing instead of an untamable force of nature. Dark gray trees lined the edge of the court, crowned with scarlet leaves and covered in golden blooms. The petals from the trees were constantly falling, nketing the ground around them with just enough pristine petals that they nearly hid the stone underneath.


    A small stream originated from above the <em>true</em> doorway and cascaded down in twin waterfalls on either side of the door into a pair of pools. The pools themselves were utterly still, the waterfalls not disturbing them in the slightest.


    Gawking again, love, Liz nudged him, and Matt kept walking, though he was utterly transfixed by just the sheer <em>magnificence</em> of the home around them.


    Youre just <em>stone cold</em>. This is ludicrous. You <em>grew up</em> here? I thought you said you had a more normal childhood. <em>This</em> is normal to you?


    Liz just shrugged and tugged him along.


    As they neared the actual entrance, Matt realized that what he thought was simply a red door was actually made of red <em>wood, </em>mostly a deep scarlet color and with a dark, storm-gray wood grain pattern. The wood grain itself was artful, twisted into the form of flowers, trees, and more. At the heart of the door was an insignia very familiar to Matt, the samebination of Mara and Leons individual heraldry that hed worn on his wedding outfit.


    The door swung open without a sound, revealing a massive circr foyer stretching up further than Matt could properly perceive. The floor was polished stone, marbled with brilliant gold, and in the exact center of the room the marbling coalesced into a rendition of the joint insignia that nheless still managed to look natural. Above the insignia, a stained-ss window cast an illusion of a phoenix silhouetted by a storm cloud, and Matt could hear in the distance an ever-so-faint background tune evocative of the fury of nature, of lightning and fire cast from the heavens and turned into something wonderful by those who found it.


    While they certainly werent needed for illuminationmore than enough light streamed down from above, where the tower seemed to stretch to infinitya pair ofmpstands nked the entryway, seemingly carved from the same piece of stone as the floor and burning with golden mes, whose light never varied no matter how much they flickered and danced.


    Ahead of them, an arched opening led into what was very clearly some kind of dining room. A table made of the same deep red wood as the door held the ce of pride,rge enough to seat dozens of people at the same time. It stretched into a stone hall marbled with gold and illuminated predominantly <em>by</em> that marbling. Golden light spilled across what could only truly be described as a dining <em>hall</em> without distorting any of the colors present. An unseen breeze carried small white clouds above the tops of the high-backed seats, and whenever they collided, golden lightning shed with a faint <em>rumble</em>. Incredibly, each of the rumbles were perfectly in time with the background music, adding to the song without ever overpowering or shing with the melody.


    some family time after you left us alone for so long. You wouldnt deprive us of the love of our children would you?


    Matt came back to reality to see his inws pleading with their daughter using massive, oversized and only just shy of hideous eyes.


    <em>Sure</em>, mom, well join you for dinner. You didnt need to guilt us; we would have been happy to join you if you just asked normally. In fact, we intended to anyway. Liz sighed, prompting a once again overlyical celebration from her parents. She eagerly tugged on Matts sleeve, leading him to the side of the room. Stairs seemed to materialize under her feet, floating a few inches away from the curved wall but utterly rock-solid underfoot. They went up about a quarter circle, then broke off into a hallway invisible from the ground.


    There, the floors were a different type of stone, once more ashen gray, and the ss wall to their left overlooked the gardens, allowing light to spill in. The other wall was an intricately carved wooden mural depicting a legend of how the first rifts came to be, in full color butpletely unpainted. Instead of anything applied to the wood itself, it wasposed of different colors of wood from green to gold to violet, seamlessly joined into a single object.


    With every step they took, golden sparks trailed into the air like cinders, forming a wake of glittering, golden dust that drifted to highlight points of interest in the mural. Eyes were illuminated, representations of essence were highlighted, and spells glowed as they were cast.


    At the end of the hallway, the corridor split in two. Liz pulled Matt to the right while Aster headed to the left, their respective doors swinging open before they arrived. When Matt got close, he could see Elizabeth and Matthew was written in the grain patterns itself instead of a stain or brand, but was distracted by the reveal of the bedroom beyond.


    He really should have been expecting what he saw.


    It wasnt a single bedroom so much as it was an entire suite, and the first room was a living roomrger than their house had been when they got it. The floor was an actual pond with crystal-clear waters, revealing a beautiful mosaic of grays, reds, and golds at the bottom, and filled with gem-like fish and vibrant aquatic nts. It very distinctly was water, but even when he wasnt trying to, he didnt sink into it. Nor was any of the furniture so much as damp, and when Matt put his hand against the floor, he only felt a smooth, unyielding, and dry surface. When he pushed harder and with some intent, his hand passed through the invisible barrier and felt the cool, clean water against his skin. A particrly brave red carp even swam up to him and began to nibble at his fingers, clearly expecting some level of food. When Matt pulled his fingers back, preparing to wipe them dry, he found that no water had clung to them, and had to marvel at that level of enchantment.


    A bank of low couches was ced in a lowered section of the floor, surrounding a whirring orrery of enchantments that Matt could have gotten lost in for hours if not for everything else in the room. Cushions and pillows lined the wall next to the front door, nking a firece containing a sculpture of a me that looked like it was carved from a red-marbled gold stone, dancing and flickering just like the genuine article. Over the firece was a bar, stocked with fruits, drinks, cheeses, crackers, and other lighter fare ready to be snacked on.


    The far wall was a single pane of ss separating the room from a sizable balcony, with a view beyond the gardens, and then of the Capital itself. It was the same dark gray marbled stone as the entry hall, but not polished to the same mirror sheen as before. The couches out there looked to be made of actual clouds, with a few circr tables floating nearby made of a metal the color of dull brass, save for an iridescent sheen reminiscent of a storm cloud. To the side, a set of sleek and powerful-looking flying swords were arrayed next to a staging area for their flight.


    He recognized the window separating the balcony from the interior as passthrough ss, the same kind of ss as the resort where theyd gotten married had in ce of some doors, but this one was far more massive than what hed been forced by Liz to steadfastly ignore. It was an alchemical substance capable, with a trivial expenditure of mana, of blocking exactly what was desired while allowing anything else through. That could include light, certain types of creatures, certain individuals, sound, temperature, or even gasses. From what he could feel wafting through the room, he guessed it was currently set to allow a breeze and light in, but not temperature, animals, or scents.


    There were a few other rooms connected to their living room, including a full training area better-equipped than any delvers guild Matt had seen, a spa, and a pair of workshops. One was a luxuriously-stocked alchemyb; the other was outfitted with industrial-grade enchanting tech. And all of it had custom framing to keep it in line with the red, gray, and gold color scheme the entire house was maintaining.


    Then there was the actual bedroom.


    It wasnt quite asrge as the living room, but it was definitely close, and was nearly as borate. Just the two <em>walk-in closets</em> were each three stories tall. The main floor was set up for delving gear, the upstairs for normal wear, and the basement for everything else. Each floor was asrge as their bedroom in their portable house, and was absolutely bedecked in disy cases and cabs.


    Oh! Lizs eyes sparkled, then she schooled her expression back to the cool disinterest shed been maintaining.


    Matt turned a questioning eye towards her, and Liz just waved her hand then pointed at a few circr divots set into their bedside tables. Oh, nothing. Just drop your rings here. The enchantments will make sure anything inside of them goes where it should. Armor on the mannequins, clothing in the drawers or in the closet, materials in the workrooms, weapons in the closet and the training room, that sort of thing.


    Matt gave a nod of approval. Theyde across simr things before, but splitting it across multiple rooms was a novel idea. He wasnt <em>entirely</em> sure how they worked, but they were always nice. Of course, their body doubles had already filled much of the closet with their own clothing, but Matt didnt look too closely quite yet.


    Yes <em>dear</em>, Matt prodded Liz, and she nced at him guiltily. Quite exciting, isnt it?


    She looked away quickly. I dont know what youre talking about.


    Come on, weve <em>been</em> to ces with ess enchantments, and youre clearly excited about <em>something</em>.


    No, no. This is all perfectly normal for me and <em>eeeep!</em> Liz cut off mid-sentence as Matt tackled her to the ground and started tickling her.


    After a minute, she managed to push Matt off and took a deep breath to focus herself. Matt responded by getting in a few more tickles, breaking her concentration once more, then pulled her onto hisp. She started speaking again, but Matt interrupted with a tight hug. The next time, he cut her off with a kiss.


    Finally, Liz got to speak again. No, I... She stopped herself, giving him a suspicious side-eye. No, I guess its just Its weird to be home. I havent been around for so long, a lot of it just didnt seem like all that much. It was normal to me, and I never paid much attention to it. Then I was gone, and preupied with the Path, which is where you expect hardships, so the transition wasn''t that bad. Now Im back, and Im able to <em>use</em> a lot more of this stuff. Like, I never had a spatial ring as a kid, so I just couldnt use the ess enchantments. Now I can, and its just that everything is so <em>different</em>. It feels familiar, but now Im able to use it, really. Theres parts of the house I just couldnt get to on my own, and its big enough that simply exploring everything isnt practical. Ive <em>never</em> been in this room before, and now Im here, and


    Liz rested her head on Matts shoulder, nuzzling into his neck and tracing his arm with her hand. Im d youre here with me.


    Matt intercepted her hand with his own, intecing their fingers and giving her a tight squeeze. Lizs eyes lit up, much to his confusion. Oh, Bathroom! I want to show you something.


    Matt hopped to his feet, following his redhead with a bit of confusion.


    The first thing he noticed in their utterly enormous bathroom was a massive bathing area sectioned off with ss simr to their patios wall.


    Is that also passthrough ss?


    Huh? Oh, yeah. It works as a shower, bath, steam bath, all that. Storm cloud on the top will fill it or bring in air if you want currents, but thats not what I wanted you to see. Ummm Aw, its not here.


    Matt turned to where Liz was poking around behind the sinks, leaning into a natural diorama filled with miniature nts andndscaping. Trees, bushes, grasses, and more tiny nt life started on the back edge of the counter, then extended into dark gray mists of stone, transitioning into the backssh with beautiful precision. They were definitely <em>there</em>, though, as his wife had her head half stuck into the space.


    What cant you find? he asked.


    Oh, nothing.


    Matt looked at her and moved to tickle her again.


    No! No, its nothing. Like, nothing important. Look, if I dont find it when I look in the bathroom I first <em>found</em> it in, then Ill tell you, okay? But I want to surprise you.


    Liz nced to the side, Oh! Look there, the cabs. Distraction, go!


    Matt rolled his eyes but humored his wife- though not without just enough of a twitched finger to make her squirm- and took a closer look at the cabs around the room. They were, of course, already stocked, and made of the same red and gray wood used so often throughout the house. At first nce, he thought the grain was some kind of geometric pattern, but with a bit of closer inspection he realized it was formed by countless repeating hearts with M+L written inside them. The walls were a kind of stone Matt was unfamiliar with, a gray-blue opal-like material filled with iridescent blue flecks. It was cool to the touch, in contrast to the heated, tiled white floor.


    He moved to take his dyed tickle-attack on Liz, but shed already escaped back into the bedroom, and only took a single touch to make her copse back into his arms.


    Once they were ready to move on once more, Matt turned his eye to their actual <em>bedroom</em>, rather than its attached spaces.


    It had its own balcony, this one somehow directly overlooking the Capital itself from far above, a sight further disyed by the two solid ss side walls. Stone columns, connected to the floor via a gentle slope, supported a circr ring above their heads, essible by simply walking up the columns. Gravity shifted underneath their feet as they investigated, depositing them in a library well-equipped with weighty tomes, high-end tablets, connection points for virtual reality, and beautiful pieces of art, including some Matt recognized as Asters. There were a couple of hidden nooks tucked away from immediate view and even lightly shielded from spiritual perception, mounded with nkets and pillows, perfect for reading in. There was even one nket made of solid fire that Liz recognized from her childhood, and Matt enjoyed seeing his wife hug the nket like it was an old friend.


    Then there was the bed.


    It was made of an actual cloud, albeit one tightly controlled into the typical shape of a mattress, and with nkets made of heatless, solid me. It was the single mostfortable thing Matt had ever felt, and from the moment he flopped onto it he could instantly feel himself rxing and growing tired. The clouds were actually <em>massaging</em> him, tufts of cloudstuff seemingly buffeted by winds into everyst sore point in Matts body that suddenly decided to be exceptionally sore.


    This is the greatest thing I have ever felt, he told Liz, though his face was still muffled by fluff that he would never <em>admit</em> was softer than Aster, even at her most pampered.


    He valued not being frozen into a Mattsicle too much for that.


    I cant believe you grew up with this


    Lizughed and pretended to sulk. Oh, I wish. My childhood bedroom wasnt <em>nearly</em> this nice. I can show you at some point, but its not a suite, just a room. Just a in, normal old mortal mattress for me, but I would catch naps on mom and dads bed sometimes. Because that makes sense. Give the best stuff not to the kid who spends half their life in bed, but the ones who have had sleeping be strictly optional for tens of thousands of years.


    As Matt felt the bed start working at a muscle he hadnt manually untensed, he groaned. If your bed was this nice, you wouldve never survived leaving their house.


    Liz snorted but didnt disagree.


    It took almost five more minutes for Matt to get out of bed and feel his way through the room. Once he had escaped the clutches of the mattress, he more properly explored his closet. It was unusual to see all of his delving gear disyed so neatly on mannequins, in disy cases, and on proper weapon racks, but it wasnt unwee. He also discovered that if he ced their house storage ring in one of the ess enchantment slots, their front door appeared in his closets basement and gave him full ess to the entire thing. He was <em>really</em> impressed that the ess enchantments also applied to everything <em>inside</em> the house, giving him ready ess to the same items inside both where it was normally, but also where it would be most useful in the room outside.


    The weirdest discovery by far, however, came when he started looking through the upstairs closets. He knew that it was meant to be his closet, but there was no way that the outfits already in there could fit him. Confused, he pulled out a shirt that looked two sizes too small for him and sat on the bed next to Liz.


    Am I supposed to wear this?


    Liz didnt so much as open her eyes, but Matt felt her probe the garment in his hand with her spiritual sense. Ugh, please tell me the womens fashion is better than <em>that</em>. Is that seriously what the style is these days? But yeah, thats for you and definitely <em>perfectly</em> fitted. Pauls copy of you is too good for anything else. Its probably brand new, mind you. Dad can get weird around used clothes, believe it or not. One of his few hangups.


    Matt, in fact, did not believe itbut he trusted Liz, and the clothes did look brand new.


    Matt ventured into Lizs closet and, after a bit of rummaging around, emerged with a restrictive, full-length dress that he knew Liz would absolutely <em>hate</em>.


    Even before he could say anything, she groaned and rolled over on the bed. Tight clothes that might have been made out of gauze for the guys and full-length gowns for the women. What the fuck, that is so unfair. I asked for better, not worse. Were going to have to get actual professional help to make sure were wearing this stuff right, you know. I just hope that this styles almost past its prime, because I dont think I can take more than a couple weeks of this.


    Matt wanted to say Liz had it better than him, but he wasnt so sure. Hed first need to see if he actually fit into the clothes.


    After a little testing, it turned out he did, in fact, fit in the clothes provided. If the clothes hadnt been high Tier, he would have torn through the almost see-through material the first time he took a deep breath, but he was pretty sure that even if he took his de to the fabric, he wouldnt even have been able to remove a stitch.


    As he studied the illusionary double of himself projected in the middle of the closet, Matt couldnt help but shake his head. It didnt look <em>bad</em>, and the outfit was enchanted to put his muscles in even sharper relief than they otherwise should be, but it just felt wrong for some reason he couldnt put into words. Perhaps it was the missing scars, which should have stood out in sharp contrast along his skin, or maybe it was just the absence of any kind of armor.


    Though, as he joined Liz in her closet where she was still struggling to get into her cumbersome, multiyered dress, he did conclude he probably was better off.


    Hey Liz, cant we just wear shifting outfits? I''ve seen them before, and are <em>stupidly</em> expensive. Seems like something the noble scions would love to unt.


    Liz snorted as she iled, trying to sew up hertestyer of clothing from the inside without letting any of the thread slip out of ce. And not spend a fortune on <em>each</em> new outfit? No way. Liz tilted her head up and said in a stuffy ent. Those shifting clothes are for those who cant afford to have an <em>actual</em> wardrobe. Returning to her normal tone, she continued, That said, they sometimese into fashion, but it''s rare and never for long. Would sure be convenient right about now. Or if we could just do what my parents do, andpletely <em>ignore</em> all the fashion trends since their favorite one three thousand years ago. But this is all about <em>not</em> annoying the nobles, so


    Lizs control over her dress literally frayed, and the stitches shed made came undone, setting off what seemed to be a chain reaction that had Liz lying almostpletely naked in a pile of loose fabrics and thread by the end of it.


    She rolled over and looked at Matt with a pitying gaze. Could you ping my parents dressers? I was <em>really</em> hoping I would be able to get into this myself, but I give up.


    Matt snorted and passed the request off to the houses AI system.


    The dresser in question, Lotus, was a young-looking Tier 16 woman with green hair and irises that looked like a pink lotus, who arrived to help after just a few moments. With her help, it only took a few minutes to get Liz fully inside the dress, though the woman mentioned that Liz had chosen one of the <em>simplest</em> dresses avable, and that shed need far more time and possibly additional assistance when Liz was nning on actually going out in something more borate.


    It was incredible watching the dresser at work, though. It was apletely different profession than anything Matt had seen before, but even so, he could tell how skilled she was. Fabric seemed to weave itself whole-cloth from nothing but air and loose threads, then took on a particr sheen. By the end of it, Liz almost seemedfortable.


    She also worked some magic on what Matt was wearing. He couldnt tell a difference between before and after she was done, but hed apparently been <empletely</em> incorrect in basically everything to do with his outfit. She also applied a few decorative skill effects directly to the outfit itself, most of which seemed utterly pointless, like making sure the lighting off his outfit was correctly prized.


    Once they were both dressed, they investigated Asters whereabouts, as she hadnt been responding to their messages.


    Her room was fairly simr to their own, but had several concessions to Asters preference of all things cold. The spas sauna was reced with what essentially amounted to a freezer, her attached bar was well-stocked with ice cream, and her workshop was a massive artists studio. Her floor looked to be made of leaves instead of a pond, and Matt could see birds fluttering beneath their feet.


    To no real surprise, they found Aster basicallyatose on her bed and only capable of putting up nominal resistance as Matt first dragged her off by one foot, then slung her over his shoulder and carried her into her closet.


    Herining about the rough treatment instantly morphed intoining about the dress she was expected to wear. Of course, the spies pretending to be them had worn them withoutint, so she was forced to only <em>lightly</em> pout as they called Lotus back to help Aster get into her own dress. By the end of the process, Aster seemed almost content with it, and she settled into the knowledge that it was how a <em>proper</em> queen should dress.


    The three of them hade to grips with their respective outfits, which were at least moderatelyfortable, until they joined Mara and Leon in the foyer for dinner.


    What the-


    Fuck.


    Matt and Aster came to a standstill as they came face-to-face with Mara and Leon, while Liz just shrugged defeatedly. The duo were dressed in baggy, exercise-like lounge clothes that couldnt have taken more than a single hand to pull on or take off.


    Leon shrugged. This was a trend a few thousand years ago.


    Mara nodded with a smirk flirting around the edges of her lips. Was it a trend we funded? Who can say? But it sure is convenient to wear one outfit whether youre on the couch or going to a ball. Crazy how that works out.


    Matt shook his head but was quickly distracted as Leon [Teleport]ed them to a proper Tier 45 restaurant floating on the very edge of the ring, with the to their left and the iridescent sheen of the ring to their right.


    The food was beyond fantastic, with technical quality far beyond anything Matt had ever tasted. Though, that was partially because it had been several Tiers since hest tried Aunt Helens cooking. He wasnt sure how theypared side by side.


    And, as they ate, the five of them swapped stories. Mostly it was Mara and Leon telling tales, but it was fun nheless.


    The story of Mara and Leon chasing each other around the atmosphere, letting fire and storm mana manifest as they yed, had clearly contributed to the two of them being perceived as hating each other, but they refused to acknowledge it, saying everyone should know that had just been some yful banter before they went on to actual forey.


    Or the time Leon kept sending thunderclouds to hover over Lunas garden and then med Mara once caught. Thetter pouted that she was then turned into a heatmp for a week.


    The mental picture of chicken Mara being tethered to cat Luna like a balloon was hrious, and Matt hoped hed get to see it again someday, having only seen it at his wedding once.


    The dessert was just as fantastic, and Matt found himself in a nearly catatonic stupor between the food and the utterly divine bed. He could have probably slept for a <em>year</em> if they didnt have a job to do.

 Chapter 258

    Chapter 258


    Matt fidgeted with a ball of pure mana as he waited for Liz to finish getting ready. As the focus of the uing celebration, there was more attention given to ensuring everyst thread was utterly <em>perfect </em>on her garment than Matt and Astersbined. Her dress was custom-made for the asion, literally woven around her thread by thread, and was every bit as borate as their actual <em>wedding</em> outfits, though a radically different style.


    While they, as hosts, could inform the dress code for the party, it was considered poor taste to diverge too far from the trends of the day. As such, Liz was still stuck in a floor-length dress woven out of <em>actual</em> sunlight, captured at sunset the night before to secure a glorious red-gold color. The hem faded into heatless mes, liquid gold flowed across its surface to entuate her movements, and shed taken a potion to transform her hair into long phoenix feathers, each of which had been immactely preened with supernatural precision by the dozen-odd dressers involved in Lizs preparations.


    Aster was in a blue-white dress of ice and snow with a faint sheen of iridescence, and while Matt was still stuck in one of the absurd, too-tight bodybuilder outfits, he <em>had</em> been able to get an outer coat included as part of the dress code, so he didnt feel too oundish. His was woven from some form of magical metal and hung around him in a way distinctly reminiscent of armor, but it still <em>felt</em> like a regr, cloth long coat.


    As Lotus put the final touches on Lizs dress, Matt walked up to his wife and offered her his hand. Hello dear, you look... Radiant.


    Liz rolled her eyes in a way that still managed to look dignified, no doubt thanks to some of the magic still active around her, but took his hand and took a few careful steps as she finished limatizing to her outfit outside of the zero-gravity dressing room.


    Why thank you, dear Matthew. Ever my valiant knight, ready to shine in my brilliance?


    Constantly, he beamed back at her, doing his best to keep her attention on <em>him</em> and not on the uing party. Shed been a regr bundle of nerves, and while they both had the self-control to y their parts no matter their anxiousness, it was no more pleasant for it.


    Matt had been <em>told</em> plenty about the people who would be in attendance- nearly <em>seventy thousand</em> of the Empires most prominent nobility- as well as the political disposition of every one of them, but he couldnt keep it all straight. Liz <em>could</em>, somehow, and was tremendously nervous despite the fact she could straight-up punch someone in the face without immediate repercussions.


    Would it cause <em>them</em> some problems in the long term? Maybe, but by the time it would be relevant, theyd be Ascenders, and that carried with it a prestige beyond practically anything else. Few crossed Duke Waters, least of all for any minor slipups he made beforepleting the Path, and theyd be in the same position as him one day.


    It wasnt as though Liz were set to inherit her parents position, but she <em>was</em> set to have her own duchy within a shockingly short amount of time. That would only be meaningfully relevant after the war, but good rtions with prominent members of the political environs could make life easier in so many ways, with simr considerations for Matts eventual guild. But again, Ascender. It simplified <em>so</em> many aspects of politics, from what Matt could tell.


    Still, Liz was nervous, and hed do his best to support her in this.


    Invitation? Wheres the-


    Matt cut her off by producing the invite. Instead of a card or crystal like he had expected, the invitation was <em>woven</em>, a piece of impossibly fine and soft cloth, perfectly smooth and with text that ebbed and flowed organically, despite not even being <em>embroidered</em>, but rather woven into the actual textile. He had no clue how that was possible, but it looked impressive. Most important to them, it served as an actual key to enter the ballroom itself. Politics again.


    They went back and forth for a while, letting Liz steady her nerves after being reassured that <em>yes</em>, everything was perfect, and she didnt need to worry about something going catastrophically wrong during the party. Matt cut her off when she started cycling back around to things theyd already addressed, and instead directed her downstairs to where her parents were. It was still a few hours before the actual start, but that didnt mean they couldnt get there early.


    They came across Mara and Leon in the theater, where the pair of them were in their dressy/lounge clothes, surrounded by piles of snacks and drinks, for all appearances ready to watch a movie.


    Except, on the screen was the ballroom they would be going to shortly.


    Matt and Asterughed, but Liz just sighed. Please tell me this doesnt mean you think something will go catastrophically wrong?


    Of <em>course not</em> sweetie! We just want to see you do great as soon as we possibly can!


    Listen to your mother, youre going to do great and we just want to celebrate that with you!


    The popcorn the couple''s hands dove into made those statements questionable, but Matt just smiled like he didn''t see anything as Liz took a deep breath. Okay. Okay. [Portal], please?


    With an impressive show of magical power, Leon flicked a finger and opened a crackling gateway to the outdoors, yet the casting was so subtle that Matt couldnt even <em>feel</em> the magic involved. There was no doubt a portal there; he could see it and sense it. But ording to his eyes and spirit, it was apletely mundane portion of space. It was almost to say that <em>of course</em> there should just be a portal out to a particrly nice area of the Capital, that was simply how the world worked.


    ordingly, none of the delicate bnce of decorative magic piled on the three of them was so much as slightly mussed, and even held up admirably to the onset of environmental enchantments which kept the areafortable without wavering.


    The ballroom itself was a crystal sphere a couple miles in diameter, with borate balconies, private rooms, meandering gardens, and open spaces throughout the interior and even the exterior, with enchantments expanding or shrinking areas as needed to ensure that it neither felt too empty or toorge. Hed been told it could hold millions of peoplefortably, which given the incredible disys of variable spatial expansion enchantments hed seen since arrival, he could believe it.


    Around them, the waitstaff bustled around making their final preparations for the gathering. Flowers were being brought to full and vibrant bloom, serving-trays were being loaded with the <em>freshest</em> foods untouched by even preservation wards, and the floor was being given a final polish by a pair of Tier 35s who were on their hands and knees, arms blurring as they carefully worked.


    The three of them were quickly escorted to a private VIP room near the bottom of the sphere where they could see the city, and specifically the Feather Nestled Inn they were directly above, in the ss ceiling above them. It was already a striking view, but Matt knew it would only get better as they continued.


    One of the servers, a stunning woman with silver hair, swung by with a drink for Liz, which she gratefully epted and downed in a single gulp. Matt could tell she regretted her decision to drink the colder-than-ice drink so quickly, but the server had already offered a follow-up, a small shot of a warming potion to aid with brain freeze.


    Thanks, Liz squeezed out even as one of her eyes twitched, and the woman nodded and vanished back to the hustle and bustle of the other waitstaff.


    Matt just took Lizs hand, and the two of them just looked at the city above.


    A couple hourster, Aster left to arrive with the other guests. Matt, as Lizs husband, was considered a direct essory to her, and as such, it was also technically <em>his</em> induction into high society just as much as it was hers. Aster, as a teammate and adopted sister-inw, didnt receive the same benefit. Shed be meeting up with Travis and Keith, as Lizs only siblings in the right Tier range to attend, and would be rejoining them soon enough.


    He and Liz didnt leave right away, of course. It would be unseemly for the focus of the party to be out socializing with the guests before Lizs official debut. Instead, they needed to wait until well after thest guests had arrived. That took another couple hours, and it was only after the ballroom had left the Capital behind, the shrinking away <em>above</em> them, that one of the staff came to fetch them.


    Matt gave Lizs hand a final squeeze as they walked through the doors and into the light.


    ***


    <strong>ANNOUNCING THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH MOORE OF HESTIAL AND STORMHAVEN, ACCOMPANIED BY CONSORT MATTHEW MOORE N ALEXANDER OF LILLY</strong> the heralds voice boomed out, silencing all other conversation within the ballroom below.


    Liz deliberately paused, allowing everyone present to realize what was going on and identify where they were. The balcony theyd emerged onto was positioned such that everyone in attendance could see it, nevermind that it wouldnt have existed just a few seconds ago. They were far in the air, set against the backdrop of the stars above, and Matt seemed transfixed at the sight before him.


    He was so cute like that, and she sometimes wished she could see the world the way he did, where things were ck or white, and being an Ascender meant he wouldnt have to worry about politics and nobles. That may have been what Uncle Aiden did, but he paid the price for that. Her parents had even used him as an example many times, as to how hard power wasnt <em>everything</em>.


    It was the most important thing, from which all else flowed, but attempting to utilize onesbat prowess to manage a kingdom, duchy, barony, or even a single continent would be like making a chair with nothing but a hand saw. It might be possible, but it would be far more painful and would be substantially inferior to a chair made with knives, sandpaper, glue, varnish, and skills.


    That she would one day be an Ascender would be the core of her power, but the reputation of Ascenders would almost do her a <em>disservice</em>. Ascenders were, almost as a rule, coarse, impatient, and abrasive, heedless of decorum and used to getting their own way. That was true back in the days when it was a way forward for disaffected noble scions, or the children of disgraced houses, and it only became more true with the Sophrons expansion of the Paths scope.


    And so, if she wished to be treated as a proper peer, not simply a problem child or asset to be utilized, she needed to impress. She <em>had</em> to exemplify the traits which would lead to that, especially today. Refined, willing to y by the rules, patient, and overall simply one worthy of being taken <em>seriously</em>.


    And she needed to be perfect the entire time.


    Crystal steps began materializing, providing them with a path into the main crowd, and she took it with all the grace and poise she could muster. Matt took up a position just to her side, and she could tell how hard he was focusing on not messing up even a single step, keeping them in sync with hers. She would have liked to smile, but that wouldnt be appropriate at the moment and so wrestled the urge down.


    Everyst eye in the venue was fixed upon them, with a majority on her, and a smattering of polite apuse broke out from those families among her parents factions as she reached the ballroom. The floor rippled beneath her feet like liquid gold, a faint wave emanating from her every footfall as she began the truly daunting task of <em>greeting people</em>. She kept her expressions carefully schooled, enhanced by a [Genuine Smile] enchantment as she slowly worked her way through the endless crowd.


    Most of the interactions were polite. She simply greeted them by name, thanked them for attending, and maybe shared a few quick words before moving on. While a Majority party wasnt a <em>party</em> by the normal understanding, this was as close to a proper celebration as they came.


    After all, she had genuinely achieved immortality, and that <em>was</em> an aplishment, albeit a minor one by nobility standards. It was also very explicitly something of a training ground for younger nobles, where they could grow ustomed to the ballroom battlefield amongst other attendees of their Tier range.


    Because this <em>was</em> a battlefield, no question about that.


    The nobles were simply the most obviousyer, where barbed words and veiled threats were the weapons of choice. But below that were the socialites, be they waitstaff or guest. They were allpeting to be the most helpful, the most noticed, and to make their own connections and forge their own future. Then there were the rest of the staff, the cooks and bartenders all looking to impress those in attendance to further their own careers in much the same way as the socialites. There was also the byy between the socialites and nobles and between socialites and staff; it simply became a massive chaotic battleground trickier to navigate than even a minefield.


    After all, with a minefield you could at least <em>see</em> where the explosions were happening.


    As it was her Majority, a single unintentional insult was unlikely to result in a millennia-spanning grudge to spark, until it festered into something truly devastating. But it was still <em>possible</em>, and Liz did not want to start her official society life by making any new enemies.


    The first spot of trouble came when, of course, she greeted Dominus Maniake. While she had to be perfect at all times, the Maniakes were one of the ducal families whose influence <em>truly</em> mattered, and would require her utmost attention. The oft-titled Scion of the Beast Kingdom rarely bothered hiding his contempt that her mother had usurped his familys normal position, and today was no exception. He towered over everyone else, of course, his body almost more dragon than human andpletely covered in shining ck scales speckled with silver, limned with incandescent blue-white light radiating from within, like he were a being of pure energy merely inhabiting scaled armor.


    Elizabeth, he greeted, bearing his teeth in the tant mockery of a grin. It is positively delightful that you have finally joined us in <em>proper</em> society. And I see your parents have already decided its time for you to select a new socialite, now that youve had your fun on the Path of Ascension.


    Matt bristled by her side, but Liz patted him down with her hand that was resting on his, Not at all, Maniake. While I am ttered that you believe I could reach immortality upon the Path solely through my own efforts, and with a socialite at my side, Matthew has been a steadfastpanion and aide throughout.


    Oh but of course, he purred. Why else would your mother have provided you with such a perfect candidate to escort- I apologize- <em>assist</em> you upon your journey, if he were not such a perfectpliment to her poor, crippled daughter? A man with no ties of his own, yet so skilled at taking hits for you, and even providing you with mana. And with a bond, no less. Just what you needed to feel self-important.


    My mother- Liz began, but the dragon carried on, heedless of her words.


    Was very clever and subtle, of course. Bute now, surely you see it? I thought you were intelligent. The poor little extinguished phoenix, smothered as she left the nest, given a spear just powerful enough to carry her to her third Tier, when she could properly meet someone strong enough to carry her, yet lost, scared and ignorant, from a so horribly mismanaged it would be trivial to slip in a few hidden agents under the Paths checks. He, of course, has a bond he cannotmunicate with. What did he do to win you over? Did he shower you with gifts? Did he beg you to exin everything to him? Did he need you to exin what his little fox was saying to him? It must have felt nice, being <em>wanted</em> for once. To be <em>useful</em>, like you had any chance of inheriting your mothers strength. That he developed a Concept all about providing extra mana to you was a sheer coincidence, Im certain. And then there you were, all set up to excel on the Path without any worries. Then your mother refused a manager on your behalf at Tier 10, to ensure you wouldnte under scrutiny, and had you fall off at Tier 15, just before you may be in any actual danger, or danger of true scrutiny?


    Really, Elizabeth, are you simply pretending to be ignorant? I had <em>such</em> high hopes for you, but it seems like mother, like daughter.


    Liz allowed herself a politeugh. Well, that certainly is quite the interesting story. And I must pass your fatherspliments to my mother, suggesting that she could orchestrate such a thing. Unless she <em>isnt</em> a, what was it, ignorant songbird who defeated me solely thanks to her connections as I believe he put it?


    And what kind of simpleton at Tier 48 could not manage such a thing? My grandmother enacted ns which spanned centuries, a few scant decades would be trivial, particrly with the aid of a Seeker so very concerned about his nieces mental stability.


    Liz repressed a grin as she asked, Are you insinuating that Emperor Emmanuel would undermine the sanctity of the Path simply for my well-being? I must say Im ttered.


    Unfortunately, the Maniake wasnt an idiot. I do not believe I said any such thing, but I find it interesting you would draw that conclusion from my statement. Of course, it wouldnt be the first time such things have happened. The Maniakes have a long memory, and we recall the days when the Path of Ascension was little more than a nobles social club. Turning to Matt, his smile turned more draconic. But boy, youve been so very quiet for a socialite, shouldnt you be leaping to the defense of your darling?


    Liz is more than capable of taking care of herself, here or in a fight. And I cant help but notice you didnt even <em>attempt</em> the Path, who are you to say what it is or isnt? She was proud, as Matt didnt get angry, and calmly sniped back at Dominus. But he and his words were waved aside by the youngest Maniake.


    Pah, the only thing which truly matters is strength. Whether you pretend to do it on your own or utilize <em>every</em> resource avable to your station, the Path doesntst forever and neither do any lies hidden by it. But strengthsts forever. Now, I of course, do not mean to usurp the other truly <em>riveting</em> conversations you shall have with the rest of our peers, so I shall take my leave. Its been a pleasure.


    Liz resisted the urge to re at the retreating dragon, and fought back her simmering anger as she stered another [Genuine Smile] on her face and moved on to the next guest.


    Ingrid berg, an imposing Tier 13 woman with a pr bear bloodline, softly tutted, The manners of some people, you know? Honestly, it was like Dominus was wholly dismissive of Matthew, with no respect for the tremendous amount of work which socialites put in. Its not like theyre just <em>courtesans</em>, theres far more to them than simply sleeping their way to the top, and I admire anyone capable of pulling themselves all the way here from Lilly, wasnt it? Pity what happened there, their foolishness gave the Emperor such fertile ground to squeeze us all the further.


    Oh, I suppose I should introduce myself, Matthew. I am Ingrid berg, scion of the berg family. If you dont know of us, we excel in many military matters and I am personally capable of delving Tier 17 rifts all on my own.


    I know who you are, Matt replied simply.


    You do? Oh <em>marvelous</em>, but I suppose I was just praising all of the hard work which socialites must undertake to fit into such an unfamiliar environment. You do your people proud.


    Thank you Ingrid, for your kind words, Liz cut off the woman with a smile. It would be unsightly- not to mention punching down- for her to punch the woman in the face, no matter how satisfying it would be, and she didnt want to make Matt have to deal with the unbearable woman any longer than needed.


    Unfortunately, between Ingrid and Maniake, the tone for the next several discussions had already been set, and it would be quite some time before their conversations didnt involveparing Matt to a socialite in some way. Emily Destiera and her fiance were ttering, but given her fiance was also lowborn, it only made sense.


    Its not as though its <em>bad</em> being a socialite, after all. Theres nothing wrong with a service or support-oriented build, and socialites offer their services in exchange for superiorworking. My cousin actually <em>took</em> a socialite as a wife, and theyve been quite content. The utility provided by marrying someone genuinely supportive of you, particrly without further political ties, can absolutely be useful, you know.


    Thank you, Lady Destiera, but Matt isnt a socialite. Liz responded, subtly pushing a bit more mana into her [Genuine Smile] enchantment.


    Oh, I dont mean to say that he is, but if he <em>were</em> there is truly nothing wrong with that, and I would congratte you on also finding a spouse valuable enough to forego political advantages for. Though, your family isnt particrly inclined to that, are they?


    No, they arent, which Ive always appreciated.


    Ah, you truly are fortunate, you know that? Destiera sighed as she said that and Liz couldnt tell if she was sincere or sarcastic, so let it slide.


    I have been informed, thank you. Ah, Sir Daoud, its a pleasure, and congrattions upon your recent victory over your siblings.


    The pleasure is mine, Lady Moore. Please, call me Boutaje.


    Then call me Elizabeth. Has the celebration been to your pleasure thus far? Im certain none of our provided potions match what your family produces, but I trust we have been up to your standards in other areas?


    You humble yourself, Elizabeth. Even your potions, and herbs, are far more than merely <em>adequate</em>. And rest assured, I cast no aspersions upon your consort. Ive seen the two of you fight together, and I must say, Im impressed. I would love to pit myself against your team once you reach Tier 17, and I would never say such things about a team which included a socialite. Theyre naught but utter leeches, preying upon the weaknesses of the flesh to reap the glory of their hard-won aplishments.


    Is preying upon a targets weakness not simply proper strategy? Or would youin that an archer shooting around a shield is simply a leech upon the warrior who refused to wear armor? A new woman, with dark skin and covered in intricate tattoos, spoke up.


    Lady Winiata, I apologize, I did not see you there.


    It is no fault of your own, Lady Moore. I heard <em>Master Daoud</em> speaking about things which he over-presumes his knowledge in, and simply couldnt resist joining in. I hope I am not imposing?


    Not at all. Liz turned her polite smile onto the new attention.


    Boutaje openly sneered at Lady Winiata. Hmph. Of course <em>you</em> would draw such false equivalencies. Poisoning a foe in their sleep is no measure of your superiority in anything save underhanded tactics, and seducing your way into proper highblood is far more akin to that than exploiting a weakness in a proper duel. I have a seekers Talent. Even I don''t resort to such deplorable tactics.


    Lady Winiata shot back without a moment''s hesitation, Yet they both end with the target dead, do they not? If socialites truly <em>are</em> such leeches, parasites of strength, surely a proper ruler ought to take at least moderate precautions against them, just as surely as one might take steps to avoid poison? That so many of our peers, including those as cautious as the Dobrescus, actively seek out such individuals for what they offer indicates that there is something present worthy of merit in what socialites may offer a noble house.


    Boutaje took a polite sip of his spiced mead before responding, Aye, a warm bed and a pretty face. Its shameful the degree to which so many <em>proper</em> houses have sullied their bloodlines simply because an opportune <em>courtesan</em> tempted a scion into bed. Nothing which couldnt be obtained through more traditional means, no need to take one as a <em>consort</em>. Now, as I was attempting to say, I am quite pleased at how your consort, Elizabeth, is <em>not</em> simply some piddling socialite who has never seen more challenge than a filling duel.


    He nodded to Matt in a sign of what seemed like actual respect, which she noted. But before she could say anything, a young man in a waitstaff outfit materialized from the crowd and handed Kiri Winiata a slightly glowing blue drink,plete with a small fruit bird flying through the liquid. Two other waitstaff with simr drinks slunk off in disappointment as the dark-skinned woman took an appreciative sip. As I was saying, Master Daoud, the socialites provide an invaluable service, beyond simply being good in bed. Though, of course, they are <em>more</em> than sufficient in that matter as well, and if you have never felt the joy of one who is Talented in bed, then I am sorry for you. Now, if you would excuse me, Lady Moore, I have heard tell that <em>the </em>Vixen is in attendance, and I <em>do</em> hope to find her before the first night hase.


    Boutaje harrumphed as the other noble retreated. That woman will bring shame upon us all. Though, she is not incorrect that I ought to avail myself somewhat more of the refreshments. Elizabeth, your third teammate is rather fond of sweets, is she not? Is there anything in particr which she might rmend? I do always enjoy sampling new desserts at such asions. Aster, wasnt it? I imagine the staff have specially prepared something delicious with an eye for her.


    Matthew, would you care to assist Boutaje with determining what he may enjoy out of Asters suite of favorites? I do apologize, Boutaje, as I do hope we may speak moreter, but I must be on now.


    Oh but of course, Elizabeth. The party waits for no woman! Heughed. So, Matthew. May I call you Matthew? Matt it is, then! Tell me about what your


    Liz had barely even started, but she already wanted to just copse into one of the couches along the wall. But instead, she put on another [Genuine Smile] and kept going.


    Master Joah, thank you for celebrating with me on this day. How have your farms been?


    Lady Moore, the pleasure is all mine. And thank you for asking, you see


    <em>A week to go</em>, she thought, <em>another week where I must be absolutely </em>perfect<em>.</em>

 Chapter 259

    Chapter 259


    Matt sighed as one of the waitstaff washed away his stress. It was impressive seeing the magic at y and entwined with the mans Domain, delicately picking around the mana already present to avoid disturbing it even by a hair''s-width, but still be just as soothing.


    And that was just stress from <em>watching</em> Liz have to interact with so many people. She had it far worse, as the small crowd of staff surrounding her attested to. Everyst hair was being put back in its proper ce, half of her enchantments were being re-applied, and Matt could actually <em>watch</em> as the tension drained out of her, polluting a jar of formerly-pure water with the reddish-purple of a particrly bad bruise set on a nearby table.


    It had taken them three whole days to get through greeting everyone, with practically no breaks for either of them. Theyd been well-refreshed the entire time, courtesy of the waitstaff, but it was still utterly <em>exhausting</em>, and no amount of being handed the exact food or drink the exact instant he realized he wanted something like it could reprieve that.


    But now, they were in a private room getting a chance to dpress for the first time in what felt like a decade. It was utterly blissful, but all good things had toe to an end.


    The hall had emptied out somewhat since they had first made their entrance, with the guests dispersing to the various corners, other halls, and private rooms their crystal sphere had tucked away. That still left several thousand individuals enjoying the amenities the staff were providing, but to Matt the room may as well have been empty.


    They were immediately beset by more of the waitstaff, or socialites as the nobles preferred to call them. So far as he understood, they were somebination of service worker, general aide, support staff, and professional party-goer, ultimately there for the same purposes he and Liz were in attendance;working with up-anding-nobility.


    They just did so with drinks in the main hall or with more intimate services in the backroom, instead of engaging in tests of mental resolve and discussing the weather.


    He couldnt wait for this to be over.


    The same silver-haired waitstaff whod been tending to him and Liz approached with a drink, something withyers of blue and white reminiscent of the ocean,plete with a candy shark hunting down schools of bubble-fish forming out of the carbonation. He took it with a quick word of thanks, and took a sip.


    True, the party wasnt <em>all</em> bad. The refreshments were absolutely sublime, and he still enjoyed how he was able to get a taste of eachyer of the ocean as he drank it, instead of having to fully consume one at a time. He couldnt <em>show</em> it, of course, but he absolutely could appreciate the craftsmanship involved.


    That thought brought his eye to the nearest bartender. The man was taking orders from a dozen waitstaff and entertaining a pair of nobles as he flipped glowing bottles through the air, shook drinks both with his hands and magic, and even made a few basic snacks, all only utilizing the circr, portable tray as a working surface.


    It was an awe-inspiring disy of skill, even for someone at least twice his tier. Of course, the man could have simply mixed drinks faster than Matt could even blink, but the performance was half the point.


    <em>Everything</em> about the party was over-the-top, from the bartenders and cooks putting on a show as much as they were legitimately serving food to tens of thousands of people, to the countless waitstaff bringing what was needed to the guests the very <em>instant</em> they started even wanting it, even the nobles themselves looking to puff themselves up and put down others as much as possible. There was some arcane set of rules for what was and wasnt allowable, but Matt hadnt understood it even when it had been exined to him.


    It seemed like a phenomenal waste of time, talent, and wealth but when hepared everything around him to the infrastructure on the Capital itself, and its endless spatial expansion, this barely felt like a drop in the bucket. There were tens of thousands of <em>very influential</em> people in attendance, yes, the next generation of nobles and his political peers for once he was a duke, and possibly an equal number of people serving them. Theyd be on an extravagant tour through the sr system for a full week, eating and drinking in style and still, it was nothingpared to the millions of people living in a <em>single building</em>, the thousands of years a smith might take to make a truly perfect Tier 40 de, even the effort needed to build a single warship, the likes of which were lost by the dozens or hundreds every single day in the war.


    So, perhaps it was justified. Werent people entitled for payment, if their jobs were about <em>managing</em> those impossibly vast projects? At the same time, the money on disy here could have rebuilt Lilly a hundred times over, wouldnt it have been better spent doing that? After the past three days of being repeatedly insulted for his failure in being born to the wrong people, he was more inclined to thetter, but if he insisted that people who didnt use everyst scrap of their wealth, every waking moment assisting those less fortunate than themselves, where did that leave <em>him</em>?


    Well, hed enjoy it while he was here. Matt had never tasted deep oysters that floated through a gas giant, but he was certainly interested in trying them.


    By the time the thought had fully crossed his mind, a man offered him a tter of the same, much to the silver-haired womans disappointment. Matt happily snacked on the oysters, and allowed Liz to lead him to where a group of nobles were awaiting, slipping into the conversation with perfect grace.


    Discussions regarding uing exhibition matches didntst long, and from there they moved on to a group discussing news of thetest war reports, another sharing some utterly scious gossip about two of their peer group from families that utterly <em>despised </em>one another being caught in bed recently, another group discussing mana-aspect theory that Matt desperately wished they could have stayed at longer, <em>another</em> group talking about the war, even a group who tried to pull him and Liz into specting the identities of Torch and Quill. That one had been amusing.


    While many of the nobles still snubbed him for various reasons, he ended up having plenty of opportunities to talk to his future peers. Liz made an effort to bring him in on any conversation about enchanting or strategy, and Matt met several nobles more than capable of keeping up with him on runic theory which was fun. Most of them were substantially better than he was, having centuries of experience and the benefit of it being the family business. Talking to them was far more enjoyable than trying to exin his wacky idea to Liz or Aster and he made sure to get their contact information for more personal meetings while he was on the Capital. He needed to make their time here productive and he couldn''t really think of a better way to do so than making future contacts.


    Whether they were rude or helpful after they found his limits seemed almost a coin-toss. The sweetest-looking girls could be absolutely <em>savage</em> in tearing into Mattsck of knowledge, or the most grizzled and intimidating muscle-bound guys could be fully genuine in exining the intricacies of a particrly tricky bit of enchanting theory. Hed be <em>literally</em> paying for the advice he got hereter, so at times he almost preferred the former.


    It wasnt like he didnt know what he was here for, after all. Nobles always tried to cut one another down and build up their own reputation, and the entire reason these parties even happened was to facilitate that in a rtively safe environment.


    He had been part of one conversation regarding the merits of the Empires expanded social services for a while when Sciath of house hEachaidh, widely seen as one of the strongest draconic families in the Empire, inserted herself into the group.


    I disagree with all of your arguments. She looked between Matt, Liz, and their supporters, as well as those nobles theyd been debating, making it abundantly clear neither of them should expect aid.


    Matt happily turned to her and asked, Oh, is there a viewpoint we are overlooking?


    Sciath nodded. Yes, and that is the sentient element. It costs nothing for the reforms on a small scale andparatively little for the reforms on arge scale. Most of the numbers you all bring up take into consideration the efforts to raise low Tiers to Tier 5, which is expensive. And as you she looked to the other side of the circle, pointed out, it isnt necessary from a pure numbers perspective if the mortals simply had fewer children. But I propose an alternative viewpoint. We at the top must do what we can to help everyone else. Ignore the numbers, ignore the benefits, and what are we left with? People. The world may be vicious, and nature may be cutthroat, but why do we need to mimic nature? Is it not enough to just be helpful to others especially when it costs us pocket change? I dont think that is a big ask, personally.


    Matt nodded, but one of his more eloquent opponents spoke up. And being kind is great when one can afford to do it. After a certain point, you are throwing money into the pit that is social services for no appreciable gain. Everyone agrees there are diminishing returns and I believe we have hit them. Besides, as I said earlier, why must we, the noble families, shoulder greater taxes to assist others? I think it would be best for taxes to be kept more locally instead of given to the lowest Tier ofs. Thoses have less inherent risk and needparatively less money. Why do they need to rush to Tier 5? There is no reason when they are simply a ceholder to connect to new worlds that are more valuable.


    As the man paused, Matt smiled as he and others started to rebut most of his arguments. Not everything, as he hadnt said anything truly crazy, but a few of his arguments were poorly formed, and he attacked those weaknesses. Some had to do with his own experiences growing up on a throwaway like Lilly, but most of them were backed by hard numbers.


    Despite there being three sides, the argument never fell into one side just repeating their own facts or getting angry, as both would have been surefire proof that their side''s arguments were weaker than their opposition and the nobles were well versed in debates of this type.


    In time, they left that conversation as well, moving to the windows to appreciate the views of Gvan, the they were passing by. Around them, the staff set up massive tables and chairs, preparing for the main meal of the party.Orbiting the gas giant would have been special in and of itself, and Matt would have happily enjoyed it, but this was still a noble party, and nothing so mundane could be sufficient.


    No, they got front-row seats to a Tier 40 fight between two of the most famous ring fighters.


    Cassius Avenger was a younger but uing fighter to the Tier 40 Tier ss, having created a following from a young age when he fought in the Tier 5 mortal divisions until bing dominant in that bracket. He then moved on to the Tier 10 division, where his record was rougher but still impressive. A decadeter, when he had been crowned the king of the Tier 10 division, he moved on to the Tier 15 division to repeat his earlier actions. Everyone had expected his role toe to a halt in the immortal divisions, and he had certainly slowed down, but he had never stopped. That unique approach had earned him a fervent following among those who were fans of ring fights.


    His opponent was the current Tier 40 champion, Conclusion. The man''s real name was Avery Lexur, and he was dominant for a reason, despite not having the best reputation in or out of the ring. Conclusion hadnt started as younger fighter, like most of hispetitors, but instead, he had been a fairly normal delver until he reached Tier 15 and joined the army.


    There, he had had a fairly nondescript first few enlistments, slowly reaching Tier 25 as someone fairly unremarkable. When a war broke out early in Emperor Georgios'' reign, he had shown himself as a formidablebatant who reveled and excelled inbat versus other cultivators. From that war, his name had be fairly well known, which helped him as he left the military and joined the ring fights at Tier 35. From there, he had be a menace to anyone in his Tier ss, and had been the undisputed champion of the Tier 40 bracket for six hundred years.


    Today would be Cassius third challenge to Conclusion in as many decades, and people were fairly hopeful that this time, he would win the title.


    Matt wasnt so sure, but he had been anticipating the fight since he had first gotten wind of it.


    Not that they would be able to keep up with Tier 40s movements, but that just made the highlights all the better, as these battles usuallysted the entire match duration of two hours.


    It was the perfect thing to apany a marvelous view and wonderful meal.


    Just as they were being served, Peter Wyatt stood up and raised a bet. Anyone want to take my bet on Conclusion winning once more? Three Tier 25 swords with a me, wind, and metal affinity, respectively. Made by Aunt R justst year. Who wants to match me?


    That started an outpouring of agreement and people joining the bet on the side of Conclusion winning and another group that hoped the neer could finish his journey here and now.


    Matt would have rather not have to participate, but Liz, Aster, and himself had no choice but to join in as the hosts.


    Liz bet on Conclusion, as did he, but Aster went contrary and put her bet, a small Tier 20 potion that would help one strengthen their bloodline, on the line. It wasnt really hers, but rather was part of the package they had been provided to bet with should the opportunity to do so arise.


    Liz was betting the same potion, but Matt had put up a full-expenses paid dinner to a prestigious Tier 45 restaurant for his own bet. He would have rather used that coupon himself, but that was impossible, just as it would have been impossible to use any of the rewards they might have won. It, like everything else, would have to wait until theypleted the Path.


    While it took a little while for the fight to start, Matt happily dug into the oysters, which both he and Aster liked, but Liz only tried one before going back to her steak and lobsterbo.


    Just as their meals wereing to a close, the fight started, and in a series of rapid shes of light, the space next to the gas giant erupted. Some of the explosions of mana were evenrge enough that they would have destroyed the gas giant and half the star system, but the ring they fought in prevented any coteral damage. It still let the waves of mana and elements wash through each other before starting to merge as one side took the upper hand.


    The ceiling of the ballroom projected amentated highlight reel, with which they were able to see a slowed down, blow by blow version of the fight.


    From the very first exchange, Cassius was on the offensive and was trying to batter down Conclusions defenses, but even with him taking a dozen attacks that could have cracked a sun in half, Conclusion just smiled through it all.


    A massive explosion that seemed to rattle space itself shook the protective barriers of the ring, and the highlight reel jumped forward to show Conclusion punching Cassius descending arm with a ball of silver mana, cracking the challenger''s armor like wet paper. But that hadn''t been what caused the explosion; it was Cassius counter strike. He had kicked Conclusion in the face with a formation on his boot, amplifying the damage to an insane level.


    Armor of all types was allowed in these fights, but few chose to use offensive armor, thanks to the inherent risks that came with theck of protection.


    As the crowd of nobles started to yell and cheer, the fight continued as sts of mana covered the fighting area before being blown away like smoke in the wind, just to be reced momentster.


    While Matt enjoyed seeing the fight with his own eyes - one did not get to witness apex Tier 40s fighting every day - he did keep most of his attention on the battle highlights above, which slowed the spells and unique moves the fighters had down to something he couldprehend.


    Conclusion favored slower but stronger attacks that had massive amounts of power behind them, while Cassius liked to move and attack quickly with rtively less power. When Matt heard the caster say weaker attacks, he chuckled out loud at the strange thought. It was a weaker attack, yes, but any one of those attacks could have sterilized the star system of life if it wasnt contained. At that point, what was the difference between a weaker and stronger attack?


    Still, the fight was entertaining, and everyone in the ballroom got into it.


    Nobles cheered and yelled as the tides of battle ebbed and flowed, joined by their guests and the courtesans who apanied them.


    That said, as the fight approached the forty-five-minute mark, it was clear that Conclusion was going to win once more. While he had taken more hits from Cassius, the few that he hadnded on the challenger were devastating. Cassius was missing an arm and had a massive burn along the side of his face that exposed his skull to the view of the audience watching. Despite that, he didnt give up. He had to be battered unconscious by Conclusion for the fight to stop, while those who bet on the challenger cried for him to keep going.


    Aster snorted quietly enough just so they could hear, Damn it. I really thought he had a chance.


    Liz shrugged. He beat the odds most people put on him for how long hedst. I think he''s got a chance in another century or two.


    Matt nodded as he agreed with her conclusion.


    Cassius was no pushover, even if he couldnt quite battle with someone as established as Conclusion.


    Now that everyone had finished dinner and the fight ended, those who either lost or won the bet got their blood pumping and adrenaline flowing, and small challenges started popping up between nobles everywhere.


    The fights that ensued weren''t the same massive battles they had just witnessed. As nobles, while they were expected to fight, they couldnt be decimating each other to that degree at a party. Instead, they did something called flitting, which meant they would each wear a small, Tier 5 piece of cloth and try to destroy the others while trying to protect their own. It was a clever way to show off the bnce between strength and control, as simply moving too fast was enough to shred the cloth.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster wanted to keep out of the fights, but were inevitably pulled into the fray. But thanks to Lunas varied training methods, they had some prior experience with the format and had a decent feel for the game, even if they were in no way experts.


    Matt faced off a few people for fun, and despite iming a few victories, found himself well out of his depth. Hed practiced flitting a few times with Luna, who set it as a control exercise, but that was woefully inadequate next to nobles who had practiced the fighting style needed for <em>decades</em>. It certainly didnt help that as a Pather, he needed to extract everyst scrap of advantage possible from his every swing, and that full-force attacks were the exact <em>opposite</em> of what flitting required.


    He was getting ready to step down from the small stage that rose up for the fight, when a man hed met recently, Charles Longspear, better known as Chuck, joined him on the stage, fresh Tier 5 cloth on his wrist.


    I must keep you here a little longer. I have heard <em>so</em> much about your abilities. Making it to the fourth floor of Minka is impressive for one of your background, I must admit.


    Chuck''s smile seemed sincere, but Matt had already introduced himself to the man and knew how fake he was. When Chuck arrived, he had politely nodded to Liz before snubbing Matt and Aster by saying he saw someone calling to him.


    The Longspear n was only a small ducal family whenpared to the families here tonight, but even the smallest fish in this pond was a sea serpent that few couldpare to outside of here.


    That said, Chuck was a rising star of the younger generation, having gone into Minka the same cycle as them as a solo delver.


    It was fairly impressive that he had reached floor 6 all on his own before barely winning against his reflection, but it was undeniable that he had gotten deeper inside Minka than their official identities.


    That in and of itself wouldnt have been a problem, but the Longspear family was old nobility, and thought themselves better than everyone else. Chuck''s next words only reinforced that idea.


    If you hade from a better background and had the support of your family, maybe you could have made it to the fifth, or even sixth floor. Chuck paused to snort. But that is asking a lot from one who was on the Path, is it not?


    Matt smiled back at Chuck and stuck his hand out for one of the waitstaff to rece the cloth on his wrist with a new one. His current one was serviceable enough him having won hisst duel, but he was sure Chuck would take any chance to call his defeat, and having a slightly tattered cloth was an easy opening.


    He wasnt a pushover, though, and shot back, Yes, being on The Path refined me and my style. I didnt have Mommy and Daddy to rely on to get where I tread. The Empire itself can back that up, no matter what Dominus wants to say.


    Chuck snorted. Your insinuation of one''s background not being relevant is both an insult to your wife and shows your own naivete. One''s background is just another form of one''s own strength. Only those without it say otherwise, because they are jealous that others didnt have to struggle to gather food, and could focus all of their attention on honing themselves.


    The moment his words ended, Chuck darted forward like a viper, moving just fast enough that the strip of cloth at his wrist fluttered and strained but didnt rip.


    With the narrow tform they were on, neither could do more than take a single step to the side, but Matt easily shifted his position to dodge the Tier 16 Chuck. Even with that, Matt had to admit, Chuck was good. He had already ounted for Matts dodge, and his grasping hand didnt waver as it changed trajectory.


    If Matt was limited to his Tier 15 appearance, and Chuck was allowed to use his full Tier 16 strength, he might have some trouble beating him. But it was only some trouble, not a question of if he would actually win. Of that, Matt had no doubt. With a quick change in direction to reposition his cloth, Matt stepped to the side, carefully keeping his hand and arm moving slowly enough not to disturb his cloth and keep it ck.


    Even as Chuck tried to pull his hand back, Matt rapidly brought his hand down at Tier 15 speeds, having taken advantage of the slow-moving cloth to allow a small micro movement of rapid speed that Chuck couldnt match without tearing his own cloth, thanks to his aggressive attack.


    Matt opened his hand to show the cloth he had ripped off Chuck''s wrist before extending his hand to help Chuck up from where he fell, trying to avoid Matts grab. You said before that one''s family was their own strength, and I agree. My parents took good care of me and made sure I got all the education I could hope for. That said, my foundation was excellent. I made it to the fourth floor of Minaka. No potions created by Talented crafters riding the edge of Minakas Tier 14 limit. No items made with the same methods. Just what myself, my bond, and my wife could gather ourselves. A tree that stands in the wind is stronger than one grown in a greenhouse. I remember what floor 6 was. Folded Reflections, having to fight yourself. It''s impressive you didnt die.


    Matt intentionally ended on a more positive and polite note, which would seem like a peace offering to Chuck, but he knew that everyone here would remember his words, and when he publicly came out as Quill, those words would be a p to Chuck''s face.


    Instead of taking Matts proffered hand, Chuck snorted as he stood and brushed off his pants.


    A good showing. I can admit that, but you should be wary of making enemies as a neer to these circles.


    Seeing Chuck wasnt going to take the face he had offered him, Matt shrugged as he turned around, calling out, If one has friends like you, who needs enemies?


    Matt brushed past the massive Dominus, who simply ignored his nod.


    Not caring, Matt went to a group of nobles who congratted him on his little victory over Chuck, but Matt couldnt brush past Chuck''s partingment. Had that been more than a veiled threat? Did Chuck or his family know something? That would seem like something out of a drama, but he had seen reports of dumber information slips.


    Making a note of it, he endeavored to look into Chuck and his family, the Longspears. His gut told him they were less clean than they appeared in public circles.


    With the party reaching the end of its first day out of the week-long travel, people started spreading out to the various activities the ballroom hosted.


    Beds for those who needed or wanted sleep were avable, though they were more used for horizontal fun than sleep. Plenty of the waitstaff were more than happy to apany the young nobles for a little fun, and many took the opportunity to do so.


    Others went to the separate lounges where everyone chatted in a more intimate way,plete with dimmer lights and courtesans throwing around their Domains and Talents to rx those around them.


    Others still enjoyed the music of the band that the Feather Nestled Inn had contracted. Their work was <em>transcendent</em>, and while Matt had heard Talented musicians before, whose work could paint a picture so vivid in his mind that he lost track of reality itself, this managed to be something a step beyond even those performances. He was sure there wereyers of the performance he just couldnt hear, which only made him want to get strong enough so he could enjoy the music.


    He stopped by Aster long enough to check in with her as she chatted with Ingrid and a number of other bloodline nobles.


    She was arguing with Ingrid the noble scion with the ice bear bloodline, and their conversion seemed to have gotten quite heated, but through their connection, Matt could feel she was both having fun and enjoying herself.


    As he joined the conversion, he realized why they were arguing.


    Ingrid was dead set on the opinion that ice cream was overrated as a treat for ice bloodlines. Her argument was that ice cream was too obvious and overused, and the best foods for cold element bloodlines were normal foods that could be served cold and or frozen.


    A third but smaller group argued that ice bloodlines were best for chilling drinks, which earned looks of disdain from the ice bloodlines, but was gathering more attention and agreement from the non-ice types.


    Matt poked Aster in the rib as he joined her, and she elbowed him back before demanding, Matt, tell this stupid bear that ice cream is better than stupid cold foods.


    Mattughed as Ingrid turned her re to him. I cantment. I haven''t tried the cold dishes she mentioned. They seem interesting. The mix of extreme hot and cold isn''t a new idea, but it''s not amon technique, with the current trends leaning towards more fresh dishes.


    Ingrid jumped on his support while Aster shoved him out of the circle, trying to argue that he wasnt agreeing with her, just saying he hadnt had her dishes and therefore couldntment, so his opinion was invalid.


    Seeing she was fine and in good hands, Matt rejoined Liz as she discussed more with some of their peers.


    He was just a few steps away when Tufa Hamann, the closest guest in age to him at just over a hundred and fifty years old, pulled him to the side and started asking questions. She was a polite enough woman and was obviously trying to get to know him, so he happily allowed her to lead him to one of the edges of the room that were covered by the ss windows to the outside.


    Tufa was an interesting woman; Matt had to admit.


    She was intensely interested in his life in a lower Tier world born to low Tier parents.


    If she wasnt so obviously earnest with her interest, he would have found it rude, but when paired with her willingness to talk about her own life, he got a glimpse of what a noble went through growing up. The two of them ended up chatting for almost an entire day, until the ballroom arrived at their next destination, the asteroid belt of the system. There, everyonepeted in shooting the asteroids that were being elerated to reach incredible speeds through their loop around the star system, just for challenges like this.


    Everyone, even the half-dozen mortals in attendance, stood along the open but shielded tform and shot any projectile they wanted at the passing asteroids, while the ballroom kept track of how many points each shot earned. Things like the type of projectile, the Tier of the shooter, and the speed of the asteroid were all taken into consideration, with bonus points awarded for calling your shot and hitting the called target, and using mundane projectiles without a Talent or skill to assist the shot.


    Matt, once again, did not do well.


    He tried, but despite everything, he really wasnt an archer. He much preferred a de in his hand to a bow and arrow, despite being proficient thanks to Luna being Luna. Still, he had fun trying to shoot the asteroids with a variety of weapons, eventually resorting to using some of his skills to test out how they fared.


    Aster, on the other hand, did surprisingly well with just a simple bow and arrow, as did Liz, who had been using throwing spears. She had more familiarity with the spears despite her not using her own as a long-range weapon very often. Matt even tried his hand with the spears, but while he was better, he just t out wasnt that good of a marksman.


    Being better than only eighty percent of the gathered nobles and courtesans was pretty embarrassing for someone who wanted to be an ascender, but heforted himself with the fact that he wasnt a precision fighter. It helped a little, and in the end, he wasnt trying topete here, just have fun. It was just years of being under Lunas tutge that didn''t allow him to settle for just better than most.


    In the end, the top five were Boutaje, who, despite his ims he wasnt using his Talent, had a knack for knowing what asteroids to hit, which earned him fifth ce. Ingrid imed fourth ce, her hulking form belying her dexterity, but hercking cultivation ultimately allowing the others to edge her out. Heracleonas Staurakius, a man from a military family, showed remarkable weapon proficiency and took third.


    The top two were unsurprisingly the dragons, Sciath and Dominus, with the massive man taking first ce by a substantial lead over Sciath, who had almost double the points of Heracleonas in third ce.


    With that event over, they went back inside to another feast, this time catered by a number of luxury restaurants back in the capital who teleported to the ballroom a number of times to bring over everything.


    After all, it would be in poor taste to store fresh food in a spatial ring like some kind of poor person.


    That idea had taken Matt for a loop, but apparently, there was a distinct loss in taste for food stored even in time-stopping Tier 40 spatial rings. Matt had never noticed anything different when eating food stored in a spatial ring. Even Aunt Helen had a ring for the purpose that Matt was sure cost arge fortune, considering she was only Tier 24 and had an enchantment that took a Tier 40 to make on it. Through all of that, he had never tasted anything off, but all the nobles he brought it up withmented that there was a distinct vor profile that one could notice.


    He had tried it out thanks to some of the Tier 40 waitstaff at the insistence of some of the nobles, and while he felt it might entirely be in his head, he could taste a muteness to the dishes stored in a spatial ring. They weren''t bad by any means, but they seemed <em>lesser</em> somehow.


    His dreams of storing entire banquets in a spatial ring were destroyed. Matt started pondering if he needed to upgrade his house in some way so as to not affect fresh ingredients when he was eventually able to put a time slowing formation on his food storage items. He was only a few Tiers away from Tier 25, when those runes became manageable, and he didnt want his fresh produce to be even slightly nd if he could mitigate it somehow.


    The final three days of the week-long party were produced in the same manner, with the ballroom visiting interesting locations in the capital star system, such as the living ice sculpture field in the distant reaches of the star system, right at the edge of the gravity well. There, all sorts of ice sculptures moved around in a pantomime of life. If it had just been enchantments powering the ice statues, it would have been one thing, but their formation was a living natural treasure that an old Emperor had found in a rift.


    They also stopped by an inhabited moon to catch the finals of a mundane de fightingpetition, and then visited a gambling hall long enough for Liz to once more show her dominance in the game before no one would y with her, and the party moved on to the next event.


    Thankfully, there was an ending in sight, as despite Matts worst fears not being realized, he was growing impatient with the grandeur the party called for. By the end of it, he was dreaming of vegging out with Mara and Leon on their couch and doing absolutely nothing for a day or two.


    Or, maybe they could sneak away for a delve. They werent scheduled to delve for another month to better cement their cover stories, but killing things seemed like a nice reprieve right about now, and Matt wondered if he could convince Luna of that.


    As thest guest vanished through a [Portal], Matt, Liz, and Aster stepped through the one that led back to Mara and Leon''s living room, just to see Luna yelling at the two sheepish-looking royals.


    Throwing up her hands, she red at the two with a look Matt knew meant the conversation wasn''t over, and she would bring it upter before vanishing.


    Matt looked at his inws and wondered why they weren''t moving before their skin started to turn into stone, and they crumpled into ghosts and started bemoaning their oh-so-tragic fates of dying young.


    Chuckling, Matt grabbed Liz and Aster in each hand and then flopped all three of them onto the couch, where the two ghosts were wailing at them for being rude to the deceased andying on their bodies.


    It was good to be home.

 Chapter 260

    Chapter 260


    Matt, Liz, and Aster rxed on the couch for close to half an hour before Mara and Leon''s pestering finally got Liz to sit up, where she immediately asked, How did I do?


    Ghost Leon stuck a thumb up at her, and in a ghostly voice, warbled, Verrrrry gooooood.


    Liz groaned. Dont give me that. Please just tell me how I <em>actually did</em>.


    Mara and Leon literally collected themselves, settling back into their normal bodies, and leaned against one another, sharing a nce.


    Leon spoke first. You did well. You took this seriously, didnt rise to provocations, but didnt allow anyone to walk over you. Your bearing slipped a few times, but you recovered quickly enough that it shouldnt impact you too negatively. Your worst mess up was when talking to Silvia Dobrescu, and you inquired as to the status of the Silver Star Shipyard instead of the Star Silver Shipyard, but because you caught yourself, it shouldnt cast too great of an aspersion on you. It wont endear Silvia to you any, though.


    Liz groaned at the reminder, sinking into Matts shoulder in embarrassment. Thats going to haunt me for the next century.


    Or millennia. Herons have long memories.


    <em>Do</em> they?


    Leon shrugged at Lizs question.


    Mara puffed herself up tired of being ignored, Though you really should have been harsher with the baby Maniake. Hes gotten <em>far</em> toofortable with the perception that hell be the next Beast King, and you shouldnt have been so tolerant with him when he was disrespecting you. You need to ensure he wont think youre weak.


    Leon cut in with, Not inherently. As a former Pather, and with the knowledge that shell be an Ascender one day, nobody will think that youre weak. Instead, theyll remember your restraint when dealing with Dominus and bnce that against the demonstrations of power you <em>will</em> need to disy to prove yourself as an Ascender. People prefer to work with rulers who arent likely to fly off the handle at any moment. Youll hear far, <em>far</em> worse on a daily basis from your subjects, and the ability to take insults without needing to get thest word in is a good sign that you have the mental fortitude to take it.


    No, Mara countered. Well the citizen thing <em>is</em> true, but the Maniake isnt one of them. Hell just see someone who might be a terror with a spear but can be cowed by a few pointed words. Theyll see someone with incredible power and no will to truly push it when its needed. Nobody would have thought badly of you, so long as you didnt outright assault the Maniake. You should have pushed back harder when he pushed.


    Leon refuted with a shake of his head. No, that was simply his goal, to demonstrate that even at her Majority party she would descend to insulting her guests, that guest status is no protection from her ill temper. If it is strong words when dealing with a higher-Tier individual, would that be violence for those weaker than her, when less of the Empire is watching? The Maniakes respect <em>all</em> kinds of strength, and that includes strength of character. Dominus was certainly just pushing to see if he could get any level of rise out of her, and the fact she kept her temper evenly meant she passed.


    She passed, for sure. She passed right by his test to see if he could insult her beyond basic decorum without her contramanding him, to know whether it would be safe for him to speak more negatively about her in other contexts, and simply because he <em>enjoyed</em> it.


    Uhhhh. Matt blinked, looking to Liz to see if she was following. She was, and with a contemtive expression on her face.


    Mara and Leon stared intensely into one anothers eyes, ring at each other until sparks of lightning and fire <em>literally</em> flew between them. Then, in just barely imperfect unison, the duo turned to Liz and said, You did well enough, sweetie.


    It wasnt perfect, but thats fine. Leon continued.


    Youll just need to put in more work managing your reputation is all. Mara bobbed her head like a chicken as she spoke.


    Youll be your own type of ruler, not your mother, or even me, and thats perfectly fine. Establishing yourself as imperturbable to insults isnt a bad reputation to have, so long as you meet other provocations appropriately. Your mother isn''t wrong there. Being kind is one thing, but a pushover is another.


    Mara spoke up the moment Leon paused. Now, that said, we do have more detailed feedback if you want it. Liz, when you first were descending from your entry balcony, your first two steps were out of sync with the music by a quarter-beat. Your third step was fine, but your fourth.


    To Matts mild surprise, he and Aster also had their own review sessions in a manner startlingly simr to Lunas usual post-action debriefs, but in far, <em>far</em> less detail than Lizs, a fact which suited him just fine. All that hed really learned from the party was that he <em>did not care</em> for politics and the games of nobles, which put him in the solid supermajority of all historical Ascenders, even those who were nobility by birth.


    Something about seeing nobles put so much emphasis on genuinely pointless things, instead of honing their craft or taking care of their people, just did not sit well with Matt. Thankfully, hed be in the position topletely ignore it in much the same way Duke Waters or L Worldwalker had. What was the point of groveling and ying nice to <em>maybe</em> get someone of marginal importance to like you, hoping to gain a ten percent discount on services, when doing so would just cause a different socialite to raise their prices by ten <em>times</em>?


    If a sword couldnt solve your problems, you just werent trying hard enough.


    Especially when it came to nobles. Basically every time an Ascender and noble house shed, the Ascender came out on top. L Worldwalker had once quite publicly destroyed a noble house which tried to short-change her on a deal theyd made. While shed supposedly faced <em>some</em> kind of consequence, nobody really knew what it was beyond it being insignificant. Anything short of outright <em>treason</em>, and sometimes not even that, would ever be <em>really</em> punished for an Ascender.


    Besides, even on top of being an Ascender, <em>hed</em> be the one that theye to, asking for mana and services.


    So why should <em>he</em> bother with <em>their</em> games?


    Still, if Liz wanted to do it, hed do his best to support her. Even if it meant putting up with a week of utterly <em>unbearable</em> snidements without a word in response. Given what he was gleaning from Asters talk with Mara, <em>she</em> was also interested in exploring her political side, possibly even in seeding Mara as Beast Queen someday, which he had only thought was a passingment of hers when she was younger, rather than a serious ambition she was working towards but he would help her as well. Personally hed try to stay as far removed as he could.


    When he turned back in, Mara was trying to get Liz to follow her to work and see what a queen did. I <em>do</em> have some meetings and the like you could sit in on. Theyre all on Hestial, though, so youd have toe visit me there at some point. It be fun.


    Aster nodded, Yeah, that would be good. Liz, will you being?


    Liz huffed, I do <em>not</em> want to sit in more meetings if I can help it. Dad, do you have anything that youre up to?


    Hmm, well I do have some award ceremoniesing up, and a few dukes I need to knock around, but nothing in your Tier range. If anythinges up, Ill let you know.


    As the discussion seemed to being to an end, Matt finally spoke up. So what did Luna want?


    Mara and Leon looked awkward, but not in the normal way they hammed up for them when they were joking around. Instead, they seemed genuinely ufortable. Seeing that, Matt was going to apologize, but Leon shrugged and spoke before he could. It''s nothing you won''t find out sooner thanter, but Frederic and Emmanuel were working on something to solve your mana concentration issue, and they have a working prototype. Luna isnt happy, because if it doesnt work then it will waste your Tier 18 potion, but they also need to test it <em>on you</em> before Tier 20, when even a Tier 45 potion wouldnt be strong enough for a full concentration.


    Matt cocked his head as he mulled over the implications. He had no real idea how hard something like that would be, but it <em>sounded</em> impressive. Given that both Frederic and Emmanuel had worked together on this, each of them having basically <em>incalcble </em>amounts of wealth avable to them, and only had a prototype ready after what was presumably several decades of work indicated that it probably was <em>very</em> hard.


    Then again, he was dealing with immortal timescales now, and a few decades was <em>nothing</em>pared to research projects that had started thousands of years ago and were <em>still</em> ongoing. So maybe it wasnt that hard, and just nobody had ever tried figuring out how to concentrate millions or billions of mana all at once before?


    Well, it didnt really matter to him. He was just thankful that they <em>had</em> been working on something for him all this time, and it sounded like theyd been working hard at it. He was also quite curious about how they had aplished something that he thought would be impossible, but maybe he could find out when he was there.


    He also knew Luna, and she would be mad at even the barest chance of something going wrong that would prevent him from attaining his full mana concentration out of a Tier. So her yelling at Mara and Leon made a lot more sense when looked at through that lens.


    Still, as Matt let the idea that his mana concentration issues might be solved in the near future sink in, he felt a rush of anticipation and quickly asked, When will it be ready? Is it ready now?


    Mara shook her head. Not that quickly, give it a few months. They want to run some final checks on all the equipment before you step into it.


    With the mental image of stepping into something, Matt got the idea of a giant device like a sleeping pod that would protect him as massive energies swirled around and into him.


    He was so excited that all his frustration and tiredness from the party vanished, and he was ready to go. Even the wait of a few months didnt seem that far away.


    Liz pulled him back into the couch, and he sank back even though his mind was racing and demanded they rx for a little bit longer which Matt was more than happy to do.


    With the majority party finished, the three of them had a few days to themselves, and after putting on disguises, they went traipsing through the-wide city, hitting as many tourist spots and hidden locales they could find or be directed to by any of the higher Tiers they knew.


    Luna suggested they go to a cafe that specialized in drinks and had mundane animals roaming around. Or at least, Matt thought they were mundane animals. They <em>felt</em> mundane, but Luna, in her cat form, could have fit in perfectly with no one the wiser. Was the calico cat that curled up on hisp a normal cat, or a Tier 25 in disguise? Matt had no idea, and that had him on edge the entire time. In stark contrast to his feelings Liz calmly sipped her tea and read a book she had grabbed from their rooms library while two cats yed chase around and through her legs. Aster was even a sleeping pile of floof, having yed with the cafes animals in her fox form until shed tired them out. How she was able to rx like that he had no idea, but he wished he could copy her because he was getting wound up so tight he might spring a leak.


    Mara suggested they go to a spa that catered to lower Tiers, and the three of them were treated to an entire day''s worth of massages, rubs, and treatments, which left them all feeling listless which helped Matt rx after the cafe fiasco.


    Leons favorite spot was a Tier 5 area dive bar that had awful beer, but was something of a hidden gem for up-anding stand-upedians. A few of the sets were so funny, Matt was d he didnt need to breathe with how hard he wasughing and he immediately put the ce on his "to visit again" list.


    Kurts suggestion turned out to be Matt''s favorite, and was an immortals establishment that had live music and an endless amount of dishes they served to everyone who sat around listening. The food itself wasnt anything truly special, but each dish seemed to be carefully matched with the set the singer was singing, which turned the experience into something truly unique.


    Sadly they eventually needed to return to the real world, and that meant going to various parties, events, gs, and more, all of which were dull at best for Matt. But Aster and Liz were happy to wine and dine along with the other nobles, which left him mostly tagging along.


    He even looked into Chuck and his family, and got something of a reality check. While personally abrasive, the Longspears were very solidly in Rustys faction of nobles, and notably patriotic in their donations to the war effort. Chuck himself had a number of public screeds elevating the dignity and righteousness of the Empire over the depravity of every other Great Power. Just because Chuck didnt like him didnt make them evil traitors.


    Thankfully there were some fun events he actually enjoyed going to, but all paled inparison to the mana concentration project.


    With some pestering of his inws, he was able to get his introduction to the project moved up to just a month away.


    Even Liz and Aster pulled themselves away from their projects with the noble families to apany him. When they arrived, Luna was already there and shot a re at Mara and Leon, who pretended not to notice before she turned to Matt.


    If you don''t feelfortable with this, you can always decline.


    Lunas initial statement didnt make Matt feel particrly confident in whatever this was. As if to refute her statement, Frederic walked out of the building with a smile on his face. Now Luna, youve <em>seen</em> the results of the tests. Matthew wont be harmed. At worst, he simply wont gain any additional benefits. Thats no reason for rm.


    Matt took the proffered hand and nodded to the Royal as he asked, I hear you and the Emperor were working on this jointly. Id like to thank you for that.


    Frederics smile turned a little more sincere as he nodded. I wont be modest, it was my team that had the idea that actually worked, or at least what got us started. But let us enter the secure room so we can talk more freely.


    As they passed throughyers of security, Matt felt his spirit and Conceptpressed more and more. Even Frederics presence seemed to soften, as the passive influence that the mans Domain and his high-Tier presence had on the world around him was suppressed.


    Now that they were in the secure area, Matt turned to Frederic, who gestured off to the side where there was a fragment of a formation on the wall. Matt couldnt tell if it was there for study or just a decoration with its semi-out of cement. So?


    Matt''s questioning statement caused Frederic to nod. This is where we first got our idea for the project that ended up working. What do you know of the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity and how they handled failed sessors?


    When even Liz shook her head, Frederic exined, To make a long story short, they used one of these formations to forcefully concentrate someone''s mana to the point they had only a few dozen mana left, with terrible efficiency. It was enough to cripple anyone who couldnt undergo an Inspiration or find someone to carry them through getting a new Tier which, as you can imagine, was unlikely for a political prisoner. We took what we could from one of those and repurposed a lot of the background principles. Id love to say that my teams are the main contributors, but once my team and the Emperor''s teams merged, they have been doing a lot of the heavy lifting.


    Luna cut in as Frederic was turning to the center of the room. Repurposed is what I have an issue with. Turning to Matt, she flicked an eye at the center of the room where a cloth sheet covered something. The device takes too much from its predecessor for my taste. While it won''t cripple your spirit, your spirit will be stressed to the limit. You also will need to take a specially prepared potion which will allow the formation to not just lower your mana to zero with no appreciable gains.


    Frederic seemed a little disgruntled, but nodded. Repurposed is perhaps something of an over-dramatic term. Everything has been rebuilt from the ground up, and on something of a different base principle. It doesnt forcibly re-assign any cultivation essence like the first did, but instead acts to enhance the power of a specially prepared mana concentration potion. And, as it ever so conveniently happened to be, we were looking for an appropriate reward to give you for your valorous actions at Ventillyria. Given your prior history and demonstrated interest in magical research projects, being given an opportunity to tour an ongoing research project and ask some questions of the researchers was deemed adequate. Once there, you were presented with the option of actually being able to <em>participate</em> in the project, albeit as a test subject. Quite convenient, isnt it?


    Matts eyebrow crept upwards, And thats allowed by the Path rules?


    Fredric just grinned, But of course. After all, this is a fairly new research project, only started a few decades ago. Thats not a lot of time for any form of radical new super-soldier project to get any level of traction, and its not as though this was created specifically to bolster your mana concentration to an incredible degree. Thats far too high a cost to begin for just any Pather at Tier 10. That it suits your need so well is a simple coincidence.


    Now, I will say, it <em>is</em> quite hard on the spirit, almost by necessity. The limit for how much the potion can be empowered is based on how much strain your spirit can take, and it will push you to your absolute limits to maximize that empowerment. We have healers on standby, and I wont hide that there still exists some danger, but the most likely oue is simply a miserable week or two while you recover.


    Liz stepped forward as Matt was going to agree to the procedure and asked. And why exactly are we doing this now, and not at Tier 19 when Matt needs an extra boost? More time to work on it seems like a good thing.


    Frederic nodded slightly, but it was clear he was only acknowledging her statement, not agreeing with it. Perhaps, but the machine <em>does</em> work, and it is eptably safe. But, we arent wholly confident that it will work on Matthew the way we want. We havent had any test subjects unable to cultivate mana as a result of their Talent, and its possible that the way the formation works will contest with Matthews Talent directly. If that happens, we need time to adjust it so that it <em>could</em> work on him by the time he needs it. As best as we can tell, it should work just fine, but theres no substitute for an actual test. Even the best predictions can still miss things, after all. Emmanuel himself has checked things over, if that makes you feel better.


    Matt patted Liz on the back, and followed a passingb assistant into a side room, where he changed into a fairly advanced ritual outfit. It was a tight-fitting and ufortable garment utterly packed with embroidered runes and shimmering withyers of enchantments, adorned with metallic essories toplete the look.


    From there, he was brought into the ritual chamber, and the sight took his breath away. A crystal sphere floated in the middle of the room, with metallic rings surrounding and orbiting it. What looked to be miniature suns circled near the ceiling, and a mosaic of metal and stoneposed the floor beneath it while runestones drifted by in some pattern that defied easyprehension. It started to give him a headache as he tried to trace the patterns. Beyond that, the entire room <em>hummed</em> with energy, both physically and magically, and the currents of mana in the room were stronger than anything hed ever felt, even when Luna herself was trying to dispel his spells. He couldnt even properly sense them or see them, as if he was trying to perceive the far limits of an ocean while face-down in the sand.


    Matt was handed a mint-green potion both opaque and transparent, filled with ribbonlike swirls of dark color undting in a way that his senses couldnt quite follow, morphing beyond the spatial dimensions he couldprehend. At times, they almost seemed to coil into <em>words</em>, or at least runes that seemed to represent entire words. But he couldnt identify any of them, no matter how hard he tried to grasp their ephemeral forms.


    So how does this work, exactly?


    One of the researchers spoke up, her nametag identifying her as Geneva. Exactly? Wed be here for decades if you want to know exactly. Were currently in the middle of some of our start-up routines. In a few minutes, well have you stand in the focal sphere, and once the timees, well signal for you to drink the potion. Its important that you down the entire thing at once at <em>exactly</em> the right time, so the bottle youre holding is edible. Just swallow the entire thing, and let it work its magic. Its best if you stay rxed, so avoid tensing your spirit if you can help it. Do try to stay conscious, though. The recovery is easier if you dont pass out.


    Matt eyed the bottle warily. It was a <em>bit</em> big tofortably swallow whole, but he could manage. Okay. Anything else I should know?


    Not especially. If you could stand in this circle? We need to get a few final calibrations from your suit.


    After a couple minutes of magical prodding, Matt was given the go-ahead to take his ce.


    Given his magic was basically unusable against the impossibly strong currents, and his Concept was utterly useless for flight at the moment, Matt simply jumped into the crystal sphere meant for him. Some of the timing was a little tricky with all of the flying pieces of metal and stone filling the room, but at Tier 18, it was still trivial to jump the twenty-odd feet. He sank into the crystal without resistance, and once inside, he found himself automatically floating towards the center. As the magic around him grew to a crescendo, Matt saw his signal to take his potion.


    Downing the bottle, he was almost surprised by the pleasant taste, but he wasnt able to enjoy it with the spirit-tearing pain that immediately ripped through him.


    All of the unimaginably powerful torrents of mana permeating the room suddenly focused on <em>him</em>. Where before they were benign and transient, passing through him with next to no effect, now it was an unbearable crushing pressure against his very spirit. His mana red out, but was blown back like it was an errant piece of paper in the breeze. He fought his urge to tense, to defend against the attack, and only partially seeded, which increased the pain he was feeling.


    Still, Matt was nothing if not stubborn, and despite the pain wracking his body and spirit, he clung diligently to awareness. Loosely, he was aware of the formationpressing his mana, the normal sharp pain apanying it essentially nonexistentpared to everything else.


    For what felt like an eternity Matt resisted as he was at the center of the mana vortex which kept crushing down upon him.


    An impossible weight pressing down.


    Matt did what he did best.


    He pushed back.


    No matter the obstacle, the trial, the tribtions he encountered in his life, he resisted, and this was no different.


    Even at the center of the device, with his spirit nearly being torn to shreds, Matt epted the situation and resisted with everything he had. He was the center of a lot of fights and this wasnt so different.


    As seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours, and hours to days, Matt kept the thought that he needed to push through firmly in the center of his mind. It was all he had and all he was for what felt like an eternity, but it ended eventually.


    Even when the pain eventually lessened, it didnt stop. He felt like he had used [Cracked Mana Spear] for a full hour past the point he should have.


    He was loosely aware of someone grabbing him, carrying him somewhere else, and he opened his eyes to find himself being held by Liz. She said something that he didnt quite catch, then set him down in a blissfullyfortable chair.


    A few healing spellster, Matts bodily sensations had returned, leaving him only with the vague feeling of his spirit having been crushed by a spaceship. With the increased awareness came the realization that his chair was surrounded by diagnostic tools, more akin to a hospital bed than a normal recliner. It was a modified medical bed, and he was being scanned while the healers were running various tests.


    For the frown on Mara and Leon''s face, Frederic, the researchers, and even Luna had relieved and happy expressions.


    Frederic turned to Matt and smiled. A perfect sess from everything we can see. Try refilling your mana please.


    While he would have much rather used his houses mana stone- the bond he shared with it meant its mana concentration automatically increased when his did- it was still back at their suite in Mara and Leons house. Instead, he had a rechargeable mana stone already <em>mostly</em> attuned to him, and after a few minutes to get it used to his new concentration, he began to fill it like he had so long ago when he was a low Tier.


    Except, nothing happened for a long moment. If Matt didnt intricately know his own Talent and how it worked, he would have started worrying about his mana pool being permanently broken, but he could feel he <em>was</em> producing mana, just an astronomically small amount. It seemed like his total mana pool had been reduced well past the 0.1 units of mana which the potions normally took him to.


    After what felt like forever he was able to bootstrap himself back to his normal 327,680 and he couldn''t wipe the smile off his face. The testing showed the potion and formation worked <em>beautifully</em>, and provided nearly twice as much mana concentration as the usual potion would have.


    Is there no way I can go in again? I know we can''t use the potion again, but can we use it without the potion? You said the original was like that?


    Mara opened her mouth, but Frederic spoke first. While I love the enthusiasm, that would be inadvisable with the current iteration. The potion helps mitigate arge portion of the damage to your spirit. We can look into non potion uses of the formation, but the current iteration of the design can''t work without it. Besides, you don''t really have time for your spirit to recover on The Path to maximize the concentrations in each Tier, and neither do I think you need to. You can make up the difference when you are Tier 25, and have time to sit at a Tier for a while. In a hundred years, Im sure the team can refine the device quite a lot, and possibly create a potion that can be used twice, or some kind of formation that doesn''t need a potion. Even if it''s less efficient per use and amount of spiritual strain. For now, that isn''t a possibility.


    Matt nodded to that as he started answering the questions of the researchers present. There were only a dozen of them, and he had been assured they were trusted and vetted by the Emperor himself, so he happily answered any questions as they took copious notes and readings of his body.


    While they didnt focus on his mana generation, he could see the interest burning in their eyes, and so he happily told them about some of the modifications he had done to runes and other ways he abused his Talent. Getting these people on his side would create a fantastic core team for his guild, even if he didnt mention the guild in particr, just some of his ideas about how to use his mana to help everyone.


    He might not have taken to the noble doublespeak lessons, but he knew enough to slowly reel the researchers in instead of putting out an offer immediately.


    Still, it was an enlightening conversation to hear them talk about their work and ideas, even if he couldn''t understand most of it. When he looked at the ns, they actually knocked him out for almost a full ten minutes, and when he woke up, he couldn''t even remember what he had seen. That signaled the end, as Mara and Leon politely but firmly put their feet down and insisted the team had done enough tests, and they were going home.


    Under normal circumstances, Matt would have protested, but given how utterly exhausted he was, all he really wanted was to crawl into bed for a good day or twelve of sleep.


    Even as he slipped into the impossiblyfortable bed, his mind raced at the opportunities this opened up for him. It wasnt a perfect solution, but as the researchers said, this was very much version one of their formation, and he could expect improvements with each time he used it and gave them more data to work off of.


    That opened him up to other ideas for his Intent and his mind raced even as he started to slip into sleep.


    Possibilities. So many possibilities.


    ***


    Geneva looked out to where the young man left the room, followed by two royals and an incredibly famous, sometimes <em>infamous</em>, manager.


    King Frederic looked at her the moment the door shut, and there was a hardness in his eyes. I hope you and your team now better understand why this project is top secret.


    Geneva nodded even as she felt some of her fellows growing nervous. Clearly, they were thinking they were going to be killed to keep this information under lock and key, but Geneva knew the Emperor better than that. As long as they kept their mouths shut, they would be fine. She could also foresee a massive increase in security for theing decades, but that was hardly a passing thought for her.


    All she could focus on was the reward for this job: <em>any</em> project she wished to work on would be fully funded. It would only be for a single project, but the budget in treasures,bor, and <em>mana</em> for a proper project could verge on the iprehensible.


    Geneva had thought that was an idle promise at the time, but seeing the boy''s Talent and his mana returning from a fraction of a single unit of mana to hundreds of thousands of mana over the course of an hour, she now knew that promise was sincere. That was amazing enough, but given the boys mana output would grow to even more staggering heights, she might have been dreaming too small.


    She was just contemting which of the fanciful projects she had only dreamt of when it felt like the world was going to copse around her, and she turned to see the Emperor standing next to Alice.


    His voice was calm as he said, Im sorry, but I can''t let you do that.


    Even as Alice started to tremble and started to apologize, the Tier 50 shook his head. Even a fleeting thought of selling the information about Matthew can not be allowed, as there was a chance you would have acted on it. I wont kill you, but I will be putting you in a more secure facility until there is no danger from the leak.


    As everyone processed that, the Emperor added, Do be sure that none of you attempt to use any form ofmunication other than the official channels <em>as I will be watching </em>and there will be <em>no</em> second chances.


    Before any could do anything, even agree, The Emperor and Alice were both gone like they had never been there.


    Geneva shook her head at the foolishness. Alice was smart, but apparently, her greed wasrger than her work. What need was there for mary wealth at their Tier when even a single research project could cost trillions of mana, and getting that funding meant selling your inventions to the highest bidder?


    Even funding for a single research project was fleetingpared to the goodwill she might earn from exemry service on a project that most of this generation of royals had arge stake in. Finding an in with Matthew, solving a problem he had and forming a connection while he was young, was an added bonus that she would be able to leverage to fund even <em>more</em> research.


    Best of all, the kid seemed genuinely interested in their work, and his ownments about formation and enchanting showed he had a foundation in the sciences.


    Maybe hed make a guild if he didnt, he might intend to make a noble research group through his connection with Queen Mara and King Leon. Guilds were better, as they offered more freedom for their members, but shed happily sign a restrictive research contract for dedicated ess to twenty-eight billion mana a day. Even in her wildest dreams, she wouldn''t have imagined a mana budget thatrge, but she was sure her fantasies would be full of ideas in theing years.


    Even as she listened to King Frederic, she was already starting to n out the next series of refinements to the formation, just as she was nning what project she wanted to focus on in the future.


    The possibilities seemed endless.

 Chapter 261

    Chapter 261


    As predicted, Matt spent a full week in bed as he recovered from the side effects of the mana concentration formation.


    If it had simply been the spiritual strain, he could have been up and moving the day after, as he was experienced with spiritual strain and could easily push through it. But as it turned out, the potion had some nasty side effects of its own, which included, but were not limited to, his bowels had been liquefied, he had blurry vision, nausea, hives, and his skin had turned various shades of purple, causing him to smoke any time he was in light that was too bright.


    All and all, Matt considered it a sess, as all the side effects vanished on their own without a healer''s intervention.


    Liz had been stressed out of her mind the entire week, with Aster only doing a little better, as she could feel through their connection he wasnt really in any danger. That was touching but unhelpful, as seeing them feel bad didnt make his pain any better. Eventually, he resorted to asking Leon to drag the duo out of the room for an afternoon of fun activities just to get a break from their worries.


    He could hug a toilet and vomit out his stomach lining perfectly well all on his own, thank you very much.


    While he was hugging his personal throne he was able to do some good soul searching. Was he still as independent as he once wanted to be? He had once been so determined to prove himself on The Path, and prove that he could do everything himself. While vomiting his guts out, he had to ask himself if he failed on that ount with his mana concentration issue. Was he still being true to himself?


    Matt thought he might have failed that initial idea of standing on his own, but he also didnt mind. The Matt who made that initial deration had been a kid who was worried about his Talent taking over his life and bing the only thing he was good at. He was afraid of not being able to stand on his own next to Liz, who was a <em>double</em> princess.


    He had grown a lot since then, and really didnt mind having other people help him. Civilization wasnt built by one person, and he was a part of that civilization. Getting others'' help was nothing to be ashamed of.


    If he had wanted to, he could have gone off into a rift somewhere and spent a few million years as a Tier 15, and gotten to the same solution as the team but his time was better spent elsewhere. He was better off leaving the search for a viable solution to the professionals on King Frederic and Mannys teams.


    Everyone had the ce they fit properly, but civilization worked most efficiently when everyone was able to shine in the role that suited their desires. Not necessarily what they did best, as forcing someone into a box based on their Talent was a good way to suppress potential prodigies like Duke Waters. But for the most part, people tended to gravitate towards paths made easier by their Talents, and for people like Frederics researchers, it was one and the same.


    Thankfully, on the eighth day, the side effects had mostly passed, and he was able to resume somewhat normal activities.


    Due to their nning, they had no parties to go to for another week, but Mara did take Aster on a quick tour back to Hestial, where shed arranged for a days worth of meetings that she could sit in on with minimal disruption. For his part, Leon took Matt and Liz on their own little trip to watch him smack around a Marquess who seemed to forget to whom he ultimately owed allegiance. Most of it happened so quickly that neither Liz nor Matt got to see anything, but Leon did take the two of them out for ice cream afterward, which was really fun. It made Matt feel like a kid again, and despite his age, he couldnt reallyin about having a loving parent again.


    Afterward, Leon took them back to the capital. There, he did some paperwork and gave Liz and Matt each a case to do while he blurred through thousands in seconds. It was necessary, as he had what seemed to be a never-ending stream of documents to look over and deal with.


    The file Matt got seemed like a fairly simple request for funds to expand a portion of the city into an otherwise protectedary forest. His initial inclination was to ept due to the poption boom, but he had been trained too well to just ept things at face value, and so he dug deeper into the problem.


    The issue seemed threefold; first of all, the city was formed around a number of valuable rifts and was originally settled deep into a mountain range, and it had expanded in a snake-like fashion through the valleys until it reached a sort of oasis in the mountains where several valleys turned into a basin. A basin which housed several unique forms of life that proved sensitive to human activity and hadnt taken well to transnting.


    Secondly, the citys mayor had a friend in the construction business and had been funneling most work into herpany, which was why the city had expanded in that direction instead of out of the mountains, where they would have eventually reached a in that they could expand into endlessly.


    Thirdly the city, while experiencing a poption boom, could easily handle such an increase of births and immigrants simply by expanding their existing infrastructure.


    Feeling like he now knew what was going on, Matt reviewed the situation once more before suggesting to Leon that the mayor be prevented from running for election anymore, and having the local noble more firmly guide the city''s growth along the suggested patterns for Empire cities.


    Right before he went to submit the answer, he paused, thinking it all seemed too easy. If the situation was this simple, it should have nevere across <em>King </em>Leon''s desk.


    Once more, looking into the backgrounds of everyone involved, Matt found out why the local noble had simply shoved the problem onto Leonsp; the mayor was the illegitimate son of a Duke, who had some notable influence on Tier 25 through Tier 30 weapon production. More digging showed that while the duke had never acknowledged his son formally due to his actual wifes anger at his infidelity, people who tried to make things hard for his son seemed to have a really hard time ordering weapons or armor.


    Matts first instinct was to simply suggest Leon warn the man, but looking into the duke, he was a well-regarded and rated noble who rarely, if ever, abused his position to such a degree. He simply seemed to be trying to protect his childs interest in the only way he could without further angering his wife.


    Matt was well and truly stumped, but knew the project shouldnt be authorized, and once more wondered why Aster would want to solve puzzles like this as a Queen in her own right. It sounded <em>dreadful</em>.


    Scooting over to Lizs spot on the table, he started peeking at her situation, but quickly gave up. Her situation, the prospective lessening of a local imperial tax as disaster relief, didnt seem any lessplicated than his own. Sliding back to his own case, Matt pondered the situation some more before concluding that the mayor still needed to be put in his ce, and his father, the duke, needed to be pped down, even if only a little. There was little wrong with protecting one''s child, but to bring weapons production into the situation was a step too far when a war was going on, so that was frankly uneptable. Taking into consideration his and his family''s loyal service, removing him was a step too far, so a warning and a small p on the wrist seemed appropriate.


    As for the original situation with the unique biology of the mountain oasis, that was an easy solution. Instead of just being a local reserve, Leon could register it as an Empire reserve, which meant it became the Emperor''s personal property. The criteria for those locations were fairly strict, but the entire purpose of the Empire reserves was to prevent local nobles from taking unique ces and bulldozing them for personal profit. The city, and even the in question, would even see an increase in tourism thanks to the protected status of the oasis, and no one needed to be executed or removed from power.


    It seemed like a clean and easy solution, which made him worry that it was too simple, or he had missed something once again, but no matter how much he looked, he couldnt find anything he had overlooked.


    Finally sitting back, he got ready to wait for Leon to finish the pile of paperwork, but seeing that Matt had finished, Leon immediately paused and turned to him.


    Matt nodded at the rest of the paperwork. You don''t have to break for me.


    Leon just blinked at him in a way that made Matts mouth click shut.


    Seeing he had won, Leon smiled and asked, So, what was your answer? Exin your steps and reasoning for each one.


    Matt smiled slightly as he recounted his initial viewing of the problem and his simple answer before looking deeper into it as Leon nodded along.


    Finally, when he presented his final answer, Leon smiled. A good answer. It''s even simr to what I would have done. Not exactly the same, but part of that is my experience and knowing everyone in question.


    Matt raised an eyebrow in silent question, which Leon read and answered, Really, it is simr to your answer; I would have just added a second contingency of ensuring an impressive new politician came into the city and ran for mayor. It''s best to remove someone who can''t take a hint like that. At Matts confused look, Leon exined, This isn''t something you would know, but this issue hase up once before, though it never made it to my desk. Instead, the local duke took care of it on behalf of the Marquess.


    Matt nodded, as that did change things, but was distracted as Leon smiled brightly. Since you did so well, are you interested in taking a few dozen more cases?


    Seeing Leon was serious, Matt started throwing out excuses as fast as he could.


    Leon thankfully gave up and returned to his own work until Liz finished her paper, and he immediately paused again and went over everything with her like he did with Matt.


    Lizs case was moreplex, and when it was finished, Mattined about stupid nobles and snarked that Domninus would fit right in, which seemed to catch Leon off guard.


    You might not have picked it up from the reports, due to the fact it''s something everyone knows, Matt, but the Maniakes family are some of the most progressive in the Empire. Even before the Sophron dynasty took over, they were championing the rights of those who were weaker than them for eons. They hate me and Mara, but if you give them a chance, they will probably be one of your biggest supporters.


    Matt wanted to refute Leon''s words, as anyone who hated them couldnt be good people, but he knew that wasnt how the world worked.


    Nodding, he took Leon''s small rebuke to heart and made a note to go over the top ten noble family list more thoroughly. Missing that tidbit of information was inexcusable, as his professional pride wouldnt let him half-ass something. Even if he intended to skip the noble games, he needed to know who best represented his own goals and motives.


    As he mulled over that, Leon quickly finished up the rest of the paperwork he had to do. With Leons Tier, even thousands of cases were taken care of in short order, and the three of them returned to the estate for a small dinner Matt whipped up before going their own separate ways.


    Like he did most often when he had free time, Matt worked on his Intent. Not that he could try forming it, but he was able to see what feltpatible. Besides, after the mana concentration experiment, he had new ideas thanks to his resonating with the sensation of being crushed but enduring. It was simr to his endless Concept and its ability to push him forward and through hardship, but it was a different vor of strength. Enough so, he thought he had a chance at making an Intent around it.


    Sadly, his first idea didnt work.


    A ck hole would have been perfect, as it was the pr opposite of his Concept, and despite his mana concentration problem being seemingly solved, he still liked the idea of having his own unique, personal way of solving the issue that wasnt reliant on anyone else. But the moment he tried to create a ck hole image, it shed with his white hole image and threatened to destabilize his Minka image.


    Tossing that idea out, he tried for a few more, but nothing was better than his Minaka image, so he turned to his phrase.


    Having a good sense for the idea of being enduring he started ying with wordbos.


    <em>I am Enduring</em>.


    Matt let the thought build in his head and spin around, seeing how it fit with his proposed image.


    In and of itself, the phrase was stable, and he felt like he could move forward with it even though itcked the feeling of a puzzle piece falling into ce that <em>I am Endless</em> had had. It was also a decent fit with his Minka image, but stillcked the perfection he was looking for in an Intent.


    Matt didnt want to be just decent though, and knew there was something out there that would be perfect. When he found it, he knew it would send his power to another level.


    After a full six hours of meditating, he was woken up by a quiet beep from his AI. If he was deep in an idea he could ignore it easily, but it was a rescue from his purgatory of self reflection he happilytched onto. Six hours was normally a very short time, but when you were looking into yourself, it could feel like an eternity, and even Luna rmended taking a break after that long.


    Opening his eyes, he found Liz still sitting in her meditative pose and was about to leave her to it when she opened her own eyes and grabbed his passing hand to pull him back down next to her.


    Falling into hisp, Liz groaned, Tell me you had better news than I did?


    Matt smiled as he ran his hand through her hair. That''s only possible if you tossed your previous ideas out, because I got nothing that fits perfectly. <em>I am Enduring</em> isnt bad, but it doesn''t feel right.


    Liz groaned at the mention of tossing her previous work out, and Matt knew he had hit the mark. I did. At least my phrase, <em>Blood is Life</em> felt soooo good, but it just felt wrong at the same time. Like a puzzle piece that got wet and no longer fits the other shapes around it. Shame on that one.


    Together, theymiserate the difficulty of making a Intent before Tier 20, and after moping around, they decided to abscond out and have a date night to cheer themselves up.


    With Aster not due back from Hestial for another month, he and Liz had to partake in the noble activities alone. It was a bit more boring for Matt, but he tried to be involved and pretend to be interested.


    This time, thankfully, it wasnt even as hard, as they were at the hEachaidh family''s local estate. As the third strongest ducal family in the empire, and the second strongest family in the Beast kingdom, the hEachaidhs held considerable sway. So when the invitations for the two of them arrived, Matt knew they couldnt get out of it.


    Still, Sciath had seemed nice in contrast to Dominus, but Matt knew that while the second strongest dragon family was kind and amiable on the surface, they were still dragons, and were not to be trifled with. On a more positive note, while they weren''t super progressive with things likemoner rights, they were still moving things along instead of trying to pull things back to the way they were. That, if nothing else, was a mark in their favor, as some of the other top ten were quite content with how things were a generation ago. They had little interest in moving things along beyond paying lip service to Emmanuel and doing just enough to keep themselves out of trouble.


    While Sciaths party wasnt arge one, and was ted as more intimate for close friends, there were still a dozen people attending out of the top twenty-five strongest noble houses. Matt wasn''t sure if she hadnt invited the others, or they hadnt chosen to show up, but either way, the smaller crowd let him enjoy the party slightly more.


    As he and Liz entered, they saw Heracleonas and Eleazar lightly sparring on a water like reflection with their real selves sitting off to the side. Matt assumed it was an enchantment of some kind, but wasnt sure, as he had never seen anything of the like before. Still, a fight between the two scions of the only two hereditary grand duchies in the Empire was certainly a treat.


    The two families had earned their double duchies in vastly different ways. The Rajagukguk had been the first major family to throw themselves behind Empress Agathas bid for the throne, and had most of their higher TIers wiped out by the old dynasty holding off a strategic nk during a critical battle in the early years of the war. That earned them Empress Agathas trust and protection, which was why they were given twice as muchnd to control and govern as a normal duchy, despite that making the family stronger than normal, thanks to the increased resources at their disposal.


    The Staurakius family, on the other hand, had been loyal to the old dynasty, or rather the Empire itself. And as Empress Agatha had been a traitor by all metrics, they had fought tooth and nail until the old emperor had been killed and she crowned herself Empress. The family had been damn near exterminated by the new Empress, who had zero tolerance for disloyal vassals, especially old-blood military families. While the details were dramatized and possibly entirely fabricated, the Staurakius had sold themselves to Agathas service in exchange for leniency, and Agatha had used and abused them. Any time she had an issue that needed cannon fodder, she sent the Staurakius family, and they never balked. More notably, they never failed. She repeatedly threw them into impossible situations, and they always came out on top. That, along with continued loyal service, had earned them Agathas leniency and Gregorios trust, which was when they were granted the second dukedom to rule over.


    From the information Matt had, the Staurakius family had almost be the leaders of Rustys kingdom, but lost out to the current royal. From all the reports, it had been a close call, with Rusty and Prokopios each nearly splitting the support of the Kingdom. Rusty only really became the royal since he was closer to Emmanuel, and in the end, the next Emperor was the one to decide for every kingdom except the Beast Kingdom, who decided through strength of arm.


    Considering the two families'' histories, Matt was a little surprised to see them fighting. Especially considering that Heracleonas came from a military family, and Eleazar came from a family who specialized in crafting, and reportedly had littlebat experience.


    Watching the fight as they entered, he noticed that while Heracleonas was undoubtedly the better fighter. He was also five Tiers lower than Eleazar, who, while clearly not a professionalbatant himself, was handling himself well enough not to be defeated.


    As Sciath stood to greet them, everyone else also moved, and a round of polite greetingsmenced, which Matt mostly tuned out. He had met everyone here not too long ago, and even if he had forgotten them and their information, he could always rely on his [AI] to bring up the relevant information as needed.


    Once the pleasantries were finished, Sciath nodded to the water illusion. This is a new product one of my uncles invented a while ago, but has finally moved to mass production, as they finally found a way to rece an expensive natural treasure. We are testing it out, so if you wish to give it a go, wed love to see what you can do.


    Matt wasnt crazy enough to ept any kind of illusion enchantment that might read his abilities, so he asked as if he was only curious, How does it work? Some kind of AI-based fighting sim?


    Sciath chuckled politely, but Matt felt there was a hint of derision, though he couldnt be sure if that was him projecting his feelings, the draconic features the woman had, which gave her a slight lisp, or her judging him for not already knowing. Nothing so droll that has been done before. This device acts simrly to a legacy in a lot of ways. You merge your spirit with the device, and it makes a small copy of you thatsts for half an hour, or until you choose to delete it. It''s entirely private and safe. We cant see anything, and the fragment isnt recorded in any way, shape, or form. Otherwise, it wouldnt get approved for public sale and use.


    Matt pinged Luna and Leon to see if either could back those ims up, and when Luna answered that the young dragon was telling the truth, and that it wouldnt give anything away, Matt and Liz both agreed to partake.


    Heracleonas stood forward, and with a small but confident grin, offered, I would love to spar with the two of you. Pathers are so rare to find and be able to duel. Ive sparred with a few of them, but no one who was really exceptional. Care to battle it out?


    His already stained spirit felt a little sore with a piece of it removed, but Matt kept the difort off his face, even as his copy took its ce next to Liz, and they fought the Tier 13 Heracleonas one after another. Thankfully, his copy fought as a Tier 15 and with his normal Matt restrictions, so while he beat the scion of house Staurakius, it wasn''t a quick or particrly easy fight like it would have been if Matt really let loose. But neither was the oue in question, and everyone could see that.


    After Matts copy stood down, Heracleonas turned to Matt. Impressive. I rarely lose to anyone just two Tiers higher than me. Your reputation isnt just for show then.


    Matt shrugged as if it didnt really matter. You are impressive yourself. Your family really knows how to train fighters. I dont think I canpare to you in your versatility. Im good with most des, but Im still specialized with my longsword.


    Heracleonas agreed, as if it was only natural. My family has a long history to pull from, and each of us always adds to the family''s legacy so the next generation has an easier time progressing and building upon our sess. Our family has something simr to the Path, as we limit the resources that any descendants can use without earning them. When I was 11, I had to kill a feral Tier 1 wolf to earn the essence to awaken, and I have been pushing myself ever since.


    Turning to Liz, he nodded to their clones, which were fighting, and was about to say something when Eleazar interrupted, seeing Lizs clone was already taking the lead in the fight. Not so confident now, Hera; losing two for two must hurt. Imagine how strong they will be when they start taking resources from their Royal parents. How will you hold your head high then? It seems the Path does find prodigies after all, even if they aren''t ascenders.


    Sciath smiled as she leaned forward, her scale-patterned skin giving an edge to the otherwise normal expression. Speaking of Ascenders, do you two know Queen? As if hearing her own words, she chuckled. Well, obviously, you know her, as you participated in the same Tier 10 tournament together, but my point is the rumor is her father is outing her identity. I got an early copy of the interview, and wanted to share it before it went public.


    The grin turned proud as the other noble heirs turned to her and started moring to see the interview.


    Matt felt Liz rx slightly, even as she leaned forward as if to see better, but knew she was simply trying to not give any tells away while being as nervous as he was.


    During their time in Minka, Susanne had slowly told them about her life and how her father was an immortal who liked to phnder with mortal women, get them pregnant, and then leave them high and dry, just to go on and repeat the cycle when someone else caught his attention. She had also mentioned he was apetent swordsman in his own right, even if he wasnt as amazing as he had been in her Folded Reflections life. A lot of her early style was based on his teachings.


    When Sciath started the recording, and it was Susanne''s actual father on the other side of the interview table, Matt immediately called out to Luna, Carol, and Susanne herself. Luna, being on the, was the first to respond.


    Rx, Matthew. This isn''t the first time someones rtive has tried to sell a mask out for a quick buck. Carol and her team know how to handle this. If you want to send Susanne a message sending her your condolences, feel free, but her identity is in no danger.


    As Susanne''s father thanked the interviewer, Matt wanted to vomit as the man went on to exin in excruciating detail everything about Susanne and how he taught her de work, demonstrated his own style, showed recordings of a young Susanne wielding a de, and thenparing them to Queen in a number of tournaments she participated in over thest few years.


    Matt wanted to say it was all bullshit, but AI verification andparison showed there were simrities in young Susanne''s style and adult Queens style, though that was flimsy proof at best.


    Frankly, it was disgusting to see a father selling out his daughters secret identity on the possibility that it was true. Worse yet, they dragged Susanne''s younger brother through the mud as well, saying that the fake Susanne, who simply seemed to be delving at Tier 9 to pay for his secondary school, was a fake, despite all the numbers adding up for the financials.


    The interviewer then dropped a bombshell and said they had gotten a statement from Queen herself, and Matt saw the screaming face of Queens marble-like mask, looking at a pad someone was shoving in her face. From the surroundings, Queen had clearly juste out of a rift and was obviously injured, with blood leaking out of her armor and still dripping from her left hip.


    After a slight pause where she looked at what Matt was sure was a condensed version of the interview, Queen shrugged. Im certainly <em>d</em> hes not my father, what an asshole move.


    With that, Queen turned away and walked into the setting sun, a massive greatsword floating on her back. The silhouette made for an amazing moment, and the interviewing news station left it up while they cut back to Susanne''s father, who started deflecting the probing questions the interviewer shot at him.


    Matt wanted to punch the man in the face when he proudly admitted that he was only doing this in retribution to his daughter, ruining his good name by having someone contact anyone he tried to trick and telling them of his history. He tried to spin it that he was in the right, but even the interviewer seemed to struggle to keep a polite facade up.


    Only a few minutester, Sciath paused the video. What a scandal. Even if it''s not her actual father, it''s not a good look. What do you guys think will happen? Frankly, I dont think it''s her; the style is general enough. The small simrities are things you can find in any greatsword users technique. This just seems to be someone angry; he will need to change his face and identity if you ask me. But what if it was true?


    Matt wanted to say that Susanne was going to kill the man, but kept quiet as the other nobles started specting. Instead, heposed a message to Susanne and gave her his best wishes, and told her to contact him, Liz, or Aster if she needed anything. While they kept in touch, their messages were usually on the shorter side, with Susanne being such a quiet person, but he felt this was a prime opportunity for her to vent her frustrations if ever there was one.


    Liz was tearing down Susanne''s father when one of the other nobles asked what Matt thought.


    His answer came easily. My parents died when I was young, but they would have never tried to sell me out for a few minutes of fame or temporary wealth. It''s disgusting, and he should be ashamed, but clearly, with his self-admitted behavior, he had no pride or decency to lose.


    Sciath agreed. Well put. My own parents would never do something like that. Im fairly sure my uncle Baroub would kill the man if he had the chance. He''s a bit more feral, and very family oriented.


    Liz smiled as Matt knew Sciath brought up her connection to Baroub on purpose, as he was good friends with Mara and Leon, and was sort of an uncle to Liz and her other siblings.


    Yes, Im sure Uncle Bob would not take kindly to such behavior. Even if Queen isnt Susanne, the real Susanne must be devastated that her father is willing to try and make a quick buck on her name, especially after everything else he has put their family through. Who admits to abandoning their family so readily?


    One of the lesser nobles, Brandon, shrugged. As much as everyone here doesn''t want to admit it, we all have rtives who wouldnt hesitate to do the same if they were in the same position.


    That started a whole new debate about whether or not anyone''s family would treat them so callously, which Matt mostly ignored.


    Thankfully, the meeting had truly been about Sciath flexing her hot new gossip, and once that was discussed to death, they were able to leave without being rude. That in and of itself was a bit of a shock for Matt, as he couldnt imagine getting a party together to talk about thetest gossip. Not that he never gossiped or talked about such things, but he wouldnt get his friends together just to show off he had the newest piece of news.


    It wasnt until they were safely back in the estate with Leon there to block anyone from spying on them that Matt and Liz let loose the torrent of things they had to say about Susannes father.


    Leon didnt try to stop them, but did leave them with a small nugget of wisdom. Someone who is willing to do that to their own flesh and blood is so deeply unhappy, nothing can make them better and they will eventually self-destruct.


    Matt tried to takefort in the words, but knew it was a hollow statement at best, no matter Leon''s good intentions. He well knew that Leon was the type to die for his kids, and would never do something like that, but Matt knew plenty of detestable people who were more than willing to sell family out and not lose a moment''s sleep over it.


    Susannes father seemed the type.


    Thankfully, when the interview went live a few weekster, it was quickly pushed out of the news cycle thanks to a duchess affair being leaked, and that had a much greater draw thanks to the very public battle between her husband and her lover.


    Matt was pretty sure Carol, or at least the Path management system, had something to do with the leak, but he was just happy it kept the spotlight off Susanne.


    Aster arrived soon after, and was excited about her trip with Mara. She now seemed even more inclined to eventually be queen herself. Matt still had no idea how she found that desirable, having dealt with even one case for Leon, but he agreed to support her in any way he could.


    Thankfully, one of the longest years of his life ended, and they were free to return to delving with their body doubles taking their ces, though even that delving session didntst too long. Eleanor and Ethans Tier 10 tournament was right around the corner, and they wanted to be there for the kids. Taking another year off wouldnt be the end of the world, as they were going to do a mission while they were there, which they could use to redeem essence stones.


    Counterespionage didnt seem particrly fun, but apparently Queen would be there doing the same thing, as it was something of a rite of passage for high end Pathers, so they had to do it eventually.


    Matt couldnt say he was looking forward to doing counterespionage work, but he was looking forward to seeing Eleanor and Ethan again. The two of them, while not exceptional, should be able to make it to Tier 12 or 13 without too much issue, though their getting any further on the Path was in doubt.


    Still, he and Liz felt responsible for the two of them, and Aster wanted to meet them, so they happily epted the mission.


    Susanne even said she had a surprise for them, which only added to the anticipation.

 Chapter 262

    Chapter 262


    With it being his third time at a Tier 10 tournament, the first for his own and the second for the Ascension, Matt expected he wouldn''t be that excited for the event, but on the contrary, he was looking forward to it. Part of that was seeing Leon''s capital, Stormhaven, in the flesh and getting to see his inws once more, another was seeing Eleanor and Ethan, and another was getting to work another mission with Susanne.


    She was one of the few people he had met who could keep up with his, Lizs, and Aster''s abilities, and he had onlye to really realize how unique a trait that was as he advanced past the rest of his peers. That and he wanted to make sure she was actually ok with the incident with her father. No matter how callously he had treated her and how much she had hardened her heart to him, his act of trying to out her must have hurt.


    Arriving on Stormhaven was a treat for Matt as Leon apparently kept a lightning storm roving around the at all times, but instead of just dropping rain and making noise, the storm Leon created was as creative as he was. Looking up, Matt watched as two figures made out of lightning crossed swords before being dogpiled by smaller lightning figures until the entire disy dissolved into the clouds and started showing a scene from a cartoon Leon, Liz, and himself had watched while they ate breakfast before Aster and Mara came back.


    Knowing it was Leons way of saying hello, Matt and Aster waved even as Liz groaned and murmured about dumb parents, but they didnt miss her blowing a kiss at the sky after herments.


    Laughing, the three of them moved through the bustling city, and Matt took the opportunity to enjoy the light drizzle that was kept off their heads with shields that covered all the pedestrian areas. Instead of staying in the luxurious floating castle that represented Leon''s seat of power, which Liz assured him was as decked out as the estate on the Capital, they were staying at a safe house sometimes used by Harper''s agents. Matt was perfectly happy with the amodations, and so was Aster after she set up a winter barrier Matt had recently designed and created for her.


    It wasnt anything fancy, but it had been a unique challenge as Aster wanted a variable-size barrier that could contain the cold she liked to ensconce herself in, for when she couldnt stay in her own or Matts home. There weremercial options avable, naturally, but this was something Matt could do himself at a lower cost, and he had been aching for an enchanting project to sink his teeth into.


    Additionally, Luna had been harping on his enchanting recently, remarking on how inefficient and wasteful it was. His ability to throw most efficiency concerns to the side was part of how he had been able to advance his enchanting skills so quickly, but it rankled Luna that one of her charges would ever make something that threw mana around by the bucketful and only asionally sshed the target. She was being hyperbolic, but she had something of a point, so he had tried to make something usable by someone with entirely normal mana reserves which made it an interesting project.


    His reliance on his AI didnt help her attitude towards his enchanting. While he didnt look into the actual design schematics of themercial versions, he had a good idea of how they functioned as there weren''t that many ways to do what Aster wanted. That allowed him to be able to quickly sketch out a few designs, then slowly refine his ideas over a few days.


    His first idea of a rune thatbined the temperature control and istion into one hadnt panned out that well. It worked, in a sense, but ten mana per second was horrifically wasteful for such a small task, and the cost would balloon even more as it epassed arger space. The shorter conduits between runes hadnt made up for the instabilities generated bybining too much functionality into a single rune. Ultimately, it was an idea for the trash bin, even if there were some lessons to be learned from it.


    The second idea was much more feasible and had actually worked, as he was simply creating a barrier of mana that isted the desired area and created a permeable shield along the perimeter. That shield was fairly efficient thanks to it being an old and specialized variant used for temperature istion. That was where a lot of themercial devices stopped; they created a bubble and let the buyer heat or cool the room as they so wished. Some went further and built temperature control into the units, but Matt wanted to go the extra mile for Aster.


    Instead of just building a temperature control, Matt built in a temperature control which could get cold enough that even Aster was satisfied, and could also control the humidity of the room so she could perfect the temperature versus the amount of snow. Her room in their house got a simr but more permanent version of the device, and it was a constant ice cube in her room.


    Compared to amercial device that had been iterated on for centuries by dozens of experienced enchanters, and optimized for mana usage, it still wasnt particrly efficient, but by his standards it was downright economical which was the whole point of the exercise. Aster could fuel it continuously with a quarter of her own mana regeneration, or tap into the houses mana reserves for normal usage.


    After they settled down, the first thing they did was change into their masks and go check into the spy headquarters, where they were debriefed by a local head of security.


    The man was short, balding, and on the older side, which, if on a mortal, would make him an unassuming man, but as an immortal spy working on counterespionage, let him slip into any crowd and blend right in.


    The moment they sat down, the man started talking. You may call me Ezra, and I will be your handler and liaison while you are on this mission. If you have any questions, you ask me, no one else. I cant stress this enough, do not try and contact anyone else except me. Queen has her own handler, and while you will be working together, you have separate missions. Feel free to request her help as long as your management team allows it but dont try and reach out to her contact. People always fuck this up, and Id rather not have to deal with the fallout when you do it. So, please. Contact only me.


    At everyone''s nod, Ezra continued. Ok, first of all, our people have identified a dozen teams from the other Great Powers. Preliminary information gathering has one from the ns, two from the Republic, and one from the Sects, though we are pretty sure there is a second Sect team somewhere that we just haven''t been able to identify. Two from the Guilds, but they are friendlies and are using this as a safe ce to train some of their agents; if you find their bases feel free to bust them and bring them in but don''t hurt them as they won''t resist. We are on good terms with the Guilds, so don''t ruin that. Now, feel free to run the hell out of them for getting caught. Thats a time-honored tradition. There is one team from the Monster Collective, but we have no idea if they sent more teams. Great Powers usually, but dont always send at least two. There are <em>definitely</em> at least two from the Corporations, but theyre almost never found. We call them ghosts. Finally, the Federation, we know of two teams, but from the chatter we are getting, it''s more likely they have up to four teams. They are who we are focusing on. If we stumble over any of the others, we will nab them, but the Feddies are our actual targets.


    Before Matt could ask why Ezra exined. We are going after the Feddies because we have credible reports that they are nning something for the tournament, and if possible, King Leon wants them to join the executions at the start of the tournament.


    At the surprised looks, Ezra smiled. Ask Queen. They are her prizes. Now, about the structure of the spy teams. The Federation usually sends teams of two to five agents. It''s never just one, but they like to stay separated, so dont rush out the moment you see one thinking he''s alone, youll just spook the other one underground. The best way to identify them is their mannerisms and tech. If you see


    The debrief with Ezra took six full hours, but all of them made sure tomit the information to memory. Their job, for all that it was a training ground, was very real. The Guild spies might be friendly and here as practice, but the others were enemies of the Empire and needed to be taken to task.


    After the meeting, they went to meet up with Queen.


    The moment they saw her, Aster ran over and pulled the other woman into a hug. It''s so good to see you. Im so sorry about your dad. We sent him a nasty gram. Bad gas and glitter are set to go off the moment he approaches. Fuck that guy!


    Susanne snorted. He''s a piece of work, but he was shopping around with that news story for almost a year before it actually got any attention. Hes not even the first person to try that stunt, just the first one to actually be <em>right.</em> I never hoped for us to reconcile after what he did to my mother and brother, so Im honestly quite ambivalent about it all. Why waste emotions over someone like that?


    Matt and Liz joined Aster in the hug for a moment before they pulled away, knowing Susanne wasnt the tactile sort.


    Liz growled. You may not be angry now, but you have every right to be. My parents were ready to go on the warpath.


    Susanne had been told about Lizs parents while they were in Minka, and so Matt got to enjoy her mask''s eyes going wide at the realization that two of the royals were mad on her behalf, but saying they were on the warpath was an understatement. When they had heard about the news, he was pretty sure if Susanne''s father had been in the same system as them, he would have simply ceased to exist. The duo were so family oriented that it made sense, but it was the only time he had seen the two genuinely angry, and it had taken him aback.


    As he pulled back, Matt added his support. We paid for him opening the package to be recorded if you want something tough at.


    The normally screaming Queen mask morphed into a smile as Susanne agreed. Please. Id like to send it to my brother as well, he took the incident harder than I did and was quite angry so Im sure hell enjoy it. Not to say I won''t enjoy it. I debated going and punching him in the nose, but he wants the attention, and I won''t give him what he wants.


    Aster huffed out as she pulled Susanne to the nearby couch. Fair but boring. On a more interesting note, what is this we hear about executions?


    Susanne snorted. After I hit a bunch of normal local tournaments at Tier 15, I was about to leave like normal, but this woman jumped down from the third-floor seating. I expected her to be an assassin of some sort, but imagine my surprise when she broke both her legs on thending and, instead of worrying about it, just begs for me to listen to her. So I did. I was still expecting an assassination, but she genuinely wanted help. It turns out someone kidnapped and reced her daughter, and the local officials were unable to find anything wrong and dropped the case.


    Queen''s fist tightened, and her Concept, hanging like a pendant on her wrist, started glowing faintly. I wish I could just say it was the local enforcers being ipetent, but it was far more sinister than that. While I was able to bust the local operation and rescue half a dozen kids, I wasnt able to recover much intact data, so I thought it was a single operation, but the data nerds pulled some Talent out of their asses and were able to reconstruct some of the information. It turns out the kidnapping ring was massive, and they were picking up kids from a dozen systems and recing them with pseudo-clones that wouldst a year or so before dying. They suspected the situation had been going on for close to a decade at that point, and they were able to find almost a thousand cases of early childhood death.


    Matt winced upon hearing that, knowing this situation was not going to be pretty, no matter how Susanne had already handled the situation. He couldn''t imagine the shock that the grieving parents must have gone through, having thought their child had died, only to be told that they were alive and kidnapped. That was a horror story, no matter how you cut it, and suddenly, the executions made far more sense.


    Sadly Susannes next words made it even worse. Having found the case, I was given priority on one of the bandit teams we located. I took them down, but a number of them surrendered. They n to execute them before the Pather tournament to remind everyone not to mess with the Empire and the Path in particr. As it turned out, the kids the teams were targeting were people noted for their exceptional drive and abilities who were expected to be given invitations to The Path. From my understanding, the Emperor was pissed at the news and personally ordered the prisoners'' execution. They believe that the Federation was behind it, but there isnt any concrete proof.


    Matt looked to Aster and Liz as he now better understood why they were hunting the Feddy spies. The only question he had was why Leon or Harper wasnt personally making a move. He suspected it was because they doubted the spies were actually involved or even knew anything and just wanted the spies as someone to vent their anger on as proxies for the Federation itself. If any of them were involved, he didnt think it could pass the high Tier gazes. Another part of him whispered that it might just be because of their involvement, and the high Tiers wanted to train the four of them.


    That or even the Emperor''s anger was a farce, and the kidnapping of over a thousand kids was nothing to make the high Tiers move. Matt wanted to doubt thatst one for no other reason than he had met Emmanuel, Leon, and Mara and knew they wouldnt tolerate such actions happening under those noses.


    Still, he had a growing desire to see the Federation spies caught and executed alongside the bandits they had worked with. But why hadn''t Ezra told them about that in the mission brief? He had clearly known. Was it just because he knew they were going to talk to Susanne, or was it because, as Ascenders, it wasnt their job to question why?


    Matt wasnt sure he liked the reality of thatst idea but knew it to be true and something he inadvertently signed up for.


    Aster shook her head, her thoughts clearly following a simr path to his own. I wonder why our handler didnt mention this to us?


    Liz shook her head. Probably thought it didnt matter. We are going to do the job regardless, so why does the fact the Federation is proven to be evil once more really matter?


    Matt agreed. It doesnt. It might even make us reckless in our approach. Letting his Quill mask harden into a stern face, he added. That said, if we do catch the spies, we should do our damndest to ensure they arent able to kill themselves.


    Susannes Queen mask grinned, the normal frown twisting into aically wide smile. Agreed. Id love to add them to my execution list center stage in front of the entire Empire.


    Matt whistled while Liz asked, So they are letting you do the honors?


    Susanne nodded. Yup, that was my one ask from the mission rewards, and they granted it. That said, it would be nice for you guys to join me up there, but I wont share my initial catches.


    While her mask was in its normal scream, Matt could hear the teasing tone in Susanne''s voice.


    Despite them all wanting to immediately start kicking down doors, that wasnt really how espionage or counterespionage worked, which was why the four of them took over a meeting room and, after ordering enough food to feed an army, sat down and started going through all the casefiles the local agents had collected so far.


    It was there that Queen gave all of them another shock as she almost offhandedly mentioned wanting to hit Tier 20 so she could test her Intent ideas as she was pretty sure she had the right ideas.


    Matt groaned upon hearing that with Liz slumping down. Aster on the other hand peeked up. What are your ideas? I have a few for my Intent but nothing Im like super confident in.


    Susanne leaned forward in her chair as she exined. So before I even started I knew I wanted to go for a created Intent and start creating my weapon manifestation as my anchor.


    Matt cocked his head as he tried to process the logic of using something that already existed as an Intent Anchor and it not being a imed Intent.


    Susanne must have read his bodynguage as she exined for them. It''s a little mind bending but for all that I keep my weapon manifestation active all the time it always has been and always will be a temporary figment of my Concept. Im not the first person to think of or do this and it''s always a Created Intent. Theres even some fun interactions, like being able to use my Concept on it for free, and actively using my Intent will be multiplicative instead of additive, because Im directly boosting my Concept instead of working alongside it. Carol introduced me to a couple of people whod done the same, and that helped.


    Im <em>hopeful</em> that I can twist my Image into a shattered sword remade. First time I ever broke my sword might have been fighting you, but its be much toomontely, and I think its starting to affect the integrity of my Concept. Ideally, my Intent will help with that by providing continuity between manifestations. Even if one sword breaks, its no less reliable if its the same sword once reforged. My <em>father</em> actually helped there, as hispleteck of emotional support is helping me tie ining back stronger after emotional devastation to the overall idea..


    Liz nodded Not bad at all. Gives me a couple of ideas, actually.


    Susanne tilted her head in acknowledgement, Still not sure what I want to go for as a Phrase. I could go with a generic Sword, but Id prefer something more active, you know?


    Matt sighed. I know. Believe me, I know. Im trying for an image of Minka, more or less, but it keeps fighting me. Then Ive got some candidate Phrases and Anchors, but I have nothing that really resonates.


    Aster puffed up her chest wanting to show off, Im trying to push for my tiara to be my Anchor, and its going pretty good! Because Minka gave it to me with Winter, and that helps me connect it to a winterscape of my own.


    That started a not so short segue into everyone talking about their Intents and trying to brainstorm together. Nothing about Intents was fast, but everyst bit helped. He <em>was</em> able to give some advice to Susanne about being Endless, a concept she was trying to work into her Image, and that made it all worthwhile on its own.


    The four of them would have liked to talk for months about their Intents but they still had a mission to do and quickly refocused themselves. They initially started with the suspected Federation spies but moved through all the files just to get a better feeling of how the spies worked.


    Admittedly Matt cheated, and even while he was reading things himself and going over the information, he had his [AI] cranking away at the same information looking for any connections the analysts might have missed. That even his [AI] couldnt find anything was a testament to the counterespionage teams working for Harper and the Empire.


    Still, they pored over everything just so they would personally know the information before they went and started scouting the first possible spy locations, though one was suspected to be empty.


    A slightly upscale location filled with Tier 20s who, while wealthy, were in a lower-ie area wasnt the first ce Matt might have chosen for his secret base, but that was the point. Even then, the suspected base wasnt where any of them would really have checked if not for a few reports of intermittent mana flickering in the building but not the surrounding buildings. In the maintenance room on the bottom level, there was a perfectly normal room with mana conduits that should have been sealed off, but even from outside, Matts spiritual sense could feel where new sent had been applied to the door.


    With how the reports came in, they were pretty sure the spies had already relocated, as the intermittent mana outages had ended a week ago. That said, it was likely the ce had been boobytrapped and could explode if they kicked down the front door like fools.


    Not wanting casualties, they had the building evacuated and the mana supply ready to be turned off at a moment''s notice. The four had wanted to kill the power early, which invited the risk that the building was set to blow when the power was turned off, but they could contain that and have no risk to themselves. Ezra had vetoed that idea saying the possible information they might be able to gather was worth the risk of them going in first.


    After all, they were supposed to be ascenders, and if they couldn''t handle one little explosion, what good were they?


    Thest part was left unsaid, but Matt had heard it clearly enough.


    pping talismans on each face of the building, Matt was confident that even if the building came down, the neighbors who weren''t actively watching wouldn''t notice a thing thanks to the modified building demolition talismans. He hadnt made the talismans, something asplex as that being well beyond his ability even if the runes were of his Tier, no they were part of the normal counterespionage kit and had been provided to the four of them free of charge and would ensure the buildings fell directly inward and stop any debris from leaving their barrier.


    Matt most certainly hadnt had his [AI] scanning the talismans the entire flyover to this building.


    Not at all.


    Once in the building, they slowly moved through the halls looking for any traps, spying devices, or oddities.


    It took close to five hours, but they made their way to the basement, having found two hidden recording devices, one for visuals and the other for mana recordings. Two rms, Matt and Aster were able to disable; he overloaded the first one, and Aster froze the second, preventing it from triggering. Three different variations of a noise trap on the stairs, each rigged to ensure you had to step on one of the rigged steps alerting anyone hiding in the safe room.


    After all that, they reached the entrance to the maintenance room, and each of them slowly inspected the sealed door. When none of them found anything odd except the new sent used to close the door, they checked it three more times but eventually concluded the door hadnt been tampered with.


    That didnt mean they opened the door; instead, they retreated back upstairs while Matt sent a small drone up that would create a pinpoint-sized hole in the concrete wall, letting them bypass any spiritual sense befuddling arrays set up inside the room.


    The spiritual sense was great in that anyone could use it, but it was also the easiest sense to block and fool, thanks to its ubiquity.


    When the drone finished burrowing, Matt whistled while Susanne cursed.


    Liz and Aster didnt say anything, but Matt could feel Aster''s unease through their bond.


    Unsurprisingly, the entire room was filled with explosives. <em>Actually</em> filled. Practically all of the air in the room had been reced with Tier 25 alortia, a sticky, slimy brown ooze. If theyd tried kicking in the door, teleporting inside, even tearing open the wall, it would set off. If too much <em>mana</em> interacted with it, it would detonate, and that much would practically annihte the bottom floors of the building, possibly even cause some of the neighboring ones toe down as well.


    It was decidedly past what they were equipped to handle, but they were able to call in backup. They simply needed to keep the area clear until the bomb squad arrived in the form of a Tier 35 alchemist who happily siphoned off the explosives into a storage sk.


    A quick debriefter, the four of them left to go find another possible base where they discovered nothing amiss at all. A false rm, something they became intimately familiar with over the next two months.


    Matt had hoped they would get someone, but even the Guild spies were impossible to track down, and while they were told this was perfectly normal it didn''t help. Only the best of the teams were sent into enemy territory and especially for an event with such high security as the Tier 10 tournament.


    They even encountered an ambush set up for them but either the team drastically underestimated their strength or the assassins werent expecting them at all as the team was easily taken out by the four of them, though it did raise questions of who sent them and what was the purpose.


    That didnt mean they suddenly got any more sessful on their hunt. Failure wasnt something Matt was used to, and he didnt enjoy it one bit.


    ***


    Luna looked to The Seven tribunal members and kept her expression carefully neutral even though she wanted to smile.


    She had told them the children would do fine on the tribunals'' little test, but three of the colors had openly told her they expected the kids to fail.


    The counterespionage mission at the Tier 10 tournament was a time-honored tradition and one that quite a few possible Ascenders failed at. Failing this test wouldnt sink an Ascenders'' qualifications, but it was a ck mark on them and their management team.


    Completing the mission or even finding a spy wasnt all that important in the grand scheme of things and wasnt even a criterion of the test, though if the teams managed it, it was a positive mark on their report.


    Instead, it was a test of Pather''s ability to listen to orders, follow instructions from people other than their management team, n operations, and then put those ns into action.


    The fact that some of the tribunals thought one of her charges wouldnt be trained well enough to handle those criteria was almost insulting, but she understood it.


    On paper, Liz and Matt were both charge-in and bash things fighters if you only looked at their kits. While she did her best to make her charges well-rounded, neither of the children''s fighting styles were conservative or subtle in nature. For that matter, even Aster, a nominal support mage, focused more on area debuffs than single-target debilitation, and even had a fairly wide array of direct attacks. But that was simply the byproduct of delving with Matt, and having the benefits of his Talent and Concept to utilize far more mana than most could ever hope to.


    Overkill was the right amount of kill.


    Luna had worked to hammer those tendencies out of them in the beginning, and if she said so herself had done a fantastic job. That the children <em>had</em> found their own styles, and they were bombastic and seemed more like blunt instruments than the precision instruments the Empire liked.


    The utterly unstoppable force that was Duke Waters was an undeniable boon, but he was such a monstrously stereotypical Ascender, unconcerned and unskilled in anything but brute-force application, that the more covert skills which Light and Shadow had cultivated were nearly as desirable. Aiden alAegir proved the upper bounds of usefulbat capability by being limited to <em>Tier 31</em>. That he could still fulfill the role of an Ascender in checking the diator and Legends that were his peers with a four-tier disadvantage was a testament to his strength, but Zack Varon and Allison Spein would be just as capable of that role when they were Tier 35 <em>and</em> would return from the frontlines when recalled instead of gvanting behind enemy lines as they pleased.


    Her children and Susanne had done wonderfully. Beyond failing to capture a team, they hadnt even caused an incident, blown up a building, or even slipped and showed their masks being at the event publicly.


    Watching Purple, Green, and Red apologize for underestimating the kids in front of everyone was especially gratifying, especially seeing that Carissa had been at the meeting, which meant the Emperor would be getting the information forthwith.


    It also meant the children were getting special rewards for their Tier 20 prizes. Normally the prize was more training with Harpers undercover agents and then them being sent to one of the neutral Great Powers as a short sightseeing vacation, but that wasnt really possible with the pressure of the war looming over their heads, and that was why she was here to argue for her charges'' prizes to be converted to items, additional research opportunities, or skills.


    That, and she was fishing for information about Light and Shadow. The two had been seen in conjunction with a fairly consistent group of individuals, many of which shed been involved in training. A rotating roster of Academy Graduates, near-Ascenders, and ace veterans told a story of a team built around the duo, and she wanted to know if her charges would be joining them or forming a counterpart of their own, to better prepare them beforehand.


    Sadly her efforts were in vain, but she did get some concessions from the tribunal to increase the kids'' Tier 20 rewards. She hadnt managed to arrange for a second full Concentration for Matt, so his potions would actually be <em>weaker</em> than they had been for a couple of Tiers now, but she had to admit to herself that it truly wasnt the <em>priority</em>. Not now that the proof-of-concept formation had been tested and shown itself to be a viable method of raising his mana concentration beyond what a normal potion could manage. The inefficiency irked her Domain but it was easily ignored.


    There was also the issue of exining <em>why</em> Matt kept getting concentration potions as rewards, and the final stretch in particr would raise more questions than they wanted to answer when they verified the children''s time on The Path so him taking the small hit to prevent the other Great Powers from digging at his mana too early was worth it. Beyond those failed rewards, there was nothing too extravagant so as not to push the limits of what The Path of Ascension program allowed, but she had gotten them each a Tier 35 trainer of their respective fighting styles for an entire year free of charge for the kids and video chats with a few experts with a variety of Intents that they could bounce ideas off of, which was more than she expected.


    The trainers would even being to them instead of the other way around, which showed her just how much the tribunal valued her charges.


    That was good, because they were almost Tier 20 and still delving up five Tiers without an Intent. That would stop quite abruptly once the monsters they started facing had full Intents of their own but it was still impressive. No amount of mana, blood, or ice could cover that jump, as Duke Waters could attest to.


    Ideally, it would only take them a few decades to form their Intents, but so long as <em>one</em> of them managed it in the next fifty years, they could manage. They were all making progress, but they still needed to aplish in mere decades what took most people centuries to do.


    But progress was progress, and she was proud of them and their versatility. Shed let them have the rest of the tournament to their own devices and to spend with their own Pather charges and Susanne before they left to return back to delving.


    Then there would be no time for friends or rxing. Not if they wanted to finish The Path. This was truly her favorite part of being a manager.

 Chapter 263

    Chapter 263


    While they were still engaging in some counterespionage even as the tournament began, Matt was looking forward to Eleanor and Ethan arriving in Stormhaven. Of course, it wasnt like they didnt have a thousand and one other things to do in the meantime.


    Matt spent a full two weeks helping Leon quietly fill up a number of royal mana reserves, which involved a lot of sitting on his butt while filling skyscraper-sized mana stones. For the first day, he just sat around and watched movies, but he quickly grew bored and started revisions of one of his new talisman arrays. With most of his mana going towards filling the mana stone, he wasnt able to fully use his [AI] for its normal iterations, but he had fun doing the mental work himself. After that, he took care of a few misceneous things he had been putting off, like redesigning the next iteration of runes to use on his sword for when he reached Tier 19.


    When he was nearing his final mana donation of three hundred and ny-six billion, he finally opened the packet of information Leon had tried to bribe him with when the idea of Matt donating some of his time and mana to Stormhaven was brought up. It ultimately wasnt much, an ordinary expense document, but the expenses inside were the things the mana would be used for. He would have given Leon and Mara all the mana they wanted for nothing with no ountability; but he was d his father inw was going to use his mana for the good of the little people.


    Matt had been tempted to look at it immediately, but he had wanted to wait until he had given the mana, so when he looked, he knew that he was seeing ces that would soon be getting his help which changed the vor of the information pact. He felt like he was about to open his first birthday present as a kid again and let the moment linger to savor it.


    Right off the bat, his eyes skimmed past the thirty percent that would be released into the air to fuel rifts and formations. That was normal, and he had no issue with such a use of his mana. It was a little indirect, but it would still be helping everyone on Stormhaven, but he wanted to see the specific projects that his mana would be fueling.


    In the second ce, Matt grinned at the entry. Seven percent of his nearly four hundred billion mana was going towards Tier 5 and below public rifts. Most of that went to preventing the rifts from Tiering up, but a little more than twenty-seven billion mana would ensure prices remained affordable and instances were never dyed. That single contribution would fund rifts for the next century or more, and make a real difference to the lowest Tiers who lived on Stormhaven.


    Third through seventh ce were simrly rift expenditures, but they were for higher Tiers, and while Matt was happy they would be helped, it felt a little less impactful to him. In eighth ce, Matt smiled at themunity enchanters program. Aimed at newly-awakened children of low-tier families, it was one part job, one part school, and aimed to teach the kids the basics of enchanting, as well as provide a route to provide enchanted devices to even the poorest neighborhoods. It even had systems in ce to help find the gifted and talented and provide them with regr promotions or even sponsorship to the crafting side of the Path, and Matts contribution meant that theyd have operating budget to spare for decades if not <em>centuries</em>, as new enchanters clumsily picked up the basics of the trade. It kept them off the streets and provided a clean way to give back to themunity, and even an automatic route up for the top performers, what wasnt to love?


    Thinking of the kids his mana would be helping, Matt couldnt wipe the grin off his face as he looked at the next dozen entries, which were simr for various crafting professions, all getting one percent of his donated mana.


    Seeing that felt really good, and Matt pinged Leon to ask if any of the organizations were already staffed or would be staffed before the end of the tournament. His answer was immediate and better than he could have hoped for. Each of the professions was already active in small numbers, and his mana would be going to expand those services, so he could see all of them by visiting any of the dozen current locations.


    Putting that on his to-do list, Matt kept browsing the list and had to smile as the percentages people were getting out of his total mana were starting to be smaller and smaller fractions. 0.01% of his mana was still thirty-nine million mana, which was more than enough to fund a local charity that made stuffed animals for kids who, for whatever reason, found themselves in a hospital.


    He had never heard of the idea before, but was more than happy to know they would get enough mana to fund their operations for years.


    Being able to flex his mana and see the benefits was addicting, and he felt like a junkie as he was searching for his next fix. And, like an addict, he immediately had an answer.


    Hospitals.


    A quick flick of his eyes showed him that there were no hospital entries anywhere on the list, which struck him as odd.


    When he asked Leon, his father-inw had a quick but irritating answer. Hospitals and their ilk have a very fixed ie, and their budgets are public record. While technically <em>much</em> of your mana will go to funding them, its a lot harder to exin why a hospital is suddenly getting a massive amount of mana, beyond what they earn for their patient treatments. Yes, they can use that to fund research or expand their operations, but a few million mana suddenly appearing will raise more than a few questions. Billions of mana will mean people start <em>digging</em>, and thats something we want to avoid. But yes, in practice some millions or even billions of your mana will be used in a hospital. Once it enters the system, we dont have a way of tracking individual units of mana. I just wanted to show you the <em>extra</em> good that youd aplish, what new things the budget can afford, rather than a statistics report of where your mana <em>could</em> show up.


    Matt didnt really like the answer, but it made sense, and he couldnt really argue with one of the royals about what was and was not appropriate with their spending. For all that he wanted to ignore politics, he wasnt dumb, and knew that any opening would be exploited by Leons detractors. And those battlefields could do more damage in the long run than his mana could help.


    Telling himself to be content with his current donation, Matt thanked Leon before leaving to go visit the secondary schools that would be getting his mana.


    They werent anything special, and Matt could tell at a nce they were struggling to amodate the currently enrolled recently awakened young adults. Still, the foundations they were teaching them were solid, and would serve them well if they wanted to get picked up by a guild or a corporation in the future. Knowing that they would be able to expand and serve even more people put quite the pep in his step as he left to meet back up with Liz and Aster.


    The two of them had spent most of thest two weeks assisting Leon in running Stormhaven and the million and one things that he needed to get ready for the Tier 10 tournament.


    Matt tried to get into thest-minute terraforming team that was still working on an extra smaller moon that would be filled to the brim with monsters as a test for the up-anding pathers. It would be used to simte protecting a from active rift breaks, or in the worst case scenario, taking a back that was lost to rift breaks. But upon his arrival, he was politely told that for all his power, the professionals had it handled. The lessons learned at Ventillyria were not soon forgotten, and simr massive killing fields set in simted civilian poptions were a great training environment.


    Instead, Matt just helped Liz direct things as Leons child.


    Matt had expected Aster to be doing something simr, but instead, she had asked for and been given a position in the chain ofmand. Nothing too high up, as she was only a Tier 18, but being an immortal still gave her enough authority to take care of a small department. Apparently, the man she was recing had been happy to give away one of his departments, which was how Aster became the active leader of the Environmental facilities for the small that the Tier 10 tournament would be conducted on.


    Matt even pitched in sometimes to help her teams shape pretty but challenging environments for the Tier 10s to encounter, which was a surprisingly detailed job that Matt could fully admit he wasnt cut out for on his own. He was happy to just lend his maniption skills to the more experienced workers.


    The man Aster had taken over for had done ny-eight percent of the work already, so she just needed to oversee thepletion of his project, but that didnt mean there weren''t a dozen and one things that cropped up. Matt was confident that his bond could do anything she set her mind to, but seeing her take charge made him proud. After seeing her lead the project, he felt he could really see her taking over for Mara when she ascended.


    Just three weeks before the Tier 10 Tournament was about to start, Eleanor and Ethan arrived on Stormhaven, and Matt, Liz, Aster, and Susanne were spying on the duo from a nearby tea house.


    Susanne spun her finger along the rim of her ss as she murmured, They seem normal enough. From what you guys said, I half expected the girl to break the world by just walking through the front door.


    Aster chuckled even as Matt mock gasped, I never said that! I only said it was good she didnt need to activate the teleporters or really had anything to do with them. Can you imagine how bad it would be if she got a one while activating them? It would be catastrophic at the very least. Still, she''s a good kid, doing her best.


    Liz nodded even as she was constantly tapping at her pad, refreshing her messages. She could have used her AI, but this way, she could share the information with everyone.


    Just moments after the duo started walking down the street, a message came telling the four of them that the kids had arrived and were calling on Howard and Willow, the false names Matt and Liz had used when they first met up with the kids.


    Susanne and Aster had their own disguises as well. Aster was pretending to be Matts little sister, like normal, though that meant her tail and ears were hidden. Susanne just changed her appearance and tagged along as their friend, and thus sufficiently disguised, they moved to meet the kids in a training room they reserved for the purpose.


    Matt had suggested the location partially as a call back to how Dena and Eric had done the same to him, and partially because he really wanted to see how the kids Talents and skill sets had evolved in the past decades. With that in mind, a training room was the only real ce for them.


    It took Eleanor and Ethan almost two full hours to get settled in and make their way through the city to their training room, but Matt and the others watched every step they took with their spiritual senses.


    When they entered the room, Matt took the opportunity to look at the kids with his eyes. The spiritual sense was great, and could genuinely rece all five normal senses, but he was still human, and preferred his sight to the alternatives.


    They had both aged up a fair bit since hedst seen them. Physically, they were both still young adults, easily mistaken for a Tier 1 or 2 teenager, but Eleanor rightfully carried herself like someone twice that age. She was confident and strong, carrying herself with utmost surety and with a smile that could light up a room, a far cry from the buried uncertainty and intense bravado shed shown at the carnival. To no surprise, she also carried a fair number of scars, but of more interest was the tattoo visible on her skull, the hair that should have been there shaved away. It was fairly clearly Ethans doing in some way, as the boy had a simr one on his shoulder, but Matt couldnt tell what it was supposed to do except wiggle a little.


    Ethan had also done well for himself, Matt could tell. Hed put on a good amount of muscle and lost much of hisnkiness, resulting in a <em>very</em> solid frame befitting a melee fighter. His hair was actually longer than Eleanors these days, held back in a loose ponytail, and his own collection of scars were predominantly the burn marks of a smith, but the number of other scars he had were no less than that of his cousin. His confidence was a different sort than Eleanors was, a bit more cocky inparison to her mature steadiness, but no less wee to see.


    The duo had journeyed on The Path of Ascension and came out whole. Not unscathed, but whole, and that was all anyone could ask for.


    Matt smiled as Eleanor called out, Mr VIP, Willow! It''s good to see you guys! Pausing, she cocked her head and scanned Aster and Susanne from top to bottom before addressing them. And others.


    Ethan grinned as he sized up Susanne and Aster, clearly just seeing two possibly unattached women. Well, hello! Ignore my cousin; shes grumpy when she''s awake.


    Aster snorted while Susanne didnt even blink.


    Seeing his charm was ineffective, Ethan finished crossing the distance and moved to hug Matt and Liz, who did the introductions.


    This is my younger sister, Ellen, and a friend of the team, Margret. How are you guys doing? You look good!


    Eleanor smiled as she switched hugs with her cousin. It''s good to see you guys too.


    Once she separated from Matt, she cocked her head, inspecting him with a small pout forming on her lips. I thought wed be stronger than you guys when we met up this time, but I can''t even see through your Tier. How is that even possible? You guys were only Tier 5 like thirty years ago. I thought for sure that we could have caught up with you guys.


    Matt smiled as he and Liz let their true Tier show through the masks'' concealment and general veils they always wore, but didnt say they were only 94 years old so as to not crush the kids'' hope or expose themselves.


    Eleanor stumbled back in a dramatic pratfall just for Ethan to catch her at thest moment and fall down with her.


    While they were hamming it up, Matt could see that the duo were genuinely shocked by the transformation of their seemingly simple mentors.


    Ethan was able to speak first and asked, Huh?


    Knowing what he wanted to know, Liz filled them in. While we didnt reveal it, we were already fresh Tier 17s when we met up with you guys. That was a little lie, but they couldnt tell the kids that they were actually only Tier 15 at the time, as even an idiot could do the math and see they were on Pather pace, going from Tier 15 to Tier 18 in a short two decades. To provide a bit of context, when someone awakens to a detrimental Talent, someone else who has made it to Tier 5 on the Path, and is currently a Tier 15 or higher, is called in to do the vetting and recruiting. We obviously satisfied those conditions, and we wanted to see how you reacted to what you considered peers instead of being awkward about us being so much stronger.


    The duo took a moment to process that, and Eleanor took the time to look at Aster and Susanne, thetter of whom revealed a Tier 18 cultivation as well. Aster, on the other hand, to better keep their identities hidden, only showed a Tier 16 cultivation, but even that was enough to make the Mallick kids groan.


    Ethan rubbed his face as he grinned. And here we thought we were impressive.


    Eleanor popped to her feet and challenged, Wait, we can still beat them! How far did you guys make it on The Path? Did you guys even have a Tier 10 tournament to go to?


    Matt popped her bubble ruthlessly. When you pass our Tier on The Path, well tell you.


    Eleanor sighed. Ahh, oh well. We have at least one or three more Tiers in us, I think. The manager should help us get at least that far.


    Matt raised his eyebrow in question, as they shouldnt have known about that, and Eleanor exined, Ethan was a boy toy for a Tier 15 pather we met up with a few years ago, and she told us about some things like that.


    Ethan popped to his feet, an indignant expression on his face. I wasnt a <em>boy toy</em>. We were casually dating, is all.


    Eleanor coughed out a quiet, boy toy, which made everyoneugh, and Ethan gave up with a dramatic movement.


    Seeing Ethan was embarrassed, Matt tossed him a lifeline. So how have the two of you been in thest few years? How have you progressed?


    Saying that, he summoned an illusionary sword for himself and a spear for Liz while the kids withdrew their own weapons.


    Ethan pulled out a hefty halberd crackling with lightning. Eleanor just donned puffy orange gloves that looked like really cheap winter gloves found at any mortal store.


    Liz must have made a face, because Eleanor groaned even as her ears went darker as she exined, It was a nice growth item I could afford, ok? Don''t judge their appearance too much.


    Eleanor then showed what they could do when she pped her hands together in a muddled thud, but when she pulled her hands apart, a burst of mes gushed out simr to [methrower], but in a wave instead of a cone. Matt let the mes wash over him and smiled as he saw that each me had their own dice roll. With five dice rolling for her odds, almost twenty percent of her attacksnded on 20s, and Matt smiled, feeling therger pricks of damage trying to bypass his [Mana Barrier].


    With more dice rolls, it mattered less if the attacks were individually weaker, as they were boosted in power thanks to her now substantial odds of rolling a 20. Even more amazing was that he didnt see a single 1 roll, which made sense when he had his [AI] calcte the odds of rolling five ones. 1 in 3,200,000 wasnt impossible, but it was incredibly rare. If he had been a normal Tier 11 monster, he would have died from that single attack.


    He was going to rush in to put some pressure on Eleanor, but she was already casting a [Jolt] and throwing it at his face, forcing him to dodge instead of rushing her. He yed along with the dodge rather than countering, as he wanted to see how her Talent handled it. The dice that seemed to be settling down as the attack was about to hit him started rolling more vigorously once more, until it hit the wall and rolled as normal.


    Matt dodged a few more spells as Lunas training started channeling through him. Good predictive attacks, but what will you do when I dont dodge?


    Standing still, he let the [Fireball] whiz by him where he would have been with a smile.


    Just as Eleanor started casting and he watched the mana from the spell structure of a [Jolt] in her spirit, Matt started to tense his muscles like he was going to dodge and smiled as he saw her start predicting his movement. Almost immediately, she stopped as she realized he might be tricking her once more, and instead changed the trajectory to aim at his current spot.


    Taking a single step to the left, he let the attack sail right by him with augh.


    Three more attacks missed him until Eleanor finally started to think outside the box and instead aimed at the floor, letting the explosion of the [Fireball] ensure that he had to move or be caught in the explosion, and then attacked him while he was still mid-movement.


    Letting himself act on autopilot, Matt watched Ethan fight Liz and smiled as she was using her shorter spear to keep him backpedaling, all while giving advice on how he could improve.


    It reminded him of their time versus Dena and Eric, which brought him back.


    While watching their fight and giving Eleanor some advice, Matt smiled as he noticed the halberd Ethan was using was very clearly the result of him using his Talent on a spear and an ax. It made him start looking out for other ces where they had used his Talent.


    The [Fireball] that exploded like a water balloon spewing hot oil was an interesting spell but an awful choice to use against Liz, who simply walked through the mes that couldnt even singe her clothes. The [Earth Spike] that whistled with the wind as it ripped through the air was an interesting condemnation that seemed to have no down side, and Matt was getting excited about the possibility of what coulde out of Ethans Talent if given some Tier 20 skills. But when he mentioned it, he got an answer he should have expected but hadn''t thought of.


    The range for the merges being stable was still pretty small for skills. Mundane weapons and armor seemedpletely stable when merged, but the more magical an item Ethan merged, the less stable it seemed to be when away from his influence. With that in mind, Matt didnt bother asking for unique skills, as they were fully magic and would break the moment he left the continent Ethan was on, let alone the.


    A few hourster, when the kids were exhausted and panting on the ground, they called a halt to the sparring and took the kids to a nice dinner, even as theyined that he and Liz had been cheating with their higher cultivation.


    They hadnt been, but none of them burst the kids bubbles. For all that they were good, they were most certainly not Ascender level fighters. But that was ok, as they knew it as well and werent the types to push themselves to the limit time and time again until they ended up slipping over and dying. He was just d they were safe and strong enough to take care of themselves.


    Susanne even opened up enough to give Ethan some advice, and Aster spent a portion of the dinner doing the same for Eleanor as a fellow mage.


    Matt even stole a look at Eleanor''s gloves, which did as he suspected and converted spells into short-range waves of their spell effects. It was good for a mage in a small team with limited melee support, but Matt found the conversion rate a littlecking for her.


    While he wouldnt want them to go into Minka at their current skill level, he knew they would probably go in at Tier 13, possibly Tier 12 if their manager thought they were strong enough. He wasnt sure that they were strong enough with their current capabilities, but it was a manager''s job to make them stronger, and he could see several ces the kids could improve.


    After a long dinner, they promised to meet up a few more times before the tournament started, and Matt was forced to promise that he would get the kid''s parents from the teleporter. They had broken off from the ns normal travel routes long enough to see their kidspete at the Tier 10 tournament, but would be arrivingte and had made the kids promise that they wouldn''t mess up their sleep schedule for something as simple as their arrival.


    He and Liz happily agreed to do so between their other duties.


    They spent a lot of their free time checking possible spy locations, but still found nothing until they gave up for the evening and started getting ready to try cracking the masked Pathers masks. It was interesting to see that from the other side, as they were given near unlimited ess to funds to buy information from information brokers. At the same time, it was scary just how much those brokers had on anyone and everyone.


    A lot of it was unindexed information scraped from public ces, and while one piece of information didnt mean much, when it was all put together, it painted a far tooplete picture. Two teams of Pathers were almost immediately outed by the four of them, and Matt could only hope the identities were throwaway identities like Shawn, Jules, and Lassie had been, as it had been far too easy to find their real identities.


    When the tournament actually started, Matt and Liz had to watch off on the side as Susanne got to execute the bandits who had been attacking and kidnapping people, to the cheers of the crowds.


    Leon walked forward after the [Clone] of the Emperor said his own spiel, like a hurricane about to m into the coast of a primitive civilization. As many of you know or have heard, there will be an execution today. A public one at that, which should show how serious the matter is. Bandits thought they could kidnap the children of the Empire because they grew up on border worlds. They thought they could do as they pleased because they had some unique Talents. They thought they could evade our eyes and des, <em>but they could not</em>. Nodding to Queen who stood off to the side of the kneeling bandits, Leon brought her into the conversation. Our very own possible Ascender, Queen, found out about their plot and destroyed one bed of these pests, but when another cropped up, she threw herself into battle against Tier 20s and came out victorious. And here are her spoils.


    The crowd of Pathers went wild with anger, many of them screaming so loud that Matt was sure they were tearing their vocal cords, but they seemed unbothered as they called for blood.


    For the crimes of banditry, kidnapping, murder, espionage, and for doing so with not just mortals, but unawakened children, the sentence is death.


    The moment Leon said death Queen moved in a sh and five headsnded as the crowd roared.


    Leon ended the opening words and execution on a positive note. Let that act as a reminder of what happens to the enemies of the Empire, and what you may be if you excavate all of your potential.


    As the blood ran, the Tier 10s fervor went through the roof, which made the first few days of the event especially violent, with a record number of brawls breaking out in the normally safe areas on the Pathers.


    Poor Aster had her work cut out for her, as she had to direct her teams to fix all the brokenndscapes, but it at least gave her something to do, and she genuinely enjoyed it.


    Beyond their work as spies, the three of them were paraded around as special guests at the Pather tournament. Aster was not included, as that would blow their cover and she was busy enough with her own work. Matt spent most of his time in his Quill mask as an assistant announcer, as Queen never said too much and Torch only had a handful of times where people heard her saying more than one word at a time. Monosybic sentences didnt exactly make for goodmentary, so Quills personality was much needed.


    Quill leaned back as he watched a feed from a dungeon delve that had gathered attention. Look at her go Messi, she''s running through those unicorns like I run through the all you eat buffet at the Silver Stables. How much longer do you think she can keep it going?


    Messi nodded with his dark hair falling down over his eyes, and the cameras started shing as they tried to capture the good looking man''s image for the new sites.


    She is very impressive Quill, that is true. Look at how she twists out of the unicorns'' charges. The only issue is her method of dodging won''t work very well against the unicorns'' kicks.


    Quill agreed, as he also saw the woman getting subtly herded into a trap. Now we get the opportunity to see how she can handle a hit. My money is on the not very well option.


    I wont be taking that bet. She Messi was interrupted as the girl got kicked in the chest and went flying into the dirt. And there it is. The answer <em>is</em> not very well, let''s just hope she can get up before they start trampling her.


    Matt actually had fun with it, as he was able to tone down some of his meanerments in the name of public speaking, which let him generally just praise the kids and offer feedback with the other casters.


    That said, he let his more acerbicments loose on the othermentators, who sometimes said the dumbest things. He wanted to say it was just to increase conversation between the casters, and he was sure a few were doing just that, but others seemed genuinely dumb. He had to wonder how some of them had gotten on the shows he was a part of, and happily ripped their arguments apart.


    The less said about some of the public''s submitted questions, the better, though there were a few good ones.


    Eventually, he caught on and learned that the stations he was working with had realized that his yelling at dumbments was great for repeat viewings. He didnt mind that, but when he noticed the trend, he spoke to the manager of the show and got them to intersperse more goodments. He didnt mind the dumb ones, but he was getting tired of reading the same five stupid takes on the fights and events at the tournament.


    He even very carefully didnt talk up or down Ethan and Eleanor, as one day, it woulde to light that Matthew Moore was Howard Lax and Quill, so he didnt want to tear into them and ruin their future rtionship. But he also couldn''t be nice to them when they didnt deserve it, as that would bring even more attention to them. Thankfully, they were pretty average Pathers, all things considered, and while they did well, they didnt stand out too much.


    That said, he and Liz sent them weekly updates on how they were doing and giving them encouragement. That and the cheers of their parents really seemed to help bolster them along as they fought their way through challenge and danger.


    Liz and Susanne, on the other hand, were using their expertise and giving lessons to the kids who took the top ces in the Thunderdome, what Leon had named the small filled with monsters, in the monthly resetting kill rankings. They werent as cool as Light and Shadow currently were, or as famous as L World Walker, but the two next teams who had a good shot atpleting the Path were still prestigious enough on their own that they got their fair share of worshipful gazes.


    Susanne privatelyined about it, but even Matt could tell a small part of her liked being recognized for her achievements.


    At the six-month mark, the three of them got pulled into their own little event, and in front of everyone, a wave of tens of thousands of Tier 22 monsters was set on them, and they were able to let loose and decimate them. None of them used any kind of special attacks, but that didnt stop them from putting on a good show and impressing the kids.


    Eleanor and Ethan did well. Well enough to get themselves a management team Luna said was adequate, which, when tranted to anyone else''s speech, was a glowing rmendation of their prowess. Though Matt wasnt surprised. Ethan had a strong Talent on his own, and some of the unique spells he was able to make were fairly strong, even though the merging rate was abysmal. Still, a [methrower] that spat out electrified fire was damn useful for anyone, let alone Eleanor, who could really abuse channel spells with her own Talent.


    When the curtain fell on the year-long event, Matt felt bad saying farewell to everyone once more, as he had thoroughly enjoyed his time with Susanne and seeing Eleanor and Ethan again. But they promised to chat more going forward, and Liz had the good idea to convince Luna to ensure the other team''s manager would inform them before the kids went into Minka so they could give them some advice.


    Then, it was back to the grind, and they pushed hard and fast for Tier 20 so they could start working on their Intents safely.

 Chapter 264

    Chapter 264


    Matt panted as he looked down into the valley, where a single massive bear paced around, letting out asional chuffs and growls.


    They had already spent a week clearing out the rest of the monsters in the Tier 24 rift, but with a five Tier difference, each fight was difficult on its own, and the bears were one of their hardest opponents in recent memory. It was precisely why Luna had them cutting their teeth against the beasts.


    If they were just simple elemental bears, the rift should have been easier than most, but the breed seemed filled with limitless energy and a willingness to trade damage with anyone who tried to fight them. If that was all, they would have been fairly normal monsters, but Continuous Bears used their own brand of endlessness to absorb damage and use it to fuel their own attacks. To make matters worse, they loved to work together with the Space Bats and the Time Rabbits to confuse and oust anyone delving this awful rift.


    If the three of them were closer in Tier, they could have just overwhelmed the bears damage absorption, but with a five Tier gap, they struggled to damage the monsters at all.


    Aster flicked her tail, slipped back over the lip of the valley, and groaned. Im not sure we can take that big boy. Even if I slow him down, he''s going to get free in fifteen seconds at best.


    Matt agreed with a nod. The Continuous Bears were hard to use any kind of slow or crowd control spells on, as while the spell would work like normal at first, it would quickly start to lose effectiveness until it was useless. And that was for the normal bears. If the increase in power of the other monster types held true for the sub bosses, <em>this</em> bear was going to break out even faster.


    Learning that lesson on the Space Bat had cost Matt arge chunk out of his thigh that had taken days to heal while fighting. He was just d the monsters'' offensive powers were only on par with Tier 24 monsters and not exceptional like their defenses were.


    Liz pushed herself back and quietly asked, Are we going to call it quits then?


    Lizs voice was perfectly calm, but Matt heard the irritation in it. They had fully cleared this rift in the hope they could advance to Tier 20 without fighting the trio of bosses guarding the rift exit and reward, and were just a step away.


    Tier 20 had been such a looming goal for so long that with it so close, none of them wanted to give up, but the only source of essence left in the rift was the final sub-boss and the collection of bosses. Both options none of them were entirely sure they could actually beat without a serious risk of death.


    Fighting with thisrge of a Tier gap, even a small mistake could prove fatal, and that rang especially true when fighting a boss.


    Matt shrugged. If we have to leave, we should, but I think I have an idea. First of all, how is your arm, Liz?


    Liz flexed her right hand, twisting it left and right, showing the appendage had its full range of movement. Ny percent, what''s your idea?


    Matt flipped his hand and pulled out one of his talisman arrays. I think it''s time we use Breakers Fist.


    Aster groaned as she shook her head. Theres no way that will work, Matt. You need to be way too close tond that with a boss this dangerous.


    Everything she said was correct, but Matt nodded anyway. Breakers Fist was an array he had put together with Tier 24 bear hides during their current delve on a whim, wanting to take advantage of the bear''s unique properties and how they might merge with his manas endless sub-aspect. The end result was giving Matt an incredible amount of melee strength and reinforcement for a brief moment, all concentrated on his fist.


    At least, in theory.


    Matt hadnt actually been able to test the array. In fact, he hadnt even made the array yet. Though, in principle, he should be able to make it in a mere few hours with how simple the actual formation was.


    Liz shook her head at his idea. It''s too risky to do that without testing. If it''s that bad, it''s smarter to just back out and run another rift for us to hit Tier 20. What about your fire arrays? If I direct one or two of them, we might be able to punch through the hide of the monster.


    Matt searched his ring and tossed the remaining two fire-based talisman arrays to Liz and the ice-based one to Aster.


    They had burned through a lot of his supply in thest few years with their aggressive delving speed.


    Matt still had a lot of single talismans, but the arrays were practically <em>needed</em> when delving at such a disadvantage. For all that they pretended he had a talisman Talent, he didnt, and theck of added power really started to be felt at times like this.


    Aster flipped through the pieces of parchment and tsked. I can work with this, but it will only extend my slowing of the bear by five, maybe ten seconds. Once it starts growing immune to something, it''s hard to keep the same effect going.


    Liz asked, Matt, can you wrap the bear in a lot of earth? Even if only for a few moments? That should let me get a good hit with these two. Adding in my own attacks, I think I can get us through its hide.


    Matt nodded as he ran the simtions. As long as the boss didnt have a wildly different skill set from the smaller monsters they had fought, they should be able to pierce the monster''s hide.


    Then, it would just be up to him and Liz to finish the monster off before it could kill them.


    A dangerous game, but one he was confident they could win.


    They spent a few minutes hashing out a general outline of their n before getting ready.


    Matt used 60,000 MPS to fuel bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] to their limits. He had spent thest few decades making his first skill more and more efficient so it wasnt outssed by higher Tier skills. He was hoping that when hepleted The Path he could get a few upgrade orbs, and intended to use one on the skill that had enabled so much of his growth.


    Setting his feet, as he couldn''t fly with his Concept in such a high Tier rift, heunched himself into the valley, sword glowing with mana. Like a star descending, his presence was immediately noticed by the sub-boss, who, instead of turning and running like a normal bear, reared on its hind legs let out a scream that caused a red aura to appear around it.


    Standing close to fifteen feet tall, the monster swiped at Matt as he descended. But with his physical buffing skills running, Matt was just able to react and dodge the monster''s attack by using his Concept to subtly change his direction, forcing the bear to lock down space.


    As his de touched the bear''s second swipe, Matt was alreadymanding the ground to reach up and wrap around its legs.


    He immediately felt the ground start to break apart, but with arge portion of his mana, hemanded the ground to hold, and it did.


    As his de released the stored mana in [Mana Charge], the world went white, and even with bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] protecting him, Matt felt a strain on the skill and knew the bear would have taken some damage, even with its reinforced ws. With the mana causing the world to go blueish-white, Matt had to rely on his spiritual sense to dodge the second w as it came around to try and swat him out of the air.


    Instead of dodging, Matt teleported to the bear''s nk and immediately swapped ces with Liz, who drove her me-covered spear into the side of the bear. If it was only mes, the bear might have been able to rely on its defenses to take the hit, but Liz had been charging [Hungering Weapon] and her Concept, waiting for the swap.


    From Matt''s vantage point at the top of the valley, he watched as a wave of mes expanded outward for a brief moment before rushing back in to converge on Liz, or rather her spear, leaving only a small moment where he could see the blood being pulled out of the bears side and fed through the spear like a child drinking through a straw.


    The bear, who had shrugged off his initial attacks, stumbled backward, arge cut exposing its ribs, charred flesh already starting to wiggle as the monster tried to heal itself.


    Matt teleported back down into the valley with two quick jumps, using the mana he had just sent back into the growth ring, not able to do more as the bear was locking down space next to it. As he approached, Aster was already casting her own spells. [ck Ice] was a new standard opener and muffled the presence of her follow-up spells. [Brittle Cold] made the bears Continuity Concept effects weaker, and [Winter''s Harvest] weakened the bear and fed that power into Matt and Liz. Then she used [Absolute White], which slowed the bear and helped conceal them, an effect that was doubled up with [ck Ice], then also boosted by [Winters Harvest]. [Headwind] and [Tailwind ] sped them up and slowed the bear down as well, giving Matt and Liz the moments they needed so they could actually react to the sub-bosses'' higher Tier movements.


    Even as her spells were going off, Aster still cast the talisman array as she tried to lock the bear down, using the moment tomand the [Snowpack] ice golem cast through her glowing growth tiara down into the fight.


    Matt twisted through the air, and using his left hand, he cast a seemingly unending stream of [Cracked Mana Spear], keeping the beam of energy on the gigantic bears already wounded side.


    On the positive, it hurt the bear enough to turn its attention from Liz to Matt, but on the other hand, the spell wasnt doing as much damage as they had hoped it would. It was still carving new chunks from the bears regrowing flesh, but they had hoped that Matts finishing move would at least punch through to its internals.


    Matt rolled out of the way of the bear''s lunging attack, but knew that he couldnt keep it up forever and dropped [Cracked Mana Spear] for the moment. Arge shard of ice mmed into the bears head, interrupting its skill-infused bite that was trying to take his life.


    Liz was already moving, and with blood gathered from the rift, drove a dozen copies of her spear into the already wounded side of the monster, which caused it to turn and snap at her.


    Liz almost got out of the way.


    Instead of a clean dodge, she was forced to block the blow with her shield. The bear''s glowing teeth bit into her shield, forcing Liz to drop it. When it tried to shake her, she was sent flying instead of being tossed around like a salmon who was a little too slow.


    Matt was already moving and cast [Sword Twin] twice, one de being absorbed into his own and the other dashing to attack the boss face.


    [Cracked Air Slide] let him elerate to an incredible degree in just two steps, but even with [Barbarian''s Hide] reinforcing his body, he could feel his muscles tearing and bones cracking under the immense speed. Instead of just charging up a single [Mana Charge], he used his merged de to cast [Hypersonic Edge], and using thebined spells, shed along the bear''s already wounded side, letting the explosion of mana cut deep into the bear''s flesh.


    Being so close, Matt was unable to dodge the pained twisting of the sub-boss and caught a iling paw that backhanded him into the nearby valley''s wall. If [Cracked Phantom Armor] hadnt held, he probably would have cracked his head open on impact instead of being mostly fine.


    Throwing the stone off him with a small repulsion field, Matt stood up and rushed back into the fight with his de ready, just in time to see Aster''s ice golem getting torn to shreds.


    Dodging, he skipped past the explosion of ice that crept over the ground and waves of blood that seemed to chase each other as the Continuous Bear screamed. Energy seemed to infuse the bear, and its movements turned into blurs. It was pure instinct that got Matts de into position, allowing him to block the des of mana that tried to tear through him.


    As the bear fell back onto all four, Matt was there to meet it, his now battered second [Sword Twin] diving in and scouring a cut on the monster''s left eye that didnt seem to bother the creature, but gave Matt an opening with its loss of vision.


    Spreading his spiritual sense, he didnt try to sense anything but instead tried to obscure everything his spiritual sense touched, which forced the boss to rely on its now injured eyes.


    He got a [Bulwark] up in time to block a bite, but as the bear started to shake, the spell fell apart, despite all his reinforcements. That forced the bear to stand still, which opened it up to Lizs spear that darted in deceptively slowly.


    Apanying her spear was a wave of blood that seemed to rush into the bear''s injured side, causing it to scream. As it twisted and bit at her, Liz stood her ground and exploded in a shower of blood as the monster grabbed her and started to shake and chew.


    Seeing that, Matt internally winced, but knew she had already used [Blood Body] and wasnt in any real danger. With her corporal form shattered, all the blood around them became part of Liz, and she rose into her golem form before turning it all into golden crystal with [Blood Crystal Armor]. With size that could rival the bear, Liz exchanged blows with the beast, standing her ground and keeping its attention even as Matt started charging [Sheer Cold].


    He wasnt going for a massive, rift-ending attack, but even a few seconds of 500,000 MPS was enough to charge the skill to the point he was pushing the limits of what it could handle. While he had been expanding the skill and how much mana it could take, that was a slow process that was being outpaced by just how much mana he had.


    When the spell went off, he could feel Aster guiding the ice to cast in a cone instead of a circr AOE, thanks to their connection as bonds.


    The boss screamed in pain as the wave of ice sh froze its back and rear legs, even as Liz kept hammering away at its face.


    With all the damage they had inflicted on it, even the Continuous Bear boss started to weaken and slow down, and it only took them a few more minutes to kill it.


    When Matt felt the final bit of essence flow into his spirit, he sighed and limped over to the puddle of blood that was Liz as she reformed.


    Panting, she gasped out, We did it, at least. Fuck, I think I pulled something in my back.


    Aster slid down the hill and pumped her fist. We are hot shit! Not our cleanest plus five delve, but a damn good one against a rift that we dont counter. Shame we couldnt kill the final trio of bosses though.


    He agreed, but knew there was no way they could take on the other two sub-bosses with the bear to back them up. And they didnt really need to with their spirits now full. There was no reason to risk it, so they slowly flew back to the entrance of the rift and left.


    Matt followed Aster and Liz out of the rift, where they nodded to the guards, who didnt seem to notice Luna waiting by the exit.


    Luna moved next to them and slowly pped. Matt couldnt tell if their manager was mocking them with how slow and steady it was, as her face didnt show anything. Well done. Getting to Tier 20 delving plus five is something few can do. Let''s get out of the rifts entrance and talk more at your home.


    It took them a little bit of time to make it back to their house, but when they did, the three of them copsed.


    Matt smiled as he felt Aster Tier up and chose to copy her, crunching down on his essence core. The rush of power as his core shrunk down felt like ecstasy as he finally hit such an important milestone.


    Tier 20, where it was safe for them to try and create their Intents.


    It had felt like an impossible task to reach that Tier, but they had finally managed it. Thest fifteen years, they had done nothing but delve, but at just one hundred and twelve years old, they had managed to reach Tier 20 on The Path of Ascension, making them one of the fastest teams on The Path.


    They had pushed themselves to the limit in order to earn some extra time at Tier 20 so they could slow down and create their Intents as early as possible.


    Luna had warned them that the difficulty they were used to delving up would be nothing whenpared to trying to delve a Tier 25 rift, where monsters would have Intents.


    They hadnt really believed her, and so Luna had shoved them into a Tier 25 swarm rift. He and Liz should have easily countered it, but the two of them were hardly able to kill a single rat, which was only as strong as a Tier 24, but with an ability that spread any wounds across the whole swarm. Fighting something with an Intent when you didnt have one was a barrier few could surpass, and certainly not when they were already five tiers weaker.


    Matt still wanted to test it, but he suspected even as a proper Tier 20, the three of them wouldn''t fare any better in the rat rift, which was a small blow to his confidence. That said, he was excited to try andplete his Intent. He had had so many ideas he hadnt truly been able to test, and now he could do so without falling over dead due to an errant thought.


    Luna watched as Liz finished her own breakthrough and nodded to them. Congrattions. I have already told you everything you need to know about your Intents, but do be careful when attempting to make it. Tier 20 is when you won''t die instantly upon a failure, but you will still experience serious spiritual damage if you are wrong. That said, take the next few weeks and feel your way through the process. If you have questions, dont hesitate to ask me.


    Matt grinned at Liz and Aster before standing up and hobbling to the shower. Liz joined him just momentster, and they fooled around a little in their now muchrger shower before flopping into the soaking tub they had added to the bathroom.


    With a higher Tier camerger spatial rings, and theyd splurged on <emfort</em>. It was nothing, really,pared to the utter opulence that higher-Tier residences imed simply by existing, but they could befortable. Asters shower and bath were capable of sustaining liquid water cold enough to freeze Matts hand off if he wasnt careful, and Lizs could actually get hot enough to glow. If they were careless, their showers could <em>actually</em> kill them, but so long as they didnt identally use water at or above their Tier at their respective maximum temperatures, theyd be fine.


    It had been a challenge, setting up the enchantments for that, but Matt had enjoyed the change of pace it had provided, particrly the ways in which he had been able to use his newly-expanded workshop.


    Objectively, it wasnt anything special. Half the time Matt wanted to make something actually impressive he needed to improvise in several ways, but even just a few decades ago Matt wouldnt have been able to even <em>dream</em> what his and Lizs joint workshop had grown into.


    It was very much a joint workshop now, as Liz often needed his help to make formations for her potions, and he regrly needed custom potions for his own work. Aster was even learning cold-smithing off in one corner, and Matt was hopeful she might be able to apply that to help make some of the materials and physical devices theyd need. But, she mainly preferred making decorations for sale instead of weapons, armor, or crafting tools that they could use.


    Aster liked to joke it was her only way of paying taxes, but Matt knew that arge portion of her enjoyment came from doing something that was traditionally done with fire and heat with ice and cold. It wasnt perfect, as cold smithing came with some elemental limitations and imparted cold properties of almost anything forged with the practice, but Matt and Liz were happy to take advantage of her for some of the smaller custom pieces they needed for their own projects. Aster liked to feign irritation, but it was clear to all of them that she secretly enjoyed it.


    Once he and Liz were properly rxed, they retired to the living room where they waited for Aster. She came out not long after, ready to go to their celebration dinner.


    Reaching Tier 20 was a milestone for anyone, and they wanted to celebrate it.


    The next morning, the three of them separated as they went to start working on their Intents.


    Matt flew well out into space and found a free area that no ships should fly through and started working on his Intent.


    His first step was attempting to im his sword as his Anchor. Minka was still a bit intimidating, so he wanted to first explore something more tangible, literally. Also, Liz and Aster were going for their Anchors first, why shouldnt he?


    Matt withdrew the sword, sping it in his hands and meditating upon it. What it meant to him, his history with it, what it represented, and what it was made of. Those were just the start.


    The metals whichposed the de, the enchantments he had applied, the essence empowering its base material, its ability to change up what it was on a moments notice, how it was just as surely a powerful weapon for smiting people as a potent foci for magic He still didnt push it too far, but his spirit seemed to like the idea of his sword being a focus, something which he could use to amplify his spells.


    Considering he still had some more ideas to test, and the fact he mainly wanted to try a bit harder with his phrases before fullymitting to a full Intent trial, he left it at that, after making a note to redo the enchantments on his sword to make it more mage-based. Being able to <em>feel</em> with more detail what parts of his ideas did or didnt work was already showing its worth, and he moved on to his phrases with his spirits high.


    Hed definitely learn something from his dozens of candidates.


    ***


    Aster flew out past where Matt was and then summoned her ice cream cloud to take her all the way to the asteroid belt. Most of the metals had already been stripped out of the field, leaving only rock and ice, but that was perfect for her needs.


    She wanted ice. Cold, deste ice that hardly knew a moving molecule. That was what she wanted for her Intent.


    No matter what she wanted for her bloodline, she was still an ice fox. The vor of ice might change, but it was all still ice. That had been an important realization she hoped would keep her Domain from breaking when she eventually created her Ster Ice bloodline, but beyond that, she wanted to create that reality. And what was a Domain but imposing one''s understanding of reality?


    Winter in Minka had been a great base for her, and as she sat on a floating shard of ice the size of a small moon, she started to meditate on the fae and the winter wondend that they had created.


    That ce had been home in a way she found hard to describe, and despite it all being part of Minka, she felt it was real. Real enough that as she created an icescape in the center of her cores where her Intent would form, she felt the Image fall into ce almost seamlessly.


    But almost seamlessly wasnt good enough, and Aster started ying with the Image.


    A near copy of Minkas winter domain, Aster created and of ice and cold filled with Fae walking around and working. Being of ice and cold, they were perfect for hernd, and Aster almost felt like she was connecting with something deeper, but no matter how perfectly she imagined it, there was still something wrong.


    She kept tweaking small parts of the image, looking for what was wrong, changing the normal trees into trees of ice, but even change seemed to make her stray away from her once near-perfect image. Closing her eyes, she reverted her image to the reflection of Minka, and on a whim, removed the Fae. It made everything feel lifeless and deste, but it felt like the sharp edge of the puzzle piece had been shaved away, and the Image was now <em>perfect</em>.


    Aster took a moment and reflected on what that said about her. Was she meant to be alone forever? Alone in a deste winterndscape? She didnt believe that for a moment, as she knew even if the realm copsed, she had Matt and Liz to hold up the sky, but she couldn''t help but wonder why her Intent''s Image was so lifeless.


    It seemed lonely.


    There was still more work to be done, clearly. She had a direction though, which was good, and from there she shifted to the part of her Intent she was overall most certain of.


    Her Anchor.


    Her Tiara was the ideal anchor for a number of reasons, but the main one was that she would eventually be the queen of ice. Not unlike how Winter had been the Queen of Winter in Minka, Aster would eventually be the queen of ice. Some day in the future, when people talked of ice mages, they would speak of her like they spoke of Duke Waters, the indisputable peak of the element.


    Her Will suffused the area around her, chilling it beyond what mere <em>physics</em> would allow. It was but one way through which she could demonstrate her rightful strength, her dominion over the very concept of cold, the purest idea of Winter. She was the Princess of Frozen Stars, and her tiara was evidence of that very fact. It had been granted to her by the Queen of Winter herself, the physical manifestation of her birthright, all that she would inherit.


    Egotistical, perhaps, but a ruler needed an ego, the absolute surety that <em>they</em> were the best for the job, theck of second-guessing and absence of peers proof of that reckless confidence.


    She would inherit the earth, and ice was her crown.


    Her tiara praised her name, assuring her that <em>yes</em>, she was the rightful queen of ice, that all of winter would be her domain. But that was it.


    Asters eyes narrowed. She was close. Oh so very close. Her spirit happily swept through her crown, using the bonds it already possessed, growing it as she grew, but her Willpower, her Domain, would not crown itself.


    <em>Not yet</em>, it whispered, voice carried to her on the biting winds of winter, <em>Your kingdom is not yet ready.</em>


    Aster frowned. Her kingdom was hers for the taking. She had seen it, seen what it would be. It was hers, whether it knew it or not. It was hers and she would not be denied.


    <em>It is not ready. The crown jewel has not been made</em>.


    Was it saying that she couldnt make the anchor yet? Luna had said that Intents could be very particr, and while it was rare that the parts insisted on being made in a certain order, it wasnt unheard of.


    Though, it made sense that her literal <em>coronation</em> might need to be the final piece of her Intent to form. There was much more to being a queen than simply wearing a crown, after all. There was much work to be done before then.


    <em>I am Ice, </em>she replied, meditating upon the full implications of that idea, delving ever-deeper into the reality she suggested. But her spirit didnt respond.


    <em>I am the Cold at Worlds End.</em> It didnt approve of that. It was unbing for a queen to be the apocalypse itself. She was no winter wolf seeking to devour the sun and leave hernds awash in darkness and ice.


    <em>The Eternal Majesty of Ice.</em> Something was there. Her spirit apuded the idea of an eternal ice sculpture to her majesty,sting past the very heat-death of the universe. But there was more there, something just out of reach


    A stabbing headache brought her back to reality, and when Aster went to wipe her forehead off, it came away covered in frozen blood. Her eyes widened slightly. Perhaps shed been pushing a bit <em>too</em> hard for right now.


    Aster sighed. She had really wanted to show up Matt and Liz bying away with at least <em>something</em> for her efforts, and if she was lucky, maybe even Susanne. The swordswoman,st theyd heard from her, had a very solid idea for all three parts of her Intent, with a decent amount of resonance between them. She was still waiting until she reached Tier 20 for genuine attempts, but Aster wouldnt have been surprised if shed get her entire Intent within a decade.


    Though, it wasnt really anyfort, Aster could sense Matts irritation with his own Intent through their bond. Perhaps Liz was having a better time than them.


    ***


    Liz meditated within an ocean, or at least a pool, of blood. Specifically, her blood.


    Her Anchor.


    There really was no other option for her. She was One With Blood, it was her in a very real sense. It was her cauldron and weapon, her health and her heritage. It was what her body used to fight off foreign attacks, even how it counterattacked. Everything she touched became a part of her blood, her skills simply an extension of her circtory system.


    It was her pride and joy, thick and <em>powerful</em>. It had held potions strong enough to let her match a giant blow for blow, and absorbed enough metal to make a spaceship.


    It was already her spirit made manifest, this was simply the next step for that. It should be as easy as breathing.


    At least,paratively.


    Her blood was so much more than simply the red-colored liquid that she needed to remove from enemies and use within herself. Shed spent thest half-century truly trying toprehend everyst way which blood could be understood, because it was all important to her Intent.


    Intents were hard.


    Unlike Concepts, which fundamentally didnt require much beyond a basic idea for your spirit to center upon and build off of, Intents served as the gateway to the third Talent, the Power Talent. Beyond the additional step of an Anchor, connecting her spirit so firmly to reality that trying to say it was anything <em>but</em> real was a fools errand, every part of the Intent had to be firmly understood andprehended. Everyst facet needed to be ounted for.


    She needed perfect rity of intent, absolute knowledge of everything her blood did and was, such that her spirit could manifest and perform all of those actions just as surely. And that was the <em>easy</em> part. She didnt need to worry about the resonances with the other portions of her Intent yet, didnt need to bnce her understanding of her Anchor with her Phrase or Image, didnt need to keep every portion of her Image in mind as she reached out to im her Anchor, all that mattered right now was her, and her blood.


    Her blood was her weapon. It had been enhanced with blood iron, heavy iron, and a dozen other metals, letting it hit like an outright hammer. It could be formed into spikes, and shed studied and memorized the exact crystal and mana patterns involved in those spikes in preparation for this.


    Her blood was her life. She had spent countless hours, days even, in meditation focused solely upon her blood. Shed intentionally infected herself with a gue and watched as her blood fought it off, studied the ways her cells had, in their own semi-chaotic, semi-organized way, gathered their forces and fought off the invaders. The next time, shed brought her own expertise to bear, physically controlling her immune system to wield it as a weapon against the blight attacking her.


    Shed also watched it mend her, and spent so much time controlling it to mend her faster. She knew how it created the scaffolding which the rest of her body grew back over, and how to tweak it to prevent scars, or to make scars appear in a certain way, or how to remove a scar altogether, cutting out the tissue and creating a new shield against those who would harm her.


    Shed even killed herself a couple of times, simply to study how her blood responded. She had seen the mana, willpower, and essence coalesce and repair her spirit, keeping it from falling apart even as her body failed. Shed seen the resurrecting power of the phoenix fight off the eternal darkness of death.


    Her blood was her heritage. It was her mothers blood which ran through her veins, the same fire which she used as Torch imbuing everyst cell, carried in the essence of her bloodline, yet connecting her to every other phoenix who had ever lived.


    Shed sought to try and integrate fire more directly into her blood, but that hadnt gone well. There were no known aspects which integrated fire and blood, despite the lifes work of an old Duke whose power was drawn from sacrificing blood in giant braziers. Phoenixes had been a source of inspiration for him, or so he had imed, but his dream of bloodfire had never materialized.


    <em>But her blood was her fire</em>.


    Her Concept already could instantly transform drops of her blood into blood-red mes whose ash was simply more blood. Liz had spent weeks slowly burning her blood inside and outside of her body, watching as her Domain smoothly changed blood to fire, fire to ash, and ash to fire. Shed even studied the ash that originated when burning her blood <em>without</em> aid of her Concept, for that too was a part of her blood.


    Her blood was her skills. Shed studied skill theory, learning the ways in which her blood changed the aspect of skills she absorbed, studying skills before and after she absorbed them and saw the ways in which her Talent changed or didnt change portions of its structure during the aspect change. Sometimes it was major, sometimes it was minor, but her blood refused to allow any skill to go wholly untouched. Blood worked its way into that part of her life as well, her constantpanion in all things. She knew its full manaposition as well. Water, healing, and decay was only the start, to say nothing of her efforts to fully master how to synthesize those as well.


    It was her magic as well. Skill-less magic was incredibly hard; triply so for a Pather who just didnt have the time to truly master all the intricacies of their personal mana channels before they Tiered up and changed enough to wipe out any progress. But shed learned it. She knew the ways in which mana was carried alongside blood, the ways it should act when exposed to the ambient mana in particr patterns, how to form resonances with other people, and more besides. Magic was in her blood, and blood was in her magic, and she needed that for her Anchor.


    Her blood was her cauldron. Whether inside or outside of her, she knew what she was doing when she utilized blood instead of water in her potions. Sometimes it helped, other times it made it harder. Sometimes she didnt use it at all. But she was an alchemist, and the sanguine was but one of her tools. Shed even physically synthesized blood, beginning with nothing but base materials, and building it up piece by piece until she had a sk of entirely artificial blood. That had given its own form of appreciation for theplexities of blood, which even her memorization of itsponents couldnt quite manage. <em>Understanding</em>. Something about a years-long process, utilizing tricks which alchemists like herself had perfected over millennia, utilizing tools which she could have scarcely imagined before her awakening, had brought her even closer to the substance that had defined practically her entire life.


    Blood was just so much.


    Blood was death. Blood was life. Blood was the carrier of disease. Blood was a thing of honor, of filth, of dedication, of family. It was sacrifice, it was food, it was core to vampires and unicorns alike. Blood could sanctify that which was defiled, or defile that which was pure. It could bind or set free, it could empower or oppress. It was a symbol of hope and despair, the rallying cry of the oppressed and the tool of the oppressor. It was rebirth, it was new life, it was fresh death. It was her past, it was her future, it was her everything. It was in her body, it was in her spirit, it was in her skills, it was in her magic.


    She was blood, and blood was her.


    Her Domain red, Willpower flowing around her and thumping against her spirit like a massive heartbeat. With it, her blood was carried along by the currents, rushing in unison with her spirit as the two seemed to blend together, joining into perfect harmony as they met-


    Lizs breath, held in anticipation for the formation of her Anchor, burst out in a strangled scream as her spirit stumbled, tripping over itself and practically cutting itself in half on the naked de that her blood suddenly was. Instead of a perfect embrace as the physical met the spiritual, Liz felt her blood cken and almost rot as her spirit tore itself, and the blood it was trying to connect to, to shreds.


    She must have cked out at some point, because when she was next aware, she was half-on the edge of what was once her pool of blood. It didnt look quite so pleasing now, not that hundreds of gallons of blood <em>ever</em> looked pleasing, but it was a messy, decaying thing, congealed and smoking and sputtering, like the dying gasps of a broken heart. Luna was next to her, extending a hand to help her out, but Liz could barely even manage the effort to reach up to grab it.


    Why her manager hadnt just relocated her she didnt know, but after a herculean effort, during which Liz realized blood was pouring from her skin like a leaky sieve, Liz took the womans hand.


    From there, she was quickly, but still perceptibly, moved to a healing tank in the next room over. The potions within soothed her and began work knitting her body back together,pensating for the many, <em>many</em> injuries her entire circtory system had taken.


    <em>What did I do wrong?</em>


    She wondered.


    Luna wasnt providing any insight, so she turned her attention inside. Maybe, if she watched her body and spirit get put back together, she could figure out just what shed need to fix for the next time, what she did wrong.


    Besides, she might learn something new. Blood was how the body was repaired after all. So why not her spirit as well?


    ***


    Matt let his hand drop away from the ss, feeling so helpless as Lizs body healed. Hed been disappointed with hisck of progress with his Intent, havinge little further than a further refinement of his idea regarding focus. He had been expecting to return to one of the girls already having their Domain established after their month of work, but hed instead found Aster nervously pulling on her ears, and Liz floating eyes closed in a cloud of blood in their healing pod.


    So what happened? Matt asked.


    I dont know, Luna simply replied, earning a bewildered look from himself and Aster.


    How do you not know? Havent you taught hundreds of people how to make their Intent? How do you not know what Liz did wrong?


    I could inform you that she failed to make her Anchor, Matthew, but I suspect you would find that answer demeaning. I do not know the source of her failure. Objectively speaking, she is very close. I would not be surprised if she manages to im her blood as her Anchor within the next five years, and from what I could feel of her attempt, there were no <em>genuine</em> ws. It simply was not properlypatible. Liz is upon her own journey, determining what her blood is and what it is to her, and my input will not aid in that process. Your insight might, due to the nature of your rtionship, but mine would only interfere. However, this close topletion, it is unlikely she could even properly articte the entirety of her understanding, let alone convey where the problem may lie. This is her journey, her Intent to process, and it is something nigh-impossible to truly understand for any but Liz herself.


    Aster annoyedly flicked her tail, and Matt simply reflected upon his own Intent. He knew what Luna meant, as properly trying to convey his intuitive understanding of mana, or Minka, or ck holes, or even his sword would be essentially impossible, but he wanted to help. He didnt want to be stuck on the sidelines; he didnt want to watch as people hurt just beyond his reach. He wanted, <em>needed</em> even, to be <em>involved</em>.


    His spirit sang, but the feeling slipped away before he could push at it too much, but it brought a smile to his face, despite himself.


    Wouldnt have thought youd be happy to see me like this, Liz teased, and Matts smile lit up all the more.


    Youre awake!


    Ive been awake, she countered. Just meditating. Everything hurts, but it looks worse than it is, and I think Ill be out of here in just a few days. Maybe a week and a half after that to be on the safe side of the cooldown.


    Good to hear. While you all have had a very productive first month, in that time, a situation has arisen which you three may be uniquely positioned to resolve, should you so choose.


    Luna paused as she scanned them before exining, There was a Tier 22 found along the border region between us, the Monster Collective, and the ns. In the interest of not getting involved in yet <em>another</em> war over it, the higher-ups were going to give up our im. But, diplomacy has prevailed, and instead, there will be something of a tournament set up. To the winner go the spoils. As two Ascender candidates having recently reached Tier 20, and crucially <em>not</em> involved in the main war, you are our best choices to represent the Empire and win that for us. Assuming, of course, you ept.


    Matt whistled and looked at the others. Seeing their agreement, he nodded. Well do it.

 Chapter 265

    Chapter 265


    Matt knew how the Great Powers grew, at least in an abstract sense. The known Realm drifted through chaotic space, passing through regions of the roiling, primordial energy like a raft adrift on the seas. Countless low-Tier worlds passed through and around the territory of a Great Power, carried on the currents of chaos just as much as the Empire was pulled past them. Nobody knew for sure howrge chaotic space was, and it was in many ways a meaningless question to begin with. To say it wasrge would imply things like distance and volume had consistent meaning, and whether it was infinite was anyones guess. Hed heard theories both ways, but no matter what it was still growing.


    There had been some attempts at making realspace crossings, but the handful of times it had been tried put the newly Tiered so vastly far away in chaotic space from any inhabited that no known method could bring it into the of the Great Powers. It was only the connection the Tier 50 leaders had with any person of a high enough Tier that a distance and direction could be found at all in the roiling vastness of chaotic space; virtually every other tool and trick normally used for finding a path back home failed over such gargantuan distances. Instead, realspace crossings were found throughparisons of star charts, when two already established systems couldpare what their constetions looked like and prove that they were in the same universe, at which point the systems could be moved closer to each other at enormous expense.


    The growth of the Realm was simple though,s from any universe that reached Tier 1 would appear somewhere in chaotic space, their essence cores manifesting as a ball of light anchoring its surroundings which correspond to an area of realspace. Then, over untold eons, the would slowly Tier itself up as essence was added to the cycle as creatures that were not removed by cultivators lived and died. The vast, vast majority ofs in the Realm were under Tier 5, and were generally allowed to simply pass through and around settled territory unimpeded, unless they were needed for some other reason, such as acting as a link to another, more valuable world.


    That was how it normally worked. Tens, even hundreds ofs were added to the Empire each decade this way, at least on average. But, once in a while, a actually worth the trouble would pass through a region which could feasibly be considered in two or more Great Powers expansion range. When that happened, there was usually some form of minor war, skirmish, tournament, bet, or gamble to establish who would control the new. This worlds closest approach to inhabited space put it in a bit of chaotic space near the borders of not only the Empire and Unification of ns, but close enough to the Monster Collective for them to make a im as well. Though, it would be a bit of a stretch for them to extend their borders so far in one move, but it was one they considered worth it for a Tier 22 world. It would act as a perfect local center of power, and would be a nice economic boost to the border regions for whoever imed it.


    Instead of simply relinquishing their im, the Empire had managed to negotiate a contest of champions, so that they could at least <em>try</em> to win the, no matter how unlikely, without a war. It was limited to the Tier of the, which wasmon enough, but that limit hurt the Empire more than the others. The Empires elites were already stretched thin on ount of the war, making Matt, Liz, and Aster the Empires best chance at winning.


    The opportunity to fight elites from two other Great Powers, not to mention the rewards the Empire was offering for participation, made it an easy choice, and they quickly agreed to go. It would take them almost six months to get there, and that was only because they could use one of the Empires four realspace crossings to cut out most of the trip, and the fact that they were using Lunas ship for transportation. Without the crossing, it would have taken years. And without Lunas ship, it would have taken them <em>decades</em>.


    The Empire was just too damn big.


    Six months, byparison, was a pretty reasonable timeframe, and one that Matt was happy with, as he could spend the time working on his Intent and making talismans for whatever the fighting would entail.


    Having that thought, Matt asked his question, What will we actually be doing topete for the? What kind of fights and what kind of rules?


    Luna shrugged. It''s usually somebination of clearing the of monsters and then a fight between the Great Powers, but theres no setpetition or standard method. Each Great Power favors and pushes the methods they are best at. The ns favor small units orrge army fights, usually, as they have the numbers and the wealth to equip their elites with the best avable. The Monster Collective, on the other hand, prefers solo fights, and they dominate that style. Ideally, we would get something of a middle ground, but whether that works out depends on our representative, and how big their fist is.


    Luna did assure them that they would get more information as they approached the gathering point, but they were under something of a time crunch, and needed to quickly start moving. With that in mind, for the first time in a long time, they got into Lunas chaotic spaceship and moved through the Empire.


    Matt, any time he wasnt actively making a talisman, was in a meditative trance refining his Intent. There werent any major breakthroughs or serious revtions, but he was making steady progress overall. Hed narrowly avoided a dip in the healing pod more than once, but had held back far enough to not get too badly injured from the bacsh. Still, he hoped toplete his Intent sooner rather thanter, as any edge could help him in the tournament


    Liz, once she was out of the healing pod, put herself back in it twice more from other attempts before deciding she needed to ease up. Shed resume in full force after thes contest, but she didnt want her Domain to be out ofmission when facing elites three Tiers above her. She imed that the wounding, and subsequent healing, was helping her grow closer to her Intent, but Matt felt there was more to it than just that.


    After converting his pile of Tier 24 monster flesh into parchment, they were turned into talismans, and for the first time in a while, Matt had a decent supply. He even made a few new types of talismans that he thought might surprise anyone they fought who was relying on past recordings to try and predict his style.


    Matt wasnt about to transition into a true talisman user, but he appreciated their versatility and the way they gave him the ability to counter anyone he might be fighting. As they approached the gathering point, they got feedback on some of the notable contestants they were going to fight, allowing Matt to abuse his [AI] and start running simtions and building counters.


    A little more than five monthster, Quill, Torch, and Scoop arrived, ready for a fight. They werent going to bother hiding Aster for this fight, as even if the worst came to worst and their real identities were revealed, they were past the point where it would be easy to hire an assassin to take them out. They still had ny years left to finish the Path, but as Tier 20s, it would be hard to stop their momentum thiste in their journey.


    Quill watched the screens in Lunas ship as they tore through space on a Tier 3 border that the three Great Powers shared. It was so simr to the training that he had gone and explored, he took a moment to pull up its information and smiled at the memory of how he had met Liz oh so long ago.


    The below them was normally used for the same asional joint exploration, though with three Great Powers sharing the border, the fights were far less cordial, as everyone tried to step on the dead to climb just one step higher.


    It was sadly simr to what they were about to do, just on a smaller scale, all things told.


    Things had been decided during their travels, and Luna had correctly predicted some of the methods that the Great Powers would be using to determine ownership of the.


    First, there would be a free for all with the express purpose of clearing the roaming monsters, with each Great Power taking roughly a third of the primary continent for their own. The Great Powers would then take how quickly each of them cleared their portions of it, and would assign points. When Matt had heard that, he thought things seemed a little too controlled and tournament-like, and his instincts were correct.


    Even when they were ostensibly supposed to be fighting the monsters, fighting between the Great Powers people was not only allowed, but encouraged. Surrendering might be allowed if the opponent was merciful, but no one would prevent killing.


    It seemed like a waste of life, but Quill had well learned that individual lives were drops of water in a bucket for Great Powers, and no one would worry about spending some water to im a prize. Even they, as possible Ascenders, were simply more impactful drops of water. They were still expendable. If there was arge enough prize, they would be spent first to secure the prize, notst.


    Though, they would most certainly not be the only water spilled today, as the border system was filled with ships. They quickly joined the cluster of Empire ships, but Quill read the telemetry and knew they were thoroughly outnumbered. Given they were already at war with three Great Powers, and the others decidedly <em>werent</em>, it was hardly a surprise that they could scrounge together more than a few local Tier 22 delving teams. Though, maybe they weren''t outmuscled. <em>That</em> was the point of Ascenders, after all.


    Quill just hoped the three of them didnt fumble their first inter Great Power showing, or they would look foolish, and that would carry through even past theirpletion of the Path.


    A three Tier gap wasnt insurmountable, but if they encountered anyone with an Intent, they might run into a wall. Very few Tier 22 people had Intents, inrge part simply because most people who did get an Intent tended to shoot up to Tier 25 in short order, looking to im their third Talent. So, any Intents they were liable to run into would be fairly fresh, and would likely be the primary source of their opponents power. With luck, they might still be able to pull out a win against someone like that, so long as they werent elites before that power boost.


    Ironically, Tier 20s with Intents would be the most dangerous, as it was far moremon to wait around for centuries or millennia while honing their Domain at the breakpoint Tiers than anywhere in the middle. Though theck of a Tier gap would give them a good chance at beating anyone who lingered like that.


    Quill expected that once they arrived, everyone would move out, but his ego took a small hit as he learned that everyone hadnt been waiting on them, and instead, they simply joined the formation of ships.


    Luna then informed them that a VIP from the ns was still a few weeks out, and once she arrived, the contest would begin.


    With that in mind, the three of them went to settle in, but Luna instead informed them that they were ordered to visit the leader of the expedition.


    Knowing they were going to be treated as a dog and pony show, Quill put on his best political mask and got ready for a boring evening, but when they arrived, he was pleasantly surprised to see who themander actually was.


    L Worldwalker stood there with a shit-eating grin on her face. Hey, kids! Fancy seeing you here.


    Torchughed and epted the hug L was offering. It''s good to see you again! Howe you got tasked to do this mission?


    Quill and Scoop were hugged as L exined, Tasked? I begged to get this mission. Ive been going stir-crazy sitting around waiting for ages, and theres only so much refining of my bloodline I can do before I start itching for a fight. So when this mission came up, I volunteered. With the war going on, having a former Ascender reminds people the Empire isn''t too upied to hold our own. That said, I''m d you kids are here, or we might have shown our asses.


    L brought them through her personal ship and to a dining room, where they shared a nice meal as she gave them a more detailed rundown on what they could expect. They ended up not bothering to leave even when the VIP arrived, and the convoys shifted into chaotic space. It was a bit of a trek still to the itself, even though the convoy actually moved through the ns space,-hopping for a week between low-Tier worlds until they delved into the true unknown.


    Leaving the calm areas inside the that was formed from the interlockings'' teleportationwork was a little nerve-wracking for Quill, as he could feel the chaotic energies mming into the ships shield, and knew that his ship would have been tossed around like a leaf in the ocean. They might not outright die, but flying anywhere would have been a matter of luck rather than skill.


    That said, there was a majesty to the venture.


    The massive convoys charged through the swirling energies, carving a path into the seeming emptiness of chaotic space. With his low Tier, Quill''s spiritual perception was limited to a measly few miles in this region of chaotic space, and that wasnt nearly enough to be useful, which added ayer of the unknown to the venture.


    It took another week of cutting through seeming nothingness, but L prepared them so they could see the brighter-than-normal dot as they approached, like a lighthouse in a storm. The turbulent energies were calmer near the spark that was the free-floating world, and Quill breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they had reached their destination.


    Scoop turned around to L and Luna and asked, How did anyone even find this ce? Who is exploring this far out? It seems extremely risky.


    L nodded. Divinations are amon way, but so is studying the flows of chaotic space to find big, noticeables that will be drifting by, or even going out to personally search. Thatst one is the most reliable, but also the most dangerous, because after you get more than a couple of days out, you pretty much always need some sort of trick to ever get back. Pretty much anything worth taking is months to <em>years</em> out, so fill in the nks there.


    Quill made a note to ask more about Travis and Keiths job the next time they met up, as he hadnt really realized just how dangerous their jaunts into chaotic space really were. Knowing Liz and the entire Moore family, he had no doubt that Travis and Keith were going deep into chaotic space and not sticking near the safer regions.


    When they neared the firefly that was the world and entered that universe''s real space, Quill got his first chance to scan the, as the information had been kept confidential. Or at least, L had refused to spoil the surprise, which amounted to the same thing.


    The was normal enough, roughly standard size, right in the middle of the habitable zone of the G-type star, giving off a perfectly normal yellow light that wouldnt be amiss in ny percent of thes of the Empire. There were even two moons slowly orbiting the, but that was where the normality ended.


    The spun so fast that Quill watched as the rotated by at a startling pace. A two-and-a-half-hour day-night cycle was exceptionally short, but he knew that was fixable by any of the Tier 40s leading the expectations.


    It did create some incredibly unique life forms, or at least the life forms that had formed and survived the ever-increasing essence amounts and against the hostile life forms that came out of the ruins and rift breaks.


    Ls ship registered five ruins, showing just how old this was.


    Quill expected everyone to swarm the, but instead, they settled into a wide orbit while a team of Guild explorers flew off, transmitting information to all the leaders. Quill watched as the data came in, the totality of an entire world disyed for him to see. Notable resource points were marked while preliminary scans of the ruins also shed across the screens. It seemed that they hadnt touched anything while waiting for the representatives of the Great Powers to arrive, which struck Matt as odd.


    L must have known what he was thinking, as she exined, Information about iing worlds is valuable, triply so when the is near a border region, and the payout for the location of an untouched was worth more than anything the discovery team might have found before it came into our reach.


    Letting the bit of information simmer on the back burner of his thoughts, Quill got ready for a fight.


    It might not be imminent, but it could happen any moment, and with all the warnings about there being no safety margin, all three of them were ready for an attack.


    Nothing happened for a while, until L transformed into sand and flowed straight through the ships hull, reforming in her dragon shape outside and meeting with the other representatives as they flew from their respective convoys. The Monster Collective representative was a massive, bronze-furred, bear-human hybrid, fifteen feet tall and with weirdly elongated and prehensile ws. He even had thumbs.


    Scoop had told him about the middle ground some Monster Collective beasts went for, but it made for an interesting first sight.


    The ns representative was, unsurprisingly, a dwarf that was literally dwarfed by the other two, at about five feet tall. She was practically just as wide as she was tall, with muscled arms that Quill fleetingly wondered whether or not they were as thick as Scoops torso. A white-hot forge hammer hung from her belt, palpably radiating with the idea of smithing, even from miles away.


    Without being able to hear anything that was going on between them, he contented himself with studying her hammer for the entire duration of the discussion.


    Two hourster, a decision seemed to have been made as the entire fleet got the order to disembark and settle down on a mountain range surrounded by arge desert.


    The moment Quill, Torch, and Scoop stepped out of L''s ship, the three of them became the center of attention as people stopped removing buildings from their storage rings to stare. Quill wasnt sure if they hadnt been told they wereing, or if they just didnt believe it.


    To cut the tension, he leaned over to Torch and whispered, Look at how they adore me. You need to work on your public image.


    That earned him a few snorts and a few more jeers, but it got everyone moving. Before too long, L returned. Not from the air; instead, she swam up the mountainside like it was water, up from the desert she had been swimming in.


    The moment her draconic head breached the stone and slithered out, she roared, You have one Empire standard day, but then it is your job to clear as much of the continent as possible. The other two continents will be left untouched for the winner of the. Otherwise, it''s open season, and you are encouraged to kill everything that moves out there. The only ce you may not fight is within a dozen miles of the Great Powers'' bases. Otherwise, just kill everything you can and take everything not nailed down; it''s yours to keep or trade as you see fit. The Empire will buy anything at market price if you want to sell here and now. After that are the more direct fights, but thats not your concern right now.


    As she finished speaking, sand rose up to create a perimeter around the makeshiftnding base before harding into sandstone and then turning glossy like polished marble.


    L, on the other hand, sank back into the rock of the mountain like it was water, vanishing from sight and spiritual perception alike.


    Being left to their own devices, Quill turned to everyone and said, First order of business is to create quadrants to more efficiently n our searching; the Tier 30s clearly did a good job, but


    Throwing out a talisman, Quill blocked the small bolt of lightning that someone shot out at him, interrupting his n.


    The woman who had thrown it out snorted, We arent listening to you, child. I don''t care if you are the seconding of Agatha.


    Quill could already see the other delver teams starting to turn away and knew they needed to act immediately. If they allowed this team to run roughshod over them, no one else would respect them, removing any chance of the coordinated assault which they would need toplete their mission. At the same time, forcing people to work for them would be opening their backs to a knife in it.


    Looking to Torch, she instantly understood, and in a burst of me, rocketed towards the woman who had shot the lightning bolt. Another woman next to her stepped forward to intercept, but Scoop waved her staff and the woman slowed for a brief moment, allowing Torch to slip between her grasping hands and chains of wind that tried to grab her.


    Rather than her spear leading the charge, Torch led with her hand in a w-like grip as she grabbed the woman''s arm and pulled her into a headbutt. The woman rocked back, her helmet slightly deformed under the attack. She was already charging a spell to counter with, but Torch was already moving, and kicked her knee from behind and sent the woman to her knees and pressed a ming hand to the woman''s head.


    The not-so-subtle threat made the woman''s team freeze, and Quill spoke for their team. Anyone who wants to ignore our orders, feel free to buzz off and do what you want in your own direction, but look at our situation. We are outnumbered, and the Empire only had so many volunteers versus the genuine soldiers of the opposing sides. If we don''t work together, we won''t even get to participate in theter fighting, and that''s <em>if</em> you guys don''t get picked off by the other two Great Powers or taken apart at the end.


    Turning to Torch, he signaled her to let the woman go before addressing the rest of the Tier 22s. Seeing their teammate was free and unharmed, the group stood down, and Quill continued. Anyone who isn''t willing to work with the group, fuck off and don''t get in our way. Im only giving you thirty seconds.


    After thirty seconds, Quill only noticed a handful of teams leaving. Amusingly enough, while they had moved off to the side, the team who started it all hadnt left. Seeing that, Quill now suspected the interruption was less an actual rebuttal to them stepping forward, and more a power y to take the lead position themselves. He could work with that.


    As I was saying, everyone needs to report to me their teams general delving portfolio, notable specialties, and misceneous abilities, in addition to proficiency against real people.


    A flurry of reports came in, and Quill fed them all into his AI before using the provided maps to allocate roughly bnced teams in quadrants of the continent.


    They were in the southern portion of the continent in therge desert that covered the portion of thergendmass, while the other two Great Powers had bases to their northeast and northwest. The ns had taken over a small mountain range while the Monsters Collective had straddled the intersection of a forest and a in.


    All three of the Great Powers were roughly equidistant, but Quill was quite happy with their location, as they had open sightlines for miles. It ensured that ambushes, traps, and rushes would be hard to pull off for the enemy.


    The same went for them, but Quill could already see they would be defending most of the time rather than going on the attack. When his [AI] spat out a good mix of teams, Quill reviewed them briefly before sending them out. The team who had called them out, Dixies Maidens, was one of the more capable Tier 22 teams, able to delve Tier 23 rifts blindly and Tier 24 rifts as long as they took it slow, countered the rift, and didnt encounter any monsters with Intents. For a group who only had partial Intents, that was impressive. If they had had to fight it out, Quill was confident his own team would win, but perhaps not within their mask limits.


    With only a day to prepare, they weren''t able to do too much, but it did give Quill enough time to talk to the defensive teams, who would ostensibly be preventing the other teams from clearing out the monsters. Then, there were the stronger teams who he had acting as quick reaction forces and guarding a number of squadrons.


    Where possible, Ascenders were the finalyer of defense, which irked all three of them, but they knew they couldnt gvant around just because they wanted to. That would be uneptable, and would essentially constitute shirking their responsibilities.


    The positive was that they had L, who happily chatted with them and spent a good amount of timemiserating with their plight, as it was one she had been stuck in a number of times herself.


    The day of preparation gave Quill a little time to explore, which turned out to be fruitful. Despite it being locally midnight, they got to experience the effects of the short day-night cycle and see how the had evolved with it. While the desert was hot, there had been some life moving around in the short day, just mostly a variety of snakes and lizards. But at night, the ce came to life with dozens of species, some most certainly from ruins rather than the''s own natural evolution, as they didnt have the six-limbed aesthetic the seemed to have developed. The local fauna all seemed to be fighting for dominance; it was quite entertaining to watch a Tier 15 beetle fighting off over a dozenrger serpents before moving on to get eaten by a Tier 20 frog that crawled out of a short-lived oasis created by a small burst of rain at dusk.


    Pulled out of his exploration, Quill flew up with everyone else as the timer of one standard day ended.


    Blurs of light flickered out as everyone rushed to try and get as far away from the base andpetition as possible, but Quill knew that only meant the fighting would start soon.


    Fighting was most certainly the purpose of putting them all on one continent rather than spreading them between the other two. Despite that, Quill was looking forward to what was about to happen.


    After all, he had reviewed the profiles of the peak representative the Monster Collective and ns had sent forward, and he was looking forward to seeing how the three of them matched up.


    ***


    L rolled onto her back and wiggled her body to sink into the sand, letting herself consciously rx into the surrounding earth. Not that she wasnt ready for a fight; she was ready to throw the entire desert at Viralira or Ald on a moment''s notice, just as they were ready to attack her if she encroached their area.


    That said, she didnt think they actually <em>would</em> attack. While she was only newly Tier 44, in contrast to their peak cultivation, she was still an Ascender, and could deal with them easily enough. If they attacked her in unison, the worst-case scenario was her having to retreat. Not that it mattered. The two were more likely to fornicate in front of everyone than team up for anything.


    Still, she smelled an opportunity to erge her hoard, and L couldnt pass it up.


    Sending her spiritual perception out to entwine with the others, she spoke through the series of vibrations that high Tiermunications amounted to, What do you two think about a not-so-friendly wager?


    Viraliras spiritual sense rumbled back like she needed to remind everyone she was, in fact, a dwarf and not a human. Like youre willing to pry your scaly ws off anything, dragon.


    L smiled. She had already won Viraliras interest, and so ignored the provocation while waiting for the bear to speak up.


    It took almost a full minute, but Ald rumbled out, What do you offer, and what do you want?


    I offer three scales from First Shepherd Toby on his first shedding after reaching rank 3 bloodline. I want anything you could possibly give to match such a prize.


    She let her smile creep over her maw, knowing that had been an irresistible offer to the others. The scales had been one of her most prized possessions, bought at great expense from First Shepherd Toby by Georgios when she left active military service. They promised a slow but sure way to reach rank 3 on her own, but her steady supply of blood from a dragon at least rank four was far better suited to that task.


    Using her trash to fleece Viralira and Ald for their treasures was a fantastic trade. She just hoped Matt, Liz, and Aster were as good as Luna said they were.


    Even if they weren''t, oh well. Gambling was fun in its own right. It added a little thrill to this adventure where she could only watch.

 Chapter 266

    Chapter 266


    Quill watched and waited as everyone scattered to the winds of the desert, trying to remind himself of therger picture and his ce in it. It even worked to a degree. Or maybe it was L sharing her view of the fights with the three of them so they got to watch in real-time as the Empires delvers encountered and fought monsters.


    Rifts had seemed to turn into small oases for one type of monster, which told Quill there was no one monster that was stronger, faster, more cunning, or more dangerous than the rest. If that was the case, then monsters, or rather their descendants that werent bound to the rift, would have gone on to dominate the like an invasive species over the eons.


    As he had noticed yesterday, there was some degree of bleed through. He suspected it was from the ruins, the was overrun with bugs and small creatures which would normally inhabit a rift but were usually ignored.


    Quill smiled as a group in a fortified tower plinked at a group of gray scaled apes from range. When the apes tried to take to the skies, their flight was shaky and slow, as befit trying to fly with a Concept on a with such firm space. There was a reason everyone was using alternate methods of flight, aside from the rare few people who truly specialized in Concept flight, or those who had some portion of their Intent. Though even those with partial Intents did so for showmanship more than practicality; the willpower use was prohibitive given the certainty of high stakesbat in the near future.


    That left the apes at a severe disadvantage.


    A disadvantage they quickly changed by ripping up the spindly trees that had grown in the shadow of the mountain housing their rift, and hurling them at the delvers like javelins. When that didnt work, they started using light-based spells to attack the delvers, which finally forced their frontliners down and onto the ground to engage the monsters up close.


    Quill analyzed both sides and came to the conclusion that the delving team could handle the apes, but it would be a slow fight, as they were conserving their strength. He approved of the tactic, but it resulted in a fight that was boring enough for him to seek out a more interesting feed to watch.


    He quickly found one.


    A team of four men had rushed far ahead of the others and had reached the edge of the desert where sandy hills turned into rocky shrund. There, they had found one of the''s ruins, and had dived into its spatially expanded depths against the advice he had passed on from L.


    She had warned him that usually, ruins of this Tier were left alone to be thest thing exploited due to their higher-than-usual danger, which very much tracked with Matts own experience with the golem fortress so long ago. But while he had passed on that information, not all of the teams listened. It quickly became obvious as to why L had said what she said, and Quill was only able to watch as the lead tank, a green-skinned man, had his legs torn to shreds by a wave of insects that quickly swarmed up his body to tear at his abdomen. The man with a rapier dove in and grabbed the melee fighter, but he was a moment toote and too slow.


    The bugs jumped off the first man and started devouring the second, and in moments, he too was torn to shreds.


    The mage spread his hands and sent out a wall of fire, trying to stop the wave of insects. It worked, but only until the monsters behind the leading elements pushed the initial wave through the mes. Most died, but those who did survive threw themselves at the mage. Hested nearly a second.


    The final man, a healer, didn''t hesitate as he cast a healing spell on hisst surviving teammate, but Quill could see that he wasnt trying to save the man, but rather keep him alive longer to buy himself time to escape.


    Vile.


    As the man stumbled out of the ruin, he fell to the ground and panted as he watched the insects m against an invisible wall that the ruin must have erected to keep the monsters inside.


    Scoop tsked. Let''s mark him down for backline healing only. Can''t trust him anywhere dangerous.


    Quill nodded at that and agreed with her sentiment. He most certainly didnt want to rely on someone like that for <em>anything</em>, let alone healing.


    Going back to watching the teams, it only took two hours before there was an incursion by the ns into the nominal Empire territory, which was their call to action. Quill took off on an oversized flying sword, while Torch took off with a set of flying devices that acted as ankle and wrist bracelets, but produced mes. Scoop, on the other hand, was riding her flying cloud and was using her namesake to pull chunks of the cloud out and toss them into her mouth.


    Reports came flooding in as Empire teams fled or were killed,, but Quill ignored them. He had warned all teams in that area to retreat, and if they chose to disregard his orders, they could reap the results of their actions.


    When they arrived, he was able to get a better picture of the team who had encroached on their area. It was a team of five decked out in matching colors of earthy brown and neon green, with crests adorning their shoulders and chests. He was able to identify them as heraldic badges the ns used to distinguish themselves.


    Balders n wasnt a well-known n, but they were a respected mid-Tier human n that had a reputation for being hard on themselves and harder on their enemies. They had earned themselves a number of des from thest time the ns were at war.


    They were Tier 22, but that was the norm here, and Quill let his mask smile as the group turned to disregard their team after sensing they were only Tier 20s. Foolish.


    Give over all your spatial rings and


    Torch didnt give the leading man time to finish his statement and dove at him like a descending meteor.


    As mes brightened the now dark sky to a noon-like brightness, Quill was able to see the shock and horror on the team''s faces as they finally realized why they were confident enough toe to a Tier 22 battlefield.


    The team was dead in moments, no quarter given to enemies of the Empire, and Quill thought that was all they would need to do to secure the sector. But as they were flying back to Empire-controlled territory, they saw the night sky brighten behind them and grow brighter by the moment.


    It was so bright, Quill initially thought it was the sunrise, but the light wasing from the north rather than the bulging eastern horizon.


    No, there was someoneing from n territory.


    Quill assumed they wereing for vengeance, but didnt discount that this was an ambush, and started cycling through his various maniption skills and their senses variants to catch anyone hiding.


    Finding no one only made him more wary, and he threw out a number of talismans to create a perimeter that, if crossed by anyone, would alert him. It was in no way perfect, but Quill felt better for its protection.


    Like a shooting star, a dwarf in shimmering silver-blue armor turned the night sky to day, simrly to how Torch had done not moments ago.


    As she approached, Quill reeled in shock. He had asked earlier, and L had assured him that there were only a handful of Tier 20s on the, almost entirely from the Monster Collective.


    Which made it all the more shocking when Seasadh MacMhunna and her chosen group flew as Tier 19s onto a Tier 22 battlefield, looking to all the world like valkyries in golden armor descending to let loose devastation.


    Seasadh MacMhunna, thetest Inheritor of the ns, wielded a mace with the head of a star, a man made growth artifact passed down from one of their Great Powers earliest Golden Ages. Quill knew a bit about the dwarf girl, just like theyd been briefed on all the elites they were liable to face in their first war, but he didn''t know she would be here. Most of all, he hadnt known she was a Tier lower than them.


    Crashing to the ground with an explosion of debris that flew for miles, Seasadh stood her ground like she was posing for an audience. An audience that manifested as the three remaining members of her groupnded with far less aplomb and a few miles back.


    Seasadhughed as she saw the three of them still flying. Ahh, the newest possible Ascenders. Quilt and re, was it? Along with someone you picked up from some backwater on the way here? I never got to fight Light and Shadow due to being a little too young, but then again, you guys are too weak. Still, it will do. I


    In unison, the three of them rushed Seasadh before she could finish her monologue and allow her reinforcements to arrive.


    Scoop immediately cast her support spells, buffing their side while slowing Seasadh, whose armor red like a sun as she tried to resist the effects. Quill was sure by the way she was throwing mana around that she would have been able to forcefully break the debuffs effects in short order, but he and Torch werent just for decoration.


    Quill tossed out two talismans that red into lightning bolts that raced for Seasaidh, but just as fast as the lightning he threw, she swung her mace and batted the two bolts into the ground and sky. With his mana sight, he could see that she was burning away Scoops debilitating spells from her mace down into the rest of her body.


    Is this the best the Empire has to offer? Is this the power of <em>Ascenders</em>? Seasaidh shouted out as she burned away thest of Scoops spells.


    Torch darted through the cold, spear and shield raised to face Seasadh, who swung at her with the Morningstar.


    The Morningstar that glowed like a sun met the me wrapped shield in a wild congration.


    mes billowed out in a wave before pausing, starting to reverse, and then pausing again. That stuttering and starting movement happened a few more times as Quill watched Seasadh and Torch grimacing under their helmets. Even using as much mana as Quill could give to her, Torch was slowly losing the fight, the mes encroaching and threatening to engulf her.


    Torch wasnt using [Fire Maniption], she was using the [Blood Maniption] that she had spent close to a century honing into her strongest skill. More than that, it was her innate skill, making it all the stronger. Finding someone who could go toe to toe with her in fire control was a rare event, but if anyone should be able to do it, an Inheritor would be one.


    Seasadh seemed to realize that as she grinned, even as her mace went from producing mes to blinding light and her speed increased a dozen times over, almost matching Torchs potion boosted self. Judging by the way mana pulsed through her armor, he could tell it was more than just spells boosting her speed. It was difficult to get a good read on the armor mid-battle, but from what he knew, it would be some of the best armor possible to make in the ns, better than anything he had ever seen firsthand. From what he could tell, it was made of literal force, but he couldnt properly conceptualize how that was even <em>possible</em>. Spells like [Force Armor] existed, yes, but the difference between a defensive spell and permanent armor was like night and day. He couldnt contemte it too much, though. Her mace blurred as she pulled it back and mmed it into Torch''s shield like a woodcutter trying to fell a tree. Torchs shield held firm, but she was sent skidding backward, her feet digging deep lines into the ground.


    Scoop was summoning a twelve foot tall ice golem, but before it could get more than half formed, Seasaidh threw herself forward, past Torch, and ripped into the golem with her mace, carving chunks from its body with each swing. Scoop managed to expel the dwarf with a [Wind Lance], but not before she had caused enough damage to the golem to make it copse on itself.


    Quill decided enough was enough, and threw a handful of talismans out. [Mana Spear]s, [Mana Bolt]s, and [Force Lance]s ripped through the intervening space, homing in on the blurring form of Seasadh, who tried to dodge.


    She managed to dodge the initial bombardment, but the follow-up spells had been able to lock onto her movements and mmed into a dome of light she summoned around herself. The final [Force Lance] was the only spell to prate and left a shallow scar on her armor, but the material it was made of already seemed to be repairing itself, the scratch fading into the light gray-blue of the rest of it.


    Torch approached Seasaidh from the rear, but before their melee fight could resume, Seasaidh threw out a st of fire, then with a m of her mace, forged it into a blisteringly hotnce of sma andunched it at Quill, all in a single practiced motion. A [Bulwark] manifested to stop the spear, but rather than dissipating, it started to drill into his shield. He quickly activated a [Dark Wall] talisman, then a [Bulwark] talisman behind it to slow the smas momentum. Just as he finished, the spear burst through his original spell, quickly overloaded the second barrier, and finally petered out against his third one.


    Torch and Seasaidh were battling it out with their weapons as Quill rejoined the fight, and he could see that the dwarf was pumping mana and will into her mace, causing it glow all the brighter and manifest spikes of sma from the head, reminiscent of sr res from a star. He could feel his armor heating up just from the proximity to the weapon, and that was merely a side effect of the effects she was imbuing into her mace.


    The heat and power he could feel from her was <em>glorious</em>. He drank it down like a wilting nt. He wanted to rip that mace apart just to absorb the wisdom used in making it.


    The spikes on the mace turned white hot with light leaking from them, and the explosion sent Torch flying and skipping off the ground until she managed to orient herself enough to drive her spear into the earth ande to a halt, before sprinting back into the fight.


    Knowing this was one of the strongest opponents they had faced despite being a Tier lower than them, Quill threw himself into melee range. Sensing his intention, Scoop sent out a summoned mass of twisting white ribbons, her tiaras interpretation of [Headwind], to tie down Seasaidh.


    As a nominal mage, he needed to be careful when he did that, so as to not give away his cover, but Quill had his own powers, and they had hinted at him being melee capable a few times now. So as long as he didnt go overboard, it would be fine.


    Landing next to the dwarf, Quill let a few of the fake talismans on his cloak re to life while he channeled his physical buffing spells. Backstepping from the first swing of her mace, Scoops ribbons wrapped around her short form, and Quill activated the Breakers Fist talisman array he had gotten working on the long trip.


    His gauntleted fists red with mana as they started gathering momentum from each of his talismans.


    Quill''s first swing sent Seasadhs Morningstar flying back and almost out of her hands as hended a punch on the haft of the weapon. His second attack, aimed at her shoulder, was dodged with some dash spell that let her nearly flow around his fist. Seasadh used that opening to swing at him, the head of the Morningstar venting sma into the air, forcing him to roll over the weapon while using what little of his Concept he could tounch himself downward the moment he cleared the haft. His third blow was further boosted by Scoop, who threw her Concept at Seasaidh to freeze her in ce, while boosting Quill with [Tailwind].


    That let him close the distance andnd the blow, which dumped all the momentum he had been able to store in the talismans into the t ne of [Light Shield] Seasadh created to defend herself.


    Even with the spell to prevent most of the damage, Seasadh was sent flying with already-fading scorch marks coating her armor. To further worsen her situation, Torch rushed in to drive her spearhead directly into the armpit of the dwarfs armor.


    Seasadh twisted mid-air even as her armor and Morningstar red to life, but she was still a moment too slow, and Torchs spear drew blood for the first time.


    Twisting and wrenching herself free of the spear, Seasadh jumped into the air and took flight for the first time. Instead of using a conventional flying device, she threw her Morningstar and was pulled along, a damn odd method of flight, but it gave her time to burn off Scoops summoned ribbons. That move got Seasadh near her team, who only seemed willing to fight now that Seasadh hadnt been able to beat them herself.


    One of the other dwarves, a man in robes seemingly made of starlight, put his hands on Seasadhs back and her wounds closed up in moments. He saw Seasidh start breathing again, trusting that the healer had washed away any potential internal damage Quill had caused with Breakers Fist.


    Frowning, Quill let it show on his mask.


    With another threebatants who would no doubt be perfectly paired with Seasadh as a fully rounded out four-man team, the bnce of power had shifted.


    They hadnt been going all out, but he was sure that Seasadh hadnt been either, so the addition of her team wasnt a good sign. No dwarven Inheritor was a weakling, and neither would her hand-selected team be.


    It stung his pride, but Quill knew that if Seasadh and her team were here, prepared to face Tier 22 elites, she was likely capable of delving Tier 24 rifts. By Matts estimation, that would put her roughly on par with their real identities and strength. Considering how limited they were as Torch and Quill, that could prove a serious problem. Typically, the decreasedbat power was of little consequence, but against their true peers in the top echelons of fighting ability, it put them at a real disadvantage. Even someone with an Intent wouldnt have caused so much of an issue, in his estimation, as anyone here with an Intent would be unlikely to be skilled enough to use it to its fullest.


    Despite the Tier difference, Seasadh most probably had a higherbat power and could very well beat them if they werent careful. Or, they would get too engrossed in the battle and reveal something they didnt want to.


    Any oue but victory seemed uneptable.


    Flicking his cloak off to the side, Quill used a little [Air Maniption] to make the parchment flutter. It wasnt just aesthetics- he was gathering wind in the gaps and getting ready to send the parchments flying.


    As Torch and Scoopnded next to where he was standing, the dwarves moved into a battle line. Seasadh took her position, nked by a dwarven man with a silver and bronze shield and a woman wielding a greataxe almost her own height, while the healer withdrew a shield and mace of his own.


    There was ack of obvious rangedbatants, but Quill didnt discount that they were all versed in ranged spells or had avable weapon swaps to ranged options.


    The dwarves werent known for their smiths for no reason.


    Scoop ended up starting the fight with [Dispelling Wind], which dimmed the active spells the dwarves were casting and turned a [Fire Lance] that the axe-wielding woman cast into little more than an arrow of fire that Torch easily deflected.


    Jumping into the air, Quill stood on his flying sword as he started tossing out talismans, noticing that the axe woman had turned her attention to him and was flying with ankle devices, like Torch was using.


    Flying backward, Quill opened up the distance while circling to gain some more space between them. When the attacker red with a burst of aura that increased her speed, Quill tossed out the talisman he had palmed. The parchment exploded into a burst of mana the woman tried to dodge, but he had timed it correctly, and she was covered in mana dust, allowing him to activate his second part of the rune which hardened and transformed the dust into stone.


    The axe-wielding woman froze as her joints hardened, and she was unable to adjust her flight and started to veer off to the side, where Quill hit her with a barrage of [Bolt]s. Even as his attacks hit her and she was sent flying into a nearby mountain, he was already redirecting his attention to the three versus two, which was still grounded.


    Seasadhs hesitation to fly was interesting, but gave Quill a tactical advantage until the axe-wielding woman recovered, which he was making difficult with a healthy application of [Earth Maniption] to bind and restrict her movements. The woman was built like most physical fighters, and would eventually tear her way out of the binding walls of rock, but it would take her time.


    Time that he used to set up two arrays.


    The first glistened and sparkled as it gathered a dozen types of ice-aspected mana withplementary sub-aspects. It took several moments to activate, but the beam of energy was reminiscent of the Aurora Lance that had been their group''s trump card in Minka. A beam of energy the size of a train shot out of the array and punched straight through the mountain that the axe-wielding woman was trapped in. It created a massive mana explosion, leaving a several-mile-wide crater that was filled in with raining chunks of ice. His predictions gave a seven percent chance that the spell would kill her outright, mostly due to the unpredictability of her build, but Quill agreed that she would be an elite in her own right, and would not be so easily taken out if she was part of Seasadh the Inheritors team.


    Even as she was crushed by the falling ice, Quill watched through his spiritual perception as she conjured an aura of mes to protect herself. Through the mes, he saw she that hadnte through the attack unscathed, and was now coughing uprge chunks of blood and guts even as she poured healing potions down her throat. If it was a one-on-one fight, Quill would have moved in to finish her off, but Torch and Scoop were dealing with a two-versus three and could use his help. Through his bond, he could feel that Scoop had been injured, though not too seriously.


    That was where his second array came into y.


    It was incredibly slow to cast, but that wasnt indicative of its power; rather, it represented its scope. Everything in a fifteen-mile radius froze, but not with cold. The air, the ground, the light that traveled through the air, spell effects, and even space itself slowed to a crawl.


    Quill, Torch, and Scoop weren''t immune, but they were keyed into the enchantment array and were correspondingly less affected, which made them move like they were boosted to the gills. Originally a spell Luna used as a form of resistance training, Quill had adapted a lesser version of her spell to his arrays as a project, and it proved mildly effective despite the uneptably long casting time. Even in talisman form, where most of the work was already done when it was made.


    The array''s other issue was the tradeoff in duration and the amount of energy stilled. When Quill had flooded the area with mana in testing, the array onlysted a fraction as long as it would have normally..


    All the energy Seasadh and her two teammates were expending to move was doing something simr.


    Based on their previous engagements, Quill expected they had five seconds before the arrays effect fell apart.


    For Tier 20s, that might have been an eternity.


    Torch darted forward with her spear shing, mes left behind where she had been when the array went into effect. Her initial thrust took the healer in the throat, her spear not being able to pierce the metal with the slowing array in effect.


    Scoop didnt hesitate and started casting buffs on them and debuffs on the enemies. Each spell reduced the amount of time the array wouldst, but it was worth it in most cases.


    Torch thrust her spear into the shield-wielding man''s thigh before charging at Seasadh, who was burning mana like a star trying to go supernova. In fact, she was burning so much mana, she was appreciably reducing the time the array wouldst.


    Torch was just attacking Seasadh when her armor red brightly and the slowing enchantment shattered, allowing the dwarf to dodge the blow aimed for her neck and take it on her shoulder.


    Quill darted forward and dodged two attacks from the woman he had buried in the mountain. Her axe head had started glowing and was shooting mana projectiles like a ships cannon, though her wounds, the range, and Tier gap allowed him to dodge the attacks. They did slow him down some, and he was forced to block a shield bash with his staff while sticking talismans on the healer and shield wielder.


    Their armor immediately red with light and heat, burning off the talismans before they could activate. Quill saw smugness in the duos bodynguage but he was already turning as they exploded. The talismans didnt just burn off when the physical containers were destroyed. In fact, that was the activation trigger, and the team was too green or too inexperienced fighting talisman mages to know better than to try such a basic counter.


    As the duo went down Quill went in to finish them off, but a panicked Seasadh rushed to cover them while glowing bright and brighter, with the searing light seemingly focused on the head of her Morningstar and pulsing with energy.


    Torch thrust a dozen times at the dwarf''s back and managed to draw blood, but Quill noticed that her spear tip was glowing red hot from the energies the dwarf woman was erupting with. Erupting turned out to be a prescient thought, as Seasadh really seemed to be going supernova, and none of them could handle that much energy this close.


    Turning, Torch jumped into the air and flew next to himself and Scoop, where Quill wrapped them in a dozenyers of defensive talismans and arrays, all boosted by his Concepts defensive properties. When Seasadh finally went off, the explosion made the entire world shake, but his shielding held, and through his spiritual senses, he watched as the world burned.


    The atmosphere near them ignited before burning offpletely, even as the ground and forest were turned to ash and then cleansed of even said ash as <em>everything</em> burned.


    Quill expected to see Seasadhs allies facing the same treatment, but their armor expanded and blocked all the energy the Inheritor was expelling. Cursing at the dwarf''s ingenuity, Quill got ready to fight the moment the spell dropped, but the moment the mes stopped, Seasadh fell to one knee. Disregarding his own wounds, the healer ran to her, scooped her up, and took off into the air with the rest of the team raggedly following suit.


    There was a massive concussion as air rushed back into the area, but even as he dropped the shields, Quill coughed out a mouthful of blood. Holding the shields through that explosion had pushed his Concept to the limit, and he once more cursed hisck of Intent. No matter what Intent hended on, it would have made his Concept a little stronger and given him more willpower to throw around.


    Torch gestured around with her spear as she messaged. Well fuck me sideways. I didnt think any Tier 19 could get that hot, but she managed it. She sent along a short medical report as well, and it was worse than he had thought, though nothing was terribly serious. Some broken ribs, torn muscles, and cauterized cuts made up the worst of the injuries on her end, all things that could be healed in short order.


    Quill agreed. If she can get that hot, she can clearly go harder, hotter than she went at the start.


    Scoop grumbled and gestured with a hand that Quill noticed was missing two fingers. She burned my cloud, and that will take days to reform. What a shithead! She started this fight after all, just die easily and not ruin my snack.


    Despite her seemingly flippant words, Quill could tell Scoop was just happy they were all alive.


    With the air superheated and the ground glowing as the rock and stone that had been liquefied slowly cooled, he and Scoop were too ufortable with the heat and chose to leave the area. Torch, on the other hand, chose to walk through the mes, and Quill wasnt sure it was just theatrics. They were all trying to find their Intents, and that moment of enlightenment mighte from even a secondary element like fire was for Torch.


    It still made a good image for Torch to walk through the wreckage the other fire mage made as if she was unharmed.


    The cleared area was a dozen miles wide, but Quill''s flying sword made quick work of that distance, and before they were able to leave, another report for help came to them.


    This time, the Monster Collective was attacking their nk, and the secondary teams had been unable to defeat them, which meant it fell onto their shoulders.

 Chapter 267

    Chapter 267


    As the three of them flew to the next fight, Quill was about to say something but Torch beat him to it. Can you believe that shit?


    Quillughed as his wife had taken the words out of his mouth, even as Scoop hung her head and murmured, Fucking battle maniacs.


    Poking his bond, Quill winked. Come on. A Tier 19 who can hit that hard is a nice change of pace. It''s a real challenge that isn''t just someone being so much older and more advanced than us. This is a peer that damn near kicked our ass. We didnt use everything we had, but Seasadh MacMhunna proved why Inheritors are elites at their worst and Ascender level at their best. Did you guys catch the enchantment work on that armor? It was amazing! Five different runesyered on top of each other like that? Its got to be either a Tier 40 working on it or some incredible Talent-Domainbo to create that effect. The mana should get twisted up with a single set of conduits, but they managed it somehow.


    She''s also strong in her own right. She was able to outmuscle me on the fire maniption. I put up a good fight, but when she took control of the mes, she chose to switch to light mana. I couldnt beat her outright. And look at the heat she can put out! That''s a Tier 24 spearhead, and she melted it in a second. Saying that, she pulled out the spearhead that was now ckned and bent. Letting his sword fly through autopilot, Quill took it in his hands as he sent his mana and crafting skills into the de.


    With a burst of mana, he separated it from the staff and reced the de. It not being a growth item in its totality led to moments like this. The spears shaft <em>was</em> a growth weapon, and was much harder to destroy than any normal item. The de, on the other hand, had no such protections. Even Quills best enchantments were still limited by his Tier, and they couldnt afford dozens of spares made by high Tier crafters.


    But they were still able to carry a few spares with them, so it was a five-minute process to reaffix a new one, even mid-flight.


    Scoop grumbled as Torchmented that if she wasnt a phoenix, she would have needed to activate anti-fire enchantments just to remain in the melee range of Seasadh. She destroyed my cloud, and you guys are praising her. Even through her mask, she looked up to Quill and gave him puppy eyes.


    Rolling his eyes, he slipped a finger in the cor of Scoop''s chest te and grabbed the ne that held her growth item pendant. Feeding it mana, he elerated the time it would take for the item to repair the crybabys cloud.


    Beaming, Scoop immediately flipped her script. Shes really hot, but if you give me a little time, Im pretty sure I could freeze her. Or at least, once I get my Intent worked out. My goal is a cold thats so cold, even a star is frozen! No chance that one dwarf with a sun on a stick will be able to beat me!


    Torch nodded again. I think if I can fight her a bit more, I can make some progress on my Intent. Shes able to push me in all the right ways.


    Quill smiled as he had the same thought. Sparring and training with a true peer like Susanne or Seasadh felt different and more productive for making his Intent than most of the meditating had. Pushing oneself, experiencing new things, and <em>living</em> truly was the best way to understand one''s ce and how they fit in with the greater realm.


    Letting his mask show a wicked grin, Quill gave a smile. Imagine what the Monster Collective people can teach us. If Seasadh and the three of us are here, they must have brought someone simr. They have a Tier 20 group, after all. Maybe we can draw them out as well.


    Even confined to a single continent and with a top of the line flying sword, it still took them around fifteen minutes to travel the four thousand mile distance to the area where Monster Collective people were pushing into theirnds.


    Unlike the n team, the Monster Collective team wasnt headhunting anyone affiliated with the Empire, and so Quill, Torch, and Scoop didnt go in to kill. Instead, they kept their blows away from the heads of the team of Monster Collective delvers during their initial charge.


    A humanoid elk with sparking silver antlers was killing an oversized ant while his team was preupied with another dozen of them. His delving mates were a human or at least someone who hadnt taken any animal features in their human form and a woman with gills and fish scales around her eyes that trailed down her neck to her cor bone like a tattoo.


    Quill tossed out three mini-meteor talismans, allowing Torch to guide the small molten rocks into the ants.


    That got the attention of the Monster Collective group, and they turned as they readied themselves forbat.


    Quill happily angled his flying sword down at the team, as he had already tossed a talisman with a detection spell out, and was prepared in case the Monster Collective elites arrived like Seasadh had.


    The elk man stood forward and readied his longsword tond a blow at Torch''s legs the moment she went in for a shield bash, but he might as well have been asking her to take him out. After all, Quill''s de of choice was the longsword, and they sparred together at least once a week.


    Stutter-stepping, Torch messed up the man''s timing, and even as he tried to do a quick backhand with his de, she was already stepping on the t of the de and driving her shield into his chest.


    Metal crunched as the elk man''s chest caved in, but Torch didnt follow through with her spear through his neck as she would if the team had murderous intentions.


    Instead, Torch stood her ground as Quill and Scoop readied their own spells to follow up her attacks if the others retaliated. Something they werent dumb enough to do. Their attacking of Empire delvers seemed unnecessarily risky, especially as fresh Tier 22s, but Quill suspected that they were here on a scouting mission, even if they didnt know it.


    It was probably a test by the Monster Collective Tier 40 to see if the three of them were bloodthirsty and would kill a team so obviously weaker than themselves. At least, it made sense to Quill, who had learned just how little Tier 20s mattered to some high Tiers. They were very much still pawns in the games of the highest Tiers, just ones that happened to be slightly more useful.


    Torch did the honors and said with a burst of theatrical mes on her shield. Leave.


    Quill called out from the air, And donte back!


    The duo instead readied their weapons and looked like they were going to attack. The fully human man was the one who spoke up through gritted teeth, Not leave him!


    His Empire was decent at best, but it was more than enough for them to understand that they wouldnt leave theirrade. Commendable, but not something they intended to prevent, so Torch jumped to the de behind Scoop, and they quickly took off.


    They were already in the border region, and there were a dozen calls for help that hadnt been directed up to them yet, but they could still help now that they were out in the area.


    The three of them were operating off a simple method of how they handled enemies. Teams who killed Empire delvers were given no quarter and killed out of hand, but thankfully, that was rare. None of their Great Powers were inherently hostile to each other, and no one wanted to be killed in retaliation.


    Still, they were kept busy protecting their borders so the weaker delvers could clear monsters and gather resources. Resources that they would get to keep regardless of the oue of thes ownership, which ensured that everyone was enthusiastically collecting. They, as protectors, got a cut of the profits, and they wouldnt be able to use most of what was found. Instead, they would be trading their shares for wealth that they would use to buy resources to help themplete their final push on The Path.


    Two days after the Great Powers were let loose, and just seconds after they pushed back a n team into their territory, there was another call that made Quill sigh as he looked at thecking report.


    It only said that the Empire team was being attacked by a Monster Collective man, and gave not one other shred of information. It usually meant that the Empire delvers had started the fight, and were looking to get quick help through some selective omission in reports. Still, they were close, and Quill decided they should at least check it out and prevent any unnecessary deaths from either side, if possible.


    When they arrived, he noticed there were a few bodies scattered around, the most notable being the body of a woman with bright green hairying on the ground. There was a massive w tear through her armor that exposed her chest and back. Not usually a lethal blow to an immortal, but if the woman didnt know how to rece her biological functions with essence, the attack could have killed her. Poison was another option, but there was no discoloration or deterioration around the wound, which made that somewhat unlikely.


    Quill also didnt recognize the Empire team fighting off five beasts, which meant they were part of the group that hadnt stayed behind to report their skills and abilities. The fact they were still calling in for help after publicly dismissing them made a vindictive part of Quill want to leave them behind, but he reigned that part of him in and instead inspected their opponents.


    There were two rabbits with a winter storm wrapping around them as they moved, an ice raven, and finally, two seemingly ordinary elephants worked together like a well-oiled team, preventing the remaining three humans from leaving or doing much damage.


    Clearly a beast team who wanted to savor their kills. Not the usual, but something they had seen before with some of the most arrogant teams from the Monsters Collective.


    There was something odd with that in this case, but Quill couldnt put his finger on it, even as he focused his spiritual sense in case this was an ambush of some kind.


    Staying a little higher up than normal, he called out, Why don''t we settle this peacefully? I think we can manage that. You killed a few of us, we killed a few of you. WIth that in mind, Ill be nice and assume you have good reasons for that and let it go.


    Even as he spoke, he was carefully inspecting the surrounding area for traps or anyone hidden, but he found nothing amiss. False rms weren''t a new thing, but they kept one alive, so he checked it with all the abilities he had.


    As if to back up his feelings of unease, Torch and Scoop had the same premonition. They were ready to leave, but one of the human men slipped on a patch of ice as hended from a bad jump, and one of the winter rabbits darted forward going in for the kill. With how the teams were set up, they had just enough time to intervene and save the man''s life, but Quills instincts screamed at him. Something was wrong, and so hemanded his flying sword to rise up higher in a bid to leave the area quickly.


    Just as he felt the de rising, he realized what was wrong.


    The Monster Collective teams who were aggressive and yed with their prey were usually carnivores. Not that herbivores or omnivores couldnt y with their food, but through all the battles he had seen that in thest few days, there had been at least one carnivore in the team, usually instigating the hunt.


    But here, there wasnt one.


    They got a dozen feet up when the sky went opaque as a formation over a dozen miles out activated and locked down the space they were in.


    As they started to fall out of the sky, all the bodies that had been scattered around the edges of the fight started moving, and three of the downed humans pulled crossbows out from under their bodies and shot bolts at them. The bolts glittered with purple void mana and were screaming danger to his spiritual sense.


    Torch was already moving to prevent their downward momentum so they didnt fall into the void bolts, and from her spear came a st of fire so strong, it sent them upward a little.


    The moment the bolts passed under their feet, Torch turned the spear around and used the energy to send them to the ground faster so they might have some degree of cover.


    The worst part was that Quill had arcane talismans to prevent void attacks, but most of them were in the spatial ring that had been locked down by the same spatial lock that prevented them from flying.


    As they fell, he pulled out two of the three he kept on his talisman cloak for emergencies like this.


    He hadnt been able to buy an arcane mana source for his mana ring, and instead bought thepleted talismans from an enchanter who had been selling them a few years ago. They were only Tier 20, but they should be more than enough to block a few void items. A proper void mage could have just torn through the enchantments, but void items were rare and expensive, so he doubted this assassin team had more than a few.


    As the absurdity of that thought crossed his mind, Quill realized that any team here for them specifically and three ice beasts indicated they were here to counter Torch might have been given all the void items they could want or use.


    Suddenly, the three arcane treasures didnt seem all that much like the perfect counter they had at first.


    Sending his conclusions to Scoop and Torch as he pressed the talismans on their backs and activated them, he took the moment necessary to ensure the film of arcane armor that appeared around them wasnt faulty. He didnt cast his, as he intended to use a far dumber method to deal with the void attacks.


    He didnt have a nigh invulnerable hand for nothing. Hed even done his best to integrate the treasure, coaxing it to weather ever-stronger attacks over the decades, and it had saved him before. It would save him again.


    His conjecture about them having void items proved true, as many of the weapons the assassin team had been wielding turned purple, and the sense of danger spiked to another level.


    Unable to withdraw any more talismans, Quill fell back on his old favorites. He ignited a false talisman and cranked his physical buffs to their normal levels. The level that let him fight Tier 24 monsters as a Tier <em>19</em>.


    Power flooded into him, and he started moving just as fast as the Tier 22s. He closed in with one of the elephants whose tusks had turned purple, but didnt give off the feeling of void mana like the sword. Quill only had a moment to acknowledge the subterfuge before he dodged the swipe of its trunk and slipped under the beam of ice that tried to take off his head. One of the humans who had been feigning injury from the elephants attack wove through the beast''s storming blows with the ease of long repetition, and drove his shortsword at Quills leg.


    It was a smart y, all things considered. With the space-locking formation preventing flying devices, and the being so high Tier that a Concept just didnt have enough purchase on reality to allow flight, limiting mobility was a death blow. And legs were hard to defend at the best of times.


    The man probably expected Quill to dodge or retreat; the elephant certainly did, as it stomped down to prevent exactly that move, but he darted forward and grabbed the de with his left hand.


    The void mana instantly disintegrated his gauntlet, but the void mana only felt cold to his hand as it destroyed the very heat in the surroundings.


    A Tier 20 void weapon was just inside the ability for his hands enhancement to survive.


    The look of shock on the man''s face would have been amusing in any other circumstances, but Quill didnt have the time to savor it. Instead, he yanked the de forward and into the elephant''s exposed belly.


    He had armor, but the void weapon cut through it like a hot knife through butter. His intestines spilled out as the Monster Collective delver started to scream in pain.


    Dipping his other hand into the open wound, Quill ended the elephant''s pain by sending a short burst of [Cracked Mana Spear] to its brain from the inside, bypassing most of its defenses. Plenty of people, and especially beasts, liked to concentrate their durability on their exterior, enhancing tough hides all the more. It had its advantages, but its drawbacks could be lethal. Then again, even if they hadnt done so, it was unlikely theyd survive an attack directly to the brain.


    The human didnt fare any better, and as Quill shoved the de back into his body, his armor failed just like the elephants had. But the de bent too much with the opposing forces and snapped. Cursing the reduced durability of void weapons, Quill turned his attention to the second elephant who was about to crush him. The blow wouldnt kill him, but it would force him to cut or dig his way out, and that would take an uneptably long time.


    ring his boosts until his bones creaked, Quill darted out of the way and right into another crossbow bolt. Snatching it out of the air tore something in Quill''s rotator cuff, but he pushed through the pain, just barely noticing that the bolt was glowing green in time.


    Decay mana tried to eat at his hand, but it was even less effective than the void mana had been. Quill had no problems crushing the bolt in his hand as he rushed down one of the archers.


    Sadly, his assants werent brain-dead, and one of the other archers shot him with another void bolt while he was distracted.


    This one was targeted to hit him dead in the back, but Quill simply red his boosts further and snatched the bolt out of the air, despite feeling something in his back tearing.


    Growling, heunched himself forward and put his fist through the closest archer''s back, returning the void arrow that was gifted to him in the process.


    When the arrows void enchantment activated, it exploded and evaporated the Monster Collective archers entire torso.


    Turning, Quill dodged another bolt and took a brief moment to check in with Torch and Scoop.


    Scoop was upying the ice beasts and two ice mages, and the way they were bleeding and trying to get out of the small blizzard she had summoned told him she was doing fine. She had scorch marks where it looked like a fire mage had hit her, but there was no obvious void damage to the arcane talisman, and most of the others were upied with Torch, who was bloodied but carving a path through the attackers.


    Despite that, she was losing ground. Most of the blood was hers, and Quill darted in to assist her, even as he cast [Hail] to add some chaos to Scoops'' fight and give her more ice to work with. Just as he had hoped, the ice mages reoriented to start attacking him while stalling Scoop, and he soon had a veritable hail of projectiles heading for him. Pulling out three talismans from his sleeves, he activated them and threw them to the ground in front of him where they started pulling everything towards them with a strong gravity field. Anchoring himself in ce with [Earth Maniption] to resist the pull, he watched as a majority of the projectiles were drawn into the talisman array, exploding uselessly on the ground, not even shrapnel making it out.


    The few attacks that made it through were easily dealt with. A cutting ray of ice did little against his invulnerable hand, a summoned falcon of animate frost tried to harry him before he managed to grab its wings and rip them from its body, and he unclipped his staff from his back to shroud it in mes and smash through a bolt of ice the size of his leg.


    Twirling his staff above his head, he activated the enchantment in it to start a gout of mesing from both ends, the staff burning through the few mana stones embedded in it to create a ring of fire so thick it was opaque. It was stressing his control to manage it, but he held the fire for the duration of the gravity talismans, and as soon as they ran out of fuel, he shot a stream of fire at the ice mages. Partway to them he faltered for a heartbeat and the stream lost a bit of cohesion, vaporizing a swathe of the ice, but he redoubled his efforts and kept hold of the fire long enough to make his impact.


    The ice mages were well prepared for fire magic, naturally. Two of them shot rings of frost that intercepted his stream and started slowing and chilling it, and a foot thick barrier of ice mana appeared in an instant to block his attack. It bored halfway through before losing steam and dissipating, harming no one, but that wasnt the point of his attack.


    For a moment, the heat was off Scoop, and she had her counterattack ready.


    The assassins couldnt have realized the irony of sending rabbits to fight a fox, but Scoop capitalized on the distraction to create snapping jaws of frost from the ground, tearing into the mage with the rabbit bloodline. A second fell to the summoned mass of wind ribbons, first bing entirely encased before Scoop pulsed her concept and the mans bones were crushed under the pressure. Knowing Scoop could handle the rest of the fight, Quill threw himself into the melee that Torch was fighting through.


    Landing on the one man with a void sword, Quill grabbed the weapon and pulled. The man, not wanting to let go, screamed as the void de ate through his own face until the weapon snapped, just like the previous one. Jumping forward, Quill was unable to dodge a crossbow bolt that took him to the side.


    It was poisoned, but [Lesser Regeneration] was effective against the poison, and while he felt it decay his flesh, the spread was slow enough to be manageable. Continuing with his jump, Quill grabbed one of the final void weapons that had cutrge chunks out of Torch''s shield after taking the wielders life with a heavily modded and point-nk [Bolt], which tore through her head like putty.


    Flipping the void short sword into his right hand, Quill blocked the de that was thrust at his back with the t of his newly procured de, and smiled through his mask as it cut through the metal all too easily. Spinning, he stuck out his left arm and cast [Lightning Torrent]. It was the stronger, lightning version of [methrower], and one of the more expensive Tier 20 skills, but it had proven a worthy purchase.


    Forks of lightning arced from his left hand to two of the enemies, who started screaming as the spell crashed into them, and through their magical shields in just moments. As a Tier 20, he had 1,310,720 MPS at his fingertips, and he could send nearly a third of that into [Lightning Torrent]. His main limiter on using it was his control, more than anything else. Especially just after doubling his mana, he was having problems safely directing as much lightning as he could make, but its short range made it a greatplement to his long and medium-range arsenalposed of [Arcane Powershot] and [Cracked Mana Spear] respectively.


    The assassins fell in seconds, and that bought Torch the freedom she needed to unleash her own assault, even as Quill used the void de to devastating effect.


    Lunging forward, Torch drove what remained of her spearhead through one man''s chest. To everyone but Quill''s surprise, the man exploded like a balloon. Torch added some mes, but Quill smiled as everyone dodged the wrong part of the attack.


    The blood would slowly congeal and harden. [Congeal] was a healing spell usually used by blood healers to make someone''s blood harden, but Torch had repurposed that idea and had pushed the skill a step further. It now would harden on any targets that werent Torch, and the Blood Iron within would make the normally nonbat spell a seriously debilitating debuff.


    Best of all, it was a known niche tactic used by melee fighters who used Blood Iron, so they hoped it would bring no negative attention to Torch for using a blood skill.


    With a burst of speed that he knew was only possible with her potions, Quill decided to assist her and added his own boosting Concept to the mix. After days of running around putting out fires, he was running low on willpower, but Torchs burst of power was more than worth it.


    His own prowess with melee weapons paired with the destructive properties of the void mana helped take out three more attackers in moments. He took a deep cut in his thigh that was ultimately his own fault, as he hadnt expected the man to keep thrusting his halberd after Quill cut the head of the weapon off.


    That put Quill in an awkward position, and he took a [Mana Bolt] to the face that he was only able to partially block with his hand. It had scorched his face, and he could feel the damage with how his mouth wouldnt open properly. Growling, he changed the target of his [Lightning Torrent] to take out the halberd man while he threw the void weapon into the chest of the mage who hit his face.


    Both of them died, but he decided now was about the time for his fake buffing talisman to wear off, so he reimed his role as a mage.


    [Arcane Powershot] took less than a second to charge to the point where he could no longer keep it stable, and the bolt of mana it shot out was the size of a ballista bolt. The hole it made in one of the assassins fighting Torch wasrger, and the hole it punched into the ground wasrger still.


    Quill used a touch of [Earth Maniption] to keep the ground near Torch stable, but when the projectile exploded and rocked the ground like a localized earthquake, he took the opportunity to grab the assassin''s feet. They almost immediately broke his control over the ground with counter spells, but that was all the advantage Torch needed, as they were dead in moments. Ripped apart, her spear and shield were discarded in order to avoid damaging them further. Together, they turned to see Scoop standing in a barrenndscape of ice and snow.


    The other ice mages were just statues of ice and frost, but Scoop didnt seem to be done, as she had been spreading her ice to envelop the remaining assassins who had been assisting the mages. Still, Scoop was in bad shape, blood dripping from the dozen wounds she had taken while killing the opposing ice mages.


    The thought that they might have fought this fight without Scoop was a daunting one. Torch and he would have had to expose far too much of their real abilities, probably all of their skills, if they had needed to fight a dozen ice mages on their own. They were already all too close to revealing their true identities, and worse than the publicity and assassination attempts that would bring, it would be a loss for them personally. He didnt even want to <em>think</em> about what Luna might do if they failed in that mission.


    Before he could do more than start casting healing spells, the opaque barrier that was locking down space vanished, and a familiar dragon rose out of the ground like it was water. The dirt falling off L seemed to turn to sand in midair.


    Her draconic face was distorted by a wide smile as L wiggled out the rest of the way. Stretching her neck, she observed the fight andughed.


    How was it? Your first real attempt on your life? Exhrating, isn''t it? I still remember my first serious assassination; they took off one of my wings and tail. I took their lives, so really, it was a fair trade. Taught me to keep on my toes.


    The sand-colored dragon turned to Quill as she snorted, And taught me to trust my instincts when something is wrong. Did you even notice that the bodies all had a hidden hand? Tsking, the older Ascender slipped into a lecture that could have been given by Luna herself, and he was forced to remember that she had been through the same training.


    Ultimately, the lecture didntst long, as Lughed as she nosed through the loot. You kids made out well on this one. Your hoard grows! Two of the void arrows survived, and they sell for a polished mana stone. The swords would have sold for a medium fortune, but someone wanted to show off his special hand.


    Quill, in the meantime, healed his team the best he could before Torch took over after getting acknowledgment from Luna and L that they were obstructing the area, so no one could see her using blood healing. There was no reason to work so hard on keeping their identities secure during the fight to give up the gambit to the other Great Powers while recovering.


    L did answer one question Quill had as she went through the loot like it was her own. These assassins were good. They came inte, so we knew what they were doing, but I and the other Tier 40s were bored and wanted to see how you guys did. Won me a nice bit of loot with the bet. Ald bet a set of his ws that you two would need rescuing, so guess who will have a new ne?


    L poked the giant gem in her chest. Me, that''s who.


    She turned her massive head down at the three of them, who were still covered in blood. Drinks are on me!


    Opening his mouth, Quill was going to say they needed to get back to the patrol, but he realized he really could use a stiff drink. After confirming with the other two, he nodded his agreement.


    L loved to boast, so he wondered what she would think about some of the whisky he had bought at the Capital.


    But first thing first, he needed to sit down. He had ruptured two discs in his back and needed to relieve that pressure while his body healed.

 Chapter 268

    Chapter 268


    Quill would have been happy recuperating with L for a few days; the older Ascender was endlessly entertaining, but that just wasnt possible. There were too many calls for help for them to ignore, and they had a job to do. So, with most of their wounds healed, they headed out under the grin of the dragon who hadnt bothered to transform into her human form. He was pretty sure that was a test in and of itself, one he thought they passed, but just getting some healing cooldown wasnt a reason not to ck off. No matter how much they wanted it to be.


    Thankfully, they had another two days until the end of the first week, when the clearing of the monsters would end. He was also grateful that the other Great Powers had mostly stopped their incursions into Empire territory.


    Quill had no doubt that their Tier 40s had gotten a good eyeful during the fight and sent the order down not to push their side anymore.


    Quill clenched his fist at that realization as he had a few of his own.-


    L might have been smiling at them for returning to the field when it wasnt really needed, being rather proud that they hadnt cked off. The dragon took enjoyment in the oddest things, so it could be any number of motives that he hadnt thought of


    Most importantly, he realized that if his conjecture of the other Great Powers reining their people in after seeing their power was true, they had just performed their first act of deterrence.


    That was monumental.


    Sharing his spections with the others earned a thoughtful look from Torch, but Scoop started dancing a little in excitement of all their hard working to fruition.


    She even had some insight into her Intent after the fight, and she spent some time refining her Anchor, attempting to integrate it with her bloodline.


    Quill was genuinely happy for her, but distracted in his own right.


    His own Intent was incredibly content with his role in the past few weeks, and he felt that he finally had a good foundation for it all. He wanted, <em>needed</em> really, to be at the center of things. He wasnt going to be a passive observer in his own life, he would be the agent of change which other people needed to adapt for. Be it on the battlefield as a tank, in the backlines providing mana, as an Ascender turning the tide of war, or as amander leading troops <em>He</em> was the master of his own destiny, and he would ept nothing less.


    He was Peerless, Dauntless, Unstoppable, Immovable, Stubborn, Independent, <em>Unchained</em><em></em>he made strides on his Phrase, but he still didnt have an actually good phrase to <em>use</em>. He couldnt figure out what word fit best, but Luna assured him that it woulde in time.


    The next two days for them were more of the same, but like he had realized before, the other Great Powers were no longer pushing them, leaving them little to do.


    Quill took the opportunity to fly high into the sky and just watch the stars.


    It started as a way for him to get into a meditative ce, but instead of doing anything productive, he justid on his sword and watched the stars twinkle, gxies swirl, nebe drift, and a thousand other celestial phenomena move through their normal cycles. No one was sure if this world was in its own universe, or somewhere in an already settled universe, and Quill didnt really care. The sky was beautiful, regardless of anything else.


    He found it easy to insert his whiteholes into the cosmic tapestry and wondered what kinds of life would flourish near so much energy. Possibly none, which was an interesting thought. A real white hole, if it truly <em>was</em> the opposite of a ck hole, would spew out so much cosmic radiation that nothing would be able to survive the earliest stages of life. But his own white hole expelled mana, which was harmless to life. It was, after all, created by all life, even if only in the smallest quantities before one awakened.


    His white hole could very well support life, which was an interesting thought. How would a civilization that had ess to the limitless energy function? What would their society look like? Would they be wasteful thanks to the excess, or would they evolve beyond that and instead use the energy for the good of those around them? He had pictures of benevolent aliens spread out through the universe and spreading their technology to other races who were behind the technological curve. Before too long, even that image faded into nothingness, and he just enjoyed the view.


    He was thinking about how the skies would look in a few million years and how suns without essence would slowly die when he got a ping on hismand channel.


    It was time to return.


    The tournament part of this little excursion was about to start.


    Dropping back into thes atmosphere, Quill red the mana he was sending to the flying sword, increasing his speed as he arrived at the designated location.


    The Tier 40s had chosen the location roughly in the middle of their bases, but Quill had to admit it was a good location in and of itself. Just a few miles from a newer-looking mountain range, its edges not worn smooth from weather and erosion, there was argeke surrounded by trees. Farther out was arge grasnd that stretched out for as far as anyone could see. It was a pretty area that was sure to be pulverized into an unrecognizable mess before the''s fate was decided.


    Flying down, he found L standing on the ground, her wings fully extended and lightly moving back and forth. Her scales were glimmering with water, which told him she had decided to take a dip in theke and wondered if she found anything interesting down there. While she might have just wanted a bath, Quill suspected she found and grabbed something the others had missed.


    The t looks of the other Tier 40s only reinforced that idea, and he had to wonder if L had gotten a double or triple dose of the dragon''s tendency to hoard things.


    Her draconic grin told him she both knew what he was thinking and found it funny.


    Landing next to her, he nodded to Torch and Scoop, who had arrived with L. Others were flowing in, but it seemed the Tier 40s didnt care enough to bring most of their people, letting them trickle in from the rest of the continent. They, like L, did seem to care enough to bring anyone but the elites of their factions though.


    Seasadh and her team stood behind the dwarven Tier 40, and Quill nodded to them in recognition, seeing Seasadh was staring at him. Her gaze didnt seem hostile, and he wondered where the fire he had seen in her had gone. Gazing into her eyes, he realized her fire hadnt been snuffed out, it was simply banked, waiting for the proper opportunity to show its heat to the world.


    Letting his mask grin, Quill sauntered out into the center area that everyone had been avoiding.


    Torch and Scoop quickly caught up with him, but Quill was already looking at the Monster Collectives area and looked at their elites.


    While they hadnt met up during the border skirmishes, Quill had read through the reports of them.


    Apparently, the Monster Collective had not one but <em>two</em> Chimeras in the right Tier range, same test batch if the rumors were true. Liz had gotten obsessed with the idea of forcibly merging bloodlines some time ago, and hed gotten a crash course in the programs history as she spected how it worked. It was a genuinely awful history, and had been publicized in the wake of the Monsters Collectives war for independence as a prime example of the awful things the Federation had been doing to beasts.


    That just made it all the more surprising when the Monsters Collective <em>revived</em> the program with KarTan, the first chimera, at its head. But it was undeniably an effective way to get powerful and unusual bloodlines, and far faster than attempting to naturally develop hybrid bloodlines.


    It was rare, but when two beasts of different breeds had children, there was a fraction of a percentage that instead of the child having just one bloodline, the child got a mix of both bloodlines. Dragon turtles were one of the most famous and sessful who had created their own self sustaining bloodline. Most hybrids never established a proper poption before their bloodlines faded, which meant they needed to recreate the original breeding to have another specimen.


    Girang and Soddus were Tier 20 elites, well-established at their Tier and a fairly notorious duo known for being basically unstoppable and had been sitting at Tier 20 for well over a thousand years.


    Girang was some mix of bear and tiger, and from the records Matt had seen, he was absolutely <em>ferocious</em> in battle. Any wounds he took scabbed over into metal tes adapted to defend against whatever had injured him, and he was capable of vanishing into almost thin air despite his bulk though he rarely used thatst power for some reason.


    He spent most of his time appearing like a normal brown bear not too much taller than Matt and he was in that form currently. He had fairly dark brown fur, and wore a fairly jovial expression as he waved to them with a nimble paw, then meandered over to greet them.


    Soddus strode beside him, a white-skinned man with a literal mane of red hair and cloaked in the wings he kept even in human form. Like most unicorns, it was actively difficult to hate him, their bloodlines resistance to poison and curses somehow including targeted anger in its effects. His other half was <em>phoenix</em>, and was touted as one of the greatest sesses of the Chimera program thanks to his ability to apply his phoenix rebirth to <em>other people, </em>returning the actively-dying to the pinnacle of health. It had to have some limits, but nobody was quite certain what they were, and despite the Empire''s best information gathering efforts, the limit was still hazy. With his presence, a squad of soldiers were transformed into a nigh-unkible death machine, but when paired with Girang Quill didnt know how to counter that.


    He was like a small scale Melinda and Quill knew just how hard it could be to fight any team with her.


    Taking out Soddus first would be an absolute necessity, but that was hardly an easy task unto itself. Empire intel thought it likely that the Chimera could only revive people once, which likely indicated that was how many times he could revive himself, but the man was practically immortal, with an upgraded [Regeneration] and more ensuring that he wasnt even limited by normal healing limits. It was <em>possible</em> that the healers revives only worked on other people and not himself, as nobody had ever seen the phoenix reviving himself, but that was far from certain.


    Given that the duo had the cultivation <em>advantage</em> at peak Tier 20, and the fact there were two of them, Quill didnt like their odds, especially not after their fight with Seasaidh.


    But at the same time, that just made their inevitable fight all the more exciting.


    A <em>peer</em> who would threaten them in their masked forms and possibly their real identities.


    How wondrous.


    Slowing his pace down a little, Quill ensured all three sides arrived at the center together.


    Letting his mask grin at Seasadh, he said, Well, fancy seeing you up and about. Last time I saw you, you were looking a little extinguished.


    Seasadh snorted and spoke in the nsnguage, but followed Quill''s lead of sending a trantion to his [AI]; it was just polite after all.


    That was a dirty trick to try and sneak in. You three went for the kill even when I didnt. Something I noticed you didnt do against the Monster Collective. Do you have some grudge against the ns?


    Quill was internally surprised that Seasadh admitted that outright, but didnt let it show. Well, the team before you, the one we assumed you had sent, was killing. Set the tone and all that.


    Before Seasadh could respond, Soddus interjected as he sauntered over to Torch. Its so nice to meet a fellow phoenix! I greet you, mistress of the mes, it is truly a pleasure.


    The chimera bowed, spreading his hands and wings in what Quill recognized as an exuberant Collective greeting, and Matt raised an eyebrow. There was nothing indicating Torch was a phoenix, not even through innate bloodline sensing. That had been a very deliberate part of their masks, as confirming Torch was a phoenix was practically admitting that she was Liz, and as a result his partner had specifically avoided incorporating the normal tells phoenixes tended to include in their fire magic.


    The healer was fishing for a reaction, or just taking a random guess as there was no way he pierced her mask, but Quill didnt know which.


    Or maybe just hoping? Given how Girang was nkly staring off into the distance, it could have just been amon refrain.


    Torch, of course, didnt return the same greeting, instead providing a small nod without a word.


    Instead of taking the rejection harshly, Soddus chuckled as he stood back up. Well, it seems rumors are true, and you don''t talk much. He paused for a moment as if giving Torch an opportunity to interject, but continued on when it was clear she wouldn''t. Still, most wonderful to meet a cousin. Not many of us left in my neck of the woods after the Fuddies ground us up for healing potions, after all.


    But enough about that! That was quite the show there, fending off those assassins. You three did good! Id have almost fallen for it myself if not for Girang here spotting it, he patted the bear with a wing.


    Girang spoke up, his voice growly but still fully understandable, Interesting hand youve got there. Iron fist? Spiritual Gauntlet? Stygian Gossamer?


    Considering it had been a public purchase, Quill didnt bother hiding the truth, looking at the back of his hand as he flexed it. Thetter. Fantastic item, its been <em>handy</em> many times. Any experience with something simr?


    Girang returned a toothy smile, each fang the size of a finger. Youll just have to find out in our fight.


    There was ack of hostility in thement, so Quill justughed back. What a speedy proposition. But first, we need to fight our way through the rest of the fodder before we encounter each other. Who knows, there might be a full team with Intents hidden among the people here.


    Instead of agreement like he suspected to receive, Seasadh simply looked at the other two like he had missed something obvious.


    Thankfully, the dwarf was feeling in a sharing mood and exined, We might encounter them depending on the setup of this battle, but do they really matter?


    Quill let his mask form raise an eyebrow, to which she borated, Even a team who formed their Intent at Tier 22 means little to the Great Powers. Us, on the other hand, elites in our own rights who can fight up several Tiers, are the realpetition. Nodding at the three of them, she gestured to L behind them where the others from the Empire gathered. From what Viralira said, the Empire was going to back out if the three of you hadnt just reached Tier 20 in time. Elites are the only thing that matters in the grand scheme of things. The rest are just spell fodder. Who takes this will end up being determined out of our three groups.


    Quill wanted to disagree, but knew there was a kernel of truth in the statement. As was evident by the ongoing war, just having more general troops wasnt enough to deter another Great Power from attacking. More Ascenders might not be the solution, but it was an answer. With another set or two of Ascenders, no one would dare confront the Empire.


    Nodding, Quill didnt agree with Seasadh. Thank you for the lesson.


    A shadow passed over them, and Quill felt L materialize behind them, along with the other two Tier 40s standing behind their representatives.


    L was the one who spoke up, though. Shes not wrong, but she''s also not entirely correct. Elites and Ascenders, in their many vors, cant do everything themselves. There is information to be gathered by testing each other''s average people. Tests of morale.


    The dwarf Tier 40 added. Mettle.


    The Tier 40 bear finished up. Courage.


    L nodded as she kept speaking. So while you are correct little dwarf, don''t overlook those you believe who are weaker than you. It''s a good way to die.


    Seasadh opened her mouth to rebut L, but her Tier 40 put a hand on the Tier 19''s shoulder. Do you really think you can fight through all the contestants here? All of them? All at once? Thousands of Tier 22s?


    Seasadh grit her teeth and tried to defend her position. I could if I burn hot enough. Giving up before the fight even starts isn''t an answer either.


    Lughed as she turned away and talked over her shoulder. Let''s go with a war configuration. Our kids will act as generals and elites. Let the girl put her mace where her mouth is.


    Quill expected that to be the end of the conversation, but the other two overseers snorted in unison and red at him.


    Ald, the Monster Collective Tier 40, spoke first. Not a chance we let our people fight en masse. We all saw what the kid could pull out of his ass with talismans in the fight with the Morning Star. We arent going to allow all of our people to get fried before they can get close. No, I propose singlebat to death or surrender.


    Viralira shook her head as well. No, let us have teams fight. No more than seven, but no outside interference.


    L froze as the other two rebutted her suggestion and turned back around her draconic footsteps, causing the ground to shake. I say we fight like it''s real. Siege down forts and let the kids use tactics like a real fight. Show leadership andmand over disparate peoples.


    Viralira rebutted L, but spoke so fast Quill couldnt hear more than a mosquito''s squeak.


    He watched on as the three argued, but they only seemed to settle into their argument, with L and Ald both sitting down while Viralira used her hammer like a cane and pointer.


    Seeing this was going tost a while, Quill pulled out a chair and sat down before pulling out a beer. L had told the three of them they should try and create good rtions if possible, and few people would pass up the opportunity for free beer and gossip.


    Soddus immediately walked over, even as Torch and Scoop were sitting down, so Quill tossed him a beer as well.


    That seemed to signal something to Girang, who joined them, his massive paws making easy work with the twist top by virtue of slicing right through the ss.


    Seasadh hesitated, but eventually flopped down next to Scoop, closing the circle.


    Sipping the beer as if he might have tampered with it, she gave a pleasantly surprised expression as she took a deeper swig. This is surprisingly good. I didnt know the Empire had anything to drink but wine.


    Quill shrugged. Next round is on you, though. I will have to say that our wine <em>is</em> good. Theres a reason it''s exported in such high volumes.


    Girang chuffed. Ha, if you think this is good, you need to try a proper beasts beer. Next to his paw, an oversized case of beer appeared. Root Beer is the best off-the-shelf stuff you can get your ws on.


    Soddus snorted. I prefer the lighter drinks. That shit is so dark, it might as well be used as a stain for woodworking. He pointed the bottle Quill had given him at the trio of Tier 40s. How long do you think they will argue?


    Torch snorted but Scoop answered, Probably when thest person arrives. Then, they will be forced toe to a decision. I bet L will win out.


    Torch nodded. Strong.


    Quill kicked his feet up on a bit of stone he grew out of the ground. Damn right, she is. And a full-on war will be fun. I definitely don''t have anything prepared for that.


    Contrary to what the others might have thought, he wasnt lying. He really didnt have any purpose-built anti-army talisman arrays. He had things that would do in a pinch, but nothing built around the idea of taking out armies.


    Girang and Seasadh both snorted before looking at each other andughing.


    In the end, Scoops suggestion about a resolutioning with thest arrival proved correct. But contrary to what she expected, the ns ended up getting their way with team-based fighting, though not in the method they wanted.


    Instead of brackets, L had fought for and gotten the general fights to act more like king of the hill.


    Anyone could enter the metaphorical ring; everywhere on the continent was the ring, and anyone could challenge them. When no one was willing to challenge the final person in the ring, their side would be deemed to be the winner, and their side would be given the first chance to send in another team.


    Quill was sure it would end up between the three of them and any teams who had Intents, but thankfully, they got to watch the fights until the end, and he abused his [AI] and mana generation to track everyone and the spells they used, creating models to train against.


    The Empire did well. Surprisingly well, if he said so himself.


    At first, the fights were only the weakest of Tier 22 cultivators, who were robotic and stiff in their moments, clearly only used to fighting monsters in rifts with no issues. Some even openly relied on their [AI] predictions, which turned the fights deadly, as they didnt always realize how dangerous of a position they were in and died before they could surrender.


    Surrender that wasnt being enforced by the Tier 40s.


    In one of the first matches, Ald watched as the final member of a wolf squad was torn to pieces by a team of human n members. The humans had stated some grudge with the wolves, but no one had expected them to so ruthlessly kill or that they wouldnt be stopped.


    Despite the Tier 40s saying they wouldn''t interfere, and to only step up if one was confident, it was only after someone died that people really cut loose.


    It was there that Quill understood what L had said about morale and the lower-Tier cultivators having their own ce. Many times Quill was sure someone was going to lose when they pulled out some new skill, Talent, Domain, or item out of their ass to win the fight. And with the rewards the Tier 40s were giving to those who kept the spot and forced a reset, everyone was willing to throw themselves into the fray.


    When most everyone had fought, and there was a peak Tier 22 Monster Collective team standing firm after defending their position, the first person with an Intent came out.


    A n human came out to match the lone human from the Monster Collective, and Quill raised his eyes as he pondered the oddity before him. Two Great Powers with Dwarves, Beasts, and those with bloodlines as the ruling ss having a majority poption made up of humans was strange. The humans seemed like full members of society, and while that was true in the Monster Collective, who specifically made and enforcedws so that there was no difference between the two, the ns were different. Human ns were unable to join the ruling ns until there was an opening.


    He thought that might breed distrust, but the humans they had brought werent treated badly or discriminated against in any way; they were celebrated when they did well andmiserated with when they failed. Still, Quill couldnt help but wonder whether that was simply the nature of who they had chosen to bring along, or some lingering effect Hastor had left within his nation. The Sword Saint wasnt the first human Tier 50, but there hadnt been that many either.


    The n representative snorted as he took his ce. Hiding your Intent to beat the others isnt honorable or something to be proud of. If you hadnt tried something so sneaky, I would have let you im the position before taking the stage myself, but I can''t stand to see your smug face standing here anymore.


    The fact they were both humans didnt make the fight between the two any less fierce.


    The two sides shed and even burned down arge portion of the grasnds, but in the end, the n human won. Still, he was in turn taken down by an Empire team whose melee fighter had an Intent of his own. They didntst long though, with a team of three dwarves defeating them despite the fact none of them had a full Intent of their own, only pieces of one. But that had been enough for them to resist the fighters Domain and keep him from controlling the entire arena.


    The battle was still quite intense, with the trio slowly taking out the fighters team one by one, and only ganging up on the axe-wielder once all of his support was gone.


    They did allow him to leave when it was clear he had lost, which earned them a nod from the other team. It even allowed them to keep their lives when the next fight resulted in their getting smacked down by a team of five from the ns, all of them with at least partial Intents and one with a full,bat-oriented one.


    L mock whispered so that everyone could hear that it was impressive their Grand Praetorians were given leave to attend this little event in civilian clothes.


    The ns didnt seem bothered by it, and Viralira spoke just as loud, Highmand didnt approve of us sending active-duty troops for this mission, but they had enough leave saved up so they could take the trip. If anyone wants to question that fact, they are wee to.


    The way she gestured indicated that any questions would be answered by her hammer, so Quill wasnt surprised when no one did. It might even be the truth. The ns hadnt hidden the fact they had brought along an army unit; its soldiers had been average at best, with no one exceptional, so there didnt really seem to be a reason to think they were hiding anything.


    In the end, it came down to a Monster Collective team facing an unusually human-heavy n team. It consisted of a human man armed with a ck sword and four women supporting him which made them an odd sight. A dwarf archer, a lioness-blooded human brawler, a violet-haired human healer, and a rather disturbingly young-looking human ster made for an off group. He knew that being short was fashionable in the ns, but Quill still found it quite disturbing that <em>anyone</em> would choose to utilize their bodily control to look specifically like a twelve year old. Questionable personal choices aside, the team was undeniably effective, having put up quite a good show against their more monstrous opponents.


    As it seemed the Monster Collective would stand victorious, Quill, Scoop, and Torch met the gazes of Seasadh and her team and Girang and Soddus. The three of them sized each other up to see who would take down the final remaining team of Tier 22s.


    They were good, but Quill was fairly confident that he and Torch could take them out alone, so the addition of Scoop made him sure of victory. That, and the fact the team had just barely won theirst fight, ruing many injuries along the way.


    Seasadh and her team flew down and together made quick work of the other team. They put up a good effort, but the fresh Tier 19s, relying on their incredibly strong gear and Seasadh as the core of the team, crushed them in minutes.


    Quill was getting ready to go down for a round two with Seasadh, but before he and his team could move, Girang jumped down from where he floated by Ald and Soddus, who stood there as if he didnt intend to join the fight at all.


    Girang crashed into the ground, sending up a plume of dust as he changed from his bear form into his malleable form. Unlike most beasts, hed dedicated it not for daily life, where prehensile and dexterous hands were quite advantageous, but for the simple task ofbat.


    Both of his bloodlines were clearly on disy, but twisted and mutated into something that just barely couldnt be called an abomination. His well-kept fur had lightened and be coarser, almost metallic, ropey strands standing in sharp contrast to the pure ck tiger stripes gilding his body. Along his spine, dark, brassy metal spurs burst forth from beneath his hide, and even the lengthy tiger tail he wore ended with a de not dissimr to that of a ive, swishing back and forth menacingly. Wickedly curved ws bit into the ground, each the size of a chefs knife and just as sharp, if not sharper, than anything Quill had in his kitchen. His mouth was literally <em>full</em> of knife-like teeth, looking more like what might be seen on a shark than on a bear or tiger, and it opened far wider than it normally should.


    Girang pushed himself up onto all fours, rising to a full fifteen feet tall at his shoulder, then onto his hind legs and <strong>roared</strong>.


    A ping hit Quills AI, notifying him that surrendering while fighting Girang would, per the Chimeras request, result in an immediate evacuation from a Tier 40. There was also a small list of healers who had offered their services for his victims, and Quill noticed with a start that Soddus was included.


    The n team looked at Girang with no fear in their eyes, even as they readied their weapons forming up around Seasadh.


    Quill didnt know how this fight would end up, but he did know that it would be an epic battle, and he intended to watch every moment. Both so he could be better prepared to beat the winner, and also in case he could gleam something for his Intent out of the fight.


    Girang started the fight, rushing them with a quick cast of [sh Step] and with his paws and maw glowing with mana. His left paw swiped out and sent seven arcs of mana from a skill reminiscent of [Mana sh], and his right pawnded on the team''s defensive fighter manifestation shield.


    The shield manifestation shattered into motes of light under the blow, and while the arm it was attached to fell to the ground in five pieces, the rest of the man was sent flying backwards. That allowed him to survive the stomp that Girang followed up with, as the ground around him shattered into shards of stone that exploded outward, but cost the bear part of his paw as the shield vibrated before exploding right underneath him.


    Seasadh rushed in and hit the bear with a massive blow that reset the flow ofbat and gave her healer the time to heal the shield bearers missing limb before both of them rejoined the fight.


    It took a few minutes, an eternity at the speeds they were fighting, but eventually, the teams axe fighter made a positioning mistake getting too far away from the shield bearer. Girang had mmed the ground again and kicked a boulder right at her head, and she vanished right before a chunk of stone would have decapitated her. The rest of the team wasnt so lucky, as they were rushed down by an angry Girang who bit through the axe fighters armor and tore her in half when he shook his head back and forth like a dog who had caught a rabbit.


    A barely-audible surrender saved her life, but not before her body was torn to pieces and most of the shreds exploded. She vanished, and Matt noticed that the body, barely recognizable as human, was already off to the side being tended to by Soddus and a ns healer Matt didnt know.


    The healer fared little better, a contemptuous swipe of Girangs elongated tail cutting through the [Fire Bolt] she had fired, then the shield, and the woman herself.


    Her head and left shoulder quickly found themselves under Soddus care.


    That left Seasadh to stand alone against the peak Tier 20 but despite her best efforts ten minutester she too was pulled out of the battlefield.


    When Girang saw there was no one else to fight, he stood on his hind legs and roared out a challenge, looking right towards them.


    A challenge Quill, Torch, and Scoop were happy to meet.

 Chapter 269

    Chapter 269


    Quill looked out at Girang and let his mask smile back at the massive bear, even as mana stone dust fell around him from his rapid recharging of his mana pool. Off to the side, Soddus handed off the fighters he had been tending to and dove into the fray. Golden mes enveloped the Chimeras body, and when they faded, hed been reced with a brilliant winged unicorn. He looked mostly normal, with white-silver fur, an ivory horn, and a golden mane, but the mane had a reddish tinge towards the tips, and a pair of brilliant scarlet wings twice as long as Quill was tall spread out like those of a pegasus.


    Neither he nor Girang wore much in the way of overt armor, but Soddus was d in some lightweight barding that shone intensely under Quills mana sight, glimmering with a tapestry of various enchantments. They didnt look as though they provided much protection, but looks could be very deceiving.


    The Chimera skidded to a stop next to his teammate, returning to his humanoid form, wings spread to reveal a well-muscled but shirtless chest. With a twirl of his wrist, Soddus summoned a brass staff topped with a ss cylinder filled with a faintly green liquid,plete with a corresponding cylinder at the bottom filled with a red fluid.


    As the two sides locked gazes for a long moment, there was a tension building, a question of who would strike first. In the end, it was almost a tie.


    Almost.


    Quill was powering his speed enhancements, and the moment he saw Girangs muscles begin to tense, he triggered a talisman and took to the air, leaving a trail of mes in the wake of his flying de. Torch easily took over the resulting me despite Soddus efforts to deprive her of them. Unlike with Seasidh, the chimera was ultimately a support healer who dabbled in mes, not a practiced pyromancer that was even close to match against Torchs speciality.


    Those mes embraced the warrior as she leaped up, avoiding Girangs headlong charge by dashing up the bear-tigers back, just barely avoiding the spikes jutting from his spine. At the peak of her run, she thrust downwards, enhancing her spear-strike with mes and using the momentum provided to leap skyward. The attack left a small scorch mark on the chimeras hide, but that was already beginning to fade.


    Quill took advantage of Girangs momentary distraction to activate an [Earth Lance] talisman, only to bepletely stymied. Whatever Girang or Soddus was doing locked down the earth to a rare degree, and while Quill probably could overpower it, it would be inadvisably difficult.


    Instead, he changed tactics. Scoop was already working her magic and slowly making the battlefield colder, and Quill took advantage of her [Frost] to further empower a [Hail] directed head-on for Girang.


    It didnt slow the chimera too much, but it <em>did</em> leave enough ice on his fur that Scoops [Ice Maniption] could take hold of him, growing a few chunks of ice into a swooping design of frost reaching towards the mans joints.


    To say that they had it <em>handled</em> would do a disservice to their opponents, but Quill turned his attention instead to Soddus, his flying sword enabling him to close the distance in the blink of an eye. A pair of explosions served as cover, and a st of energy aimed at the phoenixs chest forced him to pull into a dive, only to change back into his winged pegasus form and swoop back up with his horn alight with golden mes.


    It was Quills turn to dodge, as the radiant fire swept through where he had been just a moment before, but instead of carrying on into the distance, it banked sharply and began to chase him down.


    As Quill continued to dodge the chasing column of fire as it resolved into more and more of a serpentine appearance, he frowned as he realized the spell wasnt ending. Instead, Soddus continued his headlong charge, golden fire still pouring out of his horn and simply lengthening the golden snake. It was already dozens of meters long and showed no sign of slowing, but it was <em>just</em> faster than him and kept gaining ground.


    Just before it was about to reach him, Quill stowed his flying sword and allowed his [Air Maniption] to carry him on a stiff breeze, instantly changing his direction once, twice, and three times. His flying sword came back out, and he flew directly at Soddus as fast as he could, charging his shoulder with a set of attack spells on the way. In response, the phoenix changed shape once again, this time to a sparrow-sized phoenix right as Quill was about to barrel into his side.


    Quill frowned and allowed his preparatory spells to dissipate, but didnt have enough time to properly ponder thetest development, as while the healer was no longer generating the fire-snake, neither had the spell vanished. He put on another burst of speed, kneeling close to his flying sword and flying in tight a corkscrew to avoid a small flock of summoned phoenixes that had joined his pursuit.


    The fire-snake caught back up with him thanks to the loss of speed from his maneuvering, and Quill used a shield talisman to slow its advance just long enough for him to make it within range of Scoop and Torch. The formers constant [Dispelling Winds] tore the flock of phoenixes to shreds, and thetter seized control of the fire-snake with an acrobatic twirl. Quill could tell it was difficult for his partner, but she kept a tight grip on the attack long enough to m it into Girangs headlong charge.


    To the chimeras credit, it didnt stop his momentum, and Quill couldnt help but flinch as fur, then hide, and even a bit of muscle was burned away in the blink of an eye. In the next moment, it had been reced by a wicked-looking set of bronze metal tes that gave the impression of an armored helm. Torch took the opportunity provided, siphoning off a bit of the golden mes to enhance her next attack, scoring a line along the bears shoulder as it passed her by. It scabbed over into bronze as well, but by then Quill needed to return his attention to Soddus.


    The unicorn hadnt been idle, and had returned to his humanoid form to cloak himself with a golden aura. The mans long red hair had likewise turned golden and was standing straight on end, as though blown by a strong wind from below. He swept his staff through space as the glow reached its apex, unleashing a barrage of projectiles at Quill. After he dodged the first few, Quill realized they werent even aimed at him, and were instead multiple buff spells aimed at <em>Girang</em>. After that, he intentionally sought to intercept the buffs only for them to actually be harmful.


    The first one caused his shoulder to clench up, the second scored a dent in his armor, while the third momentarily blocked his ability to power any magical devices. [Lesser Regeneration] cleared up the first, the second didnt matter, and the third onlysted a few moments before he blew past whatever magical means was trying to stop his mana from leaving his body. Though, that was still long enough for his flying sword to tumble from the sky. Quill pulsed [Air Maniption], staying airborne and recalling his sword to his hand in a single motion. It did interrupt his ability to intercept Soddus buffs though, not that he had been aplishing much there, so he sent a [Fire Bolt] at the man.


    It was aggravating how he couldnt tell how dangerous the projectiles were, or if they were meant to heal or harm, before they met their target. But that just meant he needed to keep Soddus firmly on the defensive, while Scoop and Torch took on Girang.


    Fortunately, Scoop was able to intercept and strip many of Girangs buffs as theynded, but she couldnt stop them all. The tiger, currently with wisps of wind trailing by his side, was only getting faster and stronger the longer the battle went on.


    Quill reactivated his flying sword, this time enhancing its flight with [Air Maniption], and used a mobile [Mana Barrier] talisman as a shield, blocking almost all of Soddus projectiles, be they buffs or attacks. As the healer prepared to dodge, Quill activated a fairly powerful talisman and locked both of them within a cage made of solid lightning. Locking down space prevented teleportation, and Quill was finally able to score a solid hit on the phoenix as he rammed his flying sword straight through the mans bare chest.


    Soddus hadnded his own blow, and with a single massively-buffed strike with his staff, Quill was sent flying nearly into his own lightning barrier, and had to utilize a [Wind Burst] talisman to prevent just that. Despite the de sticking out of his chest, Soddus merely smirked and went to pull out the sword. The smirk turned into a frown as the hilt came away from the de, and Quill raised a [Bulwark] as the enchanted de exploded, turning the world white for a moment.


    ***


    Aid watched as Quills strike blew Soddus in half. It was an impressive maneuver, and it was rare that someone managed to reach melee range of the chimera within the first few exchanges. Despite neither of the boys bloodlines being particrly well-suited for speedy maneuvering, he possessed substantial skill in switching between his forms to avoid most engagements, and hed personally seen Soddus kite opponents two tiers stronger than him for an entire fight.


    Soddus body was already regrowing, of course. The attack, while strong enough to destroy the cage Quill had trapped the two of them in, was far from sufficient to score anysting damage on the chimera. It did send them each flying, and Girang pounced on Quill before he could return to harassing Soddus. He set up an entrapping arena of continental mana around them preventing either Torch or Quill from interfering with the regenerating healer.


    Quill dodged Girangs first blow with almost absurd ease, casually backflipping over an attack he wasnt even facing and unloading a barrage of energy darts into the back of the Mountain Bears paw. Quill hadnt moved with nearly that much speed during the assassination attempt, and Aid couldnt help but wonder whether the Pather was pushing himself to an unsustainable degree now or if hed been holding back that much before.


    It was frustrating to gauge the normal strength of alchemists, whose power came predominantly from the amount of time and funding they had <em>between</em> battles, and he was learning the same applied to talisman users. Aid couldnt tell whether Quill was utilizing stronger buffing talismans than before, or if he was closer to a de mage, and was burning through resources to enhance his warriors physique.


    If it were thetter, then this duo <em>genuinely</em> had the potential to be yet another set of Alphas for the Empire. It was unclear what Torch was hiding, but the appearance of Scoop had lead many to believe that the ice mage was simply another persona of Torchs; a permanently manifested clone of some form with sleight of hand involved in casting spells. Aid wasnt certain if he bought into that theory, but it did make a certain level of sense.


    Regardless, the trio was <em>very</em> good. Too good. Between Waters, Light, Shadow, and now them, the Empire had clearly found some method of mass-producing Alphas. That changed things, and the Monster Collective would need to pick a side in the ensuing conflict.


    Assuming, of course, it wasnt simply an illusion. If Girang and Soddus could crush them here and now, their story would end, and the bnce of power could proceed as normal.


    It would be far simpler in that case.


    It might also be the time to pull down another Great Power who was getting too far ahead of the others.


    ***


    Girangs tail whipped around at blistering speeds, sharpening the very air and light it passed through into deadly des, a veritable blender of turbulence preventing any sort of easy dodge. Scoop came to Quills rescue, her own flurry of wind arcing over the mountain of muscle and metal to carry away the skill. It fought her, but she was still able to open arge enough passage that Quill could do the rest of the job, thanks to overpowered air and shadow defensive talismans absorbing those des which sought to rend him to pieces.


    The tail itself mmed into the ground, pinned there by a maic trap hed left where hed been standing, and Quill took the opportunity it opened to dart underneath the monstrous chimera, a potent st of solid radiance striking the tigers underside in perfect unison with Torchs attack. The twobined to pierce deeply into their foes hide, and the barrier he was sustaining flickered.


    Scoop rushed to escape the arena Girang had trapped them in, and it closed <em>just</em> slow enough for her to properly split off. Off to the side, Soddus was most of the way through regrowing his legs, bone and muscle knitting together like a particrly bloody braid. Scoop flew to try and interfere with the healers recovery, but wasnt able to fully stop the unicorn from firing off a few spells to empower and heal Girang, the buffs passing straight through thetters shield as though it wasnt even there.


    One of those buffs struck Girang just as Torch wrenched her spear out of his hide, but instead of closing the wound directly, it suffused the blood that spilled from the injury as it instantly clotted and hardened into a golden patch of armor. The chimera was utterly covered in those metallic scabs, ranging from nearly-ck to radiant white in color, and half of them were covered in spikes to make it that much harder to score a proper hit on him. Still, it was the <em>other</em> half which Soddus had empowered, his spells forming a temporary enchantment unique to each former wound.


    Then, Girang vanished.


    Quills iing firest passed straight through where the hulking chimera had been standing mere moments earlier, and he quickly repositioned to stand back-to-back with Torch. So far, as his spells and spiritual senses could discern, he was suddenly in the middle of a solid sphere of iron, no sign of Girang anywhere.


    Quills senses werent fully obscured, and he sensed danger iing with just enough time to throw up a force barrier. Instead of being minced, he and Torch went flying at breakneck speed, their spherical shield bouncing off their entrapping cage like a pinball. Girang remained invisible, but a few more strikes came from the unseen chimera, sending them careening through their personal arena at ludicrous speeds. There was no discernable pattern, but Quill was getting slightly better at predicting the attacks just before theynded.


    Right before one was about to strike them, he overloaded his shield, turning it into a st of energy, relocating himself and Torch to either side of the menacing w and forcing Girang back into visibility.


    A well-timed healing spell from Soddus meant the wound was already forming into a metal scab, wickedly sharp and incredibly tough. But at least Scoop was keeping the healer busy enough that it wasnt also enchanted.


    An enormous wave of ice, stone, and metal swept out from Quillstest talisman, and while Girang was barely slowed by the cold and tore through the stone and metal like paper, it gave Quill <em>plenty</em> of material to work with as he took over Scoops role, restraining Girang as much as possible while Torch charged up a massive blow. mes swirled in her wake as she ran at a blistering speed, gathering momentum and fire, until she crashed down upon the chimera with a full [Tidal Wave] of pure fire.


    The resulting collision knocked most of Girangs metal scabs clean off his wiry hide, but that barely even slowed the chimera down. Instead of tes of armor, they became flying projectiles under his mental control, intelligent shrapnel that sought to tear him and Torch to shreds. It took most of their concentration to simply dodge the maelstrom of scrap metal, but with the shards separated from Girangs body, they had lost much of their innate durability, to the point where Quill could manage to destroy them with a lucky hit.


    Soddus spells were stilling, but Scoop had gotten proficient at blocking them. Unfortunately, Soddus seemed to bepensating by making what buffs didnd that much more potent, and with each spell, Girang got just that much stronger and that much faster. Any traces of slowness or fatigue werepletely washed away.


    They werent winning.


    But they werent losing.


    Girang and Soddus may have been unstoppable, but they couldnt keep this up forever. But he, Torch, and Scoop <em>could</em>. He was Endless, and he would prove it.


    He saw an opening and took it, a [Lightning Torrent] flooding Girang and inflicting the chimera with a few muscle spasms. Torch brought her own expertise to bear, her spear mming halfway into the tigers shoulder. She withdrew her spear a momentter, and before the wound had a chance to seal up, Quill unleashed a full-power [Cracked Mana Spear] into the injury.


    Girang roared, and charged directly at Quill, heedless of the beam tearing into his flesh. Fur burned and blood flowed, metal tes threatening to scab over yet being obliterated before they could properly manifest. It was boiled off at first, then what few chips appeared were blown off by an unseen wind, then stayed in ce. The coagting mass of metal scabs grew more and more, connecting into a solid pauldron of metal against which Quills ultimate attack was doing little more than polishing.


    Quill couldnt help but smile beneath his mask. His attack may have been nullified but Girang had dropped the arena skill hed trapped them in as a result. He pulled a war hammer from storage and leaped into the air alongside Torch, joining Scoop in her battle against Soddus.


    ***


    Torch jetted through the air, mes shooting from her flying anklets while she aided her maneuverability with [Blood Maniption].


    In an ideal case, she wouldnt need to push that hard, but they <em>needed</em> to take out Soddus. The mans buffs made Girang utterly unstoppable, and it was only thanks to Scoops countermagic efforts that theyd done as well as they had. But they hadnt even pushed the duo to utilize their biggest cards, and she absolutely did not want to have to beat Girang <em>twice</em>. Once was proving hard enough.


    Shended lightly on the ground and charged at Soddus, raising her spear and shield until that was all the unicorn could see of her. Scoop had managed to ground the chimera, and he was currently in the form of a normal unicorn, brandishing his horn like a sword as he engaged Scoops [Pr Ray] elemental, an iridescent ck hummingbird.


    That didnt stop the healer from also firing off ance of golden light at her and Quill, but she intercepted the one aimed at her with her shield, allowing its mana to feed the force field around her. As cover, she summoned a small wave of fire, and when Soddus tried to rip control of it away from her, she didnt contest it.


    The phoenix tripped over his own [Fire Maniption], the mes stuttering a nearly-imperceptible amount, and Torch finished her <em>true</em> attack.


    The ground rippled around her, and she fired off an [Earth Lance] of actual stone. Soddus wasnt able to dodge quite fast enough, and the attack took him in the nk before he transformed back into his miniature phoenix form, escaping the worst of the attack. He immediately needed to flee from the [Pr Ray] hummingbird, now farrger than him, but didnt make it very far before Scoops [Headwind] threw him to the ground once again. Hended in a roll, returning to his humanoid form, and wreathed his wings in me, wrapping them around himself for protection.


    Scoops elemental finally connected, and the hummingbirds beak stabbed into Soddus wing and drank deeply, draining away speed and forming a thin film of frost over the chimeras body.


    Then, it exploded, the frost faded away, and Soddus threw himself backwards to avoid Quills questing warhammer as it closed in on his head.


    Winding herself up with a spin, Torch threw her spear at where she knew the healer wouldnd after his dodgepleted, pushing herself to the absolute limit. She had Quills Concept, Scoops buffs, and so many enhancement potions in her system that she could taste colors all contributing to pushing herself beyond what the human body could truly take.


    The wood of the spear creaked as she threw it, as the weapon was much more of a mages staff innately than a warriors spear. She was d that Scoop was working on parting the air in front of it, because she needed her Concept dedicated to simply enhancing its durability. Unfortunately, halfway through its flight, Scoop needed to refocus to avoid a projectile from Girang, and the effect was immediately obvious. The space in front of the spear burst into sma frompressive heating, as it was going far faster than the speed of sound, but that only fed the mes around the weapon. It struck Soddus like a meteor, taking off a huge chunk of his shoulder and most of a wing before shooting off into the distance, leaving the flesh it tore off behind.


    Shed hoped to blow the mans chest entirely to shreds with that shot, but Soddus had managed to just barely dodge that oue. Unlike thest time, theydnded a solid blow on him, and a cocoon of golden light spilled from Soddus wounds. It burst into white mes and unveiled a brand-new, physically perfect shoulder and wing once again, just in time to block an overhead attack from Quill.


    The resulting shockwave drove Soddus calf-deep into the ground, and Quill rebounded back into the sky, where Girang pounced upon him. Scoops iing gust of wind separated the two fighters enough that Quill could leverage his warhammer once again, but Girang magically tethered the two of them together and charged away from Soddus.


    Soddus conjured a pair of silver-me doves and sent them fluttering towards the entwined duo, but Scoop flew in to divert them into the ground, where they exploded into twisting coils of solid smoke that began to hunt her down.


    That gave Torch enough time to close the distance to Soddus, withdrawing a spare spear from her storage. By the time Soddus had a chance to intercept her, she was already too close for a spell.


    Instead, he wreathed his staff in a red aura and mmed it down on her head, but Torch already had her shield raised to block the blow, her spear striking the center of his chest.


    Her left arm protested as she felt fractures running through her bones, but the shield had blocked arge portion of the armor piercing enchantments of the staff, reinforcing her bubble shield more with the absorbed mana. She held her bones in ce with [Blood Maniption], and even set some of her [Lifeblood Maniption] to start knitting it back together.


    Soddus tried to dodge her spear, but it was far toote for that.


    The spear splintered under the force of the attack, its enchantments giving way in an explosion of mana, but that didnt stop her and she pushed what remained of the haft clean through Soddus torso, forcing the man to stagger back.


    He skittered back from her with half her spear sticking out of his chest, which he grabbed and removed with a casual air, the wound slowly closing as she watched. This is more rough than my usual forey. I


    Torch ignored the man, opting to instead continue knitting her bones up and calling her normal spear back to hand, [Return Weapon] reaching to wherever it hadnded and teleporting it to where it belonged. Without a wasted moment, she continued her pursuit of the healer, forcing him to cut out mid-banter.


    Soddus rolled out of the way, keeping one hand pressed against his newest wound and snapping his staff with the other while a dozen spells flew from its end. Half were instantly torn to shreds by Scoops [Dispelling Wind], half again were blown off-course and exploded against the ground, and one was blocked by a [Mana Barrier] from Quill. But the final twonded on Girang and rippled red and blue light across the mountain of fur and metal. It washed away a patch of frost and closed up thest injury Quill had made, recing it with a white scab of metal that radiated honor. Scoop joined Torchs side a momentter, and her winds kept Soddus stuck on the ground while Torch struck with her spear again and again.


    Each attack onlysted for a few moments, but they still drained his mana, as Soddus didnt have Quills Concept to keep him at nearly full mana. Instead, he was burning through mana stones like dry grass, casting dozens of skills per second. No doubt, the phoenix thought this must have been their final push, a ploy of desperation before they copsed from exhaustion


    But they were just getting <em>started</em>.


    Quill broke free from fighting Girang and sted a hole through Soddus back, and Torch tried to capitalize on the opportunity that afforded to spear the mans neck, but a flying shard of metal intercepted her attack. A second one nearly tore through her side, and she had to teleport away from Soddus to avoid it.


    A st of fire forced Scoop to step back, and Soddus changed back into his phoenix form, darting off to meet Girang. Scoop knocked him from the sky, but not before the birdnded on Girangs uppermost spike. A wave of fire engulfed the bear-tiger, and he roared in triumph.


    Torch cursed. There went what little damage they had managed to deal to the chimera. Still, she refused to allow the maneuver to go unpunished. Soddus leaped off his partner and returned to his winged horse form, galloping away from the main melee.


    Quill engaged Girang, blocking the chimeras ferocious tail, and the ground exploded under her feet as she drove forward shield-first. She slid under Girangs mountainous form, and she sensed Scoop dispel an attempt at trapping the three of them within an arena with the bear. From there, Torch wreathed herself and her shield in mes as she closed the distance to Soddus.


    Her spear paired with a [Wind Lance] to take off Soddus equine jaw, and he recoiled back into his humanoid shape, still missing the lower third of his face. He sacrificed an arm to get a bit more room and free himself the ice-ribbons Scoop had bound him in.


    If Torch had ess to her blood magic, she could have pulled him back in to dish out more damage, but instead, she just pulled a b of stone out of the ground and mmed it into him. Soddus flew into the ground with an explosion of me, but instead of a phoenix''s revival, he bathed himself in sunlight that seemed to empower him as it traveled into his horn.


    Scoop took a st of the glowing silvery mes that carved right through her shields and cut through her chest, but still managed to drop an ice golem right behind Soddus in the perfect position to crush the healer.


    Expecting the golem to block Soddus in, Torch dove in with her spear leading the charge, but the moment the golem formed, it fell apart in a spray of light.


    Soddus turned and barely managed to resist being impaled, but lost arge chunk of his chest in the maneuver. Unicorn flesh mended itself in moments, but the healing was slowing down, especially as Scoop managed to push far enough to start dispelling his healing spells.


    Just as she was gathering mes to force Soddus into his phoenix form, where she had the beginnings of a trap nned, Torch felt a burst of familiar power behind her.


    ***


    Side-stepping a pair of swipes, Quill brought the war hammer up and around to catch Girang in the arm, cracking metal spikes and bone alike. He kicked Girang in the knee, but the bear started to glow silver and exploded in speed, even as bands of wind started to try and slow him down.


    Scoop''s [Headwind] elemental held back the first swipe long enough for Quill to dodge it, but he was too slow to react to the kick and was sent flying.


    Quill wrapped the winds around him, pulling his flight to a halt with [Air Maniption] and setting him back on the ground.


    Growling, Quill lifted his war hammer, and with an explosion of air and earth,unched himself at Girangs back. The bear must not have expected Quill to take the broken ribs so well, because he seemed genuinely caught off guard as Quill came back into the fight, and his counter-block was haphazard at best.


    Girang took a heavy blow to the back, which Quill could tell broke bones. But the bear had heavily modified his body, and instead of copsing, he turned and chomped down at Quill.


    He met the bite with his warhammer, but instead of breaking fangs and sending blood flying, the chimeras mouth full of teeth tore into the hammers head like it was soft fruit, destroying the weapon and practically swallowing the resultant detonation. Quill started in surprise. He knew just how hard hed swung, just how powerful those enchantments were, and he had <em>not</em> expected that.


    Had Girang enhanced the durability of his <em>teeth</em>?


    The chimera had known what Stygian Gossamer was, and Quill supposed it wasnt the craziest idea for anyone who fought with their body to make their weapons invincible, but it still caught him by surprise. But, given how his hammer had been torn through like soft cheese, it clearly was effective. That didnt mean he was one to be outdone.


    Flexing his physical boosting skills, Matt did something he rarely needed to do, and had been unable to do until recently. He activated reserve skills and Lizs potions. [Mana Strength], [Flexibility], and their ilk had been out of his reach for decades, but now he had mana to spare. It wasnt as bad as it <em>could</em> have been, but it still reduced his MPS by the same amount of mana hed reserved. So, locking ten thousand mana into [Embody Colossus] meant he was regenerating ten thousand fewer mana each second.


    But when he had a million to use, ten thousand was <em>nothing</em>.


    He triggered an armband, and a potion flooded his system. He called on his Concept, and repulsive force surrounded him like a second skin. [Brawlers Gauntlet] wreathed his fist in power, and he charged.


    Each source of strength didnt stack perfectly, but theybined well enough that his punch drove into Girangs body,


    There was a moment of calm as the fistnded, and Matt felt the battlefield sharpen for a moment as he saw Soddus red with light, fighting off Scoop and Torch in a desperate bid to help his partner.


    For that brief moment, he was the center of the battlefield, and it was <em>delicious</em>.


    Everything revolved around him.


    Flesh and metal fur pulped against the pugilist''s skill, and Matt followed it up with another two quick strikes. Each blow of the Tier 26 skill bypassed most physical defenses, and Matt had seen Tier 23 monsters outright explode from the force of simr attacks. If the chimeras magical defenses had been any less potent than his physical, that could have been the end of the fight then and there. Though if that had been the case, the fight would have ended long ago.


    He was going in for another flurry of blows when the ground flexed and tried to swallow him whole.


    Grinning, Matt threw 200,000 mana into [Earth Maniption] andmanded the ground to still.


    It did.


    Landing another punch, Girang finally was knocked off his paws, and Matt jumped after him,nding yet another blow before getting grabbed by the bear''s ws and brought up to Girangs mouth like a chew toy.


    Wounds were closing, Soddus fought desperately to keep his partner in fighting condition, and Matt simplyughed as Girang loomed over him, invincible fangs trying to rip his head off.


    Just as Girang chomped down on Matt, he stuck his invulnerable left hand in the bear''s mouth and cast [Cracked Mana Spear] at the maximum mana per second it could handle. And 150,000 MPS was a lot of mana for a skill that was clearing rifts with a <em>tenth</em> of that mana cost.


    The beam of mana mmed into the back of Girangs mouth, and Matt smiled as the bear tried to bite through his left hand to stop the skill. Matt watched with satisfaction as Girang realized that Matt would not be bowed, would not be broken. He stood, resolute in the literal mouth of adversity. Power coursed through Matts body, and he redoubled the force his Concept was putting out.


    Slowly, steadily, the jaws of death were forced open as mana leaked out revealing a charred mess within the bears mouth. The teeth and most of the mouth were still immacte, but a momentter the back of the bear''s head blew off as a beam of mana escaped the confines of his body leaving only a charred mess where the bears brain <em>should</em> have been.


    That he wasnt already dead surprised Matt. Either the tiger had specifically enhanced his brain with a treasureparable in strength to Stygian Gossamer, or hed reworked his entire nervous system to move or redistribute his brain elsewhere throughout his body. Either way, Matt was impressed. He didnt even know how one could aplish the former, and thetter was so difficult as to be widely considered not worth the effort. Or Soddus was preventing the death in some way.


    But brain or no, no body could handle the sheer destructive power he was putting out. Girang would die, it was only a question of how long he wouldst. His life was in Matts hand.


    A st of hot air washed over Matt, but he stood undaunted. As the gust turned into a hurricane, he stood strong. Then the hurricane turned into a winged horse wreathed in prismatic mes barreling into him, and he was thrown to the side. Soddus attack faded and Matt leaped back into the fray alongside a newly-arrived Torch and Scoop, but it was already toote. Girang was ame, and the fires coalesced into tes of brass, iron, gold, and more.


    The healer had arrived.


    Most infuriatingly, Matt hadnt even properly killed Girang. While he had no doubt that the bears healing cooldown would be immense, a phoenixs revival didnt care about that sort of thing. Given how Girangs wounds had been healed and his body had been augmented with a new suit of armor, he would need to practically or outright kill Girang twice more still.


    Matt summoned a short sword and shield from storage, swinging his de at Soddus, but the phoenix teleported away right before the blownded. It nged off Girangs armor-ted hide instead, sending out a ng of shrapnel where he struck.


    Matts [AI] lit up with warnings. Poison, apparently. He couldnt feel it, nor tell where it hade from but he poured mana into [Lesser Regeneration] tobat it. He cycled through his maniption skills to try and find it, and barely caught a glimpse of a dozen miniscule shards of metal embedded in his heart. Even that was tricky to see, as his [Metal Maniption] didnt seem to see it as properly <em>metal</em>.


    For a fifteen-foot-tall mountain of metal and muscle, Girang clearly knew how to be sneaky.


    [Cracked Mana Spear] returned, but Girangs armored form simply deflected it away. Even when he maneuvered himself to shoot it back into the chimeras face, it was reflected straight back at him thanks to the metal tes covering his body.


    That was annoying.


    His [AI] red him again about poison, and Matt upped how much mana he was putting into [Lesser Regeneration].


    If there was one good thing about Girangs new armor-ted form, it was far less mobile than before. He was still <em>blisteringly</em> fast for his size, but it was practically leisurelypared to what Matt had been dealing with. He could see attacksing well in advance, and quite easily dodge them. A forest of metal spikes erupted from the ground around them, and Matt frowned. They were spaced too close together for Girangs hulking form to fit between them. Was he nning on changing form to something <em>smaller?</em>


    Then the chimera vanished again.


    Matt felt the next attacking and dodged, only to be struck from behind, in a space notrge enough for Girang to properly fit. His armor stood up to the attack, but sustained heavy gashes, and Matt was sent flying into one of the des sticking up from the ground. He blocked the worst of it with his hand, but it still dented the front of his armor.


    His [AI] warned him about poison <em>again</em>, and Matt directed more mana to [Lesser Regeneration] trying to get ahead of whatever was on those shards.


    Then power built up from another impossible angle and Matt began to dodge. Then the attack manifested. [Wrath of Evorn] was a skill found only in a few Monster Collective rifts and named after their first Ascender. It was a breath-based attack with impressive homing capabilities and a truly devastating explosion. It was to [Fireball] what a volcano was to a candle, and it only grew in power the longer it flew.


    If it missed him, it would almost certainly strike Scoop and Torch.


    Matt moved back into its path, hand raised.


    ***


    Viralira looked down at Seasadh, letting the girl see it. She and her team were bitter at their double loss, but seeing Quill going toe to toe with Girang, who had just defeated her, had reawakened her fighting spirit.


    <em>Good</em>.


    An Inheritor needed to be able to rise above a loss and grow from it.


    She was also pleased with the fact that with each engagement, Quill was showing more of his abilities, but even Viralira was growing worried seeing just how versatile the mage was.


    It proved that the Empire''s ims of being able to produce Legends faster than ever had some weight. She could feel it in her bones that Sovereign Saint Aoife needed to handle this carefully. The Empire was on the rise, and they needed to get off the fence.


    Clenching her fist, she contemted killing Quill, Torch, and Scoop right there, but it was nothing but a passing thought. Embroiling the ns in a war, at the least, was the height of folly, and she didnt live this long by making impulsive decisions. Striking while the iron was hot was the first lesson she had internalized, and that certainly wasnt now.


    Additionally, she would die from the dragon and the cat who watched over the children, but that was of a lesser concern. Death was an old friend, one she had sent many customers, but when she finally met them in person, she hoped to make it worthwhile.


    Instead, this was a learning experience. Seasadh, does it hurt? You were defeated and unable to force this out of Quill. Are you angry? Sad?


    The womans mace red for a moment but simmered down as Seasadh controlled herself. If I was Tier 20, I


    Viralira cut the girl off with a raised hand. For all that Seasadh was an ideal Inheritor, her pride burned as brightly as her mes, and was even less easily subdued.


    Dont give me that. Viralira watched the girl and her team flush and only once she was sure the girl would actually reflect did she continue. The three of them are younger than you, and fresh Tier 20s. If you thought breaking through would have changed anything, you would have done so in the middle of the fight. Do not delude yourself to salvage your pride. That right there is the power of a true Legend, before they receive the riches and abundance you have been swaddled in for your whole life. When they hold nothing back, they can nearly match the pinnacle product of millennia of effort. If you want to do something, don''tin, work harder. Earn all that you have been given so you can be their equals, because as you are right now, you are still hot iron able to be shaped. Your tempering has yet to ur, and you still may forge yourself into the kind of power which may match our own Legends. I hope this can open your eyes to why we force you to struggle. When you meet real monsters, you need to be able to equal them, or you will simply be like dross to be scooped off and discarded.


    Seeing Stjolna started to glow with heat and light that pulsed in tune with Seasadhs heartbeats, Viralira stopped talking and turned back to the fight.


    The Star had awoken from hercency, and now it was just up to Seasadh to see how hot she could burn.


    ***


    It took a half-dozen skills to weaken it, from [Diffusion Shield], [Dispelling Wind], to [Bulwark], and twice that in talismans, but Matts Concept and invincible fist managed to deflect the attack into the ground. It demolished the forest of des and forced Matt to burn yet another talisman to shield himself from the explosion, and sent him flying.


    He crashed into a mountain range, and skidded to a stop in the middle of ake of magma.


    With a flex of [Earth Maniption] and [Lava Maniption], the mountain range exploded and rubble flew everywhere, but Matt didnt have the time to do more than react, as Girang had followed him and was bearing down on him.


    Withdrawing a war axe, Matt mmed the edge of the de into Girangs ws as he swiped at Matt. Unlikest time, Girang didnt stand and brawl, but instead twisted and whipped a nigh-invisible tail at Matt. Whatever enchantment the bear was using was effective, as Matt didnt notice the wrong eddies of air currents until it was toote to do anything but slightly dodge.


    As the metal tail passed through his chest, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fought past the searing pain that apanied the blow. At least his [AI] reported that the poison that had been affecting him seemed to have subsided somewhat, and Matt wasted no time in redirecting some of that mana to his other buffs. He dodged a barrage of metal shards and closed the distance to Girang.


    Letting out a matching roar of rage and pain, Matt reached out and grabbed the fifteen-foot-tall bear and lifted him off the ground before mming him back into it.


    Girang hit the rubble of the mountain Matt had been sent into with an explosion of dirt that leveled the adjoining next two mountains.


    Matt pulled Griang back up by the nape of his neck and prepared to m him into the next mountain when his [AI] screamed a warning sent by Scoops AI. Soddus had thrown a bolt of glowing mes at him, and trusting her judgment, he jumped to the side, not willing to take the attack head-on. That gave Girang all the time he needed to recover, and the bear cut a deep wound into Matts shoulder, giving himself the moment he needed to get free and sh a wound deep into Matts chest, sending him back into the half-drainedke.


    Coming back out of the water, Matt did his best impersonation of Duke Waters and took theke with him, letting the water crash over Girang and trying to both restrain him and crush his incredibly hard body. A feat he quickly learned was futile, but a burst of me from behind him brought his spiritual perception to the ce where Soddus, Torch, and Scoop were fighting.


    He felt a trill of triumph as Torch skewered Soddus from head to tail, her spear driven through the back of his equine head and back into his own body. Clearly, Soddus attack at him hade at a cost and Torch wasnt one to let a mistake like that slide. Then fires ignited around him, and Soddus began undergoing the unmistakable process of phoenix revival.


    Knowing this was the opportunity they were looking for, Matt prepared to finish off Girang, but the bear started to roar after seeing his teammate dying, and Matt felt the ripples of a greater power washing out from him as his roar went on and on growing in intensity with each passing moment. It was filled with anger and pain in equal measures, but most of all, there was an unwillingness that resonated with something inside Matt.


    He wanted to absorb it and crush it, but the power grew too quickly, and even his crushing grip on the water was destroyed as Girang formed his Intent.


    Cursing, Matt jumped back as the massive bear sprinted at them through the air; his usage of his Intent wasnt smooth or practiced, but with each step, his footing steadied, and his speed increased.


    Matt, Torch, and Scoop threw their Concepts at the charging bear, but it was like shooting a fire hose at a bull, barely slowing him down and only making him angrier.


    Scoop hit him with abination of every debuffing skill she had, but they were broken one by one the moment they were applied. Matt was reaching for his sword and about to activate [Cracked Phantom Armor] so he could face the bear head to head, but stopped himself with a jolt.


    For one, [Cracked Phantom Armor] wasnt even assured to stop a fully-formed, if fresh Intent. Secondly, that would <em>certainly</em> lead to his two identities being linked. It might have been a worthwhile trade if he was absolutely positive that it would result in winning the for the Empire, but that wasnt certain. Theyd need to kill Girang at least once more, and it had been hard enough to push Soddus alone to the point of resurrection. Theyd win this fight if it went long, but against someone who had been on their level before hed gotten an Intent, that was a big ask.


    Resetting himself back into the Quill persona, Matt readjusted his priorities.


    Quill grabbed Torch and Scoop with [Air Maniption] and pulled them away from Girang, who stood over Soddus reviving body while he roared out a challenge to anyone who dared to try and stop him.


    Trying to act like it was no big deal, Quill shrugged. With thistest development, we concede the match.


    It wasnt just his body that hurt saying that, but the pain was temporary, and he had [Lesser Regeneration] pushed to its limit to stay standing.


    He didnt miss the fact that both Viralira and Ald were looking at the three of them instead of Girang, who had just created his Intent at Tier 20 at less than two thousand years old.


    L slithered up behind the three of them, acting like a shield, one of her wingsing in between them and the other Tier 40s.


    Quill can speak for the Empire in this matter. Though Id like to add my own personal congrattions for Girangs achievement and the Monster Collective as a whole for the new.


    Quill didnt miss Seasadh, who, despite being off to the side, looked like she had just swallowed a sour grape, but she didnt refute Ls im of giving the away. With Soddus reviving and Girang getting an Intent mid-battle, there was no chance she would fare any better than Quill, Torch, and Scoop had, considering she had lost before Girang had formed his Intent.


    Instead ofining, she just nodded silently.


    Quill knew the feeling. A mid-battle breakthrough was something for the legends and movies, not something that happened to your enemies just as you were winning. Quill was still tempted to do battle with the massive bear and see if maybe he could take him down despite the gap in Domain, but he knew that was his wounded pride speaking and not his rational side.


    As Soddus got onto his feet, having to shove Girang off him thanks to the bears protective nature making him almost squat on the other man, Ald sauntered forward. Well, well, well, it seems we win. And you twoined how we had no chance. That will teach you to underestimate the Chimera program and Monster Collective. We might be the youngest Great Power, but we cant be underestimated.


    The Tier 40 bear didnt hide his perusal of Quill, Torch, and Scoop as he smiled, but Quill didnt know if he was trying to peer through their masks, was wondering just how much information Quill had revealed, or something different that he couldntprehend.


    The staring only stopped when a small ck house cat sauntered out of nowhere and jumped onto Quill''s injured shoulder, tiny nails digging into his flesh and causing new shes of pain.


    Quill wasnt sure why, but seeing Luna made Ald turn away. Either way, he was d to see his manager, and the fact she wasnt yelling at them meant he hadnt fucked up too badly. It wouldnt be the first time Luna had publicly berated him while wounded. So, it wasnt the worst-case scenario.


    That was good.


    That fact didnt reallyfort him or his pride. Mentally, he knew there was no shame in losing to an elite like Girang, but it did little to salve the ache.


    It took another few hours of congrattions before the Empire and ns were ready to leave, but Quill, Torch, and Scoop had a promise to visit the ns once the war ended for a proper fight with Seasadh.


    A simr promise was extracted from them by Soddus and Girang, the bear finally having calmed down enough to speak. Despite having the most serious injuries, he strutted around like a mother hen with his ducklings as the other members of the Monster Collective praised him for his achievement. But that hadnt stopped him from wanting to fight the three of them when they were all proper Tier 25s with Intents and the third Talent awakened.


    That was an easy promise to make. For all that their fight had been deadly, Quill felt like he was one step closer to making his own Intent after experiencing such brutal fights.


    Losing a fight might have been the beacon in the darkness to set him properly upon his path.


    But first, they needed to leave, and if the cat on his shoulder was any indication, he wasnt out of trouble altogether.

 Chapter 270

    Chapter 270


    President J Olga reviewed the footage of the Empire''s newest possible diators.


    She wished she could dismiss the video as a fluke. Just another ploy by the Empire to create false diators to strengthen their image in the eyes of their people. But the proof was in the fight before her.


    Three fresh Tier 20s were facing down two established chimera and not instantly dying. That they had eventually lost was aparatively minor issue. They shouldnt have survived as long as they had.


    She really should send her congrattions to Toby. A duo of powerful elites at Tier 20, one of whom had a full Intent, ensured they had a nigh-unbeatable trump card at that Tier bracket for the next few millennia. No doubt, the battles they would participate in would be a spectacle to behold. Thered been a Mayor near the border of the Collective who had been causing trouble recently; shed have to arrange for his to be ressified to a Tier 20 battleground at some point. Let the Collective get their acknowledgement for a job well done.


    It was the little things that kept diplomacy flowing.


    But those three Or two, if the rumors were to be believed. She thought it more likely one of the two had a bond, but when it came to diator-level elites, underestimation was done at ones own peril.


    Torch, Quill, and Scoop. The trio had genuinely fought Soddus and Girang, and actually managed to push Soddus to reviving publicly, and Girang to the very brink of death. Oh, no doubt the chimeras still had hidden depths far deeper than whatever the three diator candidates had. That was immaterial, and would be short lived. Torch, Quill, and Scoop were already standing on the same battlegrounds as Chimera and Inheritors as peers. They could yet fail, of course. Far more people made it to Tier 20 upon the Empires Path to Glory than everpleted it. But given the strength they had disyed, their progression ending in failure seemed less than likely. Theyde this far with next to no assistance, and she knew what came next. Theyd be given treasures and skills, artifacts and assistance from the best in the Empire; the same if not better then what the Chimera had. Theyd Ascend to a level of power which few could ever reach.


    diators.


    The ones who fought more for spectacle than for their life. The ones who charged headlong into mortalbat because they <em>enjoyed</em> it. Everborn could match diators in theory, it was true but only when specifically prepared for it, when the diator was worn down or caught off-guard. Anything less than that was akin to watching a professional delver cut down children.


    Oh to be sure, there were those who could match them, but they were even rarer than the actual diators. Pearlescent Pdin Taien and True Inheritor Coldforge, back when they had been active. The Unyielding Anvil Yun Me. But they all had reached the pinnacle of their power. Yun Me had taken a hundred thousand years to attain her current status, at the true pinnacle of her potential. Meanwhile, her own diator, Grand Shaper Maya Embers, could already match the Sect woman and still had room to grow.


    But the Empire


    First it was Waters. It had been an auspicious start to a new emperors reign, after the Worldwalker had retired with the old emperors ascension. The man had been a true force to be reckoned with, his grand tour a resounding sess. She could recall with something approaching fondness the mans penchant for gleefully delving the rifts ofs he hadnt yet conquered, Tiering up at a truly impressive rate for the first half of his war. But then he had stopped.


    J still did not understand what the Emperor had promised the man to get him to stop at Tier 30, nor did she understand why. But the man who had been Tiering up so rapidly that many spected it was his outright Talent just suddenly stopped with no exnation. He still fought on Tier 33, sometimes even Tier 34 battlefields, and still delved the rifts of whatever he was on, but he simply stopped advancing. People had thought that may have been it, that he might remain a Tier 30 elite until whatever the Emperor was bribing him with ran out, until one day when he appeared on a Tier 35 battlefield as a Tier 31 himself, handily leading the Empires forces in a spree of defensive victories. That was notable on its own, but only grew more extreme when he managed to face down and kill a trio of n Inheritors in a single battle. Maya had been dispatched to end his threat, and while their first battle <em>was</em> a victory for the Republic, the Grand Shapers report was that his Domain was unlike anything shed ever seen, likening his strength to the difference between iron and cloth. The next time theyd fought, it was Grand Shaper Maya who had been forced to flee.


    From a man four Tiers her junior.


    Shed absolutely adored it, the utter maniac. It was fortunate, as she had been growing bored of the war scene and was ready to advance to Tier 36. She had been preparing to retire before Waters had arrived, but nobody wished to see what kind of true monster Waters would be at Tier 35, and the Emperor had already demonstrated he had some way to persuade the diator to stay at a Tier for an extended period of time. A treaty had been established protecting those on the Path of Ascension, and Waters had been pulled back from the battlefield. Nobody thought much of it at the time.


    And then Light and Shadow had arisen.


    Everyone agreed it was suspicious timing for the Empire. A second group of diators, less than two thousand years after one had alreadye about? Incredibly, impossibly lucky. Even during the ns Golden Ages, their Legends tended to be spaced on the order of ten to twenty thousand years apart, heralding the start and end of their fortune. It was further suspicious due to the nature of the post-war treaty. Why had the Empire pushed so hard for a limitation of assassinations on the Path of Ascension of all things?


    Shed known they were up to <em>something</em>, and with yet another group primed to finish the Path of Ascension, less than two centuries after the previous one, all of that suspicion had been confirmed. She didnt know what, she didnt know how. But the Empire had found some method of <em>mass producing diators</em>. Oh, they would im that it was the result of Empress Agathas revolution, the changes she made finally bearing fruit, but that was a feeble deception to Js eyes. She could only imagine the forms of experimentation it must have taken, possibly something which put even the depravities of the old Federation to shame. Unmatched potential, no doubt hatched in ab and seeded into the depths of the Empire.


    J could see the signs. Waters, from a Tier 2 ocean world with almost no permanent settlements. Light, from a small city on a Tier 5 with no known family. Shadow was the most tant, with her parents allegedly Tier 16, yet she had been raised in a secluded enve on a Tier 4 world. Shed bet that once Torch, Quill, Scoop, and Queens identities were revealed, theyd be froms Tier 5 or less, with circumstances surrounding them conveniently making it more difficult to confirm the details of their birth.


    The Empire was utilizing its front of low-Tier protections to hide <em>something</em> vile. She wouldnt have survived as a politician if she couldnt sniff out false sincerity, and the Empire positively reeked of it.


    Talents spoke to the core of a person, revealed their true nature even more than a Domain. She regarded Toby highly in that regard, as they were simr insofar as their core desire was simply to be a home, a <em>world</em> for their citizens. Daty had wished to build a better tomorrow, Maya wanted to shape the world in her image, JR wanted to build wonders, and Aoife wished to strengthen her popce. Allister worked to keep his people moving, Virgil to empower her family, Winter Ho to strike down those who threatened him, and Hastor to master the craft of the sword. Even if she didnt know details, having a broad idea of a persons Talent was usually sufficient to discern a general sense of their core being.


    Gregorios sought to peer into hearts and minds to snuff out any who would threaten him. Emmanuel was a hollow shell that stole the very essence of his opponents, profiting off their hard work and contributing nothing in return. Like father, like son. Small wonder then, that <em>Emmanuel</em> would seek to find power at any cost, that he might steal the Talents of those who had truly earned it. She refused to bend the knee, surrender her dreams and the ambitions of her people to a man who would do nothing but abuse her lifetime of growth.


    But that would be her future, if the Empire continued to grow unchecked.


    And that was a problem.


    One she would solve by crushing the Empire and demanding an audit of the Empires programs at the post-War tribunal, per winners right. Exposing whatever experiments were responsible for thetest crop of diators would lend further weight to her words, and ensure they never had the chance to dominate the entire Realm with the harshest of sanctions.


    She retrieved a set of five pads and began to write one letter for each of the other Great Powers except the Empire and Guilds. The former for quite obvious reasons, and thetter because they were trapped too far into the Empires honeyed words to possibly sway away for now.


    J urged each of her fellow Tier 50s to either reconsider their neutrality ormit more to the war effort respectively. That the Empire was preparing to overwhelm them all, and that they needed to halt their advance before it was toote. She could see that the Empire would simply push further and further, asking for concession after concession, always holding the threat of an unwinnable war over their heads. Now was the time for action, the time to strike. While Duke Waters was still Tier 31 and at least matchable by their very best, while Light and Shadow were still ustoming themselves to their new abilities, and while whatever future diators they hading had not yet arrived. This was the time they needed to strike and with ruthlessness rarely seen both to themselves and the Empire if they wanted to stop the threat before it grew toorge.


    She didnt need to outright say that striking now would enable them to carve out vast swathes of territory from the physicallyrgest Great Power for themselves, nor that it meant any captured worlds with diators seeded upon them would instead be theirs to take. Herpatriots were intelligent, they could draw their own conclusions.


    J could only hope they were the right ones.


    She at least already had ns to pull up more reserves and send them to the frontlines. If nothing else she would lead by example before adding political pressure to the Sects and Federation.


    ***


    Matt sighed as they returned back to Empire space and received a slew of messages from their time away.


    Before he could dive into them, a ball of sand mmed into the side of his head, and L chortled. Kid, you aren''t nearly old enough or have done enough to be sighing like that. So you lost a battle, and a went to our enemies. So what? Ascenders are good, but even we arent undefeatable. Besides, youre still just a Pather. Once youre a proper Ascender, <em>thats</em> when you can pout about losing. Not that I ever did, but not everyone can be as good as me!


    The grin she shot him told him she was lying about never failing, but that wasnt why Matt was sighing. Or at least, it wasnt the only reason.


    Im not sighing about losing the fight, but rather that I couldnt cut loose against Girang after already showing so much. I feel like if I had been able to fight with him with his Intent, I could have made some progress on my own. But yes, failure on the inter Great Power stage doesn''t feel great either. How did you handle failure?


    The dragon in human form scratched her chin with a taloned finger before responding, By not worrying about it. Seeing the incredulous look he gave her, she shrugged. Really. I simply didnt. There are a million things I can and do handle, but when I do fail, I just move on. Sometimes my failures result in deaths, but remember that when an Ascender is called in, shits already hit a repelling field. And while a new would be super cool, no one died, so theres something positive to consider as well.


    Matt took a deep breath and nodded. Part of his unease was that Luna hadnt mentioned their loss at all, and it had left him and Liz on tenterhooks for thest few months. They couldnt tell if she was angry they had lost, angry Matt had given away information about his real capabilities, or not even angry at all.


    Aster hadnt been disturbed in the least, but the cat''s antics had never really bothered her.


    Matt sighed again, and seeing Ls re, exined, The loss just makes me wonder if we are really cut out for being Ascenders. Maybe we will reach Tier 25 and when we have our first battle well really get our asses beat. Gesturing out to the Realm around him, he continued, Yes, we were hiding our abilities, but there are people stronger than one Chimera.


    L sighed and sprawled out across the couch, twisting her head until there was a pop so loud, Matt had to wonder if she had snapped her neck instead of cracking it. Matt, if anyone expected you werent going to make the cut, Luna would have already told you. One, do you really think she would spare your feelings? She waited for him to shake his head before continuing. Next, the Tribunal reviews everything you do as a potential Ascender. That means your little loss will get reviewed, but kid, I watched your fight. You arent in danger of being asked to step off The Path. I can already think of a dozen items and new skills that would synergize fantastically with you and would have made that fight easier for you. Your teams will almost assuredly have them waiting for you the minute youplete the path. Dont forget, <em>both</em> Girang and Soddus are chimeras, and its honestly quite impressive that yousted as long as you did. But that just goes to show you how strong youll be once you <em>do</em> finish the Path and wont need to hide anything, and thats ignoring all the additional resources youll get when the timees. Chimeras are strong, but theyre <em>used</em> to being strong, and have been given every <em>possible </em>advantage they could use to get to that point. But to borrow a phrase from the Sects, a flower raised in a greenhouse will never weather a storm as well as the one that flourished under the sun and sky. Take the loss on the chin and get over it. You didnt have an Intent as a hundred year old, and a darling of Kar''Tan who is over two thousand years old got his in the middle of a fight? Boo-fucking-hoo.


    With that said, L kicked her feet up and turned on the screen, flipping through channels so fast, it was just a blur to Matt.


    He opened his mouth toment, but she pointed the remote at him and visibly pressed mute, and he found himself unable to make any sound.


    Rolling his eyes, Matt rxed into the sofa and settled in once L settled on a baking show.


    Growling, she seemed ready to spit fire. Im going to eat that host one day. She said my cake tasted like sand. Of course it did! It was a Sand Patty!


    Watching as a woman added way too much flour to the cake mix for it to rise correctly, Matt let his mind wander.


    When the episode came to an end, he nodded at L. Thanks.


    She winked at him but didnt say anything.


    Pulling out a few snacks for the next episode, he found half of them floating over to the dragon who had just opened her mouth as she let the snacks parade into her maw one by one, without taking her eyes off the screen.


    They snacked together for another two episodes before Liz kicked open the door. Are you ignoring me?


    Her exacerbated tone told him she wasnt joking, but Matt had no idea. Thankfully, L answered for him. No, <em>I</em> was ignoring you. Your constant messages were interrupting the show, so I blocked them. We are watching to see if Brenda can un-fuck her cake making skills. She should have been kicked off instead of Justin. I don''t care if his ice cream wasnt freezing, it was still more of a dessert than her pancake was a cake.


    Liz red at the dragon, but it didnt bother her. Well, if youd check your messages you will see that Conor was seriously injured, and were entering Empire space near them, so we should swing by before we return to delving.


    Quickly flipping through his messages, Matt found the message and saw that what Liz said was true.


    A small mistake had nearly cost their friend his life, and it was only Annies quick reaction of cutting off his head that had saved him from being devoured by a monster. They didnt go into too much detail, but they were taking a break from delving, which was unusual for Team Bucket Reborn. They had officially fallen off the Path when most of them had reached Tier 17, but they did their best to not let that slow down their progress. If anything, theyd tried to push harder once they lost their priority rift ess, and that had turned out poorly.


    When delving up Tiers, even the most careful of delvers eventually made a mistake, and it was often lethal. It was why The Path was called a charnel house by its detractors; those who made even one mistake could die, and his friend had almost be a statistic. That was a frightening thought.


    Coming out of his [AI], Matt found Liz and L arguing, but what L said gave both of them pause. It''s crazy how we came back into Empire space right near the your friends are on. So before you get too mad, ponder that <em>coincidence</em>.


    Matt looked to L with a raised eyebrow even as Liz sheepishly apologized.


    Instead of answering him, L just winked, grabbed Liz, and dropped her in hisp.


    With his wife acquired, Matt smiled. Well hello.


    Liz rolled her eyes but rxed into his embrace. Really, if she had just let the messages through, we could have avoided this. She did help us though, so now I look like an asshole.


    Matt just shrugged. It''s fine. I dont think L is one to hold a grudge. Pausing as he realized how she was <em>just</em> talking about eating a tv host for correctly judging her cake, he corrected himself. I''m sure your parents will get vengeance on your behalf.


    Liz pped his chest but L snorted, showing she was still listening.


    Oh well. I expect you to stay celibate forever in my memory.


    Matt smiled as he gave her a counter offer, Ill stay celibate until you revive.


    Oh wow, a full three minutes! How chivalrous of you. Im sure you could make your way through many a courtesan in that time frame.


    Im a man of many talents.


    Their bickering continued for a few more minutes until Luna walked through the door and L exploded in a burst of sand, only to be reced by Aster who was holding a spoon full of ice cream and brownie that was now covered in said sand.


    Growling, Aster raised her fist but dropped her hand with a grumble after seeing Luna.


    The cat ignored Aster and instead looked to Matt and Liz, asking, Are you two done sulking?


    Matt raised a finger in objection. We weren''t sulking, we were just mulling over the recent events.


    Luna didnt even blink at his defense, but instead moved her eyes to Liz who just shrugged. Its just annoying. I know that nobody is <em>actually</em> unbeatable, but as Ascenders, were supposed to basically be that. We lost, and I expect better from us.


    Luna looked to Aster but his bond just shrugged. We were kicking ass against the blender kids and doing really well until Girang got his Intent. I think we coulda won given enough time. She shrugged again as if that was all that needed to be said.


    Luna pointed to the air and let the moment linger for a long while before saying, You did well. Remember, you arent Ascenders yet, just Pathers. Even if you had utilized your full kits, it is uncertain if you would have won against the two of them. Perhaps you would have, perhaps not. Remember that theyve had nearly as many resources poured into them as you three will have <em>after</em> the Path. That enhances their primary abilities, yes, but also gives them far, <em>far</em> more hidden cards to y than you have. Nothing so drastic as an entire element being hidden, of course, but know the fight was liable to get harder, not easier, as they went on.


    She caught Matts eye. Think of what you showed, Matthew. While it would have been preferable to not reveal anything, you pulled back before you utilized too much. But the more you revealed, the harder it was for them to match you. In time, they would have been forced to do much the same, and you would have faced an even more challenging fight, but one I suspect you would have won. Celebrate your aplishments, and recognize where you have yet to improve. And your aplishments are great, forcing a revive from Soddus and showing that even while fighting a war, the Empires newest generation is no weaker than thest. There will be mores yet to im.


    Matt opened his mouth, but Luna narrowed her eyes at him, and he shut it with an audible click. Youll win far more than a single undeveloped Tier 22 in the war. If you still feel bad after that, make one yourself. But if you let this be a <em>thing</em>, I will work you until you wish losing a single was the worst of your problems.


    Nodding, Matt thought it over. He was already going to upgrades, but maybe he could figure out how to make one more. He kind of liked that idea, even if it was just in jest. It did bring up a more important thought to the front of his mind.


    His mana had now reached an utterly insane level of generation. So like his mana pool, the target on his back had doubled. If he didnt be powerful enough, hed be trapped in the cage of duty and obligation even if he wasnt physically caged. He couldn''t afford to wallow in a single loss.


    Despite the war news of Light and Shadow going from one victory to another, he knew they had missions that ended in, if not failure, then at least not sess. He tried not to think of Duke Waters, who had gone from victory to victory for most of the war. He and the other Ascender levelbatants were carefully circling around each other, neither side willing to engage and risk losing their top assets.


    He just couldnt help wondering if either Light and Shadow, or Duke Waters, had been there in their ce, could they have won?


    Light and Shadow was a giant mystery, as Matt didnt know if they had their Intents at Tier 20. But Duke Waters famously had his Intent at Tier 17, which meant the fight might not even have happened.


    Still, he felt better for the realization, and with Lunas blessing, they were given two weeks of a break to go and visit Conor where he convalesced.


    Matt expected to get embroiled in some shenanigans while leaving the fleet and Ls ship, but she just waved her hand and teleported them into the hospital. Without sand for him and Liz, but Aster found her pockets filled with sand so fine, it might as well have been dust.


    Hisugh earned him a faceful of sand, but it was worth it.


    Seeing Conor was less fun.


    Team Bucket Reborn was living about halfway up a towering skyscraper meant for portable homes. A hexagonal tower in the center held various amenities such as parks, restaurants, and forms of entertainment, and along each edge a tform extended into thin air. Somewhere between half to a third of the tforms were upied, skewed towards the very top and very bottom of the tower. ordingly, theirs was the <em>only</em> house on the floor, a well-kept three bedroom ce that reminded Matt of the original form of his portable house. It must have been fairly cramped inside, but that was the price you paid for mobility.


    Knocking on the door, a surprised Kyle answered with a dagger in his hand. Seeing the three of them, the weapon vanished, and he opened the door a little more.


    Hey guys. When our messages were undelivered for so long we assumed you were off somewhere.


    Liz nodded as she hugged Kyle before heading into the house. That''s because we were.


    After hugging Matt, Kyle scanned Aster up and down before shaking his head. It''s so weird seeing you on two legs.


    Aster mock gasped and leaned back as she put a hand over her mouth. Are you saying you like me on all fours better? Bold of you!


    Well yeah, I was there when you hatched I Kyle had already started speaking before he realized what she had actually said and implied. Giving her a t look, he shook his head and said, That''s not funny.


    Aster grinned as she slipped by him after giving him a hug and said in a singsong cadence. Yes it was!


    As Matt entered the small living room he saw Tara and Emily in oversized shirts eating breakfast, with forks hovering in the air as they sat there frozen.


    Tara got to her feet first but bumped the table she and Emily were eating off of, sending their drinks to the floor.


    Ahhh! Hey guys, it''s been so long! How have you been? Where have you been?


    Emily came up behind Tara and lightly pped the other woman on the back of the head. They can''t say that.


    Matt shrugged. "Sorry, cant say too much, but lets just say its been a rough week. Bad fight and some political losses. Were all okay, just disappointed.


    That earned him an understanding look from Kyle and a pitying hug from Emily, then Aster elbowed Matt and Liz out of the way and derailed the conversion. Who cares about that? Whats more important is that I have a human body that you guys havent seen! Aren''t I pretty? We should go shopping!


    Tara looked bemused, but Emily seemed genuinely interested in the suggestion, though Liz immediately re-righted the conversion. So, uh, where are Conor and Annie?


    Tara waved her hand. Hospital. Theyre regrowing a bit more of Conor.


    Emily winced slightly at that and Matt caught Kyle doing the same.


    Kyle also caught Matt catching him, and exined at his inquisitive look. It was <em>bad</em>. Not sure Id really call it a mistake, but it was definitely all our faults, and Conor was basically just a spine and skull by the end of it. But hey, at least we had [Bandage]. That kept him alive long enough to get him to the hospital, and hes been getting bits and pieces of himself back since. Its burning through our liquid stones like nothing else, getting him back together quickly, but we dont want him suffering for any longer than we have to. He <em>did</em> make it very clear that we werent to cash in one of our boons from Queen Mara just to get him back on his feet, but was that ever a fight.


    Oh yeah, Liz frowned. The rift we found Azure in and giving up our im to our portion of the egg. I kinda forgot mom gave everyone a favor to be cashed in. That was a thing. You know, I could probably-


    Nope! Nope nope nope, Kyle cut her off. We might be off the Path, but we still want to, well, live our own lives. Not have our rich friends bail us out just because they feel sorry for us. No offense, of course.


    None taken. Liz sighed and continued, And I get it. That <em>was</em> my motivation for joining the path in the first ce, you know?


    Aster dropped into the couch between Kyle and Emily, who had returned to her breakfast and threw her legs over Emily while stealing Taras te of food. What about Melinda? I half expected you guys to have made a trip to her already. Or does she count as another rich friend that would be bailing you out?


    Kyle looked to Tara, who looked to them. We were actually going to ask you guys about her. Shortly after the war started, she and Mathew got whisked away somewhere, and we havent heard anything since. We''ve gotten a few presents, but we havent spoken to her in a while. Have you guys not heard anything from her either?


    Matt shook his head, but Ls voice whispered in his ear, The little healer is fine. Reassure your friends of that, but they won''t be seeing her in person until the war is over.


    Matt wondered how L knew of Melindas wearabouts, but passed the information over to the others, who just nodded.


    They were chatting when another knock on the door made Matt turn and spread his spiritual sense outside. Instead of Annie and Conor returning, there was a group of four Tier 18 delvers that were armed and armored.


    Suddenly, the dagger that Kyle answered the door with made a lot more sense, and Matt didnt like it.


    He was going to get up and deal with it, Liz in sync with him, but Kyle raised a hand to stop them. We can deal with that. It''s just a local bully trying to run a protection racket. With Conor out ofmission they think we are easy pickings.


    While Matt didnt like it, he was going to trust his friend. But Aster ignored Kyle and skipped over to the door, a pleasant smile on her face that he knew meant someone was going to get frozen.


    The moment she answered the door, Kyle clenched his fist and lowered his head, eyes closed and clearly expecting a disaster.


    Hi! We werent expectingpany. Who are you guys? My name is


    Aster''s voice was cheery as the wanna-be thugs tried to brush past her and enter the house, but froze before they could take even a single step.


    Literally.


    Their legs were frozen to the ground, ice creeping up to their knees.


    That got their attention, and Matt smiled as they fully turned their attention to Aster and sent their spiritual senses out to scan everyone. They were officially still only Tier 15, but even their official covers were capable of roughing up a couple of Tier 18s who thought themselves tough. Whether the thugs thought they were actually higher tier, recognized that being below-tier was hardly an issue for them, or tried something regardless of Asters ice didnt matter much to him.


    Aster smiled and threw her arms around the two leading cultivators. You know it''s rude to try and enter someone''s home before being invited, but hey, I could use a few ice sculptures to popte my garden Her voice trailed off in a way the thugs clearly thought was a threat, but Matt felt Asters actual puzzlement as she felt a connection to her Domain.


    She was too well trained for that to shake her for long though, and she gestured to the street. So why dont you guys slide on out of here?


    The ice on their feet started moving, and only when they were back on the street did it melt and Aster mmed the door.


    Sorry about the door. It felt appropriate.


    Kyle sighed. I wish you guys hadnt done that. I know you guys have Mara and Leon behind you, but the lead idiot''s father is a local mayor and has some pull around here.


    Liz poked Kyle in the side hard enough to make his friend jerk. No one fucks with our friends. Matt and I will take a public walk to the man''s office and impress upon him the importance of keeping his son in line before we leave, and pass along a message to Rusty that he should look into auditing this. When the local Marquis finds out a mayor got his ass audited hell take care of the issue himself.


    The group didnt seem fully convinced, so Matt swept the conversation along. So, hows domestic life? You seem decently well-adjusted.


    Tara added, Its a bit strange. Staying in one ce this long is <em>definitely</em> weird, and weve been feeling how cramped this ce is, especially when the scenery is the same for weeks on end. Other than that, its pretty much the same as always. Just more time hanging out, less time actively delving. Were still training so we dont get rusty, but usually were just spending time with each other.


    Hey, I cant say Imining, Emily leaned in closer to Tara.


    Well, it certainly does have its perks, the archer agreed, turning slightly to bring their faces closer together.


    Matt was going to let the couple have their moment, but Kyle rolled his eyes and stuck his hand between the two. Nope nope nope. No looking into each other''s eyes all lovingly. Like damn, some of us are still single here.


    Tara turned around in a huff which nearly sent Aster onto the floor, as she was trying to sneak her legs back onto Emilysp. Dont give me that Mr. Bachelor for life. You broke up with Raleigh because she was trying to get serious.


    Yeah because I get enough sickly sweet couple shit from the rest of you. I need to live carefree and alone topensate. Aster, back me up here.


    Aster snorted and stuck her nose in the air. No way! Im looking for my person. They are out there somewhere.


    Emily grinned evilly and asked, Is your person Kyle?


    Before Kyle could protest, Aster leaned in and sniffed him, nose twitching. After a moment she sneezed. Nope.


    Kyle stood up, throwing his arms into the air. Are you saying I smell?


    No, not at all. You just aren''t my person.


    But you sneezed.


    So what?


    You are Tier 15, there is no way that was an ident.


    It''s an involuntary action.


    You are immortal, there are no involuntary actions. Kyle stood there like he had won the argument, but Aster shot right back.


    Are you saying muscle memory isnt an involuntary reaction?


    Kyle pointed one finger out like he had a rebuttal, but paused as he pondered the idea then cupped his chin in thought. Eventually, he covered his mouth and looked down, giving up on the argument.


    Insulting is what it is either way.


    Their bickeringsted another half hour until Conor and Annie came back.


    Both looked the same as they did when they reached Tier 15. At least, what was left of Conor did. He was mostly a head, a single arm, and the upper half of a torso with waxy skin that told of being pushed well over the healing cooldown.


    Still, he was in good spirits seeing them. Hey guys! It''s good to see you. What have you been up to?


    Seeing that Conor wasnt down and was a deft hand at using his Concept to move things around settled Matt down a little, and he was d to see his friend was alive and well. Close calls remind one of their mortality and Matt didnt want to lose anyone close to him.


    Hed been beyond lucky that none of his friends had joined the death statistics, but that wasnt because the Path had suddenly be less deadly. The highest-profile death from his generation had been Adam, the masked Illusionist from their tournament, after hed vanished into a Tier 16 rift.


    Weirdly, that was what managed to make him think of Eleanor and Ethan. The duo had fallen off the Path at Tier 12, andst hed heard, they were preparing for their Minka delve. He encouraged them to wait until Tier 13, but they hadnt seemed inclined to listen.


    That reminded Matt that he needed to check up on the kids, having not gotten a message from either of them when they returned to Empire space. The next Minka cycle was due in about three years, and he was curious what they were doing to prepare.


    Their conversation meandered from there andsted for a full day before they took a break for anything. Team Bucket Reborn were discussing their new delving schedule, and probably lowering the difficulty of the rifts they took on. They werent on the Path anymore, where they needed to be constantly delving three tiers above themselves without more than three hours of rest. They had the time to do things properly, learning about their targets beforehand, only delving up two tiers, and practicing new maneuvers and strategies.


    Matt didnt want to get a message that one of his friends, or a group of them, had just never exited a rift. It was too anticlimactic and cold for his tastes, with no conclusion ever really possible, which made the whole thing seem even more wrong. He didnt want any of his friends to die, but going out like that just seemed wrong.


    The two weeks they spent with Team Bucket Reborn was good for more than just recharging their social batteries. Aster made good progress on iming her tiara, and Liz did the same with blood.


    Matt even made some progress on his Phrase. He wasnt entirely sure which he was going to pick, but he narrowed down the list to something that epassed his feeling of rightness when he was the center of the battlefield. Intrepid, fearless, adamant, stationary, motionless, steadfast, dauntless, indomitable, immobile, determined, resolute, impassive, and relentless were the words he felt something towards. He spent hours each day pondering what each word meant to him and how, if at all, they represented him, his ce in the realm, and where and how he wanted to grow his Domain.


    He hadnt forgotten Aunt Helen''s lesson about the differences between a Concept and an Intent.


    He had chosen his own Path.


    He just needed to walk down it.

 Chapter 271

    Chapter 271


    Matt descended into meditation, calling up first the image of a white hole, then constructing severalyers of shell around it that could quite reasonably be referred to as Minka. It wasnt anything close to the original, if he was being honest. That was simply too great a task, too much for any Intent image. But, that didnt matter. An Image didnt need to bear any simrities to reality, it simply needed to be real enough to <em>him</em>.


    His Minka, the result of years of refinement, wasnt anything close to the idea hed approached with wide-eyed enthusiasm at first. Oh, it was still a with sevenyers that could rotate the floor that was deepest, and therefore closest, to his empowering white hole. It was still covered with hissing gears and gleaming brass, but it was no dungeon capable of infinite variation. It didnt have twenty-one floors to call upon, only seven. They were, ultimately, simr to the seven hed encountered, and while he could change their order, he couldnt properly conceptualize the floors he <em>hadnt</em> experienced.


    At Tier 21, Matt shouldnt be in a rush toplete his Image, but with Liz having imed her blood as her Anchor and Aster sessfully settling on an image of a vast snowscape with glimmering auroras in the sky, he was feeling the pressure to keep up.


    It wasnt like they were judging him, but he had never really struggled in the Domain department, and with the others taking the lead, he was having old feelings of inadequacy creep back up. Except this time, it had a clear answer.


    Catch up with the others.


    Still, personal feelings of inadequacy were no reason to rush things. That was just asking for a failure and would waste even more of his time as he rebuilt his proto Image.


    Gathering himself, Matt started to resonate with his Image.


    The words didnt exist to properly convey the experience, but he descended into the portion of his spirit where his Domain resided. There, a white hole hovered in the depths of space, solitary in its Endless march, spewing mana out into the cosmos. It was absolutely massive, until he took a step back and cupped it in his hand.


    There, the little point of light looked so fragile, so small. It needed a home.


    Crystal formed around it, not quite mana crystal, but simr, and held it within an infinite void. From there, he physically assembled the cogs and runes needed for structure and motion, suspending it at the center of what quickly became a nested brass sphere. Within that, he impressed his spirit.


    Mind Over Matter was the floor hed encountered at the very bottom of Minka, and the pseudo-real domain took shape. Hed had to content his image with only being popted with the rifts and challenges hed personally encountered, but that was more than enough.


    So, he impressed that same desire into his spirit. But just as his white hole spewed mana in ce of mundane mass, so too would his floor affect mana instead of mass.


    Once upon a time, he would have prioritized mana concentration above all other effects that he wanted from his Intent, but things had changed somewhat. In just a few decades, there had been a solution presented to him in the form of the mana concentration array. Sure, it was still only usable once a tier, but he believed that would eventually be ovee.


    He was immortal, and even if the mana concentration effect was minuscule, he would eventually get whatever he needed from it. There was no time limit, and he had a better idea for his strongest Intent power. With the promise of getting full ess to the concentration array when hepleted The Path, he could wave off the intermediary losses to his mana concentration from the normal potions deficiencies. He knew he could get all of that progress back and more.


    For his first floor, the one most likely to remain even if his modr idea didnt work out, he impressed on it the idea of his Mind Over Matter stripping away everything that didnt matter. He focused in on just the impact his mana and will had.


    Currently, his biggest limiter in a fight was his skills and their inability to handle the amount of mana he could feed them. Oh sure, he <em>could</em> pour Endless amounts of mana into [Cracked Mana Spear], but hed run into the unusual issue of having too much mana to throw at it. After about 400,000 MPS pushed into the skill, extra mana didnt do much. Or at least, nothing practical. It practically blinded the spirit to study it, and gave off some very impressive light shows while itsted, but the prative power simply fell off. And that was <em>after</em> keeping it as his innate skill for several years.


    [Arcane Powershot] had practically eclipsed [Mana Bolt] for him. His modifications had all but annihted the normal maximum mana per second charging rate at the cost of efficiency, but that didnt matter when he could just m a million mana into it and be done.


    [Lightning Torrent] was still doing just fine, able to easily handle a half-million mana before it started getting showier than was needed, but that wasrgely thanks to its higher-Tier status.


    Ironically, what was once his most profligate skill by far, his trusty [Cracked Phantom Armor], was now one which didnt waste most of his mana when fully empowered. Eachyer could handle fifty thousand mana per second, and under Lunas focus, that was a hundred thousand thousand mana spent on <em>proper</em> defense. There legitimately wasnt another skill that he knew of which had a better mana to toughness ratio for his Tier, outside of reserve skills, which didnt count. Evenbining a few skills wouldnt outscale it, and Matt couldnt help but feel proud of his hard work.


    For other skills, being reced was something natural and to be expected, upgrade orbs could sometimes be used to push a lower-Tier skill farther, but there was usually a reason higher Tier skills were preferable. But for his oldest skill, Matt refused to allow something like that to happen. Minka had proven how pivotal [Cracked Phantom Armor] had been to him by showing him the lives where he never got it. That was why his oldest spell had spent a good long while being modified to be more efficient, and he had to say, the results were dramatic. At full power, hed managed to tank a hit from a Tier 24 monster without so much as cracking the outeryer. Part of that was thanks to its properties as a cracked spell, but another part was how the upgrade allowed the skill to have two channels, with the second allowing him to selectively reinforce an area.


    Having 2,621,440 MPS to throw at spells was a unique situation, but it was Matts to solve.


    And his answer was to have his Intent do some of the heavy lifting.


    He already had arge amount of willpower rtive to others at his progress level, but that would be multiplied when he got his Intent. Having the next stage of a Domain didnt innately make the rest of the Domain stronger, but it did temper them and make one''s willpower stronger and more robust, resulting in more power overall. If his prediction was correct, and the experts he talked to said it was entirely possible, even his initial Intent could double or triple the amount of mana a skill could take before destabilizing.


    As a team, they had already tried to once more push into Tier 25 rifts. They struggled mightily, and just couldnt ovee the Tier gap without Intents of their own. The general rule was that fighting with an Intent against someone who didnt have one was roughly worth between a Tier ofbat power to three on the highest end, and rift monsters were usually in the middle. Frankly, most people got at least one and a half Tiers ofbat power out of an Intent, even crafters who fully specialize in crafting. Only those with a terrible connection to their Intents got just one Tier ofbat power out of their Intent. Mostnded in the Tier and a half range, with Domains that perfectly matched the users giving two. A three Tierbat power boost was reserved for those withbat Intents like Susanne or Duke Waters, who also had perfectpatibility, but that was rare and very much the exception to the rule.


    Still, that meant they would need to be Tier 22 before they could push into Tier 25 rifts. But if they could create part of their Intents, they would get a small but noticeable bump in power, and currently, the others had that power boost.


    Which was why Matt wanted to form at least part of his Intent. Aster had already noticed a small but noticeable improvement to the power of her draining spells, and Liz had noticed any spell she delivered with her blood as a medium wasparably more potent. Meanwhile, Matt was stuck using yet more mana without a good way to turn that into raw power.


    Even just getting the ability to increase the mana his spells could take by a few percent would give him a massive boost in power, but to do that, he needed to make his Image.


    With Mind Over Matter stabilized, he spent more time working on the interchangeability mechanism, then began filling Folded Reflections with mists.


    Matt asked himself what his next biggest need in a fight was after utilizing his mana, and his answer was twofold, which forced him to make a decision. More physical power would be fantastic, but he also wanted to protect himself and his allies. Ultimately, he chose to prioritize his allies, the two most important people in his life, over his own physical strength. He could get more power from skills, but if the others died, they would be gone forever, and that was uneptable. Instead, he pulled on the idea of the clones within Folded Reflections, and because they were part of his Intent, they were a part of him. That part was finicky, but ideally it would grant him some form of damage absorption, taking injuries in ce of his allies.


    It took what felt like weeks for that floor to solidify, but that was purely his conjecture, as time was ethereal in his meditation. It moved both as fast as a perfect dream where even unknown fantasies were satiated, and as slow as a nightmare when being chased by some unseen and unstoppable horror.


    Taxing Skills would hopefully result in a boost in physical power, as Matt tried to tie that particr interpretation of the floor theme by emphasizing the route that he and his team hadnt been able to really take during their run- raw physical strength. No skills were needed for punching out monsters or navigating intricatebyrinths, just more physical strength.


    Courtly Warfare was dedicated to defense. It was an endless battlefield, and that meant it required endless defense of vulnerable ces. But, he still wanted something which he <em>could</em> use for offense, and the generals served as an excellent reference point for his hopeful effect. They were mobile fortresses, spawned from unassable defense and sent forth as unparalleled offense. The war itself tied in as well, a push and pull between attacking and defending, which suited his Intent well, particrly given in that reality that <em>he</em> had been the one leading the armies to victory.


    Back to Basics was a bit of a gamble.


    His Intent was already meant to be modr, but he knew that once he set his Image and Intent as a whole, he would be locked into those choices, and he really liked the idea of versatility. After all, it was a core part of his very being. Thanks to his mana, Matt could do anything. Crafting? He might never be as good as a dedicated crafter with a Talent and Domain for it, but he could be passable. Magic? He had more mana then a squadron of mages, and thanks to Minka, the Innate skill slot to really abuse a skill. He would never match the mages who specialized in a single element, like Liz did with blood, but that was fine. He didnt need to match them, but counter them. And thanks to his mana and Luna ensuring his breadth of skills was as wide as possible, there were few things he couldn''t counter. Melee fighting? Matt wasnt Talented with his longsword like Tara was her bow, but he was damn good with a de. He also couldnt match the raw physicality innate to someone like Kyle, who had a Talent to double his physical strength, but Matt had enough mana to outpower Kyle by stacking buffs. He could even throw Girang around with physical superiority when they had fought. He had ultimately lost that fight, but that didnt change the raw physical advantage his Talent afforded him.


    Versatility was in his blood, and he wanted to capture some of that.


    To that end, he doubled down on the way Back to Basics reset a persons cultivation. An unawakened person could be anything, after all. An orphan could be an ascender, a princess of fire could be a warrior of blood. A random schoolgirl could be the greatest healer ever seen. Awakening, and cultivation itself, enabled one to be <em>anything</em>.


    It came together quite easily, all told.


    With Genesis Cultivation, he was finally able to work in mana concentration. After all, essence was just hyper-concentrated mana, and Genesis Energy was practically hyper-concentrated essence. While he was on that floor, he imagined all of his mana being reced with genesis energy, but also slowly refining his mana <em>into</em> Genesis Energy. Even if it didnt directly enhance his concentration, it should enhance his overall spellwork.


    The logic had sounded a bit shaky to Aster, but hed spent months reconciling the ideas. It would work. Luna, Kurt, and April had all assured him that what mattered was his understanding of the concept, and he could feel it in his bones.


    Eternal Darkness only had one real <em>possible</em> effect, but one that was undeniably useful. In theory it could resolve into some kind of general stealth or invisibility power, but Matt was nudging it towards making his spirit and mana harder to sense. The former was just a natural consequence of Tiering up, as the spirit naturally became harder to nudge in the right ways to gauge the properties of a persons Talent, Domain, or skills, but he wanted it strengthened. The second would obscure just how much mana he was making, something he was quite understandably concerned about people noticing. His mask was helping with that, particrly his self-buff spells, but as he used more and more mana in external attacks, it was only getting more likely that someone would notice just how much mana he was putting out.


    Even that wasnt the worst fate. As Matt, his Concept publicly gave him even more mana regeneration than it gave to those around him, but he was getting to the point of having more mana than could be exined by even that.


    Thepatibility of a floor meant to hide everything and his desire to hide his mana slotted together fairly easily.


    As his willpower infused the Image he had so painstakingly built, Matt reveled in sess. Or at least, the first portion of it.


    Forming the Image wasnt even half the battle. He had created and discarded dozens, if not thousands, of Images in thest few years before really settling on his modr Intent. The next step to checkpatibility was filling the Image with willpower. If the Image fell apart, it could mean two things. Either the Image itself was built poorly, or the Image didnt match well with the individual trying to make it.


    If it was the second, they had two options. Change the Image or themselves. Intents were, like Aunt Helen said, all about where you wanted to go, but just because it was about a direction to go didnt mean you were in the right ce to set out on that journey. Sometimes, you needed to get to that starting point before you could start, and other times, you realized you just werent cut out for that journey in the first ce, and started looking for another.


    If the Image took the willpower without crumbling, that didnt mean you were in the clear. No, there was one more step, and it was, without a doubt, the hardest step.


    Locking the Image in while also keeping the idea behind it in ce. It was the step where most failed, and even the smallest mistake orpse of thought could send everything tumbling down.


    He needed to keep everything in mind about his Image, which was a hard enough task with a single idea, but his modr Intent had seven other ideas inside of one and he needed to juggle all of those at once.


    As Matt pulled the Image deeper into his Domain, letting his willpower wash over, around, and through it, he kept the idea of a modr Intent front and center without losing sight of the seven floors he had in mind and all of their many intricacies and minutiae. It was like trying to juggle a dozen different weighted objects with his feet, all while blind folded, but that was why they had practiced this. It was why Luna, Kurt, and April pushed them to understand their prospective Intents so deeply. It was why they yed mind games where they needed to keep track of a dozen ideas. It was why they yed around with their Intents, even in the middle of a battle.


    All to be ready for this moment.


    A moment where nothing could go wrong, and they needed to be perfect.


    As things started to settle, Matt felt a creeping feeling of foreboding.


    Something was wrong, but he didnt know what.


    He checked his Image, and it was stable.


    He checked his understanding of his many floors, but they were also solid.


    Slowing down, he kept a steady progression of iming his Image.


    It was when he was nearing the halfway point Matt knew something wasnt just going wrong, but <em>was</em> wrong.


    His Image had started to turn thin and fragile between one heartbeat and the next.


    Taking stock, he knew he needed to make a choice.


    Should he push on, or should he abandon this Image?


    Every lesson he had been taught told him pushing forward was a bad idea, and despite his obstacle and desire to create part of his Intent, he knew it was the smart y. Even as he tried to stop and retreat, he found that the damage was already done, and his Image was copsing in on itself.


    He felt like he shouldnt know why it was copsing, but he knew exactly why it was doing so.


    His modr Intent wasnt perfect. At least not perfect <em>for him</em>.


    It was that simple.


    His Domain wasnt rejecting it entirely, it had been partly sessful. But his Concept was perfect, and a non-perfect Image just couldnt survive being built upon such a foundation like he tried to do with having his white hole power the Intent Image.


    He wanted to scream, yell, and rage at the realm, but he was too busy trying to frantically hold his Image together to manage that. Decades of work and visualization was falling apart in front of his eyes and he couldn''t do anything about it. The weeks spent perfecting a flooryout, the months spent shaping each unique copy of himself inside a floor. The years spent embodying a floor''s idea and ensuring it was both important to him and would be useful going forward.


    It had been a waste of effort.


    Pointless.


    Trying to stop a catastrophic copse which would damage his Domain and spirit, Matt gripped the shattering fragments of his Intent. He was slowly backing away and pulling his energy out, trying to limit his injuries to just a lungful of blood and a migraine, when he had a sh of insight.


    It wasnt an Inspiration like when he had seen a white hole in person. Just a normal, mundane idea. A gut feeling he knew to trust.


    Part of it was Liz and seeing her reviving. Part of it was Aster and how she found beauty and life in frozen wastnds. Part of it was Luna, who pushed him to limits he didnt know he had. Part of it was Kurt, whose silent support was always there to make sure Matt knew a path less walked might be more full of obstacles, but could still be walked. Part of it was April, who was learning just as much as he was, and who showed him that one never stopped advancing until they chose to. Part of it was Mara and Leon, who gave him unwavering love despite their station. Part of it was the Emperor, who held up the sky and enforced justice and morality on everyone underneath him through power and example. Part of it was Aunt Helen, who didnt mind doing things the hard way when others would have given up long ago.


    Sometimes, it was only through the ashes that new life could grow.


    Instead of stopping the copse of his Intent, Matt rushed forward. He pushed. He twisted. He bent. He tore. He <em>squeezed</em>.


    The pain was overwhelming, but even as he was cking out, he saw his answer.


    A''s worth of mass copsed into his Concept, but instead of being repelled like everything else was, it sank in and started absorbing. <em>Condensing</em>.


    For a brief moment before the interaction of his White Hole Concept Image and the fragmented ck Hole Image started to fight each other, Matt <strong>understood</strong>.


    ***


    Aster was sitting there with Liz and Luna as Matt sat in his meditative trance.


    The lotus position wasnt her preferred style to sit, but it was Matts. Sometimes, he even sat like that on the couch, and when he was meditating, he seemed to default to it even if he startedying down, like he had this time.


    She didnt really get it, but it worked for him, and her bond could do as he pleased.


    When he had said that he wanted to create his Imagest month, she had been surprised, but when his meditative trance had passed the week long mark, she had known something was odd. Not necessarily wrong, but not normal.


    Luna had assured her things were fine, but as one week turned into two, then three, even Aster got worried.


    Still, all of them could feel as Matt slowly condensed his Image. Aster could feel it through her own Image, despite not having an Intent Image of her own. Through their bond, she could even feel how careful Matt was being, and when he started realizing his Image, she had been excited.


    When things had started to go wrong, and she felt him starting to pull back, Aster had figured that his Image needed a little more work, and he would retreat before making a second attempt in a few months. It had taken her two attempts to im her Anchor, and it had taken Liz over a dozen, with her nearly exploding each time before she got it, her body not quite able to handle the transition. A momentary setback wasnt the end of the world, but instead of stopping the copse like he seemed to start doing, Matt seemed to go crazy.


    Aster felt it when he deliberately started elerating the copse of his Image and so did the others. Liz jumped to her feet, but before she took even a step, she froze.


    Aster wasnt faster, but she was connected to Matt in a way that Liz wasnt, and she tried to pull on that connection to stop Matt, but before she could, Luna loomed over her. Not physically, as Luna hadnt moved from where she stood, but rather, the other bond had flexed her cultivation and pushed its weight at Aster. Like a kit once more, she instinctively retreated and shrunk back, unable to cross the stronger woman.


    It wasnt a threat, but Aster damn well knew that if she continued to test her, Luna would have knocked her unconscious before allowing her to interrupt Matt.


    Liz groaned out the words Aster wanted to as Matts flesh started to curdle like old milk before falling away in strips. Need. To. Help. Him.


    Luna didnt even blink as she watched. You both felt it. This was deliberate. Dont interrupt him. You all learned from failure, and Matt clearly thought this was necessary.


    Aster wanted toin, but she was too lost in horror as Matt started to melt.


    He was taking serious Domain damage that she could feel leaking into his spirit, and it kept getting worse until his Intent Image fully copsed, and the failure was fully disintegrated.


    The moment it did, the three of them appeared in a hospital room with two healers and a dozen nurses ready to start working on Matt.


    They quickly healed his flesh, and while it removed the curdled look from his skin, there was still considerable damage, and she felt as his already stressed body and spirit rejected the healing.


    Aster didnt know why Matt had done it, but even while he was unconscious, she felt the almost smug satisfaction from her bond.


    Liz growled at Luna, That was reckless! You should have let us stop him.


    Luna didnt seem to even hear Liz, but Aster wasn''t sure if she was preupied or just t out ignoring her.


    Instead, Aster shared what she knew. That was intentional. I


    I know, I Liz interrupted her, but Aster raised her voice a little to take back control.


    I could feel even more than you could. He did it intentionally and understood something at the end there. This might seem bad, but I think it will be worth it.


    Aster expected Liz to say something, but Luna turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow, clearly asking for rification, so Aster gave it. Before he fell unconscious, he was smug about something. I mean, Matt is smug about a lot of things, but he had the same feeling when he had an idea that I said wouldn''t work, and he proved it could work. It was like that, and that was the dominant feeling I could feel through our bond at the end.


    Liz smiled at that, but Luna nodded. Physically, he''s fine. Hell need more healing, but the damage to his Domain is serious. It''s not shattered, but it''s more cracked than when you shifted your bloodline, Aster. Stay with him until he wakes up


    She trailed off, and one of the healers answered the unasked question. Hes stable and should be waking up within an hour.


    Aster didnt like it. An hour unconscious for an immortal was basically an eternity. Matt had taken quite some damage.


    Luna nodded to show she heard the healers and their nurses filed out of the operating room, leaving the four of them to themselves.


    Now, all they could do was wait.


    Wait and worry.


    Damn Matt owed her a new ice cream vor for making her worry so much.


    ***


    Matt groaned as he woke up, and contrary to what he expected, the first sight he had when he woke up was Luna staring at him.


    She was in cat form and sitting on the nightstand next to his bed.


    That seemed wrong, but his mind was foggy, and he struggled to ce what exactly was out of ce.


    The cough from his other side made him blink as there was a second, human, Luna.


    He was trying to figure out why Luna had cloned herself when his vision started to clear, and a blinding headache hit him like a runaway train.


    That spike of pain cleared his visionpletely, and he realized that the cat who was next to him was actually a water bottle with a logo on it, and the human Luna was the real one. He also saw Liz and Aster, who were giving him worried and questioning expressions.


    The human Luna spoke first. She didnt ask him if he was ok or anything, which reminded Matt why Liz had such bad bedside manners as a healer. What happened?


    Matt waved his hand and winced at the pain. It felt like his joints were filled with sand. Even ring [Lesser Regeneration] did nothing to ease the pain, but pain was something he had more than enough practice ignoring and so he pushed it to the back of his mind.


    When I was making my Image, it felt like things were going well, but then things started to destabilize and I realized the modr Intent wasnt perfect for me. I could have probably made it work if I put another decade of work into it, or reworked the power source, but first of all, I didnt want a subpar Intent, and secondly, I had the idea that I might be able to learn something through the failure. <em>And I was right</em>.


    Liz grabbed his hand, and Aster transformed into her fox form and jumped on his chest as he spoke, and he pulled them both into a hug to reassure them he was ok. He knew how worried they would be, and he could feel just how worried Aster was through their bond.


    Grinning, he was about to speak when he paused to cough up some blood. Spitting it out into a waiting cup, he continued, Well, I think I know what my Intent really is. Letting the anticipation build, he only continued when Aster started pawing at his side. My image didnt just fall apart, it <em>copsed</em>. A shining star of brass, with a singrity at the center. Everything about Minka was built on the white hole, but it shifts and changes too much, moves about and Anyway, it wont work for me. But in that copse, I saw my true image. A ck hole, inverted from a white hole into something which the realm revolves around. At that point, I passed out, but I can <em>feel it</em> now.


    Liz opened her mouth to speak, but Luna beat her to it. Im d you learned something from the failure, but Matt, do you remember what I said about mirror Intents thest time you asked about them?


    Matt nodded. He hadnt forgotten, but he simply didnt care. If any part of the Domain is the pr opposite of another part, it can be exceptionally hard to form, as the new portion will only be truly stable once its fullypleted, so forming it is outstandingly hard. Also, using both parts of the Domain at once can be incredibly challenging if not outright impossible. I know all that. But Luna, it felt<em> right</em>. It was <em>perfect</em>. I could feel it. Even as the ck hole Image fell apart, it was singing at me.


    Luna didnt refute him, but instead nodded. As long as you know. Now that you are awake, we need to get moving. The healers say you are going to be out ofmission for at least six months, probably closer to a year, before you can use your Concept.


    Matt winced at the news. There were consequences he couldn''t heal away with [Lesser Regeneration], and he was now paying for his reckless actions. Still, the price seemed worth it.


    Or at least, it did until he tried to feel out his Concept. Even just feeling it felt like he had swallowed shards of hot ss, and he gasped.


    Looking at his manager, he asked, Did you feel this bad when you slowed my Inspiration?


    Her grin was feral as she said, Worse.


    With that, she vanished and left him to Liz and Aster, who immediately started berating him for being so foolish.


    He wanted to protest, but he really had earned it.


    That didnt mean it wasnt worth it, and they all knew it.

 Chapter 272

    Chapter 272


    Matt groaned, dropping to a seated position. There technically wasnt any meaningful gravity this far out from the closest sun, but the action still felt gratifying.


    He had wanted a ce to be alone to meditate for the first time after his incident, but just locking himself in a room hadnt been enough, so he quickly flew into space. Even that hadnt satisfied his need for solitude.


    It cost him a small fortune, but he paid a Tier 25 to help him build a teleport leash which, when activated, would pull him back to an anchor. Once that was set up, he got on his flying sword and flew at top speed away from theary ecliptic ne, and away from the sun''s influence.


    Without air to create drag, his endless eleration quickly got him away from thes, but he still wanted more. To further increase his speed, he rapidly activated his teleport ring to cover even more distance. With his current mana generation feeding both his sword and ring, he was able to clear the gravity well of the systems star in just two weeks.


    When he was deep in the emptiness of space, with only twinkling stars to apany him, Matt put away his sword and let himself drift in the lotus position. His body still hurt everywhere thanks to his extensive Domain damage, but after eight months of treatment and time, he was mostly fine, and the remaining injury was mostly just psychosomatic.


    Thest year had been aggravating enough that the moment he was given the all-clear from his healers, he went on this adventure. He knew that Liz and Aster wanted toe with him, but he needed to be on his own.


    Partly because he was tired of them mothering him, but more than that, he needed to be the embodiment of a ck hole. Lonely and pulling every stray bit of matter in until all that was left was a silent, cosmic graveyard


    There was a peace in the loneliness, and he enjoyed it before delving into the center of his cultivation cores where his Domainy.


    A few months ago, the ce was full of cracks and felt like a fractured bone, but now everything was back to its normal shape, and Matt reveled in that feeling. The damage to his Concept had been like living with a broken limb after he had grown so ustomed to it over thest century, and he was d to have it back.


    Having had his revtion in the destruction of his first attempt, Matt knew what he needed to make and immediately began building the image of a ck hole. Hed always found actually <em>crafting</em> the Image to be the most gratifying, and so his starting point was a single pinprick of darkness.


    From the moment his Image began to stabilize, he immediately felt his Concept rail against its pr opposite in the attempt to destroy the invader. If his concentration slipped for even a moment, he knew that the Image would be destroyed, but that was to be expected. Having pr opposite images for two stages of a Domain wasnt some new thing, and many had walked such dualistic paths before him, but all encountered harsh obstacles in making the newest portion of their Domains. For him, with pr opposite images, he would ideally create his Anchor and Phrase before his Image, as that would give the Image some stabilization. But he wasnt close with the other two facets of his Intent, and he needed to make progress.


    Rather, his recent change meant that he needed to re-determine his top Phrase candidates. For his Anchor, the Heart of a ck Hole, a prize he had won in Minka, would be damn near perfect as the literal core of a ck hole. He had attempted to bind itst week, but his Concepts Image had attacked its pr opposite just as it had in his resistance training. He did feel a connection to the Heart of a ck Hole, but he couldn''t tell if that was just familiarity from spending so much time honing his Concept against it, or because it was resonating with him. He expected it was a little of both, but his instincts told him he needed to create his ck hole Image before he could even attempt to im the Heart of a ck Hole as an Anchor. Even then, it wouldnt be easy, and hed need to figure out something beyond the items origin as a way to tie it into his Intent.


    He was curious what powers it might grant him, but he crushed that train of thought mercilessly. He wasnt about to try and sculpt his Intent in a way that it might grant him certain powers again. Hed tried that with his Minka image, contrary to general advice, and it had fought him enough that he didnt want to go through the whole process again.


    Settling himself, Matt released his ck hole Image and waited to see if it could stand on its own. It was like an eggshell currently, but he hadnt had the time to really fill out the image and make it solid.


    Despite putting in only a few hours of work, it felt <em>good</em>. Not solid or stable, but Matt could already feel his spirit connecting to it in a way it had taken <em>years</em> for Minka to resonate. It just felt <em>right</em>, like stretching an arm that had been cramped for too long.


    Despite the superiorpatibility with him as a whole, the Image copsed within seconds under the pressure of his white hole Concept. He was in for a serious fight, trying to both form his Intent <em>and</em> bnce it with his Concept, but he was certain he had it right this time.


    As his Image finished copsing, Matt started rebuilding it. Thanks to it failing in the initial stages, and him not actually trying to actualize the Image, there was no damage. But now he knew for certain that he had the right path, and so, he rebuilt the Image of a ck Hole.


    Starting at the outer and most superficialyer, he created it like a shell before starting to fill the Image in.


    It took two months for him to get the Image to a point where it was stable in the presence of his white hole Image, but the ck hole Image wasnt even a quarter filled in. Part of that was his Concepts size, but arger part of it was his own expectations of his Domain and his own power.


    A ck hole had an indisputable impact on the world around them, and while he wouldnt admit it, Matt was beginning to truly grasp just how impactful his mana doublings would have on the world around <em>him</em>. In many ways, that helped, but in other ways it just made it harder.


    He couldnt just think about the science of a ck hole and substitute mana for energy, like he had for his Concept. The Intent was a matter of reaching out to reality and imposing his truth over the natural order. In that sense, he needed to think of a ck hole as an extension of himself, not simply a phenomenon he found cool. He needed to trulyprehend the vast infinitude of the ways he would impact his surroundings and draw those ties to the ck hole itself.


    He would be the center. No matter what people threw at him, he would take it and only grow stronger, until over time, he was the point which the entire Realm revolved around. The ultimate immovable object whose path could not be altered. But so too was it the opposite of simply being a white hole that spread mana wherever it went. To be certain, there was a <em>lot</em> of energy put off by a ck hole, but it was incidental to the raw destruction it wrought, and that made it tricky to bnce against the rest of him.


    And so he reflected, meditating upon his existence.


    Still, he didnt have an unlimited amount of time. Their year-long break was ending, and they needed to get back to delving if they didnt want to deal with a time crunch.


    Slowly releasing his ck hole Image, he sighed in relief as it withstood the pressure his Concept put on it.


    Seeing it was stable, he pulled out the other half of the device he had bought from the Tier 25 and sent mana into it.


    When the device didnt instantly activate, he started to get worried. The formation was based on the Tier 26 skill [Recall], and was set to bring him back the moment it had enough mana to do so. That his mana regeneration wasnt sufficient to immediately activate the device concerned him, and Matt began to prod at it. He was just wondering if he needed to start flying back when he felt the device that was now glowing light blue with mana activate, and he felt himself get yanked.


    One gut-wrenching momentter, he found himself standing back at his house and looking at Liz and Aster, who were sitting there eating sandwiches.


    Aster waved, mouth full, but Liz at least got up and came over to give him a kiss. Or at least, she appeared like she would. Instead of leaning in, she shoved the sub into his hands.


    It''s not as good as when you make it. Her mock pout was almost ruined by the grin that tried to escape.


    Matt blew a raspberry at her and took the sandwich and took a bite. Chewing, he analyzed the tastes. You didnt put any oil or oregano on it. It''s dry.


    Liz reached out to take the sub back, but Matt smirked at her and stepped away, chewing.


    Hey, that was my lunch! Give me back my sub.


    Im good, thanks though.


    Liz huffed but lost her fake pout as she followed him into their bathroom and the shower.


    ***


    Matt looked out at the rift. Nearing the peak of Tier 22, even if they didnt have Intents, it was time they tackled this obstacle.


    A Tier 25 rift.


    They needed to work on pushing themselves, and without a full Intent, this was as hard as they could push.


    Matt readied his sword as the three of them stood right next to the rift entrance.


    Tier 25 rifts were massive, usually the size of a gas giant, and this one was odd. Instead of a or even an endless in, they found themselves floating in space next to a blue star. In front of them, a truly colossal space station slowly spun, debris flowing from the many breaches in the shell of the ship.


    It was an unusual type, but not one he was wholly unfamiliar with. Every so often, a rift pseudo-civilization was modeled off of some unorthodox reality. Like if theyd never discovered fire, or had literally <em>everything</em> made out of living wood. Or, like this one, where they didnt have any enchantments.


    Instead of gravity engines, the station was slowly rotating to pull people towards the outside in a way few people bothered with, and the ship itself was powered by a massive fusion reactor instead of any mana banks, crystals, or trapped elementals. They still had shields in the form of maically-constrained sma banks, but it wasnt anything too interesting. Every once in a while, someone became enamored with the idea of powering something or many things without mana, only to quickly learn just <em>why</em> nobody did that.


    Individually, it sometimes made sense to utilize spinning rings instead of gravity engines, or mundane sma in ce of flight cores, but you pretty much always wanted some form of enchanting, and by the time you tried to develop two parallel power systems and ensured that neither would interfere with the other, you were pretty much always better off just using mana for the whole thing.


    Still, it hadnt been on the dossier theyd nced at when selecting this rift to buy, so presumably, most of the time it was a more typical space-based rift. But it was always interesting to see something a bit different, and Matt was excited and maybe he could glean a few ideas from the unique ideas rifts sometimes came up.


    Liz pointed her spear at the nearest wreckage of a massive ship with a hole torn through the side. Let''s check this wreckage out.


    Together, the three of them edged closer to the wreck. He and three Liz''s, two kitted out clones and Liz herself, created a wall for Aster, who watched their rear.


    It was a simple formation, but one that almost felt ridiculous. Aster was the only one with two-thirds of her Intent formed. Between her snowscape Image and recently-established Phrase of Deep Winter of the Frozen North, all she had in front of her was her anchor, but was waiting until theypleted a Tier 25 rift before trying and potentially putting her out ofmission for a year or more.


    Or at least, that was what she told Liz and Luna. Matt, connected to her as they were, knew there was a degree of pride keeping her from forming it. She wanted to conquer a Tier 25 rift, a rift where every monster had their own Intent, without her own to prove just how good they were.


    That almost-formed Intent, ordingly, made her their strongest weapon against other Intent-holders. That said, Aster was still a mage, and was not suited to close-quartersbat, so she shouldn''t be deployed on the frontlines.


    It was a good thing too, as when they neared the metal ship, they felt something preventing their spiritual sense from entering the actual ship, but a distinct air of malice still prated the hull. Fortunately, the ships hull was only Tier 20, making their next moves easy.


    Matt charged and released an [Arcane Powershot] in the blink of an eye, sting through the outer hull of the ship and unveiling their enemy.


    The ship disintegrated around it, revealing a coral-like substance that had formed inside the ship like blood vessels inside a body. When the coral shot out arm thick needles of what looked like bone, they had the first monster of the rift.


    Matt cast [Sheer Cold], letting Aster take over the spell and direct the normally omni-directional st into a cone of cold. The iing bone shards showed their hand by twisting mid-air like fish or eels, and the three of them unleashed their attacks on the swarm of monsters.


    They were a well-oiled machine, with Aster slowing them, Matt keeping them at bay, and the Liz''s usuallynding the killing blow. She and her clones would drain their life for her own strength, leaving them as bloodless corpses as she moved on to the next monster in line. Even still, the monster in the ship had an Intent empowering the bone-eels, making each engagement a brutal matter of wearing them down over the course of seconds, bncing the dance of power to ensure none of them were swarmed.


    It was slow, but they crushed their opposition. Or at least the first wave.


    The second wave made itself apparent the moment they finished off the eels.


    Humans.


    Or, more urately, zombies.


    Very dead humanoids withmprey-like monsters digging themselves out of the corpses mouths in a disgusting disy.


    The zombies were slow for Tier 25 monsters, but that only tranted to extremely fast to the Tier 22s, rather than impossibly fast. Though, extremely fast opponents were nothing new to them, and were fairly straightforward to deal with.


    Matt twisted and sent out a [Mana sh] and a [Wind Cutter], both boosted by [Hypersonic Edge], cutting through a dozen of the zombies but not killing them, with the monsters upper halves still flying forward. Seeing the lower halves stop moving, Matt cast [Sword Twin] three times. The first was a copy of his melee de that he let fly next to him before he swapped his de into its magic form, where he made two more copies. One of the copies merged with his de, and he returned to its melee enchantment loadout, while the other mage de merged with the floating sword.


    The now empowered [Sword Twin]s raced forward and started cutting into the zombies, going for the head.


    But that proved as ineffective as cutting them in half, as the monsters continued on unperturbed. Targeting themprey, with its circr cutting teeth extending forward to eat them, Matt cut the appendage itself in half, and the entire zombie went ck.


    An interesting take on zombies, but not one that he didnt know how to counter.


    Weaving in and out of the attacking zombies, Matt aimed for the heart, where thempreys seemed to be nestled around, while informing the others.


    He took a few hits in doing so, the Tier 25 monster having enough strength, speed, and durability to block his hits with their human forms. But that was why he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] and physical armor underneath it.


    A zombie grabbed his left arm and tried to bite him with itsmprey mouth, but Matt twisted and used his invulnerable left hand to cast [Mana Charge] and explode the monster. Even as the first zombie was disintegrating, a second zombie grabbed his arm again but twisted and snapped his left arm at the elbow.


    Growling in the vacuum of space, Matt headbutted the zombie. Themprey seemed ready for that move and tried to bite him, but even its razor sharp teeth just scraped off [Cracked Phantom Armor], and the force of his blow pulped the monster and killed the reanimated corpse.


    Matt caught one of the two Liz clones fighting off a few monsters that had gone after Aster, and after analyzing the fight, dove into arger pack of the zombies after seeing they had the fight well under control. Liz and her other clone were fighting a number of monsters, so Matt red the physical power he was sending to them as he picked up on what his wife was trying to do.


    With the burst of power, Liz flew backward and kited a number of the monsters while she sent darts of blood in and out of the zombies, having ripped amprey itself out of one of them. It took almost thirty seconds of Matt and her clone defending her, but when she squeezed and crushed the monster, all the othermpreys near her exploded in an expanding wave.


    It was one of her more sessful skill-less blood abilities, and relied on the rifts creating exact copies of monsters. That made it less useful outside of a rift, but against swarm or parasite monsters whose physical strength was usually weaker, it was a debilitating attack.


    The rush of essence felt good, and Matt cycled it into his core to further empower himself. He even allowed some of the essence to rush into [Lesser Sacrifice]. It was technically wasteful, as they werent yet at the peak of Tier 22, but the power boost was damn useful. They had tried to ask for the Tier 26 [Sacrifice] skill for one of their Tier 20 rewards, but they wereughed at by April, who told them to look the skill up and try to buy one. They had and quickly realized that the skill was in high demand, and its supply was incredibly limited thanks to no rifts regrly dropping them in the Empire, meaning most were imports.


    So they made due with what they had.


    Lack of rare skills aside, they still had a formidable arsenal.


    A ring of blood flowed around Lizs wrist, twisting between her sped hands like a serpent. Flying over to Liz, Matt put his hand on her shoulder, flooding her with mana with his Concept. Her blood clone was standing guard off to the other side, shield raised. He didnt need to be close to do this, but for this to work, Liz needed to concentrate, and it was safest to do that with him there to protect her. Her clones were good and were nearly fully autonomous, but arge enough distraction with one of them could still pull her out of the trance.


    Five minutester, the blood stopped flowing around her wrist and exploded outward in a fine mist.


    All three Liz''s almost immediately started to convulse, but her AI started feeding information to his [AI], where it processed the information and created a map of enemies in the rift. It would be increasingly useless as time passed, but it was still good to get an impression of the rift before they headed in too deeply.


    Matt silently whistled as the spell resonated with everymprey-like monster in the rift. There were <em>billions</em>. Most were concentrated in the space station in front of them, but Matt knew that was just the tip of the iceberg.


    The coral-like thing that had fused with the ship''s structure wasnt amprey, and so hadnt appeared, but Matts [AI] had already counted the ships floating through space.


    As soon as Liz recovered from the strain of casting the skill-less spell, Matt cast [Cracked Mana Spear] at the ship-shaped coral structure.


    Like the eel things it had fired, the ship thing twisted like a fish in water and darted away, trying to flee, but Aster was ready and slowed it to a crawl, which allowed Matt to carve it into pieces without any risk to themselves.


    Only when there was a rush of essence confirming it was dead did Matt carefully move forward to inspect the monster''s corpse. It didnt take long to confirm the monsters really did seem to be sea creatures adapted to the vacuum of space. That didnt exin the humans or technology, but that didnt really matter to them.


    They had a rift to clear.


    A task that became moreplicated when they inspected the human zombies.


    They each had personal identifiers on them in the form of pad-like items that were mostly filled with gibberish. All except for an identifier number that was in Empire standard.


    Aster spat off to the side when they realized what that meant. Are we really going to bother with a full clear?


    In theory, Matt agreed. A rift of this size would take at least three months to fully clear, but when things like this appeared in a rift, it usually meant the rift had some hidden boss or extra reward. Who could pass up extra loot or an extra fight? Matt surely couldnt.


    A Liz clone nodded and made to throw the data pad away. You''re right. We can skip it.


    But before she could finish throwing the data pad away, Aster grabbed it and stuck it in her spatial ring. Hey, dont get ahead of yourself. I was justining. I never said I didnt want to do it.


    Matt smiled and looked at the cut on his arm that was now mostly healed. I''m ready to go when you guys are.


    Knowing they needed to fully clear the rift, they spent the first two weeks flying around on Matts flying sword and cleared out all the ships.


    It was on the third ship they encountered a new oddity;. an intact, but empty, ship.


    With nothing alive inside the ship, Matt waved his hand, wanting to pull the ship into his spatial ring, but the moment his spirit started to pull it inside, the ship detonated.


    Cursing the stinginess of the rift, Matt moved on with the others, who consoled him. The failed attempt was still interesting, and he pondered it even as they cleared the infested ships before going deeper into the rift and entering the massive superstructure.


    There were a few shops and stores he explored that were filled with an assortment of junk, some of which he pocketed forter study.


    What made him pause was a vaguely simr helmet design he had seen advertised for mortals who traveled through the vacuum of space, and he spent close to half an hour disassembling it beforeing to the conclusion that someone had copied the general form factor in the Empire before iterating on it and improving the design. The physical shape was nearly a perfect copy.


    Sadly, the rest of the rift wasnt nearly as interesting or easy.


    The single humanoid zombies they had fought outside of the space station were nothing whenpared to the swarms of monsters they encountered inside.


    Massive, ten foot tall zombies made from a dozen or more people, small sleek zombies created from children, and exploding zombies whose blood was both toxic and acidic were all mixed in with the normal zombies.


    Initially, they just wanted to shred the superstructure and force the zombies into space, but the space station had an integrity value that lowered anytime they blew a hole in its shell that updated on all the data pads they were collecting. It was clear they needed to keep the ship intact, which was easier said than done when fighting Tier 25 monsters.


    Instead of just ignoring the challenge, they turned it into a game like those imposed on them by Luna.


    Each of them took injuries as they delved, but they tried not to let that slow them down, and thanks to Lizs healing and Matts mana, they rarely had to stop for more than a few hours for a limb to be properly reattached. The boss was a giant coral monster that had infected the power station of the space station and was feeding off the energy.


    Killing the monster while not destroying the generators was difficult, but the three of them managed, though a few Liz clones died in the rift.


    Clearing the rest of the rift, they discovered what the purpose of the station was.


    It was a sun forge. It was weird that a society simting an enchantment-free reality would have one, but he wasntining about the ingots of Sr Steel that they managed to find. It wasnt a ton, maybe enough for a sword. But if they were lucky, it would cover the materials theyd need to upgrade one of their growth items.


    Sun forges were fairly rare, especially outside of the Corporations and ns, and they each charged a small fortune for any of their exports. Sr Steel was fairly low on the scale of supermaterials that sun forges could produce, but that didnt keep it from being in high demand for fire, light, and especially summer mages and warriors. Especially as they neared Tier 25, it seemed like <em>everything</em> was getting far more expensive, but in this case, it was to their benefit.


    Still, they hadpleted a Tier 25 rift without their own Intent, and that was a monumental moment for the three of them. Despite not having their own Intents, they had proved they could tackle even that gap and washed away any lingering trauma with their loss against Girang and Soddus so many years ago.


    Progress was both tangible and material.


    It felt good.

 Chapter 273

    Chapter 273


    Aster closed her eyes and breathed in and out, pulsing the storm around her with her meditation. Frigid winds whipped around her, an icy hurricane nketing the pr cap of the world. Her reach extended even further than that, nketing half the in a spontaneous winter, in tant defiance of the normal seasons and still-cooling magma in some corners of the new.


    It was pure vanity, but she had felt the need to really flex her powers, and in exchange for some light assistance with terraforming, the local marquis had given her ess to a newly-added and uninhabited Tier 1 world.


    With no humans or animals present, shed been able to truly <em>let loose</em>.


    Shed started small, stirring up a small storm with nothing but her bloodline. From there, shed flexed her mana and spirit to sweep ice through the. First, she only did so at night, and then as the climate shifted to her will, she expanded into the daytime hours. She pushed her influence from just the ice cap, to the pr circle, and eventually to the snow-brushed continental peaks.


    Then she pushed even harder, and the storm crept down to the sixty-degreetitude, creating winds and snow so thick it made the area seem like nighttime.


    Harder.


    The forty five degreetitude.


    <em>Harder</em>.


    The thirty-degreetitude that rarely saw snow became utterly whited out.


    <em><strong>Harder</strong></em>.


    <em><strong>HARDER</strong></em>.


    Now, she had reached half the, and was nowhere close to her limits. She kept pushing, overriding the natural weather patterns with her own will, but not extending her range any further. She could even feel the ways in which she could permanently change the weather, freezing the entire and turning it into a winter wondend.


    She could make her kingdom here and now, a world of snow and ice, but part of being a ruler was knowing restraint. This wasnt the right time, but she had proven that she could, and her tiara whispered its approval to her.


    Shed encountered more trouble than anticipated when trying to im her Anchor. It kept saying that it wasnt ready, despite being the final portion of her Intent, but she had eventually teased out a fairly simple truth from her failures. She was not the Princess of winter, she was its first Queen.


    She had no queendom to inherit, for that had been left in Minka. She would make her own queendom of ice through her own efforts, and her tiara was the promise that she would rule it justly and rightly.


    But unfortunately, that revtion hadn''t worked with her original phrase of Deep Winter of the Frozen North. That had been too entangled with the idea that her queendom would be in the north, as something ready for her to simply im. So, shed had to break that portion of her Intent before she could im her Anchor, leaving her once again two-thirds of the way done with her Intent.


    But, after a few minor failures, she was ready for her final step. She was the queen of the world, and her Intent was its Crown.


    Her eyes opened, and around her she saw not her physical surroundings, but her Image. It was a barren wastnd, yes, with the stars far above nketed by a glimmering aurora. But it was not an apocalypse, it was a canvas. It was her future queendom, full of potential yet not actualized yet.


    With a pulse of her magic, she pushed past the equator and into thes northern hemisphere.


    She liked her new Intent. It was no frozen queendom she would inherit, but it was whatever she could build and hold herself, and that meant she didnt need to limit herself to just the north.


    Just like in her image, her entire Intent was merely beginning. In time, her dominion would contain pces and cities, roads and citizens. It would stretch to the glimmering aurora and perhaps even beyond. The stars themselves were within her grasp, for an eternal winter of her own making.


    She already nned to change her bloodline to Aurora, and this would help her grasp that. Yes, her Concept would still crack, but by imbuing the idea of building and expanding her kingdom into the very core of her Intent, it would be almost trivial for her to adjust the rest of her Domain to match. And as her Intent grew, so too might her Image. Her dream of one day making Space Ice was a distant memory, but those naive hopes of a child still rang true in her spirit.


    Frozen.


    Her Intent was Frozen, yet growing. Like an icicle capturing water, like snow banks piling up, it would only ever increase, for she would never allow it to thaw. Skyscrapers of ice, stretching into the sky, frozen rivers for roads spanning her entire domain, she had taken the tides of fortune and called them to task, halting them when they would be the most favorable to her.


    Crown.


    Her Intent was her Crown, the mark of her royalty yet also her grandest treasure. The stars might shine, but the most brilliant jewel in her queendom would always be upon her brow. Equally, <em>she</em> was the crown of her dominion, and her Intent was to ensure that stayed just as true in a millennium as it did right now. She should be the pinnacle, not just in strength and fluffiness, but in nobility and justice, in wisdom and temperance. A ruler was not simply mere muscle, but an example to their people, the crown of all they oversaw.


    Of.


    As an intermediary word, iming ownership of it was both easy and difficult. It was easy to im it, but it was hard to keep the word from slipping away like wet ice.


    The.


    Same as thest, Aster quickly imed it and moved on to the next word while making sure to keep everything stable.


    World.


    Her Domain would echo across the entire World. Ironically, that was perhaps the most limiting part of her phrase, but she had long since resolved herself to viewing however manys she may grow to oversee as all being part of <em>her</em> world. They would be her people, and it would be her duty to corral it and present a singr vision, a singr goal to all those in her world. Be it wintry or filled with the brilliant colors of the aurora, it would be hers and she would be its.


    She was the <strong>Frozen Crown of the World</strong>.


    The storm around her stilled for the briefest of moments, then raged harder and harder. In its wake were left brilliant ice sculptures, windblown and sparkling in the light like spires and gems. Her Intent pulsed, washing over the entire world, and a crystal rity descended upon her.


    Even as the moment passed, the feeling did not fully subside. She felt more real. Like she was truly a part of the Realm in a way she had never experienced before. Even in a Tier 24 system, she felt like the world was hers tomand.


    With a thought, shemanded the storm she had created to halt, and every mote of snow froze, whether it was still mid-air or on the ground. With another thought, shemanded the snow to return to its normal movement, and it continued on as if thest few seconds hadnt happened.


    Laughing, she spun in the snow, arms extended.


    She felt a ripple of space a moment before Kurt brought Liz and Matt to her.


    The trainer gave her a wide, silent smile paired with a thumbs-up.


    Her smile, on the other hand, seemed frozen to her face as she hugged Matt and Liz together.


    Her voice definitely didnt crack as she said, Im so excited! I kept feeling like something would go wrong, but everything just clicked into ce!


    She felt Matts genuine happiness for her flow into her from both their bond and his hug, and she reveled in that feeling. Lizs feelings had toe through more mundane channels, but Aster still fully felt them through her own hug, and knew Liz was just as happy for her as Matt was.


    Even the thought was slightly shocking, but Aster had done it.


    Created her Intent at Tier 22.


    Even in therger Empire, that made her one of the few and rare who managed the feat before reaching the peak of Tier 24.


    She had gone from the tagalong who had been content to rest in her bonds backpack to a fully independent member of the team who could pull her own weight. She was a support, but anyone who said supports werent important had never fought a team with a debuff mage like her.


    Flexing her Intent, she smiled as she lifted Matt and Liz off the ground.


    Her willpower melted away like ice in a bonfire, more draining than her Concept had ever been, but she had strength to spare. With a mere thought, she sent them racing into the atmosphere. And in a system where the primary was a Tier 24, that wasnt an easy feat.


    Letting momentum carry them up a little higher, Aster pouted a little at Matt, who rolled his eyes as he pulled out his flying sword and flew them over to where Lunas house sat in orbit.


    The grumpy cat sat at the edge of the frontwn, staring at her without blinking, but Aster knew that the older bond did it because she was worried for her.


    Waving, she thanked her manager who just licked a paw, turning back to the under them.


    Aster checked the and sighed, as only half of it was frozen. It would be incredibly embarrassing if she had set off a cascading effect despite keeping her Intent in check. But no, there was nothing wrong.


    Seeing no reaction from the cat she chalked it up to Luna being Luna and so Aster sauntered inside to enjoy the air that rushed into her lungs.


    I did it!


    Sticking her hand up for April to return her high five, she wagged her tail a little. She was just too happy to contain it.


    Let''s have a party!


    ***


    Liz smiled as she and Matty together, thoroughly satiated.


    As she let her fingers y with his muscles like they were piano keys, Liz let her mind wander.


    Aster had created her Intent, and all of them had Tiered up to Tier 23, but she hadnt made more than the first step.


    Oh, she had ideas, but she hadnt been able to make the Phrase Blood is Life work for her yet. It was still missing something, but what that something was, she had no idea.


    Matts hand ran down her spine and towards her rear, and she was gauging if she was ready for a round five when he simply caressed her nk. Good, she didnt want to have to use a healing spell to get rid of the soreness, it ruined the afterglow she enjoyed so much.


    Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, Liz gave into temptation and bit her husband andughed as he flinched.


    She bit a little harder, hard enough to draw blood, and let the taste of Matts blood fill her senses.


    It had only taken a drop, but she always learned so much from it.


    Sharing blood had be amon urrence, with Matt being able to heal so fast, which made him the perfect tap for her research.


    Shed gotten somewhat used to the taste of his blood, which made her acutely aware of the fact it suddenly tasted different. It was faint, to be sure, but she was Tier 23, and could tell what hed eaten a week ago just from the residual traces it left in his blood.


    It was tingly.


    Going in for another bite, she reopened the wound and let her tongue get covered in his blood, rolling the liquid over her senses.


    Tingly wasnt quite the right word for it. It was almost like salt, where the new vor enhanced the sensation of everything else, deepening it in a wholly new direction. Theplex blend of enzymes, hormones, and metals stood out in a way they just never had before, lingering in a way that almost felt like a culinary echo.


    Going in for a third bite, Matt caught her head and pulled her up. Ok, one is sexy, two is odd, three is concerning. Spill.


    As if feeling the need to lighten his words, he used his thumb to pry her upper lip open and inspected her incisors.


    She nipped at the offending digit, but he was too fast and pulled back.


    Deciding she really should exin, she told him what she had found. Your blood is weird. And I was trying to iste the reason why. Your blood tastes like She let her words trail off as she tried to figure out the actual words she wanted to use. I guess it tastes like <em>you</em>? Or your mana. Endless. Did you have a breakthrough in your Intent recently?


    Going in for the third bite even as he said he hadnt made any progress, she took a deeper draw and let the vors run over her tongue.


    It took her a few moments, but eventually, she realized why his blood was so active. Yeah, your blood is really high in mana, but it doesnt <em>taste</em> like mana. Normally, your blood will passively transmute any mana into it, reshaping it into blood mana or air mana or water mana as needed, but this is staying neutral. Kind of like your mana has been dissolved into your bloodstream, she mulled over her discovery, idly wondering how it might impact some of her skill-less mana. Also, whether she could precipitate the mana out of his blood, maybe collecting it into a buffer. There was a <em>lot</em> of power there, but she wasnt really sure what that meant.


    Matt pursed his lips as he pondered everything he did, but she felt it as he tensed a little. In a questioning tone, he asked, Maybe its the Tier-up? Its not impossible that my spirit is doing something in preparation for my Tier 25 talent, you know.


    Hmmm, she mused, yfully snapping at his earlobe. Pre-manifestation Talent symptoms have never been proven, you know.


    He just shrugged, but Liz was silently thrilled. It was generally epted that it was at least loosely possible to influence the Tier 25 Talent through actions, and <em>sometimes</em> some physical symptoms reminiscent of an eventual Talent began showing up as early as Tier 20. As often as not, though, they werepletely unrted to whatever the Talent eventually ended up being. Sometimes they were Intent-rted, sometimes the byproduct of a natural treasure or a mana subaspect, a bloodline, or even just the spirit being weird.


    But none of that mattered to her. The simple <em>chance</em> that her husband''s Talent might be even slightly rted to his blood made her melt. The idea that Matts spirit might actually reflect his rtionship with her got her engine running hot, and she threw a leg over him.


    They could talkter, but for now, she needed him.


    Quickly, she realized that wasnt enough, and summoned a [Lesser Blood Clone].


    Then a second.


    And a third.


    Almost a full dayter, they crawled out of bed and went to do their own explorations.


    Tasting Matts blood had given her some ideas about her own Image.


    Her Phrase and Image were both giving her trouble. It wasnt so much that she wascking ideas as much as she was outright <em>overflowing</em> with them. They had to be blood-rted, obviously, but that still left a nigh-infinite number of ways that she could interpret blood, each of which having influence on who she would be in the future.


    Shed surpassed her biological needs long ago, but the higher-Tier she got, the more shed be bound by her <em>spiritual</em> needs. Her Domain would nudge her to act in certain ways, or to avoid acting in others. It was just as possible to ovee as any other urge, but denying it long-term could lead to all sorts of problems, be they spiritual, mental, magical, even physical.


    While she still wasnt entirely certain what would suit her best, her utterly wonderful husband had given her a few ideas, and an itch in the back of her mind demanded she give it some time. With barely a blink, she stepped into and sank into her cauldron of blood.


    Her cauldron was, in truth, a massive holding tank utterly filled with her own blood, and when submerged, it was hard to tell where she ended and the blood began. But that was the beauty of blood; it was her, and she was it.


    It was her life, it was the death of her enemies, it flowed and coiled like water. It was made of telets, red blood cells, sma, essence, white blood cells, mana, and more. It was the cornerstone of her biological existence, and most of her magic as well. But it went deeper than that. Even when she filtered out all of the physical stuff that made up her blood, separating it into itsponent liquids, solids, and energies, they were all still recognizably <em>blood</em>. Mana left its mark, essence all the more, and there wasnt truly a point at which it ceased being blood and began being simple, dumb matter. Even a molecule of water, an atom of oxygen, they were still undeniably blood, so long as that was where it hade from.


    Her Anchor ensured that the physical side of blood was well represented in her Intent, but there was just more to it than just that.


    She felt herself open up to her Anchor, the sheer physicality of blood making itself known foremost, inteced with the mana and essence that made it <em>hers</em>. Shed done well with just that, treating it as simple red water, but as she well knew it wasnt <em>enough</em>. Her Concept pushed that blood was Rebirth, and she still liked that ideal. Blood as Life, not as death. Not as disease, as sacrifices, as filth and decay. To her, Blood was <em>life</em>.


    She focused on the things that made up blood. The red blood cells, white blood cells, sma, and telets. She pictured the oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, hormones, and waste chemicals that were carried around by blood. It was the metals a body needed: iron, copper, and zinc. It was the magic in one''s body. The mana that naturally ran through one''s veins after someone was awakened. It was the essence that flowed through one''s veins after Tier 15, when a cultivator''s essence core created enough essence through natural replication to fuel their now superhuman body.


    <em>Blood was everything</em>.


    A part of her still wanted to zoom out on the Image and make it blood, but she knew trying to encapste the entirety of the element was not only a fools errand, it also didnt suit <em>her</em>. She very intentionally wasnt trying to be the sort of blood mage who slowly yed people alive for fun, or the kind who would unleash devastating gues upon the helpless popce, or who would kill millions of civilians in a massive sacrificial ritual to empower her.


    She was a warrior and an alchemist. Her blood was her weapon of choice, the medium she worked in, and she would be honorable in that sense. Her kills would be enemy soldiers, her magic would be worked to save those she was responsible for.


    With Matts mana infusing his blood, it had sparked a faint <em>something</em> in the back of her mind, and she felt like she was really on to something. But it required more thought.


    Blood dripped off of her as she exited her cauldron, coalescing into a [Lesser Blood Clone]. Another exited from the cauldron behind her, and a third materialized from thin air. Since shed imed her blood as her Anchor, and gotten the ability to manifest or de-manifest it at will, she had officially transcended the need for any cuts or devices to help her get blood outside of her body. She still needed to practice some, and the amount of blood she had avable to her was still limited, but it was a nice perk.


    She pulled on basic clothes and sat back, reclining against the air itself as her three clones did the same. Decades of practice had paid off, as each clone acted simrly but not identically.


    The real her kicked off the discussion, looking to the clone on the right, So, what do you think?


    Right shrugged, tucking her legs under her body. We really should just keep going with the generalist standpoint. Were Ascenders, we can handle a broad Intent, and its not like a blood gue would never be <em>useful</em>.


    Center cut off Right, But thats also not the kind of mage we <em>want</em> to be. Besides, we still need to nail down two full portions of the Intent, and we are not backtracking into something thats just Blood as the phrase. We are also absolutely not making our Anchor be blood, our Phrase just Blood, and our Image as all blood everywhere. I hold myself to a higher standard than that.


    Lizs clones werent <em>actually</em> intelligent, and even getting them to just speak was already something of an aplishment, but shed gotten into the habit of talking to herself like this at some point without even realizing it. Even if the three were ultimately just puppets of her, making them be different people helped. Made talking to herself seem less pathetic, somehow. Helped keep her ideas straight.


    Left blew a strand of blood-hair out of her face, Agreed. Look, are we really needed here? We already know that we dont want to try and epass everything that blood could be. Our Anchor is specifically <em>our blood</em>, and we can make the Phrase about ourbat, the Image about our alchemy, focus in on how we use blood for each of those, and it bes about our rtionship with blood. Itll even keep fire in scope! I know we havent given up on that yet, and if we emphasize the essence connection, that gives us room to expand back into fire with a core part of our Domain. We know we want it. Heck, we can brute-force it if needed. Wed get there eventually.


    Liz shook her head. That''s an awful idea. We failed enough times making our Anchor, and we don''t need to spend more time in the hospital.


    None of them said they didnt want to fail as badly as Matt had done but they all thought it. Ones Domain represented themselves and their connection to the realm itself, but when their Intents manifestation was their own blood, things could be <em>very</em> dangerous if they took serious Domain damage. If she failed in making her Phrase or Image like Matt had, her very blood could fall apart, and she might not recover. Just because it was possible to recover a imed Anchor while a Domain shattered, didnt mean it was easy.


    At least, that was the worst-case scenario, and she didnt want to force a revival if she could avoid it. While the body would be physically healed, her Domain damage wouldnt get any better, and so shed still be out of the fight.


    Left raised a finger, Look, we could sit here all year if we let ourselves, and I dont think that would really help us. If we want our Intent to be anything close toprehensive, we really should be working on immersing ourselves less in the liquid, and more in our <em>use</em> of it. Especially if we want to start thinking about blood as a conduit


    Liz sighed. She wasnt wrong, probably. Sitting around wouldnt help her, and after a couple of half-hearted rebuttals from Center and Right, she changed into her alchemy gear and headed to the workshop. If she couldn''t be productive at her Intent, she could make potions.


    She had been toying with the idea of a mind-clearing potion based on ice mana that might synergize with Aster better. The form she had bought had been based around burning away stray thoughts with fire mana, which meant Aster would get little effect at best, and at worst a major headache.


    Even if it was the former, Aster wouldin endlessly about the potion, and Liz didnt want to give her any ammo.


    What if we try Agathas Gaze instead of ze Dust?


    That might work, but we would need to change Freyas Fingers out as well due to the reaction between the two, and there isn''t an easy substitute to help catalyze the reagents if we aren''t using Freyas Fingers.


    I thi


    ***


    Luna watched from the corner of the room not blinking until Liz started working on her potion making and it was clear she wasnt going to work on her Intent any more.


    Jumping up to the ceiling, Luna curled up and waited, ready to intervene in case the girl got any bright ideas.


    ***


    Matt slowly moved through a sh with his sword, the Heart of the ck Hole sitting on the edge of his de.


    He had spent so much time grinding away at the core of the ck hole that it had be a familiar feeling, despite fighting his white hole Image. It was like a sore tooth that had been with him for so long that the ache of the pain had be more familiar than theck of pain.


    With his ck hole Image mostly stable or at least actualized, he was sure that if he lost concentration over his Intent for even a moment it would violently react with his Concept and tear itself apart, he needed to move on to his Anchor.


    Having an Anchor that matched the Image wasnt in any way necessary, but it was something that could multiply the power of an Intent. It could also have no appreciable effect, but Matt had a good feeling about the Heart of the ck Hole.


    Minka had presented it to him so many decades ago, and he had ovee its challenge through his and Aster''s own efforts.


    He had earned the cultivation core of his Concepts enemy through sheer force of will and determination.


    He was <em>Endless</em>.


    He would not give up, and had proven that a dozen times over.


    iming the defeated core of a ck hole as his Anchor just seemed so right.


    The issue was, it was so damn hard that he wasnt sure how to actually do it.


    He had already asked Liz and Aster about their own Anchors, but their experiences hadnt been even remotely simr to what he was going through.


    Mirror parts of a Domain were all together another beast, and he was learning that the hard way. All Lunas, Kurts, Aprils, and the trainer''s lessons came back to him but meant very little. He didn''t know if he was weaker than the others who made a mirror Intent to their Concept or if his Domain was just that muchrger in scope, but their descriptions of their struggles felt like the tip of the iceberg whenpared to what he was dealing with.


    They talked about rejection and repulsion, but few had mentioned the explosive anger he had to deal with. His Concept was at all times trying to rip and tear at his Image, and if he let that happen for even a moment, he had to spend days repairing the damage. His Images <em>hated</em> each other. They were like rabid animals who only knew how to attack, and did so the moment the trainer turned their back.


    He figured that if he could im his Anchor, he could equal the ying field a little, but the Heart of the ck Hole was stubborn.


    When Matt sent his willpower into it, he felt like he was simply throwing away his power into a <em>ck hole</em>. It disappeared and vanished, his connection to it breaking as it was stretched out as it neared the center of the ck hole.


    But that was fine.


    Matt was patient.


    After all, he was <em>Endless</em>.


    If his ck hole Anchor wanted to eat, he would give it an all-you-can-eat buffet. He poured mana and willpower into the core like he would never run out, despite having only so much willpower left over with weeks and months of delving Tier 25 rifts.


    Wanting to build a connection with the Heart of the ck Hole, he had started carrying it everywhere with him and just generally ying with it.


    He and Aster had even created a game of tossing the core back and forth while they watched movies. The Heart of the ck Hole wasnt invisible to his spiritual perception, but it, like its namesake, was absorbing light, mana, and essence, which made it <em>nearly</em> invisible to his spiritual perception. If one wasnt careful, they could miss the core with their hands and catch it with their face.


    It made for a fun game.


    It was with that game that Matt learned all his hard work was good for something. Right before Aster hit him in the face with a sneaky throw, he willed the Heart of the ck Hole to freeze, and it did.


    In fact, it froze so much, it tore a hole through their spaceship, and they were forced to pause mid-air in the rift they were flying through.


    Nothing they had done to the Heart of the ck Hole had budged it, including all three of them trying to move it, Aster even with her full Intent. Even knocking himself out hadnt freed the Heart of the ck Hole, and they lost two weeks while Matt begged, pleaded, and bargained with the Heart of the ck Hole to move again.


    Eventually, he figured it out and was able to free the Heart of the ck Hole, but it had been an interesting experience he wasnt keen on repeating. Which was exactly why he immediately started trying to get the Heart of the ck Hole to freeze again.


    Through practice and training with April, Matt had learned that he wasnt just freezing the Heart in space, but in rtion to something. That created some very interesting effects that he was still trying to learn how to really abuse. His current favorite was freezing the Heart in rtion to the tip of his de while he practiced his swordsmanship. It wasnt really practical, not like freezing the Heart rtive to a monster''s attack, and just holding on as the Heart went flying, but it made him feel a real connection to it.


    The entire episode had made April scratch her head in confusion, saying she hadnt heard of someone iming an Anchor like that. But Kurt had exined that he had heard of some swordsmen who didnt create a weapon manifestation, but went through a simr process with a physical weapon they imed.


    There was just something about dancing with his de and Anchor that felt <em>right</em>.


    He might be Endless, but he was also stubborn, determined.


    It might take some time, but he would im the Heart of the ck Hole.


    It was his.


    He had earned it through blood, sweat, and tears.


    Dancing through abination, Matt fought imaginary opponents and killed each of them as they came.


    His de thrust, it blocked, it parried, it deflected, it shed, it lunged, it swept, it riposted.


    All while the Heart of the ck Hole sat at the top of his de like the button on a dueling de.


    Connected to him.


    Connected to the Realm.


    ***


    Luna watched from the corner of the room as Matt swung his de, not blinking. He might not be able to see it, but through her Aspect, she watched as the Heart of the ck Hole pulsed with energy, in rhythm with his own pulse.


    Even if this method of iming an Anchor was usually risk-free, she was ready to intervene at a moment''s notice.

 Chapter 274

    Chapter 274


    Liz stared into the blood in her cauldron, taking in everything she possibly could through sight, then studied it with ever-more esoteric senses. She needed to experience it as thoroughly as possible, all the better to properly understand her Phrase.


    Blood is the Cauldron of Life.


    In many ways, it had fallen into ce after shed properly gotten her Image. The visualization of blood being a <em>carrier</em> had been the ultimate breakthrough in that. Blood carried nutrients to all parts of the body, and even brought mana to the spirit if one thought of it in a certain way. And that was just the start. Blood <em>carried</em> power in sacrifices, it carried diseases, it carried bloodlines. It brought death to her enemies and life to her allies. More practically, her Image was everything which blood held dissolved within itself, but as it had materialized, she realized for her Domain to be properlyplete, her Phrase needed to involve both her alchemy and her heritage.


    A wave of her hand instantly set her blood boiling. She had learned a <em>lot</em> about blood through her unstructured magic, and while herbat usage was still limited, she could fairly easily coax a bloodline to act. She could make her blood boil, Asters blood freeze, a Cloud Sheeps blood dissolve into mist, and a Radiant Spiders ichor glow. Lunas blood was too valuable for her to experiment with while on the Path, but she expected a Void bloodline to instantly annihte itself. Those experiments had been instrumental for the development of her Image and served her well, even now.


    Fire was in her blood. Fire <em>was</em> her blood, and it was an aspect of power she couldnt neglect, not for this. But it fit her perfectly. Somewhere, deep, deep down inside of her was still that little girl who saw fire with nothing but wonder, seeing the fire itself as a living thing and all the life it brought. How it shaped civilization, how it warmed homes and provided nourishing food.


    For good measure, she flexed her Concept and summoned blood-mes under her cauldron. It glowed with power, and Liz began her work. Blood carried the ingredients she added in every possible manner, ensuring theyd mix in the right way at the right time, and her three clones passed her everything she needed precisely when she needed it.


    Because while fire was life, and so too was blood, in truth neither was <em>sufficient</em>. As an alchemist, she knew that well enough. Nothing was simple, and while it wasnt a <em>traditional</em>bination for homunculi, shed done the work. Fire and Blood could indeed make alchemicallyplete life.


    Her cauldron bubbled, and she carried on undeterred.


    Blood is the Cauldron of Life.


    Blood.


    She knew oh so much about that word. It was already an entire third of her Intent, and she knew everything it could do. Family, love, life, death, anger, sacrifice, pain, healing, protection, and more. It was her weapon and tool, her arms and armor. Her potions and power, the manifestation of her determination and of her inner fire and her entire life.


    Blood was Elizabeth Moore. She was it, and it was her. There was no start to one and stop to the other.


    That word was the foundation of everything else, and her foundations, after over a century of immersion with the element and decades of focused study, werepletely and utterly solid.


    Is.


    Intermediary words could sometimes be ignored when truly developing a Phrase, but Liz was of the opinion that they still served an important role in properly taking ownership of the entire Domain. Particrly here and now, it was vital for her to establish the causal link between her blood and everything else. Is was just as important as Blood itself in that chain.


    The.


    The was both easy and difficult to properly nail down. She couldnt make it perfectly rigid, because she knew there were other ways to make life and her Domain wouldnt allow her understanding to contradict its truth. She got there in the end, though.


    Cauldron.


    Blood was not the only thing needed for life to form, but it was an utterly essential catalyst, a backdrop and channel for other forces to trulye together to make wonders. It was the foundation and conduit, yes, but it was also the <em>environment</em>. It was the right confluence of factors needed to bring a potion together to make wonders or to bring forth a mighty warrior from the cauldron of war. The associations that cauldrons carried with fire only made it <em>better</em>, finally giving her bloodline a ce to properly manifest. She had faint ns to one day change her bloodline to blood, but that drastic of a change was intense, and she didnt want topletely abandon fire a ce in her Intent was a suitable legacy for it, at least.


    Of.


    Another transitionary word. As a whole, they were tricky to grasp, like blood pouring out from a clenched fist, but Liz had spent a lot of time perfecting her phrasing, and she refused to let it go.


    Life.


    At first, iming the final word felt like seeing the top of the mountain, and all the umted stress and burdens of creating her Phrase seemed to double in weight. Smiling, Liz pushed. A final sprint to finish a race strong.


    Being tired was no excuse to give up in the past, and it wouldnt be one here.


    Life.


    Life was everything because the alternative was a return to nothingness. A return to the essence cycle. Death. And she rejected death. It could not im her with her mother''s heritage. Through that power, it would not im her family.


    Life was the only eptable path because Liz refused to bow to death.


    Life was only possible through blood. Liz was blood. Liz was life.


    Shed timed it perfectly, her experiment resolving as her Phrase was beginning to spark. In front of her, her cauldron erupted into golden mes, washing over Liz and her clones and leaving them untouched. With her spiritual sense, she watched as the mana and essence involved coalesced with the final reaction, spiraling together and copsing into the bottom of the enclosure.


    The steam cleared, and Liz was able to see that her blood had lost all coloration, bing perfectly clear and revealing a tiny, fish-like homunculus shaking imaginary dust off itself, then swimming up to explore its new world.


    It didnt have a spirit, being unawakened, but Liz felt her Intent crystallize perfectly around her spirit at the sight of the true life that <em>she</em> had created.


    <em>Blood is the Cauldron of Life</em>.


    The world shattered around her, unveiling a rity to reality shed never seen. It was like shed lived her entire life behind smoked ss, or without color, but now she could <em>see</em>. Her body felt lighter and more substantial simultaneously, and a sense of exuberance permeated her very spirit as her Talent and Skills eagerly shivered with newfound potential.


    She was about to send a message to Matt when she froze upon seeing Luna in cat form, watching her from a shelf. The woman hadnt been there before, and Liz had to wonder if their manager was watching out for their safety. Once that thought crossed her mind, she had to wonder how long Luna had been watching her. She was tempted to ask, but the nk look Luna gave her screamed that she didnt want to be disturbed. And Liz, even with her power increase, wasnt able to quash the feeling that she shouldnt cross her manager.


    Suddenly, her parents'' attitude to Luna made a lot more sense. Sure, the duo of idiots hammed it up, but they genuinely respected Luna and feared her. If they didnt, her mother wouldnt have acted like a heatmp for more than five seconds before incinerating the person who suggested it.


    Liz wasnt sure she could strike out at her manager even if she was confident in winning. There was just too much history between them, and Lunas cat eyes threatened a rough time if she ever tried.


    Awkwardly half waving, half nodding at Luna, Liz hopped out of the cauldron to meet up with Matt and Aster, who were there to congratte her.


    She was just about to talk about Luna watching her when the manager entered with Kurt and April from their front door. The re her now-human manager sent her way stopped Liz from speaking out, but she stuck her tongue out, wanting to rebel at least a little.


    If Luna was watching them while they made their Intents, it made sense as to why she hadnt mentioned it.


    Still, Liz just couldnt get over how she felt. A Tier 23 with an Intent. A little less impressive than Aster had been, but she was proud as a hen with a clutch of eggs and wanted to preen.


    Decades of hard work had paid off, and she was ready to break through to Tier 25 and finish The Path at any time.


    ***


    Matt twisted in the air as the Tier 27 monster slipped by him.


    As fresh Tier 24s, they were pushing themselves to the limit to delve up so many Tiers.


    Or rather, they were struggling because he wasnt at their level yet.


    Without his Phrase, Matt was a burden to his team.


    If he had his Intent, he was sure they could have pushed into Tier 28 rifts by now.


    But with hisck of Phrase, they were struggling.


    Their current rift was an odd one with a breed of super massive cats. Standing close to ten feet tall at the shoulders, the cats dwarfed the three of them and had the speed and agility of their smaller counterparts. Matt couldn''t help but wonder if Luna had chosen this rift for them just to see them get pped around by another set of cats.


    Probably not, but he couldn''t help but feel that she was growing impatient with hisck of Intent. There were no signs of that, and she repeatedly cautioned him to rx and let thingse to him naturally. But under the ever-growing pressure of his Intent and its sh with his Concept, he hadnt even been able to sleep in thest five years.


    When he was inbat, Matt felt closer to his Intent than at any other time, and that drove them forward. Tier 24 at 163 years old wasnt a record, but it was close. Without downtime relegated to recharging mana or recovering from wounds, they were able to schedule a rift every month, which was a feat few others could im. They rarely fully cleared a rift, often just going straight for the boss and then killing everything near the exit until it was time to go into the next rift. But that just allowed them to delve faster, and therefore progress faster. It cost an arm and a leg to buy out so many rift slots, but that was fine. With their current power, they didnt need any money, and were simply trying to reach the peak of Tier 24 so they couldplete The Path.


    Or, Liz and Aster were. If Matt couldn''t figure out his Phrase in the next forty years, he would screw Liz and Aster over.


    What made it all the more frustrating was that he felt like he was close to his Phrase and just needed that little push.


    It was why they were pushing at such a frantic pace.


    Brandishing his new sword, Matt simply threw himself at the cat in front of them. He still missed the heft of his growth sword, but they hadnt managed to upgrade most of their growth items to even Tier 25, let alone Tier 27. And at this point, he just needed the stronger metal that came with Tier over his fancy enchantments.


    He caught a w covered in mana on his de before slipping under the paw as he lowered his weapon and let the w slide off.


    He set himself and drove his de forward, but the cat was already leaping back, shing out a dozen times in rapid session. Matt cast [Bulwark] to take the initial hits of the [Reaving ws]-[Fulminous Rend]bo, but they only lost half their power. The swipes cut through the shield and he growled as the mana sliced through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor. The wounds werent bad, but Matt could feel the blood running down his shoulders from the already closing wounds.


    While he hadnt been able to upgrade [Regeneration], the Tier 26 skill was incredibly effective at healing wounds. The cat must have thought that he was seriously injured, as it darted back in to try and finish him off. Matt kept his arms down low to feed into that belief, but the moment the maw of the cat opened, he lifted his de and drove it up and into the roof of the cat''s mouth.


    Even as he felt the rush of essence flood into him, he spat on the cat''s muzzle. The damn thing had driven one of its canine teeth through his bicep.


    Ripping his arm free, he didnt care for the torn flesh and let [Regeneration] quickly stitch the wound closed. If only the spell could work on the mental strain he was feeling. Luna hadnt been exaggerating when she said forming a pr opposite Domain was incredibly difficult. That wouldnt have changed his mind about it, but he would have waited to start forming the Intent until he had all the pieces.


    Clenching his fist before letting go, Matt mentally smacked himself.


    There was no way he would have waited to form his Image or im his Anchor, even if he knew the pain he would put himself through by doing so early.


    It just wasnt in his nature.


    There was a tremor in his spirit as he felt like he hade close to a realization, and for a moment, it felt like his Concept and Intent were able to exist without fighting, but when it faded, the pain came back a dozen times over, and he wanted to scream.


    Instead, he punched the monster''s head in front of him, letting spikes grow on [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The head caving in only made him wish he could do the same to himself without actually dying.


    A Liz clone walked over to him, and he forced out a smile.


    Are you o


    Matt interrupted her with a raised hand. It was rude and curt, but he really didnt want to talk at the moment.


    Im fine. Really. Let''s move on to the boss.


    He hugged Liz to show he wasnt mad at her, but he needed to fight. Energy filled him, and he needed to let it out. It was not an umon urrence in thest few decades since reaching Tier 23, but it had only grown stronger as a Tier 24, and it felt like his blood was filled with Tier 50 caffeine, which only contributed to the problem.


    Liz thankfully understood, and after rubbing his shoulder, they took off in the air and flew to meet up with the other two clones of Liz, the real Liz, and Aster.


    Liz nodded to them as they caught back up. We scouted the boss. W Matt mentally grit his teeth as Liz paused and looked at him. Are you ok? You said you needed to fight alone, but you are covered in blood.


    Matt cursed and cast [Cleanse] on himself to purge the blood that stained his clothes. He shouldn''t have made such an amateur mistake. His wife was a blood mage, and after forming her Intent, could feel any fresh blood from miles away.


    Im fine. Knowing that wasnt enough, as both Liz and Aster opened their mouths, Matt continued. I feel like I just need to poke my finger through a barrier and I can figure it out.


    Liz opened her mouth, but Aster put a hand on her shoulder, and Matt sent her a mental hug.


    The silence was awkward as they went into the fight, but Matt pushed through that feeling.


    He needed to fight.


    He needed to push through.


    He couldn''t stop.


    He was Endless, after all.


    He had already tried to repeat his Concepts Phrase as his Intent''s Phrase, but it hadnt worked. That said, it was at least tangentially rted.


    He felt like he was just a step away, and in a way, he was. He knew that his Phrase was going to keep the same phrasing of I Am As for what that final word was, he hadnt been able to figure it out despite trying a dozen things.


    Actualizing those two words had been risky, but he hadnt mentioned that to anyone but Luna. She had told him it would only make the pain worse, but Matt trusted his gut.


    He needed to be like a ck hole and grind himself and the enemies away under unending pressure.


    To finish his Intent, he needed to push forward.


    The boss was close to fifteen feet tall, and Matt didnt hesitate to throw himself at it.


    Armor red and sword gleamed as he parried one w and cut down hard at its wrist, but his blow barely did more than surface damage as it bounced off the bone.


    Liz and two of her clones moved in and stabbed out at the monster, but Matt didnt move in sync with them. Instead, he threw himself forward and let out a burst of [Cracked Mana Spear]. That caught the monster''s attention, and Matt stood there, ready to block as the boss spun to hit him, his Intent feeling strong as he locked down the space and his position in it.


    His hubris sent him flying into a nearby mountain, and as he climbed out of the rubble, he had to wonder if he was biting off too much, and if he needed to drop everything and only start forming his Intent when he figured out his Phrase.


    But the mere idea of giving in like that screamed at him.


    That was <em>uneptable</em>.


    As Matt stood there, he watched as Liz, the real Liz, was about to take a swipe on her shield, and he hated his inability to stand up to a simple monster.


    That was a failure.


    But as Luna was fond of drilling into him, failure only urred when one gave up. And he refused to give up.


    He was <em>dauntless</em>.


    Activating the rings that had bound his and Lizs destinies together, he swapped ces with her.


    Round two with the paw would not go the same way.


    He smirked as he saw the paw approach.


    It didnt take more than a fraction of a fraction of a second as Matt said his Phrase for the first time, and his entire Intent fell into ce.


    I.


    Himself. He was the center of his own abilities.


    Am.


    Liz and Aster thought of words like that as intermediary words, which was themon belief, but he didnt agree. There was no such thing as an intermediary part of one''s Phrase. It was all connected. His Phrase wasnt a collection of words, but an idea given form. Even if thenguage changed, it wouldnt change his Phrases meaning. He was sure there was anguage that could epass even the mostplicated paragraphs in a single word or syble, but there was a reason no one used anything but thenguage they thought in. It wasnt necessary.


    Dauntless.


    By definition, it was simple. Showing fearlessness and determination. But to Matt, Dauntless was so much more. It was his relentless determination to push forward. To ept the pressure no matter what. His determination to help the realm no matter what while still remaining a free man. It was his willingness to intercept a hit for his team, knowing he could take it. It was his rage at his parents death. It was his gratefulness that he grew up under the Emperors aegis and could remain uncaged. It was his desire to not hide away forever. It was his power. He wasnt the strongest. He wasnt the fastest. He wasnt the smartest. But where others would give up through execution orck of mana, Matt wouldnt.


    He was <em>Endless</em>.


    He was <em>Dauntless</em>.


    As the paw mmed into his upraised left hand, Matt blinked at it.


    He was frozen in ce.


    The rift itself could crumble around him, but he would never move unless he allowed it.


    He was a fixture of the realm itself, and no oversized cat could change that.


    His Willpower <em>burned</em>, and his armor turned <em>ck</em>. More than ck, even, as he couldnt properly see what it looked like. Instead, it absorbed attempts to divine how much mana was involved, only giving off turbulence in the space around it. He was clothed in an event horizon, and his concentration had increased to match.


    His Anchor manifested at the same time, hovering just in front of his heart. The Heart of the ck Hole, the singrity which served as the connection point between his Domain and reality, his white hole and his ck hole. It responded effortlessly to his thoughts, and swung to meet his longsword in his hand. As it did so, his sword too turnedpletely ck, but limned in mana reminiscent of a ck holes gravitational refraction.


    Strength flooded his limbs as his self-buffs experienced the same wave of power, and he unlocked his position in the Realm to bring down a potent blow upon the monsters head. The strike cleaved it practically in half, and the simple shockwave it generated carried on, crashing into the mountain behind it and triggering andslide from where the earth wasnt sliced through.


    With the boss dead, Matt took the opportunity to look into his cultivation cores. One was bright and vibrant, while the other looked lifeless, but he delved deeper.


    Entering, he paused as he only saw his ck hole sitting there where his Concept usually sat.


    He frowned. That was annoying. About a third of the time when Domain portions stood in opposition to one another, it was only possible to actively use one at a time. Theoretically, that limitation could be ovee in time, but people didnt always manage it. Matt was reasonably certain hed get there eventually, and just to test his new limitations he dropped the active use of his Intent.


    The ck hole was instantly reced with a naked singrity, his Heart of the ck Hole that was his Anchor. A bit of pushing with his Willpower showed that from that mode, he could eitherpress the Heart and activate his Intent, or expand it and utilize his Concept, with the full breadth of powers hed developed with that. But he couldnt figure out how to activate both simultaneously.


    He <em>did</em> get a st of dust to the face in his experimentation, as trying to utilize his Concepts repulsion while his Domain was in ck hole mode resulted in things being pulled <em>towards</em> him instead. That certainly had potential.


    Ah well. Hed figure it out eventually, and it wasnt like he was worse off. After all, he was in far too good a mood to be dour.


    <em>He had his Intent</em>.


    Who cared about the small details?


    He sure didnt.


    Matt startedughing and turned to Liz and Aster, who, despite being dust-covered, were smiling.


    The group hug was a little crowded with the three extra Lizes, but Matt red his Intent a little to pull everyone into a tighter hug.


    Asterughed, but the Lizs pulled him into a long, drawn-out kiss one by one.


    So what was the final Phrase? One of the Lizs asked while waiting for her own kiss.


    Matt, finally free of the blinding headache he had been dealing with for thest few years,ughed. <em>I Am Dauntless</em>. I am both unending and unstoppable. Really, I impress myself. I


    Liz poked him hard in the ribs, him having dropped [Cracked Phantom Armor] to kiss her. Ok mister ego.


    Aster smiled even as she pulled herself free. We are fucking awesome. It looked so cool as your mana turned ck. Did it increase your mana concentration? It seemed to. It was also kinda hard to see. Like my eyes slipped off the mana.


    Matt hadnt realized that and triggered his concentration effect while activating [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He found nothing wrong, but it was also his power. Liz confirmed that she had trouble actually sensing the mana involved, and had to rely on the turbulence around it to estimate how much mana he was putting into it. Still, spiritual sense wasnt that hard to block, all things considered, and if his mana had a side effect of being a little sneaky, he needed to learn just what its limits were.


    To that end, he had Liz and Aster try to kill him.


    A bit of very basic testing determined that basic testing waspletely inadequate. His magic was substantially stronger, but the degree to which theyd been strengthened varied <em>wildly</em>, but mostly focused on his spells that were targeted at himself. They also couldnt tell if his mana actually <em>concentrated</em>, or just enhanced its effects with his willpower, but it didnt really matter.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] stopped massive attacks in their tracks, [Mages Retreat] let him punch through a Tier 27s body in a single blow, and his Tier 24 sword reinforced with [Sword Twin] sliced through Tier 27 metal like butter.


    He couldnt use it on ranged attacks, not really, as the effect only extended to about an arms-length past him, but the ck lightning that [Lightning Torrent] now spawned was almost worth it on its own, as it was unstoppable by any of the Tier 27 monsters.


    The only issue they ran into with their testing was how his now much more concentrated mana interacted with items. He almost burnt out the mana conduits in his flying sword when he did more than send a little mana into it.


    He couldnt even make a talisman out of the mana, as it immediately burned through the parchment he had on hand, but he knew it would make for potent single-use attacks when he got better materials.


    Even his [AI] ran better with the empowered mana, it had processing power to rivalary AI.


    He had finally done it.


    He had an Intent.


    He could finish the Path of Ascension with Aster and Liz.


    He wanted to test more, but he was already feeling the strain of Willpower overuse. Minka didnt affect Intents, and his Intent seemed as greedy as a real ck hole. If he everpletely bottomed out, it could take actual years before he was back to full power, and he couldnt afford that.


    Wanting to make a statement, Matt exited the rift with enough Willpower to use his Intent for a few moments, as he wanted to surprise Luna, but almost tripped over her in cat form as they stepped out of the rift.


    Looking down at her, he was going to say something, but Luna walked through the door of the secure room and nodded. You got your Intent. Well done.


    Matt shook himself free of his confusion about Luna sitting so close to a rift and nodded.


    ring his Intent, he showed her his ck mana and smiled. It''s everything we wanted and more.


    He could even feel his mana ever so slightly condensing itself. Checking with his [AI], he could see his maximum mana ever so slowly decrease, a tiny fraction of a point of mana at a time, using up a bare trickle of his newly energized will to improve his mana. For anyone else, that would be a bad thing, but he would be able to re-expand his mana pool before he Tiered up.


    It was perfect.


    Luna smiled as she nodded. Good. Now let us start working on Intent training. With a decidedly wicked grin, she added, Lets hope you didnt spend too much time ying around. Theres a lot of ground for us to cover. With a wave of her hand, they were back at her house and in the training room.


    Matt wanted to protest and go take a nap for the first time in decades, but knew that wasnt possible.


    There was always another hurdle to ovee, and this was no different.


    With that thought bolstered by his Intent, Matt got ready to train.


    He was <em>Endless</em>.


    He was <em>Dauntless</em>.


    ***


    Emmanuel was in the middle of a meeting with his generals and Rusty when he got a high-priority alert from Luna.


    Even with his power and experience, he couldn''t help but smile, the expression seeming to take on a life of its own.


    Rusty raised an eyebrow, but Emmanuel just nodded to the projection that told of Light and Shadows recent battles.


    Understanding shed across Rustys face and his smile almost outshone Emmanuels own.


    Millennia of work and effort from his Father and Grandmother was paying off in spades just when they needed it most.


    Turning back to projections of the war and his borders that were being pushed in almost everywhere, Emmanuel knew the turning point was approaching.


    They just needed to not overy their hand.

 Chapter 275

    Chapter 275


    Matt smiled as Aster boldly dragged her Magma Otter friend Cameron onto the ship. Her bond, a short, nervous-looking woman, following behind like she expected to get turned away at any moment.


    Kelly, the small Lightning Finch,ughed at the disy. Well, it''s good to see someone hasnt changed even a little bit.


    Cameron huffed even as she pulled herself free and fixed her shirt and pants. For a stupid ice rodent, you think you would know how to chill out. I said I wasing, I just needed a few more minutes to finish my paperwork. Some of us have jobs beyond sitting around and looking pretty.


    Cameron turned to Liz and Matt, and realizing what she had implied about them, flushed a little. She was clearly going to apologize, but she was slower than Aster, who smacked her with her tail and threw a fist into the air. So you admit I look good!


    Cameron worked her jaw and slowly said, It is an expression that bears no resemnce to reality in your case. Shoving Aster to the side and into Kellys arms, she nodded to him and Liz. It''s good to finally meet you two. I have heard so much about you from Ice Pop over there. It''s also very kind of you to invite all of us to the ceremony. There are a billion and one people ahead of me on the guest list, so being able to bypass it is a dreame true.


    Matt took the proffered hand and returned a genuine smile. Think nothing of it. Mom and Dad have a box reserved for them, and you wouldnt <em>believe</em> how big it is. Also, they arent even using it.


    Liz nodded in agreement as she took Camerons hand. Really, we should have done this a while ago, we just needed the break after being on The Path for so long. And this is the perfect time to get everyone together. A small, wicked grin flirted at the edge of her lips. I hear youre a fan of Torch?


    Camerons grin turned a little stiff as she shrugged. I can be honest and admit that I thought that this set of Ascenders wouldnt manage it. Really, Im here towork. I asked Aster and she said that was fine? There was a lilt to herst sentence that made it clear she was asking for Lizs permission.


    Liz waved it off with a wicked grin. When the ceremony is over, Im sure people will be crawling over each other to talk to you when it''s clear you know us. It''s usually a thing we hate, but if you can work that angle, feel free to do so. Aster trusts you, so you must be good people.


    Matt had to bite the inside of his cheek as Liz glossed over just <em>why</em> people would be so intent on meeting their friends. For now, theyd assume it was because of their connection to Mara and Leon, which wasnt <em>false</em>, but with retrospect, it woulde across <em>very</em> differently.


    They had been doing that with all their friends as much as possible, and Cameron was just thetest victim of the small prank.


    Matt was currently losing to both Aster and Liz, and jumped at the opportunity to score a point on the back of Lizsment. If you find yourself overwhelmed, you can always just shout our names, and people will probably leave you alone. I hear you wanted a position on a noble''s council. If you y your cards right, you can probably skip right to that part.


    Cameron smiled but waved that suggestion away. While I one hundred percent intend towork, I dont want to get to my dream position solely through any highly ced connections. How can I be a good leader if I havent done the job of those who I lead? Still, theworking will make everything smoother.


    Matt smiled as they walked into therge shuttle. It was Leons personal ship, having won a bet against Mara for the opportunity of showing off to their friends. Cameron was thest of the people they were picking up, as she had been the farthest one out from the central Empire. If they had had to use their own ship, it would have taken close to a decade to cross the distance, but with Leon''s ship and personal pilot, the whole trip only took two weeks.


    More importantly, the ship carried Harper inside, who was acting as their personal bodyguard until the ceremony was concluded and their real identities were revealed. It had only happened once, but a Republic Pather team, or Contender team to be specific, had died in between reaching the peak of Tier 24 and their ceremony, and no one would let that happen again.


    As they took off from the''s surface, Aster tried to pester Cameron and her bond, but the two were more interested in Liz and Matt. Still, the pestering settled down the human woman.


    When they entered the living room they found Roody, Leia, and Lauren, the lion trio, and Juan, a stone elephant, sitting on a couch andughing as they watched one of the movies about Quill and Torch.


    Matt had to stop himself from gritting his teeth at the outrageously long monologue Quill was giving on screen. Lauren was slightly drunk and openly mocking the lines by repeating them in an overly high-pitched voice.


    Upon seeing them enter, Juan and Roody called out to Cameron.


    And she''s here!


    Couldn''t you have picked somewhere farther out so we can spend more time here?


    The magma otter rolled her eyes. Forgive me for being born in the boonies and not deep in chaotic space.


    That got everyoneughing and Cameron dragged her quiet bond into the recessed seats, immediately grabbing a te of food out of Juans hands and digging in.


    Ok, this is actually really good. Turning to Aster, she poked the sulking fox. You didnt say that you had a good chef on board. I would havee sooner if you had.


    Aster started mocking Cameron, but her bond Julia perked up as one of the wait staff came and handed her a te of finger food.


    Oh, my favorite! Thank you.


    Her smile was small and shy, but she seemed genuinely grateful at the surprise meal.


    Knowing how overwhelming this could all be, Matt nodded to her. We have two Tier 35 chefs onboard, one of whom is even Talented. If you have any foods you have ever wanted to try, just message the ship''s AI, and they will take care of it for you. If not, they will just give you the foods you like.


    Julias eyes unfocused as she interacted with her AI, and Matt turned as Katherine and Kyle entered the living room. Matts old friend had been utterly smitten with Asters ssmate for the past weeks, and much to Asters delight, the girl actually reciprocated. Katherine apparently had <em>broken</em> her bond, something Matt couldnt help but wince at, but Asters enthusiasm at seeing her friend getting along so well with Kyle was contagious.


    Plus, he was happy for Kyle. He shot the man a wink, and got a grin in return. The duo hadnt been seen since breakfast, and Matt swept over to see how they were doing.


    Katherine gave him a big smile of her own, giving Aster a pulse of excitement that spiked through their bond, and offered Matt a piece of dried fruit. Matt met her smile with his own and took the proffered treat. How are you doing, Katherine? Nobody is <em>bothering</em> you, are they?


    He put on a gruff voice as he pretended to re at Kyle, who grasped his chest like he had been stabbed in the heart.


    Katherine smiled as she shook her head and bumped Kyle. Im doing great! I really have to thank you foring all this way to get us. We never could have made it otherwise.


    Matt nodded, knowing what she meant. Everyone and their mother is heading to the capital and clogging all the teleporters and passenger spots to the ceremony as if it was an ascension. Shit, its even worse than it was at Yellows Ascension, and that had a Pather tournament happening at the same time.


    He was quite miffed at the fact their ceremony was being turned into such a spectacle. Part of it was deliberate propaganda from the Empire, who wanted the mid-war morale boost, and another part was the incredible rarity of two groupspleting the Path of Ascension so close to each other. Everyone who hadnt been able to reach the Capital for thest one was treating this as their possiblest chance.


    As Katherine was agreeing with him, Fen and Bowyer and Arya his first bonds, Bow and Arrow, having since taken more normal names entered with Azure in a small dragon form crawling behind them, chased by June and Barry.


    She still hadnt reached Tier 15, but with Fen off the Path, he was able to get outside help, and one of the dragon ns trying to win favor with the unaffiliated dragon had loaned her a ring that would let her change size at will. June and Barry were a Shadow Sparrow and a Light Butterfly respectively, and looked to be losing a game of tag with the small dragon, but they were all having fun which was the important part.


    It had been good to catch up with Fen, and Matt made a note to be better about keeping in touch with him going forward. Friends from before he was famous forpleting The Path or connected to his royal inws would be a scarcemodity going forward.


    Matt leaned against the back of one of the couches as he conversed but watched as Alyssa entered. That had been a contentious invitation of Asters, who wanted her business partner toe to the ceremony. Liz had grown past the grudge she had with Alyssa, but the now immortal peacock still acted uneasy around his wife, and their interactions were always entertaining, at least for Matt.


    Alyssa was chatting with Tara and Annie, who were without their other halves for the moment. After a quick scan with his spiritual sense, Matt found Conor and Emily sparring against some of the wait staff.


    They had been there for thest seven hours, having asked Matt to keep them full of mana with his Concept. He was happy to do that, but made a note to pull them away from training for dinner this evening. This was meant to be a fun opportunity to hang out with their friends for possibly thest time until the war ended.


    Even Melinda and Mathew would be showing up for the ceremony, though they wouldnt be able to stay for long, ording to Mara.


    The two weeks it took for them to reach the Capital were some of the most fun Matt had in recent years.


    Asters friends had merged with their other friends almost seamlessly, and it made the ship quite lively.


    Things were both hectic and amusing as they entered Mara and Leons estate on the Capital, as Samantha and Vinnie ribbed Liz for where she grew up. The ribbing eased the atmosphere almost as well as Mara and Leon being their usual goofy selves.


    Most everyone was a little standoffish with the two royals at first, with the notable exception of Katherine. She wasnt trying to suck up to the royals, something Matt was grateful that none of their friends did, but caught on that the duo really were as wacky as they put on and happily enjoyed their antics.


    Cameron, on the other hand, actedpletely unsure of how to deal with two of the strongest people in the Empire being so open and informal, to such a degree that a Mara clone had to turn into a bird and start nesting in the magma otters hair to get her to rx. It worked mostly.


    As much as Matt wished they could just hang out with their friends for the whole two weeks, that just wasnt possible, and he, Aster, and Liz were pulled away for a million and one different meetings.


    Some of them were military-rted, where they exined how their positions would work in the existing military structure. They would immediately be Captains, and while the rank was real, they were to understand that they should keep their good ideas to themselves until they actually understood how the military worked. Matt had no issue holding back and said so, which didnt set the Colonel who did the exining at ease.


    Even worse than hours of lectures and slide shows were the costume fittings.


    Matt asked more than once why they needed to be there when the Empire had their sizes, but he was never given an actual answer beyond reasons. Knowing this was part of the job, he kept hisints internal.


    It was slightly easier, thanks to the outfits they were given.


    He could admit to feeling a massive swell of pride whenever the three of them donned the utterly <em>legendary</em> robes of an Ascender for test-fittings. Until that moment, actuallypleting the Path had felt almost abstract. It had been a part of his life for so long, and hed fallen into basically taking theirpletion for granted, but now it was all crashing into him at once.


    <em>He was an Ascender.</em>


    He could tell that Liz and Aster underwent the realization at nearly the same time as him. A Tier 5 might have copsed in a faint, a Tier 15 may have had their heart race and their breath grow shallow, but as Tier 24s, only their eyes widened and shock rippled through their spirits.


    It was really happening. Genuinely, truly happening.


    He hadnt been this nervous about getting <em>married</em>. But there they were, in robes of red, ice-blue, and ck respectively, in a cut that nobody could ever mistake. Even wearing something too <em>simr</em> ran the risk of legal trouble, because the image of an Ascender was absolute.


    A tunic, just barely above knee-length, held in ce by a wide belt, covering a more closely-fitting undershirt and pants, shin-high boots, all framed in and by a long, darker-colored draping robe with billowing sleeves that could change in length between stopping just before their wrist or fully enclosing their hands. It was formal, but with the exception of the outer robe, clearly designed for action and movement.


    It was the outfit of an Ascender. Associated with none but a select few. The mantle granted to the best of the best. The title he had been pursuing for functionally his entire life.


    He had made it.


    No, that wasnt right.


    <em>They</em> had made it.


    The night before their ceremony, Matt, Aster, and Lizy on the roof of the estate and just silently sat there. Luna, Kurt, and April were there, but they were just as silent as the three of them were.


    Tomorrow, nothing would be the same, and all three of them knew it.


    They had worked so hard for this.


    At one hundred and seventy-nine years, he had gone farther than most people did, but it felt like his adventure was just beginning, despite all of that.


    He wondered what his parents would have thought about him at this moment and wished that he could go back and change the past, but knew that was impossible. Even then, that thought wasnt too rough on him, as he had his first Minka life to pull from and knew that they would be proud of him and his aplishments. They would have been proud of the difference he could make.


    Tomorrow, everyone would know that a nobody from Lilly had done the impossible, andpleted The Path of Ascension. A random orphan kid, standing amidst figures of literal legend.


    Thest few hours of nighttime passed with unnatural quickness. Matts mind was so packed with thoughts and concerns he couldn''t even pinpoint a single coherent thought he had formed the entire time. Still, as the sun started to peak over the horizon, Matt could feel it wash away all of his concerns and worries.


    Sitting up, sliding Liz and Aster off where theyid on him, Matt stood up and stretched, bones and muscles popping and pulling.


    Opening his arms, Matt pulled Luna into a hug. Thank you. We wouldnt be here without your guidance and drive.


    Lunas expression was t, but there was a teasing tone in her voice as she said, You were eptable.


    Snorting Matt pulled Kurt into a simr hug and said, Thank you, Kurt. Your silent support has been pivotal in making me the swordsman I have be. Who knows, by the time the war is over, I might be able to hear you sing myself.


    Kurt grinned, scribbling out a response. Not sure youll even get the chance to advance until after the war, but I''ll hold you an entire concert when you reach Tier 35.


    Pulling April into a hug, heughed as an errant thought came over him. You are going to kill it as a Trainer. You really did great with us despite Luna running you ragged.


    April snorted. My promotion is a rumor at best. Ill need to spend some more time in the liaison mines before I can advance my career. But thank you.


    Liz and Aster took a few more moments to thank their management team, but by the time they finished, the sun was fully over the horizon, and Matt took both their hands as he activated the band on his wrist that pulled them back to their rooms where they could get changed.


    It was time.


    Time to finish the Path of Ascension.


    Time to show the realm who they really were.


    Time to really do something to change the Empire.


    Time to y onest prank on their friends.


    Meeting up with everyone for breakfast, they acted like they would be joining them in the guest booths and so got ready with throwaway outfits.


    Even using Mara and Leons reserved box didnt fully exempt them and their friends from waiting in line, prompting a few good-natured groans. Mara, currently in the form of a fiery chicken perched on Lizs shoulder and only visible to the three of them, fluffed her feathers in amusement.


    And here I thought that wed be able to just, you know, <em>go to the box</em>? Likee on, dont they know who you guys are? Vinnie elbowed Matt.


    Liz chuckled, If only you knew how often that phrase is thrown around here. Its pretty much meaningless at this point.


    Were definitely notable, Matt agreed, Which puts us somewhere in the top million attendants. But hey! Were not going to be <emte</em> at least, thats why we got here so early.


    It doesnt even start until sunset! Conor moaned. I thought when you said to get here at dawn, that meant wed be like hanging out in the VIP lounge or whatever, not that wed need that long to get inside!


    Look, I dont get to make the rules. Thats my uncles job, Liz shot back with a grin. Just be d that our seats are reserved, and that were <em>in</em> the express line. Some people have been queuing up for the past month, and they wont even be in the same room depending how you count it, anyway.


    Aster frowned. Actually, I think I heard something about the earliest lines forming what, a decade ago, when it was reported they made it to Tier 24? The general admittance doors have been open for at least a week at this point, I do know that.


    Well when you put it that way, I guess its not that bad, Conor conceded. But still!


    Look guys, its going to be fine! We arrived with plenty of time to spare, just you wait and see.


    As if on cue, a man in a staff outfit approached them. Given the way Mara was grumbling, it was probably Leon in disguise. He deferred respectfully, but still delivered the bad news. Excuse me. The Madam and the Sir requested your presence to deal with a small issue that they can''te back for.


    Aster, just getting into a debate with Cameron over what counted as a line starting, groaned, Can you two deal with it?


    The staff member shook his head. Im sorry maam, the request was for all of you. I was told you would be able to meet back up with your friends before the ceremony.


    Liz groaned as she stood up and dered. This had better not take long.


    Trying his best not to burst outughing, Matt groaned, Now you jinxed it and it''s going to take forever.


    No, I didnt!


    Lizs protestation was drowned out by everyone else who corrected her with various versions of, Yes, you did.


    Matt very carefully nodded. Well make it work. Besides, dont they know who we are? I bet theyd postpone the ceremony rather than let <em>us</em> bete, he joked, earning a few chuckles.


    Liz syed her hands in agreement, But of course, my mistake. Itll be fine! Well see you soon, as soon as were done with whatever this is.


    As they walked out the door, Aster jammed her elbow into his side. That was way too close. You cant spill it thiste after I worked so hard not to spill everything to my friends.


    Liz, on the other hand, snorted. Ohe on, Ive waited my entire life for this. Mom and dad are going to be recording their reactions, and I cant <em>wait</em> to watch the realizations hit them as we enter.


    Once they were out of view of everyone, their guide waved his hand and opened a lightning-edged portal for them. A massive foyer awaited on the other side, a vaulted ceiling studded with glimmering stars and a polished, pure white floor.


    Mara fluttered off of Lizs shoulder as they stepped through, and the portal snapped shut behind them, leaving them in the almost deafeningly silent foyer. It was a ce Matt had heard about but never seen in person, and a massive, arched hallway raced off into the distance before him.


    Matts spirit turned over in nervousness, but he took Aster and Lizs hands in his own as they began their approach.


    Together, there was nothing they couldn''t handle.


    The hall stretched on as far as they could see, but they took their time.


    This was a hall of history.


    The first statue was made of Moonless Onyx, depicting an evil-looking man twice the size of Matt, armed with a sword radiating malice and a cloak made of shadows and tinged with red light. His statue, despite being perfectly illuminated, was still shrouded in perpetual darkness. His re pierced their very spirits, as though daring them to defy him and promising them a painful end for that foolish choice despite having ascended eons ago.


    Damien Duskde, the first Ascender. Arguably, he hadnt even <em>been</em> an Ascender, by sheer dint of there not being anything like the Path of Ascension when hed lived.


    As a disgraced noble heir from what would one day be the Sects, he had defied the odds by reaching Tier 25 by the time he turned 200 with utterly <em>no</em> assistance. No managers, no rift priority, no tax breaks, nothing.


    Some people said he could utilize the Talent of anyone who died on his sword, others imed he could kill anyone with a single touch, yet others imed he grew stronger, faster, and tougher with every attack he evernded across his entire life. Everyone agreed he was a force unmatched by anyone, and his actions had reshaped the Great Powers. It was <em>him</em> who all Ascender programs sought to imitate, the temte which they all followed.


    A temte which the three of them had met.


    Girish Lightfoot, the first Empire Ascender in Dewdrop Opal.


    Omari and Kaya, Doom and Gloom, the second set of Empire Ascenders immortalized in resplendent Silver Starlight and First Dawns Gold.


    Down the vaunted halls they walked, passing statue after statue ofrger-than-life figures. Of legends. Men and women whose images wouldst forever. Then they reached recent history.


    A statue of a dragon stared down at them, so lifelike that Matt was half-convinced L herself had reced the Consecrated Sandstorm Stone visage, roaring defiantly as streams of sand perpetually swirled around her. A draconic aura pressed down on them, but they remained unbowed. Scales and ws gleamed eerily in the light, thirsting for blood even now.


    Then came Duke Waters, or Aiden Waters, Matt supposed. Bubbles of air shimmered around his Benthic Lapiz statue, and though his face was stoic, there was an undeniable sense of glee emanating from his stature, as though he was about to burst outughing maniacally at any moment. There was an arrogance and confidence Matt wasnt used to seeing in the man, but it could only be described as fitting given what could only be the unbearable weight of the ocean settled upon them as they passed him.


    Then there was Zack and Allison, Light and Shadow. Their peers, he realized.


    Shadow was literally shifty, her exact position appearing to move slightly every time Matt looked at her. She wore a manic grin, practically daring them to just <em>try</em> and fight her. Lights gaze instead felt like being put under a microscope, kind of like if Luna had been intent on killing them instead of training them. His expression said that hed already figured out a half-dozen ways to kill them all, and was simply deliberating as to whether they were even worth the effort.


    He couldnt help but wonder who would win that fight.


    The next pedestal held three strangers.


    A woman carved from glinting Heartblood Ruby and hefting a spear and shield. Next to her was a man carved out of what Matt thought might be mana crystal, with a longsword in one hand and the start of a spell in the other. Next to them was a woman in cial Marble with a tiara tucked between fox ears and brandishing a staff. All three, just like the others in the hall, were d in official Ascender robes, a sight that only served to make them look more alien.


    He was almostpelled to reach up and try to touch his face as he looked at his likeness and wondered if his jaw was really that sharp. Or if the glint in his eyes was really that piercing, as if expecting everyone to betray him, or if the twitch of his cheek really said he was ready to end a fight even if he didnt start it.


    Aster carried a distinctly vulpine and <em>feral</em> bearing, a warrior princess with a chilling stare and a growl on her smiling lips, snow coiling around her in gentle flurries. Her hair was immacte, and it carried with it the impression that simply messing it up slightly would be a fatal mistake she would enjoy every moment of.


    It wasnt the Aster he knew, who loved to experiment with ice cream vors and getting her fur brushed out on their fewzy break days.


    Liz stared back at him with the gaze of a hawk spying a particrly tasty mouse. Like he was nothing more than a tasty snack to an apex predator, and that she wouldugh as she gutted him, using him as fuel for a pyre which would burn down entires. It was everything Liz didnt want to be, and had fought hard to resist falling into.


    That wasnt the Liz he knew who loved to curl up with a good book and a hot tea when they were somewhere with snow. Not the caring wife who was always to be worrying for him and his issues then her own.


    <em>It was all so wrong</em>.


    Matt was going to say something when he looked back at all the other statues of the Ascenders before him.


    These sculptures werent how they saw themselves, but how their enemies would see them. This was the legacy they would leave behind.


    That didnt change the fact it didnt represent who he really was. The other Ascenders had probably thought of the same thing upon seeing their statues, but that realization didnt help Matt feel any better.


    The hall didnt go on much further, but right before the grand doors at the very end, there was onest pedestal, this one empty. Though it was nothing but a circr b of stone, it taunted him to step upon it, raise himself up to the level of all those he had just passed.


    Matt pushed past it,ing face-to-face with a pair of wooden doors, sized for therger-than-life statues which inhabited the hall. He reached out to knock, but the doors swung open with a resounding <em>boom </em>that struck him in body and spirit.


    Swallowing, Matt felt like he had returned back to the time he was a child and Melinda had garnered the attention of the Emperor. Despite sitting down, the Tier 50 still managed to loom over the three of them.


    Come in.


    It was a simplemand, but Matts legs were leaden as he took the three steps to properly enter the room.


    Golden eyes met his and asked, Are you three ready? It''s a littlete, but I can still get you out of this. Fake your death. Let Torch, Quill, and Scoop fade away, let you just be yourselves.


    Even as Matt and Liz were shaking their heads, Aster was saying, Not a chance.


    Liz steeled herself. We wouldn''t do that to you, Uncle Manny. We might do that to the Emperor, but not to family. Besides, I dont know if I could go back to <em>not</em> being Torch.


    The shift between sovereign and uncle was noticeable, and Matt marveled at how Emmanuel could do that.


    Yes, well, we arent all so fortunate as I, and asking <em>is</em> part of the process. Still, thank you three. We need all the power we can now. This is a pivotal time in the Empire''s history.


    Clearing his throat, Uncle Emmanuel turned back into Emperor Emmanuel. And it has thus been settled. Matthew Moore n Alexander, Elizabeth Moore, and Aster Alexander. I, Emperor Emmanual Sophron, bid you rise as Ascenders Quill, Torch, and Scoop, to defend the people of this nation from all threats, be they internal or external. From now until eternity, may you serve as a beacon of stability and hope for all who would look to you, and may your enemies tremble in your wake. It is my duty and privilege to bestow upon you the rewards and responsibilities attendant to your new role. May you stand strong beneath their weight.


    Knowing the cue, Matt crunched in on his physical cultivation core and Tiered up to Tier 25.

 Chapter 276

    Chapter 276


    eered over his desk to look at the puddle of blood on the floor and nodded sagely. And this is why we do this privately. The ns once had someone turn into a wind storm as they Tiered up and it took over an hour for them to reconstitute themselves, which made all of them look like fools. All the other Great Powers learned from their mistake.


    Matt bent down and looked at the puddle of blood that was his wife. Smirking, he asked, Can I help in some way?


    Aster, who had mirrored his movement, wasn''t so kind. She poked the Liz blob with an icicle and asked, Do you need something to form around? I can freeze you.


    Fuck both of you. Just back up and give me a moment. I think it''s kinda like using [Blood Body]. Just harder to figure out as there isnt a skill to give me a starting point. Go figure out what your own Talents are and let me work without an audience.


    Getting Matt and Asters attention with a wave of his hand, Emmanuel produced a device and set it upon his desk. It took a moment for Matt to recognize it, simply because unlike the Talent scanners of Lilly, it was no room-sized monstrosity with a full-sized personnel bay. Rather, it was a hand-sized hemisphere with an illusion projector on the t side. Normally at this point, the three of you would already be off to your next stop, but given how Elizabeth is indisposed, theres no point making you wait to test out your new abilities. I suspect youll be pleased with what you find.


    Aster was the first one to step forward, and she scooped up the scanner in both hands. A wave of light engulfed her, and she began peering at a set of iprehensible squiggles he couldnt read through sight or any other means. Tier 25 Talents were often significantly moreplex than Tier 1 or 3 Talents were, and while Lillys scanners still required a minute or two of work even for those, the Emperors personal scanner was evidently <em>leagues</em> better as it finished in mere seconds.


    As his bond was still hogging the apparatus, Matt tried to recapture the sensation hed felt during his Tier-up. That feeling of his mana shifting into something new, something more. The sight of Liz dissolving into a pile of blood had broken his concentration and he was now struggling to find his Talent again now that the moment of change had passed.


    Looking up at the amused Tier 50 in the room with them he asked, I dont suppose you know what Im supposed to do?


    Emmanuel nodded. My Talent gives me a sense of what I copy, and I have a lot of practice feeling out new Talentspossibly more than anyone else in history. So yes, I know. But I encourage you to figure it out for yourself. For one, its more fun that way, and privacy is important. And sometimes, theres some nuance Im missing, such as a reciprocal interaction with a bloodline or Domain. Just trust your instincts. You cant feel it, but Im keeping us under some time dtion, so dont worry too much about how long you take.


    Matt was torn between wanting to roll his eyes and being impressed that the Emperor was able to y with time so trivially. Both reactions were a wee distraction from the arm reaching out of a floating globe of blood, looking far too much like a drowning woman trying to grab something to save herself.


    Cycling through some of the mana control training exercises Luna had beaten into him it didnt take too long for him to find one that worked. With its help he was able to feel out the mana pulsing through his channels, as it was only feeding his [AI]. While keeping a metaphorical finger on that feeling, he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] manifest around him like a second skin, a separate stream of mana going to empower his oldest skill.


    With the additional spell active, it wasnt hard for Matt to grasp the flow of power traveling from his mana pool to his skills. From there, it didnt take long to identify the new feeling his Talent granted him. It was almost like getting an extra arm, except not like that at all, and Matt clenched his not-fingers into a not-fist.


    Instantly, the normally featureless blue energy of [Cracked Phantom Armor] transformed into smooth light-blue mana crystal, just as flexible as the old armor but glittering with thousands of facets. Following his instincts, he dropped the skill, but instead of his armor vanishing immediately it lingered for a few moments, the spell fueling itself from the mana he had solidified in its structure.


    Waiting to test his hunch, Matt carefully pulsed a tiny [Cracked Mana Spear] against the back of his armored hand and felt the armor consuming itself to maintain rigidity. A couple of tapster and the armor shattered into mana stone dust, itstent energy spent. A few more quick tests and calctions told him that the defensive power of [Cracked Phantom Armor] had been bolstered thanks to the crystalline manaprising it.


    Hed refrain from trying to crystallize the mana of internal skills untilter. Forming mana crystals in his brain didnt sound healthy.


    Now that he was starting to get the hang of his new Talent, Matt pushed a bit of mana out of his body and activated his Talent again, this time without a skill to shape it. While his mana control still resulted in a <em>lot</em> of mana vented into the air, Matts eyes widened as a small mana crystal manifested in his hand, glittering in his palm like a tiny star. At first, it looked like a pea-sized rift mana stone, but as he pulled on his mana pool, the crystal grew into something of a rough cube that fit nicely in his hand.


    Matt started.


    <em>He</em> had done that. It wasnt a skill, it wasnt his Domain, that was purely <em>him</em>. He knew he couldnt be ungrateful about his Talent as a whole, though it had taken decades to work through some lingering resentment towards his Tier 1, but it had always been somewhat in the background. He simply produced mana, no matter what he did. He made a <em>lot</em> of mana, yes, but that didnt feel quite the same as reaching out and willing an object to suddenly exist.


    He supposed his Intent did something simr, but manifesting his Anchor felt different and didnt really count anyway. That was just flipping a switch, but this was genuine creation. A moment ago, the cube hadnt existed and neither had the mana currently within it. But now there existed a thing thanks entirely to him. Hed made the mana, and turned that mana into a cube.


    The cube wasnt stabilizing active magic, and he couldnt see any mana venting from it which made it no different from any other mana stones, but Matt felt there was something more to it. It felt like his <em>own, </em>Endless mana, rather than ambient mana or mana in rift crystals. Following that hunch, he pulled at the crystal and the mana making it up. With just that small tug it dissolved into motes of mana, refilling his pool slightly. ted, he quickly repeated the process, this time pushing substantially more mana into the crystal, only for it to rapidly balloon past what could easily fit in his hand. Once again, he reabsorbed the crystal and checked his mana pool. It had pushed his mana past the 10% point without the need for an outside source.


    Matts eyes widened, and he looked to the Emperor. Emmanuel responded by tossing a glittering crystal towards him.


    Matt snatched it out of the air, seeing himself. Specifically, a small duplicate of his Ascender statue outside. He felt a brief spike of shame seeing what the Emperor managed to do with his Talentpared to his own sloppy efforts, but he also shouldnt expect his own efforts to match up to someone twice his Tier and a million times his age. There was a good chance that the man had spent a few subjective hours practicing in the time Matt had done his own experiments, anyways.


    Quite the useful Talent there, Matthew.


    Thank you. But dont you already have something like it? You know, with my statue outside, if that was you


    There are simr Talents to your new one, but they each have their own quirks to best suit the Talent set as a whole. I know youll be quite happy with it as you explore its depths. It''s a Talent with <em>a lot</em> of room to grow if you push yourself and the applications you use it in. I also suspect that far less of your theoretical mana generation will be going to waste in the future.


    <em>That</em> was certainly true. I suppose itll make it easier to hide the fact my mana ising from me, at least.


    Emmanuel let out a bark ofughter. That it certainly will. Well talk businesster though. I believe you have another Talent to attend to? Let''s not risk a sudden Inspiration preventing a doubling.


    Matt nodded. With the ability to create his own mana stones, it would be <em>far</em> simpler for him to double his mana pool. Through a little testing, he quickly found that a mana stone equivalent to his current maximum - and thus his per-second production - was about as big as he was. It took a lot more than two seconds to make both of the required crystals to double his mana, as he wasnt perfectly efficient in his production, but by the time Aster was done with the Talent scanner his maximum mana was officially at 41 million, 943 thousand, and 40 mana.


    A message from Aster popped up on his AI the moment he was unupied.


    <em><strong>Tier 25:</strong></em><em> Gain a Personal Winter Spirit Space.</em>


    He shot a nce at his bond, who smirked and sent the longer readout.


    <em><strong>Tier 1</strong></em><em>: Innate [Ice Maniption]</em>


    <em><strong>Tier 3</strong></em><em>: Better ice magic.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect: </strong></em><em>Ice-aspected skills you cast are more powerful than normal.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect: </strong></em><em>Ice-aspected skills you cast cost less mana than normal.</em>


    <em><strong>Tier 25:</strong></em><em> Gain a Personal Winter Spirit Space.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect: </strong></em><em>Gain a Spirit Space of coldest Winter, linked to andposed of your Domain. Maximum size is determined by your current mana. Your Domain may utilize the contents of this Spirit Space. Mana within this Spirit Space slowly converts to match your own.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Therger your Spirit Space is, the more influence it has on the surrounding world. You may use this influence to pull mana, heat, life, and simr forms of energy into the Spirit Space.</em>


    <em><strong>Tertiary effect:</strong></em><em> When sufficientlyrge, Spirit Space may contain physical objects and creatures.</em>


    May I see? Emmanuel asked, then nodded in thanks to Aster as he was included. A good Talent. Expansive and powerful, and while Talents which directly interact with the Domain are rare, Tier 25 is when they most often appear. Talents which reference some other portion of your being are often considered the most versatile, and Domains are particrly potent in that regard. As you grow your Intent, so too will your Talent be functionally stronger. Its skewed towards debuffing, so perhaps you can grow it into a proper drain in time.


    As Liz walked over Matt grinned, and pulled her into a hug. Shed managed to reconstitute and dress herself, and looked no different than before. Curious to what her Talent actually was, he gestured for her to use the Talent scanner first.


    Oh, now this is just unfair! sheined a few momentster. Here. Share Talent with these three, she instructed the scanner. As she did so, the iprehensible illusionary scribbles shed been looking at suddenly resolved themselves into perfectly readable script. Upon reading it Matt couldnt help but agree with her assessment.


    <em><strong>Tier 1:</strong></em><em> Skills brought into or through the Inner spirit be blood aspected.</em>


    <em><strong>Tier 3:</strong></em><em> One with Blood.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect:</strong></em><em> Blood in your body converts to match your own.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Enhanced regeneration of blood.</em>


    <em><strong>Tertiary effect:</strong></em><em> Reduced cost and strain with blood skills.</em>


    <em><strong>Tier 25:</strong></em><em> You are Blood.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect:</strong></em><em> You are your blood.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Your blood is you.</em>


    <em><strong>Tertiary effect:</strong></em><em> Change between you and your blood at will. Sufficient trauma may automatically initiate a change to whichever form would be best suited to endure it, unless prevented.</em>


    Because <em>thats</em> such a useful description, Liz groaned.


    Actually, it is. Emmanuels attention sharpened to a razors edge, noticeable by the way the very world seemed toe into focus, upon seeing the actual text for Lizs Talents. I thought this was a fairly typical elemental form at first, but the primary and secondary? Elizabeth, try manipting a few drops of your blood. Outside of yourself, specifically.


    Liz looked confused, but pulled a few drops of blood from her Anchor, and her expression morphed into a solid o of surprise. I can still feel it. I could <em>cast</em> through this, even though its not connected to me? This has potential.


    It does. Emmanuel stroked his chin. Youre making me consider revisiting some of my Talents that I previously dismissed as either redundant or identical. I get a good sense of what a Talent can do, but the Talent scanner can still give further insight.


    So why didnt it tell me what it meant more inly, if it knew what it meant?


    Emmanuel winced. The Talent AI is something of a mess, to put it lightly. In theory, it should be utterly impossible for anyone but you and those you give it to, to get information about your Talent. To oversimplify, at some point, someone messed with the AI to give us the publicly-essible Talent ratings, and in so doing broke a lot of the more detailed output. Its not as bad as in the Federation, who <em>only</em> get a caste, category, and rating both publicly and privately. But it also isnt as good as a few models in the Republic and Corporations with better readouts, thanks to more intact privacy procedures. Ive looked into fixing or recing the AI a few times, but it hasnt proven feasible yet, for many reasons I wont go into now.


    Oh now this just feels weird, Liz interjected in chorus which made Matt turn to her.


    As he turned away from Emmanuels exnation of the Talent scanners oddities he saw two identical Lizs poking the others shoulder. What <em>really</em> disoriented him was that neither was a [Lesser Blood Clone], made out of blood in the shape of Liz. They each looked just like Lizflesh, bone, and clothes included. The only difference he could discern between them was that one was still holding the Talent scanner.


    Aster did a double take as she looked over at Liz. Which one is the real you?


    I am. They spoke in unison, shared a nce, and continued still in unison, Not sure. I tried cloning myself, I had a weird perspective blur, and both of me were in a blood clone-looking form. Then I tried turning back to human, and well they motioned at themselves.


    The two of them shared a long look, then one burst into ash and sparks, taking flight as a phoenix tond on the others shoulder. The still-human Liz broke out into a delighted grin, reaching up to pet the phoenix Liz, then hummed with content as she scratched the birds neck.


    There will be plenty of time to experiment with your new capabilitiester. The Emperor guided them back on track. Slowed time or not, this is a <em>very</em> busy day for the three of you, and we shouldnt linger too much longer. Matthew, I suppose after myments youll wish to see your Talent now rather thanter. But afterwards we really must be off.


    The still-human Liz sighed, then passed Matt the Talent scanner before both she and her phoenix clone turned back into blood, melded together, and became a single human once again. Matt felt the device scanning his spirit, and watched as it output his Talents to see exactly what his new ability was.


    <em>Tier 1: Diminishing returns on mana regeneration.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect:</strong></em><em> Mana Regeneration inversely proportional to current mana, directly proportional to Maximum Mana.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Essence cannot be applied to mana cultivation. Mana Regeneration is decoupled from mana cultivation.</em>


    <em><strong>Tertiary effect:</strong></em><em> Maximum mana set to 1.</em>


    <em>Tier 3: Maximum mana set to 41,943,040.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect</strong></em><em>: Any mana in the mana pool in excess of Maximum Mana will permanently increase Maximum Mana.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Maximum increase from this Talent in a given Tier is equal to double previous Maximum Mana.</em>


    <em><strong>Tertiary effect: </strong></em><em>Maximum Mana initially adjusted to 10.</em>


    <em>Tier 25: Crystallize mana.</em>


    <em><strong>Primary effect:</strong></em><em> Crystallize mana within skills that match your mana aspect to improve their longevity, durability, or simr aspects.</em>


    <em><strong>Secondary effect:</strong></em><em> Crystallize mana in a form of your choice. Efficiency and detail depends on mana control. Density depends on mana control and concentration.</em>


    He shared the readout with the room, then looked up to the Emperor wanting to ask the question that came over him having read the readout of his Tier 1 and 3 Talents. Have you started using my Talent yet?


    I have, for a few Tiers now actually. Ill sometimes bring in one of a few different Tier 25 Talents to further augment it, but when Im looking to simply regenerate as much mana as possible, Ive been utilizing yours for a few decades. Your new Talent will be useful as well, but like I said, I do have some simr ones with their own niches. Ill be paying attention to what interesting ways you think to use the Talent in with anticipation. Turning his head, he looked to Liz and asked, Do you have your form under control?


    Yes. Im pretty sure unless someone punches me really hard, Ill be able to stay solid as long as I want.


    Good. Standing up, the Emperor nodded to them. Then it is time that we present you to the Realm. Are you prepared?


    Matt nodded with the others.


    With that, the three of them found themselves standing in a fitting room and were immediately set upon by a small army of workers.


    They treated him with such reverence and seriousness it almost felt wrong. If they were young, he would get it. Empire propaganda channels had been working overtime ensuring their masks were presented in the best possible light, but these were Tier 40s. Nobody at their Tier was anything close to normal. Theyd have centuries, millennia of storied careers. As crafters, theyd have made wonders Matt could barely imagine, have Domains that let them do impossible things. They certainly wouldnt be taken in by a few excitable faces half their Tier, and to see so many people a hundred times his age defer to him with such utter stoicism


    It made his skin crawl.


    Getting them presentable, setting up their privacy screens, and dressing them properly didnt take all that long,pared to Mattsst experience with Capital high society, but it still felt like weeks and he was ready for the ceremony to end before it began.


    What helped him was the messages from his friends he had been ignoring.


    Kyle: Where are you three?


    Tara: Hurry up or you''re going to miss it.


    Fen: Poke.


    Emily: Seriously, where are you guys? No one will tell us where you are.


    Kyle: Do we need toe get you guys?


    Cameron: IcePop are you lost in a freezer?


    Tara: ???????????? Hellooooooo? I will never let you live this down if you miss it.


    Vinnie: Tara is now yelling at me because you guys arent here. Please show up and save me.


    Fen: Poke.


    Mathew: You guys ok?


    Melinda: Everyone is wondering where you are.


    Matt smiled as he got confirmation that Melinda and Mathew had arrived on time as well. He couldnt wait to see their reactions.


    Once they were fully clothed, they were swept off to sign so<em>, so </em>many papers and do a thousand and one otherst-minute things.


    Then it was their final stop.


    Doors loomed before them, not quite the size of a mountain, but carrying the gravitas of one. Matt couldnt identify what they were made of, but he could have gotten lost in the patterns and designs within it for years without ever seeing a repeat feature. A massive tree made of artistic spirals and flourishes took up the center of the doors, its branches stretching out to entire worlds. Upon those worlds, Matt could see faint signs of life as their depictions rotated. Tiny lights illuminated cities, whorls of white representing clouds raced across the continents, monstersrge enough to be seen on aary scale sometimes appeared, only to be beaten back momentster.


    Along the edges, figures worked and fought in an endless mural. Most of the figures were faceless despite wearing unique and intricate clothing, but there were three faces repeated time and time again. Emmanuel, Georgios, and Agatha Sophron.


    They cared for the sick, shielded the weak, restored worlds and uprooted spies. Monsters fell at their hands, and the people rejoiced.


    A heavy weight settled upon Matts heart, and it began to echo within his head.


    <em>Thu-thump.</em>


    <em>Thu-thump.</em>


    <em>Thu-thump.</em>


    His breath grew shallow, so he intentionally stopped breathing to get ahold of it. He discreetly extended the length of his robes to [Water Maniption] away the sweat beading on his palms without being seen. He was Tier 25, damn it. He shouldnt be losing this much control over his body.


    Luna would be-


    Luna wasnt their manager anymore. Matt doubted that shed be able to truly leave them alone, but she was she was done. She had no authority over them, her job was done. Because they were Ascenders.


    <em>They</em> were <em>Ascenders</em>.


    They had genuinely, <em>truly</em> made it.


    <em>All right. I''ll do it. I''ll rise all the way to Tier 25 eventually and get you those rewards.</em>


    The memory rose, unbidden. The moment his life had changed, the moment Eric and Dena had offered him, a nobody on a nothing, who had Awakened a Talent that looked topletely cut off half of all cultivation from him.


    <em>Thats the spirit! Denaughed.</em>


    Hed earned that hit, striking up two full Tiers as a novice Tier 1. Hed fought many more monsters in the decades since, but none had truly been nearly so impactful. None changed the direction of his life so far from what it could have been.


    <em>Well done, Matt! I knew you had it in you.</em>


    Memories blurred past, warnings and dangers and wonders.


    <em>A skill-d orc charged him, its inhuman face twisted into a snarl as it sought to tear him in half. [Berserkers Rage] made it even more irrational than rift monsters usually were, and Matt made a snap decision. He braced a broken spear against the ground and baited the rift boss into killing itself on its own weapon.</em>


    <em>A blueish light gave way to a fist-sized egg made of what was ostensibly ice.</em>


    <em>A crack appeared with a crisp, satisfying, ringing sound along the surface of the icy egg. It shook, as the crack spread and caused the entire thing to fall apart, unveiling a tiny ball of fluff with two oversized blue eyes and a freezing ck nose. The little fox advanced all of three steps before falling over, and Matt quickly scooped her up and cradled her to his chest.</em>


    <em>She liked it.</em> Aster <em>liked her name.</em>


    Beside him, his sister was every bit as tense as he was. He couldnt see her ears under the Scoop mask she wore, but that didnt hide the nervousness, the anxiousness, the tension that came through their bond. Who wouldn''t be nervous from <em>truly</em> every eye in the Empire seeing them. Hed seen a recording of Duke Waters ceremony as a kid, hed watched Light and Shadow as close to live as he could muster, and now the three of them would be joining every kids elementary school curriculum.


    He could imagine it now. <em>What did Ascender Matthew Moore grow up on?</em>


    Lilly would be a household name. Everyone would know that a no-name orphan from a no-name city on a no-namepleted the Path of Ascension.


    <em>There has been one person, </em>one single fucking person<em>, to do it in thest thousand years. One thousand fucking years. Can you imagine how many people have been born in the Empire in thest millennium? Griffs voice had been angry and that scared the younger Matt. Made him feel guilty.</em>


    <em>Matt, you are not better than the </em>seven hundred and fourteen trillion<em> people before you.</em>


    Despite himself, he couldnt <em>help</em> but let a smile twitch across his face.


    <em>Take that, Griff. I proved you wrong after all.</em>


    He didnt hold ill will towards Griff, not really. It wasnt bad advice, but that didnt stop Matt from feeling smug about proving him wrong.


    The silence in the entry hall was deafening. There were more people on the other side of the door than there were people living on Lilly when he left for the first time, and a grand orchestra a thousand strong yed a song made for this event, and he could hear none of it.


    The two guards stationed at the base of the door were silent, unmoving sentinels. Matt wondered what they must be thinking. Were they nervous as well, being in the presence of Ascenders? Were they the same guards who had stood at attention for Light and Shadow, and Duke Waters before them? Or was this a rotating position, a ce of honor for them? Something to be fought over? Something they bragged torades about?


    <em>Matt shifted, finding a morefortable position to sit beneath the tree, and pushed mana into a rechargeable mana stone. The disy on his wrist disyed it had one mana, then two. With shaking hands, he absorbed the mana and felt as his maximum mana climbed, from one to two. Heughed,ughed until tears streamed down his face and passer-by looked at him with disdain, pity, curiosity. He didnt care, his mana had </em>grown<em>, and now he could really show the world what he was made of.</em>


    A bell rang in the throne room, its great <em>ng</em> carrying even to where they were. Matts heart raced. It wasnt their cue yet, but that was getting close. His mouth felt dry, but a small [Create Water] fixed that. Beside him, Liz fidgeted, rubbing the silver ring on her hand with her thumb.


    <em>Matt fidgeted with the interlocked rings on his palm. He could sell these and buy a channeled attack skill, or He held the rings out to Liz, much to her shock. This is too much, I cant take this, she protested. But he watched as the girl read his offer, and her expression morphed from shock to gratitude, disbelief giving way to trust. She reached out and took the ring. Welp, I guess that means were in it for the long haul.</em>


    Emmanuels voice began to spill out, ever so slightly. It didnt <em>sound</em> loud, but the voice carried on whorls of essence, letting Matt hear the muffled impressions of the mans speech. He couldnt distinguish words, but he could feel the concepts behind them. The Emperor himself was speaking of impossibilities, of bravery and the ability to face certain death with augh and a smile.


    <em>The serpent screamed, freezing the world around it as massive wings spread, blotting out the rifts false sky. The power in its roar immobilized him, misty red chains manifesting and holding him helpless as the boss dove, mouth wide and ready to strike. But he would not be held down, he would not be stopped. </em>He was Endless<em>. His sword cleaved into the snakes scales, buying the time needed for Liz and Aster to break free of their own restraints.</em>


    <em>The light of the Ascension illuminated the entire world, colors which Matt had no name for spilling over his consciousness, unveiling truth and dispelling lies. The ever-flowing spring, the burning star, those all gave way to the white hole at the core of who he was, an Endless font of mana in defiance of all logic.</em>


    The Emperors speech hit a bit of a lull, a moment for the audience to breathe and process what he had been saying. Matt ached to know what exactly was going on, and while he could always watch recordings, it would be nowhere close to the same. Some things were simply so grand that they had to be seen to be believed.


    <em>The ground rumbled and the mountain shook, patently obvious even from this distance. Ambient mana rushed in like a tide, and the golems mountain looked to be growingrger with every passing second.</em>


    <em>The damn ruin is flying, Liz gasped, as their mistake rose to blot out the sky.</em>


    Now the speech had changed to their stalwart devotion, their ability to hold up the sky from the time they were children, and entirely on their own merits shape the world around them. Aster twitched in a way Matt recognized as her sweeping her tail back and forth, but it looked a bit unusual when said tail was invisible.


    <em>An enormous pressure descended from the sky, like the entire world was copsing upon him. He was stuck, and no amount of iling with his Concept could do anything. He was like a bug, caught between the fingers of a giant. He focused primarily on his head, just barely craning his neck enough to see the silhouette of a man, floating in the air, judging them. We dont cheat, Liz gasped, but the pressure rendered the rest of her words unintelligible.</em>


    No matter the hurdle, he would surmount it. No matter how great the enemy, he would defeat it. He had been tried and tested again and again, in every way imaginable, and he had gotten through it alongside his friends, his family. Hed proven he was resolute, that he could shape the realm around him with his own hands.


    Emmanuels potent words reverberated across his entire being, charging him to be exceptional, to go beyond anything and everything that he had been and could be. One man versus the entire Realm, his prowess shaping the course of a war, the course of a society. That the noble few could guide all those who saw them, inspiring them to be <em>better.</em>


    <em>Arrows and spells rained down on [Cracked Phantom Armor], and Matt, raised above his cohorts, took them all. [Fireball]s washed over him like a curtain of fire, and a solitary arrow pierced his armor and stuck in his side. But he kept his aim steady, and kept charging his mana cannon. Groups vanished, pulled out as blue light sted their formations.</em>


    <em>Wherever he aimed, deathnded, and the army broke.</em>


    Kyle: NO SERIOUSLY WHERE ARE YOU GUYS YOURE MISSING EVERYTHING


    Emily: Were you kidnapped? Answer us, whats going on! If we dont hear from you in the next five minutes were going to assume something awful happened and do something, I dont know! At least tell us youre alive, you assholes!


    Melinda: Youre missing all the fun, Matt. You guys <em>really </em>need to be here.


    Fen: <em>Insistent</em> poke.


    Matt smirked and muted his messages, dismissing them before he could read through the entire backlog. The Emperor had moved on to their efforts, how they had mastered disciplines in decades which others took a lifetime to learn. How they had bent mana and reality itself to their will, forgingmon tools into the weapons of a master.


    <em>An undting spell patternced its way into the air, traced out in purple mana. Luna casually expanded the geometric design, swinging it around for their studies, And this is where most of the waste [Mana Shield] produceses from. See how the flow right here loops around almost entirely, before flowing into the feeder? That sudden change of angle will, in an unmodified spell, cause almost a full quarter of the mana passing through here to vent off. You cant change the angle of this loop, but you </em>can<em> develop a collection point there, feeding that lost mana back into the secondary intake. With a properly-created connection, youre only losing five percent instead of twenty-five, but if its incorrect you could increase the mana loss to a full half. Now, this manifests as a weakness in</em>


    The speech turned triumphant, their victories and utter wins. How they crushed their opposition beneath their feet, how they were the champions of the Empire and their aplishments would echo across it for generations toe. How their names would be enshrined forever, their exploits told in legends and bedtime stories.


    Liz shifted slightly, and took a deep breath. Matt saw her close her eyes to steady herself, and stop a microscopic tremor in her arms. That sight alone nearly made him start breathing again, because while he couldnt literally feel the tension radiating off her like he could Aster, he practically could.


    <em>Quill stepped between two falling swords as Queen cut a vicious streak through the area attack. Then he was close enough, and swept up one of the metal des as the swordswoman turned just a hair too slow to meet the new threat. He drove the de through her chest, and the fight from there was academic.</em>


    <em>Turstal motioned for Torch and Quill to stand beside her, and a roar swept over the entire tournament. Despite the mor, the royals voice echoed clearly across them all, Today, we have two people who went undefeated in both the solo and team tournament.</em>


    Emmanuels voice sharpened into bravery, how with each and every day they faced the unknown with only the knowledge that the task would be hard or impossible. That they fearlessly charged into insurmountable odds without so much as questioning whether the fight could be won, but knowing that they would emerge victorious nheless.


    <em>He charged in, locking his grip on the Generals scythe. His armor rotted around him, mana decaying into nothing, but he had mana to spare, which he fed into his gauntlets. He locked into ce, an utterly immovable force which even the General and its nascent Intent couldnt budge. The battle raged on outside of them, but Matts world had narrowed down to his singr foe.</em>


    Theyd done the impossible, seen the impossible, and were utterly impossible themselves, and the Emperors speech made Matts heart beat all the faster, inspired by the legend of himself. The simple idea that he lived in the same Great Power as Quill, Torch, and Scoop filled him with pride, no matter how little sense that made. But it felt almost like a connection being formed from him to the Emperor, but also to every other person hearing his words, binding them into a collective which none could break. All because of their Ascenders.


    He desperately wished he could hear the words being spoken.


    <em>The crystal swung open, the central pir falling away with a rush of Genesis Energy and unveiling the heart of Minka, the power source for the hidden realm of miracles and monsters. A true, genuine white hole. It was </em>real<em>. Matts spirit hummed with power andfort, of half-remembered ideas surfacing and multiplying.</em>


    Emotions resonated through the entire chamber, a slowly-building crescendo saying that it was never toote for anyone to try, that Ascenders were a model above all but not one which should lead to despair. For there was always a Path to those who sought to improve themselves, and the future was always bright.


    <em>Matt spun Liz around as they danced in the moonlight.</em>


    <em>They were finally married.</em>


    <em>Years of dedication and work had culminated in something more special than he had words to describe.</em>


    <em>I love you.</em>


    <em>And I love you.</em>


    <em>Okay, maybe he had </em>some <em>words.</em>


    Matts heart clenched up. Hede so far, and he couldnt have done it without his family. He was just barely close enough to reach out and squeeze Lizs hand, on impulse. She jumped slightly, but smiled with such unrestrained joy it was visible past even her mask. Theyde so far together, but their journey was only just beginning, and the realm had best make way for their passage.


    <em>Matt watched as Justinian wept in the rain as he wondered how long it had been since he had seen the sky or rain. The fact that he knew the answer only made it worse.</em>


    No matter the odds, theyd ovee it together. Aster reached out and grabbed his other hand, and they basked for a few scant moments in the sense of family they provided to one another. Then the moment passed, and they returned to their stoic, presentable selves. The moment wasing all too soon, but it stretched on to infinity as his instincts always did, in times ofbat. Instinctively he wanted to draw his sword and charge, the same as in a fight, but this was no fight and doing so would aplish nothing.


    <em>A massive centipede drew back to spit a deathly green, glowing liquid at a father and his daughter in a crumbling skyscraper, and Quill called upon the winds and earth, his sword cleaving through the monster in a single blow.</em>


    Matt wrestled his emotions back in ce, a bnce of terror and thrill coursing through his body as the Emperor <em>finally</em> reached a crescendo, emotions so thick in the air that Matt could practically taste it. The first words Matt could properly distinguish the entire speech washed over him as the mountain-sized doors swung open. I summon Quill, Torch, and Scoop to the throne room!


    Air rushed forth in the wake of the titanic portal opening, enough to send a mortal staggering, butpletely insufficient to even ruffle their hair. Light spilled forth from the throne room, unveiling the massive hall it was in.


    Matt strode forward, nked by Liz on his right and Aster on his left. Their every footfall was in unison, each step muffled by the grand purple carpet that stretched out to the throne far before them. Countless spectators turned to see them as they entered, and Matt fought back another wave of nervousness from the incredible weight of attention that <em>millions</em> of people pressed down upon him.


    Even more than that, he knew this ceremony was being broadcast through the entire Empire and beyond. It was a monumental moment.


    If not for the privacy enchantments on his robe now in full swing, he would have had no hope to hide his nerves. But with them active, he was able to sneak a nce at his [AI], wanting to catch a glimpse into the livestream set up inside Maras booth, monitoring his friends.


    Chaos reigned in the booth. Half of them were embroiled in an argument, and the other half was desperately trying to pay attention to the ceremony in front of them, but fraught with either worry or distraction from the fight surrounding them. Emily seemed to be trying to rally their attention to figure out who was the highest-profile person they had in their contacts to message them about Matt, Liz, and Aster being missing. Cameron was muttering to herself about stupid foxes being perpetuallyte for anything but dessert, while Katherine was looking around with wide eyes at the chaos of it all.


    But at the very front, in the middle of the first row, Melinda sat perfectly calmly, a faint smile ying over her face as she kept her eyes locked on the three figures walking down the carpet. Matt wasnt surprised shed figured it out. Of all of their friends, it was the Unbroken who had the fullest picture of their abilities, outright having ess to his Tier 1 and 3 Talents, though his full profile was sixteen Tiers out of date. And given how many times shed healed them during the tournament, Melinda had almost certainly noticed some oddities with their bodies and the wounds theyd taken.


    Beside her, Mathew fidgeted nervously, gripping his wifes hand tightly. His attention darted between looking at Melinda, studying Torch, Quill, and Scoop, and ncing at the near-brawl happening in the back of the booth.


    The arguments died down somewhat as the triumphal music apanying their approach swelled, and their friends realized they were missing the main event. For most of them, the utter need to see the new Ascenders for what was likely the only time in their lives won out, despite Emilys protestations otherwise.


    The Unbroken were the first to properly settle down, uneasily taking up positions all around Melinda. They, like Mathew, shot worried nces towards the door, but the rock-solid expression of their former team leader steadied them well enough. Katherine meekly followed Kyle, then stared at the Ascenders like she was worried a blink would cause them to vanish. Emily was calmed down by Tara, as the archer physically dragged her girlfriend to the front of the booth and shushed her until she stopped protesting. That pulled Annie and Conor over, who held hands tightly enough that their fingers went white.


    Behind them, plenty of their remaining friends were still locked in an argument, but the energy died down quickly as their attentions were inexorably drawn towards the three masked figures, slowly striding down the aisle.


    For the first time, silence fell over Maras private box. The gravitas of the situation overwhelmed their concerns but didnt eliminate them, and Matt could feel the anticipation building even through his AIs video feed.


    Mathews eyes widened, as he looked between Melinda and the three hooded figures, Nooo he whispered.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster stepped foot at the exact midpoint of their march, perfectly in line with a triumphant note from the orchestra. Like shadows fleeing the morning sun, their Quill, Torch, and Scoop masks melted away, leaving only the three of them. Matt had to adjust his stride as his body shifted and grew, returning him to his proper height and size.


    Maras private box broke into utter pandemonium, dozens of voices crying out in unison. If he had more attention to spare for the video, perhaps he could have teased them apart, but as it was he just hid his smile at the chaos that they had unleashed.


    Annie had copsed onto the couch, a slightly open mouth as the only sign of surprise on an otherwise nk face. Roodys eyes had gone <em>very</em> wide, and was sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Katherine had Kyles hand in a death grip, who was in turn sitting ck-jawed, eyes fixed on Matt. Melinda had a beaming smile and was apuding enthusiastically, and Mathew let out a massive, cheering whistle.


    People were yelling, people were crying, people were shouting into their [AI]s, no doubt sending him messages that were simply piling up in his muted [AI]. The speed at which the number of unread messages were increasing was certainly indicative of that, at least.


    In many ways, the news anchors covering the broadcast were just as amusing. Most were utterly speechless in stark contrast to those who went over the top with their reactions, a couple of whom had outright fallen out of their chairs. Most of the remainder were stammering with surprise. Two newscasters managed to keep apletely straight face, delivering their impressions with the same temperament and cadence that they had beforehand, and Matt made a note to himself to look up more about their respective showster.


    Nobody <em>actually </em>expected him and Liz, young noble scions who publicly had sat around at parties and resorts for thest century, to secretly be the next Ascenders. He was sure there were plenty of bets ced on them simply because they were born in the right century and were public figures, but those were typically yful bets made in jest, not something that people actually thought was <em>urate</em>. Hed always rewarded the people who bet on him, from beginning to end.


    While he loved the responses he was getting from the official crowd, Matt allowed his already-split attention to wander slightly over to Leons box, where Lizs family was at.


    The group took up almost all of Leons box themselves, most of which was thanks to Erins harem. While he hadnt met most of the third-youngest Moores lovers personally, theyd alle out to watch the reveal, and to support them. Travis and Keith cheered with Alice and Leah each trying to outdo the others while Daniel tried to climb on the railing but kept slipping off. The only members of the family not present were Sam and his wife. As active duty military officers, they were unable to step away from their duties for even this event with the war going on, but Matt still got their messages of congrattion thanks to <em>someone</em> opening a small micro portal all the way to their duty station so they could livestream the event.


    Most of the news stations hadnt regained their senses by the time the three of them reached the end of the throne room, but they had their own job to do, and Matt so dismissed all the distractions from his mind.


    With a flourish, three scrolls materialized, floating by the Emperor the moment they reached their mark, and he started walking down the dais and met them at the bottom of the stairs. Through careful choreographing, they reached their ces together.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster went to one knee with their right arms crossing their left knees even as the Emperor started speaking. With my authority as the leader of the Empire, I validate that these three members of my Great Powerpleted The Empires Path of Ascension with no undue interference or assistance, following all rules as set by the Articles of the Shattering and the Empires sub-uses.


    While the initial legal status of Aster was in debate for a while, it was ultimately decided that she was worthy of the title. It was something of an open question, as no Empire Ascender had ever gotten a Bond while on the Path before. But as Aster had been alongside Matt since he himself had been Tier 1, she had been deemed fully worthy of the title.


    Matt smiled as his [AI] blipped with its corresponding check with The Emperors [AI] and the seven other Great Power envoys [AI]. The Sects envoy looked like he had taken a bite out of an apple to find half a wiggling worm, but even his expression was mundane whenpared to the Federation envoy, who looked ready to spit fire. The Conglomerate of Guilds envoy smiled and enthusiastically pped while the other representatives were more subdued in their reactions, looking at the three of them like they were more curiously examining a new item than anything more important like three new Ascenders.


    L Worldwalker, Duke Waters, Light, and Shadow stood behind the Emperor to his right. L was in human form, a draconic grin unveiling inhumanly sharp teeth. Aiden bore an expression of pride and congrattions, Shadow looked <em>incredibly</em> smug, and Lights gaze bore straight into Matts eyesbut he could still see a flicker of respect buried within the stoic mans bearing, despite it being eerily simr to his statues expression.


    The Emperor split into three, each clone holding a sword over their right shoulders, even as they spoke in perfect unison. I, Emmanuel Sophron, third of my line, announce to the Empire and the Realm that the Ascenders Quill, Torch, and Scoop have been found worthy. To reward their aplishment and my trust in them, I decree that the three of you shall be raised as Dukes of thend to receive titles as befit your new status. The des transferred from their right shoulders to the left before he withdrew it. Rise.


    Matt stood with Liz and Aster to take the writs of nobility the Emperor presented to the three of them. Matt felt like he held the power of a Tier 50 in his hand. It was heavy, solid, real in a way few things were. It represented power and Authority: that they spoke not only with their own considerablebat prowess but with the full backing of the Empire as a whole.


    Ascenders, to attention. The Emperor''s words rocked them and the entire room full of nobles like a physical blow thanks to the might he had put behind those words. Please wee the Empire''s three newest Ascenders and Dukes.


    Matt turned with the others as they met the cheering of the crowd, Eric and Dena first among them and pping harder than anyone.


    They had done it.


    They hadpleted the Path of Ascension.

 Chapter 277

    Chapter 277


    Emmanuel smiled as he watched Matt, Liz, and Aster stand tall in their moment of glory.


    They had earned it.


    He was even a little proud, himself.


    His father and grandmother deserved more of the praise for changing the course of the Empire, but he hadnt been riding their aplishments the whole time, and two new Ascender groups were the proof.


    Emmanuel was almost as happy as the two idiots behind him vibrating with excitement. They hadnt stopped congratting themselves in thest decade, and all the royals were tired of them.


    The follow-up speeches had never seemed longer, but soon enough the ceremony came to an end and he could be at ease. None of the ambassadors had any new derations of war, which was a relief, but there was still plenty of time for them to change their mind.


    Mara and Leon thankfully managed to contain themselves until they and the rest of the ceremonys participants were out of the public eye, but started hogging their kids the instant they were all backstage. Theyd even managed to beat Duke Waters, despite not leaving the stage until several seconds <em>after</em> the Ascender.


    Carissa gged his attention from the side, and Emmanuel happily joined her. Talking to the kids was hardly required at this point, and any attempts to do so would be futile besides.


    And he simply got such little time with his wife these days. Despite his best efforts, there was always something else to do which demanded his attention. Hed even looked into setting up a base in a Tier 47 rift and utilizing Allisons Talent to take advantage of its innate time dtion, but that wasnt quite viable during the war for a multitude of reasons.


    Maybe after.


    If they won, it could be a gift to himself, and if they lost, it was a constion prize.


    Ascenders knew he could use the break, and so could Carissa. She was understanding of his schedule and knew what being his spouse would be like going into this, but he still knew that he was neglecting her and their rtionship. Stolen minutes between meetings wasnt enough forever and it was only theirmitment to each other that made things work. He already intended to pamper her for a few millennia when they ascended and he was free of his responsibilities but that didnt make up for the lost moments in the here and now.


    He tried not to linger on the thought, but it was times like this when he couldnt help but wish he didnt care so much. If he was just able to push things off like past rulers, he would be able to spend a few centuries lounging around with his wife if he so wanted. That only led to ruin, as central authority got spread out and delegated, and he knew it. It was part of the reason his grandmother was able to take over the throne an inattentive ruler.


    He refused to allow such a thing to even be possible on his watch.


    Peering into the future was still aborious effort, but Matthews Talents made it far more manageable without expending outside resources. Under the right conditions, he could increase the mans forty million mana each second by more than tenfold, courtesy of various Tier 25 Talents in his arsenal, and he fed half a billion mana each second into his fathers Tier 50 Talent.


    Golden threads wove themselves around everyone, and Emmanuel started pulling on them and checking people''s futures.


    Once he was sure nothing bad was going to happen with the core regions of the Empire, he pulled his perception outward and started looking at the Empire as a whole. With his limited mana generation, it was like shining a shlight in a dark room, but that was fine. It took some care, but he was able to illuminate the things he needed to.


    It felt greedy to consider pushing Matt to Tier 35 as soon as possible to get ess to a higher mana generation, because it was. It was also a bad decision. He had checked, and Matt would be needed in the war at Tier 25.


    So were Aster and Elizabeth, but he didnt have a personal stake in their advancement.


    He was starting to scan some of his lesser nobles'' pasts and futures when Carissa tapped his chin. Ok, enough work. Spend some time in the present.


    Thoroughly caught, he just grinned. You''re right, of course. Proffering a hand, he asked, Will you apany me for a walk where we have to make the same small talk a hundred times over, my dear?


    Carissa took his hand with a light snort. You''re lucky I like you, because the rest of your proposal was dismal. Why dont you peer into the future and see just how long we need to stay before leaving? Im sure we can steal a few minutes to actually have dinner together tonight. I insist. Aunt Helen even offered to cook for us after the kids.


    He was lucky.


    That was true in more ways than one.


    And he had already checked.


    He knew his wife. He also knew she wouldnt like the answer.


    ***


    Mara smiled as she hugged her youngest kids.


    They made her so proud, and she was happy for them. She still couldnt believe that her youngest was almost two hundred years old, but she was happy to see Liz happy.


    The poor girl had not handled the pressure of being the daughter of two royals well, and that hurt Mara, since it showed that she had failed at providing Liz afortable, normal life.


    But seeing Liz so happy was like the best medicine for her.


    Her youngest had proven to her naysayers that she was able to stand on her own and was publicly rubbing that fact into everyone''s face.


    She just hoped all three of the kids would survive the uing war.


    Children needed to be able to live their own lives, but she still wished that they wouldnt have to throw themselves into the fray. One of Maras happiest moments in thest few thousand years was when Sam was promoted to Colonel and out of the frontline battles, but now her youngest would be venturing into the line of fire.


    Leon squeezed her hand, knowing her feelings through their bond. She squeezed his hand back and sent a push of heartfelt feelings to him.


    Things would be fine.


    Liz was strong in her own right, and with Matt and Aster to back her up, Mara was sure nothing bad would happen to her baby.


    Pushing away those thoughts, she focused on the peopleing to congratte her and Leon as if they had done anything of note.


    Foolishness.


    They had simply given their children the room to grow. They werent any more proud of Liz forpleting the Path as they were for any of their children.


    A seemingly unthinkable thought to some of the nobles here, but neither she nor Leon wanted the kids to prove themselves. They just wanted them to be happy and sessful in pursuing their passions.


    If they had any real desires for their kids it would be grandchildren, but despite her subtle hints, they would wait until after the war for Matt and Liz to have any kids. That was a shame, as she was sure they would make the cutest grandbabies. Aster had sounded nonmittal on the subject, but she had just be the most eligible bachelorette in the Empire. Maybe some <em>subtle</em> nudging would sway her.


    A full of other foxes might do the trick?


    Was there already one of those? No, it didnt seem like it. Shame.


    As Mara was thinking about the logistics of filling a full of foxes then delivering that to Aster, she felt a tug through her own bond pulling her attention to the Maniakeing to talk to Liz. Mara, like Leon, wondered if there was going to be a scene.


    Maybe a fight would break out?


    That would spice up the party.


    She readied some fireworks and prepared to set the carpet on fire as a distraction to steal some statues.


    ***


    Frederic smiled and pped along with everyone, filling his minor role in the ceremony. But internally, he was mentally exhausted.


    <em>Mana storage. He just had to get a Talent for mana storage.</em>


    Frederic had spent <em>decades</em> preparing for when Matthew would be able to supply his mana to the Empire, rearrangingpanies, buying mana storagepanies out,missioning new banks of mana crystal, drafting endless ns for how to properly shuttle people and goods around to maximize the use of this new and growing mana font.


    And in an instant, all those ns were made irrelevant.


    Objectively it was a good thing, certainly. Personally, he had expected his first few decades as a royal to have been spent more productively.


    It was like the realm was set out to spite him, sometimes.


    ***


    Rusty felt his blood and <em>stamana</em> burn with eagerness as Matt, Liz, and Aster walked down the hall and took their rightful ce.


    He so wanted to fight them.


    Rusty had been lucky enough to hear about their new Talents, along with their Intents, and he couldnt be more excited. They all had abilities that sounded like a fist st to fight against.


    Zack had been a stick in the mud about sparring him, and trying to punch Allie was more frustrating than anything. She absolutely refused to teleport in a predictable fashion. It was cheating.


    But <em>Matt.</em> He was all about standing still and taking hits. Someone who couldst just as long as him, and throw up walls that he could punch through. There was no one more perfect to spar.


    Asters Talent sounded cool too, for sure. He hadnt fought someone with a spirit space for a while, but they were always so much fun. He was still a little annoyed that thest time hed fought a guy with one, hed had the audacity to die to the <em>shockwave</em> Rusty had made as he punched his way out. Aster would be better, he already knew. The other guy had just been a wimp.


    Liz had a <em>bloody</em> good Talent, but he was conflicted on how cool it was. It sounded like if he punched her hard enough, shed explode into blood. But that should be how he <em>finished</em> a fight. Not how he started it which made everything feel wrong.


    He nced over at Mara and Leon and wondered if he could steal the kids out from under their noses. A small cough from Emmanuel told Rusty that he needed to get through that obstacle first.


    Oh well he could slip into the rift they were housed in for a spar he was sure. Bribing Allie was easy enough if one had a scone on hand.


    His eyes drifted over to Melinda as he thought about the dangerous things they could do with her on standby.


    Oh yes.


    This idea was looking better by the moment.


    ***


    Kyle felt like he was walking around in a daze since he saw Matt, Liz, and Aster reveal themselves as the Empires newest Ascenders.


    His friends had always been strong, but he hadnt realized just how strong they really were. He knew he was strong, but there was something different about one''s own strength and beingpared to three of the strongest people in the Empire.


    More than that, he went over thest few weeks of interactions and started picking out all the little innuendos that Matt, Liz, and Aster had dropped in seemingly casual conversions. The assholes had been teasing them the entire time.


    He didnt know how, but he would have his vengeance.


    Looking to Vinnie, he noticed the same curious expression in his friend''s eyes.


    Tara looked spell-shocked, but Sam looked worse, and he reached out to steady her as she looked like she had forgotten to breathe and that she didnt need to.


    Emily, Annie, and Conor looked equally shocked, but were holding it together better. Still, that didnt help Kyle. He still remembered Matt being an awkward kid who had run into Mathew because the big lug couldnt watch where he was going at the yPen. They had been Matts first real friends, which made the fact Matt was now standing in the single most prestigious position in the Empire feel even more shocking.


    Matt was still just a friend who loved delving.


    Then, Kyle''s mind went to Aster. He remembered the fox being born and now she was a monster who could p him around like a child.


    He felt more then saw Katherine start to sway, and reached out to steady her.


    He wasnt sure why he was so taken with the bond, but he had been smitten from the first moment he heard her quietugh. Aster had taken him aside to exin her painful history, so he was taking things slow, but he genuinely liked her, which made the gesture second nature.


    Her quiet thanks seemed a little unsteady, but he understood why.


    They had turned from the friends of the children of two royals to friends of the Empire''s newest Ascenders. The first had earned them some tteringments and a few nods, but thetter would turn them into an irresistible buffet for anyone looking to earn favors with Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    He still wasnt sure how to process everything that was going on with his friends and the repercussions, but an elbow from Melinda woke him up. She was ever the mother of the group, and even if she was a lower Tier than him now, he knew better than to question her.


    And it was a good call, as the moment the ceremony ended, they were flocked by social climbers who knew they didnt rate getting close to the real stars of the show.


    Putting on a smile, Kyle made a note to record every moment of this to show Matt and Liz just how bad this sucking up was. He wouldnt bother with Aster, as she wouldnt even pretend to feel bad for him.


    They might be ready for the endless stream of faces, but he sure wasnt, and the least his friends could do was pretend to care.


    Seeing Melinda step forward and intercept the first of the guests, he moved up and took his ce alongside them.


    It was gratifying to see everyone in the box do the same. Even Katherine, despite looking like she was nauseous.


    They couldn''t fight in the wars alongside Matt, but they could make things a little easier on their friends by taking some of the attention off them.


    ***


    Dominus Maniake sharpened his gaze as the masks fell away from the Empires newest Ascenders.


    Elizabeth Moore.


    Things had suddenly be moreplicated, and many things began to make sense. Small wonder, that the woman had spent thest century taking her initial forays into noble society so slowly. It must have been a body double, and while impersonators were able to be truly wless doppelgangers, it was ill-advised for them to perform any political actions.


    He needed to reassess the woman, clearly. He held no illusions that even he could withstand the force of an Ascender. Should the thronee to blows between the two of them, he would fail. It would surely rankle for the Maniakes to lose their throne for two generations in a row, to another dynasty no less. But at least the Empire itself would never be stronger.


    Of course, that was something of a worst-case scenario. In all likelihood, his rise to the throne had be infinitely simpler. There was a reason it was not the Worldwalker resting upon the Beast Throne, and it was certainly not due to anyck of strength. Ascenders as a rule abstained from political maneuvering and shunned anything which would dy their growth. Thirty thousand years of no Tier growth was utter anathema to them, and with this being so near the start of Emperor Sophrons reign, it would in truth be closer to sixty thousand years.


    And yet, Elizabeth had not acted the part of an Ascender for whom a throne would merely be an ufortable chair to rest upon. He would need to meditate once he had the time, recalling the manners in which she acted during their meetings, but he would assume she was at minimum present for her own Majority. If she had been absent, that was in itself a sign that he had nothing to fear from the woman thanks to political suicide.


    Now, at her Majority she had yed a quite deferential role, restraining herself admirably not only in defense of herself, but in defense of Matthew- Quill. That wasnt the behavior of a woman dismissive of her duty. But it also wasnt the behavior of an aspirational Beast Queen.


    But was it the behavior of a woman wishing to demonstrate her strength of character and suitability of rule, or the behavior of a perfectly proper princess, preventing any hint of her true nature as Torch from seeping out?


    That was another consideration. Was she even truly <em>extinguished</em>? Talents which utterly severed ones connection to their bloodline element were rare, but far from unheard of. But was that simply an borate ruse unto itself? It must have been at least in part, as she had never used a non-blood skill since her Awakening, to his knowledge.


    Bah, that level of subterfuge wasnt something he particrly cared for. He could do it, but it was an inferior experience to simplyying his ws into the problem and tearing it apart. Those born with the blood of beasts coursing through their veins understood that schemes were a waste of everyones time if one had enough power.


    In time, the ceremony concluded, the Empires newest Ascenders being spirited off to their next stations. From his understanding, that included a short reception, just a couple of days wherein they would have the opportunity to meet various important figures, but also any friends and allies who were nearby.


    Perhaps he should attempt to gain entry.


    Not by <em>force</em>, naturally. That would simply be foolish. Instead, he simply sent a message to Elizabeth, congratting her and requesting the opportunity to pass along his regards in person. Almost to his surprise, she epted within a few moments.


    The reception took ce at what he colloquially knew as the Hall of Legends. He had been there twice before, once as a young dragonling and the second time when Light and Shadow hadpleted the Path themselves. There were two more statues this time, the empty pedestal just as tempting as the first time hed seen it, but he knew he had chosen correctly.


    Strength was strength. He was no Ascender, but had chosen the path most conducive to his own development, and he didnt regret it. No self-important b of stone would change that.


    Elizabeth, Matthew, and Aster were currently beset by a group of nobodies. No doubt friends from the Path of Ascension. Some held bloodlines, so perhaps they were instead some of Asters friends from her time at the Nest.


    Dominus managed to make his way towards the trio, and the conversation naturally died down as his presence washed over them. Likely not former Pathers, then. Those types always tended to grow defiant instead of meek.


    My congrattions to the three of you. Elizabeth Torch. Matthew Quill. Aster Scoop. Are those truly to be your Ascender titles? They do not strike fear within the hearts of the weak, nor do they seem particrly indicative of your true capabilities.


    Maniake, Elizabeth greeted, Thank you for your consideration. And no, were currently intending to change our titles to something more apt, but branding hasnt been a priority ofte.


    Understandable. So it is true, you do not take Torch to be emblematic of your true capabilities?


    Elizabeth fixed him with a piercing stare, and Dominus heart raced. It was only his certainty that she wouldnt strike him that allowed him to maintain his steady facade. She wouldnt, not here, not down so many Tiers, not in front of every Royal in the Empire.


    I recall a certain dragon being all too keen on calling me an extinguished phoenix. But if I were to, say, rip your bloodline out of you, what might our peers call <em>you</em>?


    Dominus narrowed his eyes. You have ws, I will not deny, but what you speak of is impossible.


    Piercing yellow eyes met his gaze, a cauldron just barely reaching a simmer behind them. Are you certain, <em>Little Maniake?</em>


    Considering she likely didnt wish him <em>dead</em>, and ripping his bloodline out of him would involve tearing his spirit in two, he was. That she preferred a blood-based threat indicated her blood magic wasnt a <em>front</em>, but there was still more to learn. I am not so foolish as to tell an Ascender something is impossible. So I suppose you would be Ascender Extinguisher, and your colleagues would be?


    Elizabeth knew what he was doing, but as she opened her mouth to speak, Aster cut her off. We considered Life, Death, and Eternity. But Death didnt quite suit me well enough. And The Extinguisher sounds like a bad movie, why would we ever go with that?


    Given Matthews known endurance-based abilities, he would likely have been Eternity in that trio. That left Elizabeth as Life, and while Life <em>could</em> refer to a phoenix easily enough, he deemed it more likely they would have gone for a more overt fire and ice pair, were they to center around a pyromancer and cryomancer in their names.


    I daresay The Extinguisher is more distinguished than <em>Scoop</em>.


    Are you an Ascender? Yeah, thats what I thought. So I think wed be the experts on our names.


    Dominus chuckled, ring the embers within his body to ripple the light he gave off alongside his rumbling body. An astute observation. I shall not keep you from your celebrations. Best of luck to the three of you in all your endeavors.


    <em>All</em> our endeavors? Aster pushed, Bold words.


    He turned back to the fox, pushing past the presence of her Intent with not inconsiderable effort. Whatever you aplish benefits us all, so yes, all of your endeavors. Unless you n to humiliate the Empire in some form, of course.


    And here I thought you wanted to be Beast King. Youd really wish me good luck in beating you? Yes, Id say those are bold words.


    The idea of an <em>Ascender</em> desiring the throne of the beast kingdom was utterlyughable. Especially this early into an emperors reign, no less. But he calmed himself.


    For all her power and strength at arms, Aster was ultimately still an Ascender, and in many ways a child. Like many of the Empires first-generation nobility, she undoubtedly thought of rulership as a passing fancy, a pretty hat to wear and the ability to boss people around.


    She didnt understand the <em>weight</em> of the mantle. How could she? Queen Mara herself certainly didnt act as though it were a heavy burden. She utilized her higher Tier as a crutch, outright relying on the improved speed and magic it brought to offset the sheer <emckadaisical</em> attitude she embodied. Without that, the Beast Kingdom would be in a sorry state indeed. And like mother-inw, like daughter-inw. Aster didnt see the sacrifices needed to ensure a kingdom stayed functional, didnt have the focus needed to pass harsh judgments or prioritize the greater good of all.


    And she most certainly hadnt thought of the <emmitment</em>. She was scarcely a century and a half old and already Tier 25. Her entire life had been spent advancing and growing stronger. Shed advanced Tiers so quickly, shed needed to. There had never been a moment in her life where she wasnt advancing in some form or another, and she would never be satisfied stagnating and simply <em>waiting</em>, with no meaningful personal improvements to be made.


    And that was what rulership was.


    She would need to be at Tier 47 or 48 for thirty thousand years, and she simply was not up to the task. And even if she was, would she be willing to break her bond, or force him to dy his own ascension for so long?


    Besides, what would she even gain?


    As an Ascender, she would already have the Emperors personal attention dedicated to obtaining the very best resources for her capabilities. As royalty, there was the <em>potential</em> to get more, but it was hardly untold amounts of riches in the way it would be for a normal duke. If her only desire was because she wished to be addressed as Queen Aster he could only hope that Emperor Emmanuels heir would be reasonable and make up a title that would serve to pamper her vanity. Or have the strength of arm to smack her down.


    Perhaps this would be to his benefit. The presence of an Ascender signifying they desired the Beast Throne would certainly scare off many contenders for the throne, and when the time came and Aster decided she was unfit for the throne, he would be the only one poised to take it.


    <em>Yes, that could work</em>.


    I will repeat, he finally settled upon, I wish you the best in all of your endeavors. Ascenders know we need all the help we can get.


    With his piece said, he turned tail and strode away, allowing the three of them to continue their excited chatter with their friends. His eyes paused on their group statue, seeing the harsh gazes of the trio staring back at him.


    He was fortunate they were all on the same side.


    ***


    Helen smiled from her recessed alcove as she watched Matt, Liz, and Aster finish The Path. They were good kids and deserved the limelight.


    She would prepare a nice little meal for them for themter, before they went into the brutality of the battlefields. But for now, she just basked in their reflected light.


    It felt good.


    Her family grew a little stronger as she helped the people close to her be their best selves. It also healed a little part of her shattered Concept.


    It had taken her thousands of years to understand why helping others fixed her Concept, but it came down to righting the wrong that she had allowed to happen so many years ago. Not her son dying. That was almost unpreventable. She could always second-guess the trainers she had hired for him growing up, but she knew she and her husband had done their best. People died in rifts, even some of the best, and it was no ones fault.


    No, what she regretted was the way she had pulled into herself and neglected her husband''s own grief, and missed the signs that he was starting to fall apart. She had failed as a partner to her husband, and in some twisted way, helping others rise up through their challenges, she was able to make up for her loss.


    It was most certainly not a healthy way to cope, and she had had a dozen counselors and therapists tell her that over the many, many years, but it was her path.


    Much like Matt, Liz, and Aster had their Path, she had her own.


    She was a mother to the lost children of the Empire. She was there to raise them up, there to kiss their scrapes when they fell down. She was there after they grew up and went off to war to protect the things they cared about. She was there to make sure they had a shoulder to cry on when they needed one.


    Helen wasnt a fighter, but she didnt need or want to be. She was proud to be a homemaker and make sure everything was running smoothly when those who did the fighting came home.


    That was her path.


    And she was so close to finishing it. Millions of years of work had almoste to fruition. Just a few centuries, a couple of ascensions surrounded by family, and shed be there. Perhaps for her next ascension, she should disguise herself and find some poor orphans tofort? It had been a while since she had done that, but there was always someone who fell through the cracks. She couldnt save all of them, but she could save one more.


    Contrary to her own expectations, she was growing impatient. She had spent millions of years on this path, and she had expected that when the end came, she would greet it solemnly. But if she could transform and fly to the finish line, she would in a heartbeat, decorum be damned.


    Turning to her guards, she nodded, and they exited the ballroom and entered the halls of the pce.


    A dozen turnster, she arrived at the kitchens Agatha had installed just for her.


    No one else was allowed to use the kitchen or attached gardens, and while she appreciated the gesture, she really didnt mind cooking with the general staff. That said, she still used the kitchen as was intended; it was faster to have an entire ce to herself. The gardens were still in perfect condition, as Turstal herself had cast the spell that ensured all her crops stayed at exactly the stage she wanted them at, and kept weeds from growing where they werent desired.


    The kids deserve something special for their big day, and she had just the meals in mind.


    ***


    Susanne clenched her fist as she watched the report of Matt, Liz, and Aster finishing The Path.


    She was happy for them. Genuinely. They were her closest friends, but it stung to see them doing what she didnt think she could do.


    A few years ago, she had just barely made it to Tier 23 while on The Path, and now at one hundred and seventy five years old, she was facing the prospect of not being able to make it any further.


    Maybe if she were in a group, she could have managed it. Having a group was more than just splitting the load, it was splitting <em>focus</em>. She needed to be her own scout, her own support, her own tank, and each additional task she took on was less time she could devote to her sword. Decades ago, it seemed like a pointless distinction when Carol had exined what it would take to be a solo Ascender, the kind of warning that had always applied to other people rather than her. But now, it loomed as a cliff all too high.


    Team Ascenders thrived as a group, a set of utterly unstoppable fighters each reaching the uppermost bounds of their respective capabilities, being utterly certain that their teammates could cover the areas they were ill-equipped for. Solo Ascenders had to do <em>everything</em>, and while some abilities lent themselves to that quite well - both Matt and Liz had the kinds of kits well-suited to fill any role - she was already pushing herself and her Talent to their limits just to get where she was now.


    If she had a team, with a shield to watch her back, a staff to shape the rush of enemies as they approached, and a dagger to sneak past gaps in heavy armor, she could maybe have made it. They wouldnt even need to be as good as her, their simple presence would let her devote more time to her sword, and be the best damn sword in the Empire. Not that there was anyone who could have made it this far alongside her, so it was a moot point.


    On the other hand, maybe it wouldnt have worked. It was something she had argued with both herself and Carol endlessly, but having someone else on her team that she could rely on might have hampered her Concept growth, enough to cancel out any benefits on thest legs of The Path. Being forced to rely on her own wits and skills for nearly two centuries had forged her will into unbending steel, and sped up her Intent formation to nearly record levels.


    Nevermind the odds of finding someone early on who would eventually be able to form an Intent before two hundred years old. It was entirely possible that she had never even met someone else capable of the feat, immortals included, aside from the people currently on that stage.


    As it was, she was being seriously injured every other rift. Those injuries had added up, slowing her down even as she pushed through and delved with missing limbs or deep wounds. Two delves with missing eyes were more than enough for a lifetime, far worse than Eternal Darkness had been.


    Her most recent delve had taken her left leg, the second time she had lost it this month. At least the nurse who reattached it an hour ago was handsome.


    <em>Its best not to get overly attached to limbs, they have a bad habit of going missing when they are needed most.</em> One of Lunas pieces of wisdom that had stuck with her.


    There was just no one else to split the attention of the monsters with, which led to inevitable injuries.


    Worse still was the <em>burnout</em>. Using her Intent to the point she simply had to was utterly exhausting, and she was constantly riding the line to where shedpletely bottom out on her Willpower. If she did that, it could take years before shed be able to reliably use her Intent again, and with nothing but her Domain to rely on, that was just as sure of a death knell for her aspirations as anything else. Even now, she edged ever closer to the absolute bottom of what she could provide, and that was seeping into the rest of her life.


    Most notably it heavily exacerbated her loneliness, which had started to be arge looming threat hanging over her like a shadow. Shed taken a full day off of training when Liz had mentioned in one letter that at various points they had been <em>held back</em> from advancing, that they had the time for honeymoons and Majority parties and other things that werent training, delving, or missions. Granted, saying they were taking time <em>off</em> was somewhat hyperbolic. They were more akin to abnormal missions, which always doubled as times where they could let their spirits settle from taking in so much new essence. Besides, she doubted that Luna would allow them to genuinely be stagnant, even if they werent delving, but <em>still</em>. Her down-time was hard-spent modifying skills, honing her Domain, practicing her form. Not prancing around noble parties, giving speeches, andpeting with Chimeras and Inheritors.


    Aster going to the Bond academy was one thing, that was at least mandatory, and she had been delving lightly while there. That they had even more spare time on top of that was what forced her deep into a funk.


    <em>Comparison is the thief of joy</em>, echoed in her head. In any other ce, in any other century, getting within spitting distance of the end of The Path would be monumental news, heard halfway across the Realm. A generation ago, maybe one person every five thousand years managed it in the Empire. That there were two new Ascender groups within a handful of decades in no way diminished her aplishments, and by all rights, she had simply been unlucky on the timing, forced topare herself against people she had met as peers in her first tournament.


    It was coldfort.


    Looking at her messages, she looked at the one that sat there like a siren''s call.


    An offer from the Emperor.


    He had talked to her when shepleted her Intent at Tier 20, and exined everything she would be going through as a solo Ascender and the higher standard she would be held to. He had also offered her another way forward. If she couldn''t or didnt want to finish the Path, she could step off and be given the same treatment as any other peak elite, and given a ce in the war and on a team with Light, Shadow, and Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    She had dismissed the offer at the time, but without having a real conversation with anyone in almost a year, she was considering it.


    She wanted to say it was just her patriotic duty, but she was too aware of her own feelings for that lie to work even for herself.


    Susanne was afraid. Afraid that failing the Path by not meeting the deadline would be a crushing blow she couldnt handle. She wanted to say she was made of sterner stuff, but even she was starting to wonder. That would be an unequivocal failure, but if she stepped off on her own, she could tell herself that if she really wanted to, she could have stillpleted The Path. That, and she was starting to grow desperate for human contact and interaction beyond the small moments she had to chat with the hospital staff between delves.


    Shed done the calctions. Even if she managed to <em>double</em> her current advancement pace, shed reach Tier 24 at the age of 185, two years after the cutoff. And she wasnt about to double her pace any time soon. Her only hope was an Inspiration, but that would take a miracle.


    It was impossible, and soon she would fail.


    <em>My Sword Never Falters</em> had been thest portion of her Intent, and it thrummed through her even now.


    Susanne Vr was very, very slightly more likely to falter than her sword.


    But she refused to give up.


    Her knuckles turned white as she grasped her sword, and she stood up to walk out of the hospital, turning her back to the recording of Matt, Liz, and Aster celebrating their aplishment.


    She worked her jaw and grit her teeth.


    It had been impossible for her to join the Path, with a calligraphy Talent.


    It had been impossible for her to utilize her Concept as her primary weapon at Tier 5.


    It had been impossible for her to reach Tier 10 on the Path.


    It had been impossible for her to finish Minka at Tier 11.


    It had been impossible for her to form her Intent at Tier 20.


    It had been impossible for her to reach Tier 23 on the Path.


    It would be impossible for her to reach Tier 24 on the Path.


    If I were to give up, she whispered to the air, to the realm, to herself, Simply because something was impossible, I would have done so a long time ago.


    She turned back to face the recording, where Matt, Liz, and Aster stood in their Ascender robes.


    But I didnt stop then. And I wont stop now.


    Her eyes fixed on the smiling faces of her friends.


    And if I fail, Ill fail knowing that I <em>never</em> gave up.

 Chapter 278

    Chapter 278


    Allister nodded as he watched the proceedings.


    Another set of Ascenders from the Empire.


    It was a good thing. Despite everything the other Tier 50s said, the Conglomerate of Guilds wasnt just a pawn of the Empire to be absorbed down the line. He and Emmanuel had a dozen treaties to prevent such a thing, and while that didnt mean their sessors couldn''t change that, the weight those agreements carried made it harder.


    And more than that, Allister trusted the Empire. Emmanuel first, of course, as the person he knew best, but the rtionship had survived from previous generations. Notably, the Empire was instrumental in the expansion of the Guilds thanks to some rotten luck in thest few millennia.s over Tier 15 just hadnt been appearing near their regions of space and it was only thanks to his predecessorbining their power with Georgios that they were able to pull a Tier 30 deep out of chaotic space and towards the Guilds.


    As a Tier 50 himself, he knew just how monumental a task like that was. He could destroy a Tier 30 world easily enough, but moving one the required distance through chaotic space without pulverizing everything in the star system would be almost impossible. Extending chains of low Tier worlds out to capture the true jewelsing out of chaos space was almost always easier than moving the higher Tier worlds directly.


    Tier 50s were usually too busy to be personally expanding the borders of their territory.


    Which was why the fact that Georgios had helped in such an endeavor was a proof of allegiance. You didnt go that far out of your way for a mere vassal.


    That, and a dozen other acts had cemented that fact in Allister''s mind.


    They just needed to win this war.


    The momentum set in these early days would prove instrumental, he knew. And while there were no new Heroes uing to aid the war effort yet, Heroes always came out of nowhere, an unstoppable ball of force sending all other plots careening out of course. But even a Sidekick who reached Tier 18, 20, or even higher with the Caped Crusaders was an elite fighter in their own way.


    None had been deployed quite yet, but they were an invaluable source of potential strength. It was simply a matter of choosing when and where to unleash them. Their lives were valuable, and he had no desire to send them to their deaths. But with a second set of Ascenders, the war would soon redouble, and if he didnt act <em>now,</em> he surrendered the wars momentum to their enemies.


    And once that had started, it would be all but impossible to stop.


    He had taken his own risks through getting involved in this war. If the opposing coalition managed to beat the Empire, they wouldnt be satisfied stopping with a mere pound of flesh from their primary enemy. Theyd take their reparations from the Empires allies as well, and the Guilds had enjoyed very little in the way of recent expansion to begin with. Theyd been tremendously misfortunate as ofte, and a massive blow to them now would be catastrophic.


    The ceremony concluded, and the chain of portals hed been using to view it through snapped shut. Allister took to his feet, the spheres orbiting around him picking up a bit of momentum, but he stilled them with a thought as he paced about his office. He always thought better when moving.


    The real oddity was thest message Emmanuel had sent to him.


    It had hinted at jealousy and an invaluable treasure, with the implication that people would stop at nothing to get it. That he should be ready, because people would seek to take it, to tear them apart. That this war was almost a distraction from a true war that they were certain would take ce, and if they needed to lose this war to be better-prepared for the future, they should.


    It was a worrying message, and if he didnt know Emmanuel so well, he would think it was either a threat or deration of intent. But he <em>did</em> know Emmanuel, so he knew the man was perfectly content with the Empires current rate of expansion. He wasnt the type to risk burning everything down for a few more twinges of power. So perhaps he was expecting something akin to the old Federation to happen to the Empire? It shouldnt have been, while there were a dozen or so worlds between Tier 43 and 46 somewhere out in the depths of Chaotic Space, they were all unimaginably far away, with only his connection to the Realm itself telling him they were there.


    His future sight shouldnt be strong enough to predict a true war this far in advance, so what was going on? He couldnt sense anything massive in motion, certainly nothing past the point where stopping it would be catastrophic, so why the man was so certain was a mystery.


    Allisters only clue was the half-dozen vials of Elder Dragons Blood attached to the message. Not that they even were Elder Dragons Blood. <em>Evorn</em> was an Elder Dragon, and this surpassed even him in rank. Allister had previously managed to secure a few vials, but they had nevere cheap. To be simply <em>granted</em> six more was surprising. Was it a buying of goodwill, or the Emperor saying the impossible prize everyone would want was connected to the Elder Dragon Blood?


    Something to consider.


    For now, hed simply make use of the unexpected gift. While he had no bloodline himself, Mephistopheles, White Horse, and The Subterranean would certainly appreciate what it could provide them. One would go to the Cosmic Forge to see if they could make anything interesting with it, and the final two he would hold in reserve for now. He didnt wish to start all his avnches too soon. Perhaps a new Hero would appear with a bloodline, or another beast would earn his trust. Emmanuel had really gone all out to ensure the Guilds were ready for the next war, and he didnt intend to squander that generosity.


    Real wars werent to be trifled with.


    Even these more civilized wars werent to be underestimated, but at least a loss there wouldnt mean the death of a Great Power.


    No matter what, it wouldnt be the Guilds burning.


    Allister wouldnt allow that.


    ***


    J sighed as the video of Quill, Torch, and Scoops identity reveal was sent to her, and she waited with clenched fist as the information reports came streaming in about their histories.


    Much of it was as she expected. The man was from some backwater of no importance, steeped in problems that just so happened to remove most records of his birth and early life. Ideal for hiding some sensitive experiments and inserting him right where he would need to be in order to minimize ountability. She could practically read Emmanuel like a book.


    As she read, however, her anger grew. It wasnt just that they had <em>suspicious</em> pasts and time on the Path, it was downrightical.


    To start with, finding a bond egg as a Tier 1. Possible, certainly, but even at the very beginning of this preliminary report there were some gs being raised. The primary witness to the rift reward, executed on the spot? Convenient. Very convenient.


    Next, the B-7112923 training, <em>taunting</em> her by bordering the Republic. Matthew just <em>happens</em> to stumble into Elizabeth, just as one often runs into the daughter of some of the most powerful people in the realm. Soon after, they register a growth item, and J nearly dropped her drink when her agents cross-referenced future videos to ascertain what they found: a pair of rings.


    Mara could not have been more <em>tant</em> in setting her daughter up with her future husband and getting them a pair of growth rings under the table. Naturally, the children could never know if the rings hade from some source other than the rift as presented, and it wouldnt have pinged the relevant AI. But the signs were all there.


    To cover up any evidence of the misdeeds, Mara then stole the shortly afterwards. Yet another convenience for them.


    The reports were somewhat mixed for the middle of their time on the where the Empires vassals had fought for sport, but her spies had already picked up some irregrities. An auction house had gged their group as selling far more materials than they should rightly have, and no one in their group had any indications of being a seeker. Most likely, they were being handed wealth in some deniable format, and had all the indiscretion to be expected of teenagers with more money than they knew what to do with.


    And then their group somehow attracted the attention of Luna, who had nominally been retired. Luna, who had trained Mara and Leon, and could have beenplicit in making sure that fewer future leaks could ur. Void magic was particrly good at erasing evidence, after all.


    It wasnt until their tournament that J had to pause again. Elizabeth seemingly had a second growth item, and from as best as her agents could tell, it was a <em>blood</em> growth item. No recording of having bought it. Did they expect J to believe that possibly the sole low Tier blood mage in the entire Empire happened to find a growth item that specifically fit their incredibly niche style? And yet again, a was sucked up into the void that was Maras collection, breaking numerous Empirews in order to hide the source of the growth item before anyone could look into it.


    The so-called Scribbling was suspicious, admittedly, but that was a known event with myriad spection. From her position, it simply read as even more taunting from Mara and Leon, showing that they had some method of skirting the normal rules on resources afforded to Pathers.


    It was Aster who showed the next discrepancy, the next slip up. She was registered as being born an Arctic Fox, a rare but standard breed. Somewhere between the tournament and their Minka run a few yearster, Aster seemed to have transitioned to being a Winter Fox, as confirmed by her statements at the academy and some inferences of their sightings within Minka.


    The question was how, and almost as importantly, why?


    How would a lowly little Arctic Fox cultivate their bloodline enough to fully change it, at such a young age? The resources required to do so would be enormous, far more than could ever be allowed on The Path. Additionally, winter was a rare element, not one that could be found on any typical to refine a newly forged bloodline. It would be incredibly foolish to change bloodlines to something so rare, and potentially lock out any future advancement. Even the resources afforded to an Ascender couldnt help, if those materials didnt exist in the first ce.


    But J had a hunch there.


    Helen.


    JR had pursued Helen for millennia, purportedly for her cooking and great beauty, but that spection had always felt shallow. If Helen had some undisclosed ability to help progress bloodlines, it would exin JRs dogged pursuit and Asters incredibly strange advancement in one fell swoop. All under the noses of the Path guidelines, as Aster was only loosely bound by Path rules.


    It was the mother hen running the foxhouse.


    J would send agents to check what she could, but she didnt expect much. The one other thread to pull was the incredibly strange timing of Frederic bing a royal. Emmanuel had selected his royals a short few thousand years previously. Why add someone new, someone so misaligned with his previous ambitions, and after so little time?


    The only conclusion J could reach was that Frederic had found <em>something</em>, something that Emmanuel couldnt risk getting out, and had given him a position of incredible power in exchange for his silence. Was it rted to Lilly, where Emmanuel had booted out the established nobles and installed a loyalist too inexperienced to ask the right questions?


    Then came Minka, which she had frustratingly little information on. It was well known that Luna had taken great pains to prevent an unexpected Inspiration, but <em>why</em>? The question haunted her.


    She came back around to the greater question of Minka, which possibly tied into this same plot. Aiden Waters, on his rise to greathood, had gone into Minka a monster ande out a thing of legends, with not just a great run, but a <em>theoretically ideal</em> sequence of floors. Seven Concept boosting floors in the optimal order for the greatest Domain specialist in recorded history. It defied exnation. All diators and their ilk defied logic and faced the impossible in their own ways, but even still there were <em>limits</em>.


    The only coherent answer anyone had was that Georgios, in the moments of his ascension, upgraded his Talents and saw the path to making a beast of nightmares, and sent that n to his son. It was utter <em>lunacy</em>, better fit for the pages of a conspiracy tabloid than an <em>actual discussion shed had with her cab</em>, yet when life was insane perhaps it was the insane themselves who were most sane.


    For Elizabeth and her entourage, however, Minka was where the oddness ended, as if a line had been drawn. In the best of times it was strange, that a life so full of oddities and impossibilities would suddenly be normal, but there the records were. The increased scrutiny of Pathers past Tier 15 was what best exined it, but it was difficult to say.


    Maybe they had simply gotten better at hiding their cheating.


    There were only two possible exnations, overall. The first, most coherent one, was that this newest group of Ascenders was an incredibly sloppy operation led by the two most ipetent leaders in the Empire, Mara and Leon. It fit neatly, that the benefactors of unbridled nepotism failed the biggest undercover operation in history less than a tenth of the way into Emmanuels reign. It had holes, as did any exnation, but it fit the evidence.


    The second possibility, that this was the masterwork n of a man on his way to the higher realms, was daunting. Impossible to disprove, equally impossible to believe, but it exined the extreme oddities in recent millennia. Minka was the biggest point of evidence in its favor, as no known mechanism could influence its inner workings, but it had been coerced into making a demon anyways.


    It begged the question, was all this sloppiness in crafting the newest Ascenders intentional? A necessary step in a grand n ensuring a new group of peak fighters? If so, the future looked dim for her darling Republic.


    She was almost impressed at how brazen Emmanuel was, but she couldnt deny she might do the same if she did have a repeatable way to create powerhouses.


    Seeing another Great Power grow so much in just three immortal generations was worrying in and of itself, but she felt she was in a nightmare being forced to watch her peoples slow and steady envement happen in front of her. All while unable to do anything to prevent it. It was unttering, but the Great Powers were like crabs in a pot, unwilling to see any of their number step on their heads to get away from the boiling water.


    She sneered as she thought of herself as a crab before snorting at the image of Emmanuel reduced to the same unttering form. That visage would suit his smug, overly inted self worth perfectly.


    Amusing thoughts aside, the metaphor fell apart as she knew they werent fighting for control so much as their own freedom. If the Empire stepped on their heads and managed to keep up even a fraction of their growth for another two, possibly three immortal generations, even the collective might of the other seven Great Powers wouldnt be able to resist the Empire''s.


    That would mean a true war, wherebatants over Tier 35 fought, like what happened when the Federation was split apart, it would means would burn. Inhabiteds filled with the people who voted for her, believing that she would be the best person to protect them.


    And Ascended damn it, she would defend them. As she would defend their children and grandchildren.


    But to do so, she needed to ensure the Empire lost this war and they could restrict its growth and expansion.


    J took a deep breath, the action still helping to clear her mind after all these years. She was growing irrational again, possibly even jumping at shadows. She needed a break. It did her and her citizens little good if she allowed herself to drift away from their actual concerns, growing out of touch and distant from the concerns of the ones she had sworn to protect. It happened too often with her peers, but she never wanted to forget her roots.


    Forget what was at stake.


    She sent a message to her cab, letting them know she was going for a walk and would be out for a month or two, but if they needed her input on something urgent shed still be reachable. But they could handle themselves well enough. Unlike <em>the Empire</em>, they didnt demand all of their upper-level cultivators be in a dozen ces at once, stretched so thin that [Clone] and gear dedicated to making that specific spell cheaper was an outright requirement of office.


    No, she was getting over-fixated again.


    No more thinking about the Empire.


    She left her office, striding down the long corridors but waving her guards to stay in their ces.


    She wouldnt need them, where she was going.


    Once she was at the entry hall, she passed into the Between.


    The sensation was never <em>not</em> strange, but she infinitely preferred the shifting, confusing, but tamed semi-reality the Republic had established over the tumultuous <em>chaos </em>that the other Great Powers had been content to endure. Even if the pathways of Between were only this robust near their core worlds, the opportunities and security it provided was unmatched in the Realm.


    Conveniently, there was a newly-incorporated Tier 2 world not far from the capital. J emerged from a wooded stretch of the Between in a shaded grove of trees, tucked away frommon perception and just outside the heart of a major mortal city.


    Her perceptions expanded almost involuntarily, but J forced herself to pull back, pushing down on her cultivation, suppressing her aura, and forcing it all to task. She refused to be a voyeur, spying upon the mortals simply going about their lives and peering in on their most intimate moments. She was better than that, even if it was technically illegal for her to be present. She just couldnt have been bothered to submit the proper paperwork, not when she was in such desperate need of rity.


    Besides, the paper to approve someone above Tier 45 visiting a sub-Tier 5 world would havended on her desk in the end anyway, so she told herself it didnt really matter. And it didnt.


    She picked a random direction and started walking.


    All around her, people were just being well, people. Children wereughing and ying, parents were yelling at their children to behave, adults were going about their daily lives. They went to work in the morning and came home in the early evenings, cheer filling the air as they simply <em>lived</em>. People were singing on street corners, colorful lights decorated buildings, and there was a sense of joy that permeated everything.


    It was beautiful.


    This was what she was fighting for, she reminded herself. For mortals to just <em>be mortals</em>, living their lives unaffected by the whims of nigh-omnipotent deities, powerful enough to hear their cells divide, mighty enough to rend their city in half with but a thought. If she had been so inclined, if <em>any</em> immortal were so inclined, they could have ended the lives of millions of people before any of them even knew what was happening. Shed seen what even minor scuffles between cultivators could do to a mortal world, and the results were never pretty.


    It was <em>why </em>they stayed separate.


    This close to the capital, the veil separating mortals and cultivators was practically airtight. There were a few Tier 5s living in seclusion across the, in the rare situation where a rift break could happen. A few Tier 1s and Tier 2s would cycle in every so often, keeping the rifts under control, and ideally the mortals would never even know they were here.


    It was a good system, a <em>stable</em> system.


    Unlike the <em>Empire</em>, which touted itself as being <em>so great</em> because they just chucked <em>everyone</em> into the rat race of cultivation, leaving most of their most vulnerable citizens subject to the whims of a guild to be bought and sold like amodity-


    J took a deep breath. No, she wasnt going to think about them. She was just going to sit on her bench and watch the children ying on the frozen stream winding through the park.


    Hmmm.


    She wasnt certain about that ice. It looked a bit too thin to support the half-dozen children mbering all over it. Fortunately, she could and did fix it with a thought, thickening the ice and ensuring the safety of those most vulnerable to the chilly waters beneath.


    She tried to do what she could, after all. It wasnt like she was <em>blind</em> to the benefits which high-Tier cultivators could bring to mortals, not with how often the Interventionists argued for it, but determining what was and wasnt eptable interference, to say nothing of what actual malicious actors could do, simply made the trade-off distinctly negative. Overall, worlds where the Veil separating them was stronger tended to be more populous, happier, and the people on them had a higher sense of self and life satisfaction.


    She wouldnt inflict that on people. There were always ways for the lucky, the driven, and the exceptional to find their way past the Veil. Shed done it, after all.


    Do your parents know youre out on the ice? she called out to the kids.


    Her voice attracted a few nces, then the group scattered. Ah well, it was about what she expected. At least they werent <em>scared</em> of her, though one of them was wondering about what she was wearing.


    <em>Oops</em>.


    It was midwinter here, and her outfit was not only entirely too light for a mortal in this weather, but entirely incongruous with the styles worn by the people around her. She <em>must</em> have been too distracted by the Empire to have forgotten such basic precautions. Still, one of the first things just about any cultivator learned in the Republic was how to nudge the perceptions of mortals away from any unusual happenings around them with their Domain.


    A subtle flex of her Concept ensured that none would notice her clothes being so radically different from the locals, but she still pulled a coat out of her Talent. Weather and temperature didnt bother her any more unless another cultivator was responsible, so she barely noticed.


    It had been even longer since mere Tier 2 weather could bother her. Probably hadnt since well, before she was a cultivator. When she was just a kid on a distant Tier 3 world, with no real knowledge of cultivators. Oh sure, there were <em>rumors</em> about people who did impossible things, and she grew up on the stories of kids who stumbled upon a fantastical hidden realm and were whisked away on grand adventures, but she lived in a mortal neighborhood with mortal parents and with mortal friends.


    It wasnt until she managed to see through the Veil of a visiting cultivator, notice their odd clothes and tendency to vanish into a solid brick wall sheter learned was hiding a rift, and confronted the man, that she learned the truth. From there, the rest of her life was practically out of one of her childhood storybooks, and while her parents had passed away untold ages ago, they had loved her and supported her through it all. Even if they didnt know the full truth of their world, they were happy, and they were happier when they didnt know the reality of their daughter fighting monsters from nightmares to grow stronger, into a Realm filled with ancient empires and massive conspiracies.


    She was still reminiscing about her parents, now long dead, when the smell of coffee hit her.


    It took control to walk at a mortals pace to the nearest diner whos door had opened and not rush over.


    She entered, and following the actions of the man before her,, stomped her boots to knock any snow off them. Not that snow <em>could</em> stick to these boots, but blending in was important.


    It only took a moment for an elderly woman to return from where she sat the man down and said. The bar is open if youd like, but I can seat you at a table as well.


    J smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. A table, please.


    Right this way honey. It''s blistering cold out there, let me get you something to warm you up. Having said that, the woman was already turning around to grab the pot of coffee.


    J smiled and thanked her as she took the proffered cup and pretended to look at the menu.


    The smell of the coffee was delicious, but she knew that it would taste correspondingly awful. Still, it brought back thoughts of her childhood, and she let herself ponder the situation with the Empire in between memories of ying in booths simr to the one she sat in now growing up.


    The Empire needed to be stopped, ors like this would be lost in the shuffle. In the rat race that so many cultivators threw themselves into. Lost in the rift breaks that would im lives. Lost in the progression as they were born behind the Tier of the and unable to take more than the first few steps.


    If the Empire became hegemon, that is exactly what would happen.


    The Republic wasnt perfect, she knew that, but there was a reason they had been the second strongest Great Power for thest two million years until the Empire overtook them. They were strong because their system <em>worked</em>.


    It had harmony. Bnce. Mortals could live their lives free from greater concerns, while those who were more ambitious could, with some struggle, be cultivators and try to improve themselves.


    Sure, it wasnt easy, and many, many people who nominally wanted to be cultivators didnt, but the paths were <em>there</em>. On higher-Tier worlds, Awakenings were pricey but affordable for the driven. On Veil worlds, people would leave not gaps, but weak points. ces where the curious and dedicated could fall through in a safe and <em>controlled</em> manner. Lots of those people never even left the they were born on, but those who wanted to, could.


    It was opt-in, and those who didnt never needed to feel bad about it. They could live their lives however they pleased. It was that which the <em>Empire</em> tossed so merrily aside. Mandated Awakening of <em>everyone</em> ensured that nobody was immune to the perils of their first Talent. Those who wished for a quiet life but awakened an Exceptional talent had their lives ruined just as surely as those who awakened a Detrimental talent without a firm, usually higher-Tier, supportwork.


    Even in the Republic, where they had never done anything so foolish as <em>publicize</em> Talent ratings, some abilities were just too obvious to not impact the lives of those Awoken. The requirements of Awakening meant that even those whose Talents were harmful still had some form of support from their Awakener. Those who bought awakening on higher-Tier worlds were well-off enough to afford support on their own, or cultivate ambient essence until no matter their Talent, they could work better than a corresponding mortal and so find employment that way.


    It seemed to be a nuance the Empire had wholly ignored. So many of their people simplynguished at a low Tier while the Empire spent fortunes to raises to Tier 5. That might be audable goal on paper, as the long term benefits were undeniable. But the expenses were mind-boggling, and that put the people of the Empire under a greater tax burden, which limited their economic freedoms.


    J didnt want to see her people put under such burdens.


    Her people had enough burdens of their own.


    No system was perfect, and there were <em>always</em> those who fell through the cracks. People who took out loans for Awakening and then could never truly pay off their debt were the mostmon. Her heart ached for them, and she provided aid when she could, but there were countless reasons why she couldnt simply sweep away their sorrows. Then, there were those who sought to pierce the Veil, but never could. Those on remotes whom the Awakened exploited, abusing their greater power for personal satisfaction. That was a never-ending battle, but one always worth fighting.


    And yes, she would question herself. She always questioned herself. Every choice she made would make the lives of some better, and the lives of others worse. Quadrillions of lives swung in the bnce of her choices, their hopes and dreams able to be crushed or realized in the palm of her hand.


    But ultimately, it wasnt just <em>her</em> choice. Her citizens had voted her in, and she had made promises to them in her election. Shed sworn to protect the unawakened, to maintain the Veil, to safeguard the Republic against those who wished it ill, and uphold the rights afforded Republic citizens wherever possible. That was why she was here, and it was those ideals she followed.


    A younger woman, early thirties,te twenties if J had to guess, came out and cheerfully took her order before sauntering back to the kitchen where she leaned into her wife and spoke J''s order.


    The cook smiled even as she cut up part of an onion and green pepper and started to cook them on the grill. The coupleughed together, sharing some private joke J didnt have the context for. They were mortal, and they were <em>happy</em>.


    Js fist clenched around the coffee cup, and it exploded, but even before the coffee moved an inch, she had already destroyed it all and reced the cup and its contents.


    The thought that this sort of good family could have their life upended because J lost to the Empire set her blood aze.


    No, she would not allow that.


    <em>They could not lose</em>.


    She forced a smile out as the waitress brought her omelet out a few minutester and happily ate it all. It was good. Not as good as her father''s had been, but that was an impossible standard, and she knew that.


    Making a disy of finishing her food and cleaning her te, she dropped twice her bill on the table before getting up and leaving.


    The waitress started to do a small dance at therge tip which made J smile, and she made her way back to the Between entrance.


    It had been a good walk, but shed been away long enough.


    She needed to win this war and prevent the Empire from bing hegemon.


    ***


    Aoife drummed her fingers against her throne. Each tap sent faint vibrations echoing through the stone she rested upon, carried through all the halls of the Undermount, and returned to her a fairly urate impression of what was going on throughout the entire. The stonework was such that she didnt even need substantial focus to interpret the feedback, and could direct the attention to overhear any conversation in the entire world.


    It was an incredibly clever bit of dwarven engineering, and also all but useless. Her spiritual sense could extend even further and with quite a bit more fidelity, and would be all but undetectable besides.


    Impressive but useless.


    What a perfect metaphor for the entirety of the ns.


    It was always unfortunate to be the Sovereign directly following a Golden Age. Even if every n leader could sense their fortunes changing, that they had tapped that particr vein of resources to its utmost, they refused to acknowledge it in favor of pressuring <em>her</em> to live up to the impossible standards set by Saint Hastor and his generation.


    Yet there was nothing she properly <em>could</em> do. While her predecessor had left the treasury all but overflowing, it was not truly hers to spend. Were she to open the gates of wealth, their streets would run with gold for the rest of her rule, and perhaps even the rule of her sessor and then, that would be it. The ns would not fail, would not die, but they would be undeniably lesser for generations toe, until the next Golden Age.


    It would inevitably happen. A generation would experience such grand fortune that the ns would utterly dominate the entire Realm, their choices dictating the flow of destiny for all the Great Powers. There would be an outpouring of power, of wealth, of treasure, and all would know prosperity. But then, time would pass and the Golden Age would fade. The ns would steadily decline in influence, in power, in grandeur, until a new Golden Age arose and began the cycle anew.


    Saint Hastors Golden Age had truly been a sight to behold. The man had risen to Tier 50 solely through inspirations and left a surplus of the treasures and worlds usually required to raise a Sovereign to the throne. The ns had usurped the Federation from their generations-old dominance, created a new Great Power, reaped a harvest of <em>hundreds</em> of valuable worlds, seen no less than <em>two</em> Legend groups rise to power and a True Inheritor besides, retrieved at least <em>six</em> Tier 50 skills and countless other treasures so rare they were previously little more than myth.


    And nearly none of it was useful to Aoife.


    Oh, to be certain, she would im a Tier 50 skill in time, once she decided upon what she wanted. The Last Line, the most recent Legend group, was still serving admirably as a deterrent from some of the more enterprising Corporations independents who were sniffing around her border regions, and life was still <em>good</em> for her subjects.


    But every time Aoife looked, that golden sheen was tarnishing and king.


    A Tier 22 world, lost to the Monsters Collective. The Inheritor theyd sent to im the world had been forced to retreat from mere <em>Pathers</em>. That they had now be Legends was of little consequence Inheritor Seasadh should have utterly crushed them. The girl had simply been <em>insufficient</em>, and her efforts to correct that weakness hardly offset that after the fact.


    A portion of her <em>yearned</em> to heed the demands of her underlings, to toss aside the neutrality afforded the Empire which Saint Hastor had negotiated for and join the war against them. The Empire seemed to be entering their <em>own</em> Golden Age, a thought nearly heretical, yet practically undeniable at this point. If they werent stopped, what would they be? Surely, she ought to unleash the full might of the ns, demonstrate why their inheritance was the entire Realm, prove their strength and end the war decisively. Crush the Empire before it could rise ascendant, break the will of its popce and im what riches it had amassed for themselves.


    But to do so would destroy their future. It would condemn unknown generations to insignificance and poverty. Perhaps they would curse her name, for squandering their wealth. Perhaps they would curse her sessor, when the river of gold ceased to flow. The resources they would spend would be <em>irreceable</em>, to ultimately take scraps from an Empire toorge for its own good.


    Aoife most certainly would not entertain the petition of n Von Kozih, that they ought to break the rules of war and kill Waters, Light, Shadow, and the newly risen Torch, Quill, and Scoop. It was a petition so <em>idiotic</em> she had nearly revoked their status as a n at that instant, with only immediate and emphatic intervention by ns Viuhal and MaiChetun to persuade her it was made in utmost ignorance by a new n Head.


    Such things simply <em>were not</em> done.


    The Ascendancy of the Sun was thest Great Power to have attempted such a thing. Their Divine Lord had decided Daedalus, the Federations yer of the age deserved to die after they slew one of the Ascendancys own Legends. The ensuing kidnapping and sacrifice of the yer nearly re-started the Shattering, and the ensuing conflict could not even truly be called a <em>war</em>.


    A war implied opposition.


    Within a century, the Divine Lord and all of his High Priests had been killed or forced into Ascending, overwhelmed by thebined might of all other six Powers. It didnt matter that the ns and Guilds had been at war, nor that the Ascendancy and Empire had previously been firm allies, none allowed the Divine Lord to go unpunished. To do so would allow a precedent to be set of higher Tiers disregarding thews of war, and no one wanted to see a return to inhabiteds burning.


    The aftermath saw theplete recement of the Ascendancy with the Corporations, and some historians attributed the Federations eventual rise to dominance partially due to the glut of new worlds they had gotten as rpense. Meanwhile, the Corporations to this day had substantially fewer worlds than the rest of the Great Powers, even though few actively sought that oue.


    It was one of the first lessons which every Sovereign, every leader of the Great Powers was to learn: The rules of war are sacred, <em>especially</em> for Legends. Should a Legend die due to a vition of the War Pact, even if the murderer was acting wholly of their own ord, the rpense ranged from <em>merely</em> immense to outright crippling, depending on the circumstances. Even the Federation, in their ever-so-sorry present state, would eclipse whatever remained of the ns, should they try to y a Legend illegally.


    No, if Waters or the others were to be in, it would be done properly and honorably. Not that the ns were in any position to manage an honorable kill, if she wished to preserve their glory for generations toe.


    Should she stand aside, allow the Empire to shine brightly, outshine even the ns? Or should she look to extinguish their light here and now, and risk bringing the ns even lower than the Empire would fall to?


    She did not know.


    But whatever Aoife chose, that would be her legacy.


    ***


    Tobias smiled as he saw the identities of the new groups of Alphas. The youngest one of that little Phoenix chick overseeing their kin in the Empire. He was genuinely happy for the couple, having be acquaintances over the past few millennia, and the duo had never failed to make him crack a smile over the years. The pair were truly an ideal example of a beast and bond.


    Now their progeny was just as impressive. Hed heard tell that Elizabeth had undergone a fairly unfortunate Awakening, having broken the connection to the element in her blood. Such things were blessedly rare for the trauma they inflicted, and few who underwent such experiences ever fully recovered. Most never even formed a Concept, their sense of self in such disrepair that they were forever barred from immortality should they even muster the fortitude to progress.


    Hed been proud of Elizabeth, for oveing that and even reaching Tier 15 entirely of her own merits. But now he was somewhat uncertain if it was even <em>true</em>, or simply a cunning ruse to disguise her all-the-more potent fire magic. He doubted it was a cover-up, but he wasnt <em>certain</em> yet. If she legitimately had Awoken a Talentrgely barring her from all but blood magic, that made her aplishment all the more impressive. A Concept and Intent before the age of 200 already spoke of a <em>tremendous</em> self-confidence and ability to know ones proper ce in the Realm, and to do so with a broken-off bloodline? Toby could only stand in awe at the girls resilience.


    Her Path had been a fairly straightforward one, as far as that could be said for <em>any</em> Alpha. An impressive showing in a mock war, first ce in the Empires tournament, nearlypleting Minka at Tier 11, even putting up a good showing against Soddus and Girang. By all ounts, Aster was equally impressive. Shed apparently altered her bloodline <em>before</em> Tier 15, and even if that feat was thanks to Minka, it still spoke quite highly of her own prowess.


    Then of course, Asters bond. A young boy from a backwater, blessed with an early beast egg and managing to keep up with both Elizabeth and Aster. It was an impressive showing for someone like him, and equally as deserving ofmendation as his two peers for his own aplishments.


    Alongside the recording of the trios ceremony was a message from Emperor Emmanuel, requesting a meeting. Though he was tempted to decline, he withheld his first impulse in favor of a more measured response. The dragon blood the Empire was able to provide was simply too promising. Evorn had been all but begging, insofar as any dragon would <em>beg,</em> for more of the only substance which he could use to reliably improve his own bloodline. Truly, the only thing which motivated an Alpha was the allure of more power.


    KarTan had been in his other ear, requesting all the more for his own experiments. The chimera program had truly exceeded its own mandate with young Soddus, and his old friend had been utterly fixated on the possibility of creating a chimera with a native rank <em>three</em> bloodline in the wake of that particr sess. The dragons blood not only improved the likelihood of such things, but even granted the possibility of a rank four or higher Chimera. None of them knew what rank the blood was, after all, simply that it was stronger than anything theyd evere across.


    Stronger than his own third Rank, certainly.


    Wherever the Emperor had encountered such a font of blood, he truly did not know. Were it not for the undeniably <em>draconic</em> nature of the blood, he would have almost attributed it to young Elizabeth! Its potency was surely fit for an Alpha, and its sanguine nature befit the young girl perfectly. And it would be just like the Empire, to harvest such a potent tool from their mightiest warriors and leave them as little more than a dispenser of valued materials.


    Bah.


    Tobias refused to hold the crimes of the father against the son, but Emmanuel had hardly left the best impression upon him during the War of Independence. He certainly didnt <em>owe</em> the Empire anything. Hed spent so many millennia trying to raise support for the beasts of the Federation, and it wasnt until the Federation had <em>too much</em> luck that any of them had bothered to listen to him.


    Any of them could burn and he wouldnt care. Oh, he wouldnt <em>set</em> them on fire, but he found it so delicious, that the Empire was experiencing the inevitable turnabout of the Federation. Too much fortune, too quickly. He would shed no tears for them should they fall, and he would happily be there to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.


    <em>I Carry the Weight of the World, after all.</em>


    He had borne his burden for eons, and he drew ever-closer to the finish line. Someday, he would Ascend, and he would leave the Realm a better ce than it was when hed first hatched. What more could he ask for?


    And if that meant visiting the Empire for more dragons blood, so be it.


    Still, all might not be bad. While he was in the Empire, hed get the chance to talk with Helen again. Itd been well over a hundred thousand years since theyst talked. If nothing else, that alone might be worth the visit. It had been quite the shock when he first met her to find someone <em>significantly</em> older than him, at such a low Tier to boot.


    Smiling, as he reminisced of old memories, he epted the offer to meet.


    ***


    JR fluttered to his favorite perch. It was a veryfortable perch, tucked away in the corner of his office. From it, he could see <em>so much</em> of his homnd, and it always helped put things in perspective.


    Below him, the Corporations Capital sat. It wasnt the mostfortable of worlds, between the eternally raining forests of the coasts and scorching sands of the center, but the striking gold, green, and blue made for such a pretty sight. Around him and extending to the stars beyond were far more interesting. Cities of metal and crystal, ships the size of a moon, gently spinning rings with millions, even billions of inhabitants they were the true heart of the Corporations, and that heart had been beating quite excitedly ofte.


    War was often good for business.


    There were still those who mourned their losses, but so long as JR managed to keep the war away from their actual worlds, those deaths would be limited to the brave and the bold. The ones whose jobs demanded their deaths, rather than their lives.


    JR ruffled his feathers in thought, staring out at the shining stars against the eternal ckness of space.


    The war was undoubtedly set to explode in potency. Already, he could feel certain sectors of the Corporations restructuring and preparing for new mercenary contracts, new arms supplies, new treasures being pulled out of storage for sale. With another set of Ascenders to outfit, the Empire would no doubt seek their aid in ensuring they were fully equipped. Perhaps they would even seek out <em>his</em> aid. It had happened before, and the shinies hed gotten as a result kept him keen-eyed for future potential earnings.


    Though, they hadnt asked for any of his workmanship for Light and Shadow. Perhaps they assumed he was too busy, now that he was the Chief Executive Official? Well, he <em>was</em>, but sufficient shinies would surely tempt him back to his crafting bench for someone else''s ideas. Or perhaps that was the issue, they thought he would charge too much? Hmmm. Perhaps he should send a sample of his wares, a small reminder of the sorts of things he could make. He could spare a few days and some of the less-shiny treasures in his nest, yes, yes.


    It was <em>always</em> profitable to be in the good books of a Chosen-equivalent. The only question was what he should make.


    Something for the blood girl? No, she probably had cups. Also she was a fire girl. Fire and blood had historically never yed well together, but perhaps as a phoenix, leaning more into the side of life? Blood and fire JR paused. In Empire-standard alchemy, those would be an alchemicallypleteposite for life, wouldnt they be? That could be a solid base for a custom element. But hmm, no. Not quiteplete. Perhaps if lightning were included as well? Perhaps but it would still require far more to truly coalesce into a new element.


    Bah! Too much work for a mere sample. Perhaps his message could allude to the possibility, but bloodfire was too much to be given for free! That was <em>not</em> how you got shinies.


    Something for the fox, perhaps? Hmm, no, ice wasnt something JR enjoyed working with. Too many harsh winters as a young bird for him to specialize in the element.


    Something for the boy? Yes, that was an excellent idea!


    Quill would surely appreciate well-crafted goods. His [Ranged Stabilization HE8-ST] processor had been quite fantabulous to behold, a fully novel style for a brand-new module. JR could have made something better if he had tried, but that wasnt the point! Quill had been Tier 10 at the time, and if that didnt speak to having a heart of a crafter, JR didnt know <em>what</em> would!


    Talismans, though. What could he make for talismans


    Tools would be tricky, he didnt know the boys traditions. He was certainly self-taught, yes yes, but hed be learning soon enough, and if JR acted quickly enough then his gift would be able to influence the forms of crafting he would attempt to learn! Yes, yes, this could be good. If he sent something which lent itself more towards the style which Corporations used, then Quill would try to learn more about Corporations technology, and that would mean more of the budget the Empire spent on their Ascenders would go to them. And that meant more shinies!


    And if he was really lucky, maybe he himself would be able to visit the Empire if they needed his services, and then perhaps he could see <em>Helen</em>! That would indeed be most wonderful. He had a new bauble for her. He had seen it on one of his flights and scooped it off the side of the road after its sparking reminded him of Helen''s tail feathers in flight. Very pretty.


    Shaking his head he refocused on his project.


    He must think about what tools might be best for Quill. Perhaps a temporal recorrector? Hmm, no, the boy was only Tier 25. Meta-flux adjuster? No, not very useful for talismans. Bifate pair-linker? That could work, yes yes. He had utilized talisman arrays in the past, and he could <em>certainly</em> make a BPL with enough flexibility to ount for <em>any</em> material the boy decided to use, be it metal, hide, stone, or wood. Oh! And if he did it right, he could possibly allow for <em>multi material</em> pair-linkages.


    Most people said they were impossible, but JR was not most people!


    Firstly he was a bird.


    Secondly he refused to listen to the naysayers.


    And that was why he had all the shinies!


    ***


    Grand Sect Elder Winter Ho nodded as he read the report.


    The Empire had done it once again.


    Not long ago, he would have railed against the heavens, but he had passed long past rage and found bliss. The heavens were impartial, and it was the duty of the strong to im their due. If one wanted something, they needed to reach out and take it themselves. This was clearly their tribtion, and they would not be found wanting.


    If one relied on luck and chance, they would never rise.


    Power coursed through his body, sweeping through him and leaving him at the edge of a vast cliff. Mist shrouded the bottoms and clouds obscured the top. Not that either stopped his gaze, and he looked out upon the Sects based in the londs of his own. There, the mightypeted for their due.


    They railed against the heavens, and the talented and powerful naturally rose to the top. It was the only truth which meant anything. The weak could not rule the strong. Not for long.


    Maybe this really was the Empire''s time to rise, but he knew it woulde crashing down eventually. Hed be there with a hammer ready to knock out a foundational stone or two when the time was right.


    Speaking to the air, he said. Call forth Synoid and Crastor.


    It was time to stir the pot and see what came out.


    Potion or poison would only be clear after the cauldron settled.


    ***


    Virgil felt one of her teeth deform, denting as she clenched her jaw.


    <em>Another set of Ascenders from the Empire</em>.


    Her rage started to shatter reality around her, but she controlled it before it did more than warp her desk.


    Standing, she tore through reality to arrive at the training grounds.


    Ten thousand new rune-enhanced soldiers went through their paces, marching at speeds that felt to her as akin to a crawl. They werent progressing <em>fast enough</em>, and she crushed the urge to obliterate them all. How magnanimous she was.


    These ones were far less likely to rebel thanks to the updated techniques and a better control rune imnted directly into their skulls. Once they had reached Tier 15, they had even enabled her to see through their eyes, feel what they felt.


    The power was lesser than the first iteration, but these were far more stable. Her own Talents were stretched thin, but she could focus them upon those who showed the most promise easily enough.


    Drones monitored them ever-carefully, screening for promise and disloyalty alike. Should she desire it, she could review practically their entire lives through her AI, ensuring that they were loyal, that they wouldnt leave her.


    She was not so <em>blessed</em> as the <em>Emperor</em>, gifted as he was with the ability to peer through time, to spy upon her agents from the future and weed out the spies and the traitorous. But there were advantages to this method. None but she could control these drones, and while her supply of them <em>was</em> finite, such was simply the Price of Control. It was a concept she was well-acquainted with.


    None but her could be trusted with that power. In time, she would need to find another roboticist, but that was still centuries away. Her current fleet of drones would be more than adequate for quite some time.


    It was a pity that <em>they</em> could not be utilized in this war. They would certainly be a better sight than this sorry batch of utter ingrates. If she wished for sloppy work and slow progress, she would have turned to <em>Community</em> members. The attrition rate after Awakening and sorting was bad enough, so many potential new soldiers relegated to branches which ultimately did not need them. These recruits were all <em>Warriors</em>, yet she could only see children. Noisy, useless, whiny children who demanded far too much of her time for far too little reward.


    It felt akin to an eternity, but mere moments after her arrival, their head trainer stood before her.


    What can I do for you, maam?


    Get them ready for the war. I want this group sent to the Tier 15 battlefields immediately. Also, start integration of squad level runes on the Tier 25 soldiers.


    Thatst one had been almost impossible a few years ago, thanks to the spirits'' rejection of the imnted runes post awakening, but she didnt care if the Tier 25s burned themselves for greater power. She couldnt rely upon a yer to make themselves in time for this war, that duty once again fell to <em>her</em>.


    Perhaps it was better this way. yers were unpredictable, messy, and altogether far too ungrateful for her purposes. She wouldnt rid herself of the program, though. Such actions would simply serve to tip her hand to Sophron and his ilk, and she was not ready for that yet.


    They thought the Federation weak, crippled. They thought that cutting away half of them would weaken them, leave them a shell of their former self. But in truth, it had cut away disorder and allowed her to consolidate what was left. Awakenings, to find the strongest. Castes, to ensure everyone was in their proper ce.


    The chaotic, messy guts of the Federation had been reced. In their ce was muscle and bone of metal and mana, an iron fist hidden under a veneer of soft skin. Shed taken disorder, and brought order. Order brought power, and now the entire Federation was like a tempered de, ready to be swung at hermand. Flesh gave way, adamantine did not.


    And were it required, she would excise everyst pound of imperfect flesh.


    By the time the other Great Powers realized their folly, Virgil would have armies of rune soldiers ready to take the field, and the war with it. She would be the dagger which cut their hearts, and they would fall at her feet.

 Chapter 279

    Chapter 279


    Matt had to resist moaning as he scraped thest remnants of the tiramisu off his te and plopped the fork into his mouth, even as Liz did the same for her cheesecake. Aster had already devoured her warm brownie with ice cream, and was sitting there trying to coax more food out of Aunt Helen, who seemed immune to her charms.


    Despite the deliciousness of the meal, they all knew that they needed to get to work. There was a war raging, and they needed to enter it.


    To that end, after thanking Aunt Helen and after getting a warm set of hugs, they left with an escort and boxed lunches to go.


    They wandered through the twisting halls of the pce until they arrived at a shuttle which would take them to the Tier 37 that neighbored the Capital. That was where the central Empire military base was located, and it housed most of the nonbat personnel who did the nning and logistics for the army.


    An army they were now a part of.


    The shuttle retrieving them was sleek, with chromed highlights on a dark blue hull, and somewhat unusually, both armed and with no visible thrusters. Generally, thruster-less craft were short-range only with underpowered flight, and low-power short-range ships rarely needed weapons.


    As they left the ecumenopolis of the Capital, soaring-past a half-constructed ring, Matt watched a dozen flyers surrounding and guarding the shuttle on its brief transit. They were somebination of overkill and a simple honor guard, but he didnt know which was most important.


    He briefly caught sight of the orbiting infrastructure of the Capital as they flew past, the deep storage bays, the innumerable telescopes, even a few of the hotels and apartments that housed some of the cheaper living space within proximity of the center of imperial government.


    It was when they were getting close to The Docks, the center of military might in the Empire, that Matt became seriously impressed. From quite a distance away, Matt could see the orbiting weapons tforms with guns the size of rivers, hundreds of mile-long battleships, attendant auxiliary ships, and glittering swarms of fighter craft going through drills, all circling above the continent-spanning factories and shipyards that made uprge portions of the. Even as they approached, he saw a newly-minted ship, bristling with gun turrets, lift off from the surface to join its sisters in the void.


    Far too quickly, their shipnded in the more administrative area of the. He was almost sad that their retinue and ship had sped them along through what must otherwise have been an hours-long clearance to enter. The weaponry he could see even now wasn''t just for show, and security didnt typically mix with speed and convenience.


    The moment the doors opened, Matt felt a wave of dry heat hit him, but more than that, he saw one single man standing there. At Tier 22, his [AI] identified him as General Darrow and their direct reporting officer. The man himself was simply but cleanly dressed in loose fitting fatigues, with dark skin and close cropped ck hair. But most notably, he had a third eye in the center of his forehead which never stopped swiveling around its socket. It briefly paused to inspect each of them in turn, and Matt felt a slight chill run down his spine as it fell on him. Before more than a second had passed, the purple eye went back to examining the rest of the surroundings, the blue pupil sometimes disappearing from view as it turned into Darrows skull.


    The three of them walked down the ramp to stand in front of General Darrow and went to attention, where they saluted him in unison. Luna had beaten proper military etiquette into their heads long ago.


    Instead of immediately returning the salute, he looked them up and down before circling around them until he returned to his ce in front of them, where he went to attention himself and returned their salute, thereby freeing them.


    Nodding, he gestured to the side. Follow me. Were secure here, but not secure enough for my liking.


    The four of them walked into the nearest building where General Darrow said, Take a few moments to change into fatigues. It will help you stand out a little less.


    When the three of them changed into the ck and graybat uniforms that soldiers wore when not in armor, General Darrow seemed almost surprised.


    Matt wasnt sure why, but General Darrow must have read the question on their faces as he volunteered the information. Two minutes in, and you have already surpassed the average Ascender in mymand. I suspect you will understand more shortly.


    Matt had no idea what to say, but Liz nodded. You can thank Luna for that, General. Speaking of the other Ascenders, when will we be meeting up with them?


    General Darrow turned and spoke over his shoulder, trusting them to follow. Soon enough. If you would follow me?


    Darrow led them through a dozen checkpoints, each manned by serious looking guards, with force fields over each door and scanners to check over every item they had in their rings and every cell in their body. Even that was the cursory version, and Matt saw them pass by several security checks uncontested, with the personnel saluting them as they approached. To his surprise, they came to a halt not in some grand meeting hall, but a rift.


    Matt opened his mouth, but General Darrow pre-empted his questions. Our base of operations is indeed a Tier 35 rift. In addition to the security benefits it provides, the time eleration is a tremendous aid for inter-mission recovery and practice. And to answer your next question, Captain Quill, it <em>is</em> possible to ess a closed rift instance at this high of a Tier. You just need a particr kind of Domain or Talent to manage it. Sergeant Astul is one of our personnel capable of the feat, and here she is now.


    Sergeant Astul was a Tier 35 woman in a military uniform, with light purple skin and glowing red eyes. She entered the room from a different door and saluted the four of them, her gaze unwavering. As she looked at Matt, he got the distinct sense of being <em>hunted</em>, but her posture was nothing less than perfectly respectful.


    Well-timed, Sergeant. If you would?


    Astul gave a curt nod. Yes, General. She rubbed a small scrap of fabric between her fingers while taking a long slow breath, then turned to face the rift instance. After me.


    Violet smoke wafted off the woman as they approached the rift, and as she stepped into the tear in the world, the smoke intensified, coiling around their little group and wrapping them in a bubble of swirling violet. Past the thin bubble was nothing but an endless inky void, with asional shes of color. They walked through the nothingness for a little while, until Astul paused at one of the shes of color. A momentter, they were inside the rift.


    Or at least, Matt assumed it was the rift. The space theyd appeared in was entirely enclosed by a domed ceiling of featureless dark metal, illuminated only by a single white light floating just below the ceiling.


    A momentter, the entire dome simply vanished, leaving them on a stone pad


    General Darrow turned to them and said, Wee to Fort Lightfoot, home of Project Breach. Thank you, Sergeant. You mayplete your hunt.


    The woman saluted them, then vanished with a blur towards what looked like a bustling town in the distance.


    Matt turned his head around on a swivel as he took in the area around him. Instead of a military base with regimented buildings and simple designs, the ce looked more like a resort. If it wasnt for the squad of guards watching the rift entrance, he would have thought they had arrived at the wrong ce.


    Everything was incredibly tamed, and while Matt couldnt <em>prove</em> that it was artificial, everything had the familiar sense of guided wilderness, wherein all the grasses and shrubs and trees <em>looked</em> like they were perfectly natural, but it was all just so perfectly aesthetic, it couldnt be attributed to anything but human intervention. Grasses formed paths through flower bushes wide enough for a tank to drive through, hills kept the localndscape from being too t, and a brilliant blue sky with neither sun nor moon lit the entire rift like something out of a storybook.


    To their left,-sized mountains <em>loomed</em> just a few thousand miles away, their foothills alreadyrger than any non-rift peaks Matt had ever seen. A hundred miles to their right, a rich turquoise ocean stretched almost to infinity, but Matt could see nearly normal-looking mountains past them. Behind them, a forest slowly thickened and grew until each tree was thousands of miles tall and hundreds of miles thick. And in front of them, an idyllic meadow held host to arge town rife with signs of life. A small handful of ships were being repaired in a small hangar, a forge billowed red smoke into the sky, and an enormous field and orchard was loaded down with food and alchemical ingredients alike. Tiny people raced down wide streets, and even from where he stood, Matt could detect the faintly musky smell of enchanting materials.


    Out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw a flicker of movement, but when he turned, it was reced with a dark spot out of the corner of his other eye. His spiritual perception didnt agree, but he was <em>certain</em> he could see a shadow darting around the edges of his vision. Then, it vanished altogether.


    Darrow motioned for them to follow him, and Matt put the shadow mostly out of his mind as they followed the path Astul had taken. Project Breach is the culmination of a half-dozen projects, all intent on assembling the very best of the best from the Empire for a single purpose, supporting no less than two Tier 25 Ascender groups. You three will be a part of Team Zero, alongside Captains Light and Shadow, and lead by me. Ill determine the rest of the team, based on overall team synergy, ensuring all roles are covered and that the Team may operate as an optimal unit.


    Now, to that end, we have assembled five other Teams, each fulfilling a single purpose and headed by the very best of the best. We have Academy graduates, near-Ascenders, army veterans, various super-soldiers, and elite delvers on call, each the very best in their field. Some operations will see you corresponding with one or more other Teams, so I advise you look to familiarize yourselves with them.


    Weve been inmunication with your former Management team, and are fairly certain we have all the special resources you require on-hand, but if there is anything else you need, speak with quartermaster Irba. But first, we have some administrative duties to attend to.


    Matt took note of that and wondered what they could possibly need to do.


    As it turned out, a lot.


    Their first stop was the supply depot called Group Scroll, staffed by a cheerful-looking Tier 22 lieutenant, where they picked up a set of new storage rings. Quill! Torch! Scoop! Man, this is so great. Anyway, Ill try to stay focused! So, these will bind tightly to your spirits, and act as an additional form of ID. The raw storage isnt the greatest, only about a thousand cubic feet, but you should really only be using them for unscheduled trips in and out of here. Theyve got all the usual security features, self-annihtion in the case of theft, a thousand and one defenses against intrusion, and theyre <em>tough</em>. Shadow herself couldnt break one, and shes probably the only person in the Realm who can break <em>into</em> one.


    Now, before you use them, check in with Colonel Gnodel with Group Firmament to bind them correctly. Theyll explode rather vigorously if you dont do it just right. Any other spatial rings you have should be brought in to be checked out, and if you have any personal storage abilities, pleasee by at some point so we can get some measurements. Some of our Rift Breachers have issues with excessive or unusual spatial storages, and we dont want to send them to the medics if we can help it.


    What about our new arms and armor? Liz asked, When should we expect to get those?


    The lieutenant paused at that. So thats a bit tricky, she looked to Darrow, who indicated for her to continue. We hope to get you almost everything youll need within just a couple decades. Um, in-rift time, that is. But, and I know from working with Allie and Light that you guys might not be used to it, but we dont actually <em>have</em> items made for you yet. But we do have some meetings lined up to take care of that! Though we dont even know what youll actually need. We have a lot of skill shards for your consideration, and an allotment of upgrade orbs for you where is it? I dont want to get this wrong there we go! So, youre each pre-approved for ten Tier 14 upgrade orbs, but if you want more, theres just a really easy form to fill out. Then you have twenty-four Tier 26 upgrade orbs, that one would be tricker to get raised higher, and three Tier 38 upgrade orbs for each of you. Thatst one will be <em>real</em> hard to increase the number for, because theyre pretty much always snapped up the moment we get any. They are <em>rare</em> and <em>everyone</em> wants them.


    She shrank back slightly, as though worried that Matt, Liz, or Aster would react badly, then squeaked out an exnation. Its not that we dont value you or anything, its just that, well, we have a lot of really high-priority requests for the orbs! And like, Command needs to make sure that theyre all going to good use. Not that youre ever a <em>bad</em> use, its just that uh, we cant really waste them on upgrading nonbat spells or spells you only use once a decade? Its uh, kinda a small miracle we were even able to track down <em>nine</em>, because well theyre never not in high demand, but you should have seen my boss when he was told wed need to equip <em>three</em> more Ascenders, and keep some on hand for other Ascenders or near-Ascenders that join up. Or not. Or maybe? Do you guys find high-Tier people getting mad and swearing a lot scary? Probably not, right? You must deal with crazier stuff than that all the time. But its kinda scary for me.


    As if sensing she made things a little awkward, she added, Anyway! We have most of those orbs basically on-hand. But, we only have two Tier 38 upgrade orbs in stock at the moment, though we have another oneing in next week, two more in about a month and a half after that, and the final four with no expected delivery yet.


    Three Tier 38 upgrade orbs. It was objectively so many, yet at the same time it was so few. Most people never even got one, but Matt already knew hed be using one on [Cracked Phantom Armor], and one on [Regeneration], leaving only one more for him to figure out just what he would do with it That would be a tough decision.


    Is there a form to request more Tier 38 orbs as well? Aster piped up, Like there are for the 14 and 26?


    Teeechniiicaaallyyy yeeeees. the lieutenant carefully teased out, But its more of a really involved application, than a form to fill out. You need to exin what you want to use it on and what you hope to gain from it, and convince a bunch of the grumpy guys upstairs of all that, and then that gets put on a waiting list, and then you need to wait for a new orb toe in, so that can take a few decades to centuries, depending on how many show up.


    Really? So long? Even though were Ascenders?


    Its <em>because</em> of that, Ascender Scoop, Darrow stepped in. Rank-and-file have to pay a fairly substantial number of merits to simply have the chance to submit an application for a Tier 38 orb, and even when epted, they usually wait a few thousand years before they finally get one.


    The lieutenant nodded like a chicken pecking the ground. Its a bit tricky because yeah, you do get the three right away, but were so far into our reserves, its a wonder youre getting that many. Then again, its not like youll be shoved to the very back of the line for the rest of it, so likeeee... The lieutenant paused. Mmmh, well I suppose you <em>are</em> put to the back of the line, but its pretty much the ultra-super-duper-express line, so does it really count?


    Oh, that chastened Aster somewhat, but Matt could tell she was thinking about just what shed use her precious few orbs on.


    Anyway! Happier subjects! she sounded almost a bit desperate to not be denying them something. Lots of skill shards! The Empire has a <em>really</em>prehensive catalog of every skill that weve ever encountered, and you can ess the entire catalog on your AI or have a purpose built screen in some meditation rooms on the second floor. The entire dataset is well, pretty massive. So massive, youll probably need a [Library] to keep from overloading your AIs if you are crazy enough to try and download the entire thing. But, there are some premade download dumps of the skills your Management team said youd be most likely to want. That <em>does</em> include cracked skills that the Army has, at least ones that havent been imed, by the way.


    Uh, where was I?


    Skill catalogs? Matt supplied, trying not to smile.


    Right! Sorry. Its been a big day. Um. Um. Right! So, once you find a skill that you think you might want, you can request it. Anything non-cracked up to Tier 32. For Tier 38 and cracked skills, you just need to submit a note exining why you think that particr skill, or crack, particrly suits you. Then, you can each get up to four Tier 44 skills, and two reservations. Oh, a reservation is a request for a skill we dont actually <em>have</em> any of at the moment. You three are Priority A, so generally speaking youd be the first to get a requested skill, and theres just a couple of small forms to fill out for a reservation...


    Theres a lot more paperwork involved in the whole open ess to the Emperors vault thing than I expected, Matt chuckled, a bit weakly. Still, the lieutenant shrank back like he personally med her.


    Theres paperwork involved in everything, Darrow simply responded. But believe me, there is an incredible amount of paperwork you <em>arent</em> seeing with this. A century ago, I would have had to sell both legs for the ability to <em>request</em> a Tier 38 or 44 skill when I was a general troopmander. Theyre basically just asking for the bare minimum needed to prove that our really rare treasures actually went to an Ascender.


    Yeah, the lieutenant squeaked out, That.


    What about new weapons, though? You mentioned they werent made yet, how does that work? Liz probed, coaxing a bit more confidence out of the lieutenant.


    Oh yeah. I did get a bit distracted there, didnt I? So, over the next little while well have you meet with a few members of Groups Branch and Firmament. They uh, handle things like additional training and consultation and the actual making of your permanent gear, respectively. Um, and Scroll. We take care of actually coordinating the stuff and things needed to get you your stuff! Anyway, theyll talk with you about some of your needs and desires of what you want out of your official regalia, point you to a few options for crafters, steer you away from anything impossible, and then well all coordinate the crafters needed to deck you out with everything. Some of that will probably involve leaving the rift as well. Weve got a lot of stuff in here, but uh, its <em>mostly</em> focused on keeping Fort Lightfoot actually running, <em>not</em> equipping Ascenders. That will also discuss stuff like your growth items, which of them you n on keeping in rotation and need to be Tiered up, and which uh, might be better reced with something custom-made. That will all start tomorrow, though.


    Keep in mind, this is just in the military context, getting you equipped to be proper Ascenders. Youll also get some rewards for actuallypleting the Path, but thats something that youll need to discuss with King Rusty himself. Were not involved with that.


    Her eyes flicked back and forth as if she was reading something. Yep! That is <em>not</em> my job.


    There was a bit more after that, but it was mostly signing off on a bunch of misceneous papers, and nothing nearly so interesting as their new rings or the promise of more loot. They took a quick detour to a library attached to a massive smithy, where a blonde woman wielding a ymore identified herself as the head librarian, and helped them attune their new rings to their Domains. Attuned items were fairlymon in the upper levels of crafting, both for the fact they ensured exclusive ess to their functions, as well as the additional integration and power that could be derived from the usually custom-made gear. Hed never used one before, but he suspected that attunements usually took a lot longer than an hour to set up.


    Matt felt giddy as the four of them walked over to another section of the base. The assortment of random houses they passed told him they were close even as they made their way into a fairly grand building.


    A massive ss-walled circr foyer split into several hallways blocked off by rtively in doors, and a circr design in the floor slowly transitioned into a magic circle at the center. The entire floor was <em>bustling</em> with people pouring into and out of the hallways, but they still gave way to the four of them. They did attract quite a few stares, but nobody actually approached them.


    Darrow led them to the center of the room and onto the magic circle, and a swirl of magic closed around them, lifting them up into the ceiling and out of the crowds below. Right as they were about to collide with the stone above them, it simply gave way, folding into itself and letting them out into an advanced meeting room.


    The far side was covered in massive, high-detail screens covered in several maps, diagrams, and numbers that Matt couldnt understand. The center was an impressivelyrge table projecting an illusion of <em>them</em>, Matt realized with a start. It was a recording of their fight with Soddus and Girang, and Matt winced at the reminder of how much hed shown in that fight.


    Well, it wouldnt matter soon enough, at least.


    Around the table were nine others, loudly chatting about the recording, but quickly quieted down as they noticed Matts group having entered the room. He tore his attention away from the recording and instead scanned the new people


    First there was Light and Shadow, of course. Shadow was wearing a deep purple cloak, her face obscured in its shadow, and lounging across her chair with a leg tossed up on one of the armrests and leaning against the backrest, but not in a way that should have worked with normal geometry. It was twisted off to the side and reclined in a way that Matt didnt let himself get distracted by.


    Light looked every bit the part of his statue, with a piercing gaze scrutinizing them that carried a depth to it which Matt couldnt easily identify. It carried with it a distinct feeling of judgment, of being assessed and found wanting. On the table in front of him was a thick, leather-bound book radiating power, and it closed itself with a <em>clop</em> as Matt watched.


    Next to him was a dark-haired man with an utterly <em>beaming</em> smile on his scarred face. His eyes were literally a glowing gold, a smile that Matt would have called <em>too</em> wide on anyone else, reaching nearly to the inanimate tattoo of a ck me right below his ear, and his spirit radiated utter glee. But despite the mans obvious and nearly contagious excitement, he made no move to greet them besides a small wave. He was in a fairly borate leather outfit, a light tan in color with a few red highlights and a pair of in golden bracelets tight against his wrists.


    Two women, leaning towards one another and chatting over their AIs, were the next along the table, one with long, blond hair kept back by a bandanna, and the other with mid-length violet hair in a ponytail. Both had heavily oil or grease-stained hands, but the blonde was wearing a fusion between a smith and enchanters outfit. A heavy apronden with pockets, no less than three of which had different kinds of gloves hanging out of them, over a fairly in blue robe that, unlike her hands and apron, was utterly <em>spotless</em>. The other woman was dressed in something more akin to a flight suit emzoned with two nested semicircles meeting on the left where a nametag might normally go. Matt could catch a glimpse of a tattoo on the base of her neck, the very tip of a feather, but nothing else.


    A golden-haired man who reminded Matt a bit of himself was next up. He was powerfully built, wearing a gold-trimmed white shirt and with a sapphire-blue torc resting at the base of his throat. One hand was encased in a silver mesh fingerless glove, with the other drawn into a respectful wave.


    Next to him was a tall woman with brilliant green eyes and auburn hair pulled back into a braid, dressed in nice, embroidered clothing simr to that of the man on her left. She had her hands steepled on the table in front of her, and was assessing them in a manner simr to Light, but <em>far</em> less severe. Matt didnt spend too long looking at her, though, because the final two were


    Eric? <em>Dena?</em> he blurted out incredulously, What are you guys doing here?


    The pair burst outughing. While hed already been able to see them and receive congrattions from them at the reception following their ceremony, they hadnt said <em>anything</em> about the fact theyd be seeing him so soon.


    He didnt get the chance to say much more, as Darrows presence filled the room, cutting off any lingering conversation before it could blossom.


    Ascenders Torch, Quill, and Scoop. This is Team Zero, your military assignment for this war. Present are Ascenders Shadow and Light, Graduate Torment, Prima Ace Drifter, Elite Technician Origami, Graduates Bulwark and Bolt, and Elite Recruits Stick and Stone, he went around the table. Today, I hope that we may be able to gain some familiarity with one another and begin figuring out some initialpatibility in regards to Talents and Domains. Now, while it may not be something youre familiar with, I would like it if youd be willing to share your Talents and Domain with the rest of the Team. At the level we operate at, having detailed information about what your teammates are or are not capable of can be the difference between life and death.


    Matt shared a nce with Liz and Aster and shrugged, Sure.


    I do ask you to- wait, sure? Darrow froze for a moment, Ascenders will never cease to surprise me.


    I mean, we were kind of expecting to anyway. Here, let me-.


    Shadow cut him off, leaping up from her chair- which returned to its normal state- and onto the table. No, stop, stop, stop! No spoilers!


    Matt could hear General Darrows teeth grinding even as he said. Ascender Shadow, this isnt the time for


    Shadow snorted. Fuck yeah it is. Let''s fight!


    Asc


    Shut up Darrow. Weve got exactly <em>one</em> chance at this, and I am <em>not</em> going to learn what those three can aplish by reading a stupid <em>AI message</em>. Nah. Were doing this properly.


    Matt expected General Darrow to harshly reprimand Shadow for the insubordination, but he just shook his head and took a step back, giving tacit agreement to their potential fight.


    Ascenders <em>were</em> apparently above some rules.


    That said, he was interested in fighting Light and Shadow. He had grown up with their legends while he started on The Path. Watched their movies alongside Duke Waters as they made a name for themselves.


    He had also never really been able to match up with peers without hiding part of his abilities.


    The Emperor had already made it clear that Team Zero was to be trusted, and everyone involved was vetted and watched any time they left the rift, if they were allowed to do so at all.


    Allie, Light sighed, exasperation tinging his entire being, they probably dont even know their new Tal-


    Shadow shushed him with a wave of her hand. We just wont use ours either, to make it fair. Or our new gear.


    Aster jumped forward and agreed for them. Fuck yeah then, let''s do it!


    Aster had always been the worst of them at maintaining military decorum.


    Shadow stuck out her hand to shake. Agreed.


    Matt thought the handshake was a normal agreement, but as soon as Aster touched her palm, the room vanished and left them <em>elsewhere</em>.

 Chapter 280

    Chapter 280


    Zack was wholly unsurprised that Allie challenged the new Ascenders to a fight. He probably would have done it himself, though he would have at least waited a <em>little</em> longer, and been a bit more polite about it. First impressions, and all that. But at least this way, he <em>would</em> get to fight them right away, thanks to his partners proclivities.


    It was oft annoying, but useful on asion.


    The moment Allie teleported the room to the canyon they used for sparring he was already flying backward to dodge the falling table, even as the rest of Team Zero flew backwards to clear the area.


    Perfect.


    He had been waiting years to find out exactly what precisely Quill could do, and the reveal that he was Matthew Moore, one of the first candidates theyd eliminated, was a shock that didnt help anything. Zack had investigated Matthew at his Tier 10 tournament and found him to be a fairly standard fighter, no more than the normal number of tricks up his sleeves. It was likely that his mana Concept had more depth and power than had been shown, which would go some ways towards exining Quills feats, but reviewing his past assessments, it still didnt quite line up.


    There had to be something more there, and he was assuredly going to get a glimpse in a few moments.


    Allie flickered, returning with a very particr chest that <em>used</em> to be at the very bottom of a carefully-organized stack. A few secondster, he was out of the clothes he was wearing and inside a surprisingly nostalgic robe. It was heavier than he remembered, having since grown ustomed to wearing same-Tier armor, but the spiritual weight the enchantments carried felt like the embrace of an old friend.


    He hadnt worn these clothes in eighty years, longer in subjective time, but in many ways it felt like just yesterday. It was odd to feel sentimental for a suit of armor scavenged from a rift and that needed recing every half-dozen delves, but there was a certain level of simplicity and satisfaction inherent to the action. And, it would be nice to not fight teams specifically outfitted and trained to shut down all his favorite tricks.


    A couple of back-and-forth pings had established general ground rules for the spar, and by andrge theyd hold back on any trulyst-resort tactics, full Willpower exhaustion, and any generally grevious wounds. They werent trying to <em>kill</em> one another, just feel each other out in the way only Ascenders could appreciate.


    Quill, Torch, and Scoop were already outfitted, having quickly swapped to what would have been their newest armor. Allie was off convincing Bulwark to oversee them, and while they waited, he recalibrated what he could use for this spar, and coordinated with Allie to ensure that they would be on as even a footing as they could be. Comparatively little in the way of Intent usage, scaled-back skill potency, avoiding use of their higher-tier skills when possible, and certainly no usage of their Power Talents. Meanwhile, the other three werepletely unrestricted. It was impossible to truly return to where theyd been nearly half their life ago, when adjusting for time dtion, but they could at least attempt to be fair. While it went unspoken, Zack knew that he and Allie alike would be taking it a <em>bit</em> easy on the neers. It wouldnt do to end the fight before they properly got their measure.


    Zack took a moment to inspect Torch and noted that she was using the shield and spear that she used as Torch, but her armor, while outwardly simr, was far darker and infused with blood mana.


    So the blood magic was her mainbat power. He would potentially need to throw out a number of strategies he had thought of to counter the pyromancer, but hopefully there was something salvageable from them. Blood was an exceedingly umon element to fight with, so there wasnt much in the way of literature he could draw on for reference if she acted as more than an alternative water mage.


    Scoop seemed to fight in line with her bloodline, judging by her armor and frozen staff, which limited the scope of what new tricks she might pull out. A number of news stations had attempted to call her out as a false Ascender, but history was not kind to those who doubted the legitimacy of the mantle. No leader in the past hundred thousand years had allowed a chatan to finish The Path and represent their Great Power as an Ascender; such deceptions neversted long and universally disgraced all involved beyond measure.


    The moment General Darrow was outside of the canyon, the match began.


    In less time than it would take most people to even use a skill, Allie teleported mere inches away from all three of their opponents, her daggers shing in an attempt to eliminate the Ascenders before they could even properly react. The des, empowered with her Talent and Domain, were sharp enough to cut <em>space</em>, and anything vulnerable to physical trauma fell before their might.


    Her attack cleaved through Torch, bounced off a set of light blue mana armor Quill had summoned, and was blocked by a [Bulwark] the instant before it would have cleaved Scoop in half and she was back at his side before the three had finished reacting.


    Had he transferred the durability of his Talent armor to his defensive spells, perhaps? It was difficult to tell how Quill had managed to have such powerful defensive tools, but Allie would certainly tear through them with a few more strikes, even if her probing attack hadnt finished the fight. Still, at least theyd gotten Torch Ah, no. The Ascender flickered red for a moment, turning into blood and fixing the infinitely thin cut that Allie had removed her head with.


    Then Torch, Quill, and Scoop began to re with magic as they activated their skills and charged.


    Zack cast a pair of spells meant to enhance Allies daggers with decay and her body with lightning, his partner appearing just as she was needed for the buffs to actually connect. The next instant, she was gone, and with a sweep of his staff Zack unleashed two dozen [Mana Bolt]s, each a unique aspect to test for weaknesses in their defenses. As they approached the trio, Zack felt a fairly insistent force trying to dispel them and tear his attack apart, but he easily pushed past the effect. Quill cast a [Bulwark] to block the assault, but Zack responded with a force [Laser st] to break the shield before it could block the rest of his attacks.


    His own spell made a hole through the opposing shield justrge enough for his first volley to pass through, before Quill reinforced his shield and the damage closed. The volley sshed without much effect against the blue armor, and from his mana sight, he judged that the sand attack had done marginally more damage than the other spells. None had done much, though. As he swept himself up on a column of air, Zack started summoning clouds of sand to start harassing the opposing team.


    Allie was busy jumping between the three of them, forcing them to focus on her and not him. Even then, her attacks werent especially firm. After her initial attack, she was simply probing their defenses, wearing them down a bit, rather than trying to finish them off. This was a friendly spar, after all.


    Quill was fending her off with excellent sword-y, while Torch and Scoop had each summoned assistance- a clone made of blood from Torch, and a vaguely bipedal mass of ice for Scoop- to keep Allie on the defensive as well.


    Zack unleashed his attacks, sandsting the trio, and Allie made her proper move, teleporting behind Quill and stabbing him in the neck.


    Imusibly, she <em>missed</em>. Zack wasnt entirely sure how that was possible, but she was blocked from an immediate follow-up strike by a sword warding off her probing attacks. He must have had a fairly firm spatial lock in his immediate surroundings, or else Allie would have stabbed the man no matter the distance he was buying for himself.


    Quill teleported, and Allie followed immediately behind, a single attack continued uninterrupted from Quills attempted escape. The man brought up a forearm to block the strike, but Allie twisted space to still stab Quill directly in the gut.


    This time, her attack broke through, but barely. She was immediately forced back by abination of raw repulsive force and an incrediblyrge st of lightning. Zack blunted a lot of the attack with his ongoing sandstorm, the raw power of the assault turning branching streams of sand into slightly muddy ss. He took those shards and exploded them back at Quill but the other Ascender didnt even seem to notice the shrapnel.


    Allie reappeared right in front of Scoop, only lightly singed by Zacks estimation. Her des shed down, but a powerful, icy wind engulfed the area around Scoop, turning Zacks sandstorm into a blizzard. He reasserted control a momentter, but frowned as Scoop kept contesting him. She must have been expending <em>serious</em> amounts of mana for that.


    Hed dealt with worse, and soon the blizzard was a sandstorm once again. Still, it foiled Allies attack long enough for Torch and her clone to nk his partner. Allie teleported behind the real Torch, but a coiling tendril of blood manifested from thin air and tried to wrap itself around her arm, forcing her to teleport a few inches to the right and continue her attack.


    Suddenly, Quill and Torch had swapped ces, but Allie once again followed the teleport andnded a strike on Torch, cutting deep into her shoulder. A geyser of bloodnced out, nearly spraying Allie in the face, but she bent space to make it miss. Then it looped back around, spreading into a nket that Allie was forced to teleport to dodge.


    The blood simply returned to Torchs shoulder and sealed up the wound on its way in. Zack couldnt tell if there had been any lingering damage, as even the decay effect, strong enough to rot Tier 27 monsters to dust in moments, didnt seem to have taken hold. Zack had taken advantage of the momentary weakness to force sand through the gaps in Torchs armor and was currently turning them into miniature whirlwinds, trying to sandst Torchs eyes into paste, but the moment he first tried the helmet had filled with blood, and he refocused his efforts to re-open the wound Allie had inflicted but they were closed before he could do any real damage.


    Allie had returned to harry Scoop once more, but had been stymied by the Ascender riding around inside her summoned elemental, and Quills continual attacks. Though Zack rendered the ice elemental into rubble with just a few moments of focused sand-sting, that didnt do much to help his partner. Even attempting to cut open a huge swath of space had been <em>parried</em> by Quill, a move that stumped both of them. Torchs clone wasnt making things any easier, disying enoughbat prowess to keep Shadow from staying still for even a second with its reckless charges.


    Over to his side, the real Torch had pulled her way out of his sandstorm and was quickly closing in on him. Hundreds, even thousands of blood pellets, like a [Water Bullet] but harder than steel, were already pelting him which forced him to drop his attacks and put up defenses. Just as she was just about to reach him, Zack was suddenly elsewhere, as Allie teleported him to the opposite side of his stormpared to where he had been.


    Quill took advantage of Allies momentary distraction, and struck at her with his sword. Two copies of said sword, each made of neutral mana, also closed in on his partner, as did a wicked [Ice Spike] and a spear thrust from Torchs clone. She gracefully backflipped, passing through the space which didnt exist between all the attacks.


    Zack formed a rope of sand and sent it at Quill, trying to tie the man down. As it connected, Quills armor, followed almost immediately by his mana swords, transformed into a hardened crystal, and a st of wind and repulsion pushed the sand away forcefully enough that Zack nearly lost control of it.


    Torch re-entered the fight with Allie, stepping in for Quill as the man suddenly lost all weight, and was sent tumbling through the sandstorm. Then, he usurped the sand around him and began riding the wind. His sword shifted subtly, and he thrust it under himself like it was a flying sword. Zack didnt even have time to react as the unstoppable force was suddenly within feet of him.


    Allie was forced to abandon her engagement with Torch and Scoop to pull Zack out of the line of fire, but he left a parting gift for Quill in the form of a targeted joint dispel and mana bomb, each right in Quills path. Quill narrowly dodged the trigger by ducking out of the way, but Zack activated it manually, and sent the other Ascender tumbling. Unfortunately, it looked like the armor he was wearing hadnt so much as <em>flickered</em>, but hopefully he hade out on top in the mana exchange.


    All <em>three</em> were burning mana at a truly prodigious rate. He knew that Quill, or rather Matthew, rather publicly had a Concept that boosted his own mana regeneration and that of those around him, but he hadnt expected it to be so <em>strong</em>. Their Minka run had ended with Mind Over Matter, so he could no doubt keep up the effect nigh-infinitely, but that didnt exin just <em>how</em> the effect was so powerful.


    A sh of red caught the corner of his eye. Blood poured out from Quills form, a veritable waterfall of the substance cascading into the valley. Torch and her clone waited at the bottom, directing the veritable tidal wave of blood into a cohesive form and sending at him and Allie. The world turned red as thebined attack barreled down on them, and Zacks panic spiked.


    Fuelled by the sudden shock, Zack sted past Torchs control over the spell, disrupting it far more easily than her clone had been, and-


    And <em>very nearly</em> used his Tier 25 Talent to turn it into an illusion. He mentally cursed Allie for the restriction that only really affected him, and <em>very lightly</em> called upon his Intent to snuff out the entire working. It copsed in on itself, sshing into a surprisinglyrge drop of liquid mana. Zack dismissed his Anchor, and then there was no sign of the massive attack.


    All three of Torch, Quill, and Scoop froze for a split second in surprise, so quickly most people wouldnt even notice it, but Zack punished it mercilessly as he whipped his sandstorm back into high gear. des of sand raked across Scoop, forcing the mage to raise a potent barrier of wind to deflect it.


    Before the Ascender could raise a barrier more solid than just air, Allie teleported in next to Scoop, but the fox burst into a cloud of snow and flew back towards Quill for cover. Zack stilled the air and called up a hail of fire, forcing Scoop out of the elemental form in a scramble.


    She attempted to teleport away, but Allie was already on her, and Zack countered her next half-dozen skills as she tried to save herself. Then Allies attacksnded, scoring lines across her back that bubbled with caustic mana. Torch moved in mere momentster, wrestling with Zacks spell with sublime control, but to no avail. She made an additional clone and sent it towards Zack, while the first charged in and warded off Allies follow-up attacks against Scoop. After Allie dodged the first attack, the spear broke into a dozen questing tendrils of blood and forced Allie to teleport out.


    As the new Torch clone approached him, Zack was simply moved to the opposite end of the battlefield without so much as a flicker, maintaining his minor sandstorm with ease.


    It was then that Quill made his move. Summoning an orb of total darkness to hand, Zack felt reality sharpen and the local gravity increased <em>substantially</em>, disrupting his flight and attack spells alike. As he stumbled in the air, both Quill and Torchunched themselves at him, and Scoop fired a glittering ray of ice that he was able to fairly easily counter, fizzling it into a bit of chilled mist.


    Allie appeared in front of him, intercepting each of Quill and Torchs main attacks with a dagger each, but the ribbons of blood and two additional swords went <em>unblocked</em>, incredibly.


    Well, he could take care of that.


    But to do so he needed to release his lingering control over the sandstorms, regretfully releasing Scoop from thest of the battering sands. In exchange, he usurped one of the crystalline swords and used it to block the other, then summoned an aura of lightning tosh out at the encroaching tendrils of blood.


    The lightning conducted down the tendrils, only to be negated as the blood turned into scarlet mes which he lost control of. <em>That</em> was negated with a mix of earth and ice mana, and he counterattacked with a sun [Laser st], covering for a barrage of crystal, ice, and metal [Shard Volley]. The blood warrior simply tanked most of the attack with her shield, cutting the solitary remaining ice shard in half with a flicking tendril of blood and sending it spinning into the distance.


    He also unleashed another scouring st of sand at Quill, beginning to abrade at his armor until Scoop entered the contest with an attempted dispelling. She was partially sessful, but Zack maintained enough control over his spells, and usurped a small measure of her own, to change the scorching heat of the initial attack into a frigid assault partially fueled by Scoop herself.


    He didnt escape wholly unscathed, his own armor being rimed with frost. With a flex of his skills and Intent, he shed the clinging ice at an unfortunately high cost of mana before Scoop could grab into it and punish him for his maneuver. It wasnt enough to fully save him either, as Quill and Torch relentlessly pursued his moment of weakness. Allie intercepted all of Quills attacks, the man having re-summoned the sword hed usurped, and Zack dispelled the spells empowering Torchs attacks.


    He also attempted to dispel the clone attacking him, but it was <em>weirdly</em> resistant to his attempt. The struggle for control still opened up enough room for Allies cloak to fly from her shoulders and tie the clone up, leaving only the real spear to nigh-effortlessly pierce through all of hisyered defenses and score a deep wound in his torso. Simultaneously, another gash opened on his leg, though Zack couldnt identify what had caused it.


    Inside of him, his blood began to <em>roil</em> as a foreign force sought to im it, but he flushed out the attempt with a st of dispelling healing mana. Space fractured around him as Allie punched through the spatial locks they were under, and then they were elsewhere. Instantly, the three enemy Ascenders began to chase them down, but Allie had moved them far enough that they still had a few moments to breathe. Honestly, it was impressive they knew so quickly just what way theyd went.


    Mental effect on Scoops ice, seems less threatening than it is. Separate Quill from the others, his Concept has to be whats keeping them going. Once we take one of them out the others will fall quickly, Zack said as he patched up his wounds, preventing them from worsening until the dedicated healers could see to them. A punctured gut and severed femoral artery. He had dealt with worse this <em>week</em>.


    The clone is sturdy, more than it has any right to be. Scoop has more summons up her sleeves, its not just the basic ice one, or from a normal skill. Dont get caught by her slows, theyre a <em>tad</em> chilly. As she spoke, the violet cloak that entangled Torchs clone dematerialized and then reappeared around Allies shoulders, no worse for wear. Hey, this is fun, right? So much better than just telling each other what we can do.


    As he looked to their opponents, Scoop had reverted to her fox form, staff held in her mouth, tiara stopped from falling off by one ear, and sporting a number of cuts along her nks that Torch patched up with blood magic-based healing. They each had some form of crystalline armor ability, Torch with golden crystals that radiated blood mana, Scoop having frozen her fur into what looked like ative ice armor, and Quill used Now that he had a chance to study it, it wasnt just summoned crystals from crystal magic, but <em>mana</em> crystals, not that it made any sense. His floating swords registered the same.


    <em>Did they coordinate their defensive abilities for aesthetic purposes?</em>


    I wouldnt have it any other way. Zack smiled as he prepared another spell.


    They needed to take out one of the trio at least, and between Quills general nature as a frontliner and Torchs status as a phoenix, theyd be the hardest to eliminate. Granted, their ground rules had included Torch tapping out if she would otherwise trigger a resurrection, but it would be foolish to assume that was all shed have as a healing ability.


    Allie swept through, separating the trio and pulling Torch and Quill off to the side and into a functionally-inescapable spatial dome, leaving Scoop for Zack to focus on.


    He withdrew Codex, and after a moment ofmuning with his growth spellbook, settled on a n of attack. He fired threeva-aspected [Cutting Halo]s, dedicating the rings of molten stone to ruthlessly hunting down Scoop. Just as the attacks reached her, she skillfully dispelled the magic sustaining the rings with [Dispelling Wind], then froze them solid with a surge of frost.


    Zack immediately sent a pulse of earth magic at the now obsidian rings, and violently shattered them before they could hit the ground. Scoop shielded herself, naturally, but even as Allie was fending off two Ascenders and two clones, she used her spatial control to turn the expanding cloud of shrapnel back on itself and curve around Scoops shield, shredding through much of her armor and puncturing her skin and muscle. Scoop stayed upright and summoned a pair of elementals to sweep her away, but Zack usurped the spell from her and redoubled his efforts. Sound rattled her bones, shards of sscerated her face and limbs before melting and encasing her in a crystalline cocoon, and lightning left her limbs spasming.


    She fought back, and Zack very nearly lost control over the spells he was using to keep her immobilized, but he held firm. He kept pushing inwards, looking to sever her limbs, but she managed to literally freeze him out. Still, a momentter, he received a ping that she was too spent to continue.


    Zack released his hold, and Scoop dropped to the ground. She shattered the ss encasing her, then limped off to the sidelines. There, Bulwark was already working on patching her together as she watched the rest of her team face off against Allie.


    His partner was still doing an admirable job keeping Quill and Torch contained, but Zack could tell that she was stretching herself to do so. Still, she could hold them long enough for him to charge up something <em>really</em> impressive. A dark mass grew before him, empowering a potent yet constrained stormcloud with the spare mana left in his growth staff. Two hundred thousand mana ready to destroy anything it encountered. Once it was ready he unleashed it, the cloud nearly as solid as stone without even a flicker of lightning to indicate its true nature.


    Allie teleported back next to Zack, grinning madly even as she bled from a dozen wounds, just as Zacks stormcloud reached Quill and Torch. Allie had done her job and prevented them from escaping, stopping any attempts at mounting a defense.


    Quill leaped in front of the storm-orb, but instead of having his armor sted off and knocking him out of the fight altogether, his blue crystalline armor turned ck for the briefest of moments. Quill extended a hand, and a beam of ck nothingness shot out and intercepted the stormcloud, cutting through it andncing towards Zack.


    With a resounding boom, the jet ck beam cut through the roiling storm, detonating the spell structure and causing the entire thing to erupt in a massive explosion of lightning, deafening thunder, and winds strong enough to strip a mortal to the bone. Curiously, the beam turned to a more normal blue-white six feet away from Quill.


    The first bolt of lightning struck against Quills pitch-ck armor without so much as a ripple, but the armor returned to its white-blue crystalline form in time for the second, third, and a dozen other forms of attack to crack and break away the crystalline armor.


    <em>Finally</em>.


    The armor reformed nearly as quickly as it was breaking, but Allie was merciless in punishing the few gaps it did open up. Zack directed the iling explosion as best as he could, trying to coordinate lightning, thunder, and winds to strike at weakened points for his partner to exploit. It was challenging, as Quills counterattack had dispersed most of the attack, but he still made it work, and Quill took enough direct hits from Allie that he was surprised the man hadnt tapped out.


    But instead, he simply maintained that inexorable, overwhelming beam of mana. Codex had spun up a multiyered shield, but it was breaking under the concerted assault. Zack tried to usurp the spell, but it slipped between his metaphorical fingers faster than he could properly grip it.


    One shield fell, then two, and three, and finally, Zack returned Codex to his spirit before they might get hurt. Instead, Zack reached out with his considerable mana control and a trickle of his Intent to <em>pull</em> on the structure of this spell, and take it for himself.


    He formed a small force field around his staff to disperse the beam, but the cost even for this small deflection was draining him. Fortunately, his staff was absorbing the waste mana of the spell at a tremendous rate, but not enough to make up for his own expenditure.


    <em>Waste Not</em>.


    <em>Want Not</em>.


    His Domain was all about efficiency, and he knew he could oust any mage in a battle of control and attrition, let alone a melee fighter.


    Instead of fighting for control over the wasteful spell, he simply created a weak point in the spell and let the mana ribbon and feed his shield. It still did tremendous damage, but it was well within his control limits to deflect and block. The longer he battled the spell, the more he realized how <em>much</em> more of it there was, how much mana was being spent on this single ability. It was sloppy, too. The mana was controlled <em>well enough</em> considering how much of it there was, but it was the kind of control that Zack would have expected to see from an experienced delver, not a veteran soldier.


    Not from an Ascender.


    It didnt make <em>sense</em>.


    Just as he felt he was about to burn out his mana channels to keep up with the battle, he messaged Allie to help him, and instantly, a dozen knives lodged into Quills armor, forcing him to end the struggle. Only a scant few had managed to actually strike flesh, but it was enough of a threat that he couldnt afford to stand there and attempt to overpower Zack.


    Her attacks of opportunity still left Allie open to counterattacks from Torch, who was ferociously attacking with four clones. His partner had done an excellent job avoiding what was, by all ounts, five exceptionally good spear-fighters working in perfect harmony, but even she hadnt gone unscathed. She was a lot better off than Torch, though. Allie was perhaps the best dagger-wielder in the Empire, even before hermand over space was utilized, and shed torn the golden crystal armor to shreds, even cutting off several pieces of armor underneath. Torch wasnt bleeding despite several gashes on her body, and while her clones were made of blood, theirck of armor meant they had taken far more attacks, and bands of decay were spreading across them like ink in a ss of water.


    Allie dodged the first spear, teleported around the second, flipped over the third, sliced at Quill from ten feet away to bait out the fourth, andnded an actual attack that broke through the blue crystal armor as the fifth attack grazed her side.


    Zack was impressed. Normally, when someone tried to stab Allie in the head, they missed by a few feet. It didnt make it past Allies armor, but it did force his partner to turn her attention back to the squad of Torch instead of pressuring Quill.


    Quill, for his part, froze in ce as Allies [Paralyzing Strike] took hold, and his movements were somewhat jerky. Despite that he managed to start moving sooner than Zack expected and he knew they needed to step it up.


    Feeling ragged but determined to win, Zack infused his steps with lightning to rush toward Quill, with a n in mind to end this fight for good. He withdrew Codex and called to hand a carefully-constructed [Piercing Shot] infused [Mana sh] formed from light, sma, and metal. Hed used thebo often in the past to pierce even the most potent of armors, and this would be no different. He empowered it further with his staff, its mana reserves, and even a non-trivial amount of his own willpower. Quill attempted to dodge, but the spell was not so easily avoided. It connected, and sliced through the crystalline armor, tore a gouge into the armor beneath, and nearly severed Quills leg at the thigh.


    Quill grunted in pain, but that wasnt Zacks goal. With his armor down, and bare flesh exposed, Zack pulled out his favorite trick he had found while on The Path.


    [Inspect Reserves] was a minor divination spell, used to analyze the specific structure and characteristics of spells that reserved mana. Few people used it.


    When Zack used his Talent to aspect the spell to <em>mist</em> mana, it did rather the opposite: any active reserved spell would cause the reserved mana to dissipate in the spirit, often causing an opposing fighter to lose more than half their mana in an instant. Usedter into a fight, it was oftentimes an instant win. Given the mana Quill had expended, he could not possibly have much mana left, and could not regenerate more through his Concept in time for it to matter.


    No one could fight without mana, not at this level.


    Using a paltry three hundred and twenty-six mana, a small white ball shot out from Zacks hand and hit Quill in the exposed thigh, doing visually nothing, but aplishing everything.


    Retrieving his rapier from his ring, Zack ran up to stab Quill in the skull. Clean, quick, and there was no way for him to defend against the attack, not with the disparity in what spells they had boosting them.


    Quill barely even seemed to notice.


    Just before Zacks de hit Quills skull to end the fight, his left hand came up with impossible speed to <em>grab</em> Zacks de, even as the armor reappeared far too quickly. Zack tried to pull his de away, but the man was too strong. Zack wasnt the strongest person around by any means, usually just utilizing [Arcane Maniption] to fake it, but Quill was holding onto the Tier 27 de Zack hadpleted the Path of Ascension with, in his bare hand without it leaving so much as a mark.


    Still holding on to Zacks rapier, Quill lifted his own sword and swung it at Zacks neck, faster than he could possibly dodge. It was only thanks to Allie warping space to her limit that allowed Zack to drop his de and escape from the clutches of Quill.


    Codex, even in his spirit, was throwing out dozens of improbable theorems for how Quill managed to rebuild his armor so quickly, but he didnt have time to pay attention. Allie teleported him out of the melee where Torch was ready to run him through from behind and they regrouped.


    Or no, that was the clone. It only had a spear and shield. It had be proper flesh at some point, instead of a mass of blood, but he couldnt tell the difference between it and the original.


    Well fuck me sideways and upside down. Thatbo always works. Did you fuck it up?


    Zack didnt dignify her surely rhetorical questioning of his abilities, but instead shared what he had learned.


    He''s incredibly strong. Stronger than a pure fighter should be. Dont risk taking one of his attacks head on.


    Well the blood babe isnt any easier. I did my dagger trick to the head but shes still going. Barely even slowed down.


    Zack wanted to frown, but before he could, he felt a massive spell engulfing their surroundings.


    Allie reacted the moment he flinched and teleported them miles into the air above the valley.


    A valley that was no longer there.


    The entire mile-long valley had mmed itself shut like the jaws of an earth elemental.


    The disy of raw <em>power</em> involved in reshaping andscape ten Tiers above them so quickly was mind-boggling, but before he could properly adjust, he felt the atmosphere around them fall under Quills control as well. The pressure began to rise, and millions of air des began to form in an area that spanned miles to each side.


    A desperate move, but Zack sensed an opportunity to turn a trump card back on its wielder. It had to be a talisman of some kind for thatrge of a working. Most likely, an attempt to overpower him with raw mana, a move that had failed time and time again.


    He always enjoyed when he could snuff out his opponents hopes and spells in a single move.


    It was just <em>efficient</em>.


    <em>Want Not</em>, he told the world with his Intent, and the world responded, redirecting the spell responsible for the working to him.


    Power flowed through him, and Zack struggled to get it under control. As the total mana rapidly blew past five million he expected the flow to stop but the power <em>kepting</em>, and a struggle turned into a losing battle, then into an uncontainable torrent as the mana blew past what he could control.


    The moment that happened there was a massive <em>pop</em> of mana, and then Zack knew only darkness.

 Chapter 281

    Chapter 281


    Allie tapped her foot impatiently.


    She still didnt entirely get what had happened to take out both Zack <em>and</em> Quill at the same time, but theyd been out for a couple hours now. She knew that theyd both be fine, as the moment the battlefield had been engulfed in the massive not-quite explosion, shed brought both of the men to Kudzu, where theyd been convalescing since.


    She had been able to bond with Lizzie a bit over their surprise that both of their partners had been knocked out by, of all things, <em>mana bacsh.</em> That just didnt happen, especially not to Zack. Shed steadfastly refused to let Lizzie exin anything more about Quills build and just <em>why</em> her partner trying to take control of the other Ascenders spell had ttened both of them.


    That woulde soon enough, during their breakdown, and the anticipation made the reveal all the sweeter.


    Aster was loads of fun though. The fox-girl had been patched up in no time t by the onsite healers, and theyd spent a good amount of timeughing about their respective movies after she removed the cold still lingering in Allie''s bones. But that conversation had died away when Quill woke up, and Allie was once again left alone with her thoughts.


    That was always the worst.


    Maybe she should go get scones? There was one bakery on Celerai run by an illusionist, and he could make anything in his store look like just about anything. She could get Zack erberry scones disguised as banana nut. Or maybe the other way around? Or maybe she could get a scone that looked like a vase of flowers. It was only one teleport away from her waypoint on the, and while the baker was only Tier 22, she could ce her order thene back a few minutester to pick it up.


    Hmmm.


    Zack twitched, and that immediately became the priority. His spirit was stirring as well, and Allie could practically tap out the tune on her knee as, like clockwork, Zack activated each of his internal buffs, scanned his AI, and only then opened his eyes and looked around.


    Allie shrugged, Some big explosion took you and Quill out. Lizzie and I kept going at it for a bit after that, but that elemental form is really hard to stab and she just kept making clones. She couldnt really hit me either, so we eventually decided to call it a draw and came over to wait for you guys to wake up. Quills been awake for a bit now, fucker is tough as two week old shit, and theyre running through Talent intros with the rest of the Team. Theyre waiting for us at HQ, but I made them promise to not reveal <em>their</em> Talents until we rejoin them. So get moving, you lug.


    Zack swung himself out of the bed, and a Kudzu healer came by to give him a quick check-over. It only took a couple moments before her friend was given the all-clear, and as soon as that was delivered, she wrapped them both in her Talent and zapped them back to the meeting room.


    She dropped them both in their respective chairs, only slightly sad that no other teleporters were around to see how awesome she was. Teleporting someone such that theynded in a sitting position was <em>hard</em>, you had to get all the angles just right so that their bodies would naturally adjust to the new position without even realizing that they <em>had</em> adjusted.


    It was generally considered impossible, but that was just half the fun of being an Ascender. Someday, someone with the experience to appreciate how casually she could do her stuff would see her and be bbergasted, but given theck of reaction from Lizzie, Aster, and Quill, it wasnt today.


    Instead they were busy talking to Eric and Dena about nothing in particr, it sounded like. She could appreciate just how weird it was for them, to be at the same Tier and on the same Team as their sponsor. Shed had a simr experience, when she met her sponsor for the first time after being a <em>higher</em> Tier than him.


    Darrow cleared his throat, and the conversation died away. Ascender Light, good to see youve recovered. Have you all sated your curiosity from smacking one another around?


    I am somewhat concerned about what eliminated us both from the fight. I should have dispelled all standing spells, then took control of your working. What did you <em>do </em>to prevent both of those? I clearly have some fairly obvious weakness for you to have exploited them so trivially.


    Quill snorted softly, It wasnt anything I did, you just lost control of the mana.


    Zack narrowed his eyes, Id say its preposterous, but go on.


    Allie almost started beating the table to encourage another fight but refrained. Quill had challenged Zacks ability as a mage which was one of the few things her partner was unwaveringly sure of his skills in.


    Whats the biggest spell youve ever used, or controlled?


    I redirected an attack from a gships main mana cannon once. Three million, five hundred and seventy nine thousand, four hundred fifty two point six eight points of mana, including my own usurpation.


    Morgan let out a low whistle. The sniper had been on the mission in question, Allie remembered, but probably hadnt realized just how much mana had been involved. Three million mana would be half of a Tier 31 magess entire mana pool, implying that Zack could deflect even powerful attacks from soldiers six tiers above him, at least in raw mana, if some mage was foolish enough to throw around half their mana pool in a single spell.


    Lizzie and Aster looked away, hiding their obvious amusement poorly.


    Quill just smiled, Yeah. That would do it. You havent had to deal with spontaneous aspect-cascades, have you?


    Zack frowned, No. In fact I do not know what that is.


    A leaned forward, the mechanics mouth open slightly. Im sorry, <em>what</em>?


    Spontaneous aspect-cascades. When dealing with enough mana, you can have issues where the entire spell wont be able to aspect itself properly, and certainly wont respond properly to externalmands. That can result in primed mana picking up tiny context cues from its surroundings incorrectly and developing a cascading failure where portions of the spell, as the name implies, spontaneously pick up unexpected aspects, tearing the spell apart. If its bad enough, itll even travel back to the power source and blow <em>it</em> up. Normally I can handle it, but whatever you did to my spell made it way, way more sensitive than usual and I couldnt get it back under control before, well... he mimed an explosion with his hands. Lights out.


    Zacks frown deepened, but A cut him off before he could speak, No, no, no, no stop. Let me get this right, not only do you know what SAC even <em>is</em>, did you just say that you have to deal with it when <em>casting</em>? How the hell did you use enough mana for it to even start <em>appearing</em>? How much mana <em>was </em>that?


    Thirty, Quill began, teasing the word out slowly. He was clearly enjoying it, the jerk. Allie was the only one allowed to be annoying.


    Million, he finished, and Zacks face went nk. It was a face she was very familiar with, namely the one he defaulted to whenever panic would be counterproductive, AKA every time anything unexpected happened.


    A let out a low whistle, Joys eyebrows climbed off her face, Sebastians jaw literally dropped, and even Darrows third eye blinked open for a second as it flicked around Quill. Her own expression was likely a mirror to theirs, that was an <em>impressive</em> mana pool. No wonder he was an Ascender, to be able to bust out that kind of mana at the end of what was already a fairly lengthy duel was <em>impressive</em>.


    Per second.


    The words hung in the air for a moment. For a moment, Allie was confused as to who had spoken, then it dawned on her that it was still Quills voice, <em>genuinely</em> finishing his answer this time.


    <em>Thirty million mana per second</em>.


    That was


    Honestly, why not. He was an Ascender, why <em>wouldnt</em> he be able to channel more mana in a single second than a Tier 35 mage would have in their entire <em>mana pool</em>? Why not just make that his actual mana regeneration while they were at it? Why wouldnt an Ascender be able to regenerate thirty million mana each second? She could teleport across the Realm whenever she pleased, why wouldnt her peers be able to generate a hundred and fifty times her entire mana pool with every passing second?


    There. Shed epted it.


    It certainly put her in a better position than Zack, who was clearly stuck in some form of boot-loop, blinking every couple of seconds in synch with a head twitch, his mouth slightly ajar. As whistle had turned into a strained cough, Morgan had let her hands fall to the table and was staring at Quill with a haunted look, and Sebastian was literally wrestling with his surprise. He had a death-grip on a copper-colored rope of energy between two of a dozen or so lidless eyes, and was slowly dragging the demon back inside his spirit. Even poor Codexs pages were ruffling as it tried to process that information.


    Youre not lying, Zack finally spoke, his voice barely audible.


    Well. I did round off a <em>bit</em>. At the time, I was directing 28,128,211 mana per second towards [Air Maniption] when you tried to gain control of it. It was a bit lower than that beforehand. Anyway, this is a perfect time to get back to the Talent talk. And yeah, Ill send mine over. Easiest way to believe it. Just keep in mind, its an actual imperial secret so please dont talk about it too much outside of here.


    Ascender, were all familiar with how to keep secrets, Morgan reassured him, Its why were here.


    Yeah, well


    Quill flicked a finger at them, and Allie read the message she had been sent.


    A simple verified AI Talent readout. One which Allie read thrice, digging into the sub-effects to ensure she properly understood what it did and how it did it.


    <em>Tier 1: Diminishing returns on mana regeneration.</em>


    <em>Tier 3: Maximum mana set to 41,943,040.</em>


    <em>Tier 25: Crystallize mana.</em>


    That was a lot of mana all right. A portion of her was incredulous that her half-hearted guess about how his Talent worked was actually <em>right</em>, and that <em>forty</em> million mana was his throughput per second, but hey, she could deal.


    Now Zack, on the other hand


    She cast a nce over at her friend. While most of the table was mostly nodding along in varying levels of surprise, theyd mostly recovered. Sebastian had even sessfully recaptured his shock and was keeping a very level expression, presumably to reestablish control over his inner demons. But Zack had been thrown back into his shock-analysis loop. It made her think of a faulty AI eternally trying to start up, only to crash again momentster.


    When he wasnt out of his fugue thirty secondster, she looked to Liz, reached out and grabbed Aster, pulling her chair to her side. You broke my mage, so Im taking yours. Returns or exchanges are only allowed on wednesdays at 3 pm.


    The foxughed. It never gets old seeing people''s reactions to Matts Talents.


    Allie couldnt help but agree, even if most of the table had recollected themselves. The one exception, other than Zack himself, was A. Her eyes were quite dted as she stared into the distance, a manic smirk stered on her face as she steepled her fingers.


    Oh yeah, that reminded her of something The Boss had said


    Hey Darrow, the Emp said wed have more funding in a few decadesst time I asked for an invincible dagger. Do you think this is what he meant?


    Darrow nodded and didnt even reprimand her for not using his rank. I would assume so. Some of King Rustysments make more sense with the benefit of hindsight and this revtion.


    Allie nodded but was distracted as Zack finally recovered.


    ***


    Matt would be lying if he said he wasnt smug at the reactions of his Talents revtion.


    Shadow seemed perpetually unimpressed, and hadnt seemed bothered by or hadnt understood the implications of his Talent.


    Her partner though


    Lights reactions had been everything he had ever wanted.


    And frankly, it served the man right.


    Who tried to take control over a spell with that much mana in it? And a channel spell at that. It was madness and foolishness wrapped into one.


    Okay, maybe he was a <em>little</em> bitter at having to deal with spell bacsh again. Previously, even when Luna had seized control of his spells to give him practice with the sensation, hed managed to work his way up to just barely being disrupted at all. Of course, fresh off a Tier-up and corresponding mana doubling, his control was just barely enough to keep his spells together. Then Light had gone and done <em>whatever</em> it was and made the mana incredibly hair-twitchy.


    Spontaneous aspect-cascades, <em>at minimum</em>, didnt start appearing until the million-mana mark, and even then it was usually only when crafting. Directly-cast spells had a much higher bar, with most mages literally never having to deal with them. Concentration, aspected mana pools, control, domains, even simple spiritual presence all helped keep mana under control, and it was only when majorly overreaching that it really became an issue. Normally, it wasnt even an issue for <em>him</em>. Just one of a dozen phenomena he had to keep in mind when unleashing his full power. But whatever Light had done threw everything into chaos. There had been some mana types in the end explosion Matt didnt even <em>recognize</em>, and that had been before he cked out from the bacsh.


    Well, he could at least enjoy his petty enjoyment of Lights frustrations. Matt didnt know the man well, but from all reports, he was cold and closed off, and showed little emotion in the few interviews he had done post-unmasking, so he interpreted the small gestures as the man trying toe up with words to express his bewilderment.


    However, his first words were not what Matt had expected.


    That exins why you are so wasteful with mana.


    Thankfully, Lights next words were far more ttering. Ah, no, this makes sense. Your talismans, thats a sensible way to utilize yet disguise your mana creation. No wonder you were able to create a rune so quickly, that much mana would certainly aid in experimentation. He paused, head cocked like a monster who thought it had heard something, No, unless there was something more. You will have to tell me more about how you did that at some point. But that level of increased mana to spend <em>would</em> be exceedingly useful for all sorts of research. Would you be interested in providing some assistance to a project Ive been a part of? Weve been looking into higher-level mana types.


    Now that sounded interesting, very few people dabbled in higher Level mana types.


    Matt leaned forward, his elbows on the table. Oh? I wont im to be an expert in mana theory or anything, but I did some aperology back when I was Tier 6, and that necessitated some study into the matter. But I havent really had time to work on it for the past century.


    Light perked up even further, if that was possible. Excellent. Ive been working with Group Scry these past centuries, and weve been working to develop a Level 3 mana aspect built around the concept of purest speed. I rather expect a nigh-infinite mana budget would assist.


    Matt nodded, Based around speed? I presume youve got light as a fairly core affinity already then?


    Light shook his head. Illusion has proven to be a more stable base.


    Oh <em>really</em>? I wouldnt have guessed that. Hm. Well, could I get some of your test files? I wont say that its perfect at this level, but I could run some sims on my [AI], see if theres anything obvious thats been missed. It''s great at processing and simting things like this.


    Light nodded. That could be useful. My own Talent, which I dont believe youve been informed of? It makes prototyping somewhat easier, but far from trivial, so Id be very interested in what an outside source such as yourself has to say about our results.


    Matt shook his head. While theyd been filled in on most of the groups Talents, at least in the broad sense, nobody was willing to share Light and Shadows Talents while they werent around. Really, theyd been surprisingly hesitant to share their <em>own</em> Talents. Only Eric, Dena, and Darrow had sent out their full Talent readouts, while the others just described broadly what theirs did.


    It was a bit of an odd situation to be in, because he remembered being in their position, decades ago. As a kid, hed always been told to never share his Talent information with anyone, and that it was the ultimate sign of trust.


    Now, he couldnt quite remember why he had felt that way. Weirdly, having a Talent so powerful it actually needed to be hidden had just worn away at his hesitancy to share it. It was probably around when hed talked to the Royals about it. In any case, it left him in the minority of people, willing to share his detailed Talent information with a group of basically-strangers. Bolt, or rather Morgan, had been quite apologetic about it, saying that she at least would probably be willing to share once theyd been on a few missions together, and they knew one another more personally.


    So, he was surprised when a message from Light popped up on his AI.


    <em>Tier 1: Skills cast be Arcane aspected.</em>


    <em>Tier 3: Arcane skills may be changed to any constituent aspect. Precision increases with Tier and practice.</em>


    <em>Tier 25: Change the aspect of spells you control at any time.</em>


    Well, that exins your interest in niche aspects, I suppose, Matt mused. Most people tended to focus on a single, fairly basic element, or a family thereof, but Light could freely change the element of any spell he cast, literally at-will, as arcane mana wasposed of every mana aspect aside from void, so far as anyone could tell. With that kind of flexibility, it only made sense to make a projectile be as fast as possible, or as solid as possible, or perfectly countering the weaknesses of a given form of defense. Aster will probably want to talk to you at some point, how familiar are you with aurora magic?


    Aster perked up, but Light gave a curt shake of his head. I do not have much experience with level four mana types. While I am capable of utilizing many of them, aurora is not one which I have properly mastered.


    And by that, Shadow butt in on the conversation, He means hes cast with it, figured out at least a half-dozen spells itspatible with, but hasnt figured out a unique niche for it yet.


    I would not misrepresent my capabilities. It is better to be more capable than anticipated than to fall short when the situation is required.


    Yeah yeah, Shadow rolled her eyes, turning such that she was lying down on her chair while still sitting up straight, But Zacks baseline is higher than most specialists. Actually, Lizzie! Youre good at fiery stuff yeah? You two shouldpare notes at some point. You didnt use much in the fight though, what was up with that?


    I only really use fire magic as Torch, Liz exined, Its really not a good match.


    Really? Even with the whole phoenix thing?


    My turn to share Talents, I suppose. I spent eight Tiers basically barred from fire. Liz grumped.


    Lights eyes widened as he processed the AI message. You were just using Outer Spirit skills with fire? How?


    I was impressed before, Morgan pitched in, Im more impressed now. Ive got a couple of utility spells in my Outer Spirit that Ill use from time to time, but Ive found that its straight up <em>more effective</em> to move them to my Inner or Core slots, make a stockpile, and move it back than it is to just start from Outer.


    How does that work, exactly? Matt asked. The woman was a support sniper capable of manifesting her skills in the form of physical objects that persisted essentially until used, which could even be modified after the fact or used in crafting. But theyd start to degrade if separated from her for a long time. She had an utterly <em>enormous</em> stockpile of items made from those pre-cast skills, but Matt still didnt understand all the details.


    Realizing what he had done, Matt gestured to his wife to return the floor to her. Oh, sorry Liz. Didnt mean to cut you off.


    Its fine. Anyway, the answer is lots and lots of practice, for the most part, she shrugged. Luna gave me a <em>hardcore</em> lesson in fire magic, its base weaknesses, and how best to steal control of spells. My tricks for stealing control without being noticed was a <em>necessity</em>, because at the time, I just wasnt strong enough to fight back if someone noticed my attempts at spellstealing. It was really well-optimized for the Path tournament, where power typically wins out over control, and pretty much everyone is self-taught. After that, I picked up a staff that can do elemental conversions to fire, and used that in my future appearances. Plus, Matt feeds me loads of mana and fire to fill the gap.


    The spear, A pitched in after realizing. Matt wasnt surprised that <em>Origami, </em>the closest thing to a crafting Ascender there was, figured it out, but it was still impressive. Thats why the spearhead isnt bound to you like the shaft is.


    You can tell that? Lizs eyebrows nearly reached her hairline as she turned her attention to A.


    Well, the easiest tell is the fact its a higher Tier than the rest of it. But yes. I could modify the enchantment on the spearhead, but not the shaft itself. Its enchantments are in the Summit style, which is mostmonly used with add-ons when you dont want to change any of the existing enchanting-work, but you <em>dont</em> care about the modrity.


    Shadow cupped her hands around her mouth and mock yelled, Nerd!


    A shot the Ascender a re, Oh <em>really</em>. Do you want this <em>nerd</em> to stop working on your flying pool table?


    -Ssss are great! Just like you are, A. Youre wonderful and make such wonderful creations, never stop being so nerdy! Shadow hastily added.


    Flying pool table? Aster asked from where she was still sitting next to Shadow.


    It was a thing Allie asked for a while back. Basically, its an actual pool table, like billiards, but it can deploy into a swimming pool. Its been on the back burner because Ive had a lot of projectse throughtely, and at least it sounds like Allie actually still wants it. And yes, it can fly.


    How big of a pool are we talking? Aster''s ears twitched in a way that told Matt he would be guilted into working on that project when he got free time.


    Well, its not going to be that big, but its going to be maybe a few hundred feet wide? Honestly, I have to work on it in pool table mode because my workshop just <em>isnt</em> big enough.


    Allie looked surprised and sat up a little straighter. I was going to say, most of your devices fit into a backpack when theyre fullypressed. A full-sized pool table? That has to be <em>massive</em>.


    Well, these days I aim more for pocket-sized, but yes. I based it off of the fort I used during the Path tournament. A bit of a clunky flying machine then, sure, but these days I can cram so much more stuff into a smaller space. The <em>water</em> was the really tricky part, because trying to conjure that much water, for the deployment speeds you want? Not happening. Andpressing water in a spatial device is a pain in the ass.


    Matt whistled lightly as he pondered what A was proposing. The woman had actually prompted a bout of star-struckdom when Matt was first introduced. While shed been out of the public eye for a few thousand years, A had been the first and so far only person to make it to Tier 20 on the Crafting Path, and did so while walking the divide and being a <embat</em> Pather as well. Her speciality was in turning the battlefield to her advantage instantly, by deploying turrets, siege-level mana cannons, entire forts, or huge golems that folded up small enough to be physically carried around. Her creations, even millenniater, were still the pride of those guilds lucky enough to get their hands on them, and many people had tried to replicate the style since, though never quite as sessfully.


    Torch, you fought the entire Tournament with only skills in your Outer Spirit? Light steered them back.


    Only kind of. I tried to limit how much fire magic I was <em>actually</em> using. I actually used a lot of internal blood magic, and blood potions, boosting myself invisibly.


    And of course, the mask blocked that, so nobody could figure it out, Light caught on.


    Actually, it just made it look like fire magic, Liz corrected, The knowledge I was using internal spells was deemed enough of an advantage that the masks werent allowed to hide it entirely. If anyone had managed to look past my spiritual shielding, they would have seen what looked like an internal furnace of magic. But Im not aware of anyone who managed that, so it was kind of a moot point in the end.


    Speaking of, Matt wondered, How did you end up as Light and Shadow? Its obviously not what your actual Talents are. Did you have an early manager as well? Heck, were you in the tournament as your real selves as well as your Masks?


    The two Ascenders shared a nce. Nah, it was just as Light and Shadow. Zack and Allie didnt make enough of a name for ourselves to make it weird for us to drop off the map, Shadow spoke up with a smirk. We got a manager at Tier 5 because we kept stealing unused rift slots, but we werent as crazy as you two in terms of hiding our real abilities. I was Shadow because, well, I hit a lucky [Shadow Maniption] in a Tier 9 rift, and it fit my natural abilities. Then of course, Zack went with Light because it was easy enough. He had to learn how to freehand hardlight for his front, but it worked well enough to hide what I was doing.


    Light was expressionless, but Matt thought he caught a hint of pride in his voice as he said, Crystal mana contains enough simrities to light mana as to be difficult to distinguish, yet contains enough earth mana to be decidedly strong. Layering additional effects atop light mana was tricky, but valuable in giving me the staying power required in public fights.


    You all and your managers, Dena teased. Is that the secret? Early managers? Just get that early teaching and dominate the tournament? If so, I demand a refund because we just got <em>second</em> and didnt have that.


    Im sure that we could get a couple of extra Tier 14 skills if we asked, to make it up to you dear. Eric patted her on the shoulder, earning himself a light swat from one of the cloth strips coiled around Denas upper arm.


    Thats not the point! We were ripped off, I tell you! Robbed of our rightful ces!


    It always has struck me as odd, Arthur added, That some Pathers receive early teaching simply due to their ability to <em>break</em> the rules of the Path. To me, it seems as though it would be more prudent to simply add them aste enrollment to the Academy system what?


    All the Pathers in the room, even Dena, were shaking their heads, causing the healer to stop speaking.


    While such a system may not be terrible in the abstract, Bulwark, in practice, the two programs are simply too ipatible, Light was the first to borate. I asked about that when we first got a manager. To begin, it is not so much breaking the <em>rules</em> of the Path, which attract a Manager, but rather breaking its spirit. It is wholly keeping within the rules of the Path for a seeker to find great treasures, for a crafter to make masterpieces, a teleporter to obviate some of the normal checks in ce for rift delving. What the managers are present for is simply to <em>manage</em>. To force the seeker to find treasures they can utilize themselves, instead of selling them for something perfect. A crafter to work with the materials they have, rather than simply exploit business ventures to always possess the best possible tools.


    Yeah, but the Academy system still forces you to earn the best tools, the healer rebut.


    To earn, yes. Not make from scratch.


    You can think of it like this, Arthur, Dena added as she leaned forward to see around Eric. The Academies are trying to fit people into a particr mold, while the Path is trying to find people who <em>break</em> the mold. The ones who attract an early Manager are those who <em>really</em> break the mold, and would fit perhaps the worst of all into the Academy system. Can you picture Allie trying to fit into an Academy? A Managers advantagees with the incredible amount of benefit that they can scrounge up outside of the normal channels, but the Academies smother that somewhat by giving out resources that dwarf what even the best seeker could find on their own.


    Its not like having an early Manager gives you <em>that</em> much of an advantage in the tournament anyway, Matt continued. Sure, we were <em>way</em> overprepared because of Luna, but as a result, we had toe up with fighting styles that more or less equate to our normal kits being utterly blocked. Liz had to fight with almost no blood magic, and I had to fight with almost no mana regeneration. Thats still something that Pathers <em>learn</em>, we just had to deal with it earlier. Besides, its at most a couple decades of extra instruction and inherently under Tier 10. It just doesnt make much of a difference in the long run for anyone going the whole two hundred years.


    And yet, both of you won your respective tournaments basically with no problems. Arthur countered.


    And now were Ascenders, Aster teased. Weird how that works out, isnt it? You know, L won her tournament as well.


    Aiden didnt, Shadow pointed out with a dagger she had been cleaning her nails with, He got what, fifteenth?


    Seventeenth, Joy rified. Driftersment drew nces from half the room. What? Im not just going to sit here while you all chit chat, incorrectly I might add, about something I saw, as unlike half the room I was actually <em>alive</em> for it. I didnt watch it live, but tournament recordings make for <em>great</em> downtime watching during the more boring bits of flying. But yeah, I watched the little shrimp back before he came out of Minka, got his Intent, and started delving up <em>seven</em> Tiers.


    Still dont get how, Shadow muttered. Its not fair, you know? Ascenders are the best of the best yadda yadda, and then we have <em>that</em> guy as our older colleague, fighting Maya and The Last Line, when hes four Tiers below them. Like cmon, set some realistic standards for fighting other Ascenders!


    Youre just jealous cause hes always so cryptic whenever you ask him for tips. Joy sniped at Shadow.


    Its not like you got anything more out of him!


    Joy shrugged, Yeah, but I <em>get it</em>. Back me up, A.


    The gadgeteer shrugged a single shoulder. I mean, exining stuff you just Innately understand can be <em>tricky</em>, but I dont think that his Talent is Innate Understanding of Domains. The way he talks about it just doesnt fit with how you get about piloting. I think hes just that good.


    Matt chuckled, You know, my yPens Tier 15 told me that I wasnt going to be the next Duke Waters after I nearly killed myself in a rift challenge as a Tier 1. He <em>meant</em> I wasnt going to be an Ascender, and now here I am And yet, he was somehow still kind of right.


    Your Tier 15 wasnt his name Griff or something? Eric asked. I remember he had a baby at the time, like I want to say nine months old?


    Ten months, but barely. He seemed like a nice guy, but we didnt talk too much besides making sure he and the Tier 20 weren''t ipetent, Dena corrected.


    Its still <em>wild</em> to me that we ended up in the same deployment, Matt noted. Like seriously, what are the odds?


    Better than you would think, Darrow interjected, and Shadow nearly fell out of her chair as she jerked upright. Apparently shed forgotten theirmander was still in the room. In my initial assessment for potential teamposition, I took into consideration their familiarity with not only you, Quill, but also their previous deployments with Light and Shadow.


    Eric frowned. Im not sure how I feel about knowing that.


    You were still fully qualified as was everyone else who made it through to be vetted by me, Darrow rified. But consider that you are the youngest non-Ascenders here by two and a half thousand years, and with an ordinglycking sheet of aplishments. But those capable of working with Ascenders are something of a rare breed, and it is why more than half the Team is made of former members of the Path of Ascension, or those possessing experience with Ascenders. Drifters experience with Waters as his pilot from the start of thest war, and Torment being mentored by Worldwalker for a few years while at Academy were key factors.


    It was a very productive and fascinating time, Sebastian agreed as Darrow mentioned him. The summoners voice was <em>very</em> even and carefully restrained, a far cry from the mans usual nearly over-the-top expressivism. The draconic perspective on restraining their natural impulses was quite useful. She is truly an awe-inspiring figure when not threatening to eat you. <em>Then</em> she is outright terrifying.


    Matt was a bit surprised that Sebastian had been so quiet this far, but he supposed that he <em>had</em> undergone a tremendous shock with Matts Talents. The mans Talents made his inner demons very literal, manifesting sufficiently impactful memories or simply his emotions as actual monsters that he could summon.


    But, if he didnt keep airtight control over his emotions, he could lose control over his summons and possibly even have them force their way out of his spirit. It sounded like an unenviable position to be in, ensuring his emotions were strong enough to be as powerful as they were, capable of wiping out entire squadrons on their own, but not <em>so</em> strong that he couldnt control them.


    Indeed she is, Darrow continued. While Bolt and Bulwark may not have had any serious interactions with Ascenders, their shared missions with the rest of you and general personality led me to believe that they would be adequately able to adjust to the more irreverent mentalitymon to the typical Ascender.


    Sebastianughed uproariously, the booming sound carrying an infectious good mood. Now Im picturing Jefir trying to get along with Shadow! Could you imagine?


    Darrows smile was a bit pained. Yes, Graduate Panopticon was on the initial list of candidates for Team Zero, but I deemed himparatively unfit due to


    The giant stick up his ass? Joy prompted, the pilot barely holding backughter.


    Who? Liz asked.


    Jefir Vrona, Morgan supplied. The oldest Tier 25 Graduate still active at our Tier, and has been since <em>I</em> graduated. Hes a leader-type, capable of sharing senses and buffs between everyone in his group, but he is perhaps the single most uptight, self-righteous, by-the-book person I know. And I know <em>Arthur</em>.


    Hey! thebat healer mockling protested, I resemble that remark!


    Anyway, hes a great guy, but basically <em>lives</em> for the army. Treats it deadly seriously, and the idea of banter during a fight is basically anathema to him. Every strike should be your best, hit like you mean it, no toying with the enemy, all that sort of thing. The sniper leaned back, stroking her chin. I wonder if we locked him and Allie in a room together, who would snap and try to kill the other first?


    Allie, Dena and Sebastian said in unison. Dena turned to the summoner, an eyebrow cocked.


    Oh?


    Jefir would just report her to his superior for disrespect and try to submit a petition to have her disciplined. Allie would just stab him.


    See, and here I was making a joke about how just a few hours ago, Allie wanted to kill Matt, Liz, and Aster simply to see if she could.


    Hey! Shadow protested, refusing to shrink back even as every eye in the room turned towards her. I wasnt trying to kill them, just cut them up a bunch. Oh, stop looking at me like that! Melinda could fix up anything I did to them no problem!


    Allie, Light rubbed his temple. Wellspring is on <em>leave</em>.


    Oh yeah Shadow tapped her chin in thought. Well Im sure I could find her!


    Allie, please dont traumatize the poor girl any more than you already have, A sighed.


    Ohe on! Shes a healer, shes got to be used to decapitated heads!


    Shes not used to finding the head of an Ascender sitting in her closet, then having it opening its eyes and yelling boo at her! Origami rebut.


    Is that <em>really</em> so bad? I thought it was funny.


    Yes! A, Sebastian, and Joy shouted in unison.


    Well I had fun.


    We know, A sighed, kneading her forehead. We know.


    Oh yeah! Melindas from Lilly as well, isnt she? Thats your homeworld, right Matt? Do you know her?


    Allie, Light patiently ground out. Even a like Lilly still has millions of people on it, and hundreds of Pathers every year. Just because they-


    Yeah, I know her, Mattughed. He watched as Allie immediately started radiating smug satisfaction while Light deted. We didnt have <em>that</em> much time ovepping at the yPen, but I hit it off with her group thanks to her husband Mathew, on ount of the whole shared-name thing and him opening a door in my face. Their team are some of my best friends So shes in Project Breach as well?


    Eric nodded. Shes the golden child of Group Kudzu. I think half the reason the group even exists is to teach her basically everything they know about healing. Theres some <em>impressive</em> names involved. Harvest Moon, Silvermore, Lifesprig, The Bone Artisan, and those are just the ones I know of. Uhhh are they cleared to know her Talent?


    Darrow nodded, but before Eric could continue, Aster piped up, What, her overhealth?


    That prompted a round of stares, and Liz took way too much delight in nomittally shrugging. What? Matt was in the room when she <em>unlocked</em> it, of course we know.


    Thats not <em>strictly</em> true, Matt rified. But its close enough. Also, I dont know if she ever mentioned it, but it was actually a joint research project between me, her, and this researcher Luna introduced us to, Erwin, that ended up creating the first [Bandage] rifts.


    Light sighed, Because of <em>course</em> Researcher Karl was in on this as well.


    Oh, Erwins around here? No wonder Luna wasnt able to snag him for some more tests. Matt peered around as if he wasnt in a room imprable to spiritual sense before catching himself.


    Yes, he is one of the lead researchers assisting with my mana type research, Light sighed. Do you know half of the members in Fort Lightfoot already?


    Matt grinned as he said, Feels like it, at this point. I guess Lunas reputation for having <em>the</em> best connections isnt understated.


    She certainly was one of the most difficult teachers I had during all my time at the Academy, Arthur said. Though it was always substantially easier learning under her than most of the guest lecturers.


    So it wasnt just me! Aster eximed as she spun in her chair. I <em>thought</em> things were so much easier to pick up on when Luna was teaching mepared to trying to learn stuff at the Bond Academy. I was barely above average in some topics there, but as soon as Luna started teaching me I got it immediately.


    Our general best guess is that its her Domain. Something about cutting away imperfections and bad habits, Morgan supplied. Or misconceptions, cutting right to the heart of the matter, something like that. Because yeah, Luna doesnt have any of the more obvious teacher-type powers but <em>wow</em> is she effective.


    Sebastian nodded, I had her as a teacher at Tier 3, and her lessons on cutting away distractions served as a core for my Concept. I dont know that I would have survived without her advice, and simply her presence and set of lectures managed to excise several of my more problematic demons at the time.


    Im just d I didnt have her, Allie dered. She just sounds utterly <em>miserable</em> to me.


    I do wonder how it would have gone if she had been our Manager, Light said at about the same time. She might have gotten Allie to actually pay attention for once.


    Honestly she might. She can be <em>scary</em>, Morgan noted. Ive seen her boss around both L and Queen Mara herself at times.


    Yes, well they were her students, Arthur pointed out.


    Thats my point! What kind of impression does she make if she can still order around the Queen of the Beasts and an Ascender on the cusp of Ascending, more than twenty thousand years since she actually had them as students?


    Luna isnt that bad, Matt protested. Its not like her expectations are entirely unreasonable. Shes very good at figuring out what youre able to aplish given your current power and skills. She never pushes too far.


    Nor one inch less, Aster grumbled and Liz snorted in agreement.


    I am just so happy I never had to deal with all that nonsense of Managers, guest teachers, impossible expectations. The army was just, Hey Joy! I noticed youve shot down fifty enemy fighters, you can instantly master flying any kind of spacecraft you ever see within five minutes of seeing it, your ships never explode, and your Intent is all about flying! Why dont you be a Prima Ace? And I never looked back.


    You never look back? No wonder everything falls apart whenever yound, if you keep ramming into the ground, A jabbed the point of her elbow into the pilots side.


    Oi! Youll pay for that. Joy waved a fist, ready to punch Origami.


    Not to distract too much from your team bonding, Darrow cut off the two women before it could devolve into a full wrestling match. But Scoop, would you share your Talents as well?


    Ah, mine arent that special. Aster flicked an ear as she sent off her message. Pretty much what youd expect from a first-generation arctic fox.


    Hey, normal doesnt mean bad, Dena piped up. We need more normal! We need a notpletely-overpowered-Talent support group, and it can be me, Eric, Aster, and Darrow. All of you can have your fun being inherently powerful, while we celebrate <em>earning</em> our way to the top!


    <em>Excuse</em> me? Liz gasped, pretending to be offended. My first Talent doesnt even give me something good! It basically makes me use only a single form of magic, one that my bloodline doesnt even <em>match</em>.


    She dramatically struck her heart with her hands. My Talent is officially <em>neutral</em>, how dare you suggest its overpowered!


    Dena looked around at the rest of them. Yeah, well Matts is officially <em>detrimental</em>, but raise your hand if you think that his <em>isnt </em>the strongest in the room.


    Allie raised her hand.


    Allie, strength is not measured in how easy it is to get out of meetings, Zack said tly.


    Allie put her hand back down.


    There. Now that thats settled.


    You know, could you <em>really</em> say that Innate Understanding is inherently strong? You need to do a <em>lot</em> of work to do anything with it, A asked, and Joy signaled her agreement.


    Look, if we want to quibble about whose Talent is stronger, we could argue that Denas is the <em>absolute</em> strongest, Aster joked. You know, on ount of being the only one that boosts strength?


    Yeah, yeah, we get it. But its not like it even helps me lift anything, she shot back. So really it only helps me if I get way too fat.


    Matt nced back at the Talents shed shared.


    Tier 1: Increased internal body strength.


    Tier 3: Move your center of gravity. Speed/detail increases with Tier.


    Tier 25: Increase or decrease your personal weight at will.


    I dont know, it definitely says increased strength right there, he pointed out.


    Increased <em>internal</em> strength, she protested. It helps with <em>pushups</em>!


    And acrobatics, Eric added teasingly.


    Hush you, she blushed. It doesnt make me actually stronger, just


    Stronger? Allie struck, sensing weakness. I dont know, I think that what you do with those ropes definitely requires strength.


    I dont what? Traitors!


    Allie teleported the spellbook in front of Zack to her hands, summoning a pen and pretending to write in the books pages, Dena definitely uses her ropes Hey!


    Light snatched his book back from his partner, the spellbooks pages fluttering <em>indignantly</em>. Matt wasnt one to anthropomorphize things, but that book had emotions in its flutterings.


    <em>It must be intelligent</em>, Matt mused. <em>Just like Allies cloak. I wonder if anyone else got Hills Have Eyes?</em>


    On further reflection, there <em>could</em> have been other ways to make an item intelligent, like how most Minka rewards could be replicated outside of it, but it could also have been like Spiritual Journey, where the generally-epted replication method for the powerful spirit bond the floor could provide was get a beast bond. He didnt actually know how many obscure natural treasures there were and what they could do.


    Look, out of all of us, mine is probably the closest to a <em>normal</em> Talent we have, Dena protested. Just a minor boost to a useful, but fairly niche situation. Then maybe Eric, Arthur, Darrow, Joy, and Aster in that order? Cultivation boost, elemental boost, mid-quality innate skill, Innate Understanding, and an innate maniption?


    Innate Understandings are moremon than Innate skills, A pointed out.


    Yeah, but generally theyre so niche and specific. Spaceship piloting seems like a fairly mid-level one, definitely rating between [Mages Sight] and [Ice Maniption].


    It was a bit odd, Matt reflected, that Darrows Talent <em>wasnt</em>, in fact, the purple and blue eye in the middle of his forehead. His were instead more innocuous at first nce.


    Tier 1: Innate [Mages Sight].


    Tier 3: Vision and visual senses are enhanced with Tier.


    Courtesy of thousands of years at Tier 15, theirmander had modified both his Innate skill and his body in unison, dedicating the totality of his Tier 1 Talent to the installed eye in the middle of his forehead. It was an impressive degree of dedication and ingenuity, and reminded Matt that while he was the best of the best, it still wouldnt do to underestimate his foes. They were thousands of years older than him, had tricks bordering on the impossible, and he would be expected to beat them allpletely blind, while they grew ever more-familiar with his own limits, capabilities, and counters.


    So then whose is the <em>least</em> normal then? A prodded.


    Dena hmmed to the crafters question. Lets see Its probably a tie between a free Tier 44 skill, making more mana than anyone could ever spend in a lifetime, making every skill they cast arcane affinity, and being able to punch your anger in the face.


    You dont want to punch Anger, Sebastian pitched in. Its Fear you need to punch. Punching Anger would just make it stronger.


    But then you could just punch it even harder, after that, Eric added.


    Well now you just sound like Rusty, Allie shot back.


    Look, if <em>I</em> could deal with bad memories with a solid hammerblow Id be <em>so</em> happy, you dont even know, Eric replied.


    Sure, but <em>yours</em> dont get stronger with Tier. Torment pointed out.


    Speaking of advancing, Aster asked, How does that work for us, now? Are we going to be given essence stones to reach the peak of Tier 25?


    Darrow shook his head, but Allie cut him off, Pshhh, no way. With my Talent, we just jump back to a Tier 27 rift whenever. More interesting that way, and its a nice bit of downtime.


    That was a bit of a relief to Matt, who was worried that now that they were a part of the army theyd just be force-fed essence stones, and he couldnt stand to be such a passive observer in his own advancement.


    Darrow added a bit more context, We do provide essence stones for those not at the peak of Tier 25, but while we encourage their use, it is not policy to force the issue. Ascender Waters famously delved the rifts of systems he captured, but as this is more of a defensive war, that is effectively impossible at this time. I <em>would</em> advise utilizing essence stones to bring yourself up to mid-Tier 25, to be equal with Light and Shadow, but I will not mandate it.


    Well consider it, Liz replied. We get the necessity, but we never liked using them on the Path when we could help it. Essence stones just feel like cheating. Or not cheating, but


    No need to justify yourself, the general sighed. At least youre more reasonable about it than Shadow was.


    I was perfectly reasonable!


    You teleported the essence stones provided to you to the bottom of a garbage heap. Darrow worked his jaw like he wanted to say more, but refrained.


    Yeah, I dumped them in a spot where youd <em>notice</em> where they were, instead of dropping them in deep space or whatever. How is that not reasonable?


    Darrow simply sighed. Regardless, between your Talent for longevity and Shadows ability to all but eliminate travel time within a rift, you should at least be capable of incredibly fast delving speeds during down time between missions.


    Ill also be happy to provide my mana for the recharging of rifts or other crafting processes, and Ive already agreed with the Emperor that Ill produce two hours worth of mana production each day. Anything beyond that, Im still willing to do, but will be a bit more case-by-case.


    Thank you, Ascender Quill. Is there anything you will need in your support of that?


    Matt nodded. A specialized storage ring that I could create mana stones into directly with my Tier 25 Talent would be appreciated. I still need to practice a lot, but hopefully I can get it to be almost automatic during my downtime. They just get big, <em>fast</em>.


    To show what he meant, he created a mana stone on his hand and quickly expanded it to the size of a human head. That''s about 5 million mana, but Im pretty sure that as I get used to my Tier 25 Talent, I can get them a little smaller. And as my mana concentration increases, that''s going to be a slow process.


    General Darrow nodded even as the mana stone appeared in Allie''s hand and she started to inspect it, before Light took it from her and started to peer into the facets that had naturally formed. His majesty King Frederic said a team would be moving permanently into Fort Lightfoot to take care of that in the next few months. Or, if Allie would be amenable to it, picking it up from his kingdom in the next few days as our only long-range rift breacher.


    The teleporter in question was already shaking her head vigorously. Nope, not doing it. Im not a movingpany. Im not volunteering for extra jumps.


    Light looked at him at the news, so Matt took a few moments to exin about the mana concentration formation and how it worked, while Darrow watched with a studiously nk expression.


    When Matt saw Light turn to Allie, he knew two things. One, that General Darrow <em>did</em> know how to manipte Ascenders, and the second was that Light was a man after his own heart who liked to tinker. And the idea of a new formation had piqued his interest.


    Actually, three things.


    Allie could tell General Darrow to fuck off and mean it, but Light was able to worm through her shell.


    Please.


    No. Im not doing it. It''s just an extra jump now, but open the floodgates, and I might as well turn into a cargo ship.


    Please.


    N. O. It spells no.


    Allie.


    Ugh, fine! But you all owe me!


    With a pop, she vanished, and General Darrow smiled slightly. Thank you, Ascender Light.


    So you can make crystals in any shape or amount of mana, right? A asked, having imed the mana crystal at some point. Matt smiled slightly in response.


    Indeed I can. Though, I need a bit more practice for anything moreplicated than the natural crystalline shape they like to default to.


    And this thing contains five million mana, you said?


    Yes.


    And you made this in less than a second?


    Matt nodded, a little hesitantly.


    The crafter tore her gaze away from the oversized mana crystal, locking eyes with Liz as she tilted her head towards Matt. So are you willing to share?


    Liz snorted, and half the room broke outughing.


    ***


    Muchter, their meeting came to a close, and Darrow pulled Matt, Liz, and Aster aside. We have a couple in-rift months before your first skirmish. In the meantime, if you would be able to meet with Group Firmament to begin designing your new armors and weapons, Ill send you a schedule. Please make an appointment; theyre busy enough as-is. In the meantime, I would also advise meeting with Group Branch. Theyre focused on training and teaching, and can pull in some fairly famous specialists depending on what youd like to learn. Though, even now, there are quite a few generalist trainers already in-rift, including your manager Luna, should you wish to continue working with her. Though, if youd rather never see her again, that is also perfectly eptable and can be arranged. He must have seen the confusion on their faces before Darrow borated about thest sentence. Allie demanded to never see her management team again.


    Luna is fine, Liz replied. Though I dont know if well only be working with her.


    Nor would I expect you to.


    Oh, the three of you are going to Branch? Light asked, approaching them with Allie teleporting in right behind him. I heard that Trainer Luna had been recruited into Project Breach, and wished to meet with her. Would you like to apany us?


    Matt shrugged, Sure?


    Allie grumbled something unintelligible, but Light was unphased. Thank you, Allie.


    Right, you better be thankful.


    Its not like its any harder for you, Light pointed out.


    Now that just isnt even true, Allie grumbled. And right after you volunteered me for a supply run halfway across the Empire.


    The world shed blue, and then the five of them were in an unfamiliar, but spacious, training hall. Matt couldnt even confess to being surprised that Luna was already there, waiting for them.


    Good, you three are here, their former manager wasted no time. If youd send me your new Talents, we can get started on having you master them. I also heard that you were in the medical bay for mana bacsh, Matt, do we need to have words?


    Before Matt could answer, Light spoke up, Trainer Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you. My own manager often spoke of you favorably, and said that your style would be particrly apropos of my own preferred casting methodology. I would be interested in receiving lessons from you, particrly in the realm of lossless elemental conversions.


    A catlike grin spread across Lunas face as she replied, Of course, Ascender Light. It would be my utmost pleasure. Now, Ascender Shadow


    Allie began to teleport away, but a hand shed out, transforming into a paw.


    One yelpter, and Allie was caught up by the nape of her neck. I believe that <em>you</em> would benefit quite strongly from my aid. I would advise regrly scheduling lessons with me, and unlike Korun, I will not ept excuses for teleports gone askew when you <em>miss</em> them. Particrly for group training and drills.


    Allie shook her head vigorously. I would never. I


    Luna interrupted her as she moved her face close to the Ascenders. I have created four teams of Ascenders and more elites of every form than I can count. You arent the most rambunctious person I have managed by a long shot. I will break you if I have to.


    You ca


    Allison. Miss <em>one</em> of my sses and I. Will. Eat. You.


    When Allie swallowed hard, Luna asked, Do you understand?


    Allie <em>nodded</em> her head vigorously. Crystal clear bossdy.


    Luna dropped the still nodding Allie and turned to Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    Days away from my tutge, and you are already bing overconfident. It''s a good thing the tribunal asked me toe and help you fools, or you would show your asses the first time things got hairy.


    Despite her angry demeanor, Matt was happy to see Luna, and somehow, knowing she would still be in their corner and was willing and able to help them going forward, made Matt smile.

 Chapter 282

    Chapter 282


    Matt was not smiling for long.


    Come now, Matthew. Is that truly the best you can manage? You substantially overshot the bounding tether, and it looks like you <empletely</em> neglected the Deloid Principle.


    He was holding a crystal sphere twice the size of his hand with various simple, two-dimensional runes carved into the material. Or, they were supposed to be runes. This attempt had made them look more like a child''s squiggles than the crisp lines, artful strokes, or precise curves that runes should have been made of.


    Even making a perfect sphere had taken a few attempts, and getting the lines to appear on the crystal at all had taken a few more besides. All of those crystals, and his previous sloppy rune-spheres, littered the ground around him like overflow from the worlds most valuable ball pit.


    It <em>should</em> have been a simple task, even with his control suffering <em>hard</em> from its recent doubling, but Matt had found that his new Talent struggled with fine detail. It was a bit embarrassing, really, that the Emperor had managed to seemingly master it within seconds of first copying it, but he couldnt ount for that.


    At least you arent reduced to <em>physical</em> direction, Luna relented. That would be a shameful disy from my former student. Youd think I barely taught you anything.


    It actually was easier to utilize his Tier 25 Talent if he moved his hands as he formed crystals, metaphorically sculpting the crystal-y as he went. When doing so, he could get to a decent level of fidelity, but Luna had refused to allow those bad habits to set in. He would have as well, of course, but Luna provided support, which made fully spiritual and mental creation of his crystals far easier to focus on.


    What do you think youre doing wrong?


    She wasnt asking for specifics, shed already given his particr points of failure. Instead, she was prompting him to figure out the base cause of <em>why</em> he was struggling. Previous permutations of the question had already gotten him this far, but he was sensing she wanted something a bit moreprehensive than usual.


    Im starting too small, Matt concluded. My Talent clearly has a penchant for doing <em>big</em> things, and its fighting me hard to try and reel my mana into my standard spiritual bounding. Now that Ive got a definite feel for items small enough for me to hold, I need to go <em>big</em> and slowly scale back from there, instead of trying to get bigger over time after I master the small-scale. Itll be fighting my normal inclinations twice, and probably take longer each way than starting big would take total.


    Luna nodded. Good. Go off somewhere and make your skyscraper-sized practice crystals, get a feel for it,e back in a few hours.


    Having said her piece, Luna turned back to talk to Light again. Shed spent most of their training time with the other mage, all told. Shed given Shadow a task to cut through a full-powered defensive construct made out of pure void, a challenge that the teleporter was still struggling with, but had been keeping Zack quite busy with all sorts of very particr challenges, each moreplicated than thest.


    Hed passed the first few with flying colors- literally, his magic cycled through a full rainbow quite regrly- but Luna had hit the right bnce of challenging but possible for him almost immediately. Matts fellow Ascender was currently straining in an attempt to weave together dozens of different colors of lightning to produce apletely soundless hologram, while Luna instructed him to change aspects, what the hologram <em>was</em>, and even various ways to animate the hologram in question. All the while, she provided biting remarks about high-level mana control theory that Matt barely followed, but Light nodded along to like it made perfect sense.


    A sullen-looking Shadow popped over next to Matt. And she stuck with you the whole time? You never got a break when she went off to other teams? When she went to go use a litter box or something?


    Matt shook his head even as he smiled. Nope. This is unadulterated Luna, Shadow. Shit, this is happy Luna. She lives for pushing people to their maximum, picking apart a process to figure out where everyst inefficiency lurks, and cutting it out. Im pretty sure it outright pained her, at the start of my training and before she adjusted, to have me utilize <em>more</em> mana for an effect that could be aplished with less, so Light has to be a century-long dream for her. Shes been struggling to keep my mana control halfway decent, with my regr doublings, and being able to talk shop with someone who can actually take her advice? Yeah, shes thrilled.


    He was distracted by Luna as she had Light add sound to his hologram, but only by allowing some of the natural crackling of the lightning he was using to add together for decidedly different sound waves. It sounded <em>really</em> bad, if he was being honest. Matt yelped as he looked down to see Shadow withdrawing the dagger from his bicep.


    What the fuck?


    Shadow blinked at him like she hadnt just stabbed him. I told you. Call me Allie. If you don''t She spun the still bloodied dagger around her fingers. Stabbie time.


    Matt always kept [Regeneration] running, so the wound was already closing, but he still looked at his peer oddly.


    You earned the title, so why not use it?


    Allie rolled her eyes. When we are on missions, sure, use it. But when we are here and training, fuck no. It''s the same with Darrow. I cant be bothered with that formal shit when we arent actually working, so I dont. Who gives a shit about Good Order and Discipline when we arent fighting? I sure as fuck dont. Besides, youve been using the names of our teammates instead of <em>their</em> titles, and were not different just cause we missed the first meet and greet thanks to you blowing Zacks mind with your mana output.


    Matt wasn''t going to argue with her about how good order and discipline in peace time was crucial to good order and discipline under fire. She would have already gotten those lectures and was clearly choosing to ignore them. Her attitude also fell in line with Duke Waters'' and Ls from everything he had seen from those older Ascenders.


    Instead, he pointed down at the six distorted fields surrounding the orb of pure ckness hovering a few feet away. Youre listening to her though.


    Allie nodded sagely. Yeah, well, she had a really good idea. Ive never been able to really interact with void in anything more than a welp guess Ill just die way before this. Its the one thing Zack cant really use after all. Maybe this will work. Shit, maybe it wont, but Ill try anything once. And shes scary. And threatened to eat me. <em>And</em> Im pretty sure she meant it.


    Matt nodded. Not all of you, but an arm or something? Theres plenty of healers around here, shed know its far from permanent and that she can probably get away with it.


    Allie murmured a quiet fuck but only nodded. Want a jump somewhere with some more room?


    Im happy to ept but I thought you dont want to be a taxi?


    Allie snorted. Look, were going to be friends eventually with how much we fight side by side, so I might as well be nice from the outset. And I dont mind helping people, but I refuse to let people take advantage by silently epting their demands on my time. Figured you would have understood that one?


    Without Allie even touching them, they teleported a mile or so to the edge of the manicured grasnd where they had been working with Luna, and Matt stretched out his hand. His Talent definitely preferred more naturally crystalline shapes, and so he gave it one.


    Mana flooded out of his body, enough that Allie took a half-step back, but instead of flowing freely into his surroundings, he forced it down, onto the ground, and activated his Talent.


    A small speck of blue crystal appeared, at near the center of his mana torrent, and quickly expanded outwards into a crystal spire, growing in height and width with every passing second.


    Seeing that Allie hadnt left and was watching the growing brick with a smirk, he answered her question.


    I get the worry. I mean fuck. Im incredibly worried that someone will find out about my Talent and decide I need to be tossed into a box to be a battery. Im terrified. But I also have a social responsibility to do what I can do to help those around me. I have all this mana, and I dont want to just keep it all to myself. You grew up in an immortal enve right? Low-Tier, high-Tier parents?


    At Allie''s nod, Matt continued, My family were simple Empire citizens living normal mortal lives before they were killed in a rift break. They were happy, but there was so much they couldnt really do because the economics made it impossible. With my mana,s can be raised up to Tier 5, so there are a plethora of Tier 1 rifts for people to get started delving in if they so choose. Lilly, where I grew up, had only a few dozen safely delveable Tier 1 rifts near the coastal cities, and that made the prices really high for low Tiers who also needed to pay for a team to carry them and equipment. My mana can change that. Enchanting, smithing, and crafting, in general, are incredibly expensive for those who cant afford or source enough materials to test and fail on like dedicated fighters can. My mana can create subsidies to reduce those prices. Im happy to help with all of that. I just want to do it while keeping my freedom.


    Allie pursed her lips, and they stood there working on their own projects for a few minutes when she nodded. That makes sense. But you are nicer than I am. I dont think Id be willing to share. I value my independence too much. Matt was going to say something, but Allie punched him in the shoulder. But hey, if you ever get boxed, Ill teleport you out.


    Matt was touched by the sentiment but shook his head. If I did get boxed, it would be by a Tier 50, and I doubt that you could get me free from them.


    Allie shrugged. Im pretty sure I could manage it. If nothing else, Id just teleport the entire ce they were holding you in. Give me enough time and a dozen Tiers, and Im pretty sure I could teleport an entire.


    That''s impossible.


    Allie rolled her eyes and nodded at Matts crystal as it passed the ten foot mark in height. The impossible is what Ascenders do. Who the fuck is going to stop me from growing my powers and bing the single best teleporter there is? I especially dont want to hear about limits from the guy whose Concept is about being Endless.


    They each worked in silence for a few minutes, as Matt worked on his crystal. There didnt seem to be any particr range limit for it, interestingly. While he could only begin the crystallization process within a short range of him, so long as any part of the crystal was within that range, he could keep building well, arbitrarily far away. A column six inches in diameter pierced the sky as Matt pushed the limits of just how far he could keep it cohesive, and while it absolutely grew less efficient the further it got, it hadnt begun to lose meaningful cohesion even once it passed the ten mile mark.


    His next task was a perfect sphere the size of a small house, and then a hollow sphere the exact same size. Then, two hollow spheres half that size, connected by an axle that allowed them each to spin freely. And finally, fifty-foot runes. While he was limited to simple three-dimensional, fully contiguous runes, he <em>was</em> able to physically form them. They didnt have any magical effect, but that wasnt too much of a surprise.


    There was something magical, watching the crystal form itself out of nothing. A faint lightshow at the leading edges of his runes, as they traced out their swoops and lines, coalesced into sparkling magic and finally into the crystal itself.


    So long as he was feeding his entire mana regeneration into the task, he was actually fairly good at it. He was still limited to focusing on a single stroke at a time, so he couldnt just manifest an entire rune in one go, but it was substantially more satisfying and productive than forever trying to work with less titanic mana stones.


    Allie popped over, So uh, how many mana is that? Its got to be a few billion. With a B. She gave him something of an odd look, which tickled his pride a little.


    Ehh, my efficiency isnt perfect, so instead of a full twenty-five billion, it''s closer to twenty-two billion. Can you pop us back? Since it seems I cant creates out of mana bricks.


    Allie mouthed the words Twenty-two billion but teleported them, and the mana stones hed been working on, back to the group.


    That in and of itself was impressive, and Matt made a note that Allie, for all her flippant dismissal of military decorum and easygoing attitude, was still an Ascender in her own right.


    Just a moment after they arrived, Luna walked over, and Allie vanished just as quickly.


    I expected worse. What are your main limits right now?


    Something simr to metaphorical inertia, I think. Matt answered, earning a nod, Its a <em>bit</em> different, but I think theres enough simrities to make theparison. I can make something simple pretty much any size I want, but the moment I want to change what Im doing, it bes <em>so</em> much harder. But because of the outflow-endlessness that I need to cultivate in my mana to simply get it out of me fast enough to be useful, it cant do intricate things. Any changes have to be gradual, as the mana wants to keep building out what it was doing before.


    Good. What if you try to make a lot of simr, but small objects quickly? How quickly can you make coins? Aim for about thisrge to start, and well go from there. Luna directed, holding her finger and thumb up in a circle.


    The first few came out a bit misshapen, but with a bit of work he was able to get a fairly steady stream of coins created, each <em>almost</em> identical to thest. Luna snagged one out of the air as they were sent flying, sliced it in half- letting the crystal dissolve into glittering motes of mana- and nodded.


    Light! Why dont youe over here.


    Light looked over at the pair of them, then was suddenly next to them as well as across the field. A momentter, the more distant man faded, revealing itself to be an illusion.


    Luna assessed the feat cooly, Illusion-aspected teleportation?


    Light nodded, In high-Tier surroundings, the baseline difficulty of pure spatial maniption is substantially higher than most other forms of instantaneous travel. Lightning is technically the cheapest, but that tends to have unfortunate effects upon the surroundings, and I need to be careful as to not waste mana on anything but the transportation itself.


    Well done. How precise is your movement?


    At this range? A variance of zero point zero three inches.


    Luna chuckled. And this is why Im going to pair the two of you up for some training. The mage who is all about control and efficiency and the mage who doesn''t even know what the phrase mana conservation means.


    Matt wanted to interject that he knew what the definition of mana conservation was. Once upon a time, he had been a mana-hungry low Tier who had needed to spend each MPS with the utmost efficiency. But he took the point and held his tongue.


    Light, I want you to work on going big. Let Matt keep you full of mana. Start casting with at least ten percent of your mana pool, and work your way up from there. Matt will help you, as you keep growing. Your prismatic-affinity Talents are likely to make you somewhat more prone to spontaneous aspect-cascades than normal, but there are far more forces than simply that at y. Hyperthaumic singrities, protocausal ur-definition, Dallier Principle copses, eclipsical overflow, and more. Matt is perhaps the Empires foremost expert on solo-cast multimillion mana spells for your Tier range, hell be able to assist you should any begin to appear. Matt, I want you to keep working on getting your mana stone creation smaller and smaller. Dont worry about particr shapes yet, just try and make the smallest mana stones possible. Light can help you with subthaum dissipation, acontinual quells, intermanal bonding, and no, those are likely to be the only things you encounter today.


    Having said that, Luna started looking around. Now, where did Shadow go? I need her to assist Aster in exploring her Tier 25.


    Luna vanished for a moment and came back, holding a sheepish-looking Allie by the scruff of the neck.


    Turning away from the impending disaster, Matt looked to see Asterughing at Allies predicament and four Lizs sitting in a circle with their eyes closed.


    Light turned back from therge mana brick Allie had teleported back to the training area and gave Matt a weird look.


    You really never had mana problems did you?


    Lights tone was t enough that Matt had a hard time understanding his intention but decided to give Light the benefit of the doubt. Yes and no. I was pretty much limited to channels until Tier 6 or so. Back then I couldnt even cast a 10 mana [Fireball] without using an external mana stone to refill my mana pool to full, so I do know what not having mana feels like. But that''s a pretty specific problem. I never had the problem Liz did where she just couldnt train some days before she met me because she needed to save mana for her next delve. Ive always had an endless stream of mana to fall back on, even when I didnt realize how useful that could be.


    Smiling his best self-deprecating smile, he added a bit of his personal history. Allie hadnt been wrong about them working closely together and eventually bing friends through that. That, and he liked Lights ideas about mana types. That was some science he could get behind with his mana ring able to copy anything stable they created.


    I worked at a small inn for over a year before I got epted to The Path with the detrimental Talent use, when I could have sold my mana to make a killing. It was probably a good thing I didnt, if my Folded Reflection lives are to be believed. But of course, Minka lies. Who knows how much was true, and how much was just it feeding into my fears.


    Light nodded. Yes, I heard Minka can be ruthless with that floor. Personally, Id have been interested in what it showed me, but I understand why others are so opposed to that floor on principle.


    The conversation petered out a little, and Matt took the time to create a small coin out of a few thousand mana. He got the outward shape down pat, but when he tried to create an Empire g on one side and the Emperor''s profile on the other, the sides looked like half-melted renditions of the ideas he was trying to project.


    It wasnt like he had seen many physical credits, but he felt he should have been able to do better than that.


    Tossing the mana stone to the floor, Matt started to create another one even as Light gestured and pulled the mana coin to his hand, where he inspected it like it was a treasure.


    This is impressive. I dont think Ive ever seen anything quite like it.


    Matt looked up and nodded. It''s apparently not unique, as the Emperor had a few simr Talents, but I think it will be useful once I get it under control.


    Light didnt respond verbally but did nod. Then, he surprised Matt as he held up the mana coin and asked, May I experiment with this?


    Sure. It cost me like five seconds of effort. Speaking of which...


    Having been given the thought, Matt changed his mental whitelist of people to give mana with his Concept to to include everyone around him.


    That prompted a few head-turns, until he sent out a ping on his AI rifying that he was responsible. Theyd already discussed his Concept as a part of Team Zero, so nobody was truly surprised.


    Light sighed. Its one thing to hear about your Concept strength, and another to experience it myself. Small wonder, why the rest of your team''s skills are so developed, Ascender Quill. Allie and I werent able to really start fine-tuning our skills until we finished the Path. We just never had the time or extra mana to spare.


    Seeing as Allie had already dropped the titles, Matt decided to offer the same to Light. You can call me Matt if you want. I dont mind, and I think we will be getting along quite well in theing days. Speaking of getting along, my [AI] already processed your data about the mana tests. Do you want me to send you its readout?


    Light jerked slightly before nodding. Thank you, Qu Matt. You are free to call me Zack, if so inclined. I suppose I should be surprised your calctions are alreadyplete, but how much mana have you spent on it? If you could send it to me, that would be appreciated..


    Matt grinned back at Zack. Nothing obvious you guys missed. It was very thorough.


    Zack didnt smile, but Matt felt like he was doing so. I suppose that''s good news. It means we didnt miss anything, but finding out we had missed something obvious would have been convenient, as it would have given us more direction. Researcher Karl and I have put in a lot of hours on this project.


    He hadn''t seen Erwin in what felt like lifetimes, but he made a note to go see the distractible researcher when he got a minute. It would be good to catch up, and if he was working with Light on a mana-type project, he was sure the man would be willing to sit and talk about some rift theories, as they were tangentially rted.


    Speaking of which, as he worked on creating an even smaller mana coin, he turned to Zack and started a conversation about rift theory.


    Zack, while having never delved into the topic, picked up some of the intricacies that Matt had learned through trial and error quickly, and was able to offer suggestions and ideas as they worked on honing their skills as Luna directed.


    ***


    Matt nodded in thought, as his advisors spoke and he fidgeted with the pitch-ck orb on the table in front of him spinning it like it was a very expensive top.


    While he had been told <em>very</em> emphatically that he was free to take whatever skills he wanted, no matter what had been rmended to him, and that they would never, under any circumstance, force him to absorb a skill, he had been informed by Group Chess, the Group of Project Breach in charge of broad-strokes leadership and strategy, that if he were so inclined, he could also get advisors from Groups Branch and Scry to help him get the absolute most out of his new skill acquisitions. The entire exnation had a faint undercurrent of exasperation and almost desperation, not <em>outright</em> pleading with him to not take offense at any people who might be a bit pushier than they nominally should have been when giving suggestions for his skills, but very strongly suggesting it.


    He wondered what the story was there. He suspected a stab happy teleporter didnt like to be told what skills they should absorb. Or maybe a water mage lightly drowned a few people who suggested things he didnt like. Or a dragon ate people who suggested anything. Yeah there were more than enough stories he could probably find if he went digging.


    Hed epted, almost more worried after the entire speech meant to pacify him than beforehand, but had been quite pleased with his advisors so far. One was a wizened Tier 38 mage named Delphi Ghan who specialized in Innate Skill Theory, the second a young-looking Tier 45 woman from Group Firmament who went by the name Overload, and was a resident expert in high-mana crafting, and the final member was a Tier 35 man with pitch-ck hair and eyes from Group Branch who introduced himself as Xell Brians, a statistical analyst and diviner.


    They all had their obvious preferences and areas of expertise, and while Overload seemed to be a bit ufortable around Matt, she was still quite professional. The three of them had gone through Matts entire list of possibly interested skills, both the ones that hed mentioned and the list hed been given by Group Scroll, and had opinions on <em>all</em> of them. Not only did they know, in <em>incredible</em> detail, the effects that the skills would have individually, but also how they interacted or ovepped with the other skills on his list and that the rest of Team Zero as a whole was known to have.


    And he was learning a <em>lot</em>.


    Unlike what hed always thought, apparently skills didnt always work exactly the same for everyone. The simple act of absorption changed the skill structure in usually-unnoticed ways, a sort of very basic modification simply required to use the baseline skill. The further into the spirit it was brought, therger the effects, up to and including Innate skills. Also, not all Talent-given skills worked the same way from the start. Some automatically were tied to physical movements, others, particrly neutral-mana skills, could start off aspected, some even needed a physical focus to work at all. The Minka-granted Innate slot worked differently in some ways, but simrly in others. The speed at which he absorbed skills could affect things, <em>which</em> skill slot, even within a givenyer of his spirit, he put them in could affect it, what skills he already had in his spirit could impact things


    None of the advantages were insurmountable with sufficient time and dedication, but added together, they could make a substantial impact on his immediatebat prowess and make future advancement that much easier.


    It had been a dizzying array of knowledge crammed into his head all at once, and theyd outlined an initial set of skills for Matt to absorb, and an optimal order for doing so. It wasntplete by any metric, as there were still plenty of reasons why they might want to change up his loadout. The most obvious of which was his uing custom-made gear, in case he decided on something that boosted a specific spell, or was most effective with a given skill empowering it.


    Then there was the main wildcard, his upgrade orbs. Hed already used his first Tier 38 orb on upgrading [Regeneration], fulfilling a practically lifelong dream of being essentially unkible. Sure, there were still things that the skill couldnt handle, like curses, but with his Talent he could keep the Overhealth flowing <em>constantly</em>, and even with only 10,000 MPS dedicated the skill, he could regrow any part of him in mere seconds and left him functionally immune to physical trauma so long as he didnt let the skillpse and then get injured in the skills cooldown.


    But now, he had a second one. Some Duke Falgrio had sold the Empire an extra Tier 38 Upgrade Orb on the condition his sincere generosity and show of favor was made explicit to the new Ascenders. Even if it didnt increase his base allotment of upgrade orbs any, Matt was still quite happy to get ahold of a second orb months in advance of when he was expecting.


    Even before hed discussed it with his advisors, hed already known exactly what he was using it on, and he was pleased that they hadnt tried to talk him out of it. Well, Overload tried to sell him on using it on [Mana Beam], and he suspected that Xell would have preferred that he wait to see how well [Cracked Reinforce Stone] worked for him, and use it on that instead, but he was ready to ignore all <em>three</em> of them even if Delphi hadnt been in support of his idea.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] had been there since before he was on The Path and he wasnt going to throw it away like a used toy.


    Even though the Tier 26 upgrade had been a little underwhelming, Matt outright refused to ept the idea that a different spell, a <em>new</em> spell, would be a better fit. Theyd all been fairly curious what the second upgrade would bring, as the mostmon second upgrade for [Phantom Armor] upgrade allowed one to adjust the trigger conditions of the spell, letting the user bring it up the moment they entered any form of danger, or only protect from very specific parts of the body or types of damage. It was somewhat conditional, but undeniably useful under those conditions, but waspletely and utterly redundant with Matts particr crack.


    In the end, it increased the range and flexibility of [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer, letting it cover his weapon or other held items. While it improved their durability without impacting his sword''s sharpness, it overall felt like a bit of a dud upgrade.


    Still, he believed in his oldest and most faithful skill.


    While nobody in the armys records had ever used a Tier 38 upgrade orb on [Phantom Armor], that didnt mean his advisors were clueless about how his skill might react.


    Overload figured there was a fairly high probability that it would be fairly useless to him, or something he could aplish with enough modification. She cited how the spell liked to vent mana out of the secondyer, acting as a form of power overflow, and through some fairly advanced arguments that Matt only half-followed, thought the most likely upgrade would be something that let him turn a part of the secondyer into a weapon of its own. Making a sword out of his skill <em>would</em> be something of a dud, he had to agree, especially since odds were good he could do something simr with his Talent. Even if it made it easier, it would be something of a waste.


    Xell, via some divinations and statistical analysis, predicted that the skill would have something to do with separation, or otherwise reaching external to the base effect. The example hed given was physical discontinuity between portions of the armor, such as creating floating barriers or bing able to also cast the armor on another person.


    That could be useful but not something Matt really wanted. There were other skills that could do that.


    Finally Delphi, using a spiritual scan of the skills interaction with Matts spirit, where it sat in his Innate slot, pointed to several sections of the structure where mana could be stored. He proposed the idea that the skill was already synergistic with his Tier 25 Talent and overall mana flow, and would prove exponentially stronger the more mana was used during a given cast of the skill, stockpiling the excess to either strengthen itself, or possibly any skills he cast while <em>using</em> it.


    With a degree of excitement he hadnt felt since he was Tier 6 and first getting new skills, he pretended to make his final choice and crushed the ck upgrade orb with his spirit.


    As he felt the orb sink into [Cracked Phantom Armor], he felt out some of the changes to the skill, before hitting it with [Analyze] as Xell did the same. It took a moment to figure out, but confirmed with the diviner his findings before giving it a proper test.


    He was quite pleased.


    On a very basic level, the upgrade absorbed iing magical attacks that it would have otherwise blocked, and attuned the spell to that given attack. The more attuned it was, the better he could defend against that specific attack and other attacks like it, but it <em>also</em> gave him various elemental effects and boosts when adequately charged.


    He relocated to the testing facility, where some on-hand trainers were quite willing to bombard him with [Arc]s and [Meteor Shower]s. The former turned his armor an electric blue and began leaving trails of lightning in his wake, while thetter turned his armor red and covered in mes, even unleashing explosions every time he punched something.


    The rate of conversion <em>was</em> on the slower side, but Matt already had an answer in mind for that.


    He dismissed and re-conjured the armor to reset its umted affinity, then called upon his mana-aspecting ring, and flooded [Cracked Phantom Armor] with fire mana, turning the entire suit cherry red. Even without thinking about it, the secondyer twisted its filigree and design to be more me-like in design, and while no fires burst forth initially, he could sense the heat just below the surface.


    A nearby trainer, at Matts prompting, hit him with a [Firebolt].


    Matt cackled as the spell sshed against his armor like it was a pebblending in ake, barely costing him any mana to block and causing his armor to actually re up.


    Hit me with a water spell, please.


    The mage did so, and Matt nodded. Given the mana it had taken, there was a slight decrease to the efficacy of his armor for spells of opposing elements, but that cost was more than offset by the general power boost it had gotten as a side effect from the Tier 38 orb.


    With a thought, he flooded [Cracked Phantom Armor] with water mana, and in just a second, the armor was a deep blue and ready to protect him from water spells.


    There was a small time frame where the mana types were switching, that the armor was back to a normal affinity, but Matt could already feel that with some practice, he could get that one-second time frame down to something viable for Tier 25bat. It also seemed as though he wasnt able to get some of the more atypical effects from simply flooding the armor with mana, but even if that wasnt just a matter of practice, which he suspected it was, he could just hit <em>himself</em> with the requisite spells to get the best armor effects.


    It was at that time Matt realized he had no idea how it would interact with his newest Talent, and he dismissed the mana aspecting from [Cracked Phantom Armor] before letting his Tier 25 Talent turn the mana into physical crystal.


    He had already tried to crystallize outside sources of mana, or mana hed passed through his ring, and while it was possible, it was damn hard, and it was nowhere nearbat viable with his current skill.


    With a breath, he flooded [Cracked Phantom Armor] with lightning mana and his crystalline armor started to spark. When the trainer hit him with a lightning spell, they found that his crystallized [Cracked Phantom Armor] actually absorbed the spell and reinforced the physical mana crystals.


    Overall, a very useful upgrade that Matt was sure hed be figuring out new uses for constantly in the centuries toe. With Zack on his team, the possibility space for interesting mana types in varying skills was if not <em>outright</em> infinite, damn close.


    But, most importantly, it didnt change any of his primary skill acquisitions, and the first of them had already arrived in the rift.


    Matt felt a deep upwelling of glee as he beheld the eleven skills on the table before him. More would arrive in the days and weeks toe, but <em>this</em> was true power. This was what he had waited for, what he had fought and bled for. Before him were the dreams of a starry-eyed younger Matt being fully realized, and he <em>loved</em> it.


    The first one was [Breach], the uncracked version of the skill he had almost gotten in the vassal wars he had participated in. Hed ultimately been bought out by the opposition in an attempt to get him to change sides near the end of the war, but he didnt regret the loss that much.


    Seeing it now felt nostalgic, but it wasnt nearly the coolest skill he was immediately given.


    That honor went to [Dragonme]. The Tier 32 skill was one of a series of spells that dragons typically used to supplement or rece their innate breath weapon. The spells had been rmended by Overcharge on ount of the sheer number of different options the base spell had. Matt could separately control the heat, duration, speed, and quantity of me produced by the spell, which made it substantially surpass his old [methrower]. By pumping his mana regen into the spell, he would be melting <em>mountains</em>.


    It was the attack every child imagined themselves ying with.


    He also got the air and sand variants, [Dragon Breath] and [Dragons Drought] respectively, for the additional variety. In time, he might extend that to more elemental varieties, but the three would suffice for now. They were an umon but popr spell family, and Matt had heard rumors that L herself had been involved in his acquisition of [Dragons Drought]. He had always known the big dragon was a softie.


    [Flight], [Telekinesis], and [Gravity Maniption] were three obvious choices, each a channeled skill with clear utility in fights. He would no longer need to fly or manipte tools through indirect means, and his Intent had direct synergy with gravity-aspect skills, making it an easy choice.


    ordingly, Delphi rmended he also pick up [Gravitic Bolt] and [Cosmic Pressure]. The former was a fairly simple armor piercing spell that warped light as it flew, while thetter was a spell that drastically strengthened gravity in an area to slow fighters and trap most mages.


    [Barrage] wouldplement his non-channeled spells, allowing him to duplicate most single cast spells at a higher mana cost, and after some modification he would be able to flood a fight with an endless stream of projectiles.


    Then there was the creme de creme.


    The Tier 38 skill [Mana Beam]. As a proper channel, Matt would be able to throw all the mana he wanted into the skill without any spiritual strain, and while it made [Cracked Mana Spear] obsolete, he was more than happy to upgrade.


    Next up, meeting with Firmament to n out his armor.


    He couldnt wait.

 Echos Chapter 1

    Echos Chapter 1


    Luna walked through the crowds as she stalked her prey.


    Silver was right there drinking a red liquid that Lunas nose said wasnt wine, though she had no idea what it actually was, and she made a note to look into that. New drinks were rare, but she had been napping for a while in thest few millennia.


    Silver was still talking to some Dukeling, but Luna turned a re on the younger woman, who wilted and made an excuse to free Silver''s attention.


    Was that really necessary Luna?


    Luna nodded firmly. Yes, we need to speak.


    Silver gestured with their cup, and Luna once more tried to peg who Silver was behind the mask. Luna had correctly pegged Madam Terror, the yellow mask, as Jebediah Tallow only a few hundred years after the switch, but she had never been able to settle on who Silver was.


    Does it need to be right now? I was having a lovely conversation with Duchess Restle, and you scared her off.


    Feeling the Emperor''s eyesnd on her, Luna knew he was protecting their conversation from prying eyes and ears so she spoke frankly. Yes, yes it does. I know you have your little Project Breach, and I want in. Ive sent messages, but nobody is answering.


    Silver sighed as if <em>she</em> were the one being exasperating. You shouldnt even know the name of that project, but the answer is simple. We dont need to take advantage of the Pather continued management sub-use to bring you in. The Armys instructors are more than enough for the group''s needs.


    Luna didnt believe that for a second and called Silver out. Bullshit. Im the best there is, half the team have had sses with me, and you already asked me for a consult when Light and Shadow graduated. Why are you ying games <em>now</em>?


    Silver sighed for a second time, but Luna caught the theatrics in it this time, realizing she was about to get screwed. We simply dont need your help. We have plenty of trainers and teachers already involved, and with two groups of Ascenders, your particr brand of mentorship isnt needed. They can push one another to ever-higher standards perfectly fine on their own, no outside assistance required.


    Luna let that excuse roll around her tongue before she responded, Bullshit.


    Silver let their mask smirk. Perhaps. But. For the first time, Luna I have something <em>you</em> want that you cant just waltz your way into. You need direct approval for the position, and after all the times Ive asked you for favors, Im going to make you <em>bleed</em> for this one. And dont bother trying to go around me to King Rusty or the Emperor. Ive already spoken to them. Its <em>my</em> approval you need, not theirs.


    Luna felt a tooth start to elongate, but she controlled it as she considered her response.


    Part of her was tempted to simply resume her nap. She had been in the middle of the most delightful dream when she was woken up, and it had only been a century and a half. She could probably get back to it if she tried.


    But.


    There had never been an opportunity like this before, and there could well never be one like this again. Two sets of Ascenders, at the same Tier? Ascenders-know-how-many other elites shed never been able to sink her ws into. This was an opportunity to carve something truly transcendent into the sculpture of the Realm. She wouldnt be life-altering to any of them, that much was certain. Ascenders were already close to perfect through sheer necessity.


    But this was quite possibly the closest thing to perfection that had ever, <em>could</em> ever exist. She desperately needed to get in. But security was unimaginably tight, and Silver was her only way in. What should have been almost a formality, retaining military contact with her immediate former students and providing some advice as to optimizing their new Talents, had turned into Silver holding her by the scruff and refusing to let go.


    But she <em>couldnt</em> just walk away. Not when something so close to a perfected sculpture was within her reach. It was so close to perfect that it only needed her polish to really <em>shine</em>.


    What? Her words were little more than a growl, but it was the best she could manage at the moment.


    Silver''s mask split into a victorious smile, and theyughed as they took a sip of their mystery drink. You dont even know how much pleasure this brings me. This might literally be the best day Ive had since I donned the mask. But I will keep it simple. Five Pather teams of the Tribunals choosing, noining. You missed so many Academy lessons the past sixty thousand years that we actually lost count, so well just say you owe five thousand and call that even. Plus, the normal two each decade for as long as you stay active. Luna was about to burst a blood vessel when Silver added, And, you will make yourself avable for personal training in exchange for Military Merits going forward.


    Luna desperately wished she could refuse. Demanding she make herself avable for <em>Merit</em>-hired training was akin to a p in the face. She hadnt done that since the Cosmos finished the Path under her tutge, back in <em>Agathas</em> day.


    And the Academy training? How dare Silver. Luna had done her time teaching the brats of nobility, and she refused to do it as often as the Pather management system wanted. Whenever there was someone actually worth her while, shed show up, of course, but that was rare. And before this, no one even dared to suggest she keep up with her quota. Quotas and requirements like taking multiple groups under one''s tutge was a thing for those Managers who hadnt created four Ascenders.


    <em>Four</em>.


    Luna had proved she wasnt a fluke, she wasnt just lucky. Four Ascenders was a record no one was ever going to break, and both of them knew it. She had earned her exceptions, damn it. And were it anything else, she would have left then and there.


    But she couldnt walk away. Even if the kids would be leaving this Project Breach in the wake of the war which was at best a coin toss and shed have ess to them again afterwards, that would be centuries away, and she couldnt let them be for that long.


    One team, ten academy lessons, and no Military Merit teaching.


    Four teams, five thousand academy lessons, and Military Merit teaching until the war ends.


    Luna scoffed at the counter offer.


    Two teams, one hundred academy lessons, and no Military Merit teaching.


    Three teams, one thousand academy lessons, and Military Merit teaching but we will raise your price to reflect your status as a trainer extraordinaire to keep out the average troops.


    <em>Two</em> teams, <em>one hundred</em> academy lessons to be taught at my discretion and then never again, and Luna debated if she could lower the Military Merits training, but felt she had pushed as far as she could go on that condition. And add that the Merit training is only valid as long as <em>this</em> war is ongoing. No ying with definitions and how border skirmishes count enough to keep me in the mix.


    Silver tapped the side of their ss for a long moment before nodding. Agreed on the Merits and the academy lessons, but you need to ept three teams of Pathers. You have proven once more that you are good at making monsters, and the Empire needs them more than ever.


    Luna cursed internally as Silver agreed to her academy lessons conditions. She hadnt expected him to cave on that one so easily. If she had known, she would have dug her heels in at a lower limit.


    Still. She wasnt going to ept any Tom, Dick, or Harry, the Tribunal thought they could foist on her.


    That was <em>not </em>how she worked.


    Two teams and I get right of refusal if I think you are trying to foist garbage on me.


    Silver snorted. So you can just refuse any and everyone. Not a chance. Three groups. The Tribunal will take your opinion under <em>consideration </em>when assigning them to you.


    Two, and I get right of refusal but wont dismiss anyone out of hand.


    Silver tapped their ss until they nodded. Deal.


    Luna felt like she had been dunked in a bath. Still, if it was over, that was eptable if it meant she was able to keep training the kids. But as Silver''s bodynguage changed, she felt like there was another shoe waiting to drop.


    What?


    When Silver didnt answer her question, she felt her hackles rise.


    Silver What. Is. It?


    This condition isnt from me, the tribunal, or Military High Command.


    <em>Exin</em>.


    You need to give a speech about Silver fidgeted like they werent an immortal, but rather a child who was caught with crumbs on their shirt after saying they didnt sneak any cookies.


    Spit it out, Silver, or Im going to reach in there and pull it out.


    After what they had just done to her, she was seriously tempted. A new Silver could always be raised after all.


    You need to give a speech about why cats shouldnt eat birds at Mara Moores Center For Birds Who Were Forced To Watch a Cat Eat Other Birds and Now Cant Sleep Good.


    Luna felt a tooth crack as she turned her head to see a stupid birdughing it up across the ballroom floor.


    One searchter showed there was one single registrant of the foundation. araM. The idiot hadnt even bothered to fix the capitalization of her name when writing it backwards.


    She searched for and found a delving group that needed a mage and bought the spot. It was a bird rift, and she was going to slowly eat every bird she came across and send Mara the videos.


    Two could y at this game, and while she had been fleeced, she had at least gotten what she wanted. And really, that was all that mattered.


    Unable to unclench her jaw, she agreed.


    I ept.


    ***


    Cameron had no idea how she had gotten here, but being surrounded by thousands of the highest echelons of the Empire had been a dream just a few hours ago.


    Sure, she had been able to meet some of these people before, but she was so far removed from Matt and Lizs royal parents'' influence as Aster''s friend, most people just ignored her.


    And she was fine with that.


    Really, she was.


    Sure, she had already made her list of people to rub their noses in that decision once she worked her way up the politicaldder, but that was something to be done a few millennia from now, when she was a Duchess in her own right.


    But now, so many of her ns had gone out the window, and she knew that she wasnt the only one to have that happen.


    Vinnie and Mathew, two of Matt and Lizs older friends, had been fending off dozens of offers from various nobles to send their children, siblings, spouses, friends, guard captains, or anyone who could reasonably fight and was under their aegis to the training hall they had set up. They werent even subtle about their offers and why they wanted to do so.


    It wasnt about Mathew and Vinniesmendable work to reinvest their experience in their home, or wanting to help those children who were dealing with subpar resources. It was all about wanting a connection to the newest set of Ascenders in any way possible.


    Cameron wanted to say it sickened her, but she had seen far worse this evening.


    Samantha, one of the friends from that group, had been using her poison control Talent and working as a luxury therapeutics manager for wealthy mortals who didnt have the ability to control their own bodies. The business she worked for had just been bought out by a noble who made it clear that she just wanted to get closer to Samantha.


    Who did that?


    Duchess Ablor, apparently. Even Cameron thought it had been an uncouth move that hadnt earned the woman any positive points from the general friend group.


    Though, she wasnt so naive as to believe that the Duchess had done it for a <em>good</em> reputation. A bad first impression, so long as the action wasnt earned from some reprehensible act, could be corrected over a few decades, but could get one''s name into someone''s head far more securely than another act of ttery.


    It was a risky n, but with everyone falling over themselves and only being remembered by their AI, the Duchesss move had cemented her in all of their minds, so it <em>had</em> worked in her favor.


    Cameron had already gotten a number of offers to take assistant positions to some of the Empires most powerful ducal families after she declined the marriage proposals to said nobles'' sons and daughters.


    She was an otter of her word, and when she said she wanted to work her way up from the bottom where she could learn about each position and what the responsibilities it demanded of one in that position, she had meant it. Even now her Baron''s Duke had already schmoozed his way over to her and informed her that her application to said position in his court had been epted. It didnt matter that her application had been rightly rejected due tock of experience, and had fallen down the chain ofmand until itnded in Baron Dionices hands. That was the proper method of applying for such a role, but the Duke was trying to hijack the procedure to link himself to her.


    Cameron had needed to pull from all her political training lessons to politely decline him without offending him, stating her intention to work her way up the nobledder on her own earned merits. While she felt like she had managed it, she knew it wasnt over. Not if she wished to follow her n, at least.


    His partingment about agreeing it was best to work one''s way up implied she would eventually be working for him, and he wasnt wrong.


    At least, not if she followed her original n.


    Her ideals were wavering in the face of so much opposition, and it made her question herself.


    She had dealt with a dozen failed projects, a thousand rejected ideas, and countless ideas that never left her notepads, and she had easily worked her way through said problems. In the end, each of her projects and jobs turned out better than projected for less money than the initial project expected.


    She had dealt with all of that without batting an eye, but for the first time, people were throwing everything she could ever want at her, and she found herself floundering.


    Not that she wanted to ept the offers. No, resisting that particr temptation was easy. Her morals and ideals werent up for sale to the highest bidder. She just didnt know how to properly navigate rejecting everyone without ruining her future.


    Her lessons and training hadnt covered having an Ascender for a best friend damn it.


    And she was going to twist Aster''s ears off the next time she saw her. Poor Julia was nearly catatonic with all the people pressing in to chat with her. Cameron''s bond had never been the social type, which was why Cameron had initially pushed herself into people-facing positions in the first ce.


    She sent Aster her eleventh scathing message demanding a shipping container worth of ice cream for Julia. Her bond would need thefort food when they got out of here.


    Shed even dig into a carton or five herself. Cameron had not expected her best friend to be a friggin Ascender, and seeing the bubbly fox walk down the carpet to join legends like Duke Waters, L Worldwalker, and Light and Shadow had broken her brain a little.


    If it wasnt for the constant stream of memes and jokes in their small Bonds group chat, she would have questioned if she really knew Aster.


    It was unfair, and she knew it, but Cameron had wondered if anything about the Aster she knew was real. She understood the need for a mask, but having been best friends with someone who revealed that she was secretly one of the strongest people in the Empire was a shock, and not a good one.


    She just felt like she didnt know her friend anymore.


    Frankly, despite her hatred for this upending of her life and ns, if Aster hadnt spent thest two weeks reaffirming their friendship, Cameron really might have worried that she had only been friends with a fake personality.


    But through it all, Aster was Aster.


    And that was something.


    Seeing Juan get cornered by another noble house, she grit her teeth and through an extraordinary effort of will, stopped her hair from ring with heat as she went over to intercept. Juan had nearly agreed to a courtship twice already, and she needed to ensure that no one tried to push anything again.


    She didnt get why the elephant was such a hotmodity, but it seemed like half the nobles here were trying to, if not marry him, get him to have a child with their children. Stone elephants were pretty rare, but Cameron felt like she was missing some kind of subtext. She and Juan both.


    Once she was done extricating Juan from his predicament, she had to put out the fire that was Kyle and Katherine. Someone was hitting on the small cat and Kyle, true to the stereotype of a delver, was reacting with threats instead of politeness, which would justnd him right where the nobles wanted him.


    They had pegged him from a away, and she needed to stop him from punching a noble.


    As she calmed everything down, she sent him a message to <em>calm down</em>. It was adorable that he was protective over Katherine, but first of all, the girl might be quiet, but she wasnt a pushover and could reject people herself. And second of all, it was clearly a ploy, and doing what the nobles wanted was just dumb, damn it.


    Then there was Kelly, who was yelling at someone who had implied Aster wasnt a real ascender because she was a bond.


    Ugh. She was going to twist off Aster''s ears <em>and</em> tail next time she saw her damn it.


    ***


    Ericughed as Matt, Aster, and Liz walked up to them.


    The trio were proud as a group of peacocks who had just gotten their new feathers, but Eric didnt hold it against them.


    They had every right to be proud. What they had done was in no way easy.


    He and Dena damn well knew that, having almost made it themselves.


    Well, look at you three. Dont you guys look spiffy? Eric let his emotions show through with his smile.


    Dena nodded. It''s impressive, but hey, thank you guys. We took the payout instead of a duchy, and damnnnn was it a nice one.


    Matt raised an eyebrow in question, but Eric didnt exin too much. It would spoil the surprise, and if he did that, Allie would haunt him for the next decade again. We made it far enough to get an Earldom of our own, and really don''t need or want anything more than that. So we took the cash reward instead of thes. Not that they had anys at the time. Seems like with the glut of new Ascenders, the Empire is running out of empty Duchies they have in reserve.


    Dena winked up at him. Hey, we <em>are</em> at war, though. If the new Ascenders want a new, they just need to win and take it out of the prize pool.


    Liz chuckled. We''ll see, but from what we have been told, we will be doing missions, so who knows if we will even be all that impactful with the war. It wouldnt be the first time an Ascender was used for more ndestine objectives.


    Eric had to resistughing outright at the idea. No, General Darrow would not be letting his newest set of Ascendersnguish on spy missions.


    Instead, he said, Im sure you guys will be busy.


    Dena nodded. If we are busy, you guys will be just as preupied, if not more so.


    Eric had to bite the inside of his cheek as he resistedughing. If the looks the three kids gave each other were any indication, Dena had probably tipped their hands, but this was too fun.


    Trying to not spoil the surprise, he added, The war is keeping everyone busy.


    Liz nodded. Makes sense. Maybe once we get settled in we can coordinate a joint mission or something.


    Aster bounced on her feet as she agreed. Oh that would be fun!


    As they chatted, Eric smiled at all the double talk he and Dena were able to slip into the conversation.


    They just couldn''t resist messing with the trio. Matt was their sponsee, after all, and how often did one of those finish the Path? It was the perfect time to poke one.


    Speaking of sponsees, he asked, Did you guys sponsor anyone? They usually get anyone who is doing well to sponsor at least one kid.


    Matt grinned, but Liz answered, We did.


    Dean learned forward like they were sharing a conspiracy. Are they here? What did they think of this?


    Liz sighed dramatically. Sadly, no. They were busy cking off. Getting ready to go into Minka or some drivel. Who needs prep for that or anything? But we did the recruiting in masks thanks to my identity, so we sent them a little surprise.


    Dena almost cackled at the news. Oh, that sounds devious. You <em>must</em> share.


    ***


    Eleanor was lounging, her feet dangling over the edge of the love seat as she watched the screen on their rented apartment. Ethan was loudly chewing a bowl of cereal, and it grated on her ears as she contemted violence. The monster didnt let the cereal sit for a few minutes to get just a little soggy, which was the only proper way to eat cereal.


    The idiot was also using a box Willow and Mr. VIP had sent them a few weeks ago, after they declined going to some stupid party like a table, but she didnt have it in her to pursue that argument once more. Not tonight.


    Their tiny abode rattled as a transport train sped by outside. With their budget, they couldnt afford anything but the absolute cheapest living spaces, every spare mana stone going back into guides, or gear, or trainers. She hadnt realized just how <em>expensive</em> everything was. For all that the Path demanded self-reliance, it did an impossible amount of work behind the scenes, invisibly greasing the wheels. High-Tier trainers, rift ess, even the tax breaks, all things which shed just taken for granted, but now was feeling the absence of all too acutely.


    She felt like shed learned more in the few short years being taught by her Path-provided trainer than in all the decades since, and it was <em>maddening</em>. The only thing that she truly felt like she learned after the Path was just how extravagantly they lived before, and just how much it would cost them now to live in even remotely simr conditions. It resulted in some fairly mixed feelings, as the broadcast for Torch and Quills Ascension ceremony yed out in their living room.


    It wasnt even that getting money was <em>that </em>hard. It was just that all the really good jobs were locked behind Guild recruitment offers. They offered plenty of benefits, but the condition of joining the Guild was just out of the question. They were only here on this until they felt that they could reliably delve Minka as best as one could. After that, they would get to rejoin their family again, but this time as immortals who could really contribute.


    The thought of family got her nervous again. Eleanor had been away from home for decades at this point, and while they still sent frequent [AI] messages, shed not talked with them in person for what felt like forever. Part of her was afraid, afraid that she wouldnt recognise her home after all these years. And knowing her cousin, it was likely he was afraid too.


    He was just better at hiding it.


    Youre doing that brooding thing again. You really have got to stop doing that, its gotten out of hand recently.


    That hit a little too close to home and she snarked back, At least Im not the one whos gotten addicted to those VR games.


    Hey! Theyre <em>really</em> good. Dont judge them before trying them! Theres this really good fighting one that teaches you about all the differen-


    Still doesnt mean you havent blown away a bunch of your savings on them. Stop talking so much, theyre about to reveal their faces. I dont wanna miss that. With that, Ethan promptly stopped whatever retort he had in mind, and focused on the screen again.


    Matthew, Elizabeth Moore. See, its noble brats. It''s not that impressive that they finished the Path. Tier 25 by 200 years old. Anyone with half a brain could do that. Ethan was a bit more bitter than her, and while he didnt me <em>her</em> for their failure, she knew he still felt the sting of falling off before Tier 15. It didnt change his habit of talking about impossible things like they were trivial, though.


    Still, it wasnt like she could say she didnt feel simr. Seeing someone do something that you tried your hardest to do bute utterly short of was a rare feeling, and certainly not a positive one.


    You realize that your statement means we have less than half a brain, right?


    As she pointed that out, Ethan shrugged. Eh whatever. We didnt even bet on them, so what does it matter?


    We didnt bet on anyone?


    I know, and if you had let me bet, we could have made some good money.


    Eleanor swung her legs off the armrest and sat up straight. We dont even know them, so how would we have bet on them? We would have just lost money. You know we cant afford that now, more than ever.


    I was just trying to be helpful.


    Eleanor threw a crumb at him. Then be actually helpful and open the box Howard and Willow sent.


    Spoon dangling in his mouth and muffling his words, her cousin threw his hands in the air. I tried. I tried <em>everything</em>. I even epted your dumb ass idea and tried merging it with an open box and got the spiritual damage to prove it.


    No no no, you half-assed it by trying to merge the box with an empty donut box. If you had listened and built a simr box and then tried to merge it, you wouldnt be having this issue.


    Who has time to build a replica box? And if that was your idea, you shouldnt have said it when I had a box of donuts in my hand.


    I


    Ethan and Eleanor jumped as the box they were using as a coffee table clicked and made a hissing sound.


    It might have been a gift from their sponsors, but Eleanor still readied her wand and got ready to cast.


    Ethan readied his spoon like he was going to do something with it.


    <em>How was this idiot her cousin</em>?


    Some days, she really didnt know.


    She was just getting ready to say something when the lid of the box slid open with a small <em>whir</em>, projecting a hologram of Willow, Howard, and his little sister.


    Hey, kids. Figured this


    We arent kids anymore. Ethan whined, and Eleanor reached out and punched his shoulder. A neen made him wince and groan, but it at least shut him up.


    Was about the right time to tell you guys who our real identities are.


    There was a long dramatic pause, one so long Ethan started eating again as he mumbled. Told you they were wearing masks.


    It was something theyd debated during their downtimes far too many times to count. Ethan was convinced that theyd hidden their identities, and she agreed. Theyd tried looking for the duo on the EmpireNet countless times, and had alwayse up nk.


    A crunch turned gurgled choke as the trios appearances shimmered and changed into a set of faces they wouldnt have recognized ten minutes prior.


    Eleanor whipped her head back and forth, between the chuckling new faces of their sponsors, and three people with those <em>exact same faces</em> slowly advancing down a very long carpet. Their cheap Screen didnt include spiritual sense, so she was only able to go on visuals but she couldnt find <em>any</em> differences, other than their outfits.


    I wha She was interrupted by Ethan spraying a fine mist of milk across the room.


    What the fuck dude? A spit take cant be that dyed or it''s obviously fake.


    I was in shock.


    Eleanor wanted to say that was bullshit, but she couldnt say he was wrong.


    Their Mr. Vip and Willow were the very peoplepleting the Path right then and there.


    As that thought started to settle in, Eleanor started to have a mini panic attack. Not a fake one for an audience, but a genuine panic attack. Like that one time when she was using a bidet and managed to roll all ones with her Talent.


    She had no idea how to react to the news, but the sinking feeling in her gut told her it probably wasnt anything good.


    That or the <em>bear</em>itos they had eatenst night were actually poisoned, and not just badly cooked. Sketchy food carts were notorious like that.


    After a moment to check herself, Eleanor decided, no, this was a normal bad feeling just magnified to eleven.


    Well, shit. What do we


    Her words were interrupted by another set of locksing undone on the box, but instead of a screen popping up, the entire lid came up and revealed an expanded spacerger than their entire two-room apartment. A space packed with goodies.


    Willows, or Elizabeths, or Torchs, Eleanor wasnt sure what to call her any more, voice spoke from the open lid. Inside you will find notes of our own Minka run along with some of the best Tier 14 gear we could getmissioned for you guys. We wanted to bring you guys to the party, but <em>someone </em>was too set on Minka. To that end, we will help you as much as we can. Just don''t die in there. It''s dangerous. Like really, really dangerous. Even we almost died a few times.


    <em>Thats </em>the party they were referring to?! I thought it was some regr party too far away! Youre telling me we could be out there in the <em>Capital</em> instead of being out here in the middle of nowhere?! He was cut off fromining more by Eleanor poking him sharply on the side.


    If youve finishedining, do you want to pull out what they got for us inside this box?


    Ethan took another bite of his cereal as he tried to look nonchnt and failed. Let me see too. I bet theyve got something <em>incredible.</em>


    Eleanor slowly nodded as she pulled out a skin-tight suit of armor made from what looked like fish scales, but muchrger, not ovepping, and more leathery. It took her a moment, but finally, she understood what the under armor was made from.


    Dragon hide.


    What the fuck.


    Ethan, who was holding a simr butrger set of under armor, tossed the still half-full bowl of cereal into the sink backwards with a ssh. Fuck me sideways. Thats more than just incredible. This is absurd. Beyond absurd even. I take back everything bad Ive ever said about Matthew and Elizabeth not working hard to finish the Path. I


    Dont worry. I already recorded it, and Im sending it to them.


    That''s not fair, I had no idea who they were at the time! I was just talking shit. It wasnt serious.


    That''s what you get for being a sarcastic asshole to everything and everyone.


    Please dont send it. Daddy needs more dragonhide.


    Ew. First, don''t ever call yourself daddy in front of me again. Second, that''s what you deserve for talking shit <em>all the time</em>. Thirdly, more dragonhide for me!


    Rubbing the buttery smooth leather to her cheek, Eleanor had no idea how to thank Howard and Willow. Or Matthew and Elizabeth. Or Quill and Torch?


    Shit, masked names were hard.


    Thank you just wasnt enough for something like this.


    Still, despite everything they had earned on The Path and everything their families had been saving for them, a Minka run was dangerous and expensive at the best of times.


    This gear and the help of an actual Trainer was exactly what they needed, and she couldnt help but feel touched knowing how much this all cost, especially for Pathers, who had limited resources of their own.


    Maybe with this, they wouldnt chicken out before going into Minka this time.


    Maybe.

 Chapter 283

    Chapter 283


    Colonel Gnodel was the head librarian of Team Firmament, a slender, bookish woman with blonde hair, pointed ears, and a golden ymore she seemingly had out all the time. It was not what Matt pictured when he thought of a smith, but if she was the leader of Firmament she must have been the best.


    Matt met with the woman in a small room off the main shops in Firmament. The musty smell of enchanting permeated the entire building, and even in this meeting room, the remnants of scorch marks covered the floors and walls. Fortunately, the room was soundproofed, and not even the deafening ngs from the main workshop could prate the enchantments to interrupt their discussion.


    Ascender Quill, she greeted. Thank you foring.


    Thank you for working with me, Colonel. Ive heard youre practically a miracle-worker when ites to arms and armor. What do you see working for me? Matt had to resist rubbing his hands together like some evil mastermind as he asked.


    Well, first we need to discuss a bit about what kind of role you want to y. My understanding is that youve traditionally been something of a tank for your team, yes? Is that still what you would like to be now?


    My Intents phrase is I Am Dauntless, and as a part of that it includes me defining howbat flows around me, Matt agreed. So yes, I would like to remain a tank-like demage.


    So somewhat of a traditional tank then, yes? With your armor skill, we can definitely turn you into a <em>potent</em> force on the battlefield, able to shrug off any attack thrown at you, with basically unstoppable return volleys. Does that sound good to you?


    It does.


    Excellent. You currently have four growth items, two rings, your sword, and your house?


    Matt nodded. It had all been in the paperwork hed filled out as part of being an Ascender. Technically, he could have obscured just about any part of his build if hed been so inclined, but he didnt feel too much need to do so.


    The house is out of my purview, and well almost certainly rece the sword. Your rings allow you to teleport and convert mana to any aspect or subaspect, thats all correct?


    Wait, whyll we be recing my sword? Matt suddenly felt a little defensive. It was, well, <em>his sword</em>. It had been at his side for practically his entire life, it fit him almost perfectly, and hed basically <em>learned</em> enchanting with its generous rune-allotment and ability to wipe away old enchantments with just a bit of mana. Sure, he hadnt been able to use it muchtely, but hed been looking forward to doing so again once they brought in all the possible Tier 25 upgrade materials for him to sift through to see what his sword needed.


    Well, its honestly not all that great. Gnodel apologetically exined, raising her hand to forestall Matts rebuttal. Look, I understand that it got you through <em>many</em> Tiers, and Im happy for you. I get the attachment to growth items. But, it functionally has two abilities, the increased number of enchantments it can support, and the ability to switch between enchantment configurations. Sure, it will pick up a third ability when it hits Tier 25, and if its an absolutely legendary power, great. Even if it doesnt, you can keep it as a backup weapon to supplement your main sword.


    Whats wrong with having additional enchantment capacity? Matt tried not to sound like Allie or other Ascenders who dug in their heels at the hint of a suggestion they didnt like, but he wasnt a fan of what she was saying.


    Absolutely nothing. And thats where the drawbackse into y. The increased weight, that doesnt really matter. We could work with that. But, like most rift weapons, its a single object made mostly out of Steel L-24 A, which is standard in hardness and enchantability with no other stand out features. Most damningly, <em>we</em> cant enchant it, Ascender.


    Colonel Gnodel gestured out to the rift around them. We have people with Talents and Domains that let them cram ten runes in the space that you or I would take to enchant one. Another one can enchant the de of aser sword, a duo who can make weapons out of a special form of Talent-modified obsidian, sharper than anything and tougher than diamond. For as good as you may be a fighter, Quill, were that good at crafting, and we cant do <em>anything</em> for your sword. As a primary weapon, its just not up to par. It needs to be something thatll withstand antimagic fields, aplete blocking of your Talents and Domain, even stand up to Void magic. The kinds of materials and enchantments we have here, in Firmament, are beyond just about anything you could dream of, let alone <em>make</em> in time for this war.


    Matt sighed and relented, Alright, then. So are we going to discuss its recement now?


    The Colonel smiled. Actually, I was hoping to discuss your armor with you. Given your fittingly Ascender-level mana production alongside your fully physical cultivation, we have some fairly interesting ideas for you.


    With a click of her fingers, a life-sized illusion of a fairly typical set of Empire armor wavered into existence in the center of the room. Vambraces, greaves, and a breastte acted as the primary protective pieces for the suit, with various connective tes filling in the gaps while retaining full range of flexibility.


    Our first option is to simply approach this as typical armor, but lean strongly on your physical prowess. We can enchant it to boost your <em>base</em> physical attributes, so using [Mages Retreat] or [Archmages Presence] will be multiplicative with all of your cultivation buffs. Dont worry about the form of the armor, well take care of that after we settle on what you want, she added, preempting Matts impending question.


    Now, she continued while a new set of armor appeared next to the first, this one a full-body suit of armor with no apparent gaps at all, The other way we can do this is to make it <em>power</em> armor.


    Matt frowned. Power armor? Like a mech suit? Isnt that usually used by crafters who want to fight, or mages who dont want to cultivate strength but <em>do</em> want to punch people? Ive fought some people who used it, and Ive never been impressed, they always seem worse than what a warrior could do with a good suit of armor. He nodded towards the original, traditional armor.


    Well, yes. Power armor is primarily utilized as a tool for those who <em>need</em> physical cultivation but cant afford it. But thats not the only way it can be used. Tell me, Quill, are you familiar with Pdins?


    The Corporations elite guard, what about it? The kinds of resources needed to make something like that would be Matts eyes widened, On the scale of what were working with?


    Well, Colonel Gnodel coughed, <em>Our</em> power armors arent on the same level as what the Pdins have, not to mention all the supplementary resources that go into it, their supporting domains, the fact they have Minka bind them as growth items with no tradeoffs, all that. But what we do have is certainly several steps above what youd be used to. Stone uses one, for example, and his certainly outmatches what even a top of the line Corporation mech suit can manage.


    Huh, Matt mused. Eric <em>had</em> mentioned his armor a couple of times, but Matt hadnt gotten the chance to spar with him yet, so he didnt know that his former sponsor had been referring to <em>power</em> armor. So what can it provide then, which normal armor cant?


    Im d you asked! So, most importantly, we can make power armor almost arbitrarily strong without taking up normal enchantment space on your spirit. While more traditional armor would be exclusively about boosting you, using a mech suit means we can pack it full of more misceneous enchantments, giving you lots of redundancy and added focus on whats most important to you and how you fight. Its also no more cumbersome or limiting than normal armor is, people worry about that sometimes. But, with proper power armor, not only will you get the best of <em>normal</em> armor, functionally boosting your cultivation, youll also have room for <em>lots</em> of utility enchantments, letting you do all sorts of other things.


    Can you really make a mech suit stronger than I am, though? With my buff spells


    Not a problem! We can make your buff spells apply to the armor itself. Colonel Gnodel waved his concern away like an annoying fly.


    You can <em>do</em> that? Matt asked, baffled. Self-buff spells were basically impossible to apply to anything else. Hed heard of some people modifying [Transfer Strength] to apply to golems, which power armor basically was, but not something like [Mages Retreat]. Wait, why doesnt everyone do that?


    Well, it isnt easy, and Im not surprised you dont know how it works. The baseline outright requires a crafting-focused Intent, and thats the easy part!


    It works on attunement, then? Matt hadnt had much experience with attunement, all told, but he was getting the sense that it was suddenly going to be incredibly important.


    Colonel Gnodel pointed to a few spots in the hologram as she spoke. I wont go too far into it, as you dont have that level of specialized crafting knowledge, but broadly yes. We can make you a set of under-armor that will extend your spirit into the armor itself, so that once you get and run your [Archmages Presence], itll enhance the entire suit twice over. And yes, we can absolutely make a mech suit stronger than you are. You have all your cultivation in your physical core, but weve dealt with people who have scaling strength Talents in the past without issue. How much stronger will depend on how much mana you supply it, so you will need to split your mana between your buffs and your armor, but my understanding is that wont be an issue. At its baseline, without overcharging the motors or using any of your strength buffs, I would estimate somewhere between a five and ten times increase to your base strength. Now, thats just the baseline. Your self-buffs, overcharging the motor enchantments, all that will just push that strength even higher.


    Matt pondered that and slowly asked, Yeah, mana isnt an issue. How does thatpare to the traditional armor, buffing me that way?


    Colonel Gnodel pointed back to the first armor. We can pack a <em>lot</em> of strength enhancements into the more traditional armor, especially if we dedicate it entirely to that, so youd be stronger that way. You would indeed be physically weaker with power armor, and it would be somewhat more reliant on you supplying mana for its peak functions. But in exchange, you get <em>lots</em> of utility and room for other misceneous effects, which will make you far morebat capable than just being faster and more durable.


    Matt thought about that and ran some calctions before asking another question, And what about dedicating part of the traditional armor to enhancing my self-buffs, instead of enhancing my base strength?


    Already ounted for, at least in my estimations. Theres a tradeoff between multiplicative, additive, and meta-buffs, but at the optimal bnce? We could probably increase your strength twenty maybe thirtyfold, when running your buffs but not including them. If you went for <em>purely</em> strength in the traditional armor, and we cant get anywhere close to that with the power armor Ten to fifteenfold at best.


    Matt nodded as he thought through that option. What about enhancing self-buffs when theyre applied to the power armor?


    That is an option. Though, I did assume some minor enchantments to that effect would be included.


    So, just so Im clear, the decision is between more typical armor, which can enhance my cultivation twenty times over but not really do much else, or a mech suit which isnt quite that strong, but leaves me room for lots of other enchantments helping me out in other ways and will make me stronger overall? Matt wanted to make sure he wasnt missing something. The choice seemed obvious.


    That would be correct, Ascender. Colonel Gnodel nodded like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.


    Then why doesnt everyone use power armor?!


    Colonel Gnodel snorted as she rxed. Most people dont have us, a teamprised of dozens of the best Tier 35 crafters the Empire has, all of whom are Talented. Or the budget to make power armor out of materials that let it truly excel over its more traditional counterparts. And even if they have the first two, few people have enough mana to run a mech suit this powerful in a fight for more than a few minutes. And even if they can do all of that, the price to do so is <em>astronomical</em>.


    Matt nodded in thought. At least for now, lets assume that Ill go with the power armor. I like the idea of being both strong and able to do more than hit things harder with my sword. For the first time I can use my entire skill set in a fight, so I intend to be the best damn de mage there is.


    An excellent choice, Ascender. Colonel Gnodel had an almost manic grin as Matt agreed. Let''s start nning exactly what you want in your armor.


    ***


    Liz closed The Book with a sigh. It didnt have the answers she <em>needed</em>, not by any stretch of the imagination, and no matter how helpful it could be for her, it was only bringing confusion and pain. At least for now. Matt was supportive, of course. He always was, and whatever she chose, he would be there for her. But that didnt make the decision any easier.


    But, the weather was as nice as it always was in Fort Lightfoot, and she had new skills just waiting to be tested. Her advisors had been incredibly helpful, giving her insight into the ways in which her spirit twisted skills as she absorbed them, and the four of them- herself, Delphi Ghan, Xell Brians, and Haley Lifeblood Tailor- had given her a whole new suite of exciting magic to master.


    It was a bit of a pity that [Blood Intelligence], [Blood Artificial Intelligence], [Scarlet Intelligence], whatever the publicist in Group Chatter would eventually settle on for the naming scheme, had ended up a rtive dud. But at least shed been able to merge it with her legacy pseudo-AI just fine, and now she could choose to reserve blood or mana for all herputing needs.


    She scrolled through her pending messages, figuring out what all had happened while shed been in contemtion. It looked like Matt was still off designing his new armor, but as of twelve hours ago, Aster had said she was going to the training ground with Sebastian and A to test out <em>her</em> new skills they were probably still there, and it would be a good ce to jump in.


    Weirdly, Liz didnt mind the looks and salutes she was getting as she crossed the length of the Fort. She wasnt entirely sure why, but she had a fairly strong suspicion. For the first time ever, it was attention <em>she</em> had earned. That her parents were Royals literally <em>didnt matter</em>. She was an Ascender, and the attention she was getting, now and forevermore, would have that fact first and foremost in their minds.


    She was no longer the daughter of Mara and Leon. Now, they were the mother and father of Elizabeth Torch or whatever her final Ascender title would be. Royals came and went, a half-dozen every thirty thousand years. But Ascenders were rare or at least they had been.


    Regardless, it would be her name in all the history books. Basically nobody cared about Royals after they Ascended, but the Cosmos were still regrly referenced. Just because she lived in a time with a record numbers of Ascenders shouldnt mean shed be any less notable. If anything, it might make her all the more memorable.


    Her musings brought her to the edge of the training ground, where with some amusement she saw several off-duty soldiers and family members perched on surrounding vantage points, watching Aster face down a two-story wolf made out of fire.


    It lunged at her, but the yellow-white mes were pushed down to faint ck and red embers as Asterunched herself into the sky, trailing orange and green. While in the air, a miniature blizzard swirled around the fox, condensing into a vividly blue and white snowglobe in Asters cupped hand. Then, she threw it with all her might, her body twisting around itself to provide the leverage needed, and the spell struck the struggling wolf with a faint <em>boom</em>. It froze the wolf in ce and left it utterly helpless for Asters final attack, a spear of icerger than even she was.


    [Chill of the End], [Astral Path], [Airsnow], and [Ice Maniption], Liz recognized.


    [Chill of the End] was her primary new defense against fire, a Tier 32 aura spell that massively disrupted all mes in its area. Liz hadnt even been able to actually conjure or sustain any fire when shed tried fighting the effect, and it was evident that even Sebastian struggled to keep his fire summons active when Aster turned her wintry attention to them. The only one who had been able to bypass her new spell was Zack, but that was his whole shtick so he didnt really count.


    [Astral Path] was aparatively straightforward and simple spell. The aurora spell enhanced her motion, both in speed and power, and left behind a trailing wake of color that didnt have any native effect, but could easily be utilized as the origin for any number of follow-up spells, be it to make a physical barrier out of the aurora or utilize it to deliver nasty touch-only debuffs.


    Meanwhile, [Airsnow] was a decidedly fun skill thatunched a fist sized globe of stabilized winter mana that exploded into frozen air, slowing anything that entered its space as an area debuff. It was potent enough that even Team Zero would have to specifically figure out some way to get around the effect, not simply power through it.


    Then, of course, Aster had immediately utilized her first Tier 38 upgrade orb on her innate [Ice Maniption], bringing her up to a truly terrifying level of cryokinesis. Though she may not have encountered any of the rare, variant upgrades of maniption skills, youd hardly know the difference as she ripped ice and cold from the air itself, spawning snow and fog with barely a second thought, and at a prodigious rate. One which she didnt even need Matt to sustain for outright hours. And, while her ice was already quite able to prate resistance and even immunity to ice, Asters Tier 38 upgrade had brought that to a level beyond, with her most notable feat so far having been to literally freeze fire. The orange lick of me, still in exactly the same position it had been days ago, was still sitting in their living room, encased in a sculpture of ice roughly cleaved to its shape.


    With her target vanquished, Asternded deftly on the ground, arms raised like a gymnastnding a flip. Some of the bystanders apuded, and Liz entered the arena. She caught a glimpse of A off to the side, gently massaging her skull with soot-stained hands.


    The gadgeteer spotted Liz and gave her a wave as she approached, then flinched and rubbed her forehead.


    [Skill Freeze]? Liz asked, earning a pained nod.


    Wasnt even a core. Should wear off in a couple more minutes, though.


    [Skill Freeze] was one of Asters most literal new skills. If she timed the cast right, she couldpletely disable the use of a given skill for up to half an hour, more than enough for an entire fight. It didnt do much for reserve-type skills, as it simply locked them and their reserved mana, but didnt dispel the active effect. But when used properly, it could be utterly devastating. The arguably worse effect that the skill carried was the utterly splitting headache that only grew worse the deeper in ones spirit the disabled skill was slotted.


    In all honesty, the headache wasnt <em>that </em>bad, as any pain-numbing techniques or skills were perfectly effective on it, but it was still a quite literal pain during practice.


    Oh hey Liz! Aster bounded over. How much did you see?


    You were finishing off the fire-wolf when I arrived, she greeted her sister-inw with a high-five. Nicely done.


    It was GLORIOUS indeed! Sebastian jumped in. The mastery of your new skills is simply staggering! he eximed, just a <em>bit</em> too enthusiastically for Lizs preference. He reminded her of her parents in a bad way, just too over-expressive about <em>everything</em>. She tried not to hold it against him, she knew all about intrusive Talents after all, but it didnt make it any more fun to be around.


    So what emotion was that? she asked. Im going to admit, I have no idea what a twenty-foot-tall fire wolf would represent.


    It was NONE of them, lovely Lady Elizabeth! I prefer to leave my Inner Demons inside of myself unless I particrly wish to train them, or genuinely fight with them! They can be- his entire demeanor shifted in the blink of an eye to a very haunted look, -really, really hard to take care of. His eyes darted back and forth as he continued, I- I certainly wouldnt wish to pit them against an Ascender, n-not for practice anyway. So, so that was simply a summoned monster.


    Right, that makes sense.


    Oh yeah! Liz, check out what came in today! Aster cut in, rolling up her sleeve to show a skill shard slotted into a holster against her wrist.


    Liz wracked her brain to figure out what was scheduled for Aster toe in next, and decided to shoot for the moon. Is it [Winter Spirit]?


    Asters ears shot up, thenid t. Oh man, I wish! No, theyre still trying to source it,st I heard. They should have a copy somewhere, but it seems like it was <em>misced</em> somewhere along the way. But no, this is [Snowke Armor]!


    How do you <em>lose </em>a Tier 44 skill? Seeing that Aster was as irritated as she would be if one of her promised skills was lost, Liz moved on before she worsened her friend''s mood any more than she already had. Oh [Snowke Armor]? Very nice. Youll have to let me know what you think of it, my advisors have been encouraging me to take it myself.


    The Tier 32 skill wasnt a particrlymon defensive skill, as it sourced all of its protection from existing ice, but it was able to be particrly diffuse within that limitation. There were records of entire blizzards being turned into functional armor, and while it was literally useless if there was no snow or ice around to utilize for material, Asters advisors had rmended she take it. They felt it might have quite solid potential for synergy with her Tier 25 Talent.


    It was a simr reason to why they thought <em>Liz</em> might benefit from the skill. She had to admit, if it could turn all of her blood into potent defensive armor while remaining liquid, in a simr way to how the base [Snowke Armor] could turn loose, powdery snow into a formidable defense, then it might actually be worthwhile.


    Her sense of self had been weird, since shed reached Tier 25. Her human and phoenix forms just felt so fragile whenever she was using them, as if a stiff breeze would send her back into a puddle of blood. Even if her actual stability was well beyond that, she wasnt sure if she even was still human, or phoenix, but instead some kind of weird blood-ooze <em>thing</em>. It was like shed had an extra form, on top of her malleable and bloodline ones, suddenly thrust upon her, and she wasnt sure what that meant for her identity.


    Maybe that was why The Book represented such a difficult choice for her.


    But even on top of that, her clones had very literally taken on a life of their own. While she could only get too far from another part of her blood, while keeping it definitively hers, that limit was still pretty massive. So long as she stayed on a single, shed have to actively try to get that ufortable, tearing sensation that came with pulling a part of her body away from her spirit.


    Also, she didnt know which Liz was truly the original. She still kept track of what she considered her original body, mostly distinguished by the items that [Lesser Blood Clone] or, more recently, [Mana/Blood Clone] didnt duplicate. But if she lost those things, even she wouldn''t be able to tell who was who.


    Supposedly, there was a proper [Clone] waiting for her out there somewhere, but she hadnt officially requested it on ount of the normal skill simply being far, far too expensive for her to cast. [Blood Clone] was plenty sufficient, giving each of her bodies their own individual sets of thought, and no longer requiring her to split her attention between each clone.


    The mana cost was also surprisingly reasonable, all things considered. Liz hadnt pushed herself to her limits yet, but between [Lesser Blood Clone] and [Blood Clone], she wouldnt be surprised if she could have a hundred or more bodies active at once.


    which felt profoundly ufortable just to think about, and was the reason she hadnt pushed herself that far quite yet.


    Well, my head is feeling a bit better now. Liz, do you want to try anything out? A asked, pulling Liz out of her self-reflection.


    Yeah, actually. Most of my newest things are a bit more geared towards living things, but if you could provide some covering fire, I can try to work around that?


    The crafter nodded, hopped off the bench, and led Liz to the far side of the training field.


    Ill start easy on you! A teased, reaching into her backpack and withdrawing two metal rods taller than she was. With a twirl, she mmed each into the ground, and Liz watched as the pair mechanically unfurled into two simr, but not identical mana-cannon turrets. One crackled with lightning, and the other had a pair of massive white crystals sticking out of it, whirring with power.


    A secondter, Liz was pelted with a stream of lightning and glowing shards of crystal, forcing her to bring up a shield with her [Blood Maniption] for protection. Upgrading the skill a second time had drastically improved her control, but had made the decision for her that it wouldnt be one of her initial three Tier 38 upgrades. Maybe if she got the real [Blood Maniption] one day shed push it to Tier 38, but her old [Water Maniption] wasnt worth it.


    It made an excellent generalist skill, filling in the gaps and serving as a great way to practice mana control, but she didnt <em>need</em> another generalist skill. Her Talent, for all its faults and aggravating points, ensured that she could have a blood skill for nearly any role she might want. As a channel skill, it might have some utility in the ways she could split its active effect between multiple clones, functionally casting it multiple times but that was about it.


    Even if her skills shared cooldown between clones, shed get something like [Barrage] once they figured out what would work best for her. For now, she was utilizing [Fever Pitch], a fire-aspect skill shed left in her outer spirit that reduced cooldown in exchange for a nominal mana cost, with the reduction determined by how hot her body was. Between her bloodline, an outer spirit [Fire Resistance], and Talent, heat wasnt much of a concern. Sure, actual fire mages would get more use out of it, but it was still an improvement.


    In any case, she was far more interested in using her orbs on [Blood Tidal Wave], [Blood Clone], [Lesser Blood Clone], [Hungering Blood], [Sanguine Regeneration]... the list went on.


    She rolled to the right, throwing a [Blood Sickle] at the lightning turret. [Water Scythe] had converted quite well, with her blood iron ensuring the crescent des the skill created were as tough as they were sharp. Then [Iron Proficiency], taken with Delphis encouragement, had converted most excellently to what she was dubbing [Blood Iron Proficiency]. Instead of drawing power from the iron in her weapons, it drew power from and in turn strengthened the iron in her blood, making her blood-weapons nearly as physically strong as rift weapons of her Tier.


    In a spar, her new skills werent all uniformly useful, and shed need to fight some of Sebastians summons to try out [Hematohidrosis] and [Blood Thssemia]. Inanimate turrets simply didnt have blood for her to rip out of their bodies or prevent it from carrying oxygen. She would be lying if thetter wasnt directly inspired by trying to mimic Uncle Aiden, but that didnt make it any less effective.


    The sickle sliced through the turret with ease, the [Fever] she was using to enhance the spell causing some of the more mmable interiorponents to instantlybust and even explode, drawing a wince from Liz.


    Sorry! she called out.


    Origami waved a hand. I already expected these to be nothing but scrap at the end of this so dont hold back on my ount.


    With that encouragement, Liz instantly erupted into a mountain of blood.


    Something interesting that shed found about her new blood form was that it wasnt particrly bound to the normalws of biology, like the square-cubew. It was a massive, formless blob of blood she could semi-telekically control, but most interestingly she always returned to the same human form afterwards. No matter how big her elemental form was.


    Before anyone of her Tier could properlyprehend what had happened, the lightning-cannon was a broken and splintered husk of its former self. [Analgesic] was a ssic blood mage spell, and while it was usually used to sneak curses and the like past most exotic senses, Liz also could use it to make it difficult to gauge the scale of her attacks. It was particrly nasty when paired with her lingering boon from Courtly Warfare, making her able to cut people into bits without them noticing not only shed hurt them but also that shed attacked them at all.


    It was also a great tool for feints and bluffs.


    Something like the newly-upgraded [Blood Tidal Wave] was toorge to fully obscure, but it still left a wake of confusion just as surely as the broken, drained bodies it produced. The Tier 14 upgrade made her able to sustain multiple tidal waves simultaneously, which paired excellently with her clones, and the Tier 26 upgrade also drained life, strength, even flesh, and converted it all into more blood for the spell. Even if it still took her Tier 3 Talent a bit of time to truly convert it to her blood afterwards, it still gave her quite the headstart and had the potential topletely rece her [Blood Sprites], depending on how she moved forward and if she decided to upgrade it a third time.


    She had a <em>lot</em> of options ahead of her, and all she could do was keep moving forward one step at a time. The Book floated back to the front of her mind, but Liz waved it aside in favor of focusing on the here and now.


    Showoff! A used.


    Lizughed. Round two?


    Hey Sebastian, can I get a hand?


    You think this will go <em>better</em> for you by bringing in more people? Liz responded, intentionally ying up a bit of a cockier attitude.


    Aster caught on to what she was doing, and bounded over to the other side. Why yes, foul mistress of blood! With the power of our friendship, you will never prevail!


    Liz cackled dramatically, and their spar began once again in earnest.


    ***


    Matt spent a solid week designing his armor in the room with Colonel Gnodel. From the full-body underarmor, to the baseline HUD his helmet would disy its findings on, to the actual color scheme itself.


    Frequently, Gnodel would call in various other expert crafters to get their opinions and assessment for some of Matts crazier desires, like size-changing into a giant mech which would be possible, but prevented some other enchantments that he definitely wanted from being implemented or making the durability from his Stygian Gossamer extend to his left gauntlet as well as just his skin which was not only possible, but could be extended to cover his entire left <em>forearm</em>.


    He <em>couldnt</em> make the armor a growth item, but that was just because the crafters capable of that feat werent familiar with power armor. If he wanted a custom growth item, hed have to settle for a suit of traditional armor, and one nowhere near as good as it <em>could</em> have been thanks to the limits those Talents imposed on the crafted armor. Apparently, there was some research into making growth items outside of those few Talents, but their only prototypes tended to inflict rift madness on whoever tried to bond with them. That particr revtion had been disturbing, and he couldnt help but wonder why the Emperor would allow something like that to exist.


    Hed also had his mind incredibly expanded to the <em>possibilities</em>. Various options he hadnt taken included making the armor predominantly ethereal, and only bing solid when he had [Cracked Phantom Armor] active. In so doing he would be able to morph the armors material between woods, metals, crystals, pure force, solid fire, unmelting ice, and form weapons and simple tools directly out of the armor itself. He could have also gotten it made as a pseudoskill, like his old AI, only manifesting when he cast it. He could have wornmer-style armor covered in talismans that he could channel through the suit, or make certain sections of the armor be able to detach as an autonomous golem and still cast through them, like they were still a part of his body, and that was just the <em>basics</em>.


    Unfortunately, mixing and matching capabilities wereplicated. Some Talents and Domains worked well together on the same project, and others fought or were outright mutually exclusive. Sometimes it was obvious why making a suit of armor out of solid me inherently excluded smiths who specialized in making steels as strong as possible but other times it waspletely opaque why including solid force anywhere in the suits construction forced him to either not extend his Stygian Gossamers durability to his gauntlet, <em>or</em> remove all backup flight systems and make the weapon systems way weaker.


    They made some veryplicated graphs, outlining which abilities were inclusive or exclusive, how that would impact the strength of all the other effects, the range of mana each enchantment could ept, and how much redundancy he wanted for each subsystem.


    By the time they were done, Matts new armor was projected to be a thing of <em>beauty</em>.


    While there was always a bit of room for variation with something thisplex, especially with it only being in the blueprint stage, Matt would have been happy with <em>half</em> of what he was projected to get. It would still take some time to be fully created, years even, and hed be returning regrly for fittings and testing, but he couldnt <em>wait</em> for the end product.


    Material-wise, the suit was predominantly an alloy of three natural treasure metals - Midnight Adamant, Core Maite, and Whitestar Silver- that left the entire suit a matte ck in color, though each of the suits many panels was trimmed in enriched gold. The enchanting on the outermostyer would result in glossy, tightly-packed runes glimmering across the surface that would glow obviously when he started to ramp up the mana throughput.


    The armors tassets hung freely to cover his upper thighs, but while the metal tes looked as solid as anything else, they would freely deform as he tried to move, letting him keep his full flexibility.


    Each vambrace concealed some of the most potent wands hed ever heard of. The one on the right was made out of sculpted Infinite Diamond and imbedded with enriched gold threads, but enchanted to magnify attacks of every element instead of just neutral mana, and the one on the left carved from World Tree Root and coated with Immortal Ivory, designed predominantly to enhance defensive and utility spells. In the chest of the armor was a hidden power core, a radiant ck lined with orange, red, and yellow like a true ck hole, and capable of powering the entire suit at baseline strength for nearly a minute in case Matt needed to focus his regeneration elsewhere.


    The helmet was a nk, featureless mask of glossy ck Deep Volcanic Obsidian that had been merged with the Natural Treasures Bluesky Azurite, Chronal Jittermite, and Openeye Opal. By default, it would disy the white quill that was synonymous with Matts Mask, but as he changed his name or simply felt like it, it could be directed with even more crity and fidelity than the shifting appearance of his old mask.


    Then for good measure, there were several ports designed for Matt to manifest mana crystal without interfering with his normal range of motion.


    The keystone of the entire armor was its ability to act as an extension of Matts body, of course. But it went beyond that. When he would cast [Cracked Phantom Armor], or any other armor skill for that matter, instead of forming as ayer on top of the armor, it would <em>merge</em> with the outermostyer. The advantage in that set up was that spells designed to pierce or bypass either physical or magical defenses would find themselves far less effective versus the merged armors. Best of all, with this method the armors reinforced each other. Not exactly adding their strength together, but managing something pretty close to it.


    His underarmor magically linked him to the armor, not only enabling him to cast his self-buffs on something other than just his own body, but would <em>enhance</em> them when using them on the rest of his gear without weakening their effects on himself.


    His gauntlets could basically fuse to anything he was holding, making them functionally one object and thus impossible to disarm. Not only did that extend the effects of his self-buffs to those items, his left gauntlet extended the durability of his Stygian Gossamer out to whatever he was fused to, so long as it wasnt <em>too</em>rge.


    While he could fire attacks or channel spells from anywhere on the armor, just like it were his own body, if he used the appropriate integrated focus points in his helmet, vambraces, chest, or boots, that came with a massive boost to their respective power. However, none of them were rated for more than a sustained five million mana per second, or fifteen in <em>very</em> short bursts. But, if he wanted, he could unfold a shoulder-mounted integrated cannon from his back and <em>really</em> unleash devastation.


    Not only could it take a sustained thirty million mana per second, an amount of mana that had proven to be difficult to safely channel with Tier 25 materials, it had been integrated with his mana-aspect growth ring to make it capable of firing its barrage in <em>any</em> element he had ess to. Its baseline functionality made it an incredibly powerful spell amplifier for most offensive spells in his arsenal, but the aspect-changing and strongest boost only came with [Mana Beam], as that was the spell it was designed around.


    He could also deploy the shoulder-cannon in reverse to amplify a skill like [Overdrive], giving him a ludicrously powerful jetpack that paired with the suits boots, which were capable of summoning force tforms at any point, to give him a solid tform anywhere he needed one. It could even double as a shield capable of reflecting attacks back to their source, though that was a secondary function.


    His helmet was enchanted with its own backup [AI] and [HUD] along with physical screens in case even they went down. They were also capable of fully autonomous action should he somehow pass out without the armor being destroyed. Better yet, the onboard [AI] was a remote clone of his own, so he could also pilot the suit of armor remotely, albeit only in low-power mode. It also wouldnt benefit from his Stygian Gossamer or other physical buffs, but it would still be plenty strong, and would still have most of its sub-enchantments active. Low-power mode could also be used in case his regeneration was blocked somehow, but in those instances it would rely mostly on his own prodigious strength. Matt would love to see the look on someones face when they thought even an anti-magic field could stop him.


    On top of that, the sensors he had were capable of picking out even the best attempts at stealth, designed to pierce through any illusion, identify the true identity of shapeshifters, see through obstructions, determine the origin of directionless and manifestation-less spells, and had seven independent forms of highly urate threat assessment. It even possessed a few short moments of future sight. Though admittedly, the future-sight wasrgely redundant, as Matt had long since honed his spiritual sense to the point where predicting where iing attacks wereing from was second nature, but redundancy was king for this kind of thing, and he had the room on the armor so he took it.


    The power part of the suit included three forms of native flight, runic impellers for muscle and backup animation magic enabling the suit to act as a golem. Not only could the entire armor still walk, run, punch and fly if everything except for the power core in the chest was destroyed, it could still do all of those things if <em>only</em> the power core was destroyed. Each piece was not only a part of arger whole, but an individual marvel unto itself.


    And of course, the entire armor was fantastically good at stopping just about any attack. Immunity and resistance to just about every element, resistance to willpower and domain attacks, capable of expanding or enhancing a spatial lockdown field, and while they couldnt get <em>proper</em> invisibility running, he could be blurry and indistinct to spiritual and physical senses at will. They hoped that with his Intent absorbing mana sense, he could all but vanish from spiritual perception, but they could only test that once they had a working prototype.


    It even functioned as a recement for his mask as Quill, in that it blocked divinations and could help him disguise himself, if he felt sopelled. While the block wasnt <em>quite</em> as powerful as his old mask had been, thanks to the restrictions that came with the real war, it was allowed to and able to block divinations up to Tier 46 from determining anything too sensitive, like his true Talent, while blocking most divinations up to Tier 27 from learning <em>anything</em> about him.


    The entire thing could also fold into itself, until it was the size of a normal breastte thanks to spatial shenanigans.


    The worst part about it was that it could take up to a century to beplete, and he wanted it <em>now</em>!


    Still had an appointment in a couple weeks toe back and design his <em>sword</em>, and he could hardly wait.

 Chapter 284

    Chapter 284


    Matt twisted in his seat as Drifter looked back at them. You three ready?


    They had been inside the rift for two months, but with the rift''s eightfold time dtion that was only a week and some change in real time.


    Despite his [AI] keeping track of both reference points, Matt was still weirded out to be leaving the rift, knowing people would still be celebrating their Ascension ceremony while it had already be old news to him.


    That was part of the reason they were already heading out for their new mission so quickly. The Empire, like all Great Powers who got a new set of Ascenders, wanted to be able to hold up their newest Ascenders and point to a victory just days after they finished the Path.


    Knowing and even agreeing with the logic didnt mean Matt wouldnt have wished for another month in the rift.


    They had just barely finished absorbing the first round of their new skills, and hadnt gotten any of the cool armor they had designed because they hadnt been created yet.


    The three of them had still been given an upgrade in terms of armor and arms, but it was nothing whenpared to what they would be getting. Matt was personally wearing a refitted legacy suit of armor that North Star, of the Cosmos, had worn, and was primarily designed to enhance light aspect and self-buff spells. He also had a prototype set of underarmor designed to integrate [Cracked Phantom Armor] into the main suit of armor, and while limited, he was excited to put it to the test.


    But most of all Matt was nervous that they would go out there into a real war and fuck something up, and not in a good way.


    So when Drifter asked if he was ready he didnt really have an answer. And if the silence from Liz and Aster was any indication, neither did they.


    Allie answered for them as she rolled her eyes, Yeah, theyre ready.


    Before Drifter could respond, the world blinked around them, leaving them in a private spaceport on the far side of the Fort Lightfoot was on. Allie was, without a doubt, the most convenient way to get in and out of the rift, but from what Matt had heard, convincing her to do so for anything but a mission was tough. Fortunately, they <em>were</em> on a mission, and so got to travel with Shadow Teleports inc.. Allie was <em>very</em> particr about her branding despite the fact it changed between conversations.


    Good luck! Allie''sst words were punctuated by her flipping them the middle finger and vanishing with a <em>swoosh</em> of her cloak.


    General Darrow sighed. At least she sent us out at the proper location. Drifter, are we ready to go?


    The pilot flipped a few switches, cast a pair of diagnostic spells, and nodded. Just about. Flightmand, this is Drifter. Requesting permission to


    While Drifter prepared for their takeoff, Matt joined Darrow around the nearest projector table. Suspended in the air was a mass of bright nodes, interlinked by countless lines, forming a map of the Great Powers. While tens of thousands of worlds were densely packed around the eight Capitals, it grew sparser near the edges, where they began to intertwine.


    With a wave of his hand, the map shifted and rearranged, bringing into focus their first target.


    Aflora was a simple Tier 9 world, notable for having a mist-aspectedary core, and being strategically noteworthy enough to warrant being a Tier 25 battleground. It acted as a nexus point connecting to five other worlds leading fairly deep into Empire territory. It had also been under siege for the past five years from Federation forces, and they were slowly being worn down.


    While not devastating to the war front by any means, if Aflora was lost, the Empire would be stretched just that much thinner. So, theyd been sent to ensure that wouldnt happen. Fortunately, its rtively low-priority status also kept the Federation from sending its best troops, or heavy reinforcements.


    Unfortunately, no amount of resolution and determination on the defenders behalf could rece fresh troops or supplies, and they were projected to fall in the next year.


    Their mission was to prevent that.


    As it was their first mission, theyd be taking the long route. Which was to say, the <em>normal</em> route. Instead of cheating the distance with Allies Tier 25 Talent, this time they were flying with Drifter all the way from the Capital to Aflora. The reasons for this were numerous, but it was partially to be as thorough as possible for their first trip, partially to get them out of the rift for a little while while their skills and gear was iing and partially because Allie insisted that they had to experience what things <em>would</em> be like if she wasnt around, before she started dropping them all over the Empire willy-nilly.


    Overall, Matt was fine with it. Mostly, he was just happy that future travel time wouldnt be a concern, for the most part. Allie being fully capable of teleporting the entirety of Team Zero to the furthest reaches of the Empire meant they could hop from crisis to crisis with <em>lightning</em> response times, and spend all their time between missions at Fort Lightfoot, with good meals, good healers, lots of practice space, and all the amenities of home, instead of field rations and cramped quarters.


    As a bonus, it made them look utterly <em>prescient</em>, as they could respond to attacks far enough away that they clearly <em>had</em> to have started heading in that direction long before they could have realistically known they needed to. But, that was secondary to keeping themselves in top fighting condition. Ascenders werent immune to being worn down over time, with most historic lossesing at the end of a drawn-out campaign, but Matts normal endurance would be magnified tenfold or more with the Empires current strategy.


    Of course, Allies waypoints were spread out far enough that they still needed a wickedly fast ship, and a ridiculously good pilot paired with it, for the n to truly work. And that was where Drifter came in. Out of everyone in Team Zero she was the one who benefited least from Matts assistance, with her Talents already making the essential functions of any ships she flew consume no mana. That didnt include weapons, so it wasnt like he waspletely useless for her, but it still felt a little weird. His Domain grumbled a bit, but he refused to let it develop in a way that required him to revolutionize the life of everyone he ever met.


    Drifter used everyst bit of the overpowered engines on her ship, pulling off stunts Matt would call suicidal from anyone else with rming regrity as she flew <em>through</em> chaotic space, not simply the neat spacenes practically everyone used.


    And unlike the one time Matt had identally drifted a bit too far into space the roiling chaos in his own ship, not once did the light start to taste like blue annoyance. Drifter navigated through vortices of twisting space, around distortion whorls, and through ontological pressure zones with a manic grin on her face the entire time.


    Still, her flying managed to cut a full third off their trip, turning a two-month flight into a forty day one, and Matt spent most of that time working on his mana control with Darrow since it was just the five of them left on the ship.


    His team leader wasnt some prodigy, but he was old and had spent a significant portion of his immortal life in the army. Hed spent that substantial time refining himself from a rtively average delver team leader into someone truly worthy of leading a group of Elites, and had the experience to prove it. Experiences he was happy to share with Matt.


    Learning with him was odd, to say the least. He had never had to deal with wrangling millions of mana, he had never been trained by Luna or other famous trainers every day, he had never had unlimited resources until he was part of Team Zero, but General Darrow still had good advice.


    Most of it boiled down to go slow, research what you want, listen to the experts, listen to your gut and other advice that seemed generic when summarized, but in practice was always useful and insightful. Darrows teaching was radically different from Lunas, unsurprisingly, as where his former Manager preferred to cut away Matts weaknesses, Darrow encouraged Matts strengths. He was naturally suited to excessive disys of power, and while there wasnt anything too incredible in his team leaders advice, it was still useful.


    When they arrived in the Aflora system, everything seemed normal within range of his spiritual senses, but it only covered the just below him. The fortress world where the fighting would happen was near the edge of the stars gravity well, far beyond what he had the ability to sense directly, or through any of his current skills.


    Drifter was only a Tier 25 like them, which limited her ability to pull them into real space too far away from the central of the system, but her ship''s sensors were <em>fantastic</em>.


    The initial information they got was purely passive. Cameras with incredible resolution intercepted the light moving through the system to get an initial view of the system and information flooded into the ship''s AI and through it into Matts.


    Matt, along with everyone else, viewed the situation, but their worst fears werent realized as the outermost was still holding strong.


    A number of tentative sightings of enemy ships and defenses were tagged, but nothing was confirmed from the initial information.


    No, they were confirmed from Aflora, who had started transmitting them updates the moment they had appeared on the world''s sensors.


    What had started as seven full battalions of Federation troops had been whittled down to something like five and a half, but that was offset by suspected reinforcements. Aflora had been watching the fighting go on overhead without fail but the fortress had been isted by a number of formations which obscured outgoing light and interrupted most transmission signals.


    Within fifteen seconds of arriving into the Aflora system, they had an information update from the inhabited world and started flying into the outer system.


    It would take them five hours to curve past the star and steal a little energy to slingshot them to the farthest reaches of the system''s gravity well, but those five hours felt like decades to Matt, Liz, and Aster as they were getting ready to fight.


    Despite that, he didnt miss the arrival of Light, Shadow, Torment, Origami, Eric, and Dena as Shadow jumped in, via her local waypoint. While this was to be the debut of Torch, Quill, and Scoop as Ascenders, the others were still on standby to intercept any potential Federation ambushes.


    Or at least that was how General Darrow had pitched it to Matt, Liz, and Aster when they were told about the mission.


    Matt knew the truth, and so did everyone else. While there was a chance that this system was an ambush, it was incredibly unlikely. Instead, the rest of Team Zero were there in case they fucked up and needed rescuing. Even Light and Shadow had the same treatment for their first showing.


    Others might be offended by their presence, but Matt was happy for it.


    The rest of Team Zero werebat veterans. Theyd be their direct support in future engagements, but here and now it was their time to show off. Their time to introduce themselves, and their opponent was only a few battalions of ordinary soldiers.


    Matt, and the nners at Chess, had expected the Federation to turn on them the moment they arrived, and the Federation did not disappoint.


    Four of the five battalions turned and started manning the temporary defensive structures they had set up around the orbit of the fortress.


    When Drifter''s ship slowed to a rtive halt a ways above the fortress world and the back hatch opened, Matt was well within spiritual range of the army now floating behind hastily constructed defensive walls. He watched as their eyes went from steely resolve to widened terror.


    They didnt flee, but they were clearly hoping they were the forerunners of another army.


    Not Ascenders.


    That, oddly enough, settled Matts nerves.


    It wasnt that he believed the propaganda around Ascenders being literally unbeatable, but now that he could see the enemies, he was back at home.


    This wasnt a rift, these weren''t mindless monsters, butbat wasbat. If these soldiers did not die, the soldiers and eventually citizens of the Empire would be the ones who suffered instead.


    Kill, or be killed.


    Matt cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] and enjoyed the way that the skill slid into his new armor instead of covering it. It also slid over his temporary de like a second skin and Matt smiled.


    The skill''s upgrades were about to be put to good use.


    The three of them flew towards the oing army like meteors plummeting into a. To his right, Liz was armed with a spear enchanted to leave a curse that twisted healing spells to decay, worsening any wounds it left when they would normally be mended. To his left, Aster clenched an oversized silver gauntlet into a fist, forming a ball of ice that rapidly morphed into a fifteen-foot golem of slick ice, and then into a flurry of snow.


    That snow umted around them, forming ashing blizzard of ice and wind extending for at least a mile on each side of them, slowly engulfing the oing army like the first flurries of a bitter winter.


    That signaled the start of the fight, and the Federation army started unleashing their own retaliatory spells.


    Mana cannons embedded in the walls shed, arrays spun into existence before activating, personal spells were cast in coordinated bursts, units rotated forward and back as they fired their spells and took cover, the ships turned their massive cannons and fired, shields flickered as their power sources were tapped to fuel a second array of attacks.


    The attacks werent terribly focused, and while Matt was utterly confident in his armor, simply tanking hits for no reason was reserved for the movies, and [Flight] powered with five hundred thousand MPS was so maneuverable it was trivial to avoid most of the attacks directed at them.


    Of course, most wasnt all, and the Federation soldiers were providing quite effective cover fire, and Matt spun up [Bulwark] after [Bulwark] to intercept the attacks they were otherwise bound to hit.


    He spent first thousands, then hundreds of thousands, and finally millions of mana on defense, but he was still as fresh as they came as they approached ever-closer to the Federation soldiers.


    The spells came closer and more concentrated, aim getting better and range bing more potent. Domains pushed against them, Intents ring as people unleashed their best attacks. Commanders directed the assaults of their squadrons, and the attacks only grew thicker and thicker. But then Asters [Dispelling Wind] whipped through their surroundings, and a nigh-overwhelming barrage of spellfire fell to something eminently manageable.


    That flipped a switch in the Federation army, and defensive spells began blossoming like a rainbow of magic epassing Matts entire field of view..


    That was their signal to attack.


    Matt led the charge, with Liz and Aster close behind.


    Aster pushed her gauntlet forward, which sent the flurries of snow she had created from her tiaras summon into and through the enemy defenses, beginning to leech away their enemies heat. Some were stopped by the shields, and some were destroyed by the various enchantments, but enough got through that Matt was able to notice the enemy fighters start to slow down.


    Matt, for his part, opened with [Telekinesis]. He may have been still severelycking in the finesse needed to utilize the high-Tier skill to its fullest, but he didnt need finesse right now. A st of pure force rippled through the battlefield, and it would not be denied. Willpower had been raised to reinforce the wall and tried to contest him, spells red to try and stop him, but it was all for naught.


    He wielded tens of millions of mana as easy as breathing, and the sword he wielded had been made for Harper, once upon a time. He swung it, and his [Telekinesis] sharpened into countless razor-sharp des. Silvery arms channeling shields were severed from their owners, heads shouting battlecries were sent flying, and bodies alight with enchantment-work were torn asunder. Hundreds were wounded, dozens were killed, and that was simply his opening move.


    The wall of shields in front of him was sent reeling, dented and broken in ces, and Matt refused to relent.


    Matt corralled his working of force, extending it through the crystalline longsword in his hands, and <em>thrust</em>.


    The glowing shields flickered and died in arge area. He recognized the activation of backup formations, which tried to close the hole he created, but Aster refused to let that happen. Chilling winds whipped andshed, scouring mana before it could properly form and sending the less-fortified soldiers flying.


    Like some great machine, elemental attacksnced out from the openings in the shield wall, but Matt [Barrage]-cast a trio of [Bulwark]s to intercept them. It consumed a worrying amount of mana, but Matt simply withdrew a bit hed stored in a mana crystal and he was once again fine, content to let his opponents tire themselves out on him.


    After all, they were focused on <em>him</em>, and that meant they werent focused on Aster or Liz.


    The all-pervading blizzard began to gather itself back together. Snow clumped into snowballs, thenpacted into ice, no matter what was in the way. Soldiers, spells, floating debris, corpses, Matt saw them all get stuck in blocks of ice as Asters now substantiallyrger [Chill of the End] golem reformed.


    The soldiers screamed as they tried to free themselves from the now animate ice. Healers and support personnel cast area dispels, but that meant they needed to contend with Aster. Splitting her attention to defend her summon meant some of the army personnel were freed but most of the hundred closest to them were now a part of therge ice golem. Those that were absorbed did not survive, their body heat drained away to nothing.


    With a snap of her fingers, the ice golem <em>detonated</em>, [Cracked Shatter] turning the icy juggernaut into an explosion that utterly broke the frontlines of the Federation and filled the battlefield with razor-sharp fragments of ice.


    Soldiers were already at work, clearing away the battlefield hazard, but the damage had been done. Blood had been spilled, and Liz was already pouncing.


    Like a whipcord, the ribbons of blood drifting through the battlefield tightened and pulled, strangling and tying up hundreds of soldiers. Even if they didnt need to breathe, and though most of their opponents escaped the noose, those which had been trapped were pulled out of formation and into theirrades, disrupting the already-copsing formations all the more. A faint undercurrent of fear had begun to pick up in the soldiers, but theirmanders ordered them to hold and reshape.


    But that wouldnt save them from Liz. A phoenix, d in silver armor, swooped through one of the gaps in the wall, and in a burst of me returned to human form. She skewered one soldier through his magical shield, prompting a small explosion of sparks as the focus for the shield installed in his arm overloaded.


    The next moment, he had beenpletely exsanguinated, and Liz used that mass of blood to turn aside four more soldiers looking to take revenge for their fallen ally. Her own blood materialized through her domain, and formed into des beginning to scythe through the ranks of soldiers near her.


    Matt didnt bother attacking the man who was trying to skewer Liz from behind, as it just wasnt needed. The cloud of gore that had once been a Federation soldier solidified into Liz and reached out from behind the soldier and grabbed his head.


    With a twist, the soldiers head was facing the wrong way, but it was Lizs thumbs driving into the man''s eyes and brain which killed him.


    The Liz clone picked up his weapon before the man exploded, and another Liz started to form from the blood cloud.


    Matt stopped his barrage of ice attacks and darted to the other side from where Liz went as a few of the Liz clones started to defend Aster while his bond unleashed icy fury upon the opposing army, [Meadows of Rime] already making itself known as wounds opened from seemingly nothing.


    An army soundedrge. And academically, it was. There was no denying that, but inside,rge didnt adequately exin it.


    An offensive battalion was a thousandbat-capable troops, and with five of them here, Matt felt like he was in a sea of enemies.


    Undoubtedly he was, but he was also a shark.


    That didnt make him unbeatable, but he was the predator here.


    The fish were already gathering and preparing their counter-offensive.


    Matts [AI] spun in the background, focused not on trying to predict what his opponents would do he had <em>long</em> since surpassed what his [AI] could reasonably predict with his own training and instincts but instead, it focused on predicting what his opponents thought <em>he</em> might do. Soldiers came at him in waves, and he delighted in the sheer <em>thrill</em> of it.


    One woman, slightly ahead of herpatriots, came at him with her arm extended into an electrified metal whip, and Matt didnt block any of it. Instead, he let her wrap his arm up in the lightning-infused tendril, charge up the arm of his [Cracked Phantom Armor] with her mana, then red [Mages Retreat]. Before his opponent could process what was happening, the grapple had reversed. Now, he had a death-grip on the womans whip, and with a solid yank, she became an oversized il for Matt.


    At least, until her arm gave way and her body was sent hurtling off into the distance, but Matt just shrugged, telekically threw the cable at another soldier, and bisected him with his sword a momentter.


    Sergeants were gathering their squads while Lieutenants barkedmands. Matt sent a volley of a few hundred [Fire Bolt]s, possible thanks to a ring Firmament had given him, at the leaders trying to reorganize the battle. Some of them died but, there were more and more moving in from further away to rece them.


    Matt shifted his grip on his sword and shed out three times. The newly-upgraded [Mana sh] was razor-sharp and, when paired with [Barrage] and enhanced with [Double Tap] and [Hypersonic Edge], cut a bloody swath through the army.


    A hum in Matts spiritual sense was the only warning he had as a trio of advanced single man ships swooped into the battlefield, raining projectiles down onto him. For the first time in the fight, Matt was actually pushed back, as the mana bombs they unleashed broke through [Bulwark] and sent him flying, until he flexed his Intent to stop dead in space. They hadnt broken through [Cracked Phantom Armor], of course, but he still didnt want to take one of those attacks head-on. That would be a bad habit to fall into.


    And he certainly didnt want <em>Aster</em> to take any of them head-on. Shed survive it, sure, but probably not unscathed. A barrage of spellfire from the ships shed down on where a Liz was, tearing her armor to shreds and scattering her into an indeterminate mass of blood. In a sh, Matt identified and crushed the main person sustaining the spatial lock around him, then before the other soldiers couldpensate, swapped ces with Liz.


    He momentarily rerouted nearly all of his mana, even drawing on his stored mana crystals, and flooded his body with every movement skill he had. The moment he reappeared where Liz had been, he was gone again, sheltering Aster with his body and a half-dozen [Bulwarks] he brought up just as the single man ships unleashed theirtest wave of devastation.


    With Asters support, Matts defenses held, the attacks only breaking through half of the [Bulwarks] before their attack was spent.


    The single man ships swooped around, preparing for a second pass, but Matt wasnt about to let that happen.


    Aster knew what wasing, and her biting winds swept through the army encroaching on them. Colorful bolts of spells were lost to the storm, Intents were crushed under the weight that his bond brought to the battlefield.


    Meanwhile, Matt reached to the very core of his spirit, fondly cradling a skill hed longed for, and now finally had after all this time. He swapped his sword to his left hand, then let power umte in his right. The mana built incredibly quickly, but to Matt it felt like an age.


    Mana coalesced, bucking and roiling at the speed and density it was being gathered in, budding forth from his skin like a geyser bursting from the ground, yet held back as Matt took aim.


    The single man ships either didnt notice or didnt care that Matt was raising his arm at them, but he would make them regret that decision. He just needed to ount for their speed, and there.


    Three ships tore through the battlefield like avenging angels.


    Mana blossomed, like a new star igniting.


    <strong>[Mana Beam]</strong>


    And then there were two.


    <strong>[Mana Beam]</strong>


    And then there was one.


    <strong>[Mana Beam]</strong>


    The final single man ship spun, twisting in incredible ways as its pilot fought desperately to stay alive. It stayed one step ahead of the imcable, unstoppable column of mana, nearly as thick as Matts torso as millions of mana fed into it.


    In what could only have been described as an act of desperation, the pilot spun and flipped, turningpletely around and upside down in the blink of an eye, diving headlong into the beam. But to Matts surprise, the single man ship didnt instantly explode, but instead managed to part the beam around the ship.


    Even from this distance, Matt could sense the pilots Intent ring, pushing back the beam just like Queen had done so many years ago with [Cracked Mana Spear]. But unlike Queen, the ship was unleashing ranged attacks all the while, trying to force Matt into dropping the attack, trying to oust Matts attack.


    The Intent <em>was</em> quite impressive, Matt could tell. Honed over millennia, designed to shrug off cover fire from artillery and the attacks of other ships. But artillery was insignificant, next to the power of an Ascender.


    The realm itself <em>trembled</em> as the Domain gave way, and the ship detonated in a congration of lightning and light.


    A momentter, the shipsst-ditch cover fire reached Matt, and he brought his sword to bear, cutting through the attacks with [Dispelling Edge]. For good measure, Matt used [Dragonme] to nket the battlefield as he defended himself.


    A few Federation shield-bearing teams tried to step forward, but they were overwhelmed and pushed back by the mes, giving Matt the opportunity to dart forward and back into the melee, out of Aster''s ice cloud.


    A cloud that he noticed was growing.


    In the interest of helping his bond, Matt cast [Hail] and let the spell create massive amounts of ice and wind as he struck down soldier after soldier with his de and spells. Wind in a vacuum was fleeting, but the mana kept it moving and tangible. And of course, Asters ice only grew more potent in the cold void of space.


    The fell wind swept through the Federation ranks, forcing them to break off their barrage of attacks to dig in. Those a bit too slow were caught in the currents of wind, sweeping them into theirrades and causing cascading failures of formation. The truly unlucky were swept off into the inky ckness, Asters Concept sinking deep into their flesh and leaving them as icy sculptures drifting into the void. The survivors huddled together in ever-tighter formations, stacking buffs to ward off the chill.


    Of course, that just left them as sitting rabbits for Liz to sweep in as a [Blood Tidal Wave], overwhelming the tightly-packed squadrons. Healers spread throughout the troops worked overtime to keep their charges alive, but doing so only ever earned personal attention from Liz.


    Even now, a clone resolved itself out of a ssh of blood, and a sweep of Lizs arm summoned a half-dozen spears of blood otherwise matching her main one, her [Sanguine Pike Block] moving with deadly intent to skewer half a squad, while Liz herself charged straight <em>through</em> the alchemist-healer that had been previously keeping them alive.


    The blood in her wake shivered and consumed itself in a sh of light. With the mana shed gained from [Blood Sacrifice], Liz powered up her [Sanguine Regeneration]. Flesh became blood, blood became two, and blood once more became flesh as another [Blood Clone] spawned, already on the hunt. One Liz transformed into a phoenix, leaving scarlet mes in her wake, and the other returned to the tidal wave draining the life from dozens of soldiers with every passing second.


    Fear swept through the army.


    A few particrly cowardly soldiers tried to make a break for it, frantically fleeing from their squadrons, but the first two who tried it were annihted in an explosion of pink and blue energy.


    Those same explosions turned on Matt a momentter, spellfire focusing on the three Ascenders as the armysmanders joined the fray.


    They were led by a woman with cannons recing her hands, the one responsible for the pink and blue spells hed noticed, but a full ten people swooped from themand ship. One was surrounded by a flock of golem-birds, three had swords integrated into their arms, another had metal tendrils extending from the base of their neck, and all of them had well-maintained and fairly potent gear.


    They were all quite shiny, and certainly <em>looked</em> like an impressive bunch. With luck, theyd even put up a bit of a fight.


    Alongside the armysmanders, another wave of single man ships jetted over the battlefield, unleashing spellfire on them below. Between the pink-and-blue attacks, and now the ship artillery, Matt felt even [Cracked Phantom Armor] get strained. He suspected there was armor-piercing at y, a thought confirmed as his armor began to crack and dent.


    It was already beginning to mend itself, but it was the principle of the matter.


    Aster was doing fine, but needed a bit more mana to keep up her barrier of wind that was deflecting all projectiles aimed at her into the soldiers still providing their own cover fire. Liz didnt even bother trying to dodge, and while plenty of the clones destroyed by spellfire didnt reform, his wife had blood to spare.


    She also had plenty of sources to replenish herself with.


    Aster began engaging with the ships starting with conjuring a [Tailwind] elemental to stay mobile enough to keep up, Liz coalesced into dozens of [Blood Clones] and charged the army itself, and Matt flexed his Intent, establishing himself as the center of the battlefield.


    He charged themanders, and they responded in kind.


    The woman at the lead kept firing her projectiles, which Matt answered as sinctly as possible, using [Cracked Air Slide] to close the distance, and [Mana Charge], [Fire Weapon], [Shield Shatter], [Hypersonic Edge], and a fully-focused [Sword Twin] to literally disarm her.


    His follow-up attack, while she was still weakened, left her a head shorter.


    Nine to go.


    The Domains of his current foes were finely-honed machines, permeating their bodies in a way which left them unable to simply be cut in half with a single blow, or torn in half with [Telekinesis]. Hed have to weaken their Willpower a bit before the killing blow if he wanted to use his de to do the job.


    Of course, [Mana Beam] didnt care about that, and utterly annihted the chest of the next-closest man before carrying on to demolish the sword-arm and half the shoulder of the man behind <em>him</em>, and terminating somewhere in the mass of soldiers beyond all of them.


    Seven to go.


    However, the skill didnt stop when hemanded it to, instead going haywire and consuming more and more mana until he finally cut it off with a self-aimed dispel. Apparently, one of themanders had [Spell Glitch] or something simr.


    Those skills had the same weakness as nearly all dispels, in that they were practically helpless against buffs which meant the spell did nothing to stop him and little to even slow him down.


    A flock of golem-birds swooped and dove around him, firing off a steady barrage of low-power attacks. They peppered his armor, but Matt ignored them for now, as they werent doing any harm.


    The two sword-armmanders who still <em>had</em> their swords nked him, and Matt split off a [Sword Twin] from his main sword, crystallized it with his Talent, and grabbed it with his off-hand, blocking each attack in turn. Then, he flipped over backwards, leaving a trail of [Afterimage]s in his wake. He took hold of each image with [Illusion Maniption] and split them off in every direction, disguising his own actions as he grabbed the back of onemanders neck and sent an overwhelming st of [Lightning Torrent] directly into his head.


    The man spasmed, and Matt finished him off with a sword through his back. Then, he kicked the body at the other sword-armmander, empowering the makeshift weapon with [Fire Weapon] and using [Metal Maniption] on the corpses integrated weapons to bowl over his former colleague.


    Six to go.


    Matt was momentarily distracted from finishing off the other sword-arm fighter by a dozen metal tendrils striking at his joints and the normal weak points of armor. He nced behind him, and saw a pair of his opponents charging up sts of sma and force to strike him while he was immobilized.


    In response, he powered up [Flight] and [Mages Retreat], tearing off two of the metal tendrils with a single motion and pulsing [Dragons Drought] to scour away the metal of four more. The remaining half-dozen tendrils he severed with a backhanded [Dispelling Edge], [Hypersonic Edge], and [Shield Shatter]. For good measure, he reached out with his Intent and pulled the recoiling tendrilmander into his hand, blocking the iing attacks with the body.


    Those attacks didnt kill themander, but flooding [Cracked Phantom Armor] with decay mana did, as the neck in his hand rotted and rusted away, destroying the brainstem through the very port the tendrils had oncee from.


    Five to go.


    Matt felt a de sneak in between two of the tes of his armor, piercing [Cracked Phantom Armor] and sinking deep into his back. The attack carried an entire suite of debuffs with it, but Matt flooded the area with [Barbarians Hide] to help fight it off even as [Regeneration] erased the wound itself.


    Matt spun on the spot,ing face-to-face with another attack that he judged would pierce his armor were it to connect. There just wasnt enough time to dodge.


    So he froze and the realm followed his lead.


    He was Dauntless. A simple de, no matter how strong, would never change that.


    Matt became a fixed point in space, and the de stopped dead. It didnt bounce off, or prate the armor and stop on his eyeball. It simply stopped, right where it met Matts visor. Two more attacks mmed into him from behind, and a steady trickle of weak spellfire came from above, but they didnt matter. Matt was the fixed point here, and while fairly draining on his Willpower, nobody he was facing could harm him while it was active.


    The man tried to draw back his sword-de, but Matt struck faster. Three des fell, meeting the hesitant single de his foe was armed with, and emerged the undisputed champion. The de didnt shatter, but it was knocked so far back that the man it was attached to went alongside it, meeting the razor-sharp edge of Matts crystallized [Sword Twin] head-first. It cut a massive gash into the mans face, and before he could even properly recoil, Matt had directed the second Twin to finish him off while he took the first in-hand.


    Four to go.


    [Barrage] let him dual-wield [Dispelling Edge], and force and sma fell away as what remained of their spells forms. A woman with a wide-brimmed hat and a curved sword charged him, trailing aurora in her wake. He dodged her first strike, tripped her with [Gravity Maniption], and cut a deep gash in her back as she fell. Colorful light engulfed her, a defensive spell of some kind, but Matt stripped it and her life away with a point-nk [Dragonme].


    Three to go.


    The burned body of the woman fell away, and Matt pierced her head with an [Icicle] delivered with a kick for good measure.


    Matt felt a telekic force try to grab onto him, but he overrode it with his own [Telekinesis] reinforcing his own actions. Between that and [Flight], he finally stopped getting distracted and jetted forward, one sword dedicated to each of the mages. The first attack disrupted them, the second maimed them, and the third killed them.


    One to go.


    The golem-birds still circled around him, firing off a negligible barrage of attacks seemingly with the intent of wearing him down. Dispels were mixed in, and there were a few somewhat-nastier attacks as well, but Matt had dodged anything that [Cracked Phantom Armor] couldnt shrug off.


    Their controller hovered some distance away, watching dispassionately as Matt ughtered the rest of their colleagues. Matt couldnt tell much about themander, except that they looked to be little more than a bit of skin stretched over an almost fully mechanical body, and their face was hidden behind a silver mask.


    Matt cocked his head, and unleashed [Mana Beam] once more. But instead of simplyncing through themanders body, leaving a trail of annihtion in its wake, one of the golem-birds detonated into colorful smoke.


    Then another.


    And another.


    The rest followed in short order, and while themander was startled and began to teleport away, it all happened too quickly. The moment thest of the birds burst into silver smoke, [Mana Beam] finally worked its magic.


    None to go.


    He turned to rejoin the rest of his team, themanders thoroughly eliminated. As Matt did so, he was interrupted by a st of me from the side. He turned to look, and saw the now-disarmed sword-arm man who had taken a ncing blow from [Mana Beam] at the start of the fight. Apparently losing a quarter of his limbs and torso hadnt dissuaded him, and had thought that Matt might finally be taken down with a sneak attack of simple <em>fire</em>.


    Matt shot the man an incredulous look, then flexed his Intent, fired off a [Gravitic Bolt] and enhanced it with [Cosmic Pressure]. The barely-visible attack struck the man dead center, and a momentter hed copsed into an indistinct ball of meat and metal, leaving Matt back on course to regroup with his friends.


    Aster was nked by two Liz clones as she eliminated thest of the Federations aerial support. Pieces of the ships, frozen and windsted, slowly drifted through space, soon thereafter joined by fragments of ice and even more shrapnel as Aster threw a small cier in the path of one of the two still-attacking fighters.


    With a passing fancy, Matt reached out towards the final ship with [Telekinesis] wanting to mimic something he had seen recordings of Harper do. Instead he found that somebination of his control and the 10 million MPS he was willing to dedicate to the skill was insufficient to fully freeze the single man ship mid-flight.


    So, he settled for a bit of a nudge, disrupting its flight patterns enough for Aster to conjure up a potent wind and send the ship on a direct collision course with the army. Soldiers scrambled to get away in vain, but turned into little more than sparks and blood as the ship collided with them. Instead ofing around for another pass, thest single man ship took a long route, returning to the capital ship well outside of Matts easy range.


    One of the Lizs next to them intercepted an arrow, cutting it from its flight path, and the other darted off towards the seemingly-empty section of the battlefield it hade from.


    All around them, dozens of Liz cut a bloody swath through the soldiers, a one-woman army of her own. The Liz still by Aster and Matt acted loosely as the main body, d in [Blood Crystal Armor] and directing a handful of full [Blood Clone]s, each of whom had their own small squadrons of [Lesser Blood Clone] surrounding them.


    Matt knew it was all a front. The main difference between [Blood Clone] and [Lesser Blood Clone] for his wife was simply whether or not it came with a mind. But that mind wasnt tied to any single clone, not truly. So long as its spawning body existed, it could pilot any of Lizs clones or rather, any six-to-ten clones, because Liz was like that.


    Every once in a while she ran into resistance where a number of above-average soldiers had gathered. With how she had to split her skill usage across all her clones, there were several times she lost a clone in battle only for it to be reformed shortly thereafter, followed by Liz focusing on whoever had managed to get a lucky shot in.


    Moremon were lost limbs, and the vast majority of the time whenever an arm, leg, or even head was lost, the Liz turned to blood, then returned to human form. Only certain types of skills were capable of dealingsting damage as a result, and even fewer were actually fatal. She simply didnt have weak points any more, not even her head. Even having an entire clone annihted wasnt a hindrance, no more than losing a finger would be for Matt.


    Each and every body, each and every drop of her <em>blood</em> on the battlefield, was just as much Liz as the rest of itbined. The Talent scanner had said she was blood, and it meant it. The healers in Group Kudzu had spected that every drop of her blood within her spiritual perception, centered loosely on her center of mass, would need to be destroyed for her to die a process which would only initiate her phoenix rebirth.


    There was no such thing as being truly unkible, but Liz was rapidly growing to challenge that assertion.


    Of course, Matt wasnt about to let Liz have all the fun.


    Some of the soldiers were rapidly retreating to their ship, but what looked like the strongest foot soldiers remained, trying to amass enough fire to overwhelm Asters [Chill of the End].


    In response, Matt flooded his armor with fire mana and carefully activated his new Talent, confining the effect to strictly over the <em>top</em> of his current set of armor.


    Crystal instantly encased him, the normal blue of [Cracked Mana Armor] reced by a deep crimson, with phantom mes reflected in its endless facets, and Matt interposed himself between the barrage of fire and Aster without a second thought.


    There were enough people involved in the barrage with a Domain or Talent dedicated to fire that he actually needed to <em>try</em> to block the iing attacks, but with his armor pre-attuned to fire, that was the extent of it.


    Before his Tier 25 Talent and before the upgrade orbs, such a trick might have blown past [Cracked Phantom Armor]s defenses, but not now.


    Matt charged out of the mes and into the mass of troops who tried to hold their ground. The front liners held glowing shields, but between his [Mages Retreat]-empowered strength and his sword enhancing each of his telekic blows, Matt cut through them like a farmer harvesting wheat.


    The look of resigned determination reminded Matt of the face his fellows in Minka had worn as they faced the Fall General. In that situation, there were only two options: stand and fight, or run and hope you could get away from someone insistent on taking your life. Except now the tables were turned. Matt was the imcable foe who wouldnt allow them to retreat.


    A burst of [Dragonme] showed them what real fire was.


    They<em> burned</em>.


    One particr soldier, perhaps one responsible for his earlier difficulty defending against fire, tugged on the [Dragonme] with perhaps a lot less subtlety than hed expected. Compared to the iron grip of Zack or the nearly-invisible influence of Liz, it was clumsy but effective. For a moment, Matt considered using [Fire Maniption] to properly contend with it but he decided against it.


    Instead, he dropped [Dragonme] and called upon [Dragons Breath].


    The mighty wind scattered the soldiers around him and left a clear path to the woman Matt had identified as responsible for the attempted usurpation of [Dragonme]. Fear radiated from her spirit and ignited, white and ck mes forming into a torrent aimed squarely at Matt. They cut past the innate defense Matts armor had against fire, then bypassed his armor entirely. But they couldnt bypass [Regeneration], and they couldnt stop Matts [Crescent Sweep] no matter how many of the strange grayscale mes she threw around.


    When Matt emerged from the congration, his armor was no longer red, but flickering ck and white in the same way the womans mes were.


    Matt felt [Cracked Phantom Armor] take hits on his back, but he had used the exterioryer of his armor to block the attacks. The damage the spells did was considerable, and all the des had some very strong armor-piercing enchantments, but only twice did they manage to bypass thebination of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and the armor once worn by a member of the Cosmos themselves.


    He and Liz killed the final soldier still on the field simultaneously, spear and sword piercing the mans silvery chest from each side. Everyone else was either dead, dying, or had already retreated to the ship.


    Matt half suspected that to end the battle and was already transmitting an offer for surrender when he felt the mana cannons on the ships parked in orbit start charging.


    If only it was that easy to kill Ascenders.


    Matt swished his sword through the air, absorbing a mana crystal to begin his casting of [Breach]. By the time the mana cannon was ready, so was Matt.


    And his was bigger.


    An average capital ship at his Tier might have a main shot of about two million mana. Matt responded with a [Breach] twenty times that size, unleashed at the same time. The two projectiles met in midair, and after a moment of the two titanic spells colliding, the ships gave way.


    Unfortunately, his single quickly charged attack wasnt strong enough to destroy the ships hull, but it <em>did</em> punch through its shielding and rend the metal open in several ces.


    Then, the offer for surrender came.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster didnt need to speak to gather, and there was an uncontroble excitement bubbling up in them.


    If anyone thought they were false Ascenders, those rumors would be put to rest now.


    They had faced down an army and won.


    Now, they just needed to keep doing that until they won the war.

 Echos Chapter 2

    Echos Chapter 2


    Jasmine was stirring her tea while she sat and watched the initial coverage of the Ascension ceremony with her delving team and a few of their closest friends.


    They, like everyone else in the Empire, had used the asion for an excuse to party. Anything that wasnt a food establishment was shut down, and the restaurants and bars were packed to the gills.


    Theyd had some luck with their delving recently, pulling an impossibly valuable [Light Maniption] from a rift, and there had been enough surplus from the sale that theyd been able to rent out the entire top floor of a fairly upscale restaurant. Part of it was the Ascension, sure, but they had an additional reason to celebrate. At longst, shed formed her Concept, making her the first person in her team to truly outgrow the bottled ones. Theck of crowds made the celebration all the more enjoyable, and given how noisy the floors below were, she was <em>really</em> d theyd splurged for it.


    She had to admit, Marcus had been smart by inviting Lin and Biancas teams to this. They were friendly teams, and their additions had lowered the prices of the venue to something reasonable. It also helped that Felix was on Lins team. They had been circling around each other for thest few months, and tonight would be a good night to seal the deal.


    Not that they would get married or anything neither of them were even two hundred years old yet. And as Tier 9s, they were some of the strongest people in their age group, so something like settling down was out of the question.


    Frankly, Jasmine wasnt sure how much longer their team would even be on this. She had joined them after bing friends with Jacqueline when her original team, the team she had been at the yPen with, had started to slow down their rate of delving below what she desired. Marcus and his team were far more driven, and like her, were willing to delve twice a month which kept them advancing at a damn good pace.


    As one of the news anchorsmented on some of the people attending the ceremony, a pair of nobles who had been in seclusion for thest millennia, she reflected that she wasnt the actual fastest in her peer group.


    Her musings were interrupted by Jacqueline, who came over with an entire bottle of liquor. What are you thinking?


    Just a long, long time ago, I was trying to get a sponsor for the Path myself, you know? I thought I was pretty much assured a spot, with my grades and my delving record. I felt like I measured up pretty well to the Pathers I knew, and I had convinced myself that I could do it just as well as they had. But now She waved at the broadcast. Im just thinking about how Torch and Quill are basically my age, and it makes all of my aplishments seem a lot less impressive, you know?


    Dont be too hard on yourself, her friend reassured her. Ascenders are freaks of nature. Focus on what you <em>do</em> have, what you did aplish. You came from a tiny world out in the middle of nowhere, with no high-Tier sponsors, bloodlines, or long-lost treasures to your name. And now, still less than two hundred, you have a Concept, are closing in on Tier 10, and are one of the top delving teams on a Tier 9 world. Theres plenty of noble brats who cant even im that. Dontpare yourself to the likes of them.


    Felix nodded as he sidled to her side. Exactly. An Ascender is one out of a quadrillion. Quintillion. Sextillion. I dunno, some <em>really</em> big number. Even if you ount for them, it hardly changes the average.


    Median. Jacqueline interjected.


    Median, yes. My point is, whypare ourselves to someone who might as well not exist? Theyre freaks of nature who eat rocks for breakfast.


    With no milk. Jamal smirked as he cut in, but Felix just nodded.


    Freaks who eat rocks with<em> no milk</em>. Like think about it, how many people did you know before Awakening, or at Tier 1, are even still alive? For me at least, pretty much everyone I grew up with passed away from simple old age decades ago. Shit, the only reason my parents are alive is because <em>I</em> was able to pay for them to advance, and even theyre still getting older faster than theyre cultivating.


    Jacqueline snorted. Way to get morbid, man. This is meant to be a celebration.


    Jasmine shook her head. No, I get it. I dealt with that a couple decades ago, after my parents passed away. A hundred and fifty is old for Tier 4s, and they were basically content with that. And here I am, older than they ever got but looking younger than they did when I was <em>born</em>. But screw mortality! A thousand years or bust!


    Jacqueline raised her ss in a toast and loudly said, Ill toast to that!


    Everyone on all three teams raised their sses, even as Marcus asked, What are we toasting?


    Jacqueline smirked as her bait had been taken. To looking young!


    Hear, hear!


    Even as everyone else drank, Marcus grumbled. Fuck you, Jacqueline. We didnt all start advancing as teenagers.


    Jacqueline raised her ss once more and called out, A toast to a midlife crisis that pushed you to start delving!


    Hear, hear! For all his bitching, even Marcus raised his ss and downed its contents with enthusiasm.


    Jasmine smirked as Marcus started to tell Lin and Biancas interested teams the story about how when he was in his forties, he came home to his wife sleeping with another man, and instead of confronting them, had just walked away. Instead of drowning his sorrows, he had initiated a divorce and sold most of his belongings before joining a delving preparatory training center and beginning a life as a delver, never to look back.


    By the time he was getting to the end of his story, the newest Ascenders had started walking down the lush-looking purple carpet, and everyone went quiet to listen to the news anchor.


    And here they are. Quill, Torch, and Scoop. If you havent bet on who the newest Ascenders are, you have just moments left. As thementator started plugging a few local gambling halls, Jasmine turned her attention to the zoomed-in images of the newest Ascenders.


    She had watched the Light and Shadow ceremony, so she was filled with anticipation for when the trio would reach the middle of the throne room and unveil their true identities.


    She wasnt like most of the others who had gambled, but that didnt mean she wasnt interested in the real identities.


    Zack Varon and Allison Spein had been the children of a pair of mortal nobodies and immortal nobodies, respectively. And though that didnt really matter on The Path of Ascension, the fact that someone like Zack could have grown up in a city like her made her somehow feel closer with the Ascender.


    Would any of the trio have that same connection to the lower rungs of society?


    Despite her parents running a sessfulpany, she hade to realize that anyone who was operating on credits was a <em>nobody</em>. After she reached Tier 4, she hadnt even used credits unless buying a snack or street food. Even <em>that</em> had be rarer as she moved to a Tier 9 world when she reached Tier 6, and now that she was Tier 9, she made more money in a single delve than her parents made in a decade.


    She


    Jasmines brain froze as she tried to process the people who had just been unmasked.


    Her eyes went right past the attractive redhead and went to the blond man walking down the throne room.


    She knew him.


    Except that was <em>impossible</em>.


    But her eyes knew that jaw. It was a little older than what she remembered, more early twenties than mid teens, but she knew that nose. Those lips. The small twitch of his cheek that said he was holding back a smile.


    <em>Except that was impossible</em>.


    Jasmine tried to process things as her eyes flicked around the screen looking for the information panel.


    And there it was.


    Elizabeth Moore.


    Matthew Moore.


    Aster Alexander.


    Seeing the third name caused Jasmines mind to copse.


    What were the odds there were two blond, green-eyed Matthews who looked the same and were obviously connected to a fox-eared girl named Aster Alexander?


    When the Commentator started reading out the information about the trio, Jasmine wanted to reach through the screen and get him to skip the information about the woman until she realized that the woman was Matts <em>wife</em> if the newst name was to be believed.


    The daughter of two royals, Matt had apparently married way, way up in society, but then the information turned to him.


    Matthew Moore n Alexander, born on Lilly.


    Aster Alexander, Winter Fox bonded to Matthew Moore.


    Jasmines brain broke.


    The rest of the world vanished. Colors washed away, sounds grew distant and muted, nothing but her and the broadcast existed in her mind. She unconsciously stepped forward towards the projection, eyes fixed on a face unchanged yet alien.


    Hed barely aged. While she looked like a Tier 1 in theirte twenties, he nearly still looked like a <em>teenager</em>. Early twenties if she was pushing it. His hair was the same sandy blond that it had always been, his eyes just as piercingly green as she remembered, though the spiraling gxy that took the ce of his pupils gave him an utterly otherworldly look.


    Gone was the cute, slightly scrawny kid shed known. A wiry frame had been supnted by an absolute wall of muscle, the ever-present dirt and scrapes that came from him working himself to the bone, day in and out, had been reced by the faintest echoes of long-healed scars. The goofy grin had been reced with a confident smirk.


    But underneath it all, <em>he</em> was unmistakable.


    -him, Jasmine? a noise prated her mind, and Jasmine shook herself out of her stupor.


    W-what? she asked, her attention still torn at <em>Matt</em> walking down the carpet as an <em>Ascender</em>, and her friends elbowing her in the side.


    Jacqueline chuckled. I <em>said</em>, did you know him, Jasmine? Youre from Lilly as well, right? Hed be about your age, did you ever see him at your yPen? Given your reaction, it sure seems that way.


    Uh, um. Yeah, I knew him. I, uh, I dated him.


    Sorry, could you repeat that? Marcus prompted.


    I dated him. He was he was my first real boyfriend.


    Marcus dropped his drink at that news, but Jacqueline shook her head as she clearly shared his shock.


    Not really sure what she was saying, Jasmine added, I met him not long after Aster hatched. That''s how we met, Aster was being really freakin adorable at a party, and she was attached to this cute boy, and I I have no clue what is going on. What the fuck?


    As everyone crowded around her, Jasmine searched through her [AI]s earliest pictures until she found one of the tiny ball of fluff she remembered. She connected to one of the bars supplementary screens and shared the picture for everyone to see.


    Matt was there sitting cross-legged on the floor with a tiny little floof trying to get the toy he was waving in the air.


    Matt and Aster.


    Jasmine flipped through a few more pictures until she found one with her and Matt on a date, with Aster trying to sneak a bite of the food they had brought from the yPens cafeteria.


    Jacqueline whispered, What the fuck is right. How did you never tell us you dated an Ascender?


    Jasmine looked around and saw shock and awe in everyone''s eyes. Holding up her hands, she shook her head, still a little unsteadily. I I didnt know he <em>was</em> an Ascender. We We basically stopped talking after I left my yPen. I havent thought about him in well, over a century.


    Marcus had recovered his drink and was crowded in with everyone else around the table and asked, What was he like?


    Jasmine nodded absently. Nice.


    Jacqueline shook her. No, you need to give us more than that. You dated him, <em>you have to know</em>.


    Jasmine shrugged, eyes fixed on Matt and Aster getting handed writs of nobility. It was a century and a half ago? Um, he was cute and fun, but kinda intense sometimes, I dont know what you want me to say?


    Jacqueline grinned. How was he in bed?


    Jasmine blushed as she felt everyone''s eyes on her. She wasnt usually prudish, but this somehow felt different.


    Somehow, Matt bing an Ascender had made what they had shared as kids far more personal.


    Linughed and egged her own. Come on, you have to share!


    Jasmine threw up her hands and tried not to pay attention to how Felix looked like he had been hit with a club. That potential rtionship had been shattered, it seemed.


    Oh well. The damage was done, so she might as well share a little. We were young but Im sure his wife is happy.


    Bianca sighed. Damn, I wish I could marry a princess. That must be nice.


    Karl nodded. Anyone got a prince friend they haven''t told us about? Im single.


    That got everyone but Jasmine tough as they were all looking at her. Hey, I know an Ascender, not a Princess.


    ***


    Griff sat with his wife Jessica as they watched the Ascension. They were mostly feeling each other up, having drank more than a little bit, and were about to get frisky when Griff jerked upright as he registered who was on the screen.


    That looked like Matt.


    Purging the alcohol in his system, he looked closer.


    That <em>was</em> Matt.


    Mother fucker!


    Jessica poked his lowest rib. Why are you yelling?


    That''s Matt!


    Yeah, I can read? The question in her voice told Griff that his wife hadnt understood.


    Matt. The yPen kid who visited us near the end of our time working at the Lilly yPen.


    Jessica sat up, and Griff was about to say something when there was a knock on their door.


    He was going to ignore it until the person messaged the house, Delivery from Matthew Alexander.


    In a burst of speed, he was at the door and jerked it off its hinges as it would have been too slow to open normally.


    His [AI] registered a Tier 15 courier who scanned him before proffering a small box.


    He hesitated only long enough to return the door to its spot as best he could before rejoining his wife.


    A present from Matt.


    This almost feels ominous. Did you piss him off enough to send a bomb or something?


    Griff gasped at the usation. Me? I would never!


    Jessica snorted. Bullshit. It''s happened twice now. Did you sign him up for some spam messages or anything?


    Really, I didnt. I swear.


    Then why did he send us something?


    Griff shrugged, which left them at an impasse.


    Jessica shimmied away to the other end of the couch. Well, open it up. I want no part of whatever vengeance you brought on yourself.


    Griff really doubted that Matt would do anything like that, but he really didnt know why else Matt would have sent him an express delivery.


    Not able to do anything but open the box, he did so.


    A screen popped out, and Matt, sitting there in an Ascenders uniform, grinned at him. Hey Griff. It''s Matt. I just wanted to say hi. Also, rub your nose in it a little.


    Griff looked at his wife, but she was ring at him, clearly expecting something negative from the beginning of the recording.


    Remember after you killed that healer?


    A white-haired woman barged into the recording. Thanks for that, by the way! I wouldnt have liked living with her. Im much happier being bonded to Matt!


    That must have been Aster, and memories started to flood back into Griff.


    Matt had to wrestle the fox girl out of the recording, but once he did, he continued with a shit-eating grin that made Griff start to worry. That was the face he had when he was pranking one of his friends. You said that, and I quote, Matt, you are not better than the <em>seven hundred and fourteen trillion</em> people before you. Well, as it turned out, you were wrong. Tomiserate that, I sent you a bottle of wine and a whiskey. Now you and Jessica He waved. Hi Jessica, I hope youre well and have wrangled Griff a little can toast to me proving you wrong.


    Griff was taken aback when Jessica reached into the box and pulled out the bottle of wine and eximed thebel. Ohh, nice! This is a super expensive vintage of Tier 18 pinot noir grown on East Flower.


    Griff grabbed the bottle of whisky and needed to search the name and brand to find out what it was. As his wife said, <em>very</em> expensive.


    He was half tempted to put it on his wall and frame it, but as he smelled the surprisingly good smell of the wine, he knew he needed to open the bottle. He normally only drank wine when he couldn''t get away with not drinking it, but that bottle smelled <em>good</em>.


    The whisky smelled even better. Like fresh rain, freshly cut wood, fragrant fruits, mixed with just the faintest hint of a sweet caramel.


    Pulling a ss out of his spatial ring, he poured out a finger of the whisky and sipped it.


    The sip hit him like a punch in the gut, but in a good way. The whisky was Tier 18 and strong, but that just enhanced the vors even further. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he let the vors linger.


    Damn, that was good.


    Shame he wasnt a higher Tier, or Matt might have sent them something better.


    Hearing Jessica sigh, he looked up and she exined, The wine is so good, but I had the thought it was a shame that we aren''t Tier 25s or something. Matt might have sent something even more exquisite to us.


    Griff snorted. How mercenary of you.


    Jessicaughed in his face. Ha. Tell me you didnt have the same thought.


    Griff shrugged. Oh, I had the thought, but I didnt say it. That makes me better.


    Instead of bickering with him, Jessica looked out the window. With Cassy Tier 10 and established on her own, maybe it''s time we got the gang back together and started back up with some serious delving? Not this half-hearted shit we''ve been doing.


    Griff thought about it for a moment and nodded. But after we finish these bottles. If the others get wind of this, we won''t get to drink but a few sips.


    Raising his own ss to Jessicas, they toasted to a good idea.


    Sipping his whisky, Griff corrected himself.


    It was an exceptional idea that paired well with an exceptional whisky.


    ***


    Miles was eating breakfast, picking at his french toast as he watched the Ascension half-heartedly. It wasnt that he didnt have the utmost respect for the aplishments of what may as well have been gods among men, because he did.


    Mostly, he just was d hed finally transferred out of Recruiting. His recement would be up to her neck in new hopefuls trying to replicate the sess of the Empires newest celebrities, but he was Tier 10 now and beyond all of that. Even as a rtively high-level manager, it had been an utter <em>nightmare</em> in the wake of Light and Shadowspletion, and he was happy to be away from the worst of it.


    And it felt good.


    Really good.


    The Masks fell away, revealing the identities of the new Ascenders, and Miles picked through their public profiles, wondering what new fads and copycats would sweep through the delvingmunity, hoping to recapture the sess of the best in the Realm.


    Elizabeth Moore, a pyromancer warrior pretending to be a blood mage, daughter of two Royals. That would be amusing, but fire specialists weremon enough it was unlikely theyd see too much of a resurgence. And maybe it would inspire some more savory folks to try out blood magic. It was always the most self-important and edgy kids who tried to go for blood, until they realized just how nigh-impossible it was to make it work. He wondered what had prompted the cover.


    Aster Alexander, a <em>winter</em> support mage. That was interesting. Ice would definitely see an uptick in the next few years, and maybe the trainers would finally have an easier time of persuading people of the value of support, now that there was a support Ascender around to serve as an example. It looked like she was a beast bond to Quill, Matthew Moore, interesting.


    Then there was Matthew Moore himself, a talisman mage sh endurance warrior. He was from Huh. He was from Lilly? What were the odds? It had been a few decades since Miles had been on the, but he still remembered it fairly well. Matthew was something of amon name there, it being in fashion for a while, if he recalled correctly. Then ah, yes, two hundred years ago would have been right in the middle of the Rift Breaks.


    Terrible business, that. So many kids had been left orphaned and homeless, and Gavles Good Guilders had done their best to provide support and training to a bunch of the kids affected.


    Picking through Matthews public history was a lot like walking down memoryne, being reminded of so many recruits hed passed into the Guild. Orphaned as a kid, Awakened at thirteen to a Detrimental talent, that was interesting. Joined the Path at fifteen, and was off-world by the time he was seventeen.


    Miles chuckled to himself softly. Pretty much every orphan with a half-decent Talent had been offered a spot at at least one Guild, and he wondered which Guild was kicking themselves for passing over one of the Empirestest Ascenders on ount of having a bad Talent.


    To satisfy a passing bit of curiosity, he pulled up for Gavles recruitment records from a hundred and fifty to two hundred years ago, looking for a Matthew Moore, if hed ever popped up. It had been a few years since he was recruiting director, but he still had the database ess.


    Nothing showed up, and Miles was momentarily disappointed before he realized that, of course, Moore must have been his <em>married</em> name. Searching just Matthew turned up far too many records, and he was about to give up on the momentary fancy when tried Matthew Alexander, on the off chance his bond had taken his originalst name.


    <em>That</em> returned a result.


    Name: Matthew Alexander


    Intelligence: Average


    Drive: High


    Weapon proficiency: High


    Talent: Detrimental


    Verdict: Applicant does not meet minimum requirements.


    Recruiters Notes: Very promising candidate, offering ten-year contract. Addendum: Awakening tripped contract default use due to Detrimental rating. Matt rified his Talent forbade mana cultivation, and it wasnt simply a technicality. I felt sorry for the kid, so provided him with a handful of EmpireNet brochures and some advice. -Miles


    Miles blinked a couple of times at the notes with his own name attached, feeling slightly numb. Apparently Gavles <em>had</em> had Quill cross their desk, and he had been the one responsible for rejecting the then-boy. He wracked his brain, trying to remember. At least it sounded like it hadnt been up to him <em>personally</em>, just the Talent scanner, so he couldnt be truly med for missing the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes slipping through their fingers.


    Miles french toast sat uneaten for quite some time, as he wracked his memory for his interactions with Matthew.


    Had he taken him out to dinner once? It seemed unlikely, but sometimes former kids hed recruited came back to meet up. Would someone hed declined do that as well? He <em>felt</em> like he had, but he couldnt remember for sure but then he found the memory saved in his AI.


    Ugh.


    Miles'' face fell.


    He was <em>never</em> going to live this down.


    ***


    Wrangle smiled as he watched the news report.


    He had been feeling good, and this revtion made him feel all the better.


    Helping train an Ascender. Now, that was an achievement that few could match.


    It was almost madness, but his spiritual damage had just healed, and now the children he had helped train were Tier 25 and that much stronger than him.


    Looking inward, he felt good.


    He felt ready.


    Wrangle had originally wanted to make some more preparations before making another attempt at creating his own unique skill, but with the revtion the kids he had helped train were Ascenders, he felt energetic and ready.


    Twisting and pulling, he gathered the small bits of information his spirit had created, solidified through years of practice and hard work. They werent enough to make a skill in and of themselves, but they were the precursor to a skill.


    Few really pushed themselves that much, but Wrangle had done his research. New skills were rare because most things were already done.


    There were two ways to make skills. The first was for the insane, and the second was for the persistent.


    The first was creating an entire workable skill outside of your body, manipting essence and mana into an intricate sculpture, and then pulling that active skill structure into your spirit without messing anything up. If you managed it, you would have a brand new skill, but one slip up, and you would shred your spirit as the foreign energies got rejected by your spirit instead of being assimted by it.


    There wasnt a single person in thest million years who had been verified to manage that, and even Wrangle disregarded it as an option.


    The second option was for the determined.


    If you needed a way to throw a ball of fire you got a [Fireball] skill shard, you didnt work on controlling your personal mana and converting it to fire mana while elerating it away from yourself.


    If you were crazy enough to do so for years, if you were willing to manually create the effect you wanted for decades, it would slowly engrave those movements into your spirit. If you were extraordinarily lucky, you might, might, one day, solidify the small pathways you carved into your spirit into a fully formed skill. The fewer skills you had, the more likely that was, which made that method nearly impossible for anyone in civilized society.


    Unless you were insane, there was little reason to create a new skill while not using any skills.


    No, that method was only possible for the forefathers who hade before.


    Instead, if you wanted to make a new skill, you had to do all the same things and then manually consolidate those little bits of skill fragments into a skill on your own.


    And that was dangerous.


    As he damn well knew.


    But Wrangle felt lucky today.


    He felt good.


    And he had never been one for waiting around, which had made thest two centuries awful.


    The first skill fragments came easy. He had spent his entire life as a summoner and had been pushing his summons to be stronger every chance and skill he had. While most of those improvements were inside his already absorbed fully formed skills, some of those changes had been burned into his spirit itself.


    Now, he gathered those bits and pieces.


    The next skill fragments he gathered were about mana constructs.


    Summons, at least the ones he used, were created from mana. They weren''t the still living bodies of rift monsters like tamers gathered control of, nor were they the dead bodies of monsters necromancers like to reanimate, but something more benign.


    Mana summons were mana given form and a small bit of intelligence. Most summon skills took a snapshot of a rift monster and used that to control the mass of mana and give it form. That intelligence and its apanying form were locked into the shape of the monster before its death.


    But why?


    It was a question he had asked himself and anyone else a million times over.


    The skill was creating something from data it gathered from the monsters. He wasnt a tamer or a necromancer who used the monsters bodies, so why couldnt he edit that data and merge the forms of monsters he recorded in his [Library]?


    When he started looking into skills that could do that, he found there werent any. Not any that he could find for sale near him, not any that he could find in the Empire, not any that he could find in any of the other Great Powers; he couldnt even find rumors of such a skill. Anyone who had done something simr, used either their Domain or Talent to aplish it.


    And that was uneptable.


    Once he gathered the fragments about empowering monsters, he gathered the next two ideas he had been working on.


    Splitting the data about mana constructs and then merging different clumps of data together.


    The fragments were scarce. There was no skill to act as a framework for his idea, and he had been forced to modify a few [Create Summon]s to conjure deformed monsters before he could even start to build free-floating fragments in his spirit, but he had done it.


    Once he had gathered the fragments, he started pulling them together.


    When they started to sh, he moved them into what he felt was the correct shape.


    Creating a skill''s structure was less a science and more of an art form.


    Sure, there might be a theoretical bestyout for the skill, but the skill fragments were just that fragments. And no one would know the shapes they were in before they started pulling them from the background noise that existed in their spirit.


    That meant once you had them gathered, you needed to start shaping things. And you needed to move quickly, because the spirit didnt like foreign, unstable entities inside of it, and would quickly start to reject it.


    Thest time he attempted this, he had run out of time before finding a stable arrangement. But this time, things would be different.


    He felt it.


    In his bones.


    In his spirit.


    It felt like days, but was closer to two hours, before he gasped as he felt the fragments subtly shift and settle into their final cements with a snap.


    Wrangle paused for a moment as he waited for the spirit wrenching pain he had felt once before.


    But there was nothing.


    Falling back, he startedughing even as the chattering of the news anchors washed over him.


    Holding up an invisible ss, he mentally toasted Matt, Liz, and Aster.


    Carpe diem.


    They had all earned it.


    ***


    Justinian watched the recording of Quill, Torch, and Scoops Ascension from a gorgeous mountain range that overlooked a mist-filled valley with a waterfall and stream that wound down to the ins beyond.


    They had been the first shining light in an otherwise empty world.


    Or at least, Torch and Quill had been. He hadnt even known there was a third member of their team before now.


    Still, when it was revealed that Scoop was Quills bond, things made more sense.


    He couldn''t wipe the smile off his face as he saw how happy they seemed.


    Being an Ascender was a big deal. Even someone who had been trapped in a box knew that.


    Legends of Duke Waters, L Worldwalker, or The Cosmos had filled his days of watching movies.


    They were heroes for the masses.


    And now <em>his</em> heroes could be heroes for <em>everyone</em>.


    That felt right.


    When things were at their worst, he knew that Matthew, Elizabeth, and Aster would be there to kick down the door and create a path to freedom.


    Standing, he brushed the dirt off his pants and readjusted his backpack. He had another fifty miles to cover today if he wanted to reach the next valley before nightfall, but when he had heard the news, he knew this valley was where he wanted to watch his heroes'' Ascension.


    Justinian knew he wasnt cured, but he was doing better with each passing day.


    His hiking was still a bit of an emotional crutch, but he could now enter and spend a full month in a town before he got the urge to start exploring again.


    He was even thinking about joining an explorers'' guild to wanders that flew past the Empire in chaotic space, but he couldnt do that until Tier 15, and he wasnt sure he wanted immortality yet.


    That seemed like toorge of a choice.


    He could do it at any time.


    Freedom was good for the spirit, it seemed, because not even a decade after he had been freed from his cage, he had created his Concept. Almost by ident.


    <em>I Am My Own Freedom</em>.


    He still wasnt even sure what his phrase meant because he sure as shit hadnt felt like freedom, but he liked it.


    It sounded nice.


    And his image was gorgeous.


    A glittering starscape with a trail made from a denser path of stars that stretched out further than he could see.


    Maybe if he kept searching, hed one day find out exactly what his phrase meant.


    But in the meantime, he was in no rush.


    Nothing bad would happen to him.


    Torch, Quill, and Scoop were there to protect him.


    That was what Ascenders did.


    Had done.


    Would do.

 Chapter 285

    Chapter 285


    After their first mission, the three of them rejoined the others in Drifter''s ship just to be greeted by Shadow in fullbat kit holding childrens party paraphernalia.


    Matt rolled his eyes at the antics and instead looked to General Darrow, who nodded at them. Wonderful first showing. Now, Drifter, if you would?


    Punching it!'''' The pilot called back, and they felt the ship shift underneath them as they re-entered chaotic space, though this time staying more on the actual path, than cutting through unchartable territory.


    It had been decided to merge their first outing with a group outing to increase the impact of the Empire''s newest set of Ascenders. To that end, they were now slipping behind enemy lines and going supply raiding, nning to attack targets of opportunity in the Tier 25 to Tier 27 range.


    Shadow walked over and bumped Aster''s hip as asked, So how was it? First real engagement?


    Aster shrugged. It wasnt exactly a hard engagement, that''s for sure.


    Shadow rolled her eyes. It wasnt chosen for that by any means. It was meant to let you get your feet wet, and you did so. Our first mission was the same way. No cool terrorist masterminds for you guys to go after as a follow up, though. So sorry.


    Matt turned to Shadow and pulled on that thread. Do you know what Maven is up to? We were on Ventillyria when the attack happened. We would like to sit down and talk with Maven about her involvement.


    Shadow whistled as she rocked back on her heels. I knew that but had forgotten. Been a few hundred years subjective for me. Sorry about that.


    Light stepped forward and spoke up for his teammate, who currently had a foot in her mouth. To answer the question, we do not know what she is up to. We have only encountered each other one time after our hunting of her.


    General Darrow spoke from his seat, where he watched the scanner reports on therge table hologram. We very well might engage them once more, but both sides are ying chicken, and if we start openly hunting them, the other team will start running around trying to waste our time. We wish to keep Ascender Shadows capabilities hidden, so we simply ignore them as we deal with more vital missions. He stopped speaking for long enough that Matt thought he was done when he added, If this war follows the usual patterns, the various elites will start to gather at important battlefields around core worlds once one side either feels they can secure an important location or decide to escte. Before that, we will just circle around each other without deliberate engagements.


    Liz caught the key word and asked. Deliberate? So that means if we encounter them, we will fight?


    General Darrows third eye flicked to Liz and scanned her while his true eyes kept watching the screen.


    Ascender Torch, please do not interpret us doing our own missions as avoiding the enemy. The Tier 25 bracket is one of thergest in the war, but we are in no way battle-shy. If there is an opportunity to take down enemy elites, we will do so, and we will do so with extreme prejudice.


    Shadow caught her now thousands of des and they returned to two des that she stabbed into nothing. Fuck yeah we will!


    General Darrow sighed. Ascender Shadow, if you would please take your antics into another room, I would be grateful, as we are at yellow alert. I will remain here and watch the scanner and inform you if we see a target we want to hit.


    All of them took that cue and walked into the small spartan mess hall that doubled as a lounge room in the ship.


    Drifter must have still been actively piloting the ship, as she wasnt there, but the rest of Team Zero was.


    Torment bellowed at them as they entered the room, Wee back!


    Happiness pushed pping hands out of his cheek, but they didnt breach his skin, which meant Torment had his emotions under control.


    Stick and Stone, Dena and Eric, waved from where they were sitting together next to Bulwark meditating mid-air while he faintly glowed. Matt headed over to where Origami was ying with a book sized formation te near Torment.


    Light and Shadow joined them as they sat down, and the two older Ascenders continued their exnation.


    So Maven?


    Light nodded even as Torments face twisted as Rage and Detest started tearing through his skin for a moment, before his face went nk long enough for him to wrest control over his emotions.


    Despite all that, Torment still managed to speak first. Vile woman. May she rue the day we teleport in behind her.


    Shadow nodded. Yeah. Sadly, it doesn''t seem like that will be today. Normal mop up duties for us.


    Liz leaned forward as she asked, So you do this kind of hunting behind enemy lines often?


    Origami sighed. Sadly.


    Matt was confused by the reaction but was doubly surprised when Shadow sighed in unison with thebat crafter.


    Light exined with his deadpan expression, which stood in stark contrast to Torment. We can usually hit two or three ships before the Great Power we are targeting diverts all traffic around us. Thus far, we have been unable to provoke arger reaction.


    Torment looked like he was ready to chew through a bulkhead as he said, I still think we should go on the offensive. We are already behind enemy lines. Let us cripple a few fortress worlds. That will force them to engage with us and pull Tier 25 reinforcements from the frontlines. They shall then learn why our enemies tremble before us!


    Allie pounded the table. Yeah! She then deted. Sadly I already asked. Darrow said not yet. But hey, that wasnt the usual no I get it when I ask.


    Torment nodded, but Origami tapped Matt on the arm. What do you make of this?


    Matt took the device, roughly the size and shape of a slice of pizza, and started studying it. A momentter, he flinched as his senses properly took in the crafters handiwork. It was an <em>incredibly</em> dense piece of folded space, metal, ivory, and crystal. Tracing it all out, and following some of the lines, it looked like it would expand into a formation te roughly two hundred feet in diameter.


    Even at Tier 25, that was huge for a personal formation. Without dedicated infrastructure, very few people could power something of that size.


    He just happened to be one of those people.


    There also just werent that many formations which <em>needed</em> to be that big, and that made him curious. Lots of the devices structure went over his head, as Origami had centuries more experience than he did, and a Talent enhancing her knowledge of the technology. But her work was refreshingly clean and straightforward, giving him a fairly good idea as to <em>what</em> it was doing, even if not the <em>how</em>.


    Is this a flying tform<em>?</em> he asked, a little confused.


    Origami nodded smugly. It is indeed! When I learned just uh how massive your mana generation was, I figured I wanted to stretch my crafting ability to try and actually, you know, get some use out of it? And I make a lot of flying tforms, for all kinds of stuff, so this was a good first step.


    But why is it so big?


    Origami threw up her hands. To hold really big stuff, obviously! More seriously, this thing has some of the highest weight capacity out of anything Ive ever made. It could probably lift a <em>castle</em> and have power to spare. You know, in theory.


    Matt turned the te a few different ways, trying to get a good look at what all she was doing. So... I dont think thisll work. Looks like youre using Fetatal linking runes for the primary motive drive, and I <em>know</em> theyre the stereotypical high mana runes, rated for use up to Tier 28, all that, but they cant actually handle a throughput that high. The pair-links spontaneously redirect after just a few minutes once you have more than about fifty thousand channeled per second. Well, thats at least with Tier 15 materials.


    You could probably squeeze some more performance at Tier 25, but thats offset in part by the Energetic Aptitude Theorem. Maybe you could get a differential of one million with a single linkage? If you want to be able to actually <em>handle</em> a hundred million in the system, youll either want at least a dozen full sets of Fetatal or a major throttle limiter capping the upper limit to something the system <em>can</em> handle. Or you could use Chalk Masters conducting array, that scales up really well. Though, most resources assume you wont go above a sextuple-degree array, and youd need at least an octuple for this. That should work well with your style, though. You might be able to rig it in such a way that the array will only activate to the needed extent, and stay dormant otherwise.


    Origami looked like she wanted to say he was wrong, but instead, she flipped open a massive toolbelt filled with recement parts, grabbed a couple of force and air-based pieces and a nk ceramic connecting rod. A few hourster, she had a bit of makeshift flight rod, with the same Fet-atal rune structure, scaled down ordingly.


    It wasnt a perfect job, nor a perfect analogy for the full-scale model, but it would work. Matt grabbed it, and carefully used his Concept to feed mana into the enchantment directly. While it worked initially, after about fifteen minutes the mana went <em>wild</em>,shing out randomly and trying to spontaneously alter or form other simr runes to instead channel mana to them.


    Matt quickly cut off his mana before it could progress any further, handing the contraption back to Origami.


    The woman narrowed her eyes at Matt, and he generated a mana crystal for her to study. I think my endless sub-aspect exacerbates the issue, but it happens even when I use different elements. I didnt go too in-depth as to why they didnt work at the time, Ill admit. Path and all that. I just confirmed that they didnt and moved onto other linking runes.


    Lemme see that! The blond woman grabbed the crystal, and her eyes began glowing as she peered at it, pulling out other devices from a surprisingly in-depth tool belt as she studied his crystal.


    For the next three hours the two of them though mostly Origami worked on trying to figure out why the Fetatal linking runes werent working properly. As it turned out, he had been wrong when he said the Fetatal runes were worse. Their standard configuration didnt hold up well, but apparently post Tier 15 thest time he used them it was far more robust, and with the proper backing they could absolutely stay adequately focused on their pair, instead of going haywire.


    He shouldnt have been surprised, but he was.


    Their discoveries still meant the formation te Origami had made needed to be scrapped. At the level ofplexity required in Tier 25 enchanting, it was nearly impossible to make changes to aplete device without a Talent or Domain to keep tinkering. Origamis Intent actually <em>did</em> allow for that, but with the Fetatal runic structure being so core to the entire design, she was better off breaking it down for parts and rebuilding it, than trying to modify what she already had.


    Origami was pleased by the end of it, Well, that was productive. Once we get back to Lightfoot Ill have to give it another go. Ive worked on some multimillion projects before, but theyve always been group efforts. A <em>solo</em> project is absolutely amazing. Great for my Domain, though. It hasnt felt this healthy in <em>millennia</em>. Maybe next time, Ill make a fully portable fort.


    Shadow had appeared at some point, and Matt mirrored Origami as he tensed in surprise once he recognized her presence, narrowly avoiding [Mana Beam]ing her. As it stood, she was looking at the basic ns. Can it include the most overpowered deflector ever? I want to watch the faces of a ship as their own shotes back at them. Can you make it do that?


    Origami replied tersely, Uh, uh. Also Allie, <em>please</em> dont do that. Wrecks my thoughts something fierce. And no, for. Actually. This <em>could</em> probably run an absolute defense as a base? Normally its prohibitively expensive, but thats not really an issue, is it? If we used an Acils-core Invulnerability structure and


    Shadow waved her off. I don''t care about the nerd shit. Can you do it?


    Origami rolled her eyes. Maybe. Probably. Sure. But its not like a single ship attack, when reflected, would cripple its originator. Ships tend to fight other ships, they have armor and shields.


    Shadow apparently disagreed and insisted that the looks on the crew''s faces would be worth the effort.


    As the two started bickering, Matt returned to the main lounge area, running into a discussion Zack was having, predominantly with Aster, about bloodlines and elements. Out of curiosity, he settled down into one of the seats, trying to catch the thread of the conversation.


    Which is why I <em>originally</em> wanted to go with space ice. Of course, then I grew up a little and realized that nothing can use Void as aponent, but I still wanna figure out something thatll give me <em>rea</em>l bite, you know? And with my advisors telling me that I really can dream big, itse back up again.


    Light pursed his lips as he thought that over. Well, while I apud your creativity, I must concur that ice, winter, illusion, space, and void will <em>not</em> make a stablebination, not by any means. Even putting aside the sheer magnitude of discovering a wholly new level <em>five</em> mana type, when were still working on a level three, even assuming we do manage that How would you get the resources? My understanding is that to evolve your bloodline youd need at minimum a natural treasure at or above your Tier, which is unlikely, to put it lightly.


    Aster pointed at Matt. He can just make me rifts of the associated mana types once we get something stable.


    Light shook his head before stopping himself. The odds of sessfully getting an aspected rift to Tier 25 would be astronomic Letting out a small breath, Light continued, I suppose the associated costs really wouldnt matter. I apologize for my oversight, it seems it will take me a little more time before I can truly adjust my thinking. With that in mind, I would be happy to assist you two with advancing your bloodlines in the desired directions. Im quite jealous of your bloodlines actually. For a little essence allocation, you get fairly unique features and an entirely new form. I would love to have ess to that.


    Aster nodded sagely. Being a fox is great.


    Matt rolled his eyes and elbowed his bond.


    Aster responded, but Matt was more upied looking at his wife. She was nominally part of the discussion, but was mainly sitting quietly. Anyone else other than <em>maybe</em> Aster would think she was fully engaged, but he could tell her heart wasnt in on it.


    Hey, he subtly messaged her, You okay?


    Her hand flinched slightly. Hed broken her out of some deep contemtion, it seemed.


    Mostly, she shot back.


    Matt held back a sigh. Its about The Book, isnt it?


    Liz scooted closer to him andid her head on his shoulder. No, its <em>definitely</em> not about the book all about phoenixes who changed their bloodlines to ice or water or wood or whatever, and how they did it. Its something <empletely unrted</em> to this discussion about evolving bloodlines thats going on all around me.


    Sorry, you didnt deserve that, she quickly followed up.


    Hey, its okay. I get it. You know Im going to support you no matter what you choose, right? Its not like I love you just because youre a phoenix, or because youve got a fire bloodline, and I certainly dont care if either of those change.


    Yeah. Thats not the problem.


    Matt absently stroked his wifes shoulder. I know. You dont want to feel like youre cutting yourself off from your family. But your mom wouldnt have given you the Book if that was going to be a concern.


    My parents are too nice for their own good. I dont know if it would actually break moms heart if Ipletely gave up on fire, and went full blood phoenix, because shes just too supportive in everything.


    Its definitely not an act, Matt reassured her. Your parents arent that petty.


    Is it really pettiness though? Liz quickly replied, Id be rejecting what my mom gave me in about as literal of a sense as possible. She gave me the fire in my blood, she became a phoenix through her own efforts, and now Im just <em>throwing away</em> all of that, because what? Its more convenient?


    Of course not, youre taking what she gave you and making it your own. Shed be thrilled that you can use your bloodline to its fullest potential for yourself. That you can take whatever you have from them, and still use it as a connection to them, even if you move past it. A part of Matt wanted to bring up his history with his own parents, and the soul-searching that hed undergone when he decided to actually, truly change hisst name when marrying Liz but it wouldnt help. She was probably already thinking about it, and mentioning it would only serve to sour her mood even more.


    .Maybe. But it still <em>feels</em> like abandoning them. Lizs face may have been deadpan but he could still hear the whining in her message.


    Liz


    I made it this far, okay! And when I was Torch, I felt closer to my family than any time since my awakening. But now, sure I still have all of that prowess and experience, but it was hard enough being Torch by the end of the Path and I just cant afford that luxury now. Especially with every eye in the Realm on me. Im stuck, using blood every time it matters for the rest of my life, and thats not really a problem, because blood is great as well, but I dont want to give up myst true connection to fire, the only thing that even made it halfway possible for me to ever pretend to be Torch. Its like Im betraying <em>myself</em> as much as anything, no matter what I do. That if I keep being a fire phoenix, then its like Im betraying myself by not being the best me I can be. If I be a blood phoenix, its like Im betraying myself by sacrificing my past for scraps of power that I dont need.


    What about bloodfire? Keep both parts of your heritage,bine them even, and be something greater than either your Talent <em>or</em> your parents. They dont want you to suffer, and neither do I.


    Come on, I know youve thought about it. And this is literally the perfect time to bring it up. What happened to it being alchemicallyplete for life, and all that? Isnt that a good basis for an element?


    Matt sent a prating look his wifes way when she didnt respond after a few moments.


    Its not its not that easy.


    And why cant it be? he broke them out of their AI messages with a murmur, earning a curious nce from Aster. He shook his head slightly, then spoke up. Hey Zack, he started.


    Noooo. Dont you dare.


    Yes, Qu-Matt?


    As our resident expert on mana aspects, what do you think about merging blood and fire? Liz is too shy to ask herself, he cheerfully added, earning himself a jab in the side that only made him smile wider.


    Blood and fire? I dont have many insights, Im afraid. Ive only utilized blood a couple of times, for a bit of supplemental healers training with Kudzu, so the only things I know would be the things youre familiar with.


    Matt raised a question. Failure to merge in every attempt?


    Yes, he agreed. Despite many attempts to form a Sacrifice element over the years, the two simply refuse to cooperate.


    Matt wiggled his hand. Well, what about not trying to make it into Sacrifice, but into something more Life-oriented? Ive heard that, what is it, standard alchemical stagings,bining blood and fire can be alchemized through some voodoo-?


    Liz cut him off with a re, I know what youre doing.


    And yet it seems to be working, he cheerfully replied.


    Could you finish what you were saying? Zack prompted him.


    Matt mimed shutting up, and after a few moments of a curious Zack stare, Liz relented. Blood and fire. Theyre alchemicallyplete for life almost. Any creatures I make trying to use both of those elements tend to notst long, and I havent gotten any to actually reproduce without the direct aid of my Intent.


    After pondering for a moment, Zack asked, Hmm. What of including Life directly?


    Overpowers it, same as most other forms for life, Liz shook her head.


    Ah, that does make sense. Im not familiar with life-creation, but I have found that including elemental Life in just about anything has a very aggressive effect. I can see why that would be detrimental to forming a distinct type of life.


    Yeah, and the fire always gets shoved way to the back, and I definitely dont want to bring in bone to just make elemental <em>body</em>, I want elemental <em>bloodfire</em>. I tried crystal, and that didnt go badly, but it didnt go well either.


    Yes, crystal is good for magnification and reflection, but what of


    The four of them chatted for several days until a beep went through their collective AI.


    General Darrow had found them a target.


    It was a supply convoy like he had hoped, but the target was a rich one. It was a supply cruiser which, if it was making its usual run, was going to resupply a Tier 26 battlefield with equipment.


    The central ship was truly massive. Close to five miles long and three across, it floated like a balloon in chaotic space, being pushed around in small random jitters.


    If it was alone, it would be an easy target, but supply ships never neared the borders undefended for good reason.


    Four smaller, sleeker ships kept position around the cargo ship and bristled with cannon ports.


    Drifters''ughter echoed through their-chanel. Quill? Let''s hit ''em with the one-two special.


    Matt flooded his mana into the arm-thick mana conduit that Drifter had exposed before they embarked on the mission.


    Through his connection to the ship, Matt felt the massive rechargeable mana batteries drain as they fired therge mana cannons repeatedly.


    From full mana to half, then back to full, Drifter hit the escort ships and red their shields.


    Shadow took that as their cue, and the twelve of them were teleported out of the ship.


    Darrow immediately highlighted the ships who were firing at their group and ordered. Ascender Quill takes them out one by one. If they disgorge theirpanies, don''t fire on empty ships.


    Tormentughed and exined, Mostly intact ships make for fantastic merits.


    The enemies werent so nice, and their mana cannons started firing, but Light stood forward, and the sts of mana turned from imposing projectiles to mere illusions.


    Around him, a massive array of tes unfolded as Origami prepared her stabilization array. As soon as the worst of Chaotic Spaces influence was blunted, Matt took his position at the center of the massive set of interlocking rings, connecting with the enchantment and using it to lock himself and his mana in ce.


    A whirring built up around him as Matt withdrew a set of mana crystals, filling up his mana pool to the point he could actually sustain the full five million mana he was preparing to throw into [Breach].


    Power swirled around him, and Matt wrestled the mana to behave. Normally, this kind of working would be a lost cause in Chaotic Space. Thews of magic changed too quickly, too violently for him to keep up with it at this scale. But the stabilization array, based on some of his own designs and made real by Origami and Firmament, kept it in check.


    Ethereal whisps of blue materialized from the ether, bending Chaotic Space around him as he passed the twenty million mana mark. Even though he wasnt the highest-Tier individual on the battlefield, even if each of the ships had more mana avable to them than he did, it was he who was the center of this battle.


    Fifty million. The pressure was palpable now, and questing roots of blue spread out from the growing sphere of energy cupped between his hands. Where they passed, Chaotic Space bent, interlocking veins of white and ck pushing and pulling unpredictably. Giving and consuming, not bnced in the slightest yet held in equilibrium.


    One hundred million. Even in realspace, wrangling this much mana was a tall order for Matt. He desperately fought the mana, keeping it in one ce as it tried to spontaneously change aspects, teleport in every direction, detonate in his face, copse into a temporary ck hole, or a thousand other issues. At least in Chaotic Space, it waspletely incapable of bing a rift, that was always an annoying one to fight.


    Two hundred million. Origamis formation was fully operational now, and the rings were spinning faster and faster, helping Matt keep his spell on track and preventing Chaotic Space from getting any fancy ideas about suddenly mimicking the nature of a siege-ss spell, something that he wasnt sure theyd survive. At minimum, it would certainly disrupt the protective enchantments that enabled them to actually put their full attention towards the fight, instead of simply surviving. At worst, it might overwhelm the enchantments entirely, transforming them all into nothing but fuel for the spell itself.


    Three hundred million. It was taking forever for this spell to charge, well in excess of ten, maybe even twenty seconds, he couldnt check. He kept pouring in mana as fast as he could, but whether the limit was [Breach]s own charge-rate limiters or his own ability to keep his spell in control fluctuated constantly. Without his teammates, without a target asrge as a ship, this would never be even remotely viable.


    Yet here he was.


    Four hundred million. Origamis formation began to slowly shift from simply supporting Matt in his casting towards aiding his aim. The rings began to slow and re-orient, focusing ring after ring on Matts target. They fed information and stability to Matt, his AI, and his spell alike as space began to turn blue.


    Five hundred million. The spell stabilized in Matts hands, a pulsing mass of raw <em>power</em>, a wild and barely-tamed skill that nheless obeyed him, bent reality to his whim. Thest of the rings had settled into ce, and Shadow had temporarily disabled the engines of the ship he was targeting.


    Matt unleashed his spell.


    [Breach] shot off into the swirling void, pulling along the corrosive reality and leaving the impression of stars and gxies in its wake. The mirage of a universe, created and washed away in the presence of Matts all-consuming spell. It was almost beautiful.


    Then it struck.


    The ship''s shields red, but it made no difference. The [Breach] projectile with five hundred million mana crushed the invisible shield without even slowing. It was like an egg being thrown into a wall.


    There was no resistance, just destruction.


    The ship itself didnt fare better. The [Breach] projectile went straight through the ship and kept flying off deep into chaotic space as the corrosive energies ate at the spell, slowly destabilizing it.


    Matt blinked as the battlefield froze for an instant.


    The Federation ships stopped firing, and Team Zero all paused as they inspected Matt with their spiritual senses.


    That pause onlysted an instant.


    The Federation escort ships started disgorging their personnel in streams as they rushed to not be such arge target.


    Matt didnt even bother getting ready for another [Breach].


    The spell took too long to cast, and if he lowered the mana cost, he would still need to take a few seconds to cast it. Seconds he could do other things with.


    Like cast [Gravitic Bolt] with [Barrage] to triple the projectiles.


    Matt hardly bothered to aim.


    He didnt need to, as Light was taking control of the spells and guiding the hyper-fast projectiles to target the soldiers who stood out to him.


    Origami floated to the side as she tossed out a small cube that expanded into an entire fortress that she, Morgan, Torment, General Darrow, Light, and Aster manned.


    Morgan waved her hand and a dozen, then dozens, of physical spell constructs appeared and floated forward tond on the walls of the portable fortress, where they started firing at any Federation soldier who neared them. Origami threw out more constructs, which merged with Morgan''s spell constructs and buffed them. The chattering of their attacks sped up to a whir.


    Morgan didnt just rely on her constructs, she pulled out a massive crossbow and started firing on the targets that General Darrow highlighted.


    She didnt kill someone every time she fired. She usually killed two or more, her shots tearing through the Federation troops.


    Aster had already used her tiara to create a [Dispelling Wind] elemental which raced forward and into groups of enemies, utterly wrecking any attempts to get established, even as she brought up [Tailwind], [Headwind], [Cross Wind], [Absolute White], [Meadows of Rime], and spell after spell to hinder their enemies and help them.


    Behind her, Torment <em>roared</em>, unleashing his emotions with deadly intent. Despite looking like something out of a horror movie, the demons wing out of his body radiated an aura of killing intent identical to their master. He was no ve to his emotions, they existed only to serve him.


    Rage was the first out, as ws burst out from inside a massive, horned beast twice as tall as Matt was, with red skin just a few shades darker than Torments own. Fire erupted from its back like great wings, coalescing into a deadly sword and whipbo.


    Shortly behind it, Obsession slithered its way out as a half-serpent, half-woman beast with at least six arms, pushing the summoners mouth open too wide for it to climb out, just like a snake shedding its skin. It instantly fixed its gaze upon a nearby soldier and set upon its unfortunate victim with a triumphant hiss.


    Torment sagged as his two demons entered the fray, but other than a malicious smile creeping across his face as he stared hungrily at the Federation army, he was fullyposed. He cast spells empowering his summons, conjuring more mundane beasts to aid their fight and directing his main representatives.


    Matt cast [Meteor Shower] and dedicated enough mana to ensure that it would continue to give Light projectiles for a good long while.


    With that done, he flew forward to join the melee.


    Despite their ambush, the fight wasnt one-sided.


    The Federation had their own elite troops, and while thispany wasnt their best, they were good. Good enough to keep themselves from getting instantly overwhelmed.


    Drifter was at least having more sess; she had already flown around to the rear of the transport ship, taking out its engines, and was moving into position to give them covering fire with the ship''s smaller cannons.


    Matt joined Liz, where five of her attacked an equal number of Federation soldiers next to Stick, Stone, and Bulwark.


    As Matt entered their range, he found himself buffed by both spell and Domain. He cast [Bulwark] to block an iing spell, prompting augh from Bulwark himself beside him. Always good to see my namesake in use. I love the spell.


    It took real dedication to name yourself after a single skill, but Bulwark clearly had thatmitment. A golden shield hovered around him, usually near the wrist like a real shield would, but also swooping around on its own to block iing attacks. Matt had no doubt that the man had upgraded the skill, enabling it to be empowered by other shield skills, but likely had gear dedicated to enhancing [Bulwark] specifically, among many other things.


    Matt darted forward into the middle of two Tier 26 lieutenants, and with the full strength of [Telekinesis] empowering his sword, struck.


    The first man blocked the blow but his de was snapped in half in the effort. The second was too slow and lost an arm.


    Ance of ice took him in the head and ended his life, allowing Matt to turn his attention to the remaining man.


    Before he could finish him, Lizs spear took him in the gut and he exploded in a spray of blood.


    Shadow appeared behind another Federation soldier who was giving orders, a captain if Matt tranted the rank correctly. She almost blended in with the swirling not-colors of chaotic space with her cloak, Gerald, both shielding her from the dangerous energy that was chaotic space and making her almost invisible. The only things that were visible were her daggers, which looked far too utilitarian for someone with her personality.


    They fit, though, and even as she decapitated the man, her body blurred as she teleported parts of herself out of the way of a half dozen attacks.


    Twisting, she kicked the head at her attacks even as she called out, So what are you three thinking of for your new Ascender titles? Quill, Torch, and Scoop just dont work post unmasking.


    Bulwarkughed, That''s easy! They love their crystals. Call them Ruby, Diamond, and Sapphire. It fits their styles and their armor.


    Shadow bobbed her head as she thought over the offer, the movements also dodging an attack that almost took her in the head. I like Ruby and Sapphire. They fit really well, but Diamond? It feels too basic.


    Stick wrapped three Federation lieutenants in a cloth wrapping and squeezed them until they popped as she offered, What about Onyx? It fits when he goes all ck hole-ey.


    Liz shook her head even as she fought off two Federation captains alongside Obsession, the snake-woman wielding severed heads like ils. We thought about Ruby and Sapphire. But they didnt work <em>that</em> well, especially before Matt got his Tier 25 talent. Now, we could revisit them for Aster and myself, but Diamond is too close to E Diamond for what we want, and Matts hyper-concentration mode is too Willpower intensive to be reflected in his name.


    Ahe on, Shadow protested. Victor E Diamond was like... the ninth Empire Ascender, its been long enough you can do something simr. And Im sure Quill will go all ck eventually. Its just basic forethought! Matt reached out and grabbed a de that almost took Stone in the leg with his left hand and crushed the metal under his grip. Anger tore the man into ribbons, and Matt ducked and thrust his de upward to take a man in the groin who was trying toe in at him from above.


    Spinning, he cast a short burst of [Dragonme].


    Chaotic space itself was tinted red for a moment as the wave of aspected mana distorted the surroundings.


    They quickly returned to their normal mix of purplishish non-colors, and Matt used the opening to throw himself into the middle of two colonels.


    He blocked one of the des and focused [Cracked Phantom Armor]s outeryer to better deflect a crossbow bolt the second man fired.


    Stone brought his staff down on a Federation soldier''s head, popping it as he shouted, What about Endless, Immortal, and Eternal? None of them have been taken before, and they have a nice ring as a trio.


    Shadow popped back in long enough for three people to stop moving as their heads and bodies separated from each other, the chaotic space already eating away at their now undefended bodies. I dont know... It''s good, but it feels like Torch should have an E name as well there. Also, how is Aster Eternal? Isnt her Concept about the <em>end</em> of things?


    Matt grunted as the two colonels fell. And now you know why we havent figured this out on our own before! It''s damn hard.


    Flying upward, he started casting [Mana Beam] as he felt one of the ships start to charge its cannons.


    Shadow cursed before she vanished, Mother fuckers! I thought I killed everyone in there.


    Matts shot destroyed the charging cannon, and he turned his mana beam towards the gathered troops, cutting through anyone who got in his way. He stopped after fifteen seconds and let everything but [Cracked Phantom Armor] drop as he drained a few small mana stones from his ring for good measure.


    It was basically impossible for anyone to tell how much mana hed pulled from his personal stones, making it the perfect cover. It didnt matter if nobody would see the deception <em>now</em>, what mattered was the habits and patterns that would emerge from him consistently pretending he <em>needed</em> mana stone mana to pull off his intense stunts.


    Thus recharged, he entered the battle.


    Chess hade up with the idea based on his original false Talent for Quill. They needed to be able to exin Matts mana expenditures, and so they pretended that for every five hundred billion mana he spent, he needed to recharge. In total, they were pretending his initial Talents revolved around wastelessly absorbing mana stones, the mirror to him being able to now <em>create</em> mana stones. Officially, they were acting as though they were pretending to give him Tier 35 mana stones, but they were actually having him fill up on much, much lower-tier mana stones, then convert those into his own personal stones. Or something like that. He was just d he could use his full capabilities, even if the level of espionage they were working to counteract made his head spin.


    Aster had found it endlessly amusing to trick people with something that was essentially the exact opposite of his real Talent.


    With that taken care of, Matt threw his idea into the pot. It''s simr, but I was thinking Life, Death, Eternity.


    One of Liz grunted as she tore a woman in half with her bare hands. And I still like Never, Again, and Forever. It''s far better for marketing.


    Matt rolled his eyes as he threw out an answer that had gotten him red atst time. What about Princess, Knight, and General?


    Bulwarkughed and caught a glob of blood to the face for his troubles.


    Shadow teleported back just in time, as the ship Matt had disabled the mana cannon on exploded. Some fucker in there wouldnt die so I teleported him into the mana crystal engine. That got him. Also, I agree with thest one. Princess, Knight, and General has a nice symmetry.


    Liz ripped her spear out of a colonel. There is no way Im being called Princess in any kind of serious fashion.


    No, Scoop would be Princess. Shes the one wearing the crown. Therefore shes the Princess. Youre just generally around, so youre the General. Shadow confidently replied.


    Arent <em>you</em> generally around? By that logic, you should be General and Light should be Specific.


    Shadow opened her mouth to respond, but vanished in a cloud of purple smoke before she actually said anything.


    Stone gave a decent suggestion, Hero, Squad, and Army? That kinda fits as well.


    Liz mused that over, but Matt disagreed. Hero is just too pretentious. Even for me, it''s too much.


    Shadow reappeared with a <em>pop</em> of red lightning. Princess, Hero, and Legion.


    Matt tossed a dismembered arm at her. That didnt fix the problem.


    Bulwark blocked a spell and healed the small wound that Rage had been dealt. I think I like Never, Again, and Forever. It seems ssic.


    Matt shook his head. Sure, it sounds great as a trio, but the words are too vague. Think about trying to talk to someone who goes by Never, Again, or Forever it would be endless confusion.


    By the time thest of the troopers fell, they did not have an answer, and General Darrow was ring lightly, but he didnt say anything. Instead, he turned his attention to the supply ship and messaged them. Supply ship of the Federation. This is your opportunity to surrender. I


    He was going to say more, but the moment he mentioned the word surrender, the ship transmitted its unconditional surrender.


    Shadow sighed. Man, they take all the fun out of it. I was getting ready to teleport their engine out if they decided to blow the whole thing or something heroic. Do you know how fucking cool that would look in a movie?

 Chapter 286

    Chapter 286


    Leaving the mission was nothing like arriving. While the journey out and sporadic battles throughout had taken months, their return was finished in seconds.


    The moment Shadow was given the nod, reality warped, and after a disorienting moment of nothing but <em>blue</em>, they were back in the rift.


    And that was it.


    It felt almost anticlimactic.


    Matt clomped down the extended ramp into Camp Lightfoot and found a panting Allie lying on the ground. No one ask me to teleport anything for the next week. Pulling that much mass that far is fucking <em>hard</em>.


    The others ignored her, but Aster walked over and instantly regretted it. Aster, if you need to lose weight, I can


    Aster didnt let Allie get anything more out before she dumped a hill of snow on the teleporters face.


    Matt expected Allie to teleport away, but she just sighed from under the pile. Ah, perfect. Thanks, love!


    Aster fake pouted at getting yed and stomped away, even as Allie kept talking to her as if she was still standing next to her mound.


    Is she okay? he messaged Zack, and got an immediate response.


    Shes not faking the exhaustion, but she <em>is </em>exaggerating it. Shell be able to teleport herself around in an hour or two, especially after we visit the healers. But it will be a couple of days before she can do anything particrly draining.


    With his concern abated, Matt ignored the spatial Ascender and joined the rest of the group as they made their way to Kudzu. Once there, he was sent through a gamut of scanners and dispel wards, checking him fortent curses.


    There <em>did </em>end up being a couple things which Arthur and Liz had missed in their respective healings, including a weirdly persistent transmutation curse centered in his lower spine, designed to transform his bones into a particr metal alloy. <em>Why</em> exactly it tried to do that they werent able to discern, but with the curse lifted, he didnt need to worry about it outside of a follow-up scheduled for a few dayster. Comparatively, Liz was positively riddled with suppressed and dormant spell effects, but that just meant she would be kept around for a few more hours before an initial release.


    Of them, A was the only one with an actually obvious <em>injury</em>. Arthur had done a great job patching them up after each battle, and while Kudzu did re-heal Sebastians hand, As blindness was the only injury that hadnt already been addressed in some way. Matt, of course, had [Regeneration] running the entire time hed been out and was in mostly perfect physical condition as a result. The one exception was a minor bit of internal bruising that the spell had preserved since before theyd left the rift, and Matt made a mental note to get checked out by a healer <em>before</em> he next restarted the spell, once its cooldown was up.


    Currently, most of Team Zero was unwinding in a veryfortable lounge area, basking in the almost mind-numbing degree of rxation they were fully immersed in as their remaining teammates were still being treated.


    Allie dropped onto the armrest of Asters chair. So what are you going to do?


    Aster shrugged. Go nap in my own bed?


    Allie blew a raspberry and started to stretch. Want to go on a scone run?


    What happened to being too tired to teleport?


    Teleport <em>heavy</em> stuff. A few scones, retrieved from the Capital? Easy-peasy.


    And how am I supposed toe with, exactly? Bringing people is hard on you, isnt it?


    I can manage one jump. Healer said it would be fine!


    Did they?


    Promise! Allie sped her hand over where the heart usually sat, but had her fingers very obviously crossed.


    Just make sure youre battle-ready by the end of the week, General Darrow sighed.


    Of course, boss-man!


    Nominally, they werent scheduled for another operation for two and a half months of in-rift time, but that could and likely would get cut short if an eligible emergency showed up. But standard procedure meant they had the first week, or a bit less than a day outside the rift,pletely off-duty, no need to stay in contact.


    While Aster mulled over the offer, Matt was distracted by Morgan being delivered a bottle of water and a moist towel. He had seen Pace, her personal aide, around before, and as Ascenders, they had been offered the same thing, but that was a slow process he wasnt sure he wanted. A noble aide was a position akin to a lifelong partner who you trusted with everything and anything.


    Not everyone used one; in fact, the position was falling out of favor with even the nobles. But it was still a useful one, as was evident by the immediate assistance Morgan was given the moment she arrived back.


    He had asked Morgan about the woman who was like her personal shadow and had been given a condensed version of her story. Apparently, Pace had done a Minka run and gotten Folded Reflections. She had failed a life where she had been Morgan''s personal aide, and when she left Minka she had found Morgan was a noble and freshly graduated academy student, just like in her Minka life. From there she had, through Morgan''s description, used the false memories to arrange a meeting where she wanted to continue the life she had been living in Minka.


    He still thought Morgan was a little crazy for epting the other woman into her service and life like that, but it seemed to work for them.


    Strange, but who was he to judge?


    Once Liz was released by the healers, they returned to their quarters. In the end, theyd decided to keep their portable house attached to Team Zeros grouppound, rather than setting up somewhere way in the distance, like what Light had done. Sometimes they would like the extra privacy, but at the moment, he was d that he and Liz had a much shorter walk before they could crash in their now room-sized shower. They didnt fool around or have too much fun, simply enjoying each otherspany..


    They did, however, enjoy each other a little more deeply after a small nap.


    With their limited time, they went for a nice long walk where they said nothing.


    The weight of their actions had settled on both of them.


    They had officially joined the war.


    They werent depressed or anything, but the two of them did want to get away for a few hours and so went to a hidden de Dena and Eric had told them about just a few dozen miles away from Camp Lightfoot. It was a pretty spot where couples often went to spend some alone time.


    After they settled in with some snack food they spent a calm few hours together.


    Once they had their fill of quiet solitude and snacks, they returned to base and went to the Group Cloud set of buildings. There, they found a quiet corner and enjoyed a private meal prepared by high-Tier chefs. The food was delicious, but after that small reprieve, they were ready to get back to work. Together, they went to check on their armors, but on the way there, they were interrupted by the rift entrance rippling.


    They turned to see who was entering, but froze when Duke Waters stumbled into the rift alongside a rift breaker Matt didnt recognize. A few momentster, the rift breaker exited the Fort, but the Ascender waved at them, ignoring the guards moving to support him.


    Hey, kids! Good to see you He coughed out a mouthful of purple, bubbling blood before spitting to clear his mouth. Walk with me and we can chat. Hows the new title? Actually, how is Camp Light Fuckers treating you?


    If Matts spiritual perception couldnt see the massive hole in his chest and the purpling along Aidens limbs, he would think the duke had just stubbed his toe.


    Before they could say anything, a team of healers materialized, doing their best to pull Duke Waters along to Kudzu, but he kept waving them off. He didnt stop them from casting an array of diagnostic and preliminary healing spells on him though, but slowly walked towards Kudzus main building.


    Liz was smarter than Matt though, and started to speed up her walk, which forced Duke Waters to move faster to keep up. What the fuck happened to you, Uncle Waters?


    Aiden shrugged. Eh, got ambushed. Shit happens.


    Matt managed to lean forward and ask, Who could do this to you?


    Duke Waters shrugged with one arm, setting off a series of magical ripples and muscle convulsions that didnt reach his face. Buncha Everborn graduates. Half-dozen of them hit me from behind, lead by Yuvgret Mest.


    Their senior Ascender apparently mistook Matts expression for not understanding. Top Republic elites, basically equivalent to our Academy Graduates. Yuvgrets a particrly notable leadership Elite. Well, <em>was</em>. Took out her and ke Snow, put two more in serious recovery, but thest couple got away. Still, I think I count it a win overall.


    General Bell, one of the Tier 35 generals stationed in the rift, suddenly appeared and asked, Do you have confirmation for the first two deaths?


    Duke Waters waved the man off. Buzz off, Im having a good conversation here. Ill report in when Im he


    The general didnt take the dismissal well and started to step forward, but he was suddenly <em>gone</em>. Matt would have thought hed simply left, were it not for the human-sized hole in the far wall that had appeared.


    Now that''s better. Where was I?


    Liz smirked. Getting strung up for insubordination? Killing a superior officer?


    Aiden waved away her concern. Eh, it''s fine. Bell is made of sterner stuff than that. Besides, he knew what wasing, just forgot to not interrupt me.


    Matt peered through the hole, and saw the general simply brushing off a bit of dust, before vanishing once again.


    Seeing that, he nodded and was about to remind the Duke to keep talking, but as the healers finally got Aiden onto a healing table they started to surround him. Or, they started to surround him until he frowned when a healer blocked his view of Matt and Liz. That was all he had to do for the healer to quickly move to the other side.


    You were talking about the team?


    Aiden nodded. Yeah, that. So theyre a team of peak Tier 35s. I was happily finishing off the generals of the siege when Yuvgret''s team came out of some spatial fold thing andnded abination attack on me from behind. The fight went to shit from there. I was already pretty tired from fighting the generals, but they got me good.


    Matt nodded in appreciation. Granted, fighting off an ambush designed to counter you when you were exhausted and distracted was simply what was <em>expected</em> of Ascenders, and he had no doubt that hed be in a simr situation someday. It was just doing it when at a four Tier distantage that made it so crazy.


    The elites Duke Waters was talking about were like Maven, or even the rest of Team Zero, fighters just below an Ascender in power. While not a match for an Ascender normally, they came prepared to counter an Ascenders best tricks, attack in groups when their targets were vulnerable, and came in with a n already half-executed by the time they struck.


    It was about the only halfway reliable way to take an Ascender out ofmission for any appreciable amount of time, even if it had only ended in an actual <em>kill</em> less than a half-dozen times in recorded history. Even those kills tended to precede the loss of the war itself, as between the losses sustained while scoring the kill, the loss of the battlefields those elites <em>would</em> have been stationed at, and the fact people usually only went for the full kill when they were already behind, the victorious Great Power usually didntst long afterwards.


    It was much better to simply try and wear down an Ascender, push them to Domain exhaustion and or healing overload, and press the advantage when the Ascenders were down. That tactic was something Team Zero had been created to activelybat.


    Liz shook her head. Did they trap you there or something?


    No, why?


    Liz raised her hands. So you chose to stand and fight instead of running after getting ambushed?


    Aiden shrugged on the table. Yeah, but I knew I could take them. I would have


    Matt leaned to the side to see between two healers as Duke Waters was about to start boasting again, but before he could see much, Duke Waters stopped talking and flipped off the table and started gasping, arm extended.


    Matt thought the man was dying, but the healers didnt seem concerned, and his confusion was answered when Melinda walked into the healing room.


    Ah Melinda I Aiden coughed up a mouthful of blood, which interrupted him. I need your valiant assistance. Assistance only you can provide. The pain is unbearable. I can hardly speak for the agony. I plead for the grace of the saintess No! A full goddess in her own right, to bless her benevolent supplicants with her divine light. Please, fairdy, spare my suffering with your


    Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by Melinda crouching down over his grasping hand and inspecting the purple damage on his chest.


    She poked his exposed wounds with a scalpel even as she asked, What did you bring me today? This one is unique if I dont miss my guess. And get back on the table. It''s rude to the other healers. She punctuated hermand with a poke to his forehead.


    Matt expected Melinda to get tossed through a wall, but Duke Waters appeared back on the table without missing a beat.


    Standing up, Melinda waved to Matt and Liz and ignored the gasping Duke Waters. Hey guys! I heard you just got back, but you werent at your house by the time I got off my shift.


    Liz opened her arms for a hug, but a woman Matt hadnt paid attention to stepped forward with an outstretched hand, just to be waved back by Melinda. Evie, these are some of my oldest friends. You don''t need to worry about them. Also, I don''t think you <em>could</em> stop them, but let''s not test it, please. As she hugged Liz and moved in to hug Matt, she exined, Evie is my personal bodyguard and she takes her job seriously, so dont hate her.


    After he hugged his long-time friend, her attention was pulled back to Duke Waters, who gasped hisst breath half a dozen times, each more theatrical than thest.


    Turning with a bemused smirk, Melinda turned back around. What did you do, Aiden? This is worse than usual, but I wont say no to pushing my Talent. Give me something to work with though. What hit you, who hit you, and what does it feel like?


    Duke Waters happily answered each of Melindas questions withoutint, something he had refused to do with the other healers, who Matt could see were irritated at the situation. But to his surprise, Melinda seemed to have a firm handle on Duke Waters.


    The man had chucked a General through a wall for asking a question, had refused to even remove his shirt for the other healers, but did all of that and more when Melinda asked.


    Even as she poked around at the still purple wound in Duke Waters body, Melinda turned to the higher-Tier healers and started talking about healing jargon that went over Matts head.


    Liz poked Aidens cheek to get his attention. He tried to bite her finger but missed by an inch. So you listen to Melinda? I dont know if I should be surprised, bemused, or tell your wife?


    Melinda smirked but didnt turn around.


    Aiden gasped as if he was insulted. I would never besmirch the sanctity of the rtionship between a fighter and his healer with something as vulgar as you suggest. Besides, Madea would love to mother her.


    Melinda poked a wound, and while Aiden gasped, he didnt y it up. The healers chatted for a few more minutes, but Matt didnt understand much beyond the fact the wound was infected with a curse that hadtched onto Aidens physical body like a spider''s venom.


    It seemed like a weird analogy, but the healers, Melinda included, nodded along as the lead healer described the damage like that made any sense.


    Then the lead healer turned to Matt and Liz and started to say, We need you to step o Before Melinda interrupted him.


    They know my Talent.


    The lead healer turned a disapproving expression to Melinda, who just rolled her eyes as she exined, What? Theyre on Team Zero, theyre cleared. Besides, Matt was there when I reached Tier 3 and got a call from the Emperor himself, and Liz has been with him since Tier 4. Let alone the fact that she is his wife, while also being one of my best friends. Healer Lifesprig, I understand the need for secrecy, but these are my friends and they have been for most of my life.


    Healer Lifesprig looked like he wanted to say something, but a re from Duke Waters, Matt, and Liz caused him to stop speaking with a shake of the head.


    Eventually, Melinda settled down, and at a nod from the other healer, cast a healing spell on the Duke. Golden-green energy flooded through the medical equipment, focused into a single point of mana, and shot down into the purplish curse like a miniature [Mana Beam]ncing a magical boil.


    It did absolutely nothing.


    Matts instincts warred. On the one hand, he was surprised that Melinda had cast a spell thatnced into the cursed wound only to be wholesale swallowed up by it. On the other, there <em>had</em> only been a couple thousand mana involved, and while Matt would readily admit to not being the best judge at how much mana a specialist would need to aplish a task, that felt <em>awfully</em> low.


    The Tier 45 healer nodded. A good start, but [Cure Curse] was focused on the wrong point. Remember, youre dealing with spider venom, not snake blood. You want to hook it through the subtemptuous node and feed it through the focals in order, not a nket smother. Kataramenous wounds like this are easy to push into dormancy instead of properly breaking them if youre not thorough enough. Now, with me.


    This time, when Melinda cast her spell, Matt saw and felt the other healers do much the same, the simple presence of their Domains invigorating him as once more the machines lit up, and multicolored lightnced into the purple abyss. This time, a ck miasma exploded outwards with an ear-wrenching screech, but was swiftly contained and siphoned away by one of the Tier 35 healers not already acting.


    From there, the team steadily moved between a truly shocking number of effects which needed their attention. Each time Melinda would cast a spell to no effect, shed get some feedback, then would work in a group to actually heal Duke Waters. When his chest was back in one piece and his lungs were formed, Matt got to watch as they inted and the Duke sighed. Oh, that''s so much better. I cant stand having to use [Air Maniption] to move air through my vocal cords. Someone needs to make a water version of the spell.


    Turning to Matt, he blinked up hopefully.


    Are you trying to flutter your eyshes? Matt couldnt help but ask.


    Trying? No, Im <em>seeding</em>.


    No, you arent. Liz ruthlessly shut her uncle down.


    You two are no fun. So anyway, tell me about your first mission. Then I can tell you how much better I was as a fresh Ascender.


    Matt rolled his eyes but happily joined Liz as they chatted with their senior Ascender as he was healed.


    After the first hour, the conversation had died down enough and the healing had gotten intense enough that Matt and Liz bid their farewells to actually check on the status of their new kits. Matt was quite pleased to see the progress made on his armor, and while he found that it restricted his movement a <em>bit</em>, the crafters assured him that it was temporary. Apparently, their normal flexibility enchantments had a habit of permanently transmuting whatever they were attached to to liquid at the power levels his armor would be running at, and they were currently investigating alternatives.


    Matt was in the middle of creating a new set of mana crystals for his armor team when Duke Waters burst through the door, Melinda and Liz already in tow. The man still wasnt fully healed, but his body seemed mostly intact.Come on and let''s chat some, the man waved him down. I can take you to the Team Sippy Cup headquarters.


    Matt finished off the mana crystal he was creating and waved goodbye to the crafters. Then, turning his attention back to his fellow Ascender, heughed. Wait, you call it Team Sippy Cup? I heard youre just Team Six.


    Duke Waters snorted. Yeah, and that''s a boring ass name. Team Sippy Cup is far more threatening.


    Matt raised an eyebrow as he processed that but didntment. Liz did that for him. That''s fucking stupid.


    And Team Zero is cooler? No way.


    How is a sippy cup threatening or cool? It''s something children use because they cant use a real cup.


    It''s threatening because anyone who fights me will be drinking out of one if they are lucky enough to survive. It makes perfect sense, and Allie agrees with me. Besides, we are here.


    Matt knew this wasnt the headquarters of Team Sippy Cup, because it was Allies house. Instead of knocking, Duke Waters kicked the front door off its hinges and waltzed inside, calling out, Yo Fetchess, I want snacks.


    Allie turned from where she and Aster were watching a horror movie and screamed, You fucking whale! Cant you knock?


    I did knock. I knocked with my foot, but your door is too weak and crumpled. Like my enemies before my might!


    Allie growled as a scone floated over to Aiden, who started snacking on it. Stoping into my house and eating my scones! Now I need to make another scone run.


    Aiden shrugged. Win-win. You really should keep some of Tonys bagels around when you know Iming by. While youre out, make sure to grab some.


    Im not getting you bagels, you stupid wet nket. Besides, losers dont deserve snacks, and I heard you got your ass kicked.


    Pshh. I walked out of


    Matt tuned out the duo of headstrong Ascenders as they bickered and walked over to where Aster was still trying to watch her movie.


    Seeing she had a pile of snacks, he reached down and stole an oatmeal raisin cookie. Chewing, he nodded. It was fantastic.


    These are really good. Where did you guys go?


    Aster waved aside his words. We just stayed on the Capital, so its not as good as it <em>could</em> be, but the scones are from this great ce called the Sixth Corner Nook that I really want to go back to. Make sure you try a sandwich, those are great.


    Matt did so and was taken aback by the vors present. Despite physically only being a simple turkey sandwich, the mana profile in it was incredible. He wouldnt have thought that rust mana would ever taste <em>good</em> in food, but it managed to provide a faintly spicy undertone that elevated the entire experience. Even thinking about how to replicate it left him unsure if it was <em>possible</em> for him to do so. He certainly didnt have the skills required, let alone any Talents or Domains utilized in the process.


    He was still munching when the world around him <em>whirred</em> past, and he found himself on a sandy beach with an incredible view of an ocean-sizedke. Behind them was an open-style building that had everything a house needed with the addition of everything amand structure needed, but thetter seemed incongruouspared to the beach. A momentter, Allie popped in, ring at Duke Waters.


    The man ignored her and sighed. A home away from home. Hey Allie, can you go get my wife?


    Allie kicked sand at him from where shed sat down with a beer in her hand. No way!


    Their fellow Ascender gave her a pitying look, spoiled only slightly by a lock of his hair drifting in front of his eyes, but Allie held firm. No! Not after the ass-chewing I gotst time. Besides, it knocked me out ofmission for <em>ages</em>st time, and I need to bebat-capable in five days so Im still on bed rest. No tentacle snooki for you.


    Aiden sighed even as he sat down next to the teleporter and ruffled her hair. How have you been, little Allie?


    I was doing better when I was hoping you would die from your wounds.


    That''s so sweet of y


    Matt turned out their bickering to turn to Aster and Melinda.


    He corrected himself with a start. Melinda and <em>her bodyguard, </em>who seemed to blend into the background of any situation. She appeared as if beyond notice, all while keeping a close eye on his friend, who didnt seem even remotely bothered.


    Taking his cue from her, he asked, So how was your break?


    Melinda sighed as she sat down. Fantastic. A full six real months break was needed. But we are back to the grind now. You know, he''s gotten quite good with his skills, having spent thest century here with me. He might be able to p you around Matt.


    Matt patted her shoulder, even as Aster handed her a cookie. Im sure he can. I imagine there isn''t a ton for him to do here otherwise.


    Melinda took the cookie andughed. Thanks, Aster. But its fine. Honestly, were fortunate that this one has as much traffic as it does, otherwise we wouldnt have even gotten our break. We might get a couple more over time, but the confidentiality contingencies are intense. Like we were only able to stay in the Capital and if one of the Royals wasnt there we would have had to cut our break short. It''s kinda rough as a low Tier.


    Liz nodded. That makes sense. Clearly trying to change the subject, she asked, The healers seem to respect you. Are you a leader or something?


    Melinda cocked her head beforeughing so hard she fell into the sand. Not even close. Im more of an apprentice there to watch and learn. But Aiden refuses to be healed by anyone but me, and he likes to mess with the other healers, so it works out.


    The water mage in question turned and winked at them. Melinda understands that Im harmless.


    Melinda snorted. And stop threatening Lifesprig. I didnt miss you doing that. Hes still my supervisor, and he''s trying to help me grow my Talent.


    Duke Waters pursed his lips but looked away without responding.


    Matt was once more surprised at how well Melinda got the Ascender to listen to her, but he thought he understood.


    Ascenders loved to fight, and meeting someone like Melinda, who could heal any physical wounds in an instant, with no healing cooldown, would be like meeting their new best friend. If he recalled correctly, Rusty had had a simr reaction.


    That, and Melinda was a genuinely kind person who, despite being kind, didnt stand for bullshit.


    The six of them were joined by the rest of Team Zero and Mathew thanks to Allie, which was when Matt learned that thiske was actually clear on the other side of the rift from the base camp and closer to the exit than the entrance distortion.


    Allie just made such distances meaningless so long as the person she was teleporting didnt out Tier her, like Duke Waters.


    Despite knowing the rift had been professionally cleared of Tiered monsters, he was d Duke Waters was there in case a stray Tier 35 monster managed to escape notice. Matt was a good fighter, but he couldnt do anything with a ten Tier gap. You never knew who had done the clearing of this rift, and if they missed something, Matt would rather find out back at Camp Lightfoot where Luna was there to squish anything that high Tier.


    The impromptu gathering turned into a barbecue where even General Darrow rxed enough to chat with Matt and Dena about growing up in a more normal background.


    That didnt mean things didnt turn violent.


    Duke Waters challenged everyone to a fight, despite his body just being healed and his still stressed spirit and Domain, and he still kicked everyone''s ass.


    Not in a fight, Duke Waters tried to fight them but Melinda told him under no uncertain terms he was on bed rest from fighting for the next two days. That left them with only nonviolent games to y, but the party games didnt remain safe for long. They were allpetitive, and balls were thrown with Tier 25 strength and speeds, as no one could stand losing, which meant those not at that Tier were left on the sidelines. Duke Waters proved he wasnt just good atbat, but a master of party games as well.


    Duke Waters also showed Matt, Liz, and Aster his most prized possession. A portable day night cycle formation he had had set up around his headquarters so they got to experience an almost natural looking sunset.


    It was nice until Ai started pointing out the ws in the illusion and got dunked for her efforts. She took that as a challenge and used her constructs to force everyone else into the water, where they rxed until it was morning in the formation.

 Chapter 287

    Chapter 287


    After the impromptu party ended, Duke Waters kicked them all out and shouted that camp Sippy Cup was going under construction. Fortunately, Allie had recovered enough to bring them all back to the entrance of Fort Lightfoot, and dropped them all off before bounding off on some other adventure with Aster. Liz headed back to Group Firmament, as Aiden had dragged her off while she was in the middle of something, and Matt pinged Zack about meeting up to work on their mana-type project. The researcher was deep inside the building that Group Scry had been given. In fact, he was so deep in the building, it made Matt curious about what else was going on inside the shielded rooms.


    Figuring that a curious teleporter might have snooped, he turned to Zack and asked, Has Allie broken into these other rooms yet?


    Zack closed his eyes and let out a slow breath before nodding. Astute observation. I made the mistake of mentioning the locked and shielded rooms once, and she was off to the races. While even she wasnt able to enter all of them, she was able to enter a few. Some of them are storage for rare and vtile research materials, but most are sealed test chambers. A small smirk flitted across the corner of Zacks lips as he continued, Group Scry made her personally reseal the rooms after cleaning them and enlisted her for all the teleporting the teams needed for the projects she ruined. Sheined for a solid month, but that is what she gets for sticking her nose into everything.


    Matt whistled. Not at Allie getting into trouble that seemed all toomon and wasnt in any way interesting no, he was more interested in rare and vtile research materials.


    Any interesting materials in there then? Some super substance?


    Matts question was met with a shake of the head, but it was a taller, purple woman in clean robes who stepped out of the air and spoke. No such precious materials. No, what is kept in those rooms are mostly dangerouspounds that we are either well-equipped to study, or which might be useful in our research. Unstable rift materials, poisonous rocks that emit no radiation we can detect, acid that temporarily weakens the essence ites in contact with, the venom of a scorpion that makes someone be incredibly strong for five minutes before dying The list goes on and on. Ascender Shadow was lucky she didnt die with her poking around. Is that something I need to worry about with you, Ascender Quill?


    Matt raised an eyebrow as he looked upward at the head of Group Scry, Director Ste. Few people dared to talk to him like that since he officially became an Ascender, but he liked that some people still had higher priorities than not annoying him.


    I assure you that while I am curious, I have no desire to poke my nose into sealed rooms. Ive done enough enchantment work to understand how dumb that can be.


    Director Ste nodded slightly as she proffered a hand to shake. Wonderful. And please keep it that way. If you really must poke your nose into things, Im more than happy to give you a tour.


    When Matt just nodded at her, she turned and stepped into the wall like it was a hallway and was gone.


    Seeing the Director leave, Zack said, Ah, the perks of unlimited mana.


    Matt looked at his fellow Ascender questioningly. Zack hadnt sounded upset, but if anyone else had said those words, they would have been with a forlorn sigh and possibly a jealous re.


    Zack just sounded like he was noting the weather.


    Oh?


    Zack nodded to Matts question as they continued to walk down halls. It took Director Ste almost five months of showing I actually cared about my mission here for her to bother meeting with me, and she wasnt nearly as amodating. Im certain she was only trying to get face time with you due to your contributions of mana.


    For the first time since he had revealed his Talent to Team Zero, Matt frowned. He wasnt sure he liked that answer. He also understood that funding for research projects was fought for in politics, and top level researchers were almost always politicians to greater or lesser degrees. They were the only ones who were able to get the funding for the things they wanted to do. A Director schmoozing him was to be expected.


    That didnt mean he had to like it.


    pping Zack on the shoulder, he promised, Well then, when I take her up on that tour youll have toe along.


    Zack cocked his head, clearly confused. I think you misunderstood. I already got the tour. It just took a few months to earn the privilege. Nodding slightly, Zack added, I thank you for your consideration, though. Having seen the facility I do suggest you take the Director up on her offer. There are wonders here that might give you inspiration.


    Matt sighed at his failed attempt at being nice. For all that he liked Zack, it was nearly impossible to tell what the man was thinking most of the time.


    Thankfully, they arrived at the room dedicated to Erwin''s team before the silence turned awkward.


    When they entered, they almost walked right into Erwin, who was pacing back and forth looking at some kind of hologram in his left hand.


    The Tier 35 didnt bother to look up and simply paced more to the left, even as he said, Light, have you seen the reports about the fraying when adding darkness mana to the form?


    Zack shook his head. I have received no such message. I have also brought someone who I believe would be a help to our project.


    When Eriwn still didnt look up, Matt coughed. Long time no see Erwin.


    Erwin didnt even bother to look up, but he did wiggle his fingers, which Matt interpreted as a wave. Oh, hey Matt! I heard you became an Ascender. It was you, right? Im a couple years behind on the news, but you are Quill yeah? The name seemed familiar. Yep! Okay, congrats! I knew you had it in you.


    With an alert from his AI, Matt learned that the wiggling of his fingers wasnt an attempt at being polite, but rather him giving Matt the permissions he needed to ess all of the team''s information.


    Matt couldnt help but smile at that realization.


    Erwin hadnt changed a bit.


    He was doing better than the research assistants who were staring at him like he had just walked in on them using the bathroom.


    Ah, well, they would get used to him sooner orter. Or get reced.


    Wanting to put them at ease, Matt gave them a small smile and nod before turning his [AI] on the information packets he now had ess to.


    Almost immediately, he let out a short bark of augh. Erwin had already created a list of tasks for him to check over.


    Letting his [AI] start crunching away at the simtion-heavy tasks, Matt stepped forward and intercepted Erwin.


    Looking up, Erwin blinked at him a few times. You got bigger.


    Matt stuck out his hand to shake, which Erwin took.


    Matt was going to say something, but Erwin twisted his hand and started inspecting his mana ring. Ah, there it is. Light, has Matt told you about his ring? without giving Zack a chance to answer, he carried on, Its an infinite-sized mana bank, with half the hassle usually needed for that stuff. Fidelity could be a bit higher, but I think it should still be quite helpful.


    Still holding Matts hand, Erwin turned and dragged Matt along with him as he walked over to a workstation, sending two of the assistants scattering like fish fleeing a boat.


    Rummaging through a spatially expanded drawer, he started murmuring to himself before pulling out what looked like a hand mixer with wires poking out of the control boards.


    Walking over to a muchrger table, Erwin started talking to himself about how he needed toplete the rework on the boards.


    Matt coughed slightly and brought Erwin''s attention back to him. He handed the odd item to an assistant who looked like they had been handed a bomb, but a more confident-looking assistant plucked the item from the first and chucked it into another drawer, all while holding up a finger to her lips, indicating for Matt to keep that to himself. Matt happily followed her lead and winked back to her obvious relief.


    Once Erwin grabbed his hand, he walked them over to thergest table and held up a vial of liquid mana.


    Can your ring record this?


    Matt took the vial and inspected it with all of his senses.


    Erwin continued his exnation even as he inspected it. This is our most stable attempt at elemental speed. Name pending. Were just <em>so close</em>, like ridiculously so, but were having trouble getting the final synthesis to actually coalesce. Weve been able to shove it into one-offs, but it decays and-or breaks apart pretty quickly if removed from containment including when we try to add it to our own mana bank.


    Matt looked at the enchanted crystal ampoule a little hesitantly, Is there somewhere safe I can open this? I dont want to blow up theb.


    Erwin shook his head. Open it, it''s fine. It just makes some illusions and sparks as it falls apart; it''s mostly harmless.


    Matt narrowed his eyes as he resisted the urge to summon [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Define mostly harmless please.


    Erwin shrugged. If there were any mortals, they might get trapped in an illusion for a few subjective hours, but with that concentration, the worst that any of us could suffer from is some indistinct shapes along the corners of our vision for a day or two.


    Hearing that was the limit of the damage, Matt quickly opened the vial, positioning his ring so that it was directly over the bubbling liquid.


    Once his ring was in contact with the mana source, Matt felt a copy appear in his ring and then just enjoyed the show. Like Erwin said, there were just some illusions, random splotches of color and light but nothing coherent or dangerous. It faded in just a few minutes.


    Matt mused over the disappointing disy and looked up to Zack, who had been quiet thest few minutes. That''s supposed to be elemental speed?


    Zack nodded. Thats <em>decaying</em> elemental speed, specifically what were referring to as the afterimages. Mind, we dont expect it tost long in a pure state even once it <em>is</em> perfect, but until we get it to remain in-element during the decay, it wont be useful for most people other than myself.


    As if to demonstrate, Zack pointed a finger at the far wall and let loose a thumb-sized [Mana Bolt], only instead of looking <em>anything</em> like what Matt expected, it manifested in a ssh of white mana against the far wall, a trail of intermediary afterimages connecting Zack to his end target.


    Despite the fact he could sense the instabilities in the residual mana even from where he was, Matt was impressed. That was <em>fast</em>, though he really shouldnt have been surprised. Still, that was the equivalent of at least a plus five or six Tier speed boost.


    Unfortunately, when he flipped through his ring looking for the mana type there was nothing. He did find a bunch of new samples for illusion, lightning, wind, fire, and other more unusual aspects, probably because his ring had recorded each of them individually.


    It was a bit like alchemy. The difference between salt dissolved in water, versus a liquid with hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, and chlorine all in the <em>same</em> molecule was fairly extreme, and it was the same here.


    Actually, he supposed this <em>was</em> alchemy of a sort. It certainly had more to do with raw material than it did the magical structures using it. But he wasnt opposed to broadening his horizons, and attempted to recreate the mana mixture hed seen Zack nearly effortlessly blend together.


    It took him a few tries, the assistance of a few external tools, and advice from Zack to properly get it, but eventually he managed to hold a small sample of the stuff just above his hand. Then, he solidified it.


    A mostly-white crystal appeared in the air, then gravity took over and made it fall into his hand. Incredibly, it seemed stable, and everyone in the room watched with curiosity at the couple hundred mana in Matts palm.


    Zack, Erwin, the brave research assistant, and Matt all watched the crystal.


    Erwin opened his mouth, but the moment he did so, the crystal seemed to fragment, colors splitting apart and separating into discrete aspects.


    Instead of seeming upset, Erwin said, Alicia, pull up the recording of that separation, that was so much slower than normal. With a bit of luck, maybe we can figure out whats causing the separation. Light, did you pick up on anything??


    Zack shook his head. It was still too fast for me to follow.


    Alicia brought up a recording from a dozen angles and slowed down the recording, but it was the mana that still seemed to go from stable to unstable in an instant. It was just that the dy between the crystal forming and destabilizing was longer than the mana in a spell or liquid form.


    Seeing that the recording wasnt good enough, Alicia got the other assistants to prep a manactrolysis machine.


    From there, the nine of them spent three full days trying to analyze why the fast mana fell apart so quickly and how to fix it. It only took them a few dozen tests to find out the why of it all.


    In addition to the primary three elements that the element was based on, namely illusion, lightning, and air, there were a whole host of other supplementary elements providing structure and additional meaning to the whole mixture. One of them was fire mana, and while the <em>intention</em> was for the sample, based on a Fallen Red Star, to provide it as a form of jet propulsion, the type of fire mana they were using was a bit too consumptive than it should have been. It was instead burning away some of the bonds the air mana was attempting to form.


    It wasnt even a subaspect thing, it was something known as a facet of the mana, a form of ontological inertia which provided the capability for action. If a subaspect was like gravity, constantly pulling an aspect towards a specific goal, the facet was more akin to the starting speed of the aspect, and depending on the strength of each, there could be all <em>sorts</em> of wild interactions.


    It wasnt something he usually had to deal with, as his particr brand of sheer overwhelming power quickly stripped away any existing proclivities the mana had. It was usually more of a thing when crafting anyway, but he still knew the theory.


    Of course, identifying the facet responsible for their current failures just meant that their process moved on to the next point of failure, wherein the fledgling bonds spontaneously decided to break apart the moment they were physically jostled. None of them knew what was up with that, mechanical force almost never directly impacted mana elements. But lo and behold, any time they shook the samples, it would decay almost immediately afterwards.


    And all of that was inside Matts mana crystals, which gave the mana physical form and a stable structure to form around, which was certainly changing the results in unpredictable ways.


    While they didnt fix anything in those three days, they made great progress. Between Matts unlimited mana crystal-making and mana ring, Zack''s Talent and experience, and Erwin and his team''s expertise and their equipment, it was easy to test theories and then iterate on any ideas that seemed promising.


    They did learn a few things, which surprised Matt.


    Illusion really didnt like to bind with fire or its derivatives, which was why they believed that it was rejecting the lightning mana.


    With that learned, they tried to trace amounts of earth elemental mana to the mixture, and while it did make it more stable the crystals made with thatbination of mana types usuallysted for a full thirty seconds before falling apart it alsopletely obviated the actual benefit of the mana type, with the spells traveling slower than lightning, let alone simple light.


    Even with Matts [AI] able to abuse a full 30 million MPS to try and bruteforce a theoretically stable manabination, they found nothing that worked in practice. Oddly enough, their most stable manabination came from adding another facet of fire to the mix, specifically one pertaining to the idea of mes being painted onto a vehicle. But topensate, they needed to reduce the amount of fire mana actually associated with rapidly-spreading fire, or else their wind mana metaphorically became filled with burning papernterns, drifting around aimlessly and catching things on fire. Instead, they needed to reduce it such that the wind mana was catching the fins of a ship painted with mes  patterned after a temporary fire runic enchantment tattoo  along the side, but still propelled by a jet of fire.


    Metaphorically speaking.


    If Matt learned anything it was that working with pure mana was <em>weird</em>.


    And that was only the second greatest thing they discovered over the three-day testing period.


    They also found a <em>lot</em> of very interesting ways to create explosions. Fortunately, the testing room they used most of the time was fairly hardy. But <em>unfortunately,</em> they only realized they needed to <em>use</em> the testing room after one explosion scattered most of their research notes.


    It was loads of fun though.


    Nothing was anywhere close to trulybat-viable, but Matt definitely wanted to try out some of their findings in a low-stakes battle. Who cared if he spent five million mana on an attack that wouldnt even kill the greenest soldier? It would be the absolute <em>pinnacle</em> of style.


    That sparked a discussion about using his Talent to create talismans, but Matt was nowhere near good enough with his Talent to create talismans out of the solidified mana. Unfortunately, while it would be an absolute <em>dream</em> for him to be able to create talismans on the fly, materializing the item wholesale and instantly triggering it for an unparalleled degree of freeform magic that was just wholly out of the question for at least a few centuries. His mana control was nowhere <em>near</em> precise enough for small-scale talismans, nor to createrge-scale talismans in anything approaching a reasonable timeframe. If his current skill at crystal constructs had recently reached the level where he could make a freeform paper airne, a functional talisman would be more like creating a full-fledged <em>spaceship</em>.


    Even that assumed that his ring would gain the ability to put out precise mixtures of aspects as its Tier 25 power, because it was hard enough making a glorified <em>firecracker</em> out of mixed mana aspects, let alone a half-functional enchantment. Fortunately, hed be finding out if that was to be his fate soon enough.


    Regardless, even if making talismans mid-battle was essentially impossible for him, that didnt mean he couldnt use his mana crystal as a <em>base</em> for a more traditionally-crafted talisman. Unfortunately, he didnt have the time invested to more or less discover a wholly new style of talisman creation from scratch at the moment.


    But he wasnt alone.


    Another team was called by Erwin, who came in and after taking a few crates of one million mana finger-thin bs of mana, went to do their own testing.


    Matt wished them luck but doubted they would make much progress. As far as he could tell, the mana he turned into bricks didnt respond well to being cut and shaped after the initial formation of the mana. They either fell apart or exploded.


    He would have happily continued work with Zack and Erwin, but he had an appointment in a Tier 25 item vaulting up, and they only had a couple of hours before it would need to be moved along.


    The vault in question looked to be nothing more than a stone arch set up in a Group Scry meeting room, filled with a red-ck vortex andpletely opaque to his spiritual sense until he walked inside, and found himself in an utterly massive warehouse.


    Boxes and containers, each less than a cubic foot in volume, were packed so tightly that not even an ant could fit between them, and stored in every direction for miles. He couldnt even <em>sense</em> the end, his spiritual sense disrupted by the sheer amount of magic present.


    Fortunately, they didnt need to go through each box individually, looking for resonance. Nor did they even need to use the dozen-odd pedestals meant to shortcut that intense experience, which most soldiers fortunate enough to get ess to this vault would have. No, they were Ascenders, and theyd had the fortune to have a high-Tier enchanter study their growth items and tell them beforehand exactly what they would need.


    Clearly, the list had already beenmunicated to the vaults curator, and the green-skinned woman had already assembled what they would need. Before them, a small array of ss cases held the appropriate natural treasures for their items.


    A lump of Basalt Gold roughly half the size of his fist was the first up, and his and Lizs teleportation rings gained a set of intricate golden script as the gold was consumed. An exceptionally rare Inverted Rainbow was needed for Lizs garden orb, and the prism it was trapped in was carefully vented into the small orb, causing the ss orbs sky to gain an ethereal glow. Her shield gained a reddish pearlescent sheen on the side facing her, as it absorbed a Deepfire Opal, andstly, the butt of her staff twisted and forked, suspending the Skys Stalk Seed it needed to upgrade in midair.


    It was something of a new experience for Matt, to have the appearance of their growth items change so drastically, but that was apparently expected for when the items underwent a milestone upgrade Minka notwithstanding.


    Of course, Asters items had fairly minor changes. Her tiara grew more borate, gaining a second sapphire in its twisting silver design, but that also became more warlike as it absorbed Frozen Steel. Meanwhile, her cor just needed a Vine of Everflowing Honey to begin slowly shedding snowkes at all times.


    Matts sword de turned a shiny <em>blue</em>, much to his surprise, as he iid the Crimson Cattail it demanded along its hilt. An Orger Skull, a mushroom known to try and eat anyone who got too close to it, turned his mana ring into a kaleidoscopic blend of metals in an almost crystalline appearance, with the rings tiny gemstones pulling in to be properly flush with the rings metals.


    Then his house demanded a Flexible Diamond, which was a bit of a problem, as he couldnt really bring house to the vault like they had for everything else. In fact, it would be the only item that he could remove from the vault itself after signing a piece of paper in three ces verifying his identity, the nature of the item, and the qualifications of the person who had told him what item hed need. There were probably more ces to sign, but Matt only gave the stack of papers a cursory flip-through before handing it back.


    If they <em>really</em> needed <em>his</em> signature, they could find him. But they had all been dying to find out what their new upgrades did, even if theyd all promised to not peek too hard until all three of them were done.


    but they unanimously agreed that for this, the house didnt count, and started looking while still walking home.


    Matt eagerly traced out the spirits of his growth items, feeling the shape of their magic and putting together his theories for what they did. While most people needed an appraiser or at least extensive trial and error to properly determine the abilities of their new items, they were <em>Ascenders</em>, and that implied superiority in certain things, like identifying the new powers your spirit-bonded items had developed.


    Aster was the first to speak, wiggling her fox ears in triumph. And now my golems will reflect any attempts to dispel them!


    Matt poked her rib and asked, Them?


    Yeah, I can summon two now. And she held out her hand, letting the cor billow out into its full cloud form. Unlike her tiara, which had be a fairly integral part of her kit, Asters cor only came with the ability to turn into a vani ice cream-vored flying cloud, and a pair of snowke projectile weapons. Its now real ice cream! This will in fact be my new bed, and I will not be taking any questions.


    Will it melt? Matt teased, as his bond took an enormous bite out of her cloud and it began to slowly regrow. I cant imagine how bad it would be tob out ice cream from your fur.


    Nope! Its not sticky, wont drip, and I can change the vor of the entire thing by just mixing in a bit of the new vor! This is the best upgrade <em>ever</em>!


    Unfortunately, his distraction meant that Liz finished figuring out her new item powers before him as well. Her staff upgraded exactly as they had predicted it would, granting her the ability to cast her maniption-like skills with level two mana types as well as level one mana types. Of those, illusion was the only one of particr interest, but she ultimately didnt need the added versatility it offered over something that would just empower her blood magic.


    Her shield was much more useful. Now, if she decided she wouldnt need the speed boost, inertial buff, or personal force field that it could produce as it absorbed attacks, she could unleash all pent-up energy in a massive directional shockwave.


    Her ss terrarium orb that housed her herb garden was already useful with how it could create very specific growing conditions and speed up time by spending mana. Thetter had been added by Minka as their Courtly Warfare floor reward, but after the upgrade, its utility skyrocketed.


    The vampires in her Minka test must have done something extra when they upgraded the orb, because Liz could now fertilize her garden with the blood of her enemies. It increased the speed at which her herbs grew, simr to her ability to speed up time, but more than that, it made the herbs healthier.


    After seeing theirst few fights, Matt knew her garden would be overflowing with herbs after a battle.


    It was a bit morbid, but the blood would otherwise go to waste, and even when they returned to delving like normal people, they could feed the extra monster blood to the orb.


    Liz grinned. You know the upgrade was so good I almost feel bad about not killing the people that the vampiredy wanted me to kill. She really pulled through.


    Matt snorted. No, you dont.


    Liz bounced the orb in her hand with a teasing grin that vanished as she looked at her new item. You''re right. Its a bit more stereotypically blood-sacrifice than I would like, but I suppose I <em>am</em> the Red Legion these days. I dont want to lose myself, but I think I can probably keep myself from going insane over <em>gardening</em>. Besides, its not like weck enemies.


    Matt pulled her close and kissed the top of Lizs head. Ill keep you in check, dont worry.


    She chuckled. Oh yeah, and I figured out the rings too. Slowpoke.


    Oh did you now? he motioned as though he was going to tickle her.


    I did! Counterclockwise fill for the inner script.


    Matt did as Liz advised, and instantly became aware of Liz, and specifically her ring, sitting right next to him. A bit of prodding at the item itself confirmed that it <em>did</em> provide a basic sense of direction, but he didnt know how robust or how long-range the effect would be. Hopefully it would be good.


    A grin spread across his face as he figured out another power of the ring, apparently before Liz could. Try absorbing it like a mana stone, after powering the exact centerpoint of the ring.


    Oh, thats nice, Liz agreed, admiring the golden script now tattooed on her finger, Bodily absorption is convenient. And it means that your ring to me cant get <em>any</em> closer.


    You two are so sappy! Asterughed, even as she flew circles around them.


    Matt blew a raspberry at her even as he shoved the absorbed mana back out of his body, and his ring appeared back on his finger.


    Seeing that, Liz perked up and she created a clone who immediately tried to copy Matt. To her delight, both Lizzes came with a fully-functional golden script tattoo, fully capable of returning to ring form at a moments notice . He even felt a connection to each of the rings, though the connections were individually weaker for being split. That was way easier than usual, to get a fully functional item to appear on a clone.


    The Lizzes grins shifted between the rings and him, but before they could get distracted, Aster demanded Matt finish his upgrades. Be hornyter! Stop getting distracted. I need to know what you got!


    Matt rolled his eyes but did as she said.


    Just like his sword had gotten the ability to change its magical loadout at Tier 12, at Tier 25 it got the ability to change its physical shape and even materials. The amount of runes he was able to enchant on it was also increased drastically, but thergest limitation, the inability for anyone else to inscribe runes on it, remained.


    Matt had expected something like that, and while he was a little disappointed that he wasnt going to be using it in the war going forward, he was quite happy with the upgrade itself. The malleability of the shapeshifting was pretty drastic, and while it could only take forms he considered weapons, that was a pretty wide definition. Interestingly, it had the same limit to preset forms it could take as it had magical ones, though the two were independent of each other, meaning he could have a strength-boosting sword or a strength-boosting mages staff.


    It was a little disappointing, but at the same time, he couldnt im to be <em>truly</em> heartbroken given what Group Firmament was already working on for his actual sword.


    To no real surprise, his mana ring did <em>indeed</em> gain the ability to release multiple types of mana simultaneously, and would make his future mana type experimentation far easier. For now, it was limited to no more than two aspects at a time, and he could only coarsely adjust the ratio with a lower limit of one-third of one mana type, but he could tell that both of those limits would loosen dramatically as the item continued to grow. But for now, he was happy that his experiments would be three times as easy even if mana crystal talismans didnt get that much closer to full realization.


    Thinking of talismans Matt thought over the ring and how it could interact with [Mana Beam]. The armor they were building was supposed to be able to use his ring''s mana to aspect the spell for him but things could get very interesting if he could mix mana types on the fly. He could also probably mod [Cracked Phantom Armor] to take multiple mana types in different areas like he once moved where he summoned the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] as a spot defense.


    Realizing the ring had way more utility than he initially thought, Matt was quite happy as he pressed his Flexible Diamond into his houses countertop.


    The house was a massive item, which allowed Matt to feel the changes that the upgrade made to the house as they happened in a cascade.


    After puzzling out what changes he had felt, Matt smirked. Grabbing Lizs garden orb, he tossed it to the floor, where it vanished just like the item had.


    Aster mocklying screamed, The floor isva! from her perch in the air but Liz just looked aghast.


    What happened? My orb is just gone! Maaaaatt


    Before Liz could work herself into a panic, Matt analyzed the new material his house had just eaten.


    It took him a few seconds to find a good way to tie it into the rest of the house, but the living room, which had a good view of the quad where the permanent members of Team Zero lived, transformed into a t wall before their eyes.


    A door appeared, and Matt pulled a pair of bbergasted Lizzes along into the new room. He couldnt stop the grin that covered his face as he opened the door to Lizs garden orb.


    Both Lizzes hesitantly stepped through the door before gasping in unison. Oh, this is weird, but so cool! What did you do?


    One of the Lizzes turned to him while the other bent down and started inspecting the nearest herb.


    Matt reached back and grabbed Aster, who hadnt crossed the threshold, and dragged her into the new addition.


    Ignoring her yip of protest, Matt exined, The Tier 25 upgrade allows me to temporarily absorb spatial storage items. For something like a ring, itll just fill our closets with whatever was in them, kinda like at your parents ce, but if we get a big enough spatial chest, I think we could add a few new <em>rooms</em>. And of course, we can take them outter. I think if we buy a spatially enchanted house our house could start expanding its insides but we''ll need to test it first.


    The Liz who was digging in the dirtughed. This is so awesome! I can do so much more with direct ess to the herbs. I can even try transnting and grafting herbs together now.


    Anything to please you, my love, he said, ruffling the hair of the closer Liz. Aster stuck her tongue out at them, but they were interrupted before Matt could retaliate appropriately.


    The house rattled as something struck their front door.


    Matt! he heard the voice of King Rusty call out, You owe me a fight!

 Chapter 288

    Chapter 288


    Matt teleported into his living room, only to find that his unexpected guest had already beaten him there. King Rusty, d in Tier 25 armor that revealed <em>far</em> too much skin to actually serve as nonmagical protection, stood in a triumphant pose and with eyes firmly fixed on him as he materialized.


    There you are! Did you think you could run forever?


    Dont know what youre talking about, Matt shot back. I was starting to wonder if <em>you</em> were trying to ignore me.


    Neither was <em>actually</em> true, but they had both been busy with the war going on. In truth, Matt hadnt expected Rusty for another month at least, but apparently hed snuck away from some of his meetings long enough for their long-awaited match.


    Never! The kings opening move was to barrel through Matts couch, sending it flying into the wall as the light from a [Fist st] began to shine out from the gaps in his gauntlet.


    Instead of dodging it, Matt snapped out with his own hand, nketing his hand in a full-powered [Cracked Phantom Armor], reinforced with his Concept. The attack, an almost textbook Tier 25 in strength, stopped dead, and Rustys grin grew manic.


    Lets take this outside. Matt countered and wrapped the royal in a full-powered [Telekinesis], dragging him along as he used [Cracked Air Slide] to swiftly relocate outdoors, through the mass of splinters that had once been his front door.


    The moment they were both outside, Matt was instantly thrown through the air by a solid uppercut. Rusty followed a momentter, and Matt let himself be carried along by his momentum. The duo flew in a tall arc,nding a few miles outside of the main Fort Lightfoot.


    While Rusty crashed into the ground, leaving no mark on the soil beneath him, Matt caught himself with a gentle use of [Flight]. Fortunately for him, [Regeneration] had already been running at minimum power, so he didnt need to worry about getting that going. But now that they were clear of their more breakable surroundings, Matt was eager to get the fight <em>properly</em> started.


    He didnt need to wait long, as Rustys fist was already cracking towards him.


    Years of training made Matt twist, but Rustys fist was like a striking snake and unerringly tracked him.


    The blow was only empowered with a single skill, alongside Rustys Concept, but there was something in the Concept that rattled <em>through</em> [Cracked Phantom Armor], treating it as an extension of his spirit and rattling his body through that connection.


    Matts jaw and face cracked and deformed under the force of the punch, but he red up [Regeneration]s rate slightly to start putting it back together as he materialized a sword out of mana crystal, striking back at Rusty. A steel-gray aura enveloped the mans body, and Matts strike cut into Rustys bare shoulder far less than it properly should have. Instead of cleaving through muscle and bone alike, it merely left a long, bloodless gash down his arm that already began to knit back together.


    Matt mentally reassessed the seemingly-impractical armor that the Royal was wearing. While a wiry circlet, a vambrace pauldronbo on his left arm and a gauntlet on his right hand was utterlyughable in terms of proper upper-body protection, Rustys body was likely tougher than just about any armor that he <em>could</em> wear. So instead, his armor was positioned such that Matt could either try and attack it <em>or</em> vital spots on Rustys torso, but not both.


    Rusty gave him no chance to properly follow up on the one wound he did score, as the brawler backflipped, connecting with a solid kick that sent Matt flying as a clod of dirt ripped alongside the attack until Matt dropped his concept space-locking.


    He had to admit, the Royal <em>really</em> knew what he was doing. Hed expected Rusty to realize hed been locking himself to the ground with his Concept, but not that Rusty would or even <em>could</em> kick the entire space that Matt had been holding onto.


    His mana crystal sword had gotten lost somewhere along the way, but as Matt properly adjusted to his new position, he became aware that Allie was hanging upside-down from a tree next to him, eating popcorn from a bag nearly as big as she was.


    What about Regent, Legion, and Champion? she asked, and Matt shot her a re.


    For one, not the time. For two, there have been no less than <em>four</em> Ascenders- <em>Heroes</em>, sorry, from the Guilds whose title could be reasonably tranted as Champion. Im not taking it as well.


    Aeon, Immortal, Infinite?


    Again, not the time.


    Eh. Your loss. Also, duck.


    He didnt really need the warning, but followed his coworkers advice anyway, tucking into a roll to avoid the metal-d fist passing through where his torso would have been.


    You know, you didnt need to wreck the door. Couldnt we have started out here?


    Rustyughed even as he worked his still-healing arm. It''s more fun this way!


    Matt couldnt <em>really</em> disagree with that, except Youre paying for the door. And Ill want an <em>upgrade</em>.


    Only if you win, the royal challenged back, dropping into a fighting stance. His fists began glowing a deep ruby red, giving the impression that his normally charcoal-ck hands and forearms were pieces of smoldering wood.


    There was a small re of an Intent, and Rusty yelled wordlessly even as the royal practically teleported right in front of Matt, a fist just inches away from his face.


    Matt teleported behind Rusty and went in for an upper spine punch, but Rustys back foot was darting up like a de and nearly caught Matt in the jaw once more. He was slightly faster than the royal and managed to dodge, though that move cost him his chance to strike out at Rusty.


    Rustyughed, and the temperature <em>plummeted</em> as his aura instantly changed from a burning fire so hot, [Cracked Phantom Armor] was already starting to convert, to a flowing water-based one. Simultaneously, the aggressive fighting style that the man had been disying was extinguished, and his stance and movements shifted to a fluid defensive set.


    His body flowed as if he didnt have a single solid bone in his body. He slid around Matts counterpunch, responding with a blow Matt could only liken to a tsunami. The wave of power crashed into Matts body and tried to send him flying.


    A well-timed moment of Intent invincibility denied that attack, but his return punch, wreathed in crackling electricity from a recently upgraded [Lightning Torrent], nearly fizzled out as Rusty began to embody the wind instead. Matt released his charged attack and lightning shed, filling the space where Rusty was and leaving a distinct scent of smoke circting through the [Air Body] form that Rusty had taken.


    An arm-shaped breeze still managed to quite effectively bypass [Cracked Phantom Armor], with knifelike winds opening up an infinitesimally small crack then pouring in, sending Matts guts through an invisible blender. It didnt do much to hinder his current capability, and [Regeneration] was already putting him back together, but Matt was still overwhelmed. He managed to end the spell with a powerful st of [Air Maniption] after recentering himself.


    Dropping an elbow on the arm as it retreated, he felt something break and red his Intent to attract Rusty towards his next blow. The brawler responded in kind, and their fists met in an explosive shockwave.


    The air shattered with waves ofpressed air mming into the ground, causing the earth to explode and sending dirt flying miles into the air.


    A part of Matt noticed that before any of the damage reached the perimeter of Camp Lightfoot, it dissipated. Rusty was still a Tier 47, and even a thought would be enough to stop a Tier 25 level of power.


    As that thought came over Matt, he was impressed at Rustys control over his own power. It would be all too easy for the Royal to go overboard, but so far, he had been restraining himself admirably.


    That only meant Matt hadnt pushed him hard enough.


    ring his buffs, Matt crystallized the mana in his armors forearms and fists, somewhat mirroring the gauntlets that Rusty wore.


    He took a blow to the chest, but sessfully blocked Rustys Concept from bypassing the spell''s defenses. He had started learning how the Concept functioned, and it spoke to a level of sophistication at odds with how Rusty normally portrayed himself.


    The spell didnt just look for a gap in a defensivework, though it <em>did</em> do so. It also had a subterfuge-like mental effect that created a gap if the target wasnt paying attention to their armor.


    Upon learning that, Matt crystalised the rest of his armor andughed as the Concept slid off of his crystalline mana. It wasnt a perfect defense against Rustys mental effect, but the innate sense of integrity he got from the Talent-created mana crystal made it far easier to keep his focus on defending from Rustys blows.


    When his next blow failed to bypass Matts defenses, Rustyughed. Good! Let''s take it up a notch.


    Having said that, the man vanished from his spot, even as his aura turned a bluish-white that reminded Matt of lightning. Rusty exploded in speed, and when his fist struck Matts back this time, he seemed to teleport before his blow fullynded, andunched another attack on Matts front.


    He was trying to juggle Matt, but there was no way Matt was going to be yed that easily. Instead Matt used [Lightning Maniption] to grab all the lightning mana in the area andmanded it to stand still.


    The mana that Rusty was relying on to teleport around stopped conducting him, and Mattshed out using his hand like a de to send out a [Mana sh].


    Rusty punched the spell, but was still sent flying as the mana was released. Even as Matt chased the royal, who used the momentum to gain some distance, he watched with interest as Rustys charred arms and chest quickly healed.


    It was damn simr to how his own wounds healed with [Regeneration]. He remembered Rusty saying he had a simr ability to generate stamana instead of mana endlessly, but seeing it in action was interesting. It was also fun to fight someone who could match his staying power.


    That had never happened before besides Mannys Legacy, and even that didnt really count.


    ring [Flight], Matt closed the distance between him and the still retreating Rusty, but he realized he fell into a trap when Rustys aura turned a deep earthen brown and he mmed into the ground like a ma finding iron.


    Matt was too close; he was grabbed by the head and mmed into the ground at least a dozen times before he was able to free [Mana Charge] and break free from Rustys grip. Before he could right himself, he was kicked in the chest and sent flying yet again.


    He had just enough time to see a maniacally grinning Rusty just a few dozen feet behind him, chasing him into the nearest mountain range.


    Matt blew straight through the first mountain and gasped as he came out the other side.


    The impact had shattered every bone in his body, but [Regeneration] was there for him and quickly stitched him back together.


    With pain fueling his attacks, Matt grabbed the mountains with [Earth Maniption] and threw them at Rusty.


    It took most of his mana generation, but seeing the Tier 47s eyes go wide at the move made it all worth it, despite the splitting headache it caused Matt.


    Rusty tried to turn into a wind form, but Matt grit his teeth andmanded the wind to stand still as well.


    Instead of panicking, Rustyughed as his aura turned into a red one, and he exploded in a wash of mes so hot, the mountains turned into molten rock,evaporating away before they could even touch the royal.


    It was an impressive disy of power, and as far as Matt was able to tell, Rusty was still keeping within his restrictions.


    The re of fire petered away as the mountains vanished, and Rusty looked physically drained, but he met Matts fist with a dodge and uppercut that wasntcking in power.


    Matt checked the blow with his elbow and kicked down at Rustys hip, but had his foot caught in response. He spun, trying to kick free of Rusty, but he was unable toplete the maneuver as Rusty spun with him and threw him straight into the ground again.


    By the time Matt got to his feet, Rusty was already upon him, and with an earthen aura, he rained blow after blow down on Matt.


    The first few shattered crystalline armor, but once Matt steadied himself, he started trading blows one for one with the royal.


    He thought they were going to stalemate, but to his surprise, his blows were stronger than Rustys.


    He had done his research on the Royal after the first time he had met the man and been challenged. He knew mentally that Rusty had only ever been considered an elite, and not an Ascender level fighter, but experiencing the difference first hand was different.


    He was stronger than Rusty.


    Not physically, because there he was only on par with the Royal who had his own buffs, but his version of endlessness was stronger than Rustys. He could take a blow that shredded his chest and heal the damage before the next woundnded. Matt was slowly gaining the upper hand as Rustys wounds were only slowly closing.


    They flew through the air, their blows and respective attempts to catch up to the other sending them mile after mile deeper into the rift, until they sshed down into a massiveke, sinking through the crystal-clear waters.


    Their blows created massive vacuum bubbles that mmed back on them like the ps of an angry Duke Waters. But Matts armor held up better than Rustys aura.


    As they stood deep in the mud that settled on the bottom of theke, Matt grinned and used [Water Maniption] to shove the water away from them. He wanted to lift the entireke and then drop it on them, but he just didnt have enough mana to lift that much high-Tier water yet. Tier 35 rifts were massive, and even their smallerkes were hundreds of miles deep. It was only thanks to some tricks one of his prior trainers had taught him that he could even make the bubble, bypassing most of the water pressure by linking opposite sides of the bubble together, simrly to how he could zipper space with his Domain.


    Rusty didnt seem to appreciate Matts skills, and very rudely punched the side of the bubble, his strike managing to dispel Matts working and set [Water Maniption] on a fairly lengthy cooldown.


    Well, no matter.


    Matt instantly flooded the bubble with air, then used [Air Maniption] to form a channel back to above the surface, [Flight] sending him skyward. However, Rusty, now twenty feet tall and shrouded in a blue aura, even as his skin took on a stony appearance, grabbed at Matt from where he stood on the surface of theke, seeking to grab Matt in his oversized hand.


    [Telekinesis] threw the royal off, skidding across the surface, only for him to suddenly twist in midair, redirecting his momentum <em>towards</em> Matt in a flying uppercut. He met the challenge, and the pair traded blows midair for a few exchanges before Matt elbow-dropped the other man, sending him crashing to the water below.


    Rusty shook himself off, scattering droplets so fast, they produced shockwaves in the air around him, and entered a ready stance, wiggling his fingers at Matt in a clear challenge. Matt happily swooped in, creating an oversized crystal sword as he did so. An open-hand strike blocked Matts sword blow, and the second shattered the mana crystal. A triumphant cry apanied a physical taunt, and Matt found himself pulled towards the dark-skinned man even as his eyes erupted into white, yellow, and red-blue light supernovae. Matt blocked the first fist with an elbow and spun and kicked down from above. The blow sent shockwaves of water up into the air, but Matt was forced to dodge as Rusty sent out a massive [Fist st].


    Matt rapidly formed a sword and sent out his own [Mana sh], not to meet the spell, but at Rusty directly.


    He was betting that he could take the royals blow better than the royal could handle his spell.


    The [Fist st] burst through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and broke most of his bones, but none of the damage was so bad that he couldnt out-heal it.


    Rusty, on the other hand, had to block the blow on his aura-covered arm. That cut open a gash that, this time, Matt refused to let heal. With [Mana Beam] now a part of his arsenal, Matts previous usage for [Lightning Torrent] was somewhat superfluous. He had perhaps the best possible channeled attack, so what would he need a bit of close-ranged sts of lightning for?


    The answer was simple. Turn it into a melee attack. Thanks to his flexible innate slot and a truly absurd amount of mana, Matt had taken the spells normal upgrade, the ability to charge targets of the spell with excess electricity that wouldsh out at other nearby enemies, and twisted it to be able to empower a <em>weapon</em> strike.


    With millions of mana poured into the wreath of blue lightning around Matts temporary sword, it looked to be practically <em>made</em> of electricity. As it struck the royal head-on, the resulting <em>boom</em> was tantamount to thousands of lightning strikes happening simultaneously.


    Rustys arm was sted open, sending his gauntlet flying and revealingyer afteryer of tendons and surprisingly little blood, but his bone stayed intact Matt narrowed his eyes, casting [Analyze] to get a better sense that yes, Rustys body wasnt normal flesh-and-blood. Instead, his tendons were more akin to incredibly intricate metals and polymers, with his bones outright made of enchanted metal. That the enchantments were currently suppressed didnt matter, but it <em>did</em> shed some light on just how the royal was so tough.


    Self-Identity, eh? What floor?


    Seventh, at Tier 12! Rusty called back with glee, and the gauntlet rematerialized over a skeletal fist. He charged at Matt, but Matt swung his sword around, trailing lightning and enhancing the blow with [Telekinesis] and [Air Maniption]. Another boom rocked the battlefield, and Rusty was sent skyward.


    A star ignited in the crystal-clear sky, and then Rusty was rocketing back down towards the ground, gauntlet-first. Matt twisted gravity to ensure he would fall in a perfectly straight line and then unleashed a [Mana Beam] skyward.


    The air thrummed around him as a blue column of light stretched into the sky. For all the force that Matt was exerting on the royal, Rusty was doing an admirable job of dodging the beam as he swept it through the mans path, never taking more than a ncing blow for more than mere instants.


    When they got close enough, Matt swapped his pure [Mana Beam] to abination of [Mana Beam], [Telekinesis], and [Lightning Torrent], keeping Rusty at bay while he kept trying to dodge and eventually block the imcable beam. Then, power red as Matts spells connected fully.


    When Matt could properly resolve what was going on, he realized that Rusty, no longer suppressing his cultivation, was simply <em>catching</em> the massive beam of raw power with his bare hand, inspecting it with a mild bit of curiosity.


    And you can just do this forever? he asked.


    Matt just nodded and Rusty snorted. What a crock of bull shit. You win the round. I think I can take you if I go to Tier 26 though, so prepare yourself.


    Matt snorted. You wish!


    Rustyughed. I do. I want to fight the others first, but then Ill ramp up until it''s an even fight. But once you hit Tier 45 or Tier 46, well have to enter a rift and have a proper brawl. There are a lot of things I only learned in my thirties and forties as my powers started really hitting their stride.


    Grinning, he winked at Matt. If we both go all out, Im pretty sure we can crack a sr system, nay a gxy, nay a universe, nay two universes! Wouldnt that be fucking awesome?


    Dont think youre getting out of my new door, Matt narrowed his eyes. You cant distract me that easily.


    Not a chance, Rusty replied, and with a wave of his hand the two of them were back at the front of the house, alongside a small crowd of onlookers. Allie seemed the most surprised, having appeared in midair, hanging upside-down with her legs hooked over something that wasnt there anymore, but a <em>plblblp</em>ter she had her feet firmly on the ground. One <em>vworp</em>ter, she had her now mostly-empty bag of popcorn as well. Maybe someday, hed ask her just how many teleportation noises she had saved up.


    Aster raced forward and mmed her staff on Rustys head, who just blinked at her.


    Me next!


    Rustyughed. First things first. Catch!


    A glittering mote of crystal arced through the air, and Matt reached out with [Telekinesis] to pull it towards him. While he was figuring out what it was, Rusty skipped over to where Melinda and a healer Matt didnt recognize stood. Heal please!


    Instead of simply casting her spell, Melinda grabbed Rustys still-reassembling arm, casting a light blue spell as she twisted and turned the royals biomechanical appendage.


    Rusty didnt seem bothered and instead started exining, If it was just a mechanical arm, I would have needed more reinforcements on my shoulders and back to handle that much power, but because I had a final floor run of Self Identity, I was able to transform my entire body, which allowed me to ignore some of the constraints you will find others who use the alternative routes to achieve the same results. Most others are limited to smaller sections unless their Great Power is willing to invest in them or theye from a very wealthy group.


    Melinda nodded as she pointed at the runes crawling along Rustys metal insides. And the runes? How do they normally react to healing? Everyone says they arent bothered, and I can see my Talent bypassing it, but are there issues for normal healers who wish to repair your body?


    Rusty shook his head. Naaa, thats the beauty of it. It responds almost <em>exactly</em> the same way that normal bio-bits would. Easier in some ways, because some parts are outright simplified. The enchantments, well they can get tricky, but these days I can keep them intact no matter how much you bungle around with your healings.


    The healer next to Melinda coughed and Rusty rolled his eyes and looked to Melindas shadow, Corporal Nore, and mock whispered, Silvermore is jealous that his background in mundane healing isnt as useful for the good stuff, and The Bone Artisans domain,pletely based on nothing but good vibes, is better at patching me up than his oh-so-careful images and bio-nonsense.


    Corporal Nore nodded and said a quiet, Yes sir, that held no emotion at all.


    So is this your payment for the door? Matt piped up wanting to save the Corporal. Studying the skill shard Rusty had tossed him had given him nothing useful. Because I dont want a <em>reimbursement</em>, I want the actual <em>door</em>. Also, I dont take skill shards. I cant identify it, but I dont know if youre aware that Ive never had a realck of them.


    Rusty cracked a grin. Nah. Thats the little doohickey that gave me the opportunity to sneak away for this little brawl. Some little thing that you asked for, one uh what was it. Ah! Thats right! [Archmages Presence]. But you know, if you dont want it, Im sure I could find some use for a second


    Matt barely even heard thest part of what Rusty said, as a grin spread across his face. With a triumphantugh, Matt sprinted into his house to start absorbing the Tier 44 skill.


    A door made out of mana crystal could look really cool if he did a little detail work.


    ***


    Matt had spent a <em>long</em> time in meetings with his advisors, trying to figure out the shape of his uing build. As a melee-focused damaging tank, he needed abilities to get him into the thick of a battle, <em>keep</em> him in the thick of it and alive, and with enough firepower to actually make a difference in the oue.


    Thanks to Minka, he had nine openings between his core and innate skill slots, though he usually just thought of them collectively as his core. Nine openings that would define the vast majority of his fighting style, that would be the fastest to modify, the most powerful in use, and overall serve as the core of his identity as an Ascender.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] was the first and easiest choice. It served as the cornerstone to his entire build, was one of the main pieces his armor was built around, and was absolutely his signature skill. Usually, it would be taking the innate slot unless there was another skill he was actively working to modify.


    At the moment, that was [Cracked Reinforce Stone]. It was hard to say that any skill was <em>truly</em> perfect for Matt, given how well his Talent meant he could use just about any skill, but with a crack that made the spell reinforce <em>mana</em> instead of physical earth? The Tier 14 skill could drastically increase the amount of mana which a spell could take before destabilizing, stacking with and even enhancing [Overcharge]. But unlike [Overcharge], which could only be active for a single spell at a time and had to be cast alongside the spell, [Cracked Reinforce Stone] could be cast at any time after the spell had been cast, and had no limits to the number of spells it could enhance at a time.


    And that was <em>before</em> he upgraded it with a Tier 14 and 26 upgrade orb, which made affected spells much harder to dispel or steal, and reinforced the physical durability of mana constructs respectively.


    Right now, he was working on modifying the spell to also affect magical items, increasing how much mana they could take without burning out. Once he was done, he would probably rename it as something like [Reinforce Mana], but who knew if the Team Chatter publicists would take umbrage with that idea. Theyd already made Liz rename half her skills, saying that Blood Noun was fine in moderation, but a full quarter of her spells being called that was underselling her.


    Of course, with their full Ascender titles still in flux, there was only so much that they could really do. Legion and Immortal were the two names <em>currently</em> in favor for Liz, and each implied very different themes to her skill names. So long as they figured it out in the next couple of decades, everything would be fine.


    Now, they could have just said screw it and given all of their skills stupid names or not renamed them at all, but they all felt it was more fun this way. Theyd made a group promise to choose exactly <em>one</em> skill and give it some kind of stupidly over-the-top name more fitting for the Sects, just to screw with the public. But mostly, the points made about acting as a source of inspiration and awe for themon citizen, and the benefits that coulde with them making skill guides for their custom-named skills to boost morale and patriotism they werent wrong. So, they may as well y along, right?


    In any case, that meant [Sword Twin], as the third skill in his core, really needed a rename. Now that hed used a second upgrade orb on it, he could summon up to four des at once, giving him somewhere between one extremely powerful de and five normal-strength swords, depending on what he needed. Because doubling the number of swords he was fighting with in one go was tricky, he usually kept the two extra des absorbed, but he was slowly getting used to keeping out all five swords.


    How Liz managed to keep track of dozens to hundreds of entirely extra <em>bodies</em> was a wonder he could only shake his head in disbelief at. She was even working on adapting [Summon Blood Monster] to act as oddly-shaped clones instead of autonomous summons, and Matt couldnt help but be in awe of his wife.


    While [Sword Twin] served to amplify his swords and serve as a powerful basis for the rest of his skills, as a tank, he still needed to actually have a powerful <em>attack</em>, and he stood by his decision to use [Lightning Torrent] in that role as his fourth core skill. Whether enhancing his punches, sword strikes, or even used as a close-range spread of lightning, it meant anyone getting within arms reach of him was in for a world of hurt. With enough mana, it could rival <em>[Breach]</em> in power, devastating anyone he struck and everyone close to them. Sometimes, if he was feeling adventurous, he could use it as a sort of makeshift explosive, charging up a mana crystal, potion bottle, or even another body and throwing it into a cluster of the summoned monsters he usually used as testing dummies.


    Not that anything beat [Mana Beam] for ranged attacks, of course. [Breach] could sometimese close, but it was rarely properly useful outside of as an opening move versus a ship or other fortification. [Mana Beam] was far and away more versatile, and more useful more often. However, the beam was stillparatively easy to dodge by people Matt would ssify as a serious opponent. But that was more a reflection of the kinds of enemies he usually fought than any kind of judgment on the ineffectiveness of an attack spell that could take down <em>spaceships</em> of his own tier in a single blow. Besides, hed had the limitations of relying on a single attack well beaten into his head with [Cracked Mana Spear], and Lunas often hands-on lessons on the ways an intelligent enemy could ruthlessly punish rote predictability.


    Even something like [Barbarians Hide] had some well-known modifications to specialize it against a single spell, and as an Ascender, Matt could reasonably expect any enemy sent against him to have defenses targeted towards his strongest attacks. He needed to be prepared for that, while not having the luxury of knowing what he would have to deal with on his own end.


    That was why his own [Barbarians Hide], with a Tier 14 and 26 upgrade orb behind it, was his sixth core skill. While [Cracked Phantom Armor] was all but unparalleled in blocking physical and magical attacks, it was by its very nature weaker against armor-piercing effects, and could struggle against certain types of curses and more ethereal spells.


    [Barbarians Hide] was his answer to those. Much like how [Mages Retreat] drastically increased speed with its upgrades, [Barbarians Hide] could help him shake off debuffs, lingering effects, just about everything [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Regeneration] couldnt. He couldnt specialize it any more than that, not withoutpromising what made it valuable for him, but he could flood enough mana into it, even localizing it if needed, that the efficiency loss didnt really matter.


    Ultimately, it and [Archmages Presence] were the only self-buffs Matt still had in his core. [Archmages Presence] was considered the ultimate buff spell for a reason, with a massive boost to all physical cultivation, spells cast, and even items he was using. There was a well-documented modification that could make it into a primarily reserve skill, with the channel portionrgely relegated to a focused empowerment of the skills buff. Matt wasnt interested in the former part of that mod, but thetter was <em>especially</em> useful, giving him yet more ways to productively use his mana on a single attack, reducing the diminishing returns that came with the amount of mana he liked to throw around.


    [Cracked Air Slide] and [Artificial Intelligence] were his final core skills, and were the most prone to being reced. While the upgrades of the former helped him overpower restraints with a st of wind, and avoid attacks that would be too costly to take head-on, it was mostly there as a movement skill, and [Flight], or something simr, stood a solid chance of potentially taking its ce at some point. [Artificial Intelligence], meanwhile, simply wasnt utilized often inbat, and while it being a core skill synergized excellently with its Tier 26 upgrade of increased modification/learning speed, it wasnt like he truly needed that level of efficiency for what was mostly a nobat utility spell for him.


    Perhaps hed actually add [Regeneration], but despite it being his only skill other than [Cracked Phantom Armor] itself to receive a Tier 38 upgrade orb, it was predominantly a backup spell, there to catch whatever Liz or Arthur couldnt fix in the field and keep him alive through just about anything. He didnt need a <em>third</em> defensive spell in his core, not when his inner spirit worked just as well and had plenty of room.


    He had plenty of potential regr skills, plus whatever cracks Frederic might have in store for him, but he wanted to do this <em>right</em>, and that took time.


    Fortunately, he had both time and practice. Project Breach was nothing if notprehensive, and he found plenty of willing volunteers to hone his kit, from Team Zero to Duke Waters, to the trainers and even random soldiers, all eager to prove their mettle against the Empires newest Ascender.

 Chapter 289

    Chapter 289


    .r1dc2160ad57342218b3d599da3de4571{ disy: none; }


    Matt was enjoying a nice breakfast when he got a message that all of Team Zero was to report in for supplemental Domain training with the assistance of Duke Waters.


    The man was a famously bad Domain teacher, and he had heard Alliesints about his words of wisdom enough times that he wasnt looking forward to having the older Ascender be anywhere near a Domain lesson.


    He checked the Team Zero chat to find a tirade of insults from Alliending on everyone and anyone they knew. With the reaction he saw from the rest of the team, half expected they would have skipped out on the training, but all of them arrived at the Team Zero headquarters.


    They just all looked like someone had personally put down their childhood pet. The only exceptions were Zack and General Darrow, who were more straight faced, but their bodynguage didnt exactly suggest excitement either.


    Allie ran her thumb over her neck as Matt arrived and he apologized in confusion. I don''t understand why you guys are so angry, but Im sorry? It''s not like I did this.


    Allie growled back at him, I just somehow know it''s your fault. Either way, Im going to make you sorry!


    Matt just shrugged, which earned him a humph from the grumpy teleporter.


    The moment Aster and Liz arrived, Allie teleported them to akeside that should have been pretty, but instead of a serene beach or shaded forest, they arrived in what looked like a war zone.


    The only other upant was Duke Waters, who was floating on the water''s surface.


    They stood there for a long moment, and just when Matt was going to say something, Aiden sunk into the water.


    Before Matt knew what was going on, he felt a weight press down on him, and along with everyone else, he was pulled into thekes depths.


    As they sank, Matt had to ponder why a rift went through the effort of making an entire realistic ecosystem in ake,plete with dead and rotten trees, but his musings were cut off as they arrived down at the bottom of theke and stood in knee deep mud.


    There they found a dozen of the rifts Domain experts waiting for them. Luna looked to the side and said, Were going to be working on resistance training for the next day with the help of Duke Waters, and Aiden will exin some of the tips and tricks he uses to stretch his willpower when he''s bottomed out like this. Then, we will be moving onto individual training with your unique Domain powers.


    Luna turned to the side and Aiden walked forward like they were standing on solid stone.


    His voice traveled through the water with just the smallest distortion.


    You need to breathe.


    Instantly, Matt felt his body lurch, as it realized that it had no oxygen with which to fuel itself. Essence didnt soothe the issue, the normally life-giving energy being rejected by his cells, flowing past it without alleviating his distress. A faint echo of panic began to worm its way into his brain as well, reminding him of the primal fear of death that all living creatures had.


    In response, he brought a mere hint of his willpower to bear, suffusing his body with the simple knowledge that he was Endless, and he was Dauntless. The fear was the first to leave, the supernatural panic twisted into the same thrill of excitement he was ustomed to in such situations.


    From there, it was practically second nature to shrug off the rest of Duke Waters domain. There were many, <em>many</em> ways to fight off direct Domain attacks, and while Drowning in the Shallow Depths was a particrly insidious and powerful one, Luna had subjected them all to far worse while theyd been under her care.


    He ran through his options, and settled on the simplest and cheapest.


    A thin field of repulsion pushed its way out of his spirit, not pushing away the water, but rather the <em>idea</em> of water out of his spirit. Their Domains warred, and Matt closed his eyes to better focus upon the invisible battle.


    <em>Matt was a gleaming beacon of light, a radiant humanoid figure in the midst of a stormy sea. A powerful current surrounded him, wrapping him in its deadly embrace and pulling him away from a stretch of rapidly-vanishing rocky shoreline. His head burst above water and gathered a gasp of air, then a powerful wave crashed over him and pushed him underneath the waves.</em>


    <em>Below, it was far calmer than the roiling waves above. Matts radiance illuminated the tumultuous seas, showing schools of fish, drifting balls of seaweed, and far, far below, the faintest hints of great and terrible creatures in the deep ocean. The power of the ocean could not be denied, and it tried to crush his will to resist, tried to drag him into the depths to drown. That he resisted was little constion, for as long as he was below the waves, he could drown.</em>


    <em>Water rushed him, but it found no purchase. As a living white hole, Matt had no need to breathe, yet it sought to drown him nheless. A wave crashed upon him, trying to push him into the murky waters below, but he would not be moved.</em>


    <em>Then the oceans stilled, preparing to strike as Matt began to move. Radiant force burst forth from him, pushing back the waters and letting him burst free from the clutches of the bone-chilling sea. A wave swelled, and Matt simply rode it, letting its crest carry him above the waves. Then it crashed back down, and Matt went flying. But this time, he was the one in control. The oceans were massive, but they were aimless. He, by contrast, was perfectly focused, perfectly in control, and while the images of space he left in his wake were swiftly washed away, the ocean could not smother thempletely.</em>


    <em>Light burst forth from Matts body, propelling him into the skies. Up here, the ocean could not reach him, and Matt began to ascend to the heavens.</em>


    <em>An errant tentacle, barely visible against the gray-blue of the ocean,shed out and sought to entwine him, drag him down into the depths by itself if needed, but Matts radiance was momentarily reced with an all-consuming ckness, and the tentacle was cut short. Then the light returned, and Matt returned to the skies where he belonged</em>.


    Matt opened his eyes and grinned triumphantly at Aiden. Sure, the man was utterly exhausted, and while even in that state, the Ascender would have plenty of power to spare to break or simply suppress Matts Domain. But still, Matt had actually managed to <em>beat</em> Duke Waters Domain in a contest of wills.


    Albeit in a very narrow, very specific setup wherein his colleague was more trying to <em>train</em> him than <em>kill</em> him, and in a way that had taken all of Matts focus while his opponent was trying to affect a dozen people at once But hed still done it, and that was all he cared about.


    Around him, his peers were slowlying to as well. From what Matt could tell, only Zack, Allie and Sebastien had gotten through the effect before him, with the others still struggling. Not that even those who <em>had</em> escaped were idle, but instead were working on more general Domain resistance. Luna was working with Allie and Zack, while Sebastien was talking to a teal-haired man that Matt had talked to a few times.


    Elise, a Tier 34 Domain expert, floated next to Matt and acted as his personal coach as Duke Waters simply pressed down on Matt. Admirable restraint, Quill. Luna would be proud, but youre not taking much advantage of your second-order Domain benefits. Youre pushing out at the effect, preventing it from taking hold, but how might you keep it from reaching you even if you were to stop doing so?


    Aiden hmmed in his mind next to Elises. Just push it away. Stop thinking so much and just do it. Will it to happen. It''s <em>easy </em>if you <em>stop thinking</em>.


    Matt tried to do what Aiden said, but he found it difficult to concentrate beyond the crushing weight of the water, and instead tried to focus on what Elise said. Her instructions made much more sense and were easier to implement.


    Matt cast his attention to where Allie, surrounded by mirror images of herself, was squirming under the void-purple cats w that his former manager had trapped her beneath. The teleporter hmm.


    If I werent here, he responded.


    Elise hesitated, Interesting first response. So, how might you go about that?


    Running was the first thought, but that wasnt something that would truly work in an actual fight. But maybe his spatial expansion could replicate it? If he functionally made himself further away from Duke Waters, then perhaps he could get out of range of the Domain attack? It would at least mean that hed have to put more pressure on where Matt was to get the same effect.


    He exined his logic, earning a nod from the trainer. Not a bad course of action. However, instead of simplyshing out in every direction, try feeling for the <em>specific</em> ce which you feel the attack is mostlying from, and visualize your own Domain as a sword attacking that source. Better focus, more precision.


    Trying to follow what Elise had said, Matt tried to feel out for Aiden''s Domain and how it was applying its pressure on him.


    Growling, he found that Aidens Domain <em>was</em> like a wet nket pressing down on him from all sides.


    Honing his Domain, Matt punched a hole through Aiden''s power, wanting to widen the hole, but found that his hole had been absorbed like a stone being thrown into ake, much like the one he was drowning under.


    No, not quite like that. Honestly, I wasnt expecting you to get it that fast, but you were <em>too</em> focused. Instead of pushing back the attack, you just pierced a hole in Duke Waters Domain. If a sword is too potent an image, try a punch. Something that will help you <em>gain</em> range, but isnt trying to destroy your target. Like that <em>quite</em> spectacr brawl you had with King Rusty, you want distance, not destruction.


    Elise seemed like she was going to keep going, but Matt grit his teeth and started to push out with an even power.


    Nothing happened.


    Elise shook her head. Try returning to the sword-strike. But this time, once you pierce your hole in his Domain, <em>then</em> try the punch. But instead of just pushing out your willpower, just expending energy, try to cycle it. Like withdrawing and throwing several punches in sequence.


    The feeling of having the weight of the world on his back started to fade.


    <em>Finally</em>.


    Just as he was feeling proud of himself, Aidens voice dripped into his mind once more. Ok, now that we got the basics out of the way, let''s start work on using your Domain for something else at the same time. Come on, little Endless. Show me what you have.


    It took Matt a full day to work up to battling with Aidens Intent, but by the time he did, he felt a lot closer to his Domain.


    For all that, he fully understood why Allie was pissed.


    No matter what they did, Aiden always seemed to have another trick up his sleeves, and the other trainers used him like a cudgel to beat them down no matter how they advanced.


    Worst of all, the man really was an awful trainer.


    Advice like resist what Im doing was only so useful when trying to improve. Or its like sailing, where you need to know your ce and feel the way that the world is pulling you, but master the winds so that you go where you want to in the end. Combined with his alleged rifications, statements like that made Matt start to wonder if Aiden either really did find Domains so easy that literally any random advice made sense to him or if the older Ascender was trying to y the mysterious and wise mentor role without understanding that cryptic nonsense needed to actually have a <em>point</em> in order to be useful.


    Thankfully, Elise and the other Domain experts actually <em>were</em> good at their jobs, and were able to actually exin things in a way a normal person could understand.


    Through the training, Matt had his impression that Duke Waters was <em>only </em>a Domain monster shattered. The older Ascender absolutely was a Domain monster, but he was also damn good as a water mage, and had a dozen methods to counter or bolster Domains with his skills. Elise was even able to exin some of the methods he used.


    Like how the Tier 26 upgrade to [Water Shield], which normally increased its energy resistance, could be tweaked to provide a small but appreciable defense against Domains, but Duke Waters had twisted the skill even further to increase that effect.


    Matt didnt have [Water Shield], but he thought he understood what Aiden was doing to the skill, and wondered if he could add that effect to [Cracked Phantom Armor] or possibly expand [Barbarians Hide], which had a magical resistance like [Water Shield] had.


    What Aiden wasnt able to exin nearly as well was how he was able to make his willpowerst far longer than it should.


    Elise gave a few general suggestions, like small bursts of power only when the skill wasnding, or trying to avoid direct confrontations of Domains, but while that Aiden agreed with suggestions, he insisted that wasnt what he was doing. Without a direction from Aiden, Matt had no way to do anything but learn a few tricks that Elise had that Luna either didnt know or hadnt bothered to teach them.


    It was a long three days, and Matt felt like he had gotten his ass beaten, but they were finally able to crawl to the shore. Though, it simply meant they were ready to focus on their personal Domains without having to deal with Duke Waters suppression.


    Without that all crushing weight, it felt like Matt had be lighter than air, and his Domain seemed far more nimble than it had been ten minutes before and the trainers capitalized on that to push them through whatever stumbling blocks they had been stuck on while under theke.


    Allie also learned a harsh lesson when she tried to teleport away from Luna.


    If she was a higher Tier, she might have seeded, but instead, she looked like she mmed into a wall at a full sprint and fell to the ground, just to be picked up by aughing Luna before both of them vanished.


    Matt did not want to be Allie. He also didnt want to learn if Lunas threats to eat someone were going to be followed through with. No, he was happy to get some training from the other instructors about being Endless and Dauntless.


    He had already had lessons with most of the Domain trainers who were assisting them, but after the crushing weight of Duke Waters Domain pushing his own, everything seemed that little bit easier, and Matt continued working on what he usually called ck hole mode. While still <em>ruinously</em> expensive on his willpower reserves, even after all this time, he was slowly learning how to separate the mana-invisibility effect from the mana-concentration effect.


    When Allie dide back looking remarkably uneaten, but seemingly with a fire lit under her, she threw herself at working to hone her undetectable Intent like Luna was nibbling at her toes.


    Maybe she was.


    Aiden was still there, but without his Domain being used to crush them all, he mostly wandered around and made fun of them for struggling to learn these lessons. That would have been fine if he had only been boasting without anything to back it up, but no. Through everything, it was clear Aiden hadnt struggled at all despite training with all of them at once, even while he suffered from willpower withdrawal.


    When Aster asked him about it, Matt listened in.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it.


    It would be simple if your brain wasnt so waterlogged! Im only using the first two stages of my Domain, which isn''t my limit. My willpower usage for those isnt that high. Once you create your Aspect, you will also find that using your Concept and Intent are rtively cheaper, just as your Concept is cheaper now that you have your Intent. The bonus is just correspondingly stronger for me. Also, I specialize in my Domain, which means I''ve got a bit more willpower regeneration than most. And this helps me recover. At Lizs scoff Aiden continued, Really, smacking around little shits like you guys helps distract me from my splitting headache.


    Liz shook her head. That doesn''t make it any more fun to drown for days.


    Aiden wiggled his hand back and forth. Youll create something simr, Im sure. Other Domain experts have their own version of what I do as well. It''s mostly useful for people substantially weaker than the caster. I can only really do it to Tier 35s whosebat power is ordinary. Even the weakest elite can power through it. Maya, the Republics Ascender, is a reality warper that can just make people vanish from reality if theyre weak enoughpared to her. Hers is a mixture of skills and Domain, but it''s a simr power.


    Matt shuddered a little as he imagined trying to deal with a Duke Waters, who, instead of convincing him he was drowning, convinced him that he just didnt exist. It was a scary thought.


    Aster the weirdo perked up at that. Is that an Aspect thing then?


    Aiden nodded. Mostly. As in, it''s a whole lot easier for me to do it to troops who dont have an Aspect of their own. Like I said about power difference, that difference in strength makes it a lot easier to crush them wholesale. If someone is still a fairly weakbatant despite having an Aspect, I usually just save them for after I already drowned everyone else and focus my attention on them to scrub them out. That said, most people who have an Aspect at Tier 35 are pretty damn strong in their own right. I should tell you about this time I


    Matt thought that over and wondered what his version of that would be.


    A [Breach]?


    While that could wipe out arge amount of people, it wasnt the same thing as what Duke Waters was talking about.


    [Mana Beam] was better, as he could wave it around, but that still wasnt the same as Aiden drowning thousands of people at once.


    Matts mind drifted to his maniption spells and he nodded. That seemed like a much better avenue to pursue if he wanted to be able to wipe out a lot of troops who were substantially weaker than him.


    He was interrupted as Zack indicated he wished to speak, stopping Aiden from rambling. Is there anything you learned when creating your Aspect so early?


    Aiden gave it a thought before responding, Once you have finished filling out your Intent,e back and ask me that. I can probably give you a hint or two, but even at Tier 35, it''s dangerous to form an Aspect even if there are resources that can prevent you from outright dying.


    That seemed to signal the end of their training period, and a weary Allie teleported them all back to Camp Lightfoot.


    Matt wanted to go and pass out in his bed but resisted the urge. Instead, he baked an oven full of scones and delivered them to Allie after seeing how hard the training had been for her. He didnt want the teleporter to add him to her list of prank participants. Actually, with her being such good friends with Aster, he was most certainly on her list. A gift of scones could maybe keep him from being at the top, at least.


    She red at him something fierce when he knocked on the door, but took his apology scones withoutshing out, which Matt considered a win.


    ***


    Allie munched on the scone delivery as she shut the door with a grin.


    Ahhh. It was good to have a reputation for being scary.


    ***


    Aster sat on a beautiful outcropping and let her spirit expand outward, blinking as the world around her started to turn into a wintery wondend.


    Her Tier 25 Talent was an interesting form of challenge. Difficult to use, but with so much potential sitting just below the surface, she was practically salivating in anticipation. But so far, the only thing she had been able to use it for was a bit of supplemental mana storage which she needed in order to keep her spirit space at its maximum size.


    It was a frustrating paradox, but her recent Domain training had given her some ideas as to how she could best bridge the gap between Intent and Talent. Now, she just needed to test it.


    From the cliff behind her, Allie, bundled in enough fluffy clothes that she waddled, groused, If I fall on my ass, Im going to kick your ass! And cant you turn down the thermometer? Im freezing my tits off!


    You want me to make it colder? Aster grinned as she deliberately misunderstood Allie.


    No, you dumb ass. It''s too cold. I dont give a shit what way your thermostat works, just make it less cold, damn it!


    Aster imperiously waved to Allie. Well, then go ahead. I think I have a firm enough hold on the surroundings.


    Stamping forward despite there not being much actual snow in her spirit ce, Allie stepped off the edge of what should have been a cliff if she was still in the real world.


    With chattering teeth, Allie said, There, test sessful! I didnt fall. Let''s move on to phase two. Please, I can''t feel my toes!


    Despite having talked about it before, Aster instead asked, Are y


    Allie cut her off. I know the risks. For fucks sake, just do it already!


    Grinning, Aster retracted her spirit ce and returned the world to normal. Except, there was no Allie.


    Counting to five, she expected Allie to blip out of her spirit space, but the other woman didnt immediately appear.


    That was sort of a good sign. As per their agreement, Allie would only immediately teleport out if she felt she was in immediate danger. If everything went as they expected, she would remain in there until Aster opened the passage and let her out.


    Turning her gaze inward, Aster looked into her spirit ce to find Allie shivering and standing there unharmed.


    Moving onto phase two, Aster started to pull at Allie. She didnt try to remove Allie, but instead, she tried to drain her.


    It started small. Aster was absorbing the energy all living beings with a spirit gave off. Mostly mana and a little heat, but as she created that connection, Aster was able to drain more and more from Allie. It took a few seconds, but she actually started to feel a bit of physical energy that felt like taking a potion feed into her body.


    Allie was a physical cultivator, so that made sense.


    Pulling deeper, Aster felt more mana start to travel through the link she had created. Now that she was pulling from her mana pool, Allie was no longer giving off ambient mana, but that didn''t matter now that Aster had her hooks in.


    Step two was done, and everything was the same as they predicted.


    Then, all the energy started to slow as Aster felt Allie start to resist the energy drain. But importantly, it didnt stop. Aster was able to keep drawing from Allie, which increased the connection, widening it moment by moment.


    Aster felt Allie change the way she resisted, cycling through spells and her Domain, but nothing she did aplished anything more than slowing the drain. She was in Aster''s world, and that meant she was Asters to do with as she would.


    Pulsing the connection, Aster signaled they were going to step three. For the first time, they were going into territory they hadnt been able to test with a monster.


    Instead of trying to pull energy from Allie, Aster reversed the connection.


    She fumbled with the change in idea for a few moments, but after that, she felt the energy she had absorbed start to flow back into Allie.


    Laughing at Allies shocked face, Aster pulsed the connection once more.


    Step four.


    Allie started cutting and shing with spells and attacks.


    Aster winced, but didnt re the connection despite feeling the damage that was being done to her spirit. So far, the damage was impacting something of a buffer her Talent made with the energy that powered it. Namely her mana pool.


    Seeing her mana start to drop faster and faster as Allieshed out at incredible speeds, Aster did not want to know what would happen if she ran out of mana with someone inside her spirit space.


    Either the space would copse and injure her spirit, or the person in question would simply break free. No matter what the oue, it wouldnt be very fun for Aster.


    Twisting the connection, Aster let Allie know to stop.


    Allie paused in her attack before sending out one extra strike.


    Ok, so she was a little angry, but two could y that game. Aster lowered the temperature of her spirit space in response.


    Sheughed as she looked at the poofy Ascender.


    Closing her eyes, Allie flickered but didnt teleport out. <em>Interesting</em>.


    After a moment, she vanished and appeared next to Aster.


    Fuc- fu- fuck you Aster. You owe me big for this one.


    Allie waved off the healer, who was on standby, and instead started stripping.


    How can you freeze cold weather gear? This isn''t fair!


    Asterughed in her face. Yeah, well, you asked for it! You definitely sent thatst attack out after I red the connection.


    Allie grumbled but didnt counter the fox.


    Once she was out of the cold weather gear Aster had frozen, Allie pulled on more normal fluffy clothes,plete with a beanie, fluffy socks, and mittens.


    Aster handed her a cup of steaming hot chocte once she was done, but got a re instead of thanks.


    What did you do to it?


    Aster gasped, Me? I would never!


    Yes, you would. I bet you are still holding a grudge for me spiking your tea with catnip.


    Aster was very much holding a grudge for that, but she didnt let it show. Wow, I had forgotten about that. You dont deserve hot chocte! I was just trying to be nice. Never mind.


    Before she could withdraw the hot chocte, Allie snatched it away and took a long sip.


    Still not letting her grin show, Aster waited.


    Allie looked up at her as if she was going to catch Aster gloating, but Aster kept a nd expression on her face.


    Seeing that Aster hadnt started cackling or anything, Allie swallowed and let out a long sigh.


    That hits the spot. For an ice fox, youre ok.


    Aster finally let her smile start to creep across her face andughed as Allie''s face fell.


    I <em>am</em> ok for an ice fox. And thats why I spiked the hot chocte with a little Powdered Ice Cream. It''s delicious and tastes good. Vengeance is at hand.


    Allie blinked at her before taking an actual sip of the drink. First of all, those words mean the same thing. Secondly, I thought you were going to try and give me axative or something. It does taste good, though.


    Aster rolled her eyes. Hook line and sinker.


    Im not an asshole like you. Allie was nodding when Aster added, Im worse!


    Aster, what did you do to my drink?


    Aster giggled. I put Powdered Ice Cream in it.


    And it tastes good? Allie tried to confirm.


    And it tastes good, Aster confirmed, but her smile never left her face.


    What else does it do, Aster? Allie''s voice started to squeak as she looked down in horror at the cup.


    Giving her best evilugh, Aster told her, It makes you feel nice and cold on the inside.


    Allie cursed but took another sip of the hot chocte. Damn it! I was drinking this to warm me up, not cool me down. It really does taste good, though.


    Aster grinned as she hooked an arm through Allies. Even if her newest friend drank the whole cup, it would, at most, give her a bit of a chill.


    Their friendly pranks were just that: friendly. They both had a mischievous streak, and pranking each other was more fun than pranking the others who werent good sports about it.


    Not that they didnt prank the others still.


    In fact, they had a prank they needed to get to.


    Are we still going to go spookie ookie on Melinda?


    Allie chortled. Of course we are.


    It was through these pranks Aster learned why Allie was so damn good with her Talent. Sure, her teleportation was free, and it was a high-Tier spell, but Allie was always pushing the limits of the spell, and not just inbat.


    Ny percent of Allies pranks were done with her Talent being used in unique ways, inspired by her wanting to push her teleporting.


    Once they got back to Camp Lightfoot, Allie pulled them into a spatial fold, and Aster startedughing as she began creating a localized cold front and made it snow right in front of the healer''s side entrance.


    Right on cue, Melinda walked out, and Aster started moving the single woman snow front to keep up with Melinda.


    Allie also created small gaps in the spatial folding and they stuck their heads out, now upside down, and started groaning and moaning.


    Im the ghost of New Years Past. And I A snowball smacked Allie in the face and interrupted her.


    Melindaughed even as she readied another projectile.


    Sheunched it at Aster, but Aster justmanded the ball to return to snow. Melinda would need to do better if she wanted to use Aster''s own shtick against her.


    Im the ghost of New Years Future. And I warn thee that you need to visit your friends more or they will continue to prank you!


    Allie nodded as she cleared the snow from her nose with a sneeze. Yeah, go clubbing with us! We can get Liz, Morgan and Pace, Dena, and you can bring Miss I Let People Experiment On Me and we can make it a proper girls night out.


    Melinda shook her head. She was either disagreeing or trying to clear the snow from her hair.


    Part of this prank was training, and Aster hadnt stopped the downpour of snow on her friend. She just kept it at a normal level of cold, so Melinda wasnt really inconvenienced. Aster even cleaned up after herself.


    She was just that nice.


    It''s the <em>logistics</em>. If we spend even five hours outside, that''s nearly two days inside the rift. Id rather spend my weekend off actually being off, and not missing all but eight hours of it.


    Aster caught herself as Allie dropped them out of the spatial fold andnded on her feet.


    Well, if you dont go out with us, I need you to heal Aster ''cause I need a new scarf, and Im going to use her tail as one. That is, unless youe with us.


    <em>As if</em>.


    But Aster resisted bonking Allie on her head for even suggesting it, and instead made her eyes water as she trembled her lip a little.


    Melinda face palmed and looked to her shadow, Evie. Want to go?


    Evie just blinked. It is my duty to protect you, not give my opinions.


    That wasnt a no, and Aster had heard Evie say no many a time when they tried to get Melinda to do something wacky. With that in mind, Aster decided to interpret that as agreement and was going to push that angle, but to her surprise, Melinda nodded without any outside influence.


    Ok fine. If you can get us all the time off, Im game for a girl''s night out. A little dancing could be fun.


    Allie cheered, and Aster joined her.


    They were going to make a giant mess, and they all knew it.

 Echos Chapter 3

    Echos Chapter 3


    Baroness Margaret Thresh was watching the ascension ceremony at Marquess Heartlesss estate. With Duchess Felicity at the actual ceremony, the next highest noble in the chain ofmand had taken over the duty of gathering the Empire''s nobility. Simr to Light and Shadows Ascension ceremony, she was there more to mingle and get her name in the ears and mind of both the other barons and her superiors, the viscounts and counts. Marquess Heartless was only one of thirty of Duchess Felicity''s direct reporting subordinates, which meant there were only a few hundred direct nobles and their immediate entourages instead of thousands.


    A ducal event was a far more impressive thing than that of even the grandest marquess, but she preferred this smaller style of event.


    While she was the lowest form of noble here, she was at least able to talk to some of the viscounts and counts without them moring to chat with the foreign marquesses who werent Marquess Heartless. Contrary to the man''s family name, Burt Heartless was an ideal lord to serve under. He never imposed anything more than the Imperial minimum taxes or tried to use his authority to secure one-sided trade deals with his underlings. In fact, he was unerringly fair and expected his Counts to be the same. That was fantastic, but it had the side effect of causing the viscounts, and barons especially to mor, for the Marquess''s attention like schools of fish circling a corpse whenever all of his nobles gathered.


    As the newest baroness and the one who had been recing one of their former peers, Margaret had little voice at such events. At a gathering like this, with just the marquess''s direct reports, things were far more manageable, thus she could work to repair her undeserved reputation.


    Not that it was her fault. But she was the one who benefited from the Emperors heavy-handed actions. It didnt matter that the Junipers hadnt even been well liked by most of their peers. A god hade down and crushed one of the ants, and now the rest of them didnt want to interact with the recement ant.


    Margaret smiled as Baroness Dulta walked over to where she stood. She expected the other baroness to walk by her like everyone else had this evening, but Baroness Dulta turned slightly to intercept her.


    Good to see you Thresh, I didnt see you at Surals a decade ago.


    Margaret analyzed Dultas expression as she nodded. It didnt sound like a slight to her not attending the party for Countess Surals second child''s birth, but a barb didnt need to be so obvious to be there.


    I was sadly upied with a negotiation with TrueMind and their desire to establish a manufacturing nt on Lilly.


    Baroness Dulta eyebrows went into her hairline as she gestured with her ss in a small toast. Well, congrattions then. That''s a massive fish to pull in I assume you <em>did</em> pull them in?


    Margaret smiled and returned the small toast. Of course I did. Taking a sip, she let her fish struggle on the hook for a minute before she dropped some of the details about her deal with thergest AI corporation in the Empire. They are already breaking ground on a new manufacturing nt as we speak. By next year, they will be producing AI locally.


    Baroness Dulta sighed in envy. Ah, now that would be nice. I mean it''s still nice, AI prices will drop all across the duchy. But you are going to see at least five higher Tiers move in if they follow their usual customs of overseeing their factories with Tier 30s. Combining their tax revenue with the taxes TrueMind will be paying? Im burning with envy.


    Margaret dropped her other shoe. Oh, it''s better than that. While nothing is settled yet, they even hinted at wanting to open up a researchboratory as well. That would take a while, but the contract allows for it, and I sure won''t deny them. It will help set Lilly apart from the faceless masses of low Tier worlds and give us a favorable export. I just need to make sure and use this to bring in more industrialization that my people can use.


    And it was true. The TrueMind deal probably had more to do with Matthew Moore and his royal iws than anything else, but they were thergest of the fewrge corporations to actually set down roots in Lily after that revtion. Others had inquired, but when she hadnt been willing to give them a sweetheart deal, and sell her and people to them for the cheap in the process, their desire had shriveled up.


    TrueMind, on the other hand, had treated her equitably and given her a near boilerte agreement, which benefited both sides.


    While a lot of the process of making artificial AIs was handled by robots, the nts were expensive and burned mana at a fantastic rate. That would raise the price of mana across the board, and while that would certainly be hard on some of their local crafters, the poorest and most desperate would see their personal mana be far more valuable. It wouldnt even be too bad for the local crafters driven out of business by the increased costs, as TrueMind preferred to hire local personnel for the few areas which did require manual intervention, but werent directly involved in the manufacturing itself. Baroness Dulta had been correct when she mentioned the Tier 30s. There would be five moving into Lilly permanently, and Margaret wanted to make sure they werefortable on Lilly so they wouldnt treat it like exile.


    To that end, she intended to schmooze the Counts and Marquess Heartless to see if she could get a higher Tier chef on loan from one of them, as no one on Lilly could cook food that a Tier 30 might desire.


    Beyond that, she needed to capitalize on the at-cost quota of AI she had been given ess to as part of TrueMinds contract. They would be a useful bargaining chip in securing trade deals, which could capture this momentum and turn it into useful business contracts beyond her system. AI was a great export, but there were a dozen other industries she wanted Lilly to expand into. Creating footholds locally across multiple industries would both reduce costs to her people and also give the other valuable exports, which would encourage more traders from even farther away toe to Lilly.


    After Matt and Liz hade to her, a number of higher Tierpanies had wanted to settle. But their terms had either been not to Lillys advantage or they simply negotiated for the most basic of factories that did nothing more than produce mundane unexportable goods. The first was a hindrance, and the second was useful only for improving her local citizens'' lives. That was a good thing, but if she could get some reputable name brands to move in and start producing on Lilly, she could both help her people and earn Lilly a valuable export.


    Baroness Dultas lip twitched as she shook her head. That is remarkable. Do be sure to go by and let Countess Sural know that. She didnt say anything, but despite you sending a gift, Baron Bruce was in her ear about how you no longer cared about the structure of nobility, with the assistance Queen Mara and King Leon had sent your way. Thanks to their daughter marrying one of your natives. Whether the Countess believes it or not is another matter, but Baron Bruce was a good friend of the Junipers and will take any opportunity to toss a fireball in yourp.


    Margaret nodded, her jaw flexing. She hadnt known that, which spoke volumes to her position in the local noble circles and made her reevaluate Baroness Dulta. They werent friends. Before this, they had been passingly friendly at best, but nothing more. That the baroness hadnt allowed her to remain in the dark was arge mark in her favor.


    And it was apparent she needed to find a friend in these circles if she was to remain connected to the political maneuverings.


    Thank you, Taylor. I owe you one.


    Margaret could tell Baroness Dulta was pleased by the acknowledgment of debt, but she had the good grace to not preen.


    Well, Ill happily take a trade deal with some AI at, say, five percent over the cost that TrueMind is giving you. Currently, the trade route is so long from the nearest TrueMind production world that what does reach my world is horrendously expensive.


    Margaret nodded. It wasnt surprising to hear that request, and to her credit, Baroness Dulta hadnt pushed for her to operate at a loss.


    She could work with this woman, it seemed.


    Not bothering to quibble, she agreed. Deal. And while Id love to chat, apparently there is a fire that I need to ensure isnt still smoldering.


    Baroness Dulta waved her away. I detest Bruce and his line. That said, I wouldnt mind working closer going forward. Find me if you want to chat about some other deals we can make. But your first priority is cating the Countess.


    Margaret had to stop herself from running, but that was only through an effort of sheer will.


    Careful to not offend everyone, she snaked her spiritual sense out to find Countess Sural. She found her in a slightly less busy area of the ballroom, sipping a drink while looking at a sculpture Marquess Heartless had scattered around the floor.


    It was a style Margaret detested, minimalist to the extreme. Norger than a grain of sand, the sculpture might as well have been invisible to a mortal without the exceptional sense that came with advancing in cultivation.


    There was no reason to make anything that small except to prevent those weaker than the artist deemed worthy to see the art.


    It was Tierism, in and simple.


    From what Margaret knew, Countess Sural wasnt the type, but she had been staring at the sculpture for minutes now.


    Grabbing a fresh drink off a passing server''s tray, she nodded to the Countess''s entourage, who made an opening in their encirclement to allow her to pass through.


    Coming to a stop next to the Countess Sural, Margaret nodded somewhere between a nod and a bow.


    Before she could say anything, Countess Sural spoke, Took you long enough. I half expected you toe crawling over the moment I arrived. Imagine my surprise when you just nodded at me.


    Margaret opened her mouth, but Countess Sural held up a finger stopping her. You didnt know. That''s obvious now, Baroness Thresh. However, ignorance is inexcusable. Allowing your political rival to maneuver around you while you sit cluelessly will find you, at best, embarrassed to a superior. And at worst, removed for cause. If you are woefully unprepared for your position you need to correct that failing. Now, why are you here?


    Margaret was going to speak, but hesitated.


    Countess Sural wasnt wrong. Margaret was a pretty damn good administrator, but she knew she was a child in the politicalndscape.


    The sea was deep, and there were a dozenyers of currents blowing every which way, and she was only able to see the surface. The thing was, Countess Sural wouldnt, or rather shouldnt, have said something if she was going toe down hard on a lowly baroness. She would have smiled, nodded, and then bad talked Margaret to her peers, ensuring Margaret found it difficult to work with them or anyone they worked for.


    So why had she spoken out?


    Before Margaret could formte an answer, Countess Sural gestured to the statue. What do you think of this work?


    Margaret scanned it to find a perfectly modeled estate with over a hundred unique people going about their lives. Some existed on the outside and were therefore visible with assistance, but others were inside closed rooms, where no one without exceptional spiritual sense could see them.


    The sculpture itself was perfect. tes had bits of food left on them, beds had creases, peoples outfits were frozen in movement. Sweat even rolled down a mans face as he sparred with a golem.


    It was perfect.


    It''s stupid. It''s pointless. Its extravagant Tierism put on disy under the use of an artist flexing the ability to make things small. The only thing the miniature size of this sculpture did was make it so low Tiers couldnt partake of its beauty.


    Countess Sural raised an eyebrow. You find it beautiful? That surprises me. I had figured you would hate it.


    Margaret shrugged as she flexed her spiritual sense around the object. It''s beautiful. That''s a fact. My distaste doesn''t change that. It''s a perfect moment for some family and their friends. The walls talk about how the children y while the adults try to keep them in line. How the parents love each other and leave little notes to each other. How the youngest two prank each other. How can I hate that?


    Countess Sural tapped her ss with a finger. As a Tier 16, I hadnt expected you to be able to delve so deeply into the intricacies of the sculpture, but I forget how advanced the spiritual sense of one who went into Minka can be. Let us return to my original question. Why are you here?


    Margaret felt whish at the sudden change of topic, but rolled with it. I wanted to ensure there is no bad blood between us and to offer a token of my appreciation to ensure the same.


    Countess Sural sighed, and Margaret froze. It''s one thing to be direct about an apology. Falling on your sword and making such a statement obvious and direct can be useful. Doing the same with a gift makes it more like a bribe. I dont want your gift of cheap AI from TrueMind. Ill take their normal rates and subsidize the cost to my people myself. No, if you want to get in my good graces, you are going toe and spend a few years getting taught the things your parents would have taught you if you were a hereditary noble.


    Margaret churned through that idea in her mind before nodding slowly. I ept. But why bother?


    Countess Sural let a faint smile cross her lips. If you pay attention to my lessons, by the end of them, you will understand without me having to answer. Now, first things first. By the end of this party I want a n of how you intend to infiltrate Henry Bruce''s court and nt a few spies so he cant blindside you again, and you dont have to rely on the good graces of Taylor Dulta.


    Margaret assumed they were under some kind of privacy bubble if the countess was speaking so freely, and so spoke freely herself. Shouldnt I be working to infiltrate a number of courts and not just his?


    Countess Sural nodded. Good. You passed the first lesson. No matter how good your n was, if you didnt hit everyone, I would have failed you. You need to know what everyone is doing, both your enemies and allies. Walk with me. We need to do some work on repairing your reputation. So far, you have made Baron Bruce''s job easy. No longer.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences.


    Margaret hadnt known her reputation was so damaged as to need repairing, but followed along with the rest of Countess Surals entourage as the Countess took her from noble to noble starting with Marquess Heartless.


    She was now a protg. It was weird but useful, as the warm and weing faces attested to. Her new status allowed her to make a few new deals and connections thanks to the Countess'' backing with people who would have ignored her before.


    Three dayster, the ceremony for Quill, Torch, and Scoops Ascension finally got started and the nobles gathered to watch.


    Marquess Heartless had the position of honor next to the passive real-sized projection that made it seem like they were just part of the crowd of the ceremony, and Margaret had a much better position than she should have if she wasnt part of Countess Sural''s entourage.


    The projection was lifelike and even came with spiritual perception feedback that allowed her to scan the Empires newest Ascenders.


    The murmuring slowed and then died as the trio got closer to the center of the Emperor''s throne room.


    Then pandemonium broke out.


    Margaret froze as she tried to process the faces of the trio.


    She knew them.


    She had eaten dinner with them. On more than one asion, in fact.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster, though the human form of the bond was new to her. They hadnt been by Lilly since Matt and Lizs wedding, but they had kept in contact through the asional messages.


    She wasnt the only one to recognize them.


    <em>Everyone </em>recognized them.


    Elizabeth was the daughter of two royals for fuck''s sake.


    There was a moment of moring as everyone started to chatter, but Countess Sural froze. Margaret saw as her nails sharpened into ws before returning to their perfectly manicured human shape as she turned to Margaret. Her reaction was a moment faster than the rest of the nobility, but only by a moment.


    It at least confirmed that Countess Sural had not been aware of the identities of the newest Ascenders, and had not only chosen to take Margaret under her wing because of that.


    Her barely recognizable words only reinforced that belief. Smile and nod, but agree to nothing.


    It was good advice, as every noble in the room turned to her like hounds who smelled blood.


    The nearest Count was slower than Marquess Heartless, who seemed to teleport with how quickly he moved to Countess Surals circle. It was rude to move that fast at a party, but he was both the host and not the only one to do so just the highest Tier and therefore fastest.


    He smiled at Countess Sural, but stepped through her retreating entourage to stand before Margaret.


    Earlier you mentioned you had a cooperation with TrueMind and were looking to bring in a few higher Tier amenities to help their workers feel more at home. My personal chef just got an opening. Why dont I send him your way? He can act as your chef and the Tier 30s'' without issue.


    If Matt, someone born on her and someone who was known to care about his birth, hadnt just been revealed as the Empires newest Ascender, she would have jumped on the offer.


    Before she could speak, Countess Sural did so. Baroness Thresh is still in shock and needs time to process such a generous offer after such a monumental change. As her liege, Im sure she will look favorably upon your offer, my lord. The Countesses'' eyes swept the rest of the gathered nobles as she added, Along with everyone else''s very generous offers.


    That blunted the initial wave of noblesing over to congratte her, but it by no means stopped them. Just reminded them to be civilized.


    The first five days of this party, she had been trying to just talk to someone and make some kind of deal which would benefit Lilly, but few had the time for her. Things had changed once she was taken under Countess Surals wing, but people were still hesitant to agree to anything long term orrge in scale.


    A few food producers who were willing to look into expanding into Lilly, a fellow baron who had a hand in the production of childrens toys, and best of all, a single viscount whose family was known for mass producing low Tier arms and armors. They werent the best items, nothing mass produced ever was, but weapons and armor were still expensive on Lily. In fact, most of them were imported from neighboring systems, despite her trying to raise a generation of crafters. Before this, thepanies who had wanted to work on Lilly hadnt wanted to include criteria that ensured they sold a portion of their goods locally. And if that wasn''t in a contract, she would just be pulling money out of her people''s pockets as their hard work went off-world.


    Now? Now she had every noble bending over backwards to send their specializations to Lilly, happy to take massive short term losses.


    It was incredible what could change in fifteen seconds.


    Looking up, she looked to the now ignored hologram of Matt, Liz, and Aster receiving their writs of nobility.


    She owed them everything.


    She and Lilly both.


    ***


    Agent Delta watched the shocked Baroness Thresh fend off noble advances from his vantage point in a small personal dimension only he could enter. He was just as shocked by the revtion of who the newest Ascenders had been, but it didnt really affect him.


    That his target was rted to the Ascenders was interesting, but unimportant.


    His job was normally to ensure the Emperors hand-appointed noble didnt fall into any trouble, but with Countess Sural taking the girl under her wing, he expected to be reassigned in the near future.


    He wasnt surprised by the Countess''s move; she was a hard-core loyalist despite being from a hereditary noble family.


    Noting the change in situation to his superiors, Agent Delta waited and watched.


    It took two minutes to get a response.


    The Orchestra: Mission aplished. Report to the recording studio for your debriefing.


    Acknowledging the reply, Agent Delta flexed his Talent to appear outside the Marquess''s estate. His range was limited, but even if it wasnt, no one at the party would have seen him. He was far too good for that.


    With the news of a set of new Ascenders, he wondered if he could be sent on spy hunting tasks.


    He wondered if he had enough merits to force such a mission change.


    The war was in full swing, and hunting enemy spies was the best way to contribute.


    First, hed have to see what his handlers had to say, but he suspected that they wanted to put him on another babysitting mission.


    ***


    Director Helen sat in her office idly watching the children below celebrate the fact one of their own waspleting the Path. The entire ce had shut down for the event. No one was working. The rifts were empty. Food had been brought in from the maind as the chefs had taken the day off like everyone else.


    And it was a big day.


    Helen agreed.


    She just couldnt find it in her to enjoy it.


    She was tired, and felt every hour of her seven thousand years.


    How many of these kids would even be alive next week? Ny-nine percent? Ny eight?


    How many would be alive next month? Ny five? Next year? Five years? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?


    In fifty years, a full thirty percent would be dead.


    She tried to pick them out. She couldn''t tell the difference. They sure couldn''t. But some of them were walking corpses and didnt even know it.


    And those odds were for the normal times, when these children only had Ascenders to look up to as distant figures. Movie stars, action heroes,rger than life images they dreamt of but nothing more.


    But today Today, Helen knew that these kids had a new set of idols. Idols they would feel they could reach out and touch. Idols who they believed they could be if they just worked hard enough. Delved that one extra rift. Lunged when their training said to back off and re-engage.


    All things that would get them killed.


    It wouldnt be the first mistake that got them killed. No, they would do something risky once, survive, shake a little as the adrenaline pumped through their veins, then calm down. They would realize they had survived, and the next time they should hold back, they would be a little less hesitant to lunge.


    They had survived once after all. Why not a second?


    Why not a third?


    That was when the risky behavior becamemon. Became second nature. Their first instinct was no longer to dodge but to lunge, and that was what got them killed.


    It was simple statistics.


    Find ten people and get them to flip a coin.


    Statistically speaking, half of them wouldnd on crowns and half on shields.


    Take the five that flipped crowns and have them flip again.


    Now you were down to two. Maybe a third.


    Make those two flip again.


    There were one in eight odds that one of the flippers hadnded on crowns.


    Even if they did, have that single person keep flipping their credit, and they would eventuallynd on a shield.


    The Empire was flipping credits. They were looking for the children who could flip a credit a hundred times and have itnd on crowns every time.


    They were looking for that rare, lucky person who could beat the odds.


    And if the Empire was just having children flip credits, that would be fine. But they werent. They were asking the children to bet their lives. Over and over again.


    She had known all of this going in, shed reached Tier 15 on The Path, but knowing and seeing were two different things.


    The truth was far darker than the public liked to acknowledge.


    And with an Ascension to drive recruitment and fervor, Helen knew that she''d be lucky if seventy percent of these children were alive in fifty years. The lucky ones would leave here and take a bad hit that scarred them physically and emotionally. The physical would be fixed with some credits, but the mental scarring would be harder to heal. Hopefully, it would keep them out of a rift for long enough for them to join a guild, which would limit their delving rates to something reasonable or push them into civilian life.


    But she knew those would be the outliers. The anomalies. Anyone who made it this far in the Pather system was a little mad in the head. Willing to throw themselves into danger and enjoy it.


    If she thought it would work, she would go down and rip the children''s limbs off, but she knew that would only drive most of them to try and reach her power level.


    She had needed to quit drinking in the first decade of this posting, but she wished she still drank at times like this.


    Tea just didnt have the same kick, and she wanted to drown her bleak thoughts.


    But that was exactly why she had stopped drinking.


    No matter how somber the asion was, she couldnt be drunk. The children needed her at her best. Deserved her at her best.


    At least when she wasnt hiding in her office like she was now.


    Only two hundred and neen more years and she could escape this thousand year contract.


    A thousand years of simply watching a yPen had seemed easy money after her delving team had gotten tired of the grind and broke up. She had such good memories of her time on the Path, she thought it would be like a vacation.


    What a joke.


    She contemted shutting down the rifts for the next week and sighed. She had done so when Light and Shadow hadpleted the Path, but she wasnt sure it had stopped eager kids from killing themselves, as she had hoped. There had still been a spike when she reopened the rifts, despite everything.


    Helen just wanted to shake these kids and make them see reason.


    But that wasnt her job.


    Her job was to watch the ughterhouse and ensure it ran smoothly.


    And she was good at it.


    She had to be.


    A better run yPen had fewer deaths in both the short and long term.


    The better she did her job, the fewer children died.


    That might have been the worst part of this job.


    If she left her yPen to someone else, they would be worse, and the consequences for that would be more dead kids. Recements were hard to find. People either burnt out like she was, or turned into bitter, angry assholes who disregarded the kids'' lives. The Tribunal monitored the former, but they didnt allow thetter.


    Those who cared too much were better in the long term than the opposite.


    She could do two hundred more years so apetent recement could rece her.


    She had to.


    For the endless stream of this''s children.


    Once this was over, she could go spend a decade in a pleasure world and recover. The Tribunal would ensure she recovered, it was part of the contract she had scoffed at before, but was now eternally grateful for. If she didnt have a therapist ready on demand, she would have fallen apart in the first decade.


    She just wished the Empire didnt need Ascenders.


    But they did.


    She was a Tier 20, she had ess to most of the EmpireNet and could see the war feeds. Even with two sets of Ascenders, things werent good. A third Ascender would help, but a fourth would help more.


    So they had to keep having children flip credits.


    Helen idly used her spiritual sense to watch the screen and the kids'' reactions.


    When she first saw the redhead, she nodded. Daughter of nobles, nothing she had to worry about, but she froze at the boy.


    Matthew Alexander, now Matthew Moore. Aster Alexander.


    She didnt need the information feeds to tell her who they were. She knew them. She remembered all the foolish ones who came to her attention. They deserved for at least one person to remember their brief lives before they were lost in the annals of history.


    Young Matthew had been foolish enough to run headlong into a rift challenge like he was the nexting of Duke Waters, and then an idiot healer tried to steal his egg bond. Griff had taken care of the situation, but she had still been informed and reviewed the incident.


    Helen had pegged the boy as one who was going to lunge when he should have retreated one too many times and die.


    She had been right.


    At least half way right.


    He was one who learned that lunging forward worked. He just also happened to be the one that had his creditnd on crowns the full hundred times.


    As the children down below started to cheer and rave about how someone who hade through the very halls they lived in was nowpleting The Path of Ascension, Helen wanted to vomit.


    That was <em>not</em> the lesson they should be learning.


    Shed be lucky if fifty percent of these kids were alive in a <em>decade</em>.


    She could read it in their eyes. In their elevated heartbeats. In the cocktail of hormones, their brains were dumping into their bodies. They <em>knew</em> they were going to be the next Matthew Alexander.


    It terrified Helen.


    Terrified her to her cores.


    ***


    Matthew stood in the bar with his wife, Elizabeth, cradled in his arms.


    Her curly hair poked at his chin as she shifted to get out of the way of someone trying to get to the restroom and nearly knocked the almost empty beer out of her hands.


    The bar was packed, but they didnt mind the closeness.


    Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, heughed as his best friend Eddy made a face and shouted over the chatter, Get a room you two!


    Elizabeth flipped Eddy the middle finger. We will after this while you go home to little Miss Lefty.


    Eddy shrugged. Im sure I can find someone to take me to their home instead. Im not picky.


    That was true, Matthew well knew. His friend had always been a yboy, which had made their friendship odd to most outsiders.


    They had been friends through thick and thin, from diapers to adulthood.


    Elizabeth squeezed his hand and Matthew lowered his drink for his wife to sip on as he saw her drink was empty. There was no way they were getting to the front of the bar now.


    They tried to shout to chat with Eddy, but it was impossible with the bustle of the bar.


    For low Tier 2s like them, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they didnt want to spend it in their apartments. They wanted to be among the people, even if most of their friend group was off at the capital of Verlun at the muchrger parties.


    They had been invited, but Matthew and Elizabeth were more homebodies, and so had declined. Eddy had stuck with them like he always did.


    Friends like that were rare.


    Matthew chanted along with everyone as the countdown to the face reveal and cheered with everyone else as it happened.


    Then he froze as he read the names and felt his pad vibrate.


    He also felt Elizabeths through their pressed-together bodies.


    He saw Eddys light up.


    He didnt need to read the message to know what the contents said.


    Eddy, thank his heart, was as cool as a cucumber and casually flipped his pad over while hitting the silence button before slipping it into his pocket. His easy grin never even wavered.


    Matthew tried to keep the panic down as he started to hyperventte, and he could feel Elizabeth doing the same, but Eddy slipped in next to them from around the table and hugged them. He whispered in his and Elizabeth''s ear, y it cool. No reactions. We stay for half an hour, then leave. Do it all with a smile.


    Matthew felt like he was going to be sick, and he felt Elizabeth squeezing his hand painfully hard, but they nodded.


    As people cheered andughed, the three of them joined in the joking.


    He almost shit himself when someone remarked how low the odds were that Matthew and Elizabeth shared a name with the newest Ascenders.


    When that revtion was known, the entire bar had toasted them.


    Someone even remarked how they should have bet at one of the gambling houses.


    Theyughed it off, and Matthew didnt know how his voice didnt stutter as he agreed it was a shame.


    When they finally left, they quickly hailed a taxi; this was a nicer part of town, which meant it was one of the automated ones that let the three of them finally react.


    The moment they were alone Matthew slumped, Elizabeth pulled her hair so hard her hands shook, while Eddy repeatedly said, What the fuck!?


    He kept repeating those same three words until they got back to Matthew and Elizabeths apartment.


    The world seemed to sit still as they sat on the couch and clustered around Matthews pad and the disyed message from The Odd One Out gambling hall.


    The blue and red logo loomedrge in their faces. Matthew had seen their logo for thest three years any time he watched a show or movie. They were a betting house that was trying to get people to gamble on the newest Ascenders identities.


    Eddy had brought beer and pizza over one night, and when their ads hade up Elizabeth had sneered at it. Shed called out how the odds were impossible to get right with how many people the gambling house was allowing bets on, which meant they were basically stealing from anyone who bet.


    Eddy, a little drunk, had navigated to the site and brought up the number of avable bets. Over ten thousand. And that was just locally, at one gambling house.


    Jokingly, he searched for his name and bemoaned that there weren''t any Eddys in the running. He then searched for Matthew, and all three of them were shocked to discover there was a Matthew and Elizabeth pair in the betting pool.


    Out of curiosity, more than anything, they had looked into the pair because, what were the odds? A married couple like them but, unlike them, royalty. ording to the The Odd One Out gambling hall, the only reason they were on the list was they were the right age, known former Pathers, and the wife, Elizabeth, was a phoenix. Nothing else matched the new Ascender duo, but that slim connection was enough for people to want to bet the odds.


    Eddy hadughingly said, We might as well put some money down with the coincidence. What can it hurt? Let''s throw a few credits into the pot.


    The odds had been astronomically low, but here they were looking at three identical life-changing messages.


    Congrattions: The Odd One Out gambling hall has dered you a winner. Payout: Tier 25 mana stone value. Two hundred quattuordecillion credits.''

 Chapter 290

    Chapter 290


    Matt was sitting with Aiden, working on utilizing his Intent with the help of the older Ascender, when an alert bypassed his mutes.


    Reading it, he realized he was finally free from the Tier 31 who refused to let him train alone. A red alert for Team Zero. Thanks for the tips.


    Aiden nodded and waved him away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go have fun killing things while I have to sit here for another few months.


    Matt rolled his eyes even as he cranked his perception and left.


    Duke Waters had been saying he would be leaving in a few months from the moment he made his way back to Camp Lightfoot, despite all the healers, Melinda included, stating that he would be out for at least two years subjective. That was only three real months in the Tier 35 rift, but Aiden insisted that was too long and that he would be leaving in the next couple months subjective.


    As Matt arrived at the Team Zero briefing room, he found everyone but Light there, who arrived just a moment after he did, which seemed to be the cue for General Darrow to start the briefing.


    We have a priority mission. Matt felt like that was obvious, and Allie opened her mouth, probably to say as much, but Darrow continued before she could. Pator-Sul has fallen under a surprise push, and the system cant be allowed to fall so easily.


    General Darrow brought up a dozen screens showing the situation. Pator-Sul is a hub world that was well defended and was expected to hold out for decades, but the Sects managed to slip a team behind the shields on their initial probing attack. That team managed to not only disable the shields long enough for the Sects tond two full divisions on the, but they also managed to lock themselves in one of the supply bunkers and are holding the items hostage.


    Matt read through the reports and nodded along. The Empire could push through the bunker and get the spies, but that would waste a lot of healing supplies and new weapons for spies who were otherwise contained and unable to do more damage. The problem with the spies was that the Empire was diverting troops to ensure they didnt make a break for it and wreak more havoc in doing so, but the major issue was the two divisions of troops who had overrun a portion of the fortress. The enemy troops were now making pushes to the shield generators that protected the.


    If that fell, the Sects would be able to bring in their orbital troops without issue, which would spell the end of the siege and the opening of another avenue deeper into the Empire.


    A few of their previous missions had been simr, and Matt felt like he was going to be incredibly familiar with this kind of mission in theing years. Despite everything, the Empire was on the defensive. Which meant that they, as an Ascender team, were constantly bouncing around, trying to put out fires and keep ahead of things.


    It just wasnt always possible.


    Their enemies werent dumb, and could enact ns to rapidly take down an important fortress world.


    To make matters worse, Pator-Sul wasnt even a Tier 25 battlefield; it was a Tier 27 one, which meant they were going to be fighting up to their limits.


    Matt took the opportunity to check in with the war situation as a whole.


    The Empire was doing its best, but had been pushed in by at least oneary jump from the border regions with the Great Powers they were still at war with. Most areas were pushed three or fours deep, but those weren''t the parts that worried him.


    The areas he focused on were the areas like Pator-Sul, where important fortress worlds were being attacked en masse. Entire sectors of the Empire were being attacked. It was less a question of thes being under attack and more a question of how strong the attack was.


    Morgan stepped forward and shook her head. Her ponytail was now a bright blue instead of the red it had been before. She had felt that there were enough redheads with Dena and Liz, and so changed the color to something closer to her bloodline feathers color. Are the Great Powers trying to push through our lines?


    General Darrow shook his head despite agreeing. Yes, but this is more of a probe. Any ce that falls will be a great win, but they are simply feeling us out. Once they better understand our distribution of troops, we can expect the other Great Powers to send more targeted attacks in those directions. But that is all beyond our pay grade. Our job is to keep Pator-Sul from falling. Once we manage that, we will be relieving a number of Tier 25 and 26 worlds.


    Darrow opened his mouth but said nothing for a long moment.


    It was long enough that Allie prodded him. What is it, boss man?


    General Darrow turned on his heel and flicked his finger to show a recording of a monstrous crystalline spider breaking down fortress walls and sending Empire soldiers scattering. Dao Child Maven has recovered from herst fight with you, and has been attacking a fairlyrge number of border worlds with little obvious strategic merit.


    Aster leaned forward and spread her hands in a questioning gesture. And so why are we going to Pator-Sul instead of smacking the fuck out of her?


    Matt leaned forward to show he was in agreement, which was a move mirrored by all of Team Zero.


    General Darrow sighed and raised up his hand to forestall arguments. I already requested that mission, but Chess rightly pointed out that it''s clearly a trap.


    Allie flipped her dagger before she caught it and threw it into the far wall. What kind of logic is that? Triggering traps and killing everyone involved is what Ascenders do!


    General Darrow shot a passing nce at Zack.


    Allie, the other Ascender said pointedly, and his partner wilted.


    Thank you, Ascender Light, Darrow nodded. Now, this is not a <em>typical</em> trap. While undoubtedly our enemies do have something particr in mind for once we do face Maven, Chess believes that the true intention is to bait us out and force our hand while the Sects finish overrunning Pator-Sul. Once we have relieved Pator-Sul instead of a direct confrontation we will be taking a step beyond that, infiltrating past enemy lines and striking here, Helios Delta. Its an Empire border world turned Republic supply depot, and we intend to take it out and loot it for all its worth, cutting off support for this wing of the assault.


    Matt nodded as he followed the highlighted attacks and agreed with the n. If he saw the other Ascender team slowly moving towards them, he would assume they were nning on a confrontation.


    Battles between elites happened like that a lot of the time. At least, when there wasnt an ambush waiting, like what happened to Duke Waters.


    As that thought came to him, he raised a finger and asked, Is this push happening because Duke Waters was hit and injured?


    General Darrow nodded. We believe so, and that is why we dont want to risk a second ambush with the rest of our Ascenders. Hitting the supply depot is a better move, and if we can pull the elites away from anything they were able to prepare, all the better.


    They went over a few more bits of information before they piled into Drifter''s ship, and Shadow teleported them across space.


    Team Zero went from inside a rift in the heart of the Empire to months away, by even the fastest ship, in a moment.


    They went to war.


    Shadow didnt have a waypoint at Pator-Sul, which meant they teleported as close as possible and would be flying the rest of the way on their own. It was a good thing Drifter was their pilot, because she broke every rule of flying through chaotic space and got them to Pator-Sul in just a week.


    Matt was ready for a fight the moment they arrived in Pator-Suls real space, but things werent so easy. The Sects ships they expected to be surrounding the were instead floating just miles above the fortress''s surface.


    They had arrived toote.


    General Darrow sighed at the sight even as he stood up. Nothing is ever easy. That said, our job hasnt changed. We are to push the Sects out and reinstate the defenders and Empire rule on this system.


    His third eye flicked around seemingly at random for a few seconds before he nodded. Drifter; full speed. I dont want the Sects to reactivate the''s shielding. The Empire defenders should have destroyed it as is


    Even as he said that, the they were watching on the screen flickered as a light blue barrier appeared.


    Shadowughed and punched Darrow on the shoulder. Ha, you fucking jinxed it.


    General Darrow ignored her and instead looked to Origami and Matt. I want a n to crack the shield before we arrive


    Drifter heard the implied question and shouted from her pilot''s seat, One hour if I dont slow down for an intercept and just drop you guys off.


    Hearing that, Darrow nodded. If possible, I dont want the infrastructure of the damaged. Ideally, we can hand this back to the captured defenders so they can continue to defend the.


    Light stepped forward slightly, and despite his dry voice, his words held concern. Will the Sects allow us to do so? They are Tier 27, and certainly not about to surrender.


    Bolt''s blue hair nodded in agreement, but General Darrow shrugged. If that is the case, we are to destroy the so thoroughly that the Sects are forced to rece it if they wish to hold the system, or back off, allowing the Empire to retake the system. But that is ast resort. Quill, Origami, I want a preliminary n in fifteen minutes.


    Matt moved off to the side and asked A, Do you know anything about the fortress worlds defensive structures? I dont know anything about them and there isnt anything stored on the ships LocalNet.


    A nodded. I know of them and even have their blueprints stored. She put her words to action and sent him the information.


    Matt quickly scanned it and let out a long slow breath.


    He wasnt sure he could take the shields down without frying the infrastructurepletely.


    A five hundred million mana [Breach] would punch through the shield without a doubt, but the fortress''s shields were built to handle orbital bombardments from dozens of ships for months. If they fell because one spell pierced their barrier, they would be shitty shields. At best, Matt could open a small gap in the barrier, which Shadow could use to teleport them inside the barrier, but that would leave them dangerously open to retaliation shots. The shields acted as anti-teleport wards, and they were damn good at what they did.


    Shadow could still teleport under that level of suppression, but it would be a dozen times harder and would mean that she couldnt teleport the entirety of Team Zero, so they would need to fight through the enemy''s attacks as they tried to close the defenses.


    On the other hand, if Matt just kept right outside the shield and mmed the with a few thousand [Breach]s, he could probably break the shield formation projectors, and once they were down, the defending Sects members would be without the shield''s protections.


    That would force them either into their ships, to sortie out of the fortifications, or hunker down and try to weather a bombardment.


    The second option was most likely, as an invading force who wasnt able topletely control the defenses but anything was possible.


    The problem was that the option was slow, and would cause the very damage Darrow wanted to avoid.


    Matt thought it over and asked, What about shoving another shield into thes and letting them merge? That could give us a gap. We know the shield frequencies, so it should be rtively easy.


    A shook her head. Not possible. The fortresss are expected to fall to enemies and use a frequency modtor which changes the frequency of the shields all the time.


    Matt hadnt known that but nodded.


    A flipped through a few pieces of paper before offering her own suggestion. What about a mana drainer? Normally, Id never suggest it because of how expensive they are to run, but you could power one, Im sure. Will that burn enough mana to force them to drop the shields?


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the vition.


    Matt shook his head, and they went back and forth with a few more suggestions, but ultimately, they werent able to produce the miracle General Darrow seemed to be expecting.


    Matt shrugged and looked over to where General Darrow was talking with the others about strategy.


    Sir, what are our priorities? Speed or taking the ce intact?


    General Darrow''s third eye flicked to Matt before he said, What is the issue?


    Matt exined that they could make a small breach in the shielding easily enough, but that would just trap them in the formation with all the wards active and fighting them. If they wanted to prevent that, they would need to break through the shields the long and slow way.


    General Darrow pursed his lips before shaking his head. We go in through a breach then. It''s less than ideal, but speed is a greater priority here. He paused before nodding once more. I want as much damage as possible done to them. Try and create a localized area of the where the wards are down. You should be able to do that with [Breach] and [Barrage] correct?


    Matt ran a few simtions and nodded. I should be able to do that, sir.


    Their hour of prep time seemed to vanish in seconds, but Matt and A managed to work out a rough idea they believed would work. The rest of the crew werent idle, bustling around and determining which potions and other supplemental gear would be most useful in the uing battle. Considering they were about to enter a Tier 27 battlefield, they couldnt afford to leave <em>any</em> advantages on the table.


    Like Drifter had said earlier, she didnt turn their ship and use the engines to slow them down, which would have increased the time it took for them to reach the outermost in the Pator-Sul system, but instead continued to elerate them forward. That meant they were going to be jumping out and relying on their Domains to slow them down enough to engage with the. If they all worked together, they could have managed the same thing with Drifter''s ship, but they risked tearing it apart, and they didnt really need the ship for what came next.


    The nine of them stood at the back of Drifters ship and stepped off the ramp while gripping the Tier 15 space around them with their various Domains.


    The moment they were at a controble speed, Matt cast [Bulwark] and took up a forward position. It was unlikely the invaders had taken over the weapon systems so quickly, but it was possible.


    That was only where a small portion of his mana went.


    Instead, most of it went to charging a [Breach] cast with [Barrage].


    Matt and Origami had been frantically busy as they worked on the best method of taking out the infrastructure that was buried deep in the, but they believed they had seeded.


    Instead of Matt creating the breach in the barrier, they were going to rely on Light. He had agreed to the n without any prodding despite being a little leary at interacting with that much mana, especially after his and Matts taking each other out in their initial duel.


    Thankfully, Origami would be doing most of the work with a scorpion-like contraption she had quickly whipped up, so the risk was minimal.


    Matt watched as Origami tossed her shield breaker, which settled on the opaque shield before it drove its pincers and stingers down in a rush.


    The moment the construct touched the shield and pulled a little of the shields mana into itself, Light was already changing that mana into air mana, which simply vented off into the emptiness of space.


    Shadow used that brief moment to jump them into the shield.


    Unlike her usual teleports which were so smooth that if you didnt pay attention you might not even notice them, this one was rough and felt like they mmed into a wall. Shadow had warned them it would be rough so Matt was ready for the impact and managed to keep hold of the spells he was controlling through it all.


    The moment they were inside the shields, Matt let the three [Breach]s fly.


    The first one punched right through a shielded ship that was in the way as it mmed into the massive pir that projected the shield above the. It kept going, and Matt felt Light tweak its trajectory the smallest bit to ensure it would hit one of the mana battery banks.


    The second shot was a perfect hit that skimmed along the surface of the like a stone skipped across ake.


    The third hit its target but detonated on some kind of shield the Sects had erected around the projector. It didnt stop his spell, but instead caused the siege spell to detonate right next to the defending Sects fighters, wiping everything out.


    Matt felt the restrictions that tried to slow him down weaken, and they teleported a few thousand feet to the side the moment they were able to.


    It was part of their initial n, and a good call, as the ships and Sects defenders opened up fire on their old location.


    Most of the shots flew through the shield and away from the, but a few curved and mmed into the [Bulwak] Matt had put most of his now freed mana regeneration into.


    He grunted as he felt the damage that was imparted to his shields, but they held without him having to utilize his Tier 25 Talent.


    It felt like a decade, but General Darrow gave themand and let them loose. Go! Go! Go!


    They knew their jobs and Matt dropped his [Bulwark], knowing that Origami was already deploying one of her mobile fortresses, which would defend their mages.


    Instead, he dove in to create some blood for Liz, letting the anti-flight wards elerate him to the ground. That would allow them to move onto part two of their battle n which was to take out the Sect leadership as quickly as possible.


    Hended on a fortification in a rain of spells as the Sects members tried to take him out, but most of their spells were blocked by [Cracked Phantom Armor], his physical armor, and the array of buff potions and spells he had active. Only two managed to bypass those defenses, but [Regeneration] closed those wounds as quickly as they formed.


    Extending his de, Matt twisted and shed out with an oversized [Mana sh].


    His initial attack bisected the closest Sect fighter, but those behind her managed to dodge the blow, so Matt was forced to follow up with a second and third [Mana sh]. One man slipped in close, trying to drive a dagger into Matts spine, but he red [Telekinesis] and sent the man flying in an explosion of blood.


    While he did that, the Sect fighters in front of him had gathered themselves enough tounch a coordinated barrage of attacks he blocked with [Bulwark].


    Matt didnt wait for their bombardment of spells to end, and instead rushed forward with his sword leading the charge while flexing his ck Hole Intent, which made him hard to sense.


    It worked, at least if the expression of surprise on the Sect man who his de gutted was anything to go by. Matt was moving past him as he continued his charge, even before the man hit the ground, but he followed up with a small but incredibly dangerous [Gravitic Bolt] that popped the man''s head and ended his life before he could detonate his core.


    His de took a Sect woman''s head off despite her robes ring and trying to defend her. Despite failing to stop the initial attack the enchantments did block the follow-up [Gravitic Bolt] he tried to finish her off with, forcing him to slow his charge enough to spin and slice her head in half.


    A half-million mana channeled through a weapon made for Harper wasnt so easily stopped by a Tier 27 enchantment.


    That move slowed him down long enough for the rest of the team to relocate him. Their attacksbined with the reinforcements who had joined them started to wear down [Bulwark].


    Feeling that Matt let the spell fall and instead reached for the air around them. [Air Maniption] stole the air out of everyone''s lungs, but Matt didnt keep it for long. He mmed the collected air down with force, crushing the rest of the defenders on this portion of the wall to paste.


    Tier 27 fighters were harder to kill, but not impossible by any means.


    A Liz fell to his location and merged with one gorey mess before two rose up. Both clones repeated that action, but Matt wasnt able to enjoy the show.


    Along the wall that he had just cleared, what seemed like a squad made up of higher-ups arrived. Matt would call them officers, but that wasnt how the Sects organized their military, and he didnt care to look up how this specific sect referred to their teammanders. They were smart though. Instead of targeting him, they tried to fire on the still-forming Lizzes.


    As if Matt would allow them to attack his wife right in front of him.


    He rushed forward with a freshly cast [Bulwark] leading the charge, providing cover for the multiplying Lizzes.


    That concentrated the fire enough for even Matt to be slowed down which would lead to him being bogged down if he allowed the situation to continue. [Archmages Presence] red to life and Matt felt his power skyrocket.


    The armor, first made for North Star of the Cosmos, had been made with this exact spell in mind, and while it had been designed more to enhance <em>bursts</em> of usage, [Cracked Reinforce Stone] made it more than robust enough to handle Endless power just as well. With the spell in turn empowering the enchantment, it resulted in a very nice feedback loop strengthening everything Matt did.


    It was enough to let him cross the distance in a blink, taking the arm off the lead Sect fighter as the man, more than two full tiers above him, was too slow to retreat.


    There were five officers with gold trim around their robes edges, and each of them moved in a different direction the moment Matt arrived amongst them.


    Two of them fired what he identified as highly modified [Mana Bolt]s, and though Matts spiritual sense said they were far more dangerous than they looked, he didnt dodge. The third woman had a saber, and was attacking where he would have to dodge to if he wanted to continue forward while avoiding the bolts. The fourth officer cast a spell that caused the shadows to rise up and grab Matts legs the moment he moved, while the final Sect officers threw a bolt of lightning at him.


    It was a goodbination he was sure would work on most people, but Matt wasnt most people.


    He grunted as the two [Mana Bolts] punched right through his armor and tried to wreak havoc in his body, but Matt crushed their effects under an onught of [Barbarians Hide], putting himself back together with [Regeneration]. The lighting bolt was blocked by [Cracked Phantom Armor] without issue while Matt reached down to grab the shadow chains.


    Instead of dispelling them, he flooded them with mana and only started moving when he heard the man who had cast them scream as his spell was used as a conduit, straight into his mana core.


    He wasnt dead, but he was nearly crippled and unable to cast anything for a good long while.


    Matt reached up and grabbed the descending saber of the woman and squeezed.


    The de didnt break like he expected. Instead it bent like putty. For a moment, Matt thought that was from his strength, but the de had its own tricks and tried to crawl down his arm,digging at [Cracked Phantom Armor] like a worm trying to bore into him.


    It didnt work; [Cracked Phantom Armor] was far too good at defending from such attacks. Matt ignored the des advances in favor of driving his left hand into the woman''s crossed arms, sending her flying back into the crented wall.


    He sent out a flurry of [Gravitic Bolt], peppering the two mages. One of them had a [Phantom Armor] re, which protected them from a bolt that would have taken their head off, and the second managed to dodge the bolts sent at them.


    Matts spiritual perception was drawn above him for a moment as he saw the mages from Team Zero, slowly falling in the fortress Origami had created, bombarding the area Liz was fighting in. The active wards prevented him from finding out why, so he had no choice but to refocus on the fight that was in front of him, cutting off the hand of one of the mages.


    As he did so, Matt felt arger st of lightningnd squarely on his back. Absorbing it into [Cracked Phantom Armor] gave him a burst of speed, and he didnt let it pass. Using the small opening that the change in speed created, Mattshed out three times in quick session with his sword, sending out just as many [Mana sh]s.


    One of the [Mana Bolt] casters was a moment too slow and lost their legs, but his other two spells were dodged. The Sect officers had quickly realized that despite their Tier advantage, they werent able to confidently block any of his blows, and prioritized dodging.


    Stepping to the side, he cast [Sword Twin], merging all four copies into a single de and let that solitary de block the saber woman who tried to ambush him from behind.


    He was going to dart at the delegged mage who was preparing another spell, but felt a re of danger from behind him, where the lightning mage was recovering. He also felt the shadows start to crawl up his legs once more, trying to lock him down.


    Acting on instinct, as he had a good feeling of what the man was doing, he cast [Cracked Air Slide]. Having been upgraded twice, the spell let out a burst of air which ripped him free of the shadow bindings, and Matt skated around the oversized bolt of lighting that punched right through the wall and dug its way into the dirt.


    The man had cast with essence fueling his spell instead of mana.


    Matt shook his head even as he continued his movement to make a circle to cleave the man''s head in two.


    Few were willing to sacrifice their painstaking efforts to cast a spell with their umted essence, even if they knew they were going to die. But it seemed that this particr man was made of sterner stuff.


    Twisting, he grabbed the [Sword Twin] out of the air, merged it with his de, and used the increased effect of the weapon to send out ovepping [Mana sh]es, which ended the saber woman''s life and finally stopped the metal of her sword from attacking his left arm. He took a blow to the chest for his troubles, but [Regeneration] was able to knit his torn flesh back together without too much issue.


    Despite knowing it was useless, he offered the two surviving mages an offer of surrender, but when they responded with spells, he ended their lives before they could detonate their cores.


    With this section of the wall cleared, Matt looked over to where the Sectmandersmandeered fortress stood. A nce to his left showed close to fifty Lizzes killing their way through a mass of Sect troops who had encircled a crater the mages had created. To his right he saw Bulwark, Stick, and Stone surrounding a trio of Torments summons who were cutting their way forward slowly but surely.


    On the other side from himself was Shadow, who despite having her teleportation limited, was cutting her way through the enemies to the leader''s section almost as fast as he was.


    Seeing he was the first one to break free of the defenders, Matt red [Archmages Presence] and mmed into the shield formation they had set up.


    Reaching back, he drove his spiked fist into the blue shield. With each blow the shield turned more and more opaque.


    On the seventh blow, the shield failed, and he rushed inside.


    He took a de to the head, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] deflected the strike and Matt grabbed the woman''s head with a lightning-wreathed hand, ignoring her look of shock as her ambush didnt work. And the look of shock that came with nearly a million mana of lightning coursing through her body.


    One squeezeter, a rush of essence confirmed her death, and Matt dove into themand center where a dozen gold-d officers stood ready for him.


    He threw himself into their waiting des and disarmed the closest man, taking a gush of purple me to his side that chewed through [Cracked Phantom Armor] like acid.


    A quick pulse of [Mana Beam] ended that fight, but he was hit with a counterspell and [Forbid Spell]bo that fizzled the beam and put it on cooldown before he could eliminate the rest of themanders with it.


    Matt didnt mind doing things the hard way.


    A burly woman tried to tackle him to the ground, but Matt twisted and drove a spiked gauntlet into her brain before tossing her into one of her friends.


    He dodged a spear that felt dangerous, but took a [Earth Spike] to his own de which knocked it out of his hand.


    Disarmed, he must have seemed like an easy target, because two de-wielding men rushed in and tried to take him down, regardless of the wounds he would inflict on them in return.


    Matt used his left hand and arm to deflect the first strike and drove a fist into the second mans chest.


    A third and fourth Sect officer jumped at him, wanting to take him down with pure numbers.


    mes roared as he cast [Dragonme], and the fire chewed through those closest to him.


    The same person tried to hit him with another [Forbid Spell], but Matt was ready for it and had dropped [Dragonme] for an instant before reactivating it.


    Turning his mes on the mages who had been peppering him with attacks from range, Matt stomped down to take out the single surviving woman who was trying to grip his leg.


    The mages shield protected them for long enough that Matt thought the fight was going to turn into a slog, but Shadow kicked open the far door and started cutting her way through the mages'' less protected nk.


    Knowing his teammate could handle it, Matt simply red [Dragonme].


    A dozen res of essence tried to rush into him in as many seconds, which signified the death of the remaining Sect leaders.


    Turning his spiritual sense to the fighting that was still going on outside, Matt saw how the mages were concentrating their spells to the east of where Matt and Shadow were. It was probably a mid levelmander who was trying to direct the battlefield now that the leadership had been wiped out.


    Matt nodded to Shadow who flickered away.


    Matt called his sword back to hand and began charging it with lightning.


    The fight wasnt over yet.

 Echos Chapter 4

    Echos Chapter 4


    Duke Waters spun through the emptiness of space andunched a dozen [Water Scythe]s at the squad of generals who were trying to stop him from massacring their troops. It was quite rude of them. Hed <em>so</em> much rather be back with Liz, Matt, and Aster, congratting them for a job well done and messing with them back in the home base, but the Republic just <em>had</em> tounch a deep strike. Honestly, didnt they know how this sort of thing was done? You had to give the newbies a few softballs, and <em>not</em> pull aside their senior Ascender to answer a stupid invasion. And then another, and another, and another.


    It was just <em>rude</em>.


    Sure, normally it wouldnt be that much of an issue. It was an easy enough mission of the sort he usually liked, just enough pressure to be fun. But damn it, he was missing all the good parts of watching a new pair of Ascenders being brought into the fold.


    He couldnt even p the kids around a bit to keep their heads from getting too big.


    Oh well.


    General Grotesques fired off an array of decay needles. They mmed into his side with almost no resistance and began to liquefy his flesh.


    Oh no. However might a water mage manage to survive being turned to <em>liquid</em>?


    Water flowed from his side, carrying the poison with it and coalescing into a clone of himself, an Edgier And Cooler Abyssal Duke Watersplete with all kinds of murky water and glowing red eyes. It charged at the people responsible for its creation, meting out proper justice while the main Duke Waters called upon his Anchor, letting the ocean inside him refill the tiny amount of water that had sshed away.


    What kind of mortal could harm an <em>ocean?</em> They were all hopeless before its overwhelming might. No attack could do more than cause a few ripples.


    Not that he was <em>fighting</em> mortals, but hey, it wasnt like he was always an ocean.


    The other two generals, Tivus and Regta, outnked and tried to destroy his clone, but hadnt ounted for the incredible pressure of the abyssal ocean. Tivus sword crumpled like paper as it passed through the ck water, while Regtas bullets just vanished into the inky depths.


    Then the water exploded and coated them, and they began to feel the unending pressure of the ocean. The surrender notice came, and he relented.


    Danger rang out from behind him, and Duke Waters twisted just a moment too slowly.


    A searing bolt of pain punched through his chest, sending the ocean within into turmoil, but he leashed the power before it could spiral out of control. Instead, he locked on just who hadnded the blow.


    Yuvgret. Now leading a bunch of discount Graduates instead of the normal flunkies he liked to boss around. Figured.


    Fucking assholes had been hiding in a spatial fold or something and used the rest of the army as bait.


    He had suspected something like that might be up when he heard a Tier 35 army had jumped over the established line of battle. He had just assumed he was wrong when they didnt appear after he killed the first of the generals. Waiting until after the surrender came in was impressive dedication. Not against the rules of war, because this attack group clearly wasnt part of the army, but it was just kinda cheap.


    Not that Duke Waters was a cheap date. Hed make them pay full price.


    Of course, before he killed them, he had a few questions. While normally he might have asked out loud, his lungs were quite inconsiderately not healing, and it wasnt the same to talk using just his Domain if he couldnt apany it with an appropriately menacingugh from his own lips.


    So he settled for sending it on his AI.That stung. What was it?


    Rugrat and ke, the team''s melee fighters, rushed forward with earthen shields raised.


    Seriously, the Republic had just lost all sense of proper procedure in this war. The quips were half the fun! But noooo, apparently President J wanted to take this seriously and the elites were actually <em>listening</em> to her. Bah, at least Maya had kept her head about all this. Hed dly take her or On The Last Line, they appreciated the importance of proper mid-fight banter.


    Hell, even <em>Light</em> could get chatty if you hit the kids right buttons. Because he knew how it was done!


    The InSects were always augh with their grandiosity, the Feddies couldnt stop themselves from yelling out hrious insults, but these punks? They just kept <em>refusing</em> to have a philosophical conversation with him during the middle of a life-or-death battle! No self-importantst words, not even a good old For the Republic!


    Shameful.


    He flushed himself with mana and willpower, trying to reset his body to regain ess to his lungs and glorious voice. Unfortunately, whatever stupid attack theyd hit him with wasnt so easily washed away, but he tided himself over by reassuring himself that the attempted Domain damage he could sense had just sshed harmlessly off him.


    If that was the best the Republic could do as an anti-Duke Waters opening shot, it was fucking embarrassing.


    Involuntarily, he coughed up some blood and noticed there was actually a curse hidden inside whatever he had been inflicted with.


    Ok, so maybe it wasnt a totally awful attempt. If the Domain portion had worked, which it couldnt because he was the best at Domains, he would have been in serious trouble.


    Rugrat cast some earth based spell that tried to ensnare him, but a [Washing a-Wave] dispelled it, the stone ending up very firmly lost at sea. While normally the dispel would have ended there, he called on his Concept to keep it running, rushing over to the next attack.


    A flurry of molten des was eaten by his spell at the cost of a negligible amount of willpower, but he must have surprised Yuvgrets team, as they werent reinforcing their spells with their Domains beyond the basics.


    Interesting. So they had really expected that initial bolt to disable his Domain. How fascinating. How foolish.


    He manifested a bubble as a spell focus, overcharged it, and popped it. Torrents of water flooded forth, sting into the pitiful fire and air-based walls Yuvgret, Kimberly, and ssa were sheltering behind. He enhanced them with his Domain, and fire and air gave way to the superior element.


    Currents of power, unleashed through his Intent, ripped and tore at his opponents, and while Kimberly and ssa only lost an arm and leg respectively, Yuvgrets body was torn outright in half, already being crushed from the overwhelming pressure of the ocean.


    Drowning wasnt the <em>only</em> danger in the depths.


    Annoyingly, magic red and she began to be put back together. A quick query to his AI told Duke Waters the name and identity of the healer responsible Ethan the chronomancer? Time-based healers were always a pain in the ass to fight.


    He wasnt able to do anything else quite yet, as the melee duo of Rugrat and ke were already on top of him.


    Aiden wasnt a melee fighter, and while he was happy to test his mediocre skills against weaker troops, he wasnt dumb enough to treat these two with such contempt.


    A wash of seafoam stopped a massive iing spell, a whip of water pulled their des to the side, and two more attacks bounced off a bubble shield he created around himself. [Water Armor] brought a cloying, sticky orange spell to a near halt, but it still brushed his skin and drained itself into his body, giving a really <em>weird</em> sensation.


    That only heralded even more spells, and he found himself hard-pressed to keep any level of control over the battlefield, but he began counting down as the tide slowly turned in his favor.


    Ten.


    He dodged a de and took a crossbow bolt to the shoulder as payment. It didnt over-prate, but it shattered and sent shrapnel into his shoulder that locked it up. It attempted to send off a series of biological failures cascading through his body, but he called on his Anchor to keep him in one piece.


    To his surprise, it took some effort to do so, but nothing he wasnt able to handle.


    Nine.


    He dodged a bolt of dark purple mana that his spiritual sense suggested had some amount of void in it, but took a de to the leg that suffused his body with a caustic green energy that smelled of pinecones. No, that wasnt right. It was reacting with the Domain-inhibiting curse and somehow increased its strength. That was less than ideal.


    Eight.


    The torrents of his Aspect dragged six blows just enough off-track for him to avoid them, then he used that opening to shoot a [Riptide Hook] at Kimberly.


    It pierced her thigh and dragged her off into the distance.


    Seven.


    A bubble-shield popped, and his attempted dodge was insufficient to stop the sword to the gut, but instead just provided extra leverage as it tore up his chest.


    Man, you guys are heartless, he sent. Or maybe I am. Is there a difference?


    Eh, he could do better. Come on guys, stop ignoring me. Youre breaking my heart!


    Six.


    A bubble was a funny thing. Below the water, it was the only source of air. But above water, it could either be a prison <em>made</em> of the best element, or simply a solitary refuge for the ocean in the form of a droplet. And any droplet preceded a rainstorm.


    [Hurricane Arbor] manifested a bubble, and he flooded the rain-seed with mana until it began to glow a vivid, shifting blue. Instantly, a storm-tree sprouted, its trunk ice, its branches clouds.


    Its fruit, a <em>storm</em>.


    Five.


    Rugrat proved himself the smarter of two as he started hacking at the tree, while ke rushed Aiden down. In response, he shot off a column of water as wide around as his head that <em>tragically</em> missed, or perhaps <em>mist</em>, as it burst into a cloud of white not far behind the onrushing elite.


    Four.


    Duke Waters harvest had ripened, and artillery-grade rain began to fall. Like petals, or perhaps bubbles, tiny drops of water fell in a meandering pattern beneath the still-growing tree. But instead ofnding gently on their targets, they punched holes in hastily-raised defenses and tore into his attackers.


    Three.


    A bolt snuck through the swirling torrent of raindrops, striking him directly on the open wound in his chest and exploding into a toxic gas. [Cleansing Waters] took care of that, leaving nothing but the scent of freshly-fallen rain.


    Two.


    Raindrops slowed lethargically as his [Hurricane Arbor] was destroyed, but a wave of his hand collected the water around him into a [Tidal Wave], washing Rugrat and ke as they came too close, and giving him a moment of respite.


    One.


    Kimberly re-entered the battle just as her would-be support left it, and Duke Waters released his hold over thepressed water hed deposited in her thigh.


    Blood and saltwater spread into a thin mist, and [Salt in the Wound] ensured that pain debilitated Kimberly long enough for him to pull her close to him.


    [Calm the Storm].


    All water in the woman simply <em>stopped</em>, even her slight twitches freezing instantly.


    He smiled a toothy grin, then bodily raised her up, directly into the path of [The Water Cyclone]. Dispersed mist re-coalesced into water and unerringly shot back into his other awaiting palm. That Kimberly happened to be in the way, and was reinforcing her body with her Domain, did nothing to slow it. Still, he made sure that the guts sprayed at him simply washed past him and into the face of Ethan.


    The healer thought he was being sneaky while trying to heal his teammate, but hadnt been prepared for intestines smacking his eye. Even if they didnt do any actual damage, or even <em>truly</em> disorient him- fighting professionals could be annoying- it was at least a moral victory for Duke Waters.


    Then, the currents of his Aspect mmed Kimberly into Ethan, and the healer was knocked into an awaiting bubble of water, where he was most vulnerable to Aidens domain and was forced to try and take it onpletely solo.


    A hasty defense was raised, but Duke Waters simply crushed first the defense, then the Domain, and finally cracked the spirit itself as if it was a child trying to stop a train.


    The move took a lot of willpower, but Duke Waters dug deeper and growled as he cast [One With Water] and [Water Swap] to join the still reeling healer in his bubble. He needed to re his Aspect to break through their spatial lock, but he did so without care for the willpower expenditure.


    When he appeared, he didnt attack the healer, but rather Yuvgret, who had made it back to the fight and was trying to stabilize the man.


    The bubble was popped, and its pressure redirected into a [Water de] that broke through Yuvgrets shields and armor.


    She was trying to use her Domain to stop him, but Duke Waters didnt get his title because of his good looks.


    The pressure of his own Domain rose, suffocating and crushing the womans spirit. She was <em>deep</em> in the depths while this close to him, and while Rugrat and ssa tried to break his spatial lock to save their team leader, it was too little, toote.


    Yuvgret drowned in the depths, and the moment he felt the wash of essence, he cleansed it of Yuvgrets Domain and immediately started allocating it. A Tier 35 had a lot of essence, it was a shame the realm only let him have such a small fraction, miserly fuck.


    His willpower and mana were both running dangerously low, but he still managed to replenish some of thetter by re-absorbing the mana in the bubble of water around him. Rugrat and ssa charged, but Aiden had already left the spot they were attacking.


    As his clone was destroyed, Duke Waters snatched his prey. ke was still trying to rid himself of the parasitic [Hurricane Arbor] seeds, and was wholly unprepared for a [Water de] to tear him twain. Some kind of life-saving device began to activate, but Aiden refused to release his Domain grip. Between the potent rescue lifeline trying to spirit ke away, and the insatiable grip he had on the mans spirit, something had to give.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    And it ended up being ke.


    The mans body vanished in a puff of smoke as essence washed over Aiden. Hmm. Between Yuvgret and ke, hed gotten a pretty good sense as to how that particr lifeline worked, what were the odds the rest of them had it as well?


    Clearly, theyd prepared for his Domain to not be fully suppressed, because it was set to trigger when foreign willpower infiltrated the body. Well, he could oblige that.


    Kimberly was still floating around here somewhere, trying to patch herself up with a broken Domain, and there she was. She was out of range with ssa, trying to stabilize herself, but Rugrat was charging at Aiden and ran right into a drifting bubble of his Domain. It didnt actually <em>do</em> much, and didnt cost much willpower, but it <em>was</em> tuned perfectly for what their lifelines were looking for.


    Rugrat vanished in a puff of smoke.


    Aiden couldnt retreat, not without giving up the battle hed literally <em>just</em> won. But the Republic stuck-up squad, with their leader killed, two members in serious need of healer attention, and only one member still in fighting shape?


    ssa decided discretion was the better part of valor, with a st of wind dragged herself and Kimberly over to Ethans catatonic figure, then the three of them vanished.


    Duke Waters wanted to copse into a puddle as the exhaustion and injuries hit him all at once, but he couldnt look weak.


    So, instead of retreating like he wanted to, he looked out at the Republic troops who had been watching on in horror.


    Using his [AI], he sent a short message. I believe you all were in the middle of something?


    Aiden mentally sighed as nobody tried to retract their surrenders. And that was why having a reputation was useful.


    If anyone else had the wounds Aiden had and still pushed for surrender, they would just get attacked, but he had proven his tenacity in a thousand battles before this.


    Aiden stabilized himself with a couple of subtle healing enchantments worked into his gear, careful to not give anything away as the haggard Empire defenders mobilized to begin securing their new prisoners.


    The moment the final Republic soldier was taken into custody, he withdrew his personal ship and boarded it while telling it to enter chaotic space.


    Breaking a fragile ceramic te from his spatial ring, he felt his ship recall to deeper into the Empire with a lurch that aggravated his wounds.


    He hated to use the stupidly expensive teleportation formation, but he needed to get seen by a healer sooner rather thanter, and the ship would get him to the military base without a million questions or anyone seeing just how badly he was wounded.


    As he concentrated on keeping his wounds under control, he counted the days.


    If the kids were sent on the normal kill-an-army Ascender first mission like he had been, they should be back by now.


    And Melinda should be back. Perfect.


    Then he could fight the kids and not have to hold back too much.


    How much better could that be?


    He pulled up the Ascender group chat and sent off a mocking picture to Maya, depicting a cartoon version of himself trapping the elites hed just fought in bubbles.


    Your puny little team of elites were no match for the awesome might of Water!


    He smirked as L, Gideon, Sien, and Krodag began to express their amusement. Maya was probably out of service range or silently stewing, figuring out a scathing response of some sort.


    Eh, so far as he knew, Maya wasnt <em>too</em> attached to either of the elites hed killed. Worst-case, shed probably respond in kind. If any of them got <em>too</em> salty about a few random dead countrymen, their group chat wouldnt work. Of course, the new kids wouldnt be invited <em>quite</em> yet. They needed a proper war under their belts, a bit more experience before they truly joined the cool kids club.


    After all, what was a bit of mortalbat between friends?


    ***


    ***


    Krodag Oakarmour sighed as he kicked the air, reading about Aidenstest fight.


    There was nothing to do. Damn it. Why did the new Saint need to be a chicken? If she was a little more brave, he could be out there kicking ass like Aiden was. The little shit wasnt even a proper Tier 35 like the rest of them, but <em>he</em> was out there living it up and wiping the highest-Tier battlefields while they were stuck at home.


    But hey, maybe once he did reach Tier 35 theyd be able to face a <em>truly</em> overwhelming opponent! It had been far too long since theyd had a proper uphill battle. Once On The Last Line had hit Tier 35, the hardest fights were just those that they couldnt catch their breath. Lug outmuscled <em>everyone</em>, Boney had trouble finding good skeletons, and Jack barely learned anything actually worth copying. Krodag just wished there would be more good stories to go around. Crushing ants just wasnt the same.


    Maybe that was why Aiden liked being Tier 31,e to think of it. Even as a fresh Tier 25, the man had never settled for just the normal fights. Well normal by their standards. Same-tier armies and all that jazz.


    At least the <em>newest</em> Ascenders seemed a bit more sane. It was crazy that theyd gone from being the most junior set of Legends in the entire Realm to middle of the pack in less than two thousand years, but crazy was the best kind of.


    That thought brought Krodag back to the present, and he sighed. The documents on the center table were still projecting images <em>of</em> the most-junior Ascenders, and all the lore theyd gathered on the trio. The diviners were hard at work trying to learn as much as they could, but at least in Krodags opinion, it was all a waste of time. It was far better to learn about people through fighting them yourself.


    He sighed again, and a sharp painnced up his leg. Ow!


    Stomping his foot, he started punching himself in the thigh, trying to kill what had bitten him, but he was slower than the bone mouse shaking its tiny fist at him. He didnt need the mouse to speak to hear Boneyining about his moping.


    With a whiplike <em>crack</em>, his rope struck the undead mouse and sent it flying into the far wall, where it fell behind the bar and skittered away. Boney you fucking necrophiliac, if you have a problem with mee out here and say it to my face like a real man. he took a deep breath, [KOLGAZORS HONOR DEMANDS YOU PRESENT YOURSELF]!


    Krodags favorite taunt skillbo was strong enough topel an entire rift to run straight for them, but Boney didnt even budge. Well, he couldnt leave that lying down. Krodag stomped up the stairs and kicked his friends door open, revealing the man leaning back in a chair, sketching something in his notebook.


    Most people thought that the Deadlord was <em>actually</em> a lich, held to life by the samework of phcteries he used to control his armies on countless worlds, but Boney was still as alive as any of them. He had a fully adult human body just <em>barely</em> shorter than he was technically allowed to have, but with fluffy enough hair it would be nearly impossible to prove.


    Boney didnt even bother looking up as he replied, I told youst week. If you sigh more than three times a day, Im going to have something bite you. This time, it was Anny Mouse. Next time, maybe Draco McDragonFace will be close enough to do the job. Do you want to find out?


    Krodag huffed and stomped into the room.


    Bottle, if you sit on my bed I will Boneys threat went unheard as Krodag threw himself into the bed with an emphatic sigh.


    What are you gonna do about it?


    Send a video of you sleep-talking while passed out on the couch to the Ascender chat?


    Psshhh, you do that and Ill stick the silliest wig I can find on your fanciest skeleton and send a picture of <em>that</em>.


    Jack popped her head through the doorway, Look, I know were all very impressed that you knocked up a hooker, Bottle, but theres no need to try and pretend that Boney could do the same.


    Ohe on! I didnt even say where I was going to get the wig, how did you knoooooo- Krodags eyes widened as he fell right into Jacks trap.


    I know <em>everything</em>, she struck mercilessly, performing a perfect triple flip onto Boneys bed, right next to Krodag.


    Lug lumbered through the door, sweat dripping down his beard from whatever exercise hed been working on.


    Whatcha guys talking about?


    Bottle cant stop sighing. Boney called.


    Ookie spookie bit me as a mouse!


    No, that was just Annie.


    Then he made a mouse bite me!


    The idiots were fighting and I wanted to stir the pot, Jack mock whispered.


    Lug nodded. So the usual. I


    A gruff voice called out from behind him, Are in the fucking way! Move it, tiny!


    Krodag groaned, but this time, he was joined by his teammates.


    Jack threw a pillow at the new arrival, but he swatted it away with a growl. I told you to stop throwing shit. I tell all four of you shit every day and I feel like I''m talking to myself most of the time. Do you fucks remember anything I say!? Why cant I have easier Legends to manage?


    Krodag offered up his opinion, Because you hate yourself?


    Jack nodded. And you''re a masochist.


    Boney added with a straight face, And you hate your wife.


    Lug gently patted their boss on the shoulder. And youre dumb. But it''s ok, we love you anyway.


    Ugnud''s face went a deeper shade of brown as he tried not to explode.


    Seeing how close they were to getting him to pop, Jack added, Or are you trying to steal my panties again? I told you I''d just give you some. No need to dig through my hamper.


    That did it.


    Ugnud punched out, and all of them jumped and dodged as their Tier 45 questgiver started wailing at them, sting them through the wooden floor and into the middle of Boneys secret crypt.


    I was looking for the unstable reactor you idiots thought you could smuggle into your rooms, you stupid shits! I hate you four. I hate you four. I hate you four. I swear you four are powered by pure concentrated stupidity! I hate you four. I


    By the time they were beaten into the ground Ugnud finally stopped repeating his mantra and Krodag squeaked, Feel better?


    He got another kick for his efforts, but it at least dislodged him from the indent he had created in the stone floor.


    No, you idiots. This does not calm me down. What calms me down are Legends who do what I say and not stir up trouble. Now get up! Theres a job for you four to do.


    Krodag perked up at that somewhat, but didnt let it show. Theyd been trying to get them to do all kinds of boring, non-Legendary stuff for ages. In fact, he <em>didnt</em> want to give a speech to snot-nosed brats about the importance of the Power Of Friendship for the <em>hundredth time</em>. Theyd even managed to burn <em>Boney</em> out on public appearances, and the guy didnt even need to leave the house to do it!


    Nuh-uh-uh! Jack wheezed, Say it right!


    You have a job!


    Nope!


    Ugnud leveled a tumultuous expression at the four of them. I have a quest for you, Legends.


    With feel-oof! With feeling! Jack didnt relent.


    Ugnud dramatically closed his eyes and sighed before pepping up and actually emoting as he said the line, Brave Legends, I havee to deliver you a quest!


    With their cue finally spoken, the four of them popped to their feet.


    ARE WE [JOINING THE FIGHT]? Krodag''s taunt, specifically named in preparation for this very asion, just got him a boot in the chest, but it was worth it to get the old man to slip up like that. Now he could say hed taunted a Tier 45, which would get under Ugnuds skin.


    Jack immediately pounced, starting to sing-song, Bottle taunted Ugnud! Bottle taunted Ugnud!


    Even a squadron of Boneys skeletons dragged themselves off their shelves and began to bob up and down in a mocking dance.


    Scrunched up, face lost behind his puffing beard, Ugnud yelled and restarted their beating.


    A few minutester, some real bruises started to form, and Ugnud calmed down. As I was saying. You idiots have a missi-quest.


    Jack popped out from a pile of rubble. Is there a mining outpost under attack by sinister forces from beyond the unknown?


    From his hole in the ceiling, Boney asked, Do we need to infiltrate a secret cabal of mages who want to summon some kind of eldritch entity that cant exist in a Tier 50 realm?


    Lug piped in from where he was dusting off his towel. Is there a that descended from a higher realm thatnded in the middle of all Great Powers we need to fight over?


    Krodag added his own suggestion, seeing the others hadnt managed to fluster their boss. Is there a fair maiden who was captured by an evil lord who needs rescuing?


    Ugnud Smiled.


    Krodag knew something was wrong upon seeing that. but underestimated how bad it really was.


    Ugnud''s smile only grew as he spoke. No, no, nothing like that. The Saint felt you four could put your power to better use by training Seasadh with her new skills. She


    Boney retreated, pulling his head back into his room. Not interested.


    Ugnud flickered, pulling Boney back downstairs just to kick him back upstairs, but the necromancer was unbothered. Not interested. Make Jack do it, <em>shes</em> the one with a Talent for teaching.


    Jack shook her head vigorously. Nope, sorry. Teaching is the only thing my Talent doesnt cover. Its about learning, not teaching. I hoard the knowledge. Rawr. My knowledge. No givey.


    Ugnud shook his head. You idiots have declined too many missions, this is yourst chance before you lose your sries and I send you on a publicity tour through charted space, with absolutely no hidden grottos, forgotten ruins, or powerful rifts for you to find. The Last Line of The ns must do its duty.


    Lug shook his head as he crossed his massive arms. That''s not our name.


    Ugnud nodded once like an axe falling. Yes, it is.


    Lug shook his head. No, our name is On The Last Line because you told us to write down our name, on thest line <em>right there</em>, or get kicked out of the Legends program.


    Ugnuds face started to grow dark again, but he was clearly trying to control it. And you were told that name was rejected. You four, as <em>Mastermind, Lifegiver, Deadlord, and Greathammer</em> are The Last Line. The only <em>optional</em> part of that name is if you want to include of The Unification of ns to the end of that. Its that or your real names, and I know you dont want that, do you, <em>Brian?</em>


    Boney shook a head, sending the skulls loose jaw flying across the room.


    Still sounds dumb. Krodag didn''t realize he had spoken his thoughts out loud until a boot was flying towards him.


    [THE HEALING LIGHT OF HEAVENS RADIANCE ENGULFING THE SKYWARD BOUND]. Shouting with a broken jaw was hard, but Krodag managed, and the healing spell knit himself back together quickly.


    Ugnud shook his head. It''s either this or a press tour. Your choice, but you <em>are</em> doing one or the other. If you arent at the Inheritors training square in an hour, it better be because youre packing for the trip.


    Ugnud wasnt even out the door before the four of them were racing ahead of him.


    ***


    Maya Embers stretched as she woke up. Wiggling her toes, she saw a dozen messages waiting for her in her [AI]s inbox.


    One was from J, but she ignored that one.


    She slept once a year, but her new Tier 50 couldnt wait until she woke up.


    Going to her other messages, she growled at the spam messages addressed to Maya, Reality Maniptor Extraordinaire. She was going to make Ellens brains an illusion next time she saw the Legend. How the woman managed to keep sneaking spam through all her filters, she didnt know, but she <em>knew</em> she was responsible. Only Ellen, Gideon, and Max had the technical know-how and drive to actually do it, and the retirees <em>usually</em> didnt mess with the active Ascenders.


    Deleting those messages, she looked at the messages in the Ascender group chat.


    Aiden had killed Yuvgret and ke, who had tried to take him out in an ambush.


    Well, at least they would have gone out in style.


    She conjured a winess and toasted to the memories of her formerrades. Theyd had some good fights together, were admirable opponents, and shed make sure to give her constions to kes wife when the news officially broke.


    Then she toasted Aiden, for a fight well-fought. Even <em>she</em> would be hard-pressed if a half-dozen elites ambushed her at the conclusion of a battle. Doubly so this deep into a war. Of course, it would take more than that if they wanted to <em>eliminate</em> a diator or one of her ilk, but managing to kill two of Evermores own was never something to scoff at.


    Naturally, only time would tell how long Aiden would be out ofmission for. If she were to hazard a guess a few months to return to a hospital where he could get treated by an out-of-war-Tiers healer, then somewhere between a few days and a few years for the healing and recovery afterwards.


    Sounded like the perfect opportunity to strike back while he couldnt do <em>anything</em> about it. If she was lucky, shed be able to pick off an elite or two of the Empires, get back a bit at Aiden. Of course, it was <em>way</em> harder to actuallynd a kill on a defender eh, shed manage.


    For now she needed to figure out aeback. Hmmm.


    So your smell really <em>is</em> stronger than an Everborn. And here I thought L was just joking.


    Once she was done sending that message, she again looked at what J sent her. After reading it once she read it out loud this time to make sure she wasnt going crazy. I need you to create an illusion of the new Ascenders so a team can practice against them.


    Her response was short and sweet. No.


    First of all, she was strong, but not <em>that </em>strong. There was no seeker element to it, and she wasnt going to pore over reports that J had gotten to try and recreate their styles, and any guesses she had for their hidden tricks would be <em>way</em> off-base.


    Besides, she had better things to do.


    Putting the Tier 50 on mute, she walked into her shower, where she created a few <em>helpers</em>.


    An hourter, she dried off and sauntered to her wardrobe, where she got dressed in a cute little top and bottombo before she made it her armor.


    Her outfit momentarily flickered like an illusion, and then she was all set.


    She exited her house to find herself in the middle of a busy army base. Whoops.


    That hadnt been there when she started her nap two days ago. She checked her [AI] and sighed in relief when it told her it really had only been two days.


    She hadnt overslept in decades.


    Checking her orders, she sifted through them before rejecting them en masse.


    No, she wasnt going to go work with Yun Me. The Sect woman might be nearly as strong as she was, but she was as boring as one could be. No, thank you.


    She was just getting started, and the old fuddy-duddy would just put a damper on it. Once the war was <em>really</em> underway, then sure. But not yet.


    That was how things were done, damn it. Not this skipping steps thing J wanted to do.


    A trooper passed by her, and given his missing arm was likely en route to the healers. But Maya fidgeted with reality for a moment, and her imagination became an illusion and then became reality.


    And the man was healed. He jumped as he was startled, but she was already gone before he started thanking the air.


    She made a few other minor changes to reality as she walked to the military leaders buildings. Freshly taken fortresss usually had at least one.


    Once she found it, she created a new door for her to enter and slipped through into the meeting room.


    The Tier 35 generals were startled and grabbed their weapons, but when they pulled them out, they found they were now bouquets of flowers. Shed put them backter, of course. But for now, the expression on the guy who kept trying to re-manifest his anchor, only for it to keep being a chrysanthemum was too good.


    Leaning forward, she sniffed the closest.


    It smelled perfect.


    diator Maya, what can we help you with?


    Maya spun, letting her dress re up, teasing what was hidden underneath and pulling all eyes to her rear. She ended the enthrallment by sitting on the table they had been using to project things.


    I need new orders, She sing-songed.


    The oldest looking woman shook her head. We already issued orders, diator Maya.


    Shrugging, Maya tapped the table and started shuffling through reports and general information. Yeah, well, I didnt like them. Oh, this one looks fun. A ce where the Empires repelled the attackers twice. Oh and its even got a Graduate! I want to go there.


    The same woman stood forward and started to speak in the negative, but Maya waved her hand. Wont you please agree? Id really like to go. I would <em>hate</em> to kick up a fuss about it.


    That made the general freeze, and finally, she nodded.


    As youmand, diator Maya.


    Jumping down from her perch, Maya blew them all a kiss. Thank you all!


    Sauntering through the newly manifested door, she set a new rule.


    <strong>All paths lead to war.</strong>


    With a skip and a hop, she set about her way, and woe betide any that crossed her.

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291


    Matt looked around the barren wastnd that was Pator-Sul and shook his head.


    They had won, but Pator-Sul was probably going to fall once more before Empire reinforcements managed to secure the system. The surviving Empire troops had retreated to underground shelters, but they had still taken heavy losses in the Sects initial push. Less than a quarter of them had survived to see their rescue.


    Intellectually, Matt knew that casualties were always higher when fighting with the Sects, but reading about it in a report or being told secondhand still didnt drive home the information like seeing it for himself.


    None of the Sect fighters had surrendered or tried to retreat, and despite knowing they were throwing their lives away fighting Ascenders, they had still done so willingly to impart even superficial wounds.


    Matt understood the dedication to their sects was instrumental to the Great Powers sess and standing in the Realm, but that same dedication had inflicted horrific losses on the Empire defenders.


    It was there that Matt got to see another facet of what it meant to be an Ascender. There was the hero worship that the civilians gave, there was the respect he saw from other soldiers and higher Tiers, but there was also heartfelt gratitude from the survivors that Matt had never experienced before. Ventillyria had civilians who suffered greatly under the Sect sponsored terrorist attack, but those were still civilians who never wanted or expected to have to fight for their lives. Their happiness and gratitude was different from seeing simr expressions from battle hardened soldiers.


    Bulwark and Liz worked as direct healers, patching the worst of the wounded up while Origami and Matt set up and powered arge-scale healing formation which knit the soldiers with less severe wounds back together.


    Matt spent almost three hours powering the formation before being called out by General Darrow to rejoin the rest of the squad.


    He moved to the side where the rest of Team Zero stood while General Darrow talked with the highest-ranking survivors. Plural, because the local Colonel had died in the final push. The two Lieutenant Colonels had also died, which left the three surviving Majors to lead the troops.


    It took only a moment of listening for Matt to understand the issue, and he wondered how General Darrow would handle the situation.


    A silver skinned woman his [AI] identified as Major Karaboli spoke, Sir, we cant in good conscience leave Pator-Sul. You have seen how the Sects were feverish for this system. So many of us died to hold this system. We cant just pack up and retreat because we took some losses. We


    General Darrow cut the woman off with a hand motion. Major, I understand your stance, and if emotion was enough to defend a system, the Sects wouldnt be able to take even a step into Pator-Sul, but yourmand has been decimated.


    Matt paid attention to how the lower-ranked soldiers, who were definitely not loitering so they could hear the conventions between theirmanding officers and the Ascendersmander, stiffened. They seemed ready to fight at the Majors words as if ready for a rebuke, but rxed at General Darrowspliment and acknowledgment of their valor.


    Major, I understand that you dont wish to retreat after the sacrifices you and your fellows made to hold Pator-Sul, but the Empire is hard-pressed with attacks like this all across the borders. While it would be ideal to hold this system, the Sects initial attack and our retaking of the fortress has caused substantial damage to the''s defenses. Without a month of an engineering division''s time, this wont be in an operable state, and without a full Division to hold the, you would just be sacrificing the rest of your lives. General Darrows voice lowered, but was still plenty loud enough for the nearby troops to hear his every word. I would not see your lives so wasted, and as the highest-ranking officer on the battlefield, I havemand. I see no way for you toplete your mission. Instead, it is better for you to pull back and be folded into anothermand. We will wreck the, so that when we push back through this system, we can either retake Pator-Sul more easily, or else cause the Sects to spend significant resources on repairing the fortress world.


    General Darrow paused, and while none of his three eyes moved off the Majors, Matt felt he was addressing the rest of the troops instead of the three he was ostensibly talking to. The Empire isnt the Sects. We are all as willing to die as even the most fanatical Sect fighter, but our lives must be spent well.


    That seemed to drain the obstinance out of the Pator-Sul troops, and General Darrow pounced. To that end, I am ordering your troops to take the fallen back to the Gateral rally point and link up with highmand for further orders.


    All three Majors went to attention before saluting and saying, Aye, Sir.


    Major Karaboli''s acknowledgment of her orders was more of a low growl, but the other Majors were more neutral. Even then, Matt didnt feel Major Karaboli was contemting insubordination, but was rather expressing her general unwillingness to retreat after such a hard-fought battle.


    Matt understood. At least, he thought he did.


    Major Belwater, the male Major, turned to the troops and started barking orders for them to gather what they could find of the dead and all the items and equipment they could salvage.


    It only took two hours for the survivors to lift off in one of the more intact Sect troop transports, and then it was Team Zeros turn.


    While General Darrow hadnt lied about its state, the fortress world wasnt at the point it would need to be dmissioned. They intended to rectify that.


    Origami deployed a small formation that channeled power and Matt stood in the center, knowing the surviving troops were watching him from the Sect ship that hadnt left the fortress''s orbit.


    Matt subtly recharged his mana pool with some of his stored crystals as he charged and cast a max-mana [Breach].


    Without anyone trying to kill him, Matt was able to fully concentrate on charging the spell, and roughly a minuteter, a projectile the size of the troop transport was unleashed. Without any shields, the spell mmed into the and visibly shook it as it sted a crater ten miles across and close to three miles deep, throwing rock and building materials well into the''s atmosphere.


    While impressive, creating arge hole wasnt the purpose of the spell. No, the ce Matt had attacked was where one of the five mana reinforced bunkers was. That catastrophic failure and discharge of mana would fry most of the formations that powered things like shields and wards the used to defend itself. If they hadnt disabled the safeguards, which would have greatly limited the cascading damage, he would have had to fire at least a few dozen times to create this level of devastation.


    When thest shot was fired, the was scuttled. Both of the ships floating above it turned and flew away.


    The surviving troops flew deeper into the Empire, where they would be given some time to recover before being sent out to other battlefields to hold back the onught of attacks while Team Zero went on their own mission.


    Following their initial n, Team Zero moved through two more systems and repelled the attackers. As thoses'' shields hadnt been breached in rapid assaults, their jobs were far easier and cleaner, which meant they only needed to fight off the invaders in space with the support of the fortress world. It was much better for morale than assaulting one of their own bases.


    After they helped the defenders of thest world clean up the battlefield and ensured they were in a position to continue defending the system, Drifter pulled them into chaotic space. Once they were there, they immediately flew off as if continuing on with their interception of thebined team of Tier 25 elites that the other Great Powers had created to counter them.


    If the enemy Great Powers had any spies watching them and their movements, they would only be able to see exactly what they expected.


    Instead of flying to the next Tier 25 in the line, Drifter activated every sensor her ship had, and General Darrow pored over the information feeds using his Talent, Domain, and intuition to try and find anything suspicious.


    Nothing without a spirit defending it could survive in chaotic space, which meant any unmanned spy equipment needed to be powered, like a ship with a mana shield, and even the best shielding had its tells. Even if the other Great Powers had sent a person with a Talent or bloodline that allowed them to survive in chaotic space, there were always signals and fluctuations.


    After a few minutes of reviewing the information, General Darrow looked up and nodded to Shadow.


    With a twist of reality, they were deeper in Empire space where they were able to recover for a few days.


    To better hide Shadows Talent, they would be waiting two days before teleporting behind the enemy lines.


    In fact, this little maneuver was only possible because the Empire had lost the outer rim of borders earlier in the war, and Shadow had created waypoints in those systems before thes were lost. It also helped that the picket lines the Republic had spread through chaotic space gave them the confidence to move a supply depot into what was Empire space.


    Shadow let them bypass the pickets and appeared inside what the Republic considered upied territory, where they could strike a devastating blow to the current assault.


    Matt knew he shouldnt be greedy, but he still wished they could have appeared in the Helios Delta system itself. Shadow didnt have that dense of awork of waypoints, and they were threes away from the supply depot, which meant they were in a race. A race to see if they would be spotted and the Republic was able to move a Tier 25 group to intercept them, or if they could hit the supply depot.


    The moment they arrived in the now upied system, Drifter pulled them back into chaotic space. They hoped that the incredibly brief instant would be, if not disregarded by the Republic troops garrisoning the system, then not reported quickly enough for them to be trapped.


    If they werent willing to take a risk or two, they wouldnt have embarked on this n. Shadows Talent was to be kept a secret, but the other Great Powers would eventually put it together, withTeam Zero constantly moving quickly while having the Ascender teleporter in the group. Especially if they constantly made seemingly impossible moves. But that was why they had waited for two days to teleport, resulting in a believable amount of travel time for an Ascender-grade teleporter paired with Drifters piloting ability.


    Drifter was also taking a lot of the credit, with her Talent being fairly well known for being strong in its own right. Free systems on a ship allowed her to add things, like long-range slip drives, that would normally be too expensive to run on a ship of this size.


    Being behind enemy lines, they were on high alert, and none of them let their guards down for even a moment during the two weeks it took them to fly to Helios Delta. Even Origami, who was working on her own little surprise, was ready to take action at a moment''s notice.


    When they did finally arrive at Helios Delta, it was almost a relief, but that was only because the battle was imminent.


    Helios Delta was, as their reports indicated, a supply depot, and Matt marveled at what the Republic had managed to set up in just a few decades of upation.


    He had expected a Corporation like a space station to float through the void, taking and receiving an inordinate amount of traffic, both military and civilian, but he couldnt have been more wrong.


    Oh, there was a massive amount of traffic, but the traffic was flying into the light reflected off the moon and vanishing.


    Matt blinked, seeing the oddity, but Darrow was barking questions at Origami, Shadow, and Drifter, trying to get an answer for what they were seeing. It was Shadow who had the answer.


    Its not a pocket dimension. Theres no spatial magic involved there. Are they hiding <em>inside</em> the moonlight? Shadow shook her head, her mouth hanging open a little. In other circumstances, Matt would have thought she was ying it up, but her shock seemed honest.


    Thankfully, Origami was able to provide more information. In a manner of speaking. Their base is built inside the moon. Not physically inside the ball of rocks, but within the <em>moon</em> itself. Its difficult to exin, and I dont quite understand how they manage it, but I have seen simr institutions before. No physical force will breach it.


    Origami paused as a thought came to her, but Light beat her to the punch. They wish to synergize with Maven and her bloodline.


    Origami nodded. I suspect so. It''s ingenious, really.


    Bulwark chuckled. Shame we got here before Maven arrived then. No moon boosting for her.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the vition.


    General Darrow looked away from the moon base, towards Origami and Shadow. I am uncertain that was their goal. There is little trust between the Republic and the Sects, and certainly not enough to warrant something of this scale. But, that is immaterial for now. Can one of you get us inside?


    Origami looked to Shadow, indicating the teleporter was the best chance to manage the feat.


    Shadow closed her mouth with a click and nodded. Of course I can. There hasnt been a folded space I cant breach. Drifter, just get me close.


    Origami shook her head. Its not a pocket space. Its more conceptual than that. At best, it would act like ayer of reality slid between realspace and chaotic space.


    Shadow scoffed. That doesn''t mean shit. Just get me close.


    She cracked her knuckles and then her neck before getting into a half crouched stance.


    Theyd appeared near the systems, and thus, it didnt take long to maneuver to a position where the full light of the moon shone upon them.


    Shadow frowned. Oh that feels <em>weird</em>. Guess you were right, A.


    Origami rolled her eyes.


    But its nothing I cant manage, Shadow narrowed her eyes in concentration. I can still slip <em>Through The Cracks</em>.


    Before them, the surface of the moon looked to shudder and warp, then a pitch-ck fissure opened in the moonlight, before quickly spiderwebbing across the entire surface of the moon. It interrupted the silver light their ship was bathed in, casting jagged lines of shadow throughout the cabin.


    And then they were gone.


    The ship rocked as they took a number of shots from some kind of defensive battery, and while they put a substantial dent in the ship''s mana reserves, Matt just refilled the lost mana in seconds.


    As theynded, the firing continued regardless of the other docked ships, and Drifter pped her hands and stored her ship in her ring. Compared to the rest of Team Zero, she wasnt much of a fighter when out of her ship, but she wasnt useless, and acted as a backup support for the team.


    The moment they were exposed to the writhing fire from the defenders, Matt red his Concept and pushed the spells away from them before casting [Bulwark] over their heads.


    That bought Light enough time that he was able to take control of the cannon''s spells and explode them while they were just inches away from the cannon''s barrels and still within the defensive shields.


    With that move, the rain of spells ended, and Matt was able to take a look around.


    Once more, he was shocked at what he was seeing.


    It genuinely <em>looked</em> like he was inside a moon. An indistinct, silver-white void stretched out well beyond the range of his spiritual perception, but with graceful columns and arches wrought from a more solid version of the same misty moonstuff defining countless hallways and doors every ten feet or so, each hiding unknown spoils.


    General Darrows third eye spun before snapping onto Liz. Torch, clone up and start searching these rooms. Torment, get your scouts out as well.


    Liz exploded into a massive pool of blood, then split off into smaller pieces as Torment began summoning an array of weaker monsters.


    One Liz became two, four, ten, twenty, fifty, and finally one hundred and fifty.


    With perfect coordination, many of them transformed into hawk-sized phoenixes and began swooping down the corridor, while others remained human and sprinted down their own hallways. Slightly less coordinated, but still effective, Torments small army of spy-monsters flooded and skittered every which way .


    In just a moment, a flood of information came to Matt and he used his [AI] to parse and sort the information the Lizzes sent to them.


    It was in the rooms that Matts expectations were finally fulfilled. Crates asrge as he was were stacked to three or four high, and Liz was able to sense the contents of them now that she was in the rooms. Each room seemed to have its own type of item, and there must have been some level of organization, but Matt wasnt able to understand the logic.


    Why did medical supplies like various healing potions and talismans belong in the same room as a crate of portable toilets? The same went for the long swords that were kept together with great shields instead of any other type of sword.


    Still it didnt matter what they found. Their job was to take it.


    And Liz, or rather the Lizzes, performed admirably.


    When the Liz in question found items worth collecting, she turned into a wave of blood, which flowed in like a rising tide before sweeping up the enchanting boxes and pulling them out the doors.


    There, they returned to the central loading area where the rest of Team Zero was. Origami had already deployed what looked like a closet, but Matt knew she had spent thest two weeks of their travel working on her portable chest.


    By abusing her Talent, Shadows incredible finesse with space, and Matts mana, she had created an expanding space that could, at least in theory, hold an entires worth of goods. It wasnt particrly stable, and Matt wouldnt want to keep anything he considered precious inside of it, but for capturing enemy supplies, it was perfect.


    The Lizzes flowed past in a line while throwing their ill-gotten gains into the open doors, where the chest enchantments would carefully store the items.


    Sadly, their raid was interrupted.


    The Republic defenders didnt like the idea of the Empire swooping in and stealing their goods.


    It was a shame for them.


    A Tier 25 squadron rushed down one of the halls, firing their spells at the nearest wave that was Liz.


    Without needing to be told, Shadow teleported inside the group for a brief moment. The only things that were clearly visible were the pair of daggers that shredded the squad. Before the bodies finished hitting the ground, Shadow was already back at her location next to Light.


    General Darrow turned to the returned Shadow and ordered, Carefully zip around here and see if you can figure out where theirmand structure is located. I can feel the space warping around us, so dont get locked away into a trap you cant escape from.


    It was a subtle reminder that Allie shouldnt risk having to use her Tier 25 Talent, but Matt wasnt sure the teleporter would heed the warning, considering she vanished the moment thest word left Darrow''s lips.


    There were a few moments of calm before another dozen squads came out from seemingly random doors and charged at the Lizzes.


    The moment General Darrow gave the order, Matt jetted forward on a cushion of air to reach the nearest group attacking his wife.


    It didnt matter that his wife losing a clone wouldnt really kill her; Matt wouldnt allow anyone to get away with such an action.


    His ck de descended and blood sshed.


    A momentter, the blood started to tremble before rising up and turning into five Lizzes.


    Before Matt could return to the center, another two squads of troopers came rushing out of a set of doors, but this time, they were d in heavy armor.


    Matt shed out, but his de was intercepted by the leading trooper. His de still cut the man in half, but the block gave his fellows the opportunity to unload a flurry of spells onto Matt.


    [Cracked Phantom Armor] blocked the spells, and in seconds the group of fighters died.


    Matt felt the space warping around him, and he felt the area trying to move him somewhere else, but Matt red his Intent and denied the action.


    He wasnt so easily moved.


    Space seemed to fracture, but the doors around Matt all opened, and another dozen troopers rushed out.


    They were still Tier 25, but these men and women moved like lightning. The leading troopers darted in with de extended, trying to skewer Matt while he was fighting off the pressure from the facility they were in.


    The first three des just skittered off [Cracked Phantom Armor], but the fourth prated thanks to a Domain and Talentbo. Matt just red [Regeneration] and trapped the de, preventing it from being withdrawn.


    Matt reached down and grabbed the woman on the other end of the de, who paused for the briefest instant as she hesitated in leaving her weapon behind. That indecision spelled her end, and Matt crushed her head before pointing his finger at the rest of the attackers.


    [Mana Beam] carved a line through the attackers and they fell in pieces. Not all of them were dead, but those who survived sent messages giving their surrender, and despite hating them and everything they stood for in this war, Matt wasnt a monster. To that end, he honored their surrender and stepped over the bodies without finishing them off.


    As he did so, they started to fade into the ground before vanishing, but Matt was unable to track where they had been taken. Some hidden healing facility, he was sure, but that didnt really matter to him; he had new opponents.


    Another three doors opened up and Matt twisted as he was forced to re [Archmages Presence] to avoid what seemed like every suppression ward in the facility crashing down on him. They tried to disrupt his spells, tried to weaken his body, his mana, and his Domain, but it was all futile.


    He was <em>Endless</em>.


    He was <em>Dauntless</em>.


    If they wanted to stop him with Tier 25 formations, they would need to do a lot better than that.


    Still, Matt didnt give the game away immediately. He froze and let [Cracked Phantom Armor] dim as if he was unable to keep feeding the spell with as much mana as it required.


    The Republic troopers rushed in, this time with glowing cudgels. The moment they were within de range, Matt moved.


    Three [Mana sh]s cut half of them in half, and Matt used his physical de to finish the remainder off in moments.


    He took a few blows from their cudgels and frowned, as they had a disrupting effect on his Domain. If he had been relying on his willpower to block those weapons, it would have drained an inordinate amount of the resource to do so. It was something he hadnt seen before, and so he absorbed the fallen weapons into his spatial ring before reporting the oddity to General Darrow.


    Come back to the center Ascender Quill.


    Hearing that ordere through Matt rushed back down the hall hearing something was wrong.


    As he exited his corridor, he saw Bulwark and Drifter returning from their own corridor at the same time Stick and Stone returned from a neighboring one. Light was casting spells as fast as he possibly could, with various types of mana darting out like multi-colored bolts of death as he covered two corridors on his own.


    Torment was focusing on one corridor himself, or rather, his summons were butchering anything and everything that dared to not be a Liz. This time, his primary summon was Hatred, a wolf made out of ck and red lightning that kept spawning more of itself, a nightmare only contained by the Graduates twisted emotions.


    Aster, on the other hand, was keeping the wards from weakening the rest of the team through her own counter spells and a little help from Origami, who had deployed a number of her constructs.


    The only one who wasnt doing anything was Morgan, who stood there, her crossbow cocked but lowered.


    As he stepped on to thending area and got a clear shot down one of the undefended corridors, Matt sent out a flurry of [Gravitic Bolt]s punching through the first of dozens of troopers rushing down the halls. Instead of bursts of blood as his spell tore through dozens of people before faltering, there were bursts of light that looked almost like dust that faded away into nothingness as the constructs were destroyed.


    The idea that this supply depot had some sort of formation to make construct soldiers wasnt too surprising. Disposable troops like this were weak and expensive to deploy too widely, but were damn useful in wearing down attackers, especially defensively. And in the end, who cared if you spent mana that was about to be stolen? Better spend it possibly getting a casualty than letting the enemies just take it.


    As he was clearing out the halls with bursts of [Gravitic Bolt]s, the space around them flickered, Morgans crossbow snapped up, and her bolt whizzed out as it cut the air. A man fell out of the air somehow both right next to them and also miles away, a crossbow bolt pierced through his right eye.


    Not a construct, but a real soldier. As he fell, Matt analyzed the purple armor with deep red runes carved on it before the mannded in the mass of ever spawning constructs.


    Origami reached over and shoved a bolt into Morgan''s crossbow, but that didnt seem to interrupt the orchestra she was conducting. The team''s crafter was working overtime as she wove an intricate dance, stowing and deploying more and more spatial chests as endless streams of Lizzes flowed through, depositing their loot then going out for more.


    Matt relocated closer to Origami, carefully cing a hand on her back and activating a pair of linked runic tattoos theyd gotten. With physical contact and a bit of help from his Concept, he was able to feed the woman an incredible amount of mana, converting almost instantly to match and fill her mana pool. Once he felt a few sparks build up, he cut off the flow of mana and stepped back to prevent overloading the enchantment.


    That little trick was something all the mages had gotten done, Aster included. Matts Concept was great and moved a lot of mana to those he chose to give it to, but in a fight at their level, that was still too slow. Their solution was tattoo formations that would allow Matt to directly charge the team''s mages, and Origami was at half mana thanks to her efforts. Tattooed runes werent perfect, though, and could cause serious harm to the person''s spirit if pushed too far, which was why Matt didnt overdo it.


    Origami didnt even seem to notice his actions, and Matt moved over to Light and topped the other mage off. While Light would always be an efficiency mage, he had taken to spending his own mana a little more aggressively when Matt was around.


    Once the mages were topped off, Matt went back to attacking the constructs while Liz brought in more and more loot, only stopping to keep the mages above half their mana pools. He was on his tenth round of recharging everyone''s mana when Shadow popped back in next to General Darrow.


    She almost caught a crossbow bolt to the eye, but Morgan controlled herself after an initial flinch.


    I found it.


    Shadow seemed almost gleeful, but General Darrow just nodded. Then we retreat. Torch, wrap it up.


    Instead of rushing back outward, the Lizzes formed up into pools of blood as they came back in. It still took her three minutes for all of her outlying clones to return, but when there was only one Liz standing, General Darrow handed Shadow what looked like a campingntern.


    Matt flinched when he saw what General Darrow had handed her.


    Thirty second timer.


    Matt didnt need hismander to tell him that the bomb Shadow was holding only had half a minute before it went off; he could see the disy showing the time. It wasnt even entirely true, as the countdown had already lost a second.


    Drifter pped her hands together and her ship reappeared, then Matt helped Origami, Liz, and Bulwark move the stack of spatial chests back into the ship.


    Matt was quite firmly in awe of Origamis prowess. While the supply base didnt have a <em>huge</em> degree of reserves, it was still on the order of what would normally be transported by five or six supply <em>fleets</em>. Yet the crafter had managed to fit the billions of pounds of cargo into a small enough number of crates that Drifters ship could carry <em>all</em> of it.


    The woman was darting from crate to crate as they loaded up, frantically making adjustments and repairs as small runes burned out from the strain they were under, but it looked like she had it all under control.


    Matt watched as his AI mirrored the countdown he saw on the bomb, and when Shadow wasnt back by the ten-second mark, he started to grow worried.


    When she wasnt back by the five-second mark, he started to panic.


    When she wasnt back by the three-second mark, he started calcting how he was going to survive the resulting explosion and protect Liz and Aster.


    Thankfully, Shadow arrived at the two-second mark, and the moment she materialized, their ship twisted through space, and they returned to the real space of Helios Delta.


    One second after that, there was a ripple through the fabric of space, and the moon just a few dozen miles away from them rippled like a hologram that was bumped. When the image of the moon settled, the once-real moon was half transparent.


    Whatever the Republic had done to anchor that portion of the Between to the moon had copsed as the one billion mana bomb Shadow set off detonated.


    Shadow whooped, but Matt just wanted to sit down.


    Sadly, that was impossible.


    They were still deep behind enemy lines, and with all their stolen cargo, it was impossible for Shadow to teleport them unless they wanted to give up on their goods.


    Drifter ripped a hole through to chaotic space, and Matt finally rxed as they saw no sign of anyone moving to attack them.


    Seeing they had a moment of respite, Bulwark moved around and started healing everyone and checking for curses or hidden injuries. Matt expected them to run into an ambush or something before he was able to take care of them, but the team''s healer patched them all back together without issue.


    They had to dodge a few ships searching for them through chaotic space, but thanks to Drifters excellent skills, they were able to remain undetected throughout.


    They skimmed near a world trying to find a break in thebined Great Powers picket lines when the ship was engulfed in a colorful aura, and a sudden <em>yank</em> dragged them from chaotic space. They materialized in the middle of an asteroid field in realspace, and warning xons began to beep as they were immediately set upon from multiple sources.


    Trusting Drifter, Matt spread his spiritual sense outward searching for who had done this. There, among a dozen gathered ships, stood one far more ornate ship.


    One that wasnt bothering to hide or camouge its passengers.


    A ship that housed Dao Child Maven.


    Matt readed his sword.


    It was about time he encountered her.


    He hadnt forgotten the debt she owed Ventillyria.

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292


    Matt stood up with the rest of Team Zero. Or, most of Team Zero.


    There was no time to prep, no time to down their boosting potions and pre-cast their buffs. They were tired, and while they were full on mana, that did little for their taxed spirits and Domains.


    And yet, there was an army waiting for them and they had a job to do, so they rallied withoutint.


    Drifter was trying to pilot the ship through the asteroid field they had been pulled into, while also avoiding the worst of the waves of spells that wereing in from every direction but forward. Origami was still flitting from ce to ce, trying to keep the spatial crates from exploding. Meanwhile, General Darrow was glued to the screens with his third eye flicking from location to location as he tried to find them a way out of the trap they found themselves in.


    They were caught in the scheme, and were only given one clear way out. A way out that Matt was sure would be full of mines and other traps.


    As if General Darrow was reading his mind, Team Zerosmander barked out, Ascenders, go! Clear us a way through the asteroids while protecting the ship. Our goal is to break through and return the goods we stole to Empire controlled space. Everyone else focuses on protecting the ship. Their spells are piercing our shields and we cant let them take out our engines! Drifter''s Talent can only keep the ship flying if theres something still left to work on.


    Matt looked to the others even as he nodded. Hed love to kill Maven, but they had been cornered on her terms, and while Ascenders were built to break their way out of terrible situations like this, if they could deliver the goods they had stolen from the Republic, they could greatly slow the war front''s expansion. And that was far more important than taking vengeance. Even if the surrounding space wasnt locked down and Shadow teleported them out, they would still need to abandon their loot, and that went against the primary objective of the mission.


    That didnt mean Matt wouldnt do his best to kill the woman.


    With the spatial lock limiting Shadow, they were forced to exit through the ship''s rearmost hatch. The moment the hatch opened, Matt was blinded by dozens of explosions. Though his spiritual perception, despite being limited, was still able to see through the impacts of spells on their shields.


    They were being bombarded by thousands of enemy cultivators from every side.


    Team Zero deployed, charging forward into the breach.


    Flying up and over the ship, Matt pointed his left hand and cast [Mana Beam] directly in front of their path. An arm-thick beam of mana cut out from the shield, and the seemingly empty space in front of them lit up with a wash of explosions, but Matt didnt stop firing his spell. He waved his hand around in an arc, trying to clear a wider path for them.


    A squad of five darted in close to the ship''s shields and tried to cast counterspells, but with Aster and Light defending him, their attempts failed and his mana washed away most of the asteroids that had been ced in front of them.


    Their attackers seemed to be waiting, or at least ready for that, and the moment Matt had cleared an open passage through the minefield, they shifted their formations to better cover the exit like two doors mming shut.


    Maven also must have considered that her personal cue, as she exited her ship with a confident swagger and over two dozen Sect fighters following her in small squad formations.


    No, Matt was not going to allow that.


    Turning his pointing finger, Matt cut off the stream of [Mana Beam] and sent the [Breach] he had been charging at her and her group of goons.


    Matt had only been able to charge the spell with a paltry one hundred million mana, but it was still more thanrge enough to send Maven and her gang scattering like ants. The ship they exited from wasnt so nimble, and despite redirecting its shields, it was sent spinning through space with its back half crumpled and mana leaking from a shattered storagepartment.


    General Darrow''s voice came through their channel, Stop them from attacking the ship! Drifter is working to keep us in one piece, but were taking too much fire!.


    Matt turned his attention to the spells that cut right through their magical shields and mmed on the hulls armor ting. The damage wasnt immediately obvious, thanks to Drifters Talent trying to keep everything together, but Matt didnt need General Darrow to point out the issue.


    Light was already turning spells into illusions if they pierced the shields, but the spells with piercing effects were interspersed with hundreds or thousands of normal spells, and they could only tell one from the other when it slipped through their shield. The other Ascender did admirably, even with only that tiny fraction of time to respond, but Light only managed to stop around three-quarters of the spell''snding. The damage from the attacks that slipped through was rapidly starting to add up.


    Three Lizzes jumped forward andshed out with their own spells, but Matt turned to the side of the ship, where most piercing attacks were being sent from.


    [Dragonme] washed out like a nightmare of fire, and Matt smiled as the front-most attacking formations scattered to avoid more of their cultivators being set aze. His smile quickly vanished as the rest of the squads activated red barriers that blocked his torrent of mes.


    [Dragonme] might be easily countered, but that was why Matt had its cousin. [Dragon''s Drought] sent eddies of sand carried on hurricane-strength winds at the enemy position. Their me wards did little to stop the raging sand from consuming them, sand shredding skin from flesh as easily as it tore through their shields.


    Matt was going to repeat his actions, but had his attention pulled to the rear, where Maven darted through their shield with a harpoon that she threw at the rear of their ship.


    The projectile flew through the emptiness of space with a rattle of chains that Matt felt in his bones and Domain.


    He didnt need Darrows hasty evaluation to understand they couldnt allow that harpoon tond on their ship.


    Stick and Stone were the closest to the projectile, and without hesitating, they threw themselves at the weapon, bodies, spells, and Domains at the ready. They were sent tumbling back as the harpoon glowed a sickly green, but they did manage to slow the projectile long enough for Matt to reach it.


    He red his Intent even as he cast a crystallized [Bulwark], interposing himself and his shields between the ship and Mavens strike.


    Matt was Dauntless, and he would not be moved by a simple projectile.


    His [Bulwark], despite being reinforced by his Tier 25 Talent, exploded the moment the harpoon touched its crystalline surface. Instead of putting his body in front of the harpoon, Matt positioned himself right beside its shaft, and the moment the barbed head passed him, he reached out and grabbed the weapon with his left hand.


    It <em>burned</em> with power that tried to degrade Matts very being into sludge, the harpoon sought to bind his dposing form to itself in a feedback loop meant to keep him from escaping as the weapon slowly killed him. At least, that was how it was supposed to work. It tried, but Matts left hand simply refused to be destroyed, which prevented the effects from harming him. Despite his hand stopping the magical effect, it still took every ounce of willpower he had left being channeled through his Intent to lock himself in ce and halt the momentum of the harpoon.His exhaustion from depleting his will power so quickly almost had him wishing for a hole to crawl into, as his spirit screamed for him to stop and recover. But Matt steeled himself and put the harpoon away in his spatial ring forter study, before turning to where Maven watched from outside the shields, refusing to let any of that weakness show.


    A spell narrowly missed Matt, redirected from their ship by Aster, but he never took his eyes off Maven, who blew him a kiss in response. Rage boiled up in Matt, but he strangled it and simply pointed at her with his left hand.


    She flickered to the side, and seeing her flinch, Matt turned his attention to where he predicted she would end up, andshed out with a [Telekinesis] that was little more than a t ne of force... just with five million mana backing it. The closest ships exploded, while those farther away simply crumpled under the sudden force as they were hit with his fury manifested. For a brief moment, the rain of attacks on them slowed.


    Turning his attention back to hisrades, Matt noted that Stick and Stone were back on their feet thanks to Bulwark''s healing efforts, but their readouts on his [AI] were more red than green, with little bits of orange showing non-critical but serious damage. They had taken that corrosive force head on, and hade out worse for wear.


    Before he could focus on them, Maven returned, but this time she was nked by the cultivators who had been in her ship. En masse, Mavens unit darted through their shield and went straight for the rear of the ship, where the engines were exposed.


    Two Lizzes moved in close to support him, along with Shadow, but Matt frowned at the lineup.


    They were seriously outnumbered, and he was sure they were prepared for their individual tricks.


    Activating [Archmages Presence], Matt shed out even as he formed five copies of his sword with [Sword Twin]. Two of them immediately merged with his de, but three of them flew to the side and started attacking the elites, trying to tie them up.


    Matt shed out at the woman who was in between himself and Maven. She blocked his initial blow, but he used his return swing to send a [Mana sh] at her. She was still in her blocking position, but was unprepared for a spell at that level, and with her arms shattered, she was sent tumbling out of the way.


    That still bought Maven the time she needed to dart forward and through the defenders.


    Unable to teleport with his ring thanks to the spatial lock, Matt pointed at Mavens back and cast [Mana Beam]. Maven twisted, but instead of retreating into the mass of Sect cultivators, she dodged forward, trying to get Matt to attack his own ship.


    Her dodge might have saved her from Matt, but that just put her right into Shadows waiting daggers.


    Turning, he shed at the nearest Sect fighter while charging [Lightning Torrent]. Allie could handle Maven; of that he was certain.


    ***


    Allie dropped her Intent, allowing others to sense her once again as she drove her daggers at Maven.


    The Sect elite blocked her leading dagger, but Allie expected that and drove her de at the womans blocking hand, intending to sever the appendage at the wrist. Her attack was interrupted by the woman''s rear legs that kicked down at her thighs and waist.


    Having seen the poison present on the rest of the weapons the Sects had been using, she wasnt going to let such a blownd.


    Shadow resisted the urge to teleport behind Maven and drive her de into the woman''s head. One, that was an obvious trick. Two, with the spatial restrictions that had beenyered here, her teleport would be slow enough that Maven could probably dodge. And three, her gut told her that was a <em>bad</em> idea. She wasnt sure where exactly those ideas came from, but she had long since learned to trust them.


    Flying upward and over Maven, Allieunched a series of small attacks at her head and eyes.


    Maven flinched back, and Allie used that opportunity to dart in andnded arge wound on the other woman''s shoulder armor, breaking her corbone.


    Flying back, she avoided the follow-up strike andshed out at the foot.


    Her daggers cut through Mavens armor, but Allies'' instincts again warned her that something was wrong, and so she refrained from following up with any aggressive melee. Instead, she cast [Fan of des], and after throwing the copies of her daggers in every direction, she cast [Deadeye] on Maven, letting the des rain down on her with potent uracy.


    When she saw an opening as Maven dodged a little too far to the right, Allie darted in and drove her dagger into Mavens gut and twisted.


    Blood flowed, and as Allie wrenched the dagger out, ready to dodge a follow-up attack, she found nothing attacking her. Instead, a spell darted out and hit one of the ship''s engines,pletely destroying it.


    One down, only three remaining.


    That wasnt good. Darting in, Allie shed out a dozen times,nding a few ncing blows, which forced Maven to turn back and focus on Allie. [Mirror Image] made it seem like Allie split in two, but the real her never moved, and when she darted forward, ready to drive her de through Maven''s eye, she was d she continued to heed her gut, and didnt dive in recklessly.


    Mostly because her guts were now strewn about everywhere, as Maven''s now griffin leg ws tore at Allie, and her hand ws reached for her head. Ignoring the poisons and curses that started to ravage her, Allie moved to deflect the w-swipes, only to find that Mavens strength was <em>far</em> greater than it had ever been before.


    Her w, which should have been deflected, shed across Allies helm and tore four razor thin lines through its ting, despite the helm being some of the best Tier 25 armor in the Empire. More pain red through Allie as her vision was ruined, but she ignored that as she dedicated most of her attention to stopping the poisons from entering her brain while also trying to retreat without taking any more hits.


    Being blinded wasnt thergest issue she faced. She barely even used her eyes half the time, preferring reliance on her spatial awareness. But while she could normally keep up with the Dao Child well enough, she now found herself outmuscled and outpaced with every passing second.


    It seemed impossible, but Maven had gone from someone just below her inbat power to someone a decent bit stronger.


    That didnt mean Allie would simply roll over and ept her fate, and she defiantly scored a deep wound on Mavens chest that healed faster than it should have. The healing didnt rival Matt and his stupid [Regeneration] trick, but it was a close match, which meant she needed a new tactic.


    Allie spun and took a blow on her back that would have taken her arm, but used that opportunity to drive one of her des into Mavens nk and left it there as she blocked with her single remaining dagger.


    Torments Rage jetted in, fire coalescing into a massive volcanic greatsword, only for Maven to transform into some kind of horrid tree root-bunny monster and tear the demonic figure in half with three blurring attacks. The mes gutted out, and Allie felt her breath catch in her throat. Rage was <em>tough</em>, hard for even her to damage, and shed just torn it in pieces?


    What the hell was this woman <em>on?</em>


    Darrow spoke into her mind, Youre doing well, Shadow. I cant tell what is responsible for empowering her so much, but the amount of mana and willpower shes utilizing cant be sustained. Keep probing to try and find its limits, and prevent her fro


    Allie stopped listening as Maven blurred and closed the distance between them, and once more, Torments summons were torn to shreds. She took a crescent moon spell that cut off one of her legs, butnded a sh that nearly pierced Mavens helm and took her eye out, though it failed to prate deeper and take her life. Unfortunately, before she could teleport her leg back into its ce, Maven transformed into a ravenous dragon and ate it whole, shredding it to pieces well beyond what her normal armor could sustain.


    Still, that opened up enough of an opportunity for two Lizzes to close the distance and begin a proper dragon-hunt.


    She was only missing a single leg, so she leaped forward to try and keep pressing Maven, but Bulwark yanked on her neck and she reluctantly disengaged.


    ***


    Darrow blinked as Shadow was pulled back into the ship by a struggling Bulwark. Their healer had been working overtime, having only just finished patching up Stick and Stone.


    This situation was less than ideal, and he pushed his third eye to its limits as he tracked the battle. His nascent Intent was sparking, but he put it to the side.


    He marked another unit possessing the armor-piercing weapons that were dealing so much damage to their ship, identifying another target for Light to take out, but he knew that they had a serious issue with Maven being boosted.


    It was standard fare to empower an elite to match an Ascender, but it was rare for the boost to be quite this strong. He wasnt certain what was going on, but it <em>was</em> his job to find out.


    Once he knew what the secret was, he could counter it. Because there was <em>always</em> a secret weakness. Some hidden formation or unstable potion, perhaps a secret cabal of support mages hidden in the wings. Some clever trick that the Sects had been saving, waiting for the opportune moment to put not one, but <em>two</em> teams of Ascenders out ofmission.


    What are you, he asked himself, studying the projection in front of him. Next to the illusion of Maven, mirroring her every action as she engaged with Team Zero, a series of diagnostic spells confirmed and added context to what he could see with his own skills.


    There was no external flow of mana, so support mages were unlikely. There was no sign of cybeics, but that meant little for a shapeshifter of Mavens calibur. That the Federation might empower one <em>not</em> of their own with the runes they had been putting on elites was unlikely, but not impossible. The womans spirit was in <em>major</em> flux, and while most of his probes were blocked, he got the distinct impression of major turmoil. An unstable, overpowered potion, perhaps? That implied a time limit, that was good.


    It meant that Drifter- Darrow steadied himself as the ship shook again- only needed to keep them alive long enough for the potion to run out, and then they could easily make their escape.


    A potion would <em>also</em> mean that there was no shortcut. No buffs to dispel, no formations to smash. Theyd simply need to wait out the boost.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    At least the boost was not such that Maven would be able to take the full might of Team Zero. If all ten met her at full strength, without the need to protect the ship, then even now, she would fall.


    Was it worth sacrificing the ship to remove her from the board?


    He contemted that and ran through the numbers, weighing his options against the greater war effort. That was why he was a General, and not simply a Colonel; he had to understand and act for the betterment of the Empires war effort, even at the cost of anything else.


    Was it worth it to give up all these supplies to kill Maven?


    There was no real backup n, no second way for them to get home without Shadow unveiling her full capabilities. To be certain, it wouldnt be a full revtion of her powers, but it would be a chink in the armor. Whether it was enough for the tactical Seekers of the other Great Powers to determine more of her abilities than they intended, he didnt know. There was no doubt that it <em>was</em> outside of the allotted actions given by their counter-information Seekers, and that carried risk.


    No, that alone was insufficient reason to eliminate Maven <em>now</em>, instead of the next time they met. When that wasbined with the truly massive amount of goods they had pilfered from the Republic, and the chain reaction that would have on the enemy''s rapidly advancing warfronts?


    The answer was clear. The mission was unchanged; the goods, and their secrets, were more important than Maven.


    Looking outward to the remaining thousands of troops, Darrow ran through ten thousand scenarios and settled on one he hoped wouldnt blow up on him. His newest Ascenders had listened to him so far, and were remarkably well behaved for Ascenders, but they had a deep seated personal grudge with Maven. He wasnt sure they would be willing to follow orders if those orders didnt involve killing Maven at all costs.


    To test the waters, he sent Quill an order. Let Stick, Stone, and Torment handle the rear of the ship. Relieve some of the pressure off of Light.


    Darrow was worried Quill was going to ignore his order, as once he disengaged, he stayed where he was and cast [Dragonme] at the elites. The burst of fire was intense and actually <em>killed</em> two of the attacking elite, but Darrow was relieved when he saw that most of the mes spread out like a wave before washing over the attacking side troops. Quill used that opportunity to do as he was instructed, and he disengaged from the nine remaining elites.


    Darrow already had an understanding of their remaining strength, and knew they could be handled by the other three long enough for Quill to relieve Light.


    With a quarter of his attention, Darrow tracked Quill''s progress while calling out more of the piercing attacks for Light. The mage might as well have been a construct with the kind of efficiency he was performing with. He dismantled wave after wave of attacks, and with the losses Quill was out there inflicting, Light was even starting to get ahead of things and take the offensive.


    Checking on Shadow, he sent her orders to slip out and try to disable the anti-teleportation formations the moment she was stable.


    Just as things seemed like they were starting toe under control, Darrow''s attention was drawn to the rear of the ship as the second engine exploded.


    Orders went flying as he worked to salvage the situation.


    ***


    A swore as a linking staple overloaded, breaking free and flinging itself violently across the cargo hold. That forced her to drop to the ground, lest she be injured by the flying rune-fragment. She couldnt risk even a minor injury slowing her down with so many attacks hitting, and sometimes puncturing, the ship around her. If her makeshift spatial items popped open, she and all of Team Zero would get to experience what it felt like to be a pinata stuffed with explosives, and she didnt want that.


    Hearing it tter against the far wall, falling to the ground with a <em>clink</em> that didnt set off a chain reaction of popping, she rushed over to the crate it hade from. Eyes closed, she ran her fingers over the whirring exterior of the box, letting the vibrations and mana-flows wash over her, telling her with perfect rity the status of the crate.


    Like <em>all </em>of the crates, it hadnt been prepared for the violent yank that pulled them from Chaotic Space, and the spatial lock established moments thereafter had prevented its normal systems from recovering. With the crates already straining under the loads they were under, that had redirected most of the spatial pressure to a tertiary backup system, and it was <em>not</em> happy. Even now, portions of the crates internals were randomly fluctuating in size, building up and releasing mechanical pressure haphazardly. The linking staple had simply been thetest victim of that phenomenon, having grown even as its surroundings had shrunk, sending the fragment of metal flying.


    The sudden loss of a linking staple had correspondingly put far more pressure on all of the <em>other</em> staples. Fortunately, they hadn''t burst quite yet. She had expected something to go wrong when she built these things for abat mission, but if she didnt relieve that pressure sooner rather thanter, the rest of the linkages would be turning into popcorn shortly.


    [De-tension] siphoned a bit of the physical pressure off, [Temporary Conduit] enabled her to take a bit of the mana-strain onto herself. That felt like someone had kicked her in the chin, but A ignored the jarring pain and riffled through her toolbelt with [Hundred Hands], looking for a recement.


    Unfortunately, the linking staple she <em>could</em> find was designed for use with fire enchantments, which was an issue. She set her AI to keep looking for a better staple, grabbed a spare fire-force driver, fused it with the fire staple, then hard-tweaked the force driver with an arcane-attuned mana crystal to function as a channel for the existing space mana.


    That didnt fit into the space she had, so A grabbed a thin piece of sheet metal, folded it around the bodged-together staple and carefully sculpted it into the right shape and size. A quick cast of [Running Install] averted the crate from disaster, and let A turn her attention to its neighboring crate, where a string ofpression runes had been damaged and burned out.


    She was halfway through fixing that when the ship rattled as an attack hit the outer hull, throwing off her bnce and wrecking the rune she was working on. It began to glow ck, and As eyes grew wide.


    Panicking <em>slightly,</em> she grabbed her wrench and <em>smacked</em> the box three times. The first forcibly ensured the enchantment kept running for a few moments, the second knocked loose the faulty rune, and the third just felt good. If she was going to die by exploding pinata, she wanted to be the one who got thest smack in. Not some stupid attacker who had no idea what they were messing with. Wrench still ringing, she ripped out the faulty rune, melted it to g, and shoved it through a battlefield processing nt. That would take fifteen seconds, but she couldnt just sit on her butt while that finished.


    While it was running, a <em>bang</em> drew her attention to a crate behind her, where a copper banding strip had given way under the pressure. That at least was easy enough to fix, magically welding the metal back in ce and jump-starting the enchantment again only took fourteen seconds.


    Perfect. A full second to rx.


    Then, her processor finished, and she quickly remade the rune array, spilling a bottle of Drooping Vineroot Essence in the process all over the floor. It reacted with a pile of already-spilled Darnds Dust and spread space-distorting ck smoke across the floor.


    A ignored it, pushing on her Intent to ensure the red-hot strip of metal integrated properly with the existing enchantment, and the box almost visibly creaked as it settled into ce.


    Then a massive crack spiderwebbed across the top of a crate across the hold, and A got back to work.


    ***


    Torment felt numb. Hatred was a whimpering puppy in the back of his mind, Rage was outright <em>dead</em>, and even Fear and Terror had been reduced to a baby-sized cloaked figure with toorge eyes, and a colorful stuffed animal respectively. Greed was still active, but was having difficulty sustaining itself. There wasnt much avarice to be found on a battlefield. Even Shock was unlikely to have much to feed upon, not with the broad chaos which gripped the battlefield.


    Thus, he was predominantly relying on his normal summons. While [Wolfpack] strengthened them, and his Domain and spells empowered them all the same, he was little more than just a two-bit conjurer without his Demons.


    Oh, to be one of the brave and bold, the mighty whose mere hand could vanquish enemies, and not beholden to the mere whims of chemicals in the body and imbnces in the spirit, whose mighty whims managed to fool all who saw him that <em>he</em> was worth anything at all


    A pulse of his Concept locked Despair away, Annoyance overpowering the specter and chaining it up to the wall. Things were not so dire that he would loose <em>that</em> particr demon, not upon this most foul of nights. Not until all Hope was lost, and perhaps not even then! Quill was more than capable of beating back so many of the Sect soldiers that an outright loss was almost impossible.


    He, Stick and Stone may have been on theirst legs- well, <em>leg</em> in Stones case- but they were strong, THEY WERE MIGHTY!


    He smiled as Love licked the inside of his cheek, and he gave his goodest girl a spiritual scritch on the head. With Despair properly constrained, his other Demons were expressing their own forms of encouragement.


    Awe properly blossomed as he watched Quill cut through a dozen Sect soldiers in a single blow, and the sand-colored dragon burst forth from his chest, setting w and fang against the awestruck soldiers it faced.


    Sticks armor dpiled, twisting bands of cloth snaking around one another in just the <em>coolest</em> way. Then, as she redistributed and magnified her weight, it snapped a Sect fighter in half.


    Torment gasped as the flood of essence from the soldier was reced with a silvery explosion, sending Stick and Stone tumbling away from one another and disrupting theirforting Domains! They were both vulnerable! <strong>How dare they!</strong>


    Another Sect member struck forward with a rapier, attacking the ship while the duo were still recovering, and Love leaped in Torments throat. Awe was too busy, but he could still save the mission! FOR THE EMPEROR!


    Joy <em>sang</em> as his body blocked the attack, but the spell tore through his meager defenses. Fear regained a lot of strength as he saw the mangled mess that his torso had be, no matter that it was eminently survivable. His body was torn, his body was broken, hewasgoingto-


    A pulse of his Domain silenced them <em>all</em>.


    HE WAS HIS OWN MASTER. AND THE REST OF HIM NEEDED TO SHUT UP <em>RIGHT NOW</em> OR HE WOULD TEAR THEM ALL TO SHREDS.


    Curiosity piped up, asking how the new Rage might be affected, if it was spawned from internalized self-loathing, but Torment already knew the answer. Hed kill that Demon and let a new one take its ce.


    He was just d that everyone else would be alright.


    Caring materialized, helping to knit together Sebastians body, and he rxed. Impatience piped up, wanting him to keep moving, and Torment drew upon that emotion to try and stabilize himself, keep himself in the fight but he wasnt Quill, and he wasnt Dauntless or Endless.


    As he was imed by the darkness, Torment felt Bulwark grabbing him.


    ***


    Drifter pulled up <em>hard</em>, her ship screeching under the strain. She didnt need the console to tell her shed taken the stray shot to her left wing''s thruster, as her Talent simply stepped in to ensure it didnt inhibit her actual flying.


    Hot on her tail were a trio of Sect fighters on oversized flying swords, armed with some truly enormous ballistae, firing off magical sts that homed in on her ship. Quill blocked two as a target of opportunity, but that left one still hot on her tail.


    An asteroid loomed before her, but she didnt stop, instead punching her speed even <em>harder</em>, jetting towards the massive boulder at a speed well past what most people would call reckless. At thest moment before collision, she pulled into a roll, enhancing the adjustment with a skill, and corkscrewed around the obstruction. Her ship groaned under the strain but held strong. The st that chased her wasnt so maneuverable, and it detonated against the asteroid shed so narrowly avoided.


    She should have been free, but a second st she hadnt seen fired tore through the opening the first had made, so Drifter couldnt let up yet.


    But maybe


    The General came through. In the blink of an eye, Drifter learned the rtive positions and general business of all of Team Zero, coordinated a possible solution with the General, and received confirmation from Light that it <em>would</em> work.


    The Ascender in question was currently engaged with a deployment of soldiers bombarding him with spells. None were actually <emnding</em>, the vast majority simply being torn to shreds by a whirling maelstrom of disruptive mana, but they still upied the mans attention and kept him from doing anything more important.


    Well then, shed need toe to him.


    How would she do that? Well shed figure that out as she went. She <em>always</em> figured something out.


    If she had all of her engines intact it would be an easy maneuver, but she was down to two, which limited her. Though the engines she used in the middle of a battlefield were slower than her ships <em>travel</em> speed, it was still faster than just about anyone at her Tier.


    That gave her opportunities, but not an answer.


    Scanning the battlefield, she saw A dozen Torches cutting their way through the Sect attackers off to the left, but that didnt immediately help her. On the other side, Quill was casting million mana spells like they were free, and she decided that could work. Cutting left and using the mostly intact underbelly of her ship, she caught one of the waves of me Quill was burning their attackers with and used that to propel them along faster.


    Warnings shed everywhere as her hull was melting, but it got them across the battlefield in record time.


    She disrupted the deployment harassing Light with her own support. Between her own [Fire Bolt]s, [Shardling Barrage], and her ships onboard weapons systems, a single pass was all that was needed to break the Sects local cohesion. That, in turn, let Light snag the final projectile chasing her, pull it into a halo of pure power, and unleash it in turn as a wave of overwhelming sma on the surviving soldiers.


    In one go, not only had Light taken out the soldiers upying him, but also freed <em>her</em> from the pressure that was the homing siege spell. Her pursuers unleashed a new trio of attacks, but Drifter hit a hard-stop despite her Domain screaming that was a bad idea, and pulled her ship around. She shot off in reverse to center back up with the line Matt had carved into the asteroid field at the start of this ambush. The middle sect fighter narrowly avoided a head-on collision with her, and that threw their flight pattern off enough that they were sitting ducks for her own counterattack.


    Her cannons charged and fired in an instant.


    Boom! Headshot.


    She was so awesome.


    ***


    Aster cast her newly upgraded [Icicle] with [Barrage] at where Maven and Liz fought, not really worrying about the ones that hit Liz or the sect fighters who tried to rush in and assist Maven.


    They didnt need to talk to know they needed to stop the Dao Child, who was empowered beyond the norm. She was doing her best to contain the woman with [Dampening Snowfall], a spell that created snowkes that drifted around and slightly disrupted magic, and [Winter Mirage], a simple looking spell that weakened skill mods and reduced skill power in an area. Both of them were amplified by her Tier 25, which she had crept out into the surroundings disguised as part of the same skills.


    Aster would have preferred to keep her Tier 25 more hidden, but she was currently using it to absorb a mana stone Matt had given her as a back up to her back ups. Burning through enough mana to need to utilize the reserve left her with little choice but to bring her Tier 25 out and into the fight.


    It was working though, and she had been able to slow Maven down without her catching on as she tried to fight her way free of Liz, but the two of them were keeping her on the defensive.


    Allie was all sorts of fucked up thanks to Mavens ambush, but Liz was far harder to hurt. Even when the two Lizzes took wounds that turned necrotic, they simply shifted the surrounding area to its blood form and expelled the corrupted blood.


    Aster hit the now half griffin, half snake woman with [Brittle Cold], trying to degrade the power of the woman''s Intent. But the spell seemed only half as effective as it normally was, so she decided to pull out two of her ice golems.


    They were destroyed in seconds, but they managed to distract Maven and send her flying into Liz, whonded a blow that was blocked by a misty shield, but Aster used the golems ice to freeze a few of Mavens reinforcements solid before they could interfere.


    Not letting that deter her, Aster threw her own Domain at the woman, increasing the effectiveness of her ice spells.


    [Absolute White] seemed to catch Maven off guard, and it slowed her down long enough for Liz to drive a spear into her open snake mouth, shattering one of her fangs, but Maven seemed undeterred and chomped down on the spearhead. The spear didnt break as Aster half-feared it would, but Maven was able to use the spear to shake Liz and throw her to the side.


    Maven then turned on the other Liz, trying to kill her, but Liz took the shing blow on her raised arms and just flowed around the attack as she transformed her body to blood. Liz took that opportunity to drive a tendril of blood that hardened into a golden crystal spear at Mavens jaw.


    Maven tried to dodge, but Aster hit her with a [Headwind] that slowed her just enough for the blow tond and carve a shallow cut along her face, with no misty shield to protect her this time.


    Maven shook like a wet dog and growled even as her snake face transformed into a more bear-like form, and she shed at Liz with a massive paw. Liz took the blow to the face tond a blow on Maven''s arm, but her clone exploded before she was able to do more than superficial damage.


    Maven turned to Aster, but instead of fleeing, Aster stood her ground, knowing reinforcements wereing.


    Liz came in from where she had been tossed aside, the other Liz was already reforming, and Matt came flying in, de aze.


    Aster trusted her team and so held firm and cast [cial Spear] boosted by [cial Strike]. The massive chunk of ice was easily dodged by Maven, but Aster had nned for that and cast [Cracked Shatter] on the projectile right as it was passing by the Dao Child.


    As the ice exploded and shrapnel hit Maven, it stuck to her like glue, and Aster used that connection to cast [ck Ice]. She could have gone with a slowing spell that would have prevented Maven''s paw from cutting through her chest and bisecting her, but if she had, Maven might have noticed Matt.


    Matt who came in with his de crackling with lightning that mirrored the deep rage coursing through their bond.


    <em>Got her</em>.


    ***


    Chen Zedong gasped as Shadow teleported into their hidden base that housed their warding cores. That shouldnt be possible. Dao Child Maven had taken her out, and no one should be able to teleport under such conditions.


    Sh


    ***


    Matt was furious as he reentered the battlefield.


    Light was barely protecting the ship, all but one of their engines had been destroyed, and Maven had some bullshit power up that let her fight on par with Ascenders.


    ughtering more than half the Sect attackers who were attacking their ship hadnt helped his mood either. Being able to see they were almost out of the asteroid belt <em>had</em> helped a little, as once they were clear of the formations that had been woven through it, they could reenter chaotic space and leave. Even with that bit of good news, Matt was still fuming.


    But that was all in the past now. He had Maven dead to rights.


    As his dended on Maven, who had only realized he was close at thest second, he unleashed the [Lightning Torrent] he had charged with thirty million mana.


    The explosion rocked the world and even sent ripples through the fabric of reality itself, but Matt was wholly unaffected thanks to his lighnting-skewed [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The explosion even destroyed the spear that was still impaling him.


    Maven reeled back, her left arm blown off, but her smoking right arm was mostly intact.


    Matt didnt let up and dove in with a [Mana sh] following up his first attack. He knew that wasnt enough and added in small, few hundred thousand mana, random maniption skills to harass her further.


    Maven, moving as fast as he did when using [Archmages Presence], dodged the de attack but struggled to dodge the follow up strikes thanks to his maniption efforts slowing her down. She was able to deflect the [Mana sh]es, but the loss of her arm meant some damage was getting through to her body no matter how well she blocked.


    He was pursuing her despite them starting to get a little far from the ship, and Matt pushed his advantage by ying things a little more risky than usual.


    Aiming for her head, her w caught his de. They battled for control for an instant, but he was still stronger than Maven despite all her buffs, and he leveraged that tond a deep wound on her hip as he wrenched his de free from her hand, taking a finger with him.


    Hacking down with a heavy blow that cracked her chest armor, he took a swipe to the guts that just barely sliced [Cracked Phantom Armor] to ensure his blownded.


    Confident, he pushed back in for another blow, willingly taking a blow to the chest. This time, Mavens w sliced right through [Cracked Phantom Armor], but Matt didnt care. He felt the poison that raced through his body, but [Barbarians Hide], [Regeneration] and [Archmages Presence] crushed the poison before it did more than kill a few organs.


    Not letting up on his rage-filled offensive, Mattnded a flew ncing blows, slowly whittling through her defensive spells. But just when he was starting to deal real damage to Maven, she changed the game. A flickering dagger appeared in her hand, and in one smooth motion, Maven threw it not at Matt, but at their ship''s engines.


    It was a perfect shot, on course to score a direct hit on their engine, but a Liz manifested from the blood that trailed their ship and caught the de before it couldnd. The de exploded, destroying Liz, but she had prevented the attack fromnding.


    Then, finally, Light came into the fight.


    The man seemed as cold as ever, but Matt suspected the mage was quite angry at someone nearly killing his teammate, and it showed in therge spells he started casting from the outset.


    Maven was hit by a plethora of small spells that started to eat away at her, but stopped when they were only pockmarks.


    Matt ignored the spells and shed out at her again and again, adding more to the damage.


    Growling behind [Cracked Phantom Armor]s translucent helm, Matt saw an eddy of blood mist move into Mavens other side.


    Lunging forward, de extended, Matt thrust at Maven his de eager to pierce her head.


    She dodged, but that sent her right onto Lizs solidified hand that impaled her.


    Matt was sure they had her, but before they could do any more damage, Maven exploded in three colors of smoke and vanished.


    At seemingly the same moment, their ship exited the asteroid field, and Matt felt the spatial suppression vanish from their surroundings.


    Seeing that Bulwark had already grabbed Aster and pulled her into the ship, Matt grabbed Light and Liz before flying into the ship through one of the gaps in the hull.


    The moment they were inside, they exited into chaotic space with a lurch. Knowing the fight and pursuit might not be over, Matt grabbed the crystal he used to feed the shields and pumped all of his regeneration into it, forgoing all but a small trickle of mana that he kept feeding [Regeneration] with.


    Their ship needed the mana more than he needed a heart or lungs.


    With their ships hull so badly damaged, they were at the mercy of the corrosive energy that was chaotic space, and the battle before had drained or destroyed a lot of their ships'' defenses. Not all of them, or their ship would have just fallen apart the moment they entered chaotic space, but their efficiency was going to be awful until they could return to Camp Lightfoot and get repairs. Which meant he needed to keep them powered.


    ncing up, Matt looked to Origami, who panted next to the still intact boxes.


    It had been a little sloppy, but they hadpleted the mission despite Maven''s ambush and surprise power up.


    Looking back to the rapidly shrinking mote of light behind them, Matt grit his teeth.


    Part of him wished he had simply ignored orders and attacked Maven with Allie right from the start, but the rational part of him knew that they had only escaped this ambush with their payload thanks to General Darrows deft handling of the situation, and any deviation could have cost the war as a whole tremendously.


    His grudge with Maven would be repaid one day, but allowing millions of soldiers to die because their enemies had nigh endless provisions wasnt worth it, no matter how much Matt wished it were otherwise. There would be more chances to take out Maven, he was sure. No matter how she had gotten her boosts, the Sects would be trying to throw her at them even if the surprise factor was gone.


    She might have gotten a power up, but Matt suspected by the time they returned to Camp Lightfoot, hed have a few more of his own waiting for him.

 Echos Chapter 5

    Echos Chapter 5


    Darius ckwell watched as his grandfather talked to the man in ck leather armor.


    He knew what they were talking about because he had been training for this moment for thest five years.


    His great great grandfather, the very ancestor hed been named after, had been sponsored by this man close to two hundred years ago, which was a mind boggling thought. The family had figured that would be his only investment into them when he hadnt appeared for Darius great grandfather, but they werent upset.


    The mans initial intervention had propelled Darius namesake from a poor orphan into a well respected, if only locally known fighter. That had allowed Darius I to establish himself in Lilly after the rift breaks, and earn enough to settle down and start a family of fighters. No one had expected him to return in his grandfather''s generation to sponsor the man on The Path.


    Alfonso Cortes was an enigmatic man who no one had been able to figure out.


    The fact that he was alive to this day meant he was at least Tier 7, if not higher. And from what his grandfather had said, Mr. Cortes only looked a few years older than when he hade to recruit him.


    And now, it was Darius'' turn.


    His grandfather, despite being a Tier 5 himself, couldnt sponsor him. He had only reached Tier 4 on The Path, and had reached Tier 5 after stepping off and having Darius'' father.


    It was just hard to advance beyond Tier 3 on Lilly. Even his grandfather was talking about leaving Lilly and going adventuring to another with higher Tier rifts, but he had been waiting for Darius to grow up and either join The Path, or choose a life outside the rifts.


    Darius couldnt really imagine living such a life though. His father was a merchant and spent most of his days bartering goods and materials. Darius had seen how that worked and found that idea far too dull.


    At least his mother had a slightly interesting job as a smith, but even then, she mostly just worked with the metal his grandfather brought out of rifts. It made the profit margins great, as she resmithed the metal into weapons and armor, but it was all Tier 1 and Tier 2 stuff since she wasnt an enchanter.


    Darius'' uncle <em>was</em> an enchanter, but he spent most of his time making Tier 3 or Tier 4 items. Production at that Tier took forever, but they had a much better profit margin ording to his father.


    Darius wanted nothing to do with that. No, he wanted to delve like his grandfather.


    Fighting was in his blood.


    The Talent reader even said so.


    <strong>Tier 1 Talent:</strong> Increase physical cultivation rtive to heart rate.


    No one could say he didnt belong in a rift after that.


    And it was his turn to go to the yPen and start his own adventure.


    Or it would be, if his grandfather could stop talking to Mr. Cortes.


    He shot his grandfather a pleading look that seemed to sway the man.


    Laughing, he stood up. My grandson is getting impatient. I really must thank you Mr. Cortes, for your continued kindness to our family.


    Mr. Cortes shook his head even as he took Darius grandfather''s extended hand. Nothing of the sort. I understand how he feels. So do you. And this cost me nothing, so think nothing of it.


    The two adults smiled in a way Darius didnt really understand, but he did his best to not fidget. His heart rate was up, and that made him feel like he chugged an energy drink. Moving was the best cure he knew of.


    Mr. Cortes waved over his shoulder as he led Darius out of the family estate.


    It wasntrge, but it was home.


    Part of Darius was excited to leave, but another, much smaller part, was worried.


    He had already said goodbye to his parents, but they and his aunts, uncles, and cousins stood there waving to him.


    Darius waved and almost tripped over his own feet as he spun back around.


    Mr. Cortes chuckled even as he caught Darius. Careful there.


    Blushing slightly, Darius smiled at his family, but his smile was cut off when he didnt see a car outside the estate.


    How were they going to get to the yPen? Or rather, the train station? From what he understood, his grandfather and namesake had been delivered to the nearest city, where he had then made his own way to the yPen.


    Mr. Cortes pulled a de out of a small bag on his waist and Darius blinked as he realized the bag was a spatial item.


    He had seen them before; his family had a few of them they used in their various business ventures, but he had never seen one so small.


    His excitement only mounted as he realized that Mr. Cortes had a flying sword.


    Hop on, Darius.


    Following Mr. Cortes'' instructions, Darius jumped on the de and marveled at how stable the sword was. It didnt even wobble as hended.


    They took to the air and Darius used the opportunity to view the family estate from above.


    The ckwell estate wasrge and sprawling, but it was still contained inside the ten foot high walls that the original Darius had created. A dozen smaller houses surrounded the main house, which was where most of the smaller extended families lived. Farther behind the main house, he was able to see the fort-like building containing the familys rifts.


    A rift of each Tier wasnt necessarily impressive, but it ensured the family never needed to worry about outside resources for their rift ess. They still delved the surrounding rifts as part of their responsibilities as an outlying family, of course. It was their job to ensure the rifts were delved, which helped prevent rift breaks and monsters from wandering into the nearby city. But those rifts were still technically owned by the Baroness, unlike the rifts inside their estate.


    Mr. Cortes let him watch for a moment before he took off into the clouds.


    Darius heart was racing, and he couldn''t help but imagine he was flying under his own power.


    It was a marvelous feeling that didntst nearly long enough, as they quickly reached the nearest city. It was normally a five hour drive through the mountains and forest, but on Mr. Cortes'' flying sword, it had only taken them an hour.


    As theynded at the edge of the city, Mr. Cortes looked down. Im sure your grandfather told you all about it, but let me go over some of the things you will need to know about the yPen. First things first, take some lessons with the fighting instructors and rent out a training room. You get a small credit limit that can help you buy weapons and armor, but you should take a lesson on the local rifts. The Tier 1 rift is a goblin rift, and while it''s not a hard one, it can be dangerous if you aren''t prepared. The Tier 2 rift is a bug rift, and while the individual monsters aren''t too dangerous, they can easily overwhelm you if you aren''t careful. The Tier 3 rift is a winter rift with wolves. It''s arge step up in difficulty, but not that difficult if you take it slow and pick them off. Also, get good cold weather gear. The cold will seep into your bones before you know it, slowing you down.


    Darius already knew all of this, but he nodded and rmitted everything to memory. Preparation was how to survive a delve, after all.


    His grandfather wasnt too old at ny years old as a Tier 5, but if he didnt start to advance once more, age would start to catch up with him sooner rather thanter. That meant Darius needed to be ready to step up and keep feeding the greater family resources.


    They were a family of fighters, but the Tier 5 potion was <em>expensive</em>. It had taken a lot of their familys wealth just to afford the breakthrough potion his grandfather needed after hed left the Path. Hed heard stories, legends really, of those who managed to reach Tier 5 <em>without</em> a potion, and he wanted to be one of the few and brave who managed it, bring honor to his familys name for finding such a lost, forgotten technique. Hed excel and exceed, and make everyone know the name of ckwell!


    If he was able to do well on The Path and reach a higher Tier than his grandfather, he would be able to support the family from afar, and give everyone ess to resources and skills they could only dream of.


    Even his grandfather only had two skills due to how expensive they were.


    Tier 5.


    Then hed get his first skill.


    He could do that.


    He was so lost in his thoughts, he almost missed when Mr. Cortes handed him a ticket and gave him his contact.


    The train ride to the yPen took five days, but Darius was excited, and the time flew by as he practiced what sword skills he could on the train.


    Mr. Cortes had sprung for a single room, which felt spacious whenpared to what he was used to at the estate.


    When he arrived at the train station, he felt giddy as he saw a dark skinned woman standing there holding a sign with his name on it.


    As he came up to her he smiled.


    Wee kid. My name is Amanda and Im the Tier 15 of the yPen on Lilly. We are waiting for two more people, but then we are straight to the ind.


    Darius knew a Tier 15 would be who came to get him since he was arriving off cycle of the normal awakenings, but knowing that and actually meeting an <em>immortal</em> still struck him to his very core. An immortal who <em>knew his name</em>.


    This woman could be a million years old for all he knew. What secrets did she know, what powery behind her ageless gaze? Could she destroy the street? The city? The <em?</em>


    He wanted to reach her level, and she must have been able to read that in his eyes because sheughed. Work hard enough and you can reach Tier 15 as well, Darius. It''s not impossible. First, you need to not die. Really, Im not that impressive. I only made it to Tier 9 on The Path before I stepped off. If you want to <em>really</em> be impressed, look to Light and Shadow. Or better yet, Quill and Torch. Tier 25 in two hundred years. Now <em>that</em> is impressive. Rumor has it, theyll be proper <em>Ascenders</em> in a few months.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Darius nodded eagerly. Hed seen their movies, read their novels, gotten their posters. He had a My Heart Burns for Torch t-shirt in his bag. They were his heroes, and hed be like them, he would <em>be</em> them.


    He wondered if <em>theyd</em> followed the legends of potion-less Tier 5. Surely geniuses like them, from hundreds of years ago, theyd know all of those pieces of ancient forgotten knowledge? He wondered what powerful and forgotten skills <em>theyd</em> imed at Tier 5 on the Path. Maybe it was that big rain of fire? The heaven-piercing spear? The <em>wings of fire?</em>


    Hed show them all.


    The next week seemed to fly by as he learned all about the yPen and got ustomed to its facilities.


    With his years of training, he was quickly cleared to enter the rifts, but he didnt forget everyone''s warnings. He spent a full two days practicing with the training dummies before entering a rift.


    He took a few small cuts and walked out with a ck eye, but he felt good. Fifteen mana stones was almost double the average seven, which seemed like a fantastic way to start his career. And his parents were proud of him when he shared the news.


    Then, things went sideways.


    Quill, Torch, and Scoop were finishing The Path of Ascension.


    The news spread like wildfire, and everyone buzzed with anticipation as they waited for the date to be confirmed for nine monthster.


    When it was confirmed, everyone went a little mad and Darius wasnt immune.


    The attitude was infectious. He wanted toplete The Path. If they could do it, so could he.


    He was nearing the peak of Tier 1 when the ceremony happened.


    The entire yPen closed down and mountains of fancy foods were brought in from the maind, bringing the atmosphere to a near fever pitch. Darius Talent had him running hot the entire time, but there were enough parties for him to burn off his excess energy without too much issue.


    He was in the dining hall with everyone else when the face reveal happened.


    Matthew Moore and Aster Alexander from Lilly.


    It took a moment for the news to sink in, but Darius found himself screaming with everyone else.


    Matthew Moore had walked through these very halls.


    His blood was pumping as that thought coursed through his mind.


    All his dreams, all his hopes. They were <em>possible</em>. Matthew himself had done it, delving the same rifts and fighting at the same training halls, and now Darius would be the next. Why couldnt he?


    There didnt seem like a reason why he couldn''t.


    If he worked hard enough the sky was the limit.


    After all, Matthew had done the impossible.


    Why not Darius?


    ***


    Cynthia Sinir spun in her chair as she let the screen that took up most of her far wall drone on.


    She had tried muting the feed, but that had paradoxically turned her apartment into a cacophony of sounds, which only served to drive her already strained nerves up the wall.


    She was a fox damn it, not a <em>cat</em>. She wasnt supposed to go up walls.


    Pulling a brush out of her storage ring, she ran it through her long white hair and then through her long tail.


    Trying to distract herself, she remembered back to thest time she had been waiting for Jared to call her.


    Cynthia was just settling in for a nice brush down when her AI beeped at her.


    Jared was requesting a voice chat.


    <em>Finally</em>.


    Hey darling, how are you? His voice was far too cheery for the subject they were supposed to be discussing, and she had to resist snapping at him.


    Sadly, he was the best agent in the entire dukedom, and didnt have to cater to her.


    Jared, did I get the part? She couldn''t contain herself and blurted the question out.


    Sorry kiddo, but no. They went with Martha. Still, we expected th


    What?! Cynthia almost flew out of her chair as she heard the news. Shes a fire fox! How can they go with <em>her</em>?


    She could hear Jareds shrug even through the voice channel. She''s hot right now. After she yed Demetha in Flexs Grand Adventures, people are moring for her. But that''s fine w


    No it''s not Jared. I havent been in a movie for thest three years. I needed this part.


    Yes, we could have used this part, but it''s fine. Not ideal, but we can manage. I have something else we can


    She could feel Jared putting up his hands as he tried to calm her, but she barreled over him. No Jared. Call the casting director up and get them to change their minds. I already yed the part in the first movie, how can they recast me? It was dragon shit that I needed to audition in the first ce, but I put up with it! And now theyre giving my spot to my biggest rival!? This is not ok!


    She flicked her eyes to her screen and Jared appeared on it, pushing the show she had been watching to the corner.


    His deep purple skin was immacte and matched perfectly with his orange suit, but his expression was too calm for them losing this contract.


    Cynthia, deep breath.


    Jar


    <em>Cynthia, deep breath.</em> There was a level ofmand in his voice he rarely used, and it made her stop.


    For all that sheined, her career wouldnt be even a tenth as sessful as she was today without him.


    Taking a deep breath and letting him see it, Cynthia cocked her head and waited, ears twitching cutely. Okay. Im calm.


    That was a lie. She wasnt calm, but she was in control.


    Jared smiled and nodded. He had taught her that little trick for when she was in a stressful situation..


    Good. Now listen to me. I told you the studio was trying to do a four seasons thing for re. You are already an ice fox, and they were talking about having the second movie be about the character transitioning into earth or wind. With how hot Martha is right now, its not unexpected that they decided to shift the narrative a little and move the character into fire.


    Cynthia bit her tongue and nodded. She had known that, but she had at least expected to get a contract to send re off to another actor. The fact the character went to Martha of all people just rubbed her fur the wrong way.


    Trying to remain positive, she asked, You said that you had something else for me?


    Jared smiled wide at that. Yes, and I think this will blow up into Empire wide stardom if we y it right.


    Hearing that, Cynthia bit her lip. A lot of agents made promises like that all the time, but Jared wasnt the type. If he was iming the part might send her into stardom, she trusted him.


    What is it?


    Jared took a deep breath, which set her hair standing on its ends. Youve heard of King Leon and Queen Maras youngest daughter, Elizabeth?


    Cynthia quickly did a search to refresh her memory and nodded. It had been a good century since shed been in the gossip rags, but they looked familiar. Yeah Ive heard of her, what about it?


    Jared smiled. Toucan Productions got the rights to a feature length movie about her and her husbands time on The Path, and they want to focus on the vassal war between the Kingdom of Seven Suns and Alliance of Allied Queens. There was a Pather war there, where the two of them were standouts. Or rather, three. The son-inw has an arctic fox bond.


    Cynthia fell back into her chair and groaned. She hated acting in her fox form. She was damn good at it, but that was a quick way to get typecast into irrelevance.


    Still, she didnt dismiss the offer out of hand. Toucan productions was one of thergest movie making studios in the Empire, and even a bit part in one of their movies would be a massive step up in her career.


    Jared, I hate this. I


    Jared held up his hands in a cating gesture. I know kiddo, but hear me out. To start, Aster got ahold of a Fruit of Perfection before the war youd be ying in. Shes not just a normal sub-ten bond, she was nearly to full sapience in <em>real</em> life, so dont worry about that. Besides, I got them to sweeten the pot. If you take the deal, they will cast you in any future roles they get starring Aster Alexander. There is already talk about aedy-drama-mystery show about her time in the Bond Academy. Toucan Productions might be known mostly as an action movie studio, but all of their titles do well. Cynthia, hear me out. Exclusive acting chops for the bond to a son-inw of royals. This is huge.


    Cynthia was about to agree, but her bull shit sensor started going off. Toucan Productions? Why arent they using Patricia Alco? Shes a fox as well and shes a mega star, way bigger than me. Why not cast her? Even if not her, how did the role trickle down to me?


    Jared grinned like a shark who smelled blood. Ahh, and that''s the beauty of it. Little Aster has made it <em>abundantly</em> clear that shed be <em>incredibly</em> displeased if a non-ice fox was ever cast to portray her in a movie. No one is going to cross her wishes and risk the ire of a fucking Tier 48 to put a earth fox in her ce, so here we are. You are only <em>really</em> big in Harpers kingdom, but I know Demmie, who works with the head casting director at Toucan, and I put your performance in A Winter Dream forward. They said you are perfect for what they want in the role, and already set up the contract so you can start working on your base make-up right away.


    Cynthia started to pace as she mulled the offer over. A Winter Dream had her acting like a half-sapient fox as a supporting role, and while she had been awarded several des for her part in the movie, she always felt like the movie had type cast her for the next few decades. She had to really work to break free of that and wasnt sure she had it in her to do it again.


    Going through some news reports, she tried to get a feeling for this Aster Alexander by resonating what she saw with her Makeup Box Anchor to get a feeling for the other fox.


    At least the girl had good taste and had kept white hair, fox ears, and a floofy tail in her human form. From the headlines of the reports, the girl was a little more yful than Cynthia usually went for, but she could work with that. Even her Intent agreed with the idea. She could slip into this role if she allowed herself to.


    Or she could, if there were promises ofrger roles. What are the actual odds of the project with Aster as the lead?


    Jaren waved his hands. Basically guaranteed. They have been wanting to do something a little more teen based for a while, and bonds are trending. The War of the Seven Suns, name pending, movie is designed to drum up some of the more bloodthirsty audiences and get them used to the faces. Best of all, Ive heard they want to tie Matthew and Elizabeth into the Quill and Torch movie as side characters, which means even more work for you. They were at the same Pather Tournament or something. It doesn''t really matter. People love royals, I know this, you know this, the studio knows this. They intend to y this out for all its worth, and do a series of works with the characters. <em>Come on Cynthia </em>this is<em></em>big.


    Cynthia really wanted to reject out of her principle of not doing more work in her fox form, but she knew she couldnt really afford to let this opportunity pass. Even if it was just this single movie, she couldnt pass up working with Toucan Productions. Their movies were distributed Empire wide, and even a mediocre movie of theirs grossed dozens of times more than her best selling movies ever had.


    Send me the contract.


    Her AI bleeped and she quickly scanned the contract. It was standard enough and had all the bits Jared had said it did. If she took the role, Toucan Productions would be forced to cast her in the next three projects that starred Aster. There were even caveats about the required significance of the parts.


    Like Jared said, there was even mention of the teen series of Aster at the Bond Academy, which was what Cynthia was <em>really</em> interested in. Shed be the lead star, and those kinds of shows always did well. Being able to say someone rted to a royal was the main character meant there was little chance the show didnt at least break even.


    It would lock her into ying one character for a while, but that might be a good thing. Toucan Productions was <em>huge</em>, after all. She could use this tounch her career another step higher.


    Still pursuing the information about Aster, Cynthia watched an interview where Aster went from making fun of her bond to giving a serious diatribe about the state of the Empire. It was an intelligent answer that didnt just pander the Loyalist talking points, but also brought light to some real struggles that people faced. She could have been coached through such an answer, but it felt a little too off the cuff, the words a little too casual and indirect to be a prepared response.


    If that was Aster Alexander, Cynthia could work with this.


    I ept. Putting action to words, she epted the contract and it beeped as it was epted and verified.


    Jared smiled. Wonderful. Im telling you kiddo, this one is going to pay off for you.


    Throwing herself into her couch, she waved him off. Whatever you say. Sure doesnt feel like it.


    Jaredughed before telling her when she needed to start going to the Beast Kingdoms capital, where Toucan Productions had their main studios. Cynthia ordered her favorite street food since it seemed like she wouldnt be here soon in constion.


    Two yearster, she was sitting in a muchrger apartment on the Capital and awaiting yet another call from Jared.


    The movie had sold amazingly. When Suns and Daughters Bleed had been both a critical andmercial sess, propelling Cynthias name into most households'' mouths for thest few months. In fact, it had been so good that Aster Alexander herself had evenmented on the movie, saying Cynthia should y any movies that had Aster in them so long as she wanted, due to how well she had yed the part.


    An incredibly sweetment that Jared had used to push for the greenlight of the show about Aster''s time in the Bond Academy. If everything went well, the response would being today. Probably tomorrow, with the Ascension. With so many micro portals being opened, Empire widemunications were cheap right now, Cynthia hoped Jared might be able to get word back to her today.


    Shed turned down a couple of offers to go to Ascension parties, wanting to make sure she was free all day. Instead, she just watched it at home. People understood and that was a good thing as her heart wasnt fully into it. She was just too <em>distracted</em>, brushing her hair again and again as she lost herself in thought.


    Her own show with her as the lead. She couldnt imagine the fame that would bring her.


    Cynthias eyes were drawn to the screen and she wondered why  <em>how </em> there was amercial for the movie ying during Torch and Quills Ascension. How much <em>was</em> their advertising budget wait, no. That was still the Ascension.


    But that was Aster.


    Cynthia blinked a few times as she tried to process what she was seeing. She knew those ears, she knew that tail, she knew that small smirk.


    Aster was an Ascender?


    That didnt make any sense, but there she stood beside her bond and his wife.


    <em>Aster was an Ascender</em>?


    The same Aster who she had been publicly praised by two days ago?


    The same Aster who said she wanted Cynthia to y all of her roles, Aster?


    Cynthias mind spun, and she was forced to steady herself with her Makeup Box so she didnt pass out.


    Blinking, she watched the trio of people she knew all too well walk down the throne room. After all, she had been pretending to be them for the better part of a year.


    It really <em>was</em> that Aster.


    Jareds contact lit up on her AI, but Cynthia didnt bother to answer it immediately as she would have a few minutes ago.


    Cynthia realized she didnt need to answer to know what he had to say about the show.


    She already knew.

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293


    It took them another three weeks of dodging patrols to make it out of the upied territories, but Joy managed it despite the ship trying its best to fall apart around them. While Arthur had been able to put all of them back together in a reasonable enough time frame, their ship wasnt so easily fixed, and would need time in the Capital shipyards before it wasbat-capable once more.


    Even once they were inside Empire controlled space, that didnt mean they got to rx. Not by a long shot.


    The Federation, the Sects, and The Republic had taken Duke Waters'' absence as an opportunity to push the frontlines forward, now that their Tier 35 battlefields weren''t at risk of being crushed . Therefore, they couldnt just drop their payload of stolen war supplies off at the nearest unsieged, as there were roaming squads looking for worlds they might catch off guard. Now that they were flying through nominally friendly space, they didnt need to be too on guard, but that restriction slowed them down.


    Allie couldnt teleport a supply depot''s worth of goods, so if they couldn''t drop their payload off, they wouldnt be able to teleport back to base like they usually did. It didnt help that Allie had been the worst injured on their mission, and while she had been healed from the worst of her injuries, she was far from peak condition. It made her grumpy as a wet cat. Arthur was a fantastic healer, that was the reason he was chosen for Team Zero after all, but even he could only do so much before running into the healing cooldown.


    Being left in that half healed limbo made Allie a ball of fury, itching to go out and assassinate Maven. They all agreed with the sentiment, but that brought them to the question of how she had gotten so strong between encounters. General Darrow had offered up a few suggestions he figured to be likely, based on the readings he got from her. His theories ranged from incredibly strong potions, secondary boosts from others before the fight, to unique hidden gear. But it was all spection in the end.


    That didnt stop them from hoping Maven had to spend a dozen times recovering or otherwise dealing with the bacsh of using that power as they had to spend flying through chaotic space. Allie, in particr, repeatedly hoped Maven was given months of uncontroble diarrhea. That seemed unlikely, but it would be gratifying if she had to suffer such.


    If nothing else, they knew she was down for the count, as she hadnt been seen near any of the battlefields, which Team Zero took as a good sign.


    Threes deeper beyond the frontlines, they finally arrived at an Empire supply depot and were able to dump their stolen loot off.


    And dump they did. A just shoved dozens of boxes out of one of the holes in Joys ship and let the loot pinata, as she called it. The spatial enchantments fell apart without her constant preventive maintenance and the ensuing explosion of goods was memorable.


    Matt wanted to feel amused by the faces of shock and exasperation from the base personnel who flew around gathering materials, but he was too tired for such feelings.


    The moment Joy brought them back into chaotic space and they saw that no one was observing them, Allie teleported them back to Camp Lightfoot. The instant their ship touched the ground, Joy passed out, and the ship literally fell apart around them. In fact, it would have fallen <em>on</em> them, but Matt red his Concept and blew the tattered roof of the ship off, not caring about the additional damage he did to the ship.


    Healers rushed in, and Allie and Joy were rushed off and apanied by a dozen healers. The remaining healers looked like they wanted to cart off the rest of them, but they were ambtory and were happy to walk under their own power.


    For the first time since they joined the war, Matt <em>really</em> appreciated the time dtion of the rift and Allies ability to bring them back to said rift at a moment''s notice.


    The week of downtime they would get between missions seemed like a personal gift from the Emperor at this point, and it would take less than a full day of real time for him to experience it. And he needed it. Matt was exhausted emotionally and mentally. Being on high alert for so long was bad for the nerves, and being immortal didnt alleviate the issue, even if it extended his thresholds.


    It also helped him understand why Aiden acted so flippantly. The man was just trying to not let the stress get to him. Or at least, that was what Matt assumed. <em>He</em> might throw someone through a wall if they asked him about histest mission right now.


    His thoughts were interrupted by the very person in question walking over to them. Instead of his usual easy smile, Aiden had a t expression as he inspected them.


    Catching their eyes, he asked, You ok?


    Matt knew that Aiden didnt mean physically, as their conditions were pretty clear, and was instead asking about their mental states. That was a kindness that he hadnt really expected from Aiden, but he was grateful for the man checking in on them.


    Seeing the rest of them were ok, Aiden looked to Zack and simply raised an eyebrow.


    Allie took a bad hit thanks to an ambush by Maven. Hearing that, Aiden''s eyebrow rose even higher, and Zack continued to exin how Maven had been far stronger than before, but waited to reveal that power until she had already closed in with Allie.


    Matt didnt miss how Aiden''s eyes narrowed, but Liz beat him to asking the question that was on all their minds. Do you know what she might have been using?


    Aiden slowly shook his head. No idea! Bet youll do great though. A good, tough fight is always so nice.


    Matt was a little disappointed by the fact Aiden didnt know, but knew that wasnt exactly fair to the older Ascender. Aiden wasnt some all-knowing entity, but Matt had been hoping he knew <em>something</em> so they could go into the next fight ready to counter Maven.


    No boost that strong was perfect. That kind of trick had a long and well-trodden history throughout the wars. That kind of gimmick, whether it was some crazy-strong bit of tech from the Federations, a potent ritual from the ns, or a revolutionary new power source from the Corporations, they always had some form of drawback that drastically undercut their usefulness.


    It was always possible that the Sects hade up with something new, but if so that advantage would onlyst until, once again, it was identified and the Empire could replicate it. Then, it would just be another part of everyone''s tool kit. When Matt could, he drank a handful of potions before he knew he was heading into battle. But once upon a time, those potions would have been rare secret trump cards of their various Great Powers.


    After a little more small talk, Aiden seemed to grow bored and fell apart into a puddle, and then even that vanished. Taking that opportunity, Matt shook his head, clearing it from such deep thoughts as they were checked over by the healers.


    By the time they were given the all-clear, Allie was already free and looking perfectly normal. The only one from Team Zero who wasnt up and about was Joy, who was suffering from pushing her Talent and therefore spirit so hard in their escape. She wasnt in any danger, but the healers were insistent on keeping her for observation until she woke up on her own, though they expected her to wake up in a day at most.


    That left the rest of them to their own devices, and without fail, they went to their houses to crash. Even Darrow, who usually went to report to Chess and the other Generals, went straight to his house.


    Matt didnt even make it to his and Lizs room. It just seemed too far, and the couch was that much closer. Liz joined him with a long sigh, and Aster flopped over hisp and into Lizs.


    Time seemed to have zero meaning thanks to the unmoving suns that hovered in the rift, and it was only thanks to Matts [AI] that he knew they sat there for a full two hours before Aster rolled over and fell onto the floor with a groan.


    Im pretty sure my armor is glued to me with all this sweat and blood.


    Hearing his bondsment, Matt inspected them with his spiritual perception. They werent actually that bad, but there was definitely blood and sweat that had escaped the [Cleanse]s they had used en route back to the Empire.


    Casting [Cleanse] a dozen times in rapid session, Matt got rid of the worst of the gunk before standing up and stretching until his back popped in a dozen spots. Looking down, he saw Aster had put her hands out, not wanting to do the hard work of standing up on her own. Reaching down, Matt pulled her to her feet, just for Liz to catch a ride by draping herself over Aster''s shoulders.


    And from the way she was sliding off Aster, Matt knew his wife hadnt bothered with making bones. Chuckling, Matt started to strip his armor even as he walked to their room. [Cleanse] wasnt nearly enough and Matt needed a proper shower.


    The next day, Matt exited their house feeling a million times better. A good rest in his own bed was exactly what he needed, and he felt ready to take on the world once more.


    Though, his first step wasnt to take on the world at all. No, his first step was to go get his mana concentrated. In what marked an actual first for him, hed managed to return from a mission with a basically-clean bill of health. No malignant curses, spiritual damage, or any other ghastly wound, and that meant he was, at longst, able to crunch his mana fully once again.


    Unfortunately, Allie was still in her no-teleport phase while her spirit and body recovered, so Matt had to take a ship to a very familiar research facility back on the main Capital.


    Knowing how badly thest incident had affected him, Matt knew he needed to go sooner rather thanter. Spending most of his week off suffering from the potion and formation reaction didnt sound like a great way to spend his vacation, but Matt couldnt wait. With the current war footing, every day was precious, and Matt might be needed to go back to fight the moment their week of vacation was over.


    That, and Melinda was here, and he was hoping that if she hit him with a spell the moment he got out of the enchantment circle, he could avoid the worst of the follow-up sickness.


    A researcher made her way over to Matt and introduced herself. Geneva, nice to meet you again.


    Matt gave her a polite smile and nodded to the formation that looked suspiciously simr to the one he usedst time. How is the formation? It looks Matt pondered how to politely ask his question and gave up. Simr tost time I saw it. I kinda expected something far more polished with it being close to a hundred years.


    Geneva blinked at him. Ascender Quill, I believe you may have some misunderstanding as to the nature of our work. The device is one-of-a-kind, we arent creating any more, simply modifying this same device. Weve made substantial progress, but we have had no need to rece much of what you see.


    Geneva gestured for him to walk with her and exined as he followed her to a backroom, where grand columns of topaz and amethyst thrummed with potent magic. We have decreased the energy shes by two percent in thest decade alone. Look at the change in circuitry, it''spletely reworked with future expansion in mind. And our alchemists have created a new version of the potion that will hopefully have less secondary side effects.


    Matt wasnt sure he liked the phrasing that Geneva used, but just nodded as she excitedly showed him around theirboratory. Despite not following most of the high-level concepts Geneva talked about, Matt was very interested in what they were doing. He did understand the general workings of most of the formations they were using, which let him gather a fairly detailed picture, even if there was no chance he would be able to make one of these himself.


    That was a bit of a problem. His Intent might slowly but surely condense his mana, but the massive boosts he could get by using this formation werent something he was going to pass up going forward. After all, now that he was off the Path, he could abuse this kind of device and not only catch up to the mana concentration that others had, but eventually surpass them.


    Beyond all of that, these people were incredibly smart. They were exactly the type of people he wanted to recruit for his guild in the future, and he wanted to get familiar with them before anything more than rumors of his Talent spread. Team Zero might know of his Talent, along with a few select members from the other Groups, but beyond that, it was a tightly kept secret.


    His schmoozing was made incredibly easy by the fact that the researchers seemed eager to please, which made him wonder if Frederic had given a few hints about Matts Talent out. It was unlikely, but always possible.


    Matt wasnt going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though.


    Melinda had tagged along with one of her mentors to observe, and when they indicated they were ready, Matt entered the formation and downed the potion. Power surged, and Matts spirit was shredded and reforged once again.


    The agonysted for what felt like hours. He should have expected it, as he had so much more mana than thest time he went through this procedure at Tier 17, but he hadnt taken that into ount when psyching himself up for this little torture session. The researchers, on the other hand, <em>had</em> taken that into ount, and Matt found his mana concentration slowly increasing as his mana pool reached single digits.


    With a maximum mana of 3, Matt crawled out of the formation just to be caught by Melinda, who hit him with a healing spell that felt like it did nothing at all. Creating a few small mana crystals, Matt quickly returned his mana to his current maximum of 40 million mana. It was only after his mana was restored, when he was sitting on the floor answering the researcher''s questions, that he came to a jarring realization. While he hadnt told the researchers his Talent, he had <em>shown</em> them his Talent, which might as well be the same thing.


    Oh well.


    Anyone who was still on the team at this point would be trusted, and if they hadnt already figured it out, they would after a few more trips. Who cared about a realm altering secret that would jeopardize his freedom when his mana concentration was now one fifteenth as concentrated as a mage of his Tier, and one third as concentrated as a melee warrior of his Tier.


    For the first time since the Tier 40 potions had stopped condensing his mana, he was making appreciable progress on his mana concentration.


    While the pain was mostly gratifying at this point, it <em>did</em> mean he missed the entire trip back to the rift. He properly came to when he was in the middle of raiding Aster''s freezer. He swayed back and forth a bit like he was drunk, then refocused and rooted around for something that caught his eye. He grabbed a pint of something bright yellow that tasted like a sunrise, which was exactly what he needed. Matt then downed the entire pint before he even finished the show he had thrown up on the living room screen as an attempt at a distraction.


    A Liz came out of the room he had put the garden orb in and started making him tea from the herbs in her garden the moment she saw his condition. It didnt pair with the ice cream at all, but it was good in its own right, and helped soothe the pain of his over-stressed spirit.


    Thankfully, the upgrades achieved by the research team, or possibly the healing from Melinda, curbed the worst of the side effects. Instead of purging his insides over a week, Matt only had to deal with having gone bald overnight.


    That was an easy enough fix, and a trade-off that Matt would happily make.


    Feeling <em>good</em>, Matt threw himself into working with Zack and Erwin on the fast mana type.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the vition.


    They were deep in a test they were hopeful could seed when Matt got a high priority alert. He was worried they were being called back into the war at first, but Zack hadnt gotten a simr alert, which meant it couldnt be that.


    A little frustrated, Matt made his way out of the researchb just to find King Frederic waiting in his house with Liz and Aster.


    Entering the house, Frederic stood and nodded to Matt. A pleasure to see you again Matthew. How has life as an Ascender been treating you?


    Matt smiled as he went along with the small talk, answering a few benign questions before pointedly looking at the wooden chest Frederic had sitting on their kitchen ind.


    Frederic smiled softly. Now that you are here, we can begin. As promised, I have brought a number of unique cracked or otherwise rare skills which I feel may interest the three of you.


    Matt rubbed his hands together as he peered at the box. This would be theirstrge shipment of skills that they had requested, and that didnt even ount for the unique stuff Frederic had sitting in his vaults.


    Opening the box, racks of velvet extended out, and each rack had a skill shard nestled on it. They were shiny and pretty, but Matts eyes were drawn to the egg-sized orbs sitting in one of the lower racks.


    Skill orbs were stupidly rare, and he hadnt expected to see one, let alone a full dozen of them in the collection Frederic brought to them. Skill orbs were like skill shards in that they were able to give someone a skill, but instead of being one use per skill shard, the orbs were capable of being used a random number of times. It wasnt endless, as even skill orbs broke, but they were capable of being used thousands if not millions of times, and were incredibly rare for just that property alone.


    Their advantages didnt end there though. They also enabled someone to modify the skill inside, which allowed for a higher Tier to adjust a skill before anyone used it. That feature was the most popr aspect of skill orbs, from what Matt understood of them. It was a unique advantage, and helped a group give out skills that matched their fighting or design philosophies.


    The box even had its own [AI] infotags, and as Matt focused on the orbs, he got a readout for each of them in turn.


    The first and least interesting to him was abat-focused [Fire Maniption] that had been altered to fit what was sometimes called either physical or kic casting. It was a rtivelymon type of modification that tied control over the element to the physical motions of the caster. That came with the obvious downside of requiring mostly-unrestrained movement to make full use of it, but came with the upside of drastically reducing costs, to the point where the [Fire Maniption] actually acted as a viable recement for normal fire skills.


    What really struck Matt was just <em>how</em> robust the modifications were. Dozens of fire skills were listed as being easily and cheaply replicable with the [Fire Maniption] orb, meaning that so long as someone had the requisite physical training, they could immediately start throwing around fireballs, breathing fire, parting fire around them, and more besides. All at the cost of a single skill slot. It was nothing Matt couldnt quite replicate by simply throwing more mana at his own skill, which meant that other than the skills ability to <em>create</em> as well as <em>control</em> fire, there was nothing there for him, and he moved on.


    The other orbs were simr in that they were heavily modified lower-Tier skills, but none of them were anything Matt wanted.


    It was still interesting, and Matt was forced to look up to Frederic. Where did you get these skill orbs? I only know they are exceptionally rare.


    Frederic snorted. They <em>are</em> rare, but just about any rift can drop them. Most that enter the market are bought up immediately for a massive markup. Contrary to what anyone else will tell you, the army has a few hundred, but they are rarely pulled out, for obvious reasons. I can bring these out because they are part of my personal collection, but they aren''t too interesting for you, I don''t believe. Not as these will be.


    Frederic gestured to one of the racks, and Matt read the tags that stated the skills on there marked for him.


    A few were the skills he requested, and after a look to Frederic, who nodded in approval, Matt grabbed them off the velvet. Nothing there was too interesting, with the really important skills having been delivered already. Instead, his attention turned to the other skills he hadnt asked for.


    Just what did Frederic think he needed?


    The first skill Matt looked at made him stare at the Royal inquisitively.


    It was a [Cracked Dragonme] whose crack removed <em>all</em> elemental affinity. By itself, that wasnt an appealing prospect for most people, outside of the ease in which neutral-mana spells could be modified to match the casters own mana. But it wasnt like a torrent of pure magic was useless. It just seemed less useful than most of Frederics normal collection.


    Frederic pointed to the skill with a sweep of his hand. I was saving this for any dragons with an unusual mana type who came looking for a skill, but I believe you could get the best use out of it, with your Tier 25 Talent.


    Matt raised his eyebrow in question. [Mana Beam] crystallizes itself. Great for punching through barriers which just defend against mana, but it''s not that useful, all things told, as it slows the beam spell down for no real extra damage. You think this will work differently?


    Frederic gestured at the skill. I spoke with your advisors. They and I believe the most likely form your Talent might manifest with them is by crystallizing mana once it strikes a target, rather than upon first manifestation. Or, if it does not do so natively, that it could surely be modified to reach that effect. It would be less of an extra-powerful attack, and more a means to reshape the battlefield as a <em>part</em> of an attack.


    Hed tried directly manifesting mana crystal offensively a few times, but over the timescales of a fight, he really wasnt able to get anythingrger or moreplex than a sword, and even that was sometimes pushing it. The idea of leaving trails of lingering mana-crystal mes wherever he attacked spoke to that deep, core part of him that stemmed from his childhood that wished he was a dragon. And really, what more of a reason did he need?


    If itpletely failed, hed figure something out. Maybe he could find a nk skill shard and give it back.


    Having that thought, Matt got up and dug around through his old storage rings and came back holding a skill shard.


    Handing it to Frederic, he said, Thank you for this. [Cracked Mana Spear] served me well. I


    Matt lost his train of thought and his words petered out. [Cracked Mana Spear] had been with him for so long, it felt weird giving it away, but he truly didnt need the skill any more. He could have kept it without Fredericining, he was sure, but it felt wasteful for Matt to just shove a skill shard that someone else might find just as useful into his outer spirit. If anyone could find someone who could abuse [Cracked Mana Spear] like he had, it was Frederic. And that felt like a more fitting end for the skill.


    Weapons werent meant to be ornaments on a wall. They were meant to be in one''s hand.


    I dont want such a skill to justnguish in my outer spirit when I know Ill never use it again. I figured I should return it to you the next time I saw you and well Pausing, Matt nodded before finishing. Thank you.


    Frederic let the skill shard roll around in his hand before he carefully nestled it into a velvet nook of the opened collection.


    I didnt start my collection. My grandmother had a few rare skills she left rambling around, but my father fell in love with them and started collecting any rare skill he could get his hands on. My father used the skills to bring in helpful retainers, but he was a true <em>collector</em>. He enjoyed the pursuit of rarity. I also fell in love with that feeling, but I also know that a collection of weapons isn''t best used as a disy. His smile was small, and Matt thought it might have been the first real smile he had seen from the man, which made it even more interesting that they had had the same thought about weapons. Maybe it''s just the weight of a crown that makes me reprioritize, but I have been giving out a number of skills, and I hadnt expected to get any of them back.


    His pointer finger gently stroked the skills faceted surface. I can see so much history from the changes you made to the skill. You pushed its limits, the outer edges of the skill structures are slightly strained. You wrangled control over the skill with brute force and determination, and there is warping in the junctions that speaks of your iron control. You relied on the skill to get you out of tricky situations, and the initial intake widened as you activated this skill at full force with no gradual buildup of power.


    Standing back up with everyone looking at him, Frederic coughed slightly. Ahh, well, no reason to listen to an old man ramble. Please continue to peruse these skills. If there is anything you like that isnt listed for you, just take it.


    Letting Frederic segue them back to the skills, Matt looked at what else was there.


    [Cracked Shared Destiny] was interesting, and Matt intended to take it. [Shared Destiny] was a damage-split skill for use on allies, and while Matt had decided against getting the base skill, this crack allowed the caster to share a part of their armor with the target in question. In practical terms, it would let him strengthen the armor of any of his allies- probably Aster, most of the time- an incredible amount. It <em>would</em> weaken his own armor but with [Regeneration], that wasnt much of an issue. And once he got his full set of Ascender armor, he would probably have toughness to spare.


    If Matt had had this, Aster might not have taken such a bad hit when fighting Maven, which might have turned the tides and allowed them to score a kill. Or maybe not. But he wouldnt allow his bond to be hurt if he could help it.


    None of the skills were <em>uninteresting</em>, but Matt had learned to be a lot more selective with his skill selection and distribution in recent years. He also didnt want to abuse Frederics generosity, so most of the skills he passed over on ount of their not providing a truly unique role in his kit. He had enough channeled attack skills, [Regeneration] took care of nearly all his healing needs, and while he <em>was</em> rather tempted by a pre-upgraded [Water Shield], he passed over the red skill shard. He was more interested in taking armor-type skills for his defense, and [Water Shield] didnt synergize with his uing power armor, but [Water Armor] did.


    The skill next to it, however, was far more interesting.


    [Mana ws] was a standard Tier 14 skill that created des of mana around one''s nails, and was generally considered a beast-only skill, despite not being so limited. Humans just didnt have enough of a w to really allow the skill a ce to form.


    Matts first assumption when he saw themon-but-niche skill was that it had some crazy powerful crack, but closer inspection revealed that it was actually <em>modified</em>, being stored in a formerly-nk skill shard. And incredibly, that modification made it <em>void</em> affinity.


    Void skills were <em>incredibly</em> rare- [Void Presence] and [Sphere of Annihtion] being the only two he knew of, and they were both Tier 44- leaving cracked skills and modifications made by people with void aspected mana as the only reliable source of the skill. Even then, it was far rarer than it had any real right to be, as even skill transfer rate was negatively affected by the sheer <em>annihtion</em> that Void represented. The affinity destroyed everything it came across, be it friend or foe, and even channeling the affinity into a skill could be quite hard on the spirit.


    If Matt tried to use the void [Mana ws], assuming he either modified the skill to work on his hand, or had his gauntlets modified to count as natural ws for him, it would tear his hand apart just as surely as whatever he hit.


    Or he would, if he didnt have a nigh invincible hand. And where else would one cast a w spell from.


    Looking deeper, Matt winced.


    The modifications made to the void [Mana ws] werent all upside, however. The skill had a cooldown of an <em>hour</em>, and like most void-modified skills, caused spiritual damage to anyone without void aspected mana who used it. It would be like [Cracked Mana Spear] all over again, and hed been more than happy to rece it with [Mana Beam] for many reasons.


    Matt just didnt think he could pass up on an actual void spell he could use.


    It was the <em>ultimate</em> attack type. Sure, multiyered defenses and higher-level, moreplex elements served as an adequate defense, but it was still potent enough that most higher-end armors would include void resistance as a core part of their defense. If they didnt, it left one all too open to dying before they knew what hit them.


    But even if he couldnt effortlessly tear Mavens head in half with his hand wreathed in purple, that didnt mean it wasnt an <em>incredibly</em> powerful attack, especially if he paired it with his ck hole mode.


    And none of those limitations meant he couldn''t be sneaky with the skill. If Maven could hide a powerup until she was able to nearly kill Allie, why couldn''t Matt do the same?


    Even if he needed to wreck his spirit for the chance at a sure kill on that hateful woman, that single reason was more than enough for Matt to take the skill. That, and after spending so much time with Luna, a void cat, he was interested in seeing the mana type in action.


    After he was done picking through the skills, Matt looked at what the others took.


    Much to his delight, Aster had managed to get ahold of a [Deathly Cold] skill shard. There werent many of them in the Empire, thanks to it being a Republic-exclusive, in-demand, and <em>rare</em> Tier 38 skill, but it had been pointed out as an incredible choice for his bond almost immediately by Group Chess. Of course, with them being at <em>war</em> with the Republic, the skill was all the harder toe by, and Matt idly wondered how the King had gotten ahold of the shard.


    Fundamentally, the skill made the caster immortal. Even if their body was entirely destroyed, theyd persist as an immaterial entity so long as the spell was still active.


    The self-necromancy spell was understandably fairly finicky, as it relied on the spirit itself being frozen solid, and as such, could be disrupted by simply raising the bodys temperature. Or, if the body waspletely destroyed, raising the temperature of where the <em>spirit</em> was. Then, the more damage the body had taken, the higher the ongoing mana cost required. It was nothing that Matt couldnt afford, of course, and if he even just focused his mana regeneration aura entirely on Aster, it should be sufficient to keep her alive through anything short ofplete bodily annihtion. At least, long enough to get her to a healer capable of putting her back together. Arthur was one such healer, which was why the skill hade up in the first ce.


    There was a story about a man whod used the skill to survive dying for years, only to be undone when the cooling enchantments on his house failed. Matt wasnt sure if he <em>believed</em> the tale, but it was still a famous anecdote about the skills power.


    Aster might need to adjust a bit of her human body chemistry to make sure it stayed as cold as her fox form at all times to keep the skill active, but Matt was thrilled that his bond would get so much added resilience.


    Liz didnt end up taking any skills from Frederics personal collection, but she was <em>quite</em> pleased that the king had brought with him a lot of her remaining requested skills, including [Water Spirit], the Tier 44 elemental body-equivalent. None of them were <em>entirely</em> certain how it would interact with her Tier 25 talent, but quite well was the general consensus.


    Frederic wasnt <em>just</em> bringing them a bunch of skills, of course, but was also in charge of delivering thest of their first set of Natural Treasures. Theyd already gotten quite a few, of course, but the King served as the high-Tier escort of some of their hardest-to-find loot.


    On the advisement of multiple people, from Group Kudzu to Group Firmament, theyd constrained their initial treasures, other than the ones meant to generically enhance their bodies and magic, to mostly cleave to a loose theme of some sort. While it was <em>unlikely</em> that theyd die from ingesting too many spirit-altering items in a short timespan, trying to pull the spirit in too many directions at once was still liable to leave them in a great deal of pain that couldst <em>years</em>. They could deal with it, of course, but from a training perspective, Matt could appreciate focus.


    Aster finally got her Second Shadow, a natural treasure that did exactly what the name suggested, but more relevantly meant her Umbral Lotus was finally usable. That particr treasure was one of the first things shed gotten, but sadly, her usage of a Mirage Shadow in the wake of Minka was mutually ipatible with <em>hiding</em> inside of her shadow. But, now that she had two shadows, she had no issues hopping into and out of immateriality.


    Shed also finally gotten ahold of a Tria Seed, and while shecked the stamina to make <em>maximal</em> use of the treasures ability to physically control nearby air, she had enough demands on her mana that anything to offset the costs was wee. Plus, it synergized with her North Winds Breath- one of many passive natural treasures shed gotten to enhance her magic- to leave trails of mist in her wake. That mist was in turn enhanced by Spirit Valley Whisps to be supernaturally concealing, and with sufficient practice, even make her selectively immaterial to some attacks.


    Lastly, shed also be taking a Frozen Lifedew, which would turn most ice-based attacks she was hit by into healing instead. Even if it wasnt as good as being seen by an actual healer, it was still an incredibly effective way to make her even more resistant to ice attacks. After all, it wouldnt do for an ice Ascender to be harmed by their own element.


    Matt had focused more on his own body. In addition to a few treasures that generally empowered his cultivation, a Rubberfruit made his limbs and torso quite stic, giving him incredible impact resistance and enabling him to stretch his arms in unexpected ways. It was like [Extend Arms], but better. Hedbined it with a Lockjoint Crystal, which enabled him to freeze parts of his body in a single position for as long as he wanted. He could aplish something simr with his Intent, sure, but thebination of the two made it easier on his Willpower, and gave him more flexibility in their usage. Then, a Chameleon Vine not only enabled him to change the color of his skin mostly at-will, but alsobined with the Rubberfruit to help him change the <em>texture</em> as well. The end result left him feeling a bit like an octopus, and quite capable of entirely nonmagically adjusting his size, proportions, and appearance. Hecked the ability to also adjust his <em>spirit</em>, so it wouldnt work as a disguise on its own, but thebat potential alone was promising. With enough practice, he might even be able to make his new [Mana ws] skill work on his bare hand.


    Then, Dena had inspired and persuaded him to take a Ton-light prism, which let him manipte his personal gravity to make him either super light and mobile, or extra-heavy with apanying momentum. Whenbined with a Starspiders Web that let him treat any surface he was walking on as down, the total package made him well, not quite as agile as his once-sponsor, but with enough practice he might get there.


    Lastly, there was the Millennium Willow Lifesap, which could imbue his body with his own mana. Most people used it as a base for body modifications based around their personal mana type, slowly changing their flesh over time. It was one of the more popr, if not mostmon ways to get body modifications like fire-hair or stone-skin. While Matt did have some ideas as to what he might aplish with it in that way, he was more interested in the ability to just <em>flood</em> his body with his own mana to dislodge any harmful mana sticking around. It wouldnt do much against the kinds of curses and actual debuffs he could be threatened with these days, but it would cut off a lot of passive effects, like creeping frost from certain types of ice subaspects. Or, as a somewhat new angle, to help flush the void mana out of his body once he used [Mana ws].


    Liz was even more focused than he was, cramming just about every natural treasure she could manage into her blood, which was <em>a lot</em>. A Chillhart Thistle made her blood capable of transporting cold through it, and a Firestorm Droplet did the same for fire. The twobined let her freely freeze or burn just about anything she touched, moving heat or cold from <em>any</em> of her bodies. Antileech Nectar made her blood into a light healing potion, Sanguine Geyser Spores increased her blood pressure so much that a wound could be used as a <em>bludgeoning weapon</em>, while Waterfall Elixir would let her fit a lot <em>more</em> blood into a given space. Then, a potion made from Aerial Lifeblood <em>didnt</em> make her capable of transforming her blood, and therefore her body, into pure air like theyd hoped. But it <em>did</em> enable air itself to fill the normal roles that blood did, meaning if she exsanguinated one of her bodies, it would still survive just fine.


    But most importantly, she received a solitary tan-and-white lemon seed. Liz held it above her palm, gently spinning it with her Domain as she stared at it hungrily, and began to cackle.

 Chapter 294

    Chapter 294


    Liz gingerly set her seed on a germination tray, activating the growth enchantments at a very <em>low</em> level while she spritzed it with potions. Despite her excitement, Odoras seed was far too precious for her to just bull through this process, sting it with magic and hoping it all turned out fine.


    No, this was going to be a centerpiece of her garden for millennia toe. She needed to do this <em>right</em>. So, she was carefully monitoring the seed as it soaked up water, awakened its cells, and generally did all the things seeds did as they tried to sprout.


    Fortunately for the seed, it wasnt alone, and Liz guided water molecules precisely where they needed to go in each and every cell. Waste products were either nudged out or cleansed away, and contaminants were removed to ensure that her little seed was going to live its absolute best life.


    By andrge, dryad fruits were considered sterile. Even for those nts whose non-dryad tree cousins were capable of self-pollination, a nt grown from the seed of a dryad would <em>almost</em> never grow up into a dryad of their own. Unless at least two dryads, regardless of the gender of their human forms, were involved in the reproduction. But even that was considered fairly taboo in the Empire, as it consigned a fully human mind to live for decades, centuries, even <em>millennia</em> as a wholly immobile tree. It also made it far, far harder (though not impossible) for them to reach immortality and get their own human form.


    But that didnt mean dryads didnt <em>produce</em> fruit. Self-pollinating trees, including citrus, would <em>absolutely</em> bear fruit on a regr basis, and those fruits were quite often sought-out for countless benefits both real and imagined. Dryads themselves had predictably mixed opinions on the matter, but there were plenty that were more than willing to profit from something they found quite easy to make. Lots of them even had Talents or Domains focusing on their fruits, be it to mass-produce potions, exceptional meals, or even explosives in a few cases. Meanwhile, other fruit-producing dryads instead focused on quality over quantity, bearing a singr exceptional fruit only after decades, centuries, or even millennia.


    Odora was thetter sort of dryad, and was ordingly in <em>exceptional</em> demand for the rare times she produced a singr lemon. Each fruit contained eight seeds, sure, but that was still a <em>very</em> tall order for something that only happened once every few thousand years. A properly tended and well-cared for Odoran citrus would be able to bear fruit with magical effectsparable to nearly any kind of potion, acting as a renewable source for some of the trickiest and hardest-to-source potions across the entire Empire. She knew for a <em>fact</em> that there was at least one guild that had a tree dedicated to making false-Concept potions, but she had something a bit more direct in mind. Beyond her doubt that she even had the gardening skill needed to cultivate anything as potent as that, she wanted a tree that would produce a lot of different kinds of potions and <em>quickly</em>.


    Liz still counted herself lucky that the woman had a couple of seeds from herst fruiting a few hundred years ago, and had even spoken to her to confirm that what she was trying to do was likely to work.


    By andrge, her personal alchemy had fallen by the wayside. While there were still a few instances where her blood alchemy was superior to what Group Cornucopia could provide her, it was hard topete with alchemists with dozens of skills, Talents, Domains, and centuries of experience dedicated to the craft.


    She wasnt a true crafter, she just dabbled. The fact she was even able to stand among such titans and broadly understand what they were saying was in itself somewhat incredible. She wasnt even entirely sure <em>when</em> shed gotten so good at alchemy. Luna was probably responsible somehow, as were the alchemy tutors shed had over the decades, but at no point had she ever felt independentlypetent before arriving. But now, looking back, she had just been feeling inadequate for weird, spurious reasons, despite her fairly impressive technical skill. Her continued work with alchemists ten or more tiers and ten thousand years her senior no longer made her feel illogically inadequate.


    Now, her inadequacy was just forpletely understandable reasons.


    But the one area that she could utterly, truly im mastery was with blood alchemy. Most of the experts shed spoken to had only given the field a passing nce. It wasnt evenmon knowledge among them that fire and blood made an almost alchemicallyplete form for life. In their defense, that sort of thing was really hard to determine if you werent specifically looking for it, and even then, there were so many possible false starts and pitfalls to fall into that it was borderline miraculous shed figured it out on her third try.


    Though, in retrospect, the third try was when Luna had helped her walk through her process and provided a bit of her own feedback. She was <em>really</em> good at that, even for subjects she knew nothing about


    Her retrospective appraisal of Luna bumped up her respect for the cat a couple of notches.


    Regardless of how incredible Luna was as a teacher, it still left Liz as basically the Empire-wide expert on bloodfire life-forms. That was her niche; that was her speciality. In a revtion that didnt sound surprising on the face of it, it made her very well-equipped to work with bloodlines. Despite the name, bloodlines werent actually blood magic or at least, not fully. The body element was the normal pinnacle of bloodline research, as thebination of blood, bone, and life elements, and was therefore the go-to element for bloodline-enhancing skills, enchantments, and simr. Life was the second favorite, with blood a somewhat distant third, even if it was technically slightly better at affecting bloodlines directly. Life was a more broadly-useful affinity, and so it won out. But that was old news.


    The addition of fire changed everything.


    She was still working out the exact calctions as to what was going on, with aid from Scry and Cornucopia, but her almost-alchemicallyplete blood/firebo was incredibly good at interacting with her bloodline in many ways. She could directly enhance her bloodlines fire affinity, and she could enhance the boosts she got from her secondary bloodline. Generally, that was a physical boost from the higher realm dragon essence still churning through her, but shed experimented a bit with other bloodlines as well, asionally using her Intent to harvest blood essence from monsters she killed if they were the type to have a pseudo-bloodline. Usually, that was just to refine it into cultivation for her own bloodline, but sometimes that was used as fuel for a one-off potion, mixed on the fly within her blood.


    It had been a really gradual process, sparked by Minka and her Folded Reflections life as a bloodline researcher. Her Concept being able to empower her bloodline slowly grew into her empowering bloodline-based alchemy, and by the time her Intent came around and shed properly started creating bloodfire life-forms it was just kind of a thing. Not something shed paid much attention to, just part of the background soup of her blood alchemy that she used to keep up physically with monsters four tiers stronger than her.


    But with her new perspective, it was a wholly new <em>thing</em> that shed stumbled onto. She could probably, using just her magic, change her bloodline and make it purely blood-aspected. Or at the very least, she could make the process far easier but that was a thought for another time.


    What mostly mattered was that she had an entire ss of potions which she excelled at. Project Breach members were actively looking into them, of course, but the advantage that she got from self-making the potions, using her Intent, still managed to outweigh what the experts were working on. And what she was really interested in was her secondary bloodlines.


    And <em>that</em> was what she wanted Odoras lemon seed for. With proper cultivation, and sufficient samples of other bloodlines, she could create a citrus tree that created renewable sources for just about any bloodline shed encountered. It would allow her to swap her secondary bloodline practically at-will, or create potions heavily based in bloodlines. She was mastering her past through her Talent, and no matter how often it happened, Liz couldnt help but feel a sense of pride trill through her.


    Shed been given lemons, now it was time to make blood oranges.


    Under Lizs watchful eye, she carefully guided the budding life in her growth-chamber. Cells divided and specialized, the shell split, and the barest hint of white-green began to show beneath the cracking seed. It took agonizingly long, but trying to manipte a bit of Tier 0 life at Tier 25 speeds was inadvisable. It didnt matter if it would Tier up soon; it wasnt there yet, and until then, she would be patient. She just let the wood magic do its thing, coaxing the baby tree to full life.


    She wished she knew just what was missing from bloodfire life, though. Shed been able to create plenty of simple, mundane animals, but none of them were long-lived. And not even in the normal, life-is-fleeting sense, just that theyd always get sick and die within a few months of her first creating them. Sometimes, that was enough for them to reproduce, but none of their offspring ever survived until adulthood.


    Most alchemists would have been content with just that, but why would she ever settle for something less than the best? Shed never settled for it before, and she saw no reason she couldnt create a fully viable, fully self-sustaining branch of life. The trick was figuring out just <em>what</em> she was missing. It couldnt be too major, or else her initial calctions wouldnt have worked, but there was clearly some third element missing to bnce out the blood and fire mix. Light had been promising thus far, but none of the calctions quite panned out. She was almost getting ready to move on to a new element, to metal, or lightning, or crystal, but wasnt <em>quite</em> there yet. She really hoped it wasnt another level three element missing, because that would just be a <em>nightmare</em> to calcte.


    Maybe shed be lucky, and Scry would be able to do the work for her but she hadnt given researching bloodfire as a high priority, so they probably wouldnt. And maybe she liked it that way, having her own thing that was purely hers and nobody elses. She knew that it would have to be coborative eventually, sure, but she wanted to see just how far she could push it before the higher-Tiers casually outpaced her and turned her back into a child only ying at alchemy.


    And right now, that meant she was working on her citrus tree, trying to imbue it with her bloodline, her bloodfire, her alchemy. She was at least confident enough that she wouldnt fail. Not with her level of skill, not with her Intent guiding the way. The only question was how well it would work out and how long it would take to get there.


    The sprout finally began to show a budding leaf and extend its roots into the alchemical growing medium it was currently sitting on.


    Liz carefully scooped up the ball of alchemical soil, moving it to a specialized, miniature crystal cauldron. Once it was installed, she retrieved a series of wands and other foci, arranging them as to best encourage the right environment for growth. Then, she infused the cauldron with her Intent, impressing Blood Is The Cauldron Of Life upon the tree as best as she could. In response, a few of the leafs veins picked up a reddish tint.


    Normally, a given person could have only one bloodline and one secondary bloodline. Chimeras broke the first rule somehow, and the [Latent Ancestry] skill could help someone have an additional secondary bloodline. That skill had at least made it to her inner spirit basically unchanged, but shed found that if she used it in conjunction with her [Conjured Avatar], then each clone that used [Latent Ancestry] would still provide one additional secondary bloodline to her <em>entire</em> self, not just the one responsible for casting it.


    In theory, that meant she could have upwards of a dozen secondary bloodlines active at any given time, either using them passively or actively burning them for a much greater boost. But in practice, she was way more limited. Unlike her husband, she <em>didnt</em> have millions of mana able to be reserved, so in actuality, she was limiting herself to no more than ten Rank 0 bloodlines, three Rank 1 bloodlines, or a single Rank 2 bloodline beyond the Elder Dragon blood that she kept inside what came naturally for her


    That still required a steady supply of bloodline essence, though. And the Empire simply didnt have enough exceptionally high-quality bloodlines for her to reliably use them in battle, only to then let them dissipate afterwards. On asion? Absolutely. But <em>every</em> battle was just impractical. So, she usually was well below even her self-imposed restrictions and absolutely wasnt burning through them with her blood alchemy nearly as much as she theoretically <em>could</em>.


    Bloodlines, after all, didnt grow on trees.


    But maybe she could change that.


    Liz grinned as her bloodline tree continued to sprout and began to firm up. With exacting precision, she began infusing a small tendril of Rank 1 Shadow Wolf blood essence into the nt, and smiled as it began to incorporate the bloodline as a potion. As it continued to grow, she would keep feeding it various forms of blood essence. Asters, her own, the Elder Dragon blood, and more.


    Her hopes were that she would get an infinitely renewable source of bloodline essence already primed for her personal use, and therefore <em>could</em> afford to keep burning the blood essence as secondary bloodlines. She could even use the fruit to advance her own bloodline development. Really, there were a <em>lot</em> of uses for bloodline essence, and she could keep incorporating it into her own blood alchemy at basically whatever rate she wanted.


    She could even feel a small but growing connection to the seed.


    Splitting herself in half, she had one of her clones slowly nourish the seed while she worked on getting the rest of the ingredients ready.


    It took several days of feeding the seed her blood, mana, and essence for the nt to properly connect to her, but Liz was ready for it, and transnted her nascent tree from her germinationb to the garden orb itself. It was still very much delicate and required constant attention from her, but she had been able to permeate it with her Domain and blood. It wasnt <em>exactly</em> part of her, but it was certainly attuned and primed for her to keep integrating blood essence as she gathered it from her allies and enemies alike.


    She had also installed an <em>immensely</em> powerful growth formation, with portions made by Turstal herself, into the garden orb. Furthermore, it was powered by a series of life, blood, and wood-aspected mana crystals that Matt had made just for this purpose. Magic flooded the greenhouse, and the tree took root into the soil, reaching down into the ground and drinking in the diluted potions and blood permeating the ground. It twisted and grew then stopped as Matts mana crystals dissolved,pletely out of mana.


    Pinging Matt, she waited for him to arrive, all while three of her poked and prodded the tree.


    When her husband arrived, she gave him a kiss and then pretended to pout. My tree won''t grow.


    Matt rolled his eyes and looked at the sapling.


    Liz watched as he blinked at it a few times, hoping he had an answer that wasnt add more mana.


    When he stood up, all of her clones looked at him, but he just shrugged. Looks like a nt to me.


    Rolling her eyes, Liz huffed but flinched as mana rushed into the surroundings.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Hey, watch it there, mister.


    Shed grown quite desensitized to massive disys of magic over the course of her life, but even still, the sheer <em>amount</em> that Matt was bringing to bear took her breath away. A thin shell of mana crystal grew around them and the growth formation, glimmering with shades of green, gold, and red. Within that area, the ambient mana grew and grew and grew, until she could practically taste it.


    In the growth formation, Liz watched as crystals manifested from pure magic in the appropriate ces, but her husband just kept pouring more and more mana into their surroundings and the formation alike.


    Dumping incredible amounts of mana into the surroundings was a known strategy albeit a very wasteful one. If a normal mage tried that, they would just make a spell or two a little more powerful. But when millions of mana were being dumped into the surroundings every second, things quickly became vtile, and unless you specialized in casting multi-million mana spells, any mage would find it nigh impossible to cast any spells. Internal buffing spells were unaffected, but Matt had never feared someone outmuscling him.


    Luna had just shaken her head at the very notion of saturating their surroundings with mana like this, but the other Chess trainers had taken to the novel idea ande up with a few uses.


    Flexing just how much mana he could throw around was just a perk for Matt, but it was useful when working with magical materials.


    Turning her attention back to her tree, Liz urged it to grow.


    Slowly but surely, it grew taller until it actually looked like a tree rather than a sapling or bush aspiring for greatness.


    Once the treepleted its first growth, Liz directed the orb to start feeding it the other herbs and nts while she inspected one of the lemons. If Matt was going to give her so much mana, she was going to put it to good use.


    Twisting the fruit off the tree, she ran her finger along the skin and bisected the lemon.


    Instead of a normal yellow, the insides were a red so deep, it was almost purple.


    Taking a whiff, Liz nodded before offering one of the halves to Matt, who was far more hesitant to bite into the fruit than she was.


    Blood dribbled down her chin, and Liz grinned before grimacing at the sourness.


    Matt handed her back the uneaten half of the fruit, seeing her reaction. Once she got her taste buds back under her control, Liz exined, Odora didnt lie when she said the first few generations were sour. Ugh.


    Matt raised an eyebrow before turning to face the tree. But it''s your blood?


    Liz nodded, letting her joy radiate. Yup! And that''s perfect. At least for step one. Step two will be separating out individual bloodlines, but if nothing else, this gives me a renewable source of generic blood essence for my own advancement.


    Kissing Matt, she watched him return to his own experiment, having made her a few dozen multi-million mana stone bricks for more testing.


    After her initial sess, she called those from the alchemy and bloodline teams over, and they started inspecting the tree and its fruits.


    In the end, they couldnt tell her anything she couldnt feel through her connection with her blood.


    Grabbing a vial of Rank 1 me Tiger blood, she absorbed the blood, allowing it to mix with hers. Between her Intent and her new Talent, she no longer needed to drink blood or cut herself. She could just absorb any blood that was touching her with a thought.


    Before it could properly mingle with <em>her</em> blood, or her Tier 3 Talent could have too much influence over it, she refined it into pure blood essence with her Domain and skills, then expelled it once more from her body. It floated above her palm like a pile of glittering, orange-red sand that nheless flowed, roiled, and wobbled as though it were mercury not blood.


    With a gentle flick of her wrist, the blood essence scattered over the tree, drifting down like a gentle rain and sparking into a faint golden color wherever it contacted the young nt. Through her Domain, she felt the tree absorb it instantly, like a thirsty man given water.


    It didnt have any obvious effects, but Liz smiled as the tree settled and continued to grow. She gave Matt a kiss in thanks, and let herself be pulled away to let the tree grow. It was past the point where she needed to be hands-on with its growth, and now she could just let nature, and the low-power mode of her growth array do their work.


    It took a few months of rift-time before there was any particr progress made. The tree fruited and continued supplying her with blood essence, but it wasnt until after they returned from their next deployment that Liz finally got what she was after. The tree was still small, but the outside of the fruit was mottled slightly orange, and when she bit into the lemon


    Perfection.


    Well, there was still work to be done. But the fruit undeniably contained the blood essence of a me Tiger in excess of all others. And, she retained enough of a connection to it that she could <em>instantly</em> slot it into [Latent Ancestry], no processing required.


    She smiled and flexed her bloodline to consume the me Tiger bloodline. For a few moments, it nearly felt like a full-power bloodline, and then the sensation faded.


    Aplete sess. Oh sure, there were still some issues with the process, but that was all just a matter of time. Shed already noted a few adjustments she wanted to make to the tree as it continued to grow. But even right now, as it was, she was already <em>quite</em> pleased.


    But even better, the first prototype of her armor wasplete and ready for testing.


    ***


    Matt felt like a child waiting for New Year''s morning as he waited for Colonel Gnodel to bring out his armor. Liz and Aster were no better, but the upside-down floating head that came out of random shadows made Matt restrain himself. He didnt want to give Allie any ammunition for a future prank. He had already found all of his metal enchanting tools reced with wooden copies of themselves, and his wooden ones reced with metal copies, and didnt want to find his armor suffering from the same condition.


    After what felt like a decade, Colonel Gnodel walked out with three metal rectangles floating behind her.


    They were identical and impervious to his spiritual perception, but Matt felt like he knew which one was his.


    Colonel Gnodel coughed slightly to gather their attention. Before we begin, I must remind you that these armors are a prototype only. We can change things based on feedback, but we need to field test things before we go forward. That said, please dont break anything deliberately. We understand that there is a nned delve forter this week, and while we intend to allow you to bring th


    She was interrupted by Aster jumping forward. I cant wait. Send me a message.


    As soon as Asters hand brushed the metal box, the outer casing melted away into mist, then seemed to coalesce into what was very clearly an even morebat-oriented version of Ascender robes. Normal fabric had been reced with synthetic, high-end protective cloth, gleaming bracers provided a bit of extra protection to her forearms, and the outermost cloak was made of an exceptionally fine mesh weave.


    While it <em>looked</em> like Asters ears poked through the topmost hood, and her tail hung out the backpletely unprotected, Matt knew that they were in truth just a semi-cosmetic illusion. In reality, his bonds vulpine features were tucked away in spatial pockets and only sense-linked to the illusions.


    Feels good, Aster nodded, then rubbed her outermost metal cloak between her fingers. As she did so, the silvery metal positively lit up with all the colors of the aurora, and Matts senses suddenly became confused as to whether he was looking at a metal weave or an actual piece of the aurora borealis made manifest before him.


    With a flick of her false tail, Aster sent off the hems of her cloak, the colorful material stretching and reaching out <em>well</em> past its normal limits. But it gently picked up a nearby rock, twisted it dexterously, and returned to drop it in Asters hand.


    Wow, thats <em>really</em> responsive, she noted. And this is just the prototype?


    The cloak is almost its final version, Colonel Gnodel rified. There are a few tests that wed like you to do with it and report back what you find, but we were able to get it <em>nearly</em>pleted.


    While Aster kept feeling out her new armor, stretching and contorting her body to see how it felt, Matt turned his attention back to Liz. His wife was actively getting a hand from an armorer that was busy installing a pair of metallic wings on her back. That would likely take a few minutes, so in the interim, Matt began to put on his own armor.


    With no small amount of eagerness, Matt touched the final floating box and felt his Domain resonate with the armor inside as the cube dissolved, revealing his newest set of armor.


    It was a little taller than him, and <em>very</em> ck. The outermostyer had what could be described as a charmingly <em>mortal</em> appearance, with centimeter-level texturing from countless hammerblows. It almost looked like stone despite being matte ck metal, but the golden iys were integrated with far more skill and subtlety.


    This model had no openings whatsoever. While the final version could break apart into hundreds of individual pieces and surround him if he so desired, the prototype could only be essed by either calling it from a spatial ring, or teleporting into it.


    He chose thetter, and spent a moment familiarizing himself with the unpowered mode. Even without his mana coursing through its circuits, the armor was still <em>heavily</em> enchanted, with spellforged metals making up everyst piece of the suit. It was a <em>little</em> stiff and heavy, but no more than a suit of armor two Tiers stronger than him ever was. Also, the visibility was a little low, as the suit''s heavy construction materials restricted his spiritual sense a fair amount. But as he began to feed mana into it, all of those concerns went away as the armor <em>woke up</em>.


    Its onboard AI connected to his and Matt watched as systems checks started andpleted by the thousands.


    It took a full three seconds, but once that finished, there was a pulse of power as mana rippled through the suit.


    Flexing his hands, Matt looked at his gauntlets. With the built-in tactile feedback, Matt felt like his bare hands were rubbing against each other.


    Clenching his fists, Matt felt <em>strong</em>.


    Bending his knees, he jumped with just his own power and grinned as the suit''s internal motors made his leap only a little smaller than he could manage on his own without the armor weighing him down.


    The moment hended, Matt red his mana and let the suit take in a full 40 million mana per second. His second jump took him well outside Camp Lightfoot. For his third jump, he red [Archmage''s Presence], letting it boost his physical stats and the armor. That jump sent him close to a dozen miles away in an instant.


    There was even an enchantment that automatically parted the air, meaning he didnt even need to use his Concept to zipper the air around him.


    mming into a mountain, Matt grinned and jumped once more. The gold iy glimmered with blue light as his mana flowed through it, building up more and more charge within the armor.


    At the peak of his jump, Matt stabilized himself with [Flight], activated his cannon, and fired off a [Mana Beam]. It felt different than shooting the beam from his hand but he grinned manically at just how much <em>stronger</em> the attack was than normal.


    Pointing with his right hand, he sent a wave of mana through the wand in his bracer and felt the attack resonate with him far more.


    Using the stabilizers built into the suit, Matt hovered in the air above the mountain and raised his left hand.


    The small lines of enriched gold started to glow as he used his very armor as a channeling focus to cast [Hail]. A seven-mile-wide storm cloud appeared and started to drop head-sized chunks of ice on the mountain. Letting it run for a second, Matt smiled so much it started to hurt. His armor acted like a mage''s staff or offensive robes, amplifying his spell without him needing to do anything special.


    Switching spells, he grabbed the air with [Air Maniption]. Pulling with a t million mana, he felt the air rush away from the mountain. He was just barely able to create a true vacuum, which was far more than he was normally able to do with so little mana.


    Grinning, he mmed the air he had control over back down on the mountain andughed as it shrunk slightly. There was no dust to obscure his view, thanks to his firm grip on the air, and once things were calm, Matt dropped the spell.


    Moving on to [Telekinesis], Matt grabbed the now crushed trees and foliage and pulled. Pulverized trees, scattered leaves, misshapen bushes, and more flew up to him and then around him like he was a sun and they were simply stars in his orbit.


    Or rather a ck hole, and they were gxies trapped in his orbit.


    Then Matt swapped his Domain, pulsing his concept and empowering his repulsion in a tremendous st rippling out from around him.


    Just as he was enjoying that sensation, he felt something twist and snap and stopped channeling his Concept through the armor, as reports of an overloaded formation appeared in his view.


    That was a little unfortunate, but Colonel Gnodel had made it clear that this was test armor. He wasnt going to try and break it, but he was going to push it to its limit. If things broke as he did, it was a good thing.


    Going back to spells Matt pointed his right hand and a stream of [Gravitic Bolt]s shot out with no need for [Barrage]. The armor lowered the skills cooldown so far that he was able to cast the spell a dozen times a second. When he did cast them with [Barrage], the stream of bolts turned into a torrent of power that carved a canyon into the side of the mountain.


    He was testing his suits alternate flight modes when he felt a pair of contacts quickly closing in on him. He expected to see Liz and Aster and wasnt disappointed.


    Aster didnt even say anything and shot a stream of ice spells at him.


    Wanting to flex his new armor, Matt just stood there and let the spells m into his chestte. Aster hadnt sent a full power attack at him, but the boosts from her own armor werent to be understated. Her suit was less <em>armor</em> and more of an immensely powerful fabricyer, operating as a staff meant to empower her spells on top of all her other focuses.


    In response, Matt cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] and practically shivered as he <em>felt</em> his signature skill meld with his armor. With the tactile feedback he had going on, it felt like the magic was actively merging into his skin and it felt <em>good</em>. This was what being an Ascender was all about. Sure, his temporary armor from the Cosmos was fine, but it hadnt been made for him.


    This had been, and the feeling was almost indescribable.


    Lizs armor, meanwhile, was a skill. Or more specifically, a pseudoskill called [Feather Armory]. The massive metal wings Liz had donned were a prototype in more ways than one. Not only were they testing how his wifes Talent changed the artificial skill structure as it passed into the inner and core spirit, they also were the actual focus for the effect, something the final version wouldnt need.


    Once it was finished, Liz would be able to conjure a nigh-unlimited number of feathers and telekically control them in a short range around her, linking them together into structures or firing them off at high speed. The feathers themselves were mostly just feather-shaped magical items, and would range from mostly-normal that boosted her magic in various ways, to metal and <em>deadly</em> sharp to serve as weapons, or even fantastically tough and able to act as armor.


    They could even be upgraded over time or as Liz advanced in Tier, as [Feather Armory] worked by connecting to an actual temte feather and then duplicating it. But as most of her initial set were still under construction, Liz only had three types for the moment- one enchanted for flight, one made for durability, and one made to be a <em>weapon</em>.


    Liz was firing off razor-sharp feathers with every sweep of her wings, and Matt felt them <em>ping</em> into his armor with incredible force. Even if they didnt so much as scratch the metal, they still felt really dangerous, a feeling only magnified when Liz made a spear out of her armor and weapon feathers and began chasing him down.


    They spent three hours in total giving their new armors a proper rundown, and that was much shorter than they would have liked. But one of Asters ears had vanished, Lizs feathers kept appearing misshapen, and Matt had a force amplifier burn out and drastically cut back how strong his left arm was.


    Returning to Colonel Gnodel, they werent in the least bothered by her light re.


    As the smith returned to Group Firmaments depths to fix their damaged gear, Allie emerged from a shadow.


    Grinning, she asked, How did you like it? I remember my first prototype armor. I fell in love with it. In fact, I still have it. I


    Colonel Gnodel''s voice echoed into their ears, And now that you admit it, I want it back. Lost my ass. I need to strip it for parts to repair your main armor.


    Allie continued on like she hadnt heard the Colonel. I love the thing. It''s great. I can get you guys your ar Her offer was cut off as a killing intent came mming down on them. Ok, maybe not. Hey, I offered, and that is what counts after all. Right?


    Asterughed. Sure it does. So where are we going to delve?


    Allie shrugged as if she didnt already know. I don''t really know. Darrow usually picks us out a Tier 27 rift and we bring him and Dena and Eric along for a nice murder spree, as we all try to Tier up in Darrows case, or reach the peak of Tier 25 in the rest of our cases.


    Liz looked happy at hearing that and said, I just asked Darrow to avoid any bloodless rifts. Ive got a new bloodthirsty tree at home, and I cant just deprive it.


    Matt nodded, but he was more interested in delving with Zack and Allie and seeing how they, along with the others from Team Zero, handled themselves inside a rift.


    It would also be nice to actually start to make progress in his Tier. At this point in Matts cultivation path, the difference between early, middle, high, and peak of a Tier was a noticeable one.


    Zack, Allie, Dena, and Eric were all just about to reach mid Tier 25, but the people they had been facing were all peak Tier 25. If they were all peak Tier 25 themselves, they could easily crush Tier 27 opponents like those they had faced at the start of theirst mission.


    The issue was that delving on their own was slow. A Tier 35 rift had a eight times time eleration, but a Tier 27 rift had a measly twenty percent time eleration, meaning any time they were delving they were wasting almost seven days of training. It was still faster than absorbing essence stones, but Matt was no longer sure they could be obstinate and refuse to absorb essence stones like Zack and Allie.


    He would have to see just how quickly they were able to clear a rift with Zack and Allie, but Matt was pretty sure he was going to have to be the asshole and push for all of them to start absorbing the stones.


    Maven might not have gotten away if they were peak Tier 25.


    That said, he was pretty sure that with two sets of Ascenders, they might be able to clear a Tier 27 rift in a matter of days, if not less. He gave them unlimited mana, and Allie could teleport them between encounters, meaning they could go from fight to fight instantly. That efficiency would be hard to beat, and that didnt even take into consideration the myriad otherbinations the two of their teams coulde up with.


    The real issue was theck of appreciable time eleration in a Tier 27 rift.


    Pondering the issue for a moment, Matt dropped it to the back of his mind. This wasn''t the time to worry, this was the time to rx a little with Allie and his team.


    Seeing as the others were already talking about how they wanted to modify their armors, he joined in the discussion.

 Echos Chapter 6

    Echos Chapter 6


    Juni pushed the weight slowly, letting his muscles contract and letting himself enjoy the strain.


    Racking the weight, he sat up and looked around.


    Albert was still running on the treadmill.


    Juni knew his friend well enough to know that he was still trying to run from his problems, but once more hoped he could reach a destination. Or at least, a realization. Something, anything to wake him up from the funk he had fallen into after the disaster that was the vassal war and the war where his sister jumped ship.


    When they had fled the Kingdom after the vassal war and King Brice stepped down, the two of them had delved like madmen, wanting to increase their Tier. Albert had been determined to reach a Tier where he could reim his kingdom from the infighting that was tearing it apart, and they had delved until they reached Tier 12. But then the Empire stepped in to stop the budding civil war, removing the entire ruling dynasty and installing one of the local dukes as the new king.


    Suddenly, there was nothing left for Albert, and he had fallen into a deep depression.


    A depression Juni hadn''t been able to shake his friend from in thest thirty years.


    Something needed to change, but Juni had already tried everything, and it was taking everything he had to just keep them afloat.


    Life was expensive on a Tier 15 world, especially when you weren''t actively delving. Thankfully, they had had a nice nest egg saved up for trying to buy a Tier 13 rift, and the few asions they had run into rough times, he had been able to tap into it.


    He was more worried about his friend, as no amount of therapy had seemed to wake Albert up from the fog he was under.


    Juni looked at the time, stood up, and wiped down the equipment, which was Albert''s cue for them to get going, and his friend met him at the door.


    Turning to Albert, Juni asked for the third time, Do you want toe to the bar and watch the Ascension while I work?


    Albert shook his head, not saying a word.


    Six weeks.


    It had been six weeks since he had heard Albert speak, but he hoped to get him toe to the Ascension. Maybe being around people who were having fun could wake up something in Albert.


    He tried a few more times, but when nothing came of it, he patted Albert on the shoulder, and after making sure he showered, he left for work where he showered himself.


    Juni just didnt know what else to do. Being nice hadnt worked. Being understanding hadnt worked. Being mean hadnt worked. Nothing he had done had worked.


    Albert was just numb inside and was bing more and more unresponsive.


    Thankfully, his job at the bar kept him busy enough that he wasnt able to sink into his own mind.


    Jen, the owner of the bar, was nice enough to close the taps for the actual reveal, which allowed Juni a break and the ability to actually enjoy the Ascension.


    It was his second, but he was still filled with energy seeing the monumental achievement that others had managed. He was good, but he knew that he wasnt that good. No one he knew was.


    Elizabeth Moore.


    Matthew Moore.


    Aster Alexander.


    It took a moment, but it was thest name that caught his attention and memory.


    Aster. He was pretty sure that he knew an Aster. She had been a bond to Matt A Matt who had a partner, Liz.


    Matt Matthew.


    Liz Elizabeth.


    Aster Aster with a fluffy white tail and slightly rounded ears.


    Juni nearly choked on his food, but the shock didnt pass as his blood pounded in his ears.


    <em>He knew them</em>.


    They hadnt really been friends, unfortunately, or enemies, thankfully. But Juni had talked to these people.


    That thought shocked him to his core.


    For the first time in decades, he was grateful he was trained in court politics and was able to keep his expression in line with the rest of the bar''s patrons after his initial shock. He didnt think anything bad would happen if anyone found out that he knew the Ascenders, but he didnt want to take a chance.


    And he had a job to do as people resumed their celebration.


    His shock numbed him, but not nearly as much as the shock he got from the alert that pinged his AI half an hourter.


    Albert had bought a delving slot.


    ***


    Princess Sara sighed as she looked at all the documents in front of her.


    As her mother, Queen Diana, intended for her to rule in her ce once the Queendom was finished integrating into the Empire, Sara had been taking over more and more of the Queendoms affairs.


    She wanted to say she had been perfect, and every policy she made had no ws or loopholes, but that just wasnt true.


    Far from it, but that was why she had advisors and her mother to look over the policies she wrote before they were enacted. Her mother had even let one of the less harmful but wed systems go into ce while forcing Sara to fix them.


    It had only been a minor change to the tax system on a single, only to test the waters. The change was meant to give lower Tierpanies a better economic standing through a small tax break, but she hadnt considered the actualw that determined apanys Tier. When herw went into effect, nearly everypany on her reported handing their businesses to the controlling interests children. They all were suddenly only able to pay that greatly reduced tax bracket, even after they paid the fees to transfer theirpanies to someone so much lower of a Tier.


    The Queendom would fall apart with that drastic of a tax reduction, and she had panicked, but her mother had stepped in and saved the situation. Diana didnt reverse thew, but instead paid the difference in taxes herself while making Sara fix the situation she had created.


    Sara was still paying that debt off to her mother; once a month, she had to scrub her mother''s entire suite by hand with no assistance from spells or helpers, but she didntin. She had fucked up, and a little manualbor was a small price to prevent a widespread economic copse.


    Her slip-up had even created a small economic boon with the increased revenue so manypanies suddenly had. Some had simply hoarded their money, but the smart ones understood the loophole was a once in a lifetime slip up, and would be fixed in theing tax year. So instead, the proactivepanies invested those profits into their business expansion so they would be tax deductible next year. That meant a lot of money entering the local economies and getting sent into the average person''s pockets through the new jobs which had been created.


    Sara would love to repeat the incident if she could do so without creating massive intion or a dozen other problems, but even her mother couldnt afford to cover such a mistake again.


    The incident had taught Sara an important lesson about being a ruler that no number of academic lessons could teach.


    Looking at the time, she decided it was close enough to the Ascension that she could get away with ignoring the rest of her work to get ready. The documents would still be there when she got back.


    None of them were really time-sensitive.


    But if she didnt finish this, she would have an evenrger pile of work to do tomorrow, and she had worked too hard to keep her pile of work reasonable.


    She could do it tomorrow. She had a party to go to.


    Buttttt.


    Groaning, she walked to her dressing room and continued to go through the documents with her AI. She didnt like doing that, as it set the precedent that work could and should be done at all times, but she didnt want to fall behind.


    As she stepped into the gathering room, she nodded to the other Queens before drifting to her mother''s side.


    She kept quiet, but listened as the Queens were talking. Nothing pertained to her directly, but each of the Queens had their own sectors of governance, and Sara wanted to hear how they were doing.


    Unless they were lying, the Queendom was doing well, and the integration with the Empire was going smoothly. Their people were epting the changes to thews they needed to enact to bring their ownws closer to imperialw without too much push back. And there were a number of tradingpanies and ns who had started visiting theirs from the Empire proper. That brought in new and exotic goods that stimted the local economies, while some of the goods the Queendom took for granted were being bought at a markup, as the traders thought they would sell well in the greater Empire. Whether they were correct or not, only time would tell, but it was a good sign.


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    A smooth integration that didnt cripple their local economies was everything they could hope for at this stage. It had happened before, but thews that governed the integration of vassal states had been changed after each incident to try and prevent just such issues.


    From her mother''s side, she felt like few people saw her, but that gave her a special advantage. She was able to watch people without drawing too much attention herself. She was able to see the nobles who didnt care for her mother or one of the other Queens, but smiled and ttered them to their faces. She was able to see the nobles who cared more for the food and drink than sucking up to the higher ranked nobility. She was able to see the nobles more interested in the Ascension rather than the Queens. She was able to see the nobles who distrusted Cori.


    Thatst one irritated her; she liked her newest Aunt, and seeing those who believed that she was nothing more than the traitor daughter of the former King Brice grated on Saras nerves.


    Cori didnt seem bothered, despite getting the brunt of the hateful looks.


    Thankfully, the Queens werent the focus of this event, as the Empire''s newest Ascenders were.


    And as a vassal state near the border of the Republic, they were all keenly interested in the oue of the war.


    If the Empire lost, they might find themselves deposed with nothing left to their names but their cultivation, while their people were forced to ept a new set of rulers.


    Sara pped along with her mother as the masks fell away, but froze as she recognized two of the three people walking down the purple carpet.


    Elizabeth Moore.


    Matthew Moore.


    Aster Alexander.


    <em>He must have finally married Liz</em>.


    The thought was almost as shocking as the fact she had known and fought against <em>Ascenders</em>.


    Her stomach dropped to her feet as she tried to remember if she had done anything to piss the Ascenders off enough to want revenge, but she didn''t think so.


    Her mother lightly touched her chest, and Sara gulped.


    She remembered the wound her mother had received when she tried to peer out of the greater war, and hoped that there was no lingering animosity with whomever had delivered that blow.


    From what Diana had said, Queen Mara and King Leon hadnt seemed to hold a grudge, and had even given Cori some advice, but that didnt mean anything when Matt and Liz were friggin Ascenders.


    Old grudges could be settled, even if the other party didnt know there was a grudge.


    More than anything, the sight of them reminded her of Prince Albert.


    She looked at her messages and the long string of unreplied to messages.


    Reaching out once more, she sent him a message.


    ***


    Albert looked at his AI and the message that Princess Sara had sent him.


    He wanted to reply, but he felt like he wasnt good enough to warrant such attention.


    He was a fallen prince.


    A failure.


    Looking at Juni''s chair in the empty kitchen, he wished his friend was there with him, but knew his friend had taken all the effort of taking care of them after he fell into his depressed state.


    Everything had just seemed so empty. So what was the point of going on? He hadnt been able to find a reason.


    Standing up, he took a deep breath and looked around the simple apartment.


    They needed to make a change.


    It was hard to care, but Albert forced himself to push through the apathy that clung to him like a cloak.


    So what if he lost a kingdom? So what if his father was an asshole of giant proportions? So what if he wanted to fall into an endless spiral of apathy?


    He might have lost a lot, but hadnt lost everything, even if it sometimes felt like that.


    He had Juni. A best friend with dedication that few could ever even hope to match.


    He had a woman who was still interested in him and his well-being, despite his fall from grace.


    Looking down at the ratty clothes he was wearing, he was disgusted with himself.


    He needed to do something. Change.


    Not just his clothes, but everything.


    These walls had turned into a prison, and he needed a change.


    Before he returned to his apathy, he checked his and Junis joint ount and felt a small smile creep onto his lips. Despite everything, Juni had hardly touched their delving fund.


    Looking at the amount, Albert bought a ticket for two to the nearby Tier 16 and bought a rift slot for a Tier 12 rift. They had had enough for a Tier 13 rift before his depression struck, so there was still more than enough for a Tier 12.


    Even then, Albert knew they would struggle initially. They would have to take it slow as both of them returned to abat-ready state. That didnt matter though. Albert knew they could do it.


    He just needed to take the first step.


    And buying the ticket and slot was that first step.


    Grabbing their belongings and throwing them into a ring, Albert exited the apartment and stopped at the cheering crowds.


    After a moment of shock as the wave of noise almost sent him back into his apartment, Albert grits his teeth and pushes forward and through the crowds.


    He could do this.


    One step, then another.


    That was all he had to worry about.


    He had his next step nned, and now he needed to do it.


    He didnt go to the bar that was Junis work, but instead to the teleporter station.


    Albert didnt need to tell Juni to meet him there, and so he wasnt surprised to see Juni there with a massive grin and tears in his eyes.


    That hurt Albert. He had caused those tears, but he was determined to fix it.


    One step at a time.


    As Juni hugged him, he whispered, almost to himself and not Albert, Thank you.


    As they sat in the pod that was going to be sent to the connecting, Albert remembered the crowds outside that had seemed unusually big, and he turned to Juni. What is going on outside?


    Juni cocked his head. Are you saying the news didnt shock you awake? I had assumed


    Albert shook his head in the negative. No Princess Sara messaged me and I  pausing, he looked at the message on his AI. Didnt respond like I should have. While I figure out a way to not sound desperate, I would appreciate it if you fill me in. Ive missed a lot but no longer.


    Juni''s grin turned wicked. You won''t believe this, but do you remember the Pathers Matt and Liz, with the fox bond Aster?


    ***


    Brice looked out at the bustling city below him. A decade ago, he would have been gnashing his teeth in anger and plotting his revenge, but now he was empty.


    He was tired.


    Fifty years on a work crew had been rough, but he was a Tier 36 and had more than enough mental strength to persevere. He had left full of vigor and determination for his revenge, but the realities of being a Tier 36 hadnt quite hit him yet.


    He had expected some things to change when he was no longer the king of a vassal state, but he hadnt known things would be so different.


    In the higher Tier circles, he was the lowest lifeform, a puny, freshly Tiered up Tier 36. With his carefully crafted allies and acquaintances having left him after his lost war and fall from grace, he had found himself unable to advance.


    Part of his punishment meant he lost ess to all the hidden ounts he had created while King. He had thought he was clever, but Mara had been <em>relentless</em> in her pursuit of utterly ruining him. Shed held some kind of personal grudge, hunting down everyst cache hed hidden and even hiring a delving team to stumble onto one particr vault in the middle of untamed wilderness.


    It was that which made him realize it was a conspiracy, nobody could have found that without her all-seeing help. It was subtle inparison to the wrath those who had earned his ire had faced, but no less terrible for it.


    He was almost more insulted that most of the wealth was returned to his old kingdom instead of being confiscated. That had been a blow to his pride and a wake-up call on how dramatically the economy scaled in Tiers at the highest levels of the realm. Millennia of hard work wasnt even worth the Empire''s time.


    How he wished for those resources now.


    Everything was <em>expensive</em>.


    Rifts were expensive.


    Lodging was expensive.


    Weapons were expensive.


    Armor was expensive.


    Skills were expensive.


    He mourned silently, refusing to allow his despair and desperation to show upon his face. He would never allow Mara and Leon the satisfaction of knowing how deeply their ruination of everything hed built up was affecting him. And he could never know when they were watching. It had been less than two centuries since their grudge had begun, and for such capricious and ancient powers to hunt him and harry him for all that time would have been scarcely a blink of an eye.


    Simply losing his crown had been a massive blow when he had expected it to only be an inconvenience. Even his personal wealth that hadnt been touched had onlysted him for so long, and was the only reason he had been able to establish himself at all.


    He had tried to get onto delving teams, but few people were willing to allow him into their established teams, and he had found it almost impossible to buy out an entire Tier 36 rift slot himself.


    It had only been a single instance a team was selling, but he had managed it. The worst part was that it would be another century before he would be allowed to delve, and he was growing weary of having nothing to do but wait.


    There were no schemes to manage. No plots to weave. No bids for power he needed to crush.


    What he had once taken for granted, he now longed for.


    He just had to hope that his weapons and arms would be enough if he yed it slow. He was pretty sure he could manage to delve up, despite theck of equipment, if he took it slow.


    He could even make a decent return on his investment if he took the time to strip mine the rift himself, instead of allowing an outsidepany or guild to do so in his ce. He had nothing but time and a severeck of anything else.


    Brice looked out a window for another year and a half before he noticed an uptick in the amount of people in the busy streets. The city usually had a steady stream of people moving through its arteries, but this seemed to be on another level.


    essing his AI, he found that there had been an Ascension.


    He had missed the Ascension of Light and Shadow thanks to his incarceration, but he had been alive for Duke Waters Ascension, and he remembered the feelings of pride and drive it had inspired in him.


    Flipping through the public channels, he found one of them that he had heard of before and tried to find that feeling of joy he had once had.


    Hearing the Emperor''s speech and letting it resonate with his memories of Duke Water Ascension, he felt new life start to enter him.


    Then the masks fell away, and he felt the world drop out from under him.


    Elizabeth Moore and Matthew Moore.


    Ascenders.


    The daughter and son-inw to Mara and Leon Moore.


    He remembered Queen Maras words, that she had taken such umbrage with him because the hed enacted his n on had been special to <em>her daughter</em>. If the mother hated him for his actions, then the wrath of her daughter must be tenfold.


    Feeling a cold chill pass down his spine, he expected an assassin to plunge a dagger into his back at any moment, but when that didnt happen, his mind started to churn, looking for some way for him to survive.


    When Brice remembered that there was an AI verification at the end of an Ascension, he prayed that they would fail it somehow. It was incredibly unlikely with them having gotten this far into the ceremony, but it was his only hope.


    His hope crumbled as the three of them rose.


    Despair.


    All-epassing despair hit him like a mountain.


    He wanted to run to another Great Power, but he knew that, if nothing else, it would earn him a knife in the back.


    Flipping through the local rift auctions, he sold his Tier 36 rift slot and bought a Tier 35 rift slot that would open up next week. It was a Tier below him, which meant using the Essence to advance was less than ideal, but he didnt care about that. He just needed to escape.


    On his way to the rift location he downloaded every movie, show, and book he could find while buying out a few restaurants worth of food of all Tiers.


    A hundred thousand years should be sufficient. Ascenders rarely stayed in the Realm for more than half that, but he would need to be certain that any orders of the mother, of the daughter, of her inevitable disciples All of them would need to pass beyond the Realm for tens of thousands of years before he could be certain of his safety once he emerged once again.


    He knew what <em>he</em> would do, were their situations were reversed, and he was not so fool as to believe that an Ascender would be any more merciful.


    His life was the most valuable thing he had.


    To that end, he made onest purchase, even though it forced him to sell his staff.


    He just hoped that anyone who was watching him saw his actions as a surrender and didnt decide to kill him.


    The moment he entered the rift instance, he cast a dozen spells to alert him of someone else entering the rift, fearing an assassin, but no one disturbed his wards. And while a Talent of sufficient strength could have bypassed his workings, it was unlikely.


    He was alone.


    He was safe.


    Now it was just a matter of waiting a hundred thousand years and exiting the rift with a new identity, thanks to the new [AI] he had bought.


    How much could things change in just a hundred thousand years?


    Surely not much.

 Chapter 295

    Chapter 295


    Heidi gasped as she fell back from the patient who had just been brought into her healing station.


    Even as she tried to catch her breath and settle her strained spirit, her assistants started casting their own cleaning spells. They were working frantically to resterilize everything as the soldier thanked Heidi for regrowing her lower body, all while Heidi refueled her mana reserves.


    That much healing should have been done over three or four smaller healings, but her and her staff were overworked, and orders were to get the soldiers back into shape as quickly as possible. If the recent trend continued, the woman she had just healed would be given a day for recuperation before being sent back to the various battlefields in quickly assembled units.


    If the woman was lucky, she would end up back in Heidis care, but it was more likely that she would end up dead.


    Heidi had been a healer in the army for close to nine thousand years, had served through three wars, and seen action in over a dozen border skirmishes during her time as a battlefield healer. Despite all of that, these casualties were some of the worst she had seen.


    It was disheartening, but having so many people to heal was a good thing. If they wereing to get healing, that meant they were staying alive and had either repelled their attackers, or had their units sessfully escape.


    Before she could ponder the greater situation any deeper, one of her assistants pulled a man who was missing both of his arms into the room. There was a golden light lingering on the wounds even now, but it wasnt a healing spell. It was a nasty curse she had dealt with a few times already.


    Evidence that this man had been part of the Nether system battle. Shaking her head, she corrected herself. That battle had happened close to a month ago now. The golden curses only meant he had encountered Victor Radiant and lived.


    Get me a Buffalos Vigor potion and a bandage talisman. Almost as soon as her words left her mouth, Fred was already handing her the requested items.


    Catching the soldier''s eyes, she widened her own, ensnaring the man in a minor illusion. This won''t hurt.


    He quietly repeated her words, and with him enthralled, she dumped the potion over his cursed stumps. If she hadnt enthralled him, he would be experiencing horrendous pain as the curse was purged from his body and spirit. Victor Radiant liked using curses that were interwoven into the spirit, making anything but slow and careful extraction incredibly painful. Heidis Talent wasnt too strong, but when boosted with her Domain, it was good at making someone numb for a few minutes, which was why she was getting so many of Victor''s victims.


    The moment the golden light was broken, she stered the [Bandage] talisman on one stump while she started regrowing the other limb.


    [Bone Growth], [Regrow Tendon], [Muscle Growth], [Nerve Growth], and finally [Skin Growth] put the man back into fighting shape within an hour, though hed need a checkup within the next week to make sure everything set in correctly. If he was lucky, hed get that checkup before he was sent back out.


    Thankfully, he was following standard army body modifications and didnt have anything crazy that she needed to work around or recreate. Soldiers sometimes got pissy when their tattoos didnt get remade correctly, and Heidi was in no mood to coddle some pompous twit.


    She kept her irritation to herself. This man hadnt done anything to annoy her, and if her illusion held, he wouldnt get the chance before she was on to her next patient.


    Once the second arm was regrown, she dropped her Talent and let the man go, just as her team got everything ready for the next wounded.


    When one didnt immediately arrive, Heidi opened her bleary eyes and looked around.


    Terry understood her unspoken question and poked her head out of their room to ask what was going on.


    Heidi heard the answer without Terry having to do anything.


    They were out of patients for the first time since the push started two months ago.


    Dropping to the floor, Heidi decided this was a good enough ce to sleep.


    If they needed the room, they could wake her up. Or better yet, move her without waking her.


    ***


    Farrah touched her temple as a new wash of information hit her [AI]. The moment she got the initial processing, she called out in three of her higher-level chats. Ascender report.


    That got everyone who was involved with the Empires Ascenders pulled into the information feed.


    Farrah started passing the information and sending summaries to department heads who would need to be kept in the loop.


    She froze for a moment as she double and triple-checked her information and verified the source before believing the reports on estimated goods collected and confirmed casualties. It was her job to deal with the Team Zero reports, but while she had seen wild things from them, she hadnt seen anything of this scale before.


    Still, she was good at her job, and quickly started going through the information streams.


    The easiest and hardest parts were thebat and trying to confirm the kills the Ascenders and Elites managed.


    With the depth and variety of Talents, it was incredibly difficult to confirm a kill without a confirmed burst of essence. In theory, it was one of the most reliable ways to confirm a kill, but theory and reality were two different things. In a battle of that level, there were a million things happening at once, leading to the ship''s sensors being overwhelmed with ovepping data. And to make matters worse, Drifters ship had taken serious damage, which had destroyed a good number of the sensors.


    For a moment, Farrah wished she could ess the Ascenders [AI] recordings, but they, like all AI recordings, were under incredibly tight security. Unless they needed to confirm a specific kill, they could only rely on secondary recordings.


    She understood the need and desire for privacy, but she still wished she had more ess. It was about the metrics, the underlying data. There was a ton of information that personal AI and [AI] were able to record thanks to being tapped into a cultivator''s senses that she and her fellows could use.


    The spiritual fluctuations overlooked in the heat of battle could be the keyponent in understanding an enemys Talent or Domain. The energy density of a spell might allow Farrah to derive the exact modifications that were done to the skill, allowing their teams to best prepare to counter that spell.


    It was an old argument, and one they had lost long ago for privacy reasons. Checking herself, she also sent in a report that she once again was requesting additional; information from the Ascenders. She knew that wasnt going to be epted, but still couldn''t shake the urge to try anyway, which might indicate she was under apulsion pushing her to betray the Empire. To prevent such incidents as much as possible, all analysts were supposed to report any thoughts that lingered a little too long or were more intense than usual. It was usually nothing, but even with Cosmind definitely not part of this war, one never knew if there was a mentalpulsion that could jump around from person to person until one sumbed and became an unwitting traitor.


    It had happened before.


    Report sent, she made her way through the initial seconds of the battle. Almost immediately, she cursed the energy wavesing off Ascender Quill''s energy beam. It blinded nearly all of the front-facing sensors, which meant she didnt know if there were seventeen killed in action, or fifteen and two casualties who managed to escape.


    Things only got more chaotic from there, as Farrah needed to follow a dozen Ascender Torches as she ripped her way through a mass of attackers which meant relying on her Domain to help parse the information.


    Even if it was just a recording, watching someone get hit so hard they burst like a water balloon wasnt a pleasant sight. That the Ascender got better from the injury that should have been lethal didnt change the unease she felt. At least following Ascender Torch through the fight made kills easy to confirm. When she killed someone, they exploded as another Torch punched their way out of the corpse. No one survived that.


    Ascender Shadow was almost worse. Almost, but not quite.


    Her kills were less bloody, but it was incredibly hard to follow the woman, even when her teleportation was limited. She had a way of slipping from the eyes of the sensors and Farrah alike. It was like trying to grab hold of an oil slick with just one''s bare hands.


    Ascender Scoop was far easier to track. Unfortunately, her attacks tended to suppress any and all vital signs even if they werent lethal, and she had enough sensory-deprivation skills it was challenging to tell if their spirits broke at any point. Was a frozen corpse actually dead, close to dead, or feigning death?


    The only way to tell was to watch the corpse until they were either confirmed dead, got healed and rescued, or freed themselves. If a body disappeared, that could mean that they had been obliterated off-camera at some point, or that theyd gotten up and run. It was aggravating how often that happened.


    Ascender Light was hard, but that was more because his presence was felt everywhere. Thankfully, his efforts in this battle were more defensive than offensive, which lessened the burden on Farrah.


    The Elites at least had more typical abilities, allowing Farrah to count up their kills without too much issue.


    It took a full twenty-five minutes for Farrah to run through the entirety of the battle and tally up the deaths. It took another two hours for her to run through everyone she believed was terminated and then check their records of Sectbatants topare and see if they could confirm any of the dead.


    Everyone here was an elite, though that title covered a vast difference in power.


    A Great Power might only have thirty to sixty peak elites on the level of Dao Children, Graduates, Chimera, or Pdins spread between all twenty Tiers that the wars were fought on. Those were the exceptional few. Most sat at the major break points in the war Tier 15, Tier 25, or Tier 35 with a few at the lesser breakpoints of Tier 20 and Tier 30. Anyone with power one step below an Ascender was carefully tracked.


    They were, after all, the usual forces which shaped the course of a war. A Graduate heading an army would reliably win against anything short of an Everborn leading their own army. But becausenguage was <em>frustratingly</em> imprecise, the term elite was bandied about meaning anything from a Pearlescent Pdin to a simple veteran with a few noteworthy tricks that put them above their peers. It would be tempting to dismiss the archer who had made it to floor five in Minka as irrelevant, but it was as often as not that exact texture which could swing the tide of battle. A single lucky hit with an armor-piercing arrow wouldnt kill a Graduate, let alone an Ascender, but a dozen, a hundred, a thousand? That could make the difference between victory or retreat, or tip the scales of an even fight into a losing one.


    That allowed them to stand above their peers just enough to be called an elite and was why the Empire needed to know if any of them died. Their deaths <em>mattered</em> when nning future operations. They might be little more than spell fodder for Ascenders but in a normal fight they were the core of one''s forces who both kept the regrs in line and inspired them to keep fighting.


    Those elites who did die at Team Zeros hands would send ripples through the war front as each was an opportunity for the Empire to capitalize on now that their frontline forces would be that much weaker.


    Sai Sen the Roaring Tides had yed notable roles in ensuring no less than five systems had fallen this war. He was the grandson of the sectmaster for the Crashing Azure Waves sect, had been active for nine thousand years, and had been torn in half by Ascender Torch after managing to force a single Ascender Torch into her elemental form.


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    Yun Fe the Eel of Dark mes had an equally impressive legend, but his spirit had been consumed by his own fires after attempting to attack Drifters ship while Ascender Light had been on watch.


    Bai Shishi was an artist with a de in the truest sense of the word, conjuring illusionary ink-strokes with every sweep of her sword that she could manifest into genuine objects and summons. She and all of her summons had been annihted after her sword was turned away by Ascender Quills armored back.


    Each of those deaths opened up opportunities for the Empire.


    Though none of that might be as impactful as the supplies Team Zero stole from the Republic.


    Farrah almost didnt believe it as she got the preliminary reports from the Ascenders initial acquisition of the goods. Considering the speed at which they had pilfered them, she wouldn''t have been surprised if they had identally inted the initially reported numbers of various supplies. That was why the supply depot they dropped their haul off at would get a true ounting of the goods. Searching through a few files she pulled up their report and cross checked the numbers. And in fact, they <em>had</em> been incorrect on the number of goods by a full thirteen percent. It was just that they had underreported the final tally.


    There were a full fifty five million healing potions in the Tier 15 through Tier 28 range. Most were lower Tier, but lower Tier battlefields had the most people, and they needed and used a correspondingly high amount of supplies. Two hundred and thirty two millionbat potions meant to boost various abilities of a cultivator without any long term side effects as well. There was even a note that the supply depot had found and locked away almost a million potions that gave greater power but came with side effects.


    Then there were the fifty million precharged attack crystals, neen million temporary wards, twenty-two million utility field sets, seven million healing kits, and a half-million escape tools. Most of them were consumable or otherwise single-use, but it was still quite the haul.


    Almost more impressive were the Republics unique goods. Team Zero had managed to steal three mobile fortresses. They were only Tier 20, but when deployed, they could rece or reinforce a fortress if used on the defensive. Or, if used on the attack, they could bring enough firepower to quickly chew through a''sary shielding while protecting the besiegers. They were expensive to make and use, so being handed three for effectively nothing was an incredible boon.


    Then, there were the weapons and arms. Most of it was basic items enchanted with baseline runes, as those who made them were unaware of who would be using them backup items meant to be battlefield recements. That didnt mean those items were valuable, a mediocre weapon was better than.


    Those weapons and arms would not only relieve some of the pressure off their own crafters, but their theft had deprived the enemy of those same items.


    There was more, Team Zero had raided a supply depot meant to supply a warfront, but thebat items were ultimately the most important goods they got ahold of.


    Farrah had never stepped foot inside a rift or been closer to a battlefield than the recording she viewed, but even she knew the importance of such supplies.


    Before she submitted her report, she reviewed Dao Child Maven in thest fight. But with just the recordings from the ship, she wasnt able to see any obvious tells of what was boosting her so greatly. General Darrows suspicion that Maven was using a new potion had merit, but there were several oddities that didnt fit that theory.


    When using a potion that greatly boosted one''s power sopletely, there was usually a great deal of wasted power. There were usually some traces of mana leaking from spells as well, since one was able to throw around more mana but was used to lower limits. There were even physical reactions to potions of that magnitude that should be present, like discolored eyes or blood. Backing up her assumption was Ascender Torch, who was a notable blood mage in her own right, and hadnt felt any unique potions in Dao Child Mavens blood.


    It was entirely possible that Ascender Torch just couldn''t perceive such a potion, but it was also possible for a Talent to directly kill everyone in the Realm. Possible, but so incredibly unlikely it should be dismissed.


    General Darrow was good, but Farrah disagreed with his assessment and added in her own theories.


    Not that she had anything better.


    There were just too many oddities with Dao Child Maven.


    The only hint that Farrah had found was three.


    When Maven took a blow to her head that might have risked her life, there were three different spells used to protect her life. It was quite difficult to tell, as one was the Dao Childs normal defense, a moonlight barrier. But it was surrounded by a haze of light and dark smoke that could easily be mistaken as part of the base barrier. Given her readings, she was fairly certain that they were each separate effects. The moonlight, the dark haze, and the light haze all had unique magical signatures, working in unison and only distinguishable because they had gone out of phase under sufficient pressure.


    Farrah had no answer as to what could possibly cause such an oddity, but she trusted the instruments and their data. It wasnt her job to have all the answers, but to sort and aggregate data for others who might be able to glean something more from it.


    After finalizing her report, she submitted it to the higher-ups.


    It was their job to worry about the war.


    She just got to y with data, and eagerly dug into the next report thatnded on her desk.


    ***


    General Den Raven looked across the battlefield maps and pondered how the Empire should best weather the most recent push. It had been a coordinated attack from all their enemy Great Powers, but they had been ready for it, and at first, they had held up admirably.


    Once Duke Waters went down, the Tier 35 battlefields had recklessly advanced, and the others had taken that as a sign to do the same.


    With their highest Tier battlefields no longer under the threat of being threatened by the Duke, it was smart to push up and use them as secure anchor points for things like harassing supply lines needed to sustain the rest of the war fronts, but it put great pressure on the Empire.


    That was why he had pushed for the mission that sent Team Zero deep behind enemy lines, where they could hopefully remove a supply depot. For anyone except an Ascender, it was a near-suicidal move, but that was why he pushed for Team Zero to go. Ascenders loved nothing more than fighting in impossible odds.


    The n was simple. Without supplies, the lower-Tier battlefields wouldnt be able to keep up their rapid advancement, which would leave the Tier 35 battlefields overextended and allow for a counterattack. If the enemy Great Powers reacted too quickly, most of the Tier 35 battlefields would retreat back into therger offensive line, which was still a victory, as it would free up their supply routes. But if the Empire''s n worked out, they would be able to encircle a number of the Tier 35 battlefields and deal a significant blow to their highest Tier battlefieldsbatants.


    Den had pushed for an immediate surrounding of the battlefields, but while the other General had agreed with his n to neuter the offensive push by destroying an important supply depot, they hadnt been willing to risk so much on a mission with unseasoned Ascenders.


    That was foolishness of the highest order, but he was only one of a dozen Generals who had overallmand of the Empire''s defenses.


    It just all came down to whether the Ascenders could do the impossible. He wouldnt have an answer until the Ascenders returned or were reported captured, which made all the Generals nervous. With two Ascenders active, it was all but impossible yet still nerve-wracking.


    He still thought it was best tomit to the full n if they were going to send their Ascenders into battle, but also understood not risking their reserve Tier 35 troops with Duke Waters still recovering.


    He was going through battlefield reports when General Gloria Kjarr jerked. He was already cranking his perception to the limit, so seeing that allowed him to instantly jump on the information packet that dropped.


    Den quickly scanned it, and seeing the main line, he immediately initiated a vote to send the Tier 35 reserves to encircle the enemy battlefields before they could escape back to the safety of their lines.


    General Kjarr immediately agreed, and just a momentter, there was unanimous agreement between the eleven of them. With their pre-nned orders going out and setting in motion what would hopefully deal a decent blow to their overreaching enemies, he read deeper into the files.


    Team Zero had done quite well, securing all major objectives with only minor losses of their own.


    They would only know for sure when Maven came back to the battlefield, but he suspected she would be out for the next few years at least. The Sects would shove her into a Tier 35 rift to take advantage of the time dtion, the same way they did with their own elite units. But even so, the methods he knew that could bring someone of Mavens power to the level she had just disyed normally took years of recovery before one was able to use them again.


    With Wellspring, most of Team Zero would be up and out in a matter of weeks in real time, ording to the damage reports they suffered. Graduate Torment would require more than that, but he would make a full recovery in time.


    What caught his attention even more than Maven was the list of supplies they had sessfully brought back to the Empire.


    That was more than he or anyone else had expected them to be able to bring, and that opened up some opportunities.


    Leaning forward, he tapped the table, pulling the other Generals'' attention from their own reports and to him.


    I think we


    General Crawford interrupted him before he even got started. I believe that we should take the time to decide on the distributions of the equipment before moving onto anything else. That is, unless you were going to suggest the same thing Raven?


    Den shook his head and sat back upon seeing the others agreeing with Crawford.


    General Li raised a finger and brought everyone''s attention to a distribution n she had already created. I believe this is as fair a distribution as possible.


    There was only one item everyone looked at. Most of the goods stolen from the Republic were useful, but not notable or important enough to bicker over, but the portable fortresses were another matter.


    Den didnt particrly care about them. They were Tier 20 and just generally not something he, or anyone he had connections with, would care about getting their hands on.


    By design, all of the generals in the High Command came up through different paths to reach their current positions, and while they were all dedicated to the Empire, they all represented their own people''s interests. Having different viewpoints and experiences ensured they could make decisions for the entirety of the army, and not just a narrow portion of it that they had experience with. More than that, none of them were fools. They had seen millennia ofbat before even being considered for a spot in High Command.


    General Li had worked her way to her current position through the general army, with most of her time spent in the sub twenties. That she allocated one of the portable fortresses to a unit she had spent considerable time in as a Colonel wasnt surprising, but opened her up to attacks.


    And General Brooks jumped on General Lis suggestion. Preposterous. 2nd Division is on rotation to the backlines. They neither need nor can use a portable fortress. It''s better given to


    As the politics started to tick on, Den ignored it all and studied the Realm map, looking for openings. Opportunities.


    He hade up through the special forces, and while all his boys and girls would love to get their hands on a portable fortress, they would just throw it at a or use it as an impressive ce to get shit-faced between missions.


    No, he didnt really care, and in the end, he would side with General Li if she was able to sway some of the others. She had backed his proposal to send Team Zero on this mission, and this was an easy way to pay her back.


    Letting his eyes drift, he scanned and found a few ces hed like to send Team Zero.


    There were ces they could make an outsized impact, and after theirst showing, he wanted to push them forward. Duke Waters was still down, but if their n to take out the over reaching Tier 35 battlefields was sessful, they could stall both the Tier 35 and Tier 25 battlefields, and in turn, the entire advance. Once momentum was lost, it was hard to regain.


    As he heard the conversation about the portable fortress turn into a vote, he indicated his support of General Li with two taps of his fingers.


    She nodded to him, but he was only waiting for the decision to be made. The moment it was, he pounced. I believe that we should leverage our victory into stalling the warfront. Seeing that he wasnt interrupted, he highlighted a few of the systems he believed would make the greatest impact to send Team Zero into.


    After he made his case for each and highlighted the advantages he wanted to hammer into his fellows, he leaned back, indicating he was done speaking.


    General Wilkerson looked around the table but settled on General Hale. It''s a viable suggestion, but I dont think I agree. It would serve the Empire better if we used Team Zero to reinforce some of our existing battlefields. If we move fast, we could free up dozens of battlefields in short order.


    General Hale nodded in agreement. I concur. The Federation moved their third and fifth cohorts into Isseral and Aenixar. Team Zero could repel those advances, and we know they can hold those positions, which frees up the armies we would otherwise need to send to relieve those sieges. We could even have them clear one and hold the other for an extended period of time, as they are just a single jump away, and Prima Ace Drifter can easily cover that distance alone.


    General Crawford shook his head. No, no, that''s not a good use of our Ascenders. What about sending them deeper into enemy territories to wreak some havoc? Burn another supply depot down. Assassinate an importantmander or three. With the right precision strikes, we can do even more damage.


    That''s far too risky. I suggest we


    The conversation went around in circles for a full five minutes as each of them argued for or against their own ideas and strategies.


    Once they were all championing their own ideas and right where he wanted them, Den opened his mouth to offer his own suggestion they wouldnt otherwise ept, but General Kjarr beat him to it.


    I think we have gotten too fixated on the idea of Team Zero as a single entity. We have two sets of Ascenders, and we might as well use them like that. Split them in half and have them hit two objectives. With Ascender Shadow, we can even reform the team on short notice if needed.


    Den nodded and added his own support. I agree. Let them hit Isseral and Aenixar at the same time before splitting off on their own separate missions.


    With that suggestion, he gathered partial support from General Hale and General Wilkerson, but he looked to General Li and General Casey for additional support. While General Li indicated support, General Casey shook her head.


    One half of that team hasnt even received their fullplement of equipment. I feel it''s too risky to send them so deep behind enemy lines under those circumstances.


    General Brooks shook his head, and for the first time this conversation, spoke. As much as I hate to agree with anything Raven suggests, I feel his suggestion holds merit. Worstes to worst, we have Ascender Shadow teleport them back into the rift to get their armor between missions. Ourst reports say their version one prototypes were nearpletion, and what better way to stress test their new gear? The real question is, what do we have them do once they split?


    With his support, the motion was going to be forced through, and the conversation turned to where they felt the Ascenders would be better sent after Isseral and Aenixar.


    The entire time, Den never stopped looking at the map and trying to find some kind of point of failure, even going so far as to poke at his Domain a little to see if it had any good ideas.


    The Great Powers were massive, which meant it was impossible for there to be a single point of failure that could topple the entire war, but there were always ces they could do serious damage, like the supply depot.


    His gut told him there was something, but his eyes and mind werent seeing it.


    His gut was always right. It had kept him alive through thousands of dangerous missions, and he trusted it. Even when it got him into hot water, it was right. If he got in trouble that just meant he just failed to interpret his gut correctly.


    Letting his vision drift over to the Guilds territories he grinned.


    There it was.

 Chapter 296

    Chapter 296


    Matt was a little surprised when he got a non urgent message about their next mission. He had been waiting on tenterhooks to receive a message that they were being called in to solve some crisis, when he got a message telling him they would meet up tomorrow afternoon to be deployed again.


    Getting hours to look over his new armor and weapon just felt odd after theirst few missions, where they were being used to put out fires.


    General Darrow nodded to the three of them as they arrived and they took their seats with the others who arrived.


    Dena leaned over to Matt and whispered, What do you think they are going to want us to do? Any ideas?


    Matt shrugged. I was going to ask you that same thing. You''ve been doing this longer than we have, after all. Is being warned a day in advance normal?


    Eric agreed. When they can, they like to give us that much time, so when it''s not an emergency, yes. But were a rapid response team, soooo


    Matt agreed with Eric. He probably shouldn''t count on such warnings in the future.


    When Allie and Zack arrived, the former being dragged by her elbow by thetter, General Darrow started the briefing.


    While it''s been a few months for us, it''s only been two weeks in real time since ourst mission, and we can already see it''s been a rousing sess. The entire push has stalled out thanks to theck of supplies in that sector.


    A number of images appeared on the screen behind Darrow and Matt scanned through them. The war front was filled with yellow contacts with the asional orange, and with only a handful of red, which was a good thing. Yellow meant the Empire defenders were under siege but not in immediate danger of falling. Orange meant they were struggling and expected to fall within a decade, and red meant they were expected to fall within five years if nothing changed.


    When they had gone out for theirst mission, most of the war front had been orange or red. So, seeing that situation almostpletely reversed, it meant their attack on the supply depot had been the right call. It meant their fight with Maven had been worth it. It meant their weeks of suffering through chaotic space had been worth it.


    It was satisfying to see their actions having such an immediate impact.


    Darrow let them peruse a little before he moved on. Our actions even allowed three Tier 35 armies to be encircled and they are slowly being ground down.


    Matt looked at the indicated spots and smiled. That was the danger of advancing one Tier of the battlefield beyond the established battle lines. Without support from the surrounding armies, you were vulnerable to being copsed on by a dozen armies at once, which was exactly what happened to the three worlds Darrow highlighted.


    Odds were, once it was clear they werent going to be rescued, the armies would surrender. Then, they would either be traded for prisoners or kept as long-term prisoners to reduce the number of Tier 35batants on the enemy''s side.


    Matt was just proud to see their mission having a greater impact on the overall war. That was what Ascenders were supposed to do.


    As for our next missions, High Command believes that our expertise is best utilized in two ces at once. To that end, we are splitting Team Zero in half, with the Ascenders being the cores of each team. Light, Shadow, Origami, Torment, Bulwark, and myself will make up one team, with Torch, Quill, Scoop, Stick, Stone, Bolt, and Drifter on the other. We will make a joint strike to Isseral and Qubai to relieve their respective sieges. Then we will diverge to our own separate missions.


    Allie leaned forward like that would make General Darrow tell them her mission faster. The team that is going with me will be hitting three others in short order before we slip behind enemy lines to scare them into thinking we will attack another supply depot. If that scares the enemies like we believe, we will go and attack


    General Darrow indicated a ce deep inside Federation space. Selkor Nine. It''s a Federation training ground, and they train almost a twentieth of their Tier 25 armies in that system.


    Allie mmed the table. Fuck yeah! Now thats a mission! What if they dont reinforce the local supply depots though? Are we going to hit them?


    General Darrow nodded. That is an optional secondary objective, though it''s deemed unlikely for obvious reasons. If such an opportunity does arise, we will most likely just burn the ce down rather than trying to secure any goods. The enemy Great Powers will have counters in ce to prevent what we aplished from happening again so easily.


    Zack raised a finger indicating he had a question, and once Darrow acknowledged him, he asked, What opposition do we expect from the Federation in Selkor Nine? A training ground cant be so undefended that we can do as we like unimpeded, no?


    Darrow waved his hand, and a system read out sprung up. Selkor Nine is part of a sector where life developed early, which means star systems are only a few light years apart and still moving in chaotic patterns. While that has its advantages, it means the system gets semi-frequent asteroid storms. Our current idea is to silently drift in along with the asteroids and then burn as many transport ships, training halls, data banks, and most importantly, newly formed battalions, as we can before we are forced to retreat.


    Allie looked like she wanted to object at the idea of retreating, but Darrow highlighted a system next to Selkor Nine. Selkor Eleven is a healing center thats stationed close by. They will be able to bring in millions, if not more, of well trained troops as reinforcements in a matter of hours. There is no doubt that we will be forced to retreat in short order.


    Before Allie couldin further, Darrow pointed to Selkor Eleven. As we retreat, we intend to swing by Selkor Eleven and see if we can make any attacks of opportunity there, but it''s unlikely that the Federationmanders will send out all of their troops to Selkor Nine. If they did, we will take actions that I decide are appropriate based on the situation we encounter.


    Darrow then turned his attention back to the other half of the room. Matts half. As for the rest of you, your mission is a little more Delicate.


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that, and his confusion was reflected by the rest of his half of Team Zero.


    Your mission is going to take you into Guild territory. There, you will link up with theirmanders and assist them. We believe that they want to take and hold a shipyard to starve out a section of the battlefield, but the real goal will be


    The screen Darrow changed, and a profile appeared with five people on it.


    Klix Vutru, Fred Baxter, Cameron Chime, Dame-Askor, and Jastor Keys.


    The five of them were old Federation elites on the level of Maven before her buff, but more than that, Klix and Dame-Askor were known for their simr Domains that slowed speedsters and teleporters alike. They had also set up a forward base deep inside Guild space, and the Federation was using it as a springboard tounch attacks on the supply lines.


    Normally, the Guilds would have crushed such an outpost with numbers or sent their own peak elites to counter those stationed there, along with an army or two to outnumber the defenders. They had tried, but lost one of their own peak elites thanks to two of the Federation elites hiding their presences. Guild information sources suspected the Federation had at least two more peak elites there, which was why they were keeping the system contained rather than wiping it out.


    Matt checked the dates and understood why Allie and Zack werent being sent to handle the situation. She could probably counter or at least deal with the anti-teleporting Domains, but the Federation hadid this trap for a decade and hadnt sprung it or repurposed it yet, which almost guaranteed there was something more to it.


    But a trap meant to take out Allie and Zack wasnt going to be built to take out Matt and his team.


    If things went well, they would spring the trap, take the bait, and kill a few peak elites in one fell swoop.


    The idea was enticing.


    Your mission there is to spring the trap then kill as many of the peak elites as possible. Then, you will move with Guild forces and target a few of the more stubborn enemy stations. Darrow opened his mouth but said nothing for a long moment. Matt wondered what made the usually steady man so conflicted, but he got his answer when Darrow half shrugged. This is nothing more than a rumor that has made its way to me, but there is talk about the Guilds making a strike at Tera Torment as a tertiary objective. You will most likely be asked to assist in said strike.


    Matt looked at the provided information and winced as he saw Tera Torment was a Tier 26 peak elite, known for her curse spells that inflicted debilitating amounts of pain before killing the victims. The war had interrupted her advancement to the Tier 30 brackets, but she had continued her rampage in the war before popping in and out to advance her cultivation. If their information was correct, she was nearing the peak of Tier 26, which exined why the Guilds wanted to take her out before she was able to stabilize herself at Tier 27.


    That was not going to be an easy fight, but if they could take her out, they could score a significant blow to the Sects.


    Officially, you will fall under Guild leadership, but you are free to ept or deny the mission as you see fit.


    Liz leaned forward and asked, Is this why youre not going with our half?


    General Darrows face remained expressionless as he said, It is standard operating procedure to keep high level fieldmanders out of allied territory to prevent confusion in the chain ofmand. That said, I don''t know enough about the situation to give an answer as to whether or not the secondary mission is a good one or not.


    Matt snorted. The fact there are rumors means it''s not a secret at all.


    Darrow grinned. Exactly. And the Guilds know that. Im sure even if their target is Tera Torment, the n isnt so simple as rumors are to be believed. You have discretion and can act as you see fit, but remember, the Guilds are our allies and aren''t so foolish as to throw away millennia of goodwill by getting the three of you killed in a foolish strike. Still, they also have their own ns and objectives.


    Matt pondered the situation and came to the conclusion that Darrow didnt know anything more than they did, and was powerless to change anything even <em>if</em> he coulde up with a better n.


    That wasnt a great feeling, but it also wasnt unusual. They were Ascenders; they were expected to be able to handle themselves.


    They ended up asking a few more questions that Darrow didnt have the answers to before they were loaded up into their respective ships. Matt was happy to be traveling with Joy instead of the recement pilot the other half of their team was going with.


    Allie had to make two jumps, but she teleported both teams near their first objectives of Isseral and Aenixar.


    One jumpter, Matt heard Drifter call out, Prepare for fire!


    Hearing that, Matt jumped to his feet and spread his spiritual perception.


    Thankfully, things werent nearly as bad as he feared. Aenixar itself wasnt under fire, which was his initial worry after hearing they were under attack the moment they jumped into the system. While it was incredibly rare for an inhabited to fall directly under attack, there were always exceptions to the rules that prevented such things. The easiest and most likely was if the Empire defenders decided to retreat to the inhabited for some reason, but that wasnt the case here.


    No, they had simply been redirected into an ambush that grabbed any people or ships who entered real space and pulled them away from the inhabited into a location deeper in space.


    That was fine, though. Their shields could handle such an ambush and Drifters cannons were more than enough to cut a hole through the attackers.


    More units moved in to engage with them, but Matt knew how to fix that. He poked his head out of one of the side hatches and shot a [Breach] at one of the chasing ships. The ship was too close; it simply evaporated as it was crushed by the siege spell that struck it head on.


    That caused the rest of the pursuing ships to scatter, which meant they were free to fly to the outermost of the system that was under siege. The trap they had been pulled into had put them on the other side of the sun, which meant it took them a full two days to fly to the besieged nt, giving the attackers plenty of time to defend.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    That didnt mean they were any more prepared for them. As this was a Tier 25 world and there were no reported elites in the army, they fell like wheat under the farmer''s scythe.


    The battle was so quick and easy, it felt almost anti-climatic after their battle with Maven and her elites.


    Those cultivators had been damn strong and had put up stiff resistance, while these troops were little more than spell fodder. Even their officers couldnt stand up to more than a blow or two before falling.


    And they werent even using their new weapons and armor, as they were saving those as a bit of a trump card for their attack in the guilds.


    Aster could have killed her way through the army alone if she had wanted to, if she was using the boosts from their new gear.


    Thankfully, the enemies were republic fighters, so they surrendered when it was clear that there was nothing they could do to stand in their way.


    It was there that Matt really understood why Duke Waters disdained to fight at his own Tier. When most people were so much weaker than you that ending their lives took no more thought than killing a fly, it was hardly exciting to do so. It was just bullying the weak, and none of them could be bothered with that.


    Once they relieved the siege of Aenixar, they reentered chaotic space and waited for the other half of Team Zero to meet back up with them.


    To keep up the deception that it was Joy teleporting around the Empire with her ship instead of it being Allie and her Talent, the teleporter in question would be joining them just long enough to jump them into guild territory, then returning back to Empire space.


    Allie sauntered onto their ship then flopped onto a couch. Are you all ready?


    Joyughed from her cockpit. Are you?


    I was born ready!


    Aster kicked the teleporter''s booted foot nearlying causing her to stumble. To be our taxi?


    Allies mood instantly turned sour and she tried to stab Aster, just to catch a face full of ice. Once she cleared her face of the ice, she grumbled, Bunch ofedians around here.


    With a lurch, Matt felt their ship chance teleport, and the moment that happened, Allie popped to her feet.


    Well, have fun with the Guildies. Donte home wearing a cape, or I will judge you. I


    Aster interrupted Allie once again, You have a cloak, whatss the difference between a cloak and a cape?


    Allie clenchedher heart and fell back like she was having a heart attack. Betrayed b but before she hit the couch, she vanished.


    Aster whooped, <em>And</em> I got thest word in! Sess!


    Matt shook his head and stepped away from his bond, expecting some prank toe down on her, but when nothing happened, he was even more impressed.


    Tapping into the ship''s sensors, Matt scanned the areas around them and got his bearings to their new location. Allie had <em>only</em> teleported clear across the Empire and five worlds into the Guilds territory in a matter of seconds. It should have taken them close to a year to cover that much distance if they needed to fly manually, but she had managed it without any real strain.


    Sometimes, Matt wished he had her Talent rather than his own.


    That level of utility was just insane.


    It still took them another week of flying to reach their appointed meeting point, but they all used that time to work on their own personal projects.


    Liz spent most of her time poking at her garden orb while Aster worked on her bloodline, as she intended to make the jump from winter to aurora in theing days, while Matt was pulled into a project with Dena.


    She wanted to find a way to integrate small mana stones into her wrap coverings and had enlisted Matt to help since Ai wasnt there.


    Matt hade to ept that he wasnt a fantastic enchanter, but he was decent enough to help create small but slightly unstable mana stones that could be wrapped up in the cloth wraps that Dena preferred. Ai probably could have actually merged the idea into Denas wraps, but Matt wasnt nearly so confident to touch the highly specialized cloth that was her armor. If he messed up, she would be weakened for the oing fights.


    It was still a fun project, and spending the time with Dena and Eric was worth it on its own. And in the end, they did figure something out. Dena could flick small half a million mana stones at the enemies which would explode on impact.


    Shed need the craftsman at Firmament to make a scaled-up version, but if things worked out as they wanted, it would give her a little extra utility.


    They had mostly finished up when Joy called from the cockpit, Time to perk up boys and girls. We have arrived at our destination.


    Matt tapped into the feeds to watch as they neared an ember in chaotic space before they slipped into real space.


    He didnt know what he expected, but a perfectly normal-looking system with a yellow star and standard was a bit of a letdown.


    They weren''t here on a sightseeing expectation, but he had still expected something more from his first visit to another Great Power.


    From the little sigh Aster let out, she felt the same way.


    There was only a single man waiting for them. His armor looked like cloth, or maybetex, but Matts [AI] identified him as Quicksilver, which made him one of the Guilds strongest peak elites at their Tier.


    The man seemed to split into six as he shook all of their hands. Nice to meet you.


    Matt whistled at the show of power as he looked off to the side, where there didnt seem to be anyone. The man hadnt created clones of himself, he had simply been moving so fast that even Matt couldnt see the blurs of his movement with his vision. He was only just able to catch the mans movements with his spiritual perception, and through it, he noticed that the real Quicksilver was positioned a few feet away from them.


    The hand he shook didnt even feel wrong.


    That thought tempted Matt to re his Intent and see if he could lock the man down, but that would be an awful idea.


    From the grin Aster shot him, he knew she felt his idle thought, and from her projected thought of freezing the hand engaged with her own, she had a simr thought.


    Thankfully, Quicksilver dropped the act before it grew annoying and appeared where he really was, standing off a few feet to the side. Sorry, it''s so rare that I get to meet new people who dont already know of the trick. Im impressed you all picked up on my real spot though. Few do.


    Matt smiled in return while Liz asked, I assume that you are acting as our liaison for this mission?


    That is correct. You are a little early, so while we can just go to the headquarters and sit around, I figured it would be far more interesting to show you guys around the below.


    Joy shook her head. Count me out. I appreciate the offer, but just point me in the direction of where your pilots hang out. I spent a deployment on a Guild border, so nothing of this is new to me.


    Quicksilver must have expected that, because he tossed Joy a small coin. That will let you tap into the local AIwork. As long as you stick to the green areas, you can go anywhere you want.


    Joy fingered the coin even as she turned and walked away, waving her thanks. That was a little more antisocial than Joy usually was, but he expected she wanted to pick the brains of the other pilots. The woman lived for her ship and ships in general.


    Quicksilver looked around to the rest of them, and when none of them raised any objections to seeing the below, he led them to a teleportation formation. When they appeared on the surface, Matt let his spiritual perception spread.


    He was initially worried the city was under attack, but seeing Quicksilver didnt even flinch at the disys, Matt just watched.


    The city itself seemed fairly simr to the Empire. This was a Tier 22, so spatial expansion was used fairly extensively, but it wasnt any more aggressive than what the Empire used. He didnt recognize some of the shops, but most things, like armor and weapon shops, were standard enough that he had little issue recognizing them. It took him a little longer to realize that the building with arge vault containing slips of paper inside was a bank. Why they had that much physical currency, he didnt know, but he saw at least two of the banks being robbed across the city.


    And that was thergest difference between an Empire city and a Guild one, as far as he saw.


    People were actively fighting each other all across the city. That would have never happened in an Empire city. As he watched, Matt almost thought it was an borate y, as everyone seemed to avoid killing each other. More importantly, they took special care to avoid the civilians, but the injuries they were taking seemed real enough. That, and while the civilians werent being harmed, some of them seemed seriously annoyed by it all and cursed both sides of the fighters.


    Quicksilver chuckled at their expressions. Ahh, that''s perfect. Sorry, but everyone always has that reaction. This is part of our Path equivalent.


    Matt had to check the trantion software but it hadnt misstranted Quicksilver''s words.


    So you guys just fight each other in a city? I dont get it. Eric asked the question they were all thinking.


    Quicksilver chuckled. They are heroes and viins fighting it out for the hearts of the people, for fame, for clout, for power, for riches, for a million and one reasons. But yes. Our version of The Path isnt so limited as yours. Let me back things up a bit, though. Our Path has people choose a side and then join a city where they fight for control. This is a Tier 6 through 10 city, which indicates the Tiers of anyone participating. You must choose a side first, heroes and viins are thergest two though there are always independents, or Grays, as we sometimes call them and then you fight each other for control of the cities. Viins steal resources which they can use to advance themselves while Heroes work to stop the viins, and if they are sessful, they can take a portion of the goods for themselves. All of those actions earn the faction points. At the end of the month, the rifts around and in the city are distributed to the factions who give out rift slots to those who earned their side the most points. That''s the basis of our Path. It''s verybat-heavy, but those who do well earn fame and riches.


    Quicksilver gestured out to the left, and Matt focused on the group of people who were fighting a few streets over. Do you see the small golden emblem on the girl in ck suit? That means she is still a Hero candidate. That means she needs to source all her resources herself, simr to your own Path. If or when she falls off, she can trade that emblem for a silver one to show she was a Hero.


    Matt knew that system from the crafters on the Path of Ascension.


    Dena nodded along before asking, And the ck emblems mean they arent on the Hero''s path or whatever? How does that work?


    Quicksilver flexed his spiritual perception, which they all felt, and focused on the ck emblem. The ck emblem means exactly that. They can participate, fight with the Heros and Villians, and do everything they can. They can and do get sponsored bypanies, their families, Guilds, or any number of outsiders. It ensures there are always people for those still advancing as Heroes to fight. You must know how empty the brackets get after Tier 15.


    Morgan gestured to the other side, where a group was robbing a manufacturingpany a few streets away. What about the viins? They seem more disruptive than anything else. Why tolerate them at all?


    Quicksilver chuckled. That''s amon question, but ask yourself, are people uniformly good? Are all people trying to help others? No, of course not. Besides, how can you have a hero without a viin? Darkness is nothing without light, and light means nothing if there is no darkness. You need contrast and conflict for growth. I was a viin when I was in the games.


    That surprised Matt and Quicksilver chuckled at their expressions. I was a small child who was a little too hyper and not very socially aware. That got me bullied. It should have stopped there, but things escted when there was a wanna-be hero who saw me as a wanna-be viin. He painted me as worse than I was and then tormented me with everyone''s approval, simply wanting to be liked by someone they thought would be a great hero. I tried to deny it, but few viins admit they want to be a viin, especially at that age. When they didnt listen I started reacting, sometimes violently, but that only made me seem even more like a wanna be viin, which proved his point. It wasnt helped by the fact he kept escting things any chance he got, and when we <em>were</em> given the opportunity to join the games, we both did as everyone expected. And so, I became what they expected of me. A Villian. He became a Hero, and people loved him for it.


    Matt felt like another shoe was about to drop and waited. Quicksilver didnt seem bitter anymore, and Matt had seen the socially awkward kid get pushed out of social circles at the orphanage. He hadnt been one to do it, but he had seen it.


    Eventually, he showed his true side when he captured a Villian, <em>Her</em>atio, and he skinned her alive. He saw nothing wrong with it because she was bad and he was good; therefore, anything he did was justified.


    Quicksilver raised his hands as if expecting them to object, which Matt was about to do. When that came to light, the higher-ups came down on him like a ton of bricks, but it proves my point. All who wear white arent good people, and those who wear ck might not be evil. About fifteen percent of Viins are just on that side because it''s fun to be bad in a controlled way. As long as they follow the rules, no one will punish them for knocking over a bank or doing other such things. Frankly it''s a great stress relief for kids like me, who just needed a bit more time to grow up and an environment where we could burn off some of the resentment we built up. I mean shit, I wouldnt like young me that much, but that kind of realization onlyes with age and experience.


    Aster leaned forward to peer around Liz and asked, What about the civilians? Arent they bothered by all of this?


    Matt expected Quicksilver to deny it, but he agreed with Aster. They definitely are, but they signed up for this. Only a few cities on a are given over to the games, and civilians flock here thanks to the economic opportunities here. Look around, and you will notice nobody is under the age of twelve. Like your own Path, it''s opt in.


    Morgan cocked her head at that. You''ve said that a few times now. Have you been to the Empire before?


    Quicksilverughed. Exactly right. I spent a century making my way through the Empire when I reached Tier 15. It was part of my guilds training exchange program. It was a good time, and was part of the reason Im personally doing introductions. I understand Empire culture pretty well, and I wont get offended if you ask questions that might be taboo.


    Mattughed slightly and asked what he thought might be of one of those questions. Do you guys stop the viins or grays from winning back to back or too often if they are on a winning streak that doesn''t seem able to be defeated? You know, to keep the idea that good always triumphs alive in the watcher and civilians?


    Quicksilver denied that with a shake of his head. Maybe some guilds who oversee a city do that, but Ive never heard of it. In fact a city fallingpletely to one side makes it a prime target for reconquest for the other cities. It makes for a great show, siege, and points. Frankly, everyone loves when it happens, as we haven''t seen a city locked down like that since thest true, Hero One Step Behind, rose to fame. Though, he was a gray who always yed for whichever side was weaker in whatever city he was in, so it didn''t happen often. But every once in a while, he would just crush everyone and stand undefeated to remind everyone who was really in charge.


    Aster leaned forward and asked a way better question. What about bonds at low Tiers? I know I was still pretty aggressive when it came to fighting and would have happily killed anyone I saw as a threat or hated. I remember wanting to kill most fire based beasts even out of a fight, but <em>during</em> a fight there was little holding me back. Seems dangerous.


    Fun question. Generally, cors that can freeze a bond are worn until they get enough mental faculties that they can control themselves. The cors don''t hurt them but can make them go limp for a moment, which is usually enough for them to wake up out of any bloodlust they might be in. if they go in for the kill a second time, they just get sent into dreand.


    They spent a few more hours walking through the city and seeing the sights, but all of their attention was drawn to the constant battles between capes, as seemed to be the catch-all term for the viins, heroes, and neutrals.


    After all, the city was massive and there was <em>always</em> something going on.


    Watching low Tiers fight should have been boring, but Matt was incredibly entertained. Everyone here was low Tier, but it was fun to see people return to the basics and see those with an early Concept running around like gods until they ran into arger group, and were forcefully reminded that a Concept was just a portion of one''s power.


    They even started betting on which side would do better, which made Quicksilverugh, as that was amon habit of spectators both foreign and domestic. Betting made one feel like they were part of the game and got people far more invested.


    Sadly, their sightseeing onlysted two days before they were brought back to the moon, where they got their debriefing.


    There was still a war ongoing.


    Maybe they could sightsee after the war, but first they needed to end the war for that to be a possibility.

 Chapter 297

    Chapter 297


    Matt and the others followed Mercury into the briefing room on the moon. As they entered, Matt immediately spotted Joy sitting near the back with her feet kicked up on another chair. She was chatting with two other Guildies who wore skin-tight, orange pilot outfits, and turned and waved to them as they entered.


    Matt hadnt expected her to get kidnapped or anything so dramatic while they were in friendly space, but Joy had the weakest personal power in their team, so it was up to the rest of them to make sure she was safe. With that taken care of, he inspected the rest of the room to see what they were dealing with.


    It was simr to what he expected from his own briefings, there were a number of more important looking people going over various bits of information with their AI before the briefing while aides flitted in and out, but the particrs were different.


    Instead of the leadership only wearing the subdued army uniforms he had seen the general troopers wearing, there were a number of caped crusaders in their hero outfits. That at least allowed Matt to identify who they were, and he was slightly surprised by the entourage they had in front of them.


    All of the capes were retired heroes who had been famous in their own time before they stepped back from the battlefields for various reasons.


    Matt was almost ttered they thought so highly of them, until he realized that as a Great Power without an active Ascender of their own, they were probably trying their best to not get overawed by them.


    While his team wasnt the type to throw their weight around, he could see others doing exactly that if they were given a mission they didnt like.


    Offering the closest seats, Mercury indicated they should sit in and wait for the briefing to start. It didnt take long, and Matt listened as the Guild generals went over the high level information about the Federation shipyard.


    Most of the initial information was a repeat of the briefing that General Darrow had given them, but the Guild general who was doing the talking started to bring up far more secretive information.


    Thanks to Agent Gloomwood, he indicated a woman who had the utterly nondescript look of a professional spy, We have been able to acquire more detailed information about the yard. And more importantly, about the defenses stationed there.


    Spots on the massive, rotating ring highlighted themselves. In preparation for the war, the Federation has installed new defensive cannons throughout. They have a faster cycling time, a higher damage output, and are more robust than the previous models. In return for those advantages, they are expensive to make and to run, so you should target them in the initial attack.


    Liz raised a finger, and the general nodded to her. Do you not want them intact?


    The general blinked at Liz for a moment before shaking his head. Not particrly. Thanks to Agent Gloomwood we have the blueprints of this design, so getting our hands on a working model isn''t a high priority. That said, if you can take the base without doing too much damage to them, that would be an advantage, as we wish to upy this system for as long as possible. We dont expect to hold the system forever, but if you look at the connections between systems, the shipyard acts as a nexus node for at least a dozen of our besieged systems. While removing a shipyard and destroying the ships under repair and construction will relieve a great deal of pressure, our main goal is to dislodge a number of sieges to reestablish our battlefront in a more favorable position. I


    A dusky orange skinned woman in a silver outfit interrupted him with an exasperated sigh. How long do you think you can hold the system? That is the crux of the issue. We need at least a week, but two would be best. So we need to know what you need to do that.


    Matt had already flicked through the provided information and had his [AI] run a number of calctions so he actually had an answer. That depends on how much the Federation is able and willing to throw at the system. If they have five Tier 28 armies sitting one jump away, were going to struggle. But if nothing like that happens, we should be able to handle a week, even two, without issue.


    The cape looked to the agent, and Matt followed her gaze.


    Agent Gloomwood shook her head. I was in the area just two weeks ago, and as of then, there was only the Fifth reserve in the Tier 26 range. There are a number of lower Tier armies in the area but She shrugged after trailing off.


    How many people do you need to hold the system?


    Matt shrugged, but Aster answered. The seven of us should be more than enough to handle the mission as stated.


    The cape opened her mouth to speak, but the general was faster. Do you not need support personnel to assist and help hold the nks? We have a battalion of lower elites on standby to assist.


    Lizughed as she said, If we need more bodies, I can handle that. Use your people to assist with the other missions. They will just get in the way if theye with us.


    The cape pursed her lips at that, clearly not liking thement, but she said nothing. In the end, Mercury spoke up with a smile that Matt was surprised didnt seem forced. I think I should go with you for some added support. Im pretty damn durable, so I shouldnt get in your way.


    Matt wanted to decline, but knew that they would need to bring a handler along no matter what, and Mercury was a pleasant enough fellow that he had no issue with him. It didnt hurt that his reputation preceded him. Mercury was a durable speedster who lived by the motto that the fastest way between two points was a straight line, regardless of whatever was between those two points.


    When none of them rejected the offer, the general and the cape who seemed to be in charge looked at each other before agreeing.


    Matt thought that was the end of it, when one of the capes who hadnt spoken before chimed in.


    Take Agent Gloomwood. You may find some use for her, even if you so casually dismiss the rest of us.


    His words were like a building falling down with how they rumbled in the world itself, and they effortlessly dered that was the final decision for this discussion.


    Matt turned his gaze to the man who had just spoken and caught his eyes, wanting to see who had that level of power and influence. The man seemed like any perfectly normal middle aged man you could find on any mortal world, with the sole exception of his gaze. He looked back at Matt with a t expression that reminded him of Luna. There was an air of intolerance to bullshit, and his t expression said that he expected to receive blowback.


    Matt just blinked back at him. We are here to assist however we can. If you mistook Torchsment as belittling your peoples prowess, we meant no such thing. It''s just that we can fight better without the need to worry about friendlies, and so those assets are best used elsewhere.


    The tension in the room seemed to rise for a moment before the man nodded, and everything went back to normal.


    Mercury bounced on his toes as he looked to Joy, who hadnt left her corner of the room. nnings done, lets go then. No time like the present.


    Joys boots pped on the ground a little louder than was strictly polite, but no one seemed to mind as she nodded. Im ready if you guys are.


    Matt expected there to only be the two new upants, but two generals and several aids came with them as well. They made it clear they would be staying in the safety of the ship, and were just there for overallmand and control, which Matt supposed was reasonable.


    It did make the two weeks of travel in their ship a little cramped, but it wasnt so bad that Matt was bothered.


    He, Liz, Dena, Eric, and Morgan mostly hung out with Mercury, who was more than happy to chat with them about anything and everything.


    Agent Gloomwood, on the other hand, had gravitated towards Aster on ount of being a bond. Or, a former bond on her part. The woman exined that her bond had been a hero in training who died in Minka on their delve, leaving her adrift for a while until she joined the Guilds armies, where she used her spider form and Talents for the purpose of spying.


    It was a tragic story, and sadly, it was far from unique. While they had escaped the clutches of the bronze and copper intact, so many others never did. That made him think about Ethan and Eleanor and their uing Minka journey.


    It took a little math juggling between real and subjective time, but Matt knew they would be entering soon. In a few months in fact, if the cycle followed its normal pattern. He wished them the best, but knew that he couldnt protect them forever, even if he wanted to remind them they didnt need to enter the. Seeing Agent Gloomwood, with her other half ripped from her while inside the, made Matt hope the cousins could make it out safely.


    Thankfully, he had something to distract him from such powerless thoughts.


    Wars were good for that, if nothing else.


    Having chatted with Mercury, Matt was able to n around his skills easily enough, and had a number of opening moves based on the most likely scenarios they would face in the system.


    As they approached the firefly of light that was the star system in chaotic space, Matt watched the readouts scream as they were picked up on active sensors.


    Watching his AI and its countdown, Matt charged up a full powered [Breach] and held it.


    The moment they entered real space, Matt oriented himself and let the spell fly.


    With all the boosts from his armor, the spell was so strong, it shoved the ship a dozen feet to the side before Drifter was able to reassert control over its flight path.


    Matt ignored herining shouts while watching his spell fly.


    Not a perfect shot, but close enough to get the job done.


    Looking to Mercury, he received a grin as the man''s cybeics flexed, expanding and interfacing with armor covering his still-biological parts. Liz and Aster stood to the side in their new armor, just as ready for the fight as Matt was.


    Even Bolt was wearing armor that Matt hadnt seen before.


    Normally the crossbow wielder preferred to sit in the backline, but her current armor was built for a more close rangebat style.


    Ideally, shed be sticking with Aster and a few Liz clones, but she needed to be prepared for solobat in an operation thisrge.


    Summoning his new de from his armors internal storage, Matt looked at its ck surface. It was as dark as his ck hole, and that was no coincidence.


    This was going to be fun.


    Getting a good look at the shipyard, he was impressed with what he saw. It was an enormous tube consisting of dozens of rotating rings, each over a hundred miles wide, with thousands of ships in docks where they were being repaired from battle damage.


    His offer of surrender was ignored, but that was to be expected this early in a battle. Even an Ascender could be worn down, and they did have the defenders advantage, even if they werent in a proper fortress world.


    The shipyard was already in the midst of an evacuation, having received the news they were heading here just moments ago. Any ships that were chaotic space capable were breaking away from their moorings, regardless of the damage they did to the station.


    The shipyard''s personnel mirrored those actions, but instead of fleeing to chaotic space, they flew to the inhabited.


    They would allow thetter, but the former was futile.


    None of them had any issue with the workers escaping while they could. They legally might be able to kill them, but no one on Team Zero was so bloodthirsty.


    As Drifters ship approached, the shipyard disgorged hundreds of fighter craft to take them down.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition.


    Matt began funneling mana towards Drifter and her ship, and the results were immediate. Their ship spit out a deluge of fire and k cannon shots to tear through lines of the enemy fighters, while dodging most of the return fire from the lighter craft. With the energy Matt was able to remotely give her, the ship was thrumming with spells for reinforcement and power.


    Matt heard cackling from the cockpit.


    Jumping out from a hatch, Mercury crouched on the side of the ship beforeunching himself at the shipyard, pumping his legs as he flew. With each step on the silver tforms that appeared beneath his feet, he moved faster and faster until Matt was barely able to see him, his form a blur of motion.


    Then, like a bolt loosed from Morgan''s crossbow, the man just vanished. Matt had to redirect a fair bit more attention and mana to enhancing his processing speed before he could track Mercury as he ran straight <em>through</em> several of the fighters. Metal dented and deformed, then exploded as the man barreled in one end and out the back, emerging unscathed before moving on to the next.


    Even with shields active, Mercury could punch through them with enough speed remaining to kill the pilot before they could respond. When he approached a battleship, however, their shields activated and Matt felt space harden around them.


    Mercury slowed down for an instant as his usual method of increasing his speed was disrupted, but his legs simply pumped faster and the man returned to his previous blur. He bounced off the shield for the battleship, but proceeded to simply jet off to eliminate more of the fighters. A general spatial lock might work for some speedsters, but the best of them werent so easy to shut down.


    Just as Matts [Breach] was nearing the shipyard, the new cannons that the Guild generals talked about opened up on them, and Matt rushed from the ship to meet them. Dozens of spellsnced out, promising a swift end to anyone who couldnt get out of the way.


    But Matt wasnt really built for dodging.


    Summoning a [Bulwark] as big as Drifters ship, he immediately set on reinforcing it with everything he had, and the shield began thickening and crystallizing as he focused on it. Just before the cannon fire met them, he red his Intent to draw in any shots designed to fly around nar shields, and he was rewarded as a number of projectiles altered course to impact his barrier.


    The projectiles smashed into his shield with a crash that would have been deafening inside an atmosphere, but he was too focused on maintaining his spell. Cracks shot through the shield and shards splintered off, but after a few moments of bombardment, his spell had held.


    Now it was his turn.


    Hefting the specially made sword, he poured energy into it, not just from his regeneration, but from mana crystals he had stored over the course of days. Millions of mana appeared and was consumed in moments, funneled into this siege weapon of a sword.


    With the sword that had faded into a matte gray now glowing white from barely contained energy, he swept the weapon in front of him, conjuring a mile wide crescent of energy that raced towards the shields of the shipyard.


    The spell quickly overtook [Breach], and mmed into the shields of the shipyard, causing them to turn opaque for a moment and reveal the hexagonal design of the encircling shield. Before the formations couldpensate, his [Breach] mmed into the same section of the shield, and cracked the mile-wide barrier like an egg.


    The shield quickly recovered, but that brief moment was all they needed, and they had already slipped in.


    The moment they were inside the defenses, they came under a hail of spells. Matt simply cast a crystalized [Bulwark], blocking most of the attacks before they did any damage, and waited for the initial volley of attacks to fade. Aster and Bolt quickly came out of the ship and began forming a hardpoint of ice in the middle of the shipyard, creating walls and other defenses that could act as a point to retreat to if any of them were injured, as well as providing a safe point for Bolt to shoot from.


    As they waited, Matt inspected the defenders and quickly identified the three different groups. The first were d in heavy armor that looked like it had never seen battle. Matt pegged them as the shipyard''s defensiveplement.


    The second group couldnt be more different than the first if they tried, as they seemed like they would drop their weapons if Matt looked at them too hard. What little armor they did have was a motley assortment of items, all of which had obvious signs of poor maintenance. He pegged them as conscripts from the docked ships, or possibly shipyard support personnel. Either way, they were just there to make up the numbers.


    The third group was the one Matt paid the most attention to.


    Their armor was simr to the first groups, but where the shipyard defenders armor were clean and polished, these soldiers'' armor was worn and had obvious battle scars despite being well maintained. These were veterans of a hundred battles, and Matt knew they would be their hardest opponents.


    Pointing his left hand, he cast a burst of [Mana Beam] and swept it through the ranks of the defenders.


    The shipyard''s personnel shields blocked most of the damage, but a few of the projectors failed, killing those that were hiding behind them, and causing some of the conscripts to flee.


    Matt smiled at that until he saw those that he identified as the shipyard personnel firing at the fastest of the fleeing defectors. He had heard of the Sects never surrendering, but he hadnt expected to see the Federation firing on their own people like that.


    He wanted to say it was callous, but when the next projector broke under [Mana Beam], not even a single conscript fled. It may have been callous, but it was effective.


    The third projector held for long moments as Matt fired on it, with two women behind it doing something to reinforce the shield enough to withstand his attack. With Asters miniature fortress seemingly stable enough to stand on its own, Matt dropped his spells and drew his sword again as he charged into the fray. That was the cue to move into melee, and Stick and Stone followed on his heels, even as they blocked shots from the defenders.


    They had a gift to deliver.


    As Matt closed in with the first group of conscripts, he shattered the shield with a sh of his once more ck de. The sword cut through the shield with almost no resistance, allowing him to slip inside and start a ughter.


    Blood floated in space and tried to cling to his armor, but instead of dispersing, it started to converge.


    Matt felt a little bad about using the obviously weaker conscripts as nothing more than blood bags for Liz to create clones off of, but he knew there was little choice. If their own side wouldnt allow them to run away, there was nothing he could do to spare them until the regrs and veterans were dead. It just felt wrong to kill those so much weaker than him.


    But he did it.


    Matt might not like it, but this was the reality of war.


    Kill or be killed.


    Darting forward, his armor propelled him through the first defender in an explosion of blood and metal as their shield crumpled. Power flooded through Matts limbs, and in moments another group of conscripts died.


    The rest of the blood Liz had given him was also deposited just as the first group of Lizzes had fully formed and armored up.


    Her armor was reminiscent of scalemail,posed of ovepping silver and crimson feathers covering her entire bodies. Her helmets were simr, but far more rigid as the feathersprising it actually fused together. In her right hands, feathers and blood mixed together and formed themselves into a spear with a wickedly sharp feather-de at the tip..


    Liz hadnt lied when she said they didnt need an army. With their new upgrades, her clones were even more potent, though the reserved costs of all the spells reduced how many clones she could maintain at a time.


    They werent perfect, but Liz was able to work around the constraint well enough, and they were hoping those limitations would be fixed in the future.


    With the Lizzes about to start a massacre, Matt threw himself into the waiting arms of the closest veterans he saw.


    They stood their ground like the conscripts had, but instead of falling apart under a single blow, they parted around Matts initial charge and then surrounded him, letting des and spells fall on him from every direction.


    It was a good n. Surround and overwhelm was a tactic that worked on most people, but that was the crux of the issue. Matt wasnt most people.


    Spinning, he shed out with his ck de, cutting spells apart and responding with his own. Lightning and fire shed as he cleaved through soldier after soldier, leaving a bloody wake as he advanced.


    His new armor, whenbined with [Cracked Phantom Armor], was more than enough to protect him from the few attacks that managed tond. Each step was magnified, every blow struck like a hammer, and the people he was fighting had no response, no way they could save themselves from his onught.


    When he was designing his new de, he had considered his strengths, how best to amplify them, and how to make a sword that was truly <em>his</em>. What he ended up with was somewhat simr to his prior sword, which he had always thought meshed well with a flexible skillset.


    In the first form, his de was ck as obsidian, and twice as sharp. A mage-killers de, itrgely focused on spell disruption and durability, capable of slicing through spells and enchantments with startling ease. The ability to entirely disrupt lesser enchantments let it cut through reinforced shields and armor like they were made of paper, at least whenbined with his own physical strength, and hosts of spells failed outright when he shed through them. It was physically durable to match his own strength when boosted with his armor, meaning he could cut through Tier 27 shields without risking the de snapping.


    With a thought, he could swap the sword to its matte gray form, which focused entirely on being a spellcasting focus. While it served as a general amplification for all his external spells, an impressive feat of enchanting to begin with, it could additionally overcharge many of his spells to an enormous degree, though with an equally enormous cost. Internal mana capacitors stored in folded space could hold huge amounts of power for a few brief moments before unleashing that power into a devastating strike, as he had done moments ago.


    It was a powerful ability, but not without its costs. Using the sword to cast an artillery spell like that had dangerously stressed parts of the enchantment, and it would take time, mana, and effort to get it back to pristine condition. Additionally, the de was more fragile in this form, which he couldpensate for in various ways, but was something to keep in mind. If he was careless, he could severely damage his new de from either overloading the enchantments or blocking a strong hit.


    Even with that limitation, the de was better than the secondhand gear he had been using. Harper''s de had been great, but it was ultimately a de made for use with a single spell and for apletely different fighting style and physical build. So while he could use it, even use it well, there was always a disconnect. Unlike with this de that was made to be one with him.


    The final idea of the de was integrating his Domain into the de to amplify its powers even further, but they first needed to work out the bugs in its base form.


    As his de turned gray, he saw the dawning horror on the veterans faces as they expected to be annihted with another artillery spell, but they greatly underestimated the amount of mana and effort that took.


    Instead, he cast two quick [Mana sh]es and finished the survivors off himself in melee range.


    Matt didnt even have to bother with blocking, as his armorbined with [Cracked Phantom Armor] so smoothly, and they amplified each other''s power so well, he could entirely ignore many attacks from most normal soldiers.


    Above him, Aster cast dozens of spells which mmed down across the battlefield and wiped out squads left and right, while Bolts constructs let loose torrents of attacks as the woman herself carefully chose her targets and eliminated anyone who was trying to rally the defenders.


    A squad of Lizzes ran past him and plunged into the few remaining pockets of resistance that were able to weather the storm Aster and Bolt were raining down.


    Flinging himself forward, Mattnded next to Stick and Stone and joined them in battering down a defensive station that a number of defenders were using as cover. They had already destroyed the positions cannons, but the defenders knew that if the duo got inside the bunker, they were dead. So they fought with fervor given by that knowledge, not allowing them even the smallest opening to exploit.


    Matt ignored the door, red his armor, and punched through the wall.


    Spells mmed into him from behind as other positions fired on him, trying to save theirrades, but he didnt let that stop him.


    With his arm shoved through the wall, he filled the room with [Dragonme], which would soon burn out any resistance. Someone who had been close to the wall tried to cut out at his arm before he could kill everyone, but he used his new Natural Treasure to extend his hand towards the persons throat, quickly crushing their neck before continuing on with his incineration.


    Beside him, dozens of Lizzes ran rampant while Aster and Bolt fired from above, Stick and Stone fought their way through a group of veterans all while Mercury punched his way through the fleeing ships.


    They might have ignored his first offer of surrender, but he thought they would ept his second.


    He gave the defenders a way out by broadcasting another offer of surrender, but his message was instantly rejected.


    Tracing the rejection, Matt looked up to the central pir that was holding the space station together.


    The leadership not on the battlefield had rejected the offer, which didnt really surprise Matt, but what baffled him more was those who looked like they were willing to drop their weapons instead throwing themselves into battle with even more zeal, rather than falling into despair.


    Well, there was an easy solution for that.


    Tracing the message and locating where he expected the Federation leadership to be, Matt checked that the nearby area was clear before he started charging his spells. [Cracked Reinforce Stone], or as he had dubbed it since he absorbed and upgraded it, [Reinforce Mana]bined with [Hypersonic Edge] and empowered [Arcane Powershot] to new heights, even as he strained his mana control to keep the spells from backfiring on him.


    Matt very much was not an archer, but it wasnt terribly difficult to hit arge, static target that would hopefully detonate from a ncing hit.


    As he released, the spell flew out to obliterate the central pir like it was made of ss. The shipyard''s central pirs werent meant to handle battlefield conditions, and hiding in one was a sign of desperation and bad judgment.


    Turning back to the defenders, Matt felt the change in the battle.


    Matt once more sent out an offer for surrender, but he added one final caveat.


    There would be no fourth offer.


    ***


    General Casos blinked as she watched the Ascenders.


    She had fought in a dozen wars through her career, but there was something visceral in seeing the sheer brutality of such forces of nature cutting their way through an army single handedly.


    Mercury was good. Very good. But she had seen One Step Behind in his heyday and so knew what a true Hero was like in battle.


    It was like that.


    Cutting into a defended position and being so strong you forced the defenders to surrender before more than five percent of them were dead.


    It was a deration.


    Resistance was futile and only led to death.


    Looking to her aides, she made sure they were gathering as much information as possible. They were, and they looked sick.


    Through a private link entirely created by her Talent, she asked, What are your projections? Do they align with the earlier reports?


    Jas almost shook her head, but caught herself before she made such an obvious tell. The Empire knew they would be watching and analyzing the newest Ascenders, but they were still allies, and it was best to keep the pretense of civility.


    One needed to know their allies better than their enemies, and General Casos knew that part of this mission was the Empire showing they were still a valuable ally, despite them dragging the Guilds into a war.


    No. The projections about Ascender Scoop were the closest, with only a fifteen percent deviation, but Ascender Torch doesn''t seem to lose as much power with her clones as we suspected. We dont know if it''s a new item, or a development of her Talent or Domain, but her clones can go from weak to strong in a moment. And Ascender Qui Jas swallowed before continuing. Hes visibly absorbing mana stones, not enough to really exin how much hes doing, but beyond that, we cant understand how he throws that much mana around without destabilizing his spirit or having his spells fall out of control. It doesnt match any of our frameworks.


    General Casos mentally shook her head. They are Ascenders. The impossible is their normal. Just keep recording the anomalies.


    She kept a stoic front for her subordinates, but internally, she wondered just how the higher ups would receive this report.


    How would seven Tier 25s defend against theing armies?


    Could they?


    If they could, how long could they hold on?


    General Casos just hoped it would be long enough, as if it was, the frontlines could be pushed back to a more sustainable position. This war had already shown itself to be more brutal than most, and even she could tell that it hadnt even reached the midpoint yet.

 Chapter 298

    Chapter 298


    Captain Elkdren jogged alongside his men as they went through the start of an exercise routine. His unit, like all stationed here, had taken serious losses and damage on the frontlines and were being given time for rest and recovery. They needed to be in top condition when they reentered the war. Elkdren was just happy his people were only in the horrifically wounded category, as while they had needed months of healing, none of them had died on theirst assault. A fortune few other units had.


    They were all Tier 26s and now in perfect shape thanks to the healing, but today was the day for their yearly serum dose, so the exercise was preparation threefold.


    Firstly, the serums were better ingested into the body if the body was warm and ready to absorb blood and energy to repair itself. It seeped into the muscles and tendons, giving a better effect per serum dose if taken warm.


    Secondly, and while no one would admit it to anyone but themselves, the serums hurt less if the body was already energized and primed to take in energy. None of them feared pain as the warriors of the Federation, but taking a serum cold was like pumping cold honey into your veins.


    A warrior only needed to experience that once in their life to vow to never take their physical augment serums cold again.


    Thirdly, from the moment they entered the Federation army as warriors they had only been given their serums after being pushed to their physical limits for the above reasons, and such a tradition and habit was hard to shake. It wouldnt feel right if they didnt work out beforehand.


    Captain Elkdren even had a good n for this warm-up.


    Captain Keslers unit was also up for their serums, and so they had decided to have a little spar between theirpanies. It was more engaging than just running through an obstacle course, and it gave everyone a chance to hone their skills a little before they cycled back to the frontlines.


    The sparring went well, and despite Captain Keslers unit earning a single victory more than them, they were all eager for the uing serums.


    Elkdrens usually well-disciplined troopers fidgeted, some of them going as far as rocking back and forth on their feet, but even he could feel the tingle of anticipation of the serum in his fingers. He just had the discipline to keep his hands in a rxed position, sped behind his back.


    The serums werent addicting in and of themselves. There were dozens of tests on the subject, but what loyal warrior of the Federation didnt desire, yearn, and <em>crave</em> to grow stronger and retake the glory that was rightfully theirs? All of them, of course.


    An overly attractive Makers man opened the door with a wide smile and gestured for them to enter as he went over the same information that they had heard thousands of times.


    Elkdren wanted to say he was beyond needing the repetitive information, but it was protocol, and hearing it made things feel right.


    Tradition and holding onto their past honor was how the Federation would regain its former glory, just as their past humiliation at the hands of the other Great Powers who had descended upon them was a reminder of why they needed to not only regain their former glory, but surpass it.


    Elkdren sat in the chair and returned the smile of the Maker who personally saw him. As a Tier 26 Captain, he not only got better treatment, but he also got a stronger potion, greenpared to the warriors yellow.


    As he felt the potion slide into his veins, he sighed as his muscles tensed and rxed in waves.


    It took a few minutes for the initial pain to pass, but when it did, he felt like he was even stronger than before and could take on a thousand of his past selves.


    Most of the power would fade over the course of a few weeks, but a portion of it would remain behind. While his potion was better than the average troopers, he knew that Majors, Colonels, and Generals all had better serums. He had heard rumors that there were even stronger variations that the true archwarriors had ess to.


    He had never been able to get one of the few archwarriors he had spoken to to confirm that rumor. All they ever told him was to reach their level to find out.


    Elkdren knew it was a far-fetched dream, but it was also the one he held closest to his heart.


    Stretching, he called out to his men and gathered them up to take a nice slow run back to the barracks where they could digest their new power.


    Or, that was the idea.


    They were only a dozen steps out of the Makers building and heading towards the barracks when a high priority alert went off in Elkdrens head and his carefully paced run came to a sudden halt.


    His troopers, perfectly in sync with him, came to a halt with him, knowing something was wrong and ready to react. It only took a moment for the actual orders toe in, and when he saw the provided information, he immediately spat out orders.


    Back to the barracks, top speed. Prepare for rapid deployment.


    The moment his orders left his mouth, the troops blurred as they cranked their perception to the limits and <em>moved</em>. In less than a second, they had already returned to their barracks and geared up.


    Two minutester, they were on the staging field as dozens then hundreds of otherpanies arrived.


    Elkdren linked up with the other Captains he was familiar with to ask what they knew, but they were as clueless as he was, even as he listened to his warriors asking simr questions to each other.


    He didnt know who started it, but someone said they heard from a Major that there had been an attack on a civilian and they were being mobilized to retake it. Just the idea of such an engagement set his serum warmed heart aze with fury.


    He had known the other Great Powers had never been content with just ganging up on the Federation, and must have taken the opportunity to kick them while they were down. He wondered how many of his brothers and sisters from the Community had had their lives reaped.


    Hundreds?


    Thousands?


    Millions?


    Horror washed over him and he added his voice to the chatter in the Captain''s chat about wanting vengeance, as he realized the crux of the issue while others talked about the possible death toll.


    It doesn''t matter how many died. If even one of our brothers or sisters died under the hands of the inferior invaders, Ill extract ten times that many lives from their Community in retribution.


    His words started a litoney of simr calls to arms. Not just ten times. A hundred times!


    A thousand!


    No, a million times as many. Do they think we are just pushovers who will tolerate such behavior?


    No, burn a for each life lost. Then maybe they will understand that there are consequences to their actions.


    The chat quickly devolved into a fever pitch, but it silenced when a group of Majors came out led by two Colonels and a General.


    A General Elkdren knew. General Falcon was a decorated Warrior who had only been a newlymissioned Lieutenant when her unit single handedly repelled an attacking force in the War of Great Shame.


    Everyone was silent as they waited for the legend to speak and give them their orders.


    Contrary to his expectations, she didnt immediately speak, and instead let her silver eyes roam over all the Warriors. Elkdren even had the honor of having her gaze linger on him for an instant, and he tried to stand taller despite his posture alreadying being ramrod straight.


    The General''s voice was soft but hard, like steel wrapped in velvet, when she finally spoke. Im sure you know something odd has happened. Even questioning what the other Great Powers have done. Some of you are closer than others. The main rumor I heard was that the other Great Powers attacked a. That rumor is false, but only to the first degree. The dogs of the Empire have attacked Mobile Shipyard Seven, killing indiscriminately like the rabid dogs they are.


    General Falcon paused for a long moment, letting everyone absorb that information. Word has just reached us, so the details are unclear, but our <em>objective</em> is clear. We are the closest gathering point for Warriors, and so we will be the first in Her speech was interrupted by a roar from the warriors, which caused the General to smile for a moment before she continued. We will be the first in, so we dont know much, but our mission is clear. Retake the system, dislodge the attackers, and make them pay for their indiscretions.


    Her small smile turned into granite as she said, We dont know what we will be facing, so we need to be flexible. To that end, Im giving general orders now, and it will be up to the Majors to lead the Captains assigned to their ships. Maneuver as you see fit, but our objective is as simple as it will be difficult. Defeat the enemies. No quarter given.


    The moment the order was given, the ships that lined the mustering yard lowered their hatches, and assignments were sent out through their AI.


    Elkdren barked orders to his two Lieutenants as they hustled over to their assigned ship.


    Despite the chaos of hundreds ofpanies moving across the battlefields, not a single one got in each other''s way as they moved under the Generals eyes.


    They were Federation warriors, better than such simple mistakes.


    After he got his troops settled down he met up with Major Rattle, who did his best to prepare them for their uing assault. Sadly, information was scarce, so their nning was limited. The only thing they knew for certain was that the target of the first attack had been the shipyard, and not the fortress world. The fortress world was undoubtedly already defeated by whatever upying army had been sent.


    What they debated and tried to game out was where the army would be stationed.


    They suspected it would be the fortress world, but there was always a distinct possibility that the defenders were holed up near the inhabited in the shipyard instead. While it didnt change their mission, it would change how they would attack.


    Elkdren and the others, along with Major Rattle, hoped the enemies were foolish enough to stay with the shipyard, but they doubted they would be so lucky.


    As the attackers had proven in their ambush, it had less defenses than a fortress.


    The moment they entered real space they poured out of the ship and organized themselves in theirpanies, but as Elkdren looked forward, he had no idea what he was looking at.


    Where the shipyard <em>should</em> be was a massive fortress of ice.


    It was like someone had grown an iceberg around the shipyard, as absurd as that sounded.


    Even an army of ice mages couldnt create that much ice in just a day and a half since taking the system. It was just impossible.


    Except it was in front of him.


    Elkdren would have thought it was a trick, brought in by some impossiblyrge spatial item, but he could see bits and pieces of Mobile Shipyard Seven captured inside the ice, which meant that was impossible.


    But what he was seeing was impossible, and he didnt know how to weigh two equally impossible things and decide which was true.


    Thankfully, he didnt have long to ponder, as orders came down for them to advance with shield teams leading.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    That settled him and those under hismand. Elkdren didnt know about impossible feats, but he did know how to fight. He was good at that.


    Lieutenant Marqus. Take Corporal Diana and Menendez forward to join the shield wall.


    Aye, sir.


    Elkdren watched as a wall was formed by the various defenders and smiled. They might not be a proper army that had dedicated shield walls, but they were numerous and were more than capable of creating a facsimile.


    When the wall was formed, they started flying forward and towards the impossible fortress.


    They were halfway to the fortress when it seemed toe alive.


    Where there had been hills of snow, constructs made out of mana rose up and started unleashing their spells. It was like autonomous crossbows had been given form. Their wave of spells mmed into the shields, and while a few crumpled under the onught, the deaths were few as the healers were ready to mend those wounded. After the first wave of attacks the shield stabilized, and while it forced them to slow their assault, it didnt stop the indomitable Federation spirit.


    Sergeant Sal, go relieve Diana and Menendez with your squad.


    When he got a crisp, Aye Sir, Elkdren scanned the fortress of ice.


    He had been in enough battles to sense that something was about to happen, and he wanted to cut it off if at all possible.


    There were many things wrong with this situation, but the main one was nagging at him. Where was the army that had taken the system?


    Had they really left?


    If they had, who wasmanding these spell constructs?


    Were they trying to defend the fortress itself and make them fight inside its icy corridors?


    That seemed foolish when the Federation army could just choose to hang back and st this icy fortress to bits with their overwhelming power.


    An ambush from the rear?


    That was equally impossible with their numbers. He asked Major Rattle, but he was just told to keep a steady advance.


    Elkdren didnt like that, as it meant the Major knew something and wasnt sharing it, but he had his orders.


    As they reached the quarter mark, where Elkdren could feel the cold radiating off the mountain of ice despite theck of air to transfer the cold, a figure in ck armor ented with gold stepped out of a crevasse in the ice.


    Elkdrens AI recognized the figure a moment before he did.


    yer Quill.


    Horror dawned on him and hispany as the yer pointed his left hand seemingly right at them.


    A blinding ir of lightnced out and a person-thick beam of energy reached out to reap lives. It punched right through the frontline shields of thepany next to Elkdrens and then swept to the left, away from Elkdrenspany.


    Like a sharp de through a vegetable, the beam of energy cut through Elkdrensrades regardless of their individual defense, killing indiscriminately as it went.


    Elkdren looked to where Captain Keslersmand had been apanied by Major Rattle just moments ago.


    There was nothingrger than the asional arm or leg that hadnt been in line with the beam of death.


    Except, that was proven false when Major Rattles bits and globs, all that was left of his body, rippled as he reformed, gasping in the void of space. Elkdren was about to order his warriors to protect the Major when a crossbow bolt took him in the head, and his AI signature vanished.


    Seeing Major Rattle was truly dead, Elkdren took operationalmand of hispany back. Scatter out, and dont clump up!


    It was a standard tactic to counter such a strong single point of damage. Normally it was better to gather behind shields, but when a spell could kill you through the shields, it was the height of foolishness to remain clumped up.


    Elkdren just hoped that logic applied to yers.


    Lieutenant Marqus, get our warriors back to me.


    He was only half listening as he looked for somewhere they could enter the fortress.


    Entering a hostile position fortified by ice constructed by an Ice yer sounded like the height of foolishness, but staying out in the open when there was someone using a beam spell to cut them down was certain death. The more he thought about it, the more Elkdren was certain that was the right choice. yer Scoop was known to be a beast bond, and everyone knew those animals who could only hope for human forms were weakness incarnate, and those created by rifts were even weaker.


    That meant she wasnt even a real yer.


    Better to fight in her fortress than to fight a monster like yer Quill, who simply pointed a hand and killed hundreds, even if it meant getting close to the spell constructs still firing at them.


    He wasnt the only one toe to a simr conclusion, as close to half of thepanies broke ranks and rushed forward while spreading out, until they were just feet away from the ice. There, they regrouped out of danger from the yer still above them, cutting through any groups who stayed too close to each other. It was a good thing too, as the armored figure started to engage with the units who were too slow.


    Elkdren cried out the moment his feet touched the ice as a debilitating cold tried to creep into his legs, but he red his Domain and resisted the power.


    He and his Lieutenants had to grab a few of his warriors to help them free themselves, but they managed to prevent any deaths. They were fortunate that they acted quickly, as they saw how in the crevasse next to them, Captain Ablor lost three people from her team, frozen from the inside out.


    They tried to melt the ice, which didnt seem to work; fire spells were weaker than they should have been and any ice that was melted seemed to regrow the moment the heat was taken off it. Elkdren even had their ice mage try and carve a tunnel through the ice, but she wasnt to do more than the fire mages to the giant structure before them.


    With no other options, Elkdren gave his order. Gather yourselves and push deeper. Watch out for traps like the crossbow things. Sergeant Ultrch, Sergeant Exlor, take your squads and take point and rear respectively. Slow and steady. This cold is blocking my spiritual perception.


    They climbed through cracks in the ice until they reached the metal hull of the shipyard, and Elkdren ordered his warriors to halt while he inspected the structure in front of him. If the ice was only outside, getting inside the shipyard could mean an easy path forward.


    Drawing his finger on the frozen metal, he cracked the hull of the station and jumped back as the te fell back at him, thanks to the slow rotation giving the illusion of gravity.


    Sergeant Ultrch.


    The man and his squad jumped into the interior of the shipyard and spent a few minutes scouting things out. When it was noted as being seemingly untouched, Elkdren nodded.


    If the yers had more time, they probably would have booby trapped the shipyard, but the speed of their response had prevented such measures.


    Sergeant Exlor, take your squad and return to the opening of the crevasse and spread the word that we have a seemingly safe opening.


    Once she was on the move, he dropped into the hole and set up a secure breach point.


    It took a few minutes, but when Sergeant Exlor came back, she reported that there were a dozen simr points and that over a dozen otherpanies were on their way.


    Pursing his lips, Elkdren ordered Lieutenant Marqus to interface with the shipyard systems and see if they could tap into the life support systems. If they could, they could not only start to thaw out this ice cube, but track their enemies.


    While Lieutenant Marqus was able to get the system operational, the shipyard''s power station was either disconnected or robbed of the stored mana. Elkdren suspected it had been spent to make the very ice around them, but simply filed that away forter reporting.


    As the otherpanies funneled through his section of the shipyard, he had his warriors finish setting up a makeshift healing station. The moment the support personnel arrived and started healing the wounded he gathered his men and progressed deeper into the hull.


    With Major Rattle dead he didnt have ess to the Command staff channels, but he also hadnt tried to fall under someone else''smand. He wasnt a glory hound who wanted to pave his own path to fame, but he knew the Majors would be struggling to maintain operationalmand over their own sections without him reporting to them. He knew the mission as well as they did. Reach the top of this fortress and hopefully find and kill, or at least repel, the yers defending that location.


    Easy enough.


    While he had never been in a space station like this, he knew who had spent significant time on one.


    Corporal Ves, you did a rotation on one of these tubs. What is the best way to get to the top?


    Corporal Ves chewed on his lower lip for a moment before pointing up. There are really two options, sir. The fast and dumb way and the long and impossible way.


    Elkdren didnt like that answer and waited for the Corporal to borate. Normally, you would just use an outer hatch to exit the station and fly to another of the rotating rings. If you don''t want to use that and want to stay inside, the only way to move between rings is the central shaft.


    Elkdren was about to say that was where they needed to go then, but Corporal Ves shook his head. Sir, its a straight shaft they move cargo through. If being outside was allowing the yer to shoot at us, that might as well be sitting in his sheath.


    Cursing, Elkdren thought as hard as he could, but had no perfect answere to mind.


    Lieutenant Vallotton thankfully did have an idea, even if it wasnt a good one. Corporal, what kind of cargo is moved through that tube?


    Corporal Ves shrugged. Everything from specialty parts to processed materials used to make the ships.


    Seeing where she was going, Elkdren asked, Barstock and the like? Lots of metal?


    Yeah, they use a lot of that shit Oh, fuck yeah! I get what the LT is asking, and yes. They always have these girder things. They are the backbones of the ships. Fifty feet thick of solid steel, and they always had some of them in the central spires. Cant make a ship without one, and if it''s busted you need to rece it. Can''t really fix it, so they always keep a few dozen in reserve. Even a yer aint burning through that much steel if we bundle them and just ride behind it.


    Elkdren pped Lieutenant Vallotton on her shoulder even as he stood. Spread the word and then lets go. Corporal Ves, where do they usually keep the girders?


    If this shipyard is like the one I served on, then they usually keep a few by each ring for easy ess.


    With a mission goal, Elkdren led his warriors down the cold tunnels. They werent sprinting along, but they were careful where they put their feet.


    No one wanted to find a trap with their boots.


    They made it halfway to the central pir before they heard fighting in one of the adjacent halls.


    Rushing forward, they found twopanies fighting an armored form that was covered in blood.


    It was alone, but had cut down half of the twopanies with bodies littering the floor.


    Advance and fire. Frontlines shields forward.


    Putting actions to worlds, he pulled out his projectionnce and channeled [Severance Shot] through it as fast as the spell amplifiers could cycle.


    Hispany''s concentrated fire caught yer Torch off guard, and she staggered as she took a dozen shots in rapid session. That brief pause allowed the other twopanies to disengage, and they added in their own fire.


    The yer raised her spear and spun it rapidly, but while it blocked some of the attacks, more slipped through and mmed into the feather-like armor she was wearing.


    This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and seeing it was working, Elkdren called out, Give it everything you have!


    To kill a yer. <em>That</em> was a feat worth bragging about. Maybe his name really would go down in history.


    As the armor started to falter, he grinned.


    As yer Torch fell back into the blood that surrounded her, he called out, Prepare pulse grenades! Throw on mymand!


    yer Torch fell back into the pool of blood, and he was about tomand the grenades to be thrown when the decimatedpanies rushed forward melee weapons at the ready.


    He wanted to curse them as he held hismand to throw the grenades. It would be best to blow the yer to bits first then ask questionster, but seeing their casualties, he understood their hatred, rage, and desire for personal revenge.


    Except, something was wrong.


    The yer who fell into the blood sunk too far. It was like she was ice melting on a hot summer day.


    He was about to cry out when the blood that coated everyone and the floors and walls started to writhe like the tenderals of an octopus.


    Then, they spun like a blender, and the warriors in front of him were cut down.


    Throw the grenades! Throw! Throw! Throw!


    A full dozen grenades flew forward, and the rapid pulses of energy blew the pool of blood into droplets and then those droplets into nothing.


    Still, he didnt trust it.


    Fire spells! Fire spells! Fire spells!


    A dozen types of me spells ckened the corridor and heated the frozen walls until they glowed and started to drip, despite the cold aura that weakened the spells even this deep inside the shipyard.


    Panting, Elkdren swept his spiritual perception across the corridor and found nothing.


    They had actually done it.


    They had killed a yer.


    yer Torch had been snuffed. A fitting end for a tainted human such as herself.


    A small cheer started to rise, but he instantly crushed it. Back in formation! Prepare for an ambush. Our mission isnt over and hasnt changed. Refill your mana pools and get ready for another engagement.


    They carefully moved forward and through the searing heat of the area they had cooked just to return to the frozen corridor ahead.


    They found the remains of another two battles, and to his anger, could only find the bodies of his warrior brothers and sisters. Some of them looked like they had been strangled by the scraps of cloth littered around them, but he wasnt able to find the one responsible.


    Hispany was closing in on the central pir when Sergeant Exlor cried out, Rear!


    Elkdren spun and froze, not able to understand what was going on.


    yer Torch stood there, spear in hand. Head snapping back to the front, he saw another yer Torch standing there.


    There were two of them.


    How?


    [Clone] was the obvious answer, but not one that Elkdren liked or could ept.


    If they had only managed to kill a clone that had been ambushed by them while it had fought two otherpanies, what chance did they have alone?


    None.


    Making a desperate y, Elkdren called out, Through the wall!


    To their credit, his warriors followed hismand and Chancellor Virgil herself must have been watching out for them, as when they cut through the hull of the space station, they found themselves in a crevasse in the ice fortress.


    Go! Go! Go!


    He followed the troopers into the bitter cold and turned to the hole they had made as his mind spun. Corporal Ta. Reform the metal. Lance Corporal G, create some stone behind the metal. Everyone else prepares to repel the yer.


    That order sounded mad, but he had no other option.


    Corporal Ta threw her shield forward which grew until it wasrge enough to cover the hole they had made in the shipyards hull and Corporal G created a mass of stone behind it.


    He expected banging and nging as the yer battered her way through the metal and stone, but nothing happened. As heartbeats turned into seconds and seconds into minutes Elkdrens nerves didnt settle and instead his panic spiked.


    Something was wrong. You only didnt bother to charge someone when they jumped into a trap.


    He tried to scan through the ice, but his spiritual perception couldnt pierce more than a few feet of the ice before being halted.


    Turning, he visually scanned the ice around his squad.


    Lieutenant Marqus, have your squad take position in the rear.


    When Elkdren didnt get an instant acknowledgement of his order, he turned to where Lieutenant Marqus should have been, but the man was gone along with the rest of hispany.


    Spinning, Elkdren looked around, but all he could see was ice and snow.


    But that didnt make sense. He was inside a cier of ice. How was there snow?


    He looked up but found nothing but the gray and white of a snowstorm. Looking left and right, he tried to find the cier.


    Reaching out with his free hand and spiritual sense, he found nothing.


    Was he in an illusion?


    If he was, then firing his projectionnce could be dangerous, but there shouldn''t be anyone above him, so he raised his arm and fired, watching the spell get absorbed by the wind and snow.


    There was something wrong, but he just knew he needed to move. Flying forward with everything he had, he felt it growing colder and colder, with ice creeping into his very spirit until it seemed to reach his cultivation cores.


    As the ice reached the center of his power, his Domain tried to resist but it was cold and sluggish, and he felt his power vanishing as his very essence turned into ice.


    Elkdren didnt want to die here, and kept running with his mundane body trying to find an exit.


    All illusions had an end, and he was sure he could find it.


    He

 Echos Chapter 7

    Echos Chapter 7


    A scream wrenched itself from Liennas throat as she woke up, her body spasming once again with renewed agony. Though calling it a scream was a gross exaggeration, when in truth it was more a pathetic wheeze, as all of the air from her lungs found its way out through the holes in her throat.


    The pain meds had worn off earlier than they were supposed to. Again.


    She still couldnt take new ones until the morning. Or at least, she <em>shouldnt</em>


    Lienna enviously eyed the crystal decanter on her bedside table. Surely one sip wouldnt hurt? Certainly not more than-


    Agony.


    Lienna turned an angry bead of focus towards her traitorous Talent, suppressing it as best as she could while she looked longingly at the potion on the table. Would it <em>really</em> be so bad?


    But no, shed learned that lesson the hard way. It was why she was on her fifth type of anti-pain potion. The-


    <em>Agony</em>.


    Her frayed willpower gave out, snapping painfully and allowing her Talent to run at full power, unresisted by anything she could manage. Painnced through her body and mind a thousand times a second, her body endlessly resetting to the very instant it had been wounded. There was no reprieve, no respite, no <em>Pause</em> from the pain, in more ways than one.


    Pause that distant dream was long-dead. Killed, in some senses, when a Tier 19 ghost of some sort had yed skin from flesh, flesh from bone, and left Lienne bloody and raw in what parts of her body she still even had. Shed survived, because that was what she did, but whatever that-


    <em>Agony</em>.


    Whatever that monster had done to her, it had warped her Talent. Overpowered it in such a way that instead of restoring her body to pristine condition, she was reduced to the same sniveling, bloody wreck that she had been when shed first been wounded. And her Talent <em>kept triggering</em>, pulling her from the brink of death to the brink of death time and time again. It undid healing, it undid further injuries, it undid the modifications she made to her own body, it undid <em>everything</em>.


    She was trapped on the brink of life and death, a state of constant torture. She couldnt bring herself to rupture her core and escape that way, though. She wouldnt - <em>agony</em> - she wouldnt give that smug ghost the satisfaction of knowing it had killed her, in the end.


    The healers had some fancy-schmancy words for what was wrong with her, how the ghost had hurt her permanently. They knew how to fix her, oh did they know how to fix her. But they <em>wouldnt</em>. Oh they had their excuses, that nobody on the was strong enough to overpower her in the right way, all the best healers were busy with the war, h h h.


    She knew what it was all about. <em>Control</em>. <em>Power</em>. Shed seen the contracts theyd offered her. The nigh-very, a veritable eternity of it, to cover the cost of the healers <em>doing their bloody job</em>. Not one of them seemed to care that she was in eternal <em>agony</em>, that her body and spirit had betrayed her and left her a yed husk of herself. They didnt care that she was Tier 15, that she was immortal, that shed be able to pay them back eventually. No, they all wanted to take advantage of her, a broken girl, bind her with shackles that wouldst forever. The army, the guilds, the corporations, the nobles they could all <em>burn</em>.


    Burn <em>forever</em>, in evesting - AGONY.


    Her manager had abandoned her alongside the rest of them, leaving her to suffer the moment she left the Path and didnt join the army. Dropped her, like the bloody bandages piled up in the far corner, like she was some disgusting <em>thing</em> to be discarded the moment she was all used up.


    Her body and spirit were her own. It was why she had joined the Path to begin with, freedom from all the chains that bound. She refused to leap headfirst into bindings far stricter than anything shed had as a child, not now, not ever.


    Lienne tried to force herself back to sleep, but the endless cycles of pain refused her plea.


    She lost the battle with her inner self, and she snatched the bottle of painkiller potion and took as deep a drink as the enchantment would allow a single dosage to be. It didnt do enough. It barely did <em>anything</em>. And now, Lienne had made herself that much more resistant to this particr potion, pushed it that much closer to the point when shed need a <em>new</em> potion, one even more expensive.


    She screamed into her pillow, a faint wheeze muffled all the further by the scratchy, low-Tier sheets she was on. Her hands clenched and fabric tore.


    Great. More expenses. As though she didnt have enough of those.


    At least she had her job. Shed tried delving for a little while, but being down an arm and half a leg made that difficult. She was desperate enough to still do it, and it wasnt like she could get any worse, delving at-tier. The recurring <em>agony</em> of her body made it harder still, and shed pushed herself until she nearly broke again, simply trying to keep up with the required expenses of delving. Still, shed been able to get pain potions, and that had helped until shed gotten immune to the first one. The pain had eroded away at her mind, her Concept, wore down her willpower until she couldnt use her Domain. That had pretty much ended her delving.


    From there, shed gotten an AI job. It was nothing special, just data-pushing and correspondence, monitoring some low-level finance for the hospital. Things she could do from her bed, from her chair. But they didnt pay enough, not enough to pay for her potions, but that wasnt her fault. If theyd just give her the healing she <em>needed</em>, then she wouldnt have needed the pain potions to begin with.


    They didnt see it that way, of course, and theyd acted so <em>magnanimous </em>when they fired her, acting like they were doing her such a favor by cutting off her sanity lifeline. ording to them, she should just curl up in a hole and either die or wait and hope that some passing high-Tier healer took pity on her which was more likely than the Empires higher Tier healers getting around to a case who couldn''t pay for their services. They didnt care about her, they just wanted her gone.


    But then shed gotten her <em>offer</em>. It wasnt anything much, just sending in a couple reports about the sorts of things she saw, the kinds of things that anyone could have told them and it paid just <em>so well</em>. She didnt know who her employer was, really, but what did it matter? Shed been able to pay for her pain potions, shed been able to pay for a nurse to assist her in daily life, shed been able to start saving up- not for healing, that was still beyond her for now- but for prosthetics. Once she had two functional arms, two functional legs, and a full face, then shed be able to go back to delving, back to advancing.


    She was almost there, too. Less than a decade to go.


    <em>Agony</em>.


    Advancing meant shed be able to Tier up, again and again until she was Tier 20, and it would be safe for her to form her Intent. Forming her Intent would give her a way out. Shed focus it all on her Talent, not that it would be hard. Shed <em>force</em> herself into something that could modify her Talent, something that could give her an escape from her pain.


    It was her mantra, it was her goal. Her only hope of relief.


    She got no more sleep that night, and the intervening hours felt like weeks as she waited for the sun to rise. Then, atst, there was a knock at her door.


    It was Jake, at longst. Her nurse was the only bright spot in her day, and only partially because he was able to provide her with pain relief andfort of his own. Maybe some day, when she got a new face, shed ask him out on a date. He certainly was cute enough, and after all this time she didnt care if he was three Tiers weaker than her, that he wasnt fully immortal yet. No, these days her type was basically has skin.


    Good morning! He was as cheery as always, and Lienne felt his Concept and skills wash over her, helping her rx and cutting the edge off the worst of her pain. How did you sleep?


    Errile, she wheezed, before activating her AI speaker. Terrible, she repeated. The potions failing again.


    Oh, thats no good. Just rx [Ease Pain]. he tapped her forehead, and Lienne sighed as her pain was reduced to something more akin to soreness and itchiness.


    Thank you, she gasped.


    Just doing my job, he smiled at her. Lets get you some fresh air.


    After Jake helped her get dressed, recing her bloodstained clothes with clean ones and sending the former off to be washed and purified, she fell into her chair. Though she could control her chair through her AI just fine, Jakes presence and guidance was always so much moreforting, and his skills not only kept the faint wind and pockets of chilly air from raking across her exposed nerves like so many nails, but also diverted attention away from her. She just couldnt take another kid staring at her half-melted face in horror, or hiding behind their parents legs when she came by.


    They strolled down the garden paths surrounding her little home. Even here, the signs of neglect were abundant. Weeds were sprouting, bugs were marching around like they owned the ce, flowers were already dying in early spring, and several ces the dirt was disturbed from where something had gone where it shouldnt have.


    Isnt today such a beautiful day, Lienne? Jake asked, The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, the smell of rain is everywhere, the sky is clear, isnt it all just so lovely?


    Lienne gave a small nomittal grunt in response as she watched a worker ant cart off a leaf from a nearby tree towards its corpulent queen, seated in her underground nest not far away.


    Jake sighed. Well, are you nning on watching the Ascension tonight? he asked, as they passed by a tree long choked to death on midnight blue ivy. He swept the vines clear of where they overhung the path. They shimmered with silver starlight as he did so, narrowly missing her all too-vulnerable flesh.


    She didnt respond, prompting her nurse to keep pushing, Its important that you celebrate things like this, Lienne. Theres going to be a stream of the event set up in the cafeteria, I think you should go.


    Will you be there? she asked, and he hesitated.


    I can be, he eventually replied.


    No, dont go on my behalf, she brushed off the offer, Celebrate with your family, Ill just watch it on my AI if I feel up to it. She <em>really</em> didnt want to bask in her misery any more than she had to, and seeing someone from <em>her tournament</em>plete the Path was like raking nails down the bad side of her face to her mind.


    Lienne he sighed, Its important for you to focus on the good around you. Even for mortals, istion and focusing on negativity isnt healthy. For cultivators, you can <em>seriously </em>mess up your spirit if you dont find at least some joy in your life. You arent the only person waiting for a wandering healer, you can meet your peers, your fellows. Celebrate that we have someone else finishing the Path, that someone else is out there protecting the Empire through this war and far into the future. Dont just waste away in your room. Youre immortal, you have eternity waiting for you once youre healed. Dont give up.


    Oh, there was no worry about her giving up. She refused to give up. Once I get my prosthetics, then Ill be more social, she replied, When Ive got a face and two arms, and little children dont scream in terror when they see me.


    Lienne expected Jake to say what he usually did, that one kid didnt make a trend, or whatever other excuses hede up with this time, but he just sighed and kept pushing her chair. Apparently he agreed with her now, that was new.


    Instead, he simply moved on to other topics, and the rest of their walk, and the rest of her day, passed as it usually did.


    In the end, she ultimately did watch the Ascension. It would be all anyone would be talking about for weeks or months, so she put it on in the background while shey in bed. Her eyes swept over the revealed identities


    Elizabeth, Matthew, and Aster. Hmph. Of course a <em>princess</em> would be the one toplete the Path. So much for all of that so-called neutrality. No wonder shed been cast to the side the moment shed taken a bad hit, she was just some nobody from nowhere. Not the sort of person that the Empire would want representing them in the wars.


    Fury burned in the corner of her mind as memories came back to her. Theyd been in the tournament twice! No wonder theyd done so well, if they got <em>two</em> chances to fight, to win prizes, when shed only gotten one. She didnt know any of them that well, but she had gotten her mana refilled by Matthew once, she faintly recalled. No wonder theyd been able toplete the Path, if thats what their Domains were like.


    Now they were at the peak, where theyd get <em>all</em> the best medical attention. If they ever took an injury, theyd get it healed by people practically tripping over themselves to help out the <em>Princess Ascender</em>. Theyd never have to feel the pain of their Talent locking their bodies in a prison of pain, never need to worry about their spirits mutting themselves.


    She was glowering at the projection when a message popped up from her employer. It was asking for a report about Elizabeth, Matthew, and Aster. Hmph. Well, she didnt know too much about them beyondmon gossip at the tournament, but her employers never had cared much about that before. And the pay


    Lienne had a double-take. The pay was <em>so much more</em> than what she usually got for her reports. It was nowhere near enough to afford a healer, but it could cut down how long shed need to save for her prosthetics by months, even years.


    Well, who was she to refuse? The Empire took care of Ascenders, but she needed to take care of herself.


    ***


    Soddus pped Girang on the shoulder as he watched the Ascension y out in front of them.


    See, I told you she was a phoenix. Only a phoenix could beat me. I


    Girang dropped a massive paw over Soddus''s face and didnt let him up until he promised to stop bragging.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Cursing his bad luck and the fact he didnt also have an Intent, Soddus could only relent.


    Stupid bear.


    Another paw hit him in the back of his head, and he realized he had spoken his thoughts out loud.


    Whoops.


    ***


    Long Zhiyuan let out a deep breath as his Second Revtion manifested.


    He was only Tier 17, but he had all of his Talent given clones working on making the next stage of his Revtion since he had first broken through to Tier 15, and had been told the secrets of what was required. His Servant had cautioned him, saying that to seek out ones second Revtion before the twentieth Tier was to court death. Nheless, he had taken the gamble, knowing that his spiritual clones could die with no repercussion, and it had truly paid off. He did not know how many times they had failed, but he never suffered any worse than a mild headache for it. After all, without something truly spectacr to ensure his safety, his days had already been numbered.


    Shining Lc, his Sect Leader, had been trying to get him <em>removed</em> for a while now, as he voluntarily stepped out of the Young Master program. Everyone had called him mad, but he knew the truth. He had spent many a long night in meditation, seeking solutions that simply did not exist. He had died many times, and not once did his clones provide insight for how he might grow to Tier 25 in two centuries.


    Perhaps he could have gone further, reaching Tier 20 and ensconcing his position as someone to be feared. However, finding ones Second Revtion at Tier 20 was interesting yet unexceptional. It spoke of caution and surety, not the raw talent of a prodigy. But achieving ones Second Revtion at the same Tier as the Drowner?


    That spoke to the existence of an unstoppable force in the making. Strength above all, yet Long Zhiyuan did not possess that kind of strength, that kind of talent. But he could certainly <em>appear</em> to be such a generational talent. Perhaps not the seconding of the Lady of Ill Dreams, but certainly the kind of talent for whom the very best would be poured out.


    He wanted the best, so he gambled.


    He gambled that he could unveil his Second Revtion before Shining Lc managed to get him killed, now that he didnt have the protections of a Young Master.


    Opening his eyes, Long Zhiyuan flexed his Second Revtion and let the entire Sect know that Soaring Clouds Sect''s Young Master wasnt a coward who bowed out of apetition, like Sect Mistress Shining Lc had been telling everyone.


    Best of all, Provincial Governor Adam, from the Tier 47 Smithing Hands Sect, was there for the coronation of their new Young Mistress and felt Long Zhiyuans breakthrough.


    Long Zhiyuan wasnt one who gambled without being sure of his sess. He also adhered to some form ofmon decency, and had only made his breakthrough once Young Mistress Tan Ai had finished her initiation ceremony. He remembered the pride he felt at being the center of attention and didnt want to rob that moment from her.


    Provincial Governor Adam and Sect Mistress Shining Lc arrived before the various Sect elders. All had equal expressions of shock, and Long Zhiyuan reveled in it.


    Before Sect Mistress Shining Lc could speak, Provincial Governor Adam interceded. And to think that your Sect Mistress scorned you for forfeiting your position as a Young Master. Tell me, Long Zhiyuan, how long have you known you would find your Second Revtion so young?


    From the very moment I learned what was required, Governor Adam. I simply required some moments of peace, which I could not find as a Young Master, he replied, the very picture of deferment.


    The man chuckled. Truly, you have shown wisdom and power well in excess of your age and station. Now I ask you, with such a grand spirit, what is your desire? Shall you remain here and rule over those you have exceeded? Or do you yearn for greatness, beyond what may be found here? Should you desire, you will be made a Core disciple of the Smithing Hands Sect, and the greatest treasures you have ever seen will seem as but dust unto you.


    Long Zhiyuan smiled as he stood and bowed deeply to those present. Everything was going exactly ording to his n.


    Thank you for the kind words, Honored Provincial Governor Adam. I am truly humbled by the offer. I must take care of only one thing before I can ept and leave my current sect.


    Provincial Governor Adam raised an eyebrow while everyone else looked shocked.


    He withdrew his gloves from his spatial ring and summoned them to his hand, just as he had put them away. Still dripping the blood of the final Young Master he had in in hisst culling. Combat ready, he locked eyes with Sect Mistress Shining Lc.


    You have held a grudge since I killed your daughter and tried to have me killed on neen separate asions since I left the Young Master program. Before I leave the Sect, this grudge must be settled. Sect Mistress, I challenge you to a duel to the death.


    Sect Mistress Shining Lc had seven Tiers on him; she was a Tier 24, and she sneered at him. A seven-Tier gap was impossible to jump, and they all knew it.


    Provincial Governor Adam looked like he wanted to step in, but as he remained silent, the others didnt have the face to speak up.


    A whelp who doesnt know when they are saved wants to throw themselves into the bear''s mouth. Learn well in your next life, Bloodhand, that not everything is under your control.


    Long Zhiyuan just got in abat-ready stance and watched the Sect Mistress. She didnt bother. Instead, she said, Did you think I drank your poison? I was trying to kill you, how could I not expect you to try the same thing? I saw you reced my pills with poison. You are a thousand years too early if you wish to scheme against me. It matters not that you possess your Second Revtion. You dare to stand against me, and you shall fall.


    Long Zhiyuan rushed forward and shed out. His moves were easily blocked, but he didnt let up.


    As his ws twisted through her defense, he snorted, The pills were bait, just as the wine was. The real poison was in your sword oil.


    He saw the horror appear on her face as her cultivation failed to respond to her demands. The moment she tried to move at Tier 24 speeds, she found her limit <em>far</em> lower.


    Her confidence was her undoing, and in just nine exchanges, Long Zhiyuan gripped her by the neck just as he had her daughter.


    A deliberate choice.


    He saw the hatred in her eyes. He saw the fear in the Sect Elders eyes. He saw the <em>pride</em> in Provincial Governor Adams.


    Exactly as he nned.


    As I offered your daughter, I offer you the chance to surrender. He wanted to kill her, but offering surrender was a benefit of the strong, and would solidify his position as a rising star better than simply killing her would.


    Despite that, he didnt bother to loosen his grip. She could speak with her spirit, and he denied her even what paltry air she might seek to im.


    Fuck you, yo


    Good.


    Since she rejected his offer, he got to look magnanimous and remove a problem by the roots.


    Whatever her next words were, no one knew, as Long Zhiyuan crushed her throat, and with it, her poison weakened spirit.


    His Second Revtion was that of the nner, and he had nned for everything. His former Sect Mistress had her own enemies, those who would be delighted to see the mighty woman brought low. He had used their avarice, their greed as a weapon as sure as any de.


    Wiping his gloved hands on her corpse, Long Zhiyuan dropped the Sect Mistress''s body and bowed to the Sect Elders and Provincial Governor Adam. I am sorry you all had to witness my shameful personal matters, but now that that is settled, I dly ept your offer. If it still stands, Provincial Governor Adam.


    Provincial Governor Adamughed. Junior brother, this senior brother wees you to the Smithing Hands Sect with open arms.


    Long Zhiyuan smiled and bowed once more, deeper this time.


    His life became a whirlwind. The Smithing Hands Sect truly endowed him with all the greatest treasures he had ever imagined, propelling him forwards in Tier at a truly momentous rate, and even getting him entry to the Thousand Lives Mountain, a vast formation that reminded him of his experience within Minkas sixth floor. Years became centuries as he lived out life after life, each one enabling him toprehend his Revtions in different ways and master techniques that would be almost impossible for him to learn in reality. It was even superior to what Minka could provide, as he could choose to re-experience certain lives time and time again to fully master all that they had to offer. It was usually reserved for the children of Grand Elders, Dao Children and now him.


    He emerged a new man, with <em>millennia</em> of experience honing his Revtions and techniques, his Talent active in each and every simted life he had experienced, and his experience with the device itself providing deeply profound insights into ways in which he could utilize his Talent and Revtions together. On the surface he lived each of those lives to master one thing, he was sure those who ran the Thousand Lives Mountain had some way to track his progress, but at the same time his Talent allowed him to master a dozen other skills or martial arts without anyone the wiser.


    His power was unparalleled, but his emergence carried with it a notice that he was not alone.


    During his seclusion, the Empire had managed to produce yet <em>another</em> set of Ascenders. As the strongest rising star within the Sects, it would be his duty to join with Dao Child Maven to end their threat once and for all.


    Seeing their names, Long Zhiyuan smiled.


    Enemies truly did walk a narrow path.


    Flexing his ws, his smile grewrger.


    Wonderful.


    ***


    ude sat on a cliff next to Sufyan and asionally tapped into his mentor''s sight to enjoy the setting sun. The fact that he was doing that seemed like it should be the answer to his inner turmoil, but things werent so clear.


    As a Tier 22 who had fallen off the Heros Path at Tier 19, he had the wealth of the Guilds at his fingertips. While no one was pressuring him, ude knew the facts. They were at war, and needed everyone who was capable of fighting, ready to fight.


    And ude was ok with that. Really, he was ready to do his duty and protect the citizens of the myriad worlds that the Guilds controlled. His Great Power had given him so much, and he needed to give that much back to society, or he would just be a burden on the greater whole.


    With his showing as a Hero Candidate, he was given pretty much anything he wanted and things he hadnt even considered. Most of the things were wee, new skills, new armor, weapons stronger than anything he could have imagined, even ess to trainers who could teach him anything he wanted to know. It was all at his fingertips, but it came with an offer. An offer that, as was made <em>very</em> clear to him, was truly an offer. But Doctor Golden Crickets personal offer to heal his blindness was something he wasnt sure he wanted.


    He used his Power to see often enough, like he was doing with Sufyan right now, but being able to see on his own?


    He didnt know if he wanted that, or if he even needed that.


    His blindness had been there with him for most of his life. At first, it had seemed like the greatest restriction he could ever encounter, but he had learned that it was an obstacle like any other with Sufyans help. His mentor had been instrumental in changing udes worldview about his blindness, and his Power, once awakened, had only reinforced that belief.


    He could turn his weakness onto his opponents, and while he had lived every day with darkness, they hadnt. They couldnt adapt so easily. It allowed ude unimaginable progress as a possible Hero for longer than almost anyone else in his generation.


    That would be true if not for Quill, Torch, and Scoop. They had done the impossible, and he was only half a step behind them.


    Wanting to keep his advantage of being able to blind people had seemed like an easy way to ignore therge implications of healing his blindness, but Sufyan refused to let him act blind, even if he <em>was</em> blind.


    If ude wanted to blind someone after swapping their senses, and his vision was healed, all he needed to do was close his eyes.


    ude was embarrassed to admit he hadnt thought of that on his own, and it destroyed hisrgest reason to stay blind.


    It should be so easy to ept the healing, but he found himself faltering.


    His blindness had been with him forever. Without it, he would have never risen out of mediocrity. Without it, he would have never caught the attention of Sufyan and his Guild. Without it, he wouldnt have gotten a Power for swapping senses. Without it, he wouldn''t have learned how to deal with petty tricks and bullying from his ssmates. Without it, he wouldnt have caused his parents extra stress. Without it, he wouldnt be as close with his parents as he was.


    Without it, would he still be ude?


    He didnt know the answer to that, and that was why he was so worried.


    What if he got his vision back and he killed a portion of himself that had once driven him to greatness? What if we got his vision back and he returned to the version of himself who was no different than any other random civilian.


    ude didnt like being blind, but it was all he knew. Change was scary, and despite everything he had gone through, he wasnt sure if undergoing such a change would leave him the same ude.


    He had already vented all of that to Sufyan, who had put to rest all of his doubts, but ude couldnt dispel thatst bit of worry.


    The fact that Doctor Golden Cricket himself was offering to do the healing almost made it worse. The man was a well-known and respected healer for over a dozen active Hero teams. If he was willing to heal ude, then wasnt it the right thing to do?


    As the sun set, he and Sufyan got up and walked back to the guild hall in silence.


    When they reached the outside patio, Sufyan turned to ude and asked, Did you find your answers?


    ude snorted. Not even a little.


    Sufyan chuckled. It can be like that.


    Pulling out his vice guild leader medallion, Sufyan shed both sides.


    My name, you get healed. The guild side, you stay blind.


    Tossing the medallion, Sufyan walked inside. His final words like a whisper making their way to udes ears.


    If you are relieved at the side thates up, pick it. If you dont like what itnds on, pick the other. Either way, you will have your answer.


    ude thought about flipping the medallion right then and there, but it felt wrong.


    Instead, he went and started wandering the city.


    It was bustling, even at night. Citizens living their lives walking from pce to ce, the asional Hero walking with or flying above the crowds on the lookout for any aspiring Viins.


    ude saw three Viins stalking a dark-skinned Hero in a skimpy outfit, but he didnt warn her.


    Getting beat down because you were too confident was par for the course for a new Hero, and it was a lesson everyone needed to learn. The Viins wouldn''t kill her, just like the Heroes wouldnt kill Viins.


    Both were important aspects of society. Not everyone was suited for the light, and not everyone was suited for the darker nature of humanity.


    So long as everyone followed the rules, those like ude, a dozen Tiers higher, would just watch.


    He smiled as his spiritual perception noticed two Viins break into a bank vault. The civilians moved to the side, and while the Viins shouted at them, they didnt try to rob or hurt them.


    Just as they were escaping to the streets with their goods in hand, a lone Hero jumped out of an alley and tackled one of the men.


    Their brawl created a hole in the surroundings as the crowds parted around them, but they kept any skill or weapon usage to a minimum, which meant the Watchers didnt even need to interfere.


    ude kept to the edges as he watched the various goings on. He passed low Tier Hero Guilds with just a dozen members working out of abandoned warehouses or garages. He passed simr Viin hideouts in everything from abandoned sewers to penthouses.


    He remembered his time cutting his teeth with these trials.


    They werent just fighting for wealth or status, but rifts.


    ude had made it farther than most ever did, but even he had eventually failed, and seeing those still aspiring to those highs refreshed his very spirit.


    It didnt make his answer any clearer, but he did feel better about it.


    Whatever he chose he would be ok with.


    Stopping at a few food carts, he grabbed a dozen snacks that he knew his guildmates would enjoy before returning to their headquarters.


    As the guild who owned and ran this city, it was all under their control and jurisdiction, but they werent an interventionist guild and mostly let things y out underneath them. They only acted as arbiters when needed. To that end, they had their guild headquarters on the outskirts of the city, perched on the side of a mountain. It kept them close enough to intervene, and more importantly in sight of everyone participating, but far enough away that the Heroes and Viins felt like they were in control.


    If, or rather when, ude became a vice guild leader, he would push for them to increase their presence in the city a little, but he mostly agreed with the guild''s policies. Too much oversight stifled everyone under them.


    And he did intend to rejoin his guild once he felt he had done his duty in the army.


    He was already the same Tier as Sufyan, but hisbat power was even stronger than the guild leaders, despite being lower Tier, which meant he could take the position of vice guild leader at any moment. If he wanted, he could even take the guild leader position, but leading was more than strength. ude didnt know much, but he knew that.


    By the time he returned, the rest of the Guild was already in the gathering room, and he rubbed shoulders with the city''s Heroes and Viins who were important enough to get invited to such an event.


    The guild leader had felt they deserved to see someone seeding at the Empire''s equivalent of the Hero Path.


    ude smirked as he heard a grumpy-looking Hero grumbling to their teammate, It''s not even that impressive that theypleted the Path. I heard The Empire doesn''t even make their people fight each other like we do. So what if they can reach Tier 25 in two hundred years if they are only good at killing monsters?


    On the surface, the man might seem correct, but ude had fought with Quill, Torch, Scoop, and Queen in Minka, and he knew how strong they were. The Empire might not focus on having their Pathers fight each other except for their one tournament, but that didnt mean their Heroes were weak. If it only took fighting other people, then the Sects would have the strongest Heroes, but they didnt.


    When he had realized how simr to the Sects Hero program the Guilds was, he had asked his Hero Mentor, only to find out the Guilds had once been a part of the Sects. Their ancestors had simply disagreed with the more brutal aspects of Sect society, and as the Great Powers had still been forming, dered their independence. Their shared roots could still be seen in a number of things, though.


    ude was sure the Sects thought they were fools, but he agreed with his ancestors. Competition was good, but there was no reason for death to be the only deciding factor in a battle. Not when it didnt have to be.


    Greatness wasnt inborn, it was sometimes thrust upon you, you sometimes sought it out, but it was never <em>given</em>. Trials and tribtions were just how you sifted the gold from the sand.


    ude took his ce at the front of the viewing tform and ignored the murmurs of those who saw him. Those young Heroes and Viins might think he was impressive and dismiss the Ascension they were about to watch, but he knew the truth. If he was stronger than them, he would be the one walking down a hall to Realm wide praise.


    Seeing their identities be revealed, ude flipped the medallion Sufyan had handed him.


    It spun through the air, but as itnded in his hand, ude knew Sufyan had been correct about the coin forcing him to decide what he really wanted. Secondly, he knew what his choice was.


    If he wanted to blind someone, he could close his eyes. But if he wanted to make the greatest difference in the war he was about to join, he needed to open his.

 Chapter 299

    Chapter 299


    Agent Atrisa Gloomwood carefully ran a brush down one of the support runes of the backup life support system. It was made out of a single hair, plucked from a Tier 25 antelope friend of hers, and just about the finest rune brush that was possible to make. She was no master rune smith, far from it, but sabotage and spy work didnt require expertise in the field of runecrafting. She couldn''t do that if her life depended on it, but she was a master of manipting existing runes and injecting viruses into them.


    While it was incredibly unlikely that the Federation would be foolish enough to power up the shipyards systems without a thorough check on the runes and code running everything, backup systems like this were sometimes overlooked, which made the painstaking effort worth it. If worst came to worst, she was making more work for the Federation which was a win in her books. In the best case scenario, one of the viruses she had imnted into the systems would activate once the shipyard was connected to the Federation mainwork and infect everything, allowing the Guild operatives a back door until the Federation counter espionage teams identified and purged the infected systems. This being a shipyard, there was even a chance of them infecting ships, which would be a coup of immeasurable magnitude.


    She was almost giddy at the thought of Federation ships trying to engage with Guild ships, just to find their weapons refusing to fire or their shields continuously triggering overload prevention protocols. It would be glorious.


    Unlikely, but glorious.


    Her eyes flicked to the side as a warning went off in her [AI]. Someone was moving in her direction and had been picked up by the station''s life support systems. Opening her own [AI] back up to the public channels, she found Aster had messaged her a few times.


    With only a little kicking and cursing, she kicked one leg out of the vent she had stuffed herself in and wiggled it around.


    Over here.


    The fox bond skipped over to her spot and shoved her head into the hole. Whatcha doing?


    Atrisa started to exin, but was ready to cut it short expecting Aster''s eyes to ze over in boredom. Instead, she found the other bond had a decent understanding of runes and enchanting.


    Why not hook into the civilianworks? That seems a lot easier.


    Atrisa sighed. Against the articles of war. Civilianworks are too easy to abuse, so no one is supposed to use them. That said, pretty much everyone uses them as a backupwork. But to catch them, you would need to be in the civilianwork to monitor the traffic, which meant you''d be admitting to breaking the war rules yourself. The only real way to prove it is if the militarywork is taken down before any messages can go out, and the opponents still respond, but that''s a rookie mistake no one will fall into.


    Cant they just have someone jump to the next system with the teleporters and pass the word along like that? Or at least say they did it that way?


    They do that too. In fact they


    Aster nodded along as Atrisa gave her a rundown of the various ways the Great Powers circumvented their own rules.


    When she petered out of steam a few minutester, Aster said, Well I just wanted to let you know we are expecting the second wave to arrive soon, so you might want toe hunker down at the peak.


    If it had been before thest battle, Atrisa would have scoffed at the suggestion, saying she could take care of herself. That was before. Having seen the destruction they were capable of in thest battle, Atrisa was more than happy to go back and join Aster and Morgan at the top of the best defended part of the ice block that was the former shipyard.


    Atrisa had worked damn hard in making herself hard to notice, but when energy got thrown around like it had been in the recent battles, she wasnt willing to be a sitting duck.


    Gathering up her supplies, she checked and made sure she had a few dozen misceneous pieces of equipment from the Federationsst attack. Instead of twiddling her thumbs, she could add some viruses to them and hope one got used by someone before being checked over.


    ***


    Liz stood, perched atop the fortress of ice.


    A human body looked on with a severe gaze at the space around them, watching as Drifter popped into and out of realspace to harass any military ships that got too close, and making sure there were no attempted stealthy attacks. The fact that civilian traffic, or at least what could pass as civilian traffic in the Federation, had started avoiding their system indicated they were going to get hit again, and they needed to be ready.


    Inside her veins, she flowed with renewed vigor as she channeled and delivered nutrients, mana, and essence as appropriate to her human self. On her shoulder, she ruffled her feathers and looked out with the piercing gaze of a phoenix, a second pair of eyes even better than her human sight.


    Outside the fortress, she pped her wings as she circled the area, keeping another eye out for incursions.


    In the lower levels, she moved supplies and settled into the fortifications.


    With Matt, she perched on her husbands shoulder, taking advantage of the mana regeneration he was providing and adding additional gravitas to his already-impressive and handsome stature.


    In a hidden backroom, she was working on her alchemy three times over, and reading The Book as well.


    Ten bodies was loosely the limit for how far she could push herself, especially doing such disparate things, but it was good practice, and she couldnt ck now.


    They had alreadysted a week and a half, which was longer than their minimum needed time, but Liz didnt want to just pack up and leave any more than the Guild generals did. Even if they said it was fine.


    Liz wasnt ready to be pushed out like that. No, she wanted the Federation to throw themselves against their position until they <em>gave up</em>. That was the ultimate victory, a Great Power deciding it wasnt worth it to throw more troops into the grinder, divert all their military shipping around this point, change the entire face of the war, all because their team was too damn hard to dislodge.


    That was a way to prove to their enemies and allies alike that they were a force to be reckoned with.


    Liz temporarily flickered the bulk of her consciousness to her alchemist bodies. They werent <em>clones</em>, the Kanakas had been quite clear in their advice that she shouldnt think of any part of herself as a clone, but it was still a byproduct of [Lesser Blood Clone], or [Sanguine Footsoldier] as Group Chatter had been pushing her to call it. That carried certain inherent attributes, no matter what her Domain and Talent did.


    [Lesser Mana Clone], ording to normal wisdom, could never support more than four clones without an upgrade, Talent, or Domain saying otherwise. When upgraded once, that could be pushed to six. Shed been able to do eight for decades if she called on her Intent, imbuing each of her clones with a bit of independent life. Her Tier 25 Talentbined with a Tier 26 upgrade orb to push that to ten, and hertest record was fifteen <em>bodies</em> controlled by a single mind, albeit heavily relying on her Intent.


    Ten was her current normal limit. Ten Lizes, six of which were human, three of which were phoenixes, and one of which was pure blood. If she wanted to befortable beyond that, shed need to cast [Mana Clone]. That particr spell also created a second mind in addition to an extra body, and that second mind could control bodies eleven through twenty.


    She could then keep casting [Mana Clone], giving her up to ten minds to work with. Ten minds, each with ten bodies, meant she could control a hundred bodiesfortably, optionally pushing that up to a hundred and fifty depending on how fast she wanted to burn through her willpower and mana. At least thetter wasnt <em>that</em> big of a limitation, between Matt and her own [Blood Sacrifice]-powered regeneration, but it still left it impractical for continuous use.


    Plus, she was still getting used to having multiple <em>hers</em> running around. For most people, it wasnt a true issue, as clonescked the Domain and thus were undeniably not the true self. But for her, <em>every</em> body was her true self, and she wasnt interested in going for either a true gestalt existence or as multiple parallel entities, like the Kanakas did. That each mind could freely change what bodies it focused on only furtherplicated things, but she didnt like the feeling of multiple minds trying to use the same body at the same time. She <em>rarely</em> had conflicts, but it was stillmon enough that she actively avoided it.


    As a result, she tended to dismiss all of her extraneous minds when not inbat, an action that was always <em>profoundly</em> disorienting to her, as nearly a dozen distinct sets of experiences rbined into a solitary train of thought. But, the way she did it preserved her primary bodies, so that was a plus.


    Not that there really was anything different about the primary bodies, in all honesty. The closest thing to a distinguishing feature between any of them was the one that hadpletely exsanguinated itself to make room for a different Liz to inhabit its veins. Otherwise, shed taken to choosing the bodies with the most intact sets of armor to maintain.


    Reading, Liz chuckled at the thought of her armor and she set aside her book, stretched out her hand, and let a drop of blood morph and expand until it became a wickedly sharp feather floating just above her palm. The crafters had really outdone themselves with her armor. With nearly no cooldown or diminishing returns for concurrent use, she could summon an incredibly versatile weapon or armor at the cost of just a bit of blood and mana. Sure, keeping them around permanently took reserved mana, which was in <em>such</em> short supply, but each individual feather was cheap, and she could fluidly move them around wherever she needed them.


    Really, the fact that all of her bodies shared a single mana pool was an issue. Sure, her max mana was already high for a melee warrior of her Tier, something that had only been further increased by some runic tattoos and a small pile of natural treasures. But even she couldnt keep upwards of a hundred and fifty bodies fully armored. And that was without even getting into all of the buffs that also took reserved mana, or keeping enough surplus that she could actually <em>cast</em>. At least [Conjured Avatar], usually a favorite of summoners, let each of her minds use spells without worrying about the cooldowns of the others. But that only exacerbated the problem further instead of solving it.


    It still left her stretched thin, but Luna had prepared her well for that. Her spear skills and existence-wide buffs were plenty for most enemies she fought; no extra mana required. If anyone needed genuine attention from her, she would use her twice-upgraded [Coven Casting] across multiple bodies, solo-casting what was usually a multi-person ritual enhancement, and not many people survived that.


    So far as her advisors knew, she was the first person in the Empire to use a Tier 38 upgrade orb on the skill, and the sheer <em>power</em> that it provided, on top of the incredible flexibility, meant she didnt regret it for a second. She could replicate the effects of heavy modification or even a straight-up <em>upgrade</em> for her spells practically at will, and-


    Lizs spirit sense whispered <em>danger</em>, and in the blink of an eye, all of her was in one ce. For good measure, she cast a [Blood Clone] and two additional [Lesser Blood Clone]s for a total of thirteen bodies- the maximum [Coven Casting] could support- and began casting her spells.


    [Scarlet gue], a far cry from the lowly [Spore] it had started life as, was the primary element of this particr ritual, further enhanced with [Analgesic] to make it all the harder to notice as her spell spread out for miles. But she didnt activate the spell yet, just kept it waiting. Her practice with free-casting spells was a tremendous boon for her in situations like this, where she could just leave a spell <em>almost</em> cast, holding the mana structure together with her own power. It wasnt something Matt could do, this was a matter of pure finesse.


    [Bloody Spirit], and its ability to amplify other spells, was the only reason she could truly contain <em>this</em> level of spell, and even then, it was just barely within her abilities to do so. When shed first practiced this maneuver, Matt had teased her about giving her some lessons inrge-scale casting. Intellectually Liz knew how hard her husband worked to wrangle control over his ever growing mana pool, but despite seeing him struggle daily for years, she had still been surprised at how hard it was to control a spell thatrge.


    Her perception cranked to her limit as hundreds of ships started to enter reality.


    She didnt immediately activate her trap, but instead waited and watched.


    Agent Gloomwood immediately started parsing the information and sending data about the armies the Federation had sent this time.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Rather than an army pped together from average recruits on medical leave, the Federation had sent one with some actual teeth. Gloomwood threw their call signs up, but Liz scanned the information until she found theirst known locations. Rest and recovery after a sessful siege as an army that had been ted to return to the frontline. That meant they were in prime condition and would be a well oiled machine, unlike thest army, which had only been a collection of random units.


    The Federation was serious about taking this system back with this attack then.


    The troops seemed content to sit in their troop transports, which would have ruined her ns, but they had other options. Between the fire from Drifter and Bolt, they managed to cripple two of their ships, forcing the troops to disgorge and be open to assault from Liz.


    The troops advanced in loose ranks, not packed in close together likest time, giving Matt few prime candidates for [Mana Beam]. They even took the time to slowly clear the bodies out of the way and not get too close to any of them. They werent stupid, and knew she was a blood mage. Even if the below hadnt seen her go out and interact with the bodies herself, she was unlikely to have such a limitation, so they didnt want to risk it.


    That thought process was exactly why she hadnt bothered to do exactly that, although the idea of turning the bodies of their fallen enemies into mines had been tempting. Maybe next time.


    Despite them clearingrge swaths of the blood that was suspended in space from the bodies, they were unable to move quickly enough to ensure that the area was perfectly clear, thanks to Matt cycling through spells as he battered their shield walls. This army had been prepared for [Mana Beam], and had several frontline troops casting [Diffusion Shield], which weakened [Mana Beam] enough to be nearly useless at this range. That hasty advance left hundreds of the troops unlucky enough to have a droplet or twond on them as they flew through the blood mists.


    Liz waited until most of them had crossed into the area her blood mist was enveloping before the thirteen Lizzes behind her activated [Bursting Blood]. Like a wave, she watched as the troops flinched and recoiled.


    The explosions from the minuscule drops of blood caused minor damage at best, but a solid fifth of the troops had been lightly misted, and that added up. None of them died outright, but that was why her clones unleashed [Scarlet gue] immediately after. The skill allowed her to infect the soldiers by the hundreds, and she smiled as their skin reddened and started to weep watery blood.


    With the spells cast, she waited.


    The first few instants, she wasnt too worried about theck of deaths. But as that first moment turned into seconds, she started to worry that not a single trooper would die. If none of them fell, that would ruin her follow up ns.


    Just as she was starting to really worry, she felt the first death.


    A woman had been wounded in her ear, and the infection had spread into her brain before a healer could get to her.


    Liz grinned as she imed the woman''s blood through the spell that was still under her control.


    Careful not to move the blood inside too much and rupture the body, Liz spread her control over the blood until she had it all. Then, she cast [Blood Clone].


    There was no moment of disorientation as the new mind came into being, just a smooth transition of where most of Lizs consciousness resided from the fortress to the inside of a half-mechanical Federation soldier. If the woman realized what was happening before it was toote, she never got a chance to say it. Liz shattered her spirit and pulped her body as she returned to human form. A dagger-sized feather materialized in her hand, and she drove it through the back of a healer upied with cleansing her effect from himself.


    She noticed her arm formed a little mangled from forcing her way through skin and bone, but it was only a flesh wound, and she had better things to deal with.


    Someone spun around with admirable reaction speed, no doubt sensing the flow of essence from theirterades, but Liz abandoned her human form and effortlessly flowed around the lightning-coated sword, diving into the bloodstream of her attacker. He was dead within moments, but now she had been noticed.


    Not that it mattered.


    She ignored the man attacking the newly-made corpse, burst through a suit of spell armor, and grabbed the gleaming forearm of the man next to him. Mana flowed and red, and while the skin was more metallic than organic, it didnt stop her. With more attention on her now, it was slower than usual, but [Scarlet gue] was still active, and the mans Intent wasnt enough to dissuade her as she stabbed his hand. She drew blood and opened a gap in his spiritual defenses that he simply wasnt able to close in time.


    With a dramatic gesture, she drew upon all the blood in the area and formed two more bodies to join her. One transformed into a phoenix, and the other began casting [Feather Armory] as quickly as the pseudo-skill allowed. Elsewhere, another Liz cast [Blood Brothers], and she grinned as the power flooded her. While typically useful to families and those who had sworn some sort of blood oath, Liz shared <em>all</em> her blood with <em>all</em> her bodies, and it had be one of her favorite buffs as a result..


    Her spare body finished repurposing itself into a full set of [Feather Armory] regalia, and feathers swirled as a storm of them descended onto Liz. By the time it resided, she was d in full helm, armor, wings, and even had a basic spear. Shed keep expanding it as she went, of course, but this was a good start.


    Spinning her spear and sliding to the side, she cut through the head of a woman who was just a little too slow to react. Her blood was fed into [Blood Sacrifice] instead of creating a new body. It was all about pacing.


    [Blood Sacrifice] was her most recently upgraded skill, and <em>certainly</em> worth it. Something Matt had run into was the fact that his skills were simply too powerful. Her husband had always favored self-buffs and more direct attacking spells, but the issue with those was that you could only make an enemy so dead. Sure, she ran into that problem sometimes herself- between her potions, [Blood Brothers], [Blood Sacrifice], the enchantments on [Feather Armory], her natural treasures, and more besides- she could frequently run into overkill. But when she funneled things like the skill boost from [Blood Sacrifice] into massive, lingering effects?


    A new wave of [Scarlet gue] swept over the battlefield, and other Liz began popping up elsewhere in the army. Liz had her nearby phoenix body dive beak-first into a nearby soldier, only for the falcon-like bird to utterly annihte the mans head. An extra-strong body appeared somewhere else, and Liz kept moving to find more blood for her neverending engine.


    With all the power coursing through her, she felt like she could wrestle Matt and win easily unless he was in his new armor, but that wasnt a fairparison.


    Liz extended an arm and drove her spear through the first man who had attacked her before ripping her spear out of his chest with a hard twist. Using the shaft of the weapon, she blocked the second soldier''s thrust and skidded around his questing de.


    Spells started to fly in despite her being within melee range but she just focused on killing the second trooper. Two exchangester she shattered the cor bone and used his own blood to drive spikes into his eyes.


    As he fell, the first body exploded into another Liz which split off and started killing.


    Darting forward Liz took down another dozen troopers in quick session creating a clone from each. She needed to transfer a mind into a few of them to keep herself from getting overwhelmed, but quickly had a full twenty of herself down and among the Federation troops.


    An officer of some kind attacked her from the rear while she was upied fighting a dozen of his people, but Liz didnt bother turning to face him. Instead, her wings red and a dozen feathers shot out and stabbed into exposed skin.


    He made the correct choice and ignored them while closing in for the kill, knowing he was already infected, but wasnt anticipating Liz to bring the blood inside her body to life and exsanguinate herself. Blood coalesced from her back to block his attack, then she went for the kill with a spear.


    That clone was unarmored and would have lost the fight in just a few moments, but another two clones came in and joined the fight. In a matter of moments, his blood was used to grow another Liz.


    Sadly, the Federation troops werent stupid and stopped sending in troops, instead pulling back and epting their losses instead setting up a shield wall, using range to batter her clones down.


    Liz didnt bother to continue the fight and allowed most of the clones to be quickly destroyed, only putting up resistance when it would be mana-positive.


    When there was only one left, she made a show of it and she grinned at the Federation troops who had encircled her.


    Blowing them a kiss, she said, See you soon.


    Letting her body fall apart, she stopped the transformation and pointed above them. Might want to duck.


    The mind dissipated, returning her experiences to the bodies back at the fortress. Once there, Lizughed as she watched Matt and Bolt hammer the position with spells, quickly eliminating many of the tightly packed Federation soldiers.


    Cracking her neck, Liz readied herself for a long and drawn out battle.


    Her little stunt had been a, if she said so herself, brilliant opening move to crush the enemy''s morale but the actual casualties were only in the hundreds. Themanders had quickly cut their losses and spread out enough that it was hard for her to get enough blood to do anythingrge scale.


    Still, it had been a good test of her new skills, and that was worth the strain she had been put under while holding the coven spells.


    Looking back at her coven, she smiled as they finished casting the final spell. It wasnt a true spell, but one of the skill-less spells she had been working on with Chess. The spell was a simple resonance spell that used her connection to her [Scarlet gue] and more importantly its residual effects of thinning one''s blood.


    Anyone that had been infected would be quickly healed but unless the healers took the time topletely purge the side effects, which was unlikely given the pressure they were under, she would be able to track the once infected attackers.


    The only real limitation of that little trick was processing the information. Her [AI] was already split a hundred ways and couldn''t handle that muchputation without being useless for the rest of them. She could mostly bypass that by sending a data dump to Matts [AI] and let him use his excess processing power to track everyone, but even just sending that much information quickly enough could make her spare mana run dangerously low..


    Hefting her spear, she went hunting even as Matt threw himself out of the fortress. The enemies would soon be infesting their halls lest they contend with her husband in the open field backed by Morgans constructs and deadly crossbow. Staying out there was asking to die which would send the attacking soldiers scuttling inside looking for shelter from the rain of death he would bring them.


    A good idea in theory but Liz wouldnt live with vermin in her house. There might be a lot of attackers but there were a lot of Lizzes as well. Lizzes backed by Mercury, Stick and Stone, Bolt, and most importantly Aster who had turned the entire station into her icey territory.


    It was time for a hunt.


    ***


    General Casos finally understood how Jas had felt after the first engagement. She had thought she had seen everything through her time in the army, but she just blinked at the report Agent Gloomwood had sent her.


    She still couldnt believe it.


    The Oval Table warned her two weeks ago that the moment the Ascenders had crushed the second wave of attackers, the Federation pulled three more Tier 26 armies from the frontlines of battles the Guild wasnt trying to relieve for the express purpose of dislodging the Ascenders from their territory.


    This mission hadnt just gone well, but had exceeded expectations beyond her wildest imagination, and she could only wonder at the Federation Generals who had given the orders for even more troops to leave the frontlines. It was a bold move, to say the least. She would have never given such an order, but she suspected she knew the reason. The Federation and the society they had cultivated had been holding pride and honor as an immutable ethos since their fall so the fact seven people were squatting on their frontwn must have been creating societal unrest.


    She had immediately ordered Agent Gloomwood to investigate as much as she could with the ess she had. If things were so bad that the popce couldnt tolerate someone taking over a single system they might be able to use that to their advantage with strategic repeats of this maneuver.


    Granted it was all conjecture, but she hadnt been sure what else would or could drive the Federation to pull back from three Tier 26 battlefields to dislodge them out of a single system. Sure, with Drifters exceptional piloting skills and the Ascenders for back up, no military shipping could use thisne, but at worst avoiding this choke point meant a few more weeks of flying and shouldnt have elicited such a reaction.


    That said, there was nothing for them to do but watch.


    General Casos had read up on Drifters profile, and as the woman had been stationed in an embassy for a time they had a fairly detailed personality matrix built on her. She wasnt a glory hound and knew her limits. A good thing as General Casos was in her ship and didnt particrly want to be in a heated fight in what amounted to a light frigate withrger than normal engines and weapons.


    No, she preferred to do her fighting in a miles long dreadnought surrounded by dozens ofyers of armor.


    She rethought that proposition as she considered what Ascender Quill could do to a dreadnought with a cast of [Breach]. His single spell was a little stronger than the cannons usually mounted on such ships, and while their shields were rated to protect against such levels of power they werent made to fight single cultivators. They would never be able to hit the man while he flew circles around them and sted holes in her ship.


    Or worse yet, he flew inside and cut his way through the ship with that power armor.


    General Casos was just d they were on her side.


    As she saw the mountain of ice slowly turning, she reaffirmed her thoughts. Ascender Scoop had been a bit of a question mark in their information but after witnessing thetest, third battle, she intended to send a strongly worded reprimand to whoever rated her so lowly due to being a bond.


    The three newest armies had learned from their predecessors and instead of rushing into a fortress of ice and dying inside its halls they had kept their distance and set up cannons used to siege fortress worlds and started sting the shipyard.


    <em>That</em> elicited a response, as everyone defending the shipyard came out to properly hold their position. Enormous spells shed across the battlefield, and Casos was stunned to see how these handful of people managed to hold their own against what should by rights be overwhelming odds.


    After three days of making no progress they had changed tactics again and sent in probing attacksbined with sappers who used massive breaching charges normally used to blow through fortress worlds shields. That had finally caused serious damage but Ascender Quill had simply cast some spell that seemed to create mana crystals and used it like glue to reform the fortress to its original state after he ughtered those who moved the charges into ce.


    That had caused a standoff thatsted a full seven hours. The Federation Generals must have been asking for new orders, because just when things looked hopeless they packed up and left. While the Federation were not the Sects, General Casos had never seen them just give up like that and knew no fieldmander would be able to make such a call.


    From Mercury and Agent Gloomwoods reports, the Ascenders were angry that the Federation didnt meet their challenge. Angry they didnt get to face three battle hardened armies at once.


    Pure and utter madness. Insanity of the highest order.


    There was no other word for it.


    But the retreat of the Federation armies left them unsure of how to proceed, and General Casos was waiting for the Oval Tables decision. From thest reports she received the battles they wanted to relieve had already had their attacking armies routed so there was little strategic reason for them to stay but now that it seemed like the Federation was unwilling to push into this area they might want to reinforce it and create their own staging area deeper inside Federation space simr to what the Federation had done to them.


    General Casos would never suggest such an action when they were on the defensive everywhere else, but she wasnt part of the Oval Table and didnt know if there was arger strategic reason to keep this system.


    Despite her own objections to such orders she had had Jas preparing loose deployment ns just in case. General Casos hadnt risen to her rank because she could be caught unprepared. Thankfully their orders werent suicidal and they were ordered to return to Guild space so they could send the Ascenders on another mission.


    Looking out at the fortress of ice, General Casos decided she would not be volunteering to be their handlers going forward. Her understanding of the realm might not make it through another such deployment.

 Chapter 300

    Chapter 300


    Matt was almost disappointed at the order to return to Guild space that Mercury passed along to them. There was a thrill about waltzing into an enemys territory, taking over a position, and then having those same enemies fail to take back their space. It was the kind of feat that L and Aiden boasted of when talking about their own missions.


    Still, they were here on a job. And now that the job had beenpleted, it was time for them to move onto the next one. The war hadnt ended just because they had taken over one shipyard.


    It just felt wrong to leave, having worked so hard to take the system.


    To that end, he had wanted to destroy the shipyard, but he had been dissuaded by the Guild General. She was right, even if he didnt like it. Agent Gloomwood had worked too hard setting traps and viruses in the station''s enchantments for them to blow it all up.


    Matt had tried to argue that leaving the station intact was obviously a trap, so they should blow it up anyway, but he had once more been shot down. If they destroyed the shipyard, the Federation would just recycle the metal like scrap. And while they could blow it up and recycle it themselves, their supply of new shipyards was basically nonexistent, as they were built on demand and not pipelined. So unless the Federation was willing to be permanently set back on a shipyard, they would fix this one, which would take decades. Eventually, they would get the shipyard back up and running, but leaving it intact while covered in ice and riddled with viruses inconvenienced them more.


    It was almost funny to see General Casos carefully tip toe around his requests to blow up the station, but after his first two reasons were shot down, he gave up. Half the reason he wanted to blow the station up was to see if he could cast [Shatter] on that much ice, and how big of an explosion it would cause.


    Aster had been just as eager as he was, but they had to settle with testing their idea once they were back in the Camp Lightfoot rift.


    While Matt didnt put up a fight with that order, he and Aster backed Liz up when she insisted that they take a more wandering route back to Guild space that just so happened to take them through a few Tier 25 and Tier 26 battlefields.


    General Casos objected to the dy, but her resistance melted the first time they showed a united front. Matt assumed the resistance was little more than a formality so she could say she did her best to keep the Ascenders on their stated mission, but relieving Guild territory was something few leaders would refuse. The longer trip didnt even cost them too much time, as they only needed to actually fight once. The Tier 25 sieges just surrendered the moment they saw an Ascender was there. The only instance of resistance was a Tier 26 siege where the enemy army thought they could retreat instead of surrendering.


    They quickly learned the futility of such a ploy, but they thankfully surrendered when it became clear that they were not going to escape intact.


    When they finally arrived back at the Guild Forward Operating Base, they were able to rx a little.


    It wasnt the same as being back in Camp Lightfoot, but they were given the best lodgings the Guild had to offer. They were nice, but it wasnt <em>home</em>. Which was irritating, considering he had a portable house, but that would have been too much mass for Allie to teleport them to Guilds space with.


    Matt went to put spatial mass reduction on his list of things to do when he got a few decades of free time, but found it was already there. In fact, it was there twice, and he most definitely hadnt made those entries. At least, he didnt remember doing so. He thought he was going crazy, but when he checked the logs he saw both Aster and Liz had made the entries just a few seconds before he had.


    They were all missing home.


    Still, settling in was easy enough, as they had little in the way of personal items thanks to their limited spatial rings. They spent a good half of their day off rxing before going out to see what the under them had to offer.


    They were all sure they were being watched, but they didnt really mind or care.


    The briefing the day after they came back was interesting though.


    Everyone there was a familiar face, but they were noticeably more polite than they had been in the first meeting. Unlikest time, they actively asked for their input when discussing possible deployment operations instead of just assuming they knew what they could do.


    Liz reciprocated the friendliness and offered her own suggestions about their future deployments. That was an interesting conversation, as instead of immediately sending them intobat with the five anti-speedsters to free up that section of Guild space, they tly rejected Lizs offer.


    They have built up the system, and with ourtest territorial gains, we have them firmly surrounded. While it''s unlikely, we are hoping they voluntarily retreat. If they choose to stay and defend that system we will send you in, but that''s more likely to be in a year or two. As you have shown you have thebat power to single handedly push out Tier 25 and Tier 26 armies, we actually want to use that. See this stretch of worlds?


    At their nods, the cape continued, A Tier 15 nexus world was taken early in the war, but before we can take it back, we need to push through three worlds. A Tier 25, a Tier 26, and a Tier 27. The next mission we want you to undertake is leading the assaults on the Tier 25 and Tier 26 worlds so we can just send two offensive armies, a Tier 27, and a Tier 15. That frees up more personnel for other operations. You can help fight in a Tier 27 battlefield, correct?


    Liz nodded in response to the question. We wont be clearing out the army ourselves, but we can assist as elites at that Tier, which should still be useful.


    It''s more than enough. The flexibility of your Tier andbat power is what is allowing us to redirect only two armies. While you are there, there is a secondary objective we want you toplete. Those systems have been upied by the enemy for almost a century now, and as a show of force, we want to know if you are willing to do a little charity. Help the people, show your faces alongside Mercury, give them some hope.


    None of them liked such tant public rtion moves, but even Matt wouldnt deny the citizens of the Guilds a little relief from the knowledge of possibly being given over to the enemy if the war went badly.


    He was about to say exactly that when a soft voice cut him off from the row of chairs behind him. Dont reject our offer too soon.


    Matt flinched.


    Aster flinched.


    Liz flinched.


    His sword came out of its ring while he red [Archmages Presence] and [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Aster created a flurry of ice that covered the room and the upants while Liz split in three. Bird Liz flew up and out of immediate danger, blood blob Liz flowed forward like an evil tide, and Lizs main body drove a spear at the man who suddenly appeared behind them. He wouldnt have been so surprised, but the reactions of everyone else in the room wasnt one of seeing an expected guest. No, their eyes widened and their heartbeats elerated even as they reached for their own weapons.


    That spelled nothing good.


    Attacks flew andnded where the man had been, and Matt swept his [Mana Beam] across every spot he thought the neer might have been.


    Touchy, touchy, arent we? the voice asked again, this time from behind Matt in a spot that just previously his spiritual sense had said was empty.


    The three of them whirled around, magic ring, but the mans spirit and face finally coalesced into recognizable forms. A pair of metal batons stuck out from their holster behind his back, and his hands were sped behind his head while his feet were propped up on a table that <em>definitely</em> hadnt been there a moment earlier.


    Come on now kids, full-power attacks? How is that polite? One Step Behind asked


    Aster didnt hesitate as she sniped back, It''s less rude than appearing behind someone in a mask. I could have frozen your nose off if you were a little slower.


    The fastest speedster in the realm even without ounting for the sixteen-Tier difference snorted and went cross-eyed as he studied his nose Nope! Still there. But thats a good one. Nice to meet you all, the names Ezra. You should be proud. So proud that you ept the idea of doing some people work!


    Matt opened his mouth to speak, but Ezra held up his hand as his nose fell off. I have a better idea. Oh nose! It''s gone. Now you owe me for freezing my nose off. I nee


    Rolling his eyes at the older Ascenders antics, he spoke over him, We were<em> going to</em><em>ept</em>.


    That statement seemed to catch everyone off guard, and Ezra blinked at Matt like he wasnt sure what he was looking at. You arent mad at doing that kinda stuff? Aiden said you guys would hate it.


    Bird Liz shrugged even as human Liz worked on reabsorbing the Liz that acted as her blood. We arent going to volunteer to go on talk shows or anything, bute on, we arent assholes. Some of the people living on thoses have only lived under enemy upation. Us doing a little PR work is nothing inparison.


    Ezra grumbled as he listened. Well, damn it. I had severalyers of bribes ready to get you to agree. What am I going to do with them now?


    Aster grinned as she elbowed the older Hero. Give it to us as gifts?


    But that''s no funnnnn. Eh, whatever. I cant be bothered to think about it that much. As part of you helping with the sieges and doing some public works, we carved out some time for you to delve. The Tier 27 system should be perfect for you guys to pop in and do a quick rift clear, right?


    Matt nodded, which seemed to catch Ezras attention. Everyone else can leave. I want to talk to the kids alone for a moment. Once they were gone, he gave Matt an appreciative nce, Thats some serious Power synergy youve got there. You didnt happen toe across any Guild trainers at Tier four? Yeah, thats a native.


    Matt frowned, I broke through to Tier 5 with a Concept, is that what youre asking about? But no, Luna was our main trainer for Domain stuff, do you know her?


    Ezra waved away the name like he smelled something foul. Yeah I know the cat, and I can see her wmarks all over you. But thats all natural then? Not half bad, you must be a natural.


    A natural at what exactly?


    Matt was genuinely interested in what the older Hero had to say, with him having set the hook so obviously. Just because the bait was obvious didnt mean it wasnt also delicious.


    Thankfully, the retired Hero didnt drag it out and got to the point. Your Power, little Ascender. Youd know them as your Talent and Domain, but we dont really see the point in distinguishing them. Its stronger that way, if you view em as two halves of one whole. And does yours <em>ever</em> shine. Like a star, right in your chest. Nah, not a star, thats a white hole isnt it? Hmmm, mirrored by a ck hole? Thats a hell of a thing to pull off in two centuries, but thats not what Im looking at, but how its interacting with the rest of your spirit. If I dont miss my guess, which I never do, thats basically <em>recing</em> your mana core isnt it?


    Matt grew a bit warier. His masks should have hidden that kind of detail from inspection, whether casual or intensive, I would appreciate it if you didnt stare at my spirit that much.


    Ah youre fine. I promise I wont tell. Its just obvious if you know what to look for which to be fair, I dunno if anyone else would. Staring into your soul is just one of my specialities. He tapped his nose, then relocated to the other side of the room, alongside the table and chair he was sitting on.


    But anyway, that wasnt what I was looking at. Youve got a proper Power there, though a bit of a nascent one. Not surprised, all you Empire peeps are way more into the whole self-decision thing yeah? Your Talent doesnt define you, all that? Domains rah rah, hoo ha? Never thought about putting your Talent and Domain together, but you did it on your own.


    Are you going to get to the point?


    Bah. Fine. Anyway, to oversimplify, your Power is <em>everything</em> you are. Abilities and Insights. Talents and Domain. Bloodlines too, if youve got one. The more of you feeds into your Power, the stronger it all is. They lean on each other, strengthen the collective. Positive feedback loop. Its more involved than just having simr themes like thedies here have, blood and ice, its about them meshing on a very <em>deep</em> level. And youve got that down <em>pat</em>, at least for your firrr Concept. Well, the basics. About where Id expect someone half your Tier to be at, which is seven Tiers better than most of your countrymen.


    He reappeared next to Liz, and rubbed a couple of strands of hair through his fingers, Man, your Power is a <em>mess</em>. Youre all over the ce, and I dont just mean the clones. He paused as if waiting for them tough at his joke. When they didnt he added. You could really use some consolidation.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Liz frowned and pulled her hair back, I think I remember Luna mentioning something like that why would it be useful to us? She definitely said it wasnt worth our while.


    Eh, most people dont think it is, and Aiden certainly would reinforce that idea that your Ins-Domains can be whatever, screw everything else, but it adds a certain level of robustness, weight, and power to just about everything you do. I betcha that Quills Domain is the strongest of yalls isnt it?


    Matt and Aster shared a nce, and Matt answered Part of it is at leastpared to simr Domain abilities wevee across.


    Thats the mana-giving bit isnt it? Its tied in <em>tight</em> to your Talent, so much power Im honestly impressed. That had to have made the Path a lot easier. But yeah, thats what I mean. Its stronger, because of the tie. Ill give you lot a few exercises before I leave, none of you are truly hopeless and I think yd like it.


    Ezra gave Matt a side eyed look as he added in a [AI] message that made his stomach drop through the floor. Rx, kid. Game recognizes game, I won''t tell anyone. Youre already doing good by telling everyone it''s your Domain that gives you so much mana and not your Talent. Or maybe its both? It gets a bit fuzzy. Anyway, I can tell the difference, but I can count on my fingers the number of people who can probably do the same, and one of them is Aiden. I didnt make it this far <em>just</em> cause Im fast. But I got some free time, so while youre still around the Guilds Ill pop in to keep giving you some tips, including on how to disguise the details of your Power. Wrap it all up, twist the strands, blend them together until no one can see where one begins and the other one ends.


    While Matt was still wrestling back the instinctive panic of <em>anyone</em> being able to see through all the divination wards the Empire hadyered over his Talent, Aster flicked an ear and asked, So hold up a moment. I have ice based everything. Surely I''m doing it. Right?


    Ezra shrugged his shoulders. Like I said kid, <em>you</em> are not. The ice theme is great, but it looks like youre trying to shove seasons into space while your Talent is still back on a. Then your bloodline is well, its not <em>bad</em> for your Intent, and youve got good synergy sure, but they still arent a full Power. Its like youve got three pirs built up to support your strength, instead of one solid block.


    Aster seemed almost offended at the idea she hadnt made any progress and immediately started pestering the older Hero for tips, but Matt could feel she was exaggerating it in an attempt at sympathy lessons. She certainly seemed to seed, and Ezra split his time between the two of them, which quickly became the three of them as Aster and Liz started asking about different permutations of their own elemental powersets. Interestingly, though it was a bit hard to tell, Ezra wasnt using [Clone] to split himself in three, but was instead simply moving fast enough that he looked entirely solid as they talked about stuff. It was simr to the trick Mercury pulled off the first time they met him but done a million times cleaner.


    It took Matt a bit of time to emotionally settle his worries about someone non-Empire knowing about his Talent but it didnt really matter. Hed dealt with fear and terror in the past, and a bit of worry was easily filtered away once he got his head in the right space.


    His Talent would make him the center of attention sooner orter. So what if someone else knew? Even if Ezra seemed carefree, he surely had the level of experience to understand just how valuable the knowledge of Matts Talent was, and the potential political consequences that would be involved in carelessly revealing an asset that was so valuable to the Empire. Besides, it wasnt like he had an exact readout of Matts Talent, just some level of knowledge that Matt made most of the mana he used in a battle.


    With that realization firmly nted in his mind, Matt allowed himself to rx and enjoy the conversation with the older Hero.


    He even asked why Ezra was called One Step Behind. He knew the official answer, as the speedster always said it was because he was so fast his enemies were on the back foot, but he wanted to see what Ezra would say to a peer. Its not a perfect trantion, of course, but I certainly <em>could</em> have chosen something that sounded better. But I <em>really</em> like seeing everyone try to justify why my name sounds like Im slower than everyone else. Speaking of which, have you lot settled on new names yet? If not, Im doing it before you leave, you three have just the worst branding.


    Aster opened her mouth toin, but Ezra snorted at her. Scoop is a bad joke name to be shared with friends, not to start a lifetime of branding. He pointed at Liz with a grin. Hows Blood Babe?


    When Liz justughed at the joke and didnt get offended, he grumbled, Aiden said you were stuck up, this is no fun. Ok, but actual new names. Indomitable Titan. Inevitable Frost, Immortal Legion. The names even work in Empire, as I chose names that trante to have a simr first letter, but they also work well in Guild standard. Theyre catchy and describe you guys better.


    Matt shook his head. Thanks, but were good. Weve got our own ns, as well as a bit of a strategy for when were revealing them.


    Ezra denied Matts rejection. I think you misunderstand. I already had all the Guild informationworks change your names when the first reports of yourst mission went out. Its already done. Still dont have a team name, but that isn''t really as important as individual branding.


    Matt red at the Hero. It was quite likely that they could save their personal titles for the Empire at least, but having a Hero give out their official names in the Guilds meant that they were definitely getting stuck with <em>some</em> permutation of those in at least one Great Power. Well, at least Indomitable, Inevitable, and Immortal werent too bad nor were Titan, Frost, and Legion. Hed have to talk to Chatter about whether it would mess up their own ns, but it should be salvageable.


    That didnt mean they wouldnt seek revenge for the older Hero overstepping the bounds of polite society and renaming them without asking, but any revenge would have to wait until they could beat him up. Unless they could enlist L for help, but Matt suspected she would justugh at their predicament.


    Before he left, Ezra nodded to Matt. Anyway, you seem to have this down well enough, good job. Just keep practicing and youll get there in no time. Youve got my AI ID at this point. Normally I''d wait until you joined the group chat, but feel free to ask me about any questions you have about your Powers.


    There was a group chat? Between who?


    Matt blinked after the Hero, who was already gone. Damn speedsters.


    ***


    Valentina carefully watched the battle through the scope of her rifle, careful to never directly point her weapon at the targets.


    This was a reconnaissance mission, not an attack, and any amount of killing intent might be detected by the Ascenders she was watching.


    Dying wasnt on her list of things to do today.


    Running her finger along the side of the scope, she zoomed in closer to Ascender Shadow as she flickered in and out ofbat with the Sect fighters who futilely tried to crush her with numbers.


    From following the flow ofbat and numerous recordings of watching Shadow fight, Valentina was expecting a teleport.


    Three.


    Two.


    O


    Teleport.


    Damn. She was off again.


    Her spotter Oskar wasying half on top of her and had the luxury of having his hands free, so she transmitted a message through their contact.


    Note that Shadows teleports are constantly half an instant before I predict them to be. Unknown if it''s a part of her Talent, Domain, or armor.


    Acknowledged.


    He physically wrote the information down, as they couldn''t risk using any mana. They may have been days worth of flying away from the closest star, the one Light and Shadow were fighting in, giving them distance and protection, but they were deep in the emptiness betweens. That meant almost zero ambient mana. While using something as simple as [AI] <em>should</em> be undetectable at those kinds of ranges, Valentina hadnt lived long enough to be a renowned sniper by taking stupid risks. So, they would be using <em>zero</em> spells and she made sure that none of their items had spirits, and therefore mana signatures, except her rifle and Oskars telescope. But both of those items were built for situations like this, so they were safe.


    The only bit of magic they were even using was when Valentina carefully tapped into her Talents and Domain, but she didnt dare to do more than feather light touches to check with them.


    Her Talent allowed her to identify weaknesses. A vague definition, but one that had turned her into a careful ambush predator.


    Most with such a Talent would have turned to a life of wetwork, killing for hire, but her father was career military and had steered her into a different path. Not that the actual work was that much different; she had no illusions about that. She was just an assassin who worked on battlefields instead of cities. Careful scouting let her Talent to identify any possible weaknesses,bined with her Domain, which allowed her to amplify a minor w into a fatal one or create small weaknesses where there were none.


    Valentina had expected such a mission the moment Light and Shadow had entered the war, but it had nevere, and for that she was grateful. Instead, she had spent most of her time carefully getting into position to take out pinnacle elites for most of the war, and with a kill rate approaching twenty percent, she was the most sessful elite killer in the war.


    Through some off the books scuttlebutt she had heard a between storage moon had been not just hit and destroyed, but raided by both sets of Tier 25 Ascenders. If that wasnt bad enough, Maven, the Sects counter to Light and Shadow, had been unable to stop the Ascenders and their little gaggle despite springing an ambush on them.


    That same source of scuttlebutt had then told her to expect the Sects, the Federation, and the Republic to create their own team of pinnacle elites to prevent such a urance from happening again, and that her name was on the shortlist. Being considered for a joint operation of pinnacle elites would normally be an honor she would brag of, but in this situation, she wasnt sure it was an honor she would survive.


    Valentina was damn good at what she did, but she wasnt sure she could take out a teleporter like Shadow. Teleporters were always a pain to kill, but they usually had cooldown periods she could take advantage of which meant if Valentina was really, really careful the kills were just barely possible. In fact, most teleporters werezy fighters who relied on their single skill to kill people from an unexpected angle. If any of those factors applied to Shadow, Valentina would be fairly confident in killing her, but the teleporter was an Ascender for a reason.


    She had no tells, monstrous closebat capabilities, and something, Valentina suspected a Domain, that made her slippery and impossible to pin down long enough to line up a shot. And if worse came to worse, and Valentina failed to take the teleporter out in a single shot, she wasnt sure that even Oskar and his tanking abilities would be able to save them.


    Light was another matter, and she suspected that with a proper ambush and with the help of an army or two to distract him, she could take him out no problem. Mages werent her speciality, she wasnt so limited as to only be able to target one archetype of fighter, but control mages like Light were hard pressed to stop a solid rod of high-Tier mana-depleted tungsten going through their head the same way they dispelled spells.


    His being an Ascender made it a harder kill, but one she was confident in.


    That raised the main question she had that no one could answer.


    Where were the other three Ascenders?


    With them being so new, she had been excited to get a good look at Quill, Torch, and Scoop. Reports and [AI] dumps were only so useful to someone like Valentina, who needed to see and observe on her own. What weakness did they have? They surely had some, and once she knew that, she could ry it to the Republic Council of War, where they would decide what to do with the information.


    If nothing else, it would be good information to know when they formed their own team to counter the Ascenders. And she had no doubt the Republic would be leading the team. It wasnt a matter of honor or pride, but one of power.


    Frankly, this war would have never started if the Republic hadnt spearheaded the operation.


    Valentina had been in the army a long time, and had learned how things really worked a long time ago. Beyond that, she could count beyond ten, or twenty if she took off her shoes, which seemed to be a skill a lot of others seemed tock.


    The Empire was massive and their poption had been exploding. It was to such an extent that if the Republic, as the third strongest Great Power, hadnt been willing to go to war, the Sects might not have been willing to take the plunge. And the Federation wouldnt have dared to dere a full-scale war without backup, thanks to just how many bodies the Empire had to throw at the warfront.


    That didnt mean the Federation wasnt ying a vital role. Without a third ally, the Republic and Sects would have only matched the Guild and Empires troop counts, which would have made this war that much harder.


    Personally, she wasnt sure why they bothered to work with the Federation. She had seen what kind of scum they were in the war where they had been cut down and had taken great pleasure in doing so. But no one asked her and she didnt get to choose the Republic''s war allies.


    The Council of War had rightly pointed out that one <em>didnt</em> get to choose allies when facing a stronger force, but Valentina hoped that whoever the Federation sent to them wasnt a member of the younger generation. The Federation cultivators born after the split were <em>off</em>.


    Shadow blipped, and Valentina mentally ticked a box in her mind. Note that Shadow teleported at exactly one one millionth of a second after herst teleport, taking a ncing blow instead of avoiding it. Thats the third time she had taken a hit instead of dodging it. Possible lower limit of her teleportation abilitys cooldown.


    Noted.


    Oskar shifted slightly as his pencil scratched silently in the vacuum.


    Running her finger along her scope, Valentina zoomed out further and looked for Shadow, but when she couldn''t find her in a few moments, she started paying attention to Light.


    The man was a mage she wouldn''t want to get close to, and that idea was reinforced as she watched him turn a man''s magical armor into mist and skewer him with a rapier.


    Zooming back in, she kept him on the edge of her scope, watching the book he held in his left hand. A spell came in from an oblique angle, and instead of being dissipated, turned into something harmless, or being redirected all things she had seen Light do plenty of the spell vanished. If she wasnt watching the book in particr, she would have missed the page flutter as it absorbed the spell.


    Note that Lights book seems to be able to absorb spells. Unknown if it is purely a defensive measure or able to spit them back out.


    Material? Oskars question was a good one, and Valentina watched the book and waited for it to eat another spell. If it could eat spells with physicalponents, like earth or water spells, and not just energy based spells, her idea of putting a mundane physical round through his head might not work.


    Despite watching the fight for another few exchanges, she wasnt able to see the book eat any more spells so she wasnt able to verify, but it had been a good observation.


    Note that as a possibility for deeper review of the recorded battles. Also note that anytime he takes control of a spell theres a period of time between disruption and usurpation. A sufficient interruption at that moment could cause bacsh.


    Valentina had done her homework about the abilities of Light and Shadow, but it was deliberately surface level. If she knew too much, she might make assumptions and overlook something important that would be obvious to someone with less preconceived notions.


    That was why this was purely a reconnaissance mission, and she hadnt even brought physical ammunition for her rifle. While her skills still meant she wasnt entirely unarmed, intent mattered and being as unarmed as she <em>could</em> be made it that much less likely that any danger senses would trigger.


    As Shadow teleported back in, Valentina shifted her focus to the teleporter, hoping to understand her and how she fought. In spite of her best efforts, any time Valentina thought shed gotten a handle on when the other woman would teleport, she would inevitably be a fraction of a secondte.


    It was clearly the work of some ability, but despite trying several mental tricks, all that she could do without her [AI], Valentina couldn''t ovee it. She was sure she could find some way to beat thepulsion, but doing so while not giving away her position would be damn hard and take testing.


    Thankfully, Ari Kai was usually willing to work with her when dealing with those types of antimemetics. He was the master of such arts, and with exposure, Valentina was sure she could ovee such a weak effect. To that end, she had Oskar make a dozen more notes. But as the fight came to a close they stilled, not daring to even let their cells divide lest it bring unwanted attention to them.


    Only once the Ascenders vanished did Valentina and Oskar make their own move to leave.


    Hopefully someone in her chain ofmand would know where the other Ascenders had gone and she could get some observation of them done before the scuttlebutt was proven true, and there was a team assembled to counter the Ascenders. The moment that happened, the Empire would start even more measures to block such information gathering.


    Valentina had a reputation after all. Anyone with a brain would know she was part of any anti-Ascender team.


    Meeting eyes with Oskar, Valentina waited. Soon a mystical energy, not mana, not essence, but something In Between gathered before them, and after fifteen minutes they were in a misty ne of semi light.


    Gathering her bearing, Valentina pointed to her left and kept her unwavering finger pointed in that direction. The borders of the In Between were a dangerous ce. No one knew what happened to those who wandered past the stable areas, and Valentina didnt want to find out.


    No, it was too soon for her to die.


    Not when there was fresh prey, prey like she had never been able to hunt before, right in front of her.

 Chapter 301

    Chapter 301


    Matt wanted to throw himself into practicing the lessons as they flew to relieve the sieges, but didnt feel right about their entire team going down like that. Instead of just moving through chaotic space with Drifter darting around like a minnow, they were moving with two full armies which meant they were moving at a third of their normal speed.


    Except, there were <em>six</em> armies with them as Matt counted it, but the Guilds counted differently.


    Army was a weird description in the Guilds. There was the Army, and there was the <em>Army.</em> The confusion came from Guild standard having two words for what Matt would consider an army, single word. The first was a normal army, which moved around and attacked worlds or did whatever the higher ups needed them to do. The second, they didnt consider to be an army no, they were the defensive units who held systems in the fortress worlds. They were a military fighting force, but not an army. It seemed like a weird distinction, and as a result, when the generals had said they were only bringing two armies it turned out that they meant two offensive armies, while there would be a separate defensive army ready to retake the fortress worlds as they liberated the systems.


    The new bit of knowledge made Matt go into a rabbit hole, and with his ess, he looked into what else made them different. The first was obvious the armies were separate political entities with little ovep or transfer between the two. If you joined the offensive army, there were few methods to transfer to the defensive side.


    The second difference was in their training and equipment. The defensive armies were made to defend systems, and their training and equipment reflected that. They were repair specialists as much as they were fighters who could keep a defended through even the worst of attacks. The offensive armies, on the other hand, were naturally focused on the offensive, and were built around taking worlds or fighting besiegers in space.


    It was odd to him to separate the two, but it seemed to make sense to the Guildies.


    To make matters worse, at least in Matt''s opinion, all the higher ups wanted to y Meet The Ascender under the guise of talking strategy. Matt would have loved to avoid that responsibility to do literally anything else, but Liz and Aster wanted to see if they could make any headway on the lessons Ezra had given them. And with how many times they had done the liaisoning for him, he couldnt refuse.


    Truth be told, it wasnt as bad as he feared. There was, in fact, a decent bit of actual strategizing with the leaders of the armies. Or, there was with the Tier 27 army. Matt couldn''t help the Tier 15 army fight their battle, though they were there. Their presence had taken him by surprise when he arrived at the meeting, not because they were there, but because of how many there were. Armies at the Tier 25 bracket had around four to five thousandbat capable troops, which was the norm going up all the way to the Tier 35 bracket, but the single Tier 15 army had a full one hundred thousandbat capable troops. He had seen the reports, he knew the logistics thanks to his preparatory training, but seeing theirmand staff outnumbering the rest of the officers a few times over really drove the point home.


    After the fairly short briefing of how they would best be used in the Tier 27 battle, and after making it clear they would follow orders without kicking up a fuss, things started to resemble a noble g more than a military meeting. It was thankfully not nearly as bad as one. Everyone here had seenbat for longer than Matt had been alive, which helped prevent some of the star struck badgering he knew wasmon to Ascenders. Matt mostly moved from group to group and made small talk while trying not to offend anyone. He knew that despite being an Ascender, he was the new kid when it came to battles and just let the officers tell tales about their most glorious achievements. Those feats might not have been on the scale of things he did, but it was a good reminder that wars werent won by a single Ascender.


    A Tier 15 Captain had every right to feel proud and boast about how she and her troops had single handedly plugged a breach in aary shield long enough to get the projector repaired. A Major had every right to retell the story of his firstmand getting lost in chaotic space and idently ambushing a supply line then bluffing their way into capturing the ships without firing a single spell.


    Initially he had to fake his enthusiasm, but before too long Matt thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the exploits of the guild soldiers, and he was d they had such staunch allies for the times ahead. Even if their Tier 50 decided to honor their alliance, it would be all too easy for them, the troops on the frontlines, to put in half effort and just retreat when things got difficult. Instead of taking the easy way out, they fought just as hard as if they were the primary target in this war. Matt was honored, even though he knew he had done nothing to create that rtionship, and made a mental note to ensure they made those bonds of friendship stronger when they left.


    He was so motivated, he went and did tours of the defensive armies ships so he could do a simr meet and greet. If he was going to show his face around, he was going to do it the right way. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was pretty sure that if he didnt go see them, there was going to be another strategy meeting. Not at all.


    When Liz heard his excuse of visiting the other ships, sheughed so hard she started to revert to her blob form. Matt didnt see the joke in the situation, but he was also peopled out. If he needed to smile and y nice for five more minutes, he was going to throw himself into one of the mana storage units and hide there acting like just another battery.


    He couldnt be too sad, though, as Aster had managed to develop her bloodline enough to alter her base element once more. His bond was thrilled, and the excitement was contagious. She wasnt about to do it while they were deployed, of course, but once they returned to Camp Lightfoot and got her hands on the final keystones for the change, there was nothing stopping her. That actually served as a bit of a wakeup call for Matt, as he hadnt realized she was quite so close.


    But now that she was ready to transition to an aurora bloodline, Matt needed to ensure that Aster had rifts and natural treasures avable to her so she could continue her advancement of her bloodline. He wasnt able to practice making rifts in Guild territory, but he was able to y with mana types and make some educated guesses with his [AI] about the steps needed to create the mana type Aster wanted for her Rank 2 bloodline in the future. He knew she had wanted something with void and ice mixed when they were younger, and while that was generally considered impossible if anyone could figure it out, it would be them. He had a few processes running in the background of his [AI] to see if it came up with anything, but it wasnt promising.


    Mostly, he spared his attention to experimenting about aurora, as while it was a known mana type, it wasnt a verymon one. Theyd have their hands full exploring its nuances and natural treasures for quite some time.


    The project was a good excuse to lock himself away in a smallb the Guild army offered him, which conveniently allowed him to ignore any other requests for strategy meetings.


    A trip that could have been done in days in practice took nearly a month, but at least then Matt was able to actually do his job.


    When they arrived at the first, a Tier 25 upied by the Republic, the defenders were already calling foul the moment the armada entered real space. Seeing thousands of ships, some of which were Tier 27, wasnt something he would consider normal. But as Matt, Liz, and Aster flew out nked by Bolt, Stick, and Stone, they quickly understood the situation.


    The defenders were evacuating before they even reached a reasonable engagement distance to the fortress in the outer system. They were clearly trying to run before it was toote, hoping they could avoid capture, but Drifters ship was fast. And unless they wanted to leave more than half their people behind, there was no way they could havepleted their evacuation and gotten far enough away before Team Zero arrived. For a few hours, it almost seemed like that was likely, but someone must have realized they werent going to stop elerating and they started broadcasting their surrender.


    With that done, the Tier 25 defensive army moved in and took backmand of the system. They did it with such fanfare that Matt was confused, but he only needed to connect to the local civilianworks to see that everything that was happening was being broadcast to everyone on the.


    Their job done, Drifter brought them back around and they joined some of the higher ranking officers tond on the.


    As they flew down and Matt was able to spread his spiritual perception over the, he got to see near-riot levels of celebrations egged on by the news stations ying on any screen that was on. There were even a few full-blown fights that were quickly handled by the local guards.


    Despite not being local Ascenders, people seemed to know them and called out their new titles. Matt wanted to get mad at Ezra for making the choice to change their names, but he couldnt get too upset as he heard people calling out Indomitable Titan. It still wore on him a bit, but hearing people shout it in thanks to him wasnt <em>too</em> bad.


    They couldn''t stay for long, so they were unable to satisfy the throngs of people who wanted more facetime, and they quickly moved through the major cities before returning back to space.


    Even while he stered a smile on, Matt watched everything around him, or rather, everyone else. It was interesting to see the differences in behavior between the capes and army officers. The officers were a bit reserved and more formal in their demeanor, which lent them an air of authority, while the capes, like Mercury, were more like an Ascender. He was a celebrity. There were even people who brought memorabilia for him to sign, which ranged fromics that had been written about his younger years as a notable viin, shirts, replica armor or cybeics, to even movie posters.


    It quickly became apparent that Mercury was an old hand at people-facing chatting as, despite being a speedster, he took his time to really talk to those who got to his area. It was mostly the same few polite inquiries, but Mercury managed to keep it from bing repetitive with his charisma and training.


    The final thing Matt noticed about the was thergest relief of the entire trip. A good four percent of the rooms and buildings across the were empty.


    The Empire under the Sophron dynasty had enactedws that gave any mortals in an upied system, who might not be able to afford the costs, the option to move to another on the government''s credit. Few took the option before the war was truly lost, but it was good to see that the Guilds, the Empire''s only ally, had not only implemented thew, but were actively allowing it this early in the war. Officialws could be little more than propaganda if there were enough uses that prevented the system from being used.


    The fact was that few people were willing to abandon everything they had built up over the years until things were far worse. Matt could understand not wanting to leave the homes and jobs they had early in an upation, when rescue mighte like they were doing now, but he had also seen the stats from the Empire. Even when a changed hands to a Great Power like the Sects, Federation, or ns only thirty percent of a would take the offer to leave their homes and start anew. They would rather stay, even knowing that Sect society was brutal, that Federation caste structure wasnt optional, that if you werent a dwarf, n society had limited upward mobility outside Tier. Matt had no idea why anyone would want to live under those conditions, but the numbers didnt lie; only about a third of the would leave.


    He just hoped this system would remain under guild control if worse came to worse and they lost this war.


    The next world they went to was the Tier 26 world, and that Tier gap gave them enough of an advantage that they could battle it out long enough to escape.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Between Mercury running around and breaking important things on the ships and Matt driving [Mana Beam]s through the ships shields and into engines, the Federation troops quickly surrendered. From there it was a near carbon copy of thest system, where they went and ced nice with the locals.


    The easy victories ended there.


    The Tier 27 battlefield started slowly, as the dozen ships that housed the Tier 27 offensive army moved through real space to where the fortress orbited the local star. They had to cross the star itself, which gave the defenders plenty of time to prepare themselves, and they got to watch as auxiliary shields were deployed until there was a full secondyer covering the.


    The expense of such an action was enormous, but doing it so early also allowed them to hammer out any issues in the guild system.


    As they got close, Matt exited Drifters ship with the others. But instead of staying with them, he moved in next to the destroyer and unleashed a supercharged [Breach] to augment the fireing from the shipsrge cannons.


    Their attacks mmed into the shields and made a good quarter of theary shields go opaque, but the doubleyering of the shields paid off, as it took them a full five hours to batter down the firstyer of shields. By that time, the army had set up their own bases and bought out portable cannons, which they set up near Matt and the battleship.


    That finally forced the defenders to use the anti-ship weapons that they had been able to repair. They had been destroyed in the assault that had taken this system in the first ce, and while the Republic would have sent some recement parts, they werent going to invest heavily in a system that only had two connections, which meant only a few shotsnced out at them.


    Normal tactics would have called for the attackers to move their orbit to try and find a spot with as few working anti obit cannons as possible, but with Matt and Aster there, they didnt bother. Instead, Matt used [Cracked Dragonme] to create walls of mana stone while Aster used ice to link the pieces together into a makeshift wall.


    Once she was done with that, and since Matt was there and able to feed her mana through his Concept, she started creating asteroids of ice which she threw at the fortress''s shields. She had to be careful with her angles, as anything that didnt escape the star''s gravity well would end up orbiting the star, and with a bad angle, could end up getting close to the inhabited potentially causing <em>issues</em>.


    Together, they battered through the secondyers of shields in just under a day.


    Not a record by any means, but also quite impressive.


    Once the shield was cracked and they destroyed the pir that was the shield projector, the real fight started.


    Liz started it with a wave of clones. Unarmored and created with her spare time, Liz led the charge down. Most of her bodies were sted apart by spells and anti personal cannon fire, but none of the damage was significant. Instead, it allowed the attacking army to identify the cannon locations and they were quickly destroyed by depleted metal projectiles from orbit.


    With a portion of the scouted out, the second wave was sent in, which was their cue to join the fighting.


    Moving as a unit, his six on-the-ground teammates followed right behind Matt, who led their charge down with a crystalized [Bulwark]. Spells mmed into the shield as people correctly identified them as Tier 25 targets, but with Matts generation, hed need to take a hit from something stronger than a random spell or two if they wanted to get through him. Things werent perfect though. While crystallizing [Bulwark] increased its defense, it came with a downside: he and his allies couldn''t shoot through the spell anymore. That meant they couldn''t retaliate until they were down and amongst the troops.


    Liz dove forward the moment they were below the anti personnel firing height, spear and shield clipping a soldier a little too slow on the retreat. He tried to recover and even blocked one of her spear thrusts, but he must not have expected Liz to drive her shield into his leg, shattering bone even through his armor. He retreated, but it was toote, as his blood fell under Lizs control and started to stab him even as it crept up under his armor.


    His allies ended up killing him as they knew what was going to happen, but the man was no longer rational and kept trying to retreat to what he perceived as safety.


    The moment he died, a Liz burst out of his body and was almost as quickly attacked by the same allies. They found Liz harder to kill than theirrade, as she was already in blob form and simply let most of the attacks ssh through her. That Liz didnt rush into the troopers, but instead grabbed the soldiers weapons to her hands and joined their justnding squad where it fell into a puddle.


    The moment Mattnded, he cast a burst of [Mana Beam] at the nearest group of republic soldiers who used a bit of rubble as a defensive structure. A shield bearer mmed a tower shield down to block the attack, and while [Mana Beam] sshed on the shield and had its power scattered, the shield quickly started to crumble under the spell.


    Matt didnt let up and instead red the spell to the point where his arm projectors started to whine in protest. It worked, and [Mana Beam] punched through the shield, the shield bearer, and the soldiers who hadnt immediately retreated. They might as well not have bothered to retreat though, as he waved [Mana Beam] around, cutting them down.


    Unlike the usual sight, blood flowed to the troops and then there were a full ten Lizzes armed and armored.


    Aster had already cast her buffing spells on them, but she immediately started casting her various debuffing spells on the enemies who surrounded them, which lowered their power to a level that it wasnt too hard for Stick, Stone, Bolt, and Mercury to kill them. They were peak elites in their own right and quickly went to work.


    Stick and Stone were using theirplementary Domains to empower the rest of them, even as Bolt fired glowing crossbow bolts at anyone who looked to be givingmands. The Tier gap meant her bolts werent instantly lethal, but they rarely missed. And no matter how non-lethal the blow, getting part of your body blown off generally interrupted whatever ns you were trying to direct.


    Liz even hitched a ride on some of the mundane bolts, infecting those wounded before detonating the bodies from the inside with massive explosions. Matt wasnt too happy with that tactic, as it forced Liz to kill <em>herself</em> since she needed to have control over the body''s blood, which made it just as much a part of her as the rest of her blood, but it was effective.


    Mercury was speed incarnate despite his limited range, and any time he saw an opening, he dove into a melee brawl against soldiers with half his speed. If Matt hadnt lived most of his life in rifts with a blood mage, he might have found it grisly to see the blood and guts sticking on the man''s cybeics after he ran through a mage, but he only noted it as a possible tactic with his own armor.


    Stones own power armor, while not quite on the same level as Matts, still made him an impressive force to be reckoned with. He was a man-sized mountain serving as one of the anchor points for their line as they smashed, cut, and spelled their way forward to themand point..


    Stick spun around Stone, weaving in and out of battle like the ribbons of cloth that made up her armor. Sometimes she entangled people just long enough for someone else to finish them off, but more often than not the tendrils of cloth cocooned someone and squeezed until they were nothing more than another Liz.


    Matt, on the other hand, led the charge, taking hits to his armor using [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer to block the worst of the damage while decimating anyone within de range.


    He red his Intents gravity field, changing the direction of a de to scrape across his shoulder instead ofnding on his forearm while stomping down on the trooper''s lower leg. Bone broke and the soldier detached his own leg as he tried to retreat, but Matt red his Intent once more, bringing the man flying towards him just in time to catch the pommel of his longsword, which cracked his head open.


    In that same swing, his ck sword cut through another soldier''s armor like it wasnt even there, and he used that momentum to step deeper into the group of enemies he was fighting.


    ring his Concept, Matt sted them with a repulsion field.


    A few of the soldiers were sent tumbling away, but most of them just stumbled. Even that momentarypse was more than enough for Matt to switch his sword to its white form, and he cast [Lightning Torrent]. Arcs of lightning sted from the sword and snaked their way to the soldiers before blowing up whatever flesh they found.


    One soldier, a woman with officer rank insignia on her armor, survived the wave of lightning. Instead of damaging her, the lightning sunk into her and made her glow slightly even as her aura strengthened.


    Whether it was a Talent, bloodline, or something else, Matt didnt care. He simply redirected the spell''s full output into her. It took two full seconds, around seventy million mana, for the woman to pop like an overfull balloon.


    Turning his de to the next group, Matt took several blows along his armor but ignored them as he cut the attackers down. He was about to move to themand structure when a group of seven rushed over to him.


    Feeling the pressure they gave him, Matt locked himself in ce with his Intent to stop his forward momentum before throwing himself backwards and back to the group.


    The attacking Republic soldiers were elites, and were not a group Matt was confident he could handle on his own.


    As if to prove that thought true, an arrow mmed into his helm and carved a line in the armor as it was deflected upward.


    Matt pointed his left hand and sent the archer a burst of [Mana Beam]. The spell was caught by a [Diffusion Shield], which weakened the spell enough that the shield bearer was able to block it without slowing down.


    Still retreating, Matt cast a quick [Breach]. It was a rtively small cast, only a hundred million mana pulled from his armor''s storage, but the spell caused the group to veer off course, unwilling to take the siege spell head on. They were able to dodge the slow projectile without too much effort, but that change in direction slowed them down enough for their ambush to fail outright.


    The moment he was back in the group and had his allies behind him, Mattshed out with a [Mana sh]. The spell was fifteen feet tall and carved a channel through the group as it raced towards the attackers.


    Spells peppered him and the rest of the group courtesy of the Republic soldiers, but they were quickly upied by the Guild soldiers stillnding, giving them a mostly empty battlefield. Few wanted to get involved in a battle of elites. That was a surefire way to die as coteral damage.


    A beam of ice shot out and nearly caught one of the elites in the shoulder, but instead of just sailing past and hitting a wall, the spell exploded and covered the elites in frost that noticeably slowed them down.


    A man in the rear cast a spell that caused a silvery light to re which dispelled the slow, but Aster was already casting [Dispelling Wind], [Tailwind], [Winters Harvest] and [Headwind] which weakened the enemies and bolstered the rest of them.


    A crossbow bolt took a swordsman in the lower abdomen just before the distance was closed.


    Matt bent slightly and dodged a sh, letting the de cross over his head, spinning in a way that made it seem like he wasnt wearing armor or that his armor wasnt as strong as it was. The fighter fell for it and tried to lock des with Matt, hoping to over power him, and he happily allowed it.


    ring his strength with [Archmages Presence], Matts strength cultivation increased which, thanks to the Tier 44 spell, fed into his armor and increased its power boosting effect.


    Twisting his wrist, Matt deflected the elite''s de and stepped past him, drawing his sword along the man''s nk. Blood flowed, but instead of cutting the man in half, he was only wounded. A wound that quickly started to knit together even before Liz could take control of the blood.


    Kicking out, Matt caught the enemy elite off guard and sent him skidding back, but before he could follow up, another melee fighter closed in on him with a greataxe descending on his back, ready to cleave him in twain. Instead of turning, Matt red his Concept and entered a contest of wills with the man. After what Ezra had told him, Matt was trying to use his Domains active effects more inbat to increase their unity with his spirit.


    His Concept proved stronger than the elites and he slipped by the attack, taking the first man in the abdomen thanks to the opening caused by his first sh.


    With his de inside the man, a simple [Mana sh] ended his life, and Matt turned to the other elite just in time to see he was already retreating with the mage who had cleared Aster''s debuff.


    Checking over their team, Matt saw none of them were badly injured and they continued leading the charge to the local headquarters.


    It took nine brutal days of fighting leaving thousands dead, but they liberated the and the citizens. Unlike the previous ces, the defensive armies had their work cut out for them, as there were hardly two rocks stacked together after the resistance the Republic army put up. They had surrendered, but only well after the losses were sky high.


    Matt didnt know if that was just the local leader''smand, but suspected it was, as after a group of Guild elites killed him, the army surrendered. He hoped the Republic troops weren''t taking lessons from the Federation or Sects.


    The moment the coast was clear, the Tier 15 army moved out like an inexorable wave and Matt could do nothing but wish them well as they split off and moved alone with Drifters ship. They darted between systems ignoring the safernes of chaotic space and ambushed any Tier 25 or Tier 26 army trying to siege systems down.


    In that time, their notoriety grew from both the armies who surrendered without a fight, and the armies who thought they could run or resist. None of them seeded, but it spread their reputations as powerhouses through thebined enemy armies.


    Not that they got to do that for too long. Just a few months in Guild space, they got their first delving slot where they were able to fully abuse theirbo. It was a little slower without Allie there to teleport them around the rift, but between Liz fielding an army of herself, Aster freezing everything that moved, and Matt abusing his Talent, they cut through the Tier 26 rifts. They had debated delving Tier 27 rifts, as they could easily kill monsters of that Tier, but that slowed their delving speed down enough that they got more essence per hour spent if they delved the lower Tier rifts. It made for tangible progress whenbined with the essence stones they had been given before they left.


    The easy mission quickly came to an end, though.


    One of their reasons for entering Guild space was to take out the anti-speedster system they had set up deep in Guild space.


    It was time for Klix Vutru, Fred Baxter, Cameron Chime, Dame-Askor, and Jastor Keys to die.

 Chapter 302

    Chapter 302


    The five of them and Guild leadership spent a little more than a week nning for the raid on the anti-speedster base, but they knew they couldnt wait forever. Theyd nned to spend two full weeks on it, but even that had been cut shortthe spies that had the system under observation identified a few unsettling movements by the five anti-speedsters, which had forced their hand.


    It was a trap, but one they needed to spring. If they were nning counters to Matt, Liz, and Asteror even Dena, Eric, or Morganthey didnt want to give them any more time. Worse yet, Guild intelligence were pretty sure there were at least two other peak elites hiding at the base which, if true, wouldrgely negate their current numbers advantage. There were likely to be even more people stationed nearby, ready to bolster the defenders, in an effort to get a win against the current forces arrayed against them. No one wanted to throw their top soldiers away for little gain.


    Being outnumbered to that extent would be inconvenient, but it didnt change what needed to be done, nor did it change their duty to do it alone.


    The Guild leadership had offered them an army to back them up the system had two armies there but they tly refused. It was a Tier 25 system, and it was imusible that there would be enough hidden forces nearby that they would require that level of backup. Given that, needing to worry about the Guild army would only get in the way of them being able to properly fight. Rather, <em>Liz</em> wouldn''t be able to let loose. Without friendlies to consider, the fact that there were thousands of Tier 25s simply meant Liz had ess to all the blood she could want without having to worry about bursting an ally for a clone. The elites would undoubtedly have counters for Liz, but the average troopers, if they had anything at all, would have something mass produced and unlikely to be as effective.


    Out of all of them, Joy was the most excited at the new mission. Shed been relegated to a simple ferrier for thest dozen outings, and she wanted to get her hands dirty once again. Matt, on the other hand, just wanted to get rid of the wound in the Guilds side. Their half of Team Zero had done something simr to the Federation, so he couldnt rail against the injustice of such a forward operating base and the disruption it caused. But that disruption was exactly why he wanted to remove themhe knew the pain such a thorn in the side could cause when pushed correctly.


    As they entered Isonwoods real space, the world, or rather their ship, immediately rocked as explosions and mines mmed into their shields.


    Matt made sure Drifters mana storages didnt dip below ny percent while he spread his spiritual sense outward. He found dozens of tiny distortions that tried to slip past his spiritual sense by blending in with the surrounding space, but he was able to push through and into open space.


    As he did so, he felt a re of rage ignite deep inside him.


    Mining a jump point pushed the eptable bounds of war, but that wasnt what brought his fury to bear. No, it was the mass of civilian ships flying towards them packed full of explosives. Drifter immediately started firing upon the makeshift missiles and Matt stuck his head out of one of the side hatches to help cut a path through the ships.


    Destroying the civilian ships would havesting repercussions to the local economy, but the ships were packed so close, they had no choice but to carve a gap to get through the attack. The ships didnt have any crew, which removed the major moral implications, but Matt still wondered what excuse the Federation used to confiscate close to a hundred civilian ships, even as he cut them apart with [Mana Beam].


    If they had been a fleet of ships carrying an army, they would have been in a dire position between the minefield and the wave of ships packed with explosives moving at max eleration. The Federation wasnt ying around with their upation of the system.


    Good, because neither was Matt.


    An attack that might have hampered a fleet only pissed them off, and within moments, Drifter had punched through the wave of ships out to the other side, with nothing more to show for it than a few scrapes on the outer hull. The civilian ships would never be able to catch them at this point, and Drifter turned their ship towards the floating fortress that hovered just a few miles above the inhabited''s moon.


    Dena cursed upon seeing how close they were to the. Theyre really pushing their luck.


    Matt nodded, not saying anything. There was nothing to add to that. The Federation was pushing the bounds of the rules simr to how the Sects had with Mavens first attack. They were already fighting with their lives on the line, but why did the Federation need to bring the civilians into it? The moon was just two hundred thousand miles away from the inhabited, putting it within possible danger of stray shots or debris flung out from the fighting. The responsible thing to do was to station someone by the who could redirect or stop these incidental dangers, but it wasnt mandated, and there was no evidence that anyone was currently doing so. Fighters who chose to enter the war might be willing to wager their lives, but the civilians below hadnt made such a choice. That they were Guild civilians didnt change that to Matt.


    It was irresponsibility of the highest order.


    As they approached the fortress, Matt felt space solidify and tighten like ropes binding his movements, drawing tighter the more he tried to push against them. It was part of the standard anti-teleporter and speedster fields, which was why they came prepared with their own counter field stuffed in the back of Drifters ship. If it worked as the Guilds hoped, it would negate or at least lessen the restrictions in a few mile radius.


    Gathering his mana and channeling it through stabilization arrays into a [Barrage] [Breach]bo, Matt pushed his spirit to the limit before pointing an armored finger at the center of the fortress.


    He didnt bother trying to hide his actions.


    It was a naked provocation. A test.


    The Federation fortress responded with a wave of spells that Drifter wove through with surprising deftness, sometimes banking the ship like it was flying in an atmosphere rather than the void of space.


    Right before everyone else jumped off the ship, Matt released the spell that his spirit was trembling simply holding together and sneered as three zing projectiles flew forward towards the fortress.


    The shield blocked the first [Breach] with serious strain while the second spell hit the shield and cracked it before expending its power. The third, however, smashed through the weakened shield and mmed into the fortress wall, sending stone and metal flying in an explosion that must have seemed like the birth of a new star to the mortals watching from the below.


    The armies stationed in the fortress started flying out, but instead of forming ranks and preparing to engage in open space, they flew backwards and broadcasted their surrender. Not the armys surrender, not the systems surrender, but thousands of individual surrenders they were obligated to ept, so long as they didnt engage in the fighting and kept clear of the field of battle.


    Matt was surprised at such a move after the Federation had been willing to throw two waves of troops at them when they controlled a single Federation system. That thought gave Matt a glimmer of what he suspected their reasoning was. Generals to fight Generals, soldiers to fight soldiers. After what Liz had repeatedly done to the average soldiers, the Federation leadership must have finally learned they were nothing more than walking clones for her. Those same Federation generals must have hoped that without the extra blood, she would be without clones and thus correspondingly weaker.


    They werent entirely wrong, she most certainly was at her most potent as an army but Liz had reached her status as an Ascender as a singlebatant, and one to four bodies was still plenty for her to work with.


    Seventeen fighters floated out of the fortress in a more leisurely manner, and these ones didnt surrender.


    Klix Vutru, Fred Baxter, Cameron Chime, Dame-Askor, and Jastor Keys were the Archwarriors they were primarily expecting, but Matt mostly focused on the group that contained Valos Kain, Keith Malko, and Ti Rex. They registered in his [AI] as he got a good look at them.


    While not Archwarriors themselves, they were still near the peak of elites, the likes of which might serve as the champion of a regr army. And theyd very clearly been selected in the hopes of countering them. The other nine were essentially additional backup, though Matts [AI] identified them as peak elites as well, they were all newer andcked the prestigious records of the main three.


    Keith Malko was a water mage specialized in countering ice mages. Aster might struggle to kill the man outright with his anti-ice counters, but from all the reports they had of him, he wasnt too dangerous in and of himself.


    Valos Kain, on the other hand, was more threatening. His Talent was, at least from what everyone could tell from the outside, an anti-liquid one that caused them to fall apart around him. There were some limitations to the ability, he probably wouldnt be able to affect Lizs clones, but just his presence would limit what Liz was able to do in battle.


    Ti Rex was the one sent to counter him. She was a melee brawler simr to Rusty, but instead of having stamana like Rusty to keep her going, she linked herself to a mage and drained their mana to refill her own. She wouldnt be able to appreciably affect how much mana Matt could leverage, but her style would look like a good counter to him on paper.


    The three of them would be dangerous, especially alongside the other nine peak elites, but Matt suspected they wouldn''t be the truly difficult part of this uing battle. They were brought here to bolster the original five.


    Pinnacle elites, like Archwarriors, CyberForce members, Graduates, and Dao Children were the next best thing after an Ascender. While they couldnt be expected to single handedly counter an Ascender, they rarely fought alone, and were stuffed with a plethora of life saving gear. It was basically unheard of for five to fight together, but the Federation had been trying to hit the Guilds <em>hard</em>, and that was why they were here.


    That was all the time he had to think as the fight broke out.


    Morgan, in the rear with Aster, opened byunching two crossbow bolts at the enemy, only to have them blocked by Cameron with a projection of his shield as he slipped in front of the mage she was aiming at. She was forced to spin as her arrows appeared just feet away from her, but she sessfully dodged the redirect.


    Matt flew forward and moved to engage him as per their original battlen, mostly ignoring Ti as she rushed to intercept him. shing his ck longsword at her with a quickly charged [Mana sh], he forced her to dodge while he took a few attacks from the other Federation elites. They scored his armor, but none of them were able to punch through [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer with just ncing attacks.


    Closing in with Cameron, Matt sent another [Mana sh] at him, knowing it would get reflected back at him. He was ready for that and took the attack head-on, letting it ssh into his armor while he closed into melee range. Cameron, like all reflection fighters, was deadly to ranged fighters, who tended to have more attack than durability. But while his tricks worked on mundane meleebat, he couldnt do much to a defensive powerhouse like Matt. Which was exactly why he needed to upy him in particr.


    The pinnacle elites mace came swinging around with perfect timing to hit him alongside his own reflected spell, but Matt reached out and caught the mace head with his invulnerable left hand. The enspelled weapon tried to break his armor with over a dozen effects to that end, but both Matts magical and physical armor, reinforced by the Stygian Gossamer, were far too robust to fail to such a hit. His hand didnt stop the explosion of mana that the mace had been the vehicle for, and it washed over Matt as something like a force aspected [Mana Charge] was unleashed.


    It didnt crack Matts armor, but the force shredded arge portion of the fortress and caused it to start to fall towards the moon below as the weak gravity of the satellite started pulling it down.


    Ti used that same opportunity to dart in close. She tried to drive a fist into his spine, but Matt red his repulsion and caused her attack to slide just off course. She spun mid attack andshed out with a kick backed by her Intent that took Matt in the back, and he felt a connection snap into ce.


    It hooked into his mana pool like a leech, entirely bypassing his Domain and normal spiritual resistance, and started draining his mana. Even when he focused on the spiritual tap, he couldnt dislodge it, and he could feel as his mana was siphoned away.


    Fortunately, he still had plenty.


    He was losing twenty thousand mana per second through the drain, but that was a rounding errorpared to the tens of millions he was generating. Tis drain would put a harsh time limit on how long a normal person could fight her before running dry, which she often capitalized on with hit and run tactics, but Matt had no intention of letting her get the better of him.


    Still, he needed to pretend it affected him. To that end, Matt popped out and instantly absorbed a Tier 25 mana stone. He would need to absorb a steady stream of them to keep up pretenses, though only somewhat more than he normally did, but it was a small price to pay to keep his enemies from knowing that he had a Talent that could generate as much mana as he was visibly using.


    Of course, he had to surreptitiously shunt the mana he absorbed to some specially-designed gear before it could clog up his mana channels, but he was an old hand at moving millions of mana around onmand.


    Tightening his grip on the mace, Matt twisted, pulling Camerons weapon out of position with his momentum. He shed downward, just to have his blow blocked by the rebounding shield which sent the force back at him.


    Twisting, he red his repulsion field, forcing the energy to slip by him and almost catch Ti, who was trying to attack him from the rear once more. Instead, the energy cut the arm off one of the other elites who was rushing to Tis aid, thanks to Matt shoving them into the path of the spell with a well timed [Telekinesis].


    Changing his de to its white form, Matt let out another [Mana sh], this time cast with almost a million mana. The spell nearly cracked in his spirit, but the fifty foot tall sh was unleashed nearly point nk and sent Cameron flying backwards into the still falling fortress. The reflected spell sent Matt flying back even farther, but he had been ready for the attack and caught it with his left hand, bolstered by [Cracked Phantom Armor]s secondyer, preventing too much damage from reaching him as the energy washed over and past him.


    While he had made it through the exchange without serious damage, the other two hadnt been so lucky. Cameron was spitting up blood and his shield was nearly cut in half, and Ti was healing from shredded skin.


    He barely had a moment to admire his handiwork before two of the other elites were attacking him with spells. Turning andshing out, Matt cut them in half with another [Mana sh].


    Having finished the two irritants off, Matt darted forward, wanting to finish Cameron and Ti off as quickly as possible, but a de came out of a fold in space directed at his eye slot.


    The depleted metal de screamed danger, but instead of ring his Concept to repel the de, something he wasnt sure would work, Mattmanded the realm to stop. He was the center of the realm, and if he didnt want to move, he wouldnt.


    Everything shuddered to a halt as he jerked to a stop just inches from the de. Firmly locked in, and with the best leverage in the realm, Matt shed out with his de at where he knew the hidden attacker was.


    The midnight-dark de shed through the folded space and came out the other side covered in blood, even as the assassin flew towards Ti and Cameron, sans their right arm. As some of the bloodnded on him, Matts armor started reporting corrosion, which must have been one of their anti-Liz tactics. Poisoning one''s own blood was <em>a</em> solution, but not one that was likely to work on Liz.


    Just moments after the premature attempt at ambushing him, the rest of his team were attacked by either bolts of depleted metal or spells that crackled with armor piercing effects.


    His ambusher being forced to attack so soon meant the attackers werent in their optimal positions, but they were still effective. Liz took a crossbow bolt to the lower back, which caused her body to cken and crack, while Stone took a de across his hip that cut deep enough to cause failures in his left leg''s power amplifiers. Stick was next to him, so his nk was covered, but with the addition of the assassins, the fight immediately turned more hectic.


    Aster had managed to freeze her assassin mid strike by pulling out her second tiara golem created with [Absolute White], allowing one of Bolts constructs to pepper them with spells and kill them before they could break free.


    Liz was also being attacked by two assassins after the initial attacks, and they hade prepared with what he suspected to be a potent snake venom, thanks to the blood coagtion that lingered around the wounds they inflected.


    Growling, Matt pointed at the assassin who attacked him and cast [Mana Beam]. Cameron intercepted the spell while the assassin slipped back into a space fold. It was only then that Matt realized how odd that was.


    The space around them had been locked down by the Federation fortress. Sure, they could have had counter formations on their bodies for some kind of friend or foe system with the formation, but the assassin wasnt causing any ripples as they slipped through space.


    Despite all his advantages and what One Step Behind said, Matt wasnt a Domain expert, certainly not one on the level of Duke Waters. He was, however, connected to space through his Domain in a literal way. He had a ster body. That was his Domain, and his Domain was him.


    ring his Concept, Matt stretched space around him for an instant before activating his Intent and shrinking space. Cycling the powers, he flew towards where the assassin had vanished all while forcing Cameron, Ti and the two other peak elites to cower behind his shield with a stream of [Mana Beam].


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    As he got close, an explosion of blood appeared out of nowhere. He grinned as he flew past the ce where the assassin appeared. Space being locked down and folded over on itself was a method that some weaker space mages used to create hidden pockets of space. In fact, he had learned such techniques when he looked into creating spatial pocketsbut that wasnt how <em>good</em> space mages, like Allie, created their own pockets of hidden space.


    Locking down space by stretching the fabric of the world and then bending it so there didnt appear to be any difference in the physical, while also messing with the spatial coordinates space mages used, was a good way to stop them from teleporting around a battlefield. While the manipted space might look the same, it was all jumbled and twisted, which made any mistakes in a teleport lethal. The same logic applied to speedsters who used any kind of spatial folding to increase their speed.


    It was hands down the easiest way to lock down space in a wide area, and had the side effect of creating pockets of nothingness that someone, or at least someone who knew where the folds were, could hide in. It was a favorite of armies everywhere, including the Empire. The issue was that anyone who could affect space and had enough power could cripple anything hidden inside those pockets by twisting, pushing, or pulling the fabric of reality, just like Matt had done to the assassin.


    He expanded his range as he flew and crippled two more of the assassins before the rest fled their hidden spatial fold death traps and entered the battlefield properly. Twenty assassins shimmered into visibility, far more than he was expecting, and he worried that the tide might be turning against him.


    Two assassins flew over to his battle with Cameron and Ti, and as if that wasnt enough, when Stick knocked back Kilx from their battle she redirected herself to Matt.


    It was clear they wanted to take him out quickly and press their numbers advantage, but Matt was delighted at their mistake.


    He was <em>Dauntless</em>.


    Blocking a swing of Camerons mace with the t of his longsword Matt redirected the mace over his head and spun, nearly taking Tis head off, but she bent forward enough to dodge the attack while stillnding a heavy blow that rattled his internal organs through his armor.


    [Regeneration] quickly knit the shredded flesh together, but before he could follow up he was forced to dodge a small stream of arrows shot at him from one of the assassins. Klix, making use of the opening, pointed a finger at Matt and he felt his body slow down as if he was moving through water. It felt like reality itself was resisting his movements, and Matt had to re [Archmage''s Presence] just to dodge Tis blow to his head, which put him in line for Camerons mace.


    This time, the mace caught him in the chest and Matt felt the enchanted weapon disrupt [Cracked Phantom Armor] while sending pulses of energy through his physical armor, tearing his skin and muscles apart. Faster than should have been possible, the mace retracted and mmed forward once again, increasing the damage a dozen fold.


    Instead of trying to dodge the third blow, Matt snatched at the air to his right and caught the second assassinshed vanished from his spiritual sense and [AI] predictions, but her attack had been predictable enough, if barelyjust as she drove a clear de through his armor and into his chest under his armpit.


    The de sent searing fire through Matts spirit and nervous system, but he just roared through the pain and squeezed.


    The assassins chest exploded and her head tried to fly away, but Matt shed out with his de. He wasnt left handed, but Luna made damn sure he knew how to fight with his off hand. And despite the jerky movements, Matt cleanly bisected the assassins head.


    He took a heavy blow from Ti in the side that shattered his just-healed bones, but he ignored it as he rebuilt [Cracked Phantom Armor]s structure. Flexing, he broke the clear de inside him, taking another mace strike to the head for his trouble. This time, [Cracked Phantom Armor] began to splinter, but held enough to deflect an arrow that hit him in the eye portion of his armor.


    Pointing with his left hand, he sent a pulse of [Mana Beam] at Klix. Her debuffing was hindering him more than anything else, and he needed to force her to drop the spell or Talent she had hit him with. She had a device that acted like [Diffusion Shield], but even with it turning [Mana Beam] from a point of death into a cone, it was still a dangerous spell. She was forced to drop her hand to deal with it, which caused the bindings slowing him down to weaken.


    They didnt vanish outright, though, and the small respite he earned onlysted for a second as Klix quickly pushed through the pain of the damage that made it through her shields. But Matt only needed that single moment.


    Punching forward and casting [Fist st], Matt locked everyone together with his Intent right before Klix locked him back down. She was a moment toote, as the st hit Cameron and shattered his already damaged shield. With the shield broken, there was no reflection and he took the full brunt of Matts blow.


    His armor crumpled and a dozen life saving spell formations sprung to life even as he was sent flying into the nearby moon. Only, he wasnt alone, as Matt had tied everyone together in their rtive space in the realm. If Cameron moved, everyone moved, but Matt was the only one ready for it. He grinned as one of the assassins burst into a spray of blood at the unexpected eleration.


    Cameron mmed into the moon, sending up a wave of dust and debris with enough force that he might have been sent into the core of the celestial body, but his own Intent red and created a cushion which spread the force out across the moon. That saved him from any serious damage, but caused the moon to crack and sent pieces of debris the size of inds flying outward.


    Instead of relenting and letting the struggling elites break free from his Intent, Matt red [Archmages Presence] and sent another punch forward before using his now healed right arm and shing out with [Mana sh], before absorbing another mana stone. The two follow up blows drove Cameron deeper into the moon while sending the others into their own smaller tunnels.


    Feeling his Intent was a moment from being broken by thebined efforts of the elites and assassins, Matt preemptively dropped his Intent to spare himself the spiritual strain. He was going to charge at Klix when he noticed Cameron hadnt died, and had instead pulled out another shield.


    His mangled and torn body quickly knit itself back together, but as he screamed silently in the void of space, blood sprayed and there was madness in his eyes as he charged at Matt.


    Ti, now free from his Intent, was the first to close the distance. Bobbing and weaving as she advanced, she drove several heavy blows into Matts sides and back. With [Cracked Phantom Armor] back up, even her blows that were backed by the purple hand wraps failed to slip past his armor.


    Keeping an eye on Klix, Matt cursed as she kept out of easy range of his attacks. He sent a burst of [Gravitic Bolt]s to keep her on her toes and reduce herslowing effect to a minimum, sending a few towards the assassin hanging around the edges of the battlefield.


    Just as he was closing in on Cameron, one of the elites mmed an axe into his leg hard enough to strain his armor, thanks to a surprisingly strong armor piercing Domain and Talentbo.


    ring his ck hole intent, Matt pulled the man in and kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing a mile deep into the still crumbling moon. Turning his attention back to Cameron, Matt thrust his de into the man''s upraised shield.


    It reflected the force back at him, but Matt and his de were strong enough to resist that level of attack, so it did little more than blunt some of the damage inflicted on the melee elite.


    Camerons damaged armor cracked even further, but the mace that had been sent flying when Matt punched him into the moon appeared back in his hand, and he mmed it into Matts hip. Its armor disrupting effect allowed it to break through and crack his hip, but Matt ignored the shattered bones and let [Regeneration] heal him through the damage, even as he brought his sword down and cut though Camerons leg.


    The elite screamed as his leg was severed, but Matts attention wasnt on him or Ti, who drove a prating blow into his spine, but rather it was on the mass of spirit moving through the moon ground in an [Earth Body].


    It was the other elite with the axe. Matt reached into the ground with [Earth Maniption] and tried to crush the man, but the elite was slippery, and passed through the areas Matt hadmand of.


    Klix darted in just close enough to take Matts attention and threw a purple powder at him that Matt tried to repel with a burst of his Concept, but it passed through and ate at his willpower. In sync with that move, one of the other elites drove a rapier through Matts weakened hip armor. The weapon started to eat at his flesh, but Matt ignored it and red [Cosmic Pressure] for an instant.


    That small increase of gravity caused Klix to stumble towards him just as the axe elite came out of the ground and Cameron attacked him with his mace.


    They were betting that Matt would dodge the attacks and therefore lose his chance to take Klix out of the fight.


    They bet wrong.


    As the axe came carving up out of the ground, it was perfectly in sync with Camerons mace, which disrupted [Cracked Phantom Armor] enough that it actually sliced through both the physical and magical armor, taking his left leg off just above the knee.


    At the same time, Matts longsword plunged through Klixs chest and detonated.


    Her body evaporated, but space rippled as a naked Klix appeared a dozen feet away, even as what was left of her half destroyed armor flew to her.


    The slowing elite was pissed, and looked like she was going to crack a tooth with how hard she was gritting her teeth, but the rest of them looked gleeful at the damage Matt had taken. Or, they did until his blood reached out to the severed limb and pulled the leg back into ce, just for [Regeneration] to heal him as good as new before they could follow up the opening.


    Even his armor had started to rebuild connections, though the leg was only operating at half strength. But half strength was more than enough.


    With his left hand, Matt grabbed the rapier elite and swung him at Cameron like a club. The reflecting mage made the smart call and blocked the attack, but Matts improvised weapon exploded in a spray of gore as the twisting energies ran rampant through his body.


    mming his reattached leg onto the ground, Matt cracked the moon apart with a burst of [Earth Maniption] just in time to force the axe wielding elite into the open. The rocky man looked on in horror as a [Mana sh] cut his [Earth Body] in two and ended his life. Matt wanted to finish off Ti as well, but she was a step faster and used the exploding moon tounch herself away after shattering Matts other leg.


    Just as Cameron attacked with his mace glowing like a sun with the essence of the spell empowering it, Klix reestablished her slowing effect on Matt as they tried to finish him off with theirtestbo attack.


    Instead of just taking the blow, Matt cast [Cracked Air Slide] and broke himself free of her restrictions with a burst of air that he used to slide to Ti, longsword leading the way.


    The ck de removed her left arm before Matt mmed into her, and she went flying as arge portion of the moon was turned into powder and dust by Cameron''sst attack.


    [Afterimage] and [Illusion Maniption] created two other copies of him, one going at the assassin and one at Klix. He hoped it would cause a moment of confusion, but Klixs Talent either still had a lock on him, or her years of experience had let her follow the flow of battle and predict his move. Either way, Matt felt himself slowing down as he neared Cameron.


    Turning his sword white and integrating it with his armor to amplify its spell boosting powers, Matt cast [Gravitic Bolt] with [Barrage] to send out a volley of spells at Ti and the assassin who tried to help her.


    Cameron yed it smart, and with Klixs help, kept his distance while using his reflective shield and mace to batter Matt for a few exchanges. Matt deflected the worst of the blows, which prevented him from taking too much damage as he waited to finish healing.


    Once [Regeneration] fully healed him from previous physical damage, Matt red his Intent and pulled Camerons mace in.


    It allowed the elite tond a perfect, essence powered hit on his recently wounded right ribs, shredding his internal organs with a wash of energy greater than mana. He must have thought it would be a worthy exchange for Matts uing return blow, but it was exactly the attack Matt was waiting for.


    Cameron also couldnt have expected Matt to drop his sword as he cast [Sword Twin], allowing the magical de to merge with the physical, just as he grabbed Cameron''s shield.


    [Dragonme] set the emptiness of space ame. Most of the damage was reflected back onto Matt, and with the close distance, he could see Camerons confidence with his own eyes as most of the mes washed over Matt.


    One second.


    That confidence vanished as [Cracked Phantom Armor] took on the fire aspect and became more resistant to fire.


    Cameron tried to run, but Matt had one hand on his mace and another on his shield, and the elite knew he was dead if he lost the shield.


    A variety of spells mmed into Matts back as Klix and Ti tried to force him to defend through overwhelming firepower.


    As if it were that easy.


    Two seconds.


    Matt watched as Cameron realized he was also going to die if he didnt drop the weapon and shield, but that was when Matt red his Intent and held Cameron as the center of the realm locked rtive to himself. Neither of them could move, and even with most of the mes reflecting back at Matt, Cameron cooked.


    At the same time Cameron let loose a flurry of essence cast spells point nk into Matts face but he ignored them and let [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Regeneration] block or heal him through the damage.


    He wasnt letting go.


    Three seconds.


    Ti tried tond a melee blow and stop Matt, but between the true and reflected mes, it was hot enough that even an elite melee fighter like her couldn''t get close without losing her life. Klix did something that tried to move Matt backwards, but he was the center of the realm and refused to budge.


    Four seconds.


    Cameron silently screamed as he ignited his cultivation core right before he died.


    Matt felt like the world slowed down as Camerons spirit erupted, not just by bursting his essence core, but igniting his Domain and throwing his mana into the fire, bursting skills in his spirit, doing everything that a cultivator was trained not to do to prevent self harm, all in this final ze of destruction.


    Matt stopped his attack and threw up what shields he could, but he was a hair too slow.


    The world went white as Matt wasunched backwards, his shields destroyed, his armor nearly melted. An instantter, he mmed into the side of a mountain like projection of the shattered moon, thankful that his Intent had prevented him from being thrown entirely out of the battlefield, but far less thankful for the pain of his sundered armor burning against his skin.


    It took him a few seconds to collect himself, to make sure that he wasnt too hurt. [Regeneration] hummed along, healing his broken bones and burnt skin, but even as his body was restored he felt pieces of his armor were still lodged into his muscles.


    Picking himself up from the crater he had made in the mountain, every movement hurt, every flex of his legs opened new wounds that were just as soon healed.


    One down, one to go.


    Sighting Klix on the other side of the glowing crater that Cameron had created, heunched himself at her with all the speed he could muster. Fear almost visibly radiated from her as she tried to flee Matt in his glowing armor, and she sent out a surrender message at the same time she reactivated her slowing Talent.


    A heartbeat before he sliced her in half, Matt mmed his feet into a bit of space hardened by his Concept and came to a halt just past her, leaving her unharmed. Klix went to her knees, dropped her spells and Talent, and continued broadcasting her surrender to him. Walking up to her, Matt raised his sword to her neck.


    He really wanted her dead.


    He could probably even get away with it.


    Making his decision, Matt shed his sword down on Klixs head.


    And with an effort that hurt even more than his spirit did, he stopped his sword just before it hit her skull. Her helmet was nearly cleaved in half, and a short burst of [Telekinesis] ripped the rest of it off her, exposing her tear streaked face to the shatteredndscape of this moon.


    He wanted to do it, wanted to so badly he could taste it but he didnt want to go down that path. He wouldnt sumb to his base instincts like some rift monster. He was better than that.


    Walking the rest of the way up to her, Matt pulled out a cultivation suppressing helmet from his ring and put it on Klixs head. Thankfully, she didnt resist, and as soon as the helmets suppression kicked in she copsed to the ground. This battle was over, and she would be picked up as a prisoner of war as soon as the army moved in.


    Once he had Klix taken care of, he turned around to find Ti.


    It turned out that Bolt had taken care of her. Just over the horizon of where Cameron had died, Ti was wrapped up tightly from one of Bolts spells, struggling against the bindings but seemingly not able to break them. Hed need to thank her for capturing someone so valuable as they were trying to escape.


    After repeating what he had done with Klix, he started flying towards where everyone else was still fighting.


    Just as he got close to where his team was fighting, a dagger appeared from nowhere, driving towards his skull.


    Just as quickly, his hand shot out to catch the de.


    Not the one in front of him, but the invisible one from behind. As the invisible assassin struggled to escape his grip, the illusion in front of him sshed harmlessly against his helmet, and with a flourish he twisted and locked the assassin in cultivation suppressing manacles.


    If this one cut off their hands and tried to escape, he wouldnt mind shooting them down. He was almost hoping they tried.


    He was tired of these enemies.


    Aster and Bolt were the closest and were fighting Fred Baxter, a short-range time mage who darted around them, but was unable to get close enough to cause damage. While he wasnt able to kill them, he was fast enough to keep the duo fully upied.


    Matt washed the area with [Cracked Dragonme], creating a mountain of solidified mana which entombed the man. He thought Fred was good and trapped, but the man vibrated and teleported back to the fortress before turning and fleeing the other way. Once he got to the edge of the locked down space, he pulled out a single man chaotic space ship and tore through reality.


    Matt didnt bother to stop him. If he thought it would be so easy to get away, he had another thinging.


    Mercury hadnt been happy about the trap the Federation had set, nor about his inability to help clear it, as it was built to counter his power set. That was why he was acting as their backup, ready to grab anyone who tried to flee back to Federation controlled space instead of surrendering.


    With Aster and Bolt freed, Dame-Askor and Jastor Keys, the final two Federation soldiers alive, fled from Liz. Only Dame-Askor was sessful, as Liz impaled Jastor as he turned to flee, though her escape forced her to use an essence powered skill to get away from Lizs spear.


    That signified the end of the battle, and the Federation incursion into Guild space.


    Checking in with his team, the medical reports were worrying. Aster had been brutalized, nearly half her skin had been pressure sted off, but she was in the best shape of them. Erics power armor was simply gone, either abandoned somewhere or annihted, and the man himself was mostly gone too. Both legs, one arm, and the lower half of his torso had been lost in the fighting, and Liz was attending him to keep him conscious. Liz was absolutely riddled with curses that she was fighting off as best as she could, but she would need a healer soon or things could get dire. Not that it was terribly obvious outside of his [AI], as she had a skill that kept her wounds from being visible and left her as an utterly beautiful, spotless, and powerful goddess of war. He couldnt stop his grin, and Liz met his gaze and gave him a wink.


    Dena and Morgan had fallen unconscious the moment the fighting ended, but it was more from spiritual strain than physical injuries, though they too would need attention from a healer to prevent their conditions from worsening. Reviewing the analysis from their medical scans, it was tough to say whether Eric was in a better position than them or not.


    Matt looked to the two Federation armies still floating in space on the other side of the moon. His bloodsoaked, half-melted armor must have been an intimidating sight, as a number of them flinched.


    Are you going toe and turn yourselves in, or do I have toe and get you?


    They quickly moved forward while keeping their weapons stowed in their spatial rings.


    Drifter blipped in and out of real space for a brief instant, which was all the time that was needed for the Guild defensive army to enter the system. With theirrger engines, they were able to exit real space farther away from the inhabited, which let them avoid the battlefield debris and whatever mines still lingered around the''s atmosphere.


    Matt wanted to leave his spirit burned with the damage the clear de had done but he knew that was impossible. This was the time he needed to show everyone he was the Indomitable Titan that was being proliferated by the Guilds news channels. He needed to show up in his ravaged armor and shake hands.


    But first, he wanted to fix the moon. He had destroyed it, and he wasnt like Maven, leaving ruined moons in his wake.


    Brute-forcing a connection to the''s equivalent of aNet, he found a scan of the moon just two weeks old and used [Earth Maniption] to get the satellite back into roughly the same shape. Some of the asteroid craters were a little more uniform then they had been before, but it was close enough that none of the mortals should be able to tell the difference. And despite his wishes, he didnt have more than a few hours to work. He only had the time the others spent helping the army ensure the capittion of the Federation soldiers, thus finishing the job. The time spent repairing the world reminded him of terraforming the world with Liz while Aster was at the Bond Academy. It also served as a way for him to cooldown, which allowed him to let go of his anger.


    He wouldn''t have wanted to see the civilians in the mood he was in, as he had still been smoldering at the actions of the Federation. They didnt deserve that from him.


    Then, it was time to go to the. Though, even with his acute spiritual pain, he found it wasnt so bad. Meeting the''s leaders was a chore, like always. Even during such a disaster, most of them were more interested in trying to create a personal connection to him rather than looking after their people. But despite that rough start, he actually enjoyed getting to talk to the mortals.


    They were honest and sincere in their thanks, as only those whose fates werent in their own hands could be. Matt hadnt ended the war for them or solved the million and one problems that gued their daily lives, but he had removed the existential threat that had lingered over their heads for thest few decades. The threat their children had been born under, and the one they had expected to die under.


    These were people like his own parents. Mortals who just wanted to live their lives as best they could, free from the gods who lived among them. Thinking about that made him wonder if maybe the Republic and their veil worlds might be onto something.


    Seeing the kids who mored to touch his armor and proimed that they wanted to be like him when they grew up, Matt had his answer. No, knowledge might have its downsides and woes, but ignorance was <em>not</em> bliss.


    It was just one battle, but they had made a difference to these people''s lives. It had cost pain, lives, blood, and future restless nights, but he had taken a burden off the mortals backs. Looking up to the intact moon which hung over head, Matt knew that made it all worth it.


    It also confirmed a truth about the realm itself.


    Not an inspiration, just something mundane and fundamental.


    If he was strong enough, he could right his wrongs, like how he had fixed the moon. But, if he was weak, he was little more than a mortal, watching from the ground below.

 Chapter 303

    Chapter 303


    After theirtest victory, Matt expected their Guild contacts to encourage them to keep pushing into Federation territory. After all, with two Archwarriors dead and two captured, the five pinnacle elites that had been mostly responsible for holding the Tier 25 battlefields together in that sector, they had an obvious opening. Perhaps theyd go after the Tier 26 Terra or something. But instead, theyd been informed that their help was no longer needed.


    It wasnt <em>exactly</em> a dismissal, but they seemed quite set on redirecting them back to Empire space after the three of them recovered. Liz had gotten a healer to attenuate some of her worse curses and Asters skin was already regrowing, though she could fight in fox form anyway. After a bit of rest on his part, Matts spirit only hurt if he overextended himself in a few specific ways. Sure, his armor would need some pretty extensive repairs before it was usable again, but he wasnt <em>reliant</em> on it.


    Eric had a backup suit of power armor that he could pilot, even with his half-regrown legs. If they needed to, Matt could use it himself despite it not being made for him, but it would probably be more of a hindrance than a help if hed tried to use it. But [Cracked Phantom Armor] had gotten him this far, and that was <em>before</em> it had gotten upgraded and received an additional boost from his Tier 25 Talent.


    Theyd be <em>fine</em>, but from what hed gathered, the Guild leadership was worried about them radiating curses strong enough to rot flesh from bone and utterly horrific injuries that absolutely required immediate specialist intervention, which was a tant exaggeration in at least five different ways. Team Zero might be injured, but they were far from being forced to retreat due to their injuries. Everyone kept giving vague deflections, but hed overheard several conversations saying that there is no way that were letting them anywhere near a battlefield. Matt was tempted to find a skirmish or siege to break just to prove them wrong, but there werent any good candidates within easy range. Maybe next time.


    Joy had also been pushing for them to head home so she could officially get her rewards for participating in the capture of Fred Baxter alongside Mercury. It sounded like, while she would get several bonuses for her service, she was mainly just looking forward to bragging about it with either a hated rival, longtime lover, or perhaps an older sibling or parent. She wasnt very clear. Before any of that could happen, though, Mercury demanded they stay long enough to have a final get together before they left.


    The six of them had spent a good bit of time with the Guild elite, so they found the request hard to decline. Doubly so when Mercury opened his home to them.


    Im no cook myself, but I have a friend from my Viin days who has a knack for it. You need to try some of the local food before you go!


    Hearing that, Matt looked at the rest of Team Zero trying to let his hopefulness bleed through. They had only really had street food thest time they had been able to walk around a Guild, so getting to sample some proper cuisine and better yet, chat with a Talented Guild chef, wasnt something he wanted to pass up.


    Liz chuckled and agreed so Matt turned his attempt at puppy eyes to Dena, Eric, Joy, and Morgan.


    When they didnt look impressed, he grabbed Aster, who knew what he wanted, and transformed into her fox form while putting on <em>her</em> best puppy eyes. Holding her in front of his face, Matt asked in a poor attempt to imitate Aster''s voice.


    Can we please stay and try some food? Pleaseeeee!


    Aster even added a small whine into the mix, which really helped sell the act.


    Surprisingly, Morgan was the first to cave and agreed with a shrug. Im down to try new food, and leaving a dayte won''t really change anything. A little party could be fun.


    Eric and Dena agreed fairly readily, meaning Joy was firmly outvoted, and very mopily conceded the point.


    Knowing she was a bit of a foodie, Matt shoved the still pouting Aster into her arms as he tried to bribe her by asking Mercury, Can I use your kitchen to cook up a few things as well? Im not Talented, but Im a decent cook myself.


    Mercury nodded gleefully. Of course! Doubly so if you can whip up some of the snacks I fell in love with when I was in the Empire.


    Getting his confirmation, Matt turned to Joy, who was busy trying to dump Aster out of her arms. The fox in question had frozen herself to Joys hands while trying to look cute, and Matt apuded her attempts to cajole the pilot.


    I can even make you something from home as well. Come on, dont be a Debbie Downer.


    Joy rolled her eyes as she shoved Aster back into his arms. Im not being a Debbie Downer. I just want to get back home and brag. If we just stay for a <em>small party</em>, Im fine, but I know what Guild parties turn into, and small isnt a descriptor Id use.


    Matt raised an eyebrow even as he put the transformed Aster back down. Oh?


    Joy rolled her eyes and sped up to talk to Liz, even as she called over her shoulder, Yeah, Mr. Anti-social. Youll see. Youll see!


    Matt got a little worried about having to interact with hundreds of people, but when he asked Mercury, he got the answer he was looking for. Nothing like that. While Id love to bring you guys to a proper Guild party, we dont really have time to set that up. Now, <em>those</em> are quite the spectacle. Let me tell you about my first true Guild party, it was <em>amazing</em>. I was a junior Viin, Tier 3 and new to the city. Still didnt know my ass from my elbow when I pulled off this amazing caper. First day I arrive in the city, I see this giant sphere filled to the brim with money right above this casino, ripe for the taking. A viin duo hits it but gets pped around by the premiere Tier 5 hero team of the city. They were hired by the casino for the promotion to protect the money, and I think to myself, But it''s all right there, and how hard can it be to run past some Tier 5?


    Matt snorted while Aster full onughed, to which Mercury nodded in agreement. Like I said, I didnt know my ass from my elbow, but I saw <em>shiney</em> and I wanted shiney. So, I look into everything and the promotion was going to end that night, so I didnt really have time to n or anything. Anyway, I decided to go to the first ck market I could find and buy some maps of the sewers so I could use them to get away. It was a great idea, and literally nothing couldve gone wrong. Well, the guy I bought the maps from didnt tell me the city had just remade the sewer system after a hero and viin fought in them and cracked half the system.


    Seeing where this was going, Matt grinned at the thought of a young Mercury messing up like that.


    Not really having a n except, be fast, I waited until they were about to take down the money and was just going to run through the ss. Imagine my surprise when they werent going to be idiots and open a door or something and roll out a red carpet for me to steal the money. They had a suction tube and started draining the money. Panicking, I just ran at it and shattered the ss with my head the hard way. I surprised the shit out of everyone and using a spatial backpack I just started waving it around while money flew everywhere.


    Dena, who had fallen back to join the conversation, shook her head. No way. You have to be exaggerating.


    Mercuryughed but rubbed his neck as he shook his head. Nope, it''s all recorded.


    With a flick of his finger he sent them a recording of a much younger Mercury standing in a globe with paper money flying out of the Mercury shaped hole in the side of the ss while he waved his spatial backpack around.


    Until he got a little too close to the suction vent thing and the bag got sucked into it.


    And as you can see, my bag got stuck, leaving me dumbfounded.


    The Mercury in the recording hopped up on the side of the ball, and using his legs, deadlifted his backpack out of the vent with a groan until the suction was broken and he was sent flying through the ss one more time, just as a [Fireball] whizzed right past where he had been pulling.


    With my prize in hand I just started running and dove into the sewers, only to find the map waspletely wrong. But the good thing about getting lost is that those chasing you cant predict where youre going. After like two hours of running around being lost as shit, I finally found what I thought was an exit, but it was in fact the rain runoff of the local Tier 35 guild who was having a massive party. I thought I was nabbed for sure, but they were awesome and let me keep my ill gotten gains. They even let me join the party as something of a mascot. I had so much alcohol poured into me Im still waiting for the hangover to hit me a thousand yearster.


    That story got everyone talking about various misadventures they had gotten into as they entered Mercury''s house, which was a nice, if austere, ce. Thankfully, it had a full kitchen, even if it looked like it had only been used a handful of times, that was connected to the living room so Matt could chat while cooking.


    After Mercurys story, Dena shared one of her and Erics misadventures from their early time on the Path. Eric and I knew each other from the time we were kids. Grew up on the same block to poor families who were more than happy to just exist and do as little as possible. We wanted out and knew it, but that stuff can be hard to shake. After we joined The Path, we found ourselves twos away, but renting an apartment in a simr area without even thinking about it. Some local toughs must have not gotten the message about us being on The Path, because they came knocking on our door asking toe inside. We were super confused, but we let them in and even offered them some food. When they asked for protection money we justughed at them, which pissed them off good until we mentioned we were on The Path. That sent the idiots running but we were renting in a shitty, neglected house, and they broke the doortch trying to rush out, leaving them trapped with us until fire rescue coulde get us out.


    Eric chortled at the memory. It gets even worse. They tried to squeeze out one of the windows, but the owner of the house had sealed them shut for some dumb ass reason. They were panicking something fierce by the time the door was opened. It was after that we asked ourselves why we gravitated to such a shitty part of town. We immediately moved to a luxury apartment in the downtown area the next day. Now that was a nice ce.


    Dena poked Eric in the side while grinning wickedly. Except that bidet incident. At Eric''s wince, she exined, The ce was the first time either of us had seen a bidet and the big lug turned the water on full force and got a surprise enema.


    Ericined as everyoneughed at him. It was more than an enema! The water pressure was trying to clear out my tonsils for fucks sake.


    Liz grinned and leaned forward with a wicked grin on her face. You should hear the story of how Matt, Aster, and I met!


    Aster smacked Liz with the pillow she had been leaning on at the reminder. You got me covered in blood! I had forgotten about that. How dare you?!


    Matt smiled along as he reminisced about their first meeting, even as Liz and Aster yed off each other as he cooked them up some snacks. Fritters were easy, but they were the perfect snack food for this kind of chatting, and were apparently one of Mercurys favorites.


    Just as he was setting the te down, Dena flipped her hair and poked Matt with her toe. I was just telling Liz about how lucky she was that I didn''t wear a mask when I recruited you. I set her up for your love of redheads.


    Matt rolled his eyes as he denied that usation. I dated a brte before Liz, you know. And I had flings with all manner of hair colors, so it''s not like I have a type.


    Dena snorted at him while Eric chuckled and shook his head, saying, Yeah, no. Your eyes hardly left Dena the whole time we were there.


    What? That''s not true at all!


    Dena flicked her finger and sent everyone a recording of Matt from when they first met. It was weird seeing his younger self in the Bennys Inn clothing, but his attention was drawn to his eyes as the duo walked away from the counter. His eyes bounced from Denas rear to her hair and back again until she was out of the room.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Shrugging one shoulder, Matt denied everything. Clearly an AI forgery. I would never. Holding back a grin, he tapped the now empty te towards Dena. On apletely unrted topic, can you get us a refill?


    Laughing, Dena grabbed the te and sauntered over to the kitchen, making sure to sway her hips like she was in high heels. Everyone took in the view, and Morgan nodded at Matt as she watched. I mean, I get it.


    That caused everyone tough, even Dena, who turned the tables back on Matt. My point is proven. If it wasnt for me, you might not have married Liz. Praise be me!


    Knowing he was going to regret this, Matt denied even further. One time is hardly setting a precedent to like redheads.


    Eric snorted mid sip of his beer and nearly died as he choked on the liquid going down the wrong pipe. It was hardly one time.


    Flicking his finger, a half dozen videos of Matt watching Dena out of the corner of his eyes when they were in the bar or in the gym cause Matt to blush.


    He was going to defend himself when he saw the final video of himselfmenting that she had let him hit her in their sparring, just to see his younger self flush bright red as she took her top off and exposed her sports bra. His eyes were indisputably not on the shirt with a small scratch on it, but instead her chest before he yanked his eyes to her eyes where he flushed even deeper.


    As everyone started to rib him, Matt held up his hands. They slowed down the recording to make it look like I was staring. I nced at most. And


    Dena half stood and pointed at Matt. He admits it!


    Liz toasted Dena and half bowed. It seems I really do have to thank you!


    As if that wasnt enough, Aster took her own shot at him. Do you remember when you guys were trying not to have sex because you guys are dumb? Heres a recording I saved from the time.


    A slightly older Matt watched as a sweat and blood covered Liz tiredly stepped past him, and just like with the earlier recording of Dena, his eyes went from the strands of hair that escaped her helm to her rear.


    Ok I have a type. Sue me.


    Laughing, Mercury pretended to take all the fritters from the te and asked, Hey Liz could you give us a refill?


    Liz chuckled and put on the same show as Dena had earlier. Turning the tables on Aster, he pulled out his own recording of her. If were sharing embarrassing moments, I have one of you biting the tail of a fox soldier in the vassal war.


    Aster flushed but shrugged even as she kicked his shin. I wasnt fully sapient by that time.


    Liz walked back into the room with a te full of rotting fritters, distracting Matt for a moment. He opened his mouth, and Liz shook her head. Whoops. One moment.


    Are you okay? Aster asked.


    Yeah! she called back, returning to the kitchen, Just lost control over a curse. Im fine!


    Matt refused to relent, despite Asters attempt at deflection. Bullshit. Youd already eaten the Fruit of Perfection, you have no excuse.


    Fire bad is the only excuse I need.


    Seeing Liz return with a non-spoiled te of fritters, Aster grabbed one and shoved it into her mouth.


    Joy rescued her by turning to Morgan and bumping her shoulder. I remember you having a crush on a cute little redhead a few centuries ago when you just joined the army. What was her name? Madison?


    Morgan flushed a little and nodded to Matt, clearly trying to pass the buck back to him. You get it. Redheads.


    Matt shook his head while waving his hands in defense. Nope, dont drag me into this one!


    ***


    Charlie sat with his team as they were released from their essence pods. As delving would be too time-consuming, they instead had essence directly pumped into their cores through some of their imnts for multiple hours each day. It was effective, too. They, along with Alpha and Bravo teams, had reached Tier 25 a few days ago thanks to the shards of reality their own mother had personally crafted for them into gems unlike any other. Their mother was truly the most generous, instilling her very being into a guiding light that pulled them from the inky mires they had been trapped within while creating their Intents. Best of all, as their reward for seeding, she wasing to see them <em>in person</em>.


    Charlie wanted to be as excited as the other two teams were, but after thest few visits from Mother, he was more scared than anything. They had failed her not once, with Cecil losing his mind in the reflection, but then again when Carlos defected and went to the <em>Guilds</em>.


    One failure could be exined, but two was a pattern, and one that Charlie worried endlessly about.


    Mother Virgil was endlessly benevolent and gave her love to them regardless of their failure, but Charlie and his siblings yearned for a way to prove their loyalty and usefulness. To have a way to redeem themselves in her eyes.


    She hadnt been cold to them, but after herst visit, they felt like they had been left on the outskirts of her affections and they were desperate to get back in her good graces.


    Her uing visit could be their only chance.


    Her uing


    The entrance to the pocket dimension rippled and Mother Virgil walked in. Charlie waited to feel the wash of pleasure being in her presence alway brought with it, but instead of the normal rush, he felt little more than a trickle.


    From the way Chase flinched beside him, he was not alone in his worries.


    Terror started to set in as Mother Virgil went through Alpha and Bravo teams, giving words of encouragement to each person. Charlie hoped and prayed that they would get the same treatment, which would fix whatever was wrong. He prayed that her closeness would fix the seemingly broken connection.


    Mother Virgil caressed his face, and it was only Charlies hard earned power that let him control the shudder that tried to pass through him at the contact. How are you Charlie? You seem nervous. Theres no need to be. Tell me about your cultivation. Are there any problems?


    With her touch, the connection strengthened, but it wasnt even a tenth of normal. That sent a spasm through him, though he kept it under control well enough that Mother Virgil didnt notice, which was good. He didnt need to add even more shame to her image of him.


    She talked with each of his siblings in turn for a moment before walking into the center of the area, where she could see all of them.


    Despite her not looking over at them, Charlie felt like her eyes never left him, and it made him squirm.


    I have an issue, my children. I


    They all mored to help before the words even finished leaving her mouth. Charlie and his siblings even more so than the others. This might be theirst chance to return to Mother Virgil''s good graces.


    Mother Virgil simply smiled but held up a finger, which silenced them. I love your enthusiasm, but this won''t be an easy mission. So allow me to exin before volunteering.


    Charlie burned with anger that anyone could bear to get in Mother Virgils way, but he kept silent like everyone else as per her desires. Our glorious Federation has run into a little problem as ofte. Charlie felt everyones desire to speak, but Mother Virgil continued seamlessly. The evil Empire has once again cheated and created a trio of strong fighters they prop up as Ascenders. Our allies have failed in their attempts to destroy them, and they have <em>still</em> yet to remove theirst false Ascenders. It is shameful, and I refuse to allow them to carry on this farce any longer. To that end, I have proposed that each Great Power send the best we have to create a task force to counter these dogs. We are creating the Harmony ords, and I need eight brave volunteers to represent the Federation.


    Charlie shot forward the moment Mother Virgils words stopped. She must have set this up for them to redeem themselves if she was asking for eight of them, and they all knew it. The other teams had sour looks on their faces, but Charlie Team was ecstatic.


    Best of all, the warmth that had been absent from Mother Virgil flooded back into Charlie like a wave.


    We beg you to give us the chance, Mother Virgil. Let us show you that while the rest of the team may have been weak, we are strong and loyal.


    Mother Virgil caressed his cheek and smiled down at him. It felt like the warmth of dawn after being lost in the darkness of a blizzard.


    It was home.


    It was <em>Mother</em>.


    Looking up, she smiled at the other two teams. Worry not. I have something for you all to do as well, though it will demand even more from you. I need your two teams to reach Tier 35 in a scant few decades. It will be hard on you. Lonely, as you experience millennia in an even stronger eleration chamber ced within a rift. I dont ask you to do it frivolously. I am depending on your dedication to y Waters before the end of this war. I need you all strong, as we will only get one shot to do it right, and it will be exceedingly dangerous. Will you all do it for me?


    As Bravo and Alpha teams called out their willingness to do whatever Mother Virgil wanted, Charlie sneered. He knew they were simply being given a task so as not to feel bad that the eight of them in Charlies team were her true right hands.


    Looking down, she smiled at them. As for the eight of you, we will need to get you trained up. The Tier 25 battlefields are brutal, and I cant have you dying too soon.


    Charlie felt pride rush through him, as it was clear Mother Virgil was worried about them. She cared about them.


    Mother Virgil brought them out of the pocket dimension, and reality warped before they entered a rift with the help of a silver skinned man. Once they were inside, they flew so fast the world blurred, until they were in the center of a vast mountain range where seven buildings were built into the side of the mountains.


    As they entered, Charlie realized they were simple training rooms. Or at least, the first one was. The only upant of the room was a single woman in armor standing at ease in the center of the room.


    She was Tier 25, but Charlie ignored her to watch Mother Virgil.


    You all have been simply absorbing essence long enough that yourbat skills will have gotten rusty, and we need you polished up before sending you into a fight. To that end, I have gathered seven sparring partners. The first is Corporal Dee. She is an average Tier 25 fighter. Once you can defeat her, you can move onto the next fighter, Captain Elva, who is the weakest of elites. Once you defeat thest fighter, Colonel Shay, then you will be ready to enter the war.


    Charlie was beyond honored that Mother Virgil would set something like this, as it was clear she was worried about them in a real war, but her next words caught him off guard.


    This was expensive to set up, as I needed to bring all seven of these trainers out of the war. If I hadnt, we would be limited to a Tier 35 rift, which only has a eight times eleration and that is far too limiting. But it also means the seven of them are out of this war for good, so I need your contributions to outweigh what I lost with them. This is a Tier 45 rift, so time passes eighty times faster in here than outside. Take your time and learn the lessons the people I have assembled can teach you.


    With that statement, Mother Virgil vanished as if she had never been there.


    Before he could speak to his team, the woman, Corporal Dee, blurred as she raced towards the eight of them, her fists glowing with mana.


    There was no time to draw a weapon, but Charlie moved into a position to defend against the worst of the attack while getting ready to drive a fist into her abdomen in retaliation, but Corporal Dee stopped right before she reached his melee range and blurred to the side.


    It didnt feel like a skill was being used, as there wasnt a structured burst of mana. Instead, her speed simply increased to an incredible level. It felt like a mountain crashed down on Charlie and he was sent tumbling through the air and skidding along the smooth floor.


    Kicking his legs to gather momentum, he flipped himself back to his feet ready to re-engage, but he instead caught a knee to the face.


    Painnced through his entire body as he mmed into the farthest wall and felt several of his bones break, one even severing his spine.


    Debilitating pain coursing through him he fell to the ground, just in time to miss Conan being tossed into the wall right above him, his body just as battered as his own. Chase followed a momentter, then risse and Calvin were thrown in the same motion. Carter didnt hit the wall, but simply dropped where he was standing. Corvis bounced off the ceiling beforending directly on the rest of them, and finally Cynthia was sent flying after she had been struck by Carters unconscious body, crashing into the pile of bodies with a final <em>thud</em>.


    Corporal Dee sauntered over to them even as healers started putting them back together.


    The Counselor said you all had spent too much time advancing without solidifying your foundations, but I didnt think it would be this bad. You arent even pushing your cultivation to its limits.


    Conan spat at her, You are a Tier higher than us! Of course you are stronger than us.


    Corporal Dee chortled. No, Im a Tier 25, just like you all. The difference is that Ive spent fifteen thousand years in the army and have fought in two wars before this one. Like The Chancellor said before she left, Im an average fighter. What I excel at is whipping new Tier 25s into shape. I dont care that you were strong at whatever Tier you excelled at, it means nothing here. This is a breakpoint Tier. There are monsters who have spent fifty thousand years fighting and refining their skills to be the strongest they can be at Tier 25.


    As Charlie struggled to his feet, he grumbled out, We may have gotten rusty from advancing with just essence injections, but we were fighting up three Tiers at Tier 12 and kept that going until Tier 17, when we dropped to two Tier ups. We are also physically stronger than you


    A fist caught him in the chin, shattering his jaw like it was made out of ss. He remained on his feet, but that only meant the knee hit him in the testicles instead of the face.


    Gripping his short cropped hair, Corporal Dee bent his face up to look into her eyes.


    Charlie expected them to be dead, like someone who had seen too much, or alive with the brutality of enjoying what she was doing, but instead he only saw indifference. That was somehow worse.


    That is your ego talking. Anyone in the war and at Tier 25 is strong. Maybe they werent as fancy-pantsy as you were, doing Minka at Tier 12, but immortality does funny things to skill. You can take a thousand years to perfect a single skill, to refine your Domain, to reforge your body into a perfect weapon. Theres plenty of fools like you, who dive into the war expecting itll be no harder than a delve, and they die fast. But youre supposed to be facing Archwarriors and yers, and they delve <em>up</em>. And if you cant face little old me, when I barely even do low Tier 26 rifts, how do you n on standing against someone used to doing high 27 rifts for <em>fun</em>?


    Charlie growed with his now healed jaw and let the runes which the Empire had so cruelty carved into his bones re to life as he swung at her jaw in return. Chase and Carter attacked at the same time, moving to pen Corporal Dee in and make it so it was impossible for her to dodge.


    Instead of shattering her jaw like he intended, she deflected his blow with her forearm and drove a punch into his stomach. She twisted in a weird way that made his siblings blows just graze her, but for the first time she nodded.


    Good. You have the power, but now I need you to start using it effectively.


    Jumping backwards, she called out, Try to attack me. No skills, pure melee. I want deliberate attacks while not leaving yourselves open. If you leave any gaps Im going to break something.


    Charlie wanted toin and say that they knew this, but held his tongue. Mother Virgil had set this up for them so they could hone themselves. Embarrassing as it may be to be defeated by an average soldier, if they wanted to be useful to Mother Virgil they needed to be able to defeat Corporal Dee, and the first step of that would be shaking off the rust that had clearly built up on them.


    That was fine, though.


    Thanks to Mother Virgil''s efforts, they had as much time as they needed.


    They just needed to clear these seven rooms, and then they could join the war and bathe in the blood of anyone who stood in Mother Virgil''s way.


    What was a little pain when the reward was pleasing Mother Virgil?

 Chapter 304

    Chapter 304


    Drifting through the emptiness of space, Matt listened to Dena grumble with Morgan and Joy. They should have been picked up well over an hour ago, but their teleporter was nowhere to be seen and they were all starting to get grumpy.


    Finally, after three hours Allie appeared in the lounge with a casual wave and a murmured Sup?


    Morgan, who was closest, kicked her right off the bench without hesitation. That''s all you have to say when you are three hourste!? What the flying fuck!?


    Allie teleported to another seat and shrugged. Shits hectic as fuck right now.


    That got everyone''s attention, and Aster asked, What''s going on?


    Aiden slipped behind enemy lines, without my help I might add, and captured some idiot elite whose father is a big shot in the Republic on his way back to recover. They, in turn, lost their fucking minds about the situation and are calling it a breach in warw, despite the guy being a valid target, and despite his being away from the war front. Aiden, being Aiden, told the messenger to shove it up her ass and then proceeded to upy the local system all by himself.


    Matt blinked as he processed all of that information. It sure sounded like something Duke Waters would do, but there was one thing he was confused on. And how does that make youte? Are they escting the war or something?


    Allie looked confused. What? No, I just didnt want to miss any of it. Buuuuut, things started to slow down anding outside the rift is like putting the drama on fast forward.


    There was a chorus of insults hurled at Allie, who just grinned. But really, the drama is juicy. Aiden is demanding the release of all Empire and Guild prisoners in return for this guy and the Tier 46 countered by saying if Aiden handed his son over hed allow Aiden to leave Republic space only seriously hurt, which brought the GP leaders in. Rumor has it, J, the Republic president, put him under house arrest. But who knows if that''s true. The Boss is apparently demanding that the father is immediately forced to ascend.


    Aster shook Allie before twisting her back and forth a little. Where is the teleport button?


    Allie wiggled her eyebrows but did in fact teleport them back into Camp Lightfoot.


    The moment they arrived, they were swarmed by healers from Kudzu, the crafters from Firmament, a pair of strategists from Chess, and finally, a bemused looking General Darrow who nodded to them.


    Wee back, and Im gratified to see you all alive. Is there anything you need to immediately report?


    When they said there wasnt, he turned and told them to report in after they were healed, taking most of the Chess people away with him with the data dumps from their [AI] and Matts armors own sensors.


    Colonel Gnodel just blinked at Matt when he handed her the storage ring that housed his armor. Where is the rest of it?


    That''s all that survived.


    Survived <em>what</em>? There is only a third of the armor left.


    Matt flicked a finger at her and sent her the recording. Cameron Chime, a Federation Archwarrior, decided death was the more important part of valor and detonated his core in melee range. I think he weaponized the bacsh from a botched Aspect formation as well, but its hard to say.


    Colonel Gnodel tsked at the report, but took the ring and moved to Eric, collecting what was left of his primary armor. Killing a pinnacle elite and capturing three more, along with a dozen peak elites, was more than a good enough excuse foring back with such damage, but none of that seemed to mollify Colonel Gnodel.


    Allie, who had summoned an apple fritter to her hand at some point, mumbled, Shes just pissed because she just got done fixing Ais and Arthurs armors from our missions.


    That certainty exined some of her irritation. While Team Zero got a few mandated days off between missions, the groups werent always so lucky. If their armor was destroyed, it was up to the crafters from Firmament to get them back in working order in a matter of weeks, sometimes days. Due to howplicated their arms and armor were, that was not an easy feat, requiring round the clock work by everyone.


    With that in mind, he made a mental promise to try and do something nice for them. That, unlike promising his armor would be in better shape after his next fight, was within his control.


    When Colonel Gnodel finished gathering everyone''s armor, he sent her a message listing a few things hed like to change on his armor in the next iteration. Nothing major, but thanks to the repeatedbat, he had found a few pain points in the otherwise fantastic armor.


    Once that was taken care of, the healers of Kudzu descended on them like a pack of wolves on their prey.


    Matt tried to insist he was fine with just some lingering residual spiritual damage, but they ignored his wishes and dragged him to the hospital, where they spent a full hour poking and prodding him.


    As much as he wanted toin and protest, he had it the easiest out of everyone except Joy, who hadnt been injured at all. Not counting whish, of course. She spent fifteen minutes bragging to the staff about her capture of an Archwarrior until, after an inspection, they kicked her out. Her grin told him she had done it on purpose, just to escape, which made Matt contemte throwing his weight as an Ascender around.


    In the end, he decided to stick around and just went into Aster''s room to hang out. He would have visited Liz, but she was still getting de-cursed in a fortified healing room, which was both unpleasant and would require her full attention in helping the healers find and destroy the afflictions. There was some interesting tech involved, but apparently it wasnt a good idea for him to study curse receptacles, even before they were filled.


    Though, Matt almost wished he had, as Aster made him watch a movie about their time in the vassal wars while the healers were inspecting them for anything nefarious that might be lingering in them.


    As it turned out, When Suns and Daughters Bleed was significantly better than he expected. Instead of exaggerating everything like movies about Ascenders were wont to do, it was fairly grounded, and told a variety ofpelling stories about the war. It heavily focused on the three of them, but quite a few old faces made appearances and had their own stories told.


    Wasnt she so good? Ive watched it like five times since it came out.


    Matt perused the information about the actor, Cynthia Sinir, that Aster sent him and could easily agree she had yed Aster to perfection. His own actor, Marcus Burtop, had done a fine job, but he had yed Matt a little too stoic and heroic for his own taste. It wasnt excessive, but Matt didnt have the level of gravitas the actor had put into every word <em>now</em>, let alone when he was sixteen.


    Yeah, she really captured the young you. Whats your angle though?


    Aster blinked up at him even as her tail started swishing harder. I have no idea what you mean. Why would I want or have an angle?


    Matt didnt believe her for a second and grabbed the floofy tail which still tried to swish out of his hands. Spill.


    Fine, fine, fine. If we follow the typical Ascender time frames, were going to be sent on a press tour in theing months, and things would seem far more authentic if you mention how well she did a time or two in the interviews. I talked her up a little before we had our ceremony, but if I overdo it, it will look inauthentic.


    Matt saw where she was going and ruthlessly shut her down. Theyre going to make movies about us no matter what we say. Why get involved?


    Aster pouted something fierce, and Matt almost caved. Because they were supposed to make a tv series about my time at the bond academy, but they pushed it back because of us being Ascenders. I want my own show! Do you know how cool that would be!?


    Snorting, Matt caved. Sure, Ill help. Pausing, he cocked his head and inspected his smug bond and poked at her through said connection. How did you even figure that out?


    Aster tried to seem aloof, but he just stared at her until she gave in. Ugh, so I might have received a thank you message from her after Iplimented her performance in the movie and after some chatting we became sort of friends. As I got back to Empire space, I got a message from her where sheined about the project being indefinitely pushed back forrger group movies.


    Matt sighed and shoulder bumped her. And how are we, or more specifically me, supposed to do anything here? It sounds like she has the role, so what good isplimenting her acting going to do? And why is she so certain she is getting the roles? Arent the actors usually cycled?


    Aster perked up just to wince as a healer shoved a glowing hand through her chest. I made a few public statements that she should get first dibs to y me in any major movies right before the ceremony. Matt hadnt known that, but it was typical Aster. And before that, you know I made it clear that I dont just want random bloodline foxes ying me in major productions. It''s gotta be something cold. As for what good this will do, I have a seven step n on how to drop hints about my time at the academy. Step one, they are going to ask questions about the missions you two did when I was at the academy, and I intend to bring up my time at the academy anytime they do that. Step two


    Aster kept rambling on until Matt agreed to help. He wasnt sure it would work, but he was interested to see a show about her time in the bond academy. He had gotten messages from her, but they had been cut off for a decade, and no amount of stories could make up for that. Seeing it acted out could be fun, and if her n didnt work, he had his own n.


    Message a studio and tell them to do it.


    He knew Aster was worried about throwing around the title of Ascender thanks to some of the rumors about her not earning the title, and while he wouldnt use it for his own ends, he had no issues throwing his title around for his younger sister.


    The moment he saw an opening, he tried to distract her. What about changing your bloodline to aurora? Do you need anything for that? Seeing the excitement on her face, Matt corrected himself, Do you need mana or mana made things that I can help with? Im not going to be an errand boy.


    Aster pretended to wilt, but he felt her excitement underneath it. I will need aurora natural treasures, so


    Matt held up a hand in protest. I cant make a Tier 25 aurora rift, let alone inside a rift. Aurora might be rare, but it''s not unheard of, get Chess to get you some more natural treasures.


    If you had let me finish, you wouldnt look so dumb. I already had them get me some treasures. I also had them get me an aspect adjustor. Its stupid expensive to use, but with a few billion mana, you can add a mana type to a natural treasure. Aurora is just adding illusion to winter mana, so it should be easy.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Matt sighed and leveled a t stare at her, No, its not. Its <em>very carefully</em> bncing illusion <em>and light</em> mana in concert with the base winter mana, then stabilizing the entire thing with mist and <em>space</em> mana. Do you know how hard it is to use a <em>level four</em> supporting element? If it required more than a drop, it would make the entire thing level <em>five</em>. Its only because we have samples <em>of</em> aurora mana that its even possible. Heck, you know about the struggles that Erwin has been having, trying to synthesize a new level <em>three</em> element. How would you like it if I described your smithing as just shoving one bit of metal into another, and youre just having me on.


    Aster smiled and innocently looked to the side, I dont know what youre talking about.


    Matt just grumbled.


    His bond reached out andid a hand on his shoulder, But seriously, thank you. I dont tell you that often enough. Yeah, I have what I need for now but if Im going to cultivate my bloodline, Ill need a really robust sense of aurora and everything it can manage. Theres just not a whole lot out there, so Ill need a lot of natural treasures to work with. Its not a rush, but if you can just poke at it somewhat, Ill be really grateful. Matt started to agree, but Aster wasnt done, After the war though, when Im making thatst jump to space ice thats when Ill really need your help. And Zacks. And Erwins. And well everyones. You are still making a guild right? Dedicate a team to making space ice for me, thanks.


    Matt couldnt help butugh as he asked, Is there anything else you would like to order while you are at it, princess?


    When Aster looked like she was seriously contemting the question, Matt shoved her off the table.


    They were settling into a good argument when three bedraggled Lizzes came into the room.


    One Liz moved sluggishly through the body of human-Liz as blood, the second was a phoenix with drooping wings copsed on the shoulder of human-Liz, and the final one was human-Liz herself, practically dead on her feet and with a spirit that looked like a wrung-out dishcloth.


    Curse free?


    Yeah, but I almost wish they had left the curses in ce. That sucked.


    Phoenix-Liz let out a strangled squawk of agreement.


    Melinda stepped past Liz and shook her head. Oh, dontin. It was fun! I got experience with three new <em>types</em> of curses today.


    Matt, save me!


    Matt didnt recognize the older healer behind Melinda, but his AI did. Silvermore a healer who had earned their reputation fifty thousand years ago. You may leave once I examine the other Ascenders.


    Theyd already been pronounced clean, but Matt just shrugged and proffered his hand while he inspected Melinda. So how have you been?


    Melinda just shrugged. Same old, same old here. Nothing interesting happens inside the rift. It''s only when you guyse back that we really get to do anything. Most of the rest of the time, Im just practicing my skills or enabling research stuff. She patted his arm and added, That makes it seem worse than it is. It''s a little repetitive, but it''s not bad. Im even going to get to Tier up soon, so that''s fun.


    Matt knew Melinda was taking her Tier ups slowly to give her Tier 3 overhealth Talent time to adjust and grow, but he was kind of surprised she was getting to Tier up after so long. He had half expected the healers to keep her at Tier 15 for a thousand years or so first.


    Congrattions are in order then. Ill have to cook you and Mathew something nice in celebration. Thinking over the things he knew they liked, he asked, Did Mathew ever remove his allergy to mustard?


    Yeah, we took care of that ages ago. What are you thinking of cooking?


    Im not sure yet, but I wanted to make sure I can get a little wild. Ok, let me know when they are doing your Tier up and Ill try to coordinate a dinner around then.


    By the time he and Aster were cleared, Liz had poured her blood body back into her main body and her phoenix body had groomed itself back into something presentable, and the three of them escaped to their rooms to sleep in their own beds.


    Sadly, nothing was ever easy, and while they were eating breakfast, General Darrow set a meeting for a more thorough debriefing for just a few hourster. Matt really wanted toin and point out they hadnt been given their two days of rest after a mission, but knew this was a special situation.


    Aster had been chatting with Allie and the other Ascender had informed them that their half of Team Zero had hardly had a week inside the rift since they had split back up. The war was raging, and they were all busy, which meant they needed to be ready to sacrifice.


    The debriefing was thankfully short. Chess simply wanted to confirm a few things about the operations they had done. After only four hours, they were free to return to their breaks.


    Knowing Aster wanted more aurora natural treasures, Matt talked to Scry and requisitioned one for his own research before joining Zack and Erwin in their mana testing chamber. While they were gone, Erwin and his group thought they had isted a new arrangement of a stable fast mana, and he was eager to get his hands on it.


    Matt had had a good time in the Guilds, and he wanted to go back when they werent fighting in a way, but he was d to be home.


    ***


    Gan Le shouted into the near vacuum of the as spells mmed into him and the sect fighters around him, courtesy of the final spot of resistance on this world, a reinforcedmand center set on a hill. The spells, which should have rent flesh from bone and severed limbs, left little more than flesh wounds. Though they did add some strain to his spirit.


    Junior Sect Leader Su Yi shouted, Charge in close! which sent everyone forward, Gan Le included.


    A dagger mmed into Su Yi, but when the de was removed, it left a tiny wound no thicker than a needle might have. In return, Gan Le drove his fist into the face of the Empire soldier.


    Bones shattered and blood sprayed, but it wasnt Gan Les.


    As the Empire dagger wielder was sent flying, Gan Le saw an Empire General holding her hands close together with purple lightning arcing between them, all while staring at Su Yi.


    Attempting to throw himself in between the two, Gan Le intercepted the attack by putting everything into his Talent and Revtions.


    <em>I endure what others can not</em>.


    Combined with his Talent for reducing damage to himself, and thanks to his Tier 25, anyone in his spiritual perception he chose to extend it to, the spell that threatened to crumble a warship left nothing more than a small burn on Su Yis back.


    Gan Le might not have been able to intercept the blow himself, but his Talent ensured that the Junior Sect Leader wasnt harmed. That was why he had been brought onto this team, and he knew how to do his job.


    Panting for anyone who might be watching, he watched as the Empire General was in before turning his attention to the rest of the battle.


    He had once been a Young Master, and with his defensive Talent, he had been quite fearsome until his offensive skills had failed to keep up with his peers. Said peers had been wholly unable to kill or really injure him as his Tier 3 Talent grew stronger and reduced damage to him, but his first Revtion had only cemented him as a defensive fighter.


    That earned him des on battlefields like this, as he was able to keep any group with him much safer by spreading his Talent to all of them, but it had seen him lose his ce in the system when he was just unable to keep up.


    Still, he didnt regret it.


    It wasnt shy, but there was strength in keeping one''s teammates alive through even withering spell fire. And it fit him. His Revtions proved that. He was a stone, hard and sturdy, you could break him down, but no matter how small the pieces, it was always stone. Thatbined with his second Revtion, which expanded on the idea he was a hard man to kill.


    Su Yi walked over to him and nodded deep enough it was almost a bow, but not quite. Thank you Gan Le. That was an impressive move. I could have survived, but it would have wasted a treasure, so I app


    Gan Le tuned him out. Su Yi wasnt a bad sort as these things went, but he was a bit too pompous for someone less than a thousand years old. Yes, it was impressive that he had reached Tier 25 this quickly, but his mother was a Sect elder in a Tier 40 sect, and she doted on him. It would be more impressive if Su Yi had failed to reach this height in a thousand years, but he wasnt the worst leader Gan Le had fought for in this war.


    He just liked to talk a lot.


    In fact, I rmended you to my mother and she took note of your impressive abilities. She wants to offer you a great opportunity.


    Gan Le cursed inside even as he kept his outward expression calm. He didnt want praise ormendations. That led to promotions and being givenbels. Labels that led one to fighting peak and pinnacle elite fighters. That led to death more often than not.


    Gan Le liked his ce in the mid elite Tiers of the wars as a no name fighter.


    Still, he had to be tactful in his refusal.


    Ah, Junior Sect Leader, I dont deserve such praise from one such as your esteemed self.


    Gan Le really meant that. He didnt want such praise from someone who was going to throw themselves into a fight they couldnt win one day and die, but he couldnt say that out loud.


    Su Yi didnt hear the double meaning in his words though, and simply nodded as he received his due praise.


    As true as that may be, my mother said if you do well on this attack, she would consider you for a special mission she is overseeing.


    Gan Le hid a frown. Special missions were never a good thing. Special missions were filled with the unknown and danger greater than anyone was ready for. He was strong and sturdy, but he was also a realist, and knew his limits.


    Junior Sect Leader, I simply cant ept. Your honored mother would, ummm, would be disappointed by my abilities. He saw a weird expression on Su Yis and knew he had pushed things too far in being humble. I may excel in some minor skirmishes like this, but when the damage gets too high, my Talents and Revtions simply can''t keep up. Then I would disappoint your honored mother and get kicked out of her important business. How could my honor recover from such a blow?


    Gan Le thought that would end the discussion, but contrary to that, Su Yis expression only got stranger until he gave him a weird, gazing look. Gan Le, do you not know who that was?


    When Gan Le looked confused, Su Yi pointed to the ck mark on his armor. Ester Van was a peak dao child with damage that could injure pinnacle dao children if she was given time to charge up her signature spell. And despite taking a direct hit, I only took a small burn on my armor. That''s not a level of power that gets you rejected.


    Gan Le cursed internally and wondered if he should have let Su Yi get sted harder. He could have probably controlled his Talent well enough so that he was only injured and not killed. Probably. Maybe.


    Mind racing, Gan Le tried to find a way to deny his participation and came up with a perfect answer. If she was so powerful, it clearly wasnt me. It was just your armor and life saving treasures, Junior Sect Master. How could Ipare to your glory?


    Gan Le was proud of that deflection, as even Su Yi started looking conflicted. He was inherently prideful and wanted to im the honor for himself, but it seemed he wasnt so prideful that he was blind as he shook his head.


    I think you are just too modest, Gan Le. Werent you Su Yi pounded a fist into his hand as he realized something. Brother Gan Le, you were a Young Master at the same time as The Drowner. It makes sense you areparing yourself to him, but that makes you seem too weak and lowkey. You are clearly much stronger than you give yourself credit for.


    Gan Le blinked at Su Yi, notprehending how the kid had made that connection. Yes, he had been in the Young Master program at the same time as The Drowner, but Gan Le wasnt an idiot. He didntpare himself to that freak.


    No, he kept a lowkey profile because he didnt want to die. He wanted to seem weak so any battlefield he was in wasnt a danger to him. He only had five hundred years left of this contract, and he wouldplete his enlistment to the Sect army and would be granted ess to the resources he needed to progress to Tier 36. Then he nned to get a cushy job in a Tier 40 sect teaching children. Maybe even counting items in a supply depot, or if he was really lucky, he would find a wealthy Tier 45 woman who wanted a boy toy where he could live as a kept man.


    He wanted risk-free ventures.


    This great opportunity sounded like anything <em>but</em> a risk-free venture.


    He shouldnt even be fighting in this war. With The Drowner in the Empire, the Sects should have never gone to war with them, but the stupid Empire had to not only have another set of Masters, but two more <em>in his Tier bracket</em>. He had contemted Tiering up to escape their bracket, but statistically, Masters rarely fought in their own brackets. Besides, there were three times as many Tier 25 battlefields as there were Tier 26 ones, which meant those poor fools in the Tier 26 battlefields were more likely than him to face a Master.


    No thank you, he was happily going to stay as a Tier 25.


    He even contemted Tiering up right now, but he didnt think he could spin that as anything but avoiding this responsibility. It was still tempting.


    Thinking about the Masters he would be three times more likely to face if he did Tier up, Gan Le gnashed his mental teeth and hoped luck was on his side.


    Su Yi threw an arm over Gan Les shoulder and walked them over to one of themand stations.


    Elder Han, one of this battle Sects leaders, looked at them and nodded. Gan Le. It''s good to see you. I saw how you blocked Ester Vans attack. Very impressive. That more than satisfied Elder Sus requirements.


    Gan Le wanted to reach back in time and strangle his past self for doing his job so well.


    Thank you Elder. I dont think it was that impressive. Really. There is no need to bring it up.


    Elder Han nodded. Such modesty will serve you well. Your mission here is done. You should report to Sector Seven.


    When Gan Le plotted that area, he nched. It was a section of territory that bordered the Republic and the Federation. That did not sound like a quiet assignment. It sounded like a team up, and even an idiot could figure out what three Great Powers were teaming up to deal with in the Tier 25 bracket.


    Making up his mind, Gan Le nodded firmly and pounded his chest. I am more than willing toplete such orders. It''s an honor to get Elder Sus rmendation and will make her and the Sects proud. To that end, I will be on my way immediately. I have quite a fast personal ship and can be there in just five weeks.


    That was fast enough hed need to make some risky jumps between teleport tethers, but it was faster than any troop transport and it would get him alone. Then he would Tier up en route and me it on an inspiration. It would be a little hard to fudge the recordings of his ship, but he could always find a reason to get that blown up in a battle before anyone tried to dig into the logs.


    Some people would definitely doubt him, but there would be no proof, and that was all that mattered.


    Elder Han shook his head. That''s not fast enough. A special courier will be arriving tomorrow to get you there in a week.


    Gan Le nched. If he was around other people, there was no way he could fake an inspiration.


    Mind racing, he agreed and tried to find a way out.


    A dayter, when he was <em>escorted</em> into the courier ship, he was still thinking.

 Chapter 305

    Chapter 305


    Aster reclined in the chair and gathered herself, then promptly got distracted by everyone that she could feel standing on the other side of the ss that took up a full wall of the room. On the other side stood essentially every person she knew on a first-name basis in Camp Lightfoot.


    Matt and Liz were there for moral support, as Aster wouldnt have wanted to do this without them, but the others were there.


    Allie had tagged along because she was interested in seeing a bloodline recement, though Aster was pretty sure she was just hoping for a good show. If it was anyone but Allie, Aster would have suspected them of hoping she exploded, but Allie lived for any kind of excitement. Zack was there to examine how her mana and bloodline were changed. For him, it was purely academic. He would have been just as interested if anyone was changing their bloodline.


    Dena and Eric were there for moral support. She appreciated that, really she did. The duo had be her friends, but their presence had opened the floodgates and brought in in the rest of Team Zero, which meant the small room on the other side was packed. Sebastian, Morgan, Joy, A, Arthur, Darrow, and Mathew had all tagged along and were snacking on the popcorn Allie had brought. Darrow at least had the good graces to abstain from snacking as he watched.


    Feeling Aster''s spiritual sense, Allie waved with one hand even as she shoved a handful of popcorn into her already stuffed mouth. She looked like she was a chipmunk.


    It wasnt a bad thing. These were people who cared about her survival and wellbeing. That was a nice feeling. She just knew how messy this would be, and that would be embarrassing.


    And they weren''t the only ones watching, she was sure of that.


    Aster was one hundred percent sure Luna was somewhere watching her, she couldnt feel or see the cat, but that meant little with their Tier difference. The cat could be on the table next to her, and she wouldnt be able to know unless Luna wanted her to.


    Aster looked to where Silveke and Melinda were walking down the hall and grinned at the cart they pushed.


    Melinda had said she was going to do that, but Aster was tickled by the theatrics.


    Magic swirled around her, and upon its eddies rested the trio of natural treasures she would be using as fuel for her change. This would be nothing like her time at Tier 10, where she only had a scant source of winter mana and the dragon blood fueling the transition. Now, she had some of the very best tech the army had to support her. A Phantasmal Moon-Mothflower fluttered as though it was attached to an actual insect, Sr Salt gleamed like so many stars on a gctic wind, and a Frozen Lightbeam of the North shone with a thousand glittering colors.


    If things went well, she would be providing the winter mana herself. If things <em>didnt</em> go well, there was a perfect Boreal Jet behind her, almost radiant ck as it reflected the lights in the medical chamber. To help it go smoother, Healer Silveke was bringing a vial of purple liquid that utterly <em>screamed</em> danger, even at this distance.


    Hopefully it all went well. It hadnt been pleasantst time, being healed around her body self-destructing as it remade itself. At least this time, she wouldnt be <em>using</em> the body she was changing, so that would cut down on the healing she needed.


    She also had far more preparation this time around. Group Scroll had been informed of her intention to change her bloodline to aurora decades before she had arrived, and they had been working on the simtions and resource acquisition for the entire duration. Aster had a n in ce for what she needed to do and how, and she had been nearly guzzling the resources needed toy the groundwork for her transition since she finished The Path. That was the easy part.


    Now she just needed to execute.


    Melinda waved to her as they entered, but Silveke waspletely professional. Ascender, are you ready? I know you have done this process before, but do you have any questions you would like rified before you begin?


    Aster shook her head. Im ready if you are.


    Silveke nodded and withdrew a needle and pulled in a generous amount of the purple liquid. Aster braced herself, but the pain still made her entire body and spirit want to flinch. Silveke held her in ce, and the potion coursed through her veins both physical and magical. Her body and magic let out a halfhearted whine as they were suppressed, leaving only Asters bloodline core at full strength. Even most of her natural treasures were dimmed, cutting away everything that could be considered extraneous for the procedure.


    It only took a few shuddering breaths to get herself under control, but nodding to Melinda, her friend started cracking the mana stones Matt had made for her, releasing millions of aurora mana into the hospital room.


    There was so much aurora mana that illusions started to appear all on their own. The seams on the far wall started to merge and turn into pictographs, telling the story of a fox who dreamed toorge. Silvekes face turned purple and evil, and even Melinda started making faces at Aster.


    Actually, thatst one was just Melinda making fun of her.


    Maybe.


    Aster refocused.


    First was the Moon-Mothflower. The truth of its existence was stripped away, revealing it for the false existence that it truly was, but that falsehood was what gave it power. The possibilities of what <em>could</em> be, glimpses of Worlds That Were Not.


    Winter was already something of a realm of falsehoods. Deep snows nketed danger, yet did not mute its potential. Beauty hid the deadly chill of frost, and even the weak sun that shone overhead could blind the unwary. Illusion came so naturally in the wake of that, and phantoms and long shadows began to flicker in the corners of Asters winter.


    Nheless, it was not truly winter, and so when she attempted to pull it into her mana pool, her spirit still fought it. While her mana core could only put up the most trivial of resistance, her bloodline savaged it all the same, rightly sensing it as a challenge to its power. It felt like each mote of illusion was frozen, constrained to a singr interpretation rather than the infinity it could have been. That ice was then shattered, bing nothing but kes of snow drifting in the fell boreal wind.


    Without the aurora in the air, that would have perhaps been the end of it. But with millions of points of mana saturating the entire medical chamber, her bloodlines howls of protest merely served to pull in more and more of the glimmering mana. That mana, that aurora, permeated her very being and began to guide that frozen bit of illusion into a form more suitable for her.


    The infinity of illusion was a form of power unto itself, but it wasnt <em>quite</em> the power that Aster sought. What she wanted was the illusion that overwhelmed the senses in a myriad of ways both subtle and overt. The colors of the nighttime rainbow which ensnared and enraptured began to gleam within the snowkes of frozen illusion. But those colors were dim, nothing like the dazzling gleams that Aster was looking for, so she drained the mana and essence from the Sr Salt to ignite it.


    Walls of green, orange, and red light snaked across the snowyndscape, crisscrossing her bloodline like thin strings attempting to bind her bloodline.


    From there, she needed a solid push, and that was what the Frozen Lightbeam was for. Concentrated aurora mana streamed from it, and the strings became cords and the cords became chains, leashing her bloodline despite its vigorous protests.


    Aster returned her senses more to the physical, and felt the aurora mana spiraling around her bloodline core like aary ring, closing in tighter and tighter. Spiritual light gleamed from within her bloodline, a harsh white-blue in color.


    She was ready, and now she just needed to make the change itself.


    Her bloodline resolved into a white fox with blue eyes, staring back at her as cracks began to umte all across its body. If she hadnt undergone this before from ice to winter, her other body would be thrashing and struggling, fighting the change it couldnt understand. Some beasts had been undone like this, as they lost control over their bloodline form and it consumed them like a feral animal.


    But she had done this before. And Aster, no matter what her body looked like, was an Ascender. Her human and fox bodies locked gazes upon one another, and there was a moment of shared purpose, of shared conviction, and then Aster tightened the ring of aurora and her fox self winced with pain.


    That pain was apanied by a sudden and violent rend into the core of her Domain. Her Concept, built upon her bloodline of ice and already off-base from her time as a winter fox, cracked <em>solidly</em>, and while her Intent handled it well enough with its initialpatibility with aurora, it too was damaged.


    She could handle the pain, but her Domain damage could prove catastrophic. It wasnt toote, if she changed her mind. She could back off from the change, fix her Domain, and everything would go back to the way it was before.


    A small part of Aster wanted to do that. She was fine as a winter fox. She had be an Ascender like that, it was strong, it was enough.


    But she had never settled for enough.


    Aster wanted more. She wanted to do the impossible, to have a bloodline of a Level 5 mana type while still only Rank 1, to make and im space ice as her own legacy. To do that, she needed to take this next step. Beyond even that desire, Aster wanted to ze a new path forward. She wanted to do something no one had ever done.


    Liz was already revolutionary. Her development of a new element, a new <em>bloodline</em>, was still in its early stages. But she had a promising start, and was already beginning to change themon perception on blood mages as a whole. Aster prided herself on keeping her ear to the ground, and blood mages were already bing far more epted in the Empire. They had never been ouwed, but anyone who chose to use blood magic, whether by actual choice or a dedicated Talent like Liz, were generally looked upon with distrust. If you were just going to be a red water mage, why not just be a water mage? If you were going to be a healer, why not just take wood, water, life, or healing mana? Why choose blood if not for its more nefarious aspects?


    Except now, blood was breaking into the mainstream as a slightly more eptable mana type to shoot for, and people were learning just how versatile and useful the mana type was both in and out of battle.


    Lizs mere presence had changed the Empire, and she hadnt even <em>tried</em>.


    What had she done?


    Supports had seen a two percent higher approval rating and low Tier guilds reported an easier time of getting young kids into support positions. Aster understood that was important, and she knew that was making a difference, but it felt small and unimpactful inparison to Liz.


    Let alone Matt, her own bond.


    Matt was already changing the realm and would continue to do so. Not just with his endless mana, but with what he was trying to use it for. She was sure when this war ended he, Zack, and Erwin were going to start making custom rifts. And his guild. The idea of giving creative people an unlimited budget to see what coulde out of unrestrained ambition. If even one out of a hundred of his ideas worked, they would change <em>everything</em>.


    Aster wasnt afraid of Matt breaking their bond if she couldnt make some realm altering change, but she wanted to keep up with them. They were a trio now, but what if one day she couldnt keep up?


    It wasnt a thought she wanted toprehend.


    Mostly because she didnt have any answers.


    Aster had no idea how she could change the realm, but she knew that pushing her bloodline to its limits was the correct start.


    With a very final nod shared with her bloodline self, the chains of aurora around her tightened, and her fox body shattered into motes of glowing snowkes.


    The aurora surged in, and Aster quickly worked to piece her bloodline back together, woven in with the new mana she was trying to integrate.


    It didnt go well at first. She was, after all, fighting herself more than anything, and no part of Aster Alexander was anything but a fighter. She needed to call upon the Boreal Jet, feeding the surge of winter mana to her bloodline as almost a form of mollification. It only made her bloodline stronger, as she wrestled with the gleaming light that had once been a fox, but it paused long enough to eat its new meal that Aster managed to grab the very tip of one of its ears and force aurora into it.


    At the very tip, a singr mote of color shone green, then orange, then blue. She was one percent of the way there, and now it was only a matter of time.


    Five percent. An entire ear was now glimmering and gleaming.


    Ten percent.


    Slow and steady.


    Fifteen percent.


    Most of its head was no longer white-blue, and a singr multicolored eye stared back at her as it fought on, uncaring of its hybrid state.


    Forty percent.


    The other eye shone with color, intelligence, and ferocity, and it swiped at her with a paw that trailed ribbons of color, leaving marks behind on her arm. The change was strengthening her bloodline, and that meant it could fight back all the harder.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Seventy percent.


    She was up to her hindquarters now, but the slippery nature of illusion was making simply <em>holding onto</em> her bloodline a task unto itself.


    And for an instant, her control slipped.


    She was juggling a dozen different tasks at once, trying to keep herself together despite the horrific pain she was undergoing as part of reworkingrge portions of her spirit, but she was managing it with all the fidelity and precision she hade to expect of herself. Until a jolt of pain that shot through her entire being informed her that she had done something ever so slightly wrong, infused illusion into her Concept a hair slower than she was doing for her Intent, and the spiritual shearing shot hairline faults through her Intent.


    It was fixable, but she was in too deep now to back out. She just had to push through and deal with the consequencester, and hope that she could do everything else perfectly.


    Ny percent.


    Only the tail was left now, a wonderfully floofy appendage that was pure white in defiance of the riot of color that the rest of her body was.


    Ny-nine percent.


    With a mournful howl, the very tip of her tail gained color, and she dropped the fight with more than a bit of exhaustion. Her gleaming fox-self curled up peacefully in her arms and began to sleep.


    She still had more work to do, to repair her Domain and rework her human body in a thousand ways to ount for the new changes, so she wasnt done, but


    She was done.


    She had done it.


    Gasping, Aster let all of her powers drop and she startedughing.


    The ss next to her popped and the aurora mana tried to wash out, but she grabbed at it. It was easy. Her bloodline and mana pool were now in tune with aurora mana, which made it second nature to control.


    Wrapping the aurora mana around her, she created an illusion of herself and had it stand up to greet the others while masking her real body that stillid on the table.


    Only two people werent tricked.


    Matt, who could sense her through their bond, and Silveke who was too high Tier to be tricked so easily.


    Her bond ran a hand through her hair and gave her fox ears a small scritch before asking, How are you feeling?


    He already knew, but she appreciated him asking.


    Sadly, it gave away the game, and Aster let her illusion copy fall away in a wash of ice and light. She was in a considerable amount of pain, especially after using her brand new bloodline to spin up an illusion, but more than anything, she was exhausted. Napping for a year sounded like an amazing idea right now.


    Allie blinked at her with wide eyes, and Aster could tell there were dozens of ns for mischief running through her mind.


    Im fine, or well, Im alive. My bloodline refinement is <em>shot</em>, and I need to patch up my Domain, but give me a decade and Ill be good to go!


    It was fortunate she was so awesome. It wasnt rare for immortal beasts to take centuries to get back to where they were before a bloodline change, but she could do so much better than them.


    The suite of recovery resources would help, of course, but it was mostly her. Combined with the time dtion in the rift, it would look like she changed her bloodline practically overnight. Besides, she could fight even if she werent at full strength. Same-Tier fights were just too easy at this point.


    Darrow nodded. You will be ced on medical leave until you are cleared for battle. It shouldn''t be too much of an issue either way. The Empire wants to keep just how good our healing teams are under wraps, so there was no way your half of Team Zero was getting sent out for anything but an emergency mission anyway. Im d you pulled through. If you need anything, feel free to ask.


    Aster thanked the general and made a note to grab him a baked good on her next jaunt with Allie. He was a bit of a straighced guy, but he was nice and cared about all of them on Team Zero.


    The others took that as their cue and after congratting Aster took their own leave. Everyone but Matt, Liz, and Allie.


    Well, them and Silveke and Melinda.


    Seeing Melindas glowing hand reach for her, Aster flinched out of the way. Hey, hey, hey. I worked too hard on remaking myself for you to touch me and make it all go away.


    Not that a healing spell, especially one cast by a Tier 15, could affect her body, let alone her bloodline, without her allowance, but it was the principle of the matter. Melinda Talent was too strong, and could revert the changes if Aster didnt firmly block it. Best not to push her luck.


    Melinda rolled her eyes. Dont be dramatic. This isnt a healing spell, it''s a minor divination spell to check your body.


    Aster rxed enough to let Melinday her hand on Aster''s head, and felt a tingly sensation go through her body a few times before Melinda pulled away and started talking medical jargon to Silveke.


    She didnt understand any of it, but neither looked worried, so she assumed it was normal and got up just to wobble.


    Her body felt weird.


    <em>That</em> was weird, because it wasnt like shed actually changed it. Sure, there were some ces where her bloodline persisted in her human form, but it shouldnt make that much of a difference.


    Her body felt lighter than before. Like she could step into a sun beam sideways and vanish. It was an odd sensation, and one she followed up on just to get odd looks from the others when it didnt work.


    Aster shrugged as she exined, I got the feeling I could vanish into a sunbeam. It felt like it was worth a try. Who knows what my Rank 1 bloodline power is.


    The way the she had engineered it, she would be able to utilize a standard bloodline affinity and apply it to aurora, increasing the potency of all the spells aligned with the affinity, along with a host of more minor benefits. But until she got around to testing the specifics, she couldnt be sure. Bloodlines could be weird, and she was the first aurora fox after all.


    Speaking of which, the moment she got home, she had Matt manifest arge mirror in their living room and she transformed into her fox body immediately.


    She was <em>gorgeous</em>.


    Her fur was a pristine white like it had been before, except now it had a slight underwater waver to it. Even that wasnt quite right, as it wasnt like Duke Waters hair. Instead, it looked more like the hair itself was rippling and flowing, as though it were water itself. Each strand of fur was still fully real and discrete, and never moved when she looked at it closely. But no matter how much of herself she studied, the rippling remained.


    It also reflected light differently than before, having picked up an almost iridescent sheen that neither shed light nor required it. With a thought, she could brighten it or dim it, or change the color to whatever she wanted. She turned her furs luminance purple for a moment, ranging the brightness from nearly blinding to barely visible, but under it all, her pure-white fur was visible. A bit of experimentation showed that wasnt a limit, and the fur itself readily turned blue while the light it shed became red.


    Allie oohed at the sight, even as she shoved a hand into Aster''s fur. Oh, this is so pretty! I wonder if we can skin you and keep the effect. Could you imagine how g Aster had heard enough and bit the other Ascender hard enough to show her displeasure. Ow! That hurt. What was that for?


    Aster put her nose up even as Allie tried to exin. Come on, with Melinda we could have you skinned a dozen times in like five minutes. Then we could go out on the town in style. Can you imagine aurora fox scarves? They would be the talk of the capital! We would look so good!


    Aster hated to admit it, but she was tempted. Allie was right about Melinda and the healing. And it would look good.


    Shaking her head, she sent through her [AI], No way. Im going to transform my tail into the same effect on my human body then Ill have it to show off and still be the only one with it. It''s a win-win for me.


    Allie pursed her lips before asking, What if your tail gets chopped off inbat? Can I make a scarf out of it then?


    No way. If I say yes, Im sure my tail will just <em>happen</em> to get in the way of a spell.


    I would never. In a much softer voice, Allie added. Do something so obvious.


    Aster couldnt help butugh at that as she turned back to the mirror.


    The effect was striking, she had to admit.


    Turning to Matt, she pushed a questioning feel through their bond.


    He reached down and rubbed a few strands of fur through his fingers. Think you can turn fully invisible? That would be a pretty damn useful ability if you can manage it sans skills.


    Aster concentrated on making herself see through, but she found that the effect didnt want to move past the halfway point of her fur. She was pretty sure she could extend that range through practice and hard work, but for now, she was unable to do anything but make it look like she got a haircut.


    Liz, on the other hand, was still looking at a drop of blood she had swiped from the hospital room.


    It''s very strange to see the differences in your blood and how its reacting to the new mana typing. Ill want to see how this progresses, but it gives me a few ideas. Ill also need some of your heart''s blood once you fully settle in for the tree. Im interested in what powers I can get for burning your bloodline. Aurora is a pretty versatile bloodline, but I havent been able to get my hands on any aurora bloodline samples, not in the short time since I put in the request.


    Aster huffed and nipped at Lizs hand. She wasnt any better than Allie wanting to turn her into a coat.


    Rotten, the lot of them.


    Not bothering to shift back into her human form, Aster slunk back to her room, just to be followed by Allie who was already pulling out cold weather gear.


    Chuckling to herself, Aster linked into the house and turned the temperature down even further than usual.


    Threaten to turn her tail into a scarf? Get your toes frozen off!


    Matt was at least kind enough to make a snack for her, which he said he would deliver when it was done.


    The cold of her room hit her like a club, but Aster enjoyed the quiet curse it pulled out of Allie.


    Come on dude this is just too damn cold, even for you. I apologize for threatening to take off your tail.


    Aster debated whether to raise the temperature or let Allie suffer more, but ended up choosing to be magnanimous and raised the temperature to something she could handle.


    Finally in her own room, she curled up on her bed before rolling over and sprawling out with a groan.


    Is it that bad?


    Aster thought for a minute beforeing up with something she thought might be able to exin it. Have you ever tried psychedelics?


    Im insulted you had to ask.


    It''s likeing down from a bad trip where you left your body and it doesn''t feel right as youe down from it. My body feels alien. It''s like someone reced my favorite shirt with a new version of that shirt. They might look the same, but they will wear differently.


    Allie patted Aster on the paw, nodding. Yeah, that kinda sounds awful. How long will itst?


    Aster felt Matt poke her through their bond and transformed into her human form to get ready for her snack.


    He was even nice enough to bring a scone for Allie. It was delicious, as only food cooked by Matt could be.


    Between bites, Aster recounted how long it took herst time she changed her bloodline to feel normal.


    Really, ites down to how long it will take me to fix my Concept.


    Allie winced. That sucks something fierce. I cracked my Concept on our way out of Minka, and I was bed bound for three months, and feeling the aftereffects for years. I was so worried that it would cost us everything because of the Path. How is your Intent?


    Aster probed her Intent and felt around it like a blind man searching for his knife. Carefully.


    Her Intent was cracked, there was no question about that, but the damage was fairly minimal. Her Phrase, Frozen Crown of the World only had some superficial damage, and her Anchor, her growth tiara, was perfectly fine. Though she knew she would want to reinforce it with aurora mana before using it in battle. Her Image, though, a lifeless yet beautiful snowscape, would need some work to patch the holes that had formed with the addition to her mana type.


    What had once beenplete as a winter wondend, a reflection of her bloodline, was now missing the light and illusion aspects of her aurora mana. Her dream was to leverage the minor space aspects of aurora mana to expand her Tier 25 Talent spirit space into something greater, though that was going to be exceedingly hard, if it was even possible.


    Aster had faith in herself and the resources the Empire could pour into her. Luna had mentioned knowing of another Pather manager who had done something simr, so it was possible in theory, though all Talents were unique, and hers might not be able to take that necessary step with just a supporting mana aspect to lean on.


    If it didnt work with aurora mana, she would just wait until Matt made her true space ice and try again.


    Part of her wondered what that would be like, and another part of her wondered about her new bloodline.


    Before today, there was no such thing as an aurora fox. There had been a few winter foxes in the past, but they had never reached the poption numbers needed to be a rift-droppable bond species. And so far as she knew, there were none currently alive. Nearly one hundred thousand years ago, there had been a winter fox in the ns who had aimed to stabilize a lineage for herself, and had a child with someone whose Talent allowed them to mirror any bloodline. Then, they had taken the potions and done the rituals to ensure that the child would have the standard Talents for the bloodline.


    What she found was unexciting, a Tier 1 Talent for an innate winter storm skill, and a Tier 3 Talent that increased the range and potency of winter spells. It wasnt exactly a guarantee that Aster''s hypothetical children would get the same Talents, but it was a distinct possibility if she also took the potions to ensure a natural Talent. And frankly, a downgrade to her current Talents wasnt the type of legacy she had wanted to establish.


    Just what would be the aurora fox innate Talents? What would the Rank 1 and Rank 2 bloodline powers be? Aster would be able to confirm the Rank 1 in a few days, but the Rank 2 would be lost forever if she decided to go down her current path further.


    It was a greedy thought, but even with her current sess, Aster had no desire to settle for merely pathzing an aurora fox bloodline when she could truly push herself to include space ice with her Rank 1, rather than pulling it in as a Rank 2 ability..


    It wasnt, by most measures, a good idea, but forging on ahead and defying the odds was the providence of Ascenders.


    Unless you were born with it, obtaining a bloodline with a level 4 mana type was considered an enormously bad idea, given the resources and risk involved. Some people still did it, of course, but attempting it as a Rank 1 was considered nearly impossible.


    Aster had done it anyway.


    Aiming for a Level 5 element for her Rank 1 affinity was ambitious, to put it mildly, but it left the door open for more future power when she eventually did get a Rank 2 bloodline. Getting an affinity for aurora and space ice, as both of her bloodline powers, was absolutely the easier route to go, but it was leaving power on the table. She wouldnt be able to get anything especially potent as a Rank 2 ability, just a half powered affinity that did most of the same things as her Rank 1.


    No, Aster wanted to make a bloodline like a phoenix, something that had an utterly incredible power, not some scattershot bloodline thatcked true potency.


    It was just thatck that rankled Aster.


    How bloodlines came to be was a mystery. Most people simply settled for the exnation that they came from rifts, but where they hade from <em>first</em> waspletely unknown. There had never been a winter fox bond egg, let alone an aurora one, but why not? Some people thought it had to do with stable breeding poptions, but then why did dwarf beast eggs never drop from rifts? They were <em>far</em> more numerous than dragon turtles. Rift monsters often had something <em>sort of</em> like a bloodline, which could be cultivated into a true bloodline, like with briar wolves, but then why was there no human bloodline, when most people agreed that the first humans came from rifts?


    But what she knew with certainty was there had never been another aurora fox in the entire realm nor any of the Tier 25 realms that intermittently sent people to this one, and while she was less certain there had never been another in all of the myriad of realms beyond their own, bing the first Rank 1 space ice fox in all of existence was an aplishment worthy of Aster Alexander.


    It wasnt the same as changing the realm, like Matt might do in the future, but it was something that only Aster could do, something someone born as a simple arctic fox bond could do.


    That called to Aster.


    It would be something truly hers.


    It would make her the first on many levels.


    It would also be incredibly difficult. Getting the resources to make the jump today had been hard, and she would need more aurora natural treasures if she wanted to speed up her bloodline excavation. The higher the mana level, the harder it was to strengthen. If one wanted to strengthen a bloodline, they needed an area withrge amounts of that mana type. Ice bloodlines needed to find ces with lots of ice which naturally had ice aspected mana, fire bloodlines needed ces with fire mana. Typically, the higher level the mana type, the harder it was to find. Rifts were great ces where someone could cycle massive amounts of mana to temper their mana without ruining a local environment, but while fire or ice themed rifts could be found anywhere, there were only a fews that had winter rifts, and there were <em>no</em> aurora rifts. Let alone space ice. And without a plethora of aurora mana and natural treasures, she couldnt even refine her current bloodline properly, let alone prepare for yet <em>another</em> jump.


    Still, Aster had faith in Matt. He would figure it out for her.


    Her bond was the best.


    That was why he had gotten her.


    He was the luckiest human.


    Aster was getting all cold inside when Allie poked her in the cheek. Hey, stop getting all dopey. I can see it on your face. Let''s work on our Concepts. We''ll repair them together.


    Aster wanted to pout that Allie had ruined her future nning, but she had a point. She needed to work on fixing her Concept as quickly as possible so she could return to the battlefield if needed. It was also touching that she would do this with her. Aster knew how much the teleporter detested anything resembling extra work.


    Aster appreciated it.


    Not that she would tell Allie. It would just make her smug. Instead, she stuck up her nose. I wasnt getting dopey. I was nning my future as queen of a new Rank 1 bloodline that pushes the boundaries of what is thought possible. I


    Yeah yeah whatever, just get to gluing your Concept back together. Errrr its ice. Pouring water over it? How do you mend ice? Do you have a giant fre


    Aster sighed and sted her friend into the wall with a blizzard.

 Chapter 306

    Chapter 306


    The wheels of bureaucracy turned slowly, immortal bureaucracy all the more, and that meant Matt managed to escape any non-military meetings for months after their return from the guilds. But months on the outside, and years on the inside of the rift passed nheless. So in time, Matt received word that he had a meeting scheduled for tomorrow. At least it was a meeting hed been looking forward to, so he couldnt grumble too much.


    What he <em>could</em> grumble about was the fact hed apparently been singled out as the one member of his family who was responsible enough to properly pass along the message to his wife and sister. It had taken him multiple in-rift days to track them both down. Aster was off in some mountains to the south trying, and mostly failing, to establish a permanent aurora snaking around the massive Tier 35 peaks. Liz, for her part, was off in a massive grasnd,den with the gigantic bones of monsters that had once lived in the rift. She was holed up outside of easy AI range practicing her non-structured magic. And he had foolishly been in Group Scrys base, working on mana research. So now, hed lost three of his eight in-rift days to finding and retrieving the girls so they could get their noble houses properly established.


    With more than a bit of exhaustion, he dropped by Team Zeros de facto social courtyard to grab some food, running into Zack as the mage ate his own breakfast. Matt grabbed a pair of bagel sandwiches and dropped into the chair opposite his fellow Ascender.


    Just got word about meeting with an ountant for our house establishment, do you know anything about that? Matt asked.


    That would most likely be Caroline Coultru. She ispetent at her job. This was high praise,ing from Zack. Allie and I had a meeting with her shortly after our own Pathpletion. I hope your meeting goes better than ours did.


    Speaking of Allie, where is she? I havent seen her around recently. said Matt.


    She left to get food. Zack said.


    That was two weeks ago.


    Zack slowly sipped his miso soup and then took an identically-sized drink of his tea. Correct.


    After a moment of silence, Zack continued, After the first few decades of training, you will have taken all the lowest hanging fruit avable. Additional time in the rift can be beneficial, but it is no longer pressing that you utilize every moment to its fullest. Allie ismitted to her role, but when she is not needed in the rift she prefers to travel the Empire. I suspect that she returns to the rift from time to time, invisible and undetected, to ensure that she is not required for anything of importance. Other than that, she is effectively impossible to contact or find, just as she wants it. Her newest Talent affords her mobility and freedom that no one else can match, and being contained within this rift with its paucity of excitement and luxuries is grating to her. She has been in the rift more since you three have arrived, but her vanishing like this isnt unexpected.


    Mmmh. Well, speaking of training, Im off to the workshop again, gonna try to get some talismans working before I have to go. Did you want to join?


    I believe I have said before, but I have only ever made one talisman in my life, and I would prefer to keep it that way. I still remember the taste of bile from that incident. There is no way to salvage an entire subsection of enchanting based around inefficiency like that.


    Nodding, Matt turned away with his bagelden te, and left Zack alone to his meal.


    The nice thing about talking with Zack was that he respected that other people had things to do, and didnt take offense at short social visits.


    Flying to the enchanting workshop, Matt signaled the kitchen to send him a gallon of tea every two hours. Half a week before he had to leave wasnt quite enough to sneak in a decent training session, but he still wanted to make the most of it.


    Settling into his section of the workshop, Matt pulled out a stack of treated hides and got to work on improving his enchanting, referencing documentation every few minutes to try to work out what he was doing wrong.


    He had been frustrated with his talismans ever since he finished the Path, and to be honest, they had been bing a challenge before then as well. Objectively, his talismans were better than ever, but he wasnt fighting mindless monsters any more. The bar was far higher.


    He wasnt just battling his mana control problems, which had only been exacerbated every time he doubled his mana. By most reasonable metrics, he was doing quite well, but his mana control wasnt even close to what most of Group Firmaments crafters could manage. By his personal assessment, he was on-par with a normal Tier 25 crafter and well above all but the best delvers, but that metric was so woefully under his personal goals, it was maddening. A could run circles around his mana control hungover and half asleep, nevermind the level that Light and Liz were working with. Considering the number of mana control natural treasures hed consumed, it was almost shameful.


    He didnt just need mana control that exceeded that of nearly any typical mage; if he wanted to utilize his talismans inbat, he needed to vastly exceed that. His talismans couldnt merely be good, or amazing. They needed to be so strong as to justify their ce in a fight with Ascenders, and that was a bar that had shot skyward when he was given the best skills and resources that money could buy. Sure, he could and sometimes did use talismans made by Group Cornucopia, but they werent his. It wasnt just pride that presented an issue, there were actual enchanting techniques that his mana in particr lent themselves to, which worked best when the creator and user of a talisman were the same person.


    Matt would get there eventually, he just needed time. He was perhaps the most knowledgeable person in existence on the topic of extreme mana capacity talismans, given how uneconomical for anyone else to invest time in that particr topic. Sure, some high-Tiers probably had experience with simr amounts of mana, but high-Tier materials inherently had better mana capacitance and reduced the challenges that field presented. But <em>he</em> couldnt take those materials into battle with him. Still, what essentially amounted to developing a new field of enchanting to the point it matched or exceeded his existing skills was a daunting prospect.


    His mana control was a continuous frustration in that regard. asionally, A, Gnodel, some other crafter he worked with, or his [AI] itself would suggest some new configuration of runes to try out, but they would destructively decohere before he could stabilize them. The designs were fine, he just couldnt properly make them.


    <em>Yet</em>. He couldn''t make them yet.


    Once it was nearly time to leave, he headed back to his house to check that Liz and Aster were ready to go. It was something of a formal asion, so he put on his Ascender robes and freshened himself up quickly.


    As Liz was getting dressed, he asked, Do you recognize the name Caroline Coultru? Shes the one were meeting-


    Liz stopped brushing her hair to look at him. Shit. Yeah, Ive heard of her. Shes supposed to be one of the meanest bean counters in the Empire. If I had known we were meeting with her, Id have rescheduled. To next century. Ugh, and I was all excited about this.


    It seemed like an overreaction. Surely if she was that mean, Zack would have warned him.


    How bad could she possibly be?


    Coming out of his and Lizs room, he found Aster brushing her glowing tail. With each stroke of the brush, her fur returned to a more normal color until it waspletely ordinary. They werent about to give away her bloodline change for an interview, so Aster needed to hide some of the minor cosmetic changes from thest few months.


    Grabbing a cloak that would help disguise his identity, they flew to the exit of the rift, and within an hour they had boarded a shuttle to the capital, on their way to their meeting.


    Theynded near the north pole of the capital, in the agriculture district that supplied food for the trillions of people that lived on the. Nearly all the food produced for the capital came out of just three rifts, and while the rifts themselves took up no more space than usual, the infrastructure surrounding them was positively enormous. An area the size of a continent was reserved almost entirely for the production, processing, and transport of the millions of tons of food and other agricultural production needed to keep the capital running.


    Stepping out from the spaceport, the capital looked much the same as it always did, with multyered walkways, cavernous drops down to the cityscape below, and thousands of people flying about. The difference here was the sense of industry that permeated the entire area. Letting his [AI] control [Flight], Matt and his team joined the throngs of people in the sky and inspected the mile-tall grain silos that loaded the cargo trains which shuttled food to the rest of the. A river of trains went back and forth through an artery a dozen tracks wide, each one going at nearly the speed of sound.


    When they were nearly to their destination, Matt noted one factory that seemed curiously inactive, and a ping from his [AI] told him why. Mana prices had be too high, and a canning facility asrge as his home city had shut down. Thousands had lost their jobs, and from a brief search, it looked like this wasnt the only location that had been forced to shut down even in the past few decades.


    More and more people were living in the capital, and it was straining the infrastructure to provide for them all. Each new person added on costs, needing a ce to live, the means to feed them, and somewhere to keep themfortable. And despite the exorbitant amounts of resources that were flown in every day, the problem wasnt getting any better. The war was driving prices up, certainly, but it was one problem on top of a thousand others, and the underlying problems wouldnt be solved by a sudden peace agreement.


    Shaking his head, Matt finally reached their destination, an understated office building a few blocks off the main thoroughfares. As soon as they entered the building, the receptionist whisked them up to the head office, where a woman with honey colored skin and hair greeted them.


    Greetings, Ascenders. I am Caroline Coultru, Head Imperial ountant, and as of two years ago, <em>your</em> ountant, at least until you finalize your selection of seneschals. I apologize for the dy in our meeting, but a number of things needed to be set straight first, and I am certain that you have been quite busy recently. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.


    Naturally, I know quite a bit about you already, so let me tell you a little about myself before we get to business. I received my Bachelors, Masters, Grand Masters, and Hidden Masters degrees in ounting from Rosegrove Academy, have served under all three rulers of the current dynasty, and am currently managing the finances of Ascenders Waters and Light, whom I believe you are acquainted with. If you are ever displeased with my services, you are free to find other representation, and I would assist you in finding such services as would fit your needs. Currently, I am empowered to manage your finances including your military sry, handle your taxes, represent you legally, and otherwise handle any mundane task you might need of me. Yes, Ms. Alexander?


    Aster lowered her hand and said, Excuse me, but I was told that you were fierce and terrible. Howe youre nice?


    Caroline gave a politeugh at her joke. Oh, I assure you, I <em>am</em> terrible. But, so long as you have your finances in order, are paid up on your taxes, and show me and my profession the smallest modicum of respect, I am perfectly willing to be kind. Her eyes flicked to Liz as she was talking, and Matt realized where she had received the warning from.


    Mara and Leon didnt like people who came after them for unpaid taxes, and the feeling seemed mutual.


    Moving on to more pleasant topics, as recognition for finishing The Path of Ascension, you are entitled to substantial rewards. No doubt you have already received much of the military portion of your des, as befits those needed in activebat. But as any young pather knows, there are gifts of a lessbative nature as well. First and foremost, I was told to give you these two growth items from the Emperor himself, along with this note.


    Caroline gestured, and two Tier 4 growth items and a handwritten note appeared in their hands. As Aster and Liz were inspecting the water bottle and nged mace, Matt read the note exining that the growth items were from the group of bandits that Matt and Liz had killed on the training world theyd met on, all those decades ago.


    It was surprising that the Emperor himself had been to that world and taken the time to collect the growth items. Together, they were worth a Tier 10 mana stone, which would have been an enormous boon to him at that time. Now, though, they werent worth much of anything to him, which was somewhat sad.


    He thought he should go back to that sometime when he wasnt as busy. Maybe they could relive some memories there.


    Could you donate these to someone who needs them? They would just gather dust with us. Matt said. Just as silently as they appeared, the growth items disappeared back into Carolines spatial ring.


    Certainly, Ascender. You also received a meaningful sum due to sponsoring a team that reached Tier 12 on the Path. Next, there are four mary rewards of varying quantity and redacted origin. I presume you know something as to where they originate from? Caroline asked with a raised eyebrow.


    Those would be from the dragon rift, the discovery of [Bandage], creating multiple valuable rifts for the Empire, and finally the discovery of the keys and keyholes at the heart of Minka.


    I believe we have some clue as to where theye from, yes. Matt said with a straight face.


    I see. Well, as the rewards were dyed due to your Pather status, they have been rolled into your overall Pathpletion rewards, increasing them markedly. Speaking of which...


    Caroline gestured, and a hologram of an enormous space ship appeared above her desk, with scale markings to show that the ship was over a half mile in length. It looked like a pleasure vessel, something nobles made to show off to their friends, but blown up to an enormous scale.


    This is a <em>Horizon</em> ss cruise ship, highly modr and outfitted to your personal perceived needs and wants. Capable offortably housing a thousand guests and two hundred staff, it includes several pools, each of which can be converted into ice rinks, two bath houses, an industrial kitchen, a hangar bay, and three dining halls of varying size. The modr nature of the ship allows for customization for any given trip, and additional modules can bemissioned for specific desires. It also includes connections for most portable houses should you desire to integrate your existing housing. Furthermore, included with the ship are a pilot and mechanic, whose sries are fully covered by the Empire in perpetuity, and will move and take care of the ship in your absence. The ship is in orbit now.


    Matt boggled at the size and opulence of the ship he was being handed. The spec sheet indicated that the master bedroom suite alone wasrge enough to contain his entire house, and each of the anciry craft that were included with the main ship were far nicer than anything he had bought with his own funds.


    It was striking how casually he was being given something that must have taken decades to make and cost a staggering amount of money.


    Additional staff can be hired at your discretion, but the current staff can keep the ship maintained indefinitely, and provide a minimal level of service during transit. Nevertheless, if you have be ustomed to a delving funded lifestyle, I believe you will be pleased with even that. Caroline moved her hand, and a new hologram appeared, with the hologram of the ship moving off to the side of the desk. Your floating ind has not yet been fully constructed. The superstructure is ready, but your direction is needed in order to properly shape it to your needs.


    For decades, Matt had thought that a floating house was the height of luxury. He was wiser now, and knew that there were far greater heights, but he hadnt truly appreciated what was offered to Ascenders.


    The base structure of his personal floating ind was a staggering five miles across. The ceholder house on the top was enormous, by normal standards, but as the hologram shifted, he saw that the interior of the floating ind was riddled with rooms and passageways, leaving huge amounts of space for anything he or his friends might want to do.


    He could run a whole guild from his basement, and have room to spare.


    The <em>pool house</em> was bigger than his actual house.


    The engine modules from your ship can be decoupled and used to slowly tow your floating ind through chaotic space, but it is otherwise incapable of appreciable movement away from as surface. She looked up from the pad she was reading from to inspect the three of them. If you would desire that each of you have separate or interlockable housing and travel amodations, that can be arranged, but it was indicated to me that you would likely prefer the singr andrger option. Ive sent you the contact information of the buildingpany and the avable options for construction. Go through them in your downtime and decide upon what you would like from your permanent residence. Depending on your choices, construction could be finished in as little as thirty years.


    They sat in stunned silence as they were casually handed a kings ransom.


    Zack had a whole floating ind to himself, and he had never bothered to mention it?


    Allie had never invited them to hers?


    This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Moving on, due to the war of which you are no doubt aware, the unfortunate news is that the duchy you are due is unlikely toe to fruition until the conclusion of the aforementioned war. Leaving aside that new duchies are often awarded from newly imed territory, and the war endangers the imperial im of that territory in the near future, it is an unfortunate fact that an Ascendersnds are invariably targeted during wartime as part of propaganda from the attacking Great Power. Until such time that a duchy is awarded at the conclusion of this war, you are considered unded dukes, with all the privileges that affords.


    Wait, wait, sorry, does that mean that if we win the war and a bunch ofs get handed over in the negotiations, we get mores for our duchy? Aster asked.


    Caroline looked at her with a steady stare and a small smile. Precisely.


    Neat. Aster smiled back.


    I believe I received a statement saying that you were content with your portable house, and had no desire to have, for example, a house porter assigned to you for the transport of a more spacious and luxurious portable home? Matt nodded silently, and Caroline marked something off her pad. Now, there are a few more items left to address. Mr. Moore, I was told to hand you these. I trust that you know what they do, as I was not given any instruction as to their use. Caroline again gestured, and three spatial rings appeared in his hands.


    Two seconds of thought and ying around with them made him realize that they were intended to work with his Talent. He could directly crystallize mana in the spatial rings, letting him make mana crystal all the time without having to grow it and then store it away. Two of the rings had a normal volume, and would let him store maybe a weeks worth of crystal production, while the third had a farrger volume, and felt like it could hold ake.


    The first two seemed like they were intended to allow for teleportation and rift breaching without stressing the person escorting him, and the third was for when he had long stretches of time where he wanted to bottle up his mana and didnt need to worry about transportation limits.


    Nodding to Caroline, she continued. Naturally, there is also a substantial amount of liquid currency, to use at your discretion. I will manage unused funds, keeping your employees paid and your taxes up to date, but any item or task in the Empire is at your disposal, leveraging either your reputation or your funds. While I believe it will not be particrly applicable to you three, should you everck a seneschal, send word and I shall execute your will. I dont believe you had anyone close to you who needed to be carried to immortality? Your sponsees are not projected to have any insurmountable difficulty in advancing.


    Liz jumped on that before Matt had the chance. Guards for all our friends. I dont want anyone we know to get exploited or anything because of their rtion to us.


    Gesturing to Aster, Caroline said, Virtually everyone you have any close connection with has had a constant guard duty assigned to them for the past twenty years, excepting those who have adequate personal security. The Empire does not take well to people attempting to exploit their most valuable military assets. Protection will extend through this war and during any time in which you are predominantly undertaking official Empire business, though the general advisement is to make anyone amenable to the idea officially part of your court, and thereby under your direct protection at all times.


    Oh... Huh. Well then, I have nothing. Liz said, looking contemtive.


    Matt leaned forward and asked, Theres a woman I worked with, named Amelia Galley. She was having some legal troubles in getting her designs approved for sale. Would you be able to do anything about that?


    Caroline nodded, made a short note on her pad, and looked back up. Handled.


    Matt waited for a moment to see if she had anything else to say about it, but no. That was it. A few words, and a legal battle that Amelia had been fighting for over a century was over.


    There is the option of funding any business, guild, tournament, or other endeavor you might want. Ascender Waters founded the deliverypany Aqueducts, and Ascender Light has a controlling interest in a premium tea operation, for example. There is little time pressure on this, so if your desire is to wait until you have more time avable to dedicate outside of the war, I would understand. But the Empire encourages Ascenders to set up a venture that can help support them long term. Matt wanted to get started on making his guild, but while he had assigned gathering information about that for his possible aide, it wasnt something he really wanted to finalize anything on until this war was over.


    When none of them said anything, Caroline continued. Lastly, there is the matter of choosing your seneschals. The applicants you indicated were most suitable are waiting for you next door. Barker can guide you if so necessary.


    Outside the room there was an older man who must have been Barker, but oddly enough, the moment he saw them he cocked his head as if he was listening to someone they couldnt hear before he flickered. When his presence steadied, he was holding a small hand sized device towards Matt.


    His Majesty has instructed me to give this to you, Ascender. He said it is a personally created Bifate Pair-Linker courtesy of Managing Director JR, the Tier 50 of the corporations. It should allow for multi-material pair-linkages along with allowing for nearly any base material to be used as a talisman.


    Matt was opening his mouth to ask a question, but a message from the Emperor arrived exining all that he wanted to know.


    It''s not cursed, a spying device, or anything, I made sure of that. JR is just trying to get us to spend money on custom-made Ascender gear by giving you a shiny new gift. That, or hes using this as a pretext to flirt with Aunt Helen. Point being, it''s safe. Try not to break it, though youd have a hard time of that for the next five Tiers anyway. Even you cant afford custom works made by a Tier 50 yet. I attached the specification sheet, go over it at your leisure, but you should find this useful.


    Matt didnt need a Tier 50 to tell him a BPL that allowed for multi-pair linkages was useful. He <em>especially</em> didnt need someone to tell him that a BPL that worked on any and <em>multiple</em> base structures was useful. If he could get it to work on his mana crystal Now <em>that</em> was an idea. One of the biggest problems hed been having with making talismans out of the substance. It didnt so much as work <em>badly</em> with other materials as much as not work at all.


    It was most certainly possible, it would just take time. It was functionally a novel material, and as such, it didnt have the centuries of umted knowledge which all modern enchanting was built upon to work with. But if <em>anything</em> could brute force decades of research of materialpatibility, it would be a BPL made by the undisputed best crafter in the realm.


    Even better, he could feel everything in the item was made out of Tier 25 materials, so he could use it in the war or even take it to a battlefield. Not that he would take an item of such value to a battlefield before there were a dozen working copies, something he wasnt sure was possible. This was, after all, the work of a Tier 50 crafter. It was as close to priceless as anything got in this realm.


    Not that that fact would stop Matt from cracking it open and seeing if he could learn anything from the device, though he was sure hed need to fight for time with the device with Group Firmament.


    But if he <em>did</em> master it he could half-make talismans beforehand, then make a few final pieces in the middle of a fight to perfectly adjust the spells effects to be exactly what he needed. It wouldnt be quite on the level of true midbat crafting, but it would be halfway there, and wasnt that an exciting thought?


    Matt felt an itching in his fingers and debated if he could call Allie to teleport him back to the rift. She was probably off, but it might be worth a shot.


    Aster must have felt how conflicted he was because she snatched the item out of his hands and pulled it into her spatial ring. We have a job to do. Remember my n! We still have the interviewster.


    Matt seriously thought about wrestling Aster for the BPL, but that might damage the item and he couldnt allow that.


    He had agreed to this.


    He was a big boy and could wait to y with his new toy.


    He was going to steal the first aurora scarf Aster made in revenge.


    Ok, you''re right. Sorry. Let''s head in. Turning to the older man, he nodded. Thank you for delivering us and getting me that item.


    It was my pleasure, Ascender.


    After the man bowed, he flickered and appeared standing a dozen feet away from the door.


    Knocking, Aster opened the door where they found three people waiting for them.


    The first was a dark blue-skinned bald woman in an impable formal suit and a top hat tucked under her arm, standing dead center in the waiting room like she had a rod recing her spine. The Tier 41 Alice was Asters chosen seneschal, a woman with a record as impable as her suit. She was currently unemployed only because nobody high-profile enough had been looking for a new right hand in the seven centuries since herst employer had ascended. Now, barring an utter catastrophe at their first in-person meeting, she would be taking up the role of Asters head of household, with all the responsibilities and paperwork that came alongside thebination of being a duchess and Ascender. Even as unded nobles, they were still Ascenders, and that came with a million and one things and people who wanted or needed to talk to them about a billion and one things.


    And they couldnt ignore it forever, no matter what Matt may have wished.


    Next to the bastion of professionality that was Alice, Isabe looked hopelessly flustered and overeager. Her eyes, the color of freshly beaten steel, shone with poorly concealed excitement and her deeply tan skin tensed and momentarily flushed with excitement at their entry. Matt couldnt really hold it against her, for a Tier 20, the mastery she had over her body wasmendable, and she wasnt old enough to have the skill shards to make up the difference.


    Isabe was technically still in her final year of Bethany''s Academy of Excellence, but that hadnt stopped her from sending in her application to be one of their seneschals when they Ascended. That gumption had caught Lizs eye, but it wouldnt have been enough were it not for the fact that shed been top of her year four hundred and ny-eight out of the past five hundred years in the empires most prestigious nonbat academy. And instead of casting about for the normal mid-ranked jobs, perhaps as a seneschals aide or secretary in one of the regional capitals such a record would normally lead into, shed shot for the stars and hit them.


    While nominally less qualified than her more experiencedpetition, she was still plenty capable of filling the role, and Liz and her got along quite well. Matt liked to tease his wife that it was because the Tier 20 had a hobby of gardening, but if he was being serious, he saw the same intense fire of wanting to challenge anyone and everyone who dared to doubt her in the both of them. If Liz hadntid im to Isabe, Matt had been considering her himself. She was that good.


    Instead, his own future seneschal sat in a shadowy corner, spinning a small chain through his fingers in aplex pattern while watching them with glowing, green slitted eyes. They contrasted with his ink dark hair and skin so pale, it was almost see through. Cato gave a fanged grin at Matt, then snapped the chain around his fingers with a satisfying <em>thwack</em> before it was sent spinning an instantter.


    The Tier 33 man had endured no small amount of ridicule and teasing from an exceptionally young age about the snake wanting to be in any form of noble advisory position, until hed one day decided hed been done with the entire charade and decided that if nobody was going to trust him, he may as well lean into the bit. Despite what his appearance, straight from every cheap movie, might suggest, Cato was loyal andpetent to a fault.


    Cato had done two stints for a Viscount as a seneschals assistant before taking the position over for the viscounts descendant who had ignored his responsibilities, and all goodmon sense, and started squandering the families fortunes. Breaking his contract had been a bit of a ck mark on Catos resume, but instead of taking a position as a seneschal in another noble house, where he could prove he waspetent, he took an assistant position to a Tier 40 Guilds guild leader. From there he had taken control of the guilds finances and daily organization and turned the guild from a middling Tier 40 guild to one of the empires best in just a few decades.


    That was the experience Matt wanted for his seneschal. Someone who could run a noble house and both help him set up and thenter run the guild when he was needed to fight in wars or was delving.


    Isabe was the first to speak, and clutching arge pad to her chest, she stuck out her hand to Liz. It''s wonderful to meet you in person.


    Alice never moved from her spot, but her eyes tracked Aster exactly like Lunas did when they were training with her. There was a fierce intensity Matt had rarely seen, and had never expected to see in a nonbatants face.


    He wasnt able to watch the show, as Cato had walked up to Matt and proffered a hand. The slight shadow that had clung to him when he sat in the corner still seemed to linger, but his smile was bright.


    It issss mossst excellent to meet you in persssson, my lord.


    Likewise. H


    Cato turned his hand over and proffered a stack of papers before Matt could finish. Turn your eyes to these, oh wisssse one. There are many things which you must consider, the identy of those guilds which you may sssssseek to emte. I posssesss much knowledge which musssst never leave itssss shadowssss.


    The mans ent if it could be called that, given how intentional it was, was certainly amusing, but for the sake of productivity, he elected to tune it out. Matt flipped through the pages and nodded. Before they returned from guild space, Matt had asked Cato to prepare a few case studies for guilds and create three proposals for a research centric guild that would be doing charity work.


    Guild structures were incrediblyplex, and that onlypounded when trying to protect research secrets. Not that Matt cared if any research information was leaked, but he <em>was</em> worried about his Talent being leaked, and this seemed like the easiest way to test Cato.


    Matt had done his own research, and while he knew he was no expert, he had a general idea of what his guild structure would look like.


    Flipping through the first proposal, Matt appreciated that Cato had gotten secret guild correspondences and reports from guilds who used that structure. It was the same structure that Matt had been considering to use, and he liked that Cato hade to the same conclusion.


    Turn your gaze to this first, a restricted guild structure akin to that which most research guilds utilize. They provide many numbers, but many of these are false. You may see them inscribed in ck here, while the tallies in scarlet are much closer to the sincere truth.


    I see. It''s basically what I was thinking of when looking into it.


    Cato nodded. I suspected as much, and it is, to be truthful, the most foolish way forward. However, oh wise one, the decision is yours.


    Matt raised an eyebrow, to which Cato responded with a hiss. It is not my duty to make your decisions for you, Ascender, but to assist you in making the decisions you have set your course upon. What sort of seneschal would I be should I be incapable of forseeing my masters desires, be they serendipitous or foolish?


    Is that why you left House Twal?


    Precisely. I showed the Viscount the set of answers he wished to see, alongside better options. He consistently selected the options that brought with it only pleasure, not those of a skilled and good lord. So I left so another coulde take my ce and whisper my guidance in a more receptive ear.


    Matt nodded. That fit what the reports had stated, and it was exactly what a seneschal should do. Or, at least what Matt wanted from his seneschal. He didnt need a mother or sycophant, but someone capable with a mind of their own. He was sure sometimes he was going to make the wrong choice for whatever reason, and he wanted someone who could anticipate that and still work with him.


    The more he was hearing from Cato, the more he liked.


    Flipping to the second document, he immediately raised an eyebrow at the structure.


    Cato exined his reasoning. I would advise against this structure, but its structures are the most binding you can set within a guild structure. There are several archaicws which it is based upon, notmonly in use yet still within record as legal. The more you wish to push this, the more dubiously legal it is, and many of thesews have seen courts rule against them. For anyone but an Ascender, attempting to form a guild in this manner would be foolish, but for you Cato let the point hang before spinning his chain around his fingers.


    Skipping the rest of the document, Matt went to the third and pursed his lips.


    This is an interesting approach. Register fully as a charity guild which operates a research corporation? That seems needlesslyplicated. Is it even legal for a Guild to own a Corporation like that? Ive never heard of that before, and it didnte up in my searches of guild structures.


    It is non-standard, but it is entirely legal. It is, however, somewhat limiting, which ounts for much of its unpoprity. It does not wholly exempt the guild from taxes, but does require you to sustain the full level of transparency in spending and services which a charity must. For most it is simply an unwanted burden, but your actions in support of low-Tier crafting schools, the medical assistance you supplied to Ventillyria, and of course your scribing of a new medical rune says that it may be of interest for you. Catos snapping chain was almost as expressive as a shrug. If it were all simply a disy for the crowds I would not be surprised, but it seemed worthy of setting before you as an option to consider.


    Matt sat in silence, ostensibly reading the files his new seneschal had provided him but mostly studying how the rest of his team was interacting with their respective assistants. Both of them were animatedly talking with their counterparts, and Matt silently thanked everyone involved in helping them get this far, considering how well it was all going.


    Looking through the rest of the proposal, he nodded as he read, even as Cato stood there silent except for the snicks of his chain snapping around his fingers.


    You are correct about my intentions for the guild in both your unspoken assumptions and spoken ones. I truly do intend for my future guild to do things like I did with the runes during the tournament. I still dont understand the doubleyering. How does that help?


    Cato didnt smile, but the man still managed to <em>beam</em> with pride. While typically it is impossible for guilds and corporations to own one another, charities possess their own allowances. While the legalese is a little sophisticated and intense for this short conversation, the summary is that you may utilize a mix of both guild and corporation contracts for hiring, and the maximum allowance of both corporation and guild security, for maximum secrecy. Meanwhile, the hindrances which apany a charity already align with your stated goals, and as an Ascender, much of the troubles which sometimes befall oversight of a charity are less likely to ur with you.


    Matt nodded. I might not always take the logical route and sometimes might take the answer I was already set on, but Im not that stubborn. Let''s go with option three. I wont need the incredibly strict contracts for more than a select rare few. For the rest, I dont care about secrets like you might expect. My intention is to make most of our findings public anyway.


    Cato hissed. Ascender or no, what you seek may not be possible. While it is rare, the Empire can and has confiscated particrly dangerous or valuable discoveries and set them deep within the shadows, never to be seen once again. It seldom urs, but does happen asionally.


    Matt just smiled. Ill worry about that if it happens, but Ive chatted with the Emperor about this idea more than once. Hes supportive, so unless we create something truly unprecedented, that is unlikely. That, and I intend most of our inventions to be aimed at low Tiers and improving their lives.


    With an effort of will, he incinerated the papers before shredding the atoms of the ash to hydrogen.


    Proffering his hand, Matt caught Catos eyes. Its a pleasure to have you on board.


    Following the old customs, Cato bowed before taking his hand in a firm shake. I serve at your will, my lord.


    Matt waved Catos honorific off the moment they let go. I <em>know</em> its part of your schtick, and I dont want to get in the way of that, but pleasey off the honorifics a bit? Its bad enough with everyone calling me Ascender, I dont need endless oh wise ones and my lords. It just sounds sycophantic and too formal.


    Cato smirked, a fang menacingly spilling out from between his lips. Most certainly, it shall be so my lord.


    Matt snorted.


    Now, is there anything else you wished to discuss in person, or shall I take my leave? Starting a guild will be fairly intensive work.


    Matt shook his head. Not really. The guild is going to have to wait until the war is over before I can form it. Seeing Cato wanted to speak, Matt corrected himself. I know I can start it now, but I truly am personally invested in it, and the ideas behind it. I dont want to just start it and let you or anyone else get the ball rolling. I wont be able to be as active as if I wasnt an Ascender, but once the war is over, its going to be my top priority outside of Ascender work. I want to experience all the important firsts, if you know what I mean.


    Have you any ns for where you shall establish your guild? I presume upon your duchy, once you arended.


    Matt nodded his head. I only get three locations for a guild headquarters, so one will definitely go there. But as for the other two, Im thinking I want to purchase a moon to be delivered to Lilly where I grew up and put a guild base there. It will be useful for low Tier testing. As for the final location, I dont know, there are a million and one things to take into consideration. Getting a spot in the capital system would put us close to rare high Tier resources but would also make any testing that much harder thanks to how firm reality is.


    And of course, the spies who slither and sneak, searching for new discoveries only to publish first and lock all of your findings behind their own ownership. Cato added with a slightly resigned look on his face.


    Matt nodded. I''ve seen a simr game get yed out. Id love to see who is ballsy enough to try that with me, but it''s a very valid point. Even if the Emperor himself told people to leave me alone, there would still be people trying, despite knowing it will go nowhere if for no other reasons than to get their names out there.


    I shall begin assembling a list of locations which may prove auspicious for your purposes. If you could provide a list of requirements, I can narrow them down all the more.


    After thinking about it for a few seconds Matt rattled off a list of requirements for any guild location then went into his wants and desires. They were mixed and contradictory enough that Cato said he would need to review possible locations for aprehensive list, but he was able to send a few locations that met most of Matts requirements. None of them called to Matt, but this wasnt something to be decided on a whim anyway.


    They were nobles now, and the decisions they made here and now would set the tone for their entire rule.

 Chapter 307

    Chapter 307


    Alice reminded Aster of Luna in many of the cats best ways. Matt imed to not understand why Aster, who had certainly chafed under the yoke of their ever-strict manager more than either him or Liz had, would want to run all of her business in this realm through someone so simr. But to her, it was perfectly obvious. For one, <em>she</em> was the boss in this dynamic, and as such, she could offload all serious-ness to her underling.


    It was a simple delegation. Mara had taught her that.


    As a bonus, as a fellow arctic-bloodline, she properly understood the value of ice cream. The fact that she liked her ice cream <em>hot</em> made Aster feel quite conflicted, but she supposed a fire penguin would be full of those contradictions. It was an eptablepromise.


    That shared love of ice cream, hot or cold, had formed the perfect basis for Asters main business venture. An entire chain of the Empires best ice cream, spread across countless worlds, would honestly not impact her finances too much one way or another, unless she went way overboard. But it was still tricky setting up the proper guidelines for quality while also being sustainable and expandable.


    She wasnt like Allie, who could pop to her ideal scone store whenever she wanted. If she wanted to always have ess to fresh, high-quality ice cream no matter where she went, shed need to make sure that her stores would have ice cream fit for an Ascender. It had to be good enough for <em>her</em>, and that made things harder. But it would be worth it.


    Empire wide corporations are normally limited to one location per on Tier 15 and lowers, but the rules be less strict as the world''s Tier increases. If you pair with local business for resources and add in a few local vors designed by someone with a Talent, the business can expand in a matter of years across the Empire whilst maintaining the core idea of unique vors.


    Despite having a simr demeanor to Luna, Alices voice was low and silky with just a touch of bass that gave her words gravitas. It gave her every word weight, and was independentlypelling.


    Aster swished her tail in dissatisfaction. That''s the opposite of what I want. I want my ice cream to be everywhere, yes, but just hiring someone with a Talent or Domain for making perfect vors isnt what I want. Every business does that, and they put out perfectly calcted items that end up all tasting perfect. I want to make ice cream that is <em>good</em>, but good doesnt demand perfection. Sometimes something is good because of the mistakes in vor profiles.


    Alice nodded to Aster''s rebuttal but didnt seem to take it personally. While right after an Ascension is the best time to expand an Ascenders business, immediately after the war is a close second. If you want to make unique but not perfect ice creams, might I suggest turning that into a promotional activity?


    When Aster agreed, she continued, I would suggest turning it into something of a tour. Go tos, explore them a little, then make a vor based on the as you open a location. It will serve as excellent marketing and drum up semi-local tourism, which can be written off the businesss taxes thanks to the money it brings to local economies.


    Asters tail swished on its own as she considered the possibilities. Yes, that would be an excellent way to sample new vors, and a way to check that the kitchens were at least <em>able</em> to keep up with her standards.


    Oh, that could be so fun. What would a martial ice cream taste like? Cinnamon is an easy answer, but what about a fruity pairing with cinnamon? It might give it a bit of a punch without going overboard. But maybe


    ***


    So, you said that buying the research firm should be the easy part, right?


    Yep! Isabe nodded enthusiastically, her head bobbing up and down like Lizs mom would when in chicken form. Ive already managed to find fifteen institutions and research centers who have been struggling as ofte. Well, fourteen and one preparing for their current owners Ascension in a couple centuries. Any of them should be affordable enough given the budget you providedbined with your own social cachet. The Resplendent Roots owner isnt likely to give away his team for anything short of Tier 45-level wealth, but having an Ascender in your social circle is almost invaluable.


    Hmmmm Liz twirled a loop of hair around her finger. Lets put those at the bottom of the list for the moment. Id rather keep it mary if at all possible, and Im less concerned about having the absolute best research equipment at the start than I am about simply having a proper team as a base.


    Done. Now, in terms of experience did you have any preference for the form? A research group trying to revitalize dormant or faded bloodlines is going to have a very different backgroundpared to one that studies elemental changes.


    Liz nodded. Im definitely more interested in form-changes. The closer to base essence theory, the better. But, thats a low priority. Just about anything could be interesting. How does that change your list?


    Isabe still looked a bit like she might fall over if she was brushed with a feather too hard, but she managed to hold herself up admirably. Well, right now my top choice would be Burnsons Institute. The worst thing about it as-of-now is its location. Relocation is likely to be your only choice to avoid incrediblend-tenancy penalties, but


    I wont have my duchy for another couple centuries. I see. Well, at least that means theres not much point in selecting one for how close it is to mynds. So why that one?


    Well, the information isnt quite widely known yet, but they recently acquired Mondino Luzz as a staff member.


    Liz raised an eyebrow at that. They <em>did</em>? I didnt even know Luzz was looking to relocate from The Bluebloods. How did thate about? And if they got Luzz, how the heck are they struggling so much that I might be able to afford them?


    One and the same. Getting Luzz cost them most of their liquid funds and some of their own stars, but they werent due to get him for two hundred years. During that time, they ran into three independent disasters and now Burnson, or rather his backer Winona, is just trying to offload the research before it costs them even more out of pocket.


    That <em>is</em> tempting. And theyre serious about selling, when theyve got such a great oer? Luzz has got to be in the top hundred in the Empire for cross-breeding bloodlines.


    Luzz has had his own set of rough timestely, with some serious gambling debt and a particrly virulent gue that put him out ofmission for a few years. He recovered well enough, but most reports say that hes a bit more hesitant than he was before, or at least isnt as bold. But I think its a temporary setback. Or, if its not, he can still be an excellent mentor even if not a frontline researcher.


    Phoenix-Liz bobbed her head in thought for a moment. How sure are you on this? The mans worth his weight in crystal, and I havent heard <em>anything</em> about all of this.


    Instead of offering a rebuttal, Isabe handed Liz another sheet of paper. Liz whistled. Reading the report about Winonas current financial struggles, she couldnt help but wonder where anyone, let alone an academy student, had gotten their hands on that data. If they were correct, Winona had over-extended on a number of ventures, none of which had panned out, and she was heavily overleveraged and only keeping herself afloat with her personal delving funds. A Tier 40 who owned a delving slot could pull mountains of resources out of said rift, but the slots were often decades apart and might be Winonas only major source of ie. If she had as much debt as Isabe had found, she was at best treading water while hoping one of her ventures paid off.


    If even one of them did discover something or create something worthwhile, Winonas entire situation would turn around. But until they did, they were undeniably money pits. If Liz offered her a good deal for the team, Winona might very well sell the entire thing to buy her other ventures more time and get some of the creditors off her back.


    And Liz was <em>flush</em> with cash at the moment, between the Path, aura rifts, dragon blood rift, bandage she could legitimately afford to help out a Tier 40 with their debt without bankrupting her and her entire family.


    Then, their sry from the Empire, counting Matt selling mana regrly, would be enough to cover the ongoing expenses. Part of the deal with Matts mana was his mana was bought at seventy-five percent of the normal rate. The rate had been first proposed at ny percent, but Matt had originally intended to give his mana away, and had only been convinced to take a rate as it was a good way to get money he could spend without suspicion.


    Liz looked at Matt, and using his [AI], she ran some numbers and simtion before agreeing with Isabe. It''s worth a shot, at least. Write me up a preliminary offer along with the bloodline brokerage business.


    Her other idea came more from personal need than a desire for wealth, but in her efforts to collect rare and unique bloodlines for her tree, Liz had been looking for bloodlines on her own. The army was doing their best, but the army was ultimately abat organization and primarily only had bloodlines that gavebat relevant powers, which left a lot of powers unavable to her.


    After putting their heads together, Liz decided that opening up a corporation that acted like a bloodline brokerage was the best way to gather the bloodlines she might need. There were a few bloodline traders, but they were fairly small. Lizs name and backing,bined with the fact she could pay more for the bloodlines than mostpetitors, would ensure herpany saw a lot of bloodlines moving through its hands. Thepany would also allow her and Aster to gather more materials for their own bloodline advancements.


    She still wanted to figure a way to merge fire and blood mana into a unified whole but, considering the difficulty Matt, Zack, and Erwin were having making a single fast mana, it was on the back burner. Once the supply lines and reputation were established, they would have a much easier time getting their hands on whatever they ended up needing.


    Theyd even pull Matt in at some point, as hed expressed some interest in bloodline-adjacent aperology. Whether it was a rift that dropped more bond eggs or something which enhanced bloodlines directly, it would be costly to start, but could blossom into one <em>heck</em> of a mutual partnership. If they ever made headway.


    Yeah, I like this. Thank you Isabe, youre doing great.


    Her new seneschal flushed and ducked her head.


    ***


    Even once he finished talking to Cato about his guild, there was still enough random and boring paperwork that they were each tied down for a good hour after the fun stuff was taken care of. Technically, there was even <em>more</em> left to do, but they had another meeting to get to. As Aster had intuited, they needed to do a press tour now that they were in the capital system on a healing cooldown.


    With Cato, Alice, and Isabe following behind them, the six of them made their way back into the bustling city where they found an awaiting chauffeur and flew directly to the train station.


    While they were on the way to do a news interview, Aster wanted them to stop and have a public lunch with Cynthia, the actress who yed Aster in nearly all of her movies. The idea was part of her n to get the show made about her time at the beast academy by drumming up publicity for both them and Cynthia.


    Cynthia Sinir looked perfect in a way that told Matt it was part of her Domain. What he found interesting was how simr to Aster she looked. He knew actors changed their bodies to match the person they were portraying, but while Cynthias face was her own, her height, proportions, and even her gait were exactly like Asters. It gave her a level of uncanniness that caught Matt off guard.


    Aster skipped forward and pulled Cynthia into a small hug before turning to introduce her to Matt and Liz.


    Smiling, Matt shook the proffered hand before settling in for a light lunch. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed the time with Cynthia, who had endlessmentary on the movies they had been filming.


    We have been endlessly busy. Ive been bouncing between three productionpanies and five movie sets. I have to say I kind of enjoy the more silly movies.


    Hearing they were already making wacky Ascender movies about them made Matt groan, with Liz making a simr sound.


    Cynthia justughed. Really, they aren''t that bad. They are good because they help humanize you guys. They also sell really well, which doesn''t hurt.


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


    Liz rolled her eyes. But how can you enjoy that drivel? Half of them feel like they are oundishly bad on purpose.


    The actor nodded along. Thats exactly it. Dont get me wrong, acting in a serious rolees with amazing highs. When you nail a line just the way it was meant to be, and you convey a dozenyers of emotion in every gesture, it''s rewarding like nothing else. But the goofy movies have their own merits. A lot of ad libbing is allowed, and no one is too worried if the drops of sweat on your face are in the exact same ce as they were in thest take, so it''s more rxed. Youll never win des for that kind of movie, but you earn a lot more public recognition for those roles, which usually leads to more of the first kind of movie.


    Matt understood it, but couldnt agree as the subject of the movies in question.


    Aster leaned in, and with a flick of her ears asked, So, give us some dirt on one of your movies. Some hot gossip.


    Cynthia seemed to think for a minute before nodding to Liz. Your actress in one of the moreedic movies has been changing her cup size between takes. I dont think there will be a single scene in the movie that matches.


    Matt snorted at that and got a light re and squawk from phoenix Liz, even as human Liz put her face in her hands. Thats so, so, so...


    Not able to help himself, Matt interjected. Funny?


    Rolling her eyes, Liz snarked right back, Lets see youugh when it''s your turn. Cynthia, hit him with something embarrassing.


    Cynthia pursed her lips before shrugging. I got nothing.


    Phoenix Liz squawked at the actor before falling into ash at the indignity. Matt started for a moment. He didnt realize Liz had a skill to fake that and then he felt Asters amusement leak through their bond and he realized what had happened. Honestly, it was a testament to how good her illusions were these days that he still couldnt tell it was fake, even when looking for it.


    Laughing, Cynthia leaned in. Ok, so Brian Hawthorn, the man who is ying Matt in the movie about the Tier 10 tournament, is going to strangle the director. That would be fine, but the director is going for hyper realism and is basically just remaking the recorded footage to an exacting degree. I heard that he made them reset a fight a dozen times before he was happy with how the fire spread from an attack. It wasnt that the major effect wasnt controlled, but there were offshoots of embers and he didnt like how they spread, so they spent hours redoing the fight. Rumor is that Brian and the director had a prior history of butting heads, and thats why he is doing it. Nodding to Aster, she added, So Im d you werent there and my parts amounted to a few made up video calls cheering you two on.


    Wait, if they are made up, how are they getting in the movie?


    Cynthia pretended to preen. Because Im so loveable and good on camera.


    For all that Matt hade into this as a favor, by the end of the lunch, he could understand how and why Aster had be friendly with this woman.


    Cynthia was a little dramatic, but from what he saw of her, she seemed to genuinely love making movies and was easily distracted by talking about roles she might be able to get after the initial flurry of Ascender movies ended in a century or so.


    From there, they arrived at one of the extrarge spatially expanded mega structures. With an area rivaling arge moon, the skyscraper stood among a dozen of its peers linked together with a number of bridges. They werent the only buildings with news studios, but this was the Empire''s news gathering hearnd. The ninergest news outlets ran out of the skyscraper, each with a number of smallpanies sharing the remaining three buildings.


    As they entered the building, Cato sent Matt a few sample questions the news stations indicated they might be asking.


    Scanning through them, Matt found nothing out of the ordinary and happily noted there was nothing egregious. He was mildly surprised at the mention of a guest star host, but after looking into the man, Aurelius Cora, a Tier 36 prize fighter, he didnt really mind.


    Matt didnt know of him, but a quick search said Aurelius was a regr guest host when the station hadbat relevant topics. While he seemed to be well regarded as a host who asked good questions and never pressured the guests, what Matt found about his career was less pleasant.


    Prize fighters rarely killed each other or died, but Aurelius had killed several people during his career, usually two or three per Tier. It wasnt illegal, and it was rare to find a professional past Tier 30 who had <em>never</em> killed someone in the ring, but Aurelius in particr never seemed to hold himself back when fighting, which led to his higher-than-average number of kills. His official statement was he fought like his life was on the line in every fight and gave it his all, which meant it was hard to hold back his attacks, but it gave him a bit of a dark reputation in the ring.


    That brought him a measure of fame, and Matt had to wonder if the kills were delivered to fuel his reputation more than they were idents. A handful of deaths out of hundreds or even thousands of fights might not seem like a lot, but he was right near the top for the highest kills-per-match average. He was neck-and-neck with Huri Fieri, a volcano mage who tended to win in one giant explosion that could sometimes be a bit <em>too</em> giant, but he tended to show remorse whenever an eruption proved lethal.


    Still, Matt tried not to judge Aurelius too harshly. His personal body count was thousands of times higher than the mans, and he hadnt even been in the war for a decade. The situations were very different, but he didnt want to vilify the man without getting to know him.


    It felt hypocritical.


    After getting some light makeup put on, Matt tried to put on his best friendly face. The lunch with Cynthia surprisingly helped, as it had put him in a jovial mood. And best of all, Cato was there to help bounce possible questions and answers off of. Cato was a well trained seneschal, and part of that training included public speaking.


    This interview was supposed to be mostly a fluff piece, as few news outlets were ballsy enough to push Ascenders, but it did happen, and Matt didnt want to be caught t footed if it happened today.


    Walking out on the stage, Matt pushed the bounds of what was polite and spread his spiritual perception to lightly inspect the crowd that was almost hidden from him by the bright lights, and found hundreds of people in attendance.


    Waving slightly to them, he made his way over to the seats that had been prepared for them. Liz was already there, and the moment he shook the main hosts hands and sat down, Aster came bouncing out.


    Her waves seemed more authentic than Matts, even as she made her way over to their hosts.


    Abigail Fawn and Nathan Parks were well respected news anchors known for their tightmentary, both of them having worked their way up from street work to gathering arge enough following among immortals and mortals alike to rate their own shows.


    Aurelius Cora came out after their introductions were done, and Matt inspected him. A thin man, he was lean and carried himself lightly, keeping to his toes even when he paused to point and wave at people in the crowd. He was otherwise unremarkable besides the sword shaped iris, which Matt mistook for a snake bloodline until he was able to see the small crossguard which gave away the shape.


    A unique modification, but not the craziest one he had ever seen.


    Aurelius sauntered over before smiling and taking Aster''s hand in a firm grip before moving on to Matt, then Liz. Once he finished greeting them, he moved to the hosts and took a seat next to them.


    Abigailughed as he sat down. Always good to see you again, Aurelius, but I think this might just be both of our biggest interviews. Does that make you nervous? It makes me a little nervous.


    Aurelius nodded as he looked into one of the cameras. It does. I wouldnt want to make a fool of myself in front of both Ascenders and the Empire. One or the other maybe, but both? Im fine without that experience, thank you very much.


    Nathan chuckled at the joke before starting the interview. Well put. Well put. I hear you guys are revealing your new Ascender titles. Names, names, names. Always so important to nail down, but hard to get right. What did you threend on, and how did yound on them?


    Asterughed and swished her tail to gather everyone''s attention. Well, as you can probably guess, its been something weve discussed for quite some time. We know that to some people, well always be Scoop, Quill, and Torch, but we felt we could do better. Represent our true capabilities a bit more.


    She winked at the camera and continued, I have to shove some of the me onto One Step Behind, though. He gave us new titles during ourst mission, and while theyre in Guild Common, they were pretty close to a set we were already debating. And at the risk of sounding a bit egotistical, they were pretty damn good in Empire Common as well, so we kept most of the names with just some slight alterations to mine.


    Abigail pretended to swoon and leaned back in her chair. Well, share! We are dying to know.


    I would like to formally introduce ourselves as Ascenders Wraith, Titan, and Legion. Youll never see using, youll never beat us, and youll never get rid of us.


    Abigail waited until the apuse died down, which took almost a full five minutes even with the studio trying to calm the audience. Good names! Strong ones, and quite fitting.


    Nathan agreed before moving them along. Very fitting, but I have to ask. Everyone always wants to know. How does it feel to be an Ascender? It has to be a unique change of worldview. To go from fighting daily to advance as fast as possible to suddenly bing overnight sensations with your names and faces everywhere. Ascender Legion, do you maybe have a unique perspective being the daughter of two royals? Both myself and our fans are dying to hear about your experience.


    Liz put on a smile before shrugging the shoulder that bird Liz was perched on. It''s still quite a perilous experience. Its not like I had people hand feeding me delicacies while on the Path. I grew up privileged, but my time on The Path was the same as everyone else''s. We fought, we trained, we fought, we did a mission or five, and then repeated the cycle until we finished. As for going from simple delver to Ascender Our experiences are probably hindered by the ongoing war, but so far, we havent had much time to do anything but bounce from fight to fight.


    Abigail raised an eyebrow at that answer. Oh, so you didnt feel a little more at home returning to the capital having grown up around the Emperor himself?


    Liz didnt let it reflect in her bodynguage, but Matt could tell she was growing a little irritated at the line of questioning. This wasnt unexpected, but he knew her background and people thinking she hadnt needed to work as hard to reach this level rankled her.


    While growing up in my position most certainly gave me some advantages, most of those were wiped away when my Talent blocked my usage of fire. Phoenix Liz chirped her agreement. That was thergest hindrance. I needed to transition from using fire all my life to using blood. For the first ten Tiers or so, I wasnt that much different than a water mage in how I fought, and even now I default to that style, as it is potent. I think thats what people should take away from my childhood. No matter how prepared for awakening you think you are, the world doesn''t end just because your Talent isnt what you expected, wanted, or nned for. Keeping your chin up and pushing through that adversity will serve everyone better than clinging to what once was.


    Aurelius pped at that. Well said. Hardship really is just a test, a challenge to be ovee, but few ovee them to the degree such as you. It''s a testament to hard work that you are where you are now.


    Abigail nodded along before turning to Matt. How does it feel to be married to a princess? That had to be a shock.


    Matt politelyughed. I knew that Legion came from a wealthy background, but I had no idea what that really meant. When I was a simple Tier 2, I thought Tier 5s were unimaginably wealthy. I didnt know her parents were royals until well after we were a team, and let me tell you, <em>shock</em> is putting it lightly. Honestly, I dont think it sank in until I visited her childhood home.


    Nathanughed. It must be beyond opulent.


    Matt nodded along with him. Oh, it is. Queen Mara and King Leon have fancy tastes and everything is obviously nice, but then there is the room Legion grew up in. I know none of you will believe me, but it wasnt that much better than what I, or any other normal kid, grew up with back on Lilly.


    Abigail shook her head, You''re right. I dont believe it.


    They had talked about this before, and Liz didnt mind him sharing the story, so Matt intended to use it as his way to avoid most of the questions of that nature, and keeping his answers half-jokes should hopefully keep the topic off his parents and off Lizs wealth by ying it down in a truthful way.


    After that question, they went through a dozen more soft ball general questions from things like how they got along with the other Ascenders, to how it felt to have a practically unlimited budget, to how people treated them differently. They were meant to help humanize them to the general popce.


    There was even a question about if they liked the movies about them, to which Matt dutifully yed his part and mentioned how good Cynthia had done ying Aster, and how he would love to see her in a show about Aster''s time at the Bond Academy. It was probably a little more heavy-handed than Aster would have liked, if the feeling she sent him through their bond was any indication, but he didnt let that bother him. He had done his part. If the studios didnt get to the show in the next decade or two, hed just send them a message.


    When the easy questions were out of the way, they moved onto more hard hitting questions about the war.


    Abigail flicked her fingers and the back wall turned into a screen. A recording that must havee from a watcher appeared on the viewing screen, showing them attacking the shipyard. Aster, with her massive conjuration of ice, got most of the attention, but Liz proved why she earned her name with the many clones of herself running around the fight.


    It was actually quite fun to see the two of them get so much attention.


    Up next, we have footage from your battle against a fortified position in Guild space. We would love to run through this battle as well, and get some of your thoughts on it. Abigail leaned towards the audience and loudly whispered, Spoiler alert. They win. Again.


    Matt chuckled politely even as Nathan shook his head. Not just a win, but a crushing one. Two dead pinnacle elites, two more captured, and one slippery little fish who managed to flee.


    For the first time in a while, Aurelius spoke up. Truly remarkable. Let me remind the audience that even among the highest level of prize fighting, those who can match pinnacle elites are few and far between. They stand just a step below Ascenders in power levels, and are correspondingly rare. A Great Power might have only fifty spread between all twenty Tiers of the war. Drop any one of these people in a ring and they will readily crush their foes.


    As they went through the battle, the hosts oohed and aahed, asking the appropriate questions with the asionalmentary from Aurelius. Matt had to admit, the man had a sharp eye and noticed things that even otherbatants would fail to, without revealing anything that could be considered sensitive.


    When they reached the part where Cameron Chime detonated his core, everyone but Aurelius gasped.


    Nathan shook his head as they watched Matt standing in the wreckage of the moon as the dust kicked up and was blown away by the follow up explosions and some editing. His armor was visibly cooking his skin, but with how fast his [Regeneration] was healing him, it looked like he wasnt even taking damage.


    Just as heunched himself forward to capture Klix, the recording paused. I cant believe it, though I certainly agree with the name Titan. Both are fitting for someone who can eat a core detonation to the face and not even be phased.


    Aurelius looked at Matt for a long moment before nodding. It''s truly impressive. I must say Ascender, seeing you in action, I cant wait for the day you reach Tier 36 and we can have a duel. It''s rare to find someone who makes my de sing so.


    Matt nodded to the man. Ill happily ept your challenge when I reach that Tier. I may not be Talented in the de, but Ill take any chance to experience such a battle.


    Abigail pped her hands as she stood up and faced the crowd. And you heard it first here, people. Ascender Titan versus Aurelius Cora when Ascender Titan reaches Tier 36. Sadly, that is all we have time for. If you want to see more please check out our spo


    As she went into her spiel about sponsors and ads, Matt tuned her out to give his best smile to the crowd and camera.


    This hadnt been as bad as he expected.


    He hoped the next dozen were simr, but he doubted that was possible.

 Chapter 308

    Chapter 308


    General Den Raven chewed his lip as he watched the starscape that represented the war front as he listened to General Crawford. As per the orders from King Rusty himself, we need to slow the advance as much as possible.


    Den didnt bother to hide his eye roll. No shit. They all knew the situation but if they wanted to even just slow the war down they needed more. More people. More armor. More weapons. More mana. More time. More healers. More ships. More trainees.


    That was the thing. They could use as much as they were given but what they were being asked to do was hard enough with their limited resources let alone with what he was sure wasing next.


    Our request for more resources this next decade was denied. We are only receiving our previously allocated quantities.


    Fucking bullshit.


    Dens curse was echoed by Generals Li and Wilkerson.


    General Casey held up a hand. We expected this, stop bitching. I swear you lotin as much, if not more, than a fresh trooper. Let us be d we are getting our full allotment.


    Den was going to snipe back, but Wilkerson beat him to it. King Rusty isn''t here for you to kiss up to but you still manage to have shit on your nose. Impressive.


    Den smirked. He and Wilkerson didnt often agree, but General Casey might as well hand up her uniform and just be a concubine to King Rusty. It was no secret amongst them that she had only stayed in the military to increase her contact with the royal who didnt reciprocate her feelings at all.


    That made it smart all the more that she was right. Den had half expected them to take a hit in their supplies this decade. If not this next decade, it was surely going to happen within the next few.


    Wars were <em>expensive</em>.


    General Li pointed at the far wall and took control of the projection. With just our normal number of resupplies, the current battlefields are toorge. We need to copse the outermost ring and fall back. I suggest we retreat from sectors three, four, and seven. That will pull us into the tightest formation possible with the least amount ofs lost.


    General Brooks shook his head. That would be foolish. Sector three is a critical defensive point. We


    General Crawford interrupted Brooks by taking control over the screen. We can get back to the strategic nning in a moment. First, we need to decide what to do with the Federation''s new troops.


    Everyone looked to the projection of a skeleton with runes carved on it before turning to him.


    Den just blinked at the rest of the generals asking them what they wanted from him but when the silence dragged on spoke his peace. This isn''t the first time we have seen runes carved onto the bones of soldiers. Sure, usually it''s just elite soldiers, but this is nothing new. Its runic tattoos taken to eleven, but the side effects are many. They conflict with the body''s spirit and burn out faster because of it. These troops might be making waves now, but they will have to be cycled out of the frontlines after every major battle. This has got to be costing the Federation a lot to keep this many rune troops like this active.


    So you are saying they arent an issue? They have already won several battles faster than expected. That''s not what I would call not an issue. General Kjarr leaned forward and steepled his fingers in a way Den recognized as him getting ready to pick a fight.


    Den met the challenge head on. I dont believe I said that. I said this is expensive for them. We use the same strategy we use on any expensive consumable. The same one every army since our ancestors thought sharpened rocks were the height of military armaments. We take engagements and y defensively forcing them to burn their runes for minimal gains of areas we already intended to abandon. He looked to General Li and let some of his disapproval show for herst proposal. And that means not giving up valuable systems with no struggle. Seriously, Im special forces and even I know just abandoning those systems is dumb.


    General Li leaned forward with fire in her eyes. A controlled retreat would allow us to skuttle those systems leaving nothing for the upying enemies and preserve lives, giving us more bodies to defend the smaller border. You were special forces and dont know the futility of throwing bodies away in a system you know you are going to abandon. I do. Ive been there and despite no longer being on the battlefield I havent changed my stance. It''s the height of foolishness to throw bodies away for no reason.


    Den was going to nod an acknowledgement, but General Hale spoke first. Those lives buy us valuable time and are not given in vain. The Emperor himself informed us of our directives before the war even started. We are to drag this war out as long as possible. We are on the defensive, and our enemies bleed for every system they take. Sacrificing systems without a struggle is at best a hard sell and at worst disobedience.


    Den thought thest bit was a little too dramatic but didnt counter Hale despite disagreeing. General Li wasnt wrong, losing people in a defensive retreat could be done exceptionally badly and he knew she had been a part of a few of those disastrous battles. What was really ridiculous was Hales implied threat that Li could be charged for suggesting an idea.


    Since the Sophron dynasty had taken over not a single general had been court-martialed for anything less than full blown treason. Even if Li suggested surrender wholesale to avoid losses the Emperor was unlikely to punish her which made the threat ridiculous. The Sophron dynasty, and their current Emperor most of all, were far less bloodthirsty than their predecessors had been, for better and for worse.


    Brooks leaned forward. We are getting distracted and off-topic. The rune soldiers. We need to counter them. I put forward a slow retreat, putting up just enough resistance to make them struggle for it. Looking at Den, she continued. How do the runes work with different Tiers? Are there advantages or disadvantages for a Tier 15 versus a Tier 35?


    Den wasnt an enchanter and that question really relied on the methodology on the runes. Some styles of bone enchanting were more dangerous than others, and he needed to flip through the preliminary report to get his answer. He was mildly surprised at the initial results and said so.


    They seem to be using a more He paused as he searched for the word he wanted. Unstable style of rune. They wont kill even a Tier 15 but the soldiers are going to be in pain from the runes at all times, more so when they use them. The runes will burn at a respectable rate for a decent power boost but the moment they push the runes, and I mean really push them, they are going to need a new set of bones. Complete regrowth. Ive seen something simr on a few special forces before, but usually only in exceptional circumstances. Nobody without a Talent or Domain to handle them would ept them.


    Casey tapped her chin before saying. So if we can stall theirtest push, we can really hurt them. What are their reserve projections like? Can we stall them enough to stop their advance long enough to push enough soldiers into a healing cooldown?


    Kjarr shook his head. They are already rotating their troops. It''s a three verse two, and they are all focusing on us. They are only using half their standing armies on the frontlines at any one time. If we started really slowing them down they would either redouble the assaults with the reserve troops or they would simply slow their advance down to a rate they can sustain. Can we hit the supplies they are using to make these runes? That would put a kink in this n.


    Den went through his reports and looked for anything that might be a supply depot for runic supplies but found nothing that stood out. It wasnt like the Federation would put arge sign on their critical war supplies. Everything was encoded and for all he knew the runic supplies were being called potions or talismans in their intercepted supply reports.


    The Empire did the same thing.


    Den even tried to ping his Talent to see if it had any good feelings, but even it was silent.


    Crawford tapped the table. Let us table that idea for Team Zero or Duke Waters if we get reliable intel, but I wouldnt put it past the enemy to leak that kind of information to lure them into a trap.


    Den agreed and tapped a finger to signify his agreement. That was exactly what he would do.


    With that thought in mind he went through possibilities to see if there was any way they could bait an attack out from their enemies but they were already getting pushed back which made it unlikely for them to jump at such an opportunity.


    It did make him look at a system near the border where Li had suggested retreating from.


    Guluja is a Tier 15 nexus and is going to be a hotspot but maybe an opportunity. He let the others look at the system and the seven connected worlds with their tethers. Can we make it seem like we are going to defend it to thest but have already retreated? We can then jump sideways to La which is another Tier 15 system crushing the attackers there between two armies before retreating? They are going to expect us to defend Guluja to thest and send a corresponding number of troops there. It''s just a small action but can be integrated into any number ofrger ns.


    That got them back to the tactical level and together they spent close to five hours hashing out how they were going to defend the Empire for another decade. It wasnt going to be pretty, but Den was confident they could do it.


    Once that was taken care of and they had a rough n put together they tabled it for at least twenty four hours so they could all slowly think it over.


    Den still thought there was a better distribution that minimized Empire worlds that were on the border region but hadnt been able to find something better than what they hade up with. The current n was only decent, and they needed something good if not excellent for this war.


    The Empire had more troops than any of the other Great Powers but that was as much of a curse as it was a blessing as it meant their resources needed to be spread out even further.


    As of hisst report, Duke Waters was fairly deep in enemy territory, and that provided an opportunity. They just needed the right way to take advantage of it, and he knew exactly who he wanted.


    Balfazs Raiders were excellent irregrs, and that could be useful. Instead of having them repeat Team Zeros actions he intended to have them raid some supply lines that would be disrupted by Duke Waters actions.


    Supplies won wars and going that deep inside enemy lines was dangerous but that was what his boys and girls signed up for. They lived for these kinds of missions, knowing the casualty rates just as well as he did.


    He found a few more locations that might have disrupted shippingnes and allocated a few more units before calling for a vote.


    No one disagreed with his actions, but he hadnt expected them to. He was the special forces general after all.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    He was just getting ready to do a deep dive into a report when all of the generals looked up.


    It was a report from one of their spies. Not urgent, but high-priority nheless. They had managed to get their hands on the schematics for a portion of the Republic''s greatest technological feats, their true portals known as the Veil Parter, Slipstream, or the Shortest Road, among others. The massive portals in question required at least a Tier 40 world to function, but served as truly <em>instantaneous</em> transportation between their capital worlds.


    The exact limits were unclear, but it was firmly established that for several hours out of every week, massive portals opened in the space around the Republics capital, connecting it to one of the regional capitals,rge enough to convey millions of people and hundreds of starships to the far reaches of their Great Power. It was a staggering feat of engineering and logistics wholly unique to the Republic, with only the Corporations StarShot as anything even remotelyparable, yet it was a pale reflection of the Republics system.


    What data, exactly, the spy had gotten ahold of was unclear, but any information about the system was wee. The more they knew, the more they could n around its weaknesses, the more they might be able to disable it, or improve their own technology based on principles learned from therger project. Thest aspect was suspect, however, given the strong implication that the technology relied on the Between, the Republic taming of chaotic space to allow for shipless inteary travel, and the Empire was in no position to replicate that in the foreseeable future.


    Unfortunately, the spy in question had been nearly killed during the mission, and had been forced to body-hop to a child to escape pursuit. So now, some of the most valuable intel from this war was locked within a mortal deep in Republic space. It would be a couple of decades at least before the spy in question would be able to send more details about how to find them, and in the meantime they needed to figure out how they would retrieve them when the time came.


    Den felt his hairs start to turn gray and the follicles trying to loosen their grip on the roots at the turn of events.


    With every impossible mission like this he wondered why he was still doing this but he knew the answer.


    He wasnt any different from the young man who threw himself into battles in the special forces everyone said were impossible.


    It was only when the odds were stacked against you and everyone agreed the mission was impossible that truly made one feel alive.


    This would be no different.


    The news did change things and he went back to revising their ns on how to retreat. On the off chance the spy made contact in the next hundred years, they needed to ensure they had a clear shot into Republic space.


    That was why they tabled any formal ns for a full day before sending them out.


    Something always came up.


    It never failed.


    ***


    Saziel Varan reached up and adjusted his hair as a strand fell into his face even while he was being dressed down.


    Do you even know what attention means? I have


    Saziel turned General Alfonso out as he pulled his hair out of his pony tail and made sure to capture all of his hair this time.


    That just set General Alfonso off on something else, but Saziel was already ignoring the man.


    This was all because he had refused the new runes so many soldiers had been getting when it had been <em>offered</em> to him. Saziel had heard the undertones of an order and disregarded them because he could. And he had both good and valid reasons. His body was already a masterwork, the result of millennia spent enhancing and recing portions of his limbs and torso. His mana channels were a literal fine-tuned machine, and he had no interest in throwing a spanner into the works.


    Adding runes to what few bones he had left was asking for a cascading malfunction no matter what the surgeons said. That was the valid reason to decline the runes. The good reason was he didnt care for the push to use these new runes and didnt need the power increase to be a monster.


    The good General Alfonso had been a proponent of the runes and had been pushing everyone under hismand to take the surgery. If anyone declined they found themselves in hot water, but as the equal to any Archwarrior Saziel was wholly immune to such petty tricks.


    Maybe it was time to remind the general of that?


    As General Alfonso poked him in the chest, Saziel decided that he had had enough and it was time to remind the general of who he was messing with. In a deceptively slow movement he reached up and grabbed the offending finger and bent it backwards until it snapped.


    General Alfonso snarled and threw a heavy mana infused punch in a tight jab at Saziel but he just stepped to the side and drove a knife hand into the general''s ribs. Rune powered bones snapped and the now released power did even more damage to the surrounding tissue.


    Really, the General should have expected as much. That much power in newly-integrated runes was just <em>asking</em> for trouble. Until and unless the spirit fully epted the runes, someone who knew what they were doing could <em>far</em> too easily trigger a fairly catastrophic failure. His own imnts, of course, were as stable as what little flesh and blood he had left.


    The metal ring encircling his eye glowed, and Saziel received a brief premonition of the general withdrawing and attempting to stab him with a short, vibrating knife.


    In response, he grabbed ahold of the knife with his magic as it left dimensional storage, and <em>twisted</em>.


    Bones snapped and Saziel grabbed the falling knife letting it flick through his fingers.


    General Alfonso, I will not be assaulted by a superior officer. If you take issue with that please feel free to put a note in my official file. It wont be the first time I have been reprimanded, but ask yourself. Who does the Federation value more?


    Pocketing the dagger Saziel stepped out and nodded to the panicked looking receptionist.


    Tapping his rapier, Saziel stepped out of the building and into the rubble of a freshly captured.


    Despite his bravado, Saziel knew attacking Alfonso had been a bad idea. The man was the highest-level general in this area and would be out for blood the moment he thought he could get away with it. Saziel needed a n and thought he had it.


    Flicking through his past message he found one in particr he had been ignoring.


    Hed joined the military alongside one Captain Heart, in the wake of the Federations most humiliating loss since the Shattering itself. While the two of them had gone in quite different directions in the tens of thousands of years since, he and the now-General were now undeniably some of the old guard, eyewitnesses to the many ways in which the Federation were on the decline.


    Not that he would ever admit it, of course. Or think it, if certain inquisitors were around. But the strongly-encouraged rune package was but thetest example of the many ways his time serving had be far less practical as ofte. He needed an out, and while joining some trumped-up team to fight <em>Ascenders</em> was hardly better, serving under General Heart in that kind of strike force could be enough for him to, if not fund his advancement to Tier 45 and ascension, at least get him enough clout to opt out of the ever-more absurd demands that highmand was foisting on them.


    He still loved the Federation, but they could certainly make it hard at times.


    Still, fighting Ascenders was less of a death wish than staying here.


    Tapping his rapier, he flowed like the wind and crossed half the in a moment. Arriving at thending site, he made up his mind.


    The sooner begun, the sooner done.


    His imnts gleamed with a white light, and with a thrust of his fist [Wind Maniption] swelled around him, and he rode the jetstream high into the atmosphere, then beyond.


    He reached orbit in a moment and looked down to a battlefield where he had just fought so desperately.


    It all seemed so pointless.


    Pointless and he wanted out.


    To get out, he just needed to kill a few more people.


    Sending his eptance of the old orders, Saziel was freed of his obligations to this army and boarded a supply ship that could get him to a hub.


    It took two weeks of travel, but he spent the time productively. He had intended to just rx but his work ethic had forced him to work after just three hours of rxing.


    Any improvement of his skills might be what kept him alive if this joint mission was as dangerous as he suspected.


    He always carried around his own personal cybeics workshop for tune-ups and repairs, and while he was no Maker, nobody knew his body and magic the way he did. It had been a little while since hed given himself a proper upgrade, but if there were ever a time for him to implement all of his newest materials and knowledge, it was now.


    While he preferred to use his rapier, his hands, embedded as they were with metal bands, were his next weapon of choice. Swords and all weapons were force multipliers but there were a thousand and one ways one could be disarmed and still in a condition to fight.


    Saziel had that lesson beaten into his skull in a thousand-and-one fights as he made his way up the Tiers.


    He ran a power-diagnosis on his arm imnts, watching as light slowly collected from a focal point in his wrist, flowed up the metal strips in his hands, and sequentially lit up each of the bands in his forearms. Once they were fully activated, he activated his sensory booth, studying the reads as he lightly channeled his various maniption skills through the enchantments. No major faults, that was good, though a few areas he saw that he could improve.


    Next, the mechanical test. With a flick of his wrist, a de popped out of his fist between his knuckles, right where a band of metal connected the power focus in his palm to the set of rings on the back of his hand. With a flick of the wrist the other way, his des vanished just to pop out of his elbows with a snick.


    He pulled the des back in but frowned. There had been a small dy in his left arm.


    He left the diagnosis booth and went to his imntation station, turning it so that properly epted his arm. Once the limb was properly locked in ce, he activated the stations enchantments and let the magic peel back flesh and steel, unspooling his muscles and imnts to better view where his de nestled between his metal bones.


    Hed faced a bit of ridicule over the years, not storing his arm-des inside a pocket dimension, but Saziel had never seriously considered the idea. Spatial magic embedded into his body would disrupt his existing imnts.


    Besides, that was just asking for trouble when someone spatially locked you. Then you were stuck without your backup weapon, and nobody wanted to be in that position. Besides, it wasnt like the physical storage was <em>that</em> hard to maintain if you knew what you were doing, and this way any enchantments on the de itself would always be active.


    He traced the track the de ran down looking for bends but noticed nothing which was good. That was paired with the arms main support pir. If it was bent, he would need to rece the arm itself. He then checked the force applicators, but they were cycling perfectly. He eventually tracked the issue down to a speck of depleted metal dust that had slipped into the arm at some point and was hiding from his spiritual perception while trapped in the actuators.


    Cleaning the arm took a few minutes but once that was done he cleared his right for good measure.


    Creating a knife hand simr to the one he had driven into General Alfonso, he activated the enchantment he had built into his fingers. The fingers merged slightly as the sides of his hands narrowed into a des edge.


    shing out he tapped into [Wind Maniption] and sent out a dozen air des in sequence, letting them crash into the testing steel he had on the far end of his training room. Fortunately, the rooms sensors confirmed that each de was identical in size and strength.


    Good.


    Letting that enchantment drop, his hands returned to normal but he immediately activated his death grip enchantment. He didnt have anything that could survive that level of stress, but he was able to ensure the enchantment was working properly well enough to satisfy.


    With his arms imnts now in good working order, he returned to his maintenance room to work on his legs. With a thought, he grew another three inches as des extended from his legs to cover his calves and shins. A kick from him could cut through even the best armor, though that would cause substantial damage to his legs as well. Moremonly, he used them to hold himself fast to just about any surface he walked on. Still, they could use a bit of love, and he returned to his imntation station to remove the des for sharpening, polishing, re-tempering, and just a <em>couple</em> tweaks to the enchantment. Most of that work was done on its own by an automated forge, so while that did its job he turned his attention to his armor.


    A couple of contact points, where the armor connected to his body, needed some cleaning, and once those were good, he activated it upon its mannequin, one stage at a time. The first activation expanded it from a breastte into more of a metal bodysuit, extending to his elbows and knees, as well as protecting his neck. From there, it slotted into covering everything but his hands, feet, face, and the top of his head. One final activation closed those ports as well, letting the armor <em>clunk</em> into ce like a guillotine, ready to sever his ponytail if he had been wearing it at the time.


    Saziel never cut his hair. It was only cut when he needed to activate his full defenses. When he was younger he had just let his armor cut the hair because he was always activating it and it was easier than stopping the growth of his hair. As he got stronger and needed the full armor less and less his hair started getting longer until it had turned into a bit of a game with himself. The longer it got the stronger he was bing. That had gone on until he grew to the level where he could contend with even the best of the best. Or the best besides Ascenders.


    Most of hismanders didnt care. Either they understood what he was doing and understood what the hair meant, or they feared his reputation as a pinnacle elite only attached to their armies for a mission or two where they would face some of the worst fighting of their careers.


    Either way, most left him alone.


    He was almost tempted to let his armor cut the hair off here and now. Do it on his own terms. When facing Ascenders, he would be activating his armor before the fighting even started but he wanted a bit more time with his hair before it was less than a finger''s length again.


    His orders must have been transmitted to the hub because the moment his ship arrived in real space, a courier ship hailed the supply ship and ordered him to board. From there, it only took a month to travel to an intersection between the Federation, Republic, and Sects territories.


    The moment they entered real space, Saziel used the scanners to investigate the system.


    He had seen a lot of things in his time in the Federation army. Four full wars, hundreds of border skirmishes, and dozens of ndestine missions, but he had never seen something like that before.


    Perhaps he wouldnt be dying in this war after all.

 Chapter 309

    Chapter 309


    Liz took a careful sip of tea as she reclined in her chair. Across from her, Judith Kanakas set her own cup down and sighed.


    Youre still struggling, arent you?


    I dont know if Id say that, personally, Liz responded, Im <em>adjusting</em>, its just weird, going from one body to well, this. Her phoenix body, sitting on the back of her chair, chirped in agreement. Im definitely past the worst of the dysmorphia, and I almost never have sensation bleed-over anymore. Sure, it can get a bit fuzzy ifmunication is interrupted, so I cant cross-reference my assessment as to what body a feeling originates from, but there were only three times I misjudged it in thest fight.


    I dont doubt your technical prowess, Legion. Ascenders know youre probably better than we are for such things. I mean emotionally. For one, you still think of yourself in terms of having a true self, dont you?


    She flinched. Ive been trying to not, and Im getting better at it, but I guess.


    Its entirely understandable. You were talking to Xaresst time, and he has a tendency to well, not look outside himself very much. Ironic, I know.


    No, it makes sense. Hes quite introspective, Liz nodded. Its <em>why</em> I was working with him, after all. Out of all of you, he has the most experience grappling with your existence and all that.


    That is true. But as a result, hes very fixated on <em>our</em> experience as a gestalt, so he overlooked the key difference that makes you different from us. Hes apologizing for that, by the way.


    Liz frowned. How so? If anything, youve got so many more bodies than I do, and theyre even more different how does that make it less relevant?


    Because the nature of our multiple personhood was reversed. When we first developed our human form, we were like any other hydra, all squabbling for control over a single body. Our clones, therefore, were a wee <em>release</em> from overwhelming pressure, each of us finally being freed from our petty design-bymittee approach to <em>everything</em> before then.


    That that made sense. Hydras were a fairly rare bloodline, but percentage-wise, more hydras had children in beast form than even <em>dragons</em>. It wasnt for their native Talents- innate [Regrow Limb] was <em>good</em>, especially for hydras, but not truly exceptional. No, it was because their Rank 2 bloodline ability, responsible for growing additional heads in beast form, didnt stop working if they were born a human. Instead, it simply manifested as an additional personality and mind within a singr body and spirit.


    Different hydras had all sorts of ways of managing their particr split personalities, but the Kanakas had been fortunate enough to gain a Tier 25 Talent which innately gave <em>every</em> head their own human body while they were transformed. The only real limiter was that they had to all be within the same material universe. Because a few of them were already working with Project Breach through Group Chatter, theyd been an obvious first contact for Liz as shed been working on developing her own identity as a multi-bodied gestalt.


    She shared a nce with her phoenix body and asked, So basically, whereas Im having to stretch myself to maintain multiple bodies, you wanted them naturally?


    More or less. But what I was mostly going for was the fact that there was never any question about which of us was the <em>main</em> Kanakas. We all were, but that didnt make us interchangeable. You, meanwhile, are used to having a single human body, and for all of your truly remarkable ability to pilot multiple bodies, in different forms no less, you dont have the same rtionship with them that we have with one another.


    I guess?


    The woman made eye contact with phoenix Liz, What do you call this body, when thinking to yourself?


    Liz was taken aback. Um, its my phoenix body.


    Hmmm, Judith grabbed her teacup and took another sip from it, then looked Liz dead in the eye and spoke again. And what about this body?


    Thats my body. Or, my human body I suppose.


    But your first instinct is to just call that my body, I see. And what about when you have multiple human bodies?


    That depends, I guess. Usually Ill think about me in terms of where I am. Or what Im doing.


    And theres the problem.


    Liz cocked her head slightly, Sorry, Im missing something. Whats the problem, and why is it a problem?


    Its possible you might disagree with me, but I think that part of why youre having trouble adjusting to permanently having multiple bodies is because youck a sense of identity. Part of that you can me on us, because we told you to divorce yourself from attachment to any given body, but its also because you assign temporary identifiers to portions of yourself. Imagine if you called your head the topmost part and your feet the bottommost part, but if you stood on your hands, you then called your feet the topmost part and your hands the bottommost part. It bes confusing, both when speaking to others and thinking to yourself.


    But my bodies are interchangeable, Liz protested. Unless Im in a different form, all of my bodies are equally capable, have the same buffs, everything. Theyre not like you, with different mana pools and skills and everything.


    No two things are <em>truly</em> interchangeable, Judith countered. But if you disagree, you disagree. Something like this is <em>truly</em> up to what you find most convenient. But, as you said, you still think of yourself as having a main body, even just out of convenience.


    Well sure, but thats because I actually have changes to that one which change my capabilities and huh.


    Judith didnt say anything, taking another sip from her tea instead, and Liz mirrored the action.


    After a moment of silence, Liz spoke up again. Well, Im not doing what you do, running a bunch of parallel minds and giving them all different first names while using Elizabeth as just ast name.


    You have plenty of names to choose between. Immortal Legion, Torch, Elizabeth Moore, and I assume more beyond that, Judith shot back at her.


    Liz frowned slightly. So like, you think I should call one body Legion, another Immortal, or Liz, or Elizabeth, or


    If you think that would be a good idea. It may also benefit you to distinguish yourselves visually, for ease ofmunication with others.


    She wasnt quite sure she liked that idea. Her other bodies and minds didnt exist perpetually, and it felt weird to assign one of her names to a specific instance of her personhood. It wasnt like they were actually different, and doing so felt almost counterproductive.


    Using different permutations of my names is probably a bad idea then. If I have to specify that oh no, this body is actually Elizabeth,<em> Liz</em> is over there, but it doesnt actually matter because were still the same person.


    Judith gave a perfectly measured shrug.


    I <em>do</em> see what youre saying about having discrete ways to refer to bodies. It <em>could </em>probably help me embrace my nature more easily, she noted, taking another sip of tea as she thought.


    <em>I wonder if there are any skill mods or abilities I might be able to do if I start making a continuous distinction between bodies. If I designate one body as mostly a spear-fighter, could I somehow actually make that one better at fighting with a spear then transfer that power back to the collective? That might be an easy way to let me dabble in other specializations if I can figure something out.</em>


    She didnt know, but it might be interesting to try. Perhaps she could try and tie it in with her bloodline tree and general ability to maintain multiple subsidiary bloodlines, then connect that to her Aspect in some form Yeah, that had potential. She still wasnt sure how she felt about the idea overall, but she wouldnt say no to an additional avenue to power.


    I cant do your level of customization, she eventually said. How do you think I should try and identify different bodies?


    Well, that partially depends on how you n to distinguish them, Judith replied. My mother had a skill to change her hair color and style for each of her heads, my father had a morphic outfit which changed for each of his heads, and we used to change our eyes ordingly. But you could also go with voices, tattoos, jewelry, spell effects, skin color, even nametags. If you dont mind having them be misidentified by mortals, you could just use bodynguage, freckle patterns, breathing habits, that sort of thing.


    Hmm, Phoenix-Liz jumped down to the chair of the arm, and Liz began to ruffle her feathers as she thought. I dont think I want to do anything too drastic, and most of the time when I use a bunch of bodies Im fighting, so I cant do outfits


    Tattoos though


    Now that had some possibilities.


    Liz finished her conversation with Judith, but most of what they spoke about was less interesting. Once she bade her farewell, she began returning to her home, thinking about possibly giving herself tattoos.


    She had a couple of runic tattoos already, of course, but theyd been designed to be invisible. Everyone on Team Zero had at least a few, but only A and Sebastian had any that could actually be seen without actively looking for them, and that was because theyd developed their Domains to support them. She wasnt that opposed to the idea, but broadly speaking, invisible tattoos were considered superior to normal ones. At least for anything other than pure decoration.


    One concept that One Step Behind had spoken about was the idea of truly <em>embodying</em> your Domain, or Power. The more your entire identity was wrapped up in a singr direction, the more powerful, or at least the more directed, you would be. Matt was <em>constantly</em> embodying Endlessness simply by existing and creating millions of mana per second, and it paid off in the power which his Domain held.


    <em>That</em> made her wonder how Uncle Waters was so strong, when he hardly came across as some kind of water-crazed viin obsessed with drowning people. How was he absolutely shattering people four Tiers above him, and yet seem to function by using an almost mutually exclusive strategy with wholesale embodying a singr Domain?


    Now that she thought about that question, she intended to ask him, but she was sure his answer would be jumbled nonsense that no one else but him would understand.


    Well, regardless of that. It was still an interesting idea, and while she didnt know if she actually thought what the Kanakas were suggesting would help, it might not be a bad idea to at least <em>investigate</em> the possibility of different tattoos.


    Oh, perhaps tattoos were the wrong framing device. What about war paint? There were several disciplines which used topical potions to protect the face and intimidate their enemies. And if she used <em>blood</em> as her paint, then it would still be in-line with her overall blood warrior direction.


    Shed have to experiment a bit. Her [False Wound] skill, the result of her Talent converting [Gossamer Outfit], allowed her to either make herself look more or less wounded than she actually was, and she could <em>absolutely</em> use that for cosmetic effect. A sheen of blood, either wet or dried, could help her figure out some good looks on her different bodies, and from there she might see about making them a permanent part of her appearance.


    well, only if Matt approved. Though she knew he would. He was great like that.


    For the meantime, shed do some style experiments and reference what war-paint potions and styles she could replicate with her blood alchemy. For something like this, there <em>had</em> to be pre-existing records, and she intended to take full advantage of everything she had at her disposal.


    Before too long they would be back in the war, and if she could get this to work it would be incredibly useful.


    Not could.


    Liz corrected herself.


    She would.


    ***


    Matt was practically bouncing with excitement when he <em>finally</em> returned to Camp Lightfoot with histest shiny toy in tow. He sent off excited messages to Zack, Erwin, and Colonel Gnodel, then sted into the sky under the full effect of his speed buffs, racing towards Group Firmamentsplex. He swooped into the open hangar on a rush of wind, sending papers and tools alike scattering across the workbenches.


    They didnt even have enough time to settle before he touched down and tore off into the back workshop, where the sub-project to get his mana stones to function in talismans was making progress. By his standards, the project had stalled, but the impossibly stifling procedures and regtions were there for good reason or so they told him. To someone with a <em>rational</em> perspective,they were actually making perfectly reasonable progress.


    But that didnt matter!


    He eagerly snatched some of his most critical talisman-making tools and pinged all of the crafters present about where they should meet him, then dashed out again before some of the lower-Tiers present even realized he was there.


    Instead of just using a testing room, Matt wanted to go <em>big</em> with this first demonstration, so he set up in the nearest undeveloped valley. Amusingly, Colonel Gnodel had already beaten him there, and while she gave him a faint re, she <em>did</em> have the materials he had requested with her.


    His message could have been a bit more polite, but he didnt let that bother him. He also didnt blurt out why he had called her there, which only made her annoyance grow. Knowing how she would react to an item personally made by JR which did something not considered possible made her current irritation all the more amusing.


    Still, he wasnt Allie, so he didnt <em>thrive</em> in the chaos he made.


    He had only nodded to Colonel Gnodel when Erwin and Zack arrived, almost in unison. If they hadnte from slightly different directions, he would have assumed they were working together, but Zack must have been in his house if the direction he came from was any indication.


    Nodding to them, Matt continued to wait until the main crafter on his talismans project, Alex, arrived.


    pping, he rubbed his hands together. Today, Ie bearing gifts. Or well, really likest week. I got this almost as soon as we left the rift for our little press tour, but I couldnte back until now, and its been eating me from the inside.


    Seeing the growing irritation on Colonel Gnodels face, wonder on Erwins, cid calm on Zacks, and nervous trepidation on Alexs, Matt summoned the Bifate Pair-Linker to his upraised palm.


    Colonel Gnodels face went hard. That''s just a Bifate Pair-Linker. Captain Titan, if you brought me over here to show me a pint-sized BPL, I will be filing a formalint about wasting a superior officer''s time on frivolous things.


    Not letting Colonel Gnodel bother him, Matt said, I did bring you all here to look at a BPL. A Tier 25 BPL personally made by the Managing Director of the Corporations, JR.


    The anger that was visibly building on Colonel Gnodels face froze, and she began to speak, but was pre-empted by Erwin <em>moving</em> to be directly next to Matts hand. His sses suddenly shone like a miniature sun to Matts mana sight, and the researcher peered at the tiny device with almost reverent awe.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He wasnt even actively probing it with his spiritual sense, just <em>looking</em> at it with an intensity that almost made Matt ufortable.


    Zack and Alex joined the crowd a momentter, but the two Tier 30s were too enraptured with the device to give them any particr room. Matt grinned widely as everyone was justifiably enamored with his newest toy.


    The Emperor said, and I quote the person who quoted him, It should allow for multi-material pair-linkages along with allowing for nearly any base material to be used as a talisman. As for whether or not it actually works, I dont know. <em>I havent been able to try it yet.</em>


    For the first time since he met her, Colonel Gnodel didnt have her normal expression of irritation, boredom, feigned politeness, or interest in a crafting idea. Instead, her expression was one of pure excitement.


    May I?


    When Matt nodded to her question, she, along with everyone else, sent their spiritual perceptions into the device. Erwin, for his part, erupted with just about every divination spell Matt knew of, and a few he didnt recognize. At Tier 32, he had a bit of an advantage over Matt, Zack, and Alex, and Matt quickly found himself almost crowded out of the device he himself was holding. Colonel Gnodel held herself back somewhat, but still infiltrated the device as best as she could without interrupting the other three.


    Still, he knew what they were seeing, or at least the basics of it, as he had studied it between interviews.


    The internals were <em>impossibly </emplex. Somehow, JR had managed to enchant not just individual atoms, but individual <em>electrons</em>, and that was only the start. Single-atom gears fed into cogs made out of water, shadow, and even a miniature star. A tiny sr system spun back and forth madly, reversing course thousands of times per second, where ity adjacent to a section that could best be described as an hourss running in reverse. Runes moreplex than entire enchantments Matt had seen studded every mote of space within the device. Literally, as it was the fabric of space <em>itself</em> which was enchanted in some locations. Every direction you looked at changed the view, and the internals slowly moved over time in ways which hurt the brain to try and track.


    And all of it was only using Tier 25 materials. Somehow.


    Matt had only barely scratched the surface himself. But hed cut off thest time he looked, when the entire device suddenly began looking like a raven egg, which hatched a spectral bird made of shadows and flitted around in the corner of his eye, cawing hauntingly.


    I dont understand, Alex seemed to find his words first. How is it doing <em>any</em> of this? There have to be at least a hundred spatial fields in here alone, and they should be tearing one another apart, but instead, theyre acting like some sort of clockwork gear system, and thats whats driving the main part of the BPL? And that is that <em>making</em> force out of shadow? What is <em>any</em> of this doing, and why is it inside a <em>linker</em>?


    Matt shrugged. He had had the same questions and hade to a single conclusion. Only one way to know for sure. Let''s test it.


    There was zero pushback from anyone, and they looked at Matt, who looked to Alex. Do you have any of the talisman tes y


    Before he could finish, Alex fanned out a dozen metal tes in the air.


    Because they were still in the early stages of research, Firmament had been working on simply familiarizing themselves with the ways in which his mana stone mana behaved when it was extracted. As a result, they werent trying anything tooplicated, but just utilizing his bs as the power sources they were. Unfortunately, they hadnt had any sess yet, as Matts crystal didnt like to be carefully withdrawn from along predefined channels. It preferred to explode with power.


    Still, the idea was that they could first practice making talismans on something more workable and familiar to them, then iterate and slowly reduce how much of the structure would be on the te, versus on the mana stone, until none or almost none of the structure itself was on the metal. And then theyd have an entirely mana stone talisman.


    It was horribly inefficient to draw mana for a talisman from anywhere outside of its own materials and enchantments, but they didnt care about that. This was just proof of concept, albeit one they were still proving. The normal inefficiencies of an external power-source had been magnified a hundredfold with his mana.


    But a multi-material BPL could bypass their difficulties <em>entirely</em>.


    A Bifate Pair-Linker wasnt too dissimr from a welder for mana and object spirits, to vastly oversimplify its function. Except, instead of joining a te of steel to another te of steel, a BPL linked the innate magic and object spirit of two different substances together. It was mostmonly used when joining pieces of wood, or different scraps of hide, to ensure that the magic would flow smoothly between two pieces. It was <em>essential</em> for any talisman arrays that didnt only use hide from a single monster, for example. Of course, a normal BPL still required you to use hides from the same species of monster, the same kind of tree, or whatever else you may have.


    Well, most BPLs only worked on a single type of material, but the good ones could do a few. And a bit of flex could also be expected, but much like how it was easier to weld steel to steel than steel to copper, so too was it harder to pair-link the hide of a rhino to the hide of a lion, or harder still to pair-link the hide of a lion to the hide of a wyvern.


    But something that promised to pair-link <em>any two materials?</em> Something like that could be used to pair-link ink to the parchment it was written on, or link wood, hides, and metal all together to take advantage of their respective strengths. Sure, there were literally hundreds if not thousands of ways to do simr things, each with their own benefits and drawbacks, but being able to directly link two materials would be like trying to use only a welder to connect metal and wood together. Wood just didnt melt on its own, and didnt bind with most metals. Youd end up with just a burnt chunk of wood and a contaminated block of metal, unless there was additional magic involved.


    Simrly, there were skills and enchantments which could further facilitate longer-range pair-linkage, but they werent usable in every situation, and had their own influence on the oue, let alone requiring their own skill to use


    Having a single tool which Matt could use to instantly link, say, a newly-made block of mana stone to a metal te, and have them be a single material magically, and therefore not subject to any of the efficiency loss which normally would apany an external power source? Matt could possibly be able to on-the-fly connect some modr tes together, link them all to a mana stone, and <em>let loose</em>.


    And if JRs BPL was as impressive as it imed to be, that was just the start of potential uses for it. Sure, it was a tool with an outsized amount of use in talismans, which <em>needed</em> to all be a single piece of material, magically speaking, but there were plenty of crafting styles which could benefit from the device.


    Matt intellectually knew the maker of the item was a Tier 50 crafter that had no reason to lie, and that the Emperor himself had tested the item. But if the specifications were to be trusted, he had been handed the equivalent of a welder that could weld a broken finger to a cotton shirt.


    It just shouldn''t be possible, and <em>definitely</em> not at Tier 25. There was a forge on the capital which could do something simr, but it was an entire facility built upon the precipice of a volcano that was constantly erupting and spewingva into a bog, whose nts broke up the cooled stone and fused them into their trunks. It wasnt something you just held in your hand, it was the kind of unique advantage which a high-Tier guild could be based around.


    Picking up a random te from the arrayAlex was levitating, Matt quickly scanned the runes to see what the talisman would do. And when he saw that it was a simple directional acid attack, he created a simrly sized b of mana. Pressing them together, Matt grabbed the BPL and activated it, half expecting to have the BPL, the talisman b, or the mana stone explode, but nothing happened.


    That was a distinct possibility if he tried this same thing with a normal BPL, if it worked at all.


    Matt looked at the mana stone and metal talisman in his hands and scanned them with his spiritual sense. He shouldnt have been, but he was still shocked to find only the tiniest of seams where the crystal definitely ended and the metal definitely started. Even that, he could tell, was user error rather than anything inherent to the device, and it <em>still</em> managed to have even better mana-flowpatibility than anything hed done before.


    Matt was going to say something when Erwin let out a soft ah.


    The man hadnt stopped staring at the device in Matts hand, and his divinations had been so all-pervasive around him that Matt only now realized that interference itself should have messed up the crafting more than it had. The sound was the first expression Erwin had made beyond a general impression of <em>hunger</em> at the device in action, but that wasnt what really caught Matts attention.


    Erwins spirit was rippling, his cores beginning to spin faster and faster, and began to resonate with the mans Domain. With every passing moment, the resonance built and built, and while he got the distinct impression that it was <em>muted</em>, the signs were unmistakable.


    Erwin was having an inspiration.


    But unlike Matts clumsy and novice inspiration more than a century ago, Erwin was actively fighting his spirit, keeping it from connecting to the realm and preventing essence from flooding in.


    I see he began, then forcibly screwed his eyes shut and wrenched his sses off his face, throwing them into the distance. Water.


    His eyes shot open. I need water! Or herbs! Food! Materials! High-tier! Now, nownownownownownow. Lessgo!


    He vanished in a rush of wind back towards the camp, and Colonel Gnodel popped out of existence a momentter. Matt blinked, then once again took off at top speed back towards the camp, followed by Zack and Alex, following a faint trail of ecological destruction. Flowers and grasses had been uprooted, trees had their branches stripped bare of leaves, and generally anything which could vaguely be considered edible was notably missing.


    By the time Matt reached the camp, Erwin had made it to Group Cornucopia, where he was downing a ss of Tier 38 water like he was dying of dehydration. Matt didnt know every detail of the mans Talent, but he knew that the alchemist could absorb mana and essence from the things he consumed. Generally, that was potions, and it was put back out just as fast as it was taken in to raise the tier of natural materials he worked with, or to create copies of things hed eaten. But he also used it to cultivate sometimes.


    It was how he was 95% of the way through Tier 32, though he never delved, and why he was desperately trying to get the final 5% before his inspiration hit. Erwin rarely kept up a veil, so Matt could usually get a decent idea of the mans cultivation, but even with a veil it seemed like Matt would be able to feel just how <em>haphazard</em> this essence cultivation was bing with every passing ingested item.


    It was light and airy, like mist instead of the concrete that Matts own core was made out of, but Erwin didnt care about that. All he was trying to do was to reach the peak of his Tier as quickly as possible. There was no finesse or guidance involved, just a man desperately trying to pour as much essence as possible into his cores as fast as possible.


    It took him almost a full day, and he nearly ripped his spirit apart with the effort of rapidly processing the essence from the Tier 35 consumables while his Domain struggled to hold back the Inspiration.


    Matt couldnt do anything to help, but he still stayed with Erwin, wanting to be there for his friend. He wasnt the only one. It felt like half the camp stopped by at some point or another, and while most didnt stay the entire time, even Allie popped by for a couple hoursplete with snacks, marking the first time hed seen her in a few weeks. Melinda <em>did</em> stay nearly the entire time, taking notes and muttering about medical stuff with one of her mentors.


    Matt even noticed Luna lounging around a few times. While others might not be able to tell, he knew his manager, and could read the t expression which told him as clearly as any words she was getting ready to step in, regardless of the repercussions if Erwin failed to hold back the Inspiration. Not that Matt thought even Luna could stop a Tier 32s Inspiration, but she seemed willing to throw her best into the effort.


    Nor did he miss the fact that at least three Tier 35s were present at any given time, and often more.


    Thankfully, none of it proved necessary.


    Erwin guzzled gallons of high Tier materials, but in the end, he managed to gather enough essence, even as looselypressed as it was, to reach the peak of Tier 32 and break through in just a little less than a day.


    Erwin dropped onto the floor with a sigh of relief, and the stuttering back-and-forth of his Domain and essence cores gave way. He stared nkly at the ceiling, and the resonance of his spirit quickly spread out into the surroundings, vibrating the rifts reality and even getting Matts own cores to join in at one point. The spiritual pressure grew and grew, and then it released, and like a dam had broken, essence began to flood in.


    The power of the realm swirled around Erwin before it started to pour into him.


    Matt watched as Erwins damaged spirit was almost magically healed by the resonance between it and the realm, while the essence rushed into his cores andpressed the essence he had used to reach Tier 33. Reaching into thepressed, allocated essence in a previous Tier was something only possible with an inspiration, but in seconds, the volume of essence that had been filled with mist like essence was now just aspressed as the rest of Erwins advancements.


    Perfect in every way, like thebor of love it was.


    Only once his foundation waspressed did the essence start to fill the area that would be his Tier 33 cores until they were full, and he broke through once more.


    The flood of essence illuminated the building, and Erwin simply looked nkly into empty space, a look of wonderment on his face. Then, the light faded, the flow of essence stopped, and reality lost several shades of color.


    Laughing, Erwin pulled himself to his feet, then looked down and poked himself in the abdomen. I cant believe I was able to game it! You hear all those stories about people getting two inspirations back-to-back, but no sirree, two Tiers for the price of one thank you very much! Oh <em>man</em> that felt good!


    Luna vanished, but Matt was pretty sure he saw her roll her eyes before she did so.


    The crowd present for the very end gave a polite round of apuse, then trickled out as they returned to either their time off or their duties.


    Erwin was no exception, as the moment he was freed from his boss giving him some congrattions, the newly-minted Tier 34 bounded over to Matt like an eager little puppy. Are we ready now?


    We were waiting for you. Someone felt it necessary to have an Inspiration. Speaking of which, do you mind sharing what the actual Inspiration was about?


    It was a question that most people would consider rude, but Matt knew Erwin well enough that worst-case scenario hed just decline. The man never thought that a genuine attempt to learn something would be offensive.


    As they made their way back to the valley at a more sedate pace that even Alex could easily keep up with, Erwin tried to exin. I mean, it was an inspiration. Theyre pretty much impossible to describe. Such a wonderful feeling, peeking behind the curtain. Just wish I could remember most of it. Everyone looked to Erwin, but he wasnt Allie or <em>Matt</em>, and didnt keep them waiting. But what triggered it well, the fact that the BPL is <em>understandable.</em> Its profoundly, <em>incredibly</em> advanced, but its replicable. There was a Talent involved in making it, for sure. Multiple, even, and maybe from multiple people at that. But it still runs on logic, somewhere at its core. What that logic is, I dont know. I think it might actually require multiple different forms of logic, but <em>it can all make sense</em>. It''s <em>replicable</em>. Repicatable? Im not sure which is the proper word.


    Colonel Gnodel nodded even as her fingers rapidly tapped the air. Once you settle, I would appreciate a full write up for my own people to study when we have the time to examine the BPL in more detail.


    A small, childish part of Matt wanted to say that she wouldn''t be getting time to study this BPL. After all, it was a personal gift to him from a Tier 50 forpleting the Path of Ascension, but he squished it. He knew that if he wanted to, he could im it fully for his own, but that was beyond selfish, and it was dangerous to him and everyone on his team.


    Plenty of them wouldnt benefit from it, sure, but the lower-Tier crafters in the rift had a once-in-a-lifetime chance at studying the effects that such a sophisticated device could have. Even some of the crafters in their tier. Matt could only regard the tool with hunger, wishing that it had been something just a <em>bit</em> more broadly useful, but he squashed those feelings down deep. He needed to be grateful for what he had gotten, but he couldnt hoard that gift all to himself.


    That said, he would <em>absolutely</em> be getting first dibs on the device every time he wanted to use it.


    Matt still wanted to finish this testing though. To that end, he lifted the talisman and proffered it for everyone to inspect it in more detail.


    It took Erwin a few seconds to get used to his new, stronger, spiritual perception, but none of them were able to see any difference to the metal talisman te and the mana stone. They were spiritually merged, but the BPL hadnt made any other changes that could help Matt in making his own talismans.


    Activating the talismans by carving a few lines into the metal te, Matt tossed the te and the mana stone into the valley together while watching everything with his spiritual perception.


    As the rune activated, Matt nodded as the mana stone was almost instantly turned to dust as the runes absorbed its power to unleash a jet of acid across the valley and caused some of the stones to hiss and pop.


    Alex tapped at the air. That was good. A full fifty-seven percent faster than our control group activations and almost no power loss.


    Matt nodded along but wasnt as excited as the crafter. Its useful, but still almost twice as slow to activate whenpared to a normal talisman. Is there any way to reduce this further with the current design, or will we be returning to the basics?


    Before Alex could respond, Zack nodded to Matt. Thank you for inviting me to see such a unique item, and while I believe it might even be useful for some of our tests on mana stones, I cant stand to be around such mana waste. It physically pains me to see millions of mana wasted so.


    Having said his piece, Zack started walking back to the camp. Matt didnt take it personally, as he had expected Zack to do exactly what he did. His fellow Ascender hated waste, and talismans were inherently wasteful. That went double for the talismans Matt liked to throw around.


    Colonel Gnodel sighed. I suppose Alex and the other talisman-making teams will get plenty of use from it, and I believe there are a few ces where this can help us with repairs if nothing else. Still it''s a remarkable item to even just study. I apologize for my earlier rudeness, Ascender Titan.


    Matt waved off her apology. I was being needlessly mysterious. The rebuke was valid and I promise the next time I get a crafting device from a Tier 50, I will inform you first.


    Gnodel snorted. If you get another item like this, you are more than wee to pull a simr prank again. Im still not sure that what it does is possible, but it''s a good thing for us. If nothing else, this will make repairing your armor far less of a hassle next time youe back with it in pieces.


    No bothering to hold back his grin Matt asked, So does that mean its not as bad next time I wreck it?


    Dont push your luck, Ascender.


    She vanished a momentter, and Matt turned to where Alex and Erwin were making small adjustments to both the BPL and the metal talisman tes.


    Rubbing his hands together, Matt learned forward. What if we change the trigger runes? I think we can reduce the time to activate by usi


    They worked on the designs for another two days before they ran out of premade talisman tes, and they all turned to other projects. True to his mental word, he gave the BPL to Alex, leaving the crafter looking like he had been given a cross between a bomb that might blow up any seconds, the most fragile ss figurine, and a holy relic of ages past all bundled into one.


    Even before he fully left, Colonel Gnodel arrived and took the item from the stunned man before vanishing.


    Matt was excited to see what they would cook up with it.


    He had another ten or so years rift time before Aster would be back in top condition and they could take missions outside without revealing Melindas talent. But now that he had been off the Path for a significant amount of time, he no longer felt like he needed to rush everywhere.


    A decade?


    That was nothing.


    The war had just started a hundred years ago, and at its fastest, might end in another hundred years. More likely it would stretch for another two or three hundred years. Time was the one thing that Matt had in spades. He just needed to make good use of said time, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do.


    He had a wife he hadnt seen in a few days now, and despite having all the time in the world, that had been too long.


    Before he could find her, he received a message on his [AI].


    Oh.

 Chapter 310

    Chapter 310


    L snorted as she watched the rift entrance.


    Going off Susannes normal delving times, the girl should being out of the rift any minute. But others, not L, expected that the girl would stay within the rift for a few months yet, pushing for an Inspiration. If she managed to find one, and emerge as Tier 24, people would politely ignore questioning when, exactly, the inspiration happened, and allow her to continue on the Path.


    But those people werent Ascenders, and L knew that Susanne would never bother with such trickery.


    The girl was like her de. Like L. Sharp and to the point. All tooth and w.


    Petty little games like that were beneath her.


    Fifteen minutes before she was expected toe out, the rift rippled and Susanne stepped out. She still wore an eyepatch from where shed lost the organ a year past, there was a hole in her chest where something had nibbled on her, a streak of green embedded in her flesh that L could feel eating away at her spirit and flesh, and three of her vertebrae were fused together. But despite it all, Susanne stepped out of the rift under her own power.


    She stepped out as a Tier 23. One hundred and eighty-three years old, and just under two-thirds of the way to Tier 24.


    Queen had officially fallen off the Path of Ascension.


    L couldnt pierce the mask the woman wore, but she didnt need to. Susanne never hid anything but the bare minimum needed to conceal her identity.


    Raising her gaze, she tilted her head at the silent woman, just waiting. She wanted to see how Susanne would react to knowing she had failed within spitting distance of her goal. That it was the hardest step meant nothing when one was that close.


    Others had wanted toe and do this, but L had put her w down and inserted herself. She wouldnt say that she and Susanne were one and the same, they werent long lost family members who just needed to meet once to grow close. No, it was far more simple than that.


    They were dragons of a scale.


    Somepared Queen to Duke Waters, two Domain prodigies wing themselves forward one bloody step at a time. But that wasnt quite right. Aiden was an utter maniac, throwing himself into the deep end like there was nothing else worth living for. If hed failed forming his Intent and killed himself, drowning in the self-same depths he sought to drag others down into, he would have done so with a grin on his face, thrilled just as much by failure as sess. That he had survived his ordeals was less effort and more happenstance.


    That wasnt who Susanne was. No, L saw herself in Susanne. Wings squared, fire in their throat, and an unquenchable determination that if reality had deemed them worthy of a mundane, meaningless little life, then it was reality which was incorrect. Neither of them were particr exemrs of their species by birth, it was the way in which they acted which distinguished them.


    If Susanne needed somefort, L believed she was the best one to deliver it.


    Susanne looked up and met her eyes before she reached up and pulled off her mask and tossed it to the side.


    I failed.


    L nodded.


    Susanne took a deep breath before letting it out.


    It hurts. I saw iting a while ago, but it still hurts.


    L raised a wing and shifted her legs to create a bit of a seat under her wing.


    Susanne dragged her broken body over and flopped onto Ls leg. Lowering her wing, L poked her head into the little tent and blinked one massive eye at the younger girl, getting ready to keep the girl from falling apart.


    Susanne looked at a blood and dirt-covered hand and flexed it. I almost wish I made a mistake. Then I could me everything on that, but there were no mistakes. I thought getting my Talent to work on my sword would do it, that if I did everything right, it would be enough. It wasnt. <em>I</em> wasnt.


    L nosed the girls leg as a few tears slid silently down her face. She was expecting the floodgates to open, but they didnt, and L just waited.


    Eventually, she offered a suggestion. I wont waste words on telling you how well you did, but you can do anything now. Take a decade or three off and go explore the Empire. Spend some time with your brother. Go fight in some de tournaments. Do whatever is what that you werent able to do with your delving schedule.


    Susanne cocked her head at L, her tears already stopped. Is that an order? I expected the Empire to bring me directly into the war when I fell off.


    L shrugged a wing. Who cares what they think. You have spent your entire adult life chasing <em>their</em> dream. Do something for yourself.


    Susanne shook her head. That sounds awful.


    L couldn''t help it and snorted augh.


    If the Empire doesnt expect me to join the war, I dont know what I would do with myself. It seems the natural ce for me. Im abatant, I fight to live and live to fight. I wouldnt know what to do with myself if I wasnt fighting.


    L inspected Susanne, and with her tail scooped the fallen Queen mask. Dropping the mask in Susanne''sp, L poked her with her tail. Sand filled the Tier 23s wounds where it roiled and bubbled for a moment before falling away to reveal perfectly healed flesh.


    Uncoiling, L transformed into her muscr human form and stared at Susanne.


    Walking around her, she made a show of inspecting the young girl.


    Susanne tracked her every movement, but never did more than turn her head.


    Youve done well, better than anyone could possibly hope for. You started this journey a small, scared little girl who wanted nothing more than a way to provide for her brother, and oh how you have ever seeded. Youve found yourself, molded yourself, tempered yourself in the fiercest forge the realm has to offer. Fate has smiled upon you, to be sure, but <em>nobody</em> makes it this far on luck alone. There are few in the entire realm who can boast a sharper, surer de than yours, and yet even as one Path is closing, a new path has opened before you, one wider than you can possibly imagine.


    You live for the fight, the struggle, because that has been your entire life. Yet it is not where you define yourself in your core, isnt it? You desire to be reliable, to be useful, to never give way. Right now, your Domain is presenting you a choice. Youve pushed forward, never faltering on the Path for your entire life, but that is not the only ce in which a sword may be useful. You yourself have learned that, havent you? Your sword is your pen, your instrument for writing your legacy upon the fabric of the realm itself. And now, its an open book, ready for you to tell any story you desire. So what shall it be?


    Susanne blinked at her, then her expression firmly set itself. I dont know about all that. I guess so? But a sword is a weapon, I dont know what kind of story I can write if I stop now, though. The fights not over yet.


    Lughed and tapped the gem embedded in her chest before crossing her arms. Well, I suppose that only leaves how you want to fight. Do you want to stay where you are, stay at Tier 23, and be the scourge of the Tier? Do you want to advance to Tier 25, fight at some of the fiercest battlefields of this war? Join the Ascenders. Or push to Tier 35, and keep sharpening your sword for the next war?


    It sounds like I have options?


    L manifested a tail out of sand and smacked at Susanne, not bothering to uncross her arms. I already told you, no one will tell you what you must do. They can offer suggestions, but they wont force anything. Ill make <em>sure</em> of that.


    Ascenders?


    L nodded, not bothering to look up the information she knew she didnt have ess to. If you want, you could join the Ascenders on their little team. You get along well with Matt, Liz, and Aster, and you and Light can sit there in silence perfectly fine. You might try to kill Shadow, but everyone tries to do that at some point, so youd be in goodpany. Is that what you want? Do you want to join them? Finish the sprint to Tier 25, maybe through essence stones, maybe with a group of soldiers pushing up the Tiers themselves?


    Susannes eyes tracked L as she moved to step in front of her. It sounds like there is another option.


    L grinned. Her human form had human teeth, but she had worked hard to pull as much draconic aura into this action and knew its unsettling effects on most. Her own human was sometimes unnerved by the sight if she caught him off guard.


    Susanne didnt even blink. Spend some time with me. Youll get the pinnacle elite treatment. The Empire will stuff you with every resource you can dream of while me and you will do what you like best. Fight. Fight every day, for everything. Im not <em>exactly</em> a trainer, but I can make sure youre ready for the fight no matter what. Interested?


    Susanne looked down to the Queen mask but didnt immediately speak. Instead, she rubbed a thumb over the screaming face before the mask vanished into a spatial ring.


    Her greatsword seemed to turn even more real before Susanne looked up and nodded to L.


    With a p of her wings, she broke into sand and swept over the area, pulling Susanne into a timeless moment. Then, because she was no Shadow, L broke through the barriers to Chaotic Space, effortlessly navigating the shallows until she reached her destination, a Tier 40 rift sometimes used for this very sort of training. She swept inside, cleared out a-sized chunk of the rift, and returned to the entrance.


    Then, she released Susanne from her stasis.


    The girl stumbled slightly, but looked around at the sandy dunes all around them.


    I feel like I shouldnt be surprised youd go to a desert, she grumbled.


    L bared her teeth in a grin, There are no prying eyes here, and I daresay youll be ready to surprise them when you next emerge.


    Then, she <em>roared</em>.


    The motes of time, already stretching one moment into sixty, flew into the gem embedded into her chest before flying out, slowed a hair more before they repeated the cycle again and again. She needed to pace herself, yes, but she could manage this at least. Within the bubble of further-slowed time, sand swirled around them, erosion seemingly running in reverse as a massive stadium rose from the ground. Stone walls and stone floors, pirs and trees, and finally enemies.


    The sand never forgot what had been lost within it, nor did it ever truly let go.


    A Tier 28 monster, effortlessly snuffed out some time ago for this very purpose, reconstituted itself from the sand. But, instead of instantly pouncing on Susanne with mindless fury, it held itself back, waiting for L to direct its every action.


    Mere rift monsters were insufficient practice for one who would fight beside an Ascender, but monsters perfectly controlled by an Ascender,plete with essence for advancement?


    Susanne may not havepleted the Path of Ascension, but L would ensure that the Empires enemies still feared the name of Queen.


    ***


    Emperor Emmanuel Sophron knew that scheduling a meeting with the capital''s advisors right after open court was a bad idea. Open court was a duty he had to the people of his realm, as was actually managing their lives through his policies, so the two meetings happening back to back should have been natural.


    The reality of the situation wasnt so pleasant.


    The moment he entered the meeting room, the seven usual members of this meeting nodded to him.


    When he had first taken over from his father they had stood and bowed, but that was wasted seconds he had done away with.


    Even before he sat down, the first advisor, Fiona, administrator of mana, spoke. In thest year we have had to evacuate six hundred and fifteen low rent apartment buildings due to them dipping into their mana reserves. Fo


    Fiona stopped as Emmanuel held up a finger and started diving into the documents that were waiting for him. He had his office mode Talent set active, and in less than a heartbeat, he had sorted through and digested the reports.


    He didnt like what he saw, but that had no bearing on reality. For all his truly <em>immense</em> power, he had limits, both political and absolute. And this war put all of that into such sharp focus. He was juggling the worst mana shortages hed seen in his rule, generations of mortals growing up with a war hanging over their head, and his attention was spread so thin that hed simply been unable to intervene as much as he normally could.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition.


    Even the ces where his changes <em>were</em> lingering hospitals with healing-strengthening fields thatsted for a century, parks whose aura could help blunt the strongest trauma, rifts whose rewards were enhanced and their danger reduced were being pushed to their limits. Mortals and immortals simply flowed into the opportunities he had left, spreading out their benefits, and he simply had to trust that they were generally better off than before. Reassurances that the other Great Powers were as pressed as his own made the situation no better. Not to him, and not to the millions whose lives had been upended in the past year alone.


    Spatial expansion was a technology which countless people took for granted and relied on for a daily basis. It was the only true way to make more space, and for the trillions of people who called Sophron Imperium Maginex home, there was no alternative. But the more it was pushed, the more expensive it got. Personal storage rings could function just fine on passive mana consumption, operating nearly indefinitely for nearly no mana, but buildings


    Emmanuel sighed as he read the report. Hundreds of apartment buildings had been evacuated as theyd begun dipping into their emergency reserves of mana. It could cost tens of thousands of mana per day to run the spatial engines for a smaller apartment alone, some of which had levitation costs on top of that, and that was <em>before</em> anything which was under any form of control, like stasis fields, resting-fields for sleeping, or personal enchantment.


    Disastrously, the low-mana alert system in one of the buildings had failed, and while objectively casualties were low, that was little constion to the dozens of families who had lost someone in the spatial copse. Even that was its own form of miraculous, as a pair of Tier 42s had been able to evacuate most of the people still inside before the violent implosion. Technically, there could still be some survivors tucked away in a pocket dimension, but until the spatial debris cleared, it would take a specialist to properly investigate.


    It was always the low-ie, low-Tier buildings, too. Higher-Tier or wealthier areas could afford better spatial engines, reducing or outright eliminating the need for ongoing mana costs.


    At least, he noted, there was one glimmer of hope in that for a good number of the buildings, their disastrously low mana reserves were due to simple corruption. Those could be salvaged easily enough with new management. What was trickier were the situations where it was simple mismanagement. It wasnt even true ipetence, just ack of knowledge for the intricacies needed to run an apartment building properly. The hardest of all were the situations where the management waspetent, and the engines were properly maintained, but they simply couldnt keep running without a shift in their mana allotment.


    The real issue was the war. It added a drain on everything as healers healed the ships full of wounded, the crafters worked night and day to make recement equipment, and floods of potions of every description needed to be made and consumed.


    As much as it hurt the lowest rungs of society, the war and those who fought in it took priority. Wars were an economic drain for all the Great Powers, which was why wars usually onlysted two to five hundred years. Any longer than that, and any of the Great Powers would start to seriously struggle to keep up the efforts unless they wanted to dig into their foundations and start making hard sacrifices.


    Mana.


    It all came down to mana.


    Theyd been able to offset some tiny fraction of the problem thanks to Matthew. Both the mans own mana contributions, and Emmanuels usage of his Talents in conjunction with a relevant Tier 25 talent of his own, for what few hours per day he could spare were making a difference. He was keeping more people in their homes and more people fed and healthy. But even that was barely more than the mana costs required to keep the pce in good condition, let alone Emmanuels personal delving.


    None of that mattered.


    Hed figure something out.


    He always did.


    Most of the disced individuals had been able to find other housing, but that was no true solution.


    Emmanuel needed a better answer that could cut this issue off as much as was possible.


    Looking to Fiona, he nodded for her to continue as he thought. Four hundred and sixty-three factories shut down due to abination of not being able to afford taxes, expansions, or wages. Tier 47 rifts are starting to show signs of instability. I have already pushed all rift slots back, but the guilds and Tier 46s are upset. Some are throwing tantrums and withholding some of their taxes on the pretense that they needed to use the mana to stabilize their rifts.


    Emmanuel narrowed his eyes as he looked down the list of offenders.


    He was tempted to go visit them in person, but he genuinely didnt have the time for that. Instead, he sent them all a message. It was simple. Taxation is not a suggestion.


    A quick glimpse into the future told him that would be more than enough to get them back under heel, but he wouldnt forget their names going forward. If the strongest of his Empire thought they could shirk their duties, they were sorely mistaken.


    That should be handled. Fiona, what are we seeing about the Exodus n?


    We have seen a few million Tier 5 and below sign up, but few people are willing to leave the capital and its environments for the border regions. It helps keep numbers down, but it''s little more than a rounding error whenpared to local birth rates. In brighter news, food rationing for immortals has been a sess. Overall mana expenditure on high Tier food stuffs are nearly half that of pre-war levels, and were hoping to drive it down even lower within the next few decades.


    Emmanuel nodded his acknowledgement before thinking and deciding the risk was worth it. I will be bringing a Tier 30 into the capital system in the next six months. I want you to push the initiative for that in particr. That should be a more attractive destination for the lower Tiers. Push the incentives as high as you need.


    Looking at Darrell, his maintenance and construction minister, Emmanuel almost grinned at the panicked look on his face at the news that there would be a new dumped on hisp. He was surely worried where the Empire had gotten a Tier 30 world and how he would be expected to not only pacify it, but get it ready for an influx of settlers.


    Putting one of the Farmss in the capital system was a daring move, but Emmanuel hoped it would shore up some of the failing systems. That much newndbined with untouched rifts would cause an economic surge in the Tier 30 range which would cascade down. The mana generation it could provide would hopefully make up the deficit for a few years, even a few decades if they were truly lucky, but then it would be swallowed up by the insatiable public once again.


    Still, he didntin and say it was impossible, which was why he was here. It''s an untouched world, so n for that. Open it up like normal and make people pay for the privilege of subjugating it. That, and the resources pulled out of it should help all of our systems for a while as the new construction and settling helps stimte those stagnant sectors of the economy.


    Hopefully a while would be long enough that he was able to reallocate some more of the Farm''s resources into the economy without tipping his hand. The Farm wasnt created with just raw mana, but resources that were hard to just dump into the economy without negative effects. Even the mana was hard to add into the capital without causing every spy to start digging into where the mana wasing from.


    Darrell nodded but said nothing, even as his eyes flicked back and forth.


    Emmanuel didnt need to waste the mana looking into the future to know Darrell would do a fine job. Instead he looked to Saanvi, the aide of his second kingdom. She acted like half a queen and half regent.


    Things are mostly stable, but Duke Abrd experienced a catastrophic chain of spatial copses on his capital world, killing fifteen million. And Duke Ull had a Tier 35 food rift vanish, greatly reducing their expected food reserves.


    Emmanuel frowned as he reviewed the information. Fifteen million wasnt even a fraction of a percent of the poption that lived on the Tier 37 ducal, but it was a lot of lives that had been lost for no good reason. It was inexcusable, despite the list of excuses the Duke had sent him.


    After pondering the best way to handle this, he ordered the duke to arrive before him. He wouldnt kill him, but he was going to make an example of the duke to remind the others they had a duty to the lower Tiers.


    If they forgot that, he might forget his duty to <em>them</em>.


    None of them wanted that.


    Worse than fifteen million deaths were the billions that would starve unless more food was rerouted to Duke Ulls duchy. An investigation would need to be done as to why such a critical asset had been allowed to copse, but food could be shipped in from nearby worlds for long enough to set up the infrastructure for a new farm rift to be spun up. It would cause some problems, but hopefully none would starve.


    He was opening his mouth to say something when Carissa slipped into the room. That was so unexpected, his mind raced through a dozen worrying possibilities before he processed her bodynguage.


    While she seemed a little scared, the main emotion he read from her was excitement.


    That didnt exin why she had arrived with no warning, but his wife never entered a meeting of his unless it was of the utmost importance, which worried him.


    When she didnt immediately speak, his worry ratcheted up to eleven, and he followed her eyes quickly darting to the others in the room before snapping back to him.


    Leave.


    His single word sent the others scurrying, but that wasnt fast enough, and with a flex of his will and a spell, he teleported them out of the room.


    What''s wrong?


    Carissa tried to smile but her lip trembled a little, which made Emmanuel send his spiritual perception out across the star system, and when he didnt notice anything wrong, he extended it through chaotic space to the nearest dozen worlds.


    We did it. Or you did it. I kind of justid there. A beast you are. Really. I


    Her half trembling words hit him harder than a sword from Hastor ever could have as he registered what she meant.


    Swapping to abat Talent set, Emmanuels physical capabilities skyrocketed and he <em>moved</em>. The floor, wall, and everything behind him evaporated as they failed to handle his power, but he couldn''t care less. All that mattered was reaching his wife.


    Scooping her up, he spun her and took pleasure in watching as her eyes tried to track him and failed.


    Her hands went to her hips, or more urately, womb.


    Careful there.


    Emmanuel couldn''t contain his grin as he flexed space and pulled the two of them to a garden he knew she loved. The fall colors contrasted nicely with the evergreens, but Emmanuel didnt feel the slight cold with his powers.


    Carissa mmed one of her fists on his shoulders with her full strength, the other still holding her lower body, but Emmanuel barely felt them in hisbat state and kept spinning her in a slow circle, just enjoying the moment.


    After a moment, she stopped hitting him and pulled his head to her hips. Oh fine you brute. See what you did to me.


    With permission, Emmanuel nipped her, enjoying the small yelp before sending his spiritual perception carefully inside his wife. At their Tier, just about anything could mess things up, but with his current Talents, he was unlikely to run into that problem. Still, he was as careful as a mouse who knew a cat was about, delicately running his awareness of the world forward.


    There, he found a few cells which seemed like the entire world.


    A fertilized and sessfully imnted egg.


    A little bit of himself and Carissa.


    For immortals, the hard part was over. With the control over their bodies, manually fertilizing an egg was easy, but most of the time that ended up in a failed attempt. It was the curse of immortality and its lowered fertility rates. Potions existed, of course, but they only helped so much by the time one was dealing with a Tier 50 and 47. He also had Talents to offset the difficulty, but unless he wished to functionally grow his offspring in a potion sk, which he did not, many simply fell short of the momentous task of crossing the conception barrier for a Tier 50. That he could only try one at a time was a further hurdle, but one that was now crossed.


    And now, they merely needed to allow nature to take its course, and they would have a child.


    Their child.


    He felt full of energy at the thought.


    Manny could have trivially checked the sex of the embryo, but he and Carissa had talked about that, and decided to let it be a surprise. Instead of peeking, he wrapped his future child in a protectiveyer of spells that would both protect them and keep others from spying. A surprise would mean little if everyone else knew.


    Alright, put me down. Enough is enough, Carissa said with an audible eyeroll. But she caressed his hair to take any sting out of the words.


    Setting her down on a stone bench, Manny sat down next to his wife and noticed her grin matched his own.


    Taking her hands into his own, he kissed them. We did it.


    Carissa bounced her eyebrow. We? I dont know. I think I did most of the hard work.


    Snorting, Manny pretended to take offense and pointed out her change in tune, Someone said otherwise earlier. Clearly it was all my mighty


    Ok, ok, it was a team effort. So dramatic. Can''t take even a small loss.


    Manny smiled and looked down as he turned to the next most important topic. When do you want to have them?


    Heirs in the Sophron dynasty technically had less importance than in dynasties past, and if none of his children were fit to rule, he wouldnt hesitate to pass the throne to someone else, but that was unlikely. Like himself and his siblings, his children would be raised with the expectation that one of them would rule because it was their duty. Their responsibility. Time would tell for certain, but even among nobles who swore to pass their holdings to a worthy sessor, not inherently a rted one, it was rare for it to genuinely pass outside of the family.


    He was only a few thousand years into his rule, but the question of heirs had alreadye up. The nobles of the realm wanted to know who their future ruler might be, and so did the rest of the popce. It was human nature.


    The matter of heirs was never in question, but this was the best case scenario. He hadnt needed to use a less conventional Talent, nor any <em>particrly</em> rare potions or natural treasures. In a genuinely worst-case scenario, the Imperial vaults had a set of Destined Trueseeds, which could be used to absolutely ensure a healthy offspring exactly the way they wanted one. But they were rare enough that he was d they hadnt needed to use one.


    Ideally they would wait, but he didnt want to. He wanted to be a father <em>now</em>.


    Carissa hummed while giving him <em>the look</em>. I know what youre thinking, and it''s a bad idea. You are a baby Emperor who has barely warmed the throne for two thousand years. Your older brother was born around your father''s five thousand year mark, right? I think we should wait a little longer than that. Maybe six thousand years? That gives all the nobles a good four thousand years to get pregnant themselves.


    Carissa caressed her abdomen. I want our child to have a lot of peers of the same age. The longer we give the nobles, the more kids of a simr age they will have.


    Manny shrugged that suggestion off. The nobles will figure out a way to get their children into an immortal generation whether we wait one or four thousand years. This can be a political decision, but it doesn''t have to be, it shouldnt be. It''s our child and we can have them whenever <em>we</em> desire.


    Carissa smiled, but disagreed. I still want them to have as many people their age as possible. I think three or four thousand years gives everyone who wants enough time to have a child a fair chance. It just seems nice to have everyone raising a child at the same time.


    Manny shrugged. If that''s what she wanted, it was fine with him. He was just excited for Carissa to be pregnant.


    He was about to ask about names when Carissa leaned in and asked, What about an announcement? When are we going to do that?


    Manny raised an eyebrow at the devious look in her eyes. Whatever do you mean, my love?


    Well, I happen to have a lot of fertility potions and items that I no longer need. They could go for a polished mana stone if I put them up for sale right before the announcement, as everyone starts trying to conceive as fast as possible.


    Mannyughed. That was his wife. Carissa, despite being the wife to a Tier 50, couldnt stop thinking like they were still low Tiers, and was always looking to save or make money. Even if it was effectively a rounding error to the actual issues he had as Emperor.


    That thought made him pause, and he smiled. Lets announce it right now and dere a ten-day holiday. You can put the items up for sale, and I can use this as an excuse to dump a lot of the mana that should be going into the Farm into the capital. People will question where the mana ising from, but with our announcement, they won''t look too hard into it if we make it look like were liquidating a reserve in celebration.


    Carissa tsked at him. Our child isn''t even born yet and youre already using them to further your own agenda.


    Manny pecked her hair. We could try for twins if that makes you feel any better?


    It would be fun to try. Then, as if catching herself, Carissa smashed him on the chest. I mean no! You are a beast who has already had his way with me enough. I do like the idea of a celebration, though. It could be good for morale, and adding more mana into the atmosphere is always a good thing.


    Grinning, she added, And you have a destroyed meeting room to repair. Someone couldn''t help but flex their powers to try and win me over, eh? Getting me pregnant wasn''t enough? Have to win my heart as well? No, not heart. My desire for a strong mate?


    Manny grinned. A meeting room was a small price to pay to get to you even a moment sooner.


    His wife grinned at him. You have a way with words. I bet you use that tongue to seduce all thedies.


    Only one.


    Good answer.


    A few minutester, when they came up for air they didnt need, Manny started sending out announcements.


    A ten day holiday for the Empire starting next week to celebrate the Royal Heir to be born in approximately three to four thousand years. All non essential work was to be paused during that time, and taxes on recreational activities were suspended for the year.


    The news went over like an explosion. It instantly became the number one talked about story and as Carissa hoped her excess fertility potions sold for astronomical prices.


    Manny even took the rest of the day off work. He couldnt really afford the time off, but he did it anyway. This was a monumental moment for him, and he wanted to enjoy it with his family.


    Work would always be there, but it was good to remember what he was working <em>for</em>.

 Chapter 311

    Chapter 311


    Long Zhiyuan blinked as he entered the Zanbar system. An otherwise unremarkable Tier 1 that had only been captured, and locked into thework of Great Powers, because no one wanted their popteds to be directly linked to another. Having an uninhabited buffer zone was like having a fence, and everyone knew fences made good neighbors.


    While his eyes did drift to the, as the almost unnatural clean delineation of environments along the''stitude lines was a unique sight, what surprised him was the gargantuan ship under construction. The ship was in the early stages of fabrication, with only the main spine finished. At five miles long, it was substantiallyrger than even the obsolete super dreadnaughts that the Great Powers had fielded as capital ships a few hundred thousand years ago.


    Those ships had been discontinued because, after a point, size didnt trante into more offensive or defensive power, merely arger target. The current limit of battleships was a half mile long dreadnought, which was alreadyrge enough to carry dozens of armies, and had the firepower needed to quickly st through even the heaviest ofary shielding. Even they had their issues, mostly speed in chaotic space and maneuverability in both real and chaotic space, and they were a tenth of the size of the ship in front of him.


    It made him ponder.


    Was it being made deliberatelyrge because they simply wanted it to be a show of force, something only really possible when the three Great Powers worked together? If so, he was ufortable with what that meant for the rest of the Harmony ords.


    On the other hand, if they could make a ship like that really mean something in the war, then maybe it was necessary for the type of missions the Harmony ords would be undertaking. That thought sent a thrill down his spine. He liked the idea.


    It felt fitting for any team that he was a part of to be so outfitted.


    Even the armor, at least what little he could see being constructed off to the side in orbit, was five hundred feet thick.


    He took it all in and allowed his Talent to simte it. Minka had bestowed upon his First Revtion the ability to simte far more of the world around him for his spiritual clones, and with his Second Revtion, he had devoted himself fully to the nning abilities which it had granted. Now, instead of an ever-changing yet ultimately meaningless background, it would disy a very concrete simtion of a ce or situation, down to the finest detail.


    It was mercifully easy, too, unless he was attempting to learn about something warded against divination, or simting a creature he didn''t have enough information on. Thanks to the veritable centuries he had spent within the Thousand Lives Mountain, his willpower was a finely honed and sharpened de, and he could use that to determine a n for any situation.


    Between his own Revtions and a bit of information obtained from the local Sectwork, Long Zhiyuan adjusted his simtion to behold the final ship, then closed his eyes to explore the area. His Tier 25 Talent allowed him to turn his attention wholly inward to elerate the pace at which his spiritual clones worked, and while it was remarkably taxing on his spirit to do so while modifying skills or working with his Revtions, something as trivial as exploring the ship was scarcely more difficult than breathing.


    Of course, he usually utilized the ability to form instantaneous ns, which his Revtions further empowered, giving him the power to instantly develop devastating and immeasurably well-practiced ns in the literal blink of an eye.


    That was how he earned not one, but two Tier 40 escorts.


    Tier 47 Smithing Hands Sect valued him because, while he had fallen off the Young Master program, he was stronger than anyone they had been able to throw at him.


    Once he had a satisfactory understanding of the ship, he fed that information back into his clones and simted what it would be like to fight alongside it.


    It was impressive.


    Though not designed for normalbat, its shields were designed to shrug off direct hits from dreadnaughts, and it was armed with a massive cannon capable of crackingary shields. With it by their side, they would have an invulnerable fortress that could fell all but the most potent of normal siege shields.


    The thought made him smile.


    The Great Powers didnt <em>just</em> create the ship as a token gesture, but instead made something that could make an impact.


    More than that, the ship was a mobile fortress meant to house ten Tier 25 armies to fight alongside the Harmony ords or secures they took over. The ship, once fully created, would also be fully self-sufficient, and the Harmony ords would never need to retreat to heal, resupply, or rearm. The ship would have healers, supplies, and the finest crafters the Great Powers had to offer. The republic had even managed to link the ship itself into the Between, though the ship would need to sit for an entire week to establish the link to the mystical transportation space. That meant if they ever did need supplies, they could get them no matter where they were on the war front.


    It was glorious.


    Or would be when it was finished.


    Currently it looked like the picked over bones of a fish, spine and ribs exposed with none of the meat that would eventually fill the ship.


    As they approached the main shipyard, one of the elders handed Long Zhiyuan a storage ring. A Tier 15 storage ring.


    Odd, but Long Zhiyuan simply waited for the elder to speak. The Sect Master wanted us to give this to you before we arrived. He said you would know what to do with it.


    The man then very studiously looked away.


    Curious, Long Zhiyuan sent his spiritual perception into the ring and grinned. Despite all his training, he couldnt help it.


    After carefullymitting the contents to memory, Long Zhiyuan squeezed his hand, obliterating the ring and all the contents inside the pocket space just as they were nearing the docking yard.


    Long Zhiyuan bowed slightly to the two elders to show his respect and appreciation for their guiding him here before leaving the shuttle.


    The moment his foot touched down on the floor, a flood of messages contacted his [Spiritual Self] containing the rules of war he needed to know, must follow, should follow, and those he could disregard.


    One of his clones studied and diligently read the information several times over, held within a frozen moment from his Talent. It wasnt a perfect transfer of information, but still gave him the knowledge as though he had thoroughly read through it. Better than relying on immortal memory, as good as it was, or even his [Spiritual Self]. Truly reading the information several times was the best way to fully grasp the information. That same clone even meditated on the information, looking for any loopholes everyone else might have missed.


    It didnt find any, but it was good practice.


    After he went through those messages, he went through the more personal correspondence. Hed already determined where the Sect quarters were, but as he prepared to go directly there, he saw that his own quarters were elsewhere.


    If he was reading in between the lines correctly, he and all the other core members of the Harmony ords were being housed in a separate space.


    Long Zhiyuan wasnt sure he liked being surrounded by two other Great Powers strongest people, but understood he didnt have the necessary clout to disregard such an order. Not yet, at least.


    Contrary to his expectations, the area he was to live in was very well appointed. He hadnt expected it to be a simplemunal barracks hall, but being greeted with a carefully manicured gardenplete with water works was a pleasant surprise.


    Someone with a good eye for design had nned this ce out, and he immediately felt at ease.


    Recognizing that as odd, Long Zhiyuan immediately started scanning himself and his surroundings for mood-altering formations. He went as far as to check the molecr structure of the walls, theyout of the garden and its greenery, even the currents of air being circted around the room.


    There was nothing which even touched upon emotion magic to be found. The effect was entirely mundane.


    That eased Long Zhiyuans apprehension a little, but didn''t remove it entirely.


    He was still in unfamiliar territory, and kept three of his clones simting everything and everyone who would be on this team.


    There were a few that even he was wary of.


    Thanks to the Sect leaders gift, he had far more detailed information about his allies abilities than he should, but even the Tier 47 Sect Master had limits on his information gathering abilities. Though Long Zhiyuan suspected a number of the reports he had read had been gathered by higher Tiers, despite credit being given to their spies inside the Federation and Republic. The information was just a little too good and detailed for anything but a little friendly rule bending to be exined by.


    The rules on higher Tiers <em>noticing</em> things were far morex with one''s allies than they were with enemies, but even that wasnt perfect as those with truly important secrets hid them behind masks that even the high Tiers couldn''t prate without making it obvious.


    As he inspected the fish pond, he thought he noticed an oddity on the rock next to him and when he tossed a de of mana at the spot, a man appeared.


    Appeared was the wrong word. That implied he had been invisible or hidden, but once Long Zhiyuan got a look at him, he knew neither had happened. He had simply been ignoring the man in question.


    Who?


    Long Zhiyuan focused and pushed through the memetic effect and got a good look at Ari Kai. The man''s deeply tanned and weathered skin seemed out of ce on an immortal, but Long Zhiyuan had seen weirder.


    Instead, he looked at Nothing. Because there was nothing and no one there.


    It was just a rock.


    Long Zhiyuan looked at his clones and saw one of the three still had someone sitting on the rock. Seeing that seemed to break the forgetfulness, and Long Zhiyuan was able to see Ari Kai once more.


    That seemed to catch the man''s attention, and he finally looked up from the pond and at Long Zhiyuan, though his hand never stopped scratching the head of the small, shadowy dog on hisp. Youre good at this, arent you? Not many people find me first. Anway, if you remember this conversation, sorry about the trouble. Wish I could turn it off, but you know.


    Long Zhiyuan immediately dedicated a clone to reminding himself of Ari Kais existence. It would never tire or stop, which should prevent the clone and therefore Long Zhiyuan himself from forgetting Ari Kais existence. It wasnt a perfect counter, but a decent one for now. Hed have other clones work on something more permanent, but he didnt want to suddenly forget the man until the moment he was driving a de into Long Zhiyuan''s chest.


    That didnt mean he shouldnt be polite. It''s an incredibly strong Talent if it can even briefly affect me. I look forward to doing battle with you.


    Ari Kai rolled his eyes and Long Zhiyuan noted the man didnt seem to have any practice at controlling his emotions or reactions. Undoubtedly, he was far too ustomed to those few individuals who noted his disrespect simply forgetting soon thereafter. It was sloppy.


    Good for Long Zhiyuan, though. Someone who relied on their Talent too much would be easier to n against.


    Stepping away and pretending to forget about Ari Kais existence tested the man''s Talent. He found that even his [Spiritual Self] would stop disying reminders about the antimemetic at seemingly random intervals.


    It was a bizarre power that somehow felt perfectly suited for the Republic and their foolish notions of secrets and hidden worlds, going so far as to hiding their own <em>presence</em> from mortals, instead of basking in their worship as was the right of the strong.


    Moving to his room, Long Zhiyuan scanned it for any hidden spying devices. And after removing the obvious bait ones, he noted where the actual ones were.


    He couldn''t even be sure they were put there by the other Great Powers, as his own was more than willing to spy on him as well. The only ce he could be without concern was his Talent, as that was his only true ce in the realm.


    Himself.


    Long Zhiyuan meditated for the two weeks between his arrival and the first group meeting, blocking out most of the rest of the world to speed up his simtions. He had been given a list of members in the Harmony ords and their abilities, so he needed to put them to good use.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    With his spiritual perception, he was able to feel a number of others gathering a few times in the garden. But they seemed like simple chance encounters and not deliberate gatherings, so he ignored them after running a few simtions centered around the people involved.


    It never hurt to be prepared.


    Unfolding from the lotus position, he stood and moved to the assigned meeting ce.


    A few people, mostly from the Federation, were already present, but when he saw two mostly-identical men in ck robes, one blue-skinned with green hair, and the other green-skinned with blue hair, he froze. Few people knew of their existence, but Long Zhiyuan was among those privileged few.


    Jai Meng and Jai Xilu. Synoid and Crastor.


    Were Long Zhiyuans heart not already stopped for training purposes, it might have frozen at that moment. No matter their mother had left the battlefield millennia ago, the Lady of Ill Dreams cast a <em>very</em> long shadow, and her children being present utterly petrified him.


    Among those few in the know, wild rumors circted that she had mated with a Nightmare Unicorn, or molded the twins out of the ckness of space, or wrenched them out of the dreams of one of her enemies. Such spection seemed mad, and yet if anyone had managed to seduce a Nightmare Unicorn, an entity barely bound by the normalws of rifts, it would be the Sects Master.


    It was in many ways more usible than imagining the Lady having had children with someone normal. Some people said that she might have had other children, but Long Zhiyuan knew of none of them. Nobody dared peer too closely at the Lady of Ill Dreams, for she had earned her title a million times over during her reign of terror upon the battlefields.


    Even his own Sect Master, at Tier 47, spoke of her with a mixture of fear and trepidation. Even if he himself was <em>likely</em> to be unaffected by her curses, she would surely make him pay for any insolence just as surely as a sect elder being disrespected by some outer disciple.


    If her children were here, it was eminently possible that <em>she</em> was as well, lurking unseen by all, looking to see those who would disrespect her progeny and preparing to inflict mighty vengeance upon those who gave insufficient face. Long Zhiyuan did not know what Tier she was at this moment, but even if she were Tier 25, he would never have a chance to see, let alone challenge her before he was defeated.


    It would be a waste of a clone to even bother simting it, and possibly even dangerous. The Talent diviner had called his clones daydreams, and he dared not challenge the Lady of Ill <em>Dreams</em> in her own domain.


    Nevertheless, he was surprised to see the twins present for such a dangerous mission. When he had learned of their existence, he had been cautioned that their mother had once killed a man, and cursed all the immortals in his entire family, for simply loosing a small measure of killing intent at the same <em>auction</em> as Jai Meng and Jai Xilu.


    What if they died on the battlefield?


    Long Zhiyuan didnt like any of the answers he got from that simtion. Masters were weird and from all reports battle maniacs. He didnt want to know if her ire might fall on the twins'' allies if they fell. For all he knew, she would congratte the actual killers and rip everyone else''s spines out of their backs slowly.


    He made a simtion dedicated to avoiding such responsibility before giving up. If a Master wanted him dead, there was nothing he could do to stop it.


    At least the twins were easy enough to tell apart with sight. Their inverted skin and hair colors more than offset simply how identical they appeared to his spiritual perception and other senses. Though, he would be hard pressed to tell them apart if they were hiding, so he immediately put a clone on working that out.


    With an effort of will, Long Zhiyuan pulled his eyes off the twins and inspected the rest of the people in the room.


    Maven barely bore consideration after her repeated failures, but Gan Le was a fellow former Young Master with a reputation for being invincible. Long Zhiyuan expected such stories were overblown, but the simtions he was running of the man had yet to find a weak point. Time would tell, but he had yet to find any actions which so much as ruffled the mans long, untied ck hair.


    He would, if nothing else, serve as an adequate shield-bearer of sorts, with the ability to share his invincibility with those that he was near.


    Long Zhiyuan also approved of the mansck of visible iris and pupil on his eyes. With some training to disguise the focus of ones spiritual perception, having no obvious visual indication for the direction of the mans gaze would make the mans actions less predictable for an enemy.


    Following his fellow Sect-mates, the Federation individuals were most interesting, albeit mostly in a morbid way. Of the three Great Powers represented, they had sent the most representatives. A group of eight stood iron-faced on one side of the room, while two others lounged on the other side. All ten of them were, of course, the hideous blend of metal and flesh which the Federation debased themselves with, but the stark divide in bearing and position was most interesting.


    The old guard and the new guard.


    The difference was notable enough that Long Zhiyuan wondered if the Federation would end up splitting again. Unlikely, as there was no way a Tier 50 could rise up and challenge the current one, but the obvious divide was interesting.


    From his reports, the eight soldiers were part of some experimental program, with cybeic enhancements to greatly empower them, as well as share that power in certain circumstances. Hed expected something like that to be blindingly obvious to spiritual perception, but the alleged enchantments were so perfectly integrated that he saw no sign they were even there. He saw a handful of metallic graftings, of course, but they were all trivial and typical for the Federation, nothing particrly experimental or powerful. Perhaps the secret was that, like some intelligence had suggested, theyd been first imnted before awakening. Simr concepts seemed to have worked for the ns in the past, and Long Zhiyuan could imagine the Federation uncovering something simr.


    A truly interesting way to develop oneself.


    The other two were far more typical for the Federation, their spirits very obviously showing the joins where their bodies had melded with crude metal, in a twisted attempt to gain the power of metal with none of the discipline. Saziel Omdahl scarcely attempted to hide his bastardized nature, thick silver bands like blocky tattoos tracing his limbs and defacing scarred and stitched flesh. Yet somehow, Eliana Ellrin managed to be simultaneously more and less grotesque.


    Her body was almost entirely machine, a thin veneer of skin running from the top of her head to the upper portion of her torso was the only ostensible remnant of her humanity. A golem-like torso and limbs, a potent yet exposed silver spine, and countless whirring cogs were a tant affront to Long Zhiyuans eyes, yet to his spiritual perception, she shimmered in a not-hideous superposition of wholly woman and wholly item. A side effect of her Talent, no doubt, which was believed to cause her body to be simultaneously artificial and natural, yet always in the way which benefited her the most.


    Undoubtedly, she had been chosen as a foil for Ascender Legion. The Empires newest Masters were remarkably good at fighting entire armies, and that was in part due to Legions ability to turn ones own body, or the body of ones weakest allies, into her own weapons. Yet Eliana was entirely immune to any body or blood-based spells she personally did not desire to affect her.


    That left the Republic fighters.


    First was the duo of Oskar Koita and Valentina Rana, the pair which Long Zhiyuan was most fearful of outside of Synoid and Crastor. Oskar was by his own merits a potent tank and mobility expert, though naturally inferior to Gan Le, but was most valuable when serving as a spotter for Valentina. The woman had a truly <em>terrifying</em> record of reported kills, including of elites. In thest war she fought against the Sects, she had in two Dao Children without them so much as detecting her presence.


    In his simtions, she was always their best chance at killing one of the enemy Masters, and even Long Zhiyuan himself struggled with the hyper long range sniper when he pitted them against each other.


    Ari Kai was no more interesting than before, simply eating an apple with a bored expression on his face, so Long Zhiyuan moved past him to Loel Drisan.


    The woman, wearing a long brown coat and dark sses, was something of an inverse to Valentina. While the sniper focused upon singr overwhelming attacks, Loels magic built upon itself with each cast, gaining strength and a myriad of effects the more she attacked. The exact mechanisms eluded discovery, but it was undeniably most effective when focused upon a single individual. It was frustrating for his clone to practice against her, as a one-on-one mage duel was where she was most potent, but that same strength would make her an adequate ally.


    Long Zhiyuan was even hopeful that she was a half-decent counter against Master Light. In his simtions, the seemingly random secondary effects caught the Master off guard more times than not. Though, that admittedly could be based on the faulty model he had of the man. He would need to see him fight in person, with his techniques and Revtions watching and learning before he could rectify that misconception.


    The final core member of the Harmony ords was Colton Johnston, a second <em>gunslinger</em> from the Republic. It always stymied Long Zhiyuan that the Great Power had such a prevalence of the crude, inferior, expensive weapons. But it was a testament to their fighters that they were as capable as they were with such weak weapons. Colton was leaning against a tree, arge brown hat pulled down to obscure his eyes, and he kept impatiently drawing a small gun from its scabbard at his waist, twirling it around his finger, then recing it in a single motion. While he didnt know of the mans Talent or Revtions, nor did the information that his Sect Master provided reveal them, he had a reputation for lightning-fast precision attacks.


    The man dipped his head slightly as he noticed Long Zhiyuans attention upon him, but if he nned to say anything, he was cut off by a new woman entering the room.


    Her deep purple skin was stretched tight across her bones like someone had attempted to dehydrate her and paused half way through, however, under that feeble appearance was a master of nning that undoubtedly dwarfed his own.


    Supreme General Alicia Fortan red at the collective audience as her eyes darted from person to person. Good, you are all here. Follow.


    While some of the others looked disgruntled at the casual treatment of some of the strongest elites in their respective Great Powers, Long Zhiyuan immediately liked her. Straight and to the point. He and this Republican tactician would probably get along, which made him eager to see what he could learn from observing her.


    As far as his information sources indicated, Alicia had something between a foresight Talent and a simtion Talent. Her own answers were often contradictory in nature, but that only highlighted her battlefield genius.


    While she didnt excel at directing war fronts, any battlefield she was personallymanding was almost guaranteed to win so long as the numbers were rtively even. Even masterful nning couldnt turn a rout around, after all.


    The briefing room they entered was simple and clean with zero artistic touches, which felt a bit too Federation to Long Zhiyuan, but he put his personal feelings aside as he took his seat.


    The moment they were seated, Alicia started speaking. Im sure you all know each other by now. Im sure you will be best friends by the time our training period ends, but before we can start training, we need to learn about our enemies. Obviously, everyone knows bits and pieces of this briefing, so dontin if you see something you already know. If you have something that isn''t covered, do feel free to speak up after that person''s briefing. For the sake of this briefing I will be using Ascender to refer to the Master, yer or diator.


    Immediately, a picture of Masters Light and Shadow appeared in the hologram in the center of the table.


    Ascender Light, Ascender Shadow. This duo is most devastating in small-squad contexts, with overwhelming power leveraged surgically at any and all weak points presented to them. They are versatile, flexible, and nearly impossible to contain.


    We have a pretty good understanding of Ascender Lights capabilities, but knowing what he can do and being able to counter them are two different things. He is a prismatic mage with an unprecedented level of control. He is capable of countering and stealing spells with utmost ease, twisting them and redirecting them in nearly any way he desires, including changing its aspect. Furthermore, he utilizes both arcane and void mana to great effect, though only rarely uses thetter. Any elemental weaknesses will be mercilessly exploited, but even when using no spells his ability with a rapier is not to be underestimated.


    After a stream of data about his capabilities flickered past, the hologram changed to Shadow. Ascender Shadow. Teleporter and spatial maniptor, and incredibly slippery. Weve yet to fully be capable of blocking her teleportation, which implies she has multiple redundant abilities which may be used interchangeably. We have a few methods which we want to try, but go forward with your training under the assumption that she will have ess to some degree of teleportation in every fight. Inbat, she fills the role of a support assassin, directing Lights spells with pinpoint uracy, welding daggers which she can freely control the size and sharpness of, and augmenting her already chaotic movements with shadows for additional uncertainty about where and when she will strike. Furthermore, we strongly suspect that she is attempting to conceal some form of long-range teleportation ability. The exact limits are unknown, but she is at minimum capable of inteary teleportation with mass limits extending up to medium-sized spacecraft.


    Long Zhiyuan cocked his head at that suggestion but hesitantly agreed. The stories of the Ascenders response time and awareness of attacks implied either multiversal-level teleportation or predictive power which rivaled that of the Master Cosmind. If true, it certainly would make scoring an actual kill on one of the enemy Masters nigh-impossible should they wish to escape.


    Their next set of Ascenders, Ascender Titan, Ascender Legion, and Ascender Wraith, are not to be underestimated despite theirparatively new standing. These three may be the most infamous for their potency against entire armies, demolishing hundreds of troops with as much or more ease than most Ascenders facing a singr squad.


    Firstly, Ascender Wraith. She was, by all reports, found as an arctic fox egg bond by Ascender Titan circa Tier 1 or 2, but has since modified her bloodline twice, moving from ice to winter at Tier 10 or 11, and more recently from winter to aurora. Our analysts indicate that she is not content to remain there, and may transition at some point to yet another element. Inbat, she is incredibly elusive and indirect. Expectrge-scale debuffs, potent antimagic, massive illusionary trickster fields, and general tactics designed to harass and disable your strongest abilities. However, she does notck direct offensive options, and most notable are her ability to manifest a skill in the form of an elemental, with corresponding shapes and abilities. She has only ever been seen utilizing two of these simultaneously at any given time, though it is possible her true limit may be higher.


    The image changed to show the redhead of the group. Ascender Legion, who some have taken to calling Immortal. It is our job to prove that assertion wrong. As the daughter of the Empires two Tier 48s, she demonstrated exceptional mastery over fire even as a child. After Awakening, she devoted herself more to the utilization of blood magic, but remains a quite powerful pyromancer. Inbat, she acts as a nigh-invulnerable berserker, draining the blood from those she wounds or kills. This blood is either consumed by herself or her weapons for additional strength, or usurped to empower further spells she casts, such as forming clones with nearly the full strength of the original.


    A recording from a Federation soldier showed Ascender Legion explode out of the body of a Federation woman. Then they watched as Legion flowed around the attack of an ambushing soldier before she started cutting into everyone around her as more and more clones appeared.


    Expect blood curses, swarm tactics, and insidious poisons from her primarily, but do not underestimate the breadth of abilities she has demonstrated mastery with. She is an excellent pyromancer, and can certainly match any hydromancer with her grasp of kic blood skills. However, she does seem to maintain a spiritual connection to all blood under her control, giving it a strong resistance to most anti-magic tactics.


    The image changed to a blond man. Finally, Ascender Titan. A former no-name, he has proven to be an exceptionally potent generalist, with impressive physical and magical cultivation. His primary focus, however, appears to be on self-buffs and enhancing his longsword skills. We have identified both [Regeneration] and [Archmages Presence] skills active, making him devastating in closebat, but he certainly does notck for ranged ability either.


    A recording of the Master firing a crude [Pir Of Pure Annihtion And Destruction] and cutting through dozens of soldiers before the recording changed to an unrefined [I Shatter The Walls With My Might] many timesrger than even a group casting should have been able to manage. Then the image showed one Long Zhiyuan was familiar with, and he once more watched the Master take a core detonation to the face and return to the fight just momentster. It was a feat he was still trying to replicate in his simtions.


    He is also a master of high-mana spells. The [Breach] in that recording contained over a hundred million mana, and was utilized as an opening move. Current analysis suggests he might have a Talent which allows for lossless absorption of mana stones, though there remains the possibility that it is simply cover for an alternative source of mana, such as one of his teammates or his armor. It is possible to drain mana from him, but this seems to be of negligible impact to him. Inbat, expect simple overwhelming power behind both his sword and his skills. He utilizes fairly straightforward elemental effects to devastating effect, though favors lightning and neutral-mana spells, and utilizes a suit of power armor second only to those of the Pdins.


    Alicias sunken eyes flicked over the group. I expect all of your utmost focus to be upon defeating these five individuals, as well as the suite of elites they travel with. Are there any questions?


    Long Zhiyuan only had one. When do we start?

 Chapter 312

    Chapter 312


    Matt forced out a weary smile as more of Team Zero trudged into the meeting room. He was the only one who did so, however. Even Aster and Allie dropped almost reluctantly into their seats, not even making a basic attempt to provide some amount of amusement to the group. Theyd been on a bit of a trendtely of dressing up in unusual ways, starting with theming into the meeting dressed as one another, and gradually shifting into other members of the group. Theyd even ventured into some cartoon characters and so forth, always trying to one-up the previous ensemble. Last time, theyde in wearing basically nothing- Aster had been more modestly dressed between the two of them, and the only thing shed been wearing was her tiara- so he was kind of curious how theyd out-do <em>that</em>.


    But it seemed that this time, theyd finally broken their streak. He couldnt really me them, though. It had only been ten hours since they got back from theirst deployment, a far cry from the week they normally had during trips to the base.


    The war was the war. Once the novelty had worn off and theyd gotten thest shipments of their gear and skills, it had shifted from fun, to a bit tedious, to pure, unbridled monotony <em>fast</em>. And it stayed that way for nearly seventy years. It didnt help that Command was having them stay out almost constantly, reinforcing and pushing back siege after siege, after siege after siege.


    The only times they got breaks were after a battle at or adjacent to a system which Allie already had a waypoint at, and even those were almost never more than a day real-time, after which theyd pack back up and get back to the front lines.


    Once in a while, theyd get something a bit more exciting, if the alliance arrayed against the Empire decided to send a small group of elites for a push into Empire territory, but that was rare these days. Two sets of Ascenders was simply too much for any group of elites to handle, and theyd just stoppeding out to y.


    By this point, most of the same Tier armies simply surrendered as they arrived, even the Sects. The prideful little part of Matt wanted to believe their enemies surrendered because of how strong they were. But in truth, they surrendered because it took longer to capture and secure that many troops than killing them did, which wasted more of their time.


    The higher Tier armies still tried to resist, but Tier 26 or Tier 27 enemies just couldnt stop them without a good number of at least low level elites. They couldnt even go off-script or get in a good fight once in a while, only adding to the monotony. Fighting higher-Tier footsoldiers was just boring, trying to siege a was tedious, and there werent any proper same-Tier pinnacle elites for them <em>to</em> fight. At least, not on this side of the Empire.


    Even Duke Waters was getting tired of the war. They hadnt seen him in decades, but theyd all gotten exasperated reports from both him and theirmanding officers. Their senior had shed with Maya Embers and Yun Me twice each, with an even record versus each of them, which only seemed to irritate him further. He''d been explicitly told not to give chase to them if he caught wind of their presence. He disobeyed that order regrly, but they just kept melting away before he could properly confront them, and usually in a way that meant wherever hed been heading or defending got reinforcements, worsening the overall war effort.


    Allie had taken to <em>aggressively</em> cking off in her spare time, with Aster doing simrly, albeit with fewer propositions. Meanwhile, Liz and Zack had been just as aggressively trying to get their projects done. Matt would like to think that he had just been doing what he was told, when he was told, like a perfect soldier but he was <em>definitely</em> as irritable as the others.


    His frustration was borne more from thepleteck of apparent progress they were making than anything else, but it was there nheless. No matter how many forts they took, sieges they broke, or convoys they sabotaged, it felt like trying to plug leaks in a dam with one''s fingers.


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    The moment they left one area to repel attackers in another world, another army moved into the area they just liberated.


    Intellectually, Matt knew that meant things would be that much worse without their assistance, but saying that didnt change the fact that the war fronts were getting pushed in day by day, month by month, year by year. If the generals hadnt pointed out all the ways in which the war would have already been lost without their constant intervention, there was a nonzero chance he would just go diving deep into the Sect backlines, wreck a few fortresses, have some actual fun. There was no way that Maven would stop avoiding them if he were closing in on their capitals, but he just couldnt bring himself to do so in good conscience.


    The current projections said the enemies would reach King Rustys capital in seventy, or at most a hundred years if nothing changed. If that happened and the regional capital fell, it would be the first in any Great Power to fall in almost two hundred thousand years. The rumor mill said the fall of the local capital would signify the end of the war, but Matt didnt know how true that was, and neither did anyone else. It was all just meaningless spection at the end of the day.


    It was hard to remember sometimes that this entire war, all the lives lost, and all thes possibly changing ownership, was effectively a game to the Tier 50s, and the Emperor might very well cut his losses if Rustys capital fell. If that happened, it was expected the other Great Powers would take seven or eights deep on their shared borders. That meant hundreds ofs changing hands.


    Matt really didnt want to have such an oue, but he didnt have an answer of how to stop it. There was only so much they could do, even as Ascenders, without taking out the enemies elites.


    That was why their fleeing instead of fighting was so frustrating. As callous as it was, the Great Powers cared more about a single pinnacle elite than they did a hundred armies. The armies could be reced with time, as with enough training, any Tier 25 could reach the minimum standard. But each pinnacle elite was uniquely capable and nearly impossible to perfectly rece. If Team Zero could fight and kill or capture enough of them, the enemy Great Powers might be willing toe to the table sooner. If they had a Tier 40 world under their control, they would demand a correspondinglyrge ransom to give it back, which the popce of the border worlds would end up paying.


    Arthur and Zack were thest to arrive, and as they took their seats, Matt tried to sit up a bit straighter, only to be dragged back into a slouch by Liz as she refused to stop leaning against him. Amusingly, Susanne loosely mirrored the action as Zack took his seat next to hers, resting her head on his shoulder.


    It was the most public affection hed seen between them since theyd started dating years ago, but he wasnt too surprised. They probably hadnt gotten any alone time before the emergency meeting had been called, considering they hadnte in together.


    Darrow had a solid poker face, but Matt knew that their team leader was just as annoyed at the rest of them. Their current rest was being interrupted because Well, it sounded like an army had been hiding out and hadid siege to the theyd left the literal <em>second</em>, if the timelines in Matts head were correct, theyd returned to the fort. They suspected some kind of abstract danger sense ability.


    Regardless of the why, h h war, h h chase them out, h h take prisoners, h h ooh, time off?


    <em>Everyone</em> perked up at that, but Darrow held up his hands. Dont get too excited. Its <em>technically</em> just a dyed enjoyment of your current break but I was able to persuade them to give you an extra rest day, and not count what you just had as any kind of rest. So, sixteen rift-days off when we get back.


    That announcement led to actual cheers, mainly from Sebastian, and raised everyones spirits enough to actually start chatting again as they loaded up for deployment.


    Im still stumped at how to get blood and fire to work together. Nothing is stable. Any mana type we try just falls apart. It seems literally impossible. Even the researchers are getting nowhere.


    Matt just nodded along as Lizined. It was hardly the first time shed vented about it, but it just didnt feel like they were making progress. Theyd evenmandeered Erwins mana researchers after Zack finished creating his fast mana- these days called travel mana- but even with decades of progress and weeks of Matts mana generation, they had only really figured out that it would need a third element for stability. The current top contenders were emotion, lightning, spectral, and crystal, but it was slow going.


    The big problem was that nobody was entirely certain what the end result would <em>be. </em>Liz was mainly hoping for either lightning or crystal, as those would most closely cleave to her current use of the element. Adding lightning hypercharged the mana, making it an incredibly potent shape for attack spells, while crystal stabilized it and made it better for solid constructs. Emotion helped out its more gue-like and contagious effects, while spectral weirdly made it better at healing.


    It was the opposite problempared to travel mana, which they had a singr effect in mind for, and all attempts were to orient everything to that goal. Personally, Matt felt that they were making good progress, especiallypared to how long it had taken them to make travel mana; let alone the difficulties ongoing with making his crystals into talismans. But his wife was in a rush.


    Still, it was nice to spend some time together and Matt didnt mind Lizining for some of it.


    Because of the fairly mundane nature of the fight, they didnt bother giving themselves their full, maximum level of buffing. Sure, Darrow extended his Intent through all of them, Matt focused his Concepts buffing effect on Liz, Stick and Stones domains settled over them, Bulwark cast his group buffs, and they all used their respective self-buffs, but most of their consumables were left in the war chest.


    It was only a Tier 26 battleground, no known notable elites, and while that meant they couldnt <em>ck off</em>, their innate abilities were more than enough should the army even decide to fight. Using the expensive potions, temporary buffing runes, and single-use blessing stones for something like this was just a waste, which made it even <em>more</em> boring.


    They popped into existence in a hidden spaceport on thes surface, sting out by phasing directly <em>through</em> the still-closed ceiling, then into the atmosphere and the space beyond. As they did so, Matt overcharged his AI to ess the civilians and pick up whatever he could about the ongoing battle, too early to have truly started swinging one way or another.


    Strictly speaking, what he was doing was illegal, but it was also impossible to prove.


    With the final checkpoint passed on the behind them, Drifter mmed her throttle all the way forward and <em>flew</em> towards the besieged war world.


    A simple just barely inside the local star''s stable gravity well, it served as a safe ce for the Great Powers to wage wars with each other while not involving the many civilians whose lives would be lost if Tier 25s foughtrge scale battles among them.


    Exiting the ship, Matt broadcast a message for surrender but stopped bothering as spells started flying at him.


    With a wave he cast a [Bulwark]rge enough to cover himself, the rest of the team, and the ship. Fifty years ago, he would have struggled to cast such arge spell, but now it was second nature.


    Instead of immediately firing back, he waited to see what his allies did.


    Lizs phoenix body led the charge, riding a wave of blood-red mes with a triumphant screech. Shortly behind that body, her human form also changed into bird form and took off with a p of her wings.


    So <em>that</em> was how this would go.


    Boosting his physical body, Matt darted forward alongside Susanne.


    As part of their efforts to make the war less dull and repetitive, they had started fighting with limited kits or with abilities they rarely used. It was good training couched as apetition.


    Liz frequently tried fighting in only a single form, or without using blood magic, or while only using her [Feather Armory] pseudoskill-weapon. She tried limiting herself to only puppetting the blood in her opponents bodies, or more recently to only using only bloodline abilities from her lemon tree. This time, it looked like it was going to be abination of fire magic only while in phoenix form. Matt thought for a moment, then decided he was going to use skills as little as possible.


    It was definitely enjoyable to fight alongside Susanne again. Since shed joined Team Zero, shed joined himself and Eric as the groups primary frontliners, and it was fun reminiscing about Minka while tearing into higher-Tier fighters to everyone else''s annoyance.


    Spinning, Matt dodged a line of arrows before dashing through the rapid fire attack to stab a glowing Federation fighter in the chest.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition.


    His bones started glowing, but Matt had already dealt with the phenomenon enough that he wasnt surprised. The Federation and their rune boosting program, while interesting, could only make the average soldier so much stronger than they were before, and it didnt do anything for their training instincts or habits.


    Ducking and then bobbing left, Matt dodged the [Fist st]s the man sent out.


    Twisting his de and pulling, Matt bisected the man. He was prepared to follow the move with a thrust, but the man sent his surrender, so Matt turned and caught a spear that was being thrust into his back.


    At the same time, a wave of spells flew at him, but Matt didnt cast any more defensive spells. He just flew forward, shoving the spearman into another group of Federation soldiers.


    Matt cursed as he took a grazing hit along his right shoulder. His armor stopped it entirely cold, of course, but before he could even indicate it, a message from Allies [AI] gave him one demerit, which put him inst ce.


    Mildly irritated that he was now losing their bet, Matt red his Concept. Repulsive force built in the blink of an eye, then released in a single overwhelming shockwave.


    The soldiers near him were sent reeling as their weapons and armor were destroyed.


    Susanne slid in front of him, trailing a silvery line in the wake of her sword, brimming with destructive energy. Her current restriction was that she couldnt use her sword directly, but instead, could only use her Tier 25 Talent, the ability to write on anything, as her weapon. It wasnt as impossible as it sounded, as shed managed to get the sword-strokes to be just as sharp as her actual de, but it still required creative maneuvering and positioning to really make work.


    It wouldnt break through his armor, but he still made sure to dodge out of the way of the stroke.


    Matt was not going to lose another point.


    Darrow passed along a request for a lot of fire mana from Zack, and Matt obliged. [Dragonme] flooded out of his armors cannon, magical threads permeating it from Dena as her Domain helped weave the spell from Matt to Zack. His fellow Ascender swirled it counterclockwise, focusing it into a white-hot miniature sun, and heunched it so fast that it left afterimages.


    Zacks personal restriction was fairly simple. Any skill he personally used had to be exclusively travel mana-aspected, and he couldnt request any non-energy spells from the rest of the group topensate for that limit.


    It was an amusingly subtle restriction. Back when hed first started practicing with travel mana, Zack had won fourpetitions in a row through some variation of applying a maximum-speed travel spell to rocks and metal, or transforming a travel [Mana Bolt] to metal in the instant before it struck its target. Then theyd unanimously agreed that it was too boring, and Zack moved on to more challenging permutations.


    Last battle, hed used travel mana to rapidly elerate random body parts, literally causing some of their opponents, mostly those with insufficient flexibility cultivation, to tear themselves apart. It was impressive, but impractical even by their standards, and he was working on a different application for travel mana today.


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    A non teleporting Allie flew past Matt, diving in and out of groups ofbatants just long enough to stab a few in vital ces, get a few surrenders, and leave to do it with another group of enemies.


    Matt backhanded ance of mana, the spell splintering against his Stygian Gossamer-enhanced hand and armor, and used the momentum it provided to dodge to the side, out of the way of a barrage of attacks that threemanders trying to pincer him had unleashed.


    One lightning bolt came a bit close forfort, and he needed to engage his repulsion in maximum deflection mode to avoid it, but he sessfully managed to avoid losing another point. Right now, only he and Dena had a single unintended hit to their names, and if he was going to lose, he would make sure it was at least a tie.


    With a sh of channeled mana through his Tier 25 talent and a few moments of intense concentration, a sculpture of mana stone in the shape of a small rune appeared. His Bifate Pair-Linker appeared in his hand for an instant, linking it with a pair of small metal tes tucked into a storage container in his armor. The talisman thuspleted, he activated it and sent off a [Firebolt]-like spell the size of Joys ship.


    Matt still hadnt been able to instantaneously create an <em>entire</em> talisman, but he always did his best practice while fighting, so hed been using his BPL more and more inbat to better refine his mana control, linking premade arrays to ever-moreplex sets of mana crystal. By andrge, he could only change some of the lessplex parameters on the fly, but manifesting a runic array in mere instants midfight, with no stabilization or tools beyond the absolute basics, was neat enough.


    The efficiency was at least decent, though anything he created on the fly wasnt the same quality as his own skills. Still, it was good enough that even a <em>rtively</em> small amount of mana could have some pretty massive effects.


    Part of his ongoing improvements meant using the manapressing formation any time his spirit was fully healed. In fact, he was almost ready for another round of condensing, and while the process still sucked, its improvements were indisputable.


    The concentration array was another one of his projects that Matt didnt have enough time to dedicate his AI to. It was absolutely invaluable, helping him bring his mana concentration to a point where it was more potent than a stiff breeze, but it still had its limits. Specifically, its efficiency kept going down. Instead of crunching his mana into a morepact form, he was just <em>losing</em> some of that mana, with it being shorn off from his spirit to no gain before the formation took affect. He could get it back no problem thanks to the nature of his Talent, but with every use, the amount that was lost for no gain kept increasing. Eventually, he would be getting essentially nothing from scouring his spirit, and the concentration array would be useless for him.


    That wouldnt happen for thousands of years and thousands of uses, but Matt was slowly learning to think like an immortal and nning for such far out eventualities. There were some models which suggested that the diminishing returns <em>might</em> reset, or at least loosen, when he Tiered up, but it wasnt really possible to tell at this point. Fortunately, his Intent passively concentrated his mana entirely on its own. It was incredibly slow, but it meant that no matter what happened, he would keep growing stronger entirely on his own merits.


    Compared to his fresh Tier 25 self, who could only make five million mana into a head sized sphere, Matt could now put that much mana into a fist sized sphere. That meant the talisman, which he had cast the <em>simple</em> [Fire Bolt], contained eight million mana, and he hadnt even needed to stop casting his other spells to do it.


    One of the things Matt had trulye to grips with over thest century-ish was that his Talent wasnt abat Talent. For all of its immense power, it only <em>incidentally</em> made him good atbat. It didnt make his skills hit harder directly, it didnt help him supernaturally bypass defenses, nor did it give him fantastic insight as to the <em>perfect</em> ce to hit. Of course, he hit hard enough that it usually didnt <em>matter</em>, but while going from 10 mana to 1,000 might increase its power by a factor of fifteen, going from 1,000 mana to 1,000,000 mana might only quadruple the power, while simultaneously making the spell thousands of times harder to actually cast and keep contained.


    That was the entire reason mana concentration was so useful, despite the fact that investing in it lowered one''s mana regen and max mana. Increasing mana concentration made the spell itself more efficient. Even Matt, who had more mana than he knew what to do with, found his own sweet spot with spell cost and efficiency. Sure his sweet spot was higher than everyone else''s, but he wasnt making use of all of his mana.


    But spot-charged talismans helped change that.


    So did his power armor.


    It had been refined a few times in the intervening decades, small tweaks to the original design, usually in favor of giving him far, <em>far</em> more power in exchange for drastically less efficiency. Sometimes it felt like half the mana he put into it was just there to offset the fact that almost no Tier 25 materials could properly handle ten to twenty million mana per second.


    In truth, it was probably more.


    But while Matts talent wasnt abat talent, it was genuinely unparalleled when it came to making mana. That fed into his spirit both literally and metaphorically, empowering his Domain- especially his Concept- to a truly absurd degree. And in the past several decades, hed taken that connection, and with the help of One Step Behind, refined it into something truly great. He wasnt quite a sovereign of mana, but he <em>had</em> picked up a few tricks.


    His favorite was making a trick hed picked up in Minka useful after all these years.


    Mana flowed out from him, but as he raised his hand, a small sphere of power began gathering above his open palm, a white hole running in reverse. It wasnt a <em>ck</em> hole; he was still working on adapting his Intents gravity maniption to function with mana. And besides, calling on his Intent would cut Liz off from the buff he was providing with his Concept. But it still pulled in on all the mana in a wide area.


    What once sought to steal mana directly from spirits now snaked out and attacked spells directly, almost intelligently seeking out weak points in their spells, their gear, even their imnts, and pulling on it <em>viciously</em>.


    Zack was the only mage he knew that could basically shrug off the effect, but for anyone without Luna for a tutor, spells copsed and were swiftly devoured, their remnants copsing violently within the spirits of the enemy casters. This being the Federation, plenty of those skills werent within their spirits, but within pseudoskill enchantments imnted into their bodies. It meant that several of the opposing soldiers found their cybeics malfunctioning, and in one particrly dramatic instance, exploding and taking the womans hand it was imnted in with it.


    Then, because he had a big ball of mana in his hand that needed <em>something</em> done with it, he threw it at a nearby defensive structure, blowing a massive hole in the side of it as the mana violently detonated.


    Matt had several follow ups they had practiced, but he didnt use any of them and instead resumed his melee attacks.


    Matt, that counts as using a spell.


    Allie''s voice chirped into their group chat, but Matt already had his rebuttal ready. And teleporting mid-fight to get a snack is teleporting. If we want to start cou


    It''s very different. Getting a snack isnt rted tobat.


    Matt was concentrating on defeating a group of five melee soldiers who were less affected by his removing the mana in the area, but Liz backed him up. I seem to remember someone saying they were powered by snacks and therefore snacks were a necessary part of allbat supplies.


    Caught by her own words, Allie lied through her teeth. I only said that because Aster is a snacker and needs her treats. She''s like a puppy and gets grumpy if she isnt plied with snacks.


    Excuse me! Are you calling me a dog?


    No, I called you a puppy. It''s different.


    No it''s not, you teleporting, backstabbing, bitch!


    Seeing that her mark on him was overwhelmingly rejected by the others, Matt stopped paying attention to her and instead looked to where Liz was fighting a group of Federation soldiers in phoenix form.


    While there was little sign of the warpaint that his wife usually traced out on herself across her armored feathers, the multicolored mes surrounding her were a literally sure-fire way to tell that she was channeling... That looked like six different bloodlines at once, as well as Asters cold fire, an application of the foxs Concept which Liz was borrowing thanks to a blood contract.


    Really, Liz was terrifying in the best way, simply because of how <em>unapproachable</em> she was as abatant. Trying to outnumber her was a losing proposition, as any body thrown at her was simply more fuel for her spells. Trying to outmatch her in physicalbat was also a terrible idea, because she could outnumber, outmuscle, and out<em>skill</em> just about everyone. Trying to attack her with magic just meant shed infect you with some terrible draining-sh-wasting blood curse that allowed her to form a clone within your veins, after which shed assume human form, discing the space that your body <em>should</em> have been taking up.


    Even if shed eased back a bit on the clones following a minor crisis of identity about fifty years ago, she still <em>constantly</em> had at least three distinct bodies active at any given time, and wouldnt hesitate to push that up to a hundred and fifty in short doses. Even still, she was working on slowly trying to up that literal body count, specifically by seeing how possible it would be for her to act as Matts blood full-time.


    Current status was an incredibly uncertain, maybe.


    Her wings were iridescent with all the colors of the rainbow as white-hot, blood-red, icy-blue, and a particrly sickly shade of purple mes washed over her foes, leaving them burned, exsanguinated, frostbitten, and rapidly necrotizing. .


    Those who survived that had to deal with ming feathers being shot at them. Lizs [Feather Armament] was doubly effective in phoenix form and she used them to great effect.


    Someone managed to get in close to her and smashed her bird form with a massive hammer, but the blood that burst out like a squashed melon simply reformed into a phoenix. A now angry Liz pped her wings and darted at the man, piercing a hole through his chest.


    Happy he was no longer inst ce, Matt pretended not to hear Lizsining and instead turned to wrap up the battle as fast as possible.


    Once they had defeated most of the officers, the general troops epted the offer of surrender which ended the one sided fight, but forced them to sit around while the army stationed on the previously besieged came up and secured the prisoners.


    Matt had once asked why they didnt just keep all the prisoners until the enemy ran out of troops, which could end the war sooner thanter, but he had been given an annoyingly hard to argue with answer. The wars had once been fought exactly like that, and wars had be far more brutal, with each Great Power unwilling to allow their soldiers to surrender. Things had eventually progressed until the point that the Great Powers were imnting their troops with curses that their officers could activate in case the lower ranking troops tried to mutiny. After several wars where the Great Powers had close to sixty percent casualties, they had changed the rules so that any surrendered troops were to be ransomed back to their respective Great Powers as soon as possible, while the individual troops couldn''t fight for a mutually agreed upon time not longer than a decade.


    That old ruling was in fact why the Sects rarely allowed their general troops to surrender. It had been a necessity, but now, it gave their troops an edge on the rest of the fighters despite leading to higher than normal casualties.


    It was a trade-off they were willing to make.


    Once the troops were shipped off, they made their way to the next system where they were met with immediate surrender. But the third, oddly enough, decided to fight.


    As the Republic army was only Tier 25, it seemed like an odd choice. But sometimes a general got a bug and thought they could do what no one else had managed, thus refusing to surrender.


    It took a couple hours, but just as they were clearing out thest of the space fortifications, a new ship appeared near the inhabited.


    At first, Matt thought Joy''s sensors must be wrong, as there was no way the ship could be thatrge, but as the details came in, the information was corroborated by secondary and tertiary sources removing any doubt.


    With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Matt watched as the ship elerated impossibly fast, which made Matt noticed just how far the ship had appeared away from the inhabited, indicating chaotic space engines leagues beyond what even Joy''s ship had.


    They didnt need General Darrow to call them together to know something bad was about to happen.


    Matt wasnt afraid, but rather interested.


    After decades of monotony, this was something new.


    They floated there over the as the ship approached. As it flew ster north it disgorged fivepanies of corporation mercenaries, one of which Matt recognized. The moment he did, he snarled at what it implied.


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    Just secondster, he got his answer as Maven led fourteen people out of the ship.


    Flexing his left hand, Matt couldn''t help but smile.


    It had been too long, and he had been saving [Mana w] especially for Maven. She had even brought the team of people who the Great Powers had been training to counter them.


    But she wouldnt be escaping today, no matter how many friends she brought with her.


    The enemy the other Great Powers had cobbled together to counter them, The Harmony ords, had finally arrived.

 Chapter 313

    Chapter 313


    Aiden gave his best feral grin as he crushed the final elite in the army that had been attempting to besiege the fortress below. Enough so that it forced a surrender out of him, which caused a <em>wave</em> of simr surrenders to follow.


    They had been ready for him, in that the members of the army immediately pulled back while their elites tried to wound him enough to force a retreat. As much as he wished that such things would be impossible in truth, he was tired. So, so tired. He was, on average, using more willpower than he recovered in each of his fights. Sure, he was <em>living the life</em>, and while the whispers of terror that preceded him helped it couldnt fight all his battles for him. Which meant he needed to pace himself.


    It made for a fun challenge, seeing just <em>how</em> little he could do before he had to retreat, but it also got old after a while. Especially when the answer was so often nothing. Maya had been taunting him with mboyant recordings of huge disys of power, but she and Yun Me were on the offensive and outnumbered him, able to strike only when and where they wanted, driving daggers into the heart of the Empire. He, on the other hand, was plodding along, trying to stop a thousand leaks that multiplied every time he blinked.


    Really, what was even the <em>point</em> of the armies if they just kept retreating? h h, something something consolidation and losses and overwhelming odds and strategy and whatever. They werent winning, and that was up to him and the kids. In fact, he still felt like a kid. Specifically, the time hed tried to push the ocean back as the tide wasing in with his bare hands. Fun to y in the surf, but it just left you wet, cold, and tired by the end of the day.


    Granted, a bout against Maya could actually be bracing at this point. A <em>proper</em> challenge might be just what the medic ordered. Yun Me could do fine too, but she wasnt as fun. The defenses needed to survive like a million years had left the Unyielding Anvil basically impossible to kill. Beatable, yes. Kible less so. <em>Maybe</em> he could manage it, if he really went all out but maybe not. His desire to <em>win</em> was definitely less than his desire to not lose, and any fight of that level would leave both fighters bloody and broken by the end, no matter who won.


    Eh, it didnt matter. She wasnt going to fight him soon, she was too far away. Maya <em>was</em> close enough, but he hoped he could win. He rocked a solid maybe four out of ten win rate in a straight, fair fight against the older woman. Not that either of them would deign to <em>give</em> a fair fight, because strategy, setup, and timing was how the game was yed. He just wished he could be the one surfing the tides today, but the ocean gave and the ocean took.


    But wishes were like


    Nothing came to mind.


    Surrenders rolled in like a wave, and nothing happened. The moment after that, nothing happened. The moment after <em>that</em>, Aiden looked off to the side and blinked. Are you going to show yourself, or should Ie and get you?


    From the other side, he felt someone appear who immediately snarked back, Wrong side fuck nut.


    Carefully searching, Aiden internally cursed. He had been saying simr challenges for thest while, expecting an ambush. But the time he was right, and there was a hidden attacker, he had picked the wrong side. How embarrassing.


    He snorted, You just waited until after I looked to manifest, didnt you?


    He spun to face Maya. The blond woman reclined against a pile of pillows on a probably-not-real pnquin, with two definitely-not-real overly muscled men rubbing her exposed thighs. Said thighs, of course, were exposed due to her mini skirt hitched up very nearly to the bottom of her torso, tantalizingly close to being outright indecent, but categorically incapable of showing any more than she wanted it to. Still, the promise of the hidden was <em>incredibly</em> alluring.


    Aidenughed as he felt the ensorcellment try to drag his mind under. Breaking the power, he leaned to the side like he was trying to peek under her skirt while giving his best leer.


    Instead of trying to hide anything, Maya sighed as the men vanished and her clothes unveiled their true form.


    The tight top that looked as though a stiff breeze might tear it spun, settling into body armor of gold-marbled white. The skirt danced on the edge of Aidens perceptions, ring out then falling to ankle-length, while the shadows on her legs toughened into a glossy obsidian. She swept aside a lock of hair from the left side of her hair, and half of her golden hair blurred first into an almost-crown, before settling into a full-head helmet with a golden plume. She brushed her hands off, revealing dark gray gloves as though her skin was merely makeup over her true body of highly enchanted armor.


    Her hair still flowed freely from under her helmet, though. That was the one part of her body that Aiden knew she <em>actually</em> cared about. Everything else was just an illusion, an affectation to normality that hid the monster deep below. Aiden was <em>decently</em> certain she didnt even truly care about <em>what</em> people thought about her, so long as it was different from her reality. Some people wore a mask, others were the mask, but Maya was the act of wearing itself.


    About time Maya. Ive been trying to kick your ass for years now. You ran at Temma sixty years ago.


    Maya spat off to the side. That fight was bullshit Aiden, fuck you. You brought an ocean to a space battle. Who does that? This time, I made sure you couldn''t prepare for me. And dont pretend that that one victory changes the fact Im still ahead.


    Brave words from the woman four Tiers stronger than me. Aiden grinned as she scowled. And attacking me <em>right</em> after a battle, too? If youre going to bring up the ocean, which,e on, thats my job... I dont suppose youve got a spare, oh I dunno, half-dozen mana potions I could have shoved up your skirts?


    Nah nah nah, youre not distracting me with that. First you gotta tell me if youre at peak 31 yet, ready to Tier up mid-fight and get me that way? I wont be taken advantage of like that, go use Yun Me for that.


    You wish. I wish too, but that''s besides the point. And like, the best ambush predators lurk <em>just</em> below the surface. But you mention Yun Me, should we be expecting her? I can do dinner for two if thats what you want, but its rude to spring a friendst-minute. Aiden was <em>decently</em> certain Yun Me couldnt have made it to this sector yet, given herst known location, but he did need to know how this fight would go.


    Thankfully, Maya was a proper Ascender.


    Na, maybe next time. But right now, little man? Its just you and me. Just as it should be, you and me. Aiden watched as the armor started to turn into mist, revealing shes of flesh, and Maya pressed a hand to her mouth which failed to cover her smirk. What would your wife think? Maybe shed like to join?


    Snorting, Aiden blinked through the mental effect. Madea would have you on your knees in minutes. You wont be talking so much shit when your mou


    The world came into sharp focus, and Aiden was instantly in the depths. The pressure was overwhelming, but most pertinent was the arrow inches from his head. He didnt bother to move, instead allowing the clone hed been speaking through to lose its head, then pulled the arrow into the inky ckness. It vanished from the battlefield, then from reality as its illusion unraveled. He was left with a core of lightning, which was rapidly snuffed out. The clone reformed itself, water un-boiling with a cheeky wink.


    Aidenughed as his power started to bubble and boil like an angry tea kettle.


    His soreness and exhaustion were swept away with the overwhelming feeling of <em>life</em>.


    This was what he lived for.


    The fight.


    The battle.


    The line between life and death that only came when you were fighting the impossible.


    His eyes met Mayas through her helm and he saw the same look reflected from his own.


    There was nothing better than finding your match.


    He detonated the clone, a sphere of water quickly expanding in every direction and dismantling Mayas illusionary double as another Aiden emerged from the depths, a droplet of water materializing and morphing into a Duke Waters exactly where thest one had been.


    He lost control over a few molecules of water up and to the left of him, so Aiden sent a follow-up attack to the front and right, and to the back and left. The one behind him sshed against something impermeable, so Aidens follow-up was to his front and right. As a [Washing A-Wave], it broke Mayas concealing illusion and revealed a grin every bit as manic as his own.


    Come now Aiden. Let me pay you back for ourst spat.


    You wish!


    Maya twirled a golden staff, mming it into her other hand with a thump, and the space around them pulsed. Its <strong>Just You and Me</strong>.


    A <em>twang</em> on the fabric of reality rang out, Maya setting a new Rule of engagement. The power swept away her own surrendered countrymen, spiriting them away to outside the battle. This would be just him and Maya, and that meant no more clones, apparently, and Aidens second false body fell apart. His true body surfaced from beneath the surface, a ssh of water apanying him as he was dragged into reality. Maya stayed where she was, indicating it <em>was</em> her real body.


    Maybe. Probably. She was every bit as affected by nket rules as everyone else was, but she was the only one who knew the exact limits. She could drop them at any time without him knowing, bluff their activation, or work through loopholes that she herself had put there.


    It was like fighting awyer, but more fun because you could [Water Bullet] her. Unless she said otherwise, of course.


    Maya twirled a wand like a conductors baton, and golden threads coalesced into a snake that struck at Aiden, silver venom dripping from its meter-long fangs. It bit down, meeting a bubble around Aiden, and while his Intents anchor deformed and bent, it didnt pop.


    Another bubble manifested around the snake, pulling it into a trap before it popped itself into a mass of seafoam. As the primary bubble around him also popped, Aiden pulled the rest of the foamy mass into a mantle and cape along with a long beard made out of bubbles, plus borate white eyebrows. Because he could.


    A single Ha, popped up in the Ascender group chat, confirming that someone was streaming the fight. Maybe someone was hiding in the shadow of one of the gas giants deeper in the system. There was usually <em>some</em> retiree hanging around any particrly good fights involving an active Ascender, providing a recording for everyone to heckle - andb over for new tricks they could steal for themselves, of course. It wouldnt be Sien streaming this one, so maybe it was Max or L?.


    Aiden bowed and fell a hundred feet, allowing a wall of me sweep over where he had been, then Aiden summoned his staff to hand and swept himself atop a giant wave, crashing down on Maya. He aimed himself directly on her head, giving the diator the choice between getting hit by his spell and his foot. Given he was a mage, she should obviously take his boot over his spell.


    Maya, s, knew what his boots did and chose the wave. One day, hed get her again.


    She swept forward, and Aiden kept the momentum going by expanding the wave into an ocean and bringing it down on her. She was swept away by the millions of tons of water, at least until she set forth a gargledw that she couldnt be moved.


    He immediately flooded the water with mana, turning it into a host of skills and spells that mmed into Mayas body.


    Her arm broke into golden motes, and Aiden quickly reoriented to find her true location. If he understood her extant rule correctly - and it <em>was</em> still in effect, as he found [Summon Mana Monster] didnt want to work - that meant her duplicate still needed to be her in some way. He guessed it was some amount of mana, reserved and now dispersed under his attack.


    Before she could revoke her immovability rule, he flooded the battlefield with mist and sent out three different forms of detection pulse - sonar, proprioceptive, and sh-boiling. That returned an area where his proprioception returned something that his sonar and temperature-change feedback disagreed with, and Aiden swept that area with an enormous torrent of water.


    She changed it into a breeze. It was still a <em>lot</em> of air, so she didnt get the visual of her hair gently blowing in the breeze she was obviously hoping for. Instead she looked like she stuck her head outside of a moving train, but it still parted around her harmlessly. That breeze then hardened into strips of golden fabric, which whipped around, hardened into spears, and struck like lightning.


    Aidens seafoam cape sprang into action, blunting the attack enough that a more traditional [Abyssal Ation] could protect him the rest of the way. It still chunked his already-low mana, so Aiden manifested a small ss of ocean and chugged it.


    When the steam cleared in the wake of the lightning-ocean sh, Aiden was reclined in midair, then raised a toast to his coworker. Maya returned the gesture with a martini ss, then flicked the olive from her drink with a wink. Instantly, it vanished from where she was and appeared directly above Aidens head, only now it was easily three times as big as he was.


    He responded byunching a [Tsunami] at the oversized vegetable, pushing it to the side, where it sshed into the water Aiden suddenly found himself floating in. Maya had taken his [Tsunami] into her martini ss, and now appeared to be thousands of feet tall, with Aiden swimming around in her drink.


    Thats a new one, Aidenmented. Are you copying me?


    Ah you know, her titanic voice thundered. Sometimes you just need to look at something a bit differently.


    Fair enough, Aiden summoned a pontoon boat, cast [Guiding Star] and [Justified Winds], and picked up speed <em>rapidly</em>. He skipped across the waves of Mayas drink while she loomed before him like some massive titan, raising the ss to her lips. Giant waves crested across the martini ss, and with one particrly sharp wave, Aiden used [Starsail] and broke free to surf among the skies.


    Maya, meanwhile, took a solid ton of wood and canvas to the face, and she jolted backwards from the impact. Her armor kept her neck from snapping back, but it still knocked her out of her rhythm for a moment, which Aiden mercilessly capitalized on.


    ****


    Maya Embers was deep in the depths, a golden, faceless sentinel shining where there was nothing to shine against. The water was pitch-ck, for no light could exist this far down, here in this deepest part of the ocean. Depth may not have even been the right word, for depth implied she was some distance from the surface, and she wasnt sure that such a thing even existed within Duke Waters domain.


    The pressure around her was <em>unimaginable</em>, threatening to overwhelm her if her resolve crumbled for so much as a moment, but it was forced to press against her <em>own</em> domain, and that was just as absolute. Around her, the inky water asserted that <em>she was in the depths, she should drown. All things must breathe, she must breathe, she was a thing, all things must die. </em>


    <strong>All the world is my home</strong>, she countered, and the pressure lessened. How could it be overwhelming, crushing and drowning her, if thew said she was at home? She wasfortable at home, home brought her life, not death.


    Of course, it was hardly an absolute, because attempting to directly counter Duke Waters domain with force was a losing prospect. <em>Something</em> lurking in the depths, some great terror, hovered just out of sight, a vague impression of teeth and tentacles and scales for whom it was a mercy that the light didnt reveal its form, struck her.


    <em>This is not your home, it is mine</em>.


    <strong>I am a guest in your home<em>,</em></strong>she revoked her prior Law and established a new one. The terror hesitated. Guest rights were an oddity, one it was unused to, yet she was <em>clearly</em> no guest, for her clothing was improper for this setting and she was obviously a being of earth and light, not one of water and darkness. She conceded, and her form changed. She took inspiration from various aquatic beasts who wished to only <em>half</em>mit to being human. It was a popr style in the Collective, from what shed seen.


    Half her normal body was back, her golden sentinel reced with something that was half fish, half beautiful woman. Silver scales and golden hair, but a creature of the depths nheless. She had every bit as much inherent right to be in this eternal mire of shadows and water as the terror did, and the pressure resided. The creature hesitated, coiling and thinking just beyond the bounds of perception, and then Maya was back in her own body.


    She blinked stars out of her eyes and found Aidens hand pressed right up against her face. Between his fingers, they locked eyes as she sensed he was still trying to drag her back into the depths and then the pressure subsided, for no host would harm their guest. Of course, no guest would harm their host, so she quickly dropped that particrw and then projected an image of herself off to the side. Then, that became reality, and Duke Waters hand passed through the space where Maya herself had been a moment before. She quickly went invisible and made that reality, deciding to figure out where she existedter.


    She attempted to trap him within an illusory prison, but Aiden was so impossibly hard to properly grasp, it was almost futile. Attacking him was like trying to squish a specific molecule of air while blinded. Even if you managed to somehow <em>find</em> the tiny thing, the simple act of grabbing it would make it move, and then if you hit it, that still wouldnt actually break it. But then, he could be a giant when he wanted to be.


    <em>She</em> was supposed to be the one who did fun stuff with perception, damnit.


    Wanting to change the battlefield a little, Maya decided she was actually directly above where Waters was, and unleashed a massive thunderbolt that passed through his defenses as though it were an illusion- which it obviously was- and mmed into Waters chest and sent him sprawling.


    Waters reoriented and swung his wand like a conductors baton to spawn a riptide, which she twisted to make it tear itself in half, then followed up with a hail of gravel concealing her return [Fireball]. He dispelled the illusion around most of the gravel, but in so doing set off the [Fireball]. The detonation rippled out, setting the magic around him aze and forcing him to bring a small ocean down on his own head just to put it out.


    That ocean then drained into itself, coalescing into a glimmering blue-and-white knife seemingly made out of pure energy, and giving off faint wisps of bubbles like it was smoke.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the vition.


    Maya scowled. Have you been talking to Max?


    Waters just grinned, telling her everything she needed to know. Two enormous stone pirs, each made out of glimmering crystal, shimmered into being on either side of Waters and mmed shut with him in the middle. Then they separated, revealing Waters was still grinning in the same ce, so she mmed them shut a few more times for good measure, just to vent her frustration.


    Waters de shed out and cut her spell in half, then flew towards her like it was drawn on an invisible tether, streaming bubbles in its wake. She made herself an illusion, then clenched her magic together to ensure that the reality of the illusion was such that it didnt take damage from Waters willpower construct. If she allowed that reality to override her own, she was in serious trouble, but she rejected his reality and the knife ended up lodged in her torso, but without affecting her otherwise.


    She projected her body elsewhere, and the knife didnte with her, so she started existing again and made an illusion of her casting a few hundred fireballs. Waters made a shield, and she shifted one of the fireballs to be real to confirm that she was attacking him. Then, she kept up the illusion of an endless barrage while she prepared something a bit more grandiose.


    ***


    Aiden took the opportunity for reprieve when it was offered. Maya wasnt bombarding him constantly with her overpowered silver mes, instead simply allowing for the illusion of constant attacks, and he steadied his ragged breathing by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.


    It smelled good. Like the ocean right after a storm. A bit of salt, a lot of freedom, and immense amounts of power. He took a sip of water, then dismissed the ss again. It had been long enough.


    A wave of power erupted from his bubble, disrupting and deflecting the remaining real attacks and vanishing the false ones. Then ance of pain struck him as a Law decreed he needed punishment. Hed ventured into the hidden garden, and he needed to be careful. Winding pathways led in every direction, twisting behind bushes, shrubs, and flowers. His feet were nted firmly on the ground, for no flying could happen in the garden, as all of the incredibly vivid foliage must be properly enjoyed from the paths only. Simrly, one had to experience the garden with their own eyes, so his spiritual sense was restricted to what he could physically see.


    Stay on the path, dont hurt the flowers, and keep your eyes open. There were probably more rules involved, but he could figure those out in time.


    His boots pounded on the cobblestone path as he raced down one of the winding turns. A sh of gold caught his eye, but a second nce confirmed it was merely a glittery rose. A faint whistling caught his ear, and Aiden spun to confirm the presence of a silver arrow hurtling towards his back. The instant after that, hed summoned eight water tentacles to smack the five invisible arrows out of their flight path. The visible arrow was an illusion, but he sidestepped it and allowed it to <em>thud</em> into the picture-perfect bark of a tree behind him.


    The arrow vanished a momentter, as did the invisible ones in his tentacles, but now Aiden had a direction, and he continued his run, turning at the next of the many intersections and jetting down the miles-long pathways so fast that the world nearly blurred around him. He closed in on Maya quickly enough, as she skipped down the path ostensibly unaware of the massive tidal wave of power Aiden was bringing along with him. In practice, she probably had to act a certain way to maintain this garden of hyperreality, but he wasnt about to let her just get away with that. So, he skidded to a stop, allowing the mass of water hed been building up to surge forward.


    Maya produced a staff out of thin air and gave it a sweep, turning much of the water into iridescent seafoam-blue butterflies. But while hundreds of the insects fluttered into the garden, there was a <em>lot</em> more water than that. The diator took thousands of gallons to the face and was swept away along the path. He was very careful to allow none of the saltwater to harm the nts, and instead directed an iota of mana to ensuring his water <em>cleaned</em> the path, rather than dirty it.


    s, the garden didnt vanish like hed been hoping, and it took four more exchanges before he finally managed to get a wave under her and fling her into the sky.


    Instantly, the garden vanished and Aidens limitations were lifted. Now, they were just both hanging in the void, surrounded by nothing so he created an ocean and dropped it on both of them.


    The water sent Maya tumbling until she raised a golden shield, and it shone with light bright enough to shelter her inside. Aiden, meanwhile, called on ocean currents and swept her away. She responded by altering the direction of the ocean and breaking out of the side as though it were the surface. Aiden just sped up and burst out of the water in a fantastic, dolphin-like jump, reorienting in the blink of an eye and summoning a half-dozen glowing, razor-sharp discs of water. He substituted his wand for a staff and dove onto Maya, his discs slicing through the intervening space like ss.


    She was forced down, closer to the ocean, and Aiden had his summoned leviathan breach the surface and drag her back down into the depths. At some point, shed modified her Law that forbade clones in a way which enabled summoned monsters, and while she <em>thought</em> he hadnt noticed what the butterflies meant he had.


    As soon as she was under the waves, Aiden reversed the direction of the ocean again, putting her at the very bottom. From there, he applied pressure, and cracks spiderwebbed across her light-shield.


    Just as the shield broke, she contested his sense of up and down, this time eking out enough of a win to breach the surface once more. His leviathan still managed to keep its grip on her lower half though, and she was forced to render part of herself into an illusion to escape. She emerged from the ocean dripping with water and contempt, missing the lower third of her legs.


    She shook herself like a dog, albeit a scowling one missing the lower half of its legs. Come on, man. Do you know how long it''s going to take my legs to feel right after that?


    Her skirt red out, obscuring Aidens view of her lower half, but when it settled, her feet were once again intact, steel boots and all. Aiden was never entirely certain how Mayas reality maniption tranted to real healing, but he was fairly certain it was, at minimum, costly.


    Rotating her feet, Maya said, My turn.


    A flick of her wrist conjured a massive, glowing silver sword that swung through the air like it weighed nothing. Which was both because it <em>didnt</em> weigh anything, and because it didnt move at all. Instead, everything around the de moved rtive to it. Reality pushed and pulled and finally gave up.


    All Aiden knew was that hed lost half of his water-discs and had a tremendous gash running down his side. If it had been slightly more to the right, hed have lost an arm. The injury resisted his standard healing, too, so he had to settle for freezing the wound closed. Probably something to do with the wound itself never properly happening, so he couldnt <em>heal</em> what was theoretically healthy flesh.


    He retrieved his wand, and with a dramatic flourish and series of flicks, sent his remaining water-discs tearing through space, spinning and leaving little droplets of water in their wake. Or as he liked to think of them, inverse bubbles. In other matchups, they served as perfect conduits to switch ces with, but the trick didnt work with Maya for many reasons, most notably her Laws.


    He <em>could</em> overpower her, because he was far more geared to overwhelming disys of force than her Domain was readily able to answer, but doing so would be inadvisable. His overall stamina was already waning, and hed mostly resigned himself to going out with a ssh, but huge and inefficient shows of force werent the way to make the biggest impact.


    He also couldnt go <em>entirely</em> all out. Emptying your willpower reserves cut off pretty much all Domain abilities until you hadpletely recovered, and for his particr fighting style, that would leave him entirely defenseless and out of the war altogether. And from the sounds of it, hed need every bit of willpower he could scavenge in theing years. Maya <em>probably</em> hadnt been entirely joking about her teaming up with Yun Me next time, and that would be a battle to remember.


    Still, he was d that he could fight Maya now, rather than Yun Me. The other woman had impressive abilities, all well-refined and masterful disys of magical and martial might honed over hundreds of thousands of years. It was honed to perfection, and while the Sects had enough pizzazz with their optimized skills as to still be interesting, there was a certain level of roteness with the other womans fighting style.


    It was dull and boring.


    But even if Aiden won here, he needed to be in a condition where he could fight in the next dozen battles if he was to stem the tide of this newest incursion into Empire space.


    The first disk of water was spun onto Mayas finger as a silk handkerchief, which she tossed into the air and dramatically swept through space, deflecting the second disk into it, where it vanished without a trace. She tried to repeat the trick with the third, but Aiden sped it up at thest second and it took her hand off at the wrist instead.


    Then, in its wake, the water bubbles arrived.


    Like a rainstorm from a nightmare, the dropletsnded like bullets. Each one struck her armor with a <em>tink</em>, leaving dents at worst and breaking through entirely at best. She tried to do <em>something</em>, maybe turn them into raindrops and pull out an umbre, but didnt manage before the barrage finished off. Some of the bullets had flown past her, and they struck theary shield behind her with such force, it turned opaque.


    She was pretty obviously trying to bait him into spending some of his energy breaking down the Empires own defenses, but it didnt really matter. Hed already passed on an evacuation <em>advisement</em> to the fortressmander the moment Maya had revealed herself. He was expecting a notice that the had been evacuated any moment now, and at that point, thes shields didnt matter.


    Like so many other times in this war, the point wasnt to win, but to survive for the next battle.


    Maya had finished taking the barrage of water, and Aiden caught the briefest sh of a ck eye. She ran her hands down her body semi-alluringly, as though she were smoothing out a rumpled shirt, and then her armor was whole again.


    Her skirt red as she set herself beforeunching herself forward, even as Aiden strained to the side.


    A dozen illusionary swords sprang into existence around him and began their best blender impression. Hepleted the impression by turning into water and feeding into a whirlpool, elerating faster than the swords as they flickered between properly and only kind-of existing. Six swords shattered under his force, then a seventh swept in with a particrly dangerous air that he blocked with [Puddle Mirror]. The eighth through tenth passed through his watery form without any particr notes, but the final two cut into his very spirit, forcing him back to human and leaving an additional pair of gashes, before he shattered them with his Intent. Seafoam filled his wound and the swords erupted into clouds of bubbles.


    That left him <em>just</em> enough time to dodge a metal disk to the face, but forced him to move into a sh of silvery light. He called on his Domain, and the silvery light dispersed like such an inconsequential set of sparkles on the surface of the ocean.


    Maya refused to relent, and a unicorn with a sword for a horn dashed in, point leveled at his right eye.


    Unable to conserve willpower, Aiden red his Intent and vanished into the water, letting the attack flow through him.


    <strong>Water flows like cloth</strong>.


    Mayas new Law turned the water into silk, but an ocean of silk was still an ocean, and Aidens control over the water persisted, tranted through her Law just as surely as thest time she tried this trick, with fire.


    Swirls of cloth engulfed him, twisting and pulling in every direction as he rose upon a column of silk, massive sheets of silk raising up like he was an actor in a y. Tidal waves of fabric rushed forward, wrapping Maya in a cocoon that she struggled to burst free from.


    A mile-long strip of cloth sprang up and attached itself to Aidens shoulders, giving him the most magnificent cape hed ever worn for a brief second, before Maya reverted her Law and it became water once more.


    Hed been waiting for that, though, and an iceberg crashed into her. It shattered mere feet from her body, but Aiden kept enough control over it that it smashed into her face. Her armor flickered and glitched oddly for a moment, and then she was fine.


    Maya red at him and snapped her fingers, then Aidens temporary wound-patches vanished, letting blood pour out into the space around him once more. The blood coalesced into a massive monster, looming over him with some indistinct shape, then Aiden broke free of the illusion.


    During the time hed been unaware, hed managed to lose his face, but he didnt really need any of the organs which had suddenly stopped existing. The front of his head was just smooth, like he was a drawing in which the artist had stopped working after they got the body and hair down. The real downside was that he couldnt stick his tongue out at Maya, which in all honesty was the biggest blow either of them had taken thus far.


    My face was that irresistible? he asked. You had to have it for yourself?


    Talking exclusively through the Domain, with no mouth to subconsciously channel the words through was tricky, but Aiden was nothing if not a master of weird tricks you can do with your Domain.


    Perhaps he should write an EmpireNet article.


    But of course. Not often do I get this expression. Dont you agree? Maya spun the mask-like representation that was Aidens face, frozen with eyes wide and enough of a gap in his mouth to gasp.


    She brightened, I know! I can put it on the face of one of my helpers. Itll do my mood wonders, having you as a footstool, having you kneeling at my feet, having you give me massages, maybe Ill.


    She cut herself off,unching immediately into a new set of golden threads arcing delicately through the void. Simultaneously, a de sprouted from Aidens chest, punching through from the inside of his armor and tearing through the enchanted metal weave like it was barely there. Then the sword went in two different directions, tearing his armor from him and leaving him bare-chested.


    Aiden reasserted the reality that he <em>hadnt</em> been stabbed. It didnt save his armor, which he needed to snag and stash away in storage, but it did mean he didnt have to fight with two swords stuck in his chest.


    If you wanted me shirtless, he quipped while diving between Mayas arcing strands of reality-altering. All you had to do was ask!


    A second wand was pulled out of storage, and he ovepped the depths of the ocean with the depths of space, and the empty space around them was water, just like it always had been and always would be. Within his spirit, the construct of essence and willpower inched ever-closer to properpletion, but the pseudoskill didnt coalesce into full reality quite yet. Maybe next time.


    And maybe lead by example, he finished, utilizing the uncertain nature of [The Depths] to appear right behind Maya and drive a spike made of impossiblypressed water into her shoulder. Fractures grew across the diators armor, and the stone crumbled and fell away, crushed by the immense pressure of the forever-deep water.


    Underneath she was still wearing a suit of underarmor, but that quickly turned first into a swimsuit then vanished altogether as Maya kicked her feet, forming them into a silver tail while her upper half showed off bare skin. Naturally, her drifting golden hair still obscured everything, but Mayas shapeshifting adapted her to the ocean biome well but not well enough.


    A tentacle of water, invisible against the pitch-ck imposed reality of the deep ocean, yanked her tail and began to crush bones with its imcable grip. Then, a golden pair of scissors manifested and snipped the tentacle in half, before turning on Aiden himself like a chomping shark.


    A current picked Aiden and moved him swiftly out of the way of the scissors, as well as carrying a school of tiny but ravenous flesh-eating shark monsters within striking distance of Maya. A giant kraken loomed in the darkness next to Aiden, and he crushed it mercilessly. [The Depths] were under nobodys control, least of all his own, and it was dangerous down here. Admittedly, that was just the way he liked it. But that still meant all he could do was to be the scariest thing around, leaving the rest for everyone else to deal with.


    Right on cue, the razor-sharp fin of one of the depths fishy flesh-eaters grazed Mayas tail, drawing blood even as it spontaneously transformed into a roll of sushi the next instant. But now, fresh blood was in the water, and a cloud of finger-sized creatures descended upon Maya. Red began to fill the waters, then clouded it utterly, and then the red was a crackling fire, and they were back in space.


    Maya picked up the blood-red me in her palm, studying it with curious intent. Such a fascinating little toy there, Aiden. Im ttered. But dont act like its going to be enough to work against <em>me</em>. I can tell even from here that its missing something, and I think you know that too. Now, are you going to drop it or will I have to break it?


    Aiden winced as Maya started picking at [The Depths], contained in a way that they should have never been.


    Still, that didnt mean he would give up. If she wanted to break his toy, he''d fight her every step of the way.


    Red mes flickered blue-ck, and smaller critters began to dart out, trying to savage Mayas hands until she flicked them back into the me, then contained that me in a birdcage. That birdcage began to shrink, and Aiden pushed back with his Concept and Intent. A bubble appeared around the me, but that was only shrunk by the inexorable cage of reality which Maya was weaving. The cage itself kept getting more solid as well, the gap between its wiry bars shrinking and the bars themselves multiplying while [The Depths] were severed more and more from the reality it was made to connect to.


    His senses blurred, and he would have grit his teeth if hed had any. He wanted to throw caution to the wind,mit to the fight utterly. Pour everyst bit of himself onto the fire, unleash everyst shred of power he could and show the entire realm the true terror of the deeps, but there was only one force stronger than his desire to never give up.


    <em>Timing</em>.


    And it wasnt time yet.


    The thrill of the fight called to him, telling him tomit his spirit to the pyre, but a fire zed brightest when against the darkest night.


    Still, it was tempting.


    Oh so tempting.


    He kept up the outermostyers of the skill, but pulled himself back from the core. If he let Maya crush the semi-skill now, hed undergo full bacsh from failing to make the new skill. And that wouldnt do at all. But the me was snuffed out nheless, and Aiden staggered back as though hed taken the full force of its copse.


    Maya took a moment as she panted. Fuck you! Really? Trying to y with reality with me around? That''s fucking insulting. Can you imagine if I had been beaten by that? I''d never live it down.


    Yeah, because you''d be dead. Duh.


    The audacity! When I kill you Im going to turn your skull into a pot to piss in, water boy.


    Maya conducted the fabric of reality, and spears in every color sprang into existence,unching themselves at him in a coordinated symphony of destruction. Aidens spirit was genuinely sore, but he still followed his purest and finest-honed instinct. Illusionary spears struck his chest, real spears grazed his arms, and plenty of each didnte anywhere close.


    Going with the flow of battle, Aiden counted as he waited for his moment.


    A [Tidal Freeze] paired with a [Bubble Shield] locked the defensive shield down with Maya half inside, halting her momentum like she hit a wall. She immediately started creating a reality where she wasnt locked down, but Aiden cast [Water Jet] right at her neck. The finger wide stream of water punched right through her already weakened and missing armor, impacting her spine and causing her body to go ck for an instant, before she corrected.


    Aiden tried to capitalize on that brief moment, but Mayas shield unraveled into strips of silver reality. He managed to impress on them to act like water enough that he could run down their length, weaving his own counterattack as he cast a of high-pressure water at her.


    It struck, carving furrows into her flesh, but then wrapped around her body and formed into new armor, zing with power. Her nose, previously half-severed, glitched and was whole. Then her entire body glitched and suddenly there were five of her.


    Each spun a staff, gathering threads of reality around them as they charged forwards. They werent clones, her first rule was still at least partially in effect, but that didnt make them any less dangerous.


    He dodged the first, flinched as the second one attacked and brought up an [Abyssal Ation] to block its strike, then lost half of his left hand to the third.


    He countered with a spike of water directed at that Maya, but it passed through while doing nothing. The fourth and fifth were met with a [Water Shield] and an opportunistic [Water de] to deflect them out of the way.


    Ribbons of reality, strengthened into outright des, began to fall, and Aiden found himself swiftly retreating as he tried to avoid them, only to bump into a solid wall that hadnt been there a moment previously.


    A de of nothing sliced into his leg, then snaked its way through the inside of his body as Aiden yanked on it. At the end of the ribbon, an invisible woman was pulled along for the ride and into his elbow, striking with the full might of a [Water Hammer].


    Mayas helmet rang like a gong, and she started backwards before Aiden used [Octopus Assault] to pull her back closer. She got within arms reach, he reached out to grab her throat, and cast [Siphon].


    The water in her cells started to be ripped from her as his spell battered through her spiritual defenses, but the spell was slow, and Maya struggled with all her might. She tried rendering herself into an illusion, but [Siphon] worked just fine on illusionary water too. She tried making herself into an earth elemental, but [Siphon] just turned hard rock into sand. Illusionary des manifested and swung at him, but reinforcing his own reality and challenging hers was enough to have them break against his [Water Armor].


    Her eyes turned towards where Aidens should have been, and a de swiped close enough to Aidens face that he would have lost his nose if he still had one. Rippling silver and gold bands tugged against blue and clear streams of water as their powers shed, in deadlock until one of them flinched.


    Aiden sagged, the wisps of willpower he still had coiling into the depths of his spirit, and then he was sted backwards, sans two and a half limbs and all of his hair.


    He drifted aimlessly through the space for a moment, then pushed through. He shook himself, called his wand to his remaining hand, and set his resolve once more. Now that the momentum had faded, his every movement felt like it was being taken while wearing lead nkets. The thrill of the fight would banish those in an instant, but now he just felt <em>tired</em>.


    Maya coughed dryly, then summoned a martini ss of water and took a swig. Aiden made her choke on it. As she recovered, he threw a barrage of [Flotsam] at her, but she turned the driftwood into a wooden chair and the metal debris into a pillow with a wave of her hand. I win. Sore loser. So what was that anyway? You must have been working on it for a while, and <em>man</em> did that slip past my defenses.


    Aiden didnt bother to hide anything, as he knew shed learn as soon as a republic analyst looked at the recording of their fight. Or probably earlier, in the high likelihood someone in the Ascender chat said something.


    A modified [Siphon] meant to work on people. Tricky little move. Aiden looked at the arm floating near Maya and gestured. Throw me back my arm. I dont feel like You bitch. <em>Daisies</em>, really? You could have at least made it roses.


    You tried to turn me into a mummy. Thates with consequences. Now fuck off and use your escape move. I dont feel like chasing you down. I think you broke something in my hip and its not right anymore, fucking asshole.


    Maya was definitely roughed up as well, so while she wasnt <em>fresh</em>, she was still running on mostly primary tactics. He <em>might</em> still be able to go a second round, running entirely on fumes. He had managed it before in their scuffles. The desire to not lose was stronger than the desire to win, but you couldnt exclusively be on the attack and expect to win every fight. Maybe he could still pull out a win but not today. The words of themanders echoed throughout his mind that winning the battle wasnt worth losing the war. Besides, his only major injuries were physical and his drained willpower. A quick stop by Melinda and a nap would have his sorted right out.


    He muted his [AI] and the words stopped echoing.


    He could at least have thestugh. He sent a message to the Empire defenders, then snapped. Perfectly on cue, the shields around the fortress dropped and the defenders shot off, tearing into chaotic space.


    Mayas jaw dropped.


    She iled for a moment, grabbing her jaw and reattaching it. You sneaky fuck! Fuck it, round two bitch!


    She flew at him, but Aiden just threw a mocking salute and dove under the surface. On the other side of this particr cleave in existence, Maya, her image distorted by the ripples of the water, impotentlyshed out with her magic, but he was already gone. He looked up and started swimming, activating his call-home lifeboat. Its magic buoyed him up and back towards the capital. It might be a <em>bit</em> embarrassing to return to Fort Lightfoot with missing limbs, but his pride would survive.


    Still, if he could have grinned, he would have.


    He loved his job.

 Chapter 314

    Chapter 314


    Matt teleported to interpose himself between most of Team Zero and the neers, then powered up [Archmages Presence] to enhance his mental cultivation, wanting to catch surprise attacks, but he wasnt prepared for their enemies to stop advancing and pause. His [AI] had managed to identify a good number of the lead fifteen, but he didnt need it to identify the man heading up the squad, right next to Maven.


    Long Zhiyuan. Matt was a bit surprised to see a familiar face on the battlefield, sure the reports had said he was part of the team but he couldnt help but smirk at the memory of the Sect man fleeing as fast as he could on the battlefields of Minka. That smirk turned into a bit of a re as he remembered what happened immediately <em>after</em> theirst encounter, and the disastrous ambush hed led them into.


    The Sect man held up a red-gloved hand and motioned that he wanted to talk, but Matt had no interest in allowing their enemies to determine the pace of the engagement so firmly. There was no situation in which a surprise attack from an elite turning into them simply, wanting to talk, was a good idea. So Matt responded as sinctly as he could.


    A lightning-aspected [Mana Beam] erupted from Matts cannon,ncing towards the former Young Master Bloodhand. It crossed the distance in a blink of an eye, only to, instead of annihting Long Zhiyuan, be stopped dead in its tracks by a muscr Sect man Matt didnt recognize. He was wearing even less armor than was typical for Sect fighters, leaving much of his skin bare, but he practically radiated boredom as he caught one of Matts most powerful skills on the palm of his hand. He hadnt even moved beyond raising his hand. Admittedly, it was impressively fast considering the speed at which Matt was processing everything, but it still irked him.


    Matt tamped down the urge to turn up the power and blow the man away, and instead simply re-aimed his shot at one of the others. Loel was a Republican mage with spells as strong as anything Matt could put out, but she needed time to build up. If he could knock her out of the fight early on, she was a non-threat.


    However, his [Mana Beam] refused to budge. The mysterious man still simply caught the beam on his open hand. Matt red [Sharp Mind] and [Barbarians Hide], assessing himself for any subtle taunt effects, then assigned his [AI] and his armor to double-check his mind was clean. Nothing came back, which meant the effect was physical.


    Redirects were rare. A smile spread across Matts face.


    This was going to be <em>fun</em>.


    The rest of Team Zero was beginning to act, other spells beginning to fly across the distance, and their opponents responded in kind.


    Plenty of their standard set of buffs had worn off at this point, to say nothing of all the ones they hadnt used to begin with, but if their enemies were trying to catch them in a moment of weakness, they would be sorely disappointed. Matts armor injected some of his most important and powerful potions directly into his bloodstream, and General Darrows own Domain meant that all Domain-based buffs easily renewed themselves.


    Alongside the power, information flowed to fill Matt in on those of their opponents who he didnt recognize. Apparently, the man responsible for intercepting his [Mana Beam] was Gan Le, a fairly small-time elite with a reputation for being invincible.


    Matt couldnt wait to prove that reputation false.


    He hadn''t been on their short list of the members of the Harmony ords which made his presence interesting.


    Except, his [Mana Beam] was doing <em>nothing </em>to the Sect fighter. He poured more mana into the spell until his cannon began giving him warnings about mana overload. Then he changed to alternating its aspect, looking for some kind of weakness. Fire, arcane, metal, force, sma, summer, aurora, armageddon, and even weirder ones like spatial, thought, and moon were blocked. Out of curiosity, he tried spectral mana, but even that was halted dead in its tracks. Simr fates befell illusion and mirage, despite those not even <em>trying</em> to do anything.


    It wasnt until he tried travel mana that anything seemed to affect the man at all. It didnt hurt his opponent, of course, that wasnt really what travel mana did, but it <em>did</em> yank him towards Matt at a fairly high speed.


    As they neared each other Matt didnt miss the twopanies of Corporation elite mercenaries fanning out and setting up long range mana cannons. Hed need to take care of them after he took out Gan Le.


    Turning his sword ck, Matt shed out as Gan Le was dragged within melee range, trying to disable his defenses, or better yet, take him out of the fight outright.


    Gan Le raised his crossed arms, and the armor on his forearms red with energy as they fully blocked the physical momentum of Matts blow. They did nothing to stop the wave of mana he unleashed, but that seemed to wash over Gan Le without even singing his skin.


    rms were ringing at the sight, but Matt was unable to immediately react as he started to get peppered by attacks from the Corporation mercenaries. shing out, Matt aimed for a gap in Gan Les leg armor. Gan Le seemed intent to ignore the sh and instead drove a glowing w into Matt''s face.


    Dodging upward slightly, Matt shifted the trajectory of Gan Les attack. Matt stillnded his blow while he relied on [Cracked Phantom Armor] and his physical armor to block the attack.


    Both blowsnded, but neither of them did anything.


    Gan Les w attack just fizzled out on Matts armor, which he expected, but what he hadnt expected was for his de to only create a scratch on Gan Les flesh that almost instantly healed.


    His de should have cut the man''s leg off, but it had done nothing.


    Matt decided his efforts were better spent elsewhere and red his repulsion Concept, backing it up with a powerful shove of [Telekinesis]. Gan Le was sent tumbling away at an angle, but Matt felt himself get pulled along with him. It was then that he realized that Gan Le hadnt just been trying to kill him in their earlier exchange, but instead had been linking them together with a tether of some sort.


    Momentarily cutting off mana to Liz in order to re his Intent, Matt halted his momentum just for Gan Le to m to a halt just a few hundred feet away from him. The move had taken him away from the battlefield, but it opened Matt up to a concentrated barrage from the mercenaries.


    Pointing, he sent out a wave of [Mana Beam] along the ranks of mercenaries, but before he was able to do more than take out a few cannons, Gan Le was back on him.


    Matt took a punch to the chest, and while he needed to redirect the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] to safely block the blow, it wasnt <em>that</em> strong.


    Growling in frustration, Matt punched Gan Le in the face with a burst of speed earned by ring all of his boosting spells and armor. The punchbined with [Fist st] could have cracked a moon, but Gan Le took the blow on his crossed arms without dying. His vambraces disintegrated along with his helmet, but that was the extent of the damage. Gan Les forearms were lightly singed and a few paper cuts appeared on his face, but they vanished as quickly as they appeared.


    Matt twisted and brought his de around, but while it cleaved through the armor on Gan Les chest, it stopped just half an inch inside his flesh as if Matt had struck a wall as a mortal.


    Seeing the rest of his team embroiled in their own fights, Matt turned away, intending on ignoring Gan Le to help them, but the Sect fighter darted in the moment Matt took his eyes off of him. A barrage of blowsnded on his exposed back, along with the ever present fire from the mercenaries.


    Matt fully intended to ignore them, but as he started to fly away, Gan Le cast a taunt of some kind. Despite himself, Matt brought his de back around and down.


    An explosion of mana illuminated the vacuum of space, but Gan Le took the blow without blinking.


    Growling, Matt broke the taunt and started flying towards his team, but quickly felt Gan Le stop moving, which activated the tether and forced Matt to a crawl as he tried to pull the resisting man forward.


    After a few calctions, Matt twisted and started attacking Gan Le once more.


    He needed an opening. Once he had it, he believed that he could break the tether, but he needed to lower the man''s defense by seeming like he had given into the rage.


    ***


    Valentina looked down her scope and blinked as she carefully slid a round the size of her forearm into the chamber. The bullet was depleted tungsten, the byproduct of creating enriched tungsten, a magically conductive metal perfect for enchantments. The inverse was an effect just a hairs-width away from true anti-magic. It ate through magical armors like a hot knife through butter, and the mass meant it could pierce even physical armors with barely a hitch. It was a deadly material, but almost impossible to work with. Harder still to actually <em>fire</em>, but her rifle was more than up to the task.


    Even better, this round was <em>enchanted</em>. By most conventional wisdom, that was impossible, but Republic weaponsmiths were truly the best in the Realm at this sort of thing. Better even than the dwarves. She slid the round into the chamber, locked it in ce, and began her real work.


    Willpower bled out of her and soaked into the bullet, carrying with it additional skills only held in ce by her Intent. But fortunately, everything was going exactly to n.


    The Harmony ords had even been <em>mostly</em> eptable, for all that everyone but those from the Republic were a group of squabbling brats more concerned with their own glory than actuallypleting their mission. But they were well equipped, powerful, and more than capable of serving as an adequate distraction.


    Shed been waiting out in the cold depths of space for nearly two weeks now, setting up her nests and surveying the uing battlefield. Theyd known that the Empires Ascenders would being this way for months, and that this would be an optimal ce to spring their first ambush. It had <em>nearly</em> been ruined by the Federationmander assigned to attacking this system waiting until the Ascenders had left the system to begin his assault, but Shadow had brought them back, the army had drawn them out long enough to get them <em>just</em> on the edge ofcency. And now, her teammates were ensuring all eyes were on them.


    They had debated her opening fire the moment the fight started, but in their tests and simtions, that only had a forty two percent chance of ensuring a kill. Waiting for the fight to settle into a routine for her to take action had instead provided a sixty four percent chance of sess, and that was enough for them to want to wait.


    It also meant that everything was up to Valentina, but she had never minded pressure. Pressure brought out the best in her.


    It was just up to her to pick her target and kick off the ughter.


    Sighting in, she started scanning.


    ***


    Dena tried to twist out of the way of one of the Federation elite squad, but she was a tad too slow to fully dodge the attack and took a small gash on the thigh. She wasnt able to give the wound too much thought though, as two more of the Federation soldiers darted in trying to force her away from Eric and Bolt.


    Her cloth tendrils snaked out and entangled the legs of two of the group, but Dena had to quickly pull back her cloth as two of the feddies tried to cut through the fabric. There was a yard long tendril wrapped around her head from getting in that trap once, and she wasnt about to let herself get whittled down like that.


    She sensed an attack iing, and rapidly pulled herself to the side to avoid it, as Eric shrugged off a ssh of lightning and swung his hammer to retaliate. Drifter swooped in, dropping a st of ordinances that bought them a moment of time to regroup.


    The problem was, these guys seemed prepared for every trick she had. And while the Ascenders seemed to have little trouble fighting two or three to one, Dena was having a hard enough time with the <em>one</em> that kept on her consistently. The times that she was in a two-on-one never went well, and she needed nearly constant intervention from those around her. She didnt mind, though. <em>A Weave is Stronger</em> than a single cord, and she was as much a part of their fights as they were hers.


    Even now, tied down as she was, she could feel little threads of her tapestry twanging as the rest of her team pushed and pulled. It was endlessly satisfying, and gave her a sense of satisfaction unlike any other. Legion was ritual-casting with herself, weaving magic on a scale which Dena could never replicate on her own. But she could be the loom, the channel for that power and making ever-finer cloth. Elsewhere, Light called on her strength as he joint cast a skill with the gunslinger <em>Colton</em>, in practice simply stealing whatever spell had been used on him and throwing it elsewhere.


    Eric shifted to block a downward strike that would have struck Bolt, and the woman in question used the moment to fire a series of rapid fire shots at the feddie who had brought the axe down. The bolts were deflected by the neighboring feddie, but that forced her to stop her own attack and bought them all a second of breathing room.


    <em>Shift right and down</em>. Darrow sent themand through his Domain and Dena obeyed without question, rerouting her entire body mass to the end of one of her cords and yanking herself like a piece of cheesecloth down and out of the way.


    Through the space they had been, a bolt of lightning arced out and struck the feddies, arcing between them and giving her a chance to unleash some attacks of her own. She might have done more, but Queen, propelled off a tendril of cloth Dena hadnt even truly realized she was controlling, mmed in like a wrecking ball. Two other attackers were right behind her, but she was keeping them both at bay, even as Dena pulled her out of one fight and into another.


    Erics Domain thrummed through her, and an opening provided itself. A spare strip of cloth shot out, ensnaring the foot of one of the soldiers fighting Queen. Instantly, the momentum shifted as a second Queen emerged from the tip of the first ones sword, already in a massive two-handed swing. The feddie soldier tried to block it with his sword, but Dena had slid her cloth up to his arm and gave it a <em>yank, </em>exposing it to the copy-Queens de. While Denas fellow almost-Ascender wasnt able to cleave fully through the mans arm, shining blood spurt from the massiveceration.


    Through her Intent, Dena could feel as the feddie healer passed a spell to them from the other side of the battlefield, repairing the wound in an instant.


    That same pulse of power alsonded on the <em>other</em> feddie soldier, who had chosen to lose a hand instead of a head to Queens lingering sword-strokes, and fixed them up as well. A shield suddenly appeared in front of Denas face, causing a steel cable whip to <em>ng</em> off Queens manifestation. Dena responded in kind, and she snapped a length of cloth like a whip, ensnaring and pulling the feddie whip-soldier off-bnce.


    That was apparently taken as some kind of invitation, and Dena found herself, Eric, and Queen under tremendous pressure to survive.


    ***


    Liz stabbed out at the Federation golem-woman, her spear wreathed in voracious mes, then pelted <em>Eliana</em>, as Darrows mind-link helpfully informed her, with a barrage of feathers enchanted to break armor. The spear skittered off the womans forearms, wreathed as they were in an intricate set of skill-bracers. The feathers had better luck, sticking and cutting their way into the womans arms and torso, but they drew no blood and were wrenched out momentster by the <em>other</em> Federation soldier she was facing.


    <em>Saziel, a maniption expert.</em>


    Darrows Intent had been quite a boon to them, overall. Not only was the knowledge it provided second only to knowing the information already- or if you were Matt, within his outsized [AI] and [Library] databases- its ability to cause other disparate Domains to function together as though theyd practiced together for centuries had made them far more cohesive as a unit. But right now, all she cared about was how the stupid Feddy kept yanking out her feathers like they were from his skill and not hers.


    A bit of Lights expertise bled over to her in that regard, and she fought back a grimace. The exploit in question wouldnt be something she could easily change this fight, and covering it would require her topromise elsewhere, but if the mage survived, it might make for a worthwhile trade.


    A gust of wind brought Saziel up next to her, and he drove his rapier into her side. He managed to knock aside a few of the feathers that made up her armor in the process, but wasnt able to score a very deep cut as her blood actively fought against the attack. Simrly, though, his own skills prevented her from healing the wound outright. Was that <em>body</em> maniption? That was a thing?


    <em>[Heal Gics] is the closest skill to that effect.</em>


    Huh. You learned something new every day.


    She was needing to devote far more of herself to each fight than she had grown ustomed to, and it was <em>great</em>. She was at a total of five distinct locations, each one representing a singr mind, with a second Liz inhabiting their blood. And even as one body was pinned down by the two Federation fighters, two more were side-by-side, with Bulwark protecting Origami, and the other two apanying Torments summons as they pushed a squad of eight other Federation soldiers with <em>weirdly</em> homogenous spirits away from Queen, Stone, and Stick.


    Those fights were eminently manageable, for all that she was having so much trouble drawing blood, but they were still tough fights, the sort shed been missing. Fortunately, she was still getting fed mana from Matt, so she was able to keep up her aggressive style, but if she didnt kill someone soon, she might need to scale back a bit on her offense.


    Admittedly, the fight with Eliana and Saziel was where most of her mana was going. The former was as much machine as human, healing herself with the exact same kinds of skills that Liz kept trying and failing to use on her. Hitting her was like trying to hit Matt but with no resonance from blood so many of her best skills just didnt work. Then, just as soon as she made any headway, Saziel would jump in and keep interrupting her remaining attacks before she could get a <em>truly</em> strong strike on either of them.


    If she had been facing either one of them individually, she could overpower them with one of her backup abilities. But she <em>wasnt</em>. She was only one-fifth present and facing both of them, plus a toon of Corporation mercenaries that kept taking potshots at her every time she left them alone for too long.


    She dove forward with her spear, then used her internal blood control to puppet her body like it was on strings, redirecting that momentum into Saziel. She struck him with the butt of her weapon, flexing one of the feathers it was made of to slice into his arm instead of cracking against his metal imnts. The light gleaming within his arms abruptly sputtered, but he retaliated with a de spontaneously sprouting from his elbow, driving it into her chest.


    Before it could connect, Liz ignited a Bedrock Tortoise bloodline she had prepared for this very moment. The bloodline gave its owner incredibly hard skin, which made it a popr one to burn in battles, as it gave anyone who had it that same level of defense for a few brief moments.


    The de still left a long gash down the front of her chest, finding or making gaps in her armor as it traveled. But the wound was shallow, letting Liz retaliate with a palm-strike towards the mans helmeted head, her hand wreathed with corrupting blood.


    Eliana teleported in to intercept the blow, and Liz redirected the attack to the side of the biomechanical womans neck, waiting to take her head off. With some satisfaction, she turned her arm fully into blood and had it dive into minute exposed cracks, infiltrating and-


    Liz bit back a curse as the blood inside the woman was shredded with some kind of corruption, a little piece of her spirit annihted in seconds.


    <em>That</em> was a new experience, and not a fun one.


    Reeling back, Liz barely dodged the sword-thrust and its apanying de of wind from taking her in the throat, deflecting the lingering cutting winds with a twirl of her spear. A mote of her attention went to the Liz residing in her bloodstream, and she dpressed some of its blood to get enough mass to rebuild her arm. The process was slower and more annoying than she was used to, with pain lingering even once all the nerves were in ce, but she had no time to figure out what was going on.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition.


    Growling, she cursed to vent some of the pain and flexed her newly rebuilt hand despite the increasing agony. She didnt have the time to really analyze what was going on, but she felt a dozen curses trying to invade her body through the healed wound.


    Liz blocked another flurry of attacks, sword strikes from Saziel and axe shes from Eliana, when all of them were sent flying as - <em>Iing! </em>- an explosion rocked the space around them.


    The shockwave rippled out through the vacuum of space, and on instinct, Liz shot out a wave of blood to blunt ah, blunt the strength of what Origami would experience. Her own body was violently discorporated into a tangle of blood and metal feathers, but she reformed just as fast, now re-oriented to better cleave into Saziels head. Unfortunately, Elianas axe knocked her attack off-course before it could strike the mans helmet.


    <em>That was courtesy of Maven and Shadow</em>, Darrows tactical awareness filled her in, and Liz flinched slightly as a portion of her became aware of Shadows current state.


    The spatial Ascender had actually taken hits, with multiple gashes in her torso deep enough to warrant her to bend space such that her blood portaled from one side to the other. More worryingly, shed detonated a backup explosive in order to get space.


    That wasnt a good sign.


    Just as she was starting to get pushed back and pieces of her sliced off, a wave of cold washed over her enemies, slowing them just long enough for Liz to burst forward and reset the momentum ofbat, chunking her willpower and mana to instantly manifest another full-power Liz to even out the numbers somewhat. The relief didntst long, as Asters momentary support was cut off by Long Zhiyaun closing in on her again.


    Except, there had been someone there. Hadnt there?


    There was <em>definitely</em> something going on, but it wasnt that important. She had bigger concerns than that. She should have a keen idea of where <em>everyone </em>on the battlefield was, but something was missing. Then again, it would be easy enough to lose track of <em>someone</em> in the chaos, so it didnt matter. She <em>did</em> need to pay attention to the iing attack though Yes, this immediate engagement needed her full attention.


    Something needed to change, and it needed to happen fast.


    ***


    As she scanned her targets, Valentina internally cursed.


    She <em>needed</em> to get a solid hit on an Ascender, but she had to begrudgingly admit that Ascenders were worth the hype. <em>None</em> of them had any true weak points, but theyd each had multiple false weaknesses that had nearly gotten her to pull the trigger too soon. Shed never encountered a false weakness as convincing as the one which Ascender Wraith had presented, but not falling for the traps still left her with nowhere that she could readily secure a kill.


    Ascenders Light and Wraith were the softest targets, but that was only inparison to the others.


    Ascender Shadow was difficult to pin down and even harder to hit. She didnt even need to be consciously aware of an attack to deflect it with her spatial control, and even in the hardened space surrounding Maven, Valentina predicted no better than fifty-fifty odds that her bullet would vanish into a crack in space, never to be seen again. If she was further from Maven, or closer to Titan, those odds swiftly dwindled to single and sub-digit odds. If she <em>did</em>nd a shot, it would be fairly devastating, but it was too all-or-nothing for what she needed.


    Ascender Legion was perhaps the most annoying target that Valentina had ever seen. Every shot she would take was predicted to score a kill which could be true, or a clever falsehood that she hadnt been able to circumvent. Oh, and that only was the case if Titan wasnt able to intervene somehow, which he <em>kept doing</em> in all her predictions. Worse still, her shot would <em>only</em> kill the body she struck, and leave the other five, previously four, bodies unaffected. She could manage one, <em>maybe</em> two shots before they all went on high alert. Six waspletely out of the question, and so too was Legion as a first target.


    In an <em>almost </em>wee change of pace, Ascender Titan was the most traditionally hard target out of the Ascenders. Her shot was <em>guaranteed</em> to hit him, and that was where the good news ended. He had no physical weaknesses, and even his spells registered as powerful enough that mana-depleted tungsten wouldnt definitely interrupt them. She didnt even know that was possible. His only weakness was his <em>emotions</em>, and that was a piece of feedback shed historically only gotten when trying to target someone <em>way</em> above her tier. Even his simple presence was making everyone elses shots that much harder, thanks to whatever undercurrent of information they all shared. And Gan Les interference, valuable as it may be, didnt distract him enough to ameliorate that.


    Theyd known Titan would be a tough target, but the intel which the Harmony ords had had drastically undersold just how utterly impossible actually taking the Ascender down would be. Theyd need to go back to the drawing board after this mission, figure out some different strategy for the man. Maybe they could trap him in a spatial lock? Only if Shadow was out of the picture, but they at least had ns for <em>that</em>.


    No, her best targets were Ascenders Wraith and Light.


    Ascender Wraith wasparatively vulnerable, she was pretty sure. Unless the wily fox had <em>five</em>yers of false-weaknesses, if she could evernd a hit it would not outright kill her, but certainly disable her for the fight at minimum and put her into critical condition. The trick would be hitting her, because she was every bit as evasive as her namesake. Valentina wasnt entirely sure if she even existed most of the time, but the white-d figure engaged in a fight with Long Zhiyuan certainly wasnt an actual body probably. Except for brief moments when she was, and Valentina had yet to figure out any tells for when it was real, or just an illusion.


    Ascender Light was unpredictable, but in a <em>refreshingly</em> straightforward waypared to Wraith. Her weakness sensing knew that it wasnt able to fully predict his actions, that there were hidden depths to the man she couldnt even guess at, but his mostmon actions were at least familiar <em>enough</em> to her predictions. He also kept using some kind of mana which she had never seen before, but she thought she had enough of a grasp of it to work around it.


    Running through their ns, Valentina found one that would work.


    n fourteen, variation Bravo.


    Taking aim, Valentina caressed her trigger.


    ***


    Matt was beyond frustrated as Gan Le continued to stick to him like a bit of toilet paper to the bottom of his shoe.


    He had already gone through all of his avable methods to try and break the bond between himself and the seemingly invincible man, but nothing had worked.


    Matt prepared to cycle his methods again when something happened. A presence, and an absence.


    Essence washed out from somewhere there should have been nothing.


    A block of their entwined spiritual awareness suddenly went away, and their group awareness stumbled as they tried to correct for a missing piece. Matts body experienced a sudden hitch as his cultivation suddenly lost a support hed only barely been aware of.


    Stones power armor was missing its helm, and part of its shoulders. Fragments of enchanted stone drifted from it in slow motion. Erics head was not visible. Erics vitals on Matts [HUD] were all null.


    Matt stopped moving as Gan Le mmed two blows into his head then chest.


    Eric was dead.


    Except that was impossible.


    Eric couldnt die. He was Matts friend, his mentor, his sponsor. He couldn''t be dead.


    Except he was.


    His armor was mixed in with the flesh of his head as it spread through the emptiness of space in slow motion as Matts increased perception forced him to watch every agonizing fraction of a second.


    Screaming, he moved to rush to his friend, wanting to save him somehow.


    But the moment he started to elerate away, he felt like he mmed into a wall as Gan Le braced himself and resisted Matts forward movement.


    Roaring, Matt didnt go for anyplicated methods to resist the tether, but instead pushed with everything he had. His body, his armor, his Domain, it all went into a desire to <em>move</em>.


    And so he moved.


    Reality started to warp as Gan Le tried to resist him.


    Just as he was starting to slow down against the seemingly immovable Gan Le, just an instant from Erics death, Light''s head turned into a cloud of blood.


    Unbridled rage flushed through Matts veins, but unlike the hot anger from Eric''s death, this anger was cold as Aster.


    Gan Le had regained his positioning, holding Matt in ce, but Matt would not be denied. He called upon his Intent, crushing his mana into a singrity, and a pitch-ck beam with every drop of mana that Matt had ess to erupted from a massive, overwhelmingly powerful [Mana Beam]. He didnt channel it through any of his enhancers, none of them could take that much power, but he didnt need the help.


    The white-rimmed pir of ckness mmed into Gan Le, Matts willpower dropped <em>precipitously</em>, but the Sect man was sent absolutely flying, his body iling wildly as he vanished into the distance.


    With a snap, the tether holding him to Gan Le broke and he was <em>free</em>.


    ***


    The moment she pulled the trigger, Valentina abandoned the body she had been inhabiting.


    The question of how she was going to survive taking out someone with a hyper long range teleporter like Shadow hade up early, and she hadnt let anyone forget it. Valentina wasnt a throwaway asset, no matter how the analyses of the other Great Powers might hint that her life for an Ascenders was a worthy trade.


    Thankfully, there was an answer.


    Corpse Flowers were rare natural treasures that allowed one to create simcrums of oneself to transfer their consciousness into. It was hardly a perfect copy, as the recement had no essence while uninhabited, but it made an <em>excellent</em> starting point. The smiths theyd worked with in the Federation had worked wonders, somehow turning the flower into a genuine <em>pseudoskill</em>. Something reusable, which could be slotted into the spirit and used time and time again. There had to be a catch somewhere, but she didnt know what.


    Oskar had been the one to take the [Blind-Dead Drop] skill, as his Domain fit it better than hers would, and with a thought, Valentina and her spotter changed positions, their consciousnesses seamlessly moving from one spot to another.


    The two of them appeared ny degrees off from where theyd been before, and Oskar raised a temporary bubble of time, giving her just enough time to reload her freshly-manifested Anchor, pour a dozen skills into the payload, take her aim, to stroke her trigger once again.


    The pause between strikes was tricky to get right. Titan was the main issue, weirdly. Her Domain made it clear that Gan Le didnt tie the Ascender down as much as their tests had hoped, enough to make him entirely useless. Her predictions made it clear that any time a <em>genuinely</em> dangerous attack woulde in, Titan would interfere <em>somehow</em>. Her senses didnt exin how, but one thing was clear. Titan <em>had</em> to bepletely and utterly preupied with something if any of her main shots were to stand a chance atnding. Eliminating the Ascender was a non-starter, so shed had to turn to alternative methods.


    Like targeting his emotions.


    Of everyone on the battlefield, Legion, Wraith, Queen, Stick, and Stone were the only things that came to her attention as genuine weaknesses of the Ascender. Legion and Wraith were impossible to eliminate, and Queen and Sticks danger senses were honed enough that trying to eliminate them would certainly trigger a full response from Titan. So, one shot to eliminate Stone. Confusion, rage, and above all <em>focus</em> would be drawn entirely to the death, and that heartbeat betweenplete focus and hypervignce for additional shots was the optimal time to strike.


    All she needed to do was predict the exact reaction speed of everyone on the battlefield, their respective responses to the death, identify where Light would be when her bullet struck, and ensure that it wouldnt trigger danger senses until it was toote.


    Easy.


    The second shot was in flight momentster, well before the first had struck, but Valentina was confident in her aim. She abandoned that body a momentter, arriving at her third and final backup body an additional forty degrees off. Predictability meant death.


    Thisst shot was less pivotal, and several of her skills were on cooldown regardless. There would be too much chaos to properly predict what this shot would even do, but she was certain it would be dramatic. And a moment after the third retort sounded, those bodies too were abandoned, returning to her real body, this onepletely off-axis from the battlefield and in an <em>intensely</em> warded hiding post.


    Summoning her weapon once more, she inserted a round into the chamber and prepared to fire, but hoped she didnt need to. If she did, it meant she and Oskar would need to bug out while being chased by an angry teleporter, and Valentina didnt like those odds.


    Sighting in, she waited and watched, ready for the show that would start as her bullets hit their targets.


    Who knows, there might be an opening for her to exploit.


    ***


    Allie felt a pulse of shock run through her as Erics head vaporized, and that shock turned to pure, unbridled rage as her partner was struck just a momentter. The entire battlefield came into sharp focus, and Allie let loose.


    Maven tried to block her teleport, but Allies priorities had shifted from fight to rescue, and she struck out with her Intent, fracturing space into a thousand pieces and giving her the room needed to trigger seven backup forms of teleportation to disengage. And while it cost her an arm, Allie got in onest hit with her severed appendage before it was shredded by the opponent who should have been easy to defeat. Where before Maven had wielded power like a cudgel too heavy for her, she now wielded it like a rapier. And it showed.


    Zack was still alive, even though half his head was missing, because hed intercepted whatever it was that had struck him with aplex web of aspects that caused his magic and the projectile to shred one another evenly, meaning hed taken a faceful of shrapnel that annihted a massive chunk of his face. Hed only managed to pull through that with abination of a hyper-reinforced skull that Allie would never call him paranoid about ever again, and by finally breaking through with a momentary fit of genius that had gotten him a partial-body, partial-blood [Spirit] skill usage that reinforced his material existence.


    If hed had even an instant more warning, or if hed had ten times the mana, he might have beenpletely unscathed, but now he was floating almost blind, half conscious, and under attack. Allie appeared next to him, grabbed him with her remaining arm, took a half-dozen bullets from Colton that would have otherwise struck him in the head, and reached out with her Talent towards <em>home</em>, towards Camp Lightfoot, where <em>they could fix him</em>


    The bullets embedded in her flesh burned her spirit, trying to interrupt her, but <em>she would not be denied</em>, even as a huge spell crashed down on them, but her teleportation spun up agonizingly slowly, looking for the ce that she told it to go, looking, looking, looking, and finally finding the exact ce she was aiming for, giving her enough of a fingerhold that she could hook on with practiced ease and <em>pull.</em>


    That much distance was hard, taking people with her was hard, entering a rift was hard, teleporting through a spatial lock was hard, teleporting while her body was filled with spirit-straining cursed or poisoned metal pellets was hard, and doing it all at the same time was nearly impossible. But Allie had made a career of doing the impossible, and it was practically second nature for her at this point.


    Space folded and bent, connecting her to the rift. And in that instant, her awareness stretched out and Allie searched and found the one ce, the one person that she needed to find. While Melinda wasnt on-duty yet, she was only Tier 17, and Allie could scoop her up and shove her wherever she wanted, no matter how much her spirit screamed at her for it.


    Allie, Zack, and Melinda appeared in the triage bay where high-Tier healers were on-call. They were well trained, and the moment they fully materialized, they were already beginning to pour their magic into Allies friend just as the first syble of her hoarse, HEAL HIM! began to tear itself out of her throat. And while it took an agonizingly long time, Melinda began adding her own magic, <em>her own </em>Talent<em> to the effort</em>, and Allie could rx as Zack would definitely be alright now.


    Allie waited a moment to see if Zack would be recovering, but the moment the healing started, her partner slipped into unconsciousness. Whatever had hit him had done <em>serious</em> damage to his spirit and body alike, and hed need more than a few seconds of healing to recover.


    One of the healers moved to begin healing Allie, but she was gone before they could near her. There was no time for her to heal, there was no time for her to wait for Zack. Though her body and spirit groaned with the effort, she pulled on her teleportation once more and returned to the battlefield she had just left.


    A spell mmed into her remaining arm, but she ignored it and looked out to where Darrow had tracked the attacks to havee from. He told her to remain with the group, but Allie ignored the order.


    She had a head to take.


    ***


    The moment Matt broke free of Gan Le, he raced forward and brought his de down on Long Zhiyuan who was fighting with a few others that were trying to take his bond out.


    The former Young Master seemed to have predicted he would do exactly that, and sent a st of energy out of his elbow strike, but Matt ignored the attack and drove his de home. Hed dropped most of his ongoing skills, focusing entirely on his attacks.


    The de sunk into flesh even as a few cracks spread across Matts helmet.


    Unleashing the stored mana, Matt intended to blow Long Zhiyuan apart, but while the attack did considerable damage, it was far less than it should have been.


    Wrenching his de free, Matt saw Gan Le approaching, literally being carried back by one of the eight-man Federation squad, and watched as the residual damage lessened as he got closer.


    Not caring about the spells that hammered into his rapidly-cracking helm, Matt grabbed Long Zhiyuans exposed chest and quickly threw a million mana into [Breach]. When the spell unleashed its power, it rocked the world as a shockwave of mana blew everyone else away, including Gan Le. Still, his Talent protected Long Zhiyuan enough that only half of his body was vaporized instead of the whole thing.


    He expected Long Zhiyuan to run with an escape method of some kind, but instead he drove a wed hand at Matts head. Even with his helmet in mostly-good shape, Matt felt a fair bit of danger from the attack, and redirected a massive amount of mana towards bringing his armor skills back up. The attack sshed harmlessly against the armors newly-reinforced ting, and Matt responded with a pulse of his Concept to fling the Sect man off him.


    Knowing he had limited time before Gan Le was back on him, he turned and started casting [Mana Beam]. The arm thick beam of mananced out, cutting into, and doing serious damage to several of the enemy who had been pushing his team, before Maven mmed her hands together and created a white full moon and the spells damage halved.


    Changing his target to the mercenaries attacking them from range, he cut off and recast the spell, redirecting it to his mana cannon, and sent out an oversized pulse, this time aspecting the entire thing to void. Infuriatingly, the eight-man Federation squad had managed to get <em>in front</em> of the shield protecting the mercenaries, and somehow deflected the shieldbreaker straight upwards and into the nothingness of space.


    Matt resumed his assault of the shield, this time using summer mana as a base, but the Corporation mercenaries had set up some kind of shield-amplifier, and Loel and the Federation soldiers cast their own spells to reinforce it, holding it fast against Matts assault.


    No, no, no. This wasnt how this worked.


    A small pulse of his Intent concentrated his mana enough that it sent the base flying, turning everyone inside into a gory mess as they became a danger to everyone around them. That move cost him even more of his already tapped willpower but that was fine.


    His blind fury begged for <em>more</em> destruction. He wanted to go in there and tear them limb from limb, <em>slowly</em>. But Matt had bigger targets than mercenaries here for money.


    Screaming, Matt threw himself at Maven and brought his de around to bisect her.


    Maven deflected the blow and the wave of mana that apanied the attack, using the opening tosh out at Matt with her digitigrade lower legs. Her ws carved straight through his armor both magical and physical, but Matt ignored the damage to bring the pommel of his longsword into her shoulder.


    The blow that should have shattered every bone in her body only broke her corbone, which was rapidly healed thanks to Gan Les approach.


    Matt barely even needed to turn to bathe Gan Le in a wave of white-hot [Dragonme], hoping that protecting his allies resulted in a corresponding attenuation of his own defenses, but with how fearlessly the man plowed through the inferno, he saw that his hopes were in vain.


    Maven hadnt allowed the opportunity to pass, andshed out with all four of her limbs. They turned almost incorporeal, and despite his armor defending against that exact sort of thing, bypassed his defenses and tore into his flesh. Arge portion of his torso was eviscerated, but [Regeneration] rapidly put himself together just as quickly as he was injured.


    A startled yelp emanated from a point of empty space a bit behind Matt, and Aster tumbled into visibility, the left side of her chest missing. The bullet responsible passed through her and with a wrenching sound ripped through the wing of Bulwarks griffin mount and embedded itself in his shoulder.


    Matt red his Concepts repulsion to the point he almost passed out, and while it bought him some room before he could free himself, a dagger wielding man Matt hadnt seen drove a de into his face.


    It struck right on the crack in his helmet, and slid through the nearly atomic-level gap in a way that was impossible without magic to pierce Matts skin, but he barely flinched as the cold metal sliced through. Instead, he activated his repulsion armor and swung his longsword, not aiming for the body, but the much more vulnerable wrist mere inches from his face.


    Even with Gan Le there to lower the damage, his de still sliced through the joint, though it took every bit of power Matt had in him.


    With the de still in his flesh, Matt tried to shake free of the duo Trio? Had there been someone else?


    Matt ignored the incongruent thoughts as he twisted to the side, preventing Maven from driving the de in his face deeper with a palm strike. Hed love to reach up and remove the de, as it wasyered with anti healing effects, which caused even a multi million mana per second [Regeneration]s healing factor to slow to a crawl, but he waspletely upied with trying to defend himself from Maven and Gan Le, both pelting him nonstop with attacks. His armor kept beeping at him aboutpromised defenses, but he ignored it as lightning poured from his body and sank into the bodies of his attackers.


    A Liz body went down near him as a group of eight took one down, then another in rapid session.


    General Darrow was already calling for them to retreat and gather up, but their enemies had them locked down tight.


    Rage coursed through Matts body like a second heartbeat. He refused to die here, refused to lose anyone else under his care. Theyd been caught t-footed, but woe betide them if they thought that would be enough.


    No. Matt refused to go down like that.


    He was not some petty footsoldier, who lived and died because something went wrong. He was Ascender Titan. Hed stared death in the eye time and time again, and he had <em>never</em> blinked first.


    He was endless. He was dauntless. He would not be denied.


    His armor had hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of mana stored within it in crystal form, as a backup power source. But here and now he released <em>all</em> of it, and a massive cloud of raw magic suffused the battlefield. It wasrger than anything hed done in the fight so far, and trying to control it would be an exercise in futility for him, let alone anyone else.


    He kept a modicum of control over it regardless, feeling the spells throughout the fight impact it and begin to tear at it, destabilizing pockets and straining Matt as the unleashed mana <em>still</em> poured out from him.


    He let go of the entire mess.


    It started with lightning.


    A bolt of electricity, twice as thick as Matt was tall, ripped through the space, and the thunder took physical form as the mana immediately next to it twisted into sound, then that sound into force and that force into fire. The fire absorbed metaphorical heat from its surroundings, making thermal and ice. An uninteresting part of the battlefield became spectral and allowed a vicious me made of aurora to crash through it, detonating into a thousand other pieces.


    Gan Le was sent flying in a tornado made of force that actually opened up cuts on his arms, Matt took a blow to his chest that crushed his armor into his torso and took off his arm. His skull was cleaved nearly in half as the dagger still embedded in it was torn asunder and shattered, flying off into the distance in a flurry of freezing hot shadows.


    That was when reality started getting <em>really</em> weird.


    Matt tore a hole into chaotic space to escape, wanting to cough up blood but unable to with his armor still constricting his chest cavity. Raw <em>pain</em> wracked every aspect of his being- emotionally, physically, spiritually, and even through his domain - and while he ached to return to the fight and show them what true endlessness looked like, his responsibility warred with and won against his desire for revenge.


    He wasnt sure how long he floated there in chaotic space. Intellectually, he knew it was only a few seconds, as evidenced by the degree of recovery in his physical body. But it could have been hours, or even days, as his mind struggled to process what had happened. At least, until mana wrapped around him as a ship appeared within his field of view, pulling him into Drifters ship. As hended next to Aster and Torment, the ship was full.


    Stone was there too. Or rather, what was left of him.


    Shadows power wrapped around him, around the ship, and then they were gone, back in the rift. She copsed to the ground a momentter in a swiftly-growing pool of blood, but the hatch was ripped open and things blurred together. Shadow disappeared first, and Matt was vaguely aware of someone trying to move him, but he refused, and the pressure on his Domain lifted a momentter as they stopped trying. It was pointless anyway, as his body had already almost fully recovered and was just pushing out thest bits of armor still embedded in his chest.


    Instead of concentrating on any of that though, his eyes were fixed on Erics body, where Authur was still holding onto it.


    At that same moment, Dena dropped to her knees and let out a keening wail that tore at Matts very being as she shook the corpse of her husband, demanding hee back to her.


    Matt stood, unmoving as the world slowed to a crawl around him, his own eyes fixed on the headless body of his friend and mentor.

 Chapter 315

    Chapter 315


    Matt had to check his AI to see how long he stood inplete stillness and silence. It felt like hours, days even, but ended up being a whopping five minutes. That''s all he was allowed to grieve before the healers grew insistent enough that he gave way. But as soon as his armor was off, his body snapped back to full health. There were only a couple of things that his baseline healing couldnt deal with, but he was able to flush those out with a quick few hundred million mana directed like a scalpel through his Millennium Willow Lifesap, overwhelming and overpowering the foreign mana left in his body. There was the sound of a distant scream and what sounded like a mirror breaking, then he was free of the curses hed umted.


    Reluctantly, the healers released him once more, moving on to the others still in the shuttle.


    His attention bounced from the healers to the empty eyed Dena, and the anger that had been burned out in the end of the battle flickered back to life.


    Liz, who was as shocked as he was, was an instant slower than Aster in picking up on his emotional outburst, but both of them were too slow to stop him. It only took an instant to find who he was looking for, because he was always near the second person Matt needed.


    Baxter and Melinda.


    Even as he neared his fullbat speed, Matt watched as Baxter tracked him. When it became clear that Matt was in fact headed for them, Baxter vanished before appearing next to Matt. They were in between buildings, and while in better times Matt might have cared enough to do this privately, he had no such concerns at the moment.


    We need Melindas miasmas on all missions going forward.


    That was already discussed, Ascender Titan, and you know the answer. Baxter looked unperturbed, unbothered, unruffled in a way that made Matt even angrier. He was Tier 46 and would have felt theming back injured, and he had the gall to look at Matt <em>like that</em>.


    Eric was dead damn it.


    And Im demanding that answer be changed. Eric could have been saved if we were prepared, damn it.


    Then prepare better. Melindas Talent has been and will continue to be for post-mission healing <em>only</em>. Were not risking her abilities leaking.


    There was a clear dismissal, but Matt ignored it and pressed on ahead. He didnt care what theyd said before. Theyd never been in danger before, so it had never been worth pressing the question. Now, though, he snapped at the higher Tier. So our lives are worth less than keeping Melindas Talent secret?


    Baxter assessed him coolly. Yours isnt, but you dont need it. The rest are.


    It took Matt a moment to process that answer, as he couldnt quite believe it. As the disbelief settled in, it nestled up against the embers of his anger and ignited hot and fast.


    Still firmly inbat mode, Matt threw a punch with everything he had at Baxter. The Tier 46 didnt so much as flinch as he took the blow to the face. His hair didnt waver, his skin didnt ripple, and his clothes barely fluttered as the impact vanished like a stone being thrown into ake.


    Looking entirely unperturbed, Baxter looked up at Matt. Are you done with your tantrum, <em>Ascender</em>? If so, I suggest you remember therger picture and do your job.


    The moment the final word left his mouth, Baxter vanished, leaving Matt there to think about what he had said. They wouldnt give their team Melindas overhealth because he didnt need it thanks to his upgraded [Regeneration]. That felt awful gross invalidating? Matt wasnt sure the emotion he was feeling, but its negative energy wed at him.


    What was he doing?


    Why was he on the battlefield if he was the only one who mattered enough to get special treatment he didnt even need, when the others, his friends, were the ones in danger and the ones risking their lives.


    Why? Why him? Why, why, why?


    Intellectually he knew the answers. The war would only escte with his Talent or Melindas known, but with a dead friend or mentor, Matt didnt care about logic. He wanted the war to end but knew that was impossible.


    The Empire wasnt fighting to win, but rather to hurt the other Great Powers enough that they would settle for a lesser peace deal. Ideally, if the Ascenders did their jobs, a topic that Baxter had so rudely reminded Matt of, something that resembled white peace instead of just a lot of concessions.


    There were reasons they fought; reasons why so many people like Eric threw their lives away. Good reasons. At the start of the war or before, the other Great Powers would have demanded so much that the Empire would have been crippled if they agreed to their demands. If they could fight the enemy into a stalemate, it was possible for them to consider the cost of the war and some concessions about the Empires future growth enough of a detriment to ept peace.


    Matt knew all of that, but he didnt <em>care.</em> He wanted his friends to be safe, he wanted the war to just be over, he wanted people to stop being so selfish. He he wanted a lot of things.


    The punch to Baxter''s face was a stark and harsh reminder of reality. He, a measly Tier 25, meant nothing without the rules the Tier 50s set in ce. If a true war were to kick off, he would be obliterated by a passing Tier 30, let alone a rogue Tier 46. He had hit a Tier 46 healer with everything he had, and he hadnt even ruffled the man''s hair. He was ultimately arge fish in an artificially curated pond, and if the rules were disregarded, the walls keeping the ponds separate would fall, and he would be eaten much like Eric had been.


    Eric. Matt sent his spiritual perception to the drop ship to find that everyone was already gone, but a few quick pings showed him everyone else was in the hospital. Where Baxter was. Matt felt like he should feel bad for punching the older man, but he genuinely didnt feel an ounce of remorse.


    Baxter might be right, but he was still a dick.


    Matt turned away, summoning a loose stone to hand and crushing it with a spike of [Earth Maniption]. It wasnt as satisfying as doing it with raw muscle power, but even he couldnt overpower something ten Tiers above him that easily.


    He threw it away in disgust and began to head to the hospital. <em>He</em> didnt need it, his cursed [Regeneration] had made sure of that, but he should still be there.


    Are you quite done? a familiar voice asked, and Matt whirled around. Luna was suddenly present, her purple eyes filled with smug satisfaction.


    Of course not! Matt snapped. If Melinda had been helping, then Eric would still be alive. Light would have barely been bothered, and wed be able to send those stupid smug pricks packing! You! You need to go to Baxter, go to whoever, get them to allow for Melindas deployment. If wed had her miasma, <em>hed still be alive</em>.


    Matthew, Lunas voice was calm and level, but still carried enough bite to make Matt flinch.


    Youre going to tell me about how wrong I am, how even that wouldnt be enough to save Eric? How even if wed been fully buffed, fresh and not tired, wed still be pushed back and torn to shreds? Thats what you told mest time we lost, you here to do it again?


    Of course not.


    Matt couldn''t ept that. He refused to. So what, its all because of that stupid secret that Eric is dead?


    Maybe.


    He had no idea how Luna seemed so calm. So then <em>do something</em>.


    Matthew, Luna sighed. I admire your faith in me, but I do not have that power. <em>You</em> have more sway than I do in such matters at this point. But it will do you no good.


    So what, should I eject [Regeneration] from my spirit, get them to spill the beans on Melinda to protect me?


    Lunas expression didnt change, but he could have sworn she got as close to scowling as she ever did. Do you know who thest Ascender-ssbatant to be dered dead was?


    The question jolted Matt from his rant. He hadnt been expecting that. He knew the answer, though he suddenly sensed a trap. The Master of All, from the Sects?


    Hmm. No.


    Really? Then who Matt was genuinely curious.


    The answer is yer Daedalus, though even that is somewhat contested.


    Daedalus? Didnt he live like a hundred thousand years ago? I <em>know</em> Cosmind killed the Master of All during their war, so what are you getting at?


    Luna shook her head. No, The Master of All is officially missing, presumed dead.


    Didnt Cosmind bring his body back in six pieces?


    Contrary to what he expected from her earlier statement, Luna agreed with him. She did. And yet, he remains officially presumed dead to this day, bing the twenty-second Ascender-ss individual to currently hold that status. Do you know why? Its because Ascenders get beaten to a bloody pulp <em>far</em> more than the history books would have you believe. There are three hundred and fifty-six known instances wherein an Ascender has been, by all rights, killed. This has gone up to and included active dismemberment and apparent core sundering in the sight of all the Tier 50s in the realm, and yet of those three hundred and fifty-six instances, only <em>twenty two</em> remain to this day. What does that tell you?


    Ascenders cane back from the dead? Matt narrowed his eyes. I dont buy it.


    Luna responded with a slow blink. Your wife is a phoenix, Matthew. You of all people should know what truly constitutes death is muddled, at best. What sets Ascenders apart from anyone else is difficult to pin down and changes between every Ascender Ive ever met, but it shines the brightest at the very border between life and death. These are people who have beaten and defied the odds at every turn, and theres never a more obvious time than when theyre on the brink of death. When pushed to their breaking point, Ascenders refuse to even bend. They figure out some death-defying trick right as their spirit begins to crack, barely cling to life until they manage to be rescued and spend centuries wing themselves back to full power, or simply reveal that they were secretly holding back some hidden natural treasure or unique skill all along, and they were never in any <em>true</em> danger. Sometimes, theyll go missing for a while. Days. Years. Centuries. Millennia even. I believe the current record is held by the Legend Dawn, who was presumed dead for just over twenty thousand years before reappearing as the perfect picture of health, and under the impression only a few days had passed. But, after the thirty fourth time that diator Oracle was ostensibly killed only to re-emerge shortly thereafter, official policy became that no Ascender should ever bebeled genuinely <em>dead</em>. Some people even debate whether yer Daedalus should merely be presumed dead, never mind that he was killed <em>by</em> a Tier 50 in front of a full of witnesses.


    Matt didnt like it but he started to catch on. So Baxter saying that I didnt need Melinda


    Luna nodded. Was only partially in reference to your own personal source of overhealth, yes. Personally, I feel that he perhaps is being too generous in his estimation, because while Ascenders are very nearly never properly killed, a good number have been permanently crippled in some form or another, never fully recovering before Ascension. There are rumors that they recovered at that point, but thats neither here nor there. I <em>certainly</em> didnt teach you to overestimate yourself, and I will be very cross with you if you be the twenty third dead or presumed dead Ascender.


    So then why are they even trying to kill us? Matts annoyance red back up again, this time aimed more at the others they were at war with.


    Because even if it doesnt stick, plenty of those near-death experiences still took their Ascenders out for quite some time, and the newer you are, the more likely it is to happen. Imagine the difference that would be made if Light hadnt been able to make it to healers, especially Melinda, within literal seconds of being shot. Would he have pulled through? Historically, it seems likely. But he would have still spent weeks, months, maybe even years recovering, and they can use that opportunity to push forward the war, trying to disable you as well. Sometimes, such events either require or result in a Tier-up, which is nearly as good as far as theyre concerned right now. Without Team Zero operating on the frontlines, they could certainly make a concerted effort to push through the Tier 25 war regions, opening up the Tier 35 fronts and hastening their push for The Citadel that much more.


    Matt once more grew agitated as it all seemed so clear, almost like she was agreeing with his logic but disagreeing on the oue. So then, give us overhealth and well <em>wreck </em>them! Eric would still be alive, and we would have torn them apart.


    Luna sighed. Again, Matthew, I am not the one you need to persuade. But, supposing you are right, and Im not saying that you are, how do you expect the response to <em>that</em> would be? An obvious use of nearly miraculous healing in full view of strategists. People would figure out that overhealth is at y, and Melindas secret begins to leak. Not immediately, certainly, as shes under enough divination wards that sometimes I almost forget she exists, but cracks begin to emerge.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Matt wanted to pull out his hair in frustration. She just wasnt getting it. So what? Overhealth exists, we got cooldown-less healing during the tournament, its not <em>that</em> rare.


    Overhealth effects do indeed exist, but they are always quite limited. Your upgraded Regeneration is practically the only reliable source in the entire Realm. And that is limited to self-only, through a skill which very few people can utilize to any appreciable level because it takes too much mana to regrow even a limb in anything less than weeks. Thats already good enough for most people to be happy with, along with a healing cooldown that willst decades. Otherwise, it is <em>immensely</em> constrained. Healing tanks that amplify a particr spell cast through them, and allow forplete repair over the course of days. Cracked skills which only heal certain types of injury, Domains which can only affect certain individuals, skill modifications which do not eliminate cooldown, merely shift it, skilled healers capable of reducing cooldown for people half their Tier to nearly nothing.


    Even the healers who treated you during your tournament were not fully <em>eliminating</em> cooldown, merely taking it upon themselves, something they could only do on ount of their incredibly high Tierpared to yours. Its not practical to deploy <em>at scale</em>, in <em>a real war</em>. Melinda is different. She is a Tier 17 capable of providing overhealth to Tier 40s, with any skill, at any time, with no known drawbacks. An army passing through her healing miasma might not be <em>entirely</em> unkible, but they certainly be all but immortal for over a week afterwards, able to be brought back from the brink by any credit-level, part-time healer with a Tier 8 skill.


    Matt shook his head, wanting to deny that. So what, because shes too good at healing, theyre not going to let her heal anyone? How does <em>that</em> make sense?


    Melinda is a strategic asset, and one that only grows stronger with time. Im not privy to all of the details behind the decision, but I expect that <em>you</em> are a major factor as for why Melinda isnt being deployed at the moment.


    So if they werent expecting to take part in a true war sometime in the next thirty thousand years


    It is <em>possible </em>that they would be utilizing Melinda more obviously, yes. Or they might not. I am not interested in ying such high-level games, but I <em>am</em> aware that there are at least two schools of thought. One of which is inclined to keep all major cards as close to the chest as is possible for the event that things <em>truly</em> be dire, and another of which is to utilize such resources as aggressively as possible, to ward off events <em>ever</em> bing dire. Your presence threatening a much greater war in the near future has likely lent more credence to the former, but several people whose judgment I trust very much believe that unveiling Melinda will do far more harm than good, no matter the time. Maybe not to your level of disturbance, but still more than could be eptable.


    Matt scowled. He didnt like that his presence might have caused Eric to die, but it was also hard to really argue against it.


    Luna continued without letting him get a word in edgewise. As for whether it would have made a difference this time, whos to say? If things were different, things would be different. For now, I advise you to do two things. The first is to keep doing what you do, the impossible. It doesnt matter what the strategists are nning, that theyre thinking theyll make this war a controlled loss, take our hits now and conserve our strength for the next war. <em>You</em> have the power to change that, to drive back the enemies from our doorstep, to scatter them across the stars and break their resolve. <em>You</em>, Matt, are the key to all of this. Keep fighting, keep <em>winning</em>. The Emperor believes in you, I dont want you to stop believing in yourself. Your Path to get here was an unusual one, though they all are in their own ways, but youve never been one to balk at impossibilities. Dont start now.


    And the second thing?


    Lunas face softened. Go meet your friends. Mourn with them. But as you do so, when you see Zack, remember what I said about Ascenders.


    ***


    By the time Matt finally made it to the hospital, still in a bit of a daze after his talk with Luna, everyone was back in one piece. There was still healing to be done, and about half the room was actively being tended to by someone, but everyone would be alright. Susanne had a healer pulling off a cloud of miasma still hanging around her head, Liz and the healer tending to her were on the ceiling, and phoenix-Liz was casually fending off a few medical instruments as they kept trying to attack her healer. She still split off a body to give Matt a quick hug, though.


    Aster was lying in fox form at the bottom of a crystal sphere filled with swirling snowkes as a more spirit-based healer treated some Domain straining. She perked up when Matt entered the room, and conjured an illusion of herself to jump up into Matt and Lizs joined arms, the scent of vani and cinnamon filling Matts nose as they embraced. After he gave them a quick squeeze, though, Matt turned his attention towards the woman of the hour.


    Even if Luna had told him to look at Zack, he was somewhat more inclined to take a serious look at <em>Melinda.</em> Right now, she was tending to A, the crafter having recently incorporated a bit of her own tech into her arm, after some inspiration and studying of the Federation soldiers. If hed interpreted what Arthur and Liz had said about them correctly, they were a <em>massive</em> pain to heal properly, often requiring a mix of both crafting skills and healing skills, frequently needing advanced equipment and always requiring tremendous care to not massively screw up the integration. That was <em>even with</em> the former Pathers Intent smoothing things along and helping her to make repairs on the technological side. Yet Melindas talent just made it work.


    That wasnt something shed been previously capable of, either. Even justst Tier, Tier 16, her Talent hadnt properly epted imnts as a part of the spirit and tried to reject them. But since shed Tiered up a couple years prior, her healing was nowpletely fine with meshing flesh and metal. It didnt help with the integration, but once an object was properly in ce and part of the spirit, Melindas basic healing spells reconnected nerves to rune-circuits, smoothed over disrupted mana flows, even polished the metal. Sure, she wasnt just using a basic [Directed Heal] anymore, but Matt was confident that the mix of [Feathertouch Healing], [Knit Muscle], and [Chakra Unbinding] that she was using shouldnt be able to work that way. Behind her, a pair of other healers in their 20s were helping provide power, but it was still just so <em>elegant</em>.


    <em>And she doesnt even have to be there to make it work</em>, Matt thought. Her healing-aspected [Cracked Miasma] could linger in the body for up to a week, and so long as it was there, it worked with any and all other healing to make it all have that signature Melinda-touch.


    Matt shuddered to imagine what it would be like to fight someone even halfway decent, if they were filled with that level of healing. Sure, things like losing a limb or a head would still require a lot of power to heal, but it was the sort of power which anyone could provide. <em>Matt</em> could provide that power, and he was <em>so</em> bad at that kind of detail work. So far as Matt knew, Melindas effects were still fairly prone to anti-healing techniques, the kinds of which Liz specialized in, but both he and Aster still had in abundance. But that was more a matter of Tier than anything. She had been working on increasing her ability to ovee healing resistance, so she was probably pretty good for her Tier.


    Matt was just a bad benchmark in many ways.


    What would she be like at Tier 21 or 22 when she got her Intent? What about Tier 25, with <em>another Talent</em> to empower her healing? It seemed impossible that her next Talent would be as good as her Tier 3, but what if? What about Tier 35, if she formed her Aspect? Just how good would her healing be?


    Good enough to save Eric if shed been there, certainly. She had to be. Matt refused to entertain the idea that there was nothing they could have done.


    Dena wasnt in the room. The morgue was down the hall, in a room that well, it felt like theyd never need to use. Though none of them probed the room with their spiritual senses, they didnt need to. Their physical senses were enough to give a picture as to what was going on, but the faint noises that asionally made their way through all of the intervening obstructions gave them a decent enough idea.


    Matt could understand the feeling.


    How could Eric be dead?


    It just seemed so impossible.


    While he held back out of respect for Dena, his mind still couldnt help but pick out everyone in the room, and wonder which one of them was next. Who would <em>he</em> take out, to disrupt their cohesion? It felt like he was cursing them, but he couldnt help but think about it.


    Theyd been getting reports of unprecedented elite groups from the enemy lines for decades, and yet they either never materialized or fell short of the expectation. But it seemed as though the rumors had finally culminated in a group of impressive elites that were ready for <em>them</em>. Previously theyd fought against people who might have been ready for one or two of their tricks, could target a weakness or two, but with two groups of Ascenders, it had never been an issue. Now, he couldnt help but look at those as possible probes to better set this team up for that initial decisive strike.


    <em>Had</em> they gotten sloppy? Luna probably thought as much, even if she hadnt said it, but until this point, Matt would have said most of their imperfections werent a matter of cking off, just a matter of the intensely chaotic nature of mid-Tier brawls between so many different elites. But now, with hindsight, was there something he could have done differently?


    Not charging at Gan Le would be an easy first step, but Matt was familiar enough with the difference to know that wasnt a <em>mistake</em>, just a gamble that hadnt paid off. What if theyd still had <em>all</em> their consumables and buff routines at the start? Most of the routine ones had already worn off, leaving just their strongest buffs, but maybe they could have made a difference?


    Would they even have attacked if they were fully buffed? If they hadnt been, wouldnt that mean that Eric would still be alive? But then hed just be living on basically borrowed time, unless for some reason hed been singled out due to some specific thing that happened in this battle that might not have happened in another one.


    But then, who would Matt <em>rather</em> have died? Hed been fighting alongside everyone for decades he didnt want to lose <em>any</em> of them.


    What if Matt had made more of an effort to break free from Gan Le earlier in the fight, rather than waiting until after Eric had died? What if theyd been more defensive and stayed together at the start rather than letting themselves get split apart?


    What if, what if, <em>what if</em>?


    The what ifs were driving him mad because it was all useless now. <em>It didnt matter</em>. Eric was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. Matt didnt even know what he could have done differently <em>enough</em> to ensure that Eric would be alive right now. Their opponents had waited while Team Zero had crushed the local army, waited until their guards were starting to fall, then struck. The sniper had done much the same, but hadnt even had the decency to wait for the battle to settle properly before acting.


    But it had worked. Theyd eliminated one of Team Zeros elites and seriously wounded their mage Ascender. He didnt know if theyd gotten anyone in response, but Matt could only hope theyd done <em>some</em> serious damage, to knock the gloating smile off their imagined faces.


    -can <em>walk</em>, Allie. Zacks voice sighed as a burst of shadows in the middle of the room resolved into him and Allies bodies. Susannes face lit up, but a steadying hand of the medic treating her kept her firmly in her seat.


    Zacks gaze flickered over the assembled members of Team Zero, but his spiritual perception didnt leave the room. He didnt make it? he asked, voice heavy.


    Matt along with nearly everyone else shook their heads. What more needed to be said?


    It was close to half an hourter when Dena came out of the room. Her face was still tear streaked but her eyes were dry. They were also dead and zed over, which worried Matt.


    Matt stood up and was followed by Liz and Aster, who moved in to hug Dena. While he was beaten by Allie, who embraced the woman almost instantly, they waited for their turn. She just stood there through it all, but Matt tried to send as much warmth into his friend as he could, though he also knew it was a futile effort. If he lost Liz or Aster, he would be inconsble. That didnt mean he shouldn''t try.


    Everyone gave their own form of condolences, ranging from Zacks firm handshake to Sebastians own weeping, but Matt didnt stay for all of them as he headed to the morgue with Aster and Liz.


    There was only a single body there, and while Eric was in full military dress and his head had been rebuilt, the ce where his spirit should have been just felt like a gaping wound.


    His body didnt look peaceful, because that wasnt what peace <em>looked</em> like. He was painfully, obviously and unnaturally still. There was no subtle twitch of muscle, no spark of electricity, no sign of life. The mana in his body was sluggish and slowly permeating into his flesh, the bacteria in his gut were slowly starting to win out over the bodys innate defenses, and while his cells were still mostly alive, they were slowly dying off as his blood stagnated.


    He was gone. Now and forevermore.


    Matt felt tears run down his face as he clutched Eric''s hand, but there was no force holding his back, no matter how much he wished it were so.


    It was only a few minutes that he wished had been longer, but he also knew the others would want their own time with Eric before he was cremated. Even that little bit still helped him process everything. It was a final moment together that he was able to share with someone important to him.


    He just wished it wasnt the final one.


    It seemed contradictory, but immortals, despite how long they lived, were put to rest as quickly as possible, despite their bodies ability to linger undecayed for decades. Matt didnt know why the custom started, but it had be a thing and still remained one of the few shared customs across all the Great Powers.


    Morgan and Authur entered as they left, so Matt went over to Zack and quietly asked, Are you ok? I saw you take a hit to the head as well.


    Zack nodded lightly. My own defenses proved sufficient. While my initial defenses managed to adequately lessen the impact of the bullet, I managed to reinforce my own body with a novel application of my skills, reinforcing my physical body and ensuring my brain remained functioning. I wish to speak to you at some point, Matthew, in regards to how I might defend against simr attacks in the future, as I would much sooner not repeat the experience.


    Aster rubbed Allies shoulder, but the other Ascender still looked pissed. Liz must have also been out of the loop as she asked what he was thinking, Are you ok, Allie?


    Matt knew Allie and Eric were on at least friendly terms, but her bodynguage didnt seem like sadness at his death so much as anger. Maybe at herself? Matt couldnt quite tell.


    I couldnt find the sniper. Just three simcra halfway to the next damn star on stationary asteroids. Worst of all, the ce was rigged to explode the moment I got near. They knew I would go after them, and they set a trap for me. Her star speckled skin seemed to shimmer for a moment as her eyes burned with anger. They fucking yed us. How dare they? Who do they think they are? They want to y games? Ill fucking pl


    Aster put a hand on Allie''s head, which stopped the other Ascender. She looked to Dena, who was standing in the corner having asked for a few minutes alone. It''s bullshit.


    Liz nodded, but before she could say anything, a weary looking Darrow came into the room. Get ready, we are heading back out in five hours, and we need a full debrief.


    There was a general sound of disbelief and protest over <em>yet more</em> lost time off, but Darrow answered it before any concrete words could be spoken. The attack on us wasnt an isted incident. The entire war front went into hyper drive with the Great Powers making deep pushes into Empire space, and we are needed to blunt the wave of attacks in the Tier 25 battlefields. Weve got enough time for a debrief, but were headed back out as soon as Firmament finishes their repairs on our gear.


    Matt winced. Knowing Firmament, and the rtive state of their gear, that would be a matter of hours. That wasnt a lot of time for them to get back up to full strength. Even if their mana wasnt going to be much of a challenge thanks to him, there wasnt much time for most of them to recover the willpower theyd spent on thisst fight, let alone before that. He and Susanne in particr would be rtively fine, given how much they could embody their Domains by pushing through, but Liz and A wouldnt have time to pursue their personal projects, Aster would have next to no time acting as a winter queen, but Sebastian Sebastian was decidedly not in full control of himself, which would be both taxing on the man <em>and</em> make it harder for him to recover his willpower.


    Still, Matt looked to where Erics bodyy just a room away, hardened his face, and nodded.


    It wasnt quite vengeance he was looking for, but regardless of his mood, he had a job to do. That being said, if vengeance came in the course of his duties, he wouldnt be too upset. In the end the best way to ensure he got it was by spending some time to understand where they had gone wrong and n to do better.


    Theyd paid a high price to get where they were now, but Matt would see that debt repaid. No matter what it took.

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316


    Matt felt a level of disconnect he hadnt ever felt before as he made his way into the briefing room.


    Unlike their normal, rxed debriefing where if half of them bothered to appear, it was nearing on a wonder of the realm, this debriefing was somber, with everyone giving it their full focus.


    Or, almost everyone. Erics empty chair stood out like the gaping hole it was. Denas chair was also empty, but the fact she could, and even <em>would</em> rejoin made all the difference.


    Just before Darrow was about to open his mouth and speak, Liz growled out, How did we not know they were moving? We knew they were doing something for thest forty years ago, but we got caught t footed when they actually moved?


    Matt nodded as Darrows third eye looked around, gauging the room''s desire to have that answered before getting into the rest of the debriefing. There was arge-scale push which helped obscure their nned departure, which was supposed to be just another test run to a nearby system. In addition, there was some level of total information ckout in the region. It wasnt suspicious at the time, but in retrospect, its obvious what they were trying to hide. We have yet to hear anything from them, but we do have reason to suspect that our spies are still alive, just in lockdown.


    Matt didnt like the fact the Empire had been caught so t footed, but from their earlier debriefings about the Great Powers joining forces to make a team which could take them on, he knew the enemies were putting in substantial effort to make the team their perfect counter.


    The enemy Great Powers were hardly ipetent, even if they had different ideological beliefs that had led to this war.


    First and foremost. Gan Le. Were not certain why or how the Sects have been hiding him all this time, but it is clear that he is a substantially greater threat than previously assumed. The precise nature of his ability to wholly nullify any attacks is unknown, but centers around what I suspect to be a heavily modified [Force Armor]. He is also capable of sharing this defense with others, but potentially at the cost of weakening the protection on himself. Or, at least, taxing him in some way. Were still investigating for patterns and potential weaknesses.


    A slew of holograms were projected, showing Gan Le flinching when Matts spells impacted people other than him, most notably Long Zhiyuan.


    It could be a feint on his part. Aster brought up the same thing Matt was thinking, but Darrow shook his head.


    Possible, but unlikely. Chess has found that its consistent with his behavior from previous fights, and while its possible he had training on giving false tells, there arent many other signs of it. He has been active for quite a while, he just wasnt notable before this. He looked over to Matt. Titan, as the only one who fought him directly, do you have anything to add?


    Matt tapped the table as he sent a few of his [AI] recordings to the table. Gan Les glowing w which had linked them with the tether appeared and then highlighted. Do we know what this was? Ive never run into that strong of a tether, and it took a <em>lot</em> of power to break. If I have to use my Intent to break free each time we fight him, Im going to run out of willpower. I dont think any of us want my Domain to be unusable for a couple of years, so does anyone have ideas?


    Darrows third eye blinked, which got Matt hopeful, but he ended up shaking his head in a negative. It bears some passing resemnce to a few skill modifications, but I believe those are merely cosmetic. Ill pass what I have off to Scry and Branch, to see if they can figure anything out, but it may be some time before they conclude anything.


    Letting that go, Matt showed a brief clip of him hitting Gan Le with his longsword, and despite the absolute torrent of lightning it unleashed, the only evidence of the spells existence was a faint bit of smoke curling off his still-immacte outfit. It did leave a tiny scratch, but not enough to even draw blood. It at least isnt infinite, and I <em>did</em> get a couple of hits on him, but nothing more than scratches. He nodded at Allie, Do you think youd have any more luck than I?


    Allie watched the recording for a moment but shook her head and looked to Liz. Won''t know until I try. Think you might be able to drain him if we can keep a hole in his skin?


    Liz chewed on her lip but ended up shrugging. Maybe? Depends on what his defense focuses on.


    There was a questioning air in her tone that none of them liked, but none of them had any other suggestions.


    Except Aster. His bond leaned forward and summoned a small sphere of winter. The guys aplete and total sponge, right? All defense, no offense. Why dont I just drop him in my winter space? Sure, I might not be able to <em>hurt</em> him, but I bet I can keep him in there. she grimaced and continued, Assuming I can use it. My ess was inconsistentst fight, I think one of the anti-Allie locks brushed against my ability to extend my range.


    Oh is <em>that</em> what that was? Man, I was having so much trouble figuring out the tickles, you think it was about reality oveys? I can probably help you out there. Might be fun to banish a whole person to the frozen hellscape, stead of just their attacks.


    Darrows third eye flicked around until he nodded. Ive also submitted a secondary simtion request to try and find a more direct workaround, Wraith. For the time being, Stick can attempt to grapple and detain him. Up next, Long Zhiyuan. Hes predominantly unknown, as nobody expected him at Tier 25 for at least another century. Hes the same age as Titan and Legion, and I believe they even encountered him in Minka?


    Susanne nodded as she had been there with them, and knew him just as well as the others.


    Darrow put up a few oveys as he said, He seems to be an analysis-based fighter, and certainly favors something I <em>think</em> is [Analyze]. Multiple times throughout the fight he managed to predict attack patterns the first time he saw them, possibly indicating some form of precognition.


    A few shes ofbat from theirst fight appeared and Matt caught on to what Darrow meant. Long Zhiyuan dodged most attacks, and when he couldn''t fully dodge, he was able to deflect the blow so it did as little damage as possible. There were still times like when Matt got ahold of him that he took serious damage, but that was the exception to the rule.


    Zack pointed at an aborted stab that turned into a rake of his ws. That looks like someone following an [AI] prediction to me. Could he have a Talent for his [AI]?


    Darrow reyed the moment, but Matt wasnt so sure and said so. The group ended up split. It looked like he changed his mind, that was undeniable, because he certainly did. The crux of the argument came to when hed been fighting Rage. Sebastians emotional manifestation absolutelycked subtlety, and its gaze oftentimes looked at the <em>exact</em> spot it was about to strike. That was the sort of tell that most [AI]s looked for, and as a result, most experienced fighters trained themselves to turn that tell into a trap. And yet, Long Zhiyuan had dodged to avoid the location Rage had looked at, well before any other tells manifested. The fact that he had ended up being right meant that he was either relying on his [AI] for suggestions, or what Matt personally thought, hed read Rage like a book and knew that there was no deception to be found in the fiery giant.


    Ultimately, it was too inconclusive to properly say, but whether he was an [AI]-based fighter, had some form of seeker ability, or was just skilled remained to be seen.


    Next. Maven. Were still working to diagnose what shes using to boost her strength, but it seems to have <em>amplified</em> since thest time we saw her. Or at the very least, she has more control over it and is better able to counter Shadow. In a one-on-one, I wouldnt give anyone good odds at keeping her under control except for perhaps Titan. Maven also seems to be the locus of many of their anti-teleportation effects, so with Maven otherwise upied, that can free up Shadow to pursue their sniper.


    Remembering what Luna had said, he simply nodded. Ill figure something out.


    He had no idea what he would do, but he would do whatever he needed to, even if it was the impossible.


    Next, the Federation fighters, particrly the eight-man squad of soldiers. Titan, Legion, Wraith, and Queen would have some experience with their ilk, as they <em>too</em> were in their Minka run.


    Man, your guys delve was <em>busy</em>, Allie looked to Aster in a way that said she was trying to lighten the mood, but failed miserably. Most we had to fend off was a chimera, howe you guys had all the fun?


    Regardless, we do have additional information on these fighters, thanks to a defector named Carlos, who escaped to the Guilds in the wake of said Minka run. From what weve been able to gather from his story and presence, the eight are members of an experimental program to imbue unawakened mortals with enchantments, form them into squads, and produce fighters with the figurative strength of ten men. Theyre fanatically loyal and all draw strength from one another. I believe you may have noted thetter, as to spiritual perception they all seem to blend together. Specifically, their spirits ovep and in some contexts they all count as a single person. But despite their apparent homogeneity, their individual capabilities <em>do</em> matter, and its worth at least attempting to keep them straight.


    Morgan blinked as she read the report and asked, This is a joke right? They all have C names and are Charlie squad? And the others all follow the same theme? This makes me doubt the legitimacy of the rest of the information.


    Matt agreed. The names were Themed. Charlie, Conan, Chase, risse, Calvin, Corvis, Carter, Cynthia, ording to the defector Carlos?


    The defector ims they all named themselves, but it''s clear Virgil wanted to keep things Clean.


    Matt almost smiled at the joke, but he couldn''t manage that level of enjoyment so soon.


    With that said, the defector has integrated well and appears to be wholly genuine. However, any information we have which cannot be independently verified is marked as such on the reports. In addition, due to the fact these runes were meant to function in a group, having only a single example means we cant know all their capabilities. However, we <em>do</em> believe weve identified one particrly pertinent ability. Darrow guestured, and a still image of the fight, with some added annotations appeared on the projection, and a diagram of a rune-riddled skeleton next to it. Matt didnt catch what they were for, but Lizs eyes widened in surprise. Their spirits have formed wholly around the enchantment, and as I mentioned, are tied together and ovep in some ways. As a result, we expect that none of them can properly die without all eight of them being killed. Their spirits hold onto one another, preventing any of them from rupturing so long as at least one anchor persists, assuming they can get proper healing in time.


    Arthur winced. That <em>cant</em> be healthy. Orfortable.


    ording to the defector, the runes provide constant unending agony in a way that I would trante as hanging a weight off of nails driven into your spirit, but so long as you dont care about the suffering of your people, its likely to be effective.


    Thats just Liz shook her head and red at the projection. Thats barbaric.


    Matt agreed, but his answer to the pain they would have been subjected to was to end them without as slow and painful a death as he could manage. That was all the kindness he could spare for their group. He had to stop himself from daydreaming what horrors he would inflict on Maven and the sniper should he be given the opportunity.


    Do we have any counters? Other than just killing them all, of course, Morgan asked.


    Darrow looked off to the side for a long moment before saying, Sufficiently strong essence-draining might be able to interrupt the preservation. Its pure spection, but the defector imed that when one of his peers was killed in Minka, the consumed the more loosely-bound essence <em>instantly</em>, before their runes could preserve it. We cant fully replicate Minkas draw, and there were extenuating circumstances, but it is a possible weakness to be noted.


    [Sacrifice], maybe? Liz asked, and Darrow nodded.


    Ill put in a request with Group Scroll. Its worth a try.


    Sebastian came up with a more novel idea, even as unlikely as it seemed. Oh! I know! So, if their spirits are linked wouldnt that make them more vulnerable to curses? Could Liz infiltrate one of their bodies and try to inflict them all through that one wound?


    Liz shook her head. Maybe, but I doubt it. Most of my suite still requires a <em>blood</em> connection, not just an essence one.


    What about an essence curse then? Morgan, youve got something for that right?


    The crossbow-woman stroked her chin. Maybe. It might not do anything until we kill one of them though, and it''s a toss up as to whether or not the curse jumps and infects the next in line.


    A few other people chipped in with suggestions for a few moments, but nothing super promising came up.


    Coughing slightly, Darrow brought everyone''s attention back to him. Thest two members of the Federation are Saziel and Eliana. We have full dockets on them as they are old pinnacle elites from just after the War of The Monster Collective Liberation.


    Matt paused at hearing the official name of the war that had seen the Federation ripped from their position as the strongest Great Power to the weakest. It wasnt like the official story was <em>wrong</em>, the Monster Collective had been liberated from the Federation. But in practice, it was because theyd gotten a Tier 46 and threatened to upset the bnce of power with what was nearly a second capital. And yet, his presence and drive promised to bring not one extra, but <em>dozens</em> of extras of simr power.


    What would they call the war for him? The War Against The Empire''s Aggressive Expansion?


    He didnt like that thought. Not at all.


    Why couldn''t they


    Matt stopped himself from going down that mental rabbit hole and listened to Darrow starting his debriefing.


    Eliana. Her Talent causes her body to be both living and inanimate. As a result, spells which affect creatures and objects act irregrly, and she has managed to integrate <em>many</em> enchantments and items which normally couldnt be supported by living flesh. Legion, were you able to determine any potential weaknesses while you fought her?


    Liz shook her head. No. In fact, she has some formation or spell that shredded my blood as it entered the range of her body. Complete and total loss of connection to it.


    Darrow nodded with a sigh. They were very prepared for us. Our teams will work on counters, but try other things should you be forced to fight her. Find the limits, then we can break them.


    Up next is Saziel. A swordsman of some renown, as well as a very skilled kicist. Some of his maniptions are tuned to be most effective in concert with a sword, but others utilize either his body or the des <em>within</em> his body as keystones.


    A hologram of Liz being stabbed in the chest with a hidden de yed for a moment before Susanne flicked a finger and a brief video of him fighting her shed on the screen. I noticed he has a habit of relying on his maniption tond serious hits. He''s not <em>that</em> good of a swordsman. Buy me some uninterrupted time with him and I can kill him.


    Matt watched the clips she showed and agreed. Saziel was good, probably a little better than he was in raw technical dework, but <em>definitely</em> under what Susanne was these days. In a one versus one, she <em>would</em> have defeated Saziel in another dozen moves. She hadnt been given that opportunity, but it was good to know for those who could ignore his elemental maniptions. Or they could have Eric except, no he was dead and unable to be a wall between the enemies and their back line.


    Careful with that assumption. Hes got some pretty potent tricks, and was able to stop <em>me</em> from healing. Lizs warning caught Matt off guard, distracted as he was, but as he processed it, he nodded.


    With that new information, it came down to himself or Susanne to take him out. Morgan might also have a chance, as she wasnt as elementally dependent as most of their other ranged fighters, but Matt felt that was less reliable.


    Darrow let them talk and strategize a little more about how to take out the duo uninterrupted. It was simr to how they had done before with hard fights, but this time, they werecking someone. There was a missing link in their armor.


    Eric.


    They had some ideas though. Zack was pretty sure he had a spellbo of [Analyze Item] and [Clean] that if he could cast it on Eliana then have the mana change to decay, would cause her body to fall apart like any other item. They were touch range spells, but it sounded possible so long as her Talent couldnt transform her instantly, which they werent too sure of. Their counter to that was to have Liz there and ready to rip apart anything biological that might appear, but dedicating two Ascenders to one elite was basically impossible in suchrge and hectic fights.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Saziel, on the other hand, was a little weaker on his own, but harder to kill thanks to his maniption skills. Even Susanne, who could reliably overwhelm Saziel in meleebat, would struggle to finish him off. But she could at least tie him up if given the opportunity.


    Ari Kai. He''s a antimemeticist of zero renown.


    Aster gestured in confusion at the unfamiliar word, to which Darrow exined, He makes you forget his presence. He stabbed Matt in the face. But I doubt you even remember that.


    Matt touched his nose where there wasnt even a scar. I remember being stabbed, but I don''t remember who did it. Is that his power?


    Darrow nodded. Its difficult to tell howmon antimemetic effects are, for obvious reasons, but we <em>think</em> theyre moremon in the Republic. They make it harder to notice or remember things, be it a specific spell, oddities with a situation, or even an entire person. Ari Kai is a particrly potent and focused one, as even looking directly at him isnt enough to overpower the sensation, and his scope extends even to [AI]s and other data storage. His particrly seems to work best when he can fade into the background, nudging attention away from him and onto more apparently important things. As a result, hes filling the role of a battlefield assassin. I suspect I might be able to helpbat his abilities by keeping close attention to him, but without more experience, I cant guarantee that Ill keep track of him. However, I am open to suggestions.


    Matt scanned the info packet on antimemetic effects. While he hadnt heard of the term before, he realized he <em>was</em> familiar with the effect, as something simr was used in a couple ways for Masks like the one hed worn as Quill, and what he wore <em>presently</em> to divert attention from his Talent. But proper antimemetics were several degrees stronger than surreptitiously diverting attention away from identifying characteristics.


    He idly wondered if he could get any use out of it personally. Apparently, in the Republic it wasnt umon for people to develop a light antimemetic cloak as a generic Domain ability, much like how so many people in the Empire developed telekinesis. The more focused the effect, the more potent it could be, and there was no reliable defense against every form. Even being high-Tier only helped against <em>most </em>types, and they made for <em>excellent</em> spies and assassins.


    Suddenly paranoid, Matt swept the area with his spiritual perception.


    As he did so, he felt everyone else''s spiritual perception doing the same.


    There was always the possibility they were under surveince by higher Tiers at any moment, so privacy shouldn''t matter, but this felt different. More invasive. Creepier.


    Thankfully, Ari Kai didnt have any exceptional defenses at least, none that they noticed, and relied on special items like the dagger he had driven into Matts face to take out his targets. Thinking of him as a stealth specialist made him somewhat less scary, because Matt knew how to deal with that kind of enemy.


    Massive, overwhelming, area-of-effect attacks thatid waste to everything, whether or not he could see them.


    Loel was the mage we saw. She''s an oldbo mage. Each spell she casts on a target affects the rest of the spells she casts on them, each time growing in strength and intensity. We have an info packet with all knownbinations, but the main one to be aware of is air, followed by fire, followed by lightning. It seems to be a pure damage multiplier, and with enough stacks, its enough to crack aary shield. Zack, you battled her. Do you have anything to add?


    Zack gestured and the image changed to him and Loel trading spells. Her spells are more than multiplicatively stronger. They are Zack paused as he searched for the right word. Malleable. Most skills are rigid save for a few well-defined points wherein they can be adjusted. Hers are almost fluid, freely restructuring themselves in response to outside stimuli. My normal techniques for stealing or countering dont work against her, but I believe Ive made some headway in adapting for the difficulty. They are merely theoretical for the moment, however.


    Zack looked to Matt, who nodded, giving the other Ascender ess to run simtions on his [AI].


    With Matts processing power, I hope to be able to calcte how her spells are changing themselves based on the spells cast and the order. Once I understand the underlying principle, she dies.


    While he never frowned, Matt knew Zack well enough that the mans professional pride had taken a hit from the other mage. Matt understood it all too well. He had been countered in his area of expertise and then they had been defeated resulting in one of their own being killed. And Zack had almost lost his own life in that same battle. For a perfectionist like Zack, it must be eating him alive.


    Darrow simply nodded. Good. Up next is Colton. Hes a gunslinger of steady aim, and his gun is a growth item capable of generating whatever ammo he needs for a situation. But, its always created in thest empty slot, so will always be five shots away. His reaction speed is also unparalleled, possibly cing him in a simr situation as Long Zhiyuan in having some minor precognitive power, as well as some means of vastly elerating his mental processing power. We aren''t sure, but it allows him to react to attacks and dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time.


    Last but not least is the sniper. We don''t know who it is, but the three most notable Republic long range snipers are Alphonse, Valentina, or Jullia. All three have different powers, but they all boil down to super long range attacks before leaving. Alphonse is believed to have highly reliable future sight, Valentinas attacks gain power the further they fly, and Jullia is capable of cing a mark on a target and ensuring that her attacks will hit. None have been seen in decades, and all are dangerous.


    Allie growled, When I chased them down I only got to a tform set up nearly halfway to the next star. There was a degrading body from a simcrum of some kind, but it was so dposed, I couldnt get anything from it before the ce went up in metaphorical smoke. They were ready for me to go chasing and set me running around like a dog chasing its tail. Tell me that gives us something Darrow.


    Darrow nodded. It''s more than expected, and the analyst might be able to make out some more from the recordings.


    Allie flicked a finger, sending Darrow the relevant [AI] scans, but even that small action screamed disgruntlement. In any other situation, it would almost be funny, but Matt only wanted an answer. He wanted a name. A face. A person to me for the death of his friend.


    They talked for a few more minutes before Darrow brought up something odd. However, intelligence notes that there were <em>twenty </em>individuals assembled for the Harmony ords. That leaves three people unounted for. One is possibly the unidentified snipers spotter, but beyond that, the only information we have is the name Crastor. Who or what that is, we dont know, but the fact there are two to three people with no apparent presence in the first fight is equal parts worrying and reassuring. For various reasons, we think antimemeticists are unlikely, but other forms of stealth specialists are possible.


    That sparked some spection about the potential reasons they might be absent, ranging from acting as transport, like Joy, synergistic buffs like Dena, or perhaps post-battle healers who were technically part of the team.


    In the end, they could only control so much and instead turned their attention to their next fights.


    The one thing that stood out to Matt was the fact they were going to appear more than a handful of worlds away from theirst known location, but General Darrow shrugged the question off. The calls been made. Shadows deployment restrictions are being loosened, with the hopes that we can keep one step ahead of these so-called Harmony ords. Keep them close enough to chase us, wear them out, while keeping our focus on freeing battlefields before they are tried and we can strike a killing blow.


    Allie murmured half under her breath, It''s the League of Evil. The Harmony ords is a stupid name made in a PR room.


    That almost got a smile out of Matt, but Eric''s death weighed on him too much for him to enjoy even Allies normal flippantness, which turned the expression into a sneer. The name did suit them better.


    Darrow ensured that the spotty information about their enemies would be updated by the time they reentered the rift after this next outing. By then, they would have updated profiles for all of the enemies, which would correctly ount for the power boosts they had shown in thest fight, and with possible counters. It was disheartening to know the enemies had decades of preparation on them, but he was sure they could get themselves up to speed faster than expected.


    The title of Ascender wasnt for nothing, after all.


    Too soon they were boarding another one of Joys shuttles, but to his surprise, Dena came stomping into the hold just a moment behind them. Matt wanted to try and get her to stay behind so she could grieve, and more importantly so she didnt get herself killed on this next mission, but he didnt say anything. He made a mental note to keep an eye on her, but his sponsor was a grown woman who knew herself and could make her own decisions. Decisions that he respected her enough to honor without second-guessing her.


    A teleportter, they arrived in a system already under siege.


    The only good thing about them being on the defensive was that Allie had a teleport in nearly any system they could possibly need, which made responses like this fast.


    Matt wanted to say he was cool and calcted in his fight with the attacking Tier 26 army, but he was anything but. He wiped entire squads out without ever giving them a chance to surrender like he would havest week.


    The death of someone close to him shouldn''t change his perspective of the war he had been participating and killing in for decades, but he was angry, and those in front of him who refused to ept his first surrender were easy, avable targets which he vented his rage upon mercilessly.


    It felt like just minutester when the enemy surrendered en masse, but Matts fury wasnt even close to sated. He wanted them to resist so he could crush them, make them feel as helpless as he felt.


    He wanted them to hurt like he hurt.


    But he controlled himself. Not because he was a better person, and even his enemies deserved respect, but because he knew if he didnt control himself, he would be removed from the war and would lose his chance to fight the true enemies again.


    And that would be uneptable.


    No, he wanted heads, which meant he needed to y by the rules.


    Too slowly for his liking, they jumped to a Tier 25 battlefield and then again they went back to a Tier 26, repelling the attackers each time before moving on as fast as possible.


    They just needed to clear theirst stop, the Belview system, and they could head back to the rift where they would be informed about all the details they would need to defeat their enemies.


    He couldn''t wait.


    Vengeance grew closer with every protected.


    ***


    Long Zhiyuan smiled. He couldnt help himself, even with his long millennia of training telling to remain stoic and in control. He was just too happy to bother with that level of control. He was in such a good mood, he didnt even mind the twinges of pain that the flesh of his lower body, stretched by the healing cooldown, sent out from time to time.


    Almost everyone was simrly wounded, but theyd been patched up remarkably well by the first response healers on staff which had regrown his arms. Gan Le and Valentina were the only ones who had escaped mostly unscathed, with the rest of them having been injured during whatever explosion Ascender Titan had triggered by the end of it. Even Synoid and Crastor had suffered, something Long Zhiyuan hadnt thought possible, and a few others had been more seriously wounded from the unexpected explosion. He still didnt quite understand what had happened, as Titans armor made simting him nearly impossible, but he had been able to get ahold of enough scans of the man from the ship to at least get a start.


    None of that curbed his excitement though.


    The others being just as happy fed into that feeling just as much as his own excitement. They had spent fifty years nning for that moment, and it had gone off without a hitch. It might sound measly. Decades worth of preparation for one pinnacle elite dead and two Ascenders seriously wounded, but it was the start of an avnche.


    The beginning of the end.


    Now that their enemies had taken serious damage, there were two options going forward. Either the Ascenders and the Empire would turtle up, licking their wounds until they were back in top shape, which would allow their Great Powers almost free reign to overpower any battlefield they wished, with the Harmony ords only deployed to crush particrly annoying elite holdouts. Or the Empire could throw the Ascenders back into the fray, where they would be wounded, riddled with curses, on extensive healing cooldowns, and generally in bad shape. If that happened, their enemies would be easy pickings, even without a long nned ambush.


    Either way, Long Zhiyuan would have free rein.


    Their side had taken damage, but it had been minor inparison. Half of his body had been blown apart, but with Gan Le sharing his Talent, Long Zhiyuan had survived the explosion and had instead been able to inflict serious damage back onto Ascender Titan in return. The hit near the end with the explosion had ripped off his arms before Gan Les Talent had fully kicked in, but they hadnt been destroyed, and he was able to reattach them. Most of the others had been simrly wounded to various degrees, but it had been a glorious victory by any metric.


    Jai Meng and Jai Xilu nodded as theyughed with the others before moving over to Valentina and Oskar, who entered through a side hatch, the former of whom they plied withpliments by everyone but Charlies team from the Federation.


    Long Zhiyuan made his way over and congratted the sniper for her excellent shots before walking to Gan Le, who was hanging along the edges of the crowd.


    How bad is the spirit strain?


    Gan Les white eyes didnt seem to move, but Long Zhiyuan felt him watching. It was truly awful, I was on the brink of death countless times, and my protection on all of you nearly broke so many times. The power he can bring to bear is far in excess of our most aggressive estimates. It is my expert opinion that we stop trying to block Titan with brute force, and instead try to deflect or avoid his attacks as much as possible.


    Long Zhiyuan sneered. Such weakness was unbing of a fellow Sect member, but it did give him useful information about the mans upper limits. Not that he expected to match Ascender Titan in power, but simply knowing of the limits was sufficient for his clones to begin practicing with and exploiting it. But before he couldmbast his peer for his foolishness, Synoid materialized from the shadows, throwing an arm over Gan Les shoulder. The white-eyed man tensed, but otherwise didnt react to the disrespectful contact.


    You have a point about the damage, but you are missing the most important thing. Jai Meng waited until he had everyone''s attention before continuing, You did it. Despite the miscalction, you managed it. That''s all that matters. The job was done, and we know better going forward. I


    Before he could finish what he was going to say, Supreme General Alicia Fortan walked through the nearest hatch, which stopped all chatter.


    Good mission. Dump your AI feeds and add any notes you have. We are going to dowse our next fight in a few minutes, so prepare yourselves for the possible answers.


    When Long Zhiyuan heard there would be another dowsing, he didnt need the twins prodding to head along with everyone else to watch the show. Sora Fortan was the Supreme General''s granddaughter, and had a very simr set of abilities. Where Alicias allowed her to n for battlefields and n attacks, her granddaughter focused upon plucking pieces of information out of the possible myriad futures.


    Her powers were how they had nned the ambush so well, and their use was always a spectacle.


    They had to head deeper inside the ship, into the bowels where theyers of armor made even a hull breach nothing more than an inconvenience, where security was higher than even their living quarters. It was almost amusing that even they were subject to security scans and checkpoints, but Long Zhiyuan knew it was just part of a good security perimeter and didnt mind.


    Once they were inside, they entered a massive room a full two hundred feet tall, with thick cables crisscrossing the area like a drunk spider had tried creating its web in the room.


    In the center, Sora Fortan bounced on her toes like she was getting ready for a fight. It was almost cute with her pink skin and light sheen of sweat. The knowledge that she had never delved into a rift without a team to do all the killing in her life only exacerbated that feeling.


    It was like seeing a child posturing.


    Despite that, no one, Long Zhiyuan included, said anything. Soras job wasnt without its cost, and if she needed to hype herself up before its use, who were they to say otherwise.


    cing her hands in the ss like orbs that connected to the tangled webs of cables, Sora''s body jerked as it grew taut.


    It started small, like a light being seen through fog, but her eyes started to glow before growing bright enough to be unmistakable. As the glow seemed to reach its peak, her mouth, which was stretched open like she was trying to scream out unimaginable pain, started to emit the same early pale glow.


    As that glow intensified into an almost physical beam, Soras already taut body started to spasm. As bones broke, the mass of cables started to glow with the same eerie light and images of possible futures started to appear between the cells created by their entanglement.


    Sora was only Tier 25 herself, which made it hard to dowse same Tier people, but as the images started to sh by, they also started to get clearer. From blobs of mist whose very movement caused them to fall apart, to irregr, but stable, humanoids shapes that quickly settled into full on apparitions.


    As energy pulsed along the cables, Long Zhiyuan felt the entire ship shudder as most of the avable power was sent into the amplifying cables and their apanying formations.


    Alicia was unbothered by her granddaughter''s bone twisting plight and asked, Empire Ascenders. Where are they likely to appear next? Show me who they fight.


    Soras head snapped to Alicia, her mouth opening to the point that the flesh of her cheeks stretched unnaturally well past the point where it should have been tearing. Ascenders. Ascenders. Ascenders. Ascenders


    As Sora repeated the single word over and over, the misty light that had been expelled from her eyes and mouth condensed in the weave of cables where they condensed into images. Ascender Titan sting through a group of Federation soldiers. Ascender Light detonating a spell in front of a Federation general, causing the man to die. Ascender Wraith summoning a field of ice on a group of soldiers for all of them to vanish a momentter, leaving behind a shimmering vacuum of cold. Ascender Shadow, a literal shadow driving her des into someone''s back before vanishing before the man even realized he was dead.


    The images started to cycle while the dozens of watchers recorded everything they could, trying to get as many details as they could from the bits of information visible in the images.


    So far, none of it had been too useful, but in an image of Ascender Legion cutting through a pack of Republican soldiers, the behind them was visible, which allowed everyone''s [Spiritual Self] to match the wars with Republic forces nearby. That image was bolstered by the close up of Ascender Shadow cutting off a general''s head, and there was just enough detail in the general''s face to identify him as Federation general Alko. Combined with the other bits of information, they were able to identify exactly where the Ascenders would attack next.


    Except it made little sense.


    Long Zhiyuan waited for the others to get their own answers, but his clones had alreadye to a near certain conclusion. The Ascenders would be back out in the field in less than an hour, and they would be seven systems away before cutting a path through the Tier 25 battlefields.


    After a few more images, Soras taut body dropped limply to the ground and the healers rushed to her.


    Supreme General Alicia Fortan just nodded like a wise sage. That confirms our guesses that Ascender Shadow can teleport across great distances in chaotic space, possibly across entire Great Powers in some capacity, if the images of a fully healed Ascender''s Wraith and Light are urate. Prepare yourselves. We will intercept them in the Belview system.


    The moment Alicia gave the order, Long Zhiyuan felt the ship tremble as dozens of cultivators worked in unison. With the harmony of long practice, they wove their extraordinary powers through the ship before the engines activated and they ripped a hole through space itself and they entered chaotic space.


    From experience and his own testing, Long Zhiyuan knew the oversized behemoth of a ship was far, far faster than anyone could guess. Dozens of hyper-specialized Talents working in perfect harmony could do marvelous things.


    Three days before we re-engage. Everyone goes to the healers and gets inspected, then you may take six hours for rest. But afterwards, we start training simtions. I want another death added to the toll in our next fight. This is the time to keep the pressure on.


    Long Zhiyuan smiled at the thought even as he headed to the healers. Or rather healer, singr, as the Federation had pulled one of the few healers with an overhealth healing spell out of whatever bunker they were normally kept in to add to the mission.


    A translucent orange machine-like spider skittered out of a closed door and up the walls, spinning a glowing thread across Long Zhiyuans arm. The itching that apanied healing cooldown didnt quite <em>fade</em>, but it certainly became less prominent. A few moments of workter, a woven bandagepletely enclosed the recently-healed flesh. Were he to require healing again, he knew that the bandage would prevent his cooldown from getting any worse. It could even be applied infinitely, making it the best healing Long Zhiyuan had ever received.


    That it couldnt be applied topletely healthy flesh was hardly an issue, as so long as it was reapplied following each battle, he could be healed <em>forever</em>, with no risk of his body rejecting new healing. All he needed to do was prevent his body from beingpletely destroyed in one battle.


    It was an impressive and likely expensive asset, but it would ensure they could return to the fray far faster than expected, possibly even outpacing the Ascenders and wearing them down with every engagement they fought.


    As he joined the others in the training room, Long Zhiyuan couldnt help but smile once more at the thought of the uing fight.

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317


    Matt was elbow-deep inside a Republic soldier when he felt the space near the inhabited ripple. His hairs rose up on the back of his neck as a giant ship appeared, a ship he had just seen three days ago. A swarm of smaller ships took off from its surface, racing towards the battlefield at top speed.


    Growling, he wrenched his arm free from the chest of the soldier and waited for a moment as Darrow sent the soldiers an offer of surrender. It would allow them to sit out this uing fight, but the general inmand of the army must have thought they could hold out until the elites arrived. That was a futile hope. Matt wasnt kind enough to y with them, given that there was arger threat approaching. He didnt even bother with his mana cannon, just a sweep of his hand and an overpowered [Mana Beam] swept aside the stragglers. One of them survived, but he yanked a nearby corpse to his hand with [Gravity Maniption], hypercharged it with [Tribtion Strike], and threw it at the survivor. The modified [Lightning Torrent]shed out and finished his portion of the fight.


    Around him, the rest of Team Zero likewise stopped pacing themselves and tore into their own assigned troops with renewed vigor. Mana levels dipped precipitously and willpower reserves tapped into to get the fight over <em>now</em>. Matt red his Concept across the entire group, and Allie blinked Morgan and Sebastian in arms reach for him to more directly refill their mana pools.


    It was a bit of a costly move, but thest thing they needed was more chaos as the dropship began to disgorge its inhabitants. Matt fired off a quick [Breach], more out of principle than anything, and was unsurprised when the ship twisted and avoided the attack given the range and small maneuver needed to do so. Joy picked up pursuit of the Sect-style ship, chasing it off with a few muttered curses leaking through their groupms.


    Joy had <em>very strong</em> feelings about how spaceships should look, and Matt knew very well her distaste for the Sect wooden sailboat design. Unfortunately, her dogfight was interrupted by more Corporations-style ships, but Drifter effortlessly dodged their return fire and began engaging with them more directly.


    His teammate would be fine. Matt turned to analyze the actual members of the Harmony ords. They too were in remarkably good shape, and while Matt couldnt tell at a nce, neither Bulwark nor Darrow saw any signs of lingering damage or even healing cooldown. That wasnt a good sign, though it was even less of a good sign that theyd managed to get <em>here</em> so quickly. At least it seemed that theyd only just gotten here instead of lying in wait, but <em>still</em>.


    Drifter was the first to articte it through the mind-link. They have to have Talented pilots flying that tub, or there is no way they could have gotten here that quickly. And how the fuck did they even know we were going to be here?


    Darrow interjected almost immediately. Some seeker Talent no doubt but they shouldnt have been able to get a read on us. And I dont like that. Well pull back to Camp Lightfoot where we can reconvene.


    Matt didnt even blink at the order.


    Shadow on the other hand said what they were all thinking. No, I don''t think we will. Not yet, at least.


    Darrow must have sensed the mood, but he made a crucial mistake. Talking reason. Drifter is correct in that they shouldnt have been able to arrive so quickly. We only arrived here five hours ago and it''s a week''s travel from ourst flights system. This could very well be a trap set by them via a seeker or future sight of some sort.


    Everything he said made perfect sense, but Matt didnt <em>care</em>. And seemingly none of the other Ascenders cared either, as not a single one of them shifted from their ces in space. They were Ascenders. They did not run just because the enemy showed up where they shouldn''t.


    Matt was determined to make sure that round two didnt end up the same way as round one and he liked their odds when they werent caught t footed.


    Darrow, to his credit, the moment he saw that the Ascenders were refusing to follow orders, immediately changed tactics and started nning for a battle. Prepare for swaps. Dont let them entangle you with the counters we talked about. Prepare for spatial locks. Prepare for long-range bombardments. Prepar


    Matt tuned him out as the first spells started flying.


    Casting thergest [Bulwark] he could, he activated his Tier 25 Talent, strengthened it with [Reinforce Mana], and then dropped his connection to the spell, using just a touch of [Telekinesis] to hold the fifty foot tall and two hundred foot wide block of mana crystal in ce as cracks webbed across it, then webbed together under the volley of spells. Of course, shieldbreaker skills quickly followed and the defense started to copse, but that wasnt the point.


    Just before the entire construction was about to copse, Matt broke the remnants into fragments and threw them. Not at the elites, but at the mercenary corps who had managed to approach the battlefield before Drifter had chased off their transports. The hail of mana stones didnt hurt them, but it did make them wary and blocked a few spells that they got in the way of. It was a minor hindrance, but a hindrance nheless.


    Light kicked their side off with an [Arc Lightning], whitish-green bolts traversing the distance instantaneously, then bing an eerie red as he twisted the travel mana into armageddon mana the instant before it struck home. The explosion tossed away one of the Federation soldiers furthest from the center, and knocked Coltons hat off his head while leaving a few blistering wounds on his face, but failed to leave any serious damage on anyone closer to the center, where Gan Le was. The man in question was, of course,pletely unfazed.


    <em>That confirms Gan Les defensiveness wasnt a fluke. Even if we can break through that, its not worth the effort. We just need to get them spread apart and test the limits of his shared defenses.</em>


    Matt nodded at Darrows observation. They were learning and that would enable them to pick through all of their enemies'' tricks.


    Loel countered Lights follow-up, dispersing a bolt of prismatic mes with a purple mist.


    They had drifted close enough to engage in melee by that point, but while Gan Le beelined straight for Matt, he was waid by thebination of Stick and Torment, who had Sorrow and Lost Love as his primary summons at the moment. Ensnaring strips of cloth entangled the tank, while the summons darted forward with apt ferocity.


    Of course, they werent the only ones with a team, and the Federation rune soldiers swooped in, clearly intent on freeing their teammate.


    ***


    Gan Le cursed internally as the Federation rune soldiers rushed over to free him from Sticks cloth clutches. In an ideal world they would leave him to slowly work his way out of his entombment but no, they had to follow orders ande get him out post-haste.


    Really, he was asking for too much and he knew it.


    At least when he was being wrapped up he wasnt protecting a dozen other people from Master-level lightning storms. Theyd <em>already</em> sted through his outermost defenses, including his amulets of protection.


    He really needed to get some proper armor made, the kind that covered your entire body in metal. Sure, it may be inferior to a proper defensive Technique, but there was no reason he couldnt use <em>both</em>. He could ask the Republic smiths when they returned to the ship, he decided. They knew the proper way to bnce protection with form, but he was <em>not</em>ing back into battle unless he could have <em>something</em> that could keep the attacks he was taking away from [The Unseen Guardian Which Halts All Assault] for at least a few blows.


    As the rune squad started hacking at the binding he struggled. He was trying to keep himself entangled but he had to make it look like he was doing the opposite.


    With barely three days to recover since theirst fight, his spirit felt sore from spreading himself so thin. Hed never had his own defenses so seriously tested, and his Technique had yet to properly adapt to all the new forms of assault hed subjected it to. Even his Revtion-empowered refinement could only do so much so quickly, and he <em>never</em> wanted to get more than halfway past his personal protections ever again. It had even pushed through to the topmostyer of his <em>skin</em>. That was <em>way too close</em>.


    If he could just sit this fight out and maybe the next one, and if he was <em>really</em> lucky, the one after that, then hed be able to be properly defended from that monster Titans ludicrously powerful attacks, and could focus on refining his defenses against Lights own techniques. That would be preferable. What was less preferable was how his spirit got punched while his Talent intercepted an attack before it could blow a hole in the head of the rune squad. It was one of Bolts bolts.


    Such an inelegant and overly-generic name, it made thoughts and conversations so redundant.


    Still, he did his job, even as he winced at the pain that radiated through his spirit as his Talent struggled to project itself outward and cover risse.


    A dagger came from nowhere, aimed directly at his eye. It managed to break through his primary defenses, and he fell the draw on his Second Revtion as it tried to remove him as a threat despite being bound in ce. When that failed, it reinforced his defenses, stopping the dagger a hairs-breadth before it coulde into full contact with him. He tried to blink, but found his right eyelid stopped on the razor-edge of Ascender Shadows de.


    She withdrew, and Gan Le desperately focused his spirit at preventing <em>that</em> from happening again. The knife, and the inconsiderate woman using it, were gone the next moment.


    Then the rune soldiers, barbarians that they were, decided their best option was to burn Sticks cloth <em>while he was wrapped in it</em>. The fact that it ended up working only encouraged Charlie and Cynthia to keep at it, and Gan Le held very still to keep their burning light and raging lightning from hitting <em>him</em> as well as the enchanted cloth.


    He had been hoping they didnt think of that and just kept trying to cut him free. Shame that, considering how much work he went through to make sure that the spatial ring the Harmory ords people had given him was right in the st zone of Ascender Light''s first attack. That had been <em>so</em> full of escape methods. He didnt <em>want</em> to be captured, the Sects were far morefortable than anywhere else, but maybe he could persuade them that he genuinely was out of his depth, and get transferred to somewhere else?


    Maybe the Guild front? Hed heard there had been some upstart new cultivator there who fought with pillows and nkets, that sounded quite lovely to him. There was probably some horrible trick to it, but it was still better than <em>here.</em>


    It had seemed like a really workable n, too. Until the idiots freed him.


    The moment he was free, he burst forward and resumed his job because he still needed his retirement fund if he wanted to find some higher Tier woman to mooch off ofter in life.


    Conan and risse were busy dealing with a pair of nightmarish things, one a crying snake whose tears made its watery body keep getting bigger, and the other some horrid two-faced beautiful girl and shadow monster, but Gan Le was <em>more</em> than happy to leave them behind as Loel triggered some spellbination on him and teleported him


    <em>Not</em> directly in front of Titan, like was nominally the n. Instead, he appeared in front of Shadow, who now tried to stab him in both eyes. He tried to block, but found that Shadow barely seemed hindered by that. Her arms phased through his techniques, bent around his arms at impossible angles, and struck like a mountain.


    His head snapped back and he went tumbling through the battlefield. Gan Le managed to direct his headlong flight such that he nearly bowled into Queen as she tried to take Chases head off. She barely even looked his way, just summoned a second sword and, without even grabbing the de, swung it and sent him flying once again.


    He at least was close enough to Chase that blocking Queens stab of the Federation soldier didnt hurt too much, and the man in question disengaged to grab Gan Le, right him, and in a blur of color, ran Gan Le up to where Ascender Titan was fighting.


    He still wasnt sure the others appreciated just how hard the Ascender hit. He had talked about it in their debriefing but all they saw was that none of the attacks did any damage to him but they failed to realize while a dagger to the eye might kill you just as surely as a [Pir Of Pure Annihtion And Destruction], thetter did more damage to get the same effect.


    The first was a targeted blow that bypassed defenses in a small area. The second was an overwhelming amount of damage applied in an unfocused wave and to get the same effect it needed to destroy a lot more flesh and therefore did more damage. Gan Le could take a few dozen blows from the other Ascenders, even Light, for the others on the Harmony ords but blocking Titans attacks was like trying to stop a train with his face.


    And all of Titans attacks were like that.


    Then they had the audacity to act like he was the crazy one for not wanting to throw himself in front of such a monster. Especially with an already stressed spirit like he was currently working with.


    Right now, the man was a <em>genuine</em> titan, twice as tall as he normally was, a pir of terrifying ck metal. His sword zed with so much lightning it nearly hurt to look at it, his arms kept bending in ways that shouldnt have been possible with that much armor on, and he was seemingly <em>effortlessly </em>fending off a massive nightmare of metal and crystal that was probably Maven.


    This story has been uwfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Get moving and interfere with Titan, <em>now!</em> Synoid snapped through their mental link, Shadows running rampant and we cant check her without you covering Titan!


    Gan Le hid the part of him that wanted to weep and dove into the fray with a roar.


    ***


    Liz drifted through space. Or at least, the mind residing within a few scattered drops of blood did as they tried to think quiet thoughts. Her skills <em>should</em> help hide her from any sensory specialists the Corporations had, but shed never really tested it against all their unique detection methods.


    When Colton had riddled one of her clones with bullets, she used that opportunity to have a spare consciousness hitch a ride on the projectiles. The angle and distance was right enough and there were a <em>lot</em> of Corporation mercenaries, just waiting for her to sacrifice them and use their blood as fuel to power her own army.


    She just needed to get over to them without them figuring it out. As she had learned the hard way in her fight with Eliana, thebined Great Powers were ready for her blood tricks so she couldnt just send a clone over and expect it to be fine.


    Despite her personal perspective of the trip being that of a leisurely float through the inky abyss, she was moving quite quickly, and so she only had a moment to act as she neared the weapons tforms. Fortunately, most eyes were on either the main battle or Drifter, as she chased down several fleeing artillery groups. Nobody noticed a few errant drops of blood speeding by.


    Nor did they notice that drop of blood expanding into a tiny scarlet miasma invisible to nearly all senses. Nobody saw as that miasma drifted towards one of the cultivators manning the mana cannon, nor as it slipped through solid steel armor and infected the man. He didnt notice as his blood was rapidly assimted and converted.


    They <em>did</em> notice when she tripped some defensive system, and a protective shield sprang up around the tform. It wasnt intended to defend, but to trap, and Liz mentally shrugged and cast aside her attempts at stealth. She shredded the mans body, tried for a moment to usurp his power armor- it was, s, keyed to his spirit- then burst out in a cloud of blood. She set upon another mercenary in phoenix form, only to have reality <em>shudder</em> around her, and a sudden detonation killed her.


    Liz parried Long Zhiyuans attack with her spear and red at nothing in particr. That was the third body shed lost to the mana cannons self-destruct features. Well, shed get one eventually, and she was technically seeding at eliminating their artillery support.


    There was, after all, plenty of her to go around.


    ***


    Matt wanted to use those precious few moments to enter the backline and cut down Loel, or even better enter the Corporation mercenaries lines and find the sniper, but he was immediately blocked by Maven.


    He had expected that. He also was ready for her incredible physical strength, thanks to the warnings from Shadow. Matt shed down at her but she slipped to the side and brought a pair of massive ws down on his side, phasing them slightly out of reality in an attempt to bypass his armor. This time, he was ready, and he caught the attack with his off-hand. He flexed his body, puffed out his chest, and temporarily doubled in size. His armor followed along for the ride, its enchantments ensuring that his rubberfruit affected the steel construct just as surely, then met Mavens follow-up strike with a backhand of his own.


    Despite the fact her w only skittered alongside the outermostyer of his armor, it still carried some form of curse-poison that dove eagerly into his body, the simple contact enough for its spread.


    Already it began corroding his flesh but while [Regeneration] struggled to heal it at the low level he normally kept it at, ramping up the spells intake quickly overpowered and eliminated the effect. He wouldnt be able to reduce the amount of mana he spent on the spell until after the fight ended, but even at this increased rate it didnt take up <em>that</em> much of his mana generation.


    He wasnt surprised they were ready with counters to [Regeneration], it wasnt like it would be hard to figure out he was using it after all, but most counters relied on being able to wear down the effect over time or outright overwhelming it. Neither of those mattered to him.


    Maven reared up and shed with a pair of wicked-looking natural scythes, leaving energy crescents in the air behind them, then sent those attacks flying at Matt. He tried to cut through the first one with [Dispelling Edge] but instead was forced to parry it off to the side. The second one, he contorted his body out of the way to avoid it, trying to hit someone behind him.


    <em>There</em>.


    Except he was wrong.


    Ari Kai had targeted Aster instead of him.


    She spun even as the de was driven into her back, then her body shattered into ice, rapidly turning ck. The destruction of her decoy came with an eruption of an iridescent aurora, limning the decaying ice, but also some unimportant person on the battlefield. Who had just attacked Aster, and Matt unleashed a [Barrage] of [Gravitic Bolt]s before Ari Kai could slink away again. Dozens of the projectilesshed out even as Maven used that opportunity to tear at Matts back. His armor held, as did his body, but the attacks carried some kind of spiritual wounding effect that felt like they were carving furrows down the back of his head. It seemed really important, why wasnt he doing something about that?


    Who was he attacking?


    Matt queried his [AI] but when even it was confused as to hisst actions he started to turn but halted as <em>something</em> twisted and copsed in an anti-spray of blood. Ari Kai. One of his [Gravitivic Bolt]s had hit an arm and obliterated it along with arge chunk of his chest.


    The [Mana Beam] Matt aimed at his head should have ended the man right then and there. If that didnt work the [Icicle] Aster shot at him should have skewered him as well. But both attacks created little more than small scratches thanks to Gan Le, who was careening towards the Republic fighter.


    Matt dropped his spell as Maven began to properly carve into his armor. Spinning, Matt let loose another [Tribtion Strike] and [Mana sh] from his sword as it turned white and unleashed its own stored energy. The effects mixed and multiplied with each other, blowing the rabbit woman back.


    Her burnt and charred metal-crystal body froze over a momentter as Aster cast a dozen area of effect spells in rapid session slowing everyone from the Harmony ords. Loel was immediately trying to dispel the effect, but Shadow interrupted her attacks by driving a dagger into her chest from behind.


    Gan Le was too far away for his Talent to do any appreciable damage negation but that only emboldened the rest of Team Zero as for the second time they had drawn blood. Once might be luck but two was a pattern and they tasted vengeance. If Shadow had a few more moments she could have possibly finished the mage off but a bullet silently passed through the space her head would have been if she wanted to continue the attack.


    The sniper. So they were still around.


    Despite interrupting the mage it would only take a few moments for the others to break free from the debuffing spells and Matt wasnt going to pass up on the opportunity to dish out some more damage.


    He parried a slower-than-normal spell from Maven and then shed at her neck. In a burst of green energy the debuffs sloughed off Maven allowing her to dodge his ink ck de. She carried through with a potent attack that Matt redirected much of his movable defenses to block, but despite there being no visible tells as to what he was doing, Long Zhiyuan moved with practiced ease to exploit it. He dodged a small [Mana Beam], sweeping behind Matt, and striking on the exact gouge Maven had left with her earlier attack. He broke through, cutting a furrow into Matts back and severing his spine.


    Matt finished sting Mavens attack away and spun to meet Long Zhiyuans followup. [Regeneration] was already knitting his spine together, but his power armor made the damage essentially irrelevant regardless. Matt quickly aspected his armor to be force-based, stalled the Sect mans hand with a st of [Telekinesis], then swatted it away with his sword.


    A moment of thought, and a query of strategy with Darrow confirmed it wasnt worth it for Matt to call upon his Intent to massively concentrate his mana. If the attack hit, it would <em>probably</em> kill Long Zhiyuan, but the risk of Matt bottoming out on willpower was too high for the predicted kill chance.


    Instead, he mercilessly split off a [Sword Twin], cleaving into Long Zhiyuans shoulder and sending a chunk of blood and bone away. Maven struck, twisting into something that looked like a giant pile of vines, and grabbed Matts sword arm. In response, he split off the rest of his [Sword Twin] copies and tried to cut into Mavens binding ties. Frustratingly, they made no contact, instead just passing through her extremely tight bindings like they were an illusion.


    She kept coiling up his arm though, cutting off multiple paths of escape as space hardened around him. He channeled his Concept repulsion as powerfully as he could, but while it slowed her tendrils'' advance, she kept pushing against the force and climbed past his elbow.


    Long Zhiyuan mmed his good arm into Matts chest, not quite denting it, but with enough time


    Matt made a snap decision and cut off his own arm.


    Maven had just about reached his shoulder when Matt brought a [Sword Twin] down on his armor. Hed withdrawn most of its reinforcements and disengaged its connections to keep from damaging it too much, but there were still a few bindings he had to cleave through to get it to work.


    Mavens vines snapped back at high speed towards the rest of her mass, and Matt got to enjoy a moment of shock rippling through Long Zhiyuans spirit before Matt shot forward. Though his arm was only superficially regrown, and not enough to handle the full force of the spell <em>anyway,</em> Matt blew his own fist up with his [Tribtion Strike], made into a spiky gauntlet with his thrice-upgraded [Reinforce Mana].


    Long Zhiyuan opened a hole in his chest with some skill in a way that reduced the impact to mere knockback, but he still spasmed as some aftershocks wracked his body.


    Maven pounced on Matt once again, now with Gan Le for support, pushing him to retreat while he regrew his hand <em>again</em>, and filled out the rest of his appendage with [Regeneration]. After tanking a point-nk [Mana Beam], Mavens grip loosened on Matts severed arm for him to recall its armor to his still-healing limb.


    Now wholly armored once more, Matt kept on the retreat, extremely careful to avoid Gan Les glowing hands. He wasnt about to <em>actually</em> get locked down again.


    Maven tried to disengage and redirect to Torment as he swooped somewhat nearby, but Matt slowed her down with [Hail], then dragged her back with a [Cosmic Pressure]-empowered flicker of his Intent. Even controlling gravity with his attraction was a bit more draining than hed wanted, so he cut it off, but it was enough to aplish what he wanted, as Maven once again turned back to keep attacking.


    Matt yed defensively, ruing some damage under the Sect warriors relentless and reckless assault, but nothing terribly concerning. That he couldnt dissuade their attacks with his own abilities was annoying, but he could at least appreciate watching Gan Les gray skin grow darker and darker from exertion as he protected his countrymen. It was a slow process, but still fun.


    And besides, he wasnt alone.


    Shadow came in with a vengeance, des shing, tearing up Mavens back.


    Maven turned andshed out while tentacles grew out of her back. Those fleshy appendages tried to entangle Matts de but he didnt care and simply hacked down, trying to push Gan Le to his limits, and right past them.


    Long Zhiyuan didnt sit idle andnded several attacks on Matt, but he blocked most of them with abination of [Bulwark] and his armors inbuilt shields. The rest sshed against his armor, harmlessly. Only one attacknded, some kind of twisting ck ball of thorns that weaseled into a crack in his armor while Matt parried an opportunistic shot from Colton, on the far side of the battlefield.


    It set into his flesh like a chainsaw, rending his leg into clumps of meat, but it wasnt lethal quite yet so Matt ignored it while he took aim at Maven tangling with Shadow.


    Gan Le used that moment where he was upied tond a blow on Matts head, and even though he was ready for it this time, Matt felt the tether snap into ce.


    FUCKKKKKK!, Mattshed out but Maven and Long Zhiyuan were already moving away, relying on the pale and panting Gan Le to keep him upied.


    Unlikest time where Matt tried to just st Gan Le away through pure physical strength, he instead moved into grappling the Sect fighter.


    Once they were close, so close that Matt could feel the spell buzzing inside the other man, Matt started unleashing skills with abandon. Not at Gan Le but at everyone else around them.


    A number of them were so weak as to be useless with the counter measures Gan Le was projecting but he didnt care; that wasnt the point of his attacks. No, he wanted to force Gan Le to use his Talent at range, always a fairly reliable counter for damage-stealers.


    He was effective enough that Long Zhiyuan was already turning around, but after a brief pause, he hesitated, before flying away even faster, just before the world went blue with mana.


    Matts armor dented, gaps opening between its te, and then the shrapnel hit. Hundreds upon hundreds of shards of metal raced into the crevasses opened in Matts armor before they closed themselves up. Across from him, Gan Le was also bleeding in a few ces, but all Matt could really focus on was that whoever had made that bomb needed to patch up their work. The detonation had definitely involved more mana than most of Matts attacks, but it was clearly approached from the angle of ship artillery.


    Battlefield-scale munitions needed a very different approach to properly maximize their power.


    Still, he couldnt argue too much with the results given the thousands of enchanted metal slivers it had left in his body. Damage over time, healing, mana disruption, enchantment nullification, the whole set. Each one was simple in its design and execution, but there were just so many, with so many different techniques, that Mattsparative blunt-force methods wouldnt do much of anything.


    Hearing a message from Darrow, Matt pushed [Regeneration] as hard as he could. In a few ces, the spell ran afoul of mana-disruption and only caused worse injuries, but it kept him alive at the expense of empowering some of the needles stuck in his flesh. In a few minutes, if he didnt get any additional attention, theyd detonate and rip his body to shreds. Or the rest of the way, at least. [Regeneration] kept his body running but it wasnt putting him back together anymore.


    Hed deal with itter. His muscles werent working quite right, and his armor kept malfunctioning, but he grabbed his own body with [Telekinesis], pushed himself with [Air Slide] past Gan Le and swung his sword, fully rbined with all of its [Sword Twin]s and zing with [Tribtion Strike]. Long Zhiyuan loomedrge in his vision, and Matt attacked. Not at the mans core, but his still-injured shoulder. He was more vulnerable there and it was easier to dodge.


    Long Zhiyuan obliged, and the de struck Matts true target..


    An entirely unassuming man startled and began to fade from tangibility, but a storm of lightning wrenched through his body and tore the semi-corporeal man to pieces. Space rippled and fragmented, momentarily breaking through the spatial locks in the area, and Ari Kai vanished. No essence pulse which was a shame, but he was <em>definitely</em> out ofmission.


    Long Zhiyuan struck, but Matt teleported behind his attack and struck out with a [Wind Cutter] [Barrage]. The former young master spun and dodged them, striking Matt several times with his own attacks. Many of the attacks even made it through the still-damaged armor, but they hardly did anything to Matts still-ruined body.


    Then Matt grabbed the man with his left hand- the only part of his body other than his head still fully functional- and crushed his arm. Bones snapped, Long Zhiyuan cried out, and Matt finished cutting off the mans arm with a [Telekinesis]-wielded sword stroke.


    The tide of battle wasnt just shifting, it had turned.


    Theyd all been bloodied at some point or another, but Bulwark had kept their more fragile members upright. Stick had stopped screaming at some point, but her ferocity had yet to fall away. There was also a Liz flitting between them to provide patch healing where it was needed, but as a massive explosion sent a half-dozen federation soldiers away from Light, Matt felt the battle settle.


    The Harmony ords must have felt the same shift because just as Gan Le looked like he was going to vomit they all vanished in bursts of spatial mana just like Ari Kai had earlier. Shadow reached out like she was trying to snatch them out of space but her cursing told him whatever she had tried to do hadnt worked.


    A momentter, the ships vanished back into Chaotic Space.


    Matt red at where the oversized gship had been. They were victorious but it wasnt the overwhelming victory he had been hoping for. Still he couldn''t linger on that thought, there was still a system to finish saving, and all of them were more injured than they should have been after a more normal fight. None of the Harmony ords had been killed, with the possible exception of Ari Kai, but he wasnt going to count them as dead until he felt the burst of essence.


    Eric had yet to be avenged.


    There was more war to be fought.


    It wasnt over yet.


    A pair of Liz shed over to him, one of them resting her hands on his temples and casting, while the other became blood and dove into his body. With her aid, the metal shards came loose and [Regeneration] finally started doing its job. Even as his flesh knitted together, his spirit startedining about soreness, and hed probably have to be a <em>bit</em> careful about high-Tier skill overuse for a bit but he was fine and could even go for round two. Though he might be the only one.


    Flying over to where Dena floated in space listlessly he pulled her into Drifter''s ship where Darrow had already gathered with most of the others.


    Denas words brought him back to the present like a punch from Maven though. I was trying so hard to join him, but I didnt even manage it. I kind of hate myself for that.


    Matt rubbed her armored back ignoring the gashed in the metal which threatened to tear his flesh even more.


    He wanted to say things would be ok but that was an outright lie. Instead he went with, Eric wouldnt want that, but you know that already. No one here wants that.


    I do.


    Matt didnt have an answer for that and let the silence linger.

 Chapter 318

    Chapter 318


    Matt wanted to feel good about theirtest fight with the Harmony ords, but considering they had only rebuffed theirtest ambush, he didnt feel as good as if they had wiped them out. He wanted revenge so badly, he could taste it.


    Sadly, it was still out of reach and that made him feel like a coiled spring ready to pop at the slightest provocation. His being on edge made him keep his distance from those around him, and the different perspective helped him notice that Darrow was a little more quiet than normal. Matt knew why he was behaving that way, but he didnt know what he should say to the man.


    While Allie might disregard military orders, he, Liz, and Aster hadnt done so before. Officially, they should be reprimanded for their actions with loss of rank, pay reductions, and time in the brig all being possibilities but they were Ascenders. If they were punished ording to the rules, Duke Waters would be in the brig for the next millennia. That knowledge didnt make Matt feel any better about it. He genuinely felt bad about unting Darrows authority like that. It was rude and unprofessional in a way that reflected badly on Matts image of himself.


    The moment they entered the rift, connected to the LocalNet, and got their deployment updates, Darrow gave them their leave. You have seventy two hours of liberty then we redeploy to the frontlines, but orders arent yet settled and will most certainly be updated now that we know the Harmony ords have a way to pierce our anti divination wards.


    As they exited Joys ship, Matt hung back and waited until Darrow exited.


    Darrow immediately noticed him and raised an eyebrow at his unusual actions.


    I just wanted to apologize for ignoring orders. I Matt paused as he searched for the right word, but when he didnt find it, he simply gave up. He was too emotionally tired to think right now. Im sorry for unting your orders so tantly.


    Darrows third eye scanned Matt for a moment before he said, I havee to expect such from Ascenders.


    Matt could hear the rebuke in his voice and epted that as his due, but stiffened as Darrow ruthlessly continued. Before you are so willing to disregard my future orders, I would remind you that I have many years more experience in battles than you, and I dont call for a retreat because I am scared of a fight. I have no doubt that some more of us will die in the next decades as we sh in the twilight years of the war. As people get desperate, casualties will increase. If the Harmony ords insists on chasing us down at every opportunity, more of us are going to die. Probably not the five of you, but the rest of us are affected when you ignore orders. I cant reprimand you, and even an officialint would do literally nothing, but I want you to think about the rest of the team next time you ignore orders. Right now, you can say you made the right call because none of us died, but next time? Will you still consider it the right call when another of us is sent to the incinerator? Think about that Ascender <em>Titan</em>. The rest of us arent so durable. Enjoy your time off, and be ready for deployment in seventy-two hours. I suspect our next orders are going to be testing the Harmony ords response times, and that wont be without risk.


    With his piece said, Darrow turned and marched off, leaving Matt standing there feeling small.


    Taking a deep breath, Matt thought about what Darrow said and was forced to agree with his assessment. He didn''t like it, but the team leader had a point. A month ago, he would have blown the reprimand off, content in the knowledge that none of them would die in this war. But that illusion had been shattered along with Erics life.


    Matt hated being made to feel small. He hated to be reprimanded. But instead of reacting, he took a moment to process both the reprimand and the mentantly behind it.


    Darrow wasnt wrong. Matt and the others had been more concerned with their pride, their desire for revenge, or whatever other feeling pushed them into fighting in thest fight, when they should have been following orders.


    At least, that was what the logical part of him said. The emotional side of Matt said he should keep throwing himself into fights, live up to his name and his Domain, and force the enemies to test their durability against his. Show them why he was an Ascender.


    Looking down, he inspected his hands.


    His left hand was utterly immacte, now as always. He could count on one hand the number of times that hed done more than scratched it since hed applied Stygian Gossamer to it centuries ago. But his right hand was likewise in perfect condition, thanks to [Regeneration] knitting it back together and his Millennium Willow Lifesap helping him flush away all hostile influences from it. And nothing could stop that, not truly.


    If he lost his hand, it woulde back. If he lost his body, it would be put together just fine. If he lost his <em>head</em>, it would regrow with all of his memories intact. No sniper could take him out like they had with Eric.


    He wanted to demand that he be given the opportunity to be thrown into Harmony ord''s path and given time to just wear them down, except that was still his emotions talking. He, like Gan Le, was vulnerable to being entangled and imprisoned. It might be harder to do it with him, but it was definitely possible, and he was sure that the Harmony ords had something in reserve for him.


    Matt had his own countermeasures to being captured, but they werent foolproof. And his willpower, unlike his mana, could be depleted. Was <em>being</em> depleted. He couldnt afford the years or decades it would take to recover if it bottomed out. Bottoming out on willpower meant one needed topletely refill their willpower before they could safely use their Domain again. One could push through it, but that led to serious spiritual damage in the best of cases.


    Having taken a few moments to process, he ran through his feelings once more before going to the hospital more centered and stable. Even after some ruminations, he wouldnt call their previous decision wrong, but he better understood Darrow and the rest of the team''s feelings.


    Once Liz and Aster were taken care of, Matt apanied them back to their house where they were able to finally spend some time alone. They mostly sat in silence, but conversations inevitably turned to Eric and their memories of him. That more than anything helped Matts mood. They might have lost a friend, but they had spent many good years with him and had the memories of their time together.


    If they had been given their full break time to ruminate it probably would have turned morbid, but things were never that easy.


    About seven hours into their break, Duke Waters came back into the rift bloodied and battered.


    Matt raced over with Liz and Aster, but kept some distance as what was left of Aiden was rushed to the hospital. Unlikest time when he came back battered but able to banter, now he was spending all of his efforts on staying alive.


    The healers stabilized him, with Melinda arriving shortly thereafter and stabilizing his wounds. It was kind of disturbing, watching his face re-form itself, like y un-melting, yet still deeply fascinating.


    Matt, Liz, and Aster hung off to the side, but they werent shooed away, which allowed them to get the debriefing. Aiden had fought Maya and they had thrown themselves into the fight with everything they had, resulting in serious damage on both sides.


    Seeing how bad Aiden was, Matt had to wonder about what sort of condition he left Maya in.


    Even with the damage, Aiden seemed ecstatic and loudly contemted how he''d be ready for round two, even before he had a mouth. General Bell, the general Aiden had thrown through a wallst time he was this injured, was nearly tossed through a wall again at the suggestion that Aiden should stay inside the rift to elerate his willpower recovery.


    You think Im going to sit inside and twiddle my thumbs up my ass while the war is going on? Did someone rece your brain with a sponge? This is the time to hone myself.


    Ascender Waters, you will be needed for the eventual defense of the Citadel. The regional capital can not be allowed to fall. Everything before that is


    Is valuable real estate which can be traded to buy time by making them bleed for every system. Im not going to sit around when I can be out there fighting, honing my skills. Aiden interrupted General Bell with a re.


    It was there that Matt noticed there was a major difference between Aiden and himself. Aiden enjoyed the fight because he was the only one risking his life. There was a freedom there. Fighting without someone else to worry about sounded Nice. Hed never share the thought, but Matt almost wished Liz and Aster could sit out the rest of the war. It tied into his thoughts from before about the risks to everyone else, but when he fought with those he cared about he was vulnerable, whereas if he was alone, he could be more free.


    Free like Aiden. Free to fight without a worry, without worrying about anything but the next battle.


    He had trouble putting his finger on exactly why he felt that way, but as he watched Aiden, it clicked. If he was alone and he failed, he died, the only one to pay that bill was himself and if he was dead, it wasnt his problem.


    Everyone he left behind would be as sad at his death as he was at Erics, but hed be dead, so what did it matter?


    As General Bell spoke again, Matt jacked his perception back down to the Tier 17 levels everyone was operating at around Melinda.


    Ascender Waters, if Maya and Yun Me group up, you stand a substantial risk of death. That can not be allowed.


    At face value it sounded like Bell cared about Aidens life, but Matt knew that the general cared more about the asset that their sole Tier 35 Ascender represented. And about the losses they would suffer if they lost said resource.


    That, and theirst battles caused Matt to pull up an overview of the war. The map of interconnected worlds that made up the Great Powers looked like eight balls of y that had been smooshed together. Each had its own core territories mostly centered around their Tier 47 worlds, which were surrounded by thousands of worlds that had been inhabited for millions of years since The Shattering. When the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity fell and the various political entities who scrabbled for dominance emerged, they did so around the highest Tiers, which became the capitals, and they took the former worlds of the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity as their core domains. But once the entities became stable, the squabbling started.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    As each Great Power had a Tier 50 to hold down the fort, all out war was expensive and never resulted in too much gain or loss, as a rogue Tier 50 could spell disaster for all. Which forced the Great Powers to look for other avenues to gain power.


    Outward expansion via adding worlds to the tethered mass of worlds that were the Great Powers was the main method, but it was more haphazard than the mostly clean lines that had been the formernds of the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity, which caused the middle regions of the Great Powers to mix and tangle. Subsequent wars had smoothed those borders out to a degree, but in the three dimensional map of tangled worlds, the Great Powers seemed to protrude into each other more and more as one left the main region until the current borders. There, the space was less densely packed with worlds at the maximum distance possible with the teleporter tethers.


    Currently, the Empire was being pushed in on all fronts that either the Sects, Federation, and the Republic bordered, with most of the fighting centered on the core regions of the Empire. But the outer regions which bordered the enemy great Powers were being upied as well.


    The Conglomerate of Guilds, despite nominally being engaged in the war, was only <em>barely</em> being pressed. Since the time theyd run interference in Guild space, back in the first few years of their Ascension, the other Great Power had barely been attacked at all. It was enough to keep them focused on defending theirs and unable to provide much aid to the Empire, but practically nothing past that.


    There were even a few ces where the Guilds had made <em>headway</em>, with their own forays into Federation space, but they never were able to push more than four or fives deep before being repulsed. The light back-and-forth meant that the attacking Powers could focus almost entirely on the Empire, only asionally sending troops to fight back the encroaching Guilds.


    Instead, those troops were being redirected to the current push to King Rustys capital. That information threatened to crush something inside of Matt. They were already fighting daily, going from battle to battle to repel a single assault on the Tier 25, Tier 26, and Tier 27 battlefields, and still losing ground. And now there were even more troopsing?


    It felt hopeless.


    Except it wasnt, Luna had made that clear. Team Zero, and by extension he himself, were making a difference. Ignoring the fact that the war might not have even started without them, if they werent there and ying whack-a-mole with enemy incursions, the war would probably be over. Doing your best and hardly treading water didnt feel good, even if you knew that otherwise you would have already drowned.


    But maybe there was an opportunity in that?


    It was something he was sure Darrow would argue for, but Matt made a mental note to follow up with Chess to find a follow up question. While he felt the name was a bit on the nose, the war was, to a degree, a simple game of logistics simr to the board game, and they might be able to hit another supply depot or the like. They had tried to do so in thest seventy years of the war, but the enemy Great Powers had learned their lesson about sub standard defenses inside upied territory. Except, now that they weren''t really bothering to hide Allies Talent, they might have some opportunities open up.


    Matt liked that idea. He liked it enough that after nodding to Aiden, he made his way to Chess.


    Technically, as a Captain he didnt really have the clearance to enter the deepest recesses of Chess, where the best nners worked, but no one stopped him. He caught a few odd nces, but when he saw one of the members of Chatter, the group that managed their images as Ascenders, he got them to bring him deeper.


    There were several Chess nners sitting in a circle of chairs, their heads locked into oversized helmets with sses, massive cables glowing with mana running to and from them, plugging them into what he realized was a genuinely massive formation integrated with the building itself.


    General Cynthia Almora appeared next to him like a thundercloud. Is there something I can help you with, Ascender?


    Matt nodded as he let the oddity distract him. Originally I only came here to ask a few questions about possible deployments, but now I''m wondering about the formation. Is it some kind of amplifier?


    Cynthia nodded. Yes, but that is only part of what it does. It enables our strategists and seekers tobine their abilities in unique ways. Their skills, talents, and domains are effective separately, but the whole is greater than the sum of their parts. A farseeing skill, enhanced with a natural treasure, can provide much information that a Talent can expand upon, and a Domain can inform us of the most relevant parts. But when each of thosees from different people, we must make do. It is, in truth, a fairly standard effect. General Darrows own Domain functions simrly, and our enemies utilize them in abundance. It is likely something quite simr to this which led the Harmony ords to find you so quickly, though given how concentrated the warding is around you, any such arrays must be impressivelyrge.


    Matt raised an eyebrow in return as a hunch settled over him. Howrge is impressivelyrge?


    About five miles long, at least. Yes, from the reports about them arriving so quickly, we can almost guarantee that the ship is a mobile tform built around a divination amplifier. Before you ask, no I dont know the exact specifications, but I do know they are horrendously expensive. Not just in mana, but exotic materials as well. That ship probably burns a cart load of Tier 25 divination based natural treasures every time it''s activated. And if that''s true, it also helps exin how our inventions havent picked up much about this team. Part of divining the future means isting variables, namely oneself, meaning the amplifiers are the best divination wards.


    Matt caught on almost immediately. So we are protected here, but not out on a mission, and yet they <em>are</em> because they remain near the ship and formation in question. Is there no counter? I find that hard to believe.


    Your masks are some of the best counters we have, and your personal armor is built to the same standards, but if your question is if we can predict them, the answer is no. When Matt gave her a level stare, she continued. We are, however, not helpless. Part of their methods to divine you all has been to have Tier 25 leaders stop their anti divinations wards. That helps them know if they are going to die via Ascender and pinpoint your locations, but it also has created a massive gap in their defenses that we have been abusing. It also tells us where they expect you to attack. Things like supply lines are still protected by the wards, but the frontlines might as well be a written book for us.


    Matt liked the idea of being able to read the future. It seemed like being the Emperor for a little while. And what does that book say? Can we use that to rewrite the ending of said story?


    If you can pull ten thousand Tier 35 troops out of your ass, a few million Tier 25s, and hundreds of millions of Tier 15s, sure we could. In fact, it be downright easy. But at this point, the war is more a matter of logistics than anything else.


    General Almora said thest bit with a resigned sigh, but Matt disagreed. Logistics only matter in an even fight, but like you said, logistics matter. If we are giving up on hiding the capabilities of Shadows Talent, we can widen the range of attacks. What are we able


    The General shook her head as he asked. That is beyond your paygrade Ascender.


    Hearing that, Matt let his expression go t and he stared down at the General. She could toss him through a wall thanks to their Tier disparity, but he didnt care. His anger still simmered at a low level, and that made him disregard the consequences. So for the second time today, he threw his title around.


    I wasnt asking, General. What are our ns and where are the highest value targets we can possibly hit. I want a list and I want it now. As for what I do with it, that''s not your problem.


    Ascender Titan, I assure you that High Command have already considered all the possible missions with far more information than you can get from us. In fact I


    Matt cut her off with a re, letting his true feelings leak through, meeting her tone with hardened steel. And what you and High Command believe is impossible might be limiting your viewpoint. It''s time we, the Ascenders, take a look. Not wanting to burn this bridgepletely, Matt let his expression and tone soften. I do appreciate what you and your people do. It''s not easy and is incredibly valuable work, but we do the impossible.


    His piece said, he waited, letting the moment grow.


    It dragged out long enough that Matt was sure she was going to refuse, but in the end, General Almora gave him what he wanted.


    Scanning the information packet, Matt nodded. Thank you.


    Despite wishing he could go and inspect the divination amplifier, he read the general''s mood and made his exit.


    Instead of going back to his house, he went to check in on Dena. He wouldnt say he was worried she would hurt herself, but he also wanted to remind her that she still had friends who both cared and worried about her.


    He was a little worried when she wasnt in the camp, but he found her just a few hundred miles away, sitting under a tree and watching a waterfall.


    Matt watched her for a moment, not wanting to intrude if she really wanted to be alone, but Dena waved him over.


    Hey. It wasnt his best opening, but it would hopefully gauge the waters without causing any harm.


    He loved this spot. Heined about it all the time, but he secretly he loved it. He tried to y it up like I was the one who wanted toe, and that each time we came here he was doing me a great favor. He liked how the water spray could just make it over here when the wind blew correctly. I hated it. Dena huped as she halfughed, half sobbed. Now, I cant wait for the wind to blow a little harder. Why didnt I treasure those moments before? Why wont the stupid wind blow over here. Does it hate him? Does it miss him? Am I not worthy? Why


    Seeing that Dena was working herself into a spiral, Matt put an arm around her and just listened.


    Eventually, she petered out and they sat there inpanionable silence, just watching the waterfall. Matt tried to rx, but every time he did, he felt an overwhelming desire to move try to tear him apart, so he eventually gave up and just concentrated on being there for Dena. That was easier than dealing with his own grief.


    They had been sitting there long enough that Matt was almost caught off guard when she chuckled. I remember when we were Tier 7 and spent like a week and a half inside a rift because the apartment we rented had over booked. We found a waterfall like this. Ok, not really like this. It was small, ten feet or so, but simr. And on our third day after we cleared the rift, just when we were starting to go stir crazy, Eric went on this big adventure trying to figure out where the water came from and how the rift kept having more water to move through a waterfall. He was convinced the rift was cheating with a looped space where the river reached the limit of the rift. I didnt believe it at all and was convinced rifts were just destroying and remaking the water. We spent hours arguing our sides just for something to do, each argument bing more and more tangential to the actual point. When we left and looked it up, he lorded the fact that he was more right over me for weeks.


    From there, they just spent some time exchanging stories about Eric until finally Dena stood and brushed the grass she had pulled apart while sitting down off her legs. Let''s go to whatever nning you had in mind.


    Matt copied her sans brushing himself off. How did you know that was why I came out here?


    Because I had the same thought. Come on. Just before they took to the sky, Dena reached out and pulled Matt into a short but tight hug. Thanks for checking in on me, but I dont intend to die until I rip that snipers head from their shoulders.


    Matt nodded, but wasnt brave enough to ask her about what would happen after she aplished her goal. Hopefully a little time and distance would, if not make the wound heal, let it callus over enough that it didnt hurt so much.


    As they arrived back to the base, Matt called a team meeting. It wasnt official, and no one had to arrive, but all of them did. Even if Zack looked disgruntled at being pulled away from whatever he had been working on.


    Even Darrow arrived, though he took a seat when he saw Matt standing in his usual ce.


    Looking at everyone, Matt took the opportunity to memorize their faces. Darrow''s earlier words about their lives being more fragile than his had stuck with him. That made what he was about to suggest feel like murder, but they all knew the costs and had signed up for this. Even Eric.


    I dont like our situation. Weve been in a holding pattern, just running around trying to plug holes in a leaky ship with our fingers. The moment we leave, the leak continues. I went and got a list of the most vulnerable targets in the enemy Great Powers. As was pointed out to me, High Command has most certainly already gone over all of these missions and disregarded them for whatever reason. Part of that, Im sure, is them not wanting to give away Allies Talent, but another part might be them not believing in our abilities. Fuck that. As Luna pointed out, we do the impossible. What on this list is not just impossible, but our vor of Impossible? The impossible we can do? Maybe it will amount to nothing, but we are already losing. Its time to flip the board.


    Allie grinned wide enough that he could see her rubbing her incisors with her tongue. Oh, I like this. What about you, Darrow? Are you going to run off to High Command and quash this little idea?


    General Darrow caught Allies gaze before looking around at the rest of the Ascenders. I will, of course, inform High Command about all ns made here. But like myself, they have no way to stop an Ascenders antics. After a small pause, Darrow shrugged. And General Raven would more than likely agree with any asinine n wee up with, and he''s our direct report. Besides, Ive been trying to get the five of you more involved in tactical nning for thest seventy years. I wontin about the subject of said ns, so long as they arent truly suicidal. I do value my own life at least that much.


    Hearing Darrow wouldnt actively hamper their nning, Matt grinned.

 Chapter 319

    Chapter 319


    Matt wished he could say they immediately sprang into action, fighting the Harmony ords to a standstill before crushing them, but that was the opposite of what they did. Instead, the mission they were given was exactly what Darrow said they would receive, finding the limit of the Harmony ords response times.


    Before anything else could happen, they <em>needed</em> to know the limits of their enemies powers. Each and every one of their follow up ns depended on what they found out. They might not havee up with any war changing ideas in their nning session, but they dide up with a few ideas that would hurt their enemies if they were able to pull them off.


    A lot of what was possible woulde down to the exact capabilities of the Harmony ords ship and its crew''s ability to move. The analyst had already been able to gather some data from the Harmony ord''s response time in their second engagement, where they covered a distance that should have taken weeks in days, but it was a single data point and in no way definitive of their actual limits.


    Drifter wasnt the only Talented pilot in the Great Powers by any margin, but even the best known pilots couldnt move a ship thatrge, that quickly. Talents had limits, and ship Talents usually had cut offs in size or at least heavily diminishing returns. That could, at least to a degree, be countered by formations and Talented pilots working together, but neither of those methods were perfect. There were always ws and limits.


    Their next expedition would be about testing those limits. Once they had a few more data points, they could enact their own ns.


    Thankfully, they knew where the Harmony ords were just hours ago, and it was downright impossible for a ship thatrge to teleportrge distances. Even Allie, with the best teleportation skill as an innate free skill, had limits that were magnitudes lower than that behemoth of a ship.


    With the Belview system as a center point, they started teleporting to nearby Tier 25 through Tier 27 systems, staying just long enough to crush the besieging armies while hoping to provoke a response from the Harmony ords. That many teleports in rapid session paired with short bursts of all outbat pushed Allie to her limits. She neverined though; she just seemed to revel in being given free reign with her Talent for the first time.


    That change, if nothing else worked, would help them turn the tide of the war.


    Instead of teleporting to an out of the way system near where they <em>should</em> be if they only traveled in normal space, they teleported directly into a star system under siege. The moment they arrived, they didnt bother with flying the distance from the inhabited, but instead made a dozen shorter jumps to arrive next to the fortress world in seconds.


    They were attacking before the attackers even knew they had arrived.


    The results were devastating.


    The moment they arrived at Cra, just two jumps from Belview, Shadow started teleporting them forward. From Matts perspective, it was like watching a sped up slideshow as the local gas giants grewrger before vanishing by, until they arrived at the fortress just barely inside the local stars gravity well.


    Matt and Light unleashed theirrgest spells the moment they arrived next to the troop transport ships, holding nothing back. The first of the [Barrage]d [Breach]s smashed into and through the unprepared ships like they were toys being swept away by a hurricane.


    They were mostly empty, so the losses were few, but direct casualties wasnt why Matt attacked them first. No, he just wanted to make retreat harder. If they wanted to run away they would need to run through chaotic space, with their bodies exposed to the corrosive energy. High Command suggested the idea, as even if the Harmony ords didnt care about individuals being sieged down, they would need to consider the survival of the actual fighters if they wanted to win the war. Elites might take a, but if there was no one there to upy the for them, they would be tied down as they were forced to personally protect any system they helped conquer. Taking out the easy methods of retreat would hopefully force the Harmony ords hands sooner then them just running around relieving sieges would.


    The second and third [Breach]s flew directly to the rear of the fortifications the Republic attackers were using to siege down theary shields. Hitting the weaker walls, the projectiles exploded the two fortifications they hit, causing mass damage and chaos.


    The enemies were just beginning to turn to face them when Light unleashed his own attack. He hadnt directly attacked the moment they arrived, but instead he focused on corralling a strand of lightning so thin, it nearly looked like gossamer between his hands. The moment the armies turned to face them, Light opened the cage that was his hand and the strand of lightning darted off.


    It crossed the distance fast enough to seem like it teleported, but that was the power of travel mana. It was <em>fast</em>. It had almost no damaging properties, but Light, with his Tier 25 Talent, didnt care about such limitations.


    Right before the gossamer lightningnded, the spell turned to actual lightning. From a finger wide and two feet long thread snake of translucent mana, the spell turned into a torrent of lightning dozens of feet wide and hundreds of feet long. The spell crackled with so much energy, the ambient mana started to react and take on its properties.


    The first man the spell hit just vanished, but his sacrifice wasnt in vain, as the spell used him to redirect itself from one person to the next. Light grunted as he spent considerable energy to control the spells jumps and keep it from sshing onto any of the fortifications still lingering near the edges of the battlefield.


    Just moments after they arrived, half the army attacking Cra was either dead or seriously wounded.


    Throughout the fight they had been watching for the arrival of the Harmony ords, but when they didnt arrive to intercept them, they were simply left to wonder why.


    It was almost a certainty that the Harmony ords was using some kind of future sight Talent to predict where they would be arriving, but knowing that particr detail didnt give them any insight as to what information the Talent specifically gave out, or the Talents of the ships pilots.


    While they had spent three days inside the Camp Lightfoot rift, that had only been nine real world hours, and the Harmony ords hadnt escaped battle unscathed while they were, at least physically, in perfect shape thanks to Melinda. The Harmony ords might know they would arrive here, and could possibly even arrive in time to stop them, but they could have chosen not to take the bait so soon. Or, they might not even know they were attacking so close to their former location. It was impossible to tell, but this was still an important data point to be added to the collection.


    And it wasnt like relieving a siege wasnt helping the war effort. Another army would soon take its ce, but these losses still represented a reduction of the total number of troops on the enemy''s side.


    They stopped attacking as the surrenders started to roll in, but they didnt move out to ept them.


    Even in their group chat, Matt could hear Darrows smile. Missionpleted. Back in the ship and we are out.


    Pulling Light in with him, Matt grinned as everyone looked at the damage they had done in just seconds.


    Shadow whooped loud enough to be audible from the rear, where Matt and Light were. And that''s how we fucking do it. None of this hiding my powers bull shit. Grab your tits because this train doesn''t stop.


    Matt felt the ripple of space around him even as Light moved to sit down and Liz moved to take his ce.


    She was up next, and in preparation for his next attack, Matt pulled an item out of a box that had been loaded into the ship before they left. It needed time to warm up.


    The moment he physically came in contact with the oversized mana cannon, he couldn''t help but smile as a dozen tendrils snaked out and connected to his armor.


    Connected to the cannon, he red his mana by sending his entire mana pool inside it. The connectors, despite being designed around this very level of mana output, started to glow blue as they began to leak, but that was how they were designed. Once his mana had flooded through all of the cannons circuitry, he activated his Tier 25 mana Talent, turning the mana into mana stone. While it had been seventy years outside the rift, inside it had been over five hundred years, and members of Project Breach had learned a few things. One of them was that while no Tier 25 material could handle 41 million mana per second, his Talent-made mana crystal handled the mana throughput with little wear and tear.


    The issue was tranting mana circuitry to a physical form. Interacting with a Talent was never easy, but with centuries of research in the rift, theyd made some working models and then improvements on top of them. Unfortunately, it wasntpatible with his armor, but they <em>had</em> been able to work it into a mana cannon. It had to be semi-stationary but that was workable.


    It had initially been made as a proof-of-concept and prototype, something that they would save until Tier 35, when they would have Shadow teleport it from ce to ce, but that was the tactic of a soldier who needed to save a trump card for when they ran out of ways to grow.


    Not an Ascender.


    As they arrived in the second system, Liz split into a dozen Lizzes, all of whom rushed out and intermingled into the army. Each death added another clone to the collective, and in just fifteen minutes, Liz had decimated the attacking army.


    Then just like before, they teleported out when it was clear the Harmony ords wasnt going to confront them.


    Aster and Bolt took care of the third battlefield, with Bolt sniping the generals while Aster flooded the battlefield with her ice before detonating it.


    It took a little longer to pull off than the other two attacks, but that was part of their calctions.


    If they took long enough, they hoped that their enemies would feel forced to choose this location to defend. The Harmony ords still didnt chase them down, but they had another tactic to force their hand.


    Shadow teleported them once more, but this wasnt part of their official mission. This was part of the n they had discussed in their own little nning session.


    Instead of teleporting to another nearby besieged world, they teleported halfway across the warfront, far enough away from the Harmony ordsst location that even with Talented pilots, there was no chance they could catch up. Even if they had immediately headed to this location the moment they left Camp Lightfoot.


    As they arrived, Matt felt Shadow sag to the ground as Drifter pulled them into chaotic space, where they immediately left the tethers that connected thes of the Great Powers for the swirling depths.


    There, they went hunting. After all, you didnt catch thergest prey in the shallows.


    When the team went over the battlefield reports, they had noticed the other Great Powers were redirecting arge portion of their troops from the Guild battlefields to the Empire warfront. Instead of moving those troops back into their original territory, they stayed inside upied space, keeping close to the active war front. While the ships they moved in were heavily armored and armed, the armies inside were still more vulnerable than when deployed and on guard for attacks.


    On their own, with the normal speeds even Talented pilots traveled at, ships could see each other well before engagements could be forced, so there was little risk in moving inside upied territories rather than their own spacenes. This time, the enemies'' desires to save time came back to bite them. Thanks to Shadows waypoint being near the old borders, borders that were now deep inside upied territories, they could arrive behind the war front on the side the enemies wouldnt be as wary of.


    It didnt take long for them to find their first target, just three short hours. The moment their sensors found a convoy of Tier 25 ships, Drifter opened up the back hatch and Matt activated the mana cannon.


    This content has been uwfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He felt the cannon vibrate as his mana pulsed through it. Most of his attention was on the aiming telemetrying from the ships sensors. It only took him a heartbeat to lock on, even through the obscuring energies.


    The beam of mananced out and carved a path of pure annihtion through chaotic space, spending enough energy to turn the swirling chaotic energies light blue. The cannon punched right through the forward facing shields of the lead ship without even struggling. Matt immediately shifted his aim to the next ship in line, which also went down in an explosion of fire, mana, and expended essence, all of which reacted with the chaotic energies. The other five ships in the convoy had enough time to activate their full powered shields, but that only meant the shipssted a few brief moments before their shields were torn through.


    When Matt finished destroying thest ship, they shut the rear hatch and slipped back into the swirls of energy that was chaotic space. Like fish in water, they moved up and down the convey lines, picking off any Tier 25, Tier 26, or Tier 27 convoys they could find.


    It took almost a week, but they had managed to take out eleven full armies. Thanks to the warnings of the other ships, most of the troop transport ships in their Tier range either diverted onto other routes, or their troops were ready and able to evacuate the ships the moment they arrived. That allowed them to flee to the nearest world, but that was an eptable oue, even if the actual losses were low in some of theirtest ambushes.


    Attacking a fortified world for average troops was more than throwing bodies at the shields until they broke. If amander didnt want crippling losses even before they engaged in a melee, they needed fortification to protect their troops, mana cannons to batter the shields, recement arms and armor, and consumables. All of those supplies were invaluable but took up arge amount of space. Even with prepared convoys, a portion of that equipment would be lost as the ships were destroyed.


    The only stuff that escaped was what the soldier''s spatial rings could hold, and that wasn''t much. Like their own rings, all soldiers had fortified spatial rings which were more protected, but came with far more limited spaces which were usually full with the soldiers own unique required items.


    They were about to attack their twelfth army, when the energies of chaotic space started to rush at them like a surging tide and they all readied themselves for battle. This had happened a few times before, but they had all been false rms. Not this time though. They had finally forced the Harmony ords into action.


    With a rush of air as Drifter dropped the rear hatch in a hurry, Matt opened up with his mana cannon, letting a stream of mana ssh on the oversized ships shields. When the shields only turned slightly opaque and didnt crack or show any other signs of strain, Matt cut off the stream of mana. He was sure that eventually hed cut through whatever mana reserves the ship had backing its shields, but this wasnt the time for that.


    Despite them pursuing their own objectives their goal had still been the same as High Commands. To provoke a reaction from the Harmony ords, and now they had, they had another data point. It was only a single extra data point, but they now knew how long it took the ship to move from itsst known location to this area of space. That gave a lower bound of the ship''s speed and possibly an upper bound if this was the fastest the ship could move, though thetter was unlikely. It was much more reasonable to assume that the ship had been chasing after them as they teleported around. Part of their ns had involved them not actually nning which region they were going to hit in the hopes of confounding the future sight cultivators Talent.


    Shadow made a rude gesture out of the rear hatch before she teleported them across the war front once more. Just likest time, they were still near the supply lines that the ships were using to traverse chaotic space, just on the other side of the war front.


    The spread of information hadnt reached this region of space, which allowed them another devastating strike on the unsuspecting armies, but like before, the ships quickly spread the information through the higher and lower Tier convoys. A part of Matt wanted toin about the rules of engagement and how they werent allowed to strike out at the plethora of lower Tier ships, but if they had been allowed to do that, they would have been prey to the few Tier 35 armies they did encounter.


    They spent another two weeks hunting ships until the Harmony ords ship arrived near them once more. Instead of fighting, they immediately teleported out with more information on just how fast their response and travel times were. Better yet, they were almost certain the Harmony ords had rushed right after them, which made the data point far more valuable, as it let them get a feeling how long they could act with impunity before they were confronted.


    Floating in a distant corner of the Empire, Darrow gathered everyone in the strategy room of the ship.


    We only have two data points, but I suspect the Harmony ords will stop chasing our tails now that they know we can move faster than them. If I were them, I would go on the offensive and force us to respond. Darrow paused and looked around at the rest of them, weighing their reactions, but he must have seen what he wanted as he continued. To prevent that, I say we follow n C and do it first. Push deep into the Great Powers hearnds and strike out at the softer targets we considered. We wont have waypoints to teleport to, which leaves us more vulnerable to being intercepted, but we can always retreat without issue so long as we keep our distance from the ship and its spatial locking. The Harmony ords will be unable to ignore our actions, even if we are smashing things the enemy Great Powers thought well beyond our reach.


    None of them had forgotten about the interference Maven had been equipped with. If the ship had some stronger version of that, they would find themselves vulnerable behind enemy lines, prime for being encircled and ambushed.


    That was the risk of such a mission, but all of them felt it was worth it. Once the Harmony ords changed tactics and went on the offensive, they would be forced to respond to their movements, which would keep them inside the Empire''s borders and on the defensive.


    Their information was over a month out of date, butrge scale operations couldnt move so easily, and this was an opportunity to really hurt their enemies. Even if it came at the cost of them not slowing the enemy advance. They could only hope their act of flipping the board would be worth it in the end.


    Frankly, Matt didnt know if this was the smart y. But it was also the most destructive thing they could do that would not only affect the war, but force the Harmony ords to react to them instead of being proactive.


    They discussed a few more things, but once the meeting ended, Shadow teleported them to the farthest waypoint she had. It was on the old border with the Republic, and from there, they slipped past the picket line ships which guarded the official border via means of Shadow teleporting them across said picket line.


    Normally, teleporting inside chaotic space was incredibly dangerous, as once one lost the reference points of theary teleport tethers, it was all too easy to get lost inside the swirling energies of chaotic space. Inside said energies, the destructive power would slowly drain ones mana reserves from repelling the energies, until the shields failed and everything was destroyed as the essence of all matter was destroyed by chaotic space.


    For them though, it wasnt too much of an issue. Drifters Talent already meant all ship rted functions were free, but even if the shields werent free, Matt could ensure they could survive forever. And if they got lost, Shadow could teleport them back to any of her waypoints with a thought.


    Thankfully, they didnt need any of those back up ns. Once they found a, they used it to orientate themselves and started teleporting through enemy space as fast as Shadow could sustain.


    Shadow made quite a fewments about how she wished she could spend a few months inside one of the worlds to set a teleport waypoint. Thanks to their repeated teleports in thest months, her spirit was already stressed, and she couldnt rapidly force the creation of one without needing months, if not years of recovery.


    Still, they didnt necessarily need a waypoint to do what they were about to do, though it would have made any follow up attacks easier.


    It took them almost a week to travel deep enough inside Republic space, but they arrived at system BQAZ-201555, otherwise known as Khans Retreat in Republic. It was a Tier 25 shipyard which pumped out new ships along with repairing battle damaged ships.


    After their attacks into the Federation when they destroyed their shipyard and when they raided the Republics supply depot, all three Great Powers had buffed up their internal defenses near the borders, but that shouldn''t matter to them. First, they werent here to steal anything. Secondly, from their spies reports, this system hadnt gotten such increased security thanks to it being so deep inside enemy space.


    When they entered the system, their ship was instantly washed with dozens of spiritual senses strong enough to crush them with a thought, along with various scanning equipment, but no one made a move. It had been unlikely, but there was always a chance someone would react before actually thinking about the consequences of their actions. Now that the higher Tiers hadnt done anything stupid, they had a n to execute.


    They had contemteding in hot and just instantly attacked the orbiting station. Shadow, Sebastian, and Stick pushed for it, but the rest of them wanted to offer the workers enough time to flee. Technically, they were soldiers and therefore fair game, and taking them out would hurt the republic war effort, but the rest of them wanted to avoid esction as much as possible. Matt was still angry at Erics death, but killing a lot of what amounted to construction workers wasnt the right answer.


    Darrow projected their demands even as Shadow teleported them next to the massive shipyard.


    You have two minutes to evacuate. Anyone who hasnt evacuated in time will have to deal with the consequences.


    They probably didnt need it, but Matt had already ensured his mana cannon was charged up and put a shot past the shipyard''s central pir to give their threat some teeth. Anyone working in the shipyard should have been able to feel the massive amounts of energy in that shot, even if they were far away.


    The attack or the threat of two teams of Ascenders worked, and in two minutes, the shipyard and its ships were empty. Or at least, mostly empty. Even with Shadow bringing them in close, they were far enough away that they couldnt scan the shipyard with their spiritual perceptions. That didnt mean they hesitated though. The workers were still enemybatants, and anyone who didnt take their good will only had themselves to me.


    Matt activated the mana cannon at full power and slowly walked it around the edges of the spinning shipard, destroying all docked ships as his first action. Unlikest time they had done this, the enemy didnt have time to take any ships and flee thanks to them abusing Shadows Talent. Each ship which exploded caused more damage from the shrapnel, but all of that damage paled inparison to when Matt turned his mana cannon to the main pir of the shipyard.


    Simr in general construction to the Federation shipyard, Matt knew how important that central pir was and slowly burned through it, letting his mana cannon cut through the thick metal. As he reached the halfway point, the internal rotation caused the station''s top half to twist and bend. His [AI] pointed out a few bits of debris that, if not taken care of, could enter orbit. Matt was going to target them, but before he could shift his aim, the entire shipyard crumpled and careened out of its orbit deeper into space.


    An overwhelming presence settled over them for the briefest of moments, and Matt felt a message transfer to his AI. Your jobs are now done. Please take your leave.


    The level of power was strong enough that Matt couldn''t identify the Tier. That only narrowed down the gap to over Tier 40, but that was still more than strong enough to give weight to their words.


    Darrow seemed unfazed and simply looked to Shadow, who teleported them out without saying a word.


    The person in question had at best, almost broken severalws as they interfered with an active battlefield below their Tier, but Matt knew nothing woulde of it. First he didnt think any of them would be lodging an officialint, and the cultivator in question had the excuse of debris potentially entering the orbit of the, which meant he had wiggle room to interfere in how he protected the civilians living nearby. The fact that Matt could have taken care of it would have only been relevant if he had been given the opportunity to do so, and the person in question had destroyed the shipyard, so they couldn''t even charge them with positive interference. Even if Matt had taken another half hour, he wouldnt have been able to destroy the shipyard so thoroughly, and whoined about their enemies being hampered to such a high degree.


    They were quiet as they moved through chaotic space to their next target, but the move served as a reminder of just how deep behind enemy lines they were.


    When they arrived at a depot, they gave the same demand. But unlike the shipyard, the moon simply closed its metaphorical doors as it closed the entrance.


    Matt didnt particrly care. He had brought his lockpick and hammer.


    Origami and he had worked on moon cracking bombs a few decades ago as a side project, and this was the perfect time to use them. The horse sized mana stone was covered in formations which Matt activated before tossing the bomb into the moon with all his strength.


    The instant it left his hand, Shadow teleported them away, but that only gave them a better view of the resulting explosion.


    The bomb didn''t explode with the impact, but instead the power behind Matts throw had turned it into a prating round which dug almost a mile into the moon''s surface before detonating.


    The explosion vaporized a quarter of the Tier 15 moon outright, even as the rest of the satellite cracked and started to drift apart. Continent-sized rubble floated through space, but that wasnt enough for Matt. A followup pulse of [Telekinesis] reached into the satellite''s cracked core and expanded, sending nearly another quarter of the moon flying out in the depths of space, away from the nearby inhabited. They didnt want to give any high Tiers a reason to step in again.


    Such thorough destruction of the moon meant this supply depot should be cut off from the Between until it could be carefully rebuilt and enchanted. Technically, the higher Tiers could rebuild the moon in a few minutes, but the damage was publicly done, and was obvious enough from the below that if it was repaired too soon, it would be all over Republic news. This being a high Tier world, there were enough cultivators that Matt was sure at least one of the Great Powers had a spy on the. A single report from them would cause heads to roll if a higher Tier interfered, and everyone would love to jab one and another.


    It was a bit of a shame that they couldnt destroy the actual supply depot and the supplies inside like they hadst time, but cutting off a node was worth the few minutes the attack had taken.


    They struck two more supply depot entrances, two more shipyards, and three Tier 25 weapon and armor crafting facilities before they saw the billowing shape of the Harmony ords ship moving through chaotic space.


    The moment they had confirmation of its location, they teleported back to the rift content with the knowledge that the Harmony ords ship would take at least three weeks to cover the distance to the frontlines. That was still faster than any single ship should be able to move, let alone one of its size, but even that prodigious speed couldnt keep up with true teleportation.


    They returned to the rift with the knowledge that they had caused serious damage to the Republic''s Tier 25 war effort. Beyond that, they reentered the rift armed with information about the Harmony ords capabilities that they could use going forward.


    They still intended to make repeated incursions to each Great Power, but that would be hard when the Harmony ords went on the offensive. Hard didnt mean impossible though. A good win against the Harmony ords was all the opportunity they needed to go back on the offensive.


    Future sight was hard to deal with, and Team Zero was still needed to help blunt the offensive. Destroying shipyards and supply depots hurt the enemies long term war capabilities, but did little in the short term. Battles and blood spilt were the best ways to slow them, and Team Zero was nothing if not proficient in fighting.

 Chapter 320

    Chapter 320


    J was fifty hours into working on a rebuttal to a proposal for an overhaul of Veil policy in some of the inner regions when her AI blipped at her, but she ignored it. As much as she felt that mortals should not need to worry about cultivator business, they couldn¡¯t allow the Empire¡¯s current policies to go un-investigated.


    The idea that low-Tiers, born of low-Tiers and unused to the normal ways of the higher Tiers, could make diators wasn¡¯t unknown. It was the original way in which the diator program had gotten its name, after all. But the original diator program was so rife with abuse and unambiguously hical, it had been excised in its entirety shortly after the first veil-born had reached high office.


    And now¡­ it might being back.


    She didn¡¯t know how to feel about it, in all honesty. There would be far, <em>far</em> more checks in ce, more oversight, diligent monitoring of the handlers to ensure their charges weren¡¯t being abused, weren¡¯t being thrown into the arena en masse, or killing billions in the reckless pursuit of a singr elite. <em>That</em> was nigh unforgivable, and a crime for which the Empire¡¯s hands were more blood than flesh.


    Harold¡¯s proposal was far toox in such important considerations. He was too cavalier, too content to allow the sands flow red as he hunted for the resplendent few, and while there was too much support behind his initiative to fully shut it down¡­ she could at least blunt it. Millions would still die. That much was certain, if this proposal went through. Potentially for naught, if the prevailing theory remained that the origin of diators was <em>genuinely</em> random. Signs still pointed to no, from what she could tell. Aiden Waters, Matthew Titan, and Zack Light were all from worlds that would have been Veiled were they in the Republic, that was true. But Elizabeth Legion and Allison Shadow <em>weren¡¯t</em>. Aster Wraith was something of an in-between, but it was clear that the children of immortals <em>still</em> had a better chance at bing diators.


    And this was all assuming that Aiden, Matthew, and Zack <em>weren¡¯t</em> seeded talents, something which she could not yet discount, and in some ways, something that only became more likely as she looked into it. Matthew had actually entered Republic border space at the time that he had ¡°met¡± Elizabeth. And while it was difficult to fully investigate on ount of the <em in question being stolen</em>, they were quite certain that at Tier 3, having never officially left his Tier 4 homeworld, he already had bonded to Aster and possessed his signature impossibly powerful armor skill. A Tier <em>14</em>, <em>cracked</em> armor skill at that. There wasn¡¯t <em>technically</em> enough evidence to implicate King Frederick in Matthew¡¯s seeding, but the odds that he was <em>uninvolved</em> were <em>astronomical</em>.


    But, officially the Empire simply was ying dice with the lives of their mortals, until astronomical odds became inevitable. That the Empire was being honest was the theory which Grand Senator Harold was operating under, and it was a theory that would be tested one way or another. She only hoped she could limit its harm. This war was brutal enough, she did not wish to brutalize her own people as well.


    By all rights, the Empire should have already crumpled under the pressure. It was <em>three</em> on one. Even counting the nominal participation of the Conglomerate of Guilds, the Empire was still effectively outmatched two to one. Unchecked and aggressive expansion was the <em>diplomatic</em> reason for the war; they weren¡¯t supposed to already be so strong that they could weather such intense pressure! If there was any constion, the Federation was also being pressed, thanks to their smaller size, which meant they would be even in an even weaker position than the Republic would be if, or rather when, a war between <em>them</em> started.


    The revtions of the Federation¡¯s experiments upon <em>their</em> subjects had been¡­ disturbing. She <em>almost</em> wished they¡¯d been more sessful, because then she would have better cause for forming a new coalition to dere war upon <em>them</em>. Perhaps if Virgil¡¯s mad n to eliminate Aiden Waters <em>worked</em>, then J could garner enough support with the Unification of ns, and Monster Collective, to war with the Federation next, under the pretext of their too-powerful soldiers disrupting the bnce of power? It might take some time for her and the Republic to recover thanks to how drawn out this war had been, but she knew her next target. J might be able to set aside her morals for the bigger picture, but that didn¡¯t mean she would disregard them entirely. She would not exist in a realm with something as vile as Virgil leading quadrillions to their doom. Still, for now, the Empire was therger threat.Emmanuel, like his father, was a conniving piece of shit, but he at least didn¡¯t <em>boast</em> in the horrible evils he wrought upon his subjects. He at least acted regretful about the billions, even trillions who had wound up dead upon his bloodbath of a Path,pared to Virgil¡¯s disquieting and proud glee at her twisted ¡°children.¡± But, to give credit where it was due, Virgil was at least <em>upfront</em> about her twisted mind. Rather than Emmanuel, who had either bewitched or cut backroom deals with half of the Realm to look the other way as he climbed ever-higher, giving paper-thin excuses for what were obviously preparations for war. They¡¯d even bluffed cutting funding to their <em>Farm</em>. J didn¡¯t know what it was a cover for, nor why they¡¯d chosen that as a cover, but it was hidden behind few enough misdirections that it was obviously the <em>intended</em> story to leak. That any other Tier 50 could look at a man amassing power, preparing a vast war chest, and consolidating some kind of ability to create diators nearly at-will, and see anything but a warmonger preparing to attempt to conquer the entire Realm was mind-boggling to her. It seemed utterly short-sighted.


    The worst part was that if she hadn¡¯t joined the war, the Empire might have outright <em>won</em>. It was a horrifying prospect that she had tried to use to bring either Aoife, Tobias, or JR into the war on their side, but all of them had refused. Tobias had done so with just enough fervor that J couldn¡¯t be sure if he had been bribed or if he was just holding out for a better offer. The Turtle had, until just a few centuries prior, <em>hated</em> the Sophrons. It was a professional hatred, born of grudges left over from the war of foundation for the Monster Collective and before, but it was there nheless. Yet now, he steadfastly refused to entertain the idea of joining the war against the Empire, and she didn¡¯t know <em>why</em>. Her best theory was far too petty, that he was friends with Mara Moore and thereby saw her daughter bing an Ascender as unworrying. She wasn¡¯t sure if any of that was true, but there was no evidence for <em>anything</em>, and the bonds of friendship didn¡¯t leave a paper trail.


    JR, the greedy raven, on the other hand, had outright told her that breaking his neutrality would be too expensive ¨Ca tant admission that he¡¯d been bribed to stay out of the war¨C and there wasn¡¯t anything she owned that could tip the scales to bring him in.


    Neither would say more than that, and J couldn¡¯t force them.


    Aoife at least had the noble excuse of honoring the treaty Hastor had signed before his Ascension, which J couldn¡¯t refute without tarnishing either party¡¯s reputation.


    Her AI blipped again and she waved it away as she continued drafting her rebuttal to Harold¡¯s proposal.


    Sometimes, she <em>truly</em> wished that the Republic might have been set up more akin to the ns, Empire, or Sects. There, whatever the Tier 50 said simply <em>happened</em>. But in the Republic, she certainly <em>had</em> power, and lots of it, but it was far from absolute. Especially in terms of allocating the ten Tier 47 slots and two Tier 48 slots each Great Power was allowed. Were the other three Great Powers simply dictated who got what slot, if they got a slot at all, her power was far more limited. Even J''s Tier 48 running-mates hadn¡¯t even been <em>assured</em> to be by her side in the election. Whereas the other three could simply allocate slots as they wished, six of hers were outside her control. Most trouble came from the three generally elected Grand Senators, especially those on their second, or- in Harold¡¯s case- third term. To win the election for a Tier 47 seat three elections in a <em>row</em> meant that his influence and represented poption extended far and wide.


    It would almost be easier if he were one of the Grand Senators whose seat was set aside for the schrs, mortals, or blooded. Then his motivations would be more direct and focused, easier to work around, and simpler to negotiate with. But no, he kept winning the <em>general</em> elections, and that meant his appeal was wide and his goals were broad.


    So, she did her best to simply <em>limit the damage</em>. Some people were advocating for universal state-sponsored awakening, others were advocating for lessening the loan programs present for awakening, and <em>one</em> faction wanted to do away with the Veil entirely. That particr group wanted to imitate the Empire and their mass-awakening technology in its entirety, nevermind that such machines were expensive and impractical to deploy at scale. How the Empire was managing it was something of a mystery, but it was eminently possible that they <em>weren¡¯t</em>, given their apparent pushes for war.


    Still, that particr bit of cruft was easy enough to dismiss with her counter-proposal of <em>carefully</em> expanding diator recruitment. Firm documentation as to how and why the handlers chose a given candidate, exnation of the nature of cultivation before their first match, mandated handler-separated opportunities to leave the diator circuit and get a low-level job at regr intervals, the list went on. Their Awakening could be state-sponsored if they chose to enter the circuit, but not if they opted out, and-


    J red as her AI beeped for a <em>third</em> time. Her flow interrupted, she brought up the message and froze for a moment until she jacked her perception to its max to go through and read the past messages.


    02870105 11:12 ¡®Empire Ascender Team has destroyed the alchemy crafting station at Resplendent Night.¡¯


    02870104 17:45 ¡®Empire Ascender Team has destroyed the supply depot moon at Galphor¡¯s Rest.¡¯


    02870103 02:32 ¡®Empire Ascender Team has destroyed the arms crafting station at Kipling Two.¡¯


    02870101 09:53 ¡®Empire Ascender Team has destroyed the¡­¡¯


    The messages repeated themselves five more times with various variations, but J couldn''t quite process them.


    It made no sense. The incidents were just days, if not hours apart, and crossing that much space should be impossible for a Tier 25.


    What had happened in the war in thest few weeks?


    Thest report she was given had been about the death of an ex-Path elite and the serious wounding of Zack.


    J had gone into her project content with the knowledge that all the resources that had been poured in the joint venture had paid off splendidly, and that the war was finally tipping into their favor after being a grinding slog for so long.


    <em>What had happened</em>?


    Scouring the attaching documents J almost couldn¡¯t believe what she was reading. She didn¡¯t <em>want</em> to believe.


    They¡¯d long suspected that Allison Shadow had a higher range than she was ostensibly letting on, but this was¡­ impossible.


    Rapid deployments across a Great Power were hard enough with Talented pilots. It had taken <em>three</em> Great Powers merging their resources to get enough of them to move that behemoth of a ship at a speed that should have made it impossible to outrun. Yet no matter how fast their ship moved, true instantaneous movement was faster still.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    They¡¯d apparently left the frontlines, seen an incredibly powerful healer, then returned to the frontlines to fight and win against the Harmony ord, all within the span of a week. From the injury reports, they had to have seen a overhealth healer, which meant that <em>at minimum</em> they¡¯d gone to a regional capital, if not Sophron Imperium Maginex itself.


    The Empire Ascenders had then gone on to ambush unsuspecting troop transports, causing mass casualties in the Tier 25 bracket. Troops needed to batter down the finalyer of Empires. Troops they couldn¡¯t afford to squander.


    As if to further anger her, the Harmony ord¡¯s responses had only led them to getting pulled into a more remote region of the war front. That had given the two teams of Ascenders the freedom to slip deep inside her territory, where they proceeded to destroy Tier 25 bracket infrastructure like children having a tantrum.


    The shipyards and crafting locations had few actual casualties beyond idiots who disregarded the Ascenders¡¯ threats, but that was the only good thing about this mess. Sure, it would take decades, if not a century, to get those factories up and running again, but if the majority of the crafters themselves had been killed, the Tier 25 war effort would have been crippled for thousands of years. It took time to raise tens of thousands of Tier 25 crafters. But what hurt worst of all were the supply depot moons they destroyed. So much had been lost as those nodes crumbled upon themselves.


    J felt a re of deep hatred pulse through her as she watched a recording of Titan throwing a bomb into her moon. Watching the resulting destruction felt like finding one had a chipped tooth when eating something minty.


    Her generals had already redirected troops from the frontlines to guard what was left of their Tier 25 production faculties, but it was toote for<em> ten percent of her facilities</em>.


    J immediately drafted and sent a proposal to the senate for expediting recements of those faculties. They would be fine using existing stock for this war, but losing ten percent of her Tier 25 supply making capabilities would make that entire bracket look weaker. Weak enough that the ns, the Monster Collective, or Corporation might see them as being ripe for jumping on.


    While rare, if a Great Power took enough damage in a war, the other Great Powers might start dering war on her looking for easy concessions. She could always decline, but that woulde with payoffs. Worst of all, the Sects and Federation hadn¡¯t even been attacked in the same way, meaning they might be just as opportunistic as the others when this war ended.


    Fists clenched so hard she started creating distortions as the fabric of reality struggled to contain her might, J counted down from ten thousand.


    It helped.


    A little.


    Letting out a breath, she brought up the rest of the war reports, searching for any good news.


    Maya beating Aiden into a bloody pulp was technically old news, but reviewing the beating delivered to the freakishly strong Tier 31 made her feel marginally better. So did the reports in the Tier 15 and Tier 35 brackets.


    The Tier 15 bracket was a brutal meat grinder where fresh immortals were chewed up by the millions, but there at least, the three of them were doing well. Virgil''s implementation of her rune soldiers had given them a distinctive edge, and the callous Tier 50 didn¡¯t mind using her soldiers like shock troops, even with the losses that came from such actions. Theck of any Ascenders or Graduates in that Tier bracket meant there wasn¡¯t too much which could go wrong.


    Having one of the major war brackets essentially in the bag was a relief.


    The Tier 35 bracket had been mostly in a stalemate, but with Maya¡¯s victory taking Aiden out of the fight, they were making steady progress in closing in on Rusty¡¯s capital.


    Two out of three major war brackets was still a victory. That couldn¡¯t be denied. Combined with the loss of a regional capital, the Empire would be forced to give exorbitant reparations. But a victory for them or even a stalemate in the Tier 25 bracket would lessen those damages.


    War calctions had been long hammered out when the war was dered, mostly using existing precedent. They could demand the Empire stop expanding for forty thousand years or so, even if the Tier 25 bracket lost, but J wanted more.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to drive the knife in, she wanted to twist it. She wanted to hit the Empire so hard, they couldn¡¯t recover for generations of immortal rulers. That was impossible, but she salivated at the thought. Even an unconditional surrender wouldn¡¯t give her so much sway, but still, she wanted to take some of the wind out of their sails.


    Things like the full Path of Ascension audit would reveal enough cause to further censure them. Taking inspiration from her current counter-proposal, perhaps they could establish some form of cap for the maximum number of deaths allowed upon the Path? That could effectively force them to limit the number of entrants, and therefore both strengthen the older more conservative noble factions, as well as make it harder for the oddities like Aiden, who weren¡¯t exceptional until farter, to be discovered. Additional reparations, mores, natural treasures¡­ the Empire had a lot of momentum, but it could still be hampered, and in the best case, taken for the Republic¡¯s benefit.


    After seeing Supreme General Alicia Fortan was going on the offensive to force the Empire to respond to them, instead of the other way around, J finalized her proposal for the expansion of the academies.


    J wished there was something she could do to personally change the course of the war, but at this point, she was just an observer.


    But she believed. Believed in the indomitable Republic spirit that would see them through this difficult time. Her people were nothing if not hard working and stubborn.


    That would have to be enough.


    It had to be.


    ***


    General Den Raven tapped the table with a finger as he got a report directly from Brigadier General Darrow.


    The message had been sent just before he and his team had left the rift, which meant there was no way to respond. Den didn¡¯t take it personally or get mad. It was a ssic move that he himself had pulled a few times before in his career, when he wanted to do something he knew wouldn¡¯t go over well or wouldn¡¯t get approved.


    So long as the mission wasn¡¯t aplete disaster, such transgressions were usually forgiven.


    Usually.


    When they weren¡¯t forgiven, you ended up promoted to a seat on High Command, where you were endlessly tortured with paperwork and the inability to throw a fit.


    Ahh well, such was life.


    Opening the contents of Darrow''s message made him wince internally, but he didn¡¯t let any of that show as the others looked to him.


    ¡°Our Ascenders are nning to do their own thing.¡±


    It was almost amusing to watch the others stiffen at the news that their most goodest boys had decided to slip the leash after so long of plodding along with the boring ass missions they had been given.


    Den wasn¡¯t one to gloat. Eh, who was he kidding? He fully intended to rub it in. ¡°And this is why I said we should be giving the Ascenders missions with some teeth. Keep them from getting too bored andcent.¡±


    General Brooks had a vein throb on his temple so quickly, it almost looked like he was trying to send a message. But really, it was just his anger. ¡°What are they doing, Raven? We can¡¯t have them messing up our ns now of all times. We are too close and have been working too long to prepare for this moment.¡±


    Den flicked a finger to send the message to everyone else and gave them a moment to process the information.


    General Li let out a slow breath that was almost a sigh. ¡°It could be worse. If¡ª¡±


    ¡°Worse? This could spoil our ns. Operation Defang has been our trump card for winning this war, and the Ascenders are risking it by gallivanting off to take out a few armies and supply bases!¡± General Crawford was nearly standing from the power he pped the table with. ¡°I propose we issue them an immediate recall via any means necessary.¡±


    Den looked around but saw less support for the motion than he expected from everyone''s expressions.


    General Kjarr waved a hand. ¡°If this is the extent of their n we can work with this.¡± Seeing Crawford nearly explode at the very suggestion, Kjarr narrowed her eyes. ¡°I understand you are worried about the operation you spearheaded, Crawford, but keep control of yourself, man. You are reacting like a six year old child who was told he can''t have any candy. Far too emotional.¡±


    Den smirked at General Kjarr¡¯s verbal smackdown, but didn¡¯t add to it. He would have been a bit more cutting, but she had dealt with the situation and that was what really mattered. That, and he did understand where Crawford wasing from. Operation Defang was their big gamble in the Tier 25 war front, and if it was spoiled by the Ascenders going wild, they were <em>screwed</em>.


    Let alone that officially, the Ascenders reported to him, so he¡¯d be the one taking the heat of any issue from their actions both sanctioned and unsanctioned. Oh well, maybe they¡¯d let him retire after this fiasco.


    Once she saw that she had things under control, General Kjarr brought up a projection of the war front. ¡°Without the Ascenders running out and plugging the war front assault, we are going to lose more ground than we expected, but Defang isn¡¯t in danger of being exposed just because they show Shadow¡¯s Talent a little earlier than we desired. If we want the operation to seed, we still need Team Zero to smack the Harmony ords down hard enough that they can¡¯t respond immediately. This can be a good chance to force such an encounter. I say we let the game y out and react as needed. What¡¯s more immediately important is the question of how we want to handle Team Zero¡¯s absence on the war front. Do we bring out thest of our reserves to bolster the defenses, or lets fall?¡±


    Den listened as the others argued back and forth, but ultimately agreed with the choice to let the war front get pushed in. It meant losses both in personnel ands, but it would help sell the message they were on theirst legs and being propped up by the efforts of their Ascenders.


    The fact that it was true helped sell the not quite illusion, but this was the moment where hard sacrifices needed to be made.


    They needed the Harmony ords to take a loss, and if Den was right, they were about to be led around by their noses. And for elites who must feel like they were on top of the world, that would be the worst feeling imaginable. That was their opportunity.


    As days passed, they got more reports and Den couldn¡¯t help but grow excited. The dozens of armies that had been destroyed were great and all, but what he really cared about were the reports of the tub the Harmony ords floated around in had been seen running around as they chased Team Zero across the war front.


    Dozens of stops and starts when Team Zero moved around and hit locations until they finally decided on a ce to hunt and their futures settled down. It was a simple strategy, but one that forced the Harmony ords to respond, as Team Zero was more than happy to just ughter armies should they not be checked.


    After they brought the Harmony ords across the warfront to an out of the way location, Den and the other Generals waited for reports of Team Zero sightings.


    The reports from the Watchers came in first, and they were glorious and eventually filled in when Team Zero returned to the rift.


    Ten critical Tier 25 points of infrastructure taken out in the Republic, forcing all the Great Powers to redirect troops to their hearnds where vital infrastructure should have been beyond reach.


    For the first time since news of their little expedition, General Crawford¡¯s expression rxed just the tiniest bit. ¡°While they didn¡¯t ruin our ns, we are at a juncture where we need to make a choice. Do we loose the arrow now, or do we hold it a little longer? Now that deployments are changing, we are going to start losing track of elites, and that could ruin everything. It might be worth it to send them right back out with now that we know the Harmony ords are deep inside Republic space.¡±


    Den chewed the inside of his lip as he mulled over the problem.


    He actually agreed with Crawford. A week and a half of travel time, two at the longest if their estimations of the ships capabilities were off, wasn¡¯t the ideal opening they had been hoping for, but it was an opening. And sometimes, you didn¡¯t get what you wanted. They could always wait, but the longer they waited, the more out of date their data became.


    It would be better for the Harmony ords to be inside their space, but this might be the best chance they got.


    Operation Defang was the culmination of decades of nning on how to use Shadow¡¯s Talent reveal for maximum effect. The idea was simple. Use her mobility in the waypoint infested war front to let Team Zero teleport around like madmen, with the single purpose of killing as many elites as possible.


    Not to fend off armies, armies could ultimately be reced, but elites, especially peak and pinnacle elites, were oh so valuable. A death or two could be shrugged off, but if Team Zero could kill a dozen of them, they could outright cripple their enemies¡¯ ability to wage war in the Tier 25 bracket.


    With the threat of Ascenders ready to pounce the moment an elite moved to engage in a frontline battle, the enemies would only have two options, neither of which was ptable. Gather all their elites together with the Harmony ords, or pull their elites out of the war so they were safely sequestered away from the danger of an Ascender swooping down to kill them.


    If their enemies were smart, they would pull their elites back, but if they wanted to risk a defeat in detail, Den and the other Generals had ns for that too. Either way, the heaviest hitters would be removed from this war, which would make all the earlier losses worth it.


    With that and Aiden assuring them he could single handedly turn the Tier 35 bracket around, the Empire had a chance to flip this war around in one moment.


    They just needed things to go right.


    And anyone who had led troops on even something as small and easy as a pic, knew that never happened.


    It had taken tremendous effort from all sectors of the Empire war machine for them to get precise locations of most of the enemy elites in this narrow little window, but that information would quickly lose its value as time passed and orders changed.


    If they moved now, they could ensure at least a minimum level of damage. But if they waited until the Harmony ords was inside Empire space, they could use their reserves to slow both the ords and the elites down.


    Settle for a smaller but more certain victory, or risk it all for therge victory?


    The choice had gued military leaders since man picked up its first pointy stick, Den was sure, but now that he was in the position to help decide, he found himself conflicted.


    As he cast his vote, he smiled seeing the others almost unanimously agree with him. It almost surprised him, but they all must have had the same thought.


    Ascenders did the impossible all the time.


    What was one more?

 Chapter 321

    Chapter 321


    Aster wanted to be happy. Actually that was an exaggeration. She didn¡¯t need to be happy. Happiness seemed like a distant dream. She just wanted some good news. It had been closing in on three months straight behind enemy lines, breaking everything they could get their fangs on, and while that <em>should</em> have cheered her up, it just didn¡¯t. It certainly seemed to help Allie, who was working the hardest out of everyone by teleporting them everywhere, but it did little for Aster.


    That was why, when they returned to the rift for a break after testing how far they could push the Harmony ords, she hoped for good news. Surely, their efforts had paid off and could buy them a modicum of relief.


    The moment her [AI] connected to the base''s intelligence center she looked at the map of the war front. The results of her initial nce weren¡¯t great¡ª the Empire had lost even mores with their absence from the frontlines¡ª but the more she looked, the more she liked what she saw.


    The other Great Powers had in fact reacted to their incursions into Republic space beyond sending the Harmony ords to chase them down. That information was like a weight lifted off her shoulders. It made their gamble of going off and doing their own thing worth it.


    Something like ten percent of the armies in the Tier 25 range that had been moving from the Guild war front had redirected to their respective Great Powers on trajectories to reinforce supply depots and manufacturing faculties. The Guilds had been pressing the attack somewhat, pressuring them in turn and essentially preventing those reinforcements from smashing into Empire systems, thus upsetting the bnce of power even more.


    It matched with the reports that the war was about to enter the most ferocious time period, but to Aster, it looked like a light at the end of a long dreary tunnel. If they could just persist through the next few decades, maybe a century, they coulde out the other side of this war.


    Running around and plugging holes might be the most effective way to slow the enemy advance, but thest sixty years of the war felt less impactful than thest few months. Matt said that was just her pride talking, though.


    It was the unseen which could have the greatest effect, after all.


    Her eye was drawn to the convergence point of The Citadel.


    The reds, oranges, and whites of their opposition were closing in <em>tight</em> on the purple Empire forces around the Citadel, and while Aiden kept saying he had some big grand n for how he¡¯d turn it all around¡­ Aster was pretty sure she saw nervousness and worry tinging his spirit every time he spoke about it.


    Or maybe it was excitement? Aiden was almost impossible to read but she was pretty sure it was nervousness.


    She knew firsthand about the faith that people put in Ascenders, and as much as she loved the attention and faith people put on her¡­ they were, in the end, only people. There was a <em>lot</em> of pressure to figure out something new, to show up everyone, to be <em>legends</em>. If she were in Aiden¡¯s ce, she¡¯d probably <em>also</em> be confidently saying he could handle it, even if she had no idea what she would actually do. She¡¯de up with something on the fly, be light on her paws, and do <em>something</em>. And Aiden was twice the showman she was. Who knew what was going on in his fathomless mind? It certainly wasn¡¯t ice cream. Grilled fish, maybe? She actually didn¡¯t know what his favorite food was, but that was <em>probably</em> it considering how much he barbecued.


    Well, she¡¯d just have to trust Aiden in much the same way she trusted Matt, trusted Liz, and trusted herself in that when things got truly dire, they¡¯d make it work.


    Aster did let a smile y over her face, shimmering her hair happily as she saw their personal stats. Team Zero was rapidly closing in on the record of ¡®most armies routed in a single war¡¯ from the past half-millionish years. At their current rate, they were on track to take the record from The Mechanic within the next thirty years. There was, of course, the standard ribbing that they had an advantage in their <em>two</em> Ascenders, and the fact there hadn¡¯t been quite as many armies to rout in The Mechanic¡¯s day, but Aster didn¡¯t care.


    Besides, their real value wasn¡¯t in defeating armies but in defeating <em>elites</em>, especially the Harmony ords. If they could not just defeat but either kill or capture the entire operation, she expected the other Great Powers would be far more willing to capitte. Twenty pinnacle elites might not sound like a lot, but that was possibly about a quarter of what they had at the tier.


    Their deaths would be a devastating blow to their Great Powers, but their capture might be even more effective. Capture of elites was strange, and was a reminder that this war was a game to those with real power.


    Ideally, the captives would be held until the end of a war, but oftentimes elites, pinnacle elites especially, were traded back and forth just to be sent back into battle monthster. It might be for the release of other elites, entire armies, or rare resources, but she had faith in her team and their power.


    They had been caught on the back foot in the first fight, but thest fight had shown them the Harmony ords was far from undefeatable. Killing an elite might hurt the enemy Great Powers in the long term, as they permanently lost a valuable asset, but <em>capturing</em> an elite could be held for ransom for a handful of low-tiers, whether the Empire won or lost.


    Sadly, the others didn¡¯t want to hear that. She had tried to broach the subject, but the others almost uniformly disagreed. Allie was just generally bloodthirsty, and was more than happy to go for the kill, even when capture was possible. Dena felt the same way, but that was understandable after her loss. Morgan, Sebastian, Ai, Joy, Arthur, and Darrow, on the other hand, understood her perspective. But the non-Ascenders just wanted to get through the battles alive. Capture was harder than a kill, so why bother?


    Susanne, despite not being an Ascender, was confident enough in her abilities that she didn¡¯t particrly care about the spike in difficulty, but she wasn¡¯t championing Aster''s point of view either.


    Zack was, in fact, the only person who agreed with her. Despite his injury at the hands of the still unknown sniper, he was logical enough to agree with her.


    The real issues were Matt and Liz.


    She loved the lug, but Matt had taken the death of Eric harder than anyone but Dena herself. She wasn¡¯t sure if he had even processed the death fully. Actually, she knew that he hadn¡¯t thanks to their bond. Not really. He had processed the death logically, but his emotions were like a tangled knot of muscles clenched to the point they refused to move. She had tried to broach the subject, but Matt was so insistent that he was ¡®fine¡¯ that nothing she said prated, and he threw himself into the war for vengeance in an effort to find¡­ something, forgiveness maybe but Aster wasn¡¯t sure.


    Liz on the other hand had agreed with Aster when she brought up both topics. Matt was not processing his emotions and it would be better to capture their enemies if possible, but in the end, Liz didn¡¯t care about logic. Their enemies had hurt Matt therefore they should die, the other considerations didn¡¯t matter. If Matt didn¡¯t want to capture their enemies Liz wouldn¡¯t go for the capture.


    And that was the issue.


    Matt.


    Darrow was their nominal leader, their tactician, the mouthpiece of the army atrge, but <em>Matt</em> was the real leader of Team Zero. He didn¡¯t even seem to realize it a lot of the time, but he was the core from which everyone else derived their strength from. He was endless and dauntless, the foundation of everything.


    It was most obvious in his mana. Between his concept and the runes they all had, Matt was single handedly keeping Team Zero in positive mana. And yet he brushed over it, never thinking twice about how much he was providing. <em>She</em> hadn¡¯t thought about it until Allie had made ament one day. But he never lorded the fact over anyone, never called in favors, neverined about how much of his day was eaten away by people who had undeniably started spending mana way less conservatively than they would otherwise.


    But it wasn¡¯t just the mana, either. He spent time tinkering with mana alongside Zack, creating borate clockwork gadgets with Ai, ying strategy games with Arthur, talking with Sebastian, and cooking either dinner for the entire team. He even set aside time to bake scones just for Allie. He had his roots spread deep in the entire team, far more than anyone else.


    It made him the nucleus, so when he went in for the kill, everyone else followed. It was why she needed to convince <em>him</em> to put aside personal vengeance for the greater good. It wasn¡¯t like Aster didn¡¯t hate them for killing Eric, he was her friend as well. She was all for killing Maven and the sniper, if they ever found them. Slowly, if she could manage to lock them in her spirit space. Allie had certainly hated the sensation every time she¡¯d ventured in that Aster was sure she could make the duo suffer enough for their crimes.


    But the rest of the Harmony ords? Aster wanted them captured. They would make fantastic bargaining chips.


    As everyone stood for their seats, Darrow spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll have an update in three hours, but we will have at least twelve hours of downtime.¡± Knowing the iingints, he quickly added, ¡°I¡¯m going to push for more time, but you¡¯ve all seen the reports. The Harmory ords will be able to return to the frontline in roughly three weeks real time.¡±


    Aster nodded with the others, but hoped they got at least a full eight days off. The war effort could spare them for one real day off.


    After they dropped off their armor and weapons to be looked over and then got checked out by the healers, Aster put on her best cheery face and grabbed Matt¡¯s arm. ¡°I need some help with my forge. Can you help me?¡±


    She looked up and fluttered her eyes, concentrating on their bond, trying to feel past the general tenseness that Matt exuded.


    She nearly cheered when a spike of irritation rippled through the bond, but even that was quickly lost to the clenched control. ¡°Of course I can help.¡±


    Aster was no therapist, but had been hoping for something. She even would have settled on himshing out, but getting him to spend some time with her would help.


    Aster shot a grin at Dena before pulling her along with a simr excuse. There was nothing wrong with her ice forge, but there were a few upgrades she had been sitting on and she could use the freebor.


    It was even a little fun. It took <em>a lot</em> of effort, but she managed to keep the conversion light and cheery until they were given notice of how long their break would be. Eight full days like she hoped. It sounded like a dream, and Aster took the time allotted to kick everyone else out and to pass out. She slept for a glorious two days before crawling out of her room.


    The remaining six days flew by just as quickly, and before she knew it, they were back out in the battlefield, with them teleporting to four or five battlefields thanks to abination of Allie¡¯s Talent and Joy flying them around the mundane way. The only reason they returned to the rift was to abuse its time dtion, as it allowed Allie¡¯s spirit to recover from all of the hyper long range teleports.


    If Allie wasn¡¯t such a battlemanic, she would have probably snapped under the pressure, but the only thing that changed was that she had her scones delivered to her house instead of jumping around the Empire for unique snacks. They were running right on the edge of pushing Allie too far but Aster knew that was where the teleporter liked to be.


    They spent three weeks real time jumping from fight to fight before they were finally given the news they had been waiting for.


    The Harmony ords had reappeared.


    Not on top of them; their locations varied so much that even with future sight, arriving where they were didn¡¯t mean they would engage in a fight. Instead, their report said that the Harmony ords was the group attacking a supply line.


    Either by ident or their future sight, the area they arrived in was a full day''s travel away from Allie¡¯s nearest teleport waypoint which meant they had more than enough time to search for ships. Still, they couldn¡¯t ignore their presence, just like the Harmony ords hadn¡¯t been able to ignore them destroying Republic assets.


    As they arrived she saw the mercenarypanies were tearing into the supply ships'' defenders while the rest of the Harmony ords watched their approach ready for a fight.


    Aster swept herself up in a cloud of mist, cloaking herself in dispersions, illusions, and disguises until she was an utterly unfindable [Winter Spirit]. Around her, chilled [Dispelling Wind]s swept out, invisible save for brief flickers of color. Once the battle started in earnest, it would be self-sustaining, but for now, she still had to feed it mana.


    Fortunately, while she was unable to fully manifest her Domain, with physical ess to the spirit space already being blocked, she could withdraw enough mana to not even touch her mana pool. Gan Le was still her prey, and if the opportunity aligned, she would <em>absolutely</em> pounce, but it seemed like she¡¯d still need Allie¡¯s assistance if she was going to imprison him within thends of eternal winter.


    [Chill of the End] came next, as did [Headwind], [Absolute White], [Winter¡¯s Harvest]... And there was Loel, starting her counterspell routine. While the woman¡¯s talent wouldn¡¯t start to umte unless she was casting spells targeting Aster specifically, she had backup in the form of Colton and Corvis, one of the rune soldiers.


    They couldn¡¯t focus their efforts on her for too long, as Zack started engaging his counterpart and the chaos began.


    [Headwind] made some headway, dragging projectiles off-course and knocking their flying foes off-bnce. Their armor¡¯s enchantments, along with a hefty dose of buffs from their supports, helped to counteract the effect. But [Dispelling Wind] shredded a good half of those, subtly carrying their effects and re-applying them to Team Zero as they were needed.


    This narrative has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    But beyond the passive effect of her dispelling area-of-effect, she didn¡¯t directly contest the countering. Their defenses were designed to shrug off a lot of her broad-area effects, forcing her to focus her efforts on a small area if she wanted to get anything done fast. She also could eke out minor, incremental benefits by wearing down their defenses, which waspletely fine in her estimation. The cold didn¡¯t kill quickly. <em>Ice</em> would, but cold was slow and insidious, creeping in until your fingers were gone and your eyes were frozen.


    She channeled her [Ice Maniption] through her tiara, summoning its elemental. Unlike the lumbering hunk it had once been, it was now a perfect doppelganger for Aster herself, and she channeled [Astral Path] through it, leaving a rainbow trail through the middle of the battlefield. Matt skated through it with his [Air Slide], getting a massive boost to his speed as he charged towards Maven. Gan Le, in rapid pursuit, simply bounced off the multicolor wake, and Saziel flicked his hand to send the tank around the rainbow.


    Aster nudged the motion such that Gan Le went perpendicr to the main ne of the battle, forcing one of the rune soldiers to dart up, grab the Sect man with a coiling metal whip, and drag him back to the battlefield.


    After a short while, Aster turned her [Ice Maniption] doppelganger invisible, then created an illusionary double of <em>it</em>, sending it skating off in a different direction, umting clouds of mist that obscured its position.


    Ari Kai chased after the illusion for a brief instant, and Aster unleashed a praying mantis with wickedly sharp icicles for hands on the antimemeticist. The man faded from reality, and the [Cracked Shatter]¡¯s elemental¡¯s des passed through nothing. [Skill Freeze] forced the man back into full corporeality, but before the mantis could take advantage of that fact, it stumbled, lowered its des in confusion, and was promptly melted.


    Aster tisked, but she resummoned it and created a dozen illusionary copies of it, sing them upon the rune soldiers. Three of them looked like obvious illusions, but the rune soldiers had learned their lesson. They turned from their attack on Morgan, Sebastian, and Arthur to destroy the illusions, focusing on the ¡®obviously fake¡¯ ones first. This time, they were right, but that meant the nine illusionary copies were able to deliver their [Illusionary Fang] spells unimpeded.


    Fear was a funny thing. On unthinking enemies, it could cause them to flee. On thinking enemies, it forced wariness. On the most elite of enemies, it made them so <em>incredibly</em> twitchy. She left one of the spear-wielders, Calvin, alone, because his danger sense opened up other opportunities.


    Cynthiashed out with a st of lightning at Calvin, who instinctively responded with a [Meteor Swarm]. The use of a fire spell was enough to dispel the illusion he¡¯d beenyered with, courtesy of of her ice-mantis, but that still left the rune soldiers dealing with a high-tier explosive spell as the <em>real</em> [Cracked Shatter] elemental emerged from invisibility to take off the arms of risse, the team¡¯s healer.


    The shock and pain on her face was <em>delightful</em>, and Aster feasted on the outrage.


    Not literally, though. She was still working on that. Instead, a st of wind picked up the severed limbs and tossed them to the nearest Liz, who happily took their blood into her swirling sanguine vortex before the limb dissolved in chaotic space.


    ¡°<em>Protect the convoy.</em>¡± Darrow''smand went through both his Talent and his [AI] and caught Aster off guard.


    She expanded her awareness. Gan Le had managed to close in on Matt without her noticing. How had <em>that</em> happened? He was on the other side of the¡­


    Aster stripped the magic from the Gan Le she¡¯d been focused on, revealing she¡¯d been paying excess attention to <em>Ari Kai</em>. When had that happened? Regardless, Matt had been locked down and was being steadily separated from the group of himself, two Lizzes, Sebastian, and Susanne fighting off a concentrated force of Maven, Saziel, Colton, Eliana, and Long Zhiyuan.


    Aster swept her [Ice Maniption] doppelganger, still hidden by [ck Ice], towards the action, leaving behind a suite of illusionary and semi-illusionary monsters to keep the rune soldiers upied for a while. Once there, she stripped Colton of a good set of his buffs, forced a form-change from Maven by pelting her with frozen rain, then tried to snap-freeze Long Zhiyuan where he stood.


    Long Zhiyuan wreathed his hand in mes and wed through the [Pr Beam] aimed at him, but Aster was already moving on. An illusion of herself swept through the area, drawing a few bullets from Colton. She gleefully swiped the projectiles from the air and sent them at Eliana. The golem-woman dodged, and Aster sed an elemental [Headwind] on her. Most of Aster¡¯s debuffs didn¡¯t work on the Federation woman, but objects and humans alike could be restrained by the powerful ribbon-like elemental. Within moments, she looked like a mummy, and while the elemental was destroyed shortly thereafter, by the time Eliana was free, she was staring down a sand-colored dragon and a pack of red and ck lightning wolves instead of Liz, as Sebastian set Awe and Hatred upon Eliana.


    Liz had taken the opportunity to target-change to the rune soldiers, and Aster helped out her attack by hiding her sister-inw inside an illusion of a [Cracked Shatter] elemental, identical to the illusionary creatures they¡¯d just finished destroying.


    The Lizes fell upon the rune soldiers like a barbarian deep in its bloodrage, and within seconds, three of them had vanished in a sh of ckwater mana as their lifesaving enchantments activated, dragging them back to the ship. <em>That</em> was interesting. She didn¡¯t know that ckwater could do teleports. Shadow¡¯s expertise filled her in on the ways that basic shadow magic could do teleport-like things, but she was also surprised at the specific application in question.


    Maven unleashed a massivence of moonlight, but Matt dragged Gan Le into its path before it could get far. Aster took the opportunity to try and strip the man of his defensive skills, but her spells skittered along the outside of the defenses, finding no purchase. Even the <em>tether</em> seemed to be defended by the man¡¯s invible talent, but it didn¡¯t stop her from flinging Maven <em>far</em> away, carried on her own little private wind. She¡¯de back at some point, but she was no longer attacking the convoy. She was d that the attack had finally worked, she¡¯d been trying to get that to stick on Maven for <em>ages</em>.


    Long Zhiyuan attempted to charge at one of Aster¡¯s illusionary decoys, but she wrapped him inside of a [Fog of the Lost], trapping him in a cloud that would take quite a bit of¡­


    And he just sted through it. Like a surgeon¡¯s scalpel, he immediately found the weak point of the working and tore through it. Bleh. Winds snapped around him, but the Sect fighter was proving oddly resilient and smacked the winds aside with a single gloved hand wreathed in red, green, and blue.


    Before she could retaliate more, Colton sted Aster¡¯s elemental doppelganger, stripping its invisibility. But before any of the shots could actuallynd, the elemental burst into snow, reformed under his feet, and tripped him up. The moment his momentum was no longer fully under his control, he was caught up in Aster¡¯s fell winds, stripped of his buffs, and thrown bodily into Saziel as he engaged with Susanne.


    The Federation soldier was forced to wrestle control of the winds away from Aster, flooding the area with fire as he did so. Susanne parried the explosion with one sword and struck with her second, forcing a split defense. Then, her Domain clones lunged at the opening that had been opened.


    Saziel summoned a wall of force to block one of the clones and a bullet smashed into the other clone, dispersing it, but the sword didn¡¯t vanish and carved a deep furrow down Saziel¡¯s arm. A st of telekinesis pushed everything nearby back, and Aster responded in kind.


    Susanne held strong, and Allie teleported into what had to have felt like a vice squeezing in around them. Susanne¡¯s still-intact clone blocked the telekinesis with a manifested shield while Allie¡¯s shadow rose up from around her, teleported to the other side of Saziel, and began to attack. Colton recovered and attempted to interfere, but Aster dedicated her doppelganger to engaging with him, leaving Saziel on a four-on-one that he really stood no chance on.


    Susanne¡¯s clone lopped off half his hand, Allie¡¯s shadow stabbed him in the back, Susanne cut off his leg, and then Allie closed her two daggers in an inescapable scissor that phased straight through his armor and severed his head. ckwater washed up, trying to drag him back to the ship, but Aster had seen it and was ready.


    While she may have <em>preferred</em> to take prisoners, that wasn¡¯t a hard requirement.


    [Brittle Cold] was the first step, weakening and ¡®solidifying¡¯ the enchantment before it could activate. [Dampening Snowfall], [Frost], [Cross Wind], even a basic [Counterspell] kept up the fight, and while the best enchantments three Great Powers could make fought her, she didn¡¯t need to win for long, just <em>long enough</em>. With no healer to reattach his severed spine, he was a dead man floating.


    But he wasn¡¯t dead <em>yet</em>. Magic pulsed under his skin, keeping his biology running and his spirit intact. Just because Aster was fighting his armor didn¡¯t mean her teammates had stopped, as Susanne and Allie continued slicing into the armored man. Their attacks didn¡¯t seem to be doing anything, though, because he just kept fighting.


    With no warning, the magic Aster could sense in Saziel turned chaotic, then suddenly stopped. Essence washed out as the soldier ran out of mana and died, with chaotic space embracing the spilled essence and turning it into a physical wave that pushed Susanne back. Allie had already teleported away, off to tangle with Eliana.


    Aster frowned as Ari Kai reappeared by driving a de through the back of her doppelganger¡¯s head. She adjusted the illusion ordingly, making it seem like he¡¯d scored a hit strong enough that [Deathly Cold] had been needed, but while she may have truthfully been unharmed, she felt her rage boil.


    She¡¯d stopped dealing with him for <em>two minutes</em> and he thought that she was the weakest link. He <em>always</em> attacked her, and Aster was sick of it.


    Her doppelganger rushed forward with [Astral Path], and Aster slipped into the multicolored wake and sted the stealth specialist with [cial Spear]. A moment after, she was gone as her doppelganger turned around and sted the man with another bolt of ice.


    Thest she saw of Ari Kai was the look of shock on his face before Aster lost track of him. Whether he¡¯d avoided the attack, tanked it, been forced to use his lifeline, or died and still had his Talent make her forget him, she didn¡¯t know. It also didn¡¯t matter much, as Arthur was downed by one of Colton¡¯s bullets. His lifeline triggered and pulled him back to the ship sessfully, but that left the group he was reinforcing suddenly down a healer.


    Aster relocated to the group in question, sted Colton and Loel with icy wind, dispelled a few debuffs clinging to Morgan and Ai, then sheltered the group in a [Cracked Ice Canopy] to get a moment to recover. Allie popped in with a Liz, who gave a brief wave of healing to the group, before leaving again to fight off the Corporation mercenaries attacking the supply ships.


    Bullets and spells mmed into the icy shield, to no apparent effect. Even though it was about to copse, Aster had long since learned to weave subtle illusions into all of her skills, making it look like the shield was tanking the attacks with no problem. More often than not ,that caused enough hesitation in the enemy to give her an opportunity for reprisal. By the time the shield actually fell, Ai had deployed a new weapon¡¯s tform, whipping them out of range, and Aster was already moving on. Her doppelganger had grabbed Matt and was dragging him back to the center of the fight, where his Concept spread out to refill everyone¡¯s mana.


    While he was in the area, he¡¯d managed to sneak a spell past Gan Le¡¯s interception, and Eliana lost half an arm from an unexpected [Crescent Sweep], giving Awe a chance to bite down <em>hard</em> on the mechanical woman. The summon crunched through metal like it was wood and sand began to work its way into the exposed joints. A teleport began, but while Aster came down hard on the anticipated ckwater escape, Eliana instead vanished with a crack of thunder.


    While Matt was unarmed, Long Zhiyuan closed in on the fight, impotently striking Matt- and tearing off a massive section of his armor¡¯s back? <em>That</em> wasn¡¯t normal, and while she couldn¡¯t hear Matt¡¯s response, she knew her bond was roaring as he punched the Sect fighter with a lightning-wreathed hand.


    Blue lightning crashed against the fighter ineffectively as Gan Le protected the man, of course. But Aster brought a massive st of wind to pull Long Zhiyuan away from Matt, and therefore Gan Le, while also pushing the duo away from the battlefield before Gan Le¡¯s presence could help protect more of his teammates.


    Maven crashed into the fight with Light as a half-turtle, half-elephant monster, and Aster rushed to relocate so she could assist. The woman hadn¡¯t done much yet, seemingly conserving her strength, but Aster expected her to unleash overwhelming power the moment she got close to Light or herself.


    Before she could arrive, Long Zhiyuan lunged for where her spirit was centered, and she was forced to use [Floating Snow] to dodge a mana wreathed w. She pelted the Sect fighter with her best debuffs, trying to strip him of his magic, but he they were immediately ripped apart the moment theynded on him.


    Long Zhiyuan threw a projectile of hungering shadows, which she effortlessly dodged, only for it to keep flying, curving like a drunk phoenix, until it hit Sebastian. It ate through a half-dozen Hatred wolves and tore into the summoner¡¯s arm before Aster managed to deflect it. She had tried to dispel it, but the spell was far stronger than it looked. Light, thankfully, darted over to seize control over the spell. He actually seeded, only for it to detonate the moment he took control, sting him back.


    Off in the distance, Aster saw Joy and a squad of Lizzes engaging with rune soldiers, Loel, and Colton, trying to keep their attacks, along with the ones from the mercenaries, fromnding on the supply ships. Things did not look like they were going well with the supply ships already littered with holes.


    Susanne swept in, heading three Domain clones, and began to attack Long Zhiyuan. Unlike previous matches, the Sect man seemed to effortlessly sidestep every sword stroke. He didn¡¯t even have his eyes open as he gracefully danced around Susanne¡¯s every attack while using any openings tosh out at both Susanne and Bolt, who was peppering the man from range.


    An explosion from where Light was fighting Maven caught Aster''s attention for a moment. Maven had been blown back by a series of spells and was working with Loel to try and coral Light, but they were failing surely enough.


    Aster conjured a [Pr Beam] elemental, sing the oversized mosquito on the Sect man, but when it came within arm¡¯s reach, he reached out without ever opening his eyes, grabbed its proboscis, and threw it at Susanne, usurping Asters control over the monster as he did so. It sank its spearlike mouth into Susanne¡¯s arm, and while a clone sliced it in half a momentter, it left her slightly, but noticeably, slower.


    The fur on Aster¡¯s tail stood up on end in anger, and she redoubled her efforts to try and get one of her debuffs to stick on the Sect man. She mustered her strength and prepared to bring down every spell she could afford on him in one go, only to be interrupted by a hail of bullets from the sniper.


    Aster was only able to slightly deflect a single one of the bullets, one that ended up being firmly blocked by a Queen clone instinctively raising its sword to protect her. One of the other bullets had passed through her spirit in a way that forced her to try and steady her [Winter Spirit] as to avoid being jettisoned back into fully corporeal space.


    Long Zhiyuan took the opening to lunge between two of Susanne¡¯s clones, form his hand into a de, and cut Susanne deeply enough that her spine was visible. Susanne gritted her teeth and prepared to fight on, only for a massive explosion off in the distance to rock the battlefield, breaking her concentration and whisking her back to Drifter''s ship just as Matt closed in, dragging Gan Le behind himself.


    Aster relocated to get a better idea as to what happened, and bared her teeth as she saw that Ari Kai had delivered bombs to each of the supply ships, then detonated them all in one go. She had hoped she had killed him as well as Saziel, but apparently not. Around them, the Harmony ords quickly disengaged and fell back, their mission done.


    Aster wanted to chase them, keep the pressure up after having killed one of their elites, but Darrow sent out amand to return to the ship and she followed.


    Aster manifested herself and Susanne back in the bay of Drifter¡¯s ship as she slowed down to pick them up. A slight breeze brought her up to the observation deck, where her eyes fixed upon the billowing waves of energy the massive ship left in its wake. Off to the side, Arthur was putting Susanne back together while Darrow was cross-referencing the tactics used in the battle, so they could be better informed for the next battle.


    They had failed to save the supply convoy, but they had secured a kill at the cost of mostly physical damage that Melinda could heal, but having her prey run was setting off primal instincts in Aster.


    She wanted to chase them down and rip into their fleshy bits, but she controlled herself.


    This was a war, not a mere hunt. And thisst battle had been quite interesting. Darrow¡¯s voice was in the background, querying the others as to the nature of Long Zhiyuan¡¯stest buff. Between his sudden surge in strength and Maven apparently holding back, Darrow seemed to think that whatever empowerment had been focused on the Dao Child had been redirected.


    It was curious, but Aster didn¡¯t care much about it. Moving the buff was interesting, but didn¡¯t upset anything about the overall strength of their enemies. That still meant wearing them down one nip at a time until their enemies copsed from their own blood loss was perfectly viable.


    But first, they needed to return to the rift so Melinda could heal them up in preparation for the next battle.


    Aster couldn''t guarantee much, but she would bet everything she owned that their healing thanks to Melinda, was better than whatever the Harmony ords had.

 Chapter 322

    Chapter 322


    Matt felt like his blood had been reced by electricity the moment they arrived back in the rift. He wanted to pump his fist and cheer, but he was too focused on their follow up ns. As part of their attacking the enemy backlines, they had scored a victory versus the Harmony ords, creating arge enough opening to go further behind enemy lines and <em>really</em> start smashing things. With a little experience, more ideas on how they could move faster and hit more targets started flooding in.


    If they moved fast enough, they could probably even reach some of their more distant targets before they were reinforced by the diverted troops. It was so close, Matt could taste it.


    He had hoped to get more than a single kill in theirst battle, but he took sce in the fact that they had dealt out some serious damage to everyone else in the Harmony ords.


    They had lost the supply convoy, which meant the Harmony ords had technically achieved their mission, but they had paid a substantial price for their victory. Even twenty supply convoys wasn¡¯t worth the life of an pinnacle elite.


    Still, the lost supplies would hurt the Empire''s war effort. But Matt was working on a solution for that as well. He wanted to steal some from the other Great Powers. They couldn''t take a lot, certainly not the amount they had taken from their first raid on a supply depot. But this time, Allie could just teleport back and forth a few dozen times. It would be hard on her, but it was possible to offset the losses from theirst mission. If their enemies had lost a pinnacle elite for literally zero gain, it would hurt all the more.


    As he connected to the LocalNet, he froze halfway out of his seat. He half expected to get an official reprimand for their previous actions, or even a congrattions for killing an elite, but what he hadn¡¯t expected was to get orders that sent them right back out of the rift on a mission. Especially not a direct mission from High Command.


    Normally, missions went through Darrow as he was their direct superior in the chain ofmand, but High Command had seen fit to bypass normal methods.


    Reading the message, Matt pursed his lips. The reprimand he expected hade, but in a strange way.


    Before the orders, there was a personal note from General Den Raven himself. One of the few four star Generals in the Empire, the man held great authority. But more than that he was their official report and getting a message from him didn¡¯t bode well.


    ¡®Ascenders, I understand your frustrations and desires to take the war into your own hands, but believe me when I say, we have greater ns than letting you run around relieving sieges. To that end, High Command not only wants but needs your very best. With the war entering the ending of this game, we wish to cripple the enemies. That is not a euphemism or exaggeration. Our n is to cripple the enemy''s ability to make war in the Tier 25 range for the foreseeable future. To achieve this goal, we have located and tracked the enemy elites in your Tier ranges. <em>All of them</em>. Your charge is to remove, capturing when possible but killing when not, as many as possible before they are able to retreat back to secure territories or gather with the Harmory ords. This is an opportunity that can only be realized now that you have sent the Harmony ords reeling back. But this chance onlysts a moment, and we must act upon it. Attached is our rmended target priority, but you may deviate from the list as you see fit.¡¯


    ¡ª General Den Raven.


    Matt looked at the signature, not quite believing High Command¡¯s idea. If he was still mortal, he would have hyperventted, but the news still caused his blood to pump. Team Zero had considered this option when nning their little expedition, but they had disregarded it because they simply didn¡¯t know where most of the elites were. A few elites who were embroiled in a battle were in static known locations, but that was the exception. And yet, High Command had sightings of every elite, from the lowest level elites to mid level elites, high level elites, and finally peak and pinnacle elites. Each and every one had a location noted. Most of the nodes were the lowest rungs of elites, those Matt didn¡¯t even consider real threats, and they were immediately filtered out so he could look at the true prizes.


    That wasn¡¯t just his pride talking, but rather High Command¡¯s intentions. Their attack list had them working down in order of importance, even though it would send them bouncing around the warfront like a hyperactive rabbit.


    If they were able to kill half of this list, or even a quarter of the list, the enemy Great Powers would not only be seriously hampered in their war effort, but they would lose a ton of their momentum.


    Currently, the Empire elites were being whittled down as they fought three to one, and that was wholly unsustainable. It allowed the enemy elites to cycle in and out of the frontline no matter the damage they suffered in a battle. Their deaths would give the Empire so much breathing room, Matt wasn¡¯t even sure he fully understood the consequences of this deployment.


    Allie whooped and floated up from her seat before flipping mid air in a way that was only possible because she contorted her body with spatial warping.


    Darrow was a moment slower and looked out to the waiting healers and technicians. ¡°One hour. Get checked over by the healers and get your armor and weapons serviced. If we finish up faster, we leave faster.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t need to be told twice and moved at his max speed to reach the hospital where Melinda and her mentors could quickly take care of them. Even with his prodigious speed, he wasn¡¯t the first one to arrive. He was the fourth. Zack had used a movement spell and travel mana to move fast as thought, but Allie had just teleported herself and Aster, beating everyone else.


    Allie had received a few healer¡¯s orders to limit her teleportation, given the strain it was putting her under, but she ignored them just as readily as Matt ignored the notes about his own exertions. Spiritual strain was aplicated beast, and Melinda¡¯s Talent not affecting it meant they couldn¡¯t <em>wholesale</em> ignore it, but there were potions, spells, and a few healers in the rift who could help manage it. If Matt didn¡¯t miss his guess, Allie had just dosed herself with <em>all</em> of them. Her silvery hair had picked up an indigo shimmer and was flowing in an almost stuttery manner, her eyes zed with ultraviolet light, and at the right angles, Matt could see her skull, ck and menacing underneath momentarily translucent flesh. Her arms left trails of ck runes in their wake, and her daggers <em>hummed</em> in her grip.


    A few of the effects were ones Matt associated with some of her spatial trick enhancement suite, but most of them were about preventing total spiritual copse. It wouldn¡¯t help with the pain, and any normal person would beid out for decades, if not centuries, by the time they wore off. But that was why they were Ascenders. She¡¯d be down for¡­ five, ten years at most. With the rift in y, that would just be a couple of months real-time.


    Matt firmed his will at the realization. That just meant they needed to do enough damage in this next raid to buy themselves a few months of breathing room.


    They could do that.


    Matt would ensure that.


    He flinched as Aster came over to him and took him by the elbow.


    ¡°Hey, I need to talk to you.¡±


    Matt blinked down and probed his bond, but felt their connection slightly closed off. Notpletely, but enough that he couldn¡¯t really get a feeling for what she was thinking.


    When she used their physical contact to send him an [AI]munication request, Matt grew genuinely worried, but epted it nheless.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    ¡°There isn''t an easy way to say this, but I think we should go for as many captures as we can.¡±


    Matt stiffened at the suggestion. He wanted to get angry, did she not feel how angry he was at their enemies? Did she not care, herself? Thatst one was unfair, as he knew she cared deeply for both Dena and Eric. But then why was she suggesting anything other than a full on offensive? These were not nobatants they were talking about, but elites whose deaths would hurt even the Tier 50 leaders.


    But this was Aster saying it, which made Matt hear her out.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because they are valuable, Matt. Their deaths can hurt. Their deaths might slow the war to a point that we can stem the tide, but their capture can buy us so much more. The Great Powers will bend over backwards for their elites'' safe returns. Think about the ransoms usually exchanged for peak elites, let alone pinnacle elites. Instead of valuable treasures being traded over, we¡¯re talking about entire star systems. Each capture can mean a dozens not handed over to the enemy should things end badly.¡±


    Matt worked his jaw as a healer moved around him. There was nothing to heal, [Regeneration] had already taken care of the only attack that had broken through his armor, and his Millennium Willow Lifesap took care of any curses that had tried to infect him. But he might have missed some obscure hidden affliction, which is why it was standard procedure for everyone to be inspected.


    ¡°If we kill enough of them, we can turn the war around in our Tier bracket. Then ¡ª¡±


    Aster''s hand squeezed as she cut him off. ¡°Then ites down to Aiden in the Tier 35 bracket, and no one in the Tier 15 bracket. One out of three won''t win the war.¡±


    Matt hated it¡­ but she was right. Wars being so structured came with a plethora of rules, but without the ability to attack down, a Great Power might win in the Tier 15 bracket but lose in the Tier 25 and Tier 35 brackets. If that happened, the question of who was the winner and by what margin came up. Winning in two of the brackets was the undeniable way to be dered a winner, but treaties were far more fluid then that. Like Aster said, at the end of the war, the return of important elites, while mandated, had weight. Should the other two major brackets crumble under the pressure of theirbined enemies, the war score they earned with captures instead of kills could be the leverage the Emperor needed to save some worlds from being traded to the enemies.


    Should they end up winning the war outright, or even forcing a white peace, the captured elites could still be traded for any number of concessions.


    Matt wished she wasn¡¯t right, but she was.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. If we can take them alive or if they surrender, we should try our best to do so.¡±


    Hearing that, Aster beamed at him. She shined so brightly, she started to actually glow.


    Poking her through the blinding effect, Matt got her to shut off the illusion. ¡°Just because you¡¯re right doesn''t mean you need to gloat.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it does.¡±


    ¡°<em>No, it doesn¡¯t</em>.¡±


    ¡°<em>Yes, it does</em>. See, I can enunciate too!¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Their yful banter onlysted another few minutes, as the moment the healers finished their checks, they both left to finish their preparations for the next mission. Matt went off to Group Firmament for a few disposable formations, bombs, traps, talismans, potions, and his backup armor, while Aster went to gather some of their more robust capture equipment. Caging an elite was difficult in the best of times, pinnacle elites doubly so, but they had equipment which could ensure their tricks were limited. In the worst case it wouldn¡¯t stop a core detonation, but it would slow one down long enough for them to shove whoever it was out a hatch, or more likely drive a de through their brain.


    As much as Matt didn¡¯t want to admit it, many of the elites, upon seeing the odds stacked against them, would probably try to flee or surrender. It wasn¡¯t like any of them wanted to die. Even Sect elites would probably surrender if the odds were bad enough.


    Seeing Ai gathering supplies, they brainstormed a few things they might be able to cobble together in the short amount of time they had left. Most of it was too optimistic, but Matt was still happy with what they created.


    Surprises were always good when the ones being surprised were the enemy.


    Once they were all back in Joy''s ship, Darrow took the time to give them a quick rundown of their mission before going into the top level elites they were to hit.


    Matt carefully listened while burning most of his mana generation on simting the fight with his AI. With all of them together, there was almost no chance of escape or failure, but it was still better to be safe rather than sorry.


    Matt would ept a surrender, a capture, or elites who fled away from the frontlines before they came around to them. But he could not, would not, ept any failures.


    Allie pped her hands together loudly, and just like that, they were halfway across the realm.


    Their first target was someone the Empire had wanted dead for years. Alexie Taltor, the strongest horde tamer of their Tier. Tamers of any sort were an umon sight, but Alexie had the strategy down to an <em>art</em>. She assembled entire armies of rift monsters, threw them at entires, and could take up to four or five worlds before she needed to restock, something which only required visiting a Tier 25 rift. Even when routed, her position at the backline meant she was never <em>genuinely</em> defeated. It also made her elusive and hard to pin down, but Matt was happy to take advantage of the rare opportunity provided to eliminate her.


    The woman had taken almost a hundred worlds in this war herself.


    She wasn¡¯t the top target because of her individualbat prowess, but that didn¡¯t mean she was weak.


    Shadow immediately teleported them into the chaotic space between worlds tethers before they arrived at the Juliana system. As they ripped their way into real space, their ship immediately started pulling data about the fortress world.


    Alexie had arrived just hours before them, and with a horde of monsters trailing in her wake, she had already started besieging the fortress world. Tens of thousands of Tier 25 monsters threw themselves at the shields with no regard for their own lives as they were shredded by the ground-to-space mana cannons defending the surface.


    Allie teleported them to the battlefield in just a dozen quick hops.


    Matt, boosted by a travel mana [Telekic Invisibility] cast on him by Light, raced after Alexie while the others started culling the monsters that would soon go wild once their mistress lost her life.


    Matt would be enough to take care of Alexie and her guards. The guards were elites in their own right, but they were only high-level elites, and therefore not a concern.


    Moving faster than he could easily control, Matt arrived next to the first guard without slowing down at all. He didn¡¯t even bother to swing his sword, and instead just held the de firmly, cutting through the man, his tower shield, and his magical shield projection all at once. With the lingering effects of the boost, Matt watched as Alexie¡¯s eyes widened. With one of her protectors dead, Matt had an open path to Alexie, and he took it.


    He knew what Aster and High Command wanted and captures woulde when they had time to spare. For now, they needed to send a message written in blood.


    [Cracked Air Slide] sent him forward in a burst of air that destroyed the slows the protectors tried to dy him with.


    As if it was so easy.


    Alexie, even as it looked like she was trying to surrender, materialized a nightmare monster that felt like a Tier 25 boss swinging dozens of tentacles with des embedded in its limbs, but Matt hardly noticed it.


    His full focus was on Alexie.


    He was endless.


    He was dauntless.


    He was¡­ determined.


    Matt was willing to ept surrenders, but now that they had made their move an invisible clock was ticking, and surrenders took time they didn¡¯t have. Which meant Alexie needed to die.


    He flew through the boss monster, his glowing, pitch ck longsword leading the charge like ance. Before she could even fully process that she herself was under attack, Alexie was impaled on his sword.


    Matt unleashed the [Mana sh] he had cast into the de, exploding her head and upper torso.


    Spells mmed onto him from the elites and the monster who was still alive despite a Matt sized hole in its chest.


    shing out with his de, a second [Mana sh] ended everything.


    The boss monster dissolved into motes of nothingness while the elites'' bodies exploded, adding to the essence spreading into the surroundings.


    His job done, Matt joined the rest of his team even as Darrow ordered the defenders to sally forth and help. There were so many monsters, and they couldn¡¯t allow any of them to reach the Tier 7 this fortress world defended. And now that the first pinnacle elite was dead, every minute counted. The Republic would have been informed the moment Alexie died; they might not know the how of it, but they and all the Empire elites had the same backups, each unique to make interception nigh impossible.


    Once most of the monsters were dead and it was clear the Empire soldiers had things under control, Team Zero rushed back to their ship. Shadow, who was the only one who hadn¡¯t fought, immediately teleported them again.


    Their next target, Li Luo, was a triple elemental Sect fighter who had killed almost a dozen elites in his time active at Tier 25, including one Graduate in thest Sect Republic war. But more than that, he was a tactical prodigy who moved with his own army. They might have taken lesss then Alexie, but he was one of the Sects¡¯ most capable Tier 25s.


    He and his army were also just two jumps behind the frontlines in a system where Shadow had a waypoint. From the reports, it was obvious their army was preparing for another deployment to the frontlines. But little did they know, the fight hade to them without the courtesy of a warning.


    Matt once more threw himself out of the ship the moment they arrived next to the army floating around the local inhabited''s moon. His sword sent out two crescents of mana that reaped the lives of hundreds of unprepared soldiers, but his gaze was entirely locked onto the figure of Li Luo, who had let loose a re of power the moment they arrived.


    He was surrounded by over a dozen cultivators that Matt¡¯s [AI] registered as medium and high level elites, but just like with Alexie, Matt didn¡¯t even slow down. He threw himself at them, pitting their bodily strength and durability against his and his armor.


    It wasn¡¯t even a fight. It was a ughter.


    Li Luo summoned a water elemental of some kind even as his subordinates cast dozens of spells, but they sshed harmlessly off his armor, not even leaving a scratch.


    [Mana Beam] swept across the collected elites, and while most survived the attack, none of them came out intact. Many were cut in half and a lucky few only lost an arm or a leg. The only one fully intact was Li Luo, and Matt rectified that situation with a swing of his de.


    Li Luo tried to block his attack, but he wasn¡¯t in hisbat armor. And if he had any buffs active, Matt couldn''t feel them. He had been caught t footed, and that allowed Matt to end him in five exchanges.


    Instead of bothering to fight the surviving elites still attacking him, Matt sent a message to Origami and the rest of the team. As they retreated into the ship, Origami tossed a torso sized mana crystal bomb out of the ship just as Matt entered.


    Shadow teleported them out before the bomb went off, but Matt knew its detonation signified the rest of Li Luo¡¯s infamous army was gone.


    Their next target was less of a prime target and more of a convenient secondary target. Jiang Jiahao might only have been a peak elite, but he had the misfortune of being just a single jump away from Li Luo.


    They descended on the ice mage just as they had with the pinnacle elites, but he didn¡¯t evenst long enough to know how he died.


    Shadow teleported behind the besieging army and Light disrupted the spell he was casting while Matt sent a [Gravitic Bolt] through the back of his head. Either probably would have killed him, but it took only a moment and three teleports, which made it a worthwhile pitstop.


    Their forth target, Algo, was a Federation duelist who had modeled herself after Cosmind. While only a pale imitation of the Chosen, even that was enough to kill three of the Empire¡¯s Graduates in this war through abination of body-jacking cybeic weapons, illusions, and presumed foresight. It was hard to dodge the woman¡¯s de when your senses lied to you and your body betrayed you. It wasn¡¯t quite as intimidating as the way the deadliest duelist in the Realm could get you to slit your own throat, but it was still enough to get her to rank third on High Command¡¯s list of priority targets.


    Shadow didn¡¯t have a waypoint in the system where High Command said Algo was situated, but she did have one just three worlds away. A little far considering the ticking clock hanging over their heads, but instead of flying the distance they teleported dozens of times, which turned a multi day trip into a two minute one.


    Shadow¡¯s breaths were deep and slow, but it was clear that the teleports were catching up to her. She didn¡¯tin though, which only invigorated Matt all the more. If she could push herself so hard, he could do the same.


    As they arrived in the Galos system they immediately came under fire, but they had expected that. Algo, surprisingly enough, was in a forward medical deployment center. Algo wasn¡¯t a disabledbatant, so she was fair game, and her location wasn¡¯t going to stop them.


    Not today.


    Today was a day for their enemies blood to flow, not one of mercy orpassion.


    Matt left the ship with everyone else, but he didn¡¯t rush for where he felt Algo. No, that was Liz¡¯s job. Ten of her moved together in perfect unison while another Liz remained seated in the ship.


    Matt, along with Light, Bolt, and Origami unleashed a wave of spells to keep the station''s defenders on the back foot. He didn¡¯t even really need to focus on defense, as a simple [Bulwark] was enough to stop the small amount of attacks they suffered from the cultivators, and Light destroyed any of the spells the emced mana cannons attacked them with.


    They had to be a little more circumspect in this attack, as they couldn¡¯t deliberately ughter the wounded, but said wounded were also notpletely off limits. They were still activebatants, just ones in a de facto surrender state. That made it mighty suspicious that Algo was waiting among them while being a valid target. There was surely some plot or n in her actions, but Matt didn¡¯t care about the technicalities.


    Instead, he watched as the ten Liz¡¯s threw themselves at Algo, who retreated, feet glowing and letting her skate around like she was on ice. Her rapier struck out, illusionary copies of it making it hard to tell which was the real one, until the de pierced the head of one Lizzes, killing it with a burst of greenish-gray light. That was her triumph, but also the moment that ensured her death, as the other nine Lizzes descended on her, stabbing, slicing, and ripping her apart before she could y any more tricks.


    Where Matt might have struggled taking out such apetent foe, Liz took advantage of any duelist''s main weakness and just sacrificed a body to create an opening.


    The moment they felt the essence wash out and confirmed the kill, the Lizzes fell into puddles with the Liz in the ship standing up. Once Matt and the others retreated back into the ship, they once more teleported.


    This time, they were only a single jump away from their target. Harley¡¯s team was a group of Evermore graduates who had made a name for themselves in the Republic''sst war, where they reinforced why the academy was the Republic''s elite making factory by securing and holding a critical Tier 25 system by themselves.


    While they hadn¡¯t made any such amazing contributions in this war, they had participated in several battles in the early stages, which contributed to the fall of key systems before vanishing back behind enemy lines.


    Until now.


    The Republic had pulled them back into active duty for thisst push, which was going to cost them their lives. Along with everyone else in the army that they were supporting.


    Light grunted as his grimoire fluttered its pages in one hand while he brandished his staff in the other.


    Spell formations twisted into space in massive circles before spinning and shing through various colors. The light show onlysted a moment; a moment that was long enough for the attacking army to realize they were under attack.


    If they had a second more, they might have had time to offer a defense, but Light didn¡¯t give them that opportunity.


    [Meteor Storm] was a basic, if high Tier, spell but Light¡¯s version of the spell was boosted to insane levels, feeling more like something Matt would cast then anything he woulde up with. And that was the point. The power contained in the spell even before it was fully cast, screamed danger to anyone nearby.


    Still, it was ultimately a distraction.


    Or more urately, it was a trap.


    Harley, being a mage herself, tried to interrupt the casting of [Meteor Storm], but that only allowed Light to find her faster, which was the goal of the modified spell. Once he had her and her team''s location, he changed the target of his spell and the space around them zed with the concentrated power of the modified [Meteor Storm] spell.


    For a brief instant, there was a new star born in the star system as all of the power of the spell was converted into a sphere of pure armageddon mana just fifty feet wide. Even the mortals all the way back on the inhabited world would notice as their night turned into day for a few moments. There wasn¡¯t even ash left of the group, but there was still an army. They had a solution for that though. Matt and Origami still had another eight bombs.


    A bomb lighter, they moved to their next target, all while Matt silently urged the equally silent Shadow to move faster.


    The faster they moved, the more elites who would die before they stopped catching them unaware. Once true fights started, they would be slowed, and once the elites started to flee or gather, their pace would slow down even further.


    Matt wanted at least a quarter of their list dead before that happened.


    Maybe even a third.


    Maybe even <em>half</em>.

 Chapter 323

    Chapter 323


    Matt knew he had a feral grin etched on his face as they left their eight elite floating in a spreading cloud of lightning, but he couldn''t help himself.


    They had chosen their targets carefully and gone after the more valuable targets first, with peak elites being handled in passing if they were close enough to the pinnacles. As a result, of the three dozen pinnacle elites the opposing coalition had at their Tier, they¡¯d killed <em>eleven</em>. Even spread across the three Great Powers, those¡ªalong with the four peak elites¡ªwere losses not seen in <em>generations</em>.


    Thirty percent of the enemy''s strongest forces at Tier 25 had vanished in less than an hour.


    It felt like proper retribution only possible thanks to them finally using Allie¡¯s Talent to its true capacity and the work of High Command who gave them data on most of the enemy elites location. Matt knew how extensive the protections were that elites used to block or subvert divinations and tracking spells¡ªthe n must have been the work of decades, all in preparation for one decisive moment.


    It was a stunning feat of intelligence work and nning, paired with a faith in Team Zero¡¯s abilities that Matt had not seening. High Command hadn¡¯t been holding them back out of risk <em>avoidance</em>, in the end; they¡¯d kept their new Ascenders low-key to make this strike all the more impactful. After all, if their own maneuvers had shown off Allie¡¯s Talent in their tests of the Harmony ords ship, they might have ruined some part of this n.


    They¡¯d even kept the team itself in the dark, maybe to limit their own exposure to divination; luckily, they might have slipped the leash with their mission¡¯s extension, but they hadn¡¯t exposed Allie¡¯s Talent on their own.


    Allie had talked about just going wild a thousand and one times in thest seventy years, but for all her ws she wasn¡¯t dumb enough to just do it on a whim. She knew the value of revealing such information at an opportune moment. And if the bloody grin she was sporting was any indication, reality was living up to every daydream she had ever had. That was in spite of her already starting to run low on willpower¡ªhence the bleeding¡ªand the spiritual strain, which was starting to manifest in physical damage that Arthur couldn''t heal.


    The higher-Tier someone got, the more their spirit influenced their physical body. While it was mostmonly brought up in regards to the way that immortals could edit their body however they wanted, it also meant that certain forms of spiritual damage could impact the physical body in very overt ways.


    Something Matt hadn¡¯t seen before was what Arthur had called ¡®fading.¡¯ It was apparently an asional symptom of incredibly<em> deep</em> spiritual exhaustion, and was exactly what it sounded like. The tips of Allie¡¯s fingers were literally bing translucent, and her normally-shimmery hair had be a transparent ghostly white. Arthur had given a strong rmendation that Team Zero should return to base, taking their victories and getting Allie the appropriate medical care, but Matt¡¯s fellow Ascender had vetoed the proposal in no uncertain terms.Even now, her arms were shaking, ripples of spatial energy rippling across her body with every teleport, but Allie¡¯s weak spirit was nheless wholly focused on the task at hand. It was a sight echoed across all of the group, spirit-deep exhaustion from battle after battle, after battle. Willpower reserves were exceptionally low across the board, with Dena at total exhaustion, and Sebastian and Ai actually sitting the current battle out to preserve their Domains. Liz was nearing the veryst dregs of her strength, and Matt was, so far as he could tell, the only one not ready to just <em>drop</em>.


    If any of them <em>truly</em> bottomed out of willpower, that would put them out ofmission for decades, which wouldn¡¯t be great. Allie was likely to need a decade to recover, which would still functionally leave them if not stranded, slowpared to their normal movement speed. Being short a few members just meant cycling in some of their reserves but that didn¡¯t make it a good idea.


    It was just that none of them wanted to give up.


    They were finally scoring asting blow against their enemies and it felt good. Team Zero had their hands around their enemy¡¯s throats, and refused to let them breathe for even a moment. He was going to squeeze not just until they stopped fighting back but until they went limp. Anything less would be a betrayal of all the losses their side had endured.


    Or he wanted to.


    As hended back on the ship, Aster materialized right in front of him, finger pointed usingly at his nose. ¡°Matt! We had this conversation. Enough killing. The first few were eptable because we needed to move fast but enough is enough. We could have captured these.¡±


    ¡°We need to keep moving,¡± Matt protested, ¡°Capturing takes so long, and it¡¯s going to be harder and more dangerous, not to mention that it gives our enemies more time to prepare for us.¡±


    ¡°I know that!¡± Aster snapped, ¡°It¡¯s why I was fine with the first few. But now? They <em>know</em> we¡¯reing, and we don¡¯t need to rush. And so what if it¡¯s harder? You <em>promised</em> you were going to go for captures more than kills,<em> and you aren¡¯t</em>.¡±


    The aurora in Aster¡¯s hair flickered red, punctuating her words as she jabbed her finger in his face.


    ¡°I-¡± Matt tried to protest, trying to gather the words for why it was still needed. This was the only way they could <em>truly</em> protect the Empire, and not just give their enemies their best fighters right back to them.


    ¡°I <em>nothing</em>, Matthew. I don¡¯t care what justifications you have, you know I¡¯m right about this. You promised, are you breaking that promise?¡±


    Matt¡¯s domain red unconsciously. He was <em>not</em> breaking his promise. Once he set his course, he would <em>never</em> deviate from it. The enemies of the Empire would pay for what they¡¯d done¡­. He clenched his fist. That didn¡¯t matter. His course had been set with a promise made to his sister.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he ground out. ¡°I promised. Captures from here on out, as best as we can manage.¡±


    There was a shifting among the others but no one spoke up against the change.


    With that settled they teleported into another battlefield, they found exactly what they didn¡¯t want to see: there were three elites in the system, rather than one.


    There were actually dozens of elites but most of them were lower or middle level elites. While Matt would happily give them a burst of [Mana Beam], they were ultimately just bodyguards. Their <em>targets</em> were the three elites already trying to run.


    The elites hadn¡¯t even seen them. Their ship was still at the inhabited and most Tier 25¡¯s spiritual perception couldn''t reach that far, nor would the light from their arrival have reached the outer system, but they were already boarding their ships.


    Word must have spread, but they¡¯d known it would¡ªthrough the future sight amplifier of the Harmony ords, if nothing else. The wave of deaths they had left behind when they attacked the pinnacle elites would see to that, thanks to the normal soldiers having deactivated their divination wards.


    They had considered not killing the armies, but Darrow reminded them it didn¡¯t matter. Elites all had safeguards that would alert their handlers on their death just as Team Zero did, so they might as well do as much damage as possible while they had the initial moments of surprise. Part of the reason they were attacking right after having injured the Harmony ords was to either force them to not respond at all¡ªwhich was admittedly unlikely, even if it would have been nice¡ªor to have them weakened when they did inevitably respond.


    High Command expected the Harmony ords to either chase after them, intercept them to tie them down or to use their incredible speed to gather elites into their ship. The second option was¡­ less than ideal. That ship was sorge and so heavily armored that if they simply buttoned up, activated their shields and closed any hatches, even Matt couldn''t do much to the ship without spending more time than they had. Even in a best case scenario it would take hours if not days to burn through that much shielding and armor which was more than enough time for the fleeing elites to run back to a safe haven.


    Allie didn¡¯t teleport to the outer system immediately but waited a few seconds for the ship¡¯s sensors to pick up on exactly who the extra elites were. It wouldn¡¯t do to walk into a trap.


    Raymond Turner was the elite they had been expecting to be in this system and was one of their high priority targets. An old Republic pinnacle elite, he had been a household name in the Republic known for his undefeated record in deworkpetitions until he reached Tier 15 and joined their military. There, he cemented himself as a mid level elite before working his way up to the level of pinnacle elite.


    Tracy Norton was a slightly weaker pinnacle elite who had only crossed into that designation during the war. Having lingered at peak elite for thest fifteen thousand years, she had been considerably farther down their list. She was a sound mage whose voice could disorient with just a whisper, but her screams could cause even heavily defended minds to crumble.


    Fuji Morimichi, on the other hand, was an old Sect peak elite who mainly relied on an oversized bow paired with an ability to multiply his shots. That made him a very dangerous opponent in singlebat and a decent shock trooper when fighting over besieged worlds.


    Together with their mid and high level elite bodyguards the fight would be far from the ughters they had enjoyed earlier. Still, it was nothing they couldn¡¯t handle. It would just be an exercise of killing the lot of them as quickly as possible, while expending the least amount of energy.


    Matt worked his jaw as he corrected himself mentally. It would be an exercise of <em>capturing</em> the lot of them while using the least amount of energy possible.


    <em>Capture</em>.


    ***


    Fuji Morimichi cursed Turner with every fiber of his being. The Republic elite was taking <em>far</em> too long, even gathering his men aboard his ship before being willing to leave.


    Ever since Grand Orator Cao Yuhan had warned him of the deaths of a dozen pinnacle elites, he had felt the de of death hovering over his neck. He hadn¡¯t needed the order to group up with the nearest allied elites to retreat together. He knew his own capabilities, and Masters who could move that quickly spelled certain death should they choose to attack him. Allies would hopefully help buy time for him to flee if nothing else.


    Not that he would truly flee. Such behavior would be unbing, though there was little shame in fleeing from not one but two sets of Masters. That face which he lost would be greatly offset from simply surviving the engagement. No, there was simply no point in fleeing from a Master capable of teleporting anywhere they wished. He would be tracked down and in where he stood, and there was no honor in such a death.


    Far better, to stand alongside a nominal ally and preserve his reputation until death. Of course, when he had arrived at this system and spoke of his knowledge to Turner, the evesting fool refused to act on ount of ack of orders. He had dismissed Fuji Morimichi¡¯s own concerns until his fellow Republican, Tracy, arrived.


    Her arrival bearing<em> the same news</em> had finally convinced the other man. Mid-evacuation Raymond had redoubled his efforts as his own orders arrivedte and slow, slower by far than the rapidmunication of the Sects¡ªbut Morimichi urged them to move faster still.


    The cold edge of the de felt like it was drawing nearer, whispering of his death.


    Then it descended, and he knew it was toote.


    Morimichi summoned and drew his bow before even the light of the Empire¡¯s ship arrived. A [Seek The Heart Of The Enemy] appeared multiplied around him and he loosed his attacks without hesitation.


    The walls of his own ship exploded outward from the force of the attack. Even as his team prepared themselves for a fighting retreat, his technique arrows sought to end the lives of the enemies or at least slow them down as they finished deploying.


    A beam of mana an arm wide appeared for an instant. It punched through the rear half of his ship, destroying the engine before cutting off as abruptly as it had appeared. Two more beams targeted the other ships¡¯ engines¡ªa tank from Tracy¡¯s team tried to intercept one, but itnced through his technique, shield, and armor before doing the same to the man himself, uncaring for his efforts as it erased that ship¡¯s engine as well.


    The hole was so clean that the tank could have survived had frost not covered the man and entombed him in a mass of swirling snow.


    With his opening volley sshing harmless upon a massive [Wall of The Mightiest Mountain], Morimichi sighted down his next arrow¡ªthis one not a magical construct but one of his elite-killing arrows. Carved from the heart of a ten-thousand-year-old tree, fletched with the plumage of a feathered serpent, its head was starforged bronze, worked in the volcanic forges of Mount Toluris, and radiated the might of the cosmos like a beacon. It would usurp the strength of any defenses it struck,yering them upon itself to further strengthen its own might, making the most-defended foes the most vulnerable to its deadly strike. All of that power, however, would be hidden perfectly by his [Legendary Sword, Laid to Rest and Rust] technique, masking its magic and causing it to be underestimated.


    He loosed the arrow with enough force to shatter a small moon.


    His arrow flew in silence as Tracy finally reacted, her screech traveling through the void and rattling all their equipment.


    Morimichi didn¡¯t target Master Titan the Indomitable, known for his defense, even as he raced at Tracy with his armor visibly vibrating. That would be foolish. Instead he targeted Master Light, the Hundredfold Mage. Not with any hopes of killing him; but he hoped to stop the technique the man was channeling between his hands, which looked far too much like lightning for Morimichi''s liking.


    His arrow flew, deadly through the air as Morimichi utilized his [Iron My Will, Iron My Body] technique to bolster his physical prowess as he drew his bow and notched a scattershot arrow. Engaging his Talent, the resistance on the bow doubled and then doubled again as first two, then four copies of the bow and arrow appeared.


    With the arrows loosed, he called upon [I Flit From Flower To Flower], appearing a dozen body lengths to the side before firing another two arrows at Master Light. The first crackled with auburn mist that would burn through even magical defenses in just seconds while the second started to pulse with light that screamed danger. The original arrow, still apparently perfectly mundane, would go unnoticed and un-deflected.


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    He had never once tested his first and grandest attack upon such a mighty foe, but even should his first arrow be detected and deflected, there was no defense which could turn aside it and the thousands upon thousands of nearly-as-deadly projectiles that followed in its wake. Many a foe had fallen to this attack, and Master or no, Light was still but a mage, and no mage could wholly withstand this assault.


    And yet, none of them reached their targets. A blizzard sprang up from nothing, though to call it a blizzard would be to call an ocean a puddle. It was a nket of snow, so thick that even Morimich¡¯s keen eyes couldn¡¯t pierce but a few feet into the swirling maelstrom. His storm of arrows met the storm of ice and snow, and he saw no sign of his own attack as it passed through.


    A chill swept over him, unrted to the wall of ice hurtling towards him.


    Time and time again, he called upon [I Flit From Flower To Flower], grabbing what brief snatches of reprieve he could manage to try and escape the unstoppable maelstrom. Yet with each use of the technique, he felt the ice fighting him, attempting to freeze him in ce and prevent his escape. Yet his magic was refined, and no petty assault could interrupt him.


    Until the winds turned their attention to him, at least. It was only then he realized that previously, he had not warranted their full attention. His technique rose up to whisk him away, only to be torn to shreds by the prevailing winds, leaving him in one ce for too long. Cloying ice creeped over his body, and he unleashed his ultimate escape technique, [The Arrow Which Pierces The Heavens Heeds No Earthly Coil].


    He appeared outside the blizzard, looking frantically for the Master Wraith the Ineffable, that he might be able to smite her and make his escape. He was beyond the range of the snows, yet not above her power, as there was naught around him but swirls of gray, a disorienting prison of illusions that prevented him from seeing anything. Yet just as he was about to give up in despair, [The Keenest Eye of Five Realms] spotted a figure cloaked in white, directing the winds around it with a crude staff made of raw ice.


    Gathering his power, pushing through the cold that had crept its ways all the way up to his elbows, he drew his bow and used his personally modified [My Power Is Ascendent; I Pierce The Heavens With My Arrow], manifesting an arrow the size of a small shuttle.


    Morimichi watched as it tore through the gray space, bending reality around it to ensure that it <em>would</em> strike. And so, he triggered his escape formation, that would carry him some distance away. Perhaps the others would keep the Masters upied enough that he could honorably carry news of their demise to other defenders.


    Yet nothing happened. Space closed around him, his hope stolen from his breath like a candle snuffed out. Be it some consequence of the gray prison he was entrapped within, or something altogether mightier, he could not say. Perhaps this was an illusionary prison the likes of which could only be escaped via physical travel? If it were impossible to escape with techniques, then he would utilize his bodily strength, honed from millennia of practice.


    Thus, he began to run. His Revtions firmed his footfalls, propelling him through the infinite, monochrome illusion. A fell chill began to seep into his torso, yet he did not falter.


    He covered miles in mere instants, but nothing happened. The swirling gray seemed just as oppressive as it had been before his sprint.


    Pushing himself and every technique he had, Morimichi tried to resist the creeping cold. But as it prated his core he felt his energy start to leave him.


    Despite knowing it was far toote, Morimichi kept resisting.


    Even as the ice that had started to form on his limbs crept upward, he resisted.


    He tried to detonate his cores, but as he tried to spin them up in preparation to rupture thousands of years of work in one final act of will, he found that even his cores had been infected with the creeping cold.


    Before he could reach a critical mass, the ice hadpletely encased him and Morimichi felt the darkness sweep over him.


    ***


    Aster panted lightly, swallowing. That had been¡­ a little close. But she had not only captured Fuji Morimichi alive¡ªshe¡¯d also captured most of his elites.


    She had been mostly limited to practice as she couldn¡¯t hold an entire army and Allie sure as shit couldn''t teleport the mass of one even if she did capture them. That meant this was good practice and doubly so with someone who was willing to detonate their core like that. Fortunately, Light had been able to lend a bit of aid at the end, pulling mana from Matt andbining it with his own expertise to smother Fuji Morimichi¡¯s spells while she lulled his core to an icy slumber.


    Aster would have loved to spend a few minutes to process everything she had learned but if she did that Matt might just start killing people instead of going for less lethal attacks again.


    Moving her frozen prisoner to a distant corner of her winter domain, she swept over to Matt, where he was handling Tracy


    ***


    Raymond shed his de down at diator Titan, striking just at the moment he knew Tracy¡¯s disruption would make the magically reinforced armor weaker. The timing, like all of his attacks, was perfect.


    His de, a product of the Republic¡¯s finest spellforges, capable of slicing a mountain in half, left little more than scratches in the imcable jet-ck armor. Titan¡¯s own longsword, jet ck and radiating danger, swept out seeking Raymond¡¯s neck¡ªhe changed his flight downward slightly to avoid the blow while using the movement to free his de from where it was embedded in the armor.


    He twisted to dodge the knee and then foot that followed it, but right as the foot was going to miss by a hair''s breadth Raymond felt a surge of danger and raised his off hand to block.


    Titan flickered and the kick that should have missednded on his upper arm. Pain blossomed in his side even as he was sent tumbling through the wreckage of Tracy¡¯s ship and one of their men. What was left of the armor on his left side was embedded into his arm, and the rest had been obliterated in the attack.


    A lifetime ofbat had taught Raymond how to take a blow, but he had <em>never</em> taken a blow like that before. A melee fighter himself, he had an aggressive eighty percent of his cultivation allocated to his physical core and what he had of his magical cores was dedicated to running incredibly efficient and potent magical buffs that further increased his physical prowess; but that ncing strike exceeded any hit he¡¯d evernded..


    Raymond hadn¡¯t expected to be able to fight a diator, but he also hadn¡¯t expected to be so badly outmatched in even the first exchange.


    After seeing Tracy indicate she wanted to surrender, Raymond made the decision to run.


    He had the feeling that surrenders wouldn¡¯t be so easily epted if the diators were going around and killing elites as the report had said. While they might be taken to taskter for breaking the rules it wouldn¡¯t help him if he was dead.


    If Tracy was dumb enough to risk it, he¡¯d rather take the opportunity to dive into chaotic space and make a run for it. He had a few life saving treasures that could teleport him vast distances and he hoped they would be enough to get him out of danger. The diators wouldn¡¯t have the time to chase after him if they both had a captive in tow and wanted to hunt down more elites.


    Using the distance the kick had bought him, Raymond shed a small hole through reality to create a tear leading to chaotic space. Slipping through, he activated his¡ª


    Raymond looked down at the three spears that had been driven through his chest. Two more plunged into neck cutting off his head. He tried to flee, get enough room to activate a teleportation spell but he felt foreign blood start to creep into his flesh. As Legion''s blood moved he felt his own body start to betray him as it fell to the control of the invader.


    Things started to grow cold and a momentter Raymonds world went ck.


    ***


    Matt turned to Tracy as Raymond fled to chaotic space, not bothering to chase the man¡ªLiz had been waiting right outside of the for any runners.


    Tracy dropped all of her offensive magic and surrendered. Her surrender was followed by the surviving lower level elites, and Matt repressed the urge to kill them all anyway.


    After all, if any of his team were to one day need to surrender, he wanted to ensure that it was honored even if he agreed with L and wanted to refuse and keep the battle going.


    Aster sent out a pulse of ice and quickly entombed the elites where she easily pulled them into her spiritual space before closing her eyes. It only took a few moments, and when her blue eyes opened she nodded. ¡°I got them. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Matt looked to the attacking army, wondering if he should take the time to finish them off, but the moment he turned his attention to them a mass surrender was announced.


    Unable to take control of that many people with the rush they were under, Matt ignored the surrender and moved to join the others at the ship.


    As they exited real space and entered chaotic space they picked up half a dozen Lizzes and Raymond.


    Darrow assessed Aster. ¡°Should we drop them off or keep going?¡±


    Aster shook her head in the negative. ¡°I can handle them now that they are entombed. Let¡¯s move to the next fight, at least before going back. No point in having Allie doing unnecessary teleports.¡±


    Matt moved between the crew, using their runic tattoos to refill their mana pools as space twisted around them, Allie bringing them onward in their assault. The next two peak elites fell easily enough¡ª they must not have gotten the warning, as they seemed entirely caught off guard by their arrival. But when they arrived at the Levalntont System where Alejandro Rogers should have been, they only found evidence of his recent flight.


    Seeing that Joy pulled them into chaotic space looking for any signs of recent passage that might have lingered in the turbulent swirls of energy.


    Matt was about to write the man off, but Allie cackled. ¡°Got you, bitch.¡±


    The ship flickered as they teleported half a dozen times in rapid session, arriving at three ships nked by four more that seemed like they were trying to enter the real space of a long-upied system. A system that hadn¡¯t had an elite in it ording to their reports.


    Three pinnacle elite and four more peak elites. A smaller harvest then Matt hoped for but not a bad one by any means.


    It had been a clever idea. Hiding in an upied system where no elite or Empire presence should be. If they hadn¡¯t caught them in the act, they might have just believed they lost the trail in the mess that was chaotic space and flown right by this world.


    If only it were so easy to run away from them.


    The moment they were close enough, Matt threw himself out of the ship and right at the vessel High Command¡¯s reports said was Alejandro¡¯s. The fire mage was one of their highest target and Matt didn¡¯t want to let him slip the.


    Cannon fire from the ships was quickly redirected from their ship to Matt but he let their power wash over him not bothering to contest or block the attacks and fully relying on his armor to protect him. Matt felt spatial magic start to build in the ship, reminiscent of Allie¡¯s power, but didn¡¯t stop or slow his advance.


    He punched through the hull of the ship sword leading the charge right before the spell went off. He hadn¡¯t been fast enough topletely stop the teleport but it was to interrupt the spell enough to stop the ship from doing more than teleporting into the they had been fleeing into. As they entered real space Matt noticed they were far away from the inhabited world and almost inside the local star. He didn¡¯t know if that had been the intention of their enemies or if his interrupting the spell had caused them to travel further than they should have.


    Matt felt spells, mostly me based, hit him but he simply watched his sensors and paid attention to the feedback he got from [Cracked Phantom Armor]. Alejandro was well known for having incredibly strong mes that ate through magical armor like acid and Matt intended to identify him before striking.


    Except the attack he was expecting nevernded.


    A [Mana sh] both blew the attacks away and forced Alejandro¡¯s teammates to defend themselves where it didn¡¯t cut them down entirely. In that small moment of calm, Matt identified¡­ Alejandro¡¯s <em>back</em>.


    He was a rapidly shrinking pinprick of darkness on the backdrop of the star¡¯s magnificence.


    Matt cursed. Alejandro surely had either [Fire Body] or a simr spell. Once he was close enough to activate it, he could enter the star and¡ªlike a fish in water¡ªeither vanish in its fiery depths or use its power to fight Matt.


    No.


    Matt wasn¡¯t going to allow that to happen.


    His prey was <em>not</em> allowed to slip the like that.


    Matt activated one of the enchantments he rarely had a need to use on his armor. Force tes expanded from his feet and gave him a secure foothold in space, and Matt used that to jump with all the power his armor and body could muster.


    He nearly caught up with Alejandro. As fast as fire mages like him were, Matt was faster. But the headstart the Federation mage had on him was toorge and he sshed into the mountains of mes that was the outeryer of the star.


    Matt plunged in after him, letting [Cracked Phantom Armor] absorb the mes and adjust to the fire. As the stress on his armor lessened to something he could easily deal with, Matt activated his Concept to cancel out the gravity of the celestial body.


    He did all of that without ever letting Alejandro slip from his perception. The mage had used half a dozen movement spells but between Matt¡¯s spiritual perception, skills, and the suite of sensors in his armor, the Federation elite hadn¡¯t managed to give him the slip.


    Matt gave chase with grim determination, turning each time the mage used a fire movement spell. Matt had spent decades helping Aster perfect ice versions of such elemental movement spells and, thanks to the potent sensors in his armor, could easily track the admittedly small eddies that those spells caused even in the reaction of an essence fueled star.


    It only took Alejandro a few attempted spells to realize Matt could track him. That was when he finally went on the offensive.


    The fire around Matt came alive and the fire that had been easily blocked by [Cracked Phantom Armor] grew angry and twisted as Alejandro used his Talent to empower it.


    Matt red [Fire Maniption] and shoved the fire away, but he wasn¡¯t just contesting Alejandro. While Matt had increased his mana control in thest seventy of years of the war and he had made enough progress that his old self seemed like a clumsy child trying to juggle for the first time, he would never beat a dedicated fire mage at fine control maniption; but he wasn¡¯t trying to battle Alejandro in a contest of fine control. He was simplymanding the fire to <em>stay away,</em> a demand backed with a million mana a second behind it. What caused Matt to struggle was the weight of the Tier 8 star itself. Its gravity didn¡¯t want even a small bubble in its gaseous form and sought to crush him for his impudence.


    Matt repelled both powers and chased after Alejandro¡¯s fire body that floated in the mes unharmed and unbothered.


    Seeing that his tactics weren¡¯t working, Alejandro changed course. Instead of trying to crush Matt he started sending jets of mes through Matt¡¯s control to smash against him.


    The mes were an unnaturally deep shade of red, nearly burgundy beneath the brilliant glow of his power but while they strained Matt¡¯s power singr attacks had no chance to break through with him selectively reinforcing [Cracked Phantom Armor]¡¯s secondyer where the attacks were going tond.


    Alejandro sent Matt something through [AI] but it wasn¡¯t a surrender so he ignored it.


    The fire mage darted deeper into the depths of the star but Matt chased right after him. Through the barrage of attacks, despite the attempts to sabotage his [Fire Maniption], he closed the distance steadily.


    ¡°Surrender or die.¡±


    There was no response which didn¡¯t hurt Matt¡¯s feelings in the slightest.


    Just as he was getting close, he let Alejandro pick apart [Fire Maniption]. He could almost feel the fire mage''s tion as he turned and sent streams of burgundy mes out of his palms. The spell gathered strength from the body of the star, but Matt didn¡¯t slow down for even a moment.


    Instead, he called forth his Anchor right in front of his heart.


    His Heart of a ck Hole.


    The fist sized cultivation core of a Tier 14 ck hole he dispelled in Minka was no longer a mere innocuous training aid. The moment it appeared, all the fire around them was sucked into the ck hole¡ªnot just the star but also the attacks Alejandro sent towards Matt.


    Alejandro turned to run again, but Matt red his Intent. He made the man the center of the realm and decreed that the mage was not strong enough to move the entire realm. Alejandro tried to break his Intent, and with how low Matt was on willpower it was entirely possible he could manage that.


    But that would take seconds at the fastest¡­ and they were just feet apart.


    Alejandro didn¡¯t have seconds.


    Matt grabbed the living me even as a burgundy hand pressed itself against his helm.


    Pulsing his anchor¡¯s absorption Matt absorbed all the me in a quarter mile sphere around himself.


    <em>All of it</em>.


    The vacuum tried to m itself shut as the gravity of the star tried to reform itself into a sphere, but Matt had no problem resisting the weight of the star.


    After all Alejandro had been in the mass of me he absorbed and so his efforts to crush Matt had vanished.


    Feeling overly stuffed, Matt dismissed his Anchor and breathed out the mass of essence from both the mes he had absorbed and the Tier 25 cultivator he had killed. Aster couldn¡¯t me him for this one. It was either let him go or end him and there was no way Matt was going to let him go.


    Taking a moment to orient himself, Matt flew out of the star to find the rest of his team rounding up the remaining elites from Alejandro¡¯s team.


    His armor, thanks in part to [Cracked Phantom Armor]¡¯s protection, was cherry red in the wake of the heat it had been subjected to. In the vacuum of space he would need to use ice spells to cool it, which he did as he flew back towards the rest of the fight. Matt used that time to note that the star¡¯s maic fields were changing due to his actions.


    He sent a report to the local authorities, rmending that they get a Tier 36 or higher fire mage toe inspect the star. Stars were sorge their Tier alwaysgged behind the local inhabiteds but it was still prudent to make sure the star wouldn¡¯t let out a bubble of gas that might send too much radiation to the inhabited.


    Matt was doing this to protect those people, not harm them.


    His musings were ended when he arrived back to the ship and Allie teleported them. They arrived back in the Capital, stopping just long enough to drop off the prisoners Aster had taken before teleporting to the next target on their list. They only found an abandoned system, and Matt inspected the blood running from Allie¡¯s ears which were looking transparent instead of their normal night sky ck.


    Seeing him inspecting her, Allie grinned at him showing bloody teeth. It would have been threatening if he couldn¡¯t just about see her spine through the back of her mouth.


    Matt grinned in response. If Allie could push herself that hard he most certainly wouldn''t be giving up.


    It might be harder to find the prey now that they had started to flee but when they did find them their rewards would be even greater now that they had gathered.

 Chapter 324

    Chapter 324


    Matt watched as neen mostly frozen cultivators bound in manacles on their hands, legs, chest, and heads were dropped off to the stunned faces of the guards.


    He still wished they were heads, rather than captives, but he had made a promise and he would <em>not</em> unt it. He had set his course, and he would <em>certainly</em> not waver from it now.


    And so, five pinnacle elites and fourteen peak elites were being added to their collection that now sported twelve pinnacle elites, fifty two peak elites, and a handful of high level to lower elites. Matt would have loved to double, triple that even, but they were at the absolute end of what they could manage.


    Once the Great Powers had gotten wind of their actions they had their elites gather before fleeing but they were so deep inside Empire space Allie had more than enough waypoints for them to chase them down or intercept them.


    Thest six hours had been <em>grueling</em>, but he wanted them to get one more run in before Allie copsed. It was only the five Ascenders still pushing through at this point, with even Susanne tapping out after their second-most-recent engagement. Matt himself was starting to feel the weariness set in, most obvious in his slipping mana control. The interior of his helmet was illuminated by a flickering, harsh blue light as his mana glowed from inside his face, the result of a purged curse that had the side effect of causing the mana inside his body to react. If he wasn¡¯t so tired he could have controlled it but he was utterly exhausted.


    That didn¡¯t matter though. This needed to be done.


    Returning to the capital system with their prisoners had practical purposes. It wasn¡¯t just a break or to lessen the burden for Aster and Allie. While they were here they could get up-to-date information on the fleeing elites.


    The Harmony ords ship had been running around gathering up as many elites as possible, but ording to the reports there was still onerge group of five pinnacle elites¡ª two from the Federation, two from the Sects, and one from the Republic, along with twenty peak elites¡ª fleeing through chaotic space to try and find safety in the oversized Harmony ords ship.


    It was possible it was a trap and that the Harmony ords would jump on them the moment they tried to intercept the fleeing elites, but from all the reports the elites were <em>running</em>. They weren¡¯t moving just fast enough to make an intercept possible, the scout ship which had seen them had seen them running between worlds not following the normal and much safer tethers between words.That call,bined with the fact they knew where the Harmony ords ship was, made it incredibly unlikely it was a trap.


    It was more likely it was exactly what it looked like. Thest vestiges of the enemy Great Powers¡¯ elites fleeing for their lives.


    Matt wanted to either capture or kill them if given the chance.


    They were in bad shape, but he wanted to really put the screws to the Enemy Great Powers.


    And snatching the elites that were almost safe right out of the jaws of the Harmony ords would be the perfect ending to this mission.


    That and Allie only looked like she had a handful of teleports left in her. The teleporter was almost entirely translucent now, though most of that was hidden under her armor, but the weirdest effect was how she was starting to look literally <em>thinner</em>, as though someone hadpressed the space around her.


    Zack himself had stepped in, giving his partner a firm warning that this would be the <emst</em> stop, and then they were to return to the base no matter what. For the first time, Allie hadn¡¯t argued.


    Drifter pulled them into chaotic space, and Shadow began drawing in power. The degree to which her exhaustion had permeated her was obvious from her mere demeanor. Rather than an effortless fold of space which pulled them all <em>elsewhere</em>, she now had to spend several seconds gathering her strength before sheid her hand on Drifter¡¯s shoulder and, using the pilot as a medium, dragged the ship and all its inhabitants with her as they dove deep, past the trackers and into the eddies and whorls of the space between worlds.


    Shadow¡¯s teleports had also taken on a much more visceral feel now, less of a smooth repositioning and more of a derailing train. Space jolted, the world went dark, and what felt like multiple minutes of turbulence hit all at once, rattling his very spirit as they returned to reality. Color was a bit slower to return, taking a few seconds as things emerged from a ck-and-white visage to the full range of light and darkness.


    Shadow was supporting herself on a ghostly arm resting on a console, panting deeply. Each breath she exhaled carried with it little motes of light, starlike embers that drifted around the cabin as Drifter kicked the engines on and tore through the chaos outside. Once Shadow had recovered enough, she teleported them again. And, a few minutes after that, once again.


    Light had leveraged himself under Shadow¡¯s arm and was steadfastly supporting her, even trying to pick up the ghostly-looking woman at one point, only to be waved off. She hadn¡¯t declined the shoulder to prop herself up against, though, and given the way their spirits were flickering it was obvious the duo weremunicating somehow. Matt could have potentially figured out what they were saying, but he let them have their privacy in favor of watching chaotic space fly by outside.


    As they neared another section of tethers things started to stabilize and it was there they saw their final target.


    Targets.


    The ship was just a few hundred thousand miles from the Harmony ords ship which was racing towards them.


    Shadow pushed herself into a full stand, and she cackled a ghostly wheeze, heedless of the way her body flickered and pulsed like a bad hologram. Her hands tightened over her daggers, holding them so tightly her fist was outright closed. Matt understood the feeling.


    They had them.


    Space copsed around their ship, Shadow fell to one knee and partially into the floor, but they were above the fleeing troops. With their sudden arrival, just as safety was in sight, they would be catching their opponents off-guard for the first time in quite a while. Titan couldn¡¯t help but grin at the thought.


    Showtime.


    Wraith swept them into her spirit space for a moment, depositing the two groups of Ascenders outside in a burst of chilly wind. Titan blocked the attacks likely to hit them or the ship, while Light threw a coruscating bolt of scarlet mana at the ship below. Shields sprung up to stop it, but Shadow and Wraith worked together to ensure that it wasn¡¯t blocked.


    The projectile hit, and the engines spluttered. Legion burst forth from the impact site and sacrificed a body to climb bodily within the momentarily-disrupted engines and clog it with hardened blood.


    It was dead in the water, but the sabotage wouldn¡¯tst long, and with the Harmony ords closing in, Titan estimated they had perhaps half a minute before they needed to be <em>gone</em>.


    It would have to be plenty.


    Someone inside the ship was strong, clever, and quick enough to bodily start the ship moving again with their personal power, but Titan interposed himself and called upon his Intent, making himself the immobile center of reality for a brief moment. He expected the ship toe to a halt, but the people inside were stubborn and refused to give up.


    It worked.


    An immovable object was opposed by an unstoppable force, and the ship was what gave. A massive chunk of hull was torn off, exposing the interior as ribbons of metal suddenly made themselves avable to Titan¡¯s [Metal Maniption].


    There was no finesse to be had here, but Titan had never needed finesse. A wicked screech apanied the shards of metal as he charged forwards, smashing into an upraised shield with such force that the shockwave he generated broke the arm holding it, and he barreled into the first victim. A st of lightning left them twitching, and Wraith swept in on a fell wind, spiriting him away.


    Spells impacted him from every side, denting and gouging furrows into even his armor, but Titan halted the enormous warhammer descending on him with his left hand. With his right, his sword darted forward and relieved Cole Tachyar of his hand.


    Three of Legion descended into the hull alongside him,unching themselves first as phoenixes, then as amorphous blobs of blood closing in on the closest elite, restraining Xachary Valor. A fourth and fifth Legion dropped in right thereafter, only to be met with a massive st of ck fire from one of their opponents, one Liu Fienfan. One Legion interposed herself with the fire,busting from the intense magic, but sessfully passing the magic off to her other body. The three engulfing Xachary erupted in obsidian mes, and a momentter the man was swept into Wraith¡¯s spirit space.


    Titan could feel the strain his bond was experiencing, continually taking people who were very much not fully incapacitated yet, but also her determination to seed. None of the people in this ship were used to fighting with one another, and it showed. Domains contrasted and conflicted, spells kept catching their nominal allies in their effects, and chaos reigned within the ship as the five of them swept in.


    Liu Fenfang didn¡¯t relent, but two Legions coalesced from the blood where Xachary had been and joined their fellow body, putting the Dao Child under tremendous pressure. Not that any of the elites they fought needed additional encouragement, as they fought furiously, their safety snatched from them at thest possible moment.


    Still, all they needed to do was hold off long enough for the Harmony ords to either intercede or teleport them into their ship, so their vigor was immense. A Legion burst into gravel as a ten-foot-tall woman mmed a mace through the body, her eyes fixed on Titan. Versi Yenth was a berserker in the truest meaning of the word, and with enough build up, perhaps the physically strongest cultivator for her tier since Greathammer himself.


    But she, like all of the elites they were fighting right now, had no time to build up or prepare, and Titan could use that.


    Titan raised a gauntleted hand to once again block the blow, but while his invulnerable fist was once again fine, it was knocked into his torso with such force that Titan¡¯s shoulder broke, and several of his ribs gave way underneath crumpling power armor. With his right hand, he crossed des with Kayo Hatsue¡¯s scimitar.


    [Regeneration] knitted his shoulder back together in an instant, but by then he was already under attack once again. Titan backpedaled on a st of [Cracked Air Slide], but Versi closed in the distance just fine. Not that he minded.


    [Telekinesis] required immense finesse to use properly, but he cared about none of that as he yanked on Kayo, dragging the swordsman into the path of Versi¡¯s attack. The scimitar broke, as did the hand and arm holding it. The man started to crumple, and Titan stabbed him, then let Wraith put him on ice. Bacsh for the attack sent Versi flying backwards, where an angry Jasper Kel swatted her away.


    An axe lost its green glow in the brief instant before it collided with his neck, then white bindings ensnared and dragged Hal Covi out of the ship. Darkness so absolute that not even Titan¡¯s armor could sense out of it closed over him, and Titan had to act on instinct to dodge Versi¡¯s attack, moving him into the path of an arrow that struck at the base of his neck, releasing corrosive mana into his torso. It creeped into his spinal column, mildly paralyzing Titan and attempting to use his nerves as a wick to reach his brain.


    A few million mana disrupted its advance, and a few million more split between his lifedew and [Regeneration] undid the damage it had already done.


    Titan hardly noticed.


    Versi struck again, but winds dispersed the darkness that had been cloying to Titan¡¯s head and swept them into the berserker¡¯s own face, likewise stripping many of the woman¡¯s protections from her. Suddenly senseless and defenseless, she made easy prey for a point-nk [Mana Beam]. Her bleeding body was gone a momentter.


    Massive sapphire scales sprang into existence off to the side, a massive gong sounding their arrival as they tipped towards one side. Titan ignored it, and Light wrested the construct¡¯s existence from its caster, turned it into metal, and sent it spinning like a top. An image of a blind justicar likewise sprang up, but its finger pointed at Roash instead of Light, and the former was instantly bound in rune-covered parchment.


    A pulse of confusion passed through the ship, only to run headlong into a pulse of tranquility. The two Domains chaotically swirled, causing Eithan Coar to stumble in the headlong wake of them both, before his own Domain pushed back with such force that chaotic space groaned around him.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Shadow¡¯s daggers shed down on Sevi Josu, removing his arm and leaving him open for Legion to spear him in the chest. Another Legion pelted Corin Althair with a hail of blood bullets, giving an opening for Wraith to blow him into reach of Titan. Titan grabbed the man¡¯s hand with a grip of iron, and squeezed. Bones snapped, flesh mushed, and though a massive spell crashed onto his back, Titan ignored it. The meteors couldn¡¯t pierce his armor, but the explosion did knock Veronica Visage out of stealth right before she attempted to backstab him, so it was overall a win.


    His armor caught on fire, but was extinguished an instantter by either Wraith or Light, he wasn¡¯t sure. Around him, he created a shell of mana stone, isting him and Corin from the chaos around him. Because the fire had weakened the spatial locks around him, he took the opportunity to break them, withdraw a crown-like item from storage, and shove it on Corin¡¯s head.


    The man knew what it was, and fought valiantly as the device¡¯s des dug into his skull and wrapped around his brain. But [Cosmic Presence]bined with [Gravity Maniption] meant such things were¡­ mostly futile. Titan did have to call upon his Intent for a moment, bringing him perilously close to empty, to withstand a particrly potent bout ofshing out, but the crown had done its job. None too soon, either, as the reinforced mana stone shattered around them.


    Bali Cier was wreathed in sand, but was forced to cut off her attack as Titan shoved Corin into her face. An instantter, Wraith wrapped the crowned man in an aurora and pulled him away, and Titan charged forward to bring his sword down on Bali. She deflected the stroke and sandsted Titan, but he didn¡¯t slow down, instead charging past the woman to meet the whirling destorm that was Jasper Kel in his badger form.


    He was already dripping with blood from where he¡¯d shredded a pair of Legion, and des of firmament mana swirled around him like a demented blender. His eyes and ws glowed red, and he pounced on another Legion, only to suddenly be met with Titan instead, as Shadow helped their teleportation rings slip through the spatial lock.


    Nearly all of his mana went into an overwhelming [Archmage¡¯s Presence] swordstroke so powerful that it left a shockwave in the chaotic space around them. The honey badger-like beast merely bounced like a ball off an invisible wall, shooting back at Titan like a cannonball, his ws gouging into his armor as he sought flesh to draw power from.


    The secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor] extended past the metal of his armor, keeping the ferocious beast off until he had a chance to shove his left hand into Jasper¡¯s open maw.


    The needle-like teeth scraped at his armor but found no purchase, and Matt drove his arm deeper until his hand was inside Jasper''s throat.


    [Mana Beam] went off and instantly ballooned the badger''s stomach like he had eaten a dozen meals but the pressure couldn''t build forever and would eventually find an escape. If his body was only of normal durability the spell would have ripped through him and been unable to fill him but the firmament mana permeating his body made his flesh like a battleship¡¯s armor.


    No matter how strong the vessel there would always be a weakness if attacked from the wrong way and after it became clear Titan would pop him Jasper sent a surrender.


    Titan passed the message to Wraith, who swept through on a faint wind, leaving a snow sculpture of a badger clinging to Titan¡¯s arm.


    He shook it off and returned to the battle.


    A battle that was winding down.


    Almost a quarter of the elites had escaped and were racing forward but Titan knew it was stupid to chase them. Instead he red his boosts, reentering the battle with his sword zing with lightning.


    He cut into the remaining peak elites, forcing out surrenders.


    Space tightened around them, and Titan felt a growl seep through from Wraith as her spiritual space was restricted. Then a momentter, Shadow was beside her, fracturing the lock enough that Wraith could still sequester those who had yielded. But it was slow going, and Wraith could only do one person at a time this way.


    It was, ultimately, too slow.


    Spatial formations snapped into ce, and while Shadow broke one of them before it could retrieve Hai Mes, there were too many of them for her to stop them all, and the elites were rescued before their surrenders could be fully epted.


    Hai Mes was thrown into the wintry kingdom, and then a sensation that everyone on Team Zero was very familiar with started to thrum through chaotic space.


    The sensation of hundreds of millions, or even billions of mana umting. A brief glimpse confirmed the cannons of the massive ship approaching were glowing brilliantly.


    Spatial fields of their own wrapped around the five of them, and then they were back at the ship. An instantter, cannons powerful enough to crackary shields sted through chaotic space, utterly annihting the drifting wreck of a ship they¡¯d just been inside. The shockwave of energy swept outwards like a cascading explosion, but before it could reach them, Shadow¡¯s power wrapped out around them all for onest time.


    And then they were gone.


    ***


    Emmanuel was picking through the paperwork involved in a dispute between a duchess and a Tier 40 corporation trying to set up in her territory when one of the seven most prominent pedestals in his office shimmered, leaving an elegant jade chip sitting upon the silk cushion, representing officialmunication from Winter Ho glowing like a beacon.


    The pedestals were the one reliable way for the leaders of the Great Powers tomunicate, and it took about half of a Tier 50¡¯s mana pool to activate, so they weren¡¯t usedmonly. But still, it was normal enough, so Emmanuel put it off as he finished up his current paperwork. But when a second and third message arrived from the Republic and Federation, Emmanuel¡¯s eyebrows ascended into his hairline.


    That was not normal.


    He summoned themunications- a slip of white jade, a gleaming diamond, and a tablet of marble- and reached out with his power to get the most up-to-date information regarding the war effort, and he grinned as he processed it all.


    The kids had caused an¡­ <em>incident</em>.


    Out of curiosity, he cast his attention to the most secure war-prison in the Empire, barking back augh at the number of new elite prisoners. Normally, it could take months or even years for captured soldiers to be transported to the maximum allowed holding facilities, depending on the nature of their capture or surrender. But Allison¡¯s waypoint at the prison meant they were able to bypass the normal game of prisoner transport, instead instantly setting them up for the maximum degree of ransom for each and every one of their captures.


    With a thought, Manny changed his Talents once again, utilizing Allison¡¯s Tier 25 Talent as a base to project himself spiritually to Fort Lightfoot, searching for more captured elites.


    He found another two pinnacle elites and nine peak elites getting pulled out of Aster''s Tier 25 spiritual space. While he was there he grabbed updates on everyone''s Talents, but that was more habit than need. The kids had all grown their Talents, but he was more interested in how they were doing.


    Allison was the most notable, in an awful but stable condition. A more normal cultivator of her Tier might take a century of intensive healing and therapy to recover from her condition, but Manny expected she¡¯d take no longer than fifteen years before she was fully recovered. Two real-time years might not have sounded like much in a war that had only been going for two hundred and fifty years at this point, but from the pace they were going at, he expected the war to be done in the next decade if not slightly sooner.


    When <em>exactly </em>that would be depended on how the assault on the Citadel went, but there were enough forces arrayed there that one way or another, the war would be nearly over once it happened.


    Tapping into the local systems, Emmanuel checked for the reports about Team Zero¡¯stest mission.


    Leaning back, Emmanuel contemted the kill reports.


    That certainly exined why the other Tier 50s were up in arms.


    There was something of an unspoken effort to try and¡­ minimize deaths of pinnacle and peak elites during the wars. They were, broadly speaking, favorites of people across the Great Powers, and Manny half-expected to see messages iing from JR or Aoife about their own peopleining about just <em>how many</em> had been killed recently. Normally, it wasn¡¯t an issue on ount of how hard it was for most peaks and pinnacles to die, and fights between them tended to be long, drawn-out affairs which presented plenty of opportunities for surrender. But with Ascenders, all of that waspletely thrown out the window.


    Twelve pinnacle elites dead along with sixteen captured, for a total of twenty eight taken out of the war in a single sweep was the proverbial coup of the century.


    Most Great Powers had around fifty recognized pinnacle elites in war Tiers, mostly concentrated at the major fronts of Tiers 15, 25, and 35, but with a half-dozen or so either moving between Tiers or stationed at Tier 20 or 30. There were others who didn¡¯t strictly fall into those categories, people like Joy Cosja, Susanne Vr, and while thetter may end up being ressified as such by the end of this war, they weren¡¯t counted yet.


    Yesterday, the Republic, Federation, and Sects had forty six pinnacle elites active at Tier 25. Now, they had <em>eighteen</em>.


    Emmanuel would have to check, but that had to be a record not seen before.


    The captures were the most valuable, as with the war in its final decade, even the pinnacles could be held until the end of the conflict with no negotiations required. But if he traded them back now, he could get an <em>incredible</em> glut of resources or upieds. Each captured elite represented, on average, the concession of seven upieds for a peak elite and fifteen for a pinnacle. Entire armies could be ransomed back, the Empire could arrange for all of their captured elites to be released in one go, or they could be released for pure warscore in the final conve.


    This single mission had granted him so much negotiating power he couldn¡¯t help butugh.


    That was fantastic news and took a weight off his shoulders.


    The deaths on the other hand were different.


    Deaths provided no direct benefit to the war, beyond the removal of an asset. In excess, they could even <em>cost</em> a bit of warscore, a light p on the wrist to disincentivize outright massacres. Nobody liked losing their favorite pieces permanently, and he had a formal writ of annoyance from Grand Senator Taltor for the death of his granddaughter. <em>That</em> was just empty posturing, and was safe to ignore. Sectmaster Tuali had actually sent a letter of <em>congrattions</em> in regards to the death of his grandson, and he decided he¡¯d forward that one to General Raven, to be shared with Team Zero.


    Still, while the deaths of four or five pinnacles was to be expected, Team Zero had already killed seven prior to this most recent mission. Each of those deaths had been palpable, releasing pressure on their overstretched armies and reminding the others as to the cost of fighting Ascenders.


    That was already a hard pill to swallow, but added in with the twelve newest deaths, the enemy Great Powers had suddenly, <em>permanently</em>, lost thirty-eight percent of their Tier 25 pinnacle elites <em>In a single war</em>. The dead peak elites were also a major blow, at nearly twenty-three percent of their forces in. Combined, this war was quite possibly the single greatest blow to the upper end of thebat prowess of Great Powers seen outside of a true war for at least a million years.


    He¡¯d need to have a historian go through the records and see if there had ever been such a devastating blow, but he doubted it unless there was some instance wherein a Great Power only had a dozen pinnacle elites total. Thebination of the unmatched mobility provided by Allison¡¯s Talent and the overwhelming power of two Ascender teams was almost certainly unprecedented.


    The numbers also exined why he was getting called by the respective Tier 50s.


    Part of his goal was to simply weaken the most hostile enemy Great Powers but he hadn¡¯t expected his newest Ascenders to be so sessful the first time they were let off the leash so to speak. It was also far better than their estimations. The generals¡¯ greatest projections had been forty percent, which would have let them stall the war front but Ascenders were Ascenders for a reason.


    Still, this matter took some consideration. While this war was important and the kills were valuable, more important in the long term was that the gap would force the enemy Great Powers to rush some of their Tier 15 pinnacle elites to Tier 25, no doubt having more than normal fall to the level of peak elite. That would, in turn, cause the elites currently at Tier 25 to stall there for longer while they waited for proper recements. .


    Emmanuel wanted to stall the true war out for at least twenty thousand years to allow Matthew to reach Tier 45 at least. It was both where his mana generation would be truly game changing and where they could best abuse it.


    That was far enough out that he had expected some of these elites to have left the war brackets, but it would have been only a few. In an ideal world Team Zero would have captured everyone but these more permanent losses had their advantages.


    Not for him or the Empire, no. The ideal truce for this war wouldst at least ten thousand years, longer if he could get away with it, but that was about the longest any Great Power would allow themselves to be shackled under normal circumstances and if he pushed for any more the other Tier 50s would get suspicious.


    The advantage would be for the other Great Powers who hadn¡¯t joined the war. With the beating all the normal level troops had sufferedbined with the devastating loss of pinnacle elites the ns, the Monster Collective, and the Corporations would most certainly be looking at the Sects, Federation, and Republic like wounded cattle.


    Surely he could entice them into going in for a nibble.


    The Sects, Federation, and Republic would probably just pay out of the nose to avoid a direct war but if he could maneuver them into battling it out he could ensure all the Great Powers expended some energy. That would both mean they were a hair weaker when the true war started and would be less inclined to look at him and his for easy targets in the meantime.


    After the showing his Tier 25s had just given, that was more than a little unlikely. Even with foreknowledge, such an alpha strike was hard to fend against.


    He¡¯d need to talk to Aoife, JR, and Toby, but he was sure he could work something out.


    It was unlikely he¡¯d be able to keep Allison in the active war bracket after she showed everyone her true Talent, but the threat was always there that he¡¯d not take the payout to remove her.


    Ascenders bent and broke rules all the time, and the war rules bent around them to amodate. If an elite - usually, but not always an Ascender - was too disruptive, special exemptions and handling uses might be built around them by name. Aiden was the most recent example, being counted as an Ascender locked at Tier 35, but another oue was for a <em>massive</em> payout to be granted in exchange for the elite Tiering out of the war. It <em>could</em> be refused, as Cosmind had done for a time, but doing so was <em>rare</em>. An Ascender triggering a payout before Tier 30 almost never happened and never on someone''s first war as far as Emmanuel knew. The Lady of the Final Bloom had been Tier 28 when she¡¯d been moved up, nearly four hundred thousand years ago, but Allison had probably frightened the other Great Powers to make it a serious discussion at the final conve.


    Emmanuel knew that while she would be pissed to be removed from the active wars, she would also be tickled pink to be the lowest-Tier Ascender to ever present such a massive threat as to warrant a forceful retirement. That and she¡¯d get a portion of the payout, as was only her due.


    Best of all, because the payouts came from all seven other Great Powers which meant he could create small truces with them as part of the agreements. That would make the Sects, Federation, and Republic look like even more enticing targets.


    He¡¯d love to keep the lingering threat of rapid cross-Realm teleports hanging over everyone''s heads, but they knew that as well.


    Everyone had just seen how devastating it could be and wouldn¡¯t want to risk their own elites. He sure wouldn¡¯t.


    Sixty percent of the enemies¡¯ pinnacle elites had vanished in hours. Even in this war it would have a correspondinglyrge detrimental impact on the Tier 25 push. Sure, the Harmony ords and their targeted training to counter Team Zero along with the influx of elites they had just taken into their ship would be a bit of an issue going forward. But they would be forced to remain together or risk a repeat of this incident, which limited them to a single location and ordingly, the harm they could do.


    High Command already had orders prepared to bring up the remainder of the Tier 25 reserves to stall out the warfront but with the better then expected losses they might just reim some lost ground once Allison was back on her feet and able to teleport Team Zero again. The next few years without her would be difficult for Team Zero, but he believed they would pull through with the ns High Command had in reserve.


    The end of the wars were always brutal, but this one would no doubt be one for the record books. They already were.


    <em>Sixty percent</em>.


    At the very thought, Emmanuelughed and keptughing even as he answered the message requests despite knowing it would transfer. It would make them even madder.


    Good.


    Thirty eight percent of their pinnacle elites dead.


    Forty five percent of their remaining pinnacle elites captured.


    Sixty percent of their power vanished.

 Chapter 325

    Chapter 325


    Impossible.


    Once again, Long Zhiyuan watched as Ascender Titan simply <em>punched</em> through a shield he had raised. Across his other simtions, fourteen other clones experienced simr fates, their own defenses overwhelmed summarily, and he could do naught but restart the fights.


    His clones darted forward within his spirit, each taking a different approach to dodge the imcable ck de.


    One clone went in for a strike on the abdomen where some previous battle damage created a weakness. His form was immacte, pushing through the repulsion which Titan¡¯s body constantly emanated and, with a non-negligible effort even with his n working in perfect harmony, struck the weakness and widened it. But Titan cared little for his perfected stance, moving so quickly that it was all that Long Zhiyuan could manage to simply hold his de against the Master¡¯s side. And then, the ck de swept down imcably, cutting through his attempted teleportation and cleaving him in half.


    Another clone had utilized the [Imcable Tears of Damnation], ink-ck jade teardrops drawing upon his very life embedding themselves into his armor. He began to capitalize upon the advantage with his [Lamentations of the Doomed], only for his clone to be mmed with enough lightning to instantly kill him.


    That ended the fight of that clone, and he turned his attention to the others. While he got a measure of feedback from each of the clones and he could theoretically just lounge around like Gan Le, Maven, Jai Meng, or Jai Xilu that would be inefficient. Analyzing them himself could increase his understanding exponentially, and he felt like he was so close.


    He must have made a noise as Jai Meng looked over to him from the massive sunflower he was sitting on. ¡°Anything interesting Long Zhiyuan?¡±


    Long Zhiyuan would have preferred to be alone in his room but with the death of Saziel in theirst fight Maven had proposed they all meditate upon the tactics required to counter the Masters they faced. Not that the others were meditating. Instead, they deigned to chatter and gossip, frittering their precious time away with inane conversation.


    Not wanting to let them know exactly what he was working on, he turned to another topic that he knew would distract them.¡°My efforts to ascertain the true nature of Ascender Titan¡¯s talents have once again been stymied. I¡ª¡±


    Gan Le snorted before trying and failing to cover the sound with a groan. As if the Tier 24 servant, massaging his body, spirit, and ego could hurt him any more than he allowed. Long Zhiyuan would bet that the man was spending more attention to the servant feeding him fruit than the physical stimulus.


    Not one to let such an incident go unchallenged, Long Zhiyuan looked at their tank. ¡°Something to add, Gan Le?¡±


    ¡°Are you <em>ever</em> going to dismiss your task as futile, Long Zhiyuan? Whatever it is, if it¡¯s not exactly what it looks like, the Empire has gone to such incredible lengths to conceal it that <em>none</em> of us could ever determine it. You¡¯re attempting to build a mountain of dust. Besides It has been far too long since you properly rxed. You¡¯re tenser than the time the C-listers didn¡¯t have their mommy ask about their progress.¡±


    Long Zhiyuan almost smiled at the memory of their long training but resisted the unsightly urge, though the twins weren¡¯t so restrained.


    ¡°Remember risse¡¯s face when she found out her mommy didn¡¯t ask about them? It looked like someone had in her puppy. She was <em>shattered</em>.¡± In a deliberately bad impersonation of the healer Jai Xilu continued, ¡°But she said she would be asking about us. We worked so hard to make her happy.¡±


    Jai Meng chortled at his brother''s impersonation and fell over onto Gan Le, using him as a prop for his continued performance. ¡°Mommy! Nooooo! I¡ª¡±


    Long Zhiyuan thought he had sessfully distracted everyone when Maven cracked her neck loud enough to gather everyone''s attention. ¡°So what is <em>truly</em> consuming your mind, little Zhiyuan? Tell Aunty Maven and my wisdom may illuminate you.¡±


    Long Zhiyuan suppressed a sigh. Working with the same individuals for nigh upon a half-century was the degree to which he understood them all, and could utilize them all the better within his ns. Unfortunately, he was not the only one capable of learning of the others, as their attention meant they knew <em>him</em> as well.


    Nheless, he deigned to provide them a degree of truth in regards to his true thoughts. His fears that the Jai twins could see within his simtions had been unfounded, insofar as he could tell, yet he remained hesitant in exposing the true degree of his strength to those who were best equipped to fight him, should their respective Sectse to blows. Yet they knew of him as a nner, and that was an avenue wherein he could present his findings safely.


    ¡°My ns to best predict the ways in which Ascender Titan will act are most urate when I assume that he has unlimited, unconditional mana to utilize all of his techniques. Yet no matter what I do, I can never find the source of that mana. In ourst battle, I utilized multiple techniques which I believed could interfere with his mana source, and yet¡­ I do not believe he so much as <em>noticed</em> my efforts. Thus, I have returned to my initial models of merely unconditional infinite mana, which is¡­ bothersome to me. Starting a model with such a ring inuracy results in everything the model creates to be mired in doubt.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°There is always some limiter to such things. Undoubtedly, it is <em>something</em> which could be fairly easily exploited were it known, hence the Empire¡¯s efforts to obscure it. Nothing is truly unlimited, as we can see with poor Gan Le¡¯s spirit, practically in tatters.¡±


    The cultivator in question didn¡¯t look in particrly bad shape as he tried to nip at the fingers of the woman feeding him a grape.


    Before Long Zhiyuan could make ament to that effect Gan Le spoke up around the grape he was chewing. ¡°I do not see why it couldn¡¯t simply <em>be</em> unlimited mana.¡±


    Everyone turned to give Gan Le an odd look, even the two spies pretending to be servants. Long Zhiyuan was no exception.


    Gan Le seemed unbothered. ¡°What, is it <em>truly</em> so impossible that not even a Master could aplish it? The honored mother of the twins is said to manifest the nightmares of her victims as curses and that she lives within their terror. The Golden Master of Fortune made a fool out of the Unyielding Anvil with her own spear, the Drowner fights up something akin to twenty Tiers, the Master of All could utilize any technique he wished with perfect ease. Compared to them, is unlimited mana <em>truly</em> so impossible? It sounds down right usible to me.¡±


    Jai Xilu snickered as Gan Le spoke, though didn¡¯t borate. As Long Zhiyuan prepared to give his own rebuttal, Jai Meng started first and Long Zhiyuan graciously provided him the opportunity to speak. ¡°Our mother has always said that to be a Master is to look at the impossible and scoff. I do¡ª¡±


    His brother dismissed him with a flick of the hand. ¡°Even the impossible has its own limits, though they are oft invisible. What is suggested is simply <em>impossible</em>. Think of a newly awakened, their spirit attempting to simply <em>create</em> millions of mana each minute. It would copse under its own weight and destroy itself within seconds.¡±


    ¡°<em>Obviously</em> he wouldn¡¯t have that capability as a newly Awakened. It would be his second Talent, and thus grow with each passing Tier. Are you capable of thinking, let alone before you speak? Growth Talents <em>grow</em>. Truly, this is a revolutionary concept which you could never¡ª¡±


    Jai Xilu sneered right back. ¡°I am impressed that you have managed to exceed my expectations for stupidity once again. It is clearly the man¡¯s Domain which provides such strength. Look at Master Waters, at Lady Shadow, and at The Master of the Single Step Behind. For all of them, it is their Revtions which give them such incredible strength. Or do you think it is simply a <em>coincidence</em> that the Empire began producing such exceptional warriors once they allied themselves with the Guilds, and their secrets of refining Revtions? Titan is well-known to have a First Revtion which grants him mana, and his final floor in Minka was Mind Over Matter. Whatever means the Empire has found to refine and further empower Revtions, from what the Guilds have told them, clearly is potent. Not everything must be a Talent.¡±


    ¡°Mind Over Matter does not improve efficacy, and it is impossible for him to have enhanced his Revtion¡¯s strength so much in so short a time.¡±


    Maven, with a small grin, interjected. ¡°All that he would need is some means to stockpile the mana beforehand. Perhaps some form of ability to create mana crystals? If only we knew that Titan possessed some sort of ability with that nature. Then, he could continuously stockpile mana, perhaps elerating his abilities through any number of means, and spending it with each fight.¡±


    Jai Xilu put a finger into his brother''s face and barked augh. ¡°Ha! Two to one. It''s <em>possible</em>.¡±


    ¡°Possible doesn''t mean <em>likely</em>. What you suggest would result in a fighting style akin to The Master of the Evesting Gxy, which is certainly not what we see. Therefore, it¡¯s more likely to be a Talent with a more direct effect.¡±


    ¡°Says who?¡±


    ¡°Jai Meng, Synoid of the Blinding Eclipse sect.¡±


    ¡°And now you are an authority on Talents?¡±


    ¡°Such as it may ur, I am.¡±


    Pot sufficiently stirred, Mavenid back down, having snagged a bundle of sasa berries from the pile that was being fed to Gan Le and Long Zhiyuan took the opportunity to go back to his testing.


    When a few momentster a pulse went through the ship, he briefly considered if it was the twins getting into a fight. But a shipwide alert sted out, overriding every mute Long Zhiyuan had set up.


    The five of them got up as one and were moving through the halls of the massive ship in blurs. Just secondster, they arrived at their gathering point, near the center of the ship where the generals were.


    Long Zhiyuan expected to be informed of what was urring immediately, only to be subsequently un-informed as to what was happening for several agonizingly long minutes.


    Finally Supreme General Alicia Fortan came out and her sunken eyes swept over them. She held herself with her usual poise which took the edge off the urgency happening in the ship around them.


    Her words, however, were not so calming. ¡°The Ascenders went on the offensive.¡±


    Long Zhiyuan didn¡¯t know what was so surprising about that except the time. It had been only hours since they had fought themst.


    Fortan¡¯s next words almost didn¡¯t register with Long Zhiyuan. ¡°They have already killed four pinnacle elites in thest ten minutes, and reports are flooding in from all of our Great Powers. We aren¡¯t sure exactly what is going on but we are closing ranks and all elites are retreating to us or the backlines depending on what is closer. Prepare yourselves for an engagement as we try to intercept them. If we can engage them, it''s a fight to the death one way or another.¡±


    Valentina wagged a finger, requesting permission to ask a question, but Fortan vanished into the situation room.


    They didn¡¯t need to be told to prepare for a fight, and they gathered near one of the loading bays of the ship. This one was equipped with a corporation mercenary deployment method that could slingshot a group of people thousands of miles even through spatial locks and they had trained to use it should they need to engage when they weren¡¯t able to pick the engagements.


    Long Zhiyuan expected something to happen, but little did. At least little that directly affected them.


    The ship went dim three times as the power of the ship was focused on the dowsing formation which was unusual. Sora certainly was not their only dowser, but she was the best. If they had needed to pull up the backups it didn¡¯t bode well for what the dowsers saw.


    That was confirmed just minutester when the ship rumbled and twisted.


    Long Zhiyuan felt the world stretch for a moment before the feeling subsided as the Talented pilots worked in unison to move the massive ship faster than should have been possible.


    An hourter they intercepted a handful of elitesprised of individuals from each Great Power who each took umbrage with the fact they were ordered to retreat.


    They were even less happy when they were ordered to gather with Long Zhiyuan and the others but seeing the members of the Harmony ords most of them quieted down.


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    There was a small altercation between Dao Child Radiant Shimmer and the thus-far sole Federation Archwarrior, but a single whispered word from Jai Meng calmed Radiant Shimmer and ended the fight.


    Tensions continued to rise as they gathered more elites, each one attempting to assert their position and face within the greater group.


    That all came to a head as they got news from the generals.


    There was but one group of pinnacle elites left and they were racing to pick them up before they could be taken out like the others.


    Long Zhiyuan mentally scoffed. Was this truly the extent of the might of the Dao Children? Coddled and spoiled brats, the lot of them, that they would be eliminated so quickly? There were but five Dao Children aboard this ship, less than half of the number he knew had reached Tier 25. Perhaps Maven¡¯s shameful performance against the Masters was typical for such an illustrious position.


    Though, it ought to be never said that Long Zhiyuancked the capability for self-reflection. His own best efforts, aided by Jai Meng and Jai Xilu himself¡­ had likewise been insufficient. And now, those same forces had eliminated how many of the Sect¡¯s shining children?


    A chill ran down his spine.


    <em>This</em> was the strength of Masters. Long Zhiyuan had an excellent grasp over his own capabilities, as that was a requirement for his ns to function. Yet when he examined his own mind now, he found nothing but arrogance. Had the whispers of his projected strength truly deluded himself so much? His trick to develop his Second Revtion at Tier 17 had been designed to echo the aplishments of The Drowner and convince those around him that he too could one day rise to the strength of Masters.


    Yet until this moment, that lie had deluded him just as surely. He had been thinking that there was simply some trick to the strength of the Masters they faced, that the proper n would spell their doom just as surely as his old sectmaster.


    But this?


    Killing or capturing over half of the pinnacle elites in the war in the span of a day? Out matching the very best of the Sects in a lightning campaign this vicious? That was impossible.


    Except was it really impossible anymore if someone was doing it?


    Long Zhiyuan wasn¡¯t able to consider the etymology of a word as they entered within range for the ship''s sensors to pick up thest group of elites.


    The members of the Harmony ords stood and prepared themselves to getunched across space which sent a stir across the other gathered elites but before they were within range the sensors picked up another ship.


    The Ascenders¡¯ ship.


    There was only a brief flicker upon the disys as it dove out from the untamed space betweennes, the illusions depicting it shuddering and warping from residual chaos. Yet before they could sense anything more than its presence, it vanished.


    And reappeared directly above the final craft, like a tiger pouncing upon its prey. The ship fired back with <em>impressive</em> speed, yet it was all for naught. Legion interrupted their propulsion, Titan tore his way into the ship, and the Masters descended into the ship.


    It was mere secondster that the massive gship¡¯s teleportation formations activated, pulling the remaining elites free. It was less than half what had been reported as being on the ship, mere minutes before.


    Their cannons fired on the Master¡¯s craft, yet it vanished before it could strike home and annihte them.


    Long Zhiyuan felt as the ship stretched before snapping back into a normal configuration just in time for them to drift next to the wreckage of the elite¡¯s ship. The corrosive energies of chaotic space were already destroying what was left but Long Zhiyuan hardly noticed.


    He had redirected his clones to simting the war the moment he had gotten word about the attacks but he still couldn''t believe what had happened. It almost seemed impossible.


    <em>Impossible</em>.


    That word was once more whispering in his ear and he shook his head to clear it from the negative thoughts and started up his clones testing everything he could.


    He wasn¡¯t sure what was about to happen, but he knew that the war had just escted and he needed to be ready.


    ***


    Colton removed his pistol, spun it around his trigger finger, before quickly holstering the weapon. Then he did it again. Then again. And¡­ again.


    It was the best way to pass time. Literally.


    Something happened, and he holstered his pistol without re-drawing it. Around him, the world tinted amber and came to a nearlyplete standstill, giving him plenty of time to assess the new event. Ah. It was just one of the scribblekids getting into an argument with one of his countrymen. Nothing he needed to concern himself with.


    The pistol spun again, allowing the altercation to¡­ y out.


    His Talent was a precious thing, giving him plenty of time to eye out anything surprising before he needed, or even could act. Plenty of time to mull over the thoughts ricocheting around between the brims of his hat. It let him be the levelheaded, evenhanded one any time something buckwild crazy happened nearby.


    Such as, to take a shot in the dark, watching or <em>experiencing</em> a ship chock-full of the best ¡®n brightest across three Great Powers be absolutely obliterated by five hooligans on the threshold of safety.


    Around him, helplessness, anger, sadness, distress, fear, anxiety, worry, and determination vied for attention across all his posse. Oh to be sure, plenty of ¡®em hid it well, but there was no hiding from his keen eyes. Not when he could watch it all happen moment by moment.


    As for him. He was feelin lots ¡®o things. Not just determination for victory but determination to live, to¡­ survive.


    Nobody had said this adventure would be easy, and Colton hadn¡¯t expected it to be. Battlefields were a wild frontier, with monsters hiding under every shrub, lurking in every stream. But that was the truth of the wilderness. You struck gold and went home rich¡­ or you struck out, and went home in a box.


    From what he was hearin, though, plenty of the losers were lucky. The box they¡¯d been stuck in would be one they¡¯d be gettin¡¯ out of real soon. He of all people knew just how quickly fortunes could change, and the winds weren¡¯t blowin with them today.


    If¡¯n he¡¯d been out there, he¡¯d be in a box for sure. He¡¯d dueled diators plenty, these past few months, to know he was no match for ¡®em. You could fight monsters. You couldn¡¯t fight the wilderness. You couldn¡¯t fight a dust storm, nor a wildfire. Not with a pair of pistols. All you could do was survive it, take your shots and count each day you went home as a good one.


    He got a message, and he cut his spinning short the instant it came through. The world turned golden, and he read the message in the space between two moments.


    Loel was wantin to meet, apparently, with all their countrymen. She wanted to make <em>ns</em>, which was at least a good idea in theory, even if their ns neversted long in their actual fights. But with a full dozen pinnacle elites joining the Harmony ords, it would be important to make sure they were all hauling in the same direction. With five of their countrymen in that number, they¡¯d more¡¯n doubled their presence.


    That brought¡­ opportunity.


    Colton liked to think of himself as a simple man, with simple pleasures. He spoke rarely not because he had nothin to say, but because he thought better of sayin it. Anyone who would listen wouldn¡¯t be needing you to say nothing and anyone who needed you to say somethin wouldn¡¯t be doin nothin even if you did say it.


    But he still had a duty, to his country and his countrymen. Here, on this foreign ship surrounded by foreigners, they could make sure they came back from the wilderness, on the other side of the storm, if not <em>unscathed</em>, then at least better off than any o¡¯ the others.


    The higher ups were surely already making their own ns but as the des in the fight they could¡­ and should, make their own ns.


    Letting himself enjoy the silence for a moment Colton stepped and watched as time stretched around him, not quite able to keep up. That let him reach the door and open it for everyone else as they retreated to the Republic portion of the ship.


    He didn¡¯t want to be here for what was sure to be happenin next.


    Outta sight was outta mind.


    ***


    Supreme General Alicia Fortan stood at attention as she reported her failure to her President.


    Even through the hologram, President J¡¯s re felt like it was capable of killing her.


    ¡°And please exin to me how you had no advanced warning about this maneuver. Exin it like I¡¯m the idiot you must take me for.¡±


    Talking to someone twice her Tier was never a good thing but after thest twenty four hours Alicia just hoped she¡¯d make it through the conversation alive.


    She had no doubt there were spies loyal to the Tier 50 integrated into hermand who could <em>remove</em> her should she fail to appease President J.


    ¡°I suspect that the orders were only issued moments before they were acted upon. Empire High Command is locked in a bunker as securely warded as anything we can create. As for how they were able to track our elites? We have some theories, a few captured spies, and we are fairly certain it isn¡¯t reproducible.¡±


    For the first time J looked something other than angry and Alicia jumped to exin without seeming like an over eager lieutenant.


    ¡°If they had the ability to permanently track so many elites, they would have never given it away with such a devastating alpha strike. They would have slowly and carefully picked off an elite or two, making it seem like a good chance as the Ascenders ran into them. That they moved all at once says this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.¡±


    Alicia might have pushed the boundaries there at the end but she didn¡¯t exaggerate or lie. It was incredibly likely the Empire had burned a number of spies to gather the locations of so many elites.


    J drummed her fingers so quickly it looked like a blur which made Alicia even more nervous as itsted entire seconds. Seconds would be days if not months subjective for a Tier 50. Just what was she contemting that took that much time?


    A cold sweat ran down Alicia back but she didn¡¯t even dare to wipe it away with a spell or her Domain.


    Finally J spoke. ¡°I¡¯m tempted to just write off the entire Tier 25 battlefront, but that would worsen the substantial morale loss we¡¯re <em>already</em> suffering from. What are you going to do to fix this?¡±


    Alicia was about to speak when J¡¯s eyes turned into slits and she leaned slightly forward. ¡°Before you answer, let me exin something to you. You are getting one chance to countermand your and your fellow Generals'' mistakes. With the deaths of four of our pinnacle elites we have just permanently lost thirty percent of our top level fighters in the Tier 25 bracket. I have already talked to the ns, The Collective, and the Corporation. They are all circling us and preparing to dere war on us now that we are weakened.¡±


    J''s face twisted into a sneer as she said, ¡°They¡¯re being <em>generous</em> enough to allow us to finish the war with the Empire before they jump on us, because they are offering to allow us to pay them off out of our spoils of war. A war chest which will be greatly reduced if we can¡¯t secure victories in all three major brackets. So tell me,<em> how are you going to fix this</em>?¡±


    Alicia¡¯s mind raced as she pondered her and the other General¡¯s earlier ns. Ultimately, she decided that they hadn¡¯t changed and exined.


    ¡°From the reports and scans we got of the Ascender team they are in awful conditions. That means they will need years of recovery. Even with the ability to teleport back to The Sophron Imperium Maginex, where the best healers will be, my specialists are estimating a recovery time measured in decades at minimum. On ount of these being <em>diators</em>, we¡¯ll be conservative and assume that is one decade. To continue being conservative, we can assume that they have and will use a hospital stationed in a Tier 35 rift, cutting their recovery time down to just over a year. The Harmony ords are close enough to the Tier 35 frontlines that, with their new influx of more army-oriented elites, they can cut an additional ess channel to the assault on the Citadel. That will bring nearly a dozen additional Tier 35 armies within striking distance of those lines. Given historical trends for how Aiden Waters fights, even if the man survives or somehow <em>wins</em> against ourbined forces, he will nheless be forced into a recovery period of his own, at which point we may bring our additional armies to bear, capture the Citadel, and open up a number of undefended Tier 25 battlefields for the Harmony ords to continue pushing through. Once that happens we can rage through the Empire''s interior without challenge. The damage alone will offset any losses in territory on the frontlines.¡±


    The drop of sweat which was just about to reach her lower back seemed to turn into a block of ice as J¡¯s eyes refocused onto her.


    It looked like she had just eaten a lemon as J said. ¡°An eptable n. Do <em>not</em> disappoint me, Supreme General. We can not afford any more mistakes. I¡¯ve bartered for a few of the captured elites¡¯ immediate return and they will be back to the frontlines as soon as we can ensure they haven¡¯t been tampered with. No more deaths, no more captures. We can afford <em>neither</em>. Do you understand?¡±


    Before Alicia could say anything the signal cut out and she let out a sigh. Still, just in case the Tier 50 was watching somehow Alicia bowed slightly. ¡°As is your will, madam President.¡±


    It felt like an impossible task.


    She wanted toin but knew it would do no good in changing the past or the present. But really, how was anyone to know Ascender Shadow could teleport such massive distances? By the time the Ascenders moved, it was toote for both the Republic''s faculties and the elites.


    The elites who should have been safe due to the million and one wards on them.


    Scanning through her rosters, she connected with Generals Chu Fung and Hitomi. Hearing her suggestion they instantly agreed having just gotten done with simr calls from their respective Tier 50s.


    They most certainly had spies among their midsts, and as the peak fighting force in all three Great Powers they had a fairly broad ess to information. While direct elite locations <em>wasn¡¯t</em> part of that information, they were tied into the logisticworks, and any decent spy could infer a lot from resource allocation, no matter how much it was obscured.


    Mana pulsed as the active shielding came to life. Not shields for damage, but shields to iste them from the realm itself. They would need to drop them to dowse any possible futures but their dowsers would be down for at least the next three months so that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue. If they needed supplies they could always just connect to the in between and be resupplied without breaking their lockdown.


    The logistics said it was possible.


    Therger issue was their pilots who had already pushed their Talents to the limit in moving their ship across the war front that normally took months to travel in a matter of hours. They would be out ofmission for at least a few months even with them being shoved into an elerated time chamber.


    Still, the ship was fast in its own right. Thatbined with having nearly every peak and pinnacle elite from three Great Powers gave them an unprecedented level of power.


    Before today she would have called it enough power to kill even Ascenders but she didn¡¯t even want to think of such a heretical thought at this time.


    Not after what the Empire had done.


    <em>Everything</em> depended upon the fight at the Citadel. But, with the proper backup, it wouldn¡¯t matter how impossibly strong the Empire¡¯s Ascenders were, the would fall. They just had to open up paths for reinforcements to travel along. And to do that, there were two options. Assault the frontlines directly, or slip behind them and begin attacking their supply lines, trusting the armies in their wake to crush the thus-weakened defenders.


    Assaulting the frontlines directly¡­ it would work. There were enough elites on their ship who specialized in dealing with armies, rather than other elites, that they could punch through the frontlines, the Harmony ords at the vanguard. But it would be slow, and they had only a year of nearly-assured safety before the Ascenders would be back in action. If they took longer than that¡­ the battlefront was done.


    No, it was better to race ahead, take advantage of what time they could muster to deal as much damage to the backlines as possible. That way, even if they became tied up in dealing with the Ascenders once again, the armies behind them would have at least a chance of breaking through the frontlines, and cutting an ess channel to the Citadel front.


    No doubt, the supply depots behind the frontlines would be <em>somewhat</em> reinforced, but the Empire had been stretched so thin, and their ship represented what was possibly the single greatest concentration of power in history. They would crush the resistance found there, take the worlds, take the Citadel, take the <em>Empire</em>.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy. But it was possible.


    Alicia hadn¡¯t reached her level without taking risks and what was one more?


    Sending a message to the other two Generals, she waited.


    It was time to do or die.


    ***


    Ari Kai left the meeting room after he got the all clear from President Olga. He didn¡¯t bother to put away his knife though.


    If Alicia wanted to put the ship in lock down she was allowed too but the good President had ordered he take that opportunity to do a little <em>cleansing</em> for their party and they had the perfect scapegoats.


    All in a day''s work.

 Chapter 326

    Chapter 326


    The moment they arrived back into the rift, someone - presumably Baxter - whisked Allie away like a thief in the night. It was a good thing too, as to Matt¡¯s spiritual perception she felt like a wisp of a lingering thought more than a human.


    That could <em>not</em> be good.


    Still, it shouldn¡¯t be fatal.


    Though, while Allie was certainly in the worst shape out of all of them, they <em>all</em> needed medical attention. Even Matt, now that he wasing off the high ofbat, felt spirit-deep exhaustion grip him. His willpower felt like a wrung-out dishtowel, his armor needed some serious fixes, and he had a whole host of runic tattoos and long-term potion treatments that needed to be renewed.


    Around the ship, people staggered to their feet and out into the rift proper, being bustled onto medical transports and whisked away rapidly in turn. Matt was one of thest ones out, following Susanne while he directed his armor to disengage from around him and reassemble around a nearby mannequin. It only mostly worked and he was forced to tear inactive pieces off himself.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Joy winced as she hopped down from the ess hatch. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that <em>could</em> hurt.¡±


    ¡°Nice flying, though,¡± Susannemented, as she waved away a healer trying to get her on a gurney in favor of personally setting her equipment on its designated racks. Matt was surprised she had enough energy to do that, let alone talk. <em>He</em> certainly didn¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m still impressed you dodged that [Corroding Missile]. I thought we were done for.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhhh yeah, rust spells are a pain and a <em>half</em>. The shields <em>usually</em> deflect them, but at that level ofbat it¡¯s best not to bet on them. I would have needed a <em>ton</em> of mana to fix that one up if it¡¯d hit, and I don¡¯t know if we would have made it to thatst ship in time.¡±


    Behind them, Liz dropped out of the ship, swooping over to perch on Matt¡¯s arm. He gently stroked his wife¡¯s feathers as she veritably melted into his touch, then nodded for the healer waiting on his signal to pull him away.¡°What about domain-fighting it? Whenever I ran into rust, I could¡­¡± Susanne¡¯s voice trailed away as Matt was swept into the air on a far toofortable transport. Below him, thendscape of Camp Lightfoot rushed by, until he was dropped into an open-air courtyard and whisked into assessment, reluctantly letting Liz go to be scanned separately.


    A wave of exhaustion came down on him, nearly putting him to sleep, but he nudged aside the feeling. He wasn¡¯t ready to rest yet. He wasn¡¯t ready to call it quits yet, no matter what his spirit said.


    Coming down from hisbat high was certainly part of it, but it wasn¡¯t the only factor. The room itself had a formation that worked to rx his spirit and the healers had activated it. Matt wanted to be annoyed that they thought he needed to be soothed, but he was <em>tired</em>.


    Tired of the war.


    Tired of the fighting.


    Tired of the death.


    Tired of being angry.


    Tired of being powerless.


    Tired of¡­ everything.


    That wasn¡¯t a good sign, and he knew it.


    His Willpower hadn¡¯t been entirely exhausted since he was on the Path, but this was as close as he¡¯d gotten since he¡¯d formed his Intent. That deep, deep well of missing motivation wasn¡¯t helping with his mncholy any, and only served to exacerbate the issues he was already experiencing.


    Fort Lightfoot had its share of mind healers and therapists, of course, including one with a high enough security clearing that Matt could speak <em>truly</em> freely with her, but he¡¯d had enough experience over the centuries to know exactly what was wrong and what he needed.


    Matt needed to win this damn war.


    It was a lofty goal, but Matt felt like that was the only path forward.


    The Harmony ords and their thorough nning to counter their abilities was like a wall in front of them, but it was only a wall. They could climb the wall given enough time and blood spilled; of that, Matt was sure. More than that, he felt like it was his duty to win the war.


    Matt snorted as the thought made him grin.


    Not win the war, but help win the war.


    Nobody, not even Aiden himself, could win a war single-handedly.


    The war might have been officially started by Allie and Zack¡¯s Ascensions, but their owning in so close behind had no doubt yed a part in the other Great Powers'' decisions. If Matt had just not pushed as hard, maybe the other Great Powers might have seen the back to back Ascensions as a fluke, and not the start of a trend. If he could have only been content with living a life of luxury selling his mana, he might have avoided all of this.


    Matt let the thought sit. Marinate. Stew.


    He pictured himself as a decadent young noble. Even being paid just a single percent of his mana¡¯s value, he would be able to live a life of luxury. He could be content. Know no stress or pain. Have every whim catered too.


    He looked down to his hands, struck through with glowing blue veins and fractures as mana ran rampant through his flesh. His right hand was even discolored in a few ces, where raw mana had burned him, transmuted his flesh to steel, turned his fingernail into mana crystal, and broken several invisible runes. His left hand was in better shape, of course, but even it shook with exhaustion and sparked with raw mana that danced between his fingers. Both of his hands were rough, hard, callused and slightly dirty. There were even a few scars he¡¯d never purged. Looking closer, he saw more. The skin on his left ring finger was slightly different then the rest, the result of a bad healing centuries ago¡­ Matt couldn''t even remember when, but it caused the ridges of that finger to be slightly off, and the small hairs on that fingery in the opposite direction from its neighbors. Letting his eyes lose focus, Matt could see a thousand and one other wounds and injuries he had taken in his three hundred or so years of life ovep themselves on his hands.


    Then, he let his imaginary life¡¯s hands ovep them, soft and unburned. The nails were perfectly groomed instead of being cut right back to the nail bed. The skin was smooth instead of being rough and calloused. They were the hands of someone who had forgotten what the cost was to hold a de in one''s hand day in and day out.


    They weren''t his hands.


    And more importantly, Matt didn¡¯t want them to be his hands.


    He <em>never</em> wanted those to be his hands. Those were the hands of someone who didn¡¯t understand what it truly meant to be alive, to be a cultivator. The life of someone who just let life¡­ float by, content with what he had and without the desire to grasp for more, to challenge the Realm and win.


    It was far from perfect, but if it wasn¡¯t Matt sitting here, he was sure it would be some other poor schmuck.


    And ultimately, that was what it came down to.


    Matt wouldn''t, couldn''t, put his fate in the hands of anyone else. If he failed, then it was his fault. But if someone else failed, he would always question the result. It was more than a little egotistical, but so be it. He felt like he¡¯d earned the right to have a bit of an ego at this point. The Emperor himself hadn¡¯t been able toplete the Path of Ascension while Matt had.


    Having let himself wallow in the dark parts of his mind, Matt shoved those thoughts down. He acknowledged them, thought through them, and rejected them.


    He was where he was, and despite everything, he thought this was the right ce for him. Maybe not the best ce, but it was the ce he was needed.


    Fortunately, the healers¡¯ report came through shortly thereafter. He wasn¡¯t <empletely</em> fine, but most of his issues were easy enough to treat. A few potions, some time at the tattooist, and a guaranteed one subjective month of rest should be enough to get him back to fighting shape. One month subjective¡­ wasn¡¯t a lot of time, honestly. It would be enough to get his willpower above the absolute bottom of the barrel, but he¡¯d still need to be very judicious with his Intent usage. It would have been better if they¡¯d been able to have a month or two <em>objective</em> to recover, as a year would get him into a substantially morefortable level of exhaustion.


    They needed the break, and could use ten times that amount of time to really recover, but they all knew the war wasn¡¯t going to wait for them to be in perfect condition before things kicked back into high gear.


    That was why they needed to recover as quickly as possible.


    After a couple of hours getting his runes put back in ce, Matt flew off into the grasnds that surrounded the base of Camp Lightfoot. Then checking how much room he had, he flew a few times farther away, all the way to a valley that they used for training on asion. No one would miss the ce if he identally filled it in.


    It came down to Domains.


    Domains were special. They were one''s connection to the realm itself.


    A Concept was who you were, an Intent, who you wanted to be.


    Matt was endless and dauntless.


    The world around him fell away. He didn¡¯t need to close his eyes, but he chose to instead interpret his senses the way his <em>Domain</em> saw things.


    Mana flowed around him, wispy and rare inside a rift closed for this long. Light beamed down on him, shadow where it didn¡¯t fall, and illusion on the hazy edge of illuminated and shaded. Air swirled around him, vague impressions of water on its breeze, and where it impacted the earth around him. How much, or what kind of mana was there didn¡¯t matter. He had more. He alone was a brilliant whitish-blue, his cores radiating their power throughout his entire body and beyond. He was the source of creation, the source of magic.


    And he let it flow.


    His mana spilled out, illuminating his surroundings for brief moments before it raced away, radiated into the distance to enrich everything there was. Along the ground, he created a thin barrier of mana crystal, just a foot or two thick, encasing everything around him in a barrier of mana crystal.


    From there, he changed his approach. Instead of simply covering things in mana, he created something more useful. Finger-sized mana stones, each containing little more than a million mana, were created at his fingertips as well as along every surface already covered in crystal .


    And so, the pile of mana crystal grew. Just shy of forty-two per second, two and a half thousand per minute, over a hundred and fifty thousand an hour¡­ Matt swiftly found himself buried within a pile of mana stone. Each one was a million mana, each one would be valuable to the war effort, and Matt just <em>kept making them</em>.


    <em>Endlessly</em>.


    He never stopped fighting, and he refused to let something so mundane as his spiritual limits slow him. It was invigorating, and he kept at it for nearly a week, his willpower regenerating quickly, as the realm acknowledged his ce within it and rewarded him with the strength needed to enact his will upon it in the future.


    He wasn¡¯t exactly ready for a fight, but he wasn¡¯t running on fumes any more either, and that made everything feel better. The world itself seemed brighter, as though everything had been washed out but was now filled with life and vibrancy.


    It felt good. Really good.


    Of course, he was also buried underneath a train car¡¯s worth of mana stones, but that just made it feel <em>better</em>.


    With a thought, he broke the coating of mana stone around his surroundings into the same size as the rest of his creations, and pulled the 25,365,000 mana stones around him into a dedicated spatial ring. It wasn¡¯t his normal ring but one that got shuffled in and out of the rift via the non teleporting rift breakers. He couldn''t take the ring out of the rift via the ¡®Allie Express¡¯ thanks to howrge it was, but it was perfect for collecting his junk. It wouldn¡¯t do to litter.


    After dropping off his mana stones with the bursar, who would send them to wherever Matt¡¯s mana needed to go, Matt checked in on his friends.


    He found Liz working in herb but didn¡¯t bother her, seeing she was in a simr fugue state, but harmonizing with her Intent rather than her Concept. Matt would prefer to do something simr, as acting in concordance with his Intent would go faster than acting with his Concept, but it was a lot harder to be dauntless while not fighting, or without breaking things.


    Aster, on the other hand, was working at her forge. It looked like she was making a chair or railing out of twisted bits of metal woven together and cold-forged.


    Entering the frigid smithy, Matt grabbed the wagging tail of his bond.


    And promptly earned a hammer to the face.


    Not that it actually hit. All of his cultivation was in his physical core, and Aster was a mage after all. Dodging the attack didn¡¯t even register as a conscious choice.


    Still, from their bond he felt her surprise was genuine.


    ¡°You scared me! I thought you were Allie, and I warned her the next time she scared me she was getting a hammer to the face. Fuck! Warn a girl please.¡± Looking him up and down, Aster added, ¡°You are looking better. How was your retreat?¡±


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


    Matt hopped up on a nearby table even as he activated [Cracked Phantom Armor]. It was too damn cold and he didn¡¯t want to be chilled for the next few hours just because he was having a conversation with his bond. ¡°It was fine.¡± Seeing the narrowing of Aster''s eyes, he borated. ¡°Good, even. It did what it needed to do. I¡¯ll probably go work on my Intent for a bit but I wanted to check in with everyone and the war situation.¡±


    Aster nodded at that and turned back to her forge. She plunged the rod of metal she was working on into what looked like a normal furnace, but seemed to contain a winter storm instead of a fire.


    ¡°Things are decent. Allie is currently sneaking into ces she shouldn¡¯t be, but only after getting me to bring her snacks for an entire day.¡±


    Matt snorted at the imagery and felt Aster''s amusement through their bond. ¡°Yeah, I knew it was bullshit when she said the best way to resonate with her Domain was through being brought snacks, but I did it anyway. Shoved said snacks into her non existent face when she came clean. We were really only buying time for the workers to build a simtion city for her to sneak around in.¡±


    Aster snorted again, and Matt felt her roll her eyes. ¡°Allie used it a whopping two times before she vanished and started breaking into actual meetings and other locked rooms. Last I heard, she figured out some way to partially phase through physical objects thanks to her fading.¡±


    Matt frowned at the information. He wasn¡¯t familiar with fading, but so far as he understood, the person still <em>existed</em>, just a little less firmly. They didn¡¯t fall through floors or anything, and they could still wear clothes, after all.


    Maybe he was wrong though. ¡°Is that how it works?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not.¡±


    Matt chuckled. That sounded about right for what he knew of Allie and her Domain, and he couldn¡¯t help but find the image of a mostly-transparent Allie sticking her head through the wall of meeting rooms and vaults, probably scaring half the camp over the past week with her shenanigans. Still, he figured that at least she was recovering at a decent enough pace. They had some pretty impressive spiritual healers present in the rift, thoughpared to what Melinda could facilitate it wasn¡¯t all that impressive. The fact the damage had been self-inflicted alsoplicated things, but there were enough relevant skills floating around that Allie would be making steady progress for recovery.


    Changing the topic, he asked, ¡°What about you? How are you feeling? I haven¡¯t checked in for too long after Eric''s death.¡±


    Aster flipped her ears in something Matt interpreted as a shrug. ¡°Decent. I stressed my spirit and got low on willpower, but I didn¡¯t push either to the limit. On the matter of the war, our actions kicked over a ho¡¯s nest, that''s for sure. It''s only been a day real time, but the Harmony ords¡¯ ship vanished after our sighting of them, and rumor has it, Manny got hate calls for what we did to the elites. They weren¡¯t happy with the losses at all, least of all with Allie.¡±


    Matt snorted at the idea of trying to make his enemies <em>happy</em>. No, he was more than content to piss them off as much as possible.


    ¡°I heard Virgil, the Federation Tier 50 tried to get Allie ressified as a support personnel, and somehow that trantes to the fact she should be kicked out of the war thanks to her Talent? I don¡¯t quite follow the logic, but I only heard it thirdhand, so maybe the original idea made more sense.¡± Matt chuckled at the thought of a irate Tier 50 calling Manny and screaming into her AI. Aster chortled as well, feeling the thought. ¡°Yeah it obviously didn¡¯t work because duh. But it''s funny. Apparently J is making some noise about ¡®appropriate retribution¡¯, but Winter Ho¡ª ugh. Winter Ho, despite being equally upset, is sending a gift to Allie for such a, and I quote, ¡®masterful use of one''s gifts¡¯. Fucking Sects and their worshiping strength. Don¡¯t mention the gift to Allie. Please. She has been insufferable since she intercepted those messages and takes any opportunity to rub in it. So don¡¯t give her another opening.¡±


    Matt nodded even as it became clear where Aster was hearing these <em>rumors</em>. Allie wasn¡¯t just messing around while she broke into ces, but that was probably a requirement of her Domain. Being stealth and infiltration focused, the training city that had been created for her had probably been minimally helpful with harmonizing with her Domain. She almost certainly needed to be doing it ¡®for real¡¯ to get any appreciable willpower out of it.


    ¡°Well, at least she¡¯s feeling better. How long do they think she will be down?¡±


    Aster winced, and her tail and ears drooped. ¡°Despite everything, she¡¯s honestly in pretty bad shape. The healers all estimate she won¡¯t be fully recovered for at least three or more likely four decades but¡­¡±


    Matt finished the sentence for her. ¡°We can''t afford to allow her to be out of the war for the next five or six years.¡±


    ¡°Allie has repeatedly said she will be ready in under a decade. From everything I¡¯ve seen, I¡¯m¡­ skeptical. Fifteen years seems like the minimum, so two years real time. Not great, but we can deal, I''m sure.¡±


    Matt was sure they could. Because they had to. Ascenders before them hadn¡¯t had the luxury to return to a rift between fights, and they could and would deal with the same thing if they had to.


    ¡°Speaking of deployments. High Command said they are going to buy us at least a month off real time by pulling up reserves and pulling back some Admiral for transport to the frontlines, so two hundred and forty days of time off at least. Any time after that, we might be pulled back to the front. All the analysts seem sure the Harmony ords are going to start striking out and with the elites they picked up try to roll over us, given the opportunity.¡±


    Matt mulled that over. ¡°All of them?¡± At Aster''s agreement, he spoke his thoughts out loud. ¡°Seems odd none of them think the elites will spread back out. Sure, it opens them up to being ambushed, but the enemies must know Allie won¡¯t be in great condition. Even another year or two would help them right?¡±


    ¡°No clue, but it''s also only been a single day outside. For all we know, they will all change their minds next week.¡±


    Seeing Aster finish the piece she was working on, Matt gave her tail a small tug. ¡°Take a break and I¡¯ll make us something so we can have lunch.¡±


    Lured by the temptation of food, Aster followed him out and by mutual unspoken agreement they turned the conversation to lighter topics.


    Matt was halfway through Aster''s panini when he felt the ghost of a breeze trail across his neck. ¡°Allie, if you want lunch, take a seat. No need for dramatics.¡±


    ¡°You''re no fun. Guess what?¡±


    ¡°I already know about your reward.¡±


    ¡°Aster what the fuck? I wanted to tell everyone!¡±


    ¡°You have told everyone. That¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°No, I didn''t get to tell Matt! You ruined my moment to showboat. How could you?¡±


    Hearing Aster take an extra deep breath, which could only mean she was about to go on her own tirade, Matt interjected. ¡°What do you want on your sandwich, Allie?¡±


    Except, he was a moment too slow, and Aster went on a roll. Knowing what Allie normally liked, and not feeling like making anything <em>too</em> fancy, he weaved chicken and spicy cheese through the dough and tossed it in the oven, filling the air bubbles that formed as the bread rose with an aerated gravy, and mixed up a bit of fresh cheese while the sandwich cooked, inserting the cool dairy into an air pocket just below the peak of the crust right before he pulled the loaf from the oven.


    Fine work if he said so himself.


    The idiots were still bickering back and forth five minutester when he sat down at the counter with them, but he took the opportunity to inspect Allie.


    She¡­ didn¡¯t look good.


    Not at all.


    In fact, she looked <em>awful</em>.


    She was still mostly transparent, with only the tips of her fingers being much more solid. Her cloak fluttered through her torso in a few ces, which was still so transparent as to be nearly invisible. Where her sandwich went, rapidly vanishing into a barely-present mouth, he couldn¡¯t tell.


    She was even eating slowly, bite by bite, instead of scarfing her food down like she normally did.


    But he knewmenting on it would only upset her. Allie never liked to be weak so he made a joke he knew she would hate. ¡°Allie you are a shadow of your former self.¡±


    ¡°Har har. Very funny. I¡¯ll have you know you are the fourth person to make that joke and the second to use that same phrasing.¡±


    Not wanting to argue with her Matt didn''t snark back. Instead the kitchen was filled with the quiet sounds of chewing until Allie said. ¡°This is good, Matt.¡±


    At least her situation forced her to appreciate his food. Except he thought too soon, as she added, ¡°It would be even better if you made snacks! Scones? Scones with ckberries? Maybe even some brownies. I found some ice cream I bet would pair well with both. Or maybe cookies? Oh scones sound good. What about scones? Scones with a fruit maybe?¡±


    When Matt just gave her a t look, she grabbed Aster and moved her head in front of the disembodied mouth loudly whispering, ¡°Look cute and pathetic.¡±


    Aster started to pout until Allie said pathetic, and she jerked herself free. ¡°Pathetic? Excuse me? When have I <em>ever</em> looked pathetic?¡±


    Matt couldn''t help but smile, even as he went and started getting the ingredients out.


    If anyone deserved a snack, it was Allie.


    She really had pushed herself to the limit, and that deserved a treat.


    Scones delivered to the duo who had moved into the living room, Matt went out and tried to consider how to be dauntless.


    While a Domain could be anything, it had to resonate with his Intent. And for Matt, being Dauntless was more about fighting, and he wasn¡¯t able to fight to a level that would push himself without expending willpower.


    But he did know someone who might be able to help.


    He found Aiden just a few miles away at a small ind sea, fishing with a tiny rod only a foot and a half long. ¡°I need you to drown me.¡±


    Aiden blinked at him like he was stupid before shrugging, and before Matt knew it, a pseudopod reached out from the water and dragged him underwater.


    Matt felt a feather light application of Aiden¡¯s Domain push down on him, trying to convince him he needed air, but Matt didn¡¯t resist it. First of all, it was a very light working, but even more than that, Matt didn¡¯t want to resist it. He wanted to push through it.


    He was dauntless.


    Being mortal and drowning was perfectly fine, so long as he pushed through it. Drowning could not stop him. He was always moving forward. He was unstoppable.


    It wasn¡¯t perfect, but there was a significant harmonization with his Intent, which further elerated his willpower recovery.


    Matt wished he could make mana stones at the same time, but that was currently impossible.


    He could make mana stones, that was his Talent doing the hard work, but despite his efforts in the past seventy years, he hadn¡¯t been able to figure out how to use his Concept and Intent at the same time and therefore wouldn¡¯t get any extra harmonization out of it.


    That was the risk of opposite Domain paths like that. They were pr opposite, and therefore couldn¡¯t exist at the same time. There were a number of ways to solve that issue, and the mostmon approach was one Matt didn¡¯t want to fall back on, to make his Aspect the mix of his Concept and Intent. He couldn¡¯t see it as anything but a waste, to utilize the highest form of Domain in this realm to look backwards instead of striving further ahead.


    There weren¡¯t exactly <em>guides</em> on how to do it, but there were people in the Empire that Matt could probably have gotten as teachers to help him along. But what he was more interested in the information One Step Behind had given him about forming a Power, the perfect blend of one¡¯s Talent, Domain, and if they had it, a bloodline. Some natural treasures could also be involved¡­ but Matt didn¡¯t care about going that far right now.


    Mirror Concept and Intents were far, far moremon in Guild space thanks to their outlook on Domains, and a good number of those who tread down that path figured out a way to settle the inherent contradictions of using two pr opposite powers. For the sessful, the rewards were¡­ bountiful.


    Most who seeded ended up creating what was almost an extra Domain power, a half-step between their Concept and Intent. It wasn¡¯t a unique stage of a Domain, but something between.


    The example he¡¯d been told about had been the <em>possibly</em> apocryphal Wendy Firestorm, a fire elementalist who¡¯d developed an ice-based Intent. The creation and destruction of temperature, and allegedly the creator of the thermal aspect, she had eventuallybined her fire Concept- which just increased the temperature and resilience of her mes - and ice Intent - which gave her nearplete immunity to ice attacks - into an ability which let her simply break things directly, shattering them like ss. Stone, metal, even magic just broke with a flex of her Domain.


    With her Aspect, she¡¯d taken that power and expanded it, gaining a myriad of explosions and bing one of the Guild¡¯s foremost fighters for ages until she eventually ascended, supposedly in an explosion of fire and ice.


    <em>That</em> was Matt¡¯s goal.


    He wasn¡¯t sure what a mix of his Concept and Intent would create; a white hole and a ck hole would either cancel each other out or create something like an ouroboros. Both had plenty of possibilities.


    What made things worse was that Matt had felt like he was just a step away from seeding for thest forty years or so. It was like he had all the pieces of the puzzleid out, and simply needed to slot thest one for everything to click into ce.


    Beyond that, if he could figure out some way to get Intent-level recharging from being endless, he could <em>easily</em> double how quickly he was recovering. Possibly more than that if he got some recovery from harmonizing with his merged Domains as well. That was pure spection, as the information hadn¡¯t covered anything about that, but it made sense to Matt. If the mixed portions of the Domain worked like he thought they did, he should be able to harmonize with all three and boost his willpower recovery like that.


    Matt had known this became moremon as one progressed through the stages of a Domain, yet he couldn¡¯t help but remember the first time he had used his Concept at Travis and Keith¡¯s house, and had gotten light headed and had a nosebleed from the incident. Back then, just sitting down and meditating for ten or so minutes had seen him back in ok shape.


    He wished it were that easy now.


    After spending a few days getting drowned, Matt tapped out to Aiden¡¯s annoyance. Apparently, drowning people was a good way for Aiden to recover <em>his</em> willpower, and they weren¡¯t letting him out of the rift to go and actually drown people and/or monsters.


    For all that he liked the man, Matt wasn¡¯t going to volunteer for drowning duty for more than he had to, which seemed to baffle Aiden.


    Thankfully, Liz was finished with her own work by the time Matt got back to the house.


    The moment he got back, he was promptly kidnapped, and the two of them absconded deep onto the rift to spend some alone time together.


    One of the family members who lived in the rift had long since found a nice string of tropical inds in one of the sized oceans that the Tier 35 rift contained, and the area had been turned into something of a resort for those who wished to get away.


    Landing at one of the uninhabited inds, Matt used a gust of [Air Maniption] to clean the dust and sand out of the house while Liz pulled a fluffy cloud out of her spatial ring to rece the bed.


    Once they were done, they made their way over to the shore and justid there together.


    What started as Matt trying to bury his toes into the sand ended up turning into a footsie fight that further devolved into the two of them entangled in each other''s limbs. Matt lost, but only after Liz created three more bodies to pile onto him with. He didn¡¯t mind.


    It was exactly what they needed. They might have been fighting next to each other for months on end, but they had both been incredibly busy with their own projects, and the physical closeness helped affirm theirmitment to each other.


    That, and it was just fun.


    Taking a note out of Aiden¡¯s book, Matt had even brought some fishing rods, and the two of thempeted on who could catch thergest fish.


    Matt refused to believe that Liz had caught the twenty five foot Tier 3 tuna-like fish without cheating, and the smirk Liz couldn''t hide only proved his point, but he was unable to figure out how she cheated and so was unable to prove it.


    With the loser''s cooking duties foisted upon him, Matt butchered the fish, spending the time feeding Liz the best bits of sashimi as he went.


    Eventually, their discussion turned to work as it always did, but that was fine too. While talking about nothing was fun and a good way to settle themselves, they were both driven individuals.


    ¡°Any new news on the mana types?¡±


    Liz nodded as she chewed. ¡°Nothing groundbreaking, but Mondino Luzz derived another theoretical lightning-based variant that uses crystal to stabilize it. It lost a bit of quintessential focus, but also added some moreteral robustness. Not sure I love it but it''s an interesting idea.¡±


    Looking over the mana structure Liz sent over, Matt nodded. He was no expert, but his time with Light working on travel mana had helped give him a decent understanding of how mana worked¡­ in one model, anyway. He preferred to think of mana in discrete units, which had its advantages and disadvantages, but he could see how the lightning interwove between the blood and fire, and how a few motes of crystal mana helped keep the lightning stable, without chaoticallyshing about and releasing its grip over its partners.


    He could also see the problem. The mana structure was <em>incredibly</em>plex, as all such things were, and it was very clearly metaphorically tilted in the direction of being an attack, sudden jolts and explosions, energetic and dangerous. Fire and lightning were both strongly oriented with that purpose, but blood wasn¡¯t, and kept wanting to pull it towards being more stable and subtle. Crystal, with its reflective properties, <em>was</em> acting as a mediator, but there was only so much you could do without reconciling the two contradictory purposes for the mana. There was some life mana sprinkled around for that very reason, as both blood and fire wanted to spread, just like life did, but it was far from sufficient.


    But seeing the problem wasn¡¯t the same as seeing the solution.


    Still, it was good progress, and Matt knew how proud Liz was that the team she had bought had done so much in the short few decades she had led them. Part of it was their wealth and ability to just throw mana at a problem, but a muchrger part was Liz being able to test the suggestions and give direct feedback to Mondino¡¯s team.


    If she had been there and able to work alongside them, Matt was pretty sure they would have already figured out a stable configuration for fire blood mana.


    Matt set his [AI] to look for better distributions of the motes of crystal, trying to stabilize the existing construct as much as possible, because he didn¡¯t have any better ways to help. The uracy of such simtions quickly became suspect, but it wasputationally expensive to run such tests and anything he came up with might help the researchers'' own efforts.


    Ultimately, it was just nice to help his wife, and that was what mattered.


    They didn¡¯t have too long to rx. But the week they did have, while not enough, was good. It reminded Matt what he was fighting for. Who he was fighting for.

 Chapter 327

    Chapter 327


    Two months. Sixty one days objective. Four hundred and eighty-eight days subjective.


    It should have been enough for Matt to be raring to reenter the fight, but he wished they could have had another objective month off. Just another two hundred and forty days. That much additional time would allow them to go from eighty percent of their best to eighty-five, or even ny percent.


    For all his power, he couldn¡¯t grant wishes, but they were ready.


    Eighty percent of their peak performance was better than Team Zero had been in a long time, and the Empire needed them.


    Thest of the reinforcements had been called forth and sent to slow the Harmony ords down, but from the reports, reinforcements was a generous designation. The five armies were mostlyprised of new Tier 25 troops, either fresh recruits or Tiered up soldiers, and veterans who had been cycled to the backlines for extensive healing. The fact that the Empire had to call them to the frontlines was clearly desperation, but it had bought some time, and by all ounts had slowed the Harmony ords¡¯ rapid advance down.


    As their analysts expected, the Harmony ords had used their influx of elites to rapidly attack nexus points. In the two months they had been uncontested, they cracked two of the three nexus points they had attacked. It was only a valiant effort on the defenders¡¯ part that prevented theirst assault from victory, and if they decided to circle back, they would surely seed the second time. Which they surely would, as they were trying to clear a channel even as the Tier 25 battlefields retook ground for the first time in the war. And if their enemies wanted a secure supply line to the Citadel, they needed to keep a region under their control.


    Which was exactly why they were needed. If Allie was able to teleport them they might have gotten a few more days of recovery but now they needed to travel the normal way.


    Not that they were going to be traveling like a normalbat troop. Ascenders had better methods then that even when they didn¡¯t have ess to a teleporter on Allie¡¯s level.


    The first leg of their journey would be taken in one of the fastest Tier 35 supply ships, already scheduled to make a trip from the capital to the Citadel. Unfortunately, due to how close the battlefront was, it couldn¡¯t take them any <em>further</em> than that. But the week and a half or so that the ship would take to travel through a corridor of allowed supply routes was still far faster than they could manage on their own while also conserving Joy¡¯s strength.From there, Joy would be taking them to their actual targets in her new, or rather <em>old</em> ship.


    It was, in fact, the ship she had used when transporting Aiden around in his first war, albeit with a few modifications. With her Talent making most ship functions free, the designers could make hyper specialized ships for her, and with an Ascender¡¯s budget, they had. Her new ships were built almost like single fighter ships, all maneuverability and guns thanks to engines being a secondary concern with Allie¡¯s ability to teleport them. However, her old ship was all engine.


    And with Matt there to fuel it, they had added even <em>more</em> engines.


    The efficiency would make even Matt¡¯s most inefficient runes look like a beacon of longevity, but that was by design. Her Talent made the ship free to run so long as it fell within certain parameters of ¡®ship-ness,¡¯ and it didn¡¯t care how much mana it would <em>normally</em> need. With Matt¡¯s assistance, they could surpass even that, adding various ways to enhance the ship¡¯s speed that weren¡¯t <em>technically</em> part of the ship, and therefore weren¡¯t part of the normal calction.


    That was where the boosters came in.


    Most engines were primarily based on fire or air enchantments, thanks to their efficiency and simplicity. Many of the most advanced engines, in turn, were often based on force, but above that things got a bit¡­ wilder. Engines designed to utilize level four mana types, like sky, cosmic, space, and aurora were known quantities, but were <em>exceptionally</em> rare,plicated to construct, and harder to maintain. There was only a single twilight ship in the entire Empire Tier 25 fleet, a custom fighter ship constantly maintained by its pilot. The absolute <em>pinnacle</em> of war-Tier engine design was a single, warp-based ship in the Corporations, which simrly was maintained by a small team of Tier 35 experts.


    And Travel mana was absolutely <em>nothing</em> like any of those. It wasn¡¯t that surprising, all told. Each type of mana, with just a few exceptions, required its own unique approach to design and usage, and air, fire, and force had a <em>lot</em> of momentum behind them, millennia of research and experience refining designs and informing mechanics and pilots alike of best practices. Joy¡¯s ship was a hybrid affair, using force, air, and fire alike, as well as a touch of sma for good measure, all in concert. Just shoving travel mana in would be actually worse than useless.


    But it could absolutely work as a supplement. One of Zack¡¯s projects, since he¡¯d worked out the mana type, had been trying to develop a basic travel engine with Ai and Joy. Matt had popped in from time to time, and had spent most of this past break dedicating a <em>ton</em> of time to the effort.


    The four of them, alongside some Firmament members, had gotten something working in just the nick of time. It certainly didn¡¯t <em>look</em> like a traditional engine, being primarily made of white marble columns supporting a roof, above which floated a tesseract-shaped travel mana-aspected crystal. With enough power, any ship it sat within could up to double its speed, with no interference for other engines.


    Working with travel mana was fun. It wasn¡¯t <em>quite</em> as simple as fire and air, but it was <em>far</em> more powerful than those, and its speed-efficiency was above any other engine they¡¯d been able to test. At least in theory. Their current models were incredibly rudimentary and would need a few thousand iterations before they started to shine. Then they¡¯d still need to derive engine enchantments from scratch for the esoteric mana type, but that wasn¡¯t too big of an issue and could be pushed off to the future.


    Matt was actually really looking forward to it. Once he got his guild up and running, he intended to help spearhead the work. There were undoubtedly going to be Tier 40 guilds and corporations working on their own, proprietary, high Tier version of the engine type, but Matt hoped he might be able to find a niche within high-end low-Tier devices, like flying swords, trains, and taxis.


    It would be incredibly expensive, but would have asting impact on the realm, which was all Matt really wanted to do.


    Like so many other things, it would have to be pushed to the future, as they still had a war to deal with.


    Unlike their normal teleport out of the rift in Joy''s ship, they had to exit the rift via the entrance distortion, and it was only then that Matt realized he hadn¡¯t seen the entrance in a long time. Even when they went to just explore the capital, they usually cajoled Allie to teleport them. Not that it was difficult to convince her to abscond from the rift, but it made the trek through the base all the more jarring.


    The new ship was a nice distraction, at least.


    From the outside, it looked smaller than their old ship- roughly halfway between that and a personal one or two-man ship- but the spatialpression was so much more intense that in truth, it was about three times <emrger</em>. Of course, most of that was engine, so they only had marginally more habitable space.


    Granted, a fairly substantial amount of that was taken up by what could only be described as a massive throne. It was ominous, primarily ck and red, and had a backrest reminiscent of two spiral horns supporting a velvet backrest. Behind it, a dozen arm-thick power cables extended into an open ess hatch, which Matt knew led to the travel mana booster and a bunch of simr contraptions.


    The entire contraption, all put together, looked almost <emically</em> evil.


    Stopping to stare, Matt sighed. Before he couldment, Ai pped his back as she stepped around him. ¡°It''s ok, you get your evil overlord arc earlier than most. I¡¯m sure the movie will be hriously exaggerated. Maybe I can make a formation that you need to wear as a crown or something to help sell the image.¡±


    Matt was going to make a snarkyment back, but he caught the hint of a smile on Dena¡¯s face, so he just yed into it. ¡°I¡¯m sure they will add a ck cape and maybe even a green scarf; something incredibly impractical just so the fans can easily identify me.¡±


    Aster, on the other hand, chortled at his plight. ¡°Oh yes, please do the crown. That will be so funny.¡±


    Even Liz piled onto him. ¡°Oh, I always wanted to be seduced by an evil overlord. Maybe spirited away from my castle in the night? I¡¯m pretty sure we have a ck cape somewhere.¡±


    Flopping into the chair, Matt lounged like a stereotypical viin. ¡°Go forth and conquer the good people, my minions. Failure will be met with murder, so make sure not to fail. Can¡¯t have my side too strong for when the hero gets here to murder me after I don¡¯t take his threat seriously. Also attack him one at a time, never all together.¡±


    Before they could get into it any more, Joy''s voice came over the ship''s inte. ¡°Wee aboard the IFV Rubber Ducky. Today our mission is to get ferried to stupid punchie people where we will make our enemies¡­ Ugh, I can''t do this if Aiden isn''t on board. Buckle up fuckers, this bitch has got one <em>heck </em>of a kick.¡±


    As they rose off the surface of the, Matt called through their AI messaging system, ¡°Is there a reason for the physical inte? That''s so¡­ mundane.¡±


    Joy''s voice was noticeably irritated as she replied. ¡°Aiden made it a rule not to call him over his AI unless it was important. Fucker alwaysined that I was interrupting him, but he was always just ying with himself- sorry, his <em>Domain</em>- to no avail. But, it ended with me getting this big red button that just <em>begs</em> to be used.¡±


    Matt couldn¡¯t really argue with that and nodded.


    As Joy took them to the resupply ship they would be gathering in, Matt instead focused on sending his mana into the conduits and turning his mana solid. Then he frowned. The chair was <em>trivial</em> to use, no expertise required.


    He wasn¡¯t freshly Tiered up any more, damn it. His mana control was excellent. Okay, it was almost the worst of any of the mages he knew, but considering how many of those were Ascenders, or at least five Tiers stronger than him, that was a boast.


    Still, it meant he didn¡¯t need to think about supplying mana at all once the time came. In the meantime, Matt started resonating with his Concept before switching to his Intent. It was less about harmonizing and recovering his willpower, and more about him trying to get the switch fast enough that he could start to ovep the powers.


    It wasn¡¯t a part of the Guild training information, but Matt felt like even if it turned out to be a dead end, it was good training.


    With everyone working on themselves, the travel inside the massive supply ship passed in what felt like mere moments, leaving them at Rusty¡¯s capital.


    There they were met with two pinnacle elites, Estelle Deloffre and Tedwin Dumont as well as their entourages, who would be joining them on their mission. They had been injured and cycled to the Citadel to recover in a safe location, but that simply made them prime candidates to be gathered up for their counter to the newly expanded Harmony ords.


    At least they wouldn¡¯t be getting any of the ransomed captured elites back this soon. The fact that the enemy Great Powers were getting any of their captured elites back at all felt slimy to Matt, but he had seen the reparations, and even he couldn¡¯t argue against the trade.


    Three of the captured elites were being traded back to their respective Great Powers, one each, for an astronomical price. Twentys to no longer be counted as captured at the end of the war per each elite returned. If that wasn¡¯t enough, Manny had argued for the return of a huge number of Empire and Guild prisoners and their immediate return tobat status. Though, the Empire¡¯s own elite captives weren¡¯t being retrieved yet, that was still something like thirty Tier 15 armies, eleven Tier 25 armies, and four Tier 35 armies, which would be a wee boon for all the war fronts once they were cleared and able to reenter the fight.


    It would be another few months before the trade was finalized and the transfersplete, but the other Great Powers were pretty obviously rushing toplete the trade before Allie was back on her feet.


    There was, apparently, also the understanding that any further trades would be exceptionally rare and only considered on a case by case basis. Matt was personally very, very interested in finding those cases, but only time would tell.


    The two elites were polite, but they did little talking. Aster said they were obviously terrified of them, but Matt was pretty sure she was just joking.


    Instead, everyone started oveying their Domains and getting a feel for the metaphorical wavelength everyone liked to operate on. Taking the time and practicing in training scenarios would have been better, and would have ensured a more seamless fit of everyone''s Domains, but they didn¡¯t have that luxury. Besides,Darrow¡¯s Intent assisted with smoothing out the worst ovep on top of helping withmunication.


    Not that the Domain work stopped Matt from paying attention to the ship after they entered chaotic space.


    The entire ship rattled as the primary engines came online in a way that didn¡¯t seem good, but as they started to pick up speed, things smoothed out to a nearly imperceptible vibration.


    Thatsted until Matt started powering the boosters he was connected to.


    The initial kick was <em>massive</em>. Half the passengers literally fell out of their chairs, though most recovered quickly. Liz¡¯s phoenix body went sprawling across the room with an undignified- but very cute- <em>squawk</em>, Dena was nearly knocked out of her seat until a strip of fabric uncoiled from her armor and grabbed onto a handhold, and even Matt had to use a subtle touch of [Gravity Maniption] to make sure he stayed firmly in his seat. The only people who seemed entirely unaffected were Darrow, who was firmly secured in a binding enchantment, Joy, whose whoop could be heard even before she turned off the inte, and Susanne, who simply clenched her fist around the grip of her sword which hadn¡¯t budged an inch.


    Matt expected it to return to normal after a few minutes, but that absolutely <em>did not</em> happen. Not only was the entire ship shaking <em>viciously</em> from the sheer power it was experiencing, Joy needed to make far more adjustments to her flying. They weren¡¯t even going off the well-defined paths, but with the speeds they were going at, even the rtively tamed paths within chaotic space were a veritable minefield of turbulence that if hit wrong could smash their ship into dust.


    After a swift drop sent Aster flying into the ceiling about ten minutes in, the overriding opinion shifted to security overfort, and the restraining enchantments switched on throughout the room. Matt thought he saw a bit of a smile cross Darrow¡¯s face, but he might have been imagining it.


    Three dayster they picked up three more pinnacle elites and their crews, which made the living conditions positively cramped.


    Then they were off to chase the Harmony ords.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences.


    The massive ship was suspected to be aiming at a nexus point and they wanted to intercept them.


    With their projections it was unlikely they would beat them there, but they hoped that they could, if nothing else, prevent them from cracking theary shields and taking the fortress world.


    While their ship was cramped with just over a dozen people, their spies had long since gotten their hands on some of the Harmony ords¡¯ general blueprints, and there was more than enough room for an army or five with room to spare.


    They arrived at Opalian as the Harmony ords pelted theary shields with mana cannon fire, arriving from chaotic space and scarcely even slowing down. It took mere minutes for them to get within range, plenty of time for everyone to get ready. It wasn¡¯t as good as teleporting, but it was good enough.Of course, the Harmony ords saw them approaching, and even before they arrived the core elites fanned out, nked by the nominal members. They were further nked by the corporation mercenaries, who set up a wall of fortifications and weapon emcements.


    They were throwing themselves onto the des of their enemies.


    Once they reached the three quarter distance mark the mercenaries opened fire with their mana cannons, but Matt just cast [Bulwark] and crystallized it, while Drifter tried to drift as much as the ship¡¯s design would allow. Not that there was any air for the stubby wings to grip onto, but her Domain made it work as if there was.


    Before they got too close though, they exited the ship and Drifter flew upward over the orbital ne to get out of the battlefield.


    That left them to advance under withering fire, and Matt was immediately forced to cast another [Bulwark].


    Bulwark cast his namesake spell as well, but with the hits they were taking, his shield was quickly worn down.


    Origami used their advance to set up her own mini space fortress, which Aster promptly froze over, further adding to the defenses.


    Coasting on their borrowed momentum, Matt¡¯s world was a litany of colors as spells mmed into and sshed around his crystallized [Bulwark]. It was almost pretty.


    Pointing his left hand to the side and slightly down, Matt cast [Mana Beam] and smirked as Ari Kai appeared and then promptly vanished again as he was teleported. Whether he was forced to the Harmony ords¡¯ ship or just retreated to the rest of his team, they wouldn¡¯t know until Darrow got another sighting of him.


    Their erstwhile leader hadn¡¯t been idle in the two years they spent in the rift, and had developed several techniques to constantly observe people even after losing sight of them. It wasn¡¯t a perfect counter to Ari Kai, and Darrow was primarily focused on finding Daxton Vestant anyway, but it was good enough to make it much, much harder for the¡­


    Who?


    Matt stopped his idle musings and put his mind back to the fight.


    Taking a deep breath, he started charging a [Barrage]d [Breach].


    The three train sized mana bolts tore through space with enough power that Matt was sure the Harmony ords spiritual perception was screaming at them they needed to move.


    Except, it wouldn¡¯t be so easy this time.


    Aster waved her staff at the same time as Light narrowed his eyes, and the three projectiles started to orbit each other before splitting into nine projectiles. Those nine then turned into twenty seven, then into eighty one. Eighty one spinning, multi million mana [Breach]es. Seventy eight perfect fakes and three incredibly dangerous projectiles.


    Matt couldn¡¯t even tell which ones were real, if that was even the right way of thinking about it. Light and Aster had worked hard to make their movements perfectly in sync with zeromunication between the two that might be intercepted.


    The Harmony ords didn¡¯t sit still and let them attack unabated. While the elites spread out, the mercenaries hunkered down and unleashed spell after spell, trying to y whack a mole and hit one of the real projectiles. Each failure caused Aster''s illusion to be disrupted, but that only let her better concentrate on masking the real ones.


    Then, fifty four projectiles struck home.


    There was a brief instant where their enemies froze before the first [Breach] detonated. The explosion vaporized two sections of the mercenaries defensive line, but the chaos spread as another section exploded as the second real [Breach] hit.


    The third, however, never exploded. Instead it flew, invisible, at the army attacking the behind the Harmony ords.


    Just when Matt was hopeful that it would slip through the, Gan Le was flung in the projectile¡¯s path by Maven. A massive explosion erupted around him, but <em>of course</em> the man was more ruffled from his sudden relocation than the enormous attack..


    Matt cursed their bad luck, but they hadn¡¯t really expected that move to work. Illusions just weren¡¯t that good at trying topletely hide millions of barely-constrained mana.


    Still, at least with him being off to the side, Matt could [Mana Beam] Maven with impunity¡­ only for Gan Le to still get in range to drag the beam towards him, nullifying it once again and earning a re from Matt.


    He was seriously tired of the defensive powerhouse, but they had a method to get rid of him if they could just iste him a little.


    Flooding his [Bulwark] with mana, Matt deactivated the skill and let his endless sub-aspect and his Tier 25 Talent keep the spell going while he flew forward. It wouldn¡¯tst long, but it would buy Aster some time to spread her spirit space far enough to start absorbing attacks in his stead.


    Matt was just a half mile from Maven and Long Zhiyuan when a trio of crossbow bolts zipped past him and detonated on Maven''s side.


    They did no damage, but that wasn¡¯t what Matt was looking for. He instead focused on her reaction time. It seemed slow for her baseline, but the answer of who was being boosted became clear when Loel cast a massive lightning spell with zero charge up.


    The spell lit up the surrounding area, but the illumination lingered and turned into shards of hard light that raced towards the ice fort.


    Matt stopped the attack dead in its track with a pulse of [Gravity Maniption]. A second,teral pulse shattered the shards, causing them to dissolve.


    Maven made motions towards approaching Matt, turning into some kind of feathered octopus, only to be stopped in her tracks by Queen, who used a trail of ink being left by her sword as a whip, ensnaring one of the shapeshifter¡¯s arms and pulling her close.


    Matt loosely wanted to join in, but he found himself under attack by a new duo. Gurtuid Sing of the Republic and H¡¯wuit Ber of the Federation, neither of whom he was terribly worried about. [Mana sh]shed out, only for Gurtuid to deflect the projectile away. From there, Matt momentarily pulsed [Mana Beam], only to freeze it with [Reinforce Mana] and grab it as a spear for his off hand.


    Now armed with a sword in one hand and a spear in the other, he fended off the duo for a few moments, keeping a wary eye out for when Gan Le started closing in. Matt parried a voidced dagger from Gurtuid, then snapped his attention to the more-inconvenient Sect tank as he finally closed in. Matt leveled his cannon at Gan Le, and-


    An enormous pulse of DANGER echoed through Team Zero¡¯s link, and then Liz died.


    All of her. All at once.


    Understanding flooded Matt¡¯s mind as Darrow reconstructed everything that had just happened.


    One Liz had been engaging the Federation¡¯s rune squadron alongside Bulwark and Torment when one of the soldiers - Charlie - had gotten within arm¡¯s reach of both pinnacle elites. In the blink of an eye, he¡¯d cast aside his sword and reached out to grab each of the duo. That had been the spike of danger, and Liz had reacted innately, knocking Charlie away. Unfortunately, that had involved direct physical contact between her blood and the soldier, which instantly killed her.


    <em>Target acquired.</em>


    They¡¯d been expecting Daxton Vestant to be invisible while he waited for a chance to strike, not disguised as another member of the Harmony ords. But in retrospect, the tactic made sense. The man¡¯s talent enabled him to instantly kill <em>anything</em> he touched. The exact limits were unclear, but physical contact was known to be required. Armor wouldn¡¯t stop him, and weapons usually didn¡¯t conduct his deathtouch to the person holding it, let alone spells. But all of Liz¡¯s blood was part of her body, and that contact as she¡¯d saved Torment and Bulwark¡¯s lives had been enough to kill all of her bodies in a single instant.


    Already, the bodies were beginning to discorporate, dissolving into blood as her Tier 25 Talent no longer held her human form in one piece, but the blood gleamed and glowed with the light of embers as her bloodline worked to revive her.


    Bulwark and Torment each tried to enact their own form of vengeance, the former firing off arrows of light and thetter summoning a small horde of disposable minions to swarm the disguised Daxton. Unfortunately, the <em>real</em> runesoldiers worked in sync to block the haphazard attacks, not that they could stop Aster from pelting Daxton with ice, slowly building him into a human popsicle.


    This close to Maven, Matt couldn¡¯t swap ces with his wife- though he wasn¡¯t sure if her being dead would interfere with it - and at this range, Gan Le would just attract any [Mana Beam] or other projectiles he tried to fire off. But not all of Matt¡¯s attacks required projectiles.


    [Telekinesis] wasn¡¯t Matt¡¯s favorite spell, despite his time spent using it with Harper¡¯s de. It took too much concentration for him to use it with much finesse, and he had better options when it came to sts of raw power. But in some instances, it was the right tool for the job.


    A focused pulse of raw force mmed into the human popsicle, shattering much of the ice that Aster had built up on the man but knocking him out of formation. That took enough attention that Gurtuid was able tond an attack with her void dagger on Matt¡¯s armor, but he aspected [Cracked Phantom Armor] to arcane, reinforcing the suit¡¯s innate defenses against void to the point he didn¡¯t need to worry about it at the moment.


    Instead, Matt let his attention return to his wife¡¯s killer. It didn¡¯t <em>matter</em> that her revival was going quite well, her dispersed clouds of blood sparking and beginning to me, it was the <em>principle</em> of the matter. A telekic st struck the man again, ideally keeping him off-bnce and away from the closest bit of reforming Liz.


    Unfortunately, an orange de cut through the wall of force and the slippery elite tried to escape, but Matt redirected his attention from a p to a crushing fist.


    Gan Le hit Matt with a taunting spell, but he hardly felt it. He¡¯d get to Gan Le when he was done.


    There was nothing in the world except the man he was holding just feet away from from a tendril of resurrecting Liz.


    Much of Liz¡¯s blood from throughout the battlefield had been dispersed already, to the point where Matt didn¡¯t know how many bodies she¡¯d have when she came back, but he was going to make <em>damn</em> well sure she had at least one.


    Matt absentmindedly deflected H¡¯wuit¡¯s attack into Gurtruid¡¯s face, hardly giving it a thought. At the same time, the runesoldiers managed to break through Torment and Bulwark¡¯s defense just a hair toote. Liz¡¯s blood turned golden, casting a gilded light across the battlefield, and she reformed into a phoenix zing with brilliant mes, intercepting the runesoldiers with a massively Concept-empowered fury. It looked like she <em>had</em> had most of her bodies dispersed, though a couple were making halfhearted attempts to reform, but she was officially back in the fight.


    Matt released a breath he hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d been holding and <em>squeezed</em>.


    Inside Matt¡¯s relentless [Telekinesis] grip, Daxton Vestant died, his body crushed into a perfect sphere. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t <em>truly</em> die, as a phantasmal ck dog erupted from the man¡¯s chest and dove into a small ethereal gate, no doubt returning him to the main ship.


    Matt harrumphed. Grims, like phoenixes, were <em>incredibly</em> hard to put down for real, but he was a bit sad the man had chosen to flee instead of continuing to fight in phantom form. He would have liked to see if he or Light could kill the ghostly form, but Daxton preferred to retreat when things got too intense, and apparently dying was too intense for the man. Bah. He¡¯d return to flesh and blood sometime over the next couple of days, and they could potentially capture him then.


    The <em>better</em> undying fighter on the field was showing her worth, and two of the runesoldiers were already floating in pieces, and the others in a fighting retreat.


    And with that, Matt properly returned his attention to the fight he was <em>actually</em> in. He was in the middle of dodging a very aggressive attack from Gurtuid while blocking a beam from H¡¯wuit with his left hand. So, he struck out with his sword, scoring a potent blow against Gurtuid¡¯s side. Unfortunately, with Gan Le present, that only knocked her to the side, but it did still properly block H¡¯wuit¡¯s attack. Rage sparked within Matt, and a ghastly grin spread across his face.


    Gan Le was around. So¡­ neither of these two would actually <em>die</em> too quickly. And right now? That was a bonus. Doubly so, as it would probably tire out Gan Le as well.


    He followed up with a massive [Tribtion Strike], the lightning digging into Gertuid¡¯s invisible protections but dealing no damage to the man underneath. In response, Matt hardened the electric arcs with [Reinforce Mana], turning them into binding chains. H¡¯wuit sted Matt with a torrent of fire, which Matt deflected with [Bulwark] to get in closer to Gan Le.


    [Cracked Air Slide] let Matt effortlessly dodge the followup and close the distance to the Sect fighter. He raised his hand and spewed a torrent of [Cracked Dragonme], the blue mes washing over Gan Le and freezing as Matt applied his Tier 25 Talent, locking the man within a prison of mana crystal.


    Gurtuid had escaped from the lightning chains and brought his sword down on Matt¡¯s head, which Matt met with a st of his Concept¡¯s repulsion, focused directly on the sword. The de continued to descend, but Matt took advantage of the man¡¯s off-bnce attack to stab him in the gut.


    It skittered off Gan Le¡¯s protection, of course, but that was the point. Matt¡¯s [Dispelling Edge] sank into the defensive spell, finding no purchase. But repeatedly pulsing his Concept, asionally using a sh of his Intent¡¯s gravity control, and mixing it in with [Gravity Maniption] and [Telekinesis], Matt absolutely <em>savaged</em> the invincible Republic fighter.


    Gan Le¡¯s protection <em>definitely</em> had an end somewhere, and Matt <em>would</em> find it.


    At some point, Gurtuid stopped trying to counterattack, instead working to parry Matt¡¯s attacks with an array of des wielded both in his hands and with skills. Matt countered with his own [Sword Twin], each carrying their own [Dispelling Edge] thanks to [Barrage]. In time, that stopped as well, as he apparently figured out the true extent of Gan Le¡¯s protections, but that was fine by Matt.


    He was intentionally scaling back how much mana he was using with each attack, pulling back his constant usage of [Overcharge] as [Double Tap]¡¯s own empowerment grew with each attack he made. With hundreds of [Dispelling Edge] slicing into Gan Le¡¯s imprable defenses, as well as absolutely shredding any spells that had been sent his way, every single attack was hitting hundreds if not thousands of times harder than it normally should. By the time he was intentionally underpowering the base [Dispelling Edge] to sell the illusion of him attacking Gurtuid futilely, he decided it was time to act.


    [Archmage¡¯s Presence] poured into all of Matt¡¯s skills and his sword, strengthened by and strengthening [Reinforce Mana]. That was in turn funneled into an [Overcharge]d [Barrage], itself applying to [Overcharge] to stack an absolutely monstrous amount of power into his [Double Tap]-boosted [Dispelling Edge]. It was, all told, taking so much mana that Matt needed to pull from his mana crystal reserves to afford it.


    All of that took but a fraction of a second, and as Matt recalled all of his [Sword Twin]s into a single sword, boosted the de with [Hypersonic Edge], and attacked. It was, all told, so much mana that he could barely contain it all even <em>with</em> his Dewdrop Jadechip helping him manipte the mana within his sword, and it was almost blindingly bright to his mana sight, no matter how much he tried to hide it.


    The wickedly sharp artifact <em>whipped</em> forwards, Matt using his Rubberfruit-enhanced flexibility to snap his arm like a whip, concentrating a truly Titanic amount of power into a single strike.


    Despite there being nothing <em>strictly</em> designed as an attack spell in Matt¡¯s attack, the sheer amount of power involved exploded as Matt¡¯s dispel struck Gan Le¡¯s infuriating protection, whiting out Matt¡¯s portion of the battlefield.


    Matt didn¡¯t let that stop him, and while the amount of dispelling mana in the area meant even his backup, Maniption-based senses returned nothing, he shed out blindly at the figure he assumed was still there.


    When his senses returned, he was caught between satisfaction and fury that Gurtuid was still in one piece. Fortunately, that was the <em>only</em> thing still in one piece around him. The man was wholly naked, his swords were nowhere to be seen, and it looked like he¡¯d had a fairly substantial amount of hair either torn out, burned off, or shaved to his skin. He also had several long and thin cuts across his body that Matt corresponded with his blind attacks. Given Gurtuid wasn¡¯t known for incredibly durable skin, Matt came to the conclusion that while he had managed to overwhelm Gan Le¡¯s protective skill¡­ that wasn¡¯t the only form of defense the man provided.


    He growled in frustration, summoning the stunned Gurtuid to his hand, closing his armored hand around the man¡¯s bare neck, and fanned out a [Barrage] of [Sword Twin]s around his body and the body of the Republican elite.


    ¡°Yield,¡± Matt ground out, only to receive no response.


    ¡°<em>Yield</em>,¡± he pushed again, pinging the man¡¯s AI for a surrender. The dumbfounded man still gave no response, so Matt gave up asking. Any moment and-


    An illusion of Aster appeared next to him. At least, it was <em>probably</em> an illusion given how all the attacks barraging him simply passed through her body. She didn¡¯t stay long enough to say anything, but instead grabbed Gurtuid¡¯s unresponsive hands and twirled as though she was going to lead the man into a dance. He passed through Matt¡¯s grip and vanished an instantter.


    Matt turned his attention back to H¡¯wuit and Gan Le, who seemed to be busy with somebination of ineffectually pelting Matt with spells and freeing thetter from his mana stone prison. Gan Le did <em>not</em> look good, and Matt took the chance to fire off a [Mana Beam].


    It <em>still</em> arced towards Gan Le and didn¡¯t leave so much as a scratch.


    With a st of [Cracked Air Slide], Matt raced to where the duo was, andshed out with a sword zing with [Tribtion Strike]. H¡¯wuit vanished in a puff of air before the attack could evennd, presumably back to the ship.


    Gan Le, for his part, crossed his fists and encased himself within some kind of emerald shield Matt hadn¡¯t seen before, then coughed up a mouthful of blood. The tether connecting him to Matt dissipated, and the man rocketed away towards the ship.


    Matt turned to engage with the rest of the Harmony ords, d to finally be free of the Sect defender, but found that the rest were also in retreat. Before he could celebrate their victory, the world turned blue as the Harmony ords¡¯ ship pulsed with an attack that wasrge even by Matt¡¯s standards, mming into theary shields and shattering them.


    A quick AI query ryed through Darrow informed him that theary shields had been <em>permanently</em> broken, the formations responsible for them broken wholly, and they¡¯d need to be rebuilt in their entirety.


    Simultaneously, the enormous ship vanished, tearing its way into chaotic space and leaving the battlefield empty.


    Without the spatial lock, Matt rapid fire teleported to Liz¡¯s side where he inspected her.


    Instead of worry or anger, he saw a hint of¡­ avarice in Liz¡¯s yellow eyes.


    ¡°I''m fine. I wasn¡¯t expecting the deathtouch, is all, and I¡¯ve still got a good revive or two still in me before I need to molt. I <em>might</em> be able to iste it next time, too? Or redirect it to someone whose blood I recently took with some practice. It was¡­ enlightening.¡±


    Matt desperately wanted to ask, but with their enemies having just left and proving they were just as adept at using illusions as Aster, it wasn¡¯t the time or ce.


    So long as she was alive, things were fine.


    That couldn¡¯t be said for the fortress world. Even though the remained in Empire hands, without itsary shields, the defenders were sitting ducks, and Matt wasn¡¯t surprised when Darrow ordered the stationed soldiers to retreat. There was no reason for them to throw their lives away when the inevitable follow-up armies reached this world.


    It took Joy almost ten minutes to circle back around, but then they were off, chasing the turbulence of the Harmony ords¡¯ ship.

 Chapter 328

    Chapter 328


    General Lucas Darrow sat in quiet contemtion as the endless maelstrom of the infinite realm whirled by outside the viewport. It was an odd sight these days, made all the more oundish by the realization that he even viewed it <em>as</em> odd. He hadn¡¯t truly realized the degree to which he had be ustomed to Ascender Shadow¡¯s long-distance transportation capabilities, such that if a flight were to take more than a few days with Prima Ace Drifter at the helm, they would often simply teleport to an alternate destination to keep moving at all times.


    But with nearly a week of hard-flown pursuit of the Harmony ords, old habits and memories were beginning to emerge once again. In hisst role, such travel time would have urred in massive troop transport ships, where he and his squad were but one of countless Tier 15 pieces of a whole, being moved from one mission to the next. It would have been time well-utilized, as well. Training, maintenance, group exercises, healing, paperwork, and <em>very</em> asionally rest.


    Now it was mostly idle time.


    What few field repairs had been needed, given the astounding degree of self-repair their gear had, was performed in a matter of <em>hours</em> thanks to thebined efforts of Elite Technician Origami and Ascender Titan. There was no training to be done, when his squad was pinnacle elites and outright <em>Ascenders</em>. Nor were there any group exercises which would aid them, and Graduate Bulwark outstripped most of the healers Darrow had met outside of Fort Lightfoot itself. There were no requisition forms to be filled out, nor even a genuine <em>need</em> for them other than politeness. Requests for increases to an operational mana budget were aplished by asking Ascender Titan for a minute of his time, and <em>none</em> of his teamcked any of the gear needed for them to shine the most. They already outshone <em>him</em>, if he was being honest, so how could he see what might make them burn even brighter?


    Therefore, he spent much of the two weeks they stayed in direct pursuit of the Harmony ords by personal strategizing. There were no weaknesses he needed topensate for among Team Zero, but the new elites that had joined them did provide additionalplexities for their tactics. Let alone the addedplexities that <em>all</em> of the Tier 25 pinnacle elites across three Great Powers came with, as well as a substantial number of peak elites. It all brought many new considerations for his leadership. Titan¡¯s passive Concept mana-granting aura meant Darrow could run substantially more intensive simtions, and he put that capability to good use.


    Darrow dedicated a portion of his attention as he heard Drifter startining.


    Mostly it was about how uneptable it was that they weren¡¯t faster than the Harmony ords ship with the new engines. They sometimes caught up, which implied they might be faster over a marathon, but it neversted.


    Anytime they got close to the massive ship, it started to blur and would leave their detection range in a few short moments. Drifter, a seasoned pilot, exined in great and excruciating detail when Estelle asked how they kept moving so fast.


    Darrow wasn¡¯t certain if he agreed with the woman¡¯s assessment, all told. She might have been an expert in piloting, but he was an expert in harmonizing disparate powers. Coordinating dozens of Talented Aces to merge their capabilities into a warship of that size¡­ it would be a feat on par with assembling the Harmony ords to begin with. Though Drifter certainly thought much the same of constructing a <em>ship</em> with said capabilities. Sheined extensively whenever prompted, primarily out of a sense of jealousy, and Darrow couldn¡¯t in good conscience condemn her for it.Were it not for the additional boosters that had been fitted onto what had <em>already</em> been an exceedingly fast ship, there was no question the Harmony ords would easily outstrip them. Even their current speed was aplished only at <em>phenomenal</em> expense, courtesy of just over half of Titan¡¯s immense mana regeneration, as not even an Ascender team could afford twenty five Tier 25 mana stones per minute simply to <em>travel</em>.


    Indubitably, once he ceased working alongside Ascenders, particrly Ascender Titan, Darrow would be in for a <em>harsh</em> recalibration of expected budgets and allotted resources, yet for the time being, he would appreciate the abundance he had been provided.


    He also was fairly certain they knew the Harmony ord¡¯s next destination. Gol¡¯Ru was a Tier 25 supply depot which supported a number of what had be important chokepoints near the Citadel, and a tempting bastion from which their enemies could harass and further attack that most critical of battlefields.


    High Command expected the Harmony ords to hole up in Gol¡¯Ru for the next few years if, like they expected, the enemies were preparing to rush the Citadel with their Tier 35 armies. And he agreed; itt was what his own wargaming said they should do.


    He expected them to behave ordingly if Team Zero kept pressure on them. If Team Zero left and started crushing other armies without the assistance of Shadow¡¯s Talent, High Command believed the Harmony ords would drop off an army or five and then dip into the backlines before wrecking havoc, simr to what they had done.


    So long as they kept threatening to retake the Gol¡¯ru system, the Harmony ords would be forced to sit in ce.


    Which, all things considered, wasn¡¯t a bad thing. The frontlines were¡­ <em>holding</em>, technically. The Harmony ords had managed to disrupt a number of important supply depots, and while some creative resource redistribution meant the armies weren¡¯t helpless, it was a very finite situation. Even then, their enemies were pushing hard enough thats <em>were</em> falling, and they were cutting what seemed to be a supply channel through Empire space, presumably towards the Citadel front. With some luck, Ascender Shadow¡¯s return would help them keep the Harmony ords penned in, and thus unable to deal additional damage, <em>while</em> liberatings.


    It was a situation that would be impossible under normal circumstances, yet there was nothing normal regarding working with Ascenders.


    Another two years, and the war was as good as over.


    At least in the Tier 25 bracket.


    The Tier 15 bracket was looking more and more like a loss with the million man armies of the other Great Powers simply overwhelming the Empire defenders, slowly but surely. As a General he had a decent degree ofmand review ability which let him see the reports of near constant losses. A loss there wasn¡¯t too unexpected with just how many soldiers fought in the lowest Tier bracket.


    It was immensely challenging for a single individual to have a meaningful impact upon those battlefields. There were just too many soldiers, too many fronts, too limited of transportation. Numbers were often on the Empire¡¯s side, and being outnumbered so starkly was an unfortunate inverse of what the Empire often experienced.


    His participation in the rapid ambush would make for a good story when he was able to brag about it. All of the other special operation officers would already be jealous of his leading the Ascenders team, but that single strike would garner more attention than anything else. It was one of, if not the, most decisive strike ever, while also being public enough that he <em>could</em> brag about it.


    Then for the Tier 35 bracket, that restedrgely upon Ascender Waters. There <em>were</em> backup ns for what should ur if the man were to fail, or Ascenders forbid, be in, but none of them were preferable or reliable.


    Darrow personally felt the Ascender didn¡¯t truly have a n, just a hope. He¡¯d seen firsthand the sorts of insanity which Ascenders could aplish when truly threatened, and it seemed probable that Waters assumed that such immense pressure would result in a correspondingly unfathomable degree of discovery. What such a thing could be, Darrow couldn¡¯t imagine.


    Nheless, should the man fail, it would be entirely up to the Tier 25 battlefield, and Team Zero most of all, to earn sufficient warscore to prevent the Empire from being crippled altogether.


    That all consuming thought nibbled at him any time he tried to turn his attention to something else.


    At least, it did until they entered Gol¡¯Ru just an hour or two after the Harmony ords ship, and he was able to give the Empire defenders the order to retreat before the Harmony ords could descend upon them.


    There was no purpose behind contesting the with whatparatively few forces were stationed there. Their ransom would simply worsen the Empire¡¯s station.


    That and they could and surely would be either used to reinforce some other battlefield or merged into an offensive army to help push the frontlines. That however, wasn¡¯t Darrow¡¯s ce to decide, even if he believed they would be best utilized on the frontlines to reim more worlds.


    That just left them and the Harmony ords.


    This was what Darrow was used to expecting in battles even if it was rarely done as a special ops soldier.


    Two entities standing off and fighting back and forth repeatedly until one side made a mistake and copsed.


    Darrow, for all that they were outnumbered, expected them to win in the long run so long as they didn¡¯t let themselves get swarmed.


    Which meant judicious retreats. With that in mind, he went over his expectations of his team and spent some time exining why they would need to avoid decisive battles unless he said otherwise.


    Darrow expected they would need to fight half a dozen times before they could capitalize on a fight. And frankly, he was more than a little worried about Titan or Legion going off and pushing too far forward and getting enveloped. They were strong, but Darrow expected the Harmony ords to try cutting them off from the team and then retreating to the ship with repeated engagements.


    That was a fairly standard tactic to elites, even if it was hard to teleport someone involuntarily.


    Darrow watched the feed of the Harmony ords deploying ten armies through his eye with more than a little incredulity.


    The ship wasrge. Massive even. But ten armies? That was unlikely. They would surely fit. There was no question about that. The ship wasrge enough. But from everything they knew about the ship, they never carried more than five armies at a time, and usually less than that. With the eight they had disgorged in their previous sieges, he couldn¡¯t understand the means by which they could have housed eighteen or even more armies.


    They must have picked the armies up on their mad dash to Gol¡¯Ru, though Darrow was uncertain about how such a thing would be possible. They were deep within Empire space, and there were no armies for them to have rendezvoused with at any point therein.


    Origami had suggested they had some form of portable connection to the Republic¡¯s Between within the ship, but insofar as Darrow knew, that wasn¡¯t how the Between <em>worked</em>. It was more akin to a road system than a teleport system. A portable portion of the Between would be as useful as a b of train tracks would be in the middle of a forest. Yes, there was much they didn¡¯t know regarding the mechanics of the feat, but <em>that</em> much was fundamental.


    Uwfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    If the Republic had figured out how to bypass those restrictions, they might have arger problem on their hands. It turned the Harmony ords ship from a thorn in the side to a teleportation formation deep inside their territories, able to spew troops and elites past their defenses with impunity.


    Stick pointed out that they had seen Sect and Federation armies disgorged in thest world and the reports said there had been a Sect army deployed in the world before, and there was no way the Republic would allow another Great Power such ess to the Between.<strong></strong>Sadly, Origami pointed out that the Harmony ords had more than enough space to hold six armies without anyone being cramped, and more than that if people got cozy.


    No one had a rebuttal for that. She was right, but suddenly their mission became a whole lot more difficult if that was true.


    It was still possible though, and that was all that mattered to Darrow.


    Nothing changed the fact that if the Harmony ords and their elites left the Gol¡¯Ru system, Team Zero would crush any amount of armies left here. One, ten, or a hundred, it made little difference beyond how long it would take.


    Even as the armies moved to take over the fortress world, the elites and Corporation mercenaries set up embankments and cannons. Without Shadow, they were once more forced to fly into oing fire but they also encountered something new.


    The Harmony ords had left a minefield in their wake.


    Not that it mattered to the [Bulwark]s Titan and Bulwark created, but it helped lend credence to Origami¡¯s idea that the ship had ess to the Republic Betweenwork.


    Darrow used his third eye to scan for any other surprises, but found none.


    Once they were close enough to be dropped off, Drifter bade them farewell before retreating. Not too far away, but far enough away that she wasn¡¯t in danger of being ambushed. She and her ship would be their encampment while they stood off with the Harmony ords after all.


    The battle began as such things did. Darrow managed to rtively quickly identify where Ari Kai lurked, and a hail of projectiles from Bolt forced him out of the melee. Daxton, or at least someone who looked like him, was lurking invisibly near the edge of the battlefield, and he directed Wraith to extend her spirit space near the man, which seemed to keep him at bay. He was a potential threat, though an eminently manageable one. His touch registered as overwhelmingly dangerous to all of his squad, and a few of them - most notably Titan, Tedwin, and Stick - had armor which counted as ¡®alive¡¯ to defend against such attacks. Hopefully it wouldn¡¯te down to that, as killing their armor would drastically undercut their defensive capabilities, but at least the backup existed.


    Dao Child Darkness Evesting was dashing towards Origami in his velociraptor beast form, and Darrow directed Light to reinforce the crafter before the void specialist could cut through her constructs. Dao Child Brilliant Wing had already managed to bring Gan Le within range of Titan, and alongside H¡¯wuit and Dao Child Maven, were already engaging with the Ascender.


    That was eptable. Wraith subtly pushed the four of them away from the main battle, effectively neutralizing Gan Le for the remaining fighters while still keeping Titan, and his mana-granting Concept, in range thanks to the effects of Darrow¡¯s own Domain. Colton was exchanging cover fire with Bolt,plicating things for Queen as she fought off a trio of peak elites.


    Torment was steadily losing ground to Archwarrior Sparks, and was forced into outright retreat when Loel closed in, pursued by Legion and Stick. Bulwark swooped in to provide a bit of healing to Origami, but the void wound she¡¯d taken wasn¡¯t healing. Light supplemented with a conjured forearm and hand made out of synthetic mana.


    Drifter pulled up, pulling the ship up out of the path of a barrage of fire from the massive battleship, forcing Darrow to recover from the momentary change in orientation. Legion had a few bodiese under attack from the Federation runesoldiers, but an assist from Wraith made her keep them in check. Tedwin and Estelle had gotten separated from the main group, under heavy assault from Dao Child wed Forge, Long Zhiyuan, and a pair of Republic pinnacle elites. He directed Bolt to provide a bit of cover, but that interrupted her duel with Colton, and Queen was quickly pushed back to the safety of a trio of Legion.


    There was no sign of the sniper yet, which was worrying, but Daxton was still on the fringes of the fight. Ari Kai attempted to backstab Stick, but Light turned the man¡¯s invisibility into a stone prison, letting Bulwark crumple the man¡¯s chest and triggering his recall.


    That was one down, and far, <em>far</em> too many to go.


    Eliana and Darkness Evesting pinned down a Legion body, and managed to kill it, prompting Wraith to sweep through with a wall of ice. Unfortunately, it was met by Dao Child Crashing Tundra¡¯s <em>mountain</em> of ice, and Darrow directed Wraith to disengage and reinforce Tedwin before he was overrun by the Federation runesoldiers, rather than get into an elemental battle with the cier specialist.


    She agreed after a reluctant moment, stripping a thrown spear of its deadly spells the instant before it struck Tedwin¡¯s chest, sparing Darrow from needing to recall the Graduate. The other four new pinnacle elites were also in a fairly bad position, having been separated and pinned down by thebined efforts of Archwarrior Sparks, Long Zhiyuan, three Republic elites, and several misceneous peak elites.


    Drifter shot a missile to break up the formation, while Darrow contemted how to rectify the situation. He¡¯d <em>like</em> to send Legion in, but all of her were too distant. Light was close enough he could reinforce, and he unleashed a massive storm of hail he¡¯d stored within his spellbook, originating initially from Titan. The hail turned to pyrostic flow, and managed to send many of the peak elites back to their ship, but wed Forge managed to redirect the flow of theva to his hands, where it became a massive axe made of obsidian.


    Bulwark passed his namesake spell off to a giant summoned by Torment, who deflected the oversized blow. Bolt fired a barrage of brilliant sts towards Crashing Tundra, only to be struck by a bullet from the hidden sniper. She was pulled back to the ship, and the runesoldiers nearly struck Bulwark and Torment from behind, until Legion interposed and drove them back, killing three of them and pushing them until they were reinforced by a duo of Republic elites and she lost her momentum.


    Things were going¡­ eptably. But maybe not for long.


    ***


    The new pinnacle and peak elites were the weakest links, and that immediately became clear in the first dozen exchanges.


    Matt had gotten a feel for H¡¯wuit in their first battle, which meant that, even with Gan Le there to soak up his and everyone else''s damage, Matt was able to batter them. Gan Le was also clearly the current recipient of Maven¡¯s old buff, which was making his attacks <em>incredibly</em> strong¡­ by normal standards, anyway.


    Gan Le clearly wasn¡¯t used to his overwhelming strength, and he had very few skills to take advantage of it. His most effective maneuvers had been conjuring various forms of shields and trying to bash Matt with them, or creating two walls and trying to crush Matt between them.


    They were <em>quite</em> powerful, and plenty of peaks or pinnacles would fall to the overwhelming force, but Matt was <em>plenty</em> tough enough to power through or dodge them outright. Every once in a while, a peak elite would try to get in a shot on him while he was dodging one of Gan Le¡¯s attacks, and he would invariably respond with a [Telekinesis] crush.


    After the fifth one had their lifesaving gear activate, pulling them back to the ship, they seemed to give up on that n of attack.


    Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t the only ones getting worn down.


    Bolt took a sniper shot from inside the Harmony ords ship''s open hull through the chest. It activated her own tether and pulled her back to Drifter''s ship.


    The Harmony ords tried to capitalize, but with just Gan Le on Matt, he was easily able to simply drag the other elite along for the ride.


    He tried to stop them with his tether, which was, like his physical strength, stronger than usual, but Matt used his armor''s ability to make telekic tforms. With a foothold for leverage, even Gan Le was no match for Matt¡¯s physical might.


    It was slow, but he was able to walk towards the others while dragging Gan Le along.


    Unfortunately, when Maven and Brilliant Wing attacked him he was forced to dodge theirbined attacks. Violet feathers burned against his armor while Maven brought a fist made of wrought metal and twice as big as Matt was tall down on him. That dodge helped Gan Le pull him back, and the next time he tried to drag himself closer to the fight, he was immediately beset by thebined efforts of the two Dao Children.


    The battle dragged on for what felt like hours, and like they expected, the Harmony ords started to run out of mana while Matt¡¯s side were all still above half capacity. Even his white hole couldn¡¯t keep them full, but they were in a better ce than the Harmony ords. Which was why Matt dropped his Concept for his Intent, locking down space and preventing the Harmony ords from using their spiritual devices to retrieve mana stones for their rapid converters.


    Matt was the only one allowed to give mana. That was his Domain, and he would give or take as he pleased, and it pleased him that the enemies were going without.


    That earned him the ire of the collective, and even he couldn¡¯t deal with that without repercussions.


    Gan Le summoned a pair of massive golden gates iid with emerald and sapphire filigree and began to smash them together, Maven transformed into a dragon and breathed a stream of fire, and Brilliant Wing attacked with a full dozen wings made of burning violet light, forcing Matt to switch back from his ck hole¡¯s immobility to his white hole¡¯s repulsion.


    As he shifted gears, Matt felt the world slow to a crawl for an instant.


    For just a moment as Matt was deactivating his ck hole and activating his white hole, he was doing both at once.


    Within him, the spiritual halo of his white hole zed out, yet within the halo was not the normal brilliance of endless mana, but an all-consuming void of pure darkness, an eclipse unlike any other.


    It wasn¡¯t an eclipse wherein the moon passed before the sun, no. It was far more profound than that.


    The ck hole had lost its retion disk, but zed with a halo of twisting white light from every angle. The white hole had lost its fore, but consumed all within the perfect ckness of the ck hole.


    Infinite, impossibly deep darkness paired with blinding white energy in a searing disy that caused the entire realm to stop and take notice.


    Matt felt a searing in his eyes and felt the white hole manifestation that existed in his pupils had changed. A ck hole appeared in the deepest parts of the white hole, creating what almost looked like a normal pupil inside his manifestation-changed pupil.


    But that was the smallest change.


    As Matt activated his Domain Meld, he felt what the mix of his Concept and Intent was.


    It was nothing.


    It was him.


    It was¡­


    He was¡­


    He was endless.


    He was dauntless.


    He was <em>unstoppable</em>.


    He was <strong><em>inevitable</em></strong>.


    He was the white hole, which produced all for eternity. The tide of mana which would reshape the realm in his wake.


    He was the ck hole, which carved its way through all of reality. The titan whose sword would carve through all leaving not even dust in its wake.


    His trajectory was definite. Nothing could alter him from his course, and he <em>would</em> leave his mark, the wake of his passage echoing for all eternity.


    It was empty. It was nothing. It was <em>Matt</em>.


    There was only nothingness, and the nothingness was Matt.


    There was only energy, and energy was Matt.


    Matt was both at once, and that was impossible.


    He was two sides of the same coin, at the same time.


    His mirror Domain had merged, melded, into a singr hole for a brief instant.


    And it was everything and nothing.


    It reigned supreme because it was there, and it wasn¡¯t. It was both at the same time while being neither, which left no space for anything else.


    Matt lofted his left hand above his head, and manifested his anchor. The eclipse zed forth in all its might, white darkness and dark light shining out, an unstoppable light that drew every eye on the battlefield to its existence, daring them all, challenging them all to submit to the truth of Matt¡¯s existence.


    This was <em>his</em> battlefield, <em>his</em> realm. They would suffer his rule, and fear his judgment.


    Under its light, all other Domains snuffed out. Friend and foe, Matt¡¯s assertion of his reality was the only one permitted.


    Susanne¡¯s swords started to crumble and fragment, the edges chipping away. Liz¡¯s blood boiled, yet held its shape. Colton¡¯s hat was blown off his head, forcing him to shield his eyes with his hand. The bracelets on Torment¡¯s arms turned to dust and vanished in a puff of smoke, instantly causing his skin to stretch under the pressure of his summons trying to force their way out. Darrow¡¯smunication link broke, like a taut cord pulled too tightly. The runesoldiers all seemed to spasm slightly, Brilliant Wing¡¯s feathers lost much of their brightness, and throughout the battlefield, everyone staggered under Matt¡¯s absolute power. But most importantly, the massive moon that hovered over Maven winked out of existence and the spatial lock that reinforced the ship¡¯s twisting of space vanished.


    The pressure was immense. Matt could feel himself directly contesting <em>everyone¡¯s</em> willpower, as they all fought to reassert their own domains. It was less draining than using his manapression, but not by much. Even as that thought came, the pressure redoubled as people fought against it, and he was forced to drop it within a second. It was then that he lost the understanding that hade over him on just how he had managed the meld and everything unraveled.


    And yet within that second, Aster, the best fox in the realm, Matt¡¯s bond, his little sister, acted where no else managed to.


    While his Domain meld shut down Domains, it did nothing to stop Talents.


    Nothing at all.


    A ripple of color swept out across the battlefield, a brilliant aurora dancing through space, and it closed around two people in particr.


    Daxton, where he lurked in the wings, ready to dart in and touch someone like they were ying a demented game of tag, vanished in a swirl of green and a puff of ice.


    Gan Le, for all his might, guarding against all of Matt¡¯s might, was obscured by a curtain of violet light, and when it withdrew, he was gone.


    In his ce, a green-skinned blue-haired and a blue-skinned and green-haired pair of men were suddenly forced into reality, a tangle of limbs that they quickly extricated themselves from.


    There had always been two names they¡¯d heard as within the Harmony ords, but never seen.


    Synoid and Crastor.

 Chapter 329

    Chapter 329


    The battlefield seemed to hang in a single moment of stasis, though Matt knew that was just an illusion. He¡¯d expended a <em>lot</em> of willpower with his Domain meld, but [Archmage¡¯s Presence] still cranked his reaction speed up high enough that most people hadn¡¯t been able to recover from it, even now.


    His hand, still raised above his head, turned slightly and unleashed a st of [Mana Beam] at the presumed Synoid and Crastor. Without Darrow¡¯s mind-link, he had to rely on only his own knowledge, but the two elusive-but-known members of the Harmony ords were <em>certainly</em> the two Sect-looking men who had suddenly appeared after Aster had spirited away Gan Le. They were also probably the source of Maven¡¯s buff; two people who could be shifted around to empower different members of the Harmony ords exined most of what they¡¯d seen.


    The exact nature of how they¡¯d been <em>inside</em> Gan Le, or why they hadn¡¯t been taken alongside him, was immaterial. Right now, Matt just cared that his attack hit.


    It was a breath of fresh air for his [Mana Beam] to go where he aimed it, but the green twin turned shadowy and insubstantial, dove into the blue twin¡¯s body, and then the two vanished, leaving only the impression of entering the shadow cast by Matt¡¯s own mana beam as it swept to cut them in half.


    He wasn¡¯t certain where they went, but his instincts said they weren¡¯t out of the battle yet. Whatever that was, it hadn''t been a lifesaving tether back to the ship. Not that he could properly ount for what it was, as he had genuinely no idea what their capabilities were like. A part of him wondered: if they could turn Maven from someone beaten by Light and Shadow into someone who could keep up with <em>two</em> Ascenders, what might they be able to do to someone already extraordinary?


    Idle, but fun thoughts. For now, he had only a single thing that mattered.


    Gan Le was finally gone and that meant the Harmony ords were ripe for the picking.


    And they knew it, which is why the smarter ones immediately activated their life saving measures.Matt swept his [Mana Beam] across Maven, H¡¯wuit, and Brilliant Wing. His beam hitting Maven triggered some kind of reflexive transformation that diffracted and scattered the beam in multiple directions but that only caused damage to her allies. He was able to st half of H¡¯wuit¡¯s body to pieces before the Federation elite vanished in a puff of smoke. Brilliant Wing turned into a streak of light and raced away before Matt could strike them but that didn¡¯t stop Matt from just shifting his aim elsewhere.


    Across the battlefield, simr sights were ying out, with some of the elites - especially the peak elites - acting a bit too slowly and opening themselves up to attacks from Team Zero. Queen took the head of one of the runesoldiers and Light sting them to pieces an instantter. It was something of a pity that they <em>could</em> indeed be revived, but they were fairly certain it was at least costly to revive them. So killing them wasn¡¯t a waste.


    That was when even the holdouts started to activate their life saving measures en masse. In the confusion Aster even managed to sweep up a few more stragglers before the battlefield waspletely abandoned.


    Once their people were out of the way the massive ship started charging its cannons trying to inflict some measure of receptacle losses.


    Darrow¡¯s mental link reconnected to Matt, calling for a withdrawal, and Matt, after sending a fruitless pulse of [Mana Beam] at the massive ship¡¯s shields, obliged.


    He knew the situation as well as the others. The Harmony ords were waiting in this system to keep thene open for the eventual Tier 35 attack, and High Command was happy to use that to keep the Harmony ords pinned down in one ce and not running around. At least until Allie recovered enough to rejoin them in two or so years.


    Until then, it wasn¡¯t worth forcing en engagement. That, and they hadn¡¯t actually figured out how to get through the ship''s hull without giving away Matt¡¯s Talent. The armor and shielding were in a league of their own and would take hours to burn through. Ai was working on some kind of breaching charge system, but that would take time to set up and they would have to defend from the Harmony ords elite''s inevitable reprisals with their backs to the ship''s hull, which would mean no maneuverability.


    There had to be a better way, but they hadn¡¯t figured it out yet.


    Matt was certain they would, which is why he didn¡¯t bother to press the attack now that they had run. That was something which immortality had taught him. They had time. A few months of skirmishes would let them learn and test out weaknesses, so there was no rush to be hasty.


    Besides, they already had the biggest win and one shouldn''t get greedy. Matt just needed to remind himself of that.


    He and the others, prize clutched in their metaphorical hands, retreated with the entire Harmony ords ship on their heels, but it was forced to stop its pursuit as it started to get too far away from the fortress world and the respective armies it needed to defend. Ten armies would be oh so vulnerable to ambush should the ship decide to chase them.


    After all, what if Allie wasn¡¯t actually down for the count and they were just ying along with everyone''s expectations, waiting for a perfect moment to let hersh out with devastating power?


    It was unlikely, but that was exactly what Ascenders specialized in.


    Aster howled a cry of primal victory through their [AI] that resonated with Matt. It might not be the overwhelming victory they dreamed of, but they had pushed their enemies to the point they needed to retreat. More importantly, they had finally captured the seemingly unkible Gan Le.


    If nothing else, they hoped that would lead to the eventual cascade of defeats as the Harmony ords started to take damage.


    The moment they arrived back at the ship, phoenix Liz threw herself into his arms and Matt removed his helmet just in time to catch an exuberant kiss from his wife. Phoenix Liz squawked about being crushed, but Matt nted a kiss on her head which calmed her down.


    Mattughed as Sebastian mmed him on the shoulder.


    He felt good. A Domain meld was rare, and while it had been spontaneous and more than a bit idental, it had happened, which meant he would eventually figure out how to reproduce the ident purposefully. He¡¯d be one of the few people to merge a mirror domain, and just the <em>initial</em> ability he¡¯d developed was already quite potent. No doubt, next time he used it, people would be ready for it, but he could probably still get at least a good handful of uses out of it before workarounds were discovered.


    ¡°That was impressive, Ascender Titan. Do you have anything to report that we couldn¡¯t tell for ourselves?¡±


    Matt pondered Darrow''s question before shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I don¡¯t know what it felt like to you, but, for me, it was the sensation that creation and destruction ovepped, pushing aside everything else.¡±


    Liz shrugged and tilted his head down slightly so she could look into his eyes. He deliberately widened them to give her a better view and got an image sent back to him just a momentter.


    As a mortal, he¡¯d had fairly standard green eyes, the color of leaves at the end of summer, right when they started to lose their luster. They had gotten slightly more vivid for his first couple of Tiers, until he ate the Root of Perfection, at which point they¡¯d be an exceptionally vivid green that nearly looked like they glowed in the right lighting. That illusion had only strengthened when his pupils took on the appearance of white holes, and had be <em>true</em> in the wake of obtaining the Sliver of Night¡¯s True Sight, albeit with a bluish-green tinge. It wasn¡¯t until thebination of immortality and Ironsight Salt that his eyes took on their current appearance. Or, he supposed, his <em>prior</em> appearance, of glowing, emerald-like green eyes with white pupils.


    Now, for the first time in centuries, he had a normal-ish pupil. Two perfect circles of absolute darkness resided at the center of his irises, around which his white hole radiated eclipse-like, a bright, glowing and shifting pattern of white set against vivid green.


    If he said so himself, he thought it looked pretty fetching, and he was more than happy with the change.


    Before he could analyze himself further, Darrow answered hisst question. ¡°Pushing aside all other Domains seems apt. It didn¡¯t feel like a typical suppression, but more akin to my Domain simply not having the paraphysical space to expand beyond my spirit. I could probably grow ustomed to it with some time, but it would necessitate practice, unless I manage to integrate it into the tacticalwork. Quite useful, I must say. Do you have any insights into the simplest growth routes for it?¡±


    Matt pondered that as the others agreed with Darrow about how it felt until Susanne spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it was because of how far I was away, but I felt like it was weaker than that. Like it was a¡­¡± Susanne chewed on her lower lip as she searched for a word, but eventually she settled on, ¡°Simr to something L did to me when we were training. A forbiddance of the foreign, enforced by a more¡­ she explicitly didn¡¯t like the phrasing of ¡®profound,¡¯ but maybe something like ¡®cohesive¡¯ view of your Domain? It¡¯s a bit like having an Aspect, an extra part to the Domain. She said the metaphor that she liked was that our Domains were having an argument, and having an Aspect was like having an approach to the debate my Domain didn¡¯t have a rebuttal for. Your meld reminded me of that. But if you give me a bit of heads up next time, I think I can push through at least the basic level, and keep my sword. L made sure I could summon it even if I had an Aspect opposing my Domain.¡±


    Liz chimed in with a nod. ¡°Same, mostly. It felt like getting my arm pped while lifting a heavy weight, and pushed my Domain back to my spirit. It still fought me, and I think that a weaker Domain might be suppressedpletely, but Domain powers that are more internal-focused are probably going to be rtively usable still.¡±


    That was interesting and something Matt really wanted to dig into, but without the ability to use the power onmand again, it would be hard to test. Still, he felt like there was something more to the power and said so.


    ¡°The philosophical foundation of the ability is the ovepping of creation and destruction, enforcing a kind of dynamic stasis. There¡¯s <em>definitely</em> more to it, but I¡¯m not entirely sure what, beyond the obvious ability and the fact I can use my Concept and Intent simultaneously with it. If I can get it under control though, I think a natural direction of growth would be¡­¡± he thought for a moment, ¡°I think it¡¯s about me existing <em>more</em> than my surroundings, and a certain level of inevitability, that everything has to contend with me in some way. Perhaps I could expand the forbiddance effect, or make it more selective? There¡¯s definitely something more to it, though. Some kind of semi-passive, maybe? Where I don¡¯t have to actively fight <em>everything</em>. That¡¯s what my instincts are telling me, anyway.¡±


    Ideas started getting thrown around, but, until Matt figured something else out, that was as good as they were going to get. Susanne had a bit of extra insight about the differences between forms of Domain suppression, and the pair chatted for a few minutes until Zack joined in, after he wrapped up a conversation he¡¯d been having with Liz.


    ¡°Something that I believe may be worth noting, is that your meld has a partial effect upon mana. While my Domain is involved in all of my casting, so it is difficult to say for certain, I was partway through casting a [sma Bolt] when your meld began, and it instantly began to be opposed, not in a manner akin to a counterspell, but simple pressure ced upon the spell structure, threatening to disrupt it. I was forced to shift the spell tova aspect to prevent it from copsing outright. Though I believe that I have understood the mechanism of how it works and will be better prepared for next time.¡±


    Matt took the praise without too much preening, but he was still running off that high and knew it. ¡°The mana thing is very interesting, even if it makes sense considering the rest of my Domain. It might be a good starting ce for me to develop the ability. As for what it felt like? It was like¡­ harmony between my Domains for the first time. The two finally working in sync even if just for a moment. It''s like I¡¯ve had two instruments ying notes at opposite ends of the scale, but for a brief moment, they met in the middle. I was everything and I was nothing, but both took up space in the realm. What did it feel like to you guys? In more detail.¡±


    Susanne tapped her greatsword a few times before giving Matt the answer he was looking for. ¡°It was like wearing clothes, really baggy clothes, and then getting wet. They can feel light and airy while dry, which is like using a Domain, you push it outward and affect the world around you. But the moment your meld came out it felt like water dumped on me and everything was pushed right back to my skin because there was something else out there. L taught me the trick of solidifying my Domain into something more substantial when we did our training. It''s like turning that shirt into rope, so instead of being spread around you in a thinyer, you bunch it up. Then, while it can still get wet with the change in how you are using it, it bes harder to misshape. At least, that is how I visualized the lessons. She did it with her Aspect and it was pressureing from above and that felt different. That was like a weight from above. I said it before, but your meld came from another direction, and while it had less raw power than what L could bring to bear, it came from a weird angle. Like expecting a blow from above to get hit with a leg sweep. The analogy isn''t perfect, but the best I have. Honestly, you¡¯ll probably never really get it unless you can find someone else with a meld and match up against them. It''s truly odd, and I better understand the book now. Calling it a Domain and a half feels incredibly wrong, but it¡¯s also the best way I can describe it.¡±


    Matt pondered what Susanne said. He had long since enlisted her help with the meld, as she was probably the best at Domains in their group besides Aiden, but his advice was useless and to be ignored. He had instead rmended Matt to just push for his Aspect as if it were easy.


    They had tried. More than once in fact. None of them, even Susanne, had even the smallest bit of sess. An Aspect needed not only a Phrase, Image, and an Anchor like the step before it, it also needed a Truth.


    The Truth was a profound plea to the metaphysics of the Realm, connecting one¡¯s actions to the underpinnings of reality in the same way that an Anchor connected the Domain to physical reality. It became a fixed point in the tapestry of defining Who You Were, the lens through which you would judge the Realm, and the Realm would judge <em>you</em>.


    Aiden had made it sound so easy when he talked about forming his Aspect at Tier 23, but actually sane people had cautioned them against trying to weave their spirits into the underpinnings of reality. Matt wasn¡¯t even certain what single insight defined his approach to dealing with the Realm. Mana is powerful, perhaps, but it rang so hollowpared to the few examples he¡¯d been given.


    Matt supposed he couldn''tin too much, considering he had just created something even Aiden didn¡¯t have, but it still rankled.


    After that, everyone started trading ideas of how best to capitalize on this change when Aster dumped cold water on everyone.


    ¡°We have a bit of a problem.¡±


    That was thest thing any of them wanted to hear, and they all turned to Aster, who looked just as perplexed as the rest of them.


    ¡°Did Gan Le try to detonate his core?¡±


    That was Matt¡¯srgest worry. That kind of energy expenditure could possibly kill Aster.


    ¡°No, no, no, quite the opposite actually. [Cryogenic Storage]... isn¡¯t working on him. Like at all. The spell isn¡¯t taking <em>at all</em>, there¡¯s no frost buildup, and his vitals are entirely normal¡­ but he¡¯s currentlyining about the cold, and after I took his armor, he keeps asking to be given something warmer to wear.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been uwfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    She cocked her head to the side, and her fox ears started twitching. ¡°He just pulled a go board out of his spatial ring.¡±


    Aiughed, and Darrow surprised them all with his next order. ¡°Bring him out.¡±


    From their various fights, Matt expected a lot of things from Gan Le when Aster pulled him from her spirit ce. But what he saw was not any of them.


    He expected Gan Le to be meditating to resist Aster''s cold or just generally being stoic, but instead he found Gan Le with his hands tightly sped around his arms, engulfed in mes, and furiously jumping from side to side, shivering.


    Thatbined with his sudden appearance caught everyone except the smirking Aster off guard.


    Gan Le instantly set himself together again, extinguishing his limbs and sping them behind his back, straightening his back with perfect posture as he nced around the room with onest shiver. Hisck of visible irises and clear practice with hiding his micromuscr movements made the task a not-insignificant one, but still one Matt didn¡¯t find too difficult.


    What Matt judged as a heavily modified [Cleanse] rippled over the man, sweeping aside a few snowkes that hade to rest upon him, and he set his face in a very neutral expression. Matt expected him to transition into a stoic and-or haughty stereotypical Sect warrior, only to be immediately proven wrong.


    Gan Le spun to face Aster, pointing at her usingly. Considering he was at least a few inches shorter than Matt¡¯s sister, it was a somewhatedic image. ¡°Do you know how unbelievably frigid it is in there? I nearly froze solid, and what sort of Lady are you to have such a drab, boring frozen wastnd? Where are the endless hounds of winter, chasing me unto the ends of the earth, the magnificent towers of awe-inspiring architecture to cast into firm relief how much greater you are than the rabble which you toss inside? You cannot possibly expect me to merely sit there and freeze to death!¡±


    Aster snickered and nced at Gan Le¡¯s hands, still d in me, then past those to the man ring at her. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ in progress. And look, you were fine, <em>obviously</em>. If my skills weren¡¯t freezing you, then you sure as shit wouldn¡¯t die from just being in the cold for a bit. But all you need to do is rx your defenses a bit, I¡¯ll shove you in cold storage next to Dumbass Deathtouch, and you can skip experiencing the cold entirely.¡±


    Gan Le folded his arms, pulling his expression back to merely a re. ¡°Do you know what that cold would do to my meridians? Think of the disarray it would cause. The restoration treatments alone would cost a decade of delving. In fact, it''s cruel enough to warrant a breach in the captured prisoners'' treatment act!¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that, not quite sure his [AI] had tranted meridians properly, but Darrow must have remembered their initial purpose better, because he interjected.


    ¡°Are you offering an official surrender? On ount of Ascender Wraith capturing you midbat, you are technically still an activebatant, unless you wish to officially enter yourself as a ss One or ss Two prisoner. And, unless you wish to dere yourself a ss Two prisoner, please disable your defensive capabilities, allow yourself to be restrained, and we can arrange for a proper prisoner transport in a warmer environment than Ascender Wraith¡¯s winterscape.¡±


    Gan Le shuddered and he stood up straight, and Matt was sure he was about to get the haughtiness he usually expected. ¡°I most certainly do <em>not</em> surrender, and I will not put myself at risk of death by suppressing my protection.¡±


    Darrow leveled a t look at the Sect elite. ¡°As an active capture, you are not currently protected, but if you <em>do</em> surrender, then you don¡¯t be allowed to die, and we can¡ª¡±


    ¡°Allowed to die? That''s not how people die. People rarely <em>intend</em> to die. But being next to two teams of Masters is certainly an excellent way to <em>risk</em> death, be it a spare icicle through my temple, my spirit being torn asunder should Wraith suffer spiritual damage of her own, or any number of simrly dangerous situations I have no desire to subject myself unto.¡±


    As if considering something Gan Le nodded. ¡°Actually, why haven''t we left yet? Or do you have a shiping to pick me up?¡±


    Matt was genuinely confused by this point, and he couldn''t help but wonder if the Sect man''s attitude was just a distraction to escape. Matt wasn¡¯t sure how that would be the case, but it was the only thing that could exin it. Even If Gan Le wanted to destroy the ship to leave them stranded while the Harmony ords slipped away it wouldn¡¯t be easy with how close everyone was.


    Even a core detonation took a moment or two to spin up so Matt had more than enough time to end the man let alone Liz or Zack.


    Catching himself, Matt acknowledged that the Sect culture wasn¡¯t monolithic, and there could be more normal people like Gan Le. But it made no sense if he was some hidden elite they had pulled from deep cover just for this mission.


    Having the thought, Matt asked it just to get a look of either confusion or derision from Gan Le.


    ¡°Deep cover? What?¡±


    ¡°What is there to be confused about? You were a hidden asset the Sects pulled out of deep cover for this mission. Right?¡±


    Gan Le¡¯s eyebrows twitched, ¡°Of course not. I constrained myself to ensure my safety.¡±


    ¡°Safety?¡± Now, even Liz looked confused.


    Gan Le¡¯s expression became one of restrained exasperation, and his tone became that of a beleaguered adult trying to exin something to a particrly dimwitted child.. ¡°Yes. Danger.¡± Pointing at Matt he slowly exined in clipped Sect, ¡°His techniques are too strong. Too strong means breaking. Breaking means death. Death is bad. Gan Le not want death.¡±


    Liz¡¯s face went t and Matt couldn''t tell if she nned on punching him orughing.


    Gan Le looked around and scanned the rest of the faces staring back at him and shook his head. ¡°None of you possess self-respect. Foolish hotheads, all of you.¡±


    Gan Le walked over to a nearby seat and sat down, intecing his fingers as he rested his hands upon hisp, ¡°Now. I request a warm drink. Tea would be preferable but I will ept anything hot.¡±


    His attention flicked down to his hands, ¡°If not that, I would request the return of my spatial ring. I have a tea set in there, and I <em>direly</em> need to warm myself.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°No. They are battlefield spoils.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but that rule only applies if I were to be dead! And as the case may be, I¡¯m very good at being not dead, and therefore they remain my possessions until I relinquish them voluntarily or have passed away.¡±


    Aster smirked as she shot right back, ¡°But what if they contain some life-saving measures that you might use to escape?¡±


    Gan Le snorted. ¡°This ship is locked down so I can¡¯t use them so why bother. Speaking of which, how are you intending to transfer me to someone else''s custody? Is someone going to pick me up or will we be leaving?¡±


    Darrow¡¯s interjection caused the Sect man to visibly nch. ¡°We aren¡¯t. You will remain inside Aster''s spirit ce until the war is over.¡±


    ¡°I refuse. It is <em>far</em> too frigid in there!¡±


    Darrow just stared Gan Le down until the other man wilted. ¡°Now, as a prisoner, are you aware of your rights?¡±


    Gan Le waved dismissively. ¡°I¡¯ve been captured before. I know the rules. I can¡¯t be forced to tell you anything and you can¡¯t torture me for the information but I can volunteer anything. Ask away. I might even talk about some things.¡±


    ¡°Only some?¡± Phoenix Liz¡¯s yellow eyes hardened to slits and cocked to the side, even as human Liz red.


    Gan Le nodded. ¡°Naturally. There are people who I won¡¯t risk offending by speaking about anything that rtes to them. But if thates up, I¡¯m more than willing to just say so and we can all move on like civilized cultivators.¡±


    Darrow asked the question that Matt was most interested in. ¡°Synoid and Crastor, wha¡ª¡±


    He hadn¡¯t even finished when Gan Le shook his head. ¡°Nope. Can¡¯t talk about them. Next question.¡±


    For the first time he seemed deadly serious, which only piqued Matt''s curiosity about the topic, but Darrow must have read the same thing as Matt did. If he pushed, Gan Le might m up.


    ¡°Can you confirm that they are how some of your team is being buffed? We saw them merge with others after you were removed from the fight.¡±


    Gan Le chewed on his thumb for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yes, but that is all I am willing to say. And that''s all you need to know. Besides to avoid killing them. You didn¡¯t kill them, right?¡±


    When everyone looked at him for more information, he just shook his head hard enough to cause his hair to smack him in the face. ¡°It''s a bad idea.¡±


    Darrow just nodded and moved on. ¡°Does the Harmony ords ship have ess to a way to resupply between battles?¡±


    Gan Le rxed after hearing that question and nodded. ¡°Yes. There¡¯s something the Republic provided, though I don¡¯t know details.¡±


    Joy leaned around the now-healed Morgan and asked, ¡°How are they moving so fast?¡±


    Gan Le shrugged. ¡°Large engines, powerful pilots. They¡¯ve been asking much the same about you, and have beenining how much they need to cycle people into the recovery chambers.¡±


    ¡°Please borate about the pilots and the chambers.¡±


    Gan Le un-folded his hands in a gesture of surrender. ¡°I don¡¯t know too much about the pilots. There are perhaps a score of them, and they work together to make the ship faster. That''s all I know about them. As for the chambers, they are just Federation things we use at times. They are useful, but not <em>that</em> useful. They elerate time inside while stimting healing cooldown recovery. We¡¯ve used them a few times, but I can¡¯t speak to how they work or if they do anything else.¡±


    Sensing they weren¡¯t entirely happy with the answer, Gan Le shrugged. ¡°I keep my nose out of things that don''t rte to me. Keeps me out of trouble most of the time.¡±


    The man red at Matt as he said that. It looked like he was contemting restraint, but instead he exploded.


    ¡°And you! Fuck you, Titan! Do you need to hit that hard? No, you don¡¯t. They expect me to block all of your damage to the others but, like, it''s too much! Just stop it. Use smaller attacks or something.¡±


    Matt took a bit of perverse pleasure at the man''s frustration. That was how he felt when dealing with him.


    ¡°Maybe you guys should have thought of that before killing my husband.¡± Dena¡¯s voice was frigid and cut through the room like a knife.


    Gan Le gave something of an acknowledging nod. ¡°I am sorry for your loss. I do not im responsibility, and I see no gain from any of this foolishness. I did not wish to be a part of this, and that has not changed now.¡±


    Aster snorted but Gan Le threw up his hands in protest, looking up to Matt¡¯s bond. ¡°I assure you. I participated in wars merely to umte sufficient face and reputation, until I could situate myself in a position where <em>nobody</em> would seek to disturb me. I hoped to be notable enough to avoid conflict, yet not so notable that young hotheads would seek to prove themselves on me. At no point was fighting any of <em>you</em> part of my n.¡±


    Pointing at Matt again, Gan Le almost pleaded. ¡°Seriously, do you know how hard he hits? I¡¯ve taken battleship sts that aren¡¯t as powerful. It''s not fun. I simply wish to live in peace.¡±


    Matt pointed out the w with his story. ¡°Except getting captured should lower your merit. Then you can¡¯t retire.¡±


    Gan Le looked at Matt and snorted like he understood nothing. ¡°I might not have gotten a choice in getting sent here, but I already argued my retirement package. One that is paid out whether I get captured or not, so long as I don¡¯t surrender mid battle without just cause. I¡¯m no battle maniac pinnacle elite who throws himself into stupidly dangerous situations.¡±


    The small move of his white eyes suggested that hisst point was meant for them.


    Matt didn¡¯t know what to make of the man and just shook his head. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn¡¯t been this mostly level headed and pragmatic man.


    Ai raised a good question Matt hadn¡¯t thought of. ¡°If you hate the Sects, why not defect?¡±


    Gan Le looked equally confused. ¡°Hate the Sects? Absolutely not. The Sects are wonderful, and know how to treat those who properly earn it. Why do you think I <em>desire</em> merit? Because the Sects are wonderful for those strong enough to im it, and I <em>am</em> strong enough. Once my nse to fruition, I will be in an untouchable spot with at least twoyers of backup protection.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t your Talent protect you?¡±


    ¡°No mere single technique, no matter how mighty, is truly invulnerable. Be it from higher-Tiers or political pressure, I possess many, many weaknesses. But, if you would be nice enough to send me to a safe,fy prison cell with my tea set and Go board, I will dly remain there until the end of the war.¡±


    Seeing the sincere look on Gan Le¡¯s face, Matt almost started to believe him.


    ¡°Let''s move on then. Can you list any members of the Harmony ords you can name with a greater than seventy percent certainty?¡± Darrow''s question was a good one, and Matt wanted to hear the answer.


    Gan Le sent a discontent nce at Aster which implied he knew the moment he stopped being helpful it meant he was going back on ice. ¡°Very well. Let''s start with the leadership. There is a General from each Great Power. They¡­¡±


    Matt thought he would get bored of the information but he was kept, if not interested, entertained by Gan Le¡¯s personal tidbits and quips.


    He seemed to always have an acerbic look on anyone who wanted to fight for things like glory or prestige. When he got around to Maven and Long Zhiyuan, Gan Le went into a tirade about how their brains had been reced with a single pebble, and they had had to share with a dozen other people.


    ¡°I swear, all they think about is fighting. Long Zhiyuan doesn''t even eat. They have some amazing food, and the man never touches it. ¡®It could be poisoned.¡¯ Obviously. But that¡¯s why you use techniques to avoid <em>being</em> poisoned. It¡¯s not as though it¡¯s challenging to do so. But no, he just wants to be all stoic and work on ways to better defeat all of you guys. Really, why even grow strong if you don¡¯t wish to take advantage of that fact?¡±


    Pursing his lips, Gan Le nodded slowly as if he wasing to an understanding. ¡°Maybe that''s the issue. You all rise through the Tiers so fast you forget what it means to live.¡±


    Nodding as if he finally understood some great quandary, Gan Le nodded before blinking at Darrow. ¡°Speaking of food, do you have anything to eat? I¡¯m starting to feel peckish and as a prisoner my needs must be met to the best of your abilities and supplies.¡±


    Aster straightened with a devious feeling through her spirit. ¡°I have a few ice creams I¡¯ve tried out and need a fresh pte to taste for me. I even have some cookies and other snacks to pair with them.¡±


    Then she pulled out the te of horrors.


    It might look like perfectly normal ice cream, but Matt had been tricked into trying a few of the innocuous looking concoctions and knew better.


    Matt almost felt bad for what was about to happen, but then he remembered he didn¡¯t actually like Gan Le, and that feeling turned to excitement.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯d love some. I actually find cold food tolerable on cold days as odd as that may seem. You make ice cream? I guess that makes sense for an ice fox.¡± Rubbing his hands together, Gan Le looked ready to dive in. ¡°Where should I start?¡±


    Aster pointed at a soft red ice cream that Matt knew from experience smelled like strawberries. ¡°This one.¡±


    Gan Le took the proffered spoon and after taking a big scoop, smiled and dug in with a nod.


    Matt watched his chewing for a long moment waiting for the reaction of when the insane spices Aster had put into the ice cream to kick in but he just nodded. ¡°A little bit of a kick for ice cream, but it''s pretty good. It''s missing a hint of something though. Maybetro? Weird for an ice cream, yeah, but this is clearly not for mass production and I feel like that might bolster the vor profile. I like it though.¡±


    Gan Le turned and coughed slightly which released a bit of visible me, but he didn¡¯t seem bothered, which stumped Matt.


    When he had been tricked into trying that particr concoction he had only been a step away from cutting out his tongue and esophagus thanks to the searing heat the ice cream delivered to every inch of flesh it touched. Aster had made it when Allie started using Aster¡¯s personal ice cream stash as her own personal stash, and the teleporter had cried for three days as she tried to cut the heat.


    And Gan Le went back for another scoop.


    Aster, on the other hand, looked ecstatic and started feeding Gan Le all manner of concoctions of dubious edibility. Matt was pretty sure a few of them would constitute as actual poisons, which feeding to a prisoner would constitute as a war crime, but no watcher came to haul them away. That just left everyone to observe as Gan Le tried ice cream after ice cream.


    A few of them he even liked enough to shamelessly take the whole container.


    Matt had seen a lot of things in his long life, but he couldn¡¯t name a single time where he had seen something weirder.


    Liz, who had moved next to him when Aster pulled out a noxious mixture that made everyone else''s eyes water, couldn''t believe it either. ¡°Do you think he''s just powering through and trying to make a good impression?¡±


    Susanne sidled over and nodded before Matt could respond. ¡°He''s got to be. Thatst one had actual rocks in it. There is no way that he actually liked it. He¡¯s trying to lower our guard.¡±


    Matt wanted to agree, but he just couldn''t. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe his taste buds are broken. If he''s really gone all into durability cultivation, maybe he''s genuinely hardened his taste buds to the point where he needs something this strong to enjoy.¡±


    Phoenix Liz squawked slightly. ¡°Or maybe his Sects food is really weird. Does anyone know what Sects he came from? Like the first one? Maybe it was the Sect of Poisons and Ill Concoctions maybe and they force fed him weird things like this from a young age?¡±


    While they waited for another battle to be initiated from the Harmony ords, Gan Le eating Aster¡¯s foods became the pinnacle of entertainment.


    As much as he didn¡¯t want to admit it, Aster was thoroughly defeated by the Sect man and she was eventually forced to admit she had no other toxic waste leftovers in her spiritual space with which to feed him.


    Gan Le then turned his attention to everyone else, and Matt was forced to bring out a perfectly normal turkey he had made before they left. It was supposed to be a small meal for everyone to enjoy between battles, but now he just wanted to see what Gan Le thought about it.


    Maybe his taste buds really had been destroyed and he couldn''t enjoy anything but the most extreme vors. Instead, he even noticed the slight hint of apple Matt had infused into the skin.


    Seeing that, Matt threw up his hands and tried to ignore their unfreezable Sect prisoner who had finally cajoled Aster and Ai to y go with him.


    That was until they needed to fight again. That got everyone rearing to go.


    Or, all of them but Gan Le.


    ¡°Please just leave me in the ship. I won''t run or try to escape. If you send me back into your spirit ce, something will happen in the fight and you will have to send me out. And then I¡¯ll have to fight unprepared. I really don''t want that. Please, please, please just let me ¡ª damn it!¡±


    In a puff of ice, Gan Le vanished, and they were ready for round two.

 Chapter 330

    Chapter 330


    A month.


    Capturing Gan Le bought them almost a month of tentative peace before the Harmony ords ship started forward. They immediately stopped moving when Joy changed their trajectory and the elites teleported outside the ship.


    Darrow had mentioned they would do something like that, but it made sense. Either fight them, or they would leave.


    That was the threat, at least.


    It was incredibly unlikely that the Harmony ords would actually leave the system, but it was possible. Team Zero couldn¡¯t allow even that possibility, which meant meeting them on the field of battle.


    There had been a few skirmishes where one person, mostly a Liz, slipped out and tried to drop onto the full of soldiers, but all of those attempts had been rebuffed. The Harmony ords had sent Ari Kai out a few times trying to sabotage their ship, but all attempts had failed.


    They had run simtions about how the Harmony ords would deal with the loss of Gan Le, but it was obvious they had a n B. Gan Le had said as much, and had even given some information about it, but he¡¯d never been personally involved in the training.


    What was most interesting was <em>who</em> was the backup Matt-check. Specifically, Loel. Matt hadn¡¯t had much experience fighting the woman, as she and Zack usually checked one another, but he was curious how exactly that would work. Everything he knew about the woman indicated that she needed a fair amount of time before she could match Matt¡¯s power output, and while her maximum was distinctly higher than what Matt could reach, that was even rarer for her to reach.


    The answer, apparently, was power armor.Or at least, <em>Matt</em> would call it power armor. A mech might be a better description.


    Loel had shed her normal long, brown coat for a crystalline suit of armor flooded with more mana than even Matt could safely handle, and that was just the firstyer. Some kind of solid magical construct, iridescent with the sheen of arcane mana and interwoven with a shimmering robe made of solid light and shadow. Atop that was a gleaming purple metal that Matt didn¡¯t recognize, alight with enchantments. She was twelve feet tall, and was armed with a staff forged from a living lightning bolt. Matt couldn¡¯t glean much information from it himself, but Ai and Darrow were both <em>quite</em> impressed at the workmanship, and agreed that it likely exceeded the raw magical output of Matt¡¯s own armor.


    nking her was Maven and Darkness Eternal, a void-specialist Dao Child that Matt hadn¡¯t been able to fight during the so-called Day of the Long Shadow. Maven wasn¡¯t in power armor <em>exactly</em>, but she waspletely surrounded in some kind of almost liquid-like blue metal that was likewise overflowing with power, to the point Matt could feel it from where he was thousands of miles away. Darkness Eternal, meanwhile, <em>was</em> in something closer to what Matt would call power armor, albeit one made out of crystal.


    Matt was <em>almost</em> tempted to just¡­pletely ignore the trio. Sure, they looked intimidating and could probably unleash a fair bit of damage if unchecked, but Team Zero didn¡¯t exactly have weak targets for them to pick off. Still, he was really curious as to just how well he¡¯d do against his supposed ¡®counters¡¯. Gan Le had just been annoying, but this one would probably be quite fun.


    A tremor of danger rippled through Matt¡¯s spiritual sense, and he teleported to the side, whipped his left hand up, cast [Bulwark], and turned the spell to crystal while simultaneously reinforcing his armor with the secondyer of [Cracked Phantom Armor]. He even pulsed his Intent to make himself immobile for good measure.


    A metallic <em>screech</em> rang Matt¡¯s armor like a bell as an arm-thick bullet of depleted metal mmed into Matt¡¯s hand, carrying with it a shockwave that Matt felt in his very spirit.


    He was impressed.


    His left hand hadn¡¯t felt pain in decades, and his Intent had never been attacked in quite that manner before. But, between all his defenses, the result was just a cloud of shrapnel deflected away from Matt, and a roughly hand-sized lump of metal clutched in his hand.


    With an armor-powered flick of Matt¡¯s wrist, the ball of metal was shot off like a cannonball at a nearby Peak elite. They dodged, but that didn¡¯t matter. The message had been sent.


    They had a name for the sniper now, and if <em>Valentina</em> thought herparatively minor impact in thest few fights meant they¡¯d forgotten about her, she was sorely mistaken.


    Torment, who had been the target of thetest shot, sent a pulse of gratitude through Darrow¡¯s mental link. Liz queried as to whether she should pursue, but Darrow responded in the negative. Valentina would be inessible, whether she was in the ship itself or off on some distant asteroid, and even a Liz body whose absence wouldn¡¯t be felt would simply reach the end of its range before she reached the likely-abandoned sniper post, if what Allie had found the first fight had been followed once more.


    No other shots came while they closed the distance to the Harmony ords, but that didn¡¯t stop Matt from casting a [Barrage]d [Breach] as an opening salvo, while also keeping himself ready to teleport to the other side should a shote from that direction.


    He immediately followed the attacks up with a sweep of [Mana Beam].


    While the defenders dodged or deflected the [Breach]es, they had no such recourse for [Mana Beam], and they were forced to turtle up behind spells or promptly pull out barriers.


    Matt happily continued to cast more [Mana Beam]s, and in just seconds, two peak elites were out of the fight, forced to burn their escape tokens.


    Matt and the rest of Team Zero were more than happy to sit there and let him whittle them down, but things were never so easy.


    As soon as it became clear he would be happy to cast [Mana Beam] forever, another ripple of space pulsed and a massive mana crystal appeared a few dozen miles behind the battleline. It was fifty feet tall and fifteen feet wide. If it had only normal mana capacity for a Tier 25 rechargeable mana stone and didn¡¯t use some specialized construction, which, considering it was the Harmony ords pulling it out, was likely, that thing contained at least a billion mana. That wasn¡¯t what surprised Matt. Not in and of itself, at least. What really surprised him was the plethora of runes carved into it.


    There were dozens of glyphs and formations carved into each facet of the mana stone; Matt wished he could inspect it and see exactly how they were managing the feat without everything exploding. It might help his own efforts of making talismans out of his excess mana production.


    The mana stone¡¯s appearance also signified the absolute shutdown of his [Mana Beam].


    The moment the beam entered within a hundred miles of the mana stone, it fizzled out as the spell was torn apart from the inside. A quick test from Light showed that all neutral mana spells were disrupted inside the mana stone¡¯s range, in addition to anything based on [Mana Beam], no matter the aspect.


    Annoying, but not the end of the world. They had known the Harmony ords would have some method of countering one of his most used abilities besides Gan Le¡¯s redirect, but they hadn¡¯t known what form it would take.


    Another nce made Matt wrinkle his nose. It was something he could run out of mana, as the enchantments were based onplete and total forbiddance and therefore had a set expense no matter how much it disrupted. Very expensive, but it wasn¡¯t directly contesting Matt¡¯s mana with its own, and that meant he couldn¡¯t just overpower it to show off, and would have to actually y around it. Or, he supposed, he could just break it with a solid punch.


    But it wasn¡¯t like Matt was useless or limited to neutral mana spells.


    Since his sessful meld, he had noticed two things.


    The first was that he was now able to use the powers of his Concept and Intent at the same time without issue. The second was that he could now use his Domain to directly reinforce gravity spells.


    He¡¯d picked up a small set of gravity spells toplement his Intent, which already yed well with the aspect, but now that he could use his <em>Concept</em> to enhance them, they¡¯d be one of his new favorite toys.


    [Gravity Maniption] wasn¡¯t quite on the same level as [Air Maniption] or [Ice Maniption] for ease of use¡­ but it wasn¡¯t too far behind them, and his proficiency and power behind it had shot up past his other maniptions practically overnight. [Gravitic Bolt], meanwhile, was now practically solid even to Matt¡¯s enhanced strength, and [Cosmic Pressure] had be strong enough that he could instantly apply normal gravitational pull to the entire battlefield, as though they were on the surface of the below them, practically at will.


    Whether it had any practical uses remained to be seen, but Matt was looking forward to trying it out.


    Spells started to be traded but Matt ignored most of it, hoping to slip along the fight and reach the Harmony ords¡¯ mage core.


    Sadly, the trio of recements for Gan Le darted right for him, and Matt was either forced to let them reach his backline or engage them.


    With a st of [Embody Colossus], leaning primarily on his rubberfruit and other body-enhancing natural treasures to enhance his backup strength buff spell in a way that nearly doubled his height, Matt shed with the mech-encased trio.


    By andrge, Matt preferred to remain his normal size. He¡¯d had a lot of practice fighting massive monsters without size increases of his own, but there were times when his normal height just wasn¡¯t quite sufficient. His sword didn¡¯t grow alongside him, but he quickly made himself a makeshift sword out of mana crystal, and using [Reinforce Mana] on an energy de made with abination of [Telekinesis] and [Tribtion Strike].


    Maven was the first to act, transforming into a giant, metal-encased, feathered manticore and shooting a barrage of metal feathers like so many darts with a flick of her tail. With [Bulwark] inessible, Matt simply manifested a mana crystal shield. [Reinforce Mana] strengthened it, but the attack still crashed through the barrier and nged into Matt¡¯s armor, leaving dents but not breaking through. While [Cracked Phantom Armor] served as a huge portion of his defense, the armor itself was still incredibly durable, and he¡¯d gotten a whole array of misceneous armor skills to further enhance it. Simply shutting off a single spell wasn¡¯t enough to stop him, and hadn¡¯t been for a long time.


    Loel fired off a trio of lightning, ice, andva spells at him, which Matt smacked aside with his sword and retaliated with [Dragon¡¯s Breath], sharpening the st of air into des. Darkness Eternal waved his hand, and the air returned to vacuum. Maven¡¯s body shifted, a patch of glowing green metal bubbling up from below the surface and enhancing her ws as she swiped at Matt, which he met with a [Tribtion Strike]-empowered attack.


    As his sword met the w, the metal coating lit up, pathways running along the exterior to divert his lightning around Maven and turning Matt¡¯s attack into no more than a bunch of showy lights. He had enough spare awareness that he was able to identify the green metal ws as an absurd amount of the Tier 25 natural treasure Mountain¡¯s Hate, which when forged into weapons made them incredibly sharp and durable. There was a bit in the alloy making up his current sword, but it was far, far less than the amount Maven was swinging around. The mana circuits were Tier 25 enriched gold and the conduits were almost as wide as a hair, which would have been overkill for even ordinary copper, let alone an enriched metal.


    Either of the items could have sold for a''s worth of wealth, but they were just parts of the greater whole.


    It was a shame too, as Matt intended to wreck it all.


    Matt¡¯s normal sword was only like a dagger at this size, but Matt charged it with [Hypersonic Edge] and sliced into the liquid-metal. It cut a deep furrow, but closed up quickly thereafter. Unfortunately, that opened up Matt to a set of new attacks from Loel and Darkness Eternal.


    The former¡¯s [Fireball] was already fairly impressive, carrying a sudden detonation with a shockwave that left him encased in sticky ash. He overpowered it easily enough, but Darkness Eternal¡¯s spell ate into Matt¡¯s spell like a gue, turning the frozen lightning purple and eating away at the mana crystal with an explosive ferocity. Matt threw it at Loel, but the mage teleported to the side to avoid it.


    A tornado of wind and feathers appeared around him from Maven and started to cut into his armor, while also trying to dibobte and send him into a spin.


    Matt stopped that with a brush with his Intent to fix himself in ce, all while using waves of his Concept¡¯s repulsive powers to keep the feathers from ever touching him or his armor.


    It was amazing how easy something once impossible for him had be.


    Maven sent out a moon variant [Mana w], her arm stretching into a crescent scythe-like shape, and Matt was forced to dodge as he felt a threat of danger from the attack. He was slightly too slow with the buffeting winds and took the blow on his side, but it failed to prate his armor''s secondaryyers.


    A st of lightning struck him from Loel with more force than he would have expected from her this early in the fight. Darrow pulsed a bit of insight, that they were fairly certain she had one or both of the twins boosting her, but that didn¡¯t help Matt as the lightning syed across his armor.


    His limbs twitched and spasmed slightly as the lightning,bined with her earlier attacks, sought to lock him down and paralyze him.


    It felt like a wet nket had been tossed over him and was suffocating him, body and spirit alike.


    The closestparison Matt had to it was Aiden¡¯s drowning, except it was also disabling his armor. Around him, Maven contorted her body into a mechanical-like being with innate spell amplification abilities and Darkness Eternal pelted Matt with antimagic, preventing him from countering or escaping. Around them, a set of peak elites swooped in to assemble a massive cage around the four of them.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Natural treasures and enriched metals were everywhere and Matt was almost impressed they had created such a trap for him. He wanted to say it was excessive, but another part of him was more than a little prideful with the dedicated attention.


    With Darkness Eternal voiding any mana that left his armor, Matt instead focused inwards. With some careful maneuvering, Matt withdrew and shrank his arm from his armor¡¯s limb, reached into a spatially-expanded interior pocket, and withdrew two items.


    His bifate pair-linker, and a mostly-assembled talisman te.


    He manifested a sizable mana crystal of ice mana on the surface of his armor, finding that Darkness Eternal either was unable to target or simply not prioritizing his solidified mana.


    Their mistake.


    Matt used his BPL and triggered the talisman, sticking it out of a hole that had been opened in his armor, sticking his hand through an as-of-yet unhealed hole in his torso to get the right angle, and in an instant he went from being pelted with spells strong enough to rend his defenses to shreds to being in the middle of a massive iceberg, surrounded by ice and snow.


    It didn¡¯t disrupt the formation, not properly, but it <em>did</em> clear away enough of the interference that kept him isted from his teammates that, when Darrow¡¯s link pulsed slightly as though it were expanding around something toorge for it, he was unsurprised to see a white-furred fox burrow her way through the snow to meet Matt¡¯s helmeted face.


    Aster nudged Matt¡¯s face with her nose, leaving a small smudge on Matt¡¯s helmet, and then Matt was in and of ice and snow, glimmering bands of color arcing overhead. It didn¡¯t feel <emfortable</em>, but Matt didn¡¯t feel more than slightly too cool, like he was in Aster¡¯s house.


    [Regeneration] finished knitting Matt¡¯s back together, and he filled in the gaps in his armor with hyper-dense mana crystal while he waited. Normally, he did something simr with just [Cracked Phantom Armor], and while he had ess to the spell in here, it would copse the moment he left, so he had to make do.


    Then he was outside of Aster¡¯s spirit space, and the action resumed. Half the peak elites that had assembled the cage around Matt were missing, and the other half were tangling with some of Torment¡¯s summons. He had appeared directly behind Loel, and he drove his sword into the back of her neck.


    The attack triggered some kind of defense, and she turned misty and insubstantial, but Matt fired off a [Gravitic Bolt] inside her immaterial body, twisting around the swirling smoke she was made of in what had to be an ufortable way.


    She swept off to the side, mostly reforming from the smoke, but with a good chunk of her armor, and a bit of fleshy viscera, trapped within the [Gravitic Bolt]. Underneath, a bit of mana sparked and whirred as theplex mech tried topensate for what was hopefully an important bit of enchantment suddenly missing.


    Maven had spotted where he was at, and she sent an [Earth Lance] that Matt decided to block with his left hand. He felt the stone trying to grow around and entrap his hand but he ignored it as he cast a [Wind Cutter] at Loel who was lining up for anotherbo spell.


    He forced her to dodge but her next spell wasn¡¯t directly offensive and instead spread across the battlefield around them like a formation and started twisting space with him as the epicenter.


    Matt broke the effect with a multi-million mana [Gravity Maniption] and paired the counter with a [Telekinesis] punch to her armor.


    The spell connected, and Matt saw as the sparking piece of Loel¡¯s armor overloaded, copsing the most exterior shield and sending fragments of purple metal spinning off into the distance. Matt tried to pursue, but his movement vanished into purple smoke, allowing Maven and Darkness Eternal to close in.


    Maven came in close, turning into some kind of kraken-cat-dragon-dinosaurbination, mming him with dozens of ws and teeth encased within wickedly sharp metal, and slicing into Matt. His armor held, though some of his patchwork mana crystals didn¡¯t hold up quite as well. But he didn¡¯t take anything he couldn¡¯t heal with [Regeneration], so it didn¡¯t matter.


    Darkness Eternal¡¯s attacks, however, <em>were</em> harder to deal with, as a bolt of void mana ate through one of his mana crystal patch jobs and ate into his flesh, then stayed there as [Regeneration] did nothing but feed flesh to the ball of void sitting in the middle of his heart.


    A bit of [Telekinesis] took a fragment of bone and sliced it through his internals, letting Matt apply a [Dispelling Edge] to the bone shard right before it struck the void ball. That wasn¡¯t enough to dispel the sphere of annihtion, but it opened enough of a gap within the spell structure for Matt to pour in a few million mana to disrupt it, and the spell copsed.


    He hadn¡¯t let it distract him, though, but it did mean he misjudged the proper way to handle a [Chain Lightning]ing from Loel. Blocking it only reflected the attack, and a wave of lightning sted across the battlefield, banishing Bulwark back to the ship as the pulse of power struck him and nearly cut him in half with raw electricity. Light stepped in, meeting it with a massive [Frozen Moment] he withdrew from his spellbook, halting the attack in its tracks and giving Matt¡¯s fellow Ascender enough time to usurp the spell, turn it into pure arcane affinity, and entirely <em>annihte</em> Archwarrior Sparks.


    It was possible the Federation soldier had escaped, but there had been a <em>lot</em> of magic.


    Growling, Matt tried to reach for his Domain Meld for an extra boost of power but his Intent and Concept slipped past one another without the harmonization needed to activate hte new power.


    Knowing it was futile to try and directly break through to take out Loel, Matt started trying to do as much damage to the armor as possible.


    Every time Maven came in close he took damage to his own armor that he knew he could repair with a little time and mana, to rip entire chunks off her mech. With the primary shields disabled, Matt¡¯s attacks were only that much stronger, and each blow revealed and destroyed more and more truly phenomenal enchanting-work.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if their armor was better than his, but <em>his</em> could at least repair itself. He wasn¡¯t sure if their could.


    As he took blow after blow, Matt had to remind himself of what Darrow had hammered into them.


    The fact they were in a holding pattern was beneficial to them. This was exactly what they wanted, as each day that passed was more time for Allie to recover while the Harmony ords were unable to cause devastation in the Empire.


    It didn¡¯t feel like winning but after the capture of Gan Le a little part of Matt had been hoping for a decisive victory that would cause the end of the war here and now.


    Instead, he concentrated on doing what he could do. Rip this incredibly expensive and hard to repair armor into as many pieces as he could. If their armory officers were anything like Colonel Gnodel, Maven and Darkness Eternal would be in deep shit. There was a reason they had to use repair runes for his armor that took trillions of mana to properly function, after it was clear just how hard he was on it. It was just too expensive to rebuild every time it took damage.


    They would have neither the advantage of throwing mana at the problem and be unable to regrow natural treasures thanks to the issue.


    What caught Matt¡¯s attention was Liz.


    ***


    Liz tried to drive her spear into Long Zhiyuan¡¯s nk, but he was a step ahead of her and slipped to the side just enough to dodge the blow. If he hadn¡¯t been boosted by one of the twins, she could have out-sped him with a burst of speed, but he was damn fast and slippery enough that it was taking two of her to keep him upied.


    Two others of her were fighting with Agony and Rage to keep the rune squad at bay, and Liz thought that was her real opportunity.


    She had killed several members of the rune squad before, but like they suspected from the inspection of the informant¡¯s runes, the death of any single member would be quickly solved if even a single one of them got away.


    Liz was working on a n for that and wanted to try something, but she needed the battle to progress a little more. Pinging Bolt and Torment through Darrow, Liz warned them about what she was going to do.


    One of the Lizzes fighting Long Zhiyuan took a w to the face and let itself dispel, which caught the other man off guard for the briefest of instants. Liz could see it as his body had already started to shift into a followthrough that was no longer necessary.


    Liz red a wave of mes outward, but damage wasn¡¯t her intention. Instead, she used her Concept to obscure everything with its effect that let her mes burn down to blood instead of ash.


    While everyone thought she was going to rush Long Zhiyuan, she instead used the dead Liz¡¯s blood to cast [Scarlet gue].


    As the blood rippled, another Liz cast [Blood Charge] and burst forward into the center of the rune soldiers. That particr Liz let herself get hit with a blow that cut deep into her abdomen, but she didn¡¯t let the body fall apart.


    That would be too obvious.


    Instead, the dead Liz¡¯s blood burst into a mist and spread out across the battlefield like a wave.


    All the elites had their own protections against the infecting spell, but the cast of it had only been a distraction.


    No, the real target had been on the rune soldiers. The de that had cut into her abdomen looked like it came out with an ordinary amount of blood, but that was far from the truth.


    [Blood Storage] had originally been a failed experiment to replicate her long-destroyed glove with an [Inventory] skill shard, ideally letting her store more blood in a pocket dimension. These days, that functionality wouldn¡¯t be needed, between her Intent and [Reduce Person], or rather [Condensity]. Instead, she was getting much more use out of its ability to temporarily turn items into blood.


    The blood on the rune soldier''s sword was one of Matt¡¯s mana stone talismans stored a moment before it detonated.


    As it reformed, the explosion pushed everyone nearby, but Liz was already moving.


    The Liz who was fighting Long Zhiyuan used the explosion to propel herself close and used her spear like a quarterstaff.


    She blocked a w strike to her face whileshing out at his leg. Just before impact, the butt of the spear blossomed and the wrapped feathers formed another spear tip which cut deeply into Long Zhiyuan.


    As her feathers were made from her blood, Liz could taste every part of the foul man. But more than that, she noticed the absence of what she had been hoping for.


    She had been hoping to find one of the boosters'' blood inside Long Zhiyuan, or more likely, the same space as him. Some possessions had the possessor absorbed into their ally¡¯s body physically, while others were more spiritual, and they hadn¡¯t known which type Synoid and Crastor¡¯s possession was. If she had gotten her hand on some of the boosters¡¯ blood, she was pretty sure that could work as a vector of attack. It seemed unlikely that one of the twins could have robust defenses while upying another''s body.


    Still, she did have some of Long Zhiyuan¡¯s blood, and that was useful in its own right. While that Liz used the blood and tried to dismantle the man''s wards by using his blood as an ess point, another two Lizzes rushed to the ce of the explosion.


    Two of the rune soldiers had been vaporized, and Liz smiled as the remainder were infected with [Scarlet gue]. The spell ate at them and converted their very bodies to something she had ess to.


    She wanted to get down into their bones and have just a single drop of her hide inside their bone marrow, but either the damage the bomb had done was too much, or the threat of the [Scarlet gue] activated their lifelines. The remaining six badly injured rune soldiers teleported away, severing her connection to the blood in the process.


    They would undoubtedly be purged before they came out again, and none of her had been able to dig in deep enough to really get a chance to hide. It had been a bit of a longshot with the rune squads¡¯ bones being the very base of the soldiers¡¯ enchantments, but it was a shame the attempt failed so early on.


    Still, she learned something in the attempt and another possibility opened up.


    Their bodies were so entwined with their spirits that they might as well be fused.


    They weren¡¯t <em>technically</em> fused, but it was a near thing, and Liz suspected there was a weakness there. In the instant of a core shattering a nearby rune soldier''s spirit, bolstered and led by the runes, another reached out and grabbed hold of the other soldier''s spirit, pulling it into themselves for safe keeping. But when she tried to interact with their spirits to cast curses on them, the runes created a shell around them, keeping them safe without the need for pesky training or specialized skills.


    The rune designers had probably seen the w in that just as she had, but she suspected they either relied on there being nine others who weren''t dead, and at least one of them should be not under attack and therefore able to make the grab. Unlikely, but a fair assumption most of the time. You really needed to threaten the rune soldier¡¯s spirit to bring out the shield.


    The more likely option was that there were metaphorical bolt holes that would open in the shield for the briefest of moments when another rune soldier died nearby. That, if true, meant there were ways to open the shields even if they were protecting themselves.


    If Liz was going to make something like the rune soldiers, that¡¯s what she would do.


    It just meant she needed to burn through their armor''s spiritual protection, their innate spiritual protection, the rune''s spiritual protection, and kill another rune soldier at the same time, but if she did all that, she believed she could take down the whole collective in one fell swoop.


    She¡¯d need some time to n and test a few things, but Liz thought she had a working idea. Sadly, the retreat of the rune squad seemed to signal the retreat of the Harmony ords as a whole, and they all vanished a few momentster.


    ***


    Two more months. One more major battle and a dozen small skirmishes just as inconclusive as thest. At least if the ravaged mech suites weren¡¯t considered, Matt had probably cost the Harmony ords at least a dozen''s wealth at this point in repair cost alone but that wouldn''t win the war. At one point, his AI had managed to point out a way in which he could turn Maven¡¯s armor into part of a talisman, when the stars aligned in the right way. <em>That</em> had resulted in a very fun fight, but he hadn¡¯t been able to replicate the feat since. He still kept a spare set of the custom talisman blocks he¡¯d made for the purpose on hand, just in case the opportunity presented itself once more.


    As each day passed and they got close to Allie¡¯s eventual recovery, Matt found a sort of zen state in it all.


    Hone a skill or two while simting and nning for scenarios they had encountered in their fights. He even had a few ideas that worked well in the simtions that Darrow asked him to hold off on using until they could have better chances of a decisive victory. Ai had been working on a way to bypass the Harmony ord Ship¡¯s primary shields, and that project was encountering difficulties. Light and Matt had been tasked with testing the shields a few times per fight, and their findings kept refining the shieldbreaker. It wasn¡¯t ready yet, but Matt was looking forward to the day they had their final showdown.


    It wasn¡¯t time quite yet, but once the day came he would be <em>so</em> ready. He¡¯d tried to break the anti-[Mana beam] formation a few times, but it kept staying just out of range, like the end of a rainbow. Aster suspected it was based in illusion, Zack insisted it was spatial-based, and Matt didn¡¯t care. It was only hard-locked against him, meaning that someone else would have to break it, and he was sure that would be eminently doable when the time came. They just couldn¡¯t test it, as it would be better to have their enemies over-rely on it for now. Besides, being without [Cracked Phantom Armor] was a bit of a pain, but in practice it mostly meant he had to spend a bunch much time fixing his armor after each fight.


    But other than that, they spent their time practicing or working on various projects.


    Matt thought that the whole two and a half years of Allie¡¯s recovery would pass like that, but the realm wasn¡¯t so kind.


    A brave or stupid merchant ship appeared inside Gol¡¯Ru¡¯s real space and spread news that shocked both sides and the civilians alike, just two months into their standoff.


    A Tier 35 armada just passed Gol¡¯Ru on its way to the Citadel.


    Fifteen Tier 35 armies was bad enough in any situation, but the armies were the five best each Great Power had to offer, and proudly disyed unit heraldry as they passed through Empire space uncontested. Each army wasprised with far more elites than usual and represented a substantial portion of the Great Powers might at Tier 35.


    Beyond that, Grand Shaper Maya, The Unyielding Anvil Yun Me, and two groups of Tier 35 rune soldiers, the Alpha and Bravo squads, were leading the charge.


    All rushing for the Citadel and Aiden.


    No one had expected them to move so quickly, and Matt felt a pulse of panic he ruthlessly quashed at the thought of Aiden still being in the Capital¡¯s rift. From what he had seen, none of the higherups had expected an all-in move like this.


    Allie could hardly teleport the man when she was in peak condition, and she was far from that, which meant if Aiden wasn¡¯t already in Rusty¡¯s capital system, the world was as good as lost.


    To make matters worse, the instant the news was spread the Harmony ords changed their ns, and the ten armies stationed on the fortress picked up and abandoned the ce. Their job of securing passage to the citadel wasplete now that the armada had passed by.


    Helplessness like a bucket of cold sewage hit Matt and stunned him.


    He wanted to have an answer, but there was nothing he could do.


    He had to hope that his senior Ascender really did have a n.


    ***


    Far below the surface of the waters, where light had not shone for millions of years, a great and terrible monster rested. <em>It</em> was weary, for while its domain was invite, the terrible beast had been worn down from contests for its territory. And now, one more such contest arose. Far, far above itsir, above the ck waters, above the sea¡¯s stormy surface, beyond the sky and beyond the stars themselves it came.


    An armada approached, its wake sending ripples everywhere. Most petered out, lost into the void of space but a scant few made it into the unfathomable depths where <em>it</em> noticed. Explorers and conquerors ventured upon uncharted waters, unaware or uncaring of the dangers which lurked below. Their arrival was not unnoticed, and the echoes of their passage reached the terror in the depths. <em>It</em> stirred from its slumber, awaking.


    Aiden opened his eyes, looking to the battleground above. A wide, unsettling predatory smile stretched across his face as he prepared for the fight of his life.

 Chapter 331

    Emmanuel stared at the projection of himself, ensuring that everything was perfectly in ce. The three dimensional reflection turned, cycling through multiple poses as he studied every fold, every wrinkle of the outfit with the best senses in the Realm. It all had to be perfect. <em>He</em> had to be perfect.


    Well, in truth, perfection to the degree he was demanding of himself <em>wasn¡¯t</em> required, but there were few things as official as a full war summit with all eight Great Rulers present. He wasn¡¯t just the representative of the entire Empire in such affairs, but the Empire <em>itself</em>. And he would be doing it a disservice by presenting anything less than his very best in all things.


    Eventually he was satisfied, and he stepped away from the mirror. Changing his Talents away from the hyper-sense set he had been using, he teleported down to the entryway of his private kitchen where Carissa was just preparing to eat a meal. He could have walked, but doing so would have deprived him of time with his wife. It didn¡¯t matter how small of a time; every moment was precious, and the bit of mundanity helped settle his nerves.


    The two of them enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together, only lightly spoiled by the tension Emmanuel felt. No matter how well he managed to hide it, his wife could always sense it.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to be okay,¡± was the first thing she said on the topic, once their lighter fare had been exhausted. ¡°You <em>know</em> that. <em>We¡¯re</em> going to be okay. It¡¯s just a war, we¡¯ve been through worse, no matter what happens today. You have ns in ce in case it¡¯s a loss. That was always the likeliest option. Deep breath.¡±


    Emmanuel took a deep, steadying breath. ¡°I know. I know. I just¡­¡±


    ¡°You wish it could be you.¡±


    He nodded, his hand absently making its way to his wrist, letting it rest upon the Anchor wrapped around it. ¡°Things are so much easier when it¡¯s my life on the line.¡±


    And not the fate of trillions of others, whose futures hung so precariously in the bnce.It had also been easier when the war was clearly going to end in failure. nned failure felt far different than chance. Assuming the kids turned around the Tier 25 bracket? If Aiden could win here, they might just win the war outright. The odds were abysmal, but he had hope, and that made everything so much harder.


    ¡°Let the battle maniacs be battle maniacs. You <em>know</em> Aiden would be scolding you if he knew your concern was about anything other than how incredible he¡¯ll look today, live or die. Focus on the future you can see, the future you can affect. That¡¯s what matters.¡±


    Emmanuel sighed. His wife was right, of course, and he ced a hand on her stomach and kissed her forehead. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you, too.¡±


    He strode out to the entryway of the imperial pce, making sure he greeted each of the myriad staff bustling about, be it for paperwork, maintenance, ¡®security,¡¯ or far more trivial things. He still had time, and the impact which a few seconds of politeness would have upon a Tier 4 far outweighed the supposed cost of the interaction.


    He flickered his Talents, getting a clearer picture of the other seven Tier 50s. None of them had arrived at the summit yet, but they had all entered Empire space at this point. Good. It would make his entrance more impressive.


    Allie¡¯s talent being revealed meant that he could stop being circumspect about the ability. He had <em>ways</em> to mitigate the innate ability for all Tier 50s to sense the direction and distance to other high-Tiers, though they could be inconvenient at times. But today, he didn¡¯t need to concern himself with it whatsoever.


    Between the space of one breath to another, Emmanuel vanished from the Capital and reappeared upon the Citadel.


    The sudden jump of him traversing nearly a quarter-way across the entire Empire would not go unnoticed, and that was entirely intentional. He was the representative of each and every citizen, and he would present their best. Their strongest shield. And, if necessary, their sharpest de. In fact, he had a Tier 25 de ready to be Tiered up to Tier 51 which, with a bit of surprise, should almost ensure a serious wound on any single other leader. But he was hoping he wouldn''t have to use it this early. That would kick off a true war just as surely as Matt¡¯s Talent would, and they weren''t ready for that yet.


    Rusty had already prepared him a briefing on the situation, and Manny quickly parsed and digested all of the information within an instant of his arrival. He attempted to reach out to Aiden, but the Ascender unsurprisingly refused his call.


    Well, the man was the star of today. He wouldn¡¯t push his messages through if he didn¡¯t wish to talk.


    Things looked good, though.


    The local economy was starting to stagnate with how brutal the war had been, but that was to be expected, and Rusty was managing everything well on his end. There were seven elite Tier 35 armies in ce on the fortress world- Aiden having refused their assistance- and ready to be deployed at a moment¡¯s notice either to help Aiden or help the en-route Guild Tier 35 armies which would help dislodge the captured Tier 35 armies. Theary defenses were fully charged, and if worst came to worst¡­ Well, if the <em>worst</em> happened, and Aiden wasn¡¯t able to so much as take Maya or Yun Me out ofmission, they would be in trouble. But more reasonably, they could withstand the more normal armies for a while yet.


    Specifically, they could withstand the more normal armies long enough for their Guild reinforcements, en route through some less-traveled Chaotic Space paths, to arrive and help them rout the assembled forces. To help maintain the element of surprise, even Rusty and Emmanuel didn¡¯t know when they¡¯d arrive, but it could be anywhere from a day to a month out.


    Naturally, there were a whole host of hidden and not-so-hidden stations scattered throughout the Citadel, most of which were clearly set up as viewing houses for what promised to be the most climactic battle of the millennia. The only one he cared about, though, and one of the hardest to find, was L, who would soon be hosting¡­ nearly every Ascender in the Realm not actively fighting in this war. <em>Lovely</em>. He already saw Cosmind slipping away from near the Republic convoy, and the others were due to arrive fairly soon.


    Still, it was nothing to concern himself with. He was uncertain how many of his fellow leaders knew the degree to which all of their Ascenders associated with one another, but it had proved a stable situation. And L, being the highest Tier of them all, could easily keep the rest in line if it came down to it. It wasn¡¯t like their little meetups prevented them from fighting to the death the moment the means and motive arose, so none of the Tier 50s historically cared to intervene.


    Instead, he relocated himself to a specially-preparedoid where the war summit would convene. It wasn¡¯t <em>officially</em> the end of the war yet, but when Virgil had proposed that the summit ought to ur alongside the Citadel fight, it was clear what she had been thinking. With Winter Ho¡¯s immediate seconding of the proposal, Emmanuel suspected it to be primarily fueled by a desire to watch the fight in person.


    Unsurprisingly, the somewhat upbeat mood he had been feeling was spoiled the moment Virgil opened her mouth, which she did the moment the other Tier 50s arrived next to him.


    ¡°We can ept your unconditional surrender now and save you the trouble of losing your final trump card.¡±


    <em>As if</em>.


    ¡°I daresay that Aiden would never forgive me if I deprived him of this fight, Virgil. He¡¯s been looking forward to it for quite some time, and I have faith that he might yet pull through. Ascenders are¡­ so unpredictable, yet I have faith in mine.¡±


    He looked out at the soon-to-be battlefield. ¡°It is not my duty to be a parent to my citizens. I give them what I can, and they return what <em>they</em> can out of gratitude. It¡¯s a degree of loyalty, I¡¯ve found, which no amount of lies and torture can quite replicate.¡±


    It was perhaps a fair bit closer to a breach of decorum than he would normally have gone for, but his ability to actually <em>feel</em> what she¡¯d done to her ¡°children¡± had <em>irritated</em> him.


    J¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion, but Virgil¡¯s eyes glowed slightly brighter in anger. ¡°I retract my offer of surrender. You clearly must be taught a lesson in humility. We shall see whose faith in their children is warranted.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I suppose we shall.¡±


    ***


    Cami held Medea¡¯s hand as they watched the armada near Aiden. Her pseudo father figure had told them not to worry, and Medea was putting up a good front, projecting pride and only a hint of nervousness, but Cami could practically feel the worry radiating off the much, much higher-Tier. Or¡­ maybe it was just reflecting off her?


    She sure as shit was nervous for Aiden no matter how he tried to cate her.


    Cami tried to return thefort as best she could, but she didn¡¯t think she was doing a good job. Aiden was strong, but the forces arrayed against him seemed insurmountable.


    Medea took a long drink of water, thenid a tentacle reassuringly over Cami¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It will be ok. It will all be ok. He¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ll all be fine.¡±


    Cami could only hope she was right.


    ***


    L uncoiled as she felt a massive armada appear in Chaotic Space, doing her best to not betray the intense eagerness she felt. Instead, she kept her bodynguage casual as she buried her trueir and created a much less magnificent, but still <em>quite</em> luxurious sandstone cavern to prepare for guests. She hadn¡¯t yed host for the full group for millennia, before anyone here had graduated, but she still knew the proper way to do things.


    Unsurprisingly, Max was the first to arrive. The Corporations woman opened her exit gate in L¡¯s entry hall, miming a knock on the wall as she stepped through.


    ¡°Maxine,¡± L purred in greeting, not bothering to hide her amusement. ¡°It¡¯s been too long. Come in, make yourselffortable. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love what I¡¯ve done with the ce.¡±


    Max sted L with a yful [Firebolt], the mes sshing off her scales, then broke out in a smile. ¡°I¡¯m the first to arrive, then.¡±


    ¡°Unless Sien felt like being tricksy, but I think she¡¯s still on her way.¡±


    ¡°She is,¡± Max confirmed as the pair returned to L¡¯s main hall. She picked her chair out trivially and sank into it with the perfect blend of obvious rxation and perfect poise, epting a drink from one of L¡¯s summons and sipping at it appreciatively. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. This is <em>much</em> nicer than myst visit was.¡±


    L grinned. ¡°I could show you the ¡®room¡¯ you stayed inst time, if you¡¯re feeling nostalgic.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± a new voice sounded. ¡°Are we teasing Max about the time you absolutely <em>trounced</em> her and she had to go begging to daddy for a bailout?¡±


    Max chuckled, ¡°Personally, I was just thinking about the first time you saw me and you tripped all over your own feet, Ollie. Biggestpliment you¡¯ve ever given me, finding me so stunning that <em>the great</em> One Step Behind forgot how to run.¡±


    Olivier blurred to a stop in his own chair, propping his feet up on a nearby table and somehow already on his third drink. ¡°Memory tricks are cheating. ¡®Course I¡¯d forget how to walk when <em>you¡¯re</em> involved.¡±


    He frowned as he processed his own words. ¡°Wait. Not like that.¡±


    Max shot L a triumphant nce. ¡°So, anyone want to bet on who¡¯s next to show up?¡±


    ¡°<em>No</em>,¡± L and Olivier said in unison.


    ¡°Spoilsports,¡± Max said over her drink. ¡°It¡¯s going to be the quartet.¡±


    ¡°Really? <em>How?</em> Are they hitching a ride with their boss? I figured they were fifty-fifty on outright missing this entirely,¡± Olivier noted.


    ¡°Ask them yourselves,¡± Max waved towards the entryway, and L went to check on their newest arrivals. She made it a few moments before a ck bird skeleton swooped in, its eyes alit with ghastly blue mes. It chirped at her, and L weed it in.


    The bird swooped in and perched on a railing on the second floor, overlooking the main foyer. A momentter, Brian sent her a message asking if she had a few extra corpses around, ¡°preferably humanoid and preferably Tier 40 or less.¡±


    A minuteter, On The Last Line was settling into their four temporary bodies, all of them the skeletal remains of the tallest orcs L still had in her repertoire. Sometimes, it was the pettiest little things that counted.


    ¡°Did you sign Maya up for a bunch of spam?¡± Ellen used Max as soon as her mouth was working. The skeleton¡¯s voice was a bit tinny and rattly, but considering they were probably all bodily still in <em>n</em> space, it was still an impressive feat of magic, especially for a Tier 35. Brian had really outdone himself with histest trick.


    ¡°Whyever would you think I did?¡± Max responded, perfectly innocently.


    ¡°Because Maya¡¯s convinced that <em>I</em> did it, and I¡¯ve been dealing with actual bugsing in through my AI for years now. Like, I open a message and suddenly I¡¯m covered in spiders. If I¡¯m going to be the one taking the penalty for messing with her, I at <em>least</em> want to know that it¡¯s <em>worth it!</em>¡±


    ¡°Oh, my dear Ellen. Do you really think I¡¯d do something like that?¡± the Chosen asked, her face a perfectly-sculpted picture of innocence.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯d be right.¡±


    Ellen threw up a skeletal hand. ¡°I knew it!¡±


    ¡°But <em>this</em> time it wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°Then who-¡±


    ¡°It was Brian,¡± Max cut off the Legend.


    Ellen whirled around so fast that her arm fell off, its finger now pointing usingly at L. A few motes of sand pushed the skeletal appendage a bit further such that it was aimed at Olivier, currently polishing off his seventeenth drink, instead of her. She wanted no part in this.


    Ellen tried and failed to berate her teammate for his deception, but the necromancer wasughing too hard for any of it to stick. The literally bone-rattlingughter was rather contagious, and L found herself unable to hold back a grin at the pair of skeletons bickering.


    L¡¯s good mood onlysted so long, before the next two arrivals spoiled it. A streak of red and blue resolved itself into a red dragon just outside L¡¯sir before she parted the veil around the entrance and let Gideon and Evorn inside. Immediately, Evorn started sting his bloodline presence all over the ce, but with Sien still en route and Brian necromantically projecting his teammates, L was the only one to feel it.


    She didn¡¯t let it affect her, though. Even a full rank on her bloodline wasn¡¯t enough to ovee the four Tier gap that she had on the Monster Collective¡¯s pride and joy. Not acknowledging him was the best way to keep Max from ribbing her about it, though. Probably. Maybe. Instead, she focused on theparatively tiny man disengaging himself from between two of the dragon¡¯s spines and leaping down to the ground. ¡°Gideon. Excellent to see you. I trust your flight was satisfactory?¡±


    ¡°Aye, ¡®E¡¯s a good flier,¡± Gideon patted Evorn¡¯s side with a wink. ¡°Are we thest to arrive?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still waiting on Sien. She should be here any minute.¡±


    Evorn redoubled the pressure of his bloodline, hardening the full might of his elder dragon status in an attempt to get L to acknowledge him, yet unwilling to simply <em>talk</em> first and admit he so desperately wanted her attention. In response, she hardened her own bloodline into a spike, newly refined and reinforced thanks to the steady supply of dragon¡¯s blood she¡¯d been receiving, and shot back, piercing her fellow dragon¡¯s bloodline presence like a balloon and prompting him to withdraw it¡­ politely.


    Evorn stumbled slightly and snorted a re of bright blue sma. ¡°You¡¯ve been refining your bloodline! Are you finally acknowledging my path was the superior one?¡±


    ¡°Someone needs to show you how to use a dragon¡¯s presence <em>properly</em>,¡± she shot back.


    ¡°I ship it!¡± Max yelled from the other room. L turned her chair to sand, but the woman formed a recement out of her Domain, never moving even a hair.


    The three of them rejoined the rest of the Ascenders in the main hall. Evorn must have been feeling particrly testy, as he didn¡¯t change into his humanoid form but instead kept his shape as a¡­rge dragon. L narrowed her eyes at him, then swatted him with the tip of her tail, staggering him and dispelling the subtle size-increasing skill he¡¯d cast upon himself, scattering the extra mass like so much sand that sank into the invisible seams of the polished floor and vanished.


    He grunted, but didn¡¯t protest. Max nearly said something, but L cut her off, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare. <em>I</em> stayed out of the mess with you and Charl.¡±


    Olivier blew a raspberry. ¡°Please, Charl was <em>so much worse</em>. Went out like a punk, too.¡±


    ¡°Hear, hear!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll drink to that!¡± Krodag chimed in.


    ¡°Bottle, you¡¯d drink to <em>anything</em>.¡±


    ¡°<em>I¡¯ll</em> drink to not going out like a punk.¡± Gideon raised the ss Olivier handed him. ¡°Speaking of punks, actually, no Wun today?¡±


    Ellen shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s delving.¡±


    ¡°<em>Still</em>? Man, he¡¯s gonna be <em>peeved</em> he¡¯s missing this. What, did he take a nap or something in the middle of the rift?¡±


    ¡°It would be entirely in keeping with his character,¡± Sien added.


    ¡°Bloody hell!¡± Olivier jumped out of his chair, bouncing off the ceiling but still managing a gracefulnding before he took his seat, relocating such that he was on the far side of the room from the newest arrival, taking a deep drink from his thirty-ninth refill. ¡°Warn a guy before you give him a heart attack, would you!¡±


    ¡°¡®Sup, Sien,¡± Max smiled warmly. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, or at least a clone. How are the twins?¡±


    ¡°Most marvelous. They have been having an excellent time whetting themselves against the youngest Masters, and have learned many new tricks for their own use. One of them is so inventive, I imagine I might begin to use it myself.¡± The Sect woman¡¯s shadow returned to her, carrying with it a drink from the other room, before returning to being two-dimensional.


    ¡°Oh yeah! The new kids. Whaddya all think of them?¡± Krodag pitched in, ¡°Haven¡¯t been able to check em out myself yet.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re full of fire and passion, brilliant little embers fresh from the forge,¡± Sien responded after a moment. ¡°Though Titan remains somewhat over-focused on victory, and quite protective of his team.¡±


    ¡°Psshh. Their first loss was to a sniper, of course he¡¯s gonna be tetchy about it.¡±


    ¡°Sniping is an entirely valid branch ofbat. It requires tremendous skill and patience¡± Evorn countered. ¡°Disdaining the strengths of another due to personal preference is unbing of an Alpha.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not a fun one, on either end of the arrow.¡±


    ¡°Gun, in this case.¡± Sien conceded.


    ¡°Even worse! Doesn¡¯t even take strength to send the projectile. So impersonal.¡±


    ¡°Hmph,¡± Evorn conceded. ¡°Though the boy remains far too concerned with the wellbeing of flicker-lives. He has been far too coddled if that alone was sufficient for his current temperament.¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not <em>that</em> bad,¡± Krodag waved him off, ¡°That guy¡­ Stone, yeah? He was his¡­ mentor or something?¡±


    ¡°Sponsor and mentor, yes.¡± L confirmed.


    ¡°Exactly! Kid was an orphan, that practically made that guy family. I don''t see an issue. Not unless we want to hold Olivier¡¯s rampage against <em>him</em>?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t weigh us down in petty bickering,¡± Evorn huffed, ¡°But I have serious concerns about what Titan¡¯s current behaviors indicate for their suitability to join this group. It would not be the first time that an Alpha¡¯s attitude proved¡­ <em>unsuitable</em> formonpany, after all. Wouldn¡¯t you agree, Max?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you <em>just</em> say we¡¯re not going to bicker? Come on man!¡±


    ¡°Dragon.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still a man. Eh, L?¡±


    L began to growl, but Sien settled the debate with a wave of her hand, ¡°Titan <em>certainly</em> is not a new Charl. He is quite affable and agreeable when not grieving. He simply requires a bit more time, distance, and perhaps some vengeance to settle his spirit. We can reassess once the war has drawn to a close if you insist upon such a course of action, but <em>I</em> doubt that such deliberation will be required.¡±


    ¡°Did ya hear the rumors that they might be looking to buy Allie to retirement?¡± Olivier asked, hard-pivoting the conversation to something less contentious. ¡°Does it make ya jealous, Max?¡±


    ¡°I see no reason to be jealous of another¡¯s sess,¡± the Corporation woman replied. ¡°Allie¡¯s abilities are quite well-suited for a buyout, and her ability to magnify the force of others isn¡¯t to be understated. With a second Chosen team at her Tier, it¡¯s simply too great a risk to let stand. Were I in their position, I¡¯d buy her out too.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± L prompted with a toothy grin.


    ¡°Of <em>course</em> she had to show me up! I was plenty dangerous, they just didn¡¯t properly appreciate how dangerous because <em>you</em> managed to capture me! One damn time!¡± she pointed usingly at L, strands of her hair lighting up and twisting themselves into floating fractal-like configurations. ¡°I me you! Half the reason I dyed as long as I did after they made the offer was just to emphasize how much of an impact I could have, and now nobody¡¯s going to be talking about me! They¡¯re going to be talking about the youngest buyout in a million years that happened less than a full generation after me! Spoilsports, that¡¯s what they are. A Chosen kill is way more impressive than a dozen-odd pinnacle kills anyway. And why couldn¡¯t they have given any of <em>us</em> an epic three-Great-Power team up group to fight against? That would have been <em>so cool</em>.¡±


    Max reclined back into her seat with a harumph, though L could hear her continued grumblings about how it wasn¡¯t fair.


    ¡°The kids are doing better than we probably woulda, at least,¡± Moe tossed in. ¡°Helluva good fights.¡±


    ¡°Lug! You wound me.¡± Brian paused, spinning his skull on the tip of his finger to rece it on his spine. ¡°I would have <em>loved</em> to have such high-quality material! Do you know what I could have done with the bodies of a dozen pinnacles?¡±


    ¡°Die while collecting them?¡±


    ¡°That!... Only happened <em>once</em>.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, against a single assassin, and then I had to go get revenge fer you. But I¡¯ve been lookin¡¯ at that Gan Le fellow, I¡¯m not sure if even I coulda broken through that armor spell o¡¯ his. Shame he didn¡¯ ¡®ush ¡®ough and go all the way.¡±


    ¡°The might of a well-honed Sect technique <em>is</em> certainly enough to withstand the full strength of¡­ a musclebound hunk whose bicep isrger than his brain.¡± Sien preened.


    Moe flexed, though the effect was somewhat spoiled on ount of having no muscles. ¡°Why thankee.¡±


    ¡°My words were not intended as apliment, you simple-minded fool.¡±


    ¡°Sien. Are you <em>still</em> embarrassed about your inability to figure out a fear deeper than ¡®muscr atrophy¡¯ for my teammate?¡± Ellen teased, ¡°Because I assure you, Lug is <em>very</em> scared of many things. Like mice. And grasshoppers. And rabbits.¡±


    ¡°There is a seed of falsehood within that statement.¡± Sien¡¯s red eyes narrowed, ¡°And I daresay I find the implications that there is predominantly <em>truth</em> within your words rather disturbing.¡±


    With a flick of her tail, L transmuted the ceiling and far wall to ss, reorienting them such that they could see where Aiden emerged into the space above a gas giant.


    ¡°As the strongest retiree,¡± At Evorn¡¯s snort she snapped her tail at him, cutting through flesh and bone alike, but didn¡¯t pause or let the action modte her tone. ¡°I announce the opening of bets. Major bets close the moment the first spell flies. Secondary bets then open.¡±


    She smiled as the group devolved into chaos.


    Win or lose, she knew Aiden wouldn¡¯t disappoint.


    ***


    Aiden watched as the ships floated forward through space into their battleground, halfway between the ring of inhabiteds and the fortress world.


    This fight would be messy, and Aiden didn¡¯t wish to break the fortress world if he could avoid doing so.


    He didn¡¯t bother to hide the smirk as he inspected the regalia that painted the side of each of the ships.


    It was so cute.


    Wanting to mock them, he threw up a cartoon rendition of his wife¡¯s leviathan form out of sea foam. When the tentacles started making lewd shapes, he looked up like he was as shocked as everyone else.


    The ships spread out halfway, encircling him before they disgorged his opponents.


    There were the normal armies off in the distance, of course. They were a <em>long</em> ways off, further than he could easily reach and unlikely to make much of a difference in this fight, but they were there. Most of them didn¡¯t even have Aspects, and if he ever got to them, there would be <em>blood</em> in the water. But as far as they were, their presence was already being felt within his spirit, the pressure of the depths weighing upon him, afortable nket that steadied his hands and quickened his mind.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition.


    As he watched, the fifteen armies spread out, surrounding him in every direction like a sphere- ah, no, not a sphere. That became obvious as bands of sparkling crimson stretched out between the armies, as well as five seemingly empty points, prompting Aiden to look closer at those five points. Two of the vertices had a single person- a man and woman in Sect clothing, specifically. One vertex had a trio of women, probably from the Republic, with hands linked. One had a Federation-like spherical ship, and the final one was¡­ genuinely empty.


    That one was probably best left alone. At <em>best</em> it was baiting him.


    Aiden watched the crimson bands stretch across the ck sky with a mixture of curiosity and apathy. Nothing thatrge could <em>directly</em> affect him, thanks to [Embody Flotsam], but he recast the spell just to be sure. They probably knew that, too, so this was probably just some kind of cage.


    That suspicion was confirmed a momentter, as the magic took hold. It was remarkably unsubtlepared to some of Maya¡¯s workings, but subtlety wasn¡¯t the point. The point was, among a few other effects, keeping him from running away. They could cast magic in, but nothing inside could leave until the fight was decided.


    As if he¡¯d leave before the fight was won.


    Aiden downed a potion as he waited, feeling the strength course through him. Spells cast upon him earlier came into full effect, his armor shimmered with the full power of the maintenance that had been performed on it, and his willpower steadied and smoothed.


    Then he turned his attention to his opponents.


    Maya was already in full armor, glowing gold and silver with power, well rested and well prepared. That was good. He didn¡¯t want to face her at anything less than her best. Violet eyes gleamed out eagerly from beneath her helmet, golden hair spilling out around her neck like a halo. There was a bit of a spring in her spiritual step, showing she was just as excited about this as he was.


    Yun Me was as serious as ever next to her. The Unyielding Anvil¡¯s armor was in some ways uncharacteristic of the Sect¡¯s normal preference for skill-based protections, but it had been through as many wars as she had. Yet it showed scars from almost none of them. As much as she may have been a terminal bore as a person, fights against her were delightful in their simplicity. She had entire schools of fighting styles based off her, for what she did was replicable by just about anyone.


    She had no great secret to her sess beyond being <em>fiendishly</em> difficult to kill. She¡¯d fought against and honed her skills against practically every Ascender and pinnacle elite from the past¡­ million-ish years. Her Domain was, second only to his own of course, the best one Aiden had ever seen. It was vast and imposing, nigh unassable and as focused as the spear gripped in her hand.


    She regarded him coolly, and Aiden felt the woman¡¯s killing intentnd upon him. It wasn¡¯t as focused as he¡¯d felt ite from her before, and it became blunted and diffuse within the depths, as Aiden¡¯s Domain kept it from snuffing out his spirit.


    Grinning, he turned his attention to the rune kids.


    He hadn¡¯t fought them yet, but their reputation preceded them, carving a swath through Empire battlefields, and their weaker¡­ siblings, he guessed, serving as a powerful squad hassling the newer Ascenders. He¡¯d heard a lot about the horrible experiments done upon their bodies, the way their spirits had grown around runes carved into their bones before their Awakening, and sure, that was awful and everything¡­ but it was their <em>Domains</em> which captured his attention.


    Something was <em>off</em> about them.


    Oh, they were powerful all right, <em>fantastically</em> powerful even, not some new pdash Aspect just settling into its might like a tiny little stream which Duke Waters could dam up with his just his Intent. No, they had the strength of a rushing river, old, powerful, imposing, and mighty. Incredibly synergistic, too, with each of the soldiers slotting into a greater whole. But there was just something <em>off</em> about it all. It wasn¡¯t too perfect, that wasn¡¯t a thing, but it felt a bit like looking at a bad illusion, one where everything was perfect in istion, but when taken as a whole, there was just the slightest disconnect between reality and artifice that manifested in an incredibly unsettling way.


    Then he realized. The rivers of their Domain¡¯s weren¡¯t¡­ real. They were more like artificial facsimiles, a machine masquerading as a living thing, a phenomenal sculpture down to the smallest detail, powerful, imposing, and <em>utterly dead</em>. The Domains in front of him couldn¡¯t grow, couldn¡¯t change. They were locked forever into their current state, and he suspected they would never be capable of growth beyond their Aspects, with Authorities and beyond forever out of their reach.


    They were powerful Aspects, for sure. Metal and resin were stronger than soil and water, and these artificial Domains drew strength from the rigidity and immenseplexity present. But he doubted that they could even use their full strength. What were their Domains like to use? Were they¡­ following some predetermined course, <em>discovering</em> new uses for their Domains rather than growing it in ordance with their spirits¡¯ true desires?


    The thought made him shiver. These weren¡¯t true cultivators. They were more like spiritual golems, weapons forged for a singr purpose and designed to be discarded afterwards. He¡¯d be ttered if he weren¡¯t so disturbed.


    Nheless, he had been given another Ascender, a pseudo Ascender, and now two groups of specially made rune soldiers that, if he wasn¡¯t off with his guess, had been personally created by a <em>Tier 50</em>, to fight. Twenty two of the best fighters in the war, all assembled just for him.


    What a delightful present he¡¯d been given.


    He hoped it would be as fun once the wrapping was taken off.


    The rune soldiers needed to die, mostly for their own sake. He¡¯d <em>like</em> to be able to spare Maya, because then he could hold it over her head forever, but if she died that was on her. Yun Me, he¡¯d settle for cracking her Domain and consigning her to a few thousand years of recuperation. He¡¯d seen her be crushed by a fully-buffed Moe, and while she¡¯d been bruised, she¡¯d <em>survived</em>. Nothing he had could exceed that.


    But a <em>capture</em> could be delightful, and was far more possible.


    Maybe he¡¯d give Manny that great big shield she was pointing at him.


    Yeah, that would work.


    Twiddling his fingers, he waved at them.


    Some fairlyrge spells came at him from the arena¡¯s maintainers, peppering him with spells of immense power while his <em>actual</em> foes closed the distance, but Aiden didn¡¯t move a muscle. He was deeper within the Depths now than he¡¯d ever been before, where the water was pitch-ck and constantly lying. Very few even came close to striking him, and those which did Aiden simply called upon the ebb and flow of the ocean, deflecting them away from himself and to the crimson shield. Unfortunately, the attack, originating from outside the arena, left it just as easily. But <em>fortunately</em>, the attacks sank into the swirling depths of the gas giant behind him.


    Rusty had said that he¡¯d personally put back together anything destroyed during this fight, and Aiden <em>really</em> wanted to see if he couldn¡¯t get his enemies to inadvertently scatter the, just so he could make the Royal fix it. But sadly, they weren¡¯t quite strong enough to wreck the in its entirety Instead, their spells caused deeper swirls of gasses to bubble up to the surface, forming massive storms that began to crawl across the¡¯s upper atmosphere.


    Well, there was plenty of time to go.


    The spells cut off as the battle properly began, as the attacks were just as likely to interfere with <em>their</em> team as him, and Aiden mentally scoped out some ways he might be able to slip close enough to the armies caging him in to wreak havoc on them, after he did something impressive.


    For the moment, he simply floated, bobbing up and down slightly and weaving a few strands of pitch-ck water between his hands. Then he shed out with his fingers, forming a pair of massive crescents of water that crashed forward as he was propelled backwards.


    His grin turned feral as Yun Me moved to intercept one, and Aiden smiled as the [Water sh]es burst into the finest rain.


    The pitter-patter of water droplets sounded like the hail of so many bullets, striking with immense force as Yun Me raised her shield, yet ultimately failing to move her. Plenty of the droplets snuck past the shield though, pinging into her armor and drawing a re of green light with each impact. Beyond that, a hail of rain flew far enough to strike the far crimson wall, but it failed to have any meaningful impact.


    The second scythe of water had been turned into a bow by Maya, and she nocked an arrow upon it and fired it back at him. It turned into water and coiled around Aiden¡¯s forearm like a bracer. He looked at it, studying it like it was a particrly nice piece of jewelry.


    ¡°Why Maya, you shouldn¡¯t have. I didn¡¯t get anything nice for <em>you</em>.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d ept your head,¡± she shot back.


    ¡°Now <em>that¡¯s</em> something I¡¯d have to clear with my wife.¡±


    One of the rune soldiers sneered, ¡°So this is what the great Duke Waters has been reduced to? A sniveling worm, begging for clemency from his executioners?¡±


    ¡°First off, I don¡¯t know <em>how</em> that¡¯s what you got out of that, but <em>no</em>, I do not beg.¡± Aiden kept his eyes fixed on each of his enemies, preparing for the <em>real </em>fight to break out. ¡°Second off, that¡¯s a <em>lotta</em> talk for someone quaking in their boots. Trying to put up a brave face for mommy?¡±


    ¡°There is no shame in fearing for one¡¯s safety,¡± Yun Me finally spoke. ¡°The soldier who stands his ground against a foe he fears is to bemended above one who fearlessly charges headlong into that which he knows is a futile fight.¡±


    Oh, Aiden knew <em>all</em> about fear. Mostly secondhand, but it still counted. ¡°Fear is the antithesis of fun, and I <em>know</em> I¡¯m going to enjoy this.¡±


    ¡°So it is true, then.¡± A different rune soldier, from the other group if their squad insignias were any indication spoke to him with an usatory tone, ¡°You truly are a monster who delights in the suffering of others. A dragon, cruel and vindictive.¡±


    ¡°You people have <em>very</em> interesting understandings of what words mean. Is your trantor broken?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that their AI says that everything just means ¡®look, I¡¯m evil,¡¯¡± Maya faux-whispered. ¡°But in their defense, <em>you</em> were the one who decided to center your Domain on <em>drowning people</em>. That <em>is</em> kinda psychotic.¡±


    ¡°Ohe on, you <em>know</em> that-¡± in the blink of an eye, a massive [Seafoam Breaker] sprang up into existence, filling the space between him and his enemies and rushing outwards. As each bubble of the foam struck something and popped, it brought with it a shaped explosion aimed exclusively at whatever it hit that also carried a slight slowing effect. Neither the explosion nor the slow was particrly effective, but en masse they became <em>quite</em> potent.


    ¡°Charge!¡± While it was one of the rune soldiers who said it, it was Yun Me who was the first one to reach him. She burst through the wall of seafoam seemingly in slow motion, and Aiden kicked his feet to pull him out of the path of the questing spear.


    A violet fireball shot out at him, and when he tried to extinguish it, it simply lit [Washing A-Wave] on fire, forcing him to drop the spell. [Whirlpool] managed to deflect it, but only barely. Right behind it, a spear crackling with lightning and a wickedly sharp icicle shot out as well, so Aiden dove to dodge those with a jaunty whistle.


    A momentter, Maya¡¯s voice rang out through the void and struck at Aiden¡¯s core, ¡°<strong>Be Serious Now</strong>.¡±


    Aiden felt his yful mood vanish along with his bubbles and frowned at the application of her rules. He had never seen her affect something so tangential before. And, as a fellow Ascender, that was just <em>rude</em>.


    But if she thought just forcing him to shift mental gears was going to slow him down, Aiden was going to sorely disabuse her of that.


    He could be serious when he wanted to. They just wouldn''t like the results. He had wanted to y with his food a little, but no longer.


    ¡°<strong>Then Be Washed Away</strong>.¡±


    The rip currents of the depths were not to be underestimated, and his Aspect held the full might of them. Everything around him, other than Yun Me, was pushed away, in a ripple of movement that threw a good handful of them against the walls of the arena. Maya was apparently just an illusion, and faded upon hitting the wall, but until she reappeared, he just needed to focus on Yun Me.


    ¡°Your efforts are futile,¡± she informed him. ¡°I have seen the rise and fall of countless would-be heroes much like your beloved emperor. Even if you win today, this dynasty is doomed, as the very benevolence which has lead to your rise will cause your people to overstretch, granting weapons to those who wish to see itid low. You fight for something flickering and ephemeral, surely to pass within a generation.¡±


    He summoned a rope of water to bind Yun Me¡¯s spear, twisting it away from his torso. A flick of his hand sent salty spray into her eyes, but they burned with vigor as they stared into his spirit. A binding made of seaweed appeared in his off hand, and he tossed it over the woman. She struck her shield with the butt of her spear, and the sound of a gong rang out, deflecting the back onto him. The seaweed passed him by as he phased through it, and a hammer of water came down on Yun Me, but she angled her shield and the attack was simply deflected off of it.


    The first rune soldier reached Aiden, charging in with a sword nearly as tall as he was in his hands, shing out with a Domain-backed and modified [Mana sh] while another shot a barrage of yellowish-green toxic ice at Aiden.


    The sword was harder to deal with, but while the attack effortlessly cut through a [Flotsam], cutting a giant piece of driftwood in half just meant he got hit by <em>two</em> big pieces of driftwood, and [Tidal Wave] carried it and the swordsman away from him. The icicles he had to deflect with an [Abyssal Ation], but before he could take advantage of the shift in pace, Maya tried to forcibly swap his position with one of his decoys as it was being surrounded by a trio of rune soldiers.


    It took considerable effort to resist the change, which bought them enough time for Yun Me to get within melee range.


    Her spear blurred, splitting into a dozen branching points that effortlessly popped Aiden¡¯s [Bubble Shield]. Maya had cast a spell to reinforce the attack, trying to make it also injure his <em>domain</em>, but Aiden rode the wave by making his physical form pop like a bubble as well, moving himself to a spare drop of water a mile away.


    His popping form sprayed a mass of water, soaking Yun Me and the swordsman, who had teleported to close the distance. Thetter¡¯s spiky blond hair was sopping wet for a moment, but in defiance of the way that wet hair <em>should</em> behave, stood itself on end right afterwards.


    Wet hair was supposed to fall down, Aiden thought, it was cheating to do anything else.


    A bit of his hair, drifting slightly out of time from his head yet still within his helmet, was severed as he ducked. Maya showed herself, swinging her sword once again, which Aiden met with a tentacle of water. Then another, and another, overwhelming her sword. Maya turned the water into thick golden chains, Aiden covered the chains in water, then spit.


    The water shot forward with the full force of an arrow, connecting with Maya¡¯s helmet with a <em>ng</em>. Her head flinched back slightly, then the chains connecting them animated and moved to ensnare Aiden.


    A spearpoint dug into Aiden¡¯s shoulder as Yun Me closed the distance, and a st of purple mes enveloped his sight. [Water Spirit] disengaged him, forcing him to leave behind the magic he¡¯d been working with Maya and spend some additional mana on [Waters of Life] to heal the wound in his shoulder.


    Yun Me was hard to move, and he leaned into that, turning the ssh of water into a pressuring lock and keeping her from moving. Then the water glimmered gold and became a fine blue robe, but Aiden had still managed to get behind the rune soldiers in the intervening time.


    A hail of [Water Bullet]s peppered the handful of Federation soldiers closest to him, but they dispersed into clouds of mist on the pearly-white shields springing from the wand of one of the group. That shield still let the water <em>in</em> though, and when he recalled it to himself, blood came with it as the soldiers were suddenly filled with tiny holes.


    He was almost surprised when it worked.


    But it opened up an opportunity for him, and he seized it. His Aspect reached out with the full might of a turbulent wave breaking on the shore, and the rune soldiers scattered. Aiden struck from below, skewering one soldier on his teammate¡¯s spear, whipping a violet fireball into the face of another, and using a [Water Whip] around the ankle of one to il him into the face of a friend. Blood poured liberally, and water forced its way into nostrils and into lungs. They scrambled, but Aiden was a shark in a school of fish. His attacks weren¡¯t killing, but they were definitely doing damage.


    How interesting.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s not often I see such a well-oiled machine. I¡ª¡±


    He couldn¡¯t finish the quip as Yun Me rudely interrupted him, ¡°Though they have their faults, they possess discipline and an understanding of the need for order. It is unsurprising that they irritate you, for they represent the antithesis of the ever-shifting, chaotic depths of the ocean. The inhospitable ce upon each which you call home. What do you suppose that says about your efforts, that you have no allies to assist you?¡±


    ¡°It says you either need to get better material orid. One or the other. Maybe both.¡± He gritted his teeth. Yun Me was surrounded by a fan of spears, each one a skill conjuration tipped by a razor-sharp golden leaf, and [Abyssal Ation] could barely deflect most of them as she thrust them in a well-practiced dance,nding more attacks than he wanted. An array of water whips surrounded him, snaking out between attacks to keep throwing the rune soldiers around. He wasn¡¯t able to hurt Yun Me at the same time, but he could <em>just about </em>keep his other enemies upied. But he saw an opening as she directed her spears, and a spinning [Water Chakram] promised to strike Yun Me in the throat.


    ¡°<strong>All the World is a Stage!</strong>¡± Maya vocalized, and the fight <em>twisted</em> oddly.


    Aiden felt himself vibrate for a moment as his attack turned from a real deadly strike into a prop. The circlet of water simply bounced off Yun Me and she fell to the floor, covering her head with the back of her hand in a dramatic tumble.


    He wanted to press his advantage, but he felt a danger loom as he started going off script. As he hadn¡¯t found the weak point of Maya¡¯s working yet, he dodged back and started monologuing.


    ¡°For I am undefeatable, and your petty tricks can not stop me!¡±


    He didn¡¯t know the story Maya had envisioned, but from his imnted impulses, he suspected he was the lead of a tragedy or the villian of a hero''s story. Either way, he was going to end up dead if he didn¡¯t break out.


    Maya was stacking the deck, or rather script, in their favor, but he could do the same.


    ¡°My minions and I will defeat all of you revolutionaries.¡± There was a twinge as he created two water guards at his side, but he wasn¡¯t truly breaking the script, not yet at least, so it allowed him to proceed.


    Unfortunately, he <em>couldn¡¯t</em> interfere with the wand wielding rune soldier twirling around as if taking part in a ballet, gently tapping the others and healing many of their worse wounds with small star effects.


    Aiden tried to call out the tantly off-script medical aid, but an invisible something closed around his throat and Domain, preventing the words from forming. The Yun Me on the ground had, at some point, been reced by a wooden dummy, and the real her bounded out of the shadows, rubber spear in hand.


    Aiden felt his body sway to dodge even without his direct effort, and he let himself be puppetered along to the director¡¯s whims. He could use this ¡®y¡¯ as a slight break in the battle to prepare himself, just as the other side could.


    Once the rune soldiers were healed up, they jumped forward in matching soldier uniforms, not dissimr to their actual armor, and in unison shouted, ¡°Halt, thou wicked dragon! Allow yourself to be in and the world to be cleansed of your blight.¡±


    ¡°Pound sand, assholes!¡± The stinging pain was worth the rebuttal.


    As he was surrounded, his water minions went down to the lightest of pokes and he cursed whatever story this was meant to be.


    Maya bounded out of the shadows and stood at his back, proiming, ¡°It is I, your dear wife who you thought had died in the fire, but Ie to your rescue at your greatest time of peril!¡±


    Aiden felt the will of the director trying to get him to lower his guard, but he threw his will into resisting.


    He had noticed the long dagger Maya was turning around, which gleamed in the stage light as the y wasing to its forgone conclusion.


    ¡°Yet here you are, once again within arms reach, for what harm will youe to, my¡­ dear Waters?¡± Her voice trailed off, then she stabbed him.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Aiden buckled over, realizing toote that the Stagew had been dropped as the story ended. ¡°What kind of y allows real knives?¡±


    ¡°The fun kind.¡±


    ¡°Fair point,¡± Aiden groaned through the pain, then burst into water, reforming on the other side of Maya. She in turn blinked out of existence, but Aiden managed to hitch a ride on her illusionary swap in the form of a few droplets of water, pulling him away from the absolutely massive attack the rune soldiers had set up.


    Maya dropped him off as soon as she realized he¡¯d tagged along, of course, but his goal had been achieved. Unfortunately, he noticed that while he¡¯d been locked in a y, even Yun Me and Maya had gotten touch-ups from dedicated magical healing, undoing much of the damage he¡¯d inflicted thus far.


    Aiden swatted out with a [Water Whip], wincing as the knife wound was inmed from the motion, but allowing the ostensibly five-foot long tendril of water to cover the multi-mile distance between him and the rune soldiers. It mmed into the mage responsible for the purple mes, but was dispersed into a thousand smaller pieces before it could manage much else.The droplets of water drifting through space would prove helpfulter, he was sure.


    He managed to reappear right next to the pyromancer, at least, and he formed a garrote of water and ice, spun it like a saw, and locked it around the neck of the soldier. Then, he created kelp bindings to keep him from breaking free¡­


    And Yun Me arrived before he could finish off the soldier.


    He narrowly leaned to the side enough for Yun Me¡¯s spear to only take him in the arm, but before he could properly get distance, a new Law mmed into the battlefield. ¡°<strong>We Are <em>Here</em></strong>.¡±


    Maya had used this Law a few times in previous fights. It hindered all movement intended to, well, move the person. The greater the movement, the greater the hindrance, and it handily shut down his ability to disce his location.


    He summoned a bar of water around his hand and hardened it with the full pressure of the deepest abyss,yering a host of spells onto the impromptu staff.


    Yun Me¡¯s spear thrust aimed for his head, but Aiden deflected it downward while using the momentum to twist and twirl. His stab brought an involuntary grunt, and he frowned. It was only a knife stab.


    He didn¡¯t have enough time to ponder it, as his spin brought him right into the path of a flurry of golden ribbons from Maya, passing through his armor as though it was nothing but an illusion, but slicing his left leg clean off. It stayed in ce thanks to his armor, and water reached out to reattach it to the rest of his body, but it felt jittery and partially illusionary.


    The rune soldier with an oversized sword had managed to get in range as well, but his attack didn¡¯t break through Aiden¡¯s armor. It <em>did</em> still¡­ break his arm, maybe? No, that was a dislocation.


    Water snaked up the sword¡¯s de, delivering a concentrated st of rusting magic to try and weaken the weapon, and then reached the man¡¯s arm, slipping underneath the man¡¯s armor and trying to break his limb.


    The bone held. There was maybe a slight amount of deformation, as though he was bending a steel bar instead of breaking a bone, but it held stubbornly.


    Aiden turned the water tether into a blender and pulped the man¡¯s flesh instead. He brought a waterfall down on the entire group, trying to give him a bit of breathing room, but Maya and Yun Me swiftly put a stop to that.


    [The Arm Of Ten Thousand Forests] had once been a simple wood aligned control spell, but over the ages and countless fights, she had turned the spell into a pseudo realm that created a semi-real forest around them.


    Once trapped within the spell, one would be attacked by the trees and Yun Me alike, but with Maya¡¯s help, the pseudo illusion turned into a real, true realm focused on Aiden. Combined with the earlierw, he wasn¡¯t able to just transpose himself out of the spell and his mind started to churn as he looked for the weak spot he knew the spell had.


    He didn¡¯t see one, but with Maya assisting, that wasn¡¯t a surprise.


    The coruscating water still fell upon all of them, and Aiden focused on <em>bending</em> the forest around him, ideally making an ocean, or ake, or¡­


    He got a pond.


    He still managed to dive in, using the water to protect him as the trees around him animated and began stabbing downwards. But in here, he was-


    A living lightning bolt mmed into him, the spear leaving a massive dent in his breastte and causing his limbs to involuntarily lock up. It vanished in a peal of thunder loud enough to cause actual damage, and then a pair of whips snapped in from nowhere to carve a furrow into his vambraces.


    He couldn¡¯t tell where the attacks came from, but wherever that was would be his ticket out.


    He¡¯d need to act quickly, though. The stab wound was just getting worse, none of his healing spells doing anything to it. A quick [Scrying Pool]ter, he understood the nature of the curse on it. The wound was destined to be lethal. He wasn¡¯t fated to survive it. That put a bit of a time limit on this, but he at least had some ideas as to how he could deny his fate.


    Letting his body move on autopilot and mostly dodge the plethora of iing attacks, Aiden turned his focus towards the realm Maya was making real.


    If she was working with someone else, she¡¯d have to make sure that the forest behaved <em>normally</em>, as trying to do a cooperative working with someone wouldn¡¯t work if they were pushing for different realities.


    And he could use that.


    His pond connected to the water in the ground, which seeped through the soil until it met the roots of the trees. From there, they formed a vastwork of entwined roots, and Aiden forced open a small channel of pure water connecting his pond into thatwork.


    He vanished from his little puddle and started tree-walking.


    He managed his exit right before a sword and spear nearly struck him, with reality twisting such that he didn¡¯t move too far from where his soon-to-be prey was, and he reached out with his hand in a w, nails covered in small daggers of water. [Water ws] was a personally modified spell and it tore through the illusion and into reality, where he grabbed an arm just below the shoulder.


    Pulling back into the illusion that was trying so hard to keep him locked down, Aiden took the arm with him.


    He could almost hear the scream of pain and rage as he dropped a drained limb on the forest floor.


    With his connection to the trees, he made their leaves rustle in a hauntingughing sound. He was waiting for another strike, wanting tosh out and take another pound of flesh, but instead, he found Yun Me and Maya trying to pull their own spells apart.


    Aiden briefly debated fighting them, but instead twisted from inside and elerated the copse.


    His rod came down square on the back of Yun Me¡¯s head, but she blurred and was facing him, her shield upraised, ready for the attack while her spearshed out and cut into his abdomen, exacerbating his existing fatal wound.


    [A Finger To Cut a Hole in The Sky] sted through and out of her spear, cutting through armor, flesh, and spirit alike. It broke what containment measures he had on the cursed stab, and Aiden felt his limbs begin to grow weak as his life bled from the deadly knife-wound.


    Aiden growled and flexed his Domain, pushing Yun Me away.


    She didn¡¯t budge, and the pressure built.


    Yun Me withdrew her spear in time for Aiden to be set upon by two new rune soldiers, a glowing ive and eerily ck whipshing down and being deflected to the side from the turbulence of space around himself and Yun Me.


    He pushed, and pushed, and <em>pushed¡­. </em>Then the pressure released.


    Aiden was sent flying, his attempts to move Yun Me reflecting entirely onto himself and mming him with the force of a raging river. He was sent skipping across the battlefield, his every attempt at conjuring water merely resulting in him bouncing off.


    Then he impacted the far wall of the battlefield, and stopped utterly.


    His armor dented, and while it began to flow back into ce, it still managed to crush part of Aiden¡¯s spine and had a few shards of metal poking into his torso. He groaned, his body protesting the immense pressure, and now, the multiple broken bones and fractured limbs. The only good thing that hade out of that was that <em>somewhere</em> along the way, he¡¯d managed to take a pound of flesh from Maya. His [Water ws] had been gripped around a bloody hunk of meat he knew was from his fellow Ascender, even if he didn¡¯t know exactly how he¡¯d gotten it. He tried to move, then promptly abandoned that course of action for the moment. His every movement just brought him closer to death.


    But his [Water Spirit] was still mobile, and Aiden took on the approximate form of a small, watery leviathan. Even though it was technically un-stabbed, it didn¡¯t have terribly long to live¡­ but Aiden knew a lot about living water, and he could keep it in good shape for quite some time yet.


    A tentacle traced the shape of the battlefield shield, feeling for weaknesses but finding none. It would hold until the people on the other side <em>let</em> it fall.


    Aiden shook his elemental form out, not needing to truly limber up, but the association felt right. Then he darted to the side as one of the rune soldiers, riding an arrow of light, mmed into the wall with a cloud of glittering dust.


    An instantter, the woman dashed at him again, spinning a staff and shooting a continuous barrage of luminescent projectiles. Aiden dodged a few of them, then called upon his Anchor and let them sink away into the inky depths of the ocean.


    He had practically no time before Yun Me arrived, but that was still more than enough to strike back.


    A tentacle snaked out, grabbed an arrow, and flung it back at the soldier who released it. She waved her hand to dispel it, but the mana she released was instantly consumed by Aiden¡¯s own spell and turned into a shark made of abyssal waters. With another tentacle springing from nothing to coil around her torso and another locking her ankle in ce, she was unable to dodge and the shark feasted.


    First blood.


    Yun Me barreled into him at such high speed that his watery form discorporated, reforming behind her as she appeared, only to find himself reforming inside a fishbowl. Off to the side, he felt the essence of the rune soldier he¡¯d managed to kill return to her fellow soldiers. Whether they could return mid-battle was unknown, but he hoped they couldn¡¯t.


    That was a long term problem though, and right now Aiden was trapped inside a fishbowl. On the bright side, that also was protecting him from everyone other than Maya, and he took the opportunity toyer a few more healing spells on himself.


    He tapped on the ss a few times, found a fragment he could exploit, and with a deep breath, broke free. As he did so, he threw his Aspect into reinforcing a particr skill he didn¡¯t often get to use.


    [<strong>Turbulence</strong>].


    Left became down, down became up, right became down, up became backwards, forwards became left, left became right. The full chaos and confusion of being side-swiped by a particrly rowdy bit of water when you were a mile and a half below the surface swept over the entire group, and while it affected him just as much, <em>he</em> knew how to work it.


    Aiden moved to rip Maya''s head off, but he stopped as she smirked just before he arrived, and instead let his watery body turn into seafoam, which saved him from the spear that erupted from her chest.


    A spasm through his spirit copsed his watery form, and he instinctively doubled over, putting his hand to his torso. It came away red.


    Not much longer, then. Aiden almost caught a longsword through the head, but he blocked it with his [Water ws]. He lost his thumbs, but who really needed them?


    Cats did just fine without them, and he was definitely better than a cat.


    shing out with only eight digits, he cut deep furrows in the water, sneaking behind Yun Me¡¯s shield and screeching against her [The Heart of the Firmament Made Manifest Upon The Flesh], or <em>[Metal Body]</em> if you wanted to be boring.


    Turning back to water and opening a hole in his chest, he let a st of purple fire- that same pyromancer still not giving up- blow into the Sect woman¡¯s [The Legendary Shield Which Cannot Be Broken], but was forced to reform and drift off to the side to dodge Maya¡¯s pincer attack with herself.


    He still snuck in a quick attack-redirection to get Yun Me¡¯s counter to take the Federation kid in the head, filled the hole in his skull up with pressurized water, then froze it.


    Finally, a second pulse of essence.


    Maya tried to double-team him, but he felt hering from behind and to the left, and he nudged his [Turbulence] to make it his front and below. Her swinging an illusionary sword didn¡¯t change that, and he flicked his hand like a conductor¡¯s baton to coat it in ice. The ice was yanked away by the currents, then broken apart by an ice specialist from the Federation.


    Tragically, the ice was based on The Ninth Frozen Droplet, an ice that would freeze your mana if you weren¡¯t careful. The cryomancer wasn¡¯t careful enough, and a brief pulse of [Flotsam] shattered his body, dispersing his essence among his peers.


    Already, the essence seemed to be doing something¡­ interesting. It wasn¡¯t just hanging around keeping the people he¡¯d killed ¡°alive¡± so to speak, but actually slipping into the crevasses of the machine that was the other soldier¡¯s Domains, elerating and enhancing their spirits. How very interesting.


    Aiden really wanted to see just how far they and their connections could be pushed. Currently, the rune soldiers had begun to glow blue <em>very</em> subtly, in the depths of their irises, and their raw cultivation might was already above what a standard Tier 35 could manage. But what would happen when that boost was stronger, and spread across fewer people?


    Could the final few push fully into Tier 36 speed and strength?


    Now that- a spasm from his cursed wound caused his body to flinch- <em>that</em> would be a challenge!


    Aiden wasn¡¯t able to think on it too much more as he was nearly caught off guard by aw change from Maya. ¡°<strong>Freeze!</strong>¡±


    Aiden felt himself and all his water turn to ice, but that hardly bothered him. Maya had long since tried this trick on him, and knew he had no issue with the mental leap that frozen water was still water. With [Turbulence] up, the water around him was already below nominal freezing temperature, so he looked for what the trick was that he¡¯d been missing.


    The physical lockdown was obvious, but he only casually looked at it and instead searched for a deeper meaning.


    And didn¡¯t find one. Realizing the trap he had fallen for, Aiden moved his icy form to the side but caught another spear through the chest, this one almost punching through his heart and instead going through a lung. Worse yet, it broke through thest of Aiden¡¯s carefully-constructed dams, holding back the cursed stab¡¯s fatal destiny.


    Aiden coughed out a mouthful of blood before putting up a hand and gesturing for a pause, even as he retreated.


    Maya was the only good sport and stopped her barrage of attacks, but that was all the space he needed.


    ¡°Little lesson for you all, from Old Master Waters! Did you knoooww,¡± he had to dodge as Yun Me threw her spear then recalled it to her hand, ¡°That interrupting someone during a monologue is rude? Come on!¡±


    The soldier armed with a ive was the next to attack, and Aiden, despite his limbs not quite working, grabbed him by the throat and the legs with a pair of tentacles and <em>pulled.</em>


    The man stayed stubbornly in one piece.


    Or he did, but maybe only until he was used to block another attack from one of his countrymen? Nope, that one didn¡¯t do it either. Yun Me¡¯s next attack gave just the push he needed, and he tore the soldier¡¯s body in half, letting the essence spill out. Most of it went to his fellow soldiers, of course, increasing the light in their eyes. But he reached out with his finger and tapped a glowing droplet of water. It was purely theatrics, of course, but it looked <em>so cool</em>.


    ¡°Did you know, with the proper technique, you can refill your entire mana pool mid-fight with a Tier up?¡±


    Destiny shattered as his spirit started to glow as he gave his spirit the final push he needed to settle into Tier 32.


    A trio of attacks shot at him, but Aiden used up a bunch of his remaining mana pool deflecting them right back at their casters. Yun Me simply counter-reflected her attack back at him, so he sent that one into the body of a rune soldier, who instantly died from the thrice-reflected and thus thrice-enhanced attack. That emptied his mana, but it didn¡¯t matter.


    Essence swirled, the world went blue, and, when it subsided, Aiden grinned a manic grin. The cursed stab waspletely gone, alongside most of his other wounds, and his mana was back up to full. He was a Tier closer to their own Tier now, and best of all, he¡¯d just recovered a bunch of willpower from that stunt.


    Water coiled around him, lifting him up on a waterspout, and Aiden cracked his knuckles and took a fighting stance. ¡°Round two! Begin!¡±

 Chapter 332

    Chapter 332


    ¡°You owe me! You owe me! I want the <em>entire</em> drop of Misery in a Bottle, before you leave!¡± L triumphantly cheered for her victory as Aiden Tiered up. Her voice was only barely audible over the other cheers and hollers, of course, but it made it to the person who mattered.


    ¡°You disgraceful, cheating cur! He told you in advance,¡± Sien spat at her.


    L gave the woman a toothy grin. Aiden <em>hadn¡¯t</em> told her, but there was no need to rely on that. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have made the bet with me, then.¡±


    ¡°It''s not a loss just yet!¡± Olivier came to Sien¡¯s rescue as well as his own. ¡°Technically, we bet he¡¯d Tier up via inspiration, and that''s still possible!¡±


    Sien regained her hope even as she nodded along.


    L crossed her feet and pondered the technicality while she wiggled her toes. That hadn¡¯t been in the spirit of the bet, but they were technically correct, and that was the best kind of correct. Fuck it. Active bets added to the excitement.


    ¡°Sure, let''s let it ride.¡±


    Sien steepled her fingers, and her shadow started whispering the word ¡®inspiration¡¯ over and over.


    Her pleas were overshadowed as Ellen collected her winnings from the bet that one of the Ascenders would use some obscure half-forgotten technique.Olivier wiped his forehead. ¡°The stress is killing me,¡± he imed before chugging his¡­ two hundred and thirteenth¡ªfourteenth?¡ªcocktail. L wasn¡¯t certain she¡¯d caught all of them, and she hadn¡¯t paid attention to how many had been stocked by the caterers.


    Moe threw an arm over the speedster and faux whispered, ¡°And this is why secondary bets are dumb. Only bet on the oue.¡±


    Olivier shoved the skeletal arm off his shoulder as Max cackled. ¡°Anyone want to take my bet now? Come on, I have an enchanted Mind Spike that will, guaranteed, punch through any Tier 47 or lower defense. Wager something of equal value, and I bet that Aiden shocks all of us in some way we never expected.¡±


    L considered it, but the terms were just too vague and Aiden always tried to act mysterious. He, if anyone could, would surprise them of all people.


    Sien distracted her musings with a more interesting bet. ¡°Bet on both Aiden <em>and</em> Maya pulling some new abilities out of their asses. I have a Tier 40 gem that I can''t identify. Take it or leave it.¡±


    L mused on Sien''s offer before agreeing. Oddities like that were rarely powerful, but they <em>were</em> usually pretty. And L liked gems.


    Brian¡¯s jaw rattled as he reoffered his own bet for a third time. ¡°A personal undead servant made out of a Tier 40 corpse on Maya making a pun rule.¡±


    Like thest two times he¡¯d offered, nobody took him up on the bet, and Gideon spoke up with a new bet of his own. ¡°Any bottle of wine out of my personal collection. Bet is, Aiden gets to use his boots in the fight.¡±


    Krodag perked up at that. ¡°For or against?¡±


    ¡°For.¡±


    ¡°Done!¡± L jumped onto the bet with both Sien and Max. If Gideon was intent on throwing away good wine there was no reason to refuse.


    Olivier raised a ss. ¡°Speaking of boots, I have a Tier 5 growth pair of boots that triples one¡¯s speed. Betting them that Aiden gets punched so hard bubblese out of him.¡±


    ¡°Define bubbles.¡±


    ¡°Define <em>punch</em>.¡±


    L was distracted from that bet as Ellen offered her own. ¡°A Tier 45 Stone Milk on Maya doing something to strip Aiden or Yun Me.¡±


    Krodag cocked his skull at the odd side bet. ¡°Why include Yun Me? She''s ostensibly on Maya¡¯s side.¡±


    L answered for the younger woman. ¡°Because it¡¯s <em>Maya</em>. I¡¯ll take that bet. I have an old set of scales lying around. I¡ª¡±


    Evorn pped the table next to him, shattering it and giving what L thought might be an attempt at a flirty growl. ¡°I¡¯m in, that she fails. I offer a thousand pounds of Tier 45 Stygian Venison.¡±


    L rolled her eyes as Max started to giggle uncontrobly. Even in his humanoid form, the man couldn¡¯t contain himself.


    L was tempted to back out of the bet, but decided to let it ride.


    As she watched Aiden punch the melee rune kid in the face, she murmured loud enough for everyone to hear. ¡°You better not fuck me, Maya. Strip ¡®em.¡±


    ***


    Maya twisted, dodging a nigh invisible burst of rain that tried to cut through her body and spirit. Pushing an illusion a few miles to the side, she transposed herself to that location, which let her avoid the follow up explosions that would have torn her apart.


    They had expected Aiden to Tier up, but when he didn¡¯t do it immediately, they had hoped he wasn¡¯t as far along as they feared. That had been proven wrong, and she felt the spike of danger in her spirit the moment it happened.


    Him going up a Tier should have been <em>rough</em>, but then again, Aiden didn¡¯t use his cultivation very much. He always relied on his Domain to enhance him. Still¡­ with the degree he strengthened himself normally, it should have resulted in a nearly instantaneous win, or at least a <em>ton</em> of damage. He was pacing himself, trying to not tire himself out. But what was he waiting for? It was <em>unlikely</em> that he could wear them all down, and she didn¡¯t think any of them were below half on any of their resources¡­ so what was his game?


    She didn¡¯t know, and it annoyed her.


    Aiden had done <em>something</em> that made it so she had to look <em>up</em> at him, no matter what angle she was at. But she couldn¡¯t figure out what, and that <em>also</em> annoyed her.


    Of slightly more immediate concern, though, were the strands of water trailing in his wake. Three had Yun Me¡¯s spear locked tightly in their grip, and as Aiden spun to build up momentum, he wrenched the weapon from Yun Me¡¯s grasp. She recalled it instantly, but not before Aiden managed to impale a Federation soldier on it. The whips trailing his wand were all the deadlier, ck abyssal water carving furrows into Yun Me¡¯s pauldrons.


    Aiden dodged a lightning bolt, backhanded a trio of water disks at the offending soldier, reversed his grip on his wand, and then brought it down like a dagger. The enormous wave it conjured in his wake crashed down on Yun Me, <em>knocking the shield out of her hand</em> and sending her flying.


    This was not good.


    ***


    Aiden felt like a new man as his cultivation settled in and his power expanded. He was <em>so</em> high on newfound power, he was practicallyughing as he flipped over attacks, circled around spells¡­ And got peppered by a pair of long-range attacks as the support armies decided that they could maintain the shield surrounding the battlefield <em>and</em> attack him.


    At least the spells cut off when he positioned himself in the middle of his enemies.


    Reveling in the lessened willpower costs needed to keep up with his opponents, he fell back on his old reliable- [Water Maniption]. Even as a Minka-granted innate skill, it had rarely been opportune to use in most situations. But there was something nostalgic about the way it made water <em>truly</em> act as an extension of his own body, and with newly-empowered cultivation behind it, it felt <em>amazing</em>.


    Epic spinning kick, hydro-enhanced punch, twirly water block, crescent moon water-kick, swooshy attack redirect¡­ he was <em>on fire</em>. Water. Whatever. Tiering up felt good. It had been too long since he had done so, and he had almost forgotten how good the increase in power felt.


    He just wasn¡¯t sure it was going to be enough on its own.


    A pulse of sma appeared right beside him. It was clumsily hidden by an antimemetic spell, which Aiden wasn¡¯t affected by at all, though he pretended to only notice and dodge at thest moment.


    It was almost amusing to see someone try that with <em>him</em>, but he didn¡¯t have enough spare brain cells to gloat or showboat.


    Even that idle thought nearly cost him a leg as Yun Me retrieved her shield and threw it like a discus, its edges gleaming a reddish-ck as it tore his shin off. The wound was far more painful than that kind of attack should have inflicted, but Aiden let it wash over him.


    To his eternal shame, the pain caused him to be a moment too slow to avoid taking a deep cut from the ive-armed rune soldier. In turn, that let Yun Me use her [What Was Once Complex Returns To Simplicity] to break apart Aiden¡¯s counterattack, putting his [Water Maniption] on a fairly long cooldown.


    That cost him enough time that he found himself between a hammer and an anvil. Or more urately, a hammer-wielding rune soldier and The Unyielding Anvil. He tried to dodge, but Maya turned his spell into an illusion, popping it like a bubble as the attacksnded. There wasn¡¯t much room to work with, but [Water Hammer] didn¡¯t need much space. It nged into the onrushing hammer and sent some very painful reverberations up the handle of the weapon.


    [Tidal Wave] crashed down on him and Yun Me. The Sect woman kept her footing, but it let him wash <em>himself</em> away, and he coated himself in enough water to serve as a battering ram where Maya was trying to manifest. Unfortunately, she appeared safely despite his interference and <em>spoke</em>.


    ¡°<strong>Everything Hits Its Mark.</strong>¡±


    Instantly, the armies around the edge opened fire, as too did the seventeen people within. And <em>every</em> attack hit him. It wasn¡¯t even a matter of homing, there was simply no possibility other than spells striking exactly what they meant to. Even if they collided with something else- such as Yun Me, the rune soldiers, or one of his defensive spells- they either passed through entirely or bounced off at an angle that re-oriented it at him. His Domain was <em>sorely</em> tested to defend him from everything, and without his newest Tier-up, he¡¯d have to reach rather deeper into his bag of tricks to survive that.


    Well, he could at least express his <em>displeasure</em> at the reality mage¡¯s meddling. A wave of giant [Flotsam] projectiles mmed into her, followed by the fastest barrage of [Water Bullet]s that he could manage, alongside a point-nk [Washing a-Wave] and [Siphon] to strip her protections andnd what was otherwise a <em>very</em> tricky to use finisher. For good measure, he also brought his Intent to bear, piercing her overstretched spirit with the sudden need to breathe.


    A gleeful grin spread across his face as he watched the reality mage try to bnce an already-tricky Law with defending against the full power of water.


    Then the rules changed.


    ***


    Panting was more a force of habit than needing air, but it was one Maya <em>always</em> gave herself. Tying oneself to mortal things like that was a great way to keep in touch with reality, which was something she <em>particrly</em> needed. Essence helped one exempt themselves from thews of reality, yes, but sometimes what you needed was a tight bind <em>with</em> saidws.


    Her spirit insisted that she breathe, in ordance with the natural order. She was living, she must breathe. Who was she, to challenge thews of reality? She fought it, for she Rejected Aiden¡¯s Reality, but¡­


    No.


    No, he was right.


    She should need to breathe. She was, after all, only mortal. Tier 5, at that. Tier 5 people needed to breathe, sleep, eat, everything. She was also, without a doubt, the strongest person fighting.


    The Reality practically wove itself. It had been a long, <em>long </em>time since she¡¯d been Tier 5, but your experiences as a mortal felt more¡­ concentrated, than anything as an immortal. She couldn¡¯t go below Tier 5, she didn¡¯t think, but Tier 5 was plenty.


    Of course, no Tier 5 would be fighting in deep space, surrounded by an enormous containment cage. They¡¯d be fighting in an arena, on arge, t ground filled with sand. There were more powerful people watching, more powerful people outside the arena, but they weren¡¯t in the pit. They were just spectators. Here, it was just Tier 5s.


    <strong>¡°Memento Mori.¡±</strong>


    You are mortal. You will die.


    That was the one truth. And that was the truth she leveraged, alongside Aiden¡¯s own pseudo-Law. Yes, she needed to breathe. She was Tier 5, and so too was everyone she was fighting.


    Aiden stumbled, as did Yun Me and the rune idiots.


    But she had substituted reality, and she was borrowing Aiden¡¯s own strength to do it. It worked¡­ less well than she would have expected, given the normal weight of Aiden¡¯smand to breathe and drown, but Aiden¡¯s Domain was of such immense size and power that the inefficiency barely mattered¡­ and that helped anyway.


    The Reality built itself up. Dry sand underfoot. Their fanciest arms and armors were gone, leaving them all equipped ording to their station. Very little armor, though. Shields were alright, armor less so.


    This was a show, after all, and the crowd cried their approval.


    Deep breath. They needed to breathe. That was fundamental because they were Tier 5.


    Red stands, and a red sky. Interpreting reality like this was interesting, as she could pick out many of the people in the stands that would otherwise be invisible. But that was but a distraction, as it always was.


    You focused on the people in the arena with you.


    That was the simple truth. You fought. You focused. You bled. And if you were lucky, you didn¡¯t die.


    Memento Mori. All of them had but one life to spend.


    ive-soldier guy was the first to move, sprinting forward with his ive glowing with arcane might, aimed at Aiden¡¯s oh so mortal, oh so vulnerable heart.


    Yun Me was even faster and came in from the other side, her spear¡¯s edge glowing with a deep silver that felt like a million years of training distilled into that single thrust.


    Aiden¡¯s legs snapped as he tried to move faster than he could as a Tier 5 and lost his footing on the loose sand, sending him sprawling. He grabbed a handful of sand and flung it in the face of the rune soldier, then rolled to avoid Yun Me. They were roughly the same speed now, but Yun Me was by far the more experienced warrior.


    Aiden conjured a globe of water and fashioned it into a whip. The magic was stronger than what Yun Me could easily bring to bear as a Tier 5, and her spear was quickly grounded.


    That was¡­ hmm. She couldn¡¯t get <em>rid</em> of water. That was favoring onepetitor too heavily, and she¡¯d needed to borrow a fair amount of weight from the idea of a fairpetition to form this Reality. If she let it go, Aiden would release his own Domain¡¯s attempt to dictatews, and she¡¯d lose that leverage. No, she needed to figure out a proper way to maintain this Reality, yet still hinder Aiden.


    Deep breath. They needed to breathe. That was fundamental because they were Tier 5.


    An idea sparked, and she gave her addendum. One skill per person. What kind of Tier 5 had more than one skill, anyway?


    She kept [Cast Illusion]. [Lawmaker] <em>could</em> have counted, if she enforced the Reality in the right way, but she didn¡¯t.


    Aiden¡¯s water vanished, as he apparently didn¡¯t elect to keep [Create Water]. Yun Me seemed to keep some kind of physical boost, and the rune soldiers¡­ who cared?


    She had bigger things to focus on. With every passing moment, Aiden was challenging her Reality in a hundred different ways, and she needed to keep one step ahead of him. She also needed to keep herself invisible and an illusion of herself running around, to keep anyone from interrupting her.


    Deep breath. They needed to breathe. That was fundamental because they were Tier 5.


    Maya ran through the foundations of her Reality again, even as her eyes began to waver and conceptually fade once they were pinned between the Reality that Was and the Reality she Beheld.


    As a Tier 5 with only [Cast Illusion], that was a pretty dang impressive job, she had to say. But it needed to be done.


    The others should be able to finally defeat him with everything she was doing.


    Aiden was running, but Yun Me was faster. She scooped her spear into her hand and took off in rapid pursuit of <em>her fellow Tier 5</em>, seeking his life.


    Deep breath. They needed to breathe. That was fundamental because they were Tier 5.


    Aiden mummified his left arm to get enough water to form a small tendril. He was pulling out some pretty impressive acrobatics to keep Yun Me at enough of a distance while keeping the rune soldiers at bay. He was <em>definitely</em> on the run, and he couldn¡¯t keep it up forever.


    Yun Me caught up with him, stumbling as Aiden mmed a small bucketful of water into her side but carrying through with her attack.


    Aiden took the spear through the chest and coughed a mouthful of blood all over Yun Me.


    Red spilled upon the sands and Maya hoped they had managed a decisive blow.


    ***


    Emmanuel watched as Aiden was stabbed through with a small furrow of his brow. He flickered through Talents, and while even Innate Understanding-type Talents had their limits, especially when it came to Ascenders, he was fairly certain Aiden would be alright.


    J pulled his attention back to the negotiations. ¡°Come now, Emmanuel. Concede the battle, spare your diator, end the war. There¡¯s no need to prolong this any further than needed, and the terms are perfectly fair.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded slightly and felt everyone else tense as they thought he was going to concede to save his Ascender from serious harm.


    Instead, he very obviously pushed his perceptions towards the blood trickling through space between Aiden¡¯s mouth and Maya¡¯s face. ¡°Aiden is living his life the way he wishes. Would <em>you</em> wish to tell Maya that she is to stop fighting now, pull her out before she¡¯s the one dead or crippled?¡±


    With their perception jacked to Tier 50 speeds, they got to watch in slow motion as Aidens blood started to condense and formed into a needle aimed at Yun Me¡¯s eye.


    ¡°An impressive attempt, but ultimately too little.¡±


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t bother with a response. He trusted his Ascenders. He was, on paper, stronger than any of them. Stronger than <em>all</em> of them, thanks to his Tier. But there was more to an Ascender than a strong Talent, or a powerful Domain.


    He didn¡¯t have the same drive to look at the impossible, scoff, then do it. Who would have thought that a boy from a low Tier, archipgo heavy world, a boy whose Talents were best suited for a veterinarian or farmer, could beat out geniuses and prodigies, scions of noble houses and the inheritors of grand bloodlines?


    Emmanuel wouldn¡¯t have, not in a million years. That was why he was so careful to not be a tyrant, deciding the fates of his people. It was his duty to protect the people under his care, to let them be the person they had the desire and drive to be. It was not his duty to undercut their efforts, their struggles and their fights.


    Eight spiritual perceptions watched as the needle of water pierced Yun Me¡¯s eye. It didn¡¯t punch through and enter her brain, but it did drain the water out of the organ, where it flowed back to Aiden just in time to avoid the rise of the shield which would have destroyed the water''s connection to him.


    Sliding back in the sand, Aiden ripped himself off the spear and corralled the water in his blood to clot the wound.


    JR fluttered his wings and chirped, ¡°Truly impressive. Both of them. Controlling reality to this level at Tier 35 and still being able to fight inside it.¡±


    Virgil snorted at the snub to her pets and possibly Yun Me, but Emmanuel agreed. Yun Me was impressive, but mostly for her dedication. She was like an ancient world tree, imposing and mighty beyond all else yet with no grand specialities beyond raw survivability.


    Then again, that was impressive in its own way. She certainly knew how to use everyst ounce of the prodigious strength she¡¯d umted, and that was more than he could say for the rune soldiers.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Those troops had an unfortunate life, and while they were impressive, it wasn¡¯t <em>their</em> strength. Rather, it was the strength of Virgil and her crafters, expressed through what were practically children. Again, it wasn¡¯t an <em>invalid</em> source of power, but it was certainly inflexible, and nowhere near as robust as more naturally-developed strength, like that found in Ascenders.


    As if trying to prove his thought wrong, Alexi lunged forward despite the hole in her heart draining away her life. Within Maya¡¯s constructed reality, many of the benefits that the soldiers enjoyed had been lessened. But that was bnced out by the fact that at low Tiers, their cybeics were just as potent, if not more so than normal.


    Brett, the rune mage, circled around behind Aiden and cast an [Earth Lance] into the mage¡¯s bare back.


    Alexi shed out with a tight series of blows that left no way to dodge without being struck by the follow-up. Arthur threw his spear, merely crackling with lightning instead of being made of it, further penning in the Ascender.


    Even with all those disadvantages, Aiden still managed to twist out of the way just enough to avoid being skewered. He was, however, cut to the bone by Alexi, but he reared up to kick her in return. In the instant before the attacknded, Brayden wrapped his whip around Aiden¡¯s ankle and pulled him off-bnce.


    J folded her hands, picking up their negotiations where they¡¯d left off. ¡°Let¡¯s be reasonable here. Even <em>if</em> Waters survives, even if he isn¡¯t captured, he won¡¯t be in any condition to reim your worlds. You have no <em>hope</em> of retaking all the territory you¡¯ve lost, and there¡¯s no reason to make this even worse for you than it must be.¡±


    ¡°Yet your proposal would put the onus of retiring Light and Shadow solely upon those <em>not</em> participating in the war,¡± Toby pointed out, stroking a scaly chin. ¡°It is not a proposal I would ept.¡±


    Aoife nodded in agreement. ¡°I will not see my treasuries emptied in response to <em>your</em> misfortune.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± J waved theirints off. ¡°We can increase the return rate of thes to ny percent and reduce the retention rate of the Guild captures to fifty percent, which should functionally cover the projected buy-out rate for an Ascender duo. If there¡¯s excess beyond that, then the Empire can handle that internally. The sanctions on the Path of Ascension would remain the same, but we <em>won¡¯t</em> push for the audit of existing Ascenders.¡± She red suspiciously at Emmanuel with those words, but he wouldn¡¯t allow that great a risk to Matthew¡¯s secret at this time. He didn¡¯t care how that influenced her perception of him.


    ¡°And alls in contested space will be immediately ceded for the next ten thousand years. That¡¯s <em>more</em> than fair.¡± J added a momentter.


    Emmanuel <em>did</em> agree that, given their respective standings, cutting their losses by a full order of magnitude <em>was</em> quite fair, especially as it would entirely prevent the possible loss of the Citadel. Buying an Ascender duo out might prove expensive, but it was unlikely to be <em>too</em> bad. The Path sanctions might prove irksome, but as much as he hated to admit it, it wasn¡¯t a <em>bad</em> thing to cap Path deaths¡­ though it would add a great many levers for minor noble factions to pressure him on. If his faith in Aiden was anything less than irond, he would have been <em>sorely</em> tempted to ept.


    Winter Ho gave a small nod of assent. But, fortunately for him, Virgil was unsatisfied.


    ¡°Absolutely not. The damage which you have wreaked is worth far more than a mere <em>tenth</em> of thes which <em>we won, </em>that <em>we control</em>. To say nothing of the penalties to be extracted from your bloodlust. I <em>will</em> be repaid in kind. No clemency for Waters. Once he falls, if you wish to avoid having the loss of your own regional Capital weighing upon the scales, you¡¯ll have no leverage, and I want no less than two hundred Tier 30ary cores. I will concede that you possess sufficient weight to regain <em>half</em> your losts, but not one more beyond that. All Guild captures will be returned, of course,¡± Virgil said with a sneer, reveling in her perceived higher position.


    J made no outward expression, but the Talents Emmanuel was running let him see the feeling of betrayal and contempt wash over the Republican as Virgil entirely shot down the possibility of an early peace.


    It would have been hard to exin why he refused the previous offer, but with Virgil pushing for blood, it was easy to dismiss.


    Emmanuel calmly took to his feet, turning away from the conference table to face the massive crystal wall overlooking the fight. ¡°There remain battles to be fought, both here and elsewhere. I would be doing my people a disservice if I assume they will fail, and while I appreciate your offers of mercy, I have faith in my people. I have faith in my Ascenders.¡±


    He tried to add just enough emphasis to get the other Tier 50s to read it as desperate hope for a turn around, and seeing Allister¡¯s orbiting spheres speed up slightly, Emmanuel thought he had hit the right note.


    He was sure of it when J focused on Allister and tried to settle the war between them with a separate, smaller peace treaty. Somehow, Virgil stayed silent, so in other circumstances, perhaps J may have had a chance.


    Emmanuel listened but didn¡¯t speak, and he was happy as Allister resisted all attempts to get him to abandon the Empire.


    Instead, his attention went to the fight happening below.


    ***


    Aiden <em>hated</em> low-Tier fighting. It didn¡¯t carry the same gravitas, the same weight, the same pressure. Whatever Maya had done felt like he¡¯d been flipped over by his Domain, and it was still sore. He¡¯d been essentially pinned, with none of his primary suite of baseline abilities. It had taken quite some time and a <em>lot</em> of wounds before he¡¯d managed to track down where Maya had been lurking invisibly and attack her <em>properly</em>, returning things to the way they should be.


    Specifically, with Aiden three tiers weaker than everyone else.


    It was a marked improvement.


    Of course, Yun Me hadn¡¯t left him alone in the arena, and she wasn¡¯t leaving him alone now.


    He¡¯d known she had a dozen lockdown spells, of course. She liked to use them as finishers, but he hadn¡¯t known she had one that locked both of them down. He suspected there was some kind of Talent abuse going on, because he was making <em>no</em> headway in breaking free.


    They were only half a mile apart, but that was more than enough room for the armies around them to unleash a bombardment that could have ssed a directly on him.


    He¡¯d bubbled up, using his Anchor as a shield, and thenyered that with [Bubble Shield]. [Whirlpool], [Water Armor], [Water Shield] and [Abyssal Ation], all cast to try to mitigate the onught of damage he was taking.


    [Phantom Armor] red into existence, narrowly deflecting the ive of the rune soldier who just <em>wouldn¡¯t let him be</em>. That opened up an opportunity, and Aiden materialized his ss of ocean inside his mouth, downed its contents, then spat the ss itself at the rune soldier, catching him off-guard enough that when he refilled his Anchor, he directed the miniature ocean into a high-pressure jet of water directly up the man¡¯s nostril.


    It ricocheted off of his skull, bounced off his spine, and struck his heart.


    <em>The call of the ocean.</em>


    It was a bit of a novel application of a few of his skills and Domain powers, and probably only workable thanks to the artificial-like nature of the man¡¯s Domain, but Aiden saw an opportunity and took it. The rune soldier was momentarily confused as a deep-seated love of the sea took root, and in his heart, he felt a sudden wish to see the ocean.


    Aiden promptly granted the wish, slipping the <em>rest</em> of the ocean into the man¡¯s heart.


    s, there wasn¡¯t enough room in his heart for it all, and he exploded.


    <em>Ah, blood-tinged sea spray.</em> Aiden¡¯s eighth favorite scent.


    The water of the ocean was quickly used to wash away the other rune soldiers crowding around him, giving him a moment to collect himself.


    Maya at least was off to the side and trying to recover from herst move. Aiden had to admit that he was impressed, but he let his anger fuel his flex of his Aspect.


    He grabbed Yun Me and pulled with everything he had.


    She stayed locked in ce, so Aiden let go. She didn¡¯t go flying back like he hoped, so instead, he cast [Mist].


    Water vapor spread out, and if they hadn¡¯t been in the vacuum of space, it would have dampened sound. Instead, all it did was dampen spiritual perception and block sight.


    With a painful push, Aiden swapped just under half of himself with some of the water, ready to pull the rest of himself over the moment Yun Me realized he¡¯d slipped her leash.


    Aiden channeled a portion of his presence through a drifting water droplet near one of the further-off rune soldiers. Two [Water w]ster- <em>man</em> these guys were tough- and the woman in question was short roughly half a head and all her essence.


    With his movement now obvious, Aiden pulled the rest of his body from Yun Me¡¯s tether.


    She tried to reconnect it, but he already had that spell''s measure and it sank right through him like a stone dropped into a murky pond.


    Narrowing his focus to the pesky soldiers, Aiden cast [Tidal Wave], and with a push from his Domain, he sent it racing at them. The ever growing wave caused the armies to scatter as they avoided the massive spell, but that was all Aiden needed.


    Their flight was all the opening he needed to dart forward, trying to get at Maya.


    If he could finish her off, the rest of this battle would settle into ce nicely.


    As if the realm would ever let things go his way.


    ***


    Yun Me kept her breathing steady. When fighting a Master, it was of utmost importance to show neither pleasure nor pain. Boredom was nearly as bad, but any sign of difficulty was worse. Taunts were important, but they should be done with care. Too much vitriol or too much dismissiveness would incite further fervor from a Master.


    And a fervent Master was a <em>terrible</em> opponent to have. They drew strength from adversity in a way unlike any other, and provoking one of choleric temperament merely exacerbated such issues. <em>Never</em> make a fight truly personal. End fights as swiftly as possible once they began to g, but do not overwhelm them from the very beginning.


    Masters fought with the ferocity of a cornered rat, yet could instantly turn and flee without a moment¡¯s hesitation. Very few people survived a single fight against even one, but Yun Me had made a career out of it.


    This fight had been going approximately as well as she¡¯d expected. Her prodigious willpower reserves werergely untapped, and while her mana was being steadily worn down, she had conversion arrays to refill her. [The Unyielding Warrior of Eternity] ensured that her body would never be worn down, and while her allies in this fight likely weren¡¯t in such a fine state as her, she was unconcerned.


    Maya was a Master in her own right, and therefore stronger the closer she was to defeat. The rune-soldiers <em>were</em> steadily being whittled down, yes, but they were better off dead than alive.


    Waters had already Tiered up. As something that had quite clearly been nned in advance, it was <em>unlikely</em> to be the only trick he had. But it was undoubtedly intended to be a fairly major turning point in his strategy, and therefore, the current pressure was wearing him down just like they nned.


    It was a delicate bnce. Insufficient pressure would enable him to recover and find his footing, yet too much pressure and it would merely temper him, giving him a far more fearsome arsenal once his position grew truly dire. Therefore, they walked upon the sword-de which was giving Waters a <em>sufficient</em> challenge.


    The Master began some form of working with his Domains, but Yun Me struck it with her spear, calling upon her Second Revtion to cut through the ability before it could materialize.


    The spear and the shield were the most fundamental armaments in the entire Realm. A spear to strike, a shield to be struck. Eons ago, both Vanara and Aegis had been more borate. Vanara had been immacte ivory-white wood, iid withcquer and gilding in the way rift items were asionally wont to be. Aegis had been shining silver, pristine yet decorated with tassels, silk, and paint in a way that represented her home. But they, like her, had changed. Vanara was now dark, stained with sweat and blood, and a ck spearpoint cloying with the millions, billions of lives it had taken. All traces of her home were gone from Aegis, leaving nothing but the burnished and multicolored metal it was today. They¡¯d grown with her, the only points of stability in a Realm that changed far too fast.


    But the spear and shield were eternal. Her Talents for the shield, her Revtions for the spear. Combined, they were the ultimate tools for any warrior.


    Her [What Was Once Complex Returns to Simplicity] technique enveloped her spear, further empowered with her Revtion to prate all of Waters¡¯ defenses, but instead of cutting him in half as she had hoped, she merely skewered his lungs and grazed his spine.


    She quickened her limbs and sharpened her mind. Waters was no less dangerous wounded, and the more she pushed, the closer he came to bing <em>desperate</em>.


    Nheless, her actions had already presented Embers with sufficient time to recover, and the mage twirled a staff, engulfing the battlefield with gold and silver rainbows.


    <strong>You are home</strong>.


    She most certainly was.


    Waters sumbed to the calming influence of the delusion for just a moment, which was all she required to drive her spear into the man¡¯s back, mirroring thest time she¡¯d skewered him.


    [Vicious Winds of the East] blew down her arm, slicing into Waters and attempting to rend him apart. Yet he deflected the attack by manifesting his bubbles, turning the airy des into the breaking crests of a wave. He twisted himself off the spear and summoned a [Wave Rider], using the board to carry him out of her easy reach.


    [The Twirling Leaves Carried Upon Autumnal Gusts] carried her in swift pursuit, and she attacked the man again and again, wearing him down. Embers and the rune-soldiers attacked when they were able, and she was appreciative for the assistance which Embers provided, yet she spared no additional thought for them beyond what was needed to coordinate with them.


    A rainstormshed out from Waters, seeking to give him some reprieve, but she would not be deterred. Surging forth, her spear struck with a rapid stato, piercing each droplet in turn to disrupt and disperse its magic. While those around her either evaded or were pushed back, Yun Me advanced through a deluge using nothing but her spear to keep her dry.


    Then, an opening. She took her stance as Waters¡¯ magic began to ebb, preparing [A Finger To Tear a Hole Into the Sky] for the moment she had an opportunity to use the technique.


    It was time to strike.


    This could be done.


    ***


    Crimson light filled Aiden¡¯s vision. How much of it was from the cage around him, and how much was from blood creeping into his eyes, he didn¡¯t know. He supposed it didn¡¯t really matter much. He was on the brink now, the crest of the wave as it crashed towards the shore.


    He remembered being a child, sitting on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean, the warm, salty breeze pushing through his hair. There was such wonder and beauty in the ocean. It was so vast, so iprehensible, and so mighty. There was an endless amount of beauty to be found within it, an eternity of awe and wonder. Danger as well, to be sure. The depths of the ocean held monstersrge and strong enough to eat a boat whole, and the pressure alone would crush you if you let it.


    Not that the shallows were safe, and even when people kept to the shoreline, there were still <em>plenty </em>of hazards to be wary of. It was like delving, if he was being honest. The truest wonders were in the depths, and while it was almost certainly fatal to go too far out¡­ even the most innocuous things could be dangerous.


    The cliff was gone now. Nobody had intentionally destroyed it or anything. But fifteen hundred years was a long time, and the power of water wasn¡¯t something to be underestimated. The erosion of centuries of crashing waves had redefined the coastline he¡¯d spent so many hours at as a kid.


    In the distance, all the colors first of the sunset, then of the rainbow, shone through Aiden¡¯s tinted vision. A sun, dying for the night. Or perhaps a rune soldier, gathering power for a massive attack, the likes of which would <em>surely</em> overwhelm him.


    Aiden remembered when he¡¯d first formed his Concept. He didn¡¯t even know what he <em>had</em> done at first, but he had been fighting his way through a rift in a supply run. He¡¯d been stuck at the peak of Tier 4 for months, trying to save up for the potion he¡¯d need to break through to Tier 5. Being on the Path was tough, even with a skill from his sponsor, and he¡¯d been uncertain how much further he¡¯d be able to go. Trying to progress felt like fighting the ocean in a storm, sailing upwind while nature itself fought you every step of the way.


    He¡¯d been fighting a dragon-like creature at the time, with a powerful presence - what heter learned was a Concept - pressing down on him. It made his every action feel like he was underwater, his magic slow and lethargic and his armor heavy and encumbering. It was like he¡¯d been sailing, and had been thrown overboard. Now, he was underwater and slowly drowning.


    And when he¡¯d thought of it that way, everything just¡­ made sense. The monsters were nothing more than rogue waves, seeking to overpower him. The moment of rity had been something special, it invigorated him. This rift was simply another wave, and there was nothing better than cresting a wave with a whoop and a holler.


    The monster began to pelt him with wind, stinging sand whipping his face and pelting his armor, but it was nothing but seaspray against his face. He¡¯dughed, and the pressure had melted away. His counterattack was made with the full might of the ocean behind it, and suddenly, Aiden didn¡¯t need the potion he¡¯d been so desperately trying to afford. It was just the seaspray in his face, the freedom of the wind at his back, and the start of the grandest adventure there was.


    He tasted the seaspray again. This time, the blonde monster before him was waving her hands like a conductor, channeling massive clouds of golden glitter. But it was just another monster, another fight, another wave to conquer and move on.


    Once he¡¯d had his Concept and his mindset in the right state, the Path suddenly became less of a giant chore, and more of a fun sailing adventure. He was but a tiny, tiny man against an iprehensibly vast ocean¡­ but what did that matter? He could conquer one wave at a time, no problem. He wasn¡¯t trying to <em>beat</em> the ocean; that wasn¡¯t how life worked. But instead, he used it to take him wherever he wished to go, and to plunder its depths for treasure.


    Being underwater could often be more peaceful than on the surface. There were currents and monsters, yes, but the waves were less distinct. A constant pressure, rather than a continuous bombardment. It was easier to deal with everything being massive than constantly adapting for <em>some</em> things being huge, and others being tiny. Even if it were more hostile on aggregate¡­ it was predictable, and oh so profitable.


    It was an idea that his spirit foundpatible, too. There was no doubt in his mind that his Domain deserved to be expanded below the surface, and his Intent made the connection readily. It was important to respect the Depths, for you could so easily drown, the faint bubbles anchoring you to life being lost to the inky abyss. But if you knew what you were doing, it could almost befortable.


    And delving up Tiers was so, so much like diving into the Depths. It was hard to see, the pressure was unending and relentless, and a single mistake would cost you your life. But those were all things that Aiden could deal with, and so he did. Other people rarely did well when reminded of how deep they were, but hey, that was just the ocean for you.


    Aiden was a creature of the Depths, through and through. Unimaginable power loomed above him, casting him in its shadow and redoubling the pressure he felt, yet he¡¯d never run. Be it the darkening presence of miles of water, or the shadow of a massive tree as Yun Me collected power within her and her spear, it was all the same to him.


    The thing with being in the depths was that, ultimately, they weren¡¯t him. They weren¡¯t his home, and there wasn¡¯t much he could do there. Other people didn¡¯t do well there, sure, but that didn¡¯t make <em>him</em> do any better. But the shallows¡­ oh, the shallows. How he could y, and sail, and fish. The shallow waters were where life was, and that was something that never bore forgetting. But where life was, so too was danger, and that which wasmon and oft overlooked was frequently the most dangerous. Even those that werefortable and had adapted within the depths could be harmed upon returning to the surface. Divers, getting the bends as returning to ¡®safety¡¯ fouled their very blood. Sailors, catching their foot under a rock and drowning in less than two feet of water.


    <em>That</em> was what Aiden called upon for his Aspect. Even the shallows were enough to drown you. You didn¡¯t need to be far within the depths to be in danger. Even a simple ss of water could be deadly. Or, as he preferred to use for his Anchor, a ss of <em>ocean</em>, the full might of the greatest part of any in the palm of his hand, ready to be used as a refreshing drink. From the sunlit shallows to the abyssal depths, it was an immense amount of power to be held in his hand. But he hadn¡¯t stopped there. Why would he have?


    <em>He</em> had tamed the ocean itself. Mastered it. Embodied its greatest secrets and most fearsome power.


    A massive wave built and began to break. Golden seaspray began to pelt him, the multicolored light of a rainbow being cast through the water, and the overwhelming solidity of an unstoppable force were all he could see, leaving no ce to run.


    And how refreshing this was. Here he was, a piddly little kid, happy to take his boat and crest waves, tangling with the greatest deep-sea powers in the entire Realm. And <em>what</em> depths he¡¯d made it to. He¡¯d be a menace, a <em>terror </em>to those so, so many tiers above him, living in such deeper water. The depths were where he made his home now, the unseen horror lurking in the darkness.


    It was so hard to find anything within the Depths. The ocean hoarded its secrets jealously, and that was a quality he¡¯d inherited upon taking one as his Anchor all those years ago. Yet while the unseen Terrors could nheless be mighty, there was only so much to be done from the shadows.


    It was time, he thought. Time to show them what he¡¯d be. It was time to remind everyone why he was the greatest Domain expert this realm had ever seen.


    Besides, there would <em>never</em> be a better time to show off, and he¡¯d been waiting for ages.


    An explosion of power rippled out from where the three attacksnded, leaving behind no trace of the man known as Duke Waters.


    ***


    ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡± the rune-soldier demanded.


    Yun Me kept her face steady and her shield raised, sweeping her gaze across the battlefield. This, right here and right now, was always the most dangerous part of fighting an Ascender. The instant after it seemed like they had lost, when they looked dead to rights. These were the times that they returned with some new power, or finally stopped holding back. Those powerups weren¡¯t unbeatable, and she¡¯d won even after a fair few of them in her time, but it was in these moments where the battle <em>truly</em> hung in the bnce.


    Her senses, keenly honed across countless battles just like this one, didn¡¯t tell her the shape of the threat yet, but there were no tremors, no umtion of power that could signify a new ability. There were <em>always</em> tremors when something new came, yet she had felt none. But there was a threat nheless, even if she couldn¡¯t properly tell what it was.


    ¡°<strong>The Lost Are Always Found</strong>,¡± Maya dered, and a ripple of light pulsed through the battlefield, bouncing off the outer walls and returning to her. ¡°Hmm, that usually works when Aiden is skulking around somewhere. He wouldn¡¯t have run away, though. Even if he could.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve backed him into hisir,¡± boasted a different rune-soldier, this one with a pair of whips extending from his wrists. ¡°If he¡¯s fled, then he truly is no dragon, just a cowardly worm!¡±


    A dark chuckle echoed throughout the battleground, sourceless but menacing. The rune-soldiers stepped back in fear, but it rolled off Yun Me. The showboating had begun.


    The same rune-soldier flicked his hands, and lightning crackled along the length of his whips ¡°Come out and face us, you-¡±


    He vanished. The only sign that he had been there at all was a fine mist of blood, and a severed and torn whip, still crackling with red lightning. His spirit rippled out, returning to his fellows but he had vanished before any of them could realize.


    ¡°Do not falter now, for the battle is not yet finished!¡± Yun Me encased herself in [The Lion¡¯s Pride Hunts Undaunted], the translucent energy-hides of the lion projection around her rippling with muscle as the warrior and her projection stalked forward as one. ¡°His presence darkens this battleground yet!¡±


    The blow came suddenly as the battlefield seemed to rouse itself. Her defenses couldn¡¯t adjust in time, and the lion reared back on its own hindquarters, missing a foreleg and dripping turquoise blood. So the power had arrived. Yet there had been no tremors in the fight¡¯s cadence. Whatever Duke Waters was doing was something he could have done all along.


    ¡°You think you¡¯re such high and mighty knights, don¡¯t you?¡± Duke Waters¡¯s voice rang out, crisp and clear, but with a distinct undertone of growling.


    ¡°Find him!¡± the leader of the Alpha rune soldiers called out. ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±


    Another one of the rune-soldiers vanished, a chromed forearm all that was left of them.


    ¡°Come to hunt the wicked dragon where heirs, then return high and mighty dragonyers, killers of the famed Waters?¡±


    ¡°<strong>What I can¡¯t see can¡¯t hurt me!</strong>¡± Maya called out in a wavery voice that spoke of the first hint of panic, an instant before the vague impression of something <em>massive</em> swept through everyone, some dark and terrible beast of the untamed world in a long forgotten time. Its scales and teeth were that of the dark waters beyond civilization, where no eyes hadid sight upon its ferocious visage.


    Waters¡¯ voice sounded almost manic, right on the verge of a full mad cackle as he continued. ¡°I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your ideas are wed!¡±


    ¡°Hold fast! Form up! Don¡¯t let him keep picking us off one by¡­ one?¡± The rune squad mage¡¯s voice wavered with a frisson of fear, as the head of his second-inmand, previously standing right next to him, vanished in a spray of bubbles.


    ¡°You are no dragonyers.¡±


    Yun Me encased them all within [The Sheltering Emerald Of Seven Heavens] as they formed into a defensive ring.


    ¡°But even if you were.¡±


    The voice sounded from <em>within</em> the spherical shield, a whisper in both ears. It was apanied by an unnatural surge of fear, but [The Unyielding Anvil of Eternity] steadied her spirit. She did not yield. Ever.


    ¡°I am no dragon.¡±


    One of the rune-soldiers yelped, as an unseen force grabbed his ankle and began to pull him out of Yun Me¡¯s defenses. He got halfway through the green shield before Yun Me released the technique. She swooped in, her spear surrounded by thousands of glittering red motes of light, and struck at the space around the man¡¯s foot. A sudden wrenching feeling struck the battlefield, but the Federation man stopped moving.


    The Realm trembled around her, and she atst saw the truth of the matter. What her senses had dismissed as merely a part of the battle¡¯s background, a presence so vast that the thought that it might have been <em>alive</em> was iprehensible. That it might have been a part of Duke Waters was astonishing. Yet the shape had been revealed, and Duke Waters stood before them fully, an existence long since lurking in the shadows only now deigning to unveil itself with an undeniable deration.


    <strong><em>I AM</em></strong>


    Words, imposed upon reality not through spiritual perception but something greater. Deeper. More fundamental. It was a deration beyond mere spoken word. A force beyond all others. A massive wave of water crashed from nothingness. An impression of shing teeth. A screech of broken metal and flesh torn asunder.


    Two rune-soldiers lost their hands, ragged stumps left from where they had been previously sustaining a spell. Their healer swooped in and gave temporary recements of shining silver with a tap of her wand, but where the magical flesh tried to regrow it was dissolving into bubbles. And no matter how many times she cast the healing spell, it did nothing to stop the wave.


    <strong><em>THE TERROR</em></strong>


    The voice, beyond all voices, trembled in her ears and chest alike. Mere sound could not contain its might, and even the lingering effect threatened to tear reality apart. Something great and terrible awoke. Scales and darkness, sights best left unseen. A vast ocean, unknowable, unfathomable and untamable. Holding great secrets sufficient to drive those who dared toprehend its depths to insanity.


    Maya¡¯s face fell, her eyes grew wide, and her breathing grew ragged. An inky tentacle appeared from nowhere and smashed into her, only a few golden-white tes holding it back from crushing her torso. There was a moment of struggle, and then the appendage vanished back to where it came from. It took a concentrated effort to stop her shield from dissolving into bubbles.


    <strong><em>OF THE DEPTHS</em></strong>


    Duke Waters reappeared, floating above the battlefield and the prison he should have been trapped in, his promationplete. His hair streamed out like a wild mane, blue strands catching the light and surrounding him with an oceanic halo. Bubbles streamed from his shoulders, granting him a seafoam cape that stretched out into something long and sinuous¡ªan unknown monster of the deep finally awakened.


    An unnatural Fear gripped the battlefield, unhindered by the grand cage designed to hold those within fast. Even those watching held their breath at the undeniable pressure of a true monster, an insurmountable, corporeal representation of all the grandest terrors lurking beyond the mortal ken. It was the truest Fear, that which gripped the hearts of all who beheld it for a moment that stretched into infinity andsted the blink of an eye, for there was no end to the weight of Duke Waters¡¯ unveiled Authority.

 Chapter 333

    Chapter 333


    Emmanuel was irritated. Contrary to his orders, Aiden hadn¡¯t returned from the border when told to do so the first time, even though he had personally sent the order to recall the man.


    He wasn¡¯t even sure that the order had been what called Aiden back, and not the hint of a promise of further advancement for the man''s Domain. ¡°Hey, Boss man. You wanted to talk?¡±


    Emmanuel just looked at Aiden and inspected him, letting the moment stretch until it was noticeably ufortable. The man didn¡¯t look fearful, like he was afraid of the scolding he must know wasing, but instead like a bright eyed kid who was expecting praise for his art project.


    Seeing nothing but directments would work, Emmanuel spent a good ten minutes dressing down the Ascender in question, who, for his part, let each and every reprimand roll off his back like a duck ignoring the rain.


    His father had warned him about the obstinance of Ascenders, but with L having been retired by the time he took over, he hadn¡¯t really understood until he had his own Ascender who refused to listen to anything but what he wanted to hear.


    Sighing, Emmanuel just gave up. ¡°Well, let¡¯s move on to something I learned recently. <em>Someone</em> managed to create an Authority, care to guess who?¡±


    A few hundred years ago, Aiden had asked around about the next step in his Domain growth. However, all the Empire''s records had stated was the name. There was nothing else, such as what extra piece of the puzzle that stage needed. Nevertheless, Emmanuel knew Aiden would know the word.


    Except, for the first time he could remember, Aiden looked¡­ abashed. That was the only word Emmanuel had for it.


    Had he <em>known</em> that Hastor was going to create his Authority? Something here wasn¡¯t fully adding up, and he decided to let Aiden speak unguided.¡°Oh¡­ Uhh¡­ Umm. I guess, I just¡­ Uh¡­ When nobody evermented on it, I figured that the antimemetic was just that good? Which, if it took you this long, I guess it did. What, uhh... What¡­ what gave me away?¡±


    There were many, <em>many</em> possible responses that Emmanuel had expected. The one he got was so absurd he needed to look into the past to confirm he¡¯d heard it correctly, and then again to make sure he had asked the right question when the first was confirmed.


    Maybe they had been talking about something else.


    When both of those attempts proved he hadn¡¯t gone insane, he used a barrage of other Talents to interrogate every possible meaning, only for him to receive a singr response.


    Emmanuel unleashed the full might of his Tier 50 perception, scrutinizing the contrite Ascender before him.


    Tier 1: You notice what others do not, from Demelza Coriander. Tier 3: Enhanced ability to discover the hidden, from Kuriel Tinglkhen. Tier 25: See the Truth of the matter, from his own father.


    His spiritual perception burrowed into the man¡¯s body and cultivation, pushing aside his innate defenses as though they were nothing but air to his steel. He scoured the very core of Aiden¡¯s Domain faster than he could even realize what was happening, finding the man¡¯s Domainid out like a schematic before him. Water, Drowning in the Depths, Even the Shallows are Enough to Drown you. Each of those he saw and studied, looking for clues. Nothing. He was hampered by not knowing what exactly he was looking for, but he could take care of that.


    Tier 1: Perceive the auras of those around you, from Ibhaka Strongfeather. Tier 3: Gain insight into the Domains of those you encounter, from Teti of Xuik. Tier 25: See through all illusions, from Ikeno Tuwasil.


    Still nothing. Aiden¡¯s Domain was a true work of art, the polished masterpiece of the greatest Domain prodigy of the age, but there was nothing. Talent set after Talent set, Emmanuel swapped between them all as he bore into the man¡¯s spirit, looking for one single truth: <em>Did Aiden have an Authority</em>?


    He would-


    <em>I am not a tyrant.</em> Yet here he was, rummaging through the spirit of one of his most¡­ if not loyal, certainly <em>fervent</em> supporters, simply because he needed an answer <em>right now</em>. Much of what he was doing would be tremendously painful, once Aiden had enough time to feel it. But the man hadn¡¯t even had enough time pass for him to so much as notice that Emmanuel had touched his spirit, but it would hurt when the pain finally caught up to him.


    Emmanuel gripped his wrist, and a touch of his Aspect cleansed his mind, returning it to cidity.


    Tier 1: Innate [Soothing Touch], from Eliane Coira. Tier 3: Your touch relieves pains beyond the physical, from Eliane Coira. Tier 25: Smooth turmoils of the mind and spirit, from Talmiya Es.


    The pain would still hit Aiden, but it would be well within the bounds of normality. Emmanuel wished he could feasibly do more, but he would have to settle for mere words of constion.


    Now that he was calm, he assessed Aiden with a steadier eye, taking in the man before him. Talents moved in with his underlying whim, but Emmanuel dismissed them. The man deserved <em>his</em> attention, not the borrowed attention of others.


    Water. Drowning in the Depths. The Shallows are Enough to Drown you.


    That was it. There was nothing else.


    But it wasn¡¯t that simple. There was undeniably more to the picture, and Emmanuel was simply missing it. This time, when he looked, he did so gently, seeing how each of them flowed into the other, admiring the masterwork for what it was.


    His mind was subtly nudged, and Emmanuel¡¯s own Domain snapped to attention, breaking the hold the antimemetic effect had over him. Was he looking in the right ce, then? Or was it simply a false positive, Aiden¡¯s Domain not making it so easy to spot what was hidden?


    It was thetter, and Emmanuel found himself breaking through multiple antimemetic effects before he finally found what he was looking for. A tiny connective strand that didn¡¯t properly align with <em>any</em> of the three Domain pieces woven within Aiden¡¯s spirit that he only now noticed that he wasn¡¯t down there rooting around for it. In fact it was subtle and woven in such a way that forceful examination would <em>never</em> find it. Even if it was found, the antimemetic would encourage the watcher to overlook it. But now that he had found it, he traced it back thanks to the clues he picked up from his earlier examinations, and back, and back, and¡­


    <em>Oh</em>.


    <em>There it was</em>.


    A trill of fear and excitement ran down Emmanuel¡¯s spine. Fear from the very potent disy of power that Hastor had just shown, and excitement for the fact that his forces had be so much stronger.


    Aiden¡¯s Authority interwove with <em>every</em> piece of his Domain, connecting them all. No wonder it was so hard to find it. Even the closest examination, unless you knew <em>exactly</em> what you were looking for, would simply make it look like you were studying his Concept, Intent, or Aspect. In fact, he <em>had</em> noticed the incredible strength and resilience of the man¡¯s Domain previously, but had never thought to attribute it to anything in particr. But now that he knew what to look for? Aiden¡¯s Authority was <em>incredibly</em> obvious, hidden nearly in in sight, yet disguised from everything that, well, a higher-Tier would ever use to look down upon a cultivator beneath them.


    It was a tool meant to <em>fight</em> those of higher Tiers, much like, Emmanuel realized, the rest of his Domain. Each and every piece of the Domain was tuned towards the grand adventure that was fighting those stronger than himself. No <em>wonder</em> he could fight his fellow Ascenders with a four-Tier disadvantage. Attempting to face Aiden with a Tier advantage would be like fighting ava mage in a volcano.


    The fear returned, but it was faint. Aiden was loyal, a good friend, and believed in the same cause as Emmanuel. Not that a betrayal would do <em>anything</em>. Ascender or no, Authority or not, there was <em>nothing</em> that someone nearly twenty Tiers below him could do to threaten him. Not even at Tier 45. At Tier 49, <em>maybe</em> 48 he could present a threat, but below that, no amount of extraneous power could bridge the raw essence gap.


    Specializing in fighting stronger opponents wasn¡¯t unknown, but it was rarely sessful. Aiden, apparently, was one of the few people who made it work, and Emmanuel wondered whether it wouldn¡¯t be more fruitful to fight him at the same Tier. You¡¯d have to deal with a full Domain stage advantage, of course, but at least you wouldn¡¯t be fighting him with his full powerset active. A better chance wasn¡¯t necessarily a <em>good</em> chance after all.


    Aiden staggered slightly as he felt Emmanuel¡¯s presencend on him, the aftershocks of the thorough examination he¡¯d just been subjected to. But physically, Emmanuel merely blinked, as though he wasn¡¯t bothered or surprised by the revtion at all. ¡°No, I was talking about Sword Saint Hastor, who created <em>his</em> Authority, which triggered an inspiration, allowing him to reach Tier 51 before ascending.¡±


    Aiden nodded as if that made sense, sporting a sheepish smile. ¡°Well. This is awkward.¡±


    Emmanuel allowed his expression to settle into abination of stern and amused, fixing his gaze upon the man in front of him.


    ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°How long what?¡±


    ¡°How long have you been hiding the fact that you had an Authority, Aiden?¡± Emmanuel was sure the man had to be ying with him, but Aiden genuinely looked confused.


    ¡°Oh, uhhhh¡­ Since myst Tier up? I already had all the parts besides thest one during ourst war. I finalized it at Tier 30, which was how I had my inspiration to reach Tier 31.¡±


    Emmanuel nearly cracked a tooth at the fact Aiden hadn¡¯t bothered to tell him something so monumental, but he repressed the feeling. Typical Ascender behavior. ¡°So, you had it before you met with the other Ascenders, then? That makes sense, with how you were able to earn their recognition. Everyone wondered, but I don¡¯t think anyone would ever guess this was the answer. I sure didn¡¯t.¡±


    Aiden nodded as if that was obvious. ¡°Yeah. I know. The antimemetic part was the first part I developed. It hides its own existence, hides the idea that I <em>might</em> have one or be working on one, everything. It¡¯s¡­ not infallible. Medea¡¯s the only one who knows, but once I told her, she could sense it¡­ most of the time. And, so long as I keep its uses subtle and self-contained, it¡¯s pretty much impossible to notice¨C as proven by you never noticing. Also it''s harder to notice the more you try to figure out that it¡¯s there. There¡¯s more to it, but that¡¯s the core.¡±


    Emmanuel¡¯s pride as a Tier 50 wanted to refute that im, but that was impossible given the circumstances. ¡°I <em>want</em> to tell you to get out of my office, but you and I both know you aren¡¯t going <em>anywhere</em> until I pry everyst secret from your hands. We¡¯ll start simple. What¡¯s your Phrase?¡±


    Aiden grinned and started to speak.


    ***


    Emmanuel split his attention, using a Talent to grant himself a full six minds, each of which benefited from his full cultivation. Four of the minds were gauging the reactions of his fellow Tier 50s, one was watching Aiden¡¯s clone as the man monologued, and the final one followed the man¡¯s <em>true</em> body.


    Operating at Tier 50 speeds made the entire fight practically stationary, but even without active precognition use, they could all see Aiden¡¯s intention as he began to slip through the shields surrounding the battle.


    Emmanuel was happy to watch, but nheless turned his focus to studying his fellow Tier 50s with his magical and mundane senses, as well as his father¡¯s future sight. Their reactions were of utmost importance in dictating their next few actions. All of them had, the very instant the overwhelming presence unfurled, gone <em>very</em> still as they schooled their reactions and instinctively activated effects to make it even harder to gauge their emotions. But there was still information to be gleaned there.


    JR, ever the curious raven, cocked his head and fixed Aiden with a <em>very</em> keen eye. Emmanuel didn¡¯t have much experience with reading the bodynguage of birds, Mara often used human mannerisms even in bird form foredic effect, but a quick Talent-swap took care of that.


    He was, if Tade Atien¡¯s Tier 1 Talent was to be believed, thinking about making an enchantment or device intended to interface with the Authority. Emmanuel practically felt his vaults hurting at the mere thought of what such a creation might cost, and he hoped it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to turn the eager bird down.


    Maybe he could get Aiden to pay for a part of it himself out of the buyout reward?


    Tobias simply looked tired and thoughtful, as he always did. The extent of his expressed emotions was a slow blink of surprise, and he at least didn¡¯t look hostile. The man didn¡¯t care much for humans, but if Emmanuel was reading the zaratan correctly, he wasn¡¯t going to present any sort of challenge over Aiden¡¯s existence in and of itself. Though, as he inspected the turtle, he got a sense of stern defiance. But he couldn¡¯t source the feeling.


    Aoife had tensed, and for a moment, Emmanuel feared she might grow angry. But after a while, her emotional state settled into a mixture of frustration, envy, and resignation. That was not unexpected, and he had some ns to hopefully bring her around, but it wasn¡¯t something he needed to concern himself about right this minute.


    Allister, as his truest ally at this conve, gave him an odd look, but otherwise didn¡¯t say anything. He was <em>certain</em> that they¡¯d be having a very long discussion after this, but Emmanuel had been very careful to be forthright and honest with the Grandmaster. Their alliance might take a <em>bit</em> of a hit with this surprise, but he was certain it would weather this storm.


    J was staying so exceptionally still that Emmanuel was incapable of reading <em>anything</em> from her through simple bodynguage, and only after he called upon Ibhaka Strongfeather¡¯s Tier 1 Talent did he got any sort of a hint. The woman¡¯s aura had deted, and Emmanuel got the impression of <em>resignation,</em> but he could glean nothing more.


    Winter Ho had his hands sped firmly behind his back, but there was a glimmer around him, supported by his aura, that suggested he was thrilled. No doubt, as a firm believer in the might-makes-right philosophy that infested the Sects, he was pleased to see a fellowmon-born individual make his mark upon the Realm.


    Virgil, therefore, was the only one with a concerning reaction. Her eyes narrowed into a steely re, and Emmanuel watched as her aura sharpened into a de aimed at Aiden. It was bad enough that he scanned a million and one possible futures just to ensure she wouldn¡¯t do something stupid. Thankfully, she restrained herself before he needed to interpose himself. Fortunately for her, but there was an <em>impressive</em> amount of red and ck malice and avarice consuming the woman¡¯s aura. In fact, it was so bad that Emmanuel worried that she <em>would</em> do something stupid and try to attack his Ascender, even if his future sight said she wouldn¡¯t.


    But he was well prepared for that. It was why he was armed. In the blink of an eye, he could change from Maxine Teslovaka¡¯s ability to predict future oues to Hastor¡¯s ability to raise his Tier 25 sword to Tier 51. It would onlyst for a single strike, but it was more than sufficient to, if not <em>kill</em> any of his fellow Tier 50s, certainly wound them and protect his Ascender.


    Questions would be raised about the nature of the weapon, but he had answers prepared. Even if it were to spark a true war, such enmity would likely be aimed at the one who broke the rules first. He didn¡¯t wish to chance that in such a fragile environment, though, as his active Tier 3 and Tier 50 talents each spoke of their own foreseen futures, and the chaos that could ensue from this meeting.


    Thankfully, Aoife defused the tension by speaking up. ¡°He must ascend the moment he reaches Tier 45. No exceptions or excuses. None of us will allow someone with an Authority to linger in this realm.¡±


    Assent rippled across the meeting room, though Allister replied with some enthusiasm, the metal spheres orbiting around his head speeding up. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It might be interesting to see him take the throne from Manny. This dynasty isn''t so fixated on blood rtions.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a <em>threat</em> per se, but it was certainly ill-received.


    Tobias shook his head. ¡°Absolutely not. That man is strong enough to fight his supposed peers at a four-Tier disadvantage. I cannot allow such a transparent ploy to gain strength on behalf of the Empire to y out. I will not allow such a threat to exist any longer than is required. If he does not Ascend as soon as he is able, the Monster Collective will treat his furthered presence as an attempt to prepare for total conquest and respond ordingly. We will not allow anyone to yoke us once again.¡±


    ¡°I am disinclined to allow that much time for subterfuge,¡± Virgil glowered. ¡°Waters must die, and I will not be content until his head rests before us.¡±


    Winter Ho instantly turned his attention from Aiden to Virgil so wholly and so rapidly that even Emmanuel couldn¡¯t follow it. ¡°You overstep your bounds, <em>Virgil</em>. Are you truly so craven as to allow the <em>mere</em> thought of a power which you do not possess to drive you to destroy the one mighty enough to create it? <em>I</em> will not stand for such a transparent ploy to diminish well-won strength from its rightful owners, and will treat any such usations as affronts to the honor of the Sects. If you can not bear the sight of someone aplishing what you can not then be <em>gone</em>. Now be <em>silent</em>, I wish to properly appreciate this moment.¡±


    The tension had returned in full force, but J spoke, stepping between her two allies. ¡°Honored fellows. This is neither the time nor ce to determine the fate of a single man. Waters is an Ascender, there is no concern that he would make a push for the throne. And even if there were, that is a matter internal to the Empire.¡±


    She fixed Emmanuel with a piercing gaze for a moment, then politically turned back to the others. ¡°Power at low Tiers does not assure power at high Tiers, and even if it <em>did</em>, there is precedent to allow any qualified candidates to take the mantle of leadership, no matter concerns regarding the bnce of power. Should we decide to <em>alter</em> that, it is an <em>alteration</em> of our mutual treaties, one which would exclude the likes of our forebears Sword Saint Hastor, Grand Sect Elder Deste ins, and Empress Agatha as simply the most recent examples. Depending on the nature of such an agreement, it could possibly exclude even First Shepherd Toby or Grand Sect Elder Winter Ho, and is that <em>truly</em> a path we wish to tread? Besides, such spection is broadly pointless. He is a diator. Without our intervention, he would Ascend at Tier 45 of his own volition.¡±


    There was a bit of grumbling with that, and J studied Emmanuel with her spiritual sense in a way he couldn¡¯t parse, but the mood had at least been stabilized.


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    Aoife crossed her arms. ¡°I suppose I must agree, with the addition that there¡¯s no more surefire way of <em>guaranteeing</em> that he¡¯ll stick around than by telling him he needs to Ascend quickly.¡±


    Tobias narrowed his eyes. ¡°I will not be party to your conspiracy, but provided he Ascends before he is Tier 47, I will not push the matter. I will, however, require my personal presence at his Ascension to be satisfied. But you are correct, one should not be punished for the mere crime of exceptionality.¡±


    He red at Virgil, as though daring her to challenge his statement.


    JR squawked lightly, pulling everyone''s attention. ¡°Think of the opportunities this presents, regardless. The honored Sword Saint provided us with no information regarding his own Authority, yet with Aiden Waters¡¯ assistance, we may yet be capable of excelling and exceeding all previously thought limits of what is doable within this Realm. His mere existence is a tremendous resource, and one which I, at least, am quite optimistic for the future business possibilities it represents. An entire additional Domain stage to work with carries vast potential indeed.¡±


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t feel wonder at the idea, but instead trepidation for everyone''s treasuries. Except his own, of course. If JR wanted ess to Aiden, he would <em>absolutely</em> be paying for the privilege.


    ¡°With all that being said,¡± Emmanuel finally spoke, ¡°I am not <em>opposed</em> to hearing proposals regarding Aiden¡¯s future ascension, and I am willing to discuss anything¡­ for the proper price.¡±


    He felt a pulse of approvaling from JR, and by unspoken agreement, they tightened their grips over their cultivation until the fight began to resume once again. Emmanuel noticed with some approval that Aiden was managing to slip past the containment shield, and was beginning to attack the armies responsible for its presence.


    Tentacles, unseen and unnoticed, emerged from nowhere in particr, and pulledrge sections of armies into a space which even Emmanuel couldn¡¯t look into. The Depths, Aiden had called it, an ocean just under the surface of reality which he could use to travel, escape, or hold prisoners. Already, the shield was weakening, though not in a way that most people would notice.


    That was the thing about Aiden¡¯s Authority. It was so very, <em>very</em> hard to notice. It didn¡¯t stay hidden forever, but its presence and uses had a way of slipping from one¡¯s attention, something only magnified if one didn¡¯t know of its existence. Now that it was being revealed, it would lose some of its subtlety, but Emmanuel trusted that Aiden would be able to more than make up the difference in not needing to be circumspect with its use.


    ***


    L and everyone else sat in stunned silence as she watched the fight unfold before them.


    She said nothing, for there was nothing to say.


    The only sound breaking the silence was the faintest tinkle of shattering ss, echoing through the room since Max dropped her drink.


    ***


    Aiden cackled to himself as another army was pulled into the Depths, and the shield flickered and faltered. Nobody had noticed him yet, and that gave him <em>such</em> freedom of action. Once people started noticing their cohorts were disappearing, this would get harder, but until then¡­


    Another army vanished beneath the waves, never to be seen again. Or more specifically, until he let them out. With their Tier advantage turned on them, they were trapped within the deepest oceans, floundering in the lightless void.


    If they were really good at fighting up tiers, or closer to him in Tier, then <em>maybe</em> they could have escaped. His drowning had never worked as well on people at or below him in Tier, and he hadn¡¯t had the chance to test it with the Depths, but it made intuitive sense to him that it would work that way.


    Three tiers was a good middle point, he felt. Four tiers had been utter murder on his willpower but immensely fun, and only one tier meant he just barely brought the full brunt of his Domain to bear. But two to three tiers, that was <em>just right</em>.


    Fighting Maya or Yun Me¡­ or the rune soldiers, maybe. They hadn¡¯t impressed him much so far, but fighting any one of them at Tier 31 had been an immense challenge that, win or lose, tended to send him into recovery for a fair amount of time. At Tier 32, his damage may not have increased, but fighting three of them became possible.


    With the added advantage of using a new trump card and no longer needing to hide the source and nature of a massive chunk of his strength? Yeah, he had been pretty sure he could win.


    But something he hadn¡¯t ounted for was what using his Authority fully would mean. Until now, he¡¯d been very careful to only use it sparingly, but now that its full power was coursing through him, he found it¡­ intoxicating.


    This was his ce, being in the depths and attacking those stronger than him, and this power was a siren¡¯s song, encouraging him to genuinely be a monster, a lurker beyond the known and a danger to all who might venture into these uncharted waters. His flesh blurred and warped, wanting to twist him into a great and terrible shape. He would cast aside Aiden Al¡¯Aegir and be Ascender Waters, truly.


    But he restrained himself. He would not <em>gain</em> strength by losing himself to the monster; he would merely cut aside his rationality and humanity, limiting his ability to grow. All high-tier people had their quirks, that was true, but letting one¡¯s self be entirely defined by their Domain was unwise. Apparently, the call only became stronger with higher stages of the Domain. While Aiden could resist it, the call only grew in intensity the more power he called upon and the longer he fought.


    Five of the fifteen armies had been swallowed whole, and the sixth followed with a triumphant roar from the Terror.


    An Authority was a dangerous tool.


    But Aiden <em>loved</em> danger.


    [The Depths] had been a personal project of his for a long time, a skill based off his Domain¡¯s ce, and now that he was using his Authority fully,pleting it had been almostughably easy. It oveid the Depths with reality and plunged them even deeper, whererger predators still lurked.


    A silvery fish the size of his little finger darted through one of the rune soldiers, ending their life. More than half had perished at this point, and their bodies glowed with power, clean lines etched across their body. A wave of light sted out, enveloping Aiden and giving him the impression of a mother¡¯s eye, looking at him disapprovingly.


    Eh, it didn¡¯t hurt him and he wasn¡¯t really hiding anything at this point. With his true body before his main opponents, he shot forward a pair of sharpened water tendrils, spearing the two rune soldiers'' leaders through the chests. Weirdly, they didn¡¯t resist, and simply died with no further fanfare.


    Around them, their fellows also just died, no assistance or persuasion from Aiden needed. Instead of staying dead, their power flowed into a singr individual, a man armed with a crystal staff glowing magenta. The new conjoined rune soldier closed his eyes as the full strength of twenty people engulfed him, and he became <em>perfected</em>. His body became clear crystal and nearly doubled in size, multicolored light flowing through it like a river, spilling past his skin and surrounding him in a multichromatic halo. Instantly, he had be the biggest threat on the battlefield, and despite his cultivation <em>technically</em> not being Tier 36, he surely had the physical might of one.


    This was going to be <em>great</em>!


    Aiden¡¯s [Water Spirit] formed himself into the image of a great leviathan, and he reinforced the facsimile with his Authority¡¯s image, making him evenrger than his wife¡¯s beast form and fully empowered with his Domain. Six questing tentacles ventured forth, traveling at such speeds they¡¯d be as likely to impale as grapple whatever they struck.


    Yun Me blocked one of the tentacles with her shield, gritting her teeth at the force he was exerting yet not being sent flying. The second tentacle she parried with her spear, deflecting it up and away from her.


    Maya swapped herself with an illusion to avoid the first tentacle, only to find her new body face-to-face with the second, and it rapidly enveloped her within its inky grasp.


    The Federation soldier spun his staff, summoning a shield of violet mes that burned through the first tentacle, and channeled white lightning across his body, frying the second tentacle and attempting to ward off the attack.


    Aiden whispered his phrase again, reinforcing its existence.


    <strong><em>I AM THE TERROR OF THE DEPTHS.</em></strong>


    The raw <em>fear</em> permeating the battlefield redoubled, and even the mes and lightning froze in terror. Both of his tentaclesnded, crashing through the crystalline chest of the rune soldier and sending fragments of metal across the battlefield.


    Aiden smiled, a terrible sight in his current form. But, instead of dying, the soldier simply closed up the hole in his chest, severing Aiden¡¯s tentacles and pulling them in, dark blue-ck magic joining the streams of magic pulsing through his body.


    Aiden frowned at that development.


    He reinforced [The Depths] around them with the full might of his Authority, putting a tremendous drain on his willpower and making the siren call of abandoning his humanity all the louder, but he could hold out for a few more minutes.


    But he <em>was</em> the most fearsome thing at this depth, and the other monsters within his skill attacked his enemies surely, needing only a few tentacle whips to get the idea. The three of them- because of course Maya had managed to escape already, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure when that had happened- fought off the encroaching denizens with ferocity, but without further action, they¡¯d likely oust him.


    His first focus was the rune soldier. A flex of [The Depths] separated the trio, giving him the ability to attack them one at a time. The rune soldier was ordingly first up, and he barreled through the water like a missile, wrapping himself with a nket of pressurized cutting water. He crashed into the giant from an unseen angle with <em>immense</em> force, only to bounce off entirely.


    A bit more finesse was needed, apparently.


    He conjured a half-dozen razor-sharp water discuses and sent them in a barrage at the soldier, only for him to smash two into pieces with his staff, freeze a third into yellowish-green ice and reverse its course, shoot down two more with arrows of purple fire fired from his shoulders, and simply backhand thest, sending it back at Aiden, crackling with lightning.


    Aiden smoothly dodged the lightning-coated discus, and¡­


    Was immediately mmed with the lightning discus, causing his tentacles to lock up and spasm. What? Hmm. Some kind of disorientation effect. To avoid it, he simply swapped his position with a random bit of water somewhere else, letting him actually dodge the second reflected attack.


    It had admittedly been quite some time since Aiden had run into a target he couldn¡¯t just brute-force into submission, but he still knew how to deal with it. He just needed a bit of time, which unfortunately he wasn¡¯t about to get.


    The currents around him twisted and diverted away, forming a bubble within [The Depths] where there was no water. Along the edges, the deep waters became deep rock, and in the blink of an eye they were no longer in [The Depths] of the ocean, but [The Depths] of the earth, a massive cavern their new battlefield.


    Aiden kept himself in the air with a light touch of his Domain, but a blinding light arced from a tiny hole that opened in the ceiling, striking down like Maya¡¯s golden sword and cutting his leviathan form in half. In that instant, Aiden felt the choice present itself as to whether he would dive deeper into the Authority and <em>stay</em> the Terror, or return to being Aiden.


    He picked thetter.


    Now back in human form, he threw himself to the side on a summoned wave, taking the form of an underground river and breaking through the rock walls of the cavern, narrowly avoiding a newly-reappeared Yun Me¡¯s spear aimed at his head.


    It wasn¡¯t particrly difficult, but it put him on the defensive, and he was forced to relegate his offensive on the others to the back of his mind while he focused on defending himself from Yun Me.


    Even in [The Depths] of the earth rather than the ocean, there were still great monsters to be found here, and Aiden sensed one such predator lurking just beyond the walls of the cavern. To lure it in, he quickly hid his full power and projected a feeling of weakness. Stone flew as the monster, some kind of rocky wingless draconic wyrm, broke through the floor and lunged at him.


    He locked it down with his Authority.


    Locking down space to prevent someone from moving was a simple tactic. It was still almost never used at their level because, without an advantage in Domain advancement or a <em>massive</em> skill discrepancy, your opponent could easily counter such a working. And no one had anything greater than an Aspect in this realm.


    No one except Aiden.


    Yun Me¡¯s forward movement stopped like she ran into a wall and Aiden drifted to the side as the wyrm came in for a bite.


    With Aiden¡¯s dodge, it had only one target in its view, and it happily took a bite as it flew past her.


    Yun Me conjured a spherical shield around her, but was swallowed whole nheless. She¡¯d break free soon enough, but Aiden re-projected his full strength and directed a spike of fear at the wyrm, prompting it to dive back into the ground and burrow away as fast as it could.


    Aiden would finish her offter. Of his three opponents, she was certainly the verifiably <em>hardest</em> one to beat, and while the rune soldier seemed to have greater passive defenses, he expected he¡¯d find a workaround soon enough. But if Yun Me was still in y, that would be all the harder.


    Maya brought down a golden sword whose de stretched to the end of the cavern, and he threw himself to the side to avoid it while using [Abyssal Ation] to deflect the bolt of ink-ck lightning that the soldier threw at him. That attack still carried some kind of intense reverberation that rattled his body until he turned into water, at which point it became harmless ripples.


    He created a water clone and split up, each one engaging one of the fighters still on the battlefield. He could tell with the corner of his awareness that Yun Me had escaped the wyrm, but its fleeing had brought it far enough from the battle that she would take some time to arrive.


    The clone conjured a pair of whips and began harassing the rune soldier, for all that it was twice his size. Purple mes, arrows of light, toxic ice, all of it poured down on him in an unending hail, but he¡¯d fought bigger and scarier things before. <em>He</em> was the terror here, the soldier was just an interloper challenging his Authority.


    His real body closed in with Maya, only for the entire world to vanish in ce of a pitch-ck dreamscape. She was going back to basics, apparently. That meant she was getting tired.


    Aiden closed his eyes, dodged an invisible knife and fired off a [Water Bullet], feeling the spell impact Maya. His clone wrapped a [Water Whip] around the end of the giant¡¯s staff and let himself go for a ride, being flung into the air as the soldier spun the weapon.


    The call of the Depths was strengthening.


    It was time to end this.


    ***


    Medea sighed with relief as the battle was reaching its conclusion and reached a tentacle over to pat the still shocked Cammie on the head.


    They would be fine, just like she had said they would be.


    ***


    Maya dodged to the left while a copy of her dodged right, in case she needed to take its ce if her dodge was wrong. Off in the corner of her awareness, she saw a clone of Aiden flipping around the giant rune idiot as he did¡­ something. She had stopped paying attention to them once it became clear they were functionally useless beyond another meat shield.


    Some attack wasing, but Maya just couldn¡¯t locate it. Aiden pulling an extra stage to his Domain out of his ass would be due for a lot of future consideration, but right now, she needed to concentrate. If only the palpable fear aura wasn¡¯t constantly wriggling at the back of her mind like an annoying little worm.


    Right as the fear spiked, Maya felt the blow descend.


    It was like a tidal wave, like the wrath of an angry elemental, like the descent of an immortal into a veil world.


    It wasing right at her.


    It wasing after all of them actually.


    Yun Me crashed through the rock from where the wyrm had dragged her off, just as Aiden and his clone flew to be back-to-back, raised their arms, and pulled <em>down</em>.


    The stone crumbled around them, and unfathomable amounts of water came pouring in, like a hammer from the heavens, a tsunami dropped directly on their heads. There was a lot of chaos, and she needed to spin up a rapid Law just to give her enough time to process.


    Yun Me nearly had her arm wrenched from its socket when her shield got pinned between two boulders traveling at nearly supersonic speeds, and opted to ditch the shield rather than let her mobility be so impeded as more boulders came flying towards where she was standing. Her spear was also knocked from her hand, but she simply re-manifested it in time to stab a wave of water away. The giant rune idiot had two rocks break on his head before he went down, and even with <strong>All the Time In The World</strong>, turning herself into an illusion, and more, she felt herself being crushed under the immense pressure of Aiden¡¯s Authority backed attack.


    She refused to let that be the end of it. She refused to let that be the end of <em>this</em>. She was Maya Embers, the Reality Warper. And with thest of her strength, she <strong><em>pushed</em></strong>.


    <strong><em>That Didn¡¯t Happen</em></strong>.


    Her willpower and mana dropped like a stone, and there was a good deal of chaos, but by the time she was aware of what was going on, they were back floating in space, no sign of the abyssal depths- oceanic or cavernous- they had been within. Instead, they were in the battlefield where most of their fight had urred, but the arena shield had apparently copsed. That was new.


    To her sides were Yun Me- still missing her shield but less harmed- and the rune idiot. She hadn¡¯t realized that would be so area-of-effect, and wondered if next time she could make it more selective, to save power.


    She felt the undercurrents of reality begin to stir, the sounds of the ocean beginning to stir as Aiden sought to bring them back to the depths, but she put a rapid stop to that.


    <strong><em>It Is What It Is.</em></strong>


    It would drastically cut into her own effectiveness, but it handily put a stop to Aiden¡¯s Domain shenanigans. Hopefully Yun Me and the rune idiot could take it the rest of the way, because while she was overstretched nearly to the point of breaking¡­ she was <em>not</em> missing out on the rest of this fight.


    She wouldn¡¯t stop and give up now, not in the best fight she¡¯d had in her lifetime.


    She needed to <em>see</em>.


    ***


    Aiden swore as Maya brought all three of them very nearly back from the dead. <em>That</em> was a new one, and it was lopsided enough of aw to revive her, but not restore the resources he¡¯d had to pull out to try and score the blow. Still, at least he¡¯d been able to separate Yun Me from her shield long enough to pull it into the Depths, and Maya¡¯s hasty recall hadn¡¯t been able to return it to its rightful owner. That was an incredible relief, as much as he was impressed by the impromptu revive.


    The call of the monster was growing strong, and his willpower was nearing empty. Using his Authority was taxing on it, who would have guessed? But that meant it was time to finish this.


    It was time for hisst, not really trump card, trump card.


    Reaching into the gas giant they had been fighting over, Aiden connected to all of the hydrogen floating around.


    Hydrogen was, after all, a big part of water. Two-thirds of it, if he was being generous. But that wasn¡¯t enough to allow him to control it directly. However, if he looked at the beneath him another way, then it was a giant ocean. Not one of water, nor ofva or sand, but of hydrogen. And he couldn¡¯t control just any hydrogen. And he couldn¡¯t control just any ocean.


    But an ocean of hydrogen?


    He could make that work. Barely.


    His Domain and skills were stretched in some very ufortable ways, to the point he felt his body begin to crack and melt, but he reached out andmanded the to rise.


    An enormous tentacle of hydrogen stretched out from the surface of the looming overhead, a swirling mass of storms the size of a moon. It seemed to move slowly, but that was simply the size and distance ying tricks on perception. The tentacle mmed into the battlefield like the entire ocean it was, winds created from the nothingness of space striking with the force of a mountain. While they enveloped Aiden harmlessly, they struck his foes with the force needed to pulverize a moon.


    The rune soldier conjured a silver shield in front of them, and the hydrogen was deflected in every direction. Behind him, Yun Me conjured a very solid-looking shield, despite Aiden and Maya¡¯s ongoing war over the underlying working, which was locking down spatial storage as a matter of course, and began to envelop the group in a crackling red shield.


    It took too long.


    One moment, the rune soldier was defending against Aiden¡¯s onught of tentacle strikes stalwartly.


    The next moment, the rune soldier had been reced with a cloud of crystal dust and fragments of metal as he <em>detonated</em>. Multicolored waves of energy spilled out and interrupted Yun Me¡¯s nascent shield as the impact of repeated strikes overwhelmed him, causing his conjoined body to rupture and release twenty cultivators worth of energy in an instant.


    Yun Me recovered quickly, and while he could see that she¡¯d gotten a wounded leg somewhere, she still moved quickly. But instead of a skill, she manifested a massive and ancient tree that resisted the onrushing tide admirably well. Maya¡¯s current Law poured into the tree as well, making it even sturdier and mightier than it would have otherwise been. Aiden pushed with his Authority and an ocean of hydrogen, they pushed back with their Aspects and reality on itself.


    They were all tired. This fight had pushed them all to their limits.


    But such was the nature of the Depths. Simply existing was a never-ending fight, a never-ending struggle to survive. It was a pressure he was so very familiar with. It was his home. It was his Domain. And it was his Authority which ensured that these interlopers within his waters would fall.


    Blood poured down his face from his eyes as his willpower stretched to its limits.


    No, not blood.


    <em>Saltwater</em>.


    Heughed maniacally. The sea was in his blood. Always had been. Always would be.


    A wave crested the shore. The ocean consumed all. It rushed across the shoreline and mmed into the tall and proud tree on the coast.


    The tree stood.


    The waters rose.


    And rose.


    <em>And rose</em>.


    <strong><em>And rose</em></strong>.


    Soon, even the tips of the trees were underneath the waves, leaving no sign ofnd.


    Maya and Yun Me were nowhere to be seen.


    The Depths had imed them.


    Aiden sagged. He¡¯d managed to trap them, but both of them were squirrely- Yun Me was already hammering him from the inside with attacks, and had somehow managed to find her shield, despite how impossible that should have been, and he didn¡¯t trust himself to hold them for very long. He needed to get to a secure war-prison and <em>fast</em>, where they could better restrain them and ept surrenders, or whatever.


    More ships arrived in the system, and Aiden tensed for a moment before smiling. The Empire forces and newly-arrived Guild forces swept forward, enveloping the remaining armies before they could retreat.


    They had won. <em>He</em> had won.


    His Domain all but copsed, his willpower pushed to its breaking point, but appearances were important. Aiden raised his hand above him in victory and surveyed the devastation he¡¯d wrought even as heughed.


    Be it a rising tide, a rushing river, a stormy sea, Waters was unstoppable.


    ***


    Watching the wreckage of a once great armada and the surviving armies huddling inside as his own forces rallied around them, Emmanuel turned to Winter Ho, J, and Virgil.


    ¡°We <em>did</em> convene this predicated on the idea that these would be the initial surrender negotiations. Shall we begin?¡±


    Virgil ground out through gritted teeth. ¡°We haven¡¯t lost in the Tier 25 bracket, so the war is only tied. Really, you¡¯ve lost the Tier 35 bracket as well, just not as badly as you <em>might </em>have. Waters is in no shape to fight, and do you <em>really</em> think you can w back enough territory to pull the upper bracket into anything but a draw before you have to release today¡¯s captures? No. I¡¯m calling your bluff. Without your Ascender, you can¡¯t win forever.¡±


    Emmanuel raised and dropped a single shoulder in the most casual way he could. ¡°It''s inevitable at this point. Why drag it out? I¡¯m willing to call it here and now, with a pseudo white peace. You pay out the Ascenders and we all go on our way.¡±


    He knew they would never ept that, couldn¡¯t ept that. He didn¡¯t even want that, to be honest. He wanted as long of a treaty as possible, but that was where his bargaining <em>should</em> start, so it <em>had</em> to start there.


    Sadly, he knew exactly what Virgil would say when she opened her mouth. ¡°We haven¡¯t lost yet.¡± Not bothering to hide it, she sent an order with her AI. ¡°Harmony ords. Attack.¡±


    Because, of course, they would fight to the bitter end.


    Emmanuel looked down to where what was left of Aiden floated, silentlyughing at the destruction he wrought upon the Empire¡¯s enemies.


    Emmanuel had faith in his Ascenders. No matter what pyrrhic victory their enemies tried to achieve, he trusted the kids to see them through the mes.


    He just hoped the price they paid wasn¡¯t <em>too</em> high.

 Chapter 334

    Chapter 334


    Long Zhiyuan wasn¡¯t surprised to get an order for a full out decisive attack, even if he had hoped they wouldn¡¯t be the ones getting such an order. It didn¡¯t take a genius to put together that if they were receiving such an order, then the armada that had sailed past them had failed in its mission to secure one of the Empire sub-capitals.


    The very thought was horrifying and almost unthinkable, but there it was. Long Zhiyuan was just happy he wasn¡¯t part of whatever trap had been set for the two Ladies. The thought that The Drowner had defeated both of them along with the many armies that had been massed was even more frightening, and downright impossible.


    None of that changed the fact that something had happened, which only made him worry about this order even more. Final fights were for desperate times or theatrical retellings of more mundane struggles. Considering Long Zhiyuan was prepping his armor rather than his makeup, he knew on which side of that coin he fell, which left only one option.


    Give it everything he had and hope it was enough to see him through.


    He had trained for this and simted every possibility.


    The three lead generals stood before them as they gathered.


    ¡°It is our mission to turn the Tier 25 war front around. With Ascender Shadow down for the foreseeable future, this is ourst chance to strike a significant blow to the remaining Empire Ascenders. Pull everything out and use anything you have to; deploy all tactics and trump cards. Materials can be reced after we win. All our armies are being mobilized¡­ you have thirty minutes.¡±


    Long Zhiyuan filled in the rest of that sentence in his mind. ¡®And if we lose, it doesn''t matter.¡¯


    Looking over to Maven, Jai Xilu, and Jai Meng, Long Zhiyuan keenly felt the absence of Gan Le. The man might have been abrasive, but he had been a damn good tank.They spent a few minutes getting ready before they were thrown out into the intervening space and the battle was on.


    ***


    The moment the battle started, Zack felt something was different.


    It wasn¡¯t just Titan shooting off the moment they left Drifter''s ship, but in how ferocious the Harmony ords were attacking. The initial volley of spells was twice that which it normally was, and he even needed to call deeply upon Codex¡¯s reserves to defend against it all. There were three primary types of attacks headed at them: area effects, unguided projectiles, and homing attacks. The unguided attacks required only slight nudges to deflect them away from anything important. The area effects were usurped, altered, and triggered early. Those area effect abilities, in turn, blocked most of the homing projectiles. Walls of force blocked waves of cold and fire, eddies of mist swallowed projectiles of metal and stone whole, fields of serenityid rot and radiation alike to rest, ands of arcane tore the spell structures of mirage lightning and spectral mes to shreds.


    The mana from so many spellsid fallow began to disperse, but there was enough of it that it would take some time. That was fine. Were it not consumed or dispelled through some other means, he could simply absorb it with his staff as the opportunity arose. But until then, it would simply affect the efficacy of his aspect changes, and could be ounted for.


    Zack had nearly dealt with all the attacks that his initial countermeasures hadn¡¯t blocked when a squad of Republic soldiers deployed a massive mana bomb before slinking away once again.


    General Darrow informed Zack that he was in the opportune situation to deal with it, and he passed off his remaining defensive duties to Bulwark to assess the explosive. It looked to be of a fairly standard make, but it <em>never</em> bore to make assumptions.


    However, after a moment of study, he mentally nodded. A fivefold-reflecting crystalttice was at the center of the bomb, taking a base spell- this one utilizing summer mana- and reflecting it infinitely, each crystal reflection magnifying the power at y. It would detonate once the crystal magnifier broke, and the secondary storm enhancers turned the basic overload into a proper <em>weapon</em>.


    Breaking it was as simple a matter as usurping one of the crystal reflectors and stepping the mana aspect down to earth. That ended the enhancement loop, and the suddenly-fragile enchantment simply broke under the strain. It still activated the secondary detonation, of course, but it hadn¡¯t charged to the point that would be an actual <em>threat</em>. Nheless, he duly smothered the edge of the radiance storm with a thinyer of gloom, essentially negating its impact.


    The meleeponents of the Harmony ords were also advancing in a tight bundle, and while Maven and Long Zhiyuan peeled off with a number of pinnacle elites, it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the rest of the group''s relentless advance.


    Torment directed his Sloth to cover himself and Bolt, the giant¡¯s chilling field cutting down on, but not entirely obviating, the heavy fire the duo experienced as they moved to provide support to Titan.


    Allie¡¯s absence was something he felt keenly and constantly. He was no helpless babe without his partner, of course, and any who dared to challenge him learned exactly how he¡¯d earned the title of Ascender. However, it was nheless undeniable that she had provided him with an extensive amount of defense through thebination of a dedicated melee specialist constantly within metaphorical arm¡¯s reach, and simple constant mobility. With herck, Zack had to be substantially more on-guard for daggers in the back or eye, both metaphorical and very literal. Furthermore, so too did everyone else.


    He didn¡¯t <em>distrust</em> Bolt and Torment¡¯s capabilities to protect themselves, but he kept a keen eye upon them. Neither¡¯s defenses were that spectacr by the standards at which they operated, and he thus needed to actively monitor them in the event of an attack which they might otherwise be incapable of surviving. The blink of an eye could be the difference between life and death for them, or himself.


    Joon Jullian began to cast a volcanic explosion spell, likely some form of [Eruption]. Codex¡¯s power flowed through him and a prepared [Leashed Jump], modified to utilize smoke mana to circumvent the spatial lock brought him within range of the man. His control was distinctlycking.


    Or at least, it was to Zack.


    [Eruption] was a focus-type spell. That was, it built up substantial power within the periphery of its spell structure, then gradually worked to condense and magnify that power as the manapressed, until it was released in a single mighty working. With [Eruption], that power buildup could be loosely abstracted in three dimensional space as a cone, with earth mana at the base rumbling and magnifying theva and volcano mana near the peak of the cone.


    At this stage of the spell, Zack could have disrupted the spell and smothered the entire working with nary a wisp of ash to indicate it had ever existed. But his time with Titan had demonstrated an alternate route open to him. His Concept-guided [Spellsteal] took ahold of a singr strand of the spell and twisted it, using [Spellmerge] to braid it with [Arcane Surge]. Instantly, power <em>violently</em> drained from the spell with such suddenness and force that most of Joon Jullian¡¯s mana was instantly sucked into the magic.


    [Arcane Surge] then returned all of that drained power with dividends, catastrophically overloading the spell, even as Zack¡¯s [Leashed Jump] returned him to where he had been in the battlefield mere moments earlier.


    There were very few mages who were capable of handling their entire mana pool suddenly being dumped into a single spell. Joon Jullian was not among them, and a pyrostic explosion engulfed him and his two closest allies, evenrger than he¡¯d expected.


    Jullian actually survived the initial st of white-hot ash,va, and mes without so much as a singe, but his closest two allies weren¡¯t so lucky. One was outright killed, and the other had lost half of his body and activated a life saving measure, returning him to his ship.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to stop the onught of attacks though, and Zack had to interrupt another two deadly spells that were targeting himself or his allies the moment his form settled back into ce.


    A warning blip came from General Darrow, and while Zack finished taking over and turning a [me Dart] to smoke, he turned his attention to where Wraith was being chased down by Dao Child Darkness Eternal.


    Wraith was doing an admirable job of defending herself from the void mage, but doing so was undeniably requiring more of her focus than was optimal, depriving much of Team Zero of her immensely useful support abilities. It didn¡¯t help that Darkness Eternal had shown an ability to injure the woman through her spells, harming Aster by wing at her dispelling winds.


    Void was one of the most dangerous mana types, a hiltless de capable of scoring deep cuts upon its wielder and target alike. Such was its power that nearly all higher-end armor was at least slightly tuned to defend against it specifically, lest itpletely overpower it. However, void was at least <em>conceptually</em> simple to deal with.


    Buffer void with as much of <em>anything</em> as you could. Void was indiscriminate, annihting friend and foe alike with nearly no regard to how thick your defenses were, but where it suffered was variety. Tightly interwoven multi-elemental defenses, higher-level mana aspects,yers of defensive spells, those were what void most struggled with. ordingly, arcane mana, as the mana of either creation or magic itself, was the ultimate counter. Arcane was <em>every</em> element, simultaneously and interwoven. Void, upon meeting arcane, was snuffed out nearly in its entirety whilst leaving barely a scratch.


    Wraith, with many of her abilities based around the level 4 aurora mana aspect, was, on paper, aparatively decent matchup against void. But many of her actual spells were air, illusion, or ice-based, and against such things, Darkness Eternal was <em>very</em> effective. Conjuring a discrete illusion was as good as presenting your real body to the velociraptor Dao Child. Wraith was fleeing with [Astral Path], still interfering with other fights where she could, as she attempted to gain distance from her pursuer. It was insufficient, and Darkness Eternal was slowly catching up and undermining the movement skill with every passing moment. Therefore, Zack moved to intervene.


    Except, just as he moved, he snapped his neck to the right hard enough to shatter his spine as a de was driven at his eye.


    Ari Kai had finally made his move.


    And it was a good one.


    His timing was perfect, and was further enhanced by unexpected speed. The moment he attacked Zack, a ck mist appeared around each Legion, bringing all of her bodies into a single location before a set of floating runestones that created a small zone of shifted reality, pulling her out of phase with the rest of the battle and forcing her into a <em>single</em> body. All while Aster was still backpedaling from a dangerously close Darkness Eternal.


    Zack contemted disabling the cage around Legion. It was unlikely to be terribly difficult, as the field it was utilizing- a variant of <em>crystal</em>, pulling them into a solitary ¡®reflection¡¯ of reality and disabling all other reflection-like phenomenon- was clearly some form of prototype based solely off the sensory feedback he was receiving from General Darrow. But as it was a new effect, it would take him some time to determine the way to properly disable it, and that was time he didn¡¯t have.


    However, it was Darkness Eternal¡¯s actions which decided for him. His feathers ruffled and syed, a runestone appeared within his armor, and space began to bend and fold in on itself, <em>un</em>locking and dragging Wraith back as though she were on a treadmill. He was momentarily confused, until Darrow provided a probable exnation. They were likely attempting to free Gan Le. It had been deemed too risky to leave him in the ship¡¯s brig during fights, and the prisoner convoy dedicated to his transport was still a week out.


    The means by which the Harmony ords knew this- or merely suspected it, as that would be sufficient- did not matter. What did matter is that they were attempting it, and they could <em>not</em> risk that they may seed.


    Breaking Gan Le from his icy prison would spell disaster for all of them, and couldn''t be allowed to happen under any circumstances.


    Zack''s mind snapped into form, rapidly assessing a simple solution for the ongoing situation. He needed to get close enough to Wraith to give her an arcane mana shield strong enough to protect her, protect himself from Ari Kai, and help the rest of the team not copse. And he needed to figure it all out <em>right now</em>.


    Legion indicated she was safe, and Wraith made a move he would have never rmended, but thebined feedback made his own decision far easier.


    [Ashes to Ashes] caused Zack''s body to crumble into ash, and a quick application of fire mana allowed him to set his remains alight, forcing Ari Kai away from him long enough to allow him to throw a spatial formation around Wraith, further endowing her armor with an arcane [Invisible Object].


    It wasn¡¯t just a spatial lock or anything so simple. It was a dual formation that isted Wraith and Darkness Eternal from their surroundings. That meant that when she expanded her spiritual space, it was limited in scope but also contained.


    The void mage started slowing as ice crept up his limbs, but the second part of the formation prevented the streak of light that was Gan Le activating some recall tether that would have pulled him back to the Harmony ords ship.


    If Zack wasn¡¯t setting himself alight to keep Ari Kai from stabbing his reforming body, he might have found the way Gan Le bounced off the shield amusing. But currently, pain was the only thing he could really feel.


    Zack teleported as he reformed, keeping control of the spatial lock just long enough for Aster to recapture Gan Le and Darkness Eternal. Still, the damage was done, and their battle line was copsing.


    ***


    Liz dodged to the left as the boosted Loel shot a massive de of dust at where she had been fighting Eliana inside the sphere of orange and blue light they had trapped her in.


    She hadn¡¯t been <em>dismissive</em> of Eliana when she first learned about the woman per se. Plenty of unusual abilities could be leveraged in unique ways to great effect, and having a body be both living and inanimate depending on, apparently, personal whim, was certainly abusable and unusual. But she had underestimated just <em>how</em> potent that it could be.


    At a <em>very</em> basic level, it allowed her to enchant her body with things like self-repair and durability. Simple enchantments for a sword that corresponded to <em>far</em> moreplex abilities for a human. At a slightly less basic level, it made her immune to practically all debuffs, be they intended for items or people. But the first thing she hadn¡¯t properly appreciated at first was how it nearly doubled the number of buffs she could benefit from at a time,yering such delightful skills like [Unbreakable de] atop [Archmage¡¯s Presence] and [Hidden Knife].


    Unfortunately, Liz was still stuck in the middle ground. Ironically, a <em>younger</em> her might have been better off, before she¡¯d pivoted from using blood like red water at a very basic level to embracing it as <em>blood</em>. An annoyed and bitter part of her wished that she still was just using blood like a hammer, because a hammer didn¡¯t care if it was hitting a brick wall or a skull, it still smashed it. Of course, if she <em>had</em> tried to literally brute-force her way as a blood mage, she was unlikely to have be an Ascender.


    Her career had forced her to perfect dozens of minor curses that each subtly sapped the strength from her enemies, hundreds of ways to hinder how her enemies¡¯ bodies moved. She¡¯d even shouldered aside her difort with the idea and created gues, thousands of autonomous forces which could multiply her already considerable reach, slowly whittling away at the defenses of her enemies with no need for her direct attention.


    Blood was subtle. It flowed unseen most of the time, only making its presence known in the instant before death struck. When fighting those far weaker than her, it was <em>always</em> shy and always fun, every strike bringing the promise of death. Fighting elites, and those more resistant to her basic abilities, involved far more of the subtle buildup to the final strike. It was the buildup, the preparation, the grunt work needed to amplify her blows to the level needed to kill those who were nearly immortal.


    And Eliana was <em>entirely</em> immune to everyst bit of it.


    She was even immune to Liz¡¯s normal counters! Liz, of course, had prepared abilities for enemies whose inanimate armor was too tough for her to get through to the blood bag beneath, sanguine curses meant to render the arms and armor of her enemies heavy and impotent in their hands. ¡®Death¡¯ curses, powered by the demise of her spare bodies, which dragged them just as surely to their doom as the wounds they¡¯d inflicted upon her¡­. And Eliana, because she was also a <em>human</em>, was an invalid target for those as well. Because then she <em>wasn¡¯t</em> an item.


    It was infuriating.


    Was she on Liz¡¯s level? Of course not. In a one on one fight, Liz would absolutely crush her through sheer martial prowess and the overwhelming weight of bodies if need be. The woman may have been a literal machine, but she was no Matt. She would be worn down eventually. But she was <em>never</em> fighting Eliana one on one. She always, <em>always</em> needed to send spare bodies to other parts of the fight, or was being ganged up on, being bombarded by the mercenaries, or in this case, armies, or any number of things. It was <em>always</em> something.


    Liz thrust into Eliana¡¯s chest and twisted her spear, unfurling itsponent feathers like it fragmented inside her chest. With [Feather Armory], enhanced by the direct contact with her spearhaft still embedded in the woman¡¯s chest, she sought to tear the construct woman in half.


    It didn¡¯t work, as Eliana¡¯s body started to shift, clicking and cking as it did so, but Liz still caused considerable damage. There was no blood for her to take control of, but Liz didn¡¯t need blood to hurt someone. Her spear was perfectly serviceable.


    Her spearhaft shifted and twisted, opening up a hollow column inside of it leading directly to Eliana¡¯s chest, and Liz turned to blood and flowed through her spear-straw into the woman¡¯s chest, just in time to dodge a radiant st of an offensive life-aspected attack from Loel.


    Or, nearly in time. A drop of blood was caught in the st, and she felt it w around her spirit and try to cause her to lose control over her own biological processes. Were she not a blood ooze, it might have given her a dozen types of ever mutating cancers.


    Liz metaphorically frowned. Loel should know biological attacks wouldn¡¯t work on her, which meant there was an effect she was missing. Perhaps a setup for somethingter?


    Now that she was inside Eliana¡¯s chest, Liz formed spikes with her blood iron, sting them out with a bit of Sanguine Geyser Spore usage and randomly transposing heat, cold, and mana around the internals of the construct-woman. She even used her blood as a cauldron, brewing a potent acid in the sh of an eye, burning a bit of manticore bloodline essence to <em>really</em> enhance the dissolving properties.


    Then an air spell blew through Eliana¡¯s internals as Loel wrenched the two of them apart, sending Liz to the edge of the semi-reality. Instead of contacting the edge with a m, she simply found herself flying back in the other direction, having been turned around entirely without her noticing at the blue and orange border.


    Eliana met her with a st of fire, which Liz turned cold by using Aster¡¯s contracted Concept ability, then shunted off to the side with her Chillheart Nettle. She reformed with a feather-spiked gauntlet inches from Eliana¡¯s face, and managed to score an actually decent wound on the woman, leaving some exposed runic circuitry sparking with mana.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Loel¡¯s next spell was a st of hard light, burning a hole through Liz¡¯s chest and copsing her body back into blood. She had no reprieve, as a shadow spell sank into her scarlet depths and began turning it a chilly ck. Then a water spell with some indeterminate effect, and a petrification curse sank into her, and though she was able to use a cockatrice bloodline to end it¡­


    Liz¡¯s mind red a red alert. Shadow, water, and earth. There weren¡¯t many ways to disable a phoenix¡¯s revival, but if <em>she</em> were to try and devise a way, it would probably involve attempting to counter or smother the associations the species had with light, fire, air, and life. All of thoseing in a row from a mage noted for her <embination</em> effects spelled bad news from her. If the next spell was death-aspected, then she¡¯d consider that confirmation that they were trying to permanently kill her and act ordingly.


    A deathly miasma settled over the battlefield, and Liz¡¯s spirit quickened. Whether or not her revival was functioning didn¡¯t matter. It was at a minimum to be considered unreliable. She sent a pulse for assistance, but nobody with the proper skills to get her out of her current prison- Ai, Aster, Zack, Bulwark, and Susanne- were close enough to definitely get here in time to save her. The <em>genuine</em> threat to her life hade too suddenly for them to properly adjust, and was too nebulous to have been fully predicted. The priorities had been protecting Torment and Bolt, who had gotten penned in by the rune soldiers, and Aster to ensure Gan Le didn¡¯t escape.


    Information, however, <em>did</em> pour in. Darrow deemed it unlikely that thisbination would be terribly persistent, if she could survive one or two attacks from Loel it would be likely that her spell-chain would need to be reset. Zack provided her with some information as to how she might be able to cleanse a bit of lingering shadow mana from her system. Dena agreed with Darrow that the revive-disabling effect, if it were to work at all, would be easily disrupted. Bulwark stretched himself and cast an adaptive resistance spell on her through Darrow¡¯s link, something that would absorb the elements around her to try and make her inured to their worst effects.


    A wince went through the connection as someone died. She didn¡¯t know who and couldn¡¯t tell yet, because Loel made her move.


    It was lightning, of course. That was the woman¡¯s apparent favorite element, the type she used for her strongest finishers. With even a handful of casts building up momentum, Loel¡¯s lightning could strike as hard as Matt¡¯s [Tribtion Strike], and she had <em>far</em> more than that now on top of whatever effects Synoid or Crastor had filled her with.


    Thunder crashed, lightning shed, and Liz looked death in the eye.


    A wall of golden lightning tore through the space, giving Liz no time to react, no time to dodge, and just barely coalesce herself into phoenix form before her tribtion was upon her.


    It struck her head-on, and time seemed to slow down as she fought against it. Lightning coursed through her veins, the fire of the heavens sting through the fires of life like a mundane bolt of lightning sting a campfire to pieces. The power was <em>immense</em>, and the only reason her body wasn¡¯t sted to pieces was because she manually held the fleshy bits together with her magic.


    It was a continuous, never-ending struggle. In truth, the attack was likely instantaneous, but to Liz, it was as though torrents of lightning wracked her body unrelentingly for seconds or minutes. And it hadn¡¯t ended yet.


    She did feel her inner me, the one she associated with her revivals, begin to gutter and wane, much as she feared. That wouldn¡¯t be an out for her, not without something¡­ drastic to stoke its mes.


    Something, perhaps, like bloodfire.


    Right now, her talent and Domain were separate from her bloodline, weakening each. Like Matt had found with his Domain Meld, oneposite ability was stronger than two disparate powers. But, if she was able to unify her heritage with her present, both would be better off for it.


    On a less flowery level, the attack currently smothering her revival was aimed at a <em>fire</em> phoenix, and if she could fight back with something that wasn¡¯t fire, she stood a much better chance of living through this.


    She¡¯d spent thest near-century researching bloodlines and mana types with the aid of Project Breach¡¯s research teams, she¡¯d practically memorized the book on how to change your elemental affinity while remaining a phoenix¡­ she could do this.


    Lightning sank into her spirit, and she let it through pathways she opened inside her blood with concentrated blood iron, hopefully divesting it away from anything too critical.


    Bncing a mana type was difficult. While they¡¯d managed to find several configurations which could hold themselves together for a few minutes or hours, the sorts of structures which would be useful in a skill, there had always been somethingcking when it came to having the mana structure cross the bar into a <em>fully</em> stable mana type, the sorts of which wouldst forever and could even be used as a building block of its own.


    Blood and fire. Blood mages had been working for centuries tobine them, usually with death mana to create a mana type most empowered by the exact moment of death. Sacrificial magic, blood rituals, cascading gues¡­ all the things that Liz didn¡¯t like about blood magic. She¡¯d grown ustomed to it, yes, but it still wasn¡¯t her preference.


    Fortunately and unfortunately, nobody had ever seeded at synthesizing blood and fire. The most that hade out of untold amounts of suffering was simply a few papers providing proofs as to how to <em>not</em>bine the two elements.


    But that didn¡¯t matter much. What she wanted waspletely different. Changing just one or two secondary or tertiary elements couldpletely alter the direction of an element. Away from death, and towards life. And that was what Liz wanted, then as now.


    Life.


    She was no healing sage like Melinda wanted to be. She was an Ascender, and proud of it. Death-dealing was her primary upation, and she was <em>very</em> good at it. But at the same time, she preferred to deal death to those looking her in the eyes, those who could fight back, those who were in one way or another an actual threat to her or her loved ones. She certainly wasn¡¯t some genocidal gue mage, nor a blood-crazed ritualist sacrificing those weaker than her for personal power.


    She was the girl with a chip on her shoulderrger than her parents¡¯ egos. She was the girl whose only real drive was to prove everyone else wrong about how she was just good because of her parents. She was the woman who pushed herself to keep up with Matt. She was the woman who had never fully given up on her first love of fire, but had nheless been pushed to embrace blood for what it was and not what she feared it would be.


    She was¡­ Liz. She was herself. She got to choose her own destiny and would do so with the tip of her spear and with both blood and fire.


    The question was and had been, what would be the binding piece uniting her past and her present, leading her into the future? There were four probable ways in which she could develop bloodfire, with crystal, emotion, spectral, and lightning at their core.


    Was she the crafter, using crystal to forge solid weapons and bodies for asting legacy? Was she the inciter, using emotion to spread herselves across the realm and leave an indelible mark in the wake of her passage? Was she the healer, using spectral to reach past the physical and soothe the spirit, <em>mending</em> the realm with the life in her veins? Or was she the warrior, using lightning to st a passage for herself and her loved ones, protecting Matt as he changed the realm and smiting any who dared stand in her way?


    She already knew the answer, in her heart.


    And there was just so, <em>so</em> much lightning around her, just begging to be used.


    Electricity coursed through her veins,tching onto her bloodline and domain, seeking to extinguish them. That just made it easier. She didn¡¯t need to worry about where she¡¯d get the fuel for her transformation.


    Blood and fire, bound by chains of lightning. The crystal around her, binding her into a singr body, joined too within the stewing potion within Liz¡¯s spirit. Loel¡¯s other spells came too, joining the great cauldron. Sand, life, wind, fire, and light. Shadow, water, earth, and death. All of it went into her blood, the cauldron of life.


    It was just like brewing a potion. She knew the structure of lightning bloodfire in and out, knew the ces where motes of crystal were needed to stabilize parts of the form, where wind and light capped off pieces of fire and blood, binding them into something brilliant. She¡¯d practiced this many a time, trying to figure out the final piece, what would be needed to make <em>bloodfire</em>.


    The outeryers of her phoenix body began to disintegrate, her attempts to hold it together with blood magic woefully insufficient as the blood itself was vaporized and utterly annihted. Feathers crumbled to dust and her eyes were blown to pieces, but Liz needed only a single drop of blood to survive, so she had time.


    Any mana type had three important pieces: theponents, the structure, and the <em>logos</em>. Some people called the logos the mana type ¡®name,¡¯ but that wasn¡¯t urate. It wasn¡¯t as though you needed to figure out the name of a mana type in order for it to exist. Liz preferred to think of it as a <em>purpose</em>. Mana didn¡¯t exist in a vacuum, it was created by creatures with the intent to do <em>something</em>. She¡¯d thought of lightning bloodfire as ¡®the attacking one¡¯ for so long that it was hard to think of it as anything else, but that was what she needed to do now.


    Just as blood was so much more than mere red water, and fire so much more than some pretty mes, bloodfire would be far more than a singr use, a single behavior. It was, or would be, a tapestry unto itself, the sort of thing which one could dedicate a lifetime to understanding a single fragment of.


    So what was at its <em>core</em>. Not, what did it look like, but what <em>was</em> it. What bound blood, fire, and lightning together?


    Blood was life and death, the essence of biology, the medium used by the body to fill its essential functions. Fire was creation and destruction, the essence of civilization, the tool by which mankind separated itself from the beasts. Lightning was¡­ the powerful stuff that came out of the sky and destroyed things?


    <em>You can do better than that</em>, Liz practically felt her father admonishing her.


    Okay. Lightning was¡­ lightning was the hand of the storm, the full fury of nature concentrated in a single stroke, it was¡­ Well, in myth it was associated with cultivation. A tribtion of lightning imposed upon a cultivator before they could advance. Most people felt that it was just a flowery description of forming a Domain stage, but the stories persisted. Lightning was trials and tribtions, the crucible by which one was reborn into something greater.


    Blood, fire, and lightning. They were the filters of life and death. The means by which a creature would live, the means by which a society would live, and the means by which a cultivator would live. Essential, taxing to survive, and always dangerous yet immensely powerful.


    They were <em>life</em>. Taken together¡­ the lifeblood of immortals.


    <em>Ichor</em>.


    Overwhelming to the weak, a balm for the strong. Blood beyond the physical, strength beyond strength.


    She had taken a liking to the word after reading about the idea from some of the records from the now destroyed Ascendancy of the Sun. Part of their religious beliefs had talked about how their gods had blood of sunlight and fire coursing through their veins, and while Liz didn¡¯t think creating a new blood fire mana type elevated her above anyone else, the description was simr enough she co-opted their name without hesitation.


    Looking at the prototype structure of lightning bloodfire- <em>Ichor- </em>Liz instantly knew where it needed to be fixed. It would be difficult, but she¡¯d done moreplicated potions than this before. She could do this. All she needed to do was figure out a new mana type, change her bloodline, and hope that it managed to dispel the anti-resurrection effect she was under, all in this moment-between-moments bit of rity while actively on a battlefield.


    But she¡¯d forged herself on battlefields since the time she was a little girl.


    What was one more reforging?


    Blood was the core of ichor, of course. It was the blood of immortals. There was too much fire in the existing structure, and she reced much of it with lightning. Crystal reflected and solidified several of the more unstable portions of the fractal-like mana structure she could sense with her spirit.


    Air was what breathed life into fire. It was what gave the spark to lightning. It was the very thing blood moved around the body.


    It acted like a barrier, stabilizer, and method of transformation all at once.


    It served as an underpinning and binder, and she wove a simple strand of air through the core of her blood pir, using it as a conduit to bring lightning and fire directly into her bloodstream, just as oxygen had previously.


    And then the final piece of the puzzle. <em>Life</em>. She didn¡¯t need much, but she didn¡¯t have much. Just the faintest film around the center of the structure, orienting it and giving the entire structure purpose. It was the overwhelming life of the truly exceptional, and all others needed to get out of the way or get ready to face their wrath. It was the life of those who thrived in battle more so than the life of healing wounds and soothing words. It was the vibrance to stand tall. It was life, the ability to push through unimaginable pain for just one more breath.


    No wonder she¡¯d thought it was so aggressive.


    The final mote of mana fell into ce, and Liz felt <em>solidity</em>. This, here and now, was ichor.


    Her body continued to burn away, and she had been forced once again into being solely blood. A few drops were all that remained between her and oblivion. Even now, those drops were torn to pieces by the overwhelming power of Loel¡¯s lightning, until but a single drop remained, barely held together by her buffs and what assistance she could be provided with through Darrow¡¯s Domain.


    But that just made it easier. One less drop of blood meant there was that much less to change. One drop of blood left meant there was almost nothing left <em>to</em> change.


    Her Talent meant she never trulycked for <em>blood</em> mana, her bloodline was already an ever-raging fire, and Loel had given her all the lightning she¡¯d ever need. She pushed her Intent as far as it could go, and suddenly she was working not with her <em>blood</em> as a cauldron, but with her <em>bloodline</em>. The fire, weak and suppressed as it was, greedily consumed the blood, turning a deep blood-red, and then the lightning came.


    The fire was blown to pieces, annihted and scattered into embers, overwhelmed by the immense power. Shadows fell and water came, delivering death to the tenacious me.


    The fire went out.


    And Liz died.


    The fire returned.


    Tiny pops of golden lightning within Liz¡¯s spirit jumped from one ce to another, electricity and essence unbowed and undaunted by the water attempting to extinguish it. The lightning sparked a golden me, and the golden me red and began to flow.


    In the wake of the overwhelming wall of lightning, Loel began to turn her attention to other parts of the battle, her job done.


    Then, a golden fire sparked itself into existence right where Liz¡¯s final drop of blood had been. An instantter, that golden me expanded upon itself a hundredfold, bing a golden tide of flickering blood before coalescing back into a single drop as Liz was reborn.


    Loel wasted no time, obviously prepared for the possibility that Liz might have survived the attempt to kill her, and returned empowered by her Concept with the near-death experience. But this time, the golden blood was no mere affectation, no mere facsimile. This was genuine, and Liz returned to life with a rush of power unlike any she had <em>ever</em> felt before.


    As a phoenix, her revivals had always been somewhat gradual, the slow kindling of a tiny me as it grew into a bonfire once again. But as an ichor phoenix, her return was more akin to that of a bolt of lightning- entirely without warning, extremely sudden, and <em>immensely</em> powerful. She was a star igniting. It was the storm overhead raging at the ground with all the ferocity that nature had to vent. It was the righteous fury at anything that had dared to best it as it came back for round two with an adrenalized grudge.


    It also cracked her Domain.


    That had more to do with the sudden change of her bloodline and mana type than anything, but while it wasn¡¯t as bad as Aster¡¯sst bloodline change, it still came with a sharp pain from her Concept as it attempted to reconcile the foundation she had built it upon with the new foundation it found itself upon. She may have to alter her phrase slightly, but that should be doable without having topletely redo her Domain.


    After all, <em>Ichor</em> was in many ways simply a more refined idea than <em>rebirth through blood</em>.


    Her Intent was not unscathed either. Her anchor, her blood itself, made the jump from her blood to her new ichor without a hitch. Her image of blood being the best conduit for energy flexed and warped slightly, but with how much power was contained in her new ichor, Liz wasn¡¯t surprised in the least.


    But with a suddenly unstable Concept phrase beneath it, <em>Blood is the Cauldron of Life </em>was intensely damaged as it sought to reconcile the new power of her blood. Fortunately, the conceptual space behind ichor was close enough to blood that it should heal on its own over time, but she was very d that it had been such a small change. Somethingrger may have broken her Intent outright, and that would have been an awful fate for the middle of a fight.


    She didn¡¯t think it would be too bad in the long run, however. Even as a single drop of blood, Liz had never felt better. The power contained inside just a single, solitary drop of her new blood was a dozen times stronger than it had been a moment ago. She could easily see how this new ichor would not only be the cauldron of life, but would be a far better cauldron than her blood once was.


    But even on an injured Domain, her Concept still empowered her, and more than ever. She spread out from her tiny me, her drop of blood, and resolidified into her human body, whole once more. Glowing, golden blood now coursed through her veins, giving her a radiant yellowplexion as her Talents adjusted. Her skills stayed unchanged, as they cared about the mana type, but her Tier 3 and Tier 25 talents ran off of what her blood was, and right now <em>her</em> blood was pure ichor.


    Loel struck with a new bolt of lightning, and Eliana engulfed her with a st of mes, but Liz flowed around each with almostughable ease, then threw herself at Eliana.


    Instead of trying to rip and tear at the other women, she dug inside, something Eliana did nothing to prevent. Inside, she found the mana and lightning which her body used in ce of blood. Once upon a time, that had stymied Liz, but no more. The idea that blood was the sanguine fluids of biology no longer limited her. Now blood was that which brought life.


    And metal or flesh, living or artifice, Eliana was undeniably <em>alive</em>.


    Liz¡¯s ichor seeped into the metal like it was any other flesh and assimted everything, brute forcing the entire method. Her new blood was so strong, it innately crackled with fire and lightning. And together, they carved a path through Eliana, wholly ignoring the non-biological nature of her tissues.


    Eliana screamed and wed at her chest, trying to rip Liz out, but it was toote. Bits of ichor had traveled from her chest to both her brain and toes alike. The only chance Eliana had to survive this was to recall back to the Harmony ords ship. However, Liz knew that they would never recall abatant if it risked bringing her onboard with them. Letting Liz loose on a ship with that many nonbatants and weaker soldiers would be nothing but a ughter.


    Eliana could always surrender, but unfortunately, Liz had used her esophagus as the easiest method to her brain, and she just so happened to be blocking any [AI] signals from escaping the other woman.


    A happy little ident. At least, it was for Liz. And she didn¡¯t particrly care about anyone else¡¯s opinion right now.


    Death was the only oue for Eliana now, but it wasn¡¯t instantaneous. It was painfully slow. What slowed Liz down more than Eliana¡¯s body''s innate resistance was the absolutely absurd amount of natural treasures that had been stuffed into Eliana. It made <em>sense</em>, she could use every type there was thanks to her unique constitution, but it was still more than <em>Liz </em>had as an Ascender. Absolutely absurd.


    But what made her blood- ichor- really boil were the pieces of ¡®wetware¡¯ incorporated into her body, pieces of magical beasts integrated into the cybeic body. Given the Federation¡¯s reputation, she <em>truly</em> doubted those had been sourced ethically.


    She had no mercy for someone who participated in such actions. Her assimtion of Eliana was cut short by Loel, who once more threw a massive bolt of lightning at them. The remainder of Eliana¡¯s body was sted into pieces with an explosion of essence, proving her death, and once more, Liz didn¡¯t bother to block the lightning.


    She didn¡¯t <em>need</em> to, in this state. Lightning was but a part of ichor, and ichor was her blood, and <em>Liz was blood</em>. Using her Tier 3 talent, hypercharged by her Concept in the wake of rebirth, arge portion of the lightning was assimted just as any other blood would be, which simply empowered her all the more.


    A bloodcurdling grin stretched across Liz¡¯s face as she [Blood Sacrifice]d a bit of spare ichor, feeling the power absolutely pour in. Her blood skills had technically taken a bit of a hit to their power, but that was more than offset by the strength of her bloodline cultivation. Feeling things out a bit, even her subtle gue-like skills, which benefited the least from ichor mana, still came out ahead of where they had been.


    But where the power truly shone was her physical boosting skills. The cage was still blocking her from creating other bodies, but she used [Sanguine Legionnaire] to simply partition portions of her blood into separate ¡®hers¡¯ without making them actually physically separate, then used [Blood Brothers]. The strength was <em>immense</em>, on par with what she¡¯d felt with a full legion of bodies all with their ovepping strength boosts.


    She still wasn¡¯t a <em>true</em> melee fighter, but she felt like she could wrestle Matt right now.


    A bit of [Coven Casting] from the inside put pressure on the trap around her, and Dena and Zack put pressure on the outside, and it shattered, letting Liz once again spread out into multiple bodies.


    [Sanguine Regeneration], [Pir of Blood] and [Adrenaline Rush] coursed through her being, and the frontmost Liz darted forward while casting [Crimson Wings of the Phoenix]. A steady thump sounded out as [Lifeheart Manifestation] further boosted her skills and domain.[Legion¡¯s Insight] made her mind crystal sharp, which made her chuckle as she cast [Blood Crystal Armor] on her left arm as she hadn¡¯t yet recalled her shield.


    A spare attack pinged off her golden armored arm and was diverted upwards. Still, it slowed her down a hair, which allowed Loel to retreat.


    Transforming into her bloodline form, Liz didn¡¯t feel the usual rush of fire and mes as she transformed. Her Ichor Phoenix instead exploded in a pulse of golden light, me, and crackling lightning.


    Even as Liz pped her wings, not pushing against air but the fabric of reality instead, she took a moment to inspect her new form.


    Her overall shape had remained the same, she was a bird of prey simr to any number of raptors. But the transformation had slimmed her down some, streamlining her feathers to the point she nearly looked like a golden statue, and the haze of fire and lightninging off her wings merely added to the illusion.


    It was a form built for power, and exactly what she had needed it to be.


    Flying through space, she cast [Scarlet gue]. The skill was one of the ones that felt out of ce thanks to the shift in mana type, but Liz brute forced the activation. [Scarlet gue] had once allowed her to infect other forms of blood which she used to spread gues. This time, Liz forced the cast while focusing on the infecting properties of the skill.


    With each p of her wings, golden spores flew out and started darting for everyone near her.


    For her allies, Liz controlled the spores to create thin fments of armor that she then crystallized. For her enemies, the spores created a bridge she used to start assimting them. They tried a number of methods to stop her, but two of the rune soldiers learned the hard way that fire was not an effective counter to her ichor. Instead, her new blood fed on the mes and spread even faster.


    Loel instead used a mixture of ice and earth, which proved a suitable defense, and the others quickly copied her.


    At least, the elites did. The supporting soldiers drawn from the other ships weren¡¯t so lucky or well equipped.


    Once Liz got a foothold inside their defensive line, they tried to destroy her blood with explosions, but her ichor easily absorbed the fire and powered through the damage. Curses designed to corrupt mundane blood simply couldn¡¯t find a foothold on the pristine ichor she now embodied. They changed to try to freeze her, but none of them were sufficiently powerful to freeze a bolt of lightning.


    She was the hunter. They were her prey, and there was nothing they could do to her. They broke before her flight, with far more vigor than she had anticipated. Liz cast her awareness further afield, paying attention once again to the mental connection to Darrow she had been ignoring and looking around the battlefield.


    Looking over to the arc ship enemies were escaping to and seeing a giant hole in its side that was leaking massive quantities of air and debris told her everything she needed to know about how well Matt was doing.


    The soldiers had run from the frying pan to the me, and Matt wouldn¡¯t be in any mood to pull them out. No, they were only likely to get charred.


    Smiling, the three new Liz¡¯s rejoined the fight, ready to end this farce once and for all.

 Chapter 335

    Chapter 335


    Matt reached the shields of the Harmony ords'' ship in what felt like an instant, propelled by Light¡¯s travel mana and an eleration formation he and Origami had cobbled together after much nning. In all of their strategizing, they kept running into the same issue; they were outnumbered.


    That, especially whenbined with the giant neutral mana blocking crystal, made it difficult to push through not just the elites, but the corporation mercenaries supporting them. If they wanted a decisive win, they needed a way to reliably stop the Harmony ords from retreating.


    Which led to Matt moving through space with wisps of illusion trailing off his straining armor.


    His eleration ended when he bounced off the shields, but he at least had the wherewithal to flick his Intent to lock his backward momentum for a moment. Cursing Origami and his past self for insisting they needed the fifth amplifier, Matt started unfolding the formation they created to get through the shields.


    His work was slowed as a significant portion of the Corporation mercenaries turned their cannons onto him, but Matt just red his white hole repulsion to push the attacks off his work area.


    The pilots of the ship, seeing he wasn¡¯t driven off their hull, started to rotate the ship to take him away from the formation that was already digging into the shields. But Matt just used his Intent¡¯s ability to lock his position rtive to the ship to keep himself next to the formation. Before his meld, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do that while keeping up the repulsion defense, but now it was second nature to use both his Concept and Intent at the same time.


    The rotation actually worked in his favor, as he was brought away from the attacks, and he used the opportunity to finish deploying the formation.


    The formation he was using to create a hole in the shield was conceptually simple, but the actual execution was insanelyplex. It wasplicated enough that Matt had only been able to follow the general idea of it, and had relied on Origami to do most of the hard work.


    The first part of the formation was meant to dig into the energy projection of the shield, which was easy enough for Matt to understand. A ship¡¯s major weakness had always been sappers or anyone getting close to their hulls, where their point defense systems weren¡¯t able to fire upon said attackers. On typical ships, it wasn¡¯t impossible to just use explosive formations to blow a hole through the shields, but this behemoth of a ship had the capacity to carry enough reserves to withstand even Matt¡¯s mana output. No simple bomb was going to get through the shields without more than Matt could reasonably carry. But that wasn¡¯t the only method.Another often used method was to use a formation to dig a hole through the shield projection and slip in that way. Despite the major weakness of doing so being that the stronger the shields were, the more advanced the formation had to be, it was still the method they went with.


    The formation¡¯s fractal-like pattern was a dark and menacing ovey on the bright blue shield, but Matt hardly noticed as he tracked energy shunts and their outputs. The whole time he adjusted the formation variables, trying to bring the formation into resonance.


    Part one was done, but that had been the easiest step by a mile.


    Matt tossed a mixture of alchemical ingredients they had postted would solidify the formation into the shield, even as the ship rotated back to face the battle where Matt came under attack again.


    His [AI] warned him that Maven and Long Zhiyuan, along with a few other pinnacle elites, were racing to his location. Even so, Matt ignored it all, trusting in Bolt and Torment who were distracting the majority of the weaker attackers. Bolt¡¯s shots at Maven and Long Zhiyuan slowed the elites down just enough that Torment''s summons were able to get in close and engage the lesser elites in melee. The two Sect Pinnacle elites, reluctant to break free of the main group pursuing Matt, were forced to divert attention from Matt to manage the distraction.


    This bought Matt the precious seconds he needed to break through the shields. The moment the shield turned into a jelly like substance, Matt¡¯s [AI] pinged again, and he followed its instructions as he activated the secondary and tertiary effects at the same time.


    His own mana pool plummeted to almost zero as all of his forty one million mana generation was pulled into the formation, transforming into destion mana. His armor flickered as it switched to backup power, and his [AI] and other boosting skills only kept running thanks to the endless sub-aspect of his mana.


    A billion manater, the entire ship''s shield pulsed as the energy stored in the formation pushed down the shield projectors. They instantly and automatically changed over to their backup units, but that was where the tertiary effect came into y, as it kept the now jellified shield stable and partially connected it to the backup shields.


    Matt drove his armored fists into the shield and screamed into his armor. The billions of mana flowing through the shield not only scorched his armor, but his very mana channels. While rare, mana back feeding like this was ill advised in the best of times. Still, Matt needed to keep pumping his mana into the shield to keep it in its gtinous state.


    It was like sticking his hands into scalding acid, but Matt didn¡¯t let that slow him, even as he dug through the five feet of shielding.


    Once he breached the other side, Matt dropped his connection and red [Regeneration], almost shuddering with relief as his scorched mana channels were soothed and repaired.


    As his connection to the formation was cut off, the gtinous substance was ejected outward, and Matt couldn¡¯t help but grin as his spiritual perception was able to see Maven and Long Zhiyuan impotently stuck just outside the shield.


    They vanished in unison, and Matt suspected they had activated some recall system to return to inside the ship, even if he couldn¡¯t feel it quite yet.


    From their spies¡¯ reports, Matt knew the physical shielding of the ship was going to be incredibly thick and made of both Tier 25 exotic materials and natural treasures. Still, he was taken aback at just how true that statement was. The hull of the ship was probably worth more than what a dozen Tier 30 star systems made in a millennium.


    It was a work of wonder, but Matt didn¡¯t hesitate to use [Telekinesis] to rip a hole in the side of the masterpiece.


    Matt wasn¡¯t Harper by any means. They would have found a small seam and used that to peel the ship like an orange, but that wasn¡¯t his style. Matt didn¡¯t bother with finesse and instead grabbed the side of the ship and wrenched as hard as he could.


    When that didn¡¯t immediately work, he gave himself more leverage by activating his ck Hole to lock his ce in the realm.


    For a brief instant, Matt¡¯s world seemed to slow and narrow down to this moment as his unstoppable force was put up against the immovable object.


    It felt like that even with Matt¡¯s power, the enchantments running through the hull of the ship would be able to resist, but he didn¡¯t give up or stop.


    He was dauntless. He was endless.


    The armor might be strong, but it was made of enchantments and items, and itcked a living spirit that could react to changes and pressure.


    Slowly, so slowly that Matt almost wasn¡¯t sure he was really seeing it, he started to notice micro fissures form in the armor as the stress began to build and ovee the material¡¯s structural strength. Those failures were almost instantly healed as the repair enchantments flooded the area with mana, and if someone was simply battering at the armor, it would have been able to heal all of the damage. With Matt pulling with constant, overwhelming pressure, the fissures never got a chance to fully repair themselves. Slowly but surely, the fissures started to growrger until all of a sudden, the contradiction ended and with a burst of air, and a two hundred foot wide section of the ship''s hull was peeled back.


    A few support personnel were pulled out of the hull from the sudden dpression, but he ignored them first in favor of tearing his way deeper into the ship. He ran past the internal locks meant topartmentalize the hull breach, and then right past Maven, who was rapidly approaching in hertest suit of armor.


    Her armored form wasrger than the ship''s corridors, but neither of them cared. While the outside of the ship was made with materials strong enough to block every conceivable T25 attack, the interior, non-structuralponents of the ship were made out of ordinary Tier 25 metal. With a quick application of [Metal Maniption], Matt shredded a wide swath of the internals to make room for his next move.


    Matt avoided engaging with her even as she tried to tie him down and flew forward with his best speed. Doing so, he did notice that his neutral mana shields were still down. They had hoped that the Harmony ords wouldn¡¯t be able to use the same effect inside the ship since its systems had to run on neutral mana, but it seemed they had a method to work around the effect. Or at least selectively disable it.


    Maven jumped at him, ws gleaming, but Matt dodged to the side and slightly downward through another two walls and a floor, sword aimed right at Long Zhiyuan, who had been poised for a nk.


    The slippery man dodged to the side and tried to entangle Matt with a glowing spider web. Matt didn¡¯t stop to engage, using a pulse of his repulsion to force the to miss. Instead, he kept flying towards the ship''s engines.


    The pinnacle elites who had been with Maven and Long Zhiyuan were already in ce, with a Federation army scattered through the paper thin corridors and blocking every trajectory to the engines, which even now were gathering and cycling energy.


    In their ns, Team Zero had worried about the ship trying to leave real space and fleeing, trapping and effectively capturing Matt. But Drifter had rightly pointed out that a ship of that size would take a lot of energy to move, let alone rip through reality.


    So long as Matt was fast enough in disabling the chaotic space engines, he could strand the ship.


    Even in the worst case scenario, he could always fight his way out, which was the reason he was alone and why they were willing to risk this y.


    Presumably, Aiden¡¯s fight had concluded, but he wasn¡¯t sure what this attack meant about the oue there. Not that it mattered. Win or lose in the higher bracket, a crushing victory on the Tier 25 warfront was still their job, and right now, that meant crippling the Harmony ords.


    A dozen smaller shield units came on, trying to block Matt¡¯s path. But even though they were connected to the massive ship reserves, the projectors were small enough to be deployed inside, which meant they had no chance of being strong enough to stop Matt.


    He barreled through the first dozen shields head first, and just as he was beginning to slow, he shed out with his longsword. The [Wind Cutter] was almost a mile long and cut throughpartments like they weren¡¯t even there, but Matt didn¡¯t just let the spell fly forward uncontrolled. Instead, he activated [Air Maniption] and sent the spell on a spiral, letting it cut forward like a blender tearing through metal and flesh.


    Before any of his opponents got themselves back under control, Matt activated the [Sheer Cold] he had been charging.


    The ship around him turned white as metal tore and fractured, and the surroundings echoed the screams of metal cooled suddenly to well below zero. The soldiers who were nearest didn¡¯t even have time to realize how they died, and Matt had to shunt dozens of streams of essence away from himself and out into space.


    At least, what wasn¡¯t used to cast [Sacrifice]. Like with its lesser counterpart he had pulled from a rift so many years ago, Matt felt power flood his limbs and rity seep into his mind.


    [Dragonme], in turn, transformed the winter wondend into an inferno hellscape.


    Maven arrived just as he was ending the spell, and Matt darted forward just before her attacknded, not wanting to get tied down.


    Soldiers threw themselves in front of Matt, but they were only throwing their lives away, as nothing they did even slowed him down. [Shadowstrike] extended his sword''s reach and the illusionary de cut through flesh and molten metal alike.


    Long Zhiyuan came from the side again and managed to force Matt to a standstill as his razor-like ws nearly pierced one of the thinner spots on Matt¡¯s neck armor. How Long Zhiyuan knew that was a weak point without [Cracked Phantom Armor]¡¯s reinforcement, Matt wasn¡¯t sure, but he couldn''t let himself get bogged down.


    Thrusting his sword at Long Zhiyuan¡¯s head, Matt cast [Cracked Air Slide] and slid forward like the air still venting out of the ship.


    And then he was there.


    The engines pulsed around him, streams of raw mana captured within an enormous floating array of enchantments, natural treasures, and even essence. There was no illumination in the room beyond the base glow of mana. Still, that was sufficient to cast an intense blue light across the entire area with a red undertint that he could only associate with some kind of enchantment byproduct. There was no apparent ceiling or floor within the engine room, the formation suspended within what apparently was an endless column-shaped void, save for the walkways surrounding it.


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    Matt studied the engine, pulsing his AI with a huge amount of mana and even reinforcing it with willpower,ing to a basic understanding of how it all worked. Once upon a time, he would have simply sted through it, or at least tried to, but his time with Light had taught him a <em>better </em>way to deal with the engine.


    The kinds of forces needed to keep thisrge of an engine in check even <em>Matt</em> couldn¡¯t overpower¡­ but if there was one thing he was good at, it was using a <em>lot</em> of mana in one go.


    Through a careful dance of tactical retreats and pushing forward through the defenses and attacks from the defenders, Matt maneuvered himself until he managed to touch the engine apparatus at seven key points. At each ce, he dropped a metal te and a manifestedrge chunk of mana crystal to seal it in, then fused the tes to the engine with his BPL.


    Once the seventh te went in ce, Matt flew as fast as he could out of the middle of the engine. When at a sufficient distance, he activated his new talisman.


    By his normal standards, the talisman did nothing. There was no great explosion that it was building up towards, no grand battlefield effect which it enacted to turn the tide of the fight. Even if he could have gotten an effect like that in this simple of a talisman, that wasn¡¯t the use he needed currently. All that this talisman did was power itself with all the mana it could ess.


    And when hooked to the ship¡¯s engines, it could ess a <em>lot</em> of mana.


    The mana crystals were there to get the working started, and they vanished the instant the formation came online, used to fuel its activation. That gave the talisman just enough power to breach the engine¡¯s containment andtch on to the incredible source of mana present there.


    A stream of mana jerked violently as it was diverted into the talisman from the careful weave of power that powered the ship, the sudden change of course shearing through a walkway and sending it plummeting into the void below. Emergency shut-offs attempted to stop the flow of mana, but a different te simply stole the mana before that shutoff circuitry could initiate, and diverted the mana to the talisman¡¯s working. All the while vast currents of mana tore through the room and caused havoc as the talisman further plundered the ship¡¯s entire mana circuitry.


    The issue came when an external override function came into being, absolutely shutting down Matt¡¯s own attempts to usurp the ship¡¯s mana for himself by locking down all enchantments in the area.


    He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it worked, but many of the soldiers fighting him instantly had their weapons and armor sputter to a stop, their magic suppressed. Matt¡¯s armor, as well as the suits worn by Maven and Long Zhiyuan still worked, albeit hindered. He couldn¡¯t do anything too fancy at the moment with his gear¡­ but he didn¡¯t really need to.


    The enchantment suppressor was a fairly absolute method of stopping a runaway engine failure, but it was also limited in scope. His analysis, assisted by Origami and Light¡¯s borrowed insights, suggested that it wouldn¡¯t apply to any focuses. It had been designed as a suppressant such that anything catastrophic would be halted long enough for engineers to get in and fix the engine. To do that however they would need their tools, so any spells cast through a focus <em>should</em> be unimpeded.


    That gave Matt a fairly easy way to bypass the lock. He opened his spirit up to the talisman, making himself the conduit for the mana it was pulling from beyond the engine room. Like a dam breaking, millions of mana instantly poured from the ship beyond, through him, and into the talisman array in the engine room once more.


    Mana red around him, reminiscent of sma but more liquid. It crashed onto his armor and cut deep furrows into the enchanted metal. Some stronger arcs even cut down to his flesh, but [Regeneration] ensured any damage was healed almost instantly. A halo of power surrounded him, strong enough to dissuade even Maven and Long Zhiyuan from approaching.


    Few other Tier 25s could have channeled so much mana, but for Matt, it was just barely noteworthy. He wasn¡¯t Light, trying to grab a hold of a multimillion mana spell with no training or experience. This was what <em>he</em> was good at, and he was absolutely not about to lose consciousness over it.


    Though, he would have loved to ck out. The pain was world defining, and Matt was happy there was so much power rampaging around him that Maven and Long Zhiyuan were unable to do anything but throw spells at him from range. If they had been able to get in close, they would have found every muscle in Matt¡¯s body locked up tight as he tried to resist being thrown away from the engines like any other piece of debris.


    To Matt, it seemed like the discharge of powersted an eternity. But in reality, it onlysted a few seconds before someone threw emergency shut offs somewhere past where his talisman array could reach. But he¡¯d done enough. Both in terms of damage and havoc wrought.


    Even if the ship had backup engines somewhere deeper in case of emergency, like Drifter suspected, he had caused enough damage in the mana conduits that ran the ship that they wouldn¡¯t be using them any time soon.


    The ship was stuck in real space with him inside it.


    <em>Good</em>.


    ***


    Susanne had a feral grin on her face as her spiritual perception watched the rear half of the Harmony ords ship explode. The morale of the other side plummeted, and she wasn¡¯t going to let that advantage go.


    She darted forward, her de blurring as she chased down three of the rune soldiers even as Liz went after the mage who had nearly killed her in a burst of mes, lightning and golden blood.


    They needed the turn of the momentum. Morgan and Sebastian had gotten penned in by the Federation¡¯s rune soldiers, and despite her best efforts to get there in time, she¡¯d only reached the squadron an instant after Morgan¡¯s upper body was vaporized in a st of light. She¡¯d taken the man who¡¯d gotten her down with her, but the damage had been done. Sebastian had fallen a momentter as Despair, a cloak made of tattered darkness, erupted from his body. The shock of the emotion manifesting had given a pair of the remaining rune soldiers the opportunity to grab him and whisk him away as a capture. But Despair was still present, only sort-of on their side with its summoner absent. The aura it projected was horrific enough that Susanne hesitated to get close to it, but it was upying some of the rune soldiers well enough that Susanne could engage the remaining ones with the advantage. Susanne brought her de down in a cross attack, turning the sh into a thrust that neatly cut off the left leg of the nearest rune soldier.


    The golden armor that was something to do with Liz absorbed the blood and used it to grow, coalescing into a loose pauldron clinging to Susanne¡¯s shoulder, even as she dashed forward trying to turn the wound into something lethal.


    An [Air Slide] sent her forward on a burst of air, boosted by her various natural treasures from both Minka and elsewhere.


    Surfing along the turbulence, Despair rode along and blocked ance of fire by simply engulfing it. Not a hint of the attack remained, not even a stream of smoke. The uncanny feeling only grew stronger.


    Susanne channeled that feeling into her de. It was the truest expression of herself that she had. Her greatsword danced, writing a story of loss, anger, and despair. The increase in dexterity let her cast [Air Slide] slightly faster than was normal, and she got minutely ahead of the first rune soldier.


    shing out, Susanne left a trail of energy streaking behind, knowing thework of sword aura would perfectly cut though the rune soldiers head like it wasn¡¯t even really there.


    The burst of essence was sucked up and pulled into the nearest soldier, but the body exploded into blood, which the golden Liz-armor used to grow bigger. It then began casting spells from Susanne¡¯s shoulder as though Liz was right by her side.


    Another small explosion rocked the Harmony ords ship, even as a second and then third rune soldier fell.


    It was time to finish this.


    ***


    Matt¡¯s armor crackled with excess power and glowed with heat, and he needed to break several fused joints as he wrenched his feet free from where they had welded themselves to the floor.


    Maven and Long Zhiyuan were the only twobatants Matt was worried about, but that didn¡¯t mean the others didn¡¯t exist. He had been kind and refrained from any kind ofrge scale spells, hoping that the support personnel would surrender and leave the ship, but that time had passed. Anyone still here had made their choice.


    [Cosmic Presence] strengthened the artificial gravity of the ship, but that wasn¡¯t enough for Matt. He used [Gravity Maniption] to cause a feedback loop of pressure, but when that <em>still</em> wasn¡¯t enough, he tapped into his Intent and used his Heart Of A ck Hole to urge the cycle on.


    The few bits of steel that hadn¡¯t been frozen, melted, zapped, or cut apart, twisted as gravity multiplied a millionfold.


    Feeling the artificial gravity tes trying to counteract his working, Matt changed his pressure from a simple downward force into an ever consuming point centered on his Heart Of A ck Hole. The anchor happily absorbed everything that came close to it, and fed that power back to Matt.


    The soldiers who weren¡¯t sucked into the gravity well started vanishing until it was just Maven and Long Zhiyuan left to face Matt.


    Still affected by the neutral mana suppression field, Matt didn¡¯t have ess to arge portion of his kit, but he didn¡¯t let that bother him.


    Darting forward, Matt sent his anchor off to the side before recalling it like a yo yo, causing gravity to change unpredictably.


    Maven summoned her full moon image, which tried to twist Matt¡¯s flesh into something unrecognizable. It was a new application of her power, but it was far too weak to do more than inconvenience Matt.


    Long Zhiyuan shed out with his ws and dug deep cuts into Matt¡¯s back armor as he was ducking, which caused several force amplifiers to lock up and limit his movement. Without [Cracked Phantom Armor] reinforcing the physical armor, it was susceptible to attacks such as that, and Long Zhiyuan seemed to have an eye for those opportunities. But Matt still mostly ignored him.


    Long Zhiyuan wasn¡¯t his target.


    No, that was Maven.


    Matt shed out, aiming for Maven¡¯s head and heart with every blow.


    While her armor boosted her strength, it was nothingpared to Matt¡¯s, and it seemed that she hadn¡¯t been chosen to fight with the boost of Synoid and Crastor because she was slower than him at every turn.


    Still, she was no slouch and kept to her defensive posture, minimizing damage to her armor while trying to keep Matt upied. Long Zhiyuan used that tond attack after attack on Matt¡¯s less protected rear, but Matt didn¡¯t stop his assault on Maven.


    He was tracking the fight and waiting for one specific moment.


    While he wasn¡¯t normally one to talk mid fight he couldn¡¯t help himself. ¡°Do you have any regrets, Maven?¡±


    When she didn¡¯t answer, he kept his attacks up. ¡°I have a lot of regrets. So many. But one of them ends here and now. I¡¯m going to bring your head back with me to Ventillyria for all the pain you caused. Whether or not you were breaking the rules, that was wrong. It was vile.¡±


    As Maven¡¯s arm came up and deflected his sword, it swung into a structural pir that was far stronger than the weak metal they had been pushing through like it was tissue paper. With his de stuck firmly in the pir, Matt let it go even as Long Zhiyuan drove a w into his heart, taking advantage of the damaged sections he had created while Matt was focused on Maven.


    A burst of his repulsion shoved Long Zhiyuan back, but his Intent¡¯s grip on Maven prevented her from leaving.


    Matt used the moment to dump twenty million mana into the surroundings, solidifying it, preventing the neutral mana destabilizer from dispersing the mana with a good deal of effort. It was worth it, though.


    They were now locked in a box of Matt¡¯s making, and whenbined with him locking down space, there was only one way in or out. Through him.


    A few short and brutal exchangester, Matt had his moment. He seized it, ignoring Maven¡¯s desperate counter attack that attempted to cut off his head.


    ¡°So many lives lost as a distraction. Ventillyria didn¡¯t ask for your attack. It and its people didn¡¯t ask to be just a chess piece in your games. They were normal people who just wanted to live. Instead, you brought pain and suffering to generations. Do you know how painful it is for children to be ripped from their parents? Do you know how hard it is for mothers and fathers to grieve for the loss of their children? To walk through the ruins and only see the corpses of everybody you ever knew? To see the blood of your loved ones pool on the floor? Do you have any idea how it feels? Because I do. I''ve been there. I''ve been one of those orphans, one of those people trying to put their life back together and put it behind them. I know how hard it is. How it always stays with you like a stain only you can see, but that can¡¯t be scrubbed away no matter how much you try. But you don''t. You have <em>no</em> idea. You can justify anything as long as it furthers your aims. Can you even understand how it feels when you have no power? How it feels to be at the whims of others? Can you, Maven?"


    Matt finally looked at Maven¡¯s corpse, hanging limply in his grasp, as he asked thest question, her essence long since returned to the realm.


    He had been saving the void modified [Mana ws] from Frederic for this very moment. He had saved it through a dozen opportunities for a possible revenge like when he had turned Maven¡¯s armor into a talisman. A massive part of him had salivated at the idea of going for the opportunity in that moment, but while they fought outside the ship, there had been the chance that Maven could activate some lifesaving treasure that would teleport her back to the ship before the ws of void mana could dig all the way through her specialty made armors.


    Even that fleeting chance had been wholly uneptable, which was why Matt had waited. He knew he only had one shot at using the spell before Maven and the rest of the Harmony ords would be aware and prepare for it.


    So he had held back until he was guaranteed tond a decisive blow.


    With the deep purple glow from his fingers fading as he unclenched them from their ce deep inside Maven¡¯s skull, hand still tingling from the void mana that had coursed through it even with his Stygian Gossamer. Matt felt empty but he kept looking, not for himself, but for Ventillyria. Some of those who had experienced the attacks would still be alive even now, almost two hundred yearster, and Matt hoped this moment could put to rest at least some part of the hatred they must feel. He knew that, when the Junipers had been taken to task, he had been able to breathe easy for the first time since the incident.


    He just wished he could have delivered on his promise earlier than this. So many would have grown old and died without ever seeing vengeance wrought on their behalf.


    Without Matt¡¯s constant reinforcements, Long Zhiyuan was able to break through, but Matt ignored him for long enough to take onest look at Maven.


    Dropping her, Matt turned, blocking Long Zhiyuan¡¯s sh with his forearm and letting [Regeneration] close the wound even as his Millennium Willow Lifesap broke the curses that had tried to take root in him.


    Now that it was one on one, Matt reached for Long Zhiyuan¡¯s head just like he had Maven¡¯s. The skill was still on cooldown, but Long Zhiyuan didn¡¯t know that. Long Zhiyuan retreated with a burst of mes, but Matt ignored him in favor of retrieving his de from the pir next to them.


    He needed to break the pir to free his de, but, as he got a message from Darrow, Matt turned his attention from Long Zhiyuan to his Intent¡¯s Anchor.


    His Heart Of A ck Hole pulsed with power, and Matt threw his Intent into working.


    He crushed and condensed.


    His mana turned ink ck.


    [Overcharge] allowed him to boost the amount of mana he cast a spell with and he paired it with [Cosmic Presence]. Reality started to warp as the gravity increased, but Matt kept himself at the center of the power letting it crush him down. He even added a healthy application of [Metal Maniption] to rip and tear anything that refused to bend.


    Matt hardly felt the pain, but he pushed the feedback loop until his organs started to be crushed into mush. Right as he felt himself reaching his limits, Matt switched to his repulsion effect and pushed everything away from himself as hard as he could. He didn¡¯t just use his normal repulsion effect, but added the Minka given explosion effect as well.


    Together the outward wave of pressure was too much for the ship to handle, and Matt felt his spiritual perception finally free itself from the confines of the ship as it popped like an overfull balloon.


    Long Zhiyuan vomited out a mouth full of blood, as he had taken a majority of the attack head on being so close to Matt. Before Matt could finish him off with a burst of [Dragons Breath], he surrendered and vanished into his own shadow.


    The ship was still twisting and turning as it tore itself apart, but Matt made everything worse as he flew out to join his team.


    Before he even rejoined the fight, the overall surrender went out.


    The Harmony ords had run out of back up ns and had finally given up.


    Matt was just processing that when he got an even more shocking message.


    The war was over. An armistice had been agreed upon to sign an official peace deal.


    He had no doubt that the Tier 50s had been watching this fight, and their victory had signaled the end of the war. It was just a question of whether it had been enough. Had Aiden won in the Tier 35 bracket? Had their victory been enough to tip the scales in the Empire''s favor or had they only been wing back some modicum of war score for the Empire?


    No matter how it turned out, they had done their best, and that was genuinely enough for Matt. Even with all the power in the realm they couldn¡¯t do everything. So long as they did their best that was all anyone could ask for. Even his own conscience.


    Seeing that both Liz and Aster were alive Matt finally let himself fully rx for the first time since Eric''s death.

 Chapter 336

    Emmanuel permitted himself a small smirk as he studied a projection of the Harmony ord¡¯s smoldering gship. For the second time in as many hours, his faith in his Ascenders had been rewarded, and he was thrilled. He and the other Tier 50s had remained in their war summit hall as he¡¯d projected what was likely the final battle of the war above their conference table. He¡¯d phrased it as a convenience, but in truth, he was delighted that they wouldn¡¯t be able to study Matt in-person while he was fighting.


    ¡°Is there any need to continue this farce?¡±


    J drummed her fingers on the table, then shook her head. There was a certain kind of quiet resignation in the action. ¡°No, I think we¡¯ve seen plenty. As President of the Evesting Republic, I hereby extend an offer of armistice.¡±


    The crystal set into the table began to glow softly. Emmanuel and Allister gave their own offers of armistice, followed somewhat more reluctantly by Winter Ho, and finally Virgil, holding an impressive amount of fury in reserve such that none of it made it to her face.


    The AI powering the table began to whir, and as the remaining Tier 50s provided their respective insights into the war, values began to umte. Nearly every battle in the war was analyzed, and the aplishments of the soldiers were tallied and totaled.


    The warscore for each involved Great Power, for each Tier bracket, quickly popped up, along with a long list of events which needed reviewing. After hundreds of thousands of years, <em>most</em> events had a fairly clear corrtion to their score, but most were not all, and there were always aplishments that needed direct discussion to properly weigh their merits.


    Unsurprisingly, Aiden¡¯s most recent fight was at the top of the list. Specifically, how it impacted the final victory status of his Tier.


    ¡°Do you ept the loss in the Tier 35 bracket?¡± J asked.


    Emmanuel dismissed the question with a snort. ¡°Aiden may be seriously injured, but Maya and Yun Me are captured and seriously damaged themselves. That in <em>no</em> way constitutes a proper victory in the Tier 35 bracket.¡±¡°And yet the aplishments of a single man were unable to turn the tides of war so utterly,¡± Winter Ho spoke. ¡°Regardless of how remarkable, the simple truth remains that your forces were pushed back a nearly unprecedented amount. That The Drowner prevented the loss of your regional capital does not gainsay the simple fact that it was <em>threatened. </em>You do not possess the manpower required to recapture said territory. Besides the rewards due your Masters will be provided, yet that does not <em>obviate</em> your weakness.¡±


    Emmanuel looked at each in turn, very obviously letting his spiritual sense loosen and probe across the battlefield, seeing the wreckage of their once-grand armada. He said nothing, merely allowing his actions to speak for themselves. He had a very particr bnce to strike, and while a nominal loss in the Tier 35 bracket suited his purposes just fine, he would be doing his character a disservice if he didn¡¯t at least present the front for desiring an indisputed victory.


    It took some time, but eventually J grit her teeth and conceded the point. ¡°A draw in the Tier 35 bracket, then. Not that it matters. And that¡¯s the most you¡¯re getting.¡±


    Winter Ho and Virgil grudgingly agreed, and Emmanuel turned back to the negotiations. ¡°eptable.¡±


    ¡°It still doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Virgil pointed out. ¡°You only managed a victory in the Tier 25 bracket, and even <em>that</em> is mostly by technicality. A narrow victory and a draw in two of the major brackets does not offset a loss in all the other brackets. They may be minor, but they add up. You <em>still</em> lose.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded, conceding that point. It was exactly where he wanted to be all things said. A victory here would look great on paper, but he needed time where he couldn¡¯t be attacked more than the win. A victory would limit how much the other Great Powers could demand from him, and he wanted the other leaders to ask for as long of a peace treaty as possible. He needed to y his cards carefully here, as he didn¡¯t want to appear eager for a prolonged peace. That would make the other leaders suspicious at a time he could ill afford it. Thus, he needed to make it appear like he would only ept the longer peace begrudgingly.


    With things being so close to a white peace, where nothing of real significance would be exchanged, the other Great Powers would have to pay out the nose for any kind of restrictions to the Empire expansion. Which was something all six of the other Great Powers were greatly interested in. Considering he was perfectly content to halt their expansion anyway, in preparation for the uing true war that would no doubt be kicked off by Matt¡¯s mana generation, a slight loss was the best ending he could ask for to this war. It was another ¡°concession¡± he would appear to make that was perfectly aligned with his ns for preparation.


    That the war was so closely contested was only possible thanks to the efforts of his Ascenders, and that fact was well known by all the Great Power Leaders.


    Ironically, the payouts for two of his three Ascenders would berger than the war loss payouts he would owe to the Republic, Sects, and Federation.


    It was all Emmanuel could do from rubbing his hands together and cackling like a lunatic at the thought.


    There was an art to looking disappointed <em>naturally</em>, attempting to hide the emotion in a way that would nheless be visible to the canny- which everyone in this room was counted among- yet not look forced. He performed admirably by his own reckoning, and silently gave his weigh-in to the remaining disputed score events, concluding his part to y in the war. ¡°Now, for convenience¡¯s sake, we may as well officially convene the peace summit?¡±


    Virgil growled but nodded while Winter Ho said, ¡°I suppose there will be no more interesting fights, so we might as well. If we are calling the end of the war, I would have Yun Me returned to me now, that she may receive <em>proper</em> healing.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded his assent, then reached out to the prisoner¡¯s healing station, where Yun Me and Maya were currently being treated. Both were in in white prisoner garments andden with cultivation, mana, and domain suppressants, but it was a matter of simplicity for Emmanuel to retrieve them both- leaving a message as he did so as to not cause rm- and deposit them each in turn within their respective Great Power¡¯s healing stations.


    The action received a nod of acknowledgement from both J and Winter Ho, and hopefully demonstrated his willingness to cooperate. With the speeds they were operating at, they would likely be finished with the majority of their negotiations before the swap was noted by the respective healing stations, but such gestures were important nheless.


    The other Tier 50s finished providing their respective weights on the disputed warscore events, and the AI provided the final tallies. Emmanuel nodded, content enough with the final tally even if it were <em>slightly</em> lower than he might have preferred.


    Continuing in his formal tone, he said, ¡°Then let the battles stop and the pieces settle where they may.¡±


    He flicked between a dozen Talent sets and cast just as many spells, carrying the promation of peace across what few battlefields were still active. It was primarily meant as a demonstration of power, but he also foresaw the action saving quite a few lives, and that made it worthwhile unto itself.


    He also foresaw that there would be three battlefields that ignored his orders, wanting to finish their grudges before the war was officially over. A quick projection and focusing of his will preempted that, freezing everyone long enough to get the message across that the fighting was <em>over</em>.


    Looking back to the other Tier 50s, Emmanuel asked, ¡°What are your demands?¡±


    Virgil spoke before the other two could. ¡°I want all the upiednd we control. I¡ª¡±


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t let her finish. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°No? Are you refusing to negotiate, Emmanuel?¡± Virgil looked almost gleeful at the thought.


    ¡°I <em>am</em> negotiating, unlike you. A negotiation requires a good faith effort from all involved parties toe to a mutually satisfactory conclusion, something you show no evidence of partaking in. To begin with, <em>your</em> war score is insufficient to even im that muchnd.¡± Letting his eyes harden Emmanuel let his distaste for her show. ¡°And furthermore, I would sooner see thoses <em>burn</em> than fall under your control.¡±


    That earned a snort of respect from Tobias, who sneered at Virgil¡¯s angry re she sent his direction. There was an expected re of anger from J, no doubt from his not-so-tacit admission he would be willing to allow the war to <em>escte</em>, along with a minor expression of concern from JR and Aoife, but he could deal with that. Actually, there was at least a minor amount of concerning from Allister as well, but it was fine.


    Looking at J and Winter Ho, Emmanuel continued. ¡°With the war score being so close, let me state my position. I will not give up a single. That is my final line and all negotiation needs to start from there.¡±


    J smiled and responded, ¡°That will be expensive in terms of war score, but I have no issues with such a demand.¡±


    With Winter Ho¡¯s agreement, Virgil had no standing to continue down that line of argument.


    Winter Ho spoke with a gesture around him. ¡°The main issue is and always has been the Empire¡¯s unbridled expansion. The Empire must agree to no outward expansion for the duration of the treaty. Standard rules apply about enveloping and other such underhanded methods. Is there any problem with such an arrangement?¡±


    Emmanuel drew a breath, then let it out aimlessly. ¡°The wellbeing of my people is my primary concern.¡±


    That seemed to take the tension out of all the ostensibly neutral third parties and the general atmosphere changed to a more cordial one.


    J stared down Virgil, who looked like she wanted to interject, and when the other woman finally backed down J spoke. ¡°Very well, then I ought to have plenty of war score to <em>insist</em> upon a full audit of the Path of Ascension, specifically in regards to investigating the suspicion that you are utilizing unscrupulous methods to create promising candidates for diatorial status. This includes but isn¡¯t limited to staging wide rift breaks, dosing mortals with natural treasures, and myriad other dangerous methods.¡±


    That was a serious usation and Emmanuel let himself frown. He¡¯d hoped that J had moved on to other, more important things, but apparently she was still pushing for her audit. Technically, there was nothing illegal in doing those things to one''s own citizens unless it was rted to the Path.


    Tobias wasn¡¯t wrong when he pointed out that the other Great Powers hadn¡¯t moved to free his people from the Federation predations until the Federation was about to get another Tier 46, which would have tipped the scales of power. Those same scales of power were the reason the other powers had dered war on the Empire, and why Emmanuel was happy to restrict his growth for the next few thousand years.


    None of them would easily allow another Great Power to be ascendent and threaten the others¡¯ sovereignty. They were all happy with their slow and steady growth with each of them ruling over their own territories that gradually expanded as higher Tier worlds drifted through or near theirwork of worlds.


    Mistreating one''s citizens was not a reason for doing something as invasive as an audit, but when it came to the Path¡­ Things became moreplicated. Those treaties were some of the oldest and most well tested agreements. By using that angle, J might be able to get the others to agree.


    Thankfully, Emmanuel wasn¡¯t caught off guard by such a request.


    ¡°Even with your score, an investigation on the scale you¡¯re proposing requires proper cause. What evidence do you present that I have vited any of the Duskde ords?¡±


    ¡°I have proof here that you, through your newest Tier 47 king, Frederic Macheteuil, have have been conducting experiments to almost a dozen cut off worlds.¡±


    Emmanuel allowed himself to smile. Frederic¡¯s maneuvering to cover for Matt and Melinda¡¯s talents had worked even better than he¡¯d supposed. ¡°Those worlds are being utilized to test various social reforms in istion, and since their exclusion, no candidates for the Path of Ascension havee from any of them.¡±


    With a wave of his hand, he conjured copies of the initial reports generated <em>by</em> said social reforms, further backed up by evidence that no Pathers hade from any of thes in question, and entirely annihting that particr angle of attack.


    J red at him. ¡°You set that up.¡±


    ¡°Of course I did,¡± Emmanuel replied. ¡°I gave personal approval to the project. Now, if you¡¯re speaking of making it look as though intentional maltreatment of civilians will result in stronger cultivators, that is <em>also</em> true. Consider it a lesson that when you seek out conspiracy, you will <em>always</em> find something odd. No matter the truth of the matter.¡±


    Considering he wasn¡¯t doing underhanded experiments on his people, Emmanuel wasn¡¯t worried about any other informationing up. He was sure there was some noble somewhere doing hical experiments, but anything less than state approved interference would never be epted by the others.


    J looked like she had eaten a lemon, and interestingly enough, Virgil flinched slightly, and Aoife pursed her lips slightly. Frederic hadn''t been wrong when he expected another of the Great Powers to take the bait. Winter Ho inclined his head in interest, making Emmanuel suspect that he might have also attempted to copy their apparent methods.


    Emmanuel shook his head at the Sect propensity to reach for any avenue of power, but nothing Frederic had faked buying was inherently dangerous.


    From Virgil''s expression, Emmanuel suspected she had been more enthusiastic in her application of the very expensive resources to a number ofs.


    J worked her jaw, but ended up nodding. ¡°Regardless of the true nature of the actions taken by King Macheteuil, I possess substantive concerns with the actions taken by your Duke Primal, Duchess Vetalin, and the evidence we¡¯ve seen in the worlds overseen by ¡ª¡±


    She was interrupted by Virgil, who gestured to Emmanuel while looking at the other Tier 50s. ¡°Why do you even bother? He has an answer for everything. He has ns within ns. We are all just dancing to his tune. If you all fear being eclipsed like you say you do, I suggest we attack him here and now. You all were willing to attack the Federation for getting too strong, but you watch as the Empire ys its game? J, you harp about the Empire and its expansionist nature every other year. You bitch and moan about how evil the Empire is for what they do to their people, but you roll over at the first rebuttal. Are you all foolish enough to ignore what is right in front of you?¡±


    Emmanuel wasn¡¯t surprised at the words trying to incite a true war with him, but he was surprised to hear that argumente from Virgil. It sounded more like something J would peddle. If J had pushed that point, he would have been worried, as despite her hatred for the Empire, she was well regarded by their peers. While she was wrong, her conclusions made sense when taking into consideration her limited information and internal biases. It was even likely the other GP leaders held simr suspicions, if not so fervently as J.


    But Virgil? No one liked the Federation. That they still existed spoke more to the fact that there were insufficient suitable factions to form <em>two</em> new Great Powers than anything else. Even what had be the Monster¡¯s Collective wasn¡¯t <em>entirely</em> suitable to all, but when the Tier 46 arrived in Federation space, action had been forced. Given Virgil¡¯s endlessly inmmatorynguage, he would be unsurprised if the Federation failed to exist for more than a handful of generations past his own. But none of them could act, for any attempt to overthrow them would simply be an attempt to, whether intentionally or not, create a puppet state. And none of the other Great Powers would allow that much power consolidation.


    It was almost amusing to watch J defend him, but Emmanuel knew when it was best to keep his mouth shut.


    ¡°There is plenty I detest about the Empire, yet I <em>am</em> willing to let the subtle abuses lie in favor of the tant ones, <em>Virgil</em>. Be thankful that I can¡¯t dere war on you here and now. Your actions taken with this very war have been sufficient to earn my enmity. You are a pale shadow of your father, and you are rotting away your people with your very presence.¡±


    Virgil looked like she wanted to rebut J¡¯s statement, but the pure hatred radiating off Tobiasbined with theck of support from the others forced her to close her mouth.


    Turning her attention to Emmanuel, J continued what she was saying before. ¡°And once again, regardless of your <em>intentional</em> misdirect, abuses persist within your subjects, and the simple existence of such a misdirect merely confirms that you have something to hide. Though I will concede that the evidence to root it out now is insufficient, I will not allow <em>your</em> tant abuses to persist either. You kill billions in your meatgrinder, <em>that</em> is foul enough and will not be allowed to stand.¡±


    Emmanuel gauged the reaction of the others and frowned as he saw eptance and agreement in most of the other Tier 50s.


    He hadn¡¯t wanted things to swing this way, but he had expected it.


    This avenue of attack was measured and stood in stark contrast to Virgil''stest attack, making it seem all the more reasonable. It was so well timed, Emmanuel had to consider if thetest outburst had been a y to make J''s suggestion seem more reasonable.


    Ultimately, the other Tier 50s worried about the Empire''s recent growth. But growth meant more than just their outward expansion and mores, even though those metrics were a significant part of it. The Empire had been pushing social reforms to make things better for the low Tiers. This increased the birth rate, but that alone would have only put them on equal footing with the Republic. The Republic treated their mortals well, but kept them in low Tier worlds that, while posing little danger, had limited room for advancement.


    Large poptions meant nothing in terms of empire growth without the ability to convert a portion of those people into productive immortal cultivators.


    That was where the initiatives to raise each and every to Tier 5 came in. It was ruinously expensive for the Empire¡¯s budget, requiring a significant amount of his personal funds and careful management of expenses and taxes for higher tier citizens. The theoretical payback period for such efforts was sometime in the fifty to ny thousand year timeframe with their current tax policies, but that was a price Emmanuel¡¯s grandmother had been willing to pay for future prosperity. Now, thes she had poured resources into so long ago were now paying dividends for Emmanuel and the current Empire.


    A Tier 5 world itself wasn¡¯t valuable in the same way that a higher Tier world was. After all, no immortals could directly be raised from a Tier 5 world. But that wasn¡¯t where the benefits came from. Thergest benefit of a Tier 5 world was the fact it was filled to the brim with Tier 1 and Tier 2 rifts. Those rifts might be quickly pushed through for a dedicated delver, but on higher Tier worlds, their absence became serious bottlenecks for anyone wishing to delve rather than advance through cultivating ambient essence.


    Not that there was anything truly <em>wrong</em> with cultivating ambient essence, and there were plenty of immortals who achieved their status without ever setting foot within a rift. Especially those living on the higher-Tier worlds, where it was possible, albeit difficult, to reach Tier 15 entirely utilizing ambient essence.


    Of course, such immortals contributedparatively little to the greater Empire. Theories abounded for the <em>why</em>, yet the statistics didn¡¯t lie. The higher-Tier one was when they began to delve, the less likely they were to either excel, particrly inbat. And the Empire needed the excellent.


    The average individual, of <em>any</em> Tier, consumed more than they produced. It was the few outstanding individuals who created the infrastructure the Empire needed, who fought and won its wars, who tethered news to the growing web, and contributed the most in taxes, perpetuating the enormous machine which was Emmanuel¡¯s empire.


    The Path had, therefore, been seen as a way to produce more of those exceptional individuals, take the existing infrastructure designed to get as many people to as high a Tier as they could manage with minimal oversight, and widen the scope. Instead of separatings and pacifying the low-Tier worlds with low-Tier or unawakened individuals, letting them slowly Tier up on their own over hundreds of millennia, his grandmother had seen it as a way to produce far more of the Empire¡¯s true lifeblood, its people. Making better use of thes they had, essentially, rather than always scrabbling for more.


    That was why he wasn¡¯t worried about the restrictions on expansion and other such measures, as they didn¡¯t stymie the real engine of the Empire¡¯s growth.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Hiss would still slowly reach Tier 5 and produce more fighters. These fighters would popte the lower immortal Tiers and eventually be incentivized to join the military in record numbers to continue moving upward. Even without Matt and his mana, the Empire would eventually grow to a point where their armies wererger than those of all the other Great Powers put together, should they not copy its methods.


    It was just a matter of time and creating the opportunities for those ambitious mortals to be able to rise up.


    Thatst bit was the rub with limiting the Path in any way. With his father¡¯s reforms, the Path had turned into something of a social service thanks to its existing infrastructure and being outside the local nobles¡¯ control. It even served as a light form of auditing, <em>ensuring</em> a literal path out of even the most mismanaged and abusive worlds.


    He had expected this toe in the worst-case scenario, and he even had ns in ce to mitigate it.


    He was willing to give in this area for a small amount of time, but he would make them pay for it, and would do his best to minimize restrictions.


    ¡°Neither myself nor my forbearers have overstepped the Path treaties, and to say so is nder. If you wish to restrict me from having too many Ascenders, buy them out. Do not get upset because we have found something that works.¡±


    That might have been a little too blunt, but Emmanuel believed his best option was to y hard ball rather than seem like he was capitting.


    Aoife raised a finger as soon as he finished. Officially, the other Tier 50s were here as third parties, and shouldn''t be interfering so directly now that the peace treaty was being argued, but Emmanuel didn¡¯t move to stop her from speaking.


    ¡°We will not fall for your trap, Emperor Emmanuel. Regardless of your ims that you are not influencing your Legends program, and theck of proof to make a formal usation, the existing trends speak of your strategy. Perhaps you are simply <em>elerating</em> key talent for now, keeping within the bounds of good discretion. Yet per your own admission, both of your most recent Ascenders received an early manager, which is not in <em>vition</em> of your bws, yet certainly <em>leans</em> upon it. Then, you utilize two concurrent groups of Ascenders, team them up with many other excellent soldiers, and we never truly test any of them individually. No doubt, you saw Ascenders Light and Shadow¡¯s capabilities as a tremendous fortune, letting one of your Ascenders present enough of a threat that we couldn¡¯t afford to challenge them again and again, reinforcing the illusion.


    ¡°You had hoped this would go unchallenged, and then each time you push just a little bit further, until you are overflowing with Ascenders. Perhaps some are weaker, perhaps some are stronger, but they would be legitimate in name only, and strong enough to present a threat and overwhelm us with sheer numbers. Though each time only bending the rules <em>slightly</em>, presenting your forces in the optimal situation to project a show of force. In this way, you seek to drain us dry, fueling your own ambitions with a veneer of legitimacy. It is clever, to be sure. But we will not dance to your tune.¡±


    Emmanuel quirked an eyebrow. Denying Aoife¡¯s projections would do nothing but make him look guilty, so he didn¡¯t even bother. ¡°I hope that this isn¡¯t some lead-up to an attempt to shortchange my Ascenders of the due they¡¯ve earned.¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Excellence deserves its own reward. Simply be aware that you are not as subtle as you may think.¡±


    What went unsaid, of course, was the way in which each of the others would be scouring to find what the supposed ¡®secret trick¡¯ he¡¯d stumbled upon was, that they could make their own Ascenders. They were each trying their own things, of course, but the Empire had clearly already found the ¡®secret,¡¯ as though there was any sort of secret inherent to letting people choose their own destiny and pursue it as hard as they saw fit.


    It was as grotesque as it was fascinating, at times. The Federation had been tightening its grip all the tighter around those with promising Talents, as though no less than three of his Ascenders would have been overlooked on ount of their first Awakening.


    The ns had been intentionally allowing additional rift breaks to happen on some of their worlds, hoping that it would encourage those with the spark and motivation needed to select themselves as heroes, ignoring those who would never have the good fortune to ever prove themselves.


    The Republic¡­ Emmanuel wasn¡¯t entirely certain <em>what</em> the Republic was doing. The Veil seemed directly counter to the idea of sourcing talent from the masses found on low-Tier worlds, yet he had no doubt they were doing <em>something</em>.


    Last he¡¯d heard, the Corporations had begun subsidizing transportation to lower-Tier worlds for the purposes of advancement, and the Monster Collective <em>was</em> loosely working towards some of the same reforms as the Guilds had initiated. But they were decentralized enough that progress was immensely slow going.


    Meanwhile, the Sects had been subjecting unawakened peasants to grueling trials before letting the ¡®farmborn¡¯ awaken and join minor sects, with an additional formalized pathway to more prominent Sects. It was a wed system in many ways, but it was <em>immensely</em> close to being incredibly effective, and probably far more ¡®efficient¡¯ than the Empire¡¯s own efforts, looking purely at it from a strength perspective.


    Which of course they would.


    If there was one thing the Sects knew, it was strength. The Empire had more people, the Republic had better logistics, the Corporations had better items, and the Sects took horrific losses whenever they lost with how many of their soldiers fought to the death. But they <em>still</em> were one of the strongest Great Powers, because ¡®forged in fire, beaten with steel¡¯ meant on a one-for-one basis, they beatparable soldiers from nearly any other Great Power.


    That only intensified at higher Tiers, where the internal contests for the Royal positions ensured that nearly all of their rulers were utterly <em>terrifying</em>, in one way or another. In the lead-ups to Winter Ho¡¯s taking of the Tier 50 slot, he¡¯d had to fight Tier 45 ancient monsters, two of whom had been older than Yun Me herself. Monsters who had been consolidating power for over a million years, crushed under his fist. That he won was more a testament to his strength rather than any condemnation of the ancients he¡¯d beaten for each of them had been powerhouses.


    From a personal viewpoint, Emmanuel would argue that his system of giving people freedom was inherently better, but in the view of a Great Power¡¯s leader who only cared aboutbat power, the Sects¡¯ method <em>worked</em>.


    But, the Truth was simple: I Am Not A Tyrant. It was inherent to him, and a not-insignificant weight as to why he didn¡¯t want the Empire to be ascendant. <em>He</em> wasn¡¯t a tyrant, but that was no assurance that in five, ten generations after him, the Emperor of the day likewise wouldn¡¯t be. It was, gauging by history and his peers, far more likely. Setting the Empire up in that position was merely preparing for abuse, condemning untold trillions to a worse life that he could have otherwise improved.


    Besides,petition drove innovation, drove <em>progress</em>. Without that drive,cency set in. Any Great Power that stood ascendent would eventually go the way of the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity. Without that threat from all sides, none of the other Great Powers would even be considering to give their unawakened citizens anything akin to a better life via cultivation.


    Living in harmony was the ultimate oue, but such was not the nature of reality.


    His vision for a better future was more thoughts than concrete ns because he didn¡¯t think the other Tier 50s would believe or trust him. But when Matt¡¯s mana eventually dide to light, his ideal oue would be one where they all had Tier 50 worlds. Or, everyone but Virgil. He¡¯d rather Ascend than give her one iota more of power.


    The issue in that grand vision came from keeping the Empire and Matt independent. There was no point in setting oneself on fire to help keep others warm, and Emmanuel had no intention of letting the Empire be subjugated for their mana. That was why there would be a true war. The others would want to monopolize the mana like they thought he was going to, and any protestations otherwise would fall on deaf ears.


    After all, most of them would love to see their Great Power the only remaining power, so obviously Emmanuel would feel the same way.


    Emmanuel nodded slowly to Aoife, conceding the point. ¡°Regardless of your view of my alleged ns, no degree of spection will make me any more inclined to surrender my greatest weapon. If you desire to dismantle the tool which I have found that <em>works</em>, I hope you are prepared to pay for it.¡±


    At the same time, he sent a message to Allister.


    In order to get the enemy Tier 50s to ask for a longer peace treaty, he needed to appear on the back foot in negotiations. Having the Guilds request a separate peace agreement with the other side would reduce the Empire¡¯s total warscore and worsen his bargaining position. The others would probably see it as a betrayal and the start of heavy friction between the Empire and Guilds¡¯ alliance, which was a good thing. It would make the Empire seem even weaker and would y into the idea of slowing the Empire down.


    Flexing his spiritual sense, Allister got everyone''s attention. ¡°Before Emmanuel finishes, I would like to argue for my own separate peace treaty. The Guilds want a quantity of territory equivalent to our current upation. <em>Our</em> warscore, unlike the Federation, <em>is</em> sufficient for such a proposal.¡± he shot Virgil a re that almost started a fight right then and there.


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t interfere as Allister hashed out their own peace treaty, but he was happy the Guilds would profit from this war. They would be taking almost a hundred news, with six Tier 15s and two Tier 20s. For a war where they had initially lost territory and were a secondary target, it was a fantastic treaty.


    Emmanuel pretended to huff about the betrayal, ring in Alistair¡¯s direction. He frowned as J turned to him. ¡°In light of the Guilds¡¯ independent agreement, you lose about twenty percent of your total warscore. While it is true that we possess insufficient pull to force a restructuring of your Path of Ascension, I believe we can certainlye to an agreement that the degree of bloodshed you inflict upon your people as a smokescreen for your secrets is horrific. You are to limit deaths of those upon the Path of Ascension to no more than five million per year, with scaling penalties per Pather that exceeds that amount. If your methods <em>truly</em> work, then surely you can make it work with a smaller pile of children¡¯s bodies in your wake.¡±


    Emmanuel frowned. That equated to roughly a four percent death rate, given current Path numbers, which had only been growing in recent decades. But when the Path tended to average a <em>forty</em> percent death rate, that was untenable, especially since he wanted to expand it still.


    It also reeked of hypocrisy in that J judged him for Pathers deaths when she let uncountable billions die on veil worlds who could be healed with even minor magical healing. Really, it was an excuse to slow them down, simr to how everyone dered war on the Federation for the treatment of those with bloodlines, when in reality it was about the Tier 46.


    Still, none of that changed his rebuttal. ¡°Five million is far too small. That¡¯s lower than even typical standard delving death rates for low-Tiers. Seventy five million.¡±


    ¡°Seventy five million children per year,¡± J glowered. ¡°And you call <em>Virgil</em> a monster. That¡¯s steeper than even the Sects death rate.¡±


    Winter Ho snorted at the snipe at him. ¡°The strong separating themselves from the chaff is best done by the edge of a de. This is only natural. Though, there is nothing to be gained from adding further chaff to the harvest. Fifty million, perhaps. With your current size, that isparable to your so-imed <em>typical</em> death rates. Surely your selectors are capable of determining those who have truly no hope at advancing?¡±


    Emmanuel withheld a frown. The people he was referring to were the ones who benefited most from the Path as a social program, from destitute worlds and with detrimental Talents. It was intended to serve as aparatively harmless route off their homeworlds, but they were the ones who tended to push themselves further than they should, and held amensurately higher death rate as a result. Eliminating them <em>would</em> reduce the overall deaths, yes, but delving was hazardous even at the best of times.


    J shook her head. ¡°Fifty million may be eptable to <em>you</em>, but I hold myself to higher standards. Twenty-five million. There is no need to inflict so innumerably many short lives with naught but bloodshed. Plus a reduction in funding.¡±


    Emmanuel pointed out the issue there. ¡°I would never give you so much ess as to enforce a funding limit. I didn¡¯t lose the war that bad, even with the Guilds backing out at thest minute.¡±


    J agreed with him after a moment of pondering the issue. ¡°It''s true I can¡¯t force it, but I will still insist on it.¡±


    Virgil finally got herself under control enough to speak. ¡°Resources. If J wishes to burn her warscore on trivialities, she is wee to do so. For a start, I want two dozen vials of the Dragon blood you have been throwing around.¡±


    That earned agreement from Winter Ho. ¡°I am also interested in that resource. I¡¯ve heard of its potency and am¡­ intrigued. My coordinators for the Dao Child program have expressed interest in what it might do.¡±


    Emmanuel had expected such a request and easily agreed. ¡°That can be arranged, though our source is <em>very</em> limited. The price associated is ten times what you seem to expect it to be.¡±


    It took a while, but they eventually hashed out an agreement for the price of the now officially-named Primordial Dragon Blood. It was the only source of bloodline essence from a creature above Tier 3, and while it carried no other benefits, that sole one was impressive unto its own. During the negotiations, Aoife, Tobias, and JR each independently negotiated trade deals for it themselves now that a price had been established.


    The discussion of trade goods had naturally slipped into what the <em>Empire</em> would be getting from the war. Yes, they would be keeping theirs, but the others had expressed a desire to buy out not one, but <em>two</em> Ascenders. That would prove¡­ exciting.


    ¡°So. Who do you want to buy out?¡± he asked rhetorically.


    Tobias grunted out a snort that might have been augh. ¡°Light and Shadow, of course, as well as Waters. Both of them must be removed posthaste.¡±


    Emmanuel had harbored a faint hope they may have <em>also</em> mentioned Matt, Liz, and Aster, but they had a fairly standard degree of impact, insofar as Ascenders went. It would have just been very amusing to have them pay for Matt¡¯s rapid Tier ups when that only assisted the Empire. Still, it was better this way. The less they looked at Matthew, the better.


    ¡°Very well. Then let¡¯s begin.¡±


    The first stage was straightforward enough. Any Great Power interested in buying out an Ascender had to provide a guaranteed non-aggression and defense use, wherein any attacks made against the Empire for the next five hundred years would be made against effectively the entire Realm. Five hundred years was typical, to give the armies a bit of time to re-normalize in the wake of being so warped around a singr entity, and Emmanuel attempted to argue that they should receive a full thousand, topensate for the fact they were buying out <em>two</em> Ascenders, but was countered by the fact that Light and Shadow hadn¡¯t been present long enough to substantially warp the armies around their presence.


    He didn¡¯t mind too much, though. By that same precedent, he¡¯d been able to argue that on ount of them buying Zack and Allie out in the wake of their very first war, the Empire¡¯s investment in them didn¡¯t have enough time to pay out, and therefore they needed a fairly substantial degree of marypensation as restitution.


    They¡¯d agreed, of course. Coming from negotiations where he was very much on the <em>backfoot</em>, it was a breath of fresh air to have so much leverage. Because, unlike the war, where he couldn¡¯t simply walk away from negotiations, the initiative for buying out an Ascender was <em>entirely</em> on the behalf of the others. They had to convince both him personally and the Ascenders they were aiming to remove from the wars that this offer, here and now, was a better deal for them than what they could get by just continuing as they were, and perhaps going on more <em>offensive</em> wars to gain spoils from conquest.


    It was his job to serve as an advocate for both his Ascenders and his people, ensuring that neither of them were shortchanged, but instead rewarded <em>handsomely</em> for their efforts.


    ¡°Now. I hope that this doesn¡¯te a surprise to you all, because I hold most of your intelligences in high regard.¡± His slight earned him a few res, but it was worth it. ¡°But part of <em>this</em>pensation will need to bes.¡±


    s haven¡¯t been awarded as part of a directed buyout since The Raven Queen,¡± Aoife red, ¡°And you¡¯re pushing for them now, instead of during the political considerations?¡±


    ¡°Well, because you¡¯re forbidding Light and Shadow from getting any of their own, of course. Come now, three of you attack me the moment they finish the Path, then the moment they begin to snap back you surrender and say that you want to see them never fight again? They¡¯re Tier 25, and Waters reached Tier 32 less than an hour ago. They¡¯ve barely had time to capture a proper capital for themselves. You <em>know</em> Empire traditions regarding this sort of thing, are you trying to unt them?¡±


    JR gave a cawingugh at Emmanuel saying that Aiden was ¡®only Tier 32,¡¯ but the rest of his point was valid.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯ll put it simply. If you want to prevent me from expanding, and are denying my Ascenders the ability to win a duchy via direct conquest, I <em>will</em> need to give themnds to rule. I don¡¯t think any of us want to deal with two groups of nomadic Ascenders, looking for excitement <em>elsewhere?</em>¡±


    Each Great Power handled their most excitable warriors differently, to prevent the more nomadic raiding of border worlds that could spark minor conflicts. The Empire had historically promoted any Ascenders to be the new head of their noble house, but when Agatha had opened the Path to non-nobles, she extended the rule such that they formed the head of a <em>new</em> noble house. His father had furthered that initiative by encouraging each Ascender to make a business and then spread it through the Empire. The old rule had been applied for and by noble families that wanted to expand their influence so it had long been set in precedence.


    When the Path expansions came through and far moremoner born children became Ascenders, peak elites, and pinnacle fighters, the noble families had only been able to grit their teeth at the unintended impact of the old convention. Emmanuel¡¯s father had seen the opportunity to both weaken the hereditary nobles and tie the interests of Ascenders closer to the Empire. Unlike the noble families that raised their children with the desire to ownnd and control things, themoner Ascenders were a little too unattached for his father''s liking. Ascenders defecting wasn¡¯tmon, but it had happened once or twice, and having them be nobles and start a business tied their interests more firmly to the Empire. Though neither was required, and mary rewards were possible for those with unstable personalities.


    Emmanuel could most certainly find a duchy with a non hereditary noble family and buy them out for the kids, but why would he do that when he could get his enemies to pay for it?


    JR was nodding, but Emmanuel decided to try and push it just a bit further, making eye contact with J, Virgil, and Winter Ho. ¡°And I want the majority of theses toe from your powers. You were the ones who are pushing the entire Realm into this situation, I won¡¯t let you escape the consequences of your actions so easily.¡±


    He looked at J and let his contempt show. ¡°And with yours, we can see how best to cleanse the insanity you propagate.¡±


    J bristled, ¡°You will destroy the peaceful lives of billions and call it mercy. Those people <em>chose</em> to leave the pursuit of cultivation in the hopes it would lead to a better life for them and their children.¡±


    ¡°Their <em>ancestors</em> did.¡±


    ¡°We all live in the wake of the choices made by our forebears. And yet you condemn us for creating a ce where something <em>other</em> than Tier reigns supreme.¡± J snapped right back at him.


    ¡°There are better ways to do that.¡±


    There was a long pause after hisstment where the spiritual fluctuations increased between the other Tier 50s and until J waved a hand. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but so be it.¡±


    ¡°We can negotiate the precises which will be provided, as well as any potential transportation logisticster.¡± Emmanuel deferred, ¡°We can even involve Light and Shadow directly, if you¡¯re so inclined. But I will not allow them to be shortchanged on their rightful due.¡±


    JR tapped a w on the table. ¡°I suppose we have circled around the subject long enough. Legion, Titan, and Wraith. The peace treaties we are discussing will also affect <em>them</em>. If you desire the Empire to perform no expansion for a lengthy degree of time, how is the Empire supposed to recoup their expenses with <em>them</em>?¡±


    Emmanuel hid his surprise. He¡¯d intended Allister to be the one to bring up that particr point, and he shot the crow a grateful nce.


    ¡°We are <em>not</em> buying out a third Ascender, simply because they had the good fortune toe about when <em>another</em> disruption urred,¡± J red.


    ¡°But JR is correct, it <em>does</em> affect them,¡± Winter Ho agreed. ¡°And their strength is not something which ought to go unnoticed.¡±


    ¡°A partial buyout, then?¡± Allister suggested.


    ¡°What, are you saying we only buy out half of a yer?¡± Virgil scoffed.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t mandate that they must leave war Tiers, just¡­ say, allow them to Tier up as they are wont to do, and purchase an agreement from Emmanuel that he will not dy them at Tier 35. The odds of them remaining long enough to oust the non-aggression treaty is <em>minimal</em>, especially given they have peers who will be outpacing them. There¡¯s little which drives Hero-types more than being outmatched, and in this way they¡¯ll almost certainly Tier <em>themselves</em> out of the war without needing to directly persuade them.¡±


    Emmanuel hesitated. That was an excellent oue, all told. That would put the least spotlight on Matt possible, while letting him not have to exin why he wasn¡¯t holding an Ascender at Tier 35 until he ran out of excuses. ¡°I am amenable to this solution, but only for the appropriate price, of course.¡±


    ¡°As is only right,¡± JR agreed.


    That was when it started getting <em>fun</em>. All of the Great Powers had their own particr treasures and specialities that they normally clung to with an iron fist. They tended to leak <em>eventually</em>, which had happened to the Empire¡¯s bottled concepts, but some things were truly irreceable. The spring on a Sect that produced liquid essence, the Republic¡¯s twilight-aspected moon, the star in the Corporations which had been harnessed to produce Sparks of Intelligence and Revtory Mind-Gems, the Federation¡¯s Soul Furnace, and more besides. Not all of them were useful to the Ascenders- Revtory Mind-Gems helped one build an Intent, which obviously wasn¡¯t needed for those who already possessed one, but there was always <em>someone</em> for whom they¡¯d be immensely valuable for, and Emmanuel got as much of it as he could.


    Then there were the natural treasures and skills.


    Prismatic Feathers, capable of renewing the bloodline of a child to nearly full potency, so long as their parent possessed at least a <em>tenuous</em> one. They also somewhat increased the odds of a hybrid bloodline, but such things were secondarypared to the immense value they held to his bloodline-holding nobles. He¡¯d negotiated to get two bushel¡¯s worth, and with over a hundred and seventy feathers soon to be in his possession, he had a very valuable resource on his hands for rewarding or purchasing goods from many of his internal noble factions. A shard of [Vigorous Thrusts of the Rooster] was shamelessly acquired for Leon, an Ember of Rekindled Stars for Mara, a Seed of the Primal World Tree for Tur¡¯stal, and that was just the start.


    Hidden realm ess for his Ascenders, guaranteed assistance in tiering up growth items to Tier 45, Legacy ess, a Tier 27 fire-aspected, custom coborative work made by the ns and Corporations, free ess to Ancient Masters, the list kept growing.


    There was still flex, of course. Without actual input from the Ascenders they were actually buying out, they couldn¡¯t entirely finalize the deal. For instance, if Aiden refused to speak to JR about what a ce, the new piece of an Authority was, then he obviously wouldn¡¯t be making twopletely custommissions- one for Aiden himself and one for Emmanuel, but the deals between the Powers wereplete. Virgil had pushed quite hard for her own ess to Aiden¡¯s information regarding his Authority, but he¡¯d been somewhat nomittal, and deferred it to when he couldter speak to the man. It was <em>probably</em> worthwhile, as JR would likely sell the knowledge once he had it, but there was something concerning about the way she¡¯d asked that put Emmanuel on edge.


    That aside, he would also be responsible for providing enough if Allie, Zack, or Aiden wanted substantially more than the current proposal offered, but he wasn¡¯t especially worried about it.


    All in all, the treaty was almost everything that Emmanuel could have hoped for.


    The Empire officially lost the war and would give up some resources. They would also limit outward expansion to Tier 10 worlds or higher. This was effectively an outright ban on expanding considering how rare theses were, but did put them more inline with the historical expansion rates. They would have to cap allowable deaths on the Path for the duration of the treaty, finalizing at twenty-seven million per year. Finally, they would have a period of seven thousand years of non aggression with the Republic, Sects, and Federation. In return, the Empire maintained its pre-war borders and any worlds upied during the duration of the conflict would be immediately returned to Empire control. Then, of course, they¡¯d be receiving a handsome reward ofs on top of that, plenty to keep some fresh Ascenders busy for quite some time.


    It wasn¡¯t quite his hypothetical max of ten thousand years, but it was three thousand years longer than Emmanuel had realistically hoped for. He had fought <em>against</em> the length of the peace deal, saying the restrictions being tied to it were too overbearing, but that only made the others fight harder to extend it, which was exactly what he wanted.


    Seven thousand years of guaranteed peace from normal wars with the most hostile of the other Great Powers was exactly what the Empire needed to not just recover, but strengthen itself for the uing true war.


    The others found his insistence upon keeping all of hiss <em>odd</em>, yet they didn¡¯t contest it too harshly, not when it worked so firmly in their favor. He could understand their confusion, but they were his people, even if a number of them were simply vassal states or so far out they were mostly autonomous low Tier worlds. Better yet, their closest ally also got a decent amount ofs which would strengthen them once they were fully integrated.


    As everyone was turning to leave, Tobias tossed a rolled up scroll at Virgil. Peeking, Emmanuel wasn¡¯t surprised to see a deration of war from the Monster Collective to the Federation for past atrocities.


    Seeing a war deration passed out, Winter Ho looked hopefully at the ns and Corporation, but neither of them made their own deration. Once they left, he turned to leave as well. Emmanuel did notice a look shared between J and Aofie, which he interpreted as the Republic either setting themselves up to ally with the ns, or paying them not to attack in their moment of weakness.


    Before the other Tier 50s fully left spiritual range, Emmanuel frowned and publicly asked Allister to stay, hoping the others would see it as him about to have a fight with the Guild Tier 50 for the ¡®betrayal¡¯ of separate peacing out of the war.


    No, as soon as he asked Matt for his permission, it was time to read Allister into what was reallying, and <em>why</em>.

 Chapter 337

    Chapter 337


    Matt tiredly flew over to where Liz and Aster were floating with the rest of Team Zero.


    Joy was still flying back to the battlefield, but Darrow was already giving post battle organizational orders. Part of Matt noticed how even those officially surrendered to the other side were staying with their own sides. What was more interesting was how the Great Powers who were just fighting side by side split into three distinct camps while they all waited.


    With Tier 50s doing the negotiations, things could be over in seconds. Their perception rates were so fast that exhaustive debates would happen before Matt even reconvened with his teammates. Still, none of that changed the fact that they were all still human, and key points in the treaties could stall for long periods if no consensus could be reached.


    Matt wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the treaty took an hour or two.


    He wasn¡¯t going to spend that time idling though, and he forced his tired mind into action.


    He finally let himself take a moment to feel Morgan''s loss. Another team member, another friend, had fallen in thest battle. Matt wanted to rage at the unfairness, but he was too drained emotionally to do more than re at where thest remaining rune soldier stood with the Federation cultivators.


    Instead, he forced himself to muster some congrattions for Liz. As much as he wanted to pass out, erupt at Morgan''s death so close to the finish line, and be happy that the rest of them had made it through alive, Liz had made an amazing aplishment, and he didn¡¯t want to ruin that moment for her.


    Not that it was hard.


    She looked radiant.Literally.


    His wife was glowing, even if only softly.


    A bird Liz pped her way over to him and bounced into his chest, silently squawking and looking for attention.


    After she got a perch on his left arm, she started to show off her new form, striking a few poses to let Matt better inspect her.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t I pretty?¡± There was a smile in the message¡¯s tone, but it was obviously forced.


    Still, Matt appreciated the effort and he wouldn¡¯t rebuff it. ¡°Gorgeous. Now we are matching blondes. Kinda, at least.¡±


    It was true in the same way that yellow was simr to gold. Matt¡¯s hair, while somewhat changed by his Tier ups, was still at its core his baseline mortal blond. Liz, meanwhile, looked very nearly like a golden statue of a phoenix. She was a medium-sized raptor with almost scaly-smooth feathers, burning with a golden substance the texture of liquid fire. Underneath that, he could tell that her feathers had be more golden and orange than the previous red, and her body had lost a bit of bulk in favor of being slightly lighter and more maneuverable. She¡¯d probably be adjusting to the new form for a while, but she already looked <em>spectacr</em>.


    Once he reached human Liz and Aster, they pulled each other into a three-way hug.


    They held each other for a long minute until Aster sighed and pulled away. ¡°Ugh, the other side keeps asking for everyone in my spiritual space, and messages are growing annoying.¡±


    Flying off to the side, she made a gesture, causing ice and wind to appear out of nowhere. Without dozens ofyered spatial locks, her spiritual space expanded almost instantly and rectangles of ice started appearing in neat rows.


    Over a dozen elites Aster had recently captured appeared and were whisked away. It was at least quiet until Gan Le appeared, shivering with his hands stuffed into his armpits.


    After ring at Aster, who responded by sticking her tongue out at him, he flew away to join the other Sect members.


    Through their private chat, she softlyughed, ¡°He was sure I was lying about the war being over and was trying to trick him into something.¡±


    Matt almost worked up a chuckle at the mental image.


    Fifteen minutester, a message went out to everyone all at once. The war was over.


    Terms had been agreed upon.


    As an Ascender, he had ess to high level information, but Matt didn¡¯t even really need it. The peace deal wasn¡¯t ssified in the slightest. If he was reading the transmission receipts right, even the civilian poptions had gotten the message.


    Seeing the first line, Matt sighed.


    The Empire had lost.


    He had expected it, but he had hoped their efforts and Aiden¡¯s would be enough to push things the other way.


    The feeling that they had failed vanished the moment he dug further into the actual peace deal.


    Inside was a breakdown of the warscore earned on both sides, and it was simple to filter by contribution. Team Zero as a unit had thergest war score, with only Aiden even close to their scores.


    Almost one fifth of the Empire''s total war score had been earned by them, with another seventh earned by Aiden.


    Together, they had earned one third of the Empire''s war score through their efforts.


    Digging into the peace deal, Matt felt like he understood what had happened. The Emperor had traded a majority of their warscore to keep all upieds under Empire control, and even traded for a number ofs from the enemy Great Powers.


    In return, the Empire would limit expansion, put some undisclosed restrictions on The Path, and a number of resources changed hands.


    <em>That was it</em>.


    Matt nearlyughed at the peace deal.


    They might have lost on paper, but they had undoubtedly gotten what they wanted out of the war. Seven thousand years of peace with three of their greatest enemies in the Realm.


    He almost choked while reading the section that talked about buyouts.


    Allie and Zack had each been bought out of future wars. He wasn¡¯t privy to everything they¡¯d be getting, but he was sure he¡¯d be able to ask, and what he <em>did</em> see was staggering enough. They¡¯d need to agree, but he couldn¡¯t imagine them ever declining a heap of treasure that surpassed what they¡¯d gotten forpleting the Path.


    What really surprised him was that Aiden earned an evenrger payout, but what prompted that wasn¡¯t mentioned. Still, with this new information, it was obvious that he had won his fight with the armada.


    They had fought and bled for the war, and while they had technically lost, the Ascender¡¯s efforts still made all the difference. Before he could keep reading, a pulse of shadow appeared next to Synoid and Crastor.


    Matt didn¡¯t need his [AI]¡¯s screeching warnings echoed in Darrow¡¯s remaining mind-link to recognize Jai Sien when he saw her.


    It was fruitless, but he readied himself for a fight. Yet she didn¡¯t even look at them.


    Instead, she fussed over the twins, patting their wounds. She didn¡¯t even attempt to hide her words, so Matt and everyone else got a front row seat to the Jai family show.


    ¡°Oh, you two did so well! My little boys are all grown up.¡±


    She licked her thumb and rubbed a bit of blood off Synoid¡¯s face in a motherly gesture. He tried to squirm away, but it was futile, as his own shadow wrapped his upper body and held him perfectly still.


    ¡°Come now, don¡¯t pull away from Mommy.¡±


    Crastor chuckled at his twin''s fate, but that proved to be a mistake as Jai Sien finished up with Synoid and turned her attention to him. He tried to flee, but it was just as futile as his twin''s attempt, and he was inspected for any wounds before being let go.


    Aster elbowed him, though he barely felt it. ¡°Rx, Matt. The fight is over.¡±


    She was right, so Matt made a mental effort to unclench and watch the show.


    Through it all, all Matt could think about was if Mara and Leon were in the wings ready to do the same to Liz, and just how long Jai Sien had been watching them.


    The first thought was amusing, but the second was dangerous. He almost never left his armor and its anti divination wards, but Matt was still worried about her seeing through their lie about mana stones and realizing his true Talent.


    As if sensing his thoughts, Jai Sien turned to them and waved. ¡°It is most excellent to greet you in person, though I cannot stay overlong. I have bets to collect on, and the others are being most unkind in their actions, ignoring my clone. Proper introductions, therefore, must wait until L inducts you properly. Fare thee well!¡±


    With that, the woman¡¯s form shifted and roiled alongside her children, coalescing into an unnerving ck horse made of smoke, and galloping into chaotic space. The relief in the air was palpable, but it onlysted for a moment before sheer <em>presence</em> mmed into him, shifting the world in its wake.


    The power was overwhelming in a way that only really happened when he was dealing with the Emperor, but he still readied himself for battle once again, only rxing when all of Team Zero appeared in Camp Lightfoot.


    The moment he realized where they were, Matt activated his armor¡¯s release and let it fall away, hardly noticing the strips of flesh that stuck to the armor when he pulled away. His [Regeneration] took care of that damage in moments.


    His good mood was once more quashed with the arrival of Morgan''s personal assistant, Pace, who had arrived with a bottle of water and a rag to help Morgan clean up post battle.


    Seeing her liege, boss, friend, and possibly loverying dead tore a wailing shriek out of her. Dena seemed to have expected something like that, as she was immediately at Pace¡¯s side, cradling the distraught woman even as she clung to Morgan¡¯s body.


    It was just as heartrending as Eric¡¯s death, but before Matt could move, the trio were teleported to the hospital.


    Less than an hourter, the funeral for Morgan was held. Like Eric¡¯s, it was a quiet, somber, and most of all quick, affair.


    Her ashes were given to a still shell shocked Pace, who hadn¡¯t left Dena¡¯s side.


    Matt wouldn¡¯t call himself friends with Pace, but he knew her fairly well. She doted on Morgan any time they were in the rift and would hover ready to take care of any of Morgan''s needs. They had all tried to tempt her into joining them as an equal, but she always refused, insisting she was happy to just serve. Matt had never figured out if the two were romantically involved. Morgan onlyughed or joked at the question when asked, and Matt had figured they hadn¡¯t really figured things out yet themselves. None of that changed the fact that Pace had clearly taken true enjoyment out of helping Morgan.


    Now Morgan was gone, and Pace was left picking up the pieces.


    He shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, but Dena never left Pace¡¯s side and helped her through it all. It must have been all too familiar and raw for her, but Dena kept up a steady stream of reassurances and helped Pace through everything.


    When Matt messaged her and asked if she needed or wanted help, she responded to everyone saying that Pace needed time, but she herself was fine and would spend a while making sure Pace pulled through.


    Matt respected her decision, but did stop by to make sure she knew she could call on them should she need anything.


    It took a visible effort on her part to ept that he actually meant it, and wasn¡¯t making an empty offer, but she eventually thanked him and agreed she¡¯d call upon them if she needed anything.


    Orders came down and they were given two days of downtime, which they all took advantage of.


    Matt and Liz slept for close to forty hours, and were only interrupted by a furious Allie kicking at their door.


    ¡°How could you guys end the war without me? I could have helped. I could have gotten you into the ship. I cou¡ª¡±


    She was still mostly see through, but there was at least a reasonable approximation of a woman there, unlikest time they had seen her as little more than hands and a stomach.


    Matt rolled out of bed and helped a boneless Liz pour herself into a standing position before moving to open the door, where he saw Aster choking Allie.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition.


    ¡°Sorry, she slipped her leash.¡±


    Matt snorted augh. The long rest had done a lot to reset his feelings and emotions, so he didn¡¯t even mind Allie¡¯s antics.


    ¡°Nice to see you too. How has your recovery been?¡±


    ¡°Boring as shit without anyone else here to spend time with. I¡¯m wasting away being trapped inside here.¡±


    Liz slunk past, now with a sleepy bird Liz perched on her shoulder, who squawked at Allie and jabbed a wing at the teleporter.


    It was the perfect distraction. ¡°Ohh, I heard youpleted the blood fire thing. Wow! Your feathers are so pretty. Can I have a pillow made out of them?¡±


    Bird Liz smacked Allie with a wing but she seemed unbothered, instead shoving her face into Liz¡¯s feathers.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I need a pillow made of these. They even smell good.¡±


    Liz, clearly offended at the implication that she had smelled bad before, pecked Allie hard enough to draw blood.


    ¡°Ow, damn it! That hurt.¡±


    Matt rolled his eyes and steered the teleporter to the kitchen ind to distract her with breakfast.


    He went all out, going so far as to make half a dozen courses before being forced into a seat by Liz, who wanted him to do more than snack.


    Their little breakfast was interrupted by Aiden''s arrival. Like themselves, he arrived by what must have been the Emperor teleporting him. They were all curious about the details of his battle and rushed over.


    They were in the capital system, and word hadn¡¯t even arrived to them yet. Allie couldn¡¯t make the jump to the Citadel and get the news there, which left only spection based on the war score.


    Aiden looked almost as bad as Allie, with more than half of his body just gone, until Melinda came over to where he had been teleported in and pped him with a healing spell that rebuilt his body.


    After doing some dance moves around the motionless Zack, heughed. ¡°I¡¯m the fucking best!¡±


    Allie immediately shot him down. ¡°Yeah right, shit for breath. I earned more war score than you, therefore <em>I''m</em> the best.¡±


    Aiden blew bubbles at her. ¡°That means nothing. I no longer need to hide it. I¡¯m the best in the realm, therefore I¡¯m the best.¡±


    Suddenly Matt felt a pressure weighing down on him simr to the feeling he had when he first met Aiden back when he was only Tier 14, right before his wedding. It was fear and terror mixed like blood in the tide. Then the pressure fully unveiled itself like an umbre unfolding.


    Matt had felt Aspects, but this was a step beyond.


    ¡°I created the next step of one''s Domain. I shall let you all bask in its presence as you try to name its magnificence.¡±


    ¡°It''s called an Authority.¡± Aster''s seemingly nonchntment deted Aiden.


    ¡°Who told you!? They ruined my surprise.¡±


    Liz snorted even as bird Liz screeched inughter. ¡°Luna. It was an early, <em>early</em> lesson, before we¡¯d learned to not question all the trivia she insisted was of vital importance to learn. Because like,e on, nobody¡¯s made one in <em>how</em> many millennia? She was <em>very</em> smug after we heard about Hastor¡¯s ascension.¡±


    ¡°Fucking Hastor. This is the second time he''s upstaged me.¡±


    Matt was still genuinely shocked at the revtion that Aiden had his Authority, but he did his best to not let it show, and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. ¡°It''s ok. It''s still super impressive. Wow, so cool!¡±


    Aiden shoved his arm off, tears streaming down his face in two rivers. ¡°You don¡¯t have to pretend. It''s not the same if you pretend.¡±


    Allie cackled. ¡°You hear that often, Aiden?¡±


    Righting himself, Aiden snorted while wiggling his eyebrows. ¡°As if. I got the motion of the ocean on my side.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Liz assessed him, ¡°Is <em>this</em> what you keep leaving out that makes everything impossible to understand when you try to teach people?¡±


    ¡°What? No. It¡¯s not my fault you can¡¯t keep up with me. That¡¯s the <em>epitome</em> of what I can only describe as a <em>skill issue</em>. But because I know you¡¯re just <em>dying</em> to find out, I call the new part a ce. It¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°No!¡± The unifying cry came from nearly everyone present, and Aiden looked slightly taken aback.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°None of us have determined so much as a singr piece of our Aspects,¡± Zack patiently exined, like Aiden was a toddler. It probably wasn¡¯t unfair. ¡°Healer Wellspring has yet to even finalize her <em>Intent</em>. Knowledge of the Authority will only serve to hamper our development at this stage.¡±


    ¡°Ohe on, you kids will be <em>fine</em>, I knew about Tru-¡±


    Allie teleported Melinda to the other room.


    ¡°-ths when I was your age.¡±


    ¡°You had your <em>Aspect</em> at our age,¡± Liz pointed out, ¡°Of course you knew about Truths.¡±


    ¡°Fine. When I was working on my Intent, then. I knew what it was.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to be unhelpful, at least don¡¯t be <em>harmful</em>,¡± Aster sighed as Melinda returned to the room. They¡¯d started talking at full Tier 25 speeds when Aiden had nearly slipped up, so she probably hadn¡¯t heard anything harmful, but it was still good discipline to be careful.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be pushing for our Aspects soon enough, tell us all about what you¡¯ve figured out then, when it <em>can¡¯t</em> pollute our thoughts for how we want to build out our Aspects. Not that any of us are likely to actually build out our Authorities this Realm.¡±


    ¡°Though you have to admit,¡± Matt pointed out, ¡°Getting the Ascension bonus on an extra Domain stage would be <em>amazing</em>.¡±


    ¡°Without substantial aid from the master, of course,¡± Aster smoothly finished. ¡°But there will be <em>plenty</em> of time after we¡¯re <em>ready</em> and <em>don¡¯t</em> run a risk of making our Aspects to be even harder to form. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± Aiden waved them off, then slowed himself to Tier 17 speeds, an example followed by the rest of the room.


    Melinda blinked, ¡°Sorry, what? Also, you said you¡¯d developed the thing after an Aspect? The Tier 75 Domain stage? That¡¯s <em>really</em> impressive. Congrattions.¡±


    That seemed to be exactly what he was waiting for, as he dropped the effect and wiped a nose bleed away. ¡°Thank you. A proper reaction. I can¡¯t hold it for long though. I¡¯m fucking tapped on willpower.¡± Elbowing Allie, he added, ¡°I¡¯m moving in with you in the willpower recovery unit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah fuckin¡¯ right. It''s my wing of the hospital. No leaky sinks allowed.¡±


    ¡°So kind of you, Allie. I appreciate the invite.¡± Before Allie could explode at him, he continued. ¡°Not that we will be here long.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Aster asked the question that was on the tip of Matt¡¯s tongue.


    ¡°End of the war ceremony. In a month or so real time we, and everyone else who did exceptional in the war, will get pulled to whatever system Minka is in and be given rewards for how well we did. Considering there¡¯s <em>two</em> of us getting bought out, all the Great Powers will be sending representatives. Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if we get all the Tier 48s and 50s, and even a good chunk of the Tier 47s attending. It was pretty coolst time I got to go to one. More importantly, it¡¯s a chance for you guys to meet the other Ascenders.¡±


    That didn¡¯t quite seem feasible, and Matt asked, ¡°Seems dangerous to have everyone gathered like that, no?¡±


    Aiden waved his concerns off. ¡°The Tier 50s will show up in person with at least one Tier 48, with everyone else usually sending clones, so the actualbat power is a bit lower than one would expect. And with the Boss there, what can anyone do? Any action to kill us would start a seven on one beatdown. Considering we are being bought out, they obviously don''t want that.¡±


    Matt wasn¡¯t entirely sure he agreed, but it seemed like this was amon urrence, and he didn¡¯t really have a choice then. Still, he would be staying as close to Emmanuel as possible doing the trip and using as little mana as possible.


    With both of those precautions, there was almost no chance anyone would realize his mana generation. After all, if his mana was mostly full, he made no mana, which would fit with the profile of someone who relied on absorbing mana stones for mana.


    Aiden demanded all thebatants of Team Camp Lightfoot get together to celebrate, and while it wasn¡¯t quite as boisterous as some of their other celebrations, everyone was at least in a good mood. Eventually, everyone went their separate ways, still exhausted from the fighting.


    Matt snuggled in closer to Liz, warping his body thanks to his Rubberfruit so that he half-engulfed his wife as theyy in bed together.


    ¡°Hmmm. You¡¯re warm,¡± he teased. Since her transition to an ichor bloodline, and ichor <em>blood</em>, Liz¡¯s core temperature had gone up quite a bit. She¡¯d never been cold, but now cuddling her felt a bit like hugging a burning log, albeit not <em>quite</em> that hot. It also came with a faint tingly feeling, which Matt was still making up his mind on how it felt. ¡°But could you turn down the lights a bit?¡±


    The <em>other</em> main side effect of her ichor bloodline was that she now glowed a faint yellowish-gold light.


    ¡°Jerk,¡± she flicked his nose, but turned on her side to return his hug. ¡°I¡¯ll have to pick up some makeup soon. I do <em>not</em> want to be corralled into serving as a heatingmp for Allie or Luna until I can fix my appearance.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re so radiant,¡± Matt pushed back, kissing her neck. ¡°Why would you ever want to change?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if yellow is really my color.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. I like it, though. Very striking.¡±


    Sheughed, ¡°You <em>always</em> think I look striking.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because you do. <em>Especially</em> when your blood finally looks on the outside the way it¡¯s always been on the inside, my <em>double princess</em>.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll pay for that one,¡± she snapped at his ear, then rolled on top of him, pinning him to the bed. She yfully red at him for a moment, kissed the tip of his nose, then copsed on him in an embrace. ¡°Long day today.¡±


    ¡°No kidding,¡± he agreed, returning the hug and tracing the outline of her shoulder de. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe it¡¯s all over. It feels¡­ good?¡±


    ¡°Good question mark, or just definitely <em>good</em>?¡±


    ¡°Well, we lost. But Emmanuel seems happy with how it turned out?¡± They¡¯d gotten a brief message from the Emperor during their celebrations confirming that he was quite ecstatic with how it had all gone in the end. ¡°And I suppose I can¡¯t really argue with peace. We won, in that way at least.¡±


    ¡°Seven thousand years of peace will bring us to almost a third of the way through Uncle Manny¡¯s reign. It¡¯ll give plenty of time for a new group of elites toe to power, for him to have and raise his kid, and for us to build out our family if we so chose.¡±


    ¡°Oh? So soon?¡± Matt wasn¡¯t against the idea of having children but the idea seemed¡­ distant. They had spent so much time fighting and progressing for a dozen reasons that children were both improbable and ill timed. But now? But now there was truly time for it, if they so choose.


    Liz nced off to the side staring at nothing and everything. ¡°Maybe. It''s not like we need to decide any time soon. My main point is, you¡¯ll be able to build out your guild without having to worry about being called to defend the Empire at a moment¡¯s notice, we can find our footing ruling our duchy, and properly consolidate all of our power. My blood type just changed. Actually, that¡¯s an understatement. My blood¡¯s <em>state of matter</em> just changed. I have so much to learn about what I can do now, yeah I could use a few decades to settle into our new normal, figure out if I want to go back to my old appearance, maybe try something new... Peace is exactly what we need.¡±


    ¡°But seven hundred decades?¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s seven hundred decades where you can work on getting stronger. Seven hundred decades where there will be no Ventillyrias. Seven hundred decades where we don¡¯t need to look over our shoulder for the next disaster.¡± At Matt¡¯s snort, Liz corrected herself. ¡°Or at least look over our shoulders any more than normal.¡±


    When she put it that way, Matt couldn¡¯t help but agree. He did need to get stronger, to grow in Tier, and he could help the Empire with his mana without needing to be chronically fighting. It wasn¡¯t like he wasn¡¯t protecting the Empire, he <em>had</em> protected the Empire. Even if Aiden and Allie were getting most of the spotlight, he¡¯d done his part¡­ or at least he tried to tell himself that. And the parts of him that disagreed he shoved into a corner, and did his best to ignore. It was inevitable that there would be another war in time, a true war at that. And every scrap of peace they could squeeze in before that was all for the better.


    Seven thousand years was just a long time. He¡¯d honestly lost track of how old he was exactly, though the answer would be just a quick query away on his AI if he cared to find out. Between time in the rift and in the war, he understood why immortals stopped bothering to keep track. But no matter how he counted it, seven thousand years was more than twenty times his current age, and that thought was daunting.


    He rolled over, turning Liz on her back and now pinning her to the bed, their faces mere inches from one another. He gazed into her golden eyes, seeing as the color flickered and pulsed like an electric me. As he watched, her content adoration took on a distinctly more <em>predatory</em> look, as though the phoenix underneath was peeking through.


    She smiled, ¡°That¡¯s enough about the future for now. My body changed a <em>lot</em> today, and I¡¯d like some help getting used to it.¡±


    Matt winked, ¡°Hmmmm. You know, I <em>do</em> think that I noticed your legs seem a bit longer, it¡¯s definitely worth looking at.¡±


    Grabbing the appendage, he started running his hands over it. ¡°Yes. I can see. I can see so many interesting things. Let''s start with your calf.¡±


    ***


    As though they were trying to drive home the degree to which the war was truly over, Camp Lightfoot started being dismantled the very next day. The first to go were a lot of the lower-level personnel. Those who weren¡¯t just the families of more critical individuals were still quite skilled in their own right, and with Project Breach reaching its conclusion, they were being either reassigned or allowed to go on indefinite leave and return to their civilian lives. Plenty had happened in the millennia that had passed on the inside of the rift, but they were all <em>quite</em> eager to get back outside.


    For the service they would earn a number of things, from preferential treatment when entering imperially owned rifts to merits that could be exchanged for rare resources. These resources included essence stones, skills, natural treasures, higher Tier upgrade orbs, or really anything else that was buy-able.


    And even if it took a little while for the stock to recover the items they wanted, they were immortal, and would eventually get their desired rewards. It would take Matt some time to get used to life without the urgency and pressure of the Path or a war, and he was looking forward to the process.


    Then, the buildings themselves started going away, and that was¡­ weird. They certainly hadn¡¯t looked temporary during the decades he¡¯d spent in them. But now, they were all being carted away one section at a time, and Matt was suddenly faced with the fact that his home wasing apart right before his eyes.


    Matt had felt restless, and helped in packing some of the science gear up with Erwin and his team. He then helped other research groups so he was able to hear all about the things they were excited for. What made him feel even better was the knowledge that he would be appreciably contributing to those rewards.


    Emmanuel had already messaged him and asked if Matt was willing to increase his production of mana stones for the next few years to a trillion mana a day. That would mean Matt needed to spend close to six hours a day making mana stones, but he was more than willing to do so. In fact, he went as far as making mana for double that a day. He had gotten good enough over the years to create mana while doing other tasks, so long as the task wasn¡¯t tooplicated. With his ring to dump the mana stones into, he was happy to help the Empire start the post war recovery process.


    For all the good things on his personal horizon, he wasn¡¯t blind to the broader picture, and had heard about the mana shortages that had been only growing worse as the war drug on. Almost four percent of the buildings on the capital had to be shut down due tock of mana, and all the heavily popted capitals had been suffering simr fates.


    A few trillion mana wasn¡¯t going to immediately change the situation, but it would help stem the bleeding. Now that the war was over, Matt was sure part of their orders would be to reach Tier 35 as fast as possible, which would turn his mana generation from 42 <em>million</em> a second to 43 <em>billion</em> a second.


    The difference would be astounding. In the same six hour period, he would go from making one trillion mana to one quadrillion mana.


    That would make a significant difference to even a capital''s mana deficit.


    Matt was looking forward to it. Fighting in the war had been necessary, but it came at a cost. While his mana would undoubtedly cause a war in and of itself, it was a pure benefit to the realm. It would make things better for those who struggled and for those who simply did their best in the system they found themselves in, like those who volunteered to assist in the wars.


    More than anything, Matt was happy the Emperor had put them back inside the rift with its eight times time dtion. Having close to eight months to dpress helped him prepare himself for the uing awards ceremony. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about the idea of being so close to the most powerful people in the realm, but like Aiden had said more than once, the Emperor would protect him.


    It was just one more thing to get through before the war was truly over, and they could officially leave active duty. Matt really wanted to delve into his guild in the decade or two before they would officially be given their duchies to rule. He was looking forward to being a ruler, hopefully a good ruler, with how many things he had considered throughout the years. While there were Imperialws he couldn¡¯t change, he had his own ideas, and hoped at least a few would pass testing phases and actually make things better for those he ruled.


    Ideas and ns.


    He had too many of both.


    He at least secured Erwin¡¯s agreement to join his guild as soon as it was officially formed. Zack even made some noises about being interested in joining as some sort of frencer. Matt had made it clear that he was willing to fund any tests that Zack wanted to do whether or not he joined the guild, but the other Ascender seemed a bit adrift with being bought out of the war Tiers so soon after his entrance to the wars. Matt suspected he and Allie would end up just traveling the Empire, but he also suspected they would be doing it separately.


    Both of them needed some time to reframe their worlds after so much change in a short amount of time.


    But before he knew it, it was time to go to the ceremony.

 Chapter 338

    Chapter 338


    Matt wasn¡¯t looking forward to the celebration, but between Allie¡¯s excitement and Aiden¡¯s waxing on about the event, he was at least interested in going, if for no other reason than to see the strongest people in the realm. Part of that was the Tier 48s and Tier 47s, they would undoubtedly be powerful, and uniquely so at that, but most of his interest was targeted at the realm¡¯s other Ascenders.


    They were his peers. The people that could fight him on an even level.


    While he was fought out after thest war, Matt was already feeling the itch to pick up his sword, after even their short eight month break.


    Getting there was as simple as waiting around as a group until a presence surrounded them and they appeared in the Pce.


    Mara and Leon were restrained in bands of hardened air as they squealed and tried to break free, to the obvious embarrassment of the other royals, who avoided looking at the duo.


    That brought a chuckle out of Matt, who walked over and gave both of them a hug before letting Liz and Aster make their rounds.


    ¡°It''s good to see you guys again.¡±


    Their reactions were unintelligible blurs of words as they failed to lower their perception to an understandable level, but they didn¡¯t seem to notice and kept speaking.


    Liz¡¯s chuckles turned into outrightughs until the bands of air started to fade, where she nched and tried to run to Allie, who just looked panicked at the happenings.Liz didn''t make it more than a few steps as Mara and Leon split into three and nearly tackled them.


    Matt just let it happen and smiled as he was inundated with kisses and hugs. He might be hundreds of years old, and he was sure if it happened too often he would get tired of it, but after everything they had gone through in the war it was nice to be treated like a kid for a few moments.


    He could feel Aster''s agreement through their bond, but it was far more entertaining to watch Liz struggle against her parents preening over her new bloodline form.


    Leon kept zapping her bird clone with tiny bolts of lightning while repeatedly saying ¡®that''s my girl¡¯ while a phoenix Mara kept grooming phoenix Liz despite the bird''s desperate squawks.


    At the same time, Liz was also being peppered with hugs and kisses like Matt and Aster.


    Itsted for almost a full minute until Rusty tackled Aiden and started giving him a nuggie, ruining his perfectly floating hair. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you held out on me. How could you?¡±


    Aiden never got a word out edge wise as all the royals ganged up on him, including additional copies of Mara and Leon.


    It took Manny clearing his throat a few times for everyone to separate, but it did eventually work and they were able to regain some level of dignity. Or, everyone but phoenix Liz, who wasn¡¯t able to escape the ws of phoenix Mara.


    ¡°We have five minutes before we need to leave. Then I expect some minimum level of decorum from my royals.¡±


    Matt was almost offended by the clear belief that the Ascenders and elites couldn''t handle themselves with decorum, but on reflection, it was better to not ask for the impossible.


    The royals bullied Aiden until he apparently shared some information about Authorities, after which they turned to the rest of them.


    Harper greeted Matt, Liz, and Aster with a short nod. ¡°It is good to see you three again. I hope the rigors of war haven¡¯t been too onerous.¡±


    Matt was about to say something polite about how they just did their jobs when a second Harper spoke with far more exuberance. ¡°And hello from meeee!¡±


    Matt nodded to the intelligent mask, Lyre. ¡°And good to see you too, Lyre.¡±


    ¡°It is good! I¡ª¡±


    Their talk turned to the general state of the Empire in a polite small talk fashion, but it became clear that wasn¡¯t entirely true when all of the other royals made their way to Matt¡¯s orbit.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to guess they wanted something from him. Matt didn¡¯t expect it to be his mana; he already had deals with Manny for that. And while he would be happy to give the royals more, he wasn¡¯t quite making so much mana that they should be interested yet. No, it had to be something else.


    It was Tur¡¯stal who broke the awkwardness. ¡°We are all interested in the Aura rifts. You have said you intend to release them via your guild, but we are all eager to get ess to them. Bottled Concepts aren¡¯t cheap, and are subsidized by the government with various incentives. Even a few aura rifts could relieve some pressure and be a great post war boom for our local economies at the same time.¡±


    Matt smiled at that and nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t really speak to it until I have my guild set up, but after we do some more testing I¡¯ll release them and you can make as many as you''d like. I¡¯m sure you all have a copy of my mana.¡±


    That seemed to take Tur¡¯stal and the others aback, and Matt raised an eyebrow in return. ¡°What?¡±


    Frederic cocked his head slightly in what might have been a nod or a light bow. ¡°We are willing to pay. W¡ª¡±


    Matt held up a hand, causing the royal to stop. It was rude, but Matt wanted to make his stance clear. ¡°Unless something is considered an imperial secret,¡± he nodded to the Emperor where he stood off to the side. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to hide or restrict what my guild is doing. At least not in terms of making a profit. I¡¯m not trying to make money here. I¡¯d open the aura rifts up to creation now, but from my talks with Erwin, I think there is still some ground to excavate with them. That is the only reason I¡¯m waiting. I may have said it when I was young and naive, but I truly don¡¯t want to profit from my guild. I want to make the realm a better ce.¡±


    That improved the mood substantially, at least until Aiden draped an arm over Matt¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I, on the other hand, want money and riches. Pay my¡ª hey, don¡¯t walk away! I was monologuing!¡±


    Matt smiled at the interruption but didn¡¯tin. It felt weird to be dictating terms to the royals. Sure, they could take what they wanted, but he didn¡¯t think they were the type to do so, even if they could. When he was younger, he didn¡¯t <em>really</em> get it, but he now had a much better understanding of the Empire and how things like aura rifts would fit into therger picture.


    That, and he genuinely didn¡¯t want to hoard knowledge. He wanted the realm to be a better ce than he left it when he inevitably ascended. Aura rifts and things like it were the first steps towards that goal.


    Manny stepped forward at that and nodded to Matt before saying, ¡°It''s time to leave.¡±


    And then they were somewhere else.


    Matt looked around and immediately found the massive copper surrounded by sevens and one massive space station.


    They were in the Minka system.


    Not the same one where he had ventured into the, but even from here, he could feel the essence and mana being siphoned to the.


    That wasn¡¯t their destination, though. They couldn¡¯t enter Minka again, and as much as Matt wanted to see just how much mana the could absorb, he wasn¡¯t about to do something so stupid.


    No, they flew towards the corporation space station and entered the top level, where they were greeted by their hosts. The Royals and Aiden quickly blurred through their own formalities and vanished deeper into the station, leaving Matt alone with his fellow Team Zero Ascenders.


    If Matt was going purely based on physical appearance, he would have assumed that Ortizimanin was the Corporation¡¯s Tier 50, and the golden-skinned woman standing next to him with a raven perched on her shoulder as the draconic man¡¯s assistant. He may have only been about Matt¡¯s height, and thus didn¡¯t <em>loom</em> in quite the same way as wasmon among Empire dragons, but the way his white scales seemed to blend almost seamlessly with his advanced armor left quite an impression. It drew Matt¡¯s gaze to him almost maically as he wondered just how far off his own armor was from the Minka bound version.


    Matt tore his attention away from the dragon before it could be construed as rude, and respectfully inclined his head towards the trio. ¡°Chief Executive Official JR, Violet Pdin Ortizimanin, Chief Logistics Official Kal¡¯dire. It is an honor to meet you all.¡± To his sides, his fellows echoed their own formalities.


    ¡°Likewise, Ascenders Shadow, Light, Titan, Legion, Wraith. You have been most impressive,¡± Kal¡¯dire replied. ¡°It is our honor to wee you.¡±


    Before any of them could respond, JR fluttered over to Matt¡¯s shoulder. He froze, the weight of one of the eight strongest people in the entire Realm literally resting on him. What was he supposed to do in a situation like this? JR¡¯s beady eye studied Matt intently, and he had to fight his heart rate from spiking. Had he seen something about his mana regeneration, even though he was at full mana, was wearing a mask hyper-focused around that area, and generally had done everything he could to protect his secret?


    The raven¡¯s beak gleamed, a deadly Tier 50 weapon sitting mere inches from Matt¡¯s exposed neck. But as Matt opened his mouth to speak, JR finally broke the silence.


    ¡°Have you enjoyed your Pair-Linker? It was quite the clever gizmo, if I say so myself.¡±


    Relief flooded Matt¡¯s body, but he still kept himself very still outside of nodding in gratitude. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t hard to show that he was thankful, the gift had been <em>immensely</em> appreciated. ¡°I have immensely appreciated your gift, honored JR. I and my assistants have had many substantial breakthroughs thanks to it, to the point that one of my friends even experienced an Inspiration. It has also been an invaluable tool as I have practiced with my newest Talent, and allowed me to work on creating talismans out of pure mana stone, something I would have otherwise thought impossible.¡±


    The Tier 50 bobbed his head in a nod. ¡°Good, good. I am always quite saddened when my gifts go unappreciated. You ought to speak with your Emperor, I¡¯m certain that we could arrange for some nifty little tools for you as you grow stronger.¡±


    With a few ps, JR returned to Kal¡¯dire¡¯s shoulder, and Matt felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. From his typical perch, he turned his calcting gaze towards Matt¡¯s fellows. ¡°Before the ceremony begins, I also wish to express my sincerest congrattions to the two of you. Presenting a threatrge enough to encourage a buy-out with your first war? Absolutely marvelous! A true exemr of what a Chosen can do. Ascender Legion, congrattions upon developing a blood-fire element. What do you call it?¡±


    Liz kept her cool quite well, far better than Matt managed, and smoothly replied with, ¡°Ichor, honored JR.¡±


    ¡°Ichor?¡± He seemed slightly taken aback, but then let out a screech that Matt supposed wasughter. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯s quite fitting! And Ascender Wraith, lest you fear I¡¯ve forgotten you, allow me to express that should you ever desire assistance developing your ¡®space ice¡¯ aspect, I am <em>quite</em> willing to coborate. I even offered my assistance to your Emperor, but he declined.¡±


    JR swept his head from side to side. ¡°What a short-sighted man. You really ought to persuade him to reconsider. My prices aren¡¯t <em>that</em> high. Not for him, at least.¡±


    Matt fought back a grin. Manny had warned them that JR was always looking to make a sale, but it was still amusing to see the bird¡¯s tactics on disy.


    ¡°Well, I suppose I shouldn¡¯t keep you too much longer! I¡¯ve marked your quarters, as well as several other locations of interest such that they should be obvious to you, Ascender Shadow, when teleporting. As for the rest of you, and Ascender Shadow, of course, should you decide to walk, we have an AI module you may download right here. It will automatically help you find your way around, inform you of events of interest that are uring, and provide additional information about nearly anything you find yourself curious about.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also fully private to you and de-obfuscated,¡± Kal¡¯dire added. ¡°Simply touch any of the maps, such as that one, to initiate a download, and it will guide you to only install the modules that are of personal interest to you. And if you prefer to not install anything onto your personal AIs, the station itself can provide all of the same functions simply by querying the onboard AI.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t even finished when Allie teleported over to the holographic map by the wall, tapped it, giggled, and teleported away once again.


    After a moment, it became apparent she wasn¡¯ting back, and Zack inclined his head towards the trio. ¡°Thank you for your amodation of my partner¡¯s entricities, and your general hosting of this event.¡±


    The three foremost Corporation speakers returned their pleasantries, and guided them along their ways. Aster downloaded a copy of the onboard AI, but the rest of them stuck with simply messaging the station, and loosely marveling at the way it responded to their requests for direction. The station was capable of providing full-sensory guidance perceptible only to the person asking for it, and Aster had fun making their rooms smell like ice cream, while Matt instead settled for a tether of blue light racing off into the distance of the white hallways. They¡¯d seen simr things before, but the Corporation¡¯s version was impressive in a number of ways they¡¯d never thought to imagine before.


    With their personal guides, it didn¡¯t take them too long to find their quarters. They checked their messages to determine where Allie was now and where they should be going next for theirwork.


    As it turned out, they didn¡¯t need to look very hard, as L swooped in almost immediately with Aiden and Allie in tow. They were swept up in seats made of sand and relocated in the blink of an eye to a massive sandstone cavern seemingly open to the stars above. Matt had to use his AI and connect to the LocalNet to determine where they¡¯d ended up, only to find that they¡¯d scarcely moved at all. He was in what he¡¯d assumed was a minor amphitheater near their quarters, but was now highlighted as ¡®Ascender Worldwaker¡¯s Quarters.¡¯


    Matt started. The huge space was far bigger than what he and Liz had, let alone what Allie or Aster had, and was far more personalized than the sleek and stylish, but generic rooms they <em>had</em> been in. He opened his mouth to ask, but L preempted his question with a draconic grin. ¡°You can customize your quarters pretty easily. Yours won¡¯t be this big, but I¡¯ve still got a few <em>lingering perks</em> with the Corporations after capturing Maxie.¡±


    There was a snort from nowhere and Matt found the apparently empty room now filled with a number of other people.


    Aiden immediately pointed andughed at a stunning blonde. ¡°Ha! Fuck you, Maya! How¡¯s it feel to get your ass kicked? I wasn¡¯t able to rub it in before, but now I can! Does the knowledge that I could have kicked your ass at any time burn at you? Does it irritate you? Ha!¡±


    Maya rolled her eyes and made a rude gesture, but Matt¡¯s attention was pulled to the massive dragon who had snorted.


    Matt had met a fair few dragons in his time, but the enormous red dragon was on another level beyond them. A crown of horns ringed his head, surrounded by a halo of bright blue sma, and his simple presence tickled the back of Matt¡¯s mind with a sense of fear unlike any other he¡¯d experienced. He felt the presence trying to persuade him to kneel and submit, beg for his life, or run for the miniscule chance of survival it might impart.


    Even without the dragon being identical to the videos and pictures he¡¯d seen, Matt would have been able to identify him from that alone. The elder dragon, Evorn. He and Gideon, therge man sitting in a chair next to him, had been the Federation¡¯sst Ascenders before the Monster Collective¡¯s war of independence, and their defection to the Monster Collective had been a <em>very</em> dramatic turning point in the war, and was sometimes cited as the reason the fighting grew past Tier 35.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    L transformed into a dragon evenrger than Evorn and dismissively flicked the younger Ascender with her tail. ¡°<em>I¡¯m</em> doing the introductions. Stop spoiling the fun. If you interrupt, I¡¯ll punch you into the local star.¡±


    Evorn growled at her, but otherwise didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Grumpy-scales here is Evorn, of course. That¡¯s Gideon next to him, and despite what the Monster Collective may tell you, they <em>don¡¯t</em> mind it if you refer to Gideon as Evorn¡¯s rider. Just make sure you don¡¯t mistake that for one of them being stronger than the other. Evorn gets all the press these days, but good ol¡¯ Giddy does half the work himself.¡±


    ¡°Next to them, the self-proimed ¡®deadliest woman in the Realm¡¯, we¡¯ve got Maxine. Don¡¯t worry, no matter what you may have heard about her, she won¡¯t ckmail you about stuff she reads off you.¡±


    ¡°Unless it would be funny!¡± Olivier butt in.


    ¡°Unless it would be funny,¡± L confirmed. ¡°She¡¯s also the only one of us who really <em>likes</em> politics, is our de facto therapist, killed her boyfriend, and got captured like a punk by yours truly and will <em>never</em> be allowed to live it down. Also if you value your wallets, <em>don¡¯t</em> make bets with her or y any kind of bluffing game, poker included.¡±


    Maxine stuck her tongue out at L, and Matt fought back a wave of fear. Cosmind¡¯s abilities were the stuff of literal legends, and her <em>confirmed</em> feats included making an army kill itself to thest man, killing the Master of All in singlebat, and wiping out another army with a hail of projectiles that she hadunched <em>six months </em>before the army even arrived in that particr system. Her rumored feats were even wilder, including mind-reading and mind-controlling people ten Tiers above her, allegedly ckmailing entire Great Powers into buying her out of war Tiers, and more. If there was anyone in the entire Realm more likely to figure out his secret, he didn¡¯t know who it might be.


    He¡¯d heard legends of the cold and calcting woman, and waspletely taken aback by the truth of the matter; that was a friendly woman who looked a bit younger than him, reclining in a plush beanbag chair and giving a friendly wave. Her colorful hair was draped all across the beanbag, winding in on itself and glowing slightly, but it didn¡¯t seem to be under her direct control. It paired well with her dusky skin, bright clothes, and cheery smile.


    ¡°Sup, guys? Good to meet you, you can call me Max. No, I¡¯m not reading your minds, just your faces. Yes, y¡¯all are like open books, but don¡¯t let that bother you. No, I <em>won¡¯t</em> actually ckmail you about anything I read off you, no matter how funny it would be. They¡¯re just being mean. And yeah, I make a pretty awesome therapist, you can tell me <em>anything</em>. I promise, I¡¯ve heard worse from some <em>very</em> loud thinkers. And if you want something to stay a secret, it¡¯s between you and me.¡± She winked, then made a finger gun at Aster and winked again while clicking her tongue.


    L snorted at that. ¡°Nobody¡¯s ever <em>fessed</em> to taking her up on the offer of therapy, but supposedly she¡¯s done it a few times. Next to her is Sien, who you¡¯d know as the Lady of Ill Dreams.¡± L leveled a re at the Sect woman, who just waved. ¡°You¡¯ve met her kids, and I¡¯ve had money riding on her kids being Gideon¡¯s since they were born, but neither of them are fessing up and Max refuses to say anything either.¡±


    Matt was shocked at the thought the twins had been the children of two Ascenders, but simply nodded. If that was true, he couldn''t imagine growing up with two Ascenders as parents. Unless Sien raised them alone. It didn¡¯t seem like anyone had proof of who the father was, which implied Sien raised them alone or in secret.


    Maya snorted at thement though, and interrupted Matt¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Count yourself lucky, I¡¯m still certain they¡¯re Balster¡¯s. The timing works way better.¡±


    ¡°We can get back into it after I finish introductions, Maya. Wait your turn. Sien, want to say anything?¡±


    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you all formally. I am certain that our forting interactions will be most delightful and productive.¡±


    The sect woman smiled at them, and Matt tried to match the twins to the woman in front of him.


    He could at least see where the twins got it from. Blue and green skin were far lessmon in the Sects than they were in the Empire, where they already weren¡¯t the most popr skin colors. But while her kids were fairly vibrant with their blue and green skin, each a deeply saturated hue contrasted by the reverse color of their hair, Jai Sien¡¯s skin was a dark midnight blue, framed by wless, long, and straight ck hair which faded into smoke at the tips. All three shared the same glowing red eyes, an already-striking effect made all the more striking on their mother.


    ¡°You¡¯ve met Olivier, who¡¯s currently taking great delight in sitting in Wun¡¯s normal seat. Wun¡¯s been delving for nearly five centuries now, and there¡¯s currently a betting pool as to whether he¡¯s napping or just ended up stuck in a rift challenge.¡±


    ¡°Wun is Goldenrod, right?¡± Allie asked.


    L nodded.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t his entire thing that he¡¯s crazy lucky? Why would you bet against him getting a rift challenge?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said!¡± Olivier pitched in.


    ¡°It is not a constant,¡± Evorn rumbled. ¡°And he certainly enjoyszing about at times when he feels safe. Were he to <em>not</em> get a rift challenge, it is likely he would have taken the opportunity for respite where no one can bother him.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see. But next to him, we have <em>On </em>The Last Line - the ¡®On¡¯ is important- with Krodag, who you know as Lifegiver, but prefers Bottle. He¡¯s way too loud, but is the best healer here. Greathammer, or Moe, or Lug¡­ Don¡¯t challenge him to an arm-wrestling match, even Gideon can¡¯t match him. Ellen, or Jack, is next, and she¡¯s probably the third smartest person in the room, nevermind what the ns might tell you about her being a Mastermind.¡±


    ¡°Oi!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Fourth at best. Moe clearly beats you. If she and Max ever get going at it, just enjoy the show. And then we have Brian. No, The Deadlord is not a skeleton, that¡¯s just when he¡¯s acting as Boney. He¡¯s easily bribed by interesting dead bodies. <em>Don¡¯t</em> let him talk you into giving him any of your corpses, Liz, it¡¯s not worth it.¡±


    ¡°Spoilsport!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ leave corpses anyway. They just melt into blood,¡± Liz replied, clearly a bit unnerved.


    ¡°Spoilsport anyway! Also, Aiden, I don¡¯t suppose you actually stuffed the body of that one Feddie merged guy somewhere, did you?¡±


    ¡°Nope, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I figured, but it was worth a try.¡±


    Matt cast an eye over the four Legends.


    ¡°Andst and <em>certainly</em> least is Maya, who just got whooped by someone three tiers weaker than her even with massive support.¡± The blond woman made a rude gesture, reinforced by an illusionary hand.


    L turned as if to introduce the still-standing group, but was preempted by Aiden as he stepped up and waved, as though volunteering to go first. He was swatted with an errant tail, sending him flying into the back wall. ¡°New to the group we have Allie and Zack, the most impressive Ascenders to be bought out this generation, and officially making them the youngest retirees in any of our records.¡±


    At the mention of the buyout, Max red at Allie and signaled that she had her eyes on the younger Ascender. Shortly thereafter, there was a whoop and faint cheer emanating from multiple points of the room, and Matt caught a glimpse of Allie teleporting between said points, cheering wildly for herself.


    ¡°Then finally, Matt, Liz, and Aster, officially bing the <em>fastest</em> group to ever follow up another Ascension.¡±


    Krodag whooped, cheering on Aster. ¡°Finally, another support! We get [No Respect]!¡± A burst of aura red around him at the shouted skill name just for the sand to engulf him.


    ¡°I swear, he¡¯s an idiot.¡± L shook her dragon head back and forth before settling down. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s amon affliction here. I¡¯m just happy that I got to do <em>two</em> introductions. That never happens. Anyways,¡± she swung her head back at Matt and those around him, ¡°This group formed a few generations back, as a way for us to actually appreciate time with peers. Each generation¡¯s own abilities change the texture a bit, but right now we¡¯ve got asional meet-ups and an AI group chat mainly courtesy of Max and Brian.


    ¡°Anyway, your first war was a bit skewed, in that you <em>actually</em> had a bit of a challenge, but you¡¯ll figure out soon enough that it can be tricky being at the top. So, this is a ce to unwind, swap tips, and appreciate the fact that we¡¯re not all quaking in our boots about the dreadful and fearsome Ascender in our midst. You can be as formal or as informal as you like, but the only real rule is that there¡¯s no shop talk if you¡¯re currently in a war. That said, if there¡¯s someone you¡¯d <em>rather</em> not die in a war, we can try and amodate it, within reasonable limits of course. And if they do die, well, try to not take it too harshly. We¡¯re Ascenders, people die. The main goal is to keep the group going, getting us the best fights possible, so don¡¯t screw it up too badly.¡±


    Matt approved of the idea and just wished it could have saved Eric or Morgan¡¯s life.


    The other dragon snorted and looked at Matt. ¡°Can you handle that boy? Losing your temper over just one dead mentor.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t even hesitate and punched the dragon right in the nose. Manny had told him there was no reason to hold back with his mana usage and he would block any signs, so he had no issues throwing a full forty million [Breach] into the blow as well.


    The explosion didn¡¯t even move Evorn, but the scorch marks on his scales did give him pause.


    The rest of the energy was absorbed by the collective power of the other Ascenders.


    A tail came down out of seemingly nowhere and cut a deep furrow into the dragon¡¯s nk and sent him sliding back in the sand hard enough to cause the entire space station to tremble.


    L stepped over Matt and loomed above Evorn. ¡°I told you not to taunt him, Evorn. Apologize.¡±


    Matt was running hot, but the anger was quickly cooled by L¡¯s back up and Evorn¡¯s nod. ¡°At least you¡¯ve got spine.¡± He stood up and shook himself, the wound quickly filling and closing. ¡°And I won¡¯t apologize. None of <em>you</em> were willing to test the boy, and if he was going to be all hissy about it any time someone stepped on his feelings, it would be a problem. I <em>refuse</em> to have a new Charl, and I said that I¡¯d test him, so I did. He passes, at least provisionally.¡±


    Matt considered that. He supposed it <em>did</em> seem like they were broadly alright with basic physical violence as amonce conflict resolution, and if that were the case¡­ yeah, he could see how this would be rxing for them. Being able to just <em>punch</em> someone had to be good to keep conflict at a basic level.


    Mindful of his cover Talent, Matt withdrew a good-sized mana crystal from his ring and absorbed it, refilling his mana pool before he absentmindedly used any more mana and started having his regeneration really pick up.


    Maya regarded him with a bit of a hungry expression, ¡°Oh, who I wouldn¡¯t kill for that kind of Talent. Do you know how strong of a Law I could make if I could throw around that much power whenever? I¡¯m jealous.¡±


    Aiden finally crawled out of the sand, just to be flung back by Moe this time.


    Sien walked over and exined the confusion. ¡°A number of us are pissed at Aiden for hiding such a big secret for so long. Quite a few of us lost a ton on the bets on who would win their little fight.¡±


    She chuckled and fanned herself. ¡°I, on the other hand, am smart and bet that Aiden would shock us all. That made up for my losses in the other categories.¡± ring at the ce Aiden was crawling out of the sand, she sneered. ¡°Fucker nearly cost me half my fortune by not Tiering up via inspiration in the fight though.¡±


    Aiden spat sand out, ¡°It''s not my fault that I already had my Authority inspiration.¡±


    This time, Gideon kicked him to the other side of the room. Liz raised an eyebrow at the action, and he shrugged. ¡°He pulled one over on all of us and this is pretty much our only chance to pick on him until one of us figures out our own Authorities.¡±


    That made a lot of sense, and Matt nodded along even as Olivier ran Aiden all the way to the other side of the room before appearing right back next to them.


    ¡°So you guys are going to try for it before Ascending?¡±


    Maya snorted at Allie''s question. ¡°Obviously. We wouldn¡¯t be very good diators if we gave up on such an impressive source of power before Ascension. After all, <em>everything</em> gets strengthened when you Ascend, from Talents to Domains, Skills, Natural Treasures, all of it. Plus, there¡¯s a theory that the stronger you are overall the better <em>all</em> the upgrades are. None of us are ever going to Ascend at Tier 50, so an Authority¡¯s our best bet at actually boosting it all. Aren¡¯t you nning on getting one?¡±


    Allie shrugged. ¡°Can¡¯t say I really thought about it. Need my Aspect first, ya know.¡±


    Olivier nodded. ¡°Touche. But yeah, pretty sure all of us want to make a go of it. Sure, it''s dangerous but what isn''t? We are Heroes after all. With Ellen to trante, maybe we can actually wring a few drops of knowledge out of Aiden¡¯s spirit after all.¡±


    Matt smiled at that. While he didn¡¯t n on sitting around forever until he got an Authority, he fully agreed with the thought process. If there was power on the table, why wouldn¡¯t he reach for it? It was the same for Liz and Aster. It was surprisingly nice to be around people who shared that mindset and didn¡¯t need such things exined.


    He suspected that was the reason for the Ascender chat, if nothing else. If he and his team were the only Ascenders in their Great Powers, things would probably get very lonely very quickly.


    Moe sauntered over to him just as Aiden begged off getting tossed around again. ¡°So, I ¡®ear you are ¡®trong.¡±


    Matt looked down at the dwarf and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Pretty strong, yeah.¡±


    Moe smiled. ¡°Fantastic. When you reach Tier 35, we need to have a spar. It''s so hard to find others who can match me in melee. It''s usually just magic users dodging around and never getting in melee range. I¡¯m begging for a good brawl. I punch you, you punch me, I punch you, you punch me. Eventually we¡¯ll find a winner and it will be a jolly good time.¡±


    Matt grinned. He couldn¡¯t help it. He had seen the reports and knew he would be weaker than Moe in a pure melee, but he had so much more than pure melee, even if it was his preferred range.


    Maya rolled her eyes. ¡°Have fun sticking around then. I¡¯m out in three hundred years. J <em>begged</em> me to stay longer, but fuck that. If Aiden is leaving and has his Authority, there is no reason to sit. Better to advance up to where it''s marginally safer to try for an Authority. Plus, better senses and the whole shebang.¡±


    Aiden, finally having crawled out of the sand, spat, ¡°I take offense that you guys want to try for Authorities. It''s my unique thing and you can''t have it.¡±


    L rolled her eyes even as she settled down next to Evorn, slightly off to the side. ¡°Then why did you make us pay through the nose for the information? I bet you are already working on the next step.¡±


    No one took her up on the bet, and Aiden didn¡¯t bother to hide it. ¡°Of course I am. What do you expect me to do? Sit and watch as other people use me breaking the mental barrier to catch up? I still bet that none of you manage it. It¡¯s fucking hard. I can¡¯t wait to hear about one of you blowing yourselves up mid-attempt. I just hope you survive so I canugh in your face and not just at your body.¡±


    Ellen leaned forward as if whispering a secret. ¡°I hear all the Tier 50s are salivating at getting their hands on the info. I bet a personally customized AI that one of them kills themselves in the attempt.¡±


    Allie leaned forward. ¡°Ohh. I¡¯ll take that bet. Not sure what I have to offer, though.¡±


    Maya slipped into the group. ¡°<em>Teleportation</em>, obviously. You don¡¯t need to tell us your actual range, but like¡­ we basically <em>never</em> get to meet up in person. Anything you¡¯ve got or could build out would be great.¡±


    Brian pitched in, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind a bit of coboration to try and reinforce the chat infrastructure, either. Don¡¯t know how your portal-making is, but some better synchronicity would be great.¡±


    As Allie was chewing her lip, Max caught Matt¡¯s attention, and she beckoned him over to where she was leaning against the wall.


    ¡°Can I talk to you for a second in private?¡± she asked once he got closer.


    ¡°Sure? What about?¡±


    ¡°One moment while I throw up a privacy shield.¡± She reached out her hand, clenched her fist and suddenly all sounds of chatter were silenced. The outside area was even muted to his spiritual sense though not entirely cut off, like it was on the other side of a wall.


    ¡±There. Nobody can hear what we say, and trying to read our lips won¡¯t work either. I figured you wouldn¡¯t want anyone overhearing this but it''s clear we need to have a chat.¡±


    ¡°What did you want to talk about?¡± Matt asked more than a little wary. He had heard a lot of things about Cosmind and without Manny being within spiritual range he would have never allowed this.


    ¡°That, that right there. Like seriously dude, <em>chill</em>. I haven¡¯t seen anyone so tense since¡­ doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She made direct eye contact and shot him a wink. ¡°You¡¯re worried about your secret getting out, I can tell. But, hey, hey, <em>rx, </em>okay? Your boss already paid me to not go digging and to keep it to myself if I do figure anything out. I usually figure them out because surprisingly people are really bad at keeping secrets. ¡®Cept Aiden anyway. Can¡¯t <em>believe </em>he managed to blindside me, I¡¯m so mad. Not actually, it was a great show, but <em>still</em>. Point is, I don¡¯t go digging for them. Everyone has secrets and I respect that. Besides, they¡¯re usually wayyy less important than people think. At least to me. After the dozenth super special Growth Item, private super-special rift, or unheard of Natural Treasures you stop caring, and I¡¯ve seen <em>thousands</em>. I¡¯m sure your secret is great and all but I <em>genuinely</em> couldn''t care less about it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the concern?¡± Matt was a little uncertain on how best to respond. It wasn¡¯t often that someone out of the blue said that he shouldn¡¯t worry about keeping his secret. He <em>did</em> remember Manny saying that he had paid some counter-intelligence people to help keep his Talent hidden, but that was fairly basic precautions that all Ascenders had, so far as he knew. And she seemed genuine in wanting to set him at ease but even if she had seen rare secrets she hadn¡¯t seen one on the magnitude of his, so her reassurances fell t.


    Ultimately he wasn¡¯t sure why she was bothering? Was it an act to get him to lower his guard? Was it genuine?


    Matt had no way to figure it out besides outright asking so that was exactly what he did. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re singling me out?¡±


    ¡°Well, mostly because of how stressed out you are. Most people¡¯s bodynguage isn¡¯t practically <em>screaming</em> about how worried they are about their secrets getting out. And sure, out there, maybe it¡¯s worth worrying about. But here? You could be Damien Duskde himself reincarnated, and they¡¯d just toast you. Whatever it is, it¡¯s <em>not</em> a big deal. Not here, not with them. So don¡¯t stress, and enjoy the party.¡± She bumped his shoulder yfully and added, ¡°Sound good?¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t think he was on edge, and even a check of his physical body said he was perfectly at ease. He <em>was</em> incredibly nervous, but he wasn¡¯t showing any signs. He was sure of that because Manny had said he¡¯d cover for any slip ups short of outright stating hsi Talent if Matt made any.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not stressed.¡±


    At Max¡¯s disbelieving look, he gestured at himself. ¡°This is me rxed.¡±


    Max bit her lip and shook her head. ¡°Ask your healer about chronic stress and hypertension then. I haven¡¯t seen a bigger bundle of nerves in <em>centuries</em>. And now you¡¯re worried about me reading your mind, stop that. I <em>don¡¯t</em> mind-read friends, full-stop. Besides, not even I can read your mind without you feeling it. I¡¯m just <em>that good</em> at reading your face, I promise you. I¡¯ll sometimes <em>phrase</em> it like I can hear your thoughts, but that¡¯s because it¡¯s easier to talk like that.¡±


    Stepping back Max held up her hands. ¡°My goal here is to have friends. Nothing more nothing less. Yeah, I know I¡¯m the big scary mind mage, but the point of this group is that all us big scary Ascenders can <em>be</em> friends, and that¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m mentioning all of this.¡±


    Matt nodded, still a bit hesitant, but he tried tough it off. ¡°Thanks for the heads up. I¡¯ll keep what you said in mind, but of course I¡¯ve got secrets, who doesn¡¯t?¡±


    Max winked. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. And if it continues to bother you I¡¯m happy to give anti-mind mage lessons.¡±


    Around them, the privacy screen dropped. Max gave Matt a fist-bump, and wandered off to start chatting with Zack, leaving Matt a chance to rest with his thoughts. Shortly thereafter, Sien elegantly swept in to sit next to Matt.


    Sien took a sip of tea and let out a satisfied sigh. ¡°So, you were one of the ones mostmonly engaged with my children, and I must know how they did. What was the experience akin to? Did they conceal themselves adequately, or were they brilliant embers clearly outshining their dull fellows? And do you have any advice or ideas in regards to how they may better master their capabilities for future fights? I could certainly see about arranging for a fight with them, if you want.¡±


    Matt ran over his interactions with Sien¡¯s kids and nodded. ¡°Sure. I have a couplements. Once I figured it out, it made sense, but we really struggled to understand where the boost wasing from at first.¡±


    Sien nodded even as Liz, Aster, and Zack joined him and added their own observations.


    ¡°Oh yeah it''s a super cool power set but I¡¯m more interested in why they don''t just buff each other?¡± Aster''sment spurned on a few more as Sien happily bragged about her kids.


    This¡­ was kinda fun.

 Chapter 339

    Chapter 339


    Contrary to his expectations, the older Ascenders were content to spend the entire two weeks leading up to the ceremony lounging around in L¡¯s room. He had half expected them to have their own things to do, but all of them seemed more interested in hanging out in person.


    Matt, Liz, Aster, Allie, and Zack, on the other hand, had never been inside the Corporation Minka space station and wanted to explore. Which matched up with the rest of Team Zero who had already been exploring.


    Zack left with Susanne fairly quickly off to go do their own thing; it was the first proper date they had been able to have in at least twenty years, subjective-time. Seeing that, Matt and Liz decided to copy them and split off from the others who decided to keep together.


    He hadn¡¯t expected to see anything interesting, after all he had already been in Minka, but that thought was killed almost immediately.


    The very first floor they entered was centered around selling skill shards. There were hundreds of people showcasing the skills they had inventory of as well as others rushing from person to person buying things up.


    Matt wasn¡¯t too interested in any of the actual skills, but he enjoyed walking around absorbing the ambiance.


    Phoenix Liz cocked her head and sniffed a few times before squawking quietly. Human Liz tranted the thought. ¡°Oh, I smell something interesting in this direction.¡±


    Together they weaved their way through the crowds until they found a room filled with dozens of games of chance. Following Liz¡¯s nose they made their way through a dozen more rooms until they found a beauty care section. Phoenix Liz had to p her wings to stop from falling forward as the two humans were too slow.


    Matt just looked on in amusement as Liz grabbed a small jar of orange lotion. Matt had to nudge human Liz to the side as she and Phoenix Liz were seemingly trying to inhale the substance.It smelled slightly citrusy but that was the only smell he could identify. Leaning back he shrugged. ¡°What''s so interesting about it?¡±


    Both Liz¡¯s looked at him like he was crazy. ¡°Can¡¯t you smell it?¡±


    Matt shrugged again. ¡°Not really. It''s light citrus.¡±


    Both Lizzes looked at him with pity. ¡°Rub a dab on your neck.¡±


    As he did so Liz turned back to the smiling shopkeeper who Matt finally noticed was only a Tier 15.


    ¡°What is this stuff?¡±


    The young man beamed. ¡°It¡¯s Fam¡¯s newest product and designed with bird bloodlines in mind, especially those with an exceptional sense of smell. It''s made with a proprietary blend of a few herbs as well as everything listed on the back.¡±


    As Matt rubbed a small dab of the lotion on his neck Phoenix Liz fluttered over to him and started nuzzling his neck with little coo¡¯s.


    Human Liz seemed to have a better handle of herself. ¡°What''s the price?¡±


    ¡°Five hundred ny nine kilocredits a bottle. What size order are you thinking about purchasing?¡±


    ¡°What are your sizes?¡±


    ¡°A boxes with fifteen bottles and a palletes with twenty seven boxes. We can even dorge scale orders and arrange shipping with an Empire merchant, though thates with additional cost. Alternatively, we can simply deliver here and you can arrange your own transportation.¡±


    Liz nodded and asked a few follow-up questions while Matt tried to reframe what they had purchased. He knew that the Corporations used credits instead of mana stones, even for higher Tier transactions, but that wasn¡¯t how he thought normally so he did some mental conversions to put the price into Empire standard.


    Current exchange rates, which did fluctuate, put six hundred kilocredits around¡­ a Tier 18 mana stone. Or it could be a few Tier 8 skills because they also usually sold for around a megacredit.


    The core of the issue was that the Corporations didn¡¯t value things based on Tier. Unlike the Empire, where a mana stone of that Tier served as the fundamental unit for a given Tier¡¯s economy, in the Corporations, mana stones were valued primarily on how much mana they held. There was still some markup for the higher-Tier stones due to their mana to size ratios, but it still meant that a Tier 18 mana stone might only be worth a few dozen times more than a Tier 8 stone in the Corporations.


    Amusingly enough, it meant that he actually created more value for unit of time with his Talent in the Corporation¡¯s economy than the Empire¡¯s.


    While he was busy trying to figure out how much they were spending, Liz finished her transaction for three pallets, which came to about two hundred and forty megacredits. Tranting that to Empire standards it was one Tier 32 mana stone, if directly converted, which they weren''t doing.


    They had <em>thousands</em> of Tier 8 skills lying around in their portable house and that was how Liz paid the salesman, which made the price feel downright cheap.


    But that didn''t exin what she needed over a thousand bottles of lotion for. That much wouldst well over a century, and it seemed excessive to buy that much at once.


    When he asked she simply replied. ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll get my chance to buy any of these once mom smells this? Not a chance. She''s going to buy millions, if not the recipe itself.¡±


    Shoving her face into his neck she took a deep breath. ¡°Oh that smells soooo good.¡±


    She tried to go in for a second sniff but got smacked by Phoenix Liz for her efforts.


    Seeing that, Matt just considered it money well spent.


    Grinning, he pulled her along to check out some of the other stalls. They didn¡¯t find anything else quite so interesting but it was fun just browsing through the random stalls together, seeing all the odd bits and bobs that had either been pulled out of Minka or brought into the system by the Corporations.


    It was a great way to spend an afternoon and better still when they met up with the rest of the group and did some exploring together.


    Liz was also proven right and the moment they arrived at the Empire quarters a blur of fiery chicken raced at them trying to smell Matt¡¯s new lotion.


    Liz tried to hide the source but cracked almost immediately as Mara started grooming her phoenix body.


    Answers pulled from her daughter, Mara vanished for a whole ten seconds before she came running back, wings trying to hold a dozen bottles of the lotion as she speed waddled back to her and Leon¡¯s room.


    Aster leaned forward and took a sniff but shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t get it. Is it an aphrodisiac?¡±


    Liz rolled her eyes. ¡°Not technically. It just smells <em>really</em> good.¡±


    A chortling chuffing sound came from the other side of their quarters hallway and two non-human figures came walking their way with Manny escorting them.


    The first was a turtle-like man,plete with scaly skin and a massive rocky shell on his back. The shell itself looked almost like a miniature world, mountain peaks andkes and forests spread out, wisps of clouds drifting through thendscape. If there were any people or cities, they were too small to see, but he didn¡¯t dare look too closely at a Tier 50. Tobias, the First Shepherd of the Monster Collective wasn¡¯t an <em>enemy</em> of the Empire, but politeness was always the best policy for people twice your Tier.


    Next to him was a veryrge lion-like person he <em>didn¡¯t</em> recognize, and needed to query his [Library] to recall notable individuals before he had any luck. He was fairly clearly a chimera, with very pale yellow fur contrasting strongly with metallic bronze wings folded along his back, but Matt didn¡¯t know all of the Collective¡¯s super soldiers. After a moment, he got his answer: Kar¡¯tan, the first chimera and the only one the Federation had managed to make. He was a fairly reclusive figure, and while he¡¯d had a fair few impressive stories from their war of independence and some tragic ones from before, he hadn¡¯t been seen much in public since then.


    That he was <em>here</em> was surprising.


    Manny made the introductions before he and Tobias turned and left, leaving just the chimera.


    Kar''tan dipped his head to them. ¡°Good to meet you all. If I could talk to you two privately, that would be ideal. Matthew is wee to join us of course.¡±


    Matt and Aster followed Liz into their room where they all took a seat, watching as one of the chairs adjusted to match Kar''tan¡¯s size.


    His smile, while ostensibly friendly, set Matt on edge as the hand sized teeth came into view. ¡°You are a spitting image of your mother, Elizabeth. While I don¡¯t have the honor of calling them close friends, both of your parents fought in the war when we were freed and I owe them a personal debt of gratitude for that. This is why it pains me toe asking for more instead of bringing gifts.¡±


    They had been warned that the Monster Collective would be interested in their new bloodlines by Mara when Liz and Aster had decided to advance down that path. As far as he knew neither of them were too interested in sharing, but that may have changed.


    Liz nodded politely. ¡°My parents always expressed regret that your people weren¡¯t helped until it became a good political excuse, despite their advocacy.¡±


    Kar''tan shrugged a wing as if he wasn¡¯t bothered, but even Matt could read his anger at the fact. ¡°It is simply a truth in the way the realm works, but I still appreciate their efforts. Without them and people like them, the cause would have been crushed long before any help would arise.¡±


    With a full body shake, therge lion man changed the subject. ¡°Onto happier topics! I was overjoyed when news came forward about you two having evolved your bloodlines. Aster, your creation of a Rank 1 Aurora bloodline astounded even my greatest researchers. We had thought the possibility of making a Rank 1 bloodline with a Level 4 mana type a distant possibility at best, but you managed it. I know the pressures of modifying one''s bloodline, but to do so while resisting the pull of advancing up a rank? That is something I don¡¯t believe that even I could have managed. Let me express our heartfelt congrattions on your sess.¡±


    Matt thought that was just a figure of speech but Kar''tan let out a long low roar.


    Once he finished he looked over to Liz and repeated his roar. ¡°And another for you, Elizabeth, for your feat of creating both a blood fire mana type and bloodline. A wondrous Level 4 mana type thatbines the best aspects of both of your parents, as well as your own uniqueness. It is truly a marvelous aplishment.¡±


    Liz seemed ufortable at the praise, but Aster preened under it. ¡°And I intend to make the jump to space ice as well, though I don¡¯t know if I want to stay Rank 1 for that or advance to Rank 2 with the breakthrough.¡±


    Kar''tan nodded. ¡°Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Be aware that Level 5 mana types, like your space ice would be, are oftentimes even more challenging to integrate with a bloodline than is normal. I wouldn¡¯t call it <em>impossible</em>, certainly not in the presence of Alphas, but such a thing would be very difficult indeed. On the other hand, advancing to Rank 2 with the creation would greatly lessen the strain on you, while remaining Rank 1 would increase the difficulty many fold. All that being said, if I may be so bold, I¡¯d rmend staying Rank 1. The advantages of creating the bloodline at Rank 1 are less so for yourself but more so for any descendents. The lower the rank of a bloodline innately is, the longer it canst without supplements to bolster it before being bred out. It will also give you more control over the actual power that manifests at Rank 2. When the timees I would even be willing to add my own insights for free and more help can always be traded for.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Aster considered that before agreeing. ¡°It''s a ways off, but I¡¯ll keep your offer in mind.¡±


    Kar''tan chuffed in what Matt interpreted as happiness. ¡°Wonderful. Now, Elizabeth, while you have set up your own research guild I¡¯d like to offer a partnership of sorts. The advancement of bloodlines is something the Monster Collective is very interested in. We will not allow our people to be ostracized again and part of that is learning all we can about such a fundamental part of ourselves.¡±


    ¡°While it''s a generous offer, I can¡¯t ept something so binding.¡± Kar''tan seemed a little upset but Liz held up a hand, forestalling anyment. ¡°I intend to take a feather out of my husband''s cap and publicize my research initiative¡¯s findings for the wider public.¡±


    That turned Kar''tan¡¯s full attention to him for the first time, and Matt exined. ¡°I created a rune while I was younger for the [Bandage] skill after seeing how a local guild was monopolizing something so helpful. Now that the war is over I intend to pursue those ideals on arger scale with a guild of my own, with the express purpose of creating things without the expectation of making a profit. My intentions aren¡¯t limited to runes but anything and everything that can help people.¡±


    Kar''tan¡¯s wings started to p lightly in unison with his nods and it seemed like he was working himself into a bit of flight before he finally said. ¡°An admirable goal and one I will keep an eye out for. One does wonder if those inventions will make their way out of the Empire, though.¡±


    ¡°For most things, I don¡¯t intend to just sell the product at cost, but make the creation of it public. That should ensure that prices remain low. If there is enough interest, people will flock to creating such items. I¡¯m sure there will be exceptions, but my core ideal is to better the realm itself. Not just a single Great Power, even if that is where I¡¯m sure most of the inventions will be clustered.¡± Matt corrected Kar''tan¡¯s misunderstanding with a smile.


    Or at least his pretend misunderstanding. Kar''tan, for all that he was affable, was a warrior forged to be a super weapon by the Federation and now led a research group of his own. The man was anything but dumb, which made Matt question the legitimacy of his ¡®misunderstanding¡¯.


    ¡°A wonderful intent. I look forward to both of your findings then.¡± Settling back in, Kar''tan looked between Liz and Aster once more. ¡°Thest thing I would ask is that you two allow me to take a sample of your bloodlines back to the Collective. We will provide resources to make up for the removal of course but it is important that we don¡¯t allow such unique bloodlines to fade because of an early death no matter how unlikely. We would handsomelypensate you for such personal information as well.¡±


    Liz and Aster shook their heads in unison, but Liz spoke for both of them. ¡°We are going to have to decline. We have thought about it, but we just don¡¯t feelfortable giving so much information about our bloodlines to anyone else.¡±


    When Kar''tan looked like he was going to try and persuade them to change minds, Aster spoke up. ¡°We are willing to revisit the topic before we Ascend, but not until then. As for death, it''s always possible, but we aren¡¯t so easy to kill.¡±


    Kar''tan nodded and stood from his chair saying. ¡°That will suffice.¡±


    He quickly took his leave and Matt followed his Monster Collective etiquette training and did the polite thing, escorting him out of the Empire¡¯s quarters. There he found one of the Monster Collective Tier 48s waiting for them.


    Martin may have been physically the exact opposite of Kar¡¯tan, a roughly humanoid mouse all of eight inches tall, but the Giant yer hadn¡¯t earned that title for nothing. Around him, a lingering aura of righteous bloodshed filled the corridor, making his presence impossible to miss.


    Kar¡¯tan greeted the mouse with a friendly bow, then extended his furred paw out. In a blur of motion, Martin jumped first to the outstretched appendage, then scampered up until he was sitting on the lion¡¯s head.


    However, before the man could say anything, another figure appeared in a way that high-Tiers often did when they stumbled across an interesting scene and wanted to readjust their cultivation speed to take part, but Matt highly doubted that this particr encounter had been by chance.


    The First Leader of the Federation, Faith. Like many other high-Tier Federation citizens, her physical body was sculpted past perfection with a metallic sheen, giving the illusion of them being a sculpted statue. Not a single hair was out of ce, and she had an all-too-elitist smirk carved into her face, a disproving glint in her eye.


    ¡°Hello, Martin, Kar¡¯tan. Good to see you two after so long.¡± The words were casual enough, but Matt didn¡¯t even need his Tier 25 senses to <em>feel</em> the mood in the area plummet. A few other people nearby vacated the area as well before anything dramatic could happen, and Matt couldn¡¯t me them. Faith¡¯s prior title was The Beast Master, and was a potent mind controller with all the associated implications those two facts carried.


    Kar¡¯tan didn¡¯t even acknowledge the woman, but simply turned aside and walked down the hall without a word. As he did so, Martin simply sat atop his fellow¡¯s head and faced backwards, his eyes fixed on Faith until the duo vanished, returning to their Tier 40 speeds.


    Faith tsked slightly, shaking her head. ¡°Such rudeness is unbing of civilized creatures. But if they don¡¯t wish to speak, allow me to simply wish you firm congrattions upon your showing in the war.¡±


    With that, she walked away, as though the entire encounter hadn¡¯t been set up purely for his viewing. She hade in already slowing down to Tier 25 speeds, but the question was why Kar¡¯tan and Martin had yed along. At their Tiers they could have been gone long before she finished uttering her first word, that they all chose to remain at speeds perceivable to a Tier 25 meant they wanted Matt to hear her snidement.


    He doubted they were working together, but they were both ying their own angles. He suspected Kar¡¯tan wanted to look sympathetic and hoped Matt used that to convince his wife and bond to share their bloodlines. That exined Kar¡¯tan¡¯s motivation, but he didn¡¯t get what Faith got from being so clearly antagonistic in front of him.


    He very much doubted she was so truly evil that she would do something which would only make her look bad without a dozen reasons which all yed into whatever game the Federation was ying as a whole.


    That was why Matt simply turned around as if he hadn¡¯t even noticed her.


    He probably wasn''t doing anything she hadn¡¯t ounted for, but he also didn¡¯t care. He just wanted to stay out of their games as much as possible. He <em>did</em> make a mental note to take Max up on her offer to give him some extra lessons on resisting mind control. It was <em>unlikely</em> that it would do much against a Tier 48, but if anyone had knowledge on how Tier-jumping and mind magic interacted, it would be Cosmind.


    As he turned around the corner he was startled to see Harper and Frederic waiting for him. Neither said anything and vanished before Matt could ask what game was being yed but it was nice to know he wasn¡¯t alone in it.


    Thankfully, that was thest thing of note to happen while they waited for the ceremony tomence.


    Matt was ready for a lot of things, but he hadn¡¯t expected the way the collective Great Powers liked to show off. The ceremony only had immortals so it could have been held even in the depths of space, but that wasn¡¯t good enough. No, the ns invited the attendees into a massive teardrop of ss which was lowered into the local star once everyone was inside.


    The sma of the star was caught and funneled into channels and runes which both powered and illuminated the station like the entire thing was a light rune.


    Being made out of high Tier materials, it wasn¡¯t so impressive that it was possible, but that they bothered to do it at all. The star was only Tier 2, but the work that went into the structure had to be immense. Doubly so when it couldn¡¯t be stored in any system Minka resided in for long or the would drain the essence out of the materials, and moving around something sorge and high Tier would be difficult at best.


    And they did it all to make a grand stage for a ceremony.


    It seemed¡­ extravagant.


    Thankfully, Matt didn¡¯t have too much to do. As an elite and Ascender his participation in the ceremony was minimal, and after that little bit it was made clear he could leave on his own or remain as he so chose.


    As the ¡®losers¡¯ it was their turn to go first and one by one all the notable Tier 15s made their way down the roaring stage to where the Tier 50s awarded the participants a special gift for their outstanding efforts.


    A few even caught Matt¡¯s attention.


    Benny Silverstan, a fresh recruit in the early stages of the war, had joined as a Tier 15 and yed an incredibly key role in helping his squad hold their position on a fortress world against three assaults by Federation soldiers, which bought enough time for the rest of his battalion to focus on repelling the other attacks.


    For his heroism he was awarded a Tier 26 upgrade orb as well as ten thousand army contribution points.


    Next was Tianyna Forglow, who snuck behind enemy lines and killed the higher ups of an assault before leading the pursuit off on a wild goose chase buying enough time. She then managed to slip from her pursuers and return to hermand.


    For her efforts she was awarded a Tier 26 upgrade orb, two thousand army contribution points, as well as time with a smith who could affect growth items.


    The Empire''s army was massive and it took hours to get through each person one at a time but Matt didn¡¯t really mind. After the first few he enjoyed the insights to the army and its typical heroics. Each and every one of them earned their moment of fame as did everyone who they represented.


    Who knew how many people had done simr heroics, but hadn¡¯t seeded, or hadn¡¯t lived to tell the tale.


    Before he knew it, it was their turn and he detachedly listened to Manny as he spoke of their aplishments. It all felt so distant, as if someone else had done all off that.


    The only thing <em>really</em> worth paying attention to was the names of thes they were going to be provided with for their duchies. He¡¯d been a bit surprised when he¡¯d first learned they were effectively getting paid to <em>not</em> be paid to not advance past Tier 35, but he didn¡¯t care that much. Tier 35 seemed so far away as to not matter even if he was sure time would fly.


    Also, what he hadn¡¯t expected was that they were getting residual benefits from the massive pile of goodies that Zack and Allie were getting, mainly from the Sects in the form of ess to hidden realms and the like. The way it was presented made him wonder if that had been ast-minute addition.


    What did wake him up a little was the other Ascenders cheering for them.


    They had all been quiet up until that point but they broke decorum and cheered with the Empire¡¯s people even as their Great Powers politely pped.


    The reception for Allie and Zack was slightly more borate considering they were being bought out of the war Tiers altogether but it was ultimately the same song and dance.


    Aiden, on the other hand, interrupted his ceremony to monologue for fifteen straight minutes about how great his aplishment of making an Authority was. He probably would have gone on for longer but magically his throat got dry and he needed to take a break.


    Even as he was given his des heined relentlessly in the Ascender chat about being stifled less than a tenth of the way into his prepared speech and how his wife and Cammie wanted to hear more from him while he was onstage. None of the other Ascenders believed a word of it and simply drowned out hisints with messages of their own.


    Then the ceremony concluded, they returned to the station, and everyone filtered out, allowing for the <em>next</em> ceremony to start up.


    Before he could go to the Ascenders box he dedicated some time to make a pass through some of the award recipients. He might be exhausted by the politics and Great Power grandstanding, but he knew it would mean a lot to those present to get some face time with an Ascender.


    He was even pleasantly surprised when he got a handshake from a Tier 15 elite who had been in Minka at the same time as him and had acted as their rearguard when they had made their final dash to the exit.


    It took Matt aback that the man was still Tier 15 for a moment, but it had only been a few hundred years and elites advanced much more slowly than Ascenders on the Path.


    The conversation did serve as a good reminder of why he was fighting so hard for the Empire and it was a lesson he took to heart, acting as a balm for his exhausted spirit.


    For the rest of the time he was able to hide in the Ascender¡¯s box, watching as the other Great Powers had their own concluding ceremonies in turn while chatting with the others.


    The Guilds had technically won, as their separate peace was decided just off their own war score which had been overwhelmingly positive. The rewards given out to their people weren¡¯t any more interesting than the stuff given to the Empire soldiers but there was a bit more pomp and ceremony in it all.


    Then there was another changing of the guard, as the Republic cycled in for <em>their</em> ceremony, and Matt just let himself tune everything else out and he only started paying attention once again when the elites he had fought were brought out to be shown off.


    He red at Valentina, but she never looked at him or where the rest of Team Zero stood, which was a smart decision all things told. He wasn¡¯t about to rush out and kill her, but if she¡¯d tried stirring the pot any, a fight would have broken out.


    It was at least more interesting when Gan Le, as part of his prize, was being brought under Yun Me¡¯s tutge. A number of other sect members showed outward expressions of jealousy but Gan Le¡¯s expression never wavered from his t stoicism.


    Aster chuckled even as she sent a message through the ascender group chat. ¡°I bet he''s fuming inside. I get the feeling he <em>really</em> wants nothing to do with wars. It was half of what heined about when I had him trapped in my spirit ce.¡±


    Max sent back a quickly sketched Gan Le, tearing his hair out. ¡°It''s all he can do to not run away. Poor guy. He¡¯s got a creative breadth of profanity, I¡¯ll give him that though.¡±


    Sien didn¡¯t even try to defend him. ¡°He¡¯ll get over it sooner orter. I had a talk with him and while he¡¯ll never make for anything but a defensive specialist he¡¯s going to be a force to be reckoned with after ten or twenty thousand years of training with Yun Me. I¡¯ll bet he can take a full force punch from Moe at that point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d sha¡¯er em with a ¡®ingle blow.¡±


    Everyone weighed in on whether or not he would survive such a blow and even Matt couldn¡¯t help but add his own bet to the pot.


    Thatst thing of note was theplete absence of the rune soldiers from the ceremony and when Matt raised that question in the group chat, Gideon replied. ¡°If they are alive this time next month I¡¯ll be very surprised. Virgil is like her grandfather in all his worst traits. I¡¯m sure they officially sacrificed themselves for some project, but we¡¯ll never know the truth about it.¡±


    Allie replied almost immediately. ¡°Really now? That seems super interesting. Maybe I need to go snooping in the Federation¡¯s backyard. They sent me into a wild goose chase in a shit bucket and I still haven¡¯t forgiven them about it. Maybe I''ll go see if I can find the rune squad after this stuff settles down.¡±


    Ellen immediately replied. ¡°Oh you need to take me. Or at least take a skeleton that Boney can shove me inside. Their systems are cleaned super regrly so I need to physically bust in to get a more permanent back door into their systems.¡±


    As their conversation devolved into how to best hack into secure systems Matt let his attention wander back to the rest of the ceremony which was more of the same.


    There was some more chatter, but none of it particrly pivotal. Matt couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was being pulled into a den of inveterate gamblers with how fast and loose everyone yed with what were objectively immensely valuable items¡­ but hey, what did he know?


    Eventually, the final reward was given to the final Federation elite, and with that the ceremonies came to a close. Nominally, they could have stayed for a while longer, visiting and shopping in the Corporations station, but Allie announced that she was heading back to the Capital that very day, and that if anyone wanted teleportation back home, they¡¯d need to let her know right then.


    With none of the other Ascenders indicating that they were going to stick around terribly long, Matt decided to take her up on the offer.


    Of course, right before they left, Matt got an interesting message.


    He had already agreed once but the second check in warmed him.


    While this would be one more person who knew his talent this one at least was one who truly needed to know.

 Chapter 340

    Chapter 340


    Allister waited in his office, fingers steepled and orbs spinning behind his head in an orbit so slow, they seemed to not move at all.


    The inertial energy was harvested and then fed back into the orbs in case anyone was foolish enough to fight him. Allister wasn¡¯t bad at fighting, but that wasn¡¯t his speciality.


    He was a nner, preferring wellid ns and careful execution to hasty action. It came from his time as a two bit viin, where heists and theft were his main source of ie. Those early lessons were the ones engraved the deepest.


    Though, just because he preferred indirect methods of problem-solving didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t slug it out.


    As more than a few heroes had learned the hard way, ¡®Orbit¡¯ was perfectly willing to brawl. Especially in the earliest tiers, when magical skills had beencking and everyone was reliant on fists, des, and ranged weapons.


    His ability to harvest the kic energy out of the blows of his enemies had made him a force to be reckoned with. Their building leveling attacks had been as effective as a mortal striking a mountain.


    Those had been the days, and the brawls had been exactly what an angry teen had needed. Slowly losing those advantages had also forced him into the man he was today. As they Tiered up and spells started to be moremon, he became more vulnerable and started losing more and more. It wasn¡¯t until his Tier 50 Talent that the ability to steal the inertia in magic had developed, but by then, he had long since learned that the most direct path was rarely the best one.


    Sometimes it was the only path, and that was why he had never let hisbat prowess slip and why, even as a Tier 50, he never stopped storing inertia.


    It was also why he was willing to y second fiddle to Emmanual and the Empire.Not that they were evil, since thest three Tier 50s had been the kind of leaders any Great Power could hope for, but that didn¡¯t stop their growth. Especially not in his generation.


    His predecessor had copied a number of Empire policies, which thankfully ensured they were doing better than the other Great Powers in terms of finding elite fighters. But they had been categorically unlucky with their limited expansion, which limited their poption growth. Still, they were growing slower than the Empire, which came with the threat of being consumed in the Empire''s rapid growth.


    If Emmanuel wasn¡¯t bothpetent and honest in his deals, Allister might have considered helping the other Great Powers slow the Empire''s momentum rather than protect its nk.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t appreciate the turn around from feudal control to civil liberties, as those were more in-line with the Guilds¡¯ ideals, but it was simply a matter of independence. Why would he spend his people''s lives to raise a hegemon who would swallow them all?


    Emmanuel at least had a good head on his shoulders, and could both scheme and act. Too many people could make ns but failed to execute them, while others never nned and simply did. The capacity to do both was what made someonepetent, even if Heroes typically leaned to the side of brute force.


    That could work, as proven in thetest war. The Empire had stalled the war and then staged a clean turn around in the third act, which let them end the war exactly where Emmanuel said he wanted it to end, all thanks to their Heroes.


    If Allister didn¡¯t know better, he would have suspected that Emmanuel had nned the whole thing, but not even his father¡¯s Tier 50 Talent could so urately read the strings of fate. With Tier 50s making decisions, everything was in flux and impossible to foretell.


    The war at least had been a win for the Guilds. Thes, once their cultures had been shifted, would be a handsome source of new expansion routes and sources of poptions ready to contribute.


    Emmanuel telling him to agree to a separate peace deal had been a bit of a shock. Allister had rolled with it, as it benefited the Guilds, but he wasn¡¯t particrly happy with the suggestion. It felt a hair too much like an <em>order</em>, and one didn¡¯t order allies around like subordinates.


    It was why, when Emmanuel had told him they needed to talk, he had agreed.


    They <em>did</em> need to talk.


    And if the Emperor didn¡¯t have a good reason for his actions, Allister would do what was best for his Great Power and its people.


    That was doubly true when he considered the true war that Emmanuel kept hinting at. No matter how expensive the Primordial Dragon blood was, it wasn¡¯t worth letting his Great Power burn.


    He felt the teleportations and shook his head, interrupting his musings. The Tier 50 in the Empire had gone from their capital to the edge of the Great Power in a single move.


    That Talent was <em>ridiculous</em>.


    A few hundred more normal teleportster, Emmanuel arrived near the Guild''s capital, and Allister waved him in with a pulse of spiritual perception.


    Emmanuel phased into real space, sitting in the seat across from Allister with a nod.


    ¡°It''s time I came clean.¡±


    Allister raised an eyebrow, indicating for Emmanuel to proceed.


    ¡°I suspect you are confused why I asked you to make a separate peace deal, and the answer is simple. I wasn¡¯t joking when I said there would be a true war. Two reasons, really, but one main reason. I found <em>it</em>.¡±


    Emmanuel paused with a small smile and Allister yed his part, asking the obvious question. ¡°Found what?¡±


    ¡°The answer to all of our problems.¡±


    When it became clear Emmanuel wasn¡¯t going to say more than that, Allister raised his eyebrow again. ¡°All of our problems? I have a lot of problems. And if the solutions will create a true war, I¡¯m not sure I want the answer.¡±


    ¡°Sleight of hand. Hide the impossible behind the absurd. It¡¯s a trick that worked for Aiden, and it works for me as well. Of my Ascenders, who would you pick as the most disruptive?¡±


    ¡°Aiden, of course. The sheer breadth of possibility that has opened up by having a <em>functional</em> Authority before us is staggering. It doesn¡¯t matter how bad of a teacher he is, we¡¯ll learn incalcble amounts about Domain development simply through passive observation.¡± Allister answered without a second of hesitation.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was hoping you¡¯d say. Remember, I¡¯m hiding the <em>impossible </em>behind the<em> absurd.¡±</em>


    Allister narrowed his gaze. That the Empire had four Ascenders was already impossible <em>and</em> absurd. Were he to make a second guess,<em></em>he would list Allison, of course. That wouldn¡¯t be his secret, unless Allison¡¯s teleportation was even more powerful than they¡¯d thought. There <em>was</em> a not-umon theory that she could teleport anywhere she had a clear enough image of in her head, so the truth would have to be even more extreme than that.


    It also wouldn¡¯t be the solution to <em>all</em> their problems. The solution to <em>all</em> their problems would be¡­ some way to Tier ups cheaply and easily. Create a Tier 50 world, raise up an army of universe-crushers, and conquer the known Realm in an unstoppable avnche.


    It couldn¡¯t be L. The dragon¡¯s toolbox was vast and powerful, but her existence wasn¡¯t something new. She could have found a new world in her explorations, of course, but that still didn¡¯t fit.


    Zack, perhaps? The Empire had created <em>two</em> new mana types this war, and that was already impressive. But not the solution to all their problems, or even most of them. Hmm, hiding the impossible behind the absurd. The absurd was the actions taken by Aiden Waters, Allison Shadow, and Zack Light.


    So, the impossible was hidden behind them. Elizabeth Legion, Matthew Titan, and Aster Wraith, then? What could be impossible about them?


    If he looked past the absurd and into the impossible, what was the <em>maximum</em> power that he could imagine each of the three having? It was difficult to specte how a Hero could be even more powerful than they already were. Perhaps Elizabeth could raise the dead? Perhaps¡­


    He looked at Emmanuel, meeting the man¡¯s gaze. He noticed, and returned a questioning look.


    <em>Did you figure it out?</em> He seemed to ask.


    Look past the absurd and into the impossible. Perhaps Matthew¡¯s Talent <em>wasn¡¯t</em> about wrenching everyst drop of mana from that which was around him. Plenty of theories had abounded, of course, from taking the show at face value and assuming that his mana reserves were infinite, to those who dug just a bit further and found that he absorbed mana from mana stones, and those who looked even further beyond.


    Allister hadn¡¯t given the matter too much thought, himself. There was no need to concern himself with the details of the boy¡¯s Talent, especially with all of the insanity the Empire was generally experiencing. But when he had thought about it, his primary theory was that he could re-use mana from his surroundings in some form or fashion, creating a feedback loop with his Domain wherein he gave mana to his fellows and took some portion of that for himself.


    If he were to assess the <em>impossible</em>, then¡­


    ¡°Matthew. There¡¯s no trick, is there?¡±


    Emmanuel responded with a small shake of his head.


    ¡°It grows, then?¡±


    ¡°Doubles.¡±


    Allister took a sharp breath, despite himself. Doubling? <em>Doubling</em>? There were practically no growth Talents that doubled each Tier. Those which did were incredibly restrictive, or functioned as some kind of cap to an extraneous method of growth. They were the kinds of tantalizing promises which the Power Assessor sometimes spat out, and some people would waste their entire lives trying to reach their theoretical limits. The idea that someone could double their mana regeneration every Tier was absurd.


    No, not absurd. It was <em>impossible</em>.


    Then a thought urred to him.


    He had just watched Matthew along with <em>all of the other Tier 50s</em>. A chill ran through him, and he red at Emmanuel.


    ¡°Why would you ever let him enter a fight? Why would you let anyone see him? Why would you risk him or his secret? W¡ª¡±


    Emmanuel¡¯s smile turned slightly smug as he interrupted him. ¡°There¡¯s a simple truth at y. I am not a tyrant. I refuse to rule over my citizens, telling them what they can and cannot do.¡±


    The way he said it made Allister think he may have just learned a portion of Emmanuel¡¯s Aspect, but he still couldn¡¯t ept it.


    There was one thing he needed confirmed. ¡°What''s the timeframe? Per hour? Per minute?¡±


    Instead of answering, Emmanuel started dumping mana into the office at a steady rate of forty two million mana <em>per second</em>.


    Allister''s throat went dry as his mind raced.


    ¡°You''re an idiot.¡±


    Emmanuel let out a deep bellyugh at thement, but at least stopped dumping mana into the air, letting Allister think. His orbs spun with an unbing fervor but he didn¡¯t have the spare mental capacity to control them right now.


    Forty two million mana per second was impressive¨C it was more than he personally made a second¨C but it wasn¡¯t realm changing. Not yet. But if it kept doubling, then it <em>would</em> truly be the solution to all their problems.


    If the boy made it to Tier 50?


    One quadrillion four hundred seven trillion was <em>beyond</em> realm changing. Even ¡®just¡¯ forty trillion mana a second, what Matthew would have at Tier 45, would be realm changing enough that anyone who controlled that much mana could catapult their Great Power into Hegemony.


    A Tier 50 capital, or even just a few Tier 50 rifts on a Tier 49 world. The very thought was mind-boggling. The resources needed to just keep the capitals running were enormous, but with Matthew¡¯s Talent, they could finally not just fix that issue, but make strides to correct a fundamental imbnce in the realm itself since the Shattering.


    It was undoubtedly the answer to all of their problems. And the cause of so many more.


    It was there that his mind started putting together pieces of seemingly unconnected information.


    Emmanuel alluding to his Truth was the first thing that came to mind, if he¡¯d understood the man correctly. Emmanuel was not a tyrant. It was his Truth. It was a core fundamental part of his being forged into his very spirit. Into his Domain. Into the core of his cultivation. It was the pir on which everything else was forged.


    Of course, that wasn¡¯t <em>entirely</em> true. Cultivators weren¡¯t wholly ves to their Domains, though acting at odds to them could have consequences. Even then, could even that be sufficient for him to pass over the opportunity to stand Hegemon?


    Allister genuinely couldn''t say yes without a hint of doubt rearing its head.


    What if Emmanuel wanted to use this to take over the realm? Could anyone stop him? With that Talent set and the ability to create higher Tiers without digging into reserves? Allister wasn¡¯t sure it was possible to stop the Empire''s ascendancy any more.


    And even if Emmanuel said he didn¡¯t want it, could he trust that? Could he risk his Great Powers'' freedom on the word of apetitor?


    Allister didn¡¯t know.


    He did know that if Emmanuel was telling him about this he was, at least as of now, intending to share. But the viin inside of Allister was looking for a double cross or betrayal that he was sure would follow. A younger him would never trust anyone but himself with such a resource, and he would have fought to the death to secure or destroy it.


    It was also the same thought that he was sure his fellow Tier 50s would have.


    There was no chance any of them would be willing to allow another Great Power to have ess to such mana. They would rather kill the golden goose than let someone else have its eggs.


    There would be a true war, and it was just a question of where the Guilds would stand.


    His initial, gut reaction was to try and grab it for himself. But Allister wasn¡¯t a fool, and more than that, he wasn¡¯t blind.


    If Emmanuel was willing to mention it, he must be willing to share.


    If the Guilds could get ess to such mana reserves without a fight, why would they bother?


    That was if that was Emmanuel¡¯s n.


    This could be a subjugation attempt.


    Still, he couldn¡¯t get over the fact that Emmanuel let Matthew anywhere near a battle, let alone the frontlines, where death lurked around every corner. Hero or not, Allister would never let someone of that value out of his sight, let alone spiritual perception.


    It did speak well to Emmanuel¡¯s willingness to put his actions to his words.


    He wasn¡¯t a tyrant.


    Leaning forward, he spat out, ¡°I reiterate: you''re an idiot.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded. ¡°There is an element of risk, but Matthew¡¯s greatest fear is rightly being shoved into a box. One of his Minka folded reflection lives, where he had this Talent, revolved around that fear. It¡¯s realm changing, but I won¡¯t force anything from him.¡±


    A spike of fear at the loss of such a resource rippled through Allister, and he couldn¡¯t help but smile at it. He was a viin, through and through.


    ¡°Thankfully, Matthew is cognizant of his power and its intrinsic responsibilities. He sees his Talent as a way to help people and even intends to open a guild with that intention. While he was on the Path, he already created a way to mass produce aura rifts. He seems to have a knack for aperology, and was the one to create the rift that originally dropped the [Bandage] skill. With this resource, he intends to make other realm breaking discoveries and make them avable for free.¡±


    Emmanuel tossed Allister a mana stone with a sample of mana and a data packet, which he quickly reviewed. It exined how to best use the provided mana to create aura rifts. The first pages of information were¡­ sloppy, but the follow up tests were clearly done by a proper research team and were far more thorough. They pointed out a number of pitfalls to avoid, as well as best practices to maximize chances of sessful aura rifts.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the vition.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised if there is an update to those, as Matthew intends to make that the personal focus of his guild, but it''s enough to get started. I¡¯m serious when I say I see the Guilds as an ally.¡±


    Allister nodded. There was now no denying Emmanuel¡¯s sincerity. ¡°I still think it''s the height of foolishness to allow him to fight, but I won¡¯tment on it further. And you are right that this will kick off a true war. I have no doubts that even us Tier 50s will be pulled into directbat, and while both of us are strong, I don¡¯t think we can fight six other Tier 50s with just the two of us.¡±


    Emmanuel''s smile turned feral. ¡°I won¡¯t pretend it will be easy, but I also managed to snag Hastor¡¯s Talent mid ascension. So I have a single strike Tier 51 de. It will only work once, but it will let us seriously injure at least one other Tier 50. Besides that, I believe that we can get JR to our side. ess to that much mana should be enough to buy his allegiance. And I¡¯m not looking to win the war, to be honest. I don¡¯t need us to be the final side standing. We just need to be strong enough that they can¡¯t take Matt or force him to Ascend. We need to be strong enough to negotiate terms. Terms which I offer to you now. After I raise the Empire''s capital to Tier 50, I will raise your capital. Eventually, we can all have Tier 50 capitals.¡±


    Emmanuel¡¯s eyes narrowed and he caught Allister¡¯s gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t want the Empire to stand above the others. I just want the Empire to better itself, and not be destroyed for daring to upset the status quo.¡±


    ¡°The others will never agree or believe you. Maybe if we can hold them back long enough, some of them mighte around, but Virgil is unhinged and Tobias hates humans. He¡¯ll never let anyone get any perceived power over him or his. J hates the Empire something fierce, and Aoife will try to preserve the ns as the strongest Great Power. I agree JR will possibly be willing to side with us, but even then, our chances aren¡¯t good. Please tell me there is something more.¡±


    Allister had bought in, but they needed far more power if they were going to survive this war, and suddenly, he found himself wishing they had lost thisst war a little worse. It might have given them a longer treaty, and while treaties wouldn¡¯t matter in the case of a true war, it would force the others to turn their des to each other, which would keep them upied and out of their houses.


    Emmanuel nodded, a wry grin growing on his face, and Allister felt hope, only for it toe crashing down with his next words. ¡°I have a healer whose Talent grants Overhealth to all cast skills.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Allister wasn¡¯t sure why Emmanuel bothered to mention something so trivial. Every Great Power had ess to Overhealth healing in some form, and Emmanuel should know that.


    Emmanuel looked confused. ¡°You sound disappointed.¡±


    Wanting to rify, Alistair asked, ¡°You have only a single omni-skill Overhealth healer?¡±


    ¡°I feel as though I¡¯m not exining myself properly,¡± Emmanuel was smiling again. ¡°It¡¯s a Tier 3 Overhealth Talent that expands its range as it''s pushed before Tiering up.¡±


    ¡°Overhealth from anything but a cracked skill is immensely rare, yes but we figure each Great Power as at least one in some capacity as well as cracked skills. Mostly Domain based¨C the ns are rumored to have a Talent based one, but its pure spection. Ours is Domain based. Still, it¡¯s good you have at least one. What¡¯s their speciality? Domain healing? Is that how Aiden pulled off making an Authority?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s physical healing. But it¡¯spletely perfect healing, no cooldown whatsoever. It can even cleanse existing healing cooldown.¡±


    ¡°What Tier range can they act on?¡±


    ¡°All of them.¡±


    Now that was mildly surprising. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s at least something. So I¡¯m guessing they¡¯re Tier 44? 46? Is¡­ is it Harvest Moon?¡±


    That would make sense, but didn¡¯t quite exin why Emmanuel was so impressed with it.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not Baxter. And they¡¯re Tier 17.¡±


    <em>That</em> caught Allister¡¯s attention. ¡°They can heal people three times their Tier? How do they have the power to affect <em>anyone</em> at that Tier, nevermind provide Overhealth?¡± Allister had one Domain Overhealth healer, and that sort of range was impossible for them. The same was true for the few dozen with cracked Overhealth skills.


    Emmanuel gestured and a healing spell formed in the air. ¡°They act indirectly. They have a lingering heal effect, and it serves as a buff to any healing cast upon the patient, letting even very crude healingnd with no cooldown and yet also with the full effect.¡±


    ¡°And under Tier 25¡­ I see. A healer capable of granting Overhealth, that would persist through all other healings¡­ that <em>is</em> unique, and useful. As far as our <em>very limited</em> knowledge of the other Great Powers Overhealth users, none of them can do that much and need to perform the healing themselves to get the effect.¡±


    Allister nodded to himself. A proper skill to pair with the healer¡¯s Overhealth-granting, which he had no doubt that Emmanuel had already provisioned them with, unless they were <em>also</em> somehow on the Path of Ascension. With proper exposure to said skill, they could fight a war wherein: none of their losses were permanent, their Overhealth healer never exhausted themselves, they had unlimited mana, and with nearly as many Heroes as the rest of the Realm didbined.


    It would still be an uphill battle, but it was looking <em>possible</em>.


    Steepling his fingers and letting his orbs return to their slow circling, he nodded. ¡°I¡¯m trusting you. And this is a lot to go on pure faith. That said, are you sure you have no way of averting this war? Even if you think you¡¯ll win, the risk is almost incalcble and the damage will be tremendous.¡±


    Emmanuel looked off into the distance instead of immediately responding.


    Eventually he spoke. ¡°What other option do I have? Just ignore it and ask Matt to not use his Talent? To just keep the status quo by not capitalizing on the work of my father and grandmother? I can only fight hard enough that the others are forced to listen and not just react. Only when they know they can''t win or take Matt from me will they be willing to ept any sort ofpromise.¡±


    Allister shook his head. ¡°Great Powers will burn. Mostly likely ours.¡±


    ¡°Most likely.¡±


    There was a long silence before Emmanuel looked over to Allister with a gaze that asked if he was in or out.


    It should have been a hard choice, but Allister had never been one to hesitate. Everything came with risk, and this was the greatest payday the Guilds had ever had.


    ¡°We¡¯re in.¡±


    Emmanuel stood up and proffered his hand, which Allister shook. ¡°I¡¯ll deliver seventy-five percent of the mana I produce on our decade visits. That should be enough to keep you guys ahead of the curve, and I¡¯ll make sure you are informed of any new breakthroughs wee up with. But that will take a while with the post war stabilization.¡±


    Seventy five percent was a generous amount of the mana, especially given that Emmanuel would be providing his <em>own</em> mana, and the mana of a Tier 50 would be far more useful for what he had in mind.


    Namely, his own war coffers. Without needing to concentrate lower-Tier mana to fuel the mana stones of himself and the strongest guildmasters, they could stockpile a truly immense degree for the war toe, and elerate their delving by a fair degree while freeing up even more mana for other projects.


    With a true waring, he needed to bolster his more important worlds in preparation for attacks that would no doubt devastate core regions of production once the fighting really started. That would be where the lion¡¯s share of the new windfall would go towards. The rest, well, there were some previously rejected project proposals that might be worth reconsidering.


    He also needed to do it without rousing too much suspicion from the other Tier 50s, but he at least had a few ideas regarding that.


    ¡°How quickly do you see Matthew reaching Tier 45? I hope you intend for him to advance quickly.¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t pay them to wait at Tier 35, but I wasn¡¯t going to do that anyway. I hope they voluntarily leave the war Tiers in the next few thousand years, but I know they will advance to Tier 35 quickly. After that, we''ll see. I won¡¯t order them around, and even if I could, you know how Ascenders react to orders. And for Matthew, being ordered to Tier for his mana is a particrly bad sore spot. We have twenty five thousand years before we need to ascend, and I hope any war happenster in my reign.¡±


    ¡°Time is on our side,¡± Allister agreed. ¡°That said, the faster Matthew advances, the more mana we make. I know you aren¡¯t a tyrant, but a good prod or two will help keep the boy moving in the right direction at the right speed. Seconds might not matter, but decades sure do, especially when considering the doubling.¡±


    Emmanuel simply nodded. ¡°I have some ideas, but for now, I need to return and help stabilize the Empire. I¡¯m also working on some ways we can really abuse the Talents we have without showing our hand.¡±


    After a little more small talk Emmanuel left, leaving Allister to sit and ponder.


    Everything made so much more sense with the revtions made today. He even considered following Emmanuel¡¯s example of stopping funding to their Farm, but he couldn''t bring himself to make such a drastic change. That was going all in, and would see their true destruction if their gambit failed. The Empire might be willing to go all in, but he wasn¡¯t. And besides, if they seeded and he didn¡¯t need the Farm any more, he would have a plethora of higher Tier worlds to distribute, so it wasn¡¯t a waste so long as the cores weren¡¯t harvested.


    While Emmanuel hadn¡¯t outright stated it, Allister suspected he wouldn¡¯t be ascending at the end of his reign. Not if his ambitions to make all the capitals Tier 50 worlds was true. There just wasn¡¯t enough time, and no one wouldin too loudly about Emmanuel lingering if he was Tiering up <em>their</em>.


    Especially not if they had just won a true war. To the victor went the spoils.


    Allister shook his head free of idle thoughts and got himself back on track. He needed to n. For the uing true war, his careful attempts at an Authority, and most of all Matthew¡¯s mana. So much work. That was life though, the rewards could be enjoyed once they were in hand, and he needed to ensure they secured the rewards which meant work.


    It would be his grandest heist, and he couldn¡¯t wait to see it y out.


    ***


    J pushed her palm into her eyes as she went over the fifteenth report from a senator who wasn¡¯t happy that she had sacrificed so much of their war score in ¡®ephemeral¡¯ demands such as limiting deaths on the Empire¡¯s Path.


    Her campaign promises were apparently nothing more than dust in the wind to them. The people voted her in because she promised the improvement of lives, because she swore to fight injustice and ensure that <em>all</em> interests were represented, that all lives were protected, and that she wouldn¡¯t stand for the abuses from petty people in power.


    Now that she¡¯d <em>done</em> that, the petty people in power she had beaten out were <em>mad</em>. They wanted <em>resources,</em> and were angry they didn¡¯t get many.


    Apparently, they had thought all of her indignation had been nothing but a show, a tactic meant for raising sympathy while she plundered the Empire¡¯s coffers to enrich her own pockets. They had supported her because they thought it would line their coffers as well, while taking down their age-old enemy several notches.


    She¡¯d be reconsidering who was in her cab after this. She¡¯d been disgusted by the tant hypocrisy of so many of her fellow politicians as ofte. Not that she¡¯d ever thought <em>too</em> highly of her fellows, but attacking her <em>because</em> she kept her promises was a new low.


    With allies like that, who needed enemies?


    Mere resource penalties were practically ephemera when extracted from the top of the incredible war machine that the Empire was. What was more, they had <em>agreed</em> with her that they needed to starve the Empire of its fuel, the blood of children that it ran upon. They had agreed with it, apparently, until the very moment they found out that the war was not to be won so decisively that they could cripple the Empire <em>and</em> line their own pockets.


    Now, they were turning on her.


    Not everyone, but an annoying few who pretended they could have done better.


    No, J was sure they couldn¡¯t because there was nothing they could do that she hadn¡¯t as a Tier 50.


    The stress was like a weight pressing down on her. It simply added to the stress and fear that another one of the Tier 50s would create an Authority before her and the internal struggles were adding to it in the worst way. She didn¡¯t dare attempt even poking around at an Authority until she was in a more stable mental space, and that would take decades.


    Decades she didn¡¯t have. They only had a hundred years before the ns would attack them, but it was to be a tame war, a means by which they could more evenly test one another¡¯s mettle and skills. It also helped each of them try to wrangle their diators, tempting Maya and On The Last Line to not retire for a few more decades yet, and ward off any simr probes from the other Great Powers in the meantime.


    But mostly, J wanted to use this as an opportunity to grow closer with the ns, something her predecessor had been unable to do with Hastor.


    The real question was, what to do with the Empire?


    ¡°Abigail, pleasepile me a write up of the Empire¡¯s history for thest three¡­no, four rulers. Make it as analytical as possible. Actually, no. Make one from a Republic perspective, one from the Empire perspective, and thest as analytical as possible.¡± As her aide moved to prepare the documents, J turned her gaze outward.


    She hated the Empire, that much was true. How much of that hatred was manufactured? The Empire of old, of her young womanhood, that certainly was worthy of dire contempt, a tangled nest of vipers that put even her parliament to shame. But this new dynasty <em>had</em> been doing things differently.


    She couldn¡¯t deny what was in front of her eyes. It was the why of it that she was uncertain of. Her instincts told her they were true believers who refused to bend. Both Agatha and Georgios had been obstinate leaders who had never suffered a slight without reprisal, and Emmanuel, it was clear, was even worse. He was the type to let the Realm burn rather than to cede a single inch.


    Still, she wouldn¡¯t let herself be blinded, stuck within her own ways. Emmanuel had used her distrust of him as a weapon, and she would not allow that weapon to be used twice. Given the only weapon against falsehoods was the truth, that was what she would arm herself with.


    If Emmanuel imed to care about those weaker than himself, she would put that to the test.


    Was he a politician, a visionary, or a liar?


    Only time would tell.


    ***


    Virgil ran her hand down the ss tube containing the first of Charlie Team. She¡¯d reconstituted their bodies herself for this, their greatest service for her yet. They deserved that much from her. That andb work should always be done from a baseline to normalize results.


    Ah, such tender little masterpieces. Part of it was her Talent and its connection, but she felt far more attached to them now than before and they truly were beautiful. At the tips of her fingers, she could feel their spirits, the intricate sculpture of their Domain as familiar as the day she¡¯d crafted each of them their Intents. This was, she thought, the best part of children. She disagreed with her Talent that the early stages were worth anything, when emotions were a mess and so were <em>they</em>, but by now¡­


    Yes, these were some of her finest creations. A perfect sculpture, immacte down to the atomic level. And so obedient and cheerful, just like perfect children ought to be. They¡¯d been aghast at the idea that the Empire had managed to beat them with such trickery, but had leaped at the chance to provide her one final service.


    It made her <em>so</em> proud. Their sacrifice would make this so much more convenient than creating new subjects from scratch. Though, of course, that woulde in time. This experiment would take many, many iterations to master.


    This one was her little knight, the eager little sword so delighted to be in her service. It was such a brilliant Intent she¡¯d made him, it was a shame that he¡¯d never have the ability to fully master her gift.


    Oh well. Maybe the next one would. It was such a good temte, no need to waste it.


    Not hesitating for even a second, she reached out with her Aspect, cradling her delicate little flower in her Domain, then gripped it tightly. It spasmed involuntarily at her vice-like grip, but she ignored the reflex. This would require <em>intense</em> precision, and such squirming wasn¡¯t allowed.


    The Image of him swearing vows of service to her was so precious, and shemitted it to memory, a suitable memorial for the valiant little boy. It would also function quite well as his Truth.


    <em>I Serve My Mother</em>.


    She assembled the first part of his Aspect with care, fusing it onto his spirit as gently as she could. Yet she did <em>something</em> wrong, and needed to suppress a most undignified growl as the boy¡¯s spirit writhed and recoiled, copsing. Damn fool. Too weak to be truly useful. She supposed she would need to be even gentler with the next. Granting an Aspect to Tier 25 fighters would be a tremendous boon, once she had mastered it. She just needed to find candidates sturdy enough to withstand her efforts while she refined her technique.


    Ah well, no sense dwelling on the past. The ss tube that had once held the child was now clouded with ck and red, but it began to clear itself as she moved onto the next one.


    Ah, this one already was acting as her outstretched hand. Perhaps he would be morepatible.


    This time, she began with his Image. His Intent¡¯s image had merely been her hand resting upon his shoulder, but now she would make for him the ability to <em>be</em> her hand.


    Hested no longer than his brother, and Virgil moved onto the next.


    It hadn¡¯t been this difficult for her to create Aspects within her Alpha and Bravo children, but that was because their spirits were more resilient from the additional ten Tiers. That and she had substantial practice granting Aspects to those of the appropriate Tiers. Attempting to do so this early was novel, but once she had aplished this, she could see about granting Intents to Tier 15s, maybe even Tier 10s.


    Another failure, though perhaps she had some insight into the nature of the failure.


    When she eventually achieves sess, they would dominate the wars, were she to ever allow them to fight. But she couldn¡¯t, not when the other Great Powers had made such an unwarranted fuss over <em>these</em> children. Bah. They served their purpose, and it was a far higher calling than any of the countless no-names they each sacrificed in their war machines. They were simply jealous that she was seeing results.


    Failure again. It seemed her previous insight had been incorrect.


    Well, it was no matter. This war had proven beyond all doubt the validity of her tactics, and while the current war with the rebellious scum was annoying, it could provide its own opportunities. Proving that even battered, her people were better than mere beasts. If the old stone-headed turtle had thought he¡¯d find them severely weakened and that he could take advantage of their vulnerability to exploit them, he would be sorely mistaken.


    Another failure, but this time, progress had been made.


    She would find many willing volunteers for her experiments in theing decades regardless, those eager to improve themselves at any cost. Willing participants were always so much easier to work with, after all.


    Of course, <em>willingness</em> was not <em>sufficiency</em>, and she moved on from thetest failure.


    She should raise a new set of children. She had learned oh so much from hertest progeny, and her next set of spawn could be even more effective and far more subtle. No need to divide them into full teams of ten, standard squads of five to six could be sufficient, especially if she taught them how to operate inrger groups. Perhaps some alterations to their runes would be in order. And, perhaps, she ought to create their Concepts as well, giving her a firmer base upon which she could work.


    She was faced with another failure, and moved on. She was improving, howevercking the material may have been. The first tube was all but clear now, no trace of her sworn soldier to be seen beyond her treasured memories of him.


    Her experiments had been enlightening. Attempting to create a Domain stage well in advance of when the spirit could normally support it was tricky, but enlightening. The costs would be steep, but that was a price she was willing to pay.


    Today, Aspects. Tomorrow¡­ Authorities.


    A grin stretched across her face. She would make the sacrifice of the children worthwhile.


    For her Great Power, for her people, and for herself.


    Seeing thest tube drain, she nodded. She had learned a lot from both the war and her tests. The program might have failed, but it showed her the right path.


    Yes, this would do nicely.


    A new round of elites, entirely her handiwork and with no weaknesses to be seen¡­ that could work. She was also rather interested in how Minka might interact with her sculptures. Yes, her handiwork was already perfect, but Minka could improve upon even perfection. That was the premise behind the Pdins, after all. Perhaps she might find inspiration in that ce of miracles.


    She would certainly need all the assistance she could get, she noted, as she stepped away from the final failure. This experiment had been enlightening, but it was only the beginning.


    Soon, the Federation would stand triumphant, calling the Realm to order and restoring the proper hierarchy.


    She simply needed to find better base material for next time.


    ***


    Emmanuel couldn''t help but be happy as he returned to the Empire. The Guilds were informed and Allister was all in.


    The war wouldn¡¯t be easy, but it was looking more and more possible by the day.


    As he returned to the Empire, he took a moment to float above the Capital. With Matt¡¯s Talents and a Tier 25 that gave him ten times more mana generation, he pushed his father¡¯s Tier 50 and started looking through possible futures. He wasn''t looking for specifics so much as just sensing general trends.


    There were disastersing. There were <em>incidents</em> that his people would need to ovee. There was triumph and joy. All of that would forge his people into a steel strong enough to withstand what wasing.


    The Emperor¡¯s job wasn¡¯t to coddle them, but to make them strong enough to stand on their own. Not just survive, but thrive.


    Finally, he descended and made his way over to see Carissa; he had a little time before he needed to dedicate some time to another attempt at teasing out a part of his Authority. He had a head start he couldn''t allow to be squandered but he would take this bit of time to spend with his wife.


    The <em>Emperor¡¯s</em> job might be never ending, unrewarding, thankless, and impossibly hard, but <em>Emmanuel¡¯s</em> job was to see to their growing little family.


    It was these little moments that gave him the strength to face what wasing.


    ***


    Wun Miloan stretched and yawned as he exited the rift. That had been an <em>excellent</em> nap. The rift challenge had given him an entire world of clouds to fight through, and there were some golden clouds that had felt absolutely phenomenal to sleep on. It had been the perfect end to a phenomenal fight, a wonderful set of loot, including an undoubtedly <em>epic</em> cracked skill he couldn¡¯t wait to identify, and just overall a ster experience.


    Absolute five-star experience, would delve again. Course, he¡¯d never see it again, but that was just the winds of luck for you. The highest of highs meant you¡¯d never hit the same thing twice.


    He picked a bit of food out from between his teeth with his tongue while he scanned his messages. Buncha official correspondence about the Saint changeover, yadda yadda, the whole reason he¡¯d gone delving then was to avoid that, what about what was <em>new?</em>


    ¡°Yo! What¡¯s new, dudes!¡± He sent to the Legend chat, ¡°<em>Goldenrod is back, baby</em>! Ready for all your lives to be made exciting once again? Tell me about all the dull mundanity you¡¯ve been putting up with while I¡¯ve been gone!¡±


    Max responded almost immediately. ¡°Turn on your video. <em>Now</em>.¡±


    Wun smelled danger. Something had happened, and he tried to scroll back into the chat¡¯s history, only to find that it cut off before he entered the rift.


    ¡°I disabled you from getting messages. Now, video or I spill the beans on <em>that</em> thing.¡±<em></em>


    With a bit of hesitancy, Wun started projecting his reactions to the Legend group chat. Whatever prank they were about to pull couldn¡¯t be <em>that</em> bad, right?


    As he read a sense of dread overtook him and he kept looking for the prank he was sure had to be there.


    But there was no prank.


    Five? Aiden. What?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    That had been the worst nap. Ever.

 Chapter 341

    Chapter 341


    Kai sighed as his view changed from the brief stint of sunlight back to the monotonous stone of the tunnel. As he shifted in the veryfortable train seat he contrasted it with the ufortable lobby chair he had been sitting in almost a month ago with a snortingugh.


    Contrary to the consistent low level excitement he felt now, he had been filled with trepidation.


    He had thought it was his moment, his big break, his time to shatter the shackles of mediocrity. He had just needed to perform well in his interview and everything could be his.


    Looking back it was almost funny how much he had invested into something he hadn¡¯t even signed up for himself.


    His mentor, Professor Jhall, had suggested he apply to the Young Architects Great Redesign thanks to his Masters final project and how he incorporated the newest structural materials toe out of the War Department. While it was the first in its field he knew others were already copying his designs and that any pause would see his ideas overtaken. He had felt it was a bad idea and declined.


    Looking back he could now see that Jhall hadn¡¯t taken it well, but Kai had figured the subject was closed after the application date passed by with only a few more pleas for him to change his mind.


    Or so he thought until he was called down to the dean''s office, who profusely congratted him for his passing the preliminaries and bringing attention to their small university.


    Kai had been stunned until he saw the smug face of Professor Jahll, who simply hung back and smiled. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand what had happened, and Kai had been too shocked to do anything but nod along at the time and afterward he had felt far too awkward at the thought of disappointing everyone by mentioning the misunderstanding.


    Everyone else in the program were the children of established architects, who had connections and illustrious careers even before they graduated, helping their parents on much more important projects.Then, there was Kai, the only child of a single mother who had worked two jobs to send him to secondary school, taking a ce among the twelve slots.


    It was a great honor, but he had also taken the slot of someone more worthy and he couldn¡¯t help but worry about underhanded schemes such as iming he had stolen someone else''s work or the like. It was unlikely, but even the usation would ruin his career and prevent him from working in the field.


    He had never encountered it himself, but he had heard rumors of such things happening to anyone without a sufficient background who tried to break into the upper echelons of academia.


    It was almost funny to think about how far he had gotten into his own head but with the advantage of retrospective Kai knew he had just been covering for his own self doubt and wanting to assign any bad things to a perceived boogeyman. Not that such things didn¡¯t happen, he was sure they did but the Young Architects was hardly the ce for such underhanded tactics to go unnoticed. A dozen newspapers reported on each stage of the event and any such drama would be endlessly spected on and taint the eventual winners¡¯ careers irreparably.


    And he had done well. His third round submission, a redesign of the Belfor Bridge that had been destroyed in the war with Tiend, had actually been epted and approved for construction which Kai had never expected.


    He had been in school for so long and his first real build was going to be a bridge that was the lifeblood of the country.


    That win also secured him a spot in the finals. The top three.


    The final task was to redesign the Capitol building, which had reached its hundredth year standing and was ted for renovations. When the Democratic Republic of Noricum had been established, the Founders dered that every hundred years the youth of Noricum should be given the opportunity to direct their country and keep the old and stodgy from stagnating the country.


    Part of that was that all elected leaders over fourty years old had to step down after theirtest appointment and that all major governmental buildings should be redesigned as a symbolic rebirth of the country.


    It was a noble aspiration and Kai was incredibly proud that he could have even a small part in the second such rebirth.


    To that end, he had put everything he had into the project.


    He had been a nervous wreck as he presented his design, doubly so when he realized that three of the five architects on themittee were part of the established upper echelon architects.


    Bradin Tru was a bit of a legend as his mother had designed the tunnel system through the Ptine mountain range, opening up the gentler coast of the continent to Noricum and her allies just twenty years ago. Untold riches were pulled out of the untamed wilderness, which had made the country one of the wealthiest in the world.


    Next to him was Hallie Adam, whose grandfather had designed the interchanging dual lock system of the Tunja canal which had almost entirely eliminated water loss of the pinnacleke and her family was elevated to the highest rungs of society thanks to the wealth the rebuild brought them.


    Finally, there was Yagat Gall, who was the oldest architect there and without a doubt the most notable thanks to her design of the Bar Wall, which had been the main reason Noricum had been able to resist the invasion from the Tiendmunists in the south five years ago.


    The other two, while not part of the upper echelon per se, had deep connections to them via their working at their firms in the past and they collectively overawed Kai.


    With his notoriety at an all time high, Kai had finished his Masters and started looking for jobs, even though the ces he had interned at politely declined his applications.


    Believing that the entrenched architect families were trying to strike back at him forpeting by preventing him from getting an architect job Kai slipped through the security doors at a firm he had interned at to go to find one of his direct bosses who had seemed to like him while he was an intern, Jeremiah.


    Without even bothering to say hello, Kai burst into the office and asked. ¡°Why was my application rejected out of hand?¡±


    Even thinking about the memory caused Kai to blush but the train was dim which prevented anyone from seeing the darkening of his cheeks.


    Jeremiah had at least rolled with the sudden interruption and was a straight shooter.


    It was just that Kai didn¡¯t get the answer he expected. ¡°Kid, after your sess at the Young Architectspetition, no one expects you to stay here. This is a third rate city existing only thanks to the old dried up steel mine. We don¡¯t have a ton of growth opportunities here. The city isn¡¯t growing so fast that someone with your skills can stick around in apany and move up. Everyone expects you to take a job at one of the top five. Anyone who even gets into the preliminaries of the Young Architects does. Someone like you who got to the top three? Our firm isn¡¯t going to waste a month onboarding you for you to just leave when they give you an offer we can never match.¡±


    He and Jeremiah talked a bit more, but the shock and anger had at least given way to understanding and his mentor had been proven correct.


    He ced second in thepetition. His design was wed, but he had done well enough that news outlets started running biopsies about his life''s story as a sort of zero to hero story. Amusingly enough none of them had even bothered to ask for an interview but then that wasn¡¯t the point of the articles.


    The day <em>after</em> the results were announced, his life changed in a far more measurable way.


    Dozens of first rate architect firms in the threergest cities reached out to him offering jobs with yearly sries higher than his mother had made in thest <em>decade</em>. There were even promises of guaranteed promotions and raises built into the contracts which meant even with the higher cost of living in the cities he would still be well into the upper brackets of earning potential.


    If only one hade in, Kai would have jumped on it and thanked his ancestors for their umted luck but with dozens of them, he was so numb to it all that he was able to look through them without getting overwhelmed.


    None of those offers were the ones that caught his attention.


    The coastal cities were long since established with little room to grow his skills unless he wanted to design highrises or suburban homes for the rest of his life. If he wanted to push himself he needed to look to the center of the continent where Noricum was trying to push back the aggressive wildlife. It was dangerous but the thought of being at the forefront of such exploration and settlement sounded¡­ enticing.


    From the reports that make headline news there would be dozens of challenges for a young architect to ovee. From creating buildings for living in a dozen different conditions, to diverting rivers, or repairing the walls of Gates Rest. It would push him in ways he hadn¡¯t known he had wanted until he was presented with the opportunity.


    Looking through his offers he found seven that were rted to the center of the continent but five of thosepanies only seemed interested in trying to capitalize on the increased settlement of the coastal side of the Ptine mountain range. It was no doubt safer but it was also more of the same he could do in any other city.


    That left just two final offers and Kai spent almost an hour going over everything he could find out about thepanies.


    The offers were a little less grandiose, with bonuses barely breaking the hundred thousand mark which was less than half of what some of therger firms had offered but that was more than he had ever expected to be offered. It was also more than he needed.


    Thanks to his mother¡¯s efforts he didn¡¯t have much university debt and this was more than enough to not only pay that off but buy a house in a nicer part of town, away from the haunted mansion down the road, as well as give his mother enough savings that she could go from working two jobs to working part time if she wanted.


    While he had never been bothered by the supposedly haunted house his mother talked about how odd it made her and everyone else feel when she was younger. The feeling had seemed to go away twenty or so years ago but that didn¡¯t stop her from consistently warning him from getting too close.


    Like any kid had done the exact opposite and he had seen a few things he had no exnation for.


    Still starting over in a ce of supposed endless opportunities seemed¡­ freeing. It was like he could leave everything he was behind and turn into something he wanted to be instead of remaining as the poor kid who had only ever had barely enough thanks to government or neighborly assistance. That identity felt like a wet sweater that he just couldn¡¯t shed if he remained at home.


    Decision made he epted the offer and at the insistence of Professor Jhall, he even took a first ss flight to the Ptine mountain range. Having not only substantial room in his chair, but personalized service by a flight attendant attractive enough to grace the cover of a magazine was a new experience, and Kai was sure he had stuttered more than a few times when ordering his in-flight refreshments. All of that had been overshadowed by the sight of the Ptine mountain range as they came in for theirnding.


    Large, huge, and massive were all descriptors that might be technically correct, but they vastly undersold the majesty of the mountain range. The average peak was just over twenty thousand feet with the tallest mountain reaching a massive thirty two thousand feet, and all of them were, at least in geological time frames, new mountains that were still growing taller as the two continental tes slowly pressed together.


    The Ptines were not just the source ofrge quantities of metals pulled from the depths of the bringing riches and resources to Noricum but they also cut the Susran continent in two unequal halves.


    While mountaineering experts had crossed the Ptines even as early as the Founding of Noricum, they were few and the ones that returned were fewer still. It wasn¡¯t until technology had progressed enough that helicopters and airnes were able to reach the heights necessary to cross the mountain range that they could facilitaterge scale crossings.


    The first three attempts at a coastal settling, done by Noricum¡¯s southern neighbor, had failed spectacrly as the beachheads had been overrun by beasts of uncanny strength.


    While the coastline of the continent was moderate in both flora and fauna, the other side of the Ptine range might well have been another. The wildlife was incredibly dangerous, with academics suspecting that the istion created by the Ptine mountain range had allowed for a brutal ecological arms race, creating more and more ferocious predators and stronger and tougher prey animals until they reached the seemingly monster-like fauna of today. Even to take this train he had had to sign over a dozen forms stating he knew the risks that were shown on a hour long video he had to sit through.


    It wasn¡¯t until Noricum hadpleted the tunnel that the continent truly opened up. That was just twenty years ago and it had taken almost a decade to finish creating a single well defended settlement on each side of the Ptine tunnel protecting said tunnel.


    Showing his architect schooling once Kai boarded the train he had marveled at the construction necessary to facilitate the crossing. The tunnel through the Ptines was six hundred miles long and almost entirely underground. That caused the five hour train ride to be done in sealed cabins as there was just too much rock overhead to bring enough air down.


    That had been one of thergest hurdles the original digging of the tunnel had faced and the few disasters had been well taught in Kai¡¯s early years of his architect degree.


    Still that was only so interesting and why he let his attention drift.


    In the dim light of the cabin his across the seat neighbor flipped a lighter and a small ball of me appeared in his hand.


    Kai¡¯s mind stuttered as he analyzed the brief instant of image that he had seen before the me went out but he hadn¡¯t seen a lighter.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the vition.


    His attention was pulled away from the man''s hands to the woman next to him who backhanded his chest. That movement caused her chest to ripple in a way that made his mouth go dry. He didn¡¯t know what it was but he had been seeing more pretty women in thest few days than he had seemingly seen in his life. As he noticed that he also noticed that the man was umonly attractive, clean skin, symmetrical features, and piercing eyes meant he could have graced the same covers as the woman without batting an eye.


    He was sure the woman diagonal from him had her own story but Kai couldn''t understand why someone who had chiseled abs even when sitting downbined with such a beautiful face would be going to such a dangerous area instead of taking an easier path through life.


    He must not have been as subtle as he tried to be as he caught a smirk on the woman''s face the one time he looked away from the window when their in-travel meals came. The woman after finishing her meal started eating her dessert of caramel popcorn one at a time darting her tongue out to grab each kernel at a time. It might have been innocent enough if she didn¡¯t watch him the entire time.


    Kai almost got up and ran as the teasing reached a tipping point but thankfully she ran out of popcorn and pulled out a pillow to take a nap.


    Not having brought his own pillow, Kai did his best to copy her. He wasn¡¯t sure when he fell asleep but he was awoken with a metaphorical punch to the face as daylight returned to the world.


    His breath wasn¡¯t stolen by the light however, but the sight of the forest on the other side of the Ptine that they could see below the city. The train made a few long and slow switchbacks to reach the lower elevation of the city, which gave Kai almost half an hour to gawk, but he couldn¡¯t help it and he wasn¡¯t alone.


    It was truly like entering another world. The trees he could see were all on average at least twice the size of normal trees on the other side of the Ptines and here they seemed to stretch out forever.


    When the train car unsealed, Kai got a second shock.


    He felt like the air was hyperoxygenated as the first breath seemed to course through him like a shot of the first true breath he had ever breathed. The feeling faded quickly, but it was a better pick me up than any coffee he had even choked down during his studies.


    He wanted more, but no matter how deep he breathed he found there was nothing extra like there had been in that first breath.


    His phone pinged and directed him to where he met his guide, who took him to the Falkner Architect firm. The building itself was simple and coarse like most other buildings in Gate¡¯s Rest, but Kai didn¡¯t miss how well built they were. The outer walls are a full three feet thick and the outer doors made of heavy steel and no ss but a peephole. He also noticed the windows had interior shutters made from the same material and with simr sturdy construction. He had read there were attacks on the city but he still swallowed at the thought of what such sturdy defenses were meant to keep out.


    The woman who greeted him was a bit of a surprise with lighter skin tone than the typical dark chestnut of most citizens of Noricum, more reminiscent of the old continent countries around Arnding and their burnished oak skintones.


    ¡°Bree Falkner, nice to meet you.¡±


    Proffering his hand to his new boss, Kai tried not to let his surprise show, but Bree clearly noticed. ¡°Yes, my family came from the old continent. I emigrated shortly after the Ptine mountain range was opened up for the opportunities this offered. I even have Noricum citizenship. Any more questions about me or can we start the onboarding?¡±


    Kai felt himself blush for what felt like the dozenth time today but pushed through it. ¡°Sorry. I just never meant anyone from the old continent. They are so insr after thest world war and all. But it¡¯s nice to meet you and I¡¯m ready to start working. I have all of my credentials if you¡¯d like to review them.¡±


    Bree waved him off before gesturing for him to follow. ¡°You¡¯ll need to send copies of them to the city council but we already did most of the paperwork for you. I¡¯d love to spend a few months getting you settled in and I would for someone less capable but we are both short staffed and incredibly busy so I hope you swim because you''re getting thrown into the deep end.¡±


    Kai rubbed his hands together. ¡°I¡¯m ready. Toss me in.¡± Pausing, he added. ¡°Um you don¡¯t mean literally right? My swimming is more like doggy paddling. I won¡¯t drown but um, yeah.¡±


    Bree chuckled. ¡°It was metaphorical more than literal, but you should take a few lessons. The rivers around here move fast, and being a strong swimmer is never a bad thing.¡±


    Kai nodded at the information and filed it away on his list of things to do.


    After an hour of paperwork Bree helped guide him through, Kai signed documents he had seen a dozen times about his responsibilities for things he designed or approved, when he was done Bree waved him to his feet.


    ¡°Let me treat you to a meal. I wish the rest of the teams could join us but we are fairly small and everyone else is out of Gate¡¯s Rest at the moment.¡±


    Seeing that was the second time she mentioned it, Kai asked. ¡°What are they doing? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡±


    ¡°It''s not like it''s confidential. Falkners specializes in durable construction. We work with the city to ensure the wall stays in good condition and more often we assist teams in setting up outposts in the forest or beyond. That''s where everyone else is.¡± She gestured to the forest side of the city. ¡°Two of us are with teams scouting for potential base locations and the other three are with new settlements and setting up their fortifications.¡± As if knowing what he was about to ask she added. ¡°It''s dangerous but each of those jobs pays in the hundreds of thousands.¡±


    Kai felt his mouth water at the thought but did his best to not let his greed get the best of him. ¡°How dangerous is it?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t normally die if that is what you are asking. We haven¡¯t lost anyone on a mission for five years except Erx. That idiot went off to take a piss outside the perimeter and got ripped to shreds for his idiocy.¡±


    Kai didn¡¯t want to disparage the dead but that seemed as ill advised as Bree implied.


    The thought of death was at least dispelled by some pleasant conversation and good food, but what shocked Kai was that almost everyone he saw walking past were openly holding weapons.


    Unlike the rest of the Republic, where only soldiers were allowed to have weapons, they were plentiful.


    As if the world was listening to his inner monologue and wanted to make a fool of him he found out <em>why</em> they were so armed the hard way just as they were finishing up their dinner.


    rms started sounding and having been informed about this in his initial paperwork that he had just signed a few hours ago, Kai remained in his seat. He expected everyone else to do the same which was what they were supposed to do but everyone, Bree included, sprung into action the moment the first rm sounded.


    A full dozen patrons moved for the windows and shut and secured the shutters while two muscr adventurer diners went to the door and took up positions with their weapons scanning the sky as a few people rushed into the restaurant.


    The instant the rm sound changed, the two adventures retreated and mmed the door shut, engaging the heavy locks with speed that seemed uncanny.


    Kai was nervously worrying away at his table cloth until Bree came back to the table with a sigh. ¡°Hell of a first day but what can you do? Best to have your first wave with me.¡±


    One of the adventurers upon hearing it was Kai¡¯s first beast wave sauntered over and pped him on the back. Kai couldn¡¯t help as his eyes were drawn to the long puckered scar that stood in stark contrast to the man''s dark skin.


    ¡°We all have our first.¡± Tapping his scar the man added. ¡°I wasn¡¯t so fast during my first attack and was locked outside. I survived and got some things out of it but had to fight for my life all because I didn¡¯t follow the rules.¡±


    Kai felt a little queasy at the story and the manughed seeing that and waved to the staff who were still rushing about. ¡°Bring our Fishie a drink.¡±


    Hearing that seemed to settle the atmosphere of the restaurant and a few people raised their own drinks to toast Kai as he choked down the shot of amber liquor.


    It hit harder than anything he had ever drunk before but as the fire spread through his limbs he almost felt like he had when he took his first breath of the air of Gates Rise.


    Letting the liquor do its job he sat and listened to the other patrons swap stories and the television for updates even as he tried to ignore the roars of beasts and the crack sounds of weapons being fired even as they sounded like they were right outside.


    It took almost an hour for the all clear to sound and Kai hoped everything would be normal but it was anything but.


    When Kai exited the shop he saw bodies everywhere. He shouldn¡¯t have been taken aback but he was.


    Most of them were of a bat-like creature with exaggerated metal teeth and silvery strands of shimmering metal hanging from the rear of their wings, but a few were human. There weren¡¯t many, just three, but it was three more bodies than Kai had ever seen. One civilian who, for whatever reason, had been too slow to enter one of the secured buildings, and two adventurers, if their arms and armor were any indication.


    People''s lives being snuffed out was bad enough but they hadn¡¯t just been killed. They had just been shredded and partly eaten if the clear bite marks in the flesh were any indication.


    He didn¡¯t know why anyone, let alone himself would sign up for this but he was regretting his decision. He wasn¡¯t built for violence like this.


    Kai turned to the side and vomited out what felt like everything he had eaten in the past year as the thoughts churned in his mind. Just as he was wiping his mouth he did so he caught a man jumping down from the top of a nearby building.


    The twenty six foot drop should have shattered his legs but he seemed to step on¡­ nothing. The air shimmered almost like the ripples of a puddle and the man¡¯s downward momentum was halted for a moment, letting him drop the remaining ten feet without issue.


    Kai almost didn¡¯t believe what he was seeing, and even as his mind started throwing up doubts and questions, he tried to reaffirm that he knew what he had seen, but it was futile. He was a logical person and he knew that what he had thought he had seen was impossible.


    People didn¡¯t have a double jump like in some video game.


    That wasn¡¯t how the world worked.


    He had seen things that make little sense but this was the first time that he had seen something that was tantly impossible. The time he had seen a woman entering the haunted house pulling out a sword from a seemingly normal backpack could be exined by a sectioned toy sword. He didn¡¯t know why someone would do that but it was exinable. The time he had seen someone run faster than a speeding car could be exined by his perspective being higher than the action and being far enough away that things were hard to see. Or like the time he had seen a person vanish into a dead end alleyway. That seemed impossible but he had been twelve at the time and hadn¡¯t actually checked the alley for any kind of recessed doors or the like.


    It all seemed impossible but they had reasonable, logical, mundane exnations.


    Except all of that was thrown into chaos as he watched a man drop down almost thirty feet and pause mid air. Kai was vomiting and his worried mind tried to rationalize it away but there was no way to do that. He knew what he had seen but he couldn''t exin it.


    He tried to mention it to Bree but he was so distraught with the attack he was mostly incoherent in his ramblings.


    Thankfully as part of his contract he had a room in an apartment just two blocks down from their office building. It felt a little sterile being a pre furnished apartment but it was more than enough for him and he distracted himself by putting away his clothes before crawling into the shower then bed.


    When Kai woke up in the morning he had a better idea of what he needed to do.


    First thing he did was get breakfast downstairs where he saw the streets were cleaned up as if nothing had happened.


    Second he got Bree¡¯s help and bought a pistol and signed up for sses on how to use it. The gun was a little expensive, and the fact he could buy one at all was still a bit of a shock, but the beginner sses were at least free.


    Kai took the advice of his fellow architects who he had finally been able to meet as they prorated back into Gate¡¯s Rest and also took a few lessons about knife fighting. They were scary and brutal, but as they pointed out that most beasts weren¡¯t going to polite enough to just wait to be shot at range and having a knife and knowing how to use it might save his life.


    He didn¡¯t like it, but he took the lessons and then signed up for twice a month practice sessions.


    Work at least was a distraction as the attack opened up opportunities for the Falkners firm and it allowed Kai to get his first opportunity to do some real architect work. It was under the purview of one of the other, more senior, junior architects, Lor¡¯tu who needed the break after hisst scouting mission, but it was still real work that he got to take the lead on.


    As he hadter learned the attack hadn¡¯t just been done by the bat-like creatures, but there had been a number of boar-like creatures with some sort of parasitic nt-like creature fused onto its back who attacked the walls at the same time. The vine¡¯s had given the boars the ability to scale the walls by driving into the micro cracks of the concrete, which threatened the stability of arge portion of the wall if left unrepaired.


    It was Kai and Lor¡¯tu¡¯s jobs to n the repair and a countermeasure to ensure that the same method of attack wouldn¡¯t work again. Being so near the walls made Kai deeply ufortable, but after the first days he spent working on site he learned to deal with it.


    Not ignore it, the danger was an ever present, niggling thought in the back of his mind but anything can be mundane given enough time and exposure.


    Over the next month Kai even started to feel at home at Gate¡¯s Rest. Even the semi-frequent beast attacks became something he dealt with just by making sure he didn¡¯t go too far from the safe areas of shops and homes which kept their front doors unlocked so long as someone was home and awake.


    On the other side of the Ptine mountain range the slogan ''safety takes teamwork to work¡¯ would have sounded corny but here it was a real and palpable creed to live by.


    What shocked him more than even the beast waves was that he was even able to send his mother enough money that she didn¡¯t need to work for at least a year for less than a month''s wages thanks to therge bonus he earned from the city for designing the method to stop the boar things from being able to scale the walls again. The danger was phenomenal on this side of the Ptine mountain range but the pay was correspondingly high.


    Kai didn¡¯t really understand why, but the bodies of the beasts were valuable and people bought them any time they were avable for exorbitant fees. He better understood the ingredients that were pulled out of the forest being valuable, rare nts were said to be useful in pharmaceuticals, but the sums made no sense. He had seen a single lightly fluorescent flower sell for over a million, and that was far from the most expensive thing that moved through the city.


    By the end of his second month he actually started liking living in Gate¡¯s Rest.


    It was dangerous, but exhrating in its own way.


    It would have been perfect if not for the oddities.


    They seemed like they were everywhere.


    A regr at his breakfast dinner who one week before had been missing his arm suddenly had it back. Yet, when Kai asked him about it, he simply yed dumb. Kai could see in his eyes that he was blowing Kai off but it wasn¡¯t like he could shake the truth out of the man no matter how much he wanted to. He was an architect and the man was an adventurer who could probably break Kai over his knee without breaking a sweat.


    Then just a dayter a woman climbed out of the solid concrete street, brushed herself off, and went about her business without giving a second look to anyone who watched on the street. Kai knew he wasn¡¯t seeing things because even his table neighbor had seen it but none of them could exin it as anything but a hoax.


    Except Kai knew it wasn¡¯t a hoax. He had seen the designs as Bree was the one to design that street after it had been destroyed in a beast attack a few years ago. There was no secret tunnel for her to climb through. It was six feet ofpacted stone with a foot of reinforced concrete poured on top. The only gaps in the thing were the expansion joints and they were far too small for a grown woman to climb out of.


    It was impossible but he had seen it with his own two eyes.


    What he didn¡¯t understand was how others just shrugged it off as non important to their lives.


    That was only possible until the evening of his two month mark in Gate¡¯s Rest. Just as the sun was setting in a gorgeous spray of reds and yellows while the twin moons hungrge and illuminated the evening in a cool white light, Kai felt the world tremble from his second floor balcony.


    Having been near some of the stronger beasts, Kai had experienced something simr so he was aware enough to keep control of his initial panic. Being around them gave one a sense of visceral fear that seemed to weigh on one like a nket but with a firm enough will it was possible to push through it.


    The feeling that pressed down on him was like that except not at all. It was only simr in the same way that a spark was simr to the sun at high noon. They might both be ¡®fire¡¯ but they were on two different impossible topare scales.


    It took everything Kai had, but he looked up, and there, he saw it, saw <em>him</em>.


    A man with paler skin and hair than anyone Kai had ever seen stood miles above the air like some foreign deity with a sphere so dark floating behind him that it seemed like a ck hole. Even through his rising panic Kai knew that was impossible, a ck hole of that size would destroy this entire star system. Secondly, there seemed to be blinding white light leaking from the edges of the ck hole like a sr eclipse, which wasn¡¯t how ck holes worked.


    It was impossible, but there it was hanging in the sky.


    Kai¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but go to the man in question, trying to find some information in a futile method of trying to piece together his and everyone else''s fate, but the man was far enough away that he couldn¡¯t read his expression. Kai could however read the man''s bodynguage, which radiated anger or maybe irritation even as he stood there miles above the ground.


    Screams rippled out from the city and Kai was almost sure he heard the roars of beasts whimpering in pain from beyond the city walls.


    The pressure grew strong enough that Kai couldn¡¯t move even a finger and silence took over the night. Kai instinctively knew it all came from this man. How was a mystery, but he knew it with every fiber of his being, even as fear turned into raw unadulterated terror.


    He wanted to join those who had been screaming a few moments ago but he could hardly breathe, let alone scream.


    He was sure they were about to die.


    That belief was reinforced as a fractal of blue light traced itself outward from the man''s feet where they seemed to stand on nothingness itself and grew in both size andplexity until it stretched over the horizon farther than should have been possible for any light show.


    Kai was sure this couldn''t be real, but he had no other exnations for what he was seeing and feeling.


    A voice echoed into his ears like there was someone next to him speaking the words, even though that was impossible.


    ¡°People of Soerilia, hear me and <em>listen</em>.¡±

 Chapter 342

    Chapter 342


    Matt took in a deep breath as they returned to the capital. Allie had teleported back most of Team Zero, the only exception being Arthur, who wanted to check in on one of his many-times grandchildren who intended on entering Minka the next cycle.


    Just a moment after they arrived, Allie turned and waved as she started walking away. ¡°Ok I¡¯m off. I¡¯ll check back into the Capital once a month for the next year, but then only once a year.¡±


    Before she was able to teleport away, Aster pulled her into a hug, which bought everyone else enough time to give their wayward teleporter their own goodbyes.


    Matt took the time to slip Allie a ring he had prepared right after the war ended and ignored the eye roll he got in return. He knew Allie was in a rush to go and venture through the Empire, but really she could have waited a few days.


    Still, it was what she wanted to do and he supported that.


    Allie was always one with a heavy wanderlust, and she hadined numerous times during the war about how sparse her waypointwork was anywhere not near the war front. Frankly, Matt doubted that she would be returning to a more settled life once she filled in the Empire, and he expected she would instead start sneaking into the other Great Powers and creating waypoints through their territories.


    Which was exactly why she got a ring <em>full</em> of mana stones as a gift.


    It cost Matt nothing, but that much mana in stone form was good for trading, fueling ships, or refilling their mana pools should any of his friends get in a fight and need the boost.


    Two and a half billion mana should see even Allie out of any potential issues she might get herself in, and it had only taken Matt a minute to make.As Allie vanished with a wave, Zack turned and bowed slightly. ¡°I shall also take my leave. I have much to attend to before I begin my tenure as a Duke, but any of you are always wee to contact me directly on my AI. I just need some time alone before I settle in.¡±


    Aster draped herself over the man¡¯s shoulders, resisting his efforts to shrug her off. ¡°You better tell us when you¡¯re getting married,¡± she said with a wink. A momentter, she yelped as a bit of purple lightning coursed across Zack¡¯s arm, copsing on the floor dramatically.


    ¡°That will not be for some time yet,¡± he said seriously.


    Aster pouted, then shot an inquisitive look at Susanne, who gave a nod.


    ¡°Bah. You¡¯ve known each other for¡­ decades? Centuries? How long has it been?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not <em>that</em> long,¡± Ai pointed out. ¡°And Path marriages notwithstanding, it¡¯s generally not considered a good idea to get hitched when you only know someone from a war setting.¡±


    Aster waved her hand dismissively, conjuring and shooting a snowball at the crafter, who easily dodged it.


    A few rounds of goodbyes, and one more stockpile of mana stonester, they were down one more member.


    General Darrow nodded to everyone remaining. ¡°It was an honor serving with you all. I wish you all the best as you advance. I can¡¯t do much, but if you ever need anything, feel free to reach out.¡±


    After checking the ring Matt handed him, Darrow protested, ¡°I can¡¯t take this. It''s way too much. I¡ª¡± realizing what he was doing, heughed lightly. ¡°I¡¯m being foolish. Thank you, Matt. It''s not much for you, but it will prove helpful as I advance.¡±


    ¡°If you need more, feel free to reach out. You know how little it costs me to help, and I¡¯m happy to do so.¡±


    After Darrow turned and flew into space, no doubt returning to High Command, Sebastian took his leave. His voice was quiet and he was clearly holding back a few emotions as he went around and hugged everyone.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you guys. Shame Morgan isn¡¯t here with us.¡±


    They all collectively sighed at their fallenrade, who had so nearly made it all the way to the end of the war. Mattughed as Greed reached out and grabbed the ring he tried to hand to Sebastian. Even as the other man flew away, he was bartering with his emotion to get the ring back.


    Susanne sighed lightly as she looked out to the capital orbiting beneath them. ¡°I guess it''s my turn then. I¡¯ll see you around, I expect. I intend to stick around the capitals. I¡¯ve been wanting to match des with some of the experts since I reached Tier 25. Or at least I will be for the next five years or so. Maybe a decade, but if Zack hasn¡¯t gotten out of his funk by then, I¡¯ll go chase him down.¡±


    Matt was thankful that at least one of their friends would be remaining close.


    With just four of them left, Dena sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to join a yPen, serve as the leader for a rotation or two. I enjoyed watching kids take their first steps to greatness, and it¡¯ll be a good way to find my feet again. We had ns, but... Eric and I really enjoyed our time at our yPen, and I need something to do.¡±


    Matt pulled her into a hug and tried to reiterate. ¡°If you need a¡ª¡±


    ¡°I know. I cane to you guys. I <em>am</em> doing better, I promise. At least well enough that I won¡¯t fall apart. Don¡¯t worry about me doing something stupid. Pace and I are working to coborate for supporting each other, and Morgan¡¯s family is giving her some pushback, so that¡¯ll keep me busy in my spare time. I just need some time to adjust, is all. Check in on me, for sure, but you don¡¯t need to <em>worry</em> about me.¡±


    Matt was, in fact, worried about Dena doing something stupid, but not in the way she implied. She and Allie hadn¡¯t exactly been subtle in their talks in the few months between the war ending and the ceremony. He just hoped she wouldn¡¯t do something stupid in her quest for revenge. For all that he liked Allie, she would be happy to facilitate a hit in another Great Power, even if it would undoubtedly cause massive issues.


    After giving her a ring full of mana stones, they were back down to the three of them.


    It felt good. It felt right.


    At least until Aster waved, and his stomach dropped. ¡°Well. I¡¯ll see you guys around. I¡ª¡±


    Aster snorted and ruined her act, which caused Matt to let out a breath of relief.


    ¡°You''re a shit head.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Liz threaded an arm into Matt¡¯s even as phoenix Liz went over and pecked Aster for her bad joke.


    ¡°Let''s go to the Moore estate and settle in.¡±


    Matt fully agreed, and was more than happy to return to Mara and Leon''s estate in the Capital. It was exactly as it was before the war, and it was good to reset themselves.


    Amusingly enough, they didn¡¯t even spend any real time in their rooms, instead taking over one of the kitchens where Matt cooked a dozen meals, with Aster working on desserts.


    It was a good way to burn a day before their seneschals arrived, which was the main thing they were waiting on.


    They all had ns in motion that they needed to check in on via their seneschals, as they had been distantly involved at best while the war was active.


    While they were waiting, Matt checked in on one of their other Ascender benefits, the Horizon ss cruise ship they had been given.


    They each had one, and currently they were simply sitting in orbit. They were fully furnished with the best the Empire had, but for the first time since they got them over a hundred years ago, they expected to use them as they traveled to their duchies.


    Checking in on that, Matt leaned forward, causing Liz to slide off his shoulder and the phoenix Liz and fox Aster to slide off hisp in a flurry of wings and tail.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Aster followed up her question with a bite that Matt ignored.


    ¡°I was just checking when our firsts will arrive. It''s been updated, and well, look.¡±


    Aster flicked her tail in a shrug. ¡°My first won''t be arriving for another six years, it says. That¡¯s kinda fast I guess? I don¡¯t really have a frame of reference for these things.¡±


    Liz¡¯s eyes widened as she found what he did. ¡°Not ours. Our first to be delivered is apparently a Tier 3 world from the Republic, a ce called Soerilia, and it will arrive in just over a year. That''s so <em>fast</em>. <em>Too </em>fast.¡± Raising an eyebrow at Matt, she asked. ¡°Think it''s a mistake?¡±


    Matt shook his head, ¡°I doubt it. Look at the rest of the delivery schedule. A glut of worlds will be arriving soon, and we are ted to get all of them. I¡ª¡± Matt paused as he thought he realized what was going on. ¡°Aster, send me your assignments.¡±


    While he and Liz were content to share a duchy together, Aster wanted and got her own. It was just a good thing they could share, as with his guild, Matt was going to be very busy and he didn¡¯t want to be an absentee lord. Between himself and Liz they should be able to make enough time in their projects that they equaled one standard Duke.


    Afterparing the lists, he nodded. ¡°I bet I¡¯m right. Allie and Zack both had a bunch of things they wanted to do <em>outside</em> of their duchies, so they¡¯re skewing the faster deliveries toe to us, because we¡¯re already ready to start managing them.¡±


    Aster nodded her understanding and crawled up onto Liz¡¯sp, just to get sent flying again as Liz stood up a heartbeatter.


    Phoenix Liz pointed a wing at Aster andughed, all that got her was getting tackled as Aster righted herself and the two started to wrestle.


    Matt¡¯s attention was pulled from the show as Liz spoke. ¡°Look deeper Matt. Did you see our capital world?¡±


    Matt hadn¡¯t and indicated as much, to which Lizughed. ¡°Tier 27 fire-aspected from the Sects. That¡¯s <em>so rare</em>. Not a ton of infrastructure, what with it only being settled for a millennia, but still! It¡¯s so friggin cool.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure it will be quite hot.¡±


    ¡°Har har. But really, this is awesome. Mom¡¯s going to be so jealous. I bet we can get a flight of phoenixes to settle at our capital as well. They love fire aspected ces, and an entire will be like paradise for them. Really, all fire aspected bloodlines. Ventuslisa is their current favorite in the Empire, but that one¡¯s only Tier 23.¡±


    Aster pretended to gag. ¡°Disgusting, wretched, abominable, detestable, disgusting! A fire? Where is my ice? My duchy is ted for being a normal world. Oh it''s Tier 30 though. Never mind. Ha, ha. My capital is better than yours.¡±


    Even in her fox form, Aster managed to gloat, but Matt hardly minded.s with an essence attribute were incredibly rare. He had seen a nature-aspected moon when he visited Amelia Galley, but that was the only example he had personally seen. It was hardly the only in the Empire with an elemental aspect; there were thirty two in the Empire, but that was a fraction of a percentage of the totals. They were also incredibly in-demands, with anyone who had that elemental bloodline or those who aspected their mana to that element flocking to the worlds in question. Their environments were cultivation paradises, and seeing as they were going to get one, a fire one in particr, <em>warm</em>ed Matt¡¯s heart.


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


    Considering most of these rewards were probably from Zack, Allie¡¯s, and Aiden¡¯s payout and they were getting it, it was clear they had been given the as a gift.


    It made Matt wish he had given everyone more mana stones before they had left, but there was always next time.


    Both Lizzes bounced around. ¡°Oh, I''m so excited. I bet we can find so many unique rifts in the world. I looked up Ventuslisa a while back as a ce to visit and I loved the images of the fire rain forest. It looked so pretty with the unique flora and fauna the abundance of fire essence creates. Sadly it''s on the far side of Tur''stal¡¯s kingdom and would take years to travel to.¡±


    Phoenix Liz paused in her bouncing to cock her head and squawked. ¡°Oh, maybe we can turn one of the¡¯s moons into Ichor? Have one for lightning and blood as well. Have the trifecta of what makes up Ichor. That would be so cool.¡±


    Matt pondered the feasibility of the idea and shrugged. ¡°I doubt it''s that easy to do, but I¡¯ll put it on the list of long term goals. If it was easy there would be more than a handful ofs with aspected essence, so I''m sure there is something that makes it harder than just dumping in a load of elemental mana to make elemental essence.¡±


    That didn¡¯t seem to bother Liz at all, and she pulled him down for a kiss before springing off. ¡°Oh, this makes me so excited. Maybe I can convince mom and dad to move the faster? It''s ted to be one of thest to arrive.¡±


    Matt had already looked into why it was taking so long and pointed out the reason. ¡°Nah. If they untether it now, it¡¯ll start drifting closer to the ns. Until the chaotic space currents shift in a couple decades, you¡¯d need to pull it upstream, and I doubt anyone short of the Emperor himself could pull a Tier 27 world that far upstream.¡±


    Liz blew a raspberry at him. ¡°Don¡¯t bring logic into my fantasies! I¡¯m super excited, though. Oh, I want to publicize this. Oh!¡±


    Both Liz¡¯s turned puppy dog eyes on Matt. ¡°Let''s hold an end of war party. We can announce both your guild''s founding and our noble holdings!¡±


    Matt wasn¡¯t against the idea and after a moment agreed. If they were going to actually be nobles, and Matt wanted to be a right and proper lord to his people, he needed to interact with other nobles and parties were one of the main ways that happened. The timing also worked as the war had just ended, and everyone expected the Emperor to hold court shortly after he returned, so nearly every noble was on or on their way to the Capital.


    ¡°Sure, let''s do it.¡±


    Liz punched the air in sync with her phoenix form, causing Matt tough. Making Liz happy was worth it on its own, but it really was a good idea. Doubly so that hosting their own party meant they could avoid the endlessly stream of invites he was sure they were already getting now that it was clear they were remaining in the capital instead of vanishing like Zack and Allie.


    Aster huffed. ¡°I¡¯m going to hold my own party and force everyone to decide which one they should go to.¡±


    Mattughed. ¡°That could be fun. We each hold a party at the same time and force people to decide who they want to snub by not attending.¡±


    ¡°It''s wicked. I¡¯m actually tempted.¡± Liz looked positively evil at the suggestion.


    Her and Aster¡¯s viinous ns were interrupted by the front door of the estate opening which set off a few subtle pings.


    Spreading his spiritual perception, Matt was on guard until he realized exactly who had shown up.


    Travis and Keith, Liz¡¯s older brother and his husband, and the two family members Matt had first met when they were just Tier 4s.


    Cranking his perception and activating hisbat buffs, Matt was the first to arrive in front of the duo, but Liz and Aster were only a moment behind him where they all lowered their perceptions to Tier 20 speeds.


    ¡°It''s good to see you two!¡±


    ¡°Travis! Keith!¡±


    ¡°Ha! I¡¯m stronger than you now! Taste my vengeance!¡±


    As the three of them talked over each other, Travis and Keith reacted to their presences. ¡°There they are, the Heroes of the hour!¡±


    That praise caused Liz to pause mid jump. ¡°Ahh, now I feel bad for wanting to bully you.¡±


    Travis ruffled Liz¡¯s hair before pulling her into a hug. ¡°It''s ok, no matter how strong you get, you¡¯ll always be my baby sister.¡±


    Liz mockingly mouthed the words ¡°baby sister¡±, but she didn¡¯t pull away.


    Matt instead fought with Aster on who got the first hug with Keith. Aster won by dint of creating an illusion over Keith, making Matt miss the actual person, so Matt just hugged both of them.


    ¡°It''s good to see you, Keith. How have you been since ourst message?¡±


    ¡°Good, good. Really, just the same old same old. Delve once a year, work on other things the rest of the time. It bes a routine pretty quick. How are you guys doing with the war? Or rather, how are you guys holding up now that the war is over?¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t want to lie and say he was doing fine or good. He had lost friends and was far from either of those descriptions but he didn¡¯t want to bring down the mood right after seeing them for the first time in so long. Messages just weren¡¯t the same as in person contact.


    ¡°We are¡­ As well as can be and getting better day by day. It''s great to see you two though. And unexpected.¡±


    Travisughed as he leaned in for his own hug. ¡°We were all the way at dad¡¯s capital and we left the day we heard the news of the war ending. We are only lowly Tier 20s, and our best method of transportation was slow.¡±


    Aster poked his puffed up cheek causing him to let out a puff of air. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just hitch a ride on a shipping liner? Fifteen just arrived today, and they have been flooding the capital since the war officially ended.¡±


    Keith tried to hide hisughter but failed, causing Travis to sigh. ¡°We¡ª¡± Looking at Keith, he corrected himself, ¡°<em>I</em> thought it would be better to fly ourselves.¡±


    Matt snorted at that. ¡°Well, you are still the first ones to arrive, so you are doing better than everyone else.¡±


    Travis perked up at that and started into the estate proper, talking over his shoulder. ¡°I bet Sam and Annie won¡¯t be free for a while. Backline Generals like them always have a ton of stuff to do post war, or so he says. What¡ª¡± He spun around and his eyes narrowed in on phoenix Liz. ¡°Oh yeah, your new bloodline. Congrats, by the way. But wow. That¡¯s <em>weirdly</em> subtle. I mean, it¡¯s clearly not a normal phoenix when you look closer, but something like an ice phoenix is very obviously <em>other</em>.¡±


    ¡°Because ice bloodlines are the superior element. We are so cool!¡±


    Both of the siblings ignored Aster, and as Travis transformed into his own phoenix form to inspect his sister as they walked, Matt walked with Keith further into the house where he settled them into their room.


    Like their own rooms, the rooms came equipped with every amenity, but Keith seemed well used to them as he put their spatial rings on the holders which distributed their content to the appropriate venues in the rooms.


    Looking around, Keith gestured Matt and Aster over. ¡°Under no circumstances can you let ¡®you know who¡¯ know about this, but I want to share.¡±


    Keith shed a small hand sized sphere that looked like petrified flesh. It took him a moment to properly identify it, but his eyes widened in surprise once he did so. Aster, after pinging him to tell her what it was, yed up her surprise even further, making an illusion of herself shattering like ss and vanishing into the breeze.


    ¡°How¡¯d you get one of <em>those</em>?¡± Liz asked with a bit of awe, and Matt couldn¡¯t help but agree. Descendent Decanters, like the one Keith had, were exclusively dropped in rifts above Tier 40 and allowed <em>anyone</em> to have a kid. Whoever provided essence to the item would be a parent, be it a singr Tier 1 or an entire group of Tier 40s. Considering how much fertility dropped for immortals, it was an <em>incredibly</em> desirable item at the best of times.


    With Manny preparing to have a kid, they were <em>actually</em> impossible to buy at the moment, along with all other reliable child-producing methods. That Travis and Keith had one was surprising both from a rarity perspective, but also in what it represented.


    Keith answered with a hushed tone, ¡°Leah got it from a delve a couple decades ago, and instead of selling it, she gave it to us. We¡¯re <em>really</em> grateful, because otherwise there was no way we¡¯d be able to be part of the uing noble generation. Neither of us wants to body morph to go for a child the biological way. Not that the timing matters <em>that</em> much, but¡­ well, you¡¯d know why we¡¯d want to do it this way, Liz. Kids between generations and all.¡±


    Matt nodded along, still shocked. It made sense that Leah got it. Despite only being the second oldest sibling, she was the highest Tier at Tier 44, meaning she had a chance for it to actually drop from a rift. It also made sense why Keith was being secretive. If Mara and Leon found out, they would probably explode from the happiness of finally being grandparents.


    It was then that Keith dropped a second bomb on Matt. ¡°Currently Sam, Erin, as well as Alice are nning to do the same. We¡¯ve joked we are going to bury them under grandkids after denying them for so long.¡±


    Matt chortled at the idea of Mara and Leons reaction to the fact they would be grandparents four times over. They might explode with happiness.


    Then hisughter stopped as he realized the potential.


    He was still lost in thought when phoenix Liz came in and cheered over the Descendant Decanter as if she hadn¡¯t seen it in human form.


    Matt couldn¡¯t help watching her as she congratted Travis and Keith. It could easily be five of them instead of just four. The current date for the birth was thousands of years away but it suddenly felt very close to Matt. He found that as he thought over the idea that he didn¡¯t hate it. The idea that his and Liz¡¯s child would be raised with at least four other cousins wasforting, not scary.


    Liz shot him a look which told him she had gone through the same thought process and they would talk about itter.


    But not here.


    Frankly, Keith and Travis were foolish to bring out the Descendant Decanter anywhere on the Capital. Mara and Leon might arrive at any time if the Emperor teleported them back, and the siblings seemed intent on turning this into a surprise for the ages. Mara and Leon¡¯s no snooping rule could only apply if they knew there was someone to identally snoop on, and a quick scan would surely reveal the secret if it was just sitting out in the open.


    No matter his ownplicated feelings, Matt was ecstatic for Travis and Keith. ¡°Come, let me cook something up to celebrate.¡±


    Aster immediately agreed. ¡°Oh yeah, I just made some ice cream as well. We need to celebrate this before the terrible duoe back!¡±


    As if the arrival of Travis and Keith was the signal the others needed to arrive, Erin and two of her harem members arrived, then shortly after Daniel arrived, turning the evening into a party.


    With the new arrivals, they decided that instead of cooking they should go out to eat. After some good natured arguments, they settled on going out to a twin-Red Feather restaurant just two buildings over, which they had gone to before with the extended family as they wanted something quieter. As Ascenders, they had standing invitations to eat for free at pretty much every restaurant in the Capital but that woulde with interviews they didn¡¯t want to deal with.


    Matt was still shocked at just how spatially expanded the Capital truly was, as they had to fly for almost two hours to reach the edge of the building they were in before they could exit. Each building was like its own, not so little, self contained world. Spatial expansion was one of those things that was easy to take for granted, but added so much livable space to a crowded ce like the Capital that when he really thought about it, Matt was slightly overwhelmed.


    He wanted his guild to fundamentally change the world in a simr way to how spatial expansion changed how people lived. It was a lofty goal, but it all started with a single step. The first person to create a folded space surely had no idea just how far their idea would grow and morph.


    With how old spatial expansion was, it wasn¡¯t like they could study the actual history of its development, but they had enough information to make guesses. It started small and mostly for higher Tiers and the wealthy, but thanks to its usefulness, the demand, and the value of spatial items, there were more and more crafters willing to make them. Some number of those crafters improved the contraptions, building off each other, lowering the Tier of the spatial items, removing the need for exotic materials, and making cheaper methods to enchant them. Until eventually, someone created the first closed spatial item that didn¡¯t need an aperture, and items like spatial rings were born. The same process repeated until they reached where they were today.


    Some suspected they had reached the end of major advancement and were simply chasing the nines as it was called, but Matt didn¡¯t believe so. Nominally, spatial rings were only usable by people above Tier 15, and while Talent-made ones <em>did </em>break that rule, most people just chalked that up to Talents being Talents. Or the rings were made for specific items and unable to hold anything else but they were expensive and specific enough that only delvers could really afford them. Matt felt all of that signified there was still progress to be made for the non-Talented methods of research.


    Not that spatial items were high on his personal list of things to delve into, aperology took that slot. It was however something so useful that any advancement was a positive for everyone, and if someone came to his guild with a good idea that wasn¡¯t already being worked on by anotherpany, he¡¯d happily fund it.


    Spatial items <em>weren¡¯t</em> perfect.


    That was but one of <em>countless</em> things that he could do with his mana. Individual discoveries existed, and tremendous amounts of research was done on so many things, but so much of it was, in his opinion, wasted. Or at least not fully utilized for all the good it could do.


    Most high Tier research was directed towards optimizing a specific person¡¯s Talent or Domain creations, or tweaking outputs in specific non-replicable situations. And it was almost always in service of making something new and specific. If a high-Tier wanted a new sword, that almost always required bespoke research to tailor it for their essence and Domain, but that research was <em>barely</em> applicable tomon crafters trying to learn something new to further their own skills.


    His own mana concentration array was a perfect example of that. The odds of someone else ever using it were basically nonexistent, but a huge amount of resources had been directed into it.


    That was all fine, and Matt even understood why it was like that. Cultivation became so individualized that artisanal crafting was the better option at the higher Tiers. Combined with higher Tier crafters wanting to push their skills and their fellow higher Tiers being the only ones who could facilitate that it all made sense.


    But with his guild and with his mana, Matt wanted to improve things from the base up. Better enchantments for themon mortals, better rifts for beginning and low Tier delvers, better mana density on high-Tier worlds, all to help out the lower Tiers who couldn¡¯t afford to just fix their own problems by dint of their individual power.


    Even now, the air was positively starved of mana in a way that was still shocking every time he noticed it.


    With that in mind,bined with the reminder of the incredible amount of essence swirling around them, made Matt spontaneously grab a wisp of environmental essence and use it as leverage against his core, crunching it and advancing to Tier 26 and letting that wisp of essence fade back into the air around him. Manny hadn¡¯t <em>officially</em> told him to advance as fast as he could, but he could read between the lines and there was no need for him to be any weaker than he had to be any more.


    With his Tier 25 Talent, it was easy to take his mana pool from 41,943,040 to 83,886,080 in a matter of seconds.


    He¡¯d need to crunch his mana a few times before he even considered Tiering up to Tier 27 but his regeneration increase would help while he stockpiled mana for Manny. He knew the Emperor had his own ns and as much as Matt would love to just flood the with mana he knew that was a bad idea. Things, while not great, were stable and no one was in danger at this moment which would have forced Matt¡¯s hand.


    Feeling his own Tier up, Liz and Aster followed suit which raised some eyebrows from the people they flew past but no onemented, not even Liz¡¯s siblings for which Matt was grateful.


    Instead of letting his mind go down the path of his mana Matt instead focused on his family and enjoying his time with them.


    Who knew how much time he would get with them going forward? He wanted to treasure every minute he had.

 Chapter 343

    Chapter 343


    Matt was fighting a battle of epic proportions when his [AI] alerted him that relief was about to arrive, and he happily stood from his desk, letting the projections of paperwork fade away as their seneschals were about to arrive.


    It had been close to fifty years real-time since Matt had seen Cato in person, although that meeting had been very brief when they came out of the rift for a quick press tour, and to read him in on Matt¡¯s real Talent. The seneschal had been hardworking and vetted numerous times, along with agreeing to more stringent measures than AI backed oaths to keep Matt¡¯s secret. Some of them had not been used since thest dynasty. Not that Matt expected they¡¯d need any of them. All of their possible seneschals had been well vetted and deemed trustworthy enough before even making it to their desks. And Matt did trust Cato. They had been in, if not constant contact, regr contact over the years as he prepared things for Matt once the war ended, which had built a lot of familiarity.


    Frankly, without Cato taking care of things on the outside, Matt would have turned into a hermit the moment the war ended, as a million and one responsibilities were suddenly heaped onto him. Let alone starting a guild, Matt wouldn¡¯t have dared open a sandwich shop.


    After their family reunion meal, the three of them gave into necessity and started going through a century and a half of backlogged paperwork. Most of it had been already taken care of, but a part of the correspondence couldn¡¯t be handled by their seneschals, and even that had taken a few hours of concentrated work to push through.


    That was annoying, but not awful; it was what followed that had been overwhelming and made Matt want to pull his hair out.


    Liz and Aster didn¡¯t have it nearly as bad, as they weren¡¯t trying to create a guild with the express purpose of giving things away while also hiding the fact they made realm changing amounts of mana. Cato had done most of the leg work, but even just reviewing the convoluted legal structure that his seneschal and a team of Empirewyers had put together had taken Matt five hours to parse through.


    In the end it boiled down to him opening a charity, not for the purpose of creating a charity guild, which would necessitate too much openness with their budgets, but just to hold all the patents they would create.


    The workers would be hired by a separate corporation with a contract that was nearly identical to a charity guild contract, but had the advantage of secrecy uses. In exchange for not being able to take a piece of the eventual revenue of any products made, which was the typical contract for researchers, his researchers would be paid three times over the standard royalty based contract, with payouts for each project they were a part of that met standard breakpoints.


    As was exined in the brief, research teams needed to be able to fail without fear of reprimand, else dead projects had the habit of never ending and wasting resources, so there were payouts even for failures. One of the uses that he had wanted to add was that in the event of sesses, Matt would even fund the researcher¡¯s own projects that they could im personal rights to, so long as they weren¡¯t directly derivative of what they created with his guild. He didn¡¯t like thest addendum to the use, but as was pointed out, it wouldn¡¯t do for someone on one of his teams to create something, leave it half assed, and then create their ownplete thing on Matt¡¯s mana. And of course, the guild kept right of first refusal to any results of these products. It would go rather against the point of it all if they funded research that then got sold into the same locked ecosystem that so much else was stuck in.That wasn¡¯t what his guild was meant for.


    He wanted to help people. Preferably low Tier people, who needed all the help they could get.


    All of it wouldn¡¯t have been possible without the Emperor effectively rubber stamping the venture via the express method of adding his wife, Carissa, to the board of directors. She had already sent in a letter that due to her pregnancy, she would be unavable to show up to any meetings, and <em>temporarily</em> relinquished her rights to Matt.


    Anyone foolish enough to look at that and then try to mess with Matt or his guild deserved whatever disaster fell into theirp.


    It wasn¡¯t the only oversight he was given, as Harper had contacted Cato and made it clear that a few of their operatives would need to be given jobs to prevent spies from getting too close to things the Empire deemed important.


    Matt didn¡¯t like the open ended nature of that, but he also acknowledged he had little recourse to refuse if he wanted to keep his mana source hidden.


    No, that was taken care of. But instead, there was arger issue that Matt needed to talk to Cato about. Better yet, now that Cato was here, Matt could hopefully st through the remaining paperwork with his assistance.


    Together, the three of them met the three seneschals at the estate¡¯s front gate and escorted them in. They could have left that to the staff, but it had been so long since they had seen them, it was good to see them in person. And Matt, at least, needed the excuse to get out of the office.


    All three were exactly as Matt remembered them, with the exception of Liz¡¯s seneschal Isabe, who was now Tier 25, having graduated and been rushed to the break point while the war was ending. Tier didn¡¯t directly tie intopetence, since thinking faster didn¡¯t make one smarter or more knowledgeable, but it did increase perception, which crammed more moments into each second.


    Aster''s seneschal, Alice, was still Tier 41, and had an uncanny resemnce in demeanor to Luna that always caught Matt off guard. She was also the only one carrying anything. The binder was perfectly ordinary, not even spatially expanded, but Matt felt Aster¡¯s wince upon seeing it. It was sure to be unpleasant to go through that much paperwork.


    Matt wanted to gloat, but he was sure Cato had more than his fair share of the same.


    Proffering his hand, Matt broke protocol. ¡°Nice to see you again, Cato. How have you been?¡±


    Cato blinked at Matt¡¯s outstretched hand in a subtle rebuke, before taking it and shaking firmly. ¡°You break protocol, My Lord.¡± Having said that, he bowed slightly after taking back his hand. ¡°It is my duty to show my fealty upon seeing you after so long.¡±


    Matt had wanted to avoid exactly that, but he was distracted by Liz who cleared her throat.


    ¡°Before we go our separate ways, we intend to host a party to celebrate the end of the war, our noble houses¡¯ founding, and Matt¡¯s guild¡¯s founding. We want to bring in everyone relevant. It''s a bitst minute, but should be workable.¡±


    Isabe chewed her lip before saying, ¡°That''s possible but the Emperor is expected to return and hold court within a month, which puts a firm date that this needs to happen before. Anything after that date is considered¡­¡± She searched for a word before finishing. ¡°Uncouth, and I would rmend against it.¡±


    Alice¡¯s shaven head gleaned as she pursed her dark lips into what might almost be construed as a frown. ¡°In addition, hosting a party with your celebrity on such short notice will force people to choose between your party and any others that are being hosted at the same time. That will step on many toes.¡±


    All eyes turned to Cato, who just flipped his ever present chain around his pointer and middle finger with a snick. ¡°It will step on toes, but if we go big enough and invite literally everyone, you can avoid most of the blowback by dint of ruining everyone¡¯s parties, and letting them mingle with even more people than normal. The higher nobility and¡ª¡± He turned to Matt and asked, ¡°Do you intend to invite guild and corporation leaders to this as well?¡±


    When Matt nodded he continued. ¡°The higher nobility, guild, and corporate leaders will balk if they don¡¯t have their own exclusive areas to get away from the rabble, but if you tter them a little, they will be happy for the excuse to mingle with their public rivals while being able to im inability to ignore your offer, even if they have to mingle down a little at the same time.¡±


    Isabe had been nodding along, but Alice threw a wrench into the ns. ¡°The cost of such a venue and catering itst minute to the degree that those nobles will expect will be exorbitant to say the least. In the realm of ten to fifteen Tier 40 mana stones. Possibly more.¡±


    In raw mana, that was as much as Matt made in two weeks. Of course, his actual mana stones were worth nowhere near that much, but they were rich enough between their status as war heroes, Ascenders, and in Matt¡¯s case a mana generator, that they could afford it even without relying on their higher-Tier connections. They couldn¡¯t make a habit of it, but this was a unique asion.


    The three of them shared a look before Liz nodded. ¡°The event serves a variety of purposes, so while the price isn¡¯t irrelevant, it¡¯s worth it.¡±


    In a mirror of their look, the three seneschals looked to each other, silentlymunicating. A momentter, Isabe nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll run point on this then. I¡¯ll have a n prepared by this evening and we will present it tomorrow morning for the lord anddies¡¯ review.¡±


    Matt, seeing that they were done, turned and started talking with Cato as they walked deeper into the estate. ¡°So, I like what you have set up for the guild, but I¡¯m not entirely happy with the stance on not buying out other people''s guild contracts. A number of the best and brightest are locked into millennia long contracts, and us not offering any kind of buy out feels counterproductive to myrger goal.¡±


    Cato frowned but didn¡¯t disagree, and they walked on in silence until they had reached the office Matt had taken over. ¡°It''s not impossible to offer them, most old and established guilds and corporations in fact ride the line of espionage with their buyouts. Buyouts in general are a bit of a legal loophole more so than intendedw. All contracts must have exit uses and offering to cover those uses happens, but they are¡­ bad form at best, and will cause the guild to stall if we irritate too many established yers before even getting started. While your goals areudable, My Lord, giving away anything for free is going to make a lot of enemies. Not offering buyouts will cut off most easy avenues of reprisals. We <em>can</em> offer them, but you never indicated a time crunch, so we can simply wait for the researchers'' contracts to naturally end before we hire them after they refuse to renew. It would also allow us to start with a smaller, and therefore less unwieldy, guild structure in the early years, making any growing pains more manageable.¡±


    Matt pursed his lips but didn¡¯t have a rebuttal that wasn¡¯t based in petnce. He wasn¡¯t in a rush, but he didn¡¯t want to wait for all the wrong reasons. He hadn¡¯t thought bing an Ascender had truly changed him, but his initial reaction was to say he didn¡¯t care and anyone who did could pound sand. That wasn¡¯t how guilds and corporations worked, it was how bull headed Ascenders acted when they thought their might on the battlefield transferred into civilian life.


    That was an ego check that Matt took to heart.


    ¡°You''re right. I¡¯m apparently still in Ascender mode, and I¡¯m trying not to be. If I suggest something that is bullheaded for no reason, yell at me.¡±


    ¡°Assss youmand, My Lord.¡±


    Matt rolled his eyes at Cato¡¯s t expression paired with a stressing on his snake-like talking.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to yell at you for telling me I''m being an idiot.¡±


    ¡°You''re being an idiot.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Matt paused at the sudden interruption, his jaw working but no wordsing out. After a moment, he managed to get out a single word withoutughing. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The idea of making a charity guild is fine My Lord, but those things are small scale and usually for social issues or particr issues that arise on a specific. Your intentions will step on a lot of toes of very powerful people. Individually, they might not be able to disrupt you and your ns, but if you create something truly revolutionary that disrupts an established market, you will find the established powers have little remorse or hesitation toe at you from any and all angles. If we simply act as a research guild, and after developing something, patent and sell said patent to the established powers, we can avoid a lot of conflict.¡±


    Matt hadn¡¯t been sure where Cato was going, but he nodded along as he listened. Instead, he inspected Cato andpared it to what he knew of the man. Cato had left his previous noble charge because the man needed a nanny, and Cato wasn¡¯t that. He was willing to steer the train off a cliff if that was his order, but he would rmend a more sensible n. That was the main reason Matt had chosen the man to be his seneschal, and he valued the fact he was willing to speak up if he thought Matt was going to make a mistake.


    Finally, after he was done with his inspection he said, ¡°You are entirely right, Cato, I¡¯m sure I¡¯m going to piss off a lot of the established powers. Not even just my Talent. I already have a discovery nearly ready to ship, that I worked on with someone I knew in the army. This is why I had you look into aperology.¡±


    Cato looked at Matt with his slitted eyes blinking slowly as he processed what Matt said.


    Connecting to the wall projector, Matt showed a projection of a rift.


    ¡°In your opinion, what is the most valuable thing that can be pulled out of rifts Tier 4 and below.¡±


    ¡°Growth items.¡± Catos answer was immediate and sure, but he frowned as Matt shook his head.


    ¡°Think more obscure. Rarer. Only normally seen in low Tier rifts.¡±


    Cato¡¯s eyes started to flick side to side as he sifted through information on his AI.


    It took almost two minutes, but he eventually focused on Matt and said, ¡°Aura.¡±


    Matt grinned as he changed the projection to show some of his and Erwin¡¯s early findings back when he was just a baby Tier 6.


    ¡°With a friend''s assistance ¨CErwin, you should have already processed his application¨C I discovered a way to repeatedly and consistently create aura rifts in the Tier 3 and 4 range. Most of our time was spent reinventing the wheel, but we made a genuinely new discovery thanks to my mana sub-aspect.¡±


    Matt couldn¡¯t help but smirk as Cato¡¯s slitted eyes widened into circles,rge enough to almost eliminate the whites of his eyes. He knew Cato had researched guilds, corporations, and noble family holdings when Matt indicated he wanted to create a guild, and from the reaction, he had already put together the consequences of such a creation. It was petty, but his reaction tickled a deep part of Matt, which was mainly why Matt hadn¡¯t informed him earlier. They had enough time that the dy wouldn¡¯t hamper them, but the aura rifts were one of the things Matt had done himself. It wasn¡¯t about his Talent, even if his Talent had enabled the discovery and that made it special for him.


    ¡°I could ship the information today and it would work, but I want to spend a decade or so refining the information before we publish it. I¡¯m aware that I¡¯m going to stomp on the toes of a lot ofpanies. Especially thepanies that create Bottled Concepts. The subsidies they and their Tier 35 workers get for creating Bottled Concepts are immense, and while it won¡¯t immediately ruin their jobs, the dissemination and propagation of auras will eventually eliminate or at least severely limit the need for bottled Concepts to advance past Tier 4. Those who rely on those subsidies and tax credits are going to be pissed. But Cato, here''s the thing.¡±


    Matt looked deep into Cato¡¯s eyes and held them, letting all of his determination shine through. ¡°I. Don¡¯t. Care. This can and will help an uncountable number of people. I won¡¯t just patent it and sell the product, even if I could make a fortune in doing so. It¡¯s not like money is a direct concern, after all.¡±


    Cato swallowed before correcting Matt. ¡°More than a fortune. More like four or five fortunes. That discovery would be worth a king title at the least. Are you sure that isn¡¯t something you desire, My Lord? In fact, I think I¡¯m underselling it. This discovery will have the other Great Powers moring for it. If the method is exportable the profits could be mind boggling.¡±


    Matt was about to speak when Cato frowned. ¡°Also, My Lord, I think I should mention that you won¡¯t just <em>eventually</em> ruin the Bottle Conceptpanies with this news. They will almost certainly take a massive loss in their share prices the moment this news breaks. That will make a lot of very powerful people very angry. Those samepanies would pay through the nose to be the ones distributing such a method, as it would let them diversify their holdings over a longer time and prevent a sudden downturn in share prices. In fact, they would probably see an upsurgence. This <em>will</em> make enemies, My Lord.¡±


    Matt chuckled lightly and asked a separate question. ¡°What would you do, Cato? Be straight with me. If you were sitting on this, how would you y it? Even if you didn¡¯t have my Talent. Would you just sell it to the highest bidder? Honestly?¡±


    Cato didn¡¯t answer immediately and instead pondered the question. ¡°I¡¯d like to think that I would do the selfless thing, but I don¡¯t know. This is an unheard of opportunity and I have never pretended to be a saint.¡±


    ¡°What if you thought you could do more? If you believed the well wasn¡¯t dry. Does that change your decision, or make it easier? With my Talent, I can afford to test the hard way, but while I may not be Talented at aperology, I have a knack for it. There is more low hanging fruit for me to gather.¡±


    It didn¡¯t seem possible, but Cato¡¯s eyes widened even further before he settled down and nodded. ¡°That would change things. I would at least like to think I would do the same thing as you, My Lord, and make it free. Help as many people as possible without bureaucracy getting in the way.¡±


    Matt nodded. From all the reports Matt read about him, he knew Cato wasn¡¯t a selfless person, but he <em>was</em> a good person. He always tried to avoid hurting others in his ns, even if it made things harder or lessened his own sess, so long as it was within tolerable limits. He could also be ruthless if he thought it was worth it, which was what Matt needed.


    Cato was right when he said the guild was going to make enemies, which was exactly why Matt needed someone who could assist him without crumpling in the face of everyone they were going to piss off.


    He needed someone who cared, but could be ruthless enough to push through the obstacles.


    He needed Cato¡¯s unwavering support for what wasing. At least until he had a Vice Guild Leader to take over the day to day operations.


    ¡°I see My Lord. Thank you for enlightening me.¡±


    Matt waved Cato¡¯s bow away. ¡°I¡¯ve lived with my Talent for a long time so it means less to me than you. But to answer yourment about me being an idiot for this whole venture. I know, but I refuse to hold back. I¡ª¡± He paused as he thought he might have seen an issue. ¡°Did you see the budget for the guild¡¯s researchers? I don¡¯t think I ever saw it in the packets you sent over.¡±


    ¡°I assumed it hadn¡¯t been settled on what is safe tounder, so I didn¡¯t bring it up.¡±


    ¡°For the time being, I have secured one hundred billion mana a day for the guild. We ca¡ª¡±


    Matt had expected Cato to be shocked at how much mana the Emperor was willing tounder, but Cato hit him with something he didn¡¯t expect. ¡°Then the Emperor already knows about the aura rifts. That makes a lot of things easier. Or at least, that is how we should y it. Even knowing your Talent, the Emperor funding the guild is where my mind immediately went.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t considered that angle, but it was a good one. Being on the other side of the secret for so long, he had only considered exining away his mana through abination of Manny, Mara, and Leon. But from an outside perspective, it made more sense that the funding was just a reward for the aura rifts that they were trying to keep under wraps. It might not be a permanent solution, but it was a fairly long term one. And so long as they invented something useful to the entire Empire, the funding could continue unabated and unquestioned.


    ¡°Does that change your rmendation?¡±


    Cato pulled another chain out of his spatial ring and went back to spinning it around his fingers for almost five minutes, but Matt gave him the time to think.


    Eventually he nodded. ¡°I can and will do a more detailed analysis based on this new information, but my preliminary answer is no. In fact, I believe it''s smarter to y things even closer to the vest in light of the scale of our changes.¡± Seeing something in Matt¡¯s reaction, he hastened to add, ¡°Not out of fear, but so as to better position yourself for the inevitable fallout. There aren¡¯t a ton of people who dabble in aperology, but there are a few. Thankfully, there aren¡¯t any guilds or major noble houses who do more than dabble. That said, I know of one who is going to be a problem. Mackenzie Harrington, a Tier 45 with an aperology Talent that allows her to make rifts. The exact limits of her Talent are unknown. Additionally it''s unknown and unlikely that she can affect rift rewards, but she works for the upper echelons of Empire society and she is¡­ Protective of her monopoly on higher Tier rift creation.


    ¡°She is both wealthy and well connected thanks to her making hand made rifts for those who can afford her skills. I¡¯ll need to look into her more, but from what little third and fourth hand knowledge I know of her, she would rather see any information about aperology locked away rather than freely disseminated. She hasn¡¯t done it in a long time, but when she was still making a name for herself, she did things like create perfect farm rifts. In the middle Tiers, not the lower Tiers, but she would see these advances as stepping on her toes. We will want to garner as much good will with other guilds, corporations and noble families as possible before we inevitably confront her, which means slow ying the beginning, and if possible, giving a small head start to powerful noble families as a show of good faith. They will appreciate the advantage even if they know it won¡¯tst, and you won¡¯t have topromise on making everything free.¡±


    Matt frowned at the analysis. He knew of Mackenzie Harrington but he hadn¡¯t considered that she was going to be an issue. She exclusively dealt with higher Tier rifts and was very secretive of her work, with uses in her contracts that meant any rifts she created couldn¡¯t be opened to the public. There was mass spection about her actual Talent set and what it did, but no one really knew.


    Matt knew he could ask the Emperor, but her Talent wasn¡¯t the issue. It was her attitude, which was apparently worse than he knew. She cultivated an image of aloof and busy rather than petty and vindictive, but Matt believed his seneschal more than second hand knowledge that was undoubtedly controlled by a PR team.


    He had considered trying to bring her onboard, but Erwin had brought up a good point. Some research teams were built around trying to maximize a Talent set, but anything that was built off that foundation was incredibly hard to re-engineer into something that could be mass produced, or even just created without the Talent.


    Matt wouldn¡¯t exclude those with Talents because pushing the bounds of what was possible had value, but it wasn¡¯t what he wanted for his aperology department. He wanted things that could be deployed far and wide.


    But this information that Mackenzie might deliberately try to make trouble wasn¡¯t what Matt wanted to hear. His initial reaction was to just wait for her to make a move and then tattle on her to L, but that was childish, and not the right way to handle these kinds of things. Fight fire with fire and politics with politics. No matter how amusing it might be to see a woman who used her Talent for pure profit, and then used that profit to keep her monopoly, get chewed on by a dragon.


    Matt was also no saint. If he was, he would voluntarily walk into a cage to just make mana for everyone, probably inside a Tier 47 rift with its incredible time dtion. The fact he wasn¡¯t that self sacrificing didn¡¯t change the fact he detested Mackenzie and her ilk. It was one thing to profit from one''s Talent, but it was another thing to run interference to ensure no one threatened your interests.


    Not that Matt would let this stop him.


    Still, this was good to know, as now he knew who he should target for the uing party. That was the idea behind inviting everyone, after all. No matter how much he didn¡¯t want to spend a week schmoozing with nobles, guild leaders, and corporations leaders, it was the time to set the foundation of what was toe.


    ¡°Also, Cato, I intend to dedicate a team to enchantments simr to the [Bandage] talisman back when I was at the Tier 10 tournament. I don¡¯t have any ready to drop, but I intend to fund an entire department with simr goals.¡±


    Cato¡¯s already pale skin went almost transparent. ¡°My Lord, can we keep the Empire shaking revtions to a minimum. Or at least the ones that will conflict with existing interests? Or at a minimum keep to one at a time? The rune guilds are expansive and tied up in a coalition of guilds that don¡¯t take kindly to anyone outside their ranks creating runes at all, let alone giving them away for free.¡±


    Matt justughed. ¡°I¡¯m going all-in, Cato. There is no stopping this train. And I don¡¯t intend to stop with these. If we find someone with a good idea for a project, or who is willing to sign up with our conditions, I¡¯m willing to fund almost anything.¡± Bobbing his head, Matt equivocated. ¡°In theory, at least. Even a hundred billion mana a day won¡¯t stretch across endless teams, but point being, I won¡¯t limit my scope just because it will step on established interests. I intend to focus on low Tier items and issues because they are the people in the most need, and anyone who sees their profits as more important than progress that can help people can get bent. It won¡¯t be easy, and I want to avoid making enemies, but I won¡¯t avoid doing something because it will make enemies. Maybe I¡¯m naive, but I think enough people are decent and can see these things as good things. It''s not like I won¡¯t let them make a profit.¡±


    Cato raised an eyebrow at that statement, and Matt exined, ¡°I don¡¯t intend for us to make things. At least not on any kind of scale. So thosepanies can make and sell our products, but they won¡¯t have a monopoly or patent preventing theirpetitors from undercutting them if they price their goods too high. Margins might be thin, but they won¡¯t be nonexistent.¡±


    ¡°That is a good angle, My Lord. And one we, or rather you, should mention often and loudly at this uing party. Speaking of the party My Lord, is there anything else you need of me immediately? If not, I ask your leave to go and assist with the preparations. I need to startying the groundwork for a number of notable non noble guests, as I am the most familiar with them thanks to our prepwork.¡±


    Matt dismissed Cato with a wave. ¡°My only issue was with the buyouts and I agree with your reasoning, at least for now. Better to start small and grow organically. We can pick this back up once you have some more time.¡±


    Looking back at his desk, Matt sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll just return to my paperwork then.¡±


    By the time he turned back around, Cato was already gone before he could try to weasel a clone out of the man to help.

 Chapter 344

    Chapter 344


    Matt looked at his outfit and was pleasantly surprised.


    Male noble fashion was almost iparable from when they had their Tier 15 party and Matt wasn¡¯t upset by that in the least.


    His outfit consisted of a deceptively simple looking set of ¡®rough linens¡¯ thatcked buttons, zippers, or magical fastening methods. Instead, the upper neck was closed with a small drawstring that was meant to beced but left loose and untied. It was also an off white color, as if the linen hadn¡¯t been whitened before being woven into clothes.


    Appearances were deceiving, though, as the outfit was created with the finest Tier 40 x, which had gone through dozens of processes to make it as soft as a puffy cloud and as strong as a battleship''s armor.


    It was also loaded down with subtle enchantments, from flight to climate control.


    However, It looked simple, and that was the point.


    Oddly enough, female fashion had taken a simr trend and was fairly simple as well, though not quite as drab as male fashion. Liz and Aster were both in simr clothes, but, instead of simple linen, they were in outfits made entirely out of cotton.


    None of them really understood the difference in material or why it mattered, but both Liz and Aster were happy to not have to wear therge and puffy dresses they had been expected to wearst time they hosted a party.


    They were more interested in who had pushed this trend. It was very clearly a deliberate trend someone had orchestrated with how, out of nowhere, the designs had appeared just ten years ago. While it wasn¡¯t unheard of, it was usually a deliberate push from someone with wealth and influence.With all the royals still out and about until the Emperor officially returned, they couldn¡¯t even ask Mara and Leon.


    Eventually they would figure it out by dint of who never stopped wearing the fashion, but it was fun to specte as they got to take advantage of it.


    Matt didn¡¯t love it, but he was happy for something he was able to get into without assistance, magical or otherwise. They could have just worn their Ascender robes, but they wanted to distance themselves from the war, so wearing the current fashion was a better choice.


    Once they were ready, they walked out to the main ballroom and Matt took a few minutes to inspect it.


    It wasn¡¯t the same as their Tier 15ing of age party, since that ballroom only had a capacity of a few million, but that wouldn¡¯t be close enough for this uing party.


    The ballroom they rented out was truly massive and could hold upwards of a hundred million guests without anyone feeling cramped or isted.


    It was more a space station pretending to be an artificial moon. Its gigantic size was made out of a shimmering alloy of silver and steel that glimmered in even the lightest of light, without any harsh reflections that might irritate the eyes. The floors were polished marble, flecked with gold, that paired well with the walls which were works of art themselves. Entire epics were told for anyone who wanted to walk the halls of the venue, and it would take weeks for even a Tier 20 to digest the stories told, as the closer one looked the more they could find.


    That was impressive, but as the two week long event progressed, the venue would dip in and out of the rings that the moons were turned into, currently. The venue even had the option of traveling to the local star, where the mes would lick the outer outer hull and set the station aze with light.


    It was simr enough to the dwarf contraption that the end of war ceremonies had been held in that Matt had to wonder who stole the idea from whom.


    Not that they were going to use that feature. The travel to and from the local star would take longer than they wanted for a party that was only going tost for two weeks.


    The scale was very much necessary, even if it had cost them. They had invited every noble in the Capital system, and considering everyone was preparing for the Emperor''s end of the war court, they were <em>all</em> here. Each noble came with their own entourages and most had even brought friends and family, which further ballooned theirrge numbers into madness. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Matt invited the leadership of thergest guilds and corporations, which further expanded the number of expected guests into incredible proportions.


    Taking a steadying breath, Matt let it out. ¡°Let''s do this.¡±


    As if summoned by the words, their seneschals stepped out of the nearby room and moved to their positions behind their lieges.


    At Liz¡¯s nod to the owner of the venue, the teleporters activated and the shuttle bays opened, signaling they were ready to receive guests.


    The first to arrive genuinely surprised Matt. It wasn¡¯t that they broke protocol to directly teleport into the ballroom. Matt would be surprised if up to half of their guests actually used the provided means of transportation. No, it was who it was.


    Dominus Maniake, therge draconic man he had met during theiring of age party, was standing behind arge more human looking man and woman, who were further surrounded by a group of thirty. The hint of scales shown through their human skin told the story of their real bloodline, but Matt would have recognized them even without that.


    They were all dragons.


    Duke Tiberius Maniake was arge man with a storied history that wasn¡¯t marred in the slightest by his loss of the beast kingdom''s throne to Mara. He also had a gravitas that had nothing to do with his cultivation or his Domain, but just his general demeanor, which radiated a not so quietpetence.


    His wife and Dominus¡¯ mother, Lutatia, wasn¡¯t overshadowed, even if her presence was a little more subtle. She was like the stone that stood in the ocean that was phased by neither wind, wave, or weather.


    Dominus had also advanced his cultivation to Tier 21 over thest few centuries, which was fast considering his previous advancement speed, but not all that unexpected. He had fought in the war as a Tier 20, and while he hadn¡¯t been a standoutbatant, he had fought on three different worlds, been captured once, escaping with his army as they retreated, and holding off one of thest and more fearsome pushes in the final days of the war.


    The war had changed the young dragon prince. His aura was more settled than thest time Matt had seen him. From a storm that was ready to show its ferocity any time he was challenged, the current Dominus was more like a cidke with unmeasurable depths.


    Tiberius spent a moment inspecting the venue before nodding and turning to face the three of them.


    His smile seemed genuine, and together he and Lutatia stepped forward in perfect sync that spoke of long familiarity.


    ¡°Ah, it''s nice to meet you two for the first time. Elizabeth, nice to see you again.¡±


    Both Lizzes nodded in perfect unison. As fellow dukes, they didn''t have to bow, but the man was both significantly older than them and stronger.


    Handshakes were firm but polite all around, and once they finished, Tiberius looked around the venue again. ¡°I have to thank you three for hosting this ceremony. Saves us the time of doing it ourselves for such a small announcement.¡±


    Lutatia added her agreement with a small nod, to which Aster asked the obvious question. ¡°You have an announcement, Tiberius? One we should know about ahead of time, I presume?¡±


    The dragon smiled as he pulled Dominus forward with a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Now that the war is over, we will be stepping down and Dominus will be taking over. Lutatia and I are ready to finish advancing and Ascend in theing years.¡±


    Matt let his eyebrows raise at the unexpected news, which prompted Lutatia to borate. ¡°I expect that we aren¡¯t the only Nobles getting ready to cycle to the next generation, but it is time for us to step down. We don¡¯t intend to rush to ascend, though. We had intended to announce it after The Emperor¡¯s open court. However, this works better if you¡¯d allow it.¡±


    Matt nodded and congratted Dominus as his mind raced. Making such an announcement at another party wasn¡¯t unheard of or even considered uncouth or rude so long as one got permission beforehand, but the timing seemed suspicious. They were at least asking before doing which was a mark in the ns favor.


    The war had been a good opportunity that most of the nobles had used to temper their heirs, but stepping down usually happened a thousand or so years after such incidents, not directly after.


    Matt couldn¡¯t prove it, but he suspected that Emmanuel had spread the word through a number of his longer reigning dukes that he wanted them to reach Tier 46 sooner rather thanter in preparation for the eventual true war. Some of them would undoubtedly ascend, either because they weren¡¯t read in, or simply wanted to leave before the war started. But passing their titles down to the next generation freed their time enough that they could delve without too many questions being asked.


    Matt suspected that Dominus and Lutatia were read in as much as anyone who didn¡¯t know his Talent was, as they were long standing and trusted dukes under Georgios. If Matt understood the political situation correctly, the fact that Tiberius had made a bid for king of the beast kingdom and lost wasn¡¯t an indication of trust or favor. He had just been weaker than Mara when they fought.


    Or he could bepletely off the mark and was finding conspiracies where there weren''t any. Emmanuel¡¯s rule had been well cemented, which made the dukes who had primarily served under his father able to step down without causing cascading issues that usually stemmed from so much of the imperial court passing their titles down all at once.


    Aster yfully stuck her tongue out at Dominus, ¡°You had better be careful, or I¡¯ll take Mara¡¯s spot instead of you. Don¡¯t take too long to advance.¡±


    Instead of getting riled up, Dominus simply chuckled. ¡°As is only right. The strong take their ce and everyone falls in line under their wing and w. I hope you can submit once I defeat you.¡±


    Asterughed a genuineugh. ¡°I look forward to it, but that''s so far away, who knows what''s going to happen? Maybe I¡¯ll hate ruling and only show up to kick your tail around.¡±


    ¡°You might find that harder to do than expected. My breath and ws have been forged anew by the mes of war, and you will find me a more resilient foe, Ascender or no.¡±


    Seeing others arrive, Matt made his excuses and stepped away as Aster tried her best to rile Dominus up, while Tiberius and Lutatia stepped away to im a room for themselves before others arrived.


    Matt spent what felt like weeks shaking hands and making polite small talk, but it was only a few hours time, and he hadn¡¯t seen more than a small fraction of the total guests.


    He tried not to show favoritism over title rank and made an effort to talk to marquesses, counts, viscounts, and barons as much as he did his fellow dukes.


    The worst part was that he was a host, an Ascender, and a duke all at once, which gave people endless reasons to interact with him.


    Funnily enough, their receiving a new duchy was one of thergest topics of conversation, as everyone wanted to put forward their family members as someone who should be given a noble title in their duchy.


    They were to receive around one and a half thousand news, which tranted to that many new titles to be created and distributed as Matt and Liz wished. Aster was surely getting pestered just as much, even if her domain was slightly smaller than Matt and Liz¡¯s already half sized domains. With the restrictions on expansion, there just wasn''t enoughsing in from the other Great Powers to make four new, full sized duchies all at once, and they would have to slowly fill in those gaps in theing years.


    Not that Matt minded. Over a thousands was already enough for him, and was annoying enough with people not so subtly trying to maneuver into a position.


    He, Liz, and Aster had talked about how they wanted to pick candidates, and they had cleared it with Manny long ago as a bit of an ideal testbed. Half of their duchies were going to be hereditary nobles and half non hereditary, to test how well the two types of inheritance bnced each other. To prevent the governance from bing entrenched in old established powers, about a fifth of their total candidates were going to be those not rted to established noble houses, but those who had gone through meritocratic methods to stand above their peers to split the groups in quarters.


    Ideally, it would prevent blocks of power from forming too quickly or strongly, keeping everyone dancing to the Empires tune. After consulting with Manny they decided to push for an unprecedented twenty percent meritocratically filled positions instead of the normal five. They hedged their bets that no one would call them on a fourfold increase so soon after the war and while there had been some grumbling it wasn¡¯t too much as they had prevented the border nobles from losing their fiefs altogether.


    Thankfully, there was a reprieve as Matt¡¯s AI pinged as a guest he had been waiting for arrived.


    After excusing himself from his current conversation with a Marchioness, Matt made a way through the crowds until he found Baroness Margaret Thresh, Lilly¡¯s noble.


    Proffering a hand, Matt sighed as Margaret bowed.


    In his bestmanding tone, Matt said. ¡°Rise, Baroness Thresh.¡±


    Wiggling his still extended hand, Matt waited for her to shake it before smiling. ¡°Nice to see you again.¡±


    With no awkwardness visible, she nodded. ¡°As is it to see you again, Ascender.¡±


    Mattughed at her jab at how he wasn¡¯t acting like a noble. Technically, the Ascender title came with no noble corrtion, but there were thousands of dukes and only seven Ascenders, which had led to the title being given precedence over the ducal one. It was just slightly uncouth to mention it during their first ducal party, which Matt found funny as it was in clear retaliation to Matt breaking protocol.


    This book''s true home is on another tform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yeah, the noble thing is new to me. I can¡¯t say ites easy. Far more natural to punch my issues away, than politic them.¡±


    For the first time, Margaret smiled in a way that Matt thought was actually genuine. ¡°I fully understand that, but it''s a useful skill set for those of us who aren¡¯t Ascenders. I had the lessons beaten into me, but I¡¯m better for it.¡±


    Matt nodded as he read the report that Cato sent him. It was just a few lines about how Thresh had been taken under the wing of a Countess Abigail Sural, who had done her best to ensure any shorings she had in her noble education were taken care of.


    ¡°Luna, my Path Manager, beat those same lessons into me, but I¡¯m hard headed and choose to ignore them sometimes. Especially with friends. I haven¡¯t been able to get back to Lilly since before the war, how is everything?¡±


    Matt snatched three sses off a wandering waiter¡¯s tray and handed one to Margaret and Cato before taking a sip of his.


    It was a deliberate action trying to throw Margaret off her guard a little so he could get more than the polite ¡®everything was ok¡¯. He wanted to <em>really</em> know how Lilly was.


    ¡°It''s good.¡± At Matt¡¯s pursed lips, Margaret continued. ¡°Really. We finished settling the capital and it''s now a proper metropolis to make any low Tier world jealous. Poption has reached almost eighty million and I¡¯m having to turn down immigrants who want to live on the same world that created an Ascender. I¡¯m happy to report that we have had all rifts properly delved for thest hundred and fifty years, and not a single rift break death since I took over. We¡ª¡±


    Matt interrupted her with a grin. ¡°That is fantastic news. I¡¯m grateful you managed to stop anything like what happened to us from happening again.¡± Grasping her shoulder, he caught her eyes and added. ¡°That''s seriously good work.¡±


    A duke publicly praising a baron was already a mark of pride, but Matt was genuinely happy she was a good steward for the he had grown up on.


    Cato had offered to create a report, but Matt had only asked enough to make sure Lilly wasn¡¯t being run into the ground before the party. He wanted to hear the information from the source.


    ¡°Sorry for the interruption. Go on. Seriously, I''m interested.¡±


    Matt should have moved on to another noble, but this was his party, and he was going to catch up with his home.


    Thresh took arge swallow from the drink before wincing slightly and looking at the drink. ¡°I think I just wasted a very valuable drink.¡±


    ¡°Not really. It''s only Tier 20.¡±


    Margaret looked like she wanted to argue, but she continued with how Lilly was doing, which was good.


    They had had a small period of time where they didn¡¯t have enough local crafters, specifically smiths, but that had been handled with a few social programs and Margaret leveraging Matt¡¯s Ascender status to bring in qualified teaching staff for all kinds of professions.


    Currently, she was controlling expansion into the continents¡¯ inner depths where rifts could spawn, creating just two cities every fifty years while letting local guilds create and delve outposts to keep the rifts from overflowing.


    It was slower, but ensured safe growth that, whenbined with the immigration limits, ensured the people of Lilly could take advantage of everything their had to offer.


    He also found out that TrueMind had set up shop on Lilly shortly before the Ascension ceremony, which reminded him he owed them for breaking his contract. The contract had been paid out, but he felt he owed them at least an apology and then a thank you for them investing so heavily into Lilly even before his fame was well known. Maybe they had known in advance, but he doubted it. He sent a message to Cato to look into thepany and see if there was anything minor he could help with. If there wasn¡¯t, which he suspected would be true, he would send the owner a very nice bottle of wine and a personal thank you note.


    He knew the value of having a local producer of AI imnts as someone who had been not only on the Path, but had also gotten a discount on the end product allowing him to afford it at Tier 3. Not to mention that he hadn¡¯t even needed to pay any markup from transportation or taxes. His AI had been foundational in his early years and had made everything so much easier than it would have been without it.


    All the while, Matt nodded along and listened. Cato sent small messages with deeper exnations or small corrections, but Margaret never tried to lie or hide the few mistakes she made.


    It was exactly what Matt wanted to hear, and part of the way through, he sent Liz a message to get her agreement for an idea they had pondered.


    ¡°This is all wonderful to hear, Margaret. I¡¯m d you are a good steward for Lilly.¡± She clearly thought he was about to dismiss her, but her bow froze as Matt made his offer. ¡°Liz and I wanted to offer you and Lilly a move to our duchy.¡±


    Margaret looked like Aster had hit her with an ice spell, but then again so did all of the surrounding nobles on hearing the offer.


    Ascenders rarely used it, but thanks to old rules written for the hereditary nobility when establishing their duchies, they were given the option to bring their of birth into their duchy, so long as it wasn¡¯t higher than Tier 10.


    Matt hadn¡¯t even considered it until Liz brought it up as an option, but the more Matt thought of it, the more he liked it. Lilly was well, so that wasn¡¯t a concern, but if he was Margaret¡¯s liege, he could further look out for the, which was a nice benefit. But the main reason why he wanted to transfer ownership of the was because he, or rather his guild, needed a low Tier to do practical aperology upon. One that wasn¡¯t dealing with integration and cultural shifts. Lilly was only Tier 4, and therefore was the perfect Tier for the kind of aperology that he wanted to start with, namely aura rifts, growth item rifts, and skill shard rifts.


    What was better than ensuring that the economic sess that came from those tests was reinvested back into his home?


    It was the ce that had raised him and his parents. Even if he had outgrown the, it was and always would be where he grew up.


    Margaret¡¯s face went through a dozen micro expressions and Matt just watched as she took the time to process through his offer.


    ¡°I would be honored, Duke Moore.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow as he sensed a veryrge and unspoken, ¡®but¡¯.


    Reading his expression, Margaret exined. ¡°Myself and Lilly would be more than happy to transfer to your duchy, but I have alliances and more important obligations that I feel I would be letting down by changing allegiances so suddenly. It''s still worth it to move, but I will need to pay them back in other ways now.¡±


    ¡°I assume one of those is Countess Sural?¡±


    ¡°She is the main one, my lord.¡±


    Hearing he was correct in his assumption, Matt looked over his shoulder to Cato in Tier 26 speeds, who vanished into the crowd even faster.


    ¡°I owe her a lot for her assistance. Without her help, I would have made mistakes after the revtion of your Ascension. With her help I avoided many pitfalls and she expected nothing back, except for me to learn. And while she might not expect direct repayment, I feel obligated to do my best to return her assistance, and that will be impossible if I¡ª¡±


    She was cut off as Cato and Countess Sural arrived through the parting crowds.


    As Countess Sural bowed and introduced herself, Matt went through the packet of information Cato provided him.


    Countess Sural was a diehard loyalist, which was moderately surprising for a hereditary noble family, but the brief exined it. Her great grandfather had been a fervent supporter of Empress Agatha and he had instilled a sense of both loyalty to the crown and their people into his descendants.


    While the man himself had long since ascended, his family had kept to those teachings and Countess Sural was a dedicated woman who gave everything to her people.


    From what Cato had been able to put together in such a short time, she was a proponent of the thought process that said nobility was a burden to bear on behalf of one''s subjects and not a privilege to be lorded over them. They weren¡¯t pushovers, but they never took from their people for selfish reasons, and made sure things like taxes were being appropriately used with minimal graft.


    It was a mindset Matt could agree with.


    ¡°Countess Sural, as thanks for your assistance with Baroness Thresh, and in turn the assistance that was then transferred to Lilly, I want to personally thank you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my lord but no such thanks are necessary. I only did the minimum anyone would do.¡±


    ¡°Clearly it was more than nothing, as otherwise you wouldn¡¯t have been the first. While I¡¯m confident that Margaret would have figured things out, I¡¯m happy Lilly didn¡¯t have to go through such growing pains. I can only hope that I have such good counsel. To that end, I offer you one of the Marchioness titles I have avable, or one of your family members a viscount title in my duchy.¡±


    The crowd around them went silent as they processed the very generous offer, but Matt ignored them and focused on Liz and Isabe making their way through the crowd.


    The countess was still mulling over the offer when Liz slipped in next to him and threaded their arms together.


    Those around them murmured their greetings but did so quietly enough to not disrupt the countess. Not that they would have bothered her.


    Countess Sural was clearly taken aback and seeing that, Liz offered her a lifeline that Matt should have thought of. ¡°Take your time processing the idea. Consult with your liege and family alike. We aren¡¯t in any rush.¡±


    Together they turned and made their way through the crowds, arms still entwined when Liz said. ¡°Good offer. She¡¯s a good one.¡±


    ¡°I thought so. And I do appreciate what she did for Lilly, even if it was through Margaret.¡±


    ¡°You just want to go y with rifts. That''s the real reason you wanted Lilly.¡±


    Matt gasped a little louder than was strictly polite. ¡°I would never! But it will speed things up if we don¡¯t have to wait for a to be integrated to start research.¡±


    Matt could see people trying to listen in, but neither of them hid their conversation. The guild would be announced as soon as the remaining guests trickled in, and this would pique interest.


    Since they had joined up, he and Liz took a few minutes to grab some food and made some idle chatter with those around them while they chatted about things they had heard so far.


    They were interrupted by a familiar face, Silvia Dobrescu. She was followed by her parents, both active dukes. But like Dominus, the woman, who had only been Tier 17 when they were Tier 15, had now pushed into Tier 21, which told Matt she would soon be taking over the duchy.


    The Dobrescu family was unlike most noble houses, and was a former corporation that, after a drawn-out battle with the local noble family, hade out on top. Instead of just returning to their former status after selling off what they could, the board of directors had decided to form a family and be a noble house themselves. Currently, they ran one of thergest merchant fleets in the Empire, and while others might try to muscle in on their interest, they always ousted thepetition. There were rumors the family liked to use less than legal methods to take out theirpetitors, with thergest rumor being that they ran an actual pirate fleet, but all of those rumors were unsubstantiated.


    As much as Matt wanted to believe a lot of noble families were corrupt and evil, he knew that a family with the status of the Dobrescu¡¯s wouldn¡¯t escape the Emperor''s scrutiny into such matters, which made the rumors hard to believe.


    Matt just hoped there wouldn''t be too many conflicts of interest between his guild and the Dobrescus¡¯. Even if the family didn¡¯t do anything illegal, their reach was <em>massive</em>, and they had their fingers in nearly every pie, even if they only specialized in moving products around.


    He was interested in why Silvia Dobrescu bothered toe to their side, but he didn¡¯t have long to ponder. Silvia¡¯s long heron bloodline¡¯s pace ate up the ground quickly.


    ¡°Good to see you two again. Congrattions and all that.¡±


    Matt was surprised Silvia was still as casual as she had been thest time they had seen her. Neither he or Liz were bothered by it, but it spoke to a level of confidence on her part that he found intriguing.


    Interestingly enough, she proffered a gift. She wasn¡¯t the first to give them a gift, but it was the first one that Matt couldn¡¯t immediately recognize.


    It looked like a small vial of fire kissed honey, but it weighed on his spiritual perception like it was much higher Tier than the Tier 22 material it was.


    Silvia seemed to expect that and exined. ¡°A little gift from the Dobrescus for your efforts in the war and taking over a noble house. This is a dose of Tier 22 Velview royal jelly. I¡¯m sure you know of Velview honey and its effect.¡±


    Matt had never heard of Velview honey, but Cato quickly sent a message that informed Matt about the basics. The Velview system was one of the direct holdings of the Dobrescus, and was incredibly valuable thanks to its main export, the honey that the bees that infested the local star created.


    Like on most stars, a rift eventually inverted to form a ruin, but instead of just being destroyed by the crushing pressure and immense heat of a star, the beehive ruin not only survived, but thrived and spread to infest the entire star. It had only been an interesting factoid noted by the initial settlers, as the bees couldn''t leave the star and therefore weren''t a threat. But eventually, one of the cultivators had gone up and gathered some of their honey.


    It was there that they learned of the honey¡¯s incredible taste profile, but more importantly, the side effect that caused anyone who had imbibed the honey¡¯s cultivation to automaticallypress to rift level essence through no effort of their own, up to the Tier of the honey.


    For delvers like Matt, Liz, and Aster, the honey was nothing more than an expensive treat, as their essence was already aspact as it could possibly go. But for civilians or anyone who cultivated ambient essence, Velview honey was an incredibly valuable cultivation aid.


    If not for the fact that the bees had never survived a transntation to another star, the honey would have been one of the most used cultivation aids. Instead, it was limited to the wealthy and connected who could afford the price for their nonbatant family members.


    The honey was generally turned into a mead to maximize its effects and extend its duration from a few weeks to a few years, but the much rarer royal jelly was effective <em>forever</em>. It was endless cultivationpression that never needed to be renewed, and was correspondingly expensive, so being given a dose was both a great honor and a show of goodwill from the Dobrescus. It could also be used to make a potion that wouldpress already-cultivated essence in previous Tiers, and while it couldn¡¯t truly fix a wed foundation as it couldn¡¯t backfill that gap, it was a start and thus incredibly valuable.


    While they didn¡¯t need it, the royal jelly would serve to assist any of their future children who didn¡¯t wish to delve in ensuring their foundations were perfect all the way until they reached Tier 22.


    The small vial they had been given didn¡¯t even have an open market price as it was just that rare but Matt could imagine it selling for Tier 40 value at a minimum.


    Matt hadn¡¯t ever heard of the honey before, and immediately ordered a small dose of the raw Tier 15 honey, as he wanted to try it after hearing of its exquisite taste. Even more interesting was the entire aspect of cultivation that he had never needed to interact with.


    Velview honey was expensive because it removed one of the most tedious processes of cultivating ambient essence, but it was hardly the only method to do so. There were hundreds of simr products, each with their own quirks and drawbacks. In the case of the honey, its vor was described as being so good as to be near addictive, in addition to being one of the few cultivation aids that the body didn¡¯t build a resistance to.


    From the packet of information Cato sent Matt, he learned that the honey was often paired with incredibly expensive cultivation bracelets like the ones low level delvers used to share essence between party members that automatically gathered essence and fed it to the wearer. Together, they let someone cultivate all day without any conscious effort, but it was also noted by Cato to be something only the scions of the wealthy could afford, as both items were incredibly expensive and needed to be reced often.


    It was something Matt had never really considered before as a delver who went to fight for his essence, but it seemed like a good avenue of research for his guild to look into.


    Matt could do more than just create better rifts for low Tiers, as even if that did help, most people didn¡¯t want to risk life and limb. Helping those others would be a good way to increase the quality of life for the lower Tiers, even if it didn¡¯t appreciably increase the amount of immortals. Each Tier advanced increased the quality of life for the individual beyond extending one''s lifespan. With cultivation one''s body improved, which made even theter years morefortable as one''s body was more resilient. Being able to advance while still living a normal life was an almost mythical goal, and Matt felt the desire to throw his hat into the race and see if his guild might make some innovation in the field.


    Smiling, he took the royal jelly and put it in his own storage ring instead of handing it to Cato, who had taken most of the other gifts this evening.


    Shortly after, the three of them took a central stage.


    Liz spoke first. She was radiant as she stood there with a phoenix clone perched on her shoulder.


    Her bloodline change had given her skin a golden-bronze depth that hadn¡¯t been there before, and Matt found it hard to pull his eyes away from. ¡°We would like to thank everyone for showing up to our party. It''s an honor that you all came with such short notice. We wanted to make a few announcements and felt this was the easiest way to do so. First, Matthew and I will be co-ruling a duchy while Aster takes her own duchy. Most of our holdings will being from the other Great Powers, and so we will need to call upon the scions of our established families to fill our ranks with those who can handle such a transition. We will be sending offers out in theing decades, but we can say even now that we are looking at experience and steadiness as much as is possible with the unded.¡±


    There was a round of polite apuse, but most of the nobles'' attention was focused on each other as they tried to figure out who, if any of them, had been selected for the new holdings.


    Baroness Thresh and Countess Sural gathered more than their fair share of jealous looks, which thoroughly amused Matt.


    Liz spoke for a few more minutes before Aster made a simr speech, but once they were both done, Matt stepped forward.


    ¡°In addition to that, I would like to announce the founding of my own charity research guild, Titan¡¯s Torch. We intend to change the realm one invention at a time, and our first product will be ready for deployment in a decade.¡±


    Matt let himself pause as he studied the crowd. He wished he could say they were happy for him, but he could see fear and defensiveness the moment he said the words ¡®charity¡¯ and ¡®change¡¯.


    Cato was once again proven right.


    After letting the moment build to the appropriate level Matt said, ¡°We have a method of reliably creating sub Tier 5 Aura rifts.¡±


    Matt smiled as the entire venue with all of the Empires nobles and the most influential guilds and corporations erupted into pandemonium.

 Chapter 345

    Chapter 345


    Matt, Liz, and Aster let the crowd chatter for a few moments, just long enough that the lower Tiers watching could fully process the information. However, that was more than long enough for the higher Tiers to look at him like they wanted to turn him upside down and shake the answer out of him at the dy.


    ¡°So soon?¡± Sciath hEachaidh, scion of the second strongest draconic noble family, called out with clear disbelief in her voice.


    Matt took the time to nod to acknowledge herment and noted that she had advanced all the way to Tier 26 since he had seen herst.


    It took Matt aback to hear a decade referred to as ¡®soon¡¯, but he was still getting used to immortal timeframes being measured in centuries.


    ¡°The product needs a little more refining before I¡¯m happy to publish our findings, but the Emperor has already given us the ok to release the information.¡±


    ¡°Will you be giving us the method to make it?¡±


    Kiri Winiata was a shorter woman standing only five eight, but her presence was amplified by her dark skin covered in multicolored tattoos that slithered across any exposed flesh. It fit her snake bloodline and her reported Talent of being able to materialize her drawings into reality. From what he remembered about her from theiring of age party, she was polite and quiet. But more importantly, her family was one of the few who dabbled in aperology and were well regarded by Rusty.


    They were one of the main powers he wanted to pull onto his side with this maneuver, so he was happy to answer the question.


    ¡°The critical resource is a unique mana type we have ess to, and the Emperor has stated that the Imperial government will be the ones to control the mana type until a price has been established with the other Great Powers. Once that has been settled, it will be released for copying along with the instructions of how to create said rifts. Said negotiations are estimated to be finished before the end of the decade, but if they aren¡¯t, the mana type will be made avable to your respective Kings so that the rifts can still be spread. Even if it would be slower than what we would all desire.¡±Kiri nodded silently in response, but Matt didn¡¯t miss the look her fathers shared at the news. If Matt wasn¡¯t way off the mark, he had the Winiata house interested.


    Now, it was just time to reel them in. ¡°I understand that this will be disruptive to collective interests, but I have no intention of profiting off this discovery. Titan¡¯s Torch is not, and will never be a guild seeking a profit. Anything we develop or discover will be made avable to the open market for those interested and capable to do the producing. As for the aura rifts, if you wish to take advantage of them, you are free to do so to the extent you find most suitable. I¡¯m sure you all have a low Tier world or ten that you can set up aura rifts in if you wish to create a local farm, or you may spread them throughout your fiefs. More importantly, Titan¡¯s Torch has other productsing in theing decades. I might not be Talented in aperology, but I have a knack for it.¡±


    Letting an easy smile spread across his face, Matt continued after he was sure he had everyone''s rapt attention. ¡°As for a hint of our uing products, we have a semi reliable way to make rifts produce growth items.¡±


    That caused another small uproar in the crowd, but before it could grow too much, Matt added, ¡°It''s not as developed or as refined as I would like it to be as it requires the rift to be full to function properly, so there is no date on the release. But once we finish the aura rifts, that will be our highest priority.¡±


    Marco Winiata spoke up even as the barons, who controlled the lowest Tier worlds, were still processing the fact they were the ones in the best position to take advantage of the aura rifts. Let alone the idea of rifts that regrly produced growth items. ¡°You came up with the aura rifts yourself? Are you looking for assistance and coborators, or do you prefer to work alone?¡±


    ¡°I was one of the leads in the project, but I had help from a higher Tier assistant. Aperology is a personal passion of mine, but I¡¯m in no way an expert. Anyone who wishes to assist in aperology or a few other projects targeted at mortals are wee to look at the guild, our mission statement, our contracts, and apply if you find it aligns with your own desires or ambitions.¡±


    Marco nodded before stepping back, whispering to his husband and daughter even as he opened the floor to other questions.


    Before anyone else could speak, Matt said, ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to chat more with anyone who desires to talk in the Altro room, but I think we have taken up enough time of the uninterested as it is.¡±


    Only a portion of the crowd shifted to the side room, but that was still millions, as everyone else moved forward to try and chat with Aster, Liz, or split off and moved to mingle with the various other guests.


    Matt did notice that he had almost all of the guild leaders and corporation directors moving to follow him, and he resisted sighing.


    Most of them looked affable and chatted amiably with their fellows, but a few didn¡¯t bother with such pretenses and openly scowled. Matt made note of them, but knew the truly dangerous yers were the ones smiling and pretending they were happy at the announcement. The issue was that most of the people here would be more than happy at the abundance of aura rifts, making it impossible to distinguish the two.


    This was the start of Matt¡¯s guild in a very real sense. If he could secure the assistance of most of the people here, he could solidify his guild¡¯s standing and make their next centuries far easier. If he messed up and pissed these people off, he¡¯d have an uphill battle even before he ran into those whose interests he really wanted to bulldoze.


    As he reached the center of the room, Matt took note of how the edges of the room expanded as the hall stretched to contain the multitudes flooding in behind him.


    The first to address him wasn¡¯t one of the Winiatas, but instead was an older looking man with gray-streaked dark blue hair.


    He stepped forward and proffered a hand, and Matt had to force himself to not to punch the man in the nose. It wouldn¡¯t have done anything productive, the man was Tier 46, but it would have made Matt feel better.


    Cooper of Illvos was <em>old</em>. He had reached his Tier at least three hundred thousand years ago, but rumors said he was far far older than that. He had been a fairly unremarkable figure when Agatha took over the Empire a little more than sixty thousand years ago, but he had taken her economic shakeup by storm. He was strong enough and positioned well enough to be the first one to take advantage of the increase in economic freedoms for non-nobility.


    He had created a high Tier guild and in less than a thousand years and produced dozens of runes based on rarer, but still useful, skills, which brought the guild immense wealth. Instead of being happy with what he had, Cooper had spent his wealth setting up feeder guilds all based around runes. Then he started buying out, crushing, or absorbing all of hispetition into a group of allied and contractually bound guilds. His guild was officially just another member, albeit a core member, but <em>he</em> was the undisputed leader of the Hasabar League.


    The Burning Hearts guild, the guild which had tried to monopolize the [Bandage] rune during Matt¡¯s Tier 10 Pather tournament, was a peripheral member of the league, even if he hadn¡¯t known that at the time. Not that Matt would have done anything different even knowing they were backed by a super conglomerate of guilds.


    It was a bit of an open secret that Coopers league had ess to runes that didn¡¯t exist outside the guild, which were kept to those who paid exorbitant fees, or those who subordinated themselves to the guild.


    Some of the rumors could only be that. A healing rune that could revive the dead couldn¡¯t exist, but it wasn¡¯t impossible that the guild had a life saving rune of unheard of potency. The same went for the rune that created mana instead of spending it. Essence might be an unlimited power source, but mana was very much not.


    The rumors about their catalog were as long as the guild was old.


    The Hasabar League had been on a path of consolidation that seemed unstoppable until just a little while ago in fact. Thanks to a dispute with Tur¡¯stal¡¯s predecessor they had slowed or stopped their outward expansion to almost nothing. Despite that, the League was still one of thergest guild coalitions in the Empire, and probably the wealthiest if even half of the metrics Cato had gathered for him were urate. As for the oue of the fight, no one was sure, and even with Matt¡¯s ess Cato hadn¡¯t been able to find anything definitive out.


    He nned to ask Tur¡¯stal during the Emperor¡¯s open court, but he thought he had a good idea what had happened. Or rather, Cato had a good idea that he agreed with. His seneschal, and most information brokers, suspected Georgios had allowed the kingdom and the Hasabar League to fight it out long enough to weaken both of them, before stepping in and picking up the pieces while forcing all sides to y nice.


    Matt knew it wasn¡¯t fair, but from his Folded Reflection life where he was Georgios¡¯ prisoner, he believed the man was willing to do exactly that. He wanted to dislike the maneuver, but letting one''s opponents weaken each other was the second or third lesson taught to any prospective businessman or noble, and he couldn¡¯t fault the strategy. He just had a dislike of anything Georgios was involved in, even if it wasn¡¯t fair or truly logical.


    Pulling himself out of his musings, Matt took Cooper¡¯s hand and shook it.


    The manughed a big and boisterousugh. ¡°It''s nice to meet you <em>guild leader</em>.¡± He winked at Matt like they were old friends. ¡°A title which is easy to get but hard to <em>earn</em>. Though today, I¡¯d say you earned it with flying colors. A truly magnificent disy. Aura rifts. Truly a wonder. I had an entire guild dedicated to aperology forty or so thousand years ago. Agatha asked us to look into it, but it was a losing proposition. I think we spent a few trillion mana with hardly anything to show for it. In the end, we concluded it was just better to find a Talented person and have them do what you want. I¡¯m impressed that you managed to make headway in that field.¡±


    Matt took a moment to study the higher Tier man and didn¡¯t bother to hide it. It was probably an eternity at a Tier 46 perception speed, but he didn¡¯t rush.


    Cooper seemed perfectly sincere, and if Matt was just meeting him for the first time without knowing his history, he would undoubtedly be taken in by his charming smile and genuinepliments. He was on guard, but he also knew he couldn¡¯t throw away all pretenses of civility, even if that was where they would undoubtedly end up.


    There was always the chance the man truly was sincere, and Matt¡¯s information and biases were wrong. That was about as unlikely as him Tiering up a dozen times in a row via inspiration and creating his own Authority right here and now, but it <em>was</em> possible.


    ¡°Thank you. It''s a bit of a hobby of mine. And I can¡¯t im any <em>real</em> credit. Most of my progress was thanks to a few unique mana types I got my hands on. I¡¯m sure we did little but reinvent the wheel otherwise. I had no ess to aperology information and therefore had to learn a lot on my own.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so it was before youpleted the Path then. That¡¯s even more impressive.¡±


    Matt hadn¡¯t meant to reveal the timeline. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a secret, but the older man''s perceptiveness was a harsh reminder that he needed to be on his guard while swimming in these waters.


    ¡°Astute observation, but yes. I found myself with a touch of freetime after the vassal war and on a with practically nobody there. Flush with my winnings and with a few handmade formation tes, I started experimenting in an effort to change up the rifts we were delving day after day. The rest, as they say, is history.¡±


    Cooperughed, but they were interrupted by the Winiatas approaching together. Marco¡¯s husband, Elliot, spoke with a deep voice that rumbled Matt¡¯s chest. ¡°It¡¯s where my own aperology ambitions started. I was Tier 6¡ª¡±


    ¡°Tier 7.¡± Marco corrected with an indulgent smile.


    ¡°Tier 7, flush with the inheritance of my ascending grandfather and had little more than that when I started researching aperology. It''s the truest science. Everything in cultivation revolves around rifts. We delve them, they convert mana to essence and create wonders for us. I only wish we could have created something of such magnitude. Aura rifts are a magnum opus, but yet you start with it. Not that I canin about what it''s brought me. It''s how I met Marco, after all.¡±


    Kiri spoke up the moment her father paused. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you are willing to enter into a mutually beneficial research agreement?¡±


    Every eye in the room refocused on Matt as Kiri asked what they were all thinking.


    Matt chose his words carefully. ¡°I¡¯m more than willing to have help, but the purpose of my guild is first and foremost a charity. Unless the Emperor decides something <em>can¡¯t</em> be shared, I intend to share our discoveries, and my intention is for low Tier inventions, preferably Tier 5 and below, so there won¡¯t be too much value in those inventions. Better to just release it for other people to make and use.¡±


    There was a wave of grumbles that rippled through the room as everyone imagined themselves getting ess to the things his guild might create and using them to w ahead of their peers.


    What Matt didn¡¯t understand was the viscounts and barons who shared that expression. They would be thest ones to experience any economic benefits from something like Aura rifts without him making it avable to everyone.


    It would be expensive, but the dukes, marquess, and counts could afford both the price of such a discovery, and the price of keeping a low Tier rift on a higher Tier world. The lower nobility might eventually afford the secret, but they wouldn¡¯t be the ones to benefit. They had to know that. They were immortals with centuries of experience. But the expression that said they wished the invention wasn¡¯t given away for free was almost universal.


    Cooper pped Matt on the shoulder with a smile. ¡°Audable goal. Truly an exemr of what the Empire should stand for. Come to my guild some time, guild leader Moore. I¡¯d be happy to share what little we did learn in our stint of aperology, in the name of helping the lower Tiers. Clearly the research would do more good in your hands than in our vaults gathering dust.¡±


    Matt wanted to say the man leered and tried to imply some threat, but the offer, made in front of so many people, had to be genuine, or the hit to Cooper''s reputation would be massive. There also wasn¡¯t any attempt at coercion or to rope Matt into the Hasabar league, which was something he and Cato had nned for.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Cooper moved to the side and started chatting with a couple of corporation leaders, one of which Matt recognized from a small, but well known alchemy corporation for Tier 45 and 46 delvers. They didn¡¯t deal with mass production, or evenrge scale production, instead making custom made potions. But that didn¡¯t change the fact they were incredibly wealthy and well connected, as evidenced by them talking to Cooper as equals.


    Matt¡¯s attention was pulled back to the Winiatas as Kiri smiled and bowed slightly. ¡°We shall take our leave, but I¡¯m sure that the moment my fathers are free of their ducal duties they will be pounding at your guild''s door.¡± As she straightened, her smile turned rueful. ¡°A shame I¡¯ve already been conferred as the next duchess, or I''d be there as well. I¡¯ve been inundated from a young age with the science and have cultivated a love for it.¡±


    Matt let a genuine spread smile across his face knowing it would probably be thest one he smiled for the rest of the party. ¡°While most of our efforts will be on low Tier rifts, you are wee toe by anytime you are in the region if you have some free time from delving.¡±


    After Kiri and her fathers left, Matt was nearly crushed as the dukes with lesser standings than the Winiataspeted with guilds and corporations to reach him first.


    Through it all Matt smiled, shook hands and repeated himself over and over.


    No, he wasn¡¯t going to be the one to control who got an Aura rift first. No, he didn¡¯t have the time to set up an aura rift on their personally. Yes, he expected more aperology inventions toe in the following years, just as he said with the growth rifts. No, he wouldn¡¯t be restricting the guilds or corporations from using this knowledge. Yes, his guild would be one of the ones looking into travel mana.


    Thatst one surprised him, as the Marchioness who brought up Zack''s new mana type shouldn¡¯t have known about it this early.


    It wasn¡¯t a secret; the mana type had been used in the war, so samples were out there, but as far as Matt knew there weren¡¯t any non-military institutions that had been given ess to the mana type so soon. From what he understood, it was one of the things that the Emperor was going to announce during his open court.


    After Marchioness Flora mentioned it, it sparked a firestorm as one guest whispered what little they know about it.


    Hearing a dozen wrong things being mentioned, Matt raised his voice wanting to squash the number of ludicrous things he was hearing. ¡°Ascender Light was kind enough to donate the mana type to the Empire. And while I won¡¯t mention much before the Emperor does, I can say I assisted in its creation, and I therefore know it''s an <em>incredibly</em> finicky and temperamental mana type. Converting existing transportation infrastructure is going to be almost certainly impossible. It will take an entirely new methodology of enchanting to do anything. Engines will need to be built with the mana type in mind from the ground up, and like all new things, it will be inefficient until it is iterated upon a few dozen times. I¡¯m sure there are guilds here who are in a better position to develop the type of items you are interested in.¡±


    Matt hadn¡¯t missed the fact that Cooper hadn¡¯t been at all surprised at the mention of travel mana, but he didn¡¯t know if that was just the man''s body control concealing any potential reaction, or if he had already known. He suspected it was thetter, but he couldn¡¯t be sure that wasn''t his bias towards the man and his guild showing.


    A baron who he had just talked to asked, ¡°What does your guild intend to do, then? Why bother with it?¡±


    Matt was grateful for the question and nodded to the baron, who looked inordinately pleased at the gesture. ¡°My intention is to turn our services to applications below Tier 5. Trains, buses, and boats mainly. Maybe flying swords or the like, but that''s a distant secondary goal.¡±


    There were a number of displeased looks at that statement, but Matt held up a hand wantonly to cate those who were seeing their own possible profit vanish. ¡°As I said before. My guild isn¡¯t meant to produce anything. If we happen to create something first that is useful I have neither the time or the desire to deal with mass production and the infrastructure it requires.. You are all wee to produce anything my guild creates locally and sell to your neighbors. I won¡¯t ask for royalties or exclusivity uses.¡±


    That seemed to mollify most of the crowd, and Matt made a mental note to give Cato a raise. He had been right that a number of nobles of all ranks, guilds and corporations would be upset at the idea Matt was trying to squeeze them out, and him making it clear he was only interested in the design aspect of inventing realm changing things greatly reduced their outward hostility.


    Judging by the number of people who bothered toe and chat with him, only five or so percent of the Empire''s nobles were interested in merchant endeavors. If they were smart, they could capitalize on Matt¡¯s inventions and make a fortune or ten. As much as he had tried to downy low Tier economies earlier, theirbined economic value was massive when the scale of the Empire was taken into ount.


    Even if all of these corporations, guilds, and nobles started manufacturing low Tier travel manapatible engines, they would have an endless market, as they were just a small percentage of the Empire and all of their neighbors would want those same items. If they had a monopoly on those items, they would milk it for all it was worth and keep the prices sky high, but that was why he wanted all of them producing his creations.


    Matt was sure that the first guild who created a higher Tier travel mana engine that was faster or at least more efficient than the standard engine, probably the Hasabar league or a subsidiary of them, would do exactly that. But he didn¡¯t care if the higher Tiers spent their fortunes to save a few percent of efficiency. They were immortals, and could always wait twenty thousand years for a few more iterations of the travel mana engine toe out at a tenth of the price and twice the efficiency.


    It was the low Tiers who would benefit more from cheaper transportation.


    Matt just had to hope that Titan¡¯s Torch was the first to create such an engine. The lowest hanging fruit was undoubtedly going to be simr enough that the first to create it was going to be the one to earn a patent, and if they needed to reinvent the wheel with a different methodology, it would put them behind the curve.


    Hearing his answer, Marchioness Flora turned her nod into a respectful bow as she faded back into the crowd as if she had never been there.


    Matt was sure she had her own agenda and reason for bringing up the travel mana, but whatever it was, she had put a ticking clock on a low Tier travel mana engine.


    With him explicitly mentioning his altruistic interests in the project, he could only hope that people left the market to him. It was a pipe dream, but Matt could still wish.


    The entire incident only served to remind Matt why he hated politics, and gave him a better understanding why Aiden just drowned his problems and why L ate people who pissed her off.


    Thankfully, he was distracted by something positive: the mention of someone he wanted to see.


    ¡°You said Shadi had arrived?¡±


    The duke he was talking to nodded. ¡°I saw her filling a te with food not an hour ago. Even chatted with her a bit. She¡¯s been in seclusion for a long time, so it was nice to catch up.¡±


    Matt looked over his shoulder to Cato, who vanished as he went to see if it was true.


    Shadi was the owner of TrueMind, which had earned her an invite, but she was also someone Matt had just been wanting to talk to. It was also amusing that her seclusion, if it had truly just ended, had been longer than Matt was alive. He had heard the same thing about thepany''s CEO back when he was a tiny little Tier 3.


    Cato returned just as he was repeating his intention to create ideas, not items, to a fellow duke, and that if the man wanted to get an advantage, he should simply position himself in a way to rapidly capitalize on the inventions. Because Matt would <em>not</em> be giving him or anyone else any advantages for any prices.


    He had said so thousands of times, which should have made his position clear, but it seemed like every fifth noble asked for the same thing, and they were only mollified when he restated his intentions to them.


    That was at least better than the people who tried to convince him to keep his guild''s inventions to himself and only share with a select few. They were always <em>in</em> said select few, but most tried to imply it was only a temporary measure to ensure a smooth productunch. Though really, they were just trying to convince him to capture the early days of the market before making it free. If Matt needed money, that was a method he might actually consider, but he didn¡¯t, so he politely declined.


    He didn¡¯t think that hard work shouldn¡¯t be profitable, but short term for an immortal could be mortal lifetimes, and Matt found that too wasteful.


    It took almost a week of chatting with the various interested parties before Matt found himself without someone else wanting to talk to him, and he immediately made his escape following Cato¡¯s directions.


    Matt found his target where Cato had found her a week earlier. The owner of TrueMind sat in one of the alcove lounge chairs with a table piled high with every delicacy the venue offered.


    She also looked like shit. Her coppery skin was sallow, and her spiritual perception felt feeble. Or at least as feeble as a Tier 45¡¯s spiritual perception ever felt.


    Matt stood at a polite distance for almost five minutes while he watched Shadi plow through te after te.


    When it became clear she either didn¡¯t notice him or was ignoring him, Matt coughed slightly. When that didn¡¯t work, he pulsed his spiritual perception which finally woke Shadi up from her fugue.


    Blinking, she looked over to him and surprised him with her question. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Matthew Moore.¡±


    There was a long moment before she recognized the name, and Matt started to grow genuinely worried.


    Still, the interruption seemed to do her some good as she patted the seat next to her in the alcove.


    ¡°This is your party then. Take a seat. I owe you that much at least.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to impose if¡ª¡±


    Shadi waved him off. ¡°It¡¯s fine, kid. This is a big day for you, I¡¯m sure. Taking over a noble house or something?¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at the question. He was over politicked in thest week and suspicious of every word, but Shadi seemed to genuinely not know what was going on which couldn¡¯t be a good sign.


    A guest dying at his party would look awful for all three of them, even if there was nothing they could do to have prevented it, but Matt was also worried for her.


    He might not know her, but he knew and liked herpany. That was enough of a reason for him to act.


    He was about to look at Cato and send him to go get a higher Tier healer that was on call when Shadi¡¯s eyes focused.


    ¡°No, you''re the Ascender kids right? I heard Danny say something about that. Hey, congrattions, that''s impressive. Guild too, right? I heard peopleining about you giving away something to do with rifts. Seems pretty idiotic, but who am I to judge?¡±


    Matt leaned forward, using his Domain to shift the tes away wanting to inspect the woman in front of him. While he hadn¡¯t figured out how to activate his Domain Meld again, just creating it had empowered his Domain and it was now strong enough to move objects even in the Capital system.


    ¡°We can get to my achievementster, are you ok?¡±


    Shadi barked out augh that startled a number of guests. Matt activated the privacy bubble around the alcove as she spoke. ¡°Ok? I¡¯m far from ok. Ten thousand years of research and not only do I have nothing to show for it, but my own personal [AI] was fried in the final testing. I am anything but ok.¡±


    Her eyes were bloodshot as she looked at him. ¡°Repeated failure is brutal, kid. It eats at you until you have nothing left. Ask me how I know.¡±


    The TrueMind CEO leaned back into the lounge chair and sighed as she shoved her hands into her face.


    ¡°Is there anything I can do to help?¡±


    Shadi barked augh and pulled her hands away from her face. ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    For the first time she <em>really</em> looked at Matt. ¡°Who are you kid?¡±


    ¡°Matthew Moore.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how little that narrows it down?¡±


    Matt chuckled at thement. It was snarky in a way that reminded him of Allie or Aster.


    Shadi tapped her temple. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m still absorbing a brand new [AI] skill shard so I can¡¯t just look you up. I wasn''t feeling up to it until just a few hours ago. Can you tell me what I would find if I did look you up?¡±


    Hisugh turned into a wince as he thought about losing ess to one of his oldest skills. His AI skill had been with him since he had taken the imnt back at his yPen, and even after it had merged with the [AI] skill, it still had all of the modifications he had made to it. Losing it would be devastating.


    The loss of a core skill also exined why Shadi was in such bad shape. She hadn¡¯t mentioned the specifics on how she lost it, but any skill detonation that deep in one''s spirit would be near lethal.


    ¡°Matthew Moore N¨¦ Alexander Titan of Lilly. Ascender, hobbyist aperologist, and the idiot who is trying to give away aura rifts for free, as well as someone who feels he owes you a favor.¡±


    Shadi winced at his slight rebuke. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m badpany. Frankly, I¡¯m only here to freeload some good food. I¡¯m not exactly pleasantpany. Actually, before you go, how do you feel like you owe me a favor? If you are a baby Ascender I¡¯m ny nine percent certain that I don¡¯t know you. Thest Ascender I knew of was L. Impressive that we got another one so soon though, so congrattions.¡±


    ¡°Third Ascender since L, actually, but...¡± Matt paused andughed at Shadi¡¯s widened eyes.


    ¡°You''re pulling my tail?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m dead serious. Waters, Light and Shadow, and then my team. We just fought a war over that very fact.¡±


    ¡°I can''t believe it. Fuck, this is what I get for going head down for so long.¡±


    Matt could hardlyprehend the idea of working on a single project for ten thousand years, and had to ask. ¡°What were you working on?¡±


    Shadi held up a hand. ¡°I¡¯m willing to share but back up. You feel like you owe me a favor? While I¡¯m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I will give it a poke to make sure there aren¡¯t any soldiers inside.¡±


    Matt ignored the reference he couldn¡¯t ce and exined his history with TrueMind and how much the early AI had helped him,bined with thepany investing in Lilly even before it became known he was an Ascender.


    Shadi just waved him off once she understood. ¡°You don¡¯t owe me shit then. If you feel you owe someone, call up my second inmand, Geoff. He¡¯s been running thepany day to day for thest millennia or ten while I wasted my time.¡±


    Cato nodded without Matt even having to say anything, but Matt corrected Shadi''s statement. ¡°I still feel like I owe you personally. I¡¯ll extend the same offer to Geoff because I¡¯m grateful that the opportunity for a subsidized AI was even avable while I was at the yPen, but more than that, I¡¯m grateful that my home world was given such an economic boon by TrueMind opening a production facility there. Let alone while also refraining from taking advantage of the rtive poorness of the. And if nothing else, you put the right people in charge and so you deserve a little credit. So, if there is anything I can help with, let me know. It''s a genuine open offer.¡±


    Shadi looked at him for a few moments between snacking on a variety of foods scattered about before slowly nodding.


    ¡°Thank you. And I apologize for crashing your party. I just saw the portal in the C suite and walked through.¡±


    ¡°You technically were invited, and one extra person means little here. You are at least one I¡¯d like to chat with.¡±


    Shadi chuckled as she tossed a crab leg into a bowl. ¡°I feel that. Now that I¡¯m out of seclusion, I¡¯ll have to host my own version of this soon, but I''m trying to not think about that right now. As for your earlier question about what I was working on, how much do you know about AI and formations?¡±


    From there they started talking about formations and integrating non skill based AI. Shadi seemed impressed that he was able to understand the basics of the conversation, but that was all Matt was able to understand. As she went into more esoteric applications of both formations and AI, he started to get lost, but he was able to understand the gist of her issue.


    Shadi and a team of researchers had spent thest ten thousand years trying to change how artificial AI were integrated with formations. There were Natural Treasures that bestowed a facsimile of intelligence to things like buildings or floating inds, which allowed one to just enchant like normal, so long as they didn¡¯t interfere with the actual spirit of the intelligence and end up with an area that could run on its own. The downside was that said Natural Treasures are rare and expensive enough to be out of reach for all but the incredibly wealthy.


    The second option was to have someone with an [AI], the full skill, in their spirit link into the formations and have their [AI] do the work of controlling the formations. That required a dedicated person to efficiently act as the core of the formation which wasn¡¯t practical long term for most projects that neededrge scale formations.


    Both were less ideal than a dedicated artificial AI, which could learn and adapt to what it was embedded in. In theory they would also be vastly cheaper than either of the other two options, if not for the expensive, not to mention fragile, custom made housing and specialized interfaces required to interact with even the simplest formations in lieu of an operator''s spirit.


    Shadi and her people had been trying to redesign artificial AI¡¯s core structures to simplify and smooth that integration. ording to her they had been just a hair away from sess for thest two thousand years after a multitude of failures for the eight thousand before that.


    The team hade to the conclusion that their issue was theck of an old enough artificial AI, and so Shadi had sacrificed her own AI, which had never been integrated with the [AI] skill, to the cause.


    It had failed.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take some effort, but we are so close.¡± There was a fire in her eyes as she looked at Matt. ¡°If you are serious about pursuing aperology, take one piece of advice from me. You are going to fail a lot. It''s going to hurt, it¡¯s going to start to feel personal, but don''t give up. I know I look like shit, but in a decade, I¡¯ll be scratching at the doors to get back in theb trying again. Now tell me about your guild. Aura rifts? I don¡¯t know the faintest thing about aperology, but I could use the distraction, so fill me in.¡±


    Matt smiled and started to respond, only to be distracted by an AI messageing in, despite the fairly restrictive notifications he¡¯d set up. ¡°Oh, and Cosmind wants me to tell you hi?¡± he asked, a bit confused. ¡°And she also says I should talk to you about mental integrations. Is that part of what you were working on?¡±


    Shadi chuckled. ¡°Every time. Tell her I¡¯ll send her my new AI address once it¡¯s properly installed. And no, mental integrations are more about <em>personally</em> integrating yourself with your [AI]. But that¡¯s enough of that particr headache, please tell me what¡¯s new and exciting in the world of rifts.¡±


    ¡°So, how familiar are you with Felran architecture?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the term, but remind me?¡±


    ¡°So, when you want to make a rift you need mana and essence. <em>But</em>, on top of that¡­¡± Matt eagerly chatted with someone bright enough to follow what they¡¯d been dealing with.

 Chapter 346

    Chapter 346


    Matt and Shadi¡¯s conversation ended upsting for a full six hours before Cato¡¯s repeated reminders that he needed to mingle with other guests finally built up to the point that Matt couldn¡¯t ignore his duties any longer, and he made his excuses before returning to the party.


    By the end of the two weeks, Matt felt like he was crawling naked over poison covered spikes, and was grateful for the Emperor''s official return. Let alone the time crunch it put on everyone who needed to return and prepare for the post-war open court.


    As they walked into the Moore estate, Matt¡¯s mood finally turned around as he saw two people he was more than happy to chat with.


    Mara and Leon descended on them in an exuberant but quiet fashion, which immediately improved Matt¡¯s mood.


    It was good to see them again.


    They might officially be his inw¡¯s, but they were the only parents he had left.


    Sadly, the duo couldn''t stay too long as they were needed to help prepare the open court.


    Thankfully, as Ascenders, their participation amounted to showing up and ring at any nobles who caught their eye.


    Manny did have to go and grab Allie, who had tried to avoid the open court, but as thedy of the hour, she hadn¡¯t been allowed to skip out on the meeting. They all thoroughly enjoyed poking fun at her for her trying to run away from a Tier 50 who had her ess to her Talent.Her whining was the only entertainment they had as the Emperor listened toints, issues, and self aggrandizing praise from more than half of the nobles. Most of it waspletely beneath him, but it was the nobles¡¯ right to speak in open court. That said, the act of airing an issue was usually more than enough to settle said issue between the aggrieved parties. If they couldn''t figure it out on their own, that meant it was for the Emperor to get involved, and it became quickly clear why no one wanted that.


    Manny was ruthless to anyone who wasted everyone''s time, and even dethroned a few nobles for their audacity to bring foolish issues before the court. On the other hand, the few who brought matters of import to his attention were greatly rewarded, though that only happened twice during the entire month-long meeting.


    Then it was time for des to be given, and Allie¡¯s attitude finally turned around as she was heaped with medals and trophies for her efforts in the decapitation strike on the other Great Powers.


    Matt didn¡¯t miss how a number of the nobles flinched when her ability to cross entire Great Powers was implied. Whether it was a guilty conscience or general worry, Matt found it amusing how they reacted, as it contrasted with how Allieined the entire time about how people would now be asking for her to be a taxi now that her secret was out.


    Finally, the open court ended and they were pulled into the pce on Manny¡¯s request.


    In the same office they had finished The Path of Ascension in, they sat across from Manny, who looked like Matt did when he saw how much paperwork was waiting for him.


    ¡°I even have Talents for doing paperwork, but I swear I never catch up.¡±


    Aster gestured at it. ¡°I can freeze it for you. Then it''s basically handled.¡±


    Manny rubbed his temples. ¡°I wish, but it would find its way back to my desk eventually. No, while I appreciate the offer, I¡¯ll handle it. I just wanted to grab you three to reiterate something I¡¯d never thought I¡¯d need to say to Ascenders.¡±


    His gaze turned more serious, but Matt thought he saw a glint of amusement lingering in them. ¡°You don¡¯t need to hesitate or worry about me. I know you all have questions about who is plotting against you, and how you should handle them, but I won¡¯t check. And even if I did know, I wouldn¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Matt¡¯s mouth clicked shut, as that was exactly what he wanted to ask.


    Manny tapped the corner of his eyes that pulsed golden for a moment. ¡°Future sight is useful, but it can all too easily be a crutch. Even I use it sparingly, but that''s still more than my Father would have found appropriate, and it''s his Talent. Do what you want to do without worrying about myrger picture.¡± Looking directly at Matt, he added, ¡°If a guild, corporation, or even a noble family or twenty get in your way, and you feel the best answer is to stomp them out, then stomp. Don¡¯t worry about ruining my ns. I trust you to do what you think is best, and that is exactly what I want you to do.¡±


    His gaze traveled to Aster, and Matt felt like he could breathe again, despite not knowing when he had stopped. ¡°If you find a particr bloodline still bothering you, or a corporation who tries to steal one of your vors, do what you feel is necessary. I won¡¯t stop you, and I¡¯ll be there to pick up the pieces if it crumbles.¡±


    Matt felt a pulse of worry from Aster through their bond at the mention of someone trying to steal her unique vors, and he grabbed her tail to give it a reassuring tug.


    Manny¡¯s golden eyes tracked to Liz. ¡°And if people from inside or outside the Empire try to put pressure on you for your bloodline or your noble choices, show them exactly what you are capable of. I¡¯m here to hold up the sky, so don¡¯t consider bowing your head because you think it might be an issue for me. That goes for all of you.¡±


    Manny¡¯s serious expression vanished as heughed. ¡°I think this might be the first time any Tier 50 has had to remind their Ascenders to do what they want, but it¡¯s damn refreshing. Usually I¡¯m begging, bribing, or beating them to not cause too many issues. I trust you kids, but that''s not because I think you will be perfect. It''s because I believe in your core characters. You <em>will</em> make mistakes. You <em>will</em> fail. People <em>will</em> suffer because of the choices that you make because you aren¡¯t perfect, but take it from someone who can see the alternatives¡­ people will always suffer. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to make fewer of them next time. There is no perfect option, and remember that taking time to think and consider is <em>itself</em> a decision you¡¯re making. Myself and the Royals are here to clean up messes more than anything else.¡±


    After ncing at the stacks of paper, Manny stood and brushed his pants before looking at Matt and Liz. ¡°You two probably need to hurry. The Republic is bringing your first sooner than they said. A change in chaotic space currents has let them speed up the delivery. As for you, Aster, your first has a little time so you can do whatever you want.¡±


    Aster nodded and tossed a ball of me onto Manny¡¯s desk, shocking all of them. It failed to light any of the high-tier papers on fire, but a couple of reports <em>did</em> copse into ash.


    Manny cackled. ¡°Ah, see, this is why I love Ascenders. I genuinely did not see thating.¡±


    Hisughter was still echoing in the room as he vanished a momentter.


    Aster looked sheepish as she shrugged. ¡°I thought he¡¯d block it if he really didn¡¯t want them burnt. And like he said, it will make its way back to his desk.¡±


    Matt snorted and ruffled his bond¡¯s hair. ¡°You going to stick with us and check our first, or do you have something else to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to spoil my first, so I¡¯ll wait until my arrives. Besides, I can use this time to put together an end of the war ice cream to celebrate. I¡¯m thinking a variation of that almond vor I made a few years ago.¡±


    Matt had liked that vor and said so as they walked through the pce to where they caught back up with their seneschal¡¯s.


    After saying their goodbyes, Aster flew off with Alice floating next to her. Their duchies were going to be ced next to each other, so they would see each other sooner thanter. That just left Matt, Liz, Cato, and Isabe to go to their Horizon ss cruise ships that had been docked in orbit since theypleted The Path.


    They yed a quick game that Matt lost, so they boarded Liz¡¯s ship while Matt¡¯s traveled next to them as they moved to the spot where their duchy would be.


    Almost two monthster, they arrived at one of the closer borders. They were on the frontier border, which meant they would be the nearests to unimed chaotic space as their duchy filled in, but they were also close to the border regions of the other Great Powers, which made the uing transfers easier to carry out. It was just a matter of unlinking the from its neighbors and nudging its drift towards their location in chaotic space, which, so long as nothing went wrong, was just a matter of releasing thes at the right time. They were still getting their fair share of border worlds, of course, but for a variety of reasons, a substantial number of theirs were arriving from afar.


    Amusingly enough, Lily arrived before Soerilia thanks to the efforts of a Tier 40 who took advantage of those same currents. As the teleportation nodes were already builtside, it was fairly easy to retie Lily and its universe into the Empire¡¯swork, and the Tier 40 did it in just a few minutes. Once the teleportation tether was established, a tether of golden white energy pulsed through chaotic space, preventing the world from drifting off.


    It wasn¡¯t hard, thankfully, the design being long standardized and almost automatic with the caster only needing to be able to connect the twos'' representations in chaotic space with their spirit. Matt or Liz could have managed to do it, but the Tier 40 was happy to assist and it would have been rude to say no.


    Matt and Liz only intended to pop into Lily long enough to check in with Baroness Margaret Thresh, but they were pleasantly surprised to find Countess Abigail Sural waiting with the baroness in her baronial pce.


    With their Tier advantage, neither he nor Liz were noticed, and with a nce, they slowed their approach from orbit to inspect the rest of the.


    ¡°They are celebrating you.¡± Liz leaned in and whispered in a way that sent a shiver down Matt¡¯s spine.


    Phoenix Liz tried to edge in, but got brushed off his shoulder by human Liz.


    It was never not amusing to him how Liz treated her two main bodies as separate entities, despite them both sharing a singr mind.


    Matt hadn¡¯t mentioned it, but it was a clear fiction simr to how her parents acted around family. He found it adorable and knew any mention of being like her parents would make her self conscious.


    And she wasn¡¯t wrong. Lily was celebrating and seemed like it had been for thest few weeks, if not longer. The wasn¡¯t <em>trashed</em>, but the remnants of a prolonged celebration was clear from the overflowing trash cans and inebriated people napping in the soft glow of the moon or under the shade of trees, depending on where on the they were.


    If Matt had any question of what they were celebrating, it was answered by the numerous banners that proimed the Matthew Moore duchy, seemingly strung up between every other opening.


    It made him incredibly ufortable, but Matt hoped this extravagance meant they had gotten the worst of the partying out of their systems.


    Flying down to the not so new capital, Matt and Liz pinged Margaret that they were arriving and to please lower the wards. They could have just slipped through, but that would have been incredibly rude and stomping over Margaret¡¯s autonomy as the reigning noble of the.


    Neither he or Liz wanted to be the type of duke who would do that, and it would make an awful first impression for the soon to be Marchioness Sural, if her presence meant she was taking them up on their offer.


    As they entered the entertaining room, Margaret and Abigail stood and bowed, but Liz waved them up before they could go through the full greetings.


    ¡°We are in private, please be at ease and forgo the formalities.¡± Her smile turned into a grin as she nodded to the world beyond. ¡°We saw that the seems happy about the change in location.¡±


    Margaret flushed slightly and eventually shrugged with an exacerbated sigh. ¡°Crazy how a home grown Ascender taking their home into their duchy will make people go a little wild.¡±


    Matt rubbed a hand through his hair even as both Lizzesughed. ¡°Ah well, nothing I can do about that. How are you settling into the new location? The connection to Fal¡¯sal seems to work properly.¡±


    ¡°Well enough, I have exchanged a few messages with Baron Ren¡¯kai but he felt it was better to wait for an in-person visit until your graces had settled in?¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    There was a lilt in thest sentence that implied a question, and Matt nodded to confirm. ¡°We¡¯d like to use Lily as our base of operation until our actual duchyes in, so long as you agree.¡±


    ¡°We would be honored, My Lord.¡± Margaret seemed genuine, so Matt continued.


    ¡°In addition, I¡¯d like to set up a guild research spot somewhere.¡± Seeing Margaret open her mouth about to offer way too much, Matt added, ¡±We don¡¯t need much. I was going to expand one of the inds in the southern hemisphere. That way, we are out of the way but can still do rift testing. This is still your world, and neither of us want to interfere with your rule.¡±


    Margaret nodded and a small smile crept over Abigail¡¯s face, which reminded Matt of her presence.


    Liz, however, spoke first. ¡°It is good to see you, Countess Sural. We take your presence here as your eptance of our offer?¡±


    Abigail turned a nod into a formal bow. ¡°If the offer is still valid, I will dly ept. I have already cleared the transfer with Duchess Felicity and have her provisional release and a younger cousin ready to take my throne.¡±


    Matt pped softly. ¡°Wonderful. Then I¡ª¡±


    Before he could finish, phoenix Liz ¡®identally¡¯ smacked him in the face as Liz finished his sentence. ¡°I bid you rise, Marchioness Sural. With your rise in rank, we remind you that said rank is to be used for the betterment of the Empire.¡±


    After shooting a dirty look at phoenix Liz, who just groomed a feather as if she didn¡¯t see him, Matt repeated the same thing,pleting the ceremony.


    As Marchioness Sural rose, Margaret congratted her. ¡°You deserve it.¡±


    Abigail demurred. ¡°We¡¯ll see. It''s a major step up that I will have to work to ensure I don¡¯t waste. I stand ready to bemanded, your graces.¡±


    Matt shrugged herment away. ¡°It¡¯s not like we have anys for you to control yet. You are free to do as you wish until then.¡±


    ¡°Then let me act to reign in your soon to arrive vassals. A firm hand will be needed to keep them in line until they have their ownnds.¡±


    After sharing a nce with Liz, Matt looked to Cato and Isabe, confirming the assignment.


    As the formalities were handled, things settled into a more informal mood and the four of them chatted after Cato and Isabe took their leave to finish settling and preparing for the arrival of Soerilia.


    It took another month and a half for Matt and Liz to feel the approach of the world, even while inside Lily¡¯s real space. The presence of another world moving through chaotic space was like the rising tide, and anyone with enough range could sense the turbulence.


    After saying their goodbyes to Margaret and Abigail, Matt and Liz ripped their way into chaotic space, with Cato and Isabe following them a momentter.


    The four of them waited as a small firefly of light moved closer and closer through the corrosive energies of chaotic space.


    The term ¡®world¡¯ was generally the epted one because, thanks to the ability to have multiples in a single star system, it was more appropriate to use the more generic term. But they were used so interchangeably that ¡®node¡¯ had beening into fashion for any world that was linked into the greater whole of the eight intertwined Great Powers.


    Moving a world in chaotic space didn¡¯t change its location in its local universe, and was generally not dangerous, but mishandling by someone a high enough Tier from the outside could all too easily destroy the local star system.


    Thankfully, nothing so dramatic happened with Soerilia.


    Apanying the world was a Tier 40 who, after initiating the linkage between Soerilia and Lily, turned and said, ¡°Republican veil world, Soerilia delivered and integrated safely. Do you have any reasons to reject the delivery?¡±


    Liz shook her head. ¡°Delivery epted in good condition. Thank you and we will take good care of the world.¡±


    The Tier 40 worked his jaw, shaking his head as if arguing with himself, before looking back to the and saying, ¡°If you mean that, please remember that their ancestors had good reason to want to escape the rat race. The''s representative is aware of the truth of the realm and can act as an intermediary. I just ask you to remember you are turning their world upside down, and try to have a little empathy for that.¡±


    With that, the Tier 40 vanished into the swirls of chaotic space and Matt took a moment to mull over what he said.


    He knew the Republic had a different outlook on cultivation, and Matt tried to put himself in their shoes.


    Giving a veil world to the Empire might feel like the Empire giving a world to the Federation, or to a lesser degree, the Sects. Except it would be even worse, as at least Empire civilians were aware of the greater realm, whilst these people would have no idea that they were just a small blip in the wider realm.


    That was where Matt had a disconnect.


    <em>Supposedly,</em> these peoples'' ancestors had willingly chosen this, as though that was any kind of excuse for hiding the true nature of reality from their descendants.


    If the Republic didn¡¯t allow people to shove their heads in the sand, these people wouldn''t be having these issues.


    Still, the Tier 40¡¯s words resonated with Manny¡¯s.


    Matt looked to Liz and saw in her face that she felt the same way.


    They had been together so long, they didn¡¯t need to speak toe to an agreement that they should tread carefully.


    With a thought, Matt pulled the four of them into Soerilia¡¯s real space, using his Intent to cloak them from any type of surveince.


    He had heard a lot of things about Republic veil worlds, but he had never seen one up close.


    As they floated above the, all four of them spread their spiritual perceptions across the and Matt raised an eyebrow at what he saw.


    It was only a Tier 3 world, but he hadn¡¯t expected a poption of almost a billion people. That just didn¡¯t really happen on low Tier worlds in the Empire, but then again, that number was slightly artificial, as any that had been settled for close to fifty thousand years in the Empire wouldn¡¯t have remained a Tier 3 world. It was still jarring, and took a moment for him to process it.


    What was more shocking was that there was a war going on.


    The very thought would be anathema on an Empire world.


    Sure, there might be a fight, a brawl, two guildsing to blows, but a genuine war? That would never be permitted among the populous like what he was seeing.


    Matt stepped, and with flex of his Intent, arrived on the battlefield.


    Explosions went off all around him, but his clothes weren¡¯t even rippled as he got a good look at things. Letting his perception reach Tier 26 levels, Matt let the action slow to a crawl as he stood there and watched.


    Why were they fighting?


    Just on this battlefield there were 217,159 men and women¡ª men, Matt corrected himself, as the only women he saw were nobatant healers, fighting.


    Having just fought his own way through a bloody war, Matt was no stranger to blood, guts, and gore. But why were they fighting?


    Why was a Tier 0 unawakened man pushing through waves of bullets to reach the next berm alone, after most of his group of fellow soldiers had already been felled by the stream of bullets? What drove a man to do such things?


    Matt wanted to reach out and stop this foolishness, but he tried to remember that as of yet he was an interloper. He didn¡¯t know these people or why they would fight so fiercely.


    As the man fell in a spray of bullets, one which hit him in the chest and shattered the te of ceramic that covered his torso.


    The te had saved his life, but instead ofying there in the blood and boot churned mud, the soldier grit his teeth, forced his wounded arm under his body, and retrieved a grenade.


    He pulled the safety out with a yank of his teeth that cracked two of them, and threw the grenade into the berm where the bullets wereing from.


    The throw was almost perfect and bounced right next to the top of the berm and rolled in, even as Matt contemted stopping the burning fuse.


    He wanted to. It would be the right thing to do. Why did these people need to die? What did their petty squabbles matter in the Empire?


    That thought is what stopped Matt from just stopping the war outright.


    He could do it with a thought.


    Unawakened mortals using mostly Tier 1 or Tier 2 materials could do nothing to stop him from ending this fight.


    Matt considered it, but instead, he looked and analyzed as his mind raced.


    The first thing he noticed beyond the war was the fact these people were speaking two differentnguages, neither of which were the standard Republican. Matt understood the idea of letting veil worlds develop on their own, but he found it hard to believe that the Republic didn¡¯t even nudge things enough to stop suchnguage drift.


    Language was a carefully controlled thing in the Empire, as the basics of civilization was being able tomunicate with each other. The Empire would have never let things drift so far out of the baseline. But as Matt inspected more and more, he was shocked to see one of the two sides wasn¡¯t even a republic. Instead, it was some kind semi-oligarchical, semimunal governing system that he wasn¡¯t sure made sense.


    Analyzing more of the world, he was shocked to see there were sixty three majornguages spoken across eighty two countries, of which only two thirds of which had any semnce of a connection to the republic standard. The rest were a mishmash ofmunist, corporatocracy, feudalist, and weird mixes of all three.


    Matt just didn¡¯t understand how any Great Power would allow such things to happen inside its borders. What if someone from one of the other government types became a cultivator?


    How did the Republic handle that?


    How did this not split their society through endless fissures and sub groups?


    As the grenade went off, Matt mentality nudged a few pieces of the shrapnel to ensure that no one died from the attack.


    Not willing to let such senseless death continue any longer, Matt sent a modest million mana into his [AI] and had it hack all the variouss he found.


    It took almost a full second to download and process the entire collectiveNet equivalent, but once his [AI] had done so, Matt had it send out orders from the countries¡¯ respective leaders that there was a ceasefire going into effect.


    The generals on both sides tried to call their leaders to confirm the orders, but Matt¡¯s [AI] intercepted the calls and faked their leaders'' agreement.


    Liz appeared next to him, a spear manifested out of feathers clutched in her hand.


    ¡°I took care of the other battlefields.¡±


    Her words were terse, but Matt fully agreed with her emotions.


    ¡°I just don''t get it. Why are they fighting?¡±


    Matt snorted as his [AI] had already processed everything and had given him a ready answer for that.


    The two countries had a small dispute that escted into an ideological war that had already cost close to a hundred thousand lives, and seriously injured eight times that number.


    As Liz heard the answer, she shook her head. ¡°This is senseless.¡± With a sigh she let her spear dissolve and Matt did the same with his buffs. It was just a reflex at this point even if wholly unnecessary against unawakened.


    As the ceasefire spread and bullets stopped flying, Matt marked a ce on the.


    It was called the Arbitration Convention, a pseudo government, but not quite. Their stated purpose was to act as a diplomatic and political international organization, with the goal of mediating wars, disputes, and treaties as a neutral third party.


    But most relevantly for him, it would be where theary representative was. Even though not all of the political forces on this were full members of the AC, it was the ce where the highest percentage of the¡¯s poption was represented. Therefore theary representative would be whoever was the nominal leader, chairman, councilor, or whoever had the highest authority of the group. It was their job to represent the entire in the eyes of the grander Republic.


    Matt wasn¡¯t sure how much a mortal with a mortal¡¯s lifespan could contribute to such a system. A single motion could remain in debate for longer than a mortal''s entire lifespan let alone their elective tenure.


    That was doubly the case when the active Councilor kept <em>changing</em> every handful of years. There were probably five or six people who had served as theary representative, all of whom were sworn and bound to secrecy.


    Really, the whole thing was much tooplicated by far, and wasn¡¯t even in the service of anything worthwhile. People had a right to choose to pursue immortality, not to have some stuffy, overly old bureaucrat decide that no, they <em>did</em> want to make it illegal for anyone with a healing skill toe to the and heal people.


    Councilor Samuel, the active representative, looked <em>far</em> too old for the job he held, but he was at least alone in his office, which made things simpler.


    Matt almost teleported directly into the man''s office, but not only would that be rude, he was genuinely worried that Councilor Samuel was old enough he might die from the shock. Councilor Samuel should have been informed about the transfer, but Matt didn¡¯t want to risk it.


    With as much control as he had, Matt reached out and politely knocked on the door. He watched as the man swallowed and called for them to enter.


    He was actually speaking Republic standard, which Matt was grateful for, as with that, he could be sure there wasn¡¯t any oddnguage misunderstandings muddlingmunication. His [AI] was good, but thenguages it had processed had almost no rtion with Republic standard in either word choice, syntax, or sentence structure.


    Matt took the time as he entered the room to inspect Councilor Samuel. Older, somewhere in histe sixties, but otherwise fit and generally healthy. Someone, potentially the Republic T40, had hit the man with a healing spell or two recently. As he wasn¡¯t even awakened, it left no trace on the man¡¯s spirit, but some portions of the man¡¯s biology were in notably <em>better</em> shape than the tissues around them, which he could only really attribute to skills..


    Appearance-wise, he was like most darker skinned humans, with no non-baseline features which would have made him extraordinary, but the man had a presence to him that Matt rarely encountered in mortals. Not that he interacted with mortals too much these days, and Matt made a note that he needed to correct that <em>immediately</em>.


    ¡°Good day Councilor Samuel, my name is Matthew Moore, and this is my wife, Elizabeth. We are the Empire representatives who have taken ownership of Soerilia. We are Dukes, and if you don¡¯t fully understand that context, we can go over that in a few moments, but we would ask you to call for a gathering of the world leaders. I was informed that power is within your purview.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± the man¡¯s heart rate spiked, ¡°Sire? Your majesty? I¡­ don¡¯t want to offend you, but I don¡¯t know how best to address you. I was given a lot of papers about your Empire, but I haven¡¯t had the ability to read through them all. I mean no offense, sir.¡±


    Matt cringed at the obvious fear Councilor Samuel showed at his misstep. The man must think they were monsters to be that fearful of their reaction to a minor slip up.


    Liz shook her head. ¡°We understand you''re not fully up to speed with customs and courtesies. We won¡¯t hold that against you, but we would appreciate you calling for that meeting as soon as possible. We have stopped three wars, and are trying to keep any more people from dying, but the fake messages to the generals will only hold up for so long before a real message gets through, so we need those leaders here immediately.¡±


    Councilor Samuel swallowed hard and Matt had a bad feeling about what he was about to say. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ have authority to call the assembly on my own, and it will be at least three days before they can. But to do that, we will need to bring in Councilor Jolene. She¡¯s my counterpart within the Conventions, and it is her role to call the assembly, not mine. It will be somewhat difficult to persuade her, but¡­ it will be done, ma¡¯am. Sir. Sire? Umm¡­ Lady?¡±


    Matt closed his eyes and considered just pulling all of the world leaders to this AC building, but knew that was the excessive power that would see these people fearing him instead of working with them.


    ¡°Then can you initiate that and get the countries actively fighting to agree to a temporary armistice? We don¡¯t care what reason you give, just get them to stop fighting.¡±


    Councilor Samuel seemed like a man spared from execution as he nodded and picked up a device on his desk he used tomunicate with others.


    While he did that, Matt closed his eyes and counted down from ten.


    This was going to be a trial, but he could at least stop the senseless deaths from continuing without making it <em>too</em> obvious.


    That was a good start.

 Chapter 347

    Chapter 347


    The four of them watched Councilor Samuel call up his younger counterpart, Councilor Jolene.


    She was obviously confused as to why Samuel wanted to call for ast-minute full assembly, but her insistence that she was going toe to talk to him in person caused him to break out in a cold sweat, fearfully looking up at Matt and Liz.


    It was so dramatic that Matt had to wonder what he had been told to be so fearful of them. Or was it just the natural fear of someone who had grown up not knowing of cultivators?


    Councilor Jolene walked in and stopped upon seeing the interlopers to Councilor Samuel¡¯s office. Cato and Isabe were invisible, of course, but Matt and Liz looked quite imposing on their own.


    Her back stiffened and she opened her mouth to call for security, but Matt gently pulled her into the room and closed the door with his Concept.


    Samuel thankfully started speaking the moment the door closed, though with how much of a rush he was in, Matt wasn¡¯t sure it was entirely coherent to someone who didn¡¯t already understand.


    Liz raised a hand mid-ramble and Samuel¡¯s mouth clicked shut hard enough to crack a tooth. The man trembled at the upraised hand like it was the guillotine that when he descended would spell the end of his life.


    A thought from Matt healed the tooth before the pain could even register for the older man. He and Liz shared a look at the obvious fear the man felt, but they were on a countdown.


    Liz looked to Councilor Jolene and spoke in her localnguage thanks to their [AI] tranting for them.¡°I know you don¡¯t understand, but there is a war we are preventing currently and we need you to call for a summit of world leaders so we can officially end the war and exin. Please make the call, and then we can exin. Seconds matter.¡±


    When she didn¡¯t immediately agree, Councilor Samuel snapped. ¡°Jolene. Just do it. Now.¡± When that didn¡¯t work, he pivoted to pleading. ¡°You know me. You don¡¯t need to trust them, but you need to trust me. <em>Do it</em>.¡±


    That seemed to work and Councilor Jolene walked over to Samuel¡¯s desk and without a word to them, picked up the phone and made a few calls about a need to assemble the council.


    Matt nodded and added. ¡°Now, please call the leaders of the two countries at war. They will have no doubt noticed that their generals have received cease fire orders from them that they didn¡¯t send. Please ensure that they do not reignite the battles until after the meeting.¡±


    Councilor Jolene gave him a hard look that made Councilor Samuel tremble but she didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    ¡°You seem oddly misinformed about how much authority I have over them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you have to say. Tell them whatever you need to, just get them to stop the fighting until after the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Fine. But the two of you have a lot of exining to do.¡±


    Matt smiled having already done a small check up on the councilor¡¯s personality from past records. ¡°And we will. The war needs to end, and this is the first step. Unless you don¡¯t mind pointless deaths?¡±


    Those calls took substantially longer, but she got there in the end. It no doubt helped that Matt encouraged her to allude to some kind of new technology responsible for their existingmunication breakdowns, but she eventually managed to wrangle both leaders into appearing at the uing world summit and not countermanding the ceasefire orders until after.


    Only time would tell if the people on the other side of the phone would hold to their supposed promises, but even through the fairly crude phone lines, Matt could tell they sounded genuine.


    With the immediate issue taken care of, Matt summoned chairs for Liz and himself out of his spatial ring. They didn¡¯t need to sit, but summoning the chairs was obviously magical and sitting down should hopefully help with Samuel¡¯s worries.


    Both Lizzes thanked him and Matt sat down a momentter, making sure to keep all of his movements within Tier 1 perceptions.


    ¡°Who are you and what have you done to Samuel?¡± Councilor Jolene¡¯s eyes had gone wide at the chairs appearing out of nowhere, but she ignored that, backing up and crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive posture.


    Matt gestured to one of the chairs in front of Samuel¡¯s desk. ¡°This is a long conversation, so you might as well befortable. First introductions. My name is Matthew Moore, and this is my wife Elizabeth. We are the new owners of Soerilia and Dukes in a multidimensional monarchy called the Empire. I¡ª¡±


    Councilor Jolene interrupted him with a snort as she turned to Samuel. ¡°What kind of joke is this, Samuel?¡±


    Samuel shuddered as she interrupted Matt and watched Matt like a dog expecting a beating.


    Matt wanted to sigh, but he knew Samuel would misunderstand the gesture and instead leaned back in his seat motioning for Samuel to exin.


    ¡°Jolene, shut up! You need to listen to them. They aren¡¯t lying.¡± When she opened her mouth to interrupt him, he raised his voice to cut off any interruption and sighed. ¡°When I was first elected, I was informed that we¡¯re but one of countless worlds within something known as The Evesting Republic, some kind of crazy multidimensional and magical power with what are¡­ well, frankly unimaginable amounts of strength. And I¡­ am the contact point for them. Then, a few months ago I was informed that because they¡¯d lost a war, our was going to be transferred from their management to¡­ they just called you the Empire?¡± he asked, and Matt nodded. Nobody ever used the full title for the Empire, and some of the words didn¡¯t trante cleanly into the localnguage anyway.¡±


    Gesturing to Matt and Liz he finished, ¡°These two are our new rulers. They own this. Th¡ª¡±


    Hearing that Councilor Jolene stood up in denial. ¡°I¡¯m not sure <em>what</em> nonsense you¡¯ve been fed, but obviously these two have done something to you. You¡¯re talking nonsense, Samuel. Empires? <emary rulers?</em> This isn¡¯t something that you can decide on without my approval, <em>let alone</em> without a full referendum.¡±


    She turned her gaze to Matt and Liz and then to Samuel before her eyes came back down to settle on the two of them.


    ¡°I think you two need to leave before this farce progresses any further.¡±


    Samuel nearly had a panic attack at her words, but Matt looked at him which caused the man to freeze. ¡°Councilor Jolene, your counterpart has not lost his mind. While oversimplified in a few ways, nothing he said was incorrect. The Republic has hidden the true nature of reality from you for countless generations, hiding <em>essence</em> and <em>cultivation</em> from you,¡± Matt used the Republic words for the concepts, which Samuel clearly recognized, but Jolene simply sounded them out in a bit of confusion. ¡°With that said, your disbelief and confusion is entirely understandable, and even expected. These are going to be trying times, and we¡¯re reasonable besides, so we won¡¯t hold it against you, but this isn''t something you can just reject. It will happen no matter how much you rail against it. We are here to ease your transition into greater reality as best as we can, and that will be made much easier if you cooperate.¡±


    Councilor Jolene stiffened as a thought came to her and she looked to Samuel. ¡°If you have known about this for years why wasn¡¯t I informed? Our positions are equal. We are peers, damn it!¡±


    ¡°They only have one representative. I tried to argue we should both represent this world, even if we only had one vote between us, but they were very firm when insisting there only be one and my Chair is the senior one by their metrics. When I tried to argue it¡­¡± Samuel paused as he searched for the proper word before his eyes flicked to Matt and Liz. ¡°The immortal who did my debriefing made it very clear there was no room for negotiation.¡±


    Looking to Councilor Jolene, who clearly didn¡¯t believe anything that she was hearing, Liz tried to get them back onto a useful topic, ¡°Your confusion is understandable, but please realize that what Councilor Samuel is saying is true. If you have questions, please feel free to ask, but we would ask you not to act rashly.¡±


    Jolene''s heartbeat doubled as the reality of her world set in, but Samuel¡¯s next words seemed to ground her at least a little. ¡°Believe me, the things I¡¯ve seen are¡­ immense. Usually, I¡¯ll just get a message, a couple of times I¡¯ve actually gone off-world for a few days, and it¡¯s, well, incredible. I met a member of our local clusters government, and it¡¯s <em>something</em> to see someone who looks like they¡¯re in their twenties casually discuss helping our ancestors first settle our thousands of years ago.¡±


    ¡°What, they¡¯re immortal? That¡¯s impossible. Even more impossible than all of this. You can¡¯t just live forever.¡±


    Seeing that she started believing, or at least wasn¡¯t resisting with such hostility, Matt leaned back to give the two natives of Soerilia the space to speak.


    Samuel went through the world''s history and his personal involvement as the''s representative to the Republic, which Matt found intriguing as it was from a perspective that he hadn¡¯t ever encountered.


    His retelling of their''s history was also <em>interesting</em>, to say the least. The way Samuel framed it was that their ancestors wanted an escape from the ¡®horrors of cultivation¡¯ and so petitioned to settle Soerilia as a veil world after it was integrated. Matt knew the world had only been grabbed to act as a springboard to another Tier 13 world that had been drifting by, but Samuel seemed to not know anything about that or why the low Tier had been grabbed at all.


    Jolene listened, but even Matt could see she didn¡¯t believe anything she was hearing, so he wasn¡¯t surprised when she turned to Matt and Liz and said, ¡°I need proof. Beyond the obvious. I''ve never seen someone with your skin colors, but that doesn¡¯t mean much with stic surgery and how fast tech advances. You guys keep speaking of magic and while you pulled me into the room that can be done a dozen ways with stage tricks I was too panicked to notice. Do you have some proof I can see? That I can touch?¡±


    After checking with Liz, Matt shrugged and held out a hand and cast a simple [Fireball] with a paltry 10 mana. Samuel flinched back but Jolene leaned forward and inched her hand forward.


    ¡°It''s hot, but you could have a stream of oxygen in your sleeves for all I know.¡±


    Matt felt that was a little illogical, he wasn¡¯t wearing gloves and his shirt sleeves weren¡¯t baggy enough to hide something like that, but he tried to put himself in her shoes where this was all so new. They were showing her things she had spent her whole life believing only existed in fantasy stories or their local equivalent of movies.


    With that thought in the forefront, Matt nodded and gestured for her to stand. ¡°Stand and I can float you. You can obviously tell you aren¡¯t hooked up to any wires, mas, or strong air currents.¡±


    Councilor Jolene watched him like he might bite her, but after a moment of contemtion she stood arms extended as if he was going to pick her up by under her arms.


    With a thought Matt carefully lifted her so she could just reach up and touch the ceiling if she wanted too.


    ¡°Ah! Oh shit! Fuck! Ok, I believe it! Can you put me down without breaking my legs?!?!¡±


    Matt did as she asked where Jolene started patting herself down before moving onto the chair and then the floor where she panted.


    ¡°This is impossible. How can there be magic? It''s a thing of fairy tales and stages.¡±


    Matt looked over to the side where Samuel had a potted nt of some kind.


    With a thought, he brought it over to his hand under the scrutiny of Samuel and Jolene.


    ¡°I obviously didn¡¯t bring this in, so watch.¡±


    Matt caused the loose and slightly rocky surface soil of the nt to float before him in a slow cloud of debris that pulsed in sync with her heartbeat. He also subtly slowed the rhythm down, hoping it lowered the woman''s racing heart to something more manageable.


    As he did so, Liz gestured at it. ¡°Feel free to touch it. This isn''t fire and won¡¯t hurt you. If seeing isn¡¯t believing, feeling should be.¡±


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Matt made the dirt spin and twist around Councilor Jolene¡¯s tentatively extended hand.


    After she seemed to have her fill, Mattpacted the dirt until it was a perfect replica of the very chair she was sitting on.


    That somehow seemed to finally convince her more than anything else.


    ¡°It''s all real then. So what happens now? We are part of a gxy spanning monarchy? Will we have to move?¡±


    As Liz leaned forward, phoenix Liz jumped to his shoulder with a quiet squawk of indignance. ¡°From the perspective of what we call Realspace, what you know as your observable universe, nothing has and nothing will change, physically speaking. At risk of getting too technical, what was moved was the node, or ess point of this through Chaotic Space, which you could think of as <em>spiritual</em> space, a higher reality. That node was moved into the Empire¡¯s territory, which is how the world was transferred. That means inter-world travel will be different, but for anyone staying on this, nothing changes.¡±


    Jolene shook her head, and Matt was going to ask what she didn¡¯t understand of that exnation when she asked, ¡°Empire. Why are we transferred to a monarchy? We are a mostly free people, with elected officials, people who represent their constituents. How can we be a monarchy? No one will ept that. Can we go back?¡±


    That question seemed to be a deep and burning desire of hers. But as much as Matt wanted to not hurt these people, that was no longer a possibility. While he knew integration could be rough and painful for veil worlds, he also believed that it was a positive, as just knowing and having ess to cultivation made life so much better. Maybe that was just because he grew up under the Empire¡¯s governance, but the Empire allowed civilians to live unabated should they want to do so. They also allowed the more ambitious to rise above their mundane beginnings, which was impossible in a veil world here.


    If he had been born on a world like this, Matt knew he would have never been able to reach the heights he had. He knew change could be hard, but this was a massive improvement if handled correctly.


    ¡°It''s already done. People stronger than you, or even I, have made this choice. Our Great Powers recently fought a war and part of the peace treaties were that a number ofs were transferred to the Empire. Liz and I are the ones who are receiving a portion of those worlds.¡±


    ¡°So this Republic lost a war and now we are being thrown away to the wolves?¡± Jolene seemed genuinely angry at that fact, but what Liz said next didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°Technically, the Republic won. Theary transfer was the result of a rted, but separate secondary treaty, not the peace treaty itself.¡±


    Even Samuel looked shocked at that revtion, and Matt tried to soften the blow.


    ¡°Liz and I aren¡¯t cruel. We wish to integrate Soerilia as gently as possible. That is why we wish to gather the world leaders so we can discuss how to do so with the smallest degree of ¡ª¡±


    Jolene leaned forward and pleaded, ¡°Then please leave us alone. Just leave us be. It seems like you have the power to just walk away. Just do it. Go. <em>Please</em>.¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°No. That¡¯s not an option. But, I recognize that you¡¯re in a very trying time, and I understand why you think you want to stay separate, but your lives will be far better in the Empire. Magical healing, like the sort that Councilor Samuel seems to have received, is quitemon in the Empire, and free for civilians. Our technology is substantially more advanced than what you have here, and <em>everyone</em> will be awakened for free- that is to say, be a cultivator. Even just awakeninges with several health benefits, so you can expect a global increase in life expectancy, and that¡¯s not even ounting for those who decide to actually delve and cultivate, who will have a distinct possibility of bing <em>immortal</em>. Even without that, simply reaching Tier 3, which will be possible without ever leaving this, will give you an average life expectancy of a hundred and thirty, with better health for <em>much</em> more of that time. And that¡¯s simply the start of it.¡±


    Jolene slowly processed that before her eyes sharpened. ¡°Wait. When you say immortals, do you just mean very old, or do you mean actually immortal? As in truly never aging?¡±


    Liz nodded. ¡°Matt and I were both born about three hundred years ago, but we¡¯ve spent considerable amounts of time in ces where time passes faster, so biologically, we¡¯re closer to five hundred. My parents are about thirty thousand years old, and one of my aunts can have her age measured in <em>millions</em> of years. Though it¡¯s still possible for us to be killed or to end our own lives, reaching Tier 15 makes us <em>truly</em> immortal. Or unaging. My [AI] is telling me there is a difference in your localnguage, but in Empire standard it''s the same word.¡±


    Jolene rubbed her face before scrunching up her face. Matt didn¡¯t miss how her blood pressure started to rise to a dangerous level.


    Matt stood up, and Liz followed him. ¡°I think there has been enough stress for the day. Let us take a break and reconvene the morning before the general meeting. I hope you can ensure all leaders are here, now that you fully understand the reason behind this meeting. If you have an issue or wish to contact any of us, I have some tablets which you can use to contact us and are preloaded to trante all of yournguages. They also have a small amount of information about typical Empire integrating ns.¡± Matt paused as he mulled over that information. ¡°We intend to go through with a slower than normal integration, as we recognize that while the standard Empire method is expedient, it can be hard on the people involved. Instead, we would like to use a more Republic method that is slower and hopefully more gentle. Otherwise, try to have as good of a day as you can.¡±


    Samuel looked like a weight had been lifted off his chest and slumped into his chair, while Jolene had a thousand yard stare as if she had just experienced her first life and death battle.


    It was not a good sign for what was going toe.


    Instead of leaving through the door, Matt created a [Portal] to the airspace above the Arbitration Convention and made a small show of stepping though. The skill was one he picked up after the war when he realized he¡¯d be without the Allie Express and needed a way to get around that used his mana instead of willpower.


    Matt let out the sigh he had been holding in since they had arrived. ¡°I feel like an asshole.¡±


    Liz groaned while Pheonix Liz started grooming an errant lock of his hair. ¡°I know. We stopped this stupid war, but what is the point if these people don¡¯t <em>want</em> to know the truth? I want to say that realizing the truth is nothing but a good thing but Jolene nearly had a heart attack and Samuel cowered at every word we said.¡±


    Matt pulled Liz into a hug and they floated there for a minute until they pulled apart and looked at their seneschal¡¯s together.


    ¡°Any thoughts?¡±


    Isabe nodded slowly. ¡°I¡¯ve looked over the information about veil world integrations and there are two main methods. Fast and abrupt or slow and steady. The Empire favors fast because while it''s rough in the early decades it''s simpler andes with less long term issues. But having seen these people¡­ It seems very¡­ <em>Rough</em>.¡±


    Cato just blinked at their gazes and shrugged. ¡°It is what it is. If you slow down, those children who would have been born with an Empire education and Empire opportunities would have lost them. The slow approach extends any suffering just as much as it reduces the initial shock. What is right or wrong matters little. All that matters is how you wish to handle it. The best thing the lord anddy can do is pick a method and stick with what historically works. In a thousand years, it won¡¯t have mattered how the integration happened except as a footnote in the local histories. It is neither cruel nor kind. It simply <em>is</em>.¡±


    Matt processed that information slowly before nodding. Cato wasn¡¯t wrong, even if he pointed out a harsh truth.


    A thousand years could pass and none of this would matter, so long as the poption at the time was properly integrated into the greater Empire. At least while that might be true on an Empire wide scale, but Matt was here now. He could see these people, his new people, and he wanted to do right by them.


    It only took one nce at Liz for them to affirm their decision. Slow and steady was the right path forward. At least it was here. They couldn''t change everything, and Matt was sure some of the integrations would go badly for the local popce. It was simply the truth ofrge numbers, but Matt wanted to do his best.


    Liz made a small noise, and Matt followed her spiritual perception to a nearby city where a seemingly abandoned building had a rift inside it.


    Out from the rift, a group of five walked out. Delvers.


    With another [Portal], Matt delivered the four of them in front of the building which he noticed looked like an abandoned apartmentplex.


    It wasn¡¯t quite at the level the rift break damaged buildings in the outer city of his home had experienced, but it was clearly unfit for habitation. There was even a formation that would make anyone without cultivation feel uneasy in the area of the building, and would feel downright ufortable if they entered.


    Combined with the rift being in a hidden but well warded and defended room off one of the secondary bedrooms, the ce was practically mortal proof thanks to using Tier 3 material and a number of immtion formations which would kill any monsters that might escape during a rift break.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly what he would consider a good rift policy, but it clearly worked. And with a few delving teams, they could easily keep the rift controlled and the mortals uninformed.


    The Republic had three types of delvers on veil worlds.


    The first and rarest were retirees who reached a point in their cultivation where they wanted to stop before immortality and wished to retire to a veil world. They would live as a mortal and ensure any rifts in their section <em>never</em> broke, delving them as needed to keep them safe. As they were always at least three Tiers stronger than the they were stationed on, there was little danger to be had, but so too was there no reward.


    That position was rare, though, and strictly controlled. The Republic was quite serious about keeping cultivators away from mortals.


    The second type of delvers were low-Tiers from offworld, delving the rifts normally to keep the risk of rift breaks low while advancing. They were only <em>usually</em> used when the itself didn¡¯t have very many local cultivators, which was where the third type of delver came in.


    Locals. People born on the, who lived on the, and who would probably die on the. Depending on the local regtions and whatever agreements had been established during the world¡¯s founding, those cultivators might live entirely cut off from the rest of their or be something of an open secret. In some ces, they lived <em>entirely</em> openly, with only knowledge of the greater Republic being restricted to either cultivators only, or cultivators of a certain level of strength.


    Late stage veil worlds were weird, and Matt couldn¡¯t really understand the purpose of such societies, but that was the Republic not the Empire.


    Now that he thought about it, it wasn¡¯t even <em>that</em> different from normal <em>Empire</em> life on low Tiers. Most people never thought about their greater Great Power in any real sense, and never left their world of origin. It just didn¡¯t matter to them in their short lives.


    That statistic held true in the Empire on lower Tier worlds like Lily as much as it did on veil worlds like Soerilia. The average person, even the average delver, was happy to live a content life with a moderate amount of work in return for enough wealth to see themfortable and able to afford the luxuries they desired.


    Even the price of teleportation in the Empire, while expensive, was only a moderate barrier even on Tier 4 or lower worlds that needed the teleports fed with more than ambient mana. Your average Tier 3 or Tier 4 delver could save up enough to transport a team in a year or two of average delves, with no exceptionally valuable rewards like growth items.


    It was why The Path worked so well. It found those with ambition and gave them a clear direction to run with few hurdles to trip over.


    ¡°Hello, my nam¡ª¡±


    Matt stopped speaking as the door was mmed shut in his face.


    From the other side, he could hear angry whispers about how no one should be there and they hadn¡¯t felt anyone, and how much trouble they would be in after they reported this up.


    Speaking loud enough to be heard through the door Matt said. ¡°Hello. My name is Matt and I¡¯m the new duke of the area and wanted to talk to some of the locals to get a feel for Soerilia and its people. Would you open the door, please, so we can chat politely.¡±


    The door opened, and in halting and frankly bad Republic standard one of the women, the group leader Matt assumed, said, ¡°Inside. Hurry.¡±


    Matt and Liz slipped through, to be followed a momentter by Cato and Isabe.


    In the localnguage the woman had spoken with earlier behind the door Matt said, ¡°As I said, my name is Matt, this is my wife Liz, and our seneschals. We just had a chat with some of the local leaders but we wanted to meet with a few of the local delvers and you guys were the first we encountered. Would you mind answering a few of our questions?¡±


    The woman swallowed before nodding jerkily.


    Seeing this woman was also afraid of him, Matt changed the question he was going to ask. ¡°What have you heard of us? So far, everyone in the know is terrified of us, and that feels like a bit of an overreaction if I do say so myself. Speak your mind. I promise we won¡¯t take offense.¡±


    The woman nced at her team and they shared a few hard looks before she sighed and turned back to face Matt. ¡°We¡¯ve heard a lot of things about the Empire. Little of it is good. We also heard of you two personally and that you are diators and more than capable of killing anyone at your Tier with a thought.¡±


    Liz gestured for her to continue. ¡°What about the Empire? Anything in particr?¡±


    One of the men behind her spoke first. ¡°I heard that the Empire forces people to awaken even if they don¡¯t want to so they have enough people to delve rifts.¡±


    The second woman shook her head and corrected the man. ¡°No, Eric said the Empire made people awaken so that they could earn more money off people.¡±


    The second and third men of the group shared a look and at Matt¡¯s nod the second one added. ¡°I heard the Empire forces people to reveal their Talents to get jobs.¡±


    Seeing they didn¡¯t react badly, an outpouring of half truths came out of the delvers¡¯ mouths.


    Few things the group mentioned were outright wrong, but a lot of things seemed to be either deliberately twisted into the worst exnation or mutated as the fact turned into rumor through word of mouth.


    Once the group seemed to run out of steam, Liz thanked them and proffered them two items. ¡°The skill shard is a simple [Fireball]. The rings are an enchantment that once worn will pull the spear back to its wielder. More mana into the ring will strengthen the attraction, but it''s useful if you normally throw that spear, which judging from its bnce, it looks like.¡± Once the team carefully took the items, she continued. ¡°I assure you that those rumors are mostly that. There are some kernels of truth in there, but most of what you have learned is exaggerated at best and misleading in the rest of the cases. Let me put to rest some of your concerns. The Empire does awaken everyone, but that¡¯s mostly to cut down on abuses of power. Talent readers don¡¯t show your Talent to other people, just an estimate about how strong it is, and it¡¯s illegal to require Talent readouts for job applications. Though some guilds and corporations have minimums set in their contracts there are always caveats for demonstrable skill . Taxes might be higher for high-Tiers, but it¡¯s certainly not burdensome.¡±


    As the group digested that, Matt asked his own question. ¡°If you heard so many bad things, why stay? We were led to believe that the Republic allowed any cultivator who wished to relocate to do so.¡±


    The leader''s answer was quick and firm. ¡°This is home. We wouldn¡¯t leave if things are about to get worse. We know we can¡¯t do much but we can stop a rift or two from overflowing.¡±


    That was a good answer.


    Matt grinned as he nodded along. ¡°That''s as close to a right answer as I could imagine. Can you direct us to the local delvers¡¯ organization? We have a few days free and while we intend to spend some of it exploring the world we want to meet with more delvers as we travel.¡±


    Snapping his fingers as if he had just remembered, Matt asked, ¡°Do you guys have a way to monitor rift mana levels?¡±


    The leader nodded. ¡°There is a device at the local Forum. You can also send a message to all local delvers and I assume Director Frank can give you more information about other locations.¡±


    After saying their goodbyes, Matt pulled the four of them to the newest location. They had three days before the Arbitration Convention and it would only take a second to traverse the entire if they really needed to return. With that time, Matt wanted to get a better feel for they of thend, so to speak. For all the advantages of the Empire, their efforts in uniformity and cohesion meant there weren¡¯t so many local cultures to create new variations of ideas and customs.


    Learning more about the people of this world would only help as they met with the leaders, which after the reactions so far, Matt was sure would be less than a smooth experience. He¡¯d need to talk it over with the others but he was starting to formte an idea of how best to get all of the disparate world leaders on board without too much push back.

 Chapter 348

    Chapter 348


    Westley Bakerfield had spent his life sharpening his teeth in politics. When he was in elementary school, by dint of hisst name being earliest in the alphabet, he was made ss president and was responsible for making sure all of the other kids cleaned up at the end of the day. Originally, the position was supposed to be rotated monthly, but after the first cycle, there was an unspoken understanding that Westley was the man for the job.


    Even as a child, he understood how best to motivate people. From the most reluctant who never wanted to help clean up, to the perfectionist who spent too much time on one task, Westley was able to get them working with the collective for the greater good.


    That was the start, but by no means the limit of his abilities. By the time he was in college, he had already led three debate teams to national victories, and in his sophomore year, he had won an election for student electorate president.


    Now, at the tender age of thirty nine, he was the youngest member of the Arbitration Convention by over a decade, but even just hisst two years of service to The Joined Provinces of Turistia as their high chancellor had taught him that he still had more to learn.


    Westley couldn¡¯t say he was a good man; he had made too manypromises with viins and evildoers during his life, but he always did what he thought was best for the JPT. That sometimes meant crushing the little guy underfoot, but that was simply the cost of progress.


    His nation hadn¡¯t carved its ce among the giants like the Democratic Republic of Noricum or the Communists of the Greater South ins by being <em>nice</em>.


    That was why he was quite gleeful that the two superpowers had gone to war. The more they weakened each other, the better the JPT¡¯s standing in the internationalmunity.


    Even now, the two leaders red at each other as they were made to wait in the great hexagonal room.


    Most of the people were watching the two, and Westley was no exception. The two superpowers had been settling in for a long and bitter war before they had an inexplicable cease fire, and the Arbitration Convention flexed its moderate political influence to get every world leader at this meeting. He hadn¡¯t been able to figure out how they had managed it but he was prepared for a AC power y if it came to that.Westley had done his homework on the flight over, and knew that such a meeting had only happened twice before. And never before at the behest of the AC, who as their name implied, acted as a ce of mediation with little power of its own.


    The fact they had gotten even the non democratic states to attend,bined with the atmosphere that the other shoe was about to drop, had Westley on edge.


    That feeling of static in the air grew until Councilor Jolene and the retired Councilor Samuel walked through one of the side doors gathering everyone''s attention to them like a ma thrown into iron dust.


    Councilor Jolene held up a hand and waited for silence. It took almost five minutes, but eventually she got it, and when she did, she started speaking. ¡°I¡¯m sure that everyone is curious as to why I gathered you all. I wish I had better news but to put it simply our has been brought under new management. W¡ª¡±


    Her next words were drowned out by the cacophony of shouts and even Westley was opening his mouth to raise an objection, when four people appeared next right behind Councilor Jolene and Councilor Samuel.


    Both councilors flinched as did everyone else in the room.


    Even as Westley¡¯s mind spun and tried to process four people appearing seemingly out of nowhere, he was caught on their <em>appearances</em>.


    People popping out of a trap door in the floor or having some kind of new kind of stealth tech would be impressive in its own right, and could theoretically be used to ckmail the AC, but what made no sense was their skin color.


    The two individuals standing in the fore were clearly the leaders, if he was reading the bodynguage of the two behind them correctly. They were paler than anyone he had ever seen in his life. Not to mention their strange robes. They weren¡¯t the fashion <em>anywhere</em> he knew of adding to the strange otherness radiating from the neers.


    Pale skinbined with hair colors he had never seen outside of a bottle, golden and a red with odd golden under <em>and</em> over tones, respectively. And the man''s eyes¡­if he wasn¡¯t confident in his eyesight, even at 40 years old, he would have doubted his own vision. The golden haired man had what seemed like an extrayer to his pupils, the outer glowing with light and the inner paradoxically absorbing it.


    Even the two¡­personal assistants? Secretaries? Were lighter of skin than what was seen on Soerilia. The woman¡¯s skin was slightly dusky, but the second man''s skin was even paler than the first, though that might have been his ink ck hair giving a better contrast than the golden haired man¡¯s.


    The slitted eyes the man had were almost mundane next to the paradox that was the male leader''s eyes.


    Westley¡¯s mind ground to a halt before long training forced it to analyze something else.


    The two in front, the leaders, were built like his bodyguards more so than politicians.


    The man could be considered attractive if one could look past the odd coloring, as his symmetrical facial structure was chiseled in a way that was only seen in exceptional models. But while that was interesting it paled inparison to his <em>body</em>. The man was at least a head taller than Westley and his wide shoulders andrge chest spoke to long hours in a gym.


    Or long hours on a battlefield.


    The thought bubbled up like water on a sinking ship from Westley¡¯s subconscious, but he didn¡¯t dismiss it.


    Instead, he turned his attention to the woman.


    The hair like copper was striking andbined with her face¨C seemingly devoid of makeup or adornment¨C the women could grace any number of magazines, and even with the oddity that was her coloration, Westley found her moderately attractive. There was something about her that seemed off, and he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it until he realized the woman didn¡¯t have the soft curves that were considered attractive in the JPT, or even the thin limbs that were the beauty standard on the old continent. Like the man, the woman was muscr. She still had curves, but Westley would put all of his wealth on the woman having almost no fat except for her chest and posterior.


    Westley was about to speak out when a presence descended over the room.


    It was like being woken up by a wet nket being thrown over his face and body, and almost immediately, all sound in the room stopped.


    Even the chairs didn¡¯t make a squeak as every leader shifted and checked why their voices had suddenly stopped.


    Councilor Jolene spoke in the silence. ¡°There is no easier way to put it. A folder of information is on your desk. Please spend a few minutes going over it and then I will answer questions. To answer the main question that I am sure is on everyone''s tongue, these are our new overlords. Duke and Duchess Matthew and Elizabeth Moore. Please read the packet, it will answer most of your questions.¡±


    Westley tried to speak but his voice was still muted, and he saw several of his fellows trying to not just speak but get up, however they seemed to be trapped in a space around their desks.


    Westley reached out trying to feel the barrier that was barring the others from storming the floor, but he felt nothing. The bird on the woman''s shoulder that he somehow hadn¡¯t noticed before this seemed to catch his movement and <em>smiled</em>.


    How a bird smiled, Westly couldn¡¯t put words to, but the expression was clear. And right in front of his fingertips appeared what looked like a heatwave of an open me, or a not so clear piece of ss.


    Except there was no heat, and as his finger touched it, he felt like he was pushing up against what he could only describe as hardened air. It wasn¡¯t cool to the touch like metal or wet like the shimmer might have implied. It felt like the air that was always around him.


    Looking at the still smiling bird he took a better look. He was pretty sure the bird was on fire. Not a regr fire like you saw from wood or gas burning. No, it was a liquid kind of fire that crackled over the sleek feathers of the raptorspact body. A body that radiated danger to things probablyrger than rabbits and field mice.


    A shiver ran down Westley¡¯s spine and he turned his attention to the packet of information in front of him.


    It was short, only five pages long, but if not for the demonstration of magic before him, he would have never believed a word he read. It was too fantastical for reality.


    Magic people, called cultivators, who had unimaginable powers, who lived forever, and who owned millions ofs like Soerilia.


    That might have been the hardest pill to swallow.


    Their had been part of one of these Great Powers before their had been a part of a treaty that saw them ceded to <em>The Empire</em>.


    The fact their new rulers were monarchist was less than reassuring. The few monarchies on Soerilia were seldom better than the petty dictators who turned their countries into fascist dumpster fires.


    And what was with the names? The Sophron Empire, the Evesting Republic, the United ns, The Hierarchy of Sects, the Nixi Federation, the Monster Collective, the Conglomerate of Guilds, the Assembly of Corporations. Mostcked any of the personalization that he was used to seeing in governments but then the reason hit him. They didn¡¯t need identifiers beyond their governmental type because they were the only ones, and therefore there could be no confusion.


    That thought was like a lead weight that settled into his stomach.


    The size of their respective entities seemed beyond belief. Millions ofs connected through magical tethers in some higher level of reality? Westley had trouble getting his more distant governors to listen to him, and they were all within the same. How did anyone govern millions ofs?


    The packet had the answer, but Westley wasn¡¯t sure he actually believed it.


    The Emperor was apparently one of the eight strongest beings in the <em>realm</em> and, therefore, ruled via his overwhelming power.


    Westley had the thought to ask if they could be given back to the Republic, a ce that seemed more inline with their ideals, but quickly realized if they had been given away by agreement of the highest powers, there was nothing any amount of begging would do.


    The gods had decided, and the mortals had little choice but to obey.


    Westley did see some good in the destruction of his world.


    It was clear that the two people in front of him were the <em>lords</em> the document talked about, but if that document was to be believed, there were benefits to be had. New technologies, magical healing the likes of which could only be seen on the silver screen, and magical powers.


    Westley could see that his position as Chancellor would be thest or possibly second tost, but he saw an opportunity here to improve the lives of his people. Clean energy that every person produced just by existing?


    It all seemed too good to be true.


    And it was.


    Or at least, it seemed that way.


    There were magical portals in space filled with monsters that if not entered and cleared regrly would spill ravenous monsters out to kill anyone nearby.


    There were cultivators living among them currently who ¡®delved¡¯ but their new rulers seemed intent on allowing anyone to delve those rifts.


    His packet came with a list of locations in his own country, and Westley had to suck in a deep breath at the list. He didn¡¯t know every location, but several of them were known to him for their danger.


    Westley¡¯s rational mind said that if there hadn''t been any monster breaks in thest however long, there shouldn''t be any going forward.


    Instead, his mind kept going to the list of technology that the Empire would bring.


    Even if his country didn¡¯t survive this integration, he could ensure that his people were well established in this new world order, and he wondered if they needed to be producers of goods, content, or of services. What would serve his people best?


    His attention was brought out of his musings by a voice he didn¡¯t want to hear.


    ***


    Tara Felgrave, President of the Vimar Republic, felt her age in her back and hips, but all of that was washed away at the news of magic.


    She wasn¡¯t so much excited as deeply fearful of what was apparentlying.


    ¡°We will happily take control of Soerilia for you, my lords.¡± Victory Rahpesh was the king of the Rahpesh kingdom, and had been a thorn in her side just like his father for thest three decades as they constantly expanded.


    It had only been a defensive coalition of all their surrounding neighbors that had finally stopped their aggressive streak, and the thought that they might take over their entire made her want to vomit. Her knuckles remind her of her age as she squeezed her hand into a fist.


    She tried to speak, as did a dozen others, but once more their voices didn¡¯t seem to leave their throats.


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    Instead, the woman spoke, ¡°While we appreciate your willingness to serve, we will not be cing a local leader inmand of Soerilia. We will be personally overseeing the integration, and eventually a candidate from the Empire proper will be given lordship over Soerilia.¡±


    Tara tried to raise her objection and was surprised to find her voice worked.


    As everyone turned to her, Tara stood on shaky legs. ¡°Are we to be given no say over who will rule us?¡±


    The young man nodded, but it was clearly only in acknowledgment of her question and not agreement. ¡°As we further the integration, you will find that many of your positions will turn into governors, which even in the Empire are elected officials. We are willing to take feedback on our possible candidates, but I assure each and every one of you that the Baron who takes over Soerilia will bepetent andpassionate.¡±


    Feeling all of her and her ancestors'' work slipping away from them, Tara tried one more time. ¡°Is there truly no way for us to rule ourselves?¡±


    The man blinked at her, and Tara was reminded of the eyes of killers she had encountered in her life. Eyes not quite dead, but that had seen more than anyone ever should in a single lifetime. ¡°That is not within the purview we have been given. Local poptions must be brought up to Empire standards as quickly as possible.¡±


    The man gestured around the room. ¡°Something as simple asnguage is a barrier for you all, but no matter which of the many worlds in the Empire that you travel to you will be able tomunicate without issue. That is just one example of what is needed in an integration. Do you believe that a leader chosen from among you with your varied and tumultuous histories will be able to refrain from the squabbles of the past?¡±


    Tara wanted to refute the man. She acknowledged that there was a thread of logic in bringing in someone from the outside, but that didn¡¯t mean she liked it. She also didn¡¯t like the idea that her people would be forced to learn some foreignnguage.


    Language was life.


    He was correct in that it was how peoplemunicated, but it was so much more. Anguage was a growing thing that changed as people did. Its very essence was seeped in the history of its people, and no matter how good any trantion was, it could never do justice to the original, for those who had been born in thenguage and understood its nuances and intricacies.


    The kid might put flowers on the idea, but everyone speaking the same tongue across even a single would lead to homogenization and eventual stagnation as the rigid constraints of thenguage, unchanging and unbending, forced their thoughts into rigid predefined patterns.


    These invaders from another reality might couch it as a good thing, but Tara could see this for what it was.


    The death of Soerilia.


    Tara just didn¡¯t know what she could do to prevent it.


    If even half of what the folder said was true, these people were like gods.


    That thought had her looking over to the Grand Secretary of the Palkar Union. Gerard seemed genuinely apoplectic, and based on their almost religious belief in everyone being born equal and remaining equal throughout their life, with no person having more rights than another, it wasn¡¯t surprising to see him reacting badly to the idea of real tangible differences in power between individuals.


    He was screaming his head off in silence, and Tara doubted that he would be given any amount of vocal freedom any time soon.


    Tara hated everything she had heard today, but the ability to silence people like that would be a power she would find hard to decline.


    Westley Bakerfield stood and was given leave to speak by the raptor on the woman''s shoulder, and Tara winced when she heard the young man''s excitement. ¡°You noted that you wanted to ease themon people into the idea of magic, but you will be giving technologies for us to integrate with. Is there any way to see examples of them? As well as magic in general? And these rifts? What about awakening, how does it work?¡±


    The two lords shared a look which only reinforced that they were an old couple to Tara. It was short, and a million words seemed to pass between them in that instant.


    If they were a couple walking down the street, Tara would have smiled at young love, but the packet said these people were hundreds of years old. And then as if that wasn¡¯t absurd enough, it implied that people of their age were considered <em>young</em>.


    The woman spoke, and Tara swore the bird was watching her with uncanny intelligence. ¡°We can tell that many of you don¡¯t fully believe us, which we acknowledge is understandable. We can take you to the nearby world that is typical of an Empire. While there, we can awaken anyone who wishes to undergo the procedure, and we can show you what a rift looks like and what your people will be dealing with.¡±


    One of the dictators spoke, but Tara didn¡¯t recognize them from their voice alone. They changed leaders so quickly, she could hardly keep up. ¡°Must we go through this procedure?¡±


    The man shook his head before pointing at Westley. ¡°By Empirew, all peoples must awaken. However, there is an exception dating back to when mandatory awakening was first introduced that those above the age of 45 can decline. While no longer relevant in the Empire proper, as none can reach that age without being in breach of mandatory awakeningws, it still applies to newly integrated worlds such as your own. That said, while all but one of you are old enough to decline, be aware we will require you to not run for another term, step down, or otherwise remove yourself from your current position if you choose to exercise that right. You will be who themon citizen will look to in theing years. We don¡¯t want to set a bad example.¡±


    Westley, the foolish child, looked positively giddy at the rule that should have any reputable leader of a democratic country weeping for the loss of freedom. He seemed seduced with power and new shiny toys, ignoring the noose he was tightening around his neck.


    The man waved and an oval of blue light appeared on the AC speakers floor. ¡°This will take us to the teleporter where we can visit the nearby. Please proceed through the portal and then clear the terminus location so others can go through.¡±


    Tara looked around, and despite the man implying they wouldn¡¯t force anyone, no one believed they wouldn¡¯t be thrown through the portal should they try to sit this one out.


    As she shuffled down the steps, Tara wished her guards had been allowed in the meeting, as their assistance would have been helpful.


    Just as she was thinking that, the secretary man who stood behind the two appeared next to her side.


    ¡°Would you like some assistance, madam?¡±


    Tara looked at him and shook her head vehemently. She wanted no part in their magic and said so.


    The man blinked at her, and she realized he had slitted eyes like a predator. ¡°I was offering help of the more mundane variety. But I could also cast a healing spell on you that, while it won¡¯t change your age, will relieve some of the rigors of old age you are experiencing.¡±


    Tara nearly fell over at the idea of magical healing. It seemed <em>unnatural</em>. Old age was a part of life and death, both of which were perfectly normal. This whole immortality business went against the fundamental truths of nature. It might not be fun or pleasant, as she well knew, but it was part of the cycle that returned to the which had birthed them.


    Not that she could say that outloud here and now. The man had crossed the twenty foot distance in a blur, and if that speed tranted to power, he could break her with a thought. A part of her wished he would do so and show those foolish enough to be agreeing that these monsters were here to end their way of life sopletely, they wouldn¡¯t even know their histories in a generation or two.


    No, it was better to be polite, at least on the surface. ¡°No, thank you. I have managed for thest eighty two years. I can manage for one more.¡±


    The man nodded before blurring back to his ce beside the golden haired one.


    Marcus Daltor, an older man with a missing finger he covered with a glove with an insert, stepped out of the line to the portal and removed his glove. ¡°You mentioned healing. Is it possible to heal a severed appendage?¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°It is possible, and I am technically able to do so, but I would prefer it if you wait a few moments. Magical healing is as much a specialized discipline as non-magical medicine. While we are on the other, we can have a true specialiste over during our tour and get that taken care of.¡±


    ¡°And the cost?¡±


    Tara had to nod at the man''s good sense finally showing through, even if he trembled with excitement. Fell bargains always had a price to be paid.


    ¡°All healing is free for civilians in the Empire.¡± The woman seemed to believe it, but Tara was sure that no monarchy could be so enlightened to have something like free healthcare. There was the caveat about civilians, and Tara expected that the moment the fools epted the magic power stuff they were talking about they would no longer qualify.


    She had seen simr tactics yed out before.


    Tara braced herself as she stepped through the blue disk expecting to trip and fall or something simr, but instead she found herself in a train station. As she stepped away from the magical portal thing, she saw that the wall in front of them seemed transparent and showed the busy floor of people walking around in what she recognized as the Grand Central Station of Noricum.


    Turning around, she got a fright, as a massive circr tform of metal sat there in what felt like in sight.


    The copper haired woman gestured for everyone to stand on the tform, and Tara acutely felt the absence of her guards as people filed in.


    The golden haired man was thest through the portal,and as he stepped onto the tform, a sphere of blue appeared to trap them in.


    An instant of vertigo nearly caused Tara to pass out, but a few deep breaths steadied her, and through watery eyes she looked up to find herself in a new room filled with more pale people.


    She corrected herself as she squinted. Not everyone was as pale as a fish''s underbelly, and a few people had a proper coloration to them.


    That was the only bit of familiarity as they exited the room they were in. The man and woman both said a few things, their voices traveling to Tara¡¯s ear like they were standing right next to her, but she ignored it all, her attention on the alien city.


    On a surface level it looked normal enough but there was a stark absence of vehicles. What she thought was a bus tumbled past silently, and the same was true for a lone car with a slogan stenciled on its side.


    The fact that the car looked strikingly simr, but just alien enough to register as different was a bit of a shock, but what really caught her attention was the air. It smelled almost right. There were the smells of people, of steel and ss, but there was the absence of fumes frombustion engines and burning petrol whoseck made everything else smell weird.


    Tara took the time to inspect the people they passed on therge sidewalks on their short trip. The people looked normal, people in what she thought were the equivalents of suits chatting to the air as they walked briskly, a mother trying to wrangle two children who seemed more interested in exploring the flowerbeds that lined the sidewalks than walking.


    It all seemed normal until a man flew down above tond in front of their group.


    After a deep nod, or shallow bow, to the two nobles, the man in robes of blue and white moved to Marcus and Tara stopped with everyone else who craned their necks to watch.


    The nub that was his missing finger seemed to pulse with the blue color she was starting to recognize as magic. In seconds, the man''s finger grew out until it was indistinguishable from the others.


    Even as Marcus was ecstatic, Tara couldn¡¯t help but fear what she had watched.


    If they can shape the body like that, what else could they do to it, if they have less than good intentions?


    The healing man moved around at the request of some of the world leaders, healing various ailments, but Tara waved him off and was thankful that it wasn¡¯t forced upon her.


    That thought upied her as they entered a nearby building where a number of Soerilia¡¯s world leaders sold themselves to the enemy.


    Those that sat in the chair all seemed excited as they stood up. One of the dictator''s skin turned a metallic sheen for a moment, and hisugh boomed out.


    Monsters giving power to future monsters. Tara was sure the man would be going on a rampage as soon as they returned.


    How many would suffer now that power to lord above those weaker was at anyone''s fingertips?


    As they were led to what they called a rift, Tara had seen enough to make amitment to create as much of a resistance as she could when they got back. It might be hard, impossible even, but she would prepare her people to survive the inevitable degradation of their beliefs and histories.


    It was clear they couldn''t stop this, but she could set her people up for the long fight of resisting being turned into little more than cogs in this massive machine.


    Looking around, she noticed that the fight wouldn¡¯t just be against this Empire, but her fellow Soerilians.


    As she noticed the line of leaders not yet awakened be shorter and shorter, she made a decision. It was a hard one, and her ns might be easier if she could keep her current position, but <em>someone</em> had to make a stand. Even if it took years before the people realized what she had done, she was old. If taking a stand got her killed, better her than someone younger who never expected the de to fall.


    As she ignored the pointed nces of her homes new tyrants, she started to consider what her resignation speech would look like. Wouldn''t do to give them an excuse to remove her morepletely, after all.


    She still had two more years before her reelection, she just hoped it would be enough time to do everything that needed to be done. And as she crossed eyes with Grand Secretary Gerald, standing just as unmoving as her, she realized she might not be quite as alone in this as she first thought.


    Strange times made for strange bedfellows.


    ***


    Fabian Lacor, newly risen president of the Yukat Inds, looked at the shimmering haze of energy in front of him. It screamed evil and danger, but after his Awakening, as the new <em>lords</em> called it, he felt powerful and like he could take on anything.


    Not that he would. If his life had taught him anything, it was that you never wanted to stand out too far until it was time to strike, and his Talent seemed to reflect that.


    Tier 1 Talent: When you concentrate you may fade or amplify your presence. Fading can allow you to slip under people¡¯s notice while amplifying enough can act as a mental attack.


    The power was like a limb he had never known he had, and it had been instinctual to fade into the crowd.


    He had some political enemies back home that he could test the other effect on, but that would need to wait. They were being shown what monsters there were to face in this brave new world.


    Fabian didn¡¯t expect much, but as they walked through the portal, he joined another group who inspected a pair of small green humanoids in the next room.


    Someone asked about guns, and Fabian listened as Matthew answered. ¡°Guns are viable to use to delve, but their main advantage, mass production, falls off fairly hard as you Tier up and Tiered materials be rarer. Guns also don''t directly take advantage of physical or magical cultivation. These Tier 1 goblins would die to a simple well ced handgun shot, but a Tier 2 or 3 variant would be much harder to damage. And by Tier 4, they would be nearly bulletproof to mundane firearms. I would suggest picking up a weapon or a spell.¡±


    Fabian had a million and one questions, but asked none of them as they took what felt like a tour of a mineshaft as the monsters just exploded after attacking their group.


    He didn¡¯t disregard the danger of doing this himself, but Fabian had never shied away from getting a little blood on his hands. Power was right there for the taking if he could reach out and grab it.


    He would need to be careful, but he intended to enter these spaces as often as he could until he reached the power limit.


    Then he would leverage his position as a world leader to umte more power until he was eventually strong enough to do anything he wanted.


    He had wed his way from nothing through the corrupt politicalndscape of his home, but that was where he learned a fundamental truth of the world. It was the flexible who survived. He had bent, twisted, and stabbed every opportunity he came across until he reached the highest level of power.


    Or so he thought.


    Just when he thought he reached the peak of possible worldly power, the heavens opened and showed him just how much further there was to climb.


    Fabian could see the lesser men and women around him who considered this a cmity bearing down on their homes. They only saw the destruction, but he saw the clear blue sky that had been hidden from him his whole life.


    This was what he was meant to do in life. Gather power, not just political power but real, tangible power that he could use to whatever he desired. Many, many people, institutions, and even the itself had slighted him too many times to count and he would have his reckoning.


    There were <em>a lot</em> of wrongs to be righted, and he would get to them soon enough.


    However, doing so would be a lot easier if he could slow this <em>unveiling</em> business down, and his mind went to the best ways to run subtle interference. There was no reason they should be giving power to themoners.


    Or were they peasants now?


    That was the term the monarchies used, and Fabian found it rolled off the tongue well. The words'' simplistic conjunction fit their simple lives and lots in life better than something like civilian ormoner.


    One of the new <em>lords</em>, Matthew, had already mentioned delivering magical tools that could heal. He stated they were to be given to hospitals, but Fabian had no intention of doing that.


    No, they would go to his loyal people. He would have them monopolize the so-called rifts and then, as he grew in power, he could strangle his enemies before they could even get started, ensuring he had enough time to get ahead of the curve.


    His breathing quickened as he could almost taste their pleas and cries as they realized they had lost the race even before it had started.


    Sadly, Fabian knew he couldn¡¯t do it alone, but thankfully, a good portion of the other countries'' leaders could be convinced to drag their feet on whatever ns these lordlings tried to push. Bureaucracy was slow, and he suspected so-called immortal bureaucracy would be even slower.


    A dy here, a failed n there, and the world leaders could double or triple whatever time frame these people wanted to hit without too much interference.


    A decade or two should be more than enough time.


    The two nobles talked a lot more about things like technology and ensuring food was distributed to the poorest regions of the, but Fabian relegated only a portion of his mind to listening. The majority was instead making ns.


    Ah the naivety of youth. Thinking to give out food. As if the production lines needed to facilitate such actions wouldn¡¯t strip anything of value out of whatever altruistic deal they were putting together, leaving nothing but a hollow shell to arrive at the people in ¡®need¡¯.


    If these were their priorities, these children were going to be eaten alive as they dealt with real politics for the first time.


    Fabian just needed to ensure he pushed the right people forward at the right time to keep both his hands clean, and himself out of the spotline until it was time to wrest control.


    He couldn''t help but smile as he thought about to the little Talent reader thing that supposedly told him what he was best at.


    <em>How fitting</em>.


    Maybe there was something to this magic stuff after all.


    An interesting thought, and he¡¯d need to get someone he trusted to try tinkering with those Talent reader things. They could be a good way to cut out any issues before they could take root and grow in their fertile new world.

 Chapter 349

    Matt wished he could say that he was full of confidence when they exited the Arbitration Convention building, but instead he was just wrung out.


    People were ultimately people whether they were high Tier or low Tier and the unawakened proved that to Matt better than any research paper ever could. A few of the leaders seemed like genuinely good people looking out for their countries and its peoples but far too many of them only seemed interested in the benefits the integration to the Empire would bring them personally.


    After the shock and disbelief they had shown upon reading the briefing, the majority of Soerilia¡¯s leaders quickly shifted their focus.


    Unsurprisingly a few of the leaders seemed to think they could just ignore Matt and Liz¡¯s arrival and spoke of things like closing their borders. Matt tried to impress upon them that such actions wouldn¡¯t be tolerated and they should use the time allotted to get their people used to the Empire as much as possible during the time they had.


    Those were put on various watch lists to be monitored by theary AI Matt was going to set up between meetings.


    Because of course there were more meetings.


    The two councilors looked at him like he was crazy when one of his statements implied that the intro meeting would be their only meeting. They quickly informed him that they would need a day, preferably two or three, for everyone to meet amongst interest groups and political affiliations so the Soerilia leaders could decide on their course of actions.


    Matt wanted to ask what possible course of action they could be nning besides what wasid out in their introductory docket and therger, more thorough information packet they were all given, but he realized what that would sound like and so held his tongue.


    While he wanted to get back to Lily so he could start preparing for his guild, he also wanted this transition from Republic veil world to productive Empire world to go as smoothly as possible.To that end, Matt and Liz agreed to give the various world leaders the three days that Councilor Samuel requested.


    They instead went and toured more of the.


    Their first visit was the Cradle of Empires purely off its name.


    The region was a massive desert surrounded by arid ins surrounded further byrge mountains that were nearly impassable for mortals outside of a few months when snow didn¡¯t clog the valleys.


    The only reason life was able to flourish in the region was the massive river that ran right through the center of the region creating a strip of green across the desert.


    The traditional peoples of the region were nomadic and in the winter months they roved through the deserts and ins gathering food from horseback and in the hot summers they moved to the river and settled down waiting out the worst of the heat by thergest source of water.


    The reason the ce was called the Cradle of Empires was the fact three empires were created out of the region as inevitably a leader united the nomads and led a majority of them out to conquer the surrounding regions.


    Amusingly enough the word Matt¡¯s AI tranted as ¡¯cradle¡¯ had implications of a ce for the elderly to die because those same three empires ended up trying to conquer their homnds a few generationster and were defeated in detail allowing their neighbors to gang up on them and tear them into pieces.


    In the current politicalndscape the region was only considered a mid level country but they had a thriving tourist industry that Matt and Liz wanted to take advantage of.


    They were even able to do so for a whole day and a half before they got a call from Councilor Jolene who seemed excited and Councilor Samuel who seemed worried for his life still.


    With a thought, they returned to the Arbitration Convention and moved to see what Councilor Samuel was worried about.


    He nearly quivered as the two of them walked into his office. ¡°My Lords I¡­¡± He swallowed several times before he could continue. ¡°I wanted to inform you that some of the world leaders are intending to do things you might consider against your orders.¡±


    Samuel winced like he expected to get personally med but when no reprimand came he heisantly spoke further. ¡°Some of the delegates are intending to set up an organization dedicated to preserving the local cultures. They don¡¯t mean treason. I swear. They just want to protect what is, what was. Please don¡¯t punish them too harshly.¡±


    Matt just blinked at Samuel in confusion, then returned to Tier 26 speeds to talk to Liz, ¡°Seriously, what¡¯s up with these guys? We¡¯re not <em>monsters</em>.¡±


    Both Lizzes shrugged in unison. ¡°I have no idea, but I¡¯m grateful he''s at least trying to do his best to protect his people. If we were assholes and found out he was hiding this from us, it would be his head.¡±


    Matt rubbed his temples, butposed himself before returning to a speed that Samuel could perceive. ¡°We¡¯re not upset, Councillor. The degree to which you all wish to preserve your current culture is entirely up to you, so long as it doesn¡¯t vite Empire rules, such as whichnguage is primarily taught in schools. There aren¡¯t many lords that actively support cultural anthropological efforts like you¡¯re describing, but very few <em>forbid</em> it, and we certainly aren¡¯t about to stop you in any way. The echoes of your culture are entirely likely to have their own unique impact when integrated into media or tourism which is a positive all things told. Who¡¯s trying to spearhead the operation?¡±


    Samuel looked genuinely shocked to which Liz exined further. ¡°Councilor Samuel, you need to take our perspective into consideration. So long as the baseline culture¨C meaningnguage, governmental controls, and beliefs¨C are in line with Empire standard, The Empire as an entity doesn''t care about local variations like a society for historical preservation. In a hundred years it will be relegated to something people pay lip service to, in five hundred it will just be a thing people celebrate during local holidays, and in a thousand it will be curiosity. But even in that case, there are plenty of historians who have dedicated <em>eternity</em> to visitings and learning their unique histories and keeping them alive in some way shape or form.¡±


    Councilor Samuel went pale at the words, but Liz continued.


    ¡°If your people can preserve more of their current culture than that, they are wee to do so, but that is the problem with mortal poptions. They grow old and die. <em>Rapidly</em>. If culture is not controlled and prevented from drift you will have the issue that you currently possess now but across millions of worlds: people who can¡¯t understand their neighbors or can''t tolerate some superficial local custom that offends their own local customs. If it makes you feel better, your culture wouldn¡¯t survive more than a century or two on its own before something else supnted it. By integrating now, your culture is, arguably,sting far longer than it ever would have on its own.¡±


    Samuel looked depressed at the realization but he nodded to which Matt started speaking. ¡°Tell the leaders who wish to do something like that they should check the packet. There is a section dedicated to the topic on page seven thousand and fifty two and it details the historical best practices and what pitfalls to avoid. They are wee to take what they want from that or ignore it. While we are handling the integration, we are willing to dedicate¡­¡± Matt looked to Liz to get a feel for what was a proper amount, ¡°a billion credits a decade to the effort.¡±


    That brought up a side topic about how they were supposed to handle the integration of credits and the conversion of the local currencies, which Matt and Liz bowed out of. They had a team of administrations hired from a Tier 35 corporation, which would fill the role of administrator assistance once the integration was fully revealed. They had contracted the best of the best, and this was why. They would handle things like switching local economies to the credit system and offering suggestions to the in which ways they could best create wealth post integration.


    After that meeting they went to Councilor Jolene who was meeting with the three most powerful world leaders. Democratic Republic of Noricum, the Communists of the Greater South ins, and the Joined Provinces of Turistia.


    Matt expected pushback from the strongest local powers, especially considering two of them were at war just days ago, but the atmosphere seemed positive which gave him a glimmer of hope that they would have a good idea or two.


    Councilor Jolene stood as he entered and bowed, which was btedly copied by the others.


    The leader of the The Joined Provinces of Turistia, Westley Bakerfield, spoke first. ¡°We have been talking about how best to go about easing our peoples into the idea of magic. Consulting the documents you provided we would like to use the Rnd Method as it is already in ce for Soerilia so it''s as easy as simply activating the n.¡±


    Matt frowned at the suggestion, which made the leaders flinch.


    Liz leaned back slightly signaling that this was his own decision and she wouldn¡¯t interfere.


    He appreciated that but things would have been a lot easier if she was willing to just make the decision which would allow him and his personal biases to keep out of the touchy subject.


    The Rnd Method was one of many, many ways that the Republic used to re-integrate Veil worlds, intended to be the closest thing to a ¡®natural¡¯ re-integration that could be feasibly managed. It worked by carefully pulling back regr delves from remote rifts in unpopted regions, allowing them to break and fill a portion of the world with monsters. Then over time, more and more of the rifts would be unmanaged, allowing for the citizens of the world to naturally fight against and kill the monsters, Awakening and growing in strength until they were able to keep their entire in check solely through native efforts.


    Its proponents argued for its efficiency as well as the way it could most effectively ease a Veil world into cultivation with minimal outside influence. Matt didn¡¯t disagree, as even his personal favorite - B Unveiling - still involved unnatural meddling from the outside and a decent bit of shoving around existing cultures to try and make them adapt.


    Veil worlds would sometimes technologically advance far enough that they became capable of traveling off-world and establishing a colony on another world in their sr system. Having portions of their poption living on two separateary bodies, one Tiered and the other not, almost always resulted in the subsequent discovery of essence, <em>and</em> prepared them for the reveal that their main world was itself simply a colony of a muchrger multiversal Great Power. Of course, the Republic still would need to intervene before Essence could warp native power structures¡­ but it was about as harmless as it came, and definitely one of the most interesting situations. It just took too long to be practical with the expected Empire timelines of intergeneration.


    Matt just found it so interesting. Sometimes there would even be some new and interesting bit of tech that came out of those worlds. There were a fair number of people who were obsessed with ¡®mundane tech,¡¯ but even in instances where it <em>wasn¡¯t</em> just a less-efficient way of using mana, it was almost always over-specialized for low-Tier materials and couldn¡¯t scale very well. Mundane tech hit the limit of physics too quickly whereas essence tech had no such limits but that didn¡¯t make the research any less intriguing.


    It wasn¡¯t <em>just</em> his personal history of rift breaks on Lilly that led him to dislike the Rnd method, but he could also definitely recognize that it was a bias.


    Waving to the leaders Matt moved to take a seat. ¡°I¡¯m not angry at your idea but I dislike the Rnd Method because of its rtion to an incident where I grew up. The world I grew up on is the Empire equivalent of a backward tiny town with only a few dozen million people living there.¡±


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    That seemed to shock all four of the Soerilia natives, but he continued without letting himself linger in the memories. ¡°Our local noble was deposed because they allowed a series of rift breaks which devastated several cities as the monster rushed out and killed a majority of people. My parents were part of those lost so my view on deliberate rift breaks is¡­ distasteful to say the least. I would rather just disperse the rifts while ughtering the monsters but I also recognize that even if it is a method with more losses than others it has been used to great effect a number of times.¡±


    When it seemed like Councilor Jolene was going to backtrack her earlier offer of using the method Matt spoke first. ¡°I won¡¯t say you can¡¯t use it ,but I want you to know what you are getting into. You <em>will </em>lose people. If you are going to use this method, I am going to insist that you have a wellid out n and only take volunteers.¡±


    Letting his eyes harden for dramatic effect Matt caught the eye of each leader before looking to the next. ¡°When I say volunteers, I <em>mean</em> volunteers. No ying with definitions or using your soldiers because they volunteered to be part of your armed forces.¡±


    Seeing he had made a decision, Liz leaned forward and added her own ideas. ¡°This could even be a useful method to introduce some of the new technologies. The mountains are young and will take a substantial effort to cut through. If you look at the technologies we will be making avable, you will see an improved drilling method. It¡ª¡±


    Matt leaned back and just listened, which the others seemed happy to let him do. Instead Matt let his spiritual perception spread to the unimednd and searched through therger half of the continent.


    There was a surprising number of natural treasures scattered through the area and while some were obviously ced there when the world was first settled, even more were obviously native to the region.


    Nothing was new but there were lots of useful variations he saw. Whoever found the SunSet Marigold would find themselves quite the lucky individual. That natural treasure was rare enough in the Empire that it caused a dust up in any region it was found in as higher Tiers tried to buy it for their descendants.


    He did find two rifts that he considered too dangerous to remain and with a thought he drained them of mana until the rifts dissipated and with another thought he killed the monsters that had escaped the rift over the years.


    Matt was tempted to do more but he knew that was his past talking. Instead he decided to just let this choose its own fate.


    They had done so for thousands of years while they were a veil world . Even if they were being integrated into the Empire, theirpetency hadn¡¯t vanished.


    If the threergest countries wanted to use what was left to them by their ancestors that was their choice.


    Matt contributed a few ideas for how best to handle the ideas but he let Liz and the leaders make most of the decisions.


    He thought that was the end of his meetings but almost all of the country leaders wanted to meet with them before the actual meeting and it seemed like all of the actual decisions were made before the formal gathering.


    Thankfully most of the world leaders seemed to fall in line over the discussions and Matt was confident that Soerilia would hit the development milestones they had all agreed on even if he heard whispers about slowing things down. If everything went well in twenty five years the world would go through its official unveiling but most citizens would be aware of magic long before that and he had hopefully made it clear that malingering wouldn¡¯t be tolerated.


    Matt and Liz returned to Lily where they met up with Cato and Isabe who had been coordinating with the various people who had arrived to see them while they had been on Lily.


    Seeing how much extra time they had spent on Soerilia, they contemted changing their ns, but ended up choosing to keep to their schedule.


    With the war over, they needed to visit Ventillyria toplete the promise they had given so long ago.


    Thankfully Allie needed to get a new way point for Lily and offered to jump them to Ventillyria while she toured the and waited for a waypoint to naturally form.


    It was hard, harder than Matt could have ever imagined, but seeing the survivors who were still alive thank him for killing Maven healed a part of Matt he hadn¡¯t known was still bleeding so many yearster.


    Personally Matt was just happy that so many of Ventillyria¡¯s people had grown up to be strong enough to protect themselves and their homes. Those who remained were scarred, but they were at least alive.


    There were even a few that Matt, Liz, or Aster personally remembered from their time in the camps or shortly after.


    It took almost a full month to talk to everyone who wanted to talk to them but it was time well spent and when Allie took Aster and Liz to the Capital, Matt was in a <em>much</em> better mood.


    Aster was still busy publicizing her end of war ice cream before hers arrived and Liz wanted to meet in person with her bloodline research team now that she was free from the obligations of the war.


    They might have served their purpose of helping his wife create her ichor mana and bloodline, but their jobs weren¡¯t done by a long shot. Liz wanted their assistance in understanding her new bloodline before eventually turning them into a sort of bloodline version of his guild, wanting to discover and create better things for those with bloodlines in the Empire.


    It felt slightly weird to be separated from his family, but they all had their own things to do.


    He was in such a good mood that he didn¡¯t even mind when he arrived on the ind that was going to turn into his guild''s first headquarters and how much it would need to be expanded..


    As a rule, rifts could only form naturally if they were more than five miles from the coastline either ind or out in the oceans and this ind was just a hair too small for what Matt needed at just over ten miles shore to shore. The Coastal Exclusion Principle might not apply for man made rifts but that didn¡¯t mean they could ignore it or all of their tests could end up being wed because of their non normal baseline.


    There was currently one rift on the ind but it was delved down thanks to the efforts of one of the local guilds so there weren¡¯t even any monsters running around the tropical ind.


    Fifty thousand acres just wasn¡¯t enough for Matt and his guild. Rifts didn¡¯t like to be too close to each other and while you could force them to spawn near each other with formations such actions were not conducive to proper scientific testing which needed to limit variables instead of adding new ones.


    To that end Matt was going to double the diameter of the ind from a ten mile diameter to a twenty mile diameter which would quadruple the ind''s size and the avablend to create rifts on.


    But seeing the almost picturesque ind and with his emotions still in flux from both Soerilia and Ventillyria, he found he didn¡¯t want to just dump dirt onto the edge of the ind to expand it. The local corals were gorgeous and it would be a shame to destroy them.


    There was tons of beautiful life all around the ind that he wanted to save if possible.


    So instead of just casting [Create Earth] to dump dirt on the edge of the ind, Matt activated [Earth Maniption] and with the bare minimum amount of power, lifted the topyer of seabed up, just enough to get all the local sea life, along with some careful [Water Maniption] to ensure the fish moved along too and weren¡¯t mmed into the moving ground. This part he actually had to take some real time for, as he didn¡¯t want to kill the sealife from whish which would rather defeat the point.


    With his power and Tier he could have expanded the ind in a few seconds but he would have also sterilized the ind of all liferger than bacteria.


    As he moved the seabed outward he did his best to put it back down where it fit but resigned himself to the fact that he¡¯d be ruining some sealifes day either way. He was trying his best but any change would hurt something.


    Then he used [Create Earth] to backfill the cleared area with bedrock and soil, using [Earth Maniption] to ensure it was all in the right proportions and ces until it breached sea level, using [Water Maniption] to prevent any excess or excessive waves. He still took his time, because being too cautious was never a bad thing, but he would <em>certainly</em> not allow for any slip-ups.


    A few minutester he had apact foundation for the newly creatednd on the ind that if not for theck of nts was indistinguishable from the rest of the ind.


    Seeing the bald spot on his new ind Matt frowned. He wasn¡¯t done with his expansions but he really didn¡¯t like the look of the unfinished area.


    After giving the ind a few minutes to settle, Matt started scanning his expansion and looking for problems to solve. He had never done this before but he had looked up the typical methods on the EmpireNet and followed them. He could almost hear Luna yelling at him for his work but it was more affectionate yelling than anything as he had done a damn good job if he said so himself. Even with a careful scan there wasn¡¯t anything for him to fix so he moved onto his next expansion.


    It took him almost half an hour before it was done to his satisfaction, but when he was finished he had an ind surrounded by an empty five miles of dirt which made him wonder if he should have expanded the ind from the very center so it was a ring of wilderness along the outer perimeter instead of a dot. The more he thought about it the more he regretted his choice as a lot of that older wilderness would end up being cut down because they would need the center of the ind clear for their testing and the guild hall.


    The resource he had looked up about the expansion of the ind had been about building yPens which wanted the extra ground to be near the edge of the inds so housing could be built where rifts couldn¡¯t spawn, not ind research groups who needed that valuable innernd to experiment on.


    Matt wrestled with the decision but ended up moving the trees and their corresponding wildlife from the center of the ind to the newnd along the edge in small clusters so the flora and fauna would spread and eventually cover the ind once more.


    Sighing now that he had gone this far Matt dug through his spatial rings just to find that he didn¡¯t have any fertilizer. The ground created with [Create Earth] wasprised of whatever elements he wanted which meant there were some nutrients, mainly nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium but if Matt wanted to have an ind that didn¡¯t look like an beginnerndscaper had expanded it he would need more fertilizers to encourage rapid growth.


    Now that the center of his ind was clear Matt flexed his considerable magical might intopressing some of the topsoil into something closer to bedrock which would make a good stable foundation for the guild building that would be built here.


    After checking his AI he winced as he saw that the constructionpany he had arranged to visit Lily had been waiting on him to give them the ok toe to the ind.


    Watching them work gave Matt a new appreciation of construction Talents.


    Just five people came in and in just five hours created the six storypound along with the outlying buildings to the specifications the blueprint he and Erwin had finally settled on along with fitting the building with the basic necessities like food faculties, temperature control, furniture, and things like windows and doors. Everything was made out of Tier 25 materials and would be effectively indestructible to the forces they should be dealing with while working mainly on low Tier items.


    Matt had originally wanted to go with a specially designed building so that spies wouldn¡¯t have ns for the structure but Erwin had rightly pointed out that such methods were useless to any dedicated spy as any Tier 44 or below could enter the Empire without the Emperor''s notice but still be strong enough to scan the guild building without being noticed.


    It was better to just use a standardyout that everyone knew and worry about security in ways other than the buildingsyout. There was still plenty of room to show off and customize the building, even within the hundreds of fairly standard variations, after all and Matt went for one with size as the main theme instead of any of the other variations.


    Thankfully he didn¡¯t need to deal with that headache himself. A branch of Harper¡¯s spies came through the moment the construction crew was done and did <em>things</em>. Matt didn¡¯t understand the purpose of one of the women making a small hole in the kitchen wall just to mold the wall back into a t ne when she didn¡¯t add any device or magical effect, but Harper trusted them so Matt let them work.


    Compared to the construction crew who finished their work in just hours, it took the spies a full week to finish their business, whereupon a smaller but incredibly attractive man who had introduced himself as Tholly proimed their work done.


    He would be one of the onsite counterintelligence operators and the only one Matt would know of. He would be working as one of the ind chefs, and surprisingly, he was a <em>very</em> good cook.


    Matt wasn¡¯t sure if he had a cooking Talent and trained as a spy or had a spy Talent and trained as a cook, but the man was good and highly trusted by Harper as a handler for the spies Matt wouldn¡¯t be told about.


    He still wasn¡¯t entirelyfortable with the idea of there being agents he didn¡¯t know of but Harper had beaten the fact that if he didn¡¯t know his enemies couldn¡¯t learn from him. Or it could have been Lyre. When the intelligent mask pretended to be her owner it was impossible for Matt to tell the difference so long as pronouns weren¡¯t used.


    Harper may have discarded their gender identity but Lyre was very much a woman despite being a mask and Matt had been forced to listen to her exin the difference during a dinner where he made the mistake of asking the mask about her choice of pronoun.


    Part of him wondered if Harper would be acting as a spy in his guild but he eventually wrote that idea off as them being too busy to deal with such a low level job. Even if they could have been Tholly and Matt would have never been able to tell the difference.


    Once the spies were done with their inspection of the building they didn¡¯t leave. That would have been too easy. Instead they went through his order of equipment with a fine toothb.


    Equipment that they had delivered. Tholly exined that they had already gone over the equipment and searched for bugs but one could never be too careful so they were doing it again before anything was installed and would be doing so periodically going forward.


    It seemed a <em>bit</em> wasteful to Matt, but considering this would only be his acting headquarters for at least a few years, and hopefully a prominent research outpost for millennia afterwards, Matt still wanted to participate somehow. Even if that just meant he was watching a bunch of spies tear apart equipment andpare it to blueprints by sight, touch, and oddly enough taste.


    He understood not relying on spiritual perception for spy devices, if that sixth sense was able to notice anything amiss the spying device wouldn¡¯t be any good but taste? Watching someone lick all of his equipment was just unsettling and he made a note to cast a few cleaning spells when they were done.


    It was interesting to see the spies work as they were all clearly masters of their skill set and even with his own counter espionage training Matt could only follow a quarter of what they did and half of that he didn¡¯t understand the mechanics of their actions.


    Keeping in mind what Harper and Lyre had said he didn¡¯t ask too many questions but Tholly at least was happy to answer the ones he did ask and Matt learned a few new things which was always fun.


    Then as if a switch was thrown, the spies finished their current task and then just flew off within seconds of each other. Tholly then gave Matt the all clear for his guild to move in and it was finally time.


    Rubbing his hands together Matt got to work.


    Matt had been waiting for this moment for centuries at this point and he couldn''t wait.

 Chapter 350

    Chapter 350


    From thetest reports, it would take Erwin another month or two before he and their first team members would be arriving, but Matt wanted to get started <em>now</em>. He had a perfectly good guildplex to y in, and he was damn well going to use it.


    Back when he was Tier 6 and making aura rifts with Erwin, they had only been able to reliably make aura rifts from Tiers 6 through 9. After they had given the research to Manny, and he had put his own teams on the project, they had discovered a way to reliably make Tier 5, and more importantly, Tier 4 aura rifts.


    By far thergest demographic in need of aura were Tier 4s. Giving them the ability to gather aura themselves would enable a new scale of production of aura, as lower Tier rifts were cheaper to run and more of them could be created. Some higher Tier worlds¡¯ lords would undoubtedly create Tier 6 or 7 rifts to maximize the amount of monsters per instance, but Tier 4s would find it difficult to afford the costs associated with that aura until all people who had used one bottled Concept had gotten their hands on the higher Tier aura.


    Matt had been given an information packet with the exact details of how they had managed that, but he wanted to figure that step out on his own.


    Or his guild¡¯s own.


    This was most certainly going to be a team effort, which is why the few guild members they had recruited already were damn good at their jobs.


    Tholly, as if reading Matt¡¯s mind, interrupted him. ¡°Sir, it would be prudent to fill the central mana stone sooner thanter.¡±


    Acknowledging that the spy was right, Matt went and charged the central spire of his guild¡¯s entrance hall. It was a little ostentatious, but the massive rechargeable mana stone brimming with power made a statement to anyone who saw it.


    Once he finished that and Tholly went to settle into his kitchen, Matt went back to the open area that was set aside for aperology.Pulling out a nk Tier 25 formation te, Matt paused as he really looked at theplicated premade formation te.


    It might look like iron, but it was an expensive alloy of metals further augmented by alchemical washing that ensured the tes were incredible conductors of magical energies, and also strong enough to handle hundreds of thousands of mana flowing through them without degradation.


    This te in particr was one he had grabbed from Camp Lightfoot, and was made to military standards which, while not the best, had a higher floor of eptable quality than some of the civilian tes that were cheaper. The te was perfect for a Tier 26 like Matt, who could afford the cost as it allowed for not just stronger enchantments, but ensured theysted longer.


    Which was exactly why Matt couldn¡¯t use them.


    His aura rift and all itemsing out of his guild needed to be replicable for, if not low Tiers, then barons and lower Tier guilds who would be ruling the Tier 5 and under worlds the rifts would be most useful in.


    That didn¡¯t mean Matt couldn''t use the higher Tier tes and then work on making the formations work on lower Tiers after they figured something out that worked, and that might even be the correct y, but it felt wrong.


    Aperology was technically a science, but to Matt, it was more like an art form. Instinct and vibes had always yed a significant role in his aperology, and right now, he felt like he needed to use lower Tier formation tes.


    To that end, he cast a quick [Portal] to the capital of Lily while shifting his mask¡¯s appearance so people wouldn¡¯t identify him.


    Once at the city, he went on a mini buying spree and bought out three different shops¡¯ nk Tier 5 formation tes.


    They were cheap and mass produced, which was exactly the type of te that his poorest customers would be using. Although, if his ns for his guild are remotely sessful, he was confident a standardized aperology design would hit the market, like so many other basic functions such as temperature control. Come to think of it, maybe he should have his guild work on said design at some point.


    New tes in hand, Matt started sketching out the istion formations, and he was immediately grateful he bought the cheaper tes. Their low Tier materials prevented him from using the moreplex runes he knew thanks to their limited engraving space, and forced him to think outside the box.


    Carefullyying out the formation tes to create the circle in the courtyard reserved for rifts, Matt used abination of [Telekinesis], [Metal Maniption], and [Wood Maniption] to carve the runes he would need into each of the tes.


    As testing proceeded, they¡¯d need to use increasingly moreplex runes that <em>nobody,</em> with the probable exception of some Talented enchanter somewhere, could freehand. But he had tools for when that day came. Still, it was undeniably satisfying to simply wave his hand and create dozens of the same formation tes that, as a Tier 6, he¡¯d spent hours dutifully carving.


    Using his mana ring, he filled the enclosure with a freshly awakened Tier 1¡¯s mana, which was as neutral as mana got besides rift mana stones. Even if that step probably wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, it was a baseline that anyone could replicate. Which made it a good starting point for all of his next tests as regions ons, let alones themselves, could have subtly different mana makeups.


    With as good of a base as he could manage, Matt moved on to create a second identical set up.


    Matt hadn¡¯t done any serious aperology since he¡¯d developed his Intent, and the new Domain stage brought with it a new sub-aspect, which they were calling ¡®density¡¯, to color his still neutral mana, alongside his more familiar endless sub-aspect.


    While quite useful inbat, making his spells marginally more durable and difficult to dispel, they didn¡¯t know if its presence might somehow interfere with the way his endless mana frequently made aura form.


    But, that¡¯s what the tests were for. It could just as easily make aura even <em>more</em>mon, and there was only one way to find out.


    With a flick of his fingers, he withdrew just shy of a hundred identical rift-made swords from spatial storage, and telekically maneuvered each de to the center of its respective formation, satisfying the first condition for an aura rift.


    Namely, a weapon. He and Erwin had spected it was because it served as a focus of intent that was nheless entirely external to nearly all creatures. The fact it was specifically a channel of <em>attacks</em> might have been important, because it didn¡¯t work with shields or armor, but they hadn¡¯t had enough non-attack spellcasting foci to confirm that.


    That particr test wouldeter. He would test it, but <emter</em>.


    In his first rift, he pumped in an old sample of his mana taken from before he created his Intent, and in the second circle, he directly channeled his mana into the formation along with the same fire mana with a hot sub-aspect that had worked so long ago.


    He nearly fried the formation tes with even a paltry ten thousand mana a second, but he was able to lower the input before he did more than cause some residual light to bleed off.


    A childish part of him wanted to pump his entire mana pool into the effort just to see what would happen, but he wasn¡¯t willing to ruin this test.


    As the mana reached its critical point, rifts formed, taking with them roughly two-thirds of the swords seeding the rifts. Matt winced slightly, but it didn¡¯t ultimately matter.


    While it was a bad first round, he had hundreds of thousands of that exact sword, and millions of identical weapons overall, spread across thousands of sets. It was simple enough to put bounties for low Tier rifts that regrly spat out identical weapons as rift rewards and pay thirty percent over market price for the weapons. He¡¯d initially wanted to do double, but if he did so at his Tier, he¡¯d have to not only pay the standard down-Tier purchase tax, but an additional <em>extra</em> tax for trying to corner the market so excessively.


    Still, thirty percent served his purposes well enough. He might have spent thest two centuries of war fighting battles, the Empire had continued on. Rifts were still delved on cooldown, meaning he had a massive stockpile of weapons ready for rift testing.


    Withdrawing and seeding a new set of swords, Matt continued to pump mana into the formation. When the rifts reached Tier 2, they let out a flood of monsters, and with his higher Tier perception he was able to watch as identical fire smanders flooded out just to be shredded by the des of wind and force that the formation tes cast.


    That was exactly what he wanted to see, and he continued to Tier the rifts up until they reached Tier 4.


    As less than five percent of the rifts de-aspected during that process, and he only needed to rece a dozen swords, Matt started to get excited. If he ignored the initial absorptions, it was an auspicious sign.


    On ount of nostalgia, he restrained his spiritual awareness and strode forth, entering the closest of the endless-only rifts to inspect it with his eyes. Inside, he found a fairly standard Tier 4 rift, a moderately wide canyon with a couple of streams ofva flowing down the sides.


    What he didn¡¯t expect was to feel the rift trembling at his presence.


    He felt like an adult stuffed into his baby clothes, buttons straining and fabric one deep breath away from tearing. He was confident that if he moved too quickly, he would copse not only the instance of the rift, but the rift itself.


    Using his Intent he cloaked his presence, firming his own reality while trying to distance himself from the local space, using the same method higher Tiers used to prevent a rift from noticing their existence and lowering rewards for low Tier delvers.


    The rift seemed to almost sigh as the fabric of reality seemed to return to normal, and Matt did exactly that while wiping the sweat from his forehead.


    It was the first time he had ever really felt his Tier like that before.


    No matter how strong he became, he wasn¡¯t capable of destroying reality like Tier 36s and higher were able to in low Tier worlds, but a rifts instances weren¡¯t as strong as real space.


    With his cloak firmly in ce, Matt moved at a mortal speed to the nearestva flow.


    Even having felt his Tier, the monster, filled with the rage of the rifts,unched itself out of theva and tried to eat his face.


    Matt grabbed it with his Concept, still careful to not use too much power, and held the monster aloft as he inspected every inch of the creature.


    Once he was done, he went through the rift looking at every monster including the boss encounter, which was arger smander whose back was ame.


    Exiting the rift, he inspected a second rift, this one made with his current endless and dense mana.


    Once again, it had produced ava canyon filled with smanders. There were a number of differences, but at least the monsters were simr enough to make thisparisonparatively easy. He brought a smander within arm¡¯s reach and inspected it,paring it to the prior monster he¡¯d looked at.


    These smanders were <em>denser</em>.


    Their essence distribution was, on average, half a percent more skewed towards durability, and their skin, muscles, and bones all averaged at two-thirds of a percent heavier for the same size. It came with a bit of a penalty to their flexibility, but it was still <em>noticeable</em>. Which, considering the rtive diversity the smanders had within a single rift, was no mean feat.


    Of course, that could have also just been entirely coincidental, and Matt was seeing things where they simply weren¡¯t.


    There was no sign of aura yet, but that wasn¡¯t too much of an issue. He wondered if the increased density would be a consistent feature, but only time would tell there.


    After dispatching the monster, Matt cleared the rift, looking for any other consistent differences between the rifts. Most of the grunt work was handled by his AI, of course, as it logged all of the ways in which the multitude of rifts were simr or different.


    He then ducked back into the first rift for a minute to confirm a few observations he¡¯d made, as there was still another ten minutes before the instance changed.


    It was funny, back when he¡¯d <em>been</em> a Tier 6, fifteen minutes seemed like nothing, but now it was practically an eternity. He could aplish more in fifteen minutes now than he could have done in <em>days</em> back then, and it felt that long as well.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Still, his desire to do things by hand mostly fulfilled, Matt loosed his full spiritual perception, flooding into the freshly-opened instances and studying all of the rifts before him in concert.


    Though not all of them had kept with their fire aspecting, Matt saw what was an ultimately standard set of rifts. He was able to confirm that his density sub-aspect <em>did</em> in fact influence monsters to have an overall increased focus on physical toughness, averaging about a one percent increase, but there was no aura to be seen.


    That was annoying.


    While he waited for his primary test set to reset their instances, making sure that he¡¯d stepped into each of the rifts to start their instance timers, Matt relocated to a side courtyard for a bit of the more <em>artistic</em> side of aperology, creating rifts with variants of rune arrays, taking advantage of a lot of what he¡¯d learned since he was Tier 6.


    The first was just the same pattern without an offensive set up. From what little aperology he had learned over the years was that most guilds andary governments preferred to have their own separate defensive formations created in the rooms that housed the rift, which could then be activated by a guard who watched over the rift or deadman switches.


    The separation made the formation tes simpler, which meant cheaper and easier to rece in the case of a malfunction. It also allowed them to change their security without impacting the rifts.


    Matt knew it was his past whispering in his ear that meant he liked the idea of a built-in offensive function. Objectively, though, he knew the enchanting space was better spent on other functions.


    The next iteration took advantage of the added space by adding in a secondary istion function, typically used to iste Seekers when they used their ability, that would hopefully help iste the enclosed space from more outside variables than the simple mana barrier.


    Each iteration built on the idea of taking advantage of the space theck of offensive runes would have taken up, but by then, his original testbed of rifts had cycled and he spent a few seconds inspecting them all again.


    There was nothing too out of the ordinary with the rifts, and still no sign of aura, so Matt went ahead and Tiered them up once again.


    An annoying number of the rifts simply copsed as he powered them above theary Tier, but enough stuck around that he just kept going with his tests. None of them had aura at Tier 5, and instead of waiting around for yet <em>another</em> cycle, he decided to just Tier them up to Tier 6 and see if he had any more luck there.


    That turned out to be a bad idea. Attempting to create seventy-odd rifts two Tiers above Lily¡¯s own resulted in some interesting flows in the essence that wound up starving all but four of them, and the subsequent <em>copse</em> of seventy-odd Tier 6 rifts somehow disrupted those four rifts as well, forcing him to start over.


    He repeated the process again, and after three more failures, Matt just took it upon himself to make <em>two</em> rifts. One with his new mana, one with his old mana.


    Annoyingly, even with just two rifts to work with, it still took a good dozen tries before he got both rifts at Tier 6 and not de-aspecting. But eventually, he got there, and he had to stop himself from automatically tearing the rifts apart as he caught sight of wispy, phantasmal red mes dancing across the backs of a smander in his old, endless-only mana rifts.


    Inspecting the monster, he found it was a typical me aura smander, and as he killed the monster, he used a bottle created to harvest the aura from the creature.


    Aura could be harvested manually, but it was a slightly finicky procedure that not every low Tier could manage. Someone some time in the distant past had created a device that could automatically harvest the aura off a creature, and the bottles were staples at the few natural aura rifts.


    Inspecting the small clear sight window on the protected bottle, Matt looked at the swirling red fire aura. It wasn¡¯t enough to create a potion in and of itself, but a delver would typically full clear an aura rift for the valuable resource. If the public process to alchemically stabilize aura into a medium that a cultivator could use to create their own Concept was urate, this single rift instance should produce enough aura for two, maybe two and a half people.


    If Matt could figure out how to make the riftsrger, and therefore contain more monsters, it was possible to increase that number, but it was a damn good start.


    It meant that if the rift was delved perfectly every cycle, 240 to 300 people could theoretically create a Concept out of this single rift. Reality wasn¡¯t quite so kind, as some people would need multiple doses of the potion and not every monster would be perfectly harvested, no matter how good the bottles were, leading to loss. But it was a good start.


    It would be far better if Matt could figure out the trick to making Tier 4 aura rifts, but he had given himself two years out of his decade to figure out the secret before he just looked at how Manny¡¯s people did it.


    With anticipation building, Matt turned his attention to the other rift, made with his current endless-dense mana, only to have his hopes quashed immediately. They were practically identical to the smanders in the other rift, but none had the all-important aura wreathing them.


    There was a chance that he had just been unlucky, but Matt suspected that the addition of his new mana sub-aspect had changed things enough that the delicate bnce had been disturbed.


    Now that he¡¯d confirmed he was still doing his old method correctly, Matt dispersed both rifts and re-created a Tier 6 rift with his current mana. It nearly copsed, but it stabilized into a <em>forest</em> rift. None of the spiders inside had any aura, so he destroyed and recreated the rift again.


    It copsed instead of reaching Tier 6, so he tried again.


    Atst, on the ninth destruction and creation cycle, he finally found what he had been looking for. He¡¯d nearly dispelled the rift on reflex when he saw it had de-aspected from fire, but he was d he hadn¡¯t.


    It was a meadow-like rift popted primarily by hand-sized butterflies, and¡­ two of them, with each p of their wings, left a ghostly afterimage in their wake, a ghostly apparition of sunshine yellow.


    <em>Aura</em>.


    But it looked¡­ different. It might have just been his too-attentive senses ying tricks on him, but it looked <em>different</em> from the fire aura he¡¯d just harvested, even discounting the different aspect. It looked denser, more solid, as though his second sub-aspect had given its own impact on how the aura formed.


    He harvested and stored it dutifully forter study. Someone who wasn¡¯t him could determine if it had any properties meaningfully different from standard aura, but with his primary goal fulfilled, confirming that his current mana <em>could</em> still create aura rifts, he destroyed the butterfly meadow and created another handful of rifts. None had aura, but that wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise.


    They¡¯d need to do more and more careful tests to determine the exact impact his new sub-aspect had on aura-making, but he penciled in ¡®workable, but not ideal¡¯ as the current status of his mana. For now, he was trying to determine how to reliably make aura <em>without</em> relying on what Manny and his teams had done.


    He didn¡¯t want to cheat, after all.


    When given the packet, Manny had said it was within Matt¡¯s capabilities of figuring out, so that meant he just needed to start tweaking variables.


    Which was exactly what he started to do.


    With his mana situation sorted for now, Matt threw himself into further testing using only his older mana. Doing rifts one at a time at least made the rifts more likely to survive to Tier 6, but it also meant it took forever to get even a basic statistical analysis.


    The first thing he did was to test the other four basic elements, air, water, and earth. All four regrly made aura rifts starting at Tier 6, and Matt started to test other, rarer, mana types.


    After all, not everyone would be content with the basic four elements. Ideally he wanted to create a neutral aura that would work as a nk canvas that could work for any Concept type.


    Unfortunately even with most of the details removed from his mind by Minka he still held faint impressions of just how long it took to figure neutral rifts out. So he wasn¡¯t surprised when his tentative attempts at doing so ended in utter failure. And as he was sure many craftsmen and inventors had done before him, he cursed Minka for letting him figure out something revolutionary and then taking it away from him. At least it meant he was confident it was possible at all.


    From there, he moved on to light and shadow. Though level 1 mana types, just like the basic four, the two elements were substantially lessmon in nature, as evidenced by their respective maniptions showing up at Tier 14 instead of Tier 8.


    The Tier 1 light rift felt odd to Matt¡¯s spiritual perception, and so he entered it just to stare in confusion.


    The rift was a midair rift that had a narrow path just three feet wide, running down the center of the space in a winding path.


    While rare, mid air rifts in the lower Tiers weren¡¯t that umon. What was umon were the enemies; swirling balls of light surrounding three concentric rotating rings of copper.


    Matt stepped forward, off therger tform the rift entrance was on and onto the path, where the nearest monster shot him with something that felt a bit like [Light Beam]. It definitely <em>wasn¡¯t</em> the Tier 14 skill, but it was still interesting that it had a decidedly magical ranged attack this early. Doubly so that it came from a <em>flying</em> creature. He¡¯d never heard of a Tier 1 rift anything like it.


    With a thought, Matt pulled the construct to him and studied it.


    The monster kept firing the weaker light beams at him every three seconds, but Matt ignored that while he inspected the mass of magical energies in the center of the monster.


    That was undoubtedly <em>his</em> mana.


    The core of the monster was circting something simr to his endless sub-aspected mana, which allowed the Tier 1 creature to exist like an elemental, but at far lower of a Tier than was normally seen.


    Crushing the monster, Matt walked through the rift just getting a feel for it and quickly determined that it wasn¡¯t a rift suitable for most Tier 1 parties, but would have its uses.


    The light beams the monsters shot weren''t harmless, but even a Tier 1 should survive anything less than a headshot if they were wearing even the weakest armor. Meleebatants could get dodging lessons hammered into them in this rift, but rangedbatants would love this rift as its wide open spaces and narrow ledges would force them to actually use the lessons about hitting moving targets and watching their feet cement.


    Thinking about his time at the orphanage, Matt changed his mind. Guilds and anywhere who trained Tier 1 mages or archers would love this rift. The Tier 1s would probably hate it with every fiber of their being as they were forced to dodge for risk of falling into the ¡®abyss¡¯.


    Said abyss was only three feet below the rocky tform, the rift just didn¡¯t have enough space at Tier 1 to create endless distance for people to fall into, even if it looked like the rift went on forever. Anyone who fell would find themselves standing on seeming air as they reached the border of the rift space, but they wouldn¡¯t be in any risk of anything more than getting ribbed by their fellows, so long as they didn¡¯t break their neck on thending.


    Surprisingly enough, the boss wasn¡¯t just arger version of the flying constructs, but instead was a cube split into eight smaller cubes that surrounded a simr core. By shuffling the faces pointing at the delver, it could change the nature of its light beam attack. One was a wide area attack reminiscent of a shlight, the second was a stronger version of the normal attack, the third created a channeled shield around the core, and the fourth and finalbination created was a charged up and much stronger version of the light beam that forced the boss to float around aimlessly as it recouped energy.


    All told, it was a very interesting rift, and one Matt wanted to explore more of.


    Having his expectations set so high, Matt went into the shadow mana rift to still find himself surprised.


    After the open area of the light rift he had been expecting a dark and cramped rift with shadowy monsters, but he was only half right.


    The rift was pitch ck to his eye¡¯s sight, but that was because he was encased in a tar like substance that resisted any of his movements like a non-newtonian fluid. He had made some of the liquid in school by mixing cornstarch and water together, which when moved slowly, acted like any normal liquid, but the more force was applied to the mixture, the more it acted like a solid. So one could slowly dip their hand into the liquid, but if they tried to shove their hand into the liquid it would firm up, and it would be as solid as the walls of their school.


    This darkness acted the same way, but thankfully didn''t obstruct breathing in any way, so the rift wasn¡¯t a death trap to mortals.


    With Matt¡¯s physical body he could break through the restriction, but a mortal would find their movements restricted to something like half of a normal speed or they would end up fighting the darkness.


    Testing a theory, Matt pulled out a light and activated it and nodded as a smaller than normal area was illuminated.


    The light was restricted by eighty or so percent and was practically useless.


    Instead, this rift seemed like it was meant to be cleared by spiritual perception. Tier 1 spiritual perception was only a few inches, but in a higher Tier rift, this could be a useful training method to force delvers to rely on their extra sense instead of just their mundane senses.


    Not that spiritual perception was perfect, but many people struggled to actually use the new sense as they should, having not grown up with it like the mundane ones.


    What was interesting was that the rift was a puzzle rift, and a safe one at that.


    Matt wouldn¡¯t call the arrow trap non-lethal, but the pitfall trap didn¡¯t have any spikes in it and the ¡®spears¡¯ that came out of the wallcked any sharpened ends and instead were more like poles.


    Combined with light sources still working, the rift was entirely clearable by Tier 1s, and they would even earn small amounts of essence for clearing the traps and obstacles without triggering the trap or not getting hit.


    Leaving the rift, Matt really wanted to start ying with trying to create custom rifts, especially with variations of light and shadow mana, but he resisted the urge and instead Tiered up the rifts to Tier 6, hoping to get aura.


    Dozens of failures due to the rifts de-aspectingter, Matt found neither rift produced aura. He hadn¡¯t really expected any aura from the monsters-less shadow rifts, but he had hoped the light rifts¡¯ flying constructs would have aura. But s, he was disappointed.


    Matt was sure if he spent some time and tweaked some variables that he could manage aura rifts, but for all the poprity that Zack and Allie had brought to the mana types, they were rare for anyone to specialize in at such a low Tier, so they were far down on his priority list to get aura rifts working for.


    Instead, after the four basic elements, Matt¡¯s main goal was to recreate something like a sword or sharpness aura.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how he was supposed to create those auras, as there wasn¡¯t a sword mana type, but weapon Concepts were verymon and making an aura that waspatible for those who wished to travel down that path was a top priority.


    He was contemting how he could get close when his [AI] started getting flooded with messages.


    Evorn: ¡°This is unbelievable, uneptable!¡±


    Moe: ¡°Something gnawing your caw?¡±


    Evorn: ¡°TufTal relocated their main factory, and their new stress toys have a weird chew to them now. They said they didn¡¯t change anything but I <em>know</em> something is off.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at that.


    Chew?


    Did Evorn have a chew toy?


    That couldn¡¯t be right. Could it?


    Except, at Ellen''s prompting, Evorn sent a message of a giant bone shaped rubber looking chew toy that had a set of teeth marks in its form. A dragon maw shaped row of teeth marks.


    Evorn: ¡°Look at it. I should have known something was off when the color was slightly infraredder than it should have been.¡±


    Matt stopped his work as he contemted a dragon chewing on a massive chew toy and he just couldn''t stop chortling.


    Aster: ¡°Oh I bet that sucks. I had a few friends at Red Feather who liked to chew and they were very particr about their implements.¡±


    Evorn: ¡°For good reason! TufTal had the best ratio of give and spring back. The texture was just <em>superb</em>.¡±


    Beyond disbelief, Matt spun up a temporary sub-group with the offline bloodline-less Ascenders: ¡°Are they fucking with us? Is this a joke?¡±


    Brian: ¡°Can¡¯t tell to be honest. A bottle of Steel Bones to anyone who can get a video of stick up his ass Evorn chewing on a chew toy.¡±


    A flurry of eptance nearly caused Matt to miss L stirring the pot.


    An image of her coiled around hundreds of boxesbeled ¡®TufTal¡¯ dropped into the chat: ¡°And this is why you buy extra of a good things. See it and weep, fledgling.¡±


    Evorn immediately replied, ¡°Send me half. I¡¯ll pay triple.¡±


    ¡°Fat chance. These babies are all mine. Though <em>perhaps</em> once I ascend¡­ I¡¯ll give them to Aster. Maybe I have some old unused mid-twenty bones lying around somewhere that you can try now. You <em>don¡¯t</em> know what you¡¯re missing, I need to check some old rings. Be right backkk.¡±


    Evorn kept sending messages asking for less and less of the chew toys, or stress balls as the dragons called them, but L ignored all of his messages, causing the Monster Collective dragon to nearly go apoplectic when L was not <em>right</em> back.


    Still chuckling, Matt could only shake his head as Evorn not so slowly lost his mind.

 Chapter 351

    Chapter 351


    Matt felt the tear in reality on the other side of Lily''s orbit, so he quickly [Portal]ed over next to the ship.


    The moment he arrived, Erwin said. ¡°Finally! We¡¯ve gotten lost twice.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at thement. ¡°How could you possibly get lost?¡±


    The woman next to him and one of their first guild recruits, Aisha, was an old acquaintance of Erwin¡¯s from his time in the academy. She nearly growled, ¡°Because someone thought they could get here faster if we went off the established tethers.¡±


    Matt smiled hearing the banter, even as Erwin cringed. The two had attended their Academy concurrently, even if they hadn¡¯t delved together, and Erwin had offered her name up for possible new recruits when talking about the guild.


    Having chatted with her during the war a few times, Matt had easily agreed to her recruitment.


    Her Talent let her draw runes in the air, which let them iterate quickly. While she wasn¡¯t an enchanter by trade, prefering to use them inbat, her skills rivaled one, and she was interested in aperology testing.


    The third and final member of the guild pushed his way out of the smaller space ship and shook himself.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill them. They¡¯ve been bickering for thest two weeks. I¡¯m just d we arrived on time. Nice to officially meet you.¡±Theodore¡¯s smile seemed genuine, and Matt took the proffered hand while returning the expression. ¡°You as well. Your Talent will make this all so much easier. Fifteen minutes used to feel like nothing, but as I start testing the cycle, times feel like an eternity. So being able to skip that will be amazing.¡±


    Cato had been the one to hear of Theodore, who had been working on newly settled worlds as someone who created rift guides with his survey Talent to fund his own research.


    His Talent allowed him to, upon getting close to a rift, know its most typicalyouts in their entirety¨C the monsters and their typical fighting patterns, and the rift¡¯s typical drops.


    Amusingly enough, he was also a former Pather who had awakened a pseudo-seeker Talent, but his averagebat skills had seen him fall off the Path at Tier 7. Instead ofnguishing, he instead leveraged his Concept to enter teams and take a portion of the essence they delved in return for adjusting the probability of loot drops.


    It was an interesting way to leverage one''s Talent and Concept to make something greater than the whole. His Talent let him see drop tables and his Concept let him nudge probability of things he knew which whenbined both got him watched in gambling halls and let him get better than average drops from rifts.


    Theodore had been lukewarm about the prospect of Matt¡¯s guild until he had heard that they didn¡¯t want him for his slight aperology abilities, but rather his ability to give them quick information on rifts, and were willing to fund his research.


    Matt was just excited that the three had finally arrived.


    ¡°It¡¯s great to see you all. I¡¯ve started working on trying to figure out how the Emperor''s aperologists managed to get aura rifts down to Tiers 4 and 5, but I haven¡¯t cracked it yet. With you guys to help iterate, I think we can figure it out sooner than my two year time limit. I¡ª¡±


    Matt paused as everyone looked at him oddly. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t look at the info package we got from the Empire team?


    ¡°Correct. I thought it would be fun to try and figure it out based on where we left offst.¡±


    Erwin blinked at him oddly, before continuing, ¡°I already received that info packet decades ago and read it then. I shared it with our new colleagues because¡­well, why wouldn''t I?¡±


    Matt let out a long sigh as the new turn of events killed his ns. He had wanted to use the two years he set aside for the exercise as a bit of a team building thing, but that only made sense if they were discovering things together. Them pretending to not know the answer while Matt was in the dark just didn¡¯t make sense and would waste everyone''s time.


    It wasn''t the end of the world, but it did ruin Matt¡¯s ns and meant they would immediately go into creating interactions and working on expanding the types of aura they could create.


    Manny had said his team had only focused on making lower Tier aura rifts of the four basic elements, and had left the expanding of the catalog to Matt.


    ¡°Ah, well damn. Okay, while you guys settle into the guild hall, I¡¯ll get up to speed.¡±


    Tholly had a spread of food prepared for their new guests, who quickly settled into the rooms Matt had installed into the guild. They were effectivelyrge apartments or small suites¨C that was standard for guilds and Matt hadn¡¯t bucked the tradition. Higher Tiers might not need to sleep, but that didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t need their own space to retreat to.


    In fact, the guild¡¯s housingpound could house over a thousand without a sweat, which, even at theirrgest, should be more than enough. This was, after all, an outpost for rift testing, not a permanent headquarters for Titan¡¯s Torch. So a thousand should be more than enough, even when they had a few dozen teams of lower Tier delvers to delve the rifts they were testing.


    Which reminded him, he needed to ask Margaret if she had put the word out that he was looking for delving teams from Tiers 1 to 6.


    Maybe he should ask Matthew and Vinnie if their school had any promising alumni they¡¯d rmend?


    There were just so many things to do.


    He was really looking forward to Kees arriving and taking up the vice guild master role.


    He at least had time before they actually needed the teams and so, after sending a message to Margaret, he opened up the packet of information Manny had sent him.


    Reading over it, Matt was¡­ not as upset as he thought he¡¯d be having the method on how to make lower Tier aura rifts spoiled for him.


    He would like to think they could have figured out the method, but it probably would have taken more than two years with just the four of them.


    Even the refined method was far more advanced than anything he had begun to delve into yet, but it was technically all within his general capabilities to discover. His desire to recreate the method instead turned to simplifying the production method.


    The Emperor''s aperologists had used Tier 40 formation tes for their tests and managed to scale it down to T30 before their budget ran out, but he was confident it could be lowered even more. The packet even contained some notes on the partial progress they had made to lowering the tes to T29.


    Interestingly enough, one of the main ingredients of the lower Tier aura rifts was using aura. It was one of the things Matt would have tried, but he wasn¡¯t sure would have tried it in the method they had used. They didn¡¯t use it as an ingredient when forming the rift, but rather they fed it to the already formed Tier 1 rift.


    Matt hadn¡¯t considered that technique and might not have ever stumbled on it. It wasn¡¯t even the only time the form required a change to what was added into the rift after it was formed. From what he had learned before, that was just asking for the rift to de-aspect. But after the Tier 1 rift was formed, the next step was to use Matt¡¯s endless mana to do the next two Tier ups to get the rift to Tier 3, where they, oddly enough, stopped using his mana and instead flooded the rift with the original elemental mana sample to make the jump to thest Tier.


    Some quick calctions disproved Matt¡¯s first assumption, which was that they were keeping to the ratio of mana the rift needed to reach Tier 4, just in stages, but that would have required almost ten percent more elemental mana.


    Thoroughly confused at why these steps resulted in lower Tier aura rifts, Matt tried running simtions with his [AI] until the trio came down where all three sets of eyes locked onto his new rifts.


    ¡°You said you got up to something?¡±


    Eriwn¡¯s question prompted Matt to exin histest tests, which in turn made him look at Theodore. ¡°I obviously can¡¯t run the rifts. Any interesting rewards from them?¡±


    With a step Theodore appeared next to the light and shadow rifts where he studied the heatwave like distortion handing in the air. ¡°This is the light rift, is it not?¡±


    Matt nodded but raised an eyebrow at that. The prospective drop table must be elementally aligned if he was able to tell the element just from that.


    ¡°This one drops a mirror that will negate light based attacks three or four times before breaking. Considering the monsters tha¡ª¡±


    Theodore stopped speaking as Erwin and Aisha walked into the rift. They followed inside just to find the two studying the flying monster they had grabbed. Its struggles and bolts of lights were nothing more than things toment on.


    They ended uping to the same conclusions he had, and Matt felt like a chef exining his creation to eager fellows.


    Aisha, however, gave an interesting perspective. ¡°I''ve seen moreplex versions of these monsters in a rift on Ryka 3. It was a Tier 7 rift and theyout was a ruined temple but the monsters are nearly identical, if a bit stronger. The cores are obvious weak points and easy enough to destroy with a st of magic. Never found such an easy rift to cheese after that, sadly.¡±


    Erwin dismantled the metal rings, which killed the monsters, and started inspecting their construction as well as the runes on them. ¡°This isn¡¯t ordinary metal. It''s got apound I don¡¯t recognize coating it that increases mana conductivity. It''s simr to what was used on your armor¡¯s conduits, but the makeup is different.¡±


    Biting off a piece of the metal, Erwin chewed as he nodded. ¡°I think I can recreate this as a Tier 1 material. Alfalfa powder, MageRoot dust, bronze dust, and a bindingpound should do it if I can get the mixing figured out. Sadly, it''s something that would wear out after half a dozen uses. Not nearly as good as what the military has, but an interestingbination. Can anyone see a use for it?¡±


    Matt shook his head, as most low Tier mages used magical devices or had skills, neither of which needed better conductivity that was temporary. On the other side ofbat, a melee fighter wouldn¡¯t need anything like that because most of them didn¡¯t even have enchanted weapons until Tier 5 or 6 and a temporary boost to conductivity in the form of a coating would just get removed after they cut a monster in half.


    There might be a use for low Tier talisman making, since if the power increased conductivity it might work as an amplifier for the ink, but that would add a mostly unneeded expense to something few Tier 1s could afford.


    Still, it was good seeing the newest members of the guild already contributing to science.


    After they exited the rift they went through some of the other rifts, including the one aura rift Matt was able to make with his current mana.


    When Theodore identified the mostmon drops, it took them all aback. The rift¡¯s second mostmon drop was a pair of gauntlets that, for a small mana reservation, could increase the effect of one''s durability cultivation by a minor amount.


    It wasn¡¯t necessarily better than an armor skill or armor, but it could be used in conjunction with those defensiveyers. And while the boost was minor, because it was a percentage boost it would scale with the delver for a few Tiers until they could afford something better. Best of all, it wasn¡¯t a growth item, and therefore could be repeatedly farmed. Or at least, it could if the rift was chosen to be moved, or they could create rifts with simr drops, but that was part of what they wanted to test and learn.


    Once they finished their exploration of Matt¡¯s current rifts, they started looking into creating a Tier 4 fire aura rift, as Matt had enough harvested aura to create the rift now.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Aisha quickly enchanted a set of Tier 30 formation tes based on the ns in the packets.


    ¡°I still hate that we are using higher Tier stuff.¡±


    Erwin rolled his eyes at Matt¡¯s third time bringing up the fact they weren¡¯t starting at the lower Tier materials.


    Matt suspected Theodore and Aisha felt the same way, but didn¡¯t know him well enough to show their true reactions. It was clear they were still skittish about being near an Ascender, and he was hoping the humor would calm them down, but it didn¡¯t seem to be working.


    Erwin, however, knew him all too well and had no such filter or reservation. ¡°This is how science is done! We need to control variables first before we start seeing how much variance and tolerance the tests can handle. After we understand that, we can start to scale down, but none of that is made easier with lower Tier materials.¡±


    ¡°We did it before.¡±


    ¡°When you were a baby Tier 6 with a hobby! Not the Ascender guild master of a registered Aperology guild!¡±


    Matt mocked Erwin lightly by silently repeating hisst sentence, which got a small smile out of Theodore.


    By that time Aisha finished enchanting the formation tes andid them out in a circle. ¡°I get you want to lower costs, Ascender T¡ª¡± At Matt¡¯s re she changed her address. ¡°I mean, Matt. It''s weird addressing an Ascender by their first name. But as I was saying. I understand that you want to lower costs, and I agree it''s a good idea, but I don¡¯t think it will be the end of the world if we can¡¯t lower it past Tier 30. First of all, any duke will have ess to a Tier 35 enchanter, and even if they don¡¯t, they can surely afford their services. Secondly, the formation tes to form the rifts don¡¯t need to be kept in ce. One set of tes can be used to create as many rifts as a requires, then rented out or sold to any that don¡¯t have an enchanter to make one.¡±


    Theodore chimed in with his agreement based on his hands-on experience. ¡°Aisha is correct. While it would obviously be better to lower costs, so long as you release the blueprint and copies of the mana type, it will spread.¡±


    Aisha then pointed at herself. ¡°That said, I do believe we can get this down to at least a Tier 25 formation without needing to use non-standard tes. Below that, I think it''s inevitable we need to go into supersized tes just to have the room to fit the needed enchantments.¡±


    Matt winced as he didn¡¯t want to hear an experienced enchanter say that. He recognized that she was the expert, but he really didn¡¯t like the idea of needing to use the so-called supersized formation tes. They broke one of the core principles of standard enchanting, which was uniformity in as many variables as possible.


    After all, anyone could solve an enchanting problem by brute forcing the issues and enchanting half a mountain range. But a good formations expert should fit that solution on the typical te.


    Super sized tes were looked down on¨C at five times the typical te size, they were unwieldy for low Tiers thanks to their great weight¨C but were technically a standardized size option.


    Matt''s immediate goal was to lower that to Tier 15 with a normal orrge formation te. Anything was better than a supersized te.


    ¡°Okay, well, let''s test it. Set our baseline and ensure the method works.¡±


    ¡°Do you think something the Emperor gave you wouldn¡¯t work?¡± Aisha looked aghast at the suggestion, but Matt just shrugged.


    ¡°He can be yful.¡±


    That got him odd looks from all three, but Matt ignored them as the rift stabilized at Tier 1.


    ¡°Okay. Now we need to add the aura and more pure mana.¡±


    Even as Matt said it, he felt wrong and his instincts screamed that the rift was going to de-aspect at any moment.


    And it was possible it would de-aspect. On top of the usual fifty percent chance that any rift would de-aspect, the notes said this method had worse than normal rates, pushing almost a seventy five percent chance of de-aspecting. That meant even for the three Tier ups to reach Tier 4, they only had a one in sixty four chance of getting the rift to reach Tier 4.


    Those odds were immediately felt when the rift deaspected seven times in a row trying to go from Tier 1 to Tier 2.


    Theodore winced at thest attempt and looked over to the guild entrance with a sigh. ¡°And this is why no one does aperology and why I spend a hundred years working for even a single year of testing. Even low Tier tests cost tens of thousands of mana a day. That adds up too fast when you try to scale testing. More a test of someone''s wallet than skill. Blessed be the Emperor for sponsoring this.¡±


    Matt was tempted to say, ¡®Yeah it¡¯s nice of Manny to sponsor the guild,¡¯ but he was pretty sure that casual usage of the Emperor''s name might break the newest members of the guild.


    After almost an hour of repeated failures, they finally had a Tier 4 aura rift.


    ¡°It''s beautiful.¡±


    Matt stood inside with the others near the entrance, looking at a familiarva shaft and a familiar looking smander with flickers of aura along its back.


    Erwin stepped forward and grabbed the rift monster, which tried to bite him but was held in ce by a Domain working. ¡°What an odd specimen. That bone structure is downright strange. Why is their hip disconnected from their spine? What purpose does that serve?¡±


    Matt had noted the same thing and had no answer. Instead, he walked forward with Theodore and Aisha.


    Aisha seemed more interested in the rift itself, but Theodore kept looking at the aura monsters.


    ncing back to Matt, he wiped a tear. ¡°This is amazing. Thank you for letting me be part of it.¡±


    Matt pped him on the back and let him have his moment.


    ¡°Seriously, this is exactly what aperology needed to push the discipline forward. I know of a dozen attempts over the years to try and get support to push the field forward, but the attempts I know of blew through their budget with little to show for it. Last sess story I heard of was Linda Forsess, who managed to create rifts that almost always have alchemy ingredients and the noble house sells her services to whoever can afford it, trying to recoup the costs.¡±


    Matt knew of Linda, as Cato had reached out to her for the guild during the war, but she was locked into her contract with her noble house for another eight thousand years. She did indicate she was receptive to joining once her contract was up, however, which was good enough.


    Theodore was right in that aperology was exorbitantly expensive for almost anyone, but that was why Matt wanted to push forward with it more than anything else.


    After they inspected the rift, they immediately set about testing variables.


    Theodore offered up a unique suggestion Matt was eager to try.


    ¡°In my own testing I found that entering a rift instance and dumping materials into the rift instance, then letting the rift cycle the instance to destroy everything inside seemed more efficient in using the materials. I don¡¯t know how it would work for the stuff like the sword you are using as a seed, but I never used anything like that. All of my aperology was purely mana based.¡±


    That singlement devolved into a conversation about methodology thatsted almost an hour.


    Matt had used rift seeds because it let the aperologist have more influence over the rift with a fairly easy to source material, but he could acknowledge that it meant failures destroyed vital material that couldn¡¯t always be sourced. Pure mana aperology was probably the truest application of the science, but like Theodore ran into, it was more finicky, as there was no stabilizing core of the rift which led to more failures which drove up costs.


    Aisha, having only recently dived into the field, brought up a good question Matt had never considered.


    ¡°Why does the seed item matter after the rift is created? I understand the de-aspect nature of rifts, which means they no longer follow the seed and the set mana type, but why does the seed provide a stabilizing influence? Shouldn¡¯t the rift itself provide a stabilizing influence?¡±


    Erwin offered up his own possible answer, which was better than what Matt had thought of. ¡°I think the rifts need a seed because they help stabilize the Tier up. Obvious, yes, but that''s more a question of the nature of our methods. Are rifts naturally unstable and they prefer to change wholesale upon Tier up? Or are our methods of Tiering up rifts insufficient and if we could perfectly control things we would find the rifts would never de-aspect?¡±


    ¡°There is too much we don¡¯t know about rifts. It''s why I became interested in them beyond the obvious reasons for my Talent. We know a lot about how they work, but not the mechanisms behind them, which is crazy when you think about how they are a fundamental part of how essence functions. Without rifts, essence would only form from mana that falls to the core of the and then rises back out. Rifts cycle the energy of the world, moving mana around, converting it into essence, and providing opportunities formunities to grow. They have their dangers, sure, but those are minor for any society to handle with a little nning and preparation.¡± Theodore had a fervent air about him as he spoke.


    His words seemed to spark something in all four of them, and they threw themselves into making the next few dozen formation tes. Aisha did the bulk of the work, but the other three were able to help prep the formation tes so she only needed to iy the moreplicated runes.


    After they had fifty tes based on the Emperor¡¯s team''s design, they started creating lower Tier tes that they hoped might still do the job.


    Matt, despite being the lowest person of the group at Tier 26, was almost as fast as Aisha in enchanting the tes thanks to his training in trying to sh create talismans with his solidified mana.


    Erwin and Theodore weren¡¯t slow, but their methods were the standard carving methods, which was just slower than Aisha¡¯s Talent drawing and Matt¡¯s brute force sh carving of the tes.


    From there, they started testing the variables as Erwin had stated earlier.


    First, they tried making a better method for the initial Tier ups.


    A seventy five percent chance for the rift to to de-aspect was just too high for Matt to be happy with sending out. He wanted to get that down to at least sixty percent, which would take the odds from one in sixty four to one in fifteen; far more bearable for low Tier lords.


    They started by adding the mana needed to Tier up the rift into the rift in crystalized form along with the aura samples, but counter to Theodore¡¯s experience, that made the rift de-stabilization rate almost hit one hundred percent, and they only managed one rift out of fifty to properly Tier up.


    As Theodore had proof the method worked, that stumped them, but Erwin proffered the idea that the ratio was just wrong. The method might work, but the different input methods might change the way the rift cycled the mana and therefore the end result and the standard ratios with the new method was unstable.


    That made a sort of sense, but Matt felt the exnation wasn¡¯t 100% correct.


    Rifts were by all ounts perfect converters of matter to energy.


    That was proven on the higher Tier worlds who used rifts as disposal units on arge scale.


    Those rifts needed to be delved regrly because the amount of waste added to them when converted to energy filled the rifts mana reserves faster than could be extracted from the rifts with formations. On the other side, farm rifts absorbed more mana than normal because of the resources that were used to grow the food that was extracted.


    Someone in the ns a million and a half years ago had actually done a careful study of the phenomenon and had proven rifts were at least 99.99999% efficient in converting energies. And while Matt had never seen the full study, he had seen the study referenced a million and one times, and there had never been a credible rebuttal of the results.


    And if the rift was perfect in converting material, why did absorbing the material as it recycled an instance change the oue?


    It shouldn¡¯t have mattered unless the method of absorption was different, whether it was inside the rift or from the outside, but that didn¡¯t make much sense because the n test had examined that variable as well.


    They eventually settled on the answer that the creation of the instance cost the rift mana, depleting its reserves, which changed the form from feeding the rift mana when it was already full.


    It took almost a week of testing, burning through millions of mana, and the ind was nearly full of rifts waiting fifteen minutes to cycle the instance, but they eventually solved the issue.


    It wasn¡¯t as easy as just adding more mana to the rift, and the discovery opened up a new door of aperology.


    The mana left in the rift needed a simr amount of mana to feed the instance from the outside, but the mana spent on the rift instance needed to be mana from the six basic elements.


    That implied the rift converted the mana it was fed into those base mana types as part of its normal functions, which was an eyeopener. It meant their method of flooding an area with mana to form a rift might work, but it was far from creating a stable rift. Which might exin why rifts naturally de-aspected upon being fed neutral mana.


    The hardest thing was figuring out how much energy the rift had spent to create the instance, and the answer wasn¡¯t what anyone expected, despite being fairly obvious.


    A rift that created an instance but didn¡¯t do anything with the instance spent very little energy. Almost nothing in fact. They suspected if they were able to trigger an instance without entering the rift, the rift would actually spend nothing as it perfectly recycled the spent energy. But allowing people to enter the pocket space put strain on the rift, even if they didn¡¯t kill anything.


    Upon realizing that, Matt sent a message to Allie informing her he needed to use her Talent for a little because they suspected that once the rift cycled, it no longer spent energy on the instance, but none of them could enter the rift instance once cycled without physically tearing through the spatial barrier, which would undoubtedly strain the rift.


    Her response was an instant, ¡°I¡¯m on a beach surrounded by hotties, no way I¡¯m doing nerd shit!¡±


    Oh well, he¡¯d get her to do it some timeter.


    Physical material, on the other hand, only drained the rift a minor amount. Even removing every single atom of material from the rift only drained the rift a moderate amount.


    The main drain for the rift were the monsters. Or rather, the essence needed to fuel the monsters.


    Killing a single monster took more energy out of their Tier 1 test rift than removing all of the physical material from the pocket space.


    It made sense, essence was a higher level energy that took a massive amount of mana to create, as well as having Tiered versions, but the math just didn¡¯t add up.


    If it took billions, if not trillions, of mana to naturally form essence while being crushed at the center of aary mass, then how could a rift formed with a measly few tens of thousand mana in a perfect istion array create even a single Tier 1 monster?


    That much essence should cost millions of mana if the ratio held true.


    It obviously couldn¡¯t hold true, which had interesting implications they just weren¡¯t equipped to delve into, but the biggest question was if rifts were more efficient at converting mana to essence than simple gravitational pressure was?


    The answer seemed like a simple yes, but if that was true, it could have massive changes on hows were Tiered up.


    The current safest method was to just slowly release mana into the. While charging rifts was considered a faster but more dangerous method, no one had ever called it a cheaper method. And if their theory held true, it should have had a noticeable difference in cost. Unless there was another variable they didn¡¯t understand, which was more than possible.


    Still, it was a big enough discovery that Matt shot the Emperor a message after they had exhausted what information they could with their operation.


    He a few hourster he got a message back exining that they knew of the function and it mostly came down rifts converting mana to essence near instantlypared to a''s decades. Further, rifts didn''t need the veryrge critical mass of mana a needed to initiate the conversion as even once that threshold was reached, only the excess mana above it could be converted before the process stalled out. Something that had been known to happen when the mana gathering enchantments on high Tier worlds were made too aggressive, and started actively plumbing the depths for mana rather than using what naturally reaches the surface. The consequences to the ecosystem of such a make the practice quite illegal.


    Matt was a little let down. He wasn''t discovering things left and right, but it was also realistic, and he had been warned by everyone that science was all about failures and he should get used to them.


    Titan¡¯s Torch was meant to simplify aperology, and while Matt would eventually circle around to this information, he didn¡¯t have time for it now.


    Instead, they needed to get back to trying to simplify the aura rifts. Matt wanted something to show the rest of the guild members who should be arriving in theing days.

 Chapter 352

    Chapter 352


    The four of them spent a full four months with their heads down, and Matt had to once more double the size of his ind. It was reaching the limit of an auxiliary guild location''snd allotment, but they just needed more room to ensure the rifts were properly spaced out as they rapidly built and destroyed them.


    They worked day and night with smiles never leaving their faces. That was especially true when Aisha and Theodore realized the mana really wasn¡¯t going to run out.


    For the first week, they kept checking in with Matt any time they wanted to do something they thought might be ¡®wasteful¡¯. While Matt was happy they were conscious of their spending, and he¡¯d rather have someone who kept those considerations in mind, he really wanted to not be bothered by requests for tests that only cost a few hundred thousand mana. Them asking for permission took longer than it would take him to make that much mana, but he couldn¡¯t exactly tell them that.


    In those first four months, they actually made some serious progress.


    Aisha spearheaded the formation te simplification method when Matt overheard hermenting the guilds super AI wasn¡¯t installed yet.


    Part of his chatting with Shadi had led to her offering to give his guild a deal on one of TrueMinds super AI built for research guilds and optimized for running simtions. She had been able to deliver it in just days, but Harper and their people were still inspecting the hardware and software of the three AI TrueMind had sent over.


    When Matt offered to use his own [AI] to run the simtions in the meantime, she just looked at him for a long moment, before muttering something that sounded suspiciously like ¡°bullshit Ascenders¡± and epted the offer. Dedicating a measly five million did the trick. Hopefully the TrueMind AI could give simr performance..


    Shadi had talked TrueMind¡¯s new product up to the moon and back, but he would only know for sure once he got his hands on it.


    Between Aisha''s own skill and Matt¡¯s AI, she had created a Tier 25 version of the formation te that worked, though it wasn¡¯t great. It relied on supersized tes, and the formation, while only using Tier 25 runes, was fiendishly difficult to actually create, to the point where it would take a very good Tier 25 enchanter or an average Tier 27 enchanter to recreate the tes. The problem was just how much control was needed for the lower Tier aura rifts to form in a reliable percentage of tests. Low Tier runes just struggled to do what was needed, even when given ample space to spread them out andyer them up.The Tier 30 formation tes, as they were created by the Emperor¡¯s team, were far cleaner. Even an average Tier 30 enchanter could produce them, and if they didn¡¯t make a substantial breakthrough in the Tier 25 tes, they were the versions that Matt suspected would be widely used. The tes were simple enough that your average Tier 32 enchanter could probably produce about two full sets of tes a day, if that was all they worked on.


    Still they had ten years and with the rest of the guild still to arrive Matt was confident they could get the tes down to an easy Tier 25 build and hopeful they could get down to Tier 20.


    The current state wasn¡¯t ideal, but if the demand was as high as the recent news reports that Catopiled for him said, there would be more than enough Tier 30 enchanters to make a te per world in just a few months.


    The report that Cato had presented to him was eye opening.


    With his public statement,bined with the Emperor¡¯s wife being on the board of directors, his announcement had been given enough credence that it had caused a public furor as people of all Tiers mored for the method to be, if not released early, <em>verified</em>.


    It got so bad that the Emperor had to publicly affirm the existence of the aura rifts and verify the timeline which finally settled people down.


    The news had three major impacts.


    First, trillions of Tier 14s who had been unable to create their Concepts, and were considering entering Minka, begged Matt to release at least a few Tier 14 aura rifts so they could avoid entering the copper.


    Matt wasn¡¯t even sure if Tier 14 aura <em>could</em> exist, but he made finding out a priority, albeit not his highest one. He also made a public statement that they would work on it, but also made sure to point out that if more people actually gave proper warning that they were about to ascend, most Tier 14s would be able to gain a Concept from witnessing it.


    There was a quick follow up of news stations repeating the story, and some going even farther, saying the Tier 45s had the duty to do their part now that all of their descendants wouldn¡¯t be at risk of not reaching immortality. A few of the news stations were so fervent with theirments that Matt was sure someone was pushing them and the message forward, but it worked.


    Two Tier 45s announced they wanted to Ascend, and gave a decade and two decades of warning each, weing all to their leaving. Thankfully, it eased a lot of the pressure Matt was feeling, as even the poorest Tier 14 could undoubtedly make it, even if they had to travel across each on foot.


    The secondrgest piece of news that came from the aura rifts announcement was one Matt didn¡¯t quite know how to react to.


    Cooper of Illvos and his Hasabar League announced that, in the spirit of cooperation, they would be designing a new and improved aura harvester and releasing the patent to the public so they could proliferate.


    Matt personally doubted the harvesting bottle¡¯s enchantment would be <em>new,</em> but he also couldn¡¯t prove it wasn¡¯t. And even if the move was a calcted way to keep them in the good graces of the public, the new bottle would help people. No matter how much he disliked the man and his historical practices, that was a good thing.


    What made Matt suspicious was just hours after that announcement, the alchemical corporation that Cooper had talked to at the party announced they would be dedicating a team to work on the method of refining aura into amercially viable product by standardizing the known recipes.


    They would <em>also</em> be releasing any findings they had so everyone could benefit.


    Through it all, Matt couldn¡¯t help but look for the that was about to fall, but he just couldn''t see anything, and neither could Cato.


    The third and possiblyrgest impact from the aura rifts technically mattered the least.


    It was the outpouring of messages of thanks from the Empire''s civilians.


    The news took time to propagate, both out and back, but Cato wrylymented about how Matt¡¯s public-rtions staff were getting billions and sometimes <em>trillions</em> of messages every day, with no end in sight. Cato showed a few of them to him alongside his wider summary, and Matt couldn¡¯t help but smile at what he saw, all the ways in which the aura rifts would change people¡¯s lives.


    Not all of them were even from the Empire. Granted, most of the foreign messages were more abstract schrly congrattions than any sort of personal thank-you, but Cato did let him know that he¡¯d received a few requests toe and make an Aura rift for various international organizations and even individuals. For those, Cato just directed them to speak with their local government to see about forming an official trade deal with the Empire.


    Matt could already see it spreading.


    It wasn¡¯t just the delvers who no longer needed to spend a not so small fortune on the Bottled Concepts who would benefit. The average civilians who had no real drive to reach immortality would benefit, as they would no longer be stuck at Tier 4, and would see even further improvements to their life spans and general well being. No doubt, a few percent of those would then continue to advance until they reached immortality, which meant millions, if not billions, of new immortals.


    It felt like everyone in the Empire was sending him something. He¡¯d gotten loads of letters just from being an Ascender, but this was on another level. So many people were thanking him, either for their own sake or that of their kids.


    It was exactly what Matt wanted to see, and he converted thergest screen in the guild¡¯s front hall to scroll through messages.


    This was the reason he had set up the guild, and Matt wanted to remind everyone who would eventually work here of that.


    Sadly, their advances in making other types of aura rifts consistently was still hit or miss.


    Matt knew he couldn¡¯t extrapte four people''s effort to the next decade, but he felt the crunch time approaching.


    After the four basic elements, weapon Concepts were some of the mostmon Domains. Even if there were billions of variations of weapon Concepts, Matt hoped they could create something like a sharpness aura, which could at least be used for all ded weapons.


    Sadly, all of their attempts to create sharpness aura failed utterly.


    They even had a few hundred aura samples from naturally urring rifts, but their tests never created sharpness aura. Instead, what few rifts they were able to stabilize with aura were always <em>metal</em> aura, even if the weapon had no metal in it whatsoever..


    Metal aura was useful, as it gave them a head start when they started going for that aura type, but it left all four of them very confused.


    Matt was actually hopeful that his density sub-aspected mana could help create a defensive aura that might be applicable to those who wanted to take up the role of tank or defensive frontliner.


    Theoretically, the type of aura didn¡¯t matter, but in practice, it very much did.


    Someone who didn¡¯t care about anything but reaching immortality might take any aura they could get their hands on. Creating a Concept with aura had less of a requirement of matching with a person''s true self, simr to the generic Concepts given to Tier 14s who left Minka after the fourth floor.


    Even an ice mage could take fire aura and make a fire Concept, which would allow them to progress past Tier 4, though theirck of resonance with the Concept would see them get near zero power out of the Concept. Because Domains were the way in which the spirit expressed its understanding within the Realm, attempting to stretch their Concept in any way, even to pick up generic abilities, would be much, <em>much</em> harder. Someone really talented might manage it, but those sorts of people wouldn¡¯t be likely to use opposing aura to begin with if they needed aura at all.


    Of course, it still let them be immortal, and once that happened they could break their Concept and try again. They¡¯d be like Aunt Helen, stuck at Tier 24 until they came up with a new Concept, but they¡¯d hardly be in a rush at that point.


    In contrast, a fire mage who got ahold of fire aura would be able to <em>trivially</em> create a highpatibility Domain, the likes of which could rival naturally-created Concepts.


    Additional work would refine their understanding and their synergy- the official term was ¡®resonantpatibility¡¯- to equal even the strongest of naturally-made Concepts.


    Though that still took a lot of work. Aura was malleable, but it still had limits.


    In theory, basic fire aura could be used to make anything even remotely rted to fire. A fire mage could make a standard fire Concept, a healer who saw fire as the source of life could manage that with basic fire aura, it could be used by the smith who saw fire as the method which made working with metal possible, it could even be used by a researcher who saw fire as humanity¡¯s first step on the path of technology if their mind was a little flexible.


    Fire aura wouldn¡¯t be good for something like heat or a sun Concept though if it worked at all.


    There was some debate as to whether it would be better to call it ¡®me¡¯ aura, rather than ¡®fire,¡¯ but the existing convention held a lot of precedent.


    That said, with aura set to be far moremon, it might be time for a general overhaul of how aura was ssified. They¡¯d found some fire aura more in line <em>with</em> ¡®heat¡¯ than ¡®mes,¡¯ and no less than four distinct variations of water aura, which they were tentatively calling ¡®stream,¡¯ ¡®rain,¡¯ ¡®ocean,¡¯ and ¡®refreshing.¡¯


    Those variations were subtle, but they existed. And from what they learned in the first months of studying the aura they harvested, and had bought from the few naturally urring aura rifts around the Empire, there seemed to be a hierarchy of aura types. But the idea was spotty at best, if it was even correct at all.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    For their purposes, the more general the aura, the better.


    Testing the nuances of aura was difficult, to say the least. They had two people on staff with a Talent that helped them understand the differences, but they weren¡¯t able to actually make Concepts with the stuff. That, and they hadn¡¯t arrived yet.


    There was also the problem that there just weren¡¯t enough Tier 4s to be used as test subjects, leaving the ethics of proper experimentation and difficulty of taking measurements on a Concept aside. But given their goal wasn¡¯t so much to make everyone a perfect Concept, just enable everyone to get <em>something</em>, aura that resonated halfway decently with everyone was better than aura that resonated <em>excellently</em> with very few.


    There were a few ws with the theory, however.


    Metal aura should be the step above something like sharpness aura, but from all of the reports on the topic, those who tried to turn metal aura into a typical weapon Concept struggled at best. Those who seeded usually had a Concept about the material of their weapon more so than the weapon itself, which implied there was anotheryer beyond mana types.


    It was confusing, and in theory, the Empire could just create a lot of the four basic elemental aura rifts and call it good enough, but that wasn''t good enough for Matt. That would be doing the job halfway, and he refused to just stop there.


    Telling people to just ept an ill fitting Concept and reach Tier 15, where they were immortal and could break their Concept to create a new more fitting one, was an absolutest resort.


    That meant they needed to create as many basetypes of aura as possible to help fulfill most people''s needs.


    Which was why the four of them aimed for creating aura types of themon Level 2 mana types, and things like sharpness aura, which could work for all types of sharp weapons more so than something like longsword aura. Not that they¡¯d <em>found</em> longsword aura, but Matt half-expected it to just be a matter of time and testing.


    If their theory was correct, the holy grail was a neutral aura that could be converted into anything, but as far as all of the academics in the realm were aware, there had never been such a thing. Matt had asked Ciceron, who knew a little of everything, to look into it, but there were no references of a neutral aura going back even five cycles of Great Powers rise and falls. It <em>should</em> be possible, if Minka and his testing inside were to be believed, but theoretical existence was quite different from actually knowing how to make it.


    Matt was confident that eventually he and his guild would figure it out, but that was very much a project for another day. Better to work on what they had in front of them. That left Matt and his people working on going the other way and trying to create specific aura types, but they weren¡¯t making any significant progress.


    Sadly, those first months were their only uninterrupted month.


    Duty came for Matt whether he liked it or not.


    First was the vice guild leader he had hired for the job arriving with the new staff for the ind.


    Kees Denarend the third was an imposing man, despite being all of five foot three, and his aura radiated a no nonsense air. But his feathered hair reminded Matt of a lot of his favorite people, and he felt close to him through that.


    Matt¡¯s new vice guild leader was actually a rmendation from King Frederic, who called in a favor to pull the man out of retirement.


    Kees was a third generation hereditary noble who had earned his mother¡¯s favor by taking over a failing guild and turning it around, showcasing his administrative abilities.


    Despite the man being a champion of hereditary noble rights, he was, from all ounts, the best example of a hereditary noble. His reign as Marquess had been sessful and without major controversy before he eventually handed the title off to his daughter. Since then, he had been slowly advancing his way to Tier 45 where he intended to ascend.


    Frederic had said they were something like political allies with Kees in his, or rather, Frederic¡¯s father¡¯s camp, in trying to slow the rapid reforms of Georgios.


    That inherently made Matt leery, but by all ounts he treated his people well, and so Matt had taken the favor from Frederic. He needed someone to run the guild, especially in the early days, and Kees was one of the better options.


    He was also free.


    Matt couldn¡¯t have afforded the Tier 42 without Frederic¡¯s favor for the full thousand year contract otherwise, without tapping into his and Liz¡¯s personal ounts.


    Good administrators were <em>expensive</em>.


    Kees looked around the ind littered with rifts with slitted eyes crackling with storm mana before turning to Matt.


    He bowed the perfect amount that a retired Marquees should bow to an active duke, and while Matt was tempted to disregard formality and wave him up, he suspected this was a test.


    Afterpleting the typical greeting between nobles, Matt asked, ¡°Was that necessary? You are going to be my vice guild leader.¡±


    Kees just blinked at him. ¡°Formality is always necessary. It gives people a guide on how to act in any social situation. As I have not officially epted your offer as vice guild leader, that was the proper introduction. My daughter told me about your announcement, but I honestly didn¡¯t believe it. I¡¯ve heard a thousand and one propositions which promised the moon, but few could ever deliver a n, let alone a product. I¡ª¡±


    His eyes slitted as his gaze went to the massive mana stone in the hall''s foyer. ¡°I hope that is a decoy mana stone, My Lord.¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°I thought it made a good statement piece. It also makes it easy to ess the mana.¡±


    ¡°<em>That</em> is the problem, My Lord.¡±


    Matt shrugged. ¡°If anyone is dumb enough to skim off the top, they deserve to get what ising to them.¡±


    Kees seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding slowly. ¡°I can ept that, but it''s still not a good idea. Even honest people can be tempted by that much wealth just sitting in the open, and I could not fault them for it.¡±


    ¡°Is that something you would care about? Sounds more like a vice guild leader thing.¡±


    Kees grinned at Matt¡¯s rebuke. ¡°Well yed Duke Moore. I¡¯ll take this job, but only for a thousand years. After that, I¡¯ve been promised the rift slots I need to reach Tier 45 and ascend.¡±


    That was news to Matt, and he said so. ¡°I thought you took the job to repay a favor?¡±


    ¡°The favor wasn¡¯t <em>this</em> big. If even a quarter of King Frederic¡¯sments about your ambitions are true, then I¡¯ll have more than my fair share of work as the vice guild leader.¡± Kees scanned the rest of the ind before nodding. ¡°I¡¯m at your disposal if you¡¯ll have me, My Lord.¡±


    Matt proffered a hand. ¡°Done. At least so long as you cut the My Lord stuff out. Officially, I¡¯m just your guild leader now. Call me Matt.¡±


    Matt could feel that Kees wanted to say something, but he held his tongue and simply nodded.


    Matt didn¡¯t push his new vice guild leader and changed the subject. ¡°I see you brought the rest of our people?¡±


    Kees waved them forward, and the people floating a few dozen miles away arrayed themselves in three orderly formations and one gaggle, just a few dozen feet away from where the two of them floated.


    ¡°The administration team, the supply and logistic team, and finally the security team. The rest of the people are the scientists you hired.¡± Kees didn¡¯t bother to hide his distaste for the scientists who refused to fall into regimented lines, and Matt could hear the weight of his experience in wrangling scientists in his tone.


    Matt made a show of scanning the groups. It both let him inspect them and let them inspect him in return. The Ascender worship was clear in most of their eyes and Matt had to brace himself for what was toe, but he had been through worse, and he could do this.


    Smiling, he flew over and introduced himself to the closest security guild member, their captain, asking polite small talk questions trying to set the man at ease before moving onto the next one.


    These were the people who would form the core of his guild going forward, and Matt wanted them bound to the guild with loyalty and honor more so than contracts and legalese. They were the best and brightest frencers Cato had been able to find and hire, and would make a good core of the guild.


    Eventually, they would follow him to the moon guild base that would orbit their eventual ducal holding, so Matt wanted to ensure that they knew who he was, and that he was someone they could talk to if they had to, without fear of being crushed by an Ascender.


    Even moving at the max speed his or the person''s cultivation allowed, it took almost an hour to get through everyone. But no oneined, and all seemed eager to get to work.


    The scientists and researchers were almostically eager to get to work, and Matt felt their spiritual perceptions sweeping over and around the mana stone or the workshops that had been prepared for them.


    As part of Matt¡¯s efforts to help lower Tiers, he had hired a number of professionals from every craft he could get his hands on. They went beyond the basic three of enchanting, alchemy, and smithing, as Matt had cast his far and wide.


    Anyone who was willing to work on low Tier projects and had an applicable skill set had been hired, but there was one group Matt paid special attention to.


    There were fifteen enchanters who specialized in low Tier engines. The other specialties were mostly about improving what already existed, but the engine crafters had a unique opportunity if they were just fast enough.


    With the release of Zack¡¯s Travel mana, there would no doubt be a race for making engines with it. Matt only really cared about the lowest Tier market, but as he had beaten into him with his and Aisha¡¯s aperology enchanting work, lower Tier rarely meant easier.


    Simple usually meant anything but easy, in fact, and he could only hope the researchers coulde out on top.


    Matt had given them three main categories of engines he¡¯d like to see, and while all three were simr, the actual construction would probably vary greatly.


    First and foremost was the Empire''s preferred method of movingrge amounts of people: Trains.


    If they could ensure that the train travel mana engine was free for people to iterate off without having to worry about patents for the next few centuries, Matt would be more than happy, even if the other two outright failed.


    The second was personal vehicles like cars, trucks, and taxis. Empire policy may discourage the use of such vehicles, but they still had their ce, and lowering the operation cost for them would be a great boon for the mortals who needed them and those who lived outside the cities.


    Finally: flying devices.


    It was a bit of a stretch goal, as Matt was sure the million and onepanies which were dedicated to flying swords would be creating their own versions of the flying items relying on travel mana, but if they created something first, he¡¯d be happy.


    Ultimately, it was a luxury. And even if he loved his flying sword before he learned how to fly with his Concept, the average civilian never needed or could afford a flying device.


    It wasn¡¯t like Matt hated the idea ofpanies making money, after all. He just wanted to help those who needed it the most.


    As he finished up, Kees looked at him oddly before he said, ¡°I¡¯m surprised. You are surprisingly personable on a small scale. From everything I¡¯ve seen since the end of the war, I expected you to be more taciturn. You¡¯d have made a good Captain levelmander if you weren¡¯t an Ascender.¡±


    It was a little awkward to get called out like that, but Matt felt he needed to exin. ¡°I like people¡ª¡± Seeing Kees¡¯ disbelieving look, Matt grinned. ¡°Really, I do. Just on a small scale. Intimate parties with a few dozen people are fine. Thousands, however, is just too much. It''s all too fake at that scale.¡±


    Kees thankfully changed the subject to matters about how Matt wanted to handle specific guild procedures and things like estimated expenses. Raw mana wasn¡¯t how most people wanted to be paid, but with Manny¡¯s help, Matt¡¯s guild¡¯s coffers were currently full.


    Eventually, Matt was able to escape back to his beloved aperology fields, which one of the grounds keepers had already converted to a nice grassy field. But just as he was going to head down into testing, he was interrupted again.


    He wanted to ignore it as he felt the tickling of an idea at the back of his mind, but the people to arrive were important.


    Possibly more important than the guild members.


    It was the team of administrators he had hired to oversee and assist Soerilia¡¯s unveiling. Normally, they would coordinate with the baron in charge of the, but as Matt and Liz had directly started the process and hadn¡¯t assigned a baron yet, they were linking up with Matt.


    As much as he didn¡¯t want to stop, Soerilia deserved his best efforts, and so Matt stopped his aperology and went with them to the neighboring, where he introduced the six of them to the local Arbitration Convention and the various countries'' leaders who were avable.


    Things had only been progressing for five months, but Matt was disheartened to see that one of the countries had tried to set up an amphibiousnding expedition onto the cordoned off portion of the continent, and had failed.


    Eighty two were minorly wounded, but nothing that required anything beyond an undirected healing spell or a few months of recovery. Eleven were seriously wounded and in need of a dedicated healer to regrow limbs, and worst of all, three were dead.


    Weirdly enough, the country had listed all of the wounded as dead, but Matt didn¡¯t follow the logic behind that action. He thought they might be trying to use the failednding as a way to ensure those who followed up the attempt were properly prepared for the danger, but his quick scan of the EmpireNet didn¡¯te up with anything conclusive. Not that he cared all that much.


    Even three deaths for such a dumb reason irritated him, and he was sure the administrative team could tell, even if he tried to hide it.


    He made a note that the order of healing wands was increased, but items that unawakened mortals could use were rare, as integrations were the only time they were needed. It meant they were expensive and slow to get, but he changed his order toe with one of Aiden¡¯s express couriers.


    He also sent a note asking for a healer or two from Lily toe over and assist in the initial process of the Rnd Method until the various countries could get some healers trained up.


    It would be easy enough to push the healers through a healing crash course on Lily once he got them the proper spells, [Directed Healing] and [Healing Touch] being the main two that proper healers would need.


    Thankfully, from all reports anyone who could be a doctor on a veil world like Soerilia, with its rigorous standards for the profession, would easily be able to make the jump to effective magical healing with just a few months of training. It was simr to the Empire¡¯s doctor to healer pipeline, but without some of the prep work on the magic side.


    Healing spells were typically bought up by the Empire itself, and it did allocate a number of the spells to new worlds like Soerilia. But even with the number being poption based, Matt felt the need to buy a few thousand more, which ballooned the cost. He couldn¡¯t help wincing at the final price tag. He <em>really</em> couldn¡¯t make a habit of that sort of thing, unless he wanted to majorly cut back on his aura research.


    Matt was just happy Soerilia had a mostlypetent doctormunity, as that existing infrastructure would be adequate to handle the majority of cases with formations, talismans, and potions dealing with most of the rest, with dedicated healers able to take just the worst of the worst cases. If they didn¡¯t have that, he wouldn¡¯t know what to do, but he sure wouldn¡¯t be willing to let them go through with something as dangerous as the Rnd Method otherwise.


    Matt sent the president in question a message that they needed to be more careful on further expeditions, but he kept his intervention limited to that.


    These weren¡¯t children, and they were capable of making their own choices, even if they led to mistakes and losses. He needed to remember that.


    What he <em>wouldn¡¯t</em> stand for was corruption, and he had to visit a few people who had attempted to embezzle money and supplies for either their own use or their people. There wasn¡¯t as much as he¡¯d feared, given the number of schemers he¡¯d overheard when he¡¯d first introduced the to cultivation, but he made it <em>very</em> clear that next time he wouldn¡¯t be nearly as lenient.


    After settling the administrator team, Matt returned to Lily and his ind just to get a surprise.


    Theodore had managed to create mud aura in a Tier 6 rift.


    It was the first sess they¡¯d had in intentionally creating a level two mana type, and while it wasn¡¯t properly <em>mud</em> aligned- it was currently being called ¡®sludge¡¯ aura- it was still an enormous step forward in their research.


    Sadly, that was the end of the good news. The entire aperology department spent a full two weeks recreating Theodore¡¯s exact methods of making the rift, but were never able to get another aura rift even using the sludge aura as a base.


    It seemed like a lucky fluke, which while interesting, wasn¡¯t conducive to hammering out the rules around rifts, and they eventually turned their attention to more methodical testing.


    The incident just went to prove that aperology was difficult, which was why it was a rtively untouched science. As they had found out the hard way, having an existing mana type didn¡¯t guarantee they could recreate the aura in question. And failure meant thousands of mana, and valuables like rift created weapons, thrown into the void, which few others could afford.


    Despite that false start, Matt was exhrated. Even a failed attempt was progress, and they were learning, which was the most important part.


    With ten years left, the possibilities felt¡­ <em>endless</em>.

 Chapter 353

    Chapter 353


    Fabian Lacor didn¡¯t like being dressed down like a child by a foreign noble, but he put on his best contrite expression and begged for forgiveness, which seemed to work whenbined with his Talent to slink into the metaphorical shadows.


    The lordling left after he promised to get the magical rods distributed to the hospitals by the end of the day.


    Fabian noted two things.


    The first was just how quick the lordling was to notice the issue, but only when he was on the world.


    The second was that despite the warning there would be a second check up to ensure he did as he promised, there was no check up.


    Fabian could work with this. Some ns would need shifting and adjusting, but he could most certainly work with this.


    ***


    Tara Felgrave, President of the Vimar Republic, stared off into the distance, seeing beyond her office¡¯s walls and to her country beyond. She had been doing a lot of that recently, but she still wasn¡¯t sure what to do, and the proposal on her desk on how the Empire intended to switch her people¡¯s currency to the ¡®credit¡¯ had only derailed her thoughts further.


    Part of her hadn¡¯t really expected to survive this long. She had expected to be killed or locked away, which at her age would have amounted to the same thing, to make room for the new order that was seemingly more and more inevitable as time passed. Except instead, they sent her a message through Councilor Samuel that they would help fund her efforts.And while her eyes may be going, Tara could still see that Councilor Samuel seemed terrified of their new lords. Many of her fellow country leaders dismissed that as the man simply being fearful, but Tara had known Samuel before he was pulled ¡®out of the veil¡¯ as he called it. He was never a fearful man, but he seemed terrified of offending these new leaders, and she trusted his instincts.


    She had asked him why he was so afraid of them but he hadn¡¯t exined much, and his words still echoed in her mind as she twisted them around and looked for the deeper meanings.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t mention it, and that can¡¯t be an ident, so I won¡¯t say too much. But the Republic Immortal told me they were akin to gods ofbat, the likes of which are rarely seen even among millions ofs, which is why they were being given thousands of worlds despite the Empire officially losing the war.¡±


    When she pressed he had mmed up, but Tara gleaned a lot from that short statement.


    None of it good.


    Which is why she was concerned about epting Duke Moores¡¯ faustian bargain.


    Tara paused as she stumbled over the plural address of the dukes, but waved it off as unimportant. Maybe it made more sense in theirnguage but in her¡¯s it conjugated weirdly.


    That was for her democratically elected sessor to deal with. They would be one of thest truly representative leaders of the Vimar Republic chosen by their people, and that thought broke Tara¡¯s heart.


    The offer of ten billion credits a decade had been¡­ Large, but without context. Tara had had no frame of reference to equate it to. Depending on a credit¡¯s value rtive to her own nation''s Kenthals, that could be arge amount of money or it could be a weekly paycheck to an office worker.


    With the arrival of the administrators, she finally had a frame of reference.


    She was an attractive young woman who could have fit into any Vimar Republic college campus without anyone batting an eye. Al¡¯Ta was her name if Tara was pronouncing it correctly. She had used one of the tablet things to chat with Tara, and answered all of her questions while exining the document that had been sent out.


    Her appearance made it hard to imagine this woman as an immortal who was over 8000 years old, and had been doing administrative work with herpany for just over two thousand years. Tara had asked about the seemingly young woman''s experience, worried her country was getting someone inexperienced assigned to them, just to find out the woman had been doing her job longer than the Vimar Republic had existed several times over.


    How were they supposed to resist an Empire that had thousand year old immortals working as an admin?


    What did that say about the rest of the Empire?


    Nothing good for her people, Tara was sure of that.


    Tara had tried to learn more about the general situation and Al¡¯Ta had been willing to share a little.


    Through their chat, Tara learned a lot of incidentals, but when she tried to ask about their new Dukes, the conversation ended almost immediately. It was all too telling for Tara and reminded her of Samuel¡¯s reaction.


    The main positive thing Tara had learned was the credit was currently valued at about one for every two and a quarter kenthals. That number could fluctuate as her people''s purchasing power increased, but so long as she or her sessor didn¡¯t try to hyper inte their currency, her people would be able to buy credits at a one for one ratio, which would double her people''s wealth.


    Tara had been worried about hyperintion, but Al¡¯Ta had exined that was functionally impossible with how the Empire controlled the credit economy. Learning this Empire had something like forty different economies depending on power was more than a little shocking, and didn¡¯t make a lot of sense, but it was also irrelevant to Tara.


    What was of concern was that things like the cost of food and housing were strictly regted by the Empire, and she was expected to start getting her country into a ¡®proper state¡¯ as soon as possible to smooth over the transition.


    In theory, it seemed great that this Empire mandated everyone had a ce to sleep and that food was to be made avable at low reasonable prices, but Tara couldn¡¯t help worrying.


    Why would a monarchy care about such things?


    The Moores had said the immortals let mortals live their own lives, but if that was true, and the striking down rule was so important, why couldn¡¯t they just leave them alone?


    Tara knew that was an impossibility, which is why she was trying to preserve what she could.


    The issue was that such efforts would be expensive. A billion credits a year, roughly 2.25 billion kenthals, was a lot of money, but not nearly enough.


    Tara couldn¡¯t help but worry that the idea behind the Moore¡¯s action was to trap her by giving her just enough to feel like they weren¡¯t hindering her, but not enough to make real strides in her efforts.


    If that was true, then epting the deal truly would doom her people.


    Tara¡¯s mind went to her ns. The n she had refined after reading the relevant section of the document the Moores had provided.


    Tying in with museums and pivoting them into general cultural keepsakes was a good idea, but Tara feared it wasn¡¯t enough.


    Vimar and Soerilia as a whole needed to remember their roots, teach their kids their ancestralnguage and traditions, because Al¡¯Ta made it very clear that Empire standard would be the only officialnguage teachable in schools after integration or to be used for official business.


    Ifnguage and culture was relegated just to museums, it would be far away and be lost even faster.


    Part of Tara scoffed at the idea.


    Was she whistling into the wind?


    Were her actions pointless?


    She didn¡¯t think so, but she was old. Having rejected the ¡®awakening¡¯ and magical healing devices, she knew she had at best another decade in her before she returned to Soerilia itself. Why should she spend her final years struggling to resist the inevitable?


    It all felt so hopeless and nihilistic.


    What was the point when an administrator working for apany was two thousand years old?


    Were the Moores right in that this nd faceless Empire culture was the only thing that could endure the time and size that these immortals seemed to operate on?


    Tara wished she could confidently say they were wrong, but the more she learned, the harder it was.


    That didn¡¯t mean she was about to give up.


    Even if it was pointless and the younger generations spurned her efforts, she would do it anyway.


    If she and people like her didn¡¯t try, the younger generations wouldn¡¯t have the option to reject their past, as the past would be lost to time, impossible to w back.


    That thought was what kept Tara going in the face of the seemingly inevitable.


    Immortals and immortality changed things.


    Tara hated the very idea, it seemed anamatha to what was right and proper, the natural order. But it seemed that immortality was what was natural after people reached a certain level of power.


    But if immortality was unchanging, maybe she could use that?


    Not for herself. She hated the very idea, but maybe she could gather a group of youngsters who would be eager for such power and longevity and teach them the ways of Vimar and her many cultures?


    If some of them could reach immortality, then there would be permanent first generation Vimarians who were free from the inevitable cultural drift. They could be shepherds for Soerilia and her descendants.


    Already today there were lost cultures which had been destroyed, absorbed, or forgotten only to be remembered in <em>museums</em>.


    That was exactly what Tara wanted to avoid.


    The more she thought about it, the more that seemed like a good idea.


    There had been something in the packet about being able to go off world to go to a ce where her people could advance further and reach immortality. The Moores had said they would subsidize a number of people to do so.


    Tara¡¯s mind raced as she called Al¡¯Ta, who immediately answered, which made Tara wonder just how many administrators they had brought? Were there thousands of immortals waiting around for someone to call them?


    Immortality just seemed like endless work.


    Either way, Tara was happy to get a quick answer to her question.


    Even without immortality one could truly be long lived, reaching over a thousand years old, and the Duke¡¯s were willing to sponsor people who wanted to advance.


    Al¡¯Ta did mention that cold weapons were preferable to hot ones. Swords and bows over guns.


    That would take some thought.


    Al¡¯Ta said there were schools on the neighboring world which could teach such skills, and the Moores knew the owners. They were offering slots for those who wanted to learn. While Tara thought it would be good to send people to take advantage of those skills, she didn¡¯t think it was a good idea to push younger people off world.


    If she wanted to preserve her culture, these people would need to be <em>in</em> the culture, living it, or they were no better than wall carvings to be looked at by her current people. A curiosity for children to marvel at before moving onto the next wonder.


    Al¡¯Ta¡¯sment about guns not scaling to the power levels needed gave her pause. Was that just a ploy to get them into the Empire¡¯s mindset?


    It didn¡¯t seem like it, even Samuel mentioned that the immortal he interacted with had a sword and metal armor in his office, but Tara couldn''t help but doubt.


    Where was she supposed to get melee specialists on Soerilia after guns had taken over warfare sopletely?


    The answer was surprisingly obvious once she let her mind wander.


    Grand Secretary Gerard, of the Palkar Union.


    He had hated this as much as she had, and better yet, the Palkar Union had a sect of ascetic monks who continued to train in melee weapons. She didn¡¯t know too much about them, but their reputation was that of fiercebatants of a hundred weapons. And should one be foolish enough to enter melee range with them, they were in for a world of hurt. Not that useful on a modern battlefield, but now¡­


    If their reputation rang true, Tara desperately needed their skills.


    However, she knew she couldn¡¯t let the Palkar Union and their religious beliefs take over her idea. Their religion, like every other, should be preserved. But if given full control, they would probably only preserve their own culture and heritage.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the vition.


    No, this needed to be a wide effort with their support. Not the other way around.


    The more she thought about it, the better her idea sounded, and Tara called out to her secretary to set up a meeting with Gerard.


    Part of her longed for that portal thing. That, if nothing else, would be nice to have ess to. As it was now, she¡¯d be spending ten hours on a ne, but she could manage the sacrifice.


    Anything for Vimar and its people.


    No. That was the wrong way of thinking now. It wasn¡¯t about just Vimar now, but about everyone else who shared this sky.


    Anything for <em>Soerilia </em>and its people.


    ***


    Captain Yosef Yilik hadn¡¯t quite believed it when he and his team were pulled out of a six month long mission to infiltrate the Balsar dictatorship, topple the military controlled government by killing the grand general, and secure The Joined Provinces of Turistia¡¯s southern border.


    Thousands of hours of work went down the drain, along with millions of taxpayers¡¯ hard earned money.


    Then, they were asked if they volunteered to gain magic and fight monsters. It seemed like bullshit, but he and his men, Raven Team 4, were told magic existed by President Westley Bakerfield himself.


    It all seemed too fantastical, but they had proof.


    President Westley had with him a bar of copper and steel that he gleefully touched to Sergeant Martin. Martin had nearly lost an eye when they had taken over a military outpost just days before they were recalled, and the wound was still red and gnarly to look at, but they had all suffered simr injuries over the years. It was nothing new.


    That was what it meant to be a Raven.


    With a small pulse of light, the wound on Martin''s face rapidly healed.


    It was like magic.


    Yosef caught himself, it wasn¡¯t <em>like</em> magic, it <em>was</em> magic.


    ¡°By the Founder¡¯s testicles.¡± Yosef breathed out as he stood and moved to Martin''s side along with the rest of the team.


    They made way for him and he gripped Martin''s head in his hands and twisted the man''s face up, ignoring his pleas.


    ¡°Hold still Martin. For fuck¡¯s sake. We are trying to see your ugly mug.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, me too Captain Y.¡±


    Looking to President Westley, Yosef asked, ¡°The stitches are still there, and there¡¯s a small scar? Is that normal?¡±


    The President pulled out a small tablet and started poking at it before handing it to Yosef. ¡°Should be. This is just a magical tool that can heal, where a real healer can do so better. I watched as Marcus Daltor¡¯s finger was regrown, so I know it''s possible.¡±


    Yosef took that in while holding a hand out to the empty air. ¡°Knife.¡±


    His single word had a dozen des removed from various hidden locations and he picked the one that had the best shape for what he was about to do.


    ¡°Hold still Martin, or I might identally stab your eye, and then we can see just how good the healing magic is.¡±


    Martin bitched as Yosef cut and removed the stitches, but he never even flinched.


    Yosef then turned his attention to the magic wand along with everyone else, including President Westley. ¡°Can we use it again?¡±


    ¡°No, this one is drained. While it can refill on its own, that will take a few days, and I don¡¯t have enough mana to charge it myself.¡±


    Thankfully, President Westley had a case full of the rods. ¡°I have a dozen for the Ravens to share.¡± At the protests, the President''s eyes hardened and the men shut their mouths. ¡°These are mostly getting passed around to hospitals. A few countries were¡­ Reprimanded for trying to hoard them for the military. Out of our initial shipment, this was considered an eptable number for the Ravens and your uing mission.¡±


    All of the Ravens got serious as President Westley exined the riches avable on the other continent, and how the Communists of the Greater South ins had failed tond a beachhead and lost an entire unit of people in the attempt.


    Yosef would scoff at the average GSP soldier, but the Barebacks, the special force equivalent of the Ravens, were just as good as them. And when it came to amphibiousndings, better. Maybe. The Ravens specialized in airborne entries but they were no slouches in the water. If <em>they</em> had failed, things could not be simple or easy.


    Here there be monsters was once just a saying, but it seemed all too true now.


    President Westley exined that because of the JPT¡¯s distance to the foreign continent, they needed to get in there early and secure valuables fast before safely extracting. If they could set up a securending zone somewhere, all the better, but their main job was to use some of the new magic tools to find and secure valuables while gathering information about where the greatest threats were.


    The Ravens were never given easy jobs, but this was one for the record wall.


    Letting his gaze travel from the box of metal rods which would be their lifelines in this hostilend, Yosef pulled one out.


    ¡°Kepler, get over here.¡±


    Corporal Kepler nearly teleported over to Yosef¡¯s side, vibrating with excitement. The man had pulled his back a few years ago, and it was only daily stretching that allowed him to move, but they had all seen when Kepler hadn¡¯t been able to do his stretches and turned into a eighty year old man.


    Poking him with the rod, Yosef felt a small click and then a pulse of light washed over Kepler.


    Kepler dropped like a rock, and Yosef immediately moved to catch his screaming Raven as he clutched at his back, even as his legs spasmed widely.


    Just as Yosef was starting to prepare to knock him unconscious with a blood choke, Kepler stopped moving and screaming as if a switch was thrown.


    Instead, he startedughing. ¡°Oh, by the Founders! Ha! I love this magic shit! Sign me the fuck up!¡±


    Twisting out of Yosef¡¯s grip, Kepler popped to his feet and without bending his legs put his palms on the ground.


    ¡°It doesn''t hurt!¡±


    Yosef contemted punching Kepler in the mouth, but he refrained with great effort. If President Westley wasn¡¯t still there, he might have. And he still mightter.


    ¡°Get up idiot.¡± Turning to President Westley, Yosef continued, ¡°You said we could get this magic ourselves sir?¡±


    ¡°This way. They set up a temporary awakening center. From the instructions, it seems as simple as pushing a button and so far it has been exactly that simple. Really interest¡ª¡±


    They traveled to an aircraft hangar, and when he saw what was inside, Yosef whistled.


    The contraption took up about eighty percent of the avable space and nearly reached the struts that held up the ceiling. How was it in any way shape or form, <em>temporary</em>? It looked more solid than the building it was in!


    President Westley must have read his face as he gestured. ¡°They said the permanently installed ones are four times the size, but more efficient. Still, this should work for our needs.¡±


    There were a dozen technicians crawling over the device, and Yosef studied them.


    ¡°Like ants crawling around.¡±


    He was about to turn around to re at Boisie, but President Westley nodded. ¡°Less effective than ants as well. We were told not to break anything, but we can¡¯t even open the device. It''s basically a ck box. Shame, as I¡¯m sure we could learn a ton from it. But at least it works. Take a seat, gentleman.¡±


    There were twelve seats. For all their bravado, Yosef could feel that most of his men were nervous.


    ¡°NCO¡¯s with me.¡± Yosef ordered as he stepped forward and took the closest seat. He was just as nervous, but he didn¡¯t let it show. And if they died in whatever this was, his lieutenants could keep everyone else in line.


    Why did magic need such arge device to be given?


    The screen was next to his chair, and he read it as it started telling him about the process.


    It was a lot of magic mumbo jumbo, but he tried to follow it. One interesting bit was that all the information about his ¡®Talent¡¯ was confidential, and no one could read the screen except him. Looking around to test it, Yosef saw that even though he could see the other screens, he couldn¡¯t read anything on them. They simply looked nk.


    After a few minutes of exnation that stated in a dozen ways that he really shouldn¡¯t share about his Talent unless he was very sure he wanted the information getting out, he felt a pulse of <em>something</em>.


    Yosef would have likened it to a shot of coffee, but that was a lie. It felt like warm water was spreading through his body. It was like pissing oneself in a dream and <em>deeply</em> ufortable. He wanted to twist and squirm even as he couldn''t help but look at the crotch of his pants as he made sure he hadn¡¯t just pissed himself in front of everyone.


    Thankfully, the feeling passed almost immediately, and the screen next to him told him to wait. As he sat waiting he couldn''t help but feel¡­something. The faint breeze sharpened on his skin, his blood pounded in his veins, and he <em>felt</em> the faint sweat on his brow, and the way in which it beaded and would drip down his face if he let it be. If he really pushed himself, it almost seemed like he could feel the touch of the breeze on his <em>chair</em>.


    What¡­ what was happening?


    Yosef tried to figure out what was going on but it was like he had a new limb and it was unwieldy at best and uncooperative at worst. A few minutester the readout pinged and provided an exnation.


    Tier 1 Talent: You know how fluids near you will act.


    Primary effect: Your spiritual sense directly enables you to sense fluids.


    Secondary effect: Innate Understanding of how fluids you sense will act.


    As soon as he read it, things <em>clicked</em>. Now that he knew what he was looking at, it all just made sense, in more ways than one. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what ¡®spiritual perception¡¯ was, but he could tell that it was letting him feel the air itself within a few feet of him. Beyond that, he just instinctively <em>knew</em> that the slight motion of air within the room would break against the chair, and the ways in which that air would deviate, just like he <em>knew</em> his eyes were open.


    It was like he had a sixth sense of an air tunnel.


    But it wasn¡¯t just air. As he grabbed his water bottle and took a drink to wet his newly-dry mouth, he knew the exact way the half-full bottle would slosh in on itself on its way to his mouth, then the way in which it would ssh around once inside his mouth, how it would travel down to his stomach.


    Martin stood up and walked about the room, passing inside Yosef¡¯s newest sense, and as he did so, Yosef got a sense for the water inside the man¡¯s bottle. With some focus, he tried to focus on the man himself.


    The feeling was weaker, but noticeably there. Trying to sense the fluids inside of Martin¡¯s body felt like he was trying to listen to what was happening in a neighboring room that also happened to be sound proof. When he tried to do the same to the men who hadn¡¯t just been awakened, he still met resistance, but far less. It was like living in a shitty apartment again. You might be in your own space, but you heard every bump and scrape in the neighboring unit.


    After hitting ept that he <em>really</em> understood not to share what his Talent was, Yosef stood up and looked to President Westley, who held up a hand. ¡°Officially, I can¡¯t ask, and our new overlords have made it clear we can¡¯t institute it as a rule. But if any of you would like to share, we are still trying to understand a lot about these Talents. We would be grateful.¡±


    Yosef had to think about it for a moment, and while the military knew everything about him down to how often he shit, this felt different. Not because he didn¡¯t trust them, but because this was an advantage unique to himself.


    Also the fact that the machine which had just given him said magic powers had made him type out that he shouldn''t tell people his Talent. <em>Twice</em>.


    If the people who were able to give out such powers felt they were better kept to oneself he was inclined to believe them.


    Even now, he knew one of the techs working on the machine behind him was walking behind him thanks to how the air shifted around them. He didn¡¯t need to see or hear them, but he knew.


    If he told anyone, he¡¯d lose that advantage.


    He also knew his decision set the tone for the rest of his men, and to that end, he looked directly into the President¡¯s eyes. ¡°For operational security, I feel it''s best we keep our Talents to ourselves.¡±


    One of the hanger-ons one made to say something, but President Westley stopped them. ¡°Don¡¯t. We asked and they answered, which is all we can do. I won¡¯t risk falling into the bad graces of our new overlords for this. They made it clear they take this seriously, and when I asked about it, the administrator said even some married couples don¡¯t share the full details of their Talents. Let us assume they have good reasons for this choice and not rock the boat so to speak.¡±


    As the next set of men went into the vacated chairs, Yosef tried to project an air of confidence for them, even as his mind raced to their uing mission.


    Only one man decided to share his Talent, Lance Corporal Muz, because of how obvious it was.


    A small jump sent him nearly thirty feet across the room, and when he made a vertical jump, he easily caught the strut forty feet in the air.


    Yosef was half sure Muz was going to snap his ankles when he dropped, but hended like he took a single step which implied the power was more than a simple increase to jump height.


    That was¡­ useful.


    The next week was a blur as they were kitted up with new magic stuff in addition to their old gear, before they entered a rift where they got to experience fighting monsters.


    They moved through it easily, but all of them noticed how more power flooded into them.


    Yosef tried to direct most of the power to his physical core, but between his sloppy control and the warnings about going too far in one direction, he went with something like a sixty forty split instead of a seventy thirty.


    His new Talent proved quite useful, and as he trained with it he found that the sense it granted wasn¡¯t <em>only</em> limited to sensing fluids. Other magical things had a certain kind of <em>presence</em> to them, and as he practiced with one, they both improved. But the main thing was that it was now impossible to sneak up on him. Nothing could approach him from behind without moving air, and no matter how quiet they were, he <em>knew</em> when it was approaching.


    He understood that he might not be able to react to something like a bullet before it hit him but the increase in senses gave him a boost in confidence to making it out of even the worst disaster alive. Of course, with magic, there probably <em>were</em> things that could approach him without moving air and he tried not to forget that.


    It was a new sense, but one that felt like a limb that he had always had, though it would be incredibly easy to turn it into a crutch.


    He warned his men about that, but he could only hope they would heed his warnings.


    And how easy it would be to fall into that habit. His new sense changed everything. As they were parachuting down to a small rocky high point along the edge of a mountain range, Yosef¡¯s body subconsciously adjusted his pull cords to better catch the winds and dodge the turbulence. It took some concentration to sense things at any particr range, but once he had sensed it, it was second nature to ount for it.


    The moment theynded, Yosef cut himself free from his chute and raised his rifle as he scanned their surroundings. They had been briefed about how much stronger and more dangerous these monsters would be.


    Seven seconds.


    It only took seven seconds for contact to be made.


    A creature like an armadillo and a porcupine had a baby galoped at them from one of the cracks in the nearby mountain.


    The monster crossed the few hundred feet between them in record time, racing down the mountainside with a shower of small rocks tumbling down in its wake. With no time to waste, Yosef called for open fire.


    The cracks of rifles was like popcorn and the smell of cordite was heavy in the air, but the creature hardly seemed to be bothered by the armor piercing rounds that should have shredded it.


    Given the sprays of dust and stone in the area around the creature, his team had either drastically decreased in uracy, or the creature¡¯s armor was <em>deflecting</em> the bullets like armor ting.


    Calling for his men to shift left as a unit, they did so and spread out.


    Hundreds of rounds traveled down range, and while most did nothing, some were effective.


    Blood started to flow as some of the heavy rounds found their marks, and the monster began to stumble.


    Taking a moment, Yosef gathered himself and concentrated on his weapon and the air around them.


    Even without his Talent directly making the assessment entirely trivial, he could feel the cross wind and use that in conjunction with twenty years of practice to ount for the deflection, and dialed in a shot that would hit the monster head-on.


    Yosef kept both eyes open as he looked down his scope and put the chevron on the creature''s eye.


    He caressed the trigger and grinned as the creature reeled back, head shaking. Its angry roar turned into a pained cry.


    With the creature turning its side to them, their shots finally started prating the hide and blood started to flow. But even when Yosef¡¯s experience expected the creature to run, it turned back at them and started its lumbering run once again.


    It died less than a hundred feet from them, and Yosef was about to call for a perimeter to be set when he felt a rush of essence stronger than he had felt from the lizard rift they delved earlier spread to him and his men. Apparently its toughness came from it being some kind of <em>extra</em> magical creature, and that meant its essence was that much stronger.


    It was thick and heavy like syrup, and the feeling of increased power that flooded into his limbs as he sent the essence to his physical core was incredibly additive.


    Yosef wanted more.


    He wanted this every day when he woke up, and another before he went to bed. He was starting to understand how people drove themselves to kill monsters to reach immortality.


    It felt <em>good</em>.


    Really good.


    It was like¡­ the tide rising and carrying him along with it. There was a momentum in the surge of power that almost made sense. Part of him wanted to explore that feeling more, delve into it,nguish in that feeling like soaking in a hot tub.


    He instinctively felt there was something there. Something he wanted to reach out and connect to. However therger part of him knew how dangerous their current location was, which was only reinforced when one of his men called out.


    ¡°Contact left. Two miles.¡±


    Yosef turned and started barking orders. ¡°Alpha, eyes on contact. Bravo, watch our six. Charlie, start scanning for high magic concentrations. I want to know what is around us before this next monster arrives.¡±


    That feeling of understanding was just under the surface, begging for a few hours, afortable chair, and a good whisky, but Yosef pushed it down. He¡¯d deal with thatter. There was a mission to handle first and this ce was more dangerous than the briefings had stated and if he didn¡¯t want to go out like the Barebacks he needed to be locked in and not distracted.


    And another monster meant more essence which meant more power and Yosef was more than happy to grow stronger if it felt this good.

 Chapter 354

    Chapter 354


    Matt sat in his office as he tried not to look at the vast fields of rifts visible outside his window.


    Things had been going far better than he could have ever hoped. Kees ran a tight ship and kept everything on task, and the things Matt needed to deal with on a weekly basis amounted to a few hours of work, but those hours were precious.


    Now that the other aperologists were settled in and working, the guild was crunching through rifts and rift testing at an incredible speed, and they all felt they were close to the breakthrough of creating other types of aura rifts besides those of the basic elements. Team three had been on such a roll that Matt¡¯spetitiveness was nagging him to beat them, and time spent in his office wasn¡¯t conducive to winning.


    This was, however, what he had signed up for when he decided to create a guild. And he couldn¡¯tin too much when Kees was handling ny nine percent of the work.


    And there were some interesting ideasing out of the various departments.


    A few years might not be a lot of time, but a year and a nearly unlimited budget was a recipe to create miracles.


    Or at least the seeds of them.


    The alchemy team had developed a prototype for a new Tier 10 durability potion thatsted a full four hours, which was a full thirty percent increase of the current potions on the market. Better yet, the only side effect was explosive diarrhea, which they were confident in fixing with some more tweaks to the form. After that, it was just a process of simplifying the form and standardizing the steps so Tier 10 or 12 alchemists could produce it.


    He hoped they would then be able to downstep the potion to at least Tier 5, but for only having a year of time it was a great first step. Matt had publicly rewarded the team in question with their bonus.That was exactly the type of innovations he wanted to see.


    And innovate they did.


    The runic teams had been hard at work, not trying to simplify runes themselves, but their self selected goal was to make enchanting easier to get into. Matt had been surprised at the idea when it was presented to him, but he loved it.


    Low Tier professions were rtively expensive. Especially when someone was trying to learn at the same Tier.


    After all, a Tier 5 could afford thousands of attempts by using Tier 1 materials, but for a Tier 1, those materials would be considered a substantial investment and risk.


    There were three main ways to break into any profession.


    The first and easiest method most knew of were post awakening sses. Those who could afford the upfront costs learned the basics at the school. After teaching the basics, they gave the students enough materials to test things. Ten or twenty attempts to learn a crafting method wasn¡¯t a lot, but it was typically enough to give the newly awakened with a knack for the profession a chance to shine, even if they weren''t Talented. Combined with a Tier 5 or so established professional, that was enough for most people to at least get their foot into the door.


    The second was to join a guild, corporation, business, or rarely a noble house who was willing to sponsor someone. Most of the time, they required someone to have a Talent for the profession or show considerable skill before they were willing to invest.


    Finally, thest method was to do what Matt had done; buy the books and figure things out on your own.


    But even he had started at Tier 4, and could afford the basic materials or source them from rifts, which let him brute force his way through the learning process.


    Most people who took up crafting professions didn¡¯t want to delve for themselves.


    The team wanted to try to add a fourth method, and while Matt wasn¡¯t sure it would work, he was willing to throw mana at the issue and see if they could figure something out.


    The idea wasn¡¯t necessarily new, but it was interesting.


    They wanted to create nearlypleted formations, as they were the easiest for beginners to create, or at least more so than talismans and weapons enchanting. The goal was to use incremental steps to teach one lesson at a time, while also giving the budding crafter in question something they could hopefully sell.


    Thatst caveat had caused Matt to go into a tangent of research about just what non-delvers used formations for and who bought them. The answer was a lot, just not what Matt was used to thinking of as enchanting work.


    They weren¡¯t making protection arrays to defend from monsters attacking, rm formations to wake you up when the monsters tried to slip into your camp, enchanting weapons or talismans to better kill said monsters, or any of thebat adjacent uses Matt used enchanting for.


    No, the enchantments they typically created were things like essence gathering arrays to boost non-delving cultivation, arrays to light areas in a specific way that the typical store bought lights couldn¡¯t do, hasten the growth of nts, or stop undesirable weeds from growing.


    There were even entire formation set ups dedicated to outdoor gatherings. Temperature control disks which could be used outside, and surprisingly, thergest seller in most worlds, bug repent formations.


    With [Cracked Phantom Armor], Matt had never really bothered with those kinds of formations after they had reached Tier 5 and created their Concepts, as he could use them to keep bugs away.


    Formations didn¡¯t tend tost very long, as a general rule. Sure, it was possible to make a formation that couldst basically forever, same as permanent enchantments, but it was debatable whether such things could truly be called ¡®formations,¡¯ as they needed to be custom-built for their one and only deployment location. And at that point, there was no reason to use a formation instead of a proper enchantment. Even the highest-quality formations tended to degrade after a couple of centuries at most, as wear and tear set in, but moststed decades at best.


    As a result, formations had been optimized to be fairly low-cost but temporary and essentially disposable enchantments on an immortal timescale.


    The team wanted to create a series of almostpleted, butmonly used formations that taught important lessons in enchanting to take a beginner from the academic stages to an eptable level, while also providing them with a seble product.


    Thestpany who had tried this had licensed the idea to a number of guilds as training aids, but the idea hadn¡¯t really caught on since guilds were usually able to offer hands-on training to their budding enchanters. They had tried to pivot to academies, but their fees caused the prices of the lessons to reach a level that anyone who could afford the lessons could afford to learn the traditional way, leaving the idea somewhat dead in the water.


    Matt¡¯s guild intended to get around the issue of price by just publicly releasing the halfpleted formation tes¡¯ designs. Even if they didn¡¯t rece the typical lessons academies taught, they could be a useful teaching aid. They weren¡¯t even thatplicated or hard to make, and if produced in batches by a Tier 5 enchanter, they could be stockpiled during slower times of the year, even by those same students once they progressed past the bigger phase.


    Their main issue was the previouspany had a patent on the method, and wasn¡¯t interested in selling the patent for a lump sum. They instead wanted a royalty on every te created.


    Between the <em>idea</em> of a teaching aid being basically unpatentable, their patent being unused for so long, and how distinct Titan¡¯s Torches implementation would be, using public and inhouse developed runes, anywsuit would be a mostly cut and dry case in their favor if they dared to sue him ording to the legal department. Still at Kees insistence, they were making preparations just in case anyway. Personally Matt doubted they would spend that much to try and fight them but it was always good to be ready.


    Thankfully that wasn¡¯t his job and he left the legal battle to thewyers as he reviewed the progress made by the ambient cultivation division.


    They had grand ns to make cultivation easier for non-delvers. Though, their efforts were still in the nning stages and it would be at least a decade before they had anything ready, ording to Kees.


    After finishing up his paperwork, Matt checked in with Kees before returning to the courtyard where Erwin, Aisha, and Theodore were working.


    In thest year, they had made substantial progress and they thought they knew where the issue of creating moreplex auras came from.


    Aura was metaphysical and they were creating rifts in a fairly crude fashion. Nature didn¡¯t need to throw a sword into the area¨C aura rifts were perfectly capable of appearing naturally, after all¨C but there were things they could do to try and get there.


    First and most ambitious was flooding a mana-less with Matt¡¯s endless mana to the point it started to create its own essence cycle. The other aperologists didn¡¯t know the mana sample was Matt¡¯s, but that idea was so out there that Matt couldn¡¯t help butugh. Maybe when he was a Tier 50 he might do something like that, but even small moons took unfathomable amounts of mana to produce essence, let alone an essence core.


    To that end, Matt had five of the fifteen aperology teams working on trying to create specific rifts without items.


    Like they learned with the rifts converting neutral mana to all six basic mana types, they suspected that by correctly controlling those mana types, their ratios, and the way they interacted, they could create all types of rifts and possibly reduce de-aspecting on Tier up.


    One of the new aperology guild members, Alfonso, actually had some anecdotal evidence that shoving a rift right to the edge of Tiering up with mana, but deliberately keeping it from doing so, and keeping it in an istion formation, could reduce the chance of de-aspecting on Tier up significantly.


    Like most of the aperologist guild members, Alfonso had dabbled in the science after reaching immortality. But unlike others, he was never a delver. He was a bit of a statistical anomaly among immortals.


    Alfonso was born on a Tier 28 world in Rusty¡¯s kingdom during Agatha¡¯s rebellion, and had been a typical young adultmoner who had been swept up among the first Sophron dynasties Empresses reforms. As he told the story, he hadn¡¯t cared about the reforms as he never expected to do anything with his cultivation even after he was given the opportunity to awaken.


    With a Talent that gave him a small boost to paperwork, he hadn¡¯t expected anything toe out of awakening except a slightly longer and healthier life. If cultivating hadn¡¯t been something of a fad at the time for those who had been denied the option their entire lives, he admitted he might have never bothered. But there are always anomalies, and Alfonso was lucky enough to create his Concept in just a year of work, which let him advance past the Tier 4 bottleneck even though Bottled Concepts hadn¡¯t been avable tomoners at the time.


    Instead of throwing himself into cultivation and delving like many at the time did once they created their Concept, and paved their way to immortality, Alfonso was happy to plod along and never quit his job.


    Living on a high Tier world meant he had been able to stay just ahead of the age curve to the point where he actually reached immortality.


    With forever in front of him, he finally quit his desk job, and by his own admission, moved to one of the first formal pleasures.


    Existing in various forms across all Great Powers, in the Empire their existence was historically a mostly informal affair having been set up by individual nobles to encourage the more indolent immortals to leave more valuable worlds. The fact this helped Tier up lower Tiers was a mostly incidental side benefit until Agatha formalized and standardized the system.


    Now they were Tier 1 or Tier 2s that the Empire had to incorporate to catch more valuable worlds as they drifted by in chaotic space to the greater Empirework but otherwise had little use for. Mortals could and did live there but few relished the idea of living on a world where even the mostmon rift was rare after all. Instead Immortals were incentivised to move there in exchange for vastly reduced taxes, with the only requirement being that they release at least 70% of their mana into the air per day, which boiled down to having a full mana pool most of the day as any excess generation leaked out naturally.


    Statistically, most who went to such a world never really pulled themselves out of the rut, but Alfonso grew bored and eventually started dabbling into the various crafting professions. Eventually, he fell in love with aperology.


    Used to a slow life, Alfonso was more than happy to make rifts and run a test for a few hundred years before moving onto the next one.


    That long term testing allowed him to have evidence that given roughly a decade in istion, a rift could stabilize enough that its chance of de-aspecting was drastically reduced.


    They were actually testing that on the maind away from all of the testing that happened on the ind, but a decade was still a long time for a single test.


    Instead, those five teams were trying to artificially recreate the conditions Alfonso saw in his personal testing, namely mana stability.


    The going theory was that rifts converted neutral mana into the six basic elements for their internal working like a framework, and used neutral mana to fill in the gaps. As a rift was left alone, it would slowly start converting that neutral mana into elemental mana, which, for whatever reason, took much longer than the seemingly instant process when the rift was initially formed.


    They hoped that by creating instances and forcing the rift to spend neutral mana, they could then feed the rift the perfect ratio of elemental mana, which would then be integrated in the ce of neutral mana and have the same stabilizing effect. That all hinged on the hypothesis that the rifts didn¡¯t just convert the elemental mana into neutral mana, which they had no way of knowing without first figuring out the perfect ratios and then running tests by Tiering up the rifts.


    Matt and most of the Titan¡¯s Torch aperologists believed that was the fundamental truth of rifts, and if they could learn how to manipte rifts on that level, they could crack aperology as a whole.


    Currently, his team was part of the race to create variable aura rifts, but they were closer to cracking the level two mana types more than anything.


    The first question about level two mana types was fairly easy. What mana type did you want?


    For his purposes, Matt had split the level two mana types into three categories: easy, tricky, and <em>hard</em>. Easy mana types were things like ice andva, where even vague environmental associations were <em>more</em> than enough to spawn them in abundance. Tricky mana types were things like crystal and sound. They <em>happened</em>, for sure, but only in rare situations, and especially in crystal¡¯s case, overwhelmingly not on the surface of a.


    This book is hosted on another tform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Then you had the <em>hard</em> elements. Healing, ckwater, and divination foremost among them.


    There were, so far as anyone knew, <em>no</em> natural rifts of those elements anywhere in the Empire. Well, House Alkaza <em>imed</em> to have a natural ckwater rift, but also refused to let anyone actually verify it, so it didn¡¯t count.


    Normally, that was only half an issue, as it was entirely possible to elementally aspect a rift just with sufficient mana of that type¡­ But they¡¯d found that aura was <em>overwhelmingly</em> more likely to spawn in rifts if they adjusted the istion formations to more closely mimic its natural environment, rather than a nk void.


    While Matt would love to produce aura rifts of those mana types he had no intention of starting with the hardest mana types.


    So, he¡¯d be starting off easy and going from there.


    While elemental rifts were already somewhat in the minority, and most of the remainder were of level one types, level two mana type rifts still showed up with decent regrity. Ice could be found at mountaintops or near the poles, sand was found in deserts, mud in swamps,va in volcanoes, wood in forests, and so on.


    That was where Matt and the rest of the guild thought the answer was and what they were trying to replicate. At least partially.


    Matt was, of course, starting with ice rifts.


    It wasn¡¯t <em>just</em> because of Aster, though the fact his bond was currently animatedly adding to the discussion going on in the Ascender chat was a factor, but more so that fewer people wouldin when an ice rift exploded than when ava rift did the same.


    Even if low Tierva wasn¡¯t actually dangerous to anyone here, it was more annoying to deal with cooledva than melted ice.


    Cleaning out his dozen rift formations, Matt started filling all of them with ice mana without a sub-aspect.


    When rifts formed, Matt waved his hand and dissipated nine of them which hadn¡¯t taken to the mana type he wanted.


    Making a note with his [AI] Matt kept filling the rifts until he had twelve Tier 1 ice rifts.


    Then, he started to slowly add in air and water mana, the two mana types that created ice mana, into half of the rifts while simply adding ice mana into the remaining six.


    The aperologists¡¯ working theory was that the level two mana types seen in nature wasn¡¯t just because the elements existed in nature, but that the constituent parts existed where they mixed as well.


    The sample size was too small to really conclude anything, but three of his rifts Tiered up with air and water survived the Tier up without unaspecting, versus the two ice rifts that failed. After uploading his thoughts to the aperology section of the AI, Matt kept creating rifts until he had a full dozen ice Tier 6 rifts.


    It was time to see if any of them had aura.


    Popping into the rifts one after another Matt cursed, dissipating all of them.


    He had felt good about the creation of rifts using air and water mana. So far, that method had been mildly sessful, and the singlemon method that had been used when someone in the guild did create the odd level two aura rift.


    Still, it was obvious that they were missing something. Some piece of the puzzle that would allow them to not only create level two aura rifts, but the more esoteric aura types like sharpness.


    Not willing to give up, Matt ran through another dozen tests, raising a rift from Tier 1 to Tier 6, hoping for aura, before tossing in the metaphorical towel and going back to the drawing board.


    Or just giving up for the day and paying more attention to the Ascender chat.


    His mind went to the swords they were using as the rift seeds.


    Back when he did these tests as a Tier 6, they had needed the swords to actualize aura, and all of the adamantly rare sesses used a weapon. But the more they tried to break into level two mana types, Matt felt the sword seeds were only parity correct.


    After running through a few ideas, Matt decided to challenge that initial assumption.


    Their initial belief was that a weapon was needed for a way for the rifts monsters to actualize the aura and that seemed true. At least on the surface. Doing everything the same but not having a sword or some weapon, didn¡¯t create aura rifts, so there was clearly something to the theory.


    But did it need to be a sword?


    A sword was often considered the most generic weapon. Some philosophies upheld it as <em>the</em> weapon, of which all other weapons were mere variations. A straight-de longsword could be used in infinitely many ways, supporting endless styles within its simplicity. It could be aggressive or defensive, wielded with nimbleness or brute strength, with straightforward honor or tricky pragmatism. It did not ask for much of its user, but gave much in return.


    It was, in a word, simple. And perhaps something about that idea was at y here. All six level one elements could be represented by the sword, but perhaps the level two elements required something a bit more specific, a bit more resonance particr to them.


    Going back to the basics, Matt tried creating level one mana type rifts with weapons other than swords and different kinds of swords.


    He was limited by the weapons he had identical copies of, but he went through a dozen rifts in short order learning a few things.


    Aura rifts could form so long as the item was a weapon, but the actual definition seemed¡­ loose.


    A shield was a weapon. Matt believed that with every fiber of being, but no matter what he did, a shield never created an aura rift, even when he used an offensive shield like a thrusting shield or shields with spikes.


    The realm seemed to disagree, and no matter how much Matt argued with it he made no headway.


    He did learn that the weapon in question when used as a rift seed <em>didn¡¯t</em> need to be a ded weapon, though that seemed to help form the aura.


    As Matt ran through endless cycles of creation and destruction, he began paying more attention to the Ascender chat, and just what was going on in it.


    Apparently, Maya had gotten her hands on a [Cracked Greater Disy Case] skill shard as part of her payment for sticking around at Tier 35 for a little bit longer, and she was soliciting advice from everyone about what she should <em>do</em> with it.


    Matt wasn¡¯t that familiar with the base skill, but a bit of research caught him up to speed. Normally, the skill created a box out of panes of force around a single object, protecting it and granting any onlookers a host of divination-based insights into the item on disy. It, and its lesser ilk, were popr in auction houses and museums, though only the richest organizations had ready use of the Tier 38 skill.


    Maya¡¯s crack, meanwhile, worked on <em>anything</em> rather than just objects, which changed the dynamic in rather interesting ways.


    Aster: ¡°And I¡¯m telling <em>you</em>, illusions <em>absolutely</em> require proper knowledge of how to make things work! That¡¯s why she needs to work on improving the analysis it provides.¡±


    Sien: ¡°That would be such an <em>immeasurable</em> waste of such a valuable and unique raw technique. Maya is not so desperate as to require a <em>simple</em> divining effect. But the opportunity to utilize this as a means to capture one¡¯s <em>dreams</em> cannot be overstated. [To See Another¡¯s Innermost Desires] would be <em>perfect</em> to merge with it, and enable marvelous analysis of one¡¯s enemies in a perfectly safe manner.¡±


    Matt piped in while he charged up a rift: ¡°What about turning it into an armor skill?¡±


    Discussing strategy with actual enemies of the Empire had seemed a <em>bit</em> weird at first, but he¡¯d gotten over it. Nominally, none of them were going to be fighting each other any time soon, but in case they <em>did</em> then it would be a waste to make it anything but the absolute <em>best</em> fights possible, with both parties having maximum cool moves to bust out.


    Also, it was just fun to discuss powers with other powerful people


    Ellen: ¡°Seems like a waste to me. Why not just go with [Force Armor] at that point? Besides, the divinations would just run counter to her illusions.¡±


    Max piped in, seeming to catch what Matt was going for: ¡°The divination effect could be warped. It¡¯s a ssic issue that divinations can sometimes interfere with each other, having a constant low-grade divination going on yourself, especially if you control what exactly that divination shows and <em>how</em> it shows it, could be an interesting anti-divination tech.¡±


    Maya: ¡°I <em>already</em> do that, and you know it.¡±


    Max: ¡°More doesn¡¯t hurt. But this allows you to also be tricky with <em>how</em> you disy the information. Like, maybe you could make other forms of magical armor appear like weakness to the appropriate senses.¡±


    Krodag: ¡°Is [Greater Disy Case] <em>normally</em> able to disy the results of its divinations onto nonstandard senses?¡±


    Max: ¡°I think so? At least with mods. For something like danger or weakness sense you might need to use some Mind¡¯s Eye Seeds, but it <em>should</em> work.¡±


    Matt turned away from the chat to take a look at histest results, lightly pitching in here and there as he continued his experiments.


    Curiously, it seemed like while a club only <em>sometimes</em> worked, a spiked club worked just as well as a sword.


    The oddest thing for Matt was the fact a rock knapped into a de worked. At least, it did sometimes. Though Matt suspected the failures were more so in the fact the weapons weren¡¯t as identical as rift-made weapons could be, more so than their nature as sharp rocks.


    Matt took the logical leap and expected that a stone de would work well with earth aura rifts, but in fact found it didn¡¯t seem to have any particr effect. The material seemed not to matter at all so long as the shape and general idea of the weapon was the same in the context of working for a rift.


    It brought up a lot of questions about what rifts, or possibly the realm, considered weapons.


    What he did learn was that the type of weapon seemed matter. They seemed to matter a lot.


    Using a very light and flexible rapier reduced de-aspect on Tier ups for air aura rifts by almost eight and a half percent. Using a slower weapon, a greatsword in this case, had the same effect for earth aura rifts. Water rifts seemed to prefer maces, contrary to Matt¡¯s expectation of whips or something flexible, while fire rifts seemed to prefer, surprise surprise, spears.


    Matt made a note to tease Liz about thatter, but the discovery sent the rest of the guild into a flurry as they changed up their approach to testing.


    Aster: ¡°Matt, can you quickly exin just why that¡¯s such a bad idea to Sien?¡±


    Matt nced over as the notification popped up: ¡°Sorry, I haven¡¯t been paying attention. Why is what a bad idea?¡±


    Sien: ¡°I am of the opinion that Maya ought to utilize this opportunity to capture dreams of her foes, vague impressions of themselves which she mayter experiment with and investigate. With proper care, this can be enhanced over time through additional captured echoes and further mana. In time, this ought to umte to the point where their dream-illusions are nearly entirely indicative of the individual, enabling an unparalleled degree of analysis.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Yeah, I get that, but what specifically do I have to do with this?¡±


    Aster: ¡°Because of how much mana that will take! She¡¯s talking about hundreds of millions of mana being contained <em>indefinitely</em> at maximum fidelity.¡±


    Matt winced: ¡°Oof. Yeah. Well, that¡¯s not <em>impossible</em>, but it would definitely require a lot of finicky work¡­ though what Tier are we talking here?¡±


    Maya: ¡°Well, this is my bribe to <em>stay</em> at Tier 35 for a while yet¡­ So that¡¯s the minimum it needs to be useful at.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Right. It should be possible, but if you do decide to go that route, I can give some pointers on how to keep that much mana stable over long periods of time. Working with just tens of millions of mana really isn¡¯t <em>that hard</em> once you understand its peculiarities.¡±


    Zack: ¡°It would also be useful if she utilizes my idea.¡±


    Allie: ¡°Just capturing spells is so <em>boring</em> though!¡±


    Matt let the chat go on while he returned to his experiments. This had already been going on for weeks, he could weigh in moreter he was sure.


    For now, he needed to figure out how to get more weapons. They just didn¡¯t have enough identical weapons to smooth out rifts absorbing the rift seeds. If a rift ate the weapon and didn¡¯t de-aspect, and they didn¡¯t have a backup like they did with the swords, they might as well destroy the rift. As throwing in another simr, but not identical, weapon almost guaranteed the next Tier up de-aspected the rift.


    Matt had Kees change their standing order for sword to any and all weapon types from rifts, but that would take time. He had spent two hundred years buying a single weapon type, and only had a few million units.


    One of the aperologist had a good idea they couldn¡¯t act on yet, but went on the ¡®list of things to do, eventually¡¯. If they could create rifts that dropped specific weapon types, they could have their eventual rift delving section delving those rifts to supply the aperology department with the weapons they needed.


    Kees declined the idea, but said he¡¯d have an alternative ready for Matt¡¯s perusal in a few weeks once they worked out the legality of doing something like that.


    With one piece of the rift puzzle sort of figured out, Matt went back to testing ice rifts using a variety of weapons. Metal ws and tooth coverings didn¡¯t work, which made Matt a little sad because he would have loved to tease Aster about that, but he was happy enough to run through various weapons in his testing.


    He wasn¡¯t the first one tond on a level two mana type though.


    That honor went to a very surprised Ashia, who had created a Tier 6 wood aspected aura rift using, somewhat anticlimactic, a staff.


    Thebination seemed obvious because it was, and half a dozen of the aperologist good naturedly congratted Ashia for beating them to it.


    With wood aura, they were able to use the Emperor''s method to create a Tier 4 wood aura rift. The relief was palpable as the mental barrier was finally broken, and more and more level two mana types rifts started to get their forms hammered out.


    Matt didn¡¯t even get to be the one to create ice aura, which was a bit of a let down, but he didn¡¯t let that show and gave the man who did seed a pint of Asters personally made ice cream as a show that there was no bad blood.


    The actual discoverer, Fel-door, had seemed almost afraid that he had seeded, but that was what came with an Ascenders reputation, and Matt made a note to try and humanize himself with his guild more often.


    The results were interesting though.


    Nothing was definitive yet, but their initial testing indicated that ice rifts preferred spiked knuckles,va used great hammers, lightning liked parrying daggers, metal wantedbat picks, and mist rifts wanted throwing stars.


    It was an eclectic mix of weapons that didn¡¯t seem to have any rhyme or reason, which left all of the aperologist scratching their heads.


    In the end, it just reinforced Matt¡¯s desire to figure out pure mana aperology like Theodore typically used.


    Like chemistry, once they understood the interactions between elements, they could start to target specific reactions and ditch using things like random weapons to create aura rifts, but that was going to be a long timeing, if it ever happened.


    Progress was being made however, and that gave the guild a jubnt attitude. It was almost funny to see the typically demure aperologist strutting around the guild. Their sess also seemed to light a fire under the other departments, but even Matt could see that was partly Kees fanning the mes, creating light interdepartmental rivalries by publicly rewarding the aperology teams who made contributions.


    That led to the other departments going head down, which produced surprisingly good results, and gave Matt a bit of downtime.


    Aiden: ¡°What about doing something like that martini ss trick you pulled on me that one time? Could you trap a person or full army in the disy case, ship-in-a-bottle style?¡±


    Max: ¡°Hang on, I¡¯m still interested in the illusion-solidifying idea.¡±


    Aiden: ¡°But she already has [Solid Illusion]!¡±


    Max: ¡°And like you said, she can already trap you in a perspective shift. Redundancy is a good thing, you brute.¡±


    Moe: ¡°My title! Nooooo, I¡¯m the only one allowed to be a brute!¡±


    Max: ¡°You can <em>both</em> be brutes for all I care!¡±


    Krodag responded with a stylizedic rendition of himself flexing.


    Krodag: ¡°All is right with the world.¡±


    Aiden: ¡°Anyway, what if shebines it with a perspective trick and maybe a Law or two to make miniature terrarium-worlds, with trapped people inside of them? Use it to create areas with fixedws, making it easier to maintain them? Seems like a winning idea to me.¡±


    Sien: ¡°That would be such an under-utilization of the ways you can make the case practically permanent, though. It would thus be merely another battlefield control technique, and one that doesn¡¯t even leave hazards. Besides, anyone <em>worthy</em> of such a treatment would be capable of escaping it with rtive ease.¡±


    Aster: ¡°That depends on how you do it though! Layering a hard wall of the cage with a soft wall of an internal effect could be pretty effective, especially if you make some spatial locks part of it.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Where are we on the idea of making it armor?¡±


    Gideon: ¡°Morphed into making illusions solid, though I¡¯m with you on this one [Disy Case] is known for being stupid hard. More armor is always a good thing.¡±


    Brian: ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s not like Maya¡¯s going to be taking very many attacks head-on. Better to give her more minions of a type people don¡¯t have experience with.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Okay, but what about the atypical sensory feedback?¡±


    Aster: ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping her from applying it to an illusion of herself, and in that way it could be even more effective.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Okay, but limiting the targeting would make it so much stronger.¡±


    Aster: ¡°Yeah, limiting it to illusions.¡±


    Matt: ¡°Not what I mean.¡±


    Max: ¡°I did some calctions, and I think you could probably hide the elemental force signature if you tweak the divination screen a bit. Here, let me send you my work.¡±


    Matt tried to skim some of Max¡¯s forms, but quickly found himself out of his depth- he¡¯d never really delved into illusions much, but Aster certainly seemed keen to discuss the finer details with their seniors.


    It was a refreshing break when he finally learned that there was some mage-work that he <em>could</em> properly follow that needed his attention, namely the travel mana engine.The team designed a new train engine that could be swapped with current engines that had an insane torque to mana ratio. Oddly enough the engine which used the fastest mana type struggled to reach anything resembling high speeds. That was more a result of the design rather than the mana type and the team was already working on refining their prototype.


    The current iteration wasn¡¯t quite good enough to patent it, but it was close. At worst it could act as a spot patent, which would stake their im to everything up to this point in case they lost the race to a final viable product. But Matt thought that was unlikely at this point.


    There were already two high Tier ship engines using travel mana that were better than theirmercially avable counterparts, but currently the lowest Tier engine was Tier 33.


    From what he understood of the reports, travel mana was finicky to work with at lower Tiers and the Tier 5 engine the team had created was revolutionary in quite a few ways that Matt didn¡¯t have the physics background to fully understand. He did however understand that they were doing some innovative things with their enchanting work, and so when they asked for both more space, a few more hands to help, and arger budget he happily approved the increase in spending.


    If they could solve the top speed issue without losing any of the torque to mana ratio the engine would see an almost twenty percent cost reduction for long distance trains across the Empire. Considering it was the single most ubiquitous method of travel for mortals, both in and between cities, that would have a noticeable impact in cost for any ce where the trains could reach max speed which was where the savings kicked in.


    The travel engine really shined at its top speed which was both higher than the traction engines and cheaper to run at those speeds. The engines did however struggle at the slower speeds which Matt didn¡¯t believe would be easily solved just because of how travel mana worked.


    It had one speed, and that speed was fast.


    So while the engines might not rece subway engines, or even cars like he had hoped, intercity trains would be falling over themselves to swap their engines out. Those savings would then be passed on to the mortals who relied on those methods of transportation allowing them more opportunities to travel for work or delves.


    It was a bit egotistical but Matt hoped that in theing years Titan¡¯s Torch would continue to be a light in the darkness leading the Empire and the realm itself to a brighter future.

 Chapter 355

    Chapter 355


    Liz tore her way into Lily¡¯s real space and let her spiritual perception spread outward to find Matt before letting their spiritual perceptions mingle in a hello. It had been too long since they had seen each other, but before she could get excited to see him again, she felt that Matt was irritated through the contact.


    Mentally cursing, she twisted space around and appeared in the office he was ruminating in, situated at the top of his guild.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    There were any number of tes that they were juggling, and if something was wrong, she wanted to know.


    Matt reached out with questing fingers. When said fingers found her pants, they hooked into them and pulled her down to hisp where he hugged her.


    Both bodies rxed into the hug, with phoenix Liz rxing into a golden, boneless puddle of feathers and coos.


    After a long hello kiss, Matt leaned back and gestured to the desk where abination of paperwork and data packets were mingled together.


    ¡°Things were going pretty well until yesterday, when I had the five year meeting with Soerilia¡¯s Arbitration Convention. Only three quarters of them have managed to meet their first year benchmarks, and not a single one has hit the second year benchmarks if you exclude the Rnd Project where, surprise surprise, they are actually ahead of the projected timelines.¡±


    Liz frowned and quickly scanned through the details Matt sent her.The more she saw, the more irritated <em>she</em> got.


    Before she started judging too harshly, Liz asked for a follow up question. ¡°What did they have to say for themselves?¡±


    ¡°Excuses.¡±


    Liz snorted. Matt¡¯s dry delivery was enough to get her tough. ¡°Yeah, I figured that much. Were the excuses at least good ones?¡±


    ¡°Some were. A few had serious internal issues. Mostly with the countries whose leaders refused to be awakened, but not only them. Almost every country that had a leadership change in thest five years has made almost zero progress on reaching the benchmarks we agreed on, but they weren''t the only ones to drag their feet.¡±


    ¡°But?¡± Liz could feel iting from a mile away.


    Matt grinned, but it was hollow. ¡°But I frankly don¡¯t really believe any of them are going to make meaningful progress. It''s clear most of them think their positions are irreceable, and think if they just drag things out, they can remain in power forever. I kinda get what Max talks about, how she doesn¡¯t even <em>need</em> to read minds to, well, read minds.¡±


    Slumping back, Matt ran a hand through his hair. ¡°I was so tempted to just blow the roof off the ce and tell the world. What is the point of going through the slow integration if their leaders are just going to drag their feet at every opportunity? I tried to make it clear that I would rece any leaders who continue to dy and avoid making meaningful progress, but I don¡¯t think they really believed me.¡±


    Liz took all of that in, and her phoenix self gave Matt a general peck on the head. ¡°Ow.¡±


    Liz hopped off Matt¡¯sp with a grin and pulled him to his feet. ¡°Ok, enough of that. We haven''t seen each other in almost five years, and it''s been too long. Let''s go for a walk, and we can chat about more fun things. How has the guild been? Halfway to the date you want to go public, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    Liz could feel as Matt¡¯s mood improved. ¡°We¡¯re <em>so close</em> to a non-elemental aura breakthrough. Level two mana type research has been progressing steadily, and I think we¡¯re about ready to start tackling some of the tougher L2¡¯s. We are <em>so</em> close, I can feel it.¡±


    Matt looked down at her. ¡°Enough talk about my stuff. How was your research team? What did you learn about your bloodline and mana type?¡±


    Liz smiled through both bodies. Her phoenix form preening as it showed off its sleek feathered form.


    ¡°We learned a lot, actually. Most of it good. Some of it not so much.¡±


    ¡°Oh? The mana type or the bloodline?¡±


    Liz had wanted to avoid this topic for a little while, but now that it wasing up, she decided to just get it over with. ¡°Minor issues in the bloodline. Ichor is toxic to mortals.¡±


    Matt nodded slowly before freezing for a moment. ¡°How bad?¡±


    ¡°Pretty bad. Contact can result in burns, and if any gets <em>inside</em> them¡­ We had a Tier 2 dire mouse drink some Tier 2 ichor, and it died in under a minute. At Tier 10, it wasn¡¯t <em>deadly</em>, but it left some serious wounds that would probably kill it in time. But at Tier 15, it¡¯spletely fine. Well there are still <em>some</em> issues, same as general contact, but it actually might end up almost positive? It acts like a really powerful general physical boost, and while the long-term effects can be¡­ bad, there¡¯s potential for some refinement, making for an interesting potion ingredient.¡±


    As they had discovered in their testing, Liz¡¯s new blood, her ichor, contained an enormous amount of power, which led to a multitude of interesting results.


    One of which was that her body was slowly growing stronger all on its own. It was only a fraction of a fraction of a percent, but as her blood existed, it grew stronger. Making both her body and any magics she cast with her existing blood stronger in turn.


    Her research teams believed that raw physicality and energy was the main reason her ichor broke some of her older blood spells, especially the ones dealing in curses or subtle magics.


    Ichor was anything but subtle, so even if it was still technically blood, it just didn¡¯t fit into those old sub-uses of blood mages. Liz could probably use them again with some more modifications, but her Tier 25 Talent meant that by default, the spell tried to use what was quite literally a fusion of fire and lightning for something meant to go <em>unnoticed</em>.


    On the other hand, her phoenix body was more different than would otherwise be obvious from a surface level examination.


    Phoenixes weren¡¯t innately very malleable, but millennia of research meant that there were somewhat expected trends and established methods by which a phoenix could change their base element, without interrupting their coveted Rank two bloodline power of rebirth.


    The eternality of me was at the core of the rebirth, calling upon the idea that a fire snuffed but relit was nheless the same me afterwards. Changing that iconography wasn¡¯t straightforward, but just about every element had a parallel function that could be drawn upon. Water used the water cycle, ice the concept of melting and refreezing, air the breath of life, and so forth.


    Liz almost fit that mold. Almost.


    While it was difficult to <em>truly</em> measure, as they only had the one Liz, it seemed like ichor-based rebirths contained an innate power boost after a rebirth. Normally, phoenixes didn¡¯t <em>inherently</em> get anything from a rebirth beyond a restored physical state, but Liz received a measurable degree of empowerment in the wake of a death. Even when suppressing her Domain.


    Granted, with the number of natural treasures she¡¯d consumed and degree of Concept mastery she was operating at, it was basically impossible to iste the effect that the rebirth would have entirely on its own. She had an appointment scheduled a few decades out with someone capable of mirroring bloodlines for a better test of the bloodline¡¯s power on its own, but until that happened, there was a fair bit of blind-firing going on.


    Of more practical interest was the fact she now had enough ¡®bloodline energy¡¯ for up to two more rebirths, so four total, before she¡¯d need to molt and reset.


    Liz was personally most excited for the changes she¡¯d encountered when experimenting with her Rank 1 affinity. It was a normal affinity in every sense of the word, in that it boosted the power of her skills using ichor or a rted element. But like all affinities, it had its own unique quirks.


    For example, the fire affinity of a phoenix allowed for minor fine-control of mes, even without a skill, and minor resistance to fire. In contrast, the affinity of a hellhound was more focused on conjuring fire and making the mes around them hotter. But in Liz¡¯s case, before the change, it had always been a moot point, as her Awakening had <em>mostly</em> cut her off from the ¡®minor¡¯ affinity bonuses.


    Until now, that was.


    She happily demonstrated that, with no mana whatsoever required, she could conjure a golden me on her palm and got it to dance between her fingers.


    But it wasn¡¯t quite the same as before. The range of her control was incredibly limited, to the point where holding the me more than a couple inches away from her skin required visible effort from Liz, though she could ¡®throw¡¯ the ichor without much trouble. Furthermore, she could freely manipte the form of that ichor, smoothly changing it between a gleaming liquid to flickering me and crackle of lightning. The problem, however, was that the affinity had lost almost all innate resistance <em>to</em> ichor, meaning anyone with the affinity could conjure and manipte a highly dangerous substance. But only directly on their skin, with no protections at all against that substance.


    That particrment prompted Matt to ask the important question. ¡°How will that affect our kids?¡±


    Liz rubbed his arm. ¡°It¡¯s¡­plicated. And still under investigation. I¡¯ll probably have to do some body modifications to make myself more resistant to ichor on the inside, and then make sure that those are <em>heritable</em>. That, at least, is a bit of a solved issue for other elements, so it shouldn¡¯t be instantly lethal. If you did them as well, it would help. Even then, it would be like void affinity, so not very good for long-term health, but it¡¯s something that could definitely be treated. Absolute worst-case scenario? They¡¯ll need semi-regr healing until they be immortal.¡±


    Matt nodded slowly as he processed everything. ¡°That''s good to hear. I was worried when you mentioned the blood being dangerous to mortals.¡±


    ¡°Void is dangerous to mortals as well.¡±


    ¡°Void is dangerous to everything.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    That earned a chuckle, which Liz considered a win as it was pulling Matt out of his bad mood.


    Looking down at her, he asked, ¡°So what are your ns for the next couple of years?¡±


    Liz shrugged, almost dislodging herself. ¡°Next few years? Not much. Hang out with you really. After your aura goes live, however, I¡¯d like for us to start delving again.¡±


    A glint appeared in Matt¡¯s eyes as his manifestations started to glow slightly.


    That was something new.


    ¡°Your eyes are glowing.¡±


    ¡°My eyes are always glowing? White holes, remember? Who are you and what did you do with my wife?¡±


    Liz sent him a picture taken via her [AI]. ¡°No, your eyes were actually glowing. Like I haven¡¯t seen before. They didn¡¯t do that after you created your manifestation. I¡¯m sure of that.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I wonder when that started?¡± Matt¡¯s eyes went distant before focusing back on her. ¡°No one in the guild noticed it, but that doesn''t mean it wasn¡¯t happening. That¡¯s not the sort of thing we focus on.¡±


    That was true, and just as Liz was about to ask a question when Matt reached out and squeezed.


    The world around them trembled with power, and for a brief moment, Liz felt her Domain be brushed aside like a cobweb. It snapped back into ce after just a second, but both of them had felt it.


    Throwing her arms around him and giving him a kiss, she congratted him. ¡°I guess you just needed a little downtime to figure out your meld.¡±


    Matt looked bbergasted. ¡°I¡­ What? Really? I haven¡¯t even tried to use my meld after the war. I spent months trying to figure out the trick and now it starts to work? Really?¡±


    Lizughed in the shared joy, even as she felt Matt pull both of them through a [Portal] to the moon.


    From there, they spent two days sparring and testing the meld.


    Matt had said before that the meld was like trying to wiggle your ears. Once you managed it at least once, it was only a matter of time before you eventually figured it out. Their best guess was that he¡¯d done <em>something</em> in his rift experiments that helped him slip into the precise blend of dauntlessness and endlessness that his domain meld depended on. With practice, he was able to maintain it for longer and longer, but it remained incredibly tiring, and Liz grew better and better at working around it as <em>she</em> practiced in its effect.


    It was also incredibly fun and a good way for Liz to work off her own stresses.


    Still, they couldn¡¯t spend too long having fun, and so before long, their sparring moved into the bedroom where they spent another day getting reacquainted with each other.


    Laying there, Liz was returned to the real world as Matt brought them back to their earlier conversion.


    ¡°You said something about delving?¡±


    It took Liz a moment, but she nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been chatting with Sien, Allie, and Aster. Allie has been pushing for some more <em>interesting</em> rifts, the kinds we never really were able to hit while on the Path, and Sien got talking about various hidden realms and unique rifts they have in the Sects. Which Allie is permitted to delve as part of her buyout. Then, in addition to that, Sien said she¡¯d be willing to toss some delve slots up as betting fodder, and that got Max talking about some Corpo rifts she enjoyed when she was around our Tier. Even Ellen mentioned that the ns have some neat ones as well.


    ¡°Anyway, long story short, there¡¯s some neat rifts in the Tier 28 and 29 range in the Sects that we want to delve, and because stronger is obviously better, Allie said we should try team-delving a Tier 29 rift once we all get some spare time. She¡¯s still working on expanding her waypoint system, and Zack is, I think, ying with his new spell array thing. You¡¯ve got your aura rifts, I¡¯ve got to prepare for our others showing up¡­ Basically, it¡¯s still a few years away, but the five of us delving something fun in the Sects seems like a good way to get back in the swing of things, yeah?¡±


    Liz could see as Matt processed all of that before he cocked his head to the side. ¡°Hey, wait. I didn¡¯t see any of these conversions, and I don¡¯t see any threads about it.¡±


    Liz grinned. ¡°Girls only thread. Sorry big boy, but you aren¡¯t invited.¡±


    Matt pulled back and put a hand over his heart. ¡°I¡¯m wounded. Hey wait, why isn¡¯t there a boys only thread? I¡¯m starting one.¡±


    A momentter, his attention came back to her. ¡°As for the delving, it sounds fun. The aperology department is actually about to split in half. Half of us are going to continue with aura rifts, and the other half is going to start working on other projects like making custom rifts. Maybe we can end up making fun rifts for us to delve?¡±


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred tform and support their work!


    Liz leaned up, giving the idea more of her attention. ¡°Oh, that could be very fun. I assume you are going to start low, right? Finally going to pull delvers into the guild?¡±


    Matt nodded. ¡°I already talked to Mathew and Vinnie, and our first delvers are going to be their schools best at Tier fighters. They¡¯ll technically be contractors, because Kees brought up the fact that being officially part of a research guild means they can¡¯t keep much of what they find in the rifts. But if they¡¯re contractors, their contracts can allow for more flexibility of rewards. Theodore''s Talent is great, as it allows us to know the rift drops. Oh, remind me to tell you about the Lamia riftter. The drops were <em>so</em> weird. But just knowing a drop table can only tell us so much. We need des in hand and boots on the ground to delve the rifts to gather more actionable feedback if our custom rift ideas cane to fruition. I just worry about someone getting hurt.¡±


    Liz understood where Matt wasing from, if he was making rifts and someone died that was at least partly on him, but it was also a reality of life. Rifts were dangerous.


    ¡°What about the tether project you were trying to create?¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s a team working on it, but currently it¡¯s looking like we can¡¯t get it under Tier 20 materials, which obviously don¡¯t work for the Tier range we¡¯re experimenting in. If they can¡¯t make any progress in a decade or so, I¡¯ll shelve it for something more immediately useful. I¡¯m sure there has to be a way, but it''s going to be incrediblyplicated to get any teleportation function to work with low Tier materials, that''s for sure.¡±


    Their small talk continued for another few hours before they both had to get to work. Liz would be taking over dealing with the political stuff for a little while so Matt could focus on his guild.


    Liz liked politics about as much as Matt did, but unlike her husband, she could put up with them. Thankfully, enjoyment of politics wasn¡¯t a requirement for participating in them, because there was no way she was going to run the duchy herself. Despite his dislike Matt was more thanpetent, even if he tended to handle things with less finesse than she normally would.


    That was fine, though.


    Long term, the two of them having two distinct styles of governance would ensure that people went to who they felt would handle their requests in the way they wanted, and Matt and her could both y into that and flip the switch when necessary to best effect.


    The first thing she did was go through the documents from Soerilia, and she had to shake her head.


    Screw their past selves, she was tempted to just appoint a baron and wash her hands of the problem, but they had started this unveiling and they needed to see it through personally. She just needed to remind herself that strangling some of the country''s leaders wouldn¡¯t actually be helpful. Even if they <em>weren¡¯t</em> intent on keeping a light touch.


    As Matt had said, far too many of the countries had failed to meet their first year¡¯s benchmarks, which the other countries had used as an excuse to start dragging their feet. The other countries weren¡¯t necessarily wrong for that, but they were using it as an excuse to skip more than was appropriate. The idea had been for the world leaders to move their countries together in a sort of lockstep to keep from crashing local economies when an innovation wasn¡¯t taken up by one country, but the first year benchmarks were <em>incredibly</em> simple.


    The only one they had all universally hit was spreading the healing devices through their hospitals and getting young and skilled doctors brought to Lily, where they could be given a crash course in magical healing. Part of that was undoubtedly Matt yelling at various world leaders in the first days of the magical devices not being appropriately distributed, but Liz suspected something else was at y. A quick check of the ntarty AI confirmed that all of the country leaders kept at least one healer near them.


    Liz contemted reprimanding them for misuse of something that was supposed to be used in hospitals to help injured civilians, but all but a few countries rotated the healer in question in something like an on-call system, which meant the healers were still able to help people with their skills.


    Having read the typical unveiling information packets, Liz checked how Soerilia was exining the magical healing. From the reports, there could be some very amusing cover stories.


    Soerilia wasn¡¯t one of them. They went with a breakthrough in stem cell medical technology. Liz would have rather they tried exining it as nanobots or something funnier.


    All told, stem cells weren¡¯t the worst cover story. It even matched the biological signs¡­ well enough. Her own blood healing looked even <em>more</em> like actual stem cell med-treatments than simple healing-aspect spells did, but she wouldn¡¯t expect someone unfamiliar with magical healing to be able to tell the difference.


    That was the only bright spot. A full half of the countries had failed to solve their homeless problems, which <em>should</em> have been easy. They were providing plenty of resources for handling all of it, but from what she could tell, they just kept dragging their feet. Retrofitting hotels, refurbishing apartments, setting up shelters was <em>not</em>plicated, and they all got people off the streets to where they could get the help they needed in a controlled environment.


    There was one country that especially caught her eye as being <em>far</em> too liberal with exilepared to what the statistical models said they should be having to do. Exile was a <emst resort</em>, for people who absolutely refused civilization, not the thing you did because you didn¡¯t want to build an extra bunkhouse.


    Gah. There were plenty of countries who were citing drug issues and mental illness as reasons why they¡¯d missed their goals, as though those weren¡¯t oftentimes self-creating issues. Actually, she <em>knew</em> they¡¯d been providing plenty of clearview to Jesmaop. What were they requesting more for? The number of addicts who had been treated was <em>definitely</em> below the amount they should be able to treat with how many doses of the stuff they¡¯d been supplied, and now they were asking for more?


    Something was going on there.


    <em>Some</em> nobles, usually first-generation ones, didn¡¯t care about their mortals and were happy to let them waste away if they wanted, no matter the current political pressure. Liz however, refused to let her and Matt fall anywhere near <em>that </em>particr ss of noble. Even from a simple cost-benefit analysis, a productive mortal was just as expensive as a wasteful mortal, but was far more likely to actually be a benefit to society.


    That logic should have held <em>extra</em> true in a fully-mortal government, where they couldn¡¯t rely on the excess productivity of high-Tiers to support mortal needs. Yet some of these countries seemed adamant to do everything they could to avoid helping their people.


    Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t everyone.


    A number of the countries had taken the money they were giving them and were making good changes that would see their integration into the Empire all the smoother.


    Liz loved him, but she was sure Matt would just go over there and yell at people until they did what they were supposed to, but Liz saw another opportunity. Carrot and stick.


    She drafted a proposition to have some of the countries who were actually meeting their benchmarks open their borders to the homeless, and offer them the same that they had done for their own people. That would put pressure on the recalcitrant countries, who would either get their own programs started, or the people would leave and be given the help they needed. It <em>might</em> exacerbate her issues with the country that kept exiling their homeless, but she¡¯d make sure that it didn¡¯t turn into a disaster.


    Either way, it was a win.


    After getting the administration team to look over the proposition, Liz had it distributed along with the rewards for any countries who did actually take in and properly care for refugees.


    The other first year benchmarks were more hit or miss. Some countries seemed adamant in refusing to make public transport reliable and free, while others had already been doing that and took the money for said projects to improve or expand their coverage.


    Another issue that shouldn¡¯t be an issue was chemical pollution.


    Mana was already a <em>very</em> efficient energy source, and what miniscule waste products it did produce were easily recyble or otherwise dealt with by tossing them into a rift. And while the did have <em>some</em> mana-based energy producers, they were decidedly in the minority. She could rte to the difficulties that woulde with retrofitting a lightning-based power grid to be a mana-based one, but that didn¡¯t excuse their refusal to stop <em>burning coal</em> instead of, at the very least, refitting their generators with new mana-based reactors.


    A handful of countries on Soerilia had tantly refused to change, and in fact started burning <em>more </em>coal in what she presumed was some sort of act of defiance.


    Liz genuinely couldn¡¯t understand the logic, but the unveiling best practices had ways to deal with this. She implemented a few of them hoping to, if not reverse these counties'' decisions, keep the madness from spreading.


    With Soerilia handled, she turned her attention to their own nobles. While they only had a single, the next five years promised to bring them another fiftys as their particr section of chaotic space became the center of a local spatial whirlpool of sorts.


    That meant most of their prospective nobles were still spread across the Empire, but a few had arrived at Lily, and she scheduled meetings with all of them to get a feel for them.


    She was meeting with one of their counts when she got a high priority message from the administrative team overseeing Soerilia.


    One of the countries who had been unwilling to help their homeless poptions had decided that instead of doing what they were supposed to, or letting their people leave to go to a neighboring country who had started taking them in, they would arrest all of the homeless.


    Liz¡¯s blood turned to lightning, and a wave of power burst out of her as she finally lost her temper. Before anyone could even register that anything had happened, she¡¯d used her skills and Domain to put everything back the way it had been before her outburst.


    <em>Soft touch, Liz, soft touch</em>.


    She was trying to prove she was more than just a hot-tempered Ascender. To do that, she needed to make sure she was delegating properly. Some guards arresting the offending politicians would do adequately, and would send the appropriate message to the appropriate people.


    ***


    Aster jumped into the air, body a perfect aerodynamic missile of fox. She paused at the top of her arc before dropping down nose first, plunging into the snow. There were no rabbits, mice, or moles for her to snack on, but the image would make for an amazing picture with her tail alight with tendrils of illusory colors.


    The director directed the photographers to each side and Aster twisted left then right, giving them each a good view of her nk.


    These images would make for amazing material for her ice cream containers.


    As they were getting ready to change scenes, Alice pinged Aster¡¯s [AI] and she nodded. Even as she sat there and let the makeup artist pat her now human face with various makeups.


    They all had the appropriate Talents and it took only seconds to do what would have taken her minutes, and the results looked twice as good.


    As she moved from pose to pose, Aster chatted with Alice. ¡°So how did they react to the news?¡±


    ¡°As we expected mydy. The winter wolves immediately said they would support the expansion of ice bloodlines, though their contracts were looser than we expected. Closer to variation 6d.¡±


    Alice sent over the contract, and Aster scowled. The photographers took even more pictures so Aster turned the expression into one more stylized.


    Damn, she looked good.


    But she was also irritated.


    With Matt making his own guild wanting to change the realm, and Liz already taking the bloodline research angle, Aster wanted to improve the Empire in her own way. After chatting with the other bloodline people she knew, she decided to offer support for the various ice bloodlines. It would be a pseudo sponsor program, but not limited beyond having some version of ice or cold bloodline. Aster had expected the winter wolves, the bloodline n with a stranglehold on the Empire¡¯s winter rifts, to balk. But they had instead yed it smart, and were at least nominally supporting her initiative.


    <em>That was annoying</em>!


    They should have been like movie viins and immediately resisted her so she could crush them directly. But instead, she needed to actually y the game of politics and public rtions.


    Not that Aster wasn¡¯t ready for it, but it would take longer.


    She had considered just ignoring the winter wolves and having Matt eventually make ice and winter rifts outside of their control, but they couldn''t just stay in theirne and quietly slip into obscurity. No, they needed to resist and struggle, trying to keep their position as the most dominant winter bloodline.


    Aster was tempted to crush them and dismantle their control entirely, but that was the petty part of her speaking because they were trying to nose into her venture.


    They were assholes, not truly evil, and should be treated as such.


    Still, if they were going to try and counter her opening maneuver, she was going to strike back.


    Just not immediately.


    She and Alice had a n to deliver one firm but calcted strike to the winter wolves, but it would take time to set up and prepare for.


    ¡°Ok, let''s go with n Alpha then. I¡ª¡±


    Aster paused as she got a different message.


    Cameron had arrived!


    She was actually a little early, which meant whatever she wanted to talk about was probably more serious than Aster had thought, but that was fine. It was good to see her friend either way, and Cameron had said she needed to vent.


    Alice thankfully went and escorted her friend into the photo shoot area, and feeling mischievous, Aster grabbed her and pulled her into the shoot.


    Cameron resisted, but their Tier difference made that futile. ¡°Aster stop! I¡¯ll mess up the photo shoot! Stoooppppp.¡±


    Asterughed as she pulled her friend into a hug before grabbing her face and squishing her cheeks and pressing their faces together.


    The photos were adorable and were instantly sent out in her bond academy group chat. Because it was a normal, non-secret chat between a bunch of academy friends and only including a single Ascender, it would take up to a few months before everyone saw the picture, but Aster knew the reactions would be amazing and worth the wait. Really it was their own faults for not staying close to the Capitol so they could hang out easier.


    ¡°Ugh I¡¯m covered in your makeup now, Aster. It''s all ice based, this is gross!¡±


    Seeing that she had finally gotten a smile out of her friend, Aster gestured for the makeup artists who quickly came and got Cameron camera ready. It would ruin her original photoshoot, but they should have enough good material for a few decades of branding. And it was more important to have fun with her friend.


    It took a little prodding but Cameron did get into it and they went through a dozen scenes in both human and beast forms. The pictures came out incredible. They had better be for what Aster was paying for this, but even ignoring the images for her ice creampany, the pictures with Cameron were worth the price.


    An hourter and freshly out of their respective showers, Aster and Cameron curled up on a loveseat in her penthouse room.


    ¡°What''s up Cameron? You said you needed to vent, so here I am.¡± Aster held her arms out wide but got a hand shoved into her face for her efforts. ¡°Rude!¡±


    ¡°Yeah well, it''s your fault. I¡¯ve been trying to apply for junior steward <em>assistant </em>positions, or <em>lower</em>, since your guys entered the war. But anywhere I apply tries to give me jobs I¡¯m not qualified for. Damn it Aster! This is your fault!¡±


    Aster felt a pang of genuine sorrow for her friend. She knew how much her Magma Otter friend wanted to rise through the ranks on her own merits, and their close connection was hampering her career.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Cameron¡¯s hair shed as she nodded and sighed. ¡°Yeah, I know. It''s not really your fault, but I can¡¯tin to anyone else.¡±


    Aster wanted to offer Cameron a position in her duchy, but knew that would go over about as well as an ice bath for the Magma Otter.


    Even trying to get her a position in Matt and Liz¡¯s duchy, or even Allie¡¯s or Zack¡¯s, would be met with the same response that Cameron hadn¡¯t earned it yet.


    Wanting to bring up the mood, Aster transformed into her fox form and tackled Cameron, who instinctively transformed into her otter form. Their wrestling used to be a ton of fun, but Cameron was just too low Tier for Aster to let loose like they did in the academy.


    Her friend was only nearing the peak of Tier 16 in two hundred years, and needed to hurry up!


    Aster was thinking about how she could otternap her friend and drag her through a few rifts when she had a thought.


    Cameron needed to advance, and she needed a job that wasn¡¯t just handed to her.


    Jumping on Cameron and causing repeated ooph¡¯s, Aster yipped, ¡°I know how to fix this!¡±


    ¡°Stop jumping on me, you stupid fox! Your feet are like daggers! How are your paws so damn small? All the pressure is right on me.¡±


    ¡°Lll. I can¡¯t hear you. I have an answer, though!¡±


    ¡°Fine! What is your answer?¡±


    Finally letting her up, Aster sat next to her friend and poked her face with her cold nose. ¡°Matt¡¯s guild¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just more nepotism, Aster!¡±


    ¡°Let me finish! You apply under a <em>pseudonym</em>. Matt wasining a few months ago how hard it is to find good, <em>reliable</em> administrative staff. Too many people just want to work for him for a couple decades so that they¡¯ve got it on their resumes that they worked for an Ascender, then move on. You have your degrees, so you should be a perfect fit for the lower level positions, which is where you want to start anyway. You said you wanted to see these ces from the ground up, and here is a perfect chance!¡±


    Cameron sat up and started worrying her paws. ¡°It still feels too much like nepotism. Also, it''s illegal to apply under false pretenses.¡±


    ¡°That''s why applying to Matt¡¯s guild is best! Even if it doese out, he¡¯s not going to press charges. It''s worth a shot. And if you get the job, I can get you a mask that will hide your identity so you can be sure your eventual promotions are all because of your efforts. It''s perfect!¡±


    It would also give Cameron ess to rifts, which meant she would advance faster. Matt had talked about letting his people delve once they had rifts of the appropriate Tier or be carried. At least, she thought he had. She was pretty sure he had. Even if he hadn¡¯t, she could mention it and get him to do it anyway.


    Easy!


    Two problems solved.


    Cameron would get a chance to prove that she waspetent, and she would advance so Aster had a good partner to y with again.


    Maybe she could get all of her academy friends jobs at Matt¡¯s guild so they could advance faster as well? Probably not, but the idea was worth considering when she had more time.


    It would also put them close together, as eventually, Matt and Liz¡¯s capital would be near hers with how their duchies were doing to mirror each other, so it would be super easy to pop over and say hello.


    Aster needed her friends, damn it!


    ¡°Aster, this will never work.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t know until you try! Come on, I''ll help you fill out the application.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about filling applications?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve done it loads of times. It''s easy.¡±


    ¡°When have you ever applied for a job? You are an <em>Ascender</em>.¡± Cameron looked aghast, and Aster¡¯s mind raced as she came up with a convincing answer.


    The one shended on wasn¡¯t even a lie. ¡°In my folded reflection lives. So really, I have more experience than you do at this.¡±


    ¡°Did you get any of those jobs in your other lives?¡±


    ¡°That''s irrelevant!¡±


    Cameron smacked her with a nearby pillow, speaking around a full mouth. ¡°It¡¯s incredibly relevant!¡±


    It took almost ten minutes to convince Cameron to try, but eventually she caved, which told Aster exactly how much Cameron wanted this.


    Finally, Aster had enough of her dawdling. ¡°Come on and hit send. I¡¯m growing old here! If you send it now, it will go out with the pulses and it means it should arrive at Lily in like a day or two at <em>most</em>.¡±


    ¡°I just looked it up, it takes a <em>month</em> on average for standard messages to reach Lily!¡±


    Aster flicked her tail in dismissal. ¡°A month, a day, same thing really.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s not!¡±


    Instead of waiting around doing nothing, Aster demanded they go to a nice restaurant. Aster wanted Cameron to meet Cynthia, and the actor was in the Capital right now so the timing was perfect. If Cynthia had the time, they might even be able to sneak onto one of the sets she was working on.


    There were four ascender movies currently being made about thest war, and two of them were actually more serious types instead of theedic ones, which meant they were the perfect distraction for Cameron until the news of her application came back.


    Then, once Cameron was settled and on route to her new job, Aster would return to plotting the downfall of the winter wolves and preparing her ice cream''s new vors. She sent a message to Alice to tell an annoying peacock that they needed to have a chat sooner thanter about the roll out of new vors, and she needed to get her tail feathers over to the Capital pronto.


    Before she could get distracted with work, Aster dragged Cameron to get ready. If they looked good enough, maybe they could get a spot as a background character or two, which could be fun.


    Maybe Allie would like to crash the movie sets as well? She and Cameron would probably get along great!


    One messageter, Allie popped into the room already wearing a hat and fake mustache. Her sudden arrival scared Cameron enough that the otter actually passed out. ¡°I¡¯m ready bitches!¡±

 Chapter 356

    Chapter 356


    Matt listened as Tholly finished his report. ¡°Discounting the application that Wraith¡¯s friend sent in, we¡¯ve intercepted sixty-three applications from likely spies, eleven attempted infiltration''s through false-identity applications, one spy who¡¯s been undercover for some decades, nine attempts at embedding divination anchors within our premises, and six distinct sources for divination''s attempting to bypass our wards.¡±


    Matt had made sure to call Aster to figure out what the story was there, but he supported the otter¡¯s attempts to find a job based on her own merits. Fortunately, she was considered qualified for the position, and the certainty that she wasn¡¯t just looking for a quick resume-boost made her an easy pick.


    They did make sure to extend the offer to Cameron herself, rather than her false identity. While a part of Matt would be amused by the inevitable antics that would no doubt arise from Cameron trying to pretend to be someone else while working¡­ it was easier to just make it clear from the start they knew what she was doing and not make her y out some two-bitedy movie.


    Shaking his head, Matt concentrated on the vast amount of spies trying to infest his guild. ¡°Do we have an idea of why the other Great Powers would be so insistent on getting in here?¡±


    There was a small pause between Matt¡¯s question and the answer. ¡°I apologize my lord, I hadn¡¯t realized there was a misunderstanding. Most of these attempts, all but one false identity attempt in fact, have been traced to entities inside the Empire.¡±


    Matt¡¯s mind, which was mainly turning over aura rifts, refocused onto Tholly. ¡°Wait, what? Really? I assumed it would be the other Great Powers trying to pry out our secrets.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m sure they are my lord. Or at least they will. We have little in the way of defenses against true deep-cover spies, and that is but one way the other Great Powers may attempt to undermine our counterespionage efforts. While Titan¡¯s Torch is performing cutting-edge research in many fields, most of our research fields are not ones which other Great Powers care about. Our impact will be much more local, and to that end, it is local entities who, even if they are incapable of outright stealing our discoveries, can better position themselves to take advantage of our discoveries if they know of them beforehand.¡±


    Matt pursed his lips trying to not take that personally. He understood that profits made the realm spin, but spying on him? Risking the ire of an Ascender for profit?


    There had to be more to it. ¡°Do we have anyone pegged who is spying on us or examples of what they are going for?¡±Tholly replied almost instantly. ¡°The most obvious are the rifts, but I suspect you knew that my lord. The secondrgest project of interest is the travel engine.¡±


    Hearing that, Matt set his jaw. If people were trying to steal his patents and then im them as their own, they were going to find out he wasn¡¯t beyond knocking some sense into them. And if they were too high Tier, he was sure L would be happy to chew on some people for him.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Tholly didn¡¯t seem to notice Matt¡¯s tension as he said, ¡°A few notablepanies are already retooling their engine lines seemingly in preparation for the new design.¡±


    ¡°So they aren¡¯t trying to steal and pass off the designs as their own?¡±


    ¡°No one that we have noticed has been trying to do that. I suspect few would. Few people wish to draw the ire of an Ascender, and while the reputation your team has for being easygoing does exist, it is not especially widespread. Ascender Worldwalker and Duke Waters have driven home the lesson that it is better to work around Ascenders rather than trying to get one over them.¡±


    Pulling Cato into the conversation, Matt pinged him with a brief so he could get caught up. ¡°Do you think it would be worth it to issue a statement that I don¡¯t care if people spy so long as they keep their reasons to setting themselves up for future efforts?¡±


    Matt got two instant responses. ¡°That is an awful idea, my lord.¡±


    Tholly¡¯s response was almost pleading as he said, ¡°Please don¡¯t create that much work for us, my lord. Even on a very basic level, the more attempts there are, the more likely spies are likely to slip through and reach more valuable information.¡±


    Matt sighed and rubbed his temples. He hated the political aspect of the guild and being a noble in general.


    ¡°Ok. I hear you two. Bad idea: I''ll keep it to myself. But what can we do here? Should I go and punch someone for spying? Frankly I don¡¯t care if they are just trying to position themselves better for the information, so I¡¯m not really feeling a beat down.¡±


    ¡°That would be ill advised.¡± Cato¡¯s words were clipped, and Matt took them to heart.


    ¡°Ok but we should be doing something right?¡±


    Tholly was the one to answer this time. ¡°We are my lord. Anyone who we can find actionable evidence against will be charged with all appropriate charges. s, just maneuvering into a good position with information that seems stolen based on loose evidence isn¡¯t actionable. They will im they got the information through an unknown information broker or the like, and that might even be true. It''s even properly true in some cases. Information about new technologies that are going to be open for opportunity are going to be very valuable, andpanies will pay a lot to not be caught t footed.¡±


    Matt nodded as he understood that. His issue was that he didn¡¯t like people spying on him like this. It felt invasive and wrong.


    ¡°Should we do a press release or the like to try and stop people from reselling the information like this? If everyone finds out then they are on the same page.¡±


    Cato¡¯s response was too fast for Matt¡¯s liking. ¡°I would advise against that as well, my lord. At least in the case of the travel mana engine. We are not the only ones trying to corner that market, and announcing just how far along we are is asking for someone else to jump ahead and dispute our ns by releasing something half baked and making a mess of the patent process. Our current ns are historically the best, but if you desire, I can look at early announcements.¡±


    Matt waved even though Cato couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°No, it''s fine. I just feel antsy knowing people are spying, and I can¡¯t do anything about it. I feel like I have no control. Thank you, Cato.¡±


    Turning his attention back to Tholly, Matt asked a few more questions about how their security was going before Matt felt reality warp as Liz stepped across Lily to hover over the guild.


    Matt was going to fly up to her, but she dropped in next to him and flopped into a nearby chair.


    He didn¡¯t need to ask what was wrong and just gave her a few moments to collect herself.


    ¡°Kal has a new government.¡±


    It took a moment for Matt¡¯s mind to pick up on the country''s name and he was thoroughly confused. ¡°Well, it¡¯s about to anyway. I started putting pressure on the countries to start catching up with our goals. They decided the homeless issue was enough of an issue that they were going to¡­ rebel isn¡¯t the right word, but they decided that getting the homeless off the street was best aplished by arresting the homeless. Annndddd, I took that personally.¡±


    Matt fully understood that. Them unting her orders like that would have irritated anyone.


    He just wondered if she had broken the veil in doing so. That would be less than ideal, but he wouldn¡¯t mourn its loss for too long. The longer things went on, the more he felt they should have just revealed everything day one. But Cato¡¯s words about keeping to what they chose being the best course of action rang in his mind.


    However, Liz smiled, which surprised Matt. ¡°I¡¯m not the only one who took offense to that, thankfully. Kal wasn¡¯t a great ce to begin with, but their movement to arrest the homeless sparked off a sort of revolution. A revolution that was made easier by certain leaders¡­ ¡®vanishing.¡¯ Apparently the parts of government that hadn¡¯t taken leave of their senses thought disappearances would be better optics than knowing they were arrested by an external power so once they knew the gig was up they moved on their own to clean things up. Sadly the attempt was only half sessful, their absence only further fanned the me of revolution, and while there¡¯s no new power yet, there¡¯s officially a splinter government that¡¯s pretty rapidly taking over from the previous one. Only so much I could do to make itpletely nonviolent, but it¡¯s been mostly bloodless.¡±


    Liz rubbed her face, her smile vanishing. ¡°I got the factional leaders read in, but I¡¯m still angry at the situation. I know I said I¡¯d help, but¡­ could you take point on Soerilia? At least for a bit? I¡¯m worried I might do something unwise if I have to keep arguing with those idiots for the next decade. Something, probably the arrests, set me off, and I want to make sure I figure out what¡¯s up before I snap.¡±


    Matt ran his fingers through her hair in the way he knew she liked and nodded. ¡°Sure. I¡¯m happy to do so. Want to hear about ourtest efforts on making aura?¡±


    Liz nodded. ¡°That sounds wonderful.¡±


    ¡°You only love me for my distractions.¡±


    ¡°You are distracting.¡±


    Matt went on to tell Liz about his most recent projects, which helped him sort his own ideas. So by the time she was ready to go back to work, he was reinvigorated and ready to crack down on it.


    He had his own idea about sharpness aura. While they had discovered they needed a weapon to help condense elemental aura, Matt believed that crutch was part of what was limiting them from making non elemental aura.


    Team two had managed to create a Tier 6 light aura rift with no seed just under six months ago, and while they¡¯d been unable to replicate the feat, it was neat to see that it was possible. Hopefully, if their investigation bore any fruit, it would be useful in making sharpness aura.


    After learning that weapons were the key to elemental mana types, Matt and the guild¡¯s aperologists were split on the non-elemental mana auras. Half of the aperologist believed that they simply hadn¡¯t found the right weapon seed mana typebinations for the non-elemental aura types, but the other half believed that non-elemental auras either didn¡¯t need or outright couldn¡¯t use weapons as seeds.


    If thetter was true, that would exin why no one had been able to recreate things like sharpness aura, but it seemed to contradict what they did know about aura rifts.


    Matt was, however, willing to try it.


    With an ingot of perfectly pure Tier 6 iron, Matt used his Concept to splinter the block of metal into a handful of incredibly sharp metal shards.


    Tossing half of the shards into the rift circle, Matt found the next open rift slot. They had needed to institute a rift Tiering up and creating schedule with so many of them on the ind, and while it slowed them down, it prevented failed tests. Which would be more costly in the long run.


    Once it was his turn, Matt created a rift with the seed of sharp metal shards and metal mana from a sword cultivator with a sharp sub-aspect.


    His first fourteen attempts only yielded normal rifts and Matt dispersed them, looking for something different while slightly tweaking ratios as he went.


    Matt knew that he wasn¡¯t Talented at aperology, but like cooking, he felt like he had a knack for the art, and so he trusted his gut.


    They had already seen that there was something strange with how rifts ssified weapons, and so far, they had always needed a weapon to form the rift. But what if it wasn¡¯t necessarily a weapon in and of itself?


    What if it was only that a weapon had something that the rifts needed instead of it being the weapon itself, and there was something that had what the weapons had, but wasn¡¯t necessarily a weapon?


    It seemed like there must be something like that, but Matt didn¡¯t know what that could be.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    So he started experimenting.


    His first experiment was to take a sword and sharpen it to a razor''s edge. It would be worthless in a battle, the smallest sheer force would break the edge, but if someone wanted a really good shave, this was the de for it.


    It¡­ didn¡¯t do anything.


    There were some basically cosmetic changes to the monsters, to be sure- some birds gained razor-sharp feathers, and the terrain was more likely to be spiky and jagged- but there was no meaningful difference in the mana and essence of the rift, not in the ways Matt was slowly beginning to associate with aura rifts.


    After more experiments to make sure that he wasn¡¯t just unlucky, Matt went back to the basics.


    What did aura need?


    Well, it needed normal aperology things. It needed his mana. It probably needed a weapon. And it needed¡­ an appropriate environment. The appropriate environment wasn¡¯t usually too much of a hurdle, as their formations could simte some basic external conditions, enough for them to work with level 1 and 2 mana types at least.


    They¡¯d tried a bunch of seemingly-appropriate environments, mostly metal and earth based for sharpness, but none of it had worked.


    Which now made little sense to him. After all, they weren¡¯t trying to make elemental aura so why were they using elemental mana? Sharpness was non-elemental, and applied equally to ss, metal, and even chitin.


    There was however, one mana type that they hadn¡¯t experimented too much with, despite it being well within their capabilities. It was even a mana aspect they¡¯d used regrly but only as support instead of as the main mana type.


    Neutral mana.


    Neutral mana was a bit odd, as far as mana went. It wasn¡¯t really elemental in the end. It didn¡¯t have a maniption spell, it didn¡¯t have any special associations, and skills that used it were as basic as they got, just standard mana constructs given marginal form. Some people went as far as to call it the element of magic itself, or said that neutral mana was mana-aspected, but arcane mana fit that description just as well as neutral.


    It was sometimes called a level zero mana type due to its almost antiplexity. If higher-level mana types were intricate paintings, neutral mana was the nk canvas upon which the art was created. Its effects were basic, butpletely element-agnostic.


    Just like sharpness aura.


    Sharpness was basic but non-elemental, and as he¡¯d worked with aura, Matt was getting familiar with the ways in which even basic elemental aura wasn¡¯t really basic. me aura wasn¡¯t heat aura, but both were fire aura. Wave aura wasn¡¯t ocean aura, but both were water aura while neither was water, and so on.


    The guild had tried dozens of different mana types to get sharpness aura to form but nothing had worked which led Matt to asking himself: What if sharpness worked the same way?


    What if it wasn¡¯t just a type of non-elemental aura, but rather a type of neutral aura in the same way that heat aura was still fire aura but fire aura wasn¡¯t heat.


    With a wave of his hand, Matt cleared his testing area and reassembled it.


    Elemental injectors were primed with neutral mana sub-aspected with seemingly-relevant sub-aspects. Cutting, sharpness, severing, and anything else Matt thought might be useful.


    Swords flew out into their respective arrays, and Matt changed the formations to simte the sorts of environments where non-elemental rifts abounded. That was actually trickier than it sounded, as despite the fact that non-aspected rifts were the mostmon types of rift, there weren¡¯t many environments that actively supported their formation.


    That made things far harder but he made it work.


    Then he triggered the tests, and much to his surprise, every single sword he was testing with was absorbed into the rift. All at the same time. That was not expected, but was definitely interesting.


    It took a few more tests with Erwin, Aisha, and Theodore all watching for them to notice what was going on, but they managed to catch it.


    Before the rift started absorbing the swords, it started breaking it down into something.


    It wasn¡¯t mana, but neither was it essence or aura.


    It was something simpler, but more robust, despite onlysting for an instant before unraveling like an unstable isotope.


    Which shouldn¡¯t have happened.


    Essence was inherently stable, and everything that had essence was more stable. Even high Tier stars didn¡¯t operate through fusion, because even with their immense gravity, the high Tier hydrogen was unable to go critical. They produced heat and light because that was what their fundamental nature, as dictated by their essence cores, said they did.


    Or at least, that was how Matt understood the phenomenon. At any rate, all of that meant that whatever the rift was pulling from the aura wasn¡¯t based in essence, or it would have been more stable.


    Even at Tier 6 speeds, it was dissolving faster than any of them could perceive, the only evidence that it had ever been there was the very peculiar decay patterns- none of them recognized the particr blend of more traditional energies left behind afterwards. Fortunately, they already had orders out for more advanced sensor tech that probably would help them figure out what was happening, but those tools were projected to still be decades away from arriving.


    But something weird was happening, and in their field of work, ¡®something weird¡¯ was the best sort of discovery to have. On a hunch, Matt tried imbuing the swords he was using to form the rifts with his own mana, giving them an inherent boost towards aura-production and hoping that would bridge the gap.


    The added variable made things harder, and on top of a dramatically higher rate of sword absorption his de-aspect chance was close to eighty percent, but Matt trusted his gut and pushed through the dozens of failures that never reached Tier 6, and then the further failures that didn¡¯t end up with an aura rift.


    With each failure he tweaked his mana types, going with what he felt was best, like a chef tasting their ingredients as they cooked.


    Stepping into the fifteenth variation of his neutral mana rifts, he got exactly the surprise he was looking for upon seeing the monsters inside. He was so prepared for another failure that he almost didn¡¯t recognize what he was seeing at first.


    Tier 1 Kobolds. But instead of the lizard-like monsters, these seemed like a nightmare version of a typical Kobold. They had shards of varying lengths of metal sticking out of their backs, almost like a porcupine. Their teeth and ws were also reced with shards of metal, and after killing one, Matt exited the rift to call the others in.


    This was exactly what he was hoping for.


    Poking his head out of the rift, Matt found only two of his team. ¡°Erwin, Theodore, get in here!¡±


    He sent a message with the time of the instance creation queued for Aisha so she could join them if she exited her own rift instance in the fifteen minute window. After the third failed test they had all gotten bored enough to go back to their own tests.


    Erwin immediately oohed and aahed at the new monster variation, while Theodore raced ahead to start looking at the rest of the rift.


    It wasn¡¯t much but Matt was happy that at least a few people in the Guild werefortable enough around him to do something else around him. Far too many of them would have pretended a random acorn was of incredible interest if he looked at it for too long.


    It was only by showcasing his imperfections after the ice aura rift that a few of them had started to realize he was just like them, except he could just punch a little harder. It was a good thing too, because he had started to consider making his own ind just to get away from the gazes that tracked his every movement like he might obliterate them for the smallest irritation.


    There was still a long way to go, but Matt was happy with any progress he could get even if it was just on his own team.


    Theodore¡¯s disappointment was short lived as he moved to join Erwin inspecting the kobold.


    Aisha came in a momentter, panting. ¡°Oh good I didn¡¯t miss the cycle.¡±


    ¡°Interesting, the protrusions are nearly steel in their makeup.¡± Looking up at Matt Erwin asked, ¡°You used the Tier 6 weapons right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just had them imbued with more of my mana. Old mana that is. I think using my mana was wrong but this is a great start. Finally something weird.¡±


    Aisha offered her own suggestion. ¡°Or the rift is just trying to make the kobolds more lethal and this isn''t relevant to aura rifts?¡±


    She very well could be right but the only answer was to try it. To that end they exited the rift, registered it as interesting so others could check it out if they wanted, tagged it for no destruction, and started testing.


    Erwin and Aisha started rifts identical to Matt¡¯s method except using other weapon types, while he and Theodore tried to recreate the rift exactly as it was but using other neutral mana sources they had samples of.


    When they did seed in creating a new kobold rift, they attempted to Tier it up, but they failed the coinflip and the rift de-aspected. They did, however, prove that the rift itself was a stable configuration and could be recreated.


    It took a week¡¯s and thousands of rifts, but eventually they managed to create a Tier 6 kobold rift.


    The kobolds in the rift at Tier 6 were almost five feet tall, well muscled, with tails as thick as Matt¡¯s biceps andst but not least sharp spikes sticking out of their backs and jutting from their body, ready to tear any flesh that got too close to them.


    Best of all, the kobolds had wisps of aura lingering around the spikes giving the monsters a sinister appearance.


    And it wasn''t just any aura, but sharpness aura.


    ¡°Fuck yes!¡±


    ¡°Finally!¡±


    Matt pped Theodore on the back before snapping the neck of the nearest kobold.


    Dragging its body out of the rift as fast as he could without tearing the rift apart, Matt flew into the sky, holding his prize aloft.


    He had only one word to say. ¡°Sess!¡±


    His voice echoed through the ind and grabbed everyone''s attention, but Matt was more than happy to let everyone see.


    Titan¡¯s Torch wasn¡¯t just a guild wasting money recreating what he and Erwin had done at Tier 6. They were moving forward, creating new, realm changing things.


    It was everything Matt wanted for his guild, and he took a minute to bask in the glow.


    Instead of flying to him like he expected, all of the aperologists flew right into the still open instance to inspect a fresh specimen of the variant kobolds.


    Looking at the corpse in his hand steadily losing aura, Matt activated the harvesting bottle to collect what remained.


    He intended to return to the rift to nerd out with the rest of his aperologists, but Kees stepped in front of him.


    ¡°This is an opportunity, Guild Leader, should you wish to capitalize on it.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow and obliterated the monster in his hands with a flex of his will. He thought he had a good idea of what Kees was going to suggest, but he wanted the older man to speak his mind.


    ¡°We have less than five years before the deadline you set goes live, and the Emperor has stated that he should have a deal worked out from the other Great Powers before then, so we have tounch on your stated schedule. We can turn this into a great publicity moment. Non-elemental aura rifts being impossible to create and stumping the guild, solved by the guild leader himself. The headlines write themselves.¡±


    Hearing that Kees wanted him to give an interview, Matt immediately tried to deflect. ¡°Do we really need more publicity? The news of aura rifts is already well propagated, and I¡¯m, well, me. I don¡¯t think anyone doesn¡¯t know of it. It can just be part of the package we release in five more years.¡±


    ¡°It''s not about the aura rifts, Guild Leader. You are correct about everyone knowing about the aura. It''s about the guild''s prestige. Titan¡¯s Torch is a new charity guild without any substantial creations. An Ascender being the leader is great for the short term, but showing that you are actually invested in the guild and working with and in it will ensure that even when you need to go and do Ascender things, and leave the guild for centuries at a time, people are still willing to invest and assist. Otherwise, we might only see assistance and help when you are personally at the helm, because people will be investing or rather trying to gather favor with you personally.¡±


    Matt tried to catch the man in a logical w to get himself out of more interviews. ¡°Then I¡¯m the wrong person to do the interviews. It will seem like exactly what you fear since I was the one to create the rift.¡±


    ¡°No, Guild Leader. It''s the fact that you are hands on that is important. Even if someone else made the vital discovery, I would push you to do the interview. This is important for the long term growth of Titan¡¯s Torch.¡±


    Cursing the man under his breath, Matt agreed to do an interview in a month or so, and then returned to the rift before the instance cycled.


    The Tier 6 rift was a little smaller than average, but that was something they had noticed as they tried to make higher Tier aura rifts.


    Rifts grew in size as they Tiered up, which meant more monsters. While rifts could have variation in monster density, that was usually tied to how strong the individual monsters were. They generally had a simr amount of total essence to be harvested for a full clear. Aura rifts, they had found, were typically five to ten percent smaller than their non-aura riftpatriots, and even more interesting was the fact that the total aura per rift didn¡¯t scale up.


    A Tier 4 rift had enough aura to create 2 to 2.5 aura potions, but that number didn¡¯t scale up for a Tier 6 rift, which had five or six times as many monsters on average.


    It was a very interesting factoid that further killed the idea ofrge scale aura farms done in high Tier rifts that could be sustained on higher Tier worlds. That,bined with the difficulty of keeping an aura rift from de-aspecting meant Matt expected very few high Tier aura rifts.


    A few worlds would make them to answer the demand of the Tier 14s who were stuck without a Concept, but they would be the exceptions, which wasn¡¯t something Matt minded.


    With the revtion that they needed to treat sharpness aura as an elementally neutral form of aura, Matt modified the Emperor¡¯s own Tier 4 aura rift instructions to ount for neutral mana, rather than elemental.


    It took an infuriating 523 attempts, but when they seeded the entire guild stared at the Tier 4 sharpness aura rift.


    It was beautiful.


    It also sent everyone into a frenzy, trying different materials as seed items for neutral mana.


    Sadly, few of them worked.


    What they did create was a neutral-mana movement aura that Matt thought might be popr.


    Or at least, Olivier loved it and instantly started throwing out bets for which Matt could use the aura type as his stake.


    That sparked a flood of messages in the Ascender group chat, with everyone making requests for what his guild needed to make next. Sien¡¯s requested dream aura was basically impossible, doubly so considering none of them personally knew anyone with the Level 5 mana, so they¡¯d have to first find a source of the ever-elusive mana type. And if dream mana was anything like simple illusion mana, it would be a nightmare to work with.


    Healing aura, as requested by Krodag, was already on his list and in high demand for obvious reasons, but Matt didn¡¯t think there was any real chance he¡¯d make it within the decade. Maybe a century but even that was optimistic with the zero progress they had seen so far.


    Max, of course, wanted mind aura, which was technically more possible than Sien¡¯s requested dream aura, but only because Max could provide the required mana type herself. But even then, Matt wasn¡¯t sure if making aura from a level 5 mana type would be possible before he eventually threw in the towel and ascended out of sheer boredom.


    When he shot that down, she pivoted to requesting thought aura.


    While the idea of tackling aura for a level 3 mana type when he was still working on getting level 2 mana types to work was a bit of a long shot at best, she rightfully pointed out that it could be used for some interesting AI applications. Apparently, the Federation sometimes used aura in their highest-quality cybeic imnts for various things, and a steady supply of thought aura could lead to some impressive refinement of the basic AI imnt, if nothing else.


    He made a mental note to prioritize thought aura when the time came to hit the level 3 mana types, as Shadi would likely find the stuff as interesting as he did. He was definitely interested in improving the gear that low-Tiers had ess to, but that was, once again, a long ways away.


    In the meantime, there were level two elements to experiment with, as well as finding ways of making neutral aura for defense, strength, and even ranged fighters.


    It was just a matter of throwing their head at the wall until something broke.


    Sadly, with only a few years left until the release of the forms, Matt had to give another interview.


    Suddenly a disaster in Soerilia was looking like a good thing.

 Chapter 357

    Chapter 357


    Demarcus Jackson, professor of ancient world histories at Ciliradi Provence University, was <em>not crazy</em>. All of his past students probably assumed he was, many of his colleagues surely thought he was, most of his ex-girlfriends probably suspected he was, and some of his friends were <em>sure</em> that he was. But he wasn¡¯t.


    He just wasn¡¯t blind.


    At worst, he was <em>passionate</em>.


    As a 32 years old tenured professor, he had proven he was intelligent beyond his peers, but instead of recognizing his brilliance and trusting that his more entric theories held weight, his colleagues and the dean just kept trying to <em>refocus</em> him.


    <em>Demarcus wasn¡¯t crazy</em>, but he also wasn''t stupid. Which is why he had allowed them to herd him into the more traditional academic path, until he decoded the Talfuna hiddennguage used by their ancient upper echelons and earned his tenure.


    With his tenure secure, he had thought, <em>had hoped</em>, they would give him a little more leeway to explore the obvious gaps and ws in their people¡¯s, their world¡¯s histories.


    ¡­ and explore the alien artifacts they had <em>sitting in museums</em>.


    Demarcus understood that Soerilia wasn¡¯t ready to ept that there were aliens watching over them, guiding and <em>protecting</em> them. But sticking one''s head under the pillow didn¡¯t stop the monster under the bed from nibbling on one''s toes. Still, he had expected better of his academic fellows after he proved his intellect. Even if they didn¡¯t believe him, they should have trusted him and given him at least nominal assistance.


    Maybe his office was a little messy and he hadn¡¯t shaved in a few days. Weeks, maybe. But it was summer, and there weren¡¯t any students so he was elbow deep in y.Whipping the sweat off his head and leaving a healthy smear of y in its ce, he looked at his project and studied it.


    The configuration before him had been seen in dozens of cultures spread far across Soerilia before natural disasters culminating in a debilitating global winter had killed most of the''s ecological life, including most human life. All but those that lived near Arnding and its active volcano, who had been able to huddle in its warm, nitrogen rich soil for close to a hundred years before Soerilia started to warm itself back up.


    But in the remains of the past, archaeologists had found things that made no sense.


    Configurations of strange symbols that held great importance to the local cultures. Local cultures that should have had no contact with each other but had striking simrities to each other that shouldn¡¯t have been possible with their tech levels. Unless there had been something, or someone with technology greater than their ancestors had.


    Demarcus knew aliens of great power lingering and watching their ancestors wasn¡¯t aforting thought, but what else made sense?


    It was the only answer that didn¡¯t leave more questions, but his colleagues couldn¡¯t see that.


    So, Demarcus went looking and he found things. Oddities that were seemingly unexinable. How many cultures could independently create the same arrangement of stone or metal bs that had nigh identical characters on them?


    That made no sense, but because each culture''s remains only seemed to have a part of the greater whole, people dismissed it as some form of carcinisation. Crabs were awesome, but he was pretty sure the aliens were more lizard-like based on some clues he and others had found.


    Demarcus had tried to get university approval for this test, but they insisted that using so many radioactives in a test was irresponsible and dangerous.


    Which it was. Dangerous, not irresponsible. He had protectiveyers ready for when he was prepped toy the iridium wires out. And to limit the dangers, he had even hiked out to the middle of the woods with nearly a ton of building supplies to perform his tests.


    Once he had proof this array of stones, once properly powered, was able tomunicate with aliens, the university would be more than happy to fund a better experiment. But he needed a proof of concept.


    Originally, he had thought that the summer would be more than enough time, but he had underestimated just how hard this would be. Before he had trekked out here, he had recreated the known parts of the array with concrete and hoped that using y in the rest would make iterating the design easy. But he had underestimated just how convoluted the aliens¡¯ system of writing was.


    Or how it was powered.


    He still had no idea how they managed that, but from all the examples the archaeologist had found, these arrays were self-contained and seemingly self-sustaining.


    Personally, he thought they might harvest momentum from the rotation of the or the like, but that was pure spection.


    It was, however, why he was going to use iridium for the wiring. The energy rich metal might be enough to make up for any shortfalls in the recorded evidence.


    Carefully washing and drying his hands, he flipped through his notebook andpared the array to what he had spected in his drawings.


    Seeing things in person, he found that a few of the strange word characters seemed <em>wrong</em>. He couldn''t put his finger on it, but his gut told him that what he had filled in wasn¡¯t correct.


    Using the long stick he had carefully ced next to him, he delicately smoothed the y and changed the shape.


    That small adjustment seemed to change the cohesive whole, and he had to make a few more tweaks to other parts of the arrangement until he felt things were more cohesive. It was spection based on a tiny amount of information, but Demarcus was good at making inferences. It was just how his mind worked.


    That, and the fact that this was his third attempt and the summer was nearing its end, so he needed to get a move on. He simply couldn''t worry about small imperfections anymore. The nights were starting to get cold, even with the nkets he had brought out here, which meant this was going to be hisst attempt, no matter sess or failure. And with how long the clean up procedures took, he was already going to be cutting it close.


    After another round of inspections and modifications, Demarcus donned his heavy lead suit and started spooling out the iridium wire.


    It took nine hours to carefullyy the brittle metal out, and he was drenched in sweat even as the sun was setting and frost was already forming around the edges of his boot prints.


    Just as thest of the sun''s rays were dancing along the horizon and Demarcusid out the final piece of wire, a sh of light appeared that rivaled the sun in midday.


    Demarcus ripped his helmet off and jumped into the air.


    He had done it!


    ***


    Al''ta was filing a report on the continuing progress one of the smaller nations was making, or rather not making, towards meeting the benchmarks set by the integration n when theary AI sent an alert. It was picking up some unexpected mana fluctuations outside a city a few countries away.


    Al¡¯ta groaned.


    The ce the AI was pointing at had no official magic usage, which meant one of three things. First, and definitely the most likely these days was that <em>someone</em> had smuggled some Empire gear home and was now ying around with it. Second was that a delver had decided to mess around with their magic in an unapproved way. Or third, and definitely the most inconvenient, was that a rift was forming.


    Well, there was nothing to it.


    She tried stretching her spiritual perception out to get an initial look, but long-range sensing had never been one of her strengths, and she didn¡¯t get anything for the attempt. Instead, she physically got up, logging her investigation as such, and flew to the area the AI had reported on.


    It was, apparently, just one guy.


    While he was frozen in time from her perspective, it was fairly apparent that he was jumping wildly for joy outside of a tiny cabin, looking at a crude metal-and-y formation on a pic table that was on proper inspection, obviously the cause of her alert.


    Her AI, after eating an annoying amount of mana for the calction, identified the man as one Professor Demarcus Jackson, an anthropological professor in the employ of a local university. He had a reputation among his students as being entric but brilliant, and his coworkers thought of him as unreliable and possibly manic, far too enamored with fringe theories for a member of academia.


    All in all, he was not the sort of person that Al¡¯ta would have <em>expected</em> to be able to make a crude runic array, yet here he was. For some reason, he¡¯d chosen <em>iridium</em> as his metal of choice, and the formation was suffering for it, the <em>incredibly</em> non-ductile metal never meant to be literally bent so far out of shape.


    But for her incredulity, the man <em>had</em> sessfully created a magical formation with very basic tools, and if the innumerable diagrams and pictures strewn about were any indication, simple archeological records interspersed with a number of what could be generously described as ¡®magazines for the paranoid.¡¯


    Really now, reptilian bloodlines were no more deceptive than any other. That was just being racist.


    Regardless, she had a job to do. She cast [Consult Documentation], making sure she approached this situation in the right way.


    As part of its founding as a Veil world, Soerellia had a full charter written up regarding what <em>exactly</em> the purpose of the Veil was, appropriate interference for the Republic, and most relevantly for the moment, what constituted a parting of the Veil.


    For Soerellia in particr, knowledge of mana was considered past the Veil, and anyone who discovered mana was, in pursuant to Subsection 83, use G an official Veil Parter, and thereby supposed to be brought past the Veil and given full information regarding the nature of the Veil, the Republic, and to be sponsored via an awakening.


    There was more information regarding what should happen if someone discovered mana <em>scientifically</em>, identally creating a device that incidentally created or used mana, and how to correspond with the inventor to create a new way in which subsequent individuals could uncover mana. But that didn¡¯t apply here.


    It was part of the Republic¡¯s whole ¡®test¡¯ thing for getting past the Veil, which Al¡¯ta personally found a bit silly. Most means for parting the Veil had absolutely nothing to do with one¡¯sfort with and capacity for violence, which was really the only thing that mattered to a delver. But it wasn¡¯t her job to argue for or against the system. What mattered now was that one of the seeds the Republic had nted hade to fruition, and now she had a far too enthusiastic man who had put together a working Daedalus Formation and consequently discovered the existence of mana.


    It left her in a bit of an awkward position. Most of the normal ingresses for the Veil had been redirected and repurposed during the Empire integration, the active holes having been discontinued, and most people likely to discover the truth of the were Veil already brought past it. But they hadn¡¯t gone through and closed <em>every</em> way one could part the Veil. This particr route, following instructions embedded deep within the¡¯s history as a way to create a functioning rune array with literally any level of tools, was emblematic of that.


    Except now <em>she</em> had to deal with the consequences of that.


    With a sigh, she sent a report to her boss. If what she heard on the grapevine about the Duke and Duchess looking for people to sponsor was true, the message would probably be forwarded to them.


    Slowing her perception down to unawakened levels again, the man finally finished his leap of joy and immediately started enthusiastically talking about aliens and how he knew he was right the moment he saw her.


    This was going to be a long conversation.


    ***


    Yosef took a deep breath and exhaled.


    He felt odd.


    Or he felt amazing actually.


    He was pushing fifty years old, but he looked younger than when he was awakened just ten years ago.


    He also felt better than any fifty year old had any right to.


    He was not only feeling younger, he was stronger than any unawakened by what felt like a mile. He could run faster than even the best athletes without breaking a sweat, and his personal records in the gym would blow the old world records out of the water.


    Even after leaving the military two years ago and joining the new settlement on the other side of the Ptine mountain range, Gates Rest, he was feeling good.


    From his time in the military and the incursions they had made into the continent, he had reached Tier 2, but had chosen to leave when his extended contract was up to be closer to the Tier 3 rifts. They were the only thing that noticeably advanced his magic powers, his <em>cultivation</em>, if he were to use the term, being bandied around at any reasonable speed.


    As he and everyone advanced, they quickly noticed that the weaker monster''s essence felt airy and lightpared to monsters at their level or stronger, and few willingly took it in if they could help it.


    No, this awakening business was undeniably good.


    Stolen story; please report.


    What wasn¡¯t so good was his memory issues since reaching Tier 4.


    He wasn¡¯t losing any old memories, fortunately, but there were times when¡­ when nothing seemed to stick. It felt like he¡¯d lose a full day in the blink of an eye at times, or he mighte back to himself after a fight with no recollection of the fight itself. ording to the people around him, he was anything but ipetent <em>during</em> his amnesiac times, but the amount of time he was losing to it was worrying.


    He had in fact had a doctor¡ª a magical one even, which had cost him an arm and a leg¡ª perform both a magical scan and a mundane scan on his brain just to make sure he wasn''t having mental issues. Except, they had found nothing, and there had been no abnormalities on each of the scans.


    Despite the results, Yosef just couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was¡­ wrong.


    It was getting worse, too. These days, he could hardly even let his mind wander without losing some time, whether just a few minutes or full hours.


    As a former professional soldier and now professional monster fighter, his mind was his greatest asset, which was he had started taking a more reserved approach to this magic stuff. Thest thing he wanted was to be in battle with a group of monsters and have one of those memory fluctuations. Even weaker monsters could still kill you if you weren¡¯t careful.


    Yosef instead had taken up meditating. It wasn¡¯t perfect, and he¡¯d sometimes lose all memory of the meditation <em>itself</em>, but he tried to cling to what tiny scraps of control he could muster.


    It also helped with the other odd mental thing. The one that felt more benign. The strange feeling of connection to¡­something.


    He had had those feelings since he first got the magic powers, and had assumed they were just a part of therger package of magic. But when he talked to his men and others awakened, he had found none of them felt that.


    Erring on the side of caution, he decided to keep that oddity to himself going forward, and made sure to keep an ear out for anyone feeling anything simr. But he had never heard even a rumor of it.


    Armed with a ss of whisky, he sat on his balcony and watched the stars start to appear in the night sky.


    It was beautiful. Stunning really.


    The night sky seemed full of possibilities if one could just reach out and grasp it.


    When had his life be so chaotic? It seemed like he was bouncing around from ce to ce, swirling and crashing unexpectedly on monsters, on politicians, on <em>magic</em>.


    What the <em>hell</em> had happened to his home? What was he supposed to do? Was there anything he <em>could</em> do? He felt like the entire was just a speck of dust, caught in the immense turbulence of something <em>so muchrger</em>, and he was nothing but dustpared to that.


    What was there <em>to</em> do, beyond putting one foot in front of the next, always moving with the currents and hoping it all turned out alright?


    Yosef swirled his drink, <em>feeling</em> the liquid inside sloshing around. What did <em>it</em> think of all this?


    Well, the answer was nothing. Fluids didn¡¯t feel anything. They just acted. He of all people knew that. Yet here he was, his life practically fluid itself as it flowed from one ce to another.


    Maybe if he thought that hard enough, he¡¯d figure out what was up with his own life. Maybe then he¡¯d understand. Maybe then he could see his <em>own</em> future, the way he could sort-of-kinda see the future of fluids near him.


    A deep part of himself swirled to the surface, some half-forgotten feeling arising as he stared at the stars.


    None of this made sense. He didn¡¯t know what would happen next, and he never could. He¡¯d never be <em>ready</em> for anything ever again, but maybe that was alright.


    So what, if his memory was getting worse? So what, if godlike people were taking over the? So what? He could adapt, he could survive.


    What did his opinions matter,pared to the overwhelming momentum and turbulence of life? Most of his life had been in the military, and even at the best of times, there were always orders to be followed, missions toplete, tasks to be done. This wasn¡¯t really that different to parachuting blind into enemy territory, when it came down to it.


    An image of himself being swept along on currents beyond allprehension, being pushed along pipes that other people made for him and crashing through rapids came to mind, more vivid than anything he¡¯d ever imagined before, and he couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.


    Life may have been chaos, flying blind into the unknown, no way of knowing what was next or even what came before¡­ But hey, what did that matter?


    He just needed to <em>go with the flow</em>.


    Yosef¡¯s entire body shuddered as his spirit contracted, like someone had just thrown a bucket of ice water on it. Around him, his sight and senses sharpened, connecting him to everything around him <em>more</em>.


    Within his spirit, Yosef felt essence pour in, revitalizing him and energizing him in a way he¡¯d never experienced before. It was like the world itself agreed with him and was rewarding him for the insight.


    He fell backwards, overwhelmed by the sensation, but when he finally became of anything beyond his own existence again, he felt profoundly <em>more</em>.


    He¡¯d gone up another Tier, that much was certain. But he also felt more whole in some way he didn¡¯t have the right words to express. His essence cores had merged into a unified whole, a perfectly polished spiritual mass that put his prior cultivation to shame. He hadn¡¯t even <em>realized</em> how poorly he had been doing it, until he saw what it had be.


    He stood up, his body responding so quickly and fluidly that he knocked his whiskey ss careening off the balcony and down to the ground below. Yosef <em>moved</em> to the balcony, and while he could predict and intuitively feel exactly the way his former drink would ssh out of its cup and shower onto the dozen or so gawkers on the ground, there was nothing he could do to stop it.


    Except, suddenly, there was.


    Something drained out of him, and the ss of whiskey un-fell. The misty drops pulled themselves out of the air, refilled the ss, and then pulled the ss alongside it back up, in defiance of gravity and back to the balcony Yosef was on.


    Before they reached the spot where his hand had been but was no longer, Yosef snatched it out of the air and took arge swig of the liquor.


    He felt light headed and rubbed his temple, even as people called out for exnations of what skill he had been using and how they hadn¡¯t felt any mana being used, or how he had caused so much essence to flow into him. And most importantly, how they could do the same.


    Before he could even contemte how to exin to them what he himself didn¡¯t fully understand, a woman appeared next to him.


    She was a little young but <em>very</em> attractive, which set Yosef¡¯s internal warning bells ringing.


    He also noticed that her sudden appearance didn¡¯t set off any fluctuations in the air. The air around her flowed as if she wasn¡¯t even there,pletely invisible to his Talent.


    It took another moment, but he also picked on the fact that none of the dozen people still asking him questions seemed to notice her.


    ¡°Congrattions, Captain Yilik. My name is Administrator Al¡¯ta, and I¡¯m sure you have many, many questions regarding what just happened. The simple exnation is that you had an inspiration, enabling you to develop a Concept. I must request that you do not exin too much about what you¡¯ve experienced, as such knowledge can be detrimental to the development of power. Your recent memory issues, for example, were directly caused by your nascent Concept.¡±


    Yosef mulled over those words for a moment before agreeing.


    Not entirely sure what to say, he turned to the crowd and said. ¡°It was nothing. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    They didn¡¯t take that alone as an answer- apparently there had been something of a lightshow while he was out- but he eventually managed to persuade people that it was just a breakthrough of his powers. Which, if he understood the mysteriousdy correctly, had the benefit of being basically true?


    Once he got free, he went inside alongside the Administrator to learn more about¡­ everything. She was very amodating for what he felt like were very basic questions, telling that getting an inspiration at ¡®such a young age¡¯ - a phrase that <em>deeply</em> shook him - was very impressive, and that his Concept was the first step on a lifelong pursuit of excellence, but that with one, he had the potential to be an immortal.


    Like her.


    Administrator Al¡¯ta was an immortal liaison for an entire Empire of what were basically omnipotent and <em>immortal </em>cultivators, that they had been the ones responsible for the new influx of magic, the ones who had been responsible for giving him his Talent, and general political upheaval going on.


    It was, Yosef supposed, nice to finally get an answer to who the mysterious ¡®they¡¯ were. He knew that magic hade from somewhere, sure, but he¡¯d never given it that much thought.


    He just went with the flow.


    More interesting still was that one of the leaders of this world was going to being to the world in the next few weeks and was interested in sponsoring people to leave the, and with his Inspiration and Concept formation, he was an ideal candidate.


    He wasn¡¯t too interested until the woman said they had worlds stronger than this one where he could advance further.


    Advance until he reached immortality.


    It had only been an idle dream before, but the woman said it was possible for him to make it that far with the aptitude he had shown.


    Yosef was no idealistic teen ready to sign on the dotted line any more, but he was willing to hear this woman''s boss out.


    He spent the next few weeks fending off questions about what he had done, but it wasn¡¯t <em>too</em> bad, all things told. Mostly, it was others who were trying to get an edge of their own. There had been a video of him reversing the ss of whisky and it had spread like wildfire, but there was nothing he could do about that.


    He didn¡¯t entirely trust the woman, but he instantly understood that pushing through those mental barriers could have been risky, so he kept his mouth mostly shut.


    One thought kept whispering through his mind. As a Tier 5, his lifespan had reached around 180 years, but if he could reach Tier 7, just two higher, that outright <em>doubled</em>. <em>360 years</em>.


    Tier 15 for true immortality.


    It didn¡¯t seem easy, but it seemed possible. From the first four Tiers he had fought through, he understood the escting amount of essence one needed to advance. But if it had taken him ten years to go from Tier 1 to Tier 4, he figured he could manage the rest.


    Before too long, he had a message delivered to his personal phone from a number he didn¡¯t know that told him to get ready if he wanted to leave, and where to meet the person who could take him off Soerilia.


    Yosef had expected a lot of things, but he hadn¡¯t expected an academic to be waiting with him.


    Together, they ended up cooling their heels until the man started talking about aliens and Yosef tuned him out. If this was the type of people they were recruiting, his interest was dwindling. Rapidly.


    Thankfully before too long, half an hour at most, a woman like he had never seen walked in.


    She was¡­ stunning, and much like the Administrator, far too young for the confidence she carried herself with. But what really took him aback was the golden hawk-monster on her shoulder.


    That took Yosef aback even more than her pale, almost golden skin or the me red hair.


    Who the fuck walked around with a monster on their shoulder?


    For that was all it could be. Yosef had fought enough monsters in the wilderness or in rifts in the decade to know a monster when he saw one.


    He pulled out a pistol he always kept with him and kept it trained on the bird, ready to unload before he turned and ran.


    The woman¡¯s only response was a quirk of her lips in amusement. ¡°You must be Yosef. My name is Elizabeth Moore, but you can call me Liz. I¡ª¡±


    She was interrupted by the academic. ¡°You are the aliens! I have wanted to meet you for so long. I¡ª¡±


    When the man took a breath, the woman spoke. ¡°Professor Demarcus, I will be more than happy to address your concerns in a few moments. Yosef here however is a little stressed it seems.¡±


    It was only then that the professor noticed the gun and stumbled back to get clear of the line of sight. Not that Yosef would miss, but it was a good move.


    Yosef didn¡¯t let his weapon waver. ¡°That''s a monster.¡±


    ¡°Not quite, but I can dismiss it if you would like.¡±


    That implied a level of control Yosef wasn¡¯t sure believed. There had been a dozen attempts to tame the monsters, but they seemedpletely immune to domestication.


    He must have taken too long considering things, because the bird simply burst into golden mes with a low rumble of thunder, immting it utterly. The fire then pulled itself <em>into</em> the woman¡¯s shoulder, vanishing in the blink of an eye.


    Yosef pulled the trigger.


    The quirk of the woman¡¯s lips became a full smile, and the bullet stopped in the air an inch from her face, still spinning from the rifling


    ¡°I¡ª¡±


    Yosef pulled the trigger eleven more times, but instead of the bullet just stopping mid air, they just <em>vanished</em>, and the woman casually tossed the perfectly intact bullets onto a nearby table.


    ¡°Mr. Yilik. While I appreciate the enthusiasm, this will be much faster if we can speak like civilized people. I am Tier 26, and I can assure you that <em>nothing</em> you can do could ever harm me.¡±


    Yosef wasn¡¯t entirely sure of the scaling of Tiers, but extrapting the difference between himself and a Tier 1 all the way to Tier 26, he nodded slowly.


    ¡°What about the monster?¡±


    The woman gave the impression of a chuckle, ¡°To simplify things, we¡¯ll call it a summoned creature. They¡¯re something of a speciality of mine. In fact, I may as well do something simr to speed this up even further.¡±


    The woman stepped in two directions at once, and suddenly there were two of her, identical in every way. Even the bird was back on <em>each</em> of their shoulders, and Yosef got the impression it was being <em>smug</em> at him.


    The woman further from Yosef and closer to the crazy professor waved her hand, and a wall appeared, cutting off half of the room and leaving Yosef alone with Liz and her bird.


    ¡°Now we can continue at twice the speed.¡±


    A table and chairs appeared in what was left of the bisected room. ¡°Take a seat and let me exin the offer. My husband and I can offer you a ce in a guild on the next world over. They have several ces on several worlds. Gavle¡¯s Good Guilders recently promoted itself to a Tier 15 guild and is quite respectable. You also don¡¯t need to have an answer immediately. We are willing to let youe over to Lily and see more of the Empire, and we¡¯ll even pay for your return to Soerilia if you want. I¡¯m also happy to answer any questions you have.¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡± Yosef felt it was an obvious but important question.


    ¡°Your inspiration and creation of a Concept without help is fairly impressive. Impressive enough that neither me nor my husband are willing to just let you linger on a world too small to contain you without at least making the offer. While Soerilia <em>should</em> be more aware of the greater Empire in about five years, it¡¯s well behind schedule, and is more likely to be twenty to thirty years before it¡¯s properly integrated, with full ess to proper resources. Waiting that long for a mortal like yourself would be inopportune, for reasons I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t need exined to you.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m rare?¡±


    ¡°That depends on your scale. Creating your Concept at Tier 4 is impressive, but not <em>particrly</em> rare. Developing one through an inspiration, practically blind? Substantially more impressive, though there are undoubtedly hundreds more throughout the Empire who have done much the same this very year. That still puts you as quite the rare talent, and leaving you tonguish on Soerilia would be doing you a disservice.¡±


    Yosef was sure there were dozens of things he didn¡¯t understand, but thement aboutnguishing clicked with him. If he lost his momentum, it would be hard to get started again.


    If he truly wanted immortality, he needed to grasp this opportunity with both hands.


    ¡°And I cane back?¡±


    Liz nodded. ¡°There is a teleporter between worlds that you can take. Think of it like a monthly train.¡±


    Yosef let his mind race before focusing on a question that had been bugging him. ¡°I can¡¯t feel you in my spiritual sense, or¡­ any other way. Why is that?¡±


    Liz smiled, and the birdughed at him, its wings fluttering. ¡°Or with your Talent, perhaps? I¡¯m Tier 26, Mr. Yosef. I¡¯m <em>certainly</em> capable of concealing my spirit from casual onlookers, and it¡¯s a skill you would do well to learn yourself.¡±


    Yosef understood that he had been one of the forerunners of the world, and he hadn¡¯t encountered too many people stronger than himself. He also understood the temptation dangled in front of him.


    ¡°So long as I can return, I¡¯m willing to take a look.¡±


    The woman stood. ¡°Good. Let''s get going then.¡±


    ¡°The other guy is already done talking?¡±


    The womanughed. ¡°Not even close, but he¡¯s ready to see another world.¡±


    It was the fastest fifteen minutes of his life, but Yosef had a bag of his belongings and a few boxes of ammunition tucked under an arm as he stood on a swirling te.


    One bout of dizzinesster, he was standing on a new world, and he could, from his first breath, feel that this world was stronger than Soerilia but weaker than his current self.


    They set him up in a hotel and gave him a phone that was able to trante for him, which let him explore the city around him.


    Magic. Magic was everywhere and everyone had it to greater or lesser degrees. He tried not to gawk <em>too</em> hard at the flying cars or levitating trains or soaring architecture and flying lights, but he got the distinct sense that he failed.


    Yosef wondered if Soerilia would be like this in another decade, and he couldn¡¯t help but be excited to see what his people could do with such power and resources.


    The next morning, just after his breakfast of new and interesting foods, he met with the guild representatives. They had to talk using the phone thing as a trantor, but they managed to talk about the guild and what it could offer him.


    The contract was surprisingly easy to read for what it was, though he quickly learned that there were <em>lots</em> ofyers of nuance he would never have the chance to understand. Part of it was thenguage barrier, as it had been tranted into his nativenguage from ¡®Empire Common,¡¯ but he could fairly easily select individual words, sentences, or uses to get additional context and definitions which helped. Thankfully it didn¡¯t seem <em>too</em> bad? He was being sponsored, which meant there was fairly little in the way of personal demands. He was expected to help the guild ¡®in a suitable manner¡¯ as a Tier 5, but in return, he would be provided ¡®adequate opportunity¡¯ to reach Tier 15, including ¡®regr and reasonable¡¯ ess to rifts.


    The contract was clearly meant for fresh recruits, but the recruiter said it didn¡¯t really change things, as he would be getting the beginner package either way, as there was so much he didn¡¯t know.


    Which is really what made his choice for him. There was a wider new world and there were too many things he didn¡¯t know. Having a guild that could back him up and exin things to him was exactly what he needed.


    The rest of the day was spent going over various offers from other guilds, but Yosef was pretty sure he would take up the original offer. They had been the straightest with him, and he got a good feeling from the recruiter.


    When he met up with the representative from Gavle¡¯s Good Guilders, the man shook his hand and said, ¡°Wee to both the Empire and the Guild Yosef. You won¡¯t regret this.¡±

 Chapter 358

    Chapter 358


    Baron Haluk Avci watched as Ascender Titan walked the reporter through the third aura rift in a row.


    The first had been a simple fire aura rift with fairly standard, Tier 4, oversized insect monsters that had fire aura clinging to their carapaces. The second had been a mist aura rift, Tier 4 as well. But the third was the crown jewel.


    A Tier 4 sharpness rift.


    The possibility of such a rift had been circting amongst those who cared about such things, and Haluk had been waiting for confirmation of its existence before deciding anything.


    Looking down at his daughter, he asked, ¡°What do you think of the rifts?¡±


    Fatma gestured and caused the projection to rewind to the oversized kobolds with metal shards sticking out of their flesh, the image hanging in the air before the assembled family. ¡°The monsters look difficult. Ascender Titan said the monsters weren¡¯t guaranteed, but likely, so it''s possible we can get easier rifts than this. But even I would be hesitant to throw myself into battle against these beasts.¡±


    Haluk nodded and Fatma gestured to resume the interview and they watched as the Ascender went through a few rifts of various types.


    The thing that caught Haluk¡¯s attention was the method. Ascender Titan shared it freely. ¡°To create a Tier 4 rift, you need an aura sample of the type you want. Fire aura to make a fire aura rift, and so on. If you are close to any of the regional capitals, the capital itself, or Lily, we have aura samples that you can have freely. The Emperor and the royals are also offering the same thing, along with the mana sample you need to use to make the aura rifts form. However, if you don¡¯t wish to wait for that, the information on how to make a Tier 6 aura rift will be provided, so you can then use that as your source of aura.¡±


    ¡°Emir, are you confident in making the formation tes?¡±Emir, Haluk¡¯s oldest, spoke as Haluk¡¯s attention turned to him as the interview started to repeat. ¡°Not really father. I may be Tier 15, but those Tier 20 tes lookplicated. I¡¯m good, but not that good. Beyond that, the actual creation of the rifts will probably be difficult. Very difficult. I somehow doubt it''s quite so easy as he made it look for the reporters.¡±


    Haluk could hear the unspoken question in his eldest¡¯s voice. ¡®Do we really need to leverage ourselves so heavily, father?¡¯


    His oldest son was born under a cautious star, and was always hesitant to take risks, which was exactly why Haluk was considering Fatma as his sessor.


    Haluk continued to stare at his son until Emir finally said, ¡°So long as nothing is false, I believe I can manage the creation of the rifts, father.¡±


    Looking at his wife, Isra, Haluk simply raised an eyebrow. She had been watching her contacts within the alchemy channels, waiting for news.


    ¡°The recipes were made avable and they seem¡­ possible. I hesitate to say they are correct, but my experience says they aren¡¯t tantly wrong. I doubt Sylvan Potions would risk publicly putting their names on forms that wouldn¡¯t work, but the forms seem¡­ unrefined. Sylvans said they had limited time to simplify the thousands of scattered forms that existed around the naturally urring rifts, but beside the basic four elements the forms are¡­ specific, and will require higher Tier alchemists to concoct. In fact, I¡¯m not sure any but the best Tier 4 alchemists can produce even the basic four potions. I''d wager that we need at least a Tier 5 or 6 alchemist to consistently create the potions.¡±


    The news wasn¡¯t ideal, but nothing Isra said changed his mind. Everything was possible, so he was going to reach.


    Standing Haluk made his decision. ¡°Then let us begin. Queen Tur¡¯stal already confirmed that she has ess to the materials and will send them to anyone who is willing to invest heavily into the aura rifts first.¡±


    Emir joined Haluk in standing. ¡°Father, the terms may be generous, but there is still a risk in destroying so many of our world¡¯s rifts. The bacsh if this doesn''t turn out correctly will ruin us.¡±


    Haluk nodded, acknowledging the point. ¡°Yes, but this is our chance to level our position and our world''s Tier. We are only three jumps from East Flower. If we can supply the quadrillions who live there with aura potions in ce of Concept potions, we can make fortunes we never could have considered before this opportunity. A risk, yes, but a risk worth taking.¡±


    Having made his decision, Haluk started meeting with hisary officials.


    His family''s holdings were rare in that their star system naturally had twos in the habitable zone that were simr Tiers. Tier 8 and Tier 7 respectively. In the grand scheme of the Empire, Tier 7 and Tier 8 worlds were nothing impressive, but thoseary Tiers were the perfect ones to create a plethora of Tier 4 rifts, which was why he had been following Ascender Titan¡¯s announcements so fervently.


    Few civilians ever bought a bottled Concept, but that statement was rtive. There were no good estimates for how many people made it to Tier 5, let alone Tier 15, but it <em>certainly</em> wasn¡¯t the 6% that Empire officials so often liked to quote. The study they used to get that value was quite dubious, and its conclusions could be best described as ¡®excessively optimistic¡¯. Not that he¡¯d begrudge the Royals their fair share of propaganda, when it was undeniable that their reforms <em>were</em> effective. Padding the numbers was a time-honored tradition for anyone in power, and he¡¯d do the same thing if he were in their ce.


    But such optimistic statements didn¡¯t help him, and that was why he ensured he always kept tabs on his own demographics. Not that such a task was easy, of course. But even the most generous estimates he had for how many people Awakened on <em>his</em> pair ofs that subsequently made it to the mere peak of Tier 4 was around three percent. Give or take.


    With an annual birth rate of about two percent and a poption of 1.2 billion people, his poption would need an absolute maximum of 720,000 aura potions per year to satisfy all reasonable demand. 24,000,000 new citizen¡¯s born each year, and three percent of them eventually reaching Tier 4 came out to a best case scenario of 720,000 potential buyers.


    Running a rift on cooldown had a maximum of 35,000 cycles annually, so even if they could only extract enough aura for a single potion per delve, instead of the two Ascender Titan had found in his testing, that meant he¡¯d need less than twenty rifts to supply his entire poption with aura.


    Most lower Tier worlds didn¡¯t even break a hundred million poption, which meant their nobles could get away with far less rifts than he could. Probably two or three rifts depending on their exact situations and desires. That was assuming their civilians reached Tier 4 at a rateparable to his own worlds¡¯, which was¡­ unlikely.


    On the other side of the spectrum there were the higher Tier worlds. The Tier 20 and higher worlds. They were rare and were always centers of their respective regions.


    East Flower, the Queendom¡¯s capital, boasted a poption in the <em>quadrillions</em>.


    With ten trillion new births every year, East Flower needed, theoretically, six hundred <em>billion</em> aura potions every year to meet their demand. If not more, because the capital worlds probably had a higher rate of people reaching Tier 4 than even his own worlds.


    That was, of course, entirely impossible for those worlds to actually sustain themselves. At their Tiers, it was <em>incredibly</em> expensive to create and maintain low-Tier rifts. And even then, idental Tier-ups and subsequent recreations weremon. No, if the capital worlds wanted a steady source of aura for their citizens, they would have to outsource the production. Either lower-Tier moons, ors in the sameary system, or bringing them in from the sort of world he hoped to forge his into.


    To satisfy East Flower alone he calcted seventeen million rifts needed to be delved in, perfect order, per year. With proper nning, it wasn¡¯t unheard of for a to have up to ten thousand ¡®tamed¡¯ rifts, the sorts of which guilds had in their training grounds or yPens ran. Rifts that had the proper infrastructure to maintain them even under heavy, <em>heavy</em> load, rather than the outlying rifts that were delved more sporadically. No one cared if those rifts fell apart and reformed.


    He didn¡¯t know of any worlds that had attempted to <em>maximize</em> every rift they had, not that anyone had enough mana to even power that many rifts, but if he were to ignore mana as a constraint¡­ maybe twenty-five thousand rifts? With industrial rift harvesting on a scale never seen before, a single might be capable of producing a maximum of 875 million aura rift-runs per year. Then, say refinements regarding aura potion production paid massive dividends and resulted in an average of <em>five</em> potions per delve, that set an absolute maximum upper bound of 4.4 billion potions made per per year.


    That meant even in this absolutely, absurdly unrealistic hypothetical scenario, East Flower would need at minimum a hundred and fiftys wholly dedicated to the production of aura just to keep up with its demand.


    In other words, his location near East Flower guaranteed that he would have ess to a never-ending ck hole consuming aura potions, and even if he converted every rift he controlled into an aura producing one, it <em>wouldn¡¯t matter</em>. So long as aura potion creation was profitable- which there was practically no way it couldn¡¯t be, if it was even half as easy as Titan was describing- he could create an industry with stability the likes of which was scarcely seen. His people would prosper, his barony would prosper, and <em>he</em> would prosper.


    It would be quite the undertaking, to be sure. He would need to kick-start what amounted to multiple entire industries, from rift-makers and rift maintenance to the alchemists actually tasked with creating the potions, exporters and delvers¡­ and that was just the first-order requirements.


    Some of it could be done by high-Tiers, yes. But relying on Tier alone was elitist and impractical. Far better to set up institutions, or rather the fertile ground for their growth, so that when one died another would be already prepared to take its ce ensuring a seamless production of aura.


    Thankfully the Emperor had decided to extend some very generous tax breaks to everyone involved in producing the formation tes which brought the price down on his end, and Queen Tur¡¯stal was extending quite generous lines of credit to cover the rest of the expenses, so the cost of this was only moderately painful instead of outright impossible. He¡¯d almost feel threatened by how easy she was trying to make it if not for the <em>inconceivably</em> vast scale of East Flower¡¯s buying pool.


    All he needed to do was be one of the first in line, and hiss¡¯ and family¡¯s fortunes alike would be set. That his wife was a skilled alchemist, his son had dabbled in runecraft some, and his daughter had recently broken through to Tier 4 only served to make his position practically <em>irond</em>. None of his peers were even half as well-equipped to take full advantage of this as he was.


    The following weeks were some of the most nerve-wracking of Haluk¡¯s life, but once the formation tes and seed items were delivered a monthter, he began to calm. He was endlessly grateful for the very thorough instructions that Ascender Titan had included, which informed him that the grueling de-aspecting rates were expected, as well as all the ways to adjust things givenmon failure modes because without them he might have given up at the steep rate of loss they encountered in those first tests.


    It took two <em>painful</em> months, but they had their first aura rift. Specifically a ¡®sunrise¡¯ light rift, and two months after that, it was joined by sharpness and ¡®waterfall¡¯ water rifts. From there, though, he was starting to get into more troublesome territory, because if he was going to make hiss able to meaningfully export aura, he¡¯d need to start recing public rifts.


    There was outcry, of course, but there was always outcry. Nheless, he forced it through, upgrading the first public rift to being an aura rift within another month. It was no longer free, as he now treated it like any other valuable public rift, but the increased revenue from what he offered for the aura <em>more</em> than offset the increased price.


    That raised his own tax ie by a fraction, but the taxes from delving were minor inparison to what he was expecting toe next. With the proof of concept established, he rapidly expanded. His long-term goal was to rece a full half of the rifts he controlled with aura rifts, but that was liable to take decades before it came to full fruition and his son was correct when he stated they needed to be at least a little cautious.


    Theirrgest hurdle wasn¡¯t unexpected but they ran into faster than Haluk could have anticipated, delvers. There were only so many Tier 4 delvers avable andpetent enough to delve the rifts to go around who were also willing to linger at Tier 4 for at least a decade. It was expensive but Haluk started recruiting from anywhere he could get his hands onpetent delvers, guilds, corporations, neighborings, anywhere that had strong Tier 4s in excess he snatched them up.


    Haluk wanted each and every aura rift delved the instant the rift cycled its instances to maximize their early profits.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Alongside the opening of the first public rift, the first aura potion hit the market of East Flower. Its final price was sky-high, of course, but that was to be expected. Unlike the well-established subsidies for the traditional Concept potions, there were no Empire-provided sponsorships for selling aura potions which might limit their price. In time, they mighte, but ¡®in time¡¯ was not now, and there was nothing to be gained from underselling one¡¯s products when there were people who could afford the price of not having to wait around for an ascension or a shard of reality.


    Only time would tell where the price would settle.


    Right now, a Bottled Concept took years, sometimes <em>decades</em>, for a Tier 4 to afford, but even if aura potions settled out to costing <em>twice</em> that, which he rather doubted with how much cheaper the production was, their benefits were such that they¡¯d still be immensely popr. That would be triply the case if the Empire stopped subsidizing Bottled Concept, which some rumors were saying was imminent. After all, why would they subsidize something when a superior recement existed and was cheap enough to produce you don¡¯t really need subsidies at all beyond start-up capital?


    The first batch of aura potion, handmade by his own wife from sunrise aura Haluk had personally harvested, had produced two vials. After donating the first to charity, Haluk mounted the second on the mantelpiece in the family''s private gathering hall.


    It would hopefully signal the first of many.


    It would take years, decades probably, to fully convert all of the rifts he wanted into aura rifts, but with an even dozen rifts converted and stable, the production lines began to <em>churn</em>.


    Haluk wanted to redirect all of them to East Flower, or the Capital, which was said to have even higher prices than what the regional capital¡¯s civilians could afford to pay. But he knew that was an awful idea, even if the initial prices would have been incredibly favorable.


    Instead, he made sure that the first batch was sold locally at the lowest feasible prices, which helped quell any remaining murmurings about his usurpations of the tamed rifts.


    Instead, he contented himself with delivering the <em>second</em> batch of aura potions to East Flower himself. The shipment was only ten thousand aura potions, all of the basic four elements, but with this single shipment, he was able to pay off nearly the next ten years of payments to his loans.


    Queen Tur¡¯stal herself even gave him a public audience, which made him the envy of his political rivals, who now had to think twice about offending him with him in their liege¡¯s good graces.


    With the payment secure and extrapting the sess out along with the eventual drop in prices, Haluk still expected to have paid off the loans he had taken in less than a tenth of their allotted repayment periods. Even if he only dedicated half of the profit to the loans. Best of all, that didn¡¯t even ount for his taxes, which had been on the rise with all the new industry the aura potions were creating on his twin worlds.


    He was sure Ascender Titan would never see it, but he sent the man a heartfelt thank you message.


    It wasn''t much, but it was the only way he could show the gratitude he felt deep in his heart.


    ***


    Marquess Enrique Castillero scoffed at the recording of Ascender Titan ¡®giving aura potions to the Empire.¡¯


    What an incredible waste of time.


    Anyone properly skilled would create their Concept on their own. That was how it was always done, and that was the proper way to do things. It was tantly obvious. The vast majority of immortals had gotten there by making their own Concept, after all, and if you couldn¡¯t even do <em>that</em> properly, what hope did you have as an immortal?


    Those who made their Concept with external aid were but pitiful shades of a proper Cultivator. Ascensions, shards of reality, aura, or worst of all <em>Minka</em>, produced whelps unworthy of the evesting life they¡¯d been given.


    How someone could be so strong and yet so foolish was a mystery Enrique couldn¡¯tprehend, but the damage was done. The man was living proof that a single strong individual was more valuable than a thousand lessers, but he insisted on trying to raise themoners out of the mud they were destined to die in.


    A few of his neighbors were foolish enough to profess that they would install a few of the aura rifts to rope in moremoners, and while there was some value in that, Enrique felt they were wasting their time and money.


    They were at least better than the rare few who were determined to turn these potions into an export.


    The very idea sickened him, but he had no way to stop them.


    Domains were the realm''s way of weeding out the weak and undeserving.


    There was no reason to allow such things to exist.


    The question was if he could actually make such a change. Could he ban anyone who didn¡¯t have a natural Domain from hisnds?


    Probably not, but the idea had merit. Sometimes, culture and public opinions were a stronger motivator thanws. It might be worth spreading the idea that anyone who used such a crutch was lesser.


    A few carefulments in the ears of the verymoners who this was to supposedly help could see that they actively started working against their own interest.


    The ones who managed to create their own Concept at Tier 4 would then in turn serve as beacons of the idea that they were better, as they would want to feel superior to those who took the easy way out with a potion or a shard of reality.


    The more Enrique thought about it, the more he felt like this was the best course of action.


    It would even keep his hands from getting dirty directly, as once the movement had some momentum, he could just say he was following the desires of his people.


    The populists were always mollified by such reasoning, but they rarely remembered that themoners were so easy to manipte.


    Not wanting to give anything away, he sent a ¡®heartfelt¡¯ thank you message to Ascender Titan like most nobles were professing to do. There was no reason to paint a target on his back, after all.


    No, it was better to appear to be another hapless flunky of this movement.


    That was fine, though. Gold always shined through the grime when put through trials and tribtions.


    They would be proven correct sooner orter, and that was enough for Enrique.


    ***


    Afasa Paea kept his head down and worked.


    He was a worker.


    That was his life.


    He didn¡¯t necessarily enjoy it, but as a Tier 4, his wages were high. That enabled his hobbies, and that was enough for him.


    When he had heard about the new aura potions, he wasn¡¯t too interested. A more expensive alternative to a Concept potion seemed like a waste of money to him.


    What was the point of advancing, when Tier 4 already provided far more than he ever could need? An impossibly healthy body, an easy hundred and sixty years of life, and the ability to earn plenty of money with next to no effort.


    He¡¯d been keen on the idea as a youngster, of course, but now that he was fifty, he saw there was so much more to life to enjoy. He had two wives, five kids between them, and eleven grandchildren. He was content to live out the rest of his years in a healthy body before passing away. Chasing immortality was for the reckless and the dreamers, and he didn¡¯t consider himself as either.


    That option shifted slightly over the course of the next ten years, when the news quietly spread that the new potions were far, far better than the old ones, even with their higher price though said price was starting to fall.


    It was still irrelevant to Afasa, but it was good that such a thing existed. It could help any of his grandchildren or great grandchildren who did decide to join the rat race for immortality, and so he started setting aside a little of his ie to prepare for any of them who did. It meant one less vacation a year, but that was ok. He had seen most of the prettiest sights on his world already, and the inteary vacations were too much work.


    It was easier to just stay local and spend time with friends at this point.


    Still, he sent a thank you letter to Ascender Titan.


    It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and who knew, maybe the Ascender would even see his message.


    Now, <em>that </em>would be something to brag to his grandchildren about.


    ***


    Hearing tapped the table, catching the attention of everyone else invited to this¡­ Bartholomew wasn¡¯t sure what to call it. A conspiracy?


    He was, however, in a position where he couldn¡¯t easily refuse the invitation, and so he had gained the moniker of Smell.


    That was clearly a nod to his bloodline, but he wasn¡¯t sure which of the other four Senses were the host, which would let him know if he should be offended or amused.


    Bartholomew had expected that question to be answered by the first person to speak, but instead, the table AI started the meeting instead of any one of them. ¡°I have gathered everyone here today because we have an issue. A collective issue that none of us are capable of dealing with on our own. The newest Ascenders.¡±


    Sight looked over the rest of them and sighed, their voice raspy and artificially distorted enough that Bartholomew¡¯s Tier 45 senses couldn¡¯t pick up any identifying clues on gender, bloodline status, or general age from the way they produced certain words. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. Going against Ascenders is asking for trouble we don¡¯t need.¡±


    Taste leaned forward and flicked a finger, which caused the hologram in the center of the table toe to life. ¡°These three are far more motivated than the typical Ascender. First, Wraith. Instead of just ying duchess, she is actively moving into dismantling the Winter Wolves'' control over winter bloodlines. She started an initiative to make ice and winter bloodline items more avable, but that was clearly a stab at dismantling the Winter Wolves¡¯ control if they had tried to fight her on the issue. The Winter Wolves were smart enough to go along with the initiative, but my reports indicate that Wraith is already starting a n to reveal some of the worst excesses the wolves are responsible for, and she¡¯ll likely reveal it the moment the winter wolves move to counter attack. We suspect it is only the Winter Wolves being a firm supporter of Queen Mara that has prevented her from doing so already but that is only spection.¡±


    Bartholomew had perfect control over his body, and so didn¡¯t react, but Taste knew more than they should have regarding his n''s issues with the newest Ascender.


    ¡°Next, we have Legion. She has been more quiet, but her greater ns are far more sinister. She has been not only giving out free bloodline research information, but she has been overheard talking about wanting to reduce the amount of hereditary nobles when their duchy fills inpletely. That sets an¡­ Unfortunate precedent that the Emperor will undoubtedly reference in theing years.¡±


    Bartholomew didn¡¯t care too much about the fate of noble houses, the Winter Wolves were more a n that had a noble title or three than a noble house in and of themselves. Still, it was disconcerting to hear another pir of his family being targeted.


    ¡°Last but not least. Titan is already revolutionizing rifts. I¡ª¡±


    Sight leaned forward, cutting Taste off. ¡°I actually like this development. Bottled Concepts are expensive to create and us higher Tiers pay a disproportionate amount of those taxes so I won¡¯t weep at their passing. The real issue there will be getting the Empire to reduce our taxes instead of just redirecting the funds elsewhere.¡±


    Taste tapped the table, changing the disy to cycle through various forms of transportation. ¡°The rift stuff is fine. I also wee some of the changes that reliable sources of aura will bring. Me and mine will be more than happy to take advantage of the aura. The aperology isn¡¯t the issue. It''s everything <em>else</em> that the guild is doing that is the problem. Titan, or rather his Guild, is also working on a number of things which touch <em>all</em> of our interests. His first development beyond the aura rifts seems to be travel mana engines specialized in low Tier runes.¡±


    Hearing shrugged in a way that made them seem less like a leader. ¡°So I¡¯ve heard, and while it''s annoying he¡¯s working on it, we will have a working prototype in another decade at most. We are pouring millions into that project with the idea of cutting him off before he can go live, but frankly, our main pursuit has been the higher Tier ships. Larger wallets up there. Even so it''s doubtful he will beat us to the finish line. In addition to more funds, we haverger and more experienced teams to throw at the issue.¡±


    ¡°Titan¡¯s team is reportedly just a year or two out from filing. You might haverger and more experienced teams, but he¡¯s throwing <em>billions</em> of mana a day at the problem.¡± Taste¡¯s words seemed to hit Hearing like a sledge hammer, but Bartholomew couldn¡¯t tell if the reaction was true or false.


    He did, however, know a little about that situation from his own sources. ¡°Initial reports are that the prototype they created won¡¯t be useful in short range travel, but it''s quite the improvement for long distance, where the vehicle can reach its top speeds. It¡¯s useful, but it''s not the full recement that many hoped travel mana would be.¡±


    Hearing nodded slowly. ¡°That is, at least preliminarily, correct. We are hoping to solve that issue, but it''s not looking easy, and might be downright impossible. It is, in fact, what our best people are working on.¡±


    Bartholomew made a note to who was creating the newest engines, but there were dozens of higher Tier movers and shakers in that category, so it would be hard to pin down who Hearing could be just from that alone.


    He inclined his head when Touch looked at him. ¡°Smell, what do your sources say about Titan¡¯s other project?¡±


    That prompted him to consider just how much he should share, but eventually decided he needed these people if they were as connected and influential as he thought they were. ¡°The information about actual projects is spotty at best, but what all of them say is the same or simr. They are throwing mana around like it''s free. They are operating on a massive budget, which is only expected to increase now that the Emperor has sold the aura rifts to the other Great Powers.¡±


    Bartholomew leaned back and Touch took his ce in the light, speaking for the first time. ¡°I speak for all higher Tier aperologists when I say Titan is encroaching into our territory, and we intend to put a stop to it. Brute force is obviously entirely impossible, which leaves political maneuvering as our only recourse, though the only question then is what and <em>how</em>.¡±


    Touch was an aperologist then. That narrowed it down a lot, and he made a note to look everyone in that profession upter. He also wasn¡¯t entirely sure he agreed with a nket violence ban. Targeting the Ascenders themselves, sure. But there might be some leeway in dealing with the subordinates. There was nothing wrong with starting off with non-violent means though, so he kept his silence.


    Bartholomew nodded to show his agreement. ¡°We need to do <em>something</em>. I suspect that friend Sight is correct though. The Emperor won¡¯t step in so long as we keep things mostly above board, and I don¡¯t want to incur the wrath of either him or the royals.¡±


    Hearing leaned forward, so Bartholomew let himself rx into his chair and away from the light. ¡°We need to hit them soon. All of them. Put obstacles in their way before they gather too much headway. Once they are stalled, we can see about dismantling their support.¡±


    Sight leaned forward and added. ¡°Agreed. Titan and his guild are probably funded by Mara, Leon and the Emperor. If we can slow him down, we can petition the Emperor to reduce funding based onck of progress. It has worked before.¡±


    Bartholomew didn¡¯t want to give away his identity, so asked about Legion instead of Wraith. ¡°What are we going to do about Legion? Her incursions into long standing traditions are¡­ Irritating at best.¡±


    Taste leaned forward. ¡°A few of their newly recruited nobles can have idents and incidents proving their unworthiness, which will serve as stark counter points to any good she tries to show.¡±


    Touch shook their head. ¡°I agree in principle, but whatever is done, we need to prevent rift breaks or civilian deaths. Titan reacts badly when confronted with his past, and the other two will support him. I¡¯ve used my connections to get the real recording of Titan killing Maven. He <em>monologued</em> to <em>her corpse</em> because of that rift break incident on whatever that was. V something. Two hundred years, and he still didn¡¯t let that go. I¡¯m not going to get involved with anything that <em>guarantees</em> death by Ascender.¡±


    Hearing added, ¡°History has shown if you don¡¯t piss them off too much, but make things difficult, they will often find the issue too bothersome and just drop whatever project it was. That is the line we need to walk.¡±


    Bartholomew leaned forward and agreed along with all of them.


    Taste finally brought up thest issue, and the one most important to Bartholomew. ¡°Finally Wraith. We need to do something. Her dismantling the Winter Wolves wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world, but if we make her first obstacle easy, she might get a taste for it. I say we stall her out then and there. Let''s see if she has the taste for chipping away at established interests if she cracks a tooth on them.¡±


    Bartholomew wanted to growl at the mention of his people being tossed away as if they were simply pieces on a chessboard, but he didn¡¯t let a single thought slip out of his control.


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    With things settled, they established methods to contact each other without having to send clones to meetings like this.


    Bartholomew could only hope that together they were enough to stop these Ascenders, even as he let his clone fall apart he connected to a private server he had set up so his real body could learn about the meeting without ever getting close.

 Chapter 359

    Matt looked at the guild bustling beneath him and a part of him wished he could dy their trip to the Sects just by a few years. With the release of the aura rifts, Titan¡¯s Torch had most of the pressure removed from their shoulders now that they weren¡¯t in a rush to deliver on their signature innovation before the self imposed deadline. Not that they were slowing down now that the decade had passed. In fact, the various teams were now starting their own testing to explore the aspects of aperology that interested them.


    Which was exactly why Matt wanted to stay for just a few years longer.


    The aperology department was finally starting to look into other aspects of the field and Matt wanted to help. Aura was fun, it had been and would continue to be an intriguing puzzle, but they had cleared the lowest hanging fruit off that particr tree. Now, there was a forest of other treesden with fruit.


    Even as he watched, there were two teams working on trying to iste variables seen in rifts by carefully tweaking the mana types and amounts they fed to a rift both during and after formation.


    Another interesting trend were the three teams trying to create more utility rifts. Rifts rich in metal, harvestable trees, or even water, oddly enough.


    Metal, he could understand. Metal <em>was</em> the backbone of all permanent tech, and Tiered metal was all the more valuable for its increased potency as it Tiered up. Even on Lilly, they happily collected the metal weapons rifts produced and either melted them down or sold them to enchanters. A single low Tier rift like the goblin rift might not produce a lot of material, but it was a steady supply that added up quickly when pooled together.


    Trees were an odder demand, but he could see the desire to not cut down local forests on more popted worlds. The amount ofbor to pull full trees out of a rift didn¡¯t seem proportional to the cost, but he could see the value.


    But water?


    Matt hadn¡¯t understood why anyone would need or want a rift to produce a source of water.Water was abundant on most worlds, and even on desert worlds water could usually be found in great amounts on the outermosts in the form of asteroids or moons.


    At his request, Cato had thrown together a packet of information about the topic. And as it turned out, Matt just wasn¡¯t looking deep enough.


    First were the desert worlds. They always had a low but steady demand for water, and at scale, rifts were more economical at creating water than simple [Create Water] spells or enchantments to the same effect. But thergest demand for water rifts came from high Tier worlds.


    With hundreds of trillions or tens of quadrillions poption, most of whom were mortal, basic necessities such as food or water were always in demand.


    With so many people, even the small losses of water that were used by people or left unreimed by the various waste remation facilities on the higher Tier worlds meant they were losing massive amounts of water to garbage dump rifts.


    Water that needed to be replenished in some way.


    Part of that issue was solved by the sheer size of higher Tier rifts, which meant materials could be pulled out of them in massive quantities, but all of those raw resources took further processing to be useful.


    Few people were happy about drinkingke water; even if said water was pulled out of akerger than their star system, it was still filled with all kinds of bacteria and decayed materials without extensive refinement. That meant expensive treatments to make the water potable needed to bepleted before the water could be added to the system.


    If they could create a rift form that produced clean, ready to drink water, preferably without monsters, they could simplify a lot of things for higher Tier worlds. Or reduce maintenance of the existing water purification infrastructure which had its own benefits.


    Though that tied back in with the two teams who were trying to create a rift without monsters. Half a dozen teams had applied to that task, and Matt had been put in the ufortable position of choosing which of the teams were given that assignment.


    Rifts without monsters, or possibly without aggressive monsters, was something of a fairy tale in the aperology field. Once you got to the Tiers where industrial rift-harvesting would be relevant, even puzzle and maze-type rifts had <em>some</em> form of monstrous presence, and usually a very potent one for the Tier at that.


    That didn¡¯t stop nearly every aperologist that Titan¡¯s Torch had hired who had a friend of an acquaintance, who had a third cousin, whose friend''s sister-inw had delved into a rift and encountered a paradise with no monsters. Or at least monsters who didn¡¯t fight back.


    Matt had heard the rumors, but had never put any stock into them. There were zero verifiable incidents of such a variant rift instance, and if there was any truth to the stories, there would be proof somewhere. Something that was rarer than rift challenges would sell for an astronomical price to any news channel, so the chance that the news hadn¡¯t even been verified was, at least to Matt, impossible.


    That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t willing to throw mana at the idea.


    Amusingly enough, rifts with docile monsters would be more valuable, but even just idyllic summer garden rifts would be more than enough for him.


    Currently, farming rifts were a thing and were used on worlds where space was at a premium. But the costs involved were immense, which stopped the practice from spreading beyond where there was a direct need.


    Ultimately the greatest issue of farming rifts was what made rifts so useful to delvers. Instances that closed after fifteen minutes.


    That meant when creating a farming rift instance, all materials and support personnel needed to be brought into the rift in that fifteen minute window.


    Then the rift needed to be cleared of all possible threats, or in the case of higher Tier rifts, the area around the rift entrance, so that the support personnel could set up the farming equipment.


    From there, it was just a matter of ensuring the LocalNet was set up and the AI in charge of the farming was operating. Then, everyone could either leave or continue on to delve the rift as was their role.


    A typical farm rift instance could usually be farmed for close to a decade before soil degeneration started to significantly worsen crop yields, and at that point, the AI in charge of the farm would pack everything up and exit the rift where it could be sent into a new instance.


    That initial danger meant only the best delving teams were chosen to lead in the support personnel, so they were in extremely high demand. And expensive.


    If a rift could be created without monsters, that first and most important step could be removed, and you wouldn¡¯t even need more than a person or possibly two to enter the rift to ensure the initial setup went smoothly.


    That was the goal the aperologists were chasing.


    The rest would be focused on helping with the rest of the teams who were researching the intricacies of rifts and how they formed and functioned, or the teams who were just trying to create cool rifts.


    It was all fascinating work to Matt. Work that he knew if he allowed himself to delve into, he wouldn¡¯te up for air for at least another decade, and everyone else wanted to delve now and not in ten more years.


    So Matt waited next to Liz as they waited for Allie toe pick them up.


    She had told them she would be there ¡®soon¡¯ more than a dozen times over the course of an hour, so Matt let his mind drift to the reception of the aura rifts.


    It was still the early days, but he couldn¡¯t help but be a little disappointed in the overall reception.


    Part of him had expected or hoped the Empire would start recing rifts the instant the form went live, and while there were thousands of worlds who did exactly that, they were the exception rather than the rule.


    Thergest motivator for the aura potion was the announcement that the subsidies for Bottled Concept¡¯s would be slowly lowered until they were phased out in a few centuries, and the freed up revenue relocated to other ces of need.


    Most worlds seemed content to just add a new rift or two, if their world could sustain a Tier 4 rift without too much cost, and they weren¡¯t in a rush to do so.


    Matt wasn¡¯t sure he should, or even had the right to intervene, but he had been hoping for more.


    Eventually it would spread, but reality didn¡¯t quite match his expectations.


    There were, however, a number of the Tier 7 and 8 worlds who had embraced the rifts, and were going all in with the production of aura rifts and aura potions. Matt wanted to be happy about that, but instead of aura rifts being avable for anyone to delve, they were being treated like the farming rifts he had just been contemting. Perfectly managed and delved on cooldown to maximize their gains, which just felt wrong.


    Still, the potions would slowly start to make their way into the Empire, and Matt always had one option if he really wanted to see things change.


    He was a duke, even if he only controlled just a handful ofs so far.


    Though, by the time they finished this delve cycle that would change, as they were ted to get a glut ofs by the end of the next decade, including their ducal capital.


    A de appeared out of nowhere heading right for his eye, and Matt reacted instantly.


    His left hand enveloped the de, and he pulsed his Domain meld, washing away the foreign Domain usage. Liz held strong with barely a tremor, but everything else was ttened.


    A [Mana Beam] was cycling in his spirit, ready to fire even as hisbat buffs started to churn when Allie popped into existence with a frown.


    ¡°What the fuck dude! How did you kick me out of my hidey hole?¡±


    Matt let go of the de and let the mana fade from his spells.


    Liz settled back down from her ready stance as she saw who it was as well.


    ¡°Nice to see you too, Allie.¡±


    Allie poked his cheek with an excited finger. ¡°Eyy you got the meld working!? Nice dude! That''s so dope. I¡¯m considering making my Aspect a mirror of my Concept or Intent to see if I can get anything cool with a meld. That shit is so cool. Do tell Aiden I told you this, he¡¯s so jealous that you¡¯ve got a Domain trick he doesn¡¯t have. Cause, you know, super Domain master and all.¡±


    Liz was busy reabsorbing her spear back into her body when she caught what Allie had said. ¡°Don¡¯t you mean <em>don¡¯t</em> tell Aiden you told us?¡±


    ¡°Na I want you to tell him. More fun this way! Anyway, are you guys ready?¡±


    Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose. ¡°Allie, we¡¯ve been ready for a few <em>hours</em>. Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Meh, whatever. Insert a clever excuse here.¡±


    Before Matt could even roll his eyes, he felt a familiar tug as space fluctuated around him.


    That was <em>interesting</em>.


    He had always been able to feel Allie¡¯s teleports, but either she had gotten sloppy in the decade since the war¨C incredibly unlikely¨C or his connection to space had grown in interesting ways.


    Matt could feel as they left reality behind and locality itself twisted around them to drop them impossibly far away.


    He blinked, his eyes rapidly adjusting to being outside. Surprisingly, it looked like Allie had actually set them down on a designated entryway, rather than just dropping them directly at their destination, which was¡­ unusual for the teleporter.


    Around them was very clearly a meticulously manicured garden, with carefully-raked stones of many colors forming intricate patterns around artfully ced trees and shrubs. A walkway stretched forward with rocks that straddled the line between naturally urring and curated, forming a series of stepping-stones through the elegant, multicolored pebbles.


    Ivy grew in artful spirals, the natural patterns on the vine¡¯s leaves quite clearly spelling out various words in Sectnguages. A babbling brook cascaded over a waterfall, its spray casting prismatic light through nearby crystals that refracted its gleam into a semi-wavering, but detailed full-color picture on a nearby cliff of white stone.


    Past their immediate surroundings, the signs of impossible curation faded into something that could only be described as the abstract ideal of nature. Beautiful creeks supported poptions of pristine fish, birds with immacte plumage sang in exquisite symphony, and trees artfully shaded ces that would be prime to sit and meditate. Beneath the ground, the tunnels of mice with coats that practically gleamed as though freshly-brushed formed intricate and fascinating patterns with the roots of trees, their burrows giving off the sensation of hominess rather than dirt and grime.


    Even beyond the physical, the mana and essence flows were <em>sublime</em>. There were practically no snags or disturbances in the spiritual currents around them, all manner of elements streaming together impossibly well and practically begging Matt to sit and cultivate in their soothing flows.


    It was like looking at a masterful painting of nature, filled with flourishes by a masterful artist, rather than the real thing.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Turning to Allie, he was about to ask where they were when she spread her arms and said. ¡°Surprise!¡±


    When she didn¡¯t get a reaction, she wilted. ¡°Ahe on, you were supposed to be super excited that you didn¡¯t have to travel on a ship and congratte me!¡±


    Matt flicked Allie on the nose. ¡°And we might have been if you didn¡¯t try to stab me the moment you arrived to pick us up. Which I note was over an hourte.¡±


    Allie sank while she blew raspberries in some bad impression of a deting balloon. ¡°Whatever. Y¡¯all are spoilsports. Let''s go join the others.¡±


    Phoenix Liz pped over to Allie and pecked her hard on the head. ¡°You mean you made us wait while you already brought the others?¡±


    ¡°No! Kinda? Well, not really. It''s your guy''s fault for being all spread out. Andddd I still might have to pick up Zack, so at least you''re notst.¡±


    ¡°Go get Zack, Allie.¡±


    The teleporter vanished for an instant, just to appear a momentter with an annoyed looking Zack. Interestingly, he <em>looked</em> a decade older, a few gray strands creeping into his normal brown hair andplimenting a somewhat longer beard.


    ¡°Good to see you two. I hope thest decade has treated you well.¡± Zack¡¯s polite words were spoken over Allie¡¯s head despite her attempts at regaining their attention.


    ¡°You too Zack. How have your projects been going?¡±


    Liz hooked an arm through Matt¡¯s and interrupted him, even as Allie tried to cover Zack''s mouth. ¡°Okay boys, no shop talk for at least the first day, or we¡¯ll never even arrive to meet the others.¡±


    Matt grinned, he and Zack had been in contact through the Ascender chat, but it was different when talking in person.


    Zack even had a small smile as he walked forward past Allie. ¡°I can agree to that, so long as someone else doesn¡¯t start such talk first.¡±


    ¡°Ohe on Zack, you <em>know </em>Sien is going to start it, so that''s a flimsy way to shift the me.¡±


    Before Zack could respond, Allie grabbed all three of their hands and pulled them forward. ¡°And this is why I didn¡¯t want to grab you all at once. Gab gab gab.¡±


    The forest walk was just as stunning as the entry garden, though clearly made for higher Tiers. Once they left the initial garden, the stepping-stones faded away, instead transitioning into a pathway clearly marked out via a small-scale mana flow with no clear origin. But the intent was obvious enough, and they followed it as it led them up a clear brook with minuscule points of rocks barely above the waterline. Then they proceeded along the branches of a tree, stepping across several semisolid clouds, and up a winding path on a sheer cliff.


    It was at the end of thatst leg of the journey, they reached their apparent destination, a magnificent vi built out of the side of the mountain and with an absolutely iparable view of the valley they¡¯d appeared in, hemmed in on all sides by distant mountains.


    Jai Sien waved from a balcony with a ss in hand. ¡°It is quite the joyous asion to greet you once more.¡±


    Floating up to her, the four of them joined her with Matt probing his spiritual connection with Aster to see where she was. He could feel that she was close, but he was surprised to find she hadn¡¯te out and greeted him yet.


    ¡°Beautiful ce you have here, Sien.¡± Liz said what Matt should have, and he quickly added his agreement to the sentiment.


    Except, the Sect ascender waved them off even as Allieughed. ¡°Oh, this isn¡¯t my abode. Your host for this particr stay is The Elder Yun Me. This is her continent, and this particr estate is one of her guest houses, the one she mostmonly makes avable for visiting Masters.¡±


    Matt raised a shocked eyebrow at that particr revtion, but Sien continued. ¡°The stories the Anvil tells for its founding is that she grew tired of our predecessors constantly seeking to sneak in simply to prove they could, or to challenge her, or to poach usage of one of her rifts. She concluded that the most surefire means of curtailing undesired activity would be to provide official channels for our colleagues. After all, the glory and challenge is much lessened when all that is required is simply to <em>ask</em> for entry. In addition, the first rift you shall be delving is within this system, and this therefore serves as an excellent base for your expedition.¡±


    Allie chuckled. ¡°Also, Sect leadership likes to keep foreign Ascenders close to Yun Me in case anything happens. We¡¯ll blow this joint in short order, worry not my pretties.¡±


    The sly smile that crept across Sien¡¯s face instead of anyment to stop Allie just seemed to egg the teleporter on.


    Looking up, Matt felt Aster drawing closer, and he waited for her to arrive on the deck.


    When she arrived in view, he rolled his eyes.


    Aster came bearing an ice cream tter.


    ¡°Freshly made! Hey guys! Took you long enough.¡± Aster''s smirk earned her a ruffled head of hair which earned Matt a re that was covered by their hug.


    ¡°No thanks to Allie. Nice to see you again though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah whatever. Try this.¡±


    Aster shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and Matt let the cool dessert start to melt over his tongue. The vor started subtle, vani mixed with coconut, but the vors quickly mutated into something that tasted like curdled milk, which made Matt want to gag.


    ¡°That''s foul.¡±


    ¡°I know! Allie gave me the idea.¡±


    Liz, who was patting her gagging phoenix body on the back, rolled her eyes. ¡°Color me not surprised at all, but let me ask why.¡±


    ¡°Prank ice cream. The idea is to package a bunch up in something like small bite sized candies, and everyone can take some and see if they get lucky or unlucky on the vor. It can be a fun little gag gift for the ice cream lover.¡±


    ¡°Aster, no one wants to eat curdled milk ice cream. It''s <em>revolting</em>.¡±


    Aster rolled her eyes. ¡°Little you know. The test audiences loved them. It''s not the first time this idea has been done, after all, and the fad is due for a new round of awareness. Besides, people like the change from hard candies to ice cream.¡±


    Matt had no way to respond to that, and so bowed to her greater market research.


    Sien rubbed her hands together. ¡°So, art thou excited?¡±


    Liz leaned into Matt, who in turn leaned on the balcony railing. ¡°Oh yeah. The first rift seems super interesting. It¡ª¡±


    Matt covered his wife''s mouth and spoke over her. ¡°No spoilers!¡±


    Sien smiled. ¡°Ah, the eternal war between surprise and anticipation. This one is, however, uncertain that she would be able to resist at least a <em>bit</em> of investigation.¡±


    Mattughed as both Liz¡¯s pretended to re at him. ¡°Oh, I¡¯d love to know, but Liz thought she was clever by hiding the information when it was still only in the girls¡¯ chat. So I turned it around on her and refused to look when it was fully announced. So now she suffers while I enjoy the ignorance.¡±


    Sienughed, but her mirth was interrupted by a shattering of the air on the as something entered the atmosphere.


    Cranking his perception to its max and prepared for a fight, Matt scanned the iing projectile to find a familiar face.


    Gan Le, battered and bruised, was burning up in reentry to the atmosphere, though the fireball enveloping him left him, his clothes, and even his hair entirely untouched.


    Matt expected the man to catch himself, but he crashed into the ground and caused a massive crater that would have felt like an earthquake to the inhabitants of the had Matt not reached out andmanded the ground to remain still with a quick flex of [Earth Maniption].


    Gan Le coughed as he crawled to his feet just in time to catch a knee to the face that sent him flying, and cut a deep canyon though the once perfectndscape to arrive right next to their mansion.


    In his wake, another woman descended from the heavens. Yun Me looked exactly like her pictures, a perfectly-poised, tall, and thin woman with fair skin and steel-colored hair tied in a tight bun. Unlike the pictures he¡¯d seen, though, she wasn¡¯t wearing a full suit of sect robe-armor, but instead a conservative and surprisingly sane outfit clearly designed for moderate exercise.


    Matt gave a polite bow, hopefully conveying that he was appreciative of her, as an equal, receiving them into her home. Around him, everyone except Allie mirrored the action.


    Once he had straightened, Yun Me gave a simr bow. ¡°Greetings to the new Masters. I trust you will find your amodations sufficient, and should you require anything, merely inform my servants and they shall amodate you. I would invite you to walk about my gardens and appreciate the beauty therein, should you find the time when you are not¡­ gallivanting about like brutes.¡±


    ¡°We ept your hospitality, Lady Yun,¡± Sien graciously replied.


    Matt looked out over the flowing valleys. He could understand why Yun Me seemed to be proud of her ¡®garden,¡¯ it was <em>immactely</em> tended to. In the Empire, while some nobles did im private continents for their own use, he didn¡¯t know of any that had sculpted the entire thing into one giant, cohesive whole. In fact, the mana flows alone¡­


    Matt narrowed his eyes, then widened them in surprise. ¡°Is the entire continent one giant formation?¡±


    ¡°You possess a keen eye, Master Titan,¡± Yun Me regarded him. ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s masterful work,¡± he mused, probing some of the nearby key points with his spiritual perception. There was, so far as he could tell, nothing unnatural going on. No hidden runes, veins of metal, or titanic bones being used to more strongly direct the flow of mana. Instead, they were taking entirely natural phenomenon and using it to sculpt amounts of mana that even <em>he</em> found staggering over a colossal scale.


    He couldn¡¯t tell what the formation did, per se, but even if it were purely decorative, that would be impressive enough. It <em>surely</em> required an absolutely staggering amount of maintenance, but he couldn¡¯t see a single indicator that it was even man made.


    Actually, there were some signs of human activity, though not of the sort he¡¯d expected. Specifically, the side of a mountain a hundred miles or so away was covered in growing crops, with a group of buildings at its center.


    ¡°Is that a vige?¡± he asked, somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Yun Me nodded. ¡°A proper garden is not merely a disy of nts, but a thriving world in miniature. nts and animals alike living in perfect feng shui. Human residents are but one part of that, and they and the wolves typically keep one another¡¯s poptions in check.¡±


    Matt was taken aback by the absolute apathy Yun Me showed for the people living in her territory, but before he could properly formte a proper response, Gan Le wandered up, his clothes inundated with dirt.


    The man, still at Tier 25, froze utterly upon seeing the seven of them, but his facade of immobility was broken by Aster scrunching up her nose, casting a [Bathe] on him, then practically pouncing next to him.


    Matt would have loved to call it generosity, but he knew what wasing next, and didn¡¯t envy the Sect man.


    ¡°Want some ice cream?¡±


    The question was oh so innocent, but bird Liz gagged at the mere mention of what it had tasted while human Liz had to press her face into Matt¡¯s chest to stifle augh.


    Matt watched in horror as once more Gan Le was plied with horrifying concoctions and ate them without a sour expression.


    Aster managed to persuade Yun Me to try exactly one bite of an ice cream ball, and while she ate it with an admirable amount of self-control, she excused herself shortly thereafter and leapt to a mountain peak some miles away, starting to slowly work through spear-forms and leaving her newest apprentice to his fate.


    Though Matt was expecting the warrior woman to clear out the crater Gan Le had left in the nearby stone, she did no such thing, and the hole remained.


    ¡°Should we¡­ fix that?¡± he asked the air as Aster persuaded Gan Le to try another bite of ice cream.


    ¡°Lady Yun shall either personally mend it in due time, or have one of her gardeners do so in her stead. I do not presume to understand the intricacies of her garden, but while she tends to it, she is not fastidious about it.¡±


    ¡°Sooooo¡­ How mad do you think she would be if I fixed it for her?¡± Allie''s question earned a smile from Zack.


    ¡°She would not,¡± Sien replied. ¡°Were you toy waste to vast swathes of it or remake it into a statue of yourself, it would be no different to her. She has raised mountains and ttened others for a hundred generations before us, and she is likely to do so for a hundred generations more. It is what it is, for her, no matter the form.¡±


    ¡°Psh.¡± Allie scoffed and turned away, which was probably exactly the reaction she was going for with such an attitude, Matt realized.


    ¡°Now,¡± Sien nodded sagely before looking to Matt. ¡°I was assured I would have the opportunity to sample Empire cuisine, and I expect to have that assurance fulfilled prior to escorting you to the rift.¡±


    Aster nodded eagerly. ¡°You are going to love Matt¡¯s cooking. He''s the best chef. Gan Le, you need to try Matt¡¯s steak and potatoes. When you were our prisoner, you said how much you missed a proper hearty meal. Now you get to try the best steak and potatoes ever, cause Matt made them!¡±


    Rubbing his neck, Gan Le must have realized he was the odd man out of the Ascenders and started looking around. His eyes wandered over to where Yun Me stood on her mountaintop, and Matt could practically hear the gears turning in the man¡¯s head, deciding between being fed and going back to training with the otherdy.


    Matt never minded cooking for more people, and after a decade, he had mostly forgiven the other man for being on the other side of the war.


    They had both killed many people in the war, and he was trying to put his anger at the events of the war behind him.


    The grudge should remain like Maven. Dead.


    Matt carefully didn¡¯t think of the Republic sniper who had killed Eric. If he ever got within range of her, it wouldn¡¯t be to have dinner.


    Gan Le, though, he could respect. The man was a protector, just like him, and cared about keeping his people alive. Plus, he could take a serious hit. The fact he was alive was testament to that, and he was fine with rewarding excellence.


    As the one being volunteered to cook more, Matt offered an olive branch. ¡°You are wee to join us, Gan Le.¡±


    Gan Le looked from them, to Yun Me, and back a few times before sighing.


    Matt wasn¡¯t sure what his internal struggle was, but he had some pretty good guesses having been trained by Luna.


    Eventually, he must have decided that eating with them was worth whatever punishment woulde, because he straightened his shoulders and bowed slightly. ¡°This one would be honored to receive your favor, Master Titan.¡±


    Matt couldn¡¯t help but smirk at the Sect address for an Ascender, but didn¡¯tment on the man''s formality.


    Allie thankfully saved the day with a pointed question. ¡°What are you going to cook, Matt?¡±


    The point was the dagger she tried to stab him with.


    Since when did he turn into the person to be stabbed, damn it?


    Deflecting the de, he shook his head and said through spiritual perception, ¡°Nothing for you. Yun Me, you are wee to join us as well.¡±


    She responded with a considering hum, but otherwise kept to her mountaintop kata.


    Thankfully, the kitchen was fully stocked with the best of ingredients, which let Matt go wild. As he stepped inside, a pair of Tier 30s dressed in servant¡¯s garb appeared from nowhere in particr and offered him help. Matt declined the help, and they returned to the scenery.


    Everything was simr enough to what he was used to that he had no problem settling in, even if he had to pull a few items out of their house to fill the gaps of what he needed.


    A side of roast that had been cooking for close to ten hours was delivered via the Allie Express, paid for in the form of a small batch of fresh scones sitting in his oven back at the guild hall. Matt cooked everything else right there, making a bit of a show of it.


    Sien was thankfully a receptive audience, and let herself enjoy the show. She stood in stark contrast to Gan Le, who reminded Matt of a child who knew the moment the guests left, he would be grounded, and was hoping the visitsted as long as possible.


    Matt only took a little pleasure in Aster pointing that out and teasing the Sect cultivator.


    While it was initially to be nothing but a short dinner, it quickly morphed into a two day tasting feast, given the reception, with Yun Me appearing for short bursts to ept a te of food before vanishing once again.


    Matt enjoyed every minute as everyone chatted and swapped stories, each more exaggerated than thest.


    The pyramid rift the three of them had cleared as part of their reward on the training turned from a fairly simple delve, with only a few issues in the final battle against the boss quetzalcoatl, into a incredible battle against a dozen pseudo-dragons that somehow managed to bite Matt¡¯s arm off a dozen times. How he gained and lost limbs faster than he did now as a Tier 4, Matt didn¡¯t know, but the retelling fit in with the other stories.


    Aster even told one story that Matt couldn¡¯t ce, until he realized she was just exaggerating a shopping trip into a dangerous fight that had never really urred like that.


    However, the flow of conversation and food eventually slowed, and when Gan Le was sted by an unseen force into the horizon, they took it as a cue that they may as well move on to their actual delving.


    Sien swept her gaze in the direction Gan Le had flown, coolly assessing the man. ¡°He may yet be truly great with sufficient pounding upon the Anvil.¡±


    Allie turned an aghast expression to Sien. ¡°They are sleeping together?¡±


    Sien turned her red eyes upon Allie. ¡°No? When did I say that?¡±


    Allie used hand gestures to exin. ¡°Pounding.¡±


    Sien just shook her head as she pretended to not understand, and prompted Allie to exin better as they flew along to a nearby world that was quite unlike Yun Me¡¯s lower Tier world, a proper Tier 30 world filled to the brim with cultivators.


    Or, that was where Matt thought they were going. Once they were a good ways away from the, Allie teleported all of them except Sien a dozen times to reach the outer system, where they found a small gas giant with a beautiful ring reflecting the local star''s brilliance.


    Sien, having arrived under her own power, waved her hand and cleared a bit of the gas giant''s swirling fumes to expose a floating domed city inside the. ¡°And that''s where our rift is located. Come now, we only have a moment before it closes back up.¡±


    Having locked onto the floating city, Matt cast [Portal], connecting the two locations. Allie¡¯s [Teleport] might struggle to move higher Tiers, but despite [Portal]¡¯s restrictions, once the connection was established, it didn¡¯t cost him anything to move even a Tier 50. So long as they didn¡¯t try to escape the spell.


    Allie appeared next to them under her own power, but everyone ignored her as they inspected the floating city.


    It was only a few hundred miles wide, but that felt massive when they were effectively floating in a bubble in a gas giant, solely relying on the bubble¡¯s buoyancy to float.


    Matt was sure there were secondary floating arrays in case of a breach, but the idea seemed all too risky for his tastes.


    Still, it was beautiful and offered people a safe way to delve rifts inside the gas giants, which was novel.


    The city would move, but it did so at such a slow pace that rifts like the one they wanted to delve had a few months inside the safe zone before one would need to wait a decade to exit the rift without besmirching their honor by being so slow the city left them.


    Or at least, that was how Sien exined it. Matt didn¡¯t see why honor was so important when a decades of real time was on the line, and anyone who could delve these rifts could easily just fly out of the gas giant. But he just chalked it up to Sect culture and shrugged it off.


    It only took a few minutes to reach their destination, and with a few exchanged high-fives, they passed through the dimensional veil into the rift beyond.

 Chapter 360

    Chapter 360


    The rift was dark and oppressive, filled with smoke that caused no end of interference with Matt¡¯s spiritual perception. There was also a pervading aura of <em>fear</em>, the entire area almost dreamlike in quality. He half-jokingly checked to see if Sien had followed them into the rift, but of course, she hadn¡¯t. It all just felt a little too in theme for her favorite rift for there to be zero chance she was pulling a fast one on them.


    Now that they were out of the public eye, shes of light came from his teammates as they began donning their gear and casting their buffs, feeling out the respective spells to ensure everything was working as expected.


    For Matt, that began with pulling his newest set of armor out of storage. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t the hyper-awesome set of power armor that he¡¯d used in the war, but a new set he¡¯dmissioned for himself now that he was Tier 26. In theory, if they were to start a new war <em>right now</em>, he¡¯d go back to using his power armor. But with centuries of peace for the Empire ahead of them, that wouldn¡¯t be happening. The maintenance of the armor made it impractical to use in normal delving, and it wasn¡¯t <em>technically</em> his anyway. He could push that fact if he really wanted to, but¡­ eh. He had used others'' old weapons and armor and that was only possible if the Empire had them ready to loan out.


    Anyway his new armor was fine. He had a deep rock obsidian breastte that enhanced armor skills, silver nickel bracers, a gold dust helm that enhanced self-buffs, and feather walker boots that enhanced movement spells.


    With his armor secured, [Cracked Phantom Armor] was his next step, the blue light seeping out of his skin and hardening into a solid mana construct. He¡¯d long since optimized the firstyer of the spell well enough that he looked like some kind of abstract mannequin, with a nk face and unremarkable limbs. Atop that, the secondyer of the spell pushed its way out in the form of a more typical set of Empire armor. Then Matt activated his Tier 25 Talent, and the blue mana became glittering crystal. He didn¡¯t know exactly how the mana crystal around his joints stayed flexible enough that he could move just fine, but he was d it worked.


    Talents were weird like that.


    The armor <em>clinked</em> faintly as he ran through his stretches, making sure his body was still in peak condition before he started cranking up the mana running through [Regeneration]. He¡¯d had it running the entire time, of course, but only at a low rate. Still, there hadn¡¯t been anything unexpected, which meant his body was working just fine. He stretched his arm out a good ten feet, flexed his hand into a delike shape and locked it there with the aid of his Rubberfruit, Chameleon Vine, Lockjaw Crystal, and of course, his Stygian Gossamer, making his knife-hand nearly impervious to meaningful damage.


    He released the minor body-morph and fired up [Archmage¡¯s Presence]. Power erupted from Matt¡¯s core, but was constrained by his armor to not spill out into his surroundings but it made him feel like he could crush anything put before him.


    Everything the spell touched was instantly magnified, and the world began to move in slow motion as his senses sharpened tenfold. His perception was so finely tuned that he could feel [Cracked Phantom Armor] redoubled in durability as subtle flows of mana shifted into more optimized patterns, then reinforced even more by [Archmages Presence] directly. At the same time the enchantments on his armor gleamed brightly as they worked overtime, and his body surged with power.As he flexed, he made sure to feed some mana to the invisible runic tattoos across his body. They might have only been Tier 25 in potency, but they¡¯d still been made by some of the best tattooists in the Empire, and if he kept throughput low, then he shouldn¡¯t burn them out too quickly.


    [Barbarian¡¯s Hide], [Ranger¡¯s Sight], and [Sharp Mind] were next. While their ostensibly primary effects of boosting his durability, senses, and mind cultivation were entirely subsumed by [Archmage¡¯s Presence], those three had upgrades that Matt found useful, as they enhanced his resistance to debuffs and magic, helped him see directly through some obstructions, and further hardened him against mental effects respectively.


    [Flight] lifted him a few inches off the ground and Matt quickly rotated his personal gravity around him to ensure everything was working as expected, flickering his personal weight to get a sense for the respective mana costs. It wasn¡¯t <em>likely</em> that anything weird woulde up, but rifts could have odd effects and Matt wasn¡¯t going to let himself be caught off-guard.


    Next, he started [Afterimage]. It didn¡¯t do <em>that</em> much most of the time, but leaving a trail of illusionary bodies could do a decent job of drawing attention away from the rest of his team, and as their only <em>truly</em> dedicated tank, even minor distractions could add up. He could also hand control of the illusions off to Aster or Zack if need be, who had their own respective tricks they could pull with a bunch of illusionary Matts.


    With his personal buffs taken care of, Matt withdrew his trusty growth sword. He hadn¡¯t used it in the war, but he had personally enchanted it with runes in all of its forms. Thanks to a bit of shenanigans with an [Overcharge]d [Sword Twin] and its ability to create four copies of the de, he¡¯d melded the best of its five forms into a single longsword that had the potency of dagger armor-piercing and the spell empowerment of a ive, all further empowered. He swept the re-merged de through the air, feeling out its weight and adjusting his [Archmage¡¯s Presence] strength boost until it had the right heft to it.


    [Reinforce Mana] capped it all off, and to save time, he simply used [Barrage] to cast it on all of his active spells at once. For the most part, it just improved their efficiency to variable degrees, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] also got the benefit of its crystal being physically tougher. [Sword Twin] would also be physically stronger if he un-melded the des, but he wasn¡¯t sure if that would happen in this rift.


    As he continued testing of his other skills, he felt magic from Aster begin to wash over him as she cast her buffs. [Tailwind] made his limbs feel lighter, [Swift Strides] gave him the sensation of stored power in the balls of his feet, [Strike With The Wind] empowered his de with ayer of cutting winds, and [Cracked Ice Canopy] created a bubble of ice over his armor. Around him, the air grew thick with shimmering colors, thick snowfall, fierce winds, and mana-scouring skills as sheyered dozens of battlefield control spells on them. It would have been entirely impossible to see through it if she hadn¡¯t used a particr application of skills built on [Uncertainty Principle], to make the skills seem illusionary and transparent to her allies alone.


    Liz signaled to him that she was ready for his buffs bynding a phoenix body on his shoulder, and he narrowed his mana regeneration aura down until it was focused exclusively on his wife. That particr trick, started by Folded Reflections decades ago, had blossomed into an incredibly potent focused buff that dramatically improved not only mana regeneration and physical capabilities, but also mana control forrge-scale workings. He¡¯d flicker around its target as needed simply as a matter of course, but Liz was his default for many reasons.


    Even as he noted that thought, a cavalcade of buffsnded on him from Zack. While the man wasn¡¯t much of a support mage, he had a number of interesting and unique buffs that he could provide, though Matt wouldn¡¯t say he was <em>especially</em> good at using them to their maximum.


    Once he felt he was in perfect sync with Liz and Aster, then he¡¯d drill more with Zack. That might be a few centuries away, but he was immortal. He had time.


    To cap off his preparations, Matt directed his Domain to reinforce his defenses and activated his repulsive armor, then started feeding [Tribtion Strike] into his sword, making the de crackle with lightning.


    The others finished their respective preparations a few momentster. Aster¡¯s illusionary fox self hopped up onto the back of a lumbering ice elemental, Liz¡¯s five human bodies broke apart from their ritual-casting circle, Allie had practically turned into a two-dimensional shadow, and Zack was surrounded by a zing spell array, focusing his spells in ways Matt didn¡¯t fully track. He¡¯d heard about the spell array, as it was Zack¡¯s favorite bit of loot from his buy-out, but this was the first time he¡¯d seen it in action.


    The moment they left the safe zone near the rift entrance, they were attacked by¡­ something. It was made out of seemingly ordinary gray smoke, though a simple golden featherunched from phoenix Liz killed the monster, which spoke of how little physical durability it had.


    What was more interesting was the absence of essence flooding into Liz after she killed it. Something flowed into her, but it wasn¡¯t anything good. It was dark and smoky, like the monster themselves, and felt more like a curse to Matt. But it wasn''t quite that either.


    Seeing Liz¡¯s joy and everyone else''s irritation, Matt didn¡¯t worry about it and instead quipped, ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready to hear how this works.¡±


    Allie cackled as she dragged Aster and her golem behind her as they flew into more of the dense dark smokey fog. ¡°Kill!¡±


    Matt rolled his eyes at the response.


    Instead, he tried to spread his spiritual perception out but found his range incredibly limited. Instead of being able to covers, he found himself limited to a mile at most before his perception started to break down, and over the course of another mile, itpletely fell apart. At their Tiers, a mile was practically nothing.


    The aperologist in him noted this rift must have had a lot of shadow mana influencing it, which only made him eager to explore their first Sect rift. A favorite of Sien as well, which told him the rift might have hidden depths or a more ethereal aspect.


    Not particrly worried about a simple rift, Matt charged up a [Breach] and then [Barrage]d it to send out three massive projectiles that cut swaths of rity through the smoke and clouds, just wanting to get a feel for they of thend.


    It was in the small moments where the projectiles passed that Matt got a view of the actual rift they were in, and it wasn¡¯t what he was expecting.


    The rightmost revealed area had been wide open fields of trees, as contradictory as that sounded. The middle shot revealed a desert of sponges filled with cactus made from coral. The leftmost shot revealed an ordinary building interior, and Matt immediately darted into the pseudo illusion before it could fade and be reced with something weirder.


    As he entered its range, he felt the rift try to bind and restrict him in subtle ways, but that was easier said than done. It didn¡¯t want him to fly? Good luck. It wanted to limit his power? His power, by definition, knew no limits.


    Interestingly enough, the rift seemed to sense it wasn¡¯t able to make him conform to its rules, and thus changed theyout around him. The typical office building of dark smoke twisted, and when it stopped swirling, Matt found himself in a caveyout.


    He was impressed when the walls of the cave system were entirely imprable to his spiritual perception, but he didn¡¯t let that slow his reactions to the demented goblins that lunged at him from thin air.


    Their bodies were wispy, but his de cleaved them in two as if they were real, flesh and blood Tier 28 monsters, and they died all the same despite not having organs to rupture.


    Curiously, instead of essence flowing into him as the bodies discorporated, the smoky substance spiraled into his spirit and weighed him down, restraining his cultivation. ¡°Is this like a rampage rift?¡±


    ¡°Nice warm-up, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Phoenix Liz called back. ¡°But it gets better!¡±


    Darting forward, Matt activated [Mana Beam], letting the beam y on any monsters that were outside the immediate range of his de, but that just wasn¡¯t enough. [Mana Beam] had plenty of damage, but it was line of sight limited, and in this convoluted cave system, that just wasn¡¯t far enough.


    Instead, Matt switched to just increasing his physical speed to the absolute limit. [Cracked Air Slide] already sacrificed mana efficiency for speed, and in the decades he¡¯d had it, Matt had pushed it even further. It was to the point where only his old Herald of Winter bonus finesse to air spells even let him steer to any appreciable extent. But with his mana regeneration entirely unimpacted by the rift¡¯s limits, he could keep fighting just as surely as before. That was a good thing, as while each kill and its corresponding restriction wasn¡¯t instantly crippling, Matt was racking up kills at a ferocious rate, and he could see how other cultivators struggled with such a rift.


    That was one of the defining features of a rampage rift¨C once you started killing, you needed to keep killing faster and faster, until it was downright impossible to do so anymore and you triggered the second phase of such a rift. There was always a limit to how fast the rift could force one to go, but it was rift dependent, and sometimes not even those stronger than the rift could manage. Matt had more faith in himself than that and killed to his heart''s content.


    As Matt entered a wide open cave, nearly a thousand goblins greeted him, each holding some weird mana cannon-like object, but one distorted and twisted into something that should have never functioned.


    They activated their constructs the moment Matt entered the room, but instead of dodging, he activated [Bulwark] and crystallized the mana he fed the spell. The spell''s blowback caused the cavern to fill with smoke and debris, but he didn¡¯t wait for the room to clear tounch his counter attack.


    Matt hadn¡¯t realized how much he missed fighting.


    This wasn¡¯t like the war, where there were consequences measured in lives for each and every action. This was a good old fashioned ughter against monsters. Clean and simple.


    Laughing, Matt pointed with his left finger and swept it across the room. [Mana Beam] cut a swath right through the arrayed goblins, but instead of continuing, Matt switched to [Cracked Dragonme].


    Those goblins who hadn¡¯t been cut in half by the [Mana Beam] were washed with mes of blue that crystallized into solid mana, trapping them under the weight of Matt¡¯s endlessness.


    Their end came just a momentter when Matt punched the newly formed crystal, shattering it and everything inside.


    The wash of negative power was like putting on weighted clothes, but instead of resisting it, Matt leaned back and reveled in the pressure.


    Taking a deep breath, Matt slowly let it out, feeling the curses starting to tick down to their second phase now that he hadn¡¯t killed something in a moment.


    ¡°Faster! If you don¡¯t speed up I¡¯ll beat youuuu.¡±


    Unwilling to let this opportunity to challenge his wife pass, Mattunched himself forward down the tunnels, ughtering everything he came across. All the while, the smokey shackles grew denser and denser over his spirit until they covered it like a swarm of locust.


    By the time he reached the end of his little illusionary rift and found a ten foot tall hobgoblin, Matt was feeling very nostalgic. Instead of just overwhelming the boss and its dozen monsters, he decided to return to his beginnings.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Flicking the blood off his de, Matt got into a ready stance and stepped forward, left, then shifted right with a flourish, and just like that, the hobgoblin boss had lost three of his subordinates.


    Knowing he was on a timer, Matt lunged forward, stopping just short of the hobgoblins maximum range, letting his sword get swatted to the side from its sh. Going with the movement, Matt brought his de down in an overhead chop that pushed through the monster''s upraised sword and cut deep into its shoulder.


    As the boss dissipated, Matt frowned slightly. He hadn¡¯t intended to kill it in one blow, but the nature of this rift, all out attack in exchange for zero defense, didn¡¯t let him relive any nostalgia.


    As a newer andrger shackle appeared on his spirit, Matt found the world of smoke twisting around him until he appeared on a tform with Allie.


    She was dancing around, her daggers shing, killing monsters as they came in from the roiling darkness held at bay by the tform they were on.


    ¡°Finally! Yall are too slow. Just kill the boss and move on!¡±


    Matt wanted toin that he hadn¡¯t known what was going on, but considering he had deliberately set that up, he thought it was smarter to keep his mouth shut.


    Instead, he just focused on killing any monsters that entered the tform so as to keep his shackles from solidifying.


    He had beaten Liz and that was the only thing that mattered even if it did mean he had a pouting bird on his shoulder.


    Zack, Liz, and finally Aster arrived just a few momentster, but instead of the next phase of the rift initiating, they were left killing random monsters as they drifted in.


    Aster kicked Allie as she danced by and gestured around them. ¡°Okay miss know it all, what¡¯s next? This is fun and all, but should we continue on? Or should we let the shackles manifest? Sien said she exined the full rules to you.¡±


    Allie popped to her feet and dropped the act, even as her de danced around the battlefield, cutting down wisp monsters the moment they formed. ¡°Eh, Sien said it was kinda up to us. Most people who make it to this stage choose to let the shackles manifest so they can fight the boss and get essence. They can then do that up to five times to fully clear the rift.¡±


    ¡°And the alternative?¡±


    Allie nodded to her partner''s question. ¡°We need to continue killing on this tform until we exhaust the rift''s supply of monsters. Considering this is a Tier 28 rift, that might take a while with you slowpokes.¡±


    Well, that sounded like a challenge, and Matt wasn¡¯t about to back down.


    Turning, Matt looked to Zack, whose small smile would have been the equivalent of a manic grin for anyone else. It was good they were on the same page, even after a decade apart.


    Matt let a mana stone crumble in his hands, just in case there was somehow someone spying on him, and unleashed massive amounts of mana into their surroundings.


    Once the area around their tform was saturated, Zack twisted the affinity, kickstarting a cascade. But instead of dropping his connection to the mana, Matt kept throwing mana at the problem, like someone trying to outrun speed wobbles on their flying sword by elerating through. There were only two possible results, you outran your problem, or spread across whatever was under you.


    And Matt was nothing if not fast.


    The resulting explosionsted for almost an entire minute, and was bright enough to dissipate the surrounding gray smoke like fog under the morning sun.


    Once the attack settled down, Matt felt thousands of shackles cinch down onto his spirit. And from Zack¡¯s small wince, he must have encountered the same.


    Turning to the pouting Aster, Matt winked. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    She instead turned to Allie and shook the teleporter by her ankles. ¡°Something impressive fall out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a jack in the box! I¡¯m a precision fighter, not an AoE kinda girl. Stop shaking meeeee.¡±


    Aster turned to Liz, who turned away whistling. ¡°How many clones do you have stuffed inside you right now? Can you throw a few dozen out there?¡±


    ¡°I could, but any blood that goes out there feels icky, so I''d rather not.¡±


    Aster opened her mouth to say something, but nodded and gave up. ¡°And I''d rather not sit around with our collective thumbs up our asses for the next week, or however long it takes for monsters to trickle in. Fine then.¡± ring at him and Zack, she imperiously waved. ¡°On with it then, minions. Chop chop. But don¡¯t hog all the kills.¡±


    Zack¡¯s newest toy, his spell array, helped him use all sorts of external focuses to influence his spells <em>even more</em> than he already could, giving him a frankly absurd amount of versatility in his casting. But even without that, they¡¯d had plenty of ideas forbining Matt¡¯s overwhelming power with Zack¡¯s exacting control during the war, lots of which they hadn¡¯t been able to try at the time.


    But rift monsters, unlike soldiers, weren¡¯t up to date with thetest in countermagic.


    Matt fired a massive [Mana Beam] at Zack, who intercepted it with his fiery spell array, filtered it through a dragonscale, and unleashed a massive, elongated snake-dragon upon the monsters around them,ying absolute waste through the physical embodiment of Matt¡¯s ludicrous power.


    That wasn¡¯t sufficient, or at least using <em>only</em> that would have been boring. So over the next day, they tried out a bunch of their more oundishbos. Some, like trying to turn Matt¡¯s [Tribtion Strike] into gravity, literally blew up in their face, but others were much more promising.


    Fortunately, with the final monster¡¯s death, the shackles fell off their spirits, relieving a tremendous amount of spiritual pressure on him and Zack alike.


    Taking a deep breath, Matt was about to say something when a plethora of ckness rushed out of all of them to form a massive humanoid figure that had to be a mile long.


    Its form twisted and blurred, going from snake-like, to a bird withically small wings, to a humanoid figure, to a many armed ball of nightmares, before it finally settled on a normal sized humanoid.


    Instead of being wispy like all of the other monsters they had fought in the rift, this creature had a serious weight to it in Matt¡¯s spiritual perception.


    The monster looked at them, its head cocked to the side like it was inspecting an interesting ant, but instead of stopping there, its head continued to rotate until it was upside down,plete with the cracking of breaking bone and tortured flesh. From the mangled throat, a pair of fleshy fingers ripped their way through the smoke and tore themselves free, like a demonic baby bird to reveal a humanoid with no skin.


    ¡°Ok, that was kinda awesome.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°I thi¡ª¡±


    Liz¡¯sment was cut off when the boss monster pointed its left pointer finger at them in a very reminiscent move, and Matt immediately threw himself forward, [Bulwark] materializing and solidifying in its wake.


    The creature¡¯s [Mana Beam], despite nearlying apart at the seams from Aster¡¯s [Dispelling Winds], punched right through Matt¡¯s first line of defense, and might have gone straight through him if he didn¡¯t raise his hand in time. But even as it broke through [Cracked Phantom Armor], it stopped on Matt¡¯s invulnerable left hand. Even <em>with</em> the stygian gossamer protecting him, Matt could feel the energy prickle his skin and begin to faintly burn. It was the first time the rift had actually presented an actual threat.


    And it felt <em>fantastic</em>.


    Matt started pushing upstream through the [Mana Beam], but the moment he did so, the monster moved in a sh.


    Now wielding a naginata that was clearly a mix of Liz¡¯s spear and Allie¡¯s dagger, the fleshless creature appeared behind Zack, its de already mid-motion and just a hair''s breadth away from taking his head off.


    Zack never turned around and instead blurred forward, travel mana carrying him away. But instead of cleanly escaping, the monster blurred with him, its de creeping forward and still aimed at his neck.


    Were he entirely alone, Zack might have some difficulty escaping the deadly de. But Ascenders weren¡¯t so easy to kill, and Zack <em>certainly</em> wasn¡¯t alone.


    A fresh st of sparkling cold air mmed into the monster and bound ribbons of white around its limbs, just as a pair of daggers drove into its empty eye sockets.


    Smooth armor that Matt recognized as an imitation of [Cracked Phantom Armor] sprang up to ward off the blow, actually managing to deflect Allie¡¯s des, but vanishing shortly after she was turned aside. Allie wasted no time, turning the deflection into her new angle of attack and teleporting to attack alongside a Liz.


    Liz darted forward with her spear moving to take the creature in the lower back, but instead of blocking, the creature created another hand out of its back and tried to grab the spear from Liz¡¯s control.


    Liz responded by throwing herself into the attack, discorporating the spear into the feathers it was made from and turning into ichor. The boss¡¯ ws swatted at the semi-liquid body of Matt¡¯s wife, only to find its flesh burning and melting under Liz¡¯s far more caustic form of life.


    Mattshed forward, timing his de to arrive a moment after a pair of wood aspected [Wind Scythe]snded.


    They didn¡¯t quite manage to cut through the Tier 28 monster¡¯s version of [Cracked Phantom Armor], but they did enough damage that Matt¡¯s [Tribtion Strike] punched a hole in the monster''s chest and obliterated a portion of its side.


    His disappointment that the fight was going to end that quickly was quashed as the flesh of the boss started to knit back together in a very familiar way.


    Unable to contain himself, Mattughed. It was good to be able to cut loose like this.


    He had never considered being able to fight against an amalgamation of all of them, not just at their Tier, but at a Tier disadvantage.


    Ignoring the de that cut through his chest, Matt brought his de across on the boss¡¯ nk, wanting to see if it would trade with him. It did, which was a mistake.


    Liz drove her spear into the monster¡¯s neck, and Allie plunged her daggers into the base of its neck, an apparent weak point in [Cracked Phantom Armor] Matt made a note to adjust immediately. Meanwhile, Zack sent dozens of [Mana Bolt] of different elements at the boss and Aster created chains of ice around its limbs, restricting its attacks.


    Theynded a dozen blows in quick session, and each of them prated deep into the creature, but each wound inflicted was healed just as quickly as they appeared.


    Allie cursed as she dodged a [Mana Whip] made of crackling mana that the boss cast. ¡°This is your fault, Matt!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, not sorry.¡±


    And really, he wasn¡¯t. This was turning into a great fight.


    Slipping left, he dodged the naginata just to thrust a [Mana Charge] and [Tribtion Strike] infused de at the monster.


    The blow had enough power behind it that Matt actually felt the blowback through [Sword Twin], his growth de absorbing the detonation into itself, but taking a good bit of strain in the process. He¡¯d need to improve the enchantments meant to mitigate that, because he was apparently outgrowing his own growth sword.


    It wasn¡¯t <em>his</em> fault his Talent grew so quickly.


    Deflecting another blow, Matt stepped forward and took a [Piercing Blow] that was aimed at Zack. It punched a hole in his chest, but his flesh knit back together in moments, and it didn¡¯t stop him from unleashing a flurry of blows at the boss.


    s, the novelty wore off rtively quickly.


    While the boss undeniably was copying their respective styles, that didn¡¯t make it anywhere close to a <em>cohesive</em> threat as it drew from their respective specialities.


    Matt was also pretty sure that the boss had taken from them unequally, depending on the amount of shackles they had gathered in the rift. That meant it was taking more from himself and Zack than the others, leaving it disappointingly torn between two ipatible styles of magic, only further diluted by the tidbits it copied from thedies.


    That was never more apparent than when it went to restrain Liz. Instead of just moving in for overwhelming power, it tried to use one of Aster¡¯s ice skills despite only having shallow copies of them, as her role as a support meant she had less total kills before the end. It also didn¡¯t seem to have any of Aster¡¯s wind, winter, or aurora spells, which Matt wasn¡¯t quite able to puzzle out why. Aster used those just as often as her ice spells and it seemed to be copying based on usage but there had to be a hidden metric he didn¡¯t understand.


    The same went for Liz¡¯s powers. Instead of taking advantage of her amazing abilities, the boss simply tried to create new limbs, but even then, it never maximized the advantages such an ability could have given it. It barely took <em>anything</em> from Allie, or at least nothing useful. While it did teleport once, it was so tantly telegraphed that the most it managed was to practically trap itself, all of them attacking it right as it appeared. Though, even it could learn from such a painful mistake.


    Once they¡¯d figured out its limits, the only reason the fight hadsted more than a few seconds was the massive difference in Tier, but that had never stopped Ascenders.


    Alliended the final blow with a tricky series of strikes that all seemed like they were going to hit its limbs, but with small teleports that led the blows directly to the boss¡¯ brain. The boss, for all its copying abilities, didn¡¯t have Matt¡¯s Talent and simply didn¡¯t have the energy to heal through that much concentrated damage on its brain.


    Matt was going to make a quip, but was shut up as an avnche of essence hit him, and he was busy directing the essence before it overflowed from his spirit. A Tier 28 rift''s worth of essence was a lot even when split five ways, and it moved him noticeably deeper into Tier 26. He¡¯d still need hundreds, possibly thousands, more delves before he got anywhere close to finishing the Tier, but the simple fact he could actually notice a difference was already fantastic for a warm up rift.


    If a full clear was always like this, he could see why it was a favorite of Siens. Anyone with enough power could clear the rift in hours, instead of days or weeks, like some of therger, more spread out rifts might take.


    Once the stream of essence ended, Matt wiped some of the blood and charred remnants of his clothes off of him before calling it a lost cause and just using [Create Water] to form a mini shower for himself and clean his own viscera away.


    Liz had things so much easier, as any ichor that she couldn¡¯t trivially reabsorb into herself had shed into golden sma long ago.


    Aster tried to steal his shower, but he had been in enough water with her to know she preferred it frigid. To save himself that pain, he quickly let her have it.


    With a fresh set of clothes pulled out of the house, he moved over to join Allie, Zack, and Liz, who were watching the rift distortion.


    ¡°I wonder what it will be?¡±


    Allie poked at it without disrupting the membrane, which would have condensed the reward. ¡°Gotta be something good, right? We did the perfect run, just like Sien said. I swear if we just get mana stones, I¡¯m going to dissipate this rift.¡±


    Allie leaned in and started whispering mean things at the rift distortion while Matt and Liz tried not tough.


    How Allie would rece the rift''s lunch with in cheese sandwiches was a mystery, but he didn¡¯t doubt she would do <em>something</em> if the rewards were bad.


    When Aster came out of the shower area a few momentster, they all waited around while the rift distortion flickered and pulsed.


    This was a tradition they had established when they had been advancing through Tier 25 during the war. Matt and Allie were firmly in the camp that believed that dispelling the reward at the right time mattered just as much as anything else, and so they hade up with this tactic to maximize their luck.


    Matt moved forward, but when Allie didn¡¯t follow, he retracted his hand.


    A momentter, Allie moved but Matt wasn¡¯t feeling it. Almost a full two minutes passed before Matt was feeling it again, but this time Allie was moving with him and they dispelled the reward distortion together.


    Three items tumbled out of the rift distortion and a cackling Allie scooped them up before anyone could get too good a look at them. That was also part of the process, but one that only Allie enjoyed.


    The gremlin liked to inspect the shinies before sharing.


    The first thing she proffered was a thumb sized piece of smoky quartz embedded in a surprisingly nice looking ne.


    ¡°Pretty nes, but I can¡¯t tell what the enchantment does.¡±


    Zack took the jewelry and inspected it for a moment before passing it over to Matt to do the same. ¡°I believe it will boost the wearer in their tailoring skill. Doesn''t seem to have a lower limit, which is actually kind of interesting. Or that''s how I¡¯m reading the enchantment.¡±


    Matt nodded because that was exactly what both his experience and [AI] said the item did.


    Kinda useless for them, but they cou¡ª


    Aster snatched it and put the item on, twisting and showing it off. ¡°It matches my tiara.¡±


    Everyone ignored her preening to look at the next object. It would still be sold, just once Aster got bored with it instead of immediately.


    Allie surprised them by proffering both items with a smile. ¡°Rocks! Two of them, but I can¡¯t tell what either does.¡±


    Matt took one of the rocks as Zack took the other.


    With it in his hand he noticed that it was more pumice than rock, but the description still technically held true.


    He probed the natural weave of magic and tried to parse the effect, but was still in the process when Zack tossed his rock to Liz.


    ¡°I believe that this is a universal alchemic neutralizer. Not exactly expensive, but useful.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s cool. Any chance the other one is the same, Matt?¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°It''s definitely not that. In fact, I think I know what this does, but I¡¯m not sure I believe it. It''s kinda random as hell.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Allie butted heads with Aster as they both leaned in to get a good look at the rock.


    ¡°I think it''s a portable volcano.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Even Zack looked confused at the suggestion, and Matt could only shrug. ¡°That''s what I¡¯m reading. Maybe I¡¯m wrong, but¡­ I don¡¯t know how else to describe it. It might also be able to absorb a volcano, but it''s a really strange rock to be sure.¡±


    Allie poked it with a finger like she expected a volcano to appear on his hand.


    Liz shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure someone will pay out the nose for something like that, right? The Sects love mountains. Maybe we can sell this to a sect without one?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure a volcano is the same as a mountain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m with Liz on this one. Close enough, right?¡± Even Matt looked at Aster weirdly after thatment.


    Allie just rolled her eyes and tossed it to Zack after teleporting it into her hand. ¡°Have fun, buddy.¡±


    Her partner snagged it in his spell array and began running bits of mana through it, seeing how it reacted to the tool. Something that powerful would probably do <em>something</em> interesting, but whether it was something unique or useful remained to be seen.


    They exited the rift to see Sien mid-sip of a cup of tea, which she quickly set down as they strode out. ¡°An impressively rapid showing. Was thy attempt entirely sessful?¡±


    Allie immediately started preening. ¡°A perfect full clear.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating, and truly well-aplished. You have very nearly ovee my personal record.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean almost? No way we didn¡¯t beat your record.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps someday my greatness will be surpassed by the likes of you, yet it is not this day.¡±


    Allie immediately started mocking the older Ascender, which got her shadow to reach up and start trying to strangle her, but that didn¡¯t even faze her.


    ¡°Now, have any of you regained your appetites as of yet? The next rift will not be prepared for some weeks yet, and in exchange for Matt¡¯s provisions I wish to present Sect cuisine for thy consideration. There exists a nearby delver¡¯s bistro with weeklong courses, which I insist we visit in the intervening time.¡±


    Never one to turn down new food, Matt readily agreed to Sien¡¯s offer.

 Chapter 361

    As Sien led them through the floating city Matt got to see quite a bit of sect life. Not the Empire propaganda, not the Sect propaganda, not movie recreations, or anything but genuine sect life.


    It was¡­ strange.


    He shouldn''t have been surprised, but for the most part Sect people were just¡­ people. They did normal things like anyone else, but there was something Matt wasn¡¯t able to put his finger on that just made everything seem different.


    In the end, he tentatively identified it as arrogance.


    <em>Everyone</em> was arrogant. At least, all of the cultivators were, and most people on this floating bubble <em>were</em> cultivators, given the entire area was basically just an outpost for mid-Tier delvers clearing the rifts of the gas giant. Of course, delvers brought with them support, and support required personnel. And personnel brought family, so while there ended up being a decent spread of Tiers, the majority were cultivators in some form or another.


    Matt was intrigued by the way people seemed to understand who they could be outwardly arrogant towards and who they couldn¡¯t. There wasn¡¯t anything like a CityNet -he¡¯d checked- and very few people were broadcasting their names through their own AIs. His current theory was that it was something in people¡¯s dress thatmunicated rtive social status, given his lessons on Sect culture, but he¡¯d yet to see any noticeable patterns deeper than which sect someone was associated with. He¡¯d also been able to pretty easily glean which sects were local just by watching who was the <em>most</em> arrogant and had the most members strutting around, but there were definitely nuances he wasn¡¯t picking up on.


    There were two major sects of the bubble, the Divine Whispering Winds of Human Might, which Matt mentally shortened to the Whispering Winds sect, and theirpetitor, Earthly Might Ovees the Dao. Both were feeder sects to a Tier 38 sect known as the Divine Might sect, and had taken their name as part of their own, amon indicator that they¡¯d been founded by disciples of said higher-Tier sect.


    Despite ostensibly being in the same organization, the two sects seemed to butt heads at every opportunity in a way that Matt just wasn¡¯t used to in the Empire. If there was an official Earth Might shop, no matter what it was, there was a Whispering Windspeting shop just a building or two away, which often made for interesting interactions.


    Just as they were walking to their dinner, they saw an alchemy shop having an open battle between their disciples in the middle of the street. They were each making potions andparing the results while onlookers watched andmentated. When the Whispering Winds¡¯ shop was defeated, they tried to slink away, but they were instead harangued by both the watchers and the Earthly Might sects people.It actually got to the point that blows were exchanged, and while Matt wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d call it a proper <em>fight</em>, he still kept expecting one of the onlooking higher-Tiers to step in as blood flowed. But they never intervened, carrying on their respective activities even as a man from the Whispering Winds was sent flying through the air. That did seem to mark the end of the scuffle, and the crowd cleared out, but it was still so alien.


    Their destination, however, wasn¡¯t involved with either Sect. Their signage proimed the restaurant as a branch of the Paradise Bites Consortium, and Sien informed them that the establishment had restaurants all over the equivalent of a kingdom, and were known for only hiring Talented chefs.


    The moment they arrived a waiter, a painfully attractive middle aged man in impable robes, stepped out and bowed to Sien.


    ¡°Lady of Ill Dreams, you honor us with your presence. I trust you will find our humble establishment satisfying, and you may proceed to your dining room as you see fit.¡±


    Sien barely even acknowledged the man, not even turning to look at him as she responded with a simple, ¡°It seems to me as though an appropriate tribute of tea is absent.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Mistress.¡±


    From there, they followed Sien to a secluded room only essible by a door covered by an obscuring formation that led to a spatially expanded highest floor, not visible to the average customer.


    Matt felt like a bit of a voyeur as Sien showed them how they could turn the walls and floor transparent and have an unobstructed view on the lower floors.


    Their tea was brought in and served the moment they sat down, and Matt had to admit it was very good tea. His reaction wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as Zack, who promptly bought a fist sized packet of the leaves after his first sip. The waiter simply bowed and said that it would be as he desired, giving Matt the impression he was missing something.


    Matt was personally eager to try more authentic Sect cuisine to expand his repertoire.


    It took almost an hour, but their waiter came in with a dozen trays floating behind him, and as he set them down, Matt regarded each with curiosity. Oddly enough, he seemed to find information about each dish¡¯s creator, the restaurant¡¯s history for the dish, the cook and their interpretation of the original idea, and finally where each of the major ingredients were sourced appearing in his mind, as though he¡¯d always known. Most of the dishes were ced on the table in what Matt would call family style, with only a few items, such as soups, being given to them individually.


    Matt had no problem admitting that the food was better than anything he could hope to make.


    But as they were enjoying their food, a show started on one of the lower floors.


    A young woman had entered the establishment in the Whispering Winds sect''s robes absolutely brimming with arrogance. A quick inspection of her core told the story. She had just broken through to Tier 7, and based on how she still looked like she was barely out of her teenage years, quite swifty too.


    A neophyte had just earned her stripes and hade to strut.


    Matt found it adorable, and his attention brought everyone else¡¯s onto the girl.


    At the front podium, she loudly proimed, ¡°I want ess to the Wastnd of Water room!¡±


    Her followers stood clustered behind her like they were the ones to receive great honor, each trying to strike a pose without seemingly like they were doing so, but failing on all ounts.


    Allie snickered. ¡°Oh, I hope theye up here and try to kick us out. Can you imagine the look on their faces once they recognize any of us.¡±


    Sien chuckled. ¡°That would be entirely impossible. This room is <em>most</em> exclusive, and even requesting this <em>specific</em> room would result in a denial of its very existence. Nheless, this ought to present a good show.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t stop picking over his food as he watched, but did stop watching to re at Aster, who had stopped grabbing food off the general tes and had started stealing directly off of his own. As if she wasn¡¯t bad enough, both Lizes had started doing the same. His te, once piled high, was depressingly empty in just moments.


    ¡°Core Disciple Xiao Yun, all of our Wastnd of Water rooms are taken. Core Disciple Junming has already imed thest remaining room just an hour ago.¡±


    ¡°Core Disciple? Doesn¡¯t really roll off the tongue now does it?¡± Hearing the title, Matt had to ask, but Liz shook her head.


    ¡°Check your trantion. It¡¯s one word. Trantes rather clunkily though¡±


    Sien shook her head. ¡°Indeed, Empire speechcks many necessary features. It¡¯s a wonder you can say anything at all within its constraints.¡±


    Before anyone could snark back, Sien added context to the situation they were watching y out. ¡°Now, assuming you weren¡¯t paying attention earlier, given your preupation with your dining, Zhang Junming chose that room specifically to spite Xiao Yun in an effort to humiliate her. The pair have been feuding for years at this point, thoughmon perception is that Yun is the more talented of the two, being five years younger yet still Zhang Junming¡¯s near-equal. It has been her public n to, upon reaching Tier 7, celebrate within a Wastnd of Water room, but Junming managed to preempt her acting upon that, potentially costing her a substantial degree of face should she fail to carry through with her stated goals.¡±


    ¡°Do youe here often?¡± Aster usingly pointed a chopstick at their guide.


    ¡°Oh, most certainly not,¡± Sien replied with a smile.


    ¡°So then how do you know all of this stuff?¡±


    ¡°I am the Lady of Ill <em>Dreams</em>, dear Aster. All who strive fall within my purview.¡±


    ¡°So why is Junming antagonizing Yun? Is it just their sect¡¯s rivalry feeding the feud?¡± Zack managed to ask Matt¡¯s question, which he was unable to articte thanks to a full mouth.


    Sien took a moment to chew before shaking her head. ¡°Oh, certainly not. This is almost entirely undertaken by them, though I have no doubts that their families may be fanning the mes in some form. I believe there was some form of altercation when they were both children, but my knowledge does not extend <em>quite</em> so far.¡±


    The six of them watched as Xiao Yun marched up to the room in question and kicked in the door. Splinters flew, and as a Tier 26, Matt watched with a bit of amusement as one of the staff instantly reced the low-Tier door, merely sliding the recement to the side as Xiao Yun marched through.


    Inside the room, a slightly older young man was sitting there being massaged by two incredibly attractive but scantily d servants.


    Almost immediately, the two started posturing with each other. For most outsiders watching from themon seating area, it must seem like Junming was at a disadvantage. But from their higher view, it was clear he was just trying to lead the younger girl into a humiliating position before revealing his own n.


    ¡°How is this sustainable? I feel like these grudges will fester and turn into blood feuds far too easily.¡± Allie¡¯s question was almost impossible to understand thanks to her mouthful of food, but they managed.


    Sien blinked. ¡°They sharpen one another far more effectively than any external force ever could hope. Despite Zheng Junming¡¯sparativeziness in the matters of cultivation, he has been forced to advance at an appreciable rate nheless, if only to stay ahead of Xiao Yun, and grow his own strengths of information-gathering and maniption to outmaneuver her. Perhaps some day, one shall y the other, but do such trivialities truly matter? Their feud would leave the survivor stronger for it.¡±


    Matt could understand that mindset in a vacuum, but he couldn¡¯t quite get himself to agree with it. The Empire allowed fighting between entities, encouraged it even, in the case of guild wars. It was a reasonable way to settle disputes, but this seemed more like throwing hungry animals in a box and only opening it when one was left alive, rather than what normally happened in the Empire.


    Even nobles could and did go to war with each other, and the sects were the equivalent of the Empire¡¯s nobility, justrger and not family rted. But he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling this was somehow <em>more</em>.


    Not that his option mattered too much, all things considered. He wasn¡¯t a member of the Sects, and he couldn¡¯t change their culture. But it was good to get a sense of the mindset he¡¯d be dealing with as they got mores from the Sects for their duchy.


    His musings were interrupted by the young man, Junming, who revealed that he was in fact Tier 8, to the horror of the Yun girl¡¯s followers, who had thought they had them at an equal footing for the first time.


    ¡°And thus the crossroad approaches. Will the girl bow, or will she fight?¡± Sien¡¯s smile was positively devious.


    ¡°What would you have done in her ce?¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Sien looked towards Aster with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Against someone a single Tier above me? I would have blinded him, cut his tendons, then yed his arms and hung him on a noose made from his own skin in front of his sect for all to see.¡± Shrugging, she added, ¡°My capabilities were rather limited at Tier 7.¡±


    Core Disciple Yun must not have felt that confident, because she didn¡¯t immediately throw herself at the stronger cultivator. Instead, she scoffed at his advancement and called Junming out for his scheme of taking her room.


    Matt expected those watching the show to look down on Junming for his non honorable move, but Sien exined.


    ¡°Quite a good move from Zheng Junming. A triple victory, in strength, maneuvering, and intelligence alike. He disyed utter dominance in all fields the two arepeting within by drawing her ovemitting and striking with immense force. Now, he is hoping that Xiao Yun must evaluate herpatriots to determine if he possesses any spies within her inner circle, performing diagnosis and surgery upon her own social might before she can safely engage him once again.¡±


    Nodding, they watched as Junming berated the young girl in a well rehearsed series of verbal jabs. Even the onlookers started snickering and adding their ownments, pilling onto Yun.


    Matt was going to ask Sien how long the girl would stand there and take it, and if there was an expected amount she was supposed to take when the girl exploded in fury and started shouting back, seeming to lose her cool.


    Seeming being the key word.


    Matt and the rest of the high Tiers noticed that her heart rate, steady this entire time, never fluctuated and Sienughed. ¡°And so the second trap closes. She may have taken a faint blow, to be sure, but if she wins this fight, it will be <em>far</em> more valuable by demonstrating her truly superior strength.¡±


    ¡°I challenge you to a duel. I can not abide you gloating with your non-existent strength any longer Junming. It is time for you to learn your ce, one way or another.¡±


    Junmingughed so hard he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye before turning to his followers. ¡°The little Bumble Bee wants to try and sting Granddaddy Junming?¡± His mocking smile turned vicious as he said, ¡°It''s your death warrant for challenging someone a full Tier stronger than yourself, but I¡¯ll dly send you back to your pitiful Whispering Winds sect on a stretcher. Maybe my next challenger will be someone of note.¡±


    He jumped through the nearest window and into the open dining hall of the restaurant, where an illusionary stage appeared over the diners heads, ready to both protect the diners and give the fighters room to battle.


    Yun followed through the window just a secondter, but Matt refrained from inspecting her any deeper so as to keep a modicum of suspense alive. He had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen, but he wanted to enjoy it before the inevitable victory or defeat.


    Both were clearly talented, though Junming less so than Yun. But instead of doing something productive, they were throwing themselves at each other with plots and schemes, trying to one up the other. Though, Matt was sure they saw it as driving each other forward instead, and maybe there was a kernel of truth in that, but Matt wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d buy it. It was all too easy to get lost in the minutiae of such grudges and not actually grow.


    The fight however, started out interestingly enough. Even with a Tier disadvantage, Yun threw herself at herrger and higher Tier opponent with a pair of daggers that earned a whoop of appreciation from Allie.


    Matt nodded when he saw Junming taking Yun seriously and immediately readying himself behind his shield, his mace prepared for a return blow.


    Being a Tier higher, Junming was faster, and even before Yun got her des close, he was already side stepping and his mace was descending. Yun seemed ready for the move and exploded into a gust of wind and flower petals that started to swirl.


    Matt looked at the skill she was using with some curiosity. He couldn¡¯t trivially identify it, and the girl couldn¡¯t be older than forty, meaning she¡¯d already done so many modifications to her skill that Matt would have called it a Legacy modded skill, if it didn¡¯t feel half-done. As it stood, it turned her invisible and created several illusionary flower petals, thenunched them in a very real gust of wind. Wherever the petals hit, so too did Yun, and her daggers flickered out, carving lines of blood into Junming¡¯s reinforced skin.


    For all that the skill was quite impressive for a Tier 7, Matt wasn¡¯t sure whether the effect was actually worthwhile given how much work had obviously gone into modifying it. She wasn¡¯t actually wind, and while invisibility was tricky to deal with at lower Tiers, there was still a finite amount of openings that it created for her in what was, ultimately, just a distraction.


    Junming had an earth-aspected spell bolstering his physical body, and the moment the daggersnded he clenched up, trying to trap Yun in tight with him.


    His shield started to glow an earthy yellow as power built, and Yun was forced to leave one of her daggers lodged in his armor, but she did manage to retreat with one of them. Cables of earth rose out of the illusionary ground and attempted to wrap around Yun, but she managed to dodge even though one of her arms was broken in the retreat.


    That seemed unnned, and for the first time Xiao Yun¡¯s heart rate spiked. She used her skill again, blowing petals into Junming¡¯s face while gaining some distance, then pelting him with some air-slice attacks with the aid of a newly-withdrawn dagger.


    ¡°What skill is that?¡± Zack asked. Matt doubted he actually expected an answer, but Sien spoke up anyway.


    ¡°I believe it is a technique based upon [The False Face Presented to Strangers]. It is a curious choice, but I imagine she may intend to eventually merge it with [An Errant Breeze Harkening the Passage of the Soul] to draw the appearance closer to the truth.¡±


    Matt consulted his AI to find the Empire equivalent names, a bit surprised to learn Sien expected the girl to sessfully merge <em>[Disguise Self]</em> with [Air Body]. Then he realized the actually surprising part of Sien¡¯s statement. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s a purely <em>illusion</em> skill? How¡¯s it generating the breeze?¡±


    ¡°Through superior Sect techniques,¡± Sien smugly replied.


    ¡°I mean, okay, sure, but how did she do it so fast? There¡¯s no way she¡¯s gotten a legacy that young, right?¡± Allie asked.


    ¡°I would presume it is granted from her Talent as an Innate blessing. It is unlikely that she would have received anything so valuable for such an arbitrary technique were it not innate to her.¡±


    ¡°Hang on,¡± Aster pitched in. ¡°How¡¯s she going to merge [Air Body] if that¡¯s an innate skill? You can¡¯t merge anything into a Talent-granted skill.¡±


    ¡°For barbarians, perhaps.¡± Sien dismissed with a wave of her hand. ¡°Our techniques scarcely care about such trivialities.¡±


    Aster perked up, her ears and tail standing on end. ¡°Whoa whoa whoa. Back up. You can¡¯t just say that and nothing else! This is the first I¡¯m hearing that something like that might even be <em>possible</em>, now you¡¯re telling me some random girl in the middle of nowhere might be modifying her <em>innate skill</em> with the <em>expectation</em> she¡¯ll be able to merge it with a skill? Spill!¡±


    ¡°Well, it is but mere spection,¡± Sien took a smug sip of tea. ¡°Perhaps she simply intends to utilize the skills in unison. It is, as you pointed out, not an <em>especially</em> well-known ability.¡±


    Left unsaid, but clear enough from the way she carried herself and worded her boast, she didn¡¯t want them telling anyone else about this particr bit of trivia.


    ¡®Ascender¡¯s honor¡¯ was the way Matt thought about it.


    Their respective Great Powers were willing to turn <em>enough</em> of a blind eye towards all the Ascenders talking and being friendly, so long as they didn¡¯t spill anything important. Some things, like skill modification tricks and passing restricted items via bets, were <em>really</em> pushing allowable behavior. But so long as they kept what they learned to themselves, it was within eptable bounds.


    At the end of the day and despite all the friendliness, the Ascenders were more than willing to throw down with each other, which was the most important aspect of a supreme powerhouse.


    ¡°What¡¯s it going to take for you to spill?¡± Aster red yfully at the older woman.


    ¡°Hmm, perhaps a wager at some point. It is not <em>merely</em> information, but it simrly requires an object of non-negligible value.¡±


    Matt could feel the glee radiating off of Aster, and that made him start to wonder what he might be able to provide his bond to hop in on whatever bet Sien would make. Technically, it was Aster¡¯s sole responsibility to bring her own stake, but she was his teammate and his sister, Matt wasn¡¯t about to leave her to fend entirely to herself. Sadly, Sien probably already had anything unique she could possibly want that they could easily produce.


    That left services or things they could pilfer from Manny¡¯s vaults. And while Matt was sure they could pay for anything out of said vaults, they didn¡¯t have any idea what was there or what Sien would want. Even if they had the key in hand.


    As an Ascender, she had probably been given some of the Rank 4 dragons blood after the Sects bought it at the end of the war, so they couldn¡¯t even trade that.


    There were probably things that they had ess to as Empire Ascenders that the Empire wasn¡¯t keen to sell, simr to the technique in question, but nothing came to mind.


    Maybe Sien would like some of Liz¡¯s bloodline oranges?


    That actually had a chance of working.


    ¡°What do you want in return? I have no idea what we have to offer. I can turn Matt upside down and shake him like a couch cushion, but the only thing that usually falls out is good food.¡±


    Matt glowered at Aster, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    Sien, however, just waved Aster off. ¡°You will determine in due time what it is that you can provide, and it will often be variable. With so many Masters from the Empire, it will <em>surely</em> make it more challenging for you, but I am certain you will manage. If you are in a rush, simply join L on one of her excursions into the unknown. There exist <em>many</em> treasures in the great beyond which may equal that which you desire, be it for yourself or your children.¡±


    That gave Matt an idea, and he reminded Aster of the royal jelly they had been given. That might work for a wager, or at least part of one.


    Instead, Sien turned to grin at Matt still speaking to Aster. ¡°Were it not for your bond¡¯s <em>adorable</em> willingness to give forth information regarding the formation of aura rifts, I am certain that would have been a wonderful <em>stake</em> for such a betting pool. Equal to say, the methods to merge an innate skill.¡±


    That piqued Matt''s interest because it ran contrary to what he knew of Sect culture. ¡°Really? I know the Sects don¡¯t have much in the way of Bottled Concepts, so why the turn around on aura potions?¡±


    ¡°Aura is immeasurably useful for many things, and many techniques may benefit or even require it, even well past the phase in which one seeks to develop their First Revtion. Besides, unlike the former potions, Aura produces true Revtions, albeit oft less-impressive.¡±


    Matt really wanted to turn Sien upside down and shake the older Ascender to see what would fall out. From her grin, she knew that, which was why she had mentioned the possibility of things his guild hadn¡¯t gotten around to researching yet.


    Zack tried to ask a question about using aura with skills, but Sien simply deflected the question, leaving both of them squirming. The idea also jumped up several ranks on Matt¡¯s to-do list for when he got back to the Empire. Or his guild¡¯s list. He wasn¡¯t about to learn a whole new craft when he could just hire more experts.


    That would mean he needed to Tier up again if he didn¡¯t want to cut down on spending elsewhere, but that was what they were working on. And he was sure Zack would be willing to lead the project, which would make things far easier.


    His attention was instead brought to the fight, which seemed to be nearing its climax.


    Yun was being battered and slowly whittled down as Junming pressed his advantage.


    Just as what seemed like the deathblow was descending, Yun once more burst into a cloud of wind and flowers. But Matt raised an eyebrow as, unlike thest few times she had used that spell, she actually fully transformed into a gust of wind.


    Junming clearly thought it was just another ploy and shed down where he thought she was dodging to, but that opened him up to her reformed de as she appeared next to him.


    Her dagger traced a neat line across the Tier 8s throat and blood welled up as his head was nearly cut off.


    Sien pped her hands together in delight. ¡°A marvelous show. Truly, she is an exemr of her Sect.¡±


    Even as Zhang Junming started to bleed out on the stage, the crowd went wild at theeback.


    Xiao Yun, on the other hand, staggered her to feet from where she tumbled and watched until her opponent was dered defeated and a healer came to save his life. It didn¡¯t look particrly altruistic, though, as the healer was very clearly angling for a favor of some form from the defeated disciple.


    She moved to raise a fist, but realizing that was her broken arm, settled for a small verbal cheer.


    Sien waved her hand, and their room filled with dense, dreamlike smoke until it obscured everything except for Sien herself, who was illuminated with an ominous red glow. It still left them with an excellent sight-line as Sien wrapped the retreating Xiao Yun in smoke and teleported her into the center of the dreamlike scene.


    As soon as the girl was able to process what she was seeing, she threw herself on the floor. ¡°This unworthy one pleads The Lady of Ill Dreams spare her!¡±


    Sien¡¯s response emanated from the coiling shadows, a chorus of whispers in a thousand voices, ¡°You carry yourself well. Yet you are still weak. Your blood stains this realm. What do you have to say in your defense?¡±


    ¡°I am unworthy of your attention, oh great one! I am too weak, I have no defense, I am but a candle before your greatness!¡±


    ¡°Yet you challenge your betters. Why do you do this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Matt smirked as he watched Yun¡¯s face as it changed. ¡°I challenge my betters for that is what it is to be a cultivator! I challenge the heavens and dare them to strike me down. What would I be if I did not challenge an insignificant worm merely because he is superior to me?¡±


    ¡°You insult your foe, yet call him superior within one breath?¡± It was interesting, watching Sien puppet the shadows. Some of the voices sounded more like distant screams than proper whispers, and it all added up to quite the effect. It wasn¡¯t often he saw higher Tiers work from this side of the screen, and he was very much enjoying it, though he was also worried Sien might traumatize the poor girl if she pushed too much further.


    ¡°All my foes are but worms before me!¡±


    ¡°Even me?¡± Sien spoke with her own voice this time, and a coil of darkness physically grabbed the prostrate girl and forced her gaze up at Sien¡¯s own glowing red eyes.


    ¡°I challenge the Realm itself! You are mighty, but¡­. Yes! I challenge you, Lady of Ill Dreams!¡±


    Matt saw Sien smirk at Tier 26 speeds, but she stayed domineering at the timescales Yun could perceive.


    ¡°Bold words from one so, so <em>fragile</em>. If you seek to challenge the heavens, you must first challenge me!¡±


    What followed was what Matt could only really consider training because he¡¯d been taught by Luna, and even <em>she</em> didn¡¯t tend to use mental effects to simte the pain of particrly gruesome injuries as they were dealt. But eventually, Sien allowed Yun tond a frantic blow upon her hand. And with that, Sien closed off their view of what was going on as the world rushed to copse on Xiao Yun in a stream of nightmare creatures.


    When the smoke cleared a minuteter, Yun was gone and Sien was back sipping her tea.


    ¡°That was most enjoyable. Mentoring particrly vivacious younglings is such a unique joy. If you haven¡¯t had the pleasure, I rmend you try it at least once.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d she go?¡± Liz asked.


    ¡°Xiao Yun has been returned to her quarters in her sect, and shall awaken in the middle of the night with a fright as the illusion of her quarters being empty is dispelled. She will, of course, be fully healed just to make her wonder if it was all real or an illusion. The uncertainty will be delicious until she finds my token, proving my presence wasn¡¯t <em>purely</em> a dream.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not going to tell us what that token is or what it does?¡± Aster challenged. ¡°Don¡¯t leave us hanging here. I have to know!¡±


    ¡°But of course not,¡± she smirked. ¡°Ady must retain her secrets.¡±


    Even as Allieughed hard enough to start snorting, Matt shared amiserating look with Zack. What was it with wacky mentors?

 Chapter 362

    Once their meal drew to a close, Sien brought them to a world three links away for their next rift. It would have been pretty typical if she hadn¡¯t literally <em>brought</em> them, no ship involved. Instead, she¡¯d used some kind of smoke-cloud skill to cart them directly through Chaotic Space with barely a bump. Allieined it was too slow and not luxurious, but it was still faster than anyparable Tier ship would have been.


    When they asked about the method she was using, they only got intentionally cryptic answers about the realm of dreams and its unlimited reach.


    Unlike her favorite rift, the rift they were about to delve was famous.


    Well. Rtively. <em>He </em>knew about it, and a number of non-aperology hobbyists would be familiar with it, but none of the other Empire Ascenders had heard about it before he mentioned it. It was known as the Rift of Challenging Heavens, and pushed the limits of what was thought to be possible in a rift.


    The simple entrance to the rift was already incredibly borate, with white marble and gold trim found in abundance, thanks to the sect that owned it adopting some of its visual motifs.


    There were a few groups on standby that seemed ready to delve the rift should a team not show up, but their slightly irritated expressions were reced with servile smiles the moment they saw who was escorting them to the rift.


    Matt almost wished that Sien wasn¡¯t there. He would have loved to see the Tier 28¡¯s expressions once they realized the weak Tier 26¡¯s could kick their asses to the local star and back without breaking too much of a sweat.


    Or maybe they would be the ones to get their asses kicked. One of the women in the second group gave Matt a dangerous feeling, and he returned her stare with one of his own. Her right arm was ghostly and had an ethereal aura which caught all of their attention.


    ¡°I wonder if she¡¯d let me borrow that arm?¡± Allie''sment surprisingly pulled augh out of Matt, which broke the tension he had been feeling.ording to legend, this rift dated all the way back to the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity. It was one of the few ces that had survived the Shattering and provided a peek into ancient, <em>ancient</em> history. If that were true, it was basically a time capsule, a final, tenuous connection to something that everyone had long forgotten.


    It made Matt wonder. Would the Empire one day be in a simr situation? A scant few rifts and ruins dotted about the Realm, preserved as a final memory of that which had once been abundant? If they lost their eventual true war, would ces like this be the only sign they had once existed?


    <em>No</em>.


    He refused to let that evere to pass. So long as he lived, he would keep the Empire alive.


    If he was strong enough, he could dictate the rules and prevent this from happening to the Empire.


    That thought rang true, and he felt his spirit stirring in a way he¡¯d never forget. There was the potential for an inspiration if he delved down that thought far enough, but if he tried to force it now, he would lose whatever tenuous resonance made that very inspiration possible. So he let it pass. It could sit in his subconscious until he was in a better ce to finish it.


    There were a lot of things Matt could do, far more than the average person, let alone the average Tier 26. But at the same time, there were a lot of things he couldn¡¯t do, and that was ok.


    As they neared the rift, they had to wait for two teams to cycle into the rift, which surprised Matt yet again. Low Tier rifts might be delved on cooldown, but it was extremely rare for a Tier 28 rift to be so heavily delved.


    Doubly so were the mana crystals the delving teams needed to present as proof they had enough mana to pay for their cycle of the rift.


    A quick probe of the rift told Matt that they were delving the rift at as close to full capacity as was possible.


    Though, not quite.


    Looking to Sien, Matt asked, ¡°Can we burn a second instance to make sure the rift is actually full?¡±


    ¡°The rift is well tended-to, fear not. Thy rewards shall be plentiful.¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°It''s close to full, but not actually full. The rewards will be good, but not full good.¡±


    Sien turned her red eyes to the guards watching the rift, who visibly swallowed. ¡°Mistress, I¡¯ve informed the curator and he is rushing over immediately.¡±


    It took ten minutes, but the frightened man apologized profusely for the actions of his predecessor, who had allowed the rift to dip slightly below full. They immediately had one of the tenders dip inside with a bag full of mana crystals, then leave the bag inside as the instance cycled fifteen minutester.


    Once that happened, there was a noticeable increase in the presence of the rift and they were ready to delve.


    Matt smiled as they entered the rift.


    Even as he went through his extensive buffing routine, he scanned the rift around them.


    They were standing on a floating ind in a pristine blue sky, with a few dozen other inds floating around them.


    The air was slightly cool, but in a refreshing way, thanks to the light from the false star of the rift beating down on them.


    It was, on the surface, absolutely idyllic.


    Matt saw the rift monster on the nearby ind and took a moment to inspect it.


    A single humanoid close to seven feet tall with baster skin, golden eyes, golden hair, and massive white wings. Its face was distinctly masculine, but with all the features that most people considered attractive. The ink-ck lines that seemed like tears running down its cheeks might ruin the aesthetic for some people, but with Liz¡¯s penchant for blood tattoos, Matt didn¡¯t mind. The monster was almost attractive, if not for the scowl of rift rage that was carved on the statuesque face.


    The moment they moved off the safe tform, the monster reminded them that it was, in fact, a monster made by a rift rather than anything to ogle.


    The wings turned gold as light mana infused them, and each wing turned into a giant array that bolstered the [Light Beam] it shot out of its eyes.


    Matt intercepted the attack with his own [Mana Beam], letting the two titanic beam spells m into each other. He could have overwhelmed the beam by dumping more mana into the spell, but he was interrupted as the angel exploded in a spray of light mana.


    Turning to Zack, he shook his head. ¡°Come on, man. I was having fun.¡±


    To his surprise, Zack actually looked sheepish. ¡°Apologies. I anticipated that the array would be more stable than it was.¡±


    Asterughed at Matt¡¯s expression, but Allie floated upside down by his left hand and asked, ¡°How much mana was that angel throwing out, roughly? That was a pretty beefy [Mana Beam].¡±


    ¡°About 5 million MPS, yeah.¡±


    Liz whistled. ¡°Ok, so the information about their power isn¡¯t exaggerated. Kinda hard to believe the rumors.¡±


    Their musings were cut off as a patrol of three angels started flying over to inspect the disturbance, which was where the rift¡¯s most famous peculiarity came into y.


    The lead figure, a female angel, started yelling something iprehensible. It was, so far as anyone knew, roughly as meaningless as the false-generated text in Rift made books. But considering the angels were one of the closest things there was to an ¡®intelligent¡¯ rift monster that anyone had seen, there were always doubts and rumors to the contrary. Some people imed that with a linguistic Talent, or some special modification to [Comprehend Languages], you could understand what they were saying. Of course, those reports were split between those saying the angels yelled generic-sounding judgements about them being impure, and them leading to a hidden route through the rift. So Matt was skeptical that any of them were true.


    Either way, none of <em>their </em>group were able to understand what was being said, and even if they could respond, the angels would still attack anyway.


    The woman¡¯s massive wings spread and a golden spear appeared clenched between her hands as she channeled a titanic amount of mana through her wings and staff to cast a zone of control spell.


    Matt felt all non-light spells weaken, while light spells were bolstered to a corresponding degree.


    By the time the woman finished her spell, herpanions were d in golden armor and wielding swords and shields.


    The female angel flew backwards with a p of her wings and pointed her staff at them, but Aster intercepted the chains of light with a counter spell.


    Matt flew forward and engaged with one of the male angels while Liz took her ce as a frontline fighter next to him. Together, they entangled the monsters and prevented them from rushing down Aster and Zack. Allie was somewhere, but where exactly was a mystery to Matt, as he couldn¡¯t feel her presence anywhere in the few dozen miles around them.


    Not that they needed her help. As Zack had proven, the angels had a critical w in their wings, but taking advantage of it again would have ruined the fun. Instead, they were fighting the monsters the way they were intended to.


    The fact that [Cracked Phantom Armor] got progressively better at defending against the attacks as it attuned itself to light mana, and that attack specifically, wasn¡¯t cheating at all. Sure, it made his armor glow way brighter and gain a minor blinding effect, but even that was absolutely just a valid part of Matt¡¯s core kit, no matter what Aster said.


    To not circumvent the <em>entire</em> challenge, he focused on his sword fundamentals and worked to defeat his opponent that way. The angel wasn¡¯t on his level, but its Tier advantage still meant it was beating him. Not by much, but the slight advantage had him working to hold his ground.


    With her simr match up and longer range weapon, Liz was doing slightly better with her spear, but she still wasn¡¯t choosing to overwhelm her opponents with numbers. Like Matt, she was slowly whittling down the frontline fighter engaging her.


    Zack and Aster had it far easier as they took the time to either pick apart the mage angel¡¯s spells, or in Aster''s case, counter any of the support spells it cast.


    It took almost five minutes, but Matt had finally hacked through the shield. And without the defensive wall, the angel before him quickly fell, letting him fall onto the mage.


    She tried to conjure a wall of light to block him, but with [Cracked Phantom Armor] aspected to light mana, he slipped right through with only a spray of sparking light mana to signify his passage.


    One swing of his sword bisected the monster and ended that portion of the fight.


    He did, however, notice that even as her body started to dissolve into light, a single feather remained in its ce.


    That was incredibly lucky, and as Matt reached to snag it, he found a starry hand already grabbing it.


    ¡°Got it!¡± Allie¡¯s appearance wasn¡¯t surprising, and neither was her snatching the prize.


    Loot in hand, she sauntered over to Aster and stuffed the golden feather into his bond¡¯s tail. ¡°Ta da!¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Liz finally pierced thest angel''s shield with a skill empowered thrust and joined them, looking at their small collection.


    ¡°One down, seven hundred and seventy six to go.¡±


    Liz finished draining the male angel before letting the body drop into the emptiness, and a second phoenix took its ce on Aster''s shoulder.


    ¡°I doubt things will be quite so easy after this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, definitely not. There are three groups rushing this way now.¡±


    Matt cursed Allie for not telling them that immediately, but she didn¡¯t vanish this time, even as the three groups¡¯ mages worked together to cast an evenrger zone of light buffs.


    Aster dispelled their effort, which had a significant bacsh and caused one of the male monsters to lose an arm as the mana they were channeling through it spiraled out of control.


    Matt had his hands full on his end as three angels, two women and a man, tried to circle around him to get to Zack and Aster.


    Allie appeared next to one, her daggers already pressing into its throat, but the moment she tried to drive the de home, the damage was transferred onto her own neck.


    Teleporting away, she clutched at her throat. ¡°Not this variant! Come on.¡±


    A bolt of silver metal pierced one of the melee angel¡¯s defenses and sent it staggering back.


    Zack didn¡¯t suddenly have a hole in his chest, which showed that he had identified the correct monsters.


    It was annoying that they had gotten this variation, but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world. This instance of the rift wasn¡¯t without its limitations. Because they got reflect monsters, they couldn¡¯t also get the regenerating monsters, which was considered the most annoying variation. Healers meant that you needed to kill every monster twice as their bodies reconstituted from critical damage, but it wasn¡¯t as ideal as getting the swarm variation, which just had more monsters than normal.


    The monsters that cast the reflect just had to be identified and taken out first before the others could be dealt with.


    Allie appeared next to the monster Zack had identified, but a golden cage trapped her the moment she appeared, cast by one of the backline mages. Aster immediately encased Allie in a burst of snowy illusion, and she was free a momentter.


    Still, the interruption slowed her down long enough that the reflected monster was able to retreat to the mages and get healed.


    Phoenix Lizunched herself off human Liz¡¯s shoulder and sent a barrage of feathers at the melee soldier who made the mistake of blocking with his shield instead of dodging. Instead of just bouncing off his armor, the feathers turned into lines of blood which then burrowed their way into the monster''s arm.


    Matt took dozens of wounds, some self inflicted, as heshed back out at his attackers. But all of his wounds healed almost instantly, and the monsters started cheering at his supposed damage. Instead of stopping, Matt continued attacking. He was determined to keep pushing forward, as once Liz killed the reflector, he could use his position to inflict lethal attacks.


    The mages tried to heal and purge Liz from the angel''s flesh, but their golden magic wasn¡¯t a match for Liz¡¯s golden ichor. In just seconds, she had consumed the angel from the inside out. A Liz freed herself from the confines of the angel¡¯s body with a spear leading the charge, which took one of the mages in the gut, spreading ichor like a gue.


    With the reflector dead, Matt cut down two of the melee angels in quick session, but he was still slower than Allie, who teleported in close to finish off the remaining angel mages.


    ¡°Not a single feather? That''s bullshit.¡± Allie¡¯sint struck a chord, so Matt tried to lighten the mood.


    ¡°You know, ording to legend, the pre-Shattering Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity managed to de-aggro the angels. Th¡ª¡±


    ¡°I bet they were just trying to bang them.¡±


    Matt paused at Alliesment. She probably wasn''t wrong, but that was <em>weird</em>. Humanoid monsters were still monsters. The ethical issues with such an action were numerous, but at the same time, it fit with what he knew of the Evesting Kingdom royalty and their habits of elevating themselves above all such criticism.


    ¡°No matter their rtions with the angels, there are a few surviving recordings about winged humanoids that match the description. That¡¯s part of what makes the rift so unique. Because no one since has managed to get the angels to breed without the all consuming rage of rift monsters. But there aren¡¯t any new rifts with angels, and you know what that means?¡±


    Aster shook her head. ¡°No, actually. What does that mean?¡±


    Matt put on his best spooky voice. ¡°If all of that is true, and the theories on rift monsters bing sentient are correct, that means, there is a poption of angels <em>somewhere</em>. Possibly lost to chaotic space in the war that saw the Evesting Kingdom dismantled. But it''s impossible to know. Officially, there were nos with angels lost, but there were close to a hundred that are recorded to have been cut off and lost to the vastness of chaotic space.¡±


    He was interrupted by Allie blowing a very loud raspberry. ¡°You read too many crazy theories. This is what science does to the brain. Better to fill it with shitty movies and bad novels.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow. ¡°Care to borate?¡±


    Instead Liz answered, ¡°I think I agree with Allie on this one. I did my own research after you talked about this rift. Depending on who you listen to, it¡¯s absolutely known that angels were the original dwarves, that they are still secretly living in the Corporations, <em>and</em> that they were actually just bird bloodlines with wings in their human forms. Give me a couple weeks and I could have wings just like them in human form. Honey, at least like half the stories about this ce are outright lies and the other half are just wrong. <em>Nobody</em> knows what¡¯s up with all this, and if anyone does, they aren''t sharing. Hmm¡­ maybe we should ask Aunt Helen and see if she¡¯s heard of the rift?¡±


    Zack shook his head, clearly still contemting Matt''s theory. ¡°Better answers than being lost to the void. That is a fate possibly worse than death. To the immortal, unable to pierce reality to chaotic space on their own, it¡¯s condemnation to a single universe until eventually their essence cores Tier them up on its own. Or ruining one''s foundation by absorbing lower Tier essence in the hope to advance enough to exit. To the non immortals, it''s possibly worse. They might die and find release that way, but any descendants are trapped there and stuck with whatever Tier of they have. It''s not a fate I would wish on even my greatest enemy.¡±


    Allie shook herself like a wet dog before kicking in Matt''s direction. ¡°Ok, that''s a dark thought. I¡¯d never get trapped like that, so I <em>definitely</em> don¡¯t need to let my mind start imagining the awful possibilities. Fuck you, Matt. It would have cost you nothing to not share that.¡±


    ¡°It would have cost you nothing to not stab me when you came to pick me up.¡±


    ¡°Physical trauma isn¡¯t nearly as bad as mental.¡±


    ¡°It''s both for me, damn it!¡±


    They continued their bickering for almost half an hour as they cleared the surrounding inds of angels.


    The topic of the angels still being out there somewhere, possibly locked on a single circling around in chaotic space came back up a few times, eventually with Allie deciding that she was going to grab a chaotic ship from L and go exploring the depths of chaotic space once she was Tier 30 or so.


    Aster and Liz correctly¨C at least to Matt¨C argued that it wasn¡¯t exploring if Allie just teleported back to the Empire every few hours for snacks, but Allie argued that the only important detail was what she saw and not how she saw it.


    It was an interesting idea though, and Matt decided that he¡¯d probably go on an adventure like that at some point.


    Chaotic space was said to be a nigh limitless whirlpool with the Great Powers at the metaphorical center, and from the stories L told from her guild, things could get weird the further you went away from the collective Great Powers.


    It wasn¡¯t entirely clear <em>why</em> the Great Powers were in aparatively tame section of Chaotic Space, as they weren¡¯t tethered to anything except each other, but one branch of spection had it due to the presence of high Tier individuals, especially Tier 50s. None of the theories for <em>why</em> the Tier 50s made local Chaotic Space calmer agreed in any way, but it was a sensible enough guess by Matt¡¯s estimation. It was a known fact that no cultivators above Tier 45 lived outside the Great Powers, and while there were somes that strong, they had no inhabitants.


    A fleeting thought made Matt smile. If they were able to get Allie to establish a waypoint on a high-Tier deep in Chaotic Space, they could build a secret base way, <em>way</em> out from civilization, and Matt could create a readily-farmable Tier 48, 49, even <em>Tier 50</em> rift with none the wiser.


    He could see half a dozen issues with the idea, but it was something to consider. Issues that could possibly be solved weren¡¯t really issues.


    Matt¡¯s musings sadly were put to rest when they approached their first city.


    Despite being a flying city that had no need for walls, the golden city had thousands of soldiers marching on its massive, two hundred foot tall walls. They also had archers and anti siege equipment, cannons, and ballista at the ready.


    The mana cannons predictably shot pirs of light, but the ballista were more ordinary, which gave them a degree of danger not present in the purely mana based attacks.


    Zack was able to pick apart the mana cannon spells, but they still needed to assault an entire coordinated city with just the five of them.


    Matt led the charge through the rain of arrows and ballista bolts, while Zack dispelled every magical attack sent their way. Aster thankfully kept most of the dispelling spells fromnding on [Bulwark] while also counter spelling the debuffs and traps.


    Allie had tried to teleport inside the city, but there was a ward around the edge that even she found difficult to pierce. Matt made a note to try and learn something from the city¡¯s wards if enough of them were still standing at the end of the fight, but he doubted that would be possible.


    Things got a lot easier once theynded on the city walls.


    They were suppressed and locked down with a litany of debuffs that even Aster couldn¡¯t dispel, but that was standard in a siege. And if they were so easily countered, they wouldn¡¯t be so widely used. Thergest issue were the rows of heavily armored angels trying to repel them from the walls.


    Matt and a Liz ran forward to a guard tower, fighting through the phnx of armored angels. Liz spread out over his body while Matt forcefully killed his way to the mages and what they hoped was the reflect angel of the area.


    In their killings, they noticed those angels had a distinctive silvery sheen that, while subtle, was noticeable if one looked carefully.


    When Matt arrived Liz slithered forward, down, and over his de, digging into the angel even as Matt stood his ground over the writhing angel, protecting Liz from the attacks sent her way.


    Even a crystalized [Bulwark] started to falter under the barrage of blows, which forced Matt to block with just [Cracked Phantom Armor]. The spell quickly adapted, but that didn¡¯t stop the ballista bolts from trying to send him flying off the battlement.


    It got so bad that Matt had to lock himself in ce with his Intent, but everything changed when Liz finally killed the reflect angel.


    A [Mana Beam] cut a swath out of the attacking angels, but Matt didn¡¯t let that stop him and continued to y the beam across until he was met by a light beam.


    Not wanting to get caught in a pointless duel with so many enemies around, Matt dropped [Mana Beam] and instead let out a deep breath empowered by [Cracked Dragonme]. The solidified mana turned into a wall of mana almost as protective as [Bulwark], but Matt was already swapping spells to [Cosmic Pressure].


    A thousand times increased gravity wasn¡¯t lethal for a Tier 28, but it threw off the monster''s sense of bnce as Matt varied the mana he sent into the spell, seemingly at random. It was actually a tactic from Team Zero that they¡¯d never used, but it was still useful against the angels.


    Their ughter of the city''s defenders brought out a mini boss. A stunningly attractive angel who stood close to ten feet tall, along with the correspondinglyrge wingspan.


    The moment they appeared, Zack sent a flurry of metal aspected [Mana Bolt]s at them, forcing them to defend themselves with their wings instead of attacking.


    Matt and Liz moved in to support them, even as Allie started slipping through the rubble of the city until she got into a decent position behind the mini boss.


    Together, Matt and Liz threw themselves at the mini boss.


    The boss¡¯s shield glowed with power before it rocketed forward, shield leading the charge.


    Liz met the blow with her own shield, and the resulting explosion caused the remaining half of the city to copse. It would have been worse if not for Liz¡¯s growth shield absorbing more than half of the physical force, but that energy was sent right back a momentter when she activated the shield''s effect.


    Aster countered a rage filled roar, that tried to buff the mini-boss, with a cage of icicles.


    The angel stumbled back, which was the only opening Matt needed to cut a deep wound into its nk under its armor. Ducking, Matt avoided Liz¡¯s spear and followed its attack up with a fully charged [Tribtion Strike]. The lightning damage spell scorched armor and flesh alike, but Matt didn¡¯t stop and chain cast the spell with as many hits as he could.


    His damage was amplified by Zack driving a dozen small metal rods into the angel¡¯s back, letting the lightning dance from location to location.


    The smell of burnt angel was caustic in the air, but just as the monster looked like it was going into a second phase, Allie appeared on its shoulder and drove a dagger into its eye.


    Its head exploded, sending blood and essence everywhere.


    The death of the mini-boss signified the end of the fight for the city, and the start of the clean up to look for feathers.


    Eleven more cities like that one needed to be cleared out, with the final having arger fifteen foot version of the boss. But it posed no additional challenge to the five of them. The <em>real</em> challenge was finding the remaining feathers.


    It took them close to two days, even with Allie teleporting to search every nook and cranny of the rift, to get all 777 feathers. But when they did, they were able toplete the statue, which opened up a hidden area.


    Inside was a schr type angel who, despite fighting valiantly, died under a flurry of irritated attacks.


    The room, however, had exactly the prize they were looking for.


    The wings of an angel.


    The item wasn¡¯t just rare, it was damn near unique with how rarely it showed up on the market. Most people who got the drop chose to use them themselves for good reason.


    At its most basic state, the item could let anyone fly for a minimal amount of mana. Secondly, it had the ability to increase mana regeneration by absorbing starlight. And finally, the wings had the ability to improve the damage of any light spells cast with them equipped, simr to the angels¡¯ own ability.


    That would only be moderately useful, as light wasn''t the mostmon mana type, but there were several known methods to change the mana type to whatever the wielder wanted, which made them a very valuable drop.


    ¡°Score!¡± Liz immediately grabbed the bundle of feathers, immediately casting [Feather Armory] on them. ¡°Damnit.¡±


    She pouted as the pseudoskill refused to take, and Matt patted his wife on her shoulder, ¡°It¡¯s alright. Once we¡¯re back in the Empire and have our tools, we¡¯ll tinker with it and get it working.¡±


    ¡°I <em>know</em>, but like¡­ it¡¯s feathers! I wanted them to work right away! Come on, they¡¯re totally close enough.¡± She shook the rift drop like that might change the result somehow.


    ¡°Oh noooo,¡± Aster teased. ¡°Your super-awesome custom skill doesn¡¯t work on things you just found lying around. How <em>truly awful</em>, that you need to <em>make</em> your weapons like some <em>peasant</em>, like an archer who can¡¯t just use a random twig they ripped off a tree as an arrow.¡±


    Phoenix Liz just blew a raspberry at Aster in response, even as human Liz kept trying to get the spell to take.


    Matt was more magnanimous and went with Allie to go loot the final reward distortion, but they only got a handful of mana stones. Fifteen to be exact. They were Tier 28 mana stones, so they weren''t useless by any means. But with Matt¡¯s ability to create mana, any mana stone drop, even an above average drop, felt like a loss.


    ¡°This is your fault, Allie. I told you gold was a bad color for this rift. Too much gold. It''s never good to match the rift.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ fuck you! I had a good feeling about the color this time. I was wrong. It happens sometimes.¡±


    Their bickeringsted until they exited the rift, where they entered a war zone.

 Chapter 363

    The once pristine marble around the rift was positively bathed in blood.


    There wasn¡¯t a single spot in the surrounding area that wasn¡¯tpletely soaked in blood, and looking up, the cause was obvious.


    There was a battle happening in the sky above, while lower Tier sect members fought street by street.


    The moment they appeared, several spiritual perceptions roughly scanned them, but none got through their defenses and the perceptions slunk away after the five of themshed back out.


    Sien was standing off in a corner watching the show and waved them over. ¡°Look at what you guys set off!¡±


    Phoenix Liz cocked her head so far, it was nearly upside down in confusion. ¡°Us? How did we manage <em>this</em>?¡±


    Sien chuckled darkly. ¡°The corrupt local official was apparently bought out by another sect, and your issues exposed his connection, which caused the attacking sect tounch their attack early, before their influence waspletely scoured from the local one. Well done!¡±


    Matt scanned the surroundings but found that there were almost no low Tier unaffiliated people in the city, let alone mortals. They must have been evacuated before the fighting started in earnest.


    That, or they had been ughteredpletely before they had exited, but Matt didn¡¯t want to think of that possibility because that would force him to <em>act</em>.Allie fingered one of her daggers even as her eyes darted around, but Sien waved her hand and created a portal out of a nearby shadow. ¡°Best not to linger where we aren¡¯t wanted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised they are letting us leave so easily. Unless you informed them of your identity, Sien.¡±


    Zack''s question reached the heart of the issue, but Sien shook her head. ¡°I said I was incognito for this trip, and I shall remain so.¡±


    ¡°Except for tea service," Aster quipped.


    ¡°Or that time at the pastry cafe,¡± Allie added.


    ¡°Or¡ª¡±


    ¡°A woman of my station needs her luxuries. Besides, it''s <empletely</em> different here. If they had known exactly who I was, they never would haveunched this attack, and how boring would that be?¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°Are the Sects usually this¡­ involved? I feel like everywhere we have gone, things have been hectic.¡±


    Sien nodded slowly before shrugging. ¡°Yes and no. We are in valuable, high volume systems, and that leads to conflict more than average. I¡¯d say what we are seeing is average for these systems, with the understanding that this region is more contested than most.¡±


    From there, they broke into chaotic space and traversed seven worlds to reach their next destination.


    The rift there was a fun puzzle-jungle theme that they actually delved twice, as there were two main ways to beat the rift, each with their own typical rewards, and they wanted both.


    The first was the typical way to delve the rift by solving the puzzles, piecing together the clues until one was able to fix the hidden area with the boss.


    The second was to fly up and punch the hidden boss, the false sun that loomedrge in the rift.


    Anyone who could kill the hidden boss was able to get an otherwise inessible rift reward, which was typically a Sr Oculus, a very rare Natural Treasure, which could be sold in the Empire for arge fortune to any fire mages who wanted the ability to shoot fire out of their eyes without a spell.


    On their first delve, they got a giant block of Icarus marble that was a decently valuable floating material that they intended to sell back in the Empire. The second delve, the one where they fought the sun, instead gave them a mediocre [Warmth of the Sun Shines Down on All Below Me Thereby Initiating the Growth of Life]. The pretentious name aside, the Tier 32 skill was a fairlyplex nt growth encouragement skill that could sadly be replicated by any decent formation master, which made it fairly worthless.


    They were going to sell it, but Aster brought up a good point. They might be able to give it to Luna if she ever tried to turn Liz into a heatmp, like she had done to Mara more than once. And if that didn¡¯t work, the portable volcano might serve as a good heated bed.


    Matt doubted it would work, personally, but it would be funny to try.


    Allie wanted to try for a third time, but they ended up dragging her to the next location. But Matt was sure she made a waypoint at the system so they could return at any time. It was more of a question of if she would bring the rest of them, or delve the rift on her own when she inevitably slipped in.


    Days quickly morphed and elongated into years as they kept delving. Not all of the rifts were <em>that</em> interesting, but the progress felt amazing. It could easily take centuries to <em>millennia</em> to Tier up, starting in thete 20s, as rift slots became ever-harder toe by and healing cooldowns absolutely skyrocketed. But with two teams of Ascenders working together, meaningful wounds were quite rare, and the Sects were footing the bill for the rifts they ran.


    Were it not for the unavoidable injuries adding up and the time constraints they still had to deal with, Matt felt like they could make it to Tier 27 in as little as a half a century given their current pace. They weren¡¯t even pushing that hard. Well, not by his standards of the Path and mid-war rushed delving, anyway.


    At one point, theypleted a set of rifts that was scheduled to take them almost a year in two and a half months, so they ended up going back to Yun Me¡¯s where they spent the rest of the year messing around with Sien.


    Yun Me and Gan Le were nearby, but the only one they saw was Gan Le, who was always battered and bruised when he came to visit.


    Matt personally wanted to sh with Yun Me, it would have been a fun battle to see just what level a ¡®normal¡¯ person could reach with a million plus years of training. But she must have sensed that, as she never showed up in person.


    During that time, Matt did get a better understanding of Gan Le and his powers. He had about as much offensive capabilities as a baby kitten. Well, by Ascender standards anyway. He was probably decent by more ¡®normal¡¯parisons, but Matt was self-aware enough to acknowledge he had no real clue what normal people their Tier were expected to be able to do. On the other hand his defensive prowess was top notch.


    He even got to see it first hand, as at Sien¡¯s encouragement, they went into a local rift that had a giant tentacle ooze monster as its final boss. When neither Matt or Liz wanted to get close, Allie, at Aster''sughing suggestion, simply kidnapped Gan Le and they tossed him into the monster as a distraction. Despite yelling about the indignity, he didn¡¯t actually get hurt in the entire fight, which was a statement of power all its own.


    Even their time between rifts was rather fun. As part of Zack and Allie¡¯s buyout, they¡¯d ended up with ess to a decent number of Sect experts for training and lessons. A lot of them were too directly connected to their respective specialties to really be useful to Matt, Liz, and Aster, and others refused to give their lessons to anyone except <em>strictly</em> those they¡¯d been paid to teach. But with a bit of help from Sien, they still ended up spying on those.


    Through the process, Matt¡¯s overall impression of Sect skill modification culture ended up somewhere between skepticism and awe. It <em>seemed</em> like they were a bunch of superstitious, often-backwards self-righteous maniacs who were intentionally giving them bad advice at times¡­ but at the same time, ¡°might makes right¡± was a very literal proof that at least some of what they were saying had some truth to it.


    Imperial modification techniques were rigorous, straightforward, and reliable. They¡¯d been honed over eons for maximum effect, and a properly-honed skill was one with no extraneous effects, optimized for pure performance. Sure, if you wanted <em>maximum</em> performance you couldn¡¯t just blindly follow a guide, but that still meant you just needed to learn the underlying principles as to <em>why</em> and <em>how</em> a given action would improve a skill¡¯s efficiency, or power, or cooldown. Only then could you effectively apply them to your skill.


    Aster could drastically cut back the prominence of the portion of her [Astral Path] skill that was responsible for generating aurora mana, for example, because the mana she supplied it was <em>already</em> aurora mana, and therefore didn¡¯t need to be converted. It was simple, mathematical, and logical.


    His <em>prior</em> exposure to Sect modification techniques, such as the one he¡¯d built his [Analyze] based on, had led him to believe that Sect techniques were simr <em>enough</em>, though more borate and involved at earlier Tiers. But that was proven distinctly wrong as he spent time learning from the respective masters directly in the Sects.


    Where an Empire module might guide someone to improve their [Fireball]¡¯s cooldown speed by repeatedly dry-firing it while spiritually pulling on a particr portion of the structure, training the skill structure to prepare to fire faster while under stress, a Sect technique might involve a very specific andplex dance that needed to be memorized and mastered while tying the skill¡¯s effect topleting that dance. Then, one would slowly pare down the dance itself until it got simpler and simpler, faster and faster, all the while reducing the cooldown it had been associated with.


    Matt had, when first learning about it,mented that it was like intentionally giving themselves training wheels, then removing them to improve their overall performance. Luna had swiftly disabused him of the notion, pointing out all the ways in which his analogy was incorrect, even on a surface level. But the main thing he¡¯d taken away from that whole experience was that Sect skills often went through periods of intentionally making themselves worse before they became better, sometimes overtaking the more-regr improvements of Empire methods, sometimes not.


    He was only now learning just <em>how</em> true that was. Sect skill modifications could sometimes absolutely <em>cripple</em> the base skill, sometimes with no expectation that it would ever surpass the basic effect, just for entirely nebulous or incredibly rare benefit. There was a [Fireball] modification known as [The Blooming Of The Pyrostic Garden] that was worse in <em>every way</em> than the basic skill, but was nheless quite popr, because if youter got ahold of an Embers Of An Ashen Rose, it almost instantly became an insane cascading multi-stage congration that coated everything in burning ash and opened the door for a dozen other improvements.


    It wasn¡¯t like skill modifications that depended on a specific natural treasure were <em>unknown</em> in the Empire. Matt¡¯s own Sliver of True Night¡¯s Sight was the basis of a modification he¡¯d made to [Telekinesis] to help him with sensory feedback. There were even a couple of modifications that effectively subsumed a natural treasure as part of their modification, requiring you to drink a potion made of the treasure or absorb it like a skill shard while performing some form of spiritual exercise. But he was starting to suspect that those rare modifications may have been leaked or copied from Sect equivalents, rather than happening organically.


    Matt considered himself fairly good at skill modifications.


    No, on a second thought, he considered himself <em>excellent</em> at skill modifications.


    His mana regeneration meant he could modify skills far faster than most people, an advantage only further amplified by his flexible innate skill slot from Minka, and he had taken lessons in skill modification from the very best teachers in the Empire. His skills had almost no <em>truly</em> wasted mana, with peripheral benefits resulting from everywhere it spilled beyond its bounds. If he had perfect mana control, his [Cracked Phantom Armor] wouldn¡¯t glow slightly, but until that day came about, he¡¯d rather benefit from it being harder to dispel. He knew all of the fundamentalws and basic principles for how skills worked and the ways they interacted with the world, the difference between good skill design and bad skill design, and hade up with several quite sessful custom modifications.


    He was damn good at skill modification.


    Compared to Sect techniques, though, he was a baby ying with building blocks.


    Maybe.


    He still wasn¡¯t entirely sure he wasn¡¯t being messed with.


    ording to one of the visiting teachers, what phase the local moon was in had a drastic impact on whether or not a given modification would work, and the world absolutely had to have exactly one moon, or else the modification wouldpletely backfire. Another lecturer imed that a certain modification must be performed while unconscious, advising that while an AI was <em>eptable</em>, it would be better if either a dedicated skill- specifically, a modification of [Copy Text] of all things- or a Domain was used to do the mod. Oh, and while sleep was allowable, it would be better if it was due to passing out drunk while in a room filled with incense smoke. A specific <em>kind</em> of incense made it even better, supposedly.


    By far the most oundish one, though, was the woman who imed that certain <em>sses</em> of skill modification techniques, performed in the same way by different people, could have different oues solely depending on whether someone was married or not.


    That didn¡¯t even make <em>sense</em>, but she had enough anecdotal evidence that made Matt question things.


    Then again, there was a lot of stuff that didn¡¯t make sense. Some skill patterns, from what he knew, <em>couldn¡¯t</em> work. One modification for [Endurance] created a section of the skillpletely disconnected from everything else that only functioned as a timer of sorts. Nevermind that it wasn¡¯t <em>built</em> like a timer, and he had no idea how it kept track of time. But if that timer was removed after it was created, the entire skill stopped working. Even the basic skill effects that shouldn''t have been affected at all were disabled.


    He was <em>so close</em> to calling the person who told him that out as just trying to give him bad info, but Sien confirmed that it was all true, as she had done a simr mod when she was a lower Tier, except hers had required her to be eating coconut as well.


    So in the end, Matt was forced to acknowledge that there was at least some stuff going on that he didn¡¯t understand, and that skill modification was moreplicated than simple mathematics.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A good half of what he was learning had to be pointless superstition, but there was no way to figure out which half or what grains of truth might be hidden within without decades, probably millennia, of testing. How anyone was supposed to figure out custom modifications in this framework was beyond him, but apparently very few people made <em>entirely</em> custom modifications. Those who did frequently had a Talent or Domain helping them, while everyone else managed to figure out a way to modify a modification to apply to a different skill.


    Overall, the most tangible advice he picked up was regarding skill merges, how to identify what he thought of as ¡°nodes of attachment,¡± and how to develop an eye for what apparently-harmless modifications mightpletely ruin everything. He¡¯d need to pick up a bunch of low-Tier skills and experiment beforemitting to anything, but he had a few skills that he wouldn¡¯t mind merging. Even at a very basic level, [Archmage¡¯s Presence] and [Cracked Phantom Armor] were two skills that he basically never used separately, and even being able to get the benefits of his innate skill slot to both of them simultaneously was tempting.


    It was <em>probably</em> Liz¡¯s eternally optimistic attitude on how well things would go rubbing off on him, but depending on how he managed the merge, he might be able to make [Cracked Phantom Armor] into a <em>true</em> channel, entirely removing its normal mana throughput limits and freeing him from his evesting efforts to keep it capable of keeping up with him.


    Or maybe he¡¯d be able to enhance [Archmage¡¯s Presence] with his Tier 25? As a life-aspected spell, he couldn¡¯t use his Talent¡¯s skill-reinforcing mode to strengthen it, but having flexible mana crystal [Cracked Phantom Armor] embedded in his body would probably do something impressive if he could properly integrate the spells together. He¡¯d been very pleased with how his Millennium Willow Lifesap had strengthened him, and tying the merger of [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Archmage¡¯s Presence] into the effects of that natural treasure could be <em>very</em> interesting.


    Going for both would probably be¡­ not impossible, nothing was impossible. But he would undoubtedly be forging new ground with such a merger.


    The most likely oue would probably require him to make one skill or the other a primary, and the other a more definitive subservient skill. As far as merges went, he was practically aplete novice, and none of the people he spoke to in the Sects had any experience too applicable to his exact situation.


    Regardless, he needed to first finish up his modifications to help [Archmage¡¯s Presence] stack with his lesser buffs like [Mage¡¯s Retreat], [Ranger¡¯s Sight], [Barbarian''s Hide], and the like. It was possible to get two buff skills that functioned in the same way to stack, but doing so would typically harm efficiency when only using one of the two. Not that Matt cared <em>too</em> much about that, not when doubling up would increase his effective maximum buffs and help him benefit from more than just the lower-Tier skill¡¯s secondary effects. But it was an annoyingly long process, even if an entirely known one.


    That meant it would be a long, long time before he tried to do <em>that</em> particr merge. Even beyond everything else, cracked skills and high-Tier skills were famously difficult to merge individually, and he was absolutely not going to risk his first skill and his highest-Tier skill until he was certain he wasn¡¯t just throwing them away.


    His first major target was probably going to be merging [Tribtion Strike] and [Mana Charge]. It was a good mid-term goal, as [Tribtion Strike] was already heavily modified from its original form as [Lightning Torrent], and if he could pull off a merge of a ranged channel skill and a melee weapon empowerment, he¡¯d consider himself ¡®pretty good¡¯ at merges.


    With just a few months left of their time in the Sects, the seven of them were out shopping. Gan Le had been dragged along, as he was the only one to have actually gone to the secret market they wanted to visit, when they had another <em>incident</em>.


    Gan Le, over one of their dinners, had mentioned a ck market he had visited when he was a mortal that had had a treasure Liz was looking for. Trees of Beginnings were rare, and all of the known ones weren¡¯t set to flower for a few thousand years, but Gan Le suspected that the ck market¡¯s tree had flowered in thest fifty years based on when he had seen itst and their typical blooming cycle. If true that meant they might still have some of its pollen. Pollen that Liz wanted to augment her blood lemon tree.


    Trees of Beginning were life mana treasures and their pollen was incredibly potent, almost dangerously so. It could, if transferred to other tree type Natural Treasures or items, rapidly age them without significant side effects.


    Liz¡¯s lemon tree was still incredibly young for a dryad spawn, which limited its maturity cycles. She believed that was why no matter how much mana and blood they fed it, the tree was slow to produce Rank 2 bloodlines and seemed to refuse Rank 3 ones all together.


    Sien hadn¡¯t even known there was a ck market at that location and volunteered to get them close, despite Gan Le¡¯s insistence that he could go there and get some of the pollen himself without creating an incident. Frankly, Matt agreed with him: Gan Le was nothing if not low key, and if he went to buy something no one would look twice at him, whereas their group was anything but and from what he had seen of the Sects, a ck market was bound to be a trulywless ce.


    Despite his misgivings, between Sien, Aster, and Allie wanting to go, he and Liz decided to just tag along.


    After hearing that Gan Le had stumbled on the location when he was just a mortal, Matt hadn¡¯t expected much, but he was proven wrong almost immediately. The ck market was like a pocket dimension inside a slum that even Allie couldn''t pinpoint until after she entered the first time because, as she exined, it wasn¡¯t actually a pocket dimension and they weren''t using spatial magic at all even if it looked like it.


    Once they entered, they immediately found the Tree of Beginning, which bloomed with light as tens of thousands of papernterns were hung from its branches. The tree was far older than Gan Le had implied, and even Sien whistled upon seeing it.


    ¡°We can avoid the market itself and reach the House of Beginning in a few minutes. Their exchange house manages the tree and keeps its discards.¡± Gan Le almost seemed to beg them.


    At least Matt imagined that was what he was doing as he tried to steer the group away from the bustling central market.


    Allieughed as she headed in the opposite direction. ¡°Not a chance. Let''s check the stalls. I see a pair of bracelets I want to check.¡±


    ¡°This is a verywless ce. I rmend weplete the mission without detours. I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Booooring.¡±


    Matt shrugged as he and Liz followed Aster and Allie, who ran ahead. ¡°For what it''s worth, I agree. We should buy the pollen, then window shop.¡±


    ¡°Is it really window shopping if the businesses in question don¡¯t have windows?¡±


    Matt contemted Liz¡¯sment but shook his head, denying her. ¡°It''s an expression. You called it window shopping when we checked out weapons a few decades ago, and they had the weaponsid out on mats, so I¡¯m going to count this.¡±


    Zack shook his head. ¡°Window shopping is just looking without an intention to buy. Simple. But Allie <em>always</em> wants to buy things, so she can never go window shopping.¡±


    Gan Le opened his mouth to say something, but simply shook his head, following behind and resigning himself to his fate.


    They made their way through three different stalls without seeing anything too interesting, but on the fourth one, Matt found a rift-made pillow that was said to be unstoppable once in motion. As his Intent had a simr but opposite effect, he wanted to test the item and see if, like his heart of a ck hole, he could use it to hone his Intent just as he had done to his Concept.


    It was cheap enough that he was pretty sure the effect would be minimal, but at worst, he was out a few seconds of regeneration.


    Sien even picked up a vial of silvery liquid said to induce nightmares from a stall selling poisons. She immediately downed the bottle like a shot of liquor, which terrified the seller so badly they immediately swept the rest of their belongings into a spatial ring and fled the hidden realm, not even taking her proffered payment.


    Sien merely dabbed the corners of her mouth with a procured silk cloth. ¡°Curious.¡±


    ¡°Did it do <em>anything</em> to you?¡± Liz inspected Sien like she was expecting the other woman to sprout tentacles or something horrendous.


    ¡°Naturally. However, I am far superior to it, and even nightmares know to defer to their betters. If you are so inclined, I could expose you to a recreation of its effect.¡±


    Matt quickly denied for both of them, even as Gan Le quickly backpedaled before Sien¡¯s gaze could travel to him. ¡°I think we are good.¡±


    Aster was two stalls over, looking at the Natural Treasuresid out, and Matt hurriedly followed Gan Le to join her, dragging Liz along.


    That was part of the charm about this ck market; things were so intermixed it was impossible to guess what the next stall would have.


    Liz, clearly copying Sien, picked up a Tier 20 flower crackling with lightning and popped it into her mouth, chewing through a grin at Matt.


    The vendor looked horrified, but Matt just started bargaining. Liz eating the merchandise put them in an awful starting position, but he was determined not to get fleeced.


    Just as Matt was getting the woman down to a reasonable price, a shout from the side wretched their attention.


    ¡°Get out of my way and hand it over. I saw it first!¡± A Tier 28 woman was in Aster''s face and shouting.


    Asters response was curt but she didn''t back down. ¡°It was in my hand first. Buzz off.¡±


    The Tier 28 seemed a little surprised to hear a lower Tier talk back, and her response was to flex her cultivation, trying to pressure Aster. It might have been impressive or threatening, but not even a hair on his bond¡¯s tail fluttered, which made the disy pitiful instead. ¡°Hand it over or I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    Matt felt Aster¡¯s hackles rise and his own reaction was to get ready for a fight.


    Sien had vanished to somewhere, clearly not interested in interfering.


    Zack didn¡¯t visibly do anything, but Matt noticed the small formations start to appear around his hand as he prepared forbat. Allie likewise had her daggers out and her expression had gone t.


    Matt took a step away from Liz, giving them both room in case things turned hostile. Part of him wanted to tell Aster to just back down, no Natural Treasure could be worth the bullshit that would follow, but he deferred to Aster.


    Matt even noticed that Gan Le had spread his aura of protection over Aster, which at this distance would be enough to ensure she survived even a fatal blow.


    The Sects didn¡¯t have any punching downws. Even if it was fairly rare for a higher Tier to besmirch their honor by attacking down, it wasn¡¯t prohibited.


    Not that a simr number of Tier 28s were any threat to the five of them.


    Aster started to shimmer as the woman leaned in close enough her nose almost touched Aster¡¯s. ¡°<em>Now</em>.¡±


    Instead of immediately responding, Aster sent them a message. ¡®Let me handle this.¡¯


    Aster looked the woman up and down before she sneered. ¡°No. And if you don¡¯t back down, I¡¯ll put you on ice.¡±


    The Tier 28¡¯s hand blurred as it wound up to p Aster, but before the attack brushed his sister¡¯s hair, the woman vanished in a puff of wintry air. Aster smiled slightly as a snowkeden breeze caressed her face. In a move he was sure she had practiced, Aster caught a single snowke on the tip of her finger and licked it off with a vicious, tooth-filled grin.


    Matt nearlyughed at Gan Le¡¯s instinctive shiver, but instead got ready to defend Aster from the remaining part of the group.


    One of the party members shouted even as he ran at Aster. ¡°What have you done, you wench? Do you know who her father is?!?!? You court death by offending the¡ª¡±


    Aster raised a finger to her lips and blew a puff of air in the direction of the offended man. The faint gust of wind picked up a glimmer of aurora as it traveled, and as soon as it reached her new target, he too vanished.


    Matt didn¡¯t bother to hide his smile. Aster¡¯s Tier 25 Talent hadn¡¯t seen much use beyond being an extra store of mana in the war, as it functioned on spatial magic principles, and the countermeasures aimed at Allie blocked Aster¡¯s own efforts quite well. But out here, with no Ascender-grade spatial blocking to be seen? They didn¡¯t stand a chance.


    A pair of marketce guards appeared, both Tier 28 and brimming withbat buffs aligned with a formation buff that was activating around them. It moved to suppress the six of them and boosted the guards into Tier 29 levels, but that meant nothing as Zack raised a hand and a fractal appeared above them, nullifying the formation around them.


    At the same time, the two guards moved to apprehend Aster and Matt could feel dozens of other cultivations re as more and stronger guards started to respond to their disturbance.


    Liz teleported in front of one of the guards and drove her spear through his chest in one fluid movement. It wasn''t lethal, Liz having not activated any of her more sinister attacks that would have targeted the guards spirit, but it stopped the guard in his tracks.


    Gan Le, despite still providing his defensive aura to Aster, did his best to fade into the background. That was until a stray lightning bolt from one of the guards struck him dead-on, it didn¡¯t make him so much as flinch, but it did prompt him to take a bit more of an active role, and he tossed up a few barriers meant to hamper their attackers.


    Seeing they had things well in hand, Matt tossed the vendor he had been bartering with a Tier 32 skill shard to cover the flower Liz had eaten and the disturbance they had caused next to her shop. She was already packing her goods away, but took the skill with a nod before vanishing.


    Matt, just like Liz, used their bound rings to teleport forward and drove his fist through the chest of a third guard that had arrived.


    The fourth and fifth who had arrived with him moved to attack Matt, but their heads separated from their bodies as Allie¡¯s daggers flicked in and out of existence.


    Trying to ensure things didn¡¯t escte more than they had to, none of them were using lethal blows, so Matt and Allie allowed the three to retreat instead of finishing them off.


    Matt sighed and looked over to the base of the tree where the pollen they needed should be sold.


    ¡°Any chance they might let us buy the pollen if we ask ni¡ª¡± Sighing he shook his head as he realized just how ridiculous that statement was. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    Instead of waiting, Phoenix Liz flew forward to the shop just to get intercepted by close to a dozen guards.


    Liz squawked and drops of golden blood flew out and struck the leading few guards.


    They seemed shocked as the attacks not only pierced their armor, but their defensive spells as well, and that quickly morphed into horror as the blood started corroding them from the inside out. The moment they started to flee the corrosion stopped, but before Matt could see if they returned, he was forced to teleport forward to punch a mage who had conjured a bolt of void mana between their hands.


    Zack appeared next to him a momentter in a burst of travel mana before he punched the air and a series of invisible walls that were forming around them fell apart like nes of ss.


    More guards rushed in, but this time they were Tier 30s, and Matt knew their little game was about to end.


    shing forward, Matt entered the House of Beginning with Liz to find a pair of terrified sales people.


    Stepping forward, Matt forced out a smile. ¡°Hello, we would like to buy two doses of Tree of Beginning pollen. I¡ª¡±


    The man pointed to the side and shouted and Matt just sighed as he found a vault a few rooms away. It was incredibly secure, made out of Tier 35 materials and enchanted to its gills but Matt ignored all of that.


    Pressing his hands to the wall, he started dumping mana into the formation. It had anti overload shunts but they were meant to handle backflow and not close to fifty million mana a second.


    The runes started to glow before they went critical and failed not even a secondter.


    Zack was ready and drove a single glowing finger into the metal which parted around him like he was repulsive.


    Inside the vault, they found Allie holding two massive bags filled with seemingly everything in the vault.


    Phoenix Liz, perched on his shoulder,ughed even as Liz, Aster, and Gan Le arrived in the building but Matt put his foot down.


    ¡°We are only here for the pollen. And two doses, no more. And we are paying.¡±


    Allie theatrically sighed. ¡°You''re no fun.¡±


    Dropping the bags, she pulled out two small wax paper packages. ¡°Sadly, I expected that and was prepared.¡±


    Doing some quick mental math, Matt tossed what he hoped was the appropriate price onto the ground, along with enough to hopefully cover the damage to the vault he and Zack had caused.


    He then doubled it, as he was pretty confident that Allie had pilfered a few things before they arrived, but his deliberation was cut short as the Tier 30s were bursting through the front doors.


    Allie waved to a shadow next to the door. ¡°See you back at Yun Me¡¯s!¡±


    With that, the six of them appeared at the guest house and Gan Le sighed before taking out a new set of robes.


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t we just buy the pollen first.¡± He seemed to be working up a head full of steam and pointed at Aster and shouted, ¡°And why not give her the Klipiso Scale!? You don¡¯t need it! It''s a <em>defensive</em> Natural Treasure! Why can¡¯t Masters be <em>normal</em>? What is wrong with you all?¡±


    Aster reeled back as if struck, but Matt could tell she was thoroughly enjoying herself.


    Gan Le rubbed his face before peeking out between his fingers with his pupil-less eyes. ¡°Are they at least alive?¡±


    Aster twisted her toe into the ground, giving Gan Le her best puppy eyes and Matt could feel she was needling him trying to get another rise out of him. ¡°Define <em>alive</em>?¡±


    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhh!¡±


    Seeing she had thoroughly broken him, Asterughed and waved a hand. In a puff of cold air, five blocks of ice appeared in the guest house.


    Allie looked from Gan Le to the statues . ¡°Hey, howe you didn¡¯t turn into an ice pop when Aster put you on ice? Should we try again?¡±


    Gan Le sneered, his attitude turning around immediately. ¡°As if I could be bested by such a trivial technique.¡± Catching himself, Gan Le took a deep breath before closing his eyes and saying, ¡°At least they are alive. How long will it take them to thaw out?¡±


    Aster shrugged. ¡°Maybe a decade or two without a good ice mage or fire mage to remove the ice? Depends a bit on their cultivation. But possibly longer if we stick them somewhere cold.¡±


    Before she could say any more, Yun Me appeared in the living room and inspected the statutes. Her next question was t, like she expected to hear news she didn¡¯t want, but knew she couldn''t avoid. ¡°How many dead?¡±


    Allie sighed. ¡°Zero. Matt didn¡¯t even let me pilfer the ce either. I was waiting for something like this to happen for thest few years, and he ruined half of the fun.¡±


    Yun Me impassively looked at all of them, her expression unreadable. ¡°Very well. I shall impress upon them the futility of pursuing revenge for this humiliation, though their survival at least lessens the likelihood of their families pursuing you. Regardless, I do believe this serves as an adequate conclusion to your time here. My servants would escort you out, but I know you do not intend to wait for them. Goodbye.¡±


    At the curt dismissal, Allieughed, and Matt felt a wave of teleportation pull them back to the Empire.

 Chapter 364

    Knowing they were teleporting back to the Empire, Matt had expected them to appear back on the Capital, possibly in Allie''s penthouse apartment, or somewhere awful and annoying as a prank. Instead, he found himself in a perfectly sealed room with dozens of high-Tier formationsyered one on top of the other to a degree that even a Tier 48 would struggle to break out if he didn¡¯t miss his guess.


    His initial reaction was to panic, but he forced that reaction down when he saw that Allie was calm.


    She thankfully exined with a sigh while impersonating Manny¡¯s lecturing voice, ¡°Any and all travel outside the Empire means time in the containment room Allison. Any thoughts to avoid the containment room means a trip to the room to see if any impulses have been buried. It''s for your own good and it¡¯s standard procedure. Wah wah wah.¡±


    That made a lot of sense, so Matt didn¡¯tin like Allie started to. He instead tried to connect to the EmpireNet as they waited to see what had been going on while he was away. Except his ess was blocked. He should have expected that from Allie¡¯s description, but he was still annoyed that there was nothing he could do but wait.


    He was just about to ask how long they were going to be detained when a familiar face walked in. Melinda¡¯s mentor, Baxter.


    ¡°Alright. Drop any veils you have, stop any spells, and please don¡¯tin. If youin, I¡¯ll startining. And I promise, I have more toin about.¡±


    Matt felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as the implications set in. If a Tier 40 something wasining about this process, Matt wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to go through with it.


    It ended up not being <em>that</em> bad, as he¡¯d gone through simr things before, but Matt still found himself a bit spiritually sore after two weeks of intensive medical tests. Between the rounds of rote questions, giving control answers and basic physical scans for any kind of imnted bugs, he was given a spiritual shakedown - literally, in one instance. The specific ways in which his spirit responded to given forms of trauma were measured for any deviation from his prior baselines, as well as any tell-tale signs of lingering mentalpulsions or deep-imnted thoughts. He¡¯d also need to have a few follow-ups some time in the next century or two, but no sooner than five years out, just to make extra sure they hadn¡¯t missed anything.


    Thatst part made him perhaps a <em>bit</em> more sour than he needed to, and when Allie exuberantly asked if anyone wanted to hit a club with her, he probably responded a bit more curtly than he intended.She acted mock-offended, then in turn pitiable as everyone gave their <em>actual</em> pressing concerns. Zack wanted to check in on a few secretive projects he had going on, while Aster needed to start preparing for her own duchy¡¯s arrival, as well as deal with her ice cream business after having been absent for a decade.


    Matt and Liz yed a quick few games of rock paper de, but he lost, and so had to deal with the nobles that were no doubt waiting for them on Lilly. Meanwhile, Liz went to check on her bloodline research teams.


    From the gloating look on both Lizzes¡¯ faces, he was pretty sure he had been yed somehow, but he was sure she hadn¡¯t cheated in any obvious way.


    Making a note to investigate the situationter, Matt resigned himself to dealing with the nobles.


    Thankfully, Liz¡¯s team was primarily based out of the Capital, and for all herining about them abandoning her, Allie intended to stick around the Capital for a few months. Or at least, use it as a base. What Allie considered ¡®remaining close¡¯ was more reminiscent of ¡®checking in¡¯ for most others.


    Still, it meant Liz would catch up with him in a week or two at most, and while he would have dealt with thergest issues in that time, she would be arriving just in time to help with the drudgery.


    After saying their goodbyes, Allie, after a bit of jokey cajoling, teleported them where they requested.


    Knowing he just needed to get things done, Matt flew over Margaret¡¯s pce.


    Before he could even arrive, he was inundated with requests to speak with him.


    Most were from nobles arriving to the slowly forming duchy, but they were nonvital, so Matt just pushed them off by a few days. Thankfully, most were understanding that he had just arrived back to the Empire after having been gone for a decade, but there were a few who were insistent that he needed to talk to them immediately.


    Matt looked for Cato but found that his seneschal was off-world overseeing the delivery of one of the worlds from the ns, but should be back in a day or three. Hoping that Isabe might be around to help, he saw that she was halfway across the Empire at an auction in Liz¡¯s ce, trying to buy valuable bloodline resources from a private collection that were being sold off.


    Cursing his luck, Matt resigned himself to dealing with everything without any help.


    In reality, the two seneschals had dealt with most of the problems that had popped up, but while they could act in their stead, they weren¡¯t Matt or Liz, and there were things that the dukes needed to make decisions on.


    He was tempted to check in on Titan¡¯s Torch, just to see how they were progressing, but Matt knew that if he did so, he¡¯d spend the next week going over test results. To resist, he just told himself that he had a month scheduled to visit the guild once this was over, and if he didn¡¯t want to dig into that time, he needed to get through the paperwork.


    Diving in, Matt trusted Cato¡¯s ordering of the issues and just started from the top.


    The very first issue wasn¡¯t what Matt wanted to see, and if it was any indication of what was in the pile, it was <em>not</em> a good sign.


    It seemed that when Matt expanded the ind for his guild and tried to save the underwater ecological systems near it, he wasn¡¯t quite sessful. While things had seemed fine for the first decade, in thest ten years, the aquatic life had started a death spiral.


    Cato had hired a specialist toe and fix the issue, but it was estimated that it would take another decade before things were both stable and returned to their pre-expansion levels.


    He mentally kicked himself that he hadn¡¯t just hired a specialist in the first ce, and made a note to get some lessons on ecological sculpting sooner thanter. He was sure he was going to create an ind himself at some point, and didn¡¯t want to create another environmental copse when he did.


    While that was personally annoying, that issue was at least being fixed. The majority of the remaining issues were ones that only served to anger Matt.


    He tried to tell himself that these issues weren¡¯t representative of his nobles and fief in general, but simply the worst of the issues that had built up over a decade. But it hardly helped.


    One of his prospective nobles, not-yet-Baron Stevin Lin, had gotten ck-out drunk on a neighboring ducal capital at a¡­ Dynamic Extreme Tag tournament? He had to find exactly what that was, and was rather baffled at the result. He supposed it made for decent evasion practice, but what kind of entertainment was there in just watching some people chase each other when they couldn''t even use direct attacks to hit each other? Either way, while getting drunk would have been embarrassing, it wasn¡¯t an issue that Matt would have needed to know about. Except, Stevin was very much rooting for the losing team, and when they had lost, his second feature hade out: he was an angry drunk. He had then proceeded to start a fight with a neighboring set of fans who were celebrating their team''s victory.


    The fight had started a stadium-wide brawl that overwhelmed the local guards and forced the duchesses¡¯ personal guards into action. While no one had died, thousands had serious injuries, and everyone''s fingers were pointing me at Matt¡¯s not yet baron.


    Rightly so, but the issue was that officially, Empire nobles could only be charged by their own lieges or with their lieges permission. And unless Duchess Cynthia Barbant wanted to escte the matter to the Emperor himself, she needed Matt¡¯s nod to punish the idiot.


    Initially, Duchess Barbant had only been pushing for mary fines to cover the costs and a small punishment, but not-yet-Baron Lin had thrown Matt and Liz¡¯s names in the Duchess¡¯ face, trying to get her to back down based on their Ascender reputation.


    Justifiably annoyed, Duchess Barbant was now pushing for the maximum possible punishments. She hadn¡¯t outright challenged Matt and Liz, but the situation was only a hair away from her doing exactly that, which was undoubtedly Baron Lin''s intention.


    Would Matt and Liz¡¯s pride as Ascenders force them to interfere now that they had been challenged?


    From the perspective of public opinion, Matt understood what Baron Lin was thinking. The reputations of Aiden and L were quite ferocious, after all. But knowing them personally, Matt knew neither of them would have interfered for such a matter unless it was to crush Baron Lin himself for trying to drag them into his issues.


    Matt wouldn¡¯t go that far, though he was seriously tempted after reading the transcripts of the encounter with the Duchess.


    Instead, he just rescinded Stevin Lin¡¯s noble appointment and sent Duchess Barbant a nket apology offering to cover any costs that weren¡¯t able to be seized from Stevin¡¯s ounts.


    He was tempted to do more, but he was already irritated and decided he didn¡¯t need the stress of pursuing the issue further. His day had already been long, and it was only getting worse.


    Viscountess Martha Yates had decided to take her''s relocation into her own hands, causing massive damage when she forcefully disengaged her teleportation tethers without going through the proper procedures.


    This act outright destroyed the teleportation tethers on the three connectings. Repairing the delicate formations had a cost easily in the Tier 35 mana stone range.


    Reading her excuse, Matt wanted to strangle Viscountess Yates. Her''s location had been temporary; they were simply using the Tier 9 world to extend their anchor deeper into chaotic space, but they had noted where her final location would be, which she had known about.


    When a change in chaotic space eddies had blown in the proper direction, Viscountess Yates, trying to save a trip for a Tier 40, had disengaged her tethers to try and let the currents move her world for free.


    Matt almost wished she had failed in her maneuver, because then he could have strung her up, but she had seeded and moved her into the proper location. She even managed to reestablish the tethers, properly locking her world in ce in a stark contrast to her leaving.


    If she hadn¡¯t ruined teleporters on three other worlds, Matt might have congratted her, but now he needed to decide just how much her sess weighed against her failures. Plus, the cost to move the had been part of the war reparations paid by their enemies, and the repair bill was, unfortunately, very much not.


    Matt wanted to punish her, but he needed to bnce that against her actually taking the initiative. Neither he nor Liz wanted nobles who were only able to follow orders. Viscountess Yates had also not shied away from taking me for her actions in causing the destruction of the other worlds¡¯ tethers. She had mildly implied that thete tether breaks were the fault of the other worlds because they hadn¡¯t trusted a quick message to break the tethers, which further pissed Matt off, but she hadn¡¯t outright stated it.


    He was tempted to just remove her and rece her with one of her family members, but even Matt felt that was going too far, and decided to wait until Liz could weigh in. Instead, he gave her a provisional punishment of being forced to repay the damages. No matter what he and Liz decided, she would be paying them back for the costs, but further punishment could wait until Liz arrived and he wasn¡¯t so angry.


    A few other issues weren¡¯t so bad, but just when Matt was thinking he had gotten through the worst of the cases, he came across a hot topic just weeks old.


    Baron Thomas Lane had, in a tant attempt to suck up to Matt, paid for all the orphans to spend time at the local yPen and use those local faculties. If their orphanages had been giving advancedbat sses pre-awakening like Matt¡¯s had, that might have been a positive, but none of them had, and the yPen Director had rightly prevented any of those children from entering the rifts, which had sparked conflict between the director and Baron Lane.


    Things had gotten so bad that several buildings had been destroyed, a number of children had rioted, those who had been there originally were angry about the influx and overwhelming of the local faculties, while the orphans were angry their hopes and dreams weren¡¯t being lived up to.


    In theory, giving orphans a chance to delve and advance at the local noble¡¯s expense was a great idea, but the execution was so wed, Matt was tempted to go punch some logic into Baron Lane.


    Before that happened, he needed to take care of the children. As much as Matt didn¡¯t want to do it, he overrode the yPen Director and authorized them to stay. At the same time, Matt set up a system where the children would be broken up and spread amongst ten other worlds to reduce the impact to the yPens, while he put out an open offer for anyone over Tier 10 who had teaching certifications and could spend a few years getting the children at leastpetent in the basics.


    Matt also paid for a number of Tier 8 skills to be distributed just to ensure they were in a good spot, and not hurt by what should have helped them.


    He wanted to do more, but theary AI was already warning him about overstepping the typical limits, and he needed to use his ducal overrides to shut it up. While Baron Lane was an idiot, he had <em>tried</em> to help the children who were most likely to slip through the cracks and remain in the lowest rungs of society, so Matt wasn¡¯t going to be too harsh on him.


    Doing something that helped people for the wrong reasons still helped those in need and mattered.


    The children in question wouldn¡¯t have starved or ended up homeless, the Empire wouldn¡¯t allow that, but many of them might have been unable to join a guild or get a delving slot, which would have allowed them to improve their situations through their own efforts. There was always the white cor route of improving one''s self, but without a Tier or two behind them, they wouldn¡¯t be as desirable candidates as others who had money to spend on advancing themselves.


    Just as he was finishing up dealing with a Baron who was failing to deal with an invasive species of fungi, Cato, who had just arrived, caught his attention.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°My lord, thetest report from Soerilia has just arrived.¡±


    Matt looked up, finding Cato bowing in front of him, and he was bewildered that it had really been three days of paperwork already. He had to wonder just how the Emperor did this all the time.


    Matt closed what he was doing and opened up the files that represented Soerilia, thinking a change of pace might do him good. The first few years¡¯ reports from the overseeing administration team were disappointing, but not unexpected. Soerilia was, on all ounts, failing to meet expectations on their unveiling process.


    He wanted to me everything on pure ipetence or malice of the leaders he had met, but most of them had been reced. Not because of anything he or the Empire had done, but because they had simply aged out. Even if they hadn¡¯t been elected officials with limits to their term lengths and the need to win elections, it had been twenty years since they had originally integrated the world.


    That time meant very little to Matt anymore, but it was a significant portion of a low-Tier mortal''s life. It was a quarter of an average unawaked mortal''s life span of eighty years.


    It wasn¡¯t all bad however. The first five years of reports showed there was progress happening. Most of the positive progress was in the Rnd method: they had created a basecamp and it had taken off with numerous people flocking to the city, but that was to be expected.


    Arge part of the Rnd method was using the economic wealth that cultivation brought, the plethora of monsters that granted essence, and untouched wilderness that contained valuable resources to drive people into the area where the secret would be impossible to keep. Mana and Tiered items were better than a goldmine on thoses, and the untapped Natural Treasures the Republic had seeded on Soerilia were extremely valuable both on and off.


    The saying that a secret wasn¡¯t a secret if two people knew about it might not be technically true, but it was urate enough in these instances. That was helped along by a few well-ced encouragements for people to start openly using magic in small but noticeable ways. Slow, but ever increasing exposure was key.


    If only the rest of the was progressing as well.


    A number of countries were going through recessions, or in one instance, an outright economic depression thanks to a variety of circumstances Matt didn¡¯t have the time or mental space to properly delve into. The administration team had done what they could within the bounds of the remnants of the veil, and while that had prevented absolute copse, it hadn¡¯t fixed the problem quite yet. Their estimates put the issue at needing another decade at least to right itself without more direct intervention.


    Matt could ept all of that. Things happened, and with so many moving parts, it was difficult to ensure everything worked properly.


    What he found harder to ept was the plethora of new leaders who just outright refused to ept the facts as they were, and were effectively burying their heads in the sand.


    One of the elected leaders of a midsized country had even attacked the admin who was overseeing his awakening. He hadn¡¯t been able to hurt the Tier 15, but the act spoke of a deep issue in Soerilia and Matt wasn¡¯t sure exactly what needed to be done to fix that.


    Then, not a yearter, a group had nuked one of the portable awakening devices they had shipped over in the early years. They had at least been smart enough to move it into a desert and disguise it as a bomb test, but it was so incredibly pointless. They hadn¡¯t done any damage to the Tier 25 materials the device was made out of, but the sheer stupidity boggled the mind.


    Or so he thought, until he noticed the attached copy of a report they made after the test showing they were just stress testing Empire materials, after all, lesser tools failed to achieve any appreciable results. The notes in the margins suggested they were both disappointed at yet anotherck of results, and quite excited at the possibilities materials like these would bring. There was some mention of the potential for orbital elevators, a concept he had to look up and found quite neat, if rather useless in the wider Empire''s context. Anybody who has business in outer space was high Tier enough to reach it themselves, or had a ship to do the same. Even so, that they were thinking of the future even if with their limited understanding was definitely a good thing.


    He¡ª


    Matt¡¯s eyes snapped down a few reports to a line he couldn¡¯t quite believe he was reading.


    A nned assassination and coup of Soerilia by a native.


    Assassinations weren¡¯t a new thing, public leaders were always at risk of such actions but what Matt wasn¡¯t expecting to see was that the target was himself and Liz.


    That was almost adorable, in a ¡®watching a dog chase a flying taxi¡¯ sense. Even if it caught up, there would be nothing it could ever do.


    What was less adorable was the next entry was about the same individual, who in their attempt to kill himself and Liz, had set up ns to cause dozens of rift breaks all across the world to distract the guards he felt they would have.


    Rifts in cities were the main targets, wanting to cause maximum chaos and damage. And as a nice side benefit, soften up the militaries of the other nations, for when they would conquer them.


    Matt¡¯s already simmering anger red into bright hot rage.


    Matt didn¡¯t bother to ask why Cato or Isabe hadn¡¯t just taken care of this asshole. He needn''t waste his breath. Cato had long made it clear that as a seneschal, his job was to guide Matt¡¯s interests as Matt desired, but that he wasn¡¯t there to run things for Matt. That meant until Matt or Liz countermanded their previous statement about a light hand in the integration, he wouldn¡¯t change a thing until that happened, or possibly the local acted to cause the rift breaks.


    Cato''s words from when they had first arrived at the world echoed in Matt¡¯s ears. ¡°<em>What is right or wrong matters little. All that matters is how you wish to handle it.</em>¡±


    Matt was seeing the results of such actions, and he was tired of it. He wasn''t a heartless higher Tier who thought of himself as better than lower Tiers. He was and had been willing to let the people of Soerilia dictate their own fates, wanting to ease the into the wider Empire while keeping as much of their culture alive as possible, and causing as few societal issues as possible, but it seemed like that was a futile effort.


    Matt could ept that he and Liz had clearly mishandled Soerilia and they should have done things differently, but he couldn''t change the past. He could, however, change the present. Matt didn¡¯t have to let things continue in this clearly wed attempt at a gentle integration. It was time for a firmer hand.


    Standing up, Matt [Portal]ed to the teleport tform linking Lilly and Soerilia.


    Overriding the warnings, Matt activated the teleporter swap sequence, which he knew would activate some serious warning lights on the Soerilia end just as it was doing around him. Anyone on the other side had fifteen seconds to either get fully inside the dome or get outside. Anything between the nes was going to find itself in two ces at once and no longer a single entity.


    As he appeared in Soerilia, he cranked his perception to the max and found that while some machinery had been cut in half, no people had been hurt despite a few panicked workers who had been unloading a shipment of goods.


    Taking a step forward, Matt appeared five thousand miles away in an instant.


    Looking down, he let himself glower.


    Just as the report said, the leader of one of the smaller countries, or rather former leader who had kept power via means of taking up a non-elected role, had set up a rather sophisticated, if still unfinished, ensnarement formation for a newly integrated, deep in the woods around a rift hidden inside a mansion. Underneath said mansion were a dozen high-yield warheads waiting to be triggered.


    He didn¡¯t even slow down.


    Stepping down into the mansion, Matt deliberately let his presence be known and watched as Fabian Lacor was rushed from his bath to amand bunker as he received reports of his presence. Watching his face transition through a dozen emotions as he realized his n was seen through was quite gratifying.


    The game was up, and Fabian knew it.


    Matt wanted to, was even going to, give him one chance, but it was in vain.


    He watched as Fabian decided to detonate the bombs and as he gave themand to a nearby aid.


    Once the order was sent and the bombs were primed and ready to detonate, Matt reached out, twisted space, and grabbed Fabian¡¯s cor, lifting the man off his feet with an expression he knew would be unreadable to the low-Tier man.


    Fabian didn¡¯t even stumble, but his eyes went wide and his body went into overdrive as his new location started to dawn on him.


    The bombs should have already detonated, were the situation to y out as it normally would have. But [Light Maniption] could be modified to affect beyond just visible light, and so Matt held the pulse of radio waves still as they traveled from Fabian¡¯s capital to this remote mansion, giving him plenty of time to speak with the terrified politician.


    ¡°Was I too nice? Was that it? Were we too hands-off? <em>Should</em> Liz and I havee in and ruled with an iron fist, made it exceptionally clear that there would be <em>no</em> challenges to our power? Did I need to blow up a mountain? A moon? Just to get it through your abnormally thick skulls? Was there <em>anything</em> that we could have done that would have kept you and your cohort of idiots from messing everything up? We tried to be gentle, to give you the opportunity to close out your reigns with an age of prosperity, a peaceful ride into the sunset. Yet every step of the way, you¡¯ve been digging your heels into the sand. So what was it? W¡ª¡±


    Fabian interrupted him by shouting, ¡°Bombs!¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t even blink. ¡°I¡¯ve read the reports, but I¡¯m still stunned to see such suicidal idiocying from a man who prides himself on intelligence. I¡¯m certainly going to have a very detailed after action report to determine exactly where we went wrong, because you have a fatal misunderstanding of the situation. There is <em>nothing</em> you can do to stop this. I understand you don¡¯t want to lose your freedoms.¡±


    Fabian reacted, and Matt rolled his eyes faster than the man would be able to perceive, ¡°You don¡¯t want to lose your <em>power</em>. That¡¯s understandable. But what we clearly failed to get you to understand is that you never had any to begin with. Your life is, and always has been, a lie. The thin veneer of respectability based on nothing more than the decision some very foolish people made thousands of years ago, to give you a yground where you can fight and die and make pretend so that you all feel so very impressive. Where you can live, shut off from such terrible knowledge as your absolute helplessness before anyone with true power. The bombs you¡¯ve buried here are <em>useless</em>.¡±


    Matt almost smiled as he saw Fabian misunderstand him, but his mood was far too sour for that.


    ¡°Let them serve as an example of what you don¡¯t understand.¡±


    With that Matt released the signal and the world was awash with me.


    Left unchecked, the explosion would have ttened the surroundings and ruined the forest for miles, but Matt put a stop to that. His Domain Meld shed into being, the eclipse decreeing his absolute control over the manor, the forest, the <em>continent</em>, and he allowed the explosion to go only a single way: straight up.


    The barest mote of concentration was all that was needed to spare himself and Fabian from the bombs as everything around them turned into a raging inferno.


    Meeting Fabian¡¯s eyes, Matt said slowly and carefully so the overstimted man couldprehend. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t disarm them. Your power simply means <em>nothing</em> to me. I stopped them from detonating, and now I¡¯m stopping them from harming anything. If you unleashed every bomb in your arsenal, detonated everyst one mere inches from me, you wouldn¡¯t singe so much as a single hair on my head. <em>This</em> is what we clearly failed to convey. I want to say we shouldn¡¯t have needed to but clearly it was as necessary as it wascking.¡±


    Fabian had nearly gone catatonic, and Matt had already fully decided on what he wanted to do with Soerilia. ¡°I have the authority to execute you, right here and right now. Perhaps I should, as I have clearly been too soft with you. But, truly, you do not matter. Instead, I shall simply exile you. Fabian Lacor, you are henceforth barred from all public transportation, managed rifts, and Empire support programs. You are not barred from delving wild rifts, but given how you¡¯ve ruined your foundation by being <em>carried</em> through Tier 3 rifts as a Tier 4, good luck.¡±


    Seeing the once proud leader trembling, Matt almost felt a little cruel, but he crushed that sensation utterly. ¡°If you want my suggestion, take up a fake name, use the wealth you squirreled away and live out the rest of your days knowing that nothing you did mattered in the slightest.¡±


    Matt teleported Fabian next to the crater before stepping up into orbit.


    They were only fifty miles from the nearest settlement, there was a road to follow, and it waste spring in this region of the, so there was no chance that Fabian would die on the way back. As a Tier 4, even one who had used lower-Tier essence, he could easily make it to civilization in under a day.


    Matt, though, was done doing things slowly.


    His Domain Meld was still active, nketing a good chunk of the. A flex of will and that expanded to the <em>entire</em>. There was no contest to the action, as those few people who had so much as a Concept on this world sensed his Domain, full of fury, and wisely retreated into themselves.


    Everyone felt his act, but Matt wasn¡¯t done.


    He stepped forward, leaving behind him a trail of [Afterimage]s, each a perfect replica of him as he was. Normally, they would fade almost instantly, but enhanced with [Cast Illusion], puppeteered by [Illusion Maniption], and further empowered by his Domain in an almost-but-notplete Domain clone, they lingered.


    With a thought, he sent his illusions forth. One appeared in the sky above every major poption center, casting a prating light upon those beneath him, the citizens of Soerellia awakened from their slumber and shaken out of their stupor. His [AI] churned with mana, coordinating with theary AI as he, brandishing his bifate pair-linker like a baton, built out an array for a truly <em>massive</em> scale. Hundreds of millions of mana, several talisman tes, and far more effort than he let show went into organizing a global formation array that would ensure every human on the, even those who were naturally deaf, heard his words in their native tongue.


    He looked down, and <strong>spoke</strong>.


    ¡°People of Soerilia, hear me and <em>listen</em>.¡± Taking a deep breath, Matt continued, ¡°Your world has changed, and it will continue to do so. Twenty years ago, your leaders were informed of a greater reality, and were tasked with sharing this revtion with you all. They have failed, attempting to hoard wealth, status, and power for themselves and their underlings. Now, I speak to you, to inform you that great power is within your grasp. From this day forward, you are all citizens of the Sophron Empire, and powers which you dismissed as impossible are yours to im, should you be willing to brave the challenges they require.¡±


    Matt took the opportunity to scan the and cataloged the reactions of the citizens. He was only Tier 26, and couldn¡¯t get perfect scans of all of the people, but from what he could tell, the primary reactions were fear, confusion, disbelief, and a certain amount of anger.


    That was about what he expected. ¡°I am Ascender Titan, a duke of the Sophron Empire, and while those who previously controlled your desired to keep you all locked away, hiding the true nature and extent of reality, I and the Empire I represent believe that <em>all</em> individuals ought to receive magic. That it is their right to take their destiny into their own hands to do with what they will.¡±


    After pausing for a few moments, both to give people time to digest what he said and to give him an opportunity to wrestle a portion of the trantion array back into ce, he continued. ¡°No more shall you be subjected to the whims of those who attempt to control you through ignorance, who seek to divide you pointlessly for their own petty agendas. As of this moment, I am disbanding every military on the, and announcing the end of national divisions.¡±


    As he spoke, he tracked down all weapons of war, anythingrger than what a single person could easily carry and use on their own, and vaporized them each in turn.


    ¡°Your leaders had the opportunity, <em>twenty years ago</em>, to make this transition easy, to make this entirely painless. Yet they have failed, and in so doing, I am acting. Today is the day that Soerilia properly joins the Sophron Empire, not just in name but in reality. Over theing days, you will learn far more as to what that entails, but for now, those of you who seek to harm others, to kill, to rape, to rob, to destroy, know that <em>I</em> am watching. If you do not seek to harm others, you have nothing to fear, and much to gain.¡±


    Checking in, Matt found most people just fearfully watching the nearest projection, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do about that.


    Instead, he tried to give them a little hope. ¡°Though you may be afraid, rest assured that, overall, little will change. Those who are sick will be healed, those who are ambitious may rue great power by their own hands, the students shall continue to learn, farmers will continue to farm, cooks will cook. Your world will keep spinning just like it always has. I just ask that you remain calm and not do things you will regret. I will be persona¡ª¡±


    Matt felt Cato stretch out signaling he wanted to talk.


    Raising his perception to Tier 26 speeds, Matt tried not to snap at Cato. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°My lord, unless you wish to cancel all of your next few years of ns, which let me remind you involve you settling a dozen new worlds, meetings with the preeminent dukes of the Realm, an official meeting with your nobles, and many things I don¡¯t have the time to list, you do not have the time to personally oversee this, my lord. Give themand and I can rearrange things to fit that, but that would be an unwise decision by most metrics given your stated priorities.¡±


    Matt growled. He¡¯d made this mess, <em>he</em> should be the one to fix it. But if he threw everything else aside as he fixed this, what other messes would he be making? ¡°How long do I have?¡±


    ¡°A week before other projects would need to be pushed aside. A month if you are willing to skip your scheduled time with your guild.¡±


    ¡°A month then. When is the earliest Baron Hastra can arrive?¡±


    Yarn Hastra was the noble who was ted to be the ruler of Soerilia, but Matt knew from their check ups that he was still at his mother¡¯s barony, ruling in her stead until she returned from hertest delving cycle.


    With the dys of Soerilia, Matt had previously given him leave to attend to his family''s holdings for political and practical reasons, but all of that went out of the window now that he had unveiled Soerilia.


    Cato paused for a moment before blinking. ¡°We can get him here in a three weeks if you are willing to pay f¡ª¡±


    Matt cut Cato off. ¡°Do it.¡±


    He had already made the mistake and he could chalk up the extra expense as his own personal stupid tax.


    Turning his attention back to Soerilia, Matt picked up where he left off. ¡°¡ªlly overseeing the integration for the next month, after which point, your new baron will officially take office and will guide you the rest of the way.¡±


    Matt almost ended his speech with a ¡®If you have any questions, please contact me.¡¯ but there was no way he would be able to answer the amount of questions that would bring him.


    ¡°Please remain calm and look over the information. If you have a vital job, please continue to carry it out. More information wille shortly as things settle down.¡±


    Turning to where Cato had been, Matt nodded at the administration team.


    ¡°Ok, we have our work cut out for us. Initiate unveiling protocol 8 variation Echo. That best suits this situation. Any suggestions?¡±


    When he got head shakes in return Matt nodded. ¡°Let''s get to work then.¡±

 Chapter 365

    Matt¡¯s first action was to send a message to Liz through the Ascender chat. She¡¯d want to know what happened as soon as possible, and nothing beat Ascender chat in that regard. He told her to finish up what she needed and not to rush back because ultimately there just wasn''t much she could do beyond being another pair of hands.


    Matt could also admit to himself that he was feeling guilty about this being his mess and therefore his to clean up. His wife had been looking forward to her check in with her research teams for thest few years and he didn¡¯t want to ruin that for her.


    That taken care of, he turned his attention back to Soerilia.


    Seeing a non-significant portion of the popce start to spiral, Matt threw 20 million MPS to his [AI], letting it support theary AI. It decidedly wasn¡¯t specialized in the same way, but with enough mana and further enhanced by his Minka-granted Concept ability, it could manage, and it was good enough at raw data processing that it quickly connected to and usurped the local satellites andmunicationworks, which let it start tracking everyone watching for <em>issues</em>.


    Matt didn¡¯t need it to tell him about the half dozen riots already sparking off, but one of the administration team members had that handled, and he let his [AI] watch and give him updates about the situation.


    Considering how badly things had gotten out of hand in thest decade, Matt half suspected the admin team to be ipetent but they handled things perfectly. It was clear they had a deep understanding of unveiling tactics as they moved to correct things before he could even give the orders most of the time. That didn¡¯t mean Matt liked what they were doing. What they needed to do. When one of the team arrived at a gathering of people that was turning hostile, they came in with the weight of their cultivation fully unleashed and backed by their Domain.


    For the unawakened mortals below them, it would feel like they had lost all control of their body and Matt didn¡¯t think he could truly understand how they felt, but a part of his mind tried to imagine it. Not only was their world being turned upside down, but even their bodily control was being taken from them.


    It had to be horrifying.


    But at this point, they simply needed to pacify the as quickly as possible, which meant things like riots weren¡¯t going to be tolerated. The rest of the poption didn¡¯t deserve to deal with the results of such gatherings and they didn¡¯t have the luxury of a softer approach. With how populous low-Tier veiled worlds were, Matt would have needed another dozen hands to truly get things under control. But he didn¡¯t and the shoddy excuse for clones he created for his announcement weren¡¯t up to the task.He¡ª


    Matt realized he was still thinking like an Ascender and not like a Duke.


    Sending a message to Lilly, he called upon some of his nobles who were waiting on his home world. They could be of assistance and this could serve as an object lesson of what not to do. He also called upon the unit of their personal guard that was stationed as extra security to Titan¡¯s Torch.


    Matt didn¡¯t particrly like being able to use himself as an object lesson but waste not, want not. Zack would be proud. Well, not of the 20 million MPS usage but at least somewhat proud.


    Running through the unveiling protocols, Matt decided to go off script slightly. Again.


    Part of him rebelled after how theirst venture into doing things their way had turned out but Matt wasn¡¯t so weak of mind to allow a single mistake to make him second guess himself away from a better course of action.


    With a thought, he found the leaders of the three strongest countries and paused as he realized he didn¡¯t know any of them. The leaders he had started the integration with had all stepped down from their positions at some point in thest twenty years.


    Finding <em>those</em> leaders wasn¡¯t hard, it just took looking them up as individuals on theary AI instead of their positions, which is what he had originally done, but the mistake was indicative of his long absence and inattention. With a flex of his Domain, Matt pulled them next to his real body. He wasn¡¯t so high in the atmosphere that he would need to do anything to ensure they could breathe, but he couldn¡¯t do the polite thing and visit them.


    Time was of the essence, and if he left the formation center he¡¯d lose control over the construction. That wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world, but he was working to extend the trantion array such that it worked for <em>any</em> speaker, not just him. It was impractical and decidedly temporary, but he liked the message it would send.


    Briefly lowering his perception to Tier 3 levels, Matt said, ¡°I need the three of you to get on top of this. Ensure your recements are acting properly. Maintain order and calm the populous down as much as you can.¡±


    Matt was grateful that the three didn¡¯t try to bicker or ask questions and just nodded which allowed him to send them back to their previous locations in seconds.


    The former leader of the Joined Provinces of Turistia had actually been on vacation so Matt whispered into his ear that he could transport him and his family to his country''s capital building when they were ready.


    As much as he wanted to rush Westley Bakerfield along, his youngest child was panicking not only at Matt¡¯s own disy but the sudden disappearance of her father. Sacrifices needed to be made, and they certainly would all be putting in long hours, but a young child shouldn¡¯t be the one to be making those sacrifices.


    At least not as much as Matt could help.


    Thinking of children, Matt winced as he saw the countries that were currently in daylight had people panicking as they tried to leave their work areas en masse to return to their homes or pick up their children, but their panic and sheer numbers meant entire cities turned into gridlock.


    Matt would have loved to teleport each and every person to their home but that was beyond even his capabilities.


    If some of his just-now-arriving nobles and guards had some spare time, he¡¯d set them to do so but the situation should start to fix itself given a little time as people stopped panicking.


    As he was assigning those newly arrived to various areas to put out fires, quite literally in some cases, Matt was pinged by his [AI] as localmunicationworks started to go down one by one. The ones that went down because they were simply overwhelmed he was able to direct his AI to take over some of theputing load, but others had <em>issues</em>.


    Some systems had critical ws and singr points of failure, forcing Matt or another immortal to intervene when they went down. Communication was one of thergest points of friction in the higher-tech veil worlds. It was seen time and time again that people started to calm down once they knew their families and loved ones were safe which let them stop reacting emotionally and start processing the situation more rationally.


    In the countries that had been in their evening and night times, that was far easier. A lot of them were just huddling together forfort, which didn¡¯t make Matt feel good, but most of them simply needed to call family and friends, where on the other side of the people were trying to rush from work and causing idents, which slowed everyone else down.


    The secondrgest issue was the power generation nts.


    Most of them could run with minimum outside interference but as issues cropped up, Matt was forced to step in and prevent them from going down. He wouldn¡¯t call himself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but most mortal engineering was easy enough to follow, and when he had any doubts he essed the schematics through his [AI] to fix any issues that came up.


    As Matt put a power line someone had run into and destroyed back together, he found he didn¡¯t have an easy way to manipte synthetics like stic and put that on a list of things to doter. He tried a few different things, including semi-melting and fusing the stics with fire, but eventually settled on just using his Domain to stretch and ovep the remaining fragments. He would have much preferred to simply use something like [Synthetic Maniption] though.


    Thankfully, the world leaders started to help after the first few hectic minutes. They followed Matt¡¯s lead and instituted their version of martialw, encouraging everyone to remain home, except those in critical jobs, while also giving short messages about how they had been tirelessly working to avoid this exact urrence.


    Matt would have corrected them if those people weren¡¯t about to be out of jobs in theing months. Sure, some might be voted in as local governors, but a fair few of them would never pass the psych evaluations required for such a position.


    When people realized that their governments had beenplicit in hiding the truth from them, there was another round of attempted riots but the various immortals managed to deal with them before things truly got out of hand, urging everyone to go home and not to gather.


    Those admonitions,ing from people floating in the sky, worked unsurprisingly well.


    It took close to three hours before things started to calm down but that only meant Matt and the others could start dealing with the real issues.


    They started by broadcasting messages exining the general details of the Realm and their ce in it through every outlet they could. Those weren¡¯t bad, but after watching once, most people went looking for more information and the administration team made it as avable as was possible.


    Documents, videos, voice records, all were there for people to start answering their own questions.


    Matt felt too few people actually used the thousand page document provided but he couldn''t force people to look past its size and search for the information they wanted.


    The second major issue was when the administrators moved to start integrating the various world governments into a more cohesive whole after the first hectic few days.


    A number of the leaders didn¡¯t take that well at all and were summarily removed from their positions.


    That could have sparked more riots but between the immortals moving around quelling issues and preventing crimes in a very public manner, ensured the average citizen was too terrified to try and resist even when their elected leaders tried to incite them. Not that they could do so easily. Communicationsworks were one of the first things they had taken control of, which prevented mass dissemination of such calls to arms.


    On the fourth day, Matt, in a deliberate show of power, held a press conference with hundreds of the news outlets where he had initially stood miles above the letting his trantion function serve as both a practical way to talk to so many disparate peoples but also a a backdrop of what the Empire was capable of.


    He had considered creating a floor and walls to help people feel more at ease but in the end, after talking it over with Cato, he had decided not to bother.


    Most of the questions were simple or repetitive, asking if Soerilia could be left alone or if the citizens who wished to leave could be allowed to move to a Republic world. They could, at least probably. Officially speaking, only those who were alive before the integration were guaranteed transport and integration back into the Republic, but the Great Power had historically been quite epting of immigrants from worlds they lost in wars, doubly so when a Veil world was involved. Half the time, they even covered the full cost of transportation.


    However, it was <em>exceedingly</em> unlikely that they could go to another Veil world, which was what they actually wanted. Living in the Republic on a non-Veil world would be functionally the same as living in the Empire, just without free Awakenings and free healthcare. In practice there was no practical difference whether theirary administrator had a term limit of a hundred years or a hundred thousand.


    One of the early questions was one Matt had hoped wouldn¡¯t be asked because he didn¡¯t feel equipped to answer it, but it still happened.


    ¡°What will happen to our local economies? Or ratherary economy? If it''s true that there are millions of worlds in this Empire, will our small world be able to sustain itself or will we quickly find ourselves in poverty as resources and people are siphoned off?¡±


    Acknowledging that they could have asked a simr but worse question, Matt tried to give his best answer. ¡°I¡¯m sure that most people understand that economics are anything but simple, but I will do my best to make it easy to understand. I can assure you and everyone else that there are economic protections in ce for both low-Tier worlds like Soerilia and for newly integrated worlds. That means your own local businesses won¡¯t have topete with foreign entities for a few centuries. I will also mention that most citizens will see an increase in purchasing power from their respective currencies to the Empire Credit. As for brain drain, that is unlikely to happen as you imagine it. Some people will leave Soerilia but they will have simply outgrown the Tier of the world. That happens with all worlds eventually and isn¡¯t as impactful as you fear thanks to longer lifespans.¡±


    At a reminder from Cato, Matt added, ¡°I will also note that most of your citizens will see a drastic reduction in taxes. Both local and Imperial taxes for mortals are capped at 10%, and it will be a good five generations before Imperial taxes begin for you. The local tax in turn is to be exclusively used on local infrastructure and social services, and your baron can exin more of his personal financial policy when he arrives in theing weeks.¡±


    Matt internally winced at the mention of their soon to arrive baron; he had wanted to avoid reminding everyone that their leader wasn¡¯t elected as that seemed to go over poorly with most of them, but thankfully the reporters were more interested in the tax reduction.


    A few more follow up questions came about but nothing that was particrly onerous. He had no idea why one reporter used their question to ask about how the Empire felt about house pets but the segue opened up more esoteric questions.


    There was one question that caught Matt off guard. ¡°Reviewing the records, we find that you stopped a war between the Democratic Republic of Noricum and the Communists of the Greater South ins when you first arrived but our station found you had participated in a war just months before that saw the deaths of billions with tens of thousands dying at your own hands. A y war, with spectators watching and recording everything, even channels devoted toedicmentary. How can you be so hypocritical when they were fighting for far more valid reasons?¡±


    Matt looked at the woman who had asked the question and inspected her. She was nearly shaking in her boots as she asked the question, her heart rate and blood pressure were nearing dangerous levels. There was also a firmness that he associated with people doing something that they knew was dangerous.


    The other reporters shifted away from her, for a moment forgetting that they were standing on nothing, but Matt simply nodded to acknowledge the question. ¡°Their reasons for fighting were their own and I won¡¯tment on it. I simply stopped the war like I wish could have been done for my war. But yourment about me killing tens of thousands is misinformed.¡±


    Matt let his face harden as he continued before she could try for a gotcha moment. ¡°The true number is more in the hundreds of thousands. The wars of the Great Powers span beyond your easyprehension, as that war in particr was considered quite short on ount of merelysting two centuries. All participants are there willingly, soldiers who seek glory, status, or wealth as they prove and test themselves in the only crucible which truly matters. However, even with that, for all that I slew hundreds of thousands, it was across a war front of trillions. <em>Trillions</em>. Thousands of times more than all the people who live on this altogether, and those who I did kill, was strictly in the service of ending the war more decisively, with less blood shed. War will always exist, but it is my duty to end it, as above, so below.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Letting that statement sink in, Matt forced a smile and looked to a nearby reporter and prompted him for a question.


    The press conference went on for another hour and by the end, things had gone where Matt had wanted. Mainly about what he was doing.


    Not just how he was holding everyone aloft but the trantion aura he was projecting over the.


    Thankfully Soerilia had a history of magic stories, so it wasn¡¯t too hard for Matt to tie cultivation to that preexisting framework which was said to help with eptance. Only time would tell if that was true, but he was more than happy to take the time to understand the stories if it could help.


    Thankfully, and despite him assuring her that she didn¡¯t need to leave early, Liz arrived just a week into the mess. She had originally wanted to return and help him with the expected returning-home paperwork and she took the opportunity to yfully bemoan her good nature biting her in the ass. Matt was just happy to have his wife with him as she alone more than halved the amount of work he had to do.


    Liz¡¯s arrival made a few waves as well, and Matt got a bit of a chuckle as various talking heads andmunity discussions worked to try to figure out which was the ¡®real¡¯ Liz, and what was up with the golden bird on her shoulder. They didn¡¯t bother exining, because there was no real point, but he did enjoy seeing some of the very entertaining theories, and Liz enjoyed messing with the ¡°real body¡± spectors by ying into their theories for her ¡®tells.¡¯


    At the end of the second week, things had mostly settled down with most civilians returning to their jobs, which was when they started installing and moving people through awakening machines.


    Matt was hopeful that with a media spin or two they could have most of the poption on board, and while that did work, it wasn¡¯t to the degree Matt had hoped.


    Part of the problem was the numerous news stations that were too used to the oldws who decided to try and publish dubious reports about the horrors of awakening, all the while thinking they were toeing the line by suggesting the Empire couldn¡¯t force them to awaken.


    Key word being ¡®try¡¯. After their attempt was first noticed, theary AI was tasked with keeping a closer eye on the media and Liz gave them a warning to read up on Empire¡¯s official media standards and guidelines. Most gave up after a few more attempts as their printers refused to print, their websites refused to update, their broadcasts refused to start, and attempts to hand write flyers ended with all pens suddenly having no more ink.


    But most was not all. Some kept trying. And after a handful decided to try and address the public on the street like an old town crier, Liz decided enough was enough and started ordering arrests. That finally put a stop to it, even if many journalists grumbled about thesews corroding the integrity of journalism.


    Only in one instance did any of the undercurrents of dissent turn truly bad. One town, undeterred by the warnings and interference, started sharing that awakening was evil and would lead to death. When that hostility turned violent towards the already awakened and several people were seriously injured at the urging of the ring leaders, they stepped in.


    While there were numerous ways to handle integrating, there was only one way to handle such dissent.


    They ruthlessly crushed it, thoroughly uprooting the burgeoning leadership and charging everyone involved in public trials.


    Thankfully, a number of the people involved were not good people or otherwise had impure motives; they and theary AI had evidence of it all. It also helped that he and Liz were light with the actual punishments. Most of the true believers were simply given fines andmunity service, along with being moved up the queue for being awakened.


    For those who had treated the exercise as a power grab, Matt and Liz were far less lenient. In those cases, they dug up every major infraction they hadmitted and charged them. Few people had sympathies for local tyrants who used and abused the power they held, which was why they made everything so public.


    By the end of the third week, things had settled down to the point they didn¡¯t expect any other major incidents before Baron Hastra was set to arrive, which meant they had to do their after action report.


    Matt was no stranger to such reports; they had done them both with Luna and the army after every major battle but this was one where he and Liz would note out looking good.


    Even if, legally speaking, the fault didn¡¯t lie with them, Matt absolutely took full responsibility for insufficient <em>whatever</em> that led Soerilia to the point it was at. He fully intended this report to focus on all the ways they personally could have intervened, because without identifying failure points there was no way to prevent them from happening again.


    Isabe had returned from her auction and, having rtively less to do than everyone else, had taken the lead on organizing the after action.


    She stood at the head of the table and looked down at the attendees.


    ¡°My Lady, my Lord, gathered dignitaries, let us start with establishing what brought us here today. The integration of Soerilia into the Sophron Empire was initiated approximately twenty years ago, by the Duke and Duchess Moore. They elected to go for a slower, more gradual reveal over the standard more abrupt approach. This process has been ongoing and while significantly slower than nned has had seemingly no truly outstanding incidents, until three weeks ago when Duke Moore was informed about a plot against his life by one of the original leaders read in on the secret. In the aftermath of that revtion the Lord decided to finish the unveiling in a more¡­ typical manner. We are here to establish what went wrong that led to this oue. To facilitate this, the Dukes have given everybody here leave to speak freely with no risk of repercussions and I will remind everyone that a good after action report is only possible when people exercise that privilege.¡±


    When Matt heard the situationid out like that he started to wonder if he had overreacted, but no. No situation where somebody plotted to unleash rift breaks as a distraction could be allowed to continue under his watch.


    He was however somewhat saddened by how necessary thatstment was. Were they truly so scared he¡¯d fly off the handle at a little criticism? He was criticized constantly and had always taken it well. It was an opportunity to learn from one''s mistakes after all.


    Seeing nobody object to her description of events, and having given appropriate time for somebody else to start, Isabe went first.


    ¡°My Lady, my Lord let us start with what prompted this whole ordeal. Despite not being the noble in direct control of the, the Lady and Lord started the unveiling. Secondly, andpounding that issue, is the Lady and Lord¡¯s desire to go through a slower integration while neither had the time to personally oversee the process. Normally this would not be a huge problem as you did pay for an expert admin team, but well¡­¡±


    Isabe looked meaningfully at Palom, the administration team''s leader. The ten thousand year old man looked far from pleased for having attention drawn to him, his sickly lookingplexion only growing paler.


    ¡°My Lord, my Lady, what seneschal Isabe is insinuating is, well, I don¡¯t want to offend, and of course any theoretical issues are just a matter of inexperience and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll never repeat them and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Just speak your mind¡± Liz interjected. ¡°If we couldn''t handle valid criticism we¡¯d never have made it as far as we have. Where did we fuck up?¡±


    Palom looked far from reassured by her encouragement, but was also clearly too scared to gainsay anything even if he had disagreed. After taking a moment to visibly steel his resolve, he continued.


    ¡°Very well then. Both Lords, Lord Moore in particr, repeatedly impressed upon us the need for a light touch. Combined with the check ins on that very topic, prevented us from fully doing our job. We understand there was a desire to be gentle with the integration, but even that has its limits. Or it should. It¡¯s very hard to say that when not one but two Ascenders are hovering over your shoulder constantly reminding us of how they want things done. We have dealt with such before but normally we are able to bypass or work around those lords but we are not so brave as to directly unt an Ascender''s orders to their face.¡±


    Matt was taken aback by that, not expecting the team they had hired to be so scared of them.


    ¡°Were we, was I, truly that disruptive?¡± Matt couldn''t help but ask. ¡°I remember saying that while I said we wanted a light touch, we wanted a smooth integration. If taken at face value those are sometimes conflicting but not egregiously so.¡±


    Palom swallowed before nodding. ¡°Extremely so, my Lord. Normally there are ways to work around overly involved bosses, but most of our bosses aren¡¯t Ascenders. Your total absence thest decade was a boon to us more than the decade that preceded it.¡±


    Matt had to sit back and digest that fact. He expected criticism, weed it, but that specific one hurt. He had dealt with an asshole boss back when he worked at Benny''s Inn and hearing he had acted like Benny all those years ago was startling.


    Still there was one thing he wanted boration on. ¡°Then how did Lancor manage to get as far as he did? When I saw that, I took it as a sign that the entire integration was failing which is partly why I decided to do what I did. If the system is so wed, I might as well just break it and start fresh.¡±


    Palom shook his head. ¡°Despite outward appearances Fabian Lancor had gotten nowhere. He was just a wannabe warlord. There is at least a handful of his ilk on every unveiling and they¡¯ve never managed to be more than temporary nuisances. Typically we identify them early on before contacting the world leaders at all and stage their downfalls. The lords starting the integration themselves prevented that method but we could have and have before worked around that. It was more the Lord and Lady¡¯s insistence that we act with a light touch that kept him in power as long as he was. Even ignoring the alternatives, his downfall was inevitable and well underway. A member of our team was always on standby, ready to at any moment, to disarm the bombs in case Lancor decided to initiate his n early. Additionally we were only a month or two away from implementing our preferred solution. Namely putting somebody with the right moral character in the chain ofmand who had the power, authority, and prestige to reject those orders. We would then make the incident public and use that wave of public sentiment to oust Lancor and destroy his power base. I might add that even now there are two other world leaders with ns in a simr if less extreme vein and seven who are in the very early stages of creating simr ns. Or were. We have of course taken steps to remove said individuals now that we can act without unveiling constraints.¡±


    Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. He hadn¡¯t realized just how badly he had messed things up. He had seen a situation and he had acted. That was what he did. That was what he was trained for. And that was the problem. He had reacted like an Ascender, with emotion and decisive action instead of like a duke. Somebody who had to consider the long term.


    Liz asked a question while he was pondering that. ¡°Are there any other plots that we should be aware of? Not that we don¡¯t trust your judgment but at this point I¡¯d just like to know.¡±


    Palom looked like he was going to answer in the negative before reconsidering and saying, ¡°The current King of the Rhapesh Kingdom is preparing his children to try to seduce Baron Hastra. We will of course be informing the baron but ultimately dealing with that is the baron''s job. That ploy has actually worked in the local rulers favor a few times in the past, as the baron marrying a local can do wonders for the poption''s eptance if handled right. Although I think in this case that¡¯s not a viable option. The Rhapesh Kingdom''s reputation is bad enough that showing them any such favor would only make things worse instead of better.¡±


    With Palom finally done speaking Isabe called attention to herself. ¡°I think that covers most of the issues from the administration''s side. Mister Bakerfield, if you would give your perspective as a native of Soerilia?¡±


    Westley Bakerfield, despite being in his sixties, looked good for his age. Part of that was him having reached Tier 4 before stopping his advancement and the other part was him being in a position where he had ess to things like magical healing, personal chefs, and the best natural treasures or rare resources pulled out of the Rnd zone.


    ¡°One thing that stood out from day one was the pacing of the unveiling. I obviously can¡¯t speak for other veil worlds, but Soerilia and the bureaucracy we developed here feels slower than the feeling I get from the reports I had ess to. The ten-year n that was promised, even from day one, was either wildly optimistic in its timeline or Soerilia itself is just slower in such matters. I originally assumed that this was simply an untested procedure which is why the time estimates were off, but I genuinely don''t believe that even with constant surveince we could have met those original deadlines. That isn¡¯t to say we as a didn¡¯t drag our feet, some countries didn¡¯t meet a deadline until it was clear punishments were iing but others just felt unrealistic in their expectations. If I could have had one thing, I wish we had more direct evidence that could have been used to convince my congress and senate. They were hard to convince at times, which slowed things even when I tried my best to push through policies to bepliant with the integration demand.¡±


    After pausing for a moment Westley added.


    ¡°That leads me into a second and possibly more important issue. While this look into the behind the scenes provides a lot of context, from our side of things this integration looked¡­ sloppy. The two of you said you were our dukes, but then you didn¡¯t really act like it. You had no guards, you looked and still do, look like young adults not remotely ready to lead a city, let alone a multi, universe spanning duchy. In addition the two of you acted far too open with us and many times you personally did things that even somebody who ran just a business would delegate. None of that made you look like some magical duke we all had to obey. I tried to do my best after seeing another world and your ability to just bring us there but a lot of your behaviors didn¡¯t encourage nations to just take orders and go along with the program.¡±


    ¡°I just tried to be friendly, make the shock less severe by not talking down to you. I was trying to treat you like¡ª¡± Matt was about to say like people but stopped himself. It wasn¡¯t often, but he had seen immortals who tended to treat mortals like children instead of fully capable adults but he knew saying that would derail the conversation. Instead he ended it on, ¡°I would want to be treated.¡±


    ¡°Appearances matter my lord, and that¡¯s true whether you¡¯re in a democracy or feudalism. A leader needs to fulfill the role of a leader. You didn¡¯t present yourself as a conquering duke, so to a greater or lesser extent depending on the leaders, you weren¡¯t treated as one. Neither of you ever mentioned that the reason for our transfer was your own personalbat prowess, let alone that you were these Ascenders. A title which, based on Mr Paloms pallor, I suspect I still don¡¯t fully appreciate the weight of.¡±


    Matt winced but nodded. If he had known those seemingly small actions would hamper the integration to such arge extent he would have done things differently but he had neither a time travel Talent or a future sight Talent.


    That thought made Matt remember they would need to report to their superior, the King of their kingdom, about the incident. Except they fell under the Emperor''s purview as one of his direct subjects.


    He was fairly sure Manny had known about this mistake when he mentioned not relying on his future sight but Matt couldn¡¯t help but wish they had been warned. How many people would be suffering less now if they had?


    That just made him think about Manny¡¯sment about people always suffering.


    That thought was like a red hot de plunging into his stomach and being twisted. Instead of suppressing those thoughts, Matt let the emotions run rampant. Let them evolve, twist, and transform as his mind wandered down the consequences of their actions trying to understand the impact of their actions in the abstract and the concrete. Matt genuinely didn¡¯t understand how Manny, an incredibly empathetic and understanding person, could deal with this for not just a single but millions.


    Matt didn¡¯t envy the Emperor for this responsibility. It was heavy and couldn¡¯t so easily be punched away as most issues he faced in his life. Which was the problem. These ducal problems couldn¡¯t be punched and he and Liz¡¯s assumption that any problems could be easily dealt with thanks to their power was both incorrect and self-defeating.


    They went over a few more negative points, but they were fairly minorpared to the rest.


    Thankfully, there were a few positive points to bnce things out. ¡°The Lord¡¯s usage of arge-scale trantion was surprisingly effective at pacifying the poption. Having such a directly magical but beneficial effect has shown surprising returns on belief even more so than the typical disys of might used in unveiling practices. It¡¯s a shame such feats are beyond the typical integration team, at least at such arge scale.¡±


    Matt wished he could say he had only done that out of altruistic reasons, but that would be a lie. He had done it exactly because he thought it would have that effect.


    Isabe then nodded to Westley Bakerfield. ¡°Secondly the contacts made with the former world leaders is paying dividends in solidifying the opinions of the older generations. They are usually a situation that only solves itself when they age out but with their endorsements, we are seeing a significant uptick in support from that age group.¡±


    Next, they went to what needed to happen going forward but that wasn¡¯t as directed to Matt and Liz and was more directed to Palom, who seemed relieved he and his team weren¡¯t being med by the two Ascenders for how the had turned out.


    From there, it just came down to keeping the under control until Baron Hastra could arrive.


    Matt had heard good things about the noble scion and wasn¡¯t happy he was handing the man their mess but as Cato had said, they hadrger and other responsibilities with the rest of the forming duchy.


    When Baron Hastra arrived, Matt immediately felt the man''s simmering anger radiate off him in waves.


    The Tier 19 swept the with his spiritual perception, taking his time to go through each country as well as tapping into theary AI, before he came to where Matt wasying the foundation to create conduits between the two farthest continents.


    ¡°My Lord.¡± Seeing Phoenix Liz on Matt¡¯s shoulder, Yarn bowed a second time. ¡°My Lady.¡±


    ¡°Rise, Baron Hastra. I must apologize for the mess I¡¯m handing you.¡±


    ¡°My Lord is ever gracious, but your apologies are not required. I serve at your will.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow, obviously enough that the baron would be able to tell his skepticism. ¡°I would prefer you to be honest.¡±


    Yarn debated his next course of action for a moment before asking, ¡°May I speak freely then?¡±


    ¡°Of course. For all our faults, we won¡¯t shy away from criticism, and that is doubly so when we request it.¡±


    Yarn seemed to harden his will as he said, ¡°Then you won¡¯t take offense when I ask you two to leave immediately. I can not begin to right Soerilia¡¯s direction with the two of you looming over my shoulder.¡±


    Matt had expected Baron Hastra to ask for more resources, not to be asked to leave. But as much as it hurt his pride, he understood the Baron''s position. Especially with the after action reports conclusion so fresh in his memory.


    ¡°That is eptable Baron Hastra. Please inform us if you need any additional resources to fix the no doubt lingering issues that you will face as you take control. The administrative team is officially transferred to your control and their services are paid for the next two decades.¡±


    Having said his piece, Matt turned and flew to the portal, not able to help but feel like he had just been scolded by a parent for something he knew he had done but wasn¡¯t actually his fault.


    That wasn¡¯t true, this was their fault, but Matt still felt that way, which just made him feel even worse for feeling sorry for himself when other people were suffering far more because of him and his impulsive actions.


    Stepping into the teleportation formation, a dozen Lizzes joined him and merged into a single body before they silently activated the formation, returning to Lilly.

 Chapter 366

    Kai listened to the man in the sky speaking and felt it hard to ept what he was hearing.


    But there he was. This¡­ Ascender Titan.


    There was a weight to those words, imparted by what he assumed was magic projecting the speech into his ears, that he couldn¡¯t quite describe. He wanted to just call it magic, but it wasn¡¯t that. It was part tonal emphasis and part stressing of sybles that wasn¡¯t typical of the Noricum lexicon.


    It was important. Kai didn¡¯t know why, but he felt like a sword was hanging over his head and was correspondingly on edge, so he held on tightly to any possibly important tidbit and sorted it instinctively.


    Kai had seen a lot of things growing up in a rough neighborhood, but he had never imagined that magic was real.


    Magic was the thing of stories and legends. It wasn¡¯t <em>real</em>.


    But one nce up showed him a man floating mid-air with a giant fractal spider webbing across the night sky.


    The architect part of his mind idly wondered what kind of material that spiderweb was made out of. <em>Nothing</em> had the kind of strength needed to reach the horizon without any kind of support. Or maybe the supports were there, but they were just magically invisible?


    Could <em>he</em> get some of those invisible supports?A shout from the neighboring apartment caught Kai¡¯s attention. Any other day, the neighbors shouting at each other wouldn¡¯t have been unusual. They argued over seemingly everything and anything, but it was easy to tune out because Kai didn¡¯t speak Northern Cipri.


    Except, just as he had heard the flying man¡¯s words whispered as if right next to his head earlier, Kai could understand his neighbors yelling.


    The woman was currently ming the man for the appearance of the magical man in the sky.


    Kai nearly panicked as his mind went to the two of them somehow being responsible, and him getting caught up in whatever they were doing, but it quickly became clear the two were just venting at each other when the man turned the usation around and med the woman in turn.


    <em>That</em> made Kai reevaluate just what was going on. He could understand the man in the sky speaking in hisnguage. Heck, he was clearly magic, Kai would understand if he was speaking <em>every</em>nguage.


    But this? He hadn¡¯t just made himself understood, he made <em>everyone</em> understood. When that¡­ Titan, he called himself, had said that they were all now part of this enormous Empire, did that mean he¡¯d just gotten rid of all othernguages? Was Kai actually still speaking and thinking in his native tongue, or was he speaking some kind of magicalmonnguage now?


    What the <em>hell</em> was happening?


    As his mind ran through the possibilities, Kai finally started to ept some of what he had heard.


    Magic was real. That wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. Magic could be cool. Kai had never been one to dive too much into fantasy, the real world was rough enough that he didn¡¯t have time to spend on such extraneous pursuits, but he was in touch with nerd culture enough to know about typical magic systems. Assuming that ¡®real¡¯ magic was anything like the stories, which didn¡¯t seem likely.


    What kinds of things could he do with magical materials? There was clearly something able to literally stretch across the sky, and it was either ludicrously strong or supported by <em>invisible struts</em>. Could they build flying cities? Walkways that were invisible but invincible?


    Actually thatst one was a safety hazard, they would need to be at least translucent. But then again, <em>magic</em>. Who knew what was possible?


    That brought his mind to the other thingsmonly seen in rtion to magic. Fireballs, ice sts, teleportation, and magical healing.


    But what were the limits?


    Kai didn¡¯t suddenly feel the call to be some kind of fantasy healer, but he had seen people missing limbs one day with them back a few weekster during his short time at Gate¡¯s Rest.


    Had that been magical healing? The obvious answer seemed like a yes but was that all it could do? Could it do more? Was it useful for the general pains of a lifetime of hard work like his mother had experienced?


    His mother!


    Kai mmed his shin into his coffee table as he moved to the apartment¡¯s phone, causing a spike of pain that nearly sent him sprawling. Cursing, he hobbled over and punched in his mother¡¯s number.


    The phone gave a busy signal, and he had to call back three more times before his panicked mother picked up.


    Their call was cut short as the phonework went down for a few moments, but when he called back there weren¡¯t any issues and they were able to talk andfort each other until they both felt the need to start preparing for other outages. It was enough to know she was ok and was staying inside until things settled down.


    Kai went through storm prep even though he didn¡¯t live on the coast any more. It was what he knew and he didn¡¯t know what else might be useful. Tub filled with water, fridge closed tightly with the perishables noted, and windows securely closed.


    Calming himself, Kai flopped onto his couch and flicked on his TV out of habit, but every station was static, some pre-scheduled rerun, or news reports talking about The Announcement.


    Finding something inoffensive and unobtrusive, Kai turned the volume up to drown out his neighbors¡¯ continued arguing. He <em>did</em> figure out that they were still speaking in anothernguage, because if he really listened he was able to tell the difference between the sounds they were making and the words he was hearing¡­ which was equal parts insane and distracting.


    Looking up at his TV, he fiddled with settings until he changed the audio channel into anothernguage, and to his surprise, he found that even the words of the movie were tranted.


    Not letting himself get distracted, he logged into hisputer and paused as he saw on the front page of his typical search engine was a link to the document that the sky wizard had been talking about.


    There were multiple forms of media, but Kai went for the document.


    It was sorge, hisputer chugged as it opened the file, but after a minute that felt like an eternity, Kai was able to start reading.


    The introduction chapter was a dozen pages long, but that was nothing to the tens of thousands of pages of the rest of the document.


    Regardless, it was <em>incredibly</em> well-written, and he quickly felt a lot less unsure of himself. Things started to make more sense, and his fear of being killed by some magic man floating in the sky with nothing he could do about it slowly subsided.


    That was, however, reced by other fears.


    These people, these <em>cultivators</em>, they were so powerful, so mighty, did they¡­ have houses? Buildings? Did they need architects? The man in the sky had done something that wrapped around the entire, could they just magic themselves a house?


    The prideful part of himself insisted that <em>of course</em> they¡¯d need buildings and houses, that even if they just shipped in castles from others and dropped them onto estates made out of clouds, <em>of course</em> they¡¯d still need architects to design things, but¡­ what if they didn¡¯t?


    What if they didn¡¯t care about that sort of thing? The introduction talked a lot about fighting and killing and wars and ¡®rifts,¡¯ were all cultivators soldiers? Did that mean they wouldn¡¯t care about the beautiful and sublime, the graceful elegance that could be found in styles of building? Did they use architects, or did they just brute-force basic shacks by using impossibly strong materials?


    He sure hoped they needed architects, otherwise he was probably screwed.


    A decade of work might be in the trash if they just lived in basic buildings, if they didn¡¯t care about the nuance he could provide. That thought ate at his mind. What else would he do? Any kind of academic job seemed useless with the existence of these magic powers that could seemingly hand wave issues away.


    Were all jobs filled with these magical gifted people and only them? Would he still have a job if he didn¡¯t get this magic suited for his profession?


    Would he be homeless? Wait, the man had said housing was a right and was provided by the Empire. So they must have houses. But that didn¡¯t mean that they weren¡¯t just like tents made out of magic materials. Could <em>he</em> be the revolution that brought beauty into their buildings or would he end up with no skill set to market himself?


    Kai had tried to avoid that thought, but it bubbled up like a pocket of noxious swamp gas.


    He had worked too hard to allow that, to let the end of the world as he knew it make him or his mother homeless.


    He was still worrying when he fell asleep on his couch.


    The suning in through his window woke him up, and Kai felt a kink in his back from where he had slept wrong. Limping his way to the bathroom, Kai kept his ear out and faintly caught the couple next door talking.


    Just like the day before, the words tranted themselves. As Kai processed what they were saying, he flushed hot and rushed to y some music so he couldn¡¯t hear them any more.


    Looking up in the now sun bright sky, Kai was almost startled to see the man, Ascender Titan, was gone from his spot.


    He had half expected the man to float there, raining down divine judgment until he was satisfied.


    Seeing it was well past morning, Kai threw on the TV and cycled to a news station. There, he found two news anchors talking about what was going on.


    The past president of Noricum had evene out of retirement to give a speech urging everyone to calm down and try to adjust to their new world as quickly as possible.


    Kai wasn¡¯t sure if it¡¯s what the man intended, but it <em>felt</em> like the man was really saying that nothing they did would have any effect, and they needed to get used to their new reality. That didn¡¯t sit well with him.


    It felt gross, like they had given up.


    Kai, like nearly everyone else, was glued to his TV in theing days, as it was the best source of updates on what was going on. But it quickly became clear that things were truly different.


    Two TV stations went off the air for ¡¯inciting discord and spreading falsehoods,¡¯ even though Kai felt like nothing they¡¯d said was really that bad.


    That left a bitter taste in Kai¡¯s mouth, and he wondered just what they were trying to hide, and why this Ascender Titan felt like he could override their concerns. They had rights. Who was this outsider to decide what the truth was, and say that anything else was forbidden?


    Thankfully, things did start returning to normal after three days of chaos.


    The Falkner Architect firm was left adrift at first, not knowing what their ce in this new world would be, and they mostly sat around their offices for a few days before they finally heard news.


    They would keep their jobs, but some of their standards would be changing.


    Kai was initially fearful that meant they would be told to cut safety corners, but if anything, the new standards were far safer than before. It wasn¡¯t just more redundancies needing to be built into every structure, but every building was made for longevity, overbuilt to the point it shouldst centuries and with mandatory clear dmissioning ns, ensuring that any updates or demolitions could be done easily and cheaply. If a building was unlikely tost less than a <em>century</em> it could only be considered a ¡®semi-temporary structure,¡¯ and required a whole host of additional permits to even be considered.


    On the other end of the spectrum, government buildings and other ¡®fixture sites¡¯ were to be designed tost for <em>millennia</em>, something that he would have scoffed at even a week ago. But magic¡­ well, magic probably made anything possible.


    That was another thing none of them wanted to hear: Most buildings were built with magic things called formations. Not just to do things like heat water, but to make the buildings themselves more durable and in some cases repair themselves.


    Once they were familiar with their new standards and passed a grueling certification procedure, the orders started to pour in.


    The city was expanding, and it was going to be doing so in three stages over the next decade.


    Word was that the monsters had been temporarily dealt with, but they would be back in a few months.


    The job security was nice, as were the new contracts they needed to sign, which was more generous than his previous in everything but terms of pay.


    Money was weird.


    After the first week, all of Soerilia switched over to the Empire¡¯s currency credits. That would have been weird enough, but the value of things were all over the ce.


    Food prices especially had dropped through the floor, or at least raw produce had. The Empire set strict food prices with zero room for negotiation. Kai expected pushback from the farmers because there was no way the prices were sustainable, but they were even happier, as the Empire was subsidizing not only the difference to the farmers, but almost triple what they had earned before with the understanding that farms should not only be producing but over producing at all times.


    Ready-to-eat food serving ces didn¡¯t change too much, as there weren¡¯t any strict regtions over their prices, but most ces did lower their prices somewhat which made it down right easy to grab a bite to eat during or after work instead of feeling bad about such purchases.


    Some foods, mostly snack foods, did increase in prices thanks to taxes ced on them but they were one of the few to increase in price. A fair bit of luxuries had additional taxes ced on them beyond their normal prices increasing which put them out of reach for more people but it wasn¡¯t so bad that people got upset.


    It was strange, but Kai and everyone else got used to it before too long.


    There were jobs to do, which kept everyone busy enough that they didn¡¯t have too much free time to think how much everything was changing.


    That was until Gate¡¯s Rest got their awakening machine¡­ thingy.


    The news stations had talked about the devices that gave magic powers, but Kai, like most people of the mandatory age, was nervous. Not that they could refuse. Apparently it was obvious to tell those who had been awakened from those who hadn¡¯t, and anyone who refused was forcefully put into the machine and then fined for their troubles.


    The stories the news stations broadcasted about the awakenings were mostly positive, not strictly positive like Kai would have expected with mediapanies being shut down, but it generally leaned that way. Save for a few pieces about people getting seemingly boring powers, like the onedy whose power cleaned stubborn stains easier.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    There were a few rumors about people who had seemingly bad reactions, but they were rare. Far moremon were all the people who got fantastical powers. The 18 year old girl who could now fly, and was now something of a minor celebrity, or the 25 year old man who could fix broken items with a touch so long as they were recently broken.


    What Kai paid attention to was the few reports about architects. There was apparently one 14 year old who had gotten the ability that made it so any buildings off blueprints he created were stronger than normal.


    Even a quick scribble was enough to make a suspension bridge made out of twine and thin sticks hold ten full grown adults. The kid had been given a full-ride schrship to a prestigious university to get his architecture degree the moment he graduated high school.


    No one said anything, but everyone at the firm felt the pressure. How could theypete with someone like that? Who would want their work when someone else¡¯s work was appreciably better than theirs?


    Kai didn¡¯t know, and from the glum silences, no one else did either.


    He just hoped that, despite the records saying otherwise, that because of his dedication to his craft, he would awaken a simr Talent thing.


    Kai and seemingly half the town went to the facility, a massive building that had been converted from a warehouse.


    Kai sat down and went through a dozen screens telling him not to share his Talent with anyone, and after confirming that he was sure he understood, he felt a rush of something enter him.


    It was¡­ more.


    Kai couldn''t really describe it, but it was like he had a sense that had been asleep all of his life, and now it had woken up. He thought Awakened was just a word but he realized it was really the perfect thing to call it in absence of a better description.


    The feeling faded quickly, and a beep from the screen next to him brought his attention down.


    Kai looked at the result blinking on the screen in front of him. It was unbelievable, uneptable. And apparently unchangeable.


    He felt sick.


    Sure, they <em>said</em> it was random and to not be disappointed with whatever you got, but he¡¯d figured that just meant they couldn¡¯t predict it, that he¡¯d still get <em>something</em> rted to architecture, the thing he¡¯d devoted his life to. How was this <em>awakening</em> anything within him?


    Tier 1 Talent determined.


    Pigments you mix are more vibrant or subdued, depending on your desire.


    Pigments? Like paint? Kai had never painted in his life, nor had he mixed pigments before. He didn¡¯t even know how.


    What was that Talent?


    Kai wandered back home, not knowing what he should do.


    In the end, he didn¡¯t have any better answers than try to cling to his well-paying job for as long as he could before those with rted Talents pushed him out, but he did stop by an art supply store on his way to his apartment and bought a few tins of oil paints.


    He had no idea what he was doing, and felt stupid as he squirted paint onto a disposable te.


    Letting his eyes wander, he looked for a color and decided on the olive green of his jacket.


    Holding the color in his mind Kai dipped his brush in the yellow and then into the blue but in a lesser amount. Smearing the brush around, he found himself staring down at an olive drab that perfectly captured part of the jacket that was a little sun and wear-worn.


    It was perfect, exactly like the jacket.


    It was useless.


    What good was mixing paint colors?


    Any idiot with an instruction manual could have managed the same, even if it took them a few attempts. Suddenly Kai didn¡¯t care about his Talent shenanigans any more and with a bit more force than he should have used, he threw away the oils he had just bought.


    Instead, he cracked open one of his advanced architecture books after ordering a dozen books on magic architecture and formations. If he couldn''t get a Talent that would magically make his buildings better, he just needed to do what he had always done. Work twice as hard as everyone else to ensure he remained relevant.


    He just hoped that it was enough, but a small voice whispered that it wasn¡¯t and his efforts were futile.


    Kai knew that voice and shoved it down ruthlessly. It had been a few years since he had heard its malignant whispered but he had refused to wallow in his self pity before and would do so again.


    ***


    Trebor was watching the interview with this duke of theirs with bated breath. Finally, after far too long spent on unimportant topics like healthcare or economics, they got to the import part. The thing he had to beg his uncle to ask.


    ¡°So, does the Empire have any special policies on pets?¡±


    ¡°Pets? Well, if one of them harms someone then you¡¯re held highly responsible, is that what you mean? Outside of that, pets are fine.¡±


    And with a relieved sigh he pulled his fluffy buddy even deeper into his embrace. As he started rubbing his cat''s chin, he was at peace.


    ***


    The reveal had been asrge a shock for the Weekly Tidings as it was for everybody else, but Keh¡¯s journalistic senses had kicked in before most others had stopped panicking. This could be his paper¡¯s big break, to finally establish themselves as one of the big names in the Palkar Union¡¯s media battlefields if they jumped on it.


    Just minutes after the reveal he and his dozen most dedicated employees started scouring the hideously dense multi-thousand page introduction book that was made avable to write a summary for their website. <em>Technically</em>, they were justified in doing so. In that it was now apparently illegal to get <em>anything </em>even slightly incorrect when reporting on breaking news and they needed to trante ten thousand pages of legal jargon into a basic summary outlining the most important things for average people. But that wasn¡¯t an excuse to just <em>delete</em> the article off their site. The move by the new government had certainly given the IT guy a minor panic attack as he wasn¡¯t even able to tell how they had essed their systems or why they couldn''t reupload the document.


    Their questions were answered when not fifteen minutester, someone working for their new overlords showed up at the office and gave them the short version of the ¡®official media standards and guidelines¡¯, as well as another overly thick book that had the rules exined in full.


    It was as clear a euphemism for censorshipws as he¡¯d ever seen. They had given the rules the briefest skim possible before moving onto the next story: coverage on the whole magical ¡®Awakenings¡¯ thing. There¡¯d been a report of somebody outright <em>disintegrating</em>, crumbling into dust instead of getting superpowers, but nobody was talking about it. Rumor had it that they¡¯d just scooped the unfortunate kid¡¯s former body into a bucket and tossed it in the river, but getting a definite answer was hard.


    This time they went straight to paper, once it was out there they assumed it would be way harder, hopefully impossible, to remove. Except when the order to the printer was sent, it got ignored. They tried everything, from different formatting to putting it on a data stick to manually typing the article on aputer directly attached to the printer, but nothing worked.


    That was until they tried printing somethingpletely unrted. Then the printer worked just as well as it had before.


    That was about the time the unease started setting into Keh¡¯s gut.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out what had happened. Especially when some backchannel talk with some of the rival newspapers showed they had simr experiences. Even printers on apletely istedwork refused to print things that didn¡¯tply with censorshipws. One of the bigger newspapers who actually had their legal teams dissect the censorshipws in detail imed thews normally weren''t that bad and mostly required things to be provably true, but that some kind of emergency provision was active only temporarily to ¡®help reduce the chaos of integration¡¯.


    Keh and most other mediapanies didn¡¯t buy that, this was censorship in and simple. He figured these ¡®emergency measures¡¯ would be rescinded in several generations at best when everybody was their obedient little puppet, and just never at worst.


    He wasn¡¯t going to sit idly by and do nothing when a fundamental truth was being stamped out.


    Determined to get the news out there he spent a good chunk of his personal money and bought an antique printing press. Completely manual, down typesetting the pages by hand, one letter at a time. In hindsight it should have been obvious that digital methods were doomed from the start. Just look at how swiftly their conquerors had subverted the inte, but they had been trying to be fast and hadn¡¯t considered every angle like they should have.


    That was why every part of that attempt had been done off the web. The payment for the printing press was cash, the article was hand written¡ª this time on how atrocious the mortality rate of delving was¡ªposing the pages was even done in the basement, where there physically were no cables for a camera or other surveince system to connect to. Even the walls of their old building had enough steel in them to make any wireless connection a futile attempt, as had been bemoaned by many an employee who had to file things down there.


    Only when they tried to print their first copy, nothing happened. The press hit the paper,den with ink and did <em>nothing</em>. The ink refused to adhere. When they with trembling hands rearranged some nonsense on the press, everything worked fine.


    That was when the unease turned to fear. They weren¡¯t just watching theirworks. They were watching <em>them</em>.


    But Keh wasn¡¯t quite deterred yet. He wanted to make one final attempt. In the privacy of his own home and without telling anybody, he started writing a grocery list. Halfway through he switched to writing a flier about the oppression the press was enduring, but two sentences in, his pen stopped writing. When he resumed the grocery list, so did the ink. He looked at his wife, ying a board game with friends in the other room.


    That¡¯s when his fear turned to dread. They were watching him. Everywhere. At all times. And they could reach him through magic bull-shit so it wasn¡¯t even like running to somewhere even more secluded would help.


    When Keh shared the news at work,plete with an announcement they would from then on follow the guidelines, Miranda and Taylor, his two best journalists, started raising an uproar over how they shouldn''t surrender. When they announced they¡¯d shout the news from the rooftops if they had to and started walking to the door to do just that, the fist of the overlord stepped out of thin air and arrested them.


    In less than five seconds they were there and then they were gone.


    He sat there listening to the dreadful, ever increasing silence wondering if he had made the wrong choice, already knowing the answer deep in his heart.


    ***


    Thaddeus looked up to the man who floated in the sky and felt desire like he had never felt before.


    Kev, Michel, and Amber were with him, as they were every Tuesday night. Tuesday nights were their sacred game nights. Daggers and Damsels had been a constant in their friend group since they had found each other in middle school, and it had kept them together for just over a decade at this point.


    Amber let out a small whisper as they watched the man create his magic spell. ¡°My desires manifest!¡±


    The phrase was said in high ins elven, which Thaddeus only knew a few phrases of, but he knew that phrase as it was the sorceress'' call-to-arms in Daggers and Damsels. What he didn¡¯t expect was the words to be tranted and projected into his ears.


    More proof that magic was awesome. Even a fantasynguage was tranted into a knownnguage.


    It was even better than Elvish Ears, and he knew that if they ever bothered to y make pretend again with real magic at their fingertips, he would need to buff the in-game spell to match this.


    The four of them shared a look, and knew that they would be following the path the manid out.


    Real tangible power they could reach out and grab if they were brave enough to turn themselves from damsels into those that gripped the dagger of destiny.


    ordingly, they were the first ones to the awakening building that week. They had, in fact, camped out in front of the building, and were the first ones through the doors.


    Sadly, none of them gotbat abilities.


    Michel got an ability that made any ce he marked as a safe zone to let them recover slightly faster, which seemed useful for days spent in a dungeon crawl, but the rest of them got nothing obviously useful. And that was saying something, considering they were all munchkins of the highest order.


    Even Thaddeus couldn''t see how to make his Talent for making clothes cleaner when washing by hand useful in a dungeon. ording to the little that they had learned, these dungeons just weren¡¯t big enough to typically need days to clear and the effect didn¡¯t linger long enough to be useful for a rogue.


    Kev¡¯s ability to hold his breath for longer than normal might be useful, but it was easily reced by a self-contained breathing system that any firefighter like Kev had ready ess to. They did some testing but the obvious ways to exploit such a power didn¡¯t seem to apply.


    Amber had been hoping for actual magic, but instead just got the ability to change the color of her clothes at will. Theoretically useful, but easily receable by a simple trip to a military surplus store as it just took too long for her to make any substantial changes.


    Still, they were determined to go into one of the dungeons and start leveling up.


    They had dreamed about it for years.


    If only it was that easy.


    Their new ruler, Baron Hastra, had instituted a rule that no one was allowed to delve into a dungeon without passing a certification of capabilities.


    Daggers and Damsels didn¡¯t have such things, and the four of them endlesslyined that the new government was adding bureaucracy to magic, but they weren¡¯t willing to go to one of the dungeons deep in the woods that weren¡¯t monitored.


    A few people they had talked to had done exactly that. Or, that was their intention thest they had heard from them, for not a single group who did that returned.


    Baron Hastra at least recognized the issue with such a rule, and brought off-worlders in to help train them for a nominal expense.


    Thaddeus had expected the training facility to be packed to the brim, but it was surprisingly empty. Oh there were others, dozens of other groups in fact, but his own excitement for real magic had blinded him to the fact that most people were content with their mundane existences.


    They and another three groups were assigned to a woman with sunrise colored skin who looked no older than thirty, but said she had a hundred years of experience at training new groups how to fight properly.


    Thaddeus had been intrigued by the incredible lifespan, but Michel was practically drooling the entire time Uvelt was going over her qualifications.


    From there, they were led into a private room, one group at a time.


    The four of them talked about their roles and prospective builds, but there was too much they didn¡¯t know and so they had defaulted into their normal game roles.


    Amber wanted to follow her typical ss and go for a magic user of some kind, but from what they had been told, magic was incredibly expensive, at least for your first few centuries.


    <em>Centuries</em>. The thought boggled the mind and all of them had a hard time processing such a thing.


    Kev wanted to be a barbarian of some kind, since his time as a firefighter had given him arge build and he knew how to wield his fire axe incredibly well. He kept asking them if he could get a magical axe that had fire properties but they were as clueless as he was and could only humor him.


    Michel was split between a typical sword and boardbo, with a dagger as a side weapon, or going for a rogue build, but Thaddeus was trying to convince him to be on the frontlines together. While he rarely got to y, he always preferred the defender archetype. Protecting one¡¯s friends from the dangers of what was trying to nibble at their toes while being a beacon of morality.


    Their argument was cut short by the door opening and them being waved inside.


    Once they entered Uvelt indicated to the side of the room. ¡°Grab whatever weapons and armor you think you would like to use. Once you are ready, we''ll do a little test and demonstration to see if you want to change your mind.¡±


    Amber picked up one of the magic gloves while the other three struggled to get into their armor.


    Michel tried to flirt with Uvelt and inevitably ended up talking about Daggers and Damsels, but instead of the cringes Thaddeus was used to, Uvelt seemed genuinely interested and listened attentively, even while helping them when they got stuck on aplicated part of the armor.


    It took close to twenty minutes for them to get fully suited and for Amber to get the knack of using the fireball glove, but they finally stood before Uvelt who said, ¡°Get ready and treat me like an enemy. Come at me!¡±


    Thaddeus felt awkward and shuffled forward, his shield raised but his sword lowered. He knew it was blunt, but he didn¡¯t want to hurt the nicedy.


    Michel, who had gone with a dagger build, shed at her well before he was in range. But instead of reacting, Uvelt just deflected the attacks with a rapier Thaddeus hadn¡¯t noticed was at her waist.


    Things seemed normal until Michel started to <em>scream</em>. Blood started to run like a river down his arms from where his wrists were cut through to the bone.


    Thaddeus was still processing that when he felt a blow strike his shield, and the top of the shield bashed him in the face from where she had kicked him out of her way.


    His world went white as pain blossomed over his head as his nose was shattered.


    He could hear a gargled scream from someone and a wave of heat that burned through the gaps of his armor.


    When his vision cleared, he saw that Amber was crying as she clutched a shattered knee, the limb bent and twisted into the wrong shape in a way that Thaddeus just knew was crippling.


    Kev, on the other hand,id in a puddle of his own blood, his legs separated from his body trying to crawl to his axe.


    Uvelt, the seemingly normal woman just moments ago, turned from Kev¡¯s body to Thaddeus, and with her rapier still dripping blood, shed out.


    Thaddeus didn¡¯t know when he had raised a hand or what he had done it for, but he felt a new white hot pain sh as the fingers holding his de spun through the air.


    Gasping, he felt the world going ck and wondered what the point of going through the motions just to kill them was for.


    Why were these people so intentionally, pointlessly cruel?


    Gasping, he found himself sitting on the floor of the practice room, still in his armor and not in pieces.


    Patting himself all over, he made sure he wasn¡¯t injured and then looked to his friends.


    When he confirmed they were simrly fine, Thaddeus looked to Uvelt, who nodded. ¡°A useful illusion to help you limate to the reality of what being a delver entails. It''s not all fun and games. It''s pain and blood. Yours or your enemies. If you want to withdraw from the course, you are entitled to a full refund. And if you need to talk to someone. There is an onsite therapist who can help you process what just happened. Delving isn''t for the faint of heart, and sadly, your society didn¡¯t prepare you for violence in the way ours does.¡±


    Amber gasped out even as she clutched her perfectly fine knee, ¡°Does it get better?¡±


    Uvelt cocked her head before shaking it. ¡°If you are asking if the pain hurts less, the answer will probably disappoint you. No. If anything, it gets worse. As you Tier up, your senses get better. You just learn how to push through it. Just be grateful that you were smart enough to sign up for these lessons so you could learn this in a safe environment. No one can save you when you are in a rift, and there, the wounds will be very real.¡±


    Kev turned to the side and vomited, but instead of looking angry, Uvelt just waved her hand, and a wave of light blue magic removed all traces of the bile. Even the smell vanished as if it had never been, and Thaddeus was once more reminded that magic was very real.


    Despite the memory of pain, Thaddeus wanted that. He wanted that so bad he felt he could taste it, even though he was pretty sure that was just blood from where he had bitten his cheek while under the illusion.


    Thaddeus looked to his friends, the terror of death still lingering in his bones like a cold chill, he wanted to be strong for them so he put on his best confident look. They didn¡¯t seem anywhere near as shaken as he felt so he shoved those feelings deep down to be examinedter when he was alone in bed or in the shower.


    Uvelt must have read their silence as eptance and willingness to stay as she said, ¡°Good for you four. Now, let''s talk about your weapon choices. They can work, but might not be ideal. Your game is a good basis for some things, but real cultivation doesn¡¯t have so many rules. Amber, you need more armor. Same for you, Kev. There are spells that empower you based on the damage you have taken, but healing is expensive, so they aren¡¯t rmended. Michel, if you want to use daggers you need to not only learn how to use them, but learn how to read the battle. Frankly I don¡¯t rmend them for beginners, but I can train you on the basics. Thaddeus, that shield is not only your lifeline, but the rest of your team¡¯s as well. Hold the damn thing like you mean it, that kick shouldn''t have disabled you like that. Really I rmend that you all take some time to try and break free from your fixation on your game sses and instead pick which actually suits you and your Talents best.¡±


    When they made it clear they understood and would think over her suggestions Uvelt continued. ¡°Now, because everyone always asks for it, we''ll go through a little weapon training today but you all will need serious physical conditioning before you are ready to go into a rift. Spread out and we''ll start from the top.¡±


    Thaddeus wasn¡¯t sure if this was a dreame true or a nightmare but this is what he had always wanted, what he had dreamed about. He wasn¡¯t going to let something as mundane as pain, terror, and the threat of death stop him.


    Standing up he prepared to face the future no matter what it might bring feeling his friends take their spots at his back.

 Chapter 367

    Grady Briggs sat in front of his team ofwyers along with the rest of his C-suite and Board of Directors, not wanting to believe that there was nothing they could do to stop the dissolution of Briggs Inc.


    In the first weeks of the integration, he and his family had, like everyone else, feared for their lives, afraid they would be crushed by their nigh omnipotent gods that could fly around and do actual magic.


    Once that initial fear had worn off, Noricum, and to a lesser extent, Soerilia, had taken to the new technologies with gusto. Or at least herpanies had. Briggs Inc. had used the publicly avable patents to update or outright rece several of their products and expand their market share.


    Thepany and Grady himself had been worried about being bullied by-spanningpanies run by immortals, which could simply undercut them until they were bankrupt. But just as it became clear this new Empire wouldn¡¯t allow that and they started to settle down, they got bad news.


    Baron Hastra, in his role as local lord, was breaking up several of thergest corporations on Soerilia that had ¡®spread too far from their roots¡¯.


    That term had thrown them all for a loop, but apparently the Empire and its feudal governments didn¡¯t like overly powerful conglomerates, and it limitedpanies to a single line of business. A food chain could only sell food, a mediapany could only make and sell media, and a techpany could only design and produce tech.


    Grady could understand the logic, but from what thepanywyers had told them in the first weeks, suchws were rarely implemented on low-Tier worlds like theirs because they simply didn¡¯t matter on a grand scale. That had hurt to hear, and had resulted in some bruised egos, but thepany had no choice but to ept that they were ultimately very small cogs in an iprehensiblyrge machine.


    The problem was that Baron Hastra was breaking precedent and enforcing thosews, and Briggs Inc. had long since strayed from their roots as a simple textile manufacturer to a multinational conglomerate that had its fingers in every pie. Before the unveiling, they had operated in nearly every sector because that meant, unless a global recession happened, they could survive any swings in local economies or trends that would have shuttered smaller businesses.


    Now they were being told that thepany needed to pick ane and split the rest of their branches off, or have the baron do it for them.One of the board members asked if there was anything they could do to stop him, but Grady knew how foolish of a question that was.


    Baron Hastra was an immortal who could fly and shoot fire out of his hand. Even if he was weaker than the god of death that had floated in the sky, he wasn¡¯t someone they could fight against.


    Using money to drag an issue out in the courts just wasn¡¯t a viable tactic versus someone who had the physical ability and legal right to simply arrest them all.


    Or just kill them.


    Grady knew some monarchies allowed such things, and while it seemed the Empire allowed its nobles a great deal of freedom, it didn¡¯t allow them to wantonly ughter people. But not being allowed to and not being able to were two very different things.


    At least, that¡¯s what the information they were given said. As they had seen in the initial weeks, the Empire kept a tight grip on news outlets. Briggs Inc.¡¯s news arm hadn¡¯t been caught up in the arrests, but they were still close enough to the fires to feel the heat.


    Officially, the Empire allowed the publication of any verifiable truth no matter what it was, but when there were people who could bend reality to their whims, did truth have a fixed definition?


    Grady wasn¡¯t sure it did.


    Which brought him to the current meeting.


    They had no recourse except toply.


    As the founding lineage of thepany and the shareholder with thergest interest, he was to be given first dibs for what portion of thepany he wanted, but after that, he would be forced to watch as thepany he, and his forefathers before him, had built up through decades of hard work be torn apart.


    He would get non-voting, non-transferable shares in all of thosepanies, which would pay hefty dividends until they expired, but that was all.


    Or rather, his daughter would be given the shares. He had already confirmed that was a possibility, but the normal inheritance loopholes he was used to either no longer applied or were closed.


    An Empire full of immortals cared far less about the umtion of wealth by families than Soerilia had, and there weren¡¯t even the typical taxes on such transfers of funds. Technically there <em>was</em> a tax, but it was more of a filing fee in practice rather than a proper percentage-based <em>tax</em>.


    That very idea was still new and unnerving, but Grady was doing his best to wrap his head around it.


    Thankfully, Baron Hastra was giving them six months to figure out how they wanted to divide thepany, but Grady didn¡¯t know which way he wanted to jump. His gut said he should take the media or the textile branches, but he worried that either of them would flop when put against simrpanies that had existed for thousands of years.


    That was why he wholesale wrote the tech branch off. They might survive for a decade or two off the publicly avable patents, but once the restrictions on outside business were lifted, he was sure they would be either driven under by otherpanies or simply bought out and turned into a local subsidiary.


    That might ensure prosperity for a generation or two, but Grady was forced to think long term. What would best serve his grandchildren, or their grandchildren in turn?


    He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how he got home, but his daughter was there to meet him in the foyer which pulled him out of his musings.


    Hannah thought she was fifteen going on thirty, which led to a rebellious nature, but he was just d that she wasn¡¯t going through the hate-her-parents phase that so many teens seemed to go through.


    His wife, Sharon, gave him a questioning look, but he simply shook his head, letting her know things hadn¡¯t gone well.


    He saw her tighten up, but she forced out a smile when Hannah looked between them trying to catch their subtlemunication.


    She quickly lost her patience however and eximed. ¡°Dad, our first Empire ss was today and it talked about cultivation. You need to hear about this stuff! It''s so cool.¡±


    Grady winced internally. He hadpletely forgotten about that with everything that had gone on today, but he knew that his daughter, like most of her friends, was excited to get magical powers and possibly live forever.


    He wasn¡¯t happy about the much younger age of majority and reduction of schooling, but Baron Hastra had mandated that for the next three generations they would continue with schooling until 16. That was two years fewer than most countries had done before, but it was better than the typical Empire eight years of education for Empire citizens that ended at 14.


    He still thought 14 was too young to get ess to something as dangerous as magic, but he had no say in that. Besides, it was just a matter of time before her Awakening was due. Grady and Sharon were both over the age of mandatory Awakening, and so he hadn¡¯t been thinking about it as often as he should.


    Reminded of that, once his daughter went to bed he looked into the documents that had been sent over and found the one that talked about ambient cultivation.


    He didn¡¯t want his daughter going into one of those rifts.


    That kind of foolishness was for the poor and the desperate. Or the crazy. In this new world, money could very much be turned into literal power if given enough time and resources.


    Grady didn¡¯t have any illusion that his considerable wealth would be enough to allow his daughter to cultivate to immortality. That hurdle was shrouded in mystery, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to understand it wasn¡¯t something most people reached.


    There was information about cultivation in general, though.


    The method itself seemed simple, too simple if Grady said so himself. But from the report, there genuinely didn¡¯t seem to be anything beyond putting the essence where you wanted it and then ensuring youpressed it properly.


    Rather, the difficulty apparently came from the <em>gathering</em> of the essence.


    Grady got distracted by the note in the report that said the world''s scientists were still trying to figure out exactly what mana and essence were, but that they were struggling.


    Mana was seemingly simple, if extraordinary. The example he liked mostpared it to an Awakened person generating an appreciable amount of electricity and having the ability to store or use that power to fuel their stove. It wasn¡¯t a perfectly clean energy and had its byproducts, but they weren''t harmful for living beings and were easy to dispose of.


    Essence, on the other hand, seemed to break thews of conservation of energy in a big, big way. It not only created itself out of seemingly nothing, but while other energy was converted when it was used, essence seemed to remain itself. It was like a wet sponge being drained of water, but the sponge in question made water from nothing and multiplied it on its own. It also had grades or Tiers, which seemed to correspond with the 50 Tiers of power that existed. And while using a grade of essence that was higher than your current Tier was neutral or possibly beneficial, using essence that was lower than your power level was allegedly bad. Crippling even, if the Empire reports were to be believed.


    One of the two main ways to gain essence was going into the monster holes in reality and killing the creatures inside, which was considered the premier way to gather it in the Empire. Grady was skeptical of that, but he had noticed that this Empire seemed to greatly value martial prowess, which would make sense if that was true. He just didn¡¯t understand how any of them were left alive if one mistake meant death.


    The other way was to meditate and absorb the essence from the air around oneself and thenpact it into a better form. Then one could allocate it just as those who gathered it frombat did.


    That was where money came into y.


    Despite being protected from the rest of the Empire and its various businesses, there were exceptions that were able to be imported. At least for those with the wealth to do so.


    Mainly cultivation supplements.


    Grady was aghast at the prices he was seeing for some of the items.


    A bracelet that would automatically pull essence in cost fifty million credits, andsted for six months of constant usage before the unit would need to be reced. That was either nned obsolescence taken to the extreme, or the item was truly used up and it was just that expensive to create.


    That, or the level of the item mattered. The Tier, he corrected himself. There had beenments about the economy past Tier 5 being based on crystalized mana instead of credits like the lower Tiers, and their conversion seemed to greatly favor the higher Tiers in the exchanges.


    What was expensive in credits might be downright cheap for someone stronger who had higher earning potential thanks to their higher Tier.


    That idea was given merit as he found a few other versions of that bracelet meant for higher Tiers which skyrocketed in price with each step up.


    Grady¡¯s business mind went to that, and he couldn¡¯t help but scan the rest of the list of things that could be used to increase one''s ambient essence cultivation.


    The bracelet wasn¡¯t exactly an outlier, but it did seem like a product for the wealthy. And while Grady could afford to buy a few of them, he couldn¡¯t sustain any sort of rapid consumption. There were other, more permanent items on the lists and his eyes were drawn to them.


    A powder that increased the speed at which onepressed the essence was fairly cheap for the dosage, only around ten thousand credits per, but it was clearly stated that resistance to the drug would build up, and rmended usage was for no longer than for one year out of ten.


    A meditation mat looking thing sold for a whopping eighty million credits and had a simr effect to the bracelet in that it increased the effect of absorbing ambient essence, but wasn¡¯t automatic or portable. However, instead of onlysting six months of constant use, it was said tost ten years.


    That¡­ wasn¡¯t so bad. Eight million a year for an item was expensive, but it was far more ptable.


    Two hundred million credits for a mead that automaticallypressed Tier 1 essence for a year seemed absurd, butbined with the bracelet, the results spoke for themselves. It was, however, alcoholic, which is another thing to consider when talking about a teenage daughter.


    There was a powder that did the same, but unlike the mead, it built resistance in the body, or rather spirit, that needed time to clear. It only cost fifty million, but the dose onlysted for three months instead of the full year.


    Checking further, there seemed to be dozens of variations avable for all but the most effective items. Knockoffs with lesser effects but still effective.


    As he reviewed all of the products which could assist his daughter¡¯s cultivation, Grady couldn¡¯t help but go back to the saying that it wasn¡¯t the gold miners that made money in a gold rush, but those who were selling the shovels.


    These rifts were clearly the gold mines and the delvers were the miners. He wanted to be selling them their shovels.


    Except, it seemed that the normal weapons the Empire pushed were melee items. Maybe he should take the manufacturing arm of Briggs Inc. and start mass-producing weapons and armor. No, that would only work in the lowest levels, as Grady noted that the magical constructs called formations couldn¡¯t be made by such processes, resulting in most higher-Tier equipment being handcrafted by what he could only call artisans.


    No, that didn¡¯t seem to be a valid method for his position.


    Grady would rather find a way to sell these cultivation devices to the masses. No average worker could afford multi-million dor expenses unless intion was far worse than had been implied. But ultimately, price was simply a question of what was the cost of manufacture, overhead, and shipping.


    A few quick searches showed Grady that there <em>was</em> some wiggle room.


    Things like the bracelet were controlled by corporations, but the other items seemed to have expired patents, and he was able to see the manufacturing process on the designs.


    Most took formations, making them impossible to mass produce, but a few of the items were said to be easy to create, and from what he was reading, Grady agreed.


    There was a set of tes that when connected together through simple copper wire and powered by mana, could slowly draw in ambient essence. Someone with an awakened spirit would need to do the final bit of activating the formation, but that didn¡¯t seem particrly onerous.


    The operating costs seemed high, but Grady might just not understand costs in mana. The price for half an hour of run time seemed like a lot, but he could see a path forward where he created something like a country club where people could, for a nominal fee, get ess to such formations, which would speed up their advancement.


    Despite being a businessman at heart, he had an undergrad degree in engineering and he didn¡¯t see anything wrong with the ns. Although, he also knew that anything publicly avable probably had a better version hidden behind a patent or the like.


    Still, while that was good, it wasn''t enough.


    Grady wanted to create something that wouldst. That could propel his family up to immortality, even if it took time.


    That meant he needed to think bigger than country clubs, though he intended to do that after having the idea. ces for the wealthy to gather would be valuable for their connections, more so than any mary value they could generate.


    No, what he was looking for was a way to break into thergest markets, the average sried worker. There were items that seemed targeted to them. Formations that seemed crude inparison to the ones that cost millions. It was likeparing a modern car to a horse and buggy. They might both work, but there was a noticeable difference infort and performance.


    He spent another few hours working on further refining his ns, and by the time he stopped, it was deep into the night and both his daughter and wife were asleep.


    The next day, he did something he hadn¡¯t wanted to do originally.


    He went and got Awakened.


    A bribe got him in front of the line first thing in the morning, and he went through the process.


    Like the reports said, it was painless and quick. Simr to the reports, his Talent was also seemingly useless.


    Tier 1 Talent determined: Air spells you cast are 10% cheaper. Earth spells you cast have their cooldowns increased by 10%.


    From what he understood, most people couldn¡¯t even <em>get</em> actual magic spells until they were Tier 7 or 8, and the items that mages used to let them cast spells before that frequently didn¡¯t interact with Talents. He would probably never see his Talent affect anything, for good or ill, but that didn¡¯t matter to his overall ambitions.


    Instead, he used hispany''s resources to start testing the formation tes he had ordered. They weren¡¯t great; the formation''s efficiency was far below the reported numbers, but he proved that it worked and costs weren¡¯t that high.


    Between carving the tes with a CNC machine and iying the copper, the costs for a set had only barely crossed the fifty thousand credit mark at worst.


    With a reasonable margin, that was no more expensive than a new higher-end car.


    Most people wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it, but it was within grasp for the average upper middle ss family.


    With further refinements of both the process and the materials, it was probably possible to reduce the cost by half.


    Further testing would be required to check for things like longevity, but Grady thought he had a viable product.


    The issue would be in ensuring he was able to capture the market before it was flooded with imitations andpetitors.


    If he had figured this all out in a matter of days, others surely would do the same before too long.


    The formation part would be a stumbling block for some, but the Tier 1 formations were simple enough he suspected most engineer types could figure it out before too long. If his attempt at Tier 2 formations was anything to go by, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as having machines create the base formation te and filling the copper in by hand. The book he bought rmended hand carving, and he suspected that was to better activate the magical aspect of the formation, but he needed more testing before confirming these results.


    He also needed to talk to Baron Hastra and see if he could negotiate some kind of state sponsorship.


    Grady took most of the six months he was allocated for hispany''s dissolution to settle his ns, but the time only confirmed his ideas.


    Catering to delvers was a losing proposition for apany like his.


    Instead, he bent his vast resources to creating cultivation parlors.


    He wasn¡¯t able to secure a partnership with Baron Hastra, but he did get a reduction of hispany¡¯s taxes so long as they met certain criteria. Mainly, it was keeping prices down and keeping production local, but Grady had no issues with those restrictions.


    Even if he were to sell off-world, which seemed like it would be difficult at best in such a saturated market, he didn¡¯t think the business would ever outgrow Soerilia. For all its ws, Soerilia had a massive poption whenpared to their neighborings.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the vition.


    Just nine months after integration, Briggs Cultivation Inc. opened its first location.


    The initial reaction wasrge, with many peopleing to use their facilities, but cultivation wasn¡¯t an ingrained habit for most Soerilians and most people never bothered toe back. Grady feared he might have misstepped but he persisted. It wouldn¡¯t be his first failed venture, but it would be a painful one.


    He pushed through, funding thepany though his own umted wealth, and slowly but surely they started getting more repeat customers.


    In the end it wasn¡¯t the more affluent persons nearby, but delvers who kept his business afloat in the initial months.


    Delving, for all its advantages, was dangerous, and no one knew that better than those who went into rifts. Rift slots also seemed to be as frequent as one a week or as infrequent as once a month, which meant the dedicated were either delving two rifts at a time which doubled the danger or they came to his cultivation parlor for a risk-free way to advance in their down time.


    Pulling on that thread, Grady had his people start creating better but more expensive formations, which encouraged the stronger delvers to continue toe to his ce.


    Grady even partnered with an old college buddy who had Awakened a construction Talent and created simr cultivation-enhancing formations in the estates he was building. Grady didn¡¯t want them spreading too far too soon, but he knew it was inevitable for upper ss housing toe with such formations innately as formation experts started to be moremonce.


    Currently, they were the only ones able to create and repair such tes, but his eyes and ears were already tracking a half dozenpetitors.


    It took another two years to be solvent, but once they did, things seemed to rapidly turn around. They went from one location in Noricum to half a dozen in the next three years, and by the end of the decade, they had over a hundred locations scattered in most major poption centers.


    And of course because it would be terrible optics for his business if he didn¡¯t, he also used his products and cultivated. It still took nearly a decade but he reached T3 well ahead of most people which made for fantastic advertising. Privately he had to admit that he quite enjoyed the increased vitality it gave him. Even pushing sixty he felt better than he had in his forties.


    When he failed to notice anything that could be his Tier 3 Talent in his daily life, he decided to forgo getting it checked out. A decision he rapidly came to regret as his daughter started incessantly questioning him about it. After several months of her pestering he finally gave in and booked an appointment.


    T3: Gain a supplemental mana pool that can only be used to cast air spells. This mana pool is based on your mana cultivation, but only fills while airborne, and rapidly depletes while in contact with the ground.


    As he expected, and to daughter¡¯s dismay, it was just as irrelevant as his Tier 1 Talent.


    Instead of bemoaning the theoretical loss he focused on his business. Arge part of their sess came from wanting to round his business out. He got permission for the creation of an alchemy sub-branch that could grow magical herbs and turn them into cultivation aids. If they started making other products, they risked being broken up as his original business was, but so long as they kept to theirne, they would be fine ording to hiswyers.


    Those products were <em>incredibly</em> popr despite their higher costs, even surpassing the ie from the rented rooms. Something about the ease of simply taking a pill to see improvements was inherently addictive, and many people who didn¡¯t use their rooms bought their pills, powders, and potions instead.


    Theirrgest issue and hamperment for growth was their limited Tier. Tier 1 materials were easy enough to create and work with, Tier 2 was harder but still possible, while Tier 3 materials were basically impossible for anyone not at Tier 3 to manufacture.


    Some processes could and were automated, but they still needed higher-Tier people to do parts and there just weren''t enough to fill the roles. As the younger generation was reaching the new age of majority, they were seeing an uptick in people interested in the magical professions like formations and alchemy which he took advantage of and started recruiting with incentives for people to Tier up via their products.


    Grady wasn¡¯t sentimental, but it was almost hard to believe that the Soerilia from just a decade ago had been what it waspared to its current form.


    Things were hardly perfect. There were issues, but they seemed manageable enough.


    Best of all, he and his family were doing better than he would have expected after getting the news that hispany was being broken apart.


    ***


    Alessia cursed as she rolled out of bed at the sound of her rm, but struggled from her dreams knowing today was a big day.


    It wasn¡¯t any earlier than she had been waking up for school before Soerilia had been taken over by magic people from other worlds, but when the world ended she hadn¡¯t expected to be back in school in just a week.


    Just going back to school would have been annoying enough, but at the end of every school day they were forced to work out. It wasn¡¯t like gym ss, where anyone who didn¡¯t want to participate was able to just sit off to the side. No, the exercise time was mandatory and strictly enforced by their trainers, Mr. Alto and Ms. Bakerswatch. They were off worlders who had magic at their fingertips, but instead of doing <em>magic,</em> or literally anything better with their time, they spent their evenings harassing a bunch of kids into working out.


    A few kids had tried to fake injuries, but they were ignored and forced to keep up, Ms. Bakerswatch saying she would know if they were injured.


    None of them had believed her until na took a slip trying to swing from one monkey bar to the next. In a case of bad luck, she hadnded on her ankle wrong and it had snapped with an audible sound.


    Everyone stopped except Mr. Alto, who pulled out a piece of paper which he stuck onto her floppy foot like a bandaid.


    Alessia had inwardly sneered that a bandaid would do nothing, but na¡¯s foot glowed and straightened out before bands of blue light held everything in ce. She had heard rumors of such items before, flexi-casts used by first responders in bad cases. They hade out shortly after the nano-bot healing¡­ Which Alessia just realized was probably actually magic instead of super advanced tech.


    Mr. Alto then took out a bottle of something that looked an awful lot like a video game healing potion and sprayed the ankle. It must have had some numbing agent, as na even stopped crying long enough to proim her foot no longer hurt.


    Mr. Alto stood up and looked at everyone who had gathered around. ¡°First things first. Gawking doesn''t help anyone. Next time an ident happens, continue doing what you were doing if you can¡¯t directly help. Second, since you are all here and watching, let me turn this into a teaching opportunity. Ms. Hren here suffered a closed fracture of her ankle with three breaks. The talisman I used to stabilize her ankle has a slow healing effect that would have, on its own, seen her recovered and able to walk in just two to three weeks.¡± Ignoring the murmurs of disbelief he raised his voice and continued. ¡°In addition, I used part of a simple healing potion and sprayed the affected area with that additional healing. Ms. Hren will be fully healed in approximately a week. Good thing for her, as we are going to split into two groups with half of you starting to work on your hand eye coordination. It can be done sitting down, so in deference to Ms. Hern, we will all sit. Move! Move! Move!¡±


    No one had daredin or ck off after na was forced to go through the rest of the exercise period after breaking her foot.


    Some other kids had spected that he would be fired for not sending her to the hospital, but Alessia doubted it, and Mr. Alto was there the next day. He had even been correct about na being fully healed in just a little over a week.


    Really, the physical exercise sses wouldn''t have been that bad if they didn¡¯t push her to the point of literal physical copse¡­ and weren¡¯t right next to where the younger kids were just being guided in ying games.


    Even nine hours of sleep didn¡¯t seem like enough when she considered that school had been extended by two hours to ount for the exercise time.


    Teeth brushed and bags packed, she waited for her bus to pick her up. Rumor had it there would be new busesing in a few years, but Alessia would graduate before she saw them and had to deal with the unttering orange blobs they had always used.


    Entering the school, she went to her homeroom ss where, unlike before the integration, Mr. Ingad actually took attendance and asked if they needed any help with their homework or ss work as they ate breakfast.


    That had been a major change, but a wee one. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner for those who wanted it were provided by local chefs, who had reced their crappy school food with actual good food.


    Rumor had it there had been an actual fight for the spots because of some kind of reward, but the result was that all the schools had actually good food. Gone were the rubbery eggs and pale mystery meat that they tried to pass off as sausage or cardboard pizza, reheated endlessly until it was hard enough to cause injury. It was a good thing too, because teenagers being expected toplete serious workouts for two hours every weekday, after an entire school day, were eating <em>way</em> more than normal. Her parents were alreadyining at just how much she ate over the weekendspared to before, and she couldn¡¯t imagine what they would do if she was this hungry and skipping the gross food they had served before.


    As for the homework, no one really needed help. While there had been changes in sses, they had been fairly minor this first year, all except that homework was to be the exception instead of the rule. Well, that and the magic lessons.


    Alessia actually really liked the magic stuff. Magic itself was just so cool, and even though their lessons were more like college lectures, with them practicing it in the assembly hall, they were the highlight of her day.


    From what she had seen of the new curriculum that the younger kids would be going through, things were that different.


    While they would only go through eight years of standardized schooling, it was a fairly aggressive course loadprising most of what she had learned. Math was nearly identical, simplypressed.


    Science was very different. While the younger kids would be learning subjects like organic chemistry, chemical bonding and reactions, and things like weather cycles, the sses were more focused on how cultivation interacted with those systems, rather than the intricacies of the systems themselves beyond the basics like she had learned.


    History was more focused on the Empire¡¯s history, and while there seemed to be some time dedicated to Soerilian history, it was clearly a secondary priority, which is what everyone had feared and her parentsmented when they thought she couldn''t hear them.


    Writing andnguage arts were simr or identical to what she was used to, except done in Empire standard. Or it would be; the new government seemed to realize, or maybe just their new noble realized, the futility of having existing teachers trying to teach anguage they didn¡¯t speak themselves.


    Word had it that during summer break, anyone who wanted to remain a teacher would be given a crash course in the Empirenguage, and they would be expected to teach in it as the younger generations started to learn it.


    Today was, thankfully, an extra special day, with magical professions being introduced to the tenth graders like her who had just been Awakened and were looking for professions in this new world.


    Tier 1 Primary Effect: Innate [Reinforce Metal].


    Fortunately, the Talent reader let her get more information as to what that <em>meant</em>, because she barely understood half of it. Skills were¡­ good, she was pretty sure. At least, her Talent said it was rated ¡®Good.¡¯ That was probably because most people didn¡¯t get a skill until Tier 5 at the earliest, and they didn¡¯t be broadly avable until Tier¡­ 8.


    But she had a skill at Tier 1! That was good. And it was an Innate skill, which meant it was fifty percent ¡®better¡¯ than a core skill, whatever that meant, and it would be <em>really easy</em> to improve and modify. That was¡­ also good. Or she thought it was. They hadn¡¯t gone over skills as anything more than a mention in the cultivation lessons yet.


    ording to what she did remember about it being an innate skill, there was a decently high chance that it was different from ¡®normal¡¯ in some way, wrapped up in its fifty percent ¡®betterness¡¯. But she¡¯d need to figure out what that meant herself.


    The skill itself seemed a bit less impressive? The skill description she could ess was a bit less than helpful, as it simply said that it could ¡®strengthen metals¡¯ in a <em>very</em> roundabout way. It was a favorite of smiths, because the change was permanent.


    Okay, she could learn how to be a smith. How to smithy things. She hadn¡¯t really <em>considered</em> being a smith, but anyone capable of arming people as they went into rifts was making money hand over fist, ording to the news.


    Alessia and her family weren¡¯t poor, but they were closer to poor than to rich, and from what she had been able to look up on what was left of the inte, it said crafting was expensive to get into beyond the most basic levels.


    Thankfully, the baron guy was investing in local crafters and was giving anyone who showed proficiency in any crafting skill resources to pursue the craft.


    The entire athletic field behind the school was converted into an almost fair like atmosphere, and Alessia could see some of the younger kids trying to peek out the windows to get a look.


    Her attention was, however, drawn to the section off to the side where the smiths were.


    As she neared the location, the first thing she noticed was how quiet it was. The thumps of metal on metal were muted, like all the hammers were wrapped with cloth. Eyes scanning the instructors, Alessia was relieved to notice there was a fairly even split between men and women.


    As she inspected a very tall woman making an arm band looking thing, she was noticed and waved over.


    ¡°You seem interested, kid, want to give it a try? The name¡¯s Maribel.¡±


    Alessia backed up slightly. ¡°I wouldn''t know where to start.¡±


    Maribel smiled. ¡°That''s the idea. No one understands anything day one, unless <em>understanding</em> was their Talent. We do, however, intend to let you all get your hands dirty and see what happens.¡±


    Seeing she had Alessia''s attention, Maribel handed her a hammer and instructed her how and where to hit the arm band.


    As much as she hated to admit it, the months of physical exercise was the only reason Alessia was able to swing the hammer more than a few times before being spent.


    It took a few minutes, but she thoroughly enjoyed the rhythm she got into. The reverberations of the hammer were soothing as they flowed through her arm while watching the bracer take shape. Even the mistakes she made weren¡¯t that big of a deal, as Maribel simply put the bracelet into the fire and instructed her on how to fix the issue.


    Alessia was covered in sweat, with her shirt sticking to her in a way she knew was unttering, when she finally finished.


    The arm band wasn¡¯t pretty, a few spots were thinner or thicker than their surroundings, but it was functional. Or it would be, once it was finished.


    Riveting it to leather was actually kind of fun, but she didn¡¯t realize just <em>how </em>into it she was getting until a particrly vigorous hammer-blow <em>resonated</em> in a way she didn¡¯t have words for, and left her immensely drained afterwards.


    Alessia paused to catch her breath, and realized as she looked at the dark metal that she must have used her Talent! How, she didn¡¯t know, but there was a kind of subtle glimmer to the metal she was <em>certain</em> hadn¡¯t been there a minute ago.


    Maribel raised an eyebrow at the disy, which caused Alessia to start to get scared.


    People had talked about why the magical Talents were hidden and all of the conclusions they came to were negative.


    ¡°Rx, kid. Yeah, it¡¯s a good practice to keep your Talent hidden, and I¡¯m not telling anyone. Part of my job. A crafting-type skill will be tricky to keep hidden if you want to use it at all until you¡¯ve got it either modified to the ns and back, or have other skills to cast a bit of doubt with. But you <em>could</em> do it by only using it on personal projects.¡± She stroked her chin thoughtfully as she finished, ¡°You could also use whatever it is as a pretty sure-fire way to secure an apprenticeship, and then only your master would know for sure what you¡¯ve got. Or you can just spread the information to try and draw in customers, but that''s generally not rmended. No need to let thepetition know what your advantage is. Really, there are so many skills and such that most of the time it¡¯s just impossible to outright know what a Talent is doing. There are a dozen ways to get a simr result and it can be basically impossible to differentiate them.¡±


    Alessia swallowed but just nodded in confirmation.


    Maribel winked at her. ¡°The real question is, did you like that? Did you <em>enjoy</em> it? If you didn¡¯t, you don¡¯t <em>have</em> to use your Talent. Go and try the other crafts. See if one of them jibes with you more. Plenty of people ignore theirs, and others beat them every which way until they work for them. There¡¯s a pretty popr legend about a kid who awoke an innate [Cheery Visage] and turned it into a personal healing skill. But, being a metalcrafter with a Talent in it means you¡¯ll always be one step ahead of thepetition.¡±


    Alessia wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to hit metal for the rest of her life, as it didn¡¯t seem verydy-like, but she remembered the prices she had seen when looking up weapons and armor.


    Making up her mind, Alessia reached out to shake Maribel¡¯s hand. ¡°I ept.¡±


    The older woman justughed. ¡°It won¡¯t be with me, kid. I''m only Tier 4 myself. I can, however, introduce you to my Master.¡±


    Flushing, Alessia tried to retreat into herself and ended up holding the arm band to her chest, hoping it could distract Maribel.


    It didn¡¯t, but she didn¡¯t mention it and instead introduced Alessia to a middle aged man who looked exactly like a movie cksmith.


    Wanting to put her best foot forward, the moment Maribel finished the introduction Alessia stuck out her hand.


    The offer seemed generous, but Master Tabin suggested she and her parents look it over, but she didn¡¯t see why she wouldn¡¯t ept.


    It was an apprenticeship that came with the corresponding training up to journeyman, where she would be equipped to open her own business. Before that, she would be expected to assist Master Tabin with his business and craft, to give her best effort without subterfuge.


    In return, she would get a small wage and a percentage of the items she made and sold under his tutge. Even the wage was decent. A little less than what her parents made individually.


    The prospective apprenticeship was expected tost from ten to fifteen years, and after that time, she should be ready to be self-sufficient.


    The only negative she saw in the contract was that Master Tabin as her master would have the right to im up to five percent of her profits for the first ten years of her practice. Normally, there would also be the option of a payback period of the material she used to learn, but that was being covered by the noble guy, so it was voided out.


    Alessia genuinely couldn''t see any real reason to decline, andter that night after talking to her parents, she sighed and pressed her thumb to the contract.


    For better or worse, she was going all in for this crazy new world.


    ***


    Yosef Yililk spat off to the side as he panted over the prone form of Roderic.


    His hands moved to reload his gun even as his eyes scanned the room in front of them, watching for their hidden stalker.


    As a Tier 6, his reactions were far better than they had ever been, but that advantage was blunted by the panther¡¯s magic.


    Dropping the charging handle back into ce, Yosef pped the side of his weapon, energizing the formation, which started building pressure in the main chamber even as it drained the embedded mana stone.


    Dominic shoved him forward and Yosef went from his crouch to an upright position, which gave him a better view of the jungle around them.


    Roderic coughed as Dominic¡¯s healing pulsed.


    Fifteen secondster, he was back on his feet, which was just in time for the man-sized panther to attack once more.


    Feeling theck of air movement, Yosef called out, ¡°False!¡±


    Roderic spun to the side just as Yosef felt the movement. Despite being a decade younger, the melee fighter was damn good at his job. Him getting his throat torn out had been the first time Yosef had seen the man get caught off guard like that in the year and a half they had been delving together.


    Yosef raised his bulky rifle and caressed the trigger twice. Two chestpressing thumps echoed through the opening as two energized streams of sandced water arced out.


    The first one missed and cut through three trees on its way deeper into the rift, but the second shot punched a hole right through the panther''s chest. At the same time, Dominic reached out and clenched his fist, and Yosef felt his power over movement weaken as the healer''s Domain tried to keep things still and preserved.


    It felt wrong, like nails on a chalkboard to his own Concept, but the move was enough to let Roderd a blow on the panther¡¯s neck, nearly decapitating the beast.


    Yosef shot the monster another time for good measure as it sprawled across the ground, but it was already dead, with essence flowing out of it and thanks to their bracelets, redirected between them.


    Being the boss of the rift, it was a fair bit of essence and Yosef let himselfnguish in the feeling of additional power.


    Even after two decades of advancing, he found the power exhrating.


    Tif and Pam were finally released as the creature''s shadow capture ability faded and they stumbled to the ground, gasping for air.


    Dominic rushed over and checked them while Roderic and Yosef kept watch for any stray monsters.


    The five of them were a fairly new team in Gavle¡¯s Good Guilders, each from other teams who just didn¡¯t have their level of dedication, which had allowed them to push into peak Tier 6 rifts as fresh Tier 6s. Well they had, after each of them had been cooling their heels in nonbat roles. Gavle¡¯s, like most guilds, rotated members in and out of rifts on cycles to avoid both burnout and alienation via spending all of one''s time in a rift.


    It meant hard fights, but it was that honing which had allowed them to survive a rare mutated boss that had additional powers beyond what was recorded.


    Once they were all up and ready, they carefully found the rift exit and the reward distortion.


    Yosef dispelled the rift with a wave of his hand, just to freeze as a single blue gem fell out of the distortion.


    A skill shard.


    Pan whooped while Dominic started making what could be best described as excited puppy noises.


    Getting a skill out of a Tier 6 rift was rare. At worst, if the skill was nonbat or not very valuable, the guild would exchange the skill with amon Tier 8 skill, but if the skill was worth more than that, they would get whatever additional value was in the skill.


    Together, they rushed out of the rift and Yosef couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was a decade younger as he waited for the machine to examine the skill.


    What had they gotten?


    [Parry].


    A fairly rarebat skill was worth quite a lot, and the bursar happily gave them credit for twomon skills, one and a half umon skills, or credit to their ounts for the same value.


    They were still deciding how they wanted to split it when Yosef got a message from his AI.


    The imnt had been part of his weing package, and it was undoubtedly the one that he would never give up.


    It was beyond convenient, but at times like this, Yosef liked being able to pretend he hadn¡¯t seen a message. But when the head of recruitment, a vice guild leader, called for him, he couldn¡¯t do so.


    Excusing himself, Yosef jogged through thepound until he arrived at the administrative section of the guild.


    Gavle¡¯s had treated him well in thest decade and so, while he was sure some shit was about to fall onto hisp, he would put up with it so long as it wasn¡¯t too onerous.


    Waved through the seating room by the secretary, Yosef entered the office just to find Jerry talking to someone else on his AI animatedly about some sort of contract.


    Yosef was waved to a seat and the moment he sat down, a folder of paper was tossed at him. He was a little confused as to why they were using paper files instead of AI, but he started reading anyway.


    His question wasn¡¯t answered and instead, a dozen new ones were raised as he read a document about how Ascender Titan had unveiled Soerilia just two weeks ago.


    Having been in the Empire proper for over a decade, he had a better understanding of not only Tier, but what Ascenders were, which made his attempt at shooting Ascender Legion feel all the moreughable. It also let him understand that if Ascender Titan had made a move, things might have been bad.


    Reading on, things weren¡¯t nearly as bad as he feared. Some idiot tried to kill an Ascender with mundane weapons, but the parts about the world governments still having been dragging their feet wasn¡¯t surprising.


    What he didn¡¯t quite understand was why he was being brought in for this.


    Gavle¡¯s wanting to set up an outpost on Soerilia wasn¡¯t surprising, but Yosef didn¡¯t know what he had to do with that. He was abat fighter, not an admin guilder who could or would deal with such things.


    That didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t want to help his home world, but he understood that while a Tier 6 might seem strong and wealthy to the unawakened, he was nothing whenpared to the truly strong. A stray thought from Ascender Titan or Legion would be enough to tten the guild and their pocket change was probably enough to buy the guild outright, but even they were small whenpared to Tier 40s.


    If Yosef wanted to help Soerilia, he needed to be at least Tier 15. At that point, he would be immortal, and even casual delving would earn him enough to make an appreciable difference to Soerilia. Whereas now, even if he threw every mana stone he earned at Soerilia, he wouldn''t make a difference.


    Thankfully, his question was answered as Jerry finished his call. ¡°Sorry about that, Yosef. You caught up?¡±


    ¡°I read the file but I¡¯m not sure what it has to do with me? Do you want me to run that branch or something? I don¡¯t th¡ª¡±


    ¡°Nothing like that Yosef. We do want you to spend a year or so, at most five, acting as something of a mascot for the guild as well as a bit of a culture exchange expert. Technically you would be third inmand, as everyone understands you don¡¯t want day to day responsibility, but they will defer to you on all things during the set-up and rted to cultural norms and such.¡± Yosef was about to exin that he only really knew the culture of one country out of dozens, but Jerry cut him off. ¡°I know you don¡¯t know everything about an entire, but you know more than any of us would about the things that really matter. The subtle things you don''t find in books or reports. You can refuse, but you have said you wanted to help your home world. We are a good guild and are willing to set up a base there, which even for the kids who don¡¯t leave the world, they will be better trained and equipped than otherwise. Just two years and we will ensure your team has top priority on all rifts until Tier 8.¡±


    Yosef nodded. He would have done it without the extra reward because Gavle¡¯s was a good guild that didn¡¯t take advantage of people. It was half clubhouse and half extended family and people generally looked out for each other.


    If Gavle¡¯s went to Soerilia, they could not only set a good example for other guilds but establish the eptable standards as it were.


    Yosef didn¡¯t want to pause his delving, having only just gotten back into rifts to start advancing, but he also knew that sometimes the wants of the few were overruled by the needs of the many.


    He had done a lot of things he didn¡¯t want to do, and he was, if not better, a more experienced man for those times. It was also a good way to show that he was a team yer in the guild. Even if he didn¡¯t want responsibility so soon after escaping it when he joined the guild, he had ideas for how to change some things, and showing that he waspetent beyond what his rtively young age would suggest would be a useful stepping stone for advocating for those changes.


    That he was considered young at almost sixty year old was always amusing to him, but considering his lifespan was just under three hundred years, he was rtively young for a Tier 6.


    And he just wanted to help his home world. It had raised him into the man he was today. It had given him opportunity and strife, challenge and pleasure. It was a good ce that could really use some of the things the Empire took for granted. There was so much they didn¡¯t understand that he had picked up after being in the Empire proper for a decade. So many unique things they could be leveraging as a that he wasn¡¯t sure most people would pick up on for years.


    ¡°When do I leave?¡±

 Chapter 368

    Stepping out of the portal, Matt let out a deep breath.


    That was less than ideal. They¡ª no, he¡ª had fucked up, but the only thing he could do was to try not to do it again.


    Checking his calendar, Matt found that Cato had cleared some of his more immediate tasks, which gave him a few days before he and Liz needed to go check in on the worlds they had received in thest decade while they were away.


    Their duchy had gone from a handful ofs to over a hundred, and they needed to follow up on thes, their conditions, and how each noble they had put in charge was doing.


    They could have just relied on their viscounts, counts, and marquess¡¯s for such information but the point of touring their realm was to establish better connection with their nobles as well as familiarize themselves with theirnds and that was best done going there themselves.


    Still, checking in on others after their own failures felt like thergest, most hypocritical thing Matt could do at a time like this, but he tried to push those feelings away and focus on the task at hand.


    After a brief check in with Titan¡¯s Torch, Matt and Liz boarded their gift for finishing the Path, the Horizon ss cruise ship and set off. Instead of letting themselves wallow in pity during their transit time, he and Liz sat down together and started going over practice scenarios and how they would solve them.


    Some were as simple as a baron under their rule murdering a town for no reason, while others were far moreplicated, like one of their baronies bing the battleground for two Tier 45 businesses originating from the world that were trying their best to kick each other out. Both were incredibly unlikely historical events, but they <em>had</em> happened, so he tried his best to work out how he¡¯d solve them. He didn¡¯t want to copy the historical path for either incident, as they were at least partially infamous for how badly they had been handled.


    Other scenarios were far more likely, such as a lower ranking noble flouting their orders or old feuds between lesser noble families ring up. In theory, neither of those situations should have happened in a newly created duchy, but it inevitably happened as factions were created or old grudges from the nobles¡¯ previous holdings surfaced.With their higher-than-average proportion of meritocratically promoted nobles, both the hereditary and non-hereditary types, could either act as a mediating force in their duchy, or they would be a reactive element causing problems but they wouldn''t know until it happened.


    Before the Soerilia fiasco, Matt felt like they could easily handle any such issues, but he was forced to realize that he couldn''t, or at least shouldn''t, punch every problem he encountered.


    While a lot of the problems were fairly binary with obviously correct solutions, he and Liz got some experience thinking through issues they wouldn¡¯t normally encounter. Hopefully with some experience, even the simted kind, they could react better should they run into any simr problems.


    That wasn¡¯t the only thing they did on the trip, though they were far too busy for rxed activities. No, most of their free time was spent on catching up on the paperwork they hadn¡¯t done in thest month. Thankfully, by the time they arrived at the Tier 5 world, Talvetcia, they had mostly caught up on their work which allowed them to fully focus on their inspections.


    Baron Garth Leeds met their ship in orbit with his family floating behind him.


    They were a new noble family raised from the masses thanks to Garth''s work at Viscountess Alergia Vaso¡¯s court as an aide. Thanks to nearly five thousand years of dedicated service, he had finally been given his ownnds. And from their brief earlier meeting when he had passed through Lilly, the man was incredibly grateful he had been given a world at all.


    His wife and son were immortals, though Matt could feel that their cores were light and airy from cultivating ambient essence without bothering topact things to the same level as rift monster essence.


    After going through the typical greetings from vassal to liege, Matt and Liz were led along on a tour of the former Republic world that Baron Leeds had taken control of.


    Talvetcia was, thankfully, a non-veil world, and while Matt expected the world to bepletely alien from the veil world, the differences were more subtle.


    Cities had the habit of being more sprawling than the Empire preferred, though that might have been a feature of the world''srge poption.


    From the reports, it hade with one and a half billion new citizens, which was more than an Empire world ofparable Tier would have.


    With half an ear, Matt listened as Baron Leeds described the issues he had run into and what he had done to correct them.


    Most problems were trivial and mostly pertained to changes in policy that the residents were resistant to, but a few wererger, such as the general poption''s disgruntlement with non-elected leaders.


    Baron Leeds had authorized more governors to be elected, trying to ensure the local poption felt they had a voice, but when that had only mollified them for a short time, he had been forced to take harsher measures.


    The Baron wasn¡¯t too worried about it as, like with most worlds, mortal sentiments had a simple solution¡ª wait it out. Those who were most resistant to change were typically older, and the children born under the rule of the Empire were typically more inline with Empire sensibilities. Thus, in a few generations the poption would be right where they wanted it and they could avoid more draconian measures.  ?¨¤??¨®?§§s


    Not that Talvetcia was that bad.


    Matt had looked up other failed integrations on their travels, and despite his fears, Soerilia wasn¡¯t anywhere near the worst integrations. If Soerilia didn¡¯t register, Talvetcia surely didn''t. He assured Garth of that fact, letting the man know that issues and friction were the norm.


    What did surprise him was that two out of the top five worst recent integrations hade from Republic worlds, so he had done some digging.


    It wasn¡¯t that Republic world integrations usually went bad. In fact, especially during the reign of the Sophron dynasty, they typically went rather well. But when they went poorly, they almost always went <em>really</em> poorly.


    Matt found a dozen reports on the subject that drew twelve different conclusions, but the first one he pulled up seemed the most usible to him. Simply put, because the Republic and Sophron Empire were so simr, the few ipatibilities tended to hold a <em>lot</em> of sparking power. It was a lot easier for unrest to coalesce around a few very obvious pain points than for anyone to agree on a general sense of total upheaval. So when, say, a very prominent and well-liked personality was punished for doing something that was illegal in the Empire, but was legal in the Republic, it had the possibility to make a lot of people <em>very</em> mad.


    On the bright side, Soerilia was in one piece and the sun hadn¡¯t been extinguished, which helped put into perspective just how bad things could get.


    Still, Matt was gratified to see that things were going well. After spending most of a day on a guided tour, he and Liz left.


    Their next stop was one Matt had been looking forward to quite a bit. Thanks to a quirk of Corporations taxw regarding property taxes, space-based architecture was a lot moremon in their worlds. Their <ems</em> usually served as abination of heavy industry hub and pseudo nature preserve, and that only grew more pronounced at higher Tiers. It was something to do with how tax rates were based primarily on the rawnd-value ofary space at the time of purchase, so ass increased in Tier, high tax rates pushed people offary soil and into the megastructures that used little-to-<em>no</em>ary space.


    The result was that Tier 8 or higher Corporations worlds tended to have expansive space stations, including, but not limited to, full orbital rings and Oneil cylinders.


    Ixtal, being a Tier 11 world, had a somewhat barebones orbital ring, but the moment they entered the world''s real space, it was the first thing he noticed.


    A Tier 11 world would typically only be a viscount level title, but Matt and Liz had made an exception at the request of the Emperor for Countess Heidi Walsh. Much like Matt, she had been raised in an orphanage and worked her way up from a job at an inn. <em>Unlike</em> Matt, her parents weren¡¯t dead, though. Well, they might have been by now. Whoever her mother had been had dropped her off at an orphanage when she was an infant, and Matt wasn¡¯t sure if that was better or worse than his own story.


    Regardless, instead of joining the Path like Matt had, or starting a delving career like he had wanted to do, she had instead continued working for the inn, leveraging her natural leadership skills until she was practically running the ce. She scrimped and saved until she, at only 22 years old, was in a position to buy the business from the old owner when they wanted to retire.


    By the time she was 30, Countess Walsh had a chain of hotels, hostels, and short-term apartments under her control, but she had never started cultivating seriously. Using her vast, if low-Tier fortune, she paid to be carried through rifts until she was 40 and had reached the Tier cap of her world, Tier 5. Instead of just continuing as a local magnate, she had sold her holdings to buy a new location on a Tier 9 world, where she repeated the process.


    As a Tier 14, she had caught the attention of her local noble who had gotten her a shard of reality, allowing her to form a true Concept in exchange for acting as their Minister of Finance.


    Seemingly unable to underperform, Countess Walsh had tripled the baron¡¯s wealth in a short century while stabilizing the economy, which caught the attention of that baron¡¯s countess liege.


    After bouncing between noble families, she eventually earned her own barony, and through time and a vast amount of resources, nurtured the originally Tier 3 world into a Tier 9 one. A self-made viscountess was a rarity, but such things did happen and were a method the Empire used to encourage nobles to actually invest into theirs. It was just rare for people to be as sessful as she had been, or as fast in developing a world without serious issues cropping up.


    Her promotion when transferring to Matt and Liz¡¯s duchy wasn¡¯t because of them, though Matt greatly admired someone so simr but different to himself, but rather a reward from the Emperor himself after Countess Walsh had taken over a supply outpost during the war and kept it running through both material deficits and enemy attacks.


    When for her reward she had asked to take ownership of the highest-Tier Corporations world, no one had denied her. He and Liz had epted with the provision that she would need to get the''s Tier to an appropriate level as soon as feasibly possible.


    It wasn¡¯t a strict rule, but a fiefdom''s Tier was typically corrted to thes Tier, and Tier 15s were typically the lowest Tier given to count titles.


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


    Countess Walsh met them alone with a beaming smile and a deep bow. ¡°I pay my respects to my Lord and my Lady and humbly wee you to Mythena.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at the old word for prosperity, but didn¡¯tment on Countess Walsh renaming her world. It wasn¡¯tmonly done, but such a decision was fully at the discretion of the ruling noble, and neither he nor Liz cared.


    ¡°How are you settling in? Are you running into issues or things you¡¯d like help with, or is there anything you feel the need to report directly to us?¡±


    Countess Walsh shook her head and positively beamed at him. ¡°It has been most exhrating to pit my acumen against the corporations that chose to remain, but there have been no issues.¡±


    With a deep sigh, she added, ¡°It has been everything I could have hoped for and more.¡±


    Matt exchanged a look with Liz and they gave Countess Walsh a moment to collect herself before Liz asked, ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. We weren''t at war with the Corporations, but has that eased the integration?¡±


    Countess Walsh shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that it has had any appreciable change. Everyone, or rather anyone with power in Mythena, understands that they were transferred to the newest Ascenders¡¯ domain and are treating it like the opportunity it is. Give me another century, and we will be the envy of the duchy.¡±


    Turning to Matt, Countess Walsh bowed slightly. ¡°Speaking of business opportunities, my Lord, I put together a proposal for the duchy to take your aura potions and turn them into an export. I hope you can look it ove¡ª¡±


    Receiving the packet, Matt increased his perception to the max and reviewed the document. He had learned his lesson about skimming such things, and made a thorough pass before lowering his perception to a typical Tier 20.


    Countess Walsh had put together a general n for how to make their duchy an exporter of aura potions via a round of tax breaks, incentives, and deals with shippingpanies who might be interested in bulk freight to and from the capital worlds.


    It was ambitious. More ambitious than Matt would have proposed, but he liked the general vor of the idea.


    Even after a decade of progress, the Empire hadn¡¯t fully embraced the aura potions like he had hoped, and on higher-Tier worlds, aura potions were still basically impossible to get, as they were gone the moment they were restocked.


    Given a few thousand, possibly ten or twenty thousand years, Matt was sure things would stabilize, but this opened up other opportunities.


    What if they expanded the rifts and rift products of his and Liz¡¯s duchy to rare rifts like [Bandage], [Healing Touch], [Ranged Heal], [Endurance], or any of the other rare or in-demand Tier 8 and Tier 14 rifts?


    Titan¡¯s Torch hadn¡¯t cracked the code quite yet, but two teams were working on making Tier 8 skill rifts without so many failures, and they could make a Tier 8 [Bandage] rift about one out of sixty times thanks to some refinements in rift stabilization.


    That was still expensive, but for a rare skill like [Bandage], it could be worth it to create a few. The Tier 14 healing spells were harder and far more expensive in material costs, as a failure meant the loss of far more valuable skill shards, but if the teams kept up the work, they might be able to get the odds down to something reasonable in the next few hundred years.


    Such custom rifts could tie in well to Countess Walsh¡¯s idea for exports of aura potions. They might also attract delvers that wanted the rewards, but didn¡¯t want to or didn¡¯t have the ability to directly purchase them.


    Not that Matt was about to ept right here and now, but he liked what he was seeing both from the n and Countess Walsh herself.


    It would also give him and Liz a bargaining chip for their uing ducal gathering. No one would truly expect them to have something to export, but having something valuable but not exclusive might put them in a good position.


    Not an amazing one that might draw jealousy, but a good one. And anyone who saw their sess and coveted their profits could copy their actions, making aura potions easier to buy for themon man.


    That in and of itself was a good enough reason for Matt.


    ¡°An interesting proposal that I will look over in more detailter Countess Walsh, but I like what I saw on a brief skim. Tell us about Mythena.¡±


    Matt should have expected it, but he had to force himself to pay attention when Countess Walsh immediatelyunched into an exnation of how the change in her world''s chaotic space location had broken all of the previous supply deals the local businesses had, and while she had facilitated quick recements, the deals weren¡¯t nearly as favorable as they could have been with the shippingpanies holding most of the cards.


    Phoenix Liz shoved her head under a wing, which nearly caused Matt tough, but he managed to contain himself through an effort of will.


    Countess Walsh thankfully turned the topic to something far more interesting. ¡°I was hoping for support in keeping most of my poption in orbit and to finish the orbital ring. Most of the hard work is done and I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Liz epted her proposal before Matt could. ¡°We actually intended to ask if you would be willing to do exactly that. Even beyond how much Matt <em>loves</em> impractical infrastructure projects and wants to research rift development in offworld environments, we want to try some of the Corporations¡¯ methods for Tiering ups. See if they might be viable and worthy of replication on arger scale.¡±


    Countess Walsh positively beamed at the eptance. ¡°Wonderful. If there is anything you would like to test I will of course be willing to assist any way I can. I can even set aside one of thepleted sections for an outpost of your guild my Lord.¡±


    Instead of denying, Matt just nodded. ¡°If you can prepare the facilities, I can have a team moved over in the next decade. Now, tell me about the orbital ring. Are the people who live on it disadvantaged without ess to rifts?¡±


    Countess Walsh¡¯s happy countenance mellowed noticeably. ¡°Not at this point, but I can see where issues likely will arise. Companies and immortals are the only ones who could afford the taxes of surface living, and transportation to and from theary surface isn¡¯t <em>expensive</em>, but it does serve as an additional hurdle for either onworld delving or transportation to lower-Tier neighbors. Now, of course, with the integration, lots of people are trying to buy upnd on the surface in preparation for normal Empire tax codes, and the most sessful are¡­ unting it. I had a few ns to work around them, and with your support in maintaining the ringworld, new ns have presented themselves. Likewise, the local Oniel cylinders produce plenty of food for all inhabitants, and even something of a surplus, but without trade routes, we¡¯re not able to really benefit from that.¡±


    Matt spread his spiritual perception until he found the giant cylinders in space. A little more than a thousand miles in diameter and five thousand miles long, the cylinders were massive and entirely dedicated to growing crops with mostly automated systems.


    He was able to identify most of the things growing, but a few of the items he needed his [AI] to tell him what they were or why they were valuable enough to grow.


    Silver pumpkins were a delicacy in the Corporations, but the dishes it was used in weren¡¯t that popr in the Empire, with most people considering the salty and yeasty vor unptable.


    Rainbow apples were poprmodities in high-end restaurants thanks to their ability to be infused with other vors and magnify the tastes.


    He had never heard of some of the other ingredients, like a strand of wheat that had all the vitamins and nutrients that a mortal needed. The Corporations apparently used the bread it made to create a cheap but nutritious food for those who couldn¡¯t afford anything more luxurious.


    Matt didn¡¯t want to just get rid of the wheat, but he couldn¡¯t see the nd bread it made catching on in the Empire thanks to the control over food prices ensuring that a variety of food was avable to every citizen at a minimum cost. That meant there was a lot of wheat that was going to end up without someone to buy it, which felt like a waste for such an incredible food product.


    A quick search told him that most other nobles who got the wheat simply reced it, but a few had made some headway reducing the nd taste by mixing the grain with others and changing the recipes used. Those ces had some sess in making the bread popr as a way to ensure nutrition, but the main use for the bread seemed to be as a sort of travel ration for medium-Tier delvers who still needed to eat, but had delves longer than could bepleted in a few hours.


    That had some merit, but Matt felt like there was something staring him in the face but he couldn''t see it.


    He did ce an order for a few crates of all of the exotic foodstuffs to be delivered to their cruise ship. It had a team of chefs and he wanted to see what they could do with the dishes.


    The orbital ring was a marvel, and Matt enjoyed a few moments scanning it with his spiritual perception to understand it.


    Seeing one in person, even one that only had a few sections built out and livable, Matt wanted to create one of his own for their capital. It felt like a bold statement about just what people could do when they put their minds to it, to do things in ways that even a created couldn''t match.


    Though, he¡¯d never do so without having a good reason for one, which he didn¡¯t have. Orbital rings like that were <em>expensive,</em> but it was a fun thought.


    What was less fun was the interruption at the next stop.


    Cato¡¯s message rerouted them, and there Matt found an irritated looking Tier 40 Federation man sneering at their arrival.


    He didn¡¯t attack them or do anything that could be considered hostile, but he did rudely look at Cato and ask, ¡°Can I leave now?¡±


    Matt probed the world that was only tethered to a single nearby world instead of the three that should have locked it in ce. Even that single tether was thin and clearly not the full lock down.


    As his spiritual perception reached the, Matt stiffened. Liz, however, rippled and in unison they both looked to the Tier 40.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Matt knew he was growling at someone many times stronger than him, but he didn¡¯t care.


    The that should have had millions of people was <em>empty</em>.


    It was like someone had deliberately removed the top fifty feet of all the surface of the, leaving nothing but barren rock and loose soil. Beyond that, someone had gone through the effort of sterilizing the. Not even a single bacteria was left alive on the world, with animalsrger than an ant just entirely missing, their bodies just gone with the topsoil.


    The delivery manughed in their faces. ¡°As per the treaty, the was selected and delivered. All the residents chose to take the offer to relocate, and that is all I have to say to mongrels like you.¡±


    His eyes were firmly locked on Liz as he said that, but before Matt couldsh out, someone else did.


    A man wreathed in lightning, wind, and rain stepped out of nothing, his entrance punctuated by a ball of storm mana that flew out faster than anyone, even the Tier 40, could react.


    The Federation Tier 40 flew back as his chest was ravaged, but he didn¡¯t die, which Matt couldn''t help but think was a pity.


    But if Leon wanted to keep the man alive, he must have a reason.


    ¡°This is breaki¡ª¡±


    ¡°You insulted my daughter, and my reprimand was well restrained. Would you prefer something <em>unrestrained</em>?¡±


    Instead of his typical goofy demeanor, Leon stood there like the Royal he was. He had an aura that demanded obedience and proimed itself the ruler of the turbulent storms that wiped out entire settlements.


    The Tier 40¡¯s angry expression melted away to be reced by a smug smile. ¡°I will be informing Fir¡ª¡±


    Leon cut him off by sending a hand of lightning at the man. As the mass of mana flew, it was so strong that it warped chaotic space and aspected the corrosive energies to a dark storm color.


    Magical hand clutching the man''s throat, Leon looked at him like he was looking at a deadman. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to threaten me, pup. I will personally go pay Faith a visit after this. We ept your delivery of the world, now begone or remain forever.¡±


    The Tier 40 looked like he wanted to say something, but he clearly thought better of it as he turned and flew off into the swirling energies of chaotic space without so much as a sneer.


    Leon sighed, but didn¡¯t drop out of his Royal demeanor. His tone did lighten a bit, though. ¡°Hey kids. Sorry we are meeting up like this, but Manny sent me when he noticed the anomaly.¡±


    Liz looked to the floating ember next to them that was the connection to the world''s real space. ¡°What did they do and why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a tactic to deal with high-Tier information gathering Talents. It rarely needs to be used, and thest time I can remember it being used was during Georgios¡¯ time. Let''s take a step back and add some context. You need to understand that thes that are transferred in deals for Ascenders and the like aren¡¯t entirely picked by the Great Powers themselves. That means ces with important assets might be ted to transfer. Normally, that''s not a big deal, just move them and hide it. But with, for example, Georgios¡¯ Talent for past and future sight, that tactic suddenly doesn''t work any more. They found that if they simply send a Tier 47 or higher to the world in question and cause enough destruction, they can create enough interference that most Talents for past sight can¡¯t see anything past the destruction.¡±


    ¡°And we have no idea what they want?¡± Matt gestured to the world next to them as he asked, but felt he already knew the answer.


    Leon shook his head. ¡°It could have been for a single important person, there could have been a super secret research station here, or it could have been a rare resource in one of the rifts that they moved. Or, it could have just been to spite us and make us not look somewhere else, though that is unlikely. Once the is selected for transfer, they couldn¡¯t fully destroy the world, but this is the next best thing. It is, though, considered <em>very</em> bad form, and I¡¯ll be having a bit of a meeting with their First Leader Faith after this about proper inter-Great Power rtions.¡±


    Matt was going to ask what Leon meant by that when his father-inw clutched his storm wreathed fist, and the star system in the real space connected through the node exploded. Unimaginable power ripped and twisted reality itself apart until it destabilized and chaotic space poured in, destroying everything.


    Leon kept his fist clenched until the very node they were using to ess that real space universe was destroyed.


    ¡°We can never be sure that they didn¡¯t do something else if they went through this much trouble, and Manny can¡¯t check. Better to just not risk it.¡±


    Matt just took in Leon¡¯s disy of power in silent awe. It was hard to remember that his goofy father-inw was one of the three strongest people in the Empire, and top 24 people in the Realm, until he did something overt like destroying a star system with a single clench of a fist.


    Turning to the two of them fully, Leon smiled, and Matt could see more of his father-inw shine through. ¡°Ok, I have a few hours before I need to go kick Faith''s ass¡­ I mean discuss properary transfer procedures. Tell me about what went wrong.¡±

 Chapter 369

    Leon split into two and took Matt a short distance away from Liz.


    At first, Matt felt profoundly awkward about talking to Leon about the Soerilia incident. If he hadn¡¯te in spells zing, Matt might have felt a little better about talking to his father-inw as an understanding ear. But the serious King Leon was someone he wasn¡¯t used to, and he didn¡¯t want to exin a massive failure to him.


    Still, he did it.


    ¡°I fucked up. It''s as simple as that. I made assumptions, didn¡¯t look deep enough, and then flew off the handle like a typical Ascender.¡±


    Leon grinned at that, but shook his head. ¡°You know, while you did fuck up, that¡¯s probably one of the most Ascender things you¡¯ve done? I¡¯m teasing, but it''s true. But in the end¡­ yeah, you fucked up, but that¡¯s not the end of the world. Soerilia¡¯s boat might have been rocked, but you didn¡¯t just leave them to pick up the pieces. Yo¡ª¡±


    Leon shook his head, stopping Matt from interrupting him. ¡°You didn¡¯t. I¡¯m not trying to say you didn¡¯t create a mess, but you stayed until the baron arrived and you did your best to keep things under control and moving along. That said, your issue isn¡¯t that you acted like an Ascender, it''s that you acted like a mortal. That''s a problem a lot of young Ascenders have, which is part of the reason they all have bad reputations.¡±


    Matt¡¯s disbelief must have been obvious, because Leon nodded. ¡°Seriously, go look at some Ascenders'' histories. Most of the incidents where they are known for flying off the handle are from before they were a thousand years old. Not all of them¨C Ascenders are known for punching first¨C but the main issue is with just how fast you all advance. You never have a chance to just sit still and watch a century or five pass by. Soerilia might have been slow, but did that really matter?¡±


    Matt considered his words, but rejected Leon''s statement. ¡°It did for the people who were being denied the Empire standard of living. The poor and the destitute. Th¡ª¡± Seeing Leon''s look, Matt stopped and asked testily, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Did things get better when the world was unveiled?¡±Matt was about to respond that things obviously had, or at least would as Empire standards were put in ce, but started second guessing himself.


    ¡°I¡¯d say so. I can¡¯t speak for how the people of Soerilia feel, but by most metrics, their lives will be better than before the unveiling, even if just from magical healing being made avable.¡±


    When Matt paused, Leon gestured for him to continue, but Matt just shrugged, trying to hide his frustration. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you want me to say. We had to unveil the world. Whether it was slow or fast, we would have gotten to this point. Even if it wasn¡¯t better, it is. I¡ª¡± Matt stopped as he thought he understood Leon''s point. ¡°It just is, so what does it matter if it takes a few mortal lifetimes?¡±


    At Leon''s nod, Matt shook his head. ¡°That''s bullshit. I refuse to just let issues slip by because I can just outwait some issues. That''s¡­ I don¡¯t have a word, but it''s bullshit. Maybe we shouldn''t have tried to be nice. Maybe we should have ttened a mountain to show how strong we are. There are a dozen ways we could have yed it and didn¡¯t. But by waiting, we ensured that people had no chance to rise up and be immortal. We were deciding hundreds of millions didn¡¯t deserve a chance that they would have with an on track integration or an immediate unveiling. Letting the world''s leaders drag their feet was the worst of the three options.¡±


    Sighing, Matt felt his energy leave his body, but when Leon didn¡¯t say anything, Matt said what was truly weighing on him. ¡°Am I scary? Am I so scary that people won¡¯t tell me that I¡¯m both too involved and not involved enough, and hampering their efforts to do the very job I asked them to do? That hurts. I have done a lot of things, killed a lot of people in the war, but I never felt scary. I feel like I¡¯m a pretty approachable guy. Understanding, considerate, and hopefully kind and helpful. Is that all in my head? Did you know that Kees, my vice guild leader, pulled me aside and told me that some of the guild members feel ufortable with my informality? I was doing that to make people feelfortable! I was hoping that a more approachable attitude would make people feel more at ease. Why is all of this so hard? Combates so easy. It''s a dance, and I¡¯m in charge. Or I can at least direct it, and when there¡¯s an issue, I can just punch it into submission. Am I meant to only be a killer? Is that my singr purpose?¡±


    Leon didn¡¯t respond verbally, he just opened up his arms and Matt took the offered hug, sinking into it letting it take his anger and frustration away.


    They floated like that for a few minutes before Leon said, ¡°I know it might not feel like it, but you can only do your best.¡± Before Matt could refute, Leon continued. ¡°No one can be perfect. Even the best administrators can¡¯t always be perfect. They might do better on paper, but people are not rational or cooperative when ites to collective interests. At least not on arge enough scale. Even just one asshole who¡¯s only worried about what¡¯s best for him will ruin any chance at delegating rule to an administrative type. Showing that you can and will punch those selfish people if they get out of line is a valuable service. This Realm is one of power. Might makes right because it''s the will of the strong that dictates things to everyone below them. That doesn''t make it nice or morally right, but it is what it is.¡±


    Pushing him to arms length, Leon looked Matt in the eye. ¡°You fucked up at Soerilia, but you cleaned up and learned something. You''re a smart and good kid, so I imagine that you are already taking steps to prevent that from happening again. That''s all anyone can ask of you, as that effort will stop another dozen incidents. But Matt, believe me when I say, there will be another incident that slips through. Even Manny, with a zillion and one Talents, still has issues he either didn¡¯t seeing or couldn''t avoid withoutrger issues. And while you might not like it, being able to take the long game into ount is useful. It doesn''t make us cruel or anything like that, it''s just a reality that is. The lesser evil is still an evil; it¡¯s just, you know, less evil. Give it another few centuries, and you¡¯ll better understand. If you want my advice, take this fuck up on the chin, learn from it, and try to do better next time. Having empathy is a good thing Matt, but having too much will paralyze you.¡±


    Matt looked into the swirling entropy of chaotic space. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. I want to help people, but I made Soerilia¡¯s situation worse. And despite throwing credits at the issue to help, they are going to spend the next century unfucking our half-assed unveiling.¡±


    The silence lingered until Matt¡¯s mind focused on something that Leon had mentioned earlier that was bothering him.


    Was what he said about being young and wanting to enact change the reason the Great Powers changed their rulers every thirty thousand years? He had never really questioned why the Tier 50s didn¡¯t linger in the realm forever, but it made little sense when he thought about it from the point of view of costs. It costs tons of resources to get a Tier 48 to Tier 50 without Tier 50 rifts.


    It wasn¡¯t outright stated in any histories he had read, but going over the annals, there seemed to be an unspoken rule after the shattering. The Kingdoms rulers had lingered for however long they desired, or until they were forced to Ascend by a potent descendant, but usually their reignssted more than fifty thousand years.


    It was undeniably a good thing, as Matt couldn¡¯t imagine living in a realm with the shattering Tier 50s. He wouldn''t have just been boxed up, but he would have probably been turned into an outright ve akin to a living artifact.


    Immortals might be willing to wait out mortal problems and they might be willing to slow or outright cultural divergence from mortals, but they weren¡¯t willing to allow themselves to suffer endlessly.


    No Great Power ruler that he knew of had tried to linger, but that might have been because the other seven Great Powers would force them out. Though, it also might be because their own people would revolt if they didn¡¯t have someone who they felt represented the new immortal generations interests.


    Which was exactly how the mortals must have felt when they had taken over Soerilia, and Matt felt a ckness threaten to over take him. Instead of sumbing, he let the feelings pass over him and tried to process them while keeping enough objective distance that they didn¡¯t overwhelm him.


    Leon didn¡¯t say anything, just letting him think. Together, they stood there for a few minutes just watching chaotic space swirl past them.


    For all that he didn¡¯t find absolution in Leon¡¯s arms, Matt did feel better. His chat had gotten a weight off his heart, even if he had possibly reced it with an even more bleak realization.


    Wanting to change the topic, Matt asked, ¡°So what did you mean by picking a fight with Faith? Is that an actual fight or just talk?¡±


    Leon wiggled his hand. ¡°Maybe? It might very well devolve into that, but I¡¯m hoping it won''t. I¡¯m going to demand a new world to rece that one, she¡¯ll refuse, and then we¡¯ll see. Manny just wants me to send a message that we won¡¯t take such incidents lying down. At that point, they will probably just pay us a nominal fee and everyone will just move on while we are allowed to grab a world or two out of chaotic space despite the restriction on colonizing new worlds.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t really like that, it felt like a pointless waste of time, but that was a description of a lot of politics. Most politics, really.


    ¡°Thanks for letting me vent.¡±


    Leon grinned. ¡°It''s what I¡¯m here for. Speaking of being here, Freddy mentioned that he wanted to speak with you in the next few decades. No rush, but if you are near his capital you should pop in.¡±


    ¡°Any idea what it''s about?¡±


    Leon dramatically rolled his eyes. ¡°Not a clue. He mentioned it, but didn¡¯t go into detail, and I didn¡¯t ask. That''s between you two.¡±


    He must have gotten a bit of information from his other self, because they flew back to meet up with the other Leon and Liz after he finished speaking.


    Liz entwined her hand into his and Matt tookfort in their connection, even as Leon told them that a new world would be delivered to fill in the gap. Then, after saying goodbye, Leon vanished in a swirling mass of storm mana.


    He hadn¡¯t been there long, maybe fifteen minutes, but Matt felt better.


    As they boarded their ship and continued to the next nearest world they wanted to visit, Matt didn¡¯t dive back into work, but instead just spent the time in transit being present with Liz.


    They talked about everything, even Soerilia; both of them had messed up and talking it through was exactly what they needed. They had just needed a little prod from Leon to get started was all.


    At the next, Matt wanted to turn around and leave the moment he realized what they were walking into, but he didn¡¯t let that show.


    Arbor Felix was, or had been ted to be, a Veiled world. It had only been first settled a mere decade before the end of the war, and many of the inhabitants were not taking the transfer well. It had only been a few months since they¡¯d arrived, yes, but Baroness Fatiha Bennani had been dealing with quite a fair amount of pushback from the nomadic residents as she brought Empirew and customs to their.


    Most of the was uninhabited, left open forter waves of settlers who, for whatever reason, wanted to leave the greater realm. However, there were two primary areas which did have human poption centers, which had less than seventy million residents each.


    The first was on the¡¯srgest continent, an old and massive, yet mostly t grasnd. There weren¡¯t many mountains, forests, or even deserts. It was, if Matt was honest, rather boring, and he didn¡¯t see why people would want to live in such a non-interesting area. The second was a temperate archipgoposed of thousands of inds teeming with low-Tier sealife, which was a beloved settlement location for all worlds due to rifts not forming thanks to all the inds.


    Matt skimmed theary charter to get a sense of what their goals had been with the founding of their. They¡¯d elected to have their starting mechanical tech levels at preindustrial levels, and all mana tech was limited to multi-person rituals instead of outright banned. Veil partings were mostly centered around an intense drive to explore, with vast tracts of wilderness set aside as permanently untamable, with cultivators living at the center of the continent¡¯s only rainforest and a perpetual whirlpool adjacent to the archipgo. Anyone who intentionally made it to either location would be eligible for sponsorship in ordance with¡­


    Matt skipped ahead as all of that nuance was irrelevant.


    Learning solo-cast magic or developing proper industrialization in the first five hundred years were also Veil partings, interestingly enough. Their interimary representative was just defined as whoever had met the most individual people-groups on friendly terms, but anyone who lived in a single location for more than one year in a row was disqualified¡­ Oh, and anyone who lived in a group that had waged war against another group within the past twenty years was also disqualified. That would onlyst until a single individual could be said to represent more than ten percent of the global poption, of course, at which point normal Republic rules would have taken over.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the vition.


    Overall, it seemed to him like the people who had moved to Arbor Felix were a bunch of troublemakers who detested the idea of anyone having meaningful power over another. That would be a fine stance, but from what he could see, they¡¯d taken no meaningful steps within their own groups to prevent warlords from forming. He tranted that to mean they were mad that they didn¡¯t have power, and in doing so, sought to stop anyone else from having power. It was childish, and sadly, it was now Baroness Bennani¡¯s and thereby his problem to deal with.


    The real sticking points were the mandatory education, healthcare, and awakeningws. Their chosen level of technological development fell well below Imperial standards for sanitation, and without a centralized education system, they also fell afoul of that. Plus, the idea of Awakening seemed to outright offend a bunch of the elders who wholeheartedly wanted to be free of cultivation.


    Liz asked a question Matt hadn¡¯t considered. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they just stay in the Republic if they hadn¡¯t even passed the first generation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve talked to the local elders about that. Some of them did. They originally had closer to two hundred million settlers, with close to fifty million or so pulling back. The remainder are seeming to hope that they can just do what they wanted to do anyway with the Empire. They are also the poorest of the settlers, the ones who had sold everything toe here. If they had gone back to the Republic, they would have been in an even worse ce than they were before they got the chance to settle Arbor Felix.¡±


    Matt contemted that while he scanned the world around him more thoroughly this time. Like most veil worlds, it was a low-Tier. Tier 2 in this case. That was an incredibly low Tier which would struggle to self-sustain a cultivator poption, and even with the Empire¡¯s investment into such low-Tier worlds, it would take thousands of years before it reached Tier 5 at the slow pace those resources were allocated.


    It was, in fact, barely Tier 2. It must have naturally Tiered up fairly recently in the''s history, and Matt wondered just how such a world had developed essence.


    From everything they knew, worlds simply needed to reach a concentration of mana created from unawakened life until essence was formed. Most worlds had rich ecosystems with abundant, even if non-human, life. Arbor Felix seemed an oddity in that that didn¡¯t seem to be the case.


    Or, it hadn¡¯t been the case before the world was settled.


    Matt could see where the animals the settlers had seeded the world with were outpeting the local fauna, but that was typical of any settling of a new world. Even the non settled continents didn¡¯t have very much biomass, all together.


    For all the things Arbor Felix wasn''t, it was one thing above all: peaceful.


    Even the forests seemed tock any substantial predator poptions, with nothingrge enough to readily hunt humans.


    None of that helped the world, but it did give Matt a few ideas.


    As for the at hand¡­ There was only so much they could do to amodate their desired lifestyle, as while the Empire did have allowances for nomadic lifestyles, it would require tradeoffs that Matt wasn¡¯t sure the settlers could ept.


    But his ideas could work, and it might get this working decades before it would otherwise get off its feet.


    That was, if they wanted to get that involved. He was feeling a little de-shy after Soerilia.


    Turning to Liz, he asked at Tier 26 speeds, ¡°Do we want to try and solve this?¡±


    Liz seemed to be thinking in the same vein and agreed immediately. ¡°I have a few ideas. What are you thinking?¡±


    Matt gestured for her to take the lead.


    ¡°Practically speaking,¡± she started, ¡°Almost all of the people who are most vocal about not wanting to be part of the Empire are past mandatory Awakening age. We could just¡­ ignore them. Let them live out their lives for the next couple of decades. If we want to be thergest assholes we can exercise our rights to lordship to arrest the people who aren¡¯t that old and Awaken them. Until someone is Awakened, they¡¯re legally our property, or Baroness Fatiha¡¯s rather, so it¡¯s not even bending our charter to do it. If we want to put an end to this we can go in swords drawn and force our will upon them.¡±


    Matt grimaced at thatst part. The fact that every unawakened child was the legal property of their local noble, only protected by child protectionws, was one of his more unpleasant discoveries when he was being taught noblews. The thought of ever having been the property of the Junipers still made him feel sick, even after all these years. Serfdom was still legally part of thew, but luckily, thosews were part of arger section that only applied to the unawakened.


    Or, not so luckily. It wasn¡¯t a secret that universal awakening was primarily a ploy by Empress Agatha to de facto end serfdom, and thereby weaken noble power. The official reason at the time was that she wanted to simply rejuvenate the armies with fresh immortals in the wake of the civil war but that excuse hardly held up to scrutiny then, and it surely didn''t after all of her other reforms. But the actualw was still on the books and was unpleasant to think about let alone consider using.


    ¡°That''s a shit idea and you know it. What is your real idea?¡±


    Liz let out a small grin as he proved just how well he knew her. ¡°I was thinking that we could set them up with a mobile tablet-based education system typical for nomadic cultures. Their chosen tech level will prove to be a problem, but if we provide them with some mid-Tier portable sanitation formations that draw in ambient mana power themselves, we could bring their health requirements up to the basic levels. Then boom, we¡¯ve solved most of their issues while not running roughshod over their wants. It¡¯s not like any of that would be expensive for us.¡±


    Matt pondered the idea for a minute, running through ways it could y out and looking for issues. ¡°Really, the issue is the opportunity cost. Think about how much permanent infrastructure that much money could buy. It¡¯s not a bad idea though. Question is, do we want to present our solutions to the Baroness, or do we let her sort it out herself?¡±


    Matt was loath to actually give it up and walk away without helping, but his talk with Leon was fresh in his mind. He should either get involved or leave it be, and right now¡­ he didn¡¯t trust himself with getting involved.


    Liz seemed to agree with him. ¡°Let¡¯s give her our idea and offer funding, but leave it up to Baroness Bennani. We can check in with her in a few decades to see how it went either way. Our job is to help our lesser nobles not hold their hands.¡±


    In agreement, they wished Baroness Bennani well, and they took their leave to go to the next on their tour.


    Thankfully, the next five were well handled by their local nobles with no major issues that Matt and Liz needed to intervene in, which let them actually treat their tour like a mini-vacation.


    That streak was broken when they arrived at Dehsu. There, they found the former Federation world was struggling to adapt to the Empire''s less restrictive culture. Instead of enjoying their newfound freedoms, they wereshing out with near daily protests that halted vital industries and caused chaos.


    From what Viscount Ralfie Everet exined, he was trying to go through with a slow and steady approach, but thanks to the Federation¡¯s indoctrination and culture, the was unified in their resistance and any attempts to crack down on the protests just spawned more protests. It was about as bad a case of a bad integration as was possible without issues like Matt had caused.


    The records about simrs indicated that the best method to win over such a was exactly what Leon had rmended: wait it out. In a few generations without reinforcement from on high, the poption would be less indoctrinated, and from there, they could start the typical integration methods.


    That was, unless they were willing to forcefully relocate the majority of the''s poption onto other worlds. That had been tried before, and while it worked, it caused short-term issues on every world the dissidents were sent to.


    Instead of jumping to that extreme, Viscount Everet wanted funds to pay for arger guard contingent as well as an expansion to his administration.


    Matt didn¡¯t like either of those requests. Viscount Everet didn¡¯t seem dishonest but neither of those methods were said to have appreciable effects in such a situation. Sure they could fund the increases, but he suspected the increased presences of not only guards but administrative overseers would simply lead to more push back from the.


    That said, he didn¡¯t have a better answer and neither did Liz. He just doubted that any show of force would convince people to y nice. As a Tier 10 world, they had a fairly robust poption as well as having a healthy poption of delvers.


    They might not have enough power to actually rebel, but with how unified they were, unless Matt and Liz wanted to authorize extreme measures, Viscount Everet was going to be forced to go slow with his integration.


    In the end, it was more a question of what kind of rulers he and Liz wanted to be. Did they want to be the type to just look at the historical figures and make decisions mainly based on that, or did they want to give their subjects unconditional support when they had problems?


    Not that they would fall on either extreme, but this was an important moment to set the precedent.


    After talking it over with Liz, they agreed to fund the increase in guards with the understanding that Viscount Everet wouldn¡¯t be using them to try and force reforms on the poption. They wanted to support their vassals, but they also didn¡¯t want to help them into a bad decision either.


    Too much support in this case could all too easily lead to a bloodbath, and it wouldn¡¯t be the immortal guards who would be bleeding at the end. If they were willing to allow that to happen, they might as well just cut out the middleman and kill everyone themselves. There were reports of that happening with particrly stubborns from all Great Powers.


    Matt wished he could just pay for everyone to be returned to the Federation, but unlike the Republic, they didn¡¯t have a history of taking people back as refugees.


    That decision was made for them, and then they were expected to follow.


    In the end, after arge amount of discussion, Matt and Liz agreed to build out an ind which, once it was habitable, could serve as a ce to dump the worst of the instigators. Without previous buildings and such, any private methods ofmunication would have to go through theary AI, and could therefore be controlled.


    It wasn¡¯t ideal or nice, but it would hopefully blunt the edge of the rebellions without resorting to executions, which would end up causing mass rebellion, which would only lead to more executions.


    Liz shivered the moment they entered their ship. ¡°I feel gross for okaying that. I don¡¯t know what else we could do, but I didn¡¯t like that.¡±


    Matt wholeheartedly agreed and pulled her into a side hug as they returned to their ship.


    Thankfully, their next world was something they were both looking forward to.


    A from the Monster Collective.


    It was only a Tier 4 world, but it was one that was distinctly different.


    Most obviously were the bloodlines. As a Tier 26 who knew what to look for, he could spot several bloodline cores in people who didn¡¯t have any spiritual shielding up, and it was both more and less than he¡¯d expected simultaneously. At least there didn¡¯t seem to be any obvious discrimination between those who did have bloodlines and those who didn¡¯t¡­


    Matt frowned as he spotted someone with decidedly no bloodline, but still had goat legs. He needed to reassess how to spot bloodline-holders, apparently. Almost all of these people were under Tier 15, and several weren¡¯t even awakened, so they should have no reliable way to reshape their bodies, which meant they¡¯d been born semi-beastly. And that wasn¡¯t even counting the number of full-fledged citizens who were just in beast form, something even rarer in the Empire.


    He was really curious what percentage of people who lived here actually had bloodlines, but he wouldn¡¯t find out at least until the Empire AI was up and started taking census data. For now, he just enjoyed the novelty of seeing a wolf-man open the door for a family of three fully human-looking individuals.


    A city over, a human woman didn¡¯t even look up from her book as she let a snake wearing a hat use her leg to reach the bench she was sitting on. They didn¡¯t seem to know each other, as the snake didn¡¯t use the small speaker hidden inside its hat to trante the beastnguage into something humans could understand to do anything more than politely thank her.


    Thanks to the varied body shapes and sizes, there were also a number of differences in familiar things. Doors all had motion sensors and all non-residential doors were of the sliding variety to ensure the smaller species weren''t hurt by a door opened or closed too quickly. Public water fountains either had multipleyers for those of different heights and ran constantly, or had levers that anyone of any size could trigger.


    It wasn¡¯t perfect. Matt watched as an anteater used its tongue to pickpocket a passing human. He watched an elephant using its size to cut in front of a dozen other people who were waiting in line. He watched a human dumping fish scraps in a river that would lead to a beaver''s den with a malicious grin on his face. But that was all ok. It was people being people. There weren''t the systematic issues he had feared would exist under a polite facade.


    He and Liz spent a full week exploring the world undercover as low-Tier tourists. Amusingly enough, they were scammed twice, but that was the only issue they ran into even when pretending to be low-Tier visitors, which wasn¡¯t too bad all things considered. In return, they got to see the from ground level and experience a good bit of what it had to offer.


    When they left, Matt just felt it would be a shame that in a few generations, a few dozen at most, the world would look no different from most Empire worlds with a majority of the poption being human. Bloodlines didn¡¯t linger forever, and after three generations of marrying humans without reinforcing a bloodline, it would fade to nonexistence for their progeny. Even those animal traits which existed in the mortal poption and were gically inheritable would eventually fade, as the Empire''s aesthetic sensibilities took hold and the recessive genes weren¡¯t reinforced.


    The Monster Collective paid exorbitant amounts to ensure that bloodline reinforcing items were readily avable to prevent the dilution of bloodlines, but that wasn¡¯t possible in the Empire. They just didn¡¯t have enough spare tax revenue to fund such an effort nor the political will to do so, nor did they have the Monster Collective¡¯s methods. They weren¡¯t exactly state secrets but their bloodline research was only one step removed.


    Liz was trying to create simr cheap-but-effective bloodline reinforcing items with her research team, but it was slow going at best.


    Still, they both thoroughly enjoyed their time there and intended to bring Aster to visit before things changed too much so she could appreciate the almost idyllic world.


    Their final world on their tour was from the ns.


    All of the dwarves had remained behind in the ns proper, but that didn¡¯t remove their cultural impact.


    While the shortness present was greatly exaggerated inparison to the movies, with the average height only being slightly shorter than in the Empire at around 5''5 for the men instead of the 4''5 typical seen in movies.


    Where Matt really felt the difference was the public buildings which had been made to dwarven standards. He nearly bumped his head on the ceiling of the¡¯s capital castle until he gave up and used his Rubberfruit flexibility topress himself a good foot in height.


    Interestingly enough, a good portion of the humans, mostly the wealthy, had chosen to remain in the ns instead ofing with their world to the Empire.


    Matt knew humans weren¡¯t treated badly, but he would have expected those humans with some power or wealth would be happy to move to the Empire where there weren''t any barriers to their upward social mobility.


    However, while the stories about ns shortness were exaggerated, their crafting culture certainly wasn¡¯t. Even among mortals, crafts were seen as a way to leave a mark upon the world. And while the couldn¡¯t really be said to specialize in anything, a full of rtively-dedicated craftsmen was quite the boon to their fiefdom, but only time would tell how long that tradition and culture of crafting and excellence wouldst. But, given the was Tier 15, a good number of immortals had grown up with that culture in mind, and immortals rarely strayed from their mortal roots. So, Matt gave it good odds on bing a noteworthy crafting hub in their burgeoning duchy.


    There weren¡¯t any major issues for them to solve but they did spend a few days with Count Felipe, who had been an expert in dwarven culture before earning his bid for a noble title.


    His cultural understanding had made him a shoe in for the position, and from everything they could see, he was leading the into textbook integration.


    As they left theirst stop, their ship turned its bow to the Capital, where they would be meeting with other dukes of the Empire.

 Chapter 370

    Matt whistled as he and Liz watched chaotic space swirl past them, letting his hand idly run through her hair as she leaned into him on the couch as they watched chaotic space pass by with their spiritual senses.


    They were both in excellent moods, the ducal meeting having gone exceptionally well, contrary to their expectations. Both of them had expected some kind of incident or challenge to their authority, considering they were weaker than the typical Tier of duke, just as Aiden had suffered when he earned his duchy.


    Instead, they were treated as any other new peer. They didn¡¯t have the depth of their duchies to pull from when it came to making trades, but there were still a few deals that they had epted. Most were for production facilities to be set up amongst their newnds, but ultimately, those kinds of exchanges were minor things inparison to the dukes and duchesses who used the meeting to set up deals for truly rare resources. Matt and Liz could only hope to get their hands on prizes of that ilk in the future when they had trade goods of equal value.


    Ultimately with only half of their duchy having arrived, they couldn''t barter too much. But they did know what rare resources most of theirs would have, which let themplete some minor transactions which they were happy to take a small loss on just to establish the trade route.


    Once the ships started moving between systems, they would inevitably seek to fill or empty their holds, and that was what they really cared about. Once the foundation wasid, everything else would be that much easier.


    One notable item Matt intended to get his hands on was the Grd family''s unique marble. The Tier 40 stone was widely desired for usage in thrones or other symbols of office, thanks to its rarity and unique presence. Few nobles actually had thrones made out of the marble, as the Grds were notoriously picky about who they sold it to. But Ascenders historically had good luck getting their hands on it, and Matt wanted to surprise Liz with it as a present for when their flying castle was created.


    When infused with a person''s mana, it created stunning visual disys based on their mana type and sub-aspects. The most famous example being the throne of a long since ascended duke who had Air mana with unique sub-aspects. The resulting throne looked like it was made of gravel constantly tumbling around in a hurricane, yet somehow keeping the overall shape of a throne. While he was curious how his own sub-aspects would vor the neutral mana manifestation, he especially looked forward to how Liz''s Ichor would show itself.


    And so was Duke Grd, based on how quickly he agreed to sell some. He had been hemming and hawing to no end about selling some, probably in the hopes of getting a better price, until Matt mentioned his own curiosity.


    He had been tempted to buy a little more, as the marble was said to be incredibly stable for enchantments, but it was just too expensive for the current budget of his guild. Definitely too expensive, and in too low supply in general, to be useful in any final product. It was still a shame, it might have helped iste some variables and further their research into improving the 50-50 odds for de-aspecting, the current big focus of his guild. A topic which had piqued his curiosity when delving in the Sects. Seeing so many unique and interesting rifts made Matt want to get back into making custom made rifts to personally delve. Part of the Path, especially with Luna as a mentor, was constantly delving into new rifts almost orpletely blind, and figuring everything out on the fly. He had been doing it that way for so long that it felt weird delving any other way, and their travels through the Sects had reminded him just how much he enjoyed such delves. Some people took great satisfaction from delving a single rift until they had absolutely mastered it, but Matt wanted apletely new experience every time he delved.


    And that just wasn¡¯t possible unless he was able to create new rifts rapidly and with some measure of control.


    Keeping a rift from de-aspecting in its entirety, like what was required for aura rifts, would be a pipe dream. But keeping things stable enough that he could get a rift to Tier 30 with a general theme he wanted would be more than enough to keep himself from getting bored when advancing.


    It would have to wait until they had more to trade and until Matt had something of equal value to make fair deals, but that was only a matter of time.


    Beyond that, they had managed to avoid creating enemies, and both he and Liz were riding that emotional high as they traveled to meet their new ducal capital.


    It was nice to be able to spend time together where they weren¡¯t working, weren¡¯t stressed about something, or weren¡¯t solving some disaster, and they luxuriated in each other''s presence.


    That onlysted until they were close to their destination. It was just a long jump from Lilly, but Matt wasn¡¯t even tempted to check in on the guild.


    Or, he wasn¡¯t <em>too</em> tempted.


    Mostly because he had been getting regr updates sent his way, and he didn¡¯t want to risk getting too involved and missing the arrival of their world.


    Their arrival was well timed, and after just a few hours of waiting, the eddies in chaotic space started to change. It was like arge boat was moving through the water, changing the very tide of its surroundings long before it actually arrived.


    Stretching his spiritual perception to its max, it still took a few more hours for Matt to be able to sense the world itself.


    Despite knowing otherwise, he expected Palustris to be noticeably different somehow, even from this range. It was, after all, both high-Tier and fire-aspected. ?


    The bright firefly of light shone in the chaotic space guided by two Tier 45s who were visibly straining to guide Palustris¡¯ node into its awaiting spot, with even minor corrections obviously taxing them.


    It took everything Matt had not to rush over and dive in, but while he had the self-discipline to refrain, he didn¡¯t bother trying to hide his overt excitement. Hardly able to contain himself, he cheekily took Phoenix Liz off his shoulder and started bobbing her around.


    That earned him a yful peck when he stopped and a re from Human Liz, but the byy ended the moment the two guiding Sect cultivators got the in ce.


    Once it was in ce, five tethers of energy stretched out and connected with the nearbys, locking Palustris in ce. Higher Tier worlds were spiritually heavier than a lower-Tier world, which made them harder and slower to move through chaotic space. But it also meant they needed more connections, which was part of the reason higher Tier worlds were used as important nodes in the map of tethers that connected worlds.


    It took half an hour for the tethers to stabilize, but once they did, Isabe and Cato went down and checked things over before giving them the ok. Having confirmed that nothing was amiss, Matt and Lizpleted the hand off procedures and floated outside the speck of light.


    Now that the moment was upon them, Matt felt nervous.


    This was their world.


    An entire universe of their own.


    A world for them to rule. A world for them to guide. A world for them to nurture.


    A world they couldn¡¯t afford to mess up.


    Liz squeezed Matt¡¯s hand and grinned at him. ¡°Let¡¯s do it. Together.¡±


    Returning her smile, Matt pulled them into the world''s real space along with their ship.


    They appeared over Palustris, floating in its orbit, and Matt just let himself take it all in for a long moment.


    The world was <em>red</em>.


    It wasn¡¯t <em>entirely</em> red, to be fair, but thanks to his mana sight, that was the overwhelming color as he looked around the. That said, it was a tapestry of red with a million and one variations and subtleties that stood out from each other, but there were a few ces that weren¡¯t <em>just</em> fire. He¡¯d seen more than a few magical nexuses over the course of his life, where the ambient mana became so dense it was visible and <em>luding</em>, but seeing it on aary scale was something else entirely.


    He adjusted his vision to amodate for the overwhelming presence of fire mana like he was adjusting it to a bright light, and looked around, taking in the sights.


    It was beautiful.


    Unlike the propensities of media to exaggerate aspected, or even just high-Tiers, into being one uniform biome throughout, Palustris still hadkes and rivers, oceans and forests, alongside all of its volcanoes and deserts. Sure, as often as not, they werekes of super heated water and rivers ready to let out plumes of steam at the smallest disturbance, but they <em>were</em> there. There were a few ces that would be habitable for mortals with minimal assistance or terraforming needed.


    It was in one of those more habitable regions, this one near the equator, that Matt and Liz floated down to set foot on their personal for the first time. The sky was a reddish-orange and the obvious smell of smoke permeated the atmosphere, but for a mortal, it might barely be noticeable. The smoke, however, was far from just woodsmoke. The scents of incense and sulfur, ozone and polished amber all came together for what he felt was a rather pleasing experience.


    Every world had its own scent, some more pleasant than others, and Matt was quite happy that their new world had an enjoyable one. On his shoulder, Liz seemed like she was having a bit of a meltdown, feathers shuddering and muscles quivering as the subtle mes along her wings and tail red up into a vicious, golden ze hot enough to set Matt¡¯s hair on fire.


    He avoided that particr fate with a quick but heavy dose of [Fire Maniption]. The Liz at his side wasn¡¯t so lucky, as the phoenix on her shoulder underwent a simr reaction while her human body braced herself, eyes wide as her hair lit itself, carrying the strands into the air for a moment before she got ahold of herself.


    All three of Liz¡¯s bodies shuddered in unison, shaking the effect off.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve heard of resonance with fire bloodlines and fire aspected worlds, but hadn¡¯t expected it to be so¡­¡± Liz paused as she searched for the right word. ¡°True. That¡¯s not the word I want, but you saw it. It was so subtle that I almost didn¡¯t feel it happen. It was almost simr to how you described your inspiration. Like my spirit expanded and was in perfect harmony with the realm itself, except this was with the spirit of the world. It''s like a weight was taken off my shoulders that I didn¡¯t know existed until it was removed. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll ever want to leave.¡±


    Matt tugged Liz into a hug through their still connected hands. ¡°You¡¯re making me feel jealous.¡±


    Liz¡¯s grin was wicked as she said, ¡°Aww. Don¡¯t worry, love. I¡¯ll show you what it felt liketer.¡±


    Laughing, Matt studied the surroundings as they finished descending through the atmosphere. Non-volcanic mountains penned in the valley on all sides, and this particr region was dominated by a forest.


    The trees of the forest weren¡¯t green, of course. Their leaves ranged from the bright colors of fall to coal-ck shimmering with red, and their bark looked almost like a log in a cold fire, ckened and ashen gray, but with asional glimmers of reddish-orange as the heat peaked.


    Some trees were even in a perpetual state of burning, though they let off little heat to their surroundings.


    Others were actually absorbing heat, or rather fire mana, through various functions.


    The trees weren¡¯t alone, either.


    The birds in the trees were likewise all fiery, though in subtle ways. A small foraging bird let off clouds of smoke to obscure its exact position, while a falcon diving to grab a morsel of food had the tips of its feathers burning with a steady, but minor intensity, propelling it down even faster than gravity should.


    Its target, a small lizard of some kind, was sitting on a rock snacking on a colony of ants. The ants had glowing thoraxes and were crackling with lightning as they tried to swarm the lizard, but the reptile that had limbs wreathed in blue hot me didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    Near the river, two crabs with ws wreathed in silver fire battled for dominance while several fish swam around them, picking up the scraps.


    With a slight motion, Matt redirected them tond at the riverbank and they set foot at its bank, breathing in the refreshing steam it was letting off.


    Unlike what the corner of Matt¡¯s mind that grew up watching movies and shows full of single biome worlds kept insisting, the river was hardly anathema to the fire-based life of the, and teemed just as surely with all kinds of life as any other. Dozens of fish species swam through the hot spring-like water, with one particrly interesting specimen crackling with lightning and obviously using some kind of innate mana sense to hunt down insects along the riverbank. Tiny bolts of lightning zapped out of the water to stun its prey and caused it to fall into the river where it could gobble them up.


    Another species absorbed fire mana, stockpiling it until it reached a critical amount where it then exploded, causing a shock wave of power that pushed anything too close back. A third, much smaller fish, a minnow of some kind, used that brief expulsion to snatch algae that had been kicked up off the river bed and out of the crab''s reach.


    Dipping his hand into the water, Matt let the currents carry the water through his fingers.


    It was water.


    A little warmer than one would expect a river to be, but liquid water nheless.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Liz knelt down next to him and copied his action before scooping a handful of the water into her mouth.


    She worked her jaw for a long moment before she swallowed. ¡°It''s water.¡±


    ¡°Har, har.¡±


    Matt took a sip and let his taste buds register the vor.


    It wasn¡¯t great.


    They were far down river from the source, and the river was teeming with life, which had to defecate and dpose somewhere.


    Still, he had drank worse and didn¡¯t let that distract him.


    Instead, he concentrated on the fire mana infused into the water. It gave the water a unique vor he typically only associated with high-Tier fine dining, as to make such infused items oneself was an annoyingly long and mana draining process. Not that he minded the mana costs, but he rarely had the time to do so; it was just the typical water on their new home.


    Liz hopped off his shoulder and dove into the water, hardly making a ssh. She returned a momentter with a fish wriggling in her beak, its suffering ended a momentter with a snap.


    As she had her snack, Matt [Portal]ed them north to check out the pole.


    As he¡¯d spotted from space, there <em>was</em> actually ice present, the entire area rife with thermal mana. Pockets of hot and cold littered the area, extreme enough that Matt needed to use [Cracked Phantom Armor] just to avoid being harmed.


    Geysers of boiling water erupted from the ground around him, only to freeze in midair,ing down as massive clouds of snow. Rivers of boiling water snaked through deep blue ciers, and a light dusting of snow suddenly sublimated into a cloud of steam, which in turn hardened to form ayer of ice around Matt, albeit one he trivially broke through.


    Matt scooped up a snowball and tossed it directly at human Liz¡¯s face. The phoenix body on her shoulder swooped off, caught it in her talons, and tossed it back at him, but it melted before it hit him, and hot water just sshed off his armor.


    ¡°Do you think Aster will love or hate this?¡±


    ¡°Oh, <em>definitely </em>hate it. I see there¡¯s a few areas that are more consistently cool, and she might like those, but the thought that her precious ice might suddenly be boiling water at any time¡­?¡±


    Matt chuckled at the image, then [Portal]ed them south again to check out a few other points of interest, while still avoiding any of the actual settlements away from the more civilized areas of the. They were more like outposts than true settlements, as low Tiers didn¡¯t live there and their only purposes seemed to be to house delvers or explorers who were roaming the and its hazard zones.


    Of which there were many.


    A full sixty percent of the would be whole uninhabitable to anyone under Tier 15. The fire mana and essence caused too much disturbance that even short-term exposure would cause serious health issues. Even those in the Tier 15 to 20 range would need to take precautions to ensure they didn¡¯t fall afoul of any of the purely environmental hazards, not to mention any monsters.


    Thirty percent or so was safe and was where they had just been exploring. They were safe for mortals with minimal continuous interference beyond ensuring any of the Tiered wildlife didn¡¯t eat them, and a super volcanic eruption didn¡¯t wipe them all out.


    The final ten percent was incredibly hostile, to the point that Matt and Liz would need to activate some of their defensive abilities.


    One notable hazard was a newly forming super volcano that pumped massive quantities of fire essence and mana out from the''s core into the air, which turned everything¡­ toxic.


    The air itself burned with enough power strong enough that without a specifically anti-fire armor spell even the typical Tier 29 would be forced to flee before their bodies were burnt to a crisp.


    Liz just absorbed the fire into herself, converting it into ichor, while Matt just kept all of that at bay with [Cracked Phantom Armor].


    They found, and noted, but eventually left alone, a few moremon Natural Treasures that had grown in the region, and talked about how they really shoulde back and see what type of rifts had formed in such an area. Maybe get Aster, Allie, Zack, and Susanne in on it for some good old fashion delving.


    From there, they teleported to a second, not-quite-hazardous region. It was still a dangerous zone but it was either in the early stages of bing a hazardous region, or was starting to be naturally pacified and losing its ferocity which made it not that bad in rtion to thest area.


    A series of small mountains formed mainly of iron had caused near constant lightning clouds to form, which turned thend into a static electric nightmare. A typical Tier 27 would probably be fine if they didn¡¯t linger too long without the appropriate defensive measures, but anyone under Tier 25 wouldn¡¯t be able to survive.


    Amusingly enough, right next to that region was a more habitable zone where most Tier 15s could live without serious issues or extra assistance.


    Which was far more indicative of the majority of the.


    Dangerous, but not unduly so.


    Still not eptable for mortals, which was something Matt and Liz would need to figure out.


    To prevent the from de-aspecting, they wouldn''t be able to terraform on a wide scale, but they would need to do something to allow mortals to live on their duchy capital.


    Matt had originally been thinking underwater cities in domes or simr on coastlines, but seeing the in person and how the seabed was hardly any better than drynd, he believed that they would probably end up buying at least a few habitable moons to give mortals somewhere safe to live, while also having ess to the world and its resources.


    That would mean a need for cheap shuttle service or some other way to prevent a strata effect from taking hold. Another logistical headache.


    It might make for a good use of travel mana if they¡­ Matt stopped himself from getting too distracted as he got lightly pecked on the ear for ignoring Liz pointing out a flock of birds flying overhead.


    Together, they visited a few more more-perilous regions: a rain forest that had ming droplets of fire falling off the trees leaves that caused numerous but short-lived fires. A whirlpool that stopped and started every time the tide changed and was strong enough to create storm mana when it was active, thanks to it pulling lightning from the sky to mix with the water and air mana. A field of seemingly innocent flowers, until a pack of rat-like animals stumbled in and the nt released spores that somehow burned even the fire-based animals.


    The desire to explore was redirected when, while visiting one of the habitable regions near the south pole, they found an ind sea rife with archipgos locked in an eternal summer, the results of three continental tes pressing together.


    It wasn¡¯t the most populous region of the world, but it was close thanks to the many inds making it so rifts couldn¡¯t form anywhere nearby. That led to a substantial mortal poption who traveled between inds.


    Archipgos were something of an amazing phenomenon and were typically ces of safety, which was why so many people were drawn to them, but on Palustris, Matt could see this region needed special control to protect its natural beauty. Thankfully, the local regional power, a sort of subservient sect to one of the local powers, the Rage Held Between Heaven and Earth Through My Will sect, kept the mortal poption safe from what few higher-Tiered monsters came into the archipgos.


    The rich fire mana and essence caused the entire region to teem with life, while also making each creature a spectacle, a feast for the eyes.


    And a feast for the belly, if Phoenix Liz¡¯s attention on a ten-foot-long fish swimming deep in the sea was any indication.


    As if the beauty couldn''t get any more exaggerated, one of the peninss that stretched into the sea from the maind was a sheer cliff of ck marble flecked with silver that stood hundreds of feet in the air, overlooking the inds below.


    Simply put, it was stunning.


    Liz tugged him along to the top of the cliff. ¡°We are so definitely anchoring our flying ind here.¡±


    Matt scoffed. ¡°Of course we are. It''s stunning. Look at this view. You can see for miles. Can you imagine the sunset from here?¡±


    ¡°A nice bottle of wine, a good meal, some simple conversation. I can see it now.¡±


    Matt twirled Liz before they sat with their feet dangling over the edge and just took in the view.


    Not just of the sight below them, but the world itself.


    Matt used his Tier advantage to scan through the poptions present.


    Seven million was nothing, below typical of low-Tier worlds, but Palustris was a fairly recently settled world. Then again, the Sects weren¡¯t like the Empire, who prioritized getting a self-sustaining mortal poption going on any. Most of the mortals on this were the descendants of the sects who had roots on this, the ill-favored and illegitimate children of their disciples, cast off and mostly living in societies at the outskirts of Sect territory, where the rifts were delved and the monsters all killed. The rest were the <em>favored</em> mortal descendants of the sects, and they were primarily concentrated into two massive cities that the¡¯s primary sects had built around and under their mainpounds.


    Despite their rtively sparse poptions, the cities were built for future growth, with mortals having the option to have entire estates to themselves. Most still chose to live near the areas where cultivators gathered, meaning there were areas where people crowded together right next to miles of empty buildings.


    That would quickly change, Matt was sure.


    While they intended to keep billions from flooding in, he and Liz were going to open the world up allowing anyone with the means, motive, and opportunity to move to Palustris. Even ignoring their poprity as Ascenders and Palustris¡¯ unique status as a fire-aspected world, in general, they would expect a Tier 27 ducal capital to have at least fifty billion residents within the next century.


    The just couldn¡¯t support it.


    Matt had read many, <em>many</em> papers on the subject in preparation for this¡¯s arrival, and while they <em>could</em> stretch the thirtyish percent of readily-habitable environment to forty, or even possibly even forty five percent, that would require fairly extensive infrastructure to make it anything more than minor outposts. Though, that would risk disrupting the unique bnce that made the fire-aspected, as well as spoiling much of its natural beauty.


    They wouldn¡¯t allow that, but it would mean careful control over the long-term residents as well as ensuring that fire mages who wanted toe and bask in the fire mana or cultivate the fire essence, didn¡¯t do so recklessly.


    Even with those restrictions, Palustris was a gem just waiting to be polished and they were aiming for a stable poption of ten billion in system, even if not on, within the next century. And they would carefully limit further growth.


    After seeing one in person, Matt was extra-hopeful he could persuade Liz that an orbital ring was the best way to expand their habitable area, rather than just bringing in newary bodies to the system.


    He didn¡¯t really have any good arguments, as moons were far simpler and had, among countless other reasons, the advantage of Tiering up. But the orbital ring had been awesome. He made a note to have Countess Walsh keep him in the loop about how her orbital ring fared in theing decades.


    The orbital ring idea was even more exciting the more he thought about it, but that would be centuries out, while a moon could be ordered in a short few decades so long as they didn¡¯t care about any customization beyond habitable. Would a moon change the local tidal stresses too much and threaten to de-aspect the world? Probably not, but it could be a reason to go with the orbital ring.


    Really, after seeing the state of the world, it might be better to skip that and just order a sister world for the system. Even a Tier 1 world would ensure that any mortal who wanted to be in their capital system would have a safe ce to put down roots.


    The issue with that idea was that people came to live in high-Tier systems because they were higher Tier, and therefore it was easier to Tier up with ambient mana. A Tier 1 world, even one in a Tier 27 system, wouldn¡¯t be nearly as prime a choice as the Tier 27 world itself, and historically most people would prefer to live on a nearby moon rather than a same-system.


    Though, having mores in the system had its own advantage.


    If they yed their cards correctly¡ª if Matt threw a ton of time, mana, and essence at the problem¡ª they could probably have a few other aspected worlds in the system.


    Conventional logic said it was nearly impossible to manage, the lower-Tier aspected worlds were incredibly fragile and prone to either elemental apocalypses or de-aspecting entirely. Moons like the nature-aspected moon he had been to with Amelia Galley would be correspondingly easier to make, which might make the idea more feasible.


    Matt liked the idea of a lightning moon and a blood moon orbiting Palustris,pleting the trilogy of Liz¡¯s ichor mana.


    He could picture Liz¡¯s expression if he presented her with two aspected moons for a birthday or anniversary. They would also look stunning in the Palustris night sky, of that he was sure.


    Though he might want toplete the trilogy and give her an ichor moon as well.


    But that felt wrong.


    Ichor should be the main focus.


    An ichor orbited by fire, lightning, and blood moons sounded far better as a way to represent his wife, and it was tly impossible to change the aspect of a once it was formed and higher than Tier 2 or 3.


    That circled right back to the problem of creating an aspected world, and how impossible that was. Worse, even a slight failure stood a <em>major</em> risk of de-aspecting the altogether.


    Tossing the idea to the back of his mind where he could let it simmer, Matt turned his attention back to Palustris and thest thing they¡¯d need to do before properly setting up their capital.


    The two local sects, the Rage Within and the Dancing mes sects, had both opted to stay, which was perfectly inline with Sect methodology. Retreating would be seen as cowardice.


    The Empire didn¡¯t mind and even had official policy in ce to encourage the more useful parts of Sect culture to linger, while stripping away the problematic elements.


    But practically speaking, if whoever was directly in charge of the world wasn¡¯t strong enough to physically keep the local sect leadership in line, everything became a thousand times harder. Most sects respected strength above all else, and if Matt and Liz could prove that they were strong enough to beat them, the sects were all but certain to fall in with the new regime, giving them ready ess to all their administrators, bureaucrats, and public service systems. If they weren¡¯t, they¡¯d be harried constantly, and while outright open rebellion was <em>very</em> rare, subtle ¡®rebellions¡¯ weremon.


    But even that didn¡¯tst indefinitely, because the Empire would never allow a proper sect to remain in power.


    While they weren''t immediately disbanded, they were <em>encouraged</em> to transition into a guild with a unique structure reflecting their origin. The restrictions would remove most of their power, but it wouldn''t destroy their legacy which, whenpared to how disbandment would remove <em>both</em> their power and their legacy, proved a sufficient incentive. There were, in fact, dozens of prestigious and upstanding guilds in the Empire that could trace their origins to captured Sects.


    The Rage Within sect was a melee-oriented sect that had its main headquarters in an active volcano range, while the Dancing mes sect was a hybrid fighting style sect that focused on elegant, flowing moves to channel and harness fire for brutal mid-range effect.


    The sects were, as all conflicting sects were, hostile to each other, with their main desire to drive the other off their world to gain a period of supremacy where they could grow to take on a new opponent on a higher-Tier world, thus repeating the cycle.


    Without the being transferred to the Empire, they would have continued to fight. But currently, the two sects seemed to have an uneasy alliance to try and wrestle as much power as they could from Matt and Liz.


    The sect leaders were Tier 29 and well-known fighters, but they weren''t pinnacle or even peak elites. When they were active in the wars, they were at best mid-level elites who were average amongst their peers.


    It wouldn''t be easy, but if he and Liz could defeat the two sect leaders in fairbat with no restrictions, they could not only subdue the sects, but gain two capable and reasonably loyal followers.


    At least in theory.


    It all came down to the uing fight. Ideally, they¡¯d want a fight that <em>unterally</em> demonstrated their superiority, rather than a win based on a technicality or through cheap tricks. In other words, they¡¯d need to make it look effortless.


    Popping to his feet mid-air, Matt helped Liz up and they stood right next to the cliff they had been sitting on.


    Liz rippled as her armor took shape, and Matt pulled his armor out of his spatial ring and onto his body.


    With a [Portal], they appeared in the canyon that had been prepared for their arrival.


    Ignoring the sect leaders, Matt let his eyes scan the sects.


    On each side of the valley, the disciples, elders, and staff of the sects were perched on the sharp cliff faces.


    Their uniforms were immacte, perfectly cleaned and pressed into shape, while their appearance was simrly crisp. The men and women of the Rage Within sect showed off their muscr bodies with minimal upper body clothing that wasn¡¯t armor. The sect also seemed to have a tradition of tattooing various mystic beasts onto their bodies; tigers, lions, dragons, phoenixes, bears, leviathans, anything with tremendous strength was represented by at least one disciple or elder. The degree of howplete the tattoos were didn¡¯t exactly seem to indicate rank or seniority, but they did seem to follow that trend in general.


    Matt sent a question to Cato, who provided him with the answer: the tattoos were indicative of how proficient the sect member in question was with the sect¡¯s core skills. Hearing that, Matt had Cato stop. He didn¡¯t want anything spoiled before the inevitable fight.


    On the other side of the valley, the Dancing me sect¡¯s clothes were notable by their long sleeves that nearly reached the ground and merged with their long and flowing skirts. Men and women alike had long flowing hair that was held in ce by enchanted needles that would make fantastic throwing weapons. Their other unique feature was the grafted-on animal part from something with a fire bloodline, and if he wasn¡¯t wrong, they were all from the local.


    Eyes were reced with eyes that trapped fire. Fingernails were aze with inner fire. In one case, a woman had a third arm made entirely out of ethereal mes, while the man next to her had a tail of mes hidden under his skirt.


    That was a trend rarely seen any more.


    The Federation had been thest one to dabble, but even they didn¡¯t find the old methods more useful than modern ways to gain additional power. Even the Glorious Evesting Kingdom of Prosperity had considered it an antiquated method, but the Dancing mes sect, being Tier 29, seemed to have found some sess with the method.


    Interesting.


    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± Liz asked in perfect Sectmon for all to hear.


    Matt smiled at Liz¡¯s question and met the eyes of the two sect leaders eager to get started.

 Chapter 371

    The Rage Within sect and Dancing mes sect leaders floated in the middle of the valley a dozen feet from each other. There was a familiarity between the two but a tension that refused to leave, even when they were the only high-Tier allies each other had left. If Matt didn¡¯t miss his guess, the two had been long-term rivals, which exined the familiarity and the distrust even now, with a greater enemy knocking at their doors.


    Cui Ming was the sect master of the Rage Within sect and was nearly as much of a bear as his tattoos would imply. Despite not having a bloodline, he was 6¡¯7 and still managed to look short thanks to just how wide and muscr he was. His body also pulsed with fire mana in rhythmic sets of three, five, seven, and nine before resetting, and Matt noted that down for when the fight kicked off.


    Lang Ru, sect master of the Dancing mes sect, was tall and slender with fiery praying mantis arm des protruding from her back and over her shoulders, yet the overall impression she gave off was one of <em>elegance</em> rather than simple <em>deadliness</em>. An impressive feat considering Matt could tell that the scythes of me would be capable of cutting through at-Tier steel.


    Cui Ming growled out a response to their challenge. ¡°You mewling whelps think you can control this? Control <em>us?</em> You merely court death.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making me blush,¡± Liz cut in. ¡°I¡¯ve never been called <em>death</em> before.¡±


    Matt made a noise of disagreement and Liz corrected herself. ¡°Or, I suppose, I have. Whatever. Let¡¯s cut to the core of this. I know you know that you¡¯re part of the Empire now. There¡¯s no getting out of that. It <em>will</em>e with certain restrictions, and your lives won¡¯t be the same again. If you have issues with that, take it up with Emperor Emannuel. <em>However</em>, we are willing to grant you functional autonomy on-world, allowing you to keep most of your power and influence, if you can beat us in a fight. Right here, right now, as fair as can be. The two of us against the two of you.¡±


    Lang Ru allowed a predatory grin to creep into existence. ¡°It is refreshing to see <em>civilized</em> people within the Empire. I ept.¡±


    Cui Ming folded his arms. ¡°Soon you will see who your betters are. I ept.¡±


    It sounded one-sided, because it technically was. There had been nothing that Matt and Liz had demanded for when <em>they</em> won, but that wouldn¡¯t be needed. He knew Sect culture. They respected strength. Offering them this, the potential for near-freedom, would be the only way to get them to trulymit to a full-on fight. It would give them a chance to truly show their mettle, and therefore would be the <em>perfect</em> time to put them in their ce. Because Matt knew that he and Liz would win. These two may have been impressive-looking and strong enough to maintain control over such a desired world, but they were far from the likes of Yun Me, Sien, or even Maven. Sure, they had three Tiers on them, a home field advantage, and synergy with ambient mana on their side, but why would that be enough to win?


    The only potential wrinkle was that they needed to not only win, but win <em>so decisively</em> that the thought of rebelling or causing problems would never even ur to them at any time in the future. The Sects respected strength, and with a good enough showing, it wouldn¡¯t matter <em>what</em> the sect masters did or didn¡¯t do. Their sects were watching, and <em>they</em> wouldn¡¯t be willing to follow any kind of rebellion against the superior fighter.


    But while winning a three Tier jump was certainly doable, making it <em>look</em> easy was harder. He¡¯d have to refrain from losing too many limbs this fight.


    Matt turned to look up and to the right, where a contingent of their personal guards were waiting.


    ¡°Captain Kestrel, have your people form a protective shield around the valley.¡±


    ¡°Aye, my lord.¡±


    With a gesture, the fifty guards moved into a pattern around the valley, interspersing themselves between the disciples of both sects. Space hardened, encapsting them and their uing battle. Their guards were Tier 35 on average, with their leader, Captain Kestrel, a long retired Tier 40 general and a former retainer of Georgios, now a trusted aide of Manny.


    Matt would have preferred to have this fight in space for simplicity''s sake, but part of winning here was to prove in front of everyone that they were the biggest fists on this world. Besides, a number of the disciples weren¡¯t Tier 15, making it more effort than it was worth to bring them into space to witness the fight.


    Or that was how Cato had exined it. Matt had pointed out that those mortal disciples wouldn¡¯t even be able to watch the fight in real time, so they really didn¡¯t matter, but his argument was countered by the fact that tradition rarely followed logic and he had no rebuttal for that.


    The instant things were secure, the fight started.


    In unison and instead of attacking immediately, Matt and Liz both locked down space securely enough that retrieving anything out of a storage ring would be impossible. That was standard immortal tactics, but it was something they had talked about before the fight as part of their overall n.


    That brief pause was enough to let their enemies act undeterred.


    Cui Ming¡¯s opening move was to <em>roar</em>.


    Fire engulfed him as an aura spell of some sort red to life that resonated and amplified his body''s natural pulses of fire mana into an inferno of me. Heunched himself forward, a trail of me following after him and expanding, blocking both sight and spiritual perception.


    Matt threw himself forward to meet the attack while Liz threw her spear into the trailing mes.


    Lang Ru, who had been hiding in the fire¡¯s wake, trying to get close enough to ambush Matt, was forced to dodge into the open, but she didn¡¯t stop her attack. He felt the woman¡¯s Domain crash into him, a wave of domineering pressure telling him to just lie down and die, that he was facing his betters and ought to know his ce. When he refused, having experienced far stronger at the hands of countless other Sect fighters, it turned into a more direct killing intent as she began to hunt him.


    The sect leaders¡¯ tactics were simple and effective. Remove one of them and wear down the second in a much safer manner.


    As if it would be that easy. They had encountered such simplistic strategies a million and one times in the war, and their reaction was simple.


    Matt didn¡¯t stop his forward rush, meeting Cui Ming¡¯s attack with his growth sword. Fingers curled into ws were reinforced with both solidified me and metal w gloves that glowed with enchantments. The collision sent sparks into the air and Matt twisted, dissipating a lot of the Tier 29¡¯s charge.


    He checked a knee that threatened to rupture his organs with a kick. [Cracked Phantom Armor] blocked the blow, but thanks to the Tier difference, his leg bones cracked. [Regeneration] knitted him together immediately, but the exchange made it obvious just how far outssed Matt was in raw physical cultivation.


    It was so rare for that to happen with a human opponent that Matt couldn¡¯t help but grin.


    Pulling his sword free from Cui Ming¡¯s grip, Mattshed out past him and to the side, letting loose a [Mana sh] that nearly cut Liz in half. While it almost hit his wife, it <em>did</em> hit Lang Ru and cut a deep furrow in her me scythe that caused the limb to dim, weakening the attack she had been channeling through it. The limb healed as mes surged into it, but neither he nor Liz tried to prevent the spell.


    Spending mana was fine with them.


    Keeping up the pressure, Liz threw three copies of herself at the retreating sect leader, but Matt had to deal with being out of position with Cui Ming on top of him.


    The Rage Within sect leader shed out at his wrist with one hand while reaching for his arm with the second.


    He clearly intended to disarm Matt either by making him drop his sword or ripping his arm out of his socket. Instead of retreating or blocking, Matt charged his sword with a massive [Tribtion Strike] and aimed for Cui Ming¡¯s head, willing to let the other attacks through in exchange.


    Cui Ming made the correct choice and he stopped his attack to cross both arms over his head, blocking the attack with spell and me.


    The lightning contained in [Tribtion Strike] caused the world to go white as it was unleashed.


    Cui Ming¡¯s block stopped most of the damage, but not all of it. The exposed portions of his forearms were charred, and even though the mes of his aura started to heal him, the damage was obvious for all who were watching. Which was the point.


    They had scored first blood.


    Cui Ming retaliated with a bone-shattering two-foot kick, and Matt made a snap decision. Normally, he would dodge. It was the more effective option by nearly every metric. But right now, he didn¡¯t need efficiency, he needed <em>style</em>. In the instant before the kicknded, Matt triggered his Intent, freezing himself within the Realm.


    A shockwave sted out around him, and his Willpower took a substantial hit, but it was all worth it to see the cultivator recover in what was clearly an undignified manner. He then used Matt¡¯s face as a springboard to join the fight between Liz and Lang Ru, which was less than ttering for Matt, but he had to admit, it was quick thinking on Cui Ming''s side.


    Liz was in five bodies, all human, and was dancing around the sect master. Every time the other woman was about tond a blow on Matt¡¯s wife, she shed golden and allowed the attack to pass through her harmlessly, then reformed and counterattacked. Cui Ming nearly disrupted that back and forth, going for the Liz in the lead position with an attack of blue mes.


    Liz triggered their teleportation ring then dissipated the body, and Matt was back in the fight, meeting blue mes with a full array of five des thanks to [Sword Twin] cutting the magic to pieces at full strength. Then, Matt pulsed nearly all of his mana into [Archmage¡¯s Presence], boosting his strength astronomically as he met Cui Ming¡¯s attack, deflecting the man further into the sky.


    Then, because they could, Liz formed a phoenix on Matt¡¯s arm, and Matt charged the bird with a [Tribtion Strike]. It wasn¡¯t the most viable tactic, but Liz¡¯s ichor-based biology could survive the lightning long <em>enough </em>that she could fly into Lang Ru¡¯s face and explode, pushing the woman back as her fellow returned with a vengeance, trailing mes in his wake as he came down like a meteor.


    Matt deflected him with a bit of [Air Maniption] mixed with [Telekinesis], pulling the sect leader away from his wife and forcing him to punch the air a dozen times in rapid session, each one of which unleashing what appeared like a simple fire [Fist st].


    Sect techniques being what they were, the spells weren¡¯t so simple, and instead of just flying straight ahead, the projectiles homed in on Matt. With his array of [Sword Twin]s still active, Matt deflected two and cast a [Bulwark] behind him to protect Liz. That, in turn, gave him just enough time to use his Intent to concentrate his mana, turning [Cracked Phantom Armor] pitch-ck with a red iridescence before the sts mmed into him and detonated several massive explosions right in his face.


    The first one left jagged red cracks across the front of his armor, and the next three spread those cracks further and further until the entire skill was covered in glowing magma lines, at which point they stopped doing anything and Matt was able to drop his Intent.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any urrences.


    Matt felt out what auxiliary effect the barrage had given him, with his favorite skill absorbing and specializing for the attack even beyond its existing fire-attunement. In this instance, he got the impression it was some kind of punch-based explosion, something not terribly useful for him.


    Liz changed one of her bodies into phoenix form and perched on his shoulder, leaving her with three human bodies who attached themselves to his [Bulwark]. With a nod, he stopped his active maintenance of the spell, leaving only a mostly-static wall of mana crystal, and instead shoved it with [Telekinesis], elerating both it and Liz to a truly dangerous speed.


    As the spell flew forward, he and Liz rushed at Lang Ru, who was ready for them. She had already started spinning and twirling in retreat, leaving behind lines of fire mana thin as a thread, but sharp enough to cut through a battleship''s armor.


    Matt noted the move down in appreciation. It was a good ploy. Either they would have to stop their charge, letting her create distance, or push through and take extra damage while Cui Ming hit them from the rear.


    If they were any other duo, it might have worked.


    Instead, they ran right through the trap.


    Liz¡¯s bodies just became ichor as the threads cut through them, passing with barely a fizzle. Matt, on the other hand, just barreled right through them, with [Dispelling Edge] making quick work of the spell and [Cracked Phantom Armor] trivially taking care of the rest of the damage. Though, it took enough damage that it shifted away from being specialized against those [Fist st]s and reverted back to the more basic fire affinity.


    There was a noticeable sh of surprise across Lang Ru¡¯s face as they practically ignored her attack, but as abatant who had wed her way to her current Tier, she reacted quickly. Both her arms and scythes swirled, creating fire tornadoes that had spiritual blocking powers simr to Cui Ming.


    The spells packed immense amounts of power that, instead of spreading out, clung to the glowing des of death like glue. The contained power was visibly growing stronger the longer they were under the effects, building to something that Cui Ming was clearly assisting with as he pulled in ambient fire mana to their location like a vacuum.


    The three remaining Lizzes merged into one which flew to Matt¡¯s side, where he started dumping mana into the air. The bubble of mana pushed the harmful mes away for a moment, but his mana started to be sucked up into the tornadoes.


    The technique was usurping control and converting the mana at the same time.


    Feeling nostalgic, and a bit cheeky, Matt <em>let</em> it happen, deliberately feeding it even more mana that he barely controlled until the tornadoes tore themselves apart as a spontaneous aspect-cascade disrupted the working. s, it was a self-contained effect rather than being actively maintained, so it didn¡¯t knock anyone out like it had when Zack had caused a simr oue in their duel.


    Still, it stopped the skill dead in its tracks, freeing himself and Liz from the bubble he had created.


    Cui Mingunched himself at them the moment his path was clear, his fists gathering more fire mana from both the failed spells and ambient mana.


    While they were upied, he had cast some empowerment technique and had grown to ten feet tall, and his skin glowed red as mes physically infused his flesh. Each of his movements caused heat waves to linger behind and then explode in a familiar three, five, seven, nine pattern, making getting near him extra dangerous.


    Liz moved to intercept it in two directions, and when Cui Ming tried to interrupt her by grabbing one of their spears, Liz called on [Feather Armory] to make it bristle like a cactus with additional razor-sharp feathers, cutting his palm to ribbons. Liz instantly exploited the open wound, golden blood pouring into the injury and trying to eat him from the inside.


    Matt didn¡¯t sit around, immediately pointing with his left hand and casting [Mana Beam].


    Lang Ru seemed ready for the spell and cast a wave of purple fire that ate up the attack. It wasn¡¯t void mana, and Matt wasn¡¯t sure what the spell did until a momentter, his [Mana Beam] came out the other side. A technique that had a time aspect was fairly unique, and it allowed her to dodge the majority of the st. But Matt could also feel just how much mana the spell cost to keep active, which was why he wasn¡¯t surprised when she dropped it the second he stopped fueling [Mana Beam].


    Matt considered keeping the spell up, sting her with enough mana to knock her out¡­ but he was having fun. Also, he didn¡¯t think the message had been made clear quite yet.


    Cui Ming kicked at his head, taking a blow from Liz in the process that cut deep into his abdomen, but Matt was already twisting out of the way and shing upward with his de. Without a spell to back up the attack, the de only cut a few inches into Cui Ming¡¯s massive red leg.


    Matt rotated even as both of Liz¡¯s bodies slipped past him to attack the charging Lang Ru.


    Twisting and kicking down, Cui Ming forced Matt back enough that he was able to bring a massive hand wreathed in green mes down at Matt¡¯s head. Matt flew sideways to dodge, but fell into the man¡¯s trap as Cui Ming kicked out with ws that actually managed to sh through [Cracked Phantom Armor] and into Matt¡¯s abdomen.


    Burnt intestines flew through the air and a vicious look came over Cui Ming¡¯s face, but Matt didn¡¯t pause and drove his own wed hand forward, grabbing the man¡¯s chest and letting his fingers dig into his flesh painfully. He was tempted to use [Void ws], as the spell was no longer a secret after he had killed Maven with it, but he decided not to at thest moment.


    It was better to show the watching sects that Matt could beat their sect leader at his own game, rather than overpowering him through better skills.


    Instead, Matt went back to his old reliable. A [Mana Beam] punched a hole through Cui Ming¡¯s chest and would have gone through the mountain range they were in if it wasn¡¯t for the protective shields.


    Pumping in more mana, Matt widened the hole even as the blowback damage started to affect his invulnerable hand as the Stygian Gossamer was pushed to its limits.


    Cui Ming punched him in the face, rocking his head back, but Matt didn¡¯t let go or stop channeling his spell until he had created a head sized hole in Cui Ming¡¯s chest. Once the maximum damage was done, he let go and used the next punch to create some distance between them.


    Spitting out a tooth that had already regrown, Mattshed out with a [Mana sh].


    The first was followed by a second, then a third. His intention wasn¡¯t to damage, but instead to push Cui Ming closer to Liz, who switched off Lang Ru and turned into her blood form to engulf Cui Ming, trying to dig her way into his open chest cavity to eat him from the inside out.


    Lang Ru rushed forward to try and defend her ally, but Matt threw a few million mana into [Telekinesis] and mmed her backwards and into the protective shield.


    She vanished, and Matt felt something in his Domain react.


    Instead of following the instinct that was screaming at him to prepare for an ambush from a teleporter, Matt red his Domain Meld even while keeping his Concept topping Liz¡¯s mana up and his Intent locking down space.


    An eclipse of a white hole and a ck hole shed into being around him, suppressing everyone''s Domains except his and Liz¡¯s.


    Domain working disrupted, Lang Ru appeared next to where he had mmed her, and the feeling that he was going to be attacked on his rear vanished.


    Liz, having practiced inside his meld and worked with him on it, wasn''t affected. But Cui Ming¡¯s body started to shrink and twist as he fought to keep his transformation active, despite there being no ce for it in the Realm while Matt¡¯s Meld took up all avable space for Domains to exist in.


    Blood rained as Liz exploded what remained of Cui Ming¡¯s chest, but she hadn¡¯t been able to get to his head and force a surrender.


    Screaming, the Rage Within sect leader erupted with me as some berserk technique was activated.


    Taking a deep breath, Matt unleashed a torrent of [Cracked Dragonme] strengthened with [Reinforce Mana], walling off Lang Ru along with half of the battlefield. It wouldn¡¯tst long, but it would give him and Liz a few seconds to try and take Cui Ming down, which is all he thought they would need.


    Liz was already moving, and Matt used their teleport rings to teleport himself forward a few times in rapid session, taking advantage of the sect leader''sck of spatial locks.


    Rapidly changing his sword¡¯s magical enchantments with its growth ability, Matt cast [Sword Twin] to capture and thenbine each effect, letting the final buffed de float off to the side and attack from an obtuse angle.


    Cui Ming¡¯s chest wound didn¡¯t exactly heal, but an inferno filled his chest cavity. Combined with the berserk technique, he blurred with his speed as he swiped out at the two of them.


    Matt blocked a sh with his hand, the attack strong enough topletely break [Cracked Phantom Armor], but not enough to ovee his Stygian Gossamer-enhanced skin. It <em>did</em> cause the mana left in his body from his earlier disembowelment to react, though, and fire exploded through Matt¡¯s body.


    The now-active mana tried to race to his brain, but it found Matt¡¯s body harder to deal with than expected. [Barbarian¡¯s Hide] fought it, and Matt diverted some of his mana to flush it out with his Millennium Willow Lifesap, while [Regeneration] put him back together. [Cracked Phantom Armor] hid the damage, and he swooped into formation with Liz. She looked absolutely pristine, not so much as a hair out of ce, but through their party link, he could tell that was thanks to her hiding what damage her bodies were taking with [False Wound]. The converted [Gossamer Outfit] didn¡¯t see much use, but times like this made it all worthwhile.


    Two of her moved like hawks as they dove in, spears leading the way.


    Cui Ming blocked one Liz but took a deep cut to his cheek from the second. The wound started to visibly fester, but a burst of me purified the damage.


    Matt felt Liz subtly grabbing at the me and trying to interrupt the spell, but for all that Cui Ming looked like a stereotypical brute fighter, he had excellent control over his mana.


    Matt hit Cui Ming with a [Tribtion Strike], less trying to defeat him with the spell but more wanting to distract him long enough for Liz to get her next spell off.


    Each Liz was swallowed in a roiling sphere of golden Ichor, ballooning massively in size into two enormous bodies, dpressing all the ichor stored in her blood form and manipting it into humanoid shape. It wasn¡¯t a practical move by any means, but it was hard to beat the style.


    Two giant golden Lizzes thrust at the same time, aiming to cut Cui Ming into pieces.


    Matt didn¡¯t dodge despite being in the way, but instead tried to grab Cui Ming with a [Telekinesis] and restrict his movements long enough tond a decisive blow.


    It almost worked.


    Like an ember ring bright before it was extinguished, Cui Ming roared. With a burst of power, he broke through Matt¡¯s hold on him. Though the sect leader still lost the lower half of his legs to the spell. Instead of just falling to the ground, the legs burst into mes and wrapped around Cui Ming like a cloak.


    Lang Ru joined them as she finally cut through the wall of crystalized mana Matt had created and raced at them, trying to help Cui Ming.


    Turning and leaving Cui Ming for Liz to finish off, Matt intercepted the Dancing mes sect leader, internally trying to beat Liz in finishing off their opponent.


    Lang Ru tried to skirt around him using a me spell that merged her with the ambient fire mana, but a quick [Cracked Air Slide] let Matt circle with her and prevented her from joining with Cui Ming.


    Spinning, her skirts red with fire that tried to befuddle Matt through illusions. Some grabbed a hold of his mind and spirit, but thanks to his training and exposure to Aster and her pranks, Matt managed to resist the majority of the spell''s effects. Though, the one that was sending the sensation of waves of fire through his body was incredibly distracting as it made him want to scratch himself raw.


    Getting in close, Matt shed out with a point nk [Mana sh]. Instead of tanking the spell like Cui Ming had, Lang Ru burst into me and teleported to the side, using the reposition tosh out at Matt with her mantis scythes.


    Even with [Cracked Phantom Armor] currently fire-aspected, the scythes had enough physical mass that they managed to cut through both his magical and physical armor and dig into his shoulders.


    They pulled out, trying to gather enough power to dig deeper and sever his shoulder muscles, but the moment they left, the wound was already closed, allowing Matt to catch Lang Ru with a kick.


    The blow sent her tumbling back right into his de that had snuck up behind her. She managed to activate [Phantom Armor] or some other simr life-saving armor spell which saved her life but it was a close call.


    Pressing her hands together, Lang Ru started to gather ambient fire mana at a rapid rate. Mana from miles around started to run towards them and gathered between her hands in an impressive feat of mana control.


    It began to coalesce between her hands, a new star being born on the surface of the, as fire mana swirled into a ball the size of a house, then slowly condensed more and more until it was the size of Matt¡¯s head and brimming with power. Even the sun itself dimmed and appeared to go out, its strength being captured within the wake of this overwhelming attack, plunging the battlefield into night.


    ¡®<em>Oh no,</em>¡¯ he messaged Liz. ¡®<em>That¡¯s so much mana. Whatever shall I do?</em>¡¯


    <em>¡®Something dramatic, I hope. Or at least shy,¡¯</em> came the reply, and Matt could practically feel the smile behind it.


    Given the attack was made of ambient mana, it wascking somewhat in intent, direction, and potency, but it made up for it in sheer quantity. Surely, it was some grand finishing move, an unstoppable trump card that would no doubt turn the tides of battle in the direction of the Sects, dooming the Empire to a rebellious for centuries toe¡­


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well tost this long, Empire dogs! But no longer! Behold the full might of the Dancing mes sect as you face [The New Dawn Captured Within The Palm Of My Hands]!¡±


    She roared, the mes so intense that her own armor was king off under the heat, and her hands were left charred and partially burning as she began to throw the attack at Matt.


    Matt snapped his fingers.


    The new sun died, and daylight returned to Palustris.


    Lang Ru staggered in the air as the millions of mana she had been corralling vanished in a single instant, pulled from her control thanks to Matt¡¯s usurpation of the mana, then fell from the sky as her mana ran out in its totality. One of their guards caught her with their Domain and brought her out of the arena.


    Matt turned away, instead studying the fight between Liz and Cui Ming.


    Cui Ming, sensing the end of his fellow sect leader, roared once more and a fifty-foot illusionary bear appeared behind him and towered over them. Its very presence tried to overawe them in a primal way that had nothing to do with cultivation or bloodline, but sheer presence.


    It was an impressive move, but Liz never bothered to uncross her arms. Before Cui Ming could unleash his final attack, his expression changed before he vanished, leaving a blob of golden writhing blood in the ce his head had been.


    Letting his buffs take away his damage and restore his stamina, Matt stood up as Liz rippled and put herself back into a perfect state.


    Matt dismissed [Cracked Phantom Armor] and stored what bits and pieces of his physical armor remained, leaving him in tattered underclothes.


    A thought reced them and cleaned the blood off himself, and together he and Liz stood before the arrayed sect cultivators.


    ¡°Does anyone <em>else</em> have objections to our rule?¡±


    No one made a sound.

 Chapter 372

    With the sects properly cowed, Matt turned to where Cui Ming and Lang Ru were convalescing.


    With a step across folded space, he and Liz appeared next to them, and as the medic tending to the pair gave them space, Matt added the duo to his Concept¡¯s whitelist. He felt Liz chortle on his shoulder at their reaction to just how much mana their spirits were suddenly being inundated with, and had his own turn to chuckle as the other phoenix Liz hopped off Liz¡¯s shoulder, split in two, and turned into a pair of golden lightning bolts. Those phoenixes each struck one of the sectmasters, being absorbed into their bodies and expending themselves utterly to heal them.


    The full range of emotions they went through was amusing, but they didn¡¯t resist in any way.


    ¡°This one greets the Masters Titan and Legion,¡± Lang Ru dered, prostrating herself on the ground. ¡°And expresses her gratitude for your benevolence.¡±


    ¡°Rise,¡± Liz indicated. ¡°Now follow us. We wish to discuss how this will proceed. In <em>detail</em>.¡±


    She changed into phoenix form and took to the skies alongside the body that had been on Matt¡¯s shoulder, leading the four of them to an erupting volcano near the horizon. Though the clouds of toxic smoke and plumes of burning ash would be deadly even to them, Matt used his skills to calm the eruption and open a safe passage into the pyrostic cloud as he activated a privacy formation, turning the illusion of privacy into something that would block <em>most</em> forms of onlooking.


    It wouldn¡¯t do for either side to be seen in a negative light by the disciples who were still lingering in the valley. Captain Kestrel was their secondary security measure, with his spiritual perception wrapping the location and preventing anyone else from getting through. It was probably overkill, but it was also just good practice.


    Matt finished setting up their meeting room by creating a floor out of mana crystal [Bulwark], and fashioning a pair of sturdy raised chairs out of mana crystal for himself and Liz. The sectmasters received cushions for kneeling on, and as they took their rtive seats, Liz spoke up, ¡°I trust that you have received, read, and understood the manuscripts relevant to you, outlining the baseline changes as you transition to guild status. This is your opportunity to petition us for any changes you wish to see, for, after today, I expect you to abide by your new charters.¡±


    From there, they spent close to a full day hashing out just what rules and regtions the sects would follow as they converted to guilds.As the local nobles, they had some wiggle room for what was eptable, but there were also hard limits in ce, and the sect leaders both started by asking for the absolute limit of what they could do. He and Liz immediately shut that down.


    Neither of them wanted to y the game where both sides started at the extremes and worked to a middle. It wasn¡¯t a negotiation. Not when he and Liz held <em>all</em> the power.


    So perhaps unsurprisingly, they settled about where Matt and Liz wanted in the end, easily buying goodwill by conceding on a few points they really didn¡¯t care about. Namely the sects¡¯ libraries of unique skill modifications. Typically, they were just added to the Empire¡¯s collective knowledge bank in the form of a buyable listing on the EmpireNet, or if they were truly unique, put under patent like anything else of significant value.


    Matt and Liz agreed to give the sects a full five thousand years of exclusivity before they had to offer their most core inheritances and the modifications they typically required to take a basic skill and make it something unique. The time dy was to give the sect-turned-guilds a draw beyond their location on Palustris in the early years while the system was built out.


    As for the sole legacy the Dancing mes sect had, it was, despite their requests for dys, handed over to the Empire¡¯s collection.


    In return, they asked for and got more than the usualnds a guild would be given. Matt and Liz stipted that the former sects would have to sell to get within legal limits within the next ten thousand years, but that was a positive for the guilds. They would not only be able to use thosends, but the value of them would be magnitudes higher that far out.


    As a Tier 27, the world would be fully developed in theing years. He and Liz wanted to ensure that they had resources to lease or sell, and the most valuable resource of a high-Tier world was its rifts. For Palustris, thend itself was valuable as well, and so having more was a boon for he and Liz¡¯s future ns.


    The other thing they pushed for that was a major sticking point was allowing anyone who wanted to leave the sect the right to do so without penalty.


    Guilds, unlike sects, were not lifetime bonds. At least not legally, like they were in the Sects. In the Empire, a guild member who Tiered past his guild and moved to a higher-Tier guild might feel like a member of the lower-Tier guild and be treated as such by his former guild mates, but legally, there was no bond remaining. In the Sects, it was the exact opposite: a disciple for a day was a disciple for life.


    Even for those like Elder Winter Ho, the Sects¡¯ Tier 50 who had risen from a lower-Tier sect, took great pride in his lower-sect heritage and was still technically a disciple of the sect he had started life as a ve in.


    That just wouldn''t fly in the Empire. The Empire did, however, allow guilds to set reasonable repayment terms for those who left the guild, which most former sects pushed to the legal limit to try and keep anyone from leaving. The same went for the durations of the contracts, which they tried to get extensions on, but Matt and Liz refused to budge from the Empire standards.


    Matt personally doubted that many people would take the offer out, but that number wouldn¡¯t be zero. Those few would be grateful for the opportunity, which is why he pushed so hard for it.


    Most other things were minor quibbles that were, if not easily resolved, at least resolved without another round of fighting. Which amounted to the same thing.


    Emerging from the tform, Matt and Liz flew up to where Captain Kestrel floated with their personal guards.


    ¡°Everything good on your end Captain?¡±


    Captain Kestrel nodded like his namesake. ¡°Yes, my lord. Most sect members returned to their headquarters. There have been a few who lingered, but they haven''t done anything that would force us to interfere.¡±


    Matt nodded, letting some of his excitement bleed through. ¡°You said our ind arrived during the negotiation?¡±


    Captain Kestrel nodded once more, and upon confirmation, Matt and Liz each ripped to chaotic space, where they found a Tier 30,rge-scale courier ship waiting for them. Inside one of its berths was a mile-wide ind that floatedpletely disconnected from the walls. ???


    It was empty, barren really, but that didn¡¯t stop Matt from grinning. It was, however, perfectly primed for life and ready to ept whatever local flora and fauna.


    Matt connected to the drive controls of the ind with his [AI], quickly setting up some basic logic on the pseudo-AI used to control it. He and Liz were the only full administrators, and he purged all prior permissions while setting up his own. Going forward, only they would be able to move the ind freely, with more restricted ess to their families, seneschals, and trusted friends.


    The ind controls were a marvel of engineering, and it could even travel through chaotic space directly, like a spaceship. That wasn¡¯t the typical way the inds traveled, as part of the ducal ind''s expense was a special device that linked in with the tethers connecteds together, allowing them to teleport between any connected worlds.


    The drives required a fair bit of priming and preparation, and could only ept a finite number of paired teleportation-objects, making their uses limited even before the legal restrictions came into y, so they weren¡¯t inmon use. But they made <em>quite</em> the statement, and while their upkeep was expensive enough that even some dukes didn¡¯t have them, Matt felt that having the option avable was more than worth the price.


    He and Liz had a design team scheduled to arrive in the next few years. They would need a proper ducal estate, but they had their portable house which would serve in the meantime.


    Their house did look very conspicuous on the massive, grassless ind, but a thought transnted a few clumps of grasses that Matt thought looked good on the ind. Liz added a few small trees she grabbed, including one of the oaks Matt liked so much. Once they had a good seed group, Matt spread his mana into a formation, crystalized it, and activated the makeshift formation and the magical growth effect.


    In the first fifteen seconds, nothing seemed to happen, but watching through his spiritual perception, Matt followed along as the trees and grasses settled into their homes before their roots started spreading. In the case of the grasses, they spread and popped up secondary growths before they all started flowering and dropping their seeds.


    The formation automatically added nutrients into the soil and watered the foliage as needed, even with the increased growth cycles. In just fifteen minutes, they had a small little floating oasis ripe with local flora.


    A thought cut a winding path through the grass to their front door, but Matt and Liz kept to the edge of the ind as they directed it to float over to the archipgo they had found earlier.


    The terraforming lessons he had taken after the guild ind didn¡¯t make him an expert, but it gave him enough of a foundation to be confident in this small gardening work.


    Lowering the floating ind into the sea, it wasn''t even obvious the ind wasn¡¯t native. Or, it wasn¡¯t <em>too</em> obvious.


    Matt changed his mind as he inspected the ind with a critical eye. It was very obvious. With the ind prepared for a sprawling estate, it was t, which stood out as unnatural with the mountainous inds all around them.


    ¡°Should we build a mountain?¡±


    Hearing Liz¡¯s question, Matt couldn¡¯t help butugh and pull her into a kiss.


    ¡°I had the same thought, but I don¡¯t think we need to go that far. Once the castle is built, it will look more natural.¡± He responded.


    Liz pushed away and broke free from his grasp where she started running through the grass. ¡°No way mister. We are not having a <em>castle</em>.¡±


    Matt chased after Liz, but she slipped from his grasp every time he was about to grab her. ¡°Castles are cool, and it¡¯ll let us hide more stuff.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re tacky. We definitely don¡¯t need a castle. We can just have an <em>estate</em>.¡±


    ¡°An estate with a <em>castle</em> as the main housing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that doesn''t work, by definition.¡±


    Matt nipped at Liz¡¯s ear as he caught her. ¡°Then I¡¯ll change the definition.¡±


    Dragging him down into the grass, Liz smirked. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try.¡±


    The sky was beautiful.


    As he and Lizid in the grass, they watched the stars overhead twinkle down at them.


    ¡°A young universe.¡± Liz pointed to the side. ¡°That constetion looks like a sword.¡±


    She was right, and they pointed out a dozen other shapes until the sun rose and blocked their view.


    Matt was personally happy the universe Palustris was in was young. Essence kept the local star from burning out, but unless essence was spread to the neighboring star systems, they could, and eventually would, die.


    Even for them, as immortals, that would take an incredibly long time, but there were still examples they could look to. They had spent time on one world where the night sky was empty, as the local star fueled by essence was thest remaining star still shining in the universe.


    It was a sad end for so much potential, even if it was natural in a ce without essence.


    Palustris having a robust universe was purely a positive, and Matt made a note that they should look into settling the nearest star systems in a few millennia. Some people liked to roll the dice on creating a functional realspace crossing - not that it had <em>ever</em> seeded - but Matt just wanted to ensure that even trillions of years from now, Palustris¡¯ night sky wouldn¡¯t be empty.


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    It was, however, an idea for long in the future, and Matt tossed it to the side.


    Instead, he turned his attention to the local star.


    Once one in a system started Tiering up past Tier 10 or so, it would typically start affecting other celestial bodies in the same sr system. That usually started with any moons and the sun, and then would slowly Tier up others afterwards, but the original would usually be ten to fifteen tiers above anything else.


    Yet here, the local star was Tier 20, and the second-closest <em>to</em> said sun was Tier <em>21</em>. Matt was <em>very</em> interested in investigating how exactly all of that happened, but what he was more curious about was how to properly leverage theparative glut of opportunity it provided. The sun would attract some delvers, but star-delving required a specific set of skills that most delvers never developed.


    Looking at it more closely, Matt realized just <em>how</em> busy the star system was. There were five other rockys besides Palustris and five gas giants, two truly massive ones in the outer system and three smaller ones that orbited in the system.


    The gas giants were fairly useless until they either hit Tier 15, which the tworgest hadn¡¯t yet, as they were far out from Palustris, which was the main source of ambient essence as it leaked from the. That, or until people decided to settle them with things like floating cities. But they were so expensive that Matt and Liz wouldn¡¯t be funding them any time soon.


    For now, he turned his attention mostly to the neighboring Tier 21, flying out to get a closer look at it.


    It was, all told, <em>quite</em> barren. Terraforming it would take absolutely ages, a process only made worse by the sheer amount of bizarre life inhabiting it. Strange rocklike crustaceans, massive subterranean rock-snakes, and wispy elementals absolutely packed themselves between spires of mushroom-tree things adapted for the obscenely hostile environment.


    Well, they could set up some sort of outposts to take advantage of it, possibly either in orbit or a heavily-defended domed fortress. No doubt the weird ecology would result in some impressive natural treasures and rifts, so they could set it up as a partially-essible training world as an additional attraction in their system for Tiers 17 to 21.


    Training¡ª or ¡®wild¡¯¡ªs were always a good source of ie, and while a part of Matt wished he could terraform it such that lower Tiers could survive on it, he had his hands full enough with Palustris itself as it was.


    The fourth in the system, a small gas giant, was only Tier 8 thanks to its rtivelyrge size, which made it a prime target for eventual expansion for mortals who wanted to delve. But that wouldn¡¯t be an issue for at least a few thousand years in the future, when real estate truly became hard to find.


    He and Liz did decide to buy not just a habitable moon, but a Tier 2 world as well, so they could ensure that mortals had enough space to live, given just how much of Palustris wasn¡¯t readily liveable for low Tiers.


    Once they got to work, they found the various local sects had created a few methods to create safe zones. Or <em>safer</em> zones.


    The one that Matt personally liked for small outposts was to ring them with a formation that redirected fire mana and essence upward into the atmosphere, which created a bubble of safety at the center. The side effect of creating an extra dangerous zone around the formation was less a bug and more a feature, as it was a perfect area for fire mages to cultivate in.


    He and Liz wouldn¡¯t allow them to be used anywhere near an area that mortals lived, but it was an economical way to protect a small zone they encouraged.


    The local former sub-sect who hade up with the idea was more than a little bbergasted that they were paid for their idea, but they were more than happy to take the money and use it to expand their influence.


    Guilds were another sticking point he and Liz ran into.


    As part of their agreement with the local sects, they wouldn¡¯t let local guilds settle for the first decade, and then they would only slowly open the world up for foreign guilds. But everyone wanted a piece of Palustris, so they were constantly asking for extensions and restrictions on other guilds.


    While Matt wanted to just ignore them, he understood where their concern came from. Just a week after they fought the guild leaders, they had hundreds of ships in orbit just waiting for permission tond. Matt and Liz forced them to cool their hands as they got Palustris ready forrge-scale settling.


    They long since put out a call-to-arms for any and every constructionpany of nearly all Tiers that was willing to travel to help quickly build out two cities capable of housing a billion people safely.


    The higher-Tier construction teams were there to do the brunt of the work, setting the foundations for a long-term city that could house so many people safely, while the lower-Tier teams were there to build out the sky scrapers and other buildings that didn¡¯t need to be rushed.


    Not that it was easy.


    Matt had just expected the city nners they hired to just tell them what they were going to build, but that wasn¡¯t how it happened.


    Instead, they were presented with dozens of variations and styles to choose from.


    For their first city, a safer zone nestled inside a mountain range, they were presented with three major themes.


    The first was to flow with the natural dips and valleys of the area, but that wasn¡¯t the most economical use of the space, which was where the second idea came from of leveling the area and creating spatially-expandedyers to fit the maximum number of people into the space as was possible. The third was, instead of being a middle ground, doplete reversal and maximize the view and ambiance by reducing buildings to mainly underground structures.


    After talking about it, he and Liz chose the first option, but they were presented with dozens of minor variations. The differences seemed inconsequential, but once they chose a design, things would be difficult to change.


    Some variations tried to maximize housing while others maximized things like parks, while others still did the same for production districts.


    They discussed aiming for a middle ground, but they ended up deciding they wanted their cities to have specialties at least in minor ways. A citizen wouldn¡¯t have to travel to a new city for a new weapon, but they might decide to travel if they wanted to get the best weapons. Just going middle-of-the road for everything was boring, and would mean their capitalcked anything that would set it apart and make their cities much too simr.


    To that end, they decided for their first city, they would aim for robust production districts with secondary focuses on poption density and public transportation. That wasn¡¯t to say there weren¡¯t public spaces like parks and gardens, but they were put where they could be rather than the city being built with them in mind.


    The production they envisioned was built around taking the unique products made from the rare local resources of Palustris and getting them ready to sell off world or to visitors. As for what, they weren''t entirely sure what would end up being economical, but the had a number of unique products that they were looking to lean into.


    Making matters worse was that even in the less dangerous areas, they still needed special consideration to ensure that mortals could exist. Setting up anti-volcano wards, ash cleansing arrays, and weather-control towers, among so many other things, took funding¡ª both initial funding and on-going maintenance and power¡ª and space that could have been spent on other functions if the wasn¡¯t so dangerous.


    Seeing the choices they had to work around was enough for Matt and Liz to just go ahead and buy a habitable moon where mortals could live without too much issue. It would arrive much faster than the they had ordered, and they could always use both.


    The second city was at least more interesting, as it was to be located in the archipgo they set their floating ind in.


    It was shaping up to be their capital region, and so they took more effort into ensuring that it was, at least to a moderate degree, aesthetically pleasing. To that end, they decided to forgo anything like a single floating central city and to embrace the ind lifestyle. Combined with terraforming some of the continental coastline, they would, once the city was fully built, be able to house close to a billion people.


    With thousands of inds, they intended to let the smaller ones specialize into whatever they wanted, so as to encourage movement between the inds. That meant a robust naval public transportation system, but surprisingly, the answer had already been solved by Titan¡¯s Torch¡¯s new engines, amusingly enough.


    The engines liked to be at their top speed, which is where they had the most mana savingspared to older engines, so frequent stopping and starting was to be prevented as much as possible.


    The original idea had started in the Capital system, funded by Carissa, as it had seven inhabited worlds with loads of inteary travel. Matt ignored the politics of Manny¡¯s wife funding the project instead of himself, but either way, it was a sess and had spread to many other systems that had multiple worlds with heavy traffic between them.


    To take advantage of the travel mana engines, they hadrge ships constantly moving between destinations while smaller ships moved from the''s surface or orbit to the travel mana ship. After it dropped its passengers off and picked the leaving batch up, they then flew back to the world as it was passing by.


    By never stopping, the ship didn¡¯t have to lower its mana coefficient which resulted in significant savings. Savings that had <em>eventually</em> been passed onto the passengers. Matt didn¡¯t need the additional stress and chose to focus on the positive ending rather than the bumpy way they had gotten there.


    That same method worked fantastically for ocean-based vessels, and the city nners suggested they copy the method to facilitate the city they wanted.


    Matt only got slightly distracted in looking up how trains handled the issue with travel mana, but wasn¡¯t shocked when they simply differentiated between long and short distance travel and ate the mana cost of stopping and starting the train.


    He also definitely didn¡¯t get distracted by the reports of a round of audits that hade from King Frederic onpanies that hadn¡¯t followed through with their promise of passing on at least part of savings to their passengers. Matt also didn¡¯t get distracted by ensuring he had cklisted all of those names from working directly with his guild in the future without his express permission.


    Matt was on a mission, no distractions. Or at least, that was his internal monologue.


    It took six months to get the cities at least marginally habitable, and that was only because they had hired Tier 40 building teams who could prepare entire city blocks for the mega skyscrapers in hours instead of months. Everything also took longer because they greatly overbuilt their infrastructure in case their poptions ballooned higher than they initially intended.


    Wanting to embrace their founding of many differents from many different cultures, Matt put out a duchy-wide decree. With well over a thousand smaller inds, they had more than enough to assign each one to a in their duchy. An ind would be given to each to design to their own sensibilities in terms of design and built out specifically for people of that world to settle on Palustris.


    To sweeten the pot for the worlds, Matt threw in various rewards for the best designs. Though, for all their issues, Matt suspected the most unique and interesting designs woulde out of the veil worlds they had taken over. He thoroughly believed the Empire was a good thing as a whole, but there was something to be said about the diversity of ideas that came out of such a chaotic mix of cultures just on a single world.


    Preserving a portion of that as well as making sure their capital city was striking and unique was an idea he could get behind.


    The idea was even good enough he didn¡¯t have to do more than raise the idea before Liz epted.


    The city nners they had contracted didn¡¯t like the idea, as it meant they needed to wait to finish a number of the inds, but that was more a matter of rearranging the order of things than outright dys.


    As for the few mortal inhabitants of Palustris, they were given the Empire-mandated awakenings and specific tax breaks to ensure they weren¡¯t outssed by the first wave of immigrants.


    And a wave it was.


    The minute the first skyscraper was ready for people to move in, they had ships nosing into the atmosphere. Millions of immortals were knocking at their doors. Some even went as far as to forgo the ships altogether and just enter with their bodies. If they were trying to bypass the immigration they had in ce, it wouldn¡¯t be so easy, and a number of rabble rousers were caught by the guards and forced to leave immediately.


    Most of the new arrivals were just fire specialists who wanted an early in on a new fire world, and Matt and Liz opened their doors to them in a variety of ways.


    Permanent citizenship wasn¡¯t given out to many; they required those immortals who wanted to go that route to both provide something useful to the and buy property with the understanding that they couldn¡¯t just resell to anyone but the state for the next thousand years. Space on high-Tier worlds had the habit of being bought up in secondary markets that prevented the dedicated but less wealthy from joining.


    Mortal requirements were far less strict, but there were still those who were only offered temporary residency permits. There were ways to turn those into permanent ones, but they required dedication to Palustris itself, which was a way to weed out those who were just looking to get in on a fad.


    Food was a major issue, and was thergest hurdle preventing them from just filling their first two cities with citizens. Even beyond Empire mandates about food avability, Matt wouldn¡¯t feelfortable bringing in a mass of mortals without a stable source of food because Palustris wasn¡¯t suited to grow most crops.


    Not that it couldn¡¯t grow foods. It could, of course, but the normal farming rifts were thrown off by the¡¯s aspect, and the fire aspect meant food grown without special care frequently beyond the means of regr people wasn''t entirely mortal-safe. Technically, they¡¯d <em>probably</em> be fine, but it raised the odds of a bunch of health problems by a truly staggering amount.


    The Empire required that every world was self-sustainable in terms of food and its mortal poption, but there was leeway when it came to capital worlds, even ducal capital worlds. With poptions in the billions, trillions, or possible quadrillions, it was understood that not all the food for mortals could be produced by mortals. Orbital structures like they had seen Countess Walsh¡¯s former Corporations world, Mythena, use weren''tmon inparison to rift farming, but it was the method he and Liz decided to go with.


    They would have encouraged a robust, rift-centric farming economy, but that took time to get started. A suitable rift needed to be found, then it needed to be delved until all the variations were cataloged and mapped out so the delving teams could best clear the rifts, as well learning exactly what the rift and its soilposition specialized in growing.


    The Oneil cylinders were, for all their faults, easy to create and get started. Especially when Matt personally went, created, and powered the nt growth formations.


    Though on Palustris, food testing was already ongoing.


    Liz, being an alchemy expert, was overseeing that, but Palustris was already exporting a rare variation of saffron that grew exceptionally well in their fire-aspected world, even in the more dangerous regions. That meant Tier 15s needed to do the farming, but nonbat fire cultivators were more than happy to take up the farmer mantle in exchange for permanent residency. Doubly so when they got their cut of the export.


    A few of the farmers were even using their early position to petition for the licenses to expand their operations to medium-sized corporations centered around the saffron. After a few talks with their advisors, they decided to allow a few expansions, but postponed any further growth after seeing how the environment would react.


    The saffron wasn¡¯t the only food to do well in the fire-rich environment. A version of fire rice also exploded in a local way as it was turned into a sake and exported not just across the duchy, but into other duchies thanks to its mellow front vors with its fiery after tastes.


    Even just a year into serious production, the liquor was making for a serious export that had all the hallmarks of bing a staple of their world. Best of all, it was a hardy nt that grew not only in the more dangerous portions of the world, but in at least two fire aspected rifts if their initial testing proved urate when automated.


    As did the hot springs.


    There were a few that not only had strong fire properties, but had healing properties mixed in, which drew in those immortals dealing with healing cooldowns to lower said bodily resistance.


    Dozens ofpanies were trying to set up shop to expand the service, and Matt was going over their requests when he felt the world pulse as a pair of people arrived with a bang.


    Checking the new arrivals, he found they weren''t people he expected to show up unannounced.


    Maxine ¡®Max¡¯ Teslovaka, the Corporation Chosen Cosmind, and Wun Miloan, the ns Legend known as Goldenrod.

 Chapter 373

    Matt and Liz moved to meet the two Ascenders in space, but Wun Miloan skipped on golden air and arrived down at the front door of their house before they could do so.


    Raising his hand, he politely knocked while pulling out a bottle of wine.


    Rolling his eyes, Matt opened a [Portal] inside their house from their office.


    Opening the door, he pretended to be surprised. ¡°Oh, a guest. How unexpected!¡±


    Wun Miloan was tall andnky, defying the stereotypes of his home Great Power by not being a dwarf and not even aping them. ording to him, he already had <em>enough</em> aping going on with his bloodline, and didn¡¯t feel the need to add on any more.


    Seeing the man in person, Matt definitely agreed. His wiry body rippled with muscle and generic primate power. While it was impossible for him to hide that he had <em>some</em> kind of monkey bloodline, he¡¯d never revealed any details of his bloodline to anyone; not n leadership, not the other Ascenders, nobody.


    Wun wiggled his bottle even as Maxnded next to him, having taken the non-magical route. ¡°I told him to be normal, but that''s impossible for him. I apologize for dropping in like this, but he wanted to meet you two.¡±


    ¡°Three! I heard there was an ice mage. I love supports. So cuddly and cute!¡±


    Wun wiggled and hugged the bottle of wine before seeming to notice it.Looking down, he seemed to hold the bottle at arm¡¯s length and pped the bottom forcefully. Without so much as a ripple of mana or Domain usage, the cork was sent flying out of the bottle¡¯s stem, bounced wildly around the kitchen, andnded in the trash incinerator. As soon as it hit the bottom of the container, an errant flicker of mana activated the disposal enchantment, and an outsized gout of me burst out of the hole in the counter, punctuating thending.


    ¡°Score! I am impressive.¡± he said with a small wiggle.


    Liz raised an eyebrow, and her phoenix body ruffled itself in surprise.


    Max ruined Wun¡¯s showboating by saying, ¡°Last time he tried that, the bottle broke and he impaled himself in front of over a thousand people.¡±


    Wun sighed. ¡°Terrible evening. I was trying to impress this very pretty new widow. Hippopotamus bloodline, you understand.¡±


    Liz poured the wine as Matt set out the sses and asked, ¡°Failed to woo the maiden after failing your entrance trick?¡±


    Wun snorted. ¡°Of course not. I am a debonair seducer extraordinaire. The bad luck is that I <em>seeded</em>. While I was in a delicious post-coital nap, she found out that I was apparently the one who made her a widow. How was I supposed to know she was married to the guy who tried to break into the house I was crashing in a few years before that?¡± He turned a re onto Max. ¡°I still think it was either you or Ellen who ratted me out.¡±


    Matt couldn¡¯t help it. He needed to know more. The story was also a good distraction from the awful wine Wun had given them. ¡°So she tried to kill you then?¡±


    Once more, Wun looked honestly confused. ¡°What? No! She was so happy that I killed him, she wanted to have a kid with me. But I can¡¯t get saddled with child support like that, so I had to leave, pronto. But it took me <em>ages</em> to get out of there.¡±


    ¡°Fifteen years,¡± Max chimed in.


    Wun gestured to the Chosen in agreement as he drank deeply of his wine before wincing. ¡°Damn, this is shit!¡±


    Having said that, he sshed the rest of his ss into their sink without making a mess. ¡°I just grabbed something off the shelf, but I guess I didn¡¯t get lucky.¡±


    His eyes unfocused as he started rummaging around in his storage ring. A few momentster, he pulled out a dusty bottle of wine that was much better. So much better that Matt asked where they could get some, but as luck had it, the vineyard had burned down a few hundred thousand years ago and they were drinking one of thest bottles.


    In a hospitable mood, and to celebrate the bottle and asion, Matt cooked while Wun regaled them with stories. He was¡­ an interesting fellow.


    Like most Ascenders, Wun was fairly rxed and easygoing. It was basically a necessity for the sorts of lives they lived, but Goldenrod took that to another level. His Talent guaranteed that he could never live a quiet life, as it drastically increased the likelihood of improbable things. Good or bad, it didn¡¯t matter. Doubly so because, as he grew in Tier, the more improbable the events got. While he could force things <em>to</em> happen, he could never stop them from happening, which seemed like an interesting quirk to a luck Talent.


    That much was demonstrated when the four of them sat down to y poker. Liz had been wanting to test her mettle against Max for a while now, and Wun managed to somehow convince the rest of them that it was a great idea to do so right now.


    Max was apparently something of an expert poker yer, but while Matt knew the rules and could y, he wasn¡¯t a master by any means.


    Until he yed with Wun.


    At the start, he kept getting absolutely amazing hands and kept winning round after round as a result. Then, he started getting bad hands, but still won anyway. Then, he went back to getting absolutely amazing luck, only to lose every round.


    At one point, when he had two aces in his hand, Wun responded to his bets with going all in, and despite the fact the other Ascender only had a six of clubs and a two of diamonds, he was the only one to have <em>any</em> clubs in his hand. And thus, after the seven, eight, nine, and ten of clubs were revealed in the middle, he managed to win that round, clearing Matt out of a lot of his winnings.


    The immediate next round, he got a lot of those winnings <em>back</em>, and ament from Wun about how his Talent typically worked made Matt frown. Was he really <em>so</em> unlikely to win that Wun¡¯s Talent was basically forcing it?


    It was kind of insulting when he thought about it like that.


    That was when he bowed out and acted as the permanent dealer, just to see how the other three battled it out.


    That gave him a fair amount of time to look and properly ponder what Wun¡¯s life must have been like, and how hard it must have been for him to be an Ascender. Then again, perhaps it was easier because of how unlikely it was for him to make it?


    No, that <em>couldn¡¯t</em> be the case. Or at least Matt would never buy that. No Talent alone was sufficient toplete the Path. It couldn¡¯t just take a nobody and make them great. Even Emmanuel hadn¡¯tpleted the Path, a fact that Luna had made certain Matt remembered any time he got <em>too</em> cocky about his odds of finishing.


    Not that the Talent was all sunshine and rainbows. Wun¡¯s Talent gave out bad as often as it gave out good, and Matt could see how hard it would be to live with such a Talent, let alone be strong enough to be Ascender level. The only real advantage it gave him was that it changed the nature of a battle so much, albeit in a way he was used to, that most opponents couldn''t cope before he defeated them. And Matt was sure that the fact he could make the <em>really</em> unlikely things happen onmand helped battles go in his favor.


    Besides, if he had somehow coasted on his Talent, he would be a very weak Ascender, and he <em>certainly</em> wasn¡¯t weak. Not when his record against both Max and the presumedte Master of All was so good, back when they¡¯d all been active together.


    Really, his Talent reminded Matt a lot of Eleanor Mallick, the girl he¡¯d sponsored on the Path so long ago. Lots of good, lots of bad, and the only constant being uncertainty. Granted, while her odds had shifted more in her favor as she grew, Wun just had even more extreme things happen around him.


    He really should reach out to Eleanor, actually. She and her cousin Ethan had returned to their n after their trip to Minka, and from what he¡¯d heard, they were serving as very young elders.


    As Tier 16s, they were immortals and had a say in the traveling merchant collective their family formed. As former Pathers, they werecking hundreds of years of experience moving through Tiers, but thanks to the family charter, they needed to be on the family elder council. Even if only as junior members. Though neither of the kids particrly liked being treated like kids, they also didn¡¯t have a good way to get experience thanks to technically being elders.


    Matt and Liz had offered their duchy as a stopping point if the n wanted to branch out and earn some credit from the family, but they adamantly refused, as they were trying to prove they could stand on their own.


    Through it all, Matt got the feeling that they were still happy to be back with family.


    Eleanor at least, thanks to her advancement, had reached a point where her Talent didn¡¯t hamper her daily life any more. Which had been her main goal on the Path in the first ce.


    Eleanor¡¯s Concept had leveraged the ideas of chance and catastrophe, imposing simr restrictions as the ones she operated under on those she fought, making fortune and misfortunend randomly on them, with none of the tools she had for mitigating said fortune. It was, naturally, far more limited than what Wun passively did, but it might be worth sparring with her a bit to get some more practice against luck-based opponents before he fought Wun.


    Which, after meeting the man, was most certainly on his list. Even getting his ass handed to him¡ª hopefully not literally¡ª would teach Matt where his deepest hidden weaknesses lie. Not the typical ones, but the ones that wouldn¡¯t normally happen and would be forcefully made manifest in a fight with Wun.


    How could any self-respecting Ascender pass up an opportunity like that?


    And Matt kinda wanted to kick Wun¡¯s ass just in general. Amon urrence, ording to Max.


    The same Max who had given Matt an information chip he certainly wasn¡¯t going to be opening himself. Instead, he sent it off to Harper''s people who would run a battery of tests on it to make sure there were no undue influences, but the lessons were part one of her teaching him mind magic defenses. No matter how much L and Aiden had vouched for her, he was still in the ¡®trust but verify¡¯ stage of the Realm¡¯s most notorious mind mage.


    Even knowing she was a master maniptor didn¡¯t help, because she was just <em>that good</em>. She was sociable, easy to talk to, and came across as genuinely liking everyone. Even watching her code switch when talking to Wun or Liz just came across as her being excitable about different things, a genuine expression of enjoyment rather than a means of social maniption. She seemed <em>incredibly</em> trustworthy, and that was why he¡¯d made sure he was following protocol regarding suspected mind maniptors <em>to the letter</em> around her.


    He even checked the procedures just to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything. Twice.


    In contrast, Wun seemed incapable of taking anything seriously during their two days spent hanging out. Everything was either a tragedy Wun treated like a minor inconvenience, or it was a positive, generally good thing he couldn¡¯t bother to get excited about.


    It was when the two Ascenders were leaving that Wun dropped a bomb onto his and Liz¡¯sps.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I may have brought a few extra worlds with me when I delivered the promised ones to your duchy.¡± Holding up his hands, Wun tried to cate them. ¡°Uninhabited worlds! Don¡¯t get fussy. Was I supposed to just let a <em>trio</em> of Tier 9 worlds just drift by? No way. So I batted them into the current I was overseeing. Added them to the procession, so to speak. The other guide lost his shit and tried to get me to return them to n space, but he was annoying and I stopped listening to him. You guys might want to deal with that?¡±


    Matt ignored the lilting tone and instead checked his [AI] just to notice that he hadn¡¯t been getting updates from Cato for thest few hours. There didn¡¯t seem to be any obvious bugs or ws, but forcefully connecting to the EmpireNet and hard resetting the entire¡¯s EmpireNet system caused a flood of messages toe through all at once, telling them what they had missed in thest few days. Even the alerts that should have bypassed their do not disturb had been caught in the¡­ monkey wrench that was Wun.


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    Matt turned to Liz and tossed the problem into herp. ¡°I beat you at poker. I deserve this.¡±


    Phoenix Liz petntly spread her wings on Liz¡¯s shoulder, while human Liz crossed her arms. ¡°You had better have all of the paperwork done by the time I get back! I can¡¯t believe this. My streak ended. Gone out with a whimper, not even ast desperate struggle. Ugh.¡±


    Seeing he won, Matt grinned. The paperwork would suck, but he didn¡¯t want to be the one to go and argue that they weren''t viting the no news rule since Wun delivered them, and they didn¡¯t capture the worlds themselves.


    It was doubtful that the situation would escte, but it would undoubtedly be annoying, and Matt would rather slog through his and Liz¡¯s paperwork than deal with that.


    He was two days deep in his battle with Liz¡¯s stack of paperwork when he got an alert from his [AI].


    VIPs had arrived and were demanding to speak to him.


    Reviewing the alert, Matt had to wonder if his luck was still being tweaked by Wun.


    A flight of down-and-out fire bloodlines led by a young phoenix had arrived, and were not-so-subtly demanding a plot ofnd be given to them.


    All he could think was that Liz would have been much better equipped to handle this.


    Hopping into the Ascender group chat, he cursed Wun up and down before closing it as he gotughing faces from everyone else.


    With a [Portal], he arrived in space where one of Palustris¡¯ many administrators were going from ship to ship and registering and issuing permits tond. Temporary passes of up to a decade were avable for those not automatically approved for permanent residence, and ording to the message the man''s supervisor had forwarded up the chain ofmand, that was precisely what the administrator had tried to issue. It had even been a provisional permit that would have gotten the group''s foot in the door and would have made it easy enough to get a permanent one.


    ording to that same report, the leader of the group, Reba Etha, had pitched a fit.


    Dropping his perception down to Tier 20 levels, Matt looked at Reba, letting the weight of his gaze quiet her still ongoing rant.


    Turning to his administrator, Matt asked, ¡°Is there anything else you need in your report?¡±


    The man flinched but shook his head. ¡°No, my lord. I¡ª¡±


    He was cut off as Reba flexed her spiritual pressure harder, effectively shouting over him. ¡°Ascender Titan, I expect this man to be reprimanded thoroughly. He was rude and denied me passage to Palustris.¡±


    Matt just stared at Reba for a long minute, letting the silence ask if she was done speaking. ¡°Firstly, do not interrupt me or my people. It is <em>rude</em>. Second, Dominic was assisting you. You are not rated for a permanent residence. The requirements are all listed. You <em>do</em>, however, rate a temporary residence permit and can work on converting it into a permanent one.¡±


    Reba looked genuinely confused as she asked, ¡°But why not a permanent one? We are fire bloodlines. We deserve ess to a fire world like this.¡±


    The entitlement in her statement caused Matt¡¯s hackles to rise, but he stomped it down and inspected the group she hade with.


    ording to his [AI], Reba Etha was a Tier 15 phoenix bloodline offspring of a male phoenix and a human woman. Her father had officially severed parental ties, but it appeared that Reba¡¯s mother had pampered the girl something fierce, resulting in a spoiled rotten brat who was wholly unprepared for her mom to never return from a delve one day.


    Filling in the nks regarding her public appearances since then, that had been something of a turning point for Reba, and she had been forced to throw herself into unfamiliar circumstances as she adapted to not having a protector. If the reports didn¡¯t also exin the almost five thousand other people packed in the small fleet of time-worn ships in Reba¡¯s convoy, he would have dismissed her. But for all her faults, Reba had something of a soft streak, and she had turned her loss into a drive to gather other misfits.


    Somewhere along the way, they must have gotten the idea that Matt and Liz were offering something of sanctuary for fire bloodlines, because everyone with her were reportedly fire bloodlines who didn¡¯t fit in with the more established powers of their bloodlines.


    ¡°You missed the apology.¡±


    Reba blinked at him just like Liz¡¯s phoenix form did when she was confused before looking at Dominic. ¡°Sorry?¡±


    Matt closed his eyes and counted to ten.


    He knew he was making a mistake, but he couldn''t turn away so many people who clearly needed a home.


    So many people had helped him after his parents had died that he couldn¡¯t leave them in the lurch.


    ¡°I will approve a temporary residency permit for you and your people Ms. Etha. If you can show you can be productive like everyone else, it will be converted to a permanent residency pass but your level of¡­ <em>entitlement</em> is going to have to end. Here and now. And I understand you have a bit of a bone to pick with some of the more established Phoenix families, as do many of your people. But you and your people are going to need to put that aside and learn to, if not love each other, live on the same world. I won¡¯t tolerate petty squabbles starting issues. Do you understand me?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t sure that she did, but after agreeing, he sent her on her way and turned to Dominic. ¡°Well done. If she gives you trouble again, don¡¯t hesitate to let me know. I¡ª¡±


    Matt stopped talking as he felt a pulse of spiritual perception probe him. It wasn¡¯t a polite prod to let him know someone wanted to talk with him, but rather a forceful scan.


    ¡°Excuse me. Continue on as you were. I¡¯ll handle this.¡± He added a quickmendation to the man¡¯s file via his [AI] and left.


    Flying over to a massive Tier 25 ship that was perfectly pristine and practically new out of the shipyard that made it, Matt punched his spiritual perception through the shields to scan the people inside who had scanned him.


    A mixed group of fire bloodlines, with phoenixes and dragons seemingly in positions of power or prestige if the living arrangements were anything to go off of. Most of them were Tier 15 through Tier 30, but there were a number of fire bloodline passengers lower than that, though they seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. As a whole, they reacted to his intrusion withnguid reluctance as they were pulled from whatever leisure pursuit they were upied with, but none seemed worried or rmed at his return probe.


    The Tier 30, Ral¡¯Ya smiled. ¡°Ah, good to see you, my Lord Titan. You are exactly the person I was wanting to speak with. I was just about to send one of my men to inform you of our arrival, but this is even better. We wanted to let you know that we are here to set up an outpost for our faction of noble draconic families.¡± He must have felt the gazes of every other bloodline on the ship as he corrected with a grin. ¡°Dragon and other fire-rted bloodlines, rather. Do excuse the slip up everyone. This was originally a single house voyage, after all. If you could tell us which continent is ours, we will start to settle in immediately.¡±


    Feeling like he had just had this conversion, Matt said, ¡°I don¡¯t process residency permits, and even if I did, there is a line. Also, you aren¡¯t even on the list of pre-approvals for <em>temporary residency</em>. I know because I <em>did</em> make that. Second you, or any other single faction, sure as shit isn¡¯t getting an entire continent allocated all to themselves.¡±


    Ral¡¯Ya waved a hand as if none of that was important. ¡°You told Duke Taro, one of Duke Tiberius Maniake¡¯s people, or rather Duke Dominus Maniake¡¯s now, that you would have a space for us. We are a sub-faction under his wing, after all, so even if you refuse to allocate a continent to us, we deserve at least arge ind or ten. Surely one of your caliber can do such a trivially easy task. Now we need to settle in quickly to im the bestnds so¡­¡±


    Ral¡¯Ya waved a dismissal as his ship tried to nose past Matt into the atmosphere of Palustris.


    Matt didn¡¯t move.


    The ship didn¡¯t stop.


    Matt <em>didn¡¯t</em> move.


    The ship bounced off him, causing chaos as all of the lower Tiers inside stumbled or were sent sprawling from the sudden jolt. The higher Tiers were fine, as they had been watching and braced themselves, but every noble scion acted like he had just poured mud onto their outfits.


    Ral¡¯Ya shouted, ¡°How dare you¡ª¡±


    Seeing where this was going, Matt didn¡¯t hesitate to flex his Domain and freeze the ship. He was careful to not hurt the passengers, not even Ral¡¯Ya, but he was done with them.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want me to banish you, let alone arrest you Ral¡¯Ya, you should leave. The rest of you can stay until a duke-level noblees and apologies for your actions. Ral¡¯Ya, I don¡¯t want to see you again.¡±


    Getting to the guards who had already arrived, Matt ensured the uninvolved were escorted to a holding area where they could cool their heels for a few weeks. It was just an apartment building that wasn¡¯t sold yet, so it wasfortable, but he was sure the noble brats would consider it worse than jail if the ship was the normal level of splendor and opulence they were used to.


    He instead returned to his paperwork.


    For the third time in what felt like just hours Matt was pinged as his [AI] alerted him that another group had arrived at Palustris and wanted to see him.


    Unlike thest two groups however, these were people he was more than happy to see.


    All of his extended family.


    The Moore family had arrived in force.


    Mara and Leon¡ª clones, he was finally able to notice¡ª were leading the metaphorical charge, mortal luggage bouncing behind them, clothes sticking out of them where the zippers didn¡¯t quite close up.


    Sam and his wife Annie walked like normal people, though Matt noticed how they were both scanning their surroundings in a way simr to what he was doing right at this moment. Their millennia in the army honing their paranoia even farther than his.


    Leah, the second oldest Moore child, was actually the highest Tier. Still Tier 44 though, looking around Palustris like a kid on new year, her mana reaching out and running itself through the atmosphere like he ran his fingers through Liz¡¯s hair.


    Alice and Daniel walked side by side, pointing out things they could feel on the and whispering to each other in a way that Matt knew spelled mischief.


    Erin had actually brought some of her harem with her; Matt recognized three of them but needed his [AI] to identify the remaining fifteen. Not that he minded. They were all Tier 20 plus and they had enough space on the world that fifteen or fifteen thousand wouldn¡¯t make any appreciable difference.


    Finally, Travis and Keith took up the rear as the lowest Tiers in the family. Tier 20 was respectable, but Matt intended to drag the couple through a few rifts when he had the down time.


    It was <em>good</em> to see them.


    He was about to wee them to Palustris when Mara pulled out a flimsy tin cup and started rattling it around. ¡°A ce to stay for us destitute travelers.¡±


    Sam''s face palmed while Travis tried to pull Mara¡¯s hand down. ¡°Mom please, we are begging you not to do it again.¡±


    Matt had to ask, even though he knew it was an awful idea. ¡°Again?¡±


    At the same time, he didn¡¯t miss Mara pointing at herself and silently asked Leon, ¡®I thought I was the beggar?¡¯


    Alice sighed and ignored the couple. ¡°Mom and Dad have been working on a song and dance routine for the whole trip. Somehow, they keep messing up and having to start over despite that being physically impossible.¡±


    Mara¡¯s tin cking sound changed tune suddenly and Leon popped his head out from behind his wife, looking from the flute in his hand to the tin sound. Each time Mara pretended to ng it, the sound changed despite him not blowing on the instrument.


    ¡°Huh, the cup must be broken.¡± Leon poked it with the flute, which caused a deted honking noise.


    Matt had to admit that sounded like the two of them. It would surely have gotten old for the rest of the siblings, but it sounded great to him.


    He was at least polite enough to not ask them for a rendition right there, and instead, he gestured to the world. ¡°As the local duke, I can confidently say that any unimed region is up for grabs. I figured everyone could get their own estates while we make a Moore family estate somewhere in one of the safe cities.¡±


    Leon tutted. ¡°We don¡¯t need all that. We can just stay with you guys.¡±


    Hisment was immediately vetoed by all of the siblings in one unanimous ¡°Nope!¡±


    Matt had to assume that was a simrly rehearsedment, but this time let himselfugh.


    ¡°Not a chance. I¡ª¡±


    Leah interrupted him by hooking her arm though his and spinning them to walk forward the way they had been going.


    ¡°Yes yes, polite turn down. Don¡¯t bother. Just yell at them. They are like puppies. You need to be firm and stern in your rejection. Now, let''s get on with the tour. This ce is <em>amazing</em>. I feel so good with all the fire mana. I can feel my bloodline already starting to refine itself. <em>Beautiful</em>.¡±


    That got everyone''s attention, though Annie, Sam¡¯s wife, asked, ¡°rification for us non-elemental folks: Is it really that big of a deal? Just feels like fire mana to me?¡±


    All the siblings nodded, though Leah answered. ¡°It really does. There is a reason high-Tier aspected worlds are stupidly valuable. I spent time at Infurnt. A decade pass cost me a hundred at Tier mana stones a year, and the world was so full of people, the effect wasn¡¯t half as good at this jewel of a here. As the highest-Tier sibling, I get first dibs.¡±


    Travis snorted out a puff of fire. ¡°Yeah right. We clearly need to start from the bottom. Keith and I get first dibs.¡±


    Erin raised a finger. ¡°We need the most space, so we need to get first dibs. It''s obviously the hardest requirement to fulfill, so we disregard Tier and go based on need.¡±


    ¡°No way¡ª¡±


    Their bickering continued and morphed as they toured the, Matt [Portal]ing them from ce to ce as the siblings picked out the locales they wanted to settle down in. All of them had portable homes which they plopped down to settle their im, and no one actually fought over any locations. As soon as any one showed interest, the others immediately backed down.


    After a bit of debating, they decided to simply buy out a floor in one of the spatially-expanded skyscrapers that were going up in one of the secondary cities for their group house.


    The Moore family had one on both Mara and Leon¡¯s capital worlds, simr to their estate on the Capital itself. It was a bit redundant with everyone having their own houses on Palustris, but it would be nice to have when kids started to be born.


    He and Liz hadn¡¯t decided one way or another, but if they were to do it, they would aim to have their child with everyone else. And if they decided not to, it wouldn''t be that bad to be the Aunt and Uncle who lived nearby, and that was best done in a group estate everyone could visit.


    There had been millions of studies disproving it, but there were still people who said, and truly believed, that growing up in an elemental essence-rich environment gave children more potent Talents upon awakening. Even so, Matt and Liz had a whole at their disposal, so why shouldn¡¯t they raise the next generation of Moore children on Palustris? It certainly couldn''t hurt.


    Or the Capital itself. Those same people also said growing up on a high-Tier world was innately helpful in the same way. It would be nice if their kid was able to grow up with all of their noble peers, so they weren¡¯t isted like Liz had been.


    Either way, Matt had no issue in spending the money to buy something that could not just help his own potential children, but his nieces and nephews.


    He must have been more distracted than he thought, because he was pulled out of his thoughts when Liz slipped in next to him and pulled him into a kiss.


    ¡°Deep thoughts?¡±


    ¡°Good thoughts.¡±


    Liz grinned up at him. ¡°That''s what I like to hear. Thes are settled. Manny is going to pay some fine, but it''s not on us. No one really wanted to push the issue, considering both parties are Ascenders. I heard there were some incidents from Isabe though?¡±


    ¡°Some fire bloodlines thought they were entitled to the ce. I showed them otherwise,¡± Matt waved off.


    Liz frowned a bit at that. ¡°I¡¯ll follow up on it, they¡¯re more my people anyway.¡±


    Mara, now in her chicken phoenix form, barreled over, knocking phoenix Liz off Liz¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Now that we are all here, we need to go flying!¡±


    Laughing, the non-phoenix members of the extended family watched as the flock of birds were led by one chicken-looking phoenix.


    Matt rolled his eyes and grabbed Annie and Keith. ¡°Let''s go whip something up for everyone while the others get it out of their system.¡±


    With onest nce over his shoulder, Matt walked with the others inside.


    It was wacky.


    It was odd.


    It was family.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 374

    Chapter 374


    ¡°Liz, I don''t like this. It looks¡­ dumb.¡±


    Matt gestured at the mockup of their floating ind.


    In front of themy a fully decentralizedyout that looked more like an opulent estate than a proper governmental administrative center, which is what their floating ind would end up needing to be.


    It would be great if it was just for them and family to live on and they wanted to unt their power and wealth, but the ind was supposed to be a headquarters of their duchy and a governmental hub.


    Her mockup might be imposing but it was tacky as shit and made him cringe just looking at the mock up.


    Liz gestured to the mockup the design team had made for him in return.


    It was a robust and imposing castle with more than enough room for a full administrative center and space for them to have a private area thanks to the battlements built right to the edge of the ind.


    ¡°That''s even worse. It''s just a battle fort pped onto a floating ind. We are not going to live in that, let alone rule from that. There is no way. We¡¯ve joked about being evil overlords before but if we build this, it''s no longer a joke. Tacky is better than <em>that</em> by a <em>mile</em>.¡±


    Liz red at the castle, and Matt red at the estates.The designer raised a finger and pointed to one of the other prebuilt designs. ¡°We always have the original estate version. It¡¯s quite popr. Or one of our other, more esoteric designs.¡±


    Liz and he both groaned at the reminder.


    She had originally championed the original idea but upon seeing theyout, she had asked for a dozen ¡®small¡¯ tweaks until she ended up with the tacky estate.


    Matt hadn¡¯t minded the idea in the first ce but seeing it now, he really didn¡¯t like it.


    Through his [AI], he asked Liz once more.


    ¡®Do we want to have the house absorb whatever we end up with? If we change our minds with that, it will change what we can add to the ind.¡¯


    ¡®No. The house is better portable. I haven¡¯t changed my mind on that.¡¯


    Matt agreed and so let the topic drop. They had discussed it but with the size of their ind if they did have the house absorb it, the house would no longer be portable in the way they wanted.


    Their house was their house. It wasn¡¯t meant to be a duchy capital and turning it into that would taint the very idea of the house.


    Not that they were sure it could eat the ind once it was fully fleshed out in the way a duchy capital needed to be. The ind wasn¡¯t exactly a battleship, but it had a robust defensive system built-in by default. A system which wasn¡¯t meant to be used in war and therefore didn¡¯t follow the typical rules ofbat restrictions. If the house was able to absorb the ind and the built-in shields, they would probably be lowered to a Tier 26 level, which would defeat their purpose. The Tier 45 shields might be ¡®in emergency only¡¯ use thanks to their expense but for a few hours, they could withstand even the most robust attacks from even Tier 46s.


    So long as they saw the attacking that was.


    Which was why Matt wanted to just lean into that. A full defensive castle would bolster the existing defenses, allowing them better passive defenses. They wouldn¡¯t be as vulnerable as most floating inds who could do little if their shields were down.


    ¡°But it looks incredibly tacky. I don¡¯t want to live in that, Matt. And defenses <em>don¡¯t</em> matter. Look at Duke Cumulus. Aiden killed him before anyone could raise the shields. Reaction speed means our best defenses are our own power. There is a reason most nobles don¡¯t bother with the higher-Tier shields.¡±


    ¡°That''s an awful argument, Liz. Or at least it doesn¡¯t make me wanting a castle incorrect. A castle would have more passive defenses, as well as strengthen half the <em>full</em> defenses, which would save us from a surprise attack.¡±


    ¡°Any Tier 45 will blow through the building''s passive defenses and anyone weaker than Tier 40, our guards can handle. It''s <em>not</em> necessary. This is a bureaucratic estate. Why are we pretending it''s anything but that? No one has used a duchy capital in a battle for at least a hundred thousand years. They weren¡¯t even really used when Agatha took over. It''s just <em>not</em> done. It''s not necessary.¡±


    Matt threw up his hands in frustration, nearly knocking a napping phoenix Liz off his shoulder.


    Apologizing, he walked out of the room and onto the balcony of the building they were in. Needing to move, he took to the air and went to get a view of the ind in question.


    It looked odd with just their house on it, but he couldn¡¯t imagine it with a bunch of gilded estates on it.


    Ok, they weren¡¯t gilded but they might as well be with the materials that were chosen and he wasn¡¯t feeling generous enough to correct himself.


    Using an illusion, he sketched the idea out.


    He didn¡¯t like it but he also didn¡¯t like arguing with Liz and as dumb as this was, this was theirrgest argument in at least fifty years.


    Did he really care that much?


    The answer was easy once he contextualized it like that. He didn¡¯t.


    As Liz floated up next to him, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I¡ª¡±


    Chuckling Matt pulled Liz into a hug to the protest of phoenix Liz who smacked human Liz on the head for taking up his shoulder space.


    Once they separated Liz gestured out at the ind. ¡°If you really want the castle, I can agree to it.¡±


    Matt sighed and rubbed his face. ¡°No, that''s not fair either. It¡¯s your home too. What if we just settle on the original estate design? We can spruce it up a bit more if you like, and if we use better materials and add a few defensive formations to the design, we can beef up our passive defenses.¡±


    Liz nodded and they went back into the building where they intended to limit themselves to two design changes each.


    That idea ended up being not needed as the designer had whipped up a model that was a fairly nice blend of what they both wanted.


    The center of the ind was based around a smaller castle raised up fifty or so feet above everything else with buildings built in and around the castle before surrounding the whole thing with a wall that would act as a formation barrier. With the buildings poking out from over the wall, it would have space for everything they needed.


    It wasn¡¯t perfect but Matt could live with it and it was good enough that both of them were fairly happy with the end product.


    That was marriage, though.


    Compromising and working through their issues.


    If only everything could be so easy.


    They were both too busy to dwell on their floating ind with a thousand and one things to deal with.


    Matt took advantage of Allie being only an Ascender chat away to beg a ride to Frederic¡¯s capital as he had been putting off that meeting for almost a year now. He didn¡¯t know exactly what the royal wanted to talk to him for, but with Liz watching over Palustris, he took the opportunity to finish up an errand before they gathered their nobles together for their official inauguration now that their final worlds had arrived.


    That meant it was now time for Aster to start getting her worlds, and Matt was excited for her. He was also excited to poke fun at his bond when sheined about her ducal responsibilities as the minutiae set in.


    With the way they intended to connect their duchies'' capitals together, they would thankfully be just a teleport away going forward. Having their capitals on the border like that rather than in the center wasn¡¯t the wisest move, as their advisors repeatedly reminded them, but they collectively decided they didn¡¯t care. The duchies were keeping them separate enough already, no way were they adding months of travel distance between themselves.


    Or he would be a teleport away if Frederic¡¯s request didn¡¯t pull him from his ducal duties. He had no indication what Frederic wanted of him; Leon had no idea what the other royal wanted but Matt had a feeling it wasn¡¯t going to be an easy request.


    After getting Allie to promise that she would check in on him to take him over in a few hours, Matt was dropped off at King Frederic¡¯s capital in an alley near a busy downtown section of a city. They were suspiciously far away from any bakeries which made Matt consider that this wasn¡¯t actually Allie¡¯s normal teleport location but he had no proof.


    Taking a few moments, he let his spiritual perception spread across Frederic¡®s capital. It was everything Matt hoped Palustris would be in a few generations. Prosperous, peaceful, and popted.


    The, being a non-aspected high-Tier world, had a poption in the trillions and it even had naturalnds preserved and protected spread out so anyone could enjoy them. Sure, they were more garden than true wilderness but it wasn¡¯t like the Capital of the Empire which was an ecumenopolis in the truest sense of the word, where any wilderness only existed in spatially expanded buildings, around rifts, or <em>in</em> rifts.


    A momentter, Aster arrived and kicked him to the ground, sending a spray of dust at him. ¡°You inconsiderate dick. I would have needed to make my own trip if Allie hadn¡¯tined about you getting her to teleport you here to me.¡±


    Confused Matt asked, ¡°Wait? Did Frederic ask you to speak with him as well? Leon didn¡¯t mention that?¡±


    ¡°Mara did and as I haven¡¯t seen Leon in a while, I¡¯m not surprised. Still, you should have assumed I''d also be called up.¡±


    Grinning and in a much better mood, Matt pulled Aster into a hug. ¡°How are you? I feel like we haven¡¯t had a chance to talk since our trip.¡±


    ¡°Busy. There are a million and one things to do and it feels like if I¡¯m not overseeing things myself, something inevitably goes wrong. It¡¯s uncharitable but I feel like the onlypetent person. Or at least one of like ten. But I don¡¯t want toin seeing you for the first time in person for so long.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about the¡ª¡± Aster pretended to gag, ¡°fire world.¡±


    Instead of heading directly for Frederic¡¯s floating castle which hadnded near the coast of the capital city, they took a walk through the city just taking it all in while he and Aster caught up.


    Wanting to extend their time together, they wordlessly stopped for a snack, a deep-fried chocte on a stick paired with none other than a cup of ice cream from a local branch of Aster¡¯spany.


    Knowing it would irritate Aster, he bought in vani ice cream.


    ¡°I hate you. Do you know how much work went into our special vors?¡± Aster gestured with her chocte berry blend. ¡°This took close to five hundred people ten years to make it perfect and another five years to ensure we could produce the ice cream locally withoutpromising on vor due to local variations. And you, like thirty percent of all ice cream eaters, just buy <em>vani</em>. Not even one of the blends that uses vani as a base. I know you would enjoy the banana split but did you buy that? Noooo. I hate you and everyone else. Vani is a solved vor. It''s been perfected long before my time. It''s boring. Ughhhh!¡±


    Matt listened to her rant, trying not tough as this wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard this exact thing. The moment she paused he interjected, ¡°But it pairs well with the hot snack.¡±


    Aster just red at him. ¡°I repeat, I hate you.¡±


    Laughing, they continued their meandering tour of the city.


    By the time they reached Frederic¡¯s floating ind and administrative hub, Matt was feeling¡­ good. Not rxed because there was a sinking feeling that refused to go away but it wasn¡¯t so bad when covered by ice cream and banter with his bond.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Before they reached the tform to take people to the ind, an impably dressed Tier 45 woman appeared next to them with a bow.


    ¡°Ascender Titan, Ascender Wraith, King Frederic is expecting you two.¡±


    Nodding, he let himself be guided through dozens of checkpoints and security checks.


    There were in fact so many of them he started to question his and Liz¡¯s floating ind¡¯s security. Did they need more? Harper¡¯s people had been the ones to set things up in the design phase so it should be as secure as possible but he was now second guessing everything, seeing a much more robust setup.


    Those thoughts were shoved aside when they were led into Frederic¡¯s office.


    It was surprisingly spartan, with no decorations beyond a few tasteful wall pieces. The only luxuries in the room were the massive window that gave amanding view of the city next to them and the desk that rippled with power almost like a natural treasure.


    Bowing slightly, Matt greeted the King. ¡°Good to see you, King Frederic. How can I be of assistance?¡±


    The moment he finished, Aster said the same thing.


    They didn¡¯t need to pay obeisance as Frederic wasn¡¯t their direct liege but he did outrank them, so a level of deference was to be shown.


    ¡°That will never not be strange.¡± Seeing Matt¡¯s expression Frederic exined. ¡°Last month when I spoke with Aiden, his greeting was ¡®sup Fred¡¯.¡±


    Dropping a little bit of the formality to match Frederic¡¯s Matt said, ¡°I¡¯ve been told that being too friendly is off putting and running contrary to my intentions so¡­¡±


    Frederic had a knowing smirk flit across his lips. ¡°Kees, no doubt. How is he working out by the way?¡±


    ¡°He''s running the guild better than I could have hoped. To be frank, he¡¯s good enough I worry about him leaving. I¡¯m trying to entice him to stay but he¡¯s adamant on ascending and how can I really argue with that? I give you my thanks for your rmendation. I don¡¯t really want to think about how much worse things could have gone if he wasn¡¯t running things. I even tried to bribe him with a full package of cheese. Didn¡¯t work sadly.¡±


    Turning to Aster, Frederic asked, ¡°How are you settling into your business ventures Wraith? Difficult aren''t they?¡±


    Their small talk went on for another few minutes until the woman, one of Frederic¡¯s assistants, knocked on the door and set a box Matt couldn¡¯t see through with his spiritual perception on the desk before leaving with a bow.


    ¡°And this is the major reason I asked you toe see me. In my official capacity as King of Finance, I¡¯m giving this to you Titan.¡±


    With a finger, he pushed the box over to Matt who flipped it open.


    The first thing that grabbed his attention was the box itself, inscribed with both depleted and enriched metals in a dizzyinglyplex array of oveid runes that either was some advanced technique he had never encountered before or was the product of a Talent and someone very practiced with it to boot.


    Once the box was opened, Matt saw an unadorned golden ring nestled in a rich purple fabric.


    Plucking the ring out, Matt felt the magic of the ring intertwine with his spirit. It was trying to bind with him like a growth item. Not exactly, but the process was simr just without any actual binding process. After a moment, the ring seemed to retract its tendrils which was when Matt was able to ess the insides of the spatial ring.


    Matt¡¯s eyebrows went into his hairline as he saw what was inside, which caused Frederic tough lightly.


    ¡°A beauty, isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Is this what I think it is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d imagine so. You might not realize this but your mana is starting to be an actual issue. Harper can¡¯t have so many agents purely on your mana duties, as even they can¡¯t be told of what they are moving, which means they need to be cycled every trip. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it''s a good problem to have but a problem nheless. To that end, I was tasked with creating a fix. And here it is. A storage ring that has the teleporting swap function of aary tether perfectly functional inside an expanded space.¡±


    Frederic sighed as he looked at the ring with the two of them. ¡°That took nine of the Empire¡¯s best crafters to make. So long as you are within any kingdom-level capital world or your own duchy, you will be able to make deposits to a hidden secure location without the need for anyone to see you arrive or people visiting you. Once you reach Tier 35 or so, we want to upgrade the formation to tie into theary tethers themselves to just teleport things directly to the Capital but your spirit isn¡¯t strong enough for that and the costs are¡­ mindbogglingly expensive.¡±


    Matt whistled in appreciation even as Aster created illusions of him pouring mana stones into the ring. He had no idea how the ring functioned and even his [AI] had no idea beyond ¡®throw crafting and enchanting Talents at the problem¡¯. The tethers that connected worlds were alreadyplicated technology but they explicitly didn¡¯t work in spatial folds orpression, which the ring obviously had.


    Concentrating, Matt created mana stones in the ring like he did with his current ring and nodded as the internal formations churned, arranging the mana stones into nondescript boxes automatically.


    ¡°The teleport costs about one hundred billion mana or twenty minutes of your current generation to activate the swap function but as you Tier up further, that will be negligible. Our mana problem is just a logistics job now.¡±


    Frederic looked pleased as he answered a few other questions Matt had about the ring.


    ¡°Now before you go, there is a second topic I wanted to talk to both of you about before you return. Not in an official capacity but I¡¯m looking for support for an initiative the hereditary faction is trying to push.¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t give more mana. Most of the hours of my day are already spoken for.¡±


    Aster shrugged next to him. ¡°I''m not sure what I can do? Do you really need snacks ordered?¡±


    Frederic smiled as he leaned back and waved away their concerns, but the action only raised Matt¡¯s warning bells.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need mana or snacks. If either of you really like the idea and want to donate, I¡¯m not so foolish as to say no but we are seeking your political support more than your considerable financial or desert support.¡±


    Matt had already opened his mouth to decline, but the answer caught him off guard and piqued his interest. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°This is a joint venture by myself, King Rusty, and Queen Tur¡¯stal but before we get into that, let me start by saying I took it upon myself to mention this to you as I know I stand for something of a¡­¡± Frederic searched for a word before settling on, ¡°representative of what you see as the worst of the hereditary noble faction.¡±


    Matt slowly nodded in acknowledgment even as he felt Aster flex their connection to give him support. He didn¡¯t need it but it was nice. ¡°I can admit that. I actually like you as a person, but the people you represent are¡ª¡± Matt changed his mind and cut himself off. ¡°Let''s just agree that I don¡¯t have the best view of arge portion of them and their ideals.¡±


    ¡°And that is why I¡¯m the one bringing this up. If you reject this proposal, you hopefully won¡¯t feel as bad as if you were rejecting people you have a better rtionship with. If you aren¡¯t wholly opposed to the idea, can I give you our proposal?¡±


    Matt wanted to just reject him outright but Frederic was being upfront and honest with him. He was also incredibly helpful with things like the new ring.


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll hear you out.¡±


    Frederic turned to Aster who nodded and he started speaking. ¡°Do you know much about the Knightly Orders?¡±


    Matt shook his head in unison with Aster who said, ¡°Not particrly. I remember it was something before the dynasty changed. Something about noble elites.¡±


    ¡°Correct. Empress Agatha took a¡­ let¡¯s call it a <em>negative</em> outlook on the program and those who survived her usurpation of the throne understood they should keep quiet about their status if they didn¡¯t want to end up on suicide missions. While technically not ouwed, all imperial funding of the program was redirected to the Path and its expanded faculties. With the treaty limiting the size of the Path, we¡¯re experiencing a glut of military funding which we are seeking to use, at least in part, to revitalize the Orders. It will both maintain a major part of our history before it¡¯s toote and increase the diversity in our elites.¡±


    Frederic paused letting Matt and Aster think everything he said over.


    ¡°Are you just looking for a mouthpiece to push the program for public support?¡± Matt nodded his agreement to Aster''s question.


    ¡°Not quite. Between myself and my fellow Royals, we have enough political power to push through the initiative but it would be costly in political terms.¡±


    ¡°Is Manny against it?¡± That idea immediately raised Matt¡¯s hackles. ¡°I also want to know what you¡¯re getting out of this and why you¡¯reing to <em>me</em> of all people before we go too much further. I get Aster. She enjoys politics but why <em>me</em>?¡±


    Frederic shook his head. ¡°No, nothing like that. If he was truly set against it, we wouldn¡¯t bother. He''s taking a politically neutral stance. If we can force it through, it will cost us and weaken our position for other arguments. Besides, the Orders aren¡¯t entirely <em>ouwed</em>, they¡¯re justrgely vestigial, sharply in decline, andck most of what they need to operate. I, Rusty, and Tur¡¯stal can and intend to grant them most of the legal permissions required even without full Imperial support. But, there are a few things which we <em>can¡¯t</em> provide, and it would be far simpler as a full-Empire initiative regardless.¡±


    Mollified, Matt leaned back as Frederic added. ¡°As for why I want you two? The Emperor is neutral, which means Mara and Leon are neutral. Harper will remain neutral unless someone sways them but all are happy with them remaining neutral. I <em>could</em> bring them over to my side, but the cost-benefit calction doesn¡¯t work out in favor of that. Given this is a <em>military</em> initiative, that provides an additional dimension to the calction. Rusty is working to persuade the Academies and their Graduates it would be a benefit for them as well, and I¡¯m looking for support among Ascenders. Allison and Zack don''t care enough about politics to give much weight and Elizabeth is in a delicate position, so I¡¯d rather not put her in a spot where she would publicly oppose her parents like this. That leaves you two, Aiden, and L. Aiden is too irritable right now while in recovery to be properly persuaded for something like this, and while L has already expressed her support, she has politically aligned with the hereditary noble factions often enough that her support is less valuable than it could be. With the two of you and her both supporting the initiative, however, that would be bipartisan Ascender support, and would sway a substantial number of existing fence-sitters.¡±


    Matt pursed his lips and thought over the proposal. Frederic was being honest with him and he appreciated that. If Manny didn¡¯t care enough to deliberately block this initiative it couldn¡¯t be all that bad and Frederic¡¯s logic for not asking Liz made sense.


    He however, could support the idea but the question was did he want to?


    Matt¡¯s initial thought was to just decline, he wouldn¡¯t call himself a loyalist but he wouldn¡¯t argue if someone else did.


    Manny was about as good a ruler as could exist outside a vacuum and genuinely did his best for the Empire and the people inside of it. That didn¡¯t mean the hereditary nobility was inherently bad but Matt had a distaste for them having grown up on Lilly and in some of his recent interactions as a duke. He could at least logically recognize his homeworld was an outlier in how badly it was mismanaged but that didn¡¯t change his feelings on the matter.


    He could also feel that Aster would follow his lead if he vehemently rejected the idea which he deeply appreciated.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to say no, but I¡¯m not familiar enough with the Knightly Orders tomit either. What <em>are</em> they, and why were they originally cut back?¡±


    ¡°Much like most pinnacle elite programs, the Orders are about concentrating as much power as possible within a single person. So much power, in fact, that the person <em>underneath</em> the power barely matters. For the Knightly Orders in particr, thates in two forms. The first is a specialized natural treasure, frequently imbued within a child from birth. The Everme Order was the most prominent Order for centuries, using Eternal Embers to create fire-based elites with some truly impressive skills.¡±


    ¡°From birth? As in, using Natural Treasures before awakening? That¡¯s possible?¡± Aster''s ears wiggled in surprise.


    ¡°Yes. While not all Orders managed it, and those that did kept the ¡®how¡¯ as an incredibly close secret, the greatest ones were able to manage it with some regrity. It worked quite well, though, and having such <em>potent</em> magic as a child tended to drastically influence their Talent and Domain in a beneficial way.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine¡­.¡± Matt tapped his chin in thought, ¡°But you mentioned two forms? What was the second?¡±


    ¡°Their Squires. A given Knight would have a dedicated support team who specialized in helping <em>them</em> specifically, rounding out their weaknesses and enhancing their strengths, and forming a cohesive group far greater than the sum of the already impressive parts. Some Squires would even go on to be Knights of their own, but that¡¯s another conversation.¡±


    Matt mulled that over with a few silent fluctuations of his and Aster''s bond to see how she felt about it. ¡°I have a few concerns, but nothing that would cause me to reject it. Why were they disbanded, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Politics, mostly. The Orders very definitively sided against Empress Agatha during her coup. She also had personal issues with many of the existing Knights. Then, noble families closely entwined with an Order tended to have undue power, which she sought to curtail. Combined with the absolutely abysmal state of the Orders, most of whom were absolutely rife with ipetence and corruption, she saw it fit to sweep the board of them all. A modern revival would be without most of the excesses and abuses of the old system, hence theck of true <em>opposition</em> from even the Emperor.¡±


    Aster asked a good question Matt hadn¡¯t thought of though. ¡°I can see why you personally are supporting these but why are your political blocs backing you in this? Seems like they would lose influence as proportionally their power decreases with new strong yers entering the field.¡±


    ¡°A good question. The famous Orders were massively influential that is true, but often lost to history were the numerous smaller Orders funded by a few noble families who were in turn helped by the Orders giving the families a wider influence. That direct support ensured the nobles were invested in the military strength of the Empire in a way they aren¡¯t currently and is part of what we want to replicate.¡±


    They asked a few more questions but he didn¡¯t see a reason to say no. Not directly. He actually agreed with Frederic that nobles should feel more invested in the Empire. Any such investment would be a positive but empowering a faction he didn¡¯t particrly like didn¡¯t sit right with him.


    He suspected he would end up agreeing but he¡¯d need to talk to Liz no matter which way he leaned. Even if she wasn''t publicly supporting it with him, there would be some bleed over.


    But ultimately the major reason was that the Empire needed unity. It needed to see that despite differences, all sides were still a unified whole working for a greater whole even when they disagreed.


    Matt didn¡¯t like politics but he was aware of his image enough to know he was something of a poster child for the anti-hereditary noble faction.


    Frederic, Rusty, and Tur¡¯stal could do this without his or Aster''s help but even with L¡¯s support, it would be a decidedly one-sided endeavor. His and Aster''s support could even, if not tip the scales, add some weight to making it a bipartisan effort of all nobles, not just hereditary ones.


    That was undoubtedly a good thing never more obvious than having Kees as his vice guild leader. As a former hereditary noble working as his second-inmand and leading day-to-day operations, his clear oppositional political stance from Matt kept a lot of issues from manifesting. Thanks to his influence, Titan¡¯s Torch wasrgely apolitical and even more surprisingly, people believed and trusted that.


    In their working on setting up the guild, he and Cato had suspected and created dozens of ns for when the inevitable politicization of his guild happened but even though they were still in the early years, there were zero signs of that happening, which could be directlyid at Kees¡¯ feet.


    There was a weight to bipartisan support.


    He had questions, though. Many.


    One thing he hammered down was what the Empire was supposed to be providing? Frederic surprised him by not wanting for mana directly, though there would be some level of support for nobles with low-Tier worlds. They wanted ess to the resources, namely legacies and rare skill modifications, the Empire typically saved for Pathers and Academies. There were also a number of statutes which the Order¡¯s traditional ¡®raise a child with ess to powerful magic¡¯ broke, and they¡¯d need specific legal consideration for that, but even without support from the central government, the Royals had enough leeway to make it work.


    There were other things, but that was the major sticking point as far as Matt understood it.


    Once they were done, and had full documents of the ideas tucked away for further review, Matt and Aster stood up and shook Frederic¡¯s hand. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll agree, but I¡¯m leaning that way. I need to talk to Liz, but I understand and agree with a lot of what you said.¡±


    ¡°I would expect nothing less. Either way I would like to thank the both of you for hearing us out.¡±


    Matt¡¯s mind didn¡¯t stop racing even as he and Aster hitched a ride on the Allie Express.

 Chapter 375

    Returning back to Palustris, Matt immediately went to Liz and discussed Frederic¡¯s request. In the end, they decided that it was a good idea for no other reason than to give themselves more political relevance.


    Honestly, a major portion of that was interest in the Orders themselves. There really wasn¡¯t anything like them in the Empire, and Matt was tremendously curious about what sorts of Knights they might make. He¡¯d looked up some of the most notable historical Knights and had been quite impressed by what he found. The Orders had created many, <em>many</em> Pinnacle elites over their histories, and any amount of additional power was wee.


    Of course, he¡¯d also found a <em>lot</em> of abuse and corruption in their past, but the political leeway the Orders were being given in this revival had more to do with allowing them to perform ¡®untested magical experimentation¡¯ on the children of the Order themselves, rather than allowance to let their Knights-apparent have free reign when it came to killing other <em>children</em> with their magical powers.


    Their testing would also be <em>very much</em> restricted to that of their own children, with fairly strict controls for who was even allowed to be a Knight the typical way. Not many Orders had kidnapped or coerced randommoner families to be generational test subjects with what could only be assumed was <em>horrific</em> mortality rates, but that was unsurprisingly explicitly cut off. It was the first time Matt could safely say he was d that only the children of nobles were allowed to do a given thing.


    It had also been something of a long-held undercurrent of discontentment with the Sophrons that they¡¯d effectively killed the Orders, thereby weakening the nobles who had been supported by them. Hopefully reviving them woulde with a substantial amount of goodwill from the oldest and most powerful noble families across the Empire. It was amusing that giving them the opportunity to open their coffers and create super-soldiers for the Empire made them <em>happy</em>, but hey, he wasn¡¯tining.


    He was also d to see that there were explicit outs for the children involved. They weren''t quite as robust as he would have liked, but no one would be going through with the awakening without a way out and a clear understanding of what they were signing up for.


    A part of him knew that children raised to the life would be hard pressed to ept the oue, but no method that relied on trying to breed pinnacle elites could get around the fact that the children were ultimately bred for that singr purpose.


    This new version of the Orders was at least giving them a way to cut ties, which was better than the historical way the Orders dealt with prospective members who didn¡¯t want to be their super soldiers.


    Breeding farms were not a topic he wanted to read up on ever again, but that was all explicitly ouwed and came with incredibly harsh punishments for anyone even trying to restart such practices.It was with that in mind that he and Liz started really looking at their duchy and the resources thaty within.


    They had nearly eighty percent of their allocateds delivered, which would put them at only half of the typical duchy size, but they had some real gems in their allocation. First and foremost was Palustris itself.


    The resources on the were abundant and worth a lot, but they weren¡¯t inexhaustible or free from normal operation costs.


    In fact, most of the resources on Palustris needed a lot of investments to even show long term profit, which is where their first real issue came into y.


    It was a first for Matt since he had joined the Path, but he was poor.


    Really, <em>really</em> poor.


    On an individual level, they were stupendously wealthy, exceptionally so for their Tier, but none of that could be used for the duchy. At least not effectively or without great risk.


    First of all, which Cato didn¡¯t hesitate to point out, all of the duchy¡¯s ounts were public record, as were the dispensations they got from the Empire. If they spent more than what was ounted for, people would immediately know. And while they could use the excuse they were using their personal ounts for some things, that was only good for a minor project or two, which meant very little on the scale they needed before people started to get suspicious.


    Secondly, even if they could get around that and disguise Matt¡¯s mana as clean ie, unless he wanted to fund the duchy forever, they needed to use mary solvency as a metric of sess. Which wasn¡¯t easy when you had outside sources of ie like that. Not that every project needed to directly pay for itself¡ª social services such as free healing for civilians didn¡¯t directly pay for itself, though a healthy poption had a multitude of positive effects that more than paid for the initial costs in the long-run¡ª but money was a good way to find pain points.


    Thankfully, the Empire didn¡¯t expect news and their nobles to be self-sufficient immediately. The level of dispensation depended on what kind of the noble got, but they had time and interest free loans at their disposal to help get their fief in order.


    A typical low-Tier, fully settled world taken from another Great Power was often given a century or so of tax breaks because ultimately, they didn¡¯t need much in the way of additional work. Thes were typically already fully subjugated, even if they weren¡¯t fully settled, but they didn¡¯t needrge-scale work that would require Imperial assistance.


    Middle-Tier words, Tier 10 to Tier 25, were given the same leniency but they typically had some greater dispensations. Most other Great Powers didn¡¯t actively encouragerge mortal poptions, ands in this range typically struggled to adapt to the expected influxes that woulde with their relocation to the Empire.


    High-Tier worlds, Tier 26 to Tier 35, were so rarely traded that there wasn¡¯t really a standard set in ce. Sometimes they required aplete overhaul to fall in line with Empire regtion, but that could mean a full demolition and rebuilding of the¡¯s infrastructure, which was why they got even more leeway.


    Tier 36 and higher worlds trading hands was so rare, it hadn¡¯t happened in over three hundred thousand years, so there wasn¡¯t really a set standard. Excluding the Monster Collective¡¯s creation, but that hardly counted due to it being more a split of an existing power than anything else.


    As Ascenders that had gotten an entire duchy of war spoils from all of the other Great Powers except the Guilds, they were given slightly more than the average exception, but not anything special either.


    As a duchy getting newnds, they had a century before they needed to pay Imperial taxes, which was their greatest leniency. If they couldn''t be solvent before then, they would not only be shamed and have their public images ruined, they could possibly be held criminally responsible.


    Thankfully, the typical Empire tax structure was more than enough to get them where they needed to be, but they were still responsible for the oue.


    They were, in fact, responsible for all of their nobles, though to a lesser degree. If there was a problem with a lower-rank noble and they willfully ignored the issue, they could be held just as responsible, but that was unlikely. Even the Junipers, the nobles who had been responsible for the rift breaks on Lilly, direct lieges hadn¡¯t been charged for negligence.


    The second thing they were entitled to were loans backed by their royal liege. In their case, that was Manny himself, but it was a boilerte loan that couldn¡¯t be adjusted without undue scrutiny, so it couldn''t even act as a way tounder Matt¡¯s mana.


    With those two advantages, they wanted to get their duchy into a <em>profitable</em> ce, not just a neutral one.


    A lot of that was handled and delegated to their subjects.


    If all of them could at least get theirs into the ck, a lot of their issues would be solved, but that was wholly impossible. Inevitably,s would have economic fluxes. And on low-Tier worlds, that often meant decades or centuries in a slight negative. That was ok, as long as all of their worlds fluctuated at different times, allowing other worlds to make up the difference.


    The second thing they needed to do was set up exports.


    Almost every duchy specialized in at least one thing, if not more. It wasn¡¯t like the Empire would suddenly run out of demand for weapons or armor, but that ran into one of thergest issues all nobles faced.


    Tier.


    Tier was <em>king</em>.


    A single Tier 40, even with its higher expenses, greater poption, and higher taxes to the Imperial government, could out produce a dozen Tier 20s. Part of that was therger costs involved, but higher-Tier products and goods also came with correspondingly higher taxes than lower-Tier stuff. Even at Tier 45, most taxes weren¡¯t unduly high, but even a tenth of a percent of the sale price of a Tier 45 weapon could cover what an entire Tier 5 produced in a year, if not a full decade.


    That meant most worlds, let alone most duchies, tried to increase their world''s Tier, but they focused most of their efforts on the highest Tier of goods they could sustainably produce.


    The problem was that it took <em>time</em>.


    High-Tier crafting, the type their duchy didn¡¯t have ess to, sometimes took decades toplete a project. More than that, it took crafters millennia to reach not only the requisite Tier, but level of skill to make themselvespetitive in the high-Tier market.


    They had some crafters thanks to the influx ofs, but most of the highest-Tier crafters had stayed in their home Great Powers, and those few who had remained were exclusive to the entity that had raised them, like the sects. Even if they could now sell their products outside their sect, few would deign to, and Matt and Liz couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t force them.


    They could poach some higher-Tier crafters from existing corporations, guilds, or noble houses, but that was usually exorbitantly expensive in direct costs of buying out their contracts, or in offering them incentives like tax breaks that were more attractive than their current ces.


    Thankfully, they had a few candidates who relished the fire environment of Palustris enough to move permanently. So far, they had thirty Tier 35 crafters, twenty seven smiths, and fifteen fire alchemy specialists who had requested permanent residency. There were a plethora of Tier 30 and lower crafters who wanted ess to Palustris, but their''s Tier capped the Tier of the interested crafters fairly hard.


    In an ironic twist of fate, they actually had Tier 40 or higher crafters wanting to buy a residency in Palustris, but they all were doing so without the intention to set up shop, which was what Matt and Liz wanted from them as it meant they got nothing out of them but any additional taxes they felt like imposing on higher Tiers.


    Those numbers seemed firm unless they could tempt other crafters with unique opportunities.


    The most audacious idea was a sky forge which used the entire¡¯s mana system to help in the forging of special items, but even beyond the insane costs of creating the forge itself, the operating costs would bankrupt the entire duchy the first time it was used.


    That proposal was tossed out with augh that got Liz interested enough to read it, where they were able to share in the mirth.


    It wasn¡¯t the only idea they were presented with.


    A more realistic option to attract more Tier 35 and possibly even Tier 40 crafters was to create a De-Kelt Cycle. By carefully, <em>very carefully</em>, pulling a stream of magma from the molten core of the to a deeply buried crafting area, they could multiply the potency of the by tapping into the cultivation core of the itself. It was risky, as any fuck up in the creation of the De-Kelt Cycle could destabilize theary core, and it also slowed down the¡¯s growth if not carefully controlled, but it could create a fire paradise.


    Not just for smiths, but for alchemists and herbalists who could use the environment to make unique potions and grow rare herbs that needed extreme environments.


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    He and Liz were incredibly hesitant to give the nod for such a project, but they didn¡¯t reject it outright.


    A simr but less impressive suggestion was to allow hyper-strong essence and mana formations that would work on the surface of Palustris.


    That was disruptive to the local area, but with the Tier of crafter they were trying to attract, they could just shove them in the most dangerous locations on Palustris. But it also wasn¡¯t anything more unique than they could make by creating an aspected area on any world, which meant it didn¡¯t attract many Tier 35s or higher.


    There were simr, smaller-scale efforts, but they weren''t noteworthy and could be done on a small enough scale that they just okayed everything that wouldn¡¯t mess up the''s aspect.


    Ultimately, they decided to wait a few years and see what happened. If they were stillgging behind in twenty or thirty years, they would reevaluate, but they hoped they had an answer to their higher-Tier crafter problem.


    Titan¡¯s Torch.


    Matt¡¯s guild wasn¡¯t officially part of the duchy, but its headquarters¡¯ moon was going to be orbiting Palustris in a short fifteen years when it arrived, which was when the operations of the guild would explode. The same went for Liz¡¯s bloodline research organization once it was moved over as well, but that was smaller and more close-knit than Matt¡¯s guild.


    With an entire moon to expand into, Matt¡¯srger andrger mana pool as he Tiered up, and finally, the increased presence the guild had as it produced viable products, the more draw it had. They hoped to leverage that appeal into drawing in higher Tier crafters to Palustris. After all, if a few crafters decided to stay on Palustris once their contracts with the guild ended, who were they to stop them or shoo them away?


    It was an idea which looked more and more usible the more time passed.


    After the aura rifts and the travel mana engines, the guild didn¡¯t slow down. Beyond a few other minor inventions, the guild had been quiet until it released a potion which made Shards of Reality dozens of times more effective, as it allowed the effect to be paired and merged with an aura potion. Only formed when someone ascended, Shards of Reality allowed someone who hadn¡¯t been there in the moment to harness some of that mystical power to form their next Domain Stage.


    Normally, they wouldn¡¯tst for more than a decade before their power faded without special precautions. But most of the time, the shards were scooped up at exorbitant prices to be used for wealthy scions and they were used well before then.


    The new potion didn¡¯t necessarily change that, the shards were incredibly expensive and would always remain so. That was why people had tried to double dip and use one with the assistance of an Aura potion to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Sadly, the effects hadn¡¯t stacked and anyone who tried had ended up wasting their money.


    Until now.


    If someone drank Titans Torch¡¯s new potion alongside a normal aura potion while under the influence of a Shard of Reality, any prepared Concept would instantly form, and be statistically stronger than normal. If they <em>didn¡¯t</em> have a prepared Concept, it would instead give them a fully-formed Concept of their own, not unlike the ways in which Minka acted. That Concept was actually static for a given type of aura potion, something that his researchers were quite keen to experiment on, but they were still in the early days of that testing. The problem required far more budget than they had avable currently to do what they wanted with it.


    It was yet to be seen if the effect worked during an actual Ascension, but the researchers didn¡¯t think it would be that helpful, as anyone who couldn¡¯t form a Concept under the power of an Ascension had little hope of making anything more than the weakest, most ill-fitting Concept with an elemental aura potion.


    Still, the discovery, which was freely shared, had caused another wave of interest to pass through the Empire. Liz liked to tease him that it wasn¡¯t the <em>entire</em> Empire, just the parts looking at him, but Matt countered saying that <em>everyone</em> was looking at him and seeing what they were doing, which meant it essentially amounted to the same thing.


    Titan¡¯s Torch had decisively proven that it wasn¡¯t a one trick pony or a guild that would only be working on aperology, despite their repertoire. They were a guild that was funding wacky projects anding out with winners. Even if not every project was a superstar, the conditions they offered and the remunerations were immense, for the single downside that the products would be shared with the Empire atrge. Though, that fact was starting to draw the attention of older, better-known researchers.


    Which was why with every passing day, they had more Tier 35 or higher researchers, or crafters with an eye to pushing the limits, knocking at their doors.


    They did need to be careful to not cross the line in trying to attract talent, or they could be subject to Imperial audits and censure, but that was just a matter of not actively trying to recruit people to Palustris under the pretense that moving there would get them or their project funded by Titan¡¯s Torch.


    Matt didn¡¯t want to set that precedent, but he knew that some people would inevitably try exactly that to bypass the lines, which he was happy to take advantage of. Sadly, even if that scheme worked out, and they got a slow but steady trickle of high-level crafters, that only took care of Palustris and not the rest of their duchy.


    Having reviewed Countess Walsh¡¯s proposal to make the duchy a exporter of aura potions, he and Liz decided to go ahead with most of the n. They axed the more risky methods that were proposed in the brief but kept the core design.


    In return, they gave Countess Walsh an officialmendation, which she would be presented with during their first open court session, as well as a rare Tier 20 Natural Treasure she wanted out of the Emperor''s vaults.


    The problem was, once again, Tier. Aura potions sold for arge amount of money, rtively speaking, but it was still ultimately a Tier 4 product. Technically a Tier 4 through Tier 7 product, as there were many people who had used the old Bottled Concepts and could use the higher Tier potions. But eventually, once everyone converted to the new potions, there wouldn¡¯t be any demand for the higher Tier variants.


    Their main advantage was that there would always be a significant demand. Even if every Tier 4 rift in the duchy was converted into an aura rift and delved on cooldown with perfect efficiency, they couldn¡¯t satisfy the Capital¡¯s demands, let alone the numerous other high-Tier worlds and their poptions. That, even with Titan¡¯s Torch¡¯s efforts making aura rifts simpler, came with significant costs, even ignoring the learning curve and inevitable failures.


    Still, Matt was proud they were paving the pathway to immortality for far more citizens of the Empire in a way that the old Bottled Concept¡¯s couldn¡¯t manage.


    Tobat those issues, he and Liz decided that if they were going to go all in, they were going to truly go all in.


    Tapping into their list of immortals requesting for permanent residency on Palustris, they notified all of the enchanters that if they wanted to bypass the waiting list, they could sign up for their aura rift making ss. Once enrolled, they would be provided, at no costs, a set of formation tes to make aura rifts and guided through the process by either Matt himself, or more likely, someone he had trained. From there, they would just need to make a yet undecided amount of aura rifts per decade to fulfill their end of the agreement.


    Matt had half worried that people wouldn¡¯t ept the offer, as aperology just wasn¡¯t that popr of a profession, but they ended up having to be selective with all the applicants. Anyone with even a modicum of enchanting ability was a bit too wide a to cast, as most immortals had dabbled in all professions, even if they weren''t masters.


    Not that one needed to be a master to learn how to make aura rifts. Even an average Tier 15 formation master could repair the formation tes, and if they somehow managed to break the tes, they could just get a new set from their new school.


    Their hope was that once they got the knack of it down, most of the enchanters could create aura rifts fairly reliably. Their early adopters showed that while none of them were breaking, or even meeting, the guild¡¯s established sess ratios, they were meeting the reported averages from thes that had embraced aura rifts, which was good enough for Matt and Liz.


    They even contacted and bought overviews of how aura operations were run, and more importantly, the issues they had run into during their development from already established aura worlds.


    The funding of the aura potions didn¡¯t end with the rifts being made. Liz oversaw the second half of the project, which was ensuring they had enough alchemists to turn the raw aura into a seble potion locally, instead of outsourcing that to another duchy.


    That meant creating entire training programs that could take any Tier 4 or higher and turn them into an alchemist capable enough of making a fairly difficult potion. Toplicate matters further, neither of them liked the idea of just training alchemists to be one trick ponies who only knew how to make aura potions. So, they ensured that the training course was robust enough that once the twenty year contract was over, the alchemist could be capable of making it on their own in the profession, more broadly speaking.


    It seemed so small, but that added scope quadrupled the initial set-up costs and doubled the operating costs of the alchemy schools they created. Their hope was that the increased proficiency of the alchemists would pay dividends in the long run, as more alchemists in their duchy would fuel the potions, powders, and pills economy in the higher Tiers. Typically, social services like that paid dividends when extrapted out, but there was always the risk they were over-extended, which loomed over them and their budget.


    They considered trying to expand the project to a full crafting school that could teach smithing, enchanting, talismans, formations, tailoring, bowyery, and any other crafting venture, but while a number of the faculties could be used by the other professions, there would still be new equipment needed for each crafting branch. In turn, that would balloon the theoretical expense, along with the raw mana costs that Matt couldn¡¯t just wave away.


    And the trainers. Qualified trainers who could teach just up to Tier 4 were <em>expensive</em>, and that price only increased the less popr the profession.


    Maybe someday they could afford it, but that day wouldn¡¯t be anytime this millennia.


    The main advantage of the project was the increased economic draw on Tier 7 and 8 worlds, which could have the most Tier 4 rifts. Thoses all saw impressive immigration as ambitious people moved to those worlds to either delve the aura rifts or craft the aura potions. That, in turn, brought more smiths and enchanters into the area, as they had a muchrger delving poption than normal, which required more secondary supplies.


    A good start, but not quite enough to immediately make the duchy <em>truly</em> profitable in the way they wanted it to be. Tier 4 economics just weren¡¯t enough.


    Tier 4, 5, and 6s did convert some of their rifts into aura rifts, allowing them to tap into the economic prosperity. But with their smaller capacity for Tier 4, their increases were correspondingly smaller.


    Worst of all, that left the Tier 3 and under worlds as problems.


    While the Empire gave funds to advance thoses¡¯ Tiers, other Great Powers rarely bothered, willing to let nature take its very slow course. Tiering up low-Tiers was a slow and expensive process, even when artificially sped up without outside mana expenditures, let alone when allowed to cycle on its own. At least, it was if it was done safely, and if anyone was dumb enough to do anything but safely feed rifts knowing his history, they would have to have the IQ of a corpse.


    Or, they would once Matt got done with them.


    But that didn¡¯t change the fact that the worlds offered little beyondrger-than-average poptions, thanks to the nearly nonexistent dangers.


    Though not all of the low-Tier worlds were that populous. It was mostly a feature of the Republic''s veil worlds.


    An advantage that Matt wasing to appreciate as he and Liz were trying to figure out how they could help the local barons increase immigration.


    The Empire typically encouraged people to settle low-Tier worlds through a series of tax breaks or outright tax credits, but the methods were only so effective. The issue was the worlds, thanks to their low Tier, had limited economic possibility, which meant the poptions were typically so low that they were permanently negatives when it came to funds.


    Taking a page out of other duke''s books, they offered anyone who moved to those low-Tier worlds greater ess to resources for their children. Easier ess and funds for trips to things like off-world rifts and colleges.


    When that only had a minimal effect, they did something a little more drastic. They offered guilds morends than normal on thes, so long as they made efforts to improve their new outpost worlds.


    People being people, that would, whenbined with the other efforts, create an increase of the local poptions. Fertility rates didn¡¯t start to truly get impacted by Tier until Tier 10, which meant a bunch of Tier 5s and lower would end up having kids as they inevitably paired off and settled down.


    Even knowing that, the guilds still happily took the offers. Eventually, those worlds would reach Tier 5, which would make those expandednd grants increasingly valuable.


    They were given an idea that they decided to implement for those worlds, but it was risky. Large scale cultivation of alchemical ingredients. With low rift density thanks to the''s Tier, they had correspondingly fewer dangers, which meant people weren¡¯t so constrained to the coastline safe zones.


    Low-Tier alchemical ingredients weren¡¯t <em>valuable</em> but they weren¡¯t worthless either. They would make great training supplies for their aura potion training facilities. Even if it didn¡¯t work, it was only slightly more expensive than ordering the ingredients from a higher-Tier world, which grew the ingredients in rifts, and it was boosting their duchy''s economy.


    He and Liz tried their best, but things still went wrong.


    They always did.


    One of theirs had a bad bacteria with just one breach of containment, causing two other neighborings to lose significant portions of their evergreen tree poptions, impacting a whole swath of things.


    Eventually, Liz just went and wiped out all the infected trees with a tidal wave of ichor, repeating the process as needed until the bacteria was entirely eradicated.


    Not that they could just leave at that point; they needed to then help the barons get thes repaired, which meantrge low-Tier expenditures.


    The high-Tiers were just as bad. Two of their counts decided to start a feud due to one of them looking at the other the wrong way, or some other ridiculous perceived slight, sparking a fight in which they managed to kill each other.


    Worst of all, the backers of each count demanded answers that they couldn¡¯t give. Matt and Liz were confused, and without anyone to ask about what had actually happened, they couldn¡¯t answer the backers, which made them look bad.


    Even good things somehow managed to turn bad. One of their shippingnes got raided and they lost not only arge shipment of aura potions, but the bandits managed to abscond with a rare shipment of Tier 20 materials which, as the local dukes, they needed to repay, as it was their duty to keep the shippingnes free from such problems.


    Worst of all, when they managed to catch the bandits, they had already sold the product and spent the meager money they had gotten in exchange.


    It was pure annoyance.


    Still, they solved each issue as it came up until they had a magical thing. Free time.


    It didn¡¯tst for long, as just a decade after getting Palustris, their final had arrived and been settled in, which meant it was time for them to hold their first court. It was supposed to be a ¡®grand asion¡¯ ording to tradition, and needed a level of pomp and ceremony they usually avoided.


    Just getting their outfits right had taken over a day of effort by dedicated staff, and Matt considered taking Mara and Leon¡¯s idea of forcing a fashion trend that they could just never move on from.


    While the nobles with any sense had at least slightly tipped their hands ahead of time, Matt was sure many were going to ambush them out-of-the-blue with some inane request to create the Realm¡¯srgest functional swimming pool or some other request in public, trying to get them to agree on the spot. Unless it was actually a good idea, it had no chance to work, but that never stopped people from trying.


    Standing before their gathered nobles in formal ducal attire, Matt inspected each and every one of them.


    Matt and Liz said in unison, ¡°Let usmence the first official court of the Moore Duchy.¡±


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 376

    Chapter 376


    Emmanuel stood up from his desk and stepped through space to arrive in one of the pce''s personal gardens. It wasn¡¯t one of his or Carissa''s favorite ones but it was empty and he needed to think.


    The Empire¡¯s economy was¡­ not great.


    Fighting a war nearly alone against three opponents was not easy, and it surely wasn¡¯t cheap.


    They had been digging deep and at most, they had another century before they would have been forced to throw in the towel solely due to mounting costs. And they certainly were not fine just because they pulled out before they had truly reached the bottom of the barrel. This was even in spite of the diversion of resources from the Farm.


    For all its expenses, the military and its various support structures had been bolstering the economy as money flowed in and out of a million and one facets of the civilian and military economies.


    With those institutions being shuttered, the core financial mechanisms had more money to spend on other things, but it also lost an easy way to circte money back into the economy.


    Frederic was doing a masterful job in keeping things bnced without a recession or intion of mortal economies which tended to be the most susceptible to such fluctuations. The immortal economies on the other hand were not doing quite so hot and it was causing some political fallout.


    Things should improve, as wealth from the other Great Powers began to flow in thanks to the terms of the treaties, but it would take centuries before that started to actually generate a meaningful impact and stabilized them. Normally, that wouldn¡¯t be an issue, but the Empire hadn¡¯t been truly <em>robust</em> since before Emmanuel hade to power. Since before his family came to power, really. They¡¯d been stretched thin even before the war, and that had pushed them nearly to the breaking point.


    Now? Emmanuel wouldn¡¯t say that Matt¡¯s Talent was solely, or even primarily, contributing to the solvency of the Empire, but the amount of mana he was receiving from the Ascender, paired with the times he spent producing mana using his Talents himself, was responsible for an <em>ufortable</em> amount of their mana bank.If it was being this genuinely useful right now, what would it be like in ten to twenty Tiers?


    He wasn¡¯t sure they could actually hide the influx of mana if they intended to use it like he wanted no matter the projections and ns they had in ce.


    It didn¡¯t help that he felt adrift.


    He, like the economy, was slumping.


    They had been pushing so hard that theck of pressure thanks to the treaties from all the other Great Powers left him feeling like he was missing the firm footing he was used to.


    He felt like he and the Empire should be doing something, that they should be hunkering down for the next battle, hoarding their strength while waiting anxiously for the next blow tond.


    Emmanuel knew that that was emotion and not rationality speaking but logic was losing out to feelings.


    The Empire needed a breath so they could rx and be in a good ce for the inevitable true war, which made this slump part of the natural process they needed to go through. Not just in the sense of the economy but the people. Everyone needed time to breathe. The high-Tier crafters needed breaks, the medium-Tier soldiers needed time to return to their families and or just reintegrate back into civilian life, while the low Tiers needed time for the existential fear of crushing defeat and being handed over to their enemies to fade from their memory.


    They needed to process but it wasn¡¯t so easy to rx like that.


    At least, Emmanuel didn¡¯t find it that easy.


    He wanted to do something. Fix something. Keep himself busy.


    And he couldn''t, which made him feel adrift.


    He once again pulled up his models, trying a slightly different set of variables to see if they could afford to force one of the Tier 47 rifts to Tier 50. He could technically do it, but doing so put the Empire ufortably close to an economic death-spiral, at least until Matt Tiered up to Tier 35. Tier 40 would be even better but that was the problem with growth Talents, it was always a bncing act between doing and waiting until the doing was easier.


    Seeing the numbers again made a part of him, a small part but a part nheless, want to put pressure on Matt to get him to move a little faster. After all, would it be so bad to send Matt and Liz a capable administrator who could handle most of their ducal problems? Would it be so bad to preemptively end some of the plotting that was targeting Matt and his guild? Would it be so bad to just make a suggestion or two the next time he saw them that advancing faster and out of the war Tier¡¯s would lessen the Empire''s political burden? Would it be so bad to juste out and state that the Empire needed Matt delving back-to-back to be in a better state than it might otherwise be? He could even Talent up some unique rifts for them to delve he was sure. Would that really be so bad?


    Yes. They would all be bad.


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t like to bend his morals, He Was Not A Tyrant, but it was so, so tempting sometimes to justify just one thing. Which was exactly the problem and was the first step in breaking his Aspect.


    No, the kids were doing fine. In fact, they were doing exactly as he had foreseen, which was a relief considering everything else beyond his control these days. They were making mistakes, learning, growing, and imposing their will upon everyone around them.


    That was part of the interesting things he had only really understood about reality and human interactions and society after he had ess to a Tier 50¡¯s future sight.


    Some people bent the Realm around them. Their very actions changed things in far reaching ways that weren''t always obvious.


    Sure, an Ascender killing another duke because he was a rapist obviously changed things, anyone with eyes could see that a number of nobles pulled back on some of their more¡­ obviously eclectic behaviors after Aiden¡¯s rampage, but it went beyond that. Even just Allie teleporting around and frequenting various small bakeries in her quest for the best scone had an <em>impact</em>. It wasn¡¯t as obvious; no economist would have predicted it or would even really notice anything, but when he delved into her futures and their myriad permutations, those simple actions had impacts not readily obvious.


    Allie¡¯s frequenting of bakeries around the Empire shouldn¡¯t matter, she usually took precautions to obfuscate her identity and Talent even now, but she was an outside influence that normally wouldn¡¯t have interacted with the normal trajectories of fate. Her mere <em>asional</em> presence shouldn''t change things, but it did.


    One of her favorite bakeries had been on a path to foreclosure but her additional semi-frequent presence in the shop had added to the shop''s ambiance, which in turn drew in new customers because busy establishments always did better. After all, other people wouldn''t be there if the food was bad. Now, the shop that should have shuttered its doors was considering opening a second location.


    And that was just Allie and her snack addiction.


    All people had simr impacts, but some had more weight than others. Some a <em>lot</em> more than others.


    Titan¡¯s Torch had been like a bouldernding in a puddle with its impact, so much so that he was still trying to parse the changes in fate that had been kicked up. Scientific discoveries were often as much chance as they were fate after all, but thankfully most of what he had seen was positive.


    Even the things that would be negative to Matt himself.


    He was stepping on established interests, and the next few millennia would be interesting as they collided.


    That was one ce where his intervention would be a strict negative.


    At least from a monarch''s perspective.


    The Empire needed internal struggle and strife if it was to grow. Trees grown in a greenhouse never grew as tall as those that grew under the open sky and people were the same way. They didn¡¯t grow without some strife.


    That was however a fine line to walk. Too much struggle and most people could never climb out of their starting locations, at least not the average mortals. Too little and they just never felt the need to rise up and improve themselves or their station.


    And what a pity that would be. Even just looking at the highest profile examples, the Ascenders who had risen from humble beginnings, L, Aiden, Zack, Matt, and Aster. They were able to rise up because they had the opportunity to risk it all. Not that they were alone. With his father¡¯s past sight, he was able to see the ever-changing web of the future and the happenings of the past, which let him see how effective those methods were even for the average folk.


    Even without pre and postcognition, it was obvious that what the Empire was doing was working. Create a happy baseline for the mortals where those who wanted to live normal mortal lives could do so without being trampled while giving the ambitious adder to climb and things sorted themselves before too long.


    It wasn¡¯t just The Path, though that was one of the imperial government¡¯s more useful pipelines. It was the low-Tier guilds, thews that allowed corporations to flourish and fail. It was opportunity and growth that fed back into a system that lived and breathed like any other.


    A system that could all too easily break if neglected or put under the wrong sorts of pressure.


    Manny had been well trained and prepared for his throne but he felt adrift having ovee his first real hurdle.


    He was the culmination of two generations of effort to change not just the Empire but the Realm.


    What if he failed?


    It was a scary thought that weighed down on him every minute of every day. He should have been able to wave away such thoughts with the proof of executing the war not just better than expected but as close to perfect as was possible. But if anything, that sess made every fear and doubt so much worse.


    Things were going so wellpared to his original projections, he was terrified that any misstep would not just ruin the foundation that his father and grandmother had set, but also ruin the perfect start he had unexpectedly created.


    Which was why Emmanuel was stuck in a loop of self-doubt and condemnation, worrying about things beyond his immediate control. A loop that logic yed no part in pulling himself out of.


    Sitting down in the garden, Emmanuel retracted himself.


    He deactivated all of his Talents, muted his [AI], broke down the partitions of his separate mental walls letting the other selves that took care of other tasks return to the greater whole, mped down on his cultivation letting his proprioception fall to a mortal level, and finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath.


    Emmanuel let himselfy there for an unknown amount of time, but he knew it couldn¡¯t have been that much time. His job would never let him be absent for too long. At some point, Carissa found him andid down next to him without saying a word, but Emmanuel just continued toy there.


    Thoughts flitted in and out of his mind until things calmed down. Like an ocean having just experienced a storm, his mind slowly stilled.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Sitting up, Emmanuel didn¡¯t feel instantly better but he was in a much better mental ce.


    Taking Carissa to breakfast, they cooked up a simple fare together without fanfare and talked about nothing important.


    Their morning was interrupted when a meeting alert broke through Emmanuel¡¯s silences.


    The meeting was about war. The cynical side of him wanted to dismiss it but war was simultaneously unimportant with the rules in ce and also the most important method of diplomacy the Realm had.


    Thankfully, this meeting wasn¡¯t about <em>their</em> wars.


    General Ios was the one giving today''s brief and despite trying to keep those ranks apolitical, she was a well-positioned noble scion who held great influence in his oppositional factions. She was also apetent military leader who kept her political aspirations out of her orders and job but he still couldn¡¯t afford to slight her by ignoring the briefing she had asked for the opportunity to give.


    ¡°Good day, Your Majesty,¡± she bowed as he entered and stood at attention waiting for him to sin her to star.


    Her greeting was perfect in every way and Emmanuel acknowledged her, then indicated that she ought to proceed.


    ¡°The war between the Federation and the Monster Collective is going about as well as we expected. The Federation, despite losing a substantial amount of their top-end power in the Tier 25 bracket, is holding on well. This is the first major conflict between the two Great Powers and we are getting a look at how the Collective has diverged from the Federation and how the Federation has prepared for them. As we suspected, the Federation has a number of anti-bloodline weapons and potions they have been putting into y. The ones we are seeing currently are all clearly from before their dissolution but their existence speaks to greater capabilities, as we suspected. The Collective¡¯s countermeasures have proven mostly positive but there has been noticeable slippage.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded as that all fit their predictions.


    The Federation had had anti-bloodline equipment for a long time; most of them just disrupted the usage of the bloodline core simr to any cultivation suppression, but it had always been hard to deploy on arge scale or wasn¡¯t more impactful than any other poisons.


    Yes, you could block a phoenix from reviving. But in most cases, it was far easier to just trap and double or even triple-kill the bird in question.


    Given how rare bloodlines were on the whole, anti-bloodline armaments were rarely deployed in war. But, he supposed, using them against the Monster Collective did make the most sense, and if they were attempting to refine something old or field-test something new, they could hardly ask for better targets.


    With their most hated enemy attacking them, everyone had been expecting the weapons to make a resurgence, but it seemed like both sides were taking the slow and cautious approach.


    ¡°Currently the Collective has pushed a quarter of a sector into the Federation border territory but they are struggling upon the secondary lines of defense.¡±


    Emmanuel raised a finger, and Ios exined. ¡°The Federation defenses are holding up surprisingly well. Part of that can be attributed to them reinforcing that portion of the border heavily in recent history, but another part can be med on ourst war. Their soldiers are bloodied and hardened where the Collective¡¯s troops aren¡¯t. The Collective strategy seemed to expect that and they are taking a slow but steady approach, ensuring their people outnumber the Federation where they can and cycling battalions in and out of the frontlines. That is contributing to their slow progress.¡±


    ¡°How are the Collective¡¯s troops faring?¡±


    ¡°As well as can be expected for fresh troops with little in the way of veteran soldiers. The bloodline-heavy army is leading to some new and interesting tactics we are noting and theorizing counters for as we learn of them. One notable bloodline that I believe you should be made aware of are the Sunshine Rats who seem to have the ability to slip through shields like they don¡¯t exist. They are acting as infiltrators and saboteurs who haven¡¯t failed yet.¡±


    Emmanuel closed his eyes as he probed his future sight Talent set and checked the history and past of the bloodline.


    Opening his eyes, he smirked. ¡°They had heavily interacted with a Tier 45 or higher recently. I¡¯ll send a report down once I parcel through the interference but that is a low priority on my time and mana usage.¡±


    What he really meant was that he¡¯d need to get closer, probably teleporting into Collective space and using methods to hide his presence, and scan one of the bloodlines directly. Or that was what his gut was telling him he¡¯d have to do to get through their Collective¡¯s various anti-divination methods.


    That would certainly punch through most anti-divination methods but would also take substantial preparation time if he didn¡¯t want to get caught. Hopefully he could just find a ce where they were near the Empire border where he could scan them directly, but that was unlikely if the Collective were doing their jobs properly.


    ¡°And the Federation?¡±


    ¡°Their troops haven''t shown any new techniques or capabilities since our war, but their morale is high considering their losses. Our read on their sentiment is that they believe this war is their way to strike back at the traitors and regain the honor lost by their forebearers.¡±


    Emmanuel listened as more details of the war were exined until he asked, ¡°Howmitted do your people rate each side?¡±


    ¡°Very, but they are taking things slow. First Shepherd Tobias has the full support of his people and from all ounts, seems dead set on taking a chunk out of the Federation. Virgil on the other hand, has been surprisingly quite publicly disinterested about the war but Federation officials are pushing hard to keep public support high. Personally she seems unconcerned or is otherwise upied.¡±


    Emmanuel nodded at the report which fit what other information he had.


    He suspected that Virgil was aiming to develop an Authority.


    JR had already spoken with Aiden about what he knew regarding Authority formation, and while Aiden was usually entirely incapable of providing any useful information whatsoever about Domain formation, he <em>could</em> exin the basics. He was still too injured for JR to subject the man to a full bevy of testing, but it was just a matter of time before additional knowledge about Authorities propagated from Aiden to JR, and from JR outwards as people could afford the bird¡¯s nigh-extortionate rates.


    Even the simple knowledge that such a thing was <em>possible</em> had set the rumor mill aze. So far as Emmanuel knew, nobody had actually attempted to create one yet - making an attempt this soon into Domain development was just suicide by another name - but there were rumors that a Sect elder who¡¯d blown themselves up had been attempting to create an Authority. It was more likely something more mundane, but Authority discussion was <em>the</em> topic of the millennia.


    If they were lucky, all of their enemies would kill themselves attempting to reach for greater power and they wouldn''t even need to fight them in a true war.


    The entire situation was a conundrum without an easy solution.


    Reaching for an Authority was stupidly dangerous as seen by Aiden being the first person in living history to seed. Hastor counted but he had only seeded at Tier 50 and had immediately left without actually telling anyone what his process had been. Even if he had, they would still be left fumbling in the dark.


    With Aiden unable to leave the Realm via Ascension yet, he had been pressured to sell the information but that was why they knew how fiendishly hard creating an Authority would be. And if no one seeded, they would be fine, but the instant one of the Tier 50s seeded in creating an Authority was the moment the bnce of power shifted.


    Personally, Emmanuel didn¡¯t want to try. It was stupid, idiotic, <em>suicidal</em>. Even for them, the Tier 50s, it was the equivalent of asking a Tier 5 to create their Intent. Or for a Tier 25 to create their Aspect. Except it was far harder as with each stage of growth a Domain became increasinglyplex.


    The fact that the one man who had actually <em>created</em> one couldn¡¯t exin anything only made it all far worse. You¡¯d be creating one all but blind, with most not even knowing what new piece needed to be added to the Domain - what Aiden had called a ce - and the Realm was littered with the corpses of geniuses who had stretched themselves just a bit too far.


    Why would any of them be different?


    Even for those who <em>could</em> learn from Aiden, he was a certifiable madman who went more off feeling and intuition instead of facts, logic, or anything concrete.


    Even if he could exin things well¡ª which he couldn''t¡ª they couldn''t even be sure he understood what he had done well enough to ensure he <em>was</em> exining it well.


    With a map, even a bad one, there was an avenue to greater power.


    Emmanuel didn¡¯t think any of the Tier 50s would be trying to create their own Authorities first but instead the information would be distributed amongst their most loyal Tier 46s, Tier 47s, and even Tier 48s, who were more¡­ receable.


    If any of the Tier 50s died, it spelled the end of their Great Powers.


    But if any of them seeded, their Great Power could ascend to the strongest Great Power in the Realm overnight.


    There was always a risk that they would get jumped on but as Hastor had demonstrated, with an Authority, a Tier 50 could unleash all of their power without the risk of a forced Ascension.


    The million-credit question was if a portion of an Authority would have a simr effect.


    Emmanuel doubted that a single facet of an Authority would be enough, but only time would tell. For that, his gut told him a Tier 50 would need at least a half-formed Authority, with either a ce, as Aiden named it, or whatever the other supposedly possible way is.


    At least if the Authority held true to the past stages with two variations that each had their own unique effects. Internal/external Concepts and such.


    It was possible that Hastor had created the other version but without being able to ask him, they couldn¡¯t know so anyone who wasn¡¯t like Aiden would be fumbling around in the dark.


    So only the mad men of the Realm had any chance to create an Authority.


    And there was one source of mad men who were publicly trying for their Authorities.


    Ascenders.


    All of the older Ascenders were pushing for advancement to reach Tier 46, where they would start serious attempts at their Authorities.


    That worked for the Empire, who had four Ascenders but at the same time their Path had just been cut off at the knees.


    As Manny left the meeting room and got back to work, his mind kepting back to the idea that Ascenders were the key.


    Those lucky few who could flip a coin and have itnd on heads time and time again but the idea never crystalized into something actionable.


    The Authority revtion at least gave L a usible reason to linger in the Realm without the other Great Powers getting suspicious. Ascenders rarely lingered in the realm once they reached Tier 45, and she had been getting close to leaving before Zack and Allies and then Matt, Liz, and Aster¡¯s arrival.


    For all her Ascender tendencies, L was willing to stick around for the possible true war. He wanted to believe that it was purely because of her patriotic nature but she had outright told him it was because she was eager for the chance to fight at the peak of the Realm against the other Great Powers.


    That was an Ascender for you.


    He also suspected that at least partially she was sticking around because she liked the newest generation of Ascenders and saw herself as something of the mentor she had never had. Few Ascenders ever had any younger Ascenders before they left in their own Great Power and L seemed to like the role of older guide.


    Not that his current Ascenders were hard to like.


    They were good kids.


    Kids who he hoped at least survived their suicidal attempts to form Authorites. They at least had good chances of surviving any failures if past Ascender ¡®deaths¡¯ were anything to go off of.


    As for his Royals, he had disseminated the information Aiden had shared to them but had asked them not to risk it.


    He was sure they would at least feel out the next stage if for no reason than to see if they were lucky but he couldn¡¯t risk their deaths. He¡¯d rather have them be theoretically weaker than dead.


    The odds of sess were just too low.


    <em>Authorities were things for the next Realm.</em>


    Even knowing for hundreds of years, thousands if his subjective rift time was ounted for, he with Talents that made Domain creation easier, hadn¡¯t been able to take even the first step.


    And Aiden had done it, just like that. He¡¯d joked about trying for the stage <em>after</em> Authorities, what would be needed to reach Tier 100, but even he had only been joking. That was a step too far for even him.


    But who knew how long that would <em>remain </em>a step too far?


    <em>Domains were hard</em>.


    His mind was wandering back to the idea of finding Ascender-type people despite reduced funding when he got a pulse of spiritual power from deeper within the pce.


    Ciceron flexed his spiritual perception for a second time just an instantter and Emmanuel stood from his desk stepping to the librarian''s fief.


    The library was as anyone would expect from a Tier 50. Grand didn¡¯t begin to describe it. They had every copy of a non-fiction book produced for thest two million years in digital form and physical copies for the top hundred best regarded works from every decade in every category.


    It was a ce he had loved exploring as a child and he hoped his soon-to-be-born child would find the same joy in the halls.


    Ciceron had been a fixture of the library since his grandmother''s reign and was trusted, so when he asked for Emmanuel¡¯s presence he hadn¡¯t hesitated. What he hadn¡¯t expected was to find the librarian near the Astral Map.


    Dots of lights twinkled on the projection; some were linked together while others freely floated through the void.


    It was one of the few real-time maps of chaotic space that existed and one of the Empire''s greatest secrets.


    The other Great Powers probably had their own versions; he knew the ns had something simr that worked with a forge¡¯s me and that the Corporations had something but they didn¡¯t know how it worked exactly, just that it existed. The Empire¡¯s however was a good old projection and the strongest version of the item.


    Made by the old dynasty, the treasure let them see the surroundings of alls connected to the Capital¡¯s teleportationwork. With how interconnected the Great Powers were, that meant they had a vision around the entire cluster of millions of worlds. It didn¡¯t project anything but worlds as they drifted through chaotic space so it couldn''t track ships, people, or anything on thes themselves but it let them see in real time where and when the other Great Powers collected others and their Tier.


    It could even see deeper into chaotic space but the range was limited from itsst tethered node.


    This was how his father had found a Tier 30 world to drag back with the Guild''s former leader when they had been going through a dry spell.


    Scanning everything, Emmanuel looked for a higher-Tier world drifting near Empire space, thergest thing that could get the other Great Powers to break their treaties, but he didn¡¯t see one and so let his perception drop to Ciceron¡¯s Tier.


    ¡°What''s wrong?¡±


    Ciceron vibrated in excitement as he pointed. ¡°Look Your Majesty. Near Exalon. Do you see that discoloration?¡±


    Emmanuel looked and thought he saw what Ciceron was talking about. Or he saw it, but he would have dismissed the discoloration without the librarian pointing it out. The map showed currents and eddies in shades and discolorations which made the one around Exalon fairly unremarkable upon a casual nce.


    ¡°I see it, but what does it mean? I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Ciceron¡¯s eyes were wide as he smiled. ¡°I had to check the records, but I believe it''s an Ascension to our realm.¡±


    Emmanuel¡¯s eyes rose into his hairline as he studied the area. ¡°Do we have a time frame?¡±


    ¡°ording to the records, somewhere in the next few years. Perhaps a century from now, perhaps a decade, but this has only happened twice since the Astral Map was created so the information has limited precedent. I¡¯d like to requ¡ª¡±


    Emmanuel¡¯s eye¡¯s flickered gold and started to shine.


    Oh, now this would be interesting.

 Chapter 377

    Chapter 377


    Ra¡¯th swallowed as he listened to headman Tiu¡¯ja talking to the other vige elders. There was an uneasy feeling lingering in his gut that told him something bad would happen today.


    He didn¡¯t know what, but it was something in the soldiers¡¯ eyes. It was something in the way they weren¡¯t looking at the vige storehouses but instead looking at the gathered vigers.


    His mother pressed his shoulder as she chanted a mantra but he was trying to lean as forward as possible to hear the talk.


    His father, leaning on his walking stick, pulled his little brother back from almost getting crushed in the moving crowd but like his mother, he seemed frustrated and angry.


    Leaning into his father¡¯s side he whispered. ¡°Father wha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡±


    Slinking back, he tried to listen.


    His mother tugged his fathers sleeve. ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. He''s only twelve. They only take fourteen year olds.¡±


    Her words made that sinking feeling settle into ce even more strongly but as his parents went back and forth, something happened by the vige leaders.Looking frustrated, the lead soldier stepped around the headman and said, ¡°Warlord O¡¯dchigin demands tribute. Not in food this year, but in bodies. The grand armies need more recruits and so every vige must provide fifty able bodied men to join. There are no exceptions. Do not resist.¡±


    As if thest words had been amand the other soldiers fanned out and started moving through the crowds.


    They started grabbing men and dragging them off to the side and Ra¡¯th¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he worried his father would be taken away as a soldier grabbed him. Thankfully upon seeing his bad leg and walking stick they moved on.


    The gathered men looked sullen, but when Tua¡¯fef tried to protest, he was smashed with the blunt end of a spear for his troubles, silencing everyone else.


    That was until the lead soldier did a count and said, ¡°That''s only forty three. We need seven more.¡±


    Pointing his spear he started pointing at the remaining vigers. ¡°You, you, you, you.¡±


    Until he pointed at Ra¡¯th¡¯s father and one of the soldiers whispered into his ear and he moved on.


    Ra¡¯th and his family breathed a sigh of relief. Their family was safe. The feeling was short lived as the leader counted once more and ended upshort once more.


    His eyes tracked to Ra¡¯th and pointed. ¡°You.¡±


    Ra¡¯th mother yelled and tried to protest, his father said something about the harvest Ra¡¯th only half heard but he heard little of it.


    He had thought he was safe.


    When one of the soldiers started to drag him forward his mother tried to hold him back but earned a smack for her troubles.


    Ra¡¯th tried to stop the soldier but there were three more pressed in close ready to react to anything he or his father did.


    Not wanting his mother to get hit again he shoved off the soldier''s hands saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go. Just don¡¯t hit her.¡±


    Thankfully they stopped, but the feeling of dread didn¡¯t vanish even when their vige was long out of sight.


    ***


    Warlord O¡¯dchigin stood before his legions and looked down on all of them. Ra¡¯th, a simple new recruit, could feel the weight of his great Celestial power as it pressed down upon him and everyone else. It was only his training that kept him from dropping to his knees in front of the local tyrant out of sheer terror.


    His tribe had been conquered long ago, three generations of Ra¡¯th¡¯s lineage, but while time had passed for them the warlord was said to be nearly the same as he was when he swept the ins.


    Two months of being beaten and yelled at didn¡¯t seem enough to be a soldier but apparently that was all the time they had.


    He could see it in the warlord''s eyes even from below the tform built for him. He was hungry.


    ¡°Today the great war against the Sal¡¯dia alliance reignites. Today we march! Tomorrow, we feast on the fruits of our neighbors.¡±


    ***


    Ra¡¯th breathed heavily as his squad thrust their spears forward in a haphazard wave. Sergeant Tha¡¯ll yelled at them to sync up, but it did little good as everyone was trying to hide behind their shields more than thrust forward.


    Most of the unit were fresh recruits, their losses in taking Heart¡¯s Jewel had been significant and the recements pulled from the surrounding viges were still green.


    Ra¡¯th changed the trajectory of his spear slightly to the right and cut deeply into the less armored forearm of the legionary before him.


    In his three years as a conscript of the Warlord, he had learned that aggression and fierceness were the way to survive the battles. After all, your enemies couldn''t kill you if they were dead.


    Before he couldnd another blow and force the legionary back, the air cracked with enough power to cause everyone on both sides to wince.


    Both sides immediately scrambled away from each other as the two Celestials battled. Their des moved so fast they were blurs, and the shockwaves that came off their swings were dangerous.


    A legionary who was too injured to retreat was cut to a bloody mess as the battle moved over him, which made clear the fate of anyone caught up in the Celestials¡¯ battle.


    Ra¡¯th huddled behind his shield like the other veterans, just trying to catch his breath even as the Sergeants forced the fresh recruits back into some semnce of formation. In his many battles, he had only dealt with this a few times, but he had learned from his veterans to take the moment of rest for what it was. One of their few breaks while in pitchedbat.


    Celestials were forces of nature, and it wasn¡¯t a conscript''s ce to get in between such Divines.


    Taking a swig from his canteen, he sighed in the enjoyment of the simple pleasure.


    Before he could take a second smaller sip while enjoying the show, Captain Ak¡¯aran slipped in the boot-churned mud.


    He tried to catch himself; he spun and twisted but the enemy Celestial lunged and cut Captain Ak¡¯aran deeply across the nk.


    Their squad retreated further as the Captain was pushed back, but how could their speedpare to a Celestial¡¯s?


    In a heartbeat, the Celestials were among them and body parts flew as their swords shed.


    Ra¡¯th¡¯s shield exploded as he blocked a shockwave from the collision between the two Celestials, but the move saved his life.


    Not that he would be alive for long. Captain Ak¡¯aran failed to recover and fully went down, falling on a pile of bodies and blood-soaked mud.


    Still, he didn¡¯t stop fighting.


    His sword shed as he defended himself from the enemy Celestial.


    Ra¡¯th tried to move to retreat but the enemy legions were rushing forward, spears leading the charge, looking to mop up any of those who survived the Celestials fighting in their midst.


    The logical part of his mind noted that was a good move but the primal part of his brain knew that he either had to fight his way through them or the Celestials if he wanted to get out of this alive.


    Knowing death was the result either way, Ra¡¯th charged.


    Not towards the legionaries but to the Celestials.


    The enemy Celestial didn¡¯t even bother to look at him and shed out, his de seeming to grow in length as it moved, but Ra¡¯th was already diving.


    That move saved his life, and he watched his spear as it neared the Celestial.


    The world seemed to slow as everyone seemed to watch the temerity of a simple mortal who dared to attack a Celestial.


    Would it work?


    Could a mortal harm a Celestial?


    The world seemed to hold its breath as it waited for an answer to the question.


    His spear bounced off the Celestial¡¯s armor without even leaving a scratch.


    The Celestial¡¯s sword shed and on instinct Ra¡¯th dropped his spear as it was cut into three pieces where his hands had just been. He could even feel the cool morning air as part of his gloves¡¯ hard leather had been cut cleanly through.


    The Celestial had tried to cripple him. A bad sign that sent terror into his bowels.


    Ra¡¯th could only hope he was about to die as the Celestial raised a mud and gore covered boot to stomp his head t.


    Not resigned to his fate anymore, even after his failed attack, Ra¡¯th grabbed one of the pieces of the haft of his destroyed spear and twisted hard enough that it pulled something in his back, but he managed to rece his head with the bit of wood.


    The boot didn¡¯t stop its descent, but before it could crush Ra¡¯th, a pained howl spread.


    Right before his eyes, there was a boot with a stick piercing the boot. Most magical of all was the top of it was covered in blood.


    For the third time, the world seemed to stop as everyone focused on the bloody boot and the mortal who had managed to wound a Celestial.


    Ra¡¯th still wasn¡¯t resigned to die, but he had a small bit of pride knowing that both sides'' soldiers would be talking about this tonight. At least he wouldn''t be tortured slowly.


    The Celestial¡¯s de was descending, and Ra¡¯th had epted his death, when suddenly all of the momentum was sapped from the de.


    Captain Ak¡¯aran had used the time Ra¡¯th bought with his desperate maneuver to throw a dagger at the enemy Celestial.


    Where his mortal spear had been unable to prate the Celestial¡¯s armor, the captain''s dagger sunk up to its hilt in the Celestial¡¯s heart.


    His eyes were wide as he looked down from the dagger to Ra¡¯th, before he slumped to the ground.


    The rushing legionaries skidded to a stop and tried to retreat but Captain Ak¡¯aran was on them in a second and body parts flew once more.


    In less than the time it took Ra¡¯th to pull himself out of the mud, Captain Ak¡¯aran ughtered the legionaries, clearing an area around them.


    ¡°You saved my life.¡±


    The words were said in a t tone that made Ra¡¯th fearful the Celestial would be upset with him for daring to interfere in his business, even if it had been to save his life.


    Maybe he would hide his shame by removing the witnesses?


    ¡°It was help you or die by legions spears, honored Celestial.¡±


    Ra¡¯th wanted to curse himself for his flippant response, but it had just slipped out.


    Thankfully, Captain Ak¡¯aran grinned.


    ¡°Report to my tent this evening. I will have a reward for you.¡±


    Before Ra¡¯th could respond, Captain Ak¡¯aran was gone.


    Thankfully, the battle ended shortly thereafter. With the death of one Celestial, the enemy forces had to retreat, and Warlord O¡¯dchigin¡¯s army was able to advance right to the end of the valley where they would camp for the winter.


    That evening, Ra¡¯th waited by Captain Ak¡¯aran¡¯s tent until he was called in. Inside, he found five other Captains waiting around and Ra¡¯th¡¯s fear returned with a vengeance.


    Their next words didn¡¯t appease that fear. ¡°Let''s go for a walk.¡±


    Ra¡¯th¡¯s fear reached a fever pitch as they left the circle of sentries standing watch at the edge of the army.


    They were surely going to kill him once they were far enough away from the camp that no one would hear.


    Thankfully they didn¡¯t.


    Instead, they led him to a spot in the woods that looked like any other.


    ¡°In here.¡±


    Ra¡¯th had no idea what they were talking about, but he followed as the Captains walked into nothingness.


    Inside he found another forest but this one was in daytime. Covering his eyes from the sudden change in brightness, Ra¡¯th heard the Celestials chuckling at him.


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    ¡°Alright, we need to move quickly. Forward. Ra¡¯th, follow us closely.¡±


    Ra¡¯th did as he was told as the Celestials led him through the forest.


    He was just starting to rx when a wolf taller than him appeared out of seemingly nowhere and tried to take a bite out of the nearest Celestial.


    The Celestial ducked the blow but instead of drawing their de and cutting the beast in two, they grabbed at its back even as all of the other Celestials did the same.


    Ra¡¯th was thoroughly confused as the Celestials wrestled and then tied up the wolf, but his questions were answered by Captain Ak¡¯aran.


    ¡°A life for a life. You saved my life today, so today I give you life. This is technically illegal but we all know each other and no one will tell if you don¡¯t. Tonight, we will make you a Celestial but tomorrow you need to say that you reminisced on the battle earlier and you felt something awaken inside of you. Do you understand?¡±


    Ra¡¯th shook his head vehemently. ¡°No, honored Celestial.¡±


    That earned another round ofughs, but Captain Ak¡¯aran pointed to the beast tied up. ¡°This is an inferior way of bing a Celestial, but it is a way anyone can do it. As per the Great One¡¯sws, it''s illegal but it''s hard if not impossible for anyone to tell so it happens, even if rarely. Tomorrow, this Monster Den and its filthy monsters will be guarded, so we needed to sneak in tonight.¡±


    Pulling out a dagger, Captain Ak¡¯aran pushed it into Ra¡¯th¡¯s hands. ¡°Stab the monster and end it. Normally fighting such a beast, you should push its foulness away, letting it return to the stars above but this time you must quench your thirst with its poison.¡±


    Even with the wolf being tied up and unable to do more than wiggle slightly, Ra¡¯th feared.


    The monster had rage in its eyes. A deep rage that he had never even considered possible in a living creature.


    Driving the dagger down into the monster''s flesh was like cutting into hard wood but by throwing his weight into it, he managed. It took three more thrusts before the monster''s struggles ended, but then he felt something rush into him.


    He could also feel the foulness that the caption had talked about. What had entered him was empty instead of filled with the might of the stars.


    Still, it was at that moment he knew he was a Celestial and that excitement overwhelmed everything else.


    Before he could get too excited, Captain Ak¡¯aran said, ¡°Good, now we need to get back to camp before people start to get suspicious.¡±


    Before Ra¡¯th could react, a fistnded right over his eye. A second and third fell, and he could already feel his face was swelling.


    ¡°Wha¡ª¡±


    ¡°We need a reason to have left camp. And punishing you for interfering with my battle is about the only excuse we have.¡±


    Knowing that reminded Ra¡¯th that what they were doing was illegal and he shut his mouth, not wanting to offend a Great One even indirectly.


    Once he was well-tenderized, he was led back to the camp while the Celestials exined what he needed to do. Once they were there, he noticed soldiers pointedly avoiding looking at him, fearing to earn the ire of the Celestials as well.


    No one would speak of this evening''s walk, which he realized was the point.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    The next day, Ra¡¯th followed the orders he had been given and publicly stood outside Captain Ak¡¯aran¡¯s tent and proimed that he had understood the universe and had be a Celestial.


    That drew a crowd and publicly Captain Ak¡¯aran and two other Celestials, not any of the ones from the evening before he noticed, tested him by pressing their hands to his lower chest.


    Thankfully all three of them proimed him a Celestial and even from the corners of his eyes he could see the envy of the others.


    Once he was led inside, he got a few more suspicious looks from the other Celestials but he kept to the story Captain Ak¡¯aran had insisted he repeat a dozen timesst night on their way back to camp. Thankfully the Celestials were satisfied after a little more questioning and gave him his Celestial Guide.


    With its guidance, he learned of the way to pull in Celestial power from the stars above and how toyer the umted Celestial power to create the ever-moving Constetions that would be empowered by his Star Power and drive his Stars.


    Today was the first day of his new life.


    ***


    Ra¡¯th looked at the peak of the mountain where the very tip seemed to stretch. He could feel the Star Power power brimming from deeply hidden wells of Star Power scattered around the area in a shape he didn¡¯t fully understand.


    As a True Great Celestial, he had reached the peak of his home world thus, if he wanted to advance further, he needed to leave.


    The Nine Skies Map he had been given had gotten him through the early days of his power umtion, but he had reached the first major bottleneck, the nk Sky that separated True Great Celestials from Divines.


    Since reaching the peak of power, he had traveled far and wide looking for how to fill in his nk Sky, but he had had no sess. No one on their world hadpleted that step in generations, but, in his travels, he had repeatedly heard rumors that those who had imed a fragment of the Sky, making it a portion of their very being, had left to go somewhere.


    Unable to progress, he decided to try his luck and so sought out the passages between worlds. Most of it was hearsay and easily proven wrong, but after two years of searching he had finally stumbled upon something¡­ different.


    He wasn¡¯t even sure it was the right thing, but it was where the rumors said Divines disappeared into and none of the others had checked out. Still, he wasn¡¯t reckless, and so returned to the nearest city and paid a few messengers to spread the news that there was in fact a Sky Bridge in the mountains.


    Duty to anyone who wanted to follow in his footstepsplete, he trekked back up the mountain to where he found the Star Poweryered thick.


    He felt nothingness between his feet and where the mountain should be but suppressed his fear to press forward.


    At first, nothing seemed to be happening other than the oddity of walking on air and the ever-present worry that he was about to fall to his death when this invisible tform vanished or simply ended, but before too long, he started to notice the world started to¡­ melt.


    The world started to blend together before his very eyes and with excitement he trudged forward until the blob of colors was a uniform gray. He walked for what felt like years in that empty grayness, but just as he was starting to lose hope, the grayness started to have blotches of indistinct shape and then color.


    That color turned into recognizable shapes and after walking over what must have been a continent, he once more found himself standing on a mountain range.


    Except this mountain wasn¡¯t in snow covered mountains but was instead in a desert that stretched across the horizon but none of that caught his attention. The air was full of power but of a richer sort than he was used to. Divine power.


    If he wasn¡¯t at the peak of the Celestial realm, he felt he could have be a Divine with a short few years of absorption. Just feeling the greater power made his Constetion pulse with power like a thirsty man gasping for air.


    He was brought out of his exhration as he noticed people flying through the air a few dozen feet over the rolling sands.


    Even from where he stood, he could feel their power was greater than his True Great Celestial.


    Divines.


    Jumping from rock to rock, Ra¡¯th quickly descended the mountain. The Divines he had seen were long gone but he must have been on a trade route of some kind because he quickly found another group.


    Two women and a younger man. The two women were Divines but the man was like him, a True Great Celestial.


    From the resemnce between the man and one of the women he suspected they were rted. A family with multiple Divines?


    That was amazing in a way that he didn¡¯t have words for.


    Even True Great Celestials on his home world struggled to have their children be Celestials without disgraceful methods like he had used.


    Seeing him, the group slowed down letting Ra¡¯th see that they weren¡¯t actually flying but riding on sticks that glowed with Star Power.


    His Constetion method only had two abilities he had worked tirelessly to recreate but he had been working in rearranging his Star Power into a new ability unique to himself.


    The fact they had ways to use Star Power that wasn¡¯t reliant on abilities was amazing and his attention was pulled away as one of the women, the oldest, said something in anguage he didn¡¯t recognize.


    He had anticipated this and had studied all knownnguages from his homnd to at least a beginner level and so tried a few of them while keeping his hands away from the stone de at his hip.


    Finally theynded on anguage both of them knew. In his world it was an old tradenguage, but with an established method ofmunication, he was able to exin who he was and what he wanted.


    ¡°You. Come. Stand. City.¡±


    Knowing that was the best they could do and he needed to trust they weren¡¯t going to kill him, Ra¡¯th stood next to the young man where he was indicated to go.


    A suction force locked his feet onto the sticks and before he knew it, they were sliding a foot above the sand faster than he could run even if going at his full speed while activating his Speed Constetion and burning all of his Star Power.


    Still, anything could be mundane before too long and he was just trying to keep the sand from pelting him in the face while they crossed an endless ocean of sand.


    Thankfully, before dark they arrived at a massive city nestled next to a winding river that created greenery in the otherwise barrenndscape.


    At the city gates, the two women, being Divines, were let through the gate without being stopped but Ra¡¯th did notice that both guards were at his same rank. From the peak of his world to simple guards.


    The thought was scary yet exhrating.


    Inside the city they quickly entered an estate where he was given a room and an older man, a servant if Ra¡¯th wasn¡¯t mistaken, came and cycled throughnguages with him until they found one they both knew fluently.


    With that basis, he exined his situation and was offered shelter and information on the world in exchange for a month of lodging and a favor.


    Favors were dangerous, but Ra¡¯th had little other option.


    As it turned out, those seeking to im their fragment of the Sky were far from unknown upon this world, and many were thus stalled. The young man he had traveled with was in fact in the same situation and the Tur¡¯Bfa family was happy to let him go through the same efforts in filling it in that they were preparing for their third young master.


    It was in fact what the city itself was for.


    An entire city dedicated for True Great Celestials to connect to the Sky. It was a mind-boggling thought but having an answer to his greatest puzzle ced before him so quickly was exactly what he had been hoping for.


    Sadly, their answer wasn¡¯t so helpful. The Sky was infinite, and many could im the same portion of it, but the means by which one imed their fragment of the heavens were dependent entirely upon the individual. To transcend mortality, to be Divine, a God, True God, or even the evesting Almighty, was a path one must walk alone.


    Once he had a grasp of thenguage, he and Bfa¡¯Fan entered the city, their des ready.


    ***


    Three yearster, Bfa¡¯Fan and Ra¡¯th stood over the groaning bodies of their defeated foes and roared their victory to the sky, basking in the pride and adoration that was their due but as they were getting into the second verse of their roar, Bfa¡¯Fan¡¯s voice cut off abruptly.


    Ra¡¯th reacted quickly, ready to attack whatever had ambushed them but instead he felt a pulse of Star Power and power as Bfa¡¯Fan imed a fragment of Sky and became Divine.


    The spectators cheered, and Ra¡¯th pulled his best friend into a hug before hoisting him onto his shoulders.


    They returned to thepound as heroes as the Tur¡¯Bfa family now had one more Divine.


    The party they held that night had half of the city move in and out of the estate, few Celestials made the jump to divine a year and it was always a celebration no matter who it was. but in a quiet corner, Ra¡¯th sat with Bfa¡¯Fan¡¯s older sister, Bfa¡¯S the second Divine he had met when he arrived to this world.


    ¡°Ra¡¯th, do you feel anything? I¡¯m willing to wait, but my family won¡¯t agree to our marriage if you aren¡¯t also a Divine. Let us just slip away in the night. No one wille for us, and we can settle down. Maybe go back to your world.¡± Bfa¡¯S¡¯s voice was like music to his ears, but the words hurt all the same.


    Ra¡¯th knew she wasn¡¯t trying to put pressure on him but the pressure was there nheless as the weight of his love warred with his inability to grasp the Sky.


    Each day that passed made him wonder if he would be one of many who never imed their fragment of the Sky and forever stayed a True Great Celestial.


    Eyes hardening, he gripped Bfa¡¯S¡¯s hand and caught her gaze. ¡°These mock fights aren¡¯t working for me. Give me two years and I¡¯lle back with a Divine with my own piece of the Sky.¡±


    Bfa¡¯S face drained of blood as she shook her head. ¡°Ra¡¯th, you can¡¯t enter the Hidden Zone. It''s far too dangerous. Even with hundreds who enter every year, fewe out.¡±


    He knew that as well but he also knew that it was his only choice. He needed something more than mostly friendly duels to cross the bottleneck.


    Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t know what he needed exactly but he knew it was not here. Not if he wanted to be able to stand beside Bfa¡¯S with honor as a Divine.


    ***


    Ra¡¯th stood over three other corpses, his marble de dripping with blood, the gold fruit glowing brightly in his hand acting as a beacon.


    The Sr Fire fruit wasn¡¯t useful for reaching the Sky but it was said to be useful for upgrading Constetions rted to heat and me, which made it invaluable for the Tur¡¯Bfa family matriarch.


    Even if he couldn''t cross the threshold of the Divine himself, he might be able to trade it for Bfa¡¯S¡¯s hand in marriage.


    Still, he often felt as though he dreamt of the open Sky, that he was growing ever-closer to transcending the realm of the Celestial and enter the heavens of the Divine. Half-remembered visions of the mountains below him, the solid ground, these were the things he meditated upon and grasped for. Yet there were days that he scarcely remembered, the trials of the Divine too much for his mortal mind toprehend.


    Returning to Sky City, he stood there dazed as he looked at the still smoldering remains of the Tur¡¯Bfapound.


    He didn¡¯t need to wonder if Bfa¡¯S was among the dead as her corpse was impaled with the rest of the local family branch who had been at the city at the time. The bodies were also weather worn and scared from the birds pecking at them which told him they had been there for days, which implied the locals were unwilling to cross whoever had done this.


    Laughing, he felt tears run down his face but he didn''t care. He also didn¡¯t care as his clothes were stained with soot and ash.


    All that filled his vision was Bfa¡¯S¡¯s charred body.


    Rage filled him.


    Rage of the falling mountain, of the trembling ground.


    Hatred like he had only seen in monsters consumed him.


    If only he had listened to her and ran away when they had the chance.


    She would have been disgraced, but she would have been alive.


    He wasn''t strong enough, sturdy enough, he¡ªN?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Sky within him bled as he tore it. He wed his way above, gripping the shard of the heavens so tightly he could practically feel the ¡®bones¡¯ of his soul creaking and bending, but he cared not.


    What was there beyond the sturdy earth? <em>Rage. </em>There was <em>anger</em> there, and pain, and Ra¡¯th grasped them both wholeheartedly as he roared out for the lover he had lost.


    ¡°Tremble!¡±


    The world seemed to rumble, but it wasn¡¯t his imagination. The city around him shook as he felt something that wasn¡¯t Star Power drain, even as he felt his Constetions change and shift as he became a Divine. His stolen fragment of the heavens made itself part of him, a raw and ragged thing, but sufficient to make him Divine.


    People finally started to listen to him and he noticed three Divines with red sashes hurriedly walking to him des already drawn.


    The Ku¡¯Ru family¡¯s people and longtime rivals of the Tur¡¯Bfa family.


    He didn¡¯t need to know if they had done this. He didn¡¯t care, they would die all the same.


    Stepping forward, his Star Power flooded into his first Constetion that enhanced his speed which let him cross the distance between himself and the guards in a mere three steps. His new Divine-level power was stronger and the power raged through him like his hatred.


    His de cut down two of the three men before they could react, but the final man jumped into the air and started running on nothing.


    Ra¡¯th cut his legs off and he tumbled to the ground before he got more than three steps away.


    ¡°The¡ª¡±


    Ra¡¯th plunged his de into the guard''s neck, cutting his words off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ***


    Peak True God didn¡¯t have the same bottleneck to Almighty as Celestial had to Divine had but as he stood among the burning mes of the main lineage of the Ku¡¯Ru family, he finally gathered enough True God power to advance.


    His mission of vengeance wasplete.


    With that realization, he felt the Sky within him fracture and break as the rage imbued in it was finally sated and like a Heart Demon he felt its loss take something important from him.


    Dropping to his knees, he finally let himself grieve properly.


    His connection to the Sky above was¡­ damaged. Broken, even. The fragment of the Divine within him had crumbled, leaving him profoundly empty in a way he couldn¡¯t express. He expected to feel himself crashing to the ground as a mortal once more, but it seemed that he had spent so far above the ground his spirit had learned to fly. Still, he felt as though he couldn¡¯t transcend <em>further</em> into the heavens without the tether pulling him on.


    He had avenged his beloved and her family. It had taken almost three hundred and fifty years, but he had done it.


    But he now had nothing left to live for.


    He might have been unable to turn back the clock to stop the Tur¡¯Bfa family matriarch from being killed stopping a Monster Den outbreak, but he had avenged Bfa¡¯S and her family.


    It was the only thing he could do.


    But it felt so empty.


    So, so empty.


    Ra¡¯th felt nothing and so wandered and took Sky Bridge after Sky Bridge until he arrived at the strongest world he had ever found.


    Settling down, he knew he once he reimed his connection to the Sky and broke through to Almighty he would be evesting, but he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to.


    Living forever seemed like so much work and he was so, so tired.


    Instead, he wandered. Even on this world where Almighties existed, his power as a Peak True God was enough to earn respect, allowing him to settle down and start his own Constetion Imbuement shop. He was no Master Imbuer by any means, but his connection with the earth was enough for him to learn the basics in a matter of years and it kept him busy enough to keep his mind off how empty his life was.


    He spent almost five hundred years wandering from ce to ce taking odd jobs, which made him nine hundred hundred years old when the thread of the Sky within him healed.


    As if the world was mocking him just days after the heavens within him were once again whole and thrumming with power, he encountered a troupe of traveling minstrel¡¯s being waid by an Almighty in perfect white robes.


    He quickly understood the issue. The Almighty had seen a beautiful woman and wanted to take her as his.


    Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t want to get involved but he couldn¡¯t look past the fear in her eyes as she tried to refuse.


    It wasn¡¯t his ce, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Bfa¡¯S had had the same expression when she was killed.


    Reaching down, hemanded the ground to form into a sword. It wasn¡¯t a good one, it was quickly made with histest Constetion but it would do.


    With a swing, he sent a wave of pure Star Power arcing just in front of the Almighty, startling him.


    Looking over, the man in white glowered at him. ¡°Are you the one who dared to stop me?¡±


    An Almighty¡¯s power ripples pressed down on him, trying to suffocate him and make him pay obeisance.


    Standing, Ra¡¯th moved to walk away but the man shed and stood before him with his hand in a glowing w.


    With the realm difference the speed was hard to follow, but honed through years ofbat, Ra¡¯th reacted in time, blocking the attack.


    They exchanged blows but Ra¡¯th was on the losing end and knew that if the fight continued, he would die.


    That was what changed his mind, and he broke through to Almighty.


    Power coursed through him and he didn¡¯t hesitate and cut the arm that was threatening his life a moment before cleanly off.


    ¡°Ahhh.¡±


    de shing, Ra¡¯th cut through the man''s head in a swift motion, ending him.


    The leader of the troupe screamed in terror. ¡°Do you know who he was?¡±


    Ra¡¯th just shook his head. He knew, but he didn¡¯t care. He was more embarrassed that the leader was more afraid the man was dead than that one of his people was going to be snatched.


    ¡°She was just a mortal woman. Who cared if he took her? Why did you kill him? He¡¯s the only son of the Origin of the Ist¡¯ar family. Now we will all die for her sake.¡±


    Ra¡¯th turned and walked away, continuing down the road.


    ¡°They wille for you!¡±


    Ra¡¯th looked back, finally acknowledging the coward.


    ¡°Let them.¡±


    ***


    Ra¡¯th stood before the True Origin of the Ist¡¯ar family, his marble de dripping blood.


    ¡°Was it worth it? All for a rapist of a son? I¡ª¡±


    Ra¡¯th stopped speaking as he ended the man''s life.


    He had wanted to spare him but, in the end, Ist¡¯ar had tried to ambush him despite being defeated.


    The power of the Heavens Beyond freezing the man before he could make his move, allowing Ra¡¯th to finish him off with azy swing of his marble sword.


    At that point, the move had been for their watchers. To show that Ra¡¯th could have ended the fight from the very beginning but he was trying to give Ist¡¯ar a way out. A chance to reform himself.


    Except he hadn¡¯t taken it and instead tried to ambush Ra¡¯th the moment his attention wavered.


    Why? What was the point of all of this?


    Endless vengeance and feuds.


    It was like the world only existed for pain and terror.


    The problem was Ra¡¯th was starting to enjoy it.


    Not the bad things but the power. The advancement. The endless challenge.


    Looking eastward, he felt the next Sky Bridge.


    He was at a crossroads. He knew that now he had reached beyond the Sky, grasped the Aether within, and crowned himself with that, he could leave his ne of existence but did he want that? Did he want to chase endless higher peaks that probably never ended?


    Did he even want to stick around?


    He genuinely didn¡¯t know.


    ***


    At the peak of the True Origin himself, Ra¡¯th felt the draw. It was an inexorable pull upward, like ice in a cup of water.


    If he advanced any more, he would leave the ne of existence he knew and¡­ tolerated. He surely didn¡¯t love it but he had been there so long. Home didn¡¯t have to be a nice ce to form attachments to it.


    He had stayed at this equilibrium for almost a thousand years and he had been content to live as a mortal among a dozen different peoples but now he felt something as he spent two mortal lifetimes watching a tree grow.


    The harmonization of himself and the world that Captain Ak¡¯aran had talked about oh so long ago.


    He knew one of his thoughts on watching the tree had triggered it, and he even knew which one it was.


    The tree was growing but he wasn¡¯t.


    He had reached the peak of power and had grown stagnant and it was eating him alive.


    Ra¡¯th hadn¡¯t wanted to ascend because what was the point? But now as he felt his power advance beyond True Origin into a new Realm, his Constetions were being perfected as the Origin energy entered him in a wave. Now, it was toote to have second thoughts.


    He was an ice cube that had be too buoyant for his ss and he was¡­ Rising.


    Ascending.


    The world around him began to fade, but not in the way Sky Bridges so often did. This was more akin to feeling the world around him bing less real. It was insubstantial, immaterial. For so long, he had felt it pushing him upwards, but now as the threads binding him to it fell off, he <em>arose</em>.


    The weight of a mountain fell off his soul, and there was <em>light</em>.


    He was everything.


    He was nothing.


    He was¡­ within a mountain range.


    This new ce felt far more solid, far <em>more</em> than anywhere he¡¯d ever been before, but he felt much the same. He had crossed the Sky, transcended the Aether, and now instead of a mere fragment of each it seemed as though the entirety of the heavens dwelled within his soul. His body glowed with power, and while the light faded after a moment, the power remained.


    There was much to learn about his new self, he could tell.


    But what was more immediately interesting was the massive city he had found in his exploration. The world he hadnded on was weak; it should have only supported a few hundred True Celestials at most, but what shocked him was that every single person was a Celestial. The only mortals he found were children too young to harness the power of the stars.


    They also had magical implements like he had never seen before. Even the lowest level Celestial had or used a few.


    Which was a fact his mind started to get stuck on once more. There were also so many Celestials. Half a million just in this one city on a world that should have supported tens of thousands at most.


    He was still reeling from those facts when six people at his same still unnamed realm appeared next to him soundlessly and without a ripple of Star Power.


    He had known people who could walk through the stars, but none had been so good at it or able to move so many.


    Excitement like he hadn''t felt in a long, long time bubbled up in him.


    That people of his own realm found him so quickly was ultimately a good thing and he nodded to them, letting the ground around him flow into a set of clothes he copied from the city below.


    It was always smart to fit into local cultures until you knew what rules you could break and which you couldn''t.


    The first thing he noticed was the man in front of the group next to a woman with a Sky Sword.


    A sword.


    At least these people weren''t barbarians and used proper weapons.


    Ra¡¯th had worried about that before, but now he had an answer.


    The two rippled with power in a way that made Ra¡¯th¡¯s throat tighten and his missing de tremble with excitement.


    The man seemed¡­ more somehow.


    Ra¡¯th got the feeling he was a raging star pouring out Star Power like a spring bubbled up water. He also seemed to ripple with physical strength in a way he didn¡¯t fully understand.


    A woman with a ming bird on her shoulder stood to the side and had a spear in her hand. Which was odd as Ra¡¯th felt she was just as strong as everyone else surrounding him, so he didn¡¯t understand why she would use a mortal weapon by choice.


    Maybe her manifestation was about that? He had met a few unfortunates like that before but even still, few chose to use a mortal implement once they were a Celestial, let alone beyond a True Origin.


    The woman with the features of a fox was interesting as was the man with Constetions rippling around him, but what drew Ra¡¯th¡¯s eye was the woman with her very skin covered with the image of countless Constetions.


    It was foolish to give so much information about one''s Celestial Guide but it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he struggled to tear his eyes away for a long moment. He wouldn''t want these people to think his ignorance and fascination with their culture rude.


    The first man¡¯s hands glowed and Ra¡¯th felt a burst of Star Power cover them all and suddenly he could understand everything the Origins were saying.


    The first man, the one next to the swordswoman, said, ¡°We want to wee you to the Empire. If you woulde with us, we can¡ª¡±


    He was cut off by the sky beauty. ¡°Fuck that.¡± Turning to him, she said, ¡°Yo, our boss wants to see you.¡±


    Ra¡¯th had no reason to refuse and nodded. ¡°I ept.¡±


    ¡°See, it was that easy.¡±


    Before he could do anything, power rippled around him and he felt himself pulled an unimaginably long distance through the stars themselves before he stood before a man with golden eyes whose every nce made the ne tremble.


    He knew that power because he held it just minutes before even if it was now so far away. If that wasn¡¯t confirmation enough of his vast power, the man standing in front of him was invisible to all of his senses besides sight.


    Ra¡¯th idly wondered what that realm was called but he wasn¡¯t able to go too deep into it before the man spoke.


    ¡°As my Ascender was trying to say before my second Ascender skipped it all: Wee to the Sophron Empire. My name is Emmanuel, and I am the Emperor. You have a lot to learn if you are willing to learn it.¡±


    Ra¡¯th couldn¡¯t help it.


    He smiled.

 Chapter 378

    Matt couldn''t help but look at the ascender in awe as Manny talked to him. It was just so strange to think of someone ascending into their Realm.


    They didn¡¯t get many people from lower Realms, as there weren¡¯t any Tier 25 Realms directly connected to this Realm, but they still tended to pop up every few generations give or take a dozen as theplex currents of inter-Realm cosmology pulled someone off-course. Weirdly, they knew a lot more about higher Realms than they did lower Realms, thanks to the cosmologers who had made it their lives¡¯ missions to learn as much about the structure of Realms and how they rted. But Tier 25 Realms were subtle and difficult to spot, and there were some people who thought that they simply couldn¡¯t see the lower Realms connected to their own, with the people there simply not developing the Intents needed to survive ascending.


    The man in front of him was a mark against that theory, as a Tier 26, which implied he had advanced the whole way through Tier 25 without identally ascending, or he had had an inspiration which caused him to advance. If he was a front-runner of the Realm, it was possible he was just the first of many ascenders.


    Which might not be a good thing.


    About a year ago, Manny had sent Allie on a mission to the border world of Exalon, just to monitor the situation. Not wanting to do a long-term recon mission alone, Allie had grabbed Aster, who had in turn messaged him and Liz, who then decided they might as well brings the whole group and told Allie to go get Zack, who had been with Susanne at the time, which was why they had all gathered for the Ascension.


    Who wouldn¡¯t want to meet an ascender?


    It was a good thing too, because the actual process of Ascension was quiet. It wasn¡¯t like an Ascension leaving the Realm, which had benefits to those around the ascender and was impossible to miss. No, Ra¡¯th had not been there one minute and had appeared the next like a ghost.


    A good thing for their own possible Ascension, but that was a thought Matt didn¡¯t really want to consider quite yet. He had way too much unfinished business in this Realm to even consider leaving.


    There had been a <em>bit</em> ofst-minute panic when the cosmological sensors they were using indicated the proximal lower-Realm crossing had fully <em>vanished</em>, but Zack¡¯s insistence on overbuilding their observatory array paid off when they identified that it had just spontaneously shifted fours over, into <em>Federation</em> space.He didn¡¯t evennd on that Federation world, instead showing up twos away from <em>there</em>, and it was only abination of sheer luck and the fact they were already scouring the surroundings for their missing readings that they found him at all.


    Not thatnding in the Federation would have been a good thing. Matt might have had some moral scruples about ¡®stealing¡¯ an ¡®Ascender¡¯ from any other Great Power, but he had none when it came to the Federation.


    Even if Ra¡¯th wasn¡¯t as pleasant as he was showcasing, he didn¡¯t deserve to be subjected to the Federation and their perversions.


    And what they would have lost if they hadn¡¯t grabbed him.


    Matt had, of course, surreptitiously scanned his spirit, but what he¡¯d seen was just kind of <em>weird</em>. It was recognizable, but it was just different<em>.</em>


    Ra¡¯th had two ovepping cores, one magical, and one physical, but instead of peaks and valleys where his essence was distributed to raise his attributes, his essence swirled and eddied inplicated patterns Matt had never seen before. He wouldn''t have thought them possible without a living example.


    A quick search with his [AI] told him that such cultivation methods had been seen in their Realm before, but not for at least five generations of political entities. Even then, which was thest record they had of such things, the practice had already been falling out of favor for the current methods. Or so the historians believed from the tidbits of information they had found of such old civilizations long lost to the sands of time.


    Though from what he could see of Ra¡¯th¡¯s cultivation, he had a veil up but it wasn¡¯t the mostplex one he had ever seen and while it was unique it had ws that let Matt see through it without too much issue even if some things were still obscured. That was still more than enough to know Ra¡¯th was doing something wholly different than even those records. Not a single report mentioned pulsing lights at certain spots in each Tieryer of the core. Really the only simrity was the way the essence wasn¡¯t static.


    Which was another thing that was strange. Matt could see that this Ra¡¯th had twenty six bands of cultivation but they weren¡¯t crushed together like his own. Instead, each seemed to be its own swirling mass of essence that flowed into nodes reminiscent of embers. Also, the way he grouped his essence was¡­ weird. Most modern forms of cultivation recognized seven physical attributes, though what those seven <em>were</em> could vary, but Ra¡¯th only had five physical groupings.


    A node seemed to represent favoring a specific attribute like leaning one way in physical cultivation did.


    From what he could see, Ra¡¯th favored a slightly off-pure strength location that ovepped with endurance for a lot of his nodes but not always. His second most allocated area was a mix between mind and durability, which was a strangebo: Matt wasn¡¯t sure what it would show as.


    His inspection was cut short when Manny summoned a handful of skill shards onto the table. ¡°A suite of the [AI] skill shards and their auxiliary skills. They are like an artificial mind that acts in conjunction with your own. With them, you should be able to better integrate into Empire society or any Great Power society you choose to settle in. A gift free of obligation or need for return.¡±


    ¡°What are these?¡±


    Matt expected Ra¡¯th to ask for rification on what [AI] actually was but he hadn¡¯t expected him not to recognize skill gems.


    Did skill shards look different in other Realms?


    That was a very interesting hypothesis and Matt instantly wanted to interrupt and ask Ra¡¯th all about his world and the nuances of cultivation there but knew this wasn''t the right time and instead just marked it as a note forter.


    Even Manny looked confused as he exined. ¡°These are skill shards. I¡¯m not sure what you call them but they contain the activatable abilities found in rifts, the areas where monsters form up.¡±


    At the mention of rifts, Ra¡¯th nodded. ¡°Monster Dens. Yes, foul ces that spill out beasts who seek nothing but destruction. Containing them is a pain but I don¡¯t know of any Constetions thate from the in monsters.¡±


    ¡°No not from the monster but from clearing the rift, the Monster Den itself.¡±


    ¡°Clear it?¡± Ra¡¯th looked apologetic as he continued, ¡°This trantion Constetion is good but I believe it is confused. What do you mean ¡®clear¡¯? The monsters pour out in waves. Their foulness is then returned to the sky and the stars where it is purified and returned back down as energy for Celestials to absorb.¡±


    Realizing what Ra¡¯th was implying, Matt''s eyes went wide.


    Manny was faster to speak however. ¡°Where did you get your skills, Constetions, from then? Are they all self-created?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Matt nodded but froze almost immediately, ¡°Only half or so are unique to me. Others are from various Celestials Guides I gathered in my travels.¡±


    Even Manny looked genuinely surprised at the revtion and Zack looked like he had found an entirely new specimen he could dissect to find new knowledge. Not that Matt disagreed.


    A Realm that seemingly used entirely self-made and replicable skills to function was an incredible find for a million and one reasons. It made sense they would need to do something like that if they didn¡¯t enter rifts to advance and instead considered them pests, but he had never considered the ramifications of such a cultivation civilization.


    As for them not entering rifts, Matt thought he had an answer for how that came about. Whether identally or intentionally, they had run into an aperology-based strategy to increase the speed of Tiering up theirs.


    By letting rifts constantly stay full of mana the rift would be pouring the maximum amount of essence into the air as it converted ambient mana. Consequently, that same overflow would lead to rift breaks and possible ruins without any direct rewards such as skills shards.


    It exined why Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t seem to understand what skills shards were but that seemed anathema to having any sort of functional society.


    Matt then had the thought they might not have any kind of structured society, but that couldn¡¯t be true, as Ra¡¯th was clearly educated and intelligent. He also implied that he found various skills in cultivation methods, which implied linages and methods to pass down knowledge, which meant there had to be a base level of civilization.


    After a moment of stunned silence, Manny looked at Zack. ¡°Can you project a [Fireball] spell structure in the air please.¡±


    Once Zack had done so and Ra¡¯th had been given a few moments to inspect the structure, Manny asked, ¡°Howplicated would you rate this skill?¡±


    ¡°Moderate for a mid-level Divine but tooplicated for a Celestial to create in any reasonable amount of time.¡±


    Matt mouthed the words as they were tranted and the general confusion reignited as each side exined the steps on cultivation.


    A [Fireball] being hard to replicate for a Tier 4 or under seemed normal but it being only moderately hard for a Tier 5 to Tier 8 seemed ludicrous. Carving a skill into one''s spirit was <em>not </em>trivial. He could have managed it as a Tier 10 given a decade or so but that didn¡¯t make it <em>easy</em>.


    Ra¡¯th cocked his head and nodded to the skills. ¡°Do you not do that? Because of these ¡®skill shards¡¯?¡±


    Liz waved and summoned a pile of Tier 8 skills they kept on hand. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say they aremon, they don¡¯t start dropping consistently until Tier 8, peak of the Divine Realm for you if I understood the conversion of names correctly, but they aren¡¯t that hard to get in our Realm just by clearing a rift.¡±


    Ra¡¯th made a hand gesture Matt interpreted as a shrug. ¡°There are so few peak Divines, even if we know they would be extraordinarily rare. I suspect that even Almighty''s, your Tier 15s or 16¡¯s, I believe, would struggle to bring out so many.¡±


    That caught both of them off guard before everyone made noises of agreement.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    All but Zack who leaned forward. ¡°Would you mind sharing what one of your beginner skills would look like?¡±


    Ra¡¯th copped Zack''s hand gesture and created a skill structure out of stone in something that Matt would have called [Create Stone] but that worked very differently. Where [Create Stone] made real but low-Tier matter, the spell Ra¡¯th used condensed ambient essence into stone. It felt non-permanent but Matt wouldn¡¯t be surprised to learn that it wasn¡¯t so simple.


    The skill structure he created took Matt aback.


    It was so¡­ simple.


    ¡°This is a general physical enhancement spell that many Celestial Guides use and anyone can get copies off. It is considered a good starting point for most physical Constetions. I mean skills. I apologize for the slip up.¡±


    As Matt inspected the skill structure, he realized what he was seeing. It wasn¡¯t simple. Or rather it was, but that wasn¡¯t the whole truth.


    It was¡­rge, for a skill. Veryrge. Matt wasn¡¯t certain if it would even fit in a normal skill slot were he to have it in his spirit. It would possibly take up as much space as one and a half, even two skills, and it was crudely created. Or perhaps <em>simple</em> would be the better way to phrase it.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    But what it lost in elegance, it certainly made up for in robustness. If a normal skill was like a carpenter¡¯s finishing hammer, this skill was like a sledgehammer. There was nothing delicate about the skill, in <em>any</em> sense of the word. It was unsuitable for fine-control work, but anything that tried to break it would just find itself shattered. As a consequence it also had a lot more room for error when inscribing it in your spirit, making doing so significantly easier.


    It was a general physical enhancement but Matt could see where, with an expansion and multiplication of the skill structure in one quadrant, you could multiply the speed of the user. On the other side of the skill was what he would call the strength nodes that would make the caster physically stronger and more durable.


    It might be simple, but for a Realm without ready ess to enchantments and skill shards, something easy to carve into one''s spirit like that, which something even a Tier 1 or 2 could manage, would be invaluable.


    Matt also didn¡¯t miss thement about how other more-specific or stronger skills were built off this base.


    He could see how that was not just possible but by design of whoever created this skill originally.


    It also made him wonder just how advanced a Tier 26 who had been at the peak of the Realm¡¯s skills would be.


    Without the ability to just get new skills, Ra¡¯th¡¯s skills were probably incredibly robust and hyper specialized to a degree even the Sects couldn¡¯tpare to.


    Another part of his mind went to this more simple skill creation-based method and wondered if his guild could create anything interesting with it. He doubted most people would prefer this method over just getting enchanted equipment until they could afford proper skills but this method did give one an actual skill that would grow with the cultivator instead of items needing to be reced every Tier or two.


    Matt just hoped that Ra¡¯th was as affable as he seemed and would be willing to share some more of the details of skill creation. Even if it didn¡¯t be popr, it could be useful for those whocked the funds but wanted to have ess to skills both mundane andbat-oriented. And that was reason enough to have his guild look into this method of skill creation more.


    Manny brought them back around to the original topic and gestured at the skill shards. ¡°This is an [AI] skill shard. Once absorbed, it will give you the ability to link into our informationworks where you can get answers to most questions as theye up. It is also just useful as it allows or assists most of daily life and its many conveniences. You don¡¯t need it but few choose that route and it is a gift freely given.¡±


    ¡°I will ept them then. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°The other shards are skills that are meant to supplement the [AI] skill to boost its capabilities. They are also gifts but you should learn more about our methods of using skills before deciding on whether or not you wish to use them. If nothing else, they can act as seed money if you choose to sell them.¡±


    Manny¡¯s eyes hardened as he said in a more formal tone, ¡°Now, as for something slightly less pleasant. The choice of your new home. As per long standing treaties, anyone who ascends into this Realm is given the option to move to another Great Power that more aligns with their beliefs. I can tell you about the Empire but I am unable to let you wander around unless you wish to remain here.¡±


    Matt felt Ra¡¯th stiffen, but it was only for a moment before he rxed once more.


    From there, Matt and everyone else listened as Manny gave short but factual rundowns about the various Great Powers and their cultures.


    In the end Ra¡¯th said, ¡°I see nothing egregiously wrong with you and your people, Emperor Emmanuel. I shall take your offer of citizenship and settle down. I think it will be nice to be in such a vibrant world. You and your people have so many cultivators. It''s refreshing to see from what I was used to, and I like the idea that everyone is given the opportunity to cultivate. In my Realm, it is only for those who awaken naturally or like me take the shameful route of killing a monster when unawakened.¡±


    Manny genuinely looked like he wanted to pry into that but stood. ¡°If that is the case, and you are amicable to the idea, my head librarian Ciceron is <em>immensely</em> interested in hearing what you have to say. I, however, must sadly return to my work. Once you are settled in, I will follow back up for a few more conversations that can only really happen once we both have a better understanding of each other''s cultures.¡±


    Ciceron was already waiting as they filed out of Manny¡¯s office, but one of the Imperial staff arrived and interrupted him with a courteous bow. ¡°The Emperor has assigned me to guide you while you are at the Capital until you have settled in or otherwise dismiss me. Before you are taken away by the head librarian, I can show you a room where you can refresh yourself.¡±


    Ra¡¯th took up the offer but didn¡¯t linger long. When he came out, his stone clothes had been reced withfortable baggy clothes tied tight at the ankles and wrists that Matt was sure the aide had had created on the spot for him via a high-Tier tailor.


    From there, Ciceron led them to the library where they listened to Ra¡¯th tell his life stories in great detail.


    Ra¡¯th had struck a deal with Manny that anything he shared would be paid for and anything that ended up being useful to the Empire would be bought for at an appropriate price.


    Matt got the impression Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t quite believe Manny would pay for his life''s story, but he seemed willing to share nheless and Ciceron was eager to absorb it all.


    And all of them found it fascinating; even Allie who could hardly sit still, only vanished a few times to top them off with snacks as they listened to Ra¡¯th tell his story and exin things about his world.


    Matt knew he had suffered some as a child, but he was also self-aware enough to know that his life was still better than others. Ra¡¯th¡¯s life on the other hand seemed like one of pain and hardship for the vast majority of it. Being forced to fight for a Tier 4 in wars of conquest, bing a cultivator through what he felt was a shameful method, and then being talented enough to reach the peak of Tier 4 through hard work and dedication on a Matt suspected was only Tier 4 or 5 itself. None of that could have been easy and they were only getting the highlights of his adventures.


    Ciceron spected that at least part of Ra¡¯th¡¯s advancement speed was thanks to his cultivation method which, after a little examination, seemed built around the idea of cultivating upacted ambient essence. It neither required monster essence or even seemed to particrly want it if Ra¡¯th¡¯sment on those who tried to cultivate using monster essence crippling themselves wasn¡¯t due to an unrted reason.


    If Ciceron¡¯s spection was correct, the reason Ra¡¯th wasn¡¯t crippled by his less dense cores was because of how his cultivation moved essence around in theplicated eddies they saw in his cores.


    In an amusing turn of events, Ra¡¯th seemed downright aghast at how ¡®unrefined¡¯ and ¡®simple¡¯ their cultivation methods were when Susanne, Aster, and Allie dropped their veils long enough from him to inspect their cores. The new ascender not quite believing that they all followed the Path.


    ¡°What are the advantages of his method, doc?¡±


    To answer Allie¡¯s question, Ciceron spent a few seconds at Tier 40 speeds going over information but once he dropped back down to Tier 26 levels he said, ¡°Our Realm probably used something simr, but as our new friend Ra¡¯th exined, it has issues. If it is simr, which is a big if, this style of cultivation method can be difficult to advance and any imperfections in the early stages can lead to being wholly unable to progress into theter ones. It alsoes with significant difficulty in breaking through Tiers as a baseline, whereas our method might be simple but it''s been refined enough where there aren¡¯t any additional requirements than gathering a volume of essence and squeezing it down. Based on previous research, the eddies andplexities of this style of cultivation method is to make up for the weaker essence and lesser amount used. Look at his cores. The <em>volume</em> of his cores is the same but he has used roughly twenty percent less essence to get what I¡¯d specte is a simr amount of power to someone of a simr Tier who uses our cultivation methods. It''s truly fascinating to see the differences that result in simr oues, and fills in a lot of questions we have had about such methods and their use in the past.¡±


    Ra¡¯th looked very interested at thatment and asked, ¡°Is there anything in your histories about using monster essence to advance with a method like mine, Master Librarian? Or even anything about advancing past my current Realm?¡±


    Ciceron shook his head. ¡°Nope. We in fact only have twoplete methods that used to be used. A few dozen fragmented methods, but from everything we know, which let me reiterate that these methods have not been used for close to a billion years, they all needed ambient essence to function. They were all closely guarded secrets as well, but the current means of cultivation utilizing monster essence took precedence simply because of the <em>ease</em> by which one could achieve near-perfectpression. It has some limits, certainly, but they are ones that are easy enough to work around.¡±


    Ra¡¯th looked awkward even as he looked eager. ¡°I am new here, so I don¡¯t have anything in the way of value, but can I trade my services to ess these information tomes? Even if they don¡¯t follow the path of the stars, they might prove useful guides for my next stage of advancement.¡±


    Matt was going to offer to pay for the books, but Ciceron beat him to it. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you Ra¡¯th, my Domain revolves around gathering knowledge, so if you share what you feelfortable with sharing to me, I¡¯ll make anything not highly ssified in the library open to you.¡±


    Ra¡¯th looked around at the tomes before nodding decisively. ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that deal.¡±


    Matt leaned forward, gathering Ra¡¯th¡¯s attention before they could get distracted. ¡°I¡¯d also like to offer something simr. You don¡¯t have to decide now and honestly you should gather more information before deciding but I run a charity guild. I¡ª¡±


    Seeing Ra¡¯th mouthing the something he expected was the magical trantion of charity guild while looking <em>extremely</em> confused, he spent a few moments exining the purpose behind the guild and the reason for its existence.


    ¡°I really like the skill form you showed us earlier. I personally am not a master of such things, but I can afford to gather the masters and see if they can take what your people did and share something with our people. Some might not feel it''s useful and prefer to stick with simple items until they can afford skill shards, but some people might really like a skill they can create for free so long as we can mitigate most risks. I can pay you handsomely for such knowledge, but I believe that there is value in researching this method. Your own experiences would be very helpful in that, and I would pay for that separately and generously.¡±


    Ra¡¯th mulled that over before saying, ¡°I will keep that offer in mind. Thank you. I can say that I don¡¯t mind sharing things that aren¡¯t directly rted to my own skills. In my wanderings, I have seen and memorized many cultivation methods. For posterity''s sake, I¡¯m willing to share all of them. Maybe they aren¡¯t as good, but I am a stranger to a strange Realm and it would make me happy to know that a bit of my Realm lives on here if nothing else. And at that point, the skill¡¯s creation methods would be known. But unless there is something I learn that changes my mind, I have no reason to reject your offer. I wouldn¡¯t dare to call myself an expert, but I¡¯m fairly good at creating skills. Self-made ones at that. A few that I shared even got popr and were widely adopted.¡±


    Aster elbowed Matt out of the way, sending a phoenix Liz squawking, as she said, ¡°Is your Talent about skill creation?¡±


    Ra¡¯th shook his head. ¡°My manifestation, what you call a Talent, isn¡¯t rted to skill modification or creation, it would have been helpful if it was, but I was not so blessed. I believe that my ¡ª¡±


    Ciceron held up a hand, silencing Ra¡¯th even as Zack and Matt were about to do the same.


    ¡°Ra¡¯th, as a stranger to thesends I realized that you might not have a way to quantify your Talent. Now, that is a limitation which we can rectify in a moment, but it''s considered taboo to share one''s Talent. Friends¡ª¡± he nodded to them, ¡°good friends mind you, might share it, but I know of spouses who haven''t revealed the whole truths about their Talents to each other. I¡¯d rmend keeping that private or at most sharing a general idea of what it is.¡±


    Ra¡¯th nodded solemnly even as Aster apologized. ¡°Sorry. I got excited. I wasn¡¯t trying to pry. At <em>our</em> level, sharing stuff about your Talent is moremon, but even then¡­¡±


    Ra¡¯th just shrugged. ¡°I take no offense, as it wasn¡¯t a secret in my home. What one knew about it was often shared. That said, I will take your advice on this, Master Librarian. Maybe if we be friends, I will share.¡±


    That led to a detour where they brought Ra¡¯th to a Talent scanner and he took a few minutes to inspect the thing.


    He seemed impressed by theplexity of the enchantments and ogled the way the system prevented anyone else from seeing the readouts. Aster even demonstrated it for him twice, trying to remove her metaphorical foot from her mouth.


    That then led to them showing Ra¡¯th an awakening machine.


    That seemed to truly shock him. ¡°I wish I could send this information to my home. My taking essence from a monster was considered a shameful secret I had told no one. Something like this, that can awaken many with just a single monster? Amazing.¡±


    Liz asked her own question. ¡°It''s considered a right to awaken in the Empire. Even just low-level cultivation is so useful for anyone. You mentioned your family, did any of them be cultivators? Which let me apud your people, inspirations are rare here. Matt, Zack, and Ciceron are the only ones present to have had one.¡±


    Ra¡¯th smiled lightly as he shook his head. ¡°Sadly, no. By the time Warlord O¡¯dchigin was in in battle, my parents had already passed away. A faminebined with a long winter were too much for them. As for my younger brother, he survived but it had been almost a decade since I had been taken away to join the army and he hardly knew me. Combined with me bing a cultivator, there was too much distance between us for much. After I saw to his needs and ensured he and his offspring would be taken care of, I started my own adventures, eventually leaving my world on a Sky Bridge.¡±


    Ciceron was the only one who didn¡¯t look surprised as Zack asked the question they were all thinking, ¡°How did these Sky Bridges work? They seem simr to our tethers and associated teleporters.¡±


    That information meant a trip to a teleporter, where Ra¡¯th inspected it before saying, ¡°These are beyond me. I know little about how Sky Bridges work, though I can certainly predict when they will appear given some time to set up some divinations.¡±


    Ciceron nodded. ¡°Hmm, natural formation? Interesting. Perhaps I do know something, then. Our tethers are an expansion of conceptual linkage, wherein two worlds that drift near one another in chaotic space will tend to influence the other, creating a space wherein it bes possible to traverse between the two worlds. Naturally, they¡¯ll onlyst a few decades to centuries, and keeping them connected beyond that can be dangerous, but that is likely what your Sky Bridges are akin to. The teleportation tforms use that to permanently lock the two locations into a tether.¡±


    Ra¡¯th surprised them all but shaking his head. ¡°That isn¡¯t wrong, but my people did discover how to create permanent Sky Bridges. Or at least permanent enough that even with thousands of years they haven''t broken. I even know how to create them. There are more temporary versions that onlyst for about that long without stabilization and we use them to go and harvests that are worthwhile.¡±


    ¡°Oh?!?¡± Ciceron looked like a puppy as he turned a feverous gaze onto Ra¡¯th.


    ¡°Any advancement your people might have made could prove useful in lowering the costs of creating the tethers. Currently they take Tier 20 materials for even low-Tier worlds¡ª.¡±


    Matt was also interested but knew his guild probably wasn¡¯t the best ce for such research; Allie finally lost her patience.


    ¡°Enough with the nerd shit. Ra¡¯th buddy, pal, friendo, wanna spar? I¡¯ve been dying to see what someone from another Realm can do with an ascension bonus and y¡¯all have just been talking for way too long. That shit can wait for a few hours. Duel?¡±


    Ra¡¯th grinned and formed a de out of stone. ¡°I¡¯d never pass the opportunity to test myself. I also feel the ascension has greatly benefited me and what better way to test myself than against new friends?¡±


    Allie smirked. ¡°And what better way to make friends than to try and kill each other?¡±


    Ra¡¯th just grinned at the question.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 379

    Chapter 379


    Ra¡¯th had never minded fights, spars, battles, or even death feuds where only one side could walk away. They were a part of gathering power and influence. Friendly fights could also be a good way to learn about someone, and these Ascenders seemed interesting.


    If he was understanding the bits and pieces of information he had picked up correctly, these people were the strongest fighters in this Realm at their cultivation level. That would have been reason enough to fight them in normal circumstances, but Ra¡¯th wanted to see for himself just how much his power had increased with his arrival to this Realm. It had felt like aplete fundamental reworking of himself in the moment of his Ascension, but he had nothing to base the feeling off of.


    Another part of him wanted to see just how well his Celestial Guides stood up to the absurdly simple method these people used. It was undeniable these people were more advanced in many ways than his own, but it would be foolish to extrapte that to mean <em>everything</em> about them was more advanced. Their way of guiding essence might work, but it was the epitome of simplicity, to the point that he couldn¡¯t believe it was effective. Everything he knew said that such a system couldn¡¯t be very powerful. He also suspected that they had simr thoughts, but neither side really had a frame of reference until they were able to test things.


    The Librarian seemed certain that their peoples had used simr methods before, but that time seemed so long ago that it was of dubious authority. And the best way to find out was to throw themselves at each other and battle it out.


    After he agreed, he felt the world warp around them, and once more he was pulled across the stars.


    This being the second time he had gone through this, he felt that he could have resisted the movement with either his Sky¡ª Domain, or even a few of his skills, which gave him a degree of security being in a foreign Realm with still unfamiliar people.


    His gut told him that these people weren¡¯t bad, but he was still firmly in the trust but verify stage he was in anytime he went to an unfamiliar location or world.


    Even the strongest people could get caught off guard if they weren''t careful.


    Looking around, he found himself in an area not too unfamiliar from what he was used to, which both caught him off guard and made him feel a bit more at ease. There were only so many ways to safely fight in an inhabited environment, and it seemed their peoples agreed on wide open areas protected by imbuements¡ª skills, or no, enchantments, Ra¡¯th was pretty sure that was the correct trantion.He would have preferred ayer of sand to coat the ground, but the rough-cut stone would act as fine footing should flight be disabled.


    The six started bickering before the fox-featured woman, Aster, if he remembered correctly, turned away from their huddle to where he stood waiting.


    ¡°As the guest who everyone wants to fight, how do you want to do this and who do you want to fight first? We can tell you a bit about ourselves first if you want to make a more informed decision, or we can go wild and just brawl randomly.¡±


    Ra¡¯th considered that for a moment before clenching his fist and feeling even more power than he had had before he ascended.


    That gave enough confidence to just brawl but caution prevailed. ¡°I understand this Realm has a great peak of power and this world feels firm, but is there any risk of our fighting damaging things, each other, or bystanders?¡±


    All of them assured him that wasn¡¯t possible nearly on top of each other, so Ra¡¯th decided to follow their lead.


    ¡°If so, I¡¯m fine with fighting any of you. One on one seems eptable as a friendly spar. As for my opponent¡­¡±


    Ra¡¯th let his eyes wander over the people who had picked him up with a critical eye as he had done previously.


    Allie, or Ascender Shadow, caught his eye once more. Her skin being a tapestry of stars helped in that, but he was starting to get used to it. Either way, she wasn''t an ideal first opponent if the daggers at her hip were any indication. The same could be said for Zack, Aster, and Liz, whose non-standardbat styles he hadn¡¯t encountered before thanks to theck of a cultural driver pushing everyone to use swords.


    That didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t fight them, given the chance. Seeing someone at his level of power who specialized in the spear, a weapon he hadn¡¯t used since he became a Celestial¡ª a cultivator¡ª was a fun idea, but it wasn¡¯t where he wanted to start. No, it was better to start with something he was more familiar with.


    Which meant he had Ascender Titan¡ª Matt, he reminded himself¡ª or Susanne who, if he understood things correctly, was one step weaker than the others.


    Part of Ra¡¯th wanted to start with Susanne and move his way up to the peak, but his surging power demanded to dive right into the best and see where he stood.


    Interlocking his hands, he flexed politely; he knew they probably didn¡¯t have the same customs as he was used to and he would eventually get around to learning and adopting them, but he wanted to do this right.


    ¡°I¡¯d be honored to fight you, Ascender Titan.¡±


    Matt grinned with what Ra¡¯th could call smug satisfaction as everyone else started to heckle him. They spoke a little faster than the spell was quitefortable tranting, but it wasn¡¯t so bad that he couldn¡¯t get the gist that Titan had been arguing a simr logic to Ra¡¯th¡¯s own for why he should get to fight first.


    Summoning a de with his Stone Creation Con¡ª skill, he reminded himself. [Stone Creation] was one of his personally-modified spells taken and honed until he could create armor and weapons out of stone at his own Tier with ease.


    Thanks to his Talents being upgraded via the Ascension, he was able to imbue¡ª enchant¡ª both items intoplicated works that would have taken him a decade or more of effort in a single instant.


    Even better was the fact that both items being made of stone interacted with his Tier 1¡¯s new effect that made them nigh indestructible.


    A im the machine made that he was eager to put to the test.


    Ascender Titan stood forward with a de that looked more ornamental than anything he had seen before. Instead of a solid bar of steel, the de looked like it had been hollowed out into something like an interweavingttice of strands, almost like a loosely woven reed basket.


    Just as he was wondering how that was practical, the de filled in with solidified star power, mana he reminded himself, to make a uniform whole.


    <em>Huh</em>.


    Titan grinned as he wiggled the de. ¡°I¡¯m still working on this new application, but don¡¯t worry about it breaking or anything. It''s not so easy to destroy.¡±


    Agreeing, Ra¡¯th red his cultivation, sending his essence swirling through his celestial passageways before he activated his buffing skills, [Strength of the Mountain], a spell he had created based off the remnants of a Celestial Guide he found in an old n¡¯s stronghold. It increased his strength and durability together to ensure he could handle the rigors of a melee fight. [Speed of the Breeze] boosted both his reaction time and movement speed, while [Breath of the First Rain] increased his healing and self-recovery abilities.


    Having brought himself into a fullbat-ready stance, he nodded to Matt, who had just waited for the brief instant that Ra¡¯th used to get ready.


    Except, his opponent hadn¡¯t gotten ready. Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t feel his cultivation surging, or spells being cast, and was about to gesture for a halt when Titan <em>moved</em>.


    It wasn¡¯t the fastest he had ever seen someone move, but it was close, and with no warning from hisck of surging cultivation, it caught Ra¡¯th off guard for a moment. Though being caught off guard didn¡¯t prevent him from being able to react in time, and he brought his de up to block Titan¡¯s simple thrust.


    Deflecting it to the side, he shed upward, aiming to cut Titan¡¯s chest.


    As a man of roughly simr size, Ra¡¯th expected Titan to dodge to the side and was already preparing a spike of earth to impale him should he react that way, but Titan just summoned a simple and unadorned blue armor skill that deflected the unempowered thrust.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t easily overwhelm his opponent, something that hadn¡¯t happened for centuries before he reached the peak of power in his old Realm, Ra¡¯th settled in and activated one of his oldest skills from his very first celestial guide, [Fury of the de].


    Every swing of his de sent out shockwaves of mana that would cause damage to anyone who got too close to him. In the case of those using skill armor like Titan was, such constant damage was a good way to wear through their mana pool. Physical armor often fared a little better, but the des of mana were sharp enough to damage even the best armor, which was all a swordsman of his level needed to bypass such defenses.


    With that first cast, he was able to get a feeling for the changes his ascension had wrought.


    It wasn¡¯t what he had expected, such as a t increase of power. Instead, despite the contradictory nature, he felt that his oldest spell was stronger than ever before and weaker at the same time.


    His gut told him that at least part of that feeling was that because he was in a new, stronger, tougher Realm. Where his [Fury of the de] would have torn holes in reality before, they simply cut through the air simr to when he was a God. Logically, it made sense, as he was only halfway through the power scale simr to as he had been when he was a simple God. But it made him feel like his skill was weaker, even though it wasn¡¯t.


    It wasn¡¯t that he just wanted to believe the skill wasn¡¯t weaker and was deluding himself, he could feel the difference through the resonance and see the difference in the pulses of mana. Each cut was thinner, faster, cheaper, and felt more dangerous than what he was used to.


    The same went for his other skills which, now that he was pushing himself, he could get feedback from. Each of his boosting skills felt fifteen to twenty percent stronger after his ascension and made moving feel like flying.


    Wanting to test that more, and seeing that Titan wasn¡¯t struggling to deal with his moves, Ra¡¯th increased his tempo once more, reaching seventy percent of his maximum.


    As he shed out with an [Avnche], he let the wave of formed earth crash down on Titan, ready to un-bury him should he need to, but that proved wholly unnecessary.


    While his skill did pierce Titan¡¯s armor, it hadn¡¯t copsed it entirely and the armor quickly reformed, which was impressive and spoke to a well-modified skill. Or a very high level one; with their ability to pull skills out of rifts, he couldn''t really judge things like that without a better understanding of the baseline of each and every skill.


    A daunting task he knew he¡¯d need to settle eventually.


    Just a second after kicking his way free of the stone, Titan¡¯s left hand started to glow with the light blue color indicative of mana.


    Ra¡¯th felt a great pulse of danger from the spell and instinctively summoned a wall of earth out of the ambient essence to block whatever attack Titan was about to use.


    Having heard these people were the strongest members of their Tier, he had expected a lot. But he wasn¡¯t prepared when the beam of mana Titan cast blew through his wall. Even if it was a hastily made one, it was if it hadn¡¯t been there at all.


    His sh-made constructs were one of his signature moves, and he had turned the tides of battle more than once by creating them around his enemies. So to see it crumple under a single blow was a bit of a rude awakening.


    That shockpounded with the fact that he still couldn¡¯t feel Titan surging his cultivation to fight at this level. It wasn¡¯t hard, not for one of Ra¡¯th¡¯s level who had fought all of his life, but he knew some cultivators who couldn''t keep their cultivation at a peak level for even a few hours and started showing fatigue quickly. Despite knowing Titan didn¡¯t have a cultivation to usher forward, it felt like he was being toyed with or otherwise not being taken seriously.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Dodging the beam of mana before it could sweep at him, Ra¡¯th cut out using [Silence of the Fallen Snow] to sever the connection of the skill in Titan¡¯s spirit, forcing him to drop the spell. He had traded away a fortune and a half to get a copy of that Celestial Guide as a Divine, but it showed its worth once more, even in this new Realm, as the beam of mana petered out before cutting him in half.


    Thrusting out, heunched himself forward in conjunction with [Rhino''s Charge], elerating him into a blur.


    His marble de met surprising resistance as it pierced through the blue armor Titan had conjured. When he sh-enchanted the weapon, he had made it incredibly sharp, and whenbined with his buffing spells and [Rhino''s Charge] with its armor piercing effects, he expected to have pierced through any such conjured armor with ease.


    Still, he managed to impale the man and, after anchoring himself to the ground with his Concept, he twisted and wrenched to cut Titan in half.


    They said they had good healers on staff, so it shouldn¡¯t be a dangerous blow, but it wo¡ª


    Ra¡¯th nearly caught a de to the head as he paused upon seeing Titan still standing there, already fully healed. He had encountered a few fighters who went into a full self-regeneration style, allowing them to trade blow for blow inbat. But most of them had to sacrifice other aspects of their cultivation to achieve such levels of physical regeneration, which was why Titan¡¯s healing caught him off guard after feeling how physically and magically strong he was.


    Even as Ra¡¯th¡¯s mind was reeling over the decades of downtime such an injury should incur, and Titan ignoring it all, his opponent seemed to speed up even further. His de, or rather the solidified mana inside of it, started to glow with a truly massive amount of mana as an attack that made his spirit tremble was readied.


    Ra¡¯th used [Pebble Bouncing] to dodge the initial swing, but he was too slow to fully dodge the wave of mana that arced out and felt some of his armor crack and wounds open up all over his body as the tremors rattled him silly.


    [Mud Mends] fixed all of the surface level wounds in an instant, but the deeper level wounds would take longer.


    Not that they would stop him.


    Ra¡¯th hadn¡¯t gotten to where he was without learning how to fight while wounded.


    Still, that was an impressively strong spell, and Ra¡¯th was starting to understand his new opponent, which was the most important aspect of any fight.


    Titan kept up the pressure of his offensive and his de came down once more. This time, it crackled with lightning that Ra¡¯th was able to redirect into his Concept, where it dissipated harmlessly and invigorated him as he took the power for his own.


    He used the moment that bought him to cut upward, wanting to remove the offending arm, but Titan reached out and grabbed his de with his hand.


    The deceptively thin blue armor was prated with the now familiar resistance, but his de stopped dead when it came in contact with the flesh of Titan¡¯s hand.


    Through the contact, Ra¡¯th could feel some sort of secondary effect, as found in rare items, bolstering the hand, but he had never encountered the Treasure before and didn¡¯t know how to circumvent the effect. Unwilling to let an enemy grip his de, he wrenched it back, letting its pristine de turn jagged, hoping that might help pierce the unnaturally tough flesh.


    It didn¡¯t, but it was indicative of the fight in general.


    Despite hearing these people were the best in this Realm, Ra¡¯th hadn¡¯t really believed it. But he was starting to understand. Or at least he thought he was.


    Titan seemed like the children of Origins who had been given every item they could possibly want, need, or use, making them far stronger than they should be at their Tier. He had dealt with those before, but the gap had never been quite so big.


    It made him eager to defeat Titan.


    As Titan pushed him back step by step, Ra''th analyzed his opponent. Titan was good with his de, not the best he had ever seen, but he was good enough there were no ws he could exploit for an easy win. As was sometimes seen with those with lots of Celestial Guides, Titan seemed to rely on spells for most of his damage and effects, but he wasn¡¯t one dimensional with physical ws, as seen by him matching Ra¡¯th blow for blow.


    This was a well-rounded opponent who he was d he wasn¡¯t actually fighting to the death, and was instead having a friendly spar with.


    Ra¡¯th thought his main victory condition was that Titan didn¡¯t seem particrly tired or pressed in the fight: he was clearly trying, but he wasn¡¯t going all out. As Ra¡¯th was also holding back a portion of his power, there was an opportunity to go all out in an instant and try to overwhelm his opponent before Titan realized what was happening.


    In a real fight he would do exactly that, but he was trying to feel out this new Realm and where he belonged in it, so he decided to take the slower approach.


    Tapping into his Aethe¡ª Intent, he pushed a wave of high mountain fog at Titan, wanting to obfuscate him. A physical fog was created around them that blocked all types of observation that was at least twice as strong as it had been before. Another benefit of his ascension, no doubt.


    While his six senses were blocked, his connection to the fog let him feel as Titan hurtled forward to hisst location, letting out another arc of mana that expanded to twice their heights as it passed through where he had been standing. Ra¡¯th had already dodged to the side, having expected a move like that, but was thoroughly impressed by this Titan¡¯s general prowess.


    Throwing his Concept out, Ra¡¯thmanded the battlefield to <em>Tremble</em>.


    Spells faltered, weapons grew weaker, and stamina was sapped from everyone he designated as an enemy.


    Titan slowed and Ra¡¯th shed upward, sending a wave of earth at him. Instead of being a loose collection of earth, it formed into sharp projectiles that he sh-enchanted to drain mana from everything they touched.


    It was an old tactic he had learned when fighting the Silent Silhouette Organization when he was Tier 8. It typically ended most fights on its own, but was always good enough to stop their magical armor, and he was confident in the same oue.


    He was already rushing forward, a gathering of essence forming around his de and erging it as he prepared for a heavy sh as a truly monumental amount of mana poured out of Titan.


    The flow cut off fairly quickly as the enchanted stone melted under the influx, but Ra¡¯th was already bringing his now massive sword down onto Titan, ready to cleave him from shoulder to hip.


    Just as his de was about to hit him, there was an impact as an unseen force pulsed outward. It didn¡¯t stop the de''s descent, but it did slow it enough that Titan only lost his left arm as he dodged.


    Ra¡¯th let the extra growth fall off of his de and brought the now light de up and around. The severed arm was already regrowing with a speed Ra¡¯th had never seen before, not that Titan seemed particrly worried about its loss, as he brought the crystal filled de around and unleashed a point-nk spell not seeming to care about the back st that would hit him.


    Encasing himself in stone, Ra¡¯th took the hit, wanting to inflict more damage, but staggered as he was sent flying backwards from the spell. He caught himself with a flex of his Concept, but thepse was enough for Titan to finish healing himself and rush at Ra¡¯th.


    On the back foot once more, Ra¡¯th felt a mounting pressure as Titan pressed him. But after a good parry, he regained his momentum and decided it was time to show the rest of his hand and end this fight before he was too tired to fight the others.


    Gathering more and more power into his de and using the opportunity to change the enchantments he hadid upon it to ones focusing on magical armor pration, Ra¡¯th cast his penultimate skill, [Copse the World].


    Space and time froze for an instant as the de rose and fell, it being the only thing that moved.


    Ra¡¯th expected to cut through Titan in a single blow, but the simple armor he had been dealing with turned incredibly ornate as a secondyer formed, which seemed twice as strong as the firstyer. His de still cleaved through it, but the strain was palpable and he grit his teeth as he put everything he had into the swing, letting his cultivation surge with all the brilliance his stars contained.


    The de was two fingers width through Titan¡¯s shoulder and he was hopeful he could continue his cut all the way through when the de encountered a stopping force from Titan¡¯s Intent.


    Intents being fairly rare in his Realm, even for Tier 20s, Ra¡¯th didn¡¯t have that much experience fighting opponents with them, but he had encountered a few before. He had <em>never</em> felt one quite like Titan¡¯s. It had a vor he couldn¡¯t quite identify, but he pushed that idle thought to the side as he threw his own Intent at Titan¡¯s halting effect and tried to pry his enemy¡¯s metaphorical fingers off his de to allow it to finish its cut.


    Except the moment he tried to do that, he felt a twisting sensation as there was suddenly no space left in the world for his Domains to exist and his de fully stopped.


    Knowing he was defeated, Ra¡¯th jumped back and held his hands to the side.


    ¡°A wonderful fight that shows me just how much I have to learn in this new Realm.¡±


    There was a moring from the others as they all wanted to start their own spars, but Ra¡¯th had to hold up a hand. ¡°I am a little low on sta¡ª mana from myst fight. I will need some time to meditate and recover. I¡ª¡±


    He stopped as he felt a wave of mana start to fill his mana pool. It was like his mana pool was being stimted to produce more mana, but it wasn¡¯t like him meditating and stimting that portion of his cultivation. It was more like an outside force doing all the work, leaving the mana in his pool in a strange way he struggled to put to words.


    Following the trace of power, he looked over to Titan as a few things clicked in ce.


    Titan confirmed it a momentter. ¡°My Concept has the effect of allowing me to increase mana regeneration for those I choose. I can and do often keep this up at all times, so feel free to spend as much mana as you want. We can¡­¡± He looked over to Shadow, the teleporter who vanished for a second to return with a small device and a few small stones. ¡°Set you up with a rapid mana converter, which will let you refill even faster when I¡¯m not around, though at a cost.¡±


    After being shown how to use the device, Ra¡¯th was mildly perturbed as he heard from where these mana stones normally came from.


    An Origin family, a Tier 20 family, from his own Realm had been known for being able to have seemingly endless star power thanks to devices they imnted next to their hearts that used crystalized star power.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    No one had known where they got their source of crystalized st¡ª crystalized mana, but Ra¡¯th was now pretty sure he had just had it confirmed they were delving rifts. Even if they weren''t absorbing the monster essence, they had learned that there were rewards at the end of those locations and had kept the secret to themselves.


    A quirk of the family he and everyone else he knew had just written off as oddities thanks to how random Talents were was seemingly exined away with a piece of knowledge these people consideredmon.


    He would never call himself a people person, but it was bing clear he had been a bit too much of a recluse if there were all these secrets that he had never encountered, despite being one of the strongest people in his old Realm.


    A decision he felt he needed to rectify immediately.


    He hade to a new Realm where he could start over, and he promised himself he would do exactly that.


    Part of that meant making new friends, and from the previous disy, these seemed like important people who it would be good to be at least friendly with, even if they didn¡¯t be close friends.


    Nodding to the others as he felt his mana reach an eptable level, he started sparring with each of the Ascenders.


    He lost every fight, though some seemed a little closer than others, but the reason as to why was shown when he asked when he ranked in their Tier for rtive power.


    It took a little back and forth before Zack said, ¡°I would rate you at a mid-level elite. Maybe a weak high-level elite.¡±


    After a little more back and forth, Ra¡¯th had an understanding of what that meant and he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little disappointed. But at the same time he couldn¡¯t help but be excited.


    As Liz put it, ¡°If you''re this good without all of our advantages, you can possibly reach peak or maybe even pinnacle level elite given enough resources and training.¡±


    It was a good point, and Ra¡¯th wanted that. Not just to climb to the peak of power, but to show that his methods worked.


    He also understood that he had a lot to learn, and so took the offered opportunity for a small tour around the Imperial Capital before they went to dinner at a luxurious restaurant. The food was kind of strange and new, but he enjoyed sampling everything and had a good time as he learned more about the people who picked him up.


    Ultimately, it solidified in him that he was going to push himself here in this new Realm, and that started with earning money.


    In his old Realm, he had been wealthy thanks to his long umtion of not just material goods but knowledge, and if he needed wealth there were numerous organizations that were nothing but blights on their surroundings that he had no issues with wiping out for money. None of that seemed true here, and with such a seemingly strong government, it would probably not be tolerated.


    Matt had, however, spoken of his guild and their willingness to pay well for information about his homnd and their various differences.


    Even just his enchanting knowledge would bepletely unique and novel which, even if it was limited in Tier, should be valuable. He knew his people would have mored for such novel information. Even if it had only been of low-Tier enchantments, they could have built off the unique foundation.


    Combined with his deal with the Librarian, that should be enough to get him started.


    He also needed to have a better understanding of this culture and the ins and outs of its peoples. Things seemed good from what he had been shown, but that was only that, and things could be irredeemably bad once the surface was peeled back. He wouldn¡¯t willingly stay in a ce like that, but he¡¯d need time alone to learn such things.


    That gave him a few smaller short-term goals, but his main long-term goal was making his next cultivation levels, which wouldn¡¯t be easy. Oh, it wouldn¡¯t be that hard if his only goal was to continue what he had been doing, cultivating ambient essence, but he had learned first-hand that despite its simple nature and slower progression, there were significant advantages to absorbing the monster essence instead of letting it disperse.


    Before he continued onward, Ra¡¯th wanted to create a hybrid method that could give him the best of both worlds, and that would be anything but easy.


    It would also be expensive to do the testing he suspected would be necessary. In his own Realm, he knew of rare items that allowed one to shift their cultivation, and he could only hope that they had simr things.


    Still, despite the hurdles, he was excited as he turned to Matt and started hashing out a deal for his knowledge.


    Even as he chatted his mind went to the duels. He might have lost all of the battles, which wasn¡¯t too surprising given what he had encountered with Titan, but his reality was shattered when the Ascenders started a duel among themselves at the end.


    It hurt his pride, but when they went all out, Ra¡¯th knew he would have been defeated in moments should they have done so from the start.


    They were truly in a league he had never thought possible before.


    It wasn¡¯t just that they had better items and skills, though they surely had them. But more than that, theirbat instincts were honed to an edge that he just couldn¡¯t match even with his years ofbat and lived experience.


    It was a league he wanted to reach.


    If that was possible. He wasn¡¯t sure about the trantion magic, but there was a tone of finality about bing an Ascender he didn¡¯t have the cultural understanding to follow but he knew that few things were truly impossible given enough time and motivation.


    Turning to Susanne during dinner he asked, ¡°Is it possible to reach their levels?¡±


    Susanne nodded. ¡°It''s extremely hard, but possible. Rarer than Ascenders themselves really. Yun Me is the most famous one due to how long she has been doing it, but there have been others. It''s not easy, but nothing is impossible if you work hard enough.¡±


    Ra¡¯th could tell she was talking more to herself than to him in that moment, but he took the words to heart and made a mental note to look up this Yun Me for himself once he absorbed the [AI] skill shard he had been given.


    As he had learned thanks to his inspiration that had forced him to ascend, having no goals or aspirations led to stagnation and he refused to fall into that pit once more.


    Goal: Reach Ascender power level.


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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 381

    Matt had to rein himself in after their spar with Ra¡¯th, and he could tell that everyone else felt the same way.


    The fight had been so¡­ <em>different,</em> they all wanted to go another round or five.


    Ra¡¯th¡¯s spells felt unique, and each cast carried with it a surprise as their patterns of energy differed from what they were used to, not to mention just how strong some of the spells were.


    His big attack that warped both time and space was something Matt really wanted to see pop up in a rift, but knowing his luck, it would be a Tier 50 skill which they would never encounter. At least not for thousands of years, but he really wanted to y with it <em>now</em>. Few attack skills interacted with space, let alone time, in the way that Ra¡¯th¡¯s had shown itself to do so.


    He also wanted to see what would happen when they shoved an upgrade orb into the skill.


    It would also answer a question he had been thinking over as he watched the fights.


    What Tier did a purely self-made skill count as?


    Was there a possibility for them to abuse self-made skills that were unique to use both a Tier 14 upgrade orb and a Tier 26 upgrade orb on a skill that was clearly beyond those Tiers in terms ofplexity and power?


    If he could, that was awesome, and it lent itself to further exploitation. And if he couldn''t, then why not?People did create skills in this Realm, even if rarely, but Matt had no idea how upgrade orbs interacted with them and he wanted to explore the possibilities.


    Even a failure could teach them a ton, and Matt¡¯s pockets already hurt as he anticipated the tests his guild would want to run on this idea.


    What if they learned something unique about upgrade orbs from this?


    Or skills themselves.


    Having seen the skills in action, Matt was already formatting a directive for his guild to start creating their own skills that would be useful in the Empire.


    If they could simplify Ra¡¯th¡¯s method a little, as it sounded prettyplicated, they could change thendscape of low Tiers and their rtionship with magic.


    That was if Ra¡¯th¡¯s ¡®ease¡¯ of creating skills wasn¡¯t a function of his cultivation method.


    For all of his strengths, Ra¡¯th¡¯s cultivation method left a lot to be desired, at least from a purebat perspective. Itsplicated nature and less total essence meant he had to spin up his cultivation cores to fight at a peak level, which took both concentration and effort that could be better spent elsewhere.


    That, if nothing else, killed Matt¡¯s desire to look into the method too much. Oh, he¡¯d happily fund both Ra¡¯th¡¯s efforts and anyone else in his guild who wanted to test methods like it, but his personal interest evaporated upon learning it had such a major weakness.


    It also exined why they all had to shift into something closer to a mid-Tier 25 perception speed when talking to Ra¡¯th. His baseline was a step lower until he spun up his cultivation cores.


    Matt did intend to talk to Luna about the method of spinning one¡¯s cores, as it was simr to the method she had taught them about pushing through cultivation suppressors. But he wondered, or rather hoped, that if there was a shared origin there might be a more advanced version that could not just reduce suppression effects, but boost cultivation in a simr way to what Ra¡¯th used. It was unlikely that there was a known method, otherwise they would have already been taught it either on the Path or in the army, but it was something to look into.


    That, and he was sure that if anyone could help in Ra¡¯th¡¯s desire to reach the pinnacle elite stage, it would be Luna. If he survived her tutge at least.


    From what he understood, she had retreated back into her house for a ¡®nap¡¯ once the war ended, and hadn¡¯t been heard from since. He normally wouldn¡¯t trust such simple information outright, but considering that it came from a ¡®fearful¡¯ Mara, Matt believed it.


    Still, none of that mattered right now. Ra¡¯th was still new to the Realm and needed to settle down.


    To that end, after they ate dinner, they escorted Ra¡¯th to the room he had been given in the pce.


    Eyes turned to Allie, who correctly thought everyone was about to ask her for teleports and vanished. Teleporter having escaped, Matt turned to everyone else and offered ess to their suite, which was closest to the Pce, for a ce to rx until Ra¡¯th was ready to go out again.


    Allie reappeared the moment they decided to hang out and demanded they watch one of the newer Ascender movies.


    Aster immediately pouted as her favorite actor and friend Cynthia Sinir hadn¡¯t yed her in thistest movie, and she insisted the new actor hadn¡¯t captured her subtleties in the same way Cynthia could.


    Matt couldn¡¯t tell the difference and he knew Aster better than anyone else, but hisment had only earned him a re, then lecture, when he mentioned it.


    Thankfully there was an easy way to distract Aster and he offered they watch Cynthia¡¯s new movie instead of the new Ascender movie.


    Cynthia felt now that the majority of Ascender movies that would be made had been made fifty years after the war, she was able to start taking other roles.


    Having yed an Ascender more than any other single actor, she had long be a household name and had her pick of movies, which was why most were surprised when she personally funded a lower budget script and elevated what would have been a small single movie into an Empire-wide production.


    Matt did understand why she took the role however, as it was theplete opposite of everything she had been doing while acting as Aster. ording to the synopsis they had been given, instead of an incredibly powerful cultivator, Cynthia was portraying a weak low Tier who seemed to be always at the whim of fate until she started taking measures into her own hands.


    Except her efforts must have proved for naught because the ending of the story was spoiled by the first line of the synopsis. ¡°She died while achieving nothing¡±.


    It was genuinely interesting and Matt had been forced to dedicate actual effort to not have the movie spoiled thanks to the amount of buzz it had generated while they were on their reconnaissance mission.


    Aster jumped on the offer, which led the seven of them to a private theater where they watched the movie.


    Matt shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, but it was genuinely good. The story wasplex enough to keep the viewer interested but simple enough to make watching easy. It also trope dodged his expectation of not actually killing the titr character and true to the movie''s message, the main character struggled and achieved nothing despite all of her efforts.


    It was nihilistic to the extreme but so incredibly well done that Matt understood the hype around the movie after they watched it.


    Matt was tempted to go back to their suite to get a little work done, preparing his briefs to his guild about all he had learned while it was fresh, but Aster, Allie, Liz, and surprisingly enough Zack demanded they go and congratte Cynthia in person for her ster role as not-Aster.


    Just months after the movie''s release, Cynthia was still in her press tour and on Rusty¡¯s capital, which would have normally meant they could only send a message but Allie happily teleported them there without a singleint.


    Scanning the, Matt pushed a dozen return probes away but paused upon feeling a trio of familiar spiritual perceptions brush against his own.


    Rusty, Tur¡¯stal, and Frederic were all gathered within Rusty¡¯s pce? And in a meeting of some sort of ¡ª Sensing the people around them Matt understood they were dealing with the Orders.


    He had almost forgotten about the Orders with how many roadblocks they encountered when promoting the venture, but from the gathering of Knights and nobles, it seemed like they were finally about to start the program.


    Receiving a message to join them if he had time, Matt sighed knowing he would need to mingle and y nice with not only the gathered nobles but also the Orders.


    That many people just seemed like a headache waiting to happen but Matt knew what he was getting into when he signed on.


    Before he could reply, Allie teleported them once more but this time to Cynthia¡¯s location.


    That they appeared in the middle of a live talk show was probably a bonus for Allie and Aster who enjoyed the fame, but Matt felt his social batteries take a hit immediately as every eye and camera shifted to them.


    Smiling, he waved at the camera before retreating slightly even as Allie and Aster squee¡¯d all the way up to Cynthia who was still processing their sudden arrival.


    The host was smooth and with an easy grin, he turned to the camera and said, ¡°And we were just talking about what Ascender Wraith thought about the movie. I think we have our answer.¡±


    Cynthia wiggled in excitement as she smiled at the exuberant Aster but Matt¡¯s bond was shoved out of the way as Allie and Liz wanted to congratte her, which caused everyone in the audience tough at their antics.


    The host, one Brian O¡¯Conner, wasn¡¯t someone Matt knew well but his [AI] pulled up enough information to let Matt smoothly answer in a way that best fit the situation. ¡°The movie was quite the treat. I doubt anyone needs us to say that, but it''s worth saying, and definitely worth seeing.¡±


    That earned another cheer from the audience which helped cover the excited chattering from the astonished fans. Thankfully one of the producers had the good grace to mute Cythina¡¯s sound, which prevented the live audience from hearing everything they were saying.


    Not that anything they said was sensitive or even negative, but it was private, even if they had barged into the middle of her public interview to give their congrattions.


    Sure, this would top the headlines, but Matt still felt bad about it derailing her interview.


    A lot of people¡¯s ns had just gotten thrown into a trash can but what was done was done.


    Brian, however, just rolled with it and to his credit didn¡¯t fawn over them as Ascenders and instead asked them about the movie, diving into what they liked and didn¡¯t.


    The interview ran long, but no one rushed them out and instead they happily chatted for almost half an hour before the conversation naturally ended and all of them took the Allie Express out of the studio.


    They didn¡¯t go far, just to a restaurant, but Matt took the opportunity to slip away and visit the still ongoing meeting with the Royals and the Orders.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    He¡¯d much rather stay behind but Aster was having fun with her friend, and as supporters of the initiative one of them needed to poke their head in or risking across as rude.


    Fifty years ago, Matt would have shrugged such concerns off but recently he had been getting hit with issues that stemmed from his unwillingness to mingle properly and he had been trying to be better about such things.


    The moment he entered Rusty¡¯s pce, he was redirected to a side room where he found all three of the Royals waiting for him.


    Squinting, Matt flexed his Meld and was disappointed that none of them so much as flinched. He had hoped the oddity of his Meld would be able to jump Tiers considering it felt like the clones were made with what felt like either Concepts or Intents.


    Rusty rolled his eyes at the test. ¡°Yeah, we are clones. Can¡¯t exactly leave the party.¡±


    Matt contemted before asking for and getting a better set of protection in the room before he spoke.


    ¡°We got a new ascender.¡±


    All three Royals clearly twitched as they increased their perception before lowering it to Tier 26 levels once more, giving him a very confused look.


    Which was exactly why Matt had worded it that way.


    ¡°Ascender as in ascended from a lower Realm,¡± he exined, eliciting a spark of recognition from his listeners. As Matt exined the adventure they¡¯d been through, including how they¡¯dst-minute needed to swipe the man from the Federation, Rusty bellyughed, not his clone but his real body, who waved away the person he was talking to to rece his Domain clone in the room.


    His fast move earned him dirty looks from the other two Royals, which Rusty ignored.


    ¡°Ok, this is too good to pass up. Continue on with the story. I wanna hear this in person.¡±


    Matt did so and expected Rusty to make another quip but Tur¡¯stal was the first to speak. ¡°Now this is interesting. Making skills. I really want to get my hands on that create matter spell. Using ambient essence to condense into a temporary form at-Tier would mean less mana to reinforce the material than the normal create branch of spells make. Just how versatile is the skill creation process?¡±


    Matt shrugged because he had no idea. ¡°You¡¯d have to ask Ra¡¯th himself, but he implied that it was a personal skill. Which I understand means he¡¯s unlikely to share how it works. Better odds on it being a skill drop that starts to show up.¡±


    Frederic surprised Matt by disagreeing. ¡°I don¡¯t dispute yourment about him not wanting to share but I doubt that Tur¡¯stal has the time nor the inclination of trying to learn how to create new spells. Far easier to justmission Ra¡¯th to make what she wants and transfer it to her. I¡¯d also assume that he might be willing to do that even if he isn¡¯t willing to share the exact creation method.¡±


    Matt opened his mouth to exin how that wouldn¡¯t work, but he didn¡¯t have one. nk skill shards were pretty much useless, and he had nearly forgotten they existed and hadn¡¯t put two and two together in this context.


    It was actually a really good idea, but not for buying spells.


    If Ra¡¯th could create skills as easily as he said, he might be able to make the most simple physical boosting spell again, but instead of just delivering one copied spell, he might be able to pause mid-way at important breakpoints and create a permanent record of how to build out the skill by storing each step in a nk skill shard.


    Though his skills being slightlyrger than average might make that impossible. Matt had no idea if nk skill shards had capacity limits, and made a note to get his hands on a few to find out.


    Still, Tur¡¯stal had given him a very interesting idea he was keen to look into more, but now wasn¡¯t the time for that and Rusty pulled him out of his musings.


    ¡°Interesting timing with this, don''t you think?¡±


    Frederic nodded in agreement, but Tur¡¯stal disagreed. ¡°It can''t be possible. Even if the Emperor had warning, his future sight wouldn''t pinpoint the arrival time of the ascender until they had arrived. Future sight doesn''t work without all the information. Coincidence, nothing more.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow indicating his confusion and Rusty leaned over and faux whispered, ¡°The Emperor pushed a final proposal to us just a week before this guy ascended. Feels like a really good distraction, not an ident.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ve been on the lookout for over a year now. Seems like a coincidence to me.¡±


    Rusty shrugged. ¡°And I don¡¯t buy that for a second. We¡¯ll likely never know but it''s a good reminder that future sight or no, Emperor Emmanuel is a force to be reckoned with.¡±N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Frederic nodded at the statement before saying, ¡°True enough, and a good warning to heed. That said, we all need to get back to the party. Matthew, thank you for passing on the news. You are wee to join us if you¡¯d like.¡±


    None of them seemed to expect Matt¡¯s agreement and they all gave him odd looks when he started walking down the hall towards the party instead of away.


    Tur¡¯stal asked, ¡°Are you looking to sponsor an Order yourself?¡±


    ¡°No, not really. I¡¯m already a bit stretched thin as-is these days. The guild got sued again for a perceived infringement. It will probably fail even before it sees a courtroom, but something Kees said stuck with me. If I, as a guild leader and a noble, worked on forming connections then less people would be willing to cross me socially now that it''s clear I won''t just murder anyone who tries to sue me.¡± Matt gestured to the ballroom they were heading for, ¡°So I¡¯m trying.¡±


    To that end, Matt joined the gathering and mingled, doing his best to be friendly and open.


    It wasn¡¯t easy.


    Almost immediately half a dozen nobles¡ª weaker dukes¡ª sidled over to him and tried to strike up a conversation.


    He deeply, desperately wanted to blow them off but instead spent some time chatting with them before he saw a Knight he actually wanted to talk to and made his excuses.


    Jophseph Ior was the Knight Commander of the Arcane Order, an Order which specialized in neutral mana attacks thanks to their signature Natural Treasure, an Infinite Diamond. It being a Natural Treasure he had taken and used himself had given him an interest in the Order.


    Stepping into the circle of participants, Matt was amused as the closest two people, a Tier 45 Knight and a Tier 37 duke, both shifted away from him despite his vastly lower Tier.


    When he had first interacted with the Knights, he had expected them to look down upon him for both being lower Tier and being not of hereditary noble background, but his status as an Ascender overwrote any of his otherwise perceived ws. For some it went even further than that and they treated him like a dangerous animal they didn¡¯t want to be too close to.


    Part of him was almost insulted by that but considering how these people treated anyone they saw as lower than themselves, Matt was happy they treated him with fear rather than disrespect.


    Most of these Knights were <em>not</em> good people. In fact, few of them were even close to being decent people and Matt could only hope the next generations were better.


    If not¡­ well, he¡¯d deal with it if it came to that.


    He wouldn''t allow a monster to be created under his watch, let alone help resurrect one.


    Jophseph wasn¡¯t that bad ording to his information, however.


    They had only talked once but the reports Matt had read on him stated his main face had been trying to keep his Order intact after Agatha¡¯s purges, but part of the reason they had survived at all was that they hadn¡¯t been that bad in the first ce.


    Not that bad in the context of the old Orders wasn¡¯t a great look but Matt was at least willing to give them a chance.


    Once there was a natural break in the conversation, Matt stuck out a hand to shake. ¡°It''s nice to see you again, Jophseph. And in better times, with the sessful deal being worked out.¡±


    Jophseph smiled and while he could have been faking, Matt thought he saw true happiness in his eyes as he said, ¡°Much better. It''s been a dream of mine to see our Orders no longer ostracized, and with our status restored, it''s like a weight has been lifted off my chest.¡±


    Matt smiled and nodded while keeping his thoughts to himself.


    Instead he said, ¡°Now is the fun part where you get to rebuild.¡±


    It was amusing as the Knights flinched at hisment like he was about to demand something of them but that wasn¡¯t what Matt wanted here.


    ¡°Your Natural Treasure, the Infinite Diamonds, are powerful but fairly undirected in how they manifest, correct?¡± Jophseph nodded but was waiting for the other shoe to drop. ¡°I won¡¯t call myself an expert by any means but as someone who has used the Treasure, I¡¯d be interested in an exchange of information. I¡¯ve pushed my Infinite Diamond in unique ways and I¡¯m sure that you yourself have done the same and your new generation of Knights will do so as well. It could be good to see what we can learn from each other.¡±


    Matt could see Jophseph felt like he was being pressured by somebination of Matt¡¯s status as an Ascender and his political importance so he didn¡¯t let the moment linger even if he would have enjoyed seeing the Knights squirm. ¡°I¡¯d be willing to pay for the exchange or at least swap some of the Diamonds I have.¡±


    That caught the interest of everyone in the circle and Jophseph vibrated as he increased his perception to a higher Tier for a moment to give himself longer to think. ¡°An eptable offer, Ascender Titan. I can¡¯t agree to anything specific at the moment but I am interested in working with you, both in general and in this particr instance. Your methods share some ovep with a few of my former fellow Knights that are sadly lost to us. At least in some small ways.¡±


    Another Knight also of the Arcana Order snorted. ¡°Like he has any knowledge of value to offer.¡±


    Matt turned his smile onto the woman in question. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know any interesting tricks, Knight Sara.¡±


    I¡¯m sure you know some things. I just doubt you know anything us of a 200,000 year old lineage doesn¡¯t.¡±


    A number of people had been listening in and even those in their little circle took a step back to clear themselves from any potential lines of fire.


    Not that Matt would try to fight the Tier 45 who specialized inrge scale magical attacks.


    That didn¡¯t mean he would back down. ¡°I like to think otherwise. Not many people use neutral mana in quite the way I do after all.¡±


    There was a long pause where no one said a word but after a moment Knight Sara smiled. ¡°While that may be true, not many is not the same as none. I know of at least one, Charles the Endless de, who was also part of our august order some 100,000 years ago. ¡±


    ¡°We shall see then, once we havepared some notes. But now I must continue my rounds. I hope everyone has a fruitful exchange.¡±


    As much as he wanted to leave immediately then and there, he didn¡¯t want to look like the exchange had impacted him and instead moved to another three groups chatting about anything and everything.


    It wasn¡¯t fun or easy but his careful handling of Knight Sara¡¯s provocations hopefully earned him some respect, not just from the Knights but from the gathered nobles.


    His trek came to another halt when he saw a familiar face. Several in fact. Dominus Maniake stood with Sciath hEachaidh, Kiri Winiata, and Marco Winiata. All nobles who were working to take over their parents'' fiefs in theing years.


    With an actual smile, Matt moved over to join them as they talked about the Orders they were interested in potentially sponsoring, their parents having left the decisions fully in their hands.


    Matt and Liz weren''t interested in fully sponsoring an Order but, as he had set up here, they were willing to tie some level of connections to the Orders. His current idea was more centered around his guild in fact.


    These Orders burned through a lot of Natural Treasures. Not necessarily more than any otherrge organization like the army, but they burned through one or two specific Natural Treasures at a rate that was unlike any other organization.


    It was a bit far-fetched of an idea but Matt hoped his guild would eventually reach the point where they could create specific enough rifts that they could allow for target farming of Natural Treasures either through rift rewards or creating the correct rift environments that allowed for the Natural Treasures to naturally form. Both were possible but so far the guild hadn¡¯t even fully cracked Tier 8 skill rifts, let alone anything moreplicated, but they were making progress and it would be both helpful to the Empire and the Orders as a whole if they were able to achieve any more sess.


    He wouldn¡¯t mind selling Natural Treasure rifts to specific Orders to make them more self-sufficient. It would also allow him a degree of leverage over the Orders which would help keep them inline more than an iron fist would.


    Carrots were just as important as sticks.


    Thankfully his excuse to leave came before too long as Allie signaled she was about to leave and he didn¡¯t want to get stranded halfway across the Empire.


    Back at the Capital, they spent a few more hours dithering in their suite before they met back up with Ra¡¯th who was absorbing his [AI]. Being a Tier 26, he was more than capable of doing things while absorbing a skill and so they spent the remaining two days the skill would take to fully absorb exploring the Capital.


    Having visited a number of times and lived on-world for a few years, Matt was mostly immune to the sights that made up the Capital and its massive ever-present city but with Ra¡¯th leading the exploration, it was fun to view things from his perspective.


    It brought back a sense of awe Matt hadn¡¯t realized he had lost.


    And Ra¡¯th found the most unusual things interesting.


    Yes, he was impressed by the spatially expanded buildings, and spent half an hour talking about the enchantments and how they were implemented. But they then spent two hours going over the metallurgy of the framing used to build the building. His people had discovered steel and its moremonposites but they hadn¡¯t seemed to delve into metalyering like the Empire used for super massive skyscrapers and he seemed eager to get his hands on some of the stuff.


    That led them to a smith where they hit their next unexpected roadblock as Ra¡¯th startedparing the tools used to what he was familiar with.


    Not everything was so ttering.


    Ra¡¯th was thoroughly unimpressed with the Empire''s stance on things like office work. While he wasn¡¯t dismissive and Ra¡¯th clearly understood the need for such jobs, he saw them as useless at the scale the Empire used them.


    Matt could sort of follow the logic but people needed to do the jobs even if they weren''t morous and people needed money. Both sides got what they wanted, which was where Matt typically stopped thinking about such matters.


    Ra¡¯th was even amused by the idea of things like public libraries that housed most non-cultivation knowledge, but freely shared that such ces wouldn¡¯t have existed in his Realm and that their cultivation manuals were far more readily avable. At least a number of basic ones were so widely spread they were practically the beginner¡¯s choice.


    Overall, it was a fruitful and interesting two days that abruptly stopped when Ra¡¯th¡¯s [AI] finished being absorbed.


    Pausing, Ra¡¯th wobbled slightly before looking around. ¡°Now that is interesting.¡±


    Flexing his hand, he started feeling his way through the various functions while they called out helpful tips and tricks.


    New toy in hand, they spent another day getting Ra¡¯th up to speed on his [AI] before Ciceron nabbed him toplete a more thorough debriefing that could now be backed by [AI] oaths.


    Aster, despite being interested, ended up being the first to leave as she got a priority message from her just-formed duchy that two of her nobles were feuding and needed her to intervene.


    Matt and Liz took the free time to go on a few dates and just rx but even that ended when Ra¡¯th was freed from his obligations a weekter and was able to travel.


    His first stop was Matt¡¯s guild, which was exactly where Matt wanted him. They had so many things to go over.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 383

    Chapter 383


    While Ra¡¯th was being questioned and interrogated by the people Matt had assigned to work on the tentatively named ¡®Skills for All¡¯ task force, Matt had other things to work on at the guild.


    He would much rather help with the skills project than essentially m his head against the wall, but he so rarely had time to work on his sword that he couldn¡¯t justify putting it off any longer.


    The idea had started as part of an idle conversation with Liz when Mattined that his Talent was making it damn hard to make equipment that could handle his mana, and he almost wished his Tier 25 had helped with that instead of boosting some of his skills and improving his storage.


    Liz had jokingly pointed out that his Talent already did give him the perfect material, his mana itself, which had sparked an idea in Matt.


    In theory, his work with talismans in the war might have prepared him well for this. He¡¯d sh-created a few basic enchantments by creating some basic links between premade enchantments in such a way that he could customize the results to his needs. He¡¯d <em>tried</em> making talismans entirely out of mana, but that¡­ didn¡¯t really work. Maybe someday he could manage it, but he wasn¡¯t a high enough Tier for it.


    But, there was a way he could integrate his experience with talismans into his current quest for a better weapon. Namely, his growth sword. It was already bonded to his spirit, and there was therefore hardly a better way to rapidly iterate on an item that was already attuned to him. He¡¯d hired a high-Tier specialist to modify the enchantment-wiping effect to be a bit more¡­ selective. Now, instead of erasing all the enchantments present in a single mode at once, he could selectively erase <em>parts</em> of an enchantment. His precision was still a little weaker than he would have liked, and it was way more annoying to do a <em>full</em> wipe of an enchantment, but how much it sped up iterative work made it plenty worthwhile.


    Of course, the process was fairly involved. He couldn¡¯t just coat the de in mana crystal and expect it to work. Instead, he¡¯d created a sort of half-sword, with plenty of gaps in both the enchantment and the metal for his mana crystal to fill in both magically and physically. The end result looked almost organic, with fractal branches of crystal and metal twisting around one another, even if the actual <em>function</em> was still somewhatcking.


    He had lofty goals for the sword, that much was true, but right now, he was just trying to pull it up to the same level as his sword¡¯s <em>other</em> modes. The twin enchantments of the de and mana stone kept fighting each other instead of meshing, and because neither was properlyplete without the other, resulted in a barely-functional sword instead of an epically versatile weapon of mass destruction with a perfect backbone of high-power mana conduit that he was looking for.


    For what felt like the first time in his life, it wasn¡¯t his control that wascking. He had spent enough time as they moved through Tier 26 regaining a level of control better than all but a few in the Empire, but he needed far greater precision to perfectly pull off a full integration between weapon and mana crystal. Even Matt¡¯s BPL, the tool at the heart of his current effort, wasn¡¯t enough to pull it off to the standards he needed. It didn¡¯t matter if a talisman¡¯s enchantment was unstable and would burn up within an instant of being activated, that¡¯s what they were designed to do. However, it was substantially worse if Matt¡¯s sword spontaneously melted as soon as he started to use it.The biggest hurdle was that he needed to do all the work himself. His growth sword could only be enchanted by him, after all, and he¡¯d found out the hard way that included any external supplementary enchantments.


    Part of him wanted to just put the project on hold until another one of his secondary projects with Maxine paid off, but that was at least another millennium from realization.


    Just step one was getting the [AI] skill merged with half a dozen [AI] support skills like [Encrypt], [Simte Motion], [Library], an upgraded [Calctor], and so on, which was insanely hard alone, as each needed to ount for his past modifications as well. The only reason it was even <em>possible</em> was twofold: his flexible innate skill slot, and the sheer amount of documentation present regarding [AI] skill merges.


    It was pretty much assumed that everyone would merge their [AI] pseudo skill into the real deal, other than nobles who just started with the real thing, but the enormous number of people who relied on their AI in their daily lives had found a few viable strategies for even normal people to merge one or two additional support skills into the structure.


    But what had started this whole project was the Ascender chat learning that he, Liz, and Aster had finished Minka at Tier 11, and subsequently exploding with suggestions for how to take advantage of their innate skill slot. The project that had most intrigued Matt had, of course, been Max¡¯sments about some of the things <em>she¡¯d</em> done with her [AI], and he¡¯d taken her up on her offer of some individual tutoring as a result.


    At least those changes would start paying off even before it waspletely done. And the time spent on it would let him get to know Max better before they reached step two, which would require a level of trust he wasn¡¯t quite sure he actually had in her yet. He still had a standing offer for mind magic defense lessons from her, but hadn¡¯t taken her up on it yet, and it seemed like something he¡¯d need to do before he¡¯d be able to finish off this particr mod, given how he¡¯d need her direct assistance for some of thetter steps.


    But until then, it meant any free time he had spent tinkering in his guild, working on trying different configurations the teams put together while practicing his enchanting skills.


    The current set was three different types of runes linked together. They were moreplicated than hisst set, but should double his sword''s power from ten percent of its theoretical max to nearly twenty.


    Two full weeks vanished as Matt and the team tinkered and tweaked the rune types, their cement, the structure of the sword itself, and trying to find an optimal bnce between strength, ease of enchanting, and stability in a fight.


    They were even making good progress when Matt got called away by Kees, who informed him they had a problem.


    Standing in Kees¡¯ office, Matt frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I heard you correctly. Can you say that again? There is no way anyone would be dumb enough to do what you just said, let alone a dozenpanies at once.¡±


    Kees nodded, a frown carved onto his austere face. ¡°Fifteenpanies we use for various supplies just broke their contracts with us, all citing difficulties with existing clients taking priority. Four of our five rare metals suppliers, three out of three of our high-Tier enchanting materials suppliers, two out of four of our shipping partners, and so on.¡±


    Matt rubbed his chin as he thought before asking a stupid question. ¡°Is there any chance this <em>isn¡¯t</em> a targeted attack on the guild?¡±


    He expected Kees to quickly deny the idea, but his vice guild leader took a long moment to answer. ¡°I don''t believe things are as simple as they look on the surface for obvious reasons. We have made many enemies over the past century, but frankly, we have avoided stepping on too many toes directly. And I already checked, we haven¡¯t directly insulted any of thesepanies'' backers or their controlling interests. So, while I believe this is an attack on the guild, I¡¯d be hesitant to pin the me on our former partners too quickly.¡±


    Matt grinned viciously. ¡°And here my first thought was to go and knock on their doors demanding they reinstate us as business partners. Whatever will I do now that I won¡¯t act like an angry Ascender?¡±


    Kees didn¡¯t share in his attempt at levity. ¡°That may have been part of whoever orchestrated this incident''s n, but I very much doubt their goal was anything so simple. I¡¯m sure they wouldn¡¯t be mad if you stormed off in a rage, but you have shown yourself remarkably restrained for an Ascender since the end of the war. No, I believe this is phase one of arger move to iste the guild. I expect that in theing months or years, we will find more of our suppliers and contacts pulling back for various legitimate and fraudulent reasons alike.¡±


    Starting to pace, Matt thought out loud. ¡°How would you handle this if you removed me from the equation? Give me therge strokes and from your old guild¡¯s perspective if that helps.¡±


    Kees¡¯ answer was immediate. ¡°Find out who is pulling the strings and why. If I can easily defeat them, do so, but more likely anyone willing and able to pull this off is someone of my own strength or greater. In that case, once I identified them I would work out a deal about how I¡¯m stepping on their interest so much they felt the need to attack me like this and how I can pull back.¡±


    Matt frowned at the idea but didn¡¯t outright dismiss it.


    ¡°And with me and my resources, does that change your assessment?¡±


    Kees frowned. ¡°Not particrly. I would rather not have an enemy so well-connected they can pull the strings of so many businesses so casually, especially all at once. This is either a warning shot across our bow or stage one of a greater n, and my intuition says it''s thetter.¡±


    Matt let his frown turn to Kees. ¡°Kees, they are attacking a charity guild. I¡¯m not going to pay them.¡±


    Kees opened his mouth to speak, but Matt didn¡¯t stop. ¡°Kees, we haven¡¯t even created too many actually impactful things. Two dozen inventions that have gone public in thest century but most were fairly minor and all were below Tier 10. Shit, most were below Tier 5. I¡¯m not going to roll over to anyone because I stole their pocket change.¡±


    Kees actually grinned, which caught Matt off guard. ¡°I both fully understand that and am aware of your feelings and stance, Guild Leader. You did, however, ask how I would deal with it given my old guild.¡±


    Matt let himself fall into the chair with a sigh. ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have snapped at you. You¡¯re correct, I¡¯m just angry. Have you heard about Ra¡¯th and what he brings to the table yet? I know you''ve been head down the past weeks getting the mana engine paperwork ready.¡±


    Kees¡¯ frown returned. ¡°Yes, and that will be a problem.¡±


    Matt sat up straighter. ¡°How so? I did some searching and I can''t find a single instance of anyone using anything like nk skill shards for safe ways to make skills. I feel this will be mostly a research or high-Tier individual thing more than most of our inventions.¡±


    Kees looked confused for a moment before saying, ¡°Ah, no. While that is an academic curiosity and potentially useful, it''s not that disruptive of current interests. No, I was talking about skill creation for low Tiers. If that works even half as well as the current rumors are saying, it will disrupt a <em>lot</em> of interests. Enough so that we might get outright attacked by a number of powers looking for vengeance, if nothing else.¡±


    Matt¡¯s already bad mood turned worse. He had considered that the making of skills would be disruptive, but he didn''t think it would be <em>that</em> disruptive.


    Just what had happened in thest two weeks?


    ¡°borate, please. Is the method more applicable than we expected?¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Kees shook his head. ¡°More that I believe your initial report isn¡¯t fully urate. I do believe that you are correct in that not too many people will take this route. Many will see it as easier to just buy a skill or an enchanted weapon, but I¡¯ve had our Impact Teams run the numbers a few times, and even with our pessimistic models, it''s looking at something like eight percent of delvers from mortal families will probably be interested in making skills for themselves. And more if¡­¡±


    Kees paused before leaning forward making sure he had Matt¡¯s full attention. ¡°This is less dependent on you as a guild leader and more as a duke, but knowing you and Lady Moore¡¯s inclination to help the poor, we ran the numbers with you opening or subsidizing ces to teach the methods in a safe manner. A sort of after-school method for the newly awakened. The skills will need more refinement but given what information Ra¡¯th provided, we expect that most Tier 1s can manage to create a skill in their spirits within a year if they dedicate about three or four hours to it a day. If they take half the time, it will take a year and a half, to two years. Initial reports say it''s not necessarily difficult, just tedious, thanks to a few tidbits Ra¡¯th¡¯s people discovered which help with the process, and how dead simple the skills are. And that''s before our people¡¯s refinement, which they have positive outlooks on given the short time they have had to work on applying known skill modification techniques to the process. If we are correct and the process takes off like we expect, there will be a <em>sizable</em> dip in procurement for things like low-Tier items.¡±


    Matt¡¯s initial reaction was to say that eight percent wasn¡¯t thatrge of a swing, but an eight percent revenue loss would see many businesses shuttering their doors as it tranted to a ten to fifteen percent profit loss. He had thought the numbers would be lower, but as he reviewed the report Kees sent him, he couldn¡¯t argue with their findings. Even without dedicated assistance, even a rudimentary guide on the EmpireNet would probably be enough for most newly awakened to figure things out. Even if it took longer than the estimated year or two, it wouldn¡¯t take more than five, which wasn¡¯t that long even for a Tier 1.


    ¡°What are the power levels of the skills looking like? Are theyparable to Tier 8 skills?¡±


    Kees indicated his uncertainty with a gesture. ¡°So far, no, they start out about half as strong. But all of the early reports indicate that even if that can¡¯t be solved through some iteration, the skills should be fairly easy to build off of to at least reach a Tier 8 standard by Tier 5 or 6, given some mild diligence. Do note that is when Ra¡¯th says most of his people would have encountered their second major cultivation stage, and would have ess to more advanced-level spells designed to build off themon spells he¡¯s sharing. We actually believe that the skill distribution of his Realm is different from our Tier 8 breakpoint, and every six thereafter for skills to start appearing. We have no real way to prove it, but the relevant thing is his people usually built off their initial skills by Tier 5.@@novelbin@@


    ¡°Guild Leader, this is where ourrgest problem lies. It takes more effort, and most delving Tier 5s can buy amon skill like [Fireball] given some savings, but this is something they can theoretically build off forever. It may take some time, but most of our projections show people will start specializing their skills as they advance instead of forgoing them. It gives experience with general skill modification that they will find useful for all other skills, and as people pave the path for dedicated designs, they can self-direct said skill to the methods they want to take their cultivation. This will possibly havesting repercussions to the lower Tier economies as a whole if not handled carefully.¡±


    Matt leaned back and thought as he filled in the unsaid ¡®this is where we earn enemies¡¯.


    He wasn¡¯t considering keeping the information to himself, but he was considering how they needed to y it, and his initial answer was the one he liked the most.


    Help the little people.


    Higher Tiers could take care of themselves, and while he didn¡¯t want them to be taken advantage of, they had more recourse to solve issues they ran into.


    If they released the low-level steps, say Tier 1 and another at Tier 5, to bring the skills up to a typical Tier 8 level, they would certainly step on some toes. But if they left the higher-level specializations alone, allowing various guilds and interests to create, and most importantly, <em>sell</em> specializations simr to how skill modifications were already done, they could probably avoid the worst of the issues.


    A lot of people would still be mad and lower-Tier businesses would take a hit with some undoubtedly shuttering, but they would be proving they weren¡¯t trying to take everyone''s lunch and that might mollify the biggest threats.


    After exining his idea, his vice guild leader shook his head. ¡°That is the situation we have already considered. Because of your position and funding, I think you underestimate the lower Tiers. The value extracted out of those economies are small, but every world has low Tiers, they make up the majority of the Empire¡¯s poption, and they also are born often and die just as fast. If you sell a technique like this to an immortal, they only buy one or two, but a mortal needs to buy it every generation. Let''s take enchanted equipment as an example. It''s good, but it wears out and needs to be repaired and then reced every few years. Being on the Path, you advanced quickly enough that I¡¯d specte you reced your equipment once or twice as you Tiered up through Tier 1 through Tier 5. But most teams spend <em>decades</em> in those Tiers, and they rece their gear every three to five years. The cost of doing so isn''t much, but that money is spent often and predictably, whereas this is a permanent solution. Even if it only catches on for a percentage of lower-ie cultivators, there is always the chance it goes way beyond our eight percent estimation.¡±


    Kees shuffled through some files on his [AI] before flicking a finger at Matt. ¡°Speaking of, we have a request for creating nonbat variations of spells with this same method once thebat methods are solved enough to be published. Two of the team members are very interested in creating quality-of-life skills average people would find helpful. Mostly cleaning spells and the like, but I doubt you will say no, and that is a market we expect to see at least a fifteen percent interest in at a minimum. Enchantments are expensive, and a lot of people would rather spend an hour a day for a year or three to reduce cleaning for the rest of their life. At least those who are buying enchanted items instead of mundane ones for such activities.¡±


    Reviewing the request, Matt winced at the expected costs for the research, they weren¡¯t just simplifying and iterating on already known skills that had long since been ¡®perfected¡¯ like Ra¡¯th¡¯s had been. No, they wanted to create entirely new skills from scratch. ording to the report, Ra¡¯th had known of some spells, but they were all in the Tier 10 range, and few people ever really bothered to use them, as everyone over Tier 5 had a Concept. It could easily be used to deal with things like cleaning or other minor daily chores.


    Which came back to a general problem of the guild. Matt may have unlimited mana, but even then, there were practical limits. He wasn¡¯t going to go sit in a Tier 45 rift with a hundred times time eleration just to produce a hundred times more mana. He wasn¡¯t afraid to share his mana, but he wouldn¡¯t lock himself in a box to do so either, which meant his only way to increase his output was through Tiering up.


    That did work; however, there was a limit of how much mana they could reasonablyunder through the Empire. Too much mana given to the guild would raise even more gs than their already massive budget did.


    All of which meant Matt couldn¡¯t just ept every single proposal for research that came before him. Far too often, at least for his tastes, he needed to make the hard decision and push some projects down in priority.


    Currently, the guild worked on short-, mid-, and long-term cycles for funding. Short-term projects were ones that just needed a lump sum of mana or other resources to do, like direct charity work by hiring constructionpanies to build orphanages. Few research requests were of such nature, but their guild was still a charity guild, and they had people dedicated to directly helping those in need. Not even just in their duchy, but all across the Empire.


    The mid-term funding projects were usually research teams requesting to look into whatever it was that caught their interest. Whether that be created quality-of-life skills simple enough for people to create on their own, a better way to vary mana output of enchantments without the typical additives, or creating a new cutting rune, most of them were funded for a decade before they would be put up for review to see if it was worth funding longer.


    Part of the guild¡¯s reward system for sessful projects was funding personal projects, and they also fell under the same decade-long block.


    Finally, there were the long-term projects, the ones that were expected to take centuries or even millennia. The entire aperology department was in that category, and therefore fully funded, because of how long such things were expected to take before they showed any appreciable results. Rune creation was in a simr boat as well as their general alchemy department.


    All of that boiled down to the fact they only had funding for three more mid-term projects for the next five years, until other projects were expected to end. But even then, that funding might not be freed up if they showed appreciable progress, which had happened to otherwise stagnant projects before.


    Their review process had taken some refinement, but currently few hadints because of how impartial it was.


    First and foremost, all of the relevant work was fed into an AI buried deep inside the guild moon¡¯s molten core, which was free from subtle tampering. Said AI ran dozens of analyses on the project to see just how much progress they had covered, and to see if they had run into a seemingly insurmountable wall.


    Then before that information was released, that same information was sent to a review team who did the same analyses.


    When the team had their own result, both werepared, and if both groups agreed the project warranted more funding, the decision was finalized.


    If only one party agreed the project needed funding, it was kicked up to guild management for further review, just as if both groups decided the project didn¡¯t warrant further funding, so that the teams in question could plead their case to guild leadership in a sort of automatic appeal process.


    It sounded like a lot of work because it was, but so far, most of his team who had hit a wall were the first ones to throw in the towel, as their willingness to step back and free up funding earned them goodwill with both their fellow researchers and guild management, who didn¡¯t need to go through the process of denying an extension.


    Not that everyone or every project was treated equally.


    Matt had his own preferences and biases that he didn¡¯t bother to hide or disguise. It was his guild, and he was funding everything after all, which is why aperology had thergest budget at almost a quarter of the guild''s funds. And people he knew, like Erwin, were given pretty much automatic approval for any projects they wanted to create. Within reason, as Erwin wasn¡¯t always reasonable, but even then, Matt was more likely to say yes than no.


    Thetter was funded through his own ounts directly, but that just meant skipping the obviousundering of funds more than anything else.


    Amusingly enough, ording to Kees, those more typical things had done more to soothe ruffled feathers than Matt trying to be nice and equal to everyone else, as they were so used to leadership prioritizing their own designs that anything else felt alien and strange.


    While they did have some time before a decision needed to be made, it would take at least a few years, probably a decade or so, before the team members¡¯ current project of simplifying and iterating on Ra¡¯th¡¯s basicbat skills were done. If Matt said yes to this, he was potentially saying ¡®no¡¯ or ¡®not yet¡¯ to another potentially worthy project that hadn¡¯t been submitted yet.


    To him, nonbat spells felt less important as a whole, but he was aware of his biases enough to know that he had them. He also remembered not loving having to scrub away dirty caked-on food from tes or hard stains that didn¡¯te out in a normal wash, and wishing he could magic them away.


    And if his own life wasn¡¯t enough, he was able to open up his Minka Folded Reflection lives memories and see hundreds of times where he parents, himself, or Asterined about the woes of daily chores.


    It might seem insignificant, but there was a reason Tier 8 nonbat skills could sell for as much asbat spells, and why household enchantments always went for a premium.


    He even remembered when he was at his Pather¡¯s Tournament and people asking him for runes that would make living on more hostile low Tier worlds for free, and this would be a step in that direction.


    But was it worth it?


    He didn¡¯t know, but he provisionally approved the request.


    If nothing else, it would be good to test the viability of such self-created skills and more data points could help thebat variants make either more specific or generalized skills. Both had their use cases, but given the time needed to create even a single skill, Matt doubted few people would ever make more than one skill this way before reaching immortality. So, having a wide range of useful starting skills was a must. And after that, they would have the funds to just buy better skills, so unless there were exceptional variations that appeared, it was unlikely.


    It also depended on if the skills started showing up in rifts, how rare they were, and if they were easy to modify.


    He had spected that they might have just ¡®invented¡¯ an entirely new Tier of skills, but that was unlikely, all things considered. Skills¡¯plexity and power weren¡¯t hard requirements for skill Tier, even if they didn¡¯t fully understand the categorization. If it were possible for skills to drop lower, they would have seen it before.


    That just brought his thoughts back to what Kees had said earlier. This would undoubtedly cause a number of people to get very upset with him, enough so they added their efforts to the people already ying games in the shadows.


    It just came down to how Matt wanted to handle it.


    Was he willing to fight for the things he believed in?


    Or rather, was he willing to fight in a new way for the things he believed in?


    This might be a physical altercation, but it was more likely to remain a ndestine shadow affair fought on corporate battlefields, and those were not his specialty.


    His answer didn¡¯t change, however.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead. We can try to cate people by stating our intention to only release Tier 1 and Tier 5 variants of the skills for free, but I refuse to shy away from doing the right thing because of threats. As for the interference with our various business partners, let¡¯s¡ª¡±


    Matt paused as he got a message from Liz: ¡°I need you down here. Someone hit a dozen of our aura potion shipments.¡±

 Chapter 384

    Hearing that over a dozen of their aura shipments had been hit immediately set rm bells ringing, and Matt flew down to their floating ind that was currently pretending to be a more standard ind on one of Palustris¡¯ seas as it was being renovated.


    Liz was already there and waiting for him, which meant he couldn¡¯t even really enjoy Palustris as he descended to ground level.


    Matt hadn¡¯t expected how much he liked seeing something under his care flourish, but he found it addicting. Seeing something grow might seem adjacent to gardening or crafting, but while he could do the first and enjoyed the second, neither had given him such a rush as leading a itself.


    There was something majestic about seeing his world develop and its people grow and thrive under his guidance.


    On the rare urrence that he didn¡¯t have something to do, he would take the trip from his guild on the moon to the slow and steady to enjoy it. This time, however, he moved fast enough that if he wasn¡¯t isting himself from the atmosphere, he would have ignited like a meteor and caused serious weather pattern deviation. But with only a thought, his Concept separated him from reality well enough that he didn¡¯t even cause a stray gust.


    Landing, he found Liz in what they had taken to wearing based on the local styles: robes in a loose fashion, more draped around oneself then held in ce. But theck of formality didn¡¯t take away from her beauty.


    Around thirty years ago, in the process of merging her Ichor with herbat abilities, Liz had expanded her tattoos into more of a full body art of golden highlights that stood in contrast to her now slightly darker tanned skin.


    In their various body modifications over the years, they had yed with a few looks before settling down once more.


    He hadn¡¯t let Liz live down her failed attempt at a look akin to a stereotypical vampire,plete with incredibly pale skin, dark hair, and sallow eyes. Meanwhile, she never let him live down his attempt to toughen his skin, which just made him look like he had contracted a disease.But that was part of the fun of being an immortal and being able to test things. If they didn¡¯t work, it was easy enough to change it.


    Really it was all Zack''s fault who, after being teased by Allie one too many times for being an old man, showed up to a gathering looking closer to fifty than his original young twenties appearance.


    Ultimately, they had settled on something fairly close to what they originally started as, even if they went a little wild in the process. Liz with her tanned skin, Zack being older, Matt brightening his hair a little as well as growing a short beard, it was fun.


    And even with a crisis looming, Matt couldn¡¯t help but take in his wife.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    Liz sent him a pulse of information even as she exined. ¡°Someone just attacked us. Fifteen out of twenty of our current traveling shipments of aura potions out of the duchy were attacked. Word is still spotty with the captains reporting things from their nearest worlds, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a few of the others were also hit and we just haven¡¯t gotten word yet.¡±


    After reviewing the information, Matt agreed with her assessment.


    Piracy wasn¡¯tmon in the Empire, but it wasn¡¯t rare either. The Empire was massive, and the spaces between worlds in chaotic space were inherently dangerous. Even without outside provocation, it wasn¡¯t unheard of for ships to experience issues and be lost. Even mortal-run ships, rare as they were, rarely had deaths from those incidents, but they did happen given the size of the Empire and the sheer number of ships that were moving at any given moment.


    When bad actors were added into the mix, things got interesting.


    In absolute numbers, the Empire had a lot of pirates. Millions of Tier 15 and higher groups asionally preyed upon a lone shipping vessel traversing chaotic space, and at any given moment, there were probably a dozen ships being robbed. But in percentage terms, pirates were <em>rare</em>.


    One or two bandit groups might pop up every so often per duchy, but usually they hit a ship or two before fading back into the masses of cultivators for decades at a time, hardly daring to do another hit.


    Banditry, piracy, and all manner of wayment was strictly illegal, but the Empire was sorge that it was usually left up to the local powers to deal with, meaning if one was careful enough, they could get away with the asional pilfer. The only surefire way a bandit could get the Imperial government itself searching for them was if they crossed a few very basic bottom lines, namely touching mortal foods, killing the crews of the ships, stealing Imperial goods, or trying to form a bandit cabal not tied to one of the established thieves guilds.


    Doing any of those things was a one-way ticket to a Tier 46 divination team hunting down the perpetrators with ruthless efficiency. However those teams had other jobs, so everyone understood that if they didn¡¯t cross those lines, the central government couldn¡¯t be bothered.


    They and their duchy had had a few scrapes with bandits in their early years, but they hadn¡¯t had any issues since he and Liz had ruthlessly hunted down those groups, showing everyone they had a zero-tolerance policy. So the fact that fifteen ships transporting one of their main exports had been hit all at once was suspicious.


    <em>Extremely suspicious</em>.


    Especially considering his guild had just had its business agreements tampered with.


    ¡°Someone''s targeting us. They hit my guild as well. Any word from your bloodline group?¡±


    Liz¡¯s expression turned even more sour upon hearing that. ¡°No, but it''s still based out of the Capital. Anyone we recently pissed off that might do this off the top of your head? Easier to go to the source rather than chasing down underlings.¡±


    ¡°If your people have been hit, that changes the list drastically. Currently, it could just be someone really mad at me striking out at the guild and things rted to it. Or¡ª¡±


    ¡°Or someone who is mad at your guild and took an opportunity to sell the information about the aura potions routes. They are mildly obfuscated, as are all high-value shipments, but anyone looking into your guild would probably be able to track the shipments well enough to sell the routes to anyone interested.¡± Liz finished for him.


    ¡°Exactly my thought, and I¡¯m not liking the look of this picture.¡±


    Mostly because it tied into Kees¡¯ment about how the guild was making enemies that now seemed all too urate.


    But who would do this?


    If Liz was right, and they were only targeting the guild or things rted to it, that didn¡¯t really narrow things down at all.


    Even in thest century since the aura rifts, the guild had stepped on a lot of toes. Not all of it was intentional, but they stepped all the same and that built resentment. It was easy to say that taking out a fraction of one percent of apany''s bottom line by releasing apeting but free product license wasn¡¯t enough to dere this kind of corporate shadow war, but people''s hearts were unpredictable and wars had been fought over less. That made his list of potential suspects a mile long, since not everyone who had their hands in low-Tier business were low Tiers themselves.


    Matt¡¯s gut told him things were moreplicated than someone just selling the information to bandit groups, thanks to the cancetion of the supply shipments.


    That didn¡¯t mean he could write off the bandits if he didn¡¯t want his guilds shipments to attract true opportunist bandits.


    All of which depended on if they were real bandits. This wouldn¡¯t be the first time that corporate battles bled into real life via ¡®bandits¡¯. There was every possibility that the bandits had actually been corporate muscle pretending to be bandits just to strike out at him.


    Or they could be real bandits who had been used as disposable pawns.


    Few bandits were actually stupid enough to attack an Ascender''s shipments, but there were a dozen possible reasons as to why they would, including but not limited to them just not knowing whose goods they were stealing. If it was just one ship that had been hit, Matt and Liz would be mad and they would just write it off as the price of doing business, but now they needed to send a message.


    Making up his mind, Matt said, ¡°I¡¯m going to go chase down a few of the bandit groups. They probably know nothing, but we can¡¯t let this go unanswered or we''ll never be able to ship anything.¡±


    Liz nodded. ¡°Agreed. If you''re ranging out I¡¯m going to stick close to home in case they are trying to lure us both away from Palustris.¡±


    During their goodbye kiss, she sent to him through their skin contact, ¡®I¡¯ll hit a few of the nearest locations and see what I can find out quietly.¡¯


    Taking to space, Matt didn¡¯t enter one of their luxury ships, and instead boarded a much smaller vessel more simr to a long-range scout ship.


    It had been a gift from L, who had tried to tempt him into joining her guild on an expedition or two into chaotic space. The ship was Tier 30 and only had room for one person, but what itcked infort it made up for in speed. Even before the engines had been reced with travel mana engines built by Origami for him, the ship had been fast, but now it was something else.


    Entering the ship in real space, Matt felt his [AI] merge with the ship¡¯s controls and visuals as the engine pulled four million mana a second to initiate its startup procedure. Instead of the typical transition into chaotic space he was used to, which involved the engines performing the jump via spatial twisting, the scout ship cut a hole through space and he had to drive through.


    Pulling out of reality, Matt felt the turbulence of chaotic space buffett his ship like he was on a rowboat in the middle of a hurricane, but all of that vanished as he started the ship forward.


    At a tenth of the engine''s max power, it was moving fast enough that he felt nothing as he cut through the eddies. With his 83 million mana per second generation, he was more than able to max the engine out, but that put him at a level beyond what typical Tier 35 ships could do.


    Even with the fast iteration of travel mana engines changing the transportationndscape, speed was still stratified by Tier. As the high-Tierpanies and guilds released their second and third generation travel mana engines, the engines typically settled in at about one Tier faster and more efficient than their older counterparts, but even that was changing as everyone was trying to one up each other.


    Titan¡¯s Torch had even kept their hand in the travel mana race as they iterated upon their initial designs. The gains were smaller in the lower Tiers, but each iota of savings was worth the expense for him.


    On a more personal note, anotherpany had finally figured out how to make a practical personal flight enchantment that worked with travel mana, leading to the boom of travel mana flying devices. The Tier 40 corporation was an old hand in the personal flying device scene, which made the discovery not too unexpected, as it was only a matter of time before someone figured it out. They had also surprised no one when they had immediately patented the idea and were only licensing the idea in brand deals, ensuring they had a dominant market lead.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the vition.


    Anotherpany had tried to file their own patent, but it had been ruled too simr to the first and struck down, showing the fate of those who came in second.


    Their discovery had at least forced the government to allow thepany to license their design after a shorter period, but that still meant they had five hundred years of exclusivity to strangle out theirpetition.


    While Matt liked the idea and had bought one of the first prototypes to y with, it was that breakthrough that had given his people the idea of how to create mana engines that would be more feasible for smaller vehicles such as buses, personal cars, or small-bound boats. It was doubtful they would ever be better than existing engines for such small-scale vehicles, with how rarely they can go full speed for long stretches of time, but maybe there was a use case he was overlooking where it did make sense.


    It was projects like that which Matt would have liked to look in on while he traveled, but his ship was so fast that he needed his full concentration to ensure he didn¡¯t run into another ship. Chaotic space was vast and empty, a lot like normal space, and even if he was traveling away from the teleportation tethers, thanks to the way chaotic space limited the senses of himself and his ship, he needed to focus at all times.


    It took almost two days for Matt to travel across part of his and then through Aster''s duchy to the next one over, arriving where the first ship was hit, but he wasn¡¯t too worried about the time.


    He had known from the moment he left that he wasn¡¯t going to make it in time to find the bandits just lingering or anything so easy. Thankfully, Luna had trained them for situations like this and he knew what to look for.


    Arriving at the spot between worlds where the supply ship had been hit, Matt inspected the area looking for all the little details Luna had drilled into their heads.


    The area was in a longer tether between two worlds, which made it isted, but as if that wasn¡¯t enough, it was also in a rtively poorer county that innately had less traffic. But none of that was as damming as the fact that the region¡¯s count had been in a rift for thest three years.


    He knew his perspective was skewed because of hisbat prowess, but needing years toplete a Tier 25 rift was just sad.


    Even if Aster was alone and going for a full clear, it would at most take her a few months, but they were far from the normal delving party that understandably took their time to ensure their chance at messing up and dying was as low as possible.


    Matt couldn¡¯tin, but that absence had turned this region into a prime location for bandits.


    Putting himself into the bandits¡¯ shoes, he ran through what he would do and where he would go depending on if they knew who they were hitting and if they didn¡¯t know. Then he had his [AI] simte the same scenario to check himself.


    When both of them agreed, he headed to the county capital, a Tier 16 world.


    It would be easiest to fence stolen goods there and easy to blend in with the immortal poption.


    The shipping captain had reported to the guards that the pirates had been Tier 20 to his Tier 15 senses but that was easy enough to fake, as were physical appearances. Spiritual signatures were possible to fake in the short term, so long as one didn¡¯t fluctuate them too much. But as the ship''s captain had rightly surrendered when boarded, he had to assume the sample readings the ship had taken were faked.


    Two hourster, Matt arrived at the county capital and entered its real space; his ship stowed away before he arrived to keep any of the inevitable watchers guessing at how he was moving so quickly.


    They would probably suspect he would grab Allie for this, and while he was sure she¡¯d be willing to y spy, he didn¡¯t want to escte this unless he had to.


    Currently, it looked like an attack on him and his guild, and bringing in others beyond Liz and Aster, his immediate family, could escte things further. And he¡¯d prefer to keep things as contained as possible. For now.


    As Manny had said when they got their duchies, these issues were opportunities for them to grow, learn about their weakness, and interact with the Empire as a part of it. Ignoring his Royal connections, Matt could just call in his allies, and they could carve a path through any opposition near their Tier. For those too strong, they could call in Aiden or L, either of whom would be happy to smash heads together, but Matt was willing to y this game so long as it kept to the typical rules, and that meant dealing with things with his and his guild¡¯s own powers.


    And it wasn''t like he couldn¡¯t call in reinforcementster.


    To that end, Matt decided to y the part of angry Ascender.


    Sure, he was angry, but probably not for the reasons his opponents would think.


    He didn¡¯t really care about the aura potions. They were expensive enough that the loss of so many shipments would hurt the duchy¡¯s bottom line for this year, and he¡¯d be covering the losses out of his pocket. But by the same token, the aura potions were valuable enough they would be sold on various gray and ck markets, and would still end up in the hands of Tier 4s.


    What he was more irritated at was that the bandits had stolen everything their storage items could fit, which inconvenienced everyone else involved just because someone wanted to hit him.


    Controlling himself, Matt entered the world¡¯s real space just outside the main¡¯s atmosphere and let his spiritual perception cover the entire, letting it seep in and through wards and walls alike, letting his [AI] scan for hits.


    He quickly found some, but not as many as he expected.


    His aura potions were in a dozen shops spread across the. The bandits, or the shops themselves, had reced the identifying markers ced on each bottle with their own or a generic fakebel. But as part of their process, Liz had taken great efforts into making their duchy¡¯s aura potions stand out.


    First, they used a subtly different bottle shape that highlighted the aura potions¡¯ unique glimmers better than a standard bottle. Second, the aura potions they exported were of the highest quality. Anything less than perfect was sold at cost in the duchy, even though few could tell them apart, but the difference let someone like Matt who was intimately familiar with the process identify the potions.


    What Matt hadn¡¯t found were the bandits.


    They could have already left, but he doubted that.


    If these had been professionals, they would have never fenced the stolen goods so close to the hit, which only further confirmed that these people were bait left out to test his reaction to the opening salvo in this little war.


    He also couldn¡¯t find any watchers.


    His enemy might have relied entirely on mundane or technological surveince, but Matt suspected there was a higher Tier invisible to his senses watching over the and him, just as he was doing to the.


    If they wanted to see how he would react to their probe, he would happily show them.


    Feeding his [AI] with all the mana it wanted, Matt brute forced the problem, and two minutester he identified fifteen anomaly sites in the star system. Nine of them were on the closest world, while the other six were spread out between the Tier 4 gas giant and the Tier 8 secondary world, but they were both well outside his spiritual perception and only identified by reviewing the variousary AI. And yet, none of them were high enough Tier for what he was looking for.


    Instead, he turned his attention to the and went over the nine anomalies there.


    Three were local corporation secret research bunkers which he ignored after checking to make sure they weren''t covers for a bandit hideout. Two were hidden bunkers for local bigwigs to escape to if something happened, but the remaining four were harder to crack.


    One had wards that far outssed anything a Tier 20 should have, let alone a Tier 16, and he suspected it was his target, but he still checked the others before dismissing them.


    One of those he reported to the local government because they were manufacturing a variation of ClearView, which was very illegal, but the rest either weren''t illegal or not so illegal that he felt the need to step in.


    Gathering his spiritual perception, Matt created a spike and drove it through the wards giving no care to subtlety.


    rms red, additional wards red to life, and a Tier 28¡¯s spiritual perception tried to crush his spiritual own, but Matt had already scanned the inside of the hidden location.


    A thieves guild.


    While technically a legal entity, they only existed because the Empire found it was easier for thieves, assassins, and other less than legal ¡®jobs¡¯ to manage themselves and so allowed them a degree of leniency.


    Technically, upon seeing the guild sanctum, Matt should have retreated since he didn¡¯t have a warrant in someone else''s duchy, but he didn¡¯t care. With a pulse of power, he scanned the guild looking for anyone who even vaguely matched the descriptions he had been given.


    Before he could finish a secondyer of wards, this time controlled by the Tier 28, which were strong enough to force his spiritual perception out of the building, he got an angry message from the Tier 28, telling him to desist.


    Matt¡¯s reply was simple. ¡°You are being used as a pawn in a game you want no part of. Drop the wards, let me find who raided my goods, and we can all go our separate ways.¡±


    The moment he heard a negative response, Matt dropped the connection. He didn¡¯t mind cleaning up this little den of rogues. Neither he nor Liz would hunt such groups down for no reason, but neither would they tolerate them if they encountered them.


    Dropping into the''s atmosphere, Matt looked to the side where his gut told him any watcher would be and said, ¡°Your masters wanted a show. Now you have one. Tell them I¡¯ll y their game, but if they step out of line, I¡¯ll step further.¡±


    As he neared the seemingly normal building in one of the teleporter city¡¯s downtown that was the camouged thieves guild, Matt didn¡¯t stop or slow.


    He hit the barrier with a glowing fist that unleashed a wave of lightning that would have killed everyone in a ten mile radius if he hadn¡¯t kept the power contained. It wasn¡¯t a spell, just him gathering friction and choosing how it manifested upon his attack, but he was going for shy and so went for a bang. He also didn¡¯t bother to hide the lightshow the attack caused which shocked <em>everyone</em>.


    Seeing the shield didn¡¯t go down, Matt looked up at the spot the watcher was probably hiding, and without looking away pointed his left pointer finger at the barrier and cast [Mana Beam].@@novelbin@@


    The barrier popped in less than a second, and the beam of mana cut directly into the core of the formation and destroyed it.


    ¡°Do you know whose guild you are attacking?¡± The Tier 28 either didn¡¯t realize who Matt was, had been paid really well to test Matt, or he was an idiot.


    The Tier 28 moved to attack him even as the guild went up in mes, but Matt red at him.


    ¡°Open your mouth again and I¡¯ll tear it off. I¡¯m busy.¡± He didn¡¯t stop the tinge of his anger from leaking into the words.


    The man opened his mouth, and so Matt red his cultivation boosting spells and shed in front of the man, gripping his jaw and skull.


    Looking up once more, Matt pulled and followed through with his promise.


    Throwing the Tier 28¡¯s jaw to the side, Matt scanned the guild even as it was in the process of copsing, thanks to his second attack.


    Because things were never easy, the three people who had robbed the ship weren¡¯t inside, but he did find the room that held records and scanned through them.


    Most of them were just petty crimes, but he did get the names of those thieves who had done the robbing.


    Grabbing the LocalNet node that the Tier 28 had already turned off and wiped, Matt forcefully rebooted it and using his [AI], recreated what he could of the data that had been stored inside, but the wipe had been clean.


    Having little recourse, Matt turned to one of the Tier 15s who had been lingering in the building and stepped in front of them, even as they were still trying to react to the first attack on the barrier.


    Dropping his perception to a Tier 15¡¯s, Matt demanded, ¡°Give me the <em>real</em> identities of those who just hit the cargo shipst week.¡±


    The man stammered as fear at facing a high Tier morphed into sheer terror as he recognized Matt.


    Unlike the Tier 28, the Tier 15 immediately spilled the beans and sent who he suspected the three were.


    Using his [AI], Matt identified them and smiled. Unlike most immortals within spiritual perception range who were either hunkering in ce or trying to scan the area to find out what was going on, the three of them were panicking.


    Tier 17s and actual siblings, if he wasn¡¯t wrong.


    Two wanted to y it cool and act innocent, while the third wanted to start running and try their luck.


    Not that any of it mattered.


    Matt used his Concept to keep the mes from spreading to nearby buildings, but he didn¡¯t extinguish them outright nor did he stop the thieves who had been at the guild from running.


    He even let the Tier 28 run, but he was tracking them all looking for further anomalies.


    Otherwise, this would have been for naught.


    With a step, he appeared in the siblings¡¯ living room, and from the panic and terror, he had nearly confirmed they were the ones who had stolen from him.


    Arms crossed, Matt put on his best Manny impression and looked down at the three of them.


    ¡°The three of you stole from <em>me</em>.¡±


    The terror factor ratcheted up a dozen notches, but the oldest and peak Tier 17 had enough courage to throw himself on the sword of Matt¡¯s wrath for his siblings.


    ¡°It was just me. I did it with a domain clone.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t let his mild appreciation for sibling protection change his expression as he asked, ¡°Who told you about the information of the ship? Tell me everything.¡±


    The three instantly caved and babbled to tell him.


    The information was as he feared, and it had simply been a tip sold to the guild through an anonymous source, like most high-value target hints were.


    The trio even sent proof they had recorded with their [AI].


    Matt asked a few more questions but nothing was very useful, and by the end, he knew how he wanted to handle these three.


    ¡°Turn yourselves in and pay restitutions for the other goods you have stolen and I won¡¯t kill you here and now.¡±


    They would end up paying a lot more than they had earned, but they would stay alive, and that was mercy enough.


    That wasn¡¯t the only loose end Matt needed to clean up.


    Taking another step, Matt appeared in one of the shops selling his stolen aura potions.


    The proprietor, an older looking Tier 15 woman, grasped her heart and stammered a greeting, but Matt could tell that everything but the terror was fake, so he cut through it all.


    ¡°You are selling my stolen goods.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question but a statement and he red at her until she broke and nodded feverishly while apologizing.


    ¡°What price did you buy them at?¡± Shocked at the seeming non sequitur, the woman stammered until she told him the price. It was about two thirds of the retail price and she was selling them for ten percent over that. It was thatst bit he took issue with.


    ¡°How much are you selling them for?¡±


    She must have known he could see the prices, but she was also smart enough to understand what he was telling her, and she immediately changed the price to below what she had bought them for.


    Seeing that, Matt went to the next shop and repeated the same procedure until he had finally gone to them all.


    He then took another step to arrive next to the Tier 28 who had fled to one of the safe houses he had scanned earlier.


    The interrogation wasn¡¯t clean or as thorough as it could have been, but the man was thoroughly cowed by Matt¡¯s earlier performance and told him what little he knew.


    The guild had bought the information on a valuable ship through an unidentified source that seemed reliable, nothing more.


    As for why he had tried to stop Matt? He was trying to follow guild orders.


    It was so stupid, Matt actually believed him and let the man go.


    A bit of a dead end, but he still had fourteen more locations to check out before he was finished.

 Chapter 385

    Matt stood amongst the mes of another burned out thieves guild and pondered just what exactly he had been finding.


    This was his tenth raid on those who had hit the cargo ships, but so far, each of them had only been fed details on one of the aura potion shipments, with no information about the supplier or that multiple shipments¡¯ information had been sold. Any thief with a brain would naturally think twice before stealing something that could be considered the property of an Ascender, but even those fools willing to take the risk for a one-off shipment wouldn¡¯t risk being part of arger organization that would surely incite their retaliation.


    The thieves were fools baited into action. Matt was considering cutting his losses and not wasting his time chasing down thest few groups, but he felt obligated to do exactly that.


    First, one of the remaining groups might know something the others didn¡¯t. Unlikely at this point, but none of the thieves guilds as a whole liked being used in such power games. They knew they would be the ones to get squashed first, so they often took precautions when getting such juicy information. Tidbits about the sellers might not save them but it could turn a thrashing into a slightly less awful beating.


    Second, Matt was hesitant to let anyone get the impression they could hit his and Liz¡¯s duchy¡¯s goods without swift and thorough retaliation. Being seen as easy targets was a quick way to make sure no shipping corporations wanted to move their goods in the future. That shouldn¡¯t have been a problem given their status, but considering the strings that were being pulled on his guild and their business partners, it wasn¡¯t unlikely that people would put pressure on the duchy¡¯s partners. If too many of them left, he and Liz would be in serious trouble.


    Duchies isted like that were easy pickings for every malcontent in the Empire, and he liked his peace and quiet.


    Third, Matt just didn¡¯t like these organizations and didn¡¯t mind cleaning them up.


    On the other hand, he felt like he was wasting one of his most precious resources: time.


    He may be immortal, but he had a thousand and one things to do at any given moment and this was interrupting all of them, leaving Liz, Cato, and a dozen others to pick up the ck as they could. Sure, he did what he could while traveling around and pushing data dumps through the EmpireNet when he stopped ats, but that was only a fraction of his typical work speed, as his need for concentration hadn¡¯t changed. It wasn¡¯t fair to them, and that weighed on his conscience.Ultimately, he decided to continue. His desires were ultimately outweighed by the responsibilities he had to not just his aura production workers, but the duchy as a whole. This incident would hurt, but if it happened again, they would have serious revenue problems, which meant he needed to draw a line in the sand here and now.


    As he arrived at the where he suspected the eleventh team had retreated, he found a Tier 35 woman waiting for him. She floated over the Tier 21 and immediately wrapped Matt with their spiritual perception the moment he tore his way into real space.


    ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    Matt shoved her spiritual perception away and she didn¡¯t try to keep him enclosed. He did notice she spread her spiritual perception around him, searching for any possible hidden protectors.


    As far as he knew, he didn¡¯t actually have any hidden protector as he did once upon a time, but if they were Tier 45, he wouldn''t be able to sense them any more than the Tier 35 could.


    Not that he felt any threat from the Tier 35. Oh, she could attack and kill him, but she would have to be stupid to even consider doing so in such an open manner. Even ignoring all of his allies who would avenge him, what if he survived? Ascenders were known for such things after all.


    Once Matt floated over he crossed his arms, mirroring her. ¡°What?¡±


    He ensured his spiritual fluctuation carried every bit of his indignation at her interruption and his disregard of her cultivation.


    ¡°I¡¯m the local sub guild leader of the Aluca Thieves Guild and two of my location¡¯s people hit your shipments. I¡¯ve already captured the individuals responsible and am willing to turn them over to you.¡±


    Matt wasn¡¯t that surprised. In fact, he had expected something simr to happen earlier, but none of that changed his response.


    He just stared at the Tier 35.


    If that was all she had, he was going through her.


    She broke before he did. ¡°I have information about the people who sold us the information and I will trade it for you leaving.¡±


    Matt smiled.


    Finally, the break he had been looking for.


    ¡°If that''s the case and it¡¯s good enough, I won¡¯t make things too hard for you.¡±


    She flicked a finger at him, and Matt reviewed the file.


    Ostensibly, two different people had sold the guild the information in each location, but both had recorded they were little more than mana constructs. High-Tier ones, as the Tier 20 scanners paired with local spiritual perception scans couldn¡¯t identify the mana makeup or the spiritual perception that was controlling the mana construct. But they were able to get enough to know the Tier of the mana and type of veils were identical, which spoke volumes.


    Mana constructs were simr to clones in the same way that a butter knife was simr to a longsword. They could take on the facsimile of a person well enough to pass a visual inspection, but they were little more than blobs of mana with a shell wrapped around them. That made them easy to make, but it was like controlling a puppet and didn¡¯t pass back any sensory input, meaning whoever was selling the information had been on the world at the time they made the sale.


    In and of itself that wasn¡¯t a lot to go off of, but it was a solid start. Matt had already taken a copy of the¡¯s records of everyone on the world and their general telemetry from the time of the information sales, when the goods were sold, as well as when he hit thes just in case.


    It might be useless, as it was possible that whoever had been selling the information had the ability to mask themselves from theary AI, but Matt doubted it.


    He also doubted all of the information had been sold by the same person since the timelines didn¡¯t work out, unless they were one of the fastest travelers in the Empire. Not on Allie¡¯s level, but to move across that much of the Empire that quickly, they would need to be damn good.


    Still, knowing one of the operatives'' modus operandi, he was able to look for simr oddities.


    Millions of mana churned through his spirit and he activated his [AI], boosting it with his Back to Basics Minka floor reward to amplify its processing power even further. That drained his willpower, but he had far more now than he had when he was a tiny Tier 11, and he freely spent it, pushing his [AI] to its limit.


    There were no sudden revtions which revealed the perpetrators¡¯ identities, but his [AI] did narrow things down to around fifty possible unidentified individuals, as well as firmly pegging a minimum of four perpetrators. Not amazing, but a good start.


    Looking at the Tier 35 whose name he still didn¡¯t know, he nodded. ¡°epted. Have them turn themselves in after paying for the other goods they took. As for the aura potions, ensure they are sold at cost.¡±


    Pointing a finger, he shot a [Mana Beam] down at the guild hidden on the below and destroyed its shields, but not its structure, before tearing his way out of real space. He flew a while into chaotic space before he pulled his ship out and moved to his next location.


    He didn¡¯t intend to hit the next guild location, but he would go and grab theirary AI¡¯s information before moving on. He felt he was generous by simply revealing their location and forcing them to move instead of leveling the ce.


    He wanted to make sure people wouldn¡¯t attack him, but he also didn¡¯t want potential enemies fighting to the death instead of surrendering like they had.@@novelbin@@


    He had just gone through another two worlds when he got a message from Liz through the Ascender chat.


    ¡°The mana engine was waid enroute to the review panel.¡±


    Growling, he punched out and let loose a multi-million burst of mana, turning the surrounding chaotic space a light blue.


    They had suspected there would be a second attack and the engine was an obvious target, so even before he had left, Kees had told Matt of his n to move it early. Beyond those ns, his vice guild leader sent it with a very strong escort teamposed only of trusted guild security on a non-direct route.


    Despite all of their precautions, none of that had been enough, and the ship had been waid. Not taken over, destroyed, or stolen but just slowed down, which told him they were more worried about the time rather than the product itself.


    That,bined with the near perfect locating of the ship at all, which he knew Kees would have taken precautions to hide, meant it was likely someone on the team or higher up in the guild had turned into mole.


    It was always possible they were a spy who had only now been activated, but Matt found that unlikely. While Harper¡¯s people and Tholly were mainly there to keep out the other Great Powers¡¯ spies, they didn¡¯t just ignore Empire grown spies, and it was typically easier to get someone who was already part of an organization to turn traitor than it was to get a spy through their defenses.


    That, or someone had bugged one of his workers.


    Tholly and his spies did scan for such tactics, but mentalpulsions weren¡¯t very noticeable by their very nature.


    Matt wanted to say it didn¡¯t matter anymore now that the damage was done, but with a spy, witting or otherwise, there was a knife ready to be nted in their back the moment they tried to retaliate.


    Calcting his position, Matt debated calling Allie to get him, but he was sure it was already toote, and he knew how much she hated being treated as a taxi, even if she woulde get him given the circumstances.


    He had another way, however, and a brief message to L, who he knew was at the Capital, proved his fears correct.


    ¡°Sorry kid. Falker Industries submitted their own simr mana engine for the patent review a few minutes ago. I can go eat that Falker guy if you want?¡±


    ¡°No, but I appreciate the offer. Thank you, L.¡±


    ¡°Sure kid. I¡¯m just napping on the Capital¡¯s star, so tell me if you need anything.¡±


    Matt genuinely appreciated the offer, but didn¡¯t dwell on petty thoughts of an easy victory, and instead started digging.


    An otherwise unnotable Tier 35 guild based on researching at-Tier products, usually but not always centered around luxury personal vehicles that more resembled spaceships than cars had, submitted an almost identical engine for patent review. Just hours before their ship was going to arrive without the untimely dy. It was incredibly suspicious, and any judge would see that, but Matt suspected that was his enemies¡¯ goal.


    By arriving first, they gained a glimmer of legitimacy that was enough to force Matt onto the offensive and sue them instead of them trying to sue him and his guild.


    Pressing his hands into his eyes, Matt forced his boiling anger down.


    It was like forcing a pressure valve shut, and he knew he¡¯d need to let it go, but right now he needed to think.


    His first reaction was to just go and kill Falker in a very public manner, but that would be stupid for a million reasons, and he was greater than his base instincts. He was also too high Tier for him to be able to do so at the moment, but that felt secondary to all the other reasons


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The question was, how did he want to y this?


    It was very clear he was in the opening sequence of someone¡¯s grand n, but the most important question was how many more steps did this y have?


    If this was the end of the opening act, that was fine, as now both sides would be operating with simr information. But his gut told him anyone who was willing to go this far was willing to go all the way, and they would have far more prepared.


    Even if they magically solved this engine issue tomorrow, he was confident there was another issue ready to hit them wherever they were least protected.


    That meant they had two ways to y this: y along or flip the board.


    Matt¡¯s instincts told him to flip the board and break the table over his opponent¡¯s head, but that was an obvious Ascender y, and they would surely be prepared for that. Not that it was even possible at the moment, as he didn¡¯t know who his enemies were beyond the target they had dangled before him.


    That didn¡¯t mean he liked dancing to someone else''s tune.


    Was there a third option?


    Not really.


    He could go run to somebination of Mara, Leon, or Manny, but his parents, despite all of their protectiveness, weren¡¯t the type to solve every issue for their children. They were much more likely to let everything crumble around him before intervening. Not to mention that Manny had specifically warned him about doing what he wanted when challenged almost a century ago.


    It was thatst one that settled it for Matt.


    Manny had seen this, and hadn¡¯t seen fit to warn Matt beyond telling him he should believe in himself. Knowing what he knew of future sight Talents, he suspected the cabal arrayed against him was already forming at that time. If that was true, they would be well prepared for his possible responses to their opening moves.


    And ultimately, this was a test. Or at least as safe an environment to fail in this sort of soft power game as was possible.


    Matt might lose, he and his guild might fail to live up to expectations, inventions meant to help people might get held up in patents, but none of that was the end of the Realm. The inventions would get out there even if in limited form for a while, unlike what he would have released.


    He also wanted to prove to himself and everyone else he was more than a battle junky who only knew how to fight.


    Those realizations didn¡¯t stop him from being mad, but it did temper his will.


    If they wanted to y, he¡¯d y. But his enemies should expect nothing less than what they dished out returned to them, and Matt was already tallying up the score.


    Still burning hot, Matt backtracked to the nearest world and entered real space long enough to send a series of messages via micro portals. It wasn¡¯t as fast as the Ascender chat, but it was at least marginally more private.


    Sure, there might only be a dozen people in the Ascender chat, but security was more a suggestion than a rule when it came to half of the Ascenders, and he didn¡¯t need them seeing more of his guild¡¯s ns than necessary. He would also have felt bad if Liz had to act as a go-between for all of his ns.


    She was busy not only running the duchy in his absence, but also trying to learn Ra¡¯th¡¯s method of safely creating skills in skill shards. ording to herst message, only a handful of the scientists who were trying had seeded at all, and while she was making progress, she hadn¡¯t picked it up yet.


    None of that stopped her from offering to rush over to the Capital, but Matt didn¡¯t think that was a good idea.


    They needed her there in case these attacks against him spread to the duchy in a more practical way.


    These enemies could very well be hoping Liz left Palustris to strike there while both of them were distracted. It was what he¡¯d do if he was trying to attack himself.


    Even if it didn¡¯t work and Liz never left, they lost little by having an attack ready to go the moment they got an opportunity.


    Instead, he got the guild''swyers moving. Kees would hold down the fort at Palustris and start rooting out any moles with Tholly but Matt was assembling a team to strike back at Falker.


    He might only be a distraction, but Matt wouldn¡¯t just roll over.


    They were in the right, and he had enough resources to prove it.


    It might be hubris, but Matt didn¡¯t have it in him to simply ept such an affront.


    Setting his ship to the Capital, he spent a long two months crossing nearly half of the Empire.


    The moment he entered real space, he felt thousands of spiritual perceptions cover him before most sloughed off.


    Flying down to one of the many spatially expanded skyscrapers dedicated to the Empire''s bureaucracy, Matt connected to theNet and then to the LocalNet where he linked up with his teams.


    They were already on-site and had initiated the process of rebutting Falker¡¯s engine, but Matt needed to be there as the guild leader.


    As he arrived at the government building, Matt found the floor and then sub sector that he needed before politely storming his way there.


    One of his guild¡¯s juniorwyers was already there and moved to his side the moment he walked into the waiting room.


    ¡°Good afternoon, guild leader Titan. We initiated the process as far as we could without you, but the officialint needs toe from you.¡±


    ¡°What about the Falker patent then?¡±


    ¡°In limbo with our initial report. We have a year to bring forward a reasonable amount of evidence that there could be foul y¡ª um, at y.¡±


    Matt nodded along as thewyer filled him in with more information as he made his way to the desk to finish the process.


    The man behind the desk did have a moment of noticeable hero worship upon seeing Matt, but did his job without helping or hindering him, which Matt respected.


    Things didn¡¯t remain so cordial for long.


    The moment the rest of hiswyers and the team of scientists who had designed the engine arrived, he was alerted his petition had been rejected.


    ring, Matt turned his full attention to the official looking woman who sat two sectors away and was nkly watching them.


    She had done that on purpose, waiting until his people had arrived.


    The question was why.


    Had they messed up any of the paperwork? Unlikely, but possible. Or had she been bought over by their enemies and was running interference?


    That seemed stupid beyond belief as offending an Ascender could have lethal consequences, but even beyond that, such obvious corruption would only mean her dismissal at best, which would ruin her ability to get any other job with the government.


    Some payments could be worth such consequences, but few would pay an easily circumnavigated Tier 15 employee that much.


    Looking to his headwyer, Johannes Macbo, a Tier 35 who had a fantastic record as a guild patentwyer, Matt waited for his response to the rejection.


    His expression wasn¡¯t pleasant. ¡°Guild leader, they rejected our im because the Falker Corporation has already filed an injunction iming harassment and corporate espionage. Part of that is an automatic appeal of any counter ims filed against them. To get around this, we need to escte higher.¡±


    Matt forced himself to calm down and waited as their im was submitted to someone else, but it was harder than normal. People were watching him as he waited surrounded by hiswyers and not just with the normal stares that he got. Sure, there was the hero worship but a number of the watchers seemed solely there for the show¡ª to see an Ascender squirm, or snap andsh out; it didn¡¯t matter to them so long as they had a front row seat.


    It was humiliating and made him angry. Angrier, that is.


    Meeting a few too-pointed looks, Matt¡¯s re got most of them to be a little more circumspect.


    It still took almost an hour before they were called into an office deeper inside the sector.


    Having an entourage of over twenty peoplee with him was not an option, so without him needing to say anything, everyone but Johannes and the engine team lead, Gia Innaka, stayed behind.


    The office they entered was just like every other one, but the woman inside was anything but.


    A Tier 17, she didn¡¯t bother to look up from her screen that she typed at. ¡°What evidence do you have that the engine design in question was stolen from you and not the other way around?¡±


    Matt frowned at the attitude but kept his mouth shut as Johannes and Gia both presented a modicum of their facilities¡¯ recordings, AI logs, and tests but nothing was concrete and more just overviews. This would all be presented when they went to trial, but it wouldn¡¯t do to have their full evidence given to their enemies before they had to.


    That thought stuck in Matt¡¯s mental throat as he realized that odds were they already had all of that information if they had spies in their midst good enough to recreate the engine.


    The woman, still having never looked up, kept tapping at her screen until she flicked a finger at them.


    ¡°Provisional injunction granted contingent on a patent judge signing off on the case. Judge Hatfield is assigned to the case. Good day.¡±


    Matt frowned as he saw Johannes'' expression turn outright ck as they walked out the room.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Guild leader, Judge Hatfield is, how should I put this? A prick of the highest order. I wouldn''t call him corrupt because he''s beaten every allegation and investigation levied against him, including Emperor Georgios¡¯ judicial reform reviews, but he''s got a reputation.¡±


    Matt looked up the judge on the EmpireNet and frowned at what he found. If anything, Johannes had undersold it.


    Hatfield had been investigated a dozen times for corruption and hundreds of articles had been written about him because of his controversial rulings. As Johannes said, nothing had evere of it even with investigations that, to Matt¡¯s eye, didn¡¯t seemcent orplicit. Judge Hatfield seemed¡­ whimsical might be a good word.


    While he might not be corrupt in the traditional sense, it was clear the deck was being stacked against them if this judge, out of all of them, was the one up in rotation just as their turn came up.


    It made the earlier breaks and pauses even more suspicious but at this point, Matt felt like he was jumping at shadows. It might feel like it, but not everything was arrayed against him.


    ¡°What are our options?¡±


    ¡°Are you willing to let the case sit in purgatory, guild leader? If yes, we can request a new judge, but we will go to the bottom of their docket and that means at least a decade of lead time before we are even seen, which means at least two decades before our case reaches trial at the earliest. Otherwise, everyone would just reject any judge they felt was unsympathetic to their cause.¡±


    ¡°And if Falker rejects the judge? Can they do that to dy proceedings?¡±


    ¡°They can, but as the defense, if they reject the judge we can push through for another first avable judge of our choosing. It might dy things by a year or two max, but in my opinion that will shoot them in the foot more than it would help. Still, it''s possible they might do so. I have a n that might help, but it''s honestly a bit of a long shot if you''re willing to try it.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Let''s proceed with Hatfield. We can reevaluate after we see him.¡±


    Which was exactly where they went. Fifty floors up and two subsections over, they were miles away from where they started, but the building wasn¡¯t any more opulent and kept the same stark walls that most government buildings had.


    Judge Hatfield¡¯s outer office was staffed by an overly attractive man and woman duo who both smiled at their entrance with perfect expressions, but neither seemed surprised to see them.


    Matt understood why that was when the office behind them opened, and he found Judge Hatfield chatting with Falker and what he assumed was the other guild leadwyer.


    So that''s how it was.


    After Johannes'' warnings, he wasn¡¯t too surprised and just walked into the room.


    Falker sneered at him the moment the door opened as if he was looking down at an ant who dared to crawl onto his te during a pic.


    ¡°Ascender Titan. How surprising to see you. I would have expected better from one as illustrious as yourself, but it seems that they don¡¯t make Ascenders like they used to. You know what they say about too much production, after all. It removes the soul of the product.¡±


    Matt just blinked at Falker twice before turning his gaze to the judge across the desk, letting the silence linger until Judge Hatfield was forced to speak.


    ¡°That is inappropriate, Mr. Falker. I expect all parties to conduct themselves with decorum.¡±


    Matt finally spoke in his best t tone. ¡°An astute observation. If we wish to devolve into bickering, I¡¯m more than willing to do so. Just say the word, Falker.¡±


    Thatmentbined with hisck of visible rage seemed to catch both men off guard and Hatfield stared at Matt with surprise.


    Falker reacted faster but his earlier self-assured tone was brittle. ¡°Is that a threat, Ascender Titan? Do you only know how to resort to violence after your pitiful ploy to steal my product has been caught t footed?¡±


    Matt looked over to the judge but seeing he didn¡¯t seem willing to intervene and stop Falker, Matt took the opportunity Falker¡¯s overreach provided.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to resort to violence, Falker. But an interesting idea you bring up. It makes me wonder.¡±


    He almost didn¡¯t ask, but just as Matt was going to write off his ploy as futile, Falker opened his mouth. ¡°Whatever does that mean, Ascender? Are you threatening me to try to get me to back down?¡±


    ¡°No threats, Falker. I already said that. Maybe you should get your hearing checked. I¡¯m just wondering if you, as a Tier 37, can reach Tier 45 and create an Aspect before I catch up to you. Wouldn¡¯t it be a shame if someone as shameful as myself caught up to one so illustrious as yourself? How pitiful?¡±


    Matt¡¯s anger was partly sated as he watched the true realization of his threat sink through Falker¡¯s bravado.


    Judge Hatfield leaned forward but didn¡¯t reprimand Matt. ¡°Gentlemen, there is no reason to bicker. This is simply a matter of business that we need to work out. Most of these cases are simply convergent design and it just means a matter ofing to an agreement both parties can agree on. With that, we can skip all of the unpleasantness thates with court, so why don¡¯t we all take a seat ande to an agreement.¡±


    The look to Johannes, Gia, and Falker¡¯swyer implied they were less than wee at any such discussion.


    Instead of responding, Matt looked to Johannes, who stepped forward. ¡°Judge, we have substantial proof for our ims and we wish to go to trial immediately. If you would see fit to look it over, you will see we more than meet the burden of proof, and whenbined with the way our product was waid enroute, any dy in granting us a trial will be treated as interference.¡±


    Judge Hatfield wasn¡¯t stupid, and knew when he could push and when he needed to yield. ¡°I can look over the information but once I do it is harder for the parties involved to pull back. I believe¡ª¡±


    Matt shook his head. ¡°No. Do you reject or approve our case?¡±


    Falker looked like he wanted to say something but restrained himself, which Matt didn¡¯t miss.


    It seemed they were ready for this battle to enter open court.


    Judge Hatfield shrugged as if he was unconcerned. ¡°Then I approve. We will convene our initial hearing for an assessment of the viability of the suit in nine years. If¡ª¡±


    Johannes stepped forward. ¡°Judge Hatfield, Titan¡¯s Torch is officially lodging this suit in the mortal courts using the Mortal Exceptions and Deviations uses. That means our suit must be handled with all due haste.¡±


    The move seemed to catch everyone off guard, but Falker¡¯swyer balked first. ¡°That is preposterous! That is a use intended to assist mortals in not being treated unfairly by a cultivator''s long lifespan, not for immortals to unjustly speed up a case. Judge Hatfield, you must see this ploy for what it is.¡±


    Matt half expected the judge to agree and dismiss their demand, but instead he pursed his lips, and while it was clear he didn¡¯t speed up his perception, it was just as clear that he was thinking hard.


    Looking to Johannes he waved. ¡°Exin your reasoning.¡±


    ¡°Judge, the Mortal Exceptions and Deviations uses, while made for mortals, aren''t limited to being used by them. There is precedent that items and cases that are rted to mortals but pushed by immortals may be used to ensure said products or services for mortals aren¡¯t unduly denied their intended recipients. Precedents that include Thalsettie, Bridgeright, Igor, and Ueck, which is as recent as nine thousand years ago, in reference to a food additive that reduced several health problems often seen in Tier 5 and below that was dual patented by twopanies at the same time.¡±


    Falker¡¯swyer once more started to object, but Judge Hatfield waved him off. ¡°I will provisionally ept the bid, but it and the suit will need further deliberation before we can officially begin. To that end, we will convene our initial hearing next week. If that is all, I have other cases waiting to be seen. Good day.¡±


    Matt turned around and didn¡¯t bother to wait for Falker or hiswyer to make any more pleas to the judge.


    They had gotten what they wanted, and there was no reason to linger.


    This might not be a battlefield, but it was war, and Matt knew how to fight wars. And it wasn¡¯t by crying to the referees.

 Chapter 386

    The following week passed far too slowly for Matt¡¯s liking, but he understood it was a hectic one for hiswyers.


    He hadn¡¯t seen a single one of them drop below their maximum perception speed for even a second while they got the guild ready for the metaphorical war they were about to enter.


    And war it would be.


    Falker Industries seemed determined to prove that they had independently developed the engine with such fervor that Johannes feared they might have actually done so.


    If that happened, they would be shit out of luck and end up not only paying court fees, but would take a fairly severe publicity hit.


    He could already see the headlines: ¡°Ascender¡¯s Guild Viciously Attacks Innocent Organization Over Design Dispute¡±. It wouldn¡¯t kill all of his goodwill, but it would go a long way to ruin the image he and everyone else had worked hard to curate.


    Reputation was three quarters of the battle when it came to helping people.


    Even if they failed, it would recover, but the public''s overall impressions would be negative for a while.


    Matt felt dirty thinking about it, but he knew they had counters ready to deploy if such an event would happen.There was an easy counter to negative publicity¡ª good publicity that people couldn¡¯t help but talk about more than the negative. And they had such an invention sitting there in the form of Ra¡¯th¡¯s easy-to-create skills.


    No matter what his enemies tried to drum up, releasing that would erase any negativity from the public''s perception of his guild, but Matt hated the idea of using that information like that.


    The rational part of him said it was no different thanbat, and using any and all moves you had in the most advantageous way was not only to be expected, but the only proper way to fight. That didn¡¯t stop him from feeling like he was tainting a good thing.


    But likebat, letting his enemies use emotion or feeling to control him to their advantage was foolish. Far better to vent to their corpses. If the guild¡¯s reputation was ruined, less good would happen than his perceived misdeed of using Ra¡¯th¡¯s skills strategically would ruin things.


    As much as he wished he wouldn¡¯t have to use that card, his gut told him his enemies would be ready for anything that had been in nning for a long time.


    Still, there was a chance they could quickly push through the legal proceedings ande out with a victory that would destroy any ns his enemies hadid out.


    It would juste down to the initial hearing the following week, and having pulled out the mortal use, things were moving fast. But that was a double-edged sword.


    If this was really a calcted move from his yet-unknown enemies, he expected they would be better prepared for a legal battle than his people would.


    That was the problem with being on the defensive. Theycked initiative and could only brace for the next hit instead of striking out early. That would all change once they identified their opponent, and Matt could only hope they could figure out who was targeting them quickly.@@novelbin@@


    Amusingly enough, it was Matt¡¯s first time in the courtroom, and he was dressed in his Ascender¡¯s robes as they were the highest-honor clothing he rated to wear. Though, they made him stand out in stark contrast to everyone else¡¯s suits or low noble regalia for the few who had ties to such families.


    If he had a choice, Matt would have preferred to wear a duke¡¯s or a guild leader''s manyyered suit, or better yet, a simple civilian suit to y up the everyman image he pushed for his guild, but this worked in its own way.


    Standing next to Falker in front of the judge¡¯s bench, waiting with theirwyers, the contrast between each side was palpable, even if this was just an initial hearing.


    A hostile news organization might try to y it as Matt using his rank and prestige to bully Falker, but the visual contrast spoke volumes.


    Judge Hatfield sauntered into the courtroom fifteen minuteste with a congenial smile. ¡°Sorry, sorry, myst case rante. Is everyone ready for our initial hearing so we can try to avoid a lengthy trial?¡± ?¨¤¦­£Ï??s?


    Matt didn¡¯t need a reminder that this could easily drag on but he said nothing, letting Johannes handle the initial proceedings.


    Both sides imed they had created the engine first and implied the other was the thief while not directly using anyone of such.


    After both sides had made their case, Judge Hatfield waved. ¡°I have reviewed both sides'' presented materials and proofs. I am no expert in such technical developments, but neither im is obviously fabricated. I am, however, an expert in patents. And to avoid a lengthy trial, I will offer a split patent solution. The Falker Industries, as it is based out of King Rusty¡¯s kingdom, can have primacy over their kingdom as well as King Frederic¡¯s and Queen Tur¡¯stal¡¯s. Ascender Titan and Titan¡¯s Torch can have primacy over the remaining kingdoms. Both patents will be set at the standard thousand years, as is typical for items ted for mortals.¡±


    Matt frowned. Johannes had suggested that this was the most likely oue, thanks to its quick, easy, and typically eptable fix to such close patent debates.


    Most corporations or guilds would be more than happy to divvy up the Empire''s Kingdoms rather than potentially lose out on the entire Empire should the suit go to their opponents. It was less about what was right or just and more about profit.


    Johannes stepped forward. ¡°Judge, as a charity Guild, Titan¡¯s Torch intends to make the patent freely avable as per our charter. The typical price fixings required by split patents make that impossible, so we cannot ept such a judgment unless ites with an exception to that use. We ask¡ª¡±


    Falker¡¯swyer snorted and stepped up to the bench next to Johannes, interrupting him. ¡°Judge, this is a clear attempt to undermine the proceedings and our patent. Falker Industries submitted the patent first and simply wishes to do as all research institutions do and make our substantial investment back. If Titan¡¯s Torch is able to freely distribute the patent to even a portion of the Empire, that will remove any incentive for local manufacturers to produce the vehicles themselves and instead people will just buy them from Ascenders Titan¡¯s regions.¡±


    Johannes waited for the man to finish while staring a hole through Judge Hatfield''s forehead.


    The judge ignored the silent rebuke. ¡°An understandable conundrum. Does Titan¡¯s Torch have a way that this doesn¡¯t undermine the spirit of the settlement?¡±


    Johannes kept silent until the judge waved at him. Looking confused, Johannes asked, ¡°Is it my turn to speak now or will I be interrupted once more?¡±


    Seeing neither party acknowledge his grievance but that neither spoke, Johannes continued, ¡°As I was saying before. Titan¡¯s Torch understands that our methods are not conducive to a typical guild''s methods of recouping their costs. In the spirit of good business and fair y, we are willing to pay for expected profits to buy out Falker¡¯s im, so that we can make the patent freely essible Empire-wide.¡±


    Matt kept his expression t, but he wanted to sneer at the offer. He had been very disgruntled when Johannes told him of his n, and while he had agreed grudgingly, he was grateful to have been talked into it as Falker¡¯swyer immediately balked.


    ¡°Our patent has the potential to revolutionize low-Tier travel for personal vehicles and such an offer would prevent our iterating and patenting of any future designs based on this current model. We can not ept such a tantly unfair agreement and are offended by its very proposal.¡±


    Matt hated that Falker and his people were assholes and unwilling to let their clearly stolen design go, but another part of him was d he didn¡¯t need to fork out arge fortune to buy back his own design.


    That would have¡­ <em>rankled</em>. Rankled enough that he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d be willing to continue ying this little game.


    It wouldn¡¯te to that, as Johannes had been correct though, and they had immediately refused. That gave Titan¡¯s Torch an advantage, as they could truthfully say they had gone well beyond the typical buyouts offered and Falker had refused.


    Judge Hatfield looked between both parties and once more tried to broker a deal, but when both sides refused to budge, he was forced to wave his hand again.


    ¡°Since no agreement has been reached and both sides have what seem to be credible reports, including AI-backed oaths, we must go to trial and let a jury decide an eptable oue. To that end, I will schedule our first hearing for next month the fifteenth as is in ordance with the Mortal Exceptions use for a speedy trial.¡±


    Falker¡¯swyer stepped forward. ¡°Judge Hatfield, I have already put forth my officialint about using the Mortal Exceptions and Deviations use to rush this initial hearing, and I will once more lodge an officialint about this second use of them. They are there to ensure mortals are not taken advantage of by immortals. Yes this is a device aimed at mortals, but that in no way shape or form meets the requirements for such a speedy trial as all parties involved are immortals. The Guthrie case shows my interpretation of the rules are most correct.¡±


    For the first time, Matt witnessed Judge Hatfield¡¯s seemingly endless equanimity vanish.


    ring at Falker¡¯swyer, he said in an absolutely t tone. ¡°I will not be told I do not understand thew in my own courtroom, Mr. Varni. You¡¯d do best to remember that. As for the Guthrie precedent, I already looked into that after your protestst week. The Guthrie case was initiated by <em>former </em>Judge Wiseman, who was stripped of their position for favoring people he had connections with, and while the Guthrie case wasn¡¯t one he was officially charged with collusion on, it was brought up in his hearing as evidence of how he was unfairly biased and willing to over turn long standing precedent if it suited him. So no, Mr. Varni, I will not be epting your protest. I do, however, encourage you to report me for dismissing your protest citing such precedent. Besides ignoring that Guthrie''s case being the most recent case of using the Mortal Exceptions and Deviations in cases between immortals selling mortal goods, it was an upset of a far more established tradition which can be seen in the protests lodged in the Guthrie case.¡±


    Matt raised an eyebrow at Judge Hatfield¡¯s firm stance. Johannes and his people had prepared several contingencies in case the judge ignored the precedent, but either he wasn¡¯t as corrupt as they feared he would be, or he was smart enough to not make things look too biased and was putting up an act.


    Either way, the maneuver bought a modicum of Matt¡¯s respect.


    With that settled, they were given a court date a week out, where they would start going through the bureaucracy of selecting jurors and everything else.


    Surprisingly enough, that went through without a hitch, but their first actual day in court a monthter, Falker¡¯swyers petitioned and got an extension because their lead scientist had, upon thepletion of histest project, entered a rift to advance his cultivation, which immediately put a halt to the proceedings.


    Johannes protested that the estimated time of a decade to a century before he would exit, with no way to tell for sure, qualified as an immortal abusing their lifespan. But the court deemed that for such a key witness, they would give a grace period of a decade. Hatfield¡¯s reasoning being that while the mortal exceptions were valid, there weren''t any actual mortals in the suit, and so he was inclined to give the scientist the longest allowed period toe out of his delve. If he still was not avable after a decade, they would continue without him.


    If youe across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    A decade was not totally unreasonable for a mortal, but the decision immediately ruined any budding good will Matt had towards the judge.


    Matt considered just letting sleeping dogs lie and wait it out. The engine wasn¡¯t that impressive in and of itself and wouldn¡¯t really gain traction until someone else iterated upon it a few times, if it was even possible to work around the limitations of Travel mana at all. Not to mention how much of an advantage they would have on the slim chance the researcher truly was just delving and stayed away long enough to lose the opposing party a key witness, but what changed his mind was learning Gia Innaka and her whole team would need to remain upon the Capital ready to resume the trial thanks to the mortal use.


    It was the dichotomy of waiting possibly a decade for Falker¡¯s lead scientist to exit his rift while demanding one of Matt¡¯s best teams sit on their hands that made up his mind for him.


    With things in limbo, Matt was free, as he only needed to be at the trial for the important parts like the initiation and closure, so he excused himself.


    When Judge Hatfield asked where he would be so they could contract him, his answer was simple, direct, and must have set off a dozen rm bells.


    ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk.¡±


    He refused to borate and immediately left.


    And he did go for a walk. In fact, it was such a long walk it could almost be called a meander, and at the end of it, he identally found himself standing over the that Falker Industries called home.


    Using some high level ess codes he had as an Ascender that were never revoked post war to ess to theary AI, he found the rift that Falker¡¯s lead scientist had entered and flew down to it.


    It wasn¡¯t inside the Falkerpound like he had expected, or on their allies¡¯nds, but it was instead one of the local duchess¡¯ personal rifts, not that the revtion stopped Matt.


    The guards who watched over thepound it was housed in did move to intercept him, but the moment they saw who he was and understood his attitude, they changed their minds and simply called out from the side.


    ¡°Ascender Titian, this is Duchess Griselda Latham¡¯s personal retreat, and she does not condone unauthorized visitors, so we must ask you to leave until after you have seen the Duchess and gotten her permission to enter the grounds.¡±


    Matt just met the Tier 35¡¯s gaze until he wilted and stepped back into formation with the other guards.


    Seeing they were giving in, Matt spoke, ¡°I¡¯m not here for the vi or anyone inside.¡±


    He didn¡¯t care about the not-so-little orgy that was happening with several non-local dukes with people that were not their spouses. While things seemed ndestine when it came to immortal rtionships, not everyone kept to things like monogamy as he and Liz did, which meant they might not even be doing anything untoward.


    Seeing he moved to one of the rifts on the vi grounds, the guards rxed¡ª until, using a mana draining array, he forcefully ripped every ounce of mana from the Tier 35 rift.


    Instead of trying to stop him, the guards started preparing the area for the deluge of people who were about toe out of the rift¡¯s many instances, but Matt didn¡¯t stop and spent millions of mana every second creating a mana null space.


    The rift, being a rift, didn¡¯t instantly dissipate, but like a fish pulled out of water it started to gasp and starve as its magical conduits were drained of their mana.


    One failed and the rift warbled, but as the formation tried to drain mana from the already empty area, one turned into five and five into a hundred and then the entire rift fell apart and everyone was dumped out of the instances all at once.


    Matt quickly identified the scientist he had been looking for and stepped next to him. ¡°You are summoned to court on the Capital in regards to your engine patent. You have four months to report in, now that you have been notified. Do so or be found in contempt.¡±


    Turning to everyone else, Matt put on his best smile. ¡°Everyone, I would like to apologize for the interruption of your delves. For those that don¡¯t know me, my name is Ascender Titan.¡±


    There were only around five hundred people, which was less than he expected for a Tier 35 rift, but he suspected the rift being one of the duchess¡¯ personal rifts, it was allowed to get to full or near full before being delved. To that end, he also suspected that some of these people might have been in the rift for longer than he¡¯d been alive, which meant they didn¡¯t know who he was. And if they didn¡¯t bother to check with their [AI], they might react badly to his intrusion. Understandable, but something he¡¯d like to cut off.


    He actually felt bad for those he had just ripped out of their rift and wanted to make it up to them as much as possible.


    Thankfully, he had an easy way to do that.


    ¡°To show my apology, I will happily cover everyone''s expenses that they paid to enter the rift and any recements for gear that was used or damaged during their delve.¡±


    Everyone graciously declined his remuneration. He would rather they take the money he offered instead of using this opportunity to try and grow closer to him, but thetter was eptable.


    The easiest answer would be to take them out to an expensive banquet, spend a week or two chatting with them, but that wouldn''t be as impressive as what Matt had in mind. And thistest attack reminded him that he needed, if not allies, at least acquaintances beyond his circle of friends.


    Spreading his hands, he created a formation out of his mana crystal. It took a few minutes to carefully form the intricate patterns while forming the mana stone, but he wasn¡¯t in a rush, and everyone seemed more than happy to watch his show.


    Once he was done Matt let a genuine smile show. ¡°And let me be the first to showcase one of the projects that Titan¡¯s Torch is working on. Bespoke rifts.¡±


    There was an audible murmur in the gathered crowds, which had grown despite the guards¡¯ attempts to keep higher-Tier outsiders from entering the vi, but Matt¡¯s destroying of the rift had gathered everyone''s attention. Including the duchess, who was flying over at her ¡®best speeds¡¯ having readily finished up the meeting she had been in on one of the other continents. Being a Tier 35, she would have noticed him immediately and could have appeared next to him before he could react, but she seemed willing to let this y out, so Matt didn¡¯t call her out.


    ¡°This is currently in the phase of being more art than science, but that''s a good thing since I consider myself something of an artist when ites to rifts.¡±


    Matt winked before he pulled up the record of the rift he had destroyed to find it hadn¡¯t been anything truly special.


    Turning to Duchess Latham as shended, he smiled. ¡°I apologize for not greeting you properly when I arrived, but I had something to do that took precedence.¡±


    Griselda smiled and waved away his apology. ¡°I wouldn''t want to interfere with your business, but now that it is over, I would request you stay for at least a meal or two. Let me show you the hospitality of my world.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t let his inner sigh show. He had been afraid of this request, but considering how he had stamped all over her fief, he owed her at least that much. He was sure he¡¯d also be getting several one-sided business deals thrown his way.


    Still, he could use this.


    Gesturing to where the rift had been, he asked, ¡°Since I broke it, I might as well rece it. Any particr inclination for what kind of rift I should aim for?¡±


    Griselda¡¯s gaze turned from generally friendly to interested in a heartbeat. ¡°Oh, you have that level of control?¡±


    Matt shrugged and proceeded to exaggerate shamelessly. ¡°At this Tier? Not really. As stated in my guild¡¯s reports, rift science has not advanced enough to guarantee anything, but I can aim for an inclination for what I rece the rift with. If nothing else, there will be a rift here when I¡¯m done. And if we are lucky, I can choose its theme and-or monster type.¡±


    Most of them probably took that as him downying his skill, but he was doing the exact opposite. Anything but the roughest, most basic shaping, like overall element, of a Tier 35 rift was still millennia away, if not longer.


    ¡°I will happily ept anything the Ascender finds interesting.¡±


    Matt was secretly pleased, as it meant he could present whatever result he got as a sess. That was no doubt her intention, but still, it worked for all parties involved, so why not take the wins where he could get them.


    In his personal aperology work, he had been ying with shadow mana and seeing how it tended to result in trap or puzzle rifts. Matt¡¯s gut told him that was part of the key to making some of the more convoluted, and therefore notable, rifts they had encountered in delving, but they were also incredibly finicky.


    He at least didn¡¯t actually care about a set rift instance that needed to be kept from de-aspecting, so Matt started with an unequal bnce of wood mana, water mana, earth mana, and a hint of fire mana for Tiers 1 through Tier 10. At Tier 11 he reced half of the wood mana with air, which resulted in the various woond creatures they had been seeing exit the rift upon Tier up to start mixing with birds.


    There were a number of murmurs of exmation at the sight, and so Matt started narrating what he was doing and why, as well as when things happened that he didn¡¯t expect.


    At tier 20, he switched from feeding the rift himself and ambient mana to throwing mana stones into the rift. He couldn''t do many more tiers before it¡¯d take even him noticeable amounts of time, and it was better to err on the side of switching over sooner.


    Griselda offered to use her own mana stones, but Matt just waved her off, using his destruction of the earlier rift to exin his generosity. It was a good opportunity toe off well while not being too egregious in price.The statement he was making was well worth a few months of production.


    As they reached a Tier 30 rift, Matt looked to all of the Tier 35¡¯s and said, ¡°I would appreciate all of your help in destroying the rift monsters before they threaten anyone.¡±


    Tier 30 was also when the rift became <em>interesting</em>.


    The rift¡¯s monsters radically changed, and from a general but uninteresting variety of forest creatures, they had suddenly transformed into scaled versions of their former selves with much stronger attacks and impressive defenses.


    Not that the Tier 35s struggled to kill the monsters five Tiers lower than themselves, but it brought out another round of appreciation from the watchers who attributed this to Matt¡¯s n rather than the luck that it was.


    Still following his gut and hoping the next few Tier ups didn¡¯t ruin the good impression he just made, Matt changed up his mana ratios once more, adding more earth and a touch of Aiden¡¯s water mana with all of its inherentplexity thanks to his Authority. Luckily, the monsters didn¡¯t revert to something less interesting before the rift reached Tier 35, but unlike what he expected, most of the previous rift delvers didn¡¯t mor to enter the rift. Instead, they epted Griselda¡¯s invitation to a gathering she was throwing to host Matt.


    It took him a moment, but then he understood that the rift they had been delving was undoubtedly one that was well understood, in and out and front to back, and therefore with minimal risk for those who were prepared. Unlike him and his friends, these people didn¡¯t want to enter new rifts, they wanted to enter known elements that had no surprises to minimize their risk of injury or death.


    Realizing that, he almost felt bad about making the rift a peak Tier 35 rift instead of a medium Tier 35, like the one he had destroyed, but it was a littlete for that.


    He did notice that Griselda shot the rift a genuinely interested look, and from the guards she posted around the rift, he suspected she intended to im the first clear for herself and her team. Considering the rift was brimming with mana, the reward would be generous, which might add to her anticipation. Though, it might also just be the notoriety of having an Ascender Titan-made rift.


    Either way, Matt didn¡¯t care so long as he left here without five hundred new enemies.


    And contrary to his own expectation, he did better than that.


    He mingled and chatted for a full two weeks before making his excuses to return to the court battle. As he expected, peopleined and Griselda wanted to chat in private, which he epted as it let him ask her what she knew about Falker¡¯s guild.


    What she personally knew was rudimentary as the guild, despite being Tier 35, was anything but notable. But she was a duchess and a hereditary one at that, so her family had an extensive spywork that she tapped into. For the price of one small favor to be agreed uponter, she sent Matt everything they had on Falker Industries.


    What Matt saw didn¡¯t instantly tell him who was pulling Falker¡¯s strings, but it did fill in some gaps. A lot of gaps actually.


    Notable was that three thousand years ago, when Falker¡¯s guild was just formed, they had been in a transitional period. After their first sessful product but before they were able to create any new products, the guild was only surviving on Falker¡¯s personal wealth. If they had gone belly up after one sessful product, they would have simply been one of a million other simr guilds, but they didn¡¯t.


    Not forck of trying however.


    No, an unnamed investor had given them enough of a mary boost they had weathered the hard time until they created a new product, which had made them viable again. Since then, they had created a new product every two to three hundred years without fail. In and of itself that wasn¡¯t unusual but, with someone directing them to make trouble for Matt, he was seeing another picture.


    Instead of a lucky break followed by steady growth, he was seeing some sort of buyout followed by creating a hidden asset to be used at a future point when one needed to strike out against someone without leading too many clues back to oneself.


    There was a chance they were simply a pawn of Griselda¡¯s family, but Matt doubted that. While it was possible she was ying some convoluted game, her family wasn¡¯t notable and wasn¡¯t involved in research or development in any way, shape, or form, as their personal specialization wasbat formations. That, and with the way she was trying to tie herself to Matt through this interaction, it felt unlikely she was behind or even a part of this scheme.


    That didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t be a useful person to know, which was why Matt put in the effort to cultivate the rtionship.


    He didn¡¯t have a need forbat formations, but if he found himself needing it in the future, he had a personal contact already established.


    Seeing the information did, however, give him a new idea behind Falker. Griselda¡¯s family¡¯s information had noted that while the majority of Falker¡¯s guild¡¯s shares were publicly traded, two of therger share blocks were controlled by puppets of either Falker, or whoever was pulling Falker¡¯s strings. In normal day-to-day voting, the blocks rarely agreed with Falker¡¯s share, but whenever there was something that looked like it might fail, one or two of them would weigh in and ensure the proposals went through. Over the years, even a few breadcrumbs could paint a picture.


    With theyers of deception, it looked like Matt could buy a controlling interest in Falker¡¯s guild should he lose the patent battle to make the patent public that way, but with the three group¡¯s votes, they would have just over half of the board''s voting power.


    He hadn¡¯t intended to do that, but seeing how deep the traps were was enlightening.


    As if to counter his good mood, the moment he arrived back at the Capital, he found that the trial hadn¡¯t resumed because the scientist simply hadn¡¯t arrived yet. His ship had been dyed enroute, and while he was charting a secondary ship, it would take another month before he could arrive. He would now arrive just days before his four month deadline.


    Hearing that, Matt wasn¡¯t mad. No, he was furious.


    He didn¡¯t let that cloud his judgement and noted down the oddity as the fourth shipping-rted thing that had happened since these incidents had begun. He wasn¡¯t the best at the whole politics thing, but even he could see a pattern beginning to take shape.


    There was always a chance it was just bait for him to find and chase into a dead lead, but either way, whoever was ying games with him had deep connections to space-based infrastructure.


    Interestingly enough, he knew a noble family, the Dobrescus, who also had such connections.


    Maybe it was time to give them a visit and see what shook out when he kicked that particr tree.

 Chapter 387

    Chapter 387


    The Dobrescu duchy was a two month jaunt across the Empire, but that was only because Matt was able to use a real space crossing they controlled to cover most of the distance. A border duchy between Rusty¡¯s and Harper¡¯s respective kingdoms, they were in a strategic economic zone for goods that came from the border regions to the Capital.


    Something they had done as much as possible to take advantage of their various shipping ventures that moved goods to and through theirnds. And as one of the strongest and most influential duchies in the Empire, a lot of trade moved through their holdings, if for no other reason than to tap into theirwork of trading partners.


    There were also rumors that they had a sponsored pirate fleet, which doubled Matt¡¯s interest in talking to them. Even if the rumor was false, they had more experience in dealing with pirates than he did.


    When he entered their duchy capital, he was immediately contacted by a representative of the household stationed at one of their extensive space tforms.


    As he responded with the purpose of his visit, Matt looked to the infrastructure with a critical eye.


    As a noble who had been dealing with trade, he had a new appreciation for the space stations and the various methods they used to move goods around.


    He could see Tier 15s flying with spiritual items, fast ships with expanded holds meant for shorter-range ventures, andstly, massive mundane ships that moved slowly between points with gargantuan cargo holds wrapped in just enough metal and enchantment to keep them together.


    Each had their use cases, but what caught his eye was how organized it all was.


    That,bined with the mile long ships that docked at the various space tforms to dock and transfer goods and people both ways, gave the area an almost ocean-like feeling to the sight.He was appreciating the ease at which a fifteen mile long cargo ship swung itself into ce, guided solely by a Tier 15 pilot, when a pulse of spiritual perception brushed up against him.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t here to break anything, are you?¡±


    The tone of the message was yful, but there was an undercurrent of wariness which pulled his attention away from the sight and down to Silvia Dobrescu, who was ascending from the below.


    ¡°What would give you that idea?¡±


    Seeing he wasn¡¯t angry, Silvia seemed to rx and gestured to thergest station. ¡°One of my retainers was convinced that you were here to cause trouble and hit the proverbial¡ª and literal I guess¡ª panic button.¡±


    Matt rolled his eyes and let her see it.


    ¡°I told him that I was here to ask you a few questions, and I didn¡¯t lie. I¡ª¡± Matt paused as he realized how they must have interpreted that. ¡°I really only wanted to chat. I needed an outside perspective and you seemed like the right person to talk to.¡±


    The Tier 22 inspected him for a moment before nodding. ¡°I¡¯m willing to chat, but you must realize how on edge everyone is with your recent actions.¡±


    ¡°Apparently not.¡± Matt couldn''t help grinning.


    That earned a snort, and the two of them descended to the Tier 33 below.


    When they entered the flying ind, Matt was impressed by how austere it was. Not that it wasn¡¯t nice, but with the Dobrescu family background as a former corporation who had taken over a duchy, he had expected more of a corporate vibe. Instead, the entire ind had an understated elegance about it.


    Matt could feel several higher Tiers circling around them and tracked one that was moving to intercept them.


    ¡°That''s slightly eerie, I must say.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Matt looked over to Silvia.


    ¡°They way you are tracking my guards. I know you can¡¯t feel them via the normal senses, but you are locking onto them a little too well.¡±


    As she said that, a dour looking man Matt identified as Silvia¡¯s seneschal entered and finished leading them into a sitting room that was prepared with finger food and a variety of drinks.


    ¡°An instinct of sorts. Simr tobat senses but more esoteric. Always good to know where a threat might be, after all.¡±


    ¡°Audable goal and a necessity for one in your position. You said you wanted to talk to me;st we talked, you didn¡¯t want a trade deal but has that changed?¡±


    Her small smile told him she knew all about his troubles, so he didn¡¯t bother to beat around the bush.


    ¡°Not exactly. I wouldn¡¯t mind working out a trade deal, but I came more to bounce ideas off you after mytest troubles and see what you think?¡±


    ¡°And you think one such as I can help one as august as yourself?¡±


    Matt sighed as she dodged the question. ¡°Yes, but if you don¡¯t want to help, I''m not going to overstay my wee.¡±


    Silvia¡¯s friendly demeanor slid away until she had a nk, unreadable expression on her face.


    A momentter she said, ¡°You are an enigma, Ascender Titan. Very well. I will help you, but in return I want a favor. Howrge can depend on how helpful you find my advice.¡±


    Matt grinned as they cut through the bullshit. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything I don¡¯t agree with. But if you can ept that stiption, sure.¡±


    Silvia¡¯s smile was genuine as she reached across the table and shook his hand.


    Matt didn¡¯t miss the nervousness of the guards he could feel circling, but didn¡¯tment.


    ¡°Your ¡®troubles¡¯ are quite interesting, Ascender Titan. I must ask, do you know what you have done?¡±


    Matt yed dumb. ¡°I know exactly what I¡¯ve done, but I can¡¯t say how others are interpreting my actions.¡±


    Silvia''s smile looked like she had caught a fish, and he was reminded that she was, in fact, a heron bloodline.


    ¡°And they say Ascenders can¡¯t y politics. That was a good answer. If you areing to me, you must realize that you are being targeted by an unknown force, but since you didn¡¯t start sting the moment you arrived, you must not think we had anything to do with it. Given the rumors about our family and pirates, which I can assure you are false, you must want my thoughts on who might have such power to pull off the attacks, yes?¡±


    ¡°It''s a good start.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be direct as that seems to be your style: I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Matt frowned at the answer, but Silvia continued. ¡°I may be wrong, but I sincerely doubt anyone with direct connections to the shipping industry is responsible. It would be too easy to trace back to them, where someone who had few if any direct connections to the shipping industry can act with more indiscretion if they have enough resources.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve considered that, but all four attacks on me have been space-based. That could be bait, but it''s the only lead I have to go after. With that in mind, you must see why it seems that whoever is behind this has control over space-based travel.¡±


    Silvia nibbled on a piece of cheese before saying, ¡°Must I? Maybe it''s because I and my family have a vested interest inmerce, but because of that, I know how easy it is to throw money around and get things done. Space-based shipping is one of thin margins, high volume, and high expenses. Anyone willing to throw enough money around could easily do everything they have done so far. I can¡¯t speak to them knowing where your aura potion shipments were going, and if so, that means you have a spy. But if I wanted to strike at your aura potions, I wouldn¡¯t need a spy. I would simply contact the ships who regrly move between your duchy and offer them a little insurance fraud. Sure, their reputation would take a minor hit. But so long as it''s rare and done cleanly, they get paid by their insurancepany and myself. Best of all, itpletely circumvents the need for a dedicated spy in a sensitive area. Not that the aura potions are that secret. As an industry, we treat them as the high-value goods they are. But frankly, they are Tier 4 items and numerous, with the distinction of not being created by the Imperial government itself or at its direct behest. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if mostpanies just aren¡¯t bothering to code them as high priority items, and instead list them as mid or even low. Saves quite a bit of shuffling and therefore money.¡±


    Matt frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve done audits of our shipping partners, which I would like to think would catch any such behavior.¡±


    Silvia nodded along. ¡°Along the contracted allowances I¡¯m sure. The contracts may say the audits can be done at any time, but there are a number of ways to dy those audits long enough to ensure the records are squeaky clean. If you haven''t encountered that yet, you undoubtedly will as you deal with the various shippingpanies besides my own.¡±


    Matt thought hard and threw his full mana generation to his [AI], letting it go through the admittedly limited information he had with this new perspective.


    Nothing came up, but that was mostly because hecked relevant information.


    ¡°Good to know. And the breaking of contracts with my guild? Any thoughts on that as a merchant yourself?¡±


    Silvia waved the question away. ¡°Clearly a threat but not a particrly hard one to set up. My information channels say they all used their normal exit uses. To me, that says they are proxies who were paid to make a move. Not an umon move if you can afford it when attacking another business.¡±


    ¡°So my opponent is high Tier and wealthy. That narrows it down.¡±


    Silvia grinned. ¡°And that is the problem of being on the defensive against a careful opponent. You don¡¯t know what you don¡¯t know.¡±


    Just as Matt was about to speak, a slightly older version of Silvia stepped out of nowhere and joined them with a smile. Silvia flinched, but Matt just nodded at the former duchess.


    ¡°Ah, and here I was hoping for arger reaction. Rhea, a pleasure to meet you, Ascender Titan,¡±


    ¡°Why would I be surprised? You¡¯ve been following me since I passed through the real space crossing.¡±


    That caught both mother and daughter off guard, and Matt smiled. He had felt someone had been trailing him, but his statement had mostly been a bluff to see if it had been her.


    Rhea smiled as she took a seat next to her daughter. ¡°I hate to intervene between the bonds being forged through deals, but I would also like to ensure everyone understands what is going on. Ascender Titan, I get the feeling that you don¡¯t really understand what you have done in recent days.¡±


    That was an interesting way to phrase it. ¡°Please enlighten me then.¡±


    Rhea put a hand on Silvia¡¯s arm, silencing her as she said, ¡°Let''s start at the beginning of this little kerfuffle and use it as an example of how to deal with Ascenders. We noble families, higher-Tier corporations, and guilds, have an understanding of how to deal with an Ascender, and so far your opponents have yed the game exactly as I would have. But you haven¡¯t.¡±


    Seeing his surprise, Rhea smiled. ¡°Your first move to hunt down the bandits was calcted to both waste your time and piss off a lot of people, while opening you up to the second move of tying you and your guild up in legal matters. That was the real test, and one you reacted to interestingly. Do you know themon understanding of how to handle Ascenders who are bothering one''s business interests?¡±


    Matt let his smile fade to a t expression. ¡°Enlighten me.¡±


    ¡°Make things difficult enough that they can¡¯t be bothered. One must be careful to not overstep, or the Ascender might bite back. But if handled correctly, you can prevent them from encroaching into your business. When Duke Waters¡¯ business was encroaching on a number of other courier services, they undercut him and started poaching his best people. They sessfully annoyed him into backing down.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition.


    Matt knew that story from Aiden himself. ¡°Aiden also killed a dozen people who were responsible for killing one of his couriers. To quote the man, ¡®An Aqueduct must not have its foundations tampered with¡¯. I¡¯m pretty sure he thought he was making a pun, but those people still died.¡±


    ¡°The risks of pushing too far, sure, but they were one business out of over a dozen that teamed up to tackle him. Those are good odds.¡±


    Rhea must have read his expression as she continued with a smile. ¡°I assure you those are good odds. One out of twelve or the almost guaranteed loss of your business, and therefore your path to advancement, so don¡¯t think it''s just easily gained money being lost. Most business-oriented immortals advance their cultivation by paying exorbitant fees to be carried through rifts to supplement their ambient essence cultivation, or pay even more for essence stones or high-Tier cultivation resources. That incident did, however, escte things. And for almost a decade, Aqueduct''s courier service was hampered at every turn. Aiden eventually struck a deal with the otherpanies to limit the size of hispany so that everyone had a piece of the pie. Effectively, he took over the area of thepany he gutted.¡±


    Matt frowned as he didn¡¯t like the implications Rhea was making about his own situation.


    Rhea waved a hand and continued, ¡°L had a simr incident, though her reaction was far more bloody, befitting her no nonsense nature. She ate the entire leadership of an exploration guild who attacked one of her teams. Publicly. That started a decade-long war in deep chaotic space so bad that Georgios himself was forced to step in and mediate, as the battles were hampering the Empire''s exploration and resource extraction efforts. L refused to back down, and Georgios sided with her for obvious reasons, and those responsible of a Tier she couldn¡¯t personally eat were removed. As part of that deal, she swore to not interfere unless things got bad. But after that, she mostly lost interest in the guild and rarely checks in anymore.¡±


    Matt hadn¡¯t heard that story from L, so he didn¡¯t know anything more than the snippet he had been taught in school so many years ago, but he believed it. Or, he believed most of it. She had most certainly not lost interest in exploration itself, as was evidenced by her trying to get him and all of the younger Ascenders to go on a venture into deep chaotic space. That said, she seemed to have a lot of time for a guild leader of one of thergest exploration guilds, as seen by her taking naps on stars.


    Though, as Matt thought about it, he realized that incident might have been the catalyst for her interest in taking them out in a sort of rekindling of her passion with her younger peers.


    As interesting as the history lesson was, Matt wanted to cut to the chase. ¡°And this has to do with me how exactly? Are they testing my limits? See where I¡¯ll snap at them? See if I¡¯ll roll over and give up?¡±


    Rhea nodded sagely. ¡°Correct, except you surprised everyone. Or at least myself and the other old fogeys who are watching, drinks in hand.¡±


    She raised a hand, and a cognac appeared in her hand with a swirl.


    ¡°I feel my actions were justified.¡±


    Silvia snorted augh and Rhea leaned back in her chair giving her daughter the floor. ¡°Justified or not, do you know how much trouble you should be in?¡±


    Matt just blinked at her, not sure how to answer.


    ¡°If I had gone to over ten other fiefs and attacked anythingrger than a fly on theirs, I would be standing before the collective Royals who would be asking some very pointed questions at why I hadn¡¯t followed proper procedures. If that wasn¡¯t enough, and I had gone to another duchy and publicly destroyed a private rift, I would have started a interducal war. Beyond that, I would have been strung up by my heels for going around the Royals in such a deliberate way. Attacking thieves is at least morally justifiable, but attacking a fellow duchess like that would have kicked off a war between the two of us. At least if it was me who had done so. You on the other hand¡­ Let''s just say everyone I know is not only surprised that you had the balls to do so, but that there hasn¡¯t been a whisper ofint from anyone. Even if the Royals ignored the issue, or if Mara and Leon were covering for you, the nobles themselves would have used this as a method to kick up a fuss and earn a little political favor in return. But not a whisper from anyone involved. Even if there was a coverup, it wouldn¡¯t be this silent. That''s strange and no one can quite figure out the discrepancy.¡±


    Matt frowned and didn¡¯t bother to hide the expression. He had known he was stepping on their toes: officially, inter-ducal problems should go through their respective Royals who were to mediate the issue, but he hadn¡¯t even considered going through the official procedures. He had known the Royals wouldn¡¯t do more than yell at him for his actions given his status, let alone his mana, but he hadn''t quite realized how quiet it had been, which was strange.


    ¡°So why did they go through the effort of baiting me into kicking up a fuss if they didn¡¯t have anyone ready toin?¡±


    Matt was more wondering out loud, but Rhea nodded. ¡°And that is the question. If I had wanted to bait you into a trap, I would have ensured that all parties would kick up a hissy fit, but the fact they didn¡¯t speaks volumes of its own, does it not?¡±


    Matt agreed. ¡°My attackers aren¡¯t willing to show themselves so easily and were possibly hoping the individuals themselves would kick up the fuss. I guess it makes sense. I was restrained.¡±


    Rheaughed so hard she clutched her stomach before wiping away a tear. ¡°Oh, thank you. I needed thatugh. I can assure you, Ascender Titan that no one, and I mean no one, expected you to go and rip Falker¡¯s lead scientist out of the rift. That isn¡¯t just ballsy, it''s inspired lunacy. Beyond a war, the upset that should have started for doing such in another duke''s fief would have no one consider doing such a thing. Using the mortal exceptions was a good y to speed up proceedings, kudos to you for thinking of that, but they were ready for some maneuver, which is why they sent the man into the rift where he would be out of contact. I guarantee you that whatever your enemy''s ns are, you just threw a massive wrench into them.¡±


    Having gotten so much candor from the older Dobrescu, Matt decided to be candid himself. ¡°So let me ask you, as I asked Silvia, how would you react to these provocations?¡±


    Rhea shrugged as she stood to leave. ¡°I think it''s clear we think very differently, but I would start squeezing the moment I found a pain point until they begged me to stop. But that''s just me. If I were you, I¡¯d squeeze until I got tired of squeezing, but I feel that you¡¯ll go farther than that, won¡¯t you?¡±


    Turning back around at the door, she added, ¡°Let me add this before I go. In these battles there are rules, even if mostly unspoken. Dukes attack dukes, corporations attack corporations, guild attack guilds, people attack people. Try not to be the first one to overstep one of those lines. That means they probably won¡¯t attack your holdings directly, at least not until things escte much further. I know because that is how my ancestors earned this duchy. That said, you can and should bring in your friends and family, within reason, but know that opens them up to retaliation. Though, it¡¯s most people¡¯s first move in these sorts of games. Depending on who your enemy is and their inclinations, they might never attack them or they might target them early. You not knowing your enemy also means others might target your friends, wanting to escte things further from the sides. That is why I would rmend bringing them close to you now instead of waiting. From everything I¡¯ve seen and heard about you, you seem to truly care for them, and I think it would be best for everyone involved that you were prepared for that now instead of when it''s toote.¡±


    Matt frowned but nodded and thanked her as she exited the room.


    He didn¡¯t like what she had to say, but she was entirely right, and he immediately sent a message to Liz that they should gather everyone close to them to their duchy. They would be interfering with their friends'' lives in a way they really didn¡¯t like to do, but if anyone, his enemies or some unknown bystander wanting to stir the pot, hurt his friends, he would go on a rampage.


    He would also have to make sure that he got that information to his enemies.


    ¡°I would appreciate it if you spread the word through your contacts that I will y this game. But if they touch my friends, I will pull in every favor I have to not just burn them down, but salt the earth.¡±


    Rhea waved her acknowledgement even as she sauntered down the hall.


    Silvia smiled as his attention returned to her. ¡°In this instance, I must agree with my mother. Best to be ready for esction while not seeking it yourself. Still, you seem to be handling yourself well.¡±


    ¡°As much as I appreciate the kind words, none of that really helps me with my current issue. My guild lost several important shipping contacts, I apparently can¡¯t trust my duchy¡¯srgest export shippers, and I have a mole in my guild who is able and willing to pass on sensitive information.¡±


    When Matt moved to stand, Silvia raised an eyebrow. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why you came to us? I half assumed your previousments were a front to get in the door and a better starting position. ¡±


    ¡°Not particrly. When we talkedst, you said yourpany wasn¡¯t looking to expand into my region of the Empire. I assume that hasn¡¯t changed. I just wanted to pick your brain about the attacks.¡±


    Silvia refilled his wine ss where it sat on the table. ¡°Things change constantly. You were an unknown variable a century ago. While you are still a conundrum, I have learned several important things.¡±


    ¡°So you are willing to make a deal?¡± Matt sat back down as he asked.


    ¡°Let me answer your question with a question. Two questions, actually. How far are you willing to go to defend your guild, a guild that makes you no money and is from all reports a money pit?¡±


    When she stopped after one question, Matt gestured for her to continue, but she waved him on, not speaking.


    Sighing, he met her eyes. ¡°Do you know why I care? Why I throw money at charitable endeavors that have little benefit to me? Why I don¡¯t try and make any kind of a profit with the inventions my guild makes? Why I made the aura rift creation methods free instead of selling them? First and foremost, I could have been the people they help. I was them. I was given opportunities thanks to a lot of people. Not all of them were selfless, but they were still there and gave me the ability to take advantage of further opportunities. Part of it is wanting to pay that back. But another part is, I just want to make things better. I have power, and want to use it for good. I also just enjoy aperology and sharing my creations, like any artist. People don¡¯t seem to believe me, but it''s really that simple. So to answer your first question, I will fight this fight until I have nothing left to give, and it''s not so easy to wear me down.¡±


    They sat there for a long few moments before she said, ¡°A good enough answer. My second question isn¡¯t meant to offend, so don¡¯t interpret it that way. But are you willing to throw the established industries a bone if something big enoughes across? You clearly care about the lower Tiers, but if you were to discover something simr to the aura rifts, but with an already established interest... Are you willing to work with those established in the industries?¡±


    Matt frowned and let her see it. ¡°My initial answer is no, but frankly, it depends. I¡¯m not stupid enough to say it can¡¯t happen, but it''s unlikely. I think my opening of patents has been generous, as it allows morepetition and design variation, letting businesses that would never be able to afford such patents a leg up. But at the same time, I also realize I live in the real world and have agreed to oversight by the Empire itself. So yes, I can take a step back if needed, but I wouldn''t do so for a business deal, if that is what you are implying.¡±


    He figured that would disqualify him from working with her, but that was fine. He hadn¡¯t lied when he said he had onlye for information and to see what she thought about his attackers.


    However, Silvia surprised him by smiling. ¡°I can work with that. I don¡¯t ask because I want you to keep things secret or anything so droll, but rather that I don¡¯t want to work with someone who can¡¯t see the real world for what it is. And frankly, some of your actions could be construed as such.¡±


    Matt wanted to take offence, but thinking about the Ascenders he knew, that wasn¡¯t a far-off description.


    ¡°That said, I frankly offer a lot in this agreement where you don¡¯t and can¡¯t. Aura potions are nice, but they aren¡¯t worth rerouting even a single ship over to your region of the Empire. I need at least five percent over the standard shipping agreement for all goods moved, and a ten percent discount on all goods bought in your duchy. Secondly, I¡¯d want ten million aura potions, types to be specifiedter, to be buyable at cost.¡±


    Matt scoffed even as he leaned back into his chair for a long debate.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather publish the shipping records myself so bandits can steal them all rather than be fleeced like that. My duchy may be new and out of yourpany''s typical range, but you aren''t our only option. I know people in the space industry.¡±


    ¡°Oh please, the Mallick n? They could stuff their holds with every aura potion they can fit and not make a dent in what your duchy makes, which my ships could move. In fact, they are wee to take what they can. One of the agreements in signing on with my family is that we don¡¯t have exclusivity uses. We have minimums to ensure that our time and mana is respected to make the trip worth it, but we don¡¯t care about the leftovers.¡±


    ¡°I could start my ownpany.¡±


    ¡°You could, and I¡¯d wish you the best of luck in that. The expenses are enormous and don¡¯t really pay off if you ever have a hold empty. There is a reason we always buy something when we sell something. A newpany bleeds money for a long time. Five percent discount on goods bought in your duchy. My price is fair, as it would allow you ess to our many partners which would solve your guild¡¯s supply problem.¡±


    Matt waved that away as if he truly wasn¡¯t concerned. ¡°I already have a solution for that.¡±


    ¡°Oh really?¡± Silvia leaned forward and batted her eyes, calling his bluff. ¡°I¡¯m listening. Impress me, Ascender Titan. As far as I know, most of the contacts that were cut, while not particrly rare, aren¡¯t easily receable either. At least not in a duchy so young as yours.¡±


    ¡°Self sufficiency is audable goal after all. One everyone should strive for.¡±


    Silvia snorted. ¡°Specialization is how one bes a master for a craft and makes the best items. Nine million aura potions sold at cost.¡±


    ¡°You only say that because that lets you move said items around. Five million aura potions sold at a five percent markup, since you like the number five so much.¡±


    Their bargaining went on for another hour before they settled on a deal.


    The Dobrescu tradingpany would add Matt and Liz¡¯s duchy to their trading routes and were contracted to move a majority of their aura potions from the duchy to their business partners at the various regional capitals.


    To make their trips worthwhile, they would be given a mild tax exemption for goods they bought and sold for the first century, so long as they didn¡¯t undercut the local markets. They would also be given five million aura potions at a three percent markup per year, which would help round out their profits for the first century.


    The deal would also let him order a lot of the goods his guild needed through them, which would actually save them slightly thanks to the Dobrescu¡¯s only acting as a go-between with their tradework of partners.


    That went both ways, however, and Matt was expected to prioritize others in thework for selling and buying goods where reasonable. That use took almost a full ten minutes to hash out, because Matt refused to be held hostage with such a deal, and they went over each line with a fine-toothb, adding exceptions where he wanted.


    In the end, it wasn¡¯t too onerous, but it was amitment he¡¯d need to remember, especially if he or his guild produced a product they wanted to sell. And given Silvia¡¯s second question, he assumed this was her reason for asking it.@@novelbin@@


    Depending on what it was, Matt wasn¡¯t against showing some mild favoritism to herwork, but he also made it clear it was unlikely they¡¯d ever actually sell anything. But she insisted it was a risk she was willing to take.


    The deal was more expensive than his previous ones, but Silvia assured him the goods would be protected both ways, and that if anyone struck out at herpany like they had his previous suppliers, they would find the Dobrescus much harder nuts to crack.


    It wasn¡¯t a deration of undying and unyielding friendship, but it was what they needed here and now, and would act as a good stop-gap as Matt worked on his other project.


    Bespoke rifts had been on a bit of the back burner for a while now, but once he Tiered up and increased his mana generation, he was going to start prioritizing them.


    To do that he needed to get the rest of the way through Tier 26, which meant it was time he started delving seriously once more.


    If his enemies thought he was going to sit around while thiswsuit was ongoing, they had another thinging.


    It was time to return to his roots.


    Delving like it was his job.

 Chapter 388

    When Matt arrived back at Palustris he was immediately greeted by Liz, who hugged him before they shared a long kiss just enjoying being back near each other.


    They didn¡¯t give themselves the time they would have liked to enjoy each other''s presence, however, and Liz got right to business just a momentter. ¡°Anything you didn¡¯t mention in the Ascender chat?¡±


    ¡°Not really, but I have been thinking about everything as I flew back. Something that Rhea said stood out to me about these mystery enemies. They haven¡¯t shown themselves, which makes it impossible to strike out at them but it also ensures they can strike out at us with far more impunity. On the surface that makes sense, but if they were just trying to prevent me from taking some of their profits they would have probably made entreaties. Or at least historically the ones who attacked L and Aiden did so, many times in fact. For obvious reasons, directly confronting an Ascender is ast resort, but we didn¡¯t get a threatening anonymous letter to back down.¡±


    Liz¡¯s expression told him she understood where he was going as he finished with a grimace. ¡°My gut tells me that''s because we already stepped over their bottom line and they are willing to fight to the death.¡±


    ¡°That, or they wanted to probe us with a way for them to slink back into the dark. That said, I agree with your assessment, and we should prepare for the long haul.¡±


    Matt snapped his fingers and said, ¡°That reminds me, I told your people at the research station that they should increase their security measures and to go into pseudo lockdown if we go out ofmunications for any length of time.¡±


    He had swung by when he checked in on his guild and thewyers who were battling it out. Even with the mortal use, the actual case could take upwards of a decade as the cogs of bureaucracy churned, but Matt wasn¡¯t too worried about the oue.


    They had enough proof to ensure at a minimum a very short patent, and this was an opportunity to dig into Falker¡¯s guild¡¯s information. It was doubtful that anything pointing to who was pulling their strings would be easy to find, but it was information all the same, and more than they had now.


    As he took Liz¡¯s hand, a phoenix formed on her shoulder and hopped over to her customary perch on his.Together, they flew down to where their floating ind sat in the ocean.


    It was pretty and if one didn¡¯t know its true nature, they might mistake it for a well built up, but otherwise ordinary, ind.


    They only stopped long enough to grab the house and inform all of their local staff they were going to be delving for the next few years.


    Just as they were leaving, Liz cursed and flew up, calling out, ¡°We said we¡¯d take Ra¡¯th to the rift, and he asked about it when you were gone. Might as well make the first rift a Tier 26 as we ease back into delving.¡±


    Matt agreed with her reasoning and so changed his direction to the rift he had initially wanted to take Ra¡¯th to, as he thought the man might like it.


    He was standing next to the rift by the time Liz and Ra¡¯th returned and he met the ascender with a grin and a handshake.


    ¡°Good to see you, Ascender Titan.¡±


    ¡°Matt, I insist.¡±


    Ra¡¯th cocked his head and his eyes flicked, indicating he was checking in with his [AI] before nodding.


    ¡°Then you should call me Rah. Or Th. Either way, it''s less formal and you all are the closest thing I have to friends in this Realm, so it feels fitting.¡±


    Matt was touched and said so. ¡°Thank you and¡ª¡±


    Liz slipped in next to him and poked him. ¡°Don¡¯t get too much of a big head there buckaroo, he already made the offer to me first. You''re just second best, it seems.¡±


    Rah seemed a little taken aback, but Matt knew Liz was teasing and yed into it clutching his chest. ¡°Thedy wounds me. However shall I recover?¡±


    Liz didn¡¯t reply with the flirty response Matt expected and instead said, ¡°Deal with all the paperwork you owe me for being gone so long.¡±


    Matt tsked. ¡°Ouch, but fair. How about instead of either of us doing paperwork we delve?¡±


    Liz tapped her chin as if thinking. ¡°Hmm. I think I can ept that. Mayyybeee. Fine but only because I¡¯m the kindest, most understanding wife.¡±


    ¡°Prettiest too.¡±


    ¡°Damn right.¡±


    Having enticed Liz into a kiss Matt enjoyed the moment until they needed to get going.


    As they were about to enter the rift Matt had a thought and pinged his seneschal, Cato, that he wanted to see a number of his people in theing years as they moved in and out of delves. ?????????


    A few were to just follow up with things that had been missed in hisst year of absence, but most were parts of the ns he had created while traveling between.


    Countess Walsh was a part of that list and the only one of the people he requested to arrive in their next estimated break. Being in their duchy, she was only a month''s travel away, but he and Liz intended to go head-down and delve as fast as possible until they reached Tier 27 at a minimum, which meant minutes outside of rifts at best.


    Delving for advancement at their Tier was an endeavor which could take centuries, and he wanted to get one of his ns in motion sooner thanter, while also not risking any information leaks that might exist in the publicworks.


    Beyond that, most of the messages were to friends and close personal acquaintances they had made over the years. To be safe, they extended it to anyone they had any level of connection to, offering a ce on Palustris for as long as this spatsted, wanting to be safe rather than sorry.


    That taken care of, Matt, Liz, and Rah entered the rift.


    It wouldn¡¯t be winning any kind of unique rift awards, but it was one that Matt had enjoyed delving thanks to itsyout.


    Inside the rift they found themselves standing on a perfectly t in stretching out farther than even their Tier 26 vision could see, which was <em>far</em>.


    It made for a stunning sight, and Matt hoped that went double for someone who had mainly lived ons and didn¡¯t delve.


    ¡°Wee to a rift.¡± Matt gestured around them with a flourish.


    Rah spun on a toe and made a whistle-like sound Matt interpreted as awe.


    Sticking his tongue out at Liz, he returned her sure to being mockery of the rift.


    Liz gave him a little shove. ¡°You only like this rift because you perfectly counter it.¡±


    Matt gave her rebuttal as much dignity as it required and blew a raspberry at her.


    Rah gave them a questioning look, so Matt exined. ¡°I do perfectly counter this rift. We can show that after you get a taste of delving. Rifts generally have a safe area near the entrance and exits. Move about ten feet away, and you¡¯ll be eligible to be attacked.¡±


    Rah immediately asked the correct question. ¡°What''s going to attack me?¡±


    Not that Matt would spoil anything. ¡°A great question, and one a lot of people like to research about rifts before they enter, but that¡¯s boring. Safer, but boring. It¡¯s not like real life enemies have walkthroughs of how to best beat them.¡±


    Phoenix Liz on his shoulder warbled a disagreement, and Matt conceded to her point. ¡°We did know about most people''s abilities in the war, so fair enough. We can tell you bu¡ª¡±


    Rah stepped out of the safe area and the rift that was a perfect grasnd that stretched for millions of miles in all directions started to boil.


    It wasn¡¯t a rising tide, but a wave of corpses that started crawling out of the ground.


    Zombies of all types, fast ones, slow ones, tanky ones, boney ones, wights, liches, golems of all types started to appear. Normally, undead rifts were destroyed due to the diseases they tended to carry, but this was one of the rare ones spared of that gue, and Matt was hardly the only person to love nice clean sightlines like this, so it was left alone.


    Neither Matt nor Liz moved from their starting locations, nor bothered to ready any weapons. The rift safe zone wouldn¡¯t stop them from being overwhelmed, but they had delved into this rift a few times and knew how it would y out.


    Best to let Rah y with the zombies first.


    Matt enjoyed watching the ascender spin around them, clearing their immediate vicinity of the rising horde. His moves were clean, fast, and decisive.


    Interestingly enough, he clearly knew the weakness of most of the zombie types, showing he had either downloaded information about them and was getting updated via his [AI], or he had encountered things simr in his home Realm. But if he was being updated by his [AI], that was all it was doing, as he didn¡¯t have any of the telltale signs of someone blindingly following an AI¡¯s predictive algorithm. Then again, considering his old home didn''t even have [AI], even having a predictive [AI] would be novel and he might want to y with it.


    Matt thought it was more likely that he had encountered simr monster types that spilled ontos from rift breaks before. Rah was well traveled ording to his stories.


    The first enemy that did more than slow him down was a thirty foot tall bone golem that didn¡¯t particrly care if its head was destroyed, which led his initial method to take it down to fail and nearly cost him an arm.


    Rah danced around with it while letting his area of effect sh spell take care of the weaker zombies that rushed him, trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.


    ¡°I really need to buy one of those little area of effect spells when he gets around to making the one for Susanne.¡±


    ¡°It is cool. Think I could get it working with a spear?¡±


    ¡°Probably? It does work when he thrusts. Speaking of, how has the creating skills in nk skill shards been progressing?¡±


    ¡°Pretty good, actually. I¡¯ve got the knack of how to do the creation down now. It''s still fiendishly difficult to manipte a skill that is so far away from the core of my spirit, but I can test all kinds of weird stuff now. Sadly, the idea of shoving a spell into the nk skill shard and then manipting that didn¡¯t work. Same with merging spells inside them.¡±


    Matt rubbed her shoulder in solidarity, just to get nipped by phoenix Liz for not giving her enough attention. ¡°We figured they wouldn¡¯t work, but it¡¯s good to test. And really it might just need another trick. Did anyone try doubling the Tier of the skills for the nk shard? If it¡¯s a space issue that might fix it.¡±


    Liz shot his idea down with a shake of her head. ¡°Rah tried it himself but couldn¡¯t figure anything out, and no one wanted to do more than a few tests given how rare and therefore expensive Tier 20 skill shards are, especially nk ones.¡±


    ¡°Shame. That would have been very useful. Prices of the skill shards should see a decent uptick now, though. Good for those few who didn¡¯t just destroy nk skill shard rifts.¡±


    Liz bit her lip and phoenix Liz looked away from Matt and he felt a sinking feeling worm its way into his stomach.


    This novel is published on a different tform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°So since you weren¡¯t here and we, the guild and myself I mean, blew through the few nk skill shards on the surroundings, I may have ced an order to buy nk skill shards.¡±


    Matt sighed. ¡°I still think we shouldn¡¯t be benefiting from an early movers¡¯ advantage like that, as now people will feel they were ripped off, but that shouldn''t be the biggest impact to the market.¡±


    Both Lizzes dug their toes into the ground, phoenix Liz having to settle into dulling its w on his armor, and Matt felt the sinking weight grow heavier.


    ¡°Just pull the band aid off. How bad is it?¡±


    ¡°So, Aster had been visiting at the time. Came to check in on us and Rah.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how is she doing? Last I talked to her was before the guild stuff. Anything new with her in thest year? I don¡¯t like the implications of that, though.¡±


    Matt had a pretty good idea of where Liz was headed, but hoped he was wrong.


    ¡°No, she''s fine. Or at least nothingpared to our issues, and she said she had the rifts we wanted to delve picked out and waiting for you to return. The issue however is exactly as you were imagining.¡±


    Matt couldn¡¯t stand the suspense anymore and asked as he watched Rah finally figure out the golem¡¯s weakness was the stupidly hard bone heart beating inside its chest.


    ¡°Allie?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Allie came to grab Aster for lunch and when I mentioned my problem, she offered to pick up all of my orders.¡±


    Matt facepalmed. ¡°She¡¯s going to buy every nk skill shard she can, isn''t she?¡±


    Both Lizzes still wouldn¡¯t look at him, and he poked the bird on her chest trying to get her to look down at him.


    ¡°Spill or I''m going to ¡®identally¡¯ dump honey in your feathers again.¡±


    Both Lizzes pointed at him. ¡°Ha! So you admit it! That wasn¡¯t an ident. Vindication!¡±


    Matt immediately backpedaled. ¡°I admit no such things about past events, that was purely a threat about future events.¡±


    ¡°Nope, you admitted it.¡±


    Seeing he wasn¡¯t going to win that argument, he steered them back onto the topic at hand.


    ¡°So Allie is going to be buying every nk skill shard she can get her hands on before we break the news?¡±


    That wasn¡¯t ideal, but it wasn¡¯t so bad. It¡ª


    Seeing Liz¡¯s expression, Matt shook his head in denial. ¡°How can it be worse than that? Even if she liquidates every mana stone I¡¯ve ever given her as well as all her other assets, she can¡¯t make that much of a dent in the nk skill shard supply. They aren¡¯t <em>super</em> valuable, but they are still useful and must exist in the billions.¡±


    ¡°So, she may have mentioned the discovery to L and Aiden, who both jumped onto the scheme and are leveraging themselves to the hilt to buy up every nk skill shard they can in all of the Great Powers.¡±


    Matt just blinked at his wife, letting the moment linger before he snorted. ¡°I hope the market crashes and they lose their shirts holding the bag.¡±


    Lizughed and pulled him into a hug. ¡°Honey, I know you have a lot of pressure and responsibilities because of your Talent but you aren¡¯tpromising your beliefs or the integrity of the guild with small things like ordering a lot of nk skill shards before the news goes out. If you went as far as the other three then maybe, but I know you aren¡¯t going to stop the research, so there is nothing wrong with allowing yourself to save that little bit of money.¡±


    Matt pressed a kiss onto her helmet but didn¡¯t contradict her. He felt he needed to be better than that, but he was also not going to stress too much about something already done.


    He did, however, truly hope the trio of Allie, Aiden, and L lost their money in the scheme. Same went for any of the other Ascenders that ended up getting pulled into it, because he knew there was zero chance they managed to grab even a small portion of the other Great Powers'' nk skill shards without notice. That was unless they enlisted the help of the local Ascenders to do the heavy lifting.


    Their little chat was interrupted by Rah walking over the surrounding few hundred miles free of zombies.


    ¡°While interesting, I¡¯m going to need to figure out how I¡¯m going to handle this morepacted essence before I do much more.¡±


    They had figured something like that would happen when they initially talked about delving, so taking his cue, Matt grinned and stepped forward. ¡°Then see why I love this rift so much.¡±


    Creating a tform out of the ground, Matt pulled it up slightly. They could have just flown, but he knew Liz would sandbag and try to ruin his clear speed if he didn¡¯t carry her along. Currently she had the fastest Tier 26 riftpletion thanks to a lucky mouse rift when they were still on the path having a incredibly short path to the boss.


    She immediately proved his prediction true by pulling out two chairs for herself and Rah, who just seemed thoroughly confused but took his seat.


    Throwing the tform forward at his best possible speed, which was just under his top flying speed, Matt fired [Mana Beam] with every iota of mana he wasn¡¯t spending on moving the tform.


    Not that thest ten million mana per second or so did much, given the degree of diminishing returns he was hitting. But it was the principle of the thing.


    Given that they were in a same-Tier rift, none of the monsters stood a chance and essence rushed in to be split between himself and Liz.


    They offered to cut Rah into the split but he declined, saying his spirit was already full and, until he figured out the form of his next stage of advancement, any essence was useless.


    It took almost a week, but the monsters didn¡¯t stop crawling out of the ground and Matt didn¡¯t stop firing his [Mana Beam] or dragging them towards the rift exit.


    When they arrived at the boss, they did stop and introduce it to Rah, who used the experience of fighting the stronger than normal and better-skilled monster to top up his spirit with rift essence before they left.


    The ss knife was actually one of the more valuable rewards the rift dropped, by the low standards of undead rifts at least, as it had the effect of killing undead easier. Its durability left a lot to be desired for its Tier, but it was a decent backup weapon for anyone delving such rifts and sold fairly well.


    Moving to the next rift, Rah split off despite their offer to show him a few more typical rifts.


    Understandable but unfortunate, as he wanted to figure out his cultivation system and how he could use rift essence instead of ambient essence for a greater power boost.


    That was a problem Matt had never considered, and seeing Rah fully stuck and unable to advance, he was grateful he had their Realm¡¯s method that required justpacting the essence together and squeezing.


    He did hang around near the rift in a portable house he had bought as he worked to better take advantage of a rift that he could pop into to get some essence without waiting or screwing over a managed rift.


    For their actual sustained delving spree, they were going to go to Aster''s ducal capital, but she needed more time to free herself from her responsibilities, and so they were going to get some delving done in local rifts.


    Liz demanded they enter one particr rift on the other side of the continent, citing that he owed her for dragging her through the zombie rift half a dozen times over the years.


    Matt acquiesced but knew he made a mistake as he saw her grin slip through multiple times as they waited for the rift instance to cycle.


    Spider centipedes that swarmed like crazy in the caves they had been dropped into.


    Liz was in love with the rift and demanded they delve it between every other rift until Aster finished up.


    Matt naturally refused out of principle as he chased after an army of Lizzes who were flowing forward, killing the weaker than normal enemies with minimal effort. He got so desperate to do anything that when they entered arger than normal cavern, he used [Portal] to get ahead of the swarm.


    [Dragonme] washed over thousands of spiders and Matt grinned as the essence started to pour into him, but his expression turned into a frown when he felt a dozen Lizzes jump into his mes and start to absorb them.


    A passing Liz blew him a kiss. ¡°Thanks, honey.¡±


    Having gone from carrier to carried felt terrible, and Matt chased after the horde, calling out, ¡°At least share the essence! I can¡¯t get good angles with the tunnel''s twists and turns.¡±


    He only got a raspberry for his efforts and had to settle for following after Liz who, like a vacuum, easily killed anything they encountered in an ever-growing wave of blood and ichor. There were so many bodies she didn¡¯t even bother converting everything to ichor beyond what she needed to max out her clones.


    She even dedicated a phoenix Liz to sit on his shoulder and chirp and coo at him as it pointed out the ces ambushes or other traps had been hidden, rubbing in the fact he was being carried after just showing off in the zombie rift.


    Matt¡¯s only retort was, ¡°This is only a Tier 27 rift. We¡¯d be more efficient if we Tiered it up.¡±


    A Liz shouted from in front of them, ¡°No way am I letting you risk this rift de-aspecting! Tier this rift up and I¡¯ll think mean thoughts at you.¡±


    Matt let out a small puff of mana. ¡°Oh no, I added too much mana into the rift. Whatever shall I do?¡±


    Phoenix Liz bit his ear in revenge and Matt shot her a dirty look. ¡°That''s not nice.¡±


    A human Liz joined him with a mock re. ¡°Says the man trying to ruin my new favorite rift. You need to get on figuring out how to make these rifts en masse. If we can make horde rifts like this, we''ll be Tier 27 in just a few years.¡±


    Matt moved to retort but both Lizzes red at him. ¡°And don¡¯t say you don¡¯t know the mana types that go into making these types of rifts. I know you keep track of that kinda stuff, rift boy.¡±


    ¡°Rift boy? Since when did I get downgraded to rift boy?¡±


    ¡°Since you threatened my new favorite rift. Act like a little boy, and I¡¯ll treat you like one.¡± Both Lizzes put their noses into the air in exaggerated motions. So much so that phoenix Liz nearly fell off his shoulder.


    ¡°Can I at least be a rift adolescent?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Liz, there is no way to recreate this rift at our Tier. If it were Tier 5, I might be able to manage it, but there¡¯s no way to keep a rift from deaspecting twenty seven times, even if I knew the mana types that formed this style of horde rift which I really don¡¯t I¡¯m not sure we could keep get lucky enough to keep it from deaspecting. Shit, I wish we were that advanced.¡±


    In an overly deep voice, Liz shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear excuses, rift boy. I want results!¡±


    Matt¡¯sposure broke first with a snort that made all of themugh.


    Jokes aside, these rifts, while fun to blow off steam, weren¡¯t good to delve all the time and they both knew it. It may be good essence per hour, but they were so easy that even with the Tier difference, they taught a lot of bad habits and no good ones.


    Advancing in Tier for them was about pushing their limits, not just gathering more essence. Blindly chasing Tier was a good way to backslide in rtive power, and throughout history there were many peak and pinnacle elites who had fallen into mediocrity by doing so.


    Matt¡¯s hope of being able to help with the boss was dashed when it was an evenrger swarm of monsters fueled by an overproducing queen ant sort of thing that didn¡¯tst long enough to do anything interesting. Liz simply mmed arge portion of the rift¡¯s blood at it the moment they entered its cave.


    The delve wasn¡¯t a full clear, far from it, but with the mini bosses and boss monster having arge portion of the total essence, they were more than happy with the results.


    When they exited the rift, Aster was waiting for them.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you snuck in not one but two rifts without me. That¡¯s fucked up, guys. I call dibs on the first ten, no fifteen, no twenty rifts rewards.¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t back down and shot back even as he hugged her. ¡°And it''s more messed up that you let Allie know about the nk skill shards. Serves you right.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, making a ton of money does serve me right, thank you. I added my own money to the pot. Venture ended up being a joint mobilization by nearly everyone in the Ascender chat. If you ask nicely, I''ll consider giving you an allowance.¡±


    Matt threw up his hands. ¡°I¡¯m half tempted to drop the news now just to cut everyone else off.¡±


    Aster poked his puffed up cheek. ¡°Hey, you''re getting five percent of the profit. So is Rah. Yeah, we¡¯re besties now and he lets me call hi¡ª.¡±


    Seeing their expressions, Aster sighed. ¡°Damn it. I waste for that, too? Ugh. Into a rift. I wanna kill something.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have rifts for us to delve on your world?¡± Matt rolled his eyes at the suggestion.


    ¡°They won¡¯t be ready for us for another month, so we have time.¡± Aster shrugged in a way that was a little too casual.


    Though while he could tell she was up to something, he couldn¡¯t figure out what and didn¡¯t mind delving a few more local rifts.


    They entered the nearest free Tier 28 rift, which was a newly Tiered up rift that had deaspected and needed to be cataloged. Additionally since it had lost its fire aspect they would need to calcte if it was worth keeping as they didn¡¯t want too many non fire rifts on the world making non fire essence which if too many could threaten to deaspect the world itself.


    Also it was the closest thing they had to a new rift, and they were excited to delve it. Once they fully buffed themselves and prepared for an actual challenge, they cautiously entered the rift.


    ording to the reports, the rift had spit out bipedal-like creatures they would have called minotaurs except they were a normal size instead of hulking ten-plus foot tall creatures. That, and the fact their horns were made out of mana stone, which might be valuable.


    Being at a two Tier disadvantage meant the fights were actually making them sweat, with the creatures being incredibly durable and nearly immune to energy-based attacks.


    Their mana stone horns absorbed all magical energies, stored them, and unleashed them on death or when they reached some threshold.


    That meant a lot of Matt''s kit was rendered ineffective, but Liz and Aster, both preferring physical mana types, were less impacted.


    Not that he minded too much. It gave him more experience fighting with his sword and he was making revisions as he fought, subtly tweaking the shape of the runes in the mana stone filling the de to better fulfill its role as mana conduit.


    During one of their breaks, Matt and Liz both looked at the horns to see if they could make an effective alchemy ingredient or enchanting material.


    Matt was pretty sure they would make a pretty good material to make talisman ink out of, but he couldn¡¯t be certain until he spent a few months testing the possible forms, which needed more space and supply than they had brought in with the portable house. Talisman ink wasn¡¯t necessarily rare, but finding out something that every rift monster had was a useful ingredient might make this rift a keeper instead of one to destroy.


    To add to that, Liz even thought the horns, after being processed and ground down, could make a good catalyst ingredient for potions and pills.


    Their interest was increased when they found one of the mini bosses was a mutated version of the standard creature and shot out mana stone spikes like a demented porcupine.


    It was unlikely, but if they could domesticate these monsters and breed the rift madness out of them, they might make a half decent stable herd. So long as they didn¡¯t domesticate into an intelligent creature, as it was always possible they were one of the rare few who could be inherently fully sapient instead of just sentient, assuming they could breed the rift madness out of them at all.


    They were even tempted to turn their quick delve into a full clear, but they had already spent two weeks in the rift just rushing to the boss, and didn¡¯t want to spend the decades it would take to fully map it out when they could just offer the job to one of the many delving teams living on Palustris.@@novelbin@@


    Making such a discovery was a good start to their delving, but not one they encountered in the next rift, which was more standard with simple bears to fight.


    Angry bears that adapted to their environments and wielded vast elemental powers, but bears nheless.


    When they exited that rift they were feeling well warmed up and were about to push into Tier 29 rifts when Matt got a message that Countess Walsh had arrived and was waiting on him.


    Having used some of his breaks when delving to formte his n, Matt sent it off to her to review and start working on.


    It was clear he had stepped on someone''s business toes and he wanted to know who, and he felt that being a business woman herself, Countess Walsh might have a unique view on the situation.


    Tholly was working on the situation of their spy or mole, but that wasn¡¯t likely to turn up anything quickly, as otherwise the spy would have been caught by their current efforts. Sure, knowing what to look for helped but they would need time to start digging through everyone''s recent dealings, while also doing their intra Great Power counterespionage work.


    Ball rolling, Matt, Liz, and Aster moved to her capital where they would start delving Tier 29 rifts.

 Chapter 389

    Aster''s capital world was¡­ interesting.


    That was the best word Matt could describe it with, no matter how many times he visited.


    When he and Liz had been ted a fire aspected world, Aster had been dreaming of an ice version, but that was so improbable it may as well be impossible given that there weren¡¯t any known ice aspected worlds over Tier 15, which would have been the absolute minimum for a primary ducal capital.


    She had mostly taken that in stride, which was why she had bought an un-Tiered world and had it delivered to her capital system, hoping Matt could turn it into an ice world someday.


    That didn¡¯t mean her world didn¡¯t have its own advantages.


    She had gotten a Tier 32 world on the brink of Tiering up to Tier 33 from the Federation.


    From their understanding, it had galled the Federation to give up such a high-Tier world but, as one of the three aggressors in the war, they along with the Sects and the Republic had been tasked with giving up the ducal capitals since it was their fault there were any buyouts to begin with.


    The logic was a bit muddled by the fact they had officially won the war, but Matt hadn¡¯t gotten a say at the negotiation table and so couldn¡¯t call out the hypocrisy.


    Matt liked the joke that, despite getting a normal world, she had still gotten a cold aspected one. The former Federation world had a distinct personality that would take generations to change.Where most Great Powers were happy to let their people design their worlds to their own aesthetics, a metric more or less governed by their Great Power¡¯s control over culture, the Federation was much stricter in their allowances.


    That wasn¡¯t to say that the world was the lifeless, t, gray city blocks the movies typically portrayed Federation worlds as being dominated by. No, there was more variance and life in the world than that, but there was a kernel of truth in those movies.


    The world had been designed from the outset with nearly no allowance for organic growth.


    That wasn¡¯t inherently unusual, as most high-Tier worlds had development ns, but the Federation took it a step beyond a simple general n.


    Every street, every alley, every park, and every building had been nned for and thenpleted to an exacting standard which, from a ground level, gave the world a sense of sameness that those raised in its presence foundforting and those raised outside it uncanny.


    From his position as an immortal, let alone aary ruler himself, Matt could see what had happened and why.


    The world was basically a model for efficiency.


    Buildings were arranged in ways which formedmunities reflective of the Federation caste system, which allowed each area to specialize to greater or lesser extents with the end goal of making things efficient.


    Distributionmunities acted as the hubs of a wheel with the spokes being various production lines such as food, clothing, technology, or whatever else the government had decided needed to be produced.


    Between areas, in the gaps where something productive couldn¡¯t be easily built, the designer of the had designed a variety of parks and other recreational activity spots to give people a ce to rx outside their homes. Taking advantage of their unique shapes, the parks were each a work of art, and built to amodate a particr number of people living nearby ording to the design they had nned for.


    That was not at all how the Empire built cities or worlds.


    The Empire and most other Great Powers were willing to designate areas for particr production, but they didn¡¯t so closely mandate space usage like the Federation did.


    That,bined with the Federation''s caste system, meant their former worlds often struggled to integrate.


    Aster''s world had it worse than most.


    Being a high Tier, the world was highly popted and, while some of the former Federation civilians had been transferred off world when her world was selected, most of the world''s inhabitants had not been so lucky.


    Instead, they were left to fend for themselves, and many of them clung to their old way of life feverishly.


    Ironically, the Federation¡¯s policy of awakening everyone simr to the Empire had a negative effect, as most of their poption on a higher-Tier world was Tier 3 or 4 and had the extended lifespans associated with the higher cultivation. ??????¦¥s


    Aster had followed historical models and chosen a slower method of integration, not because she wanted to copy Matt and Liz¡¯s disastrous efforts on Soerilia, but because Federation worlds were heavily indoctrinated and wouldsh out in incredibly unified numbers.


    The other way to deal with such disturbances was to either forcefully deport everyone and spread them out amount a thousand other worlds to break up their cohesion or direct action with led to a lot of dead civilians and generations of trauma.


    Their unity was respectable in theory but problematic in practice as what theyshed out at were things they saw as anathema to their former structured lives.


    One such thing being what Aster hadined about recently.


    ¡°How have the job relocations been going?¡±


    Matt didn¡¯t ask to make fun of one of her issues, but genuinely wanted to know how she was managing.


    The groan told him everything he needed to know.


    ¡°Not great would be an understatement. People want to do the same jobs they were doing before they were transferred for some unknown reason. If I try to get them to make something actually useful, theyin; if I try to get them to move onto other things, even things they like, there is pushback. So much pushback. Ugh. If I need to hear that word one more time, I think I¡¯ll pull out all of my hair. It''s always pushback. I pushed through my initiative to let people choose their own jobs and a whopping less than one percent took me up on the offer and those people have been basically ostracized by their families.¡±


    Liz winced. ¡°So I take it they didn¡¯t like the idea of them not having state-sponsored jobs very well?¡±


    Aster''s tail and ears drooped. ¡°Not taking it well would be an understatement. Almost forty percent of the poption simply went to work but sat in front of their machines the day after I floated the idea by local leadership. I even made it clear I wouldn''t allow outside businesses to bully their way into the local markets before said local markets got on their feet. At least beyond what local markets the Feds felt was useful to export but noooooo. I¡¯m t out evil for trying to give them a choice. I swear they can turn anything negative. I had a local former Leader caste dickhead tell me, and I quote, ¡®taking away mandatory jobs is taking away guaranteed job security¡¯. I wanted to strangle him. I¡¯m genuinely afraid I¡¯m going to have to wait out the three generations before I can make any substantial progress.¡±


    Matt winced but nodded.


    They had dealt with simr things but on greatly lesser scales if for no other reason than it was their vassal¡¯s problems and not their own so they didn¡¯t need to suffer though the minutiae and only got reports.


    Listening to Aster''s issue, he was happy they had gotten a Sect world for their capital where their overwhelming might had made things as easy as could be hoped for.


    Wanting to cheer her up, he said, ¡°If there is any silver lining, it''s that most of the Tier 15s and higher stayed behind in the Federation. Think of how much worse it would be if they were here acting as cultural anchors.¡±


    Aster blew out a puff of air that shimmered and sparkled. ¡°I know I should be grateful for that, but I struggle to muster the enthusiasm. Still, we are making progress. Surprisingly, the half caste system for the younger generation was taken pretty well. It will at least ensure the next generation is leaning towards an Empire mindset even with at-home indoctrination. Same with the media deregtion, if to a lesser extent. The kids like shiny new things if for no other reason than their parents don¡¯t. It''s a foot in the door at least.¡±


    Their conversation came to a close as they entered one of the rift locations Aster had prepared for them.


    Her world being Tier 32 meant it had an abundance of Tier 29 rifts, thus they had their pick of the litter so to speak.


    It also had several notable rifts that had reputations.


    One such rift was known for its difficulty as well as its mystery; it was their obvious first delve.


    The rift being such a high Tier immediately had all three of them on edge from even before they entered, and the sight that greeted them did nothing to lower their guard.


    The rift was idyllic.


    Not a single thing over Tier 1 was to be found anywhere near the rift entrance. In fact, there wasn¡¯t even a single instance of violence to be seen.


    The snake didn¡¯t eat the rabbits it was nestled with, nor did the ants burrow into the tree log; their nest was next to it, but they didn¡¯t carve out a home as their species should.


    Odder still was off in the distance: giants of various species, miles tall, walked amongst thendscape, but seemed to not hurt a single thing.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sense an illusion.¡±


    Aster''sment was said in a t matter-of-fact voice that did nothing to ease Matt¡¯s tension.


    Something was wrong, and if the illusionist couldn¡¯t pierce it, they might need to leave before they risked getting killed by something they never sawing.


    That would be embarrassing, but they were delving three Tiers up and pushing their limits, and part of that was knowing when to back out of a dangerous situation.


    Still, it was too early to give up quite yet and so Matt threw millions of mana into analyzing the problem with his [AI] while feeling their surroundings with all of his senses, as well as all of his maniption spells, hoping to find anything. Even a single data point could lead to unraveling the whole puzzle.


    As he was doing that, Liz leaned forward, spear at the ready, even as her phoenix self fluffed her wings, ready tounch herself forward.


    After a brief pause she thrust forward and covered a dozen feet in a blink, driving her spear into a nearby tree, pinning something to the tree that should have copsed with a thought from a Tier 26 like her with its apparent Tier 1 strength.


    Liz winced as if something was screaming, but neither Matt nor Aster heard a thing.


    Ripping her spear free, Liz grabbed at something they couldn¡¯t see before she vanished.


    Matt felt nothing during the whole thing which only caused his danger sense to spike.


    Even his [AI] lost its connection to Liz, and Matt was about to start breaking things to find his own hidden monster, when Aster made an ¡°Oh!¡± sound, just before vanishing as well.


    Grabbing space with his Domain meld, Matt started to pull, and watched as reality started to flicker and distort like a bad hologram.


    Just pulling harder wasn¡¯t working, so Matt activated his Intent and concentrated his mana into its ck form and activated [Cosmic Pressure] to strengthen the gravity around him.


    The ground started to buckle and crack, but he must have hit a critical point because he felt himself pass into something beyond the ordinary.


    It took almost a full minute, but as reality started to settle, his most immediate andrgest worry vanished as he reconnected with Liz and Aster¡¯s [AI]s. Looking around him, he nodded at the far more normal rift.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Instead of an idyllic meadow, they were in a horrifying nightmare version of the forest they arrived in.


    The snake curled around the rabbits wasn¡¯t casually rxing with them, but instead snacking on them one at a time while watching them where they stood at the rift entrance, with slitted eyes that glowed a bright fluorescent orange. Its Tier was also not the Tier 1 they had seen but Tier 20, not a threat but more inline with the dangerous wildlife one would expect from a rift of this Tier.


    Matt also finally got to see what Liz had killed, but couldn¡¯t put a name to it beyond goblinoid.


    Green skin and slightly shorter than the average human fit some of the normal wickets for goblins, but it was the shimmering cloak the creature was wearing, which made his senses slip off the creature like water on oil, that really caught his eye. Or as much of it as he could give, as the creature kept trying to blend in with the surroundings, simr to the Republic¡¯s antimemetic effect, but unconnected to a domain.


    What did draw his attention were the hands of the creature, which had normal fingers until the final knuckle. It had been reced withicallyrge des, so thin and sharp they caused the light that bounced off them to fractal.


    No, Matt realized he had fallen for the trap, as the knives were simr to the cloak the creature was wearing but far more concentrated.


    And wicked sharp, going by the deep furrows cut into Liz¡¯s armor.


    Aster was the first to speak, however. ¡°So that confirms there are at least two ways to enter this side. Maybe three.¡±


    ¡°And how did you guys enter?¡±


    Aster started bobbing her head before pointing off to the side, where a gust of wind seemed to make reality waver.


    ¡°Naturally forming spatial folds.¡±


    ¡°Killing one of the creatures seems to create something simr but more localized. I could have resisted but it caught me off guard,¡± Liz added.


    Matt nodded before repeating his earlier actions long enough to confirm he could rip through space once more to return to the other side.


    ¡°Ok, so a dual reality rift. A little strange but we¡¯ve seen weirder. I¡ª¡±


    Matt twisted and threw himself forward, cutting across the space a few feet away from him. Shimmering silver blood arced through the air, but the creature seemed unphased and drove its finger des at his face and head.


    Matt reached up and grabbed its wrists, pinning the creature¡¯s hands together, twisting and mming the creature into the ground, but all of that proved unnecessary as essence started to pour out of the creature.


    Except it wasn¡¯t nearly enough essence.


    ¡°Now that''s strange.¡± Liz leaned over to look at the creature as she exined. ¡°I got way more essence than you just did.¡±


    Matt made the connection with a nod. ¡°So, we are supposed to fight these creatures on the other side where they are harder to spot. Interesting.¡±


    Aster tapped her staff to the ground as her crown glowed and two ice golems formed next to her.


    They stretched out their hands and gripped nothing and pulled but, even with her boosting their power, they weren''t able to rip through reality as Matt had.


    Aster rolled her eyes, and Matt took the silentmand to tear them back into the idyllic version of the rift.


    Back in the pretty forest, they walked down the path that wound its way through the woods, waiting for another ambush that never came. Just as they were starting to worry that they had done something wrong and had walked for almost a mile, one of Aster''s golems smashed its hand down, creating a burst of essence before it vanished, being pulled into the other version of the rift.


    She resummoned the golem and they continued on, plodding along as they made their way closer to the giant beast that roamed across thendscape. As they got closer to one of the giants, the attacks increased until they were under a constant barrage and they let themselves get pulled to the other side just to have a better idea of what was really going on.


    Matt knew he shouldn¡¯t be surprised, but the rift managed it by having the giant elephant actually be a zombie elephant with rotten meat falling off its massive frame. That would have been gross enough, but the creatures they were fighting were also attacking the elephant and trying to rip pieces of meat off its frame even as the elephant tried to walk away.


    ¡°Are we supposed to help it?¡± Liz asked the question all three of them were thinking but Matt didn¡¯t have any more of an answer than she did.


    Rifts were weird, and it could genuinely go either way.


    While all rift monsters were hostile, not all things that were alive were rift monsters. This wouldn¡¯t be the first rift that had creatures they were supposed to help to unlock other rewards.


    Matt punched one of the goblin attackers away that was trying to sneak up on them before pointing at the creatures nearer the elephant.


    ¡°Look at those monsters. They look more like orcs than goblins. They also don¡¯t have the hiding effect.¡±


    Liz grinned. ¡°That answers the question then.¡±


    Throwing herself forward, Matt followed her and they cut a swath through the easy to kill stalker enemies.


    The first orc-like goblin was an immediate reminder that they were in fact inside a Tier 29 rift.


    The creature grabbed Liz¡¯s spear mid thrust, stopping her from skewering it, andshed out with a bone de, cutting Liz in half.


    Each half turned into a fully formed and armored Liz which started to overwhelm the monster but Matt was too preupied by his own fight with one of the creatures to admire his wife¡¯s fighting talent.


    His de red bright blue as he channeled [Tribtion Strike] through it. The mana stone acted as a conduit for the mana while the braided metal of the de acted as a faraday cage, keeping everything contained until contact was made.


    The strike blew off most of the flesh from the orc¡¯s arms, but it remained standing and even started to heal. Or at least repair.


    Matt wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d call the creature''s bones growing and expanding to fill the gaps ¡°healing¡±.


    Theck of muscle didn¡¯t slow the monster down, and it threw itself at Matt with mid Tier 29 speeds.


    Sidestepping, Matt brought his de up, cutting through the orcs nk before twisting and bringing the de down with all the power he could gather in a [Mana Charge].


    The point-nk explosion killed two of the stalker enemies, but not the orc. It remained standing, even though most of the flesh was stripped from its upper body.


    Its bones started to grow to reform itself, and itshed out three times in quick session, the blows cutting through bothyers of [Cracked Phantom Armor], but being stopped by his physical armor.


    They were Tier 29¡¯s but, unlike their stealthy counterparts, these creatures seemed more defensive than offensive.


    A mistake would still kill as surely as letting one of the stealthy creatures sneak up on him, as two were attempting right at that moment, but their lopsided capabilities made them easier individual prey than they would have otherwise been.


    The monster tried to rush and entangle him so he couldn¡¯t respond to the attacking stealthy goblinoids, but Matt had seen enough and didn¡¯t intend to y with it any further.


    The second [Tribtion Strike] blew the creature¡¯s entire upper body into bits, and was apanied with a stream of essence as the blowback of mana killed the two other monsters as they were trying to stab Matt in the back.


    Looking over, he saw two Lizzes finishing off another orc while Aster¡¯s golems smashed one into paste. She dealt with another herself.


    Her ice spells slowed and constricted the monster but the cold didn¡¯t seem to be damaging the bone that reced the frostbitten flesh.


    An [Icicle] through the head still ended the creature but Matt could tell Aster was miffed at the creature''s resilience.@@novelbin@@


    With a wave of her staff, a flurry was kicked up and the mid Tier 29 monster''s movements slowed into something closer to early Tier 29.


    ¡°I¡¯ll focus on support. Good to get back into the habit of it actually.¡±


    A phoenix Liz settled down on Aster''s shoulder to watch her back and the three of them started cutting a path into the swarm of monsters that surrounded the elephant.


    It was slow going at first, but, as they fought through, Aster realized that the orc-like creatures were vulnerable to wind magic. Once they all started using those elemental spells, their clear speed increased noticeably.


    Most of the creatures seemed more interested in trying to rip meat off the elephant, and only turned to attack them when they were too close or hit by a stray attack.


    That limited their arsenal a little, as with their Tier gap they needed to be careful to not get overwhelmed. [Mana Beam] or something like [Breach] might have worked, but the risk was too high with tens of thousands of creatures who might turn on them en masse.


    A fear that turned out to be correct.


    As they reached the halfway point of total monsters killed, the attacking creatures turned their attention from the elephant to them.


    The three of them immediately retreated, and all unleashed theirrgest area attacks to cover their retreat.


    They were effective, but not nearly as effective as they would have been without the Tier difference.


    What was interesting was how the monsters¡¯ Domains seemed to perfectly merge together, growing stronger as more and more joined together in their attack. It even got to the point that even a full powered [Mana Beam] just sshed off the leading orc-like creatures, and Aster''s ice spells only slowed them down instead of freezing them solid.


    Liz¡¯s ichor was mildly more effective, so long as she was able to kill the creature before all of its flesh was gone but even she struggled to burrow through the ever-growing bones if she didn¡¯t take them down quickly enough.


    The situation was bad, but hardly untenable, and they were slowly whittling the creatures down as they retreated in the general direction of the rift exit, where they could be reasonably sure they wouldn¡¯t run into more enemies and get cut off.


    Aster, however, noticed what was wrong first.


    ¡°Look at the elephant!¡±


    Matt exploded upward, sending two of the orcs that had tried to tackle him flying.


    Off in the distance, the elephant that had been stripped of flesh was more than fully healed.


    It was growing like uncontrolled cancer.


    Flesh grew and grew until it popped like a blister before that healed and grew further.


    He also noted how the orcs that had been flesh covered were slowly bing fully bone monsters.


    Apparently the orcs, goblins, and elephant had a mutually beneficial symbiotic rtionship where they helped each other from deforming.


    ¡°If we kite these orcs out enough, they will probably fully calcify.¡±


    Aster pointed out the issue with that option. ¡°We probably won¡¯t get the essence for those kills though.¡±


    Liz made the call. ¡°Then let¡¯s go pop that elephant.¡±


    Matt led the charge through the horde, even as they tried to drag the three of them down.


    [Bulwark] made for a plow that pushed aside the initial mass of enemies, and his repulsion effect kept their sides clear long enough to punch through.


    Once they were through, it was a foot race, and despite them only being Tier 26 to the monsters¡¯ Tier 29, they were faster.


    It was times like this when Matt could fully appreciate all of the resources the army had poured into them to bolster their already impressive natural abilities.


    When they reached the elephant, a phoenix Liz mmed into its side like the realms smallest fly whenpared to its massive frame.


    The phoenix Liz on Aster''s shoulder gagged, but before their eyes the elephant¡¯s ever-growing flesh started boiling, even as it turned golden.


    For the first time, the elephant screamed, its massive trunk causing a shockwave that took all three of them using [Air Maniption] to fully block.


    The oing wave of monsters weren¡¯t killed outright, though that would have been nice, but all of the orcs went down like puppets with their strings cut. Not dead, but disorientated to the point of being rendered ineffective.


    Matt grabbed the ground with [Earth Maniption] and swallowed the closest mass of orcs, who had taken the brunt of the attack, and started squeezing, crushing them.


    They tried to fight, tried to merge their Domains to protect themselves, but he was prepared for that and had separated them by pulling some deeper into the ground than others. It didn¡¯t stop them, but it did weaken the connection.


    The bursts of essence started slow, but, as Matt killed some, the collective grew weaker, making it easier to crush the rest.


    He finished just before the rest of the mass arrived in a frenzy.


    Blood, bones, and body parts flew as he, two Lizzes, and Aster¡¯s golems protected her, even as she cast massive debuffing spells to slow their enemies further.


    Matt could also feel that she was starting to open her Tier 25 Talent space, though it was slow in the firmer space of the Tier 29 rift. The rift¡¯s dualyers of reality might have made the effort more difficult as well.


    The fightingsted almost an hour until the elephant¡¯s side exploded and ichor started to rain down like acid rain.


    The orcs'' boney bodies started to melt as flesh reced the bone, making them easier to kill, and the three of them didn¡¯t waste their moment to take care of as many of them as they could.


    The stealthy goblins were ignored, which led to all three of them taking hits, but any one of them was not so easy to kill and each of them could fight without limbs long enough to heal after the fight.


    When they finished, the field was littered with bodies up to their knees in the lowest spots and forming hills in thergest.


    Matt panted as he looked up at the elephant that was still being corroded by Liz.


    Looking over to his wife, he asked. ¡°How fucking big is that thing?¡±


    ¡°Larger than you¡¯d expect. It''s got a higher regeneration factor than a dozen damn trolls, making every inch of progress a battle. Thankfully my ichor is toxic to it and I¡¯ll arrive at the brain soon enough.¡±


    Aster gestured with her staff. ¡°Need us to help?¡±


    ¡°If you wanna hit the other side, go for it. It might force it to split its healing factor.¡±


    Matt cast [Portal], putting the other end of it on the other side of the elephant where he, Aster, and her golems started attacking its undamaged nk.


    It took almost a day, but they finally burned through enough of the elephant''s regeneration that Liz was able to infiltrate the brain and kill the elephant.


    The rush of essence they got from finishing off the elephant was like a torrent, but it wasn¡¯t nearly asrge as it could have been, simr to the stealthy goblins.


    Liz spat to the side. ¡°I¡¯m almost d that wasn¡¯t the right way to get all the essence. That flesh tasted foul.¡±


    Aster gave the phoenix on her shoulder a scratch. ¡°On the bright side, there are three more giants in view, so you¡¯ll get used to it.¡±


    That earned her a nip, but she wasn¡¯t wrong.


    The next giant they started approaching had the stealthy goblins, but didn¡¯t have the orc-like goblins. Instead, there were archers that shot saplings that grew like crazy and tried to burrow into anything they hit.


    Liz¡¯s ichor wasn¡¯t as effective as good old fire, but it was a close call, and the two of them burned their way through the hordes with Aster providing wide-area debuffs.


    The longer they fought, the more they got used to the pace of the Tier 29 battles, and what had been difficult became routine, though they were still always diligent to not be overwhelmed.


    Thergest oddity was that, despite clearing all nine of the giants they found roaming the rift, they never found the rift boss.


    The reward distortion was essible, but the boss was nowhere to be found.


    Then they saw the rift reward of just three mana stones, which was pitiful for a full rift, and was so unusual they immediately went back into the rift and tried to clear the rift without entering the secondyer of reality.


    That made the rift a dozen times harder, as they couldn¡¯t see their attackers and so had to fight entirely off instinct. That,bined with the fact that if they killed any of the monsters in close range they needed to stop themselves from being pulled into the other version of the rift, slowed their clear speed down to nearly nothing, but they persisted as they wanted to figure out the gimmick of the rift.


    And, to their disappointment, clearing the rift while never entering the second dark realm was not the answer they were hoping for. Once more, there was no rift boss to be found, and, without that, they couldn¡¯t justify clearing the rift a third time while they were trying to advance, considering how much of a rift''s total essence was typically in the boss. Without that influx, they weren¡¯t making efficient use of their time.


    During that second run, Aster thought she felt the existence of a third and possibly a fourthyer of reality, but even after a full week of testing they weren¡¯t able to figure out how to breach the deeper spaces. Even Matt¡¯s full powered tearing of space simply let him swap between the first two realities, but not the theorized third or forth.


    Vowing to return, as well as to never mention this rift to Allie, they decided to move on to one of the other local Tier 29 rifts, one known for its monsters¡¯ teamwork and numerous mini bosses, wanting to advance as far as possible before something inevitably pulled them from their delving.

 Chapter 391

    Having settled on an initial method of settling the ownership of the, Matt did something he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever end up actually doing.


    Leaning into his Ascender status.


    They needed a lot of people to contend with the masses of Corporations mercenaries and the few tens of thousands that had gathered at Duke Plessi¡¯s call weren''t nearly enough.


    At least not for the type ofpetition they had settled on.


    Mass exploration and exploitation methods weren¡¯t rare, but they were definitely less favored than a straightforwardbat method, usually a tournament of some kind, if for no reason other than the people participating in such events were entitled to keep what they extracted from the world. It greatly lowered the initial surplus the winning Great Power got out of the and no one wanted that.


    Things got interesting when the actual make up of the participants was considered. The Corporations had easy ess to a number of mercenary corps who were at least soldier-levelbatants with a decent sprinkling of low- to mid-level elites in their ranks. The Empire, unless it was allowed to use its own standing armies, didn''t have such ready ess to elites who could stack the metaphorical deck in a tournament.


    Still, the Empire had its own advantages.


    First, the Empire¡¯s poption, especially their Tier 15 poption, ensured they had a <em>much</em> deeper pool to pull from even if they weren¡¯t all local. Quantity had its own advantages, especially when it came to things like exploring a-wide ruin, which was why Matt had been so willing to use that method when Clyde suggested it.


    Second was their pull as Ascenders.The Corporations might be able to bring up mercenary corps, but they, like all of Corporations society, were primarily driven by profit. Which meant unless Clyde wanted to fund the expedition personally, it would be harder to bring in as many people as their fame could. Even if the potential numbers of each side were even, which they most certainly weren¡¯t, with each new mercenary corps that arrived, the pie got smaller, making joining a less attractive proposition, which exined why no extra mercenary corps had shown up in thest few months.


    As if thinking about him summoned him, Clyde appeared next to the area the Empire had set up in and Matt directed more attention to the Tier 40 as Liz moved to speak with him.


    He quickly lost interest when it became clear he just wanted to try and get them to budge on their originally agreed upon timeline as he saw the numbers flocking to the worldpared to theck of numbers showing up to his own side.


    Matt instead returned to his own work.


    As the only person who had any understanding of rifts beyond the basic ''go in, kill things¡¯, Matt was excavating pathways into the ruins below.


    Clyde had originally wanted to just drill down to a few dozen spots across the and call it good enough, but Matt had put a stop to that immediately.


    They needed to be careful as to not break the ruin, a task which was made harder by the ever-shifting rooms the ruin consisted of.


    It could have been an impossible task, but after questioning the original Corporation exploration team, he learned that the ruin would never shift a room that had people inside of it and a connection to the outside. A fact which had been the main hindering force in their own investigation as they didn¡¯t want to risk getting whisked off deeper into the ever shuffling maze.


    With some exploration, Matt found a spot where the ruin was exposed to the outside, thanks to a cave system that touched the ruin, and discovered there was a naturally formed safe room simr to a rift¡¯s entrance. Or at least something close enough to only be an academic difference.


    A little testing showed that the rift could and would form new safe areas, but the process was slow, or at least limited, as each new entrance took longer for the ruin to create a safe room and instead just allowed the monsters to pour out like a leaky bucket until the room was finished converting.


    The easy solution that the ruin just needed more mana to make the change wasn¡¯t the case, which left them with a theoretical ten entrances for a stable setup.


    Not really enough for proper coverage of a ruin sorge but more than enough for deciding who got to keep the.


    Stepping over to the gathered people, Matt reported his findings to everyone.


    ¡°Ten locations. I propose we choose where they are distributed in an array that will best serve the as a whole in a long term capacity.¡±


    Clyde huffed. ¡°Ascender Titan, don¡¯t think to pull the wool over my eyes. I noticed that the ruin entrance moved to be farther away from each entrance you made during its resets.¡±


    Matt turned and met the Tier 40¡¯s gaze before continuing as if he hadn¡¯t spoken. ¡°A distribution as I have shared, would maximizend usage around each entrance and likely move the ruin¡¯s reward under the deepest ocean. That should, if my preliminary understanding the of the ruin is correct, lead to thergest ratio of rooms from the entrances which will lead to faster reshuffling of the deepest rooms. The rooms farthest away from the boss room and therefore closer to the tunnels might struggle with the respawns of their monsters, but I believe that should be solvable by simply shunting more mana underground. Here are the [AI] models I¡¯m using and everyone is free to y around with other distributions, but I believe this is the bestyout.¡±


    Clyde huffed and puffed his annoyance but eventually gave his assent to the distribution of locations after pushing one location a few miles away from a wends, which Matt was happy enough to do. ??????§£§¦S?


    With the ten spots selected, Matt chose not to put them directly where cities should have formed. He wasn¡¯t sure if a city¡¯s worth of people living above the entrances could be dangerous, either to the people or the ruin itself, but it was best to treat it like a particrly dangerous rift and keep it close but not directly inside city limits.


    City limits that didn¡¯t exist thanks to the world being unsettled. Still, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to estimate where cities would naturally settle based on historical figures.


    That, and Matt knew anywhere the ruin entrances were, the cities would form around them. That was even true for the Corporations and their insistence on living in space as much as possible. Rifts would require ground-side construction if only for the teams delving the ruin, let alone the''s rifts, and those locations should mostly correspond with the locations Matt chose.


    Digging the tunnels down was more fun than it could have been, as it gave Matt a chance to flex his creative side, something he rarely got to do when using his maniption skills since leaving Luna¡¯s clutches.


    Matt started each location by digging arge spiral shaft down the distance between the surface and the ruin, creating a pathway which would hopefully initialize whatever process the ruin had for making safe rooms, then he started getting it ready for what a heavily-utilized ruin would need in its entrances. Mainly a stairway wide enough for five or six people to walk abreast and tall enough that even thergest Tier 15 animal forms could walk up or downfortably.


    He also turned the central shaft the stairs spiraled around into a hollow tube that an elevator could be installed into when the was settled.


    Together, they would allow both higher Tiers to move quickly via the stairs and groups to move either woundedrades out of the ruin without jostling them too much, orrge loot that wouldn''t otherwise fit into a low-level spatial item.


    To ensure everything was stable and could handle the weight of teams that might be carrying things in spatially-expanded backpacks that didn¡¯t perfectly iste the weight of the objects inside, Mattpressed the ground into the tightest form he could while also threading attice of Tier 25 steel through everything.


    And Aster made fun of him for carryingrge amounts of raw materials in a spatial ring just in case they needed them.


    He even took the extra few minutes to create murals running down the entire length of the stairwells.


    He intentionally kept them fairly generic and without any political aim or nt, just chronicling the repeated rises and falls of the Realm, continuing to raise its peaks as time advanced.


    That wasn¡¯t to say he didn¡¯t sneak in a few hidden things for the close observer to discover.


    A small scene of himself, Aster, and Liz when they had first met was tucked into the corner of two other murals, as well as slightly higher than average concentration of phoenixes and foxes in general. And one small, extremely grumpy-looking ck cat hidden in a corner just in case Luna ever passed by this world and inspected his handy work.


    By the time he finished, he found that everything else was pretty much ready for the final batch of Tier 15s to arrive. Of which he saw a gratifying amount of Empire Tier 15s. They might have genuinely cleared out almost the entire sector''s Tier 15 poption, leaving only those who couldn¡¯t leave their jobs.


    Had they made the rewards too valuable?


    Well, his [AI] hadn¡¯t yelled at him and neither did Cato, so even if they were slightly too generous, it couldn¡¯t be that bad.


    He really wanted to keep looking at the ruin and see if he could glean any more things out of its history, but that would be pushing the rules until the¡¯s ownership was settled.


    If worse came to worst, he could always just get the Corporations to let him study the. It would cost him, but he hoped it wouldn''te to that.


    Liz joined him on top of a mountain to enjoy the sunrise. ¡°I like what you did with the tunnels.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I think they will hold up well.¡±


    ¡°That''s not what I meant, doofus.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Matt winked at her, and they sat there, just having a moment with each other.


    Once the sun had fully risen, Matt sighed. ¡°Whoever gets the world is going to need to adjust that.¡±


    This time it was Liz¡¯s turn to groan. ¡°Maybe we can just get Clyde to do it now? Or him and Alice? Together the two of them should be able to speed up the rotation safely. Someone will have to do it, so it''s not like he can say it''s not his job. It might be if he wins after all. Doing it now is¡­ I don¡¯t have a good excuse at hand, but I¡¯d like someone to fix it. It''s only off by a few minutes, but it''s really messing with me.¡±


    Matt proffered a hand and pulled Liz to her feet and helped her brush the dirt off her clothes, earning himself a wink for his efforts even as they lightly heartilyined about the''s rotation.


    The moment they arrived at the central camp, the two of them were greeted by Clyde. ¡°I wanted to talk about the distribution of the Tier 15s. Are we going to do a back and forth draft, or something more interesting?¡±


    ¡°I assume you ask because you have something in mind?¡± Matt asked.


    Clyde¡¯s smile was filled with hidden meaning, but Matt didn¡¯t mind spicing things up if his idea was actually good.


    ¡°One side picks two sets of starting locations while the other side gets to pick which of the two sets they want. Force both sides to think about the other''s perspective.¡±


    That was interesting enough Matt was willing to consider it, so, after a quick check with Aster, he and Liz agreed to the suggestion.


    After some back and forth, and not quite liking Clyde¡¯s proposed locations, they ended up offering their own selections which put one side slightly more centralized, with all three of their starting stairs together in a cluster, or a set slightly farther apart but with a slightly better shot to the ruin¡¯s final room.


    Clyde epted theiryout and chose the three closer together locations, which was what the three of them expected him to do.


    With his mercenary corps¡¯ more limited numbers, his people linking up was a good bet to consolidate their strength, while the Empire and theirrger number of people would hopefully be able to take advantage of their better starting locations to find the final room first.


    Still, with their own agreed upon limited interference, it would ultimatelye down to those that chase to participate.


    ***


    Alice Everdon was not easily swayed.


    It just wasn¡¯t in her nature.


    Her peripheral friends called it determination, but her closest friends called it what it was: stubbornness.


    She had been stubborn enough to pursue a career in delving when her parents had warned her not to. She had been stubborn enough to continue despite not vibing with any of the pick-up groups that had been looking for another person when she wanted to get started. When that proved impossible, she worked two part time jobs while actively recruiting for her own team. When she had inevitably lost an arm because she and her ragtag team were woefully unprepared to delve actual rifts, she hadn¡¯t given up, but instead learned to fight with her off hand until they earned enough to get her arm regrown.


    When her team had wanted to scale back, she had been stubborn enough to demand they not sell the slot, but let her delve solo, paying them back for their shares in the slot little by little. It had slowed her down, but she had managed, despite all of the troubles.


    When she reached Tier 5 and learned about Concepts, after having taken a bottled Concept, she had proimed she would create her own before she needed another bottle at Tier 10.


    She had done it, too.


    The fact that her Concept was about her being stubborn wasn¡¯t exactly ttering, but it was <em>true,</em> and that gave her power over people who settled on Concepts that were just ¡®good enough¡¯ but more ttering.


    So when Alice saw the message putting out a recruitment for volunteers that would see her gallivanting off into unknown space for a fool¡¯s errand, she had ignored it.


    She had just bought a new delve slot in a low Tier 16 rift, and she intended to delve it, not be dragged off with the promise of riches that had no guarantee of profit or benefit.


    No, it didn¡¯t matter that her rift slot had a year and six month waiting period before she could actually enter it, she wanted to be close in case there was an opening and she could get in sooner, and if anyone left, she¡¯d get her chance.


    There was no reason to go careening off into the unknown for unknown riches.


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


    Until the second announcement.


    That swayed her.


    Maybe.


    Ascenders Titan, Legion, and Wraith had put out an announcement calling for all Tier 15s toe to a possible new world and fight for the Empire to im it over the Corporations. Those details didn¡¯t bother or entice her, but the rewards the Ascenders promised were¡­ generous.


    Not extravagant, but well above average and enough to pull most fence sitters onto a ship.


    A Tier 18 mana stone per person who showed up and participated as a baseline would already cover most of her loan, as well as give her afortable nest egg, but that wasn¡¯t it.


    There was a scaling reward system based on contribution that could go as high as a rare Tier 20 skill shard for those who did exceptionally well. Based on the attached document, it didn¡¯t even seem <em>that</em> hard to earn enough to reach that metric.


    The announcement also said they would be preventing deaths, so it was actually less dangerous than a typical delve, even if it was against other people.


    The offer seemed far too good to pass up, but doing so would mean she lost her chance at the rift slot.


    That in and of itself wouldn¡¯t be too bad, but with the influx of Tier 15s from nearby worlds responding to the Ascenders¡¯ call to arms,bined with everyone already local flocking to the call, it might take a substantial amount of time to get another slot once everyone returned.


    Rift slots weren¡¯t allowed to sit open after all, and someone would buy them while everyone else was gone.


    The question came down to if she wanted to be one of the people who went or one of those who stayed.


    In the end, despite all of Alice¡¯s stubbornness, the promised rewards were just too tempting to pass up and she decided to take the chance.


    She would never admit it, but the fact she might get to see Ascenders in person tipped her over the edge. If she managed to talk to them it would be the best story to tell in the future, hands down. No one she knew could top that, meaning she¡¯d win every drinking grandstanding forever.


    The first bit of good news was that the Ascenders had sprung for the good transport ships as, instead of all of the traveling Tier 15s being shoved in empty airless holds, they were provided with actual rooms aboard the carriers, free of charge.


    Sure, the rooms were small, but it was at least some modicum of privacy and more than she would have been willing to pay for if she had been traveling on her own mana stone.


    Alice wanted to be unimpressed when they arrived at the world in question, but it was hard. It was a typical Tier 15 world, as far as she could tell, butpletely untouched. There were probably Tier 20 mana stones worth of materials just ripe for the taking on the below. Ignoring those untouched riches, she tried to look cool unlike the gawking crowds around her, but her indifference was tested when Ascender Legion appeared standing before the exit of the ship.


    Looking at the Ascender felt like staring at a star, making her eyes want to water and blink.


    She carried herself with a confidence that Alice felt jealous of, but didn¡¯t know how to copy without looking like a pale imitation, like a child putting on her mother¡¯s dress.


    Theparison was unttering, and Alice shoved it down and mentally stomped on it a few times.


    ¡°Thank you all foring. You all are thest group to arrive before we begin, so I¡¯ll be transporting you to the staging area myself so we can get started.¡±


    Everyone around her started to murmur, but before they could say much, a wave of golden me engulfed the group for a brief instant and they found themselves somewhere else.


    On the was obvious, but whether it was dusk or dawn was hard to tell without a few minutes of movement from the local star, but they were surrounded by a lot of others loitering around the cleared-out valley they had been deposited in.


    Ascenders Titan and Wraith floated midair next to a man her AI only registered as ¡®Corporations Leader¡¯. He was strong enough that Alice couldn¡¯t feel anything from him, but that only meant he was higher than Tier 20. It was arge range, but it was also irrelevant to her situation.


    Seeing their arrival, Ascender Wraith turned and waved which pulled up a few cheers and whoops from some of the gathered Tier 15s, but they at least had good sense to keep things appropriate.


    Watching someonemit suicide by Ascender might have been amusing, but Alice¡¯s nerves were way too high strung at the moment to enjoy such a show.


    Instead of admiring the trio of Ascenders, Alice took the opportunity to look at theirpetitors.


    Across the valley, Corporations mercenaries were arrayed in neat and orderly groups.


    Not quite military formations, but close enough she couldn¡¯t pinpoint the differences beyond different.


    They lookedpetent, which was possibly a good thing as it meant hard fighting, which would mean a higher chance to showcase her abilities. That meant a higher chance at earning a Tier 20 skill shard. On the other hand, it might mean ¡®dying¡¯ early and earning nothing beyond a month-long timeout in the worst case scenario that it was a quick wipe.


    As a man next to her pointed out to his nervous looking friend, ¡°Look at the number disparity. Even if every one of those mercenaries is an elite, which is outright impossible, their arms would fall off before they managed to cut through everyone on our side, even if we didn¡¯t fight back.¡±


    That was a bit of an exaggeration, but Alice couldn¡¯t help but admit there was a kernel of truth in it.


    As she inspected them, a murmur caught her attention and she honed in on the conversation.


    She recognized one of the voices.


    Olivia Heydon was a bitch of the highest order, but she was an older Tier 15 and had served in the military during thest war. She might have insights otherscked.


    Whether or not those insights were true was another matter, but her rotten personality didn''t automatically mean the other woman was a liar.


    ¡°I was part of the cleanup crew for one of their battles at the end of the war. In fact, it was the final battle of the war.¡±


    Alice''s bullshit meter immediately started sounding rm bells, but she wasn¡¯t actually part of the conversation and so just listened.


    ¡°I saw the damage they did to the ship. Yeah that massive ship the reports were on about. That¡¯s the one. I was there and saw it in person as the salvage teams worked to tear it apart. Or more apart than it already was. I¡¯m sure everyone saw the recordings of the battle when Titan got into the ship, but what the news reports didn¡¯t mention was that the ship was made out of Natural Treasures. When Ascender Titan tore through the ship, he wasn¡¯t just tearing through at-Tier metal, but at-Tier Natural Treasuresposites.¡±


    One of the men standing next to Olivia snorted and called her out for the lie that was.


    ¡°And we are supposed to believe you? I¡¯ve heard grade schoolers tell better stories. I¡ª¡±


    Before an argument could kick off properly, the sun fully rose and the Ascenders and the Corporations leader took to the sky, where they had amanding view of the valley.


    Ascender Titan rubbed his hands together and smiled.


    His good looks made the move endearing, and Alice felt herself flush as his gaze swept by her.


    ¡°It''s good to see everyone, and I¡¯m gratified that you all arrived so promptly given such short notice. The reason we gathered you might seem obvious, but it¡¯s not quite as simple as it might appear on the surface. A Tier 15 world is valuable, yes, but this one is <em>unique</em>.¡±


    Titan smiled as people murmured about his word choice. ¡°I don¡¯t use that word lightly. It might not look like it, but this world might just be one of a kind. Spread your spiritual perceptions downward, please.¡±


    Alice did so along with everyone else. It was difficult to push through the ground, but she managed it. As she did so, she continued to find nothing, but just as she was about to give up she gasped inadvertently.@@novelbin@@


    She wasn¡¯t the only one, but she was one of the first, and that earned a nod from Ascender Wraith.


    Alice was no fan girl, but she had made eye contact with an Ascender who had acknowledged her.


    That was amazing and possibly worth the trip in and of itself.


    Still, that didn¡¯t overwhelm her surprise at finding a massive undergroundwork of rooms a mile deep.


    Titan smiled and continued as the stragglers finally arrived. ¡°And that, everyone, is the reason we are here. Your initial assumptions are probably correct, the ruin extends across the entire staying about a mile below the surface. The Corpies have a im on the world and so does the Empire, and ultimately, we have decided to fight it out via the ruin itself. We have a year to gain control and hold the rift ruin boss room for a continuous week, or whichever side does best. Frankly, I want to win so I can explore this further. Given my love of aperology, that probably doesn''t surprise many of you, but I want to make it clear: I have a personal interest in the world. That means I ask of you all that you give it your best with the knowledge that we are here to ensure that none of you actually die in the fights that happen below. There are only two rules. No infighting. I don¡¯t care about the reason, none will be tolerated. Second, don''t try to kill the ruin. I want it intact. Also, any items, Natural Treasures, or general valuables are yours to keep as part of our deal with the Corporations.¡±


    Alice wasn¡¯t easy to sway, but she felt her heart mming in her chest with each word.


    She was itching to get inside and start delving.


    Then, in unison the Ascenders gestured and everyone vanished in waves.


    Alice felt small pellets of ice hit her face like tiny hail drops, but by the time she registered the feeling, she was standing somewhere else along with a third of the gathered Empire Tier 15s.


    They were near a hole freshly carved into the ground that spiraled down into the ruin below.


    Whoever had carved it had taken the time to etch patterns into the stone that clearly exined the dangers within in a wordless form.


    Olivia floated into the air and started barking orders. ¡°Everyone report in on your specialties and if you are part of a team. Also, note any secondary skills such as crafters. A year might not be the longest time, but being able to repair gear and such will probably prove useful.¡±


    A part of Alice hoped someone else would tell Olivia to sit down and shut up, but no one did so, and instead people started shuffling around.


    Giving into the inevitable, Alice sent in an overview of her abilities.


    She didn¡¯t like giving even that much to Olivia of all people, but with the Ascenders¡¯ guarantee, she had no worries about a back stab. It was more her dislike of the woman herself rather than anything else.


    It took a minute, but then Alice¡¯s AI pinged her that she was being tied into aNet.


    Not a normal one, but instead one made to run this little game.


    Her every action was being watched, analyzed, and then converted into contributions points.


    Aforting realization since it removed any possible personal bias.


    Or most of them.


    Olivia called out her name as well as a dozen others.


    ¡°You twenty are the strongest solo delvers, and so I¡¯m designating you as scouts. I¡¯ve been in ruins before and they typically block or greatly reduce AIms, meaning making maps with just our spiritual perception and sending it back to base will be greatly limited, if not impossible. You should try to avoid fighting when possible, but if you need to, pull back to the outposts we¡¯ll start setting up. We don¡¯t know where the others are, and so we¡¯ll need to find them before we can start making dedicated pushes.¡±


    Alice spread her spiritual perception, wanting to see if there were any teams nearby, but after a few hundred feet she found her senses hitting a wall she couldn¡¯t pierce through.


    The same went for her AI.


    It could connect to the points system, but nothing else was avable.


    The Ascenders must have done that for a reason, but it was mildly concerning.


    It was rare to be so isted.


    Still, Alice had signed up and wouldn¡¯t back down now.


    Olivia grabbed her arm as she moved. ¡°Hey, I know I screwed you over by selling to Joan¡¯s team, but let''s try to put that behind us for now. I¡¯ll apologize properly after this is over, but I don¡¯t want it to interfere with the Ascenders¡¯ business.¡±


    Alice snorted. ¡°Give your apologies to someone who wants to hear them.¡± Pausing just before the entrance to the ruin, she added, ¡°That said, this isn¡¯t the time to be bickering.¡±


    Descending into the ground, Alice started running before realizing they were extra wide and tall to facilitate flying, and switched to that method of travel.


    It was draining on her willpower to fly at such speeds, but time was of the essence and she needed to move.


    Five of the other twenty copied her, but they must have been the only five who could fly, as none of the others did so and instead started using the walls to run off and speed up.


    When she reached the end of the stairs, Alice dropped to the ground and readied her weapon, a mace that absorbed some of the light from the ruin.


    Almost immediately, she noticed three things.


    First was that her spiritual perception was limited to just a few hundred feet, which wasn¡¯t even enough to fully cover the room they were in. The second was that flying with her Concept was extraordinarily expensive inside the ruin. Not impossible, but too much to keep up for any length of time. Third, there was thankfully natural light.


    This room, its walls made from carved stone instead of simting a natural cavern, had an ore that gave off a soft green light. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough to give her Tier 15 eyes enough light to see in.


    With their glow, she could see six archways. Two walls had two halls, but without the light stones, it was hard to see where they went or if they converged further down their depths.


    That was if the ruin followed normal spatial principles, which Alice knew it might not.


    Picking a hallway, Alice took off in a sprint.


    None of the other flyers followed her, for which she was grateful, but given that there were six of them, it would have been dumb to double up.


    As she entered the hall, her eyes quickly adjusted to the much dimmer light, but she also slowed down.


    Her caution paid off when she felt a click under her feet and barely managed to raise her shield in time to catch a stone spike with it.


    Pulling a chisel ¨C she didn¡¯t quite remember why she had it ¨C out of her spatially expanded bag, she marked the ground and moved onward, this time tapping each stone floor tile with a stick.


    That slowed her down, but she was okay with that given the circumstances.


    She was caught up by two of the other scouts, who took turns searching for traps.


    One of them, another woman, was far too incautious for Alice¡¯s tastes, but they made it through the corridor without getting hurt.


    They sprung half a dozen traps, but there were probably at least one or two that they had missed.


    They immediately slunk back into the hall just a second after they entered the next room and saw what it was filled with.


    The room wasparably small, maybe two hundred feet to a side, but it was packed with dog-sized spiders with glowing blue abdomens, skittering across all the surfaces of the room like a nightmare carpet.


    One spider came and inspected the hallway, but they had already moved back down and quietlymunicated through their AI by holding hands as a way to talk without speaking out loud.


    ¡®Who can tank them?¡¯


    The other two looked pointedly at Alice and she felt herself wanting toin, but she held herself back and asked herself how she would deal with this if it was a rift she was delving.


    First of all, she¡¯d never enter a rift that she didn¡¯t know the monsters of and their corresponding weaknesses, but she pushed through that thought and forced her mind to really consider.


    They had already seen the monsters could enter the tunnel even if they didn¡¯t seem too inclined to do so.


    ¡°Let''s draw them into the tunnel where we can smash them easier. They are the size of dogs, so even if they stick to the ceiling, we should be able to hit them. With them having so much obvious mana in their bodies, I¡¯m going to operate under the assumption they are mana resistant.¡±


    Near the entrance, Alice raised her shield and carefully tapped her mace against it until she heard skittering.


    Movement confirmed, she started backing up.


    A lone spider entered the tunnel long enough to look down the hall, but its vision or something with the ruin must have kept it from recognizing her as a threat, and so she was forced to move forward.


    Heart pounding, she did so until the monster skittered and its mandibles glowed blue, and an oversized version of its fanged mouthunched itself at her.


    Raising her shield, Alice was shoved backward two steps as her boots struggled to find purchase on the stone floor.


    An arrow flew over her shoulder and took the spider in the thorax, but that just caused it to screech, which pierced into her ears like nails.


    Still, Alice kept her head up and watched out for another attack.


    It was a good thing too, because the spider''s next attack was aimed lower at her unblocked legs.


    Dropping her stance, Alice blocked without doing something as stupid as directly lowering her shield.


    The blow didn¡¯t send her sliding back, so she charged the spider.


    That was just in time to see three more spiders rushing into the tunnel.


    Her mace caught the second spider, which threw itself at her, in therge blue abdomen.


    Her mace thankfully did what it did best and ate the mana it contacted like a dry sponge.


    The spider screamed even louder than the one that was now looking more like a porcupine, and Alice was almost surprised to find essence rushing into her from the dead monsters.


    Not one to look a gift spider in the mouth, she blocked a second lunge and smashed the third spider.


    This one was hit in the body and didn¡¯t instantly die, but a redirected second blow took care of that. Her mace was more than half full of energy and she was forced to unleash the gathered energy before more spiders rushed her.


    That, as she feared, turned out to be a bad call, as the spiders grabbed the wave of mana and, legs spinning, gathered and then threw back the mana.


    Alice was fast enough to dodge by dropping to the floor, but the reckless woman that was fighting alongside her was sent sprawling backwards, and it was only the archer who saved her from an early extraction by shooting one of the spiders out of the air.


    Farther forward, Alice was left to her own devices and smashed three more spiders in quick session, but instead of sending the next burst of mana out in a wave, she mmed her mace into the ground and let the mana loose there after calling out.


    It caused a mini earthquake which hurt them more than the spiders, but her shout had warned the others enough to let them keep their bnce and the spiders didn¡¯t get the chance to grab her mana.


    Ten minutester the three of them explored the spider''sir and found seven green glowing eggs they were pretty sure weren¡¯t filled with baby spiders ready to eat their faces off.


    Mostly because that wasn¡¯t how rift monsters worked, but also because they could sense the positive magical effect of the sacks.


    Given her performance and taking the vanguard, the other two didn¡¯t mind letting her keep the extra, giving her three to their two.


    One room down and three Natural Treasures.


    Alice carefully tucked them into her bag and took the path the others didn¡¯t take.


    Her next room wasn¡¯t as dangerous, nor as profitable.


    There was simply a massive ck pir in the center of the room she didn¡¯t dare get too close to or damage.


    It was probably valuable, but she didn¡¯t want to risk messing with it and instead picked one of the connecting halls and looked for her next encounter.


    Ten roomster she retraced her steps, her left arm dripping blood but her pack stuffed with mushrooms she felt were some kind of poisonous Natural Treasure.


    The damn bears guarding them hadn¡¯t been very happy to have her steal their goods and had chased her nearly halfway through the corridor, but she was faster and so had gotten away mostly unscathed.


    When she returned to the room they first entered, she found the start of a proper base with a healing station right next to Olivia¡¯s not-so-impromptumand station.


    As much as Alice hated to admit it, the other woman was doing a good job and took her debriefing as she was healed.


    She also passed on what little of a map they had created from the other two scouts who had already returned and gone back out.


    A picture was slowly forming and the dedicated delving teams started to move into further rooms to secure more territory, but ultimately, it was up to the scouts to find not only their other teams, but the enemy too.


    Without knowing the distribution of groups, they were groping blindly in the dark until they linked up, but they also weren¡¯t alone down here, and the mercenarypanies could be who they encountered first if they were unlucky.


    Alice only had to look at her bag to see just how valuable this all could be, though, which galvanized her to keep pressing forward.


    It was just a question of if it was going to be enough, because there was still an overarching prize to be seized, and she wanted a piece of it.


    Picking a direction she hadn¡¯t gone down before, she started running.


    She was going to find the damn boss room first if she had any say about it.


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